The Master

Jacqueline ran her hand through her wet hair, grabbing a towel to dry the soaking locks. After the night she had a hot shower is just what she needed. The group took shelter in an abandoned apartment waiting out until daylight hit. Jacqueline wrapped a towel around her body exiting the bathroom. She headed towards her "room" but got distracted when she heard Eph's voice. He sat at a table with Abraham and Fet a map on the table.

"So why did we see all those vampires in one spot?" Eph questioned

"Safety. Without the coffin, the Master needs to be protected during daylight hours." Abraham declared

"So those 500 or 1,000 down there…" Eph trailed off.

"They were his security." All the males turned their head hearing Jacqueline's voice. Fet smirked seeing her state of dress. Eph stared for a second before turning away.

"The Master will be nesting nearby." Jacqueline walked into the dining room. She set down the towel she was using to dry her hair and picked up a pen circling an area.

Eph pointed to the area Jacqueline had circled. "So, whatever's above ground here, it's important to him. It's gotta be dark or protected."

Abraham nodded his head. "Most likely both."

"Did you just agree with me?" Eph mused

"In this instance, yes," Abraham said

Eph scoffed a small smile on his lips.

"You two are falling in love." Fet jested causing Jacqueline to smirk. "It's a beautiful thing, huh."

"Oh most definitely," Jacqueline agreed with a grin.

Eph's smile didn't leave his face.

"My vote: Reconnaissance. Now, Doc, Jack, and I, we go down to Vestry and Washington and see what's there, yeah?" Fet said

Eph stood up from the table. "And we should move." He pointed at Jacqueline. "And you should put some clothes on."

Jacqueline put her hands up, a playful smile on her lips. "I didn't hear anyone, especially you, complaining."

"Well, I'm not complaining. I like the new look. Distract the munchers by giving them a little show," Fet jested chuckling

"See," Jacqueline smirked looking at Eph.

Eph rolled his eyes, smile still on his face, as he picked up Jacqueline's towel throwing it in her face.

Fet stood up too. "We wanna burn as little daylight as possible."

Abraham agreed. "Excellent idea."

"We've got company," Jacqueline stated pointing behind her.

The men looked over to see Zach standing on the stairs.

"I heard you guys talking. What's going on?" Zach asked

Jacqueline used this time to leave to go and get dressed. She threw on her clothes and grabbed her weapons.

She grabbed her gun putting a clip in. "Whelp time to do some recon."

Fet parked the truck in an alley, across from the building they were going to investigate. Eph, Jacqueline, and Fet all got out of the vehicle heading across the street.

"That Goth douchebag." Eph cursed looking at the building reading the marquee.

Jacqueline and Fet shared confused looks as they gazed back and forth between Eph and the sign. They finally spotted the small marquee sign on the building for a Gothic singer named Bolivar.

"Uh, share the wealth, Doc?" Fet said trying to get an answer from Eph's previous statement.

"Bolivar?" Eph gestured to the sign. "The one who attacked Nora's mother. He was one of the four survivors on the plane. He said he was buying a theater in Tribeca. He's living there."

Fet let out a whistle. "He bought the Vestry, huh? Oh, this place goes all the way back to vaudeville, you know? And since then, it's been a silent movie theater, Yiddish stage, speakeasy, uh, burlesque house." He mused giving the two a wink. "This boulevard is one of the Master's favorite vamps."

"Then there's a high probability the Master's inside," Eph said

"Probability's not gonna cut it, Doc. We need to know for sure, you know?" Fet said

Jacqueline kept looking at the sign. "You know I think that guy hit on me at a bar once."

"Of course he did." Fet joked sending a wink to Jacqueline. Jacqueline playful shoved his shoulder. Fet continued to smirk as he walked back into the alleyway. Eph and Jacqueline following him.

"What?" Eph questioned as Fet walked over to a door.

"You know how I said that theater used to be a speakeasy?" Fet said

"Yeah, and?" Eph questioned

Fet kicked open the door surprising the two. "Yeah." He walked inside followed by Jacqueline and Eph, entering a small empty restaurant.

