Ladies and Gentlemen; after a four-year hiatus here it is; the latest chapter of NEW BLOOD. The subject is a little out of season, but I really didn't feel like waiting any longer. Without further ado, I present it to you.
I drifted aimlessly in a field of fluffy pink pillows. I felt completely at ease and comfortable. This is the life. Someone in the distance cleared their throat but I ignored it. It came again, this time with a rough shake and I awoke to the same feeling of softness. Mmm, squishy. Hold on a sec, squishy?
I tilted my head upwards and saw Mistress' face smiling as she slumbered. I lowered my head again and realized exactly where I was. Desperately, I tried to wriggle free, but Mistress just clutched me to her bosom all the tighter. I twisted my neck to the left and saw Alucard, covering his mouth in a futile attempt to contain his laughter.
Eventually he tired of the game and nudged Mistress with his elbow. Her eyes fluttered open and met mine. Ahh, the precious few seconds before I get thrown against the wall. Right on cue Mistress yelped and hurled me so hard that I got embedded spread-eagled and upside down in the far stone wall. Alucard peeled me out and stood me upright.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?!?!" Mistress demanded.
"Calm down, Police Girl. You both fell asleep on the way back last night, but we couldn't pry the two of you apart. We put you both on the couch in the rec room. Police Girl seems to have a habit of clinging to things in her sleep, so that brings us to where we are now. I suggest you both change into your uniforms; my Master is waiting for you in her office; it's time for your debriefing."
"Whoa, not on a first date. Besides, I'm a boxers kind of guy," I quipped.
Alucard pressed the Jackal to my head and I got the message. I hurried to Sir Integra's office without bothering to change. Mistress arrived a short time later, hopping as she slipped her boots on. I rapped solidly on the door with my gauntleted fist. Walter promptly drew open the doors and motioned us both to stand before Sir Integra's desk. The padded chair swivelled around and revealed Sir Integra hiding her mouth behind steepled fingers.
"Excellent work you two. Erik was protected from the freak attack and is now on guard for future attempts. For the most part things were kept quiet and Sir Penwood will have little trouble patching the few leaks. However, there seems to be no rest for the weary." Sir Integra reached into her desk and placed an item in front of us. I recognized it as the organizer I had grabbed the previous night. Sir Integra activated it and continued. "Read this entry and tell me what you think."
"OMG, William is so fine! WTF is he doing with that ho, anyway?" I began.
"Oh, wrong one. This is the entry I wanted you to see."
I scanned the document and handed it to Mistress. When she finished she returned the device to Sir Integra. Both of them seemed disturbed by what they had read. I couldn't figure out what the big deal was.
"Are you familiar with Guy Fawkes' Day Mr. Nathan?"
"Just that it's kind of like the 4th of July back home, with the fireworks and stuff."
"Miss Victoria, please educate your servant on this matter."
Mistress reached behind her back and retrieved a mortarboard cap and a small pointer. She reached up and pulled a screen from midair. Clearing her throat, she tapped the first of several images.
"Guy Fawkes was a man who once attempted to destroy Parliament, including the people inside, by detonating a substantial quantity of gunpowder in the building's basement. Luckily he was caught and executed before he could put his plan into action. Every November 5th we celebrate Guy Fawkes Day, a.k.a. Bonfire Night, by lighting fireworks and large but controlled fires." Mistress tossed her cap and pointer aside as she tugged on the bottom of the screen to make it vanish.
"Kewl, that's my kind of holiday!" I cheered, "I'm not seeing what this has to do with the letter you showed me, Sir Integra; it just sounds like they're planning a little get together or something."
"They aren't planning a simple party. This is a coded message detailing plans for abducting all the members of Parliament and killing them in one stroke. We need to stop this, and I have a plan to do it," Sir Integra chuckled smugly. Alucard phased in through the ceiling and listened as Sir Integra outlined her plan.
