Night 8

James finally saw Brick fall from the man’s grip. Brick was unconscious. James shook him. He smacked him. Then he felt to make sure that there was still a pulse. He picked Brick up and slung him over his shoulder. He ran out of the apartment. His feet pounded loudly as he charged to the elevator and hit the call button. Damned floor did not have a stairwell access. James asked himself who would build a place like that. The answer came to him; A vampire who did not want to be found easily.

The elevator came and he sat Brick down. As the elevator descended, he tried everything he could think of to wake Brick. Then he got frustrated. He shook Brick and then punched him. Brick moaned and fell. “Come on, man, wake the fuck up.” Brick pushed himself up, groggily. James watched as Brick looked up to him with bloodshot eyes.

James pulled the kid to his feet, “You alright?”

“I feel like shit. What happened?”

“Don’t know. I figured you might be able to tell me.”

The elevator arrived at the ground floor and the two left as quickly as they could manage. Brick was only slightly behind James despite his grogginess and aching head. He kept feeling like there was something inside his head that he should know that he could not remember. He focused on staying behind James as they made their way back to Erzebet’s. He kept falling behind and then he would push himself harder and the world would start to spin and his eyes would get heavy and his stomach would heave and he would have to slow down. It seemed like an eternity before they got back to the club.

Finally, there was a place to sit after all that spinning and tipping and reeling, while his feet hit the pavement over and over right in front of his eyes and everything around them was a blur. The music pounded in his ears and he thought they might bleed, they throbbed so badly. The lights were harsh on his eyes and they burned like he was awake for far too long.

James was looking around. He was uncertain about talking to the bartender again. He hoped that Kris would show up. He seemed to be waiting forever and a waitress brought them some Coronas and said they were free. He did not argue against a free beer and drank the one for Brick. He watched as Brick sat there, holding his head and appearing to be coming back to his senses slowly.

After what seemed like hours, he noticed the long, tattered trench and the unruly, short blonde hair that was bound to be paired with those bitter blue eyes and a confused man on his way to remembering who he was.

Kris noticed James and walked over. He looked at Brick, “What the hell happened to him?”

“I don’t know, this dead guy grabbed and wouldn’t let go. I didn’t know what to do so I brought him back here. Any ideas?”

Kris shook his head, obviously puzzled.

“Hey, I think I’m feeling better guys. My head still hurts, but everything else seems okay.”

Kris grabbed Brick’s shoulder, “You sure, I mean you look pretty fucked up?”

“I’ll be fine, I just feel…like something is missing. It’s like I forgot something and I know I should remember it. So, what’s next?”

James looked to Kris, dark eyes staring at him, waiting for a suggestion.

“Give me a minute.”

Kris walked over to talk to Ty. He waited at the bar until the dark man with the dreads stopped, “Hey, boy, how you be?”

“Good, a little not myself, but good.”

“So, how did things go last night?”

“They went fine. Apparently they didn’t find Lotavlavic or he’s dead.”

“Probably dead, mon. It be looking like they be taking care of all da threats.”

“What the hell do we do?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t think it be mattering much.”

“Why,” Kris asked.

“Because, mon, Domitius is here.” Ty’s dark eyes gestured toward the doorway.

Kris looked to the entrance and saw the tall, dark and deadly Italian walk in. He was wearing the usual expensive suit and had three young, unsuspecting meals hanging all over him like he was some kind of god. He was already drawing attention. Kris darted back over to the table with James and Brick.

“Hey, you guys need to keep low. This guy is bad news, maybe the reason Ekatarina and her girls are here, or maybe he’s a pawn, we’re not sure. Just try to stay out of trouble, got it.”

James shook his head and Brick said, “Yeah, no problem.” Brick thought the guy looked like the perfect movie style vampire.

James looked over and then to Kris, “That guy was playing with my head, he’s how I found out about Anya.”

“What?”

“Long story,” was all that James said.

Kris looked back at the door and saw a short girl with blonde hair walk in. He recognized her from the night before. “That’s the singer.” He had said it aloud.

James looked back that direction, “She’s a hottie.”

“Damn,” Brick said.

Domitius spotted Kris and started walking towards him. The people moved out of his way, unconscious of the fact that they were being controlled without so much as a word. The three women that were with him stopped several yards before Domitius made it to Kris. “Good evening, Master Bane, I owe you a little something.” He walked up and punched Kris in the face. Kris dropped to the ground.

James stood and Domitius grabbed him by the collar and tossed him through the air. James hit the floor with a thud. He rolled over and started to push himself up slowly. Domitius was already there and plucked him up, “My quarrel is not with you, fool.” Domitius slung him into the wall and he slid down into a sitting slump.

The people started moving into a circle around the fight. Domitius was back to Kris in a blink of an eye. “Now, Kris, I hear that a good friend of yours is dead. I think you should join him.” Domitius grabbed Kris’ hair and slammed his head into the floor. Blood splattered. After the show of unearthly speed, the people began to move to the walls of the club. Shrieking and screaming along with sounds of awe came from the standers-by, but Kris and Brick did not notice.

Ty walked over to stop the girl. She looked at him; her hair hanging over half her face, her slight smile was almost disturbing. She kneed him. She hit hard, but Ty was always ready for a fight. He was fast, but what he had in speed, she made up for in strength. Her first punch felt like his face was going to implode. He landed strike after strike but it was like hitting a rock. Then he felt the second punch and realized that he was moving slower than he usually did. Domitius was using his mind control powers to slow and weaken him. She would kill him.

Kris brought his hands up near his face to push against Domitius, but it was obvious that the man was a good deal stronger without Kahmir around to weaken him. “Not so easy, now, is it? I was a very strong man in my day, and I believe that the mortal body should not be left behind in my endeavor for perfection.”

Kris swung the arm closest to Domitius under the vampire’s feet and Domitius hit the ground. Kris pushed himself up and wiped the blood from his brow. Domitius was climbing to his feet at the same time. The whole place was watching and Brick was running to James to help him up. Kris got up just before Domitius slammed his fist into Kris’ face. Kris reeled and caught his balance. He was not going to fall again.

The girl was holding Ty. It looked humorous to see a girl just over five feet tall and might have been a hundred-ten soaking wet holding a two-hundred pound, muscle bound man. She was not even straining to hold the Jamaican still. He was screaming in pain as she tightened her hold.

Kris punched Domitius and then pulled his katana. Domitius ducked the slash and then the three women charged in. Kris was surrounded by innocents and they were getting closer. He dropped the katana and Domitius grabbed him and kneed him in the gut. Kris felt pain rush through his abdomen. Domitius kneed him in the groin and he almost went limp from the pain. Domitius kneed him in the gut again and Kris felt like he was going to vomit. Instead, he head butted the vampire as hard as he could and then hit Domitius on both sides of his head with the palms of his hands. Blood sprayed from the vampire’s ears. Domitius yelled and stepped away. Kris had a moment to breath.

Kris looked around at the three women and saw that they looked completely empty. They were nothing more than puppets, obeying everything that Juno poured into their minds. He was glad that he was immune to such things. Kris could not believe what was happening after the night before. Then he noticed them moving. They rushed him and he watched as Domitius stepped away to watch. He was fighting three bodies, controlled by a creature that could see his movements almost before they happened. He was overpowered almost immediately, somewhere between their speed and his guilt over having to hit someone who would not remember what happened, he just could not beat them.

Brick woke James just in time for them to see some invisible force grab the girl that was holding Ty and sling her forty feet into the nearest wall, her head caved in and blood and gore splattered on the wall. Several people standing below were covered in splattering gray matter and they scrambled away, some in absolute panic. The body slid to the ground, most of the bones broken. Then a beautiful woman with dark hair and darker eyes appeared and helped Ty to his feet. The woman walked toward Domitius.

Kris watched from the floor where the three women held him. Domitius turned and saw the woman. He looked afraid. She smiled at him and then Domitius held out his hands and looked up, “Ha, and so the mummy comes to slay me. You can’t defeat me.” His eyes rolled back, dark brown giving way to the milky whites of the eyeball and then he opened his mouth showing his fangs. His face had turned from regal to feral and then his clothes began to shift as if something was alive under them. His skin grew a fine gray-black fur and then it seemed to separate into a hundred independent writhing creatures. At first Kris thought that it was a pack of rats but then the wings began to open as the small black furred bats flew out of the sleeves of the suit and over the woman. The swarm emptied from every opening in Domitius clothing, hundreds of bats flew up and over the woman and then out through a small window into the night.

The women released Kris and he shoved them away. Brick helped James to his feet and Ty was walking away from the dark haired woman. Kris and the others started walking toward her. Kris had no idea what he was about to do and James was unsure of what was going to happen. He had never seen anything like the display of power and wondered how several hundred people could witness something like that and no one remember in the morning. Brent was good, but could he really be that good.

