Heavy violence to following the next few chapters. … If you aren't into that sort of thing look away now. Also a bit longer than other Chapters but I really didn't want to break it up, I apologize for that now.

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'And though I am prepared to face my destiny, you will not find me easy prey.' - Unknown Author

The streets of Hollywood were silent almost too silent for Shayne's liking but by that time word of Nines and Skelter's disappearance had already been caught up in the Kindred rumor mill, and news of the tragic explosion at the Empire Arms had drifted through the grapevine as well. It was all a matter at this point of having the element of surprise on your side which was why she had crept silently through the streets and into the Asian Theater, dropping down to her knees in a position much like she were praying. From above heavy footsteps could be heard before a thundering vibration rocked the room and the gargoyle which she had nicknamed Flint for having a lack of better things to call him stood prepared to protect his safe haven.

"Kindred invader you have no place here." The voice growled in the darkness unable to see just whom had entered his domain. "Show yourself and then be gone."

"I need your help Flint."

"It is you," the voice had dropped down to a warmer tone though the hatred was still there, of course Flint couldn't say that he had hatred for the Kindred before him after all she had offered him a life out of servitude and Isaac Abrams had kept his word. "What is it that you need so desperately that you would risk loosing your life to enter here."

"Strauss is dead, he left me no choice but to kill him." Words to sooth the savage beast so to speak as Shayne was certain that it would bring a smile to the stone face before her own. "The Sabbat have captured the Anarch Leader as well as another of the Anarch Agents, they've killed an innocent human, and now they want to wage war. I am not asking you to walk in the line of fire for me but I am asking that at sun down tomorrow you destroy King's Way so that the Sabbat won't have a strong hold in the city any longer."

It was a request that seemed so small and yet a task that would require more strength than what Shayne herself had, not to mention if she died attempting a rescue it was doubtful that the Sabbat would survive an attack by Flint. It was of course her plan B in the whole matter but before she made the drive into the Hills to the house of horror she wanted to assure that it was in place, her main focus rather than her won survival was to get both Nines and Skelter out of the house before anything happened to them. As in the back of her mind Shayne continued to recall the words of the cab driver the night that the Blood Hunt had been called on her, that there was one who could revitalize the Anarch Movement and restore the Free States and then he had taken her to see Nines at the Luckee Star Hotel. That seemed like an eternity ago when really it had only been a few months since that conversation but the words had been burned into her brain.

"You seem ready to seek out death for this Leader yet you know in your heart just as I see it in your eyes you could lead them to greatness if it came down to it," Flint said kneeling down so that he was more level with the much smaller Kindred before him. "Great things come from the smallest of places and it is your heart that has made you a great warrior but it is your head that has kept you alive for so long, do not seek the warm embrace of a Final Death or your opponent might just give it too you."

No she couldn't lead the Anarchs through darkness, her own hesitation and doubts in herself made sure of that as well as her own impulsive nature to simply rush head strong into things. It was that way that she had always been rushing into things before she thought about them and then having to think of a way to keep her head above water, they all thought she had a plan but most of the time when it came down to the actual event Shayne winged it and made sure to have something else in place to spare those around her.

Rising to her feet she looked up before casting a weary smile in the gargoyles direction as she gave a shrug of her shoulders. "I do not seek death for I am already dead, I do not long for death as I am finally where I belong, nor do I long for a release from the pain of living with this curse. Oddly enough I enjoy it but what I long for is the answers that I do not have and the truth that I may never find," Shayne replied as she looked around the remains of the Asian Theater. "Sun down tomorrow, do I have your word that King's Way will be no more regardless of if you have heard from me or not?"

"You have my word Kindred just as I had your's that I would no longer be in servitude to Maxamillion Strauss, you filled your end of our bargain and now I am in debt to you." Flint answered as he watched her, in his lifetime and the time since he had been in service to the Tremere Regent never had he seen someone that could wear the weight of the world on their shoulders such as she did but at the same time while she seemed to think that the Anarch Leader would bring about some sort of salvation, he himself thought it would be the Kindred before him. "Go now and worry not about what the next night will hold, live your un-life for the moment as you might not have another."

