CH26

Michael and Allie came into the exercise room finding Paige waiting for them. They were slowly becoming impressed with the young human. She didn't have their strength or their speed, still she showed up before they did day after day. She really was dedicated.

"Here are your weapons and here are your spare clips for lack of a better word. Hold them in your hands and get used to the weight of them." He handed them over and Paige took one in each hand, finding that they had a little more weight to them than the dummy ones she had been training with.

"You use your thumb to press this little nob. When you do, this will inject the silver nitrate into the hollow core of the central spine. When you strike a Lycan with this central spine the silver nitrate will be injected."

"Then you press this button, still with your thumb, which will eject the spent cartridge and insert a new one from this small section of the hilt in your hands here. Due to space limitations there are only 2 spare rounds. The third that is also in the hilt gets used when you press this button here. This ejects a needle out of the bottom of the hilt that you can use to hit another Lycan."

"Once you use all three you will need to reload. Since you have two weapons, you have 6 rounds total, 3 in each weapon. The hilt and the spines are made of titanium so they should be virtually indestructible. Even if you hit bone it shouldn't break."

"Give them a try." He motioned out into the room that was filled with stuffed dummies that represented Lycans. "Have you warmed up yet?" Michael asked.

"Yes, Master." Paige did a short bow and watched as they each pulled out a stop watch. "Take your place. …And start." They both pressed a button and watched Paige as she danced around the room striking the dummies as she pressed the button to replace a cartridge. In seconds all five dummies had been injected and presumed killed.

"Just above one second slower than your fastest time so far. Here are your spare clips and this is what we put your next set of spare clips into. It attaches to your belt." Michael demonstrated.

To Paige it looked like one of those old coin holders that concession stand workers used to use to hold and dispense coins.

Paige replaced her spent cartridges, inserted the new ones, and attached the holder to her belt.

"Assume your position. This time we want you to strike each target at least once, eject the spent cartridges quickly and insert at least one or more full cartridges per weapon.

Ready? …Begin." Paige danced around as she threw fake blocks and struck the dummies. What they hadn't anticipated was that after she had used two of the three cartridges, she easily ejected a cartridge from her holder and inserted it into one of her weapons.

Paige was working on striking all five dummies again as she ejected another cartridge and inserted a new one. She kept dancing and always had one unspent cartridge in at least one of her weapons until she ran out of full cartridges.

Cartridge was, however, a bit of a misnomer since each cartridge was about the size of a quarter and as wide as one of those tiny "button" batteries. In the center was the glass that held the silver nitrate.

Paige did one of her fancy salutes when she was finished and was breathing heavily. "What do you think?" Allie asked Michael while turning to look at him.

"I think we need to get the other death dealers in here and let her practice with them so they can all see what she is now capable of and get used to her," Michael mentioned with no sign of emotion.

"REALLY!?" Paige was so happy she was about to burst with excitement. "Really," Michael confirmed. She danced in place and squealed before she launched herself into Michael's arms and started kissing his cheek over and over.

"Ooo, human female cooties." Michael feigned being infected, not seeing Allie smiling at those two.

"I gotta go tell Alexis," Paige said and started to leave.

"Not before you reload your weapons and go down to see Solomon to refill your cartridge holder. Remember, carry your weapons with you always. Like this." Michael pulled his gun out from behind his back. "House rule Paige. Always be prepared. Lycans are a very real threat," Michael chastised her.

Paige pulled up short and gave a quick bow to Michael. "Yes, master. …I gotta tell Alexis!" And ran out of the room and down the stairs to the basement in search of Solomon so she could go in search of Alexis.

Kate slid up behind Castle who was in the mini kitchen stealing a snack and wrapped her arms around him. "Hi Castle," Kate purred into his ear. "I'm free for the next hour, maybe an hour and a half." She ran her tongue along his ear.

Rick tried to eat his snack as fast as possible before turning around to find her lips just a fraction from his. "I like your thinking! There is just one teensy weensy problem though." Rick scrunched up his face. "Paige was just cleared to work out with the death dealers, including Alexis." He knew because Paige was telling everyone she came across while she searched for Alexis.

