UNDERWORLD:

AFTERMATH

Written by:

David Jacob

Episode 2: Choke

Scene 1

It was early dawn when Jayce was finally allowed to leave the Hunter's Base. He had his T-shirt folded over his arm and was carrying his dented chest plate from the left shoulder strap. The bandages on his chest were wrapped with a new gel like substance that assisted in the healing of bruises. He sat in his car for a while without starting it, his chest plate sitting on the passenger seat with that perfect hand shaped dent. "I never choke." -Jayce. He started up his car repeating that to himself over and over. "I never choke, I never choke." -Jayce. It didn't help though as he pulled into his parking lot the gang of Vampire obsessed teens were already here loitering at this early hour. Jayce pulled his beaten body out of his car and passed by them as always. "Don't you people ever sleep?" -Jayce. The balled up sandwich wrapper hit the side of Jayce's head. "Aw what's the matter? Didn't see that one coming." -Teen. Jayce bent over which was very painful on his ribs and picked up the trash and put it in the trash can.

When Jayce finally got up to his apartment he dropped his armor and t-shirt on the floor and left his keys on the counter. He took off his gun belt and his second belt. He unbuttoned his pants and let them drop off. He didn't bother to take off his boxers. He went into his bathroom and laid down in the bath tub. Using his feet he turned on the shower head. As the water beat down on him he began unraveling the bandages on his chest. When he got them off he tossed them across the bathroom floor. His chest had a nasty blue, black and purple bruise from the hit to the armor. Jayce laid in the bath tub under the shower for a while, then there was a knock at his door. "Who is it?" -Jayce. "It's the grim reaper, who do you think?" -Lady's voice. Jayce recognized her as lady. "Come in the doors unlocked." -Jayce. Lady walked into Jayce's apartment and went straight to the bathroom. "Geez at least close the curtain!" -Lady. She grabbed the plastic curtain and pulled it over the tub. "It's my house. What do you want?" -Jayce. He opened the curtain half way so he could still see lady. "Commander sent me. He says you've been acting strange all night." -lady.

"I'm fine." -Jayce. "Really? Because you don't seem fine." -Lady. "I've almost died so many times on this job. But every time I made it because of my skills, my training and our knowledge of how 'they' work." -Jayce. "Yeah you're the best in the city no doubt." -Lady. "I was supposed to die last night. It was supposed to kill me. She was supposed to kill me. But she didn't … remember back in basic training they use to tell us, 'If you don't kill them, they will kill you?'" -Jayce. "It probably heard the other Hunters coming." -Lady. "No, I saw this Vampire break a Lycan's neck with her bare hands, one second would have been more than enough time. But she didn't kill me. Why not?" -Jayce. "You know what you got lucky and that's it. Now get out of this slump you're in because I want to do a full work up on the docks and see if we can snuff out any more Lycans before tonight." -Lady.

"Oh and I brought you a new chest plate, left it on you table. You still have the rest of the armor right?" -Lady. Lady had gone into his living room. "Yea they're in my closet." -Jayce. Lady walked around his room. There was an old picture of a woman on Jayce's counter top. "Do you ever miss your parents?" -Lady. "Not my dad." -Jayce. He had turned off the shower and was wrapping a towel around his waist in the bathroom. "My parents dead." -Lady. "That's too bad." -Jayce. Jayce exited the bathroom and pulled the picture away from lady. "Now if you don't mind I need to get some sleep, wake up, eat, go to the gym and then drag my ass back to the docks. And I'd like to do all those things in private." -Jayce. "You got it boss, better bring your A game. I'm hoping to uncover a huge den of Lycans." -Lady. Lady left the apartment and Jayce dropped himself onto his bed and quickly fell asleep.

Scene 2

Selene sat in a makeshift chair while looking at the remains of the bullet that had embedded in her stomach. On the other side of the factory, Kelvin was collecting things from all three floors and building something. Selene watched as the pile of junk began to take shape into a makeshift forge. Kelvin set the fire and tossed in a few of the metal scraps the others had collected. "I didn't know you were a black smith." -Selene. "You never asked. I never could get into all the guns and everything." -Kelvin. "What are you going to make?" -Selene. "A better question is, what do you need?" -Kelvin. "I can't really carry around my guns with this outfit so I guess I'll be needing a few things." -Selene. Kelvin noticed her fidgeting with the bullet in her hand. "Are you going to keep that?" -Kelvin. "I'm not sure." -Selene.

Selene went up to the second floor, many of the rats were gone or dead. The corpses had been removed but the floor boards were filthy. A few other Vampires were up here still cleaning and some of the kids were pushing dead rats into piles. One of the Vampires came up to Selene. "We are going to need water to clean out all this mess and bricks to seal up the holes the rats have made." -Vampire. "Okay I'll go out before night, you all can go get some sleep." -Selene. "Oh, some mattresses would really be nice too." -Kid. "I'll look into that too." -Selene. Back down stairs, Damon Gomez, was hard at work trying to repair the wiring in the elevator lift. Damon was one of the first people Selene had offered the Vampire gift to. He was just a maintenance worker in a building where Selene and her coven where staying. When the Hunters came Damon was riddled with bullets on accident and out of guilt Selene offered him another chance at life.

Taking Selene's gift meant that Damon could not stay with his family and that has left him rather damaged. In recent times though Damon has proved useful with his ability to fix almost anything. "Damon I need you to make a list of all the things we need to get when we go out because I don't wanna make more than one trip." -Selene. "Damn rats chewed these wires down to stubs, but maybe if I -" -Damon. Damon moved something inside the fuse box and there was a loud spark. The elevator jumped up about one foot and then slammed back down throwing up a plum of dust. Everyone near it had to fan the dust out of their face. "I'll get to work on that list then." -Damon.

"Do we have running water?" -Selene. "I think the pluming is jammed up probably some dead rats in there. I'd have to get down their and dislodge the block if I can find it." -Damon. "Well you do that now and when you're done we can make a full list and go out and get everything we need in one run." -Selene. "Only one problem." -Damon. "What?" -Selene. "There are spiders everywhere down in the basement. I don't do spiders." -Damon. "Are you serious?" -Selene. Selene used a piece of scrap metal to pull all the spider webs and cob webs down from behind the basement door. The stairs going down were pasted with a sticky web coating. Selene went down first with her scrap metal she ripped the webs down. Once at the bottom Damon saw the pipes he needed to have a look inside of, but they were covered in spider webs. Selene scraped the webs off of the pipes as best she could, when a spider dropped from the ceiling and landed on her shoulder.

