Rain: And I am back with a brand new chapter! Let's just get it started!

Mario: Here we go!

The Crimson Eyed Drifter: Distance between Hearts
Chapter Twelve

Las Vegas – Nevada
Jasper Hale Whitlock

The minute he launched himself towards Peter and I, the two of us split apart and watched as he slammed through the roof and down below. I looked toward Peter and ordered, "Do not interfere. Observe him through his combat with me and then if I haven't killed him by then, engage when you've gathered enough information."

Peter nodded and just a mere second later, this large Vampire launched himself towards me and I was quickly tackled through the roof and through two floors of a very abandoned apartment building before I managed to break free from his grasp and gain some distance.

My foe immediately came after me and swung his right fist towards me but I managed to duck it and immediately tried to rip his arm off but to my amazement, that was a lot harder than I expected.

He pulled back his arm and punched my chest hard enough to have me skid against the wooden floorboards under me and the moment I got some distance, he ran towards me again.

This time, I was prepared and quickly leaped to the side, which caused him to slam into the wall and go through it in that short order.

Instead of waiting for him to swing back to me, I chased after him so the moment he stopped, I jumped onto his back and grabbed his hair but before I could rip it off, he decided to jump in the air and fall backward, which sent the both of us down three more flights until we hit the basement floor.

I quickly placed my feet on his back and kicked him hard enough to get him off of my body and quickly scrambled to my feet and the moment I did, I was immediately punched in my right jaw, which sent me flying back into a wall, which crumbled beneath my weight.

I quickly rolled to my left to avoid the feet of this large man, rolled onto my feet, jumped up, and punched him in his jaw, which put him down on one knee and that was when I grabbed his head and began to tug.

But his head wouldn't bulge at all.

I could see him smirk but I noticed that there was a look of concentration on his face and even without my gift, I could see that he had to force himself to stay focused.

It was then I realized.

The reason that he is so durable is that he has to focus. Otherwise, his limbs would have been torn off a long time ago.

So he had a gift to harden himself to not only stop others from tearing him apart…but to also be able to use himself as a wrecking ball. Because I know from experience that smashing yourself through a wall or a roof or anything can hurt.

And with that knowledge, I know how to defeat him.

If I can destroy and break his concentration, I can weaken his armored body.

Though saying that makes it sound easy.

Though before I could do anything, he wrapped an arm around my waist and lifted me off the ground, and then bent backward and slammed me onto the concrete ground below.

Which hurt like hell…I couldn't even stop myself from letting groan out of pain.

He then picked me up again in an effort to slam me again but it was then I saw my chance. "Gotcha!" I shouted as I ran my fingernails down his face sharply, managing to claw out his right eye, which made him howl in fury and pain before he tossed my ass across the room through another wall.

I fell to the ground and saw him stumbling around while his hand was at his face and smirked before I quickly got onto my feet and dashed towards him after I ducked his sloppy swing, I grabbed his right arm and tugged at it sharply until I managed to rip it off.

He howled in anger for a moment until I held his arm like a baseball bat and swung for the fences and managed to nail him in the face before I leaped to the side to avoid his still attached arm but I was not quick enough to dodge the boot to my face, which quickly sent my ass spiraling outside onto the sidewalk…Through a brick wall.

I am tired of going through walls.

I got back up to my feet and took off my jacket and tossed it to the side and said "Impressive…Most vampires can't even function after you rip off a limb but you are still up and about. How admirable…But my victory is assured. Give up now and tell me what I need to know and I will let you walk out of here with the rest of your limbs intact."

He chuckled as he glared at me hatefully with his one visible eyes, a pool of venom falling from his empty eye socket along with venom falling from the right side of his torso and he replied "Fuck you…"

I narrowed my eyes in return and said "Very well…Come and attack." My opponent sprang into action and immediately tried to claw at my face but I moved at the last second and he only managed to claw my shirt.

I moved right and then left to avoid his two jabs before I ducked to avoid his grab and as I kneeled there, I sharply rose up to slam my head against his chin, which caused his upper body to whip back.

I then reared my right hand back and clawed at his neck and barely managed to cut it before I was punted in the chest and sent crashing against the side of a parked bus.

