Bless This Wayward Daughter

by Brooklyn Knight

"Let me die." "You already did. It's time to start living again." Odette was the sheep that strayed from the flock. With her mother's death, the black sheep of the family returns in hopes of redemption for her past sins. She's a woman on a mission: to keep what family she has left intact. And no cop killing bank robbers or ancient evil army is gonna get in the way of that.

7. 1x07 ※ O'Brother

*This chapter has multiple references to past chapters. Chapter is mostly canon but sorry, not a whole lot of wiggle room in this episode. Upside: read for the little Ettie/Seth moments hidden inside. Also, it's been like half a year since I update so give me time to get back into Ettie and Seth's groove, please. :) Thanks, sorry for the note.*

-:BTWD:-

---

We're gonna die
It's just a matter of time
Hard times come
Good times go
I'm either gone in an instant
Or here 'til the bitter end
I, I never know
What I've got will make you feel more alive
I'll be your favorite drug, I will get you high

Fall Out Boy : Death Valley

---

Bless This Wayward Daughter

Pandemonium

O' Brother

---

"Please welcome the mistress of the macabre. The queen of the night... Santanico Pandemonium!" Carlos sang.

She seemed to emerge from nowhere. Standing under the stage lights, she paused for a moment as the audience settled before shedding her cape. A sudden bout of flaws combusted from the floor on either side of her.

It was easy to see why she was the main attraction. Even in her dark makeup and sleazy getup, there was an inarguable beauty to her features. The heart-shaped face and full lips red painted lips rested below large brown eyes surrounded by unfairly long lashes. It was rare to find a woman that could be both sultry and sweet looking. And with a hooded gaze, she easily shifted between them. Pretty, like a prized jewel, she seemed to shine under their attention.

The spotlights seeming to enhance the tawny brown tone of her skin, making it glimmer like gold, rather than wash it out. Every curve of her sinfully perfect body was covered in perfect unblemished skin. Slowly, her full hips began a sensual sway rolling over her body as she used her figure as a finger to beckon men's, and even the woman's, attention. There was something about her, beyond just her looks that demanded attention. There was an air of danger around her, the kind of beauty that could ruin a man.

It wasn't lust that had enchanted Ettie, but a feeling of strange alertness. Deep down inside her bones something primal warned her not to look away. Across from her, Kate gave a helpless look, confused and a bit disgusted by the fact every member of her family seemed to be watching the lustful act as if another Friday night movie at home.

In a show of magic and mystery, a snake had appeared around her shoulder, slithering around her collar bones and breasts in its own dance. It caressed the skin in the same way a lover's touch might, doing what most of the audience so desperately wanted to do. The club broke out in a loud cheer, applauding the surprise. Whistles and cat-calls broke through the cheers as individuals began beginning for her attention. They were all in vain as her dark eyes, narrowed into a sultry gaze, remained focused on the form in front of her. Only one man seemed to have caught her interest.

"She's real." Richie breathed, unable to look away from her heated gaze. His eyes didn't wander to her nearly nude form, or even the snake slithering down her body and between her legs. No, his gaze was utterly, and undoubtedly, fixed on her eyes, unable to look away as he was pulled in, deeper than most under her spell.

The spotlight left the stage, traveling over the runways of tables before settling on the area behind Richie. Santanico standing in as if she'd been there all along. The club began to murmur in surprise, doing a double-take to the stage to confirm it wasn't a well-placed set of twins. It was not.

Seth looked visibly disturbed, leaning away and into Odette and he cursed under his breath. He hated magic shows for this reason.

As quickly as she left, she returned. The spotlight traveled back to the stage, Santanico moving with it. The crowd hooted and hollered. This by far was the sexiest magic show any of them had seen.

Tossing the small feathered headdress away, she shook her mane of thick, silky smooth hair. A mix of dark brown and light red, it seemed to shimmer and glow like the rest of her. And just like the rest of her, it begged to be touched. Santanico ran her hand through her hair to display just that. The magic show was over, the seduction began. She wrapped one a leg around the pole...

"It's her." Richard breathed once more. He was entranced.

Ettie dared to look away from the seductress.

"Who?" Seth asked.

"You can see her, too?" He looked genuinely surprised.

"What?" Seth asked, brows furrowed and perplexed by his brother's surprise.

Richie looked almost adoringly at her as she spun around the pole. "That's the girl that led me here." He became more confident knowing it wasn't in his head. He looked at her with open lust.

She walked down her make-shift runway, gracefully stepping over the tables that lead to their own at the end. She stopped in the center of their table. Ettie leaned away from her, stretching out her arm to keep Scott from leaning in further towards her. He looked embarrassed as she tried to pretend he wasn't staring at her bare ass.

Bending at her knees, Santanico crouched down, stealing the bottle of tequila before raising her leg. She placed her pointed foot before Richard's face, keeping that intense, albeit uncomfortable eye contact as she poured the alcohol down her leg. It dripped off her toes, straight into Richards parted mouth.

It was like seeing a car crash, wanting desperately to look away but unable to as Richard allowed the stripper's toes to be placed in his mouth. They gently brushed his bottom lip as she removed her foot. A sick kiss, if Ettie had to describe it. The most affection she was willing to allow. To further show off, Santanico raised her own leg parallel with her body, showing her flexibility as she licked the tequila-drenched skin herself.

Ettie looked to Kate, both equally disgusted and confused. Neither daring to look at their father or brother. But Kate went in a different direction. The young girl looked to Richard and then Santanico, disbelieving, and looking almost hurt, at having to watch the display.

The stripper seductively swung her curvy hips to the system of the low, soulful Spanish ballad as the violin played. She drank from the tequila bottle, before placing it back. Just when they thought it was over, it took yet another unhygienic turn. Lowering to her hands and knees, Santanico crawled to Richie, letting the mouthful of alcohol fall from her mouth, into his.

It broke the trance. Kate's mouth visibly unhinged, gaping at the dancer as she rose and continued her routine. Kate could only manage a soft 'Ew.'

The music picked up as Santanico's hips swung faster and wilder, her hair flipping in an almost unnaturally fluid movement as she kept with the building tempo. The climax ended, (a poor choice of words given the state of some of the men in the crowd…) and Santanico strutted back to her stage, giving Richie a final come-hither wave.

Seth looked at his brother in shock as he rose to his feet, intent on actually following her.

"Richard," Seth called in a low scolding. He didn't need trouble with these people just because he got the hots for the main talent.

Richard was in a trance, and couldn't be stopped. His only thought going to the woman of his dream, and on occasion, nightmares.

But reality came crashing hard. A figure emerged from the dimly lit crowd, at their side before they even saw him.

Intense, fiery pain broke him of her spell.

A knife was stabbed through the center of Richard injured hand, pinning it to the table as he fell back to his seat. He gritted his teeth under the scream of pain. The commission drew the attention of more than just the tables occupants. Katie gave a surprised scream as Santanico stopped her retreat to witness the interruption.

"This is for Earl." The Ranger from the hotel put the gun to Richard's hand.

Seth stood, his own weapon drawn just as quickly. "He dies, you die."

The band never stopped playing, forcing the men to yell over the music. Below the guitars and violins, a slow rumble began to rise from around the room. Indistinct at first, it hissed and growled like an animal drawing closer. Ettie stood slowly from her chair, looking at the back of Seth's head and the tequila bottle in reach. It might very well be the chance they were looking for…

The Ranger pulled another gun from his holster, pointing it back at Seth. It seemed the term 'Mexican standoff' was more than aptly applied.

Amidst the tension, the Ranger looked to Odette, seeming to note how her hand stretched to the bottle on the table. His lip flinched a smirk, encouraging her to do it. They'd never know if she'd gone through with it or not, as an inhuman growl ripped through the music. Before they could even see what had caused it, Santanico was running down the stage. She moved like a lethal blur, tackling the Ranger away from her chosen one.

"Sweet Jesus!" Richie gasped as he pulled the knife out, first having to wiggle it to dislodge it from the wood before pulling it out of his hand. The old bandages tinted with brighter, fresher blood.

Seth turned, pointing the gun at Odette's head as her fingers skimmed the glass bottle. "Are you fuckin' kidding me?" He looked insulted as she stopped her attempts. This may have been a vacation for the outlaws but it was still a hostage situation on their end. To be fair, if he'd given her the keys per the agreement, now twice ignored, she wouldn't have had to resort to violence.

Their own dispute was put on hold as the stripper was pulled off the ranger, her hisses drawing their attention. Their eyes narrowed and widened, the occupants that could see thoroughly terrified if not disgusted by the fact Santanico now had scales, fangs, and claws. The left hand of which easily ripped through a woman's neck as she tried to intervene.

