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A special Thank You to Kt for beta reading.
Blood Ties
Chapter 21
"You sure you're going to be alright?" Quatre asked as he and Trowa said their good-byes to Heero at a bar called 'Rainbow Pond'.
There was something about the atmosphere of the place that had prompted him to walk their new friend all the way to the door. The blonde could feel the auras of at least a dozen different demons and other otherworldly creatures, including the tall man covering the entrance. Quatre would be willing to swear that he was a vampire. But to his surprise he sensed no aggression or hostility from any of the creatures. They were mingling…with humans… for no other reason than to have a good time, it appeared. After what had happened less than an hour earlier, it was a concept that seemed utterly strange to him. But what was even stranger was the fact that Trowa hadn't tried stopping him from getting close to this place.
The bouncer seemed to know Heero, nodded at him and let them through, but not before giving his companions some guarded looks.
"I'll be fine," Heero assured them. "Thanks for the ride. Can I get you a drink or anything?"
Quatre opened his mouth, happy to accept the invitation, but the demon was faster. "Maybe some other time. I've got to get him home and tucked in. It's past his bedtime."
The blonde snorted but didn't argue. "See you around, Heero. And thanks again for helping out."
"You know," he told Trowa on their way back to the car. "I want to come back here; this place…interests me."
"Yeah," the demon agreed calmly, "in a couple of years, when you are actually old enough to drink."
"Hey, I'm old enough to drink… in some countries, like Germany and Austria for example."
"Good. Next time we are visiting the Alps, I will buy you a beer."
"You know," Quatre grinned at Trowa. "You are becoming a smart-ass. Some may say you have been keeping bad company."
####
"…and in breaking news, the East Orange County police is looking for a group of vandals who earlier this evening stole a pick-up truck. After taking it for a joyride The vandals broke into and destroyed a small, independent bookstore in Santa Ana. According to a police spokesperson the vandalism might have been an act of revenge after the store owner called the police following a similar incident the night before. So far there are no leads or descriptions…."
Sebastian pressed the power button on the TV remote and tossed the device onto the coffee table.
"I'm going out." he announced as he rose to his feet. "You want to come?" Nobody could accuse him of not at least trying to be civil with his…'landlord'.
"I'm busy." Nichols replied stiffly. He had been working on his laptop at the kitchen table ever since they got home.
"With what; looking up porn?"
He shot the younger incubus a glare over his shoulder. "Looking up real estate. This place isn't big enough for the two of us."
"I couldn't agree more. That's why I am planning to move out as soon…"
"Think again. The prince wants you to stay with me for the time being."
"You gotta be kidding me," Sebastian grunted unhappily. "I think I'm finally beginning to see why he took me in. He enjoys torturing me to take revenge on my family."
"Complain to him if you must."
"Yeah right." Sebastian snorted. "And count my blessings if he only rips off one of my arms. You know he barked at me today for just one little scheduling mistake. That's not the Treize I remember."
"He isn't exactly himself right now. He has a lot on his plate at the moment, and he is still in pain. He hasn't fed either. Besides, you did put down a customer for a bikini wax that wasn't requested."
"So?"
"A MALE customer…"
Sebastian had a reply on the tip of his tongue, but the ringing of Nichol's phone cut him off. So instead he just gave a brief wave and reached for his leather jacket. "I'll be taking my leave."
Ignoring him, the older incubus picked up the call.
"Nichols?! It's Leigh. I've found the van… and the people driving it. I had myself a little conversation with one of them and he told me where they are hanging out."
Nichols nearly cringed. He could imagine how that 'little conversation' played out. Leigh could be very imaginative when it came to inflicting pain. He almost felt sorry for the other guy…almost. "Did you talk to the Prince?"
"I did." Leigh confirmed. "He told me to call you. We meet in 30 minutes at his place. Dress for action."
"Got it." Nichols confirmed, and with that the phone call unceremoniously ended as the incubus at the other end hung up.
Nichols turned his head, catching a glimpse of Sebastian who was just slipping out the door.
"Leave is canceled," he declared. "We've got a job to do."