Damon was speechless as the spider moved from Selene's shoulder to her neck. As soon as it's little legs touched her skin she began swatting at her neck wildly until it was dead and even a bit more after. "You were no help at all!" -Selene. "Yuck now I feel like they're on me." -Damon. Selene finished clearing the pipes of all webs and she even got up in the ceiling for good measure. Damon had a tool bag that was always useful in their temporary housing situations. Today it would come in handy again. He shut the water off and wrenched the pipes open. There were rat skeletons and corpses lining the inside of the pipes. "You know, on second thought we don't need water that bad." -Selene. "This will take a while to clean and fix. I'll go up and write the list now because I probably won't finish it this morning.

Scene 3

Darwin Blaine was not the only millionaire in Krystal City. One of the others, Kenya Golbi. She made her fortune from professional credit loaning. She was on her way up in the world and fast. Smart investing and cheating scandals were he way. Kenya sat lounging on her four hundred foot yacht. Money has a way of eliminating all worries in the world. But as afternoon hit Kenya had important things to do on land. The yacht docked in Kenya's personal loading area. She activated the automated bridge from her yacht to the pier. When she got down onto the pier her expensive red Ferrari was missing and in it's place was a large truck.

"Where the fuck is my Ferrari?!" -Kenya. Eve came up behind her and covered her mouth. "You have a beautiful boat. We'll be needing it." -Eve. Eve bit Kenya on the neck and drained enough blood to make her faint. Eve then carried her to the back of the truck and knocked on the door. The vampires on the inside opened the door, but stayed out of the sunlight. Eve tossed Kenya's body in and the Vampires shut the door and began feeding. Eve made her way onto the yacht and went up to the driver's cabin. The driver was collecting his things before he left. Eve appeared behind the driver and snapped his neck to preserve his blood for later. Eve then saw the intercom controls, she pulled the radio to her lips and spoke. "This is an emergency announcement the boat has begun taking on water. If all passengers and staff please exit the boat in a single file manner then our maintenance experts can repair the problem." -Eve.

The few members of the crew quickly headed to the deck of the ship to get off, but Eve had retracted the automated bridge. The passengers were confused, Eve calmly walked over to them and reached out grabbing the first two people by their necks and snapping them. The other passengers screamed, one man with a chef hat ran and jumped off the yacht. Eve killed all the other passengers without bleeding their bodies and then she ran and jumped off the side after the chef. He was swimming toward the small boat docks but eve was much faster than him and she caught up to him and grabbed his legs and worked her way up to his neck. Only a few feet from the dock Eve forced the chef's head under the water until he stopped flailing. She then swam back to the pier while keeping the chef's body under the water.

Eve tossed the chef's body up onto the yacht and she climbed up a support beam for the pier. She made her way back onto the boat with a simple jump and began pulling the bodies into the cabin of the yacht so they couldn't be seen. She began investigating her new home. The kitchen was filled with all sorts of things one would need for a long voyage on the open sea. There was a filled wine cabinet and a various assortment of planters growing vegetable plants. In the main bed room their was a huge king sized bed, multiple coaches and even a dresser full of Kenya Golbi's old clothes and jewelry. There were four other rooms bedrooms besides the master, so Eve shut all the curtains and tied them in place so here coven would have a safe place to sleep. She shut every window that wasn't in the master bedroom, because that would be her room. This yacht had a pool, full television system and all the rest of the wonderful luxuries Eve had been denied her whole life. Their was even a loading spot on the back of the yacht to ferry cars across the sea. Kenya's second yellow Ferrari was already loaded up on the boat.

Eve jumped onto the soft luxurious bed spread and rolled around in it. She stretched her body out like she had never before. A sense of freedom and accomplishment ran through her. This is why humans hoard money and have an insatiable greed. The reward was definitely worth the price. But as Eve crawled into the covers of the bed she new this was only the beginning. She wanted this for all her coven and as a hybrid of both Vampire and Lycan. She wondered if she wanted the same thing for the Lycans.

Scene 4

Jayce's workout at the gym went as his workouts always do, no one noticed his pain or his extra straining. The reason for this is Jayce has been injured countless times as a Hunter and he has always kept his regular workout routine. He has learned to fight passed the pain and pretend to be in perfect shape even though he may have a fatal injury somewhere on his body. This has led many to believe that Jayce doesn't feel pain. That is not the case. His ability to conceal his pain likely comes from his time living on the farm so many years ago now. After his workout Jayce returned to his apartment to prepare for work. His long elevator ride was made even more unbearable by a single mother with two complaining children. Jayce unlocked the door to his apartment and tossed his keys on the table.

Jayce took a quick shower to get the sweat off of him. His bruise barely showing any sign of improvement. He opened his mirror cabinet and pulled out a container of what looked like hair gel. The label has faded from over use and the container was near empty. Jayce rubbed what was left out and smeared it over his large bruise until the gel grew firm. He tossed the empty container in the trash and went to his closet. His closet contained a few jackets and pants and multiple T-shirts. He pushed those aside and behind was the rest of the pieces of Jayce's Raid armor. A little dusty from under use but still very much functional. When Jayce was a rookie in the silver rank and he was first given his armor, he felt like a knight going off to defend the people of Krystal City in shiny armor. Only later did he realize that this shiny armor is what most Hunter's are wearing when they die.

After he had all the extra pieces on Jayce picked up his old dented armor. He put his hand in the center but it did not match up. The hand that caused the dent was much smaller than his own. He pushed the shoulder badge and the silver one sided cape popped off. Then he rotated the badge ninety degrees and pulled it off. The badge was old and worn down. He pushed the badge into the new chest plate Lady had given him and twisted it in. Then he attached the silver cape. The cape was dirty and smelly but Hunters never wash their capes because it is a sign of what they have been through. Jayce fastened his first belt and his gun belt and he grabbed his keys and left for work.

