She had followed the rooftops to the outskirts of the city before dropping down into the streets. She tried not to think about the terms on which she had left but it was either occupy her mind with those thoughts or look upon the carnage of the streets and relive the sights and sounds of all those she had cared for falling in battle. The air had hung with the scent of death and decay for some years now; it was unpleasant for humans but for someone with vampiric keen senses it held much more than just the stench of rotting flesh and charred bones.
Unusually, she cleared the city limits without so much as a single encounter with any vampires. Her thoughts only dwelled momentarily on this fact but she didn't count her blessings too soon. Though the cities were now teeming with the undead, the more rural areas housed something far more unpleasant...Revenants were vampire cast-offs. Sometimes when a mortal was bitten they wouldn't turn into a vampire; instead they would become nothing more than a walking corpse with limited motor functions and intellect; slowly decaying over decades as they shuffled around in search for carrion.
Ororo soon came to a small crossroads surrounded by woods that was almost peaceful and serene if not for the over-turned truck several hundred yards away. She knew exactly where she was...if she continued east she'd enter Graymalkin Lane and soon after would be standing before the gates of the old Xavier Institute. Her heart longed to go that way; to visit the early graves of those who fell first. But the greater sense of need pushed her in the opposite direction as she moved onward in search of the access hatch to the underground facility she was looking for.
Her nose was her trusted ally for this task. So far out from the city, detecting unusual scents was easier and her eyes could detect much of the infra-red spectrum whihc would betray any hidden hatches under the grass or fallen leaves. But as it transpired, none of this was necessary as her nose was suddenly caught with the unmistakable scent of a lab.
Following her senses took her off the road and into the trees. Though the scent was distant it was strong enough for her to follow for half a mile until she saw an old sewer tunnel with the grate hanging off. Though it wasn't the entrace she was looking for, she estimated she was in the right area and so approached the vent. Peering down into the darkness she couldn't detect the bottom but unpreturbed she slid inside the vent and used her elemental powers to descend effortlessly.
When her feet finally met with a surface, she still found herself bathed in darkness. Her eyes could make out everything before her as she made her way along a narrow passage. Moulding boxes where scattered along with discarded files. The occasional rat skittered past in the gloom as Ororo passed through a set off squeaky double doors.
Beyond she found herself standing in a lobby. Overhead a strip-light continuosly flickered casting an insane light on the few overturned chairs and scattered papers. As she looked left and right, trying to decide which way to go, she suddenly realised that this facility did not feel like the kind of place where the vampires would keep the remains of the once notrious Lord of the Undead. In fact, as she followed another corridor she could tell this place had not been used in decades. She picked up a handful of documents that where scattered on the floor and squinted in the gloom at them. Much was faded, but the dates didn't exceed the 1960s.
Ororo came to another set of double doors. She pushed against it but found it was sealed shut and cold to the touch. Glancing through the small circular windows she could she that everything inside was covered in a thick frost. Puzzled, she drew back and prepared to kick the door through. Despite being sealed firmly, its forzen form shattered easily under her strength and the bizarre sound of the impact reverberated through the complex sending back eerie echoes.
Stepping inside, Ororo's feet crunched on the thick frost as she glanced around for any further illumination. To her right was a large lever with cables leading to a large box. Flipping the lever popped several bulbs in the room as somewhere in the complex a generator stirred to life and lights flickered on. As she gazed around she found that the room was filled with out-dated consoles, many of which were damaged but more curiously in the center of the room was a large cylindrical container completely encrusted with ice; so much so that if there was anything contained within she could not see it.
Ororo moved around the room and inspected the consoles when suddenly a sound came to her ears; someone else was in the complex. She heard cautious footsteps as she ducked to the left of the double doors and slowly drew her sword. The doors slowly opened as she lowered her blade to rest just level with the intruder's throat.
"I thought I taught you how to sneak into installations without being detected?"
A hand gently pushed the blade down as the familiar face of Kat stepped further into the room. "It wasn't me. A rat ran out in front of Sara."
As Kat turned back to the door three other members of the resistance entered. Two of them - Luke and Sara - she had seen not too long ago after they had returned from a raid that had resulted in the death of Tony Stark amongst others. The third, another man, was called Jon and was new to the outfit, having been rescued from a vampire pack mere weeks ago. Ororo resheathed her sword and turned back to Kat.
"What are you doing here?"
Kat shrugged with a glint of cunning in her eyes. "I can't stop you. I can't kill you. So I decided I have to help you."
"What about your orders?" Ororo asked.
