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***Author's Note (again... *sigh* I should just write something and deal with it, yes? *G*)***
This piece is disjointed and fastpaced on purpose. Bare with me as there's a lot of exposition that takes place. If things don't make sense, they will in the fourth of my "Gunn Years" stories. And... if this whole fic makes complete sense to you... ignore me and my dumb little disclaimer. I was just worried that everything's a little confusing right now.
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Unexpected Turns
Part 3 of "The Gunn Years"


So, what's new? Everythin' and nothin'. Life's good when yer on top of the heap. (Heh. Actually, s'kinda ironic usin' the word "life", ain't it?) Most vamps would give their eye teeth ta be part of the Kreis... an' I intend ta keep it that way. One can't let just anyone into is inner circle, now can he? The Kreis is made up of the best....

"Ty! Tell 'em it's my turn ta eat the kids next kill! They always hog all the young an' tender meat."

"Do not! Everyone gets their own slab of veal an' you just have to wait yer turn!"

... theoretic'ly, the best, that is. We're weedin' out the weak ones, but the moron factor is a little higher than I anticipated.

Ty dropped the fountain pen onto his spiral bound notebook diary and raised himself up to full height. Somehow, his gang of vampires sounded more menacing on paper. The Kreis, as that idiot Klaus, a German shopkeeper, had named them, was truly no more than a collection of dim-witted, wining babies.

"When can we get somethin' fresh, huh?" A vamp with a jagged scar running across his forehead implored as Ty, their black-haired leader emerged from his side office. "The last thing we chased was Klaus. An' 'e wasn't all that succulent.. mostly lard an' grease once those vultures divided him up." He pointed to five other vampires curled over a corpse in the corner.

Snarling, Ty shook his head. "I have a plan."

"Ooo! What're we gonna get? Huh, Ty? What? What? What?!" A scrawny girl vamp, who had been called Karen in life, begged. "How about a candy striper? They taste REAL good!" Everyone chuckled. Karen had been turned in LA Medical Center when Ty entered her room, masquerading as concerned family. Ty had gone to great lengths to get inside, but, contrary to the girl's delusions, it wasn't because she was anything special. He just wanted to prove that he could do it. Bragging rights and all that. Still, she fancied herself his intended or something like that, and Ty found himself at least three times a day regretting that he ever turned her. No amount of pride was worth this eternal torment.

"Chill, girl." Geoff slapped his hand down on Karen's arm. She had developed an excited shiver which looked a heck of a lot like advanced Tourette's. "We'll eat."

Ty nodded. "'Ow bout a quick snack? Just ta let Gunn know---"

The five stopped and sighed deeply. The looks on their faces all said the same thing: 'again?!'. The Kreis was hungry, but this using every excuse to chase around Charles Gunn and his crew was getting extremely tiring. It didn't take a braniac to realize that Ty had a particular fondness for tormenting the lost children of the back alleys. The vampire would do anything to get under Gunn's skin, which was extremely foolish since there were thousands of other victims out there much more vulnerable than the 17 year old boy. Staying affixed to one target meant two things. First, that a blinding obsession could eventually lead to Ty's demise due to carelessness. Secondly, the longer Gunn remained alive, the weaker it made Ty look. No story of keeping the kid alive for could cover for over five years of missed opportunities. Any outside observer would draw the conclusion that Ty was weak; unable to kill Gunn because the boy was too powerful.

"Not to question you or nothin', but why them? 'Specially why AGAIN?" A vampire in a grungy leather vest that exposed his massive tattooed biceps, asked. "I know this sweet little collection of Kindergartners--"

Ty snarled and lunged, pinning the biker vamp to the wall. "If you didn't want to question me, why are you?! This is my decision and it's none of your damn business. I just feel like havin' a little fun with the boy s'all. Is that clear?"

Karen stopped shaking for the first time that evening. The others, too, stood stock still. Ty had never spoken quite this way before. Or, at least, they couldn't remember a time he had. Since they usually just tuned him out, he might have, but no one would remember.

"Scared?" Ty was seething with rage. "Good. Ya should be." He spat at their feet. "Worthless, good-for-nothin'... There's 'bout to be some changes around here. No more of this sloppy---" He staked biker vamp. "-- disorganized--" He lashed out and broke Karen's arm easily. "-- chaos!" A stake sprang from Ty's sleeve, skewering one of the pudgy vamps that had been gorging on Klaus moments before.

The remaining four vampires stared in disbelief.

"Now we go kill somethin'. That took a lot out of me, an' I get cranky when I'm hungry." Ty hissed and kicked down the door to their abandoned office building.

Arm cradled against her body, Karen could already feel the bones fusing back together. Being a vampire, her healing powers had already kicked into high gear, however it would still take a day or two for the appendage to be of much use to her. Ty had never hurt any member of his inner circle this way. She knew that her injury was intended to serve as a message to the others. He was serious about making some changes. Things were going to be far, far different from now on. Their victims wouldn't know what hit them. "Pity that poor Gunn kid.." Karen chuckled madly, ".. he won't know what hit 'em."