Chapter 24: Bones

"Gove…?What scared you?"

"Got me scared? Don't insult me." Gove limped from his seat to the bar counter. He clears glasses and wipes spilt alcohol.

"So, Toren is involved with some dangerous people" Drac leans on the counter. 

Dangerous. Ha!! Quite the understatement. Once stuck in their swamp there is no escape. I already have issues to deal with."

Those men? 

"The Bones. Butcha gangsters, harassing people all across the slums. 'Asking' for protection money. 

Stupid name aside, I never heard of them. They must be a new crew.  

"Any crime possible they are involved in." Gove pauses his cleaning. " Look Four. I know you are in need of services. But I just… I just can't tread further or the swamp will swallow my family whole." 

Drac looks down dispirited. "I understand. Family to protect and all." Drac stops leaning and starts walking out. "It was great to meet again. And say hi to Maki for me!"

Gove looked back at Drac with a smile hinted with sadness. "Of Course! And if you require a drink or a place to stay Gove's tavern is always here.

Drac exits in the alley. 

I really thought he would help…

For a broker to be that scared, what they hell is going on in this city? 

The bones happened. 

We could wait by the tavern for the Marina or are you up for some information gathering. 

A man rushes past Drac, pushes the tavern door. 

Drac. Auditus. 

Drac heightened his hearing. Panicked voices clear. 

"Hammond, calm down boy. Speak."

Hammond huffs till he tries to speak. "Maki. Ambushed. Needs. Help."

Drac!

Drac goes back into the tavern. "Where is she?" 

Hammond and Gove turned around at Drac's question. "Who the hell are you, foreigner?

Gove grabs Hammond by the collar of his tunic. "Answer the damn question! Where is my Daughter?!"

"By Rye street. At Glamour!

The red light district. Move!

The floorboard breaks from Drac's step as he disappears out of the tavern. Maintaining speed, he runs up a building. At the top, chimneys billow out smoke.

To the left.

Drac leaps from building to building, flying above the traffic three floors off the ground. Clearing good ground, Drac reached the true slums. A district clearly older than the rest of the city. Drac jumps from on top, adjusting his mask and hood as he falls. The masked lands gracefully in the dirt. 

To the left. Hurry! 

A turn 'round corner and Glamour is found. Drac pushed the door. Two ladies bumped into him, trying to run outside. He sprints through the corridor activating Auditus. Dead bodies nearly trip him. Sounds of a clash coming from a room from the back. Drac bolts into the action. A Bone with his back turned gets a Sword to the spine, another a stab into the ribs. Drac presses on. One Bone holds a woman by the hair. Soon released with a snap of the neck. 

"Go on. Run." The scared woman nods and leaves. 

Drac continues on. Three in the corridor. Drac goes low, slices a man's tendons. A stab to the neck as he falls. The other Bones hear the gurgle of the dying. An attack with a dagger blocked, an overhead slice to the trapezius brings the gangster down. The last Bone rains attacks upon Drac. Dagger Technique sloppy, strikes are battered away. Heilong cuts the man's stomach. Drac presses on. 

There! 

Maki blocked a torrent of daggers by a dozen fighters. Her long black curly tied to the back. A cut above her almond eyes and on her left leg. A crowd of women hid in the corner. Drac unleashes his aura. They all turn to see a Man in black with fiery energy flowing around him

"Aura user!"

Two Gangsters who didn't join in with the group get off the wall. A blonde with two daggers comes forward, followed by a fighter with a shaved head carrying a long dagger. Their aura flows from them.

Don't waste time!

The blonde blitz forward, attacking with his left. By dropping his head, Drac separates the aggressor's arm from the shoulder in the same motion. Drac respositions to cut the man down. With levitation and aura, the distance between the Drac and the last Aura user lessens in blink. A great slice to the body spills the man's bowels. 

The criminals gawk at the man in black's prowess, unaware their friends beside them are dead already. Aura enhanced throwing knives penetrates many skulls. Drac hacks, stabs and cuts the rest of the weak till he is alone. 

"Four?"

Drac turns around to a familiar voice. Memories foreign to him are playing in his mind. He knows this voice. Their first time meeting, their meals together, the pranks they would pull on Gove. The one who treated Four is like a kid, when he is an adult to others. Drac remembers cursing her in secret for making him want something he never knew he needed. A family. 

Maki… 

"That sword. You didn't lose it" She shows off the great smile she got from her father. "Ok. Enough of this bloody reunion. Let us get the girls to a safe place."

Drac flicks the blood of his Heilong. 

 "Yes, Ma'am. I'll clear the way."

"What the fuck is this?" Gove looks upon the scared sex workers in his tavern with folded arms. The place busy with injured and bloody receiving help

Maki wraps a lady's arm and performs first aid on others. "I will explain. It's a long story."

"That's good. My tavern is closed because of some unforeseen circumstances…" He gestures with his head at the crowd of women. "So, I have a lot of time to spare."

Drac comes up, sitting on a stool by the bar. "I too would like to know why I murdered dozens in a brothel." 

Maki looks guilty. "Gang war."

What war? 

"I… belong to an outfit. Created to protect the slums from the Bones. The brothel was under our protection. Untill…" Maki pulls the wrapping tight on a girl. She wipes her bandaged head of her sweat.

"Probably why they came to accost the old man."

"They did what?!" Her voice was sharp with anger.

The old man speaks softly. "They asked about you."

Maki's eyes widened as she saw her father's injuries properly. Her anger turns into shame. 

We got to help. 

"Ok, Oldman." 

Maki and Gove turn to Drac.

"Let's make a deal."