NationStates Jolt Archive

Dilana smiled as she raised the drink that Red had gotten for her, "It seems to me that you did whatever you had to do to survive. So yes Red, I'll drink with someone that did what they pretty much had to do."
She clinked her glass against Red's and took a long drink;
'I really do not sence anything bad about this woman.'
Dilana thought to herself as her drink slid down her throat.

Jessica smiled as Michael lead her back into the club. She led him to the bar and ordered herself a martini.

"Drinks are on me." She said with a smile.

She looked at the dance floor and back at Michael. "So, I am under orders from the Lady to prevent you from working...you say that you are good on the dance floor. Just, how good are you?"

Red was a bit surprised, the pleasantly so and smiled, though with her non retractable fangs it still didn't look pleasnt. "To survivors", she said simply and to a long pull off the drink.

"So what are you doing now?" Red asked, feeling more comfortable with Dilana now that the truth was out about her. "Or you don't know yet?"

Michael smiled and stuck out his arm to her. "Why don't I just show you? Otherwise it's just talk." It turned out he was very good on the dance floor, though he buttoned his jacket, regretting having forgotten to leave his gun in the car. He was, however, rather light on his feet for such a big man and could handle Jessica with a delicate strength.

"Well," Dilana said as she sipped at her drink again, "The woman that I met last night gave me a job at a hospital. She's out somewhere with someone, I can't remember his name."

Red eyed Michael as he came back in, watching him for a moment as she listened to Dilana. He seemed preoccupied with the woman in the latex suit so she figured she was safe enough for now.

"That's cool of her", she said, turning her attention back to Dilana, "nice of her to take care of you like that. Must be a good woman."

For every one in Cain's viewing box, the next is all happening simultaneously. I know that evry one can not post at the same time, I just as that CW, Imitora, give each other plenty of action room.- and as further clarification the comment about Nimue attempting assassination was said aloud

Sian caught the wink and sincerely wished her ethics would alow her to ease drop, but she has sensed no threats stirring in her direction, so she respected others privacy. However Cains statement brought her upright, and...

Cains mind voice turned hot again 'Good Girls? Is that as all you see her? She is worth a dozen of you, you do her no honor...and you are too smart to be hired by Nimue, that I will have to grant you.' as...Cain bowed his head slightly to Lauralin, honorably refusing the first sip.

As he did this /Ryan put his hands behind his head, looking up at Cain, / Lauralin raised her mental barriers further, there was a barely followable blurr as Nimue streaked across the space that seperated her and Cain at full vampiric speed, claws and fangs manifest.

Jessica smiled as she moved with Michael on the floor. He was indeed sure footed, keeping at good pace with her cat-like finesse. She allowed him to lead and smiled as they went on for several minutes. Right during the middle of their moves, she stopped suddenly and connected her mouth to his and held there for nearly a full minute before pulling back.

"Little reward my graceful friend. Can you do anything more interesting?"

Dilana propped her arms on the table, sencing that someone had entered the room however she didn't care as she replied, "Yes, usually I have had to depend on me and only me. However it was nice to show up here and have her here. It was a mistake that I ran into her, or I should say an accident."

Michael was taken by surprise by her kiss, immedietly reacting to her and matching her kiss with equal passion. When she broke it and asked her question it took him a moment to find his voice, "I can do a great deal of more intersting things", he said thickly, "whenever your ready to have me show you."

Why?"

"Becasue if you were even a bit of an ass Heyoka would have dumped you hours ago, Aunt Windra said you were good people and you haven't spent the last ten minutes acting like all you could think if is 'is she in heat or not?'. And you were drinking water." Merry looked Rivanin the eyes, her smile very genuine, as she replied bluntly.

Red grinned, "Yeah, fortunate accidents. Mistakes are what I make every time I try to help someone and wind up stepping in up to my eyeballs. I think I've gotten in more trouble the last few months trying to help people than I did all the years I hunted."

Ryan never claimed, or made claim, to be a hunter. He never really stood out as the vampire fighter, not a warrior. He just cleaned up Messes, and nintey percent of the time, it was becuase he had what many others didn't have: connections. However, in his three hundred years, Ryan had learned to fight with the best of them, and again, had many a time offered up his services to find a mark, and make them disapear, or protect a simaler mark. He had never been hired or asked to protect Caine, and he knew damned well Caine would never make such an offer. But this was disrespectful, and Ryan held firm that only he could disrespect Caine in any such way.

His moves were lightning fast, a flash, and he was on his feet. Another flash, and a round house was out, Nimue flying not into Caine at full speed, but into the heel of Ryan's shoe. At the speed she was moving, she met Ryan's kick with a tremendous force that anyone within a few feet would be able to feel. There was a sickening crack as Nimue's jaw, cheeks, and nose broke, and a portion of her skull cracked. She dropped to the ground, Ryan moving fast, kicking over the couch, landing in front of her. He swooped down on her, grabbing her by the back scruff of her dress, blood pouring over the floor, and pulled her up to his face.

Ryan was no master of any special form of combat, no black belt or sensei. All his fighting he learned on the streets, kicking the asses of people who backed out on bets for races, insulted him or his close friends, or randomly attacked him. He drove his fist hard into Nimue's face, dropping her, and then delivred a rib crushing kick into her abdomen. He then did something he hardly ever used beyond a parlor trick for intimidation. His form disolved into a mist, and then he reapeared behind her, lifting her from the ground. He yanked her head back, exposing her neck, and hissed, his cannines extending into fangs, holding them close to Nimue's neck.

He paused, his eyes flicking across the room, waiting for words to be said.

Jessica smiled and led him to a booth in the back where they could have some privacy. She pressed herself up against him, kissing him softly. She would give him a taste of what he could expect from her and from what she had from him, he was very good.

She pulled back and looked at him. "Michael, are you curious of what I look in my tiger form? I can strip and change quiet easily." She leaned close and purred. "Give you a good look at the promise land."

Dilana gazed around the club at the couples dancing, wishing for a moment she had someone to be with. She snapped her attention back to Red as she replied, "Oh really? I'm curious as to why you say that. Also don't worry; I don't want anything from you."

Before Ryan intercepted Nimue, Cain had spun in place, plaing himself completely between his on-rushing attacker and Lauralin. His honor would have nothing else than his guest be protected to the full extend that he could provide.

Those that has escorted Lauralin to Cain also moved to try and intercept Nimue. However all four were younger than Ryan, and did not have his speed.

Red raised an eyebrow. "Curious about why I say what. That you had a fortunate accident or that I get into more trouble now than I did before?"

"Ah. I'm touched by your Aunt's comments about me." He replied, "Though, it would be an excersise in futility for me to contemplate, as you put it, if you were in heat or not." He said as he took a drink. "It's not like I've ever had a reason to be concerned about that for any woman." He added with a shrug.

Michael returned her kiss, again responding to her with surprising swiftness. At her question he smiled and ran a finger down her cheek. "I can wait. I have more patience than you know." He smiled and kissed her again a bit more firmly. "Set your own pace." He was obviously excited by her, but hid it well.

Merry shook her head in amazement. "So I guess the bitches out side of civilization really are bitches...Some people put far too much stock in outward appearances, and other like playing dominance games far too much."

She had a feeling that Rivan would find Houston far different than most of the places he'd been. She hoped he would stick around for a while, he seemed a thoroughly nice man.

"Do you like coffee? They make really good coffee here, and offer real cream." She had a weakness for the richness real cream gave good coffee.

"I'm curious about why you say that you get into more trouble now then you did then," Dilana replied as she sipped her drink.

"In some ways, thought I'd say more traditional would the polite term." Rivan commented, "Thought I have to say that this pack is the most progressive I've met, anywhere in my travels. I don't mind coffee, so would you like me to get you a cup?" He asked as he prepared to stand and get them both a cup.

Red sighed. "I don't know. Just seems to happen that way. I see someone in trouble and I try to help and everything just goes to shit. Course it's usually because trouble is just a step behind me anyway, making things twice as bad once it catches up with me." She finished the drink and set the glass down,looking up at the woman. "I'm trying Dee, I really am. I mean I know I ain't no saint, shit, far from it. But I am trying."

Lauralin sipped calmly from her cup, seeming not to be bothered by the events at hand. She had fought for millenia and saw that the odds were far too against the assassin to even bother getting up. It was idiotic really, the woman should have picked a far better time and place than this. She lowered the cup, "You are correct, this is quite good."

Dilana slightly frowned at her statement, "Don't be so hard on yourself Red, who the hell is perfect?"
Dilana downed her third or fourth drink of the night, the woman had lost track of how many she had.
"Personally," Dilana began, "I don't give a damn about what anyone says, if there are gods or goddesses or just one god or one goddess they're no saint."

Red chuckled, "Well then, there are no saints on this god forsaken world. Now, if I could just convince Harrow of that. "Saint Scarlett", she grumbled in a rather poor imitation of a mans voice, "Cut me a break. I'm no fucking saint, shit I'm about as far from that as I can get."

Dilana laughed at Red's voice, "who is Harrow?"
Dilana pushed her empty glass towards Red's, "I'm not up for having another drink, are you? I think my buz will last for a while."
Dilana chuckled;

Red got another drink for herself, her body metabolising the alcohol quickly.

"One of two people who bother to stay with me. He is a mutant that helped me get out of the north and down here. There's some myth that a mutant will come along and lead the mutants against the mundanes. One who 'knows thier ways'. So he thinks that because I worked for them that I'm the one."

Red sighed, "How fucking ludicrous."

Dilana laughed, "You never know, odder things have happened. I mean, you were going to rid me off and yet I'm talking to you."
Dilana smiled as she carefully leaned back, "Maybe he's in love with you, you lucky woman."
Dilana smerked as she sighed and looked around the club again;

Red snorted. "If I could be so lucky. Two men follow me and I STILL can't get laid. Neither he nor Godolkin will touch me with a ten foot pole. Harrow thinks I'm the second coming and won't touch me and Godolkin hates me and can't wait till I'm dead."

"Do you know the art of seduction?"
Dilana asked then laughed, "Hell I don't know it; join the club about not getting laid."
Dilana couldn't remember when she had ever been so open with someone that she hardly knew, however it felt nice to have the, "girl talk," that she had often missed out on growing up.
'Better late than never.'
She thought in her mind as her eyes looked at Red, then back around the club again.

"The art of seduction? Yeah, that's the part where you break thier legs and climb on em right?" Red replied grinning.

"But no, I ain't no good at seduction. Wish I was though, I could use it. I mean come on. Two guys with me all the time and I can't get laid? Am I that fucking ugly?"

"Trust me," Dilana said, "You aren't ugly Red; those idiots wouldn't know a pretty woman if she fell in there laps."

"Well Harrow might, he just worships me though. Godolkin on the other hand wants me dead and I don't even know if he can feel any emotions. Sad too, he's built like fucking mac truck", Red replied sighing.

on the other hand wants me dead and I don't even know if he can feel any emotions. Sad too, he's built like fucking mac truck", Red replied sighing.[/QUOTE]

"That's to bad," Dilana said, "If you like I can sleep with him and then tell you how it went."
Dilana laughed as a picture of Godolkin entered her mind; she licked her lips mockingly, "A woman can hope, I guess."

"Tell you what, if you can bed Godolkin I'll pay you. He could use some himself", Red said, Laughing. After a moment she stopped realizing how long it had been and how she almost forgotten what it felt like, then started laughing again so hard that she brought tears to her eyes.

Dilana laughed, "Great, I could use the money you just point the way!"
Dilana laughed right along with Red, knowing in her mind that she'd never sleep someone for money however it was fun to talk about.

Red finally stopped laughing and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Oh shit .. I have to take a piss, where's the shitter around here", she asked looking around the huge room. Then she looked back at Dilana, "You ain't gonna leave on me are ya?" she asked with genuine concern in her voice.

When the young woman had gotten her laughter under control she swallowed and sighed. Dilana placed a hand on her shoulder when she had asked her if Dilana would leave, "I won't leave, you have my word. And the bathroom is behind us to the left a bit."

Red smiled. She couldn't even remember having this much fun in her life. "Thanks", she said, "when I get back we'll see if we can find some guys to relieve our situations", she said grinning and strode off toward the batherooms where Dilana had indicated they were.

(Last post for tonight. Work tomorrow.)

(OOC: Thanks for telling me.)

IC:
Dilana grinned as she watched Red leave for the bathrooms, nodding at her complament about finding some guys.
'Although I've never given a woman a try.'
Dilana thought then snorted outloud; she knew to stop drinking then because it was most likely the alcohol that was making her think such thoughts.

What might have been close to fatal in a Mundane was not enough to stop a vampire for more than a few seconds. Her bones reknitting almost as he broke them, the loss of blood was a slightly more serious matter, but Nimue was no stranger to injury.

It has been the utter shock of Ryan's intervention, against all tradition that allowed him his first blows.

As he made the mistake of thinking that fangs at her throat would stop her she reached up with both hands, her claws - capable of doing him harm that would heal nearly as slow as any Mundane - digging deep into his forehead, down to bone. Then she ripped downward with a snarl, barely missing destroying his eyes. Her claws left deep furrows, blood pouring freely down, as she opened up his face from hair line to jaw in eight parallel wounds.

Then she was pulling free, not concerned that she left her dres in his hands as it ripped away. She turned bringing her own heel up in a side snap kick that sought to connect with his groin. Even Vampires would ...hurt ... from such an impact there. "How dare you touch me!" Nimue grated out.

"Lady SilverLeaf, forgive me, but might I suggest that our visit might best be held later." Cain did not look away from the struggleing pair, but spoke over his shoulder to Lauralin. He signaled to her escorts, as Nimue raked claws down Ryan's face.

"Please allow my servants to see you safely out. Consider your stay her as my guest. I understand that the club is very active tonight, perhaps you might enjoy the band, they've come all the way from Japan." His tone made it clear that he did not wish outside eyes taking in any more of a private difficulty.

Cain made no move to assist Ryan. As far as he seem concerned, the duel was now between Nimue and Ryan. He seemed to little care who won watching with distainful eyes.

Sian had held herself still, though she wished very much to step in beside Ryan and aid him. However she knew that this was very much a Vampire affair and any help from her would be unwelcome. Her reflexes though superior to any Mundanes would not serve her against those of a Vampire, and strength? She also knew well not to try to pit her strength against ones who picked up city busses and tossed them about as if they weighed nothing.

Ryan rolled over in a groan, grabbing his crotch. The face hurt, but this even more so. He rolled to his side, away from her, finding a chair. He pulled himself up, fully standing as blood poured from his wounds. "Alright bitch. You wanna play hardball?" he grunted out, bringing his left leg back for ballance. Nimue lunged, fangs bared and claws out, but Ryan was ready. It was the standard street fight move, and he ducked under her charge, driving his shoulder hard up into her stomach, lifting her straight off the ground, wrapping his arms around her, and falling back into a pile driver. He rolled up and away, and made a few steps back, distancing himself from Nimue.

"C'mon bitch, whats the matter sting a little?" he taunted, moving back towards an old chair. Nimue forced herself up, and again charged. Despite the waves of pain that racked Ryan's body, he was ready. As Nimue neared, he threw a viscous jab, his fist comming into contact with Nimue's throat, crushing her wind pipe. As she gasped for air, waiting for her throat to heal, Ryan again drove his foot into her ribs, harder with each kick. He ignored the pain that ripped through his face, continuing to drive kick after kick into Nimue.