Kris put his hand on Ty’s shoulder to steady the unnerved vampire. James and Brick walked up on the other side, James was still dazed but ready to fight. The woman stood there and looked at them as the onlookers stared at the new confrontation. She was beautiful, possibly the most perfect thing James had ever seen. She stood there wearing a simple tan suit that complemented her dark skin, smoothing the skirt over her hips and then adjusting her jacket. Her long, straight black hair was still perfect, yet she smoothed it as well. Her full lips were dark or she was wearing a very dark lipstick, it was difficult to tell. Kris guessed she was Indian from the dark features and the shape of her face, but she had come from a place that had seen a great deal of good fortune, despite the fire in her eyes that said she knew battle. Kris stepped forward.

The woman put out her hand as if to shake. Kris’ right eyebrow dipped in a look of apprehension. He reached out and felt the woman’s strong grip, but it did not tell of strength enough to toss a hundred pound woman, let alone a vampire, around like a sheet. “I guess my timing was pretty good, huh?” She asked.

Kris looked from side to side before answering, “Yeah, but who the hell are you?”

“My name is Kunzul, but I have had many names. You’re bleeding.” She reached her other hand out to touch the cuts on Kris’ forehead and he jerked away, breaking the handshake. “How do you expect to explain this to all these people?”

Kris wiped blood from his head, “That’s why we have Brent, they all go out the same exit and he tells them they had a wonderful night of drinking, smoking, making out, dancing and whatever else and makes sure no one remembers the spooky shit.”

Kunzul walked to James and put a hand on his shoulder. He felt the muscles reworking themselves as if he was going through a healing process all at once. It was discomforting to feel his body working so fast. Then there was no pain, only fatigue. “Better?” She asked, peering into his brown eyes with her darker ones.

“Yeah, how the hell’d you do that?” James said, rubbing his arm.

“Long story.”

Kris tapped her on the shoulder, “Hate to intrude, but now that we got your name, what the hell are you doing here?”

“I was looking for Octavia. She controls most of the gang and mafia activity in New York and I figured that it would be a good idea to kill her. I came here once I found out that it was a vampire hang out, but I did not expect to find such a powerful vampire having such a problem with mortals.” Kunzul was looking at Kris as if he was a puzzle, not a good looking guy with short dirty-blonde hair.

“Well, it just so happens that I changed the rules, now would you mind explaining to me that invisibility thing, because I’ve only met one person that good at it and he’s like five thousand and ugly as all hell.” Kris said.

Brick started walking toward the downed vampire girl and Ty was ushering people out while James, Kris and Kunzul were getting acquainted. Ty was moving people pretty fast, but with his good humor and great social skills it was no real surprise. Brent was erasing and transplanting memories. Probably some fight and cop bust to shut down the place so everyone could calm down; definitely no hot chicks appearing out of thin air and Roman aristocrats turning into bats.

Kunzul set her dark eyes on Kris and her thin fingers grasped his upper arm with a preternatural strength he would have never expected if he had not seen her entrance, “What is his name, who is it?”

“His name, the one he uses now, is Kahmir, why?”

“Kahmir Ridzahn, from the deserts between The Lower Nile and Babylon?” her voice was almost frantic, it was not becoming of a woman of her grace, then again, neither was the desperate look in her eyes.

“Yeah, he lives here now, in the city. Did you know him?”

“Almost five thousand years ago,” her gaze was distant and the corners of her mouth curled slightly toward a smile. Her cheeks dimpled and Kris felt like he should smile too.

Brick stepped up to the bloody and shattered corpse of the vampire and Kris saw it out of the corner of his eye. He was too close for comfort. “Hey,” he shouted as he turned to run for the kid. He was too late and Ty was too far away to notice.

The thing with half a head and a few dozen broken bones jumped up and four three inch fangs embedded in Brick’s chest, tearing through his shirt as if it were nothing. The body clenched his arms down to his sides and sunk long nails into his flesh. It gulped and he felt blood flow through the wound and into the creature’s mouth. He was starting to feel lightheaded as he noticed the blood filling the gaping hole where there had once been an eye and cheekbone. He heard bones snapping back into place like when a doctor sets them, but it was all at once, a quick series of cracks and pops that was sickening at such a close range. Her grip was insanely strong and getting more painful as she shoved into him, toppling him over onto his back. She straddled his legs and pressed her fangs deeper, he could feel her body tight against him, convulsing as she sucked blood in gulps that made him tremor. He was losing sight and his fingers were tingling.

Kris wiped his brow and slung a drop of blood onto the vampire as he approached. The girl ripped her fangs from Brick’s chest and left four jagged rips, Brick passed out. The vampire shrieked so loud that only Kunzul did not cover her ears. She started scratching and clawing to drag herself backwards away from Kris. Her head was filling in and hair was growing to the length of the rest that dangled in clumps and tangles of the drying fluid. Her fangs were dripping with blood and her mouth was coated with the thick crimson of Brick’s blood. She backed into the wall and threw up her pale arm to guard her face from Kris. Kris stopped a few feet away to watch as the girl reformed and cowered all at once.

Kunzul ran to Brick and touched his head. She closed her eyes and began chanting in a strange language. Kris turned to look and James was there, watching. She was almost singing, or perhaps it was a prayer, but after a few moments, the gashes in Brick’s chest were gone.

Kris whispered, “Only vampires can heal fang marks.”

Kunzul looked up at him, “And mummies.”

James’ jaw dropped. Ty was standing close enough for his vampire ears to hear and he made a face that said even he was taken by surprise. Brick stared, he was going through a lot with the vampire shit, the bite, that crazy dead man who grabbed him and now he had mummies to deal with. This was turning into one hell of a week, he thought to himself.

Kris raised an eyebrow, “You’re a mummy, like King Tut or some shit.”

Kunzul stood, smiling as if she wanted to laugh, “Not quite, King Tutankhamen was mummified to preserve his body, I was mummified to preserve my soul so that I might deal with the darkness of the undead.”

“Mummies kill vampires?” Kris said it as if it was only half question.

Kunzul looked at the group, “Long ago, yes, but there are few of us left to do the job. We know the old ways of Egypt and other ancient civilizations and were indoctrinated to the ways of the Cursed. We were made to let the spirit be reborn and retain the memories of the old religions and sciences so that we could balance the power of the undying. Not all who were mummified were mummified to do this task.”

Kris shook his head, “Great, three fucking days and I found out there’s a new breed, no wait, an old breed of vampire I didn’t know about, and now I’m talking to someone who was mummified so that they could kill the stupid fucks. I love this shit.”

James stood up, “Then do you know what the hell made her run from Kris like that.” He pointed to the girl, except for the blood splattered on her. She looked like a perfectly fine eighteen year old punk rocker that needed to visit a tanning bed.

Kunzul thought, “Unless the old priests had made the blood to counter vampiric powers like they were planning when I was first raised, I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Kris looked at the girl. She was eyeing Brick with a look that mixed a little bit of regret, sorrow, fear, and something that looked vaguely like the typical girlish ‘please talk to me.’ “I can’t be turned into a vampire and their powers fade when I’m near them, or more specifically when I don’t want their powers to work. Sound like your priests got it right, or am I just a fluke of nature?”

Kunzul reached out, her dark hands running over his face as if she were blind and trying to see him. “They did it, but it couldn’t be hereditary, it…” She trailed off.

Kris looked around, “Well, Domitius split again, and we’ve got her, bloody mess that she is, and these guys need to change out, then I say we try to open up the girl’s brain and see what there is to see.”

“What do you mean, what’s going on?” Kunzul asked.

“Some wild ass bitch came to town, killing off vampire hunters. Thought it would be fun,” James said.

“Yeah, but from what we can tell, Domitius and Octavia want to start some old world shit where the vampires rule the city and people are at peace with them. Seems the bitch whose killing hunters and I had a round and I got amnesia, stuffs still coming back to me. Then I see the blonde, Ekatarina, with three girls, an Asian woman, a young blonde with a baseball bat and a quiet redhead. I chased them back to the city. Now, one of the most fervent supporters of vampires laying low is dead, you’ve got two hunters and a mummy in a city where there used to be about fifteen vampire slayers walking the streets and the bad guys are winning. That would be about everything.”

Kunzul looked to Ty, “Do you have a place where we can clean everyone up?”

Ty shook his head, “Of course we do. Back in da back, Kris knows.”

Kris pointed to a hall in the back and James and Brick started walking. Kris walked over to the girl, “What’s your name?”

