Rising Dragon
Selene whistled contently to herself.
It was a good night. She had just finished taking
care of some of those pesky vampire hunters. With a humorless
grin she thought to herself, 'The worst kind of vermin.'
She had even managed to get some Daybreakers. 'Damned
Daybreakers. They travel in packs nowadays. Almost as bad as
werewolves.' She thought and grinned more naturally at the thought. 'Maybe
this time, Thierry will finally get the message.'
She loved her job.
She continued walking until she reached the end of the
alley. Taking her thick, dark hair out of it's ponytail, so it
fell in soft waves to her mid-back. Checking her clothes to see if
there were any blood, she nodded in satisfaction as she saw that all the
blood she had on her shirt and pants could easily be covered by a jacket.
Continuing her search downward, she cursed softly as she saw the small blood
stains on her soft leather boots. "Shit, that's my third pair
this week," She muttered, irritated. "Oh, well, good thing
they're black."
After covering herself in a black jacket that reached
the mid-thigh, she squared her shoulders confidently and walked into the
hustling streets of Las Vegas.
***
The Circle Daybreak members were all lounging sleepily
in the Descouldres mansion conference room. James and Poppy were
cuddled up together, eyelids fluttering rapidly. Ash was sprawled
lazily on a chair, looking as bored as ever, but you could tell he was
giddy from the fact that Mary-Lynette and his sister's were coming. Thea and
Eric held hands under the table, while trying to pay as much attention as
they could while being half asleep, as were Gillian and David. On the
other hand, Quinn and Rashel were looking calmly at Thierry.
Scattered all around the room were other Daybreak agents. Hannah
stood next to Thierry, clutching his arm.
"So Thierry," Eric started conversationally,
"Would you mind explaining why we're having a meeting at 3:00 in the
morning?"
"Of course, Eric." Thierry answered coolly.
Picking up a bunch of papers he began. "At approximately 1:37 this
morning, two of our agents, Willow Redfern, lamia and Charles
Henry, made vampire were found in dead in a dumpster. It was in
an alley, a few blocks away from here. Both had various different size
stakes in them, and were held by small, stock-like handcuffs."
Looking up, he saw a few vampires wince slightly, and most of the humans and
witches looked horrified. Taking a deep breath, he continued.
"There were two vampire hunters with them." Thierry
glanced around the room, just in time to see Rashel take a small,
inaudible sharp breath. "We researched their files and found that
there names." Looking down at the papers in his hand, he
repeated the names printed on them. "Victoria 'Vicky' Thomas and
Steven 'Steve' Adams, were found impaled by their own stakes. We
believe a vampire slayer with the description of 'tall, with a wiry body,
wearing all black and a mask.' was with them, but got away. He will be
hunted by the same killer, and we would like to protect him. We also believe
that he saw the killer. A message was written on the wall of the
alley. It said "Vermin" and was written in the blood from
the humans. We had a few agents clean it up nicely. We brought
in another team from outside of Vegas to help us find the boy and find
out who killed those people and who ordered it, but only two could make it.
They are the best, and we would like to have two others join their team.
Anyone who would like to volunteer will have to pass some requirements of
the two agents. Come see me tomorrow when they come in."
With that, the meeting was over.
***
When the meeting was over Thierry called Thea.
"Thea," Thierry started softly, "Could
you stay for a minute? There's someone who's here to see you."
Thea looked at Thierry oddly. There were only a
few people who knew she was staying here. "Sure Thierry,"
Thea said curiously. Thierry had been acting funny towards her for the
past few days.
Eric came by and held Thea's hand. "Want me to
stay?" He asked her softly.
Thea nodded. Something big was going to happen.
She could feel it in her very core, and she wanted Eric to be with her.
"It might be better if you leave," Thierry
suggested.
"I'm staying." Eric said firmly.
Thierry looked at him for a second. Nodding, he
left the room. After he went out the door, a head of black hair popped
into view.
"Blaise?!" Thea exclaimed when she said
her cousin. She laughed happily, and went over to hug her cousin.
When she stopped hugging her, she found that Blaise was crying. Not
loud sobbing, but mostly just tears.
"What's wrong?" Thea asked, starting to
get scared. Blaise never cried. Ever.
"Grandma...shapeshifters...Goddess, Thea, it was in
broad daylight!" Blaise managed to get out.
"Oh, Goddess..." Thea said whispered when she
realized what Blaise was trying to say. Crying together, they held each other
with all their might.