King's Way
The Hollywood Hills

Something was dripping off in the distance and while he couldn't tell exactly what it was Nines was certain that it wasn't water dripping, to his left he could hear Skelter beginning to move around rattling the metal bars of the their small prisons. It would do no good as Nines himself had already tried to escape once and gotten nothing more than laughter coming from their guards. With no clock he couldn't be sure how long they had been there but he was already sure that someone was out looking for them, as by now damsel and Shayne had returned to find that they were missing and it was only a matter of time before the cavalry arrived. It was then that a subtle movement on his left caught his attention and made Nines jerk his head to the side, the hazy feeling in his head lifting and his eyes adjusting to their current location he snarled at the form he saw before himself.

"Well if it isn't the Prince of Peace," he hissed before snickering. "Look at that Skelter we traded in one fat cat only to be held captive with another one," he taunted although the question was raised as to why the San Francisco Prince was so far from his own territory. "Why are you here Luna?"

"I can explain that," a suave voice broke through the room and echoed off the walls as Josiah stepped into the light. "A week ago while a few of our Sabbat Agents were passing through Manzanita they happened upon the Prince visiting the grave of his wife, they took the opportunity and captured him bringing him back to our safe haven." the Lasombra swept through the room in an elegant motion before he rattled the cage that held his prize captive. "You Rodriguez are the real prize however."

"Why is that, cause if your looking for a date I'm not interested?"

Josiah gave a cold grin as he paced back and forth before the cage and then looked down. "Because with you here the Anarchs are distracted and your young agent has been riddled with the question of whom her Sire really is, I've seen to that." he gave another grin as he clasped his hands behind his back and looked around them. "Even the brightest of people have been swayed by false prophets."

"Josiah, I just got word from out sources downtown and the Fledgling didn't make it out of the Empire Arms," another voice called and a curse could be heard by the Lasombra.

"You were told to frighten her, kill Johansen but leave the girl alive." He snarled before muttering something under his breath. "Well Rodriguez there goes your chances for survival and rescue, as the person that had the answer to your location is no more."

It was like a knife ripping through his gut as he felt the crushing weight falling around his shoulders, beside him even Skelter had fallen into a silent period of grieving while their capture simply left the room. To Nines it didn't seem possible that she couldn't have escaped the explosion, if anything that was the one thing Shayne knew better than anything else was explosives. How was it that she could have let her guard down long enough to fall pray to something like this, he refused to believe what he had been told but at the same time had he been able to escape from his metal prison he would have wiped the sneer right off of the cheeky Lasombra's face. Letting out a deep sigh he leaned back against the cool metal and closed his eyes before finally opening them and looking over at Skelter.

"I don't believe it." Nines muttered. "We need a way out of here."

Skelter didn't believe it either, even with all of his protest and his dislike for the fledgling when she had first darkened the door of The Last Round he now saw her as being one of them and if she was truly dead than her death would be one that was felt everywhere that the Anarch flag had been and was raised already. "What are you thinking?"

"I am sure that the Camarilla are already looking for me," Julian offered his dark eyes scanning the faces across from him. "It is only a matter of time before they discover just where it is that I've been taken to." Opening his mouth to add something else to that statement the sound of gunshots erupted from somewhere above them followed by a stream of curse words and maniacal laughter.. "What was that?"

King's Way - Third Floor

"You're dead!"

"No way really, I didn't know that." She sneered as she looked on, surrounded by at least four members of the Sabbat and two ghouls Shayne was weighing her odds. Deciding that she had been rushed by far more at the Hallowbrook Hotel she grinned holding up her hands and appearing to be unarmed. "Now would you really shoot at someone that was unarmed?"

Unarmed, that was hardly the case but they didn't need to know that the moment someone made a close enough move she could easily swing, and if spinning fast enough to it would be like a deadly fan blade. She had been surprised to find the items in Fat Larry's truck but she had known a good thing when she had seen it. Her plan was interrupted however by the sound of someone firing from behind her, one of the bullets shattering her shoulder before passing through and lodging into the nearby wall.

"What the hell, shit learn to shoot straight," Shayne hissed spinning around long enough to blink before she gave an inward groan. "Damn Fluffy I know your pissed I never called you back but don't you think shooting me is a little extreme," she asked listening to what one Sabbat thought was silent footsteps approaching behind her. "Did I tell you boys to move yet."

