Author's Note: My sincere thanks to everyone who's been reading, favourite-ing and/or story alert-ing my little project here… and to the ONE reviewer who bothered to write a few words, Blakkstone extra heartfelt thanks. If anyone else could spare a few minutes to let me know what they think, my appreciation would not be squandered. If not, I hope you'll at least enjoy this next installment.

Chapter 3

The alley was somehow always shadowy. Even on a bright day decrepit buildings cast blankets of dark. But it was more than that. The alley itself seemed to be permeated by a layer of gloom and even though it was late afternoon, in this alley no one would mistake the space as merely a gap between old structures. The stench of alcohol, drugs, urine and sometimes worse things clung to the bricks and pavement tighter than a python's grasp. It was here in his former haunt, where Jimmy White a.k.a the White Jumper stood his ground.

Facing him looking royally pissed were an assorted collection of hoods he had once called his brothers. Chains hung off them at various points some connected to piercings hidden beneath their ragged clothing. Knives and semi automatics were visible in the waistbands of some while nail studded bats and larger firearms were displayed in the hands of others. A guy named Big Earl had actually brought a sawed-off and was holding it casually. But Jimmy had no illusions. Earl rolled with the craziest of them. He'd be watching that shotgun.

In the center of the overly aggravated bunch of thugs stood a taller bald man, undoubtedly the leader. Half the man's face was covered in intricate tattoos that might've been dragons or snakes. Probably snakes, though to be honest neither Jimmy nor anyone else that worked for the man they simply called Cage felt like looking at him close enough to double-check. Even if Cage had led a normal life his mug would've been anything but appealing. A large jaw had once defined this man's face in combination with his sunken beady eyes had given him a bulldog-like appearance. Once he had half his face inked his appearance grew even more unsettling. He reminded Jimmy of that Batman villain Tommy Lee Jones had once played in a movie, Two-Face. But unlike that comic book clown, Cage didn't give you no fifty-fifty chance, nor did he laugh maniacally or make corny jokes. He just pulled a nine and capped your ass, faster than you could say "lead salad". And that's if you were lucky and he wasn't up to using his knife to slice your extremities off bit by bit.

Jimmy was still nervous. He knew his newfound protection could still be revoked if he pissed Cage off too much. He cleared his throat. Up until a few months he had been rolling with Cage's crew, mostly a lower level street enforcer, not into the big jobs yet, just running some protection rackets or the occasional drug deal. He had done some mugging on the side when Cage wasn't looking and otherwise generally just followed orders. He was by all accounts small-time. Until a couple of months back when he had tried mugging the wrong person. The chick had seemed harmless enough, petite, possibly Asian, nice ass and had some of the thinnest purse straps Jimmy had seen in this neighbourhood in a long time. But what should've been a regular snatching and maybe a little playing had turned out quite differently when the cute little bitch turned out to have fangs. Honest to God fangs. Jimmy had nearly gotten his throat ripped out. The only thing that had saved him was a man named Samuel. A man who was really not a man at all. He had delivered him from the crazy Asian bitch only to show him the real underworld. A world where creatures sucked your blood and left you a dried husk. A world where a small Asian kitten could throw a man like Cage through a wall with no effort. A world where ordinary people could be and were played like chumps daily. A world where they ruled. A world he could be a part of if he would only serve. Why someone as powerful as Samuel had bothered with a punk like him Jimmy had no idea nor any wish of contemplating it longer than a minute. Better to serve than be served… for dinner.

So the White Jumper moved up from street thug to vampire pet and was branded as such. Familiars in general, were not required to cease their daily activities especially if those could be used to the advantage of their master. But in Jimmy's case, Samuel had no wish to waste time with muggings or extortion. So Jimmy was to resign from his little gang.

Easier said than done. The old adage about how you don't get out of the life seemed to be true as Jimmy now faced a furious Cage and his flunkies.

"So you're just gonna leave?" Cage asked his eyes boring into Jimmy. Before, this alone would've reduced him to a cowering mess on the floor. But compared with Samuel's gaze Cage might as well have been a little puppy. A still dangerous puppy, Jimmy reminded himself.

"I told you man, I got a new job now. I can't roll with you no more." Jimmy said trying to keep his voice even."