Nimue finally moved, rolling away and grabing Ryan's foot. He pulled her down to the ground with him, rolling ontop of him, scratching at his face. His hands held her back, her snarling fangs inches from his face. Ryan looked up, smirking at her. "Ya know, in any other situation, I might appricate this," he said, grunting as he brought his foot up, puting it into Nimue's chest, and driving her off of him. The kick was powerful, pushing Nimue straight up, bouncing her off the ceiling. He rolled away as she landed with a hard thud, jumping to his feet. He side steped a low sweep kick, and drove his foot again into Nimue, this time is toe meeting her face. The force kicked her up into the wall, Ryan misting then forming centimeters from her. This time, he made no mistake of hesitation, driving his exposed fangs into her throat, ripping out her jugular as blood splattered against the wall and carpet. Ryan stumbled away as Nimue choked, fighting to get air as blood poured into her airways. He walked over to an antique chair, and looked at Cain through blood covered eyes.

"I never did like this one," he said, ripping the exposed arm off. He made his way over to Nimue, stumbling from the intense loss oof blood, and drove the wooden arm into her chest, breaking through her breast bone, piercing her heart, stopping her dead on the wall. She crumpled to the ground, the make shift steak piercing straight through her. Ryan stumbled his way over to a chair, collapsing into it, his face and body a bloody mess. "You know Caine," he said, his voice ragged as he fought for breath, "maybe she woulda kept ya alive if you tried Viagra. I hear it works wonders."

Lauralin didn't like the idea of just walking away but it would be improper to interfere where she wasn't invited. "I shall be in my quarters, then, at your convenience, I expect to be 2 or 3 days." She curtseyed, but forwent the rest of a proper leavetaking considering the circumstances and followed his people out.

As Lauralin was escorted to the elevator and whisked away...

"Shut up Ryan!" Sian was at Ryan's side in a heartbeat, seeking to staunch the blood that was pouring forth.

"Damn it Ryan, why didn't you let Cain take care of his own problem! She muttered under her breath as the stack of sterile towels she had aported from the Hospital grew soddenly scarlet at a dismaying rate. "And don't bother to answer me!"

All the healing ability she has was her own formidible skills as a trauma specialist, she had not inherited her mother's gift. 'Cain, you allowed this to happen, you owe him. And if you don't get over here and feed one of your 'grandsons' you are going to lose him.' Her thoughts rang loud in both Cain's and Ryan's minds. She was making a guess, but she was certain she was correct. They felt too much alike in to many ways to be other than of the same line.

Cain stiffened, a snarl forming on his lips, and Sian didn't hesitate to add, her mind voice savage. 'I don't care if it is some sort of 'State Secret', or you just didn't want him to know, but if he dies I'll make sure every one knows just how little honor you have!'

Sian set her thoughts on useing her powers to try and hold the hemmoraging veins closed. Diverting enough concentration momentarily to wrap an invisible hand around Cain she pulled him over to where Ryan slumped. Shocked at the strength Cain chose not to fight. So she couldn't match physical strength but her powers were a different matter entirely.

"Do it you sorry son of a jackal." Sian ordered, her anger a living presence in the room.

His anger matching hers, Cain tore the sleeve off his brocade jacket and silk shirt beneath, thrusting his wrist towards Ryan's torn lips.

Jessica smiled and returned Michael's kisses. If he could wait, she could. She gently peeled off her latex jacket and placed it next to her. She purred as she crawled on top of him, her eyes staring deeply into his own as her lips reconnected with his. She would keep herself to kisses and gropping for the moment; her real preformance would come out later when they were fully alone in her apartment, but there he would have to beg for her.

She pulled back and looked at him. Before Michael's eyes Jessica's tiger makeup seemed to disappear under a light coating of white and black hair for several seconds before disappearing.

"So..." she asked quietly. "Are you a dog person or a cat person?"

The two guards that remained took charge of Nimue staked body at a nod from Cain and carried it from the private box though another concealed door…leaving the three alone.

Cain stood across from where Sian knelt at the chair’s side, trying to staunch the flow of blood from the cruel furrows slashing down Ryan’s face. He thrust his wrist towards Ryan’s lips, but kept his eyes on Sian. “Yes he is of my line, and as far as I know the oldest still extant. Though little worthy of my concern he seems”

The master Vampire’s voice was cold and cruel. “Why are you so concerned? You are nothing to him."

“I was hungry. I fed. Shit happens.” Cain mimicked Ryan’s voice with eerie precision. “He no more cares for or about you than a one feeding stand. I offered …”

“What, to be your servant? Sorry, not going to accept that...” San cut him off, dropping yet another dripping towel to the floor, not caring that blood splatter stained her crimson gown

“And you think he will treat you better… what is it that is all the ‘rage’ these days? A partner, an equal? “ Cain’s voice was mocking. “That he might love? No vampire can love, it’s not survival oriented. I’m not saying you are without certain…value.”

His gaze turned to Ryan, as the younger vampire fed, and healed. “Why do you think her blood started bringing about changes in you? I’ve controlled her bloodline, and it’s breeding for over a thousand years, generation upon generation. She has been designed …”

Sian’s face was pale, shock and fury holding her still for a long second. Then she was on her feet facing Cain, eyes blazing, and her voice filled with unearthly cold. “You lie…

The look of triumph on Cain’s face stopped her. “No look into my mind Sian, take a good long look. To soothe your ‘ethics’ you have my complete permission.”

Sian swayed on her feet, her face gone even whiter. Then she was turning, leaving “You have the basic information needed to get that Mess cleared up. I’ll deal with the new problem.” Her voice was calm, perfectly controlled. She had too much to do to mourn.

Michael watched her body, hungering for it in a barely controlled state of excitement as she removed her jacket and placed it next to her. His hands reached out to her as she crawled on top of him and stared into her eyes, transfixed by them. As her lips reconnected with his he returned her kisses with great passion, his hands sliding from the back of her thighs to her neck and back down again.

He watched as she changed. He had seen transitions before, both of friends and foes, but never this close. Yet he couldn’t help but think how beautiful she still looked.

"So..." she asked quietly. "Are you a dog person or a cat person?"

For a moment he gave a comically befuddled look and almost answered mundane until he realized her teasing question and smiled.

“Cat person”, he replied and then looked into her eyes, “definitely cat person.”

Red was gone for some time, as her outfit didn’t exactly allow for quick egress. One fact that drove her nuts when she wanted out of it fast for whatever reason. Plus she needed to remove the guns and holsters and blades and sheaths. Once done she had to get everything back in place, along with the cloak, wash her hands and face and then head back. She strode more than walked, like a predator seeking it prey. It wasn’t something she thought about, just the way she walked, something that was part of her nature after so many years.

She returned to Dilana, smiling, “So you wanna help me out with this? I really need to get some”, she said grinning.

Jessica smiled and giggled. "Good to hear that."

She purred as she felt his hands work up and down her body. She brought her lips back down to his, hungering for release and him. She knew that other female weres and vampires were watching her, from what Jessica knew of her kind and some other Night Life she should have brought him to her apartment by now and had him for dinner. She would take him back later, but not to eat him. The thought of eating a human or violence made the tiger shudder.

Jessica gently unzipped her cat suit enough for Michael to see her bare skin before zipping it back up. She began to kiss and gently licked his neck, her hands moving around his body.

"So, how long do you think we have before Lauralin comes back?"

Dilana could hear Red's footsteps as she walked up to her;
"So," Dilana said as she stood, "How do you prepose we, "get some?"
She inquired, making finger quotes around the two words.

I don't mind coffee, so would you like me to get you a cup?"

"Yes, thank you Rivan. But you know just because somethings 'tradition' doesn't make it right, or best." [i] Merry replied. He seemed to be more accepting of an unpleasant past than she would have been. 'But then again me girl you tend towant to save the world, as dangerous a pasttime as that is.' She laughed wryly at her thoughts. 'No Mundane would believe a WereWolf as a caped crusader.'

"Penny for your thought Merry" Heyoka had worn himself out dancing for the moment and dropped into a chair.

"Only a penny? Bah, they are worth more than that. And besides I come bearing interesting news, a gift of sorts." She let him know about the cruise she had won as she watched for Rivan to return with the coffee. "And Rivan is nice. I'm glad you brought him here. I've asked him if he'd like to go."

Michael again met her lips with passion, his tongue exploring her mouth as his hands roamed over her body, his own body yearning for release.

He watched as she unzipped the suit and then zipped it back up again, almost attempting to stop her. As she began to kiss and gently licked his neck he felt her hands moving around his body and his desire for began to reach it’s peak.

"So, how long do you think we have before Lauralin comes back?"

He looked at her and for a moment not a single word registered as just stared back at her, shaking with his desire. She continued to look at him and he suddenly realized that she was waiting for something. Then the fact that she had asked him a question became apparently in a part of his mind.

“Who?”, he asked, his voice thick with desire. He was genuinely confused due to his state of mind and the fact that he always referred to her as Lady or Lady Silverlief.

“Oh”, he said as it suddenly dawned on him who Jessica was talking about. “Oh, ahh. I’m not sure. I can call her if you want. I don’t know that she’ll come down here, she tends to be a very private person.”

Red shrugged, "I ain't got a clue. I never had a problem with willing humans when I worked for the government, wanted to see what it was like, though why they thought anything would be different I don't know. Well ... except for being able to take a little pain, I do tend to get carried away. But I've killed one or two that way."

Ryan fed, silently, thinking nothing durring the exchange. It was partially true, love was not a survival instinct. Many feelings, in general, were not. Survival was the key to a vampires state of mind. Whilst some of the younger generation vampires claimed they could still feel, still love and hate and be happy, their claims were only the claim of remembering thier memories of love and hate. He continued to feed as Sian spoke with Cain, his revelation of the shared bloodline never being spoke of, to Ryan at least, outside the room. He knew the history of his siring, his bloodline, that Cain was, to a point, his "grandfather." He never knew that Sian knew, and had no clue who else knew.

He finished feeding moments after Sian had left the room, and licked his lips clean of Cain's blood. He felt the power of the third generation vampire course through him, strengthen him, empower him. He felt the history, the life that Cain had lived. He felt everything, for a moment, connecting with Cain directly.

He pulled away from his wrist, and looked up at Cain with eyes that could be best described as hateful or scornful, almost pained. His look would be enough to scare any mundane, and most Night Lifers, into doing whatever he asked. However, there was no such sway over Cain. Instead, he grabbed a clean towel, pressing it against his face, pulling the blood away from his open wounds, feeling the healing effect speed.

He would only explain to Sian the mental exchange if she asked. He wasn't sure if the mortal would understand it at all. Sure, she obviously knew about the relationship between Cain and Ryan, the blood tie. But she was still a mortal human. Despite her powers, she was not a vampire, not one of the kindred undead. It was a different life, a different mindset. He wouldn't pull her into Conclave politics, he tried hard enough to stay out of them himself. When the bleeding at slowed, Ryan looked to Cain, breaking the silence.

"What do you want?"

"What do you want?"

Cain looked at him with eyes still cold and distainful. "Make yourself useful. Clean up the Mess."

He never cared how Ryan operated, so long as it did not make the Mess any worse.

And as Ryan prepared to leave. "Stay away from her. I don't want her being addicted to you. It will just make her eventual submission harder."

Sian headed for the elevator that would take her from the fighting level up to the main floor. A quick sweep showed her that the one she sought was still there. Her eyes were shadowed and her face grim as she waited for the elevator cab to arrive. She wouldn't let her shoulders slump, but part of her wanted nothing more than be free of her responsibilities for a while. And to be someone else.

"Some one with some hope of happiness...This is what you get for careing, and for thinking that even one evening of fun, of possibility, might be allowed. You've known for a long time that the gods hate you so suck it up, and go take care of the problem" She scolded herself under her breath

Ryan nodded, and stood. He walked away from Cain, knowing full well what the Mess was. He had seen it on TV, and had limited down to a lycan if he was lucky, an animalistic Vamire if not. He said nothing as he walked out, striding past Cain's gaurds to the large wooden doors. He pushed one open, and then turned and looked over his shoulder, his eyes meeting Cain's. "One of these day's I'll be sitting there. And if I were you, I'd be afraid. Very afraid."

He didn't wait for a response, instead exiting the room, and following the hallways back to the arena. He didn't think, he didn't speak, he only walked. He moved past a group of Lycans preparing to fight, and a small number of female on lookers, moving into the main locker room. It was advanced as far as locker rooms went, with electronic key pads holding the locker's shut, and light sinks that would allow users to undress and dress within total privacy, without having to move to a seperate room for privacy. Ryan strode past a pair of vampires who watched him move, his face healing promptly but not totally healed. They looked at him, and he scowled down at them, the look causing them to leave promptly.

He found his locker, and punched in a key code, listening to the electronic lock click open, and the door swinging out to him. He reached in, and looked at the contents of the locker silently. He quietly pulled out a copy of poems by Yeats, and placed it on top of a shelf. He removed a black duffle bag, and unzipped it, pulling off his shirt and pants, and mashing the red 'privacy' button, the light around him disapearing to any onlookers. He fished through the bag, and found what he was looking for.

When the light came back, he was dressed in a black UnderArmor shirt that didn't hug his frame, but hung loosely off it, close enough to, if worn alone, not snag on edges, but not squeeze to him. It was tucked into a pair of black cotton pants that hung straight, ending just at his ankles, over a pair of green and black Vietnam Jungle boots. He pulled on a twin over the shoulder style holster, sliding two silver revolvers into the weapon's holsters. Each one was a Taurus Raging Bull, chambered in 454 Casull, with the six and a half inch barrell. A custom gun smith had modified the cylinder to accept a sixth round, and while it risked the chance of a miss fire having each round located in close proximety. However, with the creatures Ryan dealt with, he was willing to take that risk for two extra rounds.

Slots down the holster straps held extra 454 Jacketed Hollow Points, and twin belt mounted holsters held another pair of handguns, Beretta 96Fs, at the small of his back, both chambered to fire .40S&W rounds. However, those were for more simple threats. The key to the power of the 454s was that each round was a silver coated Jacketed Hollowpoint, each holding a dose of silver nitrate. On impact, the round would 'flower' out and leave a nasty sized hole, while further injecting the silver nitrate. They were deadly to most Night Lifers in at least one way.

The last weapon was one that had been with him for as long as he had been cleaning up messes. It was 1998, and he had been in Europe with one of the Hunting Teams, when they had been attacked. The group of vampire hunters were amaturish at best, and easy fight for the older, faster, and stronger vampires. However, one had made a lucky toss, and a tungsten steal stake and slammed into Ryan's chest, pinning him to a wall. As he felt the burning loss of energy, his head hanging down, he took a good look at the ultralight, yet ultra strong rod that would signify his end, and grabbed it. With what little energy he had left, he pulled it, ripping it from his chest. He fed violently on the hunter that had attacked him, regaining his strength and energy. However, he had always kept the stake as a reminder. And he had used it a number of times. The wound had never healed fully.

When dressed, he found a bench, and collapsed. Cain had been one hundred percent right. As far as Ryan had learned, it was easy to become addicted to a vampire, the pleasure and exstacy from being fed from, the feeling that one sensed when with them. He didn't want that same fate befalling Sian. It wasn't right, she deserved better. She deserved to live a life free of the hold of vampires, the hold they had over the city, over the Night Life, over her, over him. She was a healer. Her arts, both granted through birth and through schooling, brought life. His, granted through his embrace and life on the streets brought only death. He sighed, and pushed himself to a sitting position, and glanced at a clock.