Before people would see Jayce in his Hunter armor and they would thank him for his hard work. Now people move to avoid him. He is a relic of the past, a force many believe to be useless now. His way down in the elevator consisted of two college students debating over their theories in complex physics. When Jayce got to his car his phone started to ring. He answered it and got into the driver's seat. "Jayce this is your Commander. I wanted to talk to you before you came in because I know how it feels to walk away from a team." -Commander. "What do you mean?" -Jayce. "Well yesterday we had that talk about you being transferred and I sent out your resume. I got three hits on Hunter's Bases that want you." -Commander. "I'm not going to leave my team in the middle of a case pops." -Jayce. "Kid this is your only chance. I'm not going to just drop everything I'm doing to try and transfer you when you get bored." -Commander. "I'm sure pops." -Jayce. "Damn, I really thought I was gonna get rid of you." -Commander.

Scene 5

Darwin Blaine sat in his mansion in a large lounge chair simply waiting. There was a phone to his left and it was sitting alone on a fancy end table. The phone rang once and Darwin picked it up. "What happened Darwin?" -Phone voice. "Some crew members got put down by the Hunters." -Darwin. "That is not possible the Hunters don't go near the docks." -Phone voice. "It was a Hunter above your purchase power. He is silver rank, gets his orders straight from the Commander." -Darwin. "What do you know about this Commander?" -Phone voice. "He is a real believer and was a silver rank Hunter before he took the job as Commander so he is capable." -Darwin. "Darwin you have done good keeping our business safe for the past eight years, but now it's time for you to get your hands dirty. End the Commander, kill this entire case and get our business under control or I will send someone that will." -Phone voice. The phone hung up.

Scene 6

Selene watched as Kelvin shaped an old pipe into a jagged knife. At the same time Damon finished with the pipes and had a few kids running the toilets and sinks to make sure everything was working. Everyone was glad to finally get a chance to relieve themselves. After that Damon went straight to sleep, he tossed and turned. Selene assumed he was having nightmares about spiders. Kelvin filled some buckets with water and used them to improve his forging. Selene thought about calling Eve, but she seemed so set on her path. It was possible Eve's actions would bring the Hunters down on both covens. But even if she wanted to Selene could not stop Eve. Eve had become powerful beyond comparison. Even Michael had not come close to the new strength that Eve had developed through natural growth with her powers.

Selene stood up in the middle of the floor and spoke. "Eve and the others have left to create their own coven. They will not be pursuing a safe course like we are and so drastic measures must be taken. We can't stop Eve or the others, but we can infiltrate the Hunter's base and find out what they know. Someone must be willing to grind down their fangs in order to get through unnoticed. I would volunteer for this but The Hunter that put this bullet in me has seen my face and would surely recognize me." -Selene. A mature woman stood up, she looked to be in her forties and her name was Estella Florence. Selene had approached Estella while she lay on her death bed in a hospital. Estella had had a serious autoimmune disease making her a constant visitor to the hospital. It was Michael who hand picked her as a possible Vampire.

"I'll do it, if it means keeping us all safe it will definitely be worth it." -Estella. "I have to warn you first, we have no drugs for the pain so you will have to go through the grinding unaided." -Selene. "I once had a bone marrow transplant Selene, I'm sure I will survive this." -Estella. "Congratulations Estella, you will be the first ever spy for this coven." -Kelvin. Selene took Estella with her upstairs so they could talk about her mission in private. "Are you sure you want to do this? If they find you they will surely not kill you, they will interrogate you." -Selene. "Selene, when you first found me I was weak, I was dying a little bit more everyday and I didn't even have the strength to end my own life. You gave me a new life. My pain has been gone, my strength is greater than it ever was and I can heal from any injury. I am ready to be the Vampire you need me to be. I can do this, I know I can." -Estella.

"We were so lucky when we got you Estella." -Selene. "No I am the lucky one, not many people get a second chance like this. Even if I die tomorrow you gave me eight more years of life." -Estella. "You won't die. Because we are going to have a plan. First, we are going to stake them out and learn their patterns. Only after that would I send you in." -Selene. "Won't I need a fake identity?" -Estella. "Yes and I know just the guy for that." -Selene. Selene and Estella went back down stirs everyone was asleep or on their way to it. Selene laid down on her blanket and took the bullet out of her pocket. She ran the bullet through her fingers and remembered the face of the Hunter that had shot her. The look on his face as he held his gun on her and then didn't pull the trigger. A human, he chased her down on foot, killed three Lycans and then didn't kill her when he had the chance.

Scene 7

When Jayce arrived on the silver rank floor he was greeted by the whole team who had been waiting eagerly for his arrival. "So what happened last night?" -Rookie. Brick and Lady nodded in agreement and then sat down in their chairs to listen as he told his story. "Well I was on patrol again. Thanks to pops!" -Jayce. The commander was on the phone but heard Jayce's exclamation and pointed his middle finger up to the air to show his disagreement. "Anyway, a cop calls in suspicious activity at a blood bank. I assume it's nothing just a few kids loitering or whatever. The cop then says the driver has begun fleeing the scene. I start making my way over but the cop is speeding down the street toward the beach fair. Then when I get there the cops car is flipped up on it's side and the Vampire is pulling someone out of a car. She takes off into the fair so naturally I give chase." -Jayce

"-And somewhere along the line you run into a pack of Lycans and let the Vampire get away." -Commander. "Wow the great Jayce Argeris is losing his touch." -Brick. "Maybe you're right." -Jayce. "Regardless of that I'm sure that those were not the only Lycan using the docks as a hiding place. We should head out now, right Commander?" -Lady. "Agreed. The trail is still fresh and we need your eyes on the scene. You know these damn bronzes can't find anything these days." -Commander. Everyone shared a little chuckle. They all got up to leave. As everyone else piled into the elevator the Commander called to Jayce. "Kid, no more distractions. If there's a trail I'm trusting you to find it." -Commander. "It's what I'm paid to do." -Jayce.

The four Hunters drove to the docks in different cars. They parked in pairs blocking the entrance and the exit of the docks. A few lower level Hunters were still here investigating the incident and the area. When they caught sight of the four silver rank walking onto the docks they stopped what they were doing and reported in. "The bodies have been removed and the dock searched over. The bar on the end of the pier is clear, but that would be the first place I would suggest you start looking for anything." -Bronze rank Hunter. The bronze rank Hunters left the docks, their shift was over, they had likely been here all night. Jayce and his team headed down to the bar at the end of the pier. "You guys know the drill." -Jayce. He pushed open the door.