The glass fell on my body after I fell forward on my two feet and when I looked up, I saw this titanic figure charging at me like a freight train.

I quickly jumped to the side and saw him collide with the base, which caused it to tilt off the ground before it fell to the ground hard.

I quickly jumped to the side of the bus and fell through the window and when I entered the bus, I saw him rising to his feet and I quickly ran towards him and leaped into the air and kicked him in the face with both feet, which sent him to the ground.

When I landed, I got to my feet, leaped into the air, and slammed both feet into his face, which sent his head bursting through the floor.

I quickly grabbed his left arm and braced myself and started to pull at his arm hard and then I heard him scream as I fully pulled off his right arm.

I smirked and leaned down and said, "So that's two arms. I will start ripping off more limbs if you don't answer me. Why do Remy and Marie want me and my friends dead? Talk or suffer."

"God! Fuck! It'll take more than that to get me to spill, you fucker," he wailed, which only made me sigh and shake my head in shame.

"Very well…" I replied as I stood up and walked down to his legs, which he was moving at a fast pace. I grabbed his right leg and placed my left foot into his crotch and pulled at it hard until it tore off.

He was screaming as hard as possible now as I placed his left leg on my right shoulder and said "Talk or the other one goes."

"Alright! Alright! Shit!" He screamed.

"Good boy," I said with a smirk on my face before I narrowed my eyes in anger. "Why did you come after us?"

"Because of orders sent by Maria! She was the one who sent them to Vegas to seek out your last remaining bloodline!" He shouted, which made me narrow my eyes in thought.

My remaining bloodline…

"What do you mean by that?" I asked him and then added, "And don't lie to me, your life depends on your honesty."

"Alright alright…When you left Maria's camp with your general and his mate, she grew furious at the thought and gave us all orders. To find and seek out your family and to kill them..."

I was not surprised by this reveal.

She was so furious that she wanted to completely wipe out my bloodline.

As Rose would say, "This is next level petty."

"And so we did…We went back through your history and found your decedents from your sisters down and we killed every last one of them…We even found the graves of your deceased family members and destroyed their remains! We did this for decades and got all of them…All except for one…"

I could barely contain my anger at this moment but I managed to bite it back enough and asked as calmly as possible "And who is that one?"

"That girl you saved that girl back there…She is all that is left of your family…Other than you! When we were told you saved her, we contacted Maria who wanted you dead and in turn, they sent me!"

"I see…Now, where are Remy and Marie?" I asked, keeping a good grip on his left leg in case he decided to hold back on me.

"I c-can't tell you that. They will ki-"

I didn't even let him finish as I ripped off his left leg, which caused him to scream in agony and that was when I shouted, "I will kill you now! Tell me where they are!"

"They are in Sterling Ridge! They are in the largest mansion there! You can't miss it!" He screamed.

I discarded his leg and leaned down and pulled his head from the hole I forcefully made and said "Thank you for your honesty. I truly appreciate it."

He looked relieved by this and opened his mouth but then I let my calm façade break and without warning, I began to pull at his head hard until it violently was torn off. I looked down at his face, which was frozen in fear, and sneered in disgust.

It was then that I smelled it.

Gas…

The bus was leaking gas.

I placed his head on his torso, stepped out of the bus, grabbed my jacket, and asked my second-in-command, "Like what you saw Peter?"

Peter hopped down from the gold-colored sedan that was parked in front of the abandoned building I had fought through and said, "I'm a bit bummed you didn't leave any for me, Major."

I looked at him and winked with a grin as I slipped on my jacket. "Sorry…." I apologized. "But I hadn't had a good fight in a while."

Peter walked to me and held up a cigarette. "For old time's sake," Peter explained with a wink. I grabbed the cigarette as Peter pulled out a lighter, one of the last things he had of his old life, and lit the end of it. I motioned toward the bus, which made him grin.

Peter walked towards the bus, kneeled down, and muttered, "At least he was useful," before he placed the flame down into the puddle of gas.