"In the 20s, this place was called Hawk's Tavern. It was run by a gambler named Diamond Jim O'Brien who also owned the Vestry Hall across the way. But Diamond Jim, he was a legend during the Manhattan bootleg wars because his place had been raided so many times but never found any booze. You know why?" Fet said

"I don't need to, you're going to tell me," Eph said

"They never found any booze because he built a secret tunnel, a tunnel that he connected to the sewer tunnel that connected to the theater, huh? That's how they ran the booze back and forth." Fet explained

"Smart," Jacqueline said

The three made their way downstairs to the storage room. They flicked on the lights and saw nothing present in the room other than shelved food.

"No vampires. That's a good sign." Fet mused feeling along the wall. "He used to have, uh, secret latches to unlock the door." As Fet kept feeling around Eph looked up spotting a rope on the wall.

He reached up and grabbed the rope giving it a tug. There was a loud clicking noise as a secret door opened.

"Not bad," Fet commented

"Alcoholic's sixth sense for booze," Eph said

Fet walked to the door taking his gun out of his bag.

"What are you doing? We're not going in there without back-up," Eph said

"I'm your back-up. We got weapons." Fet said

"We have 45 bullets between the three of us. We don't know what's on the other side of that door," Eph said

"It's just recon, Doc, you know? A little sneak and peek. Come on." Fet said

Eph sighs pulling out his flashlight. Jacqueline opens the door leading the way due to her having better night vision.

"There it is. The old sewer tunnel," Fet pointed out.

He opened the door and everyone walked in. Jacqueline was the first to react grabbing her nose making a gagging noise.

"Sweet mother of-!" Jacqueline gagged again trying to hold her breath to escape the horrid smell. The nasty odor finally hit Eph and Fet, and they covered their noses too making displeased faces.

"Whoa. Look, smell and listen, huh?" Fet shined his flashlight across the tunnel. "Look over this way. Look at this!" He walked over to what looked like a dumbwaiter. "Wow! To haul liquor up and down during prohibition. This is our stop." He spotted a ladder and started climbing up. "Come on up. Coast is clear."

Eph turned to Jacqueline, "Ladies first."

"Yeah I don't think so," Jacqueline countered

Eph looked at the girl confused until she gestured to the skirt she was wearing.

"Right," Eph said before climbing up the ladder. Once he was up Jacqueline climbed and the two men helped haul her up and onto solid ground.

They now appeared to be in a backstage area of the theater. With cautious steps, they explored the area. They crept up a flight of stairs making their way to another room.

Fet spotted something and gestures quickly to the other two. They looked in the room taking in what Fet had discovered.

"Coffin," Eph whispered, "They're reassembling it."

"The Master must be around here somewhere. Huh?" Fet said

The two men tried to get a better look in the room but Jacqueline quickly grabbed their arms pulling them back. She put a finger to her lips and pointed to a corner of the room. The two looked over to see what she was pointing at, and in a pile sleeping was vampires nesting for the day.

One of them sat up and started walking around, once one was up a second one got up sniffing around the room too. It sniffed the air hobbling its way to where the three were hiding.

"Okay, that's enough recon," Eph said

Eph ran out of the restaurant's back door into the alleyway Jacqueline and Fet right behind him.

"Let's get the others while it's still daylight," Eph said

Fet ignored him and brought his rebar walking down the alleyway.

"What the hell are you doing?" Eph looked at Jacqueline. "What the hell is he doing?"

Jacqueline shrugged her shoulders as she and Eph trailed after Fet.

Fet bent down and used his rebar to pry open a manhole cover. "The secret to all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious. Marcus Aurelius. We're gonna flood the sewer tunnels with sunlight. We don't want any more monsters to get into the theater before we come back."

"Oh, that is a really good idea," Jacqueline said

Once the manhole cover was off the three ran off.

Jacqueline, Eph, and Fet walked back into their hideout just in time to see Dutch throwing a remote at some computer screens.

She paused when she finally noticed the three newcomers in the room.

"I am trying to gauge the impact of our pirate broadcast, but all the channels are gone," Dutch explained

"Well, I think that's your answer, right there," Eph said

Dutch just looked back at the blank screens before taking a swing out of the vodka bottle she was holding. She handed it over to Eph who gave the bottle a stare before dumping it in a potted plant.

"What-!" Dutch gaped displeased.