She looked up at him with bright blue eyes, “I don’t know.” She was about to break into tears and Kris was not in the mood to watch blood trickle down a woman’s face.

“Don’t do that, it’ll be alright. Everything will come back in time, slowly, but it happens. Trust me. I got my skull bashed not too long back.” He remembered falling and hitting his head on something, he remembered fighting Ekatarina on the top of one of the countless roofs in the city. He remembered an old black man who was only partly there screaming for someone to help. It had been the man from the subway.

She looked at him, “Last night I was at a party and I was with a guy, he…I don’t remember what he did.”

Kris looked at her and then brushed her hair back; the clumps of blood were sticky and wet. He inspected her neck. Then he took her arms and checked the elbows, wrists and even her armpits. She was looking at him strangely. “Notice any strange marks on your inner thigh, under your breasts, on your stomach, something like fang marks or puncture wounds.”

She pulled up her shirt and showed him the still healing wounds of a vampire bite on her side. She was thin enough that the guy had been able to puncture her from the back and front, peculiar, almost inventive. “Like those.”

“Yeah, that explains why your head just grew back and you’re so fucking hungry. Hope you don’t like sunlight too much, cause you’re not going to see it except in photographs. Come on; let’s get you cleaned up and into some decent clothes.” Being nice to the demons, he did not think he would be alone on that for long, not after seeing Kunzul’s eyes light up after mentioning Kahmir.

He walked the girl to the back rooms and sent her into the dressing lockers where the waitresses and bartenders kept their stuff, he let Ty go in and grab the girl some clothes that might be close to her size. He had had enough fun with women already, he did not want any more. Ty was in there long enough to give her clothing and toiletries and then he went to take care of himself in the men’s locker room.

After a while of waiting with Kunzul, James and Brick came out, clean and well groomed. Ty came out just behind them and then the girl came out of the female locker room. She looked amazing in the tight black pants and spaghetti strap white shirt with no back. She still wore a few bracelets that said she was a punk and the star-fire tattoo on her pierced bellybutton was visible just at the bottom of the shirt. Brick was staring.

James whacked him in the back of the head, “She’s a vampire dipshit, they all look good.”

Brick rubbed his head and said, “Owww.”

The girl tried to rearrange her clothes, Kris knew she was uncomfortable looking like a mainstream bitch. Kris looked to James, “Never seen a Nosferatu, have you James?”

James was pushing Brick along, “No, why?”

“They’re the ugliest motherfuckers you’ll ever see,” Kris said. Kunzul giggled at the thought of James seeing a Nosferatu for the first time.

Kris led them out to the truck. The 3500 was gleaming as usual; it was Tyler’s pride and joy. Ty unlocked the huge truck with a remote and they all climbed into the luxurious vehicle. Ty would let all the other guys ride in their Suburbans and Navigators, but he wanted style and power, not a reasonable facsimile thereof. Ty drove to the alley where Kahmir’s little cave was. They all got out and Kris started walking toward the entrance to the ancient vampire’s haunt.

Kris stopped and looked back. He watched as the others walked towards him. There was the mummy, the newly made vampire, the old Houngan priest vampire, the new vampire hunter and a guy who had taken more vampire unlives than nearly any other ordinary hunter in history. He wondered how he knew that and figured that at one point, he probably knew everything about every hunter in his city. Part of the job.

The others caught up and he led the group down into Kahmir’s gallery. The girl was taken by a painting of two women strolling through the Venetian Courts that had been ripped and gnawed on by rats. James was standing there just waiting and trying not to look at anything. Brick was watching the girl with a dreamy look on his face. Kunzul was overflowing with anticipation. Ty and Kris were waiting, knowing that if Kahmir were anywhere nearby, he would soon be there.

Kris looked back to the rose that was sitting in the vase of Kahmir’s blood and wondered if Kunzul was the one. If she was, would her new body keep Kahmir from remembering? The shadows cloaked the majority of the room, but that one pedestal was always in some kind of perpetual light. It sat under a sewer grate or something he figured. He wondered if the room had evolved from that one thing into the gallery of grotesquery that it was.

Brick started looking around at the shadow dimmed art pieces and wandered near the darkness that seemed to be so intense in the back. He looked around as if he should be able to see something in the blackness, but the little light that reached to where he stood seemed to die out abruptly in front of his face. Then he thought he could make out a small pinprick of light in the depths of inky black.

The others noticed as the shadows started to recede like mist being burnt away by a warm morning sun; tendrils slowly pulled back toward the dull darkness near Brick, dragging with them the newcomers’ attention. Only Ty and Kris looked to where Brick stood, knowing what was coming. Brick was unaware of any movement until the pool of darkness began to slowly pull back into itself. His eyes widened as the horrid shape began to be revealed as though someone were tearing away wisps of cloth from a dry and rotted corpse. It had a tangle of fangs and beady black eyes in a face that had tight, brown, leathery skin that was pulled taught over the skull so that it did not flex or rest but stayed tightly stretched from each and every orifice. The body was covered in a ragged robe and bony hands with jagged claws protruded from overly long sleeves. The thing was moving on feet that scratched the floor but could not be seen. Once revealed the creature was in front of Brick and holding him in one clawed hand. “Why are you here?”

Brick was almost hyperventilating and probably would have been except he was so focused on keeping his bladder from releasing. James drew his shotgun and dropped to one knee. The girl shrieked and Kunzul stood as still as stone. The creature tossed Brick down, gently for a Nosferatu. James started shooting and the shot ripped through the creature’s robes and dust flew out in plumes behind the thing even as the sounds of burnt paper crumbling wisped lightly from the disgusting being. The creature looked to James and then to Kris, who was grinning. “Why do you bring people into my home and not tell them what to expect?”

Kris laughed aloud, “Sorry.”

Kahmir was at James in a blink and ripped the man’s gun from his hands and tossed it away, “You have no need for that here. I am the one you have come to see, I think.” Kahmir looked into James’ dark eyes with his rotted black orbs, “James.”

James stood and looked to Kris, “Whoa, what the fuck?”

Kris smiled, “Nosferatu are pretty fucking ugly, huh. It’s a different type of vampire. There are ghouls and succubae, too. They’re all different, but have some basics in common. According to certain sources, the girls we’re dealing with are the originals, big nasties that even these guys,” he pointed to Kahmir and Ty, “are afraid of.”

Kahmir looked at Kris with what might have been a scornful look if he still had a face with real features, “Not the originals, not by any means. They are merely of the original breeding, the ones that all the weaker ones that populate the nights of now came from. The vampires were old when she was still mortal.”

Kahmir looked to the young blonde and then to Kunzul. He stopped and shivered. A vampire shivered like he was a mortal that had just seen a ghost for the first time. Kunzul was staring back, her eyes brimmed with tears and a smile was growing on her lips. Kunzul walked toward the ancient vampire and stopped about a foot from Kahmir. She reached up and touched his forehead. Kahmir trembled at the touch. Kunzul let her fingers lightly trail down the contorted countenance and as she did the skin turned fleshy and the eyes were the darkest brown and the fangs were bright teeth and his hair was long and shiny black, he was magnificent in his statuesque features for but a second as the curse rippled across his skin and made his eyes sink and his teeth grow out into a hideous nest of fangs. She drew her hand back and touched her lips, her eyes filled with wonder and sadness. Kris could see that she was too strong and too wise for pity. Kahmir did not turn away after the touch. Kris thought that maybe five thousand years would teach you to deal with pride.

The two ancients stood there for a while, taking each other in. It was a sight to behold, such beauty and such hideousness admiring each other as though nothing had changed. Five thousand years was not enough to destroy whatever had existed between the two. A curse, being forced onto two different sides of a war as old as civilization, eating blood, being reborn hundreds of times over and still they were in love, the kind that transcended touch and sight and bled into the soul in a way that must have been forgotten by modern people. Kris found himself wondering if anyone had experienced what those two had in a millennium, and then he thought that it was probably not too long past that such an emotion had truly been killed off. There was no room for such blind and unselfish behavior in the new world. Kris smiled at the thought that though the dark nights of the modern world were too much for such to be born, it did not look like it was enough to kill it off if it was already there. Kahmir’s rose was indeed eternal, more so than any vampire.

Kris waited a few moments longer, “Alright, that’s it, let’s get these bitches.”

Kahmir turned to Kris, “And how do you propose we do that?”

Kris nodded toward the blonde girl. “She needs to remember some things and she’s still going through the process.”

Kahmir nodded in understanding, “I will probe her mind, only if you let her heal your wounds, Kris.”

Kris shrugged, “Whatever.”

