*** July 1 2006 around 10am -- Oceanside Ramada Inn
The well-dressed man retrieved his credit card from the desk clerk. She smiled at him but there was no emotion in it, only good customer service. "That's one meeting room for the day. No lunch. Will there be anything else today, Mr. Freeman?"
Gordon Freeman smiled back politely, "No thank you, Miss. I'll let you know if we need anything else."
He picked up his briefcase and walked calmly into the conference room. The wooden conference table was well lit from the ocean side windows. Light flooded every corner. Four chairs sat empty around the table. Mr. Freeman set his briefcase on the table and seated himself calmly in the nearby seat.
Slowly his face relaxed and his breathing slowed to maintenance levels. He blinked regularly but a slow trickle of drool ran from one corner of his mouth.
*** July 1, 2006 -- 12 midnight Sharp. Narcosis
Alice stood in the shadows scoping for danger. Unless you considered a smouldering Ford pickup truck in the fenced-off cement lot across the street dangerous, it was clear. It was always clear. The only vehicle in evidence was the white Lincoln Town Car parked near the door.
"Sparky, you going to start that car or do we have to push it all the way across town?" Alice shouted at the huge bald and tattooed human standing next to it. Clearly a Vin Deisel fan.
Paul stepped out with a vampette on his arm. She had a balloon butt that made Alice think that her own butt felt flat. Paul exchanged little light kisses with the undead as they entered the car. Alice closed the door and slipped into the shotgun seat.
Paul and his latest toy were oblivious in each other's arms, but Alice was awake and alert. She saw headlights round the corner of the block as they pulled away. Without hesitation she shouted "Down!" at Paul, and "Gun it Curly!" at the driver. As they shot away Paul was trying to ask questions from the floor of the car.
"What? Who?"
Alice had her guns out and was peering behind them. "Not sure, but when was the last time you saw a brand new Viper drive down this street?"
Paul laughed even as baldy was letting off the gas, "You are paranoid, Bunny, but that's what I pay you for."
*** July 1 2006, 12 Noon, Oceanside Ramada Inn
A dissheveled person looking mostly homeless and smelling worse stumbled into the lobby of the Oceanside Ramada Inn. The woman behind the desk picked up the phone to dial 9-1-1 and the security guard rushed forward to turn the bum around.
The man turned at the guard and roared. The wild and mindless scream made the guard reach for his pepper spray. Mr. Freeman stepped out of the conference room. He strolled purposefully down the hallway until he was standing in the lobby.
"Mr. Johnson, I presume?" he said in even emotionless tones.
The pale wildman whirled to face the suit who had addressed him, "Gahhh!" it screamed then shuffled toward him.
Mr. Freeman calmly turned to the woman holding the phone limply, "Miss, please cancel the call to the Police, Mr. Johnson - my associate - will behave himself. I guarantee it."
The two wandered back down the hall to the conference room and closed the door. When the desk woman approached it later it was locked and there were no sounds coming from within.
*** July 1, 2006 - 12:02am Narcosis
The shiny black Viper powered down the street while a window glided down and a body was flung from the car. It rolled a few times and came to rest against a nearby palm tree.
The creature at the front door might have been considered human if he wasn't green and covered with blue spikes all over. He watched the body flop, roll and stop without much emotion. He waited a few minutes longer and started to walk away when an alarmed sound came from the body.
"MMmmMM!"
The Brachen demon stopped in mid-turn. That sound was familiar. "Fred? Is that you?"
He walked over to the body and rolled it back so he could see it better. It was Fred all right. But the Brachen demon ran back into Narcosis with wide eyes once he got a good look.
*** July 1, 2006, 3pm, Oceanside Ramada Inn
The Testarossa screamed into the parking lot and came to an abrupt halt. The pounding music that hung around the car like a smokey aura suddenly ceased as the engine cut off. A man dressed in light and bright clothing rolled from the car and strolled into the Ramada. He passed the counter without a second glance.
But the eyes at the counter watched him. Those deep brown eyes of the cute clerk followed his every move. In the back of her mind she thought "mrwoww..." and imagined him in a thong cleaning the pool there at the Ramada. Glistening brown skin and fit muscles rippling...
He opened the conference room door without knocking and her fantasies evaporated. *Not if he is hanging with those weirdos,* she rationalized.
Inside the conference room Mr. Johnson and Mr. Freeman sat silently at the table. Mr Johnson's eyes rolled back to focus on the new arrival. A tasteful slurp as Mr Johnson swallowed his trickle of drool preceeded his greeting.
"We have been waiting, Mr. Harper."
Harper shrugged as he whipped off his shades, dropped into a seat and swung his sockless feet onto the conference table. "Johnson's not getting any fresher, I can smell," said Harper, "But you aren't getting any older either Freeman."
"True, Harper, but we cannot proceed until we are all here," said Freeman glaring at the latest arrival through pale blue eyes.
Harper laughed, "How can you stand to wait in here with this meat puppet?" he pointed at Johnson.
"One adjusts to the duties one performs," said Freeman.
Harper sniffed and regretted it, "So who are we getting for Valerian? Has he replaced Butler?" he said changing the unpleasant subject.
*** July 1, 12:10am, Narcosis
There was a small crowd around Fred. He thrashed on the floor of the club because he could not stand with his legs bound together as they were. His arms had been stitched across his chest in a parody of a corpse at rest. His mouth was sewn closed with coarse thread. His eyes were wide open becasue their lids had been hacked off. He looked like shit.
Most people would have died if subjected to such torture but Fred wasn't human, he was a vampire. Fugue had come over and was examining (or was it admiring) the work. He touched the embroidery and marveled at the strength it must have taken to pull tight the stitches against Fred's struggles.
Judging from the distended stomach, Fred must have had his innards removed and then replaced with something. Well, except for the heart.
"MMMMMM! MM! M!" said Fred.
*And lungs,* thought Fugue.
Fugue liked surprises. They made an otherwise mudane existence exciting for brief periods of time before allowing things to return to normal. Sometimes they were very dangerous and frightening; but ultimately, temporary.
Fugue poked at Fred a few times then pulled out a huge folding knife. A few of the surrunding junkies and vampires started a slight buzz about what he was planning. Fred started to wiggle and make a lot of noise.
Fugue placed a hand on Fred's forehead and poked the knife into his football-laced gut. The point hit something hard, and Fred started to weep. *That was an interesting reaction,* thought Fugue.
Ten heads and two pseudopods leaned forward in anticipation. They had the best view of the blossoming fireball that started from Fred's gut and mushroomed outwards from there.
Narcosis burned with rolling black clouds of burned flesh smells until sunrise.
*** July 1, 2005 5pm -- Oceanside Ramada Inn
The oriental woman strode past the counter and went unchallenged; her bearing and manner were clearly beyond interruption from the path they were pursuing like a celestial orbit. She stopped before the conference room door and it opened as if by her command and she entered with brisk steps and took her place at the table.
Johnson spoke a slow ponderous word, "Vaaaaa lllllleeeeerrrr iiiiiii annnnnn."
The woman bowed to the company, "I am Ms Yu. My master Lord Valerian has sent me to meet with you."
Harper snorted, "Lord Valerian?"
Even Freeman raised a cold eyebrow, "It would seem that our collegue has acquired a new title."
Ms Yu bowed deeper, "My apologies, gentlemen, I am new at these sorts of dealings, Lor... er... Valerian's status to me should not be spoken here. I will endeavor to..."
Her wordy apology was cut short as she stood upright and her head flew backwards. Her table mates, too, stood and their heads tilted back with mouths agape.
"The Rook is established. The business begins," intoned a ghostly voice that emitted from Harper's slack face and open mouth. Harper's mouth did not move.
"At last. I thought for certain I would be bored to death again if I had to watch another second of that mundane exchange," came a crisp and sharp voice from the rigid Freeman.
"Business, gentlemen, we don't have long. Dathan, what have you done? Your little stunt this morning will draw undue attention to us," the strange male voice of Valerian scolded from within Ms Yu's body.
Johnson's wild man voice became impossibly deep and menacing, "Valerian, you kept us waiting for hours. You have no right to scold me! Fop! Dandy! You parade in front of the mortals like a target waiting for them to attack you! Why don't you..."
"Silence!" came the voice from Harper, "This is pointless. Dathan may have struck a blow but no-one can trace it back to him. It serves as a fine starting place. Surely the bickering to place blame will serve as ample distraction for our needs."
"Agreed," said the Freeman-voice, "I calculate that this will also serve to group the lesser ones into alliances that will make them easier to eliminate."
"Pah!," said the rumble of Johnson, "Plan, calulate, talk, talk, talk, talk. You waste centuries wih talk. The best plan is on the battlefield... KILL!" he roared.
Valerian's dulcet tones drifted from Yu's open mouth, "Soon, Dathan. Let us aim you then you may kill as you do so well. What of the Slayer?"
There was a momentary silence. A reverence. "She is active here as our oracles had foretold," came the Freeman voice.
"Krispin, I always knew your far-planning would pay off one day," said the Harper voice.
"Thank you, Nicholas," said Krispin's voice, "But you uncovered the prophecy that set this in motion."
Nicholas' voice was dripping with honey, "But our dear young Valerian found the clues we needed to decipher it, didn't you?"
Dathan cut in, "Shut up! More talk. Wasted time with meaningless ego. Find that slayer. Kill her! Turn her!"
Valerian cleared his throat, an strange sound coming disembodied as it was from Ms Yu, "Yes. Find her and Kill her. Find her. Kill her. Turn her. Use her. We are agreed, then."
Four heads as one dropped to the table. Slowly - one by one - as they had arrived the four attendants left. They dragged and limped and coughed quietly as they exited the hotel.
"Have a nice evening!" said the new girl at the counter with a professional smile.
Ms. Yu looked down her spectacles at the girl and made her shrink back slightly from the menace, "I sincerely doubt it," she said.
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Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Monday 10th July 2006
Zoë’s apartment – 12:34 pm
With Sarah Jessica Parker as Zoë
The past few months had been quite interesting, Nikolai thought, when his Monte Carlo pulled into the park. His last Fourth had been spent at home, relaxing and wondering when the International news would be something other than ‘this is what America is doing….’
Now he was looking like part of a typical American family: driving, girlfriend in the passenger seat, kid in the back. Things had seemed to change quite rapidly.
Things naturally went slower between them. Fortunately Nikolai only worked part time, even if Zoë was a full time manager at the plumbing supply company. As much as he liked Ben, the couple wanted to be able to have private time, which made it something of a challenge given the number of times that Nikolai himself wound up watching Ben. When they wanted time together, usually one of Zoë’s friends or the Mushniks would do so on occasion.
Amazingly enough, they’d managed to go out a couple of times, growing closer over the past few months. They had even wound up making out on two occasions over the past month, but never got a chance to go farther than that.
Today was starting to look a bit different. They hoped.
Zoë had taken the day off of work and invited Nikolai over. It worked out well for them since there was a birthday party for one of Ben’s friends, and the kids would be off playing for several hours. Nikolai was dressed in more neutral colors at the time, a light brown, and felt his breath catch when seeing Zoë in the short, black dress.
Nikolai was in the middle of refilling her glass of wine as she was finishing the story from work. “No, no, I’m dead serious,” she was saying while laughing. “I’m serious. This guy really did think we were an adult bookstore – I thought it was a prank until checking the website. It wound up being a project for business school for some marketing student at the University of Chicago.”
“But why use your number?” Nikolai asked, putting the bottle aside before sitting back down on the couch with her. Then it struck him. Giving her a nevermind look, he worked it out: more than likely, the kid just hit random numbers and got lucky. Part of him still wanted to think that the entire thing was a prank. “How did your supervisor take the news?”
“He thought it was funny as hell,” she replied, taking a ship of her wine. “It also made him glad that the student didn’t decide to make us a more... out there business. As it was, though, he wondered why of all the things the designer didn’t have us carrying Lady Chatterly’s Lover.”
Nikolai coughed several times, having been in mid-drink and trying to laugh when she said that. The coughing fit started and simply refused to stop. Worried, Zoë put her drink aside in order to lean over and begin pounding Nikolai on the back. “Thank you,” he said when it finally stopped, their faces close to one another.
“Breathe air, swallow liquid,” she playfully teased, her eyes never leaving his the entire time. Her eyes shut, Zoë leaned forward to plant a gentle kiss on his lips. Soon it deepened, his arms going around her, pulling her closer. One of his hands fretfully searched for somewhere to put his glass down.
They had to break a few minutes later for air. Nikolai brushed her hair back from her face as Zoë smiled brightly at him. “When do we need to pick up Ben again?” he asked, not sure if he wanted the answer to be sooner or later.
“Not for another few hours,” she replied. “Time enough if you want to join me for my favorite thing in the universe,” Zoë added with a wink, gently running her fingers across his chest.
“Hmmm? Is Peter Woodward on?” he said joking with her, referring to his history channel show ‘Conquest’. It was easily one of her favorite programs, in part because Woodward just had so much fun hosting it.
“That’s my second favorite,” Zoë replied, leaning in to kiss him again, and hoping that he would take the hint. Shortly afterwards, there was little doubt that he had.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Saturday, 15th July 2006 – 10:30pm
“You know she is unworthy of us.”
Dathan’s voice issued from the slack-jawed man that stood rigid before a plush armchair. Admittedly, even before Dathan had commandeered this latest Johnson the man had not been particularly garrulous. Long ago, Nicholas had asked Dathan why he always called his mouthpieces ‘Johnson’, to which Dathan had replied, “A corpse is a corpse. Who can be bothered to learn its name?”
“She is not completely without merit, dear Dathan,” Valerian said calmly through Yu. The petite Asian woman had sat ramrod straight on the edge of her armchair before Valerian’s power coursed through her and now she, too, stood upright, her head thrown back and a line of drool making its slow progress down her chin.
Through her, in a distant suburb of Los Angeles, Valerian’s dark eyes flickered to the other two occupants of the opulent room. Krispin’s mouthpiece stood near the empty fireplace, while Nicholas’ fitness video poster-boy stood near the sofa.
*****
Sunday, 16th July 2006 – 2:45am
Eriantha’s light laughter pealed out and she coquettishly pinched her companion’s cheek. The loud music of the ‘Club Gothique’ room at After Dark swirled around them but deep in the recesses of their booth it barely disturbed them. Dancers gyrated wildly on a raised stage behind Eriantha, allowing her companion a full view of the show.
Valerian caught her wrist and leaned towards her, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair. *Such a pity,* he thought wistfully. Her dress was cut so that it revealed little – until you were in just such a position as Valerian was in now, when it afforded a clear vision of Eriantha’s lush form down to her navel.
“Come,” he whispered, “Let’s leave this place and go somewhere a little more private. No, not upstairs,” he answered in response to her glance upwards.
Eriantha wriggled a little closer to Valerian. “And here I was beginning to think you’d forgotten all about the delights I have to offer,” she whispered, “So, your place?”
*****
Saturday, 15th July 2006 – 10:40pm
"She is an abomination, Fascion's get!” Dathan rumbled.
"Yes, and yet she has merely followed her Sire and done what she can to survive," Valerian responded smoothly, "Considering her age she has a remarkable degree of control and she is skilled at teaching that control to others."
"She does not kill..."
"And for a youngling of her age bodies can sometimes be difficult to explain away. She and her brood have the potential to be of use to us. There are those amongst the mortals who would crave her attentions, especially with a little training. She is a potential resource it would be wasteful to destroy." The last was directed more towards Krispin than Dathan.
Harper’s mouth never moved as Nicholas’ voice emerged from his body. “Valerian, Eriantha is a century and a half old. Far younger vampires can manage the results of their feeding. That really holds no water and you know it. It’s her Sire’s fastidiousness. It’s not our way. Fascion should never have been allowed to corrupt so many of our kind.”
"How many of those younger vampires maintain a position in human society?” Valerian asked, “A position that with a little push could be very useful. As for managing their feedings, how many 150-year-old vampires manage to conceal the feedings of at least a dozen vampires?”
*****
Sunday, 16th July 2006 – 5:15am
Eriantha waved to Valerian as he vanished in his limousine. He’d gallantly offered to have her driven home after they’d finished their assignation, though Eriantha had been hoping he’d ask her to spend the day. Still, she wasn’t one to burn her bridges, so she’d bitten back the sharp sarcasm she wanted to use.
The sky was already beginning to lighten and she knew she had a mere half hour or so before the sun’s deadly rays speared over the horizon. She turned to the dark, quiet club and smiled. Home, sweet home.
*****
Saturday, 15th July 2006 – 10:48pm
Valerian’s voice turned reproachful, "A certain level of integration into human society is necessary for any vampire if they are going to survive for any length of time. Eriantha has learned that lesson very early. Oh, I'm sure you'd very much prefer Angelus or even William the Bloody but there is a reason they fled every major city in Europe and attracted a great deal of attention. Yes, Eriantha has gone too far in her integration but she's a realist and she's shown an ability to learn quickly. Teaching her the way back to the true path is not a lesson that should require her destruction."
Krispin’s droll tones cut through Dathan’s muttered imprecations. “Valerian does have a point. She does wield a certain amount of influence, both among the vampire community and the human. Her disappearance may cause us more problems than we bargained for, and I do believe she can be swayed. I feel she doesn’t hold to her Sire’s ideals as tightly as he might have desired.”
From the fireplace, Nicholas ‘ahem’ed softly. Although the other three bodies in the room didn’t move, three pairs of eyes from various places around the city focused on the lithely muscled form of Harper.
“Why are we bickering like children?” he asked, “We have far greater fish to fry, gentlemen.”
“So, then, just kill her and move on,” Dathan rumbled.
Krispin spoke softly into the silence before Valerian’s ire could explode. "Killing her removes a piece from the board. Valerian is right in this; she can be saved. The others, however... It is her skills, her contacts, her knowledge that is useful to us. Let After Dark be Eriantha's lesson and we will see how quickly she can learn."
*****
Sunday, 16th July 2006 – 5:20am
It wasn’t until Eriantha reached the second bar – the very one in which she’d so recently entertained Valerian – that she had the feeling that anything was wrong. The club was always quiet by this time of morning, but today it was too quiet. She sniffed the air. Fear. Human fear. Too much of it for the usual activities of After Dark.
She inhaled involuntarily, one last vestige of human life that belied her status as undead. Reaching out a lace-encased hand she touched the reason for her gasp - a light covering of dust on the bar top. As her eyes alighted on the myriad dusty patches in the room, her mind’s eye saw the carnage. It must have been an army of hunters. Or maybe demons? A vampire gang?
As if in a dream, Eriantha continued to pace through her club, her footsteps disturbing the fresh layer of detritus left by her followers and patrons. No bodies, though. Just that stench of fear. The humans had either been shooed out or taken as booty. But who had the wherewithal to do this in her own club? And who wanted her this badly?
The door to the third clubroom beckoned. The Kitchen. The smell of old blood tinged the air as Eriantha traversed the short connecting corridor between the club rooms, but apart from the prickling at the back of her neck there was no sign that anything was out of the ordinary. Until she pushed open the doors to The Kitchen.
For the most part The Kitchen was just that – a functioning commercial kitchen to serve meals to those human patrons who frequented the front parts of the club. But attached was the slaughter room where non-Fascion followers could prepare their meals, should they so choose. And if the followers of Fascion took advantage of the leftover human blood to supplement their diets – well, who was she to argue?
But today when she flicked the light switch the view that greeted Eriantha was somewhat different to the usual fare. Gleaming stainless steel bench tops glinted in the artificial glare, which also served to highlight the contorted body of someone on the wall.
Shreds of clothing hung on his body, a body that was stretched out in the crucifix position and from which tendrils of smoke still curled. Fascinated despite herself, Eriantha approached, noting as she drew closer that the vampire’s body was covered with cross-shaped burns. She touched one tentatively, to be rewarded with a sharp hiss of pain from the pitiful creature.
“Who did this?” Her gaze finally rested on his face. “Piotr? It’s you? Who did this?” Anger oozed from Eriantha’s every pore. “Was it hunters? They came in here and burned you with their crosses? Damn them, I’ll kill every last hunter in this city!”
“No,” Piotr’s voice rasped. He shuddered as a fresh swirl of smoke rose from his abused body, “It was a vampire.”
“A gang? Which gang? I’ll find them all…”
“No. One only. He said his name was Ni… Nicholas.”
Piotr wailed as the large wooden cross he’d been nailed to finally burned through his spine. A few motes of dust eddied in their course to the floor at Eriantha’s scream of rage, but it was heard by no one.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Thursday, 13th July 2006 – 10:00am
“We have come together here in celebration of the joining together of Natasha and Victor. There are many things to say about marriage. Much wisdom concerning the joining together of two souls has come our way through all paths of belief and from many cultures. The law of life is love unto all beings. Without love, life is nothing; without love, death has no redemption. If we learn no more in life, let it be this.
“The beliefs and thoughts about love which motivate these two people are perhaps best expressed in the words of poet Kahlil Gibran:
You were born to be together, and together you shall be forevermore. You shall be together when the wings of death scatter your days.
“Victor, I have not the right to bind you to Natasha, only you have this right. If it be your wish, say so at this time and place your ring in her hand.”Ay, you shall be together even in your silent memory.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heaven dance between you.
Love one another, but make not a bondage of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup, but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread, but eat not of the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone, though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping,
For only the hand of life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together,
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in shadow.
“It is my wish.”
“Natasha, if it be your wish for Victor to be bound to you, place the ring on his finger.”
“I, Natasha Brookes, by the life that courses within my blood and the love that resides within my heart, take you Victor… Tek to my hand, my heart, and my spirit, to be my chosen one. To desire you and be desired by you, to possess you and be possessed by you without sin or shame, for neither can exist in the purity of my love for you. I promise to love you wholly and completely without restraint, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in poverty, in life and beyond. There was darkness for a long time and then there was light, and that light was you. Your love has given me wings, and our journey begins today. Let us bring together our lives and find ourselves anew each day.”
“Natasha, I have not the right to bind you to Victor, only you have this right. If it be your wish, say so at this time and place your ring in his hand.”
“It is my wish.”
“Victor, if it be your wish for Natasha to be bound to you, place the ring on her finger.”
“I… Vrithetek, by the life that courses within my blood and the love that resides within my heart, take you Natasha Brookes to my hand, my heart, and my spirit, to be my chosen one. To desire you and be desired by you, to possess you and be possessed by you without sin or shame, for neither can exist in the purity of my love for you. I promise to love you wholly and completely without restraint, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in poverty, in this life and beyond. With free and unconstrained soul, I enter this marriage with you knowing that the true magic of love is sharing all that I am and all that I am to become. I want you for today, tomorrow, and forever.”
“Let these rings serve as locks – not binding you together – but as keys, unlocking the secrets of your hearts for each other to know, and thus bringing you closer together forever. Inasmuch as Victor and Natasha have declared their love to each other before these witnesses, I now greet them with you as husband and wife.”
[/]Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Thursday, 13th July 2006 - 11.48pm
So the fun has begun.
Darkness was creeping along the walls. It didn't really matter; James' eyesight was just as good in the dark as it was in the light. He looked around the room, hoping that he would be alone. He had no such luck. James had heard this guy Bob was a snitch and just about knew everyone’s business so he tracked him down to this sleazy bar. The kid tagged along. He'd convinced James to let him come because it would be a “Learning experience”.
When James and the kid walked into the bar the place died; almost in unison the heads turned to look at the new arrivals. They could tell the kid was a human but the fact that the kid was wearing a 600 Dollar suit and 300 Dollar shoes was another factor. James quickly led the kid to a table in the corner and sat him down.
"You know what to do if anyone makes a move for me or you, right?” said James.
The kid replied with his usual sarcastic bored tone, “Yea I know, I know. Shout on you and you will take care of them."
James patted the kid on the shoulder, "Good boy, you're learning."
As he said this a barmaid came over and started to talk. She was in her mid 30’s with long curly black hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a red and white pinstripe dress that did nothing for her figure. “So what are you boys having?”
The kid quickly answered, “Two beers for me and my friend here," and flashed his goofy smile at the barmaid.
James gave a disapproving look at the kid. “I’m having a beer, he’s having a cola."
The barmaid gave a half hearted smile. “Coming right up, honey."
When she returned with the drinks James gave her a five and a twenty. She looked sort of confused until James began to speak. ”You know were we can find Bob?"
She gave James a disconcerting look. “He’s over there," she pointed towards the barman, “and if you are looking for money he hasn’t got nothing - I’m living on tips here." With that she abruptly turned heel and headed to the next table.
“Stay here kid, I’m going to talk to Bob." James got up from the table and headed to the bar but got stopped half way by a kraal demon. It stood fast in front of James and pushed by him, muttering, “Runt.”
When James got to the bar Bob was sitting reading a paper. “You Bob? I heard you are the man to come to for information.”
Bob looked up from his paper, “What information you looking for?"
James took out his wallet and put 200 dollars on the bar. When Bob put his hand on the money James covered Bob's hand with his own. Bob tried to pull away but James held tightly.
“Now Bob, I want to know something. You answer them correctly and fast, you get the money - you fuck me around I'll break your fingers."
Bob's eyes were filled with fear. “Ok, I'll tell you whatever you want to know."
James gave him a friendly smile, “Ok, who killed Ebonia Sinclair?”
Bob looked slightly confused. “I don’t know anyone called Ebonia.”
James smiled at Bob. "Bob, I’m disappointed." James grabbed his forefinger and bent it backwards until he heard the familiar crack of the bone. The bone chilling scream that Bob let out alerted the whole bar to the goings on but no one got up to do anything about it.
“She is… was a vampire. Her name was Ebony." Pain filled Bob's eyes, “Natasha Brookes, she killed Ebony."
"Good, now where can I find her partner, Black Jem?"
Bob couldn’t answer the question fast enough, "She lives in the cemetery, some crypt, I don’t know. Please just let me go, my finger it fucking hurts so much.”
James complied with Bob's request. “Nice doing business with ya."
When James turned round he was face to face, well face to chest with the massively built kraal demon. The demon spoke with an northern American accent, “So you like to pick on weak people." The kraal demon went to push James but was met with two fingers to his throat, knocking the air out of him. James quickly put the demon in an arm lock and began to knee the demon in the face then finally twisted the demon's wrist and pushed on his shoulder, breaking the wrist and dislocating the shoulder.
James dusted himself off and looked around the bar. “Anyone else want to try me? Come on kid, let's get out of here before any other big bad tries anything."
As they headed outside the door Vincent looked down at the demon and smiled. He held his hand out towards the demon and made a sharp twist motion with his hand. The demon's head corresponded with the motion, breaking the demon's neck and killing it instantly.
As they walked out the bar James looked to Vincent. “Was that really necessary?"
The kid smiled, "No, but it was fun."
((ooc my first be nice))
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
15th July 2006
3:00pm
What does happen to a person that is hit by guilt? Guilt so intense that it feels like someone has put 200 pounds of lead on your shoulders and slowly it's crushing you to the ground, and the sad thing being that you want to be crushed. This was similar to the feeling Tarix was going through. She mostly just lay around in her apartment, where almost all of her furniture was either broken or was upturned, showing the evidence of the anger she felt towards herself.
She had even tried to commit suicide, many times, but she didn’t have the courage to do it. Instead her only choice become that she had to lay around in the darkened apartment, where she didn’t know it was day or night. Her job had been something that she had forgotten long ago, perhaps not wanting to face any more people. Tarix barely consumed any food, and after a few days this began to show on her figure as it began to shrink. The once shiny happy face now seemed to have aged many years, with heavy bags under her tired looking eyes. There were several bruises on her face as well as on her arms and legs. This, however, wasn’t from the fight between he and her sister, these wounds were fresh and self inflicted.
Her memory still hadn’t fully returned, but all of it was sure to come back. Sometimes her mind ran a memory she thought was new. Some made her even more angry with herself, others just made her cry. However, each and every day she saw a re-run of her killing her family. This was the time she began to inflict pain on her self, either banging her head into the floors, punching the walls with her fists, tearing her hair off or just kicking any furniture that was still standing.
Any person would realise that these were the senses of a mental patient, or in other words a “wacko”. But few of them would know what her mind was going through. First on a quest to find out more about herself and her family only to know that dream was shattered because her parents were dead and her sister was a killer, and then finding out who the real killer was.
Sometimes she would even pace about and talk to herself, trying to re-write her memory and thinking of a happy ending. The she would be in the wonderful world of what-if’s:
What if, when she came home she would kiss her mother and father, ignore the knife and go straight upto her room to take a shower?
What if Jessy came and caught the knife out of her hand before she could do anything? Her parents and sister would comfort her trying to find out what was troubling her and solve it as a family.
What if, on her way home a bus ran over her?
What if…?
And every time she would talk about how life would have been if her parents were still alive. She would giggle at the idea of finally having a family she dreamed of, or she would cry instead. She knew that the only way she was going to ever feel better was if she had never killed in the first place. And then an idea came to her head - there was another way. She could get the Codex back and use it. It may stop the new memories coming in and she could find a way to put a more powerful spell on it. She smiled at the idea that the hell in her mind would soon stop. And not wanting to thinking more she went out of her apartment in search of her sister.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
16th July 2006
10:00am
Thule paced around the apartment thinking, as usual, while Alaric was seated calmly drinking tea.
“Thule, would you please sit down and have some tea?”
Thule stopped, looked back at him and decided his pacing around might be irritating so he sat opposite Alaric.
“Tell me again what happened?” Alaric inquired.
“It’s simple. Jasmine, who is called Tarix at the moment, killed the Honeys, her parents. While all this time we suspected Jessamine.”
“How do you feel about that? I mean, she did kill your friend.”
“He was your employee as well Alaric, which The Order should have protected. I don’t know how I feel. I don’t know whether to hate Tarix or whether to help her.”
Alaric sighed and took a final sip at his tea then set it down on the table. “The Order protects all its employees, Thule. And we did our best. It's hard to protect someone if their location is unknown to you. As for this Tarix girl, what if I told you that perhaps it is better for The Order to have such a member? I know how you think Thule. You probably want to leave Tarix, never having to face her again. But I’m afraid that’s not what we do here. Help her get over this, and perhaps she may prove to be a powerful employee for The Order, you never know.”
Thule didn’t reply, but seemed to think it through.
“And while you’re at it, perhaps you can get her sister to join The Order too. Meanwhile you could get her to help you with stabilising Tarix.”
“Jessamine hates her sister, for all I know. Why would she want to help her?”
Alaric sighed, “My dear Thule, if she hates her sister so much then from what you have told me, why didn’t she kill her?”
Thule remained silence. Finally he put his own tea on the table and stood up to leave, “I’ll try to communicate with Jessamine.”
Alaric smiled at Thule, “Good, good. I wish you well.”
With that Thule left Alaric’s apartment, heading towards his own home.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
16th July
4:00pm
Jessy decided it was time to move on. She had continued to observe Tarix after she had left her, wanting to know how she would react. It was hard to make out anything with Tarix’s apartment having drawn curtains, but there were some windows where the curtain was partially drawn and Jessy could make out the condition inside the apartment. She felt quite happy in the misery of her sister. It was good to know that the guilt had finally sunk in. She knew she should go and help her as a sister, but she had tried to help. She had put a spell so she wouldn't remember anything, that she would be able to live an ordinary life, whilst everyone thought Jessy was the bad seed, and she had to take on the guilt. Well, no more, and she felt happy for that.
It was Jazz who went digging for the skeletons of the past, now she should pay for it. Jessy had had enough, and now she wanted to leave. She had a life waiting in New York, where she was an artist. The pay wasn’t much, but she got to pursue her hobby and she enjoyed the work. She started to pack her things, which wasn’t much - a few clothes she had brought and a few she had borrowed, and other minor things that she was going to leave behind on the roof of the building she had currently occupied. She put on her jacket and felt a hard object in its pocket. She took it out and examined it. It was the Codex that she had taken from her sister. The magic of the memory spell had probably worn off by now.
She debated on whether she would take it with her or leave it behind. She knew this was a very valuable artefact, even more valuable to her race. She had no clue what it was for but she had heard her father talk about it numerous times. She decided on leaving it behind, but knew she couldn’t just leave it on the rooftop. Thus she took her clothes, shoving it into a duffel bag and decided she would sneak in on Thule. She could probably just leave it there and sneak back out without Thule ever knowing. She knew Thule had thought of her as the killer. She didn’t know if Thule knew the truth yet, but she didn’t want to risk it or have a confrontation.
She pocketed the Codex again and left with her duffel bag flung over her shoulders.
***
Jessamine knew where Thule lived as she used to go to his house when she was young, for training. She hoped he still lived there. She went to the house and saw his name on the door. She took a sigh of relief and went around the house looking for an unlocked window, and found one which belonged to the study room. It was dark inside so Jessy opened the window slightly and went in. She took the Codex out and put it on the desk. She was about to retreat when the lights went on and she froze. *Damn! Busted!*
She turned around to she Thule in the doorway, expressionless. Not knowing what to say she just waved her hand in the air and said, “Hey Thule.”
Thule just looked back at her and finally replied, “Nice of you to drop in Jessamine. Anything I may do for you or do you just like to break and enter?”
“Not really. I just happened to be in the neighborhood and thought I’d drop by.” Before Thule could say anything Jessy continued, “Look, I just wanted to leave this with you,” she motioned towards the Codex, “Don’t think Jazz needs it anymore. I knew you were the safest person it should be with, thus there it is. And now that you know, I’ll just head back out. Nice to meet you again. Bye.” And she quickly went for the window but Thule stopped her.
“Going so quickly, won’t you stay and have some tea?” Jessy knew Thule was acting strangely; he seemed too friendly and too cold at the same time.
“Thule, I have nothing more to say. And you know I’m not a tea person. I came to give you the Codex, and you now have the Codex, my job’s done.”
Thule just looked back at her. “I thank you for bringing it back to me.” He seemed to look down after that. “I also want to apologize, for blaming you for everything. I should have know better.”
Jessy sighed, “Yes you should have, but what has happened has happened and no one can change it.”
A moment of reticence fell between both of them. Finally Thule broke the silence, “How is... how is Tarix?”
Jessy became cold, “I don’t know and I don’t care. What kind of a dumb name is “Tarix” any way?”
“So you didn’t kill her then?”
She sighed, “I’m not the killer in the family Thule. You should know that by now. But I wanted to so much. However, I couldn’t do it before and I can’t do it now. My only hope is if she kills herself.”
Thule’s gaze then fell upon the duffel bag around her neck and he motioned towards it. “Are you leaving?”
“Yes. I have nothing more to do here, whereas in the Big Apple I have work and an apartment.”
Thule just stared at her, then said, “Look, Jessamine, please don’t leave. Your sister may need your help now. Nobody knows what she is going through.”
Jessy became quite furious at what she heard, “OH YEAH? Well what about what I went through? All the blame and the guilt I had to live with? I tried my part to give her a normal life, but she chucked that out of the window. And you still seem to take her side. She killed your friend Thule, and his wife!”
“Jessamine, calm down. We can’t just kill her without knowing why she did such a thing. And believe me when I say that she had changed. Perhaps it was the memory spell but she has changed into a different person. Right now she is feeling ten times the guilt and suffering you felt, because she is the guilty one. We could help her over this.”
Jessy just looked at the floor, not saying anything.
“Look Jessamine, I know you still love her, that’s why you didn’t kill her. You still want to have a normal sister, and we could work towards that.”
“Her memory is coming back Thule. I don’t have a zilch of wicca in me, and you know that. But I tried my best to put a strong spell on the Codex thingy. Looks like it wasn’t strong enough. What if she goes back to being evil? What if she tries to collaborate with the Macabres again?”
This time it was Thule who had a cold expression on his face, “Then we’ll have to stop her, won’t we? Just stay for a few days. Rent an apartment or something, but stay.”
Jessy just closed her eyes as if to think. “Fine, I’ll stay. I heard of a good cheap motel nearby. I’ll stay there.” Jessy started to leave back out of the window.
“Jessamine, how about you use the door for once?” Jessy seemed startled then smiled and walked towards the door.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Sunday 16 July, 2006 11:34PM
Nicholas looked at the group of beautiful, muscular men arrayed before him. Their bronzed skin was already losing the glow that comes with lying in the sun. His dark complexion looked pale and unhealthy despite being exposed to sunlight from time to time. These bronze dolls would evaporate into dust if they ever saw the sun again, but he was ever taunted by the painful memory of what he had forsaken to follow his god, Dathan.
He sighed and stoked the oil-covered muscles of the man next to him, "You understand that she is not to be killed, don't you?"
They nodded in unison so Nicholas continued, "You understand she will be trying to kill you?"
The nods were less vigorous but they were clear.
"Beat her, wound her, and knock her out if you have to but if you move to bite her I will turn you to dust with a thought. You will become a pile of sand blowing across the beach. Are we clear?"
The boys of summer deployed smoothly on their inline skates into position along the Venice Beach marketplace. None of the shops were left open and only a few hard-core wanderers were continuing along the skate path but up ahead a patrolling Slayer was coming this way on her skateboard.
She held her head low, mumbling to herself about today’s argument. Since Ellie had been Chosen, an excuse could be found for anything to argue over. She disliked this. She disliked being controlled by her duty. She disliked being ruled by the Council, and she disliked this feeling of aloneness.
She covered ground quickly on her skateboard and she preferred it that way. Jess was somewhere behind Ellie, not really approving of her skateboard slaying, but she kept going still, her senses only semi awake.
All too quickly she heard the scraping of wheels along the path and looked up to find a group of huge grown men - vampires - staring at her with wide smiles. She fumbled in her pocket for a stake, looking slightly miffed to say the least.
“Headed to grandma’s, little girl?” said the one in the yellow sunglasses and Gold’s Gym shirt.
The other two, not wanting to get staked, grabbed her arms and held them tightly. Behind her a second pair of vamps were busy closing in on her watcher. Jess could hear them murmuring to themselves, “Can we kill the Watcher? He only said we couldn’t kill the girl.”
Using the hand that wielded the stake, Ellie twirled it in her fingers so the point faced towards his body. She plunged the stake into his stomach, knocking him back for a moment. She spun to face the other captor, freeing herself with a kick. She quickly moved to pull the stake from the first vampire’s stomach and in a flowing movement guided the stake right to his heart.
The mumbling unnerved Jess, as well as the fact they were closing in on her. Through the corner of her eyes she kept an eye on them, looking for a way to escape and reach Ellie.
Gold's Gym snap kicked Ellie hard in the face and sent her flying off her board. She landed hard in the sand and struggled to stand on the dry, shifting surface. The big vamp slammed into her hard, drove her back down and began to pummel her while she desperately tried to fend off his blows.
More vampires were running towards the conflict coming from within the semi-permanent tents that lined the walkway along the beach. There had to be at least eight left after Ellie dusted the two and they were all headed for her. The vampires that were headed after Jess began to run to catch up with her when she broke into a run towards Ellie.