Over fifteen minutes had passed since he left Cain's office, and he needed to get working. He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket, punched the "1" and hit send. Within seconds, he was on the phone with 'Busa. The Oni had to shout to hear himself over the music, which annoyed Ryan, whose cellphone cancelled out the background noice. After breif greetings, Ryan finally got Hayabusa to calm down. "Hey," he said, calmly. "We got some cleaning to do. Lets go." He clicked the phone shut, and grabbed a jacket, pulling it over his weapons, and walked out from the locker room.

Sian felt Ryan move past her without stopping. She kept herself facing the blankness of the elevators outer door, she didn't have the courage to look at him. 'Well there goes our friendship. I wouldn't want to know me either.' she thought sadly as with a soft chime the elevator doors slid open.

Moments later she was moving surely through the crowds and heading for the Durham Red, better known to many of the Night Lifers as the Scarlet Huntress. Though none here had, knowingly, ever met her and Sian intended to keep matters that way.

What pushed her to move even faster is that the 'psicon' she had assigned Dilana was close enough to her target that they were probably shareing a table. And she didn't want the young woman to get hurt. Which was a disctinct possibility.

Jessica smiled and shook her head. "She told me to keep you off work. I will do just that...I was just making sure we wouldn't get...interuptted."

She knew he was shaking with desire and knew she was doing the right thing. Sooner or later he would crack and he would be effectivly under her paw. Jessica genlty twisted off of Michael and smiled as he moved to gaze at her, blocking her from the rest of the club.

"Let me...show you something. Tell me what you think."

Jessica slowly removed her latex gloves and her boots. She then slowly unzipped her cat suit, revealing her body to him. She removed it completely and sat there naked in front of him. Not for long though. She growled a little as black and white fur came from her body and the head on her hair changed color to match the strips, her nails grew, a tail began to sprout from behind, and her face began to change. It was over quickly.

Before Michael was Jessica in tiger form. Her body still retained a human apperance, spare for being covered by a fine layer of black and white hair and a tail that gently swayed behind her. Her face was unrecongizeable. It looked exactly like the face of a tiger, only a bit abervated.

The tiger Jessica reached out with a hand and stroked Michael's chin and purrred.

"You know you are not supposed to change in front of Mundanes" Sian's furious whisper sounded in Jessica's ears only as Sian moved past.

Then she was at Dilana's side. Face remote, her tone brooked no opposition. "Dilana, please go over to the bar."

Sian stepped close to Red, putting herself between the two women. She locked eyes with Red, as her shileds flared to life arround them, locking pair within, protecting those without. She did not bother trying to hide her power, any with senses to note would be fully aware

"I am Sian Rhys. Scarlet Huntress, you and your Iconoclasts will not hunt here. I'd advise you to leave this city immediately, or face the consequences."

"You've killed people that way?"
Dilana inquired as she glanced around the club, seeing Sian coming in to the main area. Dilana noticed the blood over her gown and was about to call out when Sian's voice beat her to it.
"Go to the bar?"
Dilana repeated, then the message registered in her mind, "Oh, alright."
Dilana replied as she felt Sian's power around her, "Nice meeting you Red," Dilana said before she turned and quickly walked away. She knew Red was or had the patental to be dangerous, however since she had done nothing to her Dilana had given her a chance.
Dilana knew as she ordered another drink from the bar that it was a matter between Sian and Red.
'Stay out of it.'
She told herself as she sipped from her fresh drink.

"Let me...show you something. Tell me what you think."

Jessica slowly removed her latex gloves and her boots. She then slowly unzipped her cat suit, revealing her body to him. She removed it completely and sat there naked in front of him. Not for long though. She growled a little as black and white fur came from her body and the head on her hair changed color to match the strips, her nails grew, a tail began to sprout from behind, and her face began to change. It was over quickly.

Before Michael was Jessica in tiger form. Her body still retained a human apperance, spare for being covered by a fine layer of black and white hair and a tail that gently swayed behind her. Her face was unrecongizeable. It looked exactly like the face of a tiger, only a bit abervated.

The tiger Jessica reached out with a hand and stroked Michael's chin and purrred.

Michael watched her closely as she removed her clothing and found that he very muched liked what she had to show.

As she started to change he watched with facination until the transformation was complete. He didn't know what to say at first, part of him was afraid, knowing that weaponless he was as good as dead, but part of wanted her still. He had served the Lady for five years now and had grown accustomed to the various forms of night life.

He reached out and cupped one of her cheeks in his hand, his eyes locking with hers, "I still think your beautiful", he said simply. It was all he can think of being a simple man with simple words. He didn't have the Lady's ability with words and could only speak his heart.

"I am Sian Rhys. Scarlet Huntress, you and your Iconoclasts will not hunt here. I'd advise you to leave this city immediately, or face the consequences."

"My Iconoclasts?" Red asked. "They're the governments Iconoclasts. And from what I'm told they aren't in the area. But they will come even if I leave, eventually. I'm not with them anymore."

Jessica looked up as the woman passed, hissing at her about changing. She didn't care, she wasn't part of a pack or Night Life politics so she felt she could do what she pleased. She turned her attention back to Michael as he spoke to her.

A grin passed over her face and she purred softly, moving forward and gently licking his neck and face, her hands moving slowly over his body, trying to calm the little bit of fear he had in him. She wouldn't dream of hurting him, she would take care of him and give him release. Her hair began to disapper as she slowly went back to human form, her licks replaced with kisses and her tongue explored his mouth a while.

Jessica pulled back, the girl was stark naked and grinned as Michael's eyes moved up and down. She slowly slid into her latex tiger cat suit, gloves, and boots. She went back to him and kissed him passionatly.

"I'll get some drinks. Stay right here...be a good boy and I will give you some relief." She purred softly and kissed him on the lips before leaving the booth.

Jessica quickly disappared into the mass of bodies. Feeling better, she accidently bumped into a man. "Oh I am so sorry I..."

Jessica looked at the man, it was the vampire she had seen earlier. That didn't spook her, what did was the fact she saw some kind of pistol in his hand, this completely froze the tiger to the ground. Did that woman contact the vampire to kill her for turning into her tiger form?

Whatever the reason, all Jessica knew was she couldn't move as she stared at the vampire.

Rivan had enquired of the bartender what kind of coffee Merry liked, as well as getting a plain cup of joe for himself. He returned to the table and notice had returned. "Here you go Merry." He commented, handing her the cup.

He decided to see if they'd ever heard of a rumour he'd encountered in his travels. "Have either of you heard of a vampire feeding off a were, or rather an Alpha?"

Michael watched as she changed again and admired her body as she shifted back to her human form and as she dressed he couldn't help but think she looked just as good either way.

Jessica pulled back, the girl was stark naked and grinned as Michael's eyes moved up and down. She slowly slid into her latex tiger cat suit, gloves, and boots. She went back to him and kissed him passionatly.

Once again, his hands began to explore her body as he return her kisses with passion.

"I'll get some drinks. Stay right here...be a good boy and I will give you some relief." She purred softly and kissed him on the lips before leaving the booth.

"Not exactly what I was hoping to ahhh, drink", he said without thinking.

He leaned over, watching her as she walked away, admiring the view until she was lost in the press of the crowd and then leaned back.

'Okay', he mumbled to himself, 'the alarm is going to go off any second. I don't have a chance in hell with a woman like that, this is a dream.

The pulsing dark core ripped through the club, piercing the dark air. Lasers and pulsing lights danced to the beat of the music as club goers moved in synch with the deep bass. Ryan moved among the crowd, his head down, hand gripped tight around the but of the silver revolver. His moves were graceful and delicate, he was hunting. The man he followed was a mark that had been making Messes by lacking control of his urges. It was Ryan's first job in over seventy years, his last taking place somewhere outside of Germany.

Dancers moved about him as he spotted the target standing on the edge of a raver's ring. He watched, waiting for the man to make another move. He waited. Despite the blasting music, all he heard was the beat of his own heart. He had to force himself to remember that all he heard is what he used to think was the beat of his heart. The blasting music was nothing. No, the only thing that Ryan saw was the man. The song was building. The heavy snare and bass mix came to a high, and thats when it happened.

Ryan stepped forward, his hand on the man's shoulder, squeezing. "Lets go. C'mon," was all he said. The man turned, staring him in the eyes, a dark, evil stare. With a viscous back hand, Ryan went airborne, flying across the club, landing with a hard thud. "Fuck," he swore under his breath, standing only in time to see it happen. He was turning.

Ryan snapped out of the trance as the elevator door slid open. "And for your services, the usual payment will be offered," the man told Ryan. The man speaking was a vampire, handing him papers of the job at hand. Ryan looked over them breifly, getting an image of the face, and then handing them back.

"Fine." His words were hollow, carrying only enough meaning to let the man know he understood what he was doing. He exited the elevator, and moved into the club. He moved around Cain's club, towards the exit level, brushing off offers to dance. A few naked women pressed against him, but he just moved on. He had to meet 'Busa and get as much info as he could before sun up. He ignored the music, the women, the drinks, only saw the exit. The wave that hit him was hard, powerful.

He moved fast, away from the exit, towards the feeling. He knew by the wave it was Sian, and she was about to do something big. He ducked around a dancing couple, his hand not moving for the revolvers, but pulling out one of the Berettas. He clicked the hammer back with his thumb as he broke to a sprint up a stair case, and rounded a corner. He was on the third floor, Sian on the fourth.

He pulled around a corner, and smashed into someone, a were. She was in tiger form, so not a lycan. Still, to Ryan, they were all the same.

Oh I am so sorry I...

"Move," Ryan said, forcefull, looking around, spotting Sian next to Red. He might just have to grab the revolvers for this. He looked down, the were still looking up in shock.

Ryan could feel the power from Cain's blood, the energy, the abilities. He could feel the strength, the speed. If his feelings were anything to go on, a lycan would be easy game, and a scared were tiger, female at that, would be nothing. He pulled the gun up, not beyond his hip, but turned and pointed it, pressing it against her. His fangs were out, his eyes burning with anger as he glanced up to check on Sian again. "Move!" he hissed, louder, fangs bared.

If the vampire thought that putting the gun to Jessica would help, it didn't in the slightlest, she was still frozen in place. Jessica was not the violent type, she hated violence and would only fight in self defense and even then it usually invovled scratching someone in the face with her claws and making a run for it. She felt the barrel of the gun press harder into her and the slight of the fangs made her move, though slowly.

Jessica began to slowly back up towards the bar, slowly inching her way from the gun and the vampire's fangs, always facing him. She didn't know if he would have her as a snack or just plug a few silver slugs into her. She didn't know if the woman had ordered a hit on her, if that had happened, why ask her to move? Probably to get her to turn around so he could plug or suck her from behind.

"Haven't done...wrong..." she stammered, her voice just audible over the music.

Jessica continued to back up right towards Sian and Red.

“… And I hear our little girl is happy with that nice Mr Ryan,” Lillian prattled to Seklh, turning on the tap so he could play with the fresh water.

The smoky grey cat licked a paw, remembering the flea-ridden, skinny waif of a kitten that Lillian had brought home in her backpack one morning. It was a frequent event in their odd little household, Lillian arriving with yet another feline soul to rescue and re-home.

She rescues their bodies, I rescue their souls, the goddess said from the corner, jealous for her reputation. Seklh ignored the interruption. It was no goddess, it was a statue; a cheap reproduction of the Egyptian deity Bastet. Lillian had set it up decoratively with tea-candles and an embroidered cloth at its feet, but even Lillian was no worshipper. How the thing made its ancient, crabby voice heard, Seklh didn’t know and didn’t care.

Instead he waited impatiently for Lillian to settle down for her day’s rest. Then he would wriggle through the gap left open in the bathroom window (Lillian feared his being trapped if the building caught fire) and spend the daylight hours with Jim Hanson, the building supervisor, who ate disgusting take-aways he was always ready to share with a friendly cat.

Just as well Lillian never caught on. She lived in fear of Jim, convinced he would enforce a non-existent No Pets rule. Seklh’s existence, and that of all their transient guests, was supposedly concealed from him, even though he was the one who had given the lazy grey fur-ball his name.

“This is … Someone Else’s Cat Living Here,” Lillian had quavered five years ago, after the adventurous nature of a tiny kitten had led to Jim catching them on the stairs outside her apartment. “Only for a little while. I’m just looking after him.” But when they got back to safety she had laughed, and told her companion that his name was now S.E.K.L.H. – she thought the K for Kat made the name look more exotic.

Remembering, Seklh purred. As he reminisced. Lillian fussed her way to bed. At last the cat was released from his vigil, just in time for Jim’s lunch. Lillian slept.

The shrilling of an old-fashioned alarm clock summoned Seklh home while it was still light. Lillian was up already when he sauntered in from the bathroom, perched proudly upright at the old PC that someone had mockingly given her, thinking no-one of her generation would ever master it.

“I don’t know why, but whenever I Google ‘cars’ and ‘horses’ all I get is Mustang!” she confided to the cat. With a click of exasperation, she gave up and resorted to her second-favourite research tool: a wall of tattered paperback books.

“McCaffrey? Bradley?” she muttered. “Nah, no elves. Not Tolkien, his Elves didn’t have cars ... de Lint? Now there’s a possibility … ahhh, Mercedes Lackey! So that’s where I went wrong! It was Steeds, not horses!”

There was a time when Lillian would have laughed at anyone who took fantasy novels seriously. But that was before she began spending time on the fringes of the Night Life. Now she read them more as travel guides than fiction, and felt she could give several writers a few useful tips – Anne Rice, for example, should mix with a nicer class of vampire, in Lillian’s opinion.

As she read, she pictured again the young Sidhe she had seen in the coffee-shop. It was all there: the coffee addiction, the loss, the complete surrender. Lillian was as sure as she could be that last night she had encountered a Rider mourning a Steed. Normally a hopeless situation, but, if she was not mistaken, there was a chance.

“I’m off to the hotrodders’ show,” she told the disbelieving Seklh, as she locked the door and left him with the television blaring on an all-news channel. Seklh was the best-informed cat in all of Houston.

An overflowing, battered, tartan cloth shopping-trolley was Rescue Lil’s shield against the fearsome creatures who inhabited the Daytime. One look at her, a second at the trolley and they stopped seeing anything. She became invisible to their eyes, joining the rest of the city’s more damaged inhabitants in the successful people’s conspiracy of silence.

This day, had they bothered to watch, would not have changed their minds. Lil pottered from dumpster to dumpster, here finding a cache of leftovers, there summoning the neighbourhood cats to eat it while she stood guard and made sure everyone got their share. Lil preferred her kitties to eat near the spot from which their feasts came; no need, then, to store it or to carry it with her.

Her round took her past the assemblage of special cars. Yes, there it was, the one she had spotted: black and sleek, but not really a street car. Was it the unexpectedly rich leather upholstery, the discreet silver trims posing as simple chrome, the air of leashed-in power that set it aside from mere machinery? Not for Lillian. She looked at its eyes: the headlights. There she read loss and longing. This was, indeed, a Steed; and she was sure it no longer claimed a Rider.

Nodding, her suspicions confirmed, Lillian set off for the coffee-shop. But the Sidhe had gone. “Vanessa wanted to go to Cains,” the second waitress told her.