Kunzul walked over to Kris and she put her hand to his chest. She closed her eyes and then she screamed. Her eyes opened and she clung to his shirt. She was fighting to continue touching him. Everyone was watching. It was quite different from when she had healed Brick. Kris felt the pain receding from his back and his ankles. He felt his muscles tightening and his headache was going away. He could also see things, his past, his memories, hundreds of thousands of hours in some kind of ethereal fast forward right in front of his mind’s eye. Kunzul dropped to the floor from pain and exhaustion. Kris felt the best he had since he could remember; which was a long time at that particular moment.

Kahmir walked over to her, “Are you alright, I know he is dangerous to vampires, but…” Kris had never seen Kahmir without words.

Kunzul looked up at him, “What did you do to him?”

Kahmir reached out a hand to help her to her feet, “Only what I thought was best for the city.”

“You took him away from his home and his family. He didn’t finish growing up before you taught him to kill. His life is a nightmare and he’s only twenty-six.”

“He would not have been accepted by his own anyway. He was cursed with the memory of our kind and there was no way to erase it. I tried to make him one of us, but it was impossible. So I took him in and taught him. Is that really so bad?”

Kris knew what Kahmir had done and knew that it was probably for the best, but he had grown far too accustomed to Kahmir’s bestial behavior. He was different, he had learned to see things on his own and he was perfectly aware that Kahmir had been his livelihood for years and he felt that it was time to leave the monsters behind.

Kunzul looked at Kris, “There had to be another way.”

“He is immune to our powers, his mind cannot be cleared and he would have remembered forever anyway. I had to do something and though it may be wrong, it made him understand and accept. He would never had had that had I left him in that little town. He would have had questions and conflicts that none of his friends and family could have helped him cope with. He would have known about the supernatural and been forced to forget it, but he never truly would and it would have haunted him for all of his life. I put him in a place where he could use what he knows and live a life where he could be accepted, if only by the monsters he would never be able to forget. The darkness and the pain and the terror, these things are byproducts of our lives and yet here he stands dignified and strong, as few mortals of his age even try to be. I had to choose between the lesser of two evils and I think I chose correctly.”

Kunzul was calming down. She was forced to realize that it was much like the change in a vampire. Kris had had no choice. She could not see his past, but she felt the intense pain when she healed his mind. She looked at Kris, his piercing eyes and almost regal stance. He was very different, even from James who looked worn out and pissed off. Kris knew that the vampires played a social game that no mortal could ever fathom, they had lifetimes to practice and Kris had to look as powerful, confident, knowledgeable and threatening as any of the undead. He was as dangerous looking as many of the bloodsuckers she had seen, yet his presence was enough to make one feel safe, without knowing why. She could also see the pain of loneliness and agony that permeated his soul.

Brick stepped toward them, “Hate to be an ass, but shouldn’t we try to see what’s in the girl’s head? I mean, that’s why we’re here, right?”

Kahmir turned to the young man, “Indeed.” He looked at the girl. He began to pry into the blonde’s thoughts. She turned her eyes away. James brow beaded as he watched the girl’s face contort in pain. He had never seen this kind of thing before. Brick’s mouth was agape; he looked as though he worried for the girl. Kris, Kunzul and Ty watched patiently. After a few moments of silence, Kahmir turned and looked at Kris, “She was created by a young woman, a blonde. There was another woman there, Ekatarina. They started playing with her after she went to a hotel room with a guy, he was being controlled.”

“What about an Asian, was there an Asian woman?” James asked.

“No, only the two. The man was used for food, a bit of a party then they sent her to Domitius. Her mind was wiped by the younger girl and then Domitius used his mind control to get her to follow him to the club.”

“That means we’re dealing with four of these things.” James said.

Kahmir shook his head, “No, I don’t think so. I think there is only one that is truly that old, the others only benefit from being of her blood. That means that once this girl is through the change, once her mind heals and her body has completed it’s becoming, she will be very powerful as well. That is one reason the old ones do not procreate. They see such powerful creatures as possible threats to their power. Ekatarina must see it as a way to be in several places at once.”

“So you’re telling me that one of Ekatarina’s…kids killed an old and powerful vampire, a vampire of indeterminate age and a weathered vampire hunter that easy just because she’s the kid of this old ass bloodsucker.” James said.

“They would be a challenge for me. For a while, they will be like her, almost unstoppable, but eventually certain weaknesses will set in that will be evened out by specific powers. That would also mean that Domitius is a pawn, not the master. She may want him to think that, though. It would make sense.”

“Did you see anything about a girl with long dark hair and blue eyes, Jessica Fairchild?” James asked.

Kahmir shook his head as Kris burst out, “What does she have to do with this?”

James glared at Kris, “How do you know her?”

“She was my psychiatrist.”

“We we’re going to try to get to the vampire by following a trail through her. I found a guy taking notes on her. Those notes included details about a vampire hunter who had lost his memory.” He slowed down, realizing as he was talking that he was talking to that vampire hunter. “Her apartment was torn apart and she was gone, we met the Asian vampire there and I thought that I killed her, but it must take more than beheading and fire.”

Kris’ eyes went into a distant stare. “These old school bitches are tougher than I thought. We have to go to her apartment.”

James shook his head, “Already tried it, nothing, and she’s gone.”

Kris looked to his apartment as if he could see through walls and everything else in the way. “Fuck.” He turned and ran at a full sprint, knowing that he would already be late. He was gone in a flash and so focused he did not hear them screaming after him.

James looked at Kahmir, “What the hell was that?”

“I don’t know, but I think we should stop him. Ty.”

“Hey, mon, he’s always had his reasons an’ me not about to get in his way now.” Ty said.

“Then we should at least help. These bitches are psycho.” Brick burst out.

Ty tossed the keys to James, “You’ll be slowin’ us down, but I tink she’ll be helping you if ya be needin’ it.” He nodded toward Kunzul. Then Ty and Kahmir were gone as if they had never been there and the blonde girl was passed out on a stool.

James, Brick and Kunzul made for the truck and hopped in. They were gone with a squeal of tires and a fishtailing turnaround that any stunt driver would have been proud of. James was confused, he did not know where he was going, and then Kunzul started giving directions and said simply, “I am careful to know those who might be my enemies, but I think I’m glad that he’s an ally.” James followed the directions until he slammed on the brakes. The Asian woman was standing in the middle of the road.

Kunzul looked over to him, “She’s one of them, isn’t she?”

“Yeah.”

Brick shook his head.

She started walking toward the truck. Her hips swaying, her lips upturned at one corner. It was like she was walking toward a man she knew would desire her. Her skin tight jeans and tight white top showed the movement of every rock hard muscle in that sexy, dangerous body. Her lips opened slowly, revealing pearly white death in a face that was all beauty until those dark red lips wrinkled back fully and her cheeks forced her almond shaped eyes even thinner. Her hands went from loosely held to rigid claws. James could see as the sharp talons broke through the flesh of her fingertips.

James slid his hand inside his coat and turned off the engine. Kunzul put a very smooth, very cool hand on his leg. He knew that it was her signal to not move. He was not sure he would be able to hold back. He wanted the bloodsucker dead, really dead.

The vampire walked up to the truck and nearly disappeared below the hood, and then she bent down. James let out a deep breath as the tension rose. He did not want to think about what was about to happen. Kunzul squeezed his leg slightly to remind him that he should stay calm. Brick was looking around. Then the truck flipped over, nose first into the air and then down onto its top. The cab crushed in and glass shattered all around. James pulled his knife and cut the seat belt.

Brick was staring into the vampire’s almost black eyes. Her flirtatious grin was back and she reached out as if to help him. He was smarter than that, but she grabbed him and flung him through the air. He landed in a puddle and water splashed up and around him. He sat up to see her rip the door off of the truck as if she were ripping a cotton shirt.

James rolled out of the other side and turned to pull Kunzul out. The vampire leaped up into the air and came down kicking James in the head. Pain seared through his skull and down his neck as the world went black. He felt pain intensify sharply as his head was hit again and then he felt his body fade away and the darkness became total. He awoke and blasted at the pale woman before him with his shotgun. She was caught off guard and blood splattered as her chest was ripped open. Her eyes grew wide. Then another blast took off the back of her head.

She reeled around and James saw the gaping wound where bone and blood mixed with silky black hair. Brick was standing there with a shotgun. He could not see Kunzul. The vampire started toward Brick with such speed that it seemed she was in several places at once. James fired again and the blast ripped through the back of her calf and she stumbled. Brick took a shot at her abdomen and so much flesh was ripped away that her spine showed through. James stood up and loaded an incendiary round into his shotgun as the bitch healed. He motioned for Brick to step to the side with a quick jerk of his head and he did. Then he shot the vampire and the round burst into flame. Not as effective as the torch style rounds, but it still hurt them. She exploded in flame.