"Really?" Cage sneered. "Well look at that! Jimmy Boy here is moving up in the world and forgetting his debts."

"I'm serious man! Look," Jimmy raised his wrist so they could all see the glyph imprinted here. "I work for them now. You hurt me, they come after you."

He could see by the shocked look that came over Cage's face that he recognized the mark or at least what it meant. So did some of the other thugs.

Cage however recovered quickly. His hand snaked out and seized Jimmy's wrist pulling him in. A large knife appeared suddenly in his other hand.

"Why you little shit! You think just cuz you got some fancy ink on you, you're gonna run out on me?" Cage roared. He brought the knife closer. "How about I carve my fucking name into your chest so you know who you really work for?"

"You think it's a fake?" Jimmy laughed shakily. "Try it. Samuel'll tear your head off with his bare hands."

"Oh yeah?" Cage asked bringing the knife to Jimmy's throat in the blink of an eye. It wasn't vampire speed but it was still shocking. "How about I tear your head off now and worry about your faggot vampire later. Think I'm scared boyo? I've killed those bloodsucking pricks before."

At this Jimmy paled and Cage gave a cruel laugh. "Yeah how bout that you weak sack of shit? You thought poor ol' Cage he's just a human, he ain't got shit against these freaks huh? Well too bad bucko. You bet wrong. And I got no more use for a sniveling punk like you."

He was about to draw the knife across Jimmy's throat when the thug's head nearest to him exploded in a flash of blue light. Cage's head whipped around just as a spinning thing flew out of nowhere and severed both his arms. The knife and Jimmy both fell to the ground the latter screaming and thrashing to get the bloody arm off him. Cage looked at his stumps in shock. Around him the thugs were pulling their weapons and firing randomly. Screams enveloped the alley.

More flashes of light and more bodies fell with heads or parts of their chests vaporized. The spinning thing made a comeback as it lifted Big Earl off the ground and pinned him to the wall, the shotgun clattering on the ground. There was a thud nearby. Cage turned, still in shock and saw a… thing shimmer into existence. It was tall seven feet at least. Its head was huge and covered by some kind of mask with what seemed like dreadlocks sprouting from its skull. There were all manner of things, weapons attached to its body. Huge blades erupted from its right gauntlet and it roared like a demon. Cage screamed, stepped back and tripped. If he had been in any position to examine what he tripped on he would've seen it was his own arm.

--

The Renegade had once again lucked out. After leaving the female vampire to recover he had gone out in search of a familiar to capture. But this gathering of humans had drawn his attention. His earlier mistakes still stinging he had longed to jump down and make short work of these, something that would undoubtedly have calmed him down. His urge to kill had been countered by his urge to continue the mission and for a while he had stood there on the roof, invisible but indecisive how to proceed while the conflict between the gang members (for there was no doubt in his mind these humans were of the bad blood sort) played out. It seemed they were all turning on one of their number. His translator chip had still been on so their conversation was being interpreted even as the hunter wrested with a decision. That decision had been blissfully made for him when the lone member held up his wrist. Though the Renegade could not see the mark from his position he was immediately interested, his entire attention focused on this being and what it was saying. The large one facing him (probably the leader) suddenly grabbed him and threatened him with a knife. The wrist still seemed to be a point of attention for them. Further exchange was made but it was not long until the Renegade heard the magic word. Vampire. So it was true. The lone member had shown a vampire mark of ownership, to which the others had reacted negatively. A vampire's servant. Just what he was looking for. And the other gang members must be eliminated. Perfect. The Renegade's objectives had been unified. But now it seemed like the leader was getting ready to kill him. This would not be allowed. He took out his disk, aimed carefully and threw. At the same time he had already targeted the gang member closest to him with his plasmacaster and fired.

The result was immediate chaos. The leader stared stupidly at his stumps while the rest of the pitiful gang members fired everywhere but at a target. His disk streaked back to his hand and he immediately hurtled it towards the next target. He had been on enough hunts to recognize human weaponry and the weapon this prey was holding was enough of a threat at close range to warrant immediate dispatch. Having whittled them down further with his plasmacaster, the Renegade jumped down and decloaked. Finishing them off would be have to be more up close and personal.

