The halls of the Cascadian museum were silent. In the 4 years since Javert left these halls, not much has changed. Security protocols were the same, so it took no effort whatsoever to bypass them. The night watchman had no indication of another presence as he made his hourly rounds. Javert made his way to the Egyptian exhibit and made his way to the back of the room. He stood staring a moment at the cartouche on the wall, taking in the familiarity of it all. After a moment he put his hand to the wall and manipulated a series of hieroglyphs. The floor opened up and he descended the spiral staircase to his secret chamber. It seems nothing but rats and dust had seen this room since he left, forgotten halls of an almost forgotten time. As he traversed the halls, even his footsteps seemed to vanish into almost nothingness. They were barely an echo, more a whisper of an echo. It almost caught him off guard as the memories crept into his mind. He had spent little time here in the great scheme of things, yet in 216 years, some of his most memorable moments were spent in this city. Cascadia is the only place other than Paris where he really felt “home.”

This was the only place where he knew people he considered friends. Not friends in the mortal sense, but to a vampire. Other creatures of the night that he trusted enough to get him out of a tight spot, yet he was not so foolish as to turn his back on any of them. Likewise, all of them were smart enough not to leave themselves exposed to him either. Valek, Sorenti, Batgirl, Porter, and so many others in this city, were they still here? Would they remember him? Would they kill him on sight? Would they even care about his exile from the Setite clan, or would they leave it in the past?

Javert reached the door to his old office deep beneath the museum. His thoughts were scattered, but as he opened the door he was not surprised at all to catch a whiff of cheap cigar smoke.

[color=yellow:52325feef3][i:52325feef3]"Alcmeon, of all the kindred in the city, I should’ve known you would have been the 1st to hear of my return. Come out, dear brother, show yourself."[/i:52325feef3][/color:52325feef3]

From behind an ancient tapestry stepped a skulking, shadowy figure. As it took a drag off his cigar, you could see the pale distorted face of the nosferatu.

[color=red:52325feef3][i:52325feef3]"I have not gone by that name since Chateau D’if. If you know what is good for you, you will not address me by it again."[/i:52325feef3][/color:52325feef3]he retorted in a raspy, hushed voice.

[color=yellow:52325feef3][i:52325feef3]"Come now, Al, is that any way to greet your older brother? With idle threats you have no intention of acting upon?"[/i:52325feef3][/color:52325feef3]

In a flash, the nosferatu leapt on Javert, knocking him to the ground and pinning him. He pulled a long rusted pipe from the folds of his trench coat and held it to Javert’s throat. A thin line of blood formed from his neck as the razor sharp tip dug in.

[color=red:52325feef3][i:52325feef3]"MAKE NO ASSUMPTIONS ON WHAT I WILL AND WILL NOT ACT UPON, BROTHER. IN LIFE YOU MAY HAVE BEEN MY ELDER, BUT NEVER FORGET THAT IN UNLIFE I AM THE ELDEST. I say again, do NOT call me by my mortal name again.”[/i:52325feef3][/color:52325feef3] With that said, he released his grip, sheathed his pipe, and helped his brother to his feet.

Javert wiped the blood from his neck and chuckled, [color=yellow:52325feef3][i:52325feef3]"Very well Drain. Forgive me, I mean you no ill will. You are who you are, but you should never forget who you were. After all it is our past life that forced me into seclusion in the first place."[/i:52325feef3][/color:52325feef3]

It was about 5 years ago that the elders in the Followers of Set discovered the truth about the brothers. Drain and Javert were indeed brothers by birth, it was of little importance, or clever deceptions by Clan Nosferatu that this was hidden from the Setites. The nosferatu, with their infinite resources knew much longer. They have known ever since Javert was turned, and it is suspected that they may have engineered his embrace because of this fact. The brotherly bond between the two meant that much information was shared between them. More from Javert than from Drain, however, and when Javert was embraced by the Followers of Set, it gave them an inside man. At least this is what is suspected. Anyway, when Drain and Javert re-united in Cascadia a few years ago, the Setites finally learned the truth.