###
"What happened to you?" Duo, taking advantage of a passing break in business, had walked into the backroom of the bar just as Heero was pulling a clean t-shirt over his head.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" Duo's eye narrowed in irritation. "You leave here telling me you are going out of town for a few days. Two hours later you are back, reeking of blood that's not only yours. To top it off you walk into the bar with two…guys in no better condition than you. And all you have to say is 'nothing'?"
"Sorry. I'll leave if you want me to. But if you must know, I got into a fight with some vampires. It wasn't my fault. They were attacking someone I knew, someone who is helping me out. I returned the favor by helping him. I would do the same if you were in trouble. As for those two… They dropped me off because my car got damaged. They are good people, Duo, friends."
The braided young man huffed, but there was little amusement in his voice. "The likes of you and I don't just make friends with…well, never mind. You are a mess." He pulled the key to his apartment from his pocket and pitched it at Heero who caught it with ease. "Go home, get cleaned up. I'll call you a cab."
###
They moved with the stealth and deadly efficiency of a special ops team… a special ops team with more than a century of experience under their belts. Six figures dressed all in black melted into the darkness around them, as they crouched in the shadows of an old warehouse. At one point in its history the warehouse must have been filled with oranges. The aromatic citrus smell had permeated the wood and was still lingering, detectable for someone with a sensitive nose.
Ahead of the group lay another warehouse. Light and music spilled through it's open doors. There was no need for the inhabitants to be particularly careful. This storage site, like many others in the area, had been abandoned long ago.
Inside the building figures were moving, unaware that they were being watched. The lights, of course proved a bit of an obstacle for the group in the shadows.
"They will see us before we get close enough to attack," someone pointed out in a whisper.
"Why even bother? Why don't we just blow the whole place up and go home?" Leigh's baritone came from the other side.
Treize Khushrenada turned his head. "They probably have mortals in there with them; prey."
That was all he had to say. Everyone knew and understood his rule; kill if necessary but avoid any casualties that can be avoided, especially amongst mortals. It was a rule they all had agreed to live by.
"How many are there?" The prince whispered.
Luther opened and closed both of his hands twice, then showed three more fingers.
Twenty three; that was less than four for each of them. They had fought worse odds before…far worse.
"We will have to be fast, or find a different way in."
Treize stretched his body when something small and dark dashed across the floor and rammed into his legs. The impact nearly threw the incubus off balance. With a frown he looked down to see a furry, red and tan creature rubbing it's shoulder against him in an almost playful manner. One eyebrow raised in surprise Treize picked the cat up by the skin on the back of his neck. The tabby was wearing a familiar leather collar imbedded with gemstones.
"What the hell are you doing here?" the incubus whispered as he pulled the large tomcat into his arm.
With a quiet mewl the tabby struggled and wiggled itself free. He jumped to the floor gracefully and dashed off into the darkness. Suddenly, just within sight, Oscar stopped and looked back at Treize as though he was asking him to follow. The incubus prince raised one hand, telling his men to stay as he slowly and quietly went after the cat. He followed Oscar through a dark alley around two buildings until they reached a small door in the rear of one of the warehouses.
The door was closed, but from beneath it a faint light was visible.
A triumphant smile crossed the incubus' face as he leaned down to pet the cat that was once again brushing around his legs.
"Smart kitty! Remind me to buy you a big box of cat treats, " he whispered, pulling the animal back into his arms as he sneaked back to where his men were waiting.
"There is a back door. Unguarded. Nichols, Luther, you are with me!. Leigh, Diego take the front when you hear us go in."
Four heads bobbed up and down in unison.
"What about me?" Sebastian wanted to know. He was more than just a little thrilled … and flattered to have been taken along on this 'mission'. This was his chance to prove to the prince and the others that he was more than just Christian von Ranzow's little brother.
"Stay here! And hold on to this for me, will you?" Treize handed the tabby off to the young incubus before gesturing for his men to follow him.
Sebastian's face fell as he watched them disappear into the darkness. He glowered at the cat in his arm, fully convinced now that Treize really hated him. The animal looked back at him, a displeased growl grumbling in his chest.
"Yeah," Sebastian snorted. "The feeling is mutual."