The bar tender and restaurant owner was cleaning the tables preparing for opening hour. When the Hunters came in she lost her composure. "Great more of you! As if my business hasn't suffered enough from the likes of you today. Not a single customer all day. Maybe you'll be nicer than the last assholes who asked me questions and tested me for Lycanthropy. So you gonna buy anything? Welcome to the Wandering Fucking Ronin, I'm Karen what can I get for you?!" -Karen. "We don't mean to put a cramp in your day but the job is the job miss Karen." -Jayce. "It's Mrs. Karen, been married twice to an asshole both times." -Karen. "Sorry but you don't look a day over thirty." -Jayce. "Didn't say I was married long either time." -Karen. "Well Mrs. Karen, my team mate Hunter Stahlson is gonna have some very extensive questions for you. If you answer quick and accurately we will be out of your hair in no time at all." -Jayce. "Okay, but only cause you asked so nicely." -Karen.

Lady stepped forward and began asking Karen a series of questions while Brick stood by her side. Jayce began wandering the bar. The Rookie began following him. Jayce went to a corner and slumped back into it. The Rookie knew this to be one of Jayce's greatest hunting techniques. Sometimes being up close to objects holds you back from seeing the big picture. The bar was very different from this corner, the tables did not look symmetrical and the wood planks on the floor were obviously misaligned. The cellar underneath was almost visible. Jayce walked over to the kitchen and inspected the tops and sides of the doorways. Lycan are large and tall, so if you fail to find a track on the floor, the doorways and ceilings are your next bet.

This doorway was clear so Jayce proceeded deeper into the kitchen. He took note of the cooking ingredients. There were a few bottles of wine on the top of a cabinet that Jayce had never heard of before. The label was in a foreign language that he didn't recognize. Further into the kitchen Jayce found the hatch to the cellar. He pulled out his right revolver and ejected the bullets. He put the UV rounds in his pocket and reloaded the gun with silver bullets. Jayce motioned for the Rookie to watch the exit. He used his foot to throw open the hatch. Inside the dark cellar were two large fermentation tanks, next to those were three crates full of the same wine bottles. Other than the wine making equipment there was nothing outstanding down in the cellar. Jayce holstered his gun and went back up. Lady was doing her part asking a bunch of monotonous questions and Brick was standing with his eyes closed, he might even be asleep.

"You have a winery downstairs?" -Jayce. "Yes I do, the other Hunters looked at it too, there's nothing illegal down there." -Karen. "You must ship it from here?" -Jayce. "We do, two crates every month." -Karen. Jayce went back down into the cellar and the Rookie followed him. "Everything looks clear down here, doesn't it?" -Rookie. Jayce knelled down next to the three crates. "Do you see these scratches in the wood?" -Jayce. The Rookie looked closer and took note of the scratches in the wood caused by the crates. "The crates scratch the wood, so what how does that help us?" -Rookie. "She said they ship two crates every month, but there's three crates. Assuming that one of these is used for their private stash, why do all three have the same level of scratch marks for movement? -Jayce. "She lied and they're shipping all three crates. But why lie about that?" -Rookie. "Because it's what she wants us to believe." -Jayce.

Jayce went back up into the restaurant and motioned to Lady for them to leave. "Well don't let the door hit you on the way out." -Karen. As Jayce was leaving her stopped suddenly. He took one step back and noticed the thud of his foot on the planks was dramatically different. When he looked down he saw that the planks in a certain area of the restaurant were much closer to each other and well aligned. "What is it?" -Karen. Jayce pushed a table aside and traced out the boards with his finger he reached down and grabbed one plank and about eight other planks came up with it all connected like one floor board. Underneath was a ladder leading deep down into the docks. "I didn't know about that!" -Karen. "Lady stay here watch her. Brick, Rookie you're with me. Jayce climbed down the steps of the ladder. All the way down. Brick and the Rookie followed him down.

Underneath the docks was as dirty as the sewers with a nasty smell to match. "Smell that?" -Jayce. "Wet dog." -Brick. "We got us a den." -Jayce. The Hunters drew their weapons. Brick had a short barrel automatic shot gun with a nasty silver burst. The Rookie had a tactical assault rifle, a basic raid gun. Jayce had his revolvers. Jayce led this team through the underground path. At a fork the tunnel split three ways. Jayce motioned that he would go straight and the other two in each respective direction. The stink of wet dog was growing and Jayce heard a voice up ahead. He kept himself inside the shadows and moved closer to the mouth of an opening into an underground room. There was a person inside talking rather load about nothing particularly important. Jayce was about to approach the person when the sound of an automatic weapon went off.

Scene 8

Unable to get her coven out of the truck and onto the yacht, Eve decided instead to take a ride in the red Ferrari that was Kenya's. She sped past cars on the highway and roared her engine at normal city folks commuting to or from work. Eve had never driven for fun, there was always a goal in mind before. This must be what true freedom felt like, the wind in her hair and the thought that if anyone tried to stop her they would fail. Eve stopped the car at a red light and noticed the huge building to her right. The Library of Yvnosi, this library towered over many other buildings in the area. Inside it was a preforming theater and multiple pay classes of all sorts. These classes teach skills as opposed to schools which teach next to nothing useful. The large banner on the side also said that a rare tome and the sarcophagus it was found in would be arriving soon.

Eve was not one to gawk over books, but the sheer magnitude of the building and all its many functions was worth a moment of pause. When the light changed color Eve left the library behind and a few blocks up drove right passed the Hunter's Base. It wasn't as high end or as flashy as the ones Eve had seen in other cities. Regardless she knew the Hunters would eventually get a whiff of her activities if she proceeded with her plans. A few men with guns couldn't stop her, Eve was the hybrid everyone feared would come into existence. It was only a matter of time before the world would be forced to take note of her existence.

Scene 9

Jayce was forced to forget about the subject in the den and retreat to the tunnel that the Rookie took. Brick met up with Jayce as they ran into the left tunnel following the sound of gun fire. When they reached a clearing The Rookie was spotted atop a rafter shooting down at a forklift. "We got four possible Lycans!" -Rookie. When the Rookie yelled that a Lycan jumped up to the wall on his right and began leaping toward him. The Rookie was laying down suppressive fire on the Lycan hiding behind the fork lift. Jayce fired a shot at the Lycan on the wall and the bullet blasted the wall next to the Lycan's head. The Lycan dropped to a lower position but Jayce fired another shot. This shot hit the Lycan's right hand dropping him off the wall. The Lycan began leaping towards the two Hunters.

