UNDERWORLD:

AFTERMATH

Written by:

David Jacob

Episode 3: Knowledge

Scene 1

Selene was on the the third floor of the factory. She was trying on Jayce's gun belt. Using the rear view mirror she removed from her car to see her entire reflection. The belt seemed like an excessive addition to her outfit, it was very bulky and the gun's barrels were longer than she thought. Selene pulled the left side revolver out and held it in her hand. There was once a time when a revolver was the newest invention for killing Lycans and she was one of the first to use them for that purpose. These revolvers however were much more advanced and the bullets were a much larger caliber than anything she had used before. In the western side of the world there use to men that would challenge each other to a battle of drawing speed in which only the faster more accurate man walked away. Selene put the revolver back in the holster and took her hand off it, then she quickly pulled it out and aimed it at the mirror. "Selene are you up here?" -Estella.

Selene quickly put the gun back in the holster and unbuckled the gun belt. When Estella reached the top of the stairs Selene was holding the gun belt in her hand. "Where did you get that?" -Estella. "I took them off of someone who didn't need them anymore." -Selene. "I use to be quite the Clint Eastwood fan back in the day." -Estella. "Who's that?" -Selene. "Oh but you must know Clint Eastwood. He's a famous actor who made a lot of movies where he was a gunslinger." -Estella. "I don't watch movies. Now what did that slimy, cowering bastard do for you?" -Selene. "We set up a full life story for the character I will be playing. I apparently attended college and am a professional in Vampire studies. Who would've thought?" -Estella. "I've been wondering what I was going to do to that snake." -Selene. "Darwin? What did he do?" -Estella. "Bastard sold me out to the Hunters. There was a trap waiting for me at the address he sent me to." -Selene. "How did you get out?" -Estella. "The trap wasn't exactly planned out very well on their part." -Selene.

"You can't kill Darwin, Selene. We need him if this whole undercover thing is going to work." -Estella. "Doesn't mean I can't hurt him. Besides we need to make sure he won't just give away our position to save his own hide." -Selene. "We shouldn't lose focus of the goal, we can't push him away. If he stops helping us our chances here could vanish." -Estella. "I will think about it, but there is no way he is getting off without paying a price." -Selene. Estella noticed Jayce's knife sitting on top of a dusty crate. "Is that what I think it is?" -Estella. Having had to run from hunters for years now everyone in Selene's coven was well aware of what a Hunter's knife looked like. "Those guns and that knife. You killed a Hunter?" -Estella. "No." -Selene. "You let them live? That's even worse." -Estella.

"This one was different Estella. I was this close to turning him. Can you imagine the change if we can get an actual Hunter comprised? We would have even better information and a close grip on the Hunter's activities." -Selene. "Hunters are dangerous Selene. Don't you remember what happened to Michael?" -Estella. "You don't have to remind me of that. Just because something is dangerous does not mean it should be feared." -Selene. "I hope you know what you're doing. They have hundreds of men at their disposal, we won't be able to win a war with them." -Estella. "Yes thank you for your advice. You can go now." -Selene. Estella left down the stairs. Selene picked up the silver knife and flipped it around in her hands thinking.

Scene 2

The sunlight streaming through Eve's windows woke her up. She pushed the lavish blankets off of herself and crawled to the edge of the bed. Her white outfit was thrown on the nightstand nearest the bed. She put it on and walked into the bathroom. The mirror showed that her hair was a mess. She looked around in the cupboards but didn't know what any of the foreign products would do to her hair. She ran the sink and wet her hair, getting it damp and flat. Then she grabbed a pen off the nearest desk and rolled her hair up into a bun and stuck the pen in to keep it from falling down. Eve left her room and wandered about the yacht. In all the bottom rooms her Vampire coven sleep soundly. Eve had developed daylight hours due to the need to drive the truck when her mother was asleep.

In time, Eve found herself in the captains cabin. She was fiddling with the many strange steering controls when she noticed a pile of books on a back table. The first two were nothing special, but the last one was a massive owners manual for this glorious yacht. Eve sat down in the captain's chair and put her feet up on the table. From here she could see the yacht's pool and the front of the ship along with the rest of the ocean beyond that. Eve opened the book to the first page and began reading. Because if she was going to be living on this yacht she sure as hell wasn't going to leave it in the docks. The book had detailed drawings of where everything was and what all the various things in the captains cabin would do when used properly.

Scene 3

When Jayce arrived at his apartment he threw his keys at the table and slammed the door shut. He unlatched his chest plate and pulled it off over his head. His gauntlets and grieves he tossed at the floor next to his chest plate. His clothes was all filthy underneath so he took them off and threw them in the pile too. Tired, upset and in pain Jayce dropped himself on his bed. The thought of Selene's fangs pressed against his skin was still as vivid as if it was happening. Jayce turned over on his bed and touched the spot on his neck where she had nearly bit him. Not only did she not turn him, but she also didn't kill him. A Hunter, a mortal enemy to Vampires everywhere. Did she have some sort of agenda? A thousand questions flooded Jayce's head. He was unable to get any sleep.

Jayce got up and got dressed. He went into the bathroom, the mirror showed him that the redness on his face was barely fading away. He washed his face and his hair. As he left his apartment the person in the elevator next to him was talking loudly on their cellphone. The person's voice grew ever more annoying by the second and with only fifteen floors to go down, he somehow felt he couldn't take it. When the man started laughing excessively loud Jayce grabbed him by the back of the neck and hit his head against the door of the elevator. The man was finally quiet and Jayce's mind was no longer being tortured. When the elevator reached the parking lot Jayce stepped over the man and went to his car. There was only one place a Hunter could go when he is looking for information on a specific Vampire.

Scene 4

As Selene closed in on Darwin's mansion she stopped herself atop a distant house. The street leading to Darwin's driveway was suspiciously full of parked cars. The Hunter's had likely set up to protect Darwin after her escape from Jayce. There was not any good chance of getting in the house undetected. Selene had no choice but to retreat for now and wait until the Hunters changed their priorities. As Selene arrived at the factory she saw Eve coming out from behind the factory. "Eve, I know we have our different ways of doing things, but I don't think splitting up is the best way to handle the problem." -Selene. "I brought the truck back, like I said I would. I can't stay here anymore, I can't stay with you. We aren't meant to live like this, we can take what we want from them it is well within our power." -Eve. "And when they come for you? What will you do then? Fight to the last man. They will always have more willing to take up the fight." -Selene. "Then I will crush their hope! I am not a child anymore, I will pave my own future from here and if it means that pavement will be made with the bodies of Hunters, so be it." -Eve.

