Celina swatted at a rogue tendril of the cigar's cloud as it writhed around her head. "Could you put that out, Eric? This room is enough of a hell hole without you making it worse!" A thick Hispanic accent sneaking out in her frustration. Vainly she began brushing out her long raven black hair, running fingers through it, she brought it to her nose. "Damn it! now my hair even reeks of it." With a jerk she drew it up, wrapped it into a pony tail and pushed away from the table that she had been sharing with the smoker. Standing she stormed over to the window, "Where the hell is Saul. He said he was going to get us something to fucking drink from the vending machine, and he has been gone for over half an hour."
Eric shoved his cigar butt into the ash tray next to him, and rolled his eyes. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a handkerchief, filthy from over use, and mopped up the sweat from his bald head, before returning it to his jeans. "Saul, went to spy on Reese. I would be surprised if he comes back with drinks at all." He stroked his gray beard absently for a moment before drawing out another cigar and lighting it with a long drag. "If you want a drink we have a cooler full of beer in the next room." Eric snorted a laugh as Celina shot him an icy glare in return.
"I would prefer not to rot out my liver.. or my lungs, thank you." Celina sneered. " The way you carry on, it amazes me you have lived this long."
"Honey, if I live long enough to die of this." Eric waved his cigar in her direction. "I will have made it longer than I anyone I know." With a smug grin he bit down on his cigar and turned his attention back to the paper in his lap."
Celina huffed,"Oh please you stup..." the door sprang open and promptly slammed behind a growling Saul. "Finally! took you long enough." Celina stared at Saul for a second before throwing up her arms. " For Christ's sake, you really didn't get the damn drinks!" Eric snickered loudly, as Celina turned back to him. "Don't even star..."
Before she could finish, Saul slammed a heavy suitcase onto the table knocking over Eric's ashtray, spilling the black dust onto the already filthy carpet. " Shut up, and get packing. The kid finally made up his damn mind. We leave for London, in an hour."
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The massive room echoed around Richard swallowing him in the barren stoicism of its design, but the size of the office was not what bothered him. It was the smell. The stench permeating his nostrils was hard to describe. It was sweet, but in a way that made his stomach turn and his mouth water unpleasantly. "Why do I come here?" Richard muttered under his breath.
"You come here because you are an important part of my plans, Mr. Stens." A sharp voice range out, slicing through the silence from the far side of the room behind Richard.
The middle aged man nearly jumped out of his Armani suit, spinning around Richard walked quickly to meet the man who had just entered. "Mr. Drake, I apologize, I didn't mean anything against you, it's just well, I am more suited for board rooms than fancy estates such are yours. You understand of course?" Richard managed to sputter out.
Drake was a handsome man, blonde with a perfect set of brilliantly white teeth showing with his constant coy little smile. Standing in front of Richard, he was not of particularly impressive stature nor was his suit nearly as expensive a cut, but no one could mistake the balance of power in that room. Drake raised his hand in an almost gentle manner drawing his index finger across a shaking Richard's brow, and rubbing the sweat between his thumb and forefinger. "Of course, I understand perfectly.... Mr. Stens" A sadistic smile curled over the blonde man's lips as he motioned politely towards a chair in front of a massive mahogany desk."please have a seat."
Richard crashed into the chair fast enough that his heart skipped a beat at the thought that it might break from the impact. Drake walked around the desk and sat in a large leather seat casually picking up a pen and spinning it deftly between his fingers. "It has been 10 thousands years since he walked this earth, and finally I have found a way to get him back." dropping his pen onto the desk, Drake leaned forward, his coy smile replaced with deadly seriousness. " and you are going to make sure nothing gets in the way."
Richard's heart sank as Drake described the details of the role he was to play. A slow torturous thought tickling his mind the entire time... putrefaction... that was what the smell was, the sweet smell of death.
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The constant thrum over their heads was reminiscent of a dozen snare drums. Water fell in sheets off the awning that provided the particularly ill-tempered group of travelers small cover during the third straight day of torrential rain fall since they had arrived.
"This is outrageous!" Celina huffed. "How much does it rain in this shit-hole of a country!" She drew her black designer rain coat tighter in a vain attempt to keep dry.
"This is about average rain fall levels for this time of year actually." Reese commented ambivalently, holding a soaked newspaper over his phone while he checked his messages. "Our contact should be here any minute, I am sure they will get us out of the rain for the meeting."