The sand was being kicked everywhere, causing Ellie’s eyes to burn with the dryness of it. She kicked furiously at what she couldn’t see, until a short moment came when the sand settled. She spotted the time to rise to her feet and continued her unsure kicks and punches; slightly more aware of whom she was throwing them at than before.
The heavy jolt of a vampire’s foot pushed Jess’ back forward with great force as she ran. The pain coursed through her spine and threw her off-balance. She caught herself just before she fell over. She faced the vampire, trying to ignore the pain as she raised a stake.
Ellie gained a bit of distance from the mob because she was lighter and didn't dig such huge footsteps in the sand. When she whirled she could see the nine large brutes pounding across the white sand in the pale moonlight. Ellie ran towards the tents and shops along the beach. As she entered the first tent she started punching at the steel pipes that supported the canopies. Metal bent and wrenched and the canopy began to sag over the mob hot on her heels.
Ellie rolled free of the edge of the tarp and doubled back over the top of the collapsed tent kicking at head shapes as she passed. She had to get back to Jess who had been captured by the two vamps that had been chasing her.
The mob was hot on her heels as Ellie made her way to Jess. Kicking her legs free of their grabbing hands, she continued in Jess’ direction. She stooped down as she was still sprinting to collect her not-so-secret weapon; her skateboard. She’d found this to be of a lot of use when a stake was attached to the end, as long as she didn’t lose it.
Ellie stomped on the curved end of her board and the other end popped up behind her foot. She gave a kick and it leaped backwards and dusted a muscle-boy before dropping back to the ground.
She hooked a sneakered foot on the board, pulled back and rolled in reverse down the path.
The remaining vamps cleared the tatters of the tarp and charged towards Ellie who was pulling out a stake with each hand. She hopped off the board and let two of the front-runners impale themselves before doing two back-springs to land in a handstand on the rolling skateboard that leapt forward with her weight.
When the wheels hit the sand at the edge of the path her momentum was enough to carry her forward to grab one of the two vamps facing Jess in a headlock with her legs. She twisted violently, bringing the much larger man down to the sand and jammed her last stake into his heart.
Jess lunged stake-first into the other vamp as he blatantly turned to witness the graceful manoeuvre that dusted his mate. Six vamps now remained and both Jess and Ellie were out of weapons. They had not prepared for quite this involved a melee.
“You soooo better pay for this,” Ellie muttered under her breath, although she wasn’t quite sure who it was to. She ran for the skateboard that lay at the edge of the path and picked it up. She smashed the board against the paving several times before it broke in two. She threw one half of the splintering board to Jess and saved one half for herself. It would do for a few vamps, but not many more.
The vamps glared evilly in the moonlight, their face-ridges highlighted in the contrasty illumination. They fanned out around the two women. Jess and Ellie pulled close -- back-to-back as the vamps closed in.
A quiet voice cut through the sinister laughter, "Enough. Take the watcher and have some fun. The Slayer and I have to talk." A priest in full vestments stepped forward into her view and the other vampires parted to allow him in. He waved his bible in dismissal.
Ellie wanted to lash out and stab the vampires but she could not seem to move. Her fingers went limp and dropped the splinter of skateboard she had in her hand. The thin man with the dark complexion moved close as the others dragged a struggling Jess away. His eyes were all she could see clearly.
"I know you can hear me, Slayer because it is my will that your mind be clear even as your body is paralysed. You are talented but you are also mortal. You can come with me and I will preserve your powers and make you immortal. Or you can be foolish and oppose me. But I will get my way. Choose."
Her mind was almost silent for a moment as she stared blankly at the obvious leader of the group. Then things began to sink in. Where the hell were they taking Jess? What the hell were they doing with her? And… immortality? She was mostly thinking about the latter.
Ellie said nothing for a long time; she couldn’t put anything in words. She was never good with words. Eventually an uneasy yet sarcastic laughter rose from her. This was the best she could do.
The vampire held Ellie’s face cupped in his hand. His dark sinister eyes stared into hers. "Laughter is your answer? Where is the witty banter? Where is the sarcasm? I have allowed your mind to be free of the clouds, if not your body. Is that really the best you could do?"
On the beach, Jess was manhandled to the ground and the six over-developed men stood around her. Jess was powerless to fight all six of them herself. They had easily snatched her up and carried her here.
"Dude, what should we do now? Eat her? Or turn her?" asked one in a pair of surfer shorts and no shirt.
Another in a white mesh shirt and baggy bathing trunks said, "No. We can do whatever we want. He said so!"
A vampire in a blue Hawaiian print and cut-off jeans said, "Dudes, let's eat her then do her!"
They were busy high-fiving that decision to 'rock-on' when Jess glanced back at Ellie who stood staring into the eyes of the swarthy vampire. She had read about cases of slayers even volunteering to be bitten by powerful elder vampires.
*But there aren't any elders in L.A. except Valerian. Are there?*
Her thoughts were distracted by a poking sensation at her hip. Digging in the sand she touched a chopstick, obviously discarded from some carryout Chinese meal: A weapon in the hands of someone trained in slaying. She might not defeat them all, but they weren't all going to walk away.
“I was never one for many words,” Ellie replied to the vampire, her voice a sneer, “More for beating the shit out of anyone who crosses my path thing. I guess that’s failed now though, so I’ll just have to wait a while till I can kick your ass.”
She paused to study the vampire a moment longer, “And what the hell’s up with the garb?”
Jess reached for the chopstick, passing her movements off as an attempt for freedom. The vampires grinned at each other as she ‘struggled’; one of them had come so close her whole view was blocked as he tried to hold her down.
In a quick movement she lifted the hand that held her makeshift stake and drove it into the vampire’s heart. A cloud of dust fell on top of her that came with a pianissimo screech. She jumped to her feet, still holding the chopstick as the other vampires snapped to attention.
The olive skin of the vampire's face didn't twitch at Ellie's suggestion. He just smiled at her and turned his back on her. "Attack me, or save your watcher. Life is full of choices."
Ellie ducked down and grabbed the splintered board and did a somersault roll towards the priest and jammed the splinters into his back. *I may not be the world's most dedicated Slayer but this guy cannot be allowed to live.*
But live he did. He turned around and the board fell free from his back. His grin spoke of his confidence and cockiness as he backhanded her and she sailed back out onto the beach nearly a dozen feet away. He was unhurried as he again turned and walked into the shadows.
Jess cried out, "Ellie! Help!" and Ellie had no choice but to let him go free - this time. She had no doubt that she would see him again. She planned to be ready. She crawled to her feet, ignoring the pain of her fall as best she could and picked up the board. She ran as fast as she could towards Jess and the group of vampires that surrounded her.
The group of vampires was slightly split up as Ellie made her way to the middle of the brawl, using the remainder of her skateboard to bash her way through. The vampires didn’t wait their turn and a hard enough whack over the head seemed to hold them back for long enough.
The one in the blue Hawaiian shirt stepped up and kicked Ellie in the shin, causing another spray of sand. She returned a punch then hit him several times with the board before finally driving a corner into his heart.
Ellie brought the board straight back and drove it home into a second vamp trying to come on her from behind. "Bitchin'," he said as he collapsed into dust. The board was toast, it would never do to stake another vamp. Jess had stabbed two with her chopstick and the remaining stub was useless as a weapon. Jess was looking very battered and the way she was favouring her right side spoke of cracked ribs.
Ellie had a black eye from the priest but it might only last a day or so. She was young and in her prime. She was in her element - the fray. She was careless…. No-shirt surfer shorts clobbered her from her rear flank and Ellie went face first into the sand.
Jess stuck the last two inches of chopstick into his chest but he just picked her up by the throat and flicked it clear of his bronzed and muscular pecs. Ellie growled and spun her torso around in an uncomfortable looking twist then uncoiled in a spiral kick that hit the underside of the vamp's elbow. The crack sounded like lightning as his elbow shattered and his forearm bones poked out from his skin.
Jess dropped to the ground and spun while holding the wrist and flesh and muscle tore and came free. The vampire howled in pain and frustration until his own forearm bones were driven into his chest by Jess. He looked confused and disoriented as he stared at his own severed arm sticking out of his chest. Ellie stood defiantly facing him, "Leave, butt-wipe. We are done with you."
The two remaining vamps considered their options and decided to run. Ellie let them go while she tended to Jess. “Hey, are you okay?” Jess asked Ellie, just to confirm that she was the only one injured.
Ellie shook her head for a negative before walking over to help Jess, “You know, I think you should be the one with the super powers, what with your low pain tolerance and all,” she grinned before motioning to poke Jess in the ribs.
Jess’ expression gave way to a frown, until she reached for her chest where the pain was increasing. “We should get home,” she sighed, slowly beginning to move off.
“Where did you learn that twist-kick combo? I don’t remember teaching you that,” said Jess.
Ellie said, “That’s because it’s a dance-move, Jess. You really need to get out more.”
Jess had to try to keep from laughing because it hurt so much.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Friday 14th July 2006
8:35am Los Angeles
Sorrow stood quietly in the elevator as it ascended to the fourth floor. The doors opened and he stepped outward quickly crossed the empty space between the lift and his apartment’s front door.
Inside the apartment, the luxurious furnishings lay under dustsheets. Sorrow hadn’t been able to convince Jade to move into the spacious flat. She was still wary of Ulle. The debacle with Xavier over six months ago still weighed heavily on her mind. Thankfully his duties for the society had been light; there had been only a couple of hunters passing through the city.
Sorrow walked quickly to the study. His library was still here, though. There simply wasn’t enough space at Jade’s place and he’d never gotten around to seeing if Victor could find space for his books at Poplar Avenue. So he made the weekly or sometimes even daily trips here to pick up some book or other in his ongoing search for some means to destroy Valerian once and for all.
Not that he’d found much. Sunlight, fire, decapitation, a stake through the heart - the usual methods would theoretically work against Valerian. The problem appeared to be applying them with any effectiveness.
The Elder was stronger, faster and tougher than anything Sorrow had ever come across. All that coupled with 1600 years of magical experimentation, and Sorrow faced an opponent like no other. It wasn’t in him to run, though. He’d joked about it when he’d first met Jade but now knowing everything he did Sorrow would not, could not run.
So not only had Sorrow researched as thoroughly as he could but he’d trained, he’d pushed himself to the limits of his strength and endurance, he’d focused on his magic as well, learning to deal with his backlash more effectively.
That particularly endeavour had paid dividends. The spell he had cast two months ago when he had been defending his ‘love’ Reah from Victor’s attentions would once have laid him low for days even weeks but it had taken him no more than a day to recover.
But Sorrow had taken that as far as he could without more information and that was what brought him to his apartment today. He crossed to the safe mounted on one wall and dialled the combination while incanting the words to disarm the wards he had placed. Reaching into the safe he took out the looseleaf folder that was the only remaining copy of the Book of D’Nethk’Quan.
Sorrow turned and placed the folder inside the case and as he did so a melodious ring filled the room. Making sure the case was securely sealed Sorrow took out his mobile and answered.
“Hello?”
“Huntmaster.”
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Sunday, 16th July 2006 – 9am
Previously on LA By Night:
* While under a spell, Jade bites Tash in the crook of her elbow, mirroring the spot where Valerian had chewed Tash's arm eight years earlier. * Eriantha's club, After Dark, is visited by Nicholas who destroys all her vampires.
Victor set down the receiver. While he had been on the phone Tash had busied herself making coffee and it was nearly done. She had been itching to ask questions because Victor’s responses had indicated that something that could be of immense interest to her was brewing. But she had patiently waited for him to finish his call.* Ellie is called to be the Slayer.
Once the receiver left his fingertips she started her barrage of questions. “What ’all of them’? What do you mean about ’the humans’? Who’s Nicholas? What’s this about Valerian? Just who in God’s name was that on the phone? What damn warning!?”
The percolator bubbled and fizzed behind her but it went unheeded. Victor’s half of the conversation had her dying of curiosity. He paused before answering and Tash was almost ready to throttle the answers out of him when he finally cleared his throat.
“That was Eriantha who runs After Dark; that bordello/vampire den in the historic part of town.” Tash nodded. She knew that Eriantha and Victor had known each other in the past.
Victor continued punctuating his points with rapid hand movements, “It was attacked and everyone in the club was either dusted, disappeared, or killed. Eriantha was out of the club when it happened but the perpetrator left a calling card in the form of her bartender nailed to a cross. He said the guy’s name was Nicholas and he was part of the Brotherhood. Valerian was the distraction to get her out of the club so ‘Catnip’ may be one of his associates.”
Tash blanched. “Valerian?” The name tasted like dust in her mouth, and the idea of an ‘associate’ was disturbing to say the least. Then she frowned, “I’ve never heard of ‘The Brotherhood’. How many vamps did this Nicholas bring with him? And nailed to a cross? Since when did vampires handle crosses?” Victor’s answers were only creating more questions.
Victor furrowed his brow, “Some of the particulars weren’t very clear. I did get that this Nicholas guy is an Elder. Old as me, or damn close. He did it all by himself if Eriantha’s story is to be believed. The Brotherhood is the name she used to describe a band of Elders that he and Valerian belong to.”
Victor shuddered, “A band of Elders, Tash. I cannot think of anything more frightening. She called to warn us not to investigate, hunt, or even poke our noses into this business. She actually cautioned me to leave LA for a while.”
“As old as… oh God.”
The coffee continued to bubble in the percolator, unnoticed. Tash hugged herself and sat heavily on a kitchen chair, her brain numb. “Two Elder vampires in LA? What they hell are they up to? No, I know you don’t know. You don’t have to answer that one.”
Tash sat a few minutes longer just staring blankly ahead, trying to let this knowledge feel real. It felt more like the stuff of her nightmares. “We have to let everybody know, Victor. Especially Jade and Sorrow.” Something inside her broke as she stroked the inside of her left elbow softly. The small puncture marks Jade had left were well healed and almost gone now, but they served as a none-too-subtle reminder of the horrors Jade’s father could perpetrate. She started to shake, her imagination conjuring all sorts of terrible scenarios.
Victor held her gently and let Tash release her fears into his chest. He stroked her back soothingly and spoke softly. “Some of them need to know. Jade and Sorrow for sure. I am going to call Alice and see if the explosion at Narcosis had anything to do with this as well. Reah will need to know so she can start setting up our heavy defences. I will see if I can reach Daye but I will ask her not to tell the Watchers anything. They are likely to want to put that new slayer against these guys and she is no match for that kind of power.”
Victor’s calm, rational voice helped set Tash’s mind back on track. The hunter in her came to the fore and pushed the frightened woman to one side – for now, anyway. “Of course. And we should let Kate know, too, though she has her hands full with the new baby and all. What about Jess and Elllie? They should at least know this threat exists, and I’m not sure the Council really should be kept in the dark. Sooner or later they’ll find out about it anyway, and they may be able to help. They have detailed notes on so many vampires – though I’m more inclined to trust the information Sorrow can get from Ulle.”
Victor’s mouth formed a thin line, “I trust Daye, and I am willing to take her word for Jess. But I don’t like Watchers. Never have. Alice really doesn’t like them. If we tell the Watchers we’d better let Alice know so she does not cross their path.”
Victor considered how much information that Ulle had acquired on him. It was sketchy in places but it had allowed Xavier to not only find, but to track him. Ulle’s information could be valuable indeed.
“Hmm,” Tash bit her lip, “Maybe if we just tell Daye and Jess and let them decide about whether the Watchers’ Council should know.”
She heaved a deep sigh. “You’d think just once in a while we’d be allowed to have a normal life. For years all I had to deal with were standard vampires and living with a half-Sidhe, even though I didn’t know he was at the time. Ah, the simple days,” she smiled cheekily.
Victor patted her arm. “I lived a simple life once upon a time. Work, feed, work, feed. It was less than exciting I have to tell you. Even with all the trouble I prefer this kind of life – the life we have made – to the life I was given.”
Victor sighed, “I suppose if I tell Jess to be discreet about the source...”
He sat down in a seat next to Tash and looked her in the eye, “This could be the biggest threat we will ever face. It doesn’t get much worse than two Elders.”
Tash rolled her eyes, “Oh, now you’ve jinxed it, you know.” She hit Victor’s arm, “Silly demon! What were you thinking, saying something like that? Now we’ll probably get three!”
[/]Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
15th July 2006 1:00am
James walked slowly through the graveyard. Inhaling the sent of Jem deeply he'd finally tracked her down to this cemetery. James stayed hidden in the shadows as he tracked her hoping she would not see him.
"Hi, James," she said without looking behind her.
He moved in front of her by the side of the tombstone. "Getting better, darling. You didn't even look behind you that time like the old days."
She gave him a teasing grin. "Why would I have to do that? You're so obvious. I could smell your cheap aftershave a mile away.”
He scoffed at her. "It's anything but cheap, darling."
Jem rolled her eyes. She paused, slightly baffled, “So what do you want here in LA?”
James' eyes and head lowered to the ground and he began to speak, “I can’t even say her name any more without it hurting. I’ve lost her… two times. Yet the last time… was the last time. Never again will she be back. No one could do anything about it now.”
Jem seemed to sympathise with James for a second, then a wicked smirk came across her face, “You didn’t have her to begin with."
These words seemed to sting at James' very heart. “That may be true, but it doesn’t mean I still don’t love her."
Jem continued to add salt to the wound Ebony’s death caused James, “Why don’t you deal with it already?"
James face distorted in anger, "Like you are dealing with her death any better than me. I heard you even wrecked a store because of her death.” James gave her an evil grin, "How is Christopher doing, by the way?"
Jem made a move to punch James because he dared to mention Chris' name, but James easily caught the punch while moving around her and twisted her arm around her front. He grabbed her other arm and put it behind her back so they were cheek to cheek now.
Jem struggled to get free but to no avail. “What do you want, you son of a bitch?”
James began to lick her cheek and earlobe, "That’s very simple. I want revenge for Ebony and I need your help to do it. You see, I need some personal items from this Natasha Brookes so I can start with the mental torture and I’m putting you in charge of getting it. It can be anything she has been in recent contact with - I’m trusting you to get this for me. I’m giving you a week; you don’t have them by next week you're dust."
With that James pushed her to the ground and walked off. “Remember, one week from tonight.”
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Monday July 17th, 2006. 1:00 pm
Alessa Hunt walked back home after a tiring morning at school. The teenagers nowadays weren’t like the ones she had encountered in her previous experiences at teaching, especially if one took into consideration that she hadn’t taught in more than 30 years. She looked around at the non-familiar streets she was walking. It didn’t help that she wasn’t at home in this city either. After Morris’ death she had lived in many places but this was her first time in L.A., or in the States at all for that matter, since she had attempted to contact Rupert Giles in Sunnydale five years ago. That disastrous experience had left her drained and she had left California for Santa María, her home town. However, too many years had passed since she had last been there and she found no familiar faces and was distrusted by the very sons and daughters of her long-dead childhood friends. Times had changed and a demi-cursed being like herself was no longer welcomed in Santa María. She hadn’t found solace among her mother’s kind either. Shongu, her grandfather, had also passed away and the rest of the Verbati paid her little attention. All in all Alessa found herself out of place among humans and demons alike.
That was one of the reasons she had come back to the States. She wanted to contact her father’s family too. She had researched it and the Hunts still lived in California, although she was by now many times removed from them. Her father had been shunned for marrying her mother when her uptight family thought she was just an Indian girl. They had been utterly horrified when they had discovered that Jalessa Hunt was not even human. Anyway, many years had passed and maybe now they would be more inclined to welcome her to the family. If not, at least she would meet her great-great-great nephew and niece.
The other reason was that she had heard there was a connection here in Alhambra to the Watchers' Council. Morris had considered himself a Watcher even after resigning his position, and had continued keeping his diary. She wanted to give the diary to the Council. It had taken her all these years to come to this decision, for at first she hadn’t wanted to part from any of his possessions, but now she felt she owed it to him. She just hoped she would receive a better welcome than the one she had received in Sunnydale.
However, after arriving in this city she had been too busy to try and contact the Council, or her family. Most of her efforts had been directed towards being accepted as a teacher and getting along with the principal. He had thought her too young for the position! Fortunately the papers forged by one of Morris’ long existent connections had proven worthy of the high price she had paid for them. It wasn’t easy to get a passport when your birthdate showed you were 85 but you looked 25 instead. Her fake teaching qualifications from Asunción State University had proven equally worthy. Although she was sure that what finally had gotten her the job was that not many teachers dared to enter Centennial High School, and Mr. Port, the Principal, hadn’t had much choice in the matter.
She liked the job, nevertheless. It was invigorating to work with teenagers, and they looked pretty harmless compared to some of the creatures she had met in her life. Well, they looked pretty harmless compared to her own grandfather! She smiled at her memories. She remembered the first time her father had presented her to the old creature. As a shapeshifting demon, although retaining his non-human form he managed to look tender and wise, like an overgrown teddy bear with big teeth, so the little girl in her wouldn't be too scared of the big hairy demon in front of her. He had been successful in his efforts and she hadn't feared the old creature but trusted him implicitly. Later on, the true aspect of Verbati demons didn't scare her either, since she had been immersed in their world too much for it to do so.
Without noticing it, Alessa had walked through the arch that led the way to her place. “Del Rey Apartments” were everything but royal. She shrugged in disgust at the sordid building, as she walked past a bunch of big boys who were sitting on the steps that led to the second story of the apartment building. She wondered if they ever got out of those damned stairs. They surely weren't attending her school. They watched her walk up the stairs but not one of them made a pass at her. She had tolerated their insolences until one of them had tried to touch her ass two days ago. She had reacted without thinking and the boy had ended up on his back too close to the empty swimming pool in the middle of the two story row of apartments. She immediately regretted it. She had promised herself to keep a low profile and the last thing she wanted was to have a problem for hitting a teenager. However, since the incident they had been quiet around her and kept their leering stares and far reaching hands to themselves. Nobody had asked her anything about it either; around there everybody was on their own.
As she entered her small one bedroom apartment she promised herself to move out of there as soon as she could get the money. Transferring her funds from her bank account hadn't been easy either. She was still waiting for some paperwork to go through, something from the computers of her bank in Paraguay to the ones here in L.A. Computers weren't her thing. She couldn't understand a word of them. She was, as her students said, “out of date”. Throwing her high heeled shoes down, she stretched her toes in the threadbare carpet. The formal clothes she wore at school weren’t her thing either. She usually favored jeans and low heels. Unhooking her skirt she headed towards the bathroom. She wanted to take a shower before walking to Bibliophile, the reason she had chosen the city of Alhambra to live in.
We're all going on a Summer Holiday...(part One)
Sunday, 16th July 2006 – 5pm
“So have you heard from Reah or Alice yet?”
Tash stood in the doorway, sweat staining her t-shirt. To cope with the interminable waiting, she’d gone upstairs for some training. Between her and Victor they’d let almost all their friends know of what they’d learned that morning, but so far Reah and Alice had been hard to track down.
Victor’s attention snapped to her from where he had been. His eyes met hers and there was a moment of confusion, “Wha..? Uh no…no, neither one of them has called in.”
He rubbed his face and mumbled, “My brain is numb from thinking about what to do. It’s too big. I don’t even know where to start.”
Tash turned her head to see where he’d been staring when she first entered, though she knew she really didn’t need to. Sure enough, the Stone of Ghortab leaned against the wall, looking innocuous. Her brow furrowed and she stepped into her apartment to take Victor’s hand in her own.
“We’ll do as we’ve always done. Deal with it as it comes, and try to pool our resources to find out what the two Elders are doing here and how we might stop them.” She smiled warmly at her husband, “It’s just a pity we couldn’t have had a little time without a crisis to enjoy our wedded bliss. I’d have liked to have time to maybe go somewhere and call it our honeymoon.”
Alice appeared from out of nowhere. "You rang me?" she asked as she stepped into the room.
Victor took a sharp intake of breath as if waking up, "Alice? Yes, I called. I've not seen you in a while. Sorry it's bad news."
"When is it ever good news?" Alice smiled.
Tash interjected, "Not often." She gestured to the couch, inviting Alice to sit.
“What did you need?" said Alice as she sat down on the couch.
Victor talked as he walked, "I got a call from Eriantha at After Dark. Seems we have an Elder in town named Nicholas."
“An Elder what? Vamp?"
Victor nodded grimly, "Elder Vamp, he's part of something called the Brotherhood, a group of Elders. Valerian is apparently a member because he was in on the decimation of the Cult of Fascion in LA. I thought you should know about two Elders being active in town."
"Ok, I’ve been laying low anyway so it’s not much of a stretch for me to stay away from them too. Unless you had something else in mind?"
Victor sat next to Tash, "You may not know it, but there is a Slayer in town too. With two Big Bads and a Slayer there is bound to be a lot of Watchers’ Council activity too. I just thought you should know. I am going to see what I can say to the Slayer's Watcher to keep her from reporting too much back to them. But you know how they are..."
"When it rains…"
Victor smiled, "...you get rainbows? Just kidding. I wanted to tell you about the other apocalypse. Tash and I finally got married."
Tash poked Victor in the ribs, "Apocalypse? Gee, ta."
Alice continued, "You also catch a cold, sneezing and death."
"Colds of death? Is this the apocalyptic disaster I was called in for?" Reah stood in the open doorway. She didn't show much of it, but she was rather apprehensive and uneasy about coming here in the first place, considering what had happened last time she’d come to one of these 'apartment gatherings'. She half wondered if this was going to be as... interesting... as the last. The other half of her contemplated turning back to her room to check over the mini-gun she'd ordered privately from one of her more trusted suppliers.
"Not quite." Tash kept her smile firmly in place, but even after two months she felt slightly uncomfortable around Reah. After that horrendous day two months ago, everyone involved had tried to come to terms with it and had succeeded for the most part. But just sometimes Tash would feel embarrassed around Reah, and especially Jade.
Tash soldiered on, "There's also a small matter of a second Elder vampire in LA - and Victor and I got married last week." The smile broadened into something much more relaxed.
"Oh!" Reah's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the sudden remark, "That was a little unexpected! I mean," she shook her head regrettfully at the fact that she'd opened her mouth, "I meant, just... the context of the sentence and all, it seemed a little out of place. I'm not saying that I didn't expect the two of you to marry, or that you shouldn't..."
She hesitated, *The worst thing of all is that I have the ability to shut myself up anytime!* "Um..." her forehead furrowed as she mentally abused herself.
"Congratulations!" she smiled apologetically. It had been a long time before she'd been caught like that. *Stop thinking about your new toy already!*
Tash's eyes widened. Reah's mind was filled with thoughts of a lovely, new, shiny mini-gun. "Wow," she muttered involuntarily.
She jabbed Victor in the ribs. He was staring off into space again. No, not space, she corrected herself. That bloody Stone. "Victor, the time. Dammit," Tash smiled apologetically at both Reah and Alice. "We need to talk about this, urgently, but I've got friends coming over tonight. Normal, non-supernatural friends..." She glanced at the clock. "But we do have a little time to go over what we've learned, if we're quick."
"Hrrm?" Victor's attention snapped back to the present place and time. He had the distinct impression he had been daydreaming. *But I don't dream.* He stood up and kissed Tash on the top of the head before walking over to the closet and pulling out a towel. He draped it over the Stone of Ghortab neatly. *There. Maybe that will do the trick.* "Just trying to avoid a lot of embarrassing questions from your friend. Your 'normal' friend," Victor re-emphasised the 'normal' for Reah and Alice's benefit.
"Oh ya, you’re just a ‘normal’ little couple," Alice quipped.
Tash, and occasionally Victor when she prodded him into awareness, told Reah and Alice about the story Eriantha had relayed. “We’re trying to reach everyone to warn them, but so far we’ve only managed to get Jade and Sorrow, and now you guys. We’ve left messages with the others. I don’t know what we can do about this – but we need to find out why this Nicholas is here. He’s obviously working with Valerian, from what Eriantha said, but we need to know what they’re up to.”
Tash looked down at her sweat-stained workout clothes, “And I need to get changed soon. I’m expecting my guests in less than half an hour.”
Reah nodded solemnly, "I appreciate the warning. Do you know what they look like at all? You seem to of at least dealt with... Valerian? before."
"Valerian is... just try not to look in his eyes. He does that mesmerism thing. It's not fun, trust me. Uh, look, I'm going to quickly have a shower." She poked Victor in the ribs again, hard. "Victor can fill you in. Maybe." She disappeared into the bathroom and seconds later everyone in the living room heard the water run.
Victor looked at the two women in the room as if he was seeing them for the first time. His mind was a jumble of memories and thoughts. It was as if someone was playing his brain on fast forward. He opened his mouth, "Valerian is... uh... young-looking. He has dark hair... I think. Nicholas I don't know... Eri didn't tell me about him. Fascion was an old man and uh..." his voice trailed off as his attention turned back to the towel covered Stone to the side.
Reah stared blankly and uninspired at the less than half-assed information she was getting from the newly weds. "So... I'm looking for a kinda young looking guy with darkish hair... maybe... and I should avoid eye contact with the vampire that fits this exact description." She took an exasperated breath, "Well! This should be easy! With priceless information like that, who could go wrong?"
"I know a few vamps in town," Alice said. *Ok, a lot of them.* "And maybe some people I know can help get a better description."
Nikolai thought that the current day was going extremely well. They’d managed to find a babysitter for Ben fortunately, which freed up Zoë to go with him to meet Victor. The prospect seemed a touch daunting, after hearing so much about him and wondering what Tash had left unsaid. They’d arrived early, and knocked lightly on the door.
Victor did not respond, causing Reah and Alice to ask if he was going to answer the door, wondering who was there. He eventually opened it to reveal a younger blonde woman and a young man with dark hair, his eyes intensely scrutinizing the people in the room. “Hello,” he said. “My name is Nikolai, this is Zoë. Tash invited us over… are you Victor by any chance?” He continued to intensely watch the people in the room, wondering what the odd looks were for.
"Oh, yes, Nikolai," Victor said vaguely, his eyes drifting back to the Stone, "Why don't you come on in?"
*Oh look! It's Valerian... possibly.* Reah smiled wryly to herself at the entrance of the newcomers. "Better avoid eye contact," she murmured askance to Alice before replacing her expression with a nice warming smile towards the couple.
“Tash is just in the shower,” she said, gesturing vaguely behind her.
The water spray felt good, but Tash knew she had to hurry. She’d barely rinsed off when she heard new voices in the next room. “Already? Damn, they’re early.” She turned the taps off and grabbed a towel, drying herself hastily and throwing on the fresh clothes she’d taken in with her.
“Hi, Kolya, Zoë,” she said as she emerged back into the lounge room, ruffling her short hair with the towel before throwing the wet material back towards the bathroom. “Sorry, the time got away from us a little today. If you haven’t been introduced yet, this is Alice,” Tash gestured towards the demon, hoping she’d play human for a short while, “and Reah.”
She grimaced as she looked at Victor, “And the highly distracted man there is Victor. I’m not sure what’s got into him today…” Tash trailed off and frowned. Was the Stone glowing slightly under its cloth? *Uh, oh, this could be bad.*
Trying to appear normal, Tash turned back to the small crowd in her apartment and smiled brightly at her guests.
"A pleasure to meet you all," Nikolai said, thinking that Victor looked like he was off in another world. Gesturing to the woman next to him, "This is Zoë, my girlfriend."
Reah, feeling otherwise awkward just standing there with a trying smile, held out her part-gloved hand to the other woman to shake firmly - although she was careful not to be too firm. A 'light shake' was a better description for Reah's case. "G'day. How’s it going?" She sighed mentally: it was a sad day when socialising with new people started to feel like being rubbed the wrong way.
Victor stood immobile, staring at the covered stone. And although Tash had spared him the occasional worried glance she was more concerned with keeping up appearances for Kolya's sake. Until Victor moved. He bent down slowly and peeled away the towel. Pinkish illumination flowed into the room from the stone. The runes on the surface of the stone were all glowing brighter than the stone itself. The runes suddenly went dark and then lit up a row at a time, projecting golden mirror images across Victor's once-again immobile form.
"What the bloody f..?" Reah trailed off.
Alice repeated, "When it rains..."
Nikolai and Zoë stood gaping at the effects of the stone. Zoë was too flabbergasted to say anything; all Nikolai could do in his shock was mutter a single word. "Bozhemi."
Tash swallowed, panic rising at the idea of what Kolya might make of all this. "Victor, are you all right?" She tried desperately to get his attention, but Victor's eyes were focused elsewhere.
Once the 'scan' had passed over him a couple of times the stone lapsed into a soothing glow punctuated by random runes lighting in some arcane sequence. Victor mechanically bent over and picked up the massive rock with both hands, turned stiffly and walked to the door. He bumped it once and almost absently he tucked the rock under an arm and turned the knob. The door swung loosely as he walked purposefully down the hall.
Alice followed Victor through the door, "Vic, you Ok hun?”
Nikolai blinked in confusion a few times. His 'normal' accent had returned when he faced Tash. "Is there something that you vant to tell me?"
Tash raced back to the bedroom and came out moments later, strapping on her shoulder holster, her wrist sheathes gyrating wildly from one hand at the movement. Kolya's question trailed her up the hallway, and she answered on the way out, "Maybe in a minute, Kolya. Alice, Reah, if you need weapons there's a box under my bed. I don't want to lose sight of Victor."
She grabbed Nikolai's arm as she moved to the doorway and hissed in a low voice, "I know you might have seen some shit in your time, Kolya, but you might be better off just going home now and taking Zoë with you. I'm sorry, but dinner might have to wait."
Nikolai glanced at Zoë, then back to Tash again. It was clear that both of them wanted to know exactly what was going on. "I think ve are a bit too interested in finding out vat is going on to leave. Human curiosity."
Tash rolled her eyes as she fastened her wrist sheathes under her shirtsleeves, "Fine, but don't blame me if you get killed."
"It is not my life that I am vorried about," he said, wondering if this could threaten Zoë. Though after a decade in the underworld, what was a little pink light going to do?
Reah, although already armoured up with her two Ares II Preds, spare clips she'd managed to duplicate and an assortment of other, smaller easily concealed weapons on her, was swift to throw open the chest Tash had mentioned, and immediately began scanning through the contents to see what else she could strap on.
Frustrated at the collection of stakes and holy water with only one crossbow and a couple of swords, she slapped the side of the box and sprang to her feet. Dashing straight out the door to head to her apartment, she called out over her shoulder as she pushed past Nikolai, "Go ahead! I'll catch up!"
Alice grabbed Victor’s arm trying the stop him. "Damn boy. What have you been eating?" but failed to slow him. She yelled, "Tash, I think our boy is not going to stop on his own,” and pulled out her guns.
Nikolai walked over to Zoë, who was beginning to look more nervous. "Kolya, I think we should go," she said. All of the guns were making her nervous, though she had no clue about the one in the glove box of his car.
He thought for a moment on what to do, wanting to protect her while finding out what was going on. "Ve'll stop by the car - I just need to get something out of it real quick. I'll follow along on foot, and you can get home - can let you know vat is going on." Zoë thought about it for a moment, then nodded once as she noted his determination to get to the bottom of it.
Tash grabbed Alice’s shoulder, pulling her aim awry. “No, don’t shoot him.” Tash looked at Victor’s retreating form as he struggled with his burden down the stairs. “We should just follow him. That Stone is from his home. If it looks like he’s going to do anything stupid, then you can shoot him.”
Tash jogged after Victor and stopped in front of him. He didn't pause or swerve, just bowled right through her on whatever quest he was on. "Damn," she muttered, picking herself off the floor. Following after him again, she tried to grab the Stone from his hands, but his grip was deathlike. There was no way mere muscle would shift that. Looking back at Alice, she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Yep, follow him looks like our only option."
As the last of the party exited the building and stalked past the alley’s mouth, a flash of Reah's sleek form suddenly dropped down from the side of the building, landing solidly and silently on the alley ground.
Nikolai and Zoë had reached the car, watching Victor go down the street Tash and Alice hanging on his arms - being dragged down the street. At first, Zoë was prepared to drive away until Nikolai pulled his pistol out of the glove box. "You... you..." she sputtered, "You have a gun? You never told me that!"
“I thought they vere standard equipment in America," he replied, realising too late that this was probably the wrong thing to say. They stood there arguing for a minute or two, Zoë insisting that they would talk about this now and not later.
The couple was too busy in their argument and trying to get on their way, that they did not notice Reah open the back of the car and slip in. The argument continued unabated while they tracked the trio through the street, Zoë not wanting to relent and questioning Nikolai's sense at even having a gun, let alone acting like this was something just slightly out of the ordinary to look into.
Reah sniffed in annoyance at the irritable bickering taking place between the pair, *And people wonder why I don't get into relationships!*
"THAT IS IT!" she yelled, causing the oblivious pair to jump at the sudden outburst from the company they didn't even realise they had. "You," Reah's sharp gaze pinned Nikolai, "concentrate on where you're driving! And you," her piercing gaze snapped to Zoë, "just sit back, don't distract, and be bloody thankful the man has a gun!"
She stubbornly shoved herself back into her seat, "Bloody hell. In this day and age you need a bloody gun to survive. Perhaps next time it might cross your mind that he's wanting to protect you." She sighed firmly and kept a sharp eye out on the passing street. “Couples!"
Nikolai sat there in silence as he focused on trying to drive. Zoë stared daggers at the woman in the back of the car, almost unable to believe what she was hearing. "Oh please," she snapped, "you're a walking arsenal! Guns kill people, and as far as protection goes, that's what we have police for."
The cynical smile Reah shot at Zoë was far from comforting. "You have no idea."
Nikolai was growing tired of the argument. "Can you please yell at me when we get home?" he asked politely, finally recovering the non-accent accent. "We are chasing a man with a glowing stone down the street, after all."
It was enough to finally bring the argument to an end - at least for the time being.
Victor made steady progress through neighbourhoods and shopping centres as he travelled in a more-or-less straight line headed southeast. He showed no regard for traffic or property as he walked blindly into streets and battered his way through any obstacle he could not walk around.
Tash and Alice were easily pacing him at a light jog, wincing with concern as he headed down an on-ramp and onto the freeway. Nikolai pulled up next to them and rolled down the window.
Tash stared in horror at Alice. "In the car, quick!" she yelled, wrenching open the back door.
She leaned forward to Nikolai. "Go back up."
He looked over his shoulder at her in consternation. Traffic coming down the on-ramp was rushing past them, drivers blaring their horns and gesticulating rudely. "Yes," Tash repeated, "Back up. Go across... we'll watch Victor."
Nikolai quipped as he turned back to drive, "Jesus, Tash. What planet is your husband from to even consider doing this?"
Reah, sick of being in the car with the bloody couple, jumped out of the car past Tash and Alice as they made their way in. "You go over the overpass," she yelled over the freeway traffic. She shot a sickened gaze at the couple, Nikolai and Zoë, "I'm going cross country. Call me on your mobile, Tash, when you get over and I'll tell you where I am."
With that she slammed the door closed, ignoring any further arguments. Truth be told, the main reason that had decided her move was the thought of being stuck in the car with that couple any longer!
