Exiting a hansom cab, Lycan gripped his cane and observed the busy street slightly obscured by the morning fog; the road was overpopulated with angry men, dirt-covered boys, and women who couldn't seem to lift their heads and smile.
He was in the slums; Lycan scans for the buildings Silas lives in between.
'This place hasn't changed in the slightest; even the stench is the same.'
Lycan forces his way through the crowd of foul-smelling people until he reaches the alleyway Silas calls home.
Lycan removes his hat and smiles, then turns into a chuckle as he stares at Silas and Amelia sleeping soundly together. He then walks towards them and shouts.
"It's sunrise, you two rascals!"
Amelia Jumped out of bed, yelling.
"It's not what you think!" Amelia shouts
Silas, still waking up, slowly opens his eyes to the sight of Amelia yelling at Lycan.
"Stop yelling, I'm trying to sleep…"
Silas groans and closes his eyes,
Lycan sighs. "not a morning person?"
Lycan slams his cane on the ground, creating a loud BOOM.
Silas jolts awake, his mind racing and his heart beating. "What the fuck!"
Lycan convulses into laughter and speaks.
"My apologies, you see. I've made an appointment for you two with the captain in around 3 hours, and I have a lot planned before the appointment, so please hurry and try to avoid fighting when the sun is out. You vampires are powerless, no different from humans, so don't try to anger anyone in chislmere today."
Silas and Amelia look at the rising sun, squinting; their eyes start to burn.
The sun appears brighter than the last time they saw it.
Lycan looks at the two fools staring at the sun and speaks.
"I wouldn't look at the sun as a human or vampire, especially as a vampire. The longer you are exposed to the sun, the weaker you get. One time, I chased a vampire during the day; his legs gave out faster than any normal human because of the sun."
Amelia and Silas quickly look away from the sun. Now, the two are sweating.
Lycan says.
"Good, now let's not waste time. I'll be by the hansom cab across the street waiting for the two of you, be quick."
Lycan dusts off his half-top hat and puts it on; he then makes his way toward the hansom cab, tapping his cane at a steady pace as he walks. he then stops and turns towards Silas and Amelia." oh, I almost forgot, you two cannot walk through the streets of Chislemere with bloody clothes, I hope you two have something to change into, if not then I bet I'll be showing my badge a lot today." Lycan walks off into the crowd of people.
Silas furrows his brow and observes his and Amelia's clothing; he is shirtless with dusty paints and torn boots, while Amelia's once graceful white dress now has blood near her neck and a skirt covered so much dust it's almost brown.
"I have something we can change into, but... whatever."
Silas grabs a reasonably large cardboard box near his bed and sifts through its many items. He then tosses a fancy white blouse, black pants, and women's shoes toward Amelia.
"These should fit you."
Amelia catches the clothes with a raised brow and asks, "How did you get this? It's of high quality, too."
Silas grabs his clothes, which are a loose, baggy white shirt, tight pants, and leather boots.
"my dad..." Silas looks up at the sky and says, "My dad, as you know, was a thief; I'm sure you remember him. He was great except for when he wasn't... before we separated a little after my mom died, he became a thief; he went to the city and stole from the rich; not that bad, right... until he started murdering the rich... Some things happened, and he gave me everything he stole; I tell myself never to use it because it was stolen, but I think I have to now."
Sunny stands up. "I'll go change." he walks toward the end of the alleyway and turns the corner to where the blood flower used to be.
Amelia grips the clothes tightly and frowns. 'I hope he's okay...'
She undresses and quickly wears her new clothes, which fit her perfectly.
'I've always wanted to wear something in this style.'
Amelia twirls around with a bright smile painted on her face
Shortly after the two change, they walk out of the alleyway and meet Lycan by the handsome cab
"You two sure know how to dress; how would you even find clothes like that in the slums of all places?"
Silas and Amelia don't answer. Instead, they get on the Hanson cab, sitting next to each other with Lycan to their left
"the sun already getting to you?"
Sila gets comfortable and says, "Hey, Lycan, what's chislmere like? My father used to tell me about it a lot; he always said the nobles were scum, are they?"
Lycan gives directions to the Hansom cab driver and then says
"Ah, the nobles of Chislemere. Well, I know a few of them rather well, especially the royal family; me and I go way back." Lycan chuckles and continues
"But Wilbert and his family are an exception; most nobles you'll find in chislmere are, well, just avoid them, and if you happen to talk to one, it's best if they don't know you're from the slums, and as for the city as a whole, it's home to our King, good old Wilbert and it is a city of artisans, as you can imagine it is stunning and enormous the slums used To be a part of chislmere until a few nobles voted to build walls separating then from what they called 'lesser beings' anyways its a nice place"
The ride was a long one; the slums were enormous, and the streets were hard to maneuver. The three made it to Chislemere without any hiccups. Lycan paid the Hansman cab driver, and Amelia and Silas followed Lycan. They walked through unbelievably tall and detailed buildings, streets crowded with men and women whose skin shined and had smiles that didn't leave their faces; many of the men had mustaches, top hats, and coats, and many of them held canes while the women wore large hats and dresses or clothes similar to Amelia.
Eventually, the three reached a tall building, stopped in front of it, and said, "It's almost Time for the meeting with my boss, but first, I rented a room for the two of you. Change into the more professional clothing I left for you both; meet me here once you're done." Silas and Amelia make their way to their room, and once inside the small room with only a bed, a table next to it, and a bathroom
Amelia says
"I know you have something to say. You've been quiet all day."
Silas raises his brow, scrunching his forehead. "how do you know…? Amelia chuckles, and then Silas continues
"our life is changing really, really fast, so I guess I just needed a breather, and Lycan, well, he's not a bad guy, but there's something about him, something mystical almost. It's hard to believe he's a human.
Amelia, scratching her head, says, "Now that you mention it… you're right. I don't think we can trust him yet; for now, let's keep using Him. he has valuable knowledge about a lot we need him to teach us if we want to survive.