Author's Note: Okay, I had to come up with my own way of describing Celerity from a first-person POV. Hope you enjoy it, as it took me a while to figure out how to make it believable and powerful without being too vague in how it worked and felt. Hope everyone likes it, and enjoy your holidays!
Merry Christmas!
Chapter 35 – Kick Ass, Forget The Names
October 2, 2004 = Saturday
~Eliza Flores~
I walked into an alleyway as Jean pulled away and checked myself. I wasn't packing any kind of weapon, not even a Swiss Army Knife. I was wearing a nice set of clothes though; black dress slacks, red silk shirt and a hip length black leather coat on two inch black pumps. Classy, but probably put together by Heather and not Lasombra. The only thing I was missing were my customary shades, but with the hour being late, I could only hope no one noticed. At least I didn't have to worry about someone taking my picture as proof and just closed my eyes to mere slits so it was harder to notice.
I could only wonder what my ghouls had went through as I came out of the alley and into the heart of Chinatown. Eyeing a passerby, I felt extremely naked without a weapon and shook my head. A week ago I wouldn't have even wanted to handle a pistol, now I wanted one. Of course, a week ago I had still been breathing, and I could only look forward to the day when I could walk the streets without needing guns.
Like that was ever going to happen. From what I could tell so far, every night was a struggle to survive, and I had survived so far only because I hadn't played the game everyone else was playing. So far, I had yet to rise above the ghouls, only dealing with VV because I had walked into her club. Tung had played me without seeing me, and even the Prince had only to send an email to make me jump to his tune.
Stopping under a streetlight, I found a map of Chinatown posted there and looked up the Golden Temple. It was only a block away, but with all the people and buildings so close, it was hard to see anything. Heading deeper into Chinatown, I passed the covered entryway into a restaurant called the Red Dragon which was done in the typical style China was known for.
Further down on the other side was a smaller eatery, this one with outside tables being tended to by a very young Chinese girl in a very short-to-the-point-of-being-inappropriate Chinese dress with achingly high four inch heels. She gave me a sharp eye as I passed, almost spilling a bowl of food into a customer's lap when her heel found a crack in the concrete sidewalk. I continued on, even as she got a tongue lashing from the customer I was glad I couldn't understand.
Entering the Golden Temple, I found it to be a zen garden, with carefully manicured grass and flowers arranged in a comforting pattern lit by paper lanterns. The only path though, led into a small hut that was lit by soft light. Hoping I was committing a faux pas, I opened the door to find a Chinese woman sitting in a high backed chair sipping from a porcelain cup.
"Welcome, kindred," she spoke softly, her voice carrying a slight accent and more than a hint of authority, "and thank you for respecting our traditions by announcing your presence in our domain. I am Ming-Xiao, High Priestess to the people of Chinatown. Can I get you anything? Tea, perhaps," she said as she gestured to the serving set beside her.
"No, thank you," I said, frowning as I remembered the sour taste water left in my mouth.
"Ah, that is right," she spoke, as if just remembering something. "Your kind drinks solely of mortal blood, correct? No longer may you partake in the pleasures of the mortal realm. A shame."
"You can?" I asked her, wondering if her asking me for tea was taking a poke at kindred.
"Yes," she said with a slight smirk on her lips. "We Kue-Jin are similar to you kindred in fewer ways than you might imagine."
"But you are vampires?" I asked her. It didn't hurt to have more information on her kind, and this was a rare chance to get it from the source.
"We are supernatural," she explained to me, her voice calm and carrying no hint of annoyance or hatred, more like a teacher explaining things to a questioning mind. "That does not mean we are like yourself. We are beings returned through the Second Breath for a purpose."
"Second Breath?" I asked her and she continued to explain it to me. "The Second Breath, our rebirth into the supernatural form. It is a spiritual awakening, not some lowly blood ritual to spread a despicable curse."
I smiled as she quietly mocked the kindred again, as if she believed the Kue-Jin were the superior species. "But we are similar?" I asked her, silently wondering if she might try to kill me while I was here.
"We share superficial similarities," she explained, her voice neutral. "Kue-Jin feed on essences that can be found in blood, yes, but as we refine our existence, rarely are we lowered to consume the bodily fluids of others."
"So do you choose as a mortal to become supernatural?" I asked her and she shook her head slowly.
"No, we do not choose, but events of our lives can awaken dark spiritual energies. We are not born of the whims of another as the Kindred are."
"Sometimes I wish we weren't," I muttered, then saw Ming Xiao smile as she caught the remark. Realizing I might have let something slip that could be used against me, I decided to change the subject. "Ever heard of the Ankaran Sarcophagus?"