Celina folded her arms and sighed. "Who is this contact anyways. I haven't met with anyone from the London branch in ages."
"I believe his most recent name is, Charles." Reese replied not looking up from his phone.
Saul's lips tightened to a thin a line, accentuating the clench in his jaw, Eric smirked for a moment at him from his place leaning against the wall behind the others, before remarking, "So our contact is an immortal then?"
Reese nodded. "He is a blood Elixer."
Saul exploded, "A Fukkin blood sucker! You expect us to work with a vampire. What kind of bull-shit plan is this?" Reese ignored the outburst, continuing to type into his phone, but Saul wouldn't let up, "I am sure your dumbass of a father told you all sort of crap about treaties and deals, but at the end of the day it was me and my friend that died trying to stop them from sucking entire families dry. They are evil, we should wipe them out. I am not working with any vampire. Period!"
Reese lowered his phone and leveled a stare that matched Saul's ice for ice. "Charles, has worked with the Elixers for over a hundred years. If it wasn't for his contributions during the last war the Elixers probably wouldn't be here today. You will work with him, you won't cause any trouble, or you can pack you shit up and leave now." Turning he stepped right up to Saul till he stood an inch from his face staring up into his eyes coldly. Thumbing the ring on his right hand out of irritated habit. "And if you ever disrespect my Father's legacy again... I will kill you." Stepping back he pulled his phone out and began typing away again, before adding without looking up. " and don't address him as a vampire. They don't like the names we give them."
Saul sneered, and turned away shoving his hands into his coat pockets in frustration. Eric locked eyes with a bewildered Celina, both casting reassessing glances at the young man who had been assigned to their group just two weeks ago. Eric cocked an eyebrow and stroked his beard wondering, Just who is this kid?
Twenty minutes passed by in tenuous silence before a sleek black sedan finally pulled up to the curb. An elderly man in a crisp black suit quickly emerged from the driver's seat darting around to open the doors for the group.
With a scowl Saul entered the car first not saying a word, Eric and Celina followed suit with Reese taking the last place In the front passenger seat.
The elderly driver deftly navigated the car into traffic. The scrape of the wiper blades were the only thing that broke the painful quiet for several minutes until Eric finally spoke, "So tell me about this host of ours. Exactly what should we be expecting?"
Reese shrugged, " I don't know him personally. I have only ever heard about him from my father and what I have read in the files we have on him." He turned to the driver. "May I ask your name?"
"Brooks, sir" He replied succinctly.
Reese nodded, "And can you tell us anything about Charles?"
The man answered in the pure monotone of a priest reciting scripture, "Master Cain, is a very important figure in this city. He has a hand in just about everything. If you lot are searching for something in this city, I can assure you he will find it."
"Is there anything in particular we need to know to make sure our meeting goes smoothly?" Reese asked.
Without batting an eyelash the driver answered "Don't look into his eyes."
Celina cocked an eyebrow "and why is that? Is there something wrong with his eyes?"
A single drop of sweat rolled down the old mans brow though his deadpan expression never changed. "No nothing you would not expect with his sort..." He paused a moment searching for what to say. "You just won't like what you see."
Eric nodded slowly a slight grimace formed on his face. He turned and looked out the window, old memories boiling up. "Yea... it's never a good idea to look them in the eyes, ally or not"
Reese's eyes narrowed questioningly, but both Brooks and Eric stopped talking after that, letting the metronome like beat of the windshield wipers reconquer the noise in the vehicle.
An hour passed with no change in the dreary ambiance. Reese's eyelids settled into a lazy half open position, as he toed the line between consciousness and sleep. The sudden screech of their brakes jolted Reese and the others back to alertness.
Snapping his head around Reese addressed their driver, "What's the matter?" Without a word the man pointed out in front of the car.
A lone figure stood in the middle of the road, long black hair matted around his face from the rain that still pounded outside, the wet mane hiding his eyes from view. Pale white skin stood out against the black of his long trench coat, barely peaking through the space between his coat and gloves.
"I don't suppose that's Charles..." Saul muttered reaching down and un-holstering his side arm.
Brooks shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I believe that's a member of the Blake clan. They vehemently oppose Master Cain's interactions with you. This will likely become violent. Please secure your seat belts." With an uncanny speed the old man threw the car into reverse and spun the car around slamming his foot onto the gas pedal.
