My, what big teeth you have!
Simon emerged from the sewers, pushing the 300lb manhole up and over like it was tupperware. The tinny voice in his ear was relaying coordinates of the clannless nest. It was Carol.
'You're in the alpha quadrant of the industrial district. Why do clanless always nest in the industrial district?' Simon decided her voice sounded almost fairy like thru the transmitter. He smiled at her inquisitiviness. 'Hmm. Anyway they're east of your position, about a half mile.'
He replied into the small microphone that jutted out from his ear. 'Alright, Carol.' Simon stood to the side and let the rest of the team filter out. The harvesters exited, pushing up large bags in front of them. He grabbed them, again, effortlessly. He watched Ellis exit, one sword strapped to her back, the other left behind. Opening the large bags revealed several small arms and low caliber ammunition. Simon handed Ellis a piece.
'This is new from Duibne.'
She smiled, holding the gun, testing its weight. 'My they're busy bees, this is so light.'
'Its a modified .38. They managed to soften the impact and it takes smaller calibers now. Less blood, very efficient. They spec'd down the recoil too.'
'Cuz I'm such a girl and can't handle it.' Ellis grinned.
He shrugged, 'Its an added feature.'
Simon cotinued to hand out the artillary. As he finished, he looked up and pointed at 2 of the 5 harvesters. Silently he sent them out to track ahead of them and signaled radio silence.
The 2 harvesters sped off, disappearing into the night. They were surrounded by tall buildings, mostly abandoned. Simon turned in a full circle looking at the area. He smelled something...off. He adjusted his guns and waited for the 2 to radio back.
Of course, shooting the target dead would miss the point. Guns were a cause for pain and fear, things The Wolf fed on as surely as blood.
Killing was a job for the bare hands, he reflected as he looked up at the stars, flaring his nostrils.
The scent is weak. A Wolf does not smell blood as he would like to.
The Wolf's cold eyes never left the stars.
He knew he would be heard nonetheless.
Ellis' shoulders slumped slightly. 'I smell humans.'
Carol's tinny voice could not be heard over the sudden screaming of vampires in the distance. The other Harvesters broke off from the team and headed to their dying allies.
Simon grabbed one by the arm but the other 2 ran off. 'Idiot, its a trap.' He let him go and looked back at Ellis who was smiling. He nodded, 'Ok, from the rooftops then.'
Ellis disappeared up the fire escapes with her liquid speed. Simon looked at the Wolf and spread his arms out. 'You might get your chance to kill afterall.' And followed Ellis into the night.
Instead of laughing, though, The Wolf threw back his head and howled into the night before following the Tacharans up the building's fire escape to the roof. The call was low and haunting, directionless, seeming to fill every space around him.
The Wolf hoped it made at least one person piss themselves.
Below, lurking in the shadows, a wolf's eyes glowed.
He awaited instruction as patiently as his new master, who, up on the roof, smiled at The Praetor behind his hood.
A Wolf will kill whomever you wish, Praetor.
He lowered his head, trying to keep the chuckles from escaping and appear submissive at the same time.
He whispered into his microphone, 'Ellis.'
'I see it,' she replied.
'Call it.'
Simon waited in the darkness for her to call the engage. He saw her shadow slithering near a roof top window. Suddenly she lurched back as the glass exploded outward.
With a gruff voice, 'Now would be a good time, I suppose.' Simon pulled out the rifle strapped to his back and fired into one of the side windows, with a whistle he gave Wolf the command to engage. He pelted the inside of the what appeared to be an empty warehouse with covering fire for Ellis who jumped in and disappeared.
Shouldering his rifle he jumped across and halfway down the building, grabbing onto a fire escape and swinging down onto the level lower. He reached for a what looked like a gernade, but was a light explosive and with a swift kick to the door he tossed it in, blinding whomever was in there, including Ellis. Simon hugged the wall and a few stray bullets came out, when it stopped he jumped right in.
She gave the call, 'Now would be a good time, I suppose.'