"Of course," she said, her face brightening a bit. "The entire city is alight with news of its arrival and speculation about one of your ancient vampire grandfathers and his evil apocalyptic plot."
"It does sound funny, doesn't it," I said, and her smile deepened.
"It all serves to distract the kindred," she said, and I smiled back at that. "Such a distasteful existence you live, skulking in shadows, fighting for scraps and fearing the return of your ficticious fathers, completely oblivious to your true purpose."
"Do you know the true history of the kindred," I asked her, again she shook her head slowly.
"No, I do not," she admitted, not that I found it surprising. I couldn't tell you squat about Chinese history, other than a certain poem about Mulan and that she killed herself rather than become a concubine for a Hun, or so the ancient story goes.
"Do you know where the sarcophagus is," I said, trying to keep the conversation going. It was really going nowhere, but I didn't want to be rude.
"We seek it, of course. I have two of my best agents looking. It could be a powerful bargaining tool in dealing with the leader of the Camarilla."
"Not if I find it first," I snarked and she looked at me with an intense gaze. I stared right back, the challenge laid down between us.
"Let me just say that I do not encourage you to seek the sarcophagus," she finally said after we had stared into each others eyes for several minutes without blinking.
"I just hope he's better than the scout you sent into Santa Monica," I told her and her eyes went wide. "Oh, yes, we know," I said, pressing my advantage now that I had one. "I was the one who killed him in Foxy Boxes after he sent in his final report."
"An admirable feat," she conceded, working on relaxing her face to make it unreadable again. "Your path must have been stronger than his."
"That time, and while the prince might have me looking for the sarcophagus, I'm currently looking for a missing Nosferatu in Chinatown," I said, steering our conversation further to where I needed it to go.
"So, the great Nosferatu have lost an agent, have they," she said as she became thoughtful. "It was not by my hand, if that's what they think."
"Do you have any idea where he could be?" I asked her,but she shook her head again.
"I don't know where he is," she said, and something in me said she was speaking the truth. "Perhaps you should speak with Wong Ho about this. He owns the Red Dragon restaurant. As a prominent businessman who has garnered much respect among his people, he might know if something is amiss in Chinatown, and may know how to help you."
"Then I'll head there then," I said, bowing slightly to show my respect as I prepared to leave.
"I grant you permission to operate in the Kue-Jin domain, for now," she said somewhat darkly, as if she were wondering how best to kill me. "May you find your path, kindred."
I turned and left her, making sure to close the paper door on my way out and left the temple. I passed by the noodle shop where the young woman had dumped the noodles on a customer, finding the young waitress closing things down for the night. She eyed me as I got closer, as if I had plans on stealing the till and I made sure my eyes were barely open to hide my missing pupils.
"I saw you enter temple," she said with a hard accent, turning with her cleaning cloth to wipe off a table even though it revealed her panty-line in the too-short dress. "I know what you are."
"Is it wrong to be religious?" I said, trying to persuade her otherwise.
She turned and gave me a hard eye again, arms crossing over her chest as she studied me. "My name is Yukie. I am demon hunter. I come to this city for the blood of the demon that kill my master. Do not interfere, my revenge will cut through you if it has to."
"What demon?" I asked her, following her into the shop only to find we were the only one's inside. A quick look around told me the shades and shutters were all drawn, so no one could see inside if it turned violent. Since she was a Hunter, that might happen at any time, which made me worry. I didn't have a gun to kill her with, and there was no telling what she had hidden around here.
"I hunt hengoyokai." she said, dropping the cloth into the sink. The duffle bag on the counter drew my attention, as it's long design gave me an idea she had a sword in there. "My sensei killed demon that killed my family and now I take the life of his killer. I follow trail of corpses from Japan to Los Angeles, but I lose its trail. Hengoyokai is here and it will die here."
"What's a hengoyokai?" I asked, wondering if that might be a Chinese monster like our werewolves.
"Hengoyokai is demon that hides in skin of man, but it is not man," she said, continuing to clean the kitchen as if she actually worked here.
"Why do you continue to actually clean here if you're a Hunter?" I asked her as she began to scrape down the grill with a tool. The little Hunter turned to face me with a look of curiousness and something else. Shame maybe?
"I, need to eat," she said, turning back to the grill as she continued to clean it, continuing on in a low voice. "Even you, demon, must eat to survive."
"True," I said, inching forward to sneak a peak inside the duffle bag, "But I don't dress like a hooker doing it."
The hunter blanched at that, but kept on scrubbing. "How do you spot a hengoyokai?" I asked her, deciding she wasn't going to argue her choice of attire with me.
