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Episode 4: Umah, Missing in Action!

-Kain-

Mandy and I had finally arrived at the lower city. It was great to have finally found some moderate civilization. This part of the city didn't look to busy. It consisted of some crappy shops and some small, average looking homes. It wasn't exactly Willendorf, but it was heaven compared to the first two places.

"Great, we've finally made it, now all we have to do is wait for Umah."

"Who's that? Your girlfriend?", Mandy teased.

"She's not my girlfriend! And for your information she's the one who'll be leading us to sanctuary."

"Well where is she?"

"She's supposed to meet us here."

"Well I don't see her."

"Relax she'll be here."

Why wouldn't she? Last time I spoke with her she said she got away from those guards. But then again-

"Why don't you try whispering her?"

"Alright."

I whispered her name several times, but there was no response. She's probably sleeping or something.

"She won't answer."

"Maybe she's dead."

"What? No way. She was just fine the last time I spoke with her."

"And when was that?"

"About two days ago."

"Two days ago! Kain, in this city all it takes is two days to get stabbed, clubbed, strangled, decapitated-"

"Alright! Enough! Do you have to be so damn negative? Now, if we can just get to sanctuary I'm sure they can help us find her."

"And how do you propose we get to sanctuary, being that Umah's the only one who knows where it is?"

"Well, how hard could it be to find? I'm sure if we look hard enough we'll find it."

"I have a better idea. We could ask someone at the Red Raven pub. Vampires of all sorts go there so we're sure to find someone that knows where it is. Come on, it's right down this street."

Mandy led me down the cobblestone street to a small bar. I looked through the window. It appeared to be a human bar, judging by everyone in the entire building was human.

"Mandy, isn't this a human bar?"

"Wrong entrance."

Mandy took me behind the bar to what looked to be the entrance to their basement. She knocked at the door and a shady looking man answered, cracking open the door just enough to stick his head out.

"What's the password?", he whispered.

"Password."

"Come in.", he said as he opened the door and invited us both inside.

"The password was password?"

"Don't ask."

I stepped inside the bar. It was dimly lit and teeming with vampires and even some vampire worshiping humans. They were all drinking and chatting amongst themselves with several skimpy clothed waitresses walking around taking orders. It was your typical sleazy bar, but at the same time it was a safe haven.

"We'll have two noggin cocktails.", said Mandy, to the bartender

"Coming right up."

"Noggin cocktails?"

Before Mandy could even answer, the bartender handed her two severed heads with straws and tiny umbrellas sticking out of them.

"Wow."

"It's a noggin cocktail, try it."

I took a sip. It was human blood with a hint of rum in it, very delicious.

"Mmm, good."

"Now let's get down to business. We got to find out how to get to the sanctuary. I'll ask around at the bar, you ask around at the tables."

And without another word Mandy started questioning people sitting at the bar. I walked over to the tables to start asking questions when I overheard a few vampires having an interesting conversation.

"She was killed yesterday. And by another vampire, too. God, it makes me sick.", Said a male vampire to his two friends sitting at the table with him.

"I'm sorry to hear about your brother's wife.", said one of his friends in a soft, sorrowful tone.

"I can't take it anymore, Durnen! Everyday more and more vampires join the Sarafan. It's sick! They don't even care that they're killing their own race!", said the man, with slight anguish in his voice.

"I know, and it gets even worse. Have you heard some of the rumors that are floating around about the Sarafan?", asked the man's other friend sitting at the table

"Rumors? What rumors?"

"I'll tell you, but promise not to tell anyone. People scare so easily nowadays and you don't want to cause a panic."

"You have our word, now tell us."

"I heard from a reliable source that the Sarafan Lord has secret mercenaries working for him."

"That's it? That's your big news? I don't see what's so terrifying about that."

"That's not all. I hear they're all cruel, sadistic brutes, bordering on insane. They're all exceptional fighters, and if they're ever sent to kill you, you better just kiss your ass goodbye cause' you don't stand a chance. And that's not even the worst of it. I hear they're lead by a vampiress a thousandfold more powerful than anyone who's ever lived. They say she's the devil incarnate, more powerful than even the Sarafan Lord himself! They also say she has the power to control the minds of vampires! She'll be the death of us all!"

The two other men at the table looked at each other, and then burst out laughing.

"Saruta, you have got to be the most gullible person I've ever met! Everyone knows that anyone who's ever studied mind control has never succeeded. Even the most renowned practitioners of it have only succeeded in manipulating lab rats. What did you say your 'reliable source' was again? The loonies on the streets?", Said Durnen, through fits of laughter.

"But it's true!"

"Honestly, Saruta, the Sarafan Lord has us all scared and things are pretty bad right now, but I assure you, no crazy devil woman with mind control powers is going to bring about the apocalypse. You can't go spreading around stories like that, people with think you've gone mad."

"Kain!"

"Ah!"

I jumped as Mandy suddenly startled me.

"I've got info! Ok, the sanctuary is in the basement of Blue Lady Curiosity shop. All we need to do is get to the outdoor mall beyond the workers' area. This is too easy! Come on, let's get going."

