In Likeness of Night
Manhattan was no warmer that night than it had ever been. The cold couldn't bother him; he was dead after all. Donovan Fletcher rose from his coffin, and looked around his apartment; not one thing was out of place. His ghouls seemed to do a good job of keeping it neat and clean during the day. House keeping was never his specialty. His sleep had become increasingly unsettling; the vision of a hunter had come to him. A man very much like him, a true combatant of worthy skill. A match of skill was not something to normally gall him. There was something about it, uncertainty; no warrior he had faced had ever matched his skill. Yet this was a foe of great skill and from the visions he had seen he was not sure he could defeat him.
Dreams were not something he had ever headed, and he set it to the back of his mind. He walked over to open the blinds.
"Ahh Moonlight." He had to love it; it was after all the only natural source of light he could appreciate.
He almost never took off his urban camo fatigues; he did however find it uncomfortable to sleep in his trench coat, shades and beret. "Cynthia." He looked back at his blonde servant, "Bring me my attire." Donovan almost loved her. At very least he pitied her, to the extent that a vampire could love and pity a servant.
"Yes lord." She nodded and went out to the hall to retrieve his things.
Donovan stepped over to his nightstand and pressed down on the intercom button. "Rob have my weapons ready at the door, the on-the-town-special that is." There was no response.
He checked his watch, nineteen hundred hours. Donovan stepped out into the hall and made his way toward his apartment's balcony. Rob and Cynthia were waiting for him out side. Stepping up to the sliding glass door, Rob opened it for him and Cynthia handed him his coat, shades, and beret. He ran his fingers through his short black hair as he donned his attire. Donovan gave a glance at Rob and examined the black aluminum cases Rob had set out on the balcony table for him. The first had a pair of Dessert Eagles, the second had his combat knife and clayemore and the third had a custom pair of compact HKs.
The equipment was one of the few things in the world that made him smile. The vampire opened his coat and holstered his Eagles on his waist, sheathed his sword on his back and his knife on his lower left leg. Lastly his he holstered his HKs on his left and right upper legs.
Donovan stepped up to the balcony railing, and peered out into the night. Thin waves of powdery-flaked fell from the sky as a light breeze shifted their direction. He turned to wave goodbye to his ghouls and did a graceful back flip off of railing. It was twenty-five stories to the ground, the fall however was no a concern. As the ground grew ever closer he extended a hand and caught the railing of the third floor balcony. He unlocked his grip on the cold steal and fell the remaining distance. The vampire landed as if in a kneel with one palm to the ground and his head bent low. He shifted his weight to his front leg and regained his stance.
A woman across the street observed the whole feat of acrobatics. She stood in awe for a moment. Donovan gave her a grin and she just kept walking like nothing happened.
He looked up and down the street, there was no other observers satisfied he called a cab. As the yellow car was passing he waved it down.
"Where to?"
Donovan stepped in the car, "Avram's Club on 42nd"
The Pakistani driver just nodded he barley spoke English.
The ride was short, and when he reached Avram's he looked at the meter, handed the driver a twenty and stepped out. Donovan had planned to stop at the club to feed, but there was something on the air. It was a sent of something new, something that aroused the warrior within himself.
The thought clawed at his head and senses, "I can feel him, but were is he?"
Donovan scrutinized the street and buildings around him. He could tell he was close but were, he had no idea. He decided not to enter Avram's; instead he headed down the street several blocks to the sub-way entrance. Off and on he could feel it, there was a predator moving through the shadows. Donovan kept walking, only one block from the sub-way he decided it best not to stop.
From the building above him leapt a figure. It fell noiselessly through the air out of his sight and behind him. The figure's sword was drawn and sliced silently through the air as it plunged toward his heart. With blinding speed Donovan drew his 5 foot clayemore and met the figure's blade in mid-air. There was the familiar sound of metal on metal as the figure landed beside him. It quickly did a cartwheel backwards and landed in a solid stance with one foot planted behind the other.
Donovan observed that his attacker was a tall black man, wearing dark sunglasses and a leather long coat. As the attacker put his sword forward and his off-hand back as if expecting a counter attack; his coat parted ever so slightly, allowing Donovan to catch a brief but substantial glimpse of the arsenal beneath.