"They smell like fishes, always," she said, putting the grill back together after cleaning it. "I do not know why, but they do."
"So a guy who smells like fish, shouldn't be too hard," I said, deciding to help the young hunter. "If I find him, I'll let you know."
"Why would a demon help me," she said, turning to face me with a serious look.
"Well, if it's in Chinatown that means its allied with the Kue-Jin," I told her, and she looked thoughtful for a moment as I pressed on, "And if you can kill it, that weakens them that much more and makes it easier for our side to push them out later."
"Demons do not all get along?" she asked and I shook my head.
"For the most part, we don't even get along with each other of our own kind, let alone other creatures of the night," I told her. "Politics don't die when we do. If anything, it gets worse with age," I told her, remembering something Samantha had told me while we were taking a civics course in college. "And when you can't die..." I said, trailing off to allow her to come to her own conclusions. Her face fell as she realized the implications of kindred politics, something I was only starting to realize myself.
"Thank you," she said softly, giving me a wan smile. "Defy your nature as best you can and my sword will have no vengeance for you."
"I refuse to become a monster," I told her, meaning it as I slipped back outside into the night.
I headed over to the Red Dragon, finding it a more upscale eatery than the noodle shop I had just left. The hostess was still on duty, standing at a podium near the entrance to the main dining room. I walked over, and she gave me a sad smile.
"I'm sorry," she said in an apologetic voice. "We're no longer serving dinner this evening. However, our bar is still open if you would like to enjoy a drink."
"Actually, I'm here to see Wong Ho," I told her. "Ming Xiao said I should speak with him."
"Of course," she said, reaching he under the podium with a hand. "Second floor, and have a good night."
The walls next to me opened up to reveal a hidden elevator, and I stepped in. I pressed the button for the second floor, and the elevator took me straight up where the doors opened onto an office setup. A man set with his head in his hands, and I could hear his sobs as he cried softly. I stepped into the room, my heels clacking softly to alert him of my presence.
He looked up at me with red puffy eyes, and his face turned into a snarl. "Do you have my Kiki? Did you take her?!" he demanded as he rose to his feet.
"Whoa," I said, raising my hands in self defense. "I didn't take anyone. Ming Xiao sent me here. I'm looking for a friend who has went missing in Chinatown."
The elder looking man deflated at that, before falling back to the couch in grief. "Please forgive me. The Tong took my daughter, Kiki. They called and said I had meddled with Tong for the last time. Now I am in a most terrible situation. I apologize for my inconsiderate behavior."
"No problem," I told him, as he continued to mourn his loss. "What's going on?"
"The Tong, a local street gang here in Chinatown just broke into my restaurant and kidnapped my daughter at gunpoint," he said, almost sobbing. "The Tong grow more bold every day, and now they have my Kiki!"
"Do you know where they took her?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to get involved in mortal affairs or not. I still didn't much like violence, but the guns that they would use would have little affect on me. My poor clothes might suffer, but I'd survive.
A phone rang, and Wong Ho reached over and picked up the antique looking handset from its cradle. "Hello?" he asked, then brightened some. "Zhao!….Huh?….Yes!….How did you?….Of course….I see….Thank you, my friend. Your debt has been repaid a thousand times over….Yes, of course…. Goodbye."
"That didn't sound like the Tong," I said, stating the obvious.
"That was, someone who owed me an old debt," he said, turning to face me with his face set in a serious expression. "It has been repaid. I know where the Tong are keeping my daughter."
"Just tell me where and call the coroner," I said, deciding I'd help Wong Ho without needing to be asked. I didn't hold with kidnapping, especially what was probably a young innocent girl, and I sure didn't want what happened to me to happen to her.
"Kiki is being held at the Lotus Blossom, a massage parlor here in Chinatown not two blocks away" he told me, his face holding a small glimmer of hope as he wrote down directions to the building. "If you bring her back to me, I will help you in anyway I can."
"She's as good as here," I said, stepping back into the elevator with his directions in hand and went back outside.
It didn't take me long to find the place, but my thoughts along the way went to how to hide the bullet holes I was bound to take when I would be shot up. I finally settled on removing my leather coat, since most of the damage I was bound to take would be to my chest as they shot at my heart.
As the Lotus Blossom came into sight, I wondered why Lasombra would walk without taking a weapon with him. Sure, he was thousands of years old, a walking god quite literally, and had full use of his powers. I had full use of those powers too, as far as I knew, but I didn't know what they really entailed. Something nagged at the back of my mind, then I remembered what Scourge Walsh had told me about the Lasombra being able to mold shadows. Pulling on the shadows as I passed through a darkened area, I molded a full length katana, though it was all black as if had been spray painted that color. The blade felt real in my hand, though it was far lighter than an actual katana.
