Chapter 4- Discovery
Disclaimer- I don't own Underworld, any resemblance in the name of the characters is purely coincidental. (Lol)
"They are all irradiated rounds, they wont hurt me as readily as they will hurt you." He whispered. Frederick opened his mouth to protest. "Don't expose yourself, I'll deal with this." Gaius insisted. Frederick nodded and handed the MP5 to Gaius.
"Good luck." Frederick said, his eyes showing true appreciation. Gaius jumped through the already shattered window of the car, firing as he fell. With precision he swept the top of the car with fire, hitting all three of the men that hid behind it. He then hit the ground with a roll and bounded behind a tree directly off of the road. The tree was immediately raked by enemy fire, and a two of the eight remaining soldiers ran to either side hoping to outflank Gaius. He acted first, however, and jumped from behind his cover and hit the first flanker with a burst of devastating fire. He then turned around and delivered an equally lethal burst to the other flanker. Gaius cried out in pain as an irradiated round ripped through his leg. He fell back behind the tree and blind fired the rest of the clip of MP5 ammo.
He then pulled his Desert Eagle from his pocket. It was already filled with silver bullets, in case he ever had another run-in with the Lycans. He looked to see another soldier behind a tree firing at him. Gaius aimed his pistol at the small tree and pulled the trigger. The small explosion that sounded inside the chamber of the Desert Eagle handgun sounded above all the other low-caliber fire. The bark from the small tree flew off from the impact, and the bullet embedded itself deep within the wood of the tree. He preceded to fire round after round into the tree. The small tree took one more impact from the Desert Eagle and toppled over, leaving a stunned Lycan behind it. Wasting no time Gaius fired again, the round impacted the Lycan in the chest, knocking him off of his feet.
Gaius then turned from behind the tree, weathering another impact from an irradiated round on the shoulder. He fired, hitting the gas tanks of one of the cars. He then hit each advancing wolf-form lycan with a single round. They both toppled to the ground with yelps of their own. He used the explosion as cover, advancing at a run. When the smoke cleared Gaius was in a wolf-form of his own. The remaining five soldiers all directed their fire towards him, hitting him in the legs, arms, torso, and shoulders. This failed to stop Gaius, however, who grabbed the first man and swung him in front of the fire. The man quickly succumbed to the dozens of bullets that ripped through his body. Gaius threw the corpse at one of the remaining soldiers, knocking one to the ground. He charged forward and with quick slices he dropped the other three. Gaius stumbled backwards, roaring in pain, as the dozens of irradiated bullets burned within his flesh. The last soldier, still on the ground from the impact of the dead man's flying corpse, picked up a pistol. He grabbed a clip filled with silver nitrate rounds and slammed it fluidly into the gun. Gaius ran forward; but he knew he would not make it. With a smile the Lycan cocked the gun and a shot rang out. Frederick had gotten out of the car, and stood with a smoldering gun in his hands. The last remaining Lycan soldier, shot through the head, fell to the ground.
"Gaius!" Frederick shouted, running forward. Gaius had fell to the ground, he was still reeling from the burning irradiated rounds buried within his flesh. Gaius' eyes closed and he slipped into unconsciousness with the sound of Mozart's Lacrymosa in his ears.
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George awoke with a splitting headache. He cracked open his eyes to examine his surroundings. The room was very dark; but familiar. Feeling the full onslaught of the headache as he grew more aware, George let out a low moan.
"God..." George muttered, clasping his forehead. His vision slowly cleared, revealing more of his surroundings. George finally realized that he was in his own basement, except that there was duct tape covering the windows.
"Got you something." An unfamiliar voice said from behind him. The man walked up to the chair and tossed him a small bag filled with ice. George caught the bag and examined it, then he pressed it up against the origin of the throbbing pain on his forehead.
"Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?" George finally questioned, exasperated.
"How much did you see before you lost consciousness?" Octavian asked with concern.
"I saw you, standing over a dead body. I was thrown to the ground from behind. Then..." George paused, if trying to sort out his thoughts.
"Then?" Octavian asked, urgently.
"I saw a very large animal on it's hind legs." At these words Octavian let out a loud sigh and buried his face in his hands.
"Great... just great." Octavian muttered, turning his back to George and staring at the wall.
"I've answered your questions. Now tell me who the hell you are and what you're doing in my house." George demanded, becoming irritated. Octavian turned around at an inhuman like speed with aggression of his own.
"Who I am is none of your concern." He spat, angrily. George recoiled from surprise, having seen the fangs bared in Octavian's mouth. Then, he noticed as Octavian's eyes turning from dark green to bright blue.
"What... are you." George asked more in wonder than in anger. Realizing his indiscretion Octavian turned again.
"But you already know." Octavian stated, coldly.
"But don't believe it." George gasped.
"Believe it." Octavian replied.
"The fangs... the duct tape... the grace. You are a..." George continued stopping at the last word.
"Vampire." Octavian said, finally returning his gaze to George.
"Then those creatures I saw... they were... Werewolves." George asked.
"Correct." George sat silent, trying to absorb what he had just learned. The silence was eventually broken by the sound of a door being opened upstairs.
"Who is that?" Octavian asked.
"My wife." George said with dread. Octavian chuckled when he noticed that George seemed more anxious about the situation than him.
