A vacation to Old City takes an unexpected twist
Blair, Chuck, Nate and Serena staggered down the street. It was three in the morning and they had just left the club. Serena was the drunkest. She stumbled on her stilettos and leaned on the boys for support.
"I am never drinking again," she groaned and clutched her head.
Nate and Chuck exchanged a glance.
"You say that every time," sighed Nate.
"No! I mean it! I feel like shit."
"You say that every time too," Chuck muttered.
Blair was trying, without success, to hail them a cab.
"Am I invisible? Are cab drivers in this city blind?" she raged as another taxi drove by without stopping. "I miss New York. It's the only civilized city in the world."
It was summer vacation. They all wanted to escape New York but Blair was tired of the Hamptons. So, Nate proposed a road trip to Old City. It had something for all of them: Shopping for Blair, nightlife for Serena, business contacts for Chuck. And for Nate? For Nate it was on the other side of the continent, and that was enough for him. He just needed to get away from New York, far away.
Serena suddenly clamped a hand over her mouth and dove for the alleyway.
"S?" Blair ran over in time to see her barf on a pile of garbage.
Chuck grimaced. "And the night is complete."
"Shut up," Blair snapped.
Just then, Nate noticed a young woman standing in the shadows of the alleyway. No one had noticed her because she was wearing black and blended in with the darkness. She clearly knew that she'd been seen because she walked slowly forward.
She looked a little older than them. She wore a black double breasted trench coat buttoned all the way up, covering her from throat to knees. She had wild curly black hair that tumbled around her shoulders. She was beautiful. But the beauty was tempered by the slow, knowing smile that was creeping on to her face. It was not a nice smile.
"It's awfully late to be out all alone," said the woman. Her voice was low and sultry, the kind of voice that belonged to the femme fatale in an old film noire.
"That's why we're together," Nate said. He was shocked at the slight tremble in his voice.
"Are you know?" the woman said conversationally. Something about her was dangerous. Nate wondered if they were about to be mugged. As she walked closer, Nate could see that her eyes were icy blue and her pupils were narrow vertical slits. He gasped. She ignored him.
The woman glanced at Serena. "Your friend doesn't look so good."
"She's just had too much to drink," Blair said. "She'll be fine. Come on, S." Blair hauled Serena to her feet.
Before any of the New Yorkers could move, the woman had moved and was blocking them from leaving the alleyway. Nate gasped. He swore she had moved too fast, faster than any human could move.
"You can't leave yet," she smirked. "We're just getting to know each other."
"We really need to go back to the hotel."
Nate silently cursed Blair. You don't tell the dangerous woman that you're from out of town!
Chuck stepped forward then. He had his in-control face on. "And we would love to stay and get to know you in intimate detail," he matched the woman's sultry voice. "But our friend is in really bad shape. Maybe this will persuade you to step aside." Chuck pulled a hundred from his pocket.
The woman snarled like a dog. It was a strange sound coming from a human. She rushed at Chuck, faster than a human could move, Nate was sure. She grabbed Chuck by the throat and slammed him against the wall. She lifted him with one hand so that he was on tip-toe.
"Is that what you think of me?" she growled, showing teeth that were sharper and deadlier looking than they'd been a second ago. The sexiness of her voice was gone. It was rough and harsh like sandpaper now. "You think I'm some whore you can just buy off?"
Nate grabbed her free arm to try and pull her off. She half turned and hit him with the arm he was grabbing. Nate flew back and slammed into the other wall.
"Nate!" Serena cried.
Nate hurt all over. He had been in fights before but he generally avoided them and he'd never been thrown into a wall. It was impossible. He was bigger than this woman, but she'd thrown him like he weighed nothing. Who was this woman with super speed and super strength?
Chuck had managed to kick her in the gut. She grunted and dropped him. Chuck staggered to Nate, clutching his throat.
"You OK, man?" Nate asked.
Chuck nodded silently.
The woman had recovered. She rubbed her stomach and groaned. She turned and sneered at Chuck and Nate. "Big mistake, Little Boy," she laughed. It was a cruel sound.