The elders held a meeting to figure out how best to deal with this discovery. They called upon Javert to meet them in Cairo, he met with them. Normally, the punishment for such an abomination was death to both parties. After some discussion they decided against this, they did not know exactly what the nos had learned from Javert over the years. Instead, they decided to torture whatever information they could out of him. For 2 years they carried out this punishment, but they learned very little useful information. Frustrated by this, they staked him and locked him in a sarcophagus for another full year, while they decided how to proceed. The decision was made to let Javert live, in the hopes that they could use him to gain access to the Nosferatu Clan's more secretive archives. They released him from captivity, and stripped him of all his rights in the clan. He was an outcast, and officially exiled from the Followers of Set. Un-officially, they were hoping to use him as their tool to gather information.

Javert continued to tell Drain what he knew of the past 4 years. Some was already known to Drain, some was not. Drain filled in the pieces of the story that he knew and together they pieced together most of the story.

Drain looked at his brother inquisitively,[color=red:52325feef3] [i:52325feef3]"So that accounts for 3 years, what of the last year? Even I lost track of you."[/i:52325feef3][/color:52325feef3]

[color=yellow:52325feef3][i:52325feef3]"I thought it best to lay low for a while. I traveled to a few secret safehouses I have around the globe. Mexico, Germany, Japan, Tibet, and many other places. Hiding and one place for a while, then moving on to another. I still wasn't sure what the other clans knew, or what they felt. It gives any of them cause for a bloodhunt. You are still valuable and have the backing of your clan, whereas I am now an exile. I have no clan to fall back on, I am on my own. I am sick and tired of running. I am no coward, I just haven't had the time to think it through. Someone has been following me since I left Cairo. Whoever it is, they are good, they have followed me all around the world, yet I have not been able to discern who they are. You are the only one I know and trust enough to help me find out who is after me and regain my status in my clan. Even if that means tracking down Set himself and bleeding him dry."[/i:52325feef3][/color:52325feef3]

[color=red:52325feef3][i:52325feef3]"What is in it for me if I decide to help you?"[/i:52325feef3][/color:52325feef3]

[color=yellow:52325feef3][i:52325feef3]"What is in it for you? You mean you can't just help me because we are brothers?"[/i:52325feef3][/color:52325feef3]

Drain took a puff from his cigar and grinned, [color=red:52325feef3][i:52325feef3]"No."[/i:52325feef3][/color:52325feef3]

[color=yellow:52325feef3][i:52325feef3]"Very well, what is it you want, once I am back on my feet I will make sure you get it? Christ, you really are a nos down to the core, aren't you."[/i:52325feef3][/color:52325feef3]

Reverting to there native tongue

Look around. Make your inspection. I have kept this place ready for you. None have come in that I haven’t allowed.


Javert walked slowly around the room taking in the years of collecting and research and remembering, wishing he had the fall back Drain had of a clan. Now the setetite had nothing. Nothing but a twisted crippled brother, in a twisted crippled city.

As he ran this fingers over the dusty books a thin smile crossed his parched lips.
“Drain.. Your rats have been eating these books” Gingerly he pulled one out and examined the pages.

“ this isn’t my book you fat Toad. Where are my things.. More than half of these are faux artifacts. Some even close enough to fool me.”

“I knew you’d notice. I took the liberty of saving some of your things into “storage” if you will. But in all fairness you didn’t look after it very well.. I should keep it.. Some of it is quite interesting”


“Nosferatu storage.... that means its in some dark hole being poked and studied by fat greasy fingers...”

“And here I thought I was doing you a favor by not letting your clan have all of your pretty little things.”

“My clan? I... I have no clan. Brother.. Do you know why I suffered.. Have you any idea what I had gone thru. The setites may not the most original at questioning.. But they have very old and effective ways.”

“ Not here Javert.. Not here. This place still stinks of snakes. And how you well know. Every wall has ears. Let us retire to someplace more homey. Somewhere where we can talk of your things and I can fill you in on our old friends.”

Javert walked to his desk and opened a drawer. He reached inside and pressed a series of hidden buttons. He walked over to one of the bookcases that adorned his old office while drawing the blade hidden in his cane. Removing a copy of [i:020a1e67ea]The Count of Monte Cristo [/i:020a1e67ea]revealed a small slot in which he inserted the blade and twisted. The bookcase slid aside to uncover a small corridor. The brothers walked down the hallway, and descended into the Cascadian sewers.