Senses and reflexes on maximum alert, Reah barely hesitated before she moved into the speeding traffic and picked her way deftly to the centre strip, ignoring the blazing horns and narrowly missing being collected by a four-wheeler.
Victor strolled across the freeway heedless of the speeding cars that were swerving to avoid him. He paused briefly at the median barrier. Reah was amazed he had made it this far without being smashed like a bug on the windscreen of some car or another. The speeds the traffic was moving at - 80mph or more - were treacherous. Victor hopped over the barrier from a flat-footed stance and continued his stroll until a BMW that didn't swerve enough clipped him. He spun slightly and staggered into the next lane while the Beemer collided with the median barrier. In the next lane a pickup truck swerved and smacked the first car, sending it spinning across five lanes of breakneck traffic.
"Strewth!" Reah shouted.
Cars were screeching to a halt and bumpers were impacting other bumpers and skidding cars. Bits of safety glass flew like confetti and the sounds of crashes and bending metal drowned out the curses of the drivers as they smashed at high velocity.
Nikolai’s combat driving days were long gone, but some things you don’t forget. He reversed the car back up the ramp for several metres before he found a spot to do a handbrake turn and face the car the right way. As the freeway receded behind them, they could hear screeching brakes and crumpling metal, and Tash closed her eyes and muttered, “Please, let him be safe. Please, let him be safe. Please, let him be safe.”
Nikolai weaved among the traffic hurtling down the on-ramp, narrowly avoiding disaster but collecting a good set of swearwords, gestures and honking horns. They finally reached the road proper and crossed the overpass. Alice could see out the window at the carnage littering the freeway below, and the small steady speck that was Victor as he plodded in his inexorable course.
"You should have let me shoot him," Alice commented.
Reah leapt straight off the median barrier into the final half of traffic, dodging cars as they screeched into the massive pileup. She winced at the noise that pierced her ears as she bounded onto the crumpled bonnet of one of the cars near the outermost lane just as a ute slammed into its back, forcing her to jump straight off, directly into the oncoming traffic.
Her eyes widened at the sight of the fast approaching BMW sedan that sped past the wreckage. At the sight of Reah, the driver slammed on his brakes, but not soon enough before the car would collect her. She jumped with her last second before the impact, smashing into the windshield. She covered her eyes from the shattering glass as she rolled over the top where she desperately lashed out with her claws, stabbing them into the car’s roof and puncturing straight into the vehicle’s interior to keep her from rolling right off the back as it swerved wildly around the road to a stop.
Reah, crouching, peered after Victor who'd managed to cross barely scathed. With a winced sniff, she withdrew her claws from the roof and leapt off to continue following him.
Tash pulled out her mobile phone and dialled Reah's number. *If she's still alive down there.* The noise from the freeway below continued unabated, and Tash hoped fervently that nobody had been hurt. Too badly.
Nikolai was reaching the end of the overpass and called back to her, "Well, which way now? To the freeway this way, or keep going?"
“Gimme a sec!" Tash listened to her phone ringing, waiting for Reah to answer it.
Reah was cracking out the developing stiffness in her neck when her phone suddenly started vibrating in her coat. As she continued to follow Victor without taking her eyes off him, she reached inside her pocket to pull it out and press 'answer'.
"Yeah?"
"Hi, my name is Melissa and I'm calling from the NRA. I was wondering if you were interested in renewing your membership, Ms Kossinton?" Alice jabbed Tash in the ribs and the next thing Reah heard was "Ooof. Ok, ok. Reah, it's Tash. Where is he going?"
Reah smirked, "Tash! Fuck you and the NRA! I want a bloody mage or paramedic!"
She chuckled into the phone, then sighed as her eyes continued to stay plastered on Victor. "But yeah, aside from that, we both seem to be stuck by this sound barrier thing, and... oh, wait...." She paused and watched in acceptance as he suddenly stopped and punched a hole out through the wall. "Nope. It's all right," she picked up her trailed sentence, "Good ol' Vic has just hand made us a nifty little exit."
She went silent for a little while as she followed him out and continued till he seemed to find his bearings again. "He seems pretty determined to keep going southeast, towards Ventura it looks like."
"Kolya, if you could take the arterial road next to the freeway, thanks? Southeast, apparently. Into Ventura."
Tash returned to the phone, "Hang in there, Reah. We're coming to pick you up."
Tash rested the phone on her lap and leaned forward to touch Zoë lightly on the shoulder, causing the hunched-over woman to jump. "I'm sorry, Zoë," Tash said, "I tried to warn you not to come... My life gets complicated at times."
"I think that's understating the situation," Zoë replied disconnectedly.
Tash replied with a tight smile and said nothing. What was there to say, after all? At least Nikolai seemed to be coping all right. More or less. Tash just hoped he didn't have to see Victor in his true form, or Alice for that matter.
She gathered up the phone again, "Reah? We're almost there - look behind you." Out of the window Tash could see the faint pink glow of the Stone wrapped around Victor's stoic form, and Reah bounding along behind him.
Reah turned to look stiffly over her shoulder and spotted the car. Kolya was driving with Zoë sitting in the passenger seat. Relaxing her head straight forward again toward Victor, Reah groaned, "Hit me with another fucking car, please!"
Nikolai's patience had just reached the breaking point. "If you don't get in the car, I'm going to throw you in the trunk." He really didn't think they had time for this.
Tash threw open the door on her side. "Well, I'm following Victor on foot. I don't care who goes where. I have to try to snap him out of this." She jogged after her lover, desperate to see that no harm befell him.
Reah shifted aside as Tash jogged past and dropped herself down into the vacated seat, slamming the door shut behind her. As the car pulled out again, Reah silently pressed three fingers to a bloody gash on her forehead then pulled them away to stare thoughtfully at the blood that had come away. Turning a questioning eyebrow up at Zoë, she asked, "Do have a band-aid in that glove box by any chance?"
Alice slipped out the car door and muttered something about crazy Russians. She took off with an amazing burst of speed after her friend.
Victor plodded across the parking lot full of cars in front of the Wal*Mart. He had a piece of trim from some car or another draped over his arm as he wove in between the cars on his way southeast. Some poor schmuck thought he would get in Victor's way and try to start an argument with him and Victor completely ignored him until he went away, having determined that Victor wasn't going to play that game.
Soon the residences and businesses gave way to more industrial structures - fast-food restaurants, fish processing factories and warehouses. Victor walked through the long evening shadows that made the mostly nine-to-five area look deserted except for the few souls who manned the night shifts.
Darian walked slowly through the industrial sector on his way to work, all the while gazing blankly at his feet. Since it had been several months since anything magical, mythical, or mystical had happened in his life, he would sometimes find himself missing the days when he was being stalked by a psycho faery, or being jumped by gangs of teen vamps. *Maybe the lack of supernatural is for the best,* he thought, realising that he had been devoting a lot more time looking for a way to help Sebastian. Since Loki had vanished from LA, Darian had been to a number of local witches and wizards, but like always, they had no answer.
Before he could give any more thought to the matter however, his keen eyes picked up a familiar figure off in the distance. *Is that Tash yelling at a guy holding a big… rock?” Looking more closely, his eyes confirmed what he had suspected. *Why do I have a feeling this is going to be a strange night?* he thought as he jogged over to his friend.
"Hey Natasha, is everything ok?"
Tash looked up at the new arrival, “Darian? Uh, well, not really. Victor’s gone a bit strange. I have no idea what he’s up to.” She kept jogging, not wanting to lose contact with Victor. “It’s almost like he’s been hypnotised by this friggin’ Stone.”
Victor stopped walking abruptly and Tash walked a few steps past him before she realised he had stopped. His pace had been so steady that it had startled her. Victor was standing in the middle of the parking lot in front of some data processing centre. Behind her, Tash heard Nikolai's car pull into the parking lot and she watched as he parked it several feet away and everyone but Zoë exited.
When she glanced back at Victor he had raised the Stone of Ghortab over his head. With a swift motion Victor brought the stone down and it slammed into the blacktop surface with a thunderous sound. The clap resounded off the surrounding buildings, chasing its own echoes through the labyrinth of empty streets.
As silence settled among the assembled crew a few timid voices started to say, "Now what?" when as if in answer to the question the ground began to crack revealing glowing a lava-like subsurface that radiated beams of light in all directions. Victor stood unreacting as the cracks passed beneath and around him until he and all the others were in a circle of glowing cracks in the Earth.
Nikolai looked back as Zoë left his car, unwilling to sit within the influence of this phenomenon she neither understood nor could accept. From a distance there was a booming noise like a shockwave. No one spoke as a flat rock flew in from nowhere and landed with a loud and final thud on the periphery of the circle of lit cracks. Stone after stone flew in from all directions and stuck like they had been meant to be there for all eternity on the pavement.
Nikolai ducked as one of stones flew in low and slammed through his Monte Carlo and stuck beneath it as if it had formed there with the Earth. "Aw, fuck me! I just paid the fucking thing off!" Nikolai swore in flawless English.
More stones flew in and landed until the circle was complete. Each stone lit in sequence and glowed a sinister purple light. Then they extinguished. Zoë stood in the now-empty parking lot of the data processing centre. A black ring of swirling energy dissipated like dust in the wind. She shook and tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked at the half-Monte Carlo resting there inexplicably.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
15th July 2006 6:00am
Romania 1845
It was morning and a young girl was screaming. Of course, her scream didn't echo through the land but was drowned out by the roar of the train she was on and the cold palm of the young man about to take her life. As soon as his teeth punctured her neck and began drinking the screaming quietened then stopped altogether. Once he was done, her young body slumped down on the floor as limp as a doll.
James grinned to himself whilst clearing away her drained body, hoping he'd taught the little bint not to waltz in with some of that 'Room Service' nonsense in the middle of the day! After all his careful prevention of the possibility of any sunlight getting into the little room, she had to put her nose in it and almost ruin everything! His icy blue eyes - a magnificent contrast to his pale skin - lit up with the regret of not ripping off that pretty little nose before he'd fed on that maid.
James had managed to keep himself entertained by calling for some more service, beginning to understand how useful they really could be.
Normally, he'd try to be a bit more creative or try and hunt someone, feeling the thrill of the chase and the danger of the ever-present sunlight. He'd grown a bit of a reputation recently and would've loved nothing more than to off everyone on board, a proper way of greeting the land. It would really have helped the way people saw him.
The reason James was making this little trip to Romania was because of the vampires that attacked him in Milwaukee. James had no idea why they attacked him but the only thing he could get out of the vampires he captured was that whoever hired them had a haven in Romania and James was planning to find it and kill whomever resided in it.
When James finally got to Romania he then headed to the Transylvanian Alps to the mountain of Moldoveanu where the haven was supposedly placed. When James arrived at the mountain range he made a home for himself in the local inn which was placed beside the train station, all windows blocked with heavy curtains not allowing any light in the room.
The second night in the small town James went hunting, not humans but demons.
The vampire’s face with the satisfying crunch of a breaking nose. Blood spurted down his face as he stumbled backwards trying to get away from James. A sharp kick caught him in the stomach and he doubled over in pain, glaring up at James through yellow eyes.
“Start talking,” James growled as he slipped a stake out of his pocket.
“Go to hell.”
“Planning on it. But my travel plans aren’t the discussion.” There’s a crack as James' boot connected with his jaw. “Vampires. Lots of them. Sent after me. Who’s behind it?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Fuck you.” The vamp disappeared into a cloud of dust as the stake pierced his heart.
Sighing, James brushed dust off his arm and trekked through the row of crypts. One cemetery down. Fifteen more and two dozen demon bars to go. At this point he does not care if he has to kill every vamp in Romania and torture every demon in Europe. He will do whatever he has to do to find the person who is after him.
It was two weeks since his last lead and he was beginning to give up. He had searched the entire mountain and still found noting. “At least it can't get any worse.”
Almost on time a massive clap of thunder boomed and it began to rain hard so James started to pick up his pace while heading back to town. He would have missed it if it wasn’t for the clap of thunder, but he was sure he saw it - a man just walking through the cliff face. James started to head towards the last place he saw the man, and began to scratch at the surface of the cliff until he found it. James' hand passed through the cliff face, no different to putting your hand through water. As James passed through the cliff face and appeared in a dimly lit passageway, he quietly made his way along the hallway until he finally came to a bigger room. He saw two vampires sitting and talking. One looked like a master vampire and the other looked quite young.
*****
James sat bolt upright in his bed looking blankly into space. Skippy wasn’t asleep yet and he walked over to James. “James, you all right man? You haven’t been sleeping well since you got to LA.”
James looked into the eyes of his friend and spoke, "I want you to move the kid into a good apartment and cast a shit load of spells on the apartments."
Skippy looked slightly worried by James' words. “I'll start first thing tomorrow night, but what is it for?"
James gave Skippy a concerned look. “Because some very old enemies are here and I don’t think I can kill them."
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Friday 14th July, 2006
An undisclosed location on the outskirts of Los Angeles
11:05am
Jennifer Lawson glanced at her reflection in a small compact mirror balanced on her lap. She self-consciously brushed her hair forward to cover the mangled remnants of her earlobe. In the mirror, her eyes had fixed in a firm, steely gaze as she remembered the series of events last year…
“Don’t fucking screw around with me Jen!” Galen cried out painfully, dropping Jen to the ground. She moaned and clutched her wounded arm. Galen paced the alleyway before returning to Jen. “She was everything to me!” he screamed, dragging Jen from the floor again and slamming her hard against the wall. “She was my world, and you ended that… you ENDED IT! Just say his name! Just tell me who gave the order or I swear to god I will kill you!”
Jen’s silence only caused Galen to become more infuriated. He raised his gun again aiming at Jen’s head. In the last moment he moved his hand and fired a shot, severing most of Jen’s ear off. She screamed in unbearable agony and dropped to the floor clutching the bloody mess of cartilage and gristle in her hand.
Jennifer snapped the compact mirror shut and forced the memory of that event from her mind. She had waited a long time to get revenge on Mr Eldridge for what he’d done to her all those months ago, and now it seemed like the perfect opportunity had all but fallen in her lap.
“Ahem, Mr Carmichael to see you Ma’am,” said a young intern, poking her head around the door to Jennifer Lawson’s office.
“Show him in,” purred Lawson as she replaced the mirror in her suit pocket and smoothed out the fabric of her short skirt.
The door opened and a well-built, handsome man entered. His entire person exuded power and influence as he strode over to the desk, laying his briefcase open on top. “Allow me to express my most heartfelt gratitude at your agreeing to meet with me this morning, Ms. Lawson,” Carmichael’s firm English accent rang through the room like fine crystal. “I was sorry to hear about your predecessor. I trust he is recovering well?”
“Mr Farefax is much better, thank you,” said Jennifer with a slight smile, “He decided to take a long vacation in South America. I am personally overseeing his department while he is away.”
“Glad to hear it,” grinned Carmichael as he caught a glimpse of the woman’s thighs as she slowly crossed and uncrossed her long legs. “So why don’t we get down to business? My associate should be joining us shortly but he won’t mind if we start without him.”
“I was intrigued by your proposal, Mr Carmichael. The M.o.M isn’t exactly someone we are familiar with, although we have had dealings in the past, and as I have recently discovered with most conducive results for both parties.”
“M.o.M doesn’t tolerate failure.”
Jennifer snorted in amusement. “Really? That’s not what I heard. That little incident last year? My agency is prepared to assist you in any way that we can, but we don’t want to have to deal with another fuck up like last year in Bremen.”
“Don’t worry about that, Ms. Lawson.” The voice came from across the room and Carmichael and Lawson both rose to their feet as they noticed the aged man who stood in the doorway. “We have our best agents on this one.”
“Ms. Lawson, this is my associate Mr. Lowell,” explained Carmichael as Lowell joined them at the desk.
The man was probably in his forties Jennifer thought, with dark, balding hair and beady little black eyes. As he approached she couldn’t help but notice that he had a prosthetic hand and found herself staring at it as though it contained the answers to some mystical prophecy.
Lowell caught Jennifer’s glance and self-consciously drew his hand back and pasted a confident smile on his face. “Sometimes… things don’t go according to plan. In those cases all we can do is regroup and prepare to face the enemy once more.”
“I understand,” said Lawson, brushing back her hair slightly to reveal the remains of her ear. She recalled bitterly the months of surgery she had endured to reconstruct what was left of her ear. Now it was a ghastly reminder of the consequences of deception.
“Like I said, there is no need to worry about any… ‘fuck-ups’. This time no one will suspect anything is out of the ordinary when we make our move. That’s where you come in. MoM obviously likes to handle her own affairs, but we thought we could do with a little insider help on this one.”
“If The Ministry of Magic has the money Mr. Lowell, then Majestic has the jurisdiction. Personally I don’t care what your motives are,” Jennifer pursed her lips together in a half smile, half grimace, “so long as you won’t be using that fool Gemmel this time round.”
Lowell and Carmichael glanced at each other conspicuously. Lowell cleared his throat in a matter-of-fact manner. “M.o.M won’t allow any mistakes this time around. Believe me, my boss has learnt his lesson. He won’t be attempting anything quite so risky as last time. But that doesn’t mean he has given up searching for the grail. The last path to power and immortality may have turned into a dead end, but it is not the only path available.”
Carmichael smiled wistfully. “Besides, this could work out to be just as beneficial to Majestic also. This group of demon hunters in LA has been a thorn in both our sides for the past year ever since that damn Cloch Cosan incident. Do you realise just how much money it took to make that problem disappear?”
Jennifer laughed aloud. “I’m sure you survived. M.o.M has deep pockets, always has. You and your private financiers, centuries of investments, not like us. Majestic operates on a strict budget, you’ll see. Which is why we’re so willing to help M.o.M this time around. Don’t expect it to be a regular occurrence.”
“And here we are thinking it was just out of the goodness of your hearts.” Carmichael exchanged glances with Lowell again. “That or maybe pure revenge - we hear things have been getting kind of heated over here this past eight months or so? Your own AD walking out on you, a divide between two factions, a struggle for power. You must have spent more time covering up your own internal politics than the entire supernatural spectacle in Los Angeles.”
“Yes, well, you take out your subject and maybe things will quieten down around here. Things were never this bad before. You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve had fall into my in-tray this past week alone!”
“Well… yes...” began Lowell uncomfortably, “There are dark forces converging in Los Angeles.”
Jennifer feigned a yawn. “So, what else is new?”
“Even our most powerful Agents are unable to determine the outcome of this one, and you know just how… accurate they have been in the past. But one thing they are certain of is the situation of this subject, and we’ve had our eye on this one for quite a while I can tell you.”
“Our undercover agent is in place Ms. Lawson. The time is fast approaching.”
Jennifer leaned in on her chair. “Soon?”
“Sooner than we imagined,” stated Lowell. “Unfortunately it is not safe for me to remain in LA considering the present circumstances.” The man nervously rubbed at the joint of his prosthetic hand with his other, living hand. “Carmichael will be overseeing events here this time around, with your assistance Ms. Lawson.”
Both of the gentlemen suddenly rose to their feet, getting ready to leave. “You have the relevant paper work, Ms. Lawson. We’ll be in touch shortly.”
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
21st July
8:02pm
Night hadn’t quite fallen when Chance was on the streets, air whipping around him as his bike pushed at the speed limit. Another night, another journey. A journey that seemed would have no end, or an unpleasant one.
The warnings of the Vagabond hung over Chance always, and now every time he met a vampire he found himself wondering ‘is this it?’ Yet he was still live and kicking. He had not seen the man since that day, so guessed he had fled LA, too. *Good bloody riddance,* Chance thought.
He pulled up outside of Bob’s a few minutes later. He had a score to settle with the owner. Plus if he threatened enough, you never knew, he might get a free drink.
The look on Bob’s face when he saw Chance enter was priceless. When Chance smiled nastily it was even better. The large gash on his forehead with the river of dried blood trailing down his left cheek probably added to the effect. The bar was still quite empty, with only the last of the day's customers and the first of the night's present, so Chance got to a stool without even a second look this time. In some cases, not even a first.
He moved aggressively towards the bar. Bob began looking around, trying to find some reason to be elsewhere, but not finding one. He didn’t look like a person who had anywhere else to be anyway.
Making sure to keep his right arm below the bar top, Chance slammed his left smack down on the greasy surface, looking to make an entrance but instantly regretting it when his palm brushed the disgusting surface.
“Bob, Bob, Bob, my good friend.” *‘Friend’. Yeah, right. That’s a good one.* In his short time in LA, Chance had found Bob to be a excellent source, but no more than that. Both of them knew the other would betray them in a heartbeat.
“I want to thank you for telling that good demon where I was staying so he could come find me. We had a lot to talk about, y’see.” His eyes unfocused and were distant. “Of course, he’s not going to be listening to anybody else talk in a while…”
Chance brought his right arm up, and with a look of disgust deposited two oddly shaped green ears on the bar top with a wet flop. Bob stared at them mouth agape and eyes wide. Keeping his head down, Chance growled loud enough for the paralysed barkeeper to hear, but not for the other patrons. “You do something like that again, friend,” now he looked up to meet Bob’s gaze, his own unflinching eyes a stark contrast to Bob’s darting ones, “and it might be your ears I drop on somebody’s bar top.”
Bob opened his mouth, once, twice, three times like some obscene fish. On the fourth attempt his speech returned. “S-s-sure thing, Mr. Chance. Next time I’ll call ahead first, make sure it’s okay first.”
“You do that,” he said, knowing full well that Bob wouldn’t because a) Chance didn’t have a phone, b) he would never have given the number to Bob even if he would have and c) that’s just not how Bob worked. He paused, wiping his hands against each other to remove the traces if the demon’s blood and the sticky residue.
“Now, heard anything that might be of interest to me?”
“You know what it’s like, Mr. Chance.” The bartender leaned forward conspiratorially, as if what was about to pass between them was a great secret for Chance’s ears only, and not something Bob told every passing Tom, Dick and Harry. “Those vampires don’t like to talk about that sort of thing,” Bob whispered, “Even if one of them did know something, he’d face death if he told anyone. But if you ask me, I'd say they're getting a little skittish.”
Chance nodded as Bob backed away. The words might be different, but it was the same story time and again. Apart from that last bit. That was the most valuble piece of information Bob had told him so far. Vampires, by their very nature, didn't get skittish often, unless they were round anything more powerful than them or talking about that myth of theirs; Slayer or something. Maybe Chance was right in coming to LA after all.
“Well, I know you’ll keep one ear open for me. And if you don’t…” He didn’t have to do anything but gesture at the grizzly trophies for Bob to catch the gist. Making to leave, he relished how Bob visibly sighed, then immediately tensed again as Chance whirled back round and sat down. “Y’know, I think I’ll have a beer.”
A drink was plunked down in front of him; a Bud. Chance looked up at Bob, who merely smiled weakly and said, “Compliments of the house.”
Chance answered by raising the bottle in salute.
One drink, he promised himself. Any more and he’d be pushing his luck.
One drink, then he was out of there before Bob decided that enough was enough and to send another demon after him.
Vampires; yes. Demons; not if he could bloody help it. That last one had been bad enough. He didn’t want to have to run up against any more any time soon.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Monday, 17th July 2006
Two pairs of steely green eyes met over the table. Two identical shadowed faces were cast into sharp relief by the half-hearted light frowned darkly at each other.
"I say it only for it’s truth!”
“Not true to my heart!”
“Yes, but -”
But her twin had risen impatiently, passionately. Crossing the room she stared at that which separated her from her freedom, and the tips of her fingers gently brushed the door. Cold iron imprisoned her expansiveness. Cold iron, and cold will.
Her sister had followed her quietly. “Mendiela -”
“No! Have you not listened to me before? I am Maggie now.” She turned urgently to her sister. No, more than that - twin - these two soul-bound; of one heart but not of one mind.
“We must lay the ghosts of our past, Janey.”
The other looked up sharply, bemused in spite of herself. “Janey?”
Maggie gave no answer to that which in truth could not really be a question, and turned back to the door, hand pressed against the cool of the metal.
With a slight sigh, Janey took her sister’s other hand, interlacing their cold fingers as one. She pressed their linked hands to her mouth.
A kiss of submission gently, lovingly given.
Mendiela shivered slightly, remembering. A kiss given as lovingly as now long ago. A kiss of more than death.
She shrugged out of the memory and smiled at Janey. “Truly?”
Janey sighed. “Yes, truly. If it means that much to you.” She gazed around at the single room that had been their home - their sanctuary - for over a decade with the fatality of one who was not planning to return, and it was her turn to shiver.
Not in memory... but in anticipation.
“Yes. It is time for us to greet the world.” And she smiled fleetingly.
It was the smile of one who knows she has nothing more to fear of the darkness.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
20th July 2006 10:00pm
It was quiet.
It was quiet on the streets, in the graveyards, in the backyards where the golden light of sunset struggled with the growing shadows of dusk.
It was quiet in his head.
The figure of James was silent and motionless as he sat on one of the steps of the front porch with a slim stake in his left hand and his right fiddling with a small silver cross. His hand started to burn as he toyed with the cross.
Everything had been standing on pause since he came to LA. James stood up and headed towards the door.
He hesitated, one hand over the door knob, the other clutching the stake as James opened the door he was met by the image of Skippy dancing around with a chicken on his head and the kid beating a drum. James gave them a look as if to say 'what in the fuck'. "I’m kind of scared to ask you what the hell you guys are doing.”
The kid gave a sheepish smile while Skippy took the chicken and slit its neck and sprayed the blood around the room. As this happened a magical white aura appeared in the room and thunder started to crackle around James, then James was tossed across the room and out of the door he had just come through by some magical force. As James bounced across the yard he came to a stark realization he had moved in with dumb asses.
James quickly got to his feet and headed towards the door the had just flown out of. “What the hell was that!?”
Skippy gave a quick explanation while trying to hide his amusement. “It’s a protection spell. It doesn’t let anyone in the house who hasn’t been invited by the soul who uses the spell. Not even humans can get in unless the kid or me invites them and if they try they will do your Superman act."
James gave Skippy a playful slap on the head and said, “Could have warned me first? Are all the other spells set up?"
Skippy nodded, “Yeah, the haven downtown is linked with the mansion and only the three of us can walk through the mirrors to the other side, and the anti sunlight spells are active there now. No sunlight may enter cretin parts of the house, mainly the basement and attic where the mirror is placed with the rest of my magical crap.”
James smiled, “Nice. What of the other protection spells?”
Skippy nodded and began to speak, "I’m just about to summon the demons that will guard the house. They are Magog demons - human looking but they are like me. They're good - all bad ass but they are hairy as hell. Trust me, you need to see them; they are really ugly bustards even by our standards."
James looked concerned, “You sure we should trust these things?”
Skippy shrugged, “They should be fine as long as my power holds over them, which it should. They are easy to control. I told twenty of these things to ruin my school play when I was 15 because I had to wear a stupid costume."
James grinned, “Yeah, but you do look good in tights."
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Day One – G’rnatha
Predawn
The sound of the Monte Carlo dropping on the ground, since it no longer had any back tyres, made everyone jump. Victor stood like a monolith in the centre of a circle of monoliths. The surrounding land was broken and windswept. Wisps of steam and dust mingled in little tendrils from the tips of shale outcroppings.
Victor blinked once. Then he blinked again. He turned his head in a slow circle to take in the surrounding devastation and people. "Oh hell," he murmured and it sounded a little too loud.
Alice looked around, the air heavy on her eyes. "Dammit, I was just getting to like Earth. There goes my chance of getting a date for the prom."
Nikolai was too stunned for a moment to do anything aside from stand there with his jaw hanging open. If his car could be fixed before, it couldn’t now. But that wasn’t what disturbed him. No, what got him was the fact that he was now standing in a circle of stones on what was, for lack of a better term, a dead world. “Va..? Va..?” he muttered.
“What the hell is going on here?” he finally managed in thick, rapid-fire Russian, unmindful of the lesser amount of air or the fact that he was now heavier. “This did NOT just happen. Oh, what a khooita khooyet! I must be dreaming… that’s it! Some stupid fuck bashed into my car, and I’m in a coma in a hospital. Or if I’m lucky, Zoë is going to wake me up or Tolstoy will jump on my face...”
Nikolai let out a final, long string of obscenities directed at the general look of the place and the ruined car, stopped only by the fact that he started to hyperventilate from lack of oxygen.
Tash might not have been able to understand Russian, but Nikolai’s meaning was all too clear. *So much for trying to protect him from the supernatural,* she thought in resignation. She shivered and hugged herself. Her own mind was still reeling from the sudden transformation of the scenery around them from LA car park to hellish nightmare.
But this place was very familiar to her, all the same. She’d seen it many times in Victor’s mind. “G’rnatha,” she whispered.
She looked around for signs of hordes of Battle Fiends – or worse, Monitors. But the area they were in was desolate and abandoned. Despite Nikolai’s gasping the air seemed breathable, so given the lack of life-threatening danger she had time to concentrate on her friend’s well-being.
“Kolya,” she said, touching his shoulder and keeping her voice calm, “I know this is frightening. But please remember your training and try to stay clear-headed. Uh, there’s no easy way to say this, but we’ve gone through a portal – a door, if you prefer. On one side was Earth…” She took it slowly, looking to see if Nikolai was going to come to grips with the situation.
“Koopeet kloosh k razgadkye tvoi nyet Kansas,” Alice said in perfect Russian. Get a clue, you’re not in Kansas any more. She walked by Nikolai to the smashed car and began rummaging through the wreckage.
Reah had just stood there for a few moments, ignoring the other people still surrounding her as she observed the barren landscape, *What. The. Fuck.* “Oh well, shit happens.”
Shrugging, Reah turned about and headed over to Tash who was attempting to steady Nikolai, picking up on part of her explanation. “Grr Natha?” *Different dimension… oh good!* She nodded to herself thoughtfully, muttering, “So this time it’s not ‘when’, but ‘where’! Fair enough!” She bent down and hefted up one of the loose rocks.
"Uhhh." A soft moan fell from Darian's lips as he cleared the vertigo from his head. Looking around, the fae's eyes widened as he realized that the familiar setting of the LA industrial sector had quickly been replaced with a barren landscape. "I don’t want to interrupt anything, but could someone please tell me who the hell you people are – uhh, not you Tash - and where the fuck we are?"
“Hi!” Reah smiled a nice big, sarcastically encouraging smile to the new guy who she didn’t even remember being with them, yet had managed to appear, “My name’s Reah. We’re in some place called Grr Natha. It’s a barren landscape so far. But nothing to worry about, I’m sure.” She took a deep breath of the surrounding air, then regretted it, “So, who are you, pretty boy?”
Victor glanced up worriedly and then scanned the horizon. He walked out of the circle and inspected the surrounding terrain. He didn't say much while within the circle - Tash's eyes followed his movements and the others chattered nervously in amazement.
Victor strode back into the circle and up to Tash. "I will ask you later how we got here because I don't remember anything. But this is an abandoned Travel Ring and there is no evidence of Battle Fiends or Monitors in the area. The sooner we can get this gang into a cave or other cover the better."
Victor turned his attention to the others, "Listen up. I know you have questions and I do too, but I know where we are if not how we got here or why we are here. If you will trust me long enough to get us to a safer location we can try to figure out what our next step is from there."
Tash lifted a gloved hand and brushed Victor’s cheek lightly, “It was the Stone,” she cast her eyes to where it lay, now completely inert, on the ground, “It was glowing – it seemed to be calling you. You know you nearly got us all killed trying to follow you across a freeway?”
She looked back at the others. Alice emerged from the shattered remains of Nikolai’s car with a bottle of vodka in one hand, a first aid kit and a packet of flares under the other. *Handy,* Tash thought. Reah was looking bemused, Kolya was looking slightly less terrified and off to the side, looking bewildered was…
“Oh, Darian… You got caught too.” Tash grimaced, “I’m sorry – I had no idea what was going to happen. Uh, guys, this is Darian – he and I met a few months ago. Darian this is Victor, who I’ve told you about before, and that’s Reah, Alice and Nikolai. Nikolai didn’t know about the supernatural – until now.”
"I still do not know about the supernatural," Nikolai remarked, looking around. "Nichevo nosnayo - I know nothing. Vat do ve do now?"
After looking in the remains of the half smashed car Alice looked over to Victor. “Victor, want to help me bring the car or at least hide it? Don’t want your relatives finding it.” Victor nodded and moved himself to other side of the car. Then the two of them lifted the half-car like it was a cooler full of beer and dumped it into a nearby crevice.
Darian's hand instinctively started rubbing the amethyst necklace that hung ever-present around his neck. *I just KNEW something was going to happen,* he thought to himself as he let his gaze drift over the pair who easily lifted the large car. “So I take it I’m not the only magical person around here, am I?”
Victor brushed grime from his hands as he came strolling back. "You’re right, Darian, we all have talents and skills. But again, I cannot stress enough the need to get under cover. This is where I entered the Earth dimension over 2000 years ago and there is a cave about 30 miles that way," Victor pointed towards a glowing horizon where plumes of smoke drifted up to meet black clouds that choked the light in the sky.
Victor turned to Tash, "I don't know what would make the Stone do that, but we can make the cave if I run and you ride on my back. Alice, are you fit to run 30 miles? Anyone else who can keep up? Carry those who can't - we have got to get out of the open."
As if to punctuate Victor's grim announcement an enormous teardrop shape rose from behind a craggy ridge and began to play purplish spotlights across the surface several hundred yard from the circle.
"Monitor! Hide!" Victor yelled, picking up Tash and looking for a crater or crack to crawl into with her.
Tash hated having her movements constricted when there was imminent danger. She struggled in Victor's arms, trying to assess the situation. "Over there, then," she pointed to an outcropping of rocks with an overhang that would shield them from the sky, "But what about the others?"
Reah’s head swivelled around to the unwelcome arrival and didn’t need to be convinced that it was bad by waiting to be killed by it. Ripping out one of her Ares Predators from her coat and shoving a fresh clip in it, she made a dash for the cover that Tash’s hand pointed out past Victor. She was at the back of the group when she took off, and was catching up to a lagging Nikolai who was struggling to keep his feet amidst the panic.
Nikolai suddenly felt himself being swept cleanly on his feet without a single sign of strain or effort. Once his senses came to, he finally noticed that Reah had him thrown over her shoulder as effortlessly and carelessly as a duffle bag - a position that would have been interesting in other circumstances - as she continued on her way to the outcropping of rocks.
“I swear, this better not become a habit,” she muttered.
Her vision of the ground slightly obscured by Nikolai’s ass, Reah tripped on some ridge in her blind spot and fell forward. She lost her grip on Nikolai and the pair tumbled under cover… to end up in each other’s arms.
“This had better not become a habit,” he muttered, unconsciously parroting Reah’s earlier words.
Alice hopped over the crevice and ducked under some low hanging rocks. Her hand almost slipped off the warm rock. *I had to come to LA. No, I couldn’t just go to Japan again,* she thought as her leg wedged firmly in a crack in the rock.
Although he was momentarily taken off guard, Darian was quick to follow the others in search of a hiding spot. Quickly making his way next to one of the large pillars that were set on the circumference of the circle, he stepped into its shadow. Within seconds, the faery vanished from sight, his body merging into the darkness.
Tash lay in the smothering darkness, Victor’s body all but crushing her. She could no longer see the others, but sent out tendrils of thought to see if they were all in safety. The force of the feedback made her gasp in shock.
“Oh, sorry! Am I hurting you?” Victor’s concerned voice sounded in her ear.
“No… no. I’m ok. Just… Oh my god.” Tash fell silent as she explored the new vistas that were opening up in her mind. It was as though all her life she’d been looking through a dirty window, and now it had been thrown open so she could experience the world beyond. As soon as she’d pushed past her own shields to feel the emotions of the others, those thoughts had come through in such crystal clarity as she’d never imagined.
But one signal came through much stronger, overriding the rest. The emotion associated with it was one of puzzlement. “Who are you?” the voice boomed in Tash’s head, “I was trying to contact the model VTK-65226. Has it been deactivated?”
Tash couldn’t bring herself to hold a totally silent conversation, so she murmured in reply, “VTK-65226? Uh…” she looked over her shoulder at Victor, wondering if the being meant ‘Vrithetek’.
“Yes, one of the Vrithetek series. I see that it is still operational.”
The reply startled Tash, as did Victor’s response to her mention of his ‘name’. “Operatio…” he replied in a mechanical monotone, until his normal voice cut in, “…What did you say?”
Tash whispered, “I seem to be in contact with… someone.”
“I am Z’thrukaht. I am a Creator. I recalled unit VTK-65226 because it has completed its primary purpose.”
”Ok, Z’thrukaht… so why aren’t you talking to him?”
“It is no longer part of the thought net. Are you its master?”
From behind his shadow veil, Darian watched as the Monitor’s purple light scanned the area where the group had only moments ago been conversing. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, he finally breathed a sigh of relief when the flying spy gave up and floated off into the horizon. *And I thought that America was strange.* Stepping back into view, Darian called out to his hidden comrades, “The thing is gone you guys, safe to come out now.”
Alice peeked over the rock to see the rest of her companions regrouping. She tried to pull herself free of the rock but it seemed to make it tighter. *Fuck!* “ Victor, I’m stuck.”
Victor looked again to be sure the Monitor had left. He whispered to Tash, "Who are you talking to? Z’thrukaht? Who is he? He isn't a..." If Victor could blanch he would have. He looked over his shoulder at Alice and backed away from Tash, looking frightened. "Coming, Alice!" he called over his shoulder.
He cleared the crevice in a single bound and grabbed Alice by the arm. The two of them could not seem to budge her from the crag. "Why did you design a human form that had such a bubble butt anyway?" he asked her in frustration.
"Bubble!? You can bounce a quarter off it." Alice grabbed Victor’s arm, trying to pull free. Alice and Victor pulled for all their worth but she didn’t break free. "I don’t think this will get us anywhere. Suggestions?"
Reah pulled herself off Nikolai, brushing herself down, then leant over to grip Nikolai’s shirt and lifted him clear off the ground single-handedly before she set the stiff, blank-faced man down on his feet and strolled casually over to the struggling Alice who was still trying to wriggle her human butt out of the crack. “Why don’t you just change, Buns?” She caught herself at the end of her sentence when she remembered herself… then smirked.
Alice looked at Reah strangely, *How did she know? Hmm, why not?* The tattoo on Alice’s hip began to glow, spreading pink light along her legs and body. Then once the light completely covered her, Victor saw his old friend’s familiar form start to appear.
Nikolai had to stop to blink again at the sight of the girl change form. Into a rabbit. A purple rabbit. Humans just didn't do that. What was supposed to be a normal dinner date had now gone so far off the rails that he completely lost track of how odd things had gotten. "Vat?" he said in shock, "You... she... vhy did nobody tell me Harvey over der could do that?" It was, in many ways, the straw that broke the camel's back. "I veel like I am stuck in a Robert Anton Vilson novel," he muttered, "or a Wachoski brothers movie."
