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(cool just checking)

The man backed into the corner of the darkened room as the shadows rolled up the wall. He was whimpering and crying before the horror that stood before him,

“P-p-p-please don’t hurt me!” the man whined pitifully. The man’s pathetic-ness was depressing, although that was nothing Jimmy wasn’t used to, he’d seen enough horrors and death in his time. That was no matter though, he had more important things to do. He turned into a mist form and engulfed the man’s face, choking him,

“Now I’ll ask one more time, where is he?” Jimmy asked in faux kindness, laughing at the man’s helplessness. The man attempted to escape the deadly gas for a few more seconds before apparently giving up and attempted a breath, saying,

“Okay fine, just please let me go!” begged the man desperately. If Jimmy could have smiled in his gas form he would have, but he complied and retreated from the man’s face and transformed back to his usual forme, allowing him to breath. The man gasped a few short breaths before stating,

“Okay man just chill out. I have heard something, a thing about a Vampire wandering around Peckham with a Lycan or whatever. Intel from my homies on the street have told me that there have been a few attacks resembling that of a vampires strike while an identical correlation has been discovered with a number of werewolf attacks in the area. The numbers have just moved in to twenty reports and the local police force has called in some PI’s to try to deal with the situation. As of yet though they’ve had no luck finding things out. That’s all I know though, just please don’t hurt me!” Jimmy looked at the ghoul standing before him and replied in a terrifyingly calm voice,

“Thank you very much Mr Harrington, the problem is though that I can’t you tell anyone about my “visit”. So regrettably I’m going to have to say goodbye,” he raised his hand towards Harrington with a twisted smile. The terrified Mr Harrington looked back in horror and begged,

“No! Please don’t! I won’t tell anybody, I swear! You’ll never hear a peep out of me again! I have a wife and children for f*cks sake!”

“Now there’s no need for that sort of language, I don’t take kindly to being insulted, and you having a wife and children just makes it better. But it’s too late now…”

“No, please I…” he was cut off in abject horror as the shadows swirled around his face, envisioning him of his darkest nightmares, locking him in a horror filled mind prison where he was tortured, slowly and painfully. Only after ten minutes of non-stop scream filled terror did Jimmy agree to his pleas for death, and tightened his open hand into a fist,

“Goodbye, Mr Harrington,” he said before the whimpering ghoul’s blood burst from his body.

OOC: Yes! First BM post in ages, it’s good to be back!

... Natasha skipped from her bed an hour later, her needs satiated for the moment..she left Mia and Mya to rest again and returned to study various reports from her opperatives.
A scouting pack in Oregon confirmed what she had already known, the humans from the "Network" had continued their attempts to breach the dimension of the damned..the realm of the Leech King..
The Queen snarled lightly, shaking her head...ignorant humans...stupid and clumsy...were they not aware of what lay beyond the portal they sought to open?...or were they just so naive as to believe they could control the situation once they'd opened the gate.?
Natasha's eyes narrowed, perhaps it was time for her to unleash another Black patrol on the Humans there..as she had in Montana, it hadn't stopped them from pursuing their agenda..no, but it had drasticaly slowed their progress...yes..perhaps another strike was in order .

She then turned her attention to another bit of information, scouts in Europe ..reports of more traitorous activity amongst a very small band of Lycans...conspiring with a coven of Leeches, they had been neturalized..but it was believed other such groups may exist.
Natasha bit her lip, tasting blood in her mouth...of course they still exsited...those who would betray their own kind always had...but now...now on the brink of war....they simply could not be allowed to opperate..
She reached for her phone..and waited for a reply...she didn't have to wait long...
" Yes my Queen" came Harlow's voice at the other end of the line..
Natasha spoke softly...but with a subtle firmness eluding to the seriousness of her intent..." Harlow..my trusted one...we face dark times as you are well aware" she said..." Our species ...our kind..the dangers we face at the hands of the leeches are growing more and more with each passing day...and we can ill afford to distracted by traitors amongst us.." she paused for a moment an continued..." Therefore ...under my command...I wish for you Harlow...to issue a world wide decree amongst all our kind...any Lycan aiding or otherwise conspiring with the Kindred is to be killed on sight...any wolf who conspires against the Crown is to be killed on sight...any wolf involved in any...group which conspires against the Crown may recieve a full pardon..if..they rise up and strike down the traitorious heads of their orginazations...or otherwise deliver them for judgement.."
" Understood my Queen" Harlow replied rapidly.
" Understand...our people must be united against the threat of the Leech King...this...rabble...who hold truck with our sworn enemies must be purged if we ..as a species are to continue, we can not protect our kind while traitorous wolves would hurl daggers at our backs...we must do this Harlow...for all of our sakes.."
" I..I know My Queen" Harlow answered...
" I'm trusting you to issue this decree...see that every wolf throughout the Realm knows of it." Natasha said softly.
" It will be done...as you command" Harlow said before adding " We return to the Den shortly...all is well."
" Excellent Harlow" Natasha smiled " I shall greet you upon your arrival.."
The Queen hung up and leaned back in her chair...such dark days ahead...she thought to herself...such dark days.

***Fight or Flight***
Derrick shuffled forward, the plane to the states was going to be a long, boring ride. Ruiz was several paces ahead of him, carrying several cases.
They drew nearer the terminal, just tone gate left…they both placed their cases on the conveyor and stepped through the metal detectors.
A man in a security guard costume waved them over.

“Your baggage? Do you have permits for those?” asked the guard, indicating the cases

“Yeah, here.” Said Derrick, producing a firearms permit and saying. “We also got it checked with Airport security, my name is listed there.”

“Where?” asked the guard, dubiously eyeing the list.
Derrick pointed at the name and said, “There, Charlie Sheen.”

Ruiz nodded. “I’m Alberto Lopez.”

“The guard checked the list again. “Alright, it’s all in order, but these travel in the belly, got it?”

“yeah.” They said in unison.

When the flight had been boarded Derrick found his seat, it was by the window, good, something to look at.
Ruiz sat down next to him and began to play with the up/down recliner functions as Derrick produced the briefcase.
He flipped it open and searched the contents.

There were many pieces of junk with attached photos and several folders, Derrick reached in and removed a scrap of metal no larger than a thumbnail, the tag read. “MRAPP Debris: scene pending.” Several photos of a clearing in the forest showed the burnt out husk of a formidable looking vehicle, it had been looted of essentials by the time Ninth Claw (The Fang’s intel unit) had compiled a very detailed report to the ‘businessmen’ or ‘The New Firm’ that was Derrick’s group. They were the Detectives, Triggermen and long hand of the Fang, the Fang had included a comprehensive report on the events in Prague, as well as reports on several interesting figures that were making themselves a bit clumsily obvious.


A wealthy buiesnessman disappearing after a week of causing his business to skyrocket in funds…


A few mutilated corpses here and there…


Derrick opened he folding layers of the brief, dozens, if not hundreds of pieces of ‘junk’ lay inside the case.
Derrick reached for another one, a hollow point bullet with an expended cavity. It read:Revolver round, Warehouse, Silver payload.
Another read ‘’eyepiece of subject 1255’ ah, the twelves through the fifteens were high-ranking members of the Six Fingered hand. The ‘eyepiece’ in question was affixed to a nail, a bit of old blood and rust on the nail. ‘Helm suspected to be nailed into the host, DNA matches that of one ‘Ramirez’ Killed in Prague.


Derrick leafed through the folders, some caught his eye, some where so unimpressive they were depressing. Such as ‘Catharine Grass: Ghoul: lived, died, killed in raid on Crooked House (By one: Anderson Bruss)
Several were not only interesting, but awe-inspiring.


Musatar: Nrajah: Goals: unknown: status: alive (presumably) age: expected some 800/900 years: Threat Level: HIGH: Recommendation: Treat with respect and action, is not to be harmed: Goals as of yet unknown (see: Goals.)


Syd Harlow: age: estimated 200/250 years, unclear, clan: Grubrah. Kills: unknown: estimated over 700 the file included picture of a ‘cowboy’ sitting on a motorcycle and grinning, he fitted the description.

The second picture showed a somewhat grainy if well-shot photo of a massive wolfish form, three large scars on it’s face it’s frame was leaping through the air, evidently howling.

Ruiz took this moment to set down his fourth bag of peanuts and look over. Peanuts were sprayed as Ruiz gawped and hissed.


“That’s him!”


Derrick brushed the fragmented peanuts off of his coat. “What?”


“The one who bit me!” hissed Ruiz, pointing to the photo. “I should know!” Ruiz grabbed the folder on ‘Harlow’ and rifled though it. “Damn, this guy is hardcore” he said, inspecting several images of mutilated enemies.
Derrick set this small revelation aside for now and pulled he next photo…

…aha…

Slender Von Maun Age: N/A race: Vampire: subclass: Totenmasken: Goals: NA: last seen as: (unknown, the flesh will have sloughed off by his
point.)


Derrick pulled out his computer and did a quick check of businesses that had had their income increase drastically in a week or so, two did, now he could see if-


“gak.” Muttered Ruiz.


“What?” asked Derrick, putting Slender’s bio away for the time being and picking up one entitled


Sky Henderson: Status: Deceased: notables:-


“The wolf that bit me-”


“Haley?”


“Harlowe. He’s working for the Queen!”


“Good, ‘family reunion’ eh?” Said the Mgral, smirking.


“shut up man, this is serious.”


“Not really, just say ‘hey you! You bit me once!’ and then alls fine and dandy.”
Ruiz looked unsure. “Not sure man, I wish I had your confidence.”


“Don’t take it from me, I’m a cynical bastard.” Said Derrick, inspecting a bottle cap from the case entitled ‘Longar: Prague:’

OOC... for those who cannot see the image...


IC...





Ten months ago - California


A sense of pride filled Erzuli as she stuck the newpaper clipping to the wall: grinning to herself she spun on her heels and walked further into the simple home she had acquired just a few weeks ago. The former owner had been most generous in his gifts to her: a loner and survivalist who had set up a small house in the 'wilds' of California, even built a secure concrete bunker into the hillside and a simple perimeter fence of wire mesh around the two acre plot... and of course the added bonus of a free meal for her. It was all so flawed and ramshackle, it made her feel at home. The bunker had cracks in already but would hold for the time being... the simple fact it gave her the secure area she sought was enough to satisfy the Pure Blood for now.

"Don't you think setting this up in the Den would have been better?"

Erzuli frowned at the concern in Erzsébet's voice but waved off the ghost's concerns.

"I need my own space for this. I'm not sure my sister would understand our need for it. Despite her hatred of humans, she is all too happy to see them as willing servants once they have been bitten. I am not that optimistic. Besides, dear Countess... there is much work to be done before our theory is proven."

Stopping infront of a large steel door, Erzuli looked over the the table beside it and ran her hand over the objects upon the metal. Anya sat on a chair at the other end of the table, copying scribbled notes from a notepad into a large aged tome. she spoke without looking up from her work.

"Pike is within mistress... as you requested. As is the... Doctor... she begs to know when she is to be released."

Both the ghost and the Pure Blood laughed, causing the young wolf to shiver slightly. She watched her mistress pick up a small bell, an iron nail and a case of scalpels and choose to ignore the implications... what was necessary was of course, needed. Anya simply continued her work as Erzuli and Erzsébet drifted into the bunker. As the door slammed she glanced down to the timetable on the metal desk and sighed... todays date was circled... 'Last Lesson!'.