Most of the survivors were too terrified to do anything but be cut down. One of braver ones swung a wooden object with what appeared to be metal barbs on the end. The Renegade met his attack easily, merely grabbing the bat below the barbs with his left hand while he drove his wristblades into the man's gut. For all the exhilaration and challenge vampires could give him, a small sense of satisfaction could still be gained by how easily these humans could be dispatched.

Another human managed to get a shot off that actually clanged off his shoulder armor. Partly amused partly surprised the Renegade merely looked at him. The plasmacaster instantly swiveled to point at him and the targeting lasers appeared on his forehead. The terrified human was immobilized. As the three telltale dots moved from his head to his shoulder, the mask's vocal mimicry activated and a distorted human scream issued from the hunter.

"That all you got punk?!"

The thug shrieked and, broken from his trance, raised the gun again. The plasmacaster fired before he even got halfway up and his shoulder vaporized. The rest of the arm dropped with a meaty thud. The goon continued screaming as the Renegade rushed forward and punched him in the stomach with his left hand, hard. The human immediately doubled over, all breath knocked out of him. Chattering, the Renegade drove his wristblades into the back of the thug's neck as he had done to others countless times before, the spinal column fitted in neatly between each blade. With a roar he yanked with all his might as was rewarded with his new trophy. The rest of the corpse fell over, blood sprouting from the ragged stump. The Renegade roared again then looked around.

There was no one else alive except for the leader and his true quarry which had shuffled away as fast as he could and was now hiding behind a dumpster, no doubt hoping he'd be forgotten. The yautja calmly retrieved his disk, unpinning the corpse of the late Big Earl and walked unhurriedly towards the leader who was looking at him with wide eyes and had not moved from where he'd fallen. He would bleed to death soon. The Renegade could almost see the life seeping from him. Retracting his wristblades he turned towards his target.

Jimmy watched in terror as the…monster slaughtered his former "brothers". The beast was like a freak of nature. Blades that looked right out some dark age fantasy horror and was that a fucking laser on his shoulder? It was a goddamn alien. Jimmy was shaking all over. Just hide and maybe it'll pass, he thought then mentally sneered at himself despite his growing fear. Yeah and if you close your eyes he won't see you, you dumbshit.

But it did see him. After retrieving what looked like the worlds biggest ninja star, he stepped over Cage's body (Cage man, who up until a few moments ago had seemed all but invincible) with just the barest glance and started towards him. And Jimmy realized he was gonna die and nothing on this earth human or otherwise was gonna stop this thing from tearing his head off like he did Seth's. The monster loomed over him the dripping severed head clutched tightly in its left hand. It chattered briefly then its right fist came down and Jimmy sank into blackness.

--

The Renegade returned to his hideout just as the sun went down. He hadn't bothered netting the captured human who had awakened only once during the trek back across the roofs. He dumped him in the second cage, activated its lasers and went to the science module. The human trophy's skin was beginning to decay and he would need to clean the skull soon. Taking a blade from the module he began cutting away chunks of skin pausing only to clean the blood with a suction tube. When this was finished he deposited the cut skin into a vaporization container and set about polishing his new trophy. It was likely the only human one he would take on this hunt and the battle to get it had obviously been no challenge. But it was a nice break from playing scientist. He would have to implant the human with a tracker and then check on the female vampire. But polishing the trophy had a certain comforting complacency and the Renegade allowed himself this brief respite. However twin signals suddenly received soon drew his attention back to the cages.

The first had been a warning from the subroutine managing the lasers. A captive had been prodding at the wall in between the lasers too long. The tripmines were also equipped with motion sensors. If something tried to get in between the beams the array would reset itself at random positions and anything caught in the lasers new position would obviously be sliced. This was precisely what had occurred. And since the human was still unconscious that left only one prisoner to worry about. The second warning confirmed this. It was from the module's tracker monitor. The alert merely said "signal lost".

Alarmed the Renegade rushed to the cage and opened the door. The female was on the floor clutching her left hand. The fingers and part of the thumb were missing. The wounds were cauterized. He also saw the previous gashes had healed with the exception of the one on her side where the tracker had been implanted. That tracker was now on the floor. The Renegade chatter in anger and the female's head whipped to look at him. She bared her fangs and hissed.

