Chapter 19: Doschitay do Sta
Sta bessonykh nochey
V labirinatakh lyubvi
Sta sulchainykh klyuchey
A v itoge nuli
-Tatu
"Fuck."
Samuel shook his leg vigorously, muttering a few more obscenities under his breath. For the third time (or maybe the fourth; he lost count), his right foot decided to fall asleep. Shifting in the chair, he discovered several spots on his back that throbbed wildly. An annoyed grunt escaped him as he finally gave up. Several hours of sitting still wore his nerves thread-bare.
The aches in his back eased as he stood, stretching up to barely touch the low hanging lights. Computer monitors around the room hummed their quiet bemusement as several Dealers ran searches for the location of the lycan clan. If not for the constant click-click of the keyboards, Samuel swore you could hear the CPUs laughing at them.
You lost them, you lost them, ha ha, you lost them, they taunted in time with one another.
"Sir," one of the Dealers called to him, cringing slightly at actually recognizing the lycan as his commanding officer. Crossing over to the terminal, Samuel blinked a few time before the young vampire continued. "Delta team reported that all the gun lockers in their safe houses have been cleaned out."
"How is that possible? Where were our guards at the time?"
"That's the thing: they were in place. They think one person could have slipped in and taken everything."
"Or maybe your fellow lazy, self-indulgent bloodsuckers didn't do their job," Samuel rumbled. His raised voice caused the others to pause in their research just enough to hear him finish, "And they are at fault for weaponry falling back into enemy hands. For Death Dealers, they are quite pathetic."
Fury and anger rose up in the room, turning the cool basement air into a thick, slippery gas that constricted the throat and lungs. So long had the vampires been the masters and now they are commanded by a lycan, instated personally by Marcus. Thinking of their own lives, everyone one turned back to their terminals with eyes blazing blue.
As the tension died away, the vampires returned to rubbing the bleary hazy from their eyes. Hours of checking tracking sensors and hidden cameras turned up the same thing: nothing. The renegade clan escaped the city without a trace after the girl was taken. About the same time, Marcus placed a halt on all attacks. Several small houses converged together for training and instruction; now those massive numbers slept the mid-evening hours away.
Something was happening and no one, not even Samuel, knew what it was.
"Sir!" Everyone jumped and looked over to one frantic-eyed vampire. He yanked his headphone cord from its socket and cranked up the volume on his radio receiver. It buzzed and crackled as several messages were received.
"Back up! We need assistance…clan attack-"
"Falling back to reserve location!...Many lost…"
"Send back up! We are currently—AH!"
"Wave attack by the clan! Repeat, it is a wave attack!"
Samuel's eyes widened, "Oh shit."
Gun fire erupted above their heads. Feeling worse for not even thinking, Samuel clapped his hands loudly. "Hustle! Get your weapons! Let's go! Let's go!" The Dealers scrambled to the gun locker, yanking out semi-automatics and jamming clips into them.
"You three," Samuel shouted, getting the attention of the Dealers closest to the computers. "Send warning to the main house and destroy all the computer information. I want nothing available to them. Nothing!" He popped a cartridge of silver-bite bullets into his weapon before going to the landing of the steps.
"Let's MOVE!"
Above, the Dealers scrambled frantically as they met hails of UV and generic bullets alike. The crashing from the upper floors caused a group to head up only to find their deaths. The attack came at all angles with the Renegades rappelling through the windows and blowing several large holes in the garage doors. The front door remained untouched.
The first of the crew up from the basement immediately hit the floor as three lycans stood waiting for them. The second man stood to the side of the door before dropping down and firing several direct shots to one of the lycan's heads. With the confusion of their enemies, the Dealers filtered up into the house with guns blazing.
Turning the corner, two of them paused momentarily as a fully transformed lycan raised its head. Tattered and ragged strips of pale flesh hung from its jaws, ripped from the unfortunate vampire beneath his paws. A deep roar sprayed blood on the walls and floor as the beast charged head long at them. Too slow to react, the first man just pressed his finger to the trigger as the beast slammed into him, sending them both across the room and into a wall. The plaster shook loose and dust fell as the beast sank enraged fangs into the throat of his stunned victim.
His comrades quickly opened fire, moving as close as they dared to quell the animal. It turned, throwing the blood-soaked body of their friend into their bullets spray and bounded out of the room. Some followed while others broke off to follow the screams and gun play that echoed through the house.
"Anna! We need back-up now!"
She grunted, yanking the radio microphone to her mouth and replying, "I'm in route! Be there in five!" Dropping the mic, she banged her fist to the steel panel behind her head. A small square of steel slid away to reveal the face of a vampire.
"Yeah?"
"Heavy fire up ahead. Prep for immediate battle contact."
"Yes, sir." A soft scrape caused her to grit her teeth when the panel slid back into place. Through the cab wall, she could hear him shouting commands to his men, the loud shouts and roars echoing their satisfaction. The laugh that escaped her mixed the comedy of the moment with a common pre-battle fear she never learned to shake.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the fast movement of low headlights. Leaning slightly, she watched two small cars weaving behind her. Finally maintaining some speed and a short distance, several figures leaned out the cars' windows and opened fire on the truck. Cursing silently, Anna slammed her foot on the gas, navigating the narrow streets of Budapest at breakneck speeds.
A set of loud pops and the heavy scent of gun powder caught her attention. After making a dangerous turn into a less densely populated area of the city, she clawed at the panel, ripping it back for a better look. The men opened the back of the truck ever so slightly, a few laying on the floor and firing back at the enemy vehicles.