Jerking her arms, and ignoring the searing pain she felt Shayne smirked as the blades extended in a glint of silver with the light splashing off of it before she swung. "Now whose next?"

Cash had been tracking the Sabbat since Julian's disappearance and finally he had found them at King's Way but he hadn't expected to find Shayne standing there and shooting her had been an honest mistake; well an honest mistake that made him feel slightly better none the less. Now he questioned why she was there but he felt it might have been the wrong time to ask her that question, given that they were surrounded by armed Sabbat guards and something that continued to roll around in the darkness. When it finally made it's ghastly appearance Cash took a step back not sure what to make of the hideous looking creature.

"Watch out for the Headrunners," Shayne called as she dodged a set of claws that came painfully close to piercing her abdomen. "Their wicked fast and they have a taste for blood," she added before crashing through the glass door behind her, the railing the only thing keeping her from plummeting to the cement below. "Alright you bastards that's it I'm tired of playing nice with you."

She'd been playing nice Cash looked over at that remark in time to get caught with a fist to his jaw and for a few moments the room started to spin around., catching himself he fired a shot, the last before his gun jammed hitting one Sabbat in the head causing him to bust into a dazzling array of flames and ashes.

"Any idea I'm out of weapons?"

"You're a Gangrel, you have claws I would suggest that you start using them," Shayne called as she rammed the full force of her body into a much larger vampire and sent him back out the same door she had just crashed through. "I just got this coat thank you very much you ass, knock me through a window." He rose and swung at her which only made her chuckle, at times it paid to be shorter. As the vampire tried to regain his balance she took the moment to strike, sending one blade into his gut and the ripping across his neck.

Shrugging her jacket off and tossing it down Shayne adjusted the braces that held the blades against her arms before she lifted her head, motioning for one of the Sabbat to rush her. Flint might have been right about not welcoming a Final Death but he had said nothing about welcoming an attack which would have worked much better had she not felt a set of sharp tiny teeth digging into the flesh of her calf. A Headrunner latched on tightly and attempting to gnaw it's way through the flesh and bone.

"I am not a snack, despite people calling me cupcake" she grunted kicking as hard as she could and sending the little creature toward her opponent. "Hey Fluffy why the hell did you only bring one gun?"

"Poor planning on my part, guess you were right about me not being a Boy Scout huh," Cash called slightly amused by the look on the vampires across from him face when they realized that he in fact had claws of his own and knew how to use them. "You alright over there," he asked before thinking about it, a little surprised to see his former girlfriend latched on to the neck of a ghoul and draining him dry. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I could ask you the same thing Fluffy but right now I don't have time to play catch up with the past. Thanks to your shooting me in the fucking shoulder and the use of a gun I think their well aware of the fact their strong hold has been raided." Shayne countered grabbing her jacket from the ground as she looked back over her shoulder. "Come on we have two more levels to this house and whatever is in the basement to contend with."

King's Way - Basement

"Sounds as if it's getting closer." Julian offered not sure who or what had caused the Sabbat guards to flee the room or what was causing the commotion upstairs.

Exchanging a look with Nines, Skelter nodded his head as he folded his arms over his chest. "I'm just hoping she remembers to check the basement and doesn't just blow the building up," he explained looking toward the stairs. "I banned the use of explosives remember," Nines said as she looked over, his arms folded over his chest and shook his head. "I could leave you down here to die Luna just like you left my wife and child to die but unlike you I've managed to still hold on to a shred of my humanity." He thought about it for a few moments. "Granted Kid might not be so willing to save your ass especially now that she knows what really happened to her brother."

"Her brother would be?"

King's Way - First Floor

The second floor had been empty of Sabbat which had told Shayne they were all on the first floor just waiting to strike, but it had given them both time to regroup, heal what could be healed, and her to give Cash another gun with the understanding she wanted the Anaconda back. Now as she stepped off the stairs and onto the hard wood flooring she was a little surprised at what she saw, an army of Sabbat standing guard just before the basement door looking much like the Romans before they prepared to invade. Only this time around they were trying to keep something out..