Well, Lillian wanted to go to Cains, too. There was food for her kitties there, neatly bagged; sometimes food for Lillian as well. On occasion there had even been sums of money, more than she had ever seen in her working life. She had no contact with the enigmatic owner of the place, no interaction with the lesser folk who kept the clientele happy with the exotic finger-food that provided leftovers for her delight. Yet, somehow, whenever she came on decent people with the sort of problems that money could solve, the money appeared.

Lillian kept a strict accounting of where it all went. She would not have her stewardship questioned. The thought of the trust placed in her warmed her as she plunged into the tunnel that would take her to the east side of Bayou Place. With all the rain, she needed warmth. It was well-lit, too, always a consideration to an old woman who looked easy prey.

“Oh, Cyrian, really!”

Lillian looked ahead. There, under the lights, just before the door that led to the parking garage, a couple entwined. They were upright, but which limbs were whose was beyond Lillian’s ability to guess. She studied them unabashed, her curiosity knowing none of the silly limits that Daytime people practised. Frankly, she didn’t think what they were attempting was actually possible.

Or maybe it was; for, as she neared, she could see that one of them was her young Sidhe. He was evidently much recovered after a night of having Vanessa distract him from his woes, and the Sidhe had great reserves of stamina.

“You’ll be needing it all, boyo,” she muttered appreciatively to herself. Perhaps it would be kinder not to distract the couple at this exact moment. She chose a more discreet section of the tunnel, a place where a newly broken lightbulb gave a little pool of aid and comfort to the dark, and settled down to wait them out.

Welcome back Lillian! and thanks for the perfect set upOkay folks, I don't know if I can finagle all of you in on this, but here goes a valliant attempt. Check for telegrams

Bayou Place Parking Garage, Level 3, roughly 30 minutes after Midnight, Feb 15th...

Bobby Florent loved being a Vampire. His twenty five years as a human had been dismal, a pimple filled nightmare for a geek of a guy who was far more comfortable with science Fiction novels than girls and foot ball. Then hed inadvertantly saved the life of some one who wasn't exactly human it turned out. And over the next couple of years of the odd friendship he'd found out that his dreams and fantasies really did exist. When his friend got around to asking what sort of reward Bobby wanted, he knew exactly what he wanted. And now he was a vampire, the pimples had disappeared, and it didn't matter if he he wasn't a jock. He'd gotten more confident around the ladies too in the twenty years he'd been a vampire.

His job with Cain paid fantastically, and he'd just aquired a lovely toy, a customized Mercedez McLaren SLR in burnished silver. And his date for the night was even hotter, though he wasn't about to let a valet put their grubby hands on the SLR. Laine would just have to walk from the underground parking garage to Cains. He'd get to enjoy the view. He was just tall enought to look down her magnificant cleevage.

The gull wing doors slid up with a nearly silent purr as Bobby killed the engine. His nose twitched as the cool air of the underground garage filled his lungs. Even vampires needed air to speak with and Bobby practised breathing more than many of his kind did any way. Not breathing tended to freak out lovley ladies, and Bobby certainly didn't want that to happen.

The smell of blood had been what made his nose twitch and Bobby frowned as he wondered if he'd forgotten to floss. Thinking back carefully he definitely remembered both useing Listerine and flossing when he had woken earlier. He was rather preoccupied checking his teeth discreetely in the rearview mirror, but Laine's cry of fear and pain swivelled his head around. A hulking half seen figure had it's claws in her body. As blood ran from where the claws pierced her body, she was ripped from the car despite the seatbelt she wore.

"Wha.." was his first response as another figure appeared, apparently out of nowhere, and pulled him from his seat - Bobby hadn't bothered with a seat belt, he hadn't wanted his suit creased. He found himself flying as he was thrown a good twirthy feet across the concrete. He scarambled to his feet in a flash, and shouting as yet a third figure loomed over him, moving even quicker than he. Long dirty claws slashed at him, tearing a long, painful but not really damaging rent inhis side.

In the dim lights on the other side of the car Laine's cries stopped as large amounts of her blood decorated the walls and other vehicles parked in nearby spaces. The oldest of the Animalistic Vampires began to feed.

His five strong pack, made by him in the last 'day', began to surround Bobby. The slender vampire managed to escape the circle and fled toward the nearest exit, trying to stop the flow of blood with his hands. He never realised that he was whimpering.

They were hard on his heels as he reached the door. He'd gone the long way around rows of cars, they had just jumped over them. He couldn't get a grasp on the door, it wouldn't open. One of them clawed at his back, and frantically Bobby put a fist through the door. Screaming loudly now he wrenched the solid steel door off its hinges. Whirling he thew the door at his attackers.

They scattered, dodging the massive door with ease. Then they closed in again of their dinner. They backed him against the far wall of the tunnel, leaving him no escape. Bobby's death cry was 'heard' in more ways than one.

Not that much further down the tunnel a young couple, one elvin and one human, nearly fell over as the devestateing violence occured all but in front of them.

Cains, Main Floor, roughly 30 minutes after midnight Feb 15th...

Sian didn't take any more of her attention from Red than was absolutely necessary, but she was too experienced to allow herself to be blindsided. So some small portion of herself kept sentry outside the impermeable shield about the pair.

She was aware of Ryan heading up to the main floor, charging hard to get there in time to cover her back before the blood spilled. Jolt of unadulterated joy, she hadn't lost her friend.

Knew when a Were, Tiger, female, scared bumped into the shield and was pinned there by Ryan's approach. Jessica it seemed her name was and apparently she though that Sian had summoned Ryan to kill her. With a mental snort Sian dismissed her and that notion for the moment.

Meanwhile Sian didn't bother with permissions or polite inquerries. She lanced into Red's mind, ruthlessly searching not just the surface thoughts but reading all of the mutant in depth. She frowned at what she found, the vast well of pain and aloneness. At this time she was not there to heal, and so she left that problem for later.

Red had spoken the truth, she was not there as a vanguard for the Iconoclasts, and she was not even hunting any more. And until she broke the Compact Sian could not officially force her out of the city.

Sian took a step back, and her voice was gentler now, but still firm. "You speak the truth. As long as you bide by the Compact you are allowed to stay" Sian could not say 'welcome' she knew that too many would be very unhappy to discover who had landed in their midst. However it was her job to make sure that Red had the protections of the Compact. "You are allowed to defend yourself, but I would suggest being discreet until much time as past and your past becomes less...talked about"

Dropping the shield Sian began to turn to Ryan, to reassure him...

The death cry - Vampires were very, very hard to kill - even Nimue with a stake through her heart wsn't dead yet -- reached every being in the club in one form or fashion. The Mundanes ony were aware of a sudden chill, a sense of terrible wrongness that cuased the to react as per their basic natures. Some stampeeded, choosing flight, for why they knew not. Others cowered in place, frozen to their core, unable to leave where they huddled. A few broke out fighting with one another, again not knowin- or caring- why.

Those of the Night life knew at least dimly exactly what they heard. Most of the Night Life were no braver than Mundanes and while they could keep them selves from freezing, fleeing or fighting, the vast majority knew full well that they couldn't take on what ever could kill a vampire. Not in such a manner as to bring about that sort of death scream...

Red stood up as Sian turned away. “Hey look, I know I ain’t loved. But can ya at least tell me what this compact is and the what rules are? Because I don’t know shit abo…”

Suddenly she felt the Vampires death nearby, a feeling all to familiar to the huntress. She drew her guns and threw off her cloak, “I didn’t have SHIT to do with it”, she said defensively.

Now fully exposed Red could be seen to have blood red hair with black bangs and black tips. Her boots, with six inch heels, made her almost six feet in height and the lower three inches of the heel came to a sharp silver point that look rather lethal if she kicked with it. Her matt black pants showed long, shapely legs with well toned muscle and ended at her hips. The matt black corset left her belly exposed, revealing the belly button ring that she wore and lifted and pressed her more than average chest into rather appealing cleavage that her red lace shirt did little to hide.

On her thighs, from which she drew the long barreled .44 auto magnums with the hollowed out points filled with holy water and silver, were the specially designed holsters that allowed her to draw them quickly. Matt black leather arm sleeves covered her hands, though left her clawed fingers exposed and run up to the middle of her upper arms. Two blades, one each in a forearm sheath, were covered with runes.

Dilana felt a cerge of powers around her, and couldn't identify them. However she could sence that something bad was happening, somewhere near or in Cain's itself. Standing quickly, she looked at Red as she threw off her cloak, seeing everything.
'Damn, I wish I could carry stuff like that.'
Dilana thought as she looked at the weapons that Red had on her. Dilana knew better than to take on someone; although she had good strength, and her nails could become claws she knew that she was no match. Sitting back down, the young woman downed the rest of her drink and watched.

Sian gave the sight of 6 inch heels a pair of raised eye brows. "You can walk in those things much less fight?" She couldn't resist the quip as she looked about. Ryan, and 'Busa at his back... yes they would be the core of the impromptu team.

That thought was cut off as Ryan all but vanished from sight in his haste to trace the origin of the scream. She reached out with her mind, following Ryan in his eyeblur sprint down to the third level below ground, though the tunnel and past the remains of the solid steel fire door. There were more of them perhaps six in all.[/i]

And Ryan impetuous one that he was... was in trouble. 'Busa, Red, get redy to jump...' Her voice sounded strong in her mind as she reraised her earlier shields. She did not want to take those incapable or uninvolved along with her group.

Her tiny purse levitated over to where Dilana sat, and Sian's voice was equally strong in her mind 'Dilana, I'm going to jump you with us, get to my car and get the medkit out of the back' The Sagaris's tiny 'trunk' was filled with what was effectively a mobile ER.

Michael’s mind was still on the incredible vision of Jessica as he lounged back in the booth. His mind was slipping into a rather heated fantasy when he felt something dreadfully wrong. Though not sensitive as most non-humans or many mutant’s he had been through enough to know that something powerful had died.

He stood up, drawing the long barreled gun and looking around, trying to evaluate the actions of the non-humans, more so than any others. He would assist however he could in the situation, knowing that whatever was wrong was quite serious. He suddenly fired as something appeared in front of him, reacting without thinking. Something flared and then suddenly his gun was gone.

“Perhaps an easier target, Mr. Gassington”, Lauralin said calmly, her magical shield having stopped the bullet. “This affair is not ours and we may not intercede unless requested, it would be inappropriate. Follow me.”

She strode through the crowd, Michael following, and handed his gun back as she went. The crowd seemed to part before her until she reached Jessica. “We shall be retiring to my quarters”, she told her, “if you would care to accompany us?”

Dilana could hear Sian's voice in her head, however didn't question it as she grabbed the purse in midair.
'I'll head there after the jump.'
Dilana thought back to Sian's command, and hoped it had worked since Dilana had never, "told," someone something from her mind before.

Ryan pulled the Beretta up to Jessica's chest, leveling it at her, hammer back, finger pulling lightly back. "I said to fucking..."

He was cut off by a near ear piercing shriek, one that only vampires could hear. While feeling other felt the death scream, Ryan heard it, as if it were right next to him, feeling the life blood of another kindred ripped to shreds. He flinched as from a light head pain, and then shook his head, his eyes coming to Sians. He knew she felt, he could see by the look in her eyes. "The garage!" he shouted loudly.

He drew the second Beretta, pulling the hammer back with his thumb, and spun, shoving Jessica violently down on the ground, running over her, his feet missing her body and face by inches. He sprinted hard, pushing past Mundanes and Night Lifers alike, running towards the banister designed to keep dancers from falling down the chasam that held the open floors apart. He was at full speed when he met the railing, and a powerful leap pushed him straight up, over the railing. He flew over the open distance, gracefully sliding through the air, his feet below him, easily distancing himself from the other side of the club.

He cleared the third floor railing, and landed, crouching as he came down to absorb the shock, the floor cracking out from his feet. A few mundanes, trying to escape the club for an unknown reason saw this and stopped. The man had cleared a good distance, fallen almost a full story, and simply stood up, holstering the Berettas. They were frozen, something was going on and they didn't know what. Ryan shucked off the jacket, and one of the mundanes, a female, screamed seeing the weapons. He pulled the revolvers, and leveled one at her. "Get the fuck out!" he shouted, and then turned, running towards the door that would lead him to the garage.

He sprinted around a corner, sliding down as his feet came out from under him. He rolled back up, standing, and followed a hallway out into the parking garage. He pushed past a crying female vampire, not stoping to assist her. Another corner, and a set of razor sharp teeth were flying at him. It was a lyan, who, in the chaos, had transformed. Ryan simply side stepped, slamming the but of the pistol down on top of the werewolf's head, dropping it. By now, Sian had to be down at the garage. She can teleport for Christ's sake. Why the hell am I running? he asked himself.

He was in the garage when he saw it. He smelled it first, but the amount of blood splattered on the wall made it hard to hide. He looked around hearing the snarling and snapping of what sounded like weres feeding. He walked slowly out towards it, hearing screaming from the other side of the car park, his revolvers cocked and pointed, looking for a target. He heard clicking, a sound like claws tapping on hard concrette. The beast that rounded the corner looked to be a true monster. It had walked around the tail end of a Mercedes SLR, the German super car hiding the bulk of the beast.

Ryan aimed, and squeezed.

Many people would fire a 454 Casull once. They would never make the mistake a again. The large, very hot round, especially in the six and a half inch barelled revolver, created enough power to snap the hand gun back into a shooters face, and enough torque to twist the weapon in the shooters hand. The round was violently loud, louder than most any round utilized in any other handgun. So much so that the window of the car Ryan stood next to shattered as its resonance frequency was surpased by the round ripping out of the barrell. However, Ryan was different. He could lift a city bus easily. He could toss around one of the cars in the car park like a baseball, and he always listened to his music loud. To him, the gun was no louder than his Camaro at full throttle, which was 20 decibles higher than the 110dB legal limit.

The beast had no chance to react, the round catching it right in between its eyes. The round flowered out, ripping a hole the size of a fist in the beast's face, bone and brain matter splashing out over the car and wall, the round carrying almost all of its initial muzzle velocity at such close range. It lifted the beast of it's legs, slamming it into a wall, the concrette bending and cracking under its force. It slid down the wall, where it had left a full body imprint, a trail of blood comming from what used to be it's head.

A feral roar followed, and four more of the beasts came around the back of the car, their fangs and faces dripping with blood and gore from their dinner. One of them growled as it stared right at Ryan. He looked around, and saw another comming from a different angle. "Fuck," he said, calmly, stepping back slowly towards the door.

Sian, third floor he thought 'loudly', hoping the psionic would hear him.

Jessica became frozen yet again as the vampire brought up the pistol to bear on her and squeezing the trigger. Her mind told her to scream for Michael, but the noise of the music would have made it near impossible. Also, she would already be down on the ground dead by the time he got there.

Her whole body gave a violent shake as the scream cut through her thoughts. Jesus Christ what the hell was that? Jessica didn't react as the vampire knocked her to the ground and backward, his feet nearly turning her face into hamburger. She stood and looked at Lauralin was near her; the stampede of Mundanes didn't seem to matter as Lauralin's sudden presence comforted her.

Jessica just nodded to Lauralin as she dodged a few Mundanes that would have run her over.

Red looked down at her boots, “What? These? These are my comfortable pair, you should see my dress boots.” She ‘heard’ Sian and thought quickly, they were outnumbered, but not by much. Since these weren’t government trained people she didn’t want to hit anyone in a crossfire and switched her guns from semi to single shot and sighed. ‘I’m nothin but bad luck’, she muttered.

