Wallace had left his hideout as soon as the sun disappeared behind the long and tall line of buildings, allowing darkness to take over the city as the moon and the stars were shoved behind thick rain clouds and black smoke from the never resting factories of London. Such a beautiful night in such a beautiful city, so full of life and things to do and watch and listen, opening nights at the theaters, flyers announcing the arrival of a new circus scattered across the streets, the opera, restaurants and pubs and squares to mingle with the mortals as one of their own.
The vampire smiled as he took a deep breath of smoky air and stepped onto the street, allowing his feet to take him to whatever destiny as he stuck his hands into the warm pockets of his fine and beautiful, black velvet coat, the fabric flowing as gracefully as the vampire moved, covering his body from neck to knee, with silver buttons shaped as little roses. Underneath the coat, an expensive white silk button shirt with intricate lace designs around the collar, cascading down his chest, adorning the opening of the coat, the sleeves borne the same complicated work in lace, covering his pale and delicate hands almost to his fingertips. Black velvet trousers matched the coat, tightly running down his long legs and disappearing into almost high knee, black leather boots. And his cane, of course, a beautiful work in the darkest ebony, the handle and the tip covered in silver, carved into beautiful patterns. Everything was perfect for a perfect night in London, and Wallace planned to enjoy himself to the fullest.
Deciding to push his slowly growing thirst to the side for the first few hours of the night, the vampire reached a large square, bustling with people and their magical noises and scents, and their looks, all of them so attractive and tantalizing, at least in this area of the city, where the rich and cultivated people lived and enjoyed their graceful and comfortable lives. Here, Wallace looked just as one of them, a little bit eccentric maybe, but both men and women always welcomed him to join in their conversations. No one could really say no to someone so well dressed, and so educated and polite as Wallace was. And of course, there was the little detail of his unique nature, which turned to be almost irresistible to most humans.
Moments later, the vampire found himself sitting at an outer table of a small café, his body relaxed as he crossed his legs and pushed the coffee cup just a little further into the table, he loved the smell of freshly made coffee, yet he would never drink it, sitting at a café and ordering a cup of coffee was the natural thing to do, and so he did. While sitting there, the music of a band of gypsies reached his ears. Such wonderful creatures! He loved gypsies, with their music and clothes and legends, they knew about the vampiri, and some of them might even know when they were in front of one. Simply amazing. Enjoying their dance and their music, Wallace stood up to watch from closer. People around this area of London didn't like gypsies, but sometimes they stopped enough time to see more than one move of their feet and listen at more than one of their chords, and slowly a small crowd gathered around them. Wallace smirked as he spotted a few little kids working their tiny, nimble hands into the pockets of the wealthy spectators.
Only for a brief moment, a glimpse of another vampire reached his mind, he saw a foggy image, brick walls and... His mind was once again clouded in darkness, but this was enough to make Wallace to forget about all of his plans for the night, making his way into the narrow and dark alleyways of London. He had to investigate and see who was roaming around the streets of the city. This was so annoying, having to actually look for others, being unable to communicate for more than a second with someone else, it was like being blind and deaf. No one knew why was this happening, what caused this sudden block of their minds, but all vampires Wallace had encountered in the last years suffered from the same.
What started as a quick walk eventually turned into slow steps, and at some point the vampire doubted if he really wanted to keep getting further into the ugliest part of the city. Not that he was in any danger, but the area was just disgusting. The bricks itself seemed to ooze filth, and the smell of rotting things and death soon filled Wallace's nose and mouth. He grimaced in disgust, walking carefully, avoiding to touch anything else than the floor with the sole of his boots, he continued, focusing all the strength of his mind into the other creature. It couldn't be too far away.
His ears caught the clear sign of a struggle and he knew he was getting closer. Quickening his steps, Wallace moved forwards but as he received another image he stopped in his tracks, eyes wide open as he waited for a moment, hoping to get something else to confirm what he thought he just saw. But immediately he resumed his searching, walking faster and faster, hearing the poor dying bastard closer, his muffled sounds echoing across the many thin streets and turns. Wallace's heart pumped strongly against his ribs. What did he see? A flash of thick black hair and beard... He was now able to catch the smell of blood, and the smell of the vampire that was only a turn away from him. Was it him? Was it really him? His Jarek? It had to be him! Not for an instant he stopped to think that it could be anyone else, that it was impossible to find him after so many years. And then he saw him! Jarek, feasting with the blood of a vagabond.
Jarek would hear an annoyed huff first, and then a -hopefully- familiar voice. "You always drag me into the nastiest places." Wallace said, stopping the urge of running to him and hug him and squeeze his face with both hands and do all the things that annoyed the other so much, but inside, Wallace couldn't bring himself to calm down, and put his emotions in order. He was happy. He was more than happy. Ecstatic. He was angry. After all these years. So long without seeing each other, thinking he was dead.