... Deep within a series of dank and feted catacombs , far from prying eyes, a dark and twisted figure giggled and capered in the gloom of a single candle...
Strewn throughout the dingy dwealling..piled high in every corner and stacked on every table , were volumes of ancient text, rotted tomes and withered parchments and scrolls...which the shadowy figure had poured over with malicious glee.
... " The children of the Beast are no wiser nor more cunning than the spoiled and indulgent children of Caine" the form hissed as it leafed through stinking pages of mildewed scribblings.." Indeed...both are nothing more than arrogant gatherings of simpletons ..and stagnant cretianous louts..." the figure hissed laughter as it caressed the cover of a milenia old tome " Still...it pleases the infinite that they would fall upon each other...rending and tearing as though either ultimantly matter..." The figure cackled madly " Indeed...it pleases me as well.."
Still laughing it's insane laugh...the figure seated itself...joyfully reveling in it's studies..

@ Aurelia...That...is absolutely fantastic.

Part Two... to face a Prince.


Byron slipped along the roof of the Dakota above 72nd Street, getting across from rooftop to rooftop had been but a jump, the two guards, mere Ghouls on duty had lasted barely a moment in combat with a kindred of his skill and desire, and now the gloom of the building lay below him. As he moved across the rooftop in the dark, he could sense the fear and panic that echoed within the building, the mortals where hiding, the Vampires that had made it to defend their Prince where no better. As he reached the far wall of the corner apartment that sat directly above the corner of 72nd and Central Park West, he could hear raised voices within.

Swinging onto a ledge he glanced into a window and could see the Prince arguing with two other male kindred, both Julii by the looks of them. As he watched them bicker he noticed the room was quite luxurious, and spotted a lack of protection against the sun. It seemed that the Prince buried himself in a shielded room, but kept the rest of the apartment as it was. Byron could respect that, you didn't need a lot of room where you slept, but why throw suspicion by having permently draped windows all year round. As he watched the three males argued Byron spotted a Blonde beauty enter the rear of the room, she was certainly Julii and wore a tight red Chinese styled dress.

Watching her darkly he couldn't help but lick his upper lip, and glanced down to see if the others had arrived. Almost on cue he spotted Klauth stalk up to the cloaked Lord, who was watching from across the street on the edge of Strawberry Fields. The brothers Helch and Narthor had been waiting for several minutes by the look of their pacing, while Miera just stood cold as always. Byron watched as Ruxandra arrived, followed swiftly by Jackal. He grinned as they small but highly skilled group crossed the street.

Two ghouls began firing, a Vampire a Stirgoi tried to intercept the huge Klauth, but lasted barely a moment as the Opriknikki pulled what looked like a four foot cleaver and sliced the Kindred in two. The Ghouls screamed as the brothers leapt at them their claws savaging them in moments. With the last cry, the group where inside the courtyard, and heading straight for the stairwell that led to the Prince's apartment.

----

"They are here my Prince!" cried a Ghoul as it burst in the room.

Hector Santiago glanced up, and his brow furrowed as he heard the sound of gunfire and screams from below. They where already at the Stairwell. He glanced around the room, Dante, Marius and Selina, that was all he had left to help him fight. It was a pathetic showing for what had been twenty four hours previously, one of the strongest Vampire held Cities in North America. As the Screams echoed upward, Hector guessed the sixteen Ghouls where not going to last long against the caliber of opponent they faced.

"Go help them, blow the stairwell if you have to!" He snapped at the Ghoul, who just bowed and darted back out checking the safety on his glock as he went.

"This is madness hector, these Kindred have slaughtered over twenty of our kin tonight, we cannot face them."

Hector glared at Dante, who immediately fell silent.

"Of course we can't but we are out of time, I was hoping that.."

All three Kindred stopped and walked towards the windows, looking down as several Police vehicles screamed down the street sirens blazing. Hector grinned as the first of two swat vans skidded to a halt and body armoured Police officers armed with assault rifles burst into the street and began running for the courtyard.

"And this gentlemen is why I pay my taxes." Hector grinned.

"While they deal with the Police, we'll make good our escape."

The other two Kindred nodded eagerly, while Selina carried on packing bits and pieces for Hector.

----

Klauth heard the sirens as the vehicles pulled up, holding up his blade he turned along with Ruxandra as the Swat team poured into the courtyard.

"Incoming!" He roared lunging forward with only the speed one of the damned could muster.

The swooping sound of his cleaver blade bounced across the walls like a grim spectre as two of the swat fell apart in different directions, their partial screams filled by a roar of anger by their compatriots who targeted the huge Kindred unleashing a torrent of gunfire in his direction. As the huge Opriknikki stumbled to one knee, he used his blood to thicken his skin so it was a tough as stone, deflecting most of the incoming fire as bullets zinged around him.

As the Swat closed in they missed the dancing moves of Ruxandra as she slashed out three times, dropping a Police officer for each strike. As she glanced out she could see the second Swat team unloading, followed by near on a dozen regular officers.

"Grandfather we are outnumbered greatly." She shouted skipping out of the way of a Swat trooper who opened fire in her direction from the entrance.

Behind them, the Dragon turned from the battle with the Ghouls, leaving his warriors to continue to battle along the staircase, and letting his cloak fall back to swirl behind him he walked towards the tunnel where the police where threatening them from. Around him a dark wind seemed to circle and out of the shows creatures screeched and howled. He threw open his arms and dark energies roared through the courtyard striking at the Police, knocking them backwards, as clawed fiends in the shadow tore at their exposed flesh where they could find it. The almost amusing sight of Swat team members battling with imps for possession of the firearms unfolded before the Kindred, as the energy struck out and hammered upon the vehicles.

In the chaos of the moment, Klauth cancelled his shield and waded back into the now distracted Swat, hacking them down with out a moment of pity, their blood splattering against the stones of the courtyard, as mortal men screamed in horror at the darkness that bore down on them. Ruxandra joined the Opriknikki in his bloodshed, and her blade struck out, with pin point accuracy, dropping a police officer for each thrust or spin.

With a vile eager grin on his lips the Dragon clenched his fists shut and watched with a grim satisfaction as both Swat vehicles exploded behind the remaining few police officers. As he watched the final few fall to his Granddaughter and Klauth, he nodded at them for their strength and skill, and then returned towards the stairwell, a cruel laugh echoing as he walked.

----

Hector heard the explosions as he reached the doorway, and looked back at Dante and Marius.

"That can't be good." He muttered.

The window to the far corner exploded and the dark haired Kindred burst into the room, Hector recognized him instantly.

"Byron, you coward!" he spat.

"I didn't realize I was the one running."

Hector growled at the retort and ushered both Dante and Marius forward to fight the new immediate foe. He watched as smoke and shadow materialized around Byrons hands, and immediately realized who had sired the poet. He pulled open the door and watched as Dante was dragged across the floor by the shadow and slammed into the far wall, before a spike of shadow pierced his chest and sent him screaming into the flaming street below.

"Come back Prince, we need to discuss your right to rule!" Shouted Byron as Hector slipped out the door.

The other Julii grasped at him, distracted he'd let him get too close, and with his momentum lost, all he could do was focus on the 'hero' getting between him and the Prince. Grasping the shoulders of his opponent Byron pushed him back and struck out with shadow, opening deep wounds on the Julii's shoulder and right cheek. As the battled back and forth, pushing at one another, Byron noted the other kindred trying to slip out after her prince, he grinned and a tendril of shadow slammed the door shut and then with a backwards strike slapped her across the side of the head to the floor.

"I will kill you Poet!" sneered Marius as he pushed Byron backwards towards the hole made by the departing Dante.

Byron glanced over his shoulder at the hole, and then back to the Julii.

"Maybe I can get a rain check on that?" He said with a grin.

Shadow struck out and smashed the kindred to the floor, and Byron struck down hard using the force of his blood in the punch, her heard the skull crack, and as the Vampire slumped forward, the Shadow lashed out and tore him in two. Byron paused and shrugged each shoulder, the Julii had one hell of a grip. Walking slowly up to the door, he knelt down and lifted the blonde into his arms. Watching her as she started to come around from the blow. He eyes widened in alarm as she realized he was holding her, and she tried to cry out as as he descended upon her neck and bit deep of her flesh.

....

Vlad Tepes stepped into the room, and looked around the broken furniture and devastation from a bitter fight, he noted Byron sitting in a antique red velvet, gold leaf chair and raised an eyebrow.

"Did you get him?"

Byron glanced back, trickling ash from one hand down onto the other, a stain of blood across his lips. He looked over at his Lord and shook his head nonchalantly as he lifted his boots up onto a small coffee table that had somehow escaped the carnage.

"He ran just as we thought."

The ancient walked down into the apartment and looked about at the various artifacts around the room. He nodded and then glanced at Byron.

"You are sure he will rally all the remaining Kindred of the city to his fall back position."

Byron smiled.

"He will still think he can win, I have no doubt that will be his plan."

"Good, then all is as planned."

Byron sat up and let the last flakes of ash fall to the floor.

"Nero contacted me earlier, they are on their way."

The Dragon smiled.

"He also informed me of a very interesting fact."

The Dragon raised an eyebrow and glanced his way.

"They have Lilith, she is infected."

The Dragon allowed a deep smile, only pausing to stroke the old scar on his chest. Across New York the sounds of fire trucks and Police Sirens echoed up into the night, a night where chaos had struck at the heart of the city, and only a scarce handful truly knew why.

... MDS, It's always an distinct pleasure to read your RP's man...really great writing here.

Awaking to the sound of crackling timber .

sniffing the air the crisp tang of cheap hardwood floor and something else.... there is smoke rising form the floor!

grabbing the suitcase he sprints out the door. He is on the second floor. He continues towards the stairs only to see that they are on fire and he could hardly go through them without some major damage. Plus he liked his pants. He ran back up the stairs and across the hall, the smoke had begun to swallow the halls, the flames just showing through the cracks in the hardwood floor. He opened the door down the hall. To find that it is a typical apartment except with one window. He ran to the window and punched it out. While he did so he cut his hand. Long nasty gashes, with the blood oozing out. Dam that kinda hurt he thought. After making enough space for him to escape the now crumbling beams falling around him he jumped out the window and landed in the garbage. He looked back at the building the fire had now consumed the second floor. As he walked away from what used to be his home, suitcase in hand he sees the smoke rising, he thinks to himself… Now what?

MDS and Aurelia really have done some work so far. Now Mordo just needs to start posting to screw every "good guy" over.

Also, I love how MDS and Aurelia readily use masses of unclaimed people for a story. Imagining two full SWAT squads being torn to pieces while another fight rages on a higher floor of a building is just plain fun. I will have to dial the torture notch up a bit, seems like Aurelia is going to use Erzuli to challenge Andy in that field. Then again it seems like Erzuli is more of the mad scientist type while Andy is just beating people up for information.


BIC:

Portland was a rather large city, but more importantly it was an incredibly liberal city; free speech was the major deciding factor in the area and not only that, but there happened to be a rather large number of prostitutes and other miscreants running around at night. Claudius enjoyed the city and its people, feeding was not only easy but entertaining and he enjoyed toying with the cattle before settling on which one he would relieve of their vital fluids. It was much like going to a restaurant and choosing his own lobster except that the restaurant was usually one of his local night clubs, he felt bad that it had been done before but it worked and allowed him to have fun. Tonight he looked over at the crowd that had come in with hungry eyes, looking for just the right victim to ask to join him in the VIP room while Claudia sat behind a sleek black laptop looking over business reports.