Before entering the Lotus Blossom, I shrugged out of my leather coat and draped it over my left arm that held my shadowy katana. When I entered, I set it on the counter next to a sparsely dressed woman in her lingerie who I guessed was meant to be both an advertisement and clerk. She looked horrified at the black shadowy katana that was now revealed.
I fixed her with an icy stare, and she shrank away. "Leave now, and live, or stay and die," I breathed, pointing the katana at her. She went wide eyed, then scrambled over the counter in a blur of pink lace and heels and ran out the door.
Leaving my coat where it wouldn't get damaged, I walked through the beads into the hallway beyond. Several guys were playing cards at a small table in what looked to be a lounge. Upon noticing me, they dropped their cards and reached for their guns from their waistbands. Willing myself to move, my body felt sluggish as I watched the men raise their guns, even as I crossed the distance between us so fast that the guy I had my eyes on didn't even have time to aim his just pulled gun. With a slash of my sword, I cut the guys arm off and left a deep gash across his chest before turning my attention to his wide eyed buddies.
I paused for only a moment, taking in the fact that they were aiming in the complete wrong direction even as one turned his face in slack jawed amazement. Pushing off from where I sat, I slashed under the rear most thugs gun to cut the man's chest and neck before following my slash through on the other guy and decapitating him, then kicking his body forward to avoid arterial spray.
It was only as I watched the blood squirt in seeming slow motion that I began to understand what happened. I was moving and comprehending faster than should be possible. Enjoying the power of celerity, I moved out into the hall, finding it filling with men. Using my new power, I made short work of everyone, even as they began to spray bullets into each other trying to hit me making me feel surreal as I slid under guns and defenses to decapitate, maim and kill.
As the men fell silent from blood loss or death, I started going door to door looking for Kiki but didn't find any that held a captive woman. I soon realized that she wouldn't be on the first floor, as the rooms here were either locker style rooms where men would strip their clothes and store them and communal massage rooms. There were still a few attendants around, but I let them live and invited them to flee by leaving the doors open so they could flee.
I continued on up the stairs, pausing halfway up to push my sight into the shadows on the ceiling above the landing to make sure the coast was clear. The sight that filled my vision made me glad I hadn't just barged in, as there were more than twenty men lined up with uzis and ready to fill the first person through with lead. That in itself might pose a problem as the only men I had faced until now had used semi-automatic pistols and revolvers, not automatic weapons.
Willing myself to move as fast as I could, I charged up the steps and swung wide as they began to fire into the mouth of the stairwell. Adding my potence to my attack, I swung my shadow katana in a vicious slash that cut not only the first thugs arms off, but cut him in two at the chest. I then waded into the group, using my medical knowledge of the human circulatory system to slash at arteries as I waded through the gang of Tong.
Feeling my hunger from the exertion, I left the men who held such little regard to human life to die a pool of their own blood as I began to search for Kiki again. As the men fell silent from blood loss or death, I started going door to door again, but the first doors here seemed to hold equipment. Looking closer, I realized it was recording equipment, and I wondered why they'd bother to record a massage.
It seemed strange to me, but it wasn't until I hit play on the camera that and rewound one of the tapes that I understood as I watched the masseuse entice the older gentleman into sex by teasing him sexually. I figure the tapes were being used to probably blackmail clients who had sex with their masseuse, who as I studied one as she cowered in her room, was probably underage and forced to do it or die.
Hunger wouldn't let me leave the cowering woman, so I reached down and hauled her to her feet. She cried, probably thinking she was about to die as I spun her around to face me and then sank my teeth into her neck. Her blood lacked any flavor, but I drank her deep enough that she passed out from blood loss. I left her on the floor, but was still hungry for more blood. Apparently whatever I was or becoming could feed on regular blood, but it did little to satisfy the hunger I felt.
I moved on to the next room, finding another young masseuse there. I drank from her as well, and it finally felt as if I wasn't dying of hunger. Going back out into the hall with a towel, I pulled an Uzi from one of the dead men and cleaned off his blood. The little automatic was surprisingly light, and with what I had learned about using the Glock, soon figured out how to change the clip in it.
Stashing it in my waistband, I went through several of the dead bodies and pulled spare clips for the Uzi out of their pockets and cleaned them with the towel. Then, as I thought of Brian and his little pistol protecting me during the day, grabbed a second Uzi and cleaned it as well and carried that one in my hand as I continued my search. Armed, I went to the last door on the hallway I hadn't already been in, and examined it. It was locked, but a swift kick and a little help from my potence and the thick wooden door broke in two and swung in.
