The Darkhold
Chapter III
Ashes To Ashes
The three hunters surveyed the enormous dance floor, their mysterious visages fading in and out of the shadows as the strobe and spot lights shone back and forth. The club was large and had two levels. The lower level was for the regular vampire patrons, who danced, fed and partied with reckless abandon. The upper level overlooked the rest of the place. This was reserved for the bloodsucking brass of the Vampire Nation. The former vampire, Deacon Frost had established many such vampire night clubs throughout various cities. This one was one of the few that escaped the ax after Blade's first outing. It was the premiere spot for fanged elite.
Damien crept closer to King "So where's Whistler?"
King opened his blazer and shined a metallic plate into one of the strobe lights. Seconds later a second shine came from the rafters on the far side of the club.
"Ah there she is now. Everything alright up there Abby?" said King into a hidden communication device in his blazer.
"You had better get this party started soon King, I'm starting to chafe up here." said Whistler's voice over the device.
Abigail Whistler lay in a sniper's position hidden by the metal rafters on the back end of the club. She usually would use her signature bow and arrow, but for tonight's events she thought a high powered sniper rifle would suffice. Her laser scope was fixed on several of the dancing vampires on the floor and her finger was poised on the trigger.
Damien spoke into King's device and waved to Whistler from afar "Oh hey Whistler, glad you could make it."
A moment later a red dot appears on Damien's forehead and Whistler's voice comes over the device "Don't push me Damien."
Damien just gives a wry smile and wipes his forehead "I always said you were a feisty one Abigail."
"So uh, now what?" asks King.
"Well I know a sure fire ice breaker, observe." says Damien.
Damien eyes a group of attractive female vampires that passes by. He grabs one by the arm and pulls her aside. His aqua blue eyes move seductively up and down her lithe form.
"Excuse me, but I couldn't help but notice your ass…ets. I'd love to sink my teeth into you." Damien with all the charm of the devil himself.
The young Pure Blood grins and his pearl white fangs are bared and glisten in the multicolored club lights. The female vampire smiles in turn and also bears her fangs.
"Ooooh, I'd love to get a taste of you to baby. You know they say the bigger the fangs, the bigger the dick". says the female.
She moves her hands to Damien's crotch and fondles it "Is that it right there, I was right it's nice and long." she says.
"Well your close, wanna see it spring to life?" asks Damien.
The female hisses in glee and fondles more.
"Ready one, two…"
A loud gun shot goes off and the female vampire turns to fiery ash where she stands. A smoking gun barrel emerges from underneath Damien's top.
"Gotcha!" he shouts.
The club erupts into chaos as patrons scatter in every direction.
King just looks on with a gleeful smile "Nice, I like it."
"Well I do try." says Damien as he and King hit the dance floor to take on hordes of pissed off vampires. Damien does a flying dive and tackles four large muscle bound bouncers to the floor. One bouncer gets him in a choke hold, but the Pure Blood easily slips out of it and fires a shot through the bouncer's back and into the three remaining ones. All of them simultaneously turning to ash.
Damien kisses his laser mounted MP-5 "Gotta love it."
King does a spin kick at a charging vampire which knocks it flat on it's face. Another comes after him with a chair and he ducks just in time. The chair smashes into another approaching vampire, sending it flying backwards. King points his silver hollow six shooter at the vampire's head. Suddenly an avalanche of automatic gunfire and a shower of hot embers rains down upon the dance floor from above. Saint shoots off hundreds of rounds in seconds and ashes dozens of vampires from the upper level.
"I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse. Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest." said Saint as he continued his unrelenting barrage of gunfire.
Damien drew two silver daggers from his belt and proceeded to twirl them around as skillfully as a majorette would twirl a baton. With a fluid and grace that rivaled even the Day Walker, he cut down approaching vampires little effort. A hulking form stands hovering over Damien holding a long katana type blade. The vampire hisses and bears it's fangs.
Damien lifts his head up and reveals his eyes are now glowing bright white, due to his Pure Blood heritage. He whirls his daggers at eye blurring speeds and clangs them together, producing sparks. He smiles evilly at the gargantuan vampire.
"Here kitty, kitty" he says in a low voice.
The vampire yells in battle cry but Damien doesn't make a move. The vampire approaches to within inches of him and at the last split second, Damien simply steps aside and jams one of his daggers into the vampire's neck, reducing it to ash.
Damien cracks his knuckles "Damn this music sucks." he says.
"Yea I agree." says King calmly as he knocks out another bloodsucker.