"Dear when are you ever going to have any fun with the humanii?" Claudius asked, "You stay behind that things screen the entire time we're here and when you do decide to feed it doesn't really matter to you who it is."

"Its all blood." Claudia responded, "I could care less what the container looks like."

"So you would take sustenance from that man over at the bar, failing miserably at hitting on the bar tender?" Claudius teased and saw Claudia look from the office window at the fat, sweaty man who looked like a 70s reject.

"If I could get to his neck then yes." Claudia responded before returning to her keyboard.

"Claudia, I admire your apathy, but I will have to test your resolve." Claudius said with a smirk.

"What do you mean by that father?" Claudia asked.

"Go down there, get him, and take him to one of the back rooms." Claudius said.

"You are joking right?" Claudia replied.

"What, so you do care how your targets look after all then?" Claudius teased.

"I would, but Clovus and Hernan are busy with their own dinners right now." Claudia replied.

"No they aren't, Hernan is out on the floor looking for seconds." Claudius said, spying the hispanic vampire among the swaying crowd. He looked at his daughter and waited for her to either get up or resign to the fact that appearance mattered to her, either way it would be entertaining. Eventually Claudia sighed and got up from her chair and walked out of the office to the floor below. Claudius saw her quickly approach the man and immediately motion for the back rooms, she had no sense of grace about her, no sense of allure in obtaining her target. In fact it seemed as if she was a cop telling someone to come with them so they could get their fingerprints, it still managed to work for her though and the two soon disappeared below the windowed balcony of the office. Claudius waited for a few minutes before Claudia returned to the office and stormed back to her seat behind the desk. "And my dear, how was it?"

"He tasted like salt and bad cologne, but his blood was all the same." Claudia said, her face completely straight and her eyes focused on the dim glow of the screen.

"You seem distant Claudia." he said, folding his hands behind his back, "Surely you weren't at all troubled by the choice were you?". After a few seconds of silence Claudia looked at her father.

"It was disgusting and I never wish to feed off of something like that again." Claudia stated almost robotically.

"So next time choose someone good looking instead of saying that every human is the same." Claudius walked over to Claudia and placed his hands on her shoulders. "So now that your business is done here, maybe you should go out and get that present for young Michael. The cold air will be refreshing and hopefully erase your memory of the man."

"I don't know what to get a one year old for his birthday." Claudia replied.

"Get him a stuffed animal or something, its really quite easy." Claudius said, "From their receipts I saw that they got him a tonka truck and some larger race cars that made a lot of noise and lights. Seems like he might like cars, or lights, or loud noises. Whatever you get him, make sure its thoughtful though, I don't want you picking out a pack of gum and giving that to him, I want you to think about it or its not a punishment, its just a chore."
..............

Claudia glanced around at the lights of the night, most of the dedicated toy stores were closed but more than several department stores would be open and from her research Sesame Street seemed to be pretty popular among human children especially a bright red creature named Elmo. Upon research she discovered the Count as well and decided that she would find a way to kill every single person involved in creating that show eventually, but for now she would attempt to find an "Elmo" for the insufferable Bruss child. She looked upon a Wal-Mart entrance and sighed as she walked through the sliding door entrance, a blast of warm air assaulted her as she went from the dark and into the fluorescent light. She saw several cashiers chatting with each other, and other employees already looking as if they were on death's door. Large blue signs indicated the toy section and she immediately made her way over to the aisles and began searching for anything bright and red; fire trucks, race cars, and finally the furry red body of a plush Elmo that also talked. "Noise and its a stuffed animal." Claudia thought to herself, "This was easy afterall.". She grabbed the toy off the shelf and quickly walked towards the registers were a teenage female quickly scanned the item and stated the price. Claudia quickly handed her the cash and walked out of the store with the plastic bag in hand, glad of finishing the awful business. As she made her way back to the club a noise in an alley caught her attention and she came to an abrupt stop. The sound of moaning could be heard and she stealthily made her way into the alley, the bag clutched tightly to her body to stop it from rustling, to find the source. Luckily enough she found a parked car, steam clouding the windows. She knew what was going on inside, but she was still hungry... the taste and odor of the fat man had been too much for her and instead of keeping anything down she had managed to throw up anything she had gotten from the man. She rapped her knuckles on the driver side and the commotion in the car came to a complete stop, as the window rolled down the smell of cheap perfume and sex entered the air, but the prey this time at least looked appealing.

"Its not what it looks like, this is my wife here." the man said quickly and flashed his wedding ring.

"Yeah, we're married, just having some fun officer." the woman said before appearing in the same window, also flashing a ring.

"I'm no officer." Claudia said as she dropped the present and grabbed the man by his shirt and pulled him out of the vehicle's window. The woman screamed in terror as her husband soon met the brick wall of one of the buildings comprising the alley. Claudia could be seen using a metal rod as a knife and stabbing it into the back of the man's neck, paralyzing him without killing him. She continued screaming before Claudia had lunged through the driver's window and pushed the same rod through the woman's larynx, silencing her in terror as Claudia walked quickly over to the passenger side and pulled the woman through the open door. Claudia bit into the woman's neck and blood poured into her mouth as the light from the street reflected off of the metal rod still stuck in her prey's neck. The woman's mouth gaped in horror and her eyes transfixed on the road as the last of her vitae entered Claudia who placed the woman back into her seat and then went back to the husband who lay there with his pants around his knees. She still needed something to make up for any blood she had lost thanks to vomiting and made quick work of the man before returning him to his own seat in the car. The blood had felt warm as it ran its course through her body in the cold of the night and she reveled in the feeling as her stomach emanated the warmth of the vitae to her limbs. She let herself enjoy the feeling for several seconds before bending down and picking up the present, she looked at it and noticed that the box had been dented and banged up, most likely by the man's feet as he thrashed trying to get free of her grasp. She swore to herself as she shoved the present back into the bag and walked back towards the Wal-Mart to get a similar gift, knowing that Claudius would not accept her giving a gift that looked mangled as fulfilling the punishment.
...............

Claudia returned to the club after an hour and sat the gift in front of her father, who was enjoying a glass of wine to chase down the blood that he had recently drunk from a mid twenties "stud", and pulled it out to show him.

"Very nice my dear," Claudius said, "I am sure that Michael will enjoy this, but he will enjoy unwrapping it even more I think."

"Are you joking father?" Claudia's shoulders sank in despair.

"Did you drink the blood of that fat man in the club?" Claudius said as his smile disappeared behind the rim of his wine glass.

"I will wrap it then." Claudia said, swearing under her breath as she walked over to her desk and sat down at the computer. "But I will do it when we get home and only then."

"As long as it gets wrapped and delivered I could care less where you do it Claudia." Claudius said cheerfully, "Maybe next time you won't go against my word when it comes to ordering around the slaves.".

"When will we be leaving father?" Claudia asked, tired of being in the city.

"In say thirty minutes," Claudius replied, "tonight isn't as fun as I hoped it would be."

Claudia sat and waited for the thirty minutes to pass, they would pass slowly for her, but they would eventually pass and then again it was only thirty minutes out of an eternity so it did not bother her much.

I need to post! I will try and get something tonight or tomorrow.

The hangar was quiet at this time of night, just a few of the maintenance crew were still around doing their usual rounds on the aircraft sitting in their bays. Several hangars and outdoor pads held all manner of craft from a massive C-130 to smaller private jets, to single engine recreation planes to her own beauty, the one she was standing next to. This beautiful little two engine anachronism she loved so much.

Katherine loved things that flew, her entire life had been spent flying anything that would stay in the air and as a woman who had lived through the 20th century, that was no easy thing. It hadn't always been that way though, her face tightened as she recalled the first few years after she was bitten, those had been the lowest in her life and she had since sworn she would never go back to them. She looked over her plane, its dark green metallic skin bringing up the memories of when she had flown its kind in the forties. She examined the machine, making sure there were no nicks or scratches as she walked down its side, her concentration was broken by the sound of quiet cursing and the clanking of metal from the back of the plane, she walked over to where the side door was and saw the oafish members of the team she had just flown in unloading the plane with bags of heavy equipment. She scowled, their manner of loading and unloading her plane was as half assed as they were.

"Hey!" She called up in an attention grabbing tone. "What did I say about the bags? This think aint a tank, if I find one dent in that door you're going to be up to your neck in it!"

The man standing in the side door glared down at her as he tossed down another bag to the ground about ten feet below.

"Feth you! This stuff is heavy." He complained. Katherine gave him a withering glare and her voice changed from accusatory to mocking.

"Oh you poor thing, want me to get up there and help?"

The man in the side door just grumbled to himself and continued to drop bags into the pile next to the plane. Katherine rolled her eyes and walked off to find somewhere to sit. She found a crate to sit on and undid her ponytail, letting her red hair flow over her shoulders and unzipped her flight jacket, the inside of the hangar was warm and she was tired so she really didn't care how informal she looked at the moment. The past six months of her life had been strenuous to say the least, but in her eyes they had been worth it. In fact she was sure she wouldn't have been standing in this hangar tonight if it hadn't been for some of the people around this little haven. Of course it had been quite a big change first, her eyes were opened to a world she didn't know existed, much like all those years ago when the Network told her family that her father wasn't coming home. But that was a faint memory, just a little feeling of sadness after more than a century of life in this world. The staff and the guards, the fighters and the leadership, they might have not have been the most friendly, but they were all like her, they all found a home together and in this place they didn't have to fear things like vampires...or humans...or hunters.

Katherine shuddered a bit as she remembered her last run in with hunters...she had---

Her train of thought was interrupted by a ringing and a vibration in her pocket. She reached into it and pulled out her cellphone, smiling when she saw who it was.

"Hey hon, where are ya?" She asked in a nonchalant tone.

"At the outskirts of the city, should be back soon." the gruff voice of Harlow came back from the other side. "You get back alright?"

"Just peachy, the ride was boring though, these guys I fly get to have all the fun when they get back on the ground." She replied brushing her hair back behind her ear with one hand.

"Well, perhaps you should be thankful for that." Harlow said.

"What's that's supposed to mean? I can hold my own against any of these jokers!" She exclaimed though not angrily. There was laughter on the other side of the phone.

"Didn't say that Kitty." Harlow replied, using her pet name. "Just saying I'd hate to have something happen to you. You know that." Katherine sighed slightly.

"I know hon, what about you, you have any fun?"

"Plenty, one of the group bought it actually." Harlow said lowly. Katherine bolted upright at this.

"Oh my God you're not hurt are you!?" She asked worried. Another chuckle came from Harlow's side.

"No, I'm fine, so's Alex, in fact he finally got his hands dirty on this one." Katherine nodded slightly even though she knew Harlow couldn't see her.

"So did you finally get it?" She asked, referring to the case.

"Sure did, took a few dead leads and a lot of tracking down but we finally got it back."

"D'you figure out whats inside it?" She asked.

"Nope." Harlow said with a chuckle. "I'll have to talk to you later about it, gotta report to Natasha and then I'll be around." Katherine frowned a bit at the mention of the name, she was fully aware of her own subordination to the wolf queen but that didn't mean she had to like it. Either way, she kept those feelings to herself, knowing that talking ill of her employer would be nothing but trouble for her.