Brick ran over to help James away from the flaming vampire, “What the fuck just happened?”

Brick grabbed him and started pulling him away, “She kicked the shit out of you, that’s what happened. Kunzul fought her while we were out, drained her, but she’s still fuckin’ insane.”

James turned around and saw the vampire standing there, flames out, slowly rebuilding her body. It was much the same as the way the blonde had. He hoped that Kahmir did not feel bad about them leaving that girl alone in his sewer or basement or whatever it was. James looked at Brick and then to the truck. “I’m going to the truck, you shoot the gas tank before she gets away, got it?”

“Are you nuts?”

“I’ll try to slow her down and get away. Use this to make sure.” He handed Brick an incendiary round from one of his pockets. Brick shook his head and James ran over to the truck and reached inside like he was going to grab something.

She was on top of him in an instant. She flung him down to the ground, her shirt nothing more than bloody tatters dangling from her shoulders, her jeans black with blood stains. He pulled a knife and slid it between her ribs then he smiled at her. Her flesh healed so fast that the knife popped out. She showed him her fangs and then kissed his forehead. He put his shotgun to her stomach and the blast tore away her flesh, again. She clawed into his arms and he reached into his coat for a stake. He stabbed the oak into her and felt the mistake. He had missed the heart. He rolled his eyes and then planted both feet into her hips. He shot and kicked and she flew up and back, landing on the truck which was still upside down. He stood and started backing away, firing round after round into the vampire. Then he heard as Brick shot and the truck exploded, flames billowed into the night and burning shrapnel soared upward and outward, whistling through the summer air. He heard the vampire scream and ran to Brick.

He turned back and saw the body crawling towards them. It looked like she was just about out of juice. The charred remnants left a streak of black on the ground even as little bits of it healed back into perfect skin and then the sweltering heat re-cooked the flesh. He almost felt pity and then he thought about what might have happened to Jessica. He started firing over and over. Pieces of blackened char and thick ropes of boiled blood burst up from the crawling creature as it struggled toward them.

James finally ran out of ammo and Brick put a trembling hand on the vampire hunter’s shoulder. There was nothing left for them to do. No more ammunition, no stakes, no nothing. James threw down his shotgun and stared at the thing. Then Kunzul walked out and stabbed it in the back with a piece of wood. She turned to James and Brick, “Sorry, you’d think it would be easier to find a piece of oak in an alley. I think that’ll hold this one until dawn. Let’s go.”

Then the creature stood and grabbed Kunzul from behind, sinking its charred fangs into the soft dark flesh of Kunzul’s shoulder and using its disfigured, burnt fingers to rip away Kunzul’s shirt, leaving open gashes in the tender flesh as the cloth fell open. It began to drink, its throat moving as it gulped the blood from Kunzul. Kunzul’s big dark brown eyes grew so wide they seemed like they belonged to an anime drawing rather than a real person. Then Brick realized that the vampire was not drinking the blood of a real person but a mummy. He wondered if blood was where they got their power, then what would drinking the blood of a mummy do to her.

The creature healed as she drank the mummy’s blood. Its flesh rebuilt itself and bones grew back, pushing the limp and misshapen flesh back into the anatomical arrangement that was too human for any normal person to believe that something so dreadful and horrid could have happened to the supple, lively body of that beautiful Asian woman with the porcelain-like skin and the big doe eyes and the long silken hair. Kunzul screamed and pulled the vampire down to the ground as she tried to tear away from the long fangs that pierced her skin.

James grabbed Brick’s arm and started running. Brick stumbled before his feet caught up to the vampire hunter’s pace. The two ran, listening to the feral howling and the screams from the two creatures locked in battle. James figured that after all he had seen the vampire had the upper hand. Brick could feel his wet shoes squeaking as he ran.

James saw the shadow fly past and stopped Brick.

“What?”

“Shh…” James stood perfectly still, “She’s hunting us.” His eyes moved through the shadows, picking out every movement. Paper blew by like tumbleweed. Cans rattled and plastic bags rustled in the wind giving the deserted streets an eerie hollow feel as if they were alone in a city with eight million people. James hated that, so many god damned people and when you needed them to be there, every fucking one was in bed or at work fucking the secretary or out having a beer and despite the fact that about three thousand could hear you scream and about eight thousand could hear a gunshot, not a single bastard would choose to hear a thing when you needed them to. At least in the rural areas there was a chance that someone would hear you and a damn better chance that said someone would have a shotgun, rifle or hunting knife nearby. Come to a place where more people live than you can count and the only people with a weapon wants to use it to kill the good guys. What a lovely fucking hole in the wall city.

He stopped scanning the shadows knowing that it would be useless. She was not like the ones he had hunted. She was not concerned with people as puppets, she did not need to rely on humans for anything, and she was not entwined in plots that affected mortal and vampire alike. She was different. She was more powerful than anything he had ever suspected. She was playing a game of cat and mouse with the man who was considered the best vampire hunter in the Americas. She would play by her rules and he was helpless. All of his gadgets and ammunition were gone. Kunzul was dead at the hands of this very creature. He was done for.

She stepped out of the shadows, pulling the wisps of gray-black aside like a hanging piece of cloth over a doorway. He watched her walk toward him, her almond shaped eyes filled with glee at the sight of him. He was ready to die. She knew it.

James turned his head slightly to the right, “Brick, if you want to live, run.” He said it matter-of-factly, as if he had told someone to turn left onto the next street to get to his house.

Brick started pounding cement like he never had before. The vampire stared at James for a moment before walking to him. She caressed his face, tracing his jaw and letting her fingers trail delicately down his neck and over his chest. She felt the heaving of his lungs as he breathed, slow, rhythmic and deliberate. It excited her to feel the power of a man who could look into the eyes of death and not be terrified. They did not make them like that anymore, or so she thought. Ekatarina would have told her that few men in the modern nights live a life that prepares them for death. James refused to scream as the vampire bit into his chest, through his shirt. He felt his blood going out through the wound as she suckled. The blood seemed to flow like hot water over his skin as it pooled around her generous lips. He felt himself growing lightheaded and the wound began to send shivers through him. He had not known those shivers since before he killed his first vampire. Those shivers must have been the reason that people liked being bitten. Then, there was the fact that if you were fucked up on some kind of drugs or half asleep, you would never notice the blood dripping. Oh, and of course the interesting talent that vampires had for healing the wounds they made with their fangs; not a trace of anything other than a little lightheadedness to go with your hangover. He fell away silently, wondering if it was death or just passing out. Either way, he thought, fade to black, just like in the old movies.

Kris made it to the apartment complex and stepped out of the Ford Probe that he had stolen to make it there so fast. He looked up and could feel the darkness that hung around the place. He started walking toward the door and stopped as the shadow that was Kahmir passed through the pool of light at the base of a street lamp and then formed the decrepit cadaver of the wretched ancient and darkness dissolved to reveal Ty.

Kris looked to them, “Thanks.” Then he ran into the place and up the stairs and then kicked in his own door.

Ekatarina was waiting for him. She was beautiful. Her green eyes were gleaming in the darkness of the room and her hair glistened like strands of gold in the little light that illuminated the shadow filled apartment. She wore a dress of white silk that clung to every curve of her body. Its whiteness seemed to blend into the pale skin of her bare shoulders and the only contrast was the shadow of her neck and the line of her collar bone. Her feline features, angled jaw line, slightly slanted eyes, small pointed nose, made her look more predatory than any human face he had ever seen. She was nearly his height and her thin arms were not like most women, even hanging at rest they showed the contours of muscle. She was strong and she made it look better than any woman he had ever noticed. He was amazed with how attractive she was, standing there in the dance between shadow and light that made her look like a stone statue that had been realized by the hand of a sculptor on par with God Himself. Then he thought to himself that it was said that Lucifer was God’s most beautiful creation and he very well could be looking at that very thing.

He stood staring. Her small mouth opened slightly and she appeared to tremble. She brought her hands together in front of her, arms still hanging almost straight, and began to feel her fingers as if she were nervous. She moved one foot in a semicircle. Then she bit her lip. It was like she was expecting the man of her dreams to act on feelings she had daydreamed of for months or years. He could feel the tension in the air. For her it was something almost romantic, for him it was truly terrific.

“You know, it’s been ages since I met someone like you,” she said.

Kris glared.

