Chapter 37: Regrouping in New York

"We shouldn't be long now," Ted mumbled as they drove down the quiet street. "It should be at the end of this avenue . . . Although, I must admit, it was a pretty unique choice to have the New York HQ moved from the Upper West Side to Coney Island of all places."

"When you think about it, Coney Island has a little bit of everything," Cody mumbled, closing his eyes as the breeze that slipping in through his shattered window tickled his face. "Residential areas, stores, an amusement park, public transportation. It's pretty much the Big Apple in a nutshell."

"You can say that again," Ted mumbled as he snuck a glance Randy's way. The Viper had remained silent for most of the remaining journey, his eyes a myriad of emotions as he kept looking ahead. Neither Ted nor Cody bothered to disturb him, feeling it was best to leave him to his own thoughts.

Plus, considering how his reaction earlier, neither wanted to incur his famous wrath.

"There it is!" Ted suddenly exclaimed, pointing toward a large, multi-story warehouse standing on the next block. "The New York HQ, in all its unassuming glory."

"Less talking, more driving Ted!"

"Yes Randy!" Ted mumbled, a little spooked when he heard the Viper suddenly speak. He was so shocked that he hadn't realized that Randy didn't seem like his usual self when he ordered him to continue driving. He sounded . . . tired, as if he wanted this day to be over already.

Cody had noticed it, but he smartly kept his mouth shut as they continued onward, pulling to a stop right by the main entrance.

As soon as Ted cut the engine, the three were out of the car and out on the sidewalk. Taking a moment to look at their surroundings, Randy soon took the lead and led his teammates over to the door, which was monitored by a security camera just off to their left. He gave it a small wave before stepping toward the entrance, ready to go through the series of knocks that would give them entrance.

He wouldn't get the chance to. The door slowly cracked open before he could rap his knuckles on the surface.

"We've been expecting you three," came an Irish-accented voice on the other side, sounding a bit amused with the idea. ". . . Had a long day?"

"You can say that again Balor. . ." Randy mumbled, shaking his head as the door opened to reveal the shorter man on the other side. Unlike them, he wasn't dressed in all black, having chosen to wear a white tee and jeans instead. He had a friendly smile on his face, but his eyes were already scanning them, studying them to see if anything was amiss. "How's that demon side of you doing?"

"Right now? Sleeping, and so would I if it wasn't for the fact that I had to greet you three first," the man mumbled. "Hunter called me a while ago and told me about your situation. He expects me to call him back as soon as you guys arrived."

"Aw, Hunter has always been a caring boss," Ted cooed as Finn led them inside, his eyes immediately taking in the place. "The building looks nice. . . It's definitely much roomier than the last one."

"I'll say . . . Mr. McMahon had always wanted to move the New York HQ from Manhattan to Brooklyn. He just couldn't find the right building for it."

"So he decided to build his own." Randy concluded as Finn led them past the main hall toward the back.

"Exactly! All it took was a few million, an empty plot of land, and some arm twisting of city officials to get the job done relatively quickly," Finn mumbled as he led them down a side hallway. After passing a few doors, he stopped at the last one to his right and opened it, revealing that the room was modeled after a college dorm room, just with more beds. "You can use this room to rest and freshen up. The dressers hold some spare clothes that may fit y'all, and the bathroom is at the other end of the room. . . I'm going to call up Hunter. You can find me once you're done. Just follow my scent."

"Thanks Finn!" said the Viper as Cody and Ted walked into the room. The shorter man simply nodded before walking back down the hallway, leaving the three vampires to themselves. When Randy finally walked into the room, Ted was rifling through one of the dressers while Cody was in the bathroom washing the dried blood off his hand.

"Knowing Hunter, it won't take him long to answer Finn's call once he gets it . . ." Ted mumbled as he picked out a dark blue top.

"Well then," Randy mumbled as he walked over to another dresser. "Let's not keep him waiting then."

The three only needed eight minutes to freshen up and change their clothes. When they were done, they walked back into the hallway and followed Finn's scent back into the main hall, up a wrought iron staircase, down the walkway, and into an open room that the three could only describe as the headquarter's highly advanced mission control.

"Ooh, I see Vince made sure to go all out on the command center," Ted mumbled as he looked around at all the technology strewn across the room, stopping when his eyes landed on the main monitor, where Hunter waiting patiently on screen. ". . . Most impressive."

"Vince wanted to go all out for his biggest HQ in the country," Hunter mumbled, smirking slightly as he pushed a paper weight around on his desk. ". . . Including a new leader for it."

"And yet, I wasn't his first choice!" Finn pointed out, looking amused instead of upset. ". . . I'm still torn up about it Hunter."

"You know Vince. He always thinks that his way is the best way, even when the rest of his commanding officers think just the opposite," the psychic mumbled, shaking his head. "He's pretty much the poster boy of 'stubborn as a mule'."

"Vince is quite bull-headed when it comes to his thinking," Randy mumbled as he looked up at the screen. "Boys, I would love to continue talking about the Boss' failings with you guys some other time, but we need to get back to business here!"

"Right; so, while you three were making your way to the Big Apple, I did some digging into the Romanian Coven itself," Hunter calmly explained as he started typing on his computer. "Since Mr. S was likely the client the mercenary cell was working for, and since we've theorized that he's a high ranking member of the coven, I looked into these high ranking members to see which one could fit the bill of wanting to use psychics to take over the world."

"Better yet? Show me their photos," Randy suggested, his tone intense. "Trust me, I'll identify him if I see him."

"How are you so sure?" Hunter couldn't help but ask, his fingers pausing on the keys.

"On our way here, Randy had a vision, so to speak," Cody explained, his words immediately making Hunter perplexed. "For a while, Randy was able to see through Amanda's eyes. He saw Mr. S in the flesh Hunter. He has her, and he's using her roommates for leverage against her."

"Not to mention that he's also started feeding from her as well. . ." Ted added, knowing his words were not helping the Viper's mood. He was proven right when he saw Randy's right hand flexing into a grip, resisting the urge to punch something at the moment. "We believe he wants to weaken her to make her more susceptible to his plans."

"That's not good. Not good at all," Hunter mumbled as he started to furiously type away on his keyboard. "Give me a second. I'm getting the photos now. . . Shout when you see him!"

Photos of notable members of the Romanian coven popped on screen before he even finish his sentence. They would switch out every five seconds, one pale face dressed in an expensive suit after another, all of them losing the Viper's attention as fast as they gained it.

"STOP!" Randy suddenly called out, almost startling everyone else in the room as the photo remained in place. It depicted a tall man with pale blonde hair talking to a second man that was less blonde and shorter than him. While the shorter man looked downright serious, the other man looked completely unbothered, as if he could care less about what the other man was saying.

The sight of him was making the Viper's blood boil.

"Randy? Randy!" Hunter called out, the photo moving to the side as the older man reappeared on screen. "Which one of the two is it? Who's Mr. S?"

"The taller one," Randy answered, practically spatting the words out. "I could never forget that face."

"Of course you wouldn't. What self-respecting vampire would forget the face of the man who bit their soul mate?" Ted ventured to ask, visibly relieved when Randy didn't negatively react to his quip. ". . . Anyway Hunter, who exactly is Tall, Green Eyes here?"

"His name is Szyman Stoica," Hunter answered, his eyes glued to his screen. ". . . And he's quite a big shot within the coven."

"How big are we talking here?" Cody asked, crossing his arms.

"I'm talking leadership big. He's the second-in-command," said Hunter, shaking his head. "The man with him in the photo is Alexandru Stoica, his older brother and the current leader of the Romanian vampires."

"I've heard of him," muttered Finn as he took a step forward. "He and his brother are a result of an arranged marriage between their father, the previous head of the clan, and the second daughter of the head of the Polish coven."

"Which means they have a strong connection to their Polish counterparts." Cody theorized, bringing a hand to his chin.

"Something like that," Finn mumbled, shaking his head. "The marriage wasn't a love match. In fact, it only happened to quell the growing animosity between the two covens. The Polish and the Romanians have been at each other's throats for the past few decades and the marriage was meant to help mend some of the wounds. Things haven't been smooth between the husband and wife, but the relationship between the two covens have been better since the brothers were born."

"Ma and Pa not getting along? I'm sure that made for an interesting home life." Ted surmised as he turned to Finn.

"It was certainly split down the middle . . . The father, Marius, favored Alexandru over Szymon. You know, grooming him to lead the clan since he's the eldest, but the mother, Zuzanna, favored Szymon. For most of their early years, they saw each other more like rivals than as brothers."

"Well, they certainly look quite brotherly here . . ." Randy grumbled, his eyes never moving from the photo. "Things must have changed between them."

"From what my connections have told me, the brothers kept each other at arms' length until tragedy brought them together . . . The baby of the family, their little sister Agata, was killed when she and their father were travelling from Bucharest to Craiova for family business about twelve years ago. According to them, the mother and brothers were absolutely devastated by what happened. The father, not so much. He didn't care much for his daughter compared to his sons."

"And yet he invested in one son's development more than the other. Marius certainly sounds like father-of-the-year material," Ted sarcastically mused. ". . . I'm sure the rest of the family were not too happy with his reaction."

"Not in the slightest. Zuzanna separated from him and retired from public life. As for Alexandru and Szymon, they went out with their father one night a couple of weeks after their sister's funeral, and when they came back, Marius wasn't with them," Finn finished as he started to slowly pace around. ". . . His ashes were found in a burned down building in eastern Bucharest a few weeks later, but by then, Alexandru had already taken charge as the new coven leader with his brother becoming his right hand man. . . Let's just say Marius was more feared than loved during his ruling years."

"So they became united in their hatred for their father . . . That's one way for brothers to bond, I guess," Randy grumbled as he turned to Hunter. "Is it possible that Alexandru commissioned his brother to start the Scarlett Project?"

"I don't think so Randy," Hunter mumbled. "The brothers may have been united against their father, but that brotherly love has not been as solid since then. It's up and down at best, and the coven itself is pretty much split between the two brothers. Those in Alexandru's camp believe he's the rightful coven leader and has solidly run it since he took power. He's backed by the older, more established members, but Szymon is backed by the young up and comers. He's more charismatic, has more forward thinking ideas than his traditionalist brother, and he's better at making allies than his brother."

"So, while big brother Alex enjoys the power now, his younger brother Szymon builds up his power base in the possible hope of usurping him," said Cody. ". . . It's possible that Alexandru has no idea about the Scarlett Project and Szymon is working all on his own."

"That is likely. From what I've heard, the brothers are suspicious of each other, but neither has done away with the other because they still see the value that the other gives him," Hunter adds. "Plus, neither wants to upset their mother. She's already seen enough death in her family for one lifetime."

"Great; so we're dealing with the second in command of one of the oldest and most powerful clans in the world, which means a lot of wealth, resources, and allies are behind him," Cody grumbled, his thoughts going toward the geeky Texan that was now never too far from his thoughts. "And we're still not sure where he's keeping the girls! They may not even be in Romania!"

"I believe they are Cody," said Hunter, cutting in before Cody could start shouting. "My Romanian contacts has told me that Szymon had recently arrived back in Bucharest after spending some time abroad. As soon as he handled some business at the coven's main base, he got out of town. No one knows exactly where he's going, but he has given his word that he will remain within the country. . . He's expected back in Bucharest for the coven's annual grand meeting in two days' time."

"He must hold a couple of properties outside of Bucharest," Randy mused. "One of them could be where he's holding the girls . . . Do we have any info on his personal holdings?"

"Unfortunately, no," Hunter announced, scowling at the screen. "The homes and properties of the high ranking members of the coven are officially confidential. You would have to ask the men themselves for that kind of information."

"I'm sure a coven as old as the Romanians have updated to modern times," Ted pointed out. "They must have all their info on a database at this point. Can't we just hack into it?"

"I already have our tech department on it right now, but it's a struggle," Hunter answered. "Their system is iron tight. They haven't been able to find any weak spots in the mainframe. If we're going to access their systems, you'll have to log in to one of their own computers. . . I hope you guys don't mind traveling for a few days."

"As if we were planning to stop here," Randy announced, a spark of determination evident in his eyes. "However, we are going to need some help getting there. JBL and his cronies did away with our stuff when he still held us in captivity."

"I see. . . Well, I'll definitely send your spare passports over," said Hunter. "As for additional manpower, how many do you think you need?"

"Is John available to come along?"

"He's pretty much dying of boredom at this point," Hunter almost crowed, his smirk getting bigger. "I'll send him your way, and I'll also handle all the travel arrangements. I'm sure the change of scenery will do him some good."

"Thanks Hunter. We'll contact you again once we land in Bucharest."

"You better!" Came Hunter's stern reply before logging off, the screen now going blank.

"Hmm, sounds like you guys are going to be going on quite the adventure," Finn mused. ". . . I'd volunteer to join y'all, but I still have an HQ to run."

"Hey! You're the one that chose to take on this role," said Cody. "If you hadn't, you would still be chasing after snake demons in Dublin."

"No, don't get me started on the snake demons," Finn grumbled, his eyes turning gold for a split second before returning to normal. "They are a downright nuisance that I'm well rid of for now. The less I think about them, the better. . . Now then, shouldn't you three be preparing for your trip to Bucharest instead of irritating me with the thought of the most annoying demons known to man!? This is not going to be easy, especially since you're pretty much going up against a man with great power within one of the most powerful clans in the world."

"We definitely can't go in guns' blazing. . ." Ted mumbled. "Now that I think about it, this mission has the potential for causing a huge supernatural, international incident if we're not too careful."

"Even if we manage to find the girls and escape with them, Mr. S doesn't seem like the kind of person that will concede defeat so easily," Cody countered. "He's going to fight to keep what he has gained."

"Well then, we'll just have to fight back that much harder," Randy admitted, his determination never waning. "Come on! We have a trip to get ready for!"

A/N: Please review!