Vampires were fairly easy to follow. They think they are everything and only hide from the mortals. They don't really worry too much about others that may be watching. Only the death dealers do that, because that's what the death dealers do.
Jake found that following vampires was like hunting that stag in the woods, he and Laura said nothing, and eye contact was all they needed as they silently flanked vampires in the crowds of the early evening street. The sun had gone down, but the nightlife still moved with vigour.
They had already taken out several. Silently getting closer then was manoeuvring the naïve target into a silent area where they easily disposed of them. Laura's idea of hiding the bodies was to mask them from the public, but let it be known by the vampires who had done it.
She was smooth, calm, and swift in her ways. As if years of practice had granted her elegance about it. Her methods were somewhat cheap, and dirty. She was quick and lethal. They did their tasks and were gone in a manner of minutes. Even as a mercenary, Jake felt clumsy and awkward working next to her. Instead of feeling jealous he felt like he could learn from her.
To him the vampires where a nuisance. They had used him unknowingly in a war that he had no part. This angered him, but it was nothing compared to the deep rage he could see in his sire's eyes.
She had remembered nothing other than that one memory that had come to her in the woods. Her turning into this war had been the results of some sort of scuffle between a lycan and a vampire. She had been bitten in the process of the fight. Little else was clear to her. He didn't tell her that these things crept into his mind as he slept. Memories that didn't plague her did him. Though limited he clearly remembers the voice she hears. "Who is your enemy?" the demanding words followed by pain. And "she's all yours, the deal is complete." Little else made any sense to him. She had been betrayed, but by whom?
They walked closer down the street, she was just in front, and he just behind a mindless vampire. Some sort of banker on an errand. He wondered if this one carried anything of importance. As they walked through Taylor's town, the downtown section of Harborview, the two lycans walked closer, each getting closer to the vampire.
As the impatient man went to push Laura out of his way she smoothly caught his arm. Spinning him into the nearest alley before he could gather what was happening. She silenced his cry of alarm by pressing her mouth to his. The only way a real small woman could. Jake knew the instant she was that close the poor sop knew what she really was. A Black Widow, he thought, giving her trademark kiss. He followed easily, covering the only exit. His silenced 9mm in his hand as he pressed against the fellow's ribcage in an upward angle and fired.
The vampire stiffened. His cry of pain still muffled by Laura. Her own silenced 9mm was in her hand. Her hand between there two bodies. She tore her mouth away to look up at him with an evil smile, shooting directly into his heart. A satisfied look crossed her face as he slumped against the wall.
Jake easily grabbed the bugger's arm and pulled him deeper into the alley. Removing shoes and expensive wear, which this guy had a lot of, they made him look more like a bum than a banker. Pulling out a blade, slightly longer and thinner than most knives, she slit his throat. With her lycan strength, and the sharpness of the blade, she nearly severed his head. She left just enough there that it didn't appear to be beheaded. The death dealers would know who had done this.
As they stepped away, the blood that had splattered on her black shirt was easily concealed beneath her black semi-trench coat. She stopped only once to spit on the corpse before they left the alley hand in hand, like two lovers just coming-out of there hiding place.
Jake knew instantly that they were being followed. As easily as they had entrapped that naïve vampire, they were being stalked. He couldn't tell if Laura knew or not, she gave no indication. Instead she gleefully pointed out a little restaurant, right in the middle of the way. The outdoor tables were crowded, and busy.
He wanted to say something, to warn her, but she didn't give him a chance as she pulled him inside. Why inside, he grumbled to himself and then it suddenly hit him. The confined area would force their followers to change tactics. They would be about to easier identify them and take them out. At least a better chance than they would out on the open street.
Like a young woman in love, she quietly asked the waitress for a table in the back. With a wink and a shy blush she smiled at the innocent mortal. Jake looked down slightly surprised, she can blush on command? The waitress smiled and led them to a small table in the back of the restaurant. The little corner booth was just what they needed. Cuddling together they could easily see the entrance and the back exit, and watch everyone who came in. She's good, was all he could think to himself.
Sure enough not long after they entered two men came in. They were fairly big, obviously well trained. Their black trench coats covered the heavy leather suits they wore. But those boots made combats look comfortable. The first one looked about the restaurant as the second talked to the waitress. His cold eyes fell upon the table quickly, glancing over Jake and looking directly at Laura. Upon a quick side-glance he noted she stared back, unafraid.