The car sprang forward with a jerk speeding off in the opposite direction away from the figure in the rain. The tires screamed as the car swung back and forth hydroplaning on the water slick road. The driver struggled to keep the car on the road swerving around the city streets.
Staring out the back window, Celina said, "I think we lost him. He didn't even try to chase us. Are you sure he wasn't just some loco?"
Eric barked a laugh. "You don't lose a vampire, hun." Checking the clip on his own weapon he muttered, "You fight... or hope he fills up on your partner. Vampires are the best hunters on earth."
A deafening blast range out as the front passenger side tire exploded, sending the car careening into a street light. It took Reese a moment to compose himself, shaking off the disorientation of the impact. He ripped off his seat belt and rubbed his chest gingerly. A gruff hand shook him from behind, followed by an even rougher voice, "Time to go kid." Saul's voice held an air of urgency while still managing to sound detached.
Outside the car, the shaken troupe scanned their surroundings. Eric stood next to the blown tire, shaking his head. "Shredded... he did this by hand. He must be close."
Popping the trunk Brooks began to riffle through some supplies. "Master Cain insists we keep some things on hand in case we run into issues." Pulling out a shotgun he proceeded to load it shell by shell, before cocking it and handing it to Celina. " I trust you are all trained on these?" Celina nodded slowly taking the weapon, her eyes still scanning the darkness.
The old man pulled two more shot guns out of the trunk handing one to Reese and keeping the last for himself. Along with Saul and Eric's handguns the group formed what most would consider a very well armed street gang, but what they faced was much more dangerous than a group of thugs.
The sun had started to set, but with the impenetrable cloud cover it might as well have been midnight. All along the street the lamps were lit, the one that they had stuck was left to flicker ominously. The blinking light made a strobe effect that played with the shadows on the empty street, toying with the groups imaginations.
"Shouldn't there still be people out at this time?" Reese asked at a barely audible whisper.
Brooks shook his head, "Not in this area. We are out of London now. This part of town was largely abandoned after the factory went out of business."
Saul held up a hand signaling them to keep quiet. Sweeping his gun around, searching for any sign. "Bastards toying with us." he snarled. Celina screamed, firing off her shotgun wildly in the direction of an alley behind the group. She fired off three shots before Saul grabbed the shotgun pointed the barrel at the ground. "Get a hold of yourself. Even if you hit it at that range it wouldn't do a damn thing."
"I..I.. saw" Celina huffed, shaking her head to regather her thoughts. "He went down that alley. He is fast."
Saul snickered as Celina jerked her gun away from his grasp, "No shit." He examined the alleyway for a moment peering into the impenetrable black. " He isn't there anymore, There is no telling what directions he will come from."
A blur of movement sprang out of from behind a building down the street, Eric's gun rang out a steady succession of blasts. Reese's eyes trained onto the figure as it deftly sprinted towards them. He leveled his weapon waiting for the chance to fire. One of Eric's shots tore through the creatures shoulder, but failed to so much as slow it down.
In a second it was on them. A single blow to the chest sent Eric sprawling landing in the windshield of their crashed vehicle. Reese fired, a quick duck and the vampire was under the blast. With a single fluid motion it grabbed the barrel of Reese's gun shoving it into the air as a second blast sounded. The fiend's other hand springing up to Reese's neck.
The strength was incredible. Reese's mouth gulped in vain trying to squeeze some air into his burning lungs. His eyes bulged drawn uncontrollably to his opponents mouth a pair of sickening fangs were bared in a demonic grin.
A shot rang out as Eric fired his pistol, still perched on the hood of the car. A clean hole appeared through the monster forehead, blood spattering over Reese's face, but its grip didn't falter in the least. Jerking Reese to his feet, it used him as a human shield backing away slowly into an alley.
Eric jumped back to his feet dashing along side Celina and Brooks towards the alley, only to find it empty. "Where the hell?!" Eric cursed in frustration. "Saul did you see where..." He paused spinning around to survey the area. "Where is Saul at?"
Celina and Brooks exchanged shrugs, "I lost sight of him when Reese got attacked." Celina said.
"Dammit, this is not the time to split up."
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Reese tugged with everything he had as the immortal drug him up on to the roof of the abandoned factory building, dropping him in a heap as they arrived.