Inside the dark lounge, hung from a hook, was a young Chinese girl with duct tape across her mouth. I approached her, and she give me a hateful look as I reached up and ripped the tape off her mouth.
"You bitch!" she screamed at me, then raised her foot to kick me. I dodged the attempt easily, and she quickly calmed down. I smiled at her feisty attitude, and figured she had been hung there so she couldn't escape. "Let me down, I can't hardly breathe!"
"Kiki, I suppose?" I asked, and she locked eyes with me.
"Yeah, I'm Kiki," she said as she studied me. "Who are you?"
"Wong Ho sent me to rescue you," I told her, then brought a rolling chair over so she could stand on it and release herself.
"Oh, I'm soooooo impressed," she said, mockingly as she leveraged herself up on the chair. "What? Like, you want me to like thank you or something? In your dreams, bitch."
Having had enough of her mouth, I kicked the chair out from under her to let her fall back on her restraints. "If you're going to bite the hand that frees you," I said, turning for the door, "You can wait on the cops and hope more Tong don't show up first."
"Okay, okay," she said apologetically. "You don't have to get all sensitive. I'm sorry. Okay? You know what it's like to be tied up by guys and told they're going to make you a sex slave?"
"You should try being the sex slave," I said, going back and getting the chair. "Not too long ago, I was tied up and gang raped. So, yeah, I know how you feel and you're getting off easy. Now, let's go. I'll take the rope off you later. Let's skedaddle before I have to explain the blood bath to the cops."
"Alright, she said, leveraging herself off the hook and hopping nimbly down to join me.
As we stepped into the better lit hallway, I narrowed my eyes to keep her from getting a good look and led her back down a nearby staircase. It came out back at the beads, with more stairs going down into the basement. Since no one was coming up, I hit the escape bar across the door and entered the hallway across from where I had killed the first three men.
Kiki didn't react to their bodies, and as we entered the lobby, I pulled my coat from off the counter and slipped it back on. Searching behind the counter for a bag, I quickly found one and dropped the Uzi I carried for Brian in it before Kiki and I left the bloodbath behind. Kiki and I were actually a block away when the first cop car screamed around the curve. Kiki pressed tight into me, hiding her bound arms and the cops went right on by. In fact, no one even noticed Kiki was bound until the hostess at the Red Dragon saw us enter. She opened the elevetor, then produced a pocket knife and sliced one of the ropes free so we could start freeing her arms. The hostess then took the rope and threw it away, as I took Kiki back to her father.
I hung back next to the elevator as Wong Ho was reunited with his daughter. It was an awkward situation, and I was just the fifth wheel along for the ride. The two spoke for several minutes, then two broke apart, Wong Ho approached me with a smile, then bowed in front of me in a show of respect as Kiki went deeper into the upstairs maze.
"Thank you, my friend," he said, once he had stood up straight. "I owe you a debt of gratitude! You have returned to me my greatest treasure. Kiki told me how you rescued her. You are a woman of great courage and honor. Again, thank you!"
"Of course," I said, smiling and doing a polite bow for him. "Now, for my own problem."
"Of course," he said, gesturing to his couch where we should both sit. "What can I help you with?"
I sat on the overstuffed couch, with Wong Ho beside. "I'm looking for someone who's gone missing in Chinatown. His name is Barabus, he's uh, a business associate," I said, not knowing any other way to describe Barabus without breaking masquerade.
"I see," he said, then looked doubtful as something crossed his mind. "I do not think I could find him for you, but I know someone who could."
"Where do I find this person?" I asked.
"His name is Zhao," he said, and I recognized the name. "He is the man who called me and told me where Kiki was being held. Zhao has many connections. Some are legal, many or not. I will call him and ask for his help. I would send you to him, but he is currently hiding from the Tong."
"I will return tomorrow evening, then," I said, not wanting to waste any time waiting. I had things to do, and the night was waning. "I have other people to see in the meantime."
"Then I shall expect you tomorrow," he said, rising to his feet.
He escorted me back to the elevator, and I descended to bar area. The overpowering smell of fish caught me, and I followed it into the bar to a corner booth. I smiled inwardly, knowing my body was starting to improve. I walked over, and the man looked up from his beer with a blank face.
"Five hundred up front, another five hundred after the deal. No questions asked or I walk," he said in a flat, and fast, and tone.
"A lot to ask for information," I said, and his eyebrows creased as he studied me. "I seek a man called Hengoyokai. The information I have has led me to you."
"And what would you do with him if you had him," he asked, suspicion in his voice.