The spill of blood was all it took for the club to erupt in utter chaos, more and more of the scantily clad women turning into monsters as they pounced on anyone they could. Carnage and blood soaking the wood floors as the free-for-all began. The music grew louder, only egging them on as they attacked.

"What the hell kind of floor show is this?" Seth put his back to Richard's turning around to keep from being pounced on. As they turned, he caught sight of the family. "Get under the table!" He ordered them. "Xena! Table!" He turned back to the crowd, checking his gone once more as he observed the frenzied mob.

Jacob stood, frozen in disbelief at the hell that spilt out around them. Whatever judgment he thought God was passing, it seemed clear they hadn't come out on the right side. His face dropped in horror, blue eyes wide and unmoving as he stared.

He heard a mumbling of words far off and half slurred. He saw his daughter stand before him instructing his view as she stared into his eyes. He didn't understand what was happening around him but he felt himself fall to his knees under his daughter's light push, following her under the table.

"Daddy, they're everywhere!" Kate cried, looking from one spot to the next, each met with violence or pure bloodshed. What violence she had witnessed that afternoon, was nothing compared to this. She closed her eyes, clinging to the table leg as she wished the sounds away. In-between screams, she could still hear that crushing thud of the bullet entering the deputies chest. It was too much. It was all too much...

"We can't stay here." Scott watched as they picked off the occupants one by one. Eventually, the chaos would calm, and there'd be no one to distract from the sitting Fuller ducks under the table. What was thought to be a rough bar fight had descended into something plain ungodly.

"We need to move. Now." Ettie agreed, seeing one mostly empty corner of the bar. It might be an exit, if not at least a place they could run to find one. Whatever it was, it was away from the center of the melee they'd found himself in the center of.

"No. No." Katie shook her head, afraid to leave the small safety they found. She clung to the table leg with a white-knuckle grip. Finally, she broke under the stress of the day. At this point, Ettie couldn't even blame her.

"Katie-cakes, we gotta move, please sweetheart." Jacob coaxed the girl, finding his voice at the sight of his baby girl in such distress. He watched as a tear escaped her eye, a choking sob forcing its way out that of her throat that reminded him of when she was a little(er) girl. His broken heart snapped him from his shock.

"Let's go. Let's go!" Scott watched as the last of the monsters joined a pile of what could only be described as feasting, leaving the back completely free. It was there only window, and it was rapidly closing.

"Hey!" Ettie called for her sister's attention. She extended her hand, holding it out with shocking steadiness. "I got you, kid. I promise." She looked into Kate's eyes, letting them say what she didn't have time to. With a frightened squeak, Kate let go of the table, taking her hand and being near dragged out from under the table as they took off across the club.

"Dad! Go, go, go!" Scott ushered their father to move faster as the club quickly devolved into more carnage than people. Ettie kept her sister's hand firmly clenched in hers, pulling her along as they tried behind the bar, searching for the door behind the thick curtains. Odette nearly whimpered as she came in contact with cold metal, pulling the heavy fabric aside to show they had been caged in. She and Kate looked around and above finding similar structures having fallen on the other hallways and windows. They were trapped.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Kate grabbed her sister's hand with both of her smaller ones, desperate for her to miraculously find a way out. Her sister always found trouble, but one way or another she found her way out it.

"Get down! Get down!" Ettie instructed. She herded them to the table beside the door, keeping close to the stone wall. Jacob cleared the table, placing it on its side to create a barrier between themselves and the demons that descended upon them. For a moment Jacob wondered if he was wrong. He truly believed god's wrath was descending upon them, punishing them for their sins and transgressions. Would god punish his children for his own misdeeds?

"The shotgun." Scott pointed to the only chance of defense. Jacob looked to his side to see said item left neglected in the middle of the floor. He crawled, trying to reach for it.

"Daddy, no!" Kate pulled him back as they were caught.

On the other side of the table, one of the fanged creatures popped up in surprise. She let her clawed hands wrap around the wood edge, displaying her razor sharp fingernails. The claws scratched deeply into the wood in warning. She stared at her food in an almost playful manner as she hissed. Kate screamed, her father desperately held up the only weapon he had. His cross.

He silently prayed, if not for himself than for the souls and safety of his children.

The cross did nothing. It simply elicited a curious sneer from the monster.

"Is that supposed to work? Why isn't it working?" Scott was frantic.

Their scaled creature flicked her forked tongue against the wood, testing its taste before chomping on it, swallowing it nearly whole after a few crunches.

With her reality crumbling around her, Kate turned to the one thing she knew. Prayer. "Our Lord who art in heaven, hallowed be your Name." She put her hands over her ears, burrowing into her father's side as she prayed with eyes closed. She prayed it all away. "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth-"

"Ain't no use in praying now," Jacob said motionless. He accepted his fate, closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around his frightened daughter.

The other Fuller's weren't so resigned.

"Do something! Do something!" Scott begged his sister. Ettie steeled herself, hoping the exposure would be worth it if Scott could get around their father and sister and to that gun. She motioned 'three' with her fingers, Scott understanding and at the ready. Ettie squeezed herself against the wall, bracing her feet on the wood. When the countdown was done, she pushed with all her might. "Move!" Ettie ordered as they became exposed. The wooden table had skidded against the floor, knocking the monster back and giving Scott the room he needed to skitter around them and dive for the sawn-off shotgun.

It was only a few second window. The bloodthirsty beast jumping back and baring her fangs a moment later. But it was all the time he needed. Scott fired the shotgun without a second thought.

What was once a head, exploded like a water balloon, spraying those around it with blood and shards of bone.

"Give ourselves our daily bread-" Kate gasped as she was hit with some of the spray. "But deliver us from evil." She whined, still too afraid to open her eyes.

The family went silent. Odette checked on her brother. He remained poised and frozen with the smoking gun still aimed as adrenaline coursed through his veins. A hint of a smile crossed his shocked face. He looked to his sister, seeing her give him a hesitant but proud nod.

Scott stared at the bloody mess, feeling the warm metal in his hand, he couldn't help but think: That felt really good...

---

The Gecko brothers weren't faring any better across the bar. While they shot hesitantly at first, it soon became easy to empty clip after clip into the bloodthirsty beasts. But with every one they shot it seemed another took its place.

"Richie, talk to me! I got a feeling you know what these things are!" Seth put his back to his brother's as Richie pulled out his knife, his gun now empty.

"No. I've seen them in a vision, but I have no clue what these things are."

"Puta!" Seth turned at the familiar voice seeing his antagonist fanged out, even uglier than he was before. And he'd brought his scaly buddies… "You miss me, mijo?" His forked tongue slithered between his fangs.

Seth cursed his luck, quite vocally. "Shit!"

"Your girl ain't here to save you now." He taunted with a cackle. "Let's dance." He hissed at them, sending his men in first.

His gun near empty, Seth tucked it into his pants, raising his fists in preparation. Amidst the house of horrors, a good old fashioned bar brawl broke out as they exchanged blows and bottles broken over heads. Seth stopped, his attention momentarily falling on the doorman sucking the blood from a fallen biker's neck. Catching him, he hissed warningly, a non-verbal promise he was next before continuing to feed.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say these things are vampires." Their attackers growled, rising for the floor for another round. "Richie!" Seth grabbed his brother by the arm, using the momentum to lift him in the air so he could kick the vampire in the face. Seth used the moments it gave them to swipe a broken chair leg from the floor. He didn't allow it a second thought as he ran forward, implanting it into the asshole's chest. With a painful roar, he cracked and crumbled to ash at Seth's feet.

Well, there was one mystery solved.

"Yeah. Yeah, definitely vampires!" Seth called, out of breath. "Go for the heart." He instructed, ignoring how ridiculous he felt while ordering it.

Seth jumped away when the floor opened up beside him. Around the room, trap doors opened, the dead and living falling through, or being kicked into them with no remorse.

The carnage died down and with it the music. Finally, the band ceased, signaling their retreat. "Thank you! Good night!" They fled behind the curtain, the girls following their lead into various passageways and climbing up the walls to escape. With a grim boom, everything sealed behind them once more.

But one still remained, too prideful to leave even when he should.

Seth was taken from the side, the stake in his hand twisted away and tossed the ground. The doorman bared his fangs, hissing at him with a forked tongue. He wasn't ready to give up the fight just yet.

"I thought you were ugly before." Seth backed away, keeping his eyes on the enemy as he felt around for the stake with his foot.