He looked back to see one Vampire being lead to the bar while the other left. "They'll be in radio contact," she said softly, "the other is either going around back or getting back up. Back up is probably already on the way." As soon as her words were out she rose and slipped between the tables. She headed for the bathroom in the back of the restaurant. The death dealer was quick to rise and move for the same area.
Not wanting his sire left alone to deal with this challenge, he waited for the man to disappear from view and rose to follow. The small hallway had three doors. One that read staff, one for the ladies and one for the men. He stopped at the back of the hallway and listened. For a long moment he heard nothing, fear for his sire crept into his heart as he waited. Then it came, a small crunch. Someone had stepped on a wrapper or something similar. With one look back down the hall to see if anyone was looking he slipped into the ladies washroom.
The death dealer had his rather large looking, automatic handgun out. Jake couldn't readily identify it, which was odd cause he was up on all the latest models. There was no signs of Laura, either she wasn't there or hiding in a stall. Silently as the man turned to see Jake, he closed the door and locked it behind him. No one was coming or going at this point.
A cruel smile crept across the vampires face. The short black hair and black eyes both had a gleam of evil bout them. There was no glow of color or health about this pale creature's skin. With a sure hand he raised the gun level with Jake's chest. Silver bullets most likely, he thought. This guy wasn't going to discriminate, just like Laura didn't.
Just as Jake was sure that bullet was meant for him a deep growl resounded about the room. From top of the frame of the stalls the silver form of Laura launched herself into the vampire. The death dealer had barely a second to turn before she was upon him. The bullet from his gun hit the ceiling as his death cries were cut off. A death dealer is a good tactician, Jake thought, but why get so close to a monster like that? It was just asking for death to come for you. He didn't look away as his sire killed and maimed what was left of the Death dealer. The poor sop probably thought to corner her.
Laura stood easily and looked down at the mess with a frown. "We better get out of here." She gathered her things as Jake set about his own idea. He gathered the body and dragged it into a stall, setting the body up he took several bullets from the clip of the strange weapon, and then jammed it. It looked like the gun would have backfired and littered the guy's chest. Or at least he hoped it did. There was a pretty big mess about the place. He then broke the stall door so that the mess obviously would have not been confined to the stall.
Laura paused and looked over his shoulder. "Nice, but since it included one of their guys, they'll make sure its buried and never reaches the media." It was something he would not have thought about.
They crept out of the bathroom and back to their booth seats. Somehow he couldn't believe that the whole thing had taken less than five minutes. When the waitress came to them, Laura blushed again, and cuddled closer. The innuendo was complete. With a grin the Waitress left them with some menus.
"Now we leave." Laura said softly as she rose. The left quietly out the front. No signs of anyone about other than the usual mortals. They used the tunnels of the nearest mall, and then weaved through the alleys and streets back to the south end of town.
"Remind me of our goal in all this," he groaned as they entered the safely of their hotel room.
"Throw them into a panic. Then strike the higher ranks." She said simply. "I want them off balance when we get to them."
"You are aware the likihood of your friend Conrad being alive is slim." Jake said with a slight bitter note.
"He was most likely dead the night he didn't come home." She retorted easily. "I will avenge him, and find out what they did to me."
"What about the lycans?" He asked coldly going to the window.
"What about them?' she said back. "I don't want to deal with hem until I know what I'm dealing with."
"Like betrayal?" He retorted looking at her from the window.
She froze and turned to him, her face pale. "What do you know that I don't?"
"I'm your pup." He said with confidence, he was beginning to enjoy what he had become. There was no regret or bitterness. "I heard the same voice you remember, and another. It makes me think you were betrayed, sold out. That that's why you don't want to go back to them. You don't know who did it."
She frowned and sat. I don't remember a second voice. I don't remember anything" After a long moment of thought. "What did the second voice say?"
"She's all yours, the pact is complete." He said somewhat more softly. They tended to argue when they were alone, but it was more reassuring than coddling each other.
Her face pale she just sat and stared into space. "I don't remember that."
'Betrayal hurts." He said softly. After a long moment he rose. "I'm going to run down to the store."
Her head snapped up and regarded him with a cold look. Did she event rust him, he wondered. "What if you're spotted?"
