Chapter 11

~o~

Despite Arthur's rather fervent objection to joining the Watchers, he was drafted into their ranks nonetheless as an ad hoc member. On the provision that he never reveal their existence on pain of death. That was easy enough. Arthur could never pull an organization like theirs into his writing without it sounding horribly cliched.

They quickly got to the business of luring Alfred out of Vladimir's control. One supernatural to fight against was difficult enough, but two would be exponentially more challenging. The murders were quickly stacking up around New York, so Ludwig used his resources in the NYPD to figure out where they might be located. Judging by the frequency, they guessed that it wouldn't be long before Vlad decided that Alfred was ready for devouring. The rest of the team found spells to remove the bracelet controlling the vampire, while the others worked on taking down Vladimir when Alfred was out of his influence.

As for Arthur's own role, he was essentially the bait.

"You realize that this will be incredibly dangerous," Ludwig warned him as they prepared for the night ahead of them in the conference room. "He's been under Vladimir's control for days. He could be too far gone for him to recognize you."

It was just the two of them, while the others got ready. Arthur had been returned his own belongings and Ivan had been treating his wounds. Turned out he was actually a doctor after all. Go figure.

Arthur shook his head. "Maybe he won't," he replied softly, thinking back on when Alfred had very nearly attacked him. If the Watchers hadn't intervened... He had been so sure then that he would die. He may very well die now. Perhaps his publishers would pick up another writer to finish the last book in his series. "I owe him this," he said finally, looking over to Ludwig's cool blue eyes. "Even if it kills me."

The Captain let out a sigh. "Arthur, you should know that one of our charges is to protect humankind. That includes you. If it comes down to it, we won't let you sacrifice yourself for a vampire. Not to mention our true objective is taking down Negrescu, not saving a monster." He reached back and brought out a familiar leather jacket. "Nonetheless, you should have this. You were holding onto it so tightly we had to bring it with us."

"Thank you," Arthur spoke softly, taking the jacket from the Watcher. He pulled it on over his own shoulders. It was far too big for him, but it smelled like Alfred. He clutched it closer to him for comfort. His eyes flashed up to Ludwig, hardening, "And Alfred is not a monster. He's just a boy caught up in all this."

"We estimate that he is at least four hundred years old."

Arthur blinked, then swore under his breath. Estonia. Estonia, really? How did he not see the connection? Taking a moment to recover, he said, "Fine, but he's still innocent. It's not his fault. Vlad made him do all those terrible things. He changed him," he insisted fervently. He had to believe that. Alfred would never have done all those terrible things without the influence. Even if he was a bloody liar that Arthur was going to murder as soon as he got his hands on him.

The Watcher looked skeptical, but had the grace to keep from contradicting the author. Instead he brought out a gun and placed it in front of Arthur on the table. "Ivan says that you are a decent shot. You should take this to protect yourself."

Arthur looked at it as though Ludwig had just dropped a disembodied brain on top of the table. "I am not shooting Alfred."

"Then at least take it if you need to defend yourself against Negrescu."

"Even when I can't shoot him either?" Arthur demanded irritably. They had gone over this repeatedly in the briefings. While Alfred was wearing the bracelet, any harm done to Vladimir would trigger the draining. In this, timing was everything. From what the Watchers said of Vlad being some sort of supernatural overlord, Arthur doubted the gun would even work.

"Arthur..." Ludwig sighed, "Just take it." He inched the weapon closer across the table.

"Fine," Arthur spat, taking the gun and hiding it away in one of the jacket's pockets. He had no intention of using it. Unless it was on one of the idiotic Watchers.

The door burst open and Eduard came into the room carrying a laptop. "We found him," he said hurriedly, pushing the laptop over in front of Ludwig. He tapped the screen somewhere in the Bronx. "Here, in Hunts Point. One of the warehouses."

"Right, get everyone ready," Ludwig told him, rising from his seat. "We move out in ten."

~o~

The plan was simple.

They find Alfred's hiding spot during the day. Arthur distracts him. The Watchers spell the bracelet off of him. Then the Watchers take care of Vladimir.

Things were never so simple in real life.

Arthur's green eyes looked anxiously to the horizon teased by the setting sun. It was already nearly dark and they had yet to find the correct warehouse where Alfred might be located. No thanks to the Watchers' perfectly reliable information of course. Buggering tossers, he thought to himself, curling up inside Alfred's jacket for warmth. They left him alone in the back of their Jeep as they all scoured the area, looking for signs of the vampire.

Even with as much bravado as he'd shown to the Watchers, it was still difficult to match up the idea of Alfred to the supernatural beings he'd imagined when he was younger. He'd dreamed up all sorts of things then, to the point where his teachers gave him terrible marks for always being disinterested and distracted. Vampires had certainly been on that list. He'd always imagined them to be... dashing and debonaire. Neither of which Alfred were. Turned out, he much prefered Alfred's type of vampire.

Sighing softly, Arthur brought out his phone and brought up his aged conversation with 'Estonia.'

Hi Alfred, he typed in, knowing that he would likely not receive an answer from the other side. It didn't matter. He had this one connection with Alfred left. He could pretend for just a little longer that the Alfreds that he adored were two separate people yet.

Hi Alfred.

I'm sorry for not texting for so long.

A lot of things have happened since we last talked.

I found out that your son is not everything he seems.

That's alright. I had known he had secrets from the very beginning.

I still love him dearly.

I want him back.

His fingers shook, eyes growing hot as he threw aside all pretense.

I miss you so much.

Please come back.

The author waited a long time for a reply. But of course, nothing... Who knew if he would ever get a response ever again. His breathing shaky, Arthur flopped his head back against the wall of the Jeep with a dull thud.

A thud answered back.

Arthur whipped around, his eyes looking for the source of the noise through the plastic windows. There was no one else around. All the Watchers were off trying to track down Alfred. Suddenly something like scratching metal sound up the side of the Jeep. Arthur crouched down onto the floor of the vehicle, as silently as he could. His hand went to the gun in Alfred's jacket as his eyes went skywards to the top of the Jeep. Something padded onto the thin material, leaving indentations of claws. Arthur held his breath, trying to still his heart from beating.

Something flashed in the windows outside and the entire Jeep rocked with movement, making Arthur's heart nearly jump out of his chest. The Jeep rocked again, this time sending the vehicle onto its side. The author couldn't help a cry as he was tossed around like a rag doll, landing hard onto his back with a very lovely bar to break his fall (and his back) for him. The gun was thrown from his grip to the front of the Jeep and out of reach. Panting harshly, he scrabbled to find it before-.

Then the thin layer of protection the canvas top of the Jeep provided was ripped into pieces, claws dragging into it and searing the sky above into Arthur's vision. A huge hulking form tore through, pinning Arthur down into the floor. Arthur found a huge maw in his face, snapping and snarling with bloodied razor teeth. Arthur bucked uselessly up against his assailant. He gasped for breath, trying to keep the panic from overwhelming him.

It was the beast from his bedroom. Alfred...

"A-Alfred," the author stammered. He tried to see past the monstrous exterior, to his dear boy he knew was underneath. "Alfred, please. Let us help you," he begged. Something in the flashing red eyes seemed to flicker.

Recognition.

Suddenly, it was easier to see Alfred in those eyes. His whole body trembling, Arthur reached both hands up, cupping the beast by its cheeks. "Alfred, trust me. Trust me," Arthur breathed, speaking directly to his lover.

Where the hell were those wankers! Here Alfred was in the perfect position, still and out in the open, ready for that bracelet to be spelled off of him. Arthur was too terrified to pry his eyes away from Alfred's own, lest they lose their connection. He had no idea if his MIA Watchers were anywhere close by.

The beast stayed perfectly still, not even to lean into the soft touch of Arthur's hands. A soft rippling sound escaped him, which Arthur honestly didn't know was hunger or purring. He continued stroking nonetheless, sliding his fingers affectionately over the fine dark fur. "It's alright... I will help you," Arthur promised softly. Risking it, his eyes flicked down to the bracelet around the monster's wrist. Alfred's hand (paw?) had grown too huge to easily slide it off. So his fingers went to the clasp instead, trying to delicately pry it off.

The thing wouldn't budge.

Arthur tried again, but the clasp was stuck no matter how much he tugged. What is this, superglued together?! he thought in frustration. He yanked harder. The beast glanced down almost quizzically at Arthur's efforts. Then he moved his palm right on top of Arthur's chest and pressed down, pinning him painfully into the ground.

"Thanks," Arthur wheezed, struggling to breathe. However, he was in a perfectly good position now to do what he wanted with the bracelet. He squinted at the clasp and the thin, almost imperceptible, separation. That was superglue. Groaning, the author wondered if he could somehow shoot the bloody thing off. If he could just reach his gun!

Suddenly, the bracelet grew white hot in his fingers, searing his very skin. Arthur let out a yelp of pain and let go as the bangle turned from cool black to a fiery blinding red. Distantly, the rat-tat-tat of machine gunfire sounded in the air, followed by more pops of guns and yells in the night. Before Arthur had a chance to react, the huge form on top of him disappeared through the hole in the Jeep.

Panting harshly, Arthur rushed to find the gun in the front of the Jeep. Then he pulled himself out of the wrecked vehicle and looked around the long warehouse streets to try to locate Alfred. It was a no go. The vampire-beast was already gone from sight. Probably summoned by his master.

His eyes narrowed. Shots continued in the distance. It was probably his best bet. "So help me, those Watchers better not be shooting at Vlad," he hissed, sprinting towards the gunfire.

When he skidded around the corner, Arthur wasn't really sure what to expect. However, it certainly was not seeing the Watchers firing madly into a living wall of decaying human flesh. There had to be at least fifty of them, all of them shambling messes of human bodies. They shuffled towards the Watchers, heads lolled over their shoulders with dead eyes, undaunted by the gunshots shredding into them.

Arthur took a half second to gape at the scene, before he quickly realized that the group had been overwhelmed. His eyes snapped over to a car closeby, its window shot out by errant gunshots. He knocked out the glass with his elbow and then unlocked the door to get into the driver's seat. He kicked open the panel underneath the steering wheel, sparking the wires together to start the ignition. The car wheezed to life in a way that made Arthur very nervous. However, he gunned the pedal to the floor, sending the car flying towards the Watchers.

The car skidded to a halt behind the group. "HEY!" Arthur shouted at them, getting their attention. "Get in the car!" The Watchers looked in shock behind them, but they ran to the car and packed everyone in before the wave of dead could get any closer. Before the doors even closed, Arthur accelerated and took off away from the swarm.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" Arthur demanded as they tore through the streets to escape. The smell of blood tainted the air and the author glanced up to the rear view mirror to see that Ludwig had deep gouges in his chest. The Captain was pale and barely holding onto consciousness. Ivan was patching him up as best he could inside the cramped car. No one bothered to ask what happened to the Jeep.

"Ghouls," one of the diminutive Watchers, Raivis, replied as he sat uncomfortably on top of Eduard's lap. "They surprised us in one of the warehouses. All of them were in there waiting for us..."

"And they came from...?" Arthur prompted irritably.

"Jones, probably," Eduard replied grimly. "He's made ghouls before." Arthur felt a prickle at the back of his neck and saw Ivan giving him an unreadable expression. The author had no idea why he deserved that look, but it made his skin crawl. "It was a trap," Eduard continued on, oblivious, "Vlad knows we're onto him."

"What do we do?!" another Watcher tittered nervously, looking around their bedraggled group with wide eyes. "The Captain's hurt and we don't have enough people to handle all those ghouls!"

"Well, can't you just bounce back from wounds like this?" Arthur demanded. "Ivan came back from the dead, didn't he?"

"Not all of us are like Ivan," Eduard replied softly and all of the Watchers gave the doctor a nervous glance. Ivan merely smiled eerily back at them, even as he put the finishing touches on the wrappings around Ludwig's chest. The Captain had already passed out from his wounds, his face ashen from loss of blood.

It was clear that the Watchers were in a state of panic. Ludwig did lead them all and with him out of the picture, the little incompetent group was even more useless than ever. Arthur grit his teeth, wondering how he ever managed to get caught up with these tossers. "Right, we head back to base," he snapped with a sudden authority to his voice, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. "We regroup, take care of Ludwig, then find a way to fight those ghouls, then find Alfred and Vlad both. Got it!"

"Y-yessir!" the Watchers, sans Ivan and Ludwig, replied immediately.

Then Raivis helpfully pointed out with a squeak, "Sir, you're driving on the wrong side of the road!"

~o~

Once Ludwig was situated in one of the cells to rest back in HQ, Arthur took command of the situation. The Watchers were in desperate need of a leader and Ivan didn't seem particularly interested in that role. He seemed content to play his role as the creepy, looming menace in the corner of the room, allowing Arthur to take the reins. That was perfectly fine with Arthur. No one had Alfred's best interests at heart more than he did.

"Right," he said at the head of the conference table, hands on his hips. "You have access to quite a bit of information, yes? Tell me how you get rid of ghouls."

"Standard practice is to chop off their heads," Eduard replied, tapping through some sort of database on his laptop. "But there's far too many of them and not enough of us for us to do that."

"Will setting them on fire help?" Arthur demanded.

Eduard glanced at his laptop. "Yes, that should work..." he replied, pressing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, which the author guessed to be a nervous habit.

Nodding, Arthur pointed to one of the Watchers. "Alright, you- What's your name?"

"M-me? Toris, sir," the light brown haired Watcher replied with a faint stammer.

"Toris, come up with three different plans to burn all the ghouls into a crisp," Arthur ordered. Toris gave him a blank, horrified look. "Go!" the Brit barked, pointing to the door. At that, Toris nodded vigorously and scattered. Then Arthur turned to the rest. "Now, who was the one who was supposed to spell the bracelet off of Alfred?"

Raivis slowly raised a hand.

"You're going to teach me that spell," Arthur said, not caring how feasible that was. He wasn't about to get that close to Alfred again without being equipped to taking the bracelet off himself. "Moreover, you're going to teach me any others that might be useful. I was grossly unprepared for my role." His eyes went to the group again, ignoring any blusters from Eduard about spells being Watcher secrets. "We need to find Alfred again and this time put a tracker on him. Professional surveillance equipment this time. I don't care how old school your methods are. They are a complete joke. And I need eyes on that ghoul horde. I want to know where they are at all times."

"We don't have the money-" Eduard started before Arthur got out his wallet and threw it at the Watchers' head. "Ack!"

Unperturbed, Arthur looked back to the trio. "Since Vlad is aware of our plan, how long before he makes his move? What else is involved in this final step before he kills Alfred?"

"It's hard to tell. Negrescu may want to go ahead before Jones is fully ready," Raivis said uncertainly. "However, he will want to be within close proximity of Jones so that he can get maximum transference."

"Then we need to keep Vlad from going anywhere near Alfred," Arthur decided. To this, he turned to the last Watcher that he had yet to address. Ivan watched the proceedings with an eerie smile. Swallowing, Arthur straightened before he spoke. "Ivan, is Vlad able to control you?"

"Niet," the slav said, as his smile turned more sinister. "Nozing can control me."

Well, that isn't disturbingly ominous... Arthur thought, wondering if it was even a good idea to use the Russian doctor at all. However, Eduard was right about one thing. They didn't have enough bodies. "Then I need you to go to Columbia University and stay on top of him," the author finally ordered. "Keep us aware of his movements. And we need to find Alfred by nightfall. Is that understood?"

The room answered with collective nods.

"Alright, disperse," Arthur said with a wave of his hand. The tiny group did so, going off to the various tasks assigned to them. However, Ivan did linger a little longer in the room.

"You are not bad at ordering," the slav commented lightly with a chuckle. "You have surprising amount of bite. Maybe you are not so silly child after all..."

"Thanks... I suppose," Arthur replied, feeling the insult more keenly than the endorsement. To be fair, he didn't exactly expect anything more out of Ivan than backhanded compliments. "You should get going. Make sure that Vlad doesn't get anywhere near Alfred."

Ivan nodded and then departed as Raivis returned to the conference room with an enormous spellbook in hand. "Alright, let's get you started," the small Watcher said, settling the heavy tome in front of the author. "The disbanding spell."

~o~

It was almost disgusting what one could do once enough money was thrown at a situation. By the end of the day, Eduard had no less than four drones in the air keeping track of the various parties of interest around the city. Toris not only researched but acquired three different types of incendiary weapons. Raivis outfitted everyone with modified police vests stacked with protective enchantments (which Arthur was quite excited about) as well as a new vehicle.

And Ivan... Well, Arthur didn't exactly trust him with his credit card.

Terrified of what his bank statement would look like this month, Arthur tried to focus all his attention on learning and practicing the new spells that Raivis taught him. Particularly paranoid when he was informed that a small slip of the tongue made the difference between disbanding and dismemberment, the author was still muttering feverishly to himself as he studied the huge spellbook Raivis lent him well into evening.

"Sir," Eduard called out to him as he entered the conference room where Arthur was studying. "I've finally been able to pick up Jones' movement now that night has fallen."

"Is he near the ghouls?" the Brit asked, forcing himself to put down the spell book. He'd only memorized the one spell thus far.

"So far, but he needs to venture out to kill another human," Eduard replied. "I say that we track him until he leaves the nest, so to speak, allowing you to catch up to him. The rest of us will take advantage of the toys we bought today to eradicate the ghoul horde while they have no backup."

"Well," Arthur said in clipped tones, "congratulations for at least sounding mildly competent." He gave the bespectacled Watcher a faint smile as the other man glared at him. "Alright, it's a good plan. We should head out now to get a head start on him. Is everyone else ready?" He pulled the enchanted body armour over his chest, soon followed by Alfred's military jacket. He also pocketed a copy of the spell (and a couple others) and the gun Ludwig gave him.

"We're all ready," Eduard replied, following Arthur out the door and down to the front gate. "Are you sure that you can handle Jones on your own?"

"Yes," Arthur lied. But there had been recognition there. Alfred hadn't tried to tear him limb from limb, so that had to count for something. He squared his shoulders back as he exited the building, looking onto his temporary comrades in arms. The others were similarly dressed and armed as they gather in front of the...

Arthur stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the bright yellow Hummer sitting pretty in front of the asylum. "What the hell is this?!" he shrieked, running a circle around the enormous vehicle.

"Well, you gave us your credit card," Raivis said, a little too innocently.

"No, no, NO!" the author shrilled, "Are you insane?! I'm not the bloody Bank of England! I thought you were going to get some used vehicle that wasn't stolen or had its fucking windows shot out! And who has a Hummer in New York City?!"

Raivis' eyes widened, turning dangerously watery. "I-I-I'm sorry!" the little Watcher wailed. "I just thought, because of the Jeep being gone, and us needing a safe ride- I was just-" He hiccuped, letting Toris comfort him with a pat on the back.

Evil, conniving little... Arthur thought, leveling the Watcher a venomous glare. "Well, you are going to return this thing first thing TOMORROW. Is that understood?!" Once he elicited some nods out of the group, he growled at them and opened up the door to the front passenger's seat. The others clambered in and Arthur winced each time they slammed the door shut. Then Ivan climbed into the driver's seat. The author glanced warily at him, but didn't dare say a word as the Russian began to drive to their destination.

Eduard sat in the back with his laptop open as they raced along the streets towards Hunts Point. "He's on the move now," he informed the group. "Sir, we'll drop you off a block away. Then you can lure Jones away while we take care of the ghouls."

"Fine," Arthur replied shortly, though he could feel his heart beginning to race. It seemed to occur to him for the first time that night that the others were essentially tossing him out in front of a mind-controlled bloodthirsty vampire in the middle of the hunt. Perhaps really not the best idea.

However, before he had any chance of protest, Ivan gunned the acceleration to the floor and raced on ahead to where Alfred was heading. Then the slav let the huge Hummer slow down just a tad as they sped along a street way. "Open door," Ivan said suddenly.

"What?! No, I'm not opening the fucking door!" Arthur cried out in outrage. However, the doctor simply reached over him and opened up the door for him.

"Bye-bye~!" was the last thing Arthur heard, before Ivan unbuckled his seatbelt and booted him out of the car in a single smooth motion. Then all Arthur knew was how fast the world could spin as he was rolled like a ragged top across the ground. Grit and asphault embedded themselves into Arthur's skin, the author given only minor protection by Alfred' jacket and the body armour he wore. The Hummer sped away before Arthur even stopped rolling.

When he finally came to a stop, Arthur could only groan in pain. His entire brain was still spinning, his stomach churning violently for want of emptying its contents. He gasped for breath, trying to gain some equilibrium after being thrown out of a fucking car by some psychotic undead Russian. His stomach finally lurched and he retched inelegantly onto the street.

Arthur was still dizzy when he sat back, looking up into the sky and the low-lying buildings that surrounded him. Only then did he see the huge form looming over him from atop one of the rooftops, looking down at him with its bright red eyes.