Walking over to Tash, Darian extended a hand and helped her out of her tight hiding place. Although he wanted to keep up the appearance of being calm and composed, his slight shacking alluded to the fear he was so desperately fighting. “What exactly are we supposed to do now? Is there a way back?”
It was only when he did not receive a response that Darian noticed the spaced out look in Tash's eye and the fact that she was muttering to herself. "Natasha, are you ok?" he said giving her a slight shake.
Tash could feel Darian’s concern as clear as day, but it was unimportant. There were far graver matters to attend to right now. She turned her attention back to the last words the Creator had ‘spoken’ to her.
*Thought net. That would explain the enhanced abilities I’ve picked up.* “Victor’s master? Not in so many words. Look, just what do you want with him?”
”It is… special. I need a conduit to communicate with the unit. Will you allow?”
So far this Z’thrukaht hadn’t done anything nasty to them. And had helped them with the Monitor. Far from trusting him, Tash was at least willing to entertain the possibility that they may have an ally in this wasteland. At least until their interests diverged.
“Ok, I’ll allow it. I’ll relay your messages to him. But right now we’re busy looking for shelter from these Monitors.”
Alice's jackrabbit hindquarters slid free of the trapping rocks easily. Victor helped her to stand on the narrow ledge. The two women and Victor stood over the hole planning their leap back when Victor pointed into the hole.
“This is a steam vent. A dead one from the looks of it," he said.
Alice was not impressed, "So?"
Tash stood apart from the group that was peering into the hole, her eyes unfocused as her mind was blasted by Z’thrukaht’s powerful telepathic signal.
”Your thoughts indicate that you have more than one unit with you. How many operational units are under your control?”
Tash continued to mutter quietly in reply, “All ‘units’ here are autonomous, even Victor. There are six of us in total.” She knew it was pointless to try to deceive this being. She didn’t have nearly the control for that.
”Four extraneous units. That is unfortunate. Yet you are the only telepath among them. They are obviously inferior units. You will be my voice-node. I will instruct you in the use of the thought net.”
"So,” continued Victor, patiently explaining to Alice, “steam vents have steam chambers... caves behind them. Want to spend 20 minutes breaking a big hole or spend several hours running 30 miles over open land?"
"I see your point," said Alice. So they all began to break the rock free using huge chunks as hammers to bash and crack the hole, opening it wide enough for easy entry. Except for Tash. She remained seated on the ground, mumbling and nodding to herself. Odd looks were thrown her way from time to time, but survival overrode their concern. Less than an hour later the travellers were huddled in the cave. Shock, hunger, fear and worry played across their faces. Victor paced like a general on the losing side of a battle and Nikolai was hyperventilating slightly still.
Tash stood near the entrance and cleared her throat. "Excuse me. I need your attention, especially yours Victor. I’ve been contacted by a Creator, Z’thrukaht, and he needs to communicate with you."
Five faces turned toward her and her voice took on a guttural, almost mechanical quality, "I am sorry you have been subjected to this unwanted interruption of your lives but it is important that you know why you are here and that you will be called on to complete a mission of vital importance. If you do not allow this unit," Tash pointed at Victor, "to complete its mission then I am afraid you will not be allowed to return to your places of origin. If he does complete his primary objective then you will be compensated and returned."
Ever practical, Reah voiced the thought on all of their minds, "What is this mission?"
Tash's new voice answered matter-of-factly, "It has to save the souls of a billion G'rnathan Battle Fiends."
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Legends of the Fated Templar, Part 1
First Flight
September 9th, 1117 CE
New Forest, England
Matthew was cold. The wind carried a bitter chill that hampered him as he picked his way through the forest. The trees afforded no real protection, and so Matthew wrapped his cloak ever tighter round his body and once again cursed the twist of fate that had him here.
Why was the Lord so cruel to him? What had he done to earn His wrath?
Matthew guessed it was probably his own fault. But how could he have known that the elders would react in such a way?
Mere weeks before, Matthew had claimed that he was man enough to join the army. His parents had, of course, scoffed at the idea, but with encouragement from his sister, Miriam, he had continued these claims. For a time it looked like his parents, under pressure from the other villagers, would relent. Until the village elders, ‘wise-men’ whose title was merely traditional, decreed Matthias should spend his sixteenth birthday in the forest. Alone.
When he emerged in the morning, he would’ve proved his claims to manhood and be allowed to fulfil his dream of joining the army. If he came back early, he would remain under his parent’s care.
If he did not return at all, then… well, that didn’t bear thinking about.
Matthew had instantly leapt at the challenge, believing it to be his chance. Miriam had, though, seemed more sceptical about it.
A crack of wood came from his right. Matthew froze, his hand letting go of his cloak and falling to the sword hilt in the battered scabbard on his belt. Legend had it that all kinds of vicious creatures inhabited the forest; vampires, werewolves, some even said harpies dwelt there. Disappearances from the surrounding villages were all related to the mysterious inhabitants of the forest. Only a few braved a night in it alone.
Perhaps this had not been such a great idea after all.
Looking in the direction of the sound, Matthew strained his eyes against the darkness. Though the trees did not block the unnaturally cold wind, they instead prevented the shine of the moon from lighting up the woodland. It seemed all the elements had conspired against Matthew this night.
A minute went by. Two, three. Still he did not move. Once he had counted five minutes he began to relax, edging slowly towards the sound to investigate, hand still on the sword. Matthew barely made a sound, so good had been the hunters that taught him. When he was close enough, he pulled back a branch and peered round.
Calmly nibbling away at an acorn sat a squirrel. Silently, Matthew drew his sword. It was rare for a squirrel to be up at this hour, but he was not missing his chance for something to eat. As his mother always said; ‘never pass up a chance to eat. You never know when it’ll come again’. Completely oblivious to his actions, the squirrel continued to nibble away. Once the sword was fully drawn, Matthew raised it, poised to strike.
Which was precisely when a flock of birds took flight somewhere behind him, breaking the silence with their squawking. Both he and the squirrel turned to look in that direction. But as he did so moonlight glanced off the sword and the squirrel, already edgy due to the birds, scampered away. Matthew would have cursed, but he had already forgotten the animal.
Birds did not fly at night. Not unless something had awakened them from their slumber and given cause for flight. Something dark. An icy claw of dread, far colder than the chill, grabbed his heart. The birds had come from the direction of the village.
For a minute, Matthew was paralysed by fear. Dozens of thoughts fuelled by despair and dread ran through his head. Visions of his village being attacked by any number of aggressors…
Then the moment passed and he was running, running like he never thought he could. Matthew tripped and fell, rolled and got up and ran on. His cloak blew out like wings behind him, and he would have been shivering from the cold had he not turned his thoughts totally to getting to the small village.
Slumbering creatures awoke with his passing and some cried with annoyance. Nocturnal animals looked on curiously. Owls followed his movements, their eyes glowing.
Matthew had left at nightfall and headed directly away from the village. It had taken him hours to get to where he had discovered the squirrel, and now he had to cross that distance in much less time. He pushed himself to run faster and faster, to ignore the pain that was forming in his chest or the ache in his legs. His thoughts were filled with only concerns for the villagers.
But when he arrived, Matthew wanted no more than to run away again as fast as possible.
Keeping to the tree line, he watched half a dozen vampires feed off the corpse of the one of the hunters. One who had taught him his trade when Matthew was young. The same thing was going on elsewhere throughout the village. In the centre, though, the villager’s elders stood in front of a tall, imposing figure. He loomed over the elders as an adult would a child.
An adult Matthew was not, for returning before the morning had ended his quest early and meant he stayed a child.
He pushed these thoughts out of his mind and turned back to the scene unfolding before him. The tall figure said something to one of the elders. Matthew watched in amazement as the elder began babbling freely. Whether their title was traditional or not, an elder kept many secrets, secrets he would rather take to the grave than tell anyone, vampire included. So why would he be talking so openly now? Matthew put it down to magic. The vampire must have bewitched him or something. It must have been a powerful bewitchment, nonetheless, for none of the elder’s minds were weak.
When the elder had finished talking, the figure lashed out and broke the elder’s neck. Nearby vampires took a step back. Evidently this was the leader, and it led not by fair rule but by fear. It turned to the next elder, asked him something, and the elder too began talking. He soon joined his cousin in a heap on the floor.
Questions ran through his head. Why had the vampires singled out his village? What had they done to deserve this?
Over the following hour Matthew watched on, appalled, as the vampires systematically killed every member of the village. He nearly burst out in tears when they dragged out his mother and the vampires raped and drank from her. When they did the same thing to his younger sister it was all he could do to stop himself charging out of the forest, a warcry on his lips.
And yet somehow, he managed to keep himself there, behind a tree trunk, and watched the massacre unfold before him. None of the vampires looked even slightly bruised, so he guessed they had taken the village by surprise. Whether they had or not didn't really matter, for the villagers could not have fought against an army of vampires even if they had not been ambushed.
When the slaughter finished, many hours later, every one of the villagers lay drained of blood. Matthew, barely able to contain himself with grief, made to leave. But the leader turned around, his gaze sweeping across the tree line…
Right at him!
For the barest instant, Matthew could not tear his eyes away from that gaze. It haunted him, piercing his soul. After a second or so, but what seemed like hours, he ducked behind the tree, his back against the trunk. He slowed his heart and counted fifteen heartbeats before he peeked back out again. The vampires were lazing about the village, raiding the wine supplies. The leader, it appeared, hadn’t seen him.
Matthew wasn’t going to give the vampire leader another chance. He fled from the village nearly as fast as he ran to it, tears running down his cheeks. And never once did he look back.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Day One – G’rnatha
Early Morning
Tash rested on the ground, Victor hovering over her with concern plastered on his features. Z’thrukaht had left her after his announcement, realising that she was tiring after her lengthy tutorial. But already she was regaining her strength.
She smiled wanly at Victor, “I’ll be fine. It’s just a little overwhelming. He’ll be back to explain it all when I’ve rested fully.”
Victor nodded, “At least we’re safe down here for a while. The Monitors won’t be able to spot us.”
“Good. And I have the feeling that Z’thrukaht will be keeping an eye on this area for us, anyway.” Tash patted Victor’s hand, “We’ll talk later, love. I think Alice is busting to have a word with you right now.”
Left alone again for a minute, Tash gazed around the ragtag group that had fallen through the portal to Victor’s world. Alice, Reah and Darian were a bit shaken, but at least they were familiar with the idea of other dimensions and demons. Nikolai, however… The man was rocking on his haunches, his eyes somewhat calmer than they had been, but his breathing was still ragged.
Tash moved over to him and squatted before him until his eyes focused on her face. “Kolya,” she said softly.
To call the events of the day a shock to Nikolai’s system was an understatement. He ran over the apparent events in his mind: Alien world? Check. Bodily possession? Check. Woman transforming into giant bunny? Check. Impossible mission? Check. It had all the trappings of a bad sci-fi movie – it would not surprise him in the least to learn that the aliens on the world were giant bouncing beach balls.
Tash was the closest thing to normal he knew on the world, apparently… even if she was a victim of the body snatchers. “Why do I have the sudden feeling,” Nikolai finally said softly, regaining his American accent at last, “that this is the kind of ‘charity’ work you and Victor do?”
Tash shrugged carelessly, “Well, it’s not normally so dramatic, but yes – we do tend to spend a lot of time averting supernatural nastiness.”
Nikolai seemed to be taking his new surroundings more or less at face value, so Tash figured there was no time like the present to fill him in on some pertinent details. “This,” she gestured behind her toward the opening of the cave and the blasted landscape they’d left above, “is the place where Victor originally came from. His real name is Vrithetek and he’s not human.” She stopped there, to see how he’d digest that snippet first.
Nikolai shook his head.
There was really only so much weirdness you could take before weird stopped being shocking or out of the ordinary. And the fact that one of his few friends in L.A. was married to an alien certainly made about as much sense as the rest of what was going on. “That would explain why he looked so spaced out,” he said.
Then another thought hit him. “What about you, Natalya? Are you human? Or is that why you always get nervous when I mention your gloves?”
“Natalya? Back to formal names is it, Kolya?” Tash smiled sadly. Still, she could hardly blame the man – they were all fish out of water here, even Victor, but Nikolai was the hardest hit.
“Yes, I’m human. The gloves…” she glanced down at her leather-encased hands. “The reason the Creator chose me to speak through was because he could access my thoughts through some telepathic net they have on this planet. I’m psychic, Kolya, and one of my ‘talents’ is to pick up images or impressions from objects that I touch. Without the gloves all the visions overwhelm me. You’d be surprised how many things – and people – your hands come into contact with each day.”
Psychic.
Tash was psychic.
Add one more trippy item to the list of things going on. It would make sense as to why she never took the gloves off, even for the short time they were actually in her apartment. Visions probably could overwhelm her somehow. “This day can’t get any weirder,” he said, “with Harvey over there changing, this Z’Thraheart guy taking your body, and now this. I’ve seen some weird stuff, but this takes the cake.”
Tash glanced at Alice. Victor had told her long ago that Alice was in reality a giant, purple bunny, but hearing about it and seeing it were two different things. She turned back to Nikolai. “You think finding out that I’m a telepath is weirder than that? I’d better not tell you that I’m a vampire hunter then.”
Nikolai just let himself slide backwards at the latest revelation. "You have got to be joking," he said. "Vampires are not real. I'll accept the telepath thing - it's the best explanation for stealing your body. Even being in another dimension... but vampires just simply do not exist!"
Nikolai let out a deep sigh. She had to be pulling his leg - actually, Occam's Razor said this whole thing was a large practical joke, and they had somehow built a big movie set. Any moment now, the director would yell ‘cut’.
Which was when he noticed she had pulled out a stake. "Yes, this proves everything," Nikolai said, "Yes, I can make one of those as well, not being a vampire hunter."
“And can you explain why I might have equipped myself with one before we left my flat?” Tash shook her head, “Look, it doesn’t really matter if you believe me or not. There’s not likely to be any vampires on G’rnatha anyway. But I’ve learned that once you discover the supernatural exists, it has a way of following you around. I have a nasty feeling that when – when – we get back home you might need to know about the rest of it. But it can wait.”
She returned the stake to its place and rested her hand on Nikolai’s arm. “We will get back, Kolya. You’ll get back to Zoë, I promise.”
"Assuming she even wishes to speak to me," he replied steadily, remembering that the last thing they'd done before he got sucked to this world was argue over the fact that yes, he really did have a gun. There were few people who could do pessimism or fatalism as well as a Russian could. With a final shrug of his shoulders, he summed up the entire situation in one word: "Nichevo." It can't be helped, there's nothing to be done about it.
"That thing said ‘a billion souls’," he remarked, feeling both lost and utterly helpless. "Just how are we supposed to save a billion souls? Start up the Inquisition, hope it works better this time?"
Tash grinned, “Somehow I think they have a shortage of comfy chairs here.”
Her face grew serious again as she continued, “But I have no idea what Z’thrukaht wants us to do. Or even if we can do it. I guess we’ll just have to wait until he decides I’ve rested enough to be his conduit again.”
She swivelled to watch Victor for a moment and her voice grew distant, “I just know that it has something to do with Victor. Z’thrukaht said Victor had completed his primary purpose. All I know is that after many hundreds of years of searching, Victor has finally achieved a fully realised soul.” She turned back to Nikolai, “Maybe it has to do with that.”
A calm, distant expression came over Nikolai with the sudden realisation that this was not a prank. He really was sitting in a steam vent on an alien world with a psychic and a large, purple bunny. Which was when he remembered the flying stones. "I just hope that Zoë did not attempt to follow, and didn't get hurt."
“I’m certain she’s fine,” Tash lied. She had no idea, of course, what fate might have befallen Zoë. She could only hope the woman had had the sense to get out of the way when the ground had cracked open and the rocks had whooshed in from wherever the hell they’d come from.
She smiled at Nikolai with a confidence she didn’t feel. “It’s all going to work out fine. We have a strong ally here, it seems, and though it might not be a picnic, I’m sure we’ll be able to manage to accomplish this mission we’ve been set. Z’thrukaht was only expecting Victor. He wound up with six of us. That’s got to make it easier, right?”
She thought it safest at this stage not to mention the fear that had been growing within her. G’rnatha was a barren planet. Completely barren. No plant or animal life at all. How would they live? Victor didn’t need to eat, but the rest of them did. She pushed that worry aside. It was something she could discuss with Victor later. For now, her job was to make sure that the others weren’t going to freak out and get them all killed, and Nikolai had been the weakest link in that chain. Now that he was accepting his situation, she knew his military training would help keep him on an even keel.
"Easier? I doubt it - just gives Z'thur'heart more bodies to exploit." Nikolai had never been a big fan of finding altruism in humanity, and doubted that the human race was unique in its greed or ambition. "Things were so much easier before. Accept a contract; kill somebody; get paid. Repeat." The lack of shock on Tash's face told him that she had probably picked up on that out of his mind at some point, though he couldn't say when.
A bit of surviving the Soviet Union came back. It didn't matter how fatalistic you might feel, you never questioned (in public) the leadership. Whatever the propaganda said, you openly adhered to it. While he doubted they would return, he was not about to admit it.
Nikolai’s doubts came through strong and clear. Though Tash shared some of them, she found herself in the unenviable position of morale officer. “No need to think so pessimistically, Kolya,” she winked at his startled expression. Knowing that someone was a telepath and being presented with a reply to your own thoughts were two entirely different things.
“I’m not the only one with hidden talents here,” Tash nodded towards the others, “We’re a much stronger group than you’d think on the surface.”
*Just what I needed. A political officer,* he thought, knowing that she would pick up on the rebuke contained within. "I'll take your word for it. Just tell me what to do."
Making a wry face, Tash sighed, “It doesn’t have to be like that. I just wanted to make sure you were dealing with all this, and to warn you that Alice’s transformation may not be the last of your big surprises. As for what to do, right now I think we’re all stuck with doing whatever Z’thrukaht wants us to do.”
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Day One - G'rnatha
Morning
Darian sat quietly inside the steam vent, his fatigued mind trying to make some sense of the bizarre events which had led him to his present condition. No matter how many times he replayed the scene in his head, it always seemed so unbelievable.
*I knew it! I had to jinx myself by thinking that I missed supernatural excitement. Couldn’t I have just run into a crazed vampire – I'd even take another faery assassin at this point,* he thought as he once again let his eyes drift over his dismal surroundings. For a moment, he let his gaze rest on the young Russian man who sat nervously in the corner, his face showing obvious signs of anxiety. *Poor guy, he didn’t even know vampires existed, let alone alternate dimensions.* Of all the pitiable individuals who were unfortunately pulled into the portal, Darian felt most badly for Nikolai; such a torrent of mind-boggling realizations must be difficult to cope with. *I hope the guy's…*
srrrathna…illulara shun dora…
*HUH?* The unexpected interruption of a soft whisper broke Darian’s train of thought, quickly snapping him back to reality.
“Did anyone hear that?"
No response.
asthrania lan veslara…oura yen la…
This time, there was no question in his mind whether or not he was hearing a strange voice. What was odd however, was that no one seemed to be reacting to it.
“Guys, do you hear that?” Darian voiced louder this time, his tone more concerned.
Again, no response.
Before he could ask once more, the steam chamber which they were hiding in seemed to melt away, leaving nothing but bleak, black nothingness. *Oh god. Please tell me I didn’t get sucked into another portal,* he thought as he tried to make out something… anything in the darkness.
rrrrasma anura…
“Hello! Is anyone there? Tash… Victor… Anyone…?” The only response was the sound of his own voice echoing in the oblivion. “Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse.”
Srrala than veria…lunaya amara…
“Is someone there? I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Are you hurt?” Darian was blurting out anything that came to his head, desperately hoping to figure out where he was.
srrala than veria… srrala than veria… free... free…I will be free.”
Out of the darkness two, thin, almond-shaped eyes appeared, their strange indigo hue casting an eerie glow.
I will be free.
“Darian, Darian, are you ok?”
Just as swiftly as it had come the blackness vanished, revealing once more the rocky interior of the steam chamber. In front of him, Tash was shaking him slightly, a look of concern on her face.
“What… what’s going on? Didn’t you hear or see that?” he replied, confused now more than ever.
“Hear or see what?”
“That strange voice speaking some foreign language, and the pair of glowing purple eyes in the darkness.”
Tash stared back looking even more perplexed than he felt. “First off, I didn’t hear anything, I didn't see anything, and it's not that dark. I think maybe you just dozed off for a second,” she said, her slight grimace changing back into a reassuring smile, “Nobody here but us”.
The explanation seemed rather likely. One rapid look around confirmed the lack of a new presence, and he admitted to himself that he was extremely drained.
“Yeah... I must have been dreaming,” Darian said forcing a feeble smile. *I must have been dreaming,* he reiterated in his head.
As much as his brain was willing to accept that as an explanation, the fae couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that the creepy message meant something more.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Saturday, 15th July 2006
Los Angeles
05:25am
Blood red velvet drapes hung from ceiling to floor. Their soft weight dampened the sound in the room and they blotted out every scrap of light coming through the windows. In each corner stood a simple brazier in which softly glowing coals cast faint red light into the room.
The air was hot and dry, uncomfortably so had the occupants been human. Instead the heat merely gave their flesh the illusion of life. All in all the effect was remarkably womb-like - all that was missing was a heartbeat. Unfortunately that was something neither of the two vampires could supply.
In the gloom stood Valerian, and Samantha knelt before him. Each dressed in black silk robes.
“Do you seek service in Clan Generosi and vassalage to its master?” Valerian intoned.
“I do.”
Samantha stood, tilted her head and drew back her hair revealing her throat. “I become thy servant, to bear thee faith and worship against all who can die. I am faithful to thee Valerian, master of Clan Generosi and will maintain my homage against all things in faith and without deception.”
As she finished her words Valerian stepped forward and sank his fangs in her throat. He fed quickly, draining, and it was mere moments before she could barely stand, the vital essence of her demon almost extinguished by Valerian’s thirst.
“In faith and due worship of my mastery I, in return, offer support, protection and all that thou need to bear this oath.”
Valerian pierced his right wrist and held it to Samantha’s gasping lips. As once before, she gained in strength holding her master's wrist and sucking down his blood in great greedy gulps. Yet unlike her first turning he made no move to stop her, instead letting her drink her fill.
Finally she broke away with a cry, her face suffused with ecstasy.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Friday 14th July 2006
8:55am Los Angeles
Sorrow closed his phone with a snap. *Fuck.* He looked around the room. He knew what was coming; they wouldn’t have started this if they weren’t sure of the outcome. Indeed he was somewhat surprised they hadn’t just set everyone loose.
*This needs to be moved. They get none of this.* He reopened his phone and dialled the number of his removals company. *Looks like Victor’s going to have to find space…*
Having made arrangements for his library to be packed and placed in storage Sorrow picked up the Book of D’Nethk’Quan and walked out of the apartment. He trailed a hand across the back of a sofa on his way out and at the door he turned, cast his eyes over the luxury he had never used and left.
Sorrow walked quickly through the midmorning heat until he was at least two blocks from the building before he called a taxi back to Jade’s apartment. The walk had been for his benefit really, allowing him to clear his mind and determine how he was going to tell Jade.
He’d promised her openness and honesty after the Xavier debacle and this was the first major test of that promise. *Well, except for the whole chasing Reah incident.* So it was a given that he would tell her what was coming. He just wished he knew how she would react.
With a start he realised the taxi had arrived. He paid the fare, got out and looked up to Jade’s apartment. With a sigh he walked to the door punched in the code and walked upstairs.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
21st July
8:09 pm
“Woah!” Chance exclaimed, leaping off his barstool and knocking his bottle over. It rolled a bit as beer spilled out and began heading for the floor. Bob, who had been cleaning a glass, swore and dived to mop it up, resetting the bottle to stop it from spilling any more. Not that it would do much good. The bartop would probably be cleaner with the beer.
“That was weird,” Chance said half to himself, frowning.
“What was?” Bob asked, not really bothered at all or paying much attention as he mopped up the split liqour.
“I think I just had a… vision.”
“Really?” Bob asked again, marginally more interested now that he had the spillage under control.
Chance sat back down. “Yeah, I was in a forest. I think I might have been hunting. There was a sword. And a squirrel. Then I was running and I got to this village…” he trailed off.
Bob cocked his head as Chance went silent with a faraway look. “Then what?” Chance remained staring into space. “Coo-eey,” Bob whistled and waved a hand in front of his face. Not even a blink. He clicked his fingers and Chance jumped, then punched Bob so hard it knocked him to the floor.
“Jesus… what did you do that for?” Chance shouted over the bar to him.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Bob said, rising to his feet and rubbing at the purple bruise that was forming.
Chance didn’t apologise. “You scared the crap out of me. What do you expect?”
“Yeah, well, we lost you there for a minute.”
“I was probably wondering how I ended up in a dump like this.”
Bob was hurt. The place wasn’t that bad. “Look, you were on about this ‘village’, and then you just blacked-"
“Village?” Chance cut him off, but he sounded confused, “What village?”
“The one in your vision.”
“What vision?” He sounded increasingly confused.
Bob paused, “You don’t remember?” Chance shook his head and he let out a sigh. “Okay pal, I think you’ve had enough.”
Chance gave him a look. “I’ve only had one, and you know because you overcharged me.”
“You didn’t pay!” Bob protested as Chance got up and got ready to leave.
“Yeah, but you tried nonetheless. Besides, you were the one on about a ‘vision’. Perhaps you’ve had too much.” He left without another word, leaving Bob staring after him mouth agape. He glanced at the clock. This was going to be a very long night.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
21st July
8:11 pm.
It had started off like another night for James but it was quickly becoming a nightmare. James went down to Bob's Bar for a drink and had found himself face to face with twenty pissed off vamps. So he did what any self-respecting vampire would do in this situation… run like a bitch.
James was now running up the stairs, much faster, more flowing than his pursuers, his wisdom and age showing in his steps. He pounded forward, his hand hovering over the banister as a backup only. His hair swung madly in front of his face, bouncing in front of his eyes. He took a brief look up and was met by an open door and a burst of fresh air. His head was pounding, the effect of running for so long. He pushed himself through the door and stepped down onto the roof. The ground was made of small stones, shielding the thick concrete that lay below. He looked ahead, past the shacks, past the rotting masts and into his saviour, the fire escape. He ran towards it, concrete outlets flying past him, his vision bouncing with him. But as he drew closer he saw them appear from out of nowhere; four vamps that were chasing him. The first thought that popped into his head was ‘oh fuck’, the second was ‘mature vamps’, and the third was ‘screw it’.
James started to pick up speed and as he drew closer to the vamps James quickly reached behind his back and withdrew a stake. The vampires charged at James as he ran towards them. The vamp that was nearest to him was taken down first, with a running drop kick to the face sending him soaring over the edge of the building and landing on top of a parked car. Without missing a beat James got back up on to his feet and deflected the volley of attacks coming from the three remaining vampires. *These guys are no slouches,* thought James as they attacked; they complemented each other very well but taking out the other guy straight away had tossed them off balance. James stayed in a defensive position knowing he couldn’t open himself up for an attack, then he saw an opening.
The second vampire on the right swung a wide arc punch. James quickly deflected the attack, leaving the vampire’s chest open and plunging the stake into the vampire’s heart causing him to evaporate into dust. Vampire number three had managed to get behind James and before he could react it had grabbed him and held tight, as vampire number four moved in for the kiss. James lifted his legs up with vamp number three still holding on for dear life and kicked vamp number four in the face. It almost automatically grabbed its face and fell to the ground yelling, “My eyes what the fuck did he do to my eyes!?”
James snapped his entire body forward, flinging vamp number three over his back. Before the vampire even hit the ground James had the stake ready and dusted him. Vampire number four did not even see it coming before it was too late.
James gave a slight grin, “And the kid and Skippy said it was stupid to tape razorblades to my boots.”
Before he had time to catch his breath he saw the other vampires who were pursuing him. James quickly headed down the fire escape. When he reached the bottom he ran through the alleyway into the main street where he saw the vampire on the car slowly stirring. As James ran past he quickly staked him and began to pick up speed.
Chance came out of Bob's still shaking his head. What was the barman on about? What vision? He looked up at the sound of shouts and yells just in time to catch the sight of a poor guy running from a group of vamps. A large group of vamps.
Now normally he wouldn't go in for the heroics thing, but he felt a great deal of pity for a guy chased by that many creatures of the night. Besides, he hadn't had a good fight in a long time.
Quickly he ran in pursuit. He rounded a corner, then another, but lost them completely. He was just about to pack up and go home when a vampire tumbled from above and slammed into the car next to him.
Chance looked up, picked a building he thought the fight was in, and headed towards it. The door buckled under his shoulder barge, but on the third attempt it shattered and Chance fell through.
Picking himself up, Chance had just enough time to look around and confirm that he was in the wrong building before running back out again and seeing a figure stake the fallen vampire.
He then noticed the swarm of the creatures coming out the building on the other side of the street and notice the figure. Chance gathered speed and set off towards the fleeing figure. Two stakes were better than one, after all.
James tore round the corner to find himself face to face with two cops. While running, James open palm-punched both on the chest; sending them flying and smashing into their squad car and knocking them out. James opened the cop car door and took out a shotgun. As James looked down he saw their nightsticks. James picked up both nightsticks and twirled them around. He put the two nightsticks on the car and readied his shotgun. He switched of the safety and aimed it high… who needs a sword while you have a 12 gauge that can decapitate a man?
Putting everything he had into an extra burst of speed (man, that guy could run! Was he an athlete or something?), Chance rounded the corner. His brain then registered two things at once. One: two cops were lying unconscious. Two: he was staring down the barrel of a 12-gauge pump action shotgun. His life flashed past his eyes. Well, the most important bits. So, the last year really. He might have found that strange had he not been held at gunpoint.
"No! No! Wait!" Chance cried, arms held up in surrender. "I'm not a vampire! I swear! I'm gonna help you against them, though." he said, sticking a thumb over his shoulder.
James gave him a weird look. “You want to help me, shoot them in the head with this.” He tossed the shotgun at the man’s chest which he easily caught, then picked up the two nightsticks and got ready for the vampires to turn the corner.
Chance held the shotgun in one hand, then leaned into the police car to grab one of the 'sticks. He shoved it into his belt at the small of his back and racked the slide of the shotgun.
"Last one to dust a vamp buys the beer," he said confidently, tossing a smirk and a wink at the man readying himself with two of the weapons. *Good combat pose. Must know his stuff. Gonna need it,* Chance thought grimly. Then the vampires rounded the corner and there was no further time for talk or thought.
Chance aimed and squeezed the trigger, the blast knocking him back half a step. But the effect was worth it as the first vampire's chest simply blew apart. Satisfied, he pumped the shotgun again and took aim once more, higher this time, and promptly blew apart the head of the next vampire.
The distance between the two and the vampires was closing rapidly, so his third and final shot, panicked marginally, was aimed lower and took apart a vampire's leg. It simply exploded into a mess of blood, muscle and bone. The vampire went down screaming.
Briefly, Chance wondered whether he should replace his trusty crossbow with such a weapon, then turned his mind over to the hand-to-hand that was about to unfold. He tossed the shotgun to one side then pulled out the nightstick in his left hand, a stake in the right and made ready for one HELL of a fight.
James charged into the pack of vampires and began his assault; swinging and twirling the nightsticks with almost expert knowledge. He began to beat into the vamps as they got close, the metal nightsticks slamming into the attacking vampire’s face. James felt their bone and skin warp round the solid steel baton.
He was narrowly dodging their attacks, blocking their punches and kicks with the nightsticks. A rather large vampire swung a wild round house kick which almost took the head off his friend. James saw an opening and punched the nightstick into the large vampire's knee, hearing his cartilage crunch and seeing the vampire go down. James knew he wouldn’t be a problem any more.
At first, the vampires mostly ignored Chance, turning their attention on the figure scything through their ranks. One, either clever or stupid enough to notice his presence, he wasn’t sure, diverted its charge towards him.
Chance whacked it in the face with the ‘stick, heard the satisfying crunch of bone, and the vampire spun and went down. Bending down, he quickly staked it once it hit the floor and came up ready for the next one.
The other vampires had noticed him now, and two turned his way. They were good, Chance had to admit. Both were stronger and faster than he was; forcing him onto the defensive and to use the nightstick to parry their attacks. But after a short time their attacks lessened as Chance’s weapon beat their hands and feet mercilessly.
He saw an opening looming on the right and went for it; jumping and spinning round as both the nightstick and his foot went scything out. The metal baton knocked aside a half-hearted attack and sent the vampire off-balance. The foot, within military-style boots with steel toe-caps, caught it in the chest and it staggered back. Chance followed up by delivering an uppercut with the weapon, whacking it in the ribs. The vampire's smashed face went pale, well, paler than usual and it''s eyes bulged. He staked it without a second thought.
But he had forgotten about the vampire on the left. It came up behind him in a crushing bear hug and threw him onto the bonnet of the cruiser. His arm smacked the windscreen, sending a pattern of cracks running along it, but it didn't break. The vampire leapt up in front of him and loomed, ready to strike.
James was getting nowhere fast. He knew he was going to have to vamp out to get these guys off his back but didn’t want to frighten his ally.
“Screw it,” James muttered.
Morphing into game face, he continued his assault on the vampires and quickly began to gain the upper hand. The others on the roof were older; these guys couldn’t have been more than 100 years old. Their fighting form was very poor and they had more or less backed off from James because of his furious attacks.
As James’ attacks impacted on the vampires' faces he felt their bones and teeth give way to the steel batons amplified with his superhuman strength. There was still four left relatively unhurt. He tossed both nightsticks full force at them, knocking two to the ground. James reached inside his coat, pulled out a stake and dusted them.
He turned to see Chance on the bonnet of the squad car with a vampire lurching over him. Acting quickly, he ran up behind the vampire and staked him from behind. Then the nine remaining vampires grabbed James from behind and began to beat into the unarmed vampire.
Thankful for the respite, and ignoring the voice that was saying he was supposed to be saving the other guy, Chance scrambled to his feet. He turned to his left, kicking a vamp in the face that was just about to climb up, then clambered up onto the roof of the police car.
Looking across, he could see maybe the bloke would need his help as nine vamps grabbed him. But before he could dive in to help a vampire landed next to him on the roof, the resounding impact setting off both the car alarm and the police lights. The flashing red and blue bathed the combat, making it seem surreal.
The vamp took his mind off the view with a meaty fist that slammed into his head before he could do something, dazing him slightly. Pain exploded in his chest as he received a kick but he recovered quickly and, as the vampire moved to hit him again, slammed his nightstick into its elbow. It shrieked as the appendage hung at a sickly angle, then Chance hit it again in the side of the leg and it dropped to one knee with the pain. He readied the stake and dusted it.
Another bloodsucker landed next to him ready for a fight, but rather than complying Chance leapt off the cruiser, threw open the driver’s door and dived in. Swearing revenge on whatever powers existed if the keys weren’t in there, Chance slammed the door closed repeatedly on a vampire that tried to grab him until it relented.
Out the cracked windscreen he could see the vampires dragging the poor guy away. Letting out a cry of triumph as he found the keys and started the car up and promptly shoved the cruiser into reverse. Hurtling backwards through the alley, he caught an unsuspecting vampire and slammed it up against a wall.
Then Chance hit the acceleration and barrelled into two of the vamps, knocking them aside. He liked his bike more, but a car certainly had its advantages.
The vampires pretty much had James. In the air he managed to kick his way out. He pushed three vampires down and then ran to the car. The two vampires who had been run over were getting up now.
"Here!" Chance shouted, tossing the stake out the window. To his credit, the guy nimbly snatched it out the air.
As James ran by he used the recently acquired stake to dust one, then flung the stake over to his other hand and dusted the other. Getting to the passenger side of the car he took his game face off before his ally could see it, tossed the stake back to him and yelled, “Gun it!”
Chance didn't hesitate. He immediately made use of the term 'pedal to the metal' and the car lurched forwards.
Snarling at the vehicle as it made its escape, the remaining vampires vanished into the night, becoming one with the shadows.
Keeping one eye on the road and looking at his passenger with the other, a skill Chance had developed whilst shooting vamps from a speeding motorbike, he sagged with relief.
"Phew. That was a close one. Name's Chance. Bit of luck I was around, eh?" The adrenaline made him smile at the bad pun.
James gave a wide grin. “Yea, lucky. Name’s James… thanks for helping out back there man. I mean you didn’t have to but you did so I owe ya one.” Reaching inside his jacket pocket he took out a card. “This is my number. Ever need a favour, just phone it and I'll try my best, mate. Could you drop me off over at that bridge? I’ll get a friend to pick me up.”
“Heh, no problem. Always love a good fight," Chance replied, rubbing at his sore ribs with one hand and wincing. "Over at the bridge? Sure." He took the offered card and pocketed it. They travelled the rest of the short journey in silence, neither knowing quite what to say to the other.
When Chance pulled up at the bridge they said a final few words of thanks and goodbye, and then he pulled away again. A few miles down the road he dumped the police cruiser behind a rusted green Ford with no wheels and turned the lights off, then walked away.
He kept the shotgun and the nightstick, though.
Jade's Diary - 2 July 2006
Sunday, 2 July 2006, 6.35am
*~*~* Jade's Diary *~*~*
(If you can't see the images below, please click here.)
Jade frowned as she lowered her pen and re-read what she'd just written. *Tonight's dream is similar to the ones I've been having recently,but this was the first time I've been able to remember anything after I wake up! I wonder why?* She pondered over this as she reached over and slid the journal back into the bedside table drawer.
Jade turned back to see Sorrow watching her. "How long have you been awake?"
"Long enough to watch you chew your pen cap down to a mangled piece of plastic as you intently scribbled away." Sorrow's face crinkled in sleepy amusement. "I think I know what you must have looked liked when you were back in highschool, doing your Algebra homework." He reached over and pulled Jade to him, covering her body with his and nuzzling her neck. "Another bad dream?"
"Not really. Mmmm..." Jade stretched luxuriously under Sorrow's weight, sighing as his lips travelled lower, all earlier thoughts forgotten for the moment...
Repercussions...
Friday, 14 July 2006, 12pm - Poplar Ave
Jade nudged her front door open with her foot and heaved the grocery bags into the apartment. The weather had become scorching hot, as it usually did for summer in Los Angeles; but somehow, Jade found that she didn't really mind the sun or the heat.
J.C had been driving XY's schoolgirl customers crazy for the last few weeks, coming to work dressed in body-hugging muscle tees. He claimed that the skimpy singlets were to combat the hot weather but she knew that he secretly enjoyed all the attention being fawned upon him by her younger female customers.
*Guess I can't complain. It sure hasn't hurt XY's sales any.* Jade grinned absently to herself, the top items of the large brown paper bags wobbling precariously as she meandered her way toward the kitchen. She'd awoken early and had left the apartment before Sorrow to head down to XY for a couple of hours before doing her marketing.
Inching forward, barely able to see above the huge amount of produce in her arms, Jade yelped in shock when Sorrow appeared unexpectedly before her. His head seemed to float ridiculously above her grocery bags for a second as he reached out to steady her, removing her heavy load before she fell over and broke the eggs.
