Ahriman frowned. "That wasn't the same vampire that I knew. That Count appears to be from an entirely different bloodline. What does the parchment say?" He looked over to Adric. "If what they said was true, good on you." He pondered his past and considered the group's options. "I wonder if Vladimir is still in the city. He was the Exemplar of the Ebon Hand, the Order of knights that my mentor was from."

Adric held the fox in his hands the same way one might hold the dead body of the man who killed their father. Adric swallowed hard. He calmly placed the fox on the ground. He calmy reached into his coat and withdrew a crossbow. He not so calmly fired at the fox and began screaming. The fox scampered around the alleyway, hopping on small boxes or piles of trash in order to escape, but Adric kept pursuing it. He swung a right hook that disetegrated some old boxes the fox was standing on a mere moment before. Adric fired his second crossbow, missing the fox, but taking the edges of a few hairs with it. Adric had the fox on the ropes. That was until he tripped and fell flat on his back.

While Jessica was still thinking on the vampire's true intentions something particular happened, Adric had an animal on his hands? considering the tail ears and size she could tell that it was a sort of Fox. She stood quiet until she heard the gunshots which made her jump slightly and almost made her withdraw her sword. She breathed deeply and then heard someone reading the riddle. "A door that is not a door?.... well now I'm gonna have to think about that one for a bit...". However Jessica was still curious about what happened with that Fox, she walked up to Adric to take the idea out of her head and focus on the riddle "Adric what are you doing???" that was probably the best question to the situation.

Liss turned into a big, beautiful wolf, which was exactly what Marcus felt like they needed right now. Except Adric was shooting at the fox and Liss obviously dind't like that as she ripped herself away from Marcus to chase after him. Marcus turned to the others, "I'll see if I can convince her to track down that fox, you all try figuring out that riddle."

Marcus ran up to Liss and Adric and tried calming Lissette down. "Don't you think it would be beneficial to track that fox down? You can always come back and eat Adric later." He wanted to find out what was so special about the fox, and why everyone was chasing it.

"When's a door, not a door?"

Boris sat down and pondered as he picked on the riddle. There's many possibilities on what the answer could be, and sometimes a simple riddle can be the most difficult.

When's a door, not a door? Hmmm... a wall? A wall has no knob and not a door... I don't think that would make sense.

The birds on his wicker hat chirped and cooed as he continues to play around the riddle. He's not that great with riddles, but his sister, Kuulikki, is basically, hands-down, the best at it in his opinion. No matter what riddle it was, she manage to solve it within seconds. Quite a quick thinker for her young age, now just wished she was alive today. She would've proved to be a great advantage to the group during this time of need and would make the whole riddle thing much more palatable and smooth. Although she can only manage to solve riddles she knows, and he certainly doubts she knows this one.

Seeing how Lissette and Marcus left after the fox, she decided to follow as well. The curiosity was taking over her as she was still trying to figure out the answer "Maybe the riddles doesn't refer to a door how we know it... maybe is something that works as a door?... she bite her lips as she thought deeper into the thought, she felt she was close to the answer but couldn't pull it out from her mind yet.

"But it says when is a door not a door. So when does a door not act like a door? A door's purpose is to allow people to come in and out, but if a door isn't acting like a door, would it be a barricaded door or something?" Septimius shrugged, he was more curious about how the count had teleported the way he did. It was like no magic he had ever seen, there was no circles or incantation... so how?

"YOU COME BACK HERE YOU BASTARD!" Adric screamed at the fox. "I will wear you like a coat! I will flaunt it! I will let everyone know that you were bested!" Adric went to grab a brick on the ground but was stopped by a wolf. Just what he needed. More animals. Adric saw that it had the same eyes as Lissette. He gave up struggling and pouted. The fox had scampered off around a corner. Adric turned to Lissette, and begged in a voice sweet enough to give a man cavities.
"Lissette, my dear, I must truly implore you to let me go" he said pitifully, "For if you keep me hear, I can't hunt that bastard DOWN AND BREAK EVERY SINGLE BONE IN HIS BODY AND STRING HIM UP LIKE A GODDAMN TROPHY!" The last part was a threat, not directed at Lissette, but at the fox who had scampered away. Lissette released his coat, and ran off to find the fox. Mrcus and Jess followed close behind. "You'll never find him. He's much too quick" and also has a penchant for defying the laws of reason, but that information didn't seem relevant.