“Most men are nothing more than babbling idiots, obsessed with their toys and money. I always liked men with a little spice. They taste better when the blood has been marinated in the sauce of an interesting and trying life. The poor have the distinct toughness and bitter sharpness of a good, strong cheese. The rich who have indulged themselves have the sweet softness and full robust flavor of a well aged and chilled wine. Politicians are constantly altering to suit the views of the public and often their hunger for power and their fickle beliefs lead to something like a mix of hearty vegetables. Only the truly loyal, honorable men who stand against the tides of time and the fury of human nature bear the most rewarding taste. Their sorrows are more deeply embedded, their fears are realized in ways no other man could imagine, and their loyalties make them impervious to seduction. Their morals are the taste of the most adored delicacies when they run red from their opened veins. They were rare throughout time, but here and now, they are never found. You though, you possess all this and yet the blood that I so long to taste would kill me if I were to drink it. Your friend Kahmir already knows that your blood is poison to us. You can never be killed by our bite, never made into one of our kind. What grand plan could the powers greater than us have in store to have made one with the blood that is our death into a being so noble and pure? Too bad, that plan will never see its fruition. I may not kill you, but one of our kind or time will; and time will always be on our side.” She stepped forward and let her mouth open more, showing her pearly white fangs and licking the even ridge of teeth just below her full upper lip.

“Why do you always have to talk, every bad guy has to give a speech before they get their ass kicked, why exactly is that?”

“I’m not here to get my ass kicked. I’m here to show you what you’ve missed out on all these years and then fucked up by leaving the girl alone.”

“And what is that?” Kris said sarcastically.

She walked up to him and looked into his blue eyes. They were a shade of dark gray in the shadows. Hers were a deep hue of green. She could feel his warm breath and longed to breathe like that once more. She could hear his lungs shrink and expand. She could see in his eyes that he was not afraid of her, of death, of anything. She touched his moving chest to feel the rhythm of his heart. She could feel the blood coursing below his skin.

He looked into her eyes and saw her tremble as she touched him. She did not breathe. Her hand was cool to the touch, even through his shirt. She moved even closer, her nose brushing his, her breasts gently pressed to his chest and her hand pushed firmly into his skin as it was pressed forward by her body. He arched an eyebrow and smelled the scent of death from her mouth. She had fed and not bothered to do any more than wipe away the blood. He started for his shotgun and found that it was gone. “Shh... Don’t move, I like it here, it’s been a very long time since I’ve felt like a man might be stronger than me.”

“The last thing you need is protection, and the last person who will ever give it to you is me,” Kris said already feeling like she could have been any other woman in the world and not a monster that only a few nights ago he was afraid of.

She nestled in closer and he felt her pushing her body against his and his eyes narrowed. His emotions shut off and then he grabbed her by her hair, jerking her head back. Her mouth came open and barred fangs. She looked like an angry cat as she hissed in pain, if that was what she really felt. He tossed her back and she landed on the floor.

She pretended to breathe hard, as if the attack had been surprising and emotionally traumatizing. Her fangs disappeared beneath the faked whimpering. Red glistened in her eyes, tears of wine. She grabbed for something, anything and then threw the small lamp.

Kris sidestepped it as if he were sidestepping a slowly moving basketball and it shattered behind him in the hall. Kris went for his katana and found that it, too, was gone. He snarled. Ekatarina smiled and stood up. “What is a hunter without his knife and his gun?”

Kris answered with a Nike across her cheekbone. It left a bruise and she toppled to the floor holding her face. “Ah, that hurt!” she screamed. Then she caressed the bruise and winced at the touch. She looked up at him, “You’ve given me something that I’ve not had since I killed my bastard husband more years in the past than I care to remember. Only a true romantic would be so thoughtful.”

He started looking around. The sword and the shotgun had to be somewhere around. He started pulling up cushions and tossing blankets. He heard her move again. “What now?” he growled.

“So determined, aren’t you? It’s very admirable, but I don’t think you’ll find it.” She caressed his hair. Then she smelled it. He froze. Then he backhanded her as hard as he could. She flew back several feet before hitting the floor. “What a blessing, to be able to hurt us like that. No mortal and few immortals have that talent.” She leaped up and into a crouched position like a cat ready to pounce, the silk dress ripping between her legs so they were free to move.

He threw off his coat and dropped into a ready stance. She was pissed and he could feel the cold in the room. It was like she was soaking up all the heat around them. The heat from his body seemed to dissipate and he felt a chill climb his spine. He fought off his body’s urge to shiver. She would see it as a sign that she was getting the upper hand and he could not afford another loss, even if it was only in her mind.

She leapt at him and clawed, her long manicured nails becoming four inch long wolf claws in mid swing. He caught her wrist and she bared her teeth and hissed, spitting through her clenched fangs. He punched her and her eyes widened with the sudden pain. She wrenched her arm so hard that holding her became painful and he lost his grip. She smacked him with the back of her hand leaving a trail of blood as a claw raked his cheek. Then she kneed him and he doubled over. He came up with a solid punch to her nose and she shrieked as she felt the cartilage smash into the bone beneath and blood flowing freely. She reeled back holding her shattered face and feeling her eyes bruising. Then she focused a moment and the wounds healed. He could not do that.

He ran at her and tackled her to the floor. She grabbed his shoulders and threw him off, pouncing on him and pinning him to the ground. She held him down, between her legs and caressed his face while looking into his eyes. “I haven’t felt this way about a man in centuries. I didn’t think there were any left that were as strong as you.” She almost cooed. Then she kissed his cheek and then his jaw line and then down his neck.

“There’s nothing special about me,” he said as he brought the edges of his hands to the sides of her neck with as much force as he could get while being pinned on the floor being kissed by the vampire. She rolled to the side as he moved his hands away. She was not accustomed to feeling the pain of a punch or kick. She was undead, to feel pain she needed to be shot, cut, stabbed, or burned. A mortal capable of causing pain like that with a bludgeoning fist was dangerous to her kind beyond imagination.

He stood up and looked around. He could not understand how she could take and hide his weapons so well while being so close to him. He knew he could get caught up in a moment, but never so bad as to lose all his senses. He kicked Ekatarina and she howled. He kneeled and grabbed her throat, “Where the hell is it, you bitch?”

She smiled, her eyes brightening until they were glowing green, casting an eerie light on his countenance. “When you find them, you will die.”

He picked her up by her neck and slammed her into the wall. She lashed out with claws and spun. Her teeth glimmered and her lips pulled back like a snarling dog. She hefted him up, rage swelling in her and bringing a flushness of life to her paled features. She growled for all to hear and threw the hunter out the window. He did not scream, but the glass crashed and tinkled like chimes as it fell in countless glittering shards to the pavement below.

The shadows enveloped him. He could see, hear, and feel nothing other than the living darkness. His heart stopped and then he felt his feet on solid ground and the shadows peeled back. He was standing just inside the window and he saw Ekatarina’s face light up as the darkness continued to roil away to reveal Kahmir.

Ekatarina leapt toward the ancient Nosferatu and claw met claw. The most amazing beauty was tearing away at the corpselike horror that was his friend. The two beings seemed to hang in the air as gash was torn and healed and teeth raked flesh freeing thick, oozing ichors from the creatures’ veins. Kris watched the battle. It raged inside seconds but if he could have seen the blur of blood and flesh with the eye of the vampire, that fight would have seemed like days as the two beings, both older than any surviving culture battled to the end. Then with a final sweeping clawing motion, Ekatarina knocked the ancient Nosferatu out the window and to the pavement far below. Then a young blonde began to drag the torn, broken, and bloodied corpse away.

Ekatarina turned to Kris, “Nothing now but you and me, pretty man.”

Kris closed his eyes and then opened them, his mourning period was over. He saw the hilt of the katana and ran for it. Ekatarina was fast. She grabbed him just as he took hold of the sword and slung him across the room. He hit the wall and plaster spurted out like hail from the wound in the wall from where Kris’ back had shattered it. He stood up, amazed at her strength. No vampire had tossed him that easily before, at least as far as he could remember. He gripped the hilt and readied himself for her. She was gone and then suddenly in front of him. She punched him and he dropped the blade. Then she hefted him with one lithe arm and her blood red lips slid from a blood coated snarl to a gentle smile, the red stains still on her lips, down her chin, coating her ripped dress, yet there were no wounds. She had taken of Kahmir’s blood and was using it even still. It coursed cold and thick through her, mingling with her already immense occult power to make her stronger, faster and tougher. It was enough to throw off the balance that his blood was responsible for in most cases.