"What did you do?" -Selene. "So far nothing, but when I do make my move, you had better stay out of my way because I am strong enough to to stop you." -Eve. "This isn't what Michael would want." -Selene. "My father is dead! And I had to watch him die through his own eyes." -Eve. Eve began walking away. "Besides, from what your people tell me you are the one stirring up trouble!" -Eve. Eve put her hands in her coat pockets and left walking. With no fangs, no weakness to sunlight and no signs of her hybrid powers Eve can walk down any street and not raise alarms. Selene watched her daughter walk away and then went into the factory. Most everyone was asleep at this hour and Selene was also fairly tired from her stress filled day. She laid down on a blanket and pulled Jayce's silver knife out of her boot.

Selene was well aware that Jayce would attempt to hunt her down and for that she should have killed him. Selene had seen many Hunters in the last fifteen years, they share many things besides rank and armor. They all spout the same ideology, that Vampires and Lycans are monsters to be eradicated from this world. For the first time Selene had found a Hunter that was waning in his conviction. If he was truly a silver rank Hunter he would track her down as long as he or she was still alive. How would he act now that she had not only defeated him again but left him without his weapons. Selene soon fell asleep with the knife still in her hand and the thought still in her head.

Scene 5

Jayce parked his car in the parking lot of the Library of Yvnosi. Once inside the grand library he went straight to the fifth floor, which according to the directory was the anthropological studies. The fifth floor was teaming with hard studying college students and other such people reading books about various cultures. Jayce went straight to a door that had a sign saying 'Authorized Personal Only'. He pushed the door open and it led to a very dimly lit hallway with a few fuse boxes and one elevator in the back. He pushed the button for the elevator to open which it did, then he took his badge out and pressed it against a gel pad on the elevator control board. Instead of the regular floors the elevator automatically sent Jayce to negative five. Exclusive to Hunters and library workers negative five was the place where all precious books, relics and files on Vampires and Lycan's are stored.

The underground level was also dimly lit and patrolled by two guards who let Jayce pass without looking at his badge. Beyond the guards was a single librarian's desk and passed that was a large steel vault, similar to a bank vault but much larger. The librarian was an old women who had been here since the start of the Hunter's Program fifteen years ago. Jayce needed no introduction, she recognized him in a moment, just like the guards. "Haven't seen you in a while. Thought maybe you up and got killed." -Librarian. "Come on you, I know that's not true. If I died my badge and case file would come straight here." -Jayce. "Well it would be what you deserve after burning my seven hundred year old original print Lycanthropy studies book." -Librarian. "I told you already I needed the book to get the Lycan worshipers to trust me -" -Jayce. "Yes, yes I've heard the story a hundred times. Then you blew up the church killing thirty five Lycan's and burning up my ancient book." -Librarian.

Jayce took out his badge and waited for the librarian. She calmly got up and took the I.D. Card from her neck tag and got on the opposite side of the vault door. "On the count of three. One, two, three." -Librarian. They both pushed their badges into the reading gel pad which scanned in the information and unlocked the vault. "There's two kids already in there, play nice." -Librarian. Jayce stepped into the vault. On the outside the vault did not look as large as it actually was. The shelves reached up twenty feet and stretched back one hundred feet each one. At the end of the bookshelves were glass containers which held huge tomes that looked to be over a couple thousand years old. Two Hunters peaked their heads out from behind a shelf to see who came in. The man and women nodded at Jayce and he nodded back. They were likely ruby rank Hunters investigating supposed sightings of Vampires or Lycans in the lowlands.

On the walls of the vault were painting of distinguished Vampires or people believed to be Vampires from long ago. One of the paintings was of Marcus Corvinus, it was a painting Jayce and his team had secured during his time serving under the Commander in the Frontier Days. Under the painting was a glass case containing burnt fragments from books that had barely survived the burning of Marcus' coven over fifteen years ago. Jayce moved to a computer sitting in the middle of the vault. He sat at the desk and began his search here. Jayce first searched the words: Ancient Vampires. Many references came up to Marcus and Viktor but also kings of old and even the Dracula Theory. In the old times Vampires such as Marcus or Viktor would document the people they turned and the children born in their coven. But many of those documents perished in the flames. Instead Jayce found himself even worse off than he had been before.

Jayce typed in the name Darwin had told him, Selene. There was no match. Jayce got up away from the computer and moved to the painting exhibit. A large glass box with hundreds of paintings stored inside and a simple finger based control mechanism. Jayce scrolled through the ancient paintings. Almost instantly a painting caught his eye a young woman sitting aside Viktor in and old portrait. The information on the painting claimed the woman to be his daughter. It didn't take much digging into books for Jayce to find out that Viktor had had his daughter incinerated by sunlight. He was back to scrolling through paintings. There was another painting of Viktor and his coven with his daughter standing along side many other well dressed Vampires. Jayce looked at the info on the painting and it named off the know Vampires in the portrait. However something caught Jayce's attention.

The date on the portrait was dated years after the supposed account of Viktor burning his daughter. Jayce looked deeper into the account of Viktor's daughter but so many of the tomes agreed on the date and public execution she faced. As far as Jayce could tell there were three options: The dates were wrong, Viktor did not kill his daughter and instead burn some one else or the woman in the later portrait was in fact a different woman. However, she did not appear in any of the later portraits or old photos of Viktor's coven. Although he was still lost, Jayce had one more option he could turn to. During a peace meeting between Vampire covens long ago, Viktor had a secondary roster made of his coven to give to the opposing coven. This roster lacked pictures and information. It was considered useless for tracking down Vampires due to it only containing names and dates of turning or birth. Jayce pulled the old tome off a high shelf and went straight to the date of Viktor burning his daughter. Using the daughter's death and the time of the newer portrait Jayce had a time frame for when this Selene would have joined the coven.

Selene was there, written in shortly after the death of Viktor's daughter. Now that Jayce knew she was a different person and not Viktor's daughter he wanted to find out as much as he could about her. But not much was said about her in any of the documents kept by Viktor, save that he held her in high regard above many others. After about an hour of searching through different Vampires biographies a single autobiographer had the audacity to write of Viktor's strange new addition. A Vampire baron from France noted that Viktor turned a young women that bore an uncanny resemblance to his daughter. The baron was also kind enough to divulge that Selene had gone on to join Viktor's personal army, the Death Dealers. There was a log of detailed information about Viktor's Death Dealer's. In fact this log was used to make many of the Vampire fighting tactics used today by the Hunters.

