Javi loaded the mag into his pistol and stuffed it into his holster, the rest of his crew was also gearing up. There was silence among them as they prepared, no one needed to speak at all. Debrief had happened and everyone was very clear on the target- capture the girl. Civilian lives were no matter to them, in fact killing her company would make for an easier escape. It was a 5 man unit, more than enough to take down a girl, even if she was supposed to be more powerful than any Lycan. Javi was the lead, taking orders only from Jo and his right hand man was Art, a Lycan who had been changed around the same time as him. Next were Winn and Malcolm, solid agents and fierce beasts when needed, Javi had trained them both personally. Last was Rao, he was the old soul of the group and had been in the pack back when Lucian had been the alpha.
Javi knew that Jo wanted this little girl alive, she was the key to everything. This time Javi was going to be the hero and finally get the recognition he deserved in the pack. No more training newbies and wasting his day on drills. It would be tropical drinks and sandy beaches if he did this, he smiled at the thought. He was not going to let this oppurtunity slip past, it should be a fiarly easy grab. The girl had no idea they were coming for her.
"Let's go boys," he grunted as he picked up his secret weapon.
The drove through the city, it was still loud and bright even at nighttime. The girl lived in one of the further southern suburbs of the city, so they opted to drive a portion of the way. It made sense to have a place to put her after she was caught, walking around the city with an unconscious girl would only raise questions.
"Fucking tourists," Art grumbled as he braked for the people running into the road.
"Probably Americans," Winn rolled his eyes.
Malcolm shrugged," I don't mind the American girls," he chuckled. "They all want a souvenir from visiting and story to tell their friends back home, if you know what I mean."
"You dirty dog," Winn howled and shoved Malcolm. "Best be careful messing with humans too much. Would be awful to fall in love with one," Winn shuddered.
"They are good for a lay and nothing more," Malcolm pushed Winn from him.
"Quit fucking around back there," Art growled.
"Yes," Javi agreed, "This is serious."
Malcolm snickered," Never seen Javi so serious before."
"We all know it's to impress a certain someone," sang Winn as he leaned forward into the front seat. "Isn't that right, Javi?"
"Sit back," he pushed Winn's face.
"Oooooo!," Malcolm whispered.
"It would not matter if we succeeded with no setbacks," Rao finally spoke. " Jolene is an alpha of character and class, one of the best I've ever seen. Her mate will surely be a reflection of her best qualities."
"Got someone in mind, Romeo?," Winn scoffed.
"Shut up, Winn!," Art barked.
"Jolene has eyes for our victory and nothing more... but certainly not for some eager, happy go lucky pup who can barely follow orders." Rao locked eyes with Javi in the rear veiw mirror.
"Everyone shut up!," Art gripped the steering wheel tightly. "We're nearly there."
"Yes," Javi agreed. "But I should make it clear I have no intention of completing this mission in some bullshit attempt to win Jo's heart," he kept his eyes glued to Rao. "I do this for myself and for the protection of our kind, make no mistake on that."
Rao bowed his head, accepting Javi's words as the car rolled to a stop.
"We park it here, hidden," Art explained with the map sprawled across the wheel. "We have to walk the rest of the way so they can't see us coming. She lives here," he struck the map with his thick finger. "Just her and that uncle of hers."
"We take him out first, then neutralize the girl."
"Shouldn't we deal with her first? Isn't she some mutant?," Winn questioned.
"Yes she is, but we have this," Javi pulled out his secret weapon. It was a smoke bomber, but inside wasn't normal smoke. It was a toxic mix of chemicals specially formulated to knock out the mutant child. Javi only knew of a few ingredients including Aconitum, Opium poppy, and Nightshade and the fact it was made by Dr. Iobo in the secret lab. Javi had only been there once, to receive the weapon and hear the warnings, but after this he was hoping to know all the secrets of the pack.
"Don't forget your gas masks," Rao warned as he put his own on.
"Fuck that, I'm not putting that on until we get there," Malcolm laughed.
"You don't know what this girl has prepared for."
"Dumb bitch doesn't even know we're here. Listen," Malcolm stopped. "I can hear her... if she knew we were coming she would have split."
"Suit yourself," Rao nudged his shoulder as he walked past.
"Fucking grandpa," Malcolm mumbled under his breath and the unit embarked.
"Are you ready?"
Eve could feel her palms were sweaty and her heart was beating quickly, she was nervous, and her uncle could tell.
"I'm ready," she lied.
His eyes scanned her and then his expression softened.
"How do you really feel?"
"I... I'm nervous," she admitted. " I haven't done this in so long... what if something happens, Karl?"
"Nothing is going to happen," her uncle reassured her. "We are both safe."
"Why didn't we just leave? Isn't that why you have all this surveillance?" she gestured to the tons of monitors littering the wall of their pantry and kitchen.
"We could have left," Karl nodded. "But it won't stop them... I want to leave them a message."
"A message?"
"Yes. I want them to know that if they want you, they'll have to go through me. Hey," he set his hand on her shoulder. "We've done drills for a reason."