"Clever freak aren't you? Nice work with the laser trick. But I don't like being tagged," she sneered indicating the tracker on the floor.

The Renegade was livid. He hadn't counted on his subjects removing their trackers. A human couldn't do it. Not without the proper tools not to mention few had the courage to operate on themselves. But apparently this creature had simply reached in with her bare hand and plucked it out. The vampire seemed to read his thoughts.

"Surprised I did that aren't you? Go ahead try it again. I'll just pull it out. I don't know what the hell you are but you're gonna find out we aren't cattle. You want livestock, get a human. Down here, we're the hunters."

As soon as his mask translated this the Renegade burst out laughing. He couldn't help it. This creature was annoying, to be sure. He would've liked to kill her several times over for the trouble she kept causing. But her little speech had just cracked him up. The vampire however, apparently did not like being laughed at.

"What the fuck is so goddamn funny?" she hissed.

Despite the repulsiveness the thought of communicating with this creature brought him, the Renegade activated the two way translation and chattered a reply. A moment later a slightly distorted mechanical voice issued from his mask.

"Next time the tracker will be planted deeper. And your healing will prevent you from removing it unaided."

The female's surprise at him replying was quickly overcome by fury.

"Just try it!" she spat.

The Renegade obliged. After deactivating the lasers he took out his speargun and extended it. The muzzle end split in two halves supported by metal springs to allow for the wider "tri-shots" and near the middle an upper "scope" like portion rose while a butt and trigger lowered beneath. The result could not be mistaken for anything other than a weapon.

The female shrank back and hissed. Then apparently deciding she had no other alternative she sprung forward. The Renegade met her charge with a solid forward kick. The female crumpled around his foot and fell back on her ass as expected but to him it felt more like hitting a wall than a body. He quickly aimed the speargun at her hand and fired. The bolt pierced her hand and stuck it to the wall. She screamed in surprise and her first impulse was to jerk her hand away- which did nothing but tear her hand even more. He fired again before she could reach with her good hand and pinned that one as well. She was now effectively pinned to the wall. He fired two more spears, one in each leg for good measure and once she was immobilized picked up the discarded tracker, took out the surgical blade and moved in. He had intended to implant the tracker with her conscious to demonstrate how ineffective her efforts to hinder his plan would be but even pinned she was struggling too much. And the spears were not silver. She could soon tear away and heal without difficulty. So he cocked his fist back and hit her several times. Finally she lay still, stunned. At last able to continue, the Renegade reinserted the tracker making sure it was deep and close to her heart so even if she did somehow locate it she would not risk damage to her heart by taking it out manually. Once this was done, he took out the spears pinning her limbs, retracted the spear gun and stepped back. He knew he should move on to implanting the human with a tracker but he was curious to see how she'd react once she woke up.

He didn't have to wait long. He had just finished reloading the spears and reactivating the lasers when she awoke with a hiss. In an instant she was up on her feet and ready to charge. The Renegade watched in fascination. The female's face was contorted in savage fury and for a few tense seconds he believed she would charge him regardless of the lasers that would take her life. And she almost did. She sprang to within an inch of the beams before stopping short. Her eyes finally registered the threat and though her fury was now contained it was not diminished.

"Bastard!" she spat. The Renegade did not bother replying. He merely turned to go. But she was not yet finished. "I'll dig this one out too. You just wait you son of a bitch! I can feel it near my heart. It doesn't matter how deep you've buried it. I'll get it out! You hear me??"

The Renegade stopped. Was she bluffing? He could not afford to be constantly delayed by having to re implant the tracker over and over. He was answered when another alert was issued to his mask's HUD by the science module. "Subject's corporal integrity breached." He rushed back to her cell. She was indeed digging her fingers in her side, gasping as the blood ran down her waist. The Renegade could not believe it. He chattered a command that was quickly translated.

"Stop."

The female looked up at him defiant, her eyes burning. "Or you'll do what? Kill me? I think you'd have done that already if you wanted to."

"True. But the tracker is right by your heart. If you dig your hand into your heart you will die without my help."

"Better dead then cattle. Or some fucking alien's science project," she snorted. She smiled at him sweetly thought the smile soon turned into a grimace. "If I die at least I'll die knowing I ruined your day."