Neither of them backed away, Jayce fired another shot which went through the Lycan's ear. That didn't slow down the Lycan at all and when it jumped in the air to pounce on Jayce, Brick blasted a shot from the barrel of his shotgun pulverizing the left side of the Lycan's body. The corpse of the Lycan landed only a few feet from Jayce's feet. "What the hell was that? I've never seen you miss before." -Brick. "Just keep moving there's three more." -Jayce. The Lycan hiding behind the fork lift began pushing the metal car to us it as coverage from the Rookie's bullets. The Rookie stopped firing and Jayce jumped into the driver's seat of the fork lift and put his revolver against the Lycan's head and fired. The back of the Lycan's skull exploded outwards courtesy of the high caliber silver nitrate round. "I thought it was you who said: 'Never get in the reach of a Lycan.'" -Brick. "Rules are meant to be broken. Rookie cover the exit, me and Brick will take out the other two!" -Jayce. The Rookie dropped his magazine out of his assault rifle and put in a new magazine. Jayce and Brick proceeded into the next set of tunnels to hunt down the other two Lycans.

As they stepped in the filthy waste lining the floor of the tunnel they spotted the obvious trail of two Lycan's. "So what's going on with you?" -Brick. "What do you mean?" -Jayce. "You missed that Lycan at twenty yards. That's world class terrible for you." -Brick. "This bruise is probably effecting me worse than I thought." -Jayce. "Hey, you know what they use to call you at the base: The Hunter who feels no pain. You're trying to tell me a bruise is ruining your game. I've worked with you long enough to know that even a sword going through your stomach wasn't enough to stop you from bringing down sixteen Vampires in that one Sheridan Incident." -Brick. "That was a long time ago." -Jayce. "What about the Kalibak case? You killed ten Lycans with a knife lodged in your skull." -Brick. "Yeah and the twenty-eight hours of surgery after was an added bonus." -Jayce. "Listen man, I get it. You got your ass whipped by a girl and it's burning you up inside. But you are gonna hunt her down and put a bullet in her head, because that's what we do for a living." -Brick.

Jayce was about to respond when he heard the distant growl of a Lycan. The tunnels were coming to an end and the Lycans were to large to fit out of the manholes. There was one last turn in the tunnel and Jayce and brick leaned up against the entrance and waited. The Lycan's breathing could be heard in a steady rhythm and it seemed distant. When Jayce turned the corner a lycan lunged at him and they fell onto a metal grate which snapped open under the weight of the two of them. They continued to fall until they hit the water below. Jayce dropped his guns when he hit the water and the Lycan was frantically splashing trying to find him. Jayce came to the surface took a breath and dove down to get his guns. The two revolvers hit the bottom of the sea directly below. Jayce swam down and grabbed them he put the left into it's holster and before he could holster the right he saw the Lycan swimming towards him underwater.

Jayce fired at the Lycan and the three shots hit it's chest. Jayce began swimming to the surface, but the Lycan grabbed hold of his ankle and stopped him. Jayce let out his air and reached down with his left hand and took the knife out of his boot. He sawed the Lycan's hand off and quickly swam up to the surface. Jayce grabbed hold of a pier support beam lined with crustaceans and starfish. "Hey you still alive down there?" -Brick. Brick shouted to Jayce from up in the tunnel. When he caught sight of Jayce hugging the support beam he laughed. "Of course you are!" -Brick. The body of a man floated to the surface next to Jayce.

Jayce was ringing out the water from his cape outside The Wandering Ronin. Brick opened the door and came out. "Lady caught someone fleeing the tunnels after the shooting started. Other than him the tunnels are empty and the den about to be sterilized. We are taking both of them in for interrogation." -Brick. "Good, good lets get out of this place now." -Jayce. Jayce looked over to the other end of the dock and saw the building he and Selene had fought. Lady pushed Karen the owner out of the restaurant and then her son after her. "Don't say anything Mack. We have our rights." -Karen. "Actually you don't." -Rookie. "What?" -Karen. "Cops read you your rights because you are a suspect in a crime. You have already been proven to be an accomplice of Lycans. So now it is just a matter of finding out what you know about your doggie compadres." -Brick. The Hunters loaded the prisoners into their cars and all four drove away.

Scene 10

Selene sneaked into Darwin's mansion and walked right up into the billionaire's room. Darwin was locking something away in his safe when Selene walked in. He was so shocked to see her he almost jumped off the floor. "Expecting someone else?" -Selene. "No, not really. What is it that you want now?" -Darwin. "You were expecting someone else weren't you? Someone meaner than me?" -Selene. "...I alerted the Hunters that someone showed up here uninvited, but I canceled the case later when I came to my senses. I thought maybe they had caught up with me." -Darwin. "Well don't we have a little trust issue now. If you want to start on a path to get my trust back I have just the task for you." -Selene. "What?" -Darwin. "I need a passable fake identity for one of my Vampires. Shes going to be around Hunters so this identity needs to be flawless." -Selene. "You are setting up a spy? You are even crazier than I thought. But I'm intrigued, I, myself have survived right under the nose of the Hunters. In fact I had one in my house standing right in front of me and I am still in the world of the living. I will need to met her and work with her to create an identity that would suit her skills." -Darwin.

"I'll bring her down tonight. Try and have everything ready." -Selene. "But of course." -Darwin. Selene walked to the door of his room. "You're lying to me. I don't know who you're scared of but you should be more scared of me." -Selene. "It's only a matter of time before you find out." -Darwin. Selene left his house the same way she had entered and again used the trees for cover. There was a plain white colored van with a logo of a plumbing company. Inside this van were two ruby rank Hunters. They were recording the movements all around the mansion. They played back the footage over and over until they finally realized what they had caught on video. A boot stepping on a branch was all they could make out, but it was more than enough. One of the Hunters picked up his radio.