Eve anxiously shifted and looked down at her feet.
"You know I would never put you in danger, Evelyn-... sorry," he sighed. "I know how much you despise being called that."
It was true, Evelyn hated the name and regretted to continue with it as she enrolled into school. Most of her friends called her Evie, but some days even that was too much of a reminder of Antigen.
"How many are there?"
"Five from what my intel says," he turned and activated the infrared cameras and then laughed. "You'd think Lycan's brains would have evolved over time, but they still are dumb dogs. Only five... pfft."
"What if they're like the one I fought at Antigen? It was so strong, I only killed it with David's help!"
"That's impossible. From what you've told me, that was a mutated prototype, and it has something to do with you, which is why they want you back. Another reason I would never let them have you, and you have my word I will protect you until my last breath."
"But... I don't want you to die."
"Evelyn... you know I will do everything in power to keep you safe," her uncle's brown eyes gleamed with kindness.
"Yes, I know," she dropped her head, feeling ashamed for relying on him so much.
"And you know what to do if things go wrong," his tone was that of a question.
"...Yes," Evelyn kept her head bowed. She loathed the idea of running to the Eastern castle for help more than anything else. Her uncle had shown her the way if she ever needed it, but Eve would prefer to live as a feral beast in the wood than go to them. She feared she would be cast out by them... by her own mother. "Uncle Karl, what if the Vampires try to kill me just for being what I am?"
"Have I tried to kill you?"
"You're not like them" Eve sighed.
"I'm a Vampire," Karl smiled softly. "And so are you."
"But I'm also a Lycan and you tell me I can't forget that part of myself."
"No you can't," Karl wrapped his arm around her shoulders in half hug. "You are unique and beautiful child. In my 600 years I have never met another quite like you."
"You make it sound like I'm some sort of freak."
"You say this as a Vampire hugs you?," Karl grinned.
Eve smiled back, she felt less nervous. Maybe her uncle thought he was going to protect her, but tonight she would be the one to protect him from those Lycans. She would not let them take him away, she didn't want to lose him. Her sense spiked, in the far distance she could hear the low voices of men whispering and the soft sounds of the boots hitting the ground.
"They're here," she alerted Karl. "Are you sure this will work?"
Karl tilted his head back and laughed at her innocence. "I thought you heard me when I admitted to being 600 years old, Evelyn. In that time, I've learned a thing or two on how to kill a Lycan."
Javi sniffed the air, he could detect the mutant instantly. She had an odd scent of pine and copper, it almost singed his nostrils the closer they got the house. The house looked normal, it was a white with red trim around the windows. Javi admitted it was a good spot for the kid, there was a massive park practically in her backyard and the house was fairly secluded from the rest of the block. Tall hedges lined the property, blocking most of the house from sight and Javi noticed it was the only house that had a fence surrounding it. Something tickled the back of his neck, a feeling of dread almost. He tried to shake it off telling himself he hadn't been in the field in a while and killing vampires was a slow business these days.
"Lights are off, must be asleep," Malcolm mumbled.
"Soon it'll be a deep sleep," Winn grinned.
"Back door seems the best entrance point," Rao noted.
"3 in the back and 2 around front," Javi told them. "Once inside I'll set off the smoke, the girl won't stand a chance, and neither will the humans shacked in there."
"Funny," Art took a long wiff of the air. "I don't smell no humans."
"Probably because that freak smells like batteries and piss," Winn gagged.
Javi inhaled deeply, but the mutant was overpowering nearly everything else in the area. How had she stayed hidden for so long? Even with her musk being strong, Javi didn't necessarily think it be as unpleasant as Winn was making it seem.
"Shut up, Winn," Art glared at the fool.
"Masks on," Javi demanded before they crept closer. "Don't forget that the human is a military man, he might go down fighting."
"I'm sure he might try," Malcolm smirked.
Art and Malcolm went to the front and the rest slithered through the back gate, barely making a sound as they trekked across the grass. Up close, the house seemed different, it had an eerie stillness to it. The lights were all off, even the security lights for the yard and inside her could only hear the beating of distant hearts. Rao must have felt it to, her looked to Javi and then swiveled to survey the yard. It was a decent size with a garden tucked into the far corner and a stone pathway that guided the way, little gnome figures were sprinkled into the landscape.
Javi took slow breaths as he reached from the doorknob, he froze right before he clutched it. Something felt wrong, but he had no inkling of what it could be. He worried he would look afraid to his unit, but as he turned to Rao, Javi saw that he felt it too.
"Cameras," Winn gave a curt nod towards the gutters.
Winn was right, there were cameras but not just on the gutters, but he turned and saw them all over the yard. The reason they had been overlooked earlier was none of them were on, none were recording. What was going on with this house? Maybe they had a power outage?
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
A scream rung out from inside the house, but it was cut off just as quickly as it had started. Shots were fired sporadically until a loud crash finally led to silence again.
"Go!," Rao pushed in front of Javi, opening the door to enter the home.
