Chapter 15: Pack Mentality
Annie had expected Aiden and Mitchell to remain together after the confrontation with Olfaq. So imagine her surprise when she appeared alone in an empty garage when she expected the company of a ghost, some vampires and a lot of trapped werewolves in the Cage's pens. The spiritual air was empty and cold compared to the boiler of the Cage. The night was already in full swing and the last of the dawn disappeared over the bay's horizon.
A bulletproof black limousine car rolled in to the hotel's driveway. The front door to the hotel opened and in the dim evening, the flood of light that flowed from the foyer blinded her.
"Annie?" The ghost recognized Mitchell's loud whisper and she frantically searched the cold garage. Of course when she tried to catch up with Sally, she hadn't locked on to the new ghost friend's aura, but the more familiar Mitchell's. That obviously meant he was here somewhere.
"Mitchell?" she hissed back, her eyes straining in the dark.
He beckoned her come from behind a parked SUV, and she transported herself there before the door to the limousine opened. She stared in awe as a tall, dark skinned man descended from the car. He could have been Asian, but he had dark orange skin; it looked papery thin and was traced with blue-black vanes even though his face was that of a man no older than twenty. He wore a grey suit that was custom fitted and adorned with stitched accents. Two young women dressed in animal fur stepped out with him, neither felt like vampires.
Then there was the driver, who was definitely an Old One.
Annie was caught in the moment when the vampire called Mother welcomed the visitor with an odd warmth. He said something nice to her and then one of his woman associates presented the vampire with an ornate cardboard box. By the way Mother swooned, Annie assumed the contents were some kind of clothing luxury.
Suppose vampires do like dates after all, thought Annie looking wistfully to her crush. It was then the corner of her eye caught the wooden weapon in Mitchell's jacket. "Is that a stake?" she demanded in a hush.
Mitchell tried to get her to lower her voice when he realized in her panic, his target was entering the house.
"Is that your target? You're here assassinating vampires while George and Josh are suffering god-knows-what at the hands of those monsters in the werewolf dungeon?"
"Annie, please shus-sh," Mitchell tried not to sigh when the door to the hotel closed behind him. "Damn it, Annie.
"Don't 'damn' me, Mitchell. You know very well I have already been damned and as far as I'm concerned it was a walk in the park compared to what I see you conspiring."
"It's not like that, I'm—"
"Going to kill that tall… and kind of creepy… vampire gentleman that just went into the house?"
"Where did you hear I was going to murder someone?" Mitchell hissed tiredly, "Why would you even think that? I'm not!"
"Well then why are you carrying around a stake?" Annie propped her hands firmly on her hips and frowned deeply to show her displeasure.
Mitchell looked a little lost then said lamely, "For protection?"
"I can't believe it," though Mitchell was sure she only said that for she seemed to thoroughly believe 'it'.
"Please listen to me Annie, now is not the time. It's not what you think, but if I don't go in there this minute, I'm going to be in trouble."
Then Mitchell forced the two of them to ducked from sight when an old dusty city Sedan rolled to a stop by the hotel's curb. When the maid had hobbled quickly to the Hotel, both kept from view and didn't come out again till after Mitchell was sure she had disappeared into the hotel's side entrance. Annie tried to take a peek, but Mitchell frustrated, kept her clamped down; She didn't like being man-handled, so she clenched her fists in protest.
"No: you listen to me, Mitchell. If you don't get your ass back to that Werewolf dungeon right now George may get tortured to death, or pitted against Josh, or even Aiden! Is this target so important that you would risk your own friend's life for it?"
Mitchell watched her, on the edge of angry tears. He knew he had an obligation to fulfill Snow's requests. If he didn't his life would be threatened. But he thought about it and knew he had many lives, and most of them he screwed up—lived wastefully.
George was not him. George was Mitchell's chance to nurture the son and brother that he may have had at some point. George wanted to live and it was Mitchell's duty as his protector to make sure the Werewolf battled his fears about himself and the rest of the supernatural world.
Annie was right, Snow's request should wait.
"Okay, let's go."
Annie blinked at him, "Just like that?"
Mitchell almost laughed at her, but he caught himself. "Well, yeah."
"Well yeah! Let's go!" and they stood up. "Where are we going?"
"To steal that car."
"From a maid!?"
"We'll give it back later," Mitchell said, as he ran to the street. "She's probably a vampire maid anyway."
- - - -{Elsewhere}- - - -
"We've got to go," whispered Sally to the vampire as she lifted her spirit to the bleachers.
"Give me a second," Aiden hissed back, "I think I can still get Hope out of here."