[color=red:020a1e67ea]“You complain of my place stinking of snakes, and yet you reside among the putrid stench of the sewers.”[/color:020a1e67ea]

[color=yellow:020a1e67ea]“True, that my home is somewhat reprehensible to others. However, there is much more to these labyrinths than human waste and rats. You would be quite surprised at what you can learn from what one disposes of in the sewers. What is that old cliché? One person’s trash is another’s treasure. Dirty little secrets, evidence, drugs, you name it. It all floats down this river of sludge eventually. All that knowledge is power, all that power is divinity, and all that divinity makes me a god.”[/color:020a1e67ea]

Javert scoffed. [color=red:020a1e67ea]“You are no god Drain. You are a leech. You are fat, slimy, grubby, little slug that has to have his fingers into everything.”[/color:020a1e67ea]

[color=yellow:020a1e67ea]“And you’re not?”[/color:020a1e67ea]

Javert fell silent at the reality of Drain’s statement.

[color=yellow:020a1e67ea]“Our methods may be different, but the outcome is still the same, is it not? Besides, how many times have you come to me for the secrets you could not discover on your own? Your resources are vast, Javert, but not infinite. Correction, your resources [i:020a1e67ea]were[/i:020a1e67ea] vast, but now that you have been stripped of everything, what have you got?”[/color:020a1e67ea]

[color=red:020a1e67ea]“Just because the Followers of Set have banished me, do not assume I have nothing. You of all people should know me better than that. I may have seemed to be on the run for the past year, and in a way I was, but I was also working. Plotting, scheming, watching, and waiting. I also had to consider what I had done, and what I am planning to do. If it is all worthwhile, admittedly, I am still unsure how exactly to proceed, but I can wait no longer. That is why I came back here now. This is where they expect me to go. This is where they are watching for me. This is where I must end the chase and either wash myself completely of the Setites, get them off my back and leave me to my own devices, or die trying. They undoubtedly know I am here. I felt their prying eyes upon me before I even stepped within city limits. Well, either them or whoever else wants my head.”[/color:020a1e67ea]

[color=yellow:020a1e67ea]“I too am aware of these newcomers to Cascadia. They try to be quiet and concealed, but little escapes my network. The last few months have been particularly busy, no doubt because of your return. Let us leave that alone for now, though. Dawn is nigh, and you must rest.” [/color:020a1e67ea]

Drain stopped in front of a small ladder, and motioned for Javert to proceed up. Javert ascended the ladder and opened the manhole cover at the top. The two climbed out into a small hidden trailer.

[color=yellow:020a1e67ea]“You will be safe from prying eyes here, brother”[/color:020a1e67ea]

Javert laughed as he gazed into one of the many hidden cameras that adorned Drain’s “Guest House.” [color=red:020a1e67ea]“All prying eyes, except yours, you mean.”[/color:020a1e67ea]

[color=yellow:020a1e67ea]“Come now Javert, do you not trust me?”[/color:020a1e67ea]

[color=red:020a1e67ea]“No, no I don’t. I may trust you with a lot of things, but for everything I entrust to you, there are 100 more that I do not dare.”[/color:020a1e67ea]

A slight smirk crossed Drain’s lips as he began to climb back down into the sewers.

[color=yellow:020a1e67ea]“Have a good rest, brother. I will see you tomorrow evening.” [/color:020a1e67ea] Drain disappeared into the hole beneath the small haven, and Javert moved to replace the manhole cover. As he moved it into place, he heard Drain call to him from the shadows. [color=yellow:020a1e67ea]“Oh and Javert… I wouldn’t entrust me with anything.”[/color:020a1e67ea] His voice trailed off into the sewers laughing all the way. Javert sealed the entrance, and went back into the trailer.

Drain made his way back to his own home in the sewer. He turned on a small video monitor and couldn’t help but laugh at what he saw. Javert had only found about 1 in every 4 cameras in the underground trailer. He watched as Javert fed on the caged rats, and drifted off to sleep.

[color=yellow:020a1e67ea]“Sleep, dear brother, for tomorrow is a new night with new challenges.”[/color:020a1e67ea]