"I know a young girl with a big sword who wants to say hi," I said and he smiled at that.
"That's what I wanted to hear," he said with a smile and alarm bells went off in my brain. "If that's your goal, I'd be willing to help arrange a meeting with him."
"Where?" I asked him.
"I was supposed to meet him at the fish market soon," he said, and I remembered it from earlier when I looked at the sign to find the Golden Temple. "You go in my place, but if you do, I hope your intentions are serious. He is a very serious man."
"After tonight," I said darkly, "He'll be a dead man."
He chuckled at that, and I left him to his beer. I figured he was probably the man I was looking for, or like me to the prince, just a junior agent of the same basic species. Either way, I had the chance to make it back to the noodle shop and catch Yukie before she left for the night. I made it there just as she locked the door, a heavy leather coat covering her bare arms and reaching further down her legs than her dress.
"Yukie," I called out, and she stopped to give me a hard eye.
"Demon," she said, her hand dropping to the slightly open zipper on her duffle.
"I found the Hengoyokai," I said and her face lit up. "I'm to meet him at the fish market. We can ambush him there."
"You want to kill hengoyokai with me? Why?" she asked me in a serious tone.
"For the chance to slow down the Kue-Jin," I told her, reminding her that we didn't all get along. "We kill him together, and we can do that."
"If you trick me, I kill you after hengoyokai," she said as came to stand in front of me.
"No tricks, Yukie," I said, smiling a bit and meaning it. "Let's go."
"Walk with me, demon," she said, and she turned down an alley as she cut straight through the buildings.
Oh yeah. Nothing to fear here, I thought as I followed a hunter into the dark and deserted alley. Nothing to fear at all.
We came out right on top of the market, the large building dark and foreboding. I figured Yukie to pull some armor out of her bag and slip it on during our walk but all she did was pull her katana from its scabbard. It wasn't until I noticed that the only click clacking of heels were mine that I looked down to see she was finally in a pair of sensible sneakers. Good thing too, because that girl couldn't walk in high heels, let alone fight in them.
Once we were inside, we made oar way quietly away from the door when the lights came on. The man I had met in the bar of the Red Dragon came out of the stacks of frozen fish at the other end, a smile on his face. As he got closer, I pulled the Uzi from my bag, which made Yukie flinch as I prepared it to fire. I gave her a wan smile as I shouldered the mini stock against my shoulder and faced the man coming to us and hoped the bullets would actually affect him.
"How quaint," he said once he was about twenty feet away and his voice echoing in the empty space. "My hunter, and my target. This is very convenient."
"I'll show you convenient," I shouted back as he began to morph right in front of us, gaining both increased height and mass until he looked like a cross between a man and a giant hammerhead shark.
I let loose a clip off the Uzi before he even finished shifting, then Yukie charged in with a battle yell. She ducked under a swipe from the shark/man thing, slicing deep into his leg before he backhanded her into a shelf. I reloaded the Uzi, dropping the clip rather than pocketing it, and gave him another dose from the lethal weapon.
He gave a shriek, stepping back and raising an arm defensively. Yukie recovered herself and waded back into the fight, slashing at its gut as it was the most sensitive place she could reach. She ducked and dodged several attacks, and when she rolled clear of a ferocious swipe that ripped her leather jacket in two, I give the hengoyokai a third blast from the clip emptying most of the rounds into its face.
In a blind fury, the monster picked up a nearby crate full of fish and chunked it at me which forced me to dive to the side. From the floor, I watched as Yukie made a vicious slash on its wrist that she must have thought would cut the hand completely off, but the bone stopped it. Angry, he yanked his arm back, taking the katana with it even as Yukie tried to get the blade free.
Momentarily, knocked off balance, the hengoyokai swiped at Yukie again, this time catching the petite woman full on with its claws and she flew backwards into the shelves. Angry at myself for not protecting the young huntress, I scrambled back to my feet and willed my celerity and potence to fill my body. I felt the sluggishness that came with celerity, and with a tug on a passing shadow, formed a copy of the big bastard sword the sheriff used to decapitate my sire with.
Only a step or two away, I jumped high on the unprotected man's head and brought the sword down as hard as I could, cleaving a line from the top of the skull to its neck before the thick bones stopped my swing. Using my potence, I wrenched the blade free and brought it around for a baseball bat style swing even as the monster hit its knees. My aim was true, and I took the head clean off in one last swipe.
Dropping the shadow sword back into the shadows now that I didn't need it, I ran for Yukie. The little huntress had tried to get to her feet, but fell back to the floor. I rolled her over, finding several deep slash marks across her front. The cuts themselves weren't deep, but she'd lost a lot of blood already. I cradled the petite woman's head in my hands, and she looked at me with teary eyes.