His attacker was adorned with 6- point adjustable body armor, a modified CAR-15 assault rifle with an ultra-violet entry light, two Casull .454 revolvers, a "Demon" automatic crossbow, a bandoleer of mahogany stakes, an Indian style katar punching dagger, and of course his sword made with four acid-etched feet of blood-soaked Damascus steel. So sharp it could cleave a shadow in two.
Donovan took two steps back and planted his feet similarly with his sword back. He grasped the sword's hilt with both hands expecting his foe to make a follow-up attack. Both glared at each other from behind shades, expecting the other to make the second move.
Donovan grinned, "Daywalker, I have seen your coming."
Blade returned the grin, "With pride and you are?"
"Donovan Fletcher, but you can call me a warrior that asks for nothing but honor."
"There is no honor among twisted creatures like vampires."
Donovan regarded the vampire hunter with disappointment. "So narrow." He sheathed his sword and shouted, "Catch me if you can Daywalker." Donovan turned and sprinted toward the entrance to the sub-way station. Blade sheathed his sword as well and followed suite.
Donovan who was a good twenty-five feet ahead of his pursuer, dashed down the stairs and into the empty station. The lights were dim but neither Blade nor Donovan could be affected. As the bright florescent lights flickered overhead, Blade paused and scanned the sub-way station.
The subway plaza had green and white tile lining the walls, with four, five to six feet thick pillars of cement holding up the ceiling. The pillars have half-cracks and indentations running through them, while the flooring and ceiling were composed primarily of worn and cracked layers of cement. It looked and felt devoid of human life, which to Blade served as a blessing.
In the distance, towards the second stairwell, a shadow moved. Moving so fast that he seemed to blur, Blade shrugged off his coat, and with a brutal jerk, broke the strap on his CAR-15, raised it and opened fire. The bullets were made of a dense silver nitrate grain, and were fired at a rate of fourteen hundred feet per second. To say the least, they caused damage; one of the pillars was soon reduced to nothing more than a pile of stone and masonry. The subway plaza became covered in a thick layer of heavy stone dust; unaffected, Blade continued to riddle the area with bullets. With a sharp click, Blade emptied his CAR-15, and in that instant Donovan struck.
Emerging from behind the second closest of the three remaining pillars, Donovan sprinted and leaped towards Blade, his HK's up and firing. As Blade moved to avoid Donovan's merciless barrage, grunting as those slugs he couldn't dodge slammed and indented into his body armor. Blade had to give the vampire credit, for without a doubt Donovan performed the most dazzling and complicated pirouettes Blade had ever seen. Donovan spun around in mid-leap as his H&K's flashed with their molten muzzle flash.
As he spiraled towards the ground, Donovan landed in a low kneel, and smirked slightly as he heard the chambers of his guns click empty. Sensing movement, Donovan quickly holstered his side arms, and rolled aside as Blade's boot crashed into the cement flooring where his head had been mere moments before. The stomp was so strong; that the kinetic force of Blade's kick caused the floor to crack and an indentation to form beneath his heel.
In a flash, Blade spun and swung his left leg around in a reverse back-kick. Donovan rose with an upward block halting and deflecting Blade's attack, and with unparalleled speed counter-attacked with a knee stamp kick towards Blade's fragile joint. Blade cartwheeled aside, and in the blink of an eye Donovan was upon him, hand springing off the floor, and double-kicking him in the mid-section
Blade rolled with the blow, and as he rose back to his feet, Blade spun, dodging a roundhouse heel kick, before thrusting an elbow into Donovan's throat. Donovan leaned back; Blade's strike missed him by mere millimeters, and trapped Blade's forearm, pivoting, and planting a sidekick into Blade's ribcage.
Blade grunted with the kick, and twisted aside, throwing a roundhouse punch to Donovan's head. Donovan dodged the punch, and used it to pull Blade in close getting him in a back-choke, Blade twisted out of the chokehold, throwing Donovan over his shoulder. Donovan performed a forward handspring as he was thrown forward, and as he rebounded from the handspring, he immediately back-flipped in a way that seemingly defied gravity, coming down behind Blade with a sidekick. Blade ducked beneath Donovan's kick and trapped his ankle, giving it a savage twist. Now in a position such as this, there are two possibilities, one is that Donovan can choose to fall with the twist, or he can have his ankle broken.
