House of Memories [Closed]

Valen would manage to find some bandages, gauze, and anti-septic in one of the cabinets. The man sat still as he held his wound. Once Valen got the man to sit and start tending to his wounds, he'd notice that the claw marks were long and straight, almost-blade like in quality. More concerningly, however, he'd notice that the edges of the wound were tinged purple.

"How is it you came upon Jacques anyway?" the man said worriedly.

Valen squinted at the wounds but chose not to say anything just yet. Once he finished bandaging, he stood up and took a step back to examine the vendor.

"We saw your damaged wagon and found him nearby," Valen stated, mostly telling the truth. "A nearby hunter nearly killed him but we managed to restrain him. We're trying to figure out a way to him it, perhaps turn it to normal. Though there's no telling where to start."

Valen closed his eyes in thought but reopened them again.

"So I'm going to ask something a little odd of you," Valen stated directly. "I'm going to need to tie you up."

Valen raised the remaining bandages and started unfurling them to demonstrate.

"I'm sorry but we don't know anything about these creatures," Valen explained. "We can't rule out their condition is some sort of disease that spreads through wounds. But I promise we'll do everything possible to keep you safe."

"Disease!?" the cabbage seller said warily. "Th-that can't be it. This is the work of vampires isn't it? Why, the fact that he's like that should be--"

The cabbage seller started to inch away, his eyes wide with panic.

"Wait a minute, how do I know you're not lying? How do I know you aren't one of them and were keeping him hostage!?" he said.

The sudden leaps in the cabbage sellers logic were definitely noticeable. All of a sudden, the cabbage seller would start wincing and groaning in pain. His skin started turning pale and his eyes bloodshot red. He then glared at Valen, raising a hand that's nails were sharpening into claws and tried to swat at him.

Before the cabbage dealer swiped at him, Valen stepped forward and circled the bandage around his wrist. With a yank, he tried to pull the dealer, arm and all at once and slam him to the ground. Before the dealer could get his bearings, he grabbed the other wrist and bound his arms together back his back. Then, he unfurled the rest of the bandages and wound the other end around the ankle and legs before knotting it up thrice.

"Why couldn't this story be simple?" Valen groaned dryly. With a tired grunt, he hoisted up the dealer and threw him on the bed. He pointed at him warningly. "Stay. Heel."

Valen groaned and turned to his other ward, still wrapped in his chains.

"Well I can't keep those up forever," Valen muttered. He looked at the bedsheet, unceremoniously thrown on the floor. He started work making a rope out of the sheet and starting binding the creature in that.

"Well the hell do I even start," Valen muttered to himself. "That woman just keeps dragging me into these pain in the arse situations."

The seller-turned-monster would, as expected, put up a fight and tried to pull against the binds Valen had put up for it. Unlike the other one, it seemed extremely energetic and was now trying to gnash its teeth at the wanderer.

As if on cue to Valen's mutterings, he would hear talking from outside and see the figures of Liseran and the hunter from earlier emerge.

"The window's broken!" Liseran exclaimed from outside.

She burst through the door with her bell in hand, only to retract and yell.

"Oh my goodness!" she yelped as she pointed at the monster Valen was tying up. She then looked at the one on the table. "Wh-why--there are t-two---did they multiply!??"

"Don't be absurd," Valen sighed. He pointed to said new one and explained. "I found the cabbage dealer."

He went on to explain what had just happened and how the cabbage vendor got infected.

"Avoid getting scratched or bitten at all cost," Valen wrapped up while finishing knotting the bedsheet around the first one. "Sooo... how was your outing?"

"The cabbage dealer?" Liseran said in surprise. "But...he just went missing earlier. The fact that he'dbe turned in so short...wait, what do you mean scratch or biting?"

"It means that's how he was turned."

The voice came from the hunter who had just appeared in the door. He observed Valen and the two bound creatures, merely sighing and closing his eyes.

"I guess you made the right call," he told the two younger ones. "If they're turned by biting and scratching, I'm guessing that means these people are not undead after all."

He'd place a hand on Liseran's head, a task not difficult considering she was more than a foot shorter than her.

"H-hey! Wh-what gives?" she exclaimed.

The man gave her a gentle tousle.

"It's my way of thanking you two for stopping me," he said. "Now. Why don't I get out some real chains to keep these two in place and we'll tell you what we found out in the village."

***

Travis had unlocked a nearby chest and had a series of locks, cuffs, and chains at the ready to which he helped Valen secure the creatures more readily, with one tied to a post, and the other to the bed. Meanwhile, Liseran explained what they found.

"We didn't learn anything we didn't already know," Liseran said. "But something interesting did occur earlier."

Liseran looked at Travis, as if asking for the go-signal. He gave her a firm nod.

"We overheard some Expiate officers talking earlier about their investigation," Liseran said. "It seemed that they weren't here to just investigate the murders."

Liseran's expression turned grim.

"Apparently the local graveyard has been upturned," Liseran said.

"Someone had been exhuming dead bodies," he said. "And the bodies have gone missing. What's mysterious though is that they left most of the valuables behind so they can't chalk it up to graverobbing."

"Whatever the case, this definitely seems like some undead work," Liseran said. "And it makes me anxious as to what will happen at nightfall. But I have a plan if you'll hear me out. But first, I want to hear what you found out from your tampering with the creature--err..person earlier."

"To be honest, I didn't get much of a chance before all of... this happened." He made a lazy wave towards the shackled down creature to make his example. "Although..."

Valen pinched his chin in thought.

They seem to have an aversion to sunlight. Also the vendor's scratch mark had a coloration. That might be worth investigating."

Both Liseran and Travis loomed closer to examine the wound. The monster quickly winced and growled, making Liseran jump back and squeak. Her hand subconsciously grabbed Valen's arm, but she quickly retreated it, flushing. She cleared her throat.

"That's most interesting..." she said. "Being transformed by a scratch, it means something must have entered the blood stream to cause it. It's no simple transmogrification by glyphs or whatnot."

"That reminds me of a myth in Saoirse," Travis mused. "Something about 'cursed blood'. It was more of that vampire nonsense saying that drinking a vampire's blood would make you a vampire too. This seems like that, if not a bit off. I'm guessing we have someone good with brewing and enchantments to have done this. It's quite interesting."

Travis looked outside. The sun was still pretty high.

"That said, we don't have much time," Travis said. "If we want more clues, we can't risk another person getting harmed. I don't like the idea of sleeping with two monsters tied right next to my bed either. So we'll get to the point with our idea."

Travis crossed his arm.

"Know how the culprit seems to be striking at night?" he said. "While this monster attacked in the daytime, the culprit is someone careful with his steps and plans things. We can lure him by pretending little miss over here is a helper. In the meantime, you and I will be watching and ready to capture him."

Valen listened to Travis's plan thoughtfully and crossed his arms.

"Well, that would certainly be optimal," he mused. "But there's a problem there... if I were a night stalking killer, I wouldn't attack 'that'."

He lazily pointed a finger at Liseran when he said "that".

"Maybe if you put on a dress, you'll be a more alluring target than 'that'." Valen deadppaned to Travis.