The train smashed its way through the sheets of pounding rain, its block-like metal carapace shielding the occupants within. Powerful lights pierced the gloom, the roar of the locomotive's massive engine rising to mingle with the storm. Clouds churned overhead like molten basalt, a natural sin-dark smog that hung over the badlands.

Inside, safe from the elements, Gliss watched the downpour impassively. A small, black-haired individual, she lurked by the window like a solid shadow, her eyes following the lines of raindrops stretched by the train's tremendous speed. Buffeting wind and walls of water barely caused the great machine to tremble. She rested a delicate, pale hand against the frame of the window, feeling the reverberations pass through her slender frame.

Not long now.

Her arduous journey was finally drawing to a close. She'd spent the last sixteen hours cooped up inside the badlands train, running all the way from the mountain passes in the north down to the hub of the province, the massive sprawling port city of Veridian Shores. The carriage she occupied was quiet, with only a handful of other commuters scattered around the seats, but she could still feel the pulse of their blood, the sensation building and building. She'd restrained herself so far but her self-control was running out.

Concentrating, Gliss forced her mind away from the humans in the carriage. Instead she focused on peering through the downpour, searching for her destination. The punishing rain was finally beginning to thin out as they approached the coast, and through her amplified vision she thought she could make out a faint, pink-red glow beyond.

A few minutes later the glow coalesced into true structures and she felt a tremor of excitement. With a slow, languid movement she swept the white-dyed fringe of her hair back out of her eyes to get a better look. Buildings and lights crept out of the gloom, like a mirage at first but becoming more solid by the second.

Bulbous domes and spiny minarets glittered against the twilit skyline, spotlights of red and gold spearing into the sky around them. Behind them the city proper rose like a forest, a wild conurbation of structures mashed together in a single, life-clogged mass. Factory chimneys towered over their surroundings belching smoke out over the air. Huge sprawling mansions dominated whole districts, baroque constructions that spoke of power and privilege. Around them the tenements wound in concrete coils, plugging up every gap, the mortar that held the city together.

Veridian Shores – the seat of a world within a world.

The train slowed its thunderous charge as it approached the city outskirts and Gliss exhaled a long, slow breath. Her whole life had been building to this, a madcap scheme that could shift the balance of power between the Clans or end up getting her killed. She allowed herself a feline smile at the thought. She loved the games of risk and reward; thrived on them.

Buildings rushed up around the train, huge-soot dark stacks with bands of ochre light spearing out of them into the surrounding streets. She saw people now, flashing silhouettes, seething masses of life that filled up the streets like a living river. Gliss ran her tongue along the front of her teeth, feeling the sharp tips of her fangs just waiting to reveal themselves.

Soon.

After a couple of minutes the train cleared the city proper, rumbling its way down to the enormous coastal transport hub, where the freight cars at its rear would be decoupled and passed through to the loading bays at the port, while the passengers were offloaded in the opposite direction. She felt the engine dial down again and the voice of the diver crawled out over tinny, ill-fitted speakers to tell them that they were approaching their destination. Anticipation swelled within her as they slowed...slowed...slowed.

Stopped.

Gliss turned from the window and made for the door, sweeping up the heavy leather satchel in one hand as she went.

Her bulky, thick-heeled boots clumped against the floor as she walked, a pair of tough stomping tools that reached up to just below her knees. Above them a series of rips and slashes patterned her black jeans, leading up to a chain-link belt with a buckle in the shape of a snarling dragon head. She straightened her hooded leather jacket with a shrug of her shoulders. The grey top she wore beneath it cut off just below her ribs and as the train doors opened she felt a tepid kiss of the cool city air against her midriff.

The smell of sea-salt and chemical fuel mingled in the air and she breathed it in – grateful to be out of the cold, frigid mountain ranges of her home. Veridian Shores was vast, warm and inviting. She stepped into the city's embrace. People spilled out of the train all around her and she let herself be swallowed up by the flow. Huge disc-shaped lights in the ceiling far above poured illumination down into the train station, and announcers boomed over the tannoy system.

She exited the station, and immediately voices rose around the dockyards, together with the cacophonous clatter of heavy machinery, loading and offloading huge cargo containers from the Land Across the Water. Gliss saw the immense cranes of the docks moving like prehistoric monsters on the skyline. People rushed everywhere she looked – young, old, tall, short – a microcosm of the world she inhabited.