"Alright hon, I'll see ya when you get back." She said softly. Harlow said his goodbyes and then hung up. Katherine sighed again and went walking into the night air outside the hangar while she waited. Yes these last six months had been hectic, but they had been happy, happier than she had been in a long time now that they were back together. She smiled at the memories of Harlow, the good ones and the bad ones, glad that he was in her life again, still regretting her confused decision to abandon him all those years ago. She felt emotions well up in her as she walked...

She might have abandoned him...but he had never abandoned her...

----------------------------

Six months ago, Somewhere in the Ardennes, France.

Darkness, blackness, that had been her world for the past week. She was chained to some wall in a dark pit that sat in the bowels of a medieval fortress. She sobbed slightly as she recalled the night a week ago, she'd been flying for a private military company and had landed her bird in Germany. then they had come, big men in black Hummers with tinted windows had surrounded her plane, shot anyone who tried to resist and restrained the others and her. She'd been beaten into the back of one of the Hummers and blindfolded, scared for her life, angry at the sudden kidnapping, unsure of what to do, it had all happened so fast, they just appeared, shot some of the passengers, tied up the rest and drove away.

She hadn't a clue who or what had kidnapped her until they made it to the castle...

It was a dark, gloomy, gothic castle made of grey stone that showed signs of again and dereliction but it was by far the most imposing structure she'd ever seen. Gun towers and barbed wire had been added with flood lights and thick reinforced steel gates. The blindfold came off just long enough for her to see where they were pushing her and the rest of the group they had been put with. Their captors said nothing, only looking at them with icy glares filled with hate. As they went through the halls, Katherine saw all sorts of Christian iconography, they passed a great vaulted chapel where men bowed before an altar where a priest stood and chanted out a benediction, his hands raised to the sky in a gesture to appeal to god. Her view of the room was quickly cut off though as she was shoved from behind spitefully by one of the men that moved the group. They passed many chambers, some with eerie chanting coming from behind them, others with screams and moans coming from within their depths. The further they went the less light could be seen from any of the candle lit chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings. Down they spiraled down staircases and through hallways, until they finally made it to the much more cramped dungeons. there they were forced to hand in their cloths which were exchanged for stinking, blood stained rags and thrown as a group into a large stone chamber with no windows and one door, a thick metal slab with only the smallest slot to let light and air in. No matter how much they yelled, nobody would answer them why they were down here or what they were imprisoned for. they were just told to shut up before someone came in the room to shut them up...

So they sat in silence until a few hours later the door was shoved open and one of the group was grabbed and drug out. This came as a surprise and was so fast that the others didn't have any time to react. there wasn't much that could be done however, each one of them smelled like wolf to her, and each had been shackled with silver cuffs that were impossible for them to break out of, whoever was holding them here didn't like wolves apparently. Katherine wondered were they hunters? She'd never heard of hunters capturing and torturing wolves, only killing them, who the hell was doing this to them?

The screams started, unearthly howls of pain and suffering echoed from down the hall, screams so profusely tortured that it curdled the blood of all who heard it. Katherine began to tear up and sob quietly, what the hell was this place? Finally after an hour of listening to the horrid screaming, it stopped. Then the door opened and another of the group was grabbed, this time with the unlucky chosen trying to get away from his captors who simply beat him into submission with clubs they had brought. When he was finally dragged out of the chamber one of the men looked back at the scared group and smiled.

"I hope you enjoy your comforts for as long as you can, lycan scum, it will be your turn to be purged next." He said and slammed the door shut.

More screams, this time for another hour and then another silence until the door was opened again and another unfortunate soul dragged out. This went on for twelve hours a day for two days, each time the screams could be heard from down the hall it kept the group from sleeping, and each time they stopped an electricity entered the air, one of knowing that you could be next to scream for your life and your sanity. Katherine saw desperation, she saw fear, she saw anger, three of the group tried to overpower their captors when they next came in but they were dispatched with silver blades and slaughtered as if they were nothing more than insects. Finally, they came and picked her up, as they closed the door behind her they once again blindfolded her and marched her down the hall into another chamber where she was forced to lay on some sort of slab and was chained to it. Chanting voices that she could not see filled the chamber, she smelled the heavy scent of incense and finally a hand gripped her left arm solidly and a voice spoke next to her.

"Are you prepared Father?" He said.

"Yes brother Gregory, let us begin the purging." an older voice chimed from somewhere in the room.

Something began to cut into her arm with a burning pain that she could not stand, she screamed, she couldn't stop herself the pain was so intense, she screamed so loud it drowned out the chanting of the priest who stood by her with a bible and spoke verses aloud from it.

That had been a week ago and every day since she had been unchained from the wall in this new chamber, brought back into the same chamber and tortured again, they never asked any questions, just burned, pierced, stabbed, beaten, stretched, torn and cut her. Her existence had been from one session to another and it had been so oppressed, so painful that she had nearly lost her sanity only being able to keep her mind in one piece by the dreams she got in her scant few hours of sleep. Each night she dreamed of him and woke sobbing asking herself why she had done what she did, she had been nothing but miserable ever since that decision and now she would be tortured for as long as her captors saw fit, her body being able to take such punishment because of its supernatural ability to heal itself. Her body might not show too many marks but her mind was close to breaking close to just shutting down and becoming nothing more than a gibbering lunatic...

She hung there on the wall sobbing quietly, it was the only thing she could do...the door to her cell opened again, she cringed, she knew what was to come. Gruff hands got her from her shackles and shoved her out the door only this time it was different, she was moved to another room and forced onto her knees and even though she could not see, she could smell the other group of lycans around her, they had all been broken like she had and were just waiting for the end of it all like she was. Someone in front of them came forwards and addressed them all.

"You have all been found wanting in the eyes of God, your sin is unforgivable, each of you reeks with the filth of the unholy on you, each of you have been found guilty of collaborating with the evil powers of this earth and for that the penalty is death!" The voice declared, Katherine recognized it as the voice of the Father who had chanted during her torturings.

"But fear not my children, our Lord is a forgiving God, he has found mercy for you and that is why you have been purged, now comes the final test of faith, your bodies shall be purged by fire so that your souls may live! Rejoice for our God will receive you this day as a clean soul!"

With that the first victim was grabbed and thrust forwards, Katherine could not see the whimpering man but knew he was being shackled to something by the sounds of clanking metal, she also smelled burning, like the smell of burnt metal. The whimpering man began to moan as he too smelled it. He squirmed in his chains, desperately trying to get away.

"Rejoice and be cleansed of your sin before the Almighty, son!" The priest shouted. Something made a loud whooshing noise and Katherine could feel the heat of open flames in the air, the man screamed piteously, ravenously, loudly until he began to gurgle and then was silent. The sickening smell of burned flesh permeated the air. Katherine sobbed, the guards hauled the charred body away and then she was hauled up by a pair of huge hands and shoved towards the slab, she could see nothing but shivered, knowing her time was at hand. She cried as she was put on the slab, anticipating the horrendous pain she would endure before dying, but most of all she wept because she knew now she would never see him again.

"Rejoice and be cleansed of your sin before the Almighty, daughter!" The priest again said, Katherine winced, anticipating the flames that would sear her flesh from her bones...

But there was nothing, she waited for a few moments for death to greet her but nothing happened, she heard hushed voices around her wondering what was going on themselves. Suddenly, loud boot falls and yells were heard from down the hall and Katherine swore she could hear the sound of gunfire and screaming somewhere above her.

"What in God's name is going on up there?" The Father asked. A panting, trembling voice answered him.

"Beasts! Beasts everywhere! They came out of the forest and climbed the walls, they are overrunning the compound!"

"What--" Began the Father, he was cut off by a bone shattering explosion in a far wall that threw everyone standing to their feet with the shockwave and even sent a few captors screaming to their deaths with the debris. Katherine was beginning to panic, with the blindfold on she had no idea what was going on and feared she may die at any moment.

She heard a sound she had not heard in years, the sound of a pack of howling, blood maddened wolves on the attack, men screamed, she heard flesh being torn and bone being snapped, she smelled blood being spilled and voided bowels. For minutes gunfire and the sound of tearing flesh were the only things that met her ears, she heard the oaths to God shouted by the last of her captors that were killed without mercy. Finally it became relatively quiet and she heard voices again.

"What the hell is this place?" A voice asked.

"This is where the six fingered hand purges the unclean." Another voice spat in disgust.

"Heartless bastards." She heard one snarl.

"Free the prisoners, we have to move soon, the boss wants this entire place cleaned out."

Katherine's mind could not comprehend what was happening, she still thought she was in danger as someone let her down from the slab and undid her shackles. A small wolf smiled at her as she got down off the slab.

"Well aren't you--" He began before narrowly missing her clawed hand. "Hey!" He said ducking under another savage blow. "Take it easy!"

A strong hand gripped her arm from behind and stopped her from singing again, she came around with her other arm and slashed the other wolf, nicking him in the face and causing him to yell and let her go.

"Bastards! I'll kill all of you if you touch me again!" She screamed baring her fangs and backing away from the two wolves who looked at her surprised. She was just about to turn and run down the corridor when two strong hands grabbed her from behind and choked her into submission and unconsciousness.

She came to groggily hearing voices around her and once again thinking she was in danger began to tense up.

"Easy! We're not here to hurt you." One of the wolves said putting his hands up defensively. She kept her claws in a striking pose and snarled at the wolves around her.

"Stay back, who the hell are you?!" She yelled at them angrily.

"Try the men who just saved your sorry life." A cold voice said from behind her, she turned her head to see who it was and immediately dropped her hands, too surprised to do much but stare. There, with his hands in his pockets stood the man she had only seen in her dreams for the past hundred years. As stoic as she'd always remembered him, as strong as he'd always been.

"Syd?" She asked barely able to believe her eyes. Harlow looked her in the eyes with absolutely no warmth.

"Looks like you got yourself deep in it this time Katherine." He said simply. She got on her shaky legs to try to give him and embrace but he firmly pushed her away.

"I...Syd, I--" She said, unable to form what she wanted to say, how happy she was to see him, asking him why he was here and what he was doing and all these questions were bursting in her brain and she had no way to vocalize them she was so shaken. Harlow could see his men stared confusedly at the two of them.

"Go sweep the rest of this place and come back to me with a report." He said and waved them away, once the two were alone, Katherine spoke, unable to look away from Harlow.

"Syd, how did you find me?" She asked. He was silent for a moment and didn't even look at her as he spoke in an even tone.

"Not by trying, this place should have been torn to the ground years ago for all the grief its caused, these sick religious fanatics deserve what they got today."

Katherine was taken aback by his distances approach to her, she remembered how close they had been all those years ago and her fractured, tortured mind refused to remember how hard it had been for both of them to separate.

"Oh, I just thought---" She began feebly before Harlow finished for her angrily.

"What? You thought I was here like some sort of knight in shining armor come to whisk you away after you left me? You think I forgot what you did all those years ago?" He asked, now confronting her, she felt tears well up in her eyes once again and stream down her dirty face.

"Syd, I...I can't tell you how sorry I am, how much I--" She tried but was cut off again.

"You're sorry!? You leave me a century as a miserable wretch and you're sorry?!" He asked and began to stomp off. "I don't need this gak." He said as he walked away. Katherine fell to her knees unable to stand on them as she felt them turn to jelly under her.