"I fail," she sobbed, her arms around her middle as if she could hold her blood in.
"He's dead, Yukie," I told her, and she smiled at that. "I got him for you."
"I miss spot in hand where I could cut hand off, or I'd still be alive," she said, then began coughing up pink blood.
"You're going to wake up just fine," I said, and she frowned.
"Do not make me like you," she said, and I nodded once, even though I felt like crying.
"No, not like me," I told her. It was dangerous, but I had to act fast to save her life. "But this is going to hurt," I said, then pinched the open flesh in one of her wounds. She screamed before passing out, and I quickly bit my wrist to let the blood flow out. I let it flow into Yukie's mouth, massaging her throat to make she swallowed, then licked the excess off my wrist as it sealed itself.
Hoping I was in time, I quickly went to the fallen monster and wrenched her katana free, then went back to the entrance where she left her duffle and placed it back in its scabbard. Then I found the Uzi I had dropped it, and placed that in the bag and zipped it up. Going back over to Yukie, I picked up the huntress and shadow stepped back to the mansion to find Brian carrying a bag as a black-eyed Heather helped Constance walk out the door. Brian looked at me for a second before he pulled the gun I had given him and aimed it right at me.
"Don't say a word," he said, his hand shaking a bit as he aimed the gun at the spot between my eyes. "We're leaving. We can't trust you not to hurt us."
I opened my mouth but Brian cocked the large caliber pistol. "Don't, mistress," he said, his voice cracking a bit. "I know I can't disobey, but I'm leaving. It'll hurt, but I don't care. If you say one word to try to make me stay, I'll blow your head open."
Sighing that I couldn't do anything with an injured huntress in my arms, I stepped back out through the shadows and deposited her in the La-Z-Boy. Free of my burden, I then faced off with Brian again who was beginning to sweat as he brought the pistol around.
"Stop," I said, and Brian quit moving. I could see him trying to force himself to keep moving, but he was losing the fight. "Heather?" I asked my other ghoul as she turned to face me and I got a good look at the bruise on her eye. "Who gave you the black eye?"
"You did," she said, and I hung my head.
"You changed," Constance added as she clung to Heather for support. "When you fed from me earlier, it actually hurt."
"It wasn't me," I told them and looked back at Brian where he struggled to bring the gun to face me again. "Brian, put the gun away before you hurt yourself."
Brian did so with a grunt, and I invited them all into the main room. Constance dropped into a La-Z-Boy chair opposite Yukie and eyed the huntress and her deep wounds. Heather also eyed the small Asian woman, and Brian positioned himself in a chair near her feet, looking like he wanted something between us if a fight started.
"First, I should tell you that I'm sorry I didn't bring this up sooner," I said, placing a hand on Yukie's jugular vein to feel it throbbing strong. "Several days ago, I was possessed by the spirit of Lasombra. Now, he seems to be capable of taking over my body, and there's little I can do to stop him."
"So when he takes over..." Constance said, following along with my explanation, "He what? He becomes you?"
"Probably a good way of looking at it," I said, and Heather's mouth fell open. "I'm only back in control now because Jean hit me with her truck because apparently three thousand years ago, they didn't learn to look before crossing the street."
"How long will it last?" Heather asked, and I shook my head. "I don't know. He might take over again before I walk back out that door, it might be a week before he takes over again. I can't say. It might be best if after I wake tonight and we figure out what we're going to do with Yuki that you three make yourself scarce. Might get a motel room or something."
"Any ideas? I can't exactly stroll into the Hilton and put my name down," Brian said a bit sourly. An idea hit me about that, as I thought about Duke and his club. He owned a motel, or so he said, and getting a room or three would be nothing and easily kept off the books. Brian might even enjoy himself in the estrogen ocean the place likely had.
"Check with Duke down at Four-Play," I told him and he nodded in understanding. "I'll talk with him about it, and give him his next dose of blood if he needs it. I'll continue to sleep here, with the door locked for my own protection, and I'll come to you if it's me. If Lasombra rises instead, he'll only have an empty house."
"Good idea," Heather said, as she touched her eye in sympathy. "It's scary how strong you can be."
"So who is she?" Constance asked to interrupt our conversation as Yukie moaned in her sleep.
"Yukie," I said. "She's a hunter that helped me take down a Chinese monster. The problem is, she was nearly killed trying so I gave her my blood to save her life. If she wakes up and I'm not here to stop her, she could kill all of you trying to get to me."
"I could just shoot her," Brian said, and all three of us girls frowned at him. "What? If she's going to try and kill us, I'm supposed to defend us."