The back door lead into a kitchen with a laundry room, on the counters were over 50 monitors. Javi watched the moving screens, they flickered with images of the streets of Brussels. Some showed the school that the mutant went to, and others showed inside of classrooms, others were completely black. They must have been from the yard footage, but why were the cameras off.
"Room's clear," Rao continued onto the next room.
"The fucking stench," Winn gagged again.
The odor was much stronger in the house, like a smog that clings to the inside of your lungs. Javi set the smoke bomb on the counter, pushing the appliances and utensils off with a loud clatter.
"Poor man's choice," a man chuckled.
Javi looked up to see a man standing beside Winn, holding a knife that was stuck into Winn's neck. The room was dark, but Javi could see the blood and Winn fighting with his dying breaths, but it was futile. Winn was dead. Javi pointed his gun at the man, who stood there calmly, showing no fear of the Lycan before him. It must have been the human posing as her uncle, Karl Kettering.
"You won't be so confident choking on this," Javi activated the machine and smoke billowed out over the kitchen counter.
The man threw his knife at Javi, Javi ducked and unloaded his rifle, the bullets splinter the cabinets and other furniture. Javi wasn't sure if he had hit his target until he heard the man laugh again.
"Surprised you aren't in Lycan form," he hissed in a cokney accent.
"Karl Kettering, must be quite a universal man to know about me," Javi turned towards the voice and continued to shoot.
"A universal man isn't even half of it. What is this?" the man coughed, dodged away from the toxic air.
"HAHAHAH!," Javi kept shooting as he laughed. Javi didn't understand how this man evading him so easily?! How was he still breathing after inhaling the smoke!? His anger was spiking, and he was ready to shift just to tear him apart limb from limb. "WHERE'S THE GIRL!?"
"Your kind will never have her."
Javi could finally smell the man before him, even though the gas mask Javi could tell he was a vampire.
"BLOODSUCKER!," Javi threw his gun and ripped through his own clothes.
Javi no longer thought of the mutant girl who was his target, now it was about the feud, the very war he had been born into. Vampires were meant to be destroyed, it was his sole purpose as a Lycan to defeat them. That's all he could think of, letting this vampire's blood stain his mouth as the life drained from him. It wasn't about honor or pride, it was about power. Javi knew this vampire stood no chance against him, after all his training and hours of preparing for a moment like this. He would slay this disgusting waste and then take the girl, even if he had to do it all alone.
As Javi had transformed the man had shut off the smoke bomb, but the toxic air still lingered in the room. Javi had the upper hand here, the gas mask he had worn but now was too big for his face had protected him from most of the smoke. He could see the man was fighting the ingredients that Dr. Iobo had specifically placed for the vampire half of the mutant child.
"No, Evelyn! Stay away!," Karl commanded.
Javi finally saw the mutant girl, she stood in the living room in front of a couch that was torn up with bullet holes. She herself was covered in blood, from her mouth down and down her stomach and even on her jeans. Javi knew it meant members of his team had fallen, perhaps all of them. But not him. He would never be killed by a child or a solitary vampire. He picked up the smoke machine and threw it in front of the girl, she jumped away to avoid it. The smoke bomb broke open and the ingredient exploded into the air. Javi might be weakened by the Actonium and whatever else was blended in, but so would his opponents.
"EVELYN! Get away from it!"
Javi couldn't tell if it was the lighting or his imagination, but her skin looked blue and her eyes were like black vortexes. She growled at Javi and pounced to attack him, but he had been gearing up for this moment. He jumped and the collided in the air, sinking his claws into her shoulders, she screamed into his ear. She then snarled and sunk her teeth into Javi's neck, he scrambled to get her off before she could tear it out completely.
Javi then heard the sound of a gun and felt the bullets hit him in the back. He dropped to a knee and slashed the girl across her back, leaving large cuts and making her cry out in pain. She whimpered and fell, now coughing and choking on the poisonous gas. Her eyes shifting from all black to human eyes and her skin was dancing between blue and human like her body couldn't decide which form to take.
"You bastard!," Karl unloaded his clip into Javi's back. He could feel the liquid silver spilling into him and drowning him from the inside. The air was also making him gasp and he felt himself slip back into human form. He fell to the floor, unable to support himself and watched as the vampire ran to the child's side.
"Shh," he brushed her hair from her face. "Shh, it's alright. I've got you. You're alright."
Javi cracked a malicious grin, he knew the gas was only to knock the mutant out, but the vampire did not.
"She w-won't be for long," he spat blood as he talked.
"What is that? What did you do!?," Karl asked, practically in hysterics.
"Uncle.. K-Karl," she gasped.
Javi could feel his body igniting with pain, he didn't dare look at the damage done to him. He couldn't bear the idea of silver spilling from his wounds, killing him slowly.
"You're alright," the vampire picked up the girl now limp in his arms with her eyes shut.
Javi laughed and rolled onto his back. He was dead. The silver would kill him, and the mutant escaped. Oh Jo, he thought. You were right again... the mutant had been waiting for us. I underestimated her...
"Burn in hell you dog," Karl stood over Javi and shot a final bullet into his head.