***
Elliot Scott walked with practiced grace through Las
Vegas, forcing himself to slow his breathing down to normal. 'In, out,
in, out,' He thought quietly to himself.
By now, Vicky and Steve were dead, and he had a vampire,
made probably, who was looking for him. He knew she was, because he
had seen her face, but he had been wearing a mask. Running his
hand, through his hair, and then adjusting his glasses, he used his most
nervous gestures. He tensed slightly when he saw a 'shifter
walking towards him, but as the 'shifter passed, he remembered that it
was Las Vegas, not Boston. It was crawling with Nightworlders here.
He knew that most vampire hunters would probably go stalking after that
'shifter, and kill him as soon as they could. He wasn't up to it
tonight. He needed to get away.
***
Hannah saw Thierry standing by the window of their room,
the full moon shining down on him, making his silhouette more defined, and
looking deep in thought, he stared out. Coming silently behind him,
she wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled his back.
Surprised, Thierry's eyes widened, and jumped ever so
slightly. But as slight as his surprise was, Hannah felt it, and knew
that Thierry was deeply upset to not have heard her come up behind him.
Knowing words would not be enough, she lended him her comfort by being there
for him.
***
Quinn woke up with a start. Rashel was deeply
depressed. Looking at the glowing neon numbers on the clock of his
nightstand, he noticed it was 4:43 A.M. Getting up from his bed quietly, he
walked without knowing where he was going, but knew he'd find Rashel there.
After walking through the large halls for a few minutes,
he stopped suddenly. Turning to the training room door, he tried to
open it softly. When he realized it was locked, he called out with his
mind *Rashel? Come out.* Quinn waited a minute, and when there
was no reply, he asked *Rashel?* again. He was a little bit worried.
After all, two vampire hunters were found dead today, and another is being
looked for by Daybreak and some psycho killer. He was also more than a
little irritated. After a few more tries, he gave up on trying to
reason, he grabbed the handle and twisted it with a jerk, breaking the lock.
Walking calmly in, he saw her. She was hitting a punching bag
fiercely, and came around with a roundhouse kick.
"Rashel?" He asked, this time out loud.
Seeing him, Rashel stop beating up the bag, and walk to
a wall to lean on. "I talked to Thierry after the meeting was
over. He asked me if I knew a person with the description he
gave. I told him I did. He asked me who it was, and I
couldn't tell him. I just...couldn't." Rashel said, having
trouble getting the words out. "When I joined this Circle
Daybreak, I told them that I wouldn't give any names of vampire hunters.
I told them!" Rashel said, starting to raise her voice.
*You know they're only doing it so they can protect your
friend, Rashel.* Quinn said keeping his voice level, reaching out to
stroke her hand.
When his skin touched hers, he felt the sparks, and
instantly fell into her mind. He repeated what he said.
*I just can't betray Elliot. He's my friend...the
first friend I had after becoming a vampire hunter. He started the
Lancers, they couldn't function well without him. He can take care of
himself anyway. He's a really good slayer.* Rashel thought, starting
to babble. 'Rashel never babbles,' Quinn thought to himself.
*I heard that,* Rashel thought coldly.
*We'll talk to Thierry later, Rashel. We need some
sleep, if we're going to volunteer for this job, right?* Quinn thought to
Rashel with a dark grin.
***
Ash slammed his fists into his bedroom wall.
'Shit.' Was his first thought. 'I can't believe they killed
Willow." Thinking of his sweet cousin, say "Don't worry Ash, I'm
going to be fine. I'm a big girl now." and smiling, he could feel
the cold rage building up inside of him. Willow Redfern was probably
the sweetest Redfern ever born, maybe after Jade and Dove. 'Thierry
better fucking put me on that team. That bitch is going to die.'
His second thought was 'I have to make sure Mary-Lynette
and the girl's don't come.'
***
Selene walked into the third, slate gray, 4 story
building in the outskirts of Las Vegas. Walking past the receptionist
who was fiddling with some stones, she called out, "Tell Hash that
I'm here," although it wasn't necessary. Hash probably already
knew. He seemed to know everything. Although she didn't quite
understand why he hired that stupid ditzy witch as his receptionist.
Walking gracefully into Hash, she apologized and she
said almost happily "I finished the job,"
"Nice try Selene," Hash said dryly, "But
you missed one. And he saw you."
"Impossible!" Selene denied indignantly.
"That's impossible. They never get away. Ever."
"Well then, my dear, you must be getting sloppy in
your old age," Hash said, baiting her. After having her work
for him for a few centuries, he started getting informal with
her and maybe even friendly.