"I don't want her killed," I said and he hung his head. "She can be a friend, but things didn't end well before I had to...pass her out," I said, struggling to think as my hunger settled back in. I eyed Constance and her weak state and figured she might need a transfusion just to make it to school on Monday. "So until then, what are we going to do with her?"
"Well, if we had some bondage gear, we could just tie her to a bed and let her sleep until you get back to take care of her," Brian said, and I gave him a sharp look. "What? I had a life too, you know."
"If she wakes up before I get back, and that's doubtful," I said as I took in the deep claw marks on her body and the fact she was still out, "Just let her go if she wants to. Tell her nothing beyond the fact that I saved her life, and she's free to live her own life as she sees fit. Understood?"
"Yes, mistress," Heather and Brian said together.
"Good," I said, then straightened myself up. "Brian, get my bag. I got to pick up my bike, then I'll be back at sunrise. Heather, see that she's gets cleaned up. Her wounds are already scabbing over. She'll likely be healed at noon, but there's no sense in leaving her covered in her own blood."
"Eliza?" Constance said, giving me a smile as I looked to her. "Glad to have you back."
"It's good to be back," I said as Brian returned with my bag. "Oh, Brian, before I go, a present, I said as I pulled the Uzi from Yukie's duffle where I had left it. "Little gift from the Chinatown Tong."
"Sweet," he said, as he examined the lethal instrument and the spare clip I had given him even as I dropped the other one I had kept in my waistband into my travel bag with the extra clips. I paused to take in the moment, then stepped back to my bike as Heather and Brian began to bicker on how to move Yukie to the tub.
There was nothing left of the house but smoldering ruins. I didn't even look around as I climbed back on the Harley FatBoy and brought it to life and pulled out the driveway. Thankfully my attire for the evening didn't go against riding my Harley and I was soon back in Hollywood at the Sin Bin. Flynn was behind the counter with his eyes glued to a woman taking on three men at once, and I just rolled my eyes as I scanned the cards for the bondage section.
Once I found the section I needed, I soon became inundated with the differing variety of products offered, and not sure which ones would work best. It took me several minutes of reading their boxes, but I finally found a corner restrain system that would hug the bed like a sheet and allow me to tie Yukie down so she didn't hurt anyone in her pursuit to escape.
Other thoughts entered my mind after that, like how would we keep her quiet in case people came to the door. A loud stereo only went so far, so I picked up an item called a ball gag that was 'guaranteed to keep my submissive quiet.' My lip quirked in a smile at the boxes claim, but a thought nagged at me. Yukie had already drank once from my wrist, and if she did so two more times, she was mine for life or as long as I wanted her. She was good in a fight, only getting injured when her youth and impetuousness in trying to cut the monster's hand off. Give her another five years, and she'd be truly lethal. Plus, add in that my blood would make her more resilient and stronger…
I shook my head to clear away the thought but it kept coming back. I couldn't force her to become my ghoul like that, but if she chose it, accepted it as a way to become better, that I could live with. I passed over some other bondage gear that was clearly intended for use between lovers, finally finding a set of leather cuffs that would tighten to enclose the tiniest of wrists and be secure. For added measure, they could even be locked with small padlocks that were surprisingly sold right next to the cuffs.
All that left me were clothes for her to wear since her work dress was shredded. I ended up buying her a black robe that was almost thick enough to not be naughty. I was praying that her undergarments weren't ruined and were salvageable, and that this would help get her home. I would worry about buying her more if she accepted my offer, but only then.
Flynn was still watching his dirty movie when I went back to the counter, and grudgingly rang me up. Putting the new items on the Harley, I eyed VV's ghoul as he monitored things outside the club. Figuring I needed to tie things up with VV, I checked my bag to make sure I still had Hatter's script, finding I had everything I needed and usually carried.
I headed over, setting my mind for what was to come even as my own hunger grew. I hated politics, and hated it with a passion, but I would be damned if I let my own hate for the game keep me from coming out ahead. I just wasn't sure if I'd ever win.
Like that ever stopped me before.
Edit 12-23-2017::: To help clarify, Celerity is the sixth discipline Eliza has shown to have developed since Lasombra raised her blood potency to Methusalah levels and return his advanced powers to him/her. I'll explain that later. For now, please note that Eliza has the powers of Celerity, Dominate, and Auspex in addition to her powers of Obtenebration, Potence, and Presence. It will become clearer in time, I assure you.
Edit 12-30-2017::: Edited the exchange between Eliza and her ghouls in response to negative criticism. Added the bit about going to a motel and allowing Eliza to come to Heather to get her makeup done.