"How do you think I felt after I left?! Do you think I was happy?! I was confused! By the time I realized what I'd thrown away..." She began shouting at Harlow as he walked away. She bowed her head as she trailed off and sobbed.

"It was too late." She whispered quietly

She sat there on her knees, unable and unwilling to go on. A few moments passed quietly into a few minutes of silence, if she had not been looking at the floor she would have seen Harlow standing in the hallway with his back turned to her as if trying to decided something. After a few more moments she heard footsteps walk up to her and two strong hands lift her to her feet. She stared Harlow in the face and noticed Harlow had taken off his hat in his hand, standing there as if he expected her to say something .

"I have spent the past century, dreaming about the day I'd see you again, I just--" She began in tears but was stopped as Harlow grabbed the back of her neck and gently leaned forwards and kissed her on the mouth. It was a move she was not expecting and at first was surprised but after a moment returned the embrace and after another moment they separated and Katherine looked at his smirking face confusedly.

"I never stopped loving you girl." He said softly. "What you did those years back, that hurt me more than anything ever has. As much as I want to hate you for it, I cant. I want you to know that if anyone on this earth is worthy of forgiveness I think its you."

Katherine tried to say something but all that came out was the first joyous laughter she'd had in a long time. The two sat there in each other's arms until Harlow finally split from her and led her up to the main hall of the castle where she was allowed to change out of the rags and followed him to where a group of wolves stood over a group of her hateful captors, all of them were wounded somehow and it appeared the wolves were about to kill all of them on a firing squad.

"What do we do with the prisoners?" One of the wolves asked Harlow. He looked them each in the eye with a scowl which they returned, he then looked at Katherine for a moment before smiling wickedly and turning back to the wolf in front of him.

"The survivors have been either clawed or bitten, yes?" He asked the wolf smiled as well.

"Yes sir."

"Shackle them, we'll bring them with us, the full moon is in a few days, soon they will know the "sin" we are all cursed with." He said spitefully and exited the room. Katherine thoroughly enjoyed the looks of horror on their faces as each of them thought what they would be in a few nights. She finally caught up with Harlow as they began loading trucks outside.

"Where are we going?" She asked hesitantly.

"Somewhere safe." He said. "I'll have to introduce you to Natasha when we get there."

"Who?" She asked confused and tired.

"My employer and benefactor." He said. A lanky wolf with a mohawk came up to him as he was about to get into the truck.

"All packs are accounted for, we've had some losses but nothing too serious, for the most part they didn't see what hit them."

"Good, flatten this place." Harlow said.

"Who's this?" Alex asked.

"Oh, Alex, meet your great grandmother; Katherine."

The two looked at each other wide eyed as Harlow chuckled from inside the truck.

"This is going to take some time to get used to." He said cheerily.

OOC: Damn...I have got to stop writing books...

Joker had loved to be home at the King's compound, it was one of the few times he felt legitimately safe. And even then it wasn't completely a safe haven. They had had their share of fight on their own territory but with the massive barred gate and constant guard patrol and compound filled with his friends and family, he was considerably safer then he was most days. Whenever he was home it just felt like the calm before the storm. The longer he was home the bigger job the King had for him. Before he had been sent to pragque he was home for nearly two weeks.

The sound of the shower stopped and joker stepped out quickly drying himself off with a towel. The whole bathroom looked blinding white with marble floors and white walls, Joker didn't care for it but wasn't going to complain about anything while home. He Changed back into his suit and straightened his tie admiring himself in the mirror for a few moments before exciting the bathroom into the hall, the hall was filled with people nodding at Joker as they passed him but moving on his way. He figured he would go out and drink a little perhaps find a girl. He put on is jacket and headed for the door suddenly someone jerked him around as he was walking. He was face to face with Knight again.

"What is it? I'm just about to leave. Care to join me?" Joker asked nonchalant making a second attempt to leave.

"Oh no you don't," Knight said firmly hurrying to stand between him and the door, "I've been looking all over for you."

"Well here I am. Be quick about it I'm edging to get out of the place and drink myself into a coma."

"You'll have time to destroy your liver later. The King wants to see you."

Joker smiled

"Knight, sometimes I think you've become little more than a glorified messenger."

"Hey I used to be young once, blowing gak up and killing people, good riddance." He said with a chuckle. "Leave young deeds to the young, besides I'm old and grouchy, I'd probably just hurt my back and yell at someone to get off my lawn." He smiled. With Knight standing between the door he had a better chance crossing a thousand feet stone wall that was on fire.

"Alright," Joker said submissively, "take me to him."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The King's throne room looked well, like the throne room of an ancient king. He had a long purple rug leading up to two thrones, one occupied by a man who always wore a stern face, he had long grey hair neatly combed that hung down to about shoulder length. He had a defined jaw with a grey goatee covering his chin. The other seat lay desolately empty, a painful reminder of what the Black Serpents had managed to take from them, Joker's mother.

Joker entered the room and walked before his father quickly falling to one knee to bow. The didn't have the normal father-son relationship. He never knew his father to be that cool dad but more of a authority figure he strives to please. The King's signs of affection were far and few but a hand on the shoulder and a good job had been all Joker needed to strive for perfection in what he was tasked with. Failure wasn't an option.

"Rise my son." The King commanded standing up with a large grin on his face and moved to embrace Joker in a hug. Joker rose and hugged him back, this is what he mainly fought for. He had never really had love from his parents. He was an orphan young and when the King took him in he had to fight for every scrap of respect he was given. He was born to fight the King's wars and die for him, in return he got a father.

"You wanted to see me about something?" Joker asked looking around the room the only other ones in the room where Knight who now stood at the right side of the King;s throng admiring the two. And the Red Knight who sat on the left side of Queens empty throne, a air of sadness that seemed to resonate off of him.

"Yes," He began " I got a message the other day from some Hunters in Arizona, the network pestering us again. They need more men to guard the work site since some attack happened a while ago on a different one they wanted to jump start security. I could have said no seeing as I have already done more than enough for them but I confess it peaked my interest think of it, a different world. Can you imagine the power of a different world? I need to know what it is like."

The King was cut off by the doors to his room being barged open and two men in black suites entering with a very cross expression on their face. Each one of them had grabbed hold of a young man's arm and had dragged him into the throne room. His face was etched with fear and he looked like he was nearly about to void his bowels. "What is this!?" The King demanded upon seeing this.

"He's useless! Just useless!" Cried out one of the men whose face was now red with anger.

"I'm sorry. He was jerking around too much and I was nervous. I didn't know how to get them out without causing damage so I just left them in there. I should have known it would be a temporary solution at best." The man being carried said nervously.

"Someone tell me what's going on before I grow impatient." The king stated.

Realizing that the King was about to become very angry if no one properly explained the situation one of the men began "A week ago you decided it would be good for Spades here" He said gesturing to the man they had dragged in 'To be our medic because he had medical experience."

"That's right." The King stated, "it was the only place I could put him, do you question my judgement?"

"Well...er...No sir. It's just that a week ago after a raid by the Black Serpents I was shot in the stomach and needed to be patched up. During the surgery this idiot had been fumbling around everything in a panic to help me and dropped his car keys in my open wound, and then not realizing what to do he sowed my wound up with the keys still inside."

"Don't worry!" 2 Of Spades interjected flushed with embarrassment , "I had a spare in the car..." The King's face darkened with disappointment as he eyed Spades.

"I tried to put you to use you as a favor to a friend. But wherever I seem to put you it only causes more harm then good.' The King stated as he glared.

Joker quickly tried to think of something to say. "Once a King's Men always one. You can't get rid of him. He's our problem until death."

"Yes, until death." The King stated as a wicked grin crossed his face. He turned his attentions back to Joker, "You will go to Arizona and assist these Hunters in whatever they require you to do, and..." He said a he paused for a moment, " The Black Knight and this... 2 Of Spades will accompany you." Joker had moved to protest upon hearing this but knew that the King's word had been final.

"When do I leave?" Joker asked annoyed at how this encounter had turned out.

"Immediately." The King answered indefinitely.

WARORK93 wrote: I can hold my own against any of these jokers!" She exclaimed

Oh, I'm not so sure about that.

(sorry,i may of gotten a few detail wrong on past events,please correct me if im wrong.)

sarah laughed “so this bitch natasha runs the werewolves like a cult,while you 'brothers' scrabble as this cain is missing?” slender smiled,and laughed himself. Laughing was the one human thing he understood,to a degree. He didn’t know why so many were addicted to it though. He stopped and shrugged,taking a mental note that he only had 10 minute before charles would need to be home.

sarah then asked “so..why is it you hate your fellow 'leeches' so much,and side with the humans?” slender cringed. He gripped his chair hard.

“bad memories,my dear,very bad..i..i have my reasons.” he quickly jumped back onto the topic at hand.
“its old info,to say it kindly. I haven’t seen another creature of the night in 40 years,but Ive heard whispers from the shadows saying war is looming.” standing up,he smiled at the odd human “well seems are time is up,young odd sarah.” she looked slightly upset.

“aww,but this is so cool! When will you be back then?” slender laughed,and brushed off his shoulders.

“oh no,you cant stay here. Ill be back in 2 days,if you really wish to learn more.” she smiled, and nodded as he walked out,straightening his tie.

“ill be here!” he heard her yell as she ran off to wherever she lived. Slender quite enjoy telling her the horrors of the night. Yet she never got afraid. She seemed to enjoy the thought that murderous monsters roamed the night. As slender climbed the roofs to head home, he couldn’t help but remember those painful memories. no..no! Your a shadow,only a shadow. hu..humans are nothing more than rats in your lab! They mean nothing but learning! Nothing! You only want to help them for yourself,nothing else! Nothing! Slender stopped,and slammed a fist into a sign. He heard the neon lights on the other side break and go out,and people yelling. Sighing,he straightened his tie and continued on his way.

As he entered his home,charles was tackled by the loving girls. As always,he went through his routine. Kiss on the head,kiss for the wife,small talk, dinner,kids tucked in, couch. The tv wasn’t on,he realized,but he didn’t see the remote anywhere. He was about to ask brianna were it was when he heard her say she was going out shopping. That was odd,brianna never shopped this late. Charles would be worried,but slender was curious.

“why you leaving so late? You shop in the mourning’s.” he heard her stop, and felt her turn and smile at him.

“well after last night I felt so good I slept in late.” he heard her giggle,and did so too. As she left,charles found the remote on the counter,next to a wal-mart sack. Something about the sack was odd,but he shrugged and ignored it. Sitting back down,he turned the TV to the news.

“-and with this final push, meat man corps now owns every meat manufacturing plant in las vegas. In just 2 days they have taken over the market,using new methods put in place by their sales CEO charles backhand.-”

charles flipped off the TV. With a smile,he leaned back,and then frowned. The bag...wasn’t there when he left...which means brianna had gone shopping. Slender jumped up. He had just realized something,what was briannas job? He had never been able to track her,and had assumed she was a stay at home mom,but she had talked about work before. Charles heard the door open,and turned quick,only to see a gun pointed at his chest, and tears coming down briannas cheeks.

“who are you? Wheres my husband? I know your not him! He never skips work, he never goes in alleys,and he wouldn’t be sketched by police saying he murdered someone!” slender bit his lip. Looks like those 2 guys had wasted his mercy. Straightening his tie,he smiled as a look of horror crossed her face.

