The clanging of the shackles spreading in this room was a constant on bloodied chains, rotted flesh piled in rows blanketing crumbling bodies stabbed upon hooks of rusty metal. Pale skin peeled from their decrepit forms forming a tapestry of unholy misery. Some were slashed into pieces, some bound to chairs of torture, some caged, none escaped the misery and pain they were drowning in. This room which held such scenery of despair and darkness was then greeted by the rays of sun. If any of them were still alive they would not be deceived into thinking that this meant salvation, they would know that what was currently at the entrance was the very source of their torment. The monstrous man with silver, dishevelled hair, entered with laboured breath carrying a body that seemed to belong to a young man. It must have meant that they would be receiving a new companion in this hell soon.
" *huff* *huff*... Man you're heavy.... "
Through clenched teeth, and with an extremely sweaty body Krell put down a bound Bultear down on the ground of his sanctuary, the laboratory. While in essence it was more of a torture chamber, to Krell it was his heaven where he could satisfy his unstoppable curiosity. He then removed the metal jacket bounding Bultear, dragging his unconscious body to a wide, metal bed with cuffs. Expertly binding his legs at his ankles and his arms at his wrists, stretching his body to its extremes. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he went to a small adjacent room to prepare himself for what he would call research.
As he was putting his white coat and gloves on, he reached into his pocket and took out a small item. Looking at this small wooden totem of a man's head with a smiling expression on a bird's body. Krell's eyes inadvertently showed fear as he remembered the man who had given him this right before he took away the subject's body. He remembered Safir's order to keep the totem on him as he conducted research on the subject.
'Safir...'
He really didn't want to be reminded of those eyes that looked like they were ready to devour him whole.
'He said this was supposed to be a good luck charm...bullshit. There's no such thing as luck, I know of only one truth and that is the cold empiricism of the world. Every question can solved by research, no need for the occult.'
Even though he grumbled in his mind, he still obediently put the totem in the pocket of his white coat and left the small preparation room.
...
During this period meanwhile, back on Eltlin street as the murky dark of the night befell these residential buildings. Over the very same building in which Bultear's fateful moment transpired, now an even bigger shadow was hovering.
' I can't believe that this actually happened, there's rubble everywhere! What intervention to save the tenants? *hmph* Who do those people think they are. I don't have the money to pay the repairs for all of this shit, it probably wasn't even anything dangerous.'
A short, stout older woman was screaming in her mind. The image of the entrance of her apartment building left by the 3rd Evolver safety division, made her see stars from rage. Her lack of experience and any particularly heavy feelings in regard to anything related to Evolvers showed the sheer importance the Evolver divisions had for the average civilians. On top of that E.S.O.P, through its involvement with the crown, is able to properly reimburse anyone if any damages befell the properties, or if civilians came to bodily harm. Mrs. Elmer, as greedy and stingy she was, completely refused to even remotely entertain the idea that she would have to pay for any of this.
Then, the barely functioning gas laps in the entrance suddenly went out.
" Who's there?!"
Yelled Mrs. Elmer, now frightened, into the pitch-black area where no silhouette could be seen moving.
'Maybe the gas lamps just went out on their own... they were in a bad shape after all.'
When her mind reached this conclusion, she slowly calmed down. Turning her head in this room with no light, she stretched her hands in front of herself as to not trip over the broken debris while trying to leave the building. Her steps were slow as she could not afford to hurt herself in such a bizarre way, she was old after all.
* step* *step*
*step* *step*
*step* *step*
*step*... *tap*
Her hands did not touch the wall, nor did she touch the exit, she touched what seemed like a piece of cloth, a coat of sorts.
"Wha-"
" The Oracle was right, I can feel it, the energy of change is heavily present here"
To be frozen in fear was the only thing her body could muster, as a profound sense of fear coursed through her body. The fear was on an existential level, the fear of a lower life form in the presence of a superior one. The man, no, monster of shadow slowly walked by her, completely ignoring her existence.
" Is it true my lord, that He Who Returns, the Blood Wolf, was born here?"
"It seems so. Unfortunately, we were one step too late, those heathens probably took him away.
"E.S.O.P? Should we try breaking him out? If he really is the Blood Wolf, then it would be worth the risk."
"No, not yet we should observe some more. The Blood Wolf will come to us eventually of his own accord, that is what the Oracle had foretold."
" I understand, the Oracle has not yet been mistaken... my lord, a question."
"Yes?"
"What of the woman behind us? She heard everything."
" Her? This is no problem to fret over."
The monster that seemed to be made purely from darkness, in one motion that was both quick and slow came to the side of poor Mrs. Elmer whose mind had already been broken by fear. He then stretched something resembling a hand towards her. When it reached her ear, a silver centipede entered, Mrs. Elmer's body then convulsed and fell to the ground with a thud.
" We do not yet know how the Blood Wolf looks like, so as we await in the shadows, she will be our watchdog in the light."
" I see, lord is wise."
In this fateful room now coated in darkness, shadows had begun to move.