"Damn the orders." Kat smiled at the repetition of Ororo's earlier words.
Ororo smiled and moved forward, embracing Kat who momentarily tensed before melting into the welcoming show of affection. They held each other for a moment before the movements of the other brought them back to their senses. Jon and Luke were inspecting the central chamber whilst Sara glanced at some of the frozen consoles and the documents stuck to the tops.
"Hey, anyone know who the Brimestone Society are?" she called out.
"Not a clue," admitted Kat stepping over to look for herself.
"The installation hasn't been used in decades," offered Ororo. "And I don't think the intelligence is right about Dracula being down here."
"Well something is," said Luke inspecting the frozen chamber. "Look at these dials. This is a cryo-chamber and as dated as these consoles are there's definately someone - or something - inside."
Kat cast a glance to Ororo. "Wanna wake them up?"
With a nod, Ororo's eyes clouded as she used her weather weilding power to change the humidity of the room. Though the effect was slow at first, soon ice began to melt followed by a quick evaporation as the consoles thawed. After a matter of minutes Kat and the others where wiping sweat from their borws as Ororo broke off her concentration.
"I can't thaw the main chamber. We need to try and get the system up to thaw it."
Kat nodded and signalled Sare to her side as they pulled the front panels off one of the main consoles. Sara pulled some limited tools from her backpack and began splicing wires together and reworking power flow from damaged circuits. Moments later she nodded to Kat.
"If you will," she said.
Kat partially phased her index finger and ran it through the exposed wire cluster producing a low level disruption that sent a pulse through the system. It proved a flase start. Sara, with a scredriver hanging from her mouth, rearranged a few more wires and screwed down a second earth wire and motioned for a retry. This time the pulse succeeded as lights began to flicker on the console. Kat and Sara stood as Luke came over to look at the dials which were slowly coming to life and registaring information.
As they toiled, Ororo walked over the chamber where Jon still stood. He was in his late twenties with jet black hair and green eyes. He noticed her looking and turned to stare back before his expression softened and he smiled. Ororo smiled back and turned her attentions back to the chamber and placed her hand on it. Almost instantly she recoiled as her mind flashed with frenzied images of age-old pain and anguish. She placed her hand back at her side and looked back over at the others.
"Can you tell what's in this thing?"
Luke glanced over. "Humanoid female. That's about it. So unless Drac has had a sex-change in the last few decades...But in fifteen minutes we'll have a better idea. Initiating thaw cycle."
Ororo and Jon stepped back as a pulsing light emmenated from beneath the chamber, allowing Ororo to just make out the faint shape of a humanoid body. As they waited, Ororo walked over to the consoles and picked up a pile of soggy papers and skipped through them, scanning them for anything potentially useful. After several minutes she tossed them aside having learned nothing. She stared at the back of Jon's head as he watched the chamber. Something about im unnerved her though she failed to put her finger on it. As if he knew she was watching he turned to lok at her and Ororo was forced to avert her gaze back to the others.
Several more silent minutes passed as the chamber reach the final stages of thawing. Inside could clearly be seen the slender figure of a young woman. She was clad in a skin tight black body suit. Her skin was exceptionally pale and her features were framed neatly by a short crop of thick red hair. Ororo stepped closer and once again placed her hand on the chamber, this time finding no such flashes as before. She gazed up at the woman suspended inside when suddenly her eyes flickered open and focused on her.
Ororo took a shocked step back as the woman smashed through the chamber and launched herself forward, seizing Ororo by the throat and slamming her back against a wall. She snarled at Ororo and glanced back at the others who were battle ready despite the sudden shock. The woman blinked as she seemingly tried to form words though before anything could be said Kat phased up from the ground behind her and stabbed her in the back with a stilleto dagger.
"AAARRRGGGHH!" the woman lashed out with her foot with speed and sent Kat flying backwards. "Bitch!"
Ororo came to her senses then and struck out at her attacker, thrusting her palm into her face and sending her flying backwards and smashing through the already shattered chryo-chamber. Ororo fell to one knee, rubbing her throat as the woman got to her feet and glared at them all.
"Who the £@(! are you people!?"
"Hey!" shouted Kat, getting to her feet. "We're the ones asking the questions here! Now who the Hell are you and why did you attack us!?"
"Because of her," the woman gestured half-heartedly towards Ororo. "She's a vampire."
"And?"
"I hunt vampires."
Ororo took a step forward and sniffed the air. "You don't smell all that fresh yourself."
The woman flipped her the finger. "I'm half vampire. For my trouble."