I followed Mandy out of the bar and back onto the streets. I reflected for a moment on what those guys back there were saying. A devil woman with mind control powers? Ridiculous. What a wack job. But, I suppose dark times like these tend to wear and tear your sanity a bit.

"What the hell!", exclaimed Mandy

Mandy was looking down at the ground. When I looked down I noticed there was a trail of blood leading up the street.

"Who do you think did this?", I asked

"I don't know, but I say we follow it."

"Alright."

We followed the trail up the street. Scattered along the trail were various discarded body parts such as arms, legs, feet, and other things. The trail led us through an alley and into a small courtyard, where we found it's source-who happened to be feeding on screaming human.

"Well, howdy! And who might y'all be?", asked a young, thin vampiress with a heavy southern accent.

She had red eyes, shoulder length brown hair in tight round curls, and was wearing a sleeveless small white button up shirt that slightly exposed her midriff with a sleeveless brown suede vest over it. She also had on high cowboy boots and a red miniskirt which appeared to have a gun holster slung around it. All it took was one glance and I could already tell-this bitch is going to cause trouble.

"You're a sloppy butcher, girl. You left a trail blood leading right to you.", I stated frankly.

"Oh, so I did. Why? You scared the Sarafan gonna come a runnin'? Well, don't you worry 'bout that. They know 'round this time's my lunch hour.", she said with an intimidating chuckle.

"Who are you?", asked Mandy, who shot her a sizing up look

"The name's Suzana. And you better damn well remember it."

"Or what?", Mandy taunted

All of a sudden Suzana broke her gaze off Mandy and started staring at me. She raised an eyebrow, then took a piece of paper out of her vest. She stared at the paper and back at me several times, then a look of realization spread across her face.

"Well I'll be a hound dog shittin' peach pits, you're Kain!"

She walked up to me and got right in my face.

"Well, Kain, it's been lovely chattin' with ya, but I'm afraid I gotta kill ya."

"First of all, the Howdy Doody getup really takes away from the whole intimidation thing, and secondly, if anyone's dying tonight it'll be you!", threatened Mandy

"Oh, we'll just see 'bout that."

"Kain! Look out!"

Before I had time to react Mandy had pushed me to the ground as I heard a loud BOOM! While Suzana was staring me down she had drawn her revolver and a bullet had missed me by about a half inch. She still had her revolver aimed at me. It was useless to try and attack her until her gun was empty, so I had no choice but to dodge. One by one, she fired the bullets from her gun, each one missing me by a hair. The final bullet would've struck me, but luckily, Mandy had parried it with her sword, causing Suzana to react with shock.

"What in sam hill! How did you– godammit, it wasn't supposed to happen this way. Her Ladyship didn't say nothin' 'bout shit like this happening.", Mumbled Suzana

Lady? Last time I checked it was the Sarafan Lord. Weird.

"Well, don't y'all git to comfortable now, cause' I'm gonna git you."

And with that, she ran down the street, activating a ward gate behind her to ensure we wouldn't follow.

"What the hell was with that girl, she's like no Sarafan that I've seen."

"She must be high in rank. Just from the way she acts I can tell she gets special treatment.", Mandy stated knowingly.

'I heard the Sarafan Lord has secret mercenaries working for him.' No, that can't be true. That guy was full of shit.

"Well, whoever she is, we'd best keep on the look out for her. Because the next time I see her, she dies. But let's focus on the present issue. How do we get past the ward gate?"

Mandy shot me a surprised look, then sighed.

"Alright, you've been in a coma for two hundred years so I'll skip the snappy insult, but getting past a ward gate is one of the simplest things known to man."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, there's a way around every ward gate ever made. There has to be, it's the only way the Sarafan can have vampire's working for them."

"I see."

"And, if I'm not mistaken, the way around this ward gate is to go through that sewer."

Mandy pointed toward a sewer, a few feet from where we were standing.

"Wait a minute! I know I'm not up-to-date on the latest technology, but I do know there's no way in hell a vampire can traverse a sewer and keep their skin!"

"As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, there needs to be an alternate route for every path that's blocked by a ward gate so the Sarafan can keep the vampire's working for them. Therefore, there has to be a way through this sewer which would allow safe passage for a vampire."

"I guess, but you'd better be right."

And so, Mandy began prying the lid off the sewer until it came off, allowing us passage inside. What she was saying made sense, but I still had my doubts. But then again, did I really have a choice? Defeated, I climbed down the ladder leading to the sewer. When I reached the bottom, I practically expected to feel the stinging acidity of water at my feet, but to my surprise, I landed on dry ground.

"See, told you."

"Yeah, just one problem. The whole rest of the damn place is flooded.!"

"Always looking at the negative side, there's a way to get past this. All we have to do is figure out how."

Mandy looked around the room for several seconds and then spoke.

"I think I got it. Kain, pull that lever.", Mandy said, pointing to a lever on the wall.