"That's not good for the plant you know," Jacqueline jeered

Eph ignored the comment handing the empty bottle back to Dutch, "We've got work to do."

Jacqueline followed Eph and her grandfather upstairs to where Zach was. The young boy was occupying his time by playing a game on his mother's phone.

"Hey, Zach. Turn that off?" Eph said sitting next to his son.

Abraham sat across from Zach as Jacqueline remained standing.

"What's up?" Zach asked setting down the phone.

"We're leaving. All of us, including you." Eph said

Jacqueline pulled something out and handed it over to Zach.

"Son, this is for you. It is very sharp, very dangerous. Handle it with great care." Abraham said

Zach grabbed the object revealing it to be a short sword. He pulled it out of its sheath examining the sharp object.

"This weapon is forged from silver. Silver burns vampires," Eph said

"Here kid." Jacqueline came behind Zach and adjusted his hands so that he was gripping the sword properly. "You hold it with both hands, and make sure to always keep a firm grip." Jacqueline made Zach stand up and put him a proper stance. "Now the first thing you'll wanna do is show them that you have silver. They fear it, but remember to never let your guard down. Always keep your eyes and ears open." As Jacqueline explained she could feel the nervousness rolling off Eph, but he knew that this was the right thing for Zach if he was going to survive.

"If you have to attack you gotta hit here." Jacqueline brought Zach's sword so it was pointing across the neck. "Cut right for the neck. If you can't reach then go for the other vital points." Jacqueline gestured to a few spots lower on her body where Zach would be able to reach with his height.

"Where there is no bone. The blade goes deeper. Quick thrusts in and out, in, out." Abraham added

"Thanks, Bunic. I think he gets it." Jacqueline said gently.

"You know why we're doing this, right?" Eph asked Zach.

"Yeah," Zach responded

"Since the beginning of creation, boys have hunted beside their fathers. This is no different." Abraham said

"This is very different." Eph snapped. "We're fighting to protect each other. We're going to get through this. And we're going to win."

Soon the group found themselves back at the restaurant crossing to through the secret tunnel to get to the theater.

"Remember, he will use whatever advantage he can against us. Whatever you see, whatever you hear, do not stop until the Master is defeated." Abraham warned

They opened the secret door going into the sewer tunnel. As soon as they entered they all heard growling and hissing.

"I knew it!" Fet said

The manhole cover Fet had lifted up to let in sunlight was a good idea because crowded together was a mess of Strigoi that couldn't make their way back to the theater due to their pathway being blocked by light shining down.

"Nice, huh?" Fet smirked

One of the Strigoi tried to step forward but it hissed and pulled back as the sun sizzled its skin.

"They won't hold. Now they've seen us, they'll push through, sacrificing however many it takes so the others can get through," Abraham said

"Remember when I, uh, went back to my place that one time?" Fet reached into his bag pulling out two stick-shaped objects. "I grabbed a few things. I've been saving these babies."

"Is that…"

"Dynamite, yes. It's, uh, a common exterminating tool," Eph said to his son with an uncertain tone.

Fet lit the explosives. "You flatter me, Doc. You guys might want to get back in the tunnel. Munchers are going boom-boom."

Everyone rushed back into the tunnel.

"Fire in the hole, vermin!" Fet shouted before tossing the dynamite. Once they were out of his hand he ran back to the tunnel closing the door.

Three explosions went off followed by the shrieking of Strigoi. Jacqueline held her now ringing ears shaking her head. "Damn that was loud," She whispered

Fet opened the door back up and peered into the room. "Good. Come on, we're good! Cover your nose. Ammonia overload."

The group continues on making their way into the theater. Entering the venue they were quickly greeted by several Strigoi.

"Woodcarver…"

Abraham hears the whisper of the Master, but Jacqueline too also hears it. Her head quickly whipped around trying to find the source of the voice.

"You're hearing him, aren't you?" Eph said

"Now it's his turn to hear me!" Abraham held up his sword. "Let's finish this."

Strigoi were everywhere with their feral snarls and hissing, they were ready to for a fight.

"Spread out and attack!" Abraham commanded

Gunshots rang out as two Strigoi went down. Nora yelled as she swiftly chopped a vampire's head off.