Scene 11

The prisoners were taken into the back of the Hunter's Base. Jayce and his team were very familiar with the underground part of the Hunter's Base were all prisoners end up when they refuse to give information willingly. During the Frontier Days the governments decided that the Vampire/Lycan menace was so great they would need to resort to aggressive measures to acquire the needed information. Thus the Hunters were given special permission to use a machine called the Tesla Volt Room. A specialized room with only one chair in it and a two way mirror. The chair is solid wood with two steel cuffs for hands and two steel cuffs for ankles. On the both sides of the chair are two large conductors that spark often with excess voltage. The conductors are about twenty feet off the ground. The resistant prisoner would be sat in the chair strapped in and not shocked once or twice with extremely powerful bolts. No, instead the prisoner is hit with five hundred thousand volts every fifteen seconds for three seconds.

The Hunters have only three rules when using the TVR. One, the voltage cannot exceed one million volts. Two, under no circumstances can anyone be in the TVR for more than two hours. Although most usually fold within the first fifteen minutes. Three, the TVR cannot be used on the same person within a period of eight hours from their last season. Also a needless rule since most people don't make it passed the first season. The Hunters also posses a more appropriate steel chair with much larger and stronger steel cuffs for Vampire and Lycan. Karen's son was fastened with a vest that has two metal bolts sticking up on both shoulders. The two yelled and screamed frantically as all do before they go into the TVR. Karen was taken into the viewing room and cuffed to a chair. Lady and the Rookie stayed in the room watching her.

As the highest ranking Hunter in the group it is Jayce's job to run the interrogation. Brick is the second in command so he is also let in the room to learn from the more experienced Hunter. Jayce and Brick brought the young man into the room. He began wailing and flailing trying to slide his way out of their grasp. Brick held the man in the chair and Jayce fastened him in with the cuffs. Brick backed up to the door and Jayce stood about two feet in front of the young man. "You can just tell us what we want. You don't have to go through this." -Jayce. "I can't they will kill us all: me, my mom, my girlfriend and her family too." -Young man. "Well you have plenty of time to think about changing your mind. Look up there." -Jayce. Right above the only door leading into the TVR was a bright large display digital clock with all six numbers set at zero. "All you gotta do is last two hours, then it's your mom's turn." -Jayce. "I can't." -Young man. Jayce backed up to where brick was and shut the door.

"Fifty percent of this weeks pay says he sings before five minutes." -Brick. "You know seventy five percent of my pay goes to the city." -Jayce. "Too bad this guys gonna sing like a princess." -Brick. "Lady start me up at five!" -Jayce. On the other side of the two way mirror Lady set the TVR to five hundred thousand volts and put a key into the system and turned it. The machine roared to life with a monstrous whirling of electronic power. The conductors began to spark and the digital clock started. The young man started praying to whatever god it is he believes in. But then that's what most prisoners do. Every one thinks they can take it. Until that first bolt hits them.

The clock hit fifteen seconds and the right conductor let out its bright volt of miniature lightning that hit the prisoner's vest on the right bolt. The man screamed as the electricity coursed through his entire body for three seconds and then shut off. The man was breathing hard and left in a contorted position. "The first ones the worst. It's all smooth sailing from here." -Brick. The prisoners eyes went to the clock which was quickly approaching thirty three seconds. The second volt was just as bad as the first one had been causing him to scream and shake uncontrollably. "See man it's not the pain that gets to you. It's knowing that you still got an hour and fifty nine minutes. Were going out to lunch just start talking when your ready and well shut it off." -Jayce. Jayce and Brick left as the next volt of lightning hit the prisoner.

Jayce and Brick went into the viewing room where the mother, Karen was weeping with her head down. Lady and the Rookie were already unpacking their lunch. Jayce pulled out a chair for himself and Brick did too. Another volt hit the prisoner. "You're bleeding Jayce." -Lady. Jayce was bleeding from his side. He unlatched his chest plate and pulled his shirt up. It was just one puncture likely from when the Lycan had pounced on him. Jayce pulled out a tiny little first aid kit from his belt pouch. He used a green gel to sterilize the wound while the other Hunters ate and the prisoner was electrocuted. He then unsealed a brand new stitching needle to which he attached a foot long sewing line. Brick handed Jayce a burger and he took a bite then began stitching himself. "You people are monsters! Fucking monsters just like the wolves! You eat and go about your lives while you torture my son! I'll tell you everything I know just shut that machine off you fucking sick twisted Hunters!" -Karen.

Jayce nodded to Lady to turn off the TVR. "I win, less than five minutes." -Brick. "Fuck you!" -Karen. "Geez, temper much." -Brick. Lady got up and powered down the machine. Brick got up to go and unlatch the prisoner. Jayce nodded to the Rookie giving him permission to go and help Brick. Jayce was finishing suturing himself when he looked out the window and saw Brick and the Rookie dragging the prisoners twitching body. This was not the first time he had seen this, in fact he had done it before. But Jayce thought on Karen's words. 'monsters just like the wolves!' -Karen.

Scene 12

A true disappointment, most of the information Karen could provide was useless and all about the four Lycan that were already dead. Their was one interesting thing, she said that the Lycans ran the winery below her restaurant. She wasn't even allowed down there. "I'm going to go back and have a second look at that cellar." -Jayce. Jayce was heading out of the hunter's Base when a ruby rank ran up behind him and caught his attention. "You told us to keep an eye on the Blaine mansion. Well we got something just a few minutes ago." -Ruby rank Hunter. The Hunter handed Jayce an enhanced picture of the black boot on the branch. "Just a boot? Well whatever the case I have to go back there and put my freaking foot on this billionaire's throat." -Jayce. Jayce called lady and asked her to check out the cellar for him. She easily agreed.

Jayce drove to the Blaine mansion but didn't go up to the fence. Instead he parked behind the plumber van. Jayce got out of his car and hit the door once. The Hunters opened the doors and he got in. " So where did the mystery boot appear?" -Jayce. "Just about two hundred feet away from where we are now. I didn't know Vampires used trees to travel undetected." -Ruby rank Hunter. "You never heard of the Black Widows?" -Jayce. "No what's that?" -Ruby rank Hunter. "About seven years ago a ten of us were sent out into the northern forest to find these Vampires that crawled around in the trees like spiders. When we returned three days later there was only two of us." -Jayce. "Do you think this could be one of the Black Widow survivors?" -Ruby rank Hunter. "There are no Black Widow survivors, we made sure of it." -Jayce. Jayce got out of the van and walked into the willow trees around the outside of Blaine's mansion.