Alucard wrung his hands and hunched his back. "Masterrr, it's brilliant! We cannot fail with plans such as these!" he breathed in a voice like a mad scientist's assistant. Sir Integra stuffed her ashtray into Alucard's mouth. As he tried desperately to pull it away from his scorched lips, Sir Integra finished her explanation.
"So we let the freaks do their kidnapping and once they're all together we take them out. We have only a few days to prepare, but it will be enough. I will inform the rest of the troops but the lynchpin of this strategy is you three. You will be responsible for silencing the leaders of the attack; with their chain of command severed, they'll be easy prey. Do any of you have anything to add? Dismissed!"
Alucard gripped my shoulder when Mistress and I had left the office.
"I'd like a word with you, Freshmeat," Alucard more or less demanded.
"Whatever it is, I didn't do it!"
"You're not in trouble, I'm just wondering about something. I was watching your dreams and I saw something...interesting.
"Look, I can't be held responsible for what my subconscious throws out! The one with the pillows..."
"Not that one numbskull, the one before that!"
"I don't feel like talking about that." It was a horrifying vision. I was replaying the previous night's battle. Over and over, my sword slashed and hacked away at innocent-looking girls. When they had all been slain, their eyes followed me, accusing me, hating me, judging me. Their angry souls grabbed and clutched at me, dragging me to a bottomless black pit.
"It's unbecoming of a vampire to behave in such a manner."
"But killing women and girls like that is just so--"
A gloved hand clamped onto my jaw and slammed my back to the wall.
"What does that have to do with anything? Male, female, a freak is a freak. A woman is just as likely to butcher innocent people as a man. Pathetic mewling like that has no place in the world of the night. You didn't hesitate long when Police Girl was in danger, what was so different?"
"Mistress needed my help! What're you doing spying on my dreams anyway?"
"I need to ensure that Police Girl has chosen a suitable...companion"
"Now you sound like an overprotective father."
"Just keep that in mind."
Alucard sank through the floor without another word and left me to wonder what exactly he meant by that.
Four nights later, Mistress, Alucard, and I waited outside the House of Parliament in a black Cadillac. I'd decided to make my costume my standard combat outfit, since it saved my hide the last time, but the long wait was making it uncomfortable.
"What time is it, Police Girl?" Alucard asked for the ninth time.
"It's almost 11:00, according to the message we only have to wait a few more minutes. The other teams will send the signal when it's time to move, so calm down already," Mistress replied.
A bottle rocket burst in the sky above us, followed by two more.
"That's the signal," I announced.
We loaded our guns and stepped out of the car. Mistress and I grabbed the Harkonnen and Hackmaster from the trunk, and joined Alucard at the entrance. I rammed the doors with my shoulder, knocking one off its hinges, and we stepped inside.
"Where do we go now?" I asked.
"They're holding the hostages in the main chamber; this way!" Mistress directed.
We arrived at the chamber door. Alucard was about to kick open the door when I motioned for him to stop.
"We haven't encountered any freaks yet; this is way too easy. What if there's a whole swarm of 'em inside? We've gotta see what's waiting for us before we just charge in," I cautioned.
"Good idea," Alucard agreed, "I'll take a look." He sank down into the floor, turned into a reddish-black puddle, and slipped under the door. I hadn't even blinked when he reformed behind me.
"There's about ten armed freaks in there; the hostages are bound and gagged all around the room. We need to concentrate on the freaks before the hostages can be freed. I'll take the ones on the far end. Police Girl, Freshmeat, you take out the others. On three...THREE!"
We bashed the door down and attacked. Three freaks crumbled in the first barrage, the rest dove for cover. Alucard somersaulted across the room to deal with the targets hiding there, Mistress went left, I went right. A spear emerged from beneath a table to stab at my knees. I knocked it aside with Hackmaster and finished the job with a shell from Boomstick.
Slowly, I made my way around the edge of the room. I noticed a black-clad woman in the shadows, but pretended to ignore it. At the last second Hackmaster rose to block the vicious axe swipe. She managed to stop my counterstrike, looking at me with smoldering contempt. I grinned as Boomstick's barrels pressed against her sternum. I squeezed the triggers and blasted a gaping hole in her chest. She barely had time to be surprised before collapsing in a heap.
