Chapter 2

The characters and plot of Underworld do not belong to me. I am not receiving any profit for this writing. If you are the copyright holders, merely e-mail me before filing a lawsuit, and I will cease and desist at once.

Thanks again to all reviewers. You fellows make my day better.

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The two men walked quickly, silently through drizzling street. They walked over to a business, no sign above the door. In perfect tandem they walked through the automatic doors, sudenly inside what appeared to be an insurance office. Orithian walked into the back room, took the black glove off his hand, and pressed it against the tiny mirror. It beeped, and the wall slid to the side to reveal an escalator, going down. It stopped at what appeared to be a small room with a safe, and a locked oak door. Orithian pressed his eye to the small retinal scanner in the wall. It shined an unpleasant bright light into his eye, and scanned it. There was a sound of a lock being released, and the two men walked into a huge underground room. There were large desks in perfect rows, and men at most of them.

Orinthian took Hoot's digital camera, and plugged it into his computer. The pictures were downloaded in four seconds. He nodded, then handed it back to Hoot, who would download the pictures as well. Orithian started typing up a report, standard procedure. He typed it up, and electronically sent it to his superiors.

Orithian leaned back in his chair, taking out his magnum, cleaning it, the opened up a drawer, revealing several boxes of bullets and five magazines. He took the magazine out, and replaced the spent shell. Then he put the loaded magazine back in, and placed it on his desk. He could still remember, halfway through training, when weapons were assigned. It was decided for trainees what gun they were best at, and they were given pistols, or uzi's and such. One day Orithian had forgot to clean his gun. It had jammed in firing practice. His instructor had taken his magnum, cleaned it, and handed it back. No before saying, "This weapon is your life, young man. Try to take care of it." He smiled slightly at the memory. The magnum was custom made to cut the noise down level of the shots down a bit. It was far from silent, but it wouldn't damage his ears.

Orithian glanced at the small plaque of graduation. Underneath it was a gold name plate. The name plate on his desk read A. Orithian. Whenever you were transferred, they changed your last name in all your documents. Orithian's first name was Andrew. But saying Andrew Orithian did not flow well. He'd make sure he'd get a real last name next time he was transferred.

He scrolled through the various pictures Hoot had taken with the camera hidden in his palm pilot. Using a special program, he cut the faces out off the best ones, and put them through the identification program. It accessed all local databases as well as Parabellum's, and brought up the subjects files.

The three vampires were Selene, Nathaniel, and Rigel, all death dealers. There was only info on one lycan, the big black guy. His name was Raze. Orithian laughed at the irony. Raze meant something along the lines of, totally destroy. The file on the lycan's mark popped up.

Michael Corvin. A medical intern, at a local hospital. 32 years of age, moved here from the United States for unknown reasons. His address was their as well. Orithian printed the file out, and put his magnum back in the holster.

He walked over to Hoot's desk. It was empty. He opened up the drawer, and tok out an I.D. badge Identifying him as a detective. Orithian found Hoot in the lunch room, sipping hot coffee.

The man looked up as he approached. "You know, I made coffee, during an operation in Central America, when every else got to be an army ranger?"

"You told me. Here's the file on the mark. I say we go see if we can dig anything up on him," Orithian said, pointing to the color photo. Hoot looked at it.

"Why not?" he asked, draining the rest of the cup. Orithian gave him a pat on the back.

"You'll go far in this business. Let's go!" He said, folding up the paper. "Take this." He handed him the police badge. "You can give someone a speeding ticket for fun, if you get to bored."

Twenty minutes later…

They pulled up into a parking space across from the squalid apartment building. Orithian parked the black hummer. "Wait in the car. Give one beep of the horn when you see Michael coming. I'll be back in a few minutes," he said to Hoot, who merely nodded. Orithian walked quickly up the flight of stairs, and found the room. At the end of the hall, near the window. Orithian knocked. No one answered. He pressed his ear to the wall, and listened. No noise. Reaching into a catch on his belt, he took out a lock-pick. He picked the lock in eight seconds, and let himself in, then re-locked it after he shut it.

He didn't need to turn the light on. After being bit by the vampire, his vision in the dark was fine. He opened the desk, looking for documents, a diary, anything. A pack of photos. He flipped through them. Family, vacation with family, girlfriend, park. He found a small stack of bills, and a un-cashed check. Job check. Orithian glanced at the amount it was for, then shook his head. Almost worse than his paycheck, which was pretty pathetic. But then, his room, food, gear, medical bills and vehicle were paid for by Parabellum.

Suddenly he heard soft footsteps in the hall. Orithian froze, slowed his breathing, did not move an eyelash. It was not Michael. Hoot would have beeped the horn. Suddenly the door splintered and flew in. Orithian had pressed himself against the wall, totally in shadow. In entered the woman he recognized as Selene, from the subway. She walked non-chalantly over to the desk, going through the exact same stuff. Orithian did not make sound. Suddenly the phone rang. The woman was startled. Orithian heard a beep from his hummer. This will be an interesting situation, he thought, knowing Michael was coming up. The answering machine got the phone. The floorboards in the hallway creaked every so slightly. The door moved a tiny bit. Orithian could see Michael's face, the fear on it.

"Hey, Michael, its Adam. The police were just here, looking for you. They think you're involved somehow with the subway shooting. I told them you would never do anything like that, but they're out there, looking for you," The answering machine ended.