He located the spot where the camera was and found the exact tree ahead. Jayce climbed the tree up to the branch that was in the photo. He sat down against the trunk of the tree and saw not one but four boot prints in the tree. Two facing toward the mansion and two going away. With only one step the Vampire had jumped from this willow tree to the next a distance of about twenty five feet. Quite the accomplishment even for a Vampire. Jayce took a rough measurement with his hand. The boot print wasn't very big. Just like the palm print on the window in the mansion. Jayce dropped himself down to the floor. He made his way back to the van. "Go back to Base I'll handle everything from here." -Jayce. "Are you sure you won't need back up?" -Ruby rank Hunter. "You guys have done your job and you've done it well. Now I have to go to work. Besides you wouldn't want to owe the city seventy five percent of your paycheck like I do." -Jayce. The ruby rank Hunters drove away in their van, leaving Jayce to his work.

Jayce ran up to the concrete wall and jumped onto it hanging on with only his finger tips he pulled himself up onto the wall. He jumped off on the other side and made his way up the annoyingly long path. Jayce knew the alarm system would not be active during the day so he easily slipped in an open window. Their was again no sign of any damage done or precious artifacts missing. Jayce made his way up the long flight of stairs to the upper levels. Inside the master bedroom Darwin was having a very loud phone conversation. Whoever it was that was on the line angered Darwin and he slammed the phone down on his desk. When he turned around Jayce grabbed his throat and pushed him up against his book shelf with his gun pointing at Darwin's head.

"Mr. Blaine, I must admit it was a nice touch using the surgical mask to get right next to me without letting me see these cute little things." -Jayce. Jayce tapped Darwin's fangs with the barrel of his gun. "Now you're gonna tell me exactly where they are and I might have an opening for you as a professional squealer." -Jayce. "I can't tell you. See you, you are going to kill me, but not them. They would torture me for eternity. Sorry no deal." -Darwin. "That's too bad, I was just starting to like you." -Jayce. "Wait! I know about you. I know the city siphons your accounts because they blame you for the damage you caused. I know your father doesn't work and so you send him most of your money to keep him alive and the farm in your family name. I can help you. I can give you all my money if you just let me go. You get billions and I'll disappear again." -Darwin. "Mr. Blaine I'm almost tempted to take your offer, but you see I like my job and I'm very good at it. So if you can't help me find the Vampiress in black you are not long for this world." -Jayce. "Wait! Vampiress in black? You are looking for Selene! Oh what luck. Yes I will agree to work for the Hunters." -Darwin.

"I wasn't born yesterday. Why the sudden desire to switch sides?" -Jayce. "Selene is trouble she always has been always will be." -Darwin. "Where's the coven?" -Jayce. "I cannot tell you that." -Darwin. "Do you want me to blow your brains out onto this bookshelf?" -Jayce. "No you misunderstand me. I would like to tell you where it is, but if I do and you fail to kill her she will track me down to the ends of the earth to smash my skull open." -Darwin. "We can take care of her." -Jayce. "Think logically she has survived this long with an entire coven. Selene is no ordinary Vampiress." -Darwin. "What is so special about her?" -Jayce. "Wait a minute, you have seen her already have you not? Yes, yes and already you have been unable to kill her, how appropriate. But tell me one thing Hunter. Why didn't she not kill you?" -Darwin. "I ask the questions here Mr. Blaine. Now tell me where to find her and I won't turn your head inside out." -Jayce. "I told you I cannot help you with locating her." -Darwin. Jayce pulled the hammer back on his revolver. "But I can do the equivalent. I can send her to you." -Darwin. Jayce released Darwin's neck.

Scene 13

As the sun began to set Selene loaded her stolen car with covers so it would be safe for Estella to ride in the back. Eve still had not returned the truck, so the supply run would have to wait. Selene drove to Darwin's mansion and the gate opened on it's own when she pulled up to it. The sun was fully set by the time Selene parked in front of Darwin's mansion. Her and Estella walked up to the front door, it was left unlocked. They both walked in cautiously. Darwin was in the main living room typing on his computer again. "So this is the brave soon to be spy?" -Darwin. "Yes, I'm Estella." -Estella. "I do not need to know your current name, only what your skills are and how much you actually know about Hunters." -Darwin. Darwin motioned for Estella to take a seat in the lounge chair near his desk. "I'm going to have to leave her here with you Darwin. Just know she is trained to protect herself." -Selene. "I am sure she is for you to considered throwing her to the wolves … In a manner of speaking." -Darwin.

Selene turned to leave but Darwin stopped her. "Selene, I thought perhaps with the way current situations are you may want a hide away bunker for your coven. It is smaller than the factory but would serve as a good place to leave equipment or get out of the sunlight." -Darwin. He tapped a note on his desk with an address written on it. Selene pulled it off his desk and started to leave again. "Be careful out there, the Hunters are knocking down doors in every neighborhood looking for you after the incident at the docks." -Darwin. "How do you know about that?" -Selene. "I am a billionaire Selene of course I have some Hunters bought in this city." -Darwin. Selene left the mansion leaving Estella and Darwin to work on her secret identity. "So do you know the Hunter ranks?" -Darwin. "I didn't even know they had ranks." -Estella. "Wow, we are going to be here a long time." -Darwin.

Scene 14

Selene drove to the address written on the note. It was an old mining shed. Most of the rest of the tiny mining town had been demolished or enlarged into buildings. There were no cars close by and the shed was standing alone in a fenced off field. Selene parked her car in the parking lot of one of the industrial buildings and walked to the tiny barbed wire fence. She hopped over it with ease and made her way across the tall uncut grass. She tested the doorknob and it opened. She walked in and the door shut behind her. At the moment it shut three heavy logs dropped one on top of the other in front of the door. Selene jumped forward startled by the trap. Her jump covered about twenty five feet and when she landed her foot was caught in an old fashioned bear trap. She fell over unable to put weight on her left foot. She reached down to take the trap off when a match was lit in the shed.

Jayce used the match to light an old fashioned oil lamp. The oil lamp lit up the entire shed. Selene was about to lunge toward Jayce but due to her smashed ankle and the attached trap Jayce drew his gun first. Selene was utterly shocked and infuriated. Caught in a bear trap by one Hunter was well below her skill level. "What are you waiting for you bastard you already got me served up!" -Selene. "Did you like the trap? I was honestly shocked to see this place actually had one laying around. The distance wasn't tough at all after I measured your jumping between the trees. Take it off your leg." -Jayce. Selene wrenched the trap open snapping it in two. "Stand up." -Jayce. Selene pushed herself onto her feet favoring her left leg.