Adric heard the soft footfalls of fox's paws. Adric's hairs stood on end. He was here. Right behind him. He turned a corner and somehow made it all the way back around. The crafty bastard. Adric whipped around and fired with both is crossbows. Both happened to be empty. Adric instead decided to grab the fox by the scruff of its neck. Adric pulled it close and peered into its green eyes. "Listen here, I plan to destroy everything that ever made you you, until you are nothing more than the memory of a memory! Do you understand me?" The fox blinked, and it bared its teeth. Not in a threatening manner, but almost as if it were smiling.

"Addy, pal, you always knew how ta joke!" The fox's smile grew wider. Adric tightened his grip. "Say, who's ya friend?" The fox said, glancing over Adric's shoulder, to the wolf who was trying to coax him out of a hiding place.

"That is Lissette, and she and I are in very hot water because of you!" The fox cocked his head

"Cuz o' me? Aw pal, sure am sorry!" Adric dropped the fox, who then proceeded to hop onto a pile of boxes. It sat down and smiled at Adric "So pal, about that issue I was tawkin bout earliuh" Adric slumped to the ground. He had come so close to finally killing that ginger bastard, but as always, he had been too slow.

"You damned fool, I owe you nothing" Samson looked off, faking deep thought. He squinted

"Nah, pretty sure you owe me quite a bit, pal!" The fox snapped back, smiling. Adric hated his smug little face. He wished Lissette was in the mood for brazed fox. Adric resigned himself to the fantasies of the fox dying in horrible ways.

"Well, what's the problem?" The fox looked sheepishly to the ground

"Well, ya know how we swore tuh nevuh mess with the vampiuhs?"

"You didn't"

"I did"

"And now?"

"Now everything wit fangs anna coin purse wants my pelt"

"Or anyone with two eyes and a functioning brain"

"Semantics pal! Semantics! Anyways, I need you ta take da heat offa me"

"With violence?"

"Prefuruhbly!"

Adric sighed, but began to smile. He had missed this, in an odd, nostalgic, roundabout way. Adric ruffled the fur on top of the fox's head. He stood and turned around. The party was looking at him with abject confusion and horror. Adric looked at the fox. It shrugged, not knowing what was so important either. Adric stood for a moment, trying to find something so worth looking at. His torn coat? He frazzled and ill-maintained mustache? The talking- Ah yes, that was it. Adric pointed to the fox, and the fox performed a little bow. "This is my business associate-"

"By dat, he means his friend!" The fox interrupted

"My business associate Samson" Samson hopped off the box and smiled.

"Lovely to meetchya!" Adric felt like screaming. Here he was. Standing in the flesh. The maleable, crushable, flesh. And Adric could not do a thing about it.

((Ooc: I will reply after work))

The stitcher was on the ground and sat cross-legged with his eyes closed.

"Okay," Desmond started. "When is a door..not a door?"

Ghan watched the fox curiously.

"A door can be open. It can be closed," Desmond said and then nodded to someone saying that it can be barricaded. "It can be walled, it can be sealed, it can be locked and it can be broken..."

The stitcher kept thinking, his train of thought said loud enough for most to hear if they weren't busy.

After the altercation between the fox and Adric, the others began their best attempts at deciphering what was a nigh undecipherable riddle. In this search, they began to walk down through the town. It was now empty, and no noises were to be heard. Random papers and bags flailed along the sidewalks and against the buildings. Virtually all of the doors were closed and locked, with the exception of one at the end of the street they were walking on.

The house was pretty much intact. It looked as though it had painted as recently as last week, and new glass was placed for the windows. The woodwork was perfect, and there were even a few stairs at the front. The only thing out of place was that the door was open the slightest bit.

"When is a door not a door? Well if it's ever NOT a door than that's a sign of poor craftsmanship" he paced back and forth thinking. Every now and again, he would raise his head and begin to say something, but then shook his head and continued pacing. Finally he stopped and raised his hand

"Aha! My friends, what if we take him too literally or too seriously! By his attitude he clearly thinks we're below him, like children! And what better way to treat a child then with a riddle! Now, assuming this, the answer is not a quest or anything, but a simple mental excercise! A door is not a door..."

"WHEN IT'S AJAR!"