Scene 6

Selene was unable to sleep very long before a nightmare woke her. She tossed and turned nut the concrete floor never got more comfortable. Instead Selene took the list Damon had made of all the supplies they would need and got in the truck. The mattresses were her first priority. As expensive as they were Selene and Eve had collected loads of money from the many travels they had been on. Eve was kind enough to leave the large bag of money in the rear of the truck. The drive to the furniture warehouse was uneventful and boring. To avoid suspicion Selene had to order a load of fifty mattresses all of which easily fit into the back of her truck. Whenever anyone asked her why a meat packing truck was transporting mattresses her common answer was she had rented the truck. That usually shut everyone up right away.

When the mattresses were all stocked she crossed it off the list and headed to a hardware store. She needed many things from here and the fact that she was supposed to hide her Vampiric strength meant she had to wait as the employees hauled the items out to the truck for her. There was always the occasional guy trying to flirt with her. This time it was a skinny young guy who looked to be straight out of high school. Many people mistake Selene for being a young woman once they notice her fangs. They never assume she is an actual Vampire because she is standing out in mid daylight. The employees loaded many things from plywood to toilets, Selene didn't know what some of the supplies were for but if Damon asked for it, it would likely be necessary.

On her last stop, Selene picked up huge rolls of carpet and a floor buffer, scrubber and polisher all in one machine. Watching the employees struggle to get the machine into the truck was her highlight of the day. With all the supplies loaded in her truck was weighted down and very slow moving, but with all the supplies collected on one run Selene could spend most of her time converting the third floor of the factory into her room. When she arrived back at the factory it was still day time so she knew not to expect any help from her sleeping companions. Selene was more than capable of removing the items from the truck carefully. She loaded the hardware supplies off to the side to leave room for the mattresses to be loaded into the factory first. The factory was also placed in a convenient direction so the front of the building faced the sun and the back, where the loading area was, was completely shaded.

With a five stacks of ten mattresses waiting to go in Selene had to wake everyone up and present the industrial strength scrubber. The large machine was loud enough to drown out all voices and powerful enough to leave the floor looking as good as it undoubtedly once looked. The kids were all excited and each one wanted a chance to use the large machine. Even with their enhanced strength the children could barely direct the huge floor cleaner. An hour later when the floor was done being cleaned Damon loaded it onto the broken elevator lift. Using some of the new supplies Selene had brought her rigged the lift controls and the elevator started working. Everyone was so happy as the plywood was brought in to makes walls for everyone's separate rooms. As Kelvin ran the machine upstairs Damon marked the floors and walls with lines and dots. These marks would dictate where the walls went up and the nails placed. Selene sat at the bottom of the stairs and watched as the members of her coven worked together to make this factory take shape into a home. Even with the industrial machine roaring above her and all the chatter happening on the bottom floor, Selene fell asleep leaning against the cold concrete wall.

Scene 7

The book of the Death Dealers did shed some light on the exploits of Selene, but they were well spread out through out the decades as if for long periods no details at all were recorded. She was considered one of the best of the Death Dealers and although that explained her fighting skill, it didn't explain her freakish strength. Now with much more information on her Jayce went back to the computer and activated a program to be used only by Hunters. It was a highly expensive, highly accurate and highly illegal tool the Hunters use for locating problem Vampires or Lycans that have successfully integrated into normal human life. On one occasion Jayce used this program and located a Lycan living in hiding in his own apartment building. The program was illegal due to it's ability to locate all information pertaining to a persons life. Anything ever logged into a computer while it was connected to the web.

Although the main flaw with this tool is the Vampire or Lycan must be searched either by name or photo facial scan. When Lycans or Vampires chose to hide they are smart enough to use the most common names in the world. We get many Johns, Sarahs, Daniels and the program scans through thousands of peoples private information. Private information that Hunters must tediously go through and cross check to make sure they are who they claim to be. Thus this program was considered unreliable and scrapped to a vault. However the facial recognition software tends to work better and the results are fewer and so the correct person can be located faster. However, Jayce lacked a picture of Selene's face. Although he knew he would end up with a boat load of results Jayce used a picture of the painting of Selene. As expected the result list reached into the hundred thousands.

Jayce dropped his head on the desk and when he mustered up the courage to look back at the screen he began scrolling through the many female faces, some of which look strikingly similar to Selene. He must have looked through about two thousand faces when he came across a picture with a small lock icon over it. Jayce clicked on it solely out of curiosity. He was prompted to present a security level badge. Jayce pressed his badge into the gel pad on the desk. At first the clearance was denied, but as a silver rank Hunter Jayce was privileged with a security breaker badge. It basically hacks into anything electronic and opens it. A gift the government granted the Hunters so they could catch more capable Vampires and Lycans.

The program opened an old pharmaceutical company page with extensive documents on Lycans and one very recognizable Vampire. They called her Subject One and according to their records she was kept on ice while they used her DNA to prepare some sort of advanced Lycan strain. Jayce played a log of the first Lycan specimen. The Lycan was larger than any Lycan would ever need to be. It also boasted extremely rapid healing prowess. Jayce enlarged the picture of Selene that this company had. She was frozen behind a sheet of glass but still very visible. Jayce printed out the picture of her face and wrote down the name of the pharmaceutical company on the back of it. He took an empty manila folder out from under the computer and he put the picture in. He replaced the books he had used and he walked over to the vault door. He pressed his badge into the gel pad and a responsive beep opened the door. When he walked out the librarian stopped him. "Did you find what you were looking for?" -Librarian. "I did." -Jayce. "That's good. Hunter Argeris, why didn't you tell me you were under suspension?" -Librarian. "Would you have let me in if I had told you?" -Jayce. "Probably not." -Librarian. "That's why I didn't tell you." -Jayce.

Scene 8

When Eve arrived at her yacht she was still quite upset that her mother was still trying to steer her back. In hopes that it would calm her Eve decided to give driving the Yacht a try, even though she had only read the first two chapters. It seemed fairly simple turning the boat on and pushing up the throttle. But she soon found herself drifting toward the pier and she needed to straighten out. It was much more complicated than she had anticipated. Pulling out of the dock was the hardest part, after that she only had to keep the yacht going in a straight line. She turned to the left so that she could see the beach and the fair. The giant Ferris wheel was clearly visible from here. After passing the beach Eve pointed her boat toward the open ocean and sailed out.

The wind was so fresh and lively out here. Eve stopped the boat when the edge of Krystal City was but a tiny speck. She found the lever to drop the anchor, the large metal device on the side of the boat dropped and soon hit the seafloor. Eve left the captains cabin and pulled up a lawn chair that was in a supply closet. She opened the chair and put it right at the foot of the pool. She laid down on the chair and relaxed. Out here nothing seemed like to big a problem. She soon drifted off into a quick nap. She was woke when a horn blared at near her yacht. Eve got up and looked over the side of the boat and saw two small police boats. When they saw Eve they flashed their red and blue lights at her. One man spoke over a mega phone. "You are fifty miles outside the designated recreational zone. Prepare to be boarded." -Officer.

The officers pulled out extending ladders that had hooks on one end. They extended them and hooked them onto the side of Eve's boat. Eve watched as they did this noticing that they had heavy automatic weapons in their boat. The officers climbed up onto the yacht and one of them had a clipboard. He was taking down numbers or something. "We are legally permitted to search your vessel due to your proximity. All the details are here." -Officer. The officer ripped a paper off the clipboard and handed it to Eve. She pretended to read it but it was all just boring legal mumbo jumbo that she was about to ignore anyway. The six officers began moving towards the interior of the yacht. Eve folded the paper a couple times and turned it into a paper plane she then tossed it gently into the breeze. The officer with the clipboard looked agitated but not too surprised.

The officers were searching Eve's yacht when one opened a door to one of the rooms. The man was snatched in and didn't make a sound. The others only heard the drop of his radio in the hallway. "Go check it out." -Officer. Two of the officers took out their guns and crept towards the partially opened door. They opened it with a quick kick, the only light in the room came from the open doorway. One of the officers put his hand up against the wall looking for the light switch but before he could find it something grabbed his wrist and yanked him into the darkness. "Vampires!" -Officer. Before the other officer could do anything besides yell he too was snatched into the room and the other three officers opened fire. Shooting blindly into the room they unloaded their magazines. They ran back out onto the exterior of the boat.

Eve was holding the clipboard officer in the air as she bit his throat out. The three other officers jagged in disgust at her savagery. One officer got his bearings and pulled his flare gun out from his belt. He pointed it straight up and fired. Eve dropped the her snack and jumped up into the air, bouncing off the window of the captain's cabin she caught the glowing red flare with her bare hand. When she landed in front of the three officers she took the glowing ball and put it in her mouth. Then she swallowed it and rubbed her tummy. The officers tried to make a run for their boats. Eve let them get close to the ladders before she hopped in front of them in a single bound. She pulled a ladder up off the side of her boat and bent it in half then tossed it over the side. One of the officers ejected the empty mag on his gun and tried to reload it but his hands where shaking too much to get the mag aligned right. Eve laughed at the officers who were completely terrified.

Eve's chest cracked and her shoulders expanded. Her overall muscle mass was increased and she grew about five inches taller. All of her teeth turned into sharp fangs and her nails turned to thick black claws. "Are you frightened by me?" -Eve. At the sight of eve's transformation one of the officers fell to his knees. The other was frozen solid and had likely soiled himself. The one with his gun finally managed to reload it and he fired a round straight into Eve's face. The bullet hit Eve's cheek bone and pierced her skin but was crushed against her bone and it fell to the floor completely smashed. Eve grabbed the officer's gun hand and ripped his arm out of it's socket and tore it from his body. The officer on his knees was sprayed with blood all over his face. Eve grabbed the disarmed officer and threw him into the pool. His blood leaked out into the clear water. Eve grabbed the frozen officer by his shoulder and slashed his face with her black claws. The wounds were so deep the officers left eyeball was hanging out of his face by a mere vein. She also tossed him into the pool while he was still screaming in pain.

The officer on his knees had a glazed look over his eyes and his face was covered in the blood of the others. Eve squatted down in front of him and smiled with her huge teeth bursting out of her lips. "This thing you're doing, I like this. I think all humans should do this." -Eve. Eve put her hand on the officer's head and pet him like a dog. "What's your name?" -Eve. "Uh, Steven." -Steven. "Steven? Officer Steven, I can use you alive Steven. But I can also use you dead. It is up to you how long you are going to live, swear your loyalty to me as my servant and I won't rip your legs off of your body and watch you flop around my yacht." -Eve. "I, I do. I swear my loyalty to you!" -Steven. "Whoa, slow down there Steven. We need to make this official." -Eve. Eve pulled up the other ladder and broke off a metal piece turning it into a shiv. She tossed the ladder off the side. "Carve an E into your chest and prove you will be my servant, prove it with blood." -Eve. She dropped the shiv at Steven's knees. He unbuttoned his shirt and pulled off his under shirt. He reached out and took the shiv off the blood covered floor. Eve smiled as she watched Steven carve her initial into his flesh.

Scene 9

When Selene woke up the sun was setting. She stood up and stretched out her arms and back, which had gotten stiff from sitting for so long. With one look around the factory she saw that the walls were all up and the carpet set. The old blankets were being used as doors. No one down stairs was awake. She stretched out her legs and headed up the steps. The once rat infested second floor now looked just like the bottom floor. The walls keeping people's privacy. Selene went up to the third floor. The floor was polished clean with two mattresses laying on the floor in the middle of the floor. All the excess plywood was left up here, along with the tools. The floor scrubber was loaded on the elevator lift. Selene was impressed with her coven's quick work. However, she had not carpentry skills what so ever so she would have to wait until Damon work up again. Instead she decided to spend her time dealing with a troublesome worm.

Selene went back to over look the Blaine mansion. It was still heavily guarded but without the sunlight on their side Selene could sneak passed just about any of them. As the Hunters watched their monitors carefully Selene slipped right passed their vehicles. She easily hopped over the fence and avoided the cameras all the way up to Darwin's house. On the inside Darwin was alone he had sent home all his staff earlier because he knew full well that Selene would come back to discuss things with him. He sat at his desk not typing anything just staring at the screen. "You're going to have to be quiet if you don't want them to hear." -Darwin. Selene was in behind him standing in the doorway. She moved across the room in almost the blink of an eye. She slammed Darwin's head into his desk breaking the desk into two pieces. She lifted him off the floor and threw him against the book shelf and many of the books fell out.

"You still need me Selene you can't kill me." -Darwin. Selene walked up to him and Darwin out his hand up to signal for her to stop. She grabbed his fingers and bent his hand backwards cracking the bones in his hand and wrist. "Don't scream then." -Selene. Darwin let out a quiet gasp, she let go of his hand and he cradled it against his body. Selene walked toward his TV she pulled the plug from the wall and swung the TV over her head and smashed it against darwin's face. Darwin held his mouth closed as he flopped around on the floor in pain. Selene took a piece of glass from the wreckage and stuck it into darwin's thigh. He bite down on his hand trying to contain any sound he would make. "Why?" -Selene. "Why do you think Viktor did not come after me? It was not some stroke of luck. No, I was protected by the only person Viktor wouldn't go to war with." -Darwin.

"Why would she protect you?" -Selene. "Queen Calypsa wanted to prove that Viktor was afraid of her, so she waited until he sent his first scouts after me and she sent her people. I did not know what was happening around me until it was too late. After they saved me I owed Calypsa and if I did not help her I was her enemy as well as Viktor's. I would never survive running from both. So I was forced to compromise. I have been working for the Queen ever since. Running her operations here in Krystal City and keeping everything under control. Then you show up and everything that we have worked so hard to contain goes up in smoke. She wanted blood, it was you or me." -Darwin. Selene punched him in the face. "And you chose wrong." -Selene. Darwin clutched his broken nose. "Do you think I was born yesterday Selene? I could not go to war with Viktor or Calypsa or the Hunters. But you, you have just as many enemies as I do." -Darwin. "I don't see how that leads you to think you could have them kill me." -Selene. "No, not kill. Test, I wanted to test your abilities. I cannot go to war with Queen Calypsa, but you can." -Darwin.

"You want me to get you out of your service to Calypsa. That seems like more trouble than you're worth." -Selene. "You underestimate me Selene, you underestimate the power of wealth. Queen Calypsa does not own Krystal City, I do! She did not purchase the first mines, the land around the mines or pay for the building of the homes and farms that started this city. I did that! I am responsible for all of these constructs here in this wonderful city. She thinks she owns me but she doesn't. I can give you what you need: supplies, a safe blood line, immunity from the Hunters and all I want in return is Queen Calypsa dead in the dirt." -Darwin. "What about the Hunter that was at the docks and the trap you sent me into?" -Selene. "He's one man, a loose cannon. He blew up four buildings in Krystal City and has caused hundreds of thousands in property damage both private and public. The guy is a disaster waiting to happen." -Darwin. "I need him off my back." -Selene. "I cannot control him he does not care about money in the slightest." -Darwin.

"Then I need you to send him to me. Just like you sent me to him." -Selene. "I cannot. He is suspended for a variety of reasons." -Darwin. "Hunters become Hunters for two reasons. Either they love the power or they need the money. You say he isn't interested in money and he didn't kill me even when he had the chance, so it isn't about the power to him either." -Selene. "So then why is he a Hunter?" -Darwin. "He's a believer, or at least he was." -Selene. "Believer in what?" -Darwin. "He believes that by killing Vampire and Lycan he is making the world a better place. It's a sense of responsibility to him." -Selene. "You think you can turn a ten year veteran Hunter?" -Darwin. "No, we just have to open his eyes." -Selene. "That is a ridiculous idea." -Darwin. "It's better than your idea that resulted in you getting your ass kicked." -Selene. "Okay, you want to meet a Hunter face to face again fine, but you better not get yourself killed because as much as I hate to admit it, I need you." -Darwin.

Scene 10

Jayce sat in the restaurant across from his apartments. There was a burger sitting on the table in front of him that he hadn't even bit yet. He was staring at the photo inside the folder. He had been sitting like this for almost twenty minutes and seeing as he was currently the only costumer in the restaurant the owners daughter approached him. "Do you want me to warm that up again for you?" -Daughter. "No I'm fine they are just as good cold." -Jayce. "Is that your girlfriend?" -Daughter. Jayce shut the folder instantly. "No, this file is, uh work related." -Jayce. "Okay, well let me know if you need anything else." -Daughter. She went back behind the counter and Jayce started eating his burger.

When he got to his apartment Jayce was still deep in thought. He dropped his keys on the table and laid down on his bed holding the picture of Selene over his face. She seemed different now then she did in the picture. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. Jayce put the photo down and scratched his brow. He took a blank paper off the table and a pencil and he began drawing. At first the figure had no resemblance to anything, but soon it took shape and it was a rough sketch of Selene. Jayce kept on drawing and soon he had a very basic yet similar likeness to Selene drawn. He crumpled up the paper and tossed it in the trash. He pulled out another paper and started again the same drawing and finished it with the same likeness. He tossed that paper out too. Jayce laid back down on his bed with a smile.

Jayce quickly popped back up though, he had something he needed to do. He grabbed the box out from under his bed and fitted himself with his old more advanced gun belt. He holstered the automatic large caliber gun and grabbed his coat from the closet before heading out. In the elevator Jayce couldn't help but stare at the small blood stain on the door of the elevator. Halfway down a women carrying her laundry basket entered the elevator. She noticed the marks on Jayce's face. "Tough day at work?" -Laundry lady. "Not yet." -Jayce. "I heard about that Lycan attack down at the docks near the fair. Are you guys investigating that?" -Laundry lady. "I was, but that situation is being handled by a different team now." -Jayce. "Good riddance. I won't feel safe until every last one of those darkness dwelling monsters are dead in the dirt." -Laundry lady. Jayce just nodded his head in agreement.

Once in his car, Jayce drove with haste to a specific place he knew of. It was an old factory and the windows were all blacked out. Jayce parked a ways away and pulled out his pistol. He sneaked up on the cameras watching the drive way. He pressed his body against the wall and knocked on the door. There was no response for a minute until the door slowly creaked open. Jayce pushed in the door and grabbed the person opening the door and held his hand over their mouth. It was a young man barely out of high school. "Where's Lena?" -Jayce. Jayce asked the man with his gun pressed against his face. "She's downstairs, but we didn't break any of the rules." -Young man. Jayce let the man go and shut the door. "Lead the way." -Jayce. As the kid walked towards the basement door, Jayce caught sight of the bar code burned onto the back of his neck. This young man was no ordinary man he was a Lycan. A Lycan that served the Hunter's as an informant.

The man opened the door to the basement and went down the stairs, Jayce followed. There was a female's voice that shouted up at them. "I thought I told you not to bother me you damn dirty -" -Lena. Lena shut her mouth when she saw Jayce standing behind the young man. "Wha-, what are you doing here? We haven't broken any rules. We are trying as hard as we can but there aren't any real signs of Vampire activity in the city." -Lena. Lena was sitting behind a desk and was typing something on her computer. Jayce walked in a circular pattern around her desk. "If there are no more Vampires in the city, what do we need you for?" -Jayce. "I didn't mean there are none, just that they will turn up eventually and that I will remain here until they do, doing my job." -Lena. Jayce sat down on Lena's desk near her so he could get a good look at her. "How tall are you?" -Jayce. "Why are you asking me that?" -Lena. "Just curious." -Jayce. "I'm five, four. Why?" -Lena. "Do you know anyone in the system that is female, around five, seven and with a reasonable athletic build?" -Jayce. "That's an awfully specific list. Are you sure I can't refer you to I, , it's all the rage right now on the internet. Besides being in a relationship with a Vampire is illegal." -Lena.

Jayce pointed his gun at Lena's thigh. "I know that Lena, I'm a Hunter we made that rule. If you don't stop what you're doing and find this person for me I will shoot you in the leg." -Jayce. Lena started clicking away with her mouse and then typed something in while looking extremely nervous. "Okay there is a Vampire named, Mikayla. She works in the Lowlands and meets pretty much all of your strange specifications." -Lena. Lena looked up at Jayce and smiled, he didn't respond and just waited. "What?" -Lena. "Where is the safe house?!" -Jayce. "Oh yeah, it's right here." -Lena. Lena turned the computer screen so Jayce could see the satellite mapping of the Lowlands. The address was an easy number to remember. "You should note that everything I've said to you, even my presence here is part of a high level case." -Jayce. Both Lena and the young man stared at Jayce waiting for him to fully explain what he meant. "That means you can't tell anyone about it not even your handlers." -Jayce. Both of them nodded in agreement like students in a classroom. Lena ran her fingers across her face as if to say that her lips were sealed.

Jayce got off the desk to leave but as he passed by the young man he asked him something. "What's your name?" -Jayce. "I'm Benson. I was part of the group that you blew up at the church a few years back." -Benson. "How did you get out?" -Jayce. "I didn't. I was not inside when it blew up, I was out on a supply run alone. After seeing the church go up in that huge explosion I decided it was in my best interest to turn myself in." -Benson. "Do you think you made the right decision?" -Jayce. "I'm still alive aren't I?" -Benson. "Good answer." -Jayce. Jayce left leaving the two down in the basement. As he walked to his car Jayce was reminded why these specific Vampires and Lycans had become informants. They were all cowards, they were the ones who couldn't fight and didn't run. They just curled up into a ball and waited for death to take them or they hid in cupboards. Lena was an informant Jayce had used before to bring down two covens. Before Jayce was silver rank she was working for Pops. Pops claimed he found her pretending to be dead among a pile of dead Vampires. He actually accidentally tagged her and the feint burn marks can still be seen on the side of her neck. She has one of the weakest healing factor of any vampire the Hunters have ever located. Jayce drove out of the parking lot and headed for the safe house in the Lowlands.

Scene 11

Eve was practicing sailing the yacht in extremely large figure eight patterns. All the while Steven, he knew servant was staring blankly into the pool. The pool still had the two mangled bodies in their and the water had become red with all the blood. Eve took notice of Steven's zoned out look. "Something on your mind?" -Eve. "No, it's nothing." -Steven. "You should tell me or else." -Eve. "Are you going to clean out that pool it's kinda of gross." -Steven. "Nope, I like it. It adds a little bit of vintage, don't you think?" -Eve. "I wouldn't know." -Steven. "Don't be a sour patch. Besides, those are just the first of many bodies to come." -Eve. "What are you planning on doing?" -Steven. Eve turned the boat at a tight angle. Nearly everything on the boat shifted to one side. "Do you see that?" -Eve. She was looking directly at the distant Krystal City. It was so beautiful from this angle resting their like a beautiful bright gem.

"That's what I want. The beauty, the glory and the freedom I have been denied my entire life. I want them all to be like you Steven. They need to understand that they are not the ones that rule this planet. I need to show them through blood and death." -Eve. Steven was no curious about the life of this powerful hybrid, where did she come from and why was she so damaged by the world. "You can't stop them all. The Hunters they are trained to kill your kind." -Steven. Eve turned around to face him, Steven gripped his chair tightly. "I don't have a 'kind'. There is no one like me and there never was." -Eve. Eve looked back at the lights of the city. The sun was starting to set so more and more lights were turning on. "Even my father wasn't like me. He was weak and he paid the price. I will not survive in this world, I won't skulk in the shadows, I will thrive and this world will know to fear me and they will regret all they have done to my people, both sides!" -Eve. "How can you stop them? They have an army." -Steven. "Then we will build our own army. Which gives me an idea for how you can be of use." -Eve.

Eve began sailing the yacht back to the Krystal City docks. "You will go back to your people and tell them what happened to your men. You will of course be very vague in your details so they send only a few Hunters to check the situation. When they come here we will capture them and question them on the whereabouts of other Vampires and Lycans. Surely a Hunter would know at least speculated locations." -Eve. "What if they don't believe me?" -Steven. "Regardless, with the missing bodies they will have to check it out. Oh and I think this goes with out saying, but if you try and run, if you try and get word out and betray me. I will track you down and rip your arms and legs off of your body and watch you bleed out like an animal. Okay?" -Eve. Steven was stricken with fear at the idea of having his limbs ripped off. He nodded yes and he meant it. After what he had seen Eve do, he knew that normal Hunters would not be able to kill her. Maybe not even the best of the Hunters.

Scene 12

Jayce arrived in the Lowlands and found the safe house without much trouble. He had never been to this particular safe house before but usually everything in the Lowlands was low tech. He walked up to the door and opened it. Two women sat alone in the room monitoring stuff on the computer. They also had head sets on and were listening in on police radio calls. Jayce knocked on the door loud enough for them to hear. The two woman turned around and they instantly thought they were in trouble too. When a Hunter who isn't your handler walks into your safe house without an appointment, it's easy to assume trouble is coming with him. Mikayla stood out to Jayce instantly as being around the same height and build as Selene. "Mikayla, we need to talk in private." -Jayce. The other Vampire woman got up and left the room with haste. "I didn't do anything wrong." -Mikayla. "We have had very little success with a particular case and we need your personal assistance." -Jayce. "Do I have a choice?" -Mikayla. "No you don't. Now you need to get to this address before the sun sets." -Jayce. "How am I supposed to do that?" -Mikayla. "Be creative. You have about two hours left of sunlight." -Jayce. Jayce wrote down an address on a loose paper on her desk.

Jayce went back to his car and waited if Mikayla did not find a way to leave the safe house soon his entire plan was ruined. After about twenty minutes a woman emerged covered in clothing to the eyes, which were covered with sunglasses. She also wore a large hat to keep the sun off the top of her head and she rushed to a car not wanting to be in the sun very long. Jayce drove back to his apartment and went all the way up the elevator unlocked his door and took out his large box. With all the various things inside , he chose to grab a grenade. He put the grenade on the table near the door, where he normally throws his keys. Jayce then wet outside and closed the door without locking it. He went all the way back down the elevator and waited near his car. From the parking lot structure Jayce could see the front of the apartment building were guest and people without cars enter. While he waited, the Vampire obsessed teens passed by him they went up into the apartment elevator and of course they tossed their trash inches from the trash can.

After thirty minutes which felt like an eternity, the car Mikayla had gotten into pulled up to the temporary parking lot on the outside. She looked very suspicious walking around all bundled up in daylight. In time she was gone into the front door of the building. Jayce took a few long deep breathes. If there was ever one thing all the other Hunters could agree on about Jayce. It would be that once he gets a plan in his head he sees it through regardless of how reckless or stupid it may prove to be. This was just another one of those reckless and stupid plans. Jayce felt he had waited long enough and he headed up the elevator again. His heart was beginning to pound harder so he closed his eyes and breathed in and out until he had calmed himself. This was also the same method he would use if he was injured severely.

Jayce reached his floor and everything looked normal. It was quiet and there was no one to be seen. He walked up to his door which was shut. He opened it and saw Mikayla in the room removing her hat and scarf. Jayce took out his gun and shot at the wall near Mikayla's head. She screamed and ducked, when she saw Jayce holding the gun she dove behind his kitchen counter. "What are you doing?!" -Mikayla. "I could ask you the same thing. A Vampire breaking to a Hunter's home." -Jayce. "You bastard you set me up!" -Mikayla. "You're just another means to an end." -Jayce. Jayce jumped over the counter and pointed his gun at Mikayla's face. She hit his hand and Jayce dropped his gun on purpose. Jayce grabbed her by the waist and threw her over the counter and onto the floor. She got back up quickly though and tried to hit him. Jayce grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his knee. He knocked the wind out of her, then he flipped her over his shoulder and onto the counter which cracked under the weight of the impact.

Mikayla tried to reach for Jayce's gun but he grabbed her foot and pulled her off the counter and across the room and hit her head against the door to the bathroom. She grabbed Jayce and slammed him into the door breaking it in half and off it's hinges. She started choking Jayce. He reached down and grabbed a piece of the door and hit her across the chin with it. She backed up a few steps and Jayce jumped up and kicked her in the side of her head knocking her into the counter and making a huge dent in the counter top. He grabbed her and stood her up. She was wobbly on her feet. "Come on girl you gotta make this convincing." -Jayce. Mikayla punched Jayce in the face knocking him back into the bath room and making him bleed from his mouth. She then grabbed a piece of the door and hit him across the back with it. The flimsy wood broke on impact and Jayce rolled over and kicked Mikayla in the shin he then grabbed her around the neck and flipped her over into his sink and crushed the porcelain sink as her body fell through it.

Jayce stood up and walked over to the table where he had put the grenade. "Like I said you're just a means to an end." -Jayce. Jayce tossed the grenade into the bathroom and the explosion pushed him off his feet and against the wall, smashing the table with his own body. The grenade had blown a huge hole in Jayce's wall and blasted the wall separating the bathroom and the living room. As the last bit of daylight shined in Jayce heard as Mikayla sizzled and screamed. He got up off of the broken pieces of his table and walked over the debris and broken wall. Her body was nearly dust and that was exactly what Jayce was hoping for. She was unrecognizable and the only person who could identify her was himself. Jayce sat down on the toilet seat and looked out the massive hole in his wall. He could see most of the Krystal City from here. His shower was flipped over but still mostly intact. He felt a strange sensation like his leg was wet. He looked down and saw that his toilet had been compromised by a piece of frag.

It was nearing night fall when the Hunters and police reported to Jayce's apartment. His neighbors were all lined outside trying to get a glimpse of what had shaken the entire building. Brick, Lady and the Rookie were the first to enter his home. Jayce was still sitting on the toilet seat waiting for them to come see the dusty dead body. The three of them all nodded their head in disapproval, but it was just mock. Of course they were impressed with their leader who apparently had fought off a Vampire who had the jump on him. After them a few forensic guys came in and photographed everything. Jayce's bed had been half incinerated by the blast and many of his personal items were trashed. He walked over to his counter and picked up his picture of his mom. A piece of debris had bored right through her beautiful face and left a nasty burn on the rest of the photo. Jayce leaned against the broken counter and sat down. He stared into the burned hole through his mother's face and couldn't help but feel like he also had a hole burnt through himself.

Scene 13

When Selene returned to her coven she was surprised to find everyone out and about fixing the factory. With the sun set the Vampires were working tirelessly to turn this place into a home they could be proud of. Estella was the first to approach Selene and ask her what had happened between her and Darwin. "As it would seem Darwin has many enemies and not many friends. So we are in a temporary alliance until I deem he is no longer useful." -Selene. Estella studied the look on Selene's face. "That's not all is it?" -Estella. "There is another problem. Something I thought wouldn't bother us here. Queen Calypsa runs Krystal City and I am now right in the middle of her and Darwin." -Selene. "Who is Queen Calypsa?" -Estella. "Back when there were still many covens, two held the most power. Viktor's was thought to be the most powerful, but Queen Calypsa's was a close second. She was so strong in fact that Viktor would actively avoid conflict with her to avoid the casualties. It was also believed that she was the only true Vampire to have a seductive stare." -Selene. "Is that true?" -Estella. "I don't know I never met her. But if Viktor actively avoided her then some of the rumors about her must be true or at least based on truth." -Selene.

Selene went up to the third floor where Damon was setting up the design for her room. "Ah Selene, so did you want your room on the left or right or all the way to the back?" -Damon. "The back is fine gives us more space for other things." -Selene. "Well technically it is the same amount of space -" -Damon. Selene gave him a very bored look as if to say that she doesn't care about his over complicated explanation. "So what's the deal with these?" -Damon. Damon picked up Jayce's gun belt from behind a pile of plywood. "There guns." -Selene. "Selene I may not do all the fighting stuff but I'm smart enough to know that these guns belonged to a Hunter. So what did you start with the Hunters?" -Damon. "Nothing." -Selene. Damon gave Selene the same look she had given him. "This one is different, we can use him." -Selene. Damon just shook his head. "Hunters will do what they are trained to do which is kill Vampires. We are Vampires Selene!" -Damon. "Just trust me on this, please. No one else believes me, but I know it will work." -Selene. "If anything happens to you I don't think the rest of us would be able to stay alive very long. You have to think about the kids. You didn't turn them so they could die a year later." -Damon.

Selene took the guns from Damon. "I am going to keep us all safe no matter what." -Selene. Damon let out a sigh. "Kelvin told me to tell you that the blood bank is crawling with Hunters. Guess the last load is all we're gonna get for awhile." -Damon. "No, I can take care of that too. Darwin has made mention that he can get his hands on a steady supply." -Selene. "I have a hard time trusting someone I haven't met." -Damon. "You'd have a harder time trusting him if you met him." -Selene. "Well all business aside are you gonna help me build this room or what?" -Damon. Selene looked at all the complicated designs on the paper and at the plywood, nails and hammer. "I'm not really a building kind of person." -Selene. "Well you're well over six hundred years, I'd say it's time you learned." -Damon. Damon started explaining the designs to Selene and where they were going to set up the walls and nails. She took off her leather jacket and they got to work drawing the marks on the floor and walls.

Scene 14

Jayce sat in the office of the Commander yet again. The Commander had his fingers crossed over his mouth. "You're not gonna say anything?" -Jayce. "What is there to say. You blew up another building and this one happened to be your own apartment. The people below you and next door had to move out due to the massive hole u caused." -Commander. "I'm sure the Hunters are proudly paying for their temporary housing." -Jayce. "Yes we are. But not for you. As commander of the the Hunters I order you to remain living in that shit hole of an apartment until further notice." -Commander. "You can't decide where I live!" -Jayce. "The hell I can't! You either stay there or you leave this building and never come back! The higher ups have their hand up my ass now. I vouched for you and this is what you do on your first day off. They aren't even mad at you because all of this reflects badly on me. You know back in the Frontier Days, your gunslinger attitude was necessary. But now I don't know where to put you. You have to file your report with Lady and talk with the artist guy again, then get the hell outa here and don't come back until I call you." -Commander.

Jayce got up and left the Commander's office. His team was waiting eagerly for him to tell them what had been said. Jayce slumped into his desk chair and swiveled himself around to face his team. Lady got her pen ready and Jayce took a deep breath before telling an elaborate story about how he had gotten home and found the same female Vampire he had encountered at the docks. According to his story she was laying in wait for him to arrive and almost got the jump on him. He told them a tale about how he used his superior training to disarm her and gain the upper hand. However, she delivered a devastating right hook to his face which knocked him over his bed where he grabbed the grenade from inside his large weapons case. Had any other Hunter told this story it would have been sniffed out as bullshit instantly. But most of Jayce's encounters with Vampires or Lycans were always stunning.

The artist rendition expert arrived from the elevator and he was surprised to see it was Jayce again. The artist prepared all his gear but Jayce told him he had gotten a good look at the Vampiress as she was choking him. He took the paper and pencil from the artist and began drawing. The drawing took shape into a fairly decent rendition of Selene. This drawing would be put atop her file and like all other deceased Vampire it would get a stamp of the Hunter who slayed them. This was the first time ever that Jayce's badge would be placed on a Vampires file without it being actually dead. Jayce spent a few hours at the base regaling his tale to other Hunters of various rank. A group of younger ruby rank Hunter brought him dinner which he ate at his desk. This would be Jayce's last meal in the office for a long time. Before Jayce left his team assured him that they would bother the Commander to bring him back quickly. As he passed the Commander's office on his way out he could see the Commander stamping Selene's file with the large machine that printed a high quality miniaturized version of Jayce's badge. Of course they didn't have Selene's name, only her drawing and the actions she was responsible for at the docks. But with just that one stamp Jayce knew that no Hunter would ever again search for Selene so long as she kept her head down.

Jayce didn't go straight back to his apartment, he drove around for a long time and even went back to the docks where he had first met Selene. As he walked through the old docking building he noticed the chalk out lines of the dead Lycans. Jayce had missed his chance to leave Krystal City. Now he was stuck here and not allowed to work or leave his disastrous apartment. He got back in his car and drove around some more. When Jayce got back to his apartment the sun was rising already. His door had caution tape all over it. He pulled it out of his way and pushed the door open. The doorknob had been removed to check for prints. He went inside and just dropped his keys on the broken remains of the table. Jayce's weapons crate had been confiscated and only his damaged picture of his mother had been left untouched. His bed was flipped over against the wall so he threw it back down to the floor. He went over to the demolished bathroom and stepped over the place where the wall use to separate the room. The dusty remains of Mikayla had been removed and some of the debris cleared out. Jayce flipped his sturdy tub over. It was dented and the faucet had broken off. He tossed the faucet inside and wet to the sink. The sink had been shattered and the toilet was broken.

Jayce looked out at Krystal city. The sun was rising and the light completely shone into his apartment. The buildings had a special kind of glare to them and he could hear the sounds of early morning traffic getting started. Above him he heard the sounds of birds chirping and singing to the sunrise. It was quite a sight, he had never thought of Krystal City as a beautiful place until right now at this very moment. Jayce went back to his counter and grabbed the picture of his mom. He put the picture frame down on the edge of the broken sink facing outside. He leaned himself against the wall behind the picture and as troubled as he felt, as horrible as his life had become, Jayce couldn't help but smile. "You know, this actually isn't so bad." -Jayce.

End Episode 3