She slammed him into the wall several times. He gritted his teeth together as he felt his flesh breaking open against the wall. He reached back and slid his hand across the bloodstains. Then he raked his fingers across her face. She growled and dropped him. She clawed at the wounds, trying to rip the blood out of the scratch marks. She shrieked and howled as the wounds healed. When she finally took her hands away from her face, the perfectly feline features were marred with the slightest white scars, only thin enough to be seen. He picked up the sword and swung, but she was still too fast, moving out of the way as if his thrust were in slow-motion. He slashed and she ducked it, moving towards him with slow confidence in her newfound vampiric edge. She was certain that Kahmir’s blood would keep its potency long enough to work her old world magic on the gifted mortal. Her eyes grew wider and her fangs seemed longer. Kris could see how the blood was affecting her; her beauty was still there, but it was tainted with ferociousness, a feral presence was overwhelming her, turning her eyes into the glittering slit eyes of a cat and her sharp features became more catlike, the fine hair on her face seemed thicker and her teeth were longer, sharper.

Kris took a step back. He was not as certain as when he had started. He adjusted his grip on the sword and took several deep breathes to cleanse himself. He could feel the wounds in his back, mostly bruises and a few small gashes, still bleeding and starting to itch. He waved the katana before the encroaching demon. The glinting blade had no affect on the animal before him. She was fearless.

She moved and he was lying on the ground, his lip bleeding before he knew where her hand was going. He winced at the taste of blood from his mouth. He spat the irony saliva to the floor. Then he ran out the door and up stairs, flight after flight until he burst onto the rooftops. He dashed into the shadows. He rounded a corner and saw a pretty girl with bright red hair. She cocked her head to one side and he froze. He looked back and saw Ekatarina step through the door and onto the roof. He was trapped.

He looked from one to the other. Then he turned to face Ekatarina. She was walking toward him. She did not need to see him. She could smell him on the night air. He was betrayed by his own existence. He had a little more insight into the world of the beasts. He thought he knew what a deer felt like when it was being stalked by a mountain lion. He was not going to run, not yet. He still had a little fight left in him.

He stood his ground and waited for the feline vampire to come to him. She walked like a woman stalking into a room to pounce a lover, or maybe it was the slow meandering walk of a wolf that knows the rest of the pack is just outside his vision waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting prey. He moved to a place where he could watch both of them, it was not much but it was better than letting one sneak up on him.

He brought the sword up over his head with the point toward the oncoming vampire. He hoped that he would be able to at least cut her good enough to slow her down. Then he could get far enough away to regroup instead of being played with. She moved in and stopped just out of the blade’s reach. He cursed through his teeth at the undead creature before him, yet his posture was perfect, his arm was set like stone in a snake-like coil ready to unleash the bite of the katana on his opponent.

She smiled coyly. It was like looking at a woman in a soap opera, the fakeness in that smile. He realized that he had not seen a soap opera in years. He counted that as one of the many blessings in that instant. Then he remembered Mary Jane. He lashed out and cut at where Ekatarina’s throat should have been, but by the time the blade was there, she was behind him. He followed through and then spun the sword and slammed it backward into her torso. He heard the gasp and the tearing flesh as if it were one sound. He smiled to himself as she stepped back, sliding off the blade. He spun around and tossed the sword, catching the hilt in the regular position. The blade was coated with a sticky black liquid. It was the same dark ichors that was staining the front of Ekatarina’s dress and pooling around her bare feet. She was clasping the wound with both hands and staring at the hole in her body in disbelief. The sword was something special, too.

“Now, how do you like that,” Kris asked, almost proud of himself.

She howled at the moon and every dog barked and every cat mewed and every rat squeaked and the insects swarmed for an instant as she did. Every low creature for miles felt her pain and her rage and every dog and cat loathed the sound of her unearthly wail. Kris swung again and she caught his hand and twisted his arm making him drop the blade. She kicked it blindly over a wall and then tossed Kris through the air as her rage peaked. Her features were no longer human but a strange mixture of feral beasts that made the hair on Kris’ neck stand on end more so than the wretched song of pain that had echoed from her fanged maw.

He started to push himself up. He hurt all over. Then he felt something grab him and drag him. He fought, but that was not enough. It was stronger than he was and then he was thrown again, only this time he was thrown down into the alleyway. He landed in a heap of trash and boxes. Rot and dirt clung to him, but he was not hurt very bad. He wondered why he had ended up down there, without the assuredness of his demise. He crawled out and saw that he was fenced in completely and there were six ghouls glaring at him. Their rotting, zombie-like bodies moved with a strange hive mentality. He looked around as he set into panic. They were vampires and would be like fighting strong mortals, but he was outnumbered and they did not feel any kind of pain. He was finished.

He started ripping open trash bags and trying to find something to help even out the odds, but there seemed to be nothing, regardless of his efforts. Then he saw it, the glint of steel, the gleam of gold and the slight shimmer of black silk braiding. He threw trash into the oncoming ghouls and then made a mad dash past reaching claws. He dove and rolled and came up brandishing the blood soaked weapon. The ghouls had made their turns and were closing in for the kill.

He took a deep breath to regain his composure and then ran into the midst of the six vampires. The blade sung a song around him as he danced through the creatures’ movements. Only a few seconds later the bodies lay in pieces, soaking in thick oozing blood and water that was becoming red with the taint from their rotting corpses. They were the ones that were finished. He walked to the fence and cut through it with his sword. He kicked the panel out of the way and walked through, pissed off and grieving in a vampire hunting ‘I’m gonna kick your ass’ kind of way.

He walked around to where he had last seen Ty and saw several places where blood had been left on the sidewalk and in the street. He saw bloody marks trail off into the shadows and then streak across the circle of light below a lamppost. Ty had been drug off. Kahmir was probably gone forever or incapacitated so as to be fed from. He figured that the others had met similar ends. He walked back up to his apartment and began searching for his things. It did not take him long to amass his weapons and clean up. Then he put everything in his coat and headed into the night.

The hunt was on.

Kris walked down the street. The night was cool and refreshing. He could smell the oil and the trash, but there was a breeze on the air that made the night seem more welcoming. It was different from what he had experienced earlier. He felt that he was in his element. He was alone against the world. It was one man against the dark tides of Hell, and no one to help him. He was going to make a last stand and knew that the way it would end would probably be more horrid than even he could imagine.

He looked up at the moon, resting between the tops of buildings in the bleak night sky, with its pale face staring back at him and watching, judging the judge. It reflected the light of the sun, just as he was the reflection of the undead. He was the one who would shine back on them the evils that they enacted on humanity. He would no longer be a pawn. He could not afford to be controlled. Something was awakening inside of him that had slept for longer than he could remember and it was fighting its way to the surface alongside the long forgotten memories of a girl he knew before he knew vampires were real. It was coming back in pieces, fractured, not quite right. It was struggling to reach the surface and tell him who he really was. It was something that he had ignored too long and it was ready to show its face. It was still pale, a reflection within his mind of the light which he was supposed to be.

He looked back to the streets. Even in the heart of the city, night would make people hide inside. They may be awake, but only the brave or the foolish would dare the city in the dark. The city never slept, but it did come to a rest at night. He looked at the few people still out and wondered how brave they would be if they knew about the real monsters. Not the rapists, murderers, gangs, and corrupt cops, but the creatures that made those dark mortals look like teddy bears. He knew the real darkness, the living, writhing thing that burrowed throughout humanity, living like a leech off of its people and tainting everything the dark shades that only blood could leave behind.

He did not know where to begin. They were not leaving any traces and he had no help. He only knew a little about them and that would not be enough. He did not like the idea of waiting for them to come for him. He was not supposed to be the prey. That was the place of the unsuspecting people he was to protect. He was their guardian, their overseer who would keep away the wolves and the lions, or in this case the bloodsuckers. He had to do something before they got to him. He had to find a way to even the odds and bring them down to his playing level.

He started walking back to Erzebet’s hoping that he might find something there. On his way he found the place where Ty’s truck had been demolished. He decided to take a look around for anything that might tell him about Ekatarina’s whereabouts.

He walked around inspecting the burnt out hulk of the truck and saw the charred remains of something that had been drug from the fire. He followed those remains to a small patch of ground with drops of blood, still cooling in the night air, left behind. He looked from side to side trying to imagine what had happened.

He jerked around at the sound of running. He had his hand on his sword instinctively, but he was calm. He was always calm, cool, collected. If he was not, then he would die. He watched the shadows and the darkness, listening to the footfalls come closer and closer. He heard panting and the unevenness of the steps and knew that it was a mortal, or something close to mortal. He stood slowly.

Brick ran out of the shadows and skidded to a halt. His expression was one of complete terror. He was out of breath and sweat was dripping down his face. He was pale, not from lack of sunlight but because of fear and panic. His chest was heaving with his lungs and heart, neither of which was slowing. His lips were trembling and even though he had stopped upon recognizing Kris, he was still wide eyed and shivering. That was the way most people reacted to their first real encounter. It was the look that said the train is coming right at you and your pants leg is caught in the ties, I’m going to die.