Damien runs to the D.J. booth and shoots the jockey in the head turning him into smoldering embers. Casually he searches the computer for other music as he shoots oncoming vampires without even looking.
"Hey what are you in the mood for!" yells Damien to King.
"Well you know me and David Hasselhoff." shouts King.
Damien simply shakes his head and continues to search for music. A vampire creeps up behind him and is about to strike, when a whizzing sound of a bullet strikes the creature incinerating it from the inside out. Damien looks up and waves to Whistler.
"Good looking, Whistler!" shouts Damien.
Suddenly "Highway To The Danger Zone" begins to play over the speakers.
"Now that's what I call music, dammit!" shouts King.
Saint flips over the balcony and lands in the center of the dance floor. He begins to flip out various guns from his personal arsenal and juggle them. Every time one lands in his hand a shot is fired, taking out vampires left and right. Performing this act with unparallel skill, Saint doesn't miss a beat as his gunfire juggling act plays perfectly to the beat of the song. Damien and King watch in utter astonishment as Saint carries off his attack.
"Holy shit, Saint you crazy son of a bitch!"
King looks up to the upper level and notices several high class businessman attempting to flee the club in the mass melee. He recognizes one of them and yells to Damien.
"Castillo, up there look who it is!" shouts King.
Damien looks up and his eyes again begin to glow with anger. He roars as his fangs beared in their ferocity. This particular vampire he knows very well. Out of all the Pure Bloods, he hates this one the most.
"Ares!!!!!!!" Damien shouts as he super humanly leaps to the upper level.
Damien lifts up a sofa and hurls at Neron Ares, knocking the Pure Blood to the ground. Damien lifts Ares off the ground with one hand and hisses loudly, his eyes almost on fire from the intense glow. Ares in turn hisses back as his eyes begin to glow as well.
"Fee Fie Foe Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman. Your ass is mine Ares!" shouts Damien.
"That's what you think Castillo." says Ares coolly as he kicks Damien in the chest.
Damien staggers back a few feet, while Ares makes his escape through one of the windows. Damien picks up a nearby sofa as if it weighed no more than a few ounces and hurls it in the direction of Ares's escape. The sofa crashes through the widow and takes half the wall with it, leaving a huge hole that leads to the outside. Damien bounds after his arch enemy, leaping through the large hole and onto the street below.
King looks at his watch and realizes sunrise is only a few minutes away "Saint, Abby…let's get the fuck outta here!"
King, Whistler and Saint hurriedly exit the club and to the outside, where daylight approaches fast.
"I hope he doesn't get to caught up, he can only survive for thirty minutes in daylight." says Whistler.
"He's a big vampire, he can take care of himself." says King.
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Damien relentlessly chases Ares over rooftops and through windows. His eyes aglow the whole time, his anger blinding him to the fact that dawn is a mere moments away. Ares looks back, and hisses at his pursuer. He is only a few yards away from a vampire safe house. All he needs is a diversion to keep Damien occupied long enough for him to make his getaway. Finally at the last rooftop that nears the safe house, Ares looks back only to be tackled by Damien. The two land with a crash on the adjoining building's roof, taking out a few air conditioning vents in the process. Damien re bounds and lands several savage punches to Ares's jaw. Ares is knocked back several feet and almost falls over the edge of the roof. Damien grabs his neck just in time, lifts his foe over his head and hurls him into a small shed nearby. Ares crashes through the shed, reducing it to splinter wood.
"It ends here Ares, I'm gonna rip my revenge right out of your sorry ass." says Damien.
Ares manages to stand on his feet, blood running down the side of his face "I'm impressed with your strength young one. I guess your time with the Day Walker has served you well. But there's one thing you still need to learn…patience."
"What the fuck are you talkin…"Damien starts to say.
Suddenly the rays of the sun break over the horizon, hitting both Pure Bloods with the force of a freight train. Smoke starts to billow from Ares as he stomps his foot on the roof. A trap door opens and falls out of sight into the tunnel below. Damien staggers back with the tremendous force that the daylight has hit him with. He is knocked back so hard he falls over the edge of the building. Colliding with a few close lines he lands in a open dumpster. A few minutes later he comes to and squints at the bright orb in the sky.
"Dammit, did they have to make fucking thing so bright!" shouts Damien.
He climbs out of the dumpster and feels his arm, which is severely injured from the fall. He looks to a wrist watch on his hand and the digital read out registers a countdown from thirty minutes. Knowing it would be futile to try to track Ares down in such little time, Damien decides to abandon the chase for now. He enters an old abandon building and decides to wait out the remainder of the day until nightfall surfaces again…