"God Tris! You startled me!" Jade rolled her eyes at Sorrow but tiptoed to plant a soft kiss on his cheek. "I didn't think you'd be back so early."
Sorrow set the groceries down carefully on the counter and enveloped Jade in a hug. Returning her kiss he smiled, but couldn’t keep the edge of worry from his voice. “Plans have a habit of changing.” Sorrow reached up and placed a finger on Jade’s lips to forestall her response to his ominous words and anxious tone. “Let’s get this lot put away then I’ll tell you over a coffee.”
While Sorrow started to pull the groceries out and stored them in the kitchen’s various cupboards. Jade set the coffee percolator running. When the chores were complete the two of them settled onto the sofa.
“I had a phone call from the North American Knight. The Knight, or more correctly Huntmaster Knight, oversees the Society in a large geographic area, usually a continent. So there's a Knight of North America , a Knight of Europe etc.”
Sorrow shook himself, “Anyway you know all that… John has heard some troubling rumours over Xavier’s death. He considers them sufficiently serious to warrant his investigation and is coming to LA on Monday.”
He sipped his coffee and spoke into the silence “It's started Jade. Knights don’t visit huntmasters unless it’s serious…”
Jade was gripping her coffee mug so hard, her knuckles were white. "Does he..." her voice faltered, "Does he suspect you have anything to do with it?" The books Sorrow had shown her with their descriptions of how Xavier had died still haunted Jade, despite her attempts not to give in to the guilt. *Tris had warned me that this could happen, that Ulle would not let the death of one of their hunters go uninvestigated. How much does 'John' know?*
"We have to assume he at least suspects. If he knew for certain, there wouldn't be this 'investigation'. The first warning we'd get was when a hunter tried to kill me. No, this is a fishing expedition."
Sorrow stared intently into his coffee. "On the other hand, he must feel he has some pretty good bait. You never know, we might get lucky, but somehow I have the feeling this is going to get much worse before it gets better." He looked up and met Jade's eyes. "I know you hate it when I try to 'protect' you but the society is likely to avoid involving you. Your connection to Valerian makes attacking you risky and they'll do it only if you get in their way."
"Get in their way of what? Their investigation? Or killing you?" Jade kept her voice low but her ire towards Ulle made it hard to remain calm.
"If they declare me anethema," Sorrow replied softly, "and they probably will, then what comes next is that the Society hunts one of its own. I'm the first 'supernatural' in its history, a Huntmaster... there'll be plenty of hunters willing to take a chance on killing me."
"Like you said, it might not come to that." Jade took a deep breath, "But for argument's sake, let's say that it does and you are declared anethema... I know you Tris, you won't run. You've told me before that there'll be little use in running but even if you could, you wouldn't." She exhaled in a rush. *Don't babble goddamit!*
"You'll stay and fight every last one of them, because of who and what you are. And while you're doing all this, you're expecting me to do... What, exactly?" Jade's voice shook a little as she kept her gaze steady on Sorrow's face, her eyes never leaving his.
"I don't know, but seeing you hurt or killed for the choices I've made would break me."
"Choices 'you've made?" Jade quirked an eyebrow at Sorrow. "I don't mean to fight for credit here but I do believe that killing Xavier was my idea."
She set her mug down on the coffee table and prodded Sorrow sharply on his arm, cutting off whatever retort he was about to make. "Be quiet! I'm not done! Let's just cut this whole thing short. I know what you're trying to get at here but there is no way in hell I'm going to let you fight this on your own, so don't even go there! Uh-uh!" Jade snapped when Sorrow opened his mouth again, "Wait! Before you go about arguing with me, just ask yourself this... Would you leave me if our situations were reversed?"
Sorrow slid across to Jade and embraced her. "No, never." He continued to hold Jade for a moment before finally speaking, "It'll get ugly. Not as bad as the praentath but still very ugly. I just want you to realise that you have options - you don't need to cross the same line I did."
He bent down and kissed her passionately, "But there's no place I'd rather have you be than by my side."
Somewhat mollified, Jade allowed her lover to kiss her for a couple of seconds before pushing him away. She knew that this was a huge step for Sorrow; his previous way of dealing with trouble was to disappear from her life while he fought for his. Now, the fact that he'd told her about the Huntmaster Knight and discussed his plans pleased Jade to no end.
Outwardly though, she pouted. "Really? By your side?" Jade arranged her features into an expression of doubt, "Wasn't it just two months ago that you were panting after our lovely golden blonde neighbour, Reah?" When Sorrow groaned, she bit her lip to stop her smile. "Maybe you'd prefer it if I stood somewhere way behind you or way ahead of you... So you and Reah could... canoodle in peace."
"Hmmm. Well, if I need a distraction so I can canoodle with Reah in peace, I'll invite Tash over shall I?"
"Oh... Meeeooooow... So the Englishman has claws after all!" Jade and Sorrow chuckled as she pretended to rake her nails down his chest. It felt good to be laughing together. In May, when they had gotten past the worst of that horrendous spell, everyone realised that the best way to treat the whole incident was to laugh about it... After ensuring that certain magical defences were in place, of course. The last thing anybody wanted was for a repeat performance.
Since then, however, Jade and Sorrow had found themselves preoccupied with other matters and laughter was a rare sound between them. Valerian being in L.A. weighed heavily on their minds. Jade knew that Sorrow was getting increasingly frustrated at not being able to find the solution to this threat to their safety. Which, in her opinion, made moments like this even more precious.
Slowly their mirth quietened and Sorrow's tickles became caresses. Jade closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift. *Yet one more thing to worry about... this new Huntmaster Knight. We'll work it out, we always do...*
[/]Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Day One - G’rnatha
Noon
Reah sat back against one on the many rocks that protruded further out from the cave walls than the rest and observed the odd party that surrounded her. Subconsciously she fingered at the gash still prominent on her forehead from when the BMW had hit her, though many other cuts and bruises were sure to be revealed later on, when or if she removed her clothing. She hoped they managed to find someplace or way they could clean themselves. Dimensional travel to barren wasteland was one thing (Reah had travelled in time, so this wasn‘t much different to her past experiences), sharing B.O. with five other people was another.
Despite her reasonable management to come to terms with dimensional jumping, it was blatantly obvious that for certain others, regardless of the comfort that others had freely opened up to them and how they appeared to be coming to terms with the situation: it was not so simply achieved. Twisting around and pushing herself off the wall into a more crouched position Reah rose, her feet scraping across the rough surface, and strolled gently over till she dropped herself gratefully down beside Nikolai where she just stared blankly ahead.
“So. How’s it holding up?”
"Just trying to figure out what I am supposed to do," he said, looking at the young blonde woman next to him. She was the one who'd gone and snapped at Zoë when she was still freaking about the gun. "How did you get caught up with this group? Another 'vampire hunter'?" He still didn't want to believe that vampires existed. Science had already explained the origins of those myths, hadn't they?
Tash watched the exchange with interest from where she sat close by. Darian appeared to be dozing and Alice was talking animatedly with Victor a little further into the cave. She figured she should keep an eye on Nikolai for a while, just in case. She caught Reah's eye and smiled, encouraging her to chat with him. The more he had calm, rational conversation about seemingly irrational things, the sooner he'd come to grips with it all.
At Nikolai’s question, she couldn’t help but smirk cynically and sniffed, “You could say that. My views and goals on life have changed somewhat drastically from when I first started to where I am now, however.”
She turned her head to face his eyes levelly, “I don’t mean to add to the brain strain, but I guess that’s just life. Unfortunately for people like you...” she trailed off, sentence left to linger unfinished within the cave, and sighed. She used to be just like him.
"Da," he said in agreement. The shock treatment approach did have one advantage, in that things eventually reached the point where you shrugged your shoulders. Ah well, one bizarre acid trip at a time.
"If I had known this was going to happen, I would have packed my rifle as well."
She chuckled. A realisation dawned on her that she could probably become good friends with the man. “I know exactly what you mean. My mini-gun would’ve been a definite asset.”
She cocked her head softly as she considered him in a different light. He was as lost and defenceless as a lamb, but he did seem a lot calmer than before, *System overload,* she thought with a slight amusement.
Reah considered him lucky and was almost jealous of all the people he had there to support him that he was familiar with. Her smile saddened into a more serious, but compassionate one as she took up the conversation again, somewhat softer than before, “I’m not offering a friendship here, not that I don’t think we couldn’t be; despite earlier introductions, I think we’ll actually get on quite well.” The corner of her mouth twitched in a smile as she paused, “What I am offering though is compassion. You probably won’t believe me, but I understand and can sympathise with you five hundred percent.” She hesitated and turned her head to stare blankly ahead again, “I know exactly what you’re going through… if not to a greater degree even.”
Tash had a sudden impression of being wrenched out of time. Of being in a familiar place that was more alien than any strange dimension. She stared at Reah in shock, her jaw dropping. An involuntary sound issued from her throat, causing both Nikolai and Reah to turn their heads towards her.
“Uh,” she prevaricated, hunting for something to say to cover her gaffe. She was pretty sure Reah wouldn’t fancy talking about her secrets here in the open like this. The pair were still looking at her expectantly, so she cleared her throat again and said the first thing that popped into her head, “Sorry to interrupt, but even a rifle wouldn’t have been much use here. Not against the kind of creatures we’ll be coming up against.”
"Great. Invincible creatures. Just what I always wanted to face." Nikolai sighed, wondering about the mini-gun the other woman had referred to, before turning back to her. He was getting that 'hard mercenary bitch' feeling from her.
*Probably a lesbian as well,* he thought. "A mini-gun, you say? Not something I've ever used. One shot, one kill is my rule. Usually undetected. Mini-guns just aren't very professional in my old line of work." To hell with lying about it - there really wasn't much point when only God knew how far away the authorities were.
"Not invincible. Just hard to kill. A flamethrower would be handy..." Tash smiled, trying not to laugh at Kolya's thought of Reah as a lesbian. *If only he knew what happened last May.*
Reah eyed Tash carefully; she was acting awfully weird and pulling the most bizarre faces that seemed to contradict themselves without any form of provocation to explain the change! “Um… yes. Well, I’ve come up against many a near invincible being before,” *One of them actually invincible!* “So it should be all good,” she finished, continuing to eye Tash obscurely with a ‘what the f..?’ expression.
Tash let her eyes shift almost imperceptibly to Nikolai and back again, then mouthed ‘Later’ to Reah. But Reah kept that gimlet stare on her and Tash sighed in resignation. "Reah, it's just that I saw - felt - something in your mind just now. The thought net here has boosted my abilities quite a bit... Oh."
Reah's stare had turned incredulous. "You didn't know I was a telepath?" Tash had kept her talent hidden from normal people for so long, but with most of her friends these days being far from normal she'd relaxed her policy. But she'd lost track of who she had and hadn't told. She just assumed all her 'non-normal' friends were in the know. She made an apologetic face. "It's how the Creator contacted me," she said by way of explanation.
"Don't feel bad, I just found out as well," Nikolai pointed out, raising an eyebrow at her and wondering if she’d picked up on his earlier thought about Reah. "She could probably really embarrass us."
"I try not to pry - but strong thoughts or emotions have a way of coming through regardless." Tash sighed, "This is why I tend to keep it hidden from most people. They start acting weird around me once they find out."
Reah’s mouth hung slightly open before she realised and quickly closed it with an audible click of her jaw as it snap shut. She didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t even heard what Nikolai had just said; her mind and body had gone completely numb! She could feel the blood draining from her face like Niagara Falls.
“Um… um…” Her voice was weak, and her throat felt somewhat tingly as her hand dazedly flailed about trying to grip something to pull herself up as she motioned Tash with her other hand over to the farthest, darkest corner of the cave where no one else should be able to hear or see anything. *Unless they have ‘low-light’ vision.* Her eyes immediately darted up to Tash, aware that she would have just heard the careless thought.
She smirked cynically to herself again as her clearer mind gradually returned back. *Well, this could prove to be interesting,* she thought as she turned her smirk up at Tash.
Tash had to smile at Reah’s attempt to hide. The dark corner of the cave would protect them from human eyesight, but Darian’s fae abilities and Alice and Victor’s demon senses probably weren’t bothered. Still, if it made Reah feel better Tash wasn’t about to argue.
Her gloved hand rested lightly on Reah’s arm. “I’m sorry, I really thought you already knew. And yes, the reason I looked so startled was because of that thought you had when you told Kolya you knew what he was going through. I’m finding emotions are coming through much stronger than they did at home - I actually felt the wrench of being dragged,” she paused a fraction before finishing on a query, “through time?”
The two women inhaled simultaneously. “That would explain the claws. I’d been meaning to ask about them since… well, you know,” Tash muttered.
Reah sniffed a short laugh, “Yes. I know. Don’t worry, you wouldn’t be the first. I am a real dish after all,” she joked, “Come complete with my own set of knives, even.”
Thoughtfully she held up one of her own partly gloved hands, considering it, then glanced at Tash’s and smiled, “Guess we’re kind of twins now, too.” She wasn’t sure exactly why Tash had her hands gloved all the time, but she took a wild stab in the dark that it was similar to herself by way of it being a precaution.
“We all have our secrets,“ Reah’s mouth stayed poised, ready to continue, till she thought of a better, more effectively discreet method that she could already see Tash rolling her eyes over. Nodding to her hands as she held them up in front of her face, *These aren’t all I came back with.*
*What’s with this thing of trying to think at me once people learn I’m a telepath? First Sam, now Reah.* Tash felt a twinge at the thought of Sam. She still missed him terribly and wondered if he was okay. But Reah was patiently waiting for an answer.
“I imagine not,” Tash replied to Reah’s unspoken statement. “I’m more curious about how you got to where you went, and how you got back. But,” she smirked, “as to any new hardware… are you going to tell me, or make me guess?”
Reah’s grin practically split her face in two. She’d been keeping this balled up inside her for so long that she very nearly just blurt everything out right there! She wanted to! The thought of not having to hide for at least one person again was just too good. She had to tell Tash; if she continued to try and conceal it she knew she was going to die of suffocation. She never thought she’d feel it, but she had missed her Shadowrun groups so much that it killed her inside.
Rather than physically showing Tash what she could do, she showed her mentally. Not because she could and she wanted to abuse her new-found knowledge of Tash‘s gift, but because it was the easiest, most practical way! Why explain when you can show, allowing for a better understanding of the opposite party? Not to mention that physically showing someone 'Cyber Eyes' was just plain disgusting.
Tash felt Reah trying to open up her mind. It was hard for someone not schooled in the mental arts to consciously control their thoughts so that only specific items were available. Tash could feel bits and pieces of what Reah was trying to convey - a sense of enduring operations, of discovering new abilities. A tremendous sense of loss accompanied Reah’s thoughts, loss associated with friends she’d left behind in the future. It sounded peculiar just thinking about it that way, but Tash had to concede that from Reah’s perspective it was in the past. There was also a sense of joy at finally having someone to share this with, after all the frustration and loneliness of bearing this by herself. But for now Reah was just wanting to share the technical aspects of her experience, so Tash pushed those emotions aside and concentrated on thinking about Reah’s ‘upgrades’.
Even with her improved pickup, she knew that it would be much easier if she were to touch Reah bare-handed, but her reluctance was twofold. For one thing, it would likely tire her when Z’thrukaht was undoubtedly waiting for her to achieve full psychic strength again before returning. The second was that Tash was afraid that with her amplified telepathic abilities a full psychometric vision might be too powerful for her to escape easily. So she did her best to sort through the unstructured thoughts Reah was broadcasting and to filter out the extraneous information.
Reah’s eyes… somehow Tash knew that Reah could see in the dim light of this cave almost as if it were lit by the afternoon sun. Even in darkness, she could see body-heat. *That’d be damn handy when hunting vampires. No heat signature - crossbow bolt.* Thinking of weapons brought Tash to Reah’s guns. Something about her eyes helped there, too, but Tash couldn’t pick up on the details.
As for the rest of Reah… Tash could feel Reah thinking about enhanced strength and reflexes. She could almost feel it as Reah performed near-miraculous feats of acrobatics, testing out her new toys. An involuntary smile crossed Tash’s lips at this memory - Reah had definitely enjoyed the sense of freedom from this. And the claws. Tash had already seen these, of course. Even though she’d been under the influence of that twisted love spell, her recollection of the day’s events was not affected, even though she often wished it were.
All she had were mere glimpses, but it was enough for her to piece together the gist of what Reah was trying to show her. Physical enhancements... inbuilt weapons... sad memories - and the torment of coming back to the present and finding that here only a day or so had passed. Tash's face reflected the sorrow she felt at what Reah had gone through, and she squeezed the younger woman's arm lightly. Custom dictated she should say something at this juncture, but somehow words were unnecessary. She could tell Reah knew she understood. The relief in Reah's mind was almost palpable.
"And... that's basically me in a nutshell!" Reah could nearly laugh, the relief and excitement that had suddenly washed over her was so uplifting, she couldn't believe it!
Reah's smile tweaked with an underlay of nervousness as she tried to distinguish Tash's true feelings behind her comforting facade, "So... How..? What do you think? Now that you know..." She waited, not sure what it was exactly that she was expecting. Over the past nine months, she'd expected something of a panic or paranoia from the people that found out. But now she wasn't so sure. Tash appeared to be comfortable with it.
“Why so nervous, Reah?” Tash patted the arm that she held, “Yeah, some seriously weird shit happened to you, and you’re not the woman you once were, that’s for sure. But just because you’ve had a few enhancements doesn’t mean that I’ll treat you any differently. Actually, it’s kinda handy knowing you’re better equipped than you seem.”
Tash smiled tightly, “And I did catch a peek or two of what you were doing there,” she recalled flashes of Reah slashing a human guard’s throat with those vicious claws, “but I have the feeling you were recruited for that purpose, so you didn’t really have much choice.”
Reah darted her eyes quickly away, as though doing so would hide the things she'd done from her. "Um, yeah. That's pretty much the life of a Shadowrunner." She didn't need to be a psychic like Tash to tell that Tash had certain morals that were strongly opposed to killing another of her kind. Reah avoided verbally mentioning the actual words "I kill humans", for her sake: Tash already knew, and there was no need to aggravate an already red 'wound'.
She thoroughly stuffed and packed with foam her followup feelings on the particular topic way back in the darkest recesses of her mind, that revealed the tingling thrill she had develop from carrying out such actions. But things were different in the future! Human life suddenly didn't seem as sacred as it once had, once she'd seen what they'd created - how they abused their own bodies, sacrificing the actual limbs they were born with to replace them with artificial 'enhancements'. She couldn't be expected to hold the same morals forever! Having no choice eventually didn't become the reason why she would take another’s life. If they were able to outrun one single guard to escape 'Scott free' without even breaking a sweat... she'd go out of her way to still kill them for the sake of making sure her ass, along with the rest of her group’s, was covered. If she was hired to do a job, she was bloody going to do it well!
However, for now she beamed with delight for Tash. Her life was no longer completely shrouded in shadow. "But, once again, I can enjoy some light in my life."
Reah’s mind was closing down, and Tash knew there was something still bothering the woman, but the flow of thoughts that Reah had opened up and pushed out to her had trickled to a near-stop. In many ways, she was relieved at that - it was too easy under such circumstances, and especially with the amplification afforded her by the net here, to go too far and reach for too much. If there was more unburdening she needed to do, Reah would tell her in her own time. She really didn’t want to know all of Reah’s inner being. Having been merged as part of Vicasha Tash knew what it was to completely know somebody. And was equally relieved that the memory of that had faded too, so that she could no longer remember exactly how it felt to be Vrithetek. Some things the human mind was just not equipped to handle.
So she smiled at Reah and simply said, “I’m glad you’ve got it off your chest. It must have been awful carrying that for so long. But I’m sure you’ll find that people like Victor and Jade and Sorrow will understand it too. I don’t think they’ll be upset. God knows we’re all freaks in our own way.”
Reah chuckled and winked, "I don't think I've ever heard a truer word spoken."
Tash gazed around at the motley group sprawled throughout the cavern and nodded, “Yep, definitely.” Nikolai was sitting where they’d left him, whistling tunelessly. “We’d better get back to Kolya,” she added, “Otherwise he’ll think we’ve deserted him completely.”
Reah nodded and rose, but as Tash uncoiled from where she sat to follow, Victor caught her eye and gestured at her to join him. She spoke at Reah’s retreating back, “You go on.”
Looking down, Tash picked her way across the uneven ground to be with her husband.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Day One - G'rnatha
Early Afternoon
As Tash veered off to Victor on their way back, Reah smiled the most genuine smile she had in a long time. She all but hopped, skipped, and jumped the remainder of her way back to Nikolai where she then proceeded to sit herself cross-legged down in front of him.
“Hi!” she beamed, barely able to control her lightened mood.
"Z'dravichye," he said, still wondering about just what the hell was going on. Mostly it was a bit of frustration: yep, everyone had their secrets. Keep the 'normal' guy out of it. Which probably made sense in a way, considering that he probably wouldn't believe much of what was going on if they even told him. "I so want to shoot something about now."
Reah’s smile turned compassionate once again as her shoulders relaxed and she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder briefly, holding his gaze, before letting it drop back to her side. “I’m sorry about that. I know how frustrating it is when people just always seem to be leaving you out of the loop.” *Man do I know how it feels!* She cocked her head to one side, attentively, “I promise you though, I will tell you what that was about, just not now. I don’t want to overload the system anymore than necessary.”
*I so sound like bloody Sea-Doc.* Mentally picking on herself, Reah reached inside her coat as she said, “You will learn. If our mission here is going to involve what I think it will then I’ll be bloody hard pressed to hide it from you otherwise.” She grinned, and suddenly tossed something so quickly at Nikolai he barely managed to get his hands up in time to catch it.
"What's this?" Nikolai asked, looking down at the object. Which was when he noticed that she had just tossed him a bullet. It looked somewhere between .45 and .50 calibre rounds. Definitely heavy. "What is supposed to shoot these? I don't think I've ever seen any ammo quite like this."
Reah smirked knowingly to herself, “If you had seen either that or its partner I’d be very surprised. It’s… ridiculously exclusive beyond all reason, shall we say?” She considered the dead bullet in his hand. He held an actual fragment of the future, and he had no idea.
“You can keep that, for now. Mind it for me.” She peered up at him, promising, “I’ll get it back off you when we get home.”
"Spaseba," said Nikolai, still examining the quite odd bullet. This group of people was proving to be more interesting all the time. It seemed that everyone had their own bits of secrets they preferred to keep hidden. Including him, though his own secrets were easily far less exotic than his companions. They were probably tame by comparison as well!
"I gather this 'ridiculous exclusivity' has something to do with its power? More 'magic' or something else altogether?" Reah had managed to successfully pique his interest. "Can I see the weapon which fires them, if you have that?" The professional in him started to come out again.
Reah sighed pleasantly as she studied the bullet he still held in his hand, “Not magic, no.” She thought for a moment over its firearm. He’d already seen the bullet now!
Reaching under her coat yet again, Reah removed one of her Ares Predators from its holster and studied it subconsciously, turning it over in her hands and trailing her fingers lightly over every minute detail of it. Even though it was likely that Nikolai was going to see all her weapons at some stage while they were stuck in the strange dimension, she still had apprehensions about freely flashing them about for others to study.
As Nikolai’s inquisitive hand slowly reached out, she instinctively jerked it closer to herself, “You see with your eyes, not with your hands.”
Nikolai resisted the urge to snort, being content with what examination he was allowed. Definitely the right calibre, and looked like it would have both an excellent balance and accuracy.
"Assuming it can be silenced, that would have made a few of my jobs easier," he said at last, remembering the time in Croatia. That job had almost been the death of him, since he only had a 9mm. A larger calibre pistol would have been much better for that job.
Professional curiosity was clearly getting the better of him.
It was quickly followed by a return of the annoyance of being here, stuck on an alien world with pretty much every cherished belief of his now hopelessly shattered. The world was better as a slightly more boring place.
Reah studied Nikolai closer, noting he had a stronger, more professional interest in what she was showing him led her to believe that he wasn’t your regular Joe with a gun in his glove box for the sake of having a gun in his glove box, ‘cause it could blow someone’s head off.
Quirking her eyebrow with an interest of her own, Reah re-holstered her gun and stared curiously at Nikolai, “If you don’t mind me asking, what jobs, exactly, does your profession involve? I know it might be a bit of a personal question, but,” she sniffed, “let’s just say I have a personal interest of my own in these things.”
Normally he wouldn't say anything at all about what kind of jobs he did. But the combination of the alien world and something about Reah told him that he could trust her to keep silent. She seemed the type to know that talking about such things could have bad consequences. Still, he kept his voice low as he spoke.
"Assassination. I am - was - a professional 'hit man'."
“You retired?” At his confirming nod, she shrugged, “Fair enough, I guess. I won’t ask why, in case it’s too personal. Pity though,” she smirked, “I could have set you up with just about anything you needed, or helped you out even! Hm…” Smiling fondly of the idea of being part of a professional team again, Reah sighed and let her head drop back.
Nikolai raised an eyebrow at that. He'd worked alone for over a decade - his style demanded it. "A team effort never really occurred to me," he said honestly, though remembering that he did miss the excitement. He could take a great deal of pride in knowing that he was good enough to successfully impersonate a guard or the like long enough to get in, make the hit, and get out. Usually leaving the target's body to be found the next day by a trusted associate.
"…though it would be interesting to consider."
Reah smirked knowingly. She knew that look: he hadn’t tired of the game yet. The thrill of the ‘run’ was still waiting eagerly inside him to be ignited. She allowed him to simmer for a while longer over the ideas she’d subtly and unintentionally wakened in his mind before she gently coerced the conversation to topics other than that of dealing death by hired services. *Hm… a side, silent business to the Armoury. ‘Armoury n Assassins’! No, stop it. I’m stuck in an alternate dimension - no time to think of business opportunities.*
“So, what’s your background anyway?” she inquired, snapping back to reality. “I’m Australian, but I noticed that your accents seems to waver every now and again. Are you..?”
"Russian," he said, nodding. The question of background was an interesting one, but what did he have to lose by telling her? "Really nothing too impressive. I was trained by the Committee of State Security, back when we were still the Soviet Union. Assassination, infiltration, spy methods." It really was quite normal, he almost added jokingly, that Russians worked for the KGB. In a way, they all did when it came to filling denunciations. But that time had gone; most of the actual KGB operatives were either in the new intelligence service, dead, or had gone to organised crime.
"So, what about you? What is your profession?"
Reah’s cheeks puffed as she exhaled, practically stumped for an accurate way to answer his question. “Well,” she began, slapping her still crossed legs, “That’s a tough one, actually. Haven’t really taken the time to try and classify what I do since I got back from… Seattle.” *That’ll work. Technically the truth.*
“I guess you could call me an arms dealer, former vampire hunter - that’s just more a hobby now, however. Good for stress relief actually,” she added playfully with a wink, then lowered her voice, “Um, but I do have experience in - man, how do I put it - can vary really! Recruited assassination, sabotaging, data retrieval… it was basically hired services. Though, of course, the catch being that you might not survive the job! You were basically hired to put your ass on the line to do someone else’s dirty work!”
She paused, “Which I suppose is very similar to what you do… did.” After correcting herself, she mentally toyed with the image of Nikolai teaming up with trolls and elves to fight a fire elemental.
She chuckled.
"It sounds as though we have much we could discuss," said Nikolai, wondering if she had been hinting broadly earlier about teaming up. He got a picture of her crouched down in a building, patiently waiting for a target to arrive at a meeting, then delivering a single, fatal blow from a high-powered rifle. Or a more active version of that. A smile began to form across his lips. He hadn't realised just how much he did miss the action until the dim prospect of getting back into the life arose.
Nikolai glanced around to make sure nobody else was nearby before leaning in closer. "What if I told you," he said barely audibly, "that I would not mind coming out of retirement?" Nikolai let the remark about killing vampires as stress relief pass. Probably just a running joke in a group that seemed to take dimensional shifting as second nature. At least, he hoped it was a joke.
Reah couldn’t help the cunning smile of her own cut through onto her face, “I’d say that it doesn’t surprise me in the least. You still have that spark! I can see it even right now.” The part that she wasn’t going to mention was that she really could! What with her thermograph vision and all. She thought it best, for Nikolai’s well being, that she kept it that way for now.
She inclined her head, “Do I sense a possible future partnership?”
“Very possibly,” Nikolai replied, keeping his voice low. Finally! A chance to get back in the game. Which was not to say that he couldn’t get contracts before – all it would take was contacting the few people who still knew him, and arrangements could be made. Working as a team would be a new thing for him, but an interesting experiment to try.
“But first, we must get back to Earth. Hopefully, that Zarthrusta or whatever who has been speaking through Natalya Lawrencevna will actually go through with its promise to return us.” *That, or I’ll find a way to kill it,* he added silently to himself.
“We’ll get back, I’ll make sure of that! ‘Cause there’s no way I’m giving up till we do,” Reah assured him once again.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Day One - G'rnatha
Early Afternoon
Tash was sitting quietly now with Victor, just holding his hand. She could see from the corner of her eye that Nikolai and Reah were talking animatedly still and she smiled. It would do both of them good to gain a new friend, especially in this desolate place. But even though she couldn’t hear them, she felt as if someone had called her name. Natalya Lawrencevna.
She turned her head sharply. That just had to be Nikolai who had said - or thought – that. She hoped he’d said it. Now that she was concentrating on them she heard Reah’s assurance to him that they’d get back and she smiled at the pair. Reah was facing slightly away from her, but Nikolai had spotted her abrupt move and a touch of worry showed in his eyes. Then they glazed over slightly and Tash figured she had a good idea what he was doing, even though she wasn’t paying attention to any thoughts. She was letting the thoughts of everyone in the cave recede to a hubbub in the background, rather like having a radio playing that nobody was really listening to.
But that glazed look was something she remembered well from when she was younger, before she’d learned not to blurt out things that she’d picked up by thought alone. That look that told her people were afraid of her, afraid she’d start mind-probing them or some such bullshit to learn their innermost secrets. She rose and walked over to where the pair sat. She had to try to put a stop to this nonsense this time, at least. Even if Nikolai was going to turn out to be just like all those other people who had turned away from her once they learned what she was. Having friends who weren’t afraid of her telepathy had been refreshing, but it had also made her forget how awful it was to see so-called friends turn away from her in disgust and horror.
“Did someone call my name?” she asked as lightly as she could, given the dark thoughts that were swirling around inside her.
"We were just discussing possible business arrangements, after returning to Earth," Nikolai said, immediately filling his head with the tune of The Sacred War, a Russian piece on the second world war. He hoped she hadn't read anything of the details, or would have enough respect for his privacy not to. Telepaths were a new experience for him to have to deal with.
Tash looked at both Nikolai and Reah. The images Reah had pushed over to her earlier had contained bits and pieces of the ‘work’ she had done in the future, and through all their lunchtime talks Tash had a more than fair inkling of Kolya’s real business.
“Your old business, Kolya?” she asked.
"Oh, come now," Nikolai said, smiling at Tash as the song continued to course through his head. "You wouldn't be intimating that I'm some sort of spy, would you?" The saying was full of sarcasm that expected she would be halfway tempted to say yes, halfway tempted to say no. A sideways glance over to Reah showed that she found it at least mildly amusing.
Tash sat in front of him, bringing her eyes level with his. “Kolya, you know damn well what you’ve told me explicitly at our lunches. I don’t need to be able to read minds to know what you’re thinking here.”
The background noise that was the mental murmur of the other five beings in this cave was slowly being overridden by an insistent tune that tugged at Tash’s brain. It was beginning to be annoying, and she had a damn good idea where it was coming from.
“Look, I already said I don’t pry. Not unless it’s in extreme necessity or I’m asked to delve, as Reah did just before. I don’t read your thoughts. It’s only that sometimes I pick up on strong emotion. Like right now you’re broadcasting that fucking song so loudly that I can’t help but notice it, so all it’s doing is forcing my mind to concentrate on yours. If you relaxed, I could push you back in the background along with everyone else so that I don’t have to listen to you any more.”
Nikolai's grin continued to remain on his face - and confirmed something he had been curious about. If he could just keep something else foremost in his mind, it might very well be possible to hide things from a telepath. It might not stop a determined probe, but it did tell him that he could still get away with lying. Hopefully.
He still kept the song running through his mind, but tried to 'think softer' so that it would just be in the forefront of his conscious thoughts. Let his mind fade in with the others, and kept something else in the forefront other than what he was thinking about. *Is that even possible? Fool yourself into thinking you are thinking about something else?*
All at once, he stopped focusing. "I'm sorry... but as you can probably know, I've not exactly dealt with the most trustworthy of individuals in the past. Others with your abilities would gladly dig all the information from another's mind if they could." But one thought did occur to him: when they got back, he needed some form of defence against this.
Tash lost some of her defensive posture. “I know you’ve had some lousy people in your past, but I’d like to think we’ve come to know each other fairly well over the past few months and that you can trust me. It’s just,” she stopped, having reached that point where she wanted to open up to somebody. But finding that it was still hard for her to do. The old walls wanted to rise up before her, but she willed them down and continued doggedly.
“It’s just that I’ve had so many people in the past turn away from me because of this – some people call it a gift but I often think of it as a curse. So many think the same way you do. That if I can read minds, I will. But that’s not the case. Just because you have a gun on you and you can shoot me, doesn’t mean you will, right?” Tash rubbed her face tiredly.
Nikolai was still offering that smug grin, like he thought he knew he had the answer. Tash knew damn well he didn’t. The song had faded slightly, but it was still drawing attention to his mind and she could feel the underlying unease and his thoughts of finding some way to block her out entirely.
She sighed again, and tried once more to explain, this time hopefully so that he would understand. “Imagine you had five radios playing at once,” she told him, “and they were all about the same volume. Unless you really concentrated on any one radio, you wouldn’t be able to tell what it was playing. You might get a snippet of song here and there from one or the other, if it was a particularly familiar riff or a loud bit, but for the most part it’s just noise. But then what if someone turned up one of those radios? Then it becomes much harder to ignore it, and you’re more likely to hear what song it’s playing.”
She looked at Nikolai for signs of comprehension. “Do you see what I’m saying? If you relaxed, didn’t think about the possibility that I might read your thoughts, you’d merge with the background and I could only read you by an act of will. Right now I have to specifically concentrate on blocking you to avoid getting every last little detail of what it is you don’t want me to know. And maybe I’m just making it worse by telling it to you this way, but I’m trying to make you see that I don’t want to read your mind, and I won’t. Not unless you asked me to.”
“Tash, easy! It’s ok,” Reah suddenly jumped up, resting her hands gently on Tash’s shoulders, “Don’t start getting upset on me or I might have to kill myself.”
Reah waited until Tash no longer looked like she was about to burst into tears, then turned her attention back to Nik. “Ok, I understand how bloody overwhelming all this is and why you feel the need to be so paranoid! Watching your back every second just waiting for that dagger to come flying out from nowhere, and suddenly you’ll end up under interrogation until they find out there’s something about you and they put you under a spot light and open you up! Treating you like some science class di…”
She’d gone overboard, “Um… what I mean to say is,” she sighed, double checking that she had control of herself again, “Tash isn’t the type to pry where she’s unwanted. But when help is wanted, she’s eager to be right there for you. I’ve lived in that apartment building for nearly a year now, and Tash, or anyone else for that matter, barely even heard a peep out of me! Something happened to me around last September that practically had me cutting myself off from civilisation completely… yet it wasn’t until now, in those past few however longs, that I finally told someone what was wrong with me.” She gave Tash a friendly squeeze with her left hand as she rubbed her eyes with the butt of her right, “Tash could’ve, at any time, just pried right into my mind to find out what was wrong, but she didn’t….” Reah smiled with her at the new comfort she’d found inside, *Someone finally knows!*
Nikolai finally relaxed after hearing the words, willing to trust Tash again, though he would still be watching his thoughts much more carefully. "You may have a point... and I'll try to do better," he said, the closest he could come to an apology. Though he did wonder where the sudden outburst of Reah's had come from.
Unable to resist, he gave that smirk of his which said that he knew more than he was letting on... or at least thoroughly enjoying himself. "Besides, I have nothing to worry about," he said, "I've told you nothing but complete truth." Which he realised was true in a sense: yes, his stories had been full of enough half-truths, innuendos, and outright lies to make a politician in a close election look downright honest. However, at least each version of his past was internally consistent and coherent. Still, he finally did what he hoped was quieting his mind for Tash's peace and comfort.
Tash smiled at Reah’s defence of her good name, and at Nikolai’s relaxation. He was still ill at ease, but at least now he didn’t seem outright afraid of her. The flashes in his aura were calming with the quieting of his thoughts, and at least that damn tune went away. Once more the mental voices around her subsided to a hubbub that she could ignore. Following her own radio analogy, she had to admit that most of the stations were tuned to ‘anxiety FM’, but that sort of generalised emotion-sensing she could deal with.
“It’s ok, Kolya. I know it’s frightening to learn of something like this. But I am your friend and I would do nothing to harm you.”
She grinned, allowing her amusement at Nikolai’s protestation of truth-telling to colour the expression to genuine relief and friendliness. His ‘truths’ had been far from that, but there had been elements of truth in most of what he’d told her. Enough so that her impressions of his past gelled pretty closely with what an astute person could have gleaned from his conversations anyway. Which brought her back to…
“So, which particular business arrangements were you and Reah planning on?”
"Just a possible partnership when we return," Nikolai said, continuing with his smile. The real challenge was how to best put it. As much as he wanted to trust Tash, it was doubtful that she would respond well to hearing that the professional killer was coming out of retirement. What had Reah said before?
"All arms dealers need help from time to time," he finished.
Reah quickly caught on to what exactly he was doing. "Yup! Could get a lot of useful help when I reopen the Armoury."
Tash shook her head and gave a low laugh. Lies again already. Well, she could hardly expect Kolya to really trust her. He was keeping his expression neutral at her unexpected response, but she could still see the flickers of his aura about him, indicating his worry and his lies.
“Kolya, I know that’s not the truth. But don’t worry; as I said before, I won’t pry. If you and Reah need to keep this secret from me go right ahead. But,” her tone changed, growing harsher, “if I find out that you’re doing something that abuses our friendship I may not be so generous later on.”
Nikolai wondered for a moment precisely what Tash would consider abusing their friendship, then dismissed the concern. She would probably work out what they were really up to soon enough. Still, there was one thing he could say which would show both that he still trusted her, and how serious he was about it. "I'm leaving retirement, Tasha," he said. "We can probably leave it at that, hmmm?"
Tash stilled for a second. She truly hadn’t expected him to say anything further about his deal with Reah, and was pleasantly surprised that he had. And now she knew why he had been reluctant to tell her. They’d had more than one conversation about the morality of taking a human life, and were each pretty clear about where the other stood on that issue.