Gliss turned from the hubbub, making her way toward a quiet section of the docks. The train ride had been long enough. Now she needed to feed. Striding nonchalantly along the queyside, she made no effort to quiet the echoing clack of her boots against the concrete, daring the human dregs that she knew lurked in this dingy section of waterfront to challenge her.

Her wait wasn't a long one.

The prickling sensation on the back of her neck told her that more than one set of eyes had locked onto her. She sensed no Aspect among them. These were just humans. Just prey.

She kept walking. Away from the crash and roll of the main docks the sound of the city faded away, replaced by the lapping of the ocean against the stone plateau upon which Veridian Shores sat. The smells of petrol disappeared, replaced by a stale dampness mixed with long abandoned food and alcohol.

Out of the shadows ahead of her stepped a tall, coated figure. Gliss halted, sizing the individual up. A human with pallid skin and broken dentistry, he glared through blood-shot, heavily lidded eyes. In one hand she saw the flicker of a blade and had to keep the smile off her face. This fool had no idea what he had just confronted. She dropped her bag onto the stone of the dockside.

"Out for a stroll, darlin'," he sneered, walking towards her.

She didn't answer. Feigning intimidation, she took a step back.

A pair of arms suddenly wrapped around her from behind, a flabby body pushing against her. She wrinkled her nose and couldn't even muster up a pretend gasp of surprise. But she could smell the hot pounding of his blood; feel the life coursing through him. With an effort, Gliss suppressed her natural urges. Anyone can be dangerous, if you're not careful.

"She's a nice one," the man holding her chuckled. "What brings you down the docks eh? Lookin' for a good time?"

"Something like that," she murmured as the other man stepped closer, within striking distance.

"Good to know."

She felt her supposed captor's hand wander up over her belt and onto her stomach, his hot, clammy fingers making her skin crawl. A low, alcohol-ridden chuckle filled her ear as his hand drifted further...

I think that's enough for one night, boys.

And with a thin smile on her face, Gliss stamped on the foot of the man holding her. The heavy heel of her boot slammed down with enough force to shatter bone and the man screamed in agony, instantly releasing his grip and stumbling away. His companion started forward but halted when she let out a low, threatening hiss, baring her fangs in the moonlight. His eyes went wide and he hesitated for a moment. In that moment Gliss stepped forward and drove a boot into his chest. His sternum caved in under the immense impact and he was propelled bodily off the dockside and into the sea.

Turning, she found the injured thug had a knife in one hand, his pig-like face screwed up in pain and rage. He swung at her, slow and ponderous in her eyes. Raising an eyebrow she drifted out of the blade's path and caught his arm, wrenching it around behind his back. As she caught sight of his neck she could no longer contain the change, the smell of a fresh feed overwhelming her senses. Her fangs slid eagerly into place and her irises disappeared, leaving only a white orb centred with a single dark pupil, like a daub of the night itself.

She twisted hard, breaking the would-be attacker's wrist with a sickening crack, and then leaned forward, sinking her fangs deep into the exposed flesh of the man's neck. Energy surged through her as his lifeblood flowed easily into her mouth and down her throat. Her whole body burned with warmth and she clamped down harder against his weakening struggles. Eventually he went limp and she jerked her head away with a gasp.

Her eyes rolled as she savoured the sweet, metallic taste, before she sent the dead thug tumbling into the water with a careless shove. His body hit the sea with a dull splash that echoed through the night.

Sucking in a shuddering breath, Gliss licked her lips, feeling her fangs recede back out of sight. Dragging a sleeve across her mouth, she wiped away the last vestiges of blood and straightened up. Taking a moment to smooth down her hair and straighten her jacket she looked up at the fat white orb of the moon. Her smile returned. The hunting in Veridian Shores was just as good as she'd been led to believe.

Casting a glance around to make sure her impromptu feed hadn't been observed, she tucked a stray loop of black hair back behind her ear, scooped up her bag and set off down the dockside again, the clop of her heels ringing carelessly off the stone. She made it ten steps before a voice arrested her progress.

"That was neatly done," someone declared.

Gliss stopped sharply, eyes narrowing. She concentrated hard, trying to focus her Aspect like the elders had taught her. Clear your mind. Easier said than done, particularly with her senses pounding after a feed. Slowing her breaths she forced her thoughts to coalesce into a single bubble, pushing out in all directions.

