The Dying Hour (Open)

[ithevulture]

Dekar nodded, "Annette is fine, as any woman would be in this situation." His answer came out more sarcastic than intended, "I mean, she will be fine but right now we need to give her space as she plans the funeral"

Dekar thought for a moment on the concept of justice, he had his own suspicions. The Captain could have very well been poisoned while they were docked last, or as soon as earlier today. That type of poison was fickle like that. He hoped that it wasn't anyone in the crew.

"An investigation will be in order." He announced, "Killian, we should work together leading it seeing as you are one of the more studied members of this crew. The rest of you keep your eyes open for anything suspicious and report them to either Killian or me. We will head back east to our last docking point to continue the investigation."

Dekar felt strange giving orders in such a way. Back home it would have been expected, ironic he ended up in a point of leadership. Considering that was what he wanted to avoid in his home land.

[Miss Gates]

Killian nodded to Dekar and watched the rest of the Crew leave the room. He walked over to Dekar, ready for action. Killian knew the Captain well. The Captain was the best man on the ship. The bounty was always there after a quest and the Captain was an honest man. He only killed when he had to; his shoes would be difficult to fill.

Killian hoped that Annette was going through this time with hope. He feared that she would be struct with grief and overwhelmed with death. Would she be able to perform her future responsibilities? Killian wasn't sure. He placed a hand on Dekar's shoulder and said, 

"Sir, I am sure that the Crew is safe." Killian spoke to him. "I don't suspect anyone would harm the Captain." He sighed. "Then again I don't know some of the new recruits and the only other idea that I can think of is that we might have a stowaway."

Someone hiding on board seemed like a reasonable guess to Killian. Someone magical could easily get on board and cloak themselves from Annette. Killian knew of two new recruits on board that hadn't always known the Captain like the rest of the Crew. What if it was an assassination? There were so many thought flowing through his mind. 

[ithevulture]

Dekar nodded, "You are right Killian."

A stowaway would be the best possible suspect. However, Killian also had a point when it came to the new crew members. Dekar brought his hand to his chin and rubbed what was becoming an unruly beard. He didn't want to think ill of the crew, they had for the most been kind to him. Dekar was also determined that he stay as objective as possible when it came to the truth. He had to consider the possibility of everyone but not show his suspicion. This was going to be hard.

"Killian, why don't you talk to the crew, you know them better than I." Dekar said, "I'll check for signs of a stowaway. We have to take extreme care as to not cause a panic within the ship. Can I count on you?"

Dekar held out his hand.

((Killian a vampire in this?))

[Miss Gates]

Killian nodded at Dekar and said, "Right away sir." 

He walked away but had a strange feeling. It was odd taking orders from Dekar, but he knew it was the right thing to do. There were two new members of the crew. There was a man from the world of Anthia and a man from the world of Crystalline. Killian wasn't sure which man to interrogate first. The Anthian man was a Torum magic user. Tour magic users were warriors. It was rumored that he was having a difficult time breaking away from the warrior life. Could he have murdered the previous Captain? Killian wondered. 

Or was it the man from the world of Crystalline? That would be odd because the world of Crystalline has almost zero violence. The towns were small and everyone protected one another. Evil be damned in that world. So Killian decided he needed to interrogate the Anthian man. He walked up to the deck and saw the crew mopping the ship. The men's heads were hung low and they were moving slowly. Killian watched the mops on the ship wash away the dirt of the ship. He also thought it was as if the crew washed away the grief. 

Killian moved to the Anthian man who was the Torum magic user. He was leaning against the ship, with the mop in his hand. He walked over to him and leaned on the same part of the ship. There was a moment of silence between the two and then he turned to him. 

"Is it Coen?" Killian asked him. 

"Yeah." Coen replied. "It is." 

"How long did you know the Captain?" Killian asked him bluntly. 

Coen turned to him. "This is it, isn't it?" He asked. "The man from Anthia being accused of murder. I guess in your eyes I fit the description compared to the other new crew member, huh?"

"It is just a question Coen." Killian said. "Once I get a read off of you that's it. All you have to do is tell me the truth." 

"The truth is, I don't know anything about the Captain's murder." Coen said. "The Captain was helping me break my magic. Torum magic is difficult to break due to it being physical. It's in my bloodlines, unfortunately." 

Killian nodded. "So Annette was the key to that I am guessing." 

"Yes." Coen simply said. "The Captain told me she was on her way to designing a perfect spell that would spare me suffering. I would never wish anything bad on the Captain. He was helping me." 

Killian smiled. "The Captain was good at helping people. He helped Annette and almost everyone on this ship." He paused and considered Coen's story. It sounded truthful. Killian trusted his gut. "That's all we will need from you. If you remember anything please let me know." 

Coen smiled at him. "Thank you." He sighed. "I appreciate it." 

Killian walked away and searched for the man from the world of Crystalline. He could not be found. Killian swore that he just saw him earlier on deck. Where did he go? He wondered. This was strange and not looking good for the man from the world of Crystalline. Coen was proven innocent by Killian. There was no way he could of hurt the Captain. He needed the Captain. He needed Annette. Killian walked around the ship and searched every room except for the bunks. 

Killian walked to the bunks and smelled an awful smell. He looked down and noticed a trail of blood on the floor. He swallowed hard. How did this happen? This was not good. This meant there was more than one attack. Killian walked into the room now and looked at all the beds. He found the man from the world of Crystalline on the bed, dead. Killian covered his mouth and walked closer to the man's bed. He got closer to the man to see the wounds. There were two holes on the right side of his neck. It didn't look like there was a struggle so Killian assumed that the killer attacked him in his sleep. His eyes widened. 

There was a stowaway on this ship. And it was a vampire. 

Killian turned to run out of the bunker's room when a hand grabbed him from below and tripped him. Killian yelled out in surprise and turned around. The vampire had blonde hair and gray eyes. Killian struggled and kicked him in the face. He got up and tried to run once more when the vampire tackled him from behind. Killian's green eyes widened in fear. He did not want this. His heart pounded in his chest. He did not want to die. He did not want to be...infected. 

Killian's yells became louder and he tried to get the attention of his crew. The vampire snarled and pinned him down. Killian struggled beneath him and stared into his eyes. The vampire grinned and said,

"That's it," the vampire chuckled. "Just stare into my eyes. You're falling asleep right now. You know that?" 

"NO!" Killian hollered. 

The vampire sunk his teeth into his neck and drank. Killian could feel his life slipping but the vampire was keeping his life in his hands. He wanted to reason with new captain. The vampire wanted to be on new lands. He was tired of the waters. The last ship that he was on threw him over board when he was bitten and he died with vampire blood in his system. Next thing he knew he was this. The vampire pulled Killian's body onto a bed and fed him his blood. Killian's eyes were closing as the vampire's blood poured into his mouth. 

No...Captain...Help me, Killian thought and begged for mercy.