The sight of a woman swallowing a cat, just so suddenly and out of blue took even Darwin's hardened disposition by surprise.

A horrific scene as the cat was stiff from shock, then fell limp again, as the ogress stood and marched into the kitchen. Darwin didn't follow, he bolted the other way. The door was still open, and he was sure her dead prey would take time to prepare for whatever horrid meal was to come. Should have know this entire thing was too good to be true, some monster living in human form, eating the blood of animals as appetizer for human blood. A ghoul, he'd been found by some kind of vampire.

He would need his books for this, information on slaying such things. Most would assume these sorts of creatures to be a Warlocks bread and butter, but Darwin had only been interested in spirits that granted power, not commanding the undead. Though he'd dabbled in ghosts for a time, trying to dredge up the masters of the old world to seek their guidance. His house never quite smelled the same afterwards.

The door passed him as a blur as he leapt out into the open air of the street, gawkers still milling about after the smoke had cleared muttering banal rumors to each other. Fine, let the fools watch, he was off to arm himself against this foul lamia woman that had lured him in with so called kindness and warm gravy smothered meals. No doubt fattening him up like a lamb for slaughtering, it would've been only a matter of time before he was next.

He rounded a corner and crouched behind a standing rain barrel. He was safe for now, but he knew he would have to make his way back to. Him. His old body, However the demon shade currently possessing it had left himself vulnerable in allowing him to locate each other at any time. A skill that would serve him well in the future when he planned to expunge the creature and take back his home.

But for now, he'd settle for retrieving a few choice tomes from his library. There was an urgency here, and a thrill. If this was a ghoul, then that meant a potential for study. The Undead were a unique breed of construct, not only for their morbid build, but for their effect on the living. Particularly draining their victims of the Breath of Life itself, their Pneuma!

Such a creature would be a perfect weapon against his enemy, a corpse hungry for life gnawing away at a creature that was built with eternal life.

Assuming she was a ghoul, that ignored the bizarre and logic defying acts of magic she performed on him before she at the cat. And she had become far too rational for a mindless ghoul, giving specific commands and having them obeyed in an instant. No magic he knew could command obedience like that with a mere flick of one's finger, none of the ancients mentioned anything like this. Unless...

It was entirely possible that the records for such power had been expunged from history. Destroyed from the broader knowledge by the ruling powers, The Order, acting on orders from the Church most likely. A major concession made when the Magicians Order placed itself under the Church's preview to escape the debacle that was the Cupid Wars. No, this likely went farther back than even that. Likely back to the original Hapsburgs that founded this City and in who's honor it had been named. All the way back to the Junican Marqui and the Vineyard Rebellion, or perhaps the ancient God kings of old!

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But now these buried legends had resurfaced, somehow, their practice remained alive. If only barely, and soon they would be his for the taking. He and Him alone would hold this power, and with it, even the Devil would have to run from him, Darwin Zachery Von Helmut would become like the god kings of old. Absolute power, worship and praise from all that lived under his heel and flinched at his gaze.

Provided he found what he was looking for, and the Demon hadn't destroyed his copy of "Spirts of Midnight: Summoning and Binding of the Unwelcome." It was rare edition from the first publication, original black leather, before Gerodimos Cleft from the Inquisition forced the author to recant his works and censored much of his writings. It also cost a fortune to get.

With that tome's secrets, he'd be returning to the path of dominance once more! And then he'd feed that demon to his undead pet, reclaim his body and publish a journal on the effects of the Undead to begin his rule of Magician society, while keeping the best secrets from himself of course.

Assuming the vile spawn of hell masquerading as him hadn't burned it along with the rest of his library, the image of fire in his mind suddenly alerted him to the passage of time and a need for hurry, the compendium could disappear at any moment should he delay.

And much like the ghosts he once summoned in his experiments, a dark wraith slipped through the streets with the speed of malice, like a foul vapor or stygian cloud hovering over the streets and sweeping past like an evil wind as the storm thundered on towards the horizon. As the wind blows it does not know to where but drawn by some other power it arrives just the same. It laughed as it speed along, like smoke rising from a fire, fueled by it's own unnatural power.

At least until he stumbled upon his destination. Whirling to a stop, more like a stumble as his powers failed, he gazed upon the Devil's tower. Sort of. No doubt some remint of a poorly planned city guard expansion, perhaps they thought it would a rest area, not that you'd find guards in the tower when they could be in the taverns a public drink house. Only good thing the guards ever did was get drunk and knock things over in public.

But the thing living inside this tower wasn't some drunkard thug in a uniform, the owner of this abode was far worse. Something Darwin was well acquainted with on a disturbingly personal level. Steeling his nerves, he set to enter, but not from the front door. No doubt some ward or guard would be stationed there, thus he would do as any cat or thief would and enter some other way.

As he crept forward to look, he felt a familiar force seize him, saw the door swing open and was dragged inwards by a malevolence far greater than his own burning hatred. For what was the ever-shifting wind to the crushing weight of an eternal mountain.

There would be a battle and Darwin was intending to win it.

At least, thats what he thought, until he was jammed inside of a suitcase and jumbled around as the bastard marched up the stair having trapped him a cage of leather and stiff carpet sewn to a shoddy assembly of wooden slats. Darwin scratched and fought, tried to flex his furious powers and claws to free himself only to be smothered or jostled once again by the brutish beast holding him hostage.

The case was flung open as he impacted something hard, the latch opened and he pounced, thinking to catch his opponent off guard with his quick rebuttal of force, flinging himself into the air and across a small table, he landed on the floor and rolled for a moment before whirling about to find his focus. Locking eyes with his smiling nemesis.

"Welcome back little kitty, just be glad my housekeeper is out today. I doubt she would accommodate such rodents on the property." The devil smiled; Darwin let out a small growl.

He'd found his way in, now he just needed a way out.