##
Treize held up three fingers of his left hand, slowly bending one after the other. At the count of zero, Luther threw himself against the back entrance with the force of a battering ram, taking the wooden door off its hinges with a deafening thud.
Nichols and Treize jumped past the big incubus at the same moment. The demon blade flickering to life just as Nichols unsheathed his own sword. Two dozen vampires, startled and confused for a second, scrambled to their feet and turned toward the open front door. But the moment they realized that way of escape was blocked as well they went on the offensive.
A incubus, or white vampire as they were sometimes known as, had a clear disadvantage when going toe to toe against black vamps. They just didn't have the same physical power as their bloodsucking 'cousins'. Blood provided, after all, a lot more energy than any other life-force. But that didn't mean incubi were any less deadly. What they lacked in strength they more than made up for in speed and intelligence. Whites were known to be far better organized than black vampires and they didn't share many of the black's weaknesses. Not to mention the men in Treize's group, aside from Sebastian, had survived nearly 200 years of battles, ambushes and assassination attempts. They fell over the blacks like a scourge.
Treize looked around. It took him all of two seconds to access the situation. He had been right in his assumption that the coven lived here and kept prey near them. There were two cages, the size of midsize dog kennels filled with mortals. He could see a few more of them on the floor near the spot where the blacks had been huddling. Some of the vampires looked like they had been in a fight recently.
They must have been feeding, replenishing their powers, when we surprised them. If we are lucky they haven't been able to absorb the energy yet.
"Go for their bellies!" he called out even as he slashed his own weapon across the front of the closest vampire trying to rush him.
The glowing blade split the creature open like a coconut. Deep red blood splattered over the floor as the vampire went down with an anguished cry. Treize didn't wait for him to recover but aimed his sword downward, swung it and cut off the vampire's head in one swift motion.
Beside him Luther threw aside an attacker but was instantly rushed by another who slashed at him with dagger-like claws trying to eviscerate him. The big incubus solved the problem by swinging his razor-sharp butterfly swords, cutting off the black vampires hands so that he could get close enough to thrust one of the short, curved weapons into his opponent's chest.
Nichols jumped over a stack of old wooden crates, evaded a knife that was thrown at him and then dodged one of the mortals on the ground. He followed one of the blacks into the back of the warehouse near to where the caged prey was kept. For a fleeing moment his eyes caught the pitiful figures behind the bars. They all looked like they were under some kind of drug, barely conscious, with clouded eyes, drooling or babbling incoherently to themselves; a pathetic and sickening sight.
###
"What the hell are you anyway?" Sebastian growled, still glaring at the cat in his arm. From inside the warehouse he could hear the sounds of battle mixed with cries of pain and fury. "I could be inside there right now, fighting. But no, thanks to you I'm merely pet-sitting. Do I have 'looser' written across my forehead or something?"
Oscar made a little sound somewhere between a meow and a growl.
"I hope that wasn't supposed to be a yes." Great, I am having a conversation with a ball of fur. "You are heavy you know that? Ever considered switching to low calorie food?"
The growl turned into a vicious snarl as the red tabby suddenly struggled to free itself from Sebastian's hold.
"Okay, okay, I was just kidding, no offence."
Before the incubus knew what was happening the large cat jumped from his arms over his shoulder at something behind him.
A shriek of rage and anguish hollered through the night. Sebastian spun on his heels to face a large vampire less than five feet away.
"Holy Shit!"
Oscar was hanging on the black's neck, biting and scratching. It looked like something he remembered seeing on the Wild Life channel. Only there the 'cat' had been a 400lb lion and its prey a zebra that wasn't at least 10 times its size.
The vampire howled again, ripped the animal off along with several inches of skin and tossed it aside.
I never even sensed him. Sebastian swallowed but didn't hesitate. There was no time to reach for his twin daggers, so he attacked bare handed, dashing toward the creature with inhuman speed. For a mortal's eyes his movements would have been little more than a blur and even the black vampire wasn't fast enough to react. His head snapped backward with such force as he was grabbed, that the whiplash broke his neck with a sickening snap. Just for good measure Sebastian pulled one of his knives and plunged it into the vampire's chest. He had learned to kill from the best, his father and older brothers.