Jacqueline stabbed a Strigoi in the head while at the same time shooting one in the chest. She pulled her sword out of the first Strigoi and swiftly turned around chopping the other one's head off.

A Strigoi dressed in ladies business attire shambled towards them and Eph went to aim for it, but he was blocked by Dutch standing in his way.

"Dutch!" Eph shouted

"No, wait! It's Jaimie. She works at a gallery in SoHo." Dutch had her gun pointed at the Strigoi previously known as Jaimie. Her gun shook as Jaimie got closer. "Oh, God! Bloody hell!" Dutch screams as she lowered her gun and stabbed Jaimie with her sword. Eph steps up swinging his sword cutting the Strigoi's head clean off.

Abraham pulled the sword out of his cane and slit a Strigoi's throat almost taking its head off completely. "Keep moving!"

"Go find him, Professor!" Fet shouted. Abraham looked back giving the man a nod. "You too, Doc. We'll handle these monsters. Now, aim for the head!"

"Like that!" Dutch shouted shooting at Strigoi that had gotten too close to Zach.

"Dad!" Zach shouted

"Come on! Let's go!" Fet grabbed his son's arm pulling him close. "I got you, Zach. Come on!"

"Kleiner…."

Jacqueline tried to keep her head in the game pushing past the voice that was calling out to her. She took out her gun shooting a Strigoi.

"Kleiner…."

But she could clearly hear the loud whisper in her head and it kept getting louder.

"Kleiner….come to me Kleiner….Kleiner, Kleiner, Kleiner, Kleiner!"

"Gah! Get out of my head!" Jacqueline screamed stabbing a Strigoi.

Shots rang out through the theater as Strigoi after Strigoi was taken out. The group's luck seemed to be dropping when a new wave of Strigoi came in accompanied by Eichhorst. Fet aimed his gun shooting at Eichhorst but all he got was the click of an empty gun.

"Shit!" Fet shouted

Eichhorst walked towards Fet with a cocky look but that was quickly wiped off when Dutch shot him in the shoulder.

"Ms. Velders! So I'll drink you first," Eichhorst said

"Yeah, try it, asshole!" Dutch yelled before shooting Eichhorst in the other shoulder.

Fet ran at the vampire sword raised but Eichhorst easily deflects the attack knocking Fet to the ground. Fet stood back up jumping on Eichhorst's back putting the vampire in a choke hold.

Meanwhile, Nora and Jacqueline were slashing and shooting at any Strigoi that got near them. One of the Strigoi shot its stinger out at Nora. She dodged it doing a roll and in a crouched position she swung her sword up cutting its stinger off.

"Nice one!" Jacqueline complimented

Jacqueline ducked under a Strigoi that lunged at her sliding between its legs, she stood back up stabbing it in the back of the head.

After some struggling Eichhorst was finally able to throw Fet off his back. Eichhorst stood over the man opening his mouth to let out his stinger.

"Hey!"

Eichhorst turned his head only to be met with a kick to the face. He let out a scream staggering back from the woman. He was grabbing at the side of his face that was now sizzling.

"How'd you do that?" Dutch asked

Jacqueline smirked, "Silver in the soles of my boots."

Before Eichhorst could recover Fet pulled out his nail gun shooting the man three times on the other side of his face. He let out another cry as the silver nails embed themselves in his face continuing to burn him.

"Come on!" Fet shouted

Suddenly Eichhorst stopped moving his eyes glowing red.

Jacqueline stopped moving too as sudden pain surging through her head. She felt like the room was spinning, and she could feel her vision getting spotty.

"Come to me!" The Master commanded calling all the Strigoi.

The rest of the Strigoi stopped moving then like robots they started moving backwards out of the room.

Everyone looked confused until they heard a shrill cry. Fet, Nora, and Dutch looked over to see Jacqueline tears going down her cheeks as she held her head.

Fet walked over to the girl, "You okay?"

"It hurts…." Jacqueline groaned clenching her teeth.

Fet reached out to put a hand on her shoulder but without warning, Jacqueline's body went limp, and she drops to the ground.

Jacqueline laid on the floor as her body started violently shaking.

"What's wrong with her?!" Dutch shouted staring down at Jacqueline.

Fet and Nora bent down to examine Jacqueline. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as her body kept convulsing.