Kris relaxed and walked toward the young man. He put his hands on Brick’s shoulders and looked into his eyes. He could see the fear and horror that was etched inside of him. It was something that he would have to overcome himself. “Brick, hey man. Hey!” He shook Brick. Then he started leading him. He walked to a puddle and took a handful of the cool, murky water and splashed Brick in the face. It did not work. He was delirious. Kris hated that effect, but as potent as those undead were, he was not surprised. He grabbed Brick by the shirt and pulled back to punch him, then he hesitated. Then he slapped him. It felt odd to slap. It was not something he did often. It was still effective and Brick spun, crumpling to the ground and made a splash in the puddle, the pain jolting him back to reality. Kris waited for him to get up on his own.

After a few moments of laying in the water, Brick stood up and wiped some of the water off. He ran wet fingers through his hair and it spiked up. He was still trembling and tears beaded in his eyes. After a few seconds, he tried to speak, “I…I…couldn’t…He’s…”

Kris put a hand on his shoulder, “Look, man, it wasn’t your fault. You can only do so much. Come on, let’s get you some coffee or something and talk about this. There’s a lot to deal with and the only way to deal with it is to talk and let it settle.” Kris guided, more pushed, Brick down the street and to a diner.

Once inside, Kris sat Brick down and then slipped out of his coat before sitting down. He let Brick sit there silently. The plump, yellow haired waitress came by and Kris ordered one cup of black coffee and a glass of water. He was not hungry and he doubted that Brick was either.

Kris took several drinks of water and waited for what seemed like forever, then Brick picked up the cool cup of coffee and began to swirl it. Kris shook his head. The guy looked like he had just witnessed a murder, or a train wreck. Then he realized that the guy probably had just witnessed something like that.

“Well, if you’re going to hunt the undead, you gotta be pretty tough and you sure as hell can’t do that.” Kris tipped his glass toward Brick. Brick moved only his eyes to look at Kris.

“Come on man, snap out of it. I know it’s rough, but it’s what we live for in this business.”

“How do you deal with it? I mean, people dying and the blood and changing and healing and those…things.” Brick’s voice was hollow.

“It’s kind of like standing outside the pool and watching everyone swim, trying to be a lifeguard and knowing that no matter what, you have to let a few die and eventually come face to face with the sharks when their at their hungriest. The difference is, you can’t tell anyone, or they’ll try to cart you off to the loony bin. It takes a level of control to keep it to yourself and not go stir crazy because of it. You aren’t just born knowing how to do something like that. You just have to try and hope that it doesn’t get to you.”

Brick looked over the seats and heads of the few people that were at the diner and saw the darkness outside. It was lit with neon and halogen and it was not ever truly dark anywhere in the city, but it was dark enough to let those demons walk everywhere, sometimes even in the day. He had lost James to those things, and he had started to look up to the hunter. Now Kris was reinforcing some of the things that James had said.

“Come on man, you and me, that’s it now. We’re the only two left. The bad guys, or in this case, the bitches are winning and I’m going to need some help, your help.” Kris finished off the water and then Brick downed his coffee. His eyes frosted over and turned into narrow slits. The muscles in his face stiffened and then he started breathing deeply and evenly. Kris recognized the change, it comes to most men in their lives; it was the change that turned an innocent boy with an overactive sex-drive into a killing machine. It would take time, but the spark had been lit deep inside, the spark of battle, the urge to succeed even if it meant you had to die trying. Kris smiled the smile of a proud leader or a father watching his son step toward manhood.

“Yeah, I’ll help. What do we do?”

“Well, Kahmir and Arthur are gone, that means that Domitius and Octavia run the city. Domitius will be working towards Ekatarina’s ends and Octavia will try to reap the benefits of the lack of vampiric leadership. Usually, Arthur and Kahmir would keep the vamps on the down low, but now, they have free reign and that means the gangs and mafia, controlled by Octavia will pick up activity. Crime will skyrocket and they think I’m dead so no one will be afraid of hunters. We need to pay Octavia a visit, make sure she knows I’m still around and taking care of business. We need to make her goons afraid of the wrath of God again. Domitius is a puppet and I don’t think we can do anything about that, but if we give Octavia a good scare, then the other bloodsuckers won’t want to attract my attention. I put the fear in Octavia, and then she’ll take care of the rest for us while we go after Ekatarina. To get to her, we need to put Domitius unlife on the line. Any ideas?”

Brick looked at him, “We could go back to the warehouse.”

Kris’ face wrinkled, the question that was on his mind was made instantly obvious to Brick.

“I worked there for Anya and her hunters. It’s where all of our stuff was, probably is. It was discovered by the vampires so we left.”

Kris stood up and grabbed his coat, “Feel up to going back?”

“If it can save a life, I’m up for anything.”

“Let’s go then,” Kris said. When Brick walked in front of him to show him the way, he grinned. The kid might not be a natural, but he had what it took to survive.

They stepped out and started walking down the street. Kris knew that the next steps were critical. He needed all the help he could get. He knew that that help was gone. His ties had been severed. He was more or less alone in the darkness, and it felt good. He was feeling like he belonged, like he was filling the niche that the earth had made for him. He knew that it was different from what Kahmir had planned, ages ago, in a world that was still foggy through the memories tainted by his lingering amnesia. He remembered better than ever who the boy was that was embarrassed by his own name and tortured by his knowledge. He had come to the point that he had been destined to reach; that precipice where a man understands the person looking back in the looking glass and knows where that man must go. He was to be the lone warrior in the darkness against a threat no one should ever know existed. He had to fight the battles while preventing the war and the first steps would be to sever his ties to those who had taught him how to control his knowledge and his unearthly gift, his true weapon against the undead: his blood.

It was not long before Brick was standing at a corner and staring at a large building that looked as though it were one of many abandoned warehouses. Kris could feel the fear in Brick that had altered from a bludgeon to be used against Brick into a boiling formless rage that needed direction to temper it and focus to hone it and time to cool it into the sharp edge that keeps those who live in dangerous ways from meeting their ends.

Brick did not wait long before taking the first step toward the door. Kris followed the young hunter. He would leave the kid to his own end when the time came, and that time would be soon. Until then, he would have to instill in him all the self reliance and faith that he could. He hoped that whatever talents Brick had, they would be useful. He was about to be surprised.

They crossed the street and walked into the building and Kris saw the tables and the vehicles and all the guns and ideas started pouring through his mind. He was in heaven and he was going to give those undead bastards hell.

Brick grabbed a cover on one of the tables and pulled it back to reveal more weapons. He snatched a cover off one of the vehicles and smiled at the sight of the seventy-eight firebird, “Not the world’s fastest vehicle, but it’s bulletproof.”

Kris walked over to what looked like a van and yanked the tarp off of it. One eyebrow went up at the sight of the old beat up GMC. “What the hell is that?”

“That…is something that I’ve put a lot of work into. It tops out at one-fifty, is bulletproof and steel reinforced. It seats two and the entire rear portion is a steel security box that contains enough firepower to take out a third world country and then there’s a beefed up Harley for more speedy pursuits. Of course, it doesn’t look very important and it’s not going to get you far in a car chase, but it’ll keep you alive.”

Kris continued to stare at the van while Brick continued to uncover all the other weapons and vehicles. After a few minutes, Kris was standing in an ocean of death. “Where the hell did you get the funding for something like this?”

“Believe it or not, you’re not the only one with vampiric connections. Apparently, Anya was running the business for centuries, building resources and controlling the hunters that worked under her. She had groups all across the U.S. Now, those groups will probably fall apart before they get killed like the one here in New York.”

“I guess they had to have their hand in even that, eventually. They control every other aspect of our lives to ensure that we don’t believe.” Kris said in almost a whisper.

Brick had barely heard him, “Yeah, but they can’t control you, can they?”

Kris glared, he had only recently learned the answer, and still was uncertain about his revelation, “If I let them, if I’m clumsy and stupid and make foolish decisions. They are manipulative and intelligent. They have lifetimes to perfect their arts where we have only a fraction to find our talents, a fraction to perfect them and a fraction in which they fade away. But from now on, I will be my own man, I have to be.” Kris walked off. He traced the edges of tables with his fingers. He had his own demons to do battle with. “I think I’m going to get some sleep.”

“Upstairs there are some rooms.”

Kris walked to the stairs and then up them. He went into the hall and then into a room. He saw a bed and walked over to it. He laid down and fell asleep.

Brick busied himself with his old hobbies. He wanted to get back at Ekatarina. He wanted to be a hunter and if technology was going to be the way he did it, then he felt that he should get started early.

Next Chapter: Night 9