The incubus turned his head looking for Oscar. The tabby seemed unhurt. He had landed on his feet as one would expect from a cat and was running toward the lit up warehouse.
"Stupid cat!" Sebastian cursed as he dashed after the animal.
###
Most of the vampires weren't armed when the attack came. They fought back with pure strength and any weapon they could find. Treize was fighting off one of the blacks when a second attacked from his right, wielding a four foot long piece of pipe that looked like it was made of steel. Sensing the movement beside him more than he could see it, the prince spun around. His weapon held out straight he let the attacker impale himself on the sword before twisting the blade in the wound and pulling it upward. The body went limp but the pipe still came down on his arm, sending a blinding flash of pain through his body. The wound he had sustained in his fight with the guardian hadn't completely healed yet. He could feel warm blood soaking the sleeve of his shirt. Grinding his teeth against the pain he moved the demon blade to his other hand and continued the fight.
Nichols had taken down three blacks in the back of the warehouse that were trying to hide themselves between stacks of boxes and old packing material. While he was fighting he was also trying to keep an eye on the incubus prince, but paid dearly for that distraction when he was suddenly grabbed from behind. With a vicious, and triumphant snarl a vampire, build like Luther or Leigh and easily 50 pounds heavier than him, took him by the neck trying to crush his throat. The incubus struggled. He couldn't breathe and he felt himself being lifted off the ground. He dropped his sword and tried to get his fingers between those bruising hands and his neck, but the black's strength was just too great. His vision slowly began to fade and his lungs ached from the lack of oxygen.
"Nichols, freeze!" Sebastian's voice yelled, and so he did.
Somewhere out of the darkness something flew towards him. Sebastian's dagger he realized at the last moment. The knife swooshed over his head close enough that he could feel it cut off some of his hair, and hit the large vampire directly between the eyes. The creature died without a sound, probably never even realizing what had hit him.
Nichols crumbled to the ground like a sack of potatoes, gasping, trying to pump air into his aching lungs. Sebastian appeared from somewhere to his left and stopped next to him. The brunette incubus pushed himself to his knees.
"Are you crazy?" he croaked. "You could have missed."
"I don't miss." The younger incubus replied self-confident as he held out his hand to help Nichols to his feet. "You are welcome too. Now you owe me."
###
A few minutes later the fight was over. Most of the black vampires lay dead or dying. Two or three of the group slipped out of the warehouse and tried to run.
"Don't let anyone get away!" Treize barked. He looked around briefly and then turned his head toward Leigh. "Take care of the rest," he ordered before heading after Luther and Diego who were chasing after the escapees.
Leigh was bleeding from a cut under his eye and a few deep scratches on his chest where a set of sharp claws had caught him. He tucked his daggers into his belt as he walked toward on of the cages in the back of the warehouse. It was secured with a chain and an old- fashioned lock.
The incubus gave an annoyed huff. There was no time to look for a key. He solved the problem by grabbing the chain and pulling it apart. The veins on his arms popped out and his jaw clenched as he strained for a moment, then the chains steel links started to deform under the pressure, slowly widening until they finally broke with a pop and a clank.
Meanwhile Nichols was checking out the teens on the ground, the ones the vamps had been feeding on when they burst in. One of them, a young girl in black clothes and traces of dark make-up on her lips and eyelids, was beyond help. She might have looked pretty at one point. Now she was just…dead.
The incubus grabbed the young man next to her. He was stirring and trying to struggle, his eyes wide and unseeing. Nichols slapped him in the face to quiet him down.
"Sebastian, give me a hand here. We need to get them out."
The younger incubus grunted a reply. He lifted one of the girls in the cage Leigh had opened, throwing her over his shoulder in a fireman's hold. Then grabbed a second person, a scrawny little guy with short-cropped hair, with his free hand and tucked him under his arm as though he was weighing nothing. One of the mortals, a woman with red hair, stirred slightly. Sebastian looked at her and his eyes widened for just one moment as he recognized her. She looked different yes, her hair was dirty and uncombed. Her make-up was all but gone, her eyes sunken in, but he was sure she was one of the hookers Nichols had brought home just a few nights ago. She stirred again, her pupils focusing on him for a moment. Was that a trace of recognition on those green eyes?