As the skin melted off of him,he said “im slender von maun, a skin stealer, a vampire,and totenmaske. And currently in need of making sure you and those gag hoodlums dont ever speak. Ever...again.”

darksage wrote:

WARORK93 wrote: I can hold my own against any of these jokers!" She exclaimed

Oh, I'm not so sure about that.

...no pun intended...

WARORK93 wrote:

darksage wrote:

WARORK93 wrote: I can hold my own against any of these jokers!" She exclaimed

Oh, I'm not so sure about that.

...no pun intended...

It's on. Joker has his rival.

darksage wrote:

WARORK93 wrote:

darksage wrote:

WARORK93 wrote: I can hold my own against any of these jokers!" She exclaimed

Oh, I'm not so sure about that.

...no pun intended...

It's on. Joker has his rival.

I'm actually going to be in Vegas when my official, timestamped RP's start. If anyone's going to be a rival, it's going to be me.

Chowderhead wrote:

darksage wrote:

WARORK93 wrote:

darksage wrote:

WARORK93 wrote: I can hold my own against any of these jokers!" She exclaimed

Oh, I'm not so sure about that.

...no pun intended...

It's on. Joker has his rival.

I'm actually going to be in Vegas when my official, timestamped RP's start. If anyone's going to be a rival, it's going to be me.

I have no idea why but I actually imagine Joker and Musater getting along swimmingly if it weren't for this whole race war thing.

darksage wrote:

Chowderhead wrote:

darksage wrote:

WARORK93 wrote:

darksage wrote:

WARORK93 wrote: I can hold my own against any of these jokers!" She exclaimed

Oh, I'm not so sure about that.

...no pun intended...

It's on. Joker has his rival.

I'm actually going to be in Vegas when my official, timestamped RP's start. If anyone's going to be a rival, it's going to be me.

I have no idea why but I actually imagine Joker and Musater getting along swimmingly if it weren't for this whole race war thing.

I have to agree. (Psst! Alliance?)

Chowderhead wrote:

darksage wrote:

Chowderhead wrote:

darksage wrote:

WARORK93 wrote:

darksage wrote:

WARORK93 wrote: I can hold my own against any of these jokers!" She exclaimed

Oh, I'm not so sure about that.

...no pun intended...

It's on. Joker has his rival.

I'm actually going to be in Vegas when my official, timestamped RP's start. If anyone's going to be a rival, it's going to be me.

I have no idea why but I actually imagine Joker and Musater getting along swimmingly if it weren't for this whole race war thing.

I have to agree. (Psst! Alliance?)

Yeah! And we could forget about war and fighting and just RP them hanging out.

After traveling all night he finally found a place just as dawn was about to break, on the very out skirts of Las Vegas.. Jumping over the old fence Florence walks through the graveyard. With tombstones scattered left and right, most covered with moss, it is obvious to him that no one frequents the place. The graveyard itself is not much to look at a bunch of small tombstones overgrown or at least partially covered with moss on a hill with a crypt on top of the hill.
“but it will do” he says aloud.

Stopping at the crypt he looks past, and sees that the graveyard is much bigger than it appears. That beyond this initial hill is several acres of tombstones all scattered about in some random pattern. Some big, some small. A couple that look like he could even hide his massive body behind.

With the suns glow starting to warm the horizon he runs over the crypt and slides the slab over and looks inside. There is a stars leading down. Down, down into the darkness. Feeling rather exhausted Florence simply steps inside and closes the slab behind him, leans against a wall and falls asleep.

BIC:………Light in the Darkness: part three…………

Vegas and Matt arrived at the makeshift camp. Matt immediately threw his heavy backpack on the ground, sweat pouring from under his cap. “Everything, all right kid?” James asked. His misty grey eyes watching the exhausted boy. Next to him lay the rest of Vegas crew. Bags placed against the crumbled wall, leaning against their newly created cushion. All their eyes closed, leaving only James to keep an eye out. They didn’t look like much, a rag tag bunch of misfits. If society still had existed, each of them would have been serving life sentences, death penalties. Documentaries of the criminally insane would have been shot around them. But then again, none of them would have changed into this if the world itself hadn’t changed. They all came to her, like bees to honey. They all heard the stories of the Wasteland ghost, The human that couldn’t be killed. One for one they searched for her, not wanting to stand there. Helpless. They Refused to hide underground, like the rest of the freemen. Their sorrow and anger needed an outlet, not a bunker. And Vegas provided just that.

There was no fire inside the remains of the old roadhouse. Light could be spotted from miles away, in the night sky. Making light itself a hazard to their own survival. Besides wood became increasingly scarce, entire forest died and withered under the veil. Plus there were more useful things for good strong wood, she thought placing her trusted stakes deeper in their leather scabbards. James had always admired how fast she fought with those things in her hands. “Did we receive the call?” James asked, his eyes now resting upon her. James had to be almost fifty, not that anyone was sure. Time had no meaning anymore. Vegas couldn’t even remember her own age. His messy black hair showed the first strings of gray. He was Vegas unofficial second in command. It was never said, but when she wasn’t there, everyone listened to the old veteran. He had seen more of the unnatural then any one of them, seeing as he once was a Hunter of the long dismantled network. James was their greatest source of information concerning ‘them’. Making him a vital part of their little crew.

“Monk told us that our target has left the city.” Vegas replied. James grunted as he crawled back on his feet. “Wake up, you dogs!” James said, unceremoniously kicking them awake. “Vegas has brought a gift, time to tear it apart.” Vegas smiled as her shabby crew stood up, unkempt hair, scruffy beards. They looked like refugees from a war. The only thing that was clean and polished, their guns and weapons. James pulled the last of the murky green containers out of his backpack, handing one over to each member of her seven headed crew. “No, chicken flavored one?” Michael joked. Vegas had heared the same sentence over and over again. But still a small smile appeared on the majority of the crew. “Maybe, next time.” James mockingly said. He placed the canister in a small device, placing the point of the thing right on his artery. The needle easily pierced the skin, injecting the precious liquid directly in his bloodstream. James cleaned the injector pistol and handed it over to Michael. “Bon appetite.” He said. One for one they injected themselves. And when Matt took the pistol as the last one, a familiar face appeared.

“Good evening, everyone.” Jill said, with a fake Texan accent. Her familiar tattered cowboy hood proudly sitting on top of her. A small sheriff star proudly displayed on her chest.“Morning.” Michael replied, rubbing his weary eyes. “Nah, it’s evening boy.” Jill said pointing up. “Me and my palls here.” She said pointing to the three shadowy figures, lurking in the tree line. “Are here for our pick up, milady .” Jill was one of the strangest persons you could ever meet. She could talk for days about the silliest of things. She had even talked a week about nothing else but candy wrappers. At least that was what her pet stone told Vegas once. But for all her curiosities, you couldn’t deny she was one of the fastest Runners on the wastelands. A necessary talent, to keep the Vampirii unaware of the human settlements. “Cause me and my homeboys,” she continued, now with a Brooklyn accent. “we’re getting a bit hungry, if ya know what I mean.” “Sorry, Jill. The supplies are still on it’s way.” Vegas apologized. “Ain’t a thing, but a chicken wing.” She said, immediately throwing herself on the ground. “Me and Kibbles, are just going to wait then.” “Kibbles? What happen to Brock the rock?” Vegas asked, as she saw Jill pulling out a red plush animal. “A rock?” Jill laughed. “Who the hell talks to rocks? You must be losing it, Vegas.” Vegas was horribly confused, sadly this was not an exception if you dared talking to Jill. “That crazy girl.” She heard Michael mutter.

Vegas looked over to the tree Runners who seemed contend with lurking in the shadows. They had been silent, until Jill mentioned who she was talking to her. “Vegas?;……is she……imagined…. taller.” She heard them whisper. Vegas didn’t mind, She did this all for them. The ones too scared to venture in the wastelands. Someone needed to help them, and if stories of her kept them alive. Then it was something she could live with. She looked at her crew, it was time to get to work. The supplies could be arriving any minute. Everyone grabbed their gear for the short walk to the road, where the transaction would take place. “Try to find some with chicken flavor.” Jill asked them while trying to balance Kibbles on her forehead.

The figure stood in the center of the pentacle, his arms held outstretched before him as if in the moment before an embrace. His crimson robes were lined with golden thread which seemed to shimmer as he moved, like a metallic stream in an ocean of blood. His hood was thrown back, revealing the handsome face that lay stretched upon his skull. His slightly curled black hair was short and uniform, orderly and controlled. His eyes were of the deepest garnet, piercing and unimaginably intelligent and cruel. It had taken weeks for the body to mold to his previous features, a grueling process that had been hastened with the regular application of surgery and magick. The mind had taken even longer, for his host had been of an especially strong will, fighting his possessor for every metaphysical inch of his body and soul. But as always, Pontius was victorious, claiming the willworker's body as his own. It had been a difficult and arduous process, but the Dyybuk had managed to retain the mage's arcane might, locking away a portion of his soul rather than consuming it, using it to fuel his dread powers, powers he now used to direct the thirteen other Kindred arrayed around him.

They were Strigoi, with cadaverous, predatory bodies covered in parchment-like skin, each as pale as a maggot. Each of the vampires was an Ancient, having survived the millennia studying their dark and forbidden tomes. The Strigoi were highly prized for their penchant as sorcerers of the blackest sort, skilled in the most twisted of magicks. The Strigoi were known for something else as well: Kinslaying. The gaunt vampires had a taste for the blood of other Kindred, a habit that made them reviled by others of their unclean race. The thirteen Strigoi had spent the last nine days in a gluttonous feast of Kindred Vitae, draining dry the bodies of dozens of vampires to increase their own arcane talent. Behind the Strigoi, hundreds of corpses littered the chamber, their bodies broken and mutilated to conform to the shapes of unnatural sigils and glyphs. It had taken weeks to prepare the ceremony, weeks well spent in the eyes of the Roman.

Pontius began to chant in the heathen tongue of Atlantis, the Strigoi joining in on the dark song, their words warping the air as reality itself protested. The bloody runes of the pentacle glowed a deep crimson around the Prince, twisting and buckling into even more obscene shapes. As the black orison reached its zenith, Pontius gazed towards the ceiling, which even now began to fade, replaced by an infinite starry void. Spitting out the last syllable of the spell, the Roman shot his hands forward, pointing them at the abyss. Adding to his magickal strength, the Strigoi stretched forth their bony hands towards the Dyybuk, filling him with dark power. From Pontius' fingertips sprang a stream of black starstuff which rent the void asunder, ripping the Veil apart in a single cataclysmic event. The stream continued to flow from the Roman, spiraling and lashing about as a link between the Crooked World and the mortal plane was forged. The location was precise, the Dyybuk having taken special care to ensure exactly were the Veil would be torn. Somewhere in Arizona, reality trembled, the Veil splitting and crumbling. The hole would cause horrible damage to the state as a whole if it was allowed to persist, inviting alien denizens to make a playground of the homes of the Cattle. This was something Pontius could not allow, not yet. Beginning the second stage of the ritual, Pontius sung anew, but this time alone. The Strigoi found they were unable to stop fueling the Dyybuk's spell, their bodies crumpling and imploding till they were naught but dust as their very souls were sucked away. The tear in the Veil healed slightly, but the planar scab was paper-thin, designed to hide the true extent of the wound. The swirling beam spun ever more slowly until it simply ceased its motion and drifted away like smoke in a fell wind. Pontius smiled, so the Cattle sought to invade his realm? Well, then let them come, he had prepared the way...