"So who are you?" repeated Kat.
"The name's Rayne," as the woman rose to her feet she flexed her arms as a set of long metallic blades extended from hinged gauntlets around her wrists. "BloodRayne."
To Be Continued...
Unusually, she cleared the city limits without so much as a single encounter with any vampires. Her thoughts only dwelled momentarily on this fact but she didn't count her blessings too soon. Though the cities were now teeming with the undead, the more rural areas housed something far more unpleasant...Revenants were vampire cast-offs. Sometimes when a mortal was bitten they wouldn't turn into a vampire; instead they would become nothing more than a walking corpse with limited motor functions and intellect; slowly decaying over decades as they shuffled around in search for carrion.
Ororo soon came to a small crossroads surrounded by woods that was almost peaceful and serene if not for the over-turned truck several hundred yards away. She knew exactly where she was...if she continued east she'd enter Graymalkin Lane and soon after would be standing before the gates of the old Xavier Institute. Her heart longed to go that way; to visit the early graves of those who fell first. But the greater sense of need pushed her in the opposite direction as she moved onward in search of the access hatch to the underground facility she was looking for.
Her nose was her trusted ally for this task. So far out from the city, detecting unusual scents was easier and her eyes could detect much of the infra-red spectrum whihc would betray any hidden hatches under the grass or fallen leaves. But as it transpired, none of this was necessary as her nose was suddenly caught with the unmistakable scent of a lab.
Following her senses took her off the road and into the trees. Though the scent was distant it was strong enough for her to follow for half a mile until she saw an old sewer tunnel with the grate hanging off. Though it wasn't the entrace she was looking for, she estimated she was in the right area and so approached the vent. Peering down into the darkness she couldn't detect the bottom but unpreturbed she slid inside the vent and used her elemental powers to descend effortlessly.
When her feet finally met with a surface, she still found herself bathed in darkness. Her eyes could make out everything before her as she made her way along a narrow passage. Moulding boxes where scattered along with discarded files. The occasional rat skittered past in the gloom as Ororo passed through a set off squeaky double doors.
Beyond she found herself standing in a lobby. Overhead a strip-light continuosly flickered casting an insane light on the few overturned chairs and scattered papers. As she looked left and right, trying to decide which way to go, she suddenly realised that this facility did not feel like the kind of place where the vampires would keep the remains of the once notrious Lord of the Undead. In fact, as she followed another corridor she could tell this place had not been used in decades. She picked up a handful of documents that where scattered on the floor and squinted in the gloom at them. Much was faded, but the dates didn't exceed the 1960s.
Ororo came to another set of double doors. She pushed against it but found it was sealed shut and cold to the touch. Glancing through the small circular windows she could she that everything inside was covered in a thick frost. Puzzled, she drew back and prepared to kick the door through. Despite being sealed firmly, its forzen form shattered easily under her strength and the bizarre sound of the impact reverberated through the complex sending back eerie echoes.
Stepping inside, Ororo's feet crunched on the thick frost as she glanced around for any further illumination. To her right was a large lever with cables leading to a large box. Flipping the lever popped several bulbs in the room as somewhere in the complex a generator stirred to life and lights flickered on. As she gazed around she found that the room was filled with out-dated consoles, many of which were damaged but more curiously in the center of the room was a large cylindrical container completely encrusted with ice; so much so that if there was anything contained within she could not see it.
Ororo moved around the room and inspected the consoles when suddenly a sound came to her ears; someone else was in the complex. She heard cautious footsteps as she ducked to the left of the double doors and slowly drew her sword. The doors slowly opened as she lowered her blade to rest just level with the intruder's throat.
"I thought I taught you how to sneak into installations without being detected?"
A hand gently pushed the blade down as the familiar face of Kat stepped further into the room. "It wasn't me. A rat ran out in front of Sara."
As Kat turned back to the door three other members of the resistance entered. Two of them - Luke and Sara - she had seen not too long ago after they had returned from a raid that had resulted in the death of Tony Stark amongst others. The third, another man, was called Jon and was new to the outfit, having been rescued from a vampire pack mere weeks ago. Ororo resheathed her sword and turned back to Kat.
"What are you doing here?"
Kat shrugged with a glint of cunning in her eyes. "I can't stop you. I can't kill you. So I decided I have to help you."
"What about your orders?" Ororo asked.
"Damn the orders." Kat smiled at the repetition of Ororo's earlier words.