No, he told himself, she is just as drugged up as the others and too far gone to even recognize her own mother right now.
"We don't have all night." Nichols urged.
Sebastian tore his eyes away from the woman, turned and followed him outside. They unloaded their burden around the corner near where they had left their car, dumping them unceremoniously onto the sidewalk before heading back for the rest. By now Leigh had opened the second cage as well and was working on something beneath the dark van in the back of the warehouse.
By the time they got back to the car Luther, Diego and Treize were returning as well.
"Is that all of them?" the prince asked with a nod at the moaning and babbling figures on the floor.
"All that were still alive," Nichols confirmed. His eyes went to the slowly spreading stain on Treize's right arm that was coloring the black fabric of his shirt even darker. "Are you alright, my Prince?"
"It's nothing." The tawny-haired incubus sounded irritated.
"You are bleeding. I wish you would let me call Lady Une. That wound isn't healing."
"I said; it's nothing," the prince snapped.
Nichols' reply was swallowed by a sudden explosion. The sky lit up in brilliant colors as the old warehouse erupted into a big fireball. Seconds later, Leigh came running towards them. In one hand he was holding Oscar by the back of his neck.
"Weren't you supposed to watch that thing?" he barked at Sebastian and tossed him the cat as though it was a stuffed animal.
Sebastian's brows furrowed as he opened his mouth. But before the first word ever left his lips Nichols jumped in.
"Give him a break, will you? He was a little busy, you know?"
"Let's get out of here," Treize commanded with a nod toward the black town car across the street.
Luther took the wheel, the prince the passenger seat and the rest of them, cat included, piled into the back of the limousine without another word. Moments later they were gone; leaving behind nothing but the burning warehouse and the drugged up and disoriented mortals.
###
The noise of police sirens and fire engines woke Otto from deep sleep. Having lived in New York on 9/11 those sounds still sent a shiver down his back, even more than a decade later. He checked his watch; it was nearly 2 am, sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. By the time his cell phone rang he was nearly dressed. It was the dispatcher from the police department's call center, just as expected.
"Give me the details!" The Lieutenant put the phone on speaker and set it down while he filled water into the coffee machine and reached for the tin of ground coffee.
The woman from the call center told him about an explosion near the old airbase in Tustin and informed him that Detective Parker was on his way to pick him up.
The call ended and Otto looked down at the tin and the measuring spoon in his hands. He gave a little shrug and added another spoonful of ground coffee into the machine…and then another. Something told him he was going to need the extra caffeine this morning.
By the time Parker's unmarked car pulled up outside his apartment building the Lieutenant was already waiting on the sidewalk.
"What's going on?" he asked as he slipped into the passenger seat and strapped himself in with the seatbelt.
Trend Parker, one of the detectives working with him on the missing persons taskforce, shrugged. "You tell me, Lieutenant. Must be the weather or something. They say that damn Santa Ana wind will make people crazy. A few hours ago some stupid teens bashed up a bookstore over at 17th street and now this."
"What exactly is "this'?" Otto asked. "Dispatch only told me something about an explosion, but not what it has to do with us."
"Meth lab probably; that stuff is highly flammable. The reason they called us is that they found some of our people at the scene."
"Our People?" the lieutenant echoed.
"Our 'missing' people." Parker clarified. "Although they can't be considered missing now that they have been found, can they?"
The streets were nearly empty at this time of night. The detective didn't even bother turning on the sirens as they headed toward the large hangers that at one point were built to house air-ships or blimps. Otto recalled reading somewhere that each of them was big enough to fit the statue of Liberty if it was strapped onto a flatbed truck. Somewhere in the distance behind those hangers, just outside the parameters of the old airbase, he could see smoke rise into the air. It was forming clouds that dissipated into the night sky. The smoke was nearly white, a sign that the firefighters were putting a lot of water onto the flames.
By the time they reached the old storage yard the fire was nearly extinguished. Parker stopped the car behind a couple of ambulances, making sure that it wouldn't be in anyone's way.