Fantastic as always Mordo.

Joker is so f*cked.

Yeah nice one mordo!

BIC:………Light in the Darkness: Part four…….

The cartwheels slowly churned trough the landscape. Skeletal horses pulling the heavy carts behind them, manned by two ghouls and four Vampiric protectors. All clad in the same pale green uniform, the symbol of the Acari Clan burned in their foreheads. They slowly followed the dusty path towards their city, carrying the tribute from their Dominus to the city. The Ghoul managing the first carriage, was uneasy to say the best. His eyes constantly twitching from one side to another. He had traversed this road any times, he didn’t like this path. It took them too close to Rek’shilva. all the rest of his compagnions, just laid back. Content with the shorter path that would give them some private time in the city. Their master thought they would take the long way around, an illusion they liked to keep intact. The guard next to the stressed ghoul, started muttering to himself. He always did that when he was asleep. How a vampire could sleep so deep like him? The ghoul could never find out why. The ghoul placed his vision back on the road, unhappy his dutiful guard had stolen his concentration. The ghoul yelped as he pulled the reigns towards him, abrubtly stopping the cart. The ghoul on the second cart cursed as he almost plowed into the first carriage. He didn’t listen.

Before him in the middle of the road stood a lonesome figure. The cigarette illuminated her face. The ghoul felt sweat pouring from his forehead, as the loner watched him. The guards had also noticed the threat and quickly jumped to the foreground. Two crossbows aimed at the woman, who didn’t seemed worried at all. The rest unsheated their weapons, prepared to use it. Except the dozed up guard next to him. It was only a single girl, the ghoul thought. “We serve the Acari clan.” He shouted towards the mysterious person. “Remove yourself from this path, or we’ll be forced to move you from it.” The ghoul licked his lips. Maybe they should just kill her. A small snack during a long trip, had never hurt someone. The woman slowly exhaled a plume of smoke, before she started speaking. “I claim your carts in the name of myself, please remove yourself or I will do it for you.” The ghoul laughed. She was alone, what could she possibly do? “And who are you?” he asked, she would taste great. “They call me Vegas.” She replied, bowing down. “Vega…Shoot her! Quickly…” That was as far as the ghoul could get. The steel barrel of a gun resting against his neck. He wasn’t the only one, wretched Humanii had crept behind them like spineless dogs. He could reek the smelly odor of delicious flesh. “Don’t even think about it.” The man behind him said. “Get them of the carts.” Vegas commanded, as she signaled the runners to get out of their hiding place.

Jill was the first one on the scene, her hands holding the tattered cowboy hat in place. She jumped on the carriage pulling the plastic covers away. Revealing the precious cargo. Muddy green Canisters. The fuel that kept the donors in the blood farms alive. Now they would keep the freemen alive. Jill counted the canisters carefull, placing herself next to the sleeping guard. Matt standing next to her, his pistol aimed at the guards head. Unsure about what he would do with his prisoner. “I don’t know.” Jill said with a very business oriented voice. “Are you sure this is the highest quality on the market?” “Finest in the world.” Vegas replied, calming the unsettled horses. “hmm…” Jill frowned, seemingly calculating in her head. “Sadly there is no chicken flavored once in this batch. So I’ll have to decline our deal.” She jumped off, walking away. Michael rolled his eyes, as did many other members of her crew. Jill was way too unpredictable. Luckily the other Runners where content with their price, as they had already calmed the horses of the second carriage. Ready to do what they came for. Running.

“What if I gave them free off charge?” Vegas said to Jill, who suddenly turned around. “A minute please.” She asked pulling Kibbles from her pocket, discussing if they should agree. The captives slowly looked around hoping, to find a way out. Sadly these Humanii were clever and never lost sight to them. The ghoul cursed to himself. He knew they had to take the long way around. Rek’shilva just wasn’t safe. After a heated discussion, Jill placed Kibbles back. “Me and my associate have decided. You drive a hard bargain, and we have no choice but to accept your harsh demands.” “Good.” Vegas grinningly said. “The lets get moving.” Jill jumped onto the stand, pulling the reigns in her own hands. “Hey, what about this guy?” she shouted. Thumping the dozed off guard in it’s face. The man was immediately awaked. His panicked eyes, staring at all the strange faces. The smell of thumping blood searing his nose. Without a hint, he grabbed his dagger. Burrowing it deep in the stomach of his carriage. Jill froze as she saw the dagger penetrating Matt. But that didn’t related to Vegas. “A gunshot roared through the wasteland. The guard staggered, watching his destroyed ribcage. James quickly jumped on the carriage, finishing the guard. Matt laid down, his hands firmly placed on the wound. Warm blood slowly trickling out. “I’m sorry.” He whispered. As howls Of beasts replied to the sound of Vegas’ gunshot.

“Bloodhounds!” Michael shouted as he recognized the vicious sounds. Vegas cursed, they needed to act fast. “Kill the worms.” She commanded. “Empty your bags and fill them with canisters.” Gunshots roared as the rest dumped their belongings, quickly filling it with canisters. Vegas ran to the two carriages, slicing through the ropes that connected the horses to their burden. Michael shoved his backpack right into Jill’s hands, who was still looking at the wounded boy. “Get out of here Jill” James commanded. He tore his sleeve from his shirt, pouring his water canteen over it. Hoping to sanitize it somewhat before bandaging Matt with it. “Sir, Yes sir.” She answered, taking over the voice of a rugged Veteran. She quickly climbed on one of the horses Vegas had freed. The rest of the runners did the same, while trying to hold on to several bags. “Move!” Vegas barked. The Runners quickly bounced forwards. “Semper fi!” Jill howled as she took the lead position.

Suddenly a dark figure appeared, using it’s massive back legs to crash into a horse. The poor animal stood no chance to the ferocious Bloodhound tearing through her neck. The Humans quickly repelled. Firing hot lead at the demonic hound. Who whimpered as it died. The runner got back up, his right arm dangling down. He quickly looked around, unsure about what happened before he followed the horse tracks. Running for his live. In the mean time, Michael had placed Matt in his massive arms. “We need to move!” James bellowed. Vegas cursed as she noticed two addition shadows barraging through the woods, hunting for the Runners. Vegas hoped they would make it, as she turned around to the more pressing matters. “Run, gak run!” she screamed as she jumped back into the forest. Choosing the direct opposite of the runners. Her crew quickly following her mad dash.

On top of the hill overlooking the road, Mattheus smiled. For a moment he thought his informant had given him the wrong information. He was already planning to head back to Rek’shilva, to crucify the arrogant Exciled one. Lucky for him, that they had heard the gunshot. He watched as the two remaining hounds followed the Runners. “Call them back.” He commanded the Beast master. “ Our prey is heading the other way.” The beast master blowed his vicious whistle, as Mattheus and consorts descended the hills. “We won’t find her in the hills.” Aries said. Mattheus looked at the walking skeleton. “Don’t worry Watcher, I have no hope in finding them. But I can lead them to where I want them to go.” Mattheus grinned. He was so close to his goal, He could almost see Arl’nev before his eyes. And this time this wretched Humanii would stop her insulting existence. Aleron followed closely behind, his hands caressing his two trusty hammers. If he played his cards right, he could measure himself to Vegas, the Wasteland ghost. His blood boiled at the prospect of this battle. It would be a kill he could remember for the rest of eternity.

(I had a post in the works but am not posting it yet, this was another one that was eating t my mind. Lets have some epic plane fights. )


Derrick Sighed, frustrated as the plane took off for California, Slender Von Maun had escaped them. Again. And this time he left a very violent trail, Police had been all around the house and said that a man had murdered his wife, but apparently he had microwaved himself first.
That was concrete evidence in a Totenmaske attack. The plane was set to leave, so the two had had to get onboard and wait for another time to track down the Kindred.

Derrick leafed through the rest of the briefcase on the trip, he located one folder and removed it from the bag.

Details of: OP ‘Midnight Asp’

Derrick opened the file, he smiled to himself, the Fang were one of the more paramilitary organizations of Lycan society, they had ranks, Derrick was heading to meet with the leaders, most Lycanic top brass were gathered in California, to pledge their allegiance to the Queen of Wolves.
The Agency was going there to asses the situation, conduct a few missions, be ‘good dogs’ and possibly moonlight as ‘Bad Dogs’
Derrick removed the first picture from the folder, it was a house, it made his eyes feel like they wanted to avert themselves. The hairs on his arms felt like they wee crawling up his arms while he suppressed the urge to puke.

The image was titled SUBJECT 45: COOKED HOUSE

The next image was of some sort of Totenmasken like creature. it had a face though, gaunt, spindly and above all long fingers reached towards the camera from a horse-like face, it was leering hideously, titled ‘Thomas Rawhead’ TERMINATE WITH EXTREME PREDUDICE.
An attached photo of the Marl Pit was there as well. Derrick felt like burning it.
Glancing at the crooked house again, he felt his stomach heave.

“Scuse me man,” he said, as he elbowed past Ruiz.

Staggering to the large bathroom section of the plane, Derrick parted the curtain-like aperture separating the back seats from the rest of the plane.

Not many people were going on this flight, the only passengers were a sleeping man covered in a large blanket and a massive Russian looking flight attendant who glared at Derrick as if to say ‘Go away. Prick’
Derrick lurched to the bathroom and bent over the tile seat.
Nothing came.

It appeared that the image of the house had faded in his mind. Derrick no longer felt like he was going to puke, sighing, he turned back out.

In time to see the big flight attendant rush at him with a small knife.
Derrick’s instincts took over. hiijackers! he thought, and groped for the nearest weapon.
Unfortunately, planes are devoid of metal items of a pointy nature and so derrick grabbed the man’s arm instead.
Good God. This fether’s strength is incredible!

Derrick pushed at the man and shoved him hard, the man stumbled and raised the knife, Derrick grabbed for it but stopped when he touched the blade, it felt like he was sticking his am into a pile of hot coals.

Silver

Suppressing the urge to scream, Derrick kicked out at the Opriknikki and landed a blow in his left side, it was like kicking a brick wall.
Derrick took as much air as he could in his lungs and screamed to high heaven. Launching himself at the Opriknikki, who was jabbing vengefully at him, derrick heard the curtains fly back A voice shouted

“Freeze!”

Derrick dove to the ground and gambled with his life, he put his hands on his head.
The massive Vampire’s head snapped around at the figure, an air Marshall was aiming a short, pistol, a hollow point weapon that would not cause any damage to the plane.

The beast lowered it’s hands, bared it’s sharklike teeth and charged.
The Marshall fired a trio of shots at it’ chest, causing the kindred to stumble, Derrick groped for his pocket, producing a small tube, he carried it everywhere, it was a spring-loaded bone tube that fired a single stake, he had disassembled it and put into his carry-ons. You never knew when you would need a makeshift crossbow.

He leveled it at the opriknikki’s back, right at the heart and fired, the stake shot out of the barrel, slamming into the chest of the beast. It crashed to the ground, midway through ripping the Air Marshall’s head off, the man was very dead, but a good gun…
A sixth sense told the Vietnam Veteran to turn round. Behind him was a figure encased in a full-body bhurkah. Derrick’s eyes spotted the small details he had come to associate with Strigoi. The pointy ears peeking though the hood, the eyes of hate. The hand crackling with blood magik.