“Oh,” she said quietly, “I see. Going freelance now?” She cast her eyes sideways at Reah, who merely shrugged carelessly. “Well, I’d say don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, but it’s a bit late for that already.” She had a feeling that Nikolai was waiting for her to explode in anger, but she didn’t feel angry. Just sad and disappointed. *Oh God, I’m turning into The Mother.*
Despite herself, she found there was more bubbling up inside her to be said. “So just be careful who you accept work from, then. I mean, well, you know… Some jobs may be more,” she cast around for a word, “unpalatable than others. I’m sure you get my drift.”
"Da," he said, remembering the fact that he was picky even in the past about the jobs he took. There was something about the fact that the jobs he took were on people you would usually say, ‘Yeah, the bastard had it coming.’ He was kind of surprised that Tash had not blown up at him, though it did tell him she knew exactly what that meant. Honestly, Nikolai had to wonder if Tash was psychologically capable of taking a human life under even the most extreme circumstances.
It was amazing how one slipped back into what could be called 'Mafia Speak' - at the same time, both vague and crystal clear. "You work enough jobs, and you eventually begin to figure out which ones are actually deserve getting finished."
“Maybe you could concentrate on just demons and vampires?” Tash suggested, “It would mean you wouldn’t have to worry about moral issues so much.” A thought was just forming in her brain, a small bud that just needed a little nurturing to blossom. “The Foundation might even be able to provide you with some contracts in that case. You could have an ongoing arrangement…”
Nikolai nodded, though he still questioned if other demons or vampires did exist. That evidence would have to wait until later. "Possibly, though there are humans who are quite brutal. Remind me to tell you the stories we told in the KGB of Lavrenti Beria some day." Still, a steady supplier of contracts would be very nice. In fact, it would almost be preferable. If it proved lucrative and challenging enough, he might even consider handling a special client. "We'll have discuss business after returning home, however. And I promise only a nominal fee for my G’rnathan hazard pay," he made a wink with the last, hoping that it would be clear he was joking.
Tash’s light, tinkling laughter sounded almost out of place in this dim, rocky place with God only knew what horrors waiting for them aboveground. “I’ll make sure you get at least as much pay as everyone else here. I may even pay you double, if you behave,” she winked.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Day One - G'rnatha
Afternoon
After having talked to Tash and Nik for the better part of the time they’d been adjusting to their new surroundings, Reah watched the pretty boy stranger, whose name had slipped her mind. *Something beginning with ‘T’ wasn’t it?* Whatever it was, she thought, it wasn’t what had her wondering about the sleeping body.
She was hoping he’d wake up sometime soon, but the more her fingers explored the gash on her forehead and the bruises that seemed to cover her from head to foot, the more she couldn’t help the question sitting on the tip of her tongue, begging to be asked.
Almost subconsciously and unwillingly, Reah had picked herself up off the ground and had made her way over to ‘Pretty Boy’ who was still sleeping. Squatting down, she poked him in the ribs, “Hey!” Shaking his shoulder gently, she continued to disturb him, “Oi! Wake up… er… please.”
From his slumber/day dreaming, Darian could feel his body slightly rocking back and forth. Opening his eyes to see who was disturbing him, he was surprised to see that it was the cocky blonde girl. “Oh hey,” he said lazily as he woke up completely, and turned his full attention to her.
“Reah right?” When he had arrived in G’rnatha, the only person Darian had met previously was Tash, and thus he felt rather out of place among this group who already knew one another.
"Uhh, can I do something for you?" he said smiling gently, trying to cover up the little bit of annoyance he felt for being woken.
Reah could barely keep from shaking her head at his politeness, *I’d have slammed myself if I didn’t want to be woken! Ah well, his problem.* “Yeah,” she grinned, “sorry about disturbing you and all, but I had a question I’ve been wanting to ask you since I heard a comment you made earlier outside.”
Looking about her at the caves surroundings again for no particular reason, she continued as he lay there waiting expectantly. “Did I over hear you mention that you were magical? Are you a mage?” She took a closer look at his ears for signs of his pretty features extending beyond that of an NSYNC wannabe, to perhaps that of an elf.
His ears were normal. Only his mysterious purple eyes suggested a non-human heritage… but they could also just be contacts. She beat down the temptation to poke him in the eye to find out.
Darian chuckled slightly. The idea that someone thought he was a mage was kind of funny to him. “Do I look like some gnarled old wizard?” he joked. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t have any talents when it comes to using magic,” he paused for a moment as if thinking back to something, “Well I did make a stone glow once, but it wasn’t quite what I was going for.” A moment of silence fell on the two, as Reah waited for Darian to continue his explanation. *Well I guess there would be no point hiding what I am,* he mused to himself, *I just hope she isn’t freaked!*
Studying her pretty face, something there told him she wouldn’t be. Behind her delicate features, her eyes revealed an inner strength, a fire within.
“See I don’t really do magic so much as I am magical. I’m half Fae. Well, maybe not half,” he said rambling on, “I’m really not sure how much I am, so I guess part Fae would be more accurate.”
She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t disappointed, because truth be told, she was looking for a quick fix heal of her wounds. She could still move fine, and any pain she had wasn’t so big that she couldn’t ignore it, she just… “I miss Sea-Doc,” she breathed. At Pretty Boy’s confused look, she added, “A friend of mine who I doubt I’ll ever see again. A Shaman.” She smiled, “And neither she, nor her good friend Sara, a mage, were old and gnarled.”
Continuing her smile, she looked him up and down curiously, “Part Fae. Now, you’re sure on that this time?” She winked playfully, then sighed, disappointment clear in her tone, “Well, thanks anyway… I guess.”
By the look on her face, Darian knew that he had somehow disappointed the girl. “Wait,” he said, causing Reah to halt her departure. “Is there something wrong? I don’t mean to pry. It just seemed like you needed somethi…”. Darian stopped mid sentence, the arrival of a familiar voice breaking his concentration.
Rasssna ala vesthia amadura
Darian’s eyes quickly darted away from Reah’s figure over the cave, scanning for the source of the voice. Again, however, his search proved fruitless.
"Did you hear that?"
Reah’s eyes gazed pointlessly around as she wondered what the guy was referring to, “I hate to disappoint you, but…” she checked over her shoulder askance, again, “I don’t hear anything,” she replied, sparing a tad worried glance for the poor guy, *Nerves have gotten the best of him.*
“Oh, I… I guess I’m just hearing things,” he pretended to kid, “Look, I’m getting kinda…”
Athnasur rack sala… Leave them and we can help you…”
“I’m getting kinda tired,” he said trying to block out the voice which was apparently only in his head. “I think I'll rest my eyes for a bit.”
"Sure thing, mate," Reah smiled gently and gave a slight nod as she walked off, "Sleep tight."
Darian watched in relief as she left. *It's better if they don’t think I’m going crazy,* he thought as he brought his knees up closer to his body and wrapped his arms around them.
*Who are you?* he thought after a few minutes, hoping the voice would respond. Unfortunately, however, he never received an answer.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
23rd July
11:45pm
Chance’s feet pounded the concrete pavement as he put everything he had into the pursuit. The distance between him and his ‘man’ was closing every second, but still Chance wished he was on his motorcycle. With that he could close the gap between them before you could say “Gotcha”. He was glad his chest wasn’t still hurting from that minor skirmish the other day. No way would he have been able to catch up otherwise.
The guy ahead rounded a corner into another alley, stumbling slightly. Chance was hot on his heels. In desperation, a trashcan was thrown across his path, but it was easily avoided.
“Stop… Wait! I just want to talk!” he shouted after him.
“Yeah, right,” came the reply, without even looking back, “That’s what they always say. Then they bite you.”
Chance frowned as he ran. “Bite you?” he muttered to himself, then directed his voice at the man. “I won’t bite you! I’m not a vampire.”
The guy faltered, then stopped and turned around. Chance halted about ten feet away. “You’re not?” the man asked.
“No,” said Chance, shaking his head and sounding faintly insulted.
“Oh,” the man replied, sounding very confused as he stood there, half in shadow after just running from a man who he thought was a vampire. Sweat was plastered on his forehead and ran freely over his sharp features and down his face. Standing just shorter than him, Chance guessed. “Then if you didn’t bite me, who did?”
The weight of the question had just registered in Chance’s mind when a shadow dropped from amongst the others. It landed dead on the poor guy, knocking him straight to he ground and cutting off a short-lived cry that mixed terror and surprise in one. He couldn’t see much, but what he could see told him that the shadow was strong.
“Shit!” Chance exclaimed, throwing himself towards the one-sided struggle. He ran up and kicked out, dislodging the vampire and sending it sprawling. It was back on its feet in an eye blink, eyes glowing and white teeth looking even more gleaming against the dark colour of the vampire’s skin. Snarling, the vamp let swing with a punch that Chance ducked under to come up with a back-hand from his right across its face. In retaliation, he got a knee right in the gut and gasped, staggering backwards.
The vampire was on him, remorseless. Chance saw an opening and went for a side kick, but the vamp easily side-stepped, only to end up with a face-full of Chance's fist. Chance hit him again, then lashed out with his leg. Before the vampire could recover, he whipped out a stake and plunged it into its heart.
“Teach you to bite my leads,” Chance said, as the vampire exploded to dust.
A weak groan came from nearby, and he turned towards the man. He was still lying where he had fallen, his groans getting weaker as Chance ran over, falling to his knees by his side. Now he could see the bite mark on the man’s throat, the twin punctures gushing deep red blood in a constant stream. “Aw, hell.”
It was quite clear the man was dying before Chance’s eyes. Major vessels had been severed and most of the blood was all down him and over the floor in a slowly but steadily expanding puddle that had just begun to soak his trousers. He had just mere minutes left.
“Look... uh pal,” Chance felt uncomfortable doing this now, but he had to know. “I’m sorry about all this but I need to ask you something.” The guy’s eyes focused and refocused on him, and Chance became more desperate. “You’ve lived here in LA alongside vamps and demons for years, right?” All that came in reply was a wet cough and a froth of blood from his mouth. “Ok, ok… uh… but you’re leaving aren’t you? And in a hurry, too. Why? Why now? Why so desperate to get out of LA?”
There was fear in the man’s eyes. Not just fear of his imminent death, although that was present too, but fear of something else. The fear that was sending him packing to South America. The fear that had him on edge. He gripped Chance’s arm with a strength that was surprising considering he wasn’t so much on Death’s door as in his dining room having tea and biscuits with Death himself prior to the big event. He tried to speak, but only managed to gurgle. After another cough, he whispered something Chance couldn’t hear, so he leaned in close, soaking his long-sleeved T-shirt with the man's blood.
“P-powe… powerful… old…” he breathed, haltingly.
“Powerful? Old? Something old and powerful?” Chance didn’t like the sound of this. When he put two and two together it was even worse. “Coming here?”
The dying man shook his head and Chance relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief. But then he said something else. “Already… h-h-here.”
Now he really didn’t like the sound of this. Something old and powerful, scary enough to send a guy who lived alongside things that go bump in the night to the over side of the world, already in LA?
“What? What is it? Demon? It’s a demon right?” He just knew it would be. Lady Luck liked to play games like this.
In reply there came another sluggish shake, and the man gripped his arm even harder, giving a look that appeared as if he wanted to say something more. Chance tried to guess what it was.
“Okay, not a demon. Umm… vampire? Is it a vampire? An Elder?” No reply. “Tell me!” Chance grabbed him by the shoulders and shook his limp form hard. “Tell me!” he repeated. But it was too late. The man’s eyes were glazed over, staring into space, and he had stopped breathing. He was dead.
Chance was silent for a moment, eyes closed. Then he threw the corpse to one side and leapt to his feet.
“God dammit!” he roared, kicking an empty crate down the alley where it clattered to the ground and then was still. He picked up a metal trashcan and hurtled it against a wall. It hit with a loud crash and trash went sailing everywhere. A red-hot fury had seized him, and he wasn’t finished yet. Chance picked up the empty can and walked over to the body, smashing it down upon it. Blood splattered all over him but he didn’t care. “God fucking dammit!” Within moments all that remained was a bloodied and battered pulp. And even then he continued on, mercilessly thumping the can down again and again.
He threw the can away and took one more look at the remains, then stalked out the alley. This was just typical. Find a decent lead, the best one since coming to LA, and he dies without telling him anything specific. Great. That was just great. Sure, he knew there was something old and powerful in town. So what? That’s nothing new. How does that help him? He has no names, nothing. He might as well have killed the man himself.
On passing a car near the mouth of the alley, an old rusted thing, Chance smashed the driver’s window and carried on, the alarm blaring as he walked away.
Fifteen minutes later, he had begun to calm down. Two more smashed car windows lay in his wake.
An hour later, Chance began to feel disgusted at himself for what he had done to the man’s body. He had also become more reasonable. It wasn’t the guy’s fault he had died. But now, combined with the Vagabond’s earlier words and the general vibe he had been picking up, he was sure there was an Elder in town. For if the old and powerful thing wasn’t a demon, what else could it be but a vampire? And there would be more leads; he just had to be patient. Something he was quite good at.
But what occupied most of his thoughts was that fury he had felt. It overcame him like that sometimes, leading him to do crazy things. Smashing car windows and beating up corpses with trashcans wasn’t special. In fact, it wasn’t that bad this time. Quite modest, really. It had happened to him before, rarely but consistently; whenever he was uber pissed. Sometimes he felt like he was in a cheap rip-off of The Incredible Hulk or something; trying to contain a monster inside himself. But that was ridiculous. He just had a bad temper was all.
It hadn’t always been this way. He had been rather mellow and mild-mannered before…
Before he had met Steven that night in Russia.
Now isn’t that odd? I meet an old friend who’s a vampire in Russia, who gives me the lead that ends me up here, and it’s also when I started having these temper tantrums…
But as soon as the thought had formed in Chance’s brain, he had forgotten it.
He looked down at himself. Blood clung to the knees of his jeans. It was splattered across his top. Once again his jacket had emerged unscathed. There would come a day, he was certain… But right now he needed to change. Walking round covered in blood wasn’t a good idea, especially if it wasn’t his.
There was a laundrette across the road. Through the window Chance could see a guy of roughly his measurements waiting for his clothes. He crossed the road and headed for the door.
Ten minutes later, he came out freshly clothed. The trousers he had on wear a bit baggy in the waist, but he could deal with it. He looked back. Through the window he could just see the unconscious form of the guy slumped on the floor. It was nothing personal, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tough luck.
Chance headed for where he parked his bike, wondering what he was going to do now.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Somewhere outside Strasbourg,
1126
The moon glared balefully down upon the group as they picked their way through the forest. Any chance at stealth was long abandoned due to the armour worn by four of the figures. It caught the moonlight here and there, reflecting off polished steel. Thick helmets encased their heads, visors swung open for now.
Already the four were sweating. Their horses had run off earlier that night, petrified by the one the five hunted. For there was a fifth member of the group, dressed not in armour but long, elegant robes. His beard was long, his head bald and not a weapon in his hand but a great heavy tome.
Louis le Brendau was a priest, the priest that would see to the end of the demon. This creature had terrorised the nearby villages for too long. It was to be banished.
To this end, four knights accompanied Louis. Not just any knights either. These were Knights Templar. Such was their faith they would follow the priest into the mouth of Hell, if need be.
Matthew waved at his brothers-in-arms to go on ahead. This demon was a clever one, never letting them get close enough to complete the banishment spell. But they would get it in the end. He dropped his pace back to keep with that of Louis. The priest was old, but determined and by far the best at banishment in the country. That didn't mean he could keep up with the young and fit knights, armour or not.
"Are you well, Father?" Matthew asked.
"You should know better than to ask, my son," replied Louis in-between puffs, "I will not leave this task unfinished."
"Very well, Father. As you wish." The knight quickened his pace marginally. It wasn't wise to pester le Brendau too much.
“HEHEHEHE” The knights halted abruptly as a shrill cackle wailed out from the darkness.
“The demon dares to laugh at us,” fumed the Templar in front. “You won’t be laughing for long, monster!”
“The little tin soldiers dare to threaten us? We are a spirit of nature, boy, and you are just a human,” came the sing-song voice, almost entrancing the five. The haunting voice instantly shifted location, now originating from somewhere in back of the group, “We have walked this world long before you were came into it, and we will walk it long after you are gone.” Again the voice shifted, this time to the right. “HEHEHE, you think that this man of God will save you? We are magic older than your lord. We have walked with the old ones.”
"Remember, my sons," the old priest called, his voice still confident and strong, "Listen not to closely to his words. The voice of the nature spirit can bewitch even the strongest of men."
Matthew recognised the danger Louis spoke of, and what it posed to his men. They could not afford to falter in their duty. "Our Father, who art in Heaven..." he began, the other three quickly taking up this chant. The demon cackled anew, as if the prayer was some big joke to him. But this gave it away, and the group could clearly tell it was moving away from them.
To the city.
“Quickly, brothers," said Matthew, breaking the chant for a moment, "We cannot let it get to Strasbourg." He did not need to say how much damage it could cause there. That was something they were already aware of.
They picked up their pace as much as they could, le Brendau still wheezing behind them. The demon had already led to chaos in the surrounding villages. Matthew would not let it happen again, not after what happened to his own all those years ago...
No. He could not think of such things. Not now.
As the lights of the city drew ever closer, the knight at the front let out a gasp. Quickly, the others moved up around him, swords drawn. There, sitting on a log as calm as a summer's day, with his head cocked to one side and a pleasant smile on his lips, was the demon.
“He doesn’t look very menacing,” whispered Sylvain, another of the Templar Knights, staring the creature up and down. The demon was rather tall and lanky, and the only clothing he wore was shimmering black pants and a long black cloak. His purplish skin eerily reflected what little light was coming from the city. The spirit’s ears were slightly pointed, matching his perfectly angled face. Long, wispy white hair fell from his head and pooled onto his shoulders. Unlike the other goblins and ghouls which the Templars had encountered, this one was actually rather humanlike… and rather handsome.
“Be not fooled by the mask he wears, for underneath the angelic exterior lies his true nature,” boomed the priest, as he turned the pages of the tome, preparing to start the incantation. Before Louis could start however, the creature snapped his fingers and a tiny ebony harp appeared in his hand. Grasping it gently, his indigo fingers began to string the cords - a chilling melody began to resound throughout the forest.
“Alaaaaararrrrasssnna… syllioraaaaa… rassssmaturraaaaa…” The creature began to sing, ancient arcane words spilling from his mouth.
Frantically the old priest stopped searching through his old book and instead began to counter, his own words of power ringing through the evil song: “Evil that rides the sky, Chill winds that blow, Darkened Charms that arise from far below: broken now, fading fast, you will not thrive. For with this prayer I’ve cast, you cannot survive!”
The spirit stopped his charm, and looked menacingly towards the group. “So, you can stop our charm? No matter to us, we have more than simple bewitching magics." The creature silently rose to his feet and began to sway back and forth, his body beginning to look like a serpent. “Who am I? Where am I? Which of these is me? Puzzled be puzzled be, you cannot harm me.”
Suddenly the form of the spirit began to multiply into four, each looking exactly like the original. “Catch us if you can!” they all said in unison as they ran towards the city.
Phillipe, another of the knights, raced to Louis' side. The priest looked even more exhausted, the spell having drained him. "No... no," he uttered. "Leave me, I must regain my strength." Phillipe gave Matthew a look that said he wasn't prepared to leave the old man alone. The same look was mirrored on the other knights' faces.
But he knew he couldn't let it escape again, not now they were so close to the city. "After them!" Matthew cried, pulling down on his visor. It clanged into place, and he saw he others quickly follow suit. They knew their duty nonetheless, and followed him in his charge.
They came to the outskirts of the city. It was the dead of night, and no soul was out. But around them the four images of the demon taunted them on, beckoning from the shadows. The four knights turned to face each one, but it quickly vanished only to appear a few feet away. And all the while came the cackling.
"What devilry is this?" asked Sylvain.
But Christian hushed him. "Listen!" he whispered, "Listen to its voice."
"Christian..." Matthew began, fearing the worst. But his fears were proved misplaced when Phillipe spoke up.
"No, he's right. Listen, there's only one voice."
The knight was right. There was four images of the demon dancing around them, but only one was laughing. Matthew voiced the question they were all thinking. "But which one is it?" Indeed, it could be any one of the demons, none of them being able to pinpoint the voice down to just one.
"We'll have to split up," said Sylvain.
"No," replied Phillipe, "That's what it wants."
"We have no other choice!" cried Christian, already moving towards the direction of one of the demons. The cackling grew as it turned and fled.
"Christian!" the knights cried after him, but it was too late, he was gone.
"Sylvain, go after him," Matthew commanded, "Phillipe, come with me."
The knights nodded to each other once, then set off. Matthew lead Phillipe in the direction of another of the demons. It too twirled and vanished, but the Knights Templar were close after it.
***
Sylvain cursed Christian's name as he plodded down the street after him. He could only guess where the other Templar had gone, could only hope he was going in the right direction. He whispered a quick prayer.
The four had been together for years now, but it was always Christian that was the reckless one. And it was always Sylvain that had to go after him. A bloodcurdling cry pierced the night. Sylvain raised his sword, immediately on guard. But no threat came at him. Breathing another prayer, he set off in direction of the cry.
As the knight rounded the corner of the closed blacksmith shop, his friend finally came into view, a small dagger protruding from his left shoulder.
"Christian!!" he called out, as he began to rush to the aid of his friend. *He had to run off, the fool!*
“By Earth, sand, mud and a rock, let the Knight's path be blocked!”
Before he could reach his wounded comrade, the spirit had worked his magic. Stone shackles sprang forth from the ground and locked themselves around Sylvain's ankles and wrists, thus stopping him dead in his tracks.
The demon stepped into view. “It is very rude to interrupt us when we are playing boy," he hissed, as he turned his gaze back to Christian, who had now pulled the knife free from his shoulder and had retrieved his sword.
"You filthy demon spawn! I’ll send you back to hell!" cried Christian, as he raised his weapon, preparing to slice his enemy straight down the centre.
Within a flash, the monster snapped his fingers again. Instead of a harp, however, a large sword appeared in his hand, which he quickly brought up in an effortless block.
"We are no dirty, disgusting demon little soldier," the spirit said, easily blocking and parrying each of the Templar's attacks. "We are a force of nature, we are the darkness of the moon, we are the fury of the elements. We are the Fae!" As if to emphasise his point, he suddenly increased the speed at which he was twirling his blade. Although he was well trained and fought bravely, Christian was outmatched, and within moments his own blade went tumbling harmlessly away. "Adieu little soldier," the fae cackled as he shoved his blade into the soft tissue of Christian's stomach.
"YOU MONSTER!" Sylvain screamed, finally freeing himself from the cuffs of earth. "I'll make you pay for that!"
Sylvain charged the demon, sword raised high. Laughing its insane laugh, it easily parried his blow. Grunting as the two swords met, the knight staggered, but then attacked again. Once more the demon was too quick for him, chuckling as it turned the sword aside.
Like the late Christian before him, Sylvain was finding himself outmatched. He didn't know what it meant by 'fae', but didn't care. The questions would come later. Right now, there were more important matters.
He took a swing at it, his sword whistling as it cut the air, but where he should have struck the demon he met nothing. Suddenly off balance, Sylvain toppled to the floor. Armour plates clattered against each other and the cobblestones as he hit with an 'umph'.
Rolling onto his back with another clatter, he saw the demon leering over him. "Aww, poor soldier fell over," it cooed at him, "Why don't we help it back up? Yes..."
Sylvain tried to back away, but his armour weighed him down. The demon twirled its hands in the air as it muttered, tracing runes with glowing fingertips. Sylvain couldn't quite hear what it said, yet from what he could hear it didn't sound like any language he knew.
Then the demon made an aggressive motion, and Sylvain was flying backwards. Smashing into the door of the closed blacksmith's, the wood splintered and he tumbled through, lying amongst the debris. His sword went flying, tumbling off into the recesses of the building. Groaning, he picked himself up as the demon advanced, singing to itself.
It entered the blacksmith’s, treading lightly. "Now, now, little soldier. Come out, come out wherever you are." It paused and cocked its head, looking at the space where the knight had landed.
Sylvain swung at it from behind with the blacksmith's hammer, but it was a second ahead of him and ducked out of the way. He swung again, half expecting to miss once more, but instead the demon clutched his hand.
Desperately, Sylvain tugged and pulled at it every which way, but it was of no use. The vice-like grip remained clutching his wrist. Slowly, it began twisting, Sylvain's arm twisting with it and pain steadily mounting until he could bear it no longer.
With a cry, he dropped the hammer and it fell to the floor with a dull thump. Turning back to the demon with fear evident on his face, the Knight Templar stared into those twin, baleful eyes...
***
Matthew and Phillipe ran in pursuit of what they could only hope to be the demon. They too had heard the cry earlier, but could only pray nothing had befallen their comrades.
It had become quite clear to them the demon was leading them on somewhere, for reasons of its own. With every corner they turned, they could just catch a glimpse of the demon turning the next one ahead of them. And so they could only continue on into whatever awaited them.
But they were Knights Templar. They had faith in the Lord God, and He would see them through to the end. So they chanted as they ran, speaking their love to Him.
When they saw the demon caper into a church, they both faltered.
"How can it do that?" Phillipe asked, "That is the house of God. Such a creature can not set foot in there!"
Matthew couldn't answer his questions, and so continued on to the church. It was a grand construction, the steeple towering up into the sky. He wished he knew which one it was, but they had become lost in the maze of streets during the chase and didn’t know exactly where they were.
Together, they both made the sign of the cross and bowed their heads as they entered. The heavy oaken doors were already open, but Matthew had to push them to allow for the considerable bulk of the knights' armour. It creaked and groaned, and Phillipe feared they would let the demon know they were inside. But the demon had led them here. It knew they would be there.
The inside of the church was dark, long shadows cast across the floor. At the far end, a stained glass window depicted St. Michael triumphing over Lucifer during the Fall. Both Knights bowed their heads in respect.
A shout came from behind them and they turned, startled. Of all people, it was Sylvain was running towards them.
“Sylvain!” Phillipe cried, “What happened?”
"The scream came from Christian, but he's fine," Sylvain lied, "The clumsy fool slipped as he was chasing one of the phantoms and hurt his leg. He said for me to go ahead and meet up with you."
"Both of you, keep quiet," Matthew whispered, as he advanced deeper into the church. "The demon could be anywhere."
Just then, the church door swung open again. This time, father Louis stood in the doorway, his hand raised and finger pointed at the group.
"Monsignor, what are you doing?" Phillipe questioned, showing signs of confusion.
The old priest ignored the Templar and continued chanting. A brilliant burst of light exploded from his fingers and hurtled towards Sylvain. When the light reached its target, it sent the knight flying across the room.
"Monsignor, have you gone mad!?" Phillipe screamed, more perplexed now than ever.
"That is not Sylvain my sons. Our comrades are dead, and the demon wears their skins as a disguise.” Sure enough when they turned around, it was not their friend who emerged from the rubble, but instead the tall, lanky spirit.
"Clever old human, stripping us of our disguise. No matter however, we will make sure your blood stains the floor of this house of your... Lord," he said mockingly. Bending over, he retrieved his ripped and tattered cloak which had fallen to the ground. Muttering a few words, he threw the black cloak towards the three and watched as it began to crumble apart, instead turning into thousands of maggots.
"Veritae Est Disparates," the priest shouted as the tiny bugs made their way towards him. Another flash of blinding light appeared, and when it faded the maggots were no longer there. "You will not win, demon."
Now joining into the fight, Matthew and Phillipe charged forward, revenge for their dead friends fuelling their attack.
“We are Evexus Drett, one of the nine princes of the Fae realm. Do you believe your puny weapons of metal will defeat us? We who command nature herself?!” Raising his hands above his head, the faery brought them back in a graceful arc towards the two knights.
Balls of flame exploded from his palms and smashed into his would-be attackers. Phillipe managed to avoid the fiery sphere, but Matthew was not so fortunate. When it hit his breastplate, it exploded, sending him painfully across the room.
Phillipe had managed to make his way up to the fae, but he did not fare much better. Evexus easily avoided his swings, and as quick as a cat grabbed the young knight by the throat. As if he only weighed as much as a child the monster lifted him from the floor, its nails digging into Phillip's throat and drawing small droplets of blood. “We grow tired of you little...” The sound of the old priest chanting caught his attention. “We'll finish this after,” Evexus threatened as he tossed the knight backwards.
“By the power of the one and true Lord, I speak these words of light," Louis chanted, his voice never faltering.
“You arrogant little human, how dare you..?“ The delicate features of the faery twisted and gnarled into the visage of a true monster. “Rrrrassssnaa amaxus, Rrrrrassssnna amaxus.”
As the old priest continued chanting, the faery began working his spell. A forked tongue emerged from his lips as he began conjuring up a dark chilling wind in a language long forgotten.
“Exurrrrala lathnaaaaruiaaaa." The temperature in the church began to drop as the magic in the air grew more powerful. It was evident that the faery was planning on freezing them to death before the old man could finish his spell.
Matthew came round with a low moan. He was lying in-between rows of benches, and he felt terrible. His chest throbbed and his head pounded.
Wearily, he pulled himself up using both the back of the bench and his sword. The knight felt the air temperature drop rapidly, and cast his eyes towards the demon. It was chanting in a tongue that made Matthew's ears hurt just listening to it, so he begun a prayer to harden his resolve and take his mind off it.
But he couldn't ignore the cold. It was beginning to chill him to the bone, and Louis was visibly sagging under the exhaustion of competing with the demon and its spells. The creature had to be distracted, so as to give both the priest the chance of finishing the spell and to stop them freezing, even under layers of armour and leather.
The knight caught Phillipe's eye as he too rose to his feet. Nodding his head in first the direction of the demon, then Louis, then raising his sword, Matthew made sure Phillipe understood the situation.
Also raising his sword, the other Templar nodded, determined.
Together, they both leapt to their feet and let out a roar. Matthew's hair was slick with sweat, his helmet lost when he hit the floor, and it swung from side to side. The two Knights Templar rushed the demon from opposite sides. It drew its sword from nowhere just in time to parry Matthew's blow, then fluidly dodged out of the way of Phillipe's and hit him hard on his also exposed chin.
Phillipe tumbled past, and although neither knight had been able to wound the demon, they had achieved their aim. It had stopped chanting.
Le Brendau immediately leapt on the chance and began chanting anew, flicking through the pages of his tome.
The demon let out a cry of fury, lashing out in anger. Matthew narrowly blocked its vicious attack with his sword, but was too slow for the next. Fortunately it hit only his armour, but sparks flew from the contact and the blade went several millimetres in before stopping.
Then Phillipe was there, and the demon was forced to focus on him. Regaining his breath, Matthew leapt in.
The combat became a swirling melee. Evexus moved almost faster than the human eye could follow, turning aside every attack that came its way. But it was outnumbered two to one, and could not find an opening for its own attacks.
All three made their way around the church as they fought, parrying and slashing. Phillipe received a kick that knocked him back despite the armour, and the demon moved in for the kill. But Matthew jumped to his friend's aid and held the demon off long enough for the other knight to regain his composure and join in again. And all the while Louis' voice grew louder and stronger as he came to completing the banishment spell.
Shrieking in fury the demon made for the priest, but his path was blocked by the two sweating, panting Templars.
As if summoning up the last of its reserves, Evexus battered through the two knights. Matthew tried to parry, but the creature moved insanely fast, nearly decapitating him. At the last moment he flinched, and rather than losing his head the sword sliced his forehead. Blood began trickling down into his eyes.
Evexus turned his attention on Phillipe, forcing him back step by step with every attack until he was backed up against a bench. Then the demon swung up. There was the sickening sound of metal passing through flesh and Phillipe fell to the floor, clutching the side of his head and screaming. His ear fell next to him.
Opposed no longer, the demon charged towards Louis just as his voice reached a concluding crescendo: "By the power of our Lord, Hallowed be His name, I banish thee from this plane! Begone! Begone! BEGONE!"
And, just before the demon was to run the old priest through on its sword, there was a clap of thunder and a flash of light. It was as if someone had just, for only a mere instant, dropped the sun into the church. Caught before they could turn away, they each flinched and covered their eyes, but it was still several minutes before they could see clearly again. But when they were able to the demon was gone. All that remained was a circle of scorched stone around where it had stood.
Evexus Drett
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
24th July
12:01am
Chance swore under his breath and swerved to avoid the truck that came out of nowhere. It hurtled by like a freight train, its horn blaring at him. His bike slid onto its side and skidded along the road for several meters. Sparks flew from the metal until it slowly came to a stop.
A long trail of curses came from Chance’s mouth, managing to repeat himself only a couple of times. He pulled his leg out from under the bike and crawled away, inspecting himself. It looked like he hadn’t come off too badly. His recently acquired jeans had been near shredded down one side, and there was grazes and some blood up his leg, but that was it.
The bike had come off a lot worse. Scratches, like the claws marks, ran up all across one side. Had it been anyone else’s motorcycle it would have taken a hell of a lot more than a coat of paint to cover it up, but Chance’s bike had its own fair share of bumps and bruises. Those recently acquired didn’t stand out much, but he’d have to get it checked out some time soon just in case.
Pulling it up and starting it back up again, he wondered what had just happened. Trucks just don’t appear on the roads. Had he just blacked out again? Like Bob said he had a couple of nights ago? Like that first night in LA? Perhaps he should get himself checked out. Perhaps there was something wrong with him.
Of course, he could probably put it down to any number of reasons. Lack of proper food drink, sleep. Too much pressure, tension, etc. Anything.
And yet, somehow the conventional excuses just didn’t sit well with him…
Later. That would have to come later. Right now he had far more important things to worry about. The big and powerful something in town, for one thing. Retribution from those vamps he had taken out the other night. Finding an Elder. Finding the right Elder.
As long as it didn’t happen to him in a fight, blacking out was the least of his worries.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
23th July 2006 5:00am
“Help… No… Please NO! Don’t touch me!” Carol, a tall brunette, was struggling in a dark alley with two attackers. “I’ll give you my money. Take the whole purse - Just don’t hurt me. Somebody HELP!”
As she kicked at her assailants, she also mentally kicked herself. This was LA, known for mysterious disappearances and murders, so she had known it was dangerous walking to work along its deserted streets at 5am. However, her car had broken down three blocks back. Desperate for money and thus needing to keep her job at the bakery, she had set out for work on foot. Carol had almost made it to the street where the bakery was located when strong, large hands wrapped around her arms and jerked her into a darkened alley. Two young punks had been hiding like cowards in the darkness, but when she got a look at their faces, she realized that they weren’t men at all. All she could see was yellow eyes, wrinkled faces and fangs. *What in God’s name are these creatures?* she had thought, not knowing that God wouldn’t have anything to do with these two.
James headed back to his crypt since the sun would be rising in an hour or so. As he passed an alley, he could hear a scuffle and a woman pleading for her safety, if not her life. Glancing down, James groaned when he made out two fledglings harassing a woman that looked to be in her mid-thirties.
“No style, no panache. Youngsters these days..." James snickered, continuing on his way. “None of your concern, James ole boy, if two pillocks want to have a bit of fun.”
Nonetheless, her pitiful voice floated back to him, “My daughter needs me, no, no…”
As clear as if she were standing in front of him, James could suddenly see his mother's face.
God, he missed that woman. “Bloody Hell. What am I? Save me from mums.” Sharply turning around, James headed back to the alley and came up behind the two fledglings as they tussled the woman back and forth between them. “Didn’t your sire ever tell you it’s not polite to play with your food?”
James drove a stake through the back of the closest vampire and watched with a satisfied grin as the dust cloud began to settle. The second vampire just froze as James turned his own yellow eyes towards the fool. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. The deer-in-the-headlight look just isn’t a good look for you, mate.”
James lunged to finish the bloke off quickly. This fledgling wasn’t very big but much faster than he looked. He unexpectedly jumped to the right, avoiding the serious end of James’ stake. Then he punched James in the jaw. As James recovered his balance, he slowly set his bag on the concrete and absently wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Glancing down at his own blood on his fingers, James spoke in a low voice, “Oh, got a little spunk in your after all, boy? Good, let’s have a proper go then.”
What the fledgling lacked in strength, the little wanker made up in speed and survival instincts. He dodged quite well, in fact, evading James’ punches. As James manoeuvred the wily bugger into a corner, James faked a right and swung left but only caught air. The fledgling was lying on the ground unconscious.
A moment passed before the changed situation surrounding him could properly register on James’ brain. Now the woman was standing at his side, holding a pipe, staring down at the vamp she had just knocked out cold. *God, you’ve got a love a woman that can handle a piece of iron like that,* James thought as he held a stake out to the woman. “Here, mum, you can do the honours. Mind that you hit the heart.”
The woman looked up at James with luminous eyes, “What?”
Wiggling the stake in front of her face, James tried to prod her, “Go ahead. Drive the stake through this git’s heart so he’ll go all puff and we can be on our separate ways.”
Carol took a step back, shocked. Her eyes drew back to the felled vampire, but she was shaking her head at James’ suggestion. “I can’t do that… I just can’t do that.”
When she was holding that pipe, this lady in front of him again reminded James a great deal of his mother who had once clobbered an Englishman with an axe. This lady had spunk just like she had. Turning to face her but keeping the downed vamp in his peripheral vision, James asked, “You said you had a daughter you need to live for, didn’t you?”
She turned her eyes up to meet James’, nodding now.
Satisfied that he had gained her full attention, James tilted his head to the side before continuing, “Understand this, that bloke wanted to separate you from your daughter - forever.” He leaned down briefly to point out the best point of entry when the women still hesitated, but James could tell she really wanted to stake the puke. He stood back up beside her and whispered close to her ear, “Maybe he will go after your daughter next time, instead of you. Wouldn’t want him snacking on your little sweet meat, would you?”
*That’s the ticket,* James thought. The woman grabbed the stake out of James’ hand and shoved it through the vamp’s heart, stepping back, trying to wave away the resulting dust cloud.
With a satisfied smirk, “Thank you. Can I..? How can I..?”
“No need, Darling.”
Carol took a step towards James, arms outstretched, “But I want to…”
*Bloody hell, what is the woman going to do? Hug me?*’ That had James ducking, and they both heard the clink of his lighter hitting the pavement. “Ah, look mum, the sun will be up soon which means I got to get home. How about you wish me luck in my poker game tomorrow night? Damn, where’d I drop my lighter?”
While James searched though the refuse scattered about the alley, the woman picked up James’s bag from the butcher, saying a few quiet words in Latin and smiling when the contents momentarily glowed from within.
Having located his favourite lighter, James turned back to the woman, “Here it is. Would have been really pissed to lose that. Err…Excuse the language, mum, but I’ve had it for some thirty odd years or so. Now where’s my package?”
“Here you go, sir.”
“Sir? Ha.” James shook his head while trying to repress a smile. “Where’re you headed, mum?”
“I work at the bread shop around the corner.”
“Well, let’s get you there safe and sound this time, why don’t we?”