Michael was fully inside his apartment, unaware two people had beaten him home. Neither Selene nor Michael knew of Orithian's presence. Selene suddenly moved, lunging forward, grabbing Michael by the throat, and holding him up against the wall.

"Why are they after you?" She demanded forcefully, in a definite English accent. Orithian decided he give it one more second before acting. Michael just gasped for air, not believing he was being held up, off the ground, by his throat, by a woman, in his own apartment.

Orithian moved forward. Suddenly there was a chilling howl. They say about a lycan's howl, If you're close enough to hear a lycan howl, you are already dead. All three heads turned as something started kicking holes in the roof. Orithian drew his magnum, moved for the door, and fired at the ceiling. The gun sounded like an explosion in the small space. Michael ran. The woman gave Orithian a brief look but fired at the lycans as they tried coming through roof.

Both Orithian and Selene ran into the hallway at the same time. Michael was getting in the elevator. Selene dashed down the hall after him. Orithian knew even a vampire couldn't close the distance of a hall length that fast. He opened the door to the stairwell, took three steps, and leaped down. He opened the first floor door, as automatic gunfire erupted over his head. He glanced left and right. Someone was walking down the hallway towards the elevator. Orithian took raised his magnum. He could tell quickly, it was a lycan. They walked and dressed a certain way, like bikers, or muggers. Some sort of dress code.

The lycan stopped in front of the elevator. It opened. The man said something softly. Orithian's ears caught it, though. "Hello Michael." That was it. Orithian raised his pistol, holding on both hands he fired. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! The lycans was thrown sideways, clear of the elevator. Orithian dashed forwards, sensing the vampire had somehow ended up right behind him. Michael was still in the elevator when Orithian grabbed his arm and forcibly hauled him away. Selene was right behind him. She glanced at the downed lycan, then followed.

"We can take my car," Selene said, once they were out of the building. Orithian grabbed Michael, and checked his shoulders and neck for bite marks. None at all, thank goodness. Hoot swung the hummer to a halt a few feet from Orithian.

"I brought mine!" Orithian shouted. He opened the back door, and turned to Michael. "Get in!"

Michael did not. "What is going on!" Michael asked/screamed.

Orithian opened the driver door, and said to Hoot. "Scoot over!" He looked into the building. The lycan was getting up. He looked at Michael. "Come with me if you want to live." He got in the car. Selene was already in hers. The two cars raced down the street. Michael glanced out the back window.

"Uh, the man you shot four times is catching up to the car!" Michael said, panicking slightly. Orithian glanced in the mirror. He was definitely going after them, not the vampire.

"Lets see how fast he can go," Orithian said calmly. He revved the hummer. It smoothly sped up, going fifty. The lycan was gaining. He leaped, and landed on the car. There was a noise as he tried to stab through the roof.

Orithian smirked. "The glass is bulletproof, the body of the car is armored." Suddenly the face of the bloody lycan appeared next to his window. Orithian swerved, trying to scrape him off. The lycan hung on, and punched the window. The glass cracked. "Determined lycan, isn't he?" Hoot remarked.

Orithian reached for his magnum. The next punch shattered the window. Orithian shot at him, getting off a few rounds. "You like that?" he shouted, firing again. The lycan ducked again, putting his face next to the window. Orithian shot again, but the hand grabbed his gun. "Wheel!" Orithian cried a split second before letting it go and directly punching the lycan in the face. Hoot grabbed the wheel and kept the huge car on course. The lycan drew back a clawed fist, and suddenly there were six rapid shots. The lycan fell off the car, unfortunately not under the wheels. The vampire had pulled up on his left, and shot the boarder off of his car. Orithian shakily slowed down, the vampire following suit. Orithian stopped a couple miles away. Michael was not speaking. It had been a bit much for him.

Orithian got out of the hummer, looking at the damage. The window was shattered, big gouges all over the top. Not too bad, but definitely bad. The vampire pulled up next to him. "Thanks for your help. And thanks for not missing," He said. Michael got out.

Selene got out the car. "Who are you people?" She demanded. Orithian rubbed his eyes.

"This is Michael Corvin. Michael meet Selene," Orithian said, jumping slightly to see how bad the damage was on the roof.

Selene nodded hello at Michael, "I knew his name, I want your name!"

"I can't say," he said. "I signed a discretion form."

"I saved your life! Who are you?" Selene said, reaching for her little pistol. Orithian turned to Michael.

"Were leaving. Get in," He said. Michael glanced at Selene.

"Your going to leave her alone? What if that guy comes back?" Michael asked. Selene looked insulted at the insinuation she couldn't defend herself.

Orithian laughed. "She is more fit to survive on her own than any of us three men are. Get in the car." Michael did.

He looked at Selene. "Again, my thanks. Here is a small memento from me and my friends." He reached into his pocket, and tossed her a small, glittering object. Selene caught it effortlessly. It was a small 9 millimeter bullet, made of solid gold.

"Parabellum. If you want peace, prepare for war," she read, rotating the golden bullet to read the tiny inscription. Orithian got in the hummer, started it up, and drove off. She just watched as it vanished around the corner.

"All right, what is going on?" Michael asked from the backseat. Orithian and Hoot looked at each other, then Orithian cleared his throat.

"I am not sure exactly how to put it," Orithian said. "But your life just got more complex."

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Well, that's chapter 2. I hope you liked it. Just so you know, reviews encourage me to hurry and update.

Andrew Fisher15 out.