"Let's hope Nines was right about my hitting like a Mack truck or else we aren't going to get out of this to tell people," she mused looking toward Cash for a few moments before she caught a familiar scent. "Oh Caine not this again, get ready for complete and utter darkness Cash, don't move because it won't do you any good. Once it lifts you take out the Sabbat and I'll take care of the Lasombra."

As the darkness blanketed the room like thick tendrils of black smoke Shayne gave a grunt though it went unheard by anyone else as she felt herself being pulled forward and then shoved in the direction of the stairs. However at this point and time she wasn't certain if Josiah was there to help her or he was secretly trying to kill her but if she had to make an educated guess off the top of her head he was trying to kill her. The farther they moved away from the front door the thicker and more suffocating the darkness seemed to get before finally a hand was put in the center of her back and Shayne was shoved rolled down the stairs and landing on the ground with a heavy thud.

King's Way - Basement

Skelter had been the first to notice the form at the bottom of the stairs when the lights came back on but she wasn't moving and she appeared to be stunned or unconscious. Behind her came the well dressed Lasombra walking slowly until he reached the bottom step and sent a foot into Shayne's stomach which was enough to send her up into the air before gravity pulled her back down to the floor below.

Landing with a thud on the ground Shayne groaned as she struggled to pull herself to her feet before leaning back against the wall before looking up. "You played your hand when you told me that you knew my Sire because you thought it would distract me," she started and then laughed. "Then when Nines and Skelter disappeared I remembered what you had said about the devil's and convincing people that he didn't exist."

"I was worried you would be to smart for your own good but you looked so pitiful that night wallowing in your self pity and loathing for yourself, against my better judgment I decided to make you feel better. Then I watched your disgraceful liaison with the Anarch Leader and I realized the best way to get under your skin," replied Josiah. "Doesn't it make you wonder about your Sire though am I telling you the truth or am I lying to you."

"False prophets my friend, false prophets," Shayne said before she shook her head reaching back behind herself and removing the McLusky before she started to fire emptying the clip into Josiah as she did so. "Whether you tell the truth or not doesn't matter to me in the end it is the blood of Caine that guides us all not the sins of our Sire's."

"You bitch." Josiah wailed as he looked down sticking his finger through the hole in his shirt. "That was silk."

"It was cheap and tacky, much like you," countered Shayne as she shoved another clip into the gun and adjusting the worn brown leather bag that hung over her shoulder. "Why don't you stop trying to woo me with pretty words and let's just get down to it, but when you go to whatever hell it is our kind go to tell Andrei that I said hi. Unlike you he was a Sabbat that at least had manners and unlike you killing him almost pained me the first time around." She had always felt she could have learned more from the Tzmisce had he been willing to talk more before hand but instead rather than answering her questions he simply prepared to strike.

Watching in silence Nines had his doubts about her ability to handle this, she looked like she had been run over by a truck and it had backed up to run over her again. Then again this was the same woman that had gotten pissed off and stormed the Kuei-Jin temple and Venture Tower in the same night and walked away from it with her head intact and not a flaming pile of ashes and bones. However if he called upon the Abyss Nines doubted Shayne would be able to save her ass from the fire, which was when he had noticed that she had traded in her gun for a flame thrower and that sent an chill down his spine.

"Now would be a good time to remind her that were still here before the sister fries us," Skelter muttered before he looked over noticing something glinting on the ground as it landed softly against his cage. "Would you look at that," he said as he picked up the gun seeing a second skid to a stop before him. "Looks like the we might have a fighting chance."

"Now why don't you just stand still child and let me kill you," Josiah said, "or you could join me in the Sabbat bring back glory to your Sire's name and take away the shame of soiling his name when he left our ranks."

"Would you just die already," she snarled landing a heavy blow to Josiah's face as she swung her leg around, the heel of her boot catching the skin and ripping it.

