CHAPTER SIX: Facing The Aftermath

The small group made their way to the subway, hoping to get lucky. On orders from Alex, they had all brought extra ammo and several guns a piece, along with a couple of minis and grenades. They weren't taking any chances. By the time they got there, they found the terminal completely empty. There was not a single living soul, employee or otherwise, to be found. The trains weren't running, but there didn't appear to be any reason for the shutdown. There was just...nothing. Apprehensive, Alex instructed the team to draw weapons and be on alert.

She was worried. Her gut instinct was screaming they leave now; but she couldn't. She felt compelled to find out more. She walked over to the rails, jumped down and headed into the dark abyss ahead that seemed to be beckoning her. Realizing she was onto something, her team followed behind her, watching each other's backs.

They hadn't made it too far down the line, before the smell of blood and raw meat hit them. This was why the subway had been deserted. Something big had gone down and the citizens of Hungary had vacated the area and not returned. Somehow, she couldn't blame them. Following the stench, she found an opening that would hopefully lead them underground. Alex cautiously walked over and peered over the edge. She couldn't see much, but the smell was atrocious. Figuring this was as good a place as any, she motioned for her team to come over.

"Okay, I'm going down", she informed them. "Daniel, I want you to stay topside and watch for any signs of trouble. Malcolm, once I hit the bottom, I'll scan for possible threats. If all looks good, I'll motion you down next, with Jorge and Sterling to follow", she said giving out instructions. "I'm not sure what to expect, but it's obvious something big happened here and we need to know what it was. Any questions", she asked. The team shook their heads, and then watched their leader holster her gun, and begin descending into the dark hole.

The ladder was slick with what she assumed was blood; so the descent was slow. Finally reaching the bottom, she stepped off the last rung, pulling her weapons out of their holsters. She scanned the room, looking for any potential dangers. Not finding anything, she signaled Malcolm to follow.

The carnage that confronted her eyes was horrifying. It took everything she had not to loose the granola bar she had consumed on the way over. She found no sign of anyone or anything alive and breathing. What she did find was numerous body parts, blown apart and covering every inch of the room. By now, the guys had made it down the ladder and Jorge was over in the corner retching. Waiting for him to finish up, Sterling watched his back as they continued to keep an eye out for trouble. Jorge stood up and tried to apologize, but Alex shook her head and motioned for silence. Taking the lead again, she made her way out the door and further into the underground tunnels.

Room after room showed them the damage was substantial. They came across corpses of human forms and lycan forms, and forms somewhere in between. Some had tried to make the change, but the damage had been substantial, and most couldn't make a complete transformation. They also came across half eaten bodies and the burned out shells of vampires. Shell casings littered every room.

They were making their way through, what they assumed to be, the subterranean lair of the lycans. Room through room, they searched and found nothing but the dead. Sightless eyes watched their progress and mouths, opened in fear and pain, seemed to cry out for help. This had been a massacre. The majority of the bodies appeared to be lycans, but a good number of vampires met their demise here as well.

They had made their way into a chamber, filled with a pool of water. Alex and her team entered cautiously. The large room had several doorways and a second floor; which if left unchecked, could make them easy targets. She motioned for Jorge and to make his way around the pool and for Malcolm and Sterling to take the upper level. There was a body floating face down in the pool and she wanted a closer look at it.

Alex slowly waded through the water, trying to move as quietly as possible. She never took her eyes off the body lying in front of her. From the back, it looked to be completely intact, so she didn't want to take any chances it might still be alive. When she had made her way to the body, she quickly realized, it wasn't as intact as she had originally thought; its face had been sliced in two. Well, she no longer had to worry about it jumping up and eating her for dinner. She prodded it with her foot first, and when there was no response, she bent down and flipped the body over.

She wasn't sure, but the corpse might be one of the Vampire Elders. Possibly Viktor, but with half of his face missing, identification was a bit tough. Sterling and Malcolm had come back down and Jorge had finished his sweep of the lower levels, nothing else was found. Leaving the vampire floating face up, Alex joined her team and moved on.

The next room they swept had been a lab of some kind. Beakers and Bunsen burners covered the surface of the cabinet. They also found a chain and cuffs suspended from the ceiling over a drain, and a table that could be positioned both horizontally and vertically. Finding no one there, they cautiously made their way futher into the labyrinth of tunnels.