"I do not get sloppy. There were only four
people there. Two Daybreakers and two vampire hunters. The
Daybreakers for you, the slayers for me." Selene insisted, with a small
grin at the last statement. Her work was being questioned. She
felt insulted. 'I work for Hash for over four centuries and he
doesn't even trust me to get a simple job done!' She thought irritated.
"Calm down, Selene." This wasn't a
suggestion. "Everyone messes up once and a while. Even the
best." Hash said. It wasn't in a comforting tone, he was simply
stating a fact. "The point is, you need to find him. No one
knows about you. If they find out about you, they might find me.
So take care of him. We have a picture. But no name. He's
still in Vegas. We'd know if he had to use a passport. Here's all we
know." Hash said, handing her a manila folder. "And Selene?
Don't screw up again."
Selene knew what he meant. Although Hash was
friendly towards her, he would have to kill her if she didn't catch this
guy. He may not want to, but it was the only way to ensure everyone's
safety. She didn't worry too much about it. After all, she
always got her target.
***
Keller cursed silently to herself. Thierry wanted
her team to get rid of some vampire while they needed to be watching Iliana. But
it was only a day since the ceremony, and she and Galen had to do some very
important 'shifter business with the Drache's, and of course Iliana couldn't
go. That left Winnie and Nissa. She didn't want to let them go.
They had always worked as a team-just the three of them. But he was
there Lord. And however foolish she thought the mission to be, and
however much she didn't want to risk her team, she couldn't refuse.
Saying good-bye to them was harder then she thought
it would be. She hoped they would be alright.
"Don't worry, boss. We'll be fine.
We're the best, right?" Winnie said cheerfully.
"Don't get cocky. Keep your head on straight
and don't do anything stupid." Keller instructed the witch.
"Of course not." Winnie said with mock
indignantly.
To Nissa Keller said "Make sure Winnie doesn't do
anything stupid."
Nissa nodded an affirmative, and Winnie cried out in
protest. Keller smiled inwardly. She was going to miss them.
She gave other such instructions, and finally, the boarded the airplane to
Las Vegas.
***
When Nissa and Winnie reached Thierry's mansion, they
felt prepared for anything he could throw at them, even without a boss.
They were greeted by a tall vampire in glasses and a
suit. "Hello," the vampire said, "May I help you?"
"Yes," Nissa said coolly, "I am Nissa
Johnson and this is Winifrith Arlin. We believe that Thierry is
expecting us."
"Of course," the vampire said.
"Right this way. I am Nilsson, and if you need anything you can
call me."
Walking into the mansion, Winnie's mouth dropped
slightly. It was such a wonderful mix of art and style...and it was
just so big.
"Close your mouth," Nissa told Winnie softly.
A brown haired girl with large amber eyes walked up to
them. "Hi! You must be Winifrith and Nissa. I'm Lupe.
Thierry and Hannah should be down here soon, and the rest are in the living
room."
***
Everyone looked up when they saw the strangers in the
house. One girl was a short, pixie like girl with strawberry blond
hair and elfin features. The other was a slim girl with mink colored
hair and cool eyes.
"Hello! You must be the newbies! I'm
Poppy." Poppy said cheerfully, her red curls bouncing.
Putting her hands over James' hands, which were now over her stomach.
Resting his head on Poppy's, James grinned and said
"Hey, I'm James, it's nice to meet you."
"Hi, I'm Winnie, and this is Nissa."
Winnie said, flashing a smile.
"Winifrith Arlin, right?" A voice asked
asked from behind Winnie. Turning around, Winnie found herself in the
presence of Thea Harman, one of the last few Harman's left.
"And you must be Thea Harman, right?"
Winnie said in a hushed tone.
"Yes, that would be me," Thea said with a warm
smile.
Running to Thea, Winnie hugged her fiercely.
"I'm sorry about Grandma Harman," Winnie sobbed out.
Surprised at first, Thea stood there a little stiffly,
but after hearing Winnie said, Thea started to get teary as well. Swallowing,
she said to Winnie "Maybe we could talk about this later,"
Winnie nodded. Sniffing and wiping away tears, she
was introduced to Eric, Thea's soulmate. Winnie smiled.
"Soulmates. It's so romantic!" She said.
"Not if they try to kill you." Winnie
heard a dry voice say.
Turning around once more, she was just in time to see a
tall girl hit a boy. Hard. The girl had waist length black hair,
and cat-like green eyes. "I'm Rashel," She said with a
polite smile. The boy had black hair and eyes a little on the shorter
side. "Quinn," He said with a wince and a slightly
demented smile.