There. Not a massive presence, but definite; strong.

She looked up. Perched on the wall-top, legs dangling feely over the thirty foot drop, was a young man. He grinned and she caught a glimpse of his bared fangs even from the distance between them. He wore a pair of trainers that looked new, jet black and inlaid with silver fabric, and a pair of baggy dark shorts that came down just below his knees. Despite the chill in the air he wore only a black t-shirt and grey beanie.

Not sure quite how to react, Gliss held his gaze and said, "Thanks."

In a flash of movement the newcomer pushed off of his perch and plummeted down to land beside her, light and quiet as a cat. She managed not to flinch away and watched as he stood up. The other vampire was slightly taller than her despite her heels, and up close she could see the lean musculature of his arms – the right forearm bore a winding, intricate tattoo of interlocking black-grey blades. Clan Glaive.

Gliss folded her arms and looked him in the eye. He looked young – fresh – and from the strength of his Aspect he couldn't have been turned for much longer than her. His eyes gleamed in the moonlight, the colour of polished turquoise.

"You're not local," he said. It wasn't a question.

"No, I'm not," she replied. "Is this how you greet every new girl who passes through your neighbourhood?"

"Just the interesting ones." He flashed his smile again.

Gliss smirked. "I'm flattered."

A hand shot out. "Name's Capper."

"Gliss," she answered, accepting his grip. His skin was cool and coarse, like living granite. When his fingers curled shut around hers she felt an involuntary tremor go up her spine. He held on for longer than she thought necessary, his eyes boring through her. In the end she slipped her hand free, the sensation of his touch lingering like a salve.

"Where you from, Gliss?" Capper asked. Despite his good-natured tone she knew she needed to be careful. The Clans played a lot of games and there was no reason to suspect he was anything other than a carefully placed spy.

"Iron Hollow." That much was true.

Capper gave her an incredulous look. "That's a long way to ride. What brings you to our little stretch of shoreline?"

"Family troubles."

"You too, eh?" he chuckled. "What clan?"

"Thorne." Lie number one. Not that she would bother counting them once her plan really got underway.

The other vampire frowned. "Don't know them."

"Most people don't. We're hardly a big player." Gliss injected as much faux bitterness into the statement as she could muster.

"So how'd you end up here?"

"Told my elders what I thought of them," she said. "And it didn't go well."

Capper's eyes widened. "Ostracised?"

She nodded, painting an anguished expression on her face. "I couldn't stay in Iron Hollow any longer. The other clans there wouldn't touch an Ostracised with a ten foot pole. So I decided to get as far away from that junkyard as I could."

"Can't argue with that," Capper said, nodding. He glanced around at the empty dockyard, the steady rumble of the city resting on the air like a blanket. "Well, Gliss, I've got to tell you, Veridian's a dangerous place for strays."

Her eyes narrowed. "Is that a threat?"

"A piece of friendly advice."

"I can look after myself."

Capper smiled. "I don't doubt it, but alone you won't last long here. No-one does."

She considered this for a moment. She'd known that eventually she'd have to plunge into the internal politics of Veridian's Clans, but she had hoped to have the choice of who to ingratiate herself with. Capper, as friendly and appealing as he might seem, would remove that. She knew a little of the Glaives. A Clan of average size who could trace their lineage back a long, long way, they were at least universally tolerated, if not respected.

"So what are you suggesting?" she asked carefully.

"You've on Glaive land, Gliss," he told her, gesturing to the surrounding dockside. "I can take you to the elders. No promises, but they might offer you a port in the storm, at least for a while. Just until you decide what you really want to do here."

"And why would you do that?"

"Can't resist a hard luck case." His fanged smile flashed again. "I'm not going to drag you there kicking and screaming." I'd like to see you try. "But there are a lot of clans who don't take kindly to interlopers hunting on their patch. They'd have assumed you were a spy and killed you on sight."

Gliss's jaw tightened at that. She couldn't tell if he was exaggerating, but the territorial nature of the Clans that controlled Veridian Shores was well documented. It certainly wasn't that much of a leap.

Eventually she decided she could do a lot worse than the Glaives. Even if it had to be a temporary arrangement, this unwitting newcomer could give her the first stepping stone she needed.

"Then...thanks," she said. "Lead the way."