She walked forward. Nate threw a punch. She easily dodged it and Nate stumbled past her. He punched again. This time, she grabbed his arm as it went by her and pulled him off balance. With her other hand, she punched him in the breastbone.
Pain shot through Nate. He couldn't breathe. His eyes watered. She threw him to the ground and he lay there in pain, unable to catch his breath or stand.
A flashlight beam lit up the alleyway and a silhouette of a woman appeared at the entrance of the alleyway.
"Alison!" the new woman's English accent echoed down the alleyway. Nate looked up and could see that the new woman had a gun trained on Alison.
She had been about to punch Chuck. Instead, she raised both hands in a gesture of surrender and smiled cruelly.
"Dr. Magnus," the sexy voice was back. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I think you know, Alison."
Alison chuckled and stood up slowly from Chuck. She backed away. In one quick, smooth motion, Alison whirled and grabbed Blair, holding her like shield. Blair cried out but stopped as the woman dug her nail into Blair's neck. Nate looked up. They weren't nails anymore, they were claws.
Dr. Magnus raised the gun and aimed it at Alison and Blair.
"Careful there, Doc," Alison taunted. "Don't want any collateral damage."
"It's a stunner," the English woman said. "I'll shoot you both if I have to."
Stunner? What was this, the Matrix? Actually, Dr. Magnus looked like a character out of the Matrix in her leather jacket and dark jeans.
Alison smiled again. "Or maybe you'll only hit the girl–"
"Or maybe I won't."
"And I'll throw her at you and get away while you're stopping her from bashing her pretty little head in on the concrete."
Dr. Magnus glared daggers at her. Alison pressed her claws into Blair's neck, breaking the skin slightly. Blair stifled a sob.
"Stop," Dr. Magnus warned. "You know my intentions. The next move is yours." They stood frozen in a tableau for a moment.
Then Alison moved. She threw Blair at Dr. Magnus. Just like Alison said she would, Dr. Magnus caught the girl. Alison dodged around her towards the street. Nate grabbed her coat as she ran by. It whirled her around and she lashed out at Nate.
"Ah!" Nate cried out as her claws scraped across his face. He let go of her.
A strange sound filled the air and a burst of blue light flew from Dr. Magnus's gun. It hit Alison square in the chest. She spasmed, her head jerked back, and she crumpled in a heap on the ground.
Dr. Magnus tapped her ear piece. "Henry, we're at 94th and River. Bring the van."
Blair was bawling into Serena's arms. Blair acted tough but she had never been physically threatened in her life.
Dr. Magnus strode over to Nate. "Good work," she said. She caught sight of the slashes on his face and neck and gasped. She took his chin in her hand and shined the flashlight at him.
"I'm fine," he mumbled trying to push her off.
"Not for long. The claws of a Varanus Hominid contain a powerful neurotoxin."
"Vara-what?" Chuck gasped. "What the hell is going on? Who are you?
Dr. Magnus ignored him and continued to address Nate. "Both you and your friend need to come to the Sanctuary immediately. I have the anti-venom there."
A black van pulled up on the street and a scruffy looking man jumped out. He jogged over to them. When he saw Alison on the ground, he gave a low whistle.
"You know, Doc, if you needed back up you should have called," he said.
"I had the situation under control."
The man looked at Nate's neck. "Venomous Bitch do that to you?"
Nate figured he meant Alison so he nodded.
"Then, you're coming too," the man tied Alison's wrists together. "Help me haul her into the van, will ya?"
"Wait!" Blair said. She had composed herself. "We don't even know you. This night has been weird enough. We're not getting into a van with the Monster Hunters."
"We don't have time for this!" Dr. Magnus said. "You both have been infected by her venom. If you don't come with me right now, you will start to have painful internal organ failure followed by seizures, followed by death. Is that what you want?"
The New Yorkers stared at her.
"You're serious, aren't you?" Serena whispered.
Dr. Magnus nodded.
Chuck helped the man, who introduced himself as Henry, put Alison into the back of the van. One by one, they climbed in, Henry gunned the engine and they drove off into the unknown.
