A New Home

by Khalvin Thu May 21, 2009 2:59 pm

The night air is cool, the moon bright. Long shadows cast across the ground creating deep voids in the landscape. The houses surrounding Brutus’ new abode are all dark in sleep. These are simple people waiting to restart their simple lives when the sun rises.

It is clear the New House is the eye sore of the block. The unkempt lawn threatens to wage war against its neat and tidy neighbors. Leaves and twigs blanket the gutters. And the paint is chipping in many places along the exterior.

Brutus turns the key and heads inside. He flips on the lights and is greeted by the stale odor of an empty house. He had scanned the walls for pests earlier in the day and did his best to force them out. His gear lay piled in the closet near the door, a duffle bag full of his clothes, a baseball bag filled with his shotgun and gun kit, and a third bag sorted with medical supplies.

He gathered it all up and went for the master bedroom. A thick bedroll waited along the wall. Brutus wouldn’t be going to sleep just yet. He found an old hanger in the bedroom closet and hung up his duster. From the pockets he pulled out two oddly shaped pieces of metal. They flashed copper in the dim moon light. He made his down the hall through the empty living room, and out into the back yard.

The feeling of energy reverberated in his bones as he stepped out from the house. Stella had colles in a Hallow and advised him to take good care of it. He slipped the metal pieces over his fingers and began to practice the patient moves Morphii had instructed. The steady punch followed by a flexing of Life energy out though his arms and into the copper knuckles on his clenched fists. This ritual he would repeat at length before heading back inside.

As he tucked in for the night he recalled his list of projects to be completed the next day. Beside his bed a picture of a girl and three guys rested on the carpet, a reminder of friends in L.A.