I have always enjoyed the cold. Snow, ice, chilling winds: all of it. It doesn't bother me, I've learned to ignore the extremes in nature, but there is something about the cold. It makes me feel almost alive again.
Unfortunately, I had no time to enjoy the snow; my prey was afoot.
I walked slowly, keeping in the shadows. The dark held no secrets from me, my vision picked up the heat off his body, the nice, warm blood lighting him up like a bonfire. I licked my lips involuntarily.
This one had been running for a while; three weeks or so, I believe. Times like this I wish knew Celerity. Ah, fuck it. I'm fast enough; this guy's just too tricky for his own damn good.
He was some moron Brujah's Ghoul; a jackass who couldn't keep his mouth shut. Enough so that my master sent me on the redeye to Chicago to take him out. He's a smart little bastard though, I'll give him that. He knew how to disappear, and more importantly when. It took me a good while to find him too; the little fucker had to have a cache of fake ids and hidey-holes. But shit, I'm a Gangrel, a natural hunter, and I was a homicide detective while I was alive. Ultimately, this guy had no chance.
I kept my hands in my coat pockets to hide my claws from the humans walking around us. Chicago was a busy city, but then again, it was only about 8:00. The Ghoul stopped at a crosswalk, grimaced at the traffic, then decided to cut through a back alley. That closed the deal.
I waited until he was about halfway down the alley before I followed. He didn't hear me, but then again, I didn't allow him to. I looked over my shoulder to check if the coast was clear. Nobody. I couldn't help but smile.
My blood burned as I allowed myself to dive deeper into Protean, not enough for a full transformation, but enough for my claws becoming shaper, my senses increasing even beyond a normal vampire, and my eyes turning a deep, bright orange. I growled softly as I ran on all fours towards him, my steps not making a single sound. I'll give him credit though; he turned around at the last second, right before I tore out his throat.
I lapped the blood off my claws, but it tasted like shit, so I spit it out on the snow. I closed my eyes and coaxed my Beast into submission, and I eased back into my normal form, my vision fading back to normal. I reached into my coat pocket and took out my cell phone. As I flipped it open, the network logo popped on screen; the Nosferatu clan symbol. They were all ugly as sin, but hell; they're good at what they do. I dialed my master's number and waited for her to pick up. Finally, on the seventh ring, she answered:
"Hello? Gabe?"
Ah, Alex, how I love her rough voice. She appears to be in her early twenties, and she has dark, red hair. She's around 5'5, but well muscled and lean…like a wolf. I think she's around 90 years old, but I'm just speculating; all I really care about is staying by her side.
"Yeah, it's me."
"Has the problem been dealt with?"
"Staring at it right now. He tastes like shit."
She sighed with relief. "Ugh, thank God. Finally, we're all evened up with LaCroix . Arrogant bastard. Oh, by the way, I need you here tonight."
"Where's here?"
"L.A. Hollywood, the Nocturne Theater."
"Aw shit. L.A.?"
"Yep."
"I hate L.A. What's going down?"
"I'm not totally sure, but it's big enough that LaCroix called for a meeting. We were both invited…and so were the Anarchs."
I raised my eyebrows at that.
"Yeah, alright. I can be there in about four hours."
"Hurry. The meeting starts at 1:00."
"Yeah, no problem. I'll meet you there."
"Stay safe."
"Ditto." The line went dead. I grimaced; I was hoping for a quick meal, but I'd have to skip it. I dialed another number, one for a private airline, and I arranged for a flight to L.A. Funds were transferred from God knows where and I had a ticket. Plane would be ready to leave when I get there, they promised. I hung up and slipped the phone back into my pocket. I took one last look at the Ghoul's corpse, then I walked out of the alley to hail a cab. I sighed as I walked; there wouldn't be any snow in Los Angeles.
End of Part I