Chapter 10

A Chance for Redemption

As the sun fell below the skyline of the city of Magnolia it was anything but quiet. With many injured during the invasion it was important to get them to the hospital for medical care, but while many were hurt no lives had been lost. As Frank and his men helped repair and rebuild that which had been broken both Vlad and Fletcher were down below staring at a computer monitor in hope that they could find a spec of magical essence, but as the night began nothing seemed to had popped up.

"Have you caught anything yet?" asked Fletcher.

"Not yet, it's so strange though. Normally when something uses magic it leaves behind some kind of essence, but these guys just didn't care." he said as his eye in the sky continued to scan the area.

"Yeah, but then how are we going to find them if we can't track them? Isn't there some other way?"

"Not that I recall, our little bot would have detected anything moving, but all we've got are some birds and one plane. It's like they just vanished into thin air."

In all his years he had never heard of a monster that could suppress a magical essence, even he being one of the top ranked monsters couldn't even do it. It had to be there though, nothing could just up and vanish like that. As he continued looking at the screen though he felt himself getting a bit parched, after all he been down there for a good while with nothing to drink and with little blood to drink he could feel his energy withering away.

"Ugh, alright let's roll up on out of here for now." said Vlad as he stood up.

"Wait, what about..."

"Don't worry, once we've had some drink we can come back and continue looking. I just need to get out of here and stretch my legs a bit." he replied as he pulled one of his legs up until he heard it pop slightly.

"Heh alright, but just don't think of drinking mine. I've still got work I've got to do."

"Oh please, I only go after the women, they're so much sweeter." he replied as they both walked out of their office.

Meanwhile back up top and inside the city a few familiar faces began their road to recovery, but how? By downing a ton of alcohol, even though human made alcohol did nothing to them both Locke and Kuruma always managed to get an overwhelming sense of relief after downing a few beers. As for Kat even though she shared the same life line as her husband that didn't excuse her from getting too drunk. After all that had happened they needed to take a load off, especially Locke who seemed pretty down.

"Yo barkeep, two more whiskeys over here will ya?" asked Kuruma as he grabbed their glasses.

"Sure, but haven't you three had enough? You've been guzzling those down for quite some time, so I hope you have the cash to pay for all of this."

"Sure do, got it right here. Now can we get those drinks pretty please?" he asked as he slammed his wallet down on the counter.

"OK, but these are the last ones. I can't have you guys guzzling down my entire supplies." replied the barkeep as he grabbed their glasses.

Yep, their night was going quite well, at least for Kuruma and Kat anyways; Locke on the other hand was there in person, but not in spirit. It didn't matter how much he drank the image of that poor lady crying as her son was taken away from her was just too much . No matter how much he wanted to convince himself that it wasn't his falt in reality it just was. If he hadn't let go he would had still been there. What of the other kids? Was he really capable of protecting them? Everything was just all fucked in his mind.

"Hey Kat are you alright?" asked Locke as he pulled his head up.

With her heard flat on the table and her glass still half full he took that as a no.

"Don't worry, it's happened before. Just give her about an hour and she'll come around." her husband said as he grabbed his glass of fresh whiskey.

"Right, well I'm gonna head out for the night. Hope you have fun." Locke followed as he swung around in his chair.

"Wait, what about your drink?"

"Take it, I don't need it." was all he said as he walked out of the establishment.

"Damn, maybe I could do something for him later." he told himself as he began drinking once more.

With the night still fairly young there were still a few things he could do, but what he wanted most was to get back those that those bastards had taken, especially Travis. As he walked down the sidewalk though he picked up a familiar voice, one of a distraught mother.

"My little boy..." was what he heard as he looked through the window of a nearby house.

And inside was the mother of Travis, holding a picture of her little man as she sat quietly in her house all alone. Was he all she had? It didn't look like she had a husband by the photos that were hung on the wall. A mother and her child now separated, he couldn't even begin to imagine how she was feeling. Just watching her sitting there with the picture pressed to her chest though, it made him feel just as sad.

"Locke?" he heard behind him before moving away from the window.

"Mellina?"

"Yeah, what are you doing? You're not peeping again are you?" she asked with a raised brow.

"No! I just needed to be alone for a bit. Is that too hard to believe?"

"Alright alright, but first what's going on?"

"I would rather not talk about it now." he groaned as she followed him.

"Oh pretty please?"

"Alright fine, I'm trying to find a way I can track down that fortress so can I can rescue the ones taken. There, happy now?"

"And you were thinking of doing this alone? Come on even I know that you're far too underpowered for those guys."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't try." he boasted with determination.