Turning back, Anna's mind registered the quickly passing sign on the roadway, "Truck Route Only: Use Extreme Caution." A plan formed within and maneuvered its way out through her hands. The truck shifted on the road, the double lines running directly beneath its lumbering weight. Up ahead, a pair of lights beamed brightly as on-coming tractor trailer kept its fast pace. Tossing a glance to her side mirror, the one vehicle took to her left side, moving up quickly. Their bullets aimed at the wheels, none of those in the car actually heard the horn until too late.
Anna swerved back into her lane while the enemy car went off the road completely. A bright flash of light followed by a rumbling explosion finished off one nuisance. She let out a loud laugh, banging her fist on the steering wheel in satisfaction.
"Hey Anna! We've still got one back here," the face informed her, ducking to the side as more bullets dented the back panel of the truck. Another plan hatched in her brain, this time escaping through her lips.
"Shut the back door and hang on!"
"What!" The deafening noise prevented the face from hearing her.
"Shut the goddamn door and hang on," she screamed. That time, when the face disappeared, the slamming of the door and a preventative shout followed shortly. Eying up the vehicle, she watched as it edged closer to the back of the truck.
"Come on, come on," she chanted under her breath. The second the lights disappeared from her side mirrors, Anna slammed on the breaks. A crunch of metal accompanied by a violent set of vibrations and the yells of the men in the back told her the plan worked. Her foot quickly changed petals and the engine roared as gas followed through the fuel lines. The truck refused to budge for a moment before jerking off and continuing on its merry way.
Voices mumbled loudly in the back as the face reappeared. "What the fuck was that?"
"Basic physics," Anna grinned as she rounded the next corner and stopped the truck completely. Both sets of eyes saw the raging battle. She turned with a wicked smile to the face in the opening. "Shall we?"
Samuel ducked behind a large statue, fingers fumbling to replace the empty cartridge. As the gun finally registered the reload, he watched two Dealers run straight into the firestorm, only to stumble back with hoarse cries. Their bodies twitched violently as the UV fluid quickly pumped through their immortal veins, searing away the skin and muscle on their bodies.
He stood shakily, shutting his eyes to gain some kind of thought. They lost too much ground and too many men to win this battle; that was for damn sure. However they ever able to elude their intelligence, his former clan found a way to bring down the vampire's strong holds all over Budapest, crushing nearly 400 hundred in under three hours.
In the back of his mind, he imagined Marcus' reaction to such an attack and to the report of loses. For all his years of double crossing, Samuel was not a coward. He would face the slightly-psychotic Elder and accept his fate. But at this very moment, his heart and head refused to coordinate and he found himself floundering as those of much less importance went headlong into their dooms.
Summoning the last ounce of bravery within his bones, he rounded out from behind the statue. Barely blinking, he found himself slammed against the wall, the air being slowly choked from him.
"Oh captain, my captain." Despite the dizziness, Samuel focused his eyes to the sarcastic voice and met the midnight gaze of Thomas. The lycan stood before him shirtless, his boots missing and pants torn. Blood stained the incredibly pale skin that strained over large muscles; the scent of vampire blood laid heavily on his harsh breaths. The traitorous lycan struggled to transform but found his body lacking the strength to do so. Thomas growled with still enlarged fangs presented.
"You can't kill me. I know where she is," Samuel lied, hoping to catch the younger one off guard. But his captor merely smile and raised a walkie-talkie to his face.
"Victoria?"
"Got it," a voice exclaimed over the radio, "There's a lab located beneath the dump in the north, not twenty minutes from either of us! I'll send the map over through your PDA."
"Thanks," Thomas replied, replacing the walkie-talkie in his pocket. Samuel's eyes roamed away from the black eyes before him, trying to find someone still alive from his team. Instead, a crowd of clan members gathered, watching him dangling mid-air.
He sneered, "You won't kill me still, Thomas. You never had it in you to be cruel." He watched the fangs dip back into the young one's gum line. Slowly, he was lowered to the ground with a grip still tight to his neck. As soon as his feet touched the wooden panel, Samuel threw Thomas' hand away. "You always show mercy," he threw at him.
He knew he wouldn't be able to talk his way out this one, but he knew that their clan practiced justice. Several times, he sat on the tribunal against spies and possible traitors, most of whom he set up himself to lead everyone far from him. He would be granted the same rights.
But his hope fell short when Thomas backed away with a soft smile.
"I don't."
The impulse traveling the short distance from his auditory canal to their respective nerves never made it. Everyone in the room flinched, watching as Samuel's eyes widened. Blood trickled down from four distinct holes made straight across his forehead, just above his brow line. A thick, slimy concoction of white and gray brain matter dribbled down in the red liquid, dripping off normally white fingertips.
In a swift motion, the entire top of Samuel's skull crushed in a angry and powerful grasp. His body hit the floor, trembling as the heart's electricity fluttered away. Every man and woman in the room looked at the traitor as his brain rested in the his skull, ripped straight across with four grooves in the gooey mess.
Thomas broke the silence, stepping forward softly. "Victoria found where they are holding Nyssa. I've got the map."
"Everyone to the trucks." The entire house moved out quickly to their vehicles at the command. Thomas lingered only for a second, moving away only when the black inky eyes drained away to blue again.
"Ready," Michael asked, staring down at the body. Selene nodded silently, loosing her hold on the chunk of brain and skull she held in her hand. With a wet plop, it hit the floor and they moved out into the night.
A/N: by the by, Selene can stick her hand through anyone's head if she damn well pleases. they took her baby and now, they must suffer.
this entire chapter is dedicated to the ladies and gentlemen over at Bloodfeud, the Underworld message board i love so dearly. i'm hoping you all caught the reference to the Evil Overlord rules in there.
the lyrics are in Russian; you can translate if you want, but i love them in their original state.
Until next chapter,
anthestria