"At the docks, why didn't you kill me?" -Jayce. "I should have." -Selene. "Yeah no doubt, but you didn't, why?" -Jayce. "Why didn't you shoot me again when you had the chance Hunter?" -Selene. "I ... I don't quite recall. But don't worry I'll fix that problem this time around. Now you answer my question." -Jayce. "I didn't kill you because you chose not to kill me. I was returning the favor." -Selene. "Bullshit! Vampires don't feel, you don't understand balance or fairness or mercy. You're freaking monsters and it's my job to put you down." -Jayce. "You think you know more about me than I do! Look at you, your just a kid you couldn't possibly understand what we are or what we go through! They taught you how to shot a gun and they gave you some bullshit idea to cling onto to make you feel like a hero!" -Selene. "I have seen Vampires kill people, I watched them drain the blood out of people and it's all to prolong their life. You would kill anyone if it meant you get to live another week." -Jayce.

"We aren't all the same, just like all humans aren't murderers. I've seen Hunters burst into covens killing men, women and children alike. They took the babies and dissected them. How many times have you done this Hunter?" -Selene. "We don't dissect babies, we bag them and send them to Research and Studies." -Jayce. "And you call us the monsters. I never butchered a family and hung their burnt corpses from the door post to mark my territory!" -Selene. "Why am I even trying to reason with you." -Jayce. Jayce aimed at Selene's head and pulled the hammer back. Selene stared straight into his eye's. Then Jayce pulled the trigger.

The bullet exited the barrel of the gun and flew over Selene's left shoulder. "I was wrong, they didn't even teach you how to shoot." -Jayce. Jayce fired again and the bullet went even further off over Selene's right shoulder. "Here this might help." -Selene. Selene walked closer to Jayce, her ankle had already healed and she was only five feet from the barrel of his gun. A drop of sweat ran down Jayce's face. He had just missed her twice at a range of less than twenty feet. He who can shot a Lycan's eyes out at one hundred yards. Selene was standing right in front of him now, a deadly Vampire and he couldn't pull the trigger. Selene snatched the gun out of Jayce's hand before he could react, she grabbed his metal vest and pulled him close. Her eyes turned blue and her fangs seemed to grow larger, but Jayce couldn't move. She pressed her teeth up against the skin of Jayce's neck.

Jayce pulled him self away as he felt her cold fangs on his skin. His training kicked in and he upper cut her chin shutting her jaw. Selene slapped Jayce so hard he spun around. She grabbed the back of his vest and belt and threw him against the wall of the shed. The feeble wood walls broke as Jayce flew out onto the long grass. Selene followed him out. Jayce was recovering and trying to pull out his other revolver. Selene dashed forward and twisted his left hand, then she slapped him again. As Jayce lay there trying to recuperate Selene unbuckled his gun belt. Jayce tried to stop her but she slapped him again. Selene put the right revolver back into it's holster and slung the belt over her shoulder. She watched as Jayce crawled to his knee's and pulled his knife from his boot. He slashed at Selene's leg, she moved her leg and kicked him on the chin. She stepped on his knife hand and kept grinding until he let go. She picked up his knife too.

Jayce stood up and was wobbly on his feet he pulled two spiked knuckles out from his belt pouch. "You really don't give up do you?" -Selene. Jayce swung at Selene wildly trying to hit her. "Where's the form you had just yesterday, the aim you had when you shot a Lycan four times from fifty yards." -Selene. "I got your form right here!" -Jayce. Jayce swung at her again but Selene moved back and kicked Jayce in the chest knocking him down. Jayce could barely breath due to his injury from yesterday and his weariness. He stayed on the floor trying to breath properly. Selene bent over so he could see her face. "You're not even worth the trouble of killing. Besides I'd like to see how you react knowing we Vampires don't feed off every human we can." -Selene. Selene walked back to her car with Jayce's gun belt and knife in tow. Jayce was still on the floor trying to breath.

Scene 15

The sun was already rising when Jayce arrived at the Hunter's Base. He limped his way into the elevator and took a deep breath. Even with all his pain he had a reputation to live up to. When he stepped onto the fourth floor he was walking straight and absorbing his pain. Lady was the first to greet him. "Where were you last night? Commander's going crazy he says we all need cellphone tracker up our asses. Whoa, what happened to your face? Ha ha, no means no." -Lady. "I think I'll talk to the Commander first, no offense." -Jayce. "Don't tell me she's gonna press charges against the agency? As if you don't have enough lawsuits against you." -Lady. "No it's not that." -Jayce. Jayce knocked on the Commander's door and waited for him to hang up the phone. "Come on in Jayce and close the door." -Commander.

Jayce closed the door and slumped into the chair. "I've known some fucking irresponsible assholes in my day, but this is just plain not you. Let me see if I got it all straight: you get your ass whooped by a girl Vampire so you track her down and decide that you don't need back up to take out and I quote you 'The most powerful Vampire I have ever seen.' Then you get your ass kicked again and we spend the next six hours combing the city for you because your not answering your cell and now one knows where you are. Where are your guns?" -Commander. "She took 'em." -Jayce. "Are fucking yanking my chain here?" -Commander. Jayce nodded no. "In only two days this bitch has gone from being in hibernation or something to tearing apart my best guy! That's all they're talking about out there. Jayce got whooped by a girl." -Commander. The Commander sat back down in his chair.

"You know Central wanted me to boot you. They said that Hunter Jayce Argeris is no longer fit to lead our silver rank team. Well I told them to go fuck themselves. I don't know what sort of crab has pinched it's claws on your nut sack but I managed to talk Central into sending you on a vacation. Two weeks, you get two fucking weeks to do whatever the fuck it is that's holding you back from being my number one guy. Then after two weeks I want you back, I want you on top of this and I want everyone to say 'Jayce was having a fucking off week.' Now get out of my office and don't come back until two weeks is up." -Commander. Jayce pulled himself out of the chair and left the office. He didn't speak to any of the other Hunters as he left the Hunter's Base.

End Episode 2