It smiled at him. "Don't worry, chulo. Once I'm done with you, you're gonna look just as pretty as me." He gestured to his scaled face. "And then I'm gonna have fun with that little puta of yours." From between his fangs, his tongue darted out, licking his lips in anticipation. "Sweet, sweet cherry pie."

Seth glanced down, finding the stake angled on the severed leg of what was once a truck-driver. "We'll… she's a feisty one, let me tell ya." He couldn't help but bait. He stomped on the angled stake, flipping it up and into his hand as he was pounced on. The wood hit home in the monster's heart, finishing him off and leaving him to drop to ash at Seth's feet.

"That's your best face yet." Seth picked up the steak from the ash pile.

Across the ways, Richie was finishing his own fight, using his knife to stab one of the vampires. He watched as it turned to ash before turning around.

He froze. The woman, Santanico, seemed to stumble into his line of sight. She wiped her mouth of blood, missing the congealed and crusted fluid staining her chin and neck. Not a woman, he reminded himself, a monster...

Richard raised his knife at her.

"It's all right, Richard." She called to him. Richie kept the knife pointed at her chest even as she came closer. "It's me." She cooed. Approaching like a long lost lover. "I've been waiting for you."

Richard looked into her brown eyes, feeling his arm lower without his consent. His mouth parted as if expecting a kiss.

Santanico instead, hissed.

Seth stepped beside his brother, not hesitating to shoot at her. Richard flinched as she quickly turned away, shifting into her monstrous form and releasing a pained, furious growl at the offense.

"Stop!" He rounded on his brother when he fired again, this time hitting her stomach. As they distracted each other, Santanico slid away. She disappeared behind one of the many corridors, leaving them alone at last. "Why did you do that?!"

"Because she's a goddamn monster!" Seth yelled back. His handsome face relaxed even though his hooded eyes were livid. He put the gun to his brother's nose, regarding him with new suspicion. "Now you answer me this: Why has she been waiting for you?" Richard's eyes crossed attempting to look at the gun pointed between them. "Answer the question," Seth ordered.

Richard slapped the weapon away from his face. "Get that gun outta my face."

"Says the guy who put a knife to my neck." Seth bitterly reminded him. He returned the favor, positioning it at Richard's throat this time. "You know, all this time I thought I was the one that brought us here, that I did the deal with Carlos…" Seth smiled in fake cheer, darkly amused at the betrayal. "Turns out, you've been a part of this club before I even knew it existed." He lost all sign of amusement. He stared at his brother accusingly.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Richard's volume grew. "After everything I've done for you?! Sonny doesn't betray Michael, Seth. That was Fredo!"

"Then explain the knife." Seth pointed the gun briefly to the ground in well practiced, but thoughtless habit. It was one thing to motion with your hands. It was another when a gun was usually in them...

"It's a blade, it cuts things!" Richie flashed the knife sarcastically.

"I ditched it at a liquor store hundreds of miles from here, and it still found its way back to you. Now it turns out Carlos is the guys who gave it to you in the first place?" Seth's brows furrowed deep on his forehead. If it wasn't for the fact he'd done and witnessed it himself, he wouldn't believe it.

"Now you're twisting things around!"

"Well, then set me straight!" Seth's voice was almost hoarse with his shouting, the emotions he refused to show threatening to come out at the idea his brother was someone how involved in this. What he did to that woman in texas was one thing… but Richie was a part of this and brought him into it… Well, Seth wasn't sure he could forgive that.

"Hey!" Odette called their attention, stepping onto the stage beside them with surprising grace. "Shut it!" She ordered.

Seth's brows rose in surprise, not liking the authority she seemed to think she held here. Sadly for him, the playing field had been leveled. This was no longer a hostage hierarchy, but a free for all survival game. And they seemed to be losing…

"Will you two quit it?!" Jacob stepped onto the stage beside them, his children in tow. They looked down at the brothers in more way than one. "We don't have time for you to play Cain and Abel. We just got attacked by the devil's legion!"

Seth and Richard spared a sparse narrowed glance at each other. Like true brothers, their urge to murder each other quickly calmed by the bigger picture. Both brothers put their weapons away.

"We need to find a way outta here." Seth agreed. He let his should collide with his brother's as he passed. He studied the thick wood and metal that barricaded the doors. For a moment he looked like he was thinking of some well thought out, bank robbing scheme. Ettie observed with her arms crossed. Maybe he was putting those safe cracking skills to work…

Seth fired three shots in quick succession at the locks.

Ettie rolled her eyes. She wandered away, joining her family in trying to look for another entrance or exit.

"Stop! Stop!" Richie ordered him. "It's no use." He stepped up to the door and looked it over. He removed his glasses and rubbed the lenses on his sleeve to get rid of the blood. When he placed them back, his blue eyes took on an intense studious note. He overlooked the door, bottom from top only to silently frown. "Looks like they've got tempered steel deadbolts all the way up and down." There was no getting through that. At Least not with what they had in the bar.

"There's no way out." Ettie stood next to Richard looking at the door wistfully as she summarized the two group's findings.

"We checked everything backstage. There's no windows. There's no corridors. Not even an access to the kitchen." Jacob informed sadly. "This place is sealed up tighter than a drum."

In a sudden flash of frustration, Odette kicked the door out of spite. She slammed her hands against the ancient, yet sturdy, wood and allowed her shoulders to sag and her head to fall as she leaned against the door.

The worst day of her life was shaping up to be quite possibly last day of her life.

"Fuck my luck." She whined quietly wishing she'd just listen to her sister and turned back when they had the chance.

"So we're stuck in here with those whatever they are?" Kate looked fearful as she crossed her arms. Her nails bit into her arm, more anxious than angry as her posture implied.

"Well, why don't you ask Richie what they are. He's seen them before."

"In my mind." Richie defended.

Ettie's brows furrowed, straightening to look at the brothers with a renewed confusion. Was no one gonna ask about the 'mind' part?

"Bullshit." Seth pointed his finger accusingly at Richie. "You played me like an 8-track."

"You knew about those things?" Kate's voice wavered. The hurt was clear on her face at the betrayal. Once more Odette had to give her sister a strange look at the emotional reaction. When did they become best-friends? "I begged you to let us go."

"I knew that something was coming, but I didn't know what it was." Richie felt the need to defend himself. Seth pinched the bridge of his nose, wiping his eyes tiredly. "How could I possibly know that everybody in this bar was gonna turn into a-" Richard couldn't find the words so Kate provided them for him.

"They're vampires, aren't they?" She nearly whispered.

"No, I don't believe in vampires." He was quick to rebut.

Seth huffed and spread his arms out challengingly. "Well, neither do I, Richard." Reminding his brother that Richard wasn't one to judge sanity at the moment. "However, setting aside the sheer absurdity of this conversation, they have fangs and they die when you stab them in the heart. So I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say Mexican Dracula."

"Except one of them ate my cross." Jacob debated. If he was going to go with the ridiculous theory, he might as well point out the flaw in it.

"Is this God's judgment, Daddy?" Kate asked quietly.

Her father swallowed, regretting a lot of things tonight, and that conversation being one of them. He should have had faith. If not in God's will than in the unparallelled stubbornness of his own daughter. He looked at Ettie, seeing the determined look on her now hardened features. At this point, he didn't think anything could kill that girl. He deflected the question, and his own guilt, onto Richard...

"Don't ask me. He's the one with the gift of sight, apparently." Jacob glowered at Richie. The taller brother dropped down into a seat. His hand clenched in a fist leaving one middle finger up and pointed as he clenched his jaw and glowered back. A clear threat in his eyes. He'd take his brother's shit as usual, but he wasn't going to start answering to a priest. His father had beat that line of honest living out of them long ago.

It was Scott who gave their answer. His eyes searched the sculptures and faded paintings on the wall, a sense of familiarity coming to him like a spine shivering sense of deja vu as he looked at the scaled faces that littered the floor. "I think they might be Mayan or Aztec or something." He thought aloud.

"Scott." Kate scolded.

"Wait a second, what did you say?" Seth pointed at the boy, demanding he continue. He'd given up on the idea of insane theories. Strippers were growing fangs and eating people. At this point, he was sure any theory was a good theory at this point. He just needed to know what the fuck he had to do or kill to get out of this horror show.

"Given that we're in Mexico and all…" He hesitantly began. "It makes sense that these things might be, like, Mayan or Aztec." He fidgeted under their collective gazes.

"Huh?" Seth asked. He wasn't sure what that had to do with anything.