"But wait, so stubborn." she mumbled before chasing after him.

Not too far away though the young blood sucker was trying drown his sorrows in fresh blood. With his fangs embedded in the young woman's neck he drank and drank. With his mind all jumbled up and whatnot he needed something to help him unwind a bit, and the only thing that could could do that was some sweet red nectar. Once he felt she had had enough though he released her and sat her down against the alleyway to sleep off her little experience.

"Ugh, a bit bitter, maybe I should just give up for tonight." he said to himself as he looked up at the moon overhead.

No matter how much he drank through he could never forget the last thing they had done together. That fight, that god damn fight and he had caused it; because of him Julie was gone. Sure his friends and family were trying to find their location, but what if it was too late and something had already happened? With his wallet out he looked down at the picture that he and Julie had taken right after they became partners.

"Julie...you better be safe you here?" he said softly as he gritted his teeth and smashed his fist into the wall.

One idea stood out in his mind, when they found that punk he wasn't just going to kick his ass but also drain him of his wicked blood, and this time he wouldn't lose. Taking his friend and his fellow citizens, it was just despicable. With his head held high as well as his hopes he stood back up as the cool night air washed over him.

"You better watch your back punk because I'm coming for you, and when I find you you'll beg me for death!" he declared with as much gusto as he could muster.

Just as he was about to leave however he was stopped by a voice that was not yet familiar to him.

"Shut it, talk about noise." was what he heard before seeing someone drop from the street light.

As the person came into view though he took a few steps back only to find it was just another kid. He didn't even look like he was his age, at least that's what his height told him, though his emerald colored eyes did seem to leave quite the threatening impression.

"Sorry kid, but I can't play games tonight. Why don't you run on back home and get to bed?" he suggested as he walked past the silver haired boy.

Just as he stepped out from the alleyway though he found his pathway blocked by the boy yet again.

"OK seriously, move." he told him as his frustration grew.

Who was this kid and what was his problem, maybe he was one of his fans and wouldn't let him go until he signed a picture or something. If that was the case then that was a double no; he just wasn't in the mood for things like that. As he approached him though his hand was grabbed as the strange kid opened it up to look at his palm.

"Nice, you want my hand kid?"

"You're a vampire, a bloodsucker am I right?" he asked as he glared up at him.

"Yeah, and your point is?"

"You're going to be a player in our little game."

"Whoa, no way. I've got more important things to do than play game with a bunch of kids."

"You don't seem to understand, this is a game that we can't afford to lose. We need another partner."

A game? Becoming partners? Alright, his brain was all twisted up as he tried to walk past him, but instead he found himself right back in front of him as a great force pushed him back at his attention.

"OK seriously, don't do that again." he said in a stern tone.

"How about you listen for once." he replied as he snapped his fingers.

"Oh come on." he said in frustration as his feet were glued to the ground.

"You think you alone to take back those that he stole? Boy do I have a surprise for you, you would be going up against an army. He's ruthless, heartless, and he'll do anything to win. Alone you would be just another cockroach for him to step on."

What was this kid going on about? First it was about a game and now it had completely turned around to the punk who attacked them earlier. As he struggled though he could feel his feet getting looser and looser thanks to the darkness of the night.

"Yeah well I've taken on beasts twice his size." he grunted as he struggled more.

"That may be, but you've never been up against an army, and I know you want to save those that he took. You're one of the few who stand a chance at beating him at his own game, you must help us for the benefit of both of us."

"Yeah well good luck, he vanished hours ago so unless you can find invisible flying fortresses then I doubt we would both gain anything from this." he grunted as he tried to escape.

Just as he was about free he heard something that made him stop what he was doing and focus on the boy.

"Yes, I do. That's why I've come to recruit you. We've been living in seclusion under that damned kingdom for too long. So if you really want to help us and save your people then now's the time. Will you then?"

As he bit his bottom lip he wasn't exactly sure if he wanted to or not. What if all he was saying was just garbage and instead it was a trap to kill him off? What would they do to his friends and family? Then again if he was telling the truth then he could find Julie and everyone else and become a hero once again. That was only if he was willing to believe him.

"I don't know..."

"Alright, if you want to go along with us then meet me by the park at midnight tonight. From there I'll take you straight to the fortress in the sky." he replied just as he managed to break his bonds.

As he pondered his thoughts though he found himself alone once more as the moon continued to rise further up into the sky. As he looked down at his picture though he knew what he had to do. If he was telling the truth, then that meant Julie would be there and once he saved her he would tear that punk apart limb by limb for what he had done.