Kate slumped and let her head fall to her chest. "Which means there is going to be an unscheduled exercise of the death dealers in a few minutes. An exercise that as Mistress of this house I'll be required to attend." She knew that meant they didn't have time for a quick round in their bed like she wanted. She was horny!

"How did you get so smart Castle?" She was actually stunned that he would know about it.

"I could lie and tell you that I have a Mistress who is incredibly beautiful and sexy who tells me everything." Rick tried his best to keep a straight face.

Kate was initially happy until she replayed each word he said in her head. "CASTLE!" She reached out and twisted his ear. "OW, OW, ow, ow!" He turned his head to get away from her hand.

She let go of his ear and glared at him. "Alexis was with me when Paige found her and Alexis had to explain why Paige was so happy," Rick explained.

"Now was that so hard?"

"It was rather painful."

"You'll feel better in a week and a half when I use my key." She lifted up her key to show him. She left him with his snack and headed for the exercise room to watch this exercise adding Paige into the event.

Kate arrived just as Michael had Paige and Alexis teamed up. "Eject the clip from your weapon and pull the slide back to clear your weapon," Michael told Alexis who did what he said having done it a number of times before.

"Eject your cartridges and lock your back needle into place so that it will not deploy," Michael instructed Paige who also did as she was told.

"These three in front of Alexis are your primary targets. The two behind you will be acknowledged by you at our signal. Alexis, your weapon only has one round left and Paige your weapon refuses to accept a new cartridge. Each of these are Lycans in wolf form," Michael informed them. "Are we clear?"

"Clear." Alexis and Paige replied at the same time.

"Very well, be... " Michael was interrupted when there was a huge explosion that actually rocked the house. "What the hell!?"

"Michael get to the basement and open the emergency exit. You two take the second floor front door and collect everyone you find along the way."

"Paige, Alexis up to the 6th floor, now! Everyone load up." Kate jumped away just as Michael hit the door.

Just as Kate arrived in the mini kitchen there was another huge explosion that shook the house. "SHIT!"

"Get your weapons Castle and be ready. I'm locking you in our bedroom." She grabbed his arm and jumped to their bedroom. "Stay in here till I come and get you. I'm serious," Kate told him as she jumped into the closet and collected her weapons. She stepped back out, threw him his weapons, and jumped away just as they both heard a third explosion.

She arrived on the 6th floor in the hallway in front of the elevator and watched as 6 Lycans in wolf form dropped down from a huge hole in the ceiling who then went into the 2 bedrooms on that end.

Turning her head she saw another 6 Lycans in wolf form who dropped down from a giant hole in the ceiling on the other end of the house and went into the bedrooms on the other end.

Kate lifted her arms out from her sides and started firing short controlled bursts in both directions as she heard growling of Lycans on each end. Just as the door leading from the staircase opened, out came Alexis and Paige.

"Six left and six right, likely more on the roof," Kate told them as they heard a fourth large explosion that shook the house on its foundation. "Don't stay up here long and do not leave that stairwell," she bit out since it was the only way back down.

She jumped to the basement. "Solomon, gather everyone down here and exit through the emergency exit." Kate ran over to the safe, placed her thumb on the panel, and opened it. "Take everything in here with you and go to one of our safe sites. It's going to be sunrise in less than an hour."

She hurried over to a key pad and entered a code. "You now have one minute to get your asses down that emergency exit and take as much as you can. You have…54 seconds left." Kate pulled out her phone, scrolled down her list, and pressed send.

The second someone answered, "We're being overrun by Lycans." Kate tossed her phone since it was now a liability.

She jumped to the second floor gallery just as she saw 6 more Lycans in wolf form running in through where the front doors used to be. Six more burst through the double doors leading into the exercise room. She also saw four dead naked humans lying at the front door. She didn't see any vampires which was bad news.

She lifted her arms out from her sides once more and opened fire this time on full auto. She could hear weapons firing from practically everywhere in the house.

Kate knew she couldn't hold the floor alone and jumped to the living room one floor up. She waited at the doors for the Lycans as they came up the stairs, compressing themselves into a tight area.