The Renegade could not believe this. She was actually resisting him in a way he was having trouble countering. Every instinct told him to kill her at once. She did in fact act more like a warrior than prey. Perhaps there was something serious to her earlier shouts after all. Despite the urgency of his mission the Renegade yearned to see how far she would go, whether she would actually carve out her own heart rather than submit to him. But that would take too long, another part of him cried. And was he truly going to allow himself to be defeated by this petty thing? No. The Renegade did not admit defeat. He would simply have to rely on something other than his weapons. He would have to use reason. He considered carefully then chattered his reply.

"You realize you are under my power. You know you could die, either by my hand or your own. But there are fates worse than death. A future of pain could await you."

This was a lie of course. He was prohibited by his honour from torturing a prey creature. She just didn't know that.

"Talk is cheap," the vampire grunted. That translation made no sense to the predator. "You'd never do it. You said this thing was a tracker? I'm betting whatever it does, you torturing me will fuck up its usefulness. Care to try again?"

The Renegade was at a loss. Clearly threats were ineffective. How to deal with this creature? If threats did not work perhaps incentives would. But what to offer? He never paid much attention to what humans prized let alone vampires. They seemed to covet material things or currency to acquire material things. Actually currency seemed paramount to human life. Everyone from the bad blood humans to the "elite" of their society was always in search of "money". Money got them what they wanted. Money… Suddenly he remembered a phrase he had recorded off a crime boss on a previous hunt.

"Money is power son, and don't you ever forget it!"

The vampire looked at him puzzled. "What?"

Money is power. He had no money and wasn't about to steal it for this wretched thing. Humans wanted money. Some humans also wanted power. This little female claimed to be a hunter. A hunter would be interested in power. A plan began forming as the vampire spoke again.

"You're gonna pay me? What kind of alien are you?" she asked incredulously. "You could have all the money in the world and it still wouldn't be enough for me to let you stick some fucking alien cattle tag in me!"

"The device I implanted is a life tracker. It monitors bio signals. I am merely gathering information."

"Are you kidding me?" she suddenly laughed, a rich yet disturbing sound. The Renegade was off put but at least she had stopped digging her own flesh. He just stared.

"No fucking kidding," she chucked. "The damn tabloids always say its anal probes." Again this meaning of the translation was lost on the yautja.

"So what's the deal you really flew God knows how many light years just to do experiments on me? Where's your UFO?" she laughed again.

The Renegade was confused. What was she saying? He chose to ignore it and continue, hoping to bait closer to where she might bite.

"I did not fly here for experimentation. I know all about humans. I wish to know more about their dominant species"

"Really?" she asked sceptically. "Why didn't you just ask?

"I know vampires are infected humans. I know they are stronger and faster. I wish to study the virus and the exact changes."

"Why?" she was curious now but still hostile. "So you could kill us better? Find our weaknesses?"

It was the Renegade's turn to laugh.

"I know all about your weaknesses. Silver. Garlic. And as I'm sure you're aware I require none of them." At this he activated his plasmacaster and pointed at her heart for show. She glanced down at the three dots on her chest and shrugged.

"So what are you after?"

"I want to see how vampires reproduce."

"We fuck, just like everything else," she responded laughing again. The mask translated "fuck" correctly in this case, as a vulgar term for mating. The Renegade chattered impatiently.

"No I wish to know how the infection is spread."

"Oh. That. We bite, you turn. Want a demonstration?" she asked coyly. Despite the pain this creature had inflicted on her she had to admit her curiosity was aroused.

"Yes."

She was shocked at his response but covered it up quickly. "Well step inside then Mr. E.T. and I'll show you firsthand."

The Renegade managed not to scoff at her implication and continued.

"No I wish to see how a human is turned."

"Why?" she asked, her curiosity continuing to rise.

"So that I may perfect the operation. Make it better." This was a stab in the dark. He was talking nonsense in the hope of electing the right response.

"And why would you want to do that?" she asked disbelieving.

"So I may have something to offer in exchange for asylum." There was the bait. As he waited for her to work through this bit of information he was glad his mask gave no expression away no matter how alien and unreadable it would be to this creature.

"Asylum? You want to move here?" she raised an eyebrow incredulously. This was amazing.