The two of us swiftly walked down the street as I slipped a cigarette into my mouth. "A small gesture I hope God realizes when he finally meets him," I replied as the bus exploded behind us, showering the area with fire as I blew out a cloud of smoke. While it did nothing for me, it was nice to have one after a long time. Thankfully, we had just left the blast zone, leaving us unharmed by the flames.

"Now let's get back to the Hotel and see if Jessamine has any info with her so we can see who she truly is," I told Peter, who gave me a thumbs up before we kicked it into high gear back to the Bellagio.

Las Vegas – The Bellagio Hotel
Charlotte Whitlock

"Come on, you gotta hang in there," I muttered as I placed a cool towel over Jessamine's forehead with a concerned look on my face as her screams of pain echoed over the sound of the TV playing in the background.

Peter and I had managed to pump a lot of venom into her to get her to change but the changing process, even with a lot of venom in her system, which will make the change occur quicker than normal, it can be extremely painful to the one going through the change.

I just hoped that things will be ok from here on out.

Just then, the door opened, and in came Jasper and Peter, the latter of which said to me "Honey, I'm home!"

I rolled my eyes but shot him and Jasper a smile. "Welcome back. Did the hunt for Remy and Marie go well?" I questioned.

My husband sat on the couch and slumped down on it, looking exhausted while Jasper rushed to Jessamine's side. "We know where they are but we came to check in on you here. How is she?" Peter asked me with a frown on his face.

"She is making progress but she's in a lot of pain," I responded. "I'm contemplating if I should pump more venom into her to get it done faster."

"Once the change starts, it would only cause unnecessary pain," Jasper told me as he narrowed his eyes in thought. "Did she have a purse or anything when we split up?"

I leaned down and grabbed her black purse, which was still damp with the blood of the mortals that Jasper had slain earlier in the night, and tossed it towards him.

Jasper caught it and opened it to peer at the contents and smiled when he pulled out a wallet with her ID in it.

"Alright, let's get out of here," Jasper said with a grin on his face. Peter nodded and got off the couch and just as the two of them were headed to the door, the TV I had playing in the background suddenly changed to a news channel.

"This just then, a large explosion has just occurred on the West side and North side of Las Vegas, Nevada."

"We…Only destroyed the bus on the West side…Right?" Peter asked. I watched in a bit of concern as their eyes widened in horror before the two of them rushed to the TV.

"At 3 am, Local authorities were called to the West Side of Vegas to put out a fire on a parked bus. Luckily, there were no fatalities."

"I love that Vampires become ash after flames get them," Peter said in amusement.

"That cannot be said for a house on 6739 Regency Ridge Court. Four victims were found in the flames of the remains, all of which were dismembered. This was the residence of Max and Chloe Caufield, The former being a world-renowned photographer, mostly known for the book "Scars of Wars Past" and they were found along with their daughters, thirteen-year-old Victoria and fifteen-year-old Kate Caufield. Their eldest daughter, nineteen-year-old Jessamine "Jessa" Caufield is missing…"

The news continued to play but none of us were listening.

"Major…" Peter started but Jasper raised his hand to stop my husband from speaking and then this overwhelming amount of anger filled the room.

Jasper was emitting so much anger that it blew me away.

Jessamine began to scream with pain and anger, affected by Jasper's gift as well but it was then that the room was filled with calm and Jessamine quickly quieted down.

But he did not face her or any of us.

He just kept his eyes firmly on the TV.

"Peter," He said eerily calm, his head turning to the left slightly.

"Major," Peter replied, his voice calm as well.

"We have something to deal with. Charlotte….I want you to watch over her as best as you can…" Jasper ordered, his voice still calm.

I nodded and replied "Understood Major."

I never called Jasper by his rank unless it was a serious situation and considering the rage I could feel him emitting into the room.

"Thank you, Char," Jasper said before he and Peter walked out of the room, leaving me to watch over the squirming Jessamine once more.

I placed a new towel over her soaked forehead and whispered, "It'll be over soon little one…I promise…"

Rain: And that is where I will end it. So we find out why Remy and Marie are in Vegas and this also reveals Maria's really cruel plans about those that betrayed her. So what will happen next? Only one way to find out!

Mario: Merry Christmas and See you next time!