Lauralin smiled, stepping closer to Jessica, the people around them seeming to avoid her, making things much easier for Jessica. She then looked at Michael and with a word was standing in a spacious living area on the upper floor of the Armand in her ‘quarters’, which consisted of the entire floor.

“There we are”, she said in her calm, musical voice, “much better, Yes?”

Michael put his gun back in it’s holster and looked around the place, stunned by it’s opulence.

“Yes”, Lauralin said, “a bit more than I prefer, in all honesty. Michael, I would like to go over the assignment with you, then you may feel free to get a room while I speak with Jessica concerning the job”, she stated and gestured toward a couch while she moved over to a wet bar, “drinks?”

All edits to my earlier post have been done in green, please note them!
pictorial representation of current situationplease look over before posting (http://www.atddm.com/fs1.gif)

"Formal boots?!" Sian snorted as with a thought she teleported Dilana, Red, 'Bussa and herself to with in a few feet of her car. She'd keyed the spot years ago, when it was first reserved for her. There were only three parking slots in that particular area, and all reserved. The other two held a pair of the larger model SUV's and belonged to Cain. The rest of the area was open concrete, with a hydrant standpipe centered back along the wall.

Sian, third floor

Her reply followed Ryan's loud thought in nearly the same heartbeat. Sian could hear and smell the Animalistic Vampires, but most of her visual, even at nealy six foot tall was blocked by interviening support walls and parked vehicles, though at this time the level was in actuality sparcely tenanted.

However she 'knew' right where Ryan was, and she also knew that he had his back to a wall, surrounded.

"Red, 'Busa, that way" She pointed to her left as she wheeled and began heading in the direction she had pointed. She had every confidence that Dilana would get the med kit from the trunk. She had a feeling that it would be needed.

The AV's weren't all that hungry, they had fed well this evening, but as always they hated any that were not part of their pack, and if it lived they hated it more. The shadows they cast were distorted, wavering densities. In the dim lights of the parking garage their eyes glowed a dull reddish hue and their long curved claws were too soiled with goe to shine. Canines that could not be retracted cut into lower lips and they licked constantly at the trickles of their own blood.

They moved with flickering, blurring speed when attacking but now they were cautious. Their ears rang disorientingly, and their sire, the 'oldest' ( all of a week of unlife ) had been hurt, and lay slumped againt a support wall. He wasn't dead, not yet, but unless he fed soon ... With fumbling hands he pulled himslef up as the dreadful wound in his head began to seal...

Their communication was on an instinctual level, they had no true intellegence left, just the basic vampiric abilities, unholy vitality, and hate.

(OOC: Did Sian make the jump yet? I don't think she did..but who knows I may've missed it.)

As Rivan was about to offer to get Heyoka something to drink, the club burst into chaos. For half a second Rivan reeled at the stench of fear that flooded his nostrils, the fear reek that could only be generated by a mob

"There is something nasty nearby." He commented to his two companions in a somewhat worried tone. "A vamp, or what feels like a vamp just got butchered."

Red stagger stepped and looked around, trying to get her bearings. She had never teleported before it was disorienting to her. When Sian pointed, however, her instincts took over and she charged in the direction that Sian indicated, raising her guns and grinning. People may not like her, but at least this was something she knew.

Once they came into sight she grinned, but didn't stop moving. She had fought outnumbered enough times to know that you didn't present a stationary target.

"HEY YOU FILTHY MAGGOT RIDDEN SONS OF ZOMBIES WHO THE FUCK INVITED YOU TO THIS LITTLE GET TOGETHER??!!"

Ryan pushed himself up and charged at the Lycan, his 454 knocked away to the ground. He moved almost as fast as the human eye could process, seeming naught but a blur across the dance floor. The mundanes scattered as the lycan found a grip, ripping a young girl in half. Seeing Ryan only enraged it, and it dropped to all fours, charging at speed, teeth bared. It snarled, and Ryan knew he had to think quick. He placed his right foot down, and pushed hard, going sky borne.

Ryan remembered this as he backed further, feeling the wall behind him. "Shit, shit, shit," he swore to himself as the vampires closed around him. He looked beyond them, seeing the lead, whose head was all but split in two, try to force himself to stand. Jesus Christ, he swore to himself, feeling claustrophobic. He looked around, fast, noticing the light structure above him. His eyes flicked to Mercedes, and then to the wall the lead Animal Vamp was against. He holstered the revolvers, and backed up, his right foot pressing against the meeting space between floor and the wall.

1, he thought to himself, bending at the knees, the animalistic vampires moving closer. 2, he bent at the back, snaping the locks on the holsters of his Berettas, his hands moving away from his back comming out to his side. The beasts moved closer, blood dripping from thier mouths, fangs glistening in the light. "Three!" he shouted driving himself up hard as one of the vampires leaped out at him, his hands out. He grabbed onto the light structure, and kicked his legs out, bringing them up so that he was parrallel with the ground. He let go, the velocity and inertia continuing to carry his body up towards the ceiling. He spun in air, his body hovering for meer breaths, and then it began to fall. He let the ground come up to him, and brought his legs down, landing directly on the back of one of the pack, driving him down hard, twisting has he landed, seperating vertabrea. He pushed off again spining, catching the light structure, and flipping off backwards, then straightening, 'mule' kicking right into the chest of the lead vamp. He pushed back, jumping rewards, landing on the roof of the SLR.

He pulled out the revolvers, and fired again, sending a round into the back of the head of one of hte pack vampires, then another into his spinal column base. He turned, and emptied another three rounds into the lead. "Stay down bitch!" he shouted, jumping down from the Mercedes. He grabbed the door frame of the car, and pushed hard, reaching for every bit of strength, sending it towards the pack vampires. He saw the group running towards him, thanking whatever entity allowed that to happen.

He was distracted, and one of the pack vamps lepped clean over the Mercedes, landing on top of him. He rolled away loosing his guns to the ground. Ryan jumped to his feat, kicking his legs back spread to a fighting stance, and as the beast charged, he fell backwards, pulling the beast to the ground with him. The scuffle turned to a rolling match, and Ryan fought to gain ground. He managed to top the pack vampire, and not letting the beast fight, he put his hand on his chin and forehead, and twisted hard. Vampires could lift city busses with ease. Removing a head from a body was no hard feat.

He jumped to his feet again, the guns still to far. He pulled the Beretta's, and leveled them on the lead vampire, waiting for him to make a move. He knew it could be bad news to wait, but the lead vampire had a wall behind him, something he could push off for leverage. Ryan needed to pull the lead vampire into his territory.

Before Dilana could blink, she found herself in the parking place with Red, Sian, and a man who she honestly couldn't think of his name at the moment.
'Who could think when this is going on.'
A voice said in her head however Dilana, remembering Sian's instructions ran to the back of Sian's car. Getting the key from her purse with no difficulty, Dilana popped open the trunk. What she saw momentarly amazed her. The kit took up most of the space in the trunk, and it looked like she wouldn't be able to lift it. Dilana was more strong than your average person, however for a minute it looked as if she'd have to lift the whole car. Snorting at herself, Dilana quickly reached in, grabbed the kit by it's handles and lifted it with no problem. Dilana slammed the laid down and ran over to just the edges of the fight were taking place. Ducking down, she held the kit in front of her for some kind of protection.
'Damn, I have nothing to fight with.'
She thought as she looked up in seeing how many people were outnumbered her mind said to Sian, "I have no weapon to fight with, there anything in the kit?"

Sian 'heard' Dilana's question. She was responsible for the younger woman being here, and she would keep part of her attention on Dilana's safety. 'Yes open it up and there's a .45 on top.' The Colt Officers model was loaded with custom round's that Ryan had given her. They would handle a Vamp or Were due to the silver and most anything else due to the size of the round. 'I hope you know how to use one' She added as she reached the corner of the drive way and could see down to where Ryan, Red and 'Busa collided with the AV's.

It looked like two at least had broken off of attempting to attack Ryan, and had turned their attentions towards Red. Her echoing shout being all they needed to attract them. Then there was a Mercedez, thown from its parking spot behind them, but it came to a halt before it could impact the pair. Ryan had apparently thrown it at the group.

She couldn't see exactly what Ryan was doing, but he had deafened every one with more rounds from the big Magnums. The sonic fury drove the AV's into a frenzy, and nearly dropped 'Busa to his knees. Sian staggered herself, wincing with pain, but started towards the fray.

The AV who's head Ryan had twisted off, unseen by Ryan - as Ryan concentrated on the leader - reached out his filthy claws digging deep into Ryan's thighs as it had half clambered to it's feet. Those claws ripped down, shredding the muscles in Ryans thighs.

(OOC: I'm reposting, got a bit mixed up with my previous post. I'm sorry about that.)

IC:

Dilana laid on the ground for a second, trying to get her barings before she snapped her attention back to the kit that she had gotten out of Sian's car. Sitting up, Dilana popped open the latches that held the lid of the kit down. Inside she saw all that an ER had, her training in the Tarayshia hospitals had taught her what exactly to do. After opening the kit and sorting through it, Dilana stood up and held the kit in front of her.
She was waiting to see what would happen next; she had already lifted the gun out of the kit and made sure it was loaded.

Red rounded the corner as the Mercedes came to a halt. She saw two AVs moving toward and smiled, a sight that would frighten most mundanes, assuming they got thier eyes above breasts.

She didn't slow as she charged toward the two, moving at a speed that no mortal could match. At the last moment she dove and rolled, taking out thier legs. She rolled to her feet, targeting one of the two, putting four of the liquid silver and holy water bullets into it's head.

The other had gotten to its feet and lunged toward her. She twisted away, roundhouse kicking it to lets it's momentum and the force of her kick carry it forward. Then she noticed the tear in her blouse....

"You MOTHER FUCKER!! YOU RIPPED MY BEST BLOUSE!!"

Jessica felt her body turn weightless for a bit before suddenly finding herself in the middle of a majestic room. From the chaos down below, this seemed perfect. The environment also began to help calm her down from her near death experience with the vampire in the club shortly before the scream that brought the chaos. The tiger moved to the couch and sat down, relaxing in the soft cushions.

Jessica decided not to mention the vampire encounter openly; she would discuss it privately with Lauralin. No doubt the vampire worked for Cain.

"I'll have a martini please."

Lauralin mixed the martini for her then put some ice in a glass with water and handed the drinks to them before returning and opening a cabinet door, taking out a caraffe and pouring a glass of blood for herself.

As she got the drinks Michael moved over to the couch and sat down next to Jessica. He sipped from his glass of water as Laura got her own drink and he let hiis eyes roam over Jessica while he waited for Laura to continue.

Laura returned, taking a chair near but opposite to the couch and while Michael's attention was on Jessica she crossed her legs slowly, revealing to Jessica that her underwear was the same poweder blue satin as her dress before sealing one leg over the other properly. Once settled Michael finally returned his attention to his boss who was sipping at her glass of blood.

"We have a problem, Michael", she prefaced and he stiffened, gaining her full attention. A folder appeared on the table in front of him and he set down his glass, picked up the folder and opened it. He didn't recognize the woman, though her face was the same as the woman that Jessica had seen in the club. He set the picture aside and began reading the file. It was written in a beautiful, flowing script, almost like a caligraphy.

"She is here", Lauralin told him, "I saw her below, right before I brought you two here."

Michael was still reading, "We came here for her and she's here, what's the catch, Lady?"

"The catch is that Sian Rhys is a high ranking official in this city and the Scarlett Huntress looked to be in her company. I cannot spirit away someone with ties to such officials without causing .... difficulties. That the Huntress is with Doctor Rhys does not concern me. What I need is to ascertain what information that the Huntress may possess."

"Yeah", Michael replied, "I'm beginning to see that."

"I want you alert to her presence, for now. But do nothing as yet. I intend to address the issue with Doctor Rhys. If I might be allowed to at least question the Huntress and get what need then that would be sufficient. Otherwise I shall need a way of having the Huntress move away from the protection of the city on her own."

"And that's where I come in", Michael said looking up.

"MAY come in", she replied. "Michael I want no difficulties with the people in power here. But I HAVE to know what she knows."

"If anything", he replied. "Grunts aren't privy to alot of information."

"And she was a ... Grunt?" Lauralin asked.

He sat back looking back down at the folder. "More than that, but certainly not administration. However, your right, she may know something."

A discreet knocking came at the door and Laura scanned quickly then smiled. "Dinner has arrived", she told them, "Jessica? Would you be so kind?" she asked, knowing that both she and Michael would appreciate watching the woman walk to the door.

Cyrian and Vanessa had frozen for long moments as first the door not fifteen feet drom where thy embraced was torn from it's hinges. Then the monsters had shown themselves briefly, as they had snatched up a young man and threw him back into the darkness that was the garage.

Fortuantely Vanessa had remained silent long enough for them to disappear. Then she began screaming her head off. Cyrian came unfrozen at that moment, then acted with nearly instinctual reactions. Her screams quickly faded to loud whimpers.

Majick flared about his as he wrapped them both in a glamor of unseeing, and his arm tight about Vanessa headed them back the way they had come. He couldn't keep the glamor up long, given his condition. It had faded by the time the couple reached where Lillian and her cart lurked in the shadows. Drained, Cyrian wavered, and Vanessa whimpered again.

Jessica happily accepted the martini from Lauralin and took a sip. Her heart quickened slightly as the vampiress exposed her underwear before fully crossing her legs, a bit to the tiger's disappointment. She didn't speak and listened carefully about the woman she had seen. Scarlet Huntress...that can't be good. The tiger sat and thought. All these hunters. I wonder if she knows anything about that scream. Jessica shuddered, remembering the scream and wondering what was happening down below their feet. The rumors of a killer resurfaced in her mind, but she lost her train of thought when Lauralin asked her to get the door.

Jessica put the martini down and stood, every detail of her body exposed by the tight cat suit. She walked over to the door and opened it. The man with the cart in front of her stared at her like a deer in headlights. He gaped for several seconds before composing himself. "Here you are ma'am."

Smiling, Jessica bent down and out of a small pouch on the inside of one of her boots, fished out a five dollar bill and handed it to him. Jessica smiled again and brought the cart in before shutting the door. She pushed it to the table where they were.

"I...I think I should comment on that Scarlet Huntress. I saw her downstairs when I was..." She eyed Michael and smiled. "Having some fun. She seemed...oh what is the right word? Well...odd I guess one might say. She isn't a human from what I could smell of her...nor vampire. She must be a mutant of some kind."

Michael watched Jessica stand up and head over to the door as did Lauralin who was sitting farther than he. They both admired her body and the way she moved as she reached the door and returned with the food and Lauralin smiled.

"Eat, I ordered it for the two of you", she said and looked at Jessica, "I hope that bloody steak is your preference. I know there are a few weres who prefer the meat cooked, but they are few and far between."

"I...I think I should comment on that Scarlet Huntress. I saw her downstairs when I was..." She eyed Michael and smiled. "Having some fun. She seemed...oh what is the right word? Well...odd I guess one might say. She isn't a human from what I could smell of her...nor vampire. She must be a mutant of some kind."

Lauralin leaned forward with interest. "Yes I saw her. I was not close enough to get a sense from her in the chaos and having to dampen my own power to such a great degree."

Michael nodded, though not sensitive he could tell she was keeping a very large lid on things, though he wondered why. She could probably take out all of the major players here with relative ease.