Scott grew more confident as he looked around. "I mean, those guys always have snakes in their art." The group followed his line of sight. Sure enough finding the same snake-ish images Scott had. "And I read about an ancient race of bloodsucking reptiles! They terrorize people, hunt at the nighttime, tear them apart limb from limb with fangs, and scales, and wings." Seth stared at the boy intently as he rambled off. Suddenly Scott grew still. "Just like frog legs." He whispered in wondered thought.

A beat of silence passed amongst them. "What?" Seth shook his head.

"Oh, my God, Scott." Kate realized. "This is from your stupid wrestling magazine, isn't it?"

And just like that, Scott lost all credibility.

"Really, kid?" Seth challenged, annoyed by the misdirection. This was serious, not some stupid comic.

A new voice would come to his rescue.

"Actually, the kid's not far off."

Seth was gun-ready as always. He stepped forward, as it aimed at the surprise survivor.

Sex Machine raised his hands in a calm defense. "Whoa, easy there, Tex." He gestured for him to take a moment to think. "Put down the gun."

Seth's brow jumped in dark amusement. "I should say the same thing to you." He glanced to the weaponized crotch. That was certainly a new one…

Their suprise guest looked to Odette, smiling at her with a nervous grin. "Tell him it's all good, Feisty." He begged. Seth tightened his grip on the gun. He turned his head, to listen for Odette's reassurance.

"Shoot him." She droned, even less amused than Seth at the nickname. Seth raised his brows, at the ready and adjusting his grip like he very well would.

The middle-aged blonde laughed weakly, passing it off as a joke. "Come on now, lady." His previous confident face crumbled into a smiling plea.

Odette sighed and rolled her eyes. "Don't shoot him...yet." She glowered at the creep.

"Who is this person?" Jacob asked, aghast and disgusted. He was always a protective father, but he'd gotten off easy all these years. With such beautiful daughters, it was only their religious status and his position in the church that had kept Jacob from hearing anything but the utmost respect towards his daughters from young men.

"He calls himself Sex Machine." Kate felt her own eyes roll. She was so done with this mess.

"Subtle," Richie commented from his seat.

Seth turned to look at the girls. "Excuse me?" Jacob asked, surely having heard wrong.

"He was at the Rattler, too," Kate informed tellingly. Her harasser became almost embarrassed by that fact, backing away as he knew what was sure to follow. "He keeps trying to hit on Ettie and me."

"Is that right?"

"Son of a bi-" Seth raised his gun once more, Jacob and Scott aggressing on the blonde man as well.

Sex Machine took a few quick strides backwards. "Now, hold on a second. The name's Aiden Tanner, Professor Aiden Tanner. I'm undercover as Sex Machine."

"You? You're a Professor?" Kate asked dubiously.

Ettie let out a startling snort sound covering her mouth before the laughter escaped before becoming giggles. She had to turn away, approaching Richie and picking up the tequila bottle from his table. "Of course you are." She chortled. If there was a Mexican Dracula, why not a Professor Cockgun? She took a large drink from the bottle, ignoring her father's disapproving look. She may be an addict, but she was only human. And fuck, she really needed a drink.

"Yeah. Department of archaeology, Alamo State. I was consulting with one ranger Gonzalez about a series of bloody killings along the U.S./Mexico border. And when he left, I realized he was on the trail of something epic." Tanner sighed in delight. "So I decided to follow him, and it brought me here." That delight became regret as he looked around.

"Well, at least you got a choice." Ettie sung, staring at Seth in blame as she wandered back over.

He ignored the pointed gaze. "Yeah. Okay. So what do you mean, the kid's 'not far off'?" Seth, once more, absent mindedly pointed the gun in the kid's direction. Ettieexasperatedly grabbed his wrist pushing so her brother was out of its line of fire. Seth didn't even react.

"What I mean is-"

"These are Mexican Dracula." Richie cut to the chase.

"Exactly. Ladies and gentlemen, we are standing in the domain of the Waxaklahun Ubah Kan or Los Culebras, which, in Spanish, means-"

"Serpent." Richard and Odette translated.

Tanner's thunder stolen, he gave a pout. "Yes. Now, I've been studying this cult for over 10 years." He gestured to one of the carvings on the wall. The all seeing eye that seemed to be haunting Seth. "They worship the Vision Serpent. This is their territory. Their glyphs are all over these walls. I mean, I've I've seen their writings before, but never anything like this." He was downright giddy. "We're standing on sacred ground. This place is a source of immense power for these people."

"People?" Seth scoffed.

Tanner gave a coy, knowing look. His left eyebrow raising tantalizingly. "When they want to be..."

They didn't like where this was going.

The Professor pulled a dead culebra by the lapels, lifting him onto the table with Seth's help. The rest of his impromptu class surrounded the table to learn. This wasn't in any of the biology classes, Ettie remembered.

"A lot of what we hear about vampires comes from the Spanish missionaries' misconceptions about these Culebras. They had most of it right, but these puppies are more snake than bat. Check this out." He turned the Culebra's head, tracing the raised and visible veins that spread from the better of the neck. "Venom glands." He explained. "And look at this." Tanner pried the mouth open. The sickening moist suction sound making Kate and Seth flinch.

Scott and a few braver ones leaned slower to get a better look. "See the fangs?" Tanner brazenly put his thumbs against them. "Conical in shape. And they fold up against the gums, right?" He pressed down, bending them back before letting them go. The fangs popped back up with a subtle snick. "'Cause they hinge down like a snake."

"That's insane." Scott's sounded both horrified and giddy. Entertained by the notion he had been right. Typical teenage boy...

"Yeah. Well, the codices say that these guys are descendants from the mistress, who was a nice young lady that the snake God transformed into a bloodsucking demi-Goddess. Just think succubus."

Seth stiffly rotated his body, directing his hooded tired eyes to Richard. The younger brother looked away.

"But then," Tanner shrugged. "neither she nor these Culebras are supposed to exist."

Seth rolled his neck. "Yeah, well, it's been that kind of day."

The Culebra gives a weak wheezing hiss as its head turned. Clearly it wasn't as dead as they thought.

"We better make sure these things are dead." Seth rearmed himself with the stake. "I mean, really, really dead." He forced the chair leg into the heart, the hissing lasting a second longer before it turned to ash like the rest.

"Makes sense. Destroying the blood organ kills them." The professor and Seth motioned for the rest of them to split apart. "You know what to do."

---

"So, this mistress... is that Santanico Pandemonium?" Seth questioned the professor. He opened his revolver, refilling the chamber as the survivors regrouped.

"I don't know. Could be. I mean, she sure put the hurt on them bikers, squashed them like they were little cockroaches." He cringed, disgusted at the memory.

"Well, Professor, unlike you, my brother here has had a little field research on the subject." He finished loading the revolver, spinning it closed with a heavy click. "So, how about it, Richie? Why don't you tell us all about your little dancing queen?" He challenged.

"Who is she?" Kate asked.

A storm of emotions passed through Seth as he stared at his brother. Some part of him was grateful his brother wasn't as certifiable as he'd believed. He had a reluctant hope that when they got out of here they could leave this, and their sudden murder spree, behind. The other part of him, a rather large part, was enraged by the fact he'd so blindly let his brother lead him into this mess. The crazy talk and the ploys and the… Seth blinked. He shifted uncomfortably, still put off by the sight that had greeted him in the hotel room.

Richie had always been an odd ball. Seth knew that. But these past twenty-four hours had proven he'd finally cracked that big brilliant head of his. The only question that remained was: Did he lead him into this knowing or unknowingly?

He didn't think he could handle the betrayal if it was the former.

"You told me she led you here." Seth pressed. He remembered the words, despite the passing comment. He was done sweeping his mess under the rug. The promise of El Rey blinding him to what had been unfurling around him all day. Not anymore.

Richard flexed his injured hand, remembering seeing Santanico through it. Remembering her words and the desperation that had lured him in. "She wanted me to set her free." A flurry of whispered words he's once ignored buzzing through his head. His hand twitched, the pain from the combined injures jolted up his arm, bringing him back from the rabbit hole his memory was about to send him on. "By killing her, I think."

"You killing her or her killing us?" Ettie asked quietly.

Seth looked from his brother to her. Odette, caught his gaze to see the momentary hurt in his eyes at the idea. He quickly turned back to his brother, his stare demanding he answer.

Richard didn't need to look at the rest of them to know their were varying degrees of disgust and betrayal. He swallowed, unable to look towards the burning look that he knew was Kates. "I don't know." He repeated tersely. "I could feel her inside my head, and she was pulling me close. And, yeah, I think it was to this place." He admitted that much. From the moment he saw the old building covered in neon lights, he felt a sense of relief that crossing the border hadn't granted him.