She heard a number of smaller explosions outside of her home. "Grenades? Outside?" Kate shot the first two that exited the stairwell and watched as 6 more came running up the larger gallery stairs on the other side.

They were in deep trouble. She jumped to the 5th floor where she saw Paige twirling and dancing as she plunged her weapons into Lycans in wolf form just at the door to the stairwell.

Kate turned her head and saw Alexis firing up and down the elevator shaft at was likely still more Lycans. It was the three shots where Paige had been that got her attention next.

Paige was standing there not moving. She was ramrod straight when just a moment ago she was spinning and twisting like a dervish, and then she collapsed to the floor. Out stepped a Lycan in human form with a weapon in his hand.

Kate immediately put three killer rounds in him and jumped to Paige where she found three gunshot wounds in her chest. "OH GOD!" Kate looked up and saw Alexis still firing up and down the elevator shaft.

She took Paige's arm and jumped her to what she hoped was a safe place. "HELP!" Kate jumped back and was standing next to Alexis just as two more Lycans exited the stairwell and raised their weapons.

She grabbed Alexis by her arm and jumped the two of them away. "Stay here." She jumped for her bedroom. Kate looked around and saw her bedroom door was literally missing. She was all set to yell out Castle's name when she saw him at the foot of the bed in a pool of blood. She was instantly scared out of her mind as her heart began to break.

Kate jumped to him and found him looking up at her blinking his eyes. "Castle!" She ran her hand through his hair.

"Well, what do we have here? Castle is mine and I'm keeping him. I need him," a new voice announced.

Kate turned to see a petite, well, petite compared to her, Caucasian woman with long black hair. She was slightly built and Kate would consider her pretty. She also had a weapon in her hand that was resting up against her thigh.

"Based on a description I had of you I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you are Katherine. I missed you and your girlfriend when we killed all of the others. I'm happy to fix that small problem after all these years," she stated and started raising her weapon.

Kate hadn't changed clips and suspected that one, if not both, her weapons, were empty, so she left the one that was already on the floor where it was. She grabbed Castle's poor ear one more time and jumped both of them. And did not hear the woman scream her lungs out.

She looked around and found Alexis bent over Paige who was still on the floor. Alexis was crying her heart out as her head rested on Paige's bloody chest.

Everything was going straight to hell it seemed. Kate looked down and saw that Castle was still with her, so she bent down and kissed him. "Kitty!" Sirene suddenly jumped in, which made sense since the 5 of them were in her living room.

"We were overrun by Lycans." Kate watched Sirene bend down to Paige with a large first-aid kit in her hands.

"I jumped out to get this as soon as I found her. I didn't have one." Sirene explains.

"You know how to use that stuff?" Kate asks.

"Not a clue." Sirene shakes her head.

"Go get Irene, she's a nurse. Plus she might be in danger if they have been watching our house for long enough."

"OH GOD!" Sirene knew her heart was already attached to Irene. She jumped immediately.

Alexis looked up. "MOM!?" What Kate saw crushed what was left of her heart when she saw the look on her daughter's face.

Kate kneeled beside her. "I don't know sweetie, I just don't know." She stroked her hand through Alexis's hair and looked over at Castle, whose blood pool was getting bigger little by little.

She didn't know what to do. They were both losing people they loved. Sirene was back almost instantly with Irene in tow. "OH MY GOD!" Irene kneeled beside Paige since that who was closest and found Sirene handing her the giant first-aid kit she had taken.

Irene started cutting open Paige's shirt and then cut her bra to expose her chest and watched as Paige coughed up blood. "Gunshot wounds, three of them." Irene started doing what she could while listening to Alexis weep as she stroked a hand through Paige's hair.

"I think both of her lungs have collapsed. It looks like most of the blood is collecting in her abdomen. We need a surgeon, oxygen, and blood of her type. She's lost a lot already. If one of them has damaged a major artery we may already be too late." Then Irene saw something else. "OH GOD, Castle too?"

Irene was up and started cutting away his shirt. "OH GOD!" Irene saw the wound in his shoulder. It was deep and bleeding and it looked jagged.

"Who did all this?" Irene was shocked and had never seen this much blood at the hospital. She didn'r work in emergency.