He launched back at her the blade of his knife catching the side of her neck and tearing the skin, though it hadn't been deep enough as he had misjudge the angle in which he needed to swing at someone of her height. The inhuman scream that filled the basement was music to his ears however until he realized that he could no longer find his target, she wasn't in front of him nor was she behind him nor was she on either side. She had disappeared from sight even though he knew that she hadn't fled. In reality Shayne hadn't disappeared from sight but she had found a good place to use for a counter attack, although how she had managed to climb the wall and get up there was beyond her it was the first time she had ever scaled a wall without a ledge. Startled but realizing she had an advantage Shayne dropped down landing on the Lasombra's back before she dug her fingers into his eyes, her nails digging and scraping into his flesh before she pulled them back ignoring the thin coating of blood that remained. Now momentarily blinded and enraged Josiah prepared to strike though not at Shayne herself, she had already proven she was to hard to catch. Turning the thick tendrils of black smoke curling around in the air as they dances closer to the make shift prisons, Shayne watched until she realized in the direction they were headed. Dropping down to the ground in front of them she gave a gasp as they coiled around her tightly making it difficult to speak above more than a whisper , the room had turned into a disco of white spots that played before her eyes and the only thing that she could think to do was with the last bit of strength that she had let aim the flamethrower at the Lasombra and put her finger on the trigger. As the room continued to spin for a few more moments Shayne finally choked, the thin thread that had been wrapped around her throat releasing.

"Burn baby burn, come on you bastard die." He fell to the ground in a heap and Shayne let her finger off the trigger figuring him to be stunned or dying, before she turned back to look at Nines and digging the lock picks from her pocket. "Miss me."

"Only a lot Kid," Nines replied as she pulled the door open and then moved out of the way. "How'd you know?"

The lock snapped open followed by the one snapping open on Skelter's prison before Shayne turned and took the short trek to look down at Julian Luna, hesitation filled her as she debated before finally listening to the tumbler turning over in the lock and it springing open. It was then it hit her, a heavy burning pain like nothing the young Kindred had felt before and in her final moment before the sweet comfort of unconsciousness took over Shayne realized her mistake in thinking Josiah wouldn't be able to get up. After all it had taken her how long to kill the Sheriff with that thing. Snapping back into reality as another blow was landed this time hitting her in the center of the chest, Shayne struggled to pull herself to her feet only to feel a foot lodging in her gut and flipping her over in the air. The scent of burning flesh was nauseating and the fact that she knew it was her own only made it worse, blinding her with a white hot pain that left the room blurry and spinning around before her eyes.

"Head's up Kiddo, look alive." Never in her un-life had she been so glad to hear the sound of Jack's voice even if it did take her a second or so before she gave a grin to Josiah and then dropped down onto the ground. Listening to a barrage of shots being fired before he simply disappeared into a flicker of flames. "Sun's coming up soon there's no way we can make it back into the city before hand." Jack explained.

Standing through she was swaying back and forth Shayne looked over before she opened her mouth, and at first they thought she was going to screaming in pain. "Gary." it had dawned on her at some point that the double doors behind them lead into the sewers which lead into the Warrens, and that would take them under Hollywood. A hand caught her as she fell back into the wall and Shayne looked but saw nothing the haze before her eyes was only getting worse.

"I got you Kid," Nines had been trying to think of an escape route when the double doors were pushed open and a Nosferatu stepped into the basement wearing a wiry grin and looking around at them as if they were at a carnival. "Alright Kid come on, Shayne you have to stay with me those tunnels are too small for me to pack you." He would have but Nines doubted they would both fit into the smaller tunnels that lead into the different areas below Hollywood if he were packing her.

"Jack."

"Back off Gangrel Dog," Jack snarled before he looked down nudging Shayne with his foot before he shook his head. "She's out but it's probably better that way," he turned and looked toward the stairs.

"Mercurio hurry it up will you were burning moonlight."

"I can handle it," Cash started only to be cut off by the well dressed ghoul that walked into the room, or at least he had been well dressed at one time now his suit was covered in blood and soot. "Who is he."

Jack looked down at the ground nudging the lifeless form on the ground and watching as she opened her eyes, he cracked a smile at her before looking back toward the Nosferatu. "Looks like were taking the sewer and he belongs to her, deal with that and remember this isn't San Francisco you don't hold domain here." Jack motioned grabbing the brown bag from the ground and tossing it over his shoulder before making sure Mercurio had managed to get Shayne without killing her. "Alright lets move it out."

"Jack will lead the way, Skelter and I will stay in the back." Nines ordered clearing his throat as he nodded toward Skelter. "Mercurio will be in front of us, now lets go."