Whatever argument He was having with Hettie had come to a halt, for she leaned happily over the railings to watch. To her credit, she managed to keep her fangs in check, she was an old one after all; and she needed to set an example. Meanwhile, as the wolf blood pumped through the arena and the participants approached dangerously close to the helpless little girl, werewolf hunger had started. Wolf fights and wolf transformations gave vampires a perverted high. The bloodlust that comes off of wolves in battle filled the air with pheromones and adrenaline. Things that a vampire can still sense, but barely produce on their own anymore.
It was like chemical porn.
And even Aiden had to admit that there was something intriguing about a wolf's battle lust. Even as he tried to formulate an escape route for the fragile 'wolf child, the dark sinister corner of his mind wondered what this would be like, drenched in the hunger of the pack.
Perhaps it was just the sheer number of the wolves in the Cage grounds, but Aiden could almost swear he had never felt such powerful supernatural energy coming from fights. Not even on the days of the full moon. And from where he stood, he could clearly see the three unchanged wolves in the clear arena, and the two unchanged wolves navigating the simple maze. The vampire in him waited excitedly to see the carnage that would occur when they finally met their target.
"We really need to get Josh."
"Josh," Aiden remembered and was shaken out of his lust, "is he okay?"
"Actually," Sally thought about it then said, "Yeah. But we better get him out anyway. Thom and Hope have a plan apparently." She didn't mention Alda, "Both of them are super convinced they'll be okay."
Aiden licked his lips then looked at Olfaq and Hettie, they were distracted by the wolf-shaped fire just as every other vampire in the bleachers were. If there was a time to excuse himself discretely, now would be it. "Fine, let's go get Josh."
- - - -{Elsewhere}- - - -
Mitchell drove the beat up four door vehicle with some difficulty. He didn't drive much in the UK and driving funky handed was just adding to the confusion. Fortunately the road leading up to the pens were populated enough that the British Vampire could at least keep track what side of the road he was supposed to turn onto. And at least the old lady drove an automatic. It had taken him two or three blocks to decide which pedal was gas, and which one was the breaks. He wouldn't have liked to try and add in the clutch to that mix.
That and he kept turning on the windshield wipers every time he tried to use the turn signal.
He desperately tried to remember the direction he was supposed to go – not much paying attention the first time because he was burning with worry about George, and not paying attention the last time because Snow was making deadly commentary about how poor a job he was doing.
Mitchell focused fiercely on the road in order to avoid thinking about the conversation he had with the Viceroy back at the pens after he and Aiden brought Olfaq to the offices. Aiden seemed to have some faith in Mitchell when he agreed he could be sent off with the emissary (as Snow requested) but both were sure Mitchell was not going to get a pat on the back. No doubt the old vampire expected results when the Bristol king arrived back at the Cage and results was something Mitchell did not have. No Sacrifice to offer.
'If you do not fulfill your end of our arrangement, then how can I fill mine?' Snow had said menacingly after he chastised Mitchell for wasting time playing around with werewolves. Mitchell made a 'nay-nay' face as he mocked the Old One, but that was now in the saftey of the car. At the time, he was scared shitless and could naught but run out to fulfill the Vampire's whim.
A simple target—one thing. But even as Mitchell scolded himself for being so inept, the logical part of him reasoned: 'Yumm is even older than Snow. If he didn't want me near him, I wouldn't be able to get anywhere near him.' He turned another alley and was relieved to find he had finally made it.
He pulled the car to a stop in an open spot by the loading-bay entrance and sniffed his way in. Something was brewing, he could feel the slight heat of a battle inside but Annie led him away from the arenas and toward the store front. Unlike the dirty underbelly of the entertainment grounds, the establishment's façade was quite elegant. And the further from the pens they were, the more the store reminded Mitchell of a spa. Annie led him to the reception area, and from the marble table, she led him through a stair case, some doors, some offices and another stair case.
Then Annie stopped and Mitchell looked at the only door at the end of the very long hall. He paused trying the handle, and when it didn't open he banged his fist hard on the door frame. "Hey!"
"Who's there?"
Mitchell almost fainted in relief when the familiar voice forced its way through the door. "George, thank god. It's Mitchell."
"Where the bloody hell have you been?" the werewolf sounded angry and the vampire laughed in relief knowing his anger just implied he was not harmed.
"It's a long story," shouted the vampire, "Stand back." He kicked the door with all of his vampire strength. It clanked loudly on the hinges and sent a shockwave of pain up the Bristol king's entire leg. He braced himself and kicked it again, with doubled force. "It's not going to get forced open."
"I saw a security office somewhere on the second floor when they dragged us down here. See if maybe you can find keys."
"Yeah," Mitchell knocked the door a few times to thank his room mate, "I'll be right back." Then to the ghost, "Annie?"