Yet another freak appeared; she raised an assault rifle and fired. One bullet grazed my arm, but the majority ricocheted harmlessly off of my armor. I brandished Hackmaster and advanced menacingly. She kept shooting until the rifle's clip was exhausted.
"Sorry, but that's not going to help." I raised my sword to strike but before I could, her head disintegrated and her body flopped to the side. To my left Mistress was resting Harkonnen on her shoulder, its barrel smoking. "Hey, what's the deal? That one was mine!"
"You were taking too long."
I snorted indignantly and moved to untie one of the hostages; a corpulent, balding man with a thoroughly unconvincing comb-over. His wriggling made the knots that much more complicated. He kept mumbling through the gag, but I couldn't understand him. When he was finally free I tore the gag from his mouth.
"What are you doing? Who are you people? Stay away from me!"
"Look, dude, I just saved your butt so how 'bout a little gratitude?"
"There's a bomb in the basement you fool! If you don't stop it this whole building will be blown sky-high!"
"What are you talking about?" I demanded.
"I overheard those women talking about a bomb in the basement, it's going to go off in a few minutes, you have to hurry!"
"Mistress, Alucard what do we do?"
"Alucard and I will evacuate the hostages; you go down and do whatever you can to stop that bomb. We'll link up as soon as they're safe. Go!" Mistress commanded.
"Wait, young man! They said something about a woman named Krystal–"
I didn't need to hear any more. I sprinted down the stairs three at a time, focusing only on my objective. When I landed at the foot of the last staircase I paused before an ancient iron-bound door.
The basement smelled of stale air, mildew, and something so faint it may have been my imagination. The gray stone glistened with moisture in the dim light while the cool air raised goose bumps on my arms. Muffled voices came from the room beyond the door.
I pulled the door open and stepped into the blackness. After my eyes had a chance to adjust, I pulled my booted foot from the muddy floor and crept closer to the voices.
"Ah, excellent. The fireworks will start in five minutes; get the girls out by then."
"As you command."
A rectangle of light appeared as a shadowy figure ran through and closed the door behind. I darted from pillar to pillar, hiding for a few seconds each time.
"I know you're there, come out," the figure demanded.
Since I lost the element of surprise I complied. The only clues I had to her identity were her voice and aura. She stood in the center of the room; clad entirely in form-fitting black cloth with a black ski mask over her face. Her right hand was clamped around an item that looked like an oversized remote control.
"Hello, Krystal. How's your head?"
"It's doing well, in fact. It's taking a little longer to heal than expected, but...why am I explaining it to you?! Hmph, I get too into it sometimes."
"It's over. Alucard and my Mistress have freed the hostages; you've lost."
"Hardly. I still have my bomb."
"What good will it do you do blow up an empty building?"
Krystal flipped a switch and the lights brightened the room instantly. The floor wasn't the brown of sodden earth, but a pale gray hue. The walls and ceiling were similarly colored.
"The basement and the sewer system are lined with plastic explosives. When I push this little button, let's just say the people on the streets will be blown away."
I hurled a knife at the detonator, sticking it to the wall. It sparked and Krystal turned on me. Hackmaster in hand, I prepared to fight. Krystal didn't attack, she ran through the door instead. I took off in hot pursuit.
"That detonator was only a backup; I've still got another one!"
"You won't get the chance to use it. You're going to be silenced here and now."
"Do you say that to all the girls?"
We topped the stairs and burst through the doors. Krystal leapt into a waiting car and sped off into the night. Mistress and Alucard were rushing back inside the building, but I shouted at them.
"Krystal is in that car! She's got another detonator hidden somewhere and we've got to catch her before she can use it!"
Mistress and I hopped in front, Alucard in back. The engine roared to life and we took off. Mistress wove in and out of traffic, sometimes even scraping against other cars. Every near miss made me clutch at my seat in fear.