Ellis gave Simon a few moments to give her covering fire and when she heard it, she jumped up and dived into the broken window. Ellis grabbed the first thing within reach, which was a cat walk. Suddenly bullets were wizzing by her as she moved quickly along them, trying to survey the area and keeping cover at the same time. She was guessing 12 by the sound of the guns. She hid behind a grabbed her .38's. These were custom Commanches, 8+1 capacity, aluminum speed trigger, beveled mag wells. Much lighter than the normal 38 oz. She had 18 bullets and when those went, the short sword was coming out to play.
She heard Simon kicked the door in and shut her eyes. She heard the tell tale signature sign of the light explosive and suddenly the firing stopped. She immediately stepped up and started to fire.
He heard an other-worldy howl then, but was far from surprised. Without conscious thought, he connected the sound to the vampire-killer known as the Wolf. His sources kept tabs on most the notable vampires in the world and he had received an e-mail earlier mentioning his return to the city.
Odd, Xerxes thought, it seems many have been congregating here recently. Something big was happening, but now wasn't the time to contemplate exactly what.
The sharp beat of gunfire shattered his thoughts. Explosions rumbled, providing a countermelody to the gunshots. Flashbangs, the man catalogued instinctually.
The car accelerated into the night, and 2,400 year old Persian pondered what dark deeds would stain the city this eve.
((Timeline - after Xerxes' meeting with Ellis but before his time spent on the strip))
Another new toy to try. Though a Wolf prefers to kill with his teeth.
The gun in his other hand, he vanished into the shadows the moment The Praetor opened fire, using the rain of bullets to enter through another window and slide easily behind a stack of crates. There he crouched, one hand splayed out in front of him, the new claws digging into the concert. He sniffed.
The trail of the Harvesters was clear to him, and he tracked it, stalking carefully. He smiled when he smelled a human, hiding a few pallets ahead of him, ready to spring and stinking of fear.
[Come, my wolf.]
He crept up to the pallet behind which the cowering human hid. With a flick of his wrists and a light growl in his throat, the wolf he had called with his howl attacked, lunging for the neck but leaving the throat in tact for the Alpha, and as the victim flailed and screamed, blood spraying from the wound, -The- Wolf, the ultimate Alpha, lunged at his prey from the other side, ripping out the human's throat in one fluid motion with his fangs. He allowed his new pet wolf, called to him and bonded with him until The Wolf released him, to feast off that kill as he set upon the human now firing at him. Leaping over the crate the human hid behind, he tackled this new victim to the ground, raised his clawed hand, and swung it down in an arching motion across the prey's midsection, from her shoulder down to her hip in a diagonal slash so deep it exposed bone. Another slash and her intestines were spilling out onto the floor.
'A Wolf likes this toy.'
As he lifted his hand a third time, just to make sure the job was finished, another human jumped onto his back, and he snarled, enraged, swinging around to fling the attacker off and onto the floor and bringing his foot down hard on the human's neck.
He would have laughed at how pathetically easy this was if the smell of the blood were not so strong, coursing through him until everything took on a blurred quality, until it was just his senses and the blood and the slaughter. And the trail.
Somewhere, from far away, The Wolf felt the walls shake. He was too far gone to see the flash of light, or to hear the noise.
All the while he was working his way in a path of blood down the trail of the harvesters. Harvester blood had a distinctive smell, easy to detect even amongst the gore, which was building around him as he tore his way through the warehouse, always following that scent.
Ellis was counting off her bullets as she walked sideways along the catwalk.
'Four...'
She lifted her foot and a bullet dug into the steel.
'Five.'
Ellis cocked her head to the left, letting a bullet whistle by her right ear.
'Six.'
The Wolf entered and was blood lusting onto a female. Two jumped mid air onto him, he caught the first, she caught the second. The human was knocked back.
'Seven. Eight.'
Ellis looked around the room, there were more than 12. They were streaming in. Wow, it felt good to be wanted.
'Nine. Ten.'
Simon dug his fangs into the human and fed. The human screamed in pain, the alternative reaction to the normal, submissive and orgasmic bite. Unwanted bites were beyond pain and unbearable. Simon could feel the fear as he drank. It washed him in an euphoric adrenaline rush, his eyes burning with red veins, his fingernails digging in deep to secure his prey. He heard Ellis starting to count off her bullets and it broke him out of his trance. Dropping the dead human, he moved on.