"It's like she's having a seizure," Nora said

"What do we do?" Fet asked

"We have to-"

Nora was cut off when Jacqueline's back arched back dramatically and her mouth opened. She let out a loud inhuman shriek, causing everyone to cover their ears.

Jacqueline then suddenly stopped screaming and her body flung forward, as she started vomiting a pink milky like substance.

"Whoa whoa!" Fet said holding Jacqueline patting her back.

Jacqueline choked and coughed until she was finished. She wiped off her mouth and slowly looked up at everyone. Her body was shaking, she looked pale, well paler than normal. She grabbed onto Fet clinging to him like a scared child.

"Are you okay?" Dutch asked

"I-I don't k-know…."

Nora, Dutch, and Fet, who was carrying Jacqueline bridal style, went upstairs to where Abraham, Eph, and Zach had gone. Jacqueline's brow was sweaty, and she was giving ragged shaky breaths. Her eyes were half-lidded like she was drained or tired. They made their way to an attic-like space, all the windows had been broken letting the sun in. There was a large set of windows in the very back going out to a balcony.

"Where is he?" Nora asked

"He ran down the building and disappeared," Eph said

Abraham, who had a stunned look of disbelief on his face, sat down.

"In direct sunlight?" Fet said not believing it.

"In direct sunlight," Eph echoed back.

"I thought that couldn't happen. I thought sunlight would kill him!" Fet said

"What he did, I...did not know he was capable of doing," Abraham said

"But you injured him, right? I mean, that's why the others ran off?" Dutch said

"I was wrong," Abraham said

"Well, if sunlight doesn't kill him, what does?" Eph questioned out loud.

"We're lost," Abraham said

Everyone loaded back up in the truck driving away from the theater.

"We'll go to my place to," Fet said driving the truck. "I have tools."

In the back of the truck, Jacqueline was unconscious her body slumped against Dutch. Zach was sitting next to Nora, but the boy was hyperventilating.

"Zach, where's your inhaler?" Nora asked

Zach didn't answer and looked up at his father, both knowing and not liking the answer to that question.

Fet pulled the truck up to Zach's home.

"The extra inhalers are in there. Wait two minutes," Eph said getting out.

"Make it one, Doc," Fet replied

Zach and Eph both got out of the truck going inside the house. Everyone sat silently in the truck today's events really taking a toll on the mood.

After a minute or two gunshots could be heard coming from the house, followed by Zach's cries. Everyone minus, Jacqueline, ran out of the truck running into the house.

Once they got in they spotted Eph holding a crying Zach close to him.

"Mom…" Zach cried

"She was here?" Nora asked

"Why aren't there any more coming?" Fet questioned

"There will be. She won't stop. Not until she gets what she wants. The Master will use your wife, her love for your boy." Abraham said

Zach sat on the ground holding a photo album close to his chest crying. Eph walked over to a cabinet pulling out a bottle of whiskey.

"Eph...don't," Nora said as Eph poured a glass.

"He'll use your wife's love for her son to pursue us," Abraham said

"Don't," Nora said as Eph picked up the glass.

"To the ends of the earth, if necessary," Abraham continued

Eph took his drink throwing it back drinking it in one gulp. "Let him try."

Jacqueline laid in a bed she was still her eyes closed, and she seemed to be asleep.

"Now tell me again what happened?" Eph asked

"She said her head hurt then she fell to the ground all shaky," Fet said

"Then she started screeching like a banshee and then vomited this weird goo shit," Dutch added

"She seemed like she was having a seizure," Nora included

Abraham stood off to the side watching Jacqueline.

Nora reached down putting a hand on the back of Jacqueline's head.

"She has a fever," Nora said

"Can she even get sick?" Dutch said

"It would seem so," Fet said

"Do you know what's wrong with her?" Eph asked Abraham.

"It would appear Jacqueline's connection to The Master is stronger than I had perceived," Abraham simply said

"Okay well that helps a lot," Eph said

"Right now we're just going to have to monitor her." Nora took out an ice pack putting it on Jacqueline's forehead.

Jacqueline laid still the only part of her body moving was her chest going up and down. Abraham watched his granddaughter in fear of what was going to befall her in the future.