She looked at him from where she crouched, staring at the door's lock to see if she could see inside the room through it. "Watch them will you? And tell me as soon as anyone comes for them."
"Yeah, okay," Then she materialized away. A second later, the werewolves were talking and Mitchell took off back the way he came trusting that she was now in the room with them. It only took him five minutes to run up the stairs and find the security room. The dim lights of the monitors flickered sharply in the night. He found the keys on a rack and took three different rings that looked silver and promising. Praising his luck, he looked around the small monitoring station wondering why it was so empty. Surely the night watch wouldn't have abandoned his sandwich for no reason.
He was about to leave when the recording monitor over the arenas panned, and Mitchell thought he saw a child crying. He leaned into the little monitor a bit too late and the scene flashed. What looked like every vampire in the area had been gathered to watch this girl scream. They leaned over the railings of the event with their fangs bared blatantly. The scene panned again, and there she was, a little girl of ten, being stalked by ragged men—crying.
'Not… crying,' realized Mitchell. 'She's howling.'
"Ah. I thought I saw you lurking back here."
Mitchell jerked, the fear gripped his throat and he almost dropped the keys. Snow closed the gap between himself and the peon, his already pale and thin skin glowed sinisterly in the light of the ever changing security footage. "I assume you are here now because you have completed what I asked. Because you know I do not take kindly to failures."
"Uh." And Mitchell knew he would have to explain himself.
- - - -{Labyrinth}- - - -
Sally had not gotten Aiden out soon enough, and the violent hunger melting off of her assailants were becoming alarmingly strong. Whatever Olfaq had compelled them to think of her, it must have been hideous. She took another deep breath and gathered all of the air into the darkest recess of her spirit. And there, in the middle of the vampire cheers, and hoots and joy, she screamed. She screamed till she felt her throat tear and her lungs shrank under her chest. She screamed till the sound was made by sheer force, and not air.
This pleased the crowd and they rejoiced in her reaction. All except Aiden and Sally, who had been leaving but were shocked to turn by their friend's obvious wail. But Hope was not deterred, she focused again and swallowed a great gasp in, then screamed again. The noise she made was not shrill—it was a practiced cry: deep and dark and filled with so much energy that it shook the spirits in the air. She cried so deliberately and cleanly that she flashed her teeth, and her face turned red from the effort.
It didn't usually take so much energy to focus, but she also only attempted to fight with a pack, her pack, closer to the moon. And though the strangers didn't seem to heed her first cries, she remained trained, her narrow blue eyes never once leaving the face of her little rival. When she cried out the third time, she felt her spirit explode, and a great wave of supernatural energy ripped through the arena. And in that instant, she was connected to every wolf on the establishment. She could hear them, and they could hear her.
This is the battle lust of a Legacy. Thought Hope, 'and an Evebringer.'
And despite every core value that she had been taught, Hope could not help but relish in the overwhelming power she controlled when she was in this state. The power to completely decimate an entire race on a whim. She forced her wolf spirit out and she felt every one of her already heightened senses swell up, flow over.
Where she didn't transform, she felt the tall beast of a man stagger from his run and lopped to all fours—all around her was the cacophony of cracking bones and popping muscles and soon her howl led the harmony of every changing creature in the cages. As she knew he would, the tall black captive was the first to complete his transformation and she beckoned him to her. He lifted a lip to reveal his rows of sharp animal canines then raced his way to her side, never stopping, not even as she reached out expertly grabbed onto the thick of his mane and mounted his shoulders squarely and sure.
He bounded toward the bleachers, in a breathtaking few steps – and launched himself up the walls of the maze. His strong as steel claws peeled down the concrete as he slid back down the drop to the arena. Hope skittered down the wall, unsuccessful at climbing out of her trap. But even as the big black wolf circled around for another running start, the little girl continued to keep a keen eye on Hattie.
A shocked silence had gripped the audience during the fourty five seconds it took for the wolves to transform. And for every fraction of that time, Hope relished on Hettie's change of expressions especially. And the little Legacy decided that her favorite part of Hettie's entire reaction was that moment when the vampire's joyful cruelty turned to breathless fear.
It's not every day you get to surprise an Old One. Thought Hope arrogantly, as the other werewolves recovered from their transformation. Fangs flashed and claws screamed, and the deep rumble of wolf cries flooded the arena. And even though she didn't need to, Hope said:
"Kill them all."
AN: I'm on a roll, don't expect too many weeks with double chapters. =}
In fact, unfortunately, storytime during work is going to slow up again after this. Since now I will be working on another computer for a while. Don't worry, the storry will be completed by the end of next month!