Derrick grabbed the Marshall’s pistol and aimed it at eh Kindred’s face. He fired the pistol once, twice, five times before the weapon was out of ammo.

The strigoi flew back, it’s head erupting in a shower of gore, it would take some time to heal so the Mgral stormed over to the corpse of the opriknikki. He grabbed the knife from it’s dead hands and clashed the carotid artery and jugular vein on it’s throat, it’s stolen Vitae spraying out and painting dark circles on the seats.

Derrick wrenched the stake from the beast’s body and reached a head into the hole, he exerted his unnatural strength to rip out the Monster’s heart and jump up and down on it until it burst in a shower of ichor.
Derrick took care to not touch the blade of the knife and staked the other vampire in the heart, before carving a square out of the chest of the Strigoi and removing it’s heart as well, the blood-covered werewolf took the vampire’s black heart and dropped it in the toilet.
Turning around, he heard a crash. A man in work clothes flew through to doors, his throat spurting.

An icy knife felt like it slipped through derrick’s skull and into his stomach.
Derrick threw aside the curtain, There were kindred everywhere. About a round half-dozen. Derrick pushed thought the melee and to his seat. Ruiz was gathering their things up.

“Here.” He said, tossing Derrick his Wlather P22

“What? How-”

“Disassembled it and put in different parts of my carry-on.” Said Ruiz, removing a long stake from his pocket.

“Always prepared?” Asked Derrick, staring at the jagged piece of wood.

“You learn a lot in the Gangs.” Said Ruiz, who had been an enforcer for the Latin Kings before he had been bit. Handing Derrick they briefcase. “In ‘Nam too.”

The two made their way through the fight towards the cabin, when they were about there, Ruiz looked at Derrick. “Why is this happening?”
“Search me.” Said Derrick, shrugging and cocking the slide on the sidearm back.
Derrick nodded at the Grubrah, who backed up, and Changed.

Ruiz’s wulfen form was massive, one of the largest Derrick had ever seen, in contrast to the short Hispanic build of Ruiz’s normal form, his other the ‘Dire Wolf’ was somewhere around eight feet tall, bordering on nine, his jaw was short and boxy, two fangs dripped drool over the slavering jaws. Massive claws the size of tire irons extended from his massive hands, which wer situated on long, dangling arms, He howled, a bestial noise that sent the attacking Kindred into a moment of confusion.

The Grubrah charged, it’s massive bilk speeding towards the sealed flight doors leading into the cockpit, Ruiz did not bother with the lock, instead, he tore the door from it’s hinges, flinging it like a giant discus at the mass behind him.
Derrick entered after, still in human form, his pistol raised in front.

When he came in, he saw that Ruiz was back in his humanii form. Glaring at the pilots, who been torn to pieces by some sort of blade. A single Ghoul was getting out of the mess, it’s bald head stamped with some sort of barcode. It drew a short sword, a Gladius. The thing’s jagged teeth were dripping blood and bits of flesh protrude from it. Derrick raised the pistol and fired again, and again, the ghoul stumbled, it’s heart had been pieced by the miniature wooden stakes, which were no more than the size of a pencil tip. It stumbled backward, hitting the floor.
Derrick looked over at Ruiz, then at the dead pilots.

“Bad?”

Ruiz nodded. “Bad.”

__----------------------__

Derrick pushed buttons and pulled levers, while Ruiz in his wolf form held off h mass of wolves, his huge form was covered in cuts, only clad in his pants and the aged tatters of his shirt. Howling in the delight of spilling blood. The melee was still going on, but now the kindred were fighting with a mass of panicking people.

Derrick glanced up at the windshield, the massive plane’s nose was approaching the ground fast.

Only one choice. Lycans came before Humanii

Derrick grabbed a parachute from the rack on the wall, a back parachute, military model.
He nodded at Ruiz, who ripped out the pilot’s chars and jammed hem into the doorway, changed, and grabbed a chute of his own
Derrick cocked the pistol and aimed it at the windshield.

“Here comes the sun.” he muttered, as he watched the Californian desert speed under them.
Pulling the trigger, Derrick head the bang, saw the flash and felt the rush of the wind and the explosion of a rapid decompression. He and Ruiz were sucked out of the plane, tumbling over the wild. Derrick fought for Consciousness as he saw the Plane continue on it’s beeline for the rock field several dozen miles away.

Derrick yanked the ripcord, the chute billowed out behind him, he looked up, Ruiz was also floating above him.
Derrick looked down at the approaching ground, he recalled all the times he had used a parachute in Vietnam and other countries.
Angling himself towards a forty-five degree float rather than a plummet, he watched as the desert came closer and closer…

With a snap like a gunshot, Derrick’s foot hit the ground, breaking.
As he blacked out a massive flash of an exploding Boeing 757 lit the landscape, his only thoughts were "At least I have my briefcase…”

Might not be that good, but what the hell, I suppose I have to keep up...

IC:

5 Months Ago

“You sure we’re heading to the right place?” Atlas asked, keeping an eye on the dark roads they drove through.

“I’m certain, through all my research, I found that she has moved to Peckham, and I also discovered that one of the houses here have recently been bought, a day just after she went missing,” Steve replied confidently. “All the evidence points to her being there.”

“Good. So she can lead us to Natasha?”

“Yep. I know her personally, she used to be a great friend of mine, and she said she was related to somebody really high up in the pack. Her sister,” he nodded.

“What was her name?” Atlas asked curiously.

“Not sure. Think it was something like… dunno, something like Cherri? Kerri?”

Atlas dropped the conversation on that note. The name Kerri sounded vaguely familiar, so he supposed he’d have to ask Dez to check the database. Or, of course, they could find out even sooner from this mysterious woman.
But of course, is Steve was taking them for a ride, Atlas wouldn’t hesitate to rip his fething head off.



“You’ll ring the bell, and if she lets you in I’ll follow after,” Atlas stated seriously. “If anything goes terribly wrong, you’ve got me, and Valentin’s also covering our backs from the rooftops. He’ll phase shift down here if we get into trouble. All clear?”

“Yeah,” he said, a bead of sweat falling down his forehead. “But you sure we have to do this? I ain’t seen here in some time…”

“We’re doing this whether you like it or not. Or how would you feel if we sent Natasha a note concerning your whereabouts?” the young man threatened. “And we might as well give her our addresses also seeing as we’ll be screwed if we don’t find out where she is!”

“Okay, okay! Jeez!” Steve shouted quickly, raising his hands in defence. “I’m just worried is all.”

“Don’t be. Do it.”

“Fine, fine.”

Steve rang the bell, and a few seconds later, the door opened slightly, and a face appeared in the space between the door and the frame. It was a woman who looked about 22ish. She had flowing ginger hair, and had blues eyes which melted away at Atlas, before he regained his composure, and stood behind Steve waiting of him to speak, but the girl spoke first.

“Steve?” the woman asked in a fairly Latina accent. “How did you find me? What do you want?”

“Ah, Bella!” he asked, wiping the sweat away from his brow. “I just recently heard that you moved to Peckham, thought I might drop in and see how you are!”

“Listen Bell, I’m really sorry to drop in on you like this, but this guy here,” Steve said, motioning to Atlas, who gave a nod. “He really needs to talk to you. It’s urgent, and it’s about Natasha.”

“Natasha?!” Bella said gobsmacked, before looking outside, left and right, before opening the door fully, with Atlas marvelling at her glorious figure. “I think you better come in.”

*******************************************************************************************

I am affiliated with a small group of rebel wolves who call themselves the Lunar Brotherhood,” Atlas stated clearly, taking a cup of tea graciously from Isabella’s hands. “For a long time now we have been enemies of the Wolf Queen Natasha and her entire pack. Only recently though has she found that we exist, thanks to a certain wolf who I’d rather not name.”

“You are openly rebelling against Natasha?” Bella asked confusingly.

“Well, no. Not really. She believes that they are broken, have no leadership, and are all either dead or separated. That is not true. They are rebuilding as we speak.”

“Why do you keep saying “they”? Are you not part of them?”

“I work with them, and that is what I would like to leave it as,” Atlas confirmed, deadly seriously. “But, back to the point. We lost here as soon as our last fight was over. Now we have no idea where she is. I agreed to come here to search England for any wolves who could know about her whereabouts. I met Steve, and he said you could know, as I hear you are related to somebody high up in her pack.”

“Um, well, I am. But, I heard she died recently,” Bella said, instantly turning quite emotional. “I was sent a letter, it detailed her death. I knew it was Natasha who sent it, she deeply loved Kerri.”

Atlas instantly sat forward in his chair, looking rather shocked.

“What?”

“She loved Kerri. And Kerri loved her,” she said, before shaking her head. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing. I just didn’t know.”

“So anyway, you want to find out where Natasha is, so you can kill her?”

“That is correct.”

“Yes, please,” Steve whispered, getting a dirty look from Atlas.

“There are bound to be some notes in this old place that I have kept with me. Kerri always told me everything, we we’re quite close,” Bella said, standing up. “I never liked Natasha. She’s a crazy bitch really. It’ll be good to see the back of her. You suck it up to her good when you find her, and I’m coming with you.”

“That’s completely understandable,” Atlas stated.

“Now, I’ll just go and have look through-wait!” Bella said, getting into a battle stance sniffing the air. “A Vampire! Here!”

“Wait!” Atlas shouted, standing up, and motioning for Bella to stand down. “It’s a friend,-I mean, an ally! I’ll go talk to him.”

“Your friends with a Vampire!?”

“Acquaintances! It’s alright, he’s helping us to get Natasha, now, just go and look for the notes, I’ll go talk to him.

“Fine, but be quick.”

************************************************************************************

“Valentin, what are you doing?!” Atlas shouted, storming out of the door, towards the dark figure in front of the house. “I told you to stay back.”

“I got bored, you we’re taking a long time,” he admitted, shrugging.

“Well I’m afraid I can’t just go in, force her to tell us where Natasha is, and think she’ll be nice to us,” he complained, his eyes blazing with anger.

“And why do you want her to be nice to us?”

“Because, well,” Atlas paused, cooling down a little, rushing his fingers through his hair. “You know, I really want to kill you, and it’s not just my instincts now.”

“You’re not doing this to get to Natasha are you?” Valentin asked, changing the subject, staying perfectly still.

“Shut up.”

“Your mind is on other things, and Natasha’s death is not one of those, is it now?”

“I said shut up!” Atlas repeated, sitting down on the pavement in frustration.

“I know what you want, and I can help you. You just have to let me.”

*****************************************************************************************

“I can’t talk right now, dammit!” Steve shouted quietly into the mobile. “Yes, I am still going ahead with it, but you’ve got to let me play my part. Now, please, leave me alone.”

“If you betray us, you know what will happen to you,” Natasha’s voice on the other end said.

“I know, but now is not the time, we have to wait, maybe find out where the rest of the Brotherhood are, but now is not the time as I keep saying!” Steve moaned pathetically. “Please, if they find out they’ll butcher me alive.”

“Don’t worry, you can go now. Just remember the deal, your complete acceptation back into the pack, for their lives. Don’t disappoint me.”

The line went dead.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

I love plot twists…