In the adjacent room, they hit paydirt. Here they found another body, and this one was completely whole. They quickly surveyed the room, making sure there were no other potential hazards. When all was clear, Alex motioned for her team to continue on with the sweep. She wanted to stay here and see if she could find out anything about the man lying on the floor. Malcolm walked over after Sterling and Jorge went on ahead.

"Are you sure you want to stay here alone", he asked Alex quietly. She nodded, "I'm good, Malcolm. Go on ahead and make sure the rest of the area is secure. If there are any survivors, I want them found and questioned. I'll see if I can find anything on our friend here; and, then meet back up with you guys." "Okay boss lady, whatever you say", he said and left to catch up with the other two men.

She looked the lycan over and knew there was no way possible this creature could still be alive. The ravages of the liquid silver were apparent, as it had snaked its way through his veins. It had left a visible path of destruction across his handsome visage. The numerous bullet holes covering his upper torso confirmed her theory. He must have been powerful; it had taken a lot of silver shot to bring him down.

Squatting down beside him, she felt the urge to touch the creature they had discovered. Reaching out, she brushed a strand of long wavy dark brown hair away from his face. For some inexplicable reason, she was drawn to him; and for a moment, she wished he would open his eyes and she could see what color they were. Shaking off the strange feeling, she leaned in to closer look him over.

His skin was pale and it looked as though he had suffered greatly before he died. Looking him over from head to toe, he didn't appear to be very tall. He may have been somewhere around 5'8" to 5'10", and he was slight of build. Again, she felt compelled to touch him. Fighting the urge, she peered closely, trying to determine exactly how many shots of silver it had taken to do him in.

She could count four shots, but she wasn't sure if that was the extent of the damage. She quickly convinced herself that it was important to ascertain the exact number of wounds. But if she were to be honest with herself, it was her unnatural curiosity about this lycan that provoked her to undo the buttons on his shirt. Once done, she sat back on her heels and squelched her impatience at wanting to view his naked chest. Taking a deep breath she reached out and slowly pulled aside the damaged cloth.

The pale expanse of his exposed skin had her completely fascinated. She lightly brushed her fingers through the soft, curling hair sprinkling his chest. She looked her fill, and became unexpectedly angry when she caught sight of the numerous holes riddling his torso; leaving trails of leaking silver nitrate. She couldn't explain her suddenly uncontrollable emotions. She just knew it hurt her to see the pain this man must have suffered.

Wait a minute, when did she stop thinking of him as a monster? Well, whatever she was feeling, her fingers felt on fire as the burned a trail down his chest, to explore his muscled abdomen and lean, flat stomach. She jerked her hand away when she brushed up against the waistband of his pants, brining her back to reality.

If any of her team had walked in and found her feeling up the dead lycan, she would be reported and put on long term leave. She was here to do a job, not become obsessed with a now deceased shapeshifter. She wanted to see if he had taken any shots in his arms or shoulders.

She pushed the sleeves off his shoulders and probed the one bullet wound she found along his right bicep; but she quickly found herself far more interested in the lean arms roped with muscle.

He didn't have the obvious mass Sterling or even Malcolm had; but, she could tell that he had had strength. She found herself wondering what kind of man he had been, when he was alive. She broke her gaze and turned her head to the side, suddenly unable to catch her breath.

She needed to find that level of detachment she was so famous for. Where were her unemotional motives when she needed them? Taking a deep breath, she calmed her overactive imagination and went back to looking for some kind of identification.

She knew he wasn't Michael Corvin, his face and body didn't match the picture they had been given of Michael. But, it would be nice to put a name with a face. This way they could report it to the Council and they could document the lycan as deceased.

With a heavy heart, she searched through his jacket and the front pockets of his pants, but found nothing. Hoping to have better luck with his back pockets, she grabbed him by the shoulders and attempted to turn him over. Unexpectedly, she felt the arms under her hands, tense. Suddenly afraid, she looked down at his face and into the saddest eyes she had ever seen.

"Please, allow me to apologize", he informed her in a melodically accented voice. Alex was still paralyzed with shock when his eyes turned black and she watched his canines lengthen. Knowing what was about to happen, and unable to prevent it; she watched his face as he reversed their positions and grabbed her by the shoulders. Then he slowly lowered his mouth to her exposed neck and to her surprise, brushed a kiss along her pulse before he sank his teeth deep into her throat.