"Lycans." Kate simply told her.

"Lycans? As in werewolves? Seriously?" Kate looked around at all of them and didn't know what to say.

"Vampires, werewolves. What is this, some kind of horror movie?" Irene didn't understand any of this. She had only found out about vampires yesterday or was it the day before? Now there were werewolves too?

"We need a hospital, like right now. Paige only has minutes and Castle has had his shoulder ripped open. He's lost a lot of blood and will need surgery to keep what's left of his shoulder."

"We need to go now. Right now!" Irene told them.

"Oh no, no! This can't be." Kate's face went white as her legs gave way and she dropped to the floor.

"OH, KITTY!" Sirene knew what that meant.

"We need to go now if you want them to live," Irene yelled at them.

"Castle has been bitten." SIrene said, knowing what that meant.

Kate could barely see Castle through her tears. However she saw that somehow he still had hold of his weapon as he lifted it up. "Please, Mistress." Rick was barely holding onto the weapon and was about to let it drop when she took it from him.

"Please, Mistress... I don't want to be a Lycan." Rick could only just see her since he was barely conscious. Kate started crying even harder.

"NO CASTLE! YOU CAN'T ASK THAT OF ME! …I …I can't. Please, my love, anything but that." Kate still had the gun as it, her hands, and her head hit the floor. "NO, PLEASE!"

Irene turned her head to look at Sirene. "He's been bitten by a Lycan and his blood is now contaminated. He will become a Lycan at the first full moon. Our arch enemy who must die."

Irene understood. The man that Kate loved was going to turn into a Lycan and was asking to be killed because of it.

Irene turned her head back to Sirene. "There must be something. A cure or something. Kate…" Irene stopped. "What about Paige? She needs surgery like right now. We can't just sit here and watch them both die or kill him!"

"There's one way." Sirene got down on the floor. "We may only have seconds Alexis. Where was Paige born?" Sirene asked her. Sirene took hold of Alexis's arm and shook her. "Alexis! Where was Paige born?" Sirene demanded.

Alexis turned her head but didn't really see Sirene. "Manhattan. She's an only child."

Sirene looked at her watch. "Maybe 30 minutes till sunrise there." She didn't ask and just did it. She leaned down and bit Paige and started drinking til she saw Paige's eyes start to flutter.

Sirene stopped, lifted her own wrist up to her mouth, and bit herself hard causing her to start bleeding heavily. She placed her bleeding wrist at Paige's mouth. "Drink Paige. …Damn you, Paige, drink. If you love Alexis, DRINK!"

She felt Paige's teeth and hoped that she was drinking. A couple of minutes later Sirene was feeling woozy. She was losing blood and Paige's blood hadn't made it into her system yet.

She removed her wrist and saw Paige's mouth filled with her blood. Sirene grabbed Alexis by the arm. "Pray this works honey. It's all we have left." Sirene took hold of Paige and jumped. Leaving a confused Irene, a crying Alexis, a sobbing Kate, and a soon to be Lycan in her home.

"Mistress?" Rick pleaded again. "NO CASTLE! Anything but that." Kate threw the gun to the other side of the room.

Kate found herself in Alexis's arms and let herself break down. Killing Castle was out of the question. She would rather shoot herself.

It was a few minutes later and a confused Irene was looking around and watching these three. Kate could jump him to a hospital, she just couldn't stay. "Full moon," Irene whispered and got up off the floor. She went to Sirene's laptop and looked up when the next full moon was.

Irene was back in a couple of minutes. "The full moon is tonight."

Kate grew even more sad. Castle was going to change tonight. He was going to try and rip them all to shreds, forcing her to kill the love of her life. "Mistress?" Rick tried again as he was barely still conscious from blood loss.

"Bite him mom. Bite him and feed him your blood."

Kate looked at Alexis like she had just said something incredibly stupid. "Castle is a Lycan." Meaning his blood was Lycan blood. Was Alexis really suggesting that she ingest Lycan blood and make hers Lycan blood? And give Castle her vampire blood?

"Bite him, drain him, and feed him your blood or almost all of it and bury yourselves in the ground. …How much do you love him, mom?"