Donovan fell with the twist, and as he rolled forward unsheathed his sword in mid-roll, and came up in a guarded defensive stance, his left foot planted back balancing his movements. Donovan held his sword with the blade pointing backwards, hilt mockingly aimed towards his opponent, and against his waist. Donovan's shades fell off, as he was halfway through the roll, his crystal blue eyes gleamed with anticipation as he smirked at the powerful hunter in challenge.
Blade returned Donovan's smirk, as he reached behind his back with his hands, and unsheathed his trademarked sword Dartanian, spinning it deftly between his fingers before holding it point-forward blade up above his right shoulder blade, shifting his feet in a proper stance for his calculated movements.
With a snarl, Blade launched himself towards his arrogantly smirking opponents, and rushed forward his blade level. Two feet from Donovan, Blade pivoted spinning and swinging bringing the sword whistling down at Donovan's neck. Donovan's smirk widened as he spun his blade up and over, dropping the point, parrying Blade's strike. The two fine-toned swords clashed deafeningly in the silence of the subway station, for a moment the two warriors stood facing each other over crossed sword blades.
"You're an admirable opponent Daywalker, and truly your skill is commendable. To honor you I shall give you a quick and painless death. Consider it fitting from a twisted creature such as myself." Donovan said emotionlessly as he gave a tremendous shove of strength that sent Blade skidding back in surprise.
Donovan rushed forward with a quick cut to Blade's head. Blade blocked and Donovan chopped again this time faster, aimed at Blade's side. Blade's pivoted and blocked, Donovan realigned himself and swung his blade in a large half-circle, Blade blocked and riposted, angling a stab at Donovan's heart. Donovan parried the stab and stepped back swinging his sword around as he adopted his new stance, with the blade held over his head, point angled down.
Blade stepped in, swung a feint at Donovan's neck, twisted his wrist, and pivoted his sword for a second feint at the same side, then a third, and finally ended the combination with a jab to Donovan's midsection. Donovan stepped back and cross-blocked Blade's final feint. Blade V-stepped and swung his blade in a flat arc, catching Donovan along the hilt of his sword, sending it spiraling through the air and landing several meters from the warriors.
With a burst of speed, Donovan slapped Blade's sword aside and with a brutal kicking back flip, knocked the surprised and pained hunter to the ground, as Donovan made a dash for his downed sword. With a snarl, Blade sprang to his feet and sprinted after Donovan. Spotting the nearby pillar, Blade altered his course, and ran up the pillar; using it as a springboard, Blade performed a complicated and powerful back-flip through the air, coming down in a solid stance with both feet planted just as Donovan reached his sword and whipped it up. Donovan's sword is against Blade's intestines just as Blade's is pressed against his throat, it's a stalemate.
"I suppose Daywalker that we are going to die together." Donovan said with a smirk and a hollowed expression about his eyes.
"Evidently." Blade replied as he tightened his grip on the hilt, and glared at the creature he had oddly enough grown to respect.
"I don't know who or what made you what you are, but you think you have the power to decide what lives and dies, I however can care less, so come on stab me, and we'll die together, in any case it'll be the last act of your life." Donovan spoke his voice rising slightly as he grew angry. He was nonetheless surprised to hear Blade say "You first."
"Do you want to die Daywalker?"
"Do you?"
Donovan sighed. "No but I do not see a way out of this scenario." Blade nodded.
"Indeed trust can be difficult amongst enemies. However, perhaps . . . just perhaps there can be some sort of honor amongst a creature such as yourself?" Blade asked and he stepped back and swung his sword around behind his back, and sheathed it. Donovan raised an eyebrow, as he too took a step back and swung his sword around behind his back, before sheathing it. Cautiously he stepped towards Blade arms up, palms open.
"So where does this leave us?" Donovan asked as he crossed his arms smugly across his chest. Blade smiled.
"At an understanding, for now. Just remember this Donovan, the next time we meet only one of us will walk away. Understand?" Blade asked his glasses glinting briefly with the pale subway light, giving him a menacing appearance. Donovan nodded briefly.
"Indeed, until we meet again Daywalker. Farewell." Donovan back flipped and sprang towards the distant stairwell, his coat billowing out behind him, and his footfalls oddly silent. Blade smiled as he watched Donovan leap the stairwell, and turned staring thoughtfully at the full moon rising high above the slumbering city.
"Farewell . . ." With that Blade gathered up his coat and vanished into the night, continuing his never-ending hunt for the less than honorable creatures of the night.
The End