'Soulmates with a vampire hunter,' Nissa thought to
herself. 'No wonder.'
Nissa and Winnie both looked up as they saw 3 people
come down the stairway. One boy had dark blond hair and a tall, lanky
form, the other had dark brown hair, and the girl had short blond hair, one
of the palest blonds they have ever seen-like the palest gold. When she
looked up, they saw she had bright purple eyes.
"Illiana?" Winnie said softly.
"Hi," the girl said when she saw them.
"I'm Gillian, and this is my soulmate David," she said, indicating
the brown-haired boy who was now holding her hand.
'Of course,' Winnie thought to herself. 'Illiana's
cousin.'
"Ash," the other boy said, his eyes flashing
green as he forced a lazy smile.
As Nissa and Winnie were saying there hellos, Winnie
couldn't help but think of how Keller would be lashing out already, saying
that we already know everyone, down to the details. 'Keller's never
been much into formalities,' Winnie thought to herself with a grin.
"When shall we start this audition?" Nissa
asked coolly.
"This isn't an audition," Ash said
forcefully. "People have died because of this
person, so don't make this sound like a game."
"Of course not," Winnie said sympathetically,
"And Nissa didn't mean it that way. The truth is, this is
sort of an audition. You see, we need to choose the two people who are
coming with us to get this boy, and the killer, and to do that, everyone
who wants to volunteer must show us what they can do."
Nissa nodded, and said "We are the best, and we
need the best to help us find these people." She did
not say it braggingly, but as a fact.
Rashel nodded. "Who are we going to
fight?" She asked.
Winnie smiled. "Us. Whoever beats us, or
comes closest, is the new recruitee."
"We have to beat both of you?"
Quinn asked.
"Yes," Nissa said "We shall fight three
people a day, and we hope to be on our mission in two days."
"We're going to waste two
days?!" Ash burst suddenly. "Do you know what could happen
in two days?!"
"Of course we do. But this is procedure, and
if we don't follow procedure, then it will take longer to find who we're
looking for." Nissa explained calmly.
Narrowing his eyes, Ash said "Fine. But I'm
first."
"Ash," Thea said softly, "They must have
terrible jet lag, let them rest first. Come on, stop it."
Ash hit the nearest wall in frustration, and went back
upstairs.
***
Mary-Lynette got off the plane with barely concealed
happiness. Ash had just called a couple of days ago to confirm her
coming to Las Vegas to visit him.
"I wonder why Ash asked you to come so
suddenly," Jade said curiously, "Maybe he wants to introduce you
to his friends or something."
Mary-Lynette frowned at that. There was bound to
be a lot of pretty girls in Circle Daybreak. 'Maybe he met one that he
liked better than me and wanted to tell me in person,'
Kestrel rolled her eyes at Jade and Mary-Lynette.
"Jade, shut up. You are such an idiot. And Mary-Lynette, don't be
stupid. Ash can't find anyone he thinks is better than you, because
your his soulmate, and there is no one better for him."
"Kestrel, stop picking on Jade, and don't read
other people's thoughts." Rowan said in her motherly way.
"Please, I don't 'pick' on people, and if
I did, I wouldn't be as nice. And I didn't need to read her mind
to know what she was thinking." Kestrel said.
Clearing his throat, Mark said "Um, maybe we should
find the guy with the sign that says 'Carters'."
Sighing with exasperation, Kestrel said "For one
thing, the sign is over there." She said pointing to the guy in a
suit, holding up the sign, "And second, why the hell does it say
'Carters' and not 'Redferns'? There's more of us."
"Because people would recognize our name,"
Rowan said as irritatedly as her gentleness would let. Kestrel had
been like this the whole flight. "Hello, you must be Nilsson.
Ash said you would pick us up. I'm Rowan Redfern." She said
to the guy in the suit.
"Hello, miss. I have instructions to give you
this letter, and this other letter to a Miss Carter." He said showing
them two envelopes with Ash's handwriting on them.
"I'm Mary-Lynette," Mary-Lynette said, taking
the letter. When she opened the envelope, she noticed the two plane tickets
in it immediately.
Sweetheart,
I'm sorry, but something
has come up. Please, go back to Briar Creek. I need you to go
home, Mare. I love you so much, and it's too dangerous here.
Take these tickets for you and Mark, the girls have their own.
Your soulmate,
Ash
Kestrel swore after she had read her brothers letter to
herself and her sisters. "That jerk! We aren't little
girls! Hell, you're older then him, Rowan. He thinks we can't
handle ourselves or something? He even bought our tickets!" She
said, holding up the three tickets her brother had sent.