"What do they want?" Jacob spoke, not caring about the ego filled stare off between the brothers. "Knowing that could help us figure a way out of here."

"Maybe us being here pissed them off." Kate theorized.

"Doubt it." Richard shot the theory down. "You seen the signs outside? This entire club is designed to lure people in."

Amidst the desolate desert, the bar stood as a beacon of civilization. The bright neon lights and tower of flames lured in its occupants like a moth to a flame. Too bad it turned out to be one hell of a bug zapper.

"And it keeps them here." Ettie thought aloud. Once more she and Seth exchanged a look. "The car." was all she said. Seth's mouth parted in sickly surprise.

Covered in dust, and unwisely left unlocked admist a host of unsavey characters, what seemed like a strangely dedicated throwback had turned out to be just that. It became very clear to them at that moment the Culebras had been doing this for quite sometime. And they'd been getting away with it.

Seth watched as Ettie's hardened face took on a short lived look of soft vulnerability at the realization no one else had left alive. They probably wouldn't either. It was strange, seeing a fleeting look of sadness on her face. He felt a stab of guilt low in his gut. He may have partook in the shootouts and fire, but if this family died, it would be his kills, not Richie's. He turned away, afraid she might cry. Crying women twisted him up in the worst way, bringing back less than great memories of his mother. He didn't need that shit right now.

Kate looked around the ancient bar, the carved symbols seeming to have more meaning than a tacky theme. "What is this place?" She whimpered.

Professor Tanner placed a hand on the wall, tracing the intricate stone carvings that littered its surface. "Well, from the markings on these walls, I'd say this bar was built on top of a temple like the Spanish conquistadors did with Tenochtitlan."

"Okay, Indy-with-a-cock-gun," Seth waved his gun at the offending appendage, shaking off the twisting feeling of guilt and trying to wrap his mind around the barrage of information. "What kind of temple?"

"The kind where people come and make offerings to the vision serpent."

"Blood offerings?" Kate guessed.

Odette looked to Kate, finding her attention focused to the floor. Below their feet, small cracks between the laid stone worked as a system of canals, collecting the floor spilt throughout the club. Following the burgundy liquid, Kate stopped above a hole in the floor, the rest of the group joining to watch as it drained below.

At least that explained why a 'vampire' would waste so much blood in their frenzy.

"If it's blood that they want They're gonna want more soon." The young girl looked at the blood slowing in its trickle.

"She's right." Tanned pulled a paper flyer from the wall, moving a few items to clear the path of his eyes. "The glyphs are right here on the walls. Ugh, these ancient pre-Mayan cultures are amazing engineers!" He nearly jumped in his excitement. "This isn't just a bar on a temple. This place is a giant people juicer!" He was the only one excited by that new information.

Seth looked back at Richard, visibly swallowing back his sarcastic comment.

"People juicer?" Kate repeated, "For who?" her eyebrows rose.

"For what?" Odette corrected. That hardened look of determination returned to her face. She would not be 'people-juiced' and hell if she'd let her family either.

"If this is a feeding, under naturalistic conditions, then their nutritional autonomy might be hierarchical."

"Okay. Okay. English, Professor, please."

"What I mean is, there's a pecking order. One group ravages the herd and sends the prime cuts to the next group. It's like..."

"Hookers feed the pimps, pimps feed the capos, capos feed the bosses." Seth summarized in his own language. "I get it. What I don't get is how do we shut it down?"

"I don't know." He admitted. "I do know who's on the menu, though..."

"Seriously, dude?" Scott scoffed. "You need a Ph.D. to figure that out?"

Tired of his spark being outshined and being cut off, the Professor glowered. "You're one rude little bastard."

Kate grabbed her brother, keeping him from lunging at the dick.

"Wanna try that again?" Odette took a step forward, a warning in her tone that had Tanner back away. The professor looked pleadingly to the pretty-boy, asking him to control his girlfriend.

Seth stood from his seat on the table. "All right. Just relax." He placed a hand on Odette's shoulder, pushing back to keep her from advancing as he disarmed the growing tension. "Everybody take it easy, okay? Now, look, I get that we're all a ragtag bunch of ramblers here." He looked amongst the family and his brother. "But my guess is tonight's not gonna have a Scooby-Doo ending." Kate's eyes fell to the floor, and everyone shifted awkwardly at the unpleasant, but true, words. "So whatever beefs we got, forget them, or else we're all gonna get juiced. Or worse off, end up like the Cisco kid did earlier."

"Yeah, where is ranger Gonzalez?" Tanner looked around the room, remembering the Ranger for the first time. "What happen to him?"

"Forget it. Let's just worry about the next wave." He dismissed.

"We need a plan."

"That's easy." Scott stepped on stage lifting a shotgun in his hand and a wooden stake in the other. "Grab as many guns, knives, and wooden stakes as you can. That way, when those bloodsuckers come back, even if we can't kill them, we will make them wish they were never unborn."

"We're gonna need a better plan than that." Richie dismissed the juvenile bravado.

"You got one?" Seth near dared. Because Richie's plans had ended so well for them today, Seth thought bitterly.

Richard smirked, tilting his head as he saw pieces come together in his head. "It's coming to me."

---

The Fullers and Tanner were put to work gathering any gun, knife, and lengthy piece of wood they could. At the bar, Richie and Seth worked on their main line of defense.

Using their knives to open various shotgun shells and bullets, prying open the primer at the end and emptying the gun powder into a group of emptied jars and bottles. Richard paused in their assembly line, turning his attention to breaking apart their cheap disposable phone.

After Kate dropped off another pile of bullets, Seth looked around the room at the blood painted room. He couldn't keep his anger in any longer. "Still can't believe it." He quietly scoffed.

Richie misunderstood the source of his annoyance. "Eh, get over it. We live in a world with Culebras."

"Plan this job, make a deal with Carlos, I keep it together-" His brows rose in self-importance. "-get us all the way across the border for what? To get served up on a goddamn silver platter." He wiggled the sharp blade into the shell, popping it open and pouring the gunpowder into his jar. He picked another bullet, repeating the process like he had the past fifty times.

Richard's eyes lifted to his brow in a restrained roll. He picked up on the ominosity directed at him. Not that his brother was very subtle about it. "Seth." Richie warned. He wasn't in the mood for his shit at the moment, trying to focus on dissecting the phone.

"I mean, was that the plan? Keep the money for yourself, let us get eaten? Hmm?" Seth stabbed into the bullet, nearly losing a finger in the process.

"I didn't have a plan."Richie kindly reminded. "You were in charge, which you reminded me of every five seconds." He defended.

Seth gritted his teeth. He thought he was in charge. Turns out he was being played at every angle. Seth gave a mirthless chuckle. "Thirty-six jobs."

Richard put the phone down, realizing this conversation wouldn't die easy. He braced his clenched hands on the bar, turning his head to look down at his brother. "Thirty-five. You did the last one without me, big papa, and it got you tossed in the can." He snidely corrected, reminding his brother why they needed each other.

"Yeah, where I still put this together, and dragged you out of your little unabomber shack. You remember that? Or was that part of the act, too?"

Richard's face scrunched in disbelief, shaking his head in denial as it raised. "Okay. What is this act that you keep talking about?" He stared down at his brother, straightening to his full height. Seth may have been older but Richie has always been taller.

"Greatest long con in history, I guess." Seth mumbled. "You pulled it on me. And I consider myself to be the Picasso of bullshit artists. But you? You painted a goddamn Rivera mural." Seth gave a bitter smile.

"You're so up your own ass right now." Richie gave a halfhearted laugh.

"Yeah, well, I was an easy target. In a million years, I never could have seen this coming."

Richie sniffed, humoring him. "Yeah. Why's that?"

Seth's hand slammed onto the table, throwing the knife to the counter. "Because I'm your brother, Richard!" He turned, facing him full on with a genuine look of cold hatred in his eyes. "I'm your brother." He reaped softer. It used to be the against the world… Now it seemed the whole of the cosmic universe was against him on this miraculously shit day.

"You know, you're right. We have a sacred bond." Richard admitted coldly. He was ready to ask a few questions of his own.

"Yeah, real sacred. Not to you." Seth waved his hand before Richie's face. "Wave twenty million dollars in front of your face, all that goes away, right?"

Richie almost smirked. "Don't you mean sixteen million?"

Seth recoiled, his gut flipping. A forced doubtful expression crossed his features. He shifted away from his brother, tucking tail to run as he resumed his work. "Our take was twenty mil."