Escorting Carol out onto the street, James glanced up towards the heavens and certainly hoped his mum appreciated this. He was walking a perfectly good meal to her place of business. James couldn’t figure out if this was one of life’s little jokes or pranks.
24th July 2006 12:01am
At times, the poker game felt surreal to James. In fact, he felt like he had never woken up from the dream he had earlier that day. He could see that Jimmy had a pair of tens. Z’hrak, a Clossek Demon, was bluffing with a hand of utter rubbish. *The cheeky bastard,* James thought, *Bloke isn’t even holding a pair.* Ned, a harmless Nouf Demon, was holding two aces and two nines. Not bad by half, but the only problem was that Jimmy was just beginning to deal the hand, and with an intense feeling of déjà vu, James had known the outcome of the current hand before the last card was tossed onto the table.
Wait; was that the Twilight Zone music playing in the background? Bugger it all, had he really dreamed this game the night before? James himself was holding three fours. Normally, not the best of hands, but James shoved what little caution he had to fly off in the wind with as much ease as he tossed all his chips into the pot. The hand played out, as he knew it would with his three of a kind taking the win.
Much to James’ disappointment, the next hand dealt by Z’hrak played out normally. No premonition, no hocus pocus, just bleedin' zip. Try as he might, he couldn’t tell what anyone was holding except for Ned who was squirming enough to make James suspect that the silly git was barely holding his bladder.
Later when Ned dealt the sixth hand, James’ vision blurred around the edges, and he saw his own left hand throwing a full house on top of a rather large stack of chips. When his vision cleared, he was looking down at his cards which he was currently holding: an ace, a three, a queen, and two sevens. What the hell? That full house he had seen was three sevens and two queens. Holding onto the queen and sevens, James drew another seven and queen. Full house, a frickin’ jack pot! Damn, it was good to be him tonight, James laughed to himself. He tripled his stakes when he easily won.
James’ premonitions sporadically occurred four more times during the remainder of the game. Two hours down the demon gambling line brought his obvious “lucky” streak to a head with the other players. Z’hrak called him a cheat while Sammy looked around for a stake to dust him. Obligingly, James took off his duster and vest to prove he didn’t have any cards up his sleeve. Normally, he would have been ready to kill any blighter that sullied his name even if he had been cheating but this night had gone so well. Nothing could ruin his spirits.
Arrogantly, James played one more hand with no premonitions and no shirt. Oh, the beautiful Lady Luck was still hanging on his arm, though. Jimmy was the only one not impressed. He was just a little distracted and majorly grossed out due to James’s lack of wrinkles. When the game ended, James gathered up his winnings and was certainly glad now that they had played for money instead of kittens that night. Money was a sight easier to spend than squirming felines.
Then he watched the faces of the demons around him drop and he felt something hit the back of his head. As James fell off the chair and hit the floor time seemed to fade away. He saw the demons getting paid off by some hooded figure. As the hooded figure approached James it squatted down beside him and wispered something in his ear.
“The final test is at hand… my child.”
Origins of G'hortab
Day One – G’rnatha
Mid-Afternoon
Tash listened to the voice speaking with her mouth, although it was not her voice. She knew that she’d be hoarse after it had finished. Z’thrukaht spoke steadily, forcing her to lick her lips and swallow quickly between words, making his words mumble and choke sometimes.
”For millennia G’rnatha was the source of the finest biological constructions ever conceived in the multiple universes. The Creators like myself built many sorts of specialized biological machines and became fabulously wealthy supplying the needs of demonic overlords and petty deities.
“The finest design we ever conceived was the VTH series. They were adaptable, self aware, easily controlled, compoundable, easily modified, resilient and above all, deadly in combat. We have manufactured countless hundreds of thousands of billions of them and sent them across the dimensions as our emissaries. We received payment in raw materials. Entire worlds were consumed and left as lifeless wastes, including our own.
“One of the Creators came to the realization that we as a race had ceased to grow and evolve. We had engineered our world, our environment and our lives to the point where there was very little ‘living’ left. He realized that we had built a system that would forever consume without ever giving back. His name was G’hortab.
“His wisdom flew in the face of all we had built and he demanded no less than the cessation of all production and a turning of our massive intellectual and technological system to the production of true living and self-sustaining organisms – children to inherit more than the death and all-consuming greed that we now practiced.
“He designed a variant VTH series Battle Fiend known as the VTK series. These ‘deviant’ Battle Fiends were designed to evolve and adapt to new environments and changing needs. They were literally the children of the Creators since they carried the potential of being not just aware, but guided by a higher morality. A life force. A soul.”
The words echoed through the cavern. Victor listened thoughtfully and more than one of the occupants looked to see his face. But Victor was deep in thought considering what it meant to him. Z’thrukaht’s gaze, through Tash’s eyes, drilled into Victor’s but he refused to look into her deep brown orbs directly.
“G’hortab was vilified but he had a few supporters. I was amongst them. G’hortab, with our help, managed to enact his plan before he was brought down. He created a manufacturing plant that would produce the VTK-imprinted slime that would infiltrate the manufacturing substructure and produce the VTK-enabled Battle Fiends.
“When the Creators moved against G’hortab himself he emptied his life force into his own manufacturing plant and activated its defenses - defenses that required a spark of his own essence to bypass. Even the Creators themselves lacked the life energy to cross over those sorts of defenses.
“For a hundred millennia the Creators have been trying to eliminate the Spawn of Ghortab as they have come know him. But the genius of G’hortab’s design was that it was fully functional as a VTH series Battle Fiend and is nearly impossible to detect. In the last dozen millennia or so a few VTK series units have spontaneously exhibited a spark of life. Perhaps it is a remnant of G’hortab’s own life.
“For whatever reason, these VTK units have been drawn to the Temple of Ghortab, the manufacturing facility that G’hortab created. If they carry the spark of life the plant admits them and they are somehow instructed in their mission. I do not know the details of this because I have sadly been unable to breach the defenses.
“But I have been observing the VTK series’ development and am very aware of the progress of this particular unit because it was my duty which I swore to G’hortab personally to uphold. I and a few others have waited for the day when a VTK series unit would return with a fully realized and independent soul. It would become the very template needed to produce the structure-altering slime that will generate a new breed of true life-forms that will have the souls that we threw away on greed and selfish desire.”
Tash coughed a few times and held her temples. “Enough,” she croaked.
Victor took her into his arms as she began to shudder with the waves of psychic strain that tore through her. He turned to the group and released the breath he had been unconsciously holding. “I had no idea. I am so sorry you have all been dragged into this.”
Getting The Mission
Day One – G’rnatha
Mid Afternoon
Alice brushed some dirt from her legs as she stood up from her corner of the cave. "It’s fine. It’s not like you have never done this to me before."
"Umm, I didn’t really understand much of that, but I think he left out the part of how we are supposed to do all this," Darian said, looking somewhat mind-boggled.
Nikolai felt his eyes begin to cross as his brain overloaded for the second time in a day with new information. Demons and deities now? “This thing has gone completely off the rails,” he muttered to himself, drawing a few puzzled looks from those within earshot. He glanced at Victor, wondering what he really looked like. Or did these VTK units adapt an appearance to suit the dominant race where they were?
“That is a very good question,” he said, trying to change the subject to Darian’s comments before, “How does Zakakraut think we are supposed to do this?”
Victor shook his head, "I have no idea how to do this. All I have is what the stone told me all those centuries ago: Time will come when you will need more than life. Then those days of existence will pale with the desire for more than a creator can give. A soul will give you power. A pure soul will take you higher than an impure soul. An impure soul is worse than existence. Only one thing can free the impure soul from its torture.”
He looked around the smooth enclosure, "Forget Z'thrukaht and his mission. You are my friends and your survival is more important to me right now. There is nothing living on this world and no standing water. We have nothing to eat and nothing to drink. Those should be our priorities rather than Z'thrukaht's 'mission'."
Tash leaned against the wall of the cavern and groaned. "Water would be lovely right now," she rasped, "That guy has no concept of how human throats work."
Darian stood up and looked the group over. "When night rolls around, I can go scouting around if you guys want. I'm fast and I can hide better than anyone in case those flying-gismos come back". He turned to face Victor, "I know it’s been a while since you've been here, but if you could maybe remember where the closest water source is, I would go a lot faster."
"The closest water would be in the radiator of Nikolai's car," said Victor matter-of-factly.
"Ugh," muttered Tash from her ‘comfy’ niche in the rock, "I'm not that desperate yet."
“Nichevo,” Nikolai said again, with all the fatalism only a Russian could put into the word. Focusing on practical matters instead of the story of the Big Talking Head was helping him reorient.
It was too bad the KGB never had a course on Interdimensional Survival. “It is dead vorld, so I doubt that there will be water just lying about.” His mind was trying to focus, figure out what exactly they could do. “Tell me, Victor, does it ever rain here?”
Victor hated to deliver bad news. There was a time when he lived for it, but those days were behind him, "No the climate it too steady and the wind is too strong. There aren't enough mountains left because they have all eroded down to next to nothing. There is fog, however. Lots of it. The manufacturing plants generate water vapor as a waste product and occasionally they overheat and just rupture up to the surface. They vent for a few years then are either sealed from the plant side like this one, or they abandon that plant."
Victor looked out the steep slope they had climbed down to reach this small haven, "It is still daylight outside so it could be safe to do some local scouting. If there is a vent nearby it will provide heat and water that we can distill or decant. Do we have containers?"
From the blank stares he received he knew the answer.
"What about the car?" Tash queried, "It's got to have stuff that we could use."
"Seat covers," Nikolai said immediately, trying not to think of the fact that his warranty would not cover the damages, even if they believed the cause. "Perhaps other parts, if we can salvage any. Who wants to go on salvage expedition?"
"I’m up for a little field work. Plus, I’m getting claustrophobic down here; time to stretch the legs," Darian offered, "Anyone else wanna come with?"
"Sorry, guys," Tash slumped further down the wall she was propping up, "I can't imagine why, but I seem to have developed a splitting headache."
Reah stood emotionless amongst the party and just stared straight ahead at Tash's exhausted body that now slumped in Victor’s arms, all the while thinking about the future of their own dimension as she knew it. *We're not going to be far from this place. Who's going to stop us?*
"I'll go," Reah suddenly announced, straightening herself up, "Plus, if we come across anything... unwelcoming... I wouldn't mind getting some exercise and get my claws into something."
"I should go too. There may be patrols or Monitors out there and I look..." Victor's voice trailed off. He had forgotten about his glamour in the need for action. He cursed inwardly, *I will have to drop it if I want to 'blend in'.* “Guys, I should warn you I am about to drop my disguise because it is a liability here."
Alice wrinkled her muzzle and smiled at Nikolai, "You think I look weird."
He closed his eyes and focused on the single bright point of magical light he had always known was there. A mystical 'off' switch for the glamour that he had worn for so many centuries he had almost forgotten that for a spell to last as long as his glamour it had to be voluntary. He extinguished the light in his mind and opened his eyes. Everything looked the same to him.
"How do I look guys?"
Nikolai opened his eyes once, twice, then three times in shock at the changed form of the G’rnathan Battle Fiend in front of him. To his credit, his composure collected itself much more quickly this time. "You married a giant bug?!?" he said in surprise, looking at Tash.
Darian stared, almost as wide eyed as Nikolai. "Wow, really wasn't expecting that".
Tash just shrugged. Her strength was recovering already and she was able to stand again, though her head still felt like a brass band was tuning up inside it. “It’s not what’s on the outside, trust me,” she told Nikolai, then turned to eye Victor’s true form and winked, “Though it’s easier in bed when he looks like a handsome black guy.”
Shaking her head at the others, Alice said, "Victor, do you remember anything about the Monitors? What can they do? Do they heal like you – anything?"
"Monitors are..." He remembered the rain of corrosive slime that the Monitors dropped on the crowd of VTK series Battle Fiends clustered at the front of the Temple of Ghortab and how they had shown their ultraviolet lights around the broken lands in the dark searching for him as he escaped from G'rnatha. He could almost hear the telepathic sirens' call of the recall signals echoing in his mind.
Victor shook his head to clear out the painful memories that still hurt after more than two millennia. "Monitors aren't nearly as tough as Battle Fiends but they fly and we don't. They have other defenses as well."
Victor took a few moments to relay the terrifying power of the corrosive slime and the resources a Monitor could call to its aid if it were endangered. He concluded with the thought that it might be best if they avoided them.
Nikolai's face was ashen and Darian looked as if he were going to change his mind about going outside the safety of the cave. But Victor had to be worried about the look on Alice's face. She was cooking up a plan, and that was always dangerous. "We are going to lose the light if we don't leave now. Let’s get going," he said, turning and climbing up out of the broken vent hole into the bright grey day.
"So if you see one, what are you going to do, throw rocks at it?" Alice sat back down in the dirt-covered cave, "I need to think about this one."
Placing himself under the vent’s opening, Darian gave one more anxious look back at those staying behind. "No time like the present I guess," and with that, he jumped up and out of the vent in a single leap.
Reah didn't hesitate before following Victor and Pretty Boy out close behind. She had nearly levitated herself clear out of the vent when she suddenly spotted Nikolai waiting patiently at the base.
"Nik? What are you doing?" she asked as she turned around and sat directly in the middle of the opening, blocking it.
Tash touched Nikolai's shoulder, "No, they can move about up there without being detected, Kolya. We can't. But we can be useful down here."
She tilted her head up to Reah, "Reah, once you and the guys have taken what you need for carrying water from the car, can you bring the rest here? We'll strip it while you're gone."
Reah sketched a loose salute at Tash before she fully pulled herself up the rest of the way out of the hole, "Can do."
Nikolai thought about the situation for a moment, then grumbled something in Russian about feeling useless and wanting to do something, before resignedly moving away from the exit.
"We'll have plenty to do soon enough, I'm sure. For now though, the car will keep the three of us occupied," Tash said to Nikolai, glancing across to Alice's furry purple form to include her.
Victor stood on a crag and scanned the horizon. Wisps of fog blew around him and through the ravine at his feet. As the others exited the vent he pointed off in a direction and intoned, "That way is as good as any."
Reah pointed into the ravine, "Tash would like us to get the car - or what’s left of it - first."
So the three of them climbed into the rocky trench and began to lift the carcass of the Monte Carlo up to the edge. After stripping out the window washer reservoir, the coolant overflow tank, an empty Aqua-Pur bottle they found under the front seat and the airbag liner from the car they tipped it over the side and watched it slide into the center of the cave. Soon after the three were bounding, jogging and loping across the broken land. Victor led the other two in search of steam vents and hopefully water.
The three in the cave stood coughing from the dust kicked up by the car's passage. Once it settled, Tash looked at the Russian man who had seen way too many nightmares come to life today, and at the purple bunny who was one of those nightmares. "Well, where shall we start?"
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Monday, 24th July
Morning
Introducing Sean Connery as Ernest "Ernie" Longwood
Ernie's portrait
***********
Alessa stirred her coffee in the faculty room of Centennial High School. Another week had passed and she hadn’t been able to go to Bibliophile like she had wanted to. She had been about to go last Monday, but minutes before leaving her apartment she had received a call from Ernie, the one who had been helping around in this crazy city of LA. Ernie, Ernest Longwood, had been a close friend of Morris, one of the few who had stood by him after his decision to resign from the Council. After Morris' death, Alessa had gone to him first to tell him of his friend’s decease. At that occasion he had told her that she could ask him anything, so now she was taking his word and had asked for help.
After Ernie’s call last Monday she had gone to his elegant house in the coast. *Ernie doesn’t really look like an Ernie,* she nonsensically thought as she looked at her friend’s portrait while waiting to be taken to him by his uptight butler. Mrs. Longwood she didn’t know, the woman had never deigned to talk to her, but “Ernie” was always warm and solicitous. The man was in his seventies, more or less the age Morris would be if he had been alive, but he looked strong and agile nonetheless, his bright dark eyes betraying a much stronger spirit. She loved him; he made her remember her Watcher so much, and in fact he had been a Watcher himself long ago.
“Alessa!” he said as he walked with hands stretched to greet her. “That was fast, girl. I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”
“I’m happy to see you too, Ernie,” Alessa answered standing to hug the old man. Smiling, she parted from him, “How could I delay coming? You said you had information about my family.”
“Yes, of course I have.” Turning to the ever-serious butler he asked for tea. “Come on girl, let’s go to the balcony. It’s a wondrous day and the sea looks beautiful at sunset.”
Indeed it was a beautiful evening she thought as she looked towards the sea. Ernie’s house was solidly built in a very English style. The spacious balcony facing the sea contained a white iron table surrounded by chairs, a place that she knew the man favored in the evenings. California’s warm climate allowed him to stay outdoors late, even for old joints like his, he usually joked.
Once they were sitting comfortably around the table, Alessa couldn’t restrain herself any longer and asked about her family. “Well, as I told you the last time we talked I could discover that there are only two Hunts left. They are the grandchildren of your father’s younger brother. Elise and Alec Hunt are their names.”
“Alec,” Alessa repeated absently.
“Yes, I understand it is a family name,” he agreed. “The boy is young, about 23 years old and he’s still at college. He’s one of the first in his class, he’s making a majority in mining engineering.” He smiled to her surprised face. “And it doesn’t end there,” he added handing her a photograph.
With trembling fingers she took the photograph. A laughing handsome young man looked at her from it. He had ash blond hair and his eyes flashed green. *Hunts green,* she thought, shaken, because the image of the man was the very same of her long dead father. If she had any doubts about her relationship to these people she lost them then. There was a woman in the picture too, very elegantly dressed, she also had blond hair and green eyes.
“That’s Elise,” Ernie said, “She’s 30 years old and owns a small but very select boutique in Rodeo Drive.” At the silent question in Alessa’s eyes, Ernie answered, “Yes, my dear, they are really loaded. Your father belonged to a very rich Californian family, and their money has only grown since then.”
Silence stretched as Alessa devoured the picture with her eyes. They looked so young, so happy. She could recognize her father’s features in her niece too. The woman was beautiful, although there was a hardness in the line of her jaw, and her green eyes shone with determination. Well, at least she shared something with them; her father had always told her that she had inherited the Hunts’ green eyes. Hers were the same bright shade as those two.
“There’s something else.” Ernie’s words shook her from her reverie. Surprised she locked her eyes with his. “There’s more than what meets the eye in that one,” he said as he pointed Elise’s figure. “I haven’t discovered what yet, but I will.”
Reclining in his chair, the old man watched the girl in front of him closely. With the rays of the setting sun behind her, Alessa’s olive skin glowed with life and her dark hair fell over her shoulders like a bright curtain. He felt overprotective of her. The girl looked deceptively young; although he knew that Alessa was older than him, and by all means stronger, he couldn’t lose the feeling that she was somewhat vulnerable. This obsession for finding her family showed it. She obviously needed something to give meaning to her life.
“Did you go to Bibliophile?” he asked. The tension about the girl’s shoulders answered before her words did. “You have to go, Alessa. You know the Diary belongs to the Council.”
“Yes, I know. It’s just that I’ve been very busy this week. I planned on going today, actually,” she said, smiling, “But I’m somewhat afraid of what I will find…”
“You will find a Watcher! Nothing more,” he laughed, “By the way, I have to tell you that a new Slayer has been called. here in L.A…”
Alessa watched Ernie with interest. *A new Slayer,* she thought. It surely was a strange coincidence that a new Slayer would be called in LA just when she arrived in the city. “Do you know who she is?” she asked.
She knew that the old man’s connection with the Watchers' Council was still very much alive, but he shook his head in denial.
“Not yet. But I will, don’t worry. Meanwhile, you go to Bibliophile. Deliver that Diary and tell the woman there that I send you. Remember her name, Amanda Blaise.”
***********
The ringing bell shook Alessa out of her memories. Standing up she hurried her coffee and headed towards the door of the room. Her classes awaited her.[img][/img]
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Day One – G’rnatha
Late Afternoon
The three in the cave stood coughing from the dust kicked up by the car's passage. Once it settled, Tash looked at the Russian man who had seen way too many nightmares come to life today, and at the purple bunny who was one of those nightmares. "Well, where shall we start?"
"Damned if I know," Nikolai said, looking at the husk of the car sitting there. "My friend Alexis Sergeievich would know, but he is currently minding his shop back on Earth. He was not fortunate enough to get the all-expenses paid vacation to sunny G’rnatha." The fact that he had managed to recover his sarcasm and cynicism indicated that Nikolai was finally returning to a somewhat normal state of mind.
Alice pulled the hood open on the beat up car. "We should try to save everything, even the oil and any gas we can."
“Definitely. There’s nothing living on this benighted place, so any fuel we find could be invaluable.” Tash peered into the interior of the car, “But we’ll only get what’s in the lines. The tank’s still sitting in that car park, I presume.”
"Or if it isn't, it's now successfully cut in half and already leaked out the rest of the fuel," Nikolai said, glancing over the car. Damnit, he was a killer, not a mechanic! Without warning, he gave a small sneeze.
Alice began to remove bolts with her hand, "I’ll drop the engine out so we can get to the rest of the parts."
The three grunted, sweated and - in Nikolai's case - sneezed through the next hour or so until they had the engine next to the body of the car on the cavern floor. Tash wiped the sweat off her face with a dirty hand and stood looking at their handiwork. "Ok, what next?"
Nikolai stopped himself from sneezing again. Curiosity finally got the better of him. "Now, we wonder just how common purple rabbits and 10 foot tall insects are..." He still couldn't believe it. Hearing that Victor wasn't human - that was one thing. But he figured that Victor at least had the human physiology, not what he did have.
"As far as I know I’m the only one ever to get to ‘Earth’, but where I come from they’re just as common as Russians," Alice smiled at the poor unknowing soul, "So what do you think? Do you like fur? Well, when it’s not covered in grease."
"Sorry, Harv," he said, feeling a bit disgusted by the question. "Not only do I already have someone, but I prefer my girls... well, human."
Tash grinned, "Yeah, but what constitutes human in your eyes? Do I still rate as human to you? I don't have fur or spikes, but..."
"And by the way, how do you know she’s ‘human’?" Alice giggled.
"I just do... and yes, Tasha, you are human," he finished, preferring not to think about how he knew if someone was human at all. He didn't like to think on philosophical questions. There was hardly any time for that. Sneezing again, he said, "Look, let's just get back to work." Tash could probably pick up on the fact that he would emphatically like to not go down this line of questioning. Especially the possibility it raised that Zoë was not human.
"If we had a TV crew we could make a new Survivor show,” Alice giggled, "I wish someone would vote me off the island."
Tash burst into laughter. It felt good to laugh after all the uncertainty and worry they'd experienced so far. “Yeah, but we’d only get one vote each. We’d all vote for ourselves.” She let the laughter subside and turned back to the car, identifying bits that could be unscrewed.
“We should inventory what we all have on us, too. I grabbed some weapons on the way here, at least. I’ve got a couple of stakes, some vials of holy water. Hmm, water.” Just saying the word made her feel thirsty, “Uh, my knives in their sheaths,” she demonstrated by pushing back a sleeve, “and my H&K, with its shoulder holster.”
Alice checked her backpack. “I have my two pistols, two extra clips of 10mm rounds, my knife, a taser, my books, some handcuffs, my needles and some ink." She slipped her pack on, "Plus the stuff I got from the car."
Nikolai did not want to know why the purple bunny had a pair of handcuffs. His mind would probably boggle at the uses. He did, however, suddenly feel woefully under armed. "I have exactly 11 rounds of ammunition in one 45 calibre pistol." Somehow, he doubted the professionalism of not needing lots and lots of weapons would cut it here.
“Ooh, 10mm?” Tash smiled at Alice, “I use 10mm rounds, too. I’ve got one spare clip, but that’s all. Nice to know there’s a bit of ammo between us.” She turned to Nikolai, “Don’t feel bad, Kolya. You don’t normally go to dinner armed to the teeth, I’m sure.”
"I do," Alice observed.
"Yes, and so do I. But Nikolai isn't in the habit of killing demons or vampires." Tash grinned at Nikolai, "You know, every single lunch we had together I always had at least my knives on me? Usually a couple of stakes, too, just in case."
"You like knives?" Alice drew her dagger from her coat, its twelve-inch uniquely styled curved blade almost dull from time. One small pink rune glowed at the base of the blade.
Tash whistled low in admiration at the craftsmanship. "What's the rune do?" she asked.
“It’s the rune of burning tides. It adds strength to the blade and it can dust a vampire."
Nikolai rolled his eyes at the suggestion of vampires. Again. As though constant repetition would convince him the blasted things existed. Still, he kept silent about his scepticism. "Piano wire is usually better for a silent kill, if you have the skills to employ it properly."
Tash nodded at Nikolai, “Maybe, but vampires have much better hearing than your average human. They’re hard to sneak up on. That,” she nodded to Alice’s blade, “is the sort of weapon a hunter can really use.”
She directed her next question to Alice, “Do you need to strike the heart with the blade for a dusting, or is it like Hizashi, which can kill with almost any stroke? Either way, I’d be interested in commissioning some work from you when we return.”
"It’s more or less like a wooden spike. Just a heart shot."
Alice grinned at Nikolai, "Piano wire is good for humans and if you have the strength you might be able to decapitate a vamp.” *There seems more to my new friend here than meets the eye.* "So, Niki, what is it you do with piano wire again?"
Nikolai wanted to hit himself upside the head, but figured that Tash already knew, as did Reah. They would probably make it clear to everyone else when he wasn't around exactly what Nikolai meant when he said he was retired.
"Assassination," he said, "Particularly, by strangulation. More silent than cyanide spray that would sometimes be used, not as bloody as knives. The drawback being the time needed to effectively use, but that can be countered with skill."
"Ah. Really? Me too. Assassination, that is. Who for, the KGB? Other?" Alice poked at Nikolai, trying to get him to cough up his info.
Tash raised an eyebrow at Nikolai and shrugged. She knew he'd been keeping this quiet from everybody since he'd left his work two years ago and retired in LA, but the cat was now well and truly out of the bag. She turned back to the car, continuing to pry bits loose with the others as Alice persisted in grilling Nikolai on his past.
Nikolai was thoroughly enjoying having fun with Alice. He heard Tash snort a few times in talking about his past, as she picked up the bald-faced lies and things that contradicted what he had told her. A few well-placed innuendos made the discussion even more fun, as Alice drew conclusions about what he did which were simply wrong. Then he floored Tash when he finally said, for fun, "Of course, I never put any assassination methods into practice. Just studied them."
Alice turned as Tash broke down with a sudden fit of coughing. “It’s ok,” Tash explained, “Just stirred up some dust here.” *Yeah, bull dust,* she thought. She turned back to the car and tugged at a reluctant bit of piping. "Someone want to give me a hand with this bit? It's stuck."
Nikolai nodded, and moved over to help Tash. Getting down next to her, he added his grip with hers to pull on the pipe. After several minutes of grunting, it came out.
“Thanks,” she said, then flinched as Nikolai sneezed on her sleeve. “And find a hanky or something…”
"We should finish up here. I hope the others get back soon. If they die out there we will just have to repopulate the planet with just the three of us." Alice giggled, but one look at Tash's face showed her the worry. "He will get them back, hun. If any one could, Vic can."
“Yeah, you’re right. He will.” Still, Tash couldn’t help but fret. The water-hunting party had been gone an awfully long time now. She glanced at the cave’s opening, then back to the job at hand. “But this car isn’t going to strip itself. At least it gives us something to do while we wait.”
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
24th July 2006 4:00am
James awoke to find himself locked in a cell facing walls dripping with water and slime. “Where the hell am I?" he said while holding his pounding head.
A voice that came from the outside the cell answered, “You're in my dungeon, child.”
James looked startled by the answer. “Who are you?”
The voice answered, “A simple yet tremendously powerful question, no one other than I can answer it… yet I could spend my entire lifetime pondering the question and never come to a conclusion.”
James got annoyed quickly. “Your name, fool. Your name!”
A low chuckle came from the voice. “My name? My name is Krispin… and I am your grandsire, child.”
James got irritated very quickly, “Well if you’re my grandsire why the fuck have you locked me up in this fucking cell?" As James spoke he ran up and kicked at the solid steel door but the door didn’t budge.
Krispin spoke, “I’m going to open the door, James. You attack me and you will regret it."
As soon as the door opened James walked out, calmly scoping out the situation before he took action. The figure standing in front of James was roughly the same size as him but with a smaller build and elf ears.
Krispin smiled, “Well, James. What do you say to your grandsire?”
James gave a wicked grin and spoke, “Live long and prosper,” while holding his hand up in the air.
Krispin did not look amused. “Just because you are of my brood doesn’t mean I won't kill you."
James shrugged, “What the hell makes you think I want to be in your brood?”
Krispin gave a slight smile. "Power. You will have lots of it if you join me. You will be a god among vampires."
James gave a concerned look. “Why would I want to be a god among scum? Because that’s all vampires are - we are the bastards of the demon race and don’t think I need your help to survive out there because I've been on my own for 150 years."
Krispin walked up to James, grabbed him by the neck and lifted him high into the air. “You think a bastard of the demon race could do this?" Krispin began to squeeze on James' neck.
James' legs were flaring wildly. He finally lifted his right leg up and slammed his knee into Krispin's nose, making Krispin toss James across the room into a wall.
Krispin gave a massive smile. “You're definitely one of my brood. I'll tell you what, you beat my best child in a fight and you can take his place."
James picked himself up and dusted off his jeans. He was still bare chested at this point; god knew where his vest and duster had gotten to. “Why should I join you?"
Krispin was getting annoyed at this point. “Power. You can have so much power that even the revenge you want for dear Ebony’s death will be delivered quickly and without mercy."
James perked up, not caring how Krispin knew he was out looking for revenge for Ebony’s death. “I… I'll fight."
James walked into a large circular chamber, torches hanging on the wall giving off a low orange light into the room. He saw his opponent standing on the far side of the room bare chested like himself.
Krispin began to speak, “This is my best man. He is a very good fighter." He waved his hand, “You may begin."
The Brazilian vampire was the first to move, staying low to the ground. It took a second for James to realise what fighting style he was using until it was too late. A massive kick to the back of the head sent James flying face forward into the ground. The Brazilian vampire moved towards James and as he got to his feet the vampire swung his weight to the left side of his body and delivered another smashing blow to James' skull.
James hated this kind of fighting. Capoeira masters are hard as hell to beat, never mind a vampire master.
James quickly rolled forward trying to avoid the next attack, but to no avail. He was met with a series of quick punches to his jaw sending him sprawling across the room again. James got to his feet as the Brazilian moved in. James tried to anticipate his next move, but to no avail. The Brazilian moved in and flipped forward kicking James and breaking his nose causing him to spill blood all over the floor.
James got back up but was brought back down to the floor again with a kick to the chest. James was trying to think of a way to bring this kid down - he couldn’t believe this kid was getting the jump on him. as the Brazilian moved in again James charged at the Brazilian. Almost as he got onto him he was met with a jumping flip kick to his back, sending him lurching forward again.
James was getting irritated to say the least. “Screw this.” He began to fiddle with his belt, wrapped the belt around his fist and swung for the Brazilian’s head. The belt connected and sent him to the ground. James made his move towards the Brazilian. As the Brazilian got to his feet James grabbed his head and head butted him, breaking his nose. He began to punch the Brazilian on the face while slamming the back of his head onto the ground, cracking open his skull and knocking the vampire out.
James got to his feet and looked towards Krispin. “Anything you have, I can beat it."
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
G’rnatha - Day One
Late Afternoon
So the three of them climbed into the rocky trench and began to lift the carcass of the Monte Carlo up to the edge. After stripping out the window washer reservoir, the coolant overflow tank, an empty Aqua-Pur bottle they found under the front seat and the airbag liner from the car they tipped it over the side and watched it slide into the center of the cave. Soon after the three were bounding, jogging and loping across the broken land. Victor led the other two in search of steam vents and hopefully water.
They'd been scavenging around for close to an hour without sign of anything they were looking for, and without anyone breathing a single word as Reah and Darian followed Victor across the barren land. Reah had nearly slipped a couple of times on a surface she'd misjudged while she bounded and jogged across the land, but other than that, all else seemed to be running smoothly.
Reah couldn't wait any longer in silence. It was too much, "So how far exactly is this thing we're looking for? Steam vent?"
Victor wasn't even breathing hard as they ran in a slightly curving path, "No idea. Steam vents are common but they aren't like Starbuck's Coffee or El Pollo Loco. Just keep looking for a column of steam flowing into the sky."
Darian stopped jumping and looked indignant, "And when were you going to tell us to look for one of these things?"
Victor turned to face the two of them, "I said we were looking for a steam vent. How much more instruction do you need?"
Darian waved a hand in a broad gesture, “And how do you tell the difference between fog and steam?”
Reah chuckled softly to herself as the small party topped another ledge.
Focusing harder, Reah scanned her eyes over the land. There wasn’t really much to look at; it was all rock, stone, crack, rock… rock. “I’ll take it you can’t remember where any are.” She was suddenly sparked by curiosity, *How old is Victor?*
Victor sounded bitter as he spoke, “Steam vents are random. They happen when they happen. The plants beneath the surface aren't built with safety in mind. After all, what are the lives of a few G'rnathan Battle Fiends if something goes wrong? Heat builds up and then the growing chambers explode sending rocks and bodies high into the air. For a while after the steam vents from the hole as it cools. Sometimes a chamber may just crack and vent steam for years before they explode. There are a lot of variations."
Darian wiped sweat from his forehead and nearly wiped it on his shirt before licking it off his palm. He mumbled, "A hundred and ten percent humidity and the ground explodes from time to time. I am beginning to believe that I am not going to like this place one bit."
Victor's glowing red eyes looked at Darian, "You don't have to like it, we just have to survive it."
Reah resisted the urge to make a smart-assed comment to Darian’s mumbling. She imagined something like, 'Don’t worry. We’ll give you a manicure and perm your hair back at the base,' wouldn’t go down very well.
“Should be fun.”
Victor stopped for a moment and looked deep into the fog. He pointed at the horizon, "There is a vent there... I think it's a vent. Can one of you spot it in case I lose sight of it?"
Darian piped up immediately, "That's a steam vent? Shit, I saw one of those miles back!"
Victor thought he heard Reah choking and he definitely heard her jaw pop from how tight she was clenching it.
Victor just shook his insectile head - a disturbingly human gesture on his alien frame - and just started running towards it.
The land rapidly disappeared under their feet and soon they were approaching a narrow jet of steam escaping at high velocity from under a large rock. There was a whistling sound like a teakettle just audible enough to set the trio's teeth on edge. Darian reached for the rock only to jerk it back, "Shit! That rock is really hot!"
Reah peered closer, edging and picking her way slowly forward, “It sounds like it’s about to explode.” She sniffed, smiling cynically, “You know, that’d be just our luck too if it d...”
Darian had put his foot against the flat stone that was rocking like the vent on a pressure cooker. He shoved hard with his powerful legs and the rock slid just enough to let the pressure start to escape in earnest.
Suddenly a rumble deep in underground made the surface shake like a carnival ride. Victor jumped towards Darian hoping to knock him clear and Reah flipped backwards to clear the vent. Steam, rocks and yellowish vapor spurted from the hole then chunks of meaty Battle Fiend began to rain from the sky along with the rocks that had torn through their bodies like a hailstorm.
Victor covered Darian as football sized chunks of sharp rocks bounced off his carapace. He waved at Reah but she was busy watching the skies for debris falling in her direction.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Day One – G’rnatha
Early Evening
"Anyone home?" Darian joked, as he landed gracefully back into the steam vent, a large piece of G’rnathan Battle Fiend meat hanging over his shoulder. "Well, it’s by no means a five star meal, but at least it will keep us alive."
Laying the slab of food onto the nearest clean place he could find, Darian proceeded to slump to the ground, welcoming the opportunity to take a rest.
Without warning, a heavy torso unceremoniously thudded carelessly to the cave floor inside, followed up by Reah who slid somewhat more gracefully into the room with a couple of horns tucked under her arm. She smiled as she kicked over the heavy portion of meat and chuckled, "I don't know what you were told, but last I checked, lobster was considered a five star meal! And this," she gazed hungrily at their supplies, "did not taste much different at all. I don't suppose anyone has vinegar or lemon butter by any chance?"
Victor slid into the cave gingerly bearing several containers of water hung on his horns and spikes and in both hands. The water in them was less-than-clear and much of the small supply - not much more than two gallons all together - looked contaminated by the former contents of the containers.
"Fortunately the meat is juicy and I cannot believe I am talking about my meat when I say that. I suggest you be careful and try to catch any meat-juice in a container." The three were covered with dust and filth from outside and even Victor's normal sheen of yellowish slime was caked with dark grey powder.
"How have things gone here?" Victor asked.
Alice smiled and walked over to Victor. "Here, use some of the Vodka in the water. It should help clean it up." Alice continued to the mouth of the cave and sat on its edge, looking out at the rolling sky with a more than concerned look on her face.
Tash gestured to the car parts neatly stacked in piles along the side walls of the cave. "We've arranged them by type. Plastic, metal, tubing, etc." She looked at Victor, "If Battle Fiends are all there is to eat here, then I guess we have to. It feels almost like cannibalism, though."
As she spoke she kept moving, following Alice to the cave mouth. Hunkering beside her, Tash whispered, "Is something wrong? Well, apart from the obvious, that is."
Alice giggled a little, "I have about three weeks to live."
Tash stared at Alice, then back into the cave. "The meat?"
"Hehe, ya. I can’t eat that." Alice breathed in deeply, "I’m a herbivore. I can eat meat; it will just make me sick and I’ll more than likely dehydrate myself just throwing it up."
“Shit," Tash spoke quietly but with feeling. Despite Alice's outward resemblance to Earth rabbits, it never occurred to Tash that she'd have a similar digestive system too. "Is there any way we can treat it? Make it into a broth, so it's diluted?" Tash was reaching for straws, she knew, but the alternatives were highly limited here.
"A nice side salad would be nice, but I don’t see any trees or grass or even a bit of green, for that matter." Alice sighed, “I might able to eat some of it. If it’s well cooked."
"We'll work something out, I promise," Tash vowed.
Before she could say more to the distressed demoness, a mind tugged at her. A mind that was becoming all too familiar. "’Scuse me," she murmured to Alice and scooted a few metres away where she began mumbling to herself.
Reah had crouched quietly aside as she subtly listened in to the issue being discussed between Tash and Alice, covering up her stricken look of worry and concern as concentration on preparing the meat they'd just scavenged for conservation.
Nikolai continued to sit quietly, starting to feel a little tired. Probably from the shock of everything that happened. Then there was the fact that he just stripped half his car down for usable parts. Then, he did something that caught Victor's attention.
Nikolai sneezed. Loudly.
Victor's burning red eyes turned to face Nikolai and his mandibles moved asynchronously to the human voice that emitted from somewhere near where a human's collarbones would be. "Dust, Nikolai? Or did you catch a cold before you came here? Ghortab knows there's no contagions here."