"I figure your going to want to get a little rest and change locations first thing in the morning anyways." He said with a shrug. "IF I'm spotted, I'll allude them like I've been doing and come and get you."
With a difficult sight she nodded. Her reluctant response was to lie back on the bed.
He slipped out of the room with one look back. She wasn't going to follow him. He'd given her too much to think about. Sometimes he wondered if she could survive on her own. She seemed so defenceless at times.
Using the back entrance he made his way south. Down the alley and across the street. He stopped in an alley. Using his new strength he leapt up onto the first level of a fire escape and climbed it to the roof. He looked before making any move to appear on the roof. Not wanting to take a chance of someone being there. His luck didn't hold.
There were four beings up there that he could see. One death dealer, and four monsters. Their various collared furs blew somewhat in the wind as they circled the lone agent. He wondered how the idiot had gotten caught out alone like this. It occurred to him to look out around, past this one building. He could see other vampires on different rooftops. Some were staring, surprised at the scene, others were setting up high calibre rifles. Looking the other way he saw steam on most rooftops, and figures dancing too and fro in them. He was in the middle of a war scene.
His presence for the moment was unnoticed, as the four lycans circled the death dealer. The vampire must have known he was doomed because he fired all his shots at the nearest one. In an instant the others were onto of him, making him nothing more than a pile of gore. The largest of the four let out a howl that made his spine shiver, not long after the other three joined in. The fearsome sound said one thing, "I am victor"
The other death dealers didn't wait for another opportunity, their high calibre weapons opened fire on the four targets. With speed of a supernatural being, they backed off into the steam clouds, whimpering with each mar on their hides. Their compatriots also took their opportunities, flying from shadowy hiding spots across the rooftops to the death dealer's locations. Now Jake understood why all didn't have rifles, they were cover for things like this. But the sheer number of lycans that were flying over was sure to demolish the smaller numbers of vampires.
"Good vantage point." A clearly femine voice purred in his ear. He nearly fell off the ledge of the fire escape. She chuckled as he turned to face the volumcous woman. Her dark hair fell around her tanned face as she smiled coldly at him, her body clad in tight spandex. "Not many would dare come and not fight."
"I...I didn't know there was a fight going on." He said somewhat surprised. She was definitely lycan, but her eyes didn't seem to carry the same sense of power as Laura's did. He didn't think she was nearly the smooth graceful creature his small sire seemed to be. Yet somehow facing another Lycan, carrying his sire's painful memory was harder than he thought. He couldn't help bur feel intimidated by this creature.
She chuckled, "Not know, Its been in the works for a week now." She purred, staying close, almost too close. "Unless your not from around here."
"I'm not." He stuttered, trying to move away from her. He was practically crawling backwards to get away. She crawled forward, nearly onto of him. "I figured I'd come introduce myself to the locals...."
"Well you found us." She agreed with a devilish smile.
"Whatcha got their Rasan?" A deep male voice called down. The sound sent shockwaves through his mind. Laura, he knew Laura.... he.... was...
Instantly the female backed off looking up at male with a guilty smile. The man in full human form must have been six feet tall; well built that could easily tear Jake into two without thinking about it. He did carry that sense of power like Laura.
"I found a toy that was just hoping to find us." She purred, running an idle hand down Jake's leg. He couldn't resist the urge to slap it away. She let a small growl out at the slight.
The man chuckled and leapt down to the fire escape. Jake wasn't sure how the unsure structure held the three but it did. He was also begging to wonder if his idea was a good one.
"Lets see what the wind brought us." The man said as he gestured for Jake to rise. Jake stood, still unsure of himself in front of this powerful creature. Jake couldn't help but fear, for himself, for his sire, for his foolishness.
As he rose he looked the creature in the eye. The blue eyes that met him were so familiar it was painful. Memories from his sire seemed torn ace through his head. Screams and pain, and arms of comforting. He didn't know what to make of it all, stumbling back.
The man, Trace, did not follow. He breathed one word under his breath, "Laura!"
"I...I shouldn't have come...." Jake stumbled back, almost falling off the structure, "I got to go..." He did the one thing he had never done in his life. He ran away.
Trace didn't move. He looked as shocked as Jake felt. Jake heard his parting words easily, "let him go. She'll come home when she's ready."