Three paramedics were working on a number of figures, huddling on the sidewalk, covered with heat blankets. Otto pulled his ID from his pocket and held it up for one of the men to see.
"Lieutenant Fisher," he introduced himself. "What have we got here?"
"Not quite sure yet." the paramedic replied as he set up an IV line for one of his patients. "Drug lab maybe. They…" he thrust his chin forward in a gesture including all of the people on the ground. "…are definitely on something."
"Looks like they got lucky and made it out before the fire." Parker observed as he looked around. He didn't see any burn injuries or signs of smoke or suds.
"Any identifications?"
"Nothing."
The paramedic rose to his feet and walked to one of the ambulances. Otto followed him. "Can we talk to them?"
"You are welcome to try, Lieutenant." the medical worker shrugged. "I wouldn't set my expectations too high, though. They are all, up to their eyeballs, drugged up on the devil knows what. So far we haven't gotten anything out of them except for some meaningless mumblings about monsters and stuff. We are just about ready to take them away now."
"Where to?" Otto asked.
"UCI Medical Center."
The Lieutenant nodded in acknowledgement. "We will send an officer over later to take fingerprints. And we will talk to them once they are sobered up a little."
A large fireman in full gear interrupted the conversation.
"Lieutenant Fisher?" he asked.
"Yes, that's me."
"Commander Hernandez," the tall man introduced himself. "I'm the one who called your department when we got here. There is something I want you to see."
"Lead the way." Otto nodded.
He and Parker followed the fire fighter to the burned out remains of the warehouse where a few other firemen were still putting out several hot spots. There was little more left of the building than a few charred and still smoldering support beams. All of these old warehouses had been built from wood, back in the late 19th century.
"Watch your step." Hernandez led them to the back of the building toward the burned out skeleton of a large van.
"You think that's our car?" Otto threw a look at his partner.
The fireman bent down to pick something from the rubble, something that turned out to be a bent and somewhat discolored license plate.
"Yep, definitely our car," Parker confirmed with a look at the deformed metal sheet.
He was, of course, referring to the car used in the attempted kidnapping of those two young women a couple days earlier. Thanks to a quick-thinking and civil-minded business owner, the police had received printouts from a security camera that had caught the crime on tape. They were now able to identify the van positively by make, model and license plate number.
Otto looked at the fireman. "How did you know about those people we are looking for anyway, Commander?
"My father has been a police officer for more than 30 years. He is now a desk clerk."
"Josè Hernandez, of course. Sorry I didn't make the connection."
"In any case, he had given me some names and showed me some pictures, knowing that the guys and I often help out at the local soup kitchen and homeless shelter. I recognized one of the kids when we got here. And then there is this one…" Hernandez waved for them to follow. He only walked a few yards to the left, stopped in front of a large piece of metal roof sheeting and picked it up at one corner. As he lifted the pane a foot or so of the ground they could see the body it had been covering.
Part of the legs and one arm had been ripped off by the explosion but most of her torso, protected by the metal, had been left intact and untouched by the flames. She was young, seventeen, eighteen maybe, and dressed in black.
Otto swallowed. In spite of the mutilations he recognized her from one of the missing persons reports; Sarah something. He didn't remember her full name. Beside him Parker coughed. The lieutenant turned his head. His partner looked a little green around the gills. Otto felt a pang of sympathy.
"You want to wait outside?"
The younger man shook his head. "I'm fine," he assured him, his voice a little shaky. "But man, she was only a kid."
"I know it isn't much of a consolation, but she was dead before the explosion and the fire," the fireman said.
"How can you tell?"
"There is barely any blood around those wounds. Dead bodies don't bleed," Hernandez pointed out matter-of-factly.
"This doesn't look like a meth lab to me." The Lieutenant looked around.
Hernandez shook his head. "We have found nothing to indicate that any kind of drugs were made or stored here. Still, those kids were high on something, I tell you. And what do you think about those?" He gestured to something that looked like deformed metal structures, cages of some kind or kennels.
"Dog fighting?"Otto suggested.
"We found no dogs."
The lieutenant frowned. What the hell, was going on in here?
T.B.C.
Author's Note: