I do not own…
"How did you get mixed with this bunch?" Abraham asked
They were walking on the surface now after they were miles away from the vampire hideout.
"I was only getting Sofias' stuff from her house when they approached us." Kagome said "I didn't sense hostility from them so I decided to hear them out."
Abraham looked at the young woman as he had noticed how tense Vaun and the other vampires were around her. From appearance she didn't look like she could harm a fly. But he knew from experience not to assume such things.
Seeing that it was getting dark the two separated and gave their numbers just in case one of them needed help. After that they headed back to their hideouts. Souta was already up and was making Lunch for them and asked them what took them so long. Kagome explained about another vampire tribe asking them for help with this rough tribe. She also explained about the other vampire hunter that they had brought along and how he believed there was a way to kill them with a book.
"A book? What kind of book?" Souta asked
"Something called Occido Lumen." Kagome said "Don't know what it is but from the way the Ancients reacted it was dangerous for them. They were more upset that I knew about it."
"Why? With your powers you could destroy them with one shot of your arrows." Souta said
Kagome shrugged as she didn't know why either. She could only guess that they thought it could be more dangerous in her hands.
When the sun went down Kagome wasn't sure how they were gonna hunt with Sofia with them. She was only a child and can't be left alone. Kagome knew that one of them had to go by themselves but she was worried for her brother. He wasn't as experienced at hunting by himself than she was but she knew he had to learn sooner or later.
"Do you think that you can handle it out there by yourself, Souta?" She asked
"Huh? Why would I be going by myself?" He asked after taking a bite of his chicken.
She gave him an annoyed look and gestured towards Sofia who continued on eating.
"It's either me or you that needs to watch her." Kagome said in Japanese. "Yes, it's dangerous to go out alone but we can't bring her with us. Not to mention her parents might come back for her. Killing them in front of her would be more traumatizing for her."
"Right. I almost forgot." He said in japanese. "Yeah, I think I can handle it. Besides, you haven't had much sleep. I'll make it short tonight though just to be safe."
When it was time for him to leave, Souta made sure he had all his weapons in place. He was a bit nervous but at the same time he was a bit excited. Once he was ready he headed out and went searching. So far he was able to find and kill two or three vampires that were hunting in groups. It became really quiet afterward.
He didn't like it.
His gut was telling him something was not right.
Kagome always told him to trust in his guts, especially if he senses danger. Needed to make sure he decided to sense where they were. He tensed right away as he sensed almost a hundred of them surrounding him.
'Shit. How did I not notice this?' He thought
He began to run for it but it was too late. One by one the vampires kept appearing trying to attack him. Souta did everything in his ability to dodge their stingers and slice them down when they came near him. It was getting difficult every minute. He was near his limit when they got him in a tight corner.When they were about to attack him a large fire appeared and started roasting the vampires. A large orange flash came running through the crowd and slashing them down with its' large claws. Once the vampires were all turned into ash the orange flash came to a hult. The being had a humanoid form with long orange hair, fox ears on his head and three fox tails. When Souta saw him he let out a sigh in relief.
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you, Shippo." Souta said
"I came running this way when I sensed holy magic this way, along with these creatures' scent." Shippo said "Where is Kagome?"
"She's at the hideout. We…got a new addition to the group and she thought it was best to stay with her." Souta said
"We should get going." Shippo said as his left ear twitched a little. "More are coming our way."
Thinking that it was for the best they left the area and headed back to the hideout. Kagome, who had already sensed Shippo nearby, released the barrier until they came in. Two vampires tried running in before the barrier was put up again but it was too late and they turned into ashes.
"Man, these things aren't that smart." Shippo said
"They can when their Master is controlling them." Souta muttered "Oh, and you might want to hide the ears and tails, the little girl is human after all."
"Right." Shippo said
Before they reached the floor Shippo hid his ears and tails and looked normal. Kagome quickly hugged her son when he came through the door.
"How did you find us?" Kagome asked
"Your mother told me that you guys came here. We were all worried when we hadn't had any contact from you guys so I came as soon as I could." Shippo said "There was no landing allowed so I had to skydive here."
"How's everyone back home?" Kagome asked
"Don't worry, everyone is fine." Shippo assured her. "One of Sesshomaru's allies that was in the states informed him of what had happened in New York. So he knows about the situation that's going on here."
"Is he going to do anything about this?" Souta asked
"Are you kidding? He doesn't see why he should get involved." Shippo snorted. "As long as they don't invade Japan he won't interfere."
"Stubborn dog." Kagome huffed
"When he heard that you two were still here he wants me to get you out of the city and take you back home." Shippo said
"I'm not going to leave these people defenseless when I can help them." Kagome said
Shippo let out a little chuckle.
"I told Sesshomaru that you might say that." He said "So what's the plan?"
"We can't keep going after things one by one. They multiplied each night." Kagome said "We need to find the nest of the impure vampires. If we destroy the nest then we can go after the master that's behind all this."
"But Kagome, to kill that many…might take a lot out of you." Souta said
"Maybe…but if we cut down his army down to size then the Ancients can deal with the Master. They don't want an outbreak or a war as much as we do."
"But can we trust them?" Souta asked
"Of course not, but we have no choice. But like the old saying goes "Enemy of my enemy are my friends."
/
During the same night a school bus filled with blind children was somewhere in town and ended up at an old factory. Eichhorst was wanting for them as this was his Master's orders. Both he and the Master hoped these creatures would put a stop to the Priestess that worries the Master. He had informed Mr. Palmer about the new threats and the human informed that he'll take care of it.
When the bus stopped the teachers were a bit worried and asked the driver if they were at the quarantine zone. She only asked as they didn't hear them pass a bridge. The bus driver didn't say anything and got out.
"Okay, everyone, grab your seatmates' hands." Ms. Singer said "We're going to get off the bus and gather just outside."
Everyone did as their headmistress said and grabbed their seatmates' hand before standing up and started walking off the bus.
"I have to go to the bathroom." One girl said
"I'm sure we could all use a trip to the restroom." Ms. Singer said, "And some food."
With the help of their canes all the kids and teachers were able to get off the bus with ease.
"Welcome, children." Eichhorst said
"Hello?" Ms. Singer asked "Who's there?"
"How wonderful that you have all arrived with your teacher." Eichhorst said "Miss Singer, are all these children blind from birth?"
"Some of them are, yes." Singer said, "But not all of them. Uh, are we – Is this the new school?"
"Your journey has indeed come to an end. But your adventures is just beginning." Eichhorst said
He held a dark smile on his face as he led them all inside and led them to their fate.
/
The next day Kagome and the others didn't wake up until noon. They were eating breakfast while Souta had the T.V on. On the news was the business owner and C.E.O of STONEHEART.
'The federal government says it's doing all it can to help our great city. But if you're like me, you have a hard time seeing much evidence of that. This morning, I informed Mayor Lyle that I am making available to the city an open line of credit to supplement the emergency budget, effective immediately.'
He stepped away to let the Mayor speak.
'Mr. Palmer and I have never been on the same side of any political issue, but a true statesman sets aside political rhetoric in a time of crisis.' Mayor Lyle said
He stepped aside to let Palmar talk again.
'Let me be perfectly clear. This credit line is an investment in the future of this city and the resilience of its brave citizens. I'm calling upon everyone to be vigilant and to look out for family, friends and neighbors in this time of crisis, and show our country, and indeed the world, what New York is made of. Thank you all for coming.'
That was it for Palmer as walked off the stage and the Mayor continued speaking. By then Shippo changed the channel to put cartoons for Sofia.
"What a load of crap." Shippo muttered in Japanese
"You don't believe him?" Souta asked
"Sesshomaru, never trusted the man. He was such a greedy man. That's why he never did business with him." Shippo said "I wouldn't be surprised if he's behind all this. From what Sesshomaru told me about him, Palmer almost owns everything. Especially in New York. Only someone with a great amount of money can make this vampire outbreak look like nothing's wrong. Silence anyone that opposes or could consider a treat to his plans."
"What would he gain from this?" Souta muttered
"Considering that he was near death a few weeks ago…and now he's healthy and can walk without a breathing tube hooked to him." Kagome said "I'm guessing the head vampire either turned or gave him some kind of immortality to heal him. This is why I hate rich business men. They'll go to great lengths to keep on living…even if it means selling out their own kind."
Shippo ears twitch a little, making him look over at the window. He checked outside and saw a bunch of men in S.W.A.T uniform and carrying guns. They were humans.
"I think we should go. Humans with guns are heading our way." He said
"I guess the head vampire was getting tired of trying to get through the barrier." Souta said "Sending his human pets to do his work."
He and Shippo hurried around as they packed up the stuff they needed.
Once they had everything they got out of the apartment and headed towards the roof. The human pets had already entered the building and started charging upstairs. Sofia wasn't able to keep up so Shippo had placed her on his back. When they reached the roof Shippo told Sofie to close her eyes as he jumped towards the building next to them. Kagome and Souta did the same. The building was far but they used their powers to jump very far. They did this for the next few buildings before they were far away from the human pets.
"Where should we go now?" Souta asked "Our cousin's place?"
"I don't think so. Do you remember the old man I told you about yesterday?" Kagome said
"The old hunter. Yeah, why?" He said
"He told me where he was staying. He could help us and give us more information about the master vampire." She said
"Do you think he can be trusted?" Shippo asked
"I believe so." She said
Believing in her gut they headed off looking for the old man. Shippo was able to find a car and hotwire it. It was better than walking on the road and it had GPS. So searching for the address wasn't hard.
"This must be it." Shippo said, looking at the place. "No other building is well bared and secured."
Every window on the building was bared up on the outside and covered metal on the inside. He wouldn't be surprised if the door was locked with a metal door on the inside as well. Kagome knocked on the door and a woman with a British accent answered.
"Who are you?" She asked
She didn't open the door all the way and Kagome could tell she was holding a weapon behind her. Kagome didn't blame her, you never know who you can trust these days.
"My name is Kagome Higurashi. I'm looking for Abraham Setrakian." Kagome said "Is he here?"
Dutch looked over at them. The old man did mention to them that he had met another hunter the other day. He said that she was an asian woman with blue eyes and that she was traveling with a little girl. Dutch believed this huntress was her but still wasn't sure if she let them in. That was until Shippo stepped in and used his fox charm to his advantage. The woman wasn't able to resist his charm and let them in. From what Kagome can sense that it was the woman and a boy that was a few years older than Sofia.
"Abraham is not here." Dutch said "But he and the others will be back soon."
"We can come back if you're not comfortable with us being here." Kagome said
"Don't worry, the old man said you're helping with the cause. Besides, if you wanted to raid or kill us you would have done it by now." Dutch said "The names Dutch. And this kid is Zack."
"Hello. This is my brother Souta and our cousin Shippo." Kagome said and patted Sofia's head. "This little one Sofia."
"So…why are you guys here?" Zack asked
"Our hideout was found by the vampire's human pets." Souta said
"We are hunting some vampires. And I guess you can say he finds us more of a threat to him than you guys." Kagome said "We were hoping we can seek refuge here for the time being. With that, we can help guys hunt them down."
/
In one of the main nests Eichhorst walked through the piles of sleeping vampires. He was for Kelly Goodweather. The ex-wife of Dr. Ephraim Goodweather and mother to their son Zack. The master wanted to use her to hurt the doctor and make him back off. Eichhorst was able to wake her up and told her that the Master was going to give her back her own thoughts and her own voice. It took only a minute before Kelly was able to think for herself and when she finally talked her words were her son's name. Eichhorst smiled and took her to the factory where the Master had already turned the blind children.
"We're all called upon to serve his glory." Eichhorst said as they walked down the steps. "But the Master has anointed you above the others. This is a great honor and an even greater responsibility."
They walked up towards a pool that was filled with dirt.
"All due to your connection with your dear one." He said
"Zack." Kelly said
"Yes, him." Eichhorst nodded "Rejoice, Kelly, for you have an important role to play in the Master's great vision. To that end, he has bestowed upon you the blessing of a new family."
The dirt started to move and hands reached out. The children resurfaced once they sense their new caretaker.
"They have unique abilities. Sight and perception beyond the physical spectrum. Behold the Feelers — the children of the night."