The vampire crouched next to him, kicking him lightly in the stomach, "Come on stupid little human, wake up."
Reese coughed still trying to get his breath back, before choking out a reply, "what do you want?"
The vampire laughed coldly, "What do I want, from the grandson of William Amit, the man who ended the third war? I would have to say, I want you to suffer. Like my clan has suffered since we lost our standing in the blood courts, lost because your grandfather and the traitor Cain blackmailed them into a treaty, that forced them to cut our support."
Reese's captor leaned in close to his face, the distinct smell of blood poured from his breath. "Have you ever even looked into the eyes of a blood immortal? No..." he shoved Reese's shoulder, " what are you 18? I can never tell what age you humans are." He chuckled to himself. "This is probably your first field mission. Isn't it?" He drew his finger nail down Reese's cheek drawing a thin line of blood, and then brought the red drop to his tongue. "Delicious."
"Feisty little pipsqueak aren't you?" He laughed, "How about I put some fear into you." Slowly he drew the hair from his face revealing his right eye for the first time. Reese had read enough about vampires to know what to expect, but seeing it in person for the first time was overwhelming.
The eye was an orb of pure red. As Reese locked it into his vision a crawling sensation swept through his brain. It felt like cold fingers were moving around in his skull. He couldn't move a muscle on his own, unable to even blink. Slowly the vampire stood holding his gaze, Reese's legs moved involuntarily as well standing along side him.
He walked around Reese as the young Elixir stood perfectly still, stopping behind him he whispered softly into his ear. "I am going to kill you now. Then I will kill your friends. It will be slow, painful, and I will love every second of it." A flit of his eyes and Reese tilted his head to the side offering up his neck to the creature. Its fangs hovered over him when he paused, and smirked.
A sudden spin jerked both of them to the side just as a bullet whizzed by. The vampire clucked, "Really now, that was irresponsible, if I wasn't so looking forward to tasting the grandson of Amit alive, I might have had him take that shot."
Eric's gun was raised as he finished climbing the ladder onto the roof with Celina following immediately behind shotgun leveled. "Put him down!" Eric shouted. A demand met only by a laugh.
The vampire brought Reese's neck back to his mouth hovering there with a smile. "Stay there a moment my little treats. I will be right with you."
Reese could feel the breath on his neck every muscle in his body was frozen he couldn't even muster a growl of frustration. He felt the pin prick of the monsters fangs on his neck sinking through his skin like butter, but it stopped a moment before it pierced his exposed veins.
Suddenly his body went limp. The trance holding him released all of a sudden and he collapsed to the ground. Looking back in confusion he saw a red line drawn across the creatures throat. A spray of blood shot out as both jugulars and carotid vessels were severed on its neck.
Reese didn't even shield himself from the fountain of blood that splatted across his face. As the vampire dropped to its knees, Saul could be seen standing behind him holding a bloodied combat knife. "Celina!" Saul barked holding out his hand. Celina tossed him the shotgun and he snatched it from the air leveling it at their attackers chest point blank, and pulled the trigger.
It screamed in pain as blood showered out, clawing away it attempted to flee, but Saul slammed his boot down on its neck and leveled the weapon at its chest again, cocking it and fired over and over again. After a half dozen shots, it finally lay still. Saul spit into the gaping wound, and dropped the spent gun on the ground.
"Damn things have a breastbone like a fucking tank." Ripping off his blood soaked shirt Saul wiped off his face. "Gotta get the heart. Could shoot it in the head all day and it won't phase them. Get them to lose a lot of blood quickly." He drew the combat knife across his throat in demonstration. "that will distract them, but unless you bleed them dry only a good shot to the heart will put them down for good."
"We used to drop grenades down their throats during the war, but I guess this works too." Eric remarked with a bitter laugh.
Saul helped Reese back to his feet. Locking eyes with the him his dark expression didn't change. "This is why I hate vampires. I will work with this Charles of yours, but don't expect me to trust them." He thumbed down at the mutilated corpse.
Reese swallowed hard, his hand still feeling the two small holes on his neck. "Trust or not, your the best we have in the field..." biting back his pride he held out his hand to Saul. "I am glad we have you on board."
With a gruff laugh Saul gripped Reese's hand. "Don't get soft on me now kid. I was just starting to like you."
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