"Because, Mr. Gassington, that is not what I am about. I try to resolve issues and keep peace, not start wars. No one wins in war, Mr. Gassington, YOU should know that."

Michaels face fell and his head dropped, chagrined. He did know that, all to well.

Jessica nodded and cut into her meat with a knife. She tasted the chunk she cut out. "Perfect. Sometimes I am actually tempting to go hunting for animals in tiger form...but I rather stay civilized."

Jessica didn't have any mental powers and didn't know what Michael thought, but the thought had apparently been supressed by Lauralin. The tiger continued to eat for a while before sipping her martini and talking.

"I only caught a whiff of her...I have smelled many humans, a few weres, and one or two vampires in my time...but she was different. I really couldn't tell what it was due to the smell of all the other people in the room. She is different though."

She ate some more meat before pausing again. "Do you know what has caused all the commotion downstairs?"

Lauralin sat back, steepeling her fingers and pressing her forefingers to her lips. She scanned carefully before answering, not wanted her thoughts detected.

"Animalistic vampires", she answered, "it is not, however, our concern. Not unless we are asked to intercede. It is part of my arrangement with Cain."

Michael cut another piece of steak, which was medium-rare, and placed it in his mouth, then looked up at Laura, talking around his food.

"She won't be easy to catch if it comes to that."

Lauralin raised an eyebrow and folded her fingers.

"Mr. Gassington. You are aware that those I feed from are volunteers, yes?"

Michael nodded, taking another bite of steak, "Yeah, I've heard that", he replied, wondering what she was setting up for Red.

"Would you like to watch me feed?" she asked.

Michael stopped chewing, swallowing involuntarily, "What?"

She dropped her hands into her lap and leaned forward, her eyes holding his.

"Would you like to watch me feed? Sink my teeth into thier neck? Draw the blood from thier vein? Would you like that?" Her voice was low and seductive, but Michael was beginning to get pale.

"ahh ... no ... not really, no."

She sat back, her hands coming up to her chin, "Then please don't speak with your mouth full, for I do not wish to see you feed either, I find it just as displeasurable."

Michael let out an audible sigh of relief, "I'm sorry, Lady."

"Now", she said as Michael continued to eat, careful to keep his mouth closed, "as to your question, I hope that is not necessary. I wish only to question her. Perhaps Doctor Rhys will permit me to do so."

Michael raised his fork, about to say something, but at Laura's upraised brow he finished chewing and swallowed, even taking a drink of water.

"But what if she's not with her?"

"I had thought of that. That is your new assignment. I want to know if there is anyone working with her and if she has anything to do with Doctor Rhys."

"Lady, I doubt she works with anyone. She hunted with government agents. No one would have that kind of training."

"Mr. Gassington. I have not survived since before the rise of civilization, as you know it, in Sumer by being reckless. I want to know for sure. Yes, I would tend to agree with you, however, I wish to be sure. You will watch her tonight. Do not concern yourself about Jessica, I shall keep her with me. You may come gather her in the morning."

Michael nodded, "Alright Lady", he replied, standing.

"Mr. Gassington. Finish your meal."

"Oh. Thank you", he said and sat down.

Jessica chuckled and quickly swallowed her food before laughing about Lauralin's comment to Michael. She collected herself and took a sip of martini, but still chuckling; finding their exchange funny. Though she did consider eating with the mouth open rude, the fact the conversation was between a vampire and a human made it funny to her.

She smiled seductivly at Lauralin at the mention of her name when Michael had returned to his plate. Jessica finished up her dinner.

"Thank you for the food Lady...if you ever wish to feed from me, you just have to ask."

She figured if she was going to start working for her and that Lauralin had given her dinner, the least she could do was repay her.

Lauralin smiled back at Jessica until Michael took his seat and continued eating.

"Thank you for the food Lady...if you ever wish to feed from me, you just have to ask."

She smiled at Jessica, "Thank you, and I believe that I shall take that offer. It has been sometime since I have had fresh blood."

Michael hesitated in his eating and looked at Jessica then Laura.

"When you are gone, Mr. Gassington. I, for one, would not be so rude."

Micheal hesitated and then returned to eating. When he finished he stood, "Thank you, Lady."

"She is presently in the garage", she told him.

Michael nodded and walked around the table. He stopped and leaned down, licking Jessica's lips before giving her a deep and passionite kiss. After he pulled away, he swayed a bit in desire before getting himself together and heading out.

Once gone, Lauralin looked at Jessica, her eyes moving over her from her feet to her eyes, very slowly, admiring the curves of her body.

"I do have to address your job", she said, once her eyes finally reached Jessica's own, after almost a full minute of taking in her body. "Now or later is your choice", she said as she shifted in her chair. Her leg shifted to one side, her milky thighs visible up her powder blue panties. "I know my choice."

Jessica returned Michael's kiss with equal passion. She whispered to him, her voice filled with care. "Keep safe."

She watched as he left before turning back to Lauralin, her pulse quickening as she stared up her legs. She unconciously licked her lips as she moved her eyes up and down the Lady's body. Her question took a few moments to sink in with Jessica. The tiger looked in her eyes.

"Later."

The tiger stood and walked slowly over to Lauralin, letting the other woman stare at her curves. Jessica knelt next to her and offered her neck.

"Would you like to feed now? Or..." Jessica looked at Lauralin's legs before turning back to her. "Later?"

Lauralin smiled at Jessica as she knelt down beside her.

"Would you like to feed now? Or..." Jessica looked at Lauralin's legs before turning back to her. "Later?"

She ran her fingers slowly down Jessica's cheek, then along her jaw and finally across her lips, her eyes never losing contact with Jessica's. Surprisingly her fingers were warm, though she hadn't fed in some time. She leaned over, and licked Jessica's neck but pulled back until her lips, also warm, barely touched Jessica's own. Then, her lips brushing the werewoman's as she spoke, "I find that during the height of passion is best as it augments the final moment." Then she moved forward again, her tongue running along the edge of Jessica's ear as she spoke low, "And I've had millenia to perfect the techniques to bring you there."

Watching the Sidhe and his companion stagger towards her, Lillian was uncertain what to do. She was fairly sure there were Gates somewhere in the city. Little good that would do them, though. Even if Cyrian, in his weakened state, managed to open one, it might save his life, but it wouldn't help her and the girl.

The battle seemed to have moved away from the door. Lillian's instinct was that of all small, frightened things when the predators fought: flee! Far and fast! They weren't going to get far, though, let alone fast, with her companions in this condition. But if she could just get them to the front of the complex, then her friend Eddie-the-bouncer would call them a cab. For once, she had the money to pay for one.

Lillian made up her mind. It was cruel, but it was survival. Hurriedly she extracted her thermos flask from the crowded trolley and splashed its contents into the cup, pushing it at Cyrian. "Drink it!" she urged. "It's from Kenya! The good stuff!"

They would work on the coffee addiction when she got them to her apartment. For now, though, the drug surging through his system would give the young Sidhe the strength he needed to bring them all to safety.

Before Heyoka could answer Rivan's, much less respond to the comment about what he sensed, the table was over truned with a crash as a group of Mundanes wrestling with one another crashed into it. Merry's chair knocked aside as well, ssending her flying. She twisted in mid air, with a Were's pretrnatural agility and landed on her feet.

"Nuts! Lets get to a booth it will be safer" She called to her cousin and Rivan. A quick glance around told her that tryig to leav might not be a good idea.

Before she could speak further, more fleeing and fighting humans shoved between where the table had been and she now stood. Heyoka, just starting to jump up was tripped by a trio of crying and screaming Butterfly ladies, their wings half torn off, their make up ruined.

One of the biggest Mundanes clad in battered bikers black leathers took a swing at Rivan, a ham sized fist planting square into his side.

Cyrian's head whipped up as Lillian seemingly appeared out of no-where, and looked at the thermos blankly for a long second as he struggled to gain his breath. Then her words registered and he wrenched it from her grasp so fast that some sloshed out.

Not much was lost and he drained the rest in a long swallow. Vanessa was still on her knees sobbing as the caffine rich coffee flooded his system and he surged to his feet.

He wrapped the pair in a double hug,words coming fast in a quicksilver cadence. There was a moments disorientation, and they reappeared blocks away, in the small alley that backed up to Cabrettas Coffee Shop. For half a second Cyrian was proud of himself. He hadn't manged to that much magery since...then he was doubled over pukeing his guts out.

Rivan scowled at the overturn of the table, not least because of the mess created by the spilt coffee.

Rivan nodded assent to Merry's suggestion and blinked at the trio of crying and screaming ladies, who were garbed in an extrodinarily odd fashion.

He 'offfed' when he got punched, but caught the arm and preformed a ippon seoi nage, or one-arm shoulder throw upon the biker.

There is a new situation map up- I suggest that every one go look at it! - and iapologise for my poor drawing skills (http://www.atddm.com/fs2.gif)

Even with the distance, and the various support walls, the thunder of Ryan's big magnums all but left Dilanadeaf. Sian had vanished out of sight around the corner of the drive lane closest to the north wall, and nothing else seemed to be moving in the garage. Then something in the semi darkness shifted

A small figure emerged from between parked cars, down the drive lane that Dilana could look down from where she was next to the medkit. It was crouching even lower, trying to hide or so it seemed. As it neared she could see that it was a child, dirty and feral looking.

Heyoka managed to extricate himself from the ladies without to much further damage to their costumes. He, with more agility showing now that he was on his feet, ducked the monolithic body of the bike that Rivan tossed half way across the horizon. "Hey not half bad! and ..Shit!Look Out!" He cried as a smaller table, one of the round ones meant for an intimate couple came whizzing in his and Rivan's direction, an impromptu over sized frisbee.

It never made it to the pair of WereWolves, as another know of struggleing Mundanes blundered into it's path. However the biker's opponent decided that Rivan made a fine substitute and launched a hay maker of his own at the Were with a roared "IT'S CLOBBERING TIME!!"

The leader of the AV's slumped back down as more of the big magnums special rounds impacted. There was too much damage, for it to heal, and that wich animated it began to fade, though it would take fire to fully destroy it.

The one that Ryan had beheaded was fading too, it would not be able to regenerate without it's head, but with the terrible vitality of an Animalistic Vampire it clawed at Ryan, shredding the backs of his thighs, and taking him off his feet with the damage..

****************************************
You MOTHER FUCKER!! YOU RIPPED MY BEST BLOUSE!!"

The Av paid no attention to Red's indignant cry as it lashed out again with claws dull with blood from it's previous savageries. It was fast, faster than a normal vampire and caught the mutant huntress full across her unprotected abdomen with a hand full of claws. The claws burried themselves deep, and blood becan to pour from freely from Red.

The other, hit multiple times in the head with her own custom rounds was moving but ineffectively, needing fire, as it's leader did to finish it entirely. However it's body was a inadvertant obstacle to the combatants dodging about it.

*******************************************

The first one Ryan had landed on, the one who's spine he had landed on had regenerated and scuttling forward on hands and feet, like a monsterous spider charged at 'Busa, who was still reeling from the debillitating echos of the assorted hand canons going off in such confined spaces.

However before it reach him he was transforming into his true form (http://www.atddm.com/goni.jpg), though even with a twenty foot ceiling height it was some what cramped. His tentacles ended in gaping fang filled mouths and as one they swooped down upon his would be attacker.

Ryan dropped, wretching in pain. Today was just not his day. First the face, then his leg. He rolled away from the dead animalistic vampire, reaching for whatever he could find. His hands came across an arm, one that was once attatched to a body. It was feminine in shape, obviously belonging to the other vampire's catch. He grabbed it around the wrist, and smashed it down on the headless vamp's back. "Die you sonofabitch!" he shouted, smashing it with the arm again.

It made one last claw at him, to which he grabbed the arm, and pushed against the body, ripping it free. He continued to drive it down on the back of the vampire, effectively beating it with its own arm. "I said die!" he shouted, tossing the arm away as the body stopped moving. Blood was pouring clean from the wound in his leg. Cuts, scratches, bullet wounds, and the like would heal fast. Ripping musscle out of leg was another thing. He scratched backwards, crawling away from the mess as Busa began his transformation.

"Oh fuck this," he said underhis breath as the new beast roared. He rolled onto his stomach, forcing himself to his feat, hobbling over to a car that had managed to go untouched, and ducked behind it, only one Beretta left, the rest out on the floor scattered around. He made his shots carefull, but even in .40 S&W, they wouldn't be doing much damage. Enough to keep them back till his leg healed, if that.

Sian couldn't claim to be expert in her three inch heels much less the six inch that Red apparently found resonable, and even less so doing it all at a dead run. The sonic battering from the various big bore guns coupled with the startling transformation of 'Busa less than a dozen feet in front of her put Sian on the cold concrete of the garage floor. Part of her was very glad that every one else was too busy to notice that the result showed the world that she had indeed forgone...

She could barely hear, but for some reason, perhaps becasue she was hearing it as much with her mind as her bruised ear drums, she could clearly hear Ryan.

"I said die!"

Her initial giggles were aborted as the Animalsitic Vampire that had charged the Oni nearly reached her, despite the several mouths attached to it.

"Shit!" Sian yelped as she schooched backwards several feet on her shapley bare derriere. Then she was beside the rear bumper of a Caddy and she managed to get to her feet. 'Ryan are you okay?.' Her thought lanced across to her friend as she managed to get to her feet. He had gone silent and she was worried. Then more gun shots sounded from close to where he had been.

As Dilana scanned what was around her, at first she had seen nothing but darkness and the fight going on. She was waiting for someone to help when her eyes caught site of something moving hunched over.
'Is that a child?'
Dilana thought as she waited, her eyes looking directly at the child.

The one that Ryan had beheaded, then beat with it's own arm spasmed as his rounds dug into it and it showed no inclination to try and resume the attack.

Sian tried putting weight on both feet. She nearly fell again as she discovered her left foot was broken out both sides at the ankle. This occcassioned some creative cussing as she leaned against the Caddy's trunk

"Sorry Doc" 'Busa hooted as he tentacles dragged the writhing AV back towards him. The AV's claws did a sizeable amount of damage to the tentacles. However the icor that spilled from 'Busa's body was setting the AV alight where it touched. Writhing and screaming the AV fought but could not free itself.

******************************************

The child was becoming more visable now continued toward Dilana It's clothing was torn and stained to the point where the original hues were indescernable. The child seemed to pant, breathing in hard little puffs, and blood trickled down its chin from it's lips.

Red tried moving back as the creature attacked, but it's nails still caught her unprotected flesh, tearing the ring from her belly button.

"Ohhh, THAT'S it."

She snapped the magnum into the holster on her left and reached out with her left hand, grabbing the AV by the back of it's neck. Her right, still holding her second magnum flashed forward, smashing teeth as the barrel rammed into it's mouth.

"You hungry? EAT THIS!"

And she moved the barrel from left to right, pulling the trigger three times, firing upward into it's brain before grabbing it by what was left of it's clothing and throwing it into a wall hard enough to crack the concrete.

In a flash she took stock of her surroundings and the situation. The first one she shot was healing, much to her surprise and then she saw the creature, it's mouths moving about.

"You have to be fucking kidding me."

She reached over with her left hand to draw the rune carved blade from her right forearm sheath and in a leap and sweeping gesture beheaded the first AV she fought then turned toward where she threw the second. She would have preferred to just blast them, but she hadn't brought any extra mags, not she had any place to put them in her tight and barely conceiling outfit.