"You said you were hunters. I am a hunter as well. That is all my people do. Hunt, according to old customs, paying tribute to the elders. I have grown tired of the elders and their customs. I wish to disappear somewhere where I may rule, beside equals. I will make your people stronger in exchange." He leaned in for effect. "And I will make you stronger first, by making you the one to offer this gift onto your people"

She could not believe what she was hearing. Was this thing for real? "And how exactly are you gonna do that?"

"The machine that monitors your tracker is one of the most advanced science modules my people have. It has already analyzed samples of your blood and some readings of your tracker while you were unconscious. It can manufacture nearly any chemical compound possible and it already has a possible solution to make vampires immune to garlic. This would be a worthy gift I think" Pure fabrication but though the Renegade wasn't an expert on human facial expressions he could tell she seemed intrigued.

The vampire for her part found it hard to believe. Maybe this alien was serious about staying on earth. But she doubted he was willing to remove their imperfections just for a chance to live here. Even if it could be done no one would be that stupid as to make vampires invincible just to live with them. He had to be lying. But maybe she could still gain something from it. Now that it was talking instead of slicing her up she was more up to the task of manipulation.

"Maybe," she said thoughtfully "Or maybe we don't want some alien messing with our genes. Now if you were to give us some of that laser technology to study, we might be able to work something out."

Surrender yautja technology? To these pathetic creatures? The mere mention of the foulest crime a hunter could commit was enough to send the Renegade into a hot rage, despite the part he had been playing. But with restraint bordering on the supernatural he gave no outward sign of this beyond a clenching of his mandibles. Forcing himself to calm down once again he slowly made his reply.

"I cannot simply give you my technology. But perhaps I can use it to your benefit." In a sudden flash of insight he added. "Perhaps there is an enemy you would like vanquished? Some foe that plagues your kind relentlessly?"

"Blade," she whispered softly. She knew he was baiting her. She knew he hadn't told the truth about why he wanted the data. But still, if she could turn him on the Daywalker…

"Blade?" the alien inquired.

"Blade. The Daywalker. He hunts and kills us for no reason. He's a half-breed. He's got vampire strength and speed but doesn't have our weaknesses."

Ah, so that was what they called the human vampire hunter. Blade. The Renegade once again wished he could really hunt him. Such would truly be the challenge to top all others. One day he would return. And on that day he would hunt this "daywalker". But for now he must continue the charade.

"You wish me to kill this Blade for you?"

"No!" she hissed. "No, I want him captured! Capture him and I'll kill him. Then I'll take you to our leaders. Blade's head will be your ticket in."

"And if I do this you will let me gather my data?"

"Yes. Bring me Blade and you can take all the readings you want," she smiled. "Deal?"

The Renegade smiled too, inside his mask. Though he had spoken more now than he had in years he discovered he was a much better liar than he thought.

"I will hunt and capture Blade." He turned to leave.

"Hey! I still need to feed genius!" she shouted after him. The Renegade turned back. A quick scan of the tracker data confirmed dangerously low levels of haemoglobin as well as a certain unidentifiable tensing of the whole organism.

"Vampire anatomy 101, my little extraterrestrial friend," she called out. "Always feed the vampire. Otherwise we can get cranky."

"You need blood?"

"Yeah, Einstein I do," she snorted. "And fresh blood too. After what you did to me, I should fucking gorge myself."

"Very well."

Further remarks were cut off as he closed the soundproofed door. If it was true, what she had said about the bite being the way the virus spread, he should be free of her soon. Defenseless or not, he would enjoy killing her for the aggravation she caused. He had suspected it was the bite that carried the infection, perhaps the fangs or the saliva the actual vector, but he wanted confirmation. He went to the science module and took out an identical tracker to implant the human with. He would also need more of the sealing mixture as the human would not heal fast enough on his own. Once this was prepared the Renegade went over to his cell and opened the door.

As soon as he saw the alien Jimmy shrank back as far into the corner as he could without actually touching the lasers. The thing loomed over him, metallic face fearsome yet impassive clicking and chattering. In his left hand he held a vial of a glowing green substance and in his right he held some type of blade. Jimmy was scared shitless.

"Get away from me! What the fuck do you want?" he screamed.

