Hugue crossed the street cautiously, abandoning the umbrella he had been carrying. He attempted to get his sword from where he usually held it on his back, but he actually had to stop in order to draw the blade as the simple act gave him more difficulty than he needed at the moment. He frowned, displeased with the situation.

He sneaked past the pillars, then stepped around the one where he had seen something and quickly placed his blade on the throat of the man hiding there.

"Whoa," the man said, raising his face and looking at the blond. "That's some greeting, Hugue my boy."

"Master," Hugue mumbled, sounding more relieved than he wished, but he wasn't going to care at the moment. "Why are you here?"

William stood slowly, leaning against the pillar. It wasn't until then that the swordsman noticed that the older man was holding his right arm.

"Seeking cover, mostly," William answered while glancing around the pillar to check the street. He then rested his back against the pillar again and searched his pockets. He found his pipe after a few seconds and looked at it, apparently relieved that he still had it. He put it away, aware of the fact that this was not the time to start smoking. "Long story, I'll tell in a minute if this place is secure. Vampire."

Hugue looked around, instantly alarmed. "Where?"

"You got here and didn't see him?" The older man asked, then continued, sounding almost cheerful. "Well, then we're safe for now. He's not probably having the night of his life, seeing he's got a silver dagger embedded to his side and all."

The swordsman stopped to stare at William, then shook his head and continued, scanning the area for possible signs of an enemy. "What happened?" He then asked while grabbing the older man by the arm and pulling him to the main door of the building. There was a small alcove where the door was, and he knelt down there, dragging William down with him.

"All right, well," William answered, "the storm got pretty bad, so I had to stay on the Iron Maiden. I found my tools all right, and have them in this bag here. Wasn't so bad in the end, had some tea and a couple of rounds of chess with Kate. It finally stopped raining later, and I left. Took me at least twenty minutes to get back in town, with the road being so bad, but..."

"The vampire," Hugue interrupted.

The older man smiled. "Right. The wind stole my umbrella at some point. I wandered around here searching for it for a moment..." He grinned a little as he saw Hugue's almost annoyed expression.

"I don't know exactly when the vampire got me," he continued. "He just appeared out of nowhere and stuck a blade on my throat. He said he was going to kill me and also rambled something incoherent about a blond with a sword - you, I would presume. He punched me a couple of times for no reason, and that's when I pulled the silver dagger I had hidden in my sleeve and stabbed him. One cannot walk around here completely unarmed, you know, considering the situation in the town."

"Where did he go?" Hugue asked.

"No idea," William replied. "He screamed in pain, cursed a lot, and vanished somewhere. I haven't seen him since, but I'm sure he's around. I found this place and hid here, hoping I could manage to contact Kate and make it back to the church somehow. I obviously haven't been too successful at doing that so far."

Hugue looked at the streets again, then nodded to William. "Are you injured?"

"Oh, you mean my arm?" William said. "It's fine, just got a nasty bruise on it. I'll be fine. Are you sure you didn't see anyone on the way here? I'm just hoping the vampire didn't see you."

"He might have," Hugue admitted quietly and studied the area around them once more. "I was calling for you earlier."

His gaze found nothing. The streets were empty, but he suddenly remembered the umbrella. He would have to go get it before it drew the vampire's attention. "Stay here," he mumbled, then bolted away from their cover and quickly went to pick up the thing. He stopped in the shadows before continuing where the umbrella lay, but he then froze.

He was absolutely certain he had left it on the street and not on the lowest step of the stairs.

He heard something behind him, cursed and spun around, catching a sight of a shadowy figure on top of the stairs. "Master!" He yelled as he charged after the shadow, hoping his warning came in time.

"I don't think he has time to listen," called a malicious voice from the shadows. Hugue frowned and stopped as he reached the entrance of the building. He found himself facing a tall, dark-haired man who was holding William by the throat with one hand. The vampire's clothes were torn from the side and he had obviously been bleeding.

"Ah, Hugue... a little help... would be appreciated," William managed to say. He held the attacker's wrist with both hands, trying to keep him from choking him.

"This yours?" The vampire asked Hugue, chuckling. "I saw you two together and saw him smile at you. I saw him touch you..."

Hugue raised his sword and glared at the vampire. "Leave him out of this. He has nothing to do with this, and he wasn't in the mansion. Fight me."

"Certainly, Vatican dog," the vampire said and grinned evilly. "Except he's already involved. Bastard stabbed me with silver. Not that it made any difference, he's already involved and a lot more than that..."

William coughed but managed to get the vampire to loosen his grip a little. "Ah, I... apologize for that, but it was necessary. After all, it was, ugh, you who attacked me... first. I would certainly prefer to not get involved, but may I inquire," he paused and coughed again. "...How exactly am I more involved? You mentioned revenge earlier, so I suppose it's about your friends... Ah, I admit, I am from the Vatican as well, but..."

"Shut up!" The vampire snapped. He slammed William against the closest pillar and tightened his grip, holding the man up so that William's feet didn't touch the ground anymore. "I saw you, and you're so involved in this, old man. You see, this is personal now, and your blond bitch is about to die by my hand. After I kill you!"

William could only stare at his captor, as he was unable to say anything anymore as he was busy trying to breathe. Hugue took a step closer carefully, keeping his eyes on the vampire.

"Let him go," he said coldly.

"Oh?" The vampire said, turning to look at Hugue. "How would you like your lover to die? Slowly and painfully, or perhaps quickly and-?"

"...Lover?" Hugue asked, frowning.

"I said I saw you two," the vampire answered, laughing. "I'm going to kill him now, in front of your eyes, like you did to my lover, you scum!" He grinned darkly as he studied Hugue's expression. "Ah, you wouldn't have known. Forgot already? The wounded Methuselah you killed in the woods? You shouldn't have been there. Because of that, you will both die here!"

He threw William across the platform, and the older man hit himself against the wall and slumped down next to it. Hugue didn't need anything else; he charged at the vampire, slashing at him with his sword.