The pain from the wound was intense, but she knew that she couldn't feed from any of the creatures here to help her heal and so she ignored it for now.

Michael was moving as fast as he could toward the garage level, hoping to reach the huntress before she moved away from that area. The Enterprise was in the garage at least, so he would be able to quickly follow if she were to go ahead and leave from there, at least by car.

Dilana stared at the child, unsure of what it was doing there. Because of the fight below her, Dilana wasn't sure if the child was a vamp as well. Deciding to be safe however protected Dilana called out softly, "Hey you."
Her eyes met the child's face; the gun she had held downwards so the child couldn't see it.

Rivan almost got slammed by the punch, not because of the skill of the puncher but because of fact that he was throwing a punch that was so heavily telegraphed, Rivan almost couldn't believe anyone would attack like that. Stepping inside the punch, preformed a soto makikomi, or outer wrap-around throw. As he sent the man flying he, by the nature of the throw went down as well.

Meeting the Animalistic Vampire child's eyes was about the worst thing that Dilana could have done. The hate and rage held in those black eyes was boundless and pounded at her like Thor's own hammer. With a scream that had nothing intellegent about it the cild thre her self in Dilana's direction, closing the distance with terrible speed.[/i]

Busa roared as the AV's claws tore at him further, and lifting one massive foot slammed down just as his mouths let go. He ignored the flames, they had no effect on him. One of his hands, with its own great claws reached out and grabbed the AV that Red had thrown into the wall then beheaded. "Carefull lady your're bleeding bad."

Tossing the still spasming body down next to the one he was standing on he set it afire as well. His blood was very incindary.

"Get that last one over here too"

As the creature reached over Red was ready to jump away from it, not willing to engage it until she was sure that it was the only opponent left.

"Carefull lady your're bleeding bad."

Tossing the still spasming body down next to the one he was standing on he set it afire as well. His blood was very incindary.

"Get that last one over here too"

"Job hazard", she replied, grimacing and moved toward the last one. But the feral scream snapped her head up and she leaped over the row of cars, twisting as she did and pumping several shots into the child, careful to make sure none of the bullets would hit Dilana even on a ricochet. She landed, preparing to spring again, but went down to her knees as pain lanced through her stomach.

She hesitated only a fraction of a second and moved with all the speed her body and experience gave her. "Your NOT taking the only friend I've ever made you FUCKER." She slammed into the child, grabbing it and twisting, throwing it toward Busa, "CATCH!" she shouted, slipping to the ground and starting to crawl toward the last one she had left. 'Come to mama you piece of shit', she muttered.

Dilana gasped as the child lunged at her, however before she could react she saw Red come to her aid.
'Wow she's good.'
Dilana thought as she saw the child and Red fight, and when Red had thrown the child to someone that Dilana couldn't see at the moment, while the thing was in midair Dilana took quick aim and fired two shots from the gun that she had readied.

Jessica shuddered with anticipation as Lauarlin's lips moved over hers. For that brief moment, the threat from downstairs was forgotten, for that brief moment nothing else but the vampiress mattered. When Lauralin's lips left hers, the fear of the battle downstairs coming up came back for a few seconds before the vampire's reassuring voice. She smiled happily. The tiger leaned forward and gave Lauralin a hesitant kiss. She pulled back and looked at her.

"Take me...I am yours to enjoy." She said as she began to slowly unzip her cat suit.

Lauralin encompassed Jessica in her magic, not allowing the battle below to interfere with them. Several hours passed in ecstacy until finally the moment of there passion reached it height. At that moment Laura sunk her teeth into Jessica's neck, allowing the werewoman to feel the incredible pleasure of the blood that she felt herself as she drank briefly. Only enought for her to replenish herself, but not enough to harm Jessica. Finally Jessica lay spent and Laura took her in her arms, holding her as the woman rested for a while, allowing the unusual warmth from her own undead body to keep her warm and make her feel safe.

(sorry can't put EVERYTHING that happened in there *wink*)

Red crawled a short distance before she felt something went under her hand and looked down to see blood. She looked down and leaned back against the nearest car, pushing something back in that certainly shouldn't have been sticking out of her body, the intestine sticking through her flesh slightly.

"Well that's not supposed to be like that", she muttered and looked up at Dilana, "told I've gotten in more trouble trying to help people then any I've been in before."

She sheathed the blade and holstered her gun, raising her left arm and activating a comm there.

"Harrow?"

"Holy one?", came a man's voice, making Red roll her eyes and sigh.

"There's been a situation", she said.

Another man's voice came across the comm, that of the former Iconoclast soldier that she had spoken with earilier.

"Why does this not surprise me, blasphemy?" he asked.

"Fuck you, Godolkin", Red muttered, "I'm injured, I need the med kit and ...."

There was a long pause before Harrow returned her broadcast, "We're moving", he said, huffing and puffing, "Godolkin should be there in about three minutes. I'll be ... a bit longer. Stay with us Holy one."

"Ain't goin nowhere", she said barely above a whisper.

Dilana lowered her eyes as Red looked up at her, "I'm sorry."
She said as she listened to the exchange; she was close enough to hear.
"Red," Dilana said as she scrambled down off the ledge, carrying the heavy kit like it was nothing, "I have a med kit right here; lay down I'll help you."

Red looked at Dilana a second and then smiled and layed down.

"I'll need blood, but Godolkin should here soon. He can heal fast enough to survive the amount that I'll need."

She looked down at herself again and then put her head back.

"I can't believe that bloke fucked up my best blouse."

"I can't believe I was so fucking stupid," Dilana said through gridded teeth as she went through the items of the kit.
"Here's some blood," Dilana said as she extracted a bag full of the life giving fluid, "I can hook you up to it right here, don't worry I know what I'm doing."
Dilana said as she set up the IV and injected it in to Red's arm. Looking at the gaping hole in Red, Dilana made a quick bandage, "I can wrap this around your waste. Do you mind?"

"Do I mind? No. Been awhile you know? I'll take anything, even kinky stuff at this point. But I could have just drank the blood, Dee", she said and winked.

"Once your done with that bandage, check the others. Godolkin will be here soon and Harrow isn't far behind. The others may need you as well."

She closed her eyes and then opened them again, "And Dee ... Thank you."

"Oh yeah," Dilana said as she laughed, "I forgot about that. Back in my homeland, most people weren't vamps that I knew of. However I forgot that you could've drank the blood."
Dilana tightened the bandage around Red's waist, making sure it was tight. After Red had thanked her Dilana smiled, "Your welcome, it's the least I could do."
She squeezed Red's hand before picking up the kit, "I'll be back, just make sure those two men you got coming don't kill me for touching you."
Dilana said as she laughed and made her way around the broken cars and blood splattered ground;

Red had greatly underestimated the distance she had jumped. She had cleared nearly eighty feet in her leap to place herself between Dilana and the child. Her throw, meant to take the child within Busa's reach, failed. Somewhat off trajectory, the child vampire, after taking both rounds that Dilana had fired, smashed into one of the support walls. Limp, it slid down between some park cars, out of sight in the darkness.

'Busa growled a harried "Never made it here" in response Red's Catch! as he grabbed the last of the three near him with his tentacles and pulled it over to the impromptu pyre. He half turned looking for Ryan, but couldn't see him.

"HEY! RYAN !! Get those other walking hungers over here"

Red popped an eye open, "Well, now you know why I didn't join a baseball league", she said loudly, "but just as soon as my intestines decide to stay in where they're supposed to I'll try again. Sort of over extended myself on that jump."

Ryan forced himself to stand. His leg was healing, now just a set of scars, but the pants were still ripped. "Fuck," he muttered quietly. He walked around the back of the car, holding the gun down, watching the others move around him. He heard Busa's shout and nodded, holstering his one Beretta. He saw where the Oni was standing, with the fire, and walked over first to the mass of flesh and blood that was his first target. He picked up the mass, puling it back, and shouted for Busa.

"Heads up!" he shouted, tossing the 'dead' Animalistic vamp over the Benz, towards the Oni. He turned, walking towards the lead vamp. He snarled down at the beast, fangs extended. "Ya know, I really didn't want to half to deal with this. You types making messes, always fucking ruining my day." He grabbed the all but headless beast as it fought him, reaching out to strike or cut Ryan. Ryan just held it out further, the stink of the beast permeating Ryan's senses. He leaned back again, waving with his free hand towards Busa.

"I got another one, and its a bit fiesty!" he shouted reaching back, tossing it towards Busa on the other side of the SLR. He walked over to the German super car, holstering the Beretta, and sighed. "I hate this shit," he said quietly, brushing his outfit off. "I mean, why can't these fuckers just challange someone in the ring instead of this eat everything they fucking see shit."

"You get in such rotten moods Ryan, I don't see how any one can stand ya" Busa quipped as he caught the first revenant, and dropped him at his feet atop the other quickly charing corpses.

When the other one came fluing over to land with a eruption of flames directly on the pyre Busa whooped, and looked about to see if there were any more.

"SHit, Ryan, stop playing with the toys and get around here. The Doc's down!" One massive arm pointed to where Sian lay unconscious on the concrete. Blood flowed freely from her temple and head to puddle about her.

No psionic wanted find precognition numbered among their abilities. It was far more of a curse than anything resembling a gift. Too transient, to unmalleable, to disturbing, and worst of all…no one believed you. So Sian carefully labeled any such glimpses of the future, or even worse - possible futures - as simply her trained observation interacting with the information she had, conscious or sub conscious, and extrapolating. It was a much more comfortable way of looking at such events, even if it was a flaw in her otherwise ruthlessly self-honest character.

The night split with screams, flames scarring the dark, the heavy copper scent of blood filling the air.. The taste on her lips, weak and mortal, nothing like her sire’s rich blood. They looked deep into each others eyes, each knowing the others plans, each aware that they might not well survive past the next few moments. Each concentrating on making sure the other survived. Then she was racing forth. ‘You were looking for me? Here I am.” Calling out loudly, though she knew that he would hear her even if she whispered. She let her power flare around her, making her an even more irresistible target, a distraction that her sire would take every advantage of, and Cain would die….

But what ever it was it saved her life as without conscious directive her shields flared just enough to deflect the ricocheting round. It scored heavily along her temple, rendering her unconscious with a mild concussion. Sian struggled inwardly against disorientation, chaotic mental imagery, lost in a world of fog and mirrors. And as always, she was alone...

On automatic, her shields shimmered about her, wrapping her in a faintly glowing cocoon, protecting her from physical danger

When Dilana heard that, "the doc's down," she knew that it had to be Sian. Dilana sprinted around the cars with the kit, making her way over to her friend.
"Damn fuckers," Dilana swore as she knelt beside Sian, seeing the blood around her head.
"Sian," Dilana spoke softly as she brought out items from the kit in order to stop the bleeding from her head, "It's Dilana, I'm going to try and stop your bleeding."
The young woman could sence her power in the air, and she readied the bandage to put around Sian's head to stop the flow of blood. The woman just wasn't sure if she was aloud to touch the woman because of her powers.

Ryan rarely ever moves as fast as he could. Even moving down to the garage from teh club was done at what he would call a leisurely pace. Vampire could move faster than any human could dream, and even though he had not the gift of celerity, Ryan could run with the best of them. And in this case, he did.

Shit, Ryan, stop playing with the toys and get around here. The Doc's down!

Ryan turned, following Busa's massive arm, seeing Sian splayed out. In a swift, all but cat like motion, he leaped straight up and over the Mercedes super car, and as soon as is feet it the ground, he started running. His legs moved fast enough to carry him the forty foot distance in times that would make a profesional football reciever look slow. He wasn't quite the blur to the human eye many a vampire could be, but to those not watching directly, it was almost as if he never moved, just floated over.

He slid down across the last five feet, comming up to his knees at Sian's side. He looked down at her, unknowing what to do. He was an agent of death, he had little clue on how to save lives. He looked up at Dilana, holding a bandage for the bleeding.

"Her shields are up, but shes unconscious. I don't know if we'll be able to get through," he said, worriedly, looking down at her.

Time and again the confusion threatened to sweep her away, back to halls of broken mirrors. However, slowly a presence filtered though the chaos, a solid sureness that Sian could begin to anchor herself to. . The presence grew stronger, slowly but unstoppably.

'Who?...ooohhh...Ryan?' Confusion lifted long enough for the merest ghost of a whisper to float though the presence. The tendril faded away almost before it was sent, as Sian's eyelids flickered slightly, and a deeper breath jolted through her.

When Sian had whispered, Dilana's hearing picked up her voice, "Sian," Dilana whispered back. After a moment Dilana repeated a bit louder, "Sian, Dilana and Ryan are here; the fight is over, you'll be alright."
Turning to Ryan Dilana said, "Do you think you can put this bandage around her head? We need to stop this blood. I sence I can't touch her."

Merry growled underneath her breath and waded into the ever shifting pool of frantic Mundanes that seemed deliberately bent on trampling the three Were's. She took a few good buffets, in human form though she was far stronger than any Mundane, she didn't weigh that much.

The Butterfly Ladies were hefted aside and Heyoka lifted up. Then the pair turned on the brawlers, tossing them aside to get to Rivan.

"Rivan! Are you okay?" Merry asked as the crowd continued to swirl about them, the trio of Were's forming a tiny pocket of calm. Not the only ones though here and there other Night Life gathered, finding safety in numbers.

"There" Heyoka pointed "That looks like a nice safe spot."

He and Merry interlaced arms- Merry offering her free arm to Rivan, and they began to make thir way over to the high backed booth. The table was littered with half finished drinks, but Heyoka just pushed them aside as he slid into the booth. Merry had no problem with sliding into the other side first, letting Rivan take the outside.

Taking advantage of it's safety Heyoka stood on the seat to get a better view of what was happening.

"Cain's sorcerers are doing some good. No ones able to go over the side. That's a drop that would kill Mundanes, and as panicked as they are they aren't trampeling one another too badly." He observed drily before dropping back down to the cushions.

"How long before the cops show?" Merry wondered aloud.

"I'm alright." Rivan replied as he took Merry's arm and together strove for the relative safety of a booth. With Merry safely in the middle, he looked around. "No idea when the cops will arrive, but do things like this happen often?"

Time, or rather ones sense of time, does funny things when it all 'goes south'. What actually takes only minutes might seem to the senses to flash forward into merest seconds, and seconds become exhausting hours.

Combat holds the most extreme examples. The thrust of a knife coming in at you stretches into a slow motion ballet, and your own blade keeps the cold steel from kissing your flesh. You knew your opponent was going to make that move, you saw it in his eyes, in the infinitely slow play of muscles as they reacted to his command. And you had all the time in the world to reply.

You leave the killing ground dripping with sweat, exhausted. And it took only seconds from opening clash to a body slumping to the ground never to rise.

How long had they been down there in the garage, the screams of pain and defiance barely heard above the battering roar of gunshot after gunshot?

Bare minutes.

It took Dilana far longer to set up the I.V drip for Red and place a pressure bandage over the gaping wound in her abdomen than it did for Red to get the injury that nearly eviscerated her.

So all in all, one can only estimate. So, for time keepings sake one might guess that from Ryan's first contact with the Animalistic Vampires to his kneeling next to Dilana at Sian's side, perhaps only ten minutes had past.

