"She sleeps like a log…" Simon muttered to himself as he began to trail the guards, masking himself as just another homeless man that nobody wanted to see.
He even made uncomfortable groaning noises and held out a can filled with coins. It did not matter who you were unless you actually had a decent heart; everybody would try to avoid you and not make eye contact.
There was a sadness to that fact, but it was not one Simon would ever focus on while he trudged through the snow-covered streets, slinking behind as the only thing illuminating his path were the lamp posts that luckily still glowed just enough for him to see straight ahead.
The only issue with this plan right now was Helen. While she wasn't heavy for him, actually, she was quite light ,for that matter.
It was the fact that she was on him and asleep, he could not move around a lot or evade notice if he was approached, he would have to actually play the part the whole way through.
Although Simon was not sure if her being awake would have been better, since she was loud, bright and very much someone who alerts others.
But, anyways, he followed onwards, stalking the guards close by. He noticed that they took many of the shortcuts in the city that only other criminals or street rats would know.
They slid into alleyways and even through abandoned buildings that were the hideouts for some other gangs, such as the Boulderlaires, who were notorious for extortion and owning any abandoned sites for their operations, usually counterfeiting.
"Now, what business do they have there?" Simon wondered to himself as he peeked by the window where he saw the Imperium Sanguinus men enter into the rickety building, the wooden decrepit floor creaking with each step as they walked towards several large men in coats.
"What do you boys want?" One of the thugs asked while they cracked his knuckles threateningly.
The Sanguines men said nothing more before placing the bag of coins they got from the old man onto one of the shambled desk.
"Huh, that early, huh? Fine, you get your grain." The big one signaled to his partner to head downstairs, and after a few minutes, they returned with a few wooden crates in hand.
"I don't know why you people want with ornaments, but I ain't judging anything. Carry on now, don't even think the coppers will stop you for this one, we don't even need to pay them off."
The tough guy had a look of amusement on his face, laughing a little before he sat back down, grabbing a pack of cards.
"You wanna play before you go ,boys?"
The Sanguines men said nothing and began to walk away.
"Guess those boys were late to a party…" the Boulderlaire's eyed the mysterious men as they walked away, and once they were out of earshot, they began to talk.
"Those eggs got me the creeps. You think they're in line with any gumshoes and coppers?"
The big guy began to shuffle the cards and fold. "Nope, the boss checked them out. They ain't dropping any silver nor gold about us."
"For now, at least. We should flag them just in case."
His buddy cut the deck as they began to play poker. "Boss is already on it with some other boys. Those bastards better watch themselves, or they will be sleeping with the fishes soon."
The both of them chuckled as they continued to play, by that time, Simon continued to follow the trail of the Sanguines as they seem to be collecting and or exchanging items and wares from gangs and owners of not so legal businesses from all across Alexandra.
Simon even found out that it was not just these two men. It was multiple duos that seemed to be scouring each nook and cranny of the city until the wee hours of the night.
He was already used to occasions like these where he had to stake out a target for hours on end. The only hard part being that he had to change up his outfit every hour or so just in case anyone got suspicious.
The man went from a homeless hunchback to an inconspicuous large rock, and once, he even looked like a traveler, disguising Helen as a pack bag.
Then, without any warning, the Clocktower in the center of the city struck 12, ringing a harmonious melody all across the Alexandra.
It was at that exact moment that all of the Imperium Sanguines men stood up straight and began to walk into alleyways and he even saw them going into one of the sewer tunnels.
Now that was most intriguing, and since he had nothing better to do, Simon decided to further investigate, following the pair he was already tailing into an alleyway.
It was there they removed several piles of rubbish that lay on top of a trap door, which was locked by several chains.
Those were probably garbage disposals, but for some reason the,ey did not have any locks, only the chains themselves.
However, it did not seem to be a problem as one of the men ripped off the chains with a grab as if it were just a regular door.
Then, the both of them jumped inside, taking one last look around to make sure nobody was following them, closing the trap door as the chains rebound themselves with the aid of Magick.
Simon sighed as he, too, looked around before scrambling to the chains, grabbing bolt cutters to try and break the chains, but to no avail.
"Shit! What is this thing made of?!" He considered using his gun, but that would make too much noise, and he was sure that even it wouldn't have worked.
He groaned a bit and began to walk towards the sewers, which was probably the best option he had left to track them down.
Well… that was until a familiar voice yawned on his back.
"Mmmm… are we there yet?"