'Seven. Eight.' He heard Ellis in his ear piece.
'Location?' He heard the rumble in his voice, holding back the bloodlusting was tearing him apart.
'Beloved! Nine. I'm up on the catwalk. Ten.'
Simon moved steathly around the crates, again pulling his rifle off his shoulder and aiming it at the nest of snipers firing at Ellis. 'You're almost out.'
'Eleven. Twelve. Yes, it would appear so. Thirteen.'
'Coming down?' Simon let the rifle rip off bullets, sniping moving targets around the Wolf.
'Fourteen. 4 more bullets, love. Fifteen.'
'Make them count, please.' Simon didnt even bother to slide down to reload, he pulled bullets out of his pants pockets, bullets tearing holes and sending chunks of wood flying up.
'Sixteen....seventeen. Behind you. Eighteen. Nevemind.'
Simon started to fire again. 'Now.'
Ellis looked at the human as he quivered before her. She could smell his urine, having just wet his pants. She twisted his head to the side and sank her teeth into his throat. Her blood lust was peaking now. The area seemed to open up before her. She could hear the retreating humans, the fear was overwhelming but the blood...she drank deeply and closed her eyes. The human gurgled in shock. His pain must've been unbearable and Ellis drank it like wine. Her nails dug deep into his face, her fingers going knuckle deep. Finishing him, she dropped him like a rag doll. Her mouth dripping with blood. Turning towards the sound of the Wolf, she gripped her sword, flexing with the fresh power of the blood and made her way over to slaughter.
Vampire blood was very near.
Underneath the rich strong smell of the Harvester blood was the more subtle sense of young vampires, recently turned. That was what The Wolf was after. He stayed his appetite, holding it in even as the blood ran down his chin.
The Praetor came up behind him, following behind him as he led them down to a locked door in the back of the warehouse.
Here.
He stayed focused on the door, ready to rip it off its hinges at the slightest indication from the Tacharans.
Betrayal, it stank worse than fear.
Ellis walked towards the humans and the armed one shot at her. The bullets ripped into her chest and out the other side, narrowly missing Simon. She took one step back to balance herself, the continued on. The human dropped his gun and fell to his knees. With her vampire speed she was on it, drinking its blood, tearing at its throat. Drinking him dry while the other's watched, she signaled the Wolf and Simon to finish.
Stepping back she let the blood drip from her mouth and it ran down the front of her black catsuit, turning it crimson red. Her green eyes eyes blazed with fury. She was breathing heavy and relishing all the gorged blood. Ellis, remembering the sword in her hand, came at one of the young vampires and sliced its head off.
Stepping back she held a hand out, 'Feed well, brother Wolf.'
He turned and looked at Ellis and reached out to touch her wounds. She didnt flinch, she was fuming as she looked at the vampires.
'Why didnt you dodge?' He asked, perplexed.
Ellis met his eyes, her watery green ones were unfocused with rage and bloodlust. She sneered.
'Dodging is for pussies.'
Letting the wolf decimate what was left, she exited the back room. As always, Simon followed close behind her.
[Feed, wolf.]
The wolf pet tore out the throat and lapped eagerly at the blood of the second vampire, but The Wolf did not see; he could see nothing at all save perfect Blue as at last the intoxicating blood of the vampire poured down his throat. Even now, half crazed by the thirst, The Wolf drank slow and long, pinning the helpless vampire to the wall and ensuring he lived to feel every moment of The Wolf's feeding before his blood was drained completely. When at last he came out of the haze, out of the Blue, he knelt before his wolf pet. With a whimper, the pet stepped away from the barely living vampire who's blood he had licked eagery, and watched as The Wolf gorged once again.
When at last the vampire blood was drained, The Wolf stood, sated, his vision coming back to him now. He sniffed the air, and, observing the Tacharans had made their exit, followed their trail. There may be business to discuss, and The Wolf knew this was the best time.
A Wolf is well fed tonight.