"Would you mind not driving like a maniac, Mistress?"
"Never mind that, we've got company."
A bullet cracked through the rear windshield. I ducked down and looked back. A black car pulled up and rammed our rear bumper. More bullets screeched by, only missing Mistress and me by a hair.
"Mistress, open the moon roof, I've got a plan."
Mistress pushed the switch and I hopped out. I raised Hackmaster above my head and jumped onto the hood of the car behind us, stabbing the engine through and digging into the street below. The freaks in the car dropped their jaws and I sprang back into the passenger seat next to Mistress. I fastened my seat belt just as the car I skewered exploded.
"Showoff."
"It did the job, though. Mistress, what're we gonna do about Krystal? We need to take her out, but Boomstick doesn't have the range."
"Alucard can handle it. You ready Alucard? It's up to you."
"Ahh who caressssh," came the slurred reply.
"What the... Oh, this isn't good."
"What? What's wrong?"
"Alucard's pissed."
"So what if he's mad, we'll deal with that later!"
"No, Nate, he's drunk."
"Uh oh. Sir Integra's not gonna like this."
"Heyyy you, shtay away from my wife ya dirtbag."
"Nate, take the wheel."
"But I can't drive!"
Even as I protested, Mistress yanked me over to the driver's seat and stuck the Harkonnen up through the moon roof and stood up on the passenger's side. I tried to dodge the other cars on the road but more often than not I clipped a mirror or scraped a door.
"Nate, keep it steady! I can't get a clear shot!"
"I told you I can't drive!"
Mistress shifted and placed her left foot on my seat's headrest. My eyes almost popped right out of my head and I felt the telltale wetness of a nosebleed on my upper lip.
"Hey *hic* Freshmeat, what color are they?"
"Bright red with black lace..." Mistress stomped her boot onto my nose, halting any further description. Harkonnen's barrel flashed and blew out the front tire on Krystal's vehicle, which started to swerve violently. The crippled car ran up onto the curb and smashed into a fireworks stand. Mistress fired again and the car exploded, igniting the fireworks into a brilliant pyrotechnic display.
"Whoaaa," I choked, "now who's the showoff?"
"Quiet, you!"
Mistress and I enjoyed the show until it died down. We decided to search the wreckage to ensure that Krystal had indeed been silenced. Sure enough, we found several piles of what Mistress called 'freak dust' which confirmed that the vampires we'd been chasing were destroyed.
"Well, aside from the hundreds of pounds of property damage, I'd say this one went pretty well, eh Mistress?"
"I think so too, but Alucard's condition worries me. Alcohol has no effect on undead, and even if it did there wasn't any in the car. How could that have happened?"
"Now you've got me curious. Let's take a look."
I opened the back door of the car and peered inside. Alucard lay sprawled across the backseat, grumbling about how Bird instant custard was ruining the moral fabric of the world. Laying on the floor were three empty blood pouches labeled for each of us.
"Well, thanks for having my dinner you greedy jerk," I grumbled.
"You can cram it with walnuts, ugly!" Alucard snapped.
I picked one of the packets and a strange herbal scent that caught my attention. I held it closer to my nose and inhaled carefully. My nostrils were overwhelmed and my head swam.
"What's wrong Nate?"
"There's something funky with this blood."
Mistress sniffed the packet and coughed.
"It's wolfsbane, and lots of it."
"But we're not werewolves or anything, what can it do?"
"Wolfsbane is highly toxic to vampires. If you or I had ingested it, we'd be in horrible pain; but since Alucard's so strong I guess it just made him drunk. We need to get back to HQ, Sir Integra will want to know about this."
I thank you all for your patience and your continued readership despite my lack of updates. I've got more in the works but I'm not sure if I want it to be a continuation or a new story. If you have any druthers, opinions, or preferences feel free to let me know either in your reviews, a pm, or email. As always please be sure to R&R! Kthxbai!