Above on the min floor of Cains the Mundanes are still fleeing, the elevators and stairs pcked with surgeing bodies. Here and there there are the inevetable fights but no one has been too badly hurt.

Cain's hired sorcerers and psionics will be working overtime to alter, blurr, and erase memories. Such a near riot would have incredibly bad repercussions for all the Night Life.

In the Armand, in the those in the luxury suite, Michael, Jessica, and Lauralin had not even recieved their perfectly cooked steaks as of yet.

And for those just now staggering out in to the rainswept, cold street Houston Feb. 15 2010, the faintest sound of approaching police vehicles could be heard.

"The cops come here? Hell if Cain doesn't own the whole department I'd be shocked" Merry snorted cynically. Then she saw a skinny Mundane who faniced himself a vampire talking frantically into one of the newest tech toys. He swept the lens across the frothing crowd. The toy was a full scale satalite uplinked video camera. It wasn't much bigger than a pack of ciagrettes, and all the the rage for 'at the sceen' reporting.

"Actually it may be unavoidable. Look at that." Tilting her head at the wanna be. "Shit I figured that Cain would have bought a ward specifically keyed to keep spyeyes like that from working inside the club."

Ryan went to work quickly, wrappng the bandage tightly, but not too tight, around Sian's head. He looked her over again, pulling hte dress up and down to cover her better, and studied her. Her ankle was bad too, and Ryan thought it would take surgery. He sighed, swearing under his breath. "Ok, we need to get her conscious," he said, looking around.

He moved closer, nealing almost on her, looking at her face. He knew that the best way to get her up would be mind contact. He placed his arms on her shoulder, gentley, and turned her on her side incase she needed to vommit. "Ok," he said out loud, shaking his shoulders out. Lets go, he thought mentally.

Sian...Sian, you need to wake up. Its me, Ryan. Your hurt bad, but we need you to wake up so we know what to do. C'mon girl, get up!We need to get the hell out of here!

Sians shield didn't flare as Ryan's hands entered them. She had recognised his presence, and even lost within the shattered mirrors, she knew he wouldn't harm her. Blood soaked the bandage, but began to clot sealing the long shallow gash.

C'mon girl, get up!We need to get the hell out of here!

His touch against her skin gave his presence an even strong er foundation. Ryan's thoughts rang through the halls of her mind, the shards of mirrors beginning to vanish asn she anchored herself to him.

'What chunk of sky ' a mental gulp against an on rush of nausea and her mind slid sideways for long seconds as she found Ryan again. 'fell on me? here am I?' she mumbled mentally as she fought against the return of the nausea.

Her eyes flickered opne for a second but her eye lids were too heavy and they drooped closed.

"Damnit," Ryan swroe again, still holding Sian.

SIAN! You need to wake up. Concentrate on my voice Sian, follow me outa here. You gotta wake up so we can get rolling. The cops should be here soon, and Cain's gonna be rip fucking pissed when they show up. We need you to lead us outa here Sian, gotta get us rolling. We don't know where to go with you out like this.

He looked around again at the group. "Get ready to roll, we might need to get outa here fast, even if she isn't awake yet. Busa, we might need to put her in the back of your Hummer, I'll take her car and one of ya'll can ride with me. But I wanna hold of as long as we can."

C'mon girl, wake up! he shouted in her head.

Sian couldn't help it, her body told her just what it thought of getting beaned with an errant round. She vomited, and her eyes opened yet again.

C'mon girl, wake up!

That mental shout brought an involuntary whimper of pain, but it also helped cut though the fog. Now she could fight to keep her eyes open, even if she was seeing a disorienting double of every thing. 'I'm...where, here, ... Ryan.' She didn't dare try to move her head, she was sure that it would fall off if she did. 'Did I get 'runk?' Firmly she set her will do clearing her head, though it seemed to take an eternity.

Busa, we might need to put her in the back of your Hummer, I'll take her car and one of ya'll can ride with me. But I wanna hold off as long as we can."

'Busa frowned and left off his tending of the pile of flaming corpses. Moving over to stand by Dilana and Ryan he caught Dilana's attention.

"Where's the other lady? She was really carved up 'cross the middle. Ryan, she may need the Hummer more than Sian does. Head wounds always bleed alot and she's coming too pretty quick." He siad judiciously after watching Sian for a long moment.

The Oni had seen plenty of injuries in this long life and knew that head wounds almost always looked worse than they were. However he also knew that the wide bodied Hummer could carry both if need be.

Fortunately the Hospital was very close.

Ryan looked at Busa and shrugged. "Don't look at me man, I'm no medic. I'm just the wheel man," he said, using his signature phrase when asked what he did for a living. "I think we just need to get the hell out of here!"

He looked down at Sian as she began to come back around. "C'mon girl, your almost here, come on!" he both said and mentally spoke. "We got it under control, we just need you to wake up!"

He looked around, noting the distance between him at the Hummer and the Sagaris, and then at Dilana. "Take care of the other chick, I got Sian, we need to be ready to move fast, as soon as your done with whats her face."

Heavy footfalls could be heard echoing through the garage. Godolkin had finally grabbed the med kit and half carried, half dragged Harrow along with him. As they came down the ramp Godolkin shoved the the kit back into Harrows hands and readied his weapons.

Godolkin was a huge man and rather confusing to the senses. He wasn't a non-human to be sure and not a mutant, but something about him wasn't right. He stood about 7 feet with steel cabling for muscles. On his right arm was a small mini-gun that could fire 1000 rounds a second, though the pack on his back could only hold enough for a half second burst. On his left was a deactivated purifier. A flame thrower that burned hotter than even napalm. A gun and a purifier blade was fixed to his back on either side of the ammo pack and purifier resuvoir. His eyes were cold, the right with a filmy look like a cataract, but was the bio gel to hold the circuitry in place. The eye evaluated many factors and could see in a number of spectrums. The battle harness was strapped to his bare torso with rune tatoos to help protect against non-humans, not having had time to put on the metal shirt. The black metal material pants hugged his heavily muscled legs and the the heavy combat boots could withstand extreme heat and cold. The muscle was thick and denser than normal and his bones thicker. His mind was calm as he scanned the area, his psychological and drug induced conditioning keeping certain parts of his psyche closed off from any ability for him to access it.

Harrow looked human and could pass for one, his only mutation being a second brain that formed in his body cavity and allowing him to perform two completely different tasks at the same time, even controling his hands and feet completely independent of each other if need be.

Godolkin surveyed the situation as he strode forward. The former Iconoclast shocktrooper evaluating the threats.

"Blasphemy?" he asked, his deep voice echoing in the garage.

"I'm alive", Red replied as she looked over at the two.

"Pity", Godolkin said, looking toward Busa.

"Yeah I know, you missed me", she said as they made thier way over toward her.

OOC- there is a new map up (http://www.atddm.com/fs12.gif)

Please note where every one is -

Red will be easily seen by any one coming down the Down Ramp, obviously.

However Sian, Ryan, and Dilana are on the ground or kneeling on the ground and cars block any view of them.

But - 'Busa is nearly 20 ft tall and doesn't look the least bit humsn- see the link to a Great Oni that is in earlier posts - he will also be easy to see, as will the pile of burning AV's just east of him.

The pyre is marked by blue box and the Mercedez that Ryan shoved around is the black box slightly further east.

'Busa's Hummer is marked with HMMV, and Sian's car is in hot pink and labeled as well.

Any one going for the Hummer or Sian's car will be going past - or with in clear sight of - the newly arrived pair! There would be no hiding it as far as I can tell.

I will eventually delete this post , just wanted every one to be on the same page as to their locations, and lines of visibility.

Ryan lifted up Sian, she was slowly comming around. He slid an arm arounder hr upper back, and under her other arm, holding her up. "Alright, lets get outa here." He motioned for everyone to follow him, leading them towards the two parked cars. "We need to get the hell outa here. I know the cops are gonna be here soon, even if Cain does have them payed off. Dilana, right?" he said, looking at the other girl. "You go find that other warrior, looks like she got the hell outa here, make sure she's ok."

He waved over Busa. "Time to go back to normal home boy, we need to roll."

Ryan turned, looking towards the cars, and saw two massive hulks of people run down the ramp. They were looking for someone or something, shouting unintelligably. Ryan sized them up, they were massive. He looked over his shoulders, his guns far beyond the Mercedes.

"Oh fuck me," he said under his breath.

(OOC: Sorry for the ooc but Only Godolkin is huge. Harrow is about average, and even looks a bit overweight, to accomodate the brain mass in his body cavity.)

Dilana wasn't sure what woman he meant, however it clicked in her head. She had watched as Ryan had tried to wake up Sian, however she had knelt aside to let him do his work; she knew being a former nurse that you needed to have the person awake in order to help them better in most cases.
"Alright," Dilana said, "I'll go and check her out."
The young woman stood as she began to make her way around cars, running in to two men that weren't far off.
"Red," Dilana called out, "It's Dilana, just checking up on ya."
She stepped forward, coming up on Red however being careful not to step on her.

"Time to go back to normal home boy, we need to roll

Before the Oni could reply he stopped short. Looking at th looked at the two new comers. "Want to riddle me what they are? I don't like the way the big ones looking at me. And what is he a walking National Guard armory?" He watched worriedly as Dilana ran over to Red, heedless of the two strangers.

"And I hope no one minds naked. Changing ruins my wardrobe something aweful." He finally replied to Ryan's comment. Indeed going from a tall, but still only six and a half foot, rather skinny Japanese to his true form had ripped apart everything he had been wearing.

Sian had to concentrate to keep her head from spinning mindas Ryan helped her upright. She let him support her, as seeing double was not conducive to any sort of pride. She wasn't sure about what caused her injuries, obviously there had been some sort of fight. The flickering fire light, the Ryan's tattered and injured condition, and most of all the smell...burning flesh and worse nearly had her gagging again. She was careful to breathe shallowly.

She gave up trying to remember as two heavily armed strangers pounded down the ramp. She tried very hard to clear her vision but gave it up after a few seconds. Her mind flinched as she sent her 'senses' swirling forth - her ehnergy was at an unpleasantly low level. The headache would be monstrous, but she needed to know what they now faced.

"Careful" Sian let her eyes close as she gulped down more nausea "Ryan, the big one is, ...no Was... an Iconoclast. I don't think I have enough energy to get those tattooed wards off of him. And they're proof against Vampiric powers and claws."

She didn't need eyes to fight so she didn't reopen them.. Carefull she used a tiny amount of what energy she had left to wrap a heavy shield around her left ankle, imobilising it It would make her slow and clumsy, but it would free Ryan for any moves he might need to make.

Godolkin approached Red and glanced at her as Harrow approched her. The six barrels of the mini gun looked rather large as he swept it left and right, surveying the area.

"Godolkin, NO", Red almost shouted and the barrel dropped quickly.

"By your will, Mistress."

"Hey", Red said, with a mischivous grin on her face, trying to lighten up the situation, "nice view from down here", she said, looking up Godolkins columnlike legs to his groin.

Godolkin said nothing, only scanned the area again, "We should be away, Blasphemy."

"Yeah", Red said, I'd love to.

Harrow knelt beside her, looking at the bandage, "Nice work", he said, looking at the bandaging, but I'll have to remove it for a minute. He cut it away and Red yelped as did so.

"FUCK, Harrow, I thought you had med training?"

"Two years med shool before they found out I was a mutant. Then they kicked me out. But it has been some time Holy one."

He removed a government issue bio-foam and sprayed it into the wound, acting as real skin until her own could heal the wound, then he put on another dressing.

Godolkin removed the flame purifier and lifted Red with surprising gentleness to his neck. She bit in drinking deep.

As Ryan watched the two, he noted they obviously didn't want to fight, they were just looking over that one other person, named Red. "Man, forget this," he said, helping Sian move. He spotted her car, the candy apple red sports machine standing out from some of the more bland cars and colors ofthe garage.

"Man," Ryan shouted back at Busa, "put some clothes on. They got Red, lets just get the fuck outa here!"

He helped Sian hobble over to the TVR, past the two Iconoclasts as Sian had called them. "Ok girl, lets get you in the car," he said, opening the door for her, and helping her down into the seat.

Dilana didn't mind being moved, if the man wanted to protect her. When all looked like they were just for Red, Dilana moved herself so she could look at Red, "Hey Red."
She said in her normal voice, "Maybe we'll see each other again one day, and not like this."
She waved a hand around at all the distruction;
When she spotted everyone having a place to go Dilana called out, "Ryan, is it? I originally came with her, so I'm not sure on where to go now."
Dilana finished, pointing at Sian's car.

"Dilana", Red said, "this is Harrow", gesturing to the one who attended her wounds", and this is Godolkin she said, nodding toward the man she had fed from. The wound on his neck was already healing, part of his alterations. "You can come with us if you like, we're not far."

Harrow glanced at Dilana then Red, "Is that wise, Holy one?"

Red sighed, "Please don't call me that", she said as Godolking began strapping the purifier back on. "And yes it is, she's a friend, but it's up to her."

"Ok girl, lets get you in the car,"

Sian nodded and let Ryan helped her in to the low slung racer "Dilana, give her this card." Sian managed to extract a card from her purse, tossing it towards Dilan as Ryan went around to the drivers side.

"Red, call me." That was an order despite the weakness of her voice.

"I need you to take me to the Hospital, Ryan. And 'Busa you have some injuries too." She watched the Oni change, ignoring his blushes as she noted that some of the wounds remained in his human form.

"I've got spare clothes in the Hummer." The Oni hurried over, useing his remote to unlock the doors. He looked back at Dilana. "You can ride with me." He offered as he pulled out a pair of sweats and matching top. "If I don't go to the Hospital it's likely she'll just come haul my ass over there." He grinned

Dilana looked back and forth, from Red to Sian.
"Are you sure Sian?"
Dilana asked the woman when Dilana had gotten the card, "Can I do anything for you?"

"Not right now", Red replied as Godolkin finished strapping his weapon back on and then picked her up. "But you know, later, when I'm stronger", and she winked as she took the card.

Harrow's eyes shot up as looked from Dilana to Red and then away, blushing. Red grinned again, getting the reaction she expected from the bashful man and said, "Go, get out of here, I'll see you again", and tucked the card into her corset.

Godolkin then starting running again at rather impressive pace, even packed down with all his gear and carrying Red and Harrow picked up the kit and took off, still having a hard time keeping up.

"It's okay Dilana, 'Busa knows where the Hospital is and he'll take good care of you." Sian replied to Dilans's question as she carefully shut the door. She didn't want to slam it, sharp noises were making her head swim.

"So what sort of music do you like?" 'Busa asked Dilana as he hefted Sian's heavy medkit and tucked it into the back of the Hummer.

"We'll meet ya there" He called to Ryan as the Vampire backed the Sagaris out of the parking spot. The Oni wasn't sure Ryan heard him over the revving of the engine. He shrugged and went around to open the passenger door for Dilana, helping her up the high step in gentlemanly fashion. Any lady that didn't freak the moment she say is true shape deserved every courtesy. And his mother enforced courtesy with adamantine claws.

Ryan slid into the driver's seat of hte TVR, depressed the clutch, and keyed the ignition. He let the car go through its "ignition" sequence, all the dials zeroing in, and the shift light testing itself. He buckled the harness, and adjusted his seat slighlty, giving him self better pedal feel and reach. He backed out of the spot hard, then hit the clutch midway through the reverse, pulling a perfect 180.

He floored it out towards the center of the garage, spun the car again, this time in a drift