But Rowan wasn't listening to her sister's ranting.
Ash had to be in some kind of trouble, and although it was against his
wishes, she knew she had to help him. Maybe it was a big sister thing,
but she couldn't just leave him. "I'm staying." She said
firmly.
Flashing a wild grin, Kestrel said "Good. So
am I."
"Me too." Jade piped, hold Mark's hand
firmly.
"Oh," Rowan protested, "No, you should go
home. It will be dangerous, and I am your guardian,"
"Ro," Mary-Lynette said "We're all going
to go." Ripping the two tickets she had in her hand. 'I'll be
damned if I make you go through whatever you're doing alone, Ash
Redfern,' she thought to herself.
Kestrel grinned. "I guess so," she said,
ripping her three tickets.
Knitting her brows with concern, Rowan said helplessly
to Nilsson, "To Thierry's, please,"
***
Elliot had been hiding for hours. His desperation
had been growing with every hour he couldn't find the headquarters for the
Las Vegas Lancers. He had heard rumors from his source that there was
a rash a careful killings in Las Vegas, with notes about 'vermin' written in
blood. The plan had been to go to Las Vegas for a few days, kill the
vampire they were tracking, and get out. He was supposed to be back in
Boston by today. Smiling wryly, he thought to himself 'At least we
found our vampire,'
***
When she got back to headquarters, Selene swore with
frustration. She couldn't find her target. That had never
happened before, and it pissed her off. 'Girl, what is wrong with you?
You've been around since the fricken 1500's, and you can't catch a stupid
little human?'
*Maybe you should get some outside help,* a voice
suggested to her.
*Why hello Hash, I didn't hear you slither up.*
Selene said, rolling her eyes.
*Darling, you really need to work on your people skills.
But I want this kid. Just get him before Daybreak, alright?* Hash told
her.
*Hash, o ye of little faith, it's only been a few hours.
I'll get him.* Selene said confidently, ignoring any feelings of doubt she
had.
***
"Let's get this thing started," Ash said
rolling his shoulders back, and cracking his neck. He was going to
fight Winnie, and then Nissa. He had changed into a light, cotton
shirt and some sweatpants. He didn't really care about sweat, but it
was easier to move in these clothes.
Winnie was there already. They had moved all the
work out equipment in the training room and because they did not want anyone
to study moves, everyone except for Thierry was outside.
As Ash approached he saw that there was a bunch of
different weapons by Thierry's feet. Stakes, of all different wood,
swords, spears, iron bars and chains. Picking up some iron chains, he
examined them. They links were about an inch wide, and two inches
long. The chain itself was about a yard. Looking at it, he
nodded to Thierry. Winnie looked in the pile, and chose a small,
Japanese Oak dagger about a foot long that also came with a sheath and belt.
Putting the belt on, said to Thierry "I'm ready."
Getting positioned, both went out in the open space.
Nodding, Thierry said "First blood wins. You
may begin."
Winnie cupped her hands, feeling warmth gather in it.
She waited until Ash attacked. When he did, she flew witch fire at
him. Dodging the orange fire, Ash barely made it.
Not stopping to think about it, Ash swung the chain
expertly and lashed it out towards Winnie. Dancing nimbly away, Winnie
tried to build up more witch fire. This time, Ash used the iron chain
to neutralize it. The fire wasn't as strong as the first, and
Winnie was losing energy fast.
Whipping out the chain once more, the chain wrapped
around Winnie's right wrist. Pulling the chain towards him, Winnie
came as well.
Using her left hand, Winnie pulled the wooden knife from
it's sheath. Trying to cut his leg, she swung. Grabbing Winnie's
free hand, he pulled the knife from her hand and made a small cut on her
palm. Stopping her struggles, Winnie nodded, and let Ash help her get
the chain off her wrist.
Both went outside with Thierry, and when they got to there
he said "Ash is the winner. Ash shall have 10 minutes to rejuvenate."
"I'm ready now." Ash said.
Thierry looked at Ash severely. "10
minutes." He repeated.
When the 10 minutes were up, Ash was ready. He had
chosen a snakewood stake, and had been practicing. Nissa had chosen an
ironwood stake.
"Begin." Thierry said, as both positioned
themselves in the open area.
Nissa allowed Ash to strike first, and ducked his strike
easily. Unlike Winnie, Nissa was a composed fighter, not letting
anything get the better of her.
more to come!