"I swear if you let anything slip I'll dispatch your entire family." Octavian threatened harshly. he vampire and he gave him such an icy stare that George did not doubt it.
"What the hell is going on down here?" George's wife demanded. George thought quickly, looked to Octavian and finally exclaimed.
"He's an old friend of mine."
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Gaius' eyes shot open as he finally regained consciousness. He noticed that he was in a hospital bed of some kind, in a room by himself. He ripped up the sleeve of his arm to examine the spot that he so vividly remembered a bullet piercing his flesh. It had already healed; but a small scar remained. Gaius pulled the blood-red tubes from his arms and got out of the bed. He wandered out into the plain white hall and passed into another one.
He finally reached another room, which was filled with a large group of vampires and Lycans alike. This room was more extravagantly furnished, with blood red couches and carpet. All of the people in the room were dressed in their best clothes, and all of their gazes turned to Gaius, who was still wearing a small hospital robe.
"Gaius, please come with me." Frederick said, guiding Gaius to the back of the room. The awkward silence ended and the others continued their sporadic conversations.
"Where am I?" Gaius asked.
"You're in Alexander Corvinus' new ship." Frederick said, smiling.
"This was the meeting that you told me about?"
"You are in no shape to be out of your bed." Frederick insisted.
"I'm fine. Now please... can you show me where I can get some better clothes?"
"You're sure you're all right?" Frederick asked with concern.
"Yes, I'm fine." Gaius said, losing patience.
"We almost lost you last night. You were inches away from death." Frederick pressed.
"Really... I'm fine." Gaius repeated.
"Ok, let me show you to your room." Frederick led the way down another set of oddly furnished rooms and empty hallways to a small wooden door. "This is it."
"Thanks."Gaius entered the room and was about to close the door when Frederick's voice called after him.
"I... just wanted to thank you for saving my life." Frederick said appreciatively.
"If those bullets had been Silver nitrate bullets you would have done the same thing." Gaius replied. A look of deep contemplation crossed Frederick's face and Gaius finally closed the door. Would he have done the same?
Gaius leafed through the small drawers of the exquisite wardrobe, looking for something suitable to wear. Pushing aside all the flashier, more formal clothes he withdrew a set of darker plainer cloth. He wasted no time to put the clothes on and was tidying up when he heard a knock on the door. Gaius impatiently jogged to the door and opened it.
"Hello Gaius." Corvinus said, smiling.
"Corvinus... it's been too long." Gaius replied.
"May I come in?" Corvinus asked, politely.
"You may." Corvinus entered the room and examined Gaius' attire.
"I left those in there specifically for you. You're not the formal type."
"Thanks. Now can you please tell me what's going on here?" Gaius asked earnestly.
"Not one for too much small talk either." Corvinus mused. "You probably know all of this already; but I'll give you a recap. Lucian is dead, so is Raze, and Taylor, Peirce is missing and presumed dead. Lucian's den was the only large den in existence, and it's been decimated. You are now possibly the oldest living Lycan."
"The oldest?" Gaius asked with shock.
"Quite possibly." Corvinus repeated.
"What does that mean?" Gaius asked, suspiciously.
"I have watched for centuries as the Lycans and the Vampires have pummeled each other into submission. Do you have any idea how many have died?" Corvinus asked.
"I have no idea... I've not been involved in that conflict." Gaius replied quickly.
"Exactly, the Lycans and the Vampires have no leaders. If they are allowed to persist in such a state, smaller bands will form and violence will continue. Any of the remaining leaders from the previous era have known only war towards the other race. They have old hatreds, and old feuds."
"Feuds you believe I am devoid of?" Gaius asked.
"Yes. I have gathered here on my ship every Lycan and Vampire of the appropriate age, they will vote on who will lead each race for the coming century. You must be a candidate for election. With my support your victory is quite possible." Gaius dropped his jaw for a second, then looked up into Corvinus' eyes and shook his head.
"No, I couldn't possibly do that." Gaius stated stubbornly.
"Why not?" Corvinus pressed.
"I've never led a person in my life, let alone a race of people. I'm not qualified! Surely there isn't another...?"
"The others all want power for themselves. If someone is to be elected to this peacetime leadership, it must be someone who's ambitions will not jeopardize the peace. If that means that the leader must be elected unwillingly, then so be it. Think about the alternative." Gaius stood silent, thinking about what Corvinus had just said. Seeing Gaius' unwillingness Corvinus continued.
"When Viktor died, I thought this would end. Then, my own son came to me and tried to kill me. I knew as long as such hatred existed in the life of my son that I could not live, or at least I could not be known to be alive."
"So you staged your own death?" Gaius asked.
"Exactly. Those who have served with Marcus, Viktor, and Lucian alike are so polluted by this war, this greed, that they cannot rule. They must not rule. This is why it must be you."
"You must give me time to consider this... for now I am too overwhelmed to make a decision." Gaius stammered out, feeling a head-ache coming on. Corvinus turned to leave, then called over his shoulder as he exited the door.
"What do you think those Lycans were doing when they attacked you?" Corvinus continued to walk down the hall and Gaius closed the door.
I'm going to Florida for winter vacation! I'm going to be writing 24/7 when I'm down there; but I wont be able to post. So I'm going to just post all the stuff I've come up with so far, instead of leaking it out slowly like I'd intended.
Reviews anyone?