"Hold still junior. This one's gonna sting," a distorted voice came out of the thing's mask.

"No, nooo!" Jimmy screamed. He continued screaming until the alien's blow once again sent him crashing into unconsciousness.

The Renegade waited a bit to sell the illusion that he had gone out to capture a human (after all she had not seen him bring this one in). In the meantime the sealant would also do its job and be used up. If the yautja's suspicions were correct it would be wise for his other captive not to discover he was monitoring her food as well. After enough time had passed (and the human had regained consciousness again) he used part of his clothing to gag him then he lifted him off the ground and carried him to the vampire's cell.

"Took you long enough, Spock," the vampire said as soon as the door was open. "And leave the goddamn door open next time will ya? I hate not hearing anything. You'd be surprised how hard silence is on superhuman hearing."

The Renegade deactivated the lasers and threw the human in. He looked in panic from the predator to the vampire unsure of which to be terrified of more.

The vampire's eyes burned with an unnatural fire as she laid down on top of him, pinning him. Though she was thirsty as fuck she could not resist playing with him. She removed the gag and smiled sweetly.

"Why, hello there! I'm Eva. What's your name handsome?"

"Get the fuck off me lady!" Jimmy shouted. "There's a fucking monster out there!"

"Yes, there is," Eva put a finger on his lips shushing him. "Better the monster you know though right?" She bared her fangs.

"Oh Jesus, no! Fuck no, get off me!" Jimmy screamed.

"Shh! Let's not ruin the moment lover," Eva cooed. She turned to look at the Renegade. "By the way this is how it's done." Then turning to her hapless prey she bit him.

The human's screams, hoarse and full of pain filled the room. The Renegade considered closing the door. Not only did he not want to attract outside attention but he himself wasn't too keen on hearing them. He hoped this was worth it, as only victory would repair the breach of honour feeding the human to this creature had caused. Visually it was a disturbingly fascinating sight watching the two thermal images with the module data overlayed. The vampire's getting strong, her heat signature rising and becoming more prominent while the human's more vital one was dimming, his life ebbing and growing weak. It then occurred to him that if this human was to be turned he should remain alive for the virus to work. He stepped in and pulled the vampire off him. At first she wouldn't budge and he had to exercise most of his considerable strength to hurl her off him.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Eva shouted her mouth bloody. Though the Renegade did not need to reply, he did so anyway knowing she would not be pleased.

"He needs to be alive to be turned."

Eva stared at him incredulously at first then with unrestrained fury in her eyes.

"That's not the deal and you know it!" she shrieked. "No turnings until you get Blade."

"Wrong. He will turn." He almost wished she could see his smile even though she probably wouldn't recognize it.

"We made a deal you alien fuck!" she screamed. She rushed him but his fist was faster crashing into her face hard enough to break her jaw. A second blow knocked her down. He had not made the mistake of underestimating her. Now that she had fed she would be more powerful. He had been ready.

"No we didn't," He hauled the human out of the cell and out of her reach.

"You can kiss… your little chip goodbye!" she slurred through her ruined mouth. But in the time he had waited a further solution had come to him with such clarity that once again he had been ashamed for not having thought of it sooner and saving all this time.

"I don't think so, copper" the distorted voice of a long dead gangster emitted from his mask. He activated the lasers, grabbed her right arm and ran it down the nearest wall. The effect was immediate. The lasers sliced through her fist leaving only about an inch of cauterized flesh above the wrist. The vampire shrieked in pain and anger but she was now completely helpless. Her feeding had fully healed the cut she had reopened and now she had no fingers with which to resume her work. She could kill herself he supposed. But somehow he doubted she would. He knew her kind could regenerate limbs so she'd likely wait until she had her fingers again. He just wasn't sure he'd let her live that long.

Stepping away he deactivated the lasers long enough to slip through then reactivated them and closed the door silencing her screams. He dragged the human back to his cell. He'd lost a lot of blood, both to the floor and to that creature's gullet. If the virus could bring him back from this certain death it was miraculous indeed. But ultimately not his concern. He needed to know if the variances in life readings between a healthy human and a vampire turning matched the changes between a healthy yautja and whatever the missing hunter had become. If not this was all a waste of time. But if they did, the he would have some idea of what he was facing- and how to take it down.