"Did you think that I wasn't gonna find out about the missing four million?" Richie said quiety, a thin trace of threat underlying his words. He was the genius, the child prodigy, yet Seth always acted like without him he was an overgrown child, too simple for the world. Well fuck him.

"What are you talking about?" Seth denied.

Richie shifted his feet, going along with this poorly constructed charade. For the Picasso of bullshit artists, he couldn't lie to his own brother for shit. "Okay. Let's imagine the most expensive pineapple burger ever made. 'Cause that is what you went to the Big Kahuna Burger to buy… Am I correct?" He challenged.

Seth bit his tongue, knowing he'd been caught. He'd taken a couple bonds, four million in total, and used the guise of picking up food to meet with his ex wife.

Odette dropped off a new stock of bullets, looking between the brothers with a curious gaze as they stood frozen staring at each other. "Okay." She said softly, taking her leave. Seth watched as she left, giving a quick glance around the bar to make sure no one was listening to their business before tearing into him.

---

"Book of revelation didn't prepare you for this." Tanner dropped a pile of wooden legs on the table. "But then I guess you probably chalk this all up to God, huh?"

Jacob continued sharpening the stake into a point, finishing with one before picking up another. "Actually, I blame the Gecko brothers." He looked towards the bar, catching their stand off. He didn't like the way Seth's eyes followed his oldest.

"I wouldn't be so quick to judge. There's an old story about the hero twins Very old story. Xbalanque and Hunahpu. They descend into the underworld, and they best the dark lords. It's in the old book, the sacred book, the Popol Vuh." He cocked the gun he'd found, making sure it was leaded and ready.

"I can't say I've read that one." he admitted.

"I wouldn't imagine you had."

"I got my lord and you got yours. But I believe mine can save us. Trick is to find the light again, share it with those you love before it's too late for all of us." He looked towards his youngest children ahead, Tanner following his gaze. Perhaps he and Ettie couldn't be saved, but they'd done nothing wrong. He'd die giving them a chance, if that's what it took to save them from this darkness that surrounded them.

Scott put down a few sharpened stakes and a machete. With a flourish he slammed it into the side of the table, the hefty blade cutting through the wood like butter before lodging in it. "That will work."

"You al'right?" Kate gave her brother a scrutinizing look as she sorted through bullets. For every one she saved to be fired, she put another to the side to be deconstructed. That and counting was what she was left to do and her siblings scoured the club and scavenged weapons from the dead.

"Yeah" Scott dismissed, missing her concerned gaze as he cracked his knuckles and pulled shotgun pellets from his jacket pocket. "I'd be better if crazy lizard beasts weren't trying to kill us." He mused.

Kate looked at her sister, knowing he'd never admit it in front of Ettie. For some reason she couldn't fathom, he spent more time trying to impress her than he did either of their parents. He was always trying to be so brave… "I know you're scared." She said softly, half hopping he would admit it so she wasn't the only one. The terror of having a gun pointed to her head was nothing compared to witnessing people being torn limb from limb. At least a bullet would be quick and painless. Kate shivered at the thought.

"I'm not scared." He answered. He was…. Energized. It felt like he'd woken up from a groggy slumber, oddly clear headed and ready for anything. It was adrenaline, Ettie had told him. But Scott felt it went deeper than just a thrill.

Kate ignored his denials, putting them off as him trying to be tough. "I am, too," she admitted, trying to coax him.

Scott's eyes narrowed, almost offended at the notion. "I said: I'm not scared." His lips hinted at a bitter smile. "Be glad I'm doing something." He glared at her. "Between your praying and his surrendering to a higher power-" They had almost died.

Scott looked to his father, regarding him with something akin to disgust.

"He froze." Kate defended.

"He froze?" Scott scoffed. "He doesn't have it in him."

Kate looked frightened, seeing her brother in a new light. "He doesn't have what in him, Scott?"

Scott didn't answer. Instead he left, joining Odette in searching bodies for weapons and breaking chairs. Kate was once again, left alone. Yet another pair of siblings ripping apart. Across the bar, a commotion drew their attention.

---

"Who'd you really give the money to, Seth?" Richard challenged. Seth sighed, turning away. "I can't hear you, brother." Richard leaned closer, wondering if he was trying to whisper it.

"Okay, look." Seth straightened, facing him again. "Whatever you think that you know about that four million-"

"Do you think that I don't know that the money is for Vanessa?" His voice rose. "Do you want to talk about the long con and the master grift? You have to take the prize, Seth. What were you two lovebirds gonna do? Go buy that stupid bar in the Keys that she's always squawking about?"

The attempt to turn the betrayal on him made Seth snap. "You moron! Do you honestly think that I would be here if I was gonna bail on you? Does that make sense?" Seth pointed to his own head, wishing Richie would start using his. "It was the opposite! I paid her to stay away. She was supposed to cross with us." He gestured between them. "You remember that? Yeah, but, no, she didn't. Why? 'Cause I told her I had to take you to El Rey!" His voice grew in volume, attracting the attention of the rest of the group.

"Okay, yeah. Here we go." Richie rolled his eyes. Since the beginning, all Seth could talk about was his magical El Rey. A beach paradise where they would want for nothing and never be bothered. Richie doubted it was even real.

But Seth had hope. He had a dream. A life without looking over his shoulder, without the cons. A life with a beautiful woman and a vault full of money, living in paradise to the end of his days.

"I gave it up for you. For you. You understand me? I said goodbye to my only chance at any kind of - any sane, normal existence." He stuttered seeing the dreams turns to dust in front of his eyes. "And for what? Hmm? So you could get a seat at the table with these goons. 'Cause let's face it. That's all they really are, right? Just another crew, another version of Bernardo and the Sharks."

"The Sharks were Puerto Rican, you idiot." Richard couldn't help but attack, defensive because a small part of him knew he was right. This hadn't gone to plan, not that Richard had a plan, but he knew without a doubt that, just like when they were kids, Seth had given up a lot to keep him with him.

"Was it that piece of ass on stage then?" Seth guessed. Guessed right, going off the way his brother immediately stiffened, glaring at him from the corner of his eye in challenge. "Oh. That's it, isn't it?" He said softer. "So that's what she taught you to do with your little knife. Back-stab."

"I'm getting real sick of you calling me a traitor." Richie sneered.

Seth stared into his brother's eyes, a long awaited confession bubbling forth. If he was gonna die, he might as well lay all the card on the table. "You know, my entire life, I have felt like I've owed you something because you pulled me out of that fire when we were kids. I'm getting real sick of paying vig on that."

"So what are you gonna do about it?" Richie leaned forward, a brow the in challenge. They talked the talk, but when it came down to it they always stuck together. Them against the world…

That was a different world. Not anymore. "As soon as we're out of here, you and me, we're done." There was an air of finality to it, leaving no room for backtalk or debate as Seth walked away. He couldn't stand looking at his brother a moment longer.

---

Backing themselves against the door, the survivors maintained the high ground as they created a protective perimeter around themselves. Having learned their lesson, they gave themselves room to move, and flee if needed, behind their overturned tables. The Fuller family stood center, behind the thickest of wood, the pooltable. Tanner and the Gecko brothers flanked them on either side, more exposed with the thinner rounder tables to the sides.

They waited in tense silence. The tension in the air seemingly having no effect on the brothers as they casually rested their elbows on top of the wall, gun hanging loosely in Seth's grip as he looked board enough to fall asleep.

While they were the most relaxed, their younger hostages were the most anxious. Scott held the machete in his hand with white knuckles, deeply breathing through his nose as he tried to fight the urge to move. His energy was wavering, and with it, his patience. He was eager for the fight.

His sister? Not quite...

Kate's arms grew sore, just barely able to extend her arms above the wood top as she held the gun tightly. Her eyes darted ever which was, waiting for any sign of life. It came in the sound of a mechanical clinking, chains quickly lifting and falling behind walls as the barricaded corridors opened outside their range of sight. The younger Fuller girl gave a shuddering breath, feeling her hair stand on edge. The fences fell in place with a quicker, duller boom. Kate dared to finally look away, turning to her sister for encouragement.

Ettie stood still, her taller frame providing a much more comfortable placement as she casually rested her hand on the table edge. Beside her leg, the gun rested peacefully, no shake or fearful grip like her sibling's. Kate wished she could be that calm. Odette felt her gaze, giving her a flinching smile in encouragement. Kate quickly followed her lead, looking back at the open bar once more. It was gonna be okay. It was gonna be okay… She just had to keep telling herself that between her silent prayers.