"Probably the dust," Nikolai said, sniffling a touch afterwards. Though that seemed a bit odd to him, since he really hadn't had many problems before. Maybe his lungs just didn't like G’rnathan dust.
In her corner, Tash finished mumbling and sighed in resignation as she stood up. “I’m going to really need some of that water soon,” she said, then adopted a pose where she placed her feet far apart and bent her knees, her arms held so her elbows were level with her shoulders and her palms pointed straight up.
“Incoming message from the Big Giant Head,” she chanted, a twinkle in her eye the only indication that she wasn’t entirely serious. Then Z’thrukaht enveloped her mind and her vocal chords were no longer under her control.
“The Brookes unit has informed me that you have made some small arrangements for your continued existence in this dimension and that there are some needs you have not yet fulfilled. It is unfortunate that I cannot provide you with these things. However, the sooner you complete your mission the sooner I can return you to your home continuum.
“The first objective will be to deliver the VTK unit undamaged to the Ghortab plant located at the nexus of the 45th angle of declination and the 73rd angle of meridian from your current position.”
Tash could see in her mind the staggering distance that they would have to travel from their steam vent. She scowled as Z’thrukaht continued.
”Once there, the VTK unit can disable the defences and enter the plant. From within he can open the plant to the accompanying Earth Units. Inside, presumably, there are instructions for installing the Advanced VTK template into the factory. I will be able to offer minor guidance through the Brookes unit but I cannot directly intervene often without endangering myself.”
“Bullshit!” Victor shouted, his red eyes flaring, “If you want me to co-operate you will intervene as often and as much as we need! I didn’t want to come back here and I sure as shit didn’t want my friends here. And if you want me to do more than just stand here and wait for the Monitors to take me off to be destroyed, you will play this our way.”
Z’thrukaht dropped his connection to Tash.
“I think you pissed him off,” Tash said, wincing at the sudden, sharp pain that flared through her head. “I thought he was being ungentle before when he came and went, but shit that hurt.”
Reah just sat cross-legged and blank-faced for a while as she stared after the departure of Z'thrukaht. Eventually, her head slowly turned to gaze thoughtfully at Victor, "Well, I suppose that's definitely one way one could get thoroughly fucked! Call me old fashioned, but I think I prefer the traditional way, or even one of its more exotic spin offs." She continued to glare down at him even though she was seated lower than him, "But I suppose we do come from two different worlds. You probably like to do things differently here."
Nikolai stood there, absorbing what he’d heard from the Creator. Some of the old cynicism crept back into him. "It's like being back in Soviet Union," he said, "Only with more pleasant people in charge. At least when they did the Gulag thing, we knew that we were probably dead and nobody ever tried to hide it."
Alice grumbled, "How do I get into these things?"
To which Victor responded, “More importantly, how do we get out?”
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Day One – G’rnatha
Late Evening
Darian’s fatigued eyes slowly closed as he softly drifted off into a light slumber. After a few moments his mind began to wander into the realm of dreams, and visions of the past came flowing into his head.
He was somewhere back on Earth, and it was night time. He was in a small village. There were knights, four of them. Then the scene changed to inside a church. There was a priest. He saw himself fighting the knights… Rasssna alllura… The strange voice again. Then there was a huge flash of light.
Darian’s eyes opened abruptly. *This is getting too strange,* he thought as he turned to look at Tash, *Maybe it’s time to see if we can figure this out.*
Walking slowly over to Tash, the fae made sure not to seem conspicuous - he didn’t want other people knowing what was going on. As he made his way next to the young woman, he nudged her quietly. "Hey Tash, could I talk to you for a minute, like away from everyone?"
“Sure, Darian.”
Tash smiled apologetically at Victor and extricated herself from his arms. Despite her acceptance of his true form, it had taken her a little while to get used to him without the glamour. He no longer ‘gave’ in the right places, instead presenting a hard, chitinous surface for her to nestle against. They’d talked quietly for a while and had settled into a comfortable silence, her cheek resting against the shiny smoothness of his thorax. A smear of yellow slime adhered to her face as she rose and she absently wiped at it as she followed Darian deeper into the cave, away from the other occupants.
“So, what’s up?” she asked him.
A look of fear and anxiety briefly flashed over the man's face before he was able to regain total composure. After taking one final look around to make sure no one was listening in, Darian began to recount the events concerning the strange voice.
"Ever since we've arrived here, I've… I've kinda been hearing voices. Now I know that sounds crazy or whatever, and it could easily be written off as, like, stress but here's what’s really weird," he paused a moment to look her straight in the eyes, "The voice talks to me in some weird language. At first I didn’t understand anything it was saying, but now sometimes I can make out certain words here or there, and I have no idea how I can do that."
His hand began fiddling with his pendant, as he always did when stressed. "At first I thought it could maybe be Sebastian who had found a way to communicate, but now I’m certain it’s not. There is something familiar about the voice, but I don’t know what. And then, to top this off, I had this extremely realistic dream, you know the type where you can feel everything, and you swear you're actually in it. Well anyway, I heard the voice in this dream."
Darian stopped again, and began to rouge a bit in the face. Looking down at his feet, the fae dropped his voice even more. "I'm a bit scared Tash. I mean what if I’m going crazy? I’d be a danger to you guys, and lord knows we're surrounded by enough of that as it is."
“Maybe it’s just a dream, Darian. Maybe you’re picking up something from the thought net here… have you ever had any telepathic abilities?”
Darian sighed and looked back up to Tash. "No, I’ve got no telepathic abilities," he said plainly, "I can sense magic and stuff, but from how I take it, everything here is more scientific and psychic rather than mystical, so it couldn't be that either. Look Tash, I was hoping," his face blushed even darker, "Well I was kinda hoping you could maybe read my mind again, you know like you did back in my apartment around the time we first met. Maybe you could figure out what’s wrong with me."
Tash inhaled sharply. The fear of how her psychometry might work under amplification was still strong, although she’d had more time to get used to how the thought net worked. With Z’thrukaht’s help she’d even managed to start learning how to track where the Monitors were to a limited extent. But was she ready to cope with such a deep telepathic merging?
She looked at the stricken fae and found she couldn’t refuse him, however. Her expression softened, “Ok, Darian. I can give it a try. I’m not sure what might happen here, though. The net makes everything stronger… but I am learning to control it better. If you’re willing to take the risks I’m willing to try.”
“I figure if we're stuck in some crazy dimension with no chance of getting home unless we save a billion souls, adding one more log to the fire won't do much," he said smiling to Tash. "Plus, if it is something bad it may be more dangerous just to let it go unchecked," Darian continued, taking a deep breath. "I’m ready when you are..."
One leather glove fluttered to the floor. Tash steeled herself and delicately cupped Darian’s cheek with her bare hand. “Think about the dream you had,” she whispered. For a moment nothing happened, then Tash felt the beginnings of the visions she usually received when doing this. This time, however, the visions were clearer, stronger. And the practise she’d had at controlling the thought net was paying dividends now – her capacity to pick and delve through the miasma of images that rushed at her was vastly improved over her normal ability.
Rasssna ala vesthia amadura… A voice calling in his head, on the verge on comprehension…
Seb standing before him, but it’s not Seb – it’s Loki…
Tash pushed the vision further, more towards the dream.
Running through the forest, armoured figures following. But he’s not afraid. He’s laughing. It’s a merry chase…
Standing in a church, an interfering priest blocking his spells. It’s no fun when you can’t torment your enemies. Ah well, have to kill them the old-fashioned way…
“We are Evexus Drett, one of the nine princes of the Fae realm. Do you believe your puny weapons of metal will defeat us? We who command nature herself?!”
Bright light, and nothingness. For a long time, nothingness…
Another interfering priest, but this one offers life, not death. A new body. A new life…
Cheated! Not true life. Shared with this human! But maybe there’s a way to be free of the accursed human…
Rasssna ala vesthia amadura…
Tash let go of Darian with a gasp. The sense of abiding evil in him was almost palpable. Even now that she was no longer touching him she had a sense of baleful eyes staring at her. She shivered and hugged herself. She hoped she was wrong, but she had a horrid feeling about the last part of that vision.
She asked shakily, “Did any of that seem familiar to you?”
Darian's body was shivering uncontrollably by this time. The sensation of Tash's touch had been extremely overwhelming, and even worse was what it revealed. "I... I recognized the parts with Loki, but the… the rest..." he stopped, his voice faltering. "So it’s... it’s what’s inside me isn’t it? It’s the dark fae... The voice, the visions, it’s him, and things he's done. He's so... so evil."
Darian's face now looked like he was about to throw up. "All that evil is inside me... Oh God." He looked up into Tash's big brown eyes, his own conveying a mixture of pain, fear, and self-loathing. "Tash, you felt it like me. What if there is a way for it to get out? If it does, who knows... who knows what I could..?" Darian stopped, choking back on the words.
Tash quickly retrieved her fallen glove and dragged it back onto her hand before enfolding Darian in a consoling hug. In order to allay Darian’s fears she had to fight down her own. She’d felt the malice of the creature in the forest, felt its delight in killing the knights that tracked it. Felt its desire to escape its prison.
“I don’t know if it can get out, Darian. But I think it thinks so. Maybe going through the portal triggered it? I don’t know… I know nothing about magic. Well, apart from some vodoun I picked up – don’t ask, it’s a long story.” She drew a long breath, “But what I do know is that you’ve got friends here and you won’t have to worry about this alone. We have one spellcaster here, at least. She might be able to help keep Evexus under control.”
His friend’s comforting words were greatly appreciated, but they had little effect in calming the feelings that were burning up inside him. Putting on a brave face, he forced a smile, "Thanks Tash. At least now I know that I’m not just going crazy," he joked rather half heartedly. "If things get any worse, I’ll let you know, but as it stands now, would you mind just keeping this between us?" He stopped and looked over into the direction where Nikolai was. "It’s stressful enough for everyone, and it’s probably better we don’t give them something else to worry about."
A frown creased Tash’s features. “Ok,” she agreed reluctantly, “but I’ll want to keep an eye on you. If it gets any worse we will have to do something. Don’t you just want to see if Alice can help out now? You might be able to put him back in his box now, but if he gets much stronger it’ll be that much harder.”
“For now," he replied quietly, "I think I would be able to tell if anything got worse. But if it does, I’ll come and tell you in an instant, and the big bunny can work whatever mojo she wants on me. It’s just if it’s not 100% needed, I’d rather not have to deal with any more magic." He looked at Tash, hopeful that she would understand.
"I think I’m going to go rest a bit, the whole flashback reel kinda took the energy from me," he said as he moved to go sit down, "And Tash, thanks again."
“Don’t mention it. Glad to help.”
Tash watched as Darian moved to his sleeping spot and curled up on his side. She sat where she was for a minute longer and pondered. If things did get worse, he may not be given the choice to tell anyone, depending on how strong that fae spirit was. And Tash had a feeling it was very strong. *I wish Matthias were here.*
Sighing, she rose and returned to Victor’s side where she snuggled back into the hollow he’d left for her. At his murmured question she just replied, “Nothing really. He’s just worried is all.” But the vision kept replaying itself in her mind. *Damn, I wish Matthias were here.*
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Day Two – G’rnatha
Early Morning
Tash rolled over and jammed a knuckle into sleep-encrusted eyes. She shifted on the uncomfortable ground, though at least she’d managed to nab a piece of car seat for some padding. Victor was standing near the cave mouth, staring out into the red G’rnathan dawn and casting a long, spike-endowed shadow into the mouth of the vent. He didn’t look like he wanted to be disturbed just now. She lifted her head and surveyed her surroundings.
She sought out Darian first, to see if he seemed still plagued by the voice of Evexus, but he looked to be sleeping quietly enough. Most of the others were still asleep, but Nikolai was beginning to stir. She stretched and stood, working some of the kinks out of her body before she picked over the bits of steamed G’rnathan Battle Fiend for her breakfast.
“How did you sleep?” she asked Nikolai quietly as he watched her pull apart a wrist joint for the tender meat inside.
Nikolai yawned, wishing for coffee. The hope when he went to bed was that he would discover that the trip to G’rnatha really was little more than a bad dream. As far as hopes went, that one was pretty hopeless and quickly dispelled. Joints that he had forgotten existed ached from having to sleep on the hard, rocky ground – two years of a nice bed in Los Angeles had clearly spoiled him.
He glanced over to Tash after hearing her voice. “The last time I slept this well, I was in Poland,” he said sarcastically, “After careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that coffee is a necessary component of any interdimensional travel.”
“Oh, God,” Tash moaned, staring at the ground still, “Coffee. I would kill for a cup of coffee right now.” She was only partly joking, she decided. “And a shower. But I guess that’s out of the question, too. Fancy some broiled Battle Fiend for breakfast?” Tash blindly held out a lump to Nikolai.
Nikolai’s stomach grumbled. He had not been hungry enough to eat something that he knew came from a creature which looked like a giant insect. Especially a giant insect that looked like Victor. A large… roach. With spikes and slime. Disgust and hunger battled again; this time hunger finally won.
*Maybe if I just pretend it’s not what it looks like,* he thought. Though out loud he said, “Thank you,” accepting the bit of offered meat but looking at it funny. *Not a roach, not a roach…* A tentative bite, and it tasted like lobster. Not good lobster, mind you, but it tasted differently from how he imagined roach would taste.
“Definitely not what I expected.”
“No, it’s not,” Tash mumbled, savouring a juicy piece, “though it could definitely use some thousand island dressing.”
She looked up at Nikolai finally and grinned, but the grin soon turned to a worried frown. “Kolya, what’s up with your eyes?”
“What are you talking about?” he asked, then noticed that he had stopped sneezing. If yesterday was any indication, he should have been doing that by now.
“They’re… well, bloodshot seems to be the best description, but unless you’ve got a serious amount of aristocratic blood in your veins, they’re not like any bloodshot eyes I’ve ever seen.” She felt the worry and puzzlement grow in Nikolai, and explained, “They’ve got blue streaks running through them… here, look.”
Tash drew one of her knives in a smooth, flowing motion that indicated to Nikolai she’d done that many, many times before. She polished the already glinting blade on her sleeve and held it before Nikolai’s face. The image wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was enough for him to get an idea at least.
“Probably just protesting at lack of food,” he said, knowing that she would probably pick up on the fact that he was as baffled as she. The quasi-bloodshot parts weren’t just blue; they were a light, cerulean blue. Lack of sleep and amounts of alcohol could do bloodshot as well, but they normally appeared red in colour. “…or something in the air.”
But that explanation wouldn’t work either. The G’rnathan sunset had appeared to be a burning red. It was both oddly pretty and disturbing to see the skies burn at night.
“Maybe,” Tash said doubtfully, “but I don’t see how. I mean, it’s radiating out into the whites as well as bleeding into the irises. You can’t be too careful on strange planets, you know. Hmm, how’s the sneezing today?”
“Haven’t been sneezing at all.” Which still seemed odd. Something else weird was going on, though how were you supposed to be careful on a planet you’d never visited before? He took another bite of Battle Fiend, this time getting more of the lobster taste. While it was still not the best, it wasn’t exactly mediocre.
“Do you think Victor would object to opening up a chain of Battle Fiend restaurants when this is done?”
Tash nearly choked on her breakfast and glanced over her shoulder. Victor’s hearing was very good, and there was every chance he’d heard that, though he stood as still as a statue and gave no indication that he had. She leaned towards Nikolai conspiratorially and whispered, “Just between you and me, I wouldn’t suggest it to him.”
She chewed thoughtfully for a few minutes in silence. She wasn’t sure what Nikolai’s new eye colour meant, but she determined to monitor it. A sigh escaped her lips. Now she had a starving bunny, a schizophrenic fae and a Russian assassin who was turning into a Fremen to worry about. Add to that the task at hand of fulfilling the mission Victor had been called here for, and it made for a busy schedule. “Going to have to clear my appointments,” she muttered.
“It would be my pleasure to do that for you. Which person would you like me to start with?” he joked.
“Try that bastard Ghortab who seems to be the one who set this chain of events in motion – except he’s already dead.” Tash shook her head, “No, we need to all work out how to get this thing done and get the hell out of here. Just let someone know if you start feeling odd. I don’t like this eye thing, it worries me.”
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Botanic Gardens, Melbourne
Monday the 24th July, 2006
22:34EST
At this time of night, the Botanic Gardens were a whole new world, uninhabited, nor disturbed, by any souls. The quiet, serene peace of the surrounding nature swayed languidly in the cool winter breeze that caressed over and through its lush flora, and laying a chill kiss on each and every one of the residing fauna. Swans huddled close to warm against the winter night, while the soft illumination of the not too distant city lights cast heart-like shadows off their snuggled, resting forms.
Ripples shimmered along the pond's surface as the breeze skimmed swiftly across it, blowing unrestrained into the midst of the Fern Gully, whispering sweet promises through the leaves, enticing the remaining roosted Fruit Bats to join it and their relatives in the night air.
One bat willingly remained to hang comfortably upside down on its perch while it observed as the wind spiralled downward, nearer the lush grass. It spirited over the ground's frost-tipped surface, dividing its path around, over and into a silent form that stood still and alone, hugging close a thick woollen coat. The wind flirted about her body, whipping her long, dead-straight raven black hair in carefree strands that peeled unregarded over her face and unblinking eyes that stared distantly, returning the bat's own gaze in quiet contentment.
Quin often travelled out here whenever she got the chance, to be alone with her only friends who knew her completely. Secrets weren’t a known thing between this mutual companionship. She shared everything.
Her outward show possessed a deathly stillness, almost featureless with the soft gentle curves that framed her face, flawless; not a single pimple nor scar to tell a story, not even a mere sun spot to spoil her milky soft skin. She was, in nearly every visual sense, a stereotypical porcelain doll.
A chill ran through the listening Fruit Bat as threads of Quin’s hair sailed wistfully off her shoulder. It watched as a firm, masculine hand snaked mysteriously out of the shadows to replace the lost strands. Their accompanying figure, slowly uncloaked by the lost light, drew close into Quin’s unshaken back.
She merely sighed, lacking any surprise over the figure's sudden, invasive emergence that pressed up close to her back, perfectly spooning her lithe form with his own.
The slightest tension ran through her body from head to toe as she felt a hand stroke firmly up her thigh till it securely cupped about her slight waist, holding her close while his other hand parted the careless strands of hair neatly over her complimenting shoulder where they settled, as if commanded to, undisturbed by the breeze.
Quin could both hear and feel the warmth of his breath against the bared column of her neck as he steadily exhaled the constrained air he had held to engage in her pure scent.
“You’re cold,” the man spoke softly in his deep, soothing tone, as he ran his cheek fondly against the line of her jaw, “I had thought you’d have spent this night well, in the warmth of your family's home: helping your mother bake an apple crumble, teasing your brothers…” He sniffed faintly, a small smile parting his lips, “Anything but compromising your health and well being with this wicked chill.
“You know I care for you the most. I hate to see anything even slightly harmful befall my favourite girl. You know that.” He let the sentence linger as he craned himself closer to gaze tenderly at her downcast profile, “Don’t you?”
“Yes,” she uttered meekly through parted lips, now noticing for the first time that her breath was frosting in the air, “I’m sorry.” Her deep, pooling brown eyes turned up to gaze apologetically into his own icily white encircled pupils.
His smile was comfortingly forgiving, dismissing any of her worries as childish anxiety. He chuckled softly, planting a tender kiss on her forehead, “Did you think I was mad at you?” he sighed, gazing deep into her eyes, admiring their enchanting beauty, “My dear, I just want to make sure you stay warm and don’t catch a cold. Can’t have you sick now, can we?” He guided her drifting gaze back with a single finger, trailing her obscured jaw line. He mused over how slight her figure appeared, compared against his own.
“No,” she finally submitted in reply.
He delicately turned her around, still grasping her close to his body so that their torsos pushed up hard against each other. His open hand that cupped her face now trailed off down her neck. He continued to journey down her back, pressing into the contours of the elegant valley that was her spine. He slid firmly under her coat, forcing it off her shoulders as he continued down to the laces of a corset, all the while trailing affectionate kisses up her neck….
The bat hung for a moment longer, observing the intensifying passion that engaged the two, before taking flight off into the night. Sympathy radiating from its mind for its close friend.
Her spirit was nearly dead. She was losing her will.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Monday, 24th July 2006
“Oh holy and sacrosanct mother goddess, come to my aid to curse this… this… this wretched article, which has caused me great pain!”
In the darkness, Maggie’s grin flashed.
“What! It caused me pain! If I had blood to bleed, I would have bled!”
Maggie smiled in spite of herself and tapped her bare foot against the ground. A modern trick, she had learnt to express severe aggravation and from her observations of this world, it usually worked. With one last glare at the offending bottle, crushed under Janey’s foot, she took her sister's arm and they walked on.
“You know sis’, we should get us some new clothes.”
“Are the garments we are currently robed in not sufficient?”
Maggie rolled her eyes once more at her incredibly clever, yet incredibly naïve other half. She surveyed her sister’s ancient dress and laughed, saying “ Janey, we’re a couple of centuries out of date.”
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, Janey punched her fist through the door of a small tourist shop on the edge of town. Stunned she drew her hand back, cradled to her chest, and realized her sisters’ slightly widened eyes were upon her.
“Come along sis’,” she commanded imperiously and shoved herself against the door. Maggie coughed quietly and reached through the broken glass to turn the inside handle.
A man left the local pub, one maybe two over the eight sent him reeling down the street to rest on a lamppost. He noticed two of the most unlikely looking criminals running from the shop across the street. ‘Californication’ t-shirts pulled over strange outfits. As they ran past, he suddenly thought of his 16-year-old daughter whom he had not seen for ten years.
“Hey, you!” he called, before passing out, face down in the gutter.
“So do you know what californication means?”
“No. Do you know what californication means?”
“No. They’re cool t-shirts though.”
“Yes. They are... ‘cool’... ‘t-shirts’.”
And in agreement of that fact the twins continued into the night, occasionally stopping to marvel at their Bermuda flipflops.
* * *
Later – much later – the darkness still complete around them, the twins stood awestruck before the ornate gold signs that proclaimed – along the road – Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Versace, French Connection, Jimmy Choo.
“Wow!” whispered Maggie.
“Yes. It is just like the row of the Gods!”
And as Maggie – sighing – smashed the second pane of the evening, Janey followed, calculating whether the Aztec sun God or Gucci had more gold to his name.
The sirens of criminals entering the Gucci temple without permission blaring in their ears, the twins picked out their first new clothes in decades. Literally.
Taking a backless red number from the shelf, Maggie found her sister staring horror-struck at a pair of cropped trousers.
“But they are indecent!” she complained as Maggie dragged her away from the gathering police cars. “You cannot expect me to expose flesh to – MEN! – in that unseemly way!”
Maggie grinned, but it faded quickly. “Oh holy gods!” she murmured, eyes wide and aghast, face paler – if possible – than before.
The unspoken question died on Janey’s lips as she too turned to watch the redness of an early city dawn pale the dark horizon.
“RUN!” Twisting through unfamiliar dark alleys the twins ran, terror making their strides longer. Eventually when dawn had finally arrived, the twins stood in the shadow of a building, hissing at each other for their own foolishness. Gratingly, a drain cover moved to one side.
“Allow me to offer you two ladies escape from certain death!”
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Day Two – G’rnatha
Early Morning
Alice woke to a sharp pain in her stomach. "Damn!" She sat up and looked over the cave. Reah and Darian were asleep, Victor was looking out the cave, Nik had gone somewhere and Tash was sitting nearby, chewing on the newfound food. She looked to Tash, “Ohh, I don’t think that chunk I had last night is going to digest. How can you eat that stuff?"
Tash looked over at Alice and grimaced sympathetically at the furry purple being, “For starters, I’ve got a human digestive system. We can digest all sorts of crappy stuff, even late-night television. For another thing, it’s all we’ve got so we have to make the most of it. But that small bit you tried last night is no good? Damn.”
She glanced down at the chunk of juicy, tasty Battle Fiend meat she held in her hand. “Maybe if we made a soup out of it?” she suggested hopefully.
Alice looked less than happy at the lump of meat, "I guess we will have to try something. Do you think it will boil down to a broth?"
"Maybe," Tash looked doubtfully at the meat and at their scant water supplies, "Though I'm buggered if I know how we're going to boil it."
Alice looked around the room, "We don’t have much to burn. *If they touch my books I’ll have to kill them.* "We could use the car lighter but we still have little to burn."
"If only we had some way to heat the water without having to use fuel," Tash groused, "This damn planet doesn't have so much as a stick on it. I for one am not keen on burning my clothes, but it may come to that if we can't find anything else. The fuel in the car won't last long." She looked slyly at Alice, "Though since you seem determined to stay in bunny form, you've got lots of lovely fur there. I'm sure that would burn well." She winked, to show she was kidding.
Alice's eyes narrowed at Tash. "No, we aren’t burning the fur." In a quick glow of pink light Alice's body reformed back to her more human appearance.
"Where I come from we use hot plates with some runes on them to heat the plates. Maybe I can make one for us." Alice mused for a moment, "I don’t think we want to carry an item that is always hot so I’ll make a flesh rune that I can turn on and off.”
“Can you do that here? I mean, don’t you need special ingredients to make your inks and so on? There really is nothing out there but rock, according to Victor.”
"I should be able to find the minerals I need here and I can salvage some from a flare. It’s mostly in the way I design it."
Tash admired the pink runes she could see on Alice’s forearms and collarbone. She had no idea how many others there were, and was afraid to ask. She had a feeling Alice wouldn’t hesitate to put on a strip show just to display them to her if she did. “Do they have to be pink? Though I guess something with manganese in it should make it pinkish…”
"The color has more to do with my blood than the ink but the magic I use blends the ink to my spirit. The host’s spirit combined with the spell makes the tattoo that person’s own colour.”
"So it's blood magic?" Tash sounded a little worried, "The only version of blood magic I've had any, uh, experience with was an evil version of vodoun."
Alice smiled, "No hun, I don’t have to sacrifice small animals or a child or anything. It’s more like spirit binding or transforming. Sort of a twelve-step program for the soul.”
”So," Tash cocked her head and grinned, "Step One is what? Standing up and saying, 'Hi, my name is Alice and I'm really a purple demon, and my spirit's in a bind.'?"
After a moment of almost girlish giggling, Alice paused. "You know, Tash, that the first time we met I felt almost comfortable around you. You see, I’ve known Victor for a long time and I’ve never seen him happier then when you walk in the room.”
Tash turned to glance at Victor, still standing immobile at the cave mouth. The reddish light of dawn had faded to the muted grey of the G'rnathan day and Tash gazed at him in that pale light. The tenderness in her eyes was mixed with sadness, however.
"He's not particularly happy now," she observed.
"He'll be ok I think. He needs time to get over that stupid notion that it’s his fault. It’s not." Alice pulled the flare out of her pack, "I guess I need to get started on the image and feeling of the rune. I’m sure the standard hotplate image will work with some minor alterations.”
Tash nodded, “Great. I hope it means you can eat. As for Victor, I know it’s not his fault. I think it’s time someone told him that.” She smiled warmly at Alice and laid a friendly hand on the demon’s arm before rising to see to her husband.
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Day Two - G’rnatha
Morning
The scene was almost one of domestic bliss. Alice, back in human form, was hunched over the materials she’d gathered to work on her tattoo. Reah, Nikolai and Darian had all finished their breakfasts with varying degrees of savour and were busy with their own personal tasks. But for the fact that they were all stuck in a steam vent on a hostile alien world, it could almost have been any normal morning – well, for a family of freaks, anyway.
Tash’s attention, however, was drawn to Victor. Without his glamour his silhouette was much different to the one she’d grown accustomed to, but she really didn’t see it. All she could see was the pent up fury that radiated from him in waves as he stood frozen at the cave mouth. God alone knew how long he’d been like that – probably from the moment she’d drifted to sleep in his arms last night. He’d not moved so much as an inch since she’d first awoken a couple of hours ago and the time had come for that to change, she decided.
Joining him at the entrance she laid a hand gently on his arm and leaned against him companionably. “Being angry at him won’t really help, you know,” she said softly.
“No, it won’t. But it is all I can do at the moment.” His football-shaped head and glowing red faceted eyes turned to look at her, “Why would the Creator not just send you all back straight away? Why force you all to help? What point does it serve? This is what is pissing me off the most. He has told us what to do from the beginning, and he has not answered any of our questions or needs. Who needs who more?”
Victor’s voice was not loud but it carried indiscreetly in the hard stone tube. Quiet busy work got much, much quieter as the survivors in the cave tried to look as if they were not worried about Victor’s state of mind. Tash cursed inwardly as the level of tension amongst the others rose a notch or two.
Speaking even softer than before she murmured, “Steady down, Victor. I know it upsets you. This situation upsets all of us, and although you might think I’ve got a handle on what the Creator is all about I really don’t. I can’t see anything from his mind at all. But I do know that the other four in this cave are looking to you for leadership and guidance here. If you lose the plot, we’re all lost.”
Victor whispered to her, “We need more than his orders to make this happen. We need a Creator who gives a shit about us, not one who is more concerned with my ‘special something’ to help us get anything done.”
Victor stood there silently for a moment and then laid a sharp-taloned hand gently on Tash’s cheek, “Remember how we touched each other’s minds? Can we set up some sort of direct channel for Z’thrukaht through you?”
Tash glanced back into the cave then up at Victor, meeting his steady red glowing eyes with her own. “Maybe,” she conceded, “And I do get the feeling that he was surprised to find me when he first contacted us. I think he expected to be able to talk to you from the outset.” She chuckled, “You must be an obsolete model – no longer compatible.”
Sobering, she continued, “But seriously, to answer some of your earlier questions, I don’t know why he doesn’t send us back if he only needs you. Or at least, if he needs me to communicate, why he doesn’t just keep the two of us. I think he’s playing it close to his chest. He figures that if you have friends he can use as bargaining chips you’ll be more likely to do what he wants. Otherwise he’d have to rely on your goodwill. And maybe he thinks that they’ll improve your chances of succeeding in this.”
“As far as he is concerned it’s a win-win,” Victor conceded.
He sat on the ground and pulled Tash into his lap. “I have been thinking about the lack of access to the thought net,” he continued, “Even before I left I had problems receiving signals from it which allowed me somewhat more flexibility in action. I am not sure if that was by design or an accident. The thought net is supposed to function both ways for Battle Fiends - instant broadcast and instant playback. With you and me our feelings became a conduit for our thoughts. We communicated empathically rather than telepathically. Your talents run to both of those disciplines so Z’thrukaht can communicate with you and you can communicate with me.”
The grey light of the G’rnathan day washed over Tash’s features as she turned her gaze outward onto the barren depths of the landscape outside. “When Z’thrukaht wants to talk with me, I can feel a pressure – his presence seems to wait for me to acknowledge him. I can block him from accessing anything but what I send him, and he does the same to me. So if you used me as a conduit to talk directly with him you’d still have that advantage where he won’t have full access to your brain.”
She moved her head to look at her lover once more. “And yes, I’m pretty certain that we could get that to work. If you and I bonded before I answered the phone call from Z’thrukaht it would be a bit like a conference call.”
Victor queried, “Can we place our own call?”
“Hmm. Ye-es, I think so,” Tash responded slowly, her brow deeply furrowed, “But it could be dangerous. Essentially we’d be calling Creator Central and hoping the right one picked up. I doubt I could impersonate a Creator effectively, and I get the feeling they just don’t get outside calls. The ones not involved in this conspiracy would be alerted to weird goings-on.”
“Then we save that idea for when we need it. Next idea: How do we get everyone – safely – over 2000 miles from here across a barren wasteland with no vehicles or enough water or food to the middle of the largest manufacturing and deployment base on the planet?” Victor was clearly searching for ideas.
“I could run it myself like I did the first time: seven 30-hour days non-stop at over 20 mph carrying a 450 lb. rock, and not even in a straight line. Frankly, I am not sure anyone else here would be able to keep up.”
“And there’s one more problem, too,” Tash whispered, “Well, two really.” *Three, really,* she thought, *but I made a promise about the other one, dammit.*
Victor made an interrogative sound deep in his throat, encouraging Tash to continue. “Well, one is fairly immediate, but we’re making steps already to solve it. Partially, anyway.” Victor’s eyes seemed to dim and Tash knew he was getting frustrated at her beating around the bush.
“Alice. She’s a bunny, Victor, in more ways than one. She needs vegetation to survive. G’rnathan Battle Fiend just isn’t going to cut it. Not the way we can eat it, at least. She tried some last night and it just made her ill this morning. Right now she’s working on a way to boil water and we’ll see if making a soup out of the stuff will help. If it doesn’t… she has only a few weeks at most before she starves to death.”
Tash took a deep breath, and plunged onto the second problem before Victor could interject. “The next thing is Nikolai. Have a good look at his eyes this morning – they’re changing colour. I’m not sure what it means, but it’s not natural and it has me worried.”
Tash knew Victor had been playing human for a long time when she distinctly heard his teeth grind and his jaw pop. *And I know he doesn’t have teeth.*
Victor made an exhaling sound, “One of those problems may be easier than we think. Pablum may be digestible by the bunny. Someone chews up the meat and then spits it back out into a bowl and lets it sit for a few days. There are enough enzymes in saliva to break down the nutrients into a usable form. But it means poor Bun gets to basically eat vomit during her stay here.”
“Oh, she’ll just love that, I’m sure.” Tash rolled her eyes.
“Problem two could be anything from a local phenomenon - although I could not imagine how slime could affect a human – to something that happened to him back on Earth.” As Victor was expounding the phrase ‘Back on Earth’ made him pause. ‘Back Home’ was how he felt. This place was so familiar but it didn’t feel like home any more.
He missed his apartment and his desk and he was beginning to think he might miss the computer but he had mixed feelings about that. He wondered idly about Sorrow and Jade and all of his other friends who had not been warned about their disappearance. How would they react when they were gone for days?… weeks?… months?
Feelings of homesickness from Victor woke similar emotions in Tash and she had to will herself not to let her eyes water. All she’d been expecting was a quiet evening introducing her new friend to Victor. Kolya had certainly got an introduction, all right. Far more than any of them had bargained for. It came complete with a field trip to the old stomping grounds. But all of that had to be put aside for now.
“All that matters is that we get everyone through this, and we get home safely. I’ve been doing what I can to assuage their fears, but we need a plan. We have to find a way to travel that distance. We could all walk it, I’m sure. Nikolai and I are the only true humans here, but we’re both fit. The main problem with that is that it would take months and Alice may not have the time to spare, and frankly even without that issue the less time we spend in this hell-hole the better.”
She cupped his hard, chitinous face in her gloved hands and leant her forehead against his, being careful not to skewer herself on his spikes. “We have to hold this lot together to make this work.”
Season Three - July 1, 2006 to Oct 31, 2006
Tuesday, 25th of July
2:00 pm
*A little more to the left,* she thought, moving the big green armchair she had just brought from the street. She had half carried, half pushed the big thing five blocks to her apartment, but she wouldn't leave it in the street for the garbage truck to pick up!! It was incredible the things that these Americans discarded, she thought, as she delighted in the feeling of the soft seat embracing her. Here, next to the window, it would make a perfect reading spot.
Happily she looked around. Last week she had finally received notice of her money being deposited in a downtown bank. Immediately she had started looking for a new apartment, finding this sunny place she had moved into. Basically it had the same characteristics as the last, but the paint wasn't chipping off, the pool had water and children in it, and there were big palm trees and bougainvillea growing up the walls. The arching doorways and windows had a definite Spanish air that she liked and the soft yellow of her apartment walls had finally convinced her to rent the place.
Sliding to the thick carpet , Alessa decided that it was time to start if she wanted to make it on time. She sat in the lotus position and closed her eyes, concentrating. Slowly all external noises faded and all she was aware of was her own breathing. She pictured an image in her head, a red haired woman she had passed in the street in her way home.
It was always a long and hard ordeal to change her form into that of another human being, and she didn't do it often, but she had decided that it would be better for her to go to Bibliophile in another form, to inspect the place. All Ernie's reassuring words couldn't account to the fact that she was afraid of going there. Maybe she was overreacting, but she had only had bad experiences when it came to the Watchers' Council. With luck this Amanda Blaise person would have never heard of her; that would make things easier.
Two hours later she finally stood up and went to check her new looks in the mirror. As usual she had felt nothing as she changed. An unfamiliar face looked back from the mirror. Her hair was no longer black but a fiery red, her skin lighter and creamy and she stood much taller than her own 1.60 m. The only thing that remained the same were her eyes. They were the same green color, not the clear gray he had pictured in her head. *Sloppy, but it will have to do,* she thought, wondering why it was so hard for her to consciously change the color of her eyes, when they so easily changed when she less wanted, betraying her non completely human nature. Her now freckled skin was pearled with perspiration after her exercises, so she took a shower before leaving the place.
Half an hour later, a tall red haired woman left Alessa's apartment and headed towards the street. With a light step she quickly walked the dozen blocks that separated her place from the bookshop, unable to erase the smile from her face. She always liked walking in somebody else's skin; she felt freer and could imagine she was somebody else, somebody human. Probably that was why she didn't do it often.
*Bibliophile is really a charming place,* she thought as she entered it. Narrowing her eyes to adjust them to the much less lightning in the inside of the store, she looked around. There were some people browsing around the books or sitting in comfortable sofas and armchairs, reading. *Better this way,* she thought, so her presence would not be spotted.
She walked towards the book-packed shelves and not surprisingly she found a section about the occult and paranormal. They even had some incense and candles on sale. Interested, she looked at the titles. Many of these works she already knew. Morris, like any Watcher, had been an avid reader and researcher in occult books. Unfortunately the vampires that had killed him had set them on fire. The only thing she had been able to rescue had been his diary, and that because he had it hidden in a metal box. *That and his charred body,* she added to herself, feeling again the hollow pain of loss. Shaking her head out of the hurting memories, she fingered a thick tome, taking it from the shelf: "Demonic Races of South America". This one she hadn't read, so she decided to buy it. It might include some information on Verbatis, her kind.
Suddenly, she felt a presence and she quickly turned. A serious dark haired woman was standing behind her. *Amanda Blaise?* Alessa wondered as the woman asked her if she could be of any help.
"Yes, thank you," Alessa forced herself to say, "I want to buy this one." The woman put on her glasses to read the title and Alessa could swear she saw her expression flinch.
"Of course," she said instead and led her towards the cash register.
As she was wrapping the book in a charming silver starred blue paper, Alessa took up the courage to ask the woman if she was Amanda Blaise, however before she could utter a world a young man who had been waiting on the outside tables called, "Mrs. Wyldling!!" He was holding the phone in his hand, "somebody for Ms. Blaise!"
At the woman's answer that Ms. Blaise wasn't there, Alessa sighed and paid the price of the book.
"Please come back again," Mrs. Wyldling said as she handed Alessa the wrapped book.
"I will," she said.
As she left the shop, she didn't notice that the woman stood staring at her, a frown on her face.