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“Yes,”a nervous male voice answered,”Are you the hunter....?”
“That I am,”D calmly stated, his lips hidden behind his cloak, only his nose and
eyes visable.
“Thank the stars above you’re here,”the nervous man breathed with a sigh as he
closed the door enough to undo the chain latch. As the door reopened D could see the
man wore several crosses around his neck.
“You’re just in time, we need your help dreadfully badly,”he explained ushering D
in and closing the door again, doing all the locks up again,”Not only has the count been
hounding us lately but the house over by the tavern’s been filled with sobbing, pleading
and crashes again. The ghosts are causing problems for the businesses.”
“I’m a vampire hunter,”D reminded the main,”Not an exorcist.”
“I know, I know,”the man replied hurriedly as he almost dragged D to the main
meeting room,”But I just know there’s a connection between the ghosts and the count.”
He stopped and turned, clasping his hands infront of himself he gave D an
imploring look.
“Please, at least have a look into it at least... Please....”
“Very well,”D said quietly, trying to keep any signs of agitation from his voice.
The man smiled briefly, then began on his frantic pace down the hall again, urging
D to follow.
“Thank you hunter, Thank you so very much. This town owes you so much, we
can never repay you completely...”
Just as D was about to make a reply though the doors ahead of them opened and
he was ushered into the main room.
“Sir, the hunter is here,”the man said as he hurried to the desk where the mayor
sat, surrounded by various other elected officials and the like. Several crosses were
visable on all these men, apparently they thought that it protected them more. Standing
and walking around his desk the mayor went to D and extended a hand. As D extended his
own the man grasped it and gave it a hearty shake.
“It’s quite a pleasure sir,”The mayor said, releasing D’s hand,”I do hope you can
help us with the count...”
The man’s voice trailed off and as it did a pitiful wail broke through the open
windows and shattered the relative silence.
“Let me out of here...”the voice cried, breaking into half sobs as the voices owner
pounded on the boards and sheets of metal that covered the windows and doors. D
looked out the window towards the fountain and past it. The house that was ‘haunted’ sat
in the square across from the town hall, next to it was the tavern which had a ‘closed til
furthur notice’ sign up.
“The Count..?” D inquired quietly, focusing his eyes back on the mayor.
At this point one of the advisors interjected with,”We believe that he has
something to do with the...disturbances with that home.”
Not even looking at the man D replied,”You said nothing of vampires...” As he
finished saying it he did look at the man. Playing with several crosses about his neck the
man nervously said.
“The count has been bothering us as of late... We aren't sure why.. “ He cast a
nervous glance to the mayor after this and then looked to the ground.
Drawing attention back to himself the mayor said, in a plaintive voice,”Please...
can you help us..”
“You must have angered him in some way,” D stated calmly.
Taken aback somewhat the mayor replied,”We have tried to comply with all of his
wishes but some of them were a bit too much for our poor town....”
“What did he ask of you?”
“As you can see, we can't even have the market out anymore... He required
payment for our using his land, which the farmers cannot pay... The land is overtended as
it is,” the mayor explained as he gestured to the rotting decrepit stalks of corn that sat on
the corner of his desk,”See for yourself the best we have to harvest.”
Again one of the other advisors interjected, the tall lanky man behind the mayor
spoke up.
“He also demands payment in victims to satisfy his bloodlust and other things, like
that g...”
The man’s voice trailed off as the man beside him discreetly elbowed him sharply.
D noticed, but, not saying anything, kept a silent front up, his usual stoic facade never
breaking. At this point the mayor cleared his throat, attempting to help cover up the
previous slip as he continued explaining the situation.
“Yes, he demands payment of victims.... As of late he's demanded more victims
than normal...”
“I suppose you want me to eliminate the count then...”
“That would be preferable. That is, after all, what you do isn’t it?”
“What does this have to do with this haunted house of yours?”
A slight sweat broke on the mayor’s forehead at the mention of this, mentally
swearing to punish those fool advisors who might have helped give something away he
stood and walked to the window.
“Ah that,”he explained,”As the count's demands grew we noticed more and more
of his servants boarding the place up... We weren't sure why but...uh.. shortly after we
began to hear crashing noises and crying coming from inside....”
D simply said,”Show it to me.”
In the back of the room the advisors were getting visably more nervous. The
mayor pointed to the window and D turned to look out of it.
“This is as close as anyone likes to get to it. I could walk you over though... I
suppose...” The mayor said, swallowing a lump of nervousness that had crept into his
throat. As he spoke he removed a cloth from his coat pocket and dabbed it against his
brow.
To this D quietly stated,”I will go.”
As D turned to leave the Mayor spoke up again,”So you’ll take care of the count
for us?”
“That is what I do,”D said, then brushed past the man who’d let him in and out the
door, out of the town hall. As he entered onto the streets, just outside the door, it
slammed shut behind him and the several locks were drawn hastilly.