"Stay calm. Don't fire until you have them in your sight." Seth reminded them. They didn't have to wait long to be found.

A once beautiful seductress, now covered in blood and infused with snake scales, emerged from the side of the stage. She was soon followed by a much more gruesome counterpart. Unlike the other Culebras, he was covered in faded snake skin all around. Foot long, talon like swords splitting his hands while smaller bumpier spikes sprouted from his shoulders and down his arms. He may have been bigger than the rest, but he was just one asshole all the same. Seth could deal with that.

"Seven against two. I like those odds."

He spoke too soon.

While they had cleared the floor of the visible Culebras, they had overlooked the ticking time bombs that lingered. The bikers, truckers, and a familiar pervert that were bitten and ripped into, all woke from their dead slumber. Transformed, they turned their attention to the guns aimed at their creators in a primal force of pack vs. pray.

"They just got biblically worse."Jacob nervously adjusted the shotgun in hand.

Richiard's thick eyebrows came together. "Wait a second. I know that lugnut and his biker chick." The biker has bet against him in an early round of throwing knives. And from what chaos Richard could remember, he and his girlfriend had been the first to die at Santanico's hands. "They weren't Culebras before."

"Neither the perv, either." Scott sneered in disgust at the trucker that tried to buy him.

"Yeah, well, they are now."

Seeing his son eagerly bounce on the heels of his feet, Jacob felt now was his only opportunity to speak to him about the growing violence Scott seemed to have no trouble enacting. "Scott, listen to me. Don't let your anger get the best of you. There's a fine line between self-defense and depraved violence." He spoke quietly, hushed amongst the others.

"Dad, I got this," Scott assured. He didn't need his father giving him advice.

"There are better ways to channel your grief." He reminded. He'd seen how eager, how proud, Scott was with his attack. While he wanted to believe it was pride for defending his family, something about it just sat wrong in his gut. Jacob looked at his son, feeling the same sense of unfamiliarity as when he'd found first Ettie with track marks in her arms all those years ago. He wouldn't let him slip to that point. He wouldn't lose this one to the darkness of the world, as well.

Scott looked at him calmly, unphased by the death around them, his dark eyes glinting with the adrenaline that pumped through his systems. "Who says I'm channeling grief?"

"Right! It's time to ring the dinner bell." Tanner hit the drum cymbal in his hand, drawing their attention with the obnoxious sound. "Culebras, come out to play-ay!" He lured them closer as he backed away from the fort. With a thrust, he fired the first shot. The brothers soon followed his lead.

"They're still coming!" Kate began to panic.

"Keep shooting!"

"Ugh, I shot my load." Tanner gruffed.

Seth fired his own gun only to hear the sharp click of an empty round. "I'm out!" With their firepower quickly dwindling, Seth gave Richard the cue. As the Culebras enclosed on their trap, they retreated behind the tables.

Richard dialed the number to the disposable phone. "Everybody down."

"This better work." Tanner cursed, crouched low behind the table, kept away from the women with their fathers unwelcoming form. The old man sure had boney elbows...

"It'll work." He promised. The phone gave a telling beep, alerting the Culebras to the trap moments before it exploded. Shrattenal fired in all directions, piercing the Culebras with wood shards, and leveling those he stood in the room. Some died quickly, succumbing to the round of tiny stakes and turning to ash. Others were proving to be a more durable foe.

Scott was the first to rise, catching sight of the stipper pulling wood from her stomach. The stake hadn't hit anything vital, leaving her weakened, but enraged. She growled menacingly at them. Ignoring his sister's cry, he lept over their wood wall, charging at her without fear.

"Scott!" Kate screamed.

He ran towards her with his machete at the ready, intent to finish the job. The Gecko Brothers and Odette following after. Jacob pulled his youngest daughter back, holding her as he looked on helplessly. Scott was right, Kate realized, their father didn't have it in him to run into a fight.

Scott and his culebra were evenly matched, both using more speed than strength as they dealt and dodged blows. Her forked tongue extended like a frog's. It wrapped around his wrist and dislodged the machete with a hard tug.

Seth and Richie went for the big one. Their attempts ineffective as he stared at them in amusement, breaking the wood pieces extending from his stomach away like they were a mere nuisance. He roared his fury.

"Ah, shit." They realized they were in trouble. Both brothers dove away as he swiped at them with his extended claws. They would be no help to the other siblings.

Ettie made quick work dispatching a newly made Culebras's on her way to her brother's aid. Ducking under the swipe of one, she slid forward, staking the second before he even rose from the ground. She didn't look back, running as fast as she could, helpless to watch as he did what he always did: act without thinking.

Having broken free from the slimey tongue, Scott collected his machete from the floor

He steadied his breathing, regarding the stripper with a disgust rather than the lust he once had. He charged once more, machete raised in an attempt to either tackle her or impale her. He'd forgotten about this strength. Ettie reached the Culebra just as she had grabbed her brother by the shoulder and leg, catapulting him over her and throwing him into the wall.

"No!" Kate screamed from her father's embrace.

Scott struck the wood paneling. The ancient wood cracking and giving way under the blow. He felt the cracking and hot air under him, his body falling into the shaft as he desperately clung to the smooth stone wall. His sweaty fingers lost what little grip they had. Scott helf his body become weightless as he fell.

His entire body jerked, her eyes snapping open at the bruising grip around his hand.

Odette looked down at her brother, teeth gritted as she tried to hold his weight with one hand. The other pressed against the outer wall, desperately trying to keep her from going with him.

Scott felt he might cry. Ettie looked like she was about to.

"I'm here." Was all she said, her nails digging in painfully to his wrist as she tried to hold him up.

I'm here. I didn't leave. I'm not going to. Never again. Scott heard the silent words conveyed through her frightened eyes. She had promised they'd stick together, and here she was fulfilling it. He wanted to laugh, shoving it in Kate's face how wrong she had been. Instead he screamed.

"I'm slipping!" Scott shouted, his feet kicking against the narrow wall, trying to get some traction to keep from falling into the unknown depths of the foggy vent.

"I've got you. I've got you." Was all she repeated, a mantra to remind him to stay cool despite how both her shoulders were strained at a dangerous level. The position was awkward, painful, and more importantly, vulnerable. Odette let out a pained cry, drawing blood from his brother as his skin slid under her nails.

Her single handed brace gave way, and Odette found herself falling in after him. A tight embrace fell over her legs, Tanner's inappropriate grip on her ass forgiven as he caught her. "Come on, feisty!"

But it was too little too late. The jerking movement had dislodged her iron clad grip. Ettie reached in with her free hand, trying to correct it when they were pulled from the vent. This time it was the older sister that gave a primal scream. Odette pulled from the vent, Scott pulled into it.

Her back and head hit the floor hard, aggravating the bump Seth had given her earlier that day in the hotel. She saw spots, hearing rather than seeing Tanner fight before being thrown into the shelves of bottles over the bar. He seemed to stay down for the count.

It was the loss of one child and the inevitable loss of the second, that finally made Jacob act. His fear and pensiveness forgotten, he released his daughter, grabbing a steak and charging at the Culebra who had thrown his son.

Jacob, who had long ago sworn never to lay hands on a woman, punched this mockery of one square in the face. Her head sharply turned, genuinely surprised by such a human attack.

"Ettie!" Jacob called for his daughter, begging her to get up as she laid half unconscious with a culebra growling quickly towards her. "Get up!" His old joints protested as he tried to keep away from the demon. He was too busy watching her claws to see her foot. He was quickly thrown to the floor, that inhumanly strong leg pinning him under her foot as she sneered her fanged teeth at him.

Odette tried to lift herself up, managing to her hands and knees at her father's voice. She found herself quickly staring down the Culebra she had previously managed to dodge. He hissed, spraying spit in her face. Ettie, sneered herself, losing all composure as she lunged for him first. They quickly found themselves rolling around the floor, exchanging fists and kicks in a close combat game of life and death. Alex's training had come in handy after all.

Kate felt herself tremble as she watched the state of affairs. The brothers were barely fending off the biggest of the pack while Tanner seemed down for the count. Her family was in trouble, and this time there was no one else to help. She watched as Odette was tossed away, the sheer force of the throw sending the older girl rolling on the floor like a ragdoll. Kate steeled her nerves, picking up the chainsaw. She wouldn't lose anymore of her family.

In a fetal position she rolled onto her back like a turtle, kicking her feet out as she was pounced on. He remained above her, her bent legs against the monster's chest the only thing keeping him at bay. She turned her head away just in time, nearly blinded by a pointed darting tongue. "Get off, asshole!" She complained, not for the first time in her life. Her arms felt like they might very well be at a breaking point. She tried desperately to keep the claws away from her throat.