"We don't even know what that does-"

"Just do it!"

Reluctantly, I pulled the lever, which caused all the water to drain.

"See, this is too easy."

"Just one problem, how do we get to the other side now? It's too far to jump and there's a twenty foot drop."

"Hmm, let me think."

Once again, Mandy stared about the room for a few seconds before her eyes rested on a small box by the far wall.

"I got it!"

Mandy grabbed the box and threw it down the chasm below. She then pulled the lever causing the water level to rise.

"Oh, I see! We jump from the box to the other side, perfect.

Mandy jumped from the platform, to the box, and then to the other platform without incident, as did I.

"Great, now all we have to do is climb out of here."

We walked down the dark, damp path looking for an exit when I suddenly heard behind us a familiar chuckle followed by an annoying southern accent.

"Well, howdy again to y'all. That sure was a fancy trick you pulled with that there box. To bad y'all ain't gonna be makin' it out of this sewer alive." Suzana taunted with laughter.

Before I could even say anything Suzana turned a valve of some sort, causing water to rise and fill the entire sewer system. I ran like my pants were on fire, which they would be if I slowed down at any point. The water was flowing so fast it was at the heels of my shoes no matter how fast I ran. When Mandy and I finally found a ladder, we hauled ass as fast as we could until we were on dry land again. Had we lagged for even a second, we wouldn't have made it. Both myself and Mandy were panting hard as hell when we stopped for a rest.

"What the hell is that goddamn hick's problem?", Mandy said between pants.

"I don't know, but it doesn't look like she'll be leaving us alone anytime soon."

"We'll get her next time we see her."

And with that, we continued on to find sanctuary. If the directions Mandy was given were right, we were almost there. We walked silently for several minutes before, much to my frustration, we heard that goddamn laughter again.

"For the sake of god! Will you leave us the hell alone!", Mandy snapped

But, we didn't see her, all we saw was the green glow of power running down a glyph line activating two ward gates on either side of the narrow passageway we were standing in. Then, they began to close in on us.

"Shit! What do we do!"

Mandy was already on it. She was hacking away at the glyph line with her sword until finally, it broke deactivating both ward gates.

"Idiot, can't even set a decent trap. You hear that hick! You're a goddamn moron! I swear, nothing pisses me off more that stupid people.", Mandy vented.

"We'd better keep moving, we're almost there."

"Right."

And so, once again, we continues walking towards sanctuary. The Blue Lady curiosity shop was almost in our vision when Mandy suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"What is it?"

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Listen."

I listened, trying to hear what Mandy was talking about. When I listened closely enough, I could hear faint voices. It almost sounded like they were whispering Kain, Kain, Kain over and over again.

"What is that?"

"I don't know, but I think it's coming from those boxes."

"How could it be coming from boxes?"

"I don't know, let's check it out."

I walked over to the supposedly "talking" boxes. The whispers grew louder and clearer as I stepped closer and I could definitely recognize my name among them.

"What the hell?"

I leaned over the boxes and-

"AAHHHH!"

Something was burning my eyes. Water-it was the familiar acidic touch of water. I couldn't see, but I could hear what was going on.

"What the hell is your problem! We're doing important work and we sure as hell don't have time to be taking crap from goddamn hillbillies!"Mandy shouted

"I'll git you later.", I heard the familiar voice of Suzana say

"Get back here! I'm not finished with you! Don't you even touch that ward gate switch-damn."

"What just happened."

"Suzana sprayed water in your eyes and tried to stab you."

"That's good to know.", I said with sarcasm

"Come on, let's meet this leader guy you were talking about."

And without another word we both walked up to the Blue Lady Curiosity shop and stepped inside. It was pretty rundown but that didn't matter. It was a place where we could be safe, and that's good enough for me. With great anticipation I walked down the staircase leading to the basement. I brushed myself off, fixed my tie a bit, walked into the light and then oh my god-

"Vorador! You're the leader of the Cabal!"

"Who were you expecting? Dick Clark?", Responded Vorador.

"Who but the father of vampires himself would lead the resistance?"

"I don't need your crap Kain! I'm your ally only by necessity! However, you're welcome to stay here at sanctuary."

Just then Mandy walked down and stepped into the light, and all eyes were on her. Everyone in the room gasped in shock, and I could make out various whispers. Mandy just stood there for a few seconds before finally speaking.

"Yeah, it's me."

"You're Mandy!", cried Vorador in shock

"Yeah, and you must be the jolly green giant."

"You do know, that the Sarafan security is so tight all due to your antics."

"Whoopdy friggin doo! Not my fault your resistance sucks!"

"You little-"

"Vorador! Mandy! This can wait until later. Right now I need to know something, where is Umah?"

"Umah? I thought she was with you."

Preview of Next Epsisode

Umah's been kidnapped and it's up to Kain and Mandy to rescue her! It's not going to be easy, especially when one of Kain's ex-soldiers is determined to kill Kain and Mandy both! But wait a minute! Why does he want Mandy dead? Find out in...

Episode 5: Mind Games