Ororo smiled and moved forward, embracing Kat who momentarily tensed before melting into the welcoming show of affection. They held each other for a moment before the movements of the other brought them back to their senses. Jon and Luke were inspecting the central chamber whilst Sara glanced at some of the frozen consoles and the documents stuck to the tops.
"Hey, anyone know who the Brimestone Society are?" she called out.
"Not a clue," admitted Kat stepping over to look for herself.
"The installation hasn't been used in decades," offered Ororo. "And I don't think the intelligence is right about Dracula being down here."
"Well something is," said Luke inspecting the frozen chamber. "Look at these dials. This is a cryo-chamber and as dated as these consoles are there's definately someone - or something - inside."
Kat cast a glance to Ororo. "Wanna wake them up?"
With a nod, Ororo's eyes clouded as she used her weather weilding power to change the humidity of the room. Though the effect was slow at first, soon ice began to melt followed by a quick evaporation as the consoles thawed. After a matter of minutes Kat and the others where wiping sweat from their borws as Ororo broke off her concentration.
"I can't thaw the main chamber. We need to try and get the system up to thaw it."
Kat nodded and signalled Sare to her side as they pulled the front panels off one of the main consoles. Sara pulled some limited tools from her backpack and began splicing wires together and reworking power flow from damaged circuits. Moments later she nodded to Kat.
"If you will," she said.
Kat partially phased her index finger and ran it through the exposed wire cluster producing a low level disruption that sent a pulse through the system. It proved a flase start. Sara, with a scredriver hanging from her mouth, rearranged a few more wires and screwed down a second earth wire and motioned for a retry. This time the pulse succeeded as lights began to flicker on the console. Kat and Sara stood as Luke came over to look at the dials which were slowly coming to life and registaring information.
As they toiled, Ororo walked over the chamber where Jon still stood. He was in his late twenties with jet black hair and green eyes. He noticed her looking and turned to stare back before his expression softened and he smiled. Ororo smiled back and turned her attentions back to the chamber and placed her hand on it. Almost instantly she recoiled as her mind flashed with frenzied images of age-old pain and anguish. She placed her hand back at her side and looked back over at the others.
"Can you tell what's in this thing?"
Luke glanced over. "Humanoid female. That's about it. So unless Drac has had a sex-change in the last few decades...But in fifteen minutes we'll have a better idea. Initiating thaw cycle."
Ororo and Jon stepped back as a pulsing light emmenated from beneath the chamber, allowing Ororo to just make out the faint shape of a humanoid body. As they waited, Ororo walked over to the consoles and picked up a pile of soggy papers and skipped through them, scanning them for anything potentially useful. After several minutes she tossed them aside having learned nothing. She stared at the back of Jon's head as he watched the chamber. Something about im unnerved her though she failed to put her finger on it. As if he knew she was watching he turned to lok at her and Ororo was forced to avert her gaze back to the others.
Several more silent minutes passed as the chamber reach the final stages of thawing. Inside could clearly be seen the slender figure of a young woman. She was clad in a skin tight black body suit. Her skin was exceptionally pale and her features were framed neatly by a short crop of thick red hair. Ororo stepped closer and once again placed her hand on the chamber, this time finding no such flashes as before. She gazed up at the woman suspended inside when suddenly her eyes flickered open and focused on her.
Ororo took a shocked step back as the woman smashed through the chamber and launched herself forward, seizing Ororo by the throat and slamming her back against a wall. She snarled at Ororo and glanced back at the others who were battle ready despite the sudden shock. The woman blinked as she seemingly tried to form words though before anything could be said Kat phased up from the ground behind her and stabbed her in the back with a stilleto dagger.
"AAARRRGGGHH!" the woman lashed out with her foot with speed and sent Kat flying backwards. "Bitch!"
Ororo came to her senses then and struck out at her attacker, thrusting her palm into her face and sending her flying backwards and smashing through the already shattered chryo-chamber. Ororo fell to one knee, rubbing her throat as the woman got to her feet and glared at them all.
"Who the £@(! are you people!?"
"Hey!" shouted Kat, getting to her feet. "We're the ones asking the questions here! Now who the Hell are you and why did you attack us!?"
"Because of her," the woman gestured half-heartedly towards Ororo. "She's a vampire."
"And?"
"I hunt vampires."
Ororo took a step forward and sniffed the air. "You don't smell all that fresh yourself."
The woman flipped her the finger. "I'm half vampire. For my trouble."
"So who are you?" repeated Kat.
"The name's Rayne," as the woman rose to her feet she flexed her arms as a set of long metallic blades extended from hinged gauntlets around her wrists. "BloodRayne."
To Be Continued...