He leaned forward his southern drawl taking on a gravely hiss. "I plan to." He smiled at her.

She caught Tanner lifting himself from the bar groggy and sore, he didn't appear to be coming to her rescue anytime soon.

Maybe not.

He grabbed a stake amidst the broken wood and glass, throwing it over to her. Perhaps he wasn't as much an asshole as she thought. She still had to find a way to get it.

Pinned to the ground by the stripper's foot, Jacob was helpless. His head tilted back, exposing his throat as he tried to get a lock on his daughter. Ettie wrestled with a thin but wiley trucker, otherwise disposed and unable to help.

A mechanical, grumbling whirl started up as Kate began the chainsaw. Whether her hands shook from the powerful vibrations or from fear, she didn't know. What she did know, was that she wasn't ready to lose anymore of her family. The Culebra eyes narrowed in challenge, doubting the strength of the little girl as she turned on her. This time, she didn't hesitate.

Raising the saw above her head, she brought it down on the Culebra. Her eyes narrowed, flinching as she was rained in blood, the saw violently cutting into the creature's neck and down her body till Kate shredded the heart. It disintegrated before her narrowed eyes. She didn't have much time to think as Jacob warned her of one more behind her. Kate cut it's head clear off it's body.

The chainsaw sputtered and groaned, falling silent once more as Kate dropped it in shock.

Distracted by the brutal deaths, the new culebra seemed to hesitate. Holding her breath, Ettie used the small window to take a make or break risk. She let go of one of his arms, turning her entire body and rolling away. Odette grabbed the stake now in each, quickly rolling back to straddle the culebra. She screamed as she drove it into his heart, hitting the stone floor on the other side of him with the force of it.

Jacob ran to his youngest daughter, holding her blood splattered face. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know." She admitted weakly, sounding like she might cry. She looked to her sister finding her still kneeling on the grounder haunched over and hazy eyed as she stared at the ground. Ettie, strong, unstoppable, always calm Ettie looked empty. Kate's voice cracked, seeing the broken wall her brother had disappeared in. "We have to find Scott."

"We will, honey. We will." He promised, holding her close as she buried her face in his shirt.

As they lingered in their new wave of shock, there was still one Culebra standing.

The fight wasn't over just yet.

---

Seth was kicked in the chest, sending him crashing into an old piano.

With it's back turned, Richie stabbed the monstrosity. He attempted to run to his brother only to be picked up by the back of his suit and thrown. The spiked beast roared in amusement.

Both brothers regained the footing, each a little breathless. "Seth! Plan B!"

They made a mad dash to collect the chairs with sharpened footing. Confused the beast looked between them as they scrambled. A silent nod was exchanged between the breathless brothers. In unpracticed perfection, they ran forward. The giant Culebra stood no chance, unable to fight them both off at the same time. He was impaled from both sides, no match for the overwhelming force of the stakes.

Richard couldn't help but smile. He bent down to pick up his knife from the bloody pile of ash. "Now, that's one for the books."

Their animosity forgotten, Seth shared his brother's soft smile. But if his life had taught him anything, it's that Seth Gecko's happiness was never meant to be a long-term thing.

He looked over the bar, finding it cleared of all Culebras. His roaming view stopped short at the defeated look of the bible-thumpers. Odette knelt on the ground unresponsive as Tanner shifted awkwardly behind her. His sister and father embracing in a tight hug. One Texan, two Texan, three Texan, fo… Seth lost what little humor his face held. Bruce Lee Jr. was missing.

"Shit." He cursed. The shorter Gecko turned away, running a hand down his head and over his face. Seth felt a heavy sigh leave his lips as he opened his caught the tail end of a flash of movement rush past them.

The brother turned, following the blur to see Santanico drop to the floor behind them. Cautious, they kept their weapons ready.

"You can't leave, Richard. Not yet." She had healed in her time away, now untouched by the three bullets Seth had put in her. Devoid of blood and under the guise of her more human form, she fell back into the role of sultry seductress once more. "You belong here. Somewhere inside, close to the bone, you know it, too." Her words caressed him like velvet, low and sweet and blindfolding him to the truth.

Richard shook his head, brandishing the knife at her in warning. "No, you don't know me." He was tired of her head games. Sick at the things she made him do. Maybe Seth was right. He'd been playing into her trap all along, nearly getting his brother and him killed in the process.

"That's not true." She stepped closer. "I know you better than your brother does."

Seth looked from the monster queen to Richard. "You tell me, brother. Does she?"

He didn't get the chance to answer.

"I'm in your soul, Richard." Santanico purred. "But I don't blame you for being suspicious. I asked you to trust me, but I didn't tell you what was coming. I wanted to show you who I was on my own terms. The world is much more complicated than you know." Her tone was apologetic and calming. Richard's grip on the knife wavered, his arm slowly beginning to lower. Emboldened, Kissa stepped closer.

Seth witnessed his brother fall under her spell once more. But this time he was ready. "Richie, look at me. Don't listen to this. Don't listen to this." Seth begged, shifting anxiously on his feet the closer she got.

"I taught you how to see, but that was only the beginning." She whispered through her red painted lips, caressing his mind with her words.

"Don't listen to this." Seth repeated, growing in his desperation. Richie felt torn.

"I don't want to hurt you. I need you. And you need me, too" Her chin tilted towards her nearly bare chest, looking at him through those dark eyelashes. She made him recall all the times she beckoned to him in his loneliness, a mirage of everything he ever wanted at a time he had lost everything he had.

Seth spotted the wooden stake close at hand. Slowly he shifted his feet inch by inch, the movement covered by his assumed anxious agitation.

Richie's eyes softened. Maybe he could have the best of both worlds. "You have to let these people go." He tried to bargain. He didn't want to Kate hurt anymore than she had been. Something about her reminding him of the dog he once cared for, adorable, kind, and too sweet for the hand she'd been dealt. And like his dog Peaches, she was too loyal for her own good. She'd never leave without her family.

Like him, maybe she didn't know how...

"Richard. Stop!" Seth ordered him. He didn't know if it was a ploy or not, but he wasn't leaving his brother alone with this bloodsucking bitch.

Santanico paid him no mind, keeping her gaze locked with Richard. "Something's coming, remember?" Her eyes closer as she let her head fall back in longing. She opened her eyes, daring a small smile at him. He was the key to it all, and soon enough, she'd finally be free.

"Then let them go." He repeated. Maybe he did belong here. They, certainly, did not.

The Mistress looked pensive, considering it. Seth kept his alert gaze on her, feeling the tip of his fingers skim the table the stake rested on. He was nearly there when she caught onto his plan. Her puckered smile became a sneer, her rich brown eyes turning into yellow snake like slits. Her head turned to him, not nearly as oblivious to his sad attempts as he thought she was.

Seth swallowed, opening his mouth, freezing as he debated making the leap for the weapon or letting his brother barter peace.

If the day had taught him anything, it was that peace was never an option.

An echoing shot sounded through the bar. Seth watching as Santanico's pristine form was once more splattered with blood. She gasped, just as surprised as the brothers. Seth followed the direction of the splatter feeling his heart stop cold in his chest at the sight of a blossoming blood stain on his brothers. The bullet had ripped clear through his chest, just passed his heart.

Richard choked on the sudden taste of blood, his large frame buckling under the sudden force and crippling pain. Santanico showed her true form once more, releasing an ear piercing screech as she watched him crumble. The brothers weren't the only ones forced to watch their plans crumble in front of their eyes. Richard let the knife drop from his hand, swaying as he tried to stay upright.

Seth went for his brother numbly. His brain and sight arguing on what they saw. He didn't want to believe it was as bad as it so clearly was.

Santanico intervened, done playing nice as she pushed the older brother away with all her strength. He was sent flying backwards, crashing into the shooter across the room. She grabbed Richard's uninjured hand, dragging him on his back as she scurried into a dark corridor. The snake retreated back into it's hole with her catch.

Seth climbed up from the sore entanglement of limbs, crawling after them as he desperately called his brothers name. The prison bars dropped once more, separating the brothers at last. Seth tried in vain once more. "Richie!"

Now two brother were lost.

---

Please Review :)

As long as you guys are still reading (and at least a few reviewing) I will continue to write this. Sorry if the next few chapters are a little long but I want to get to the good stuff: S2 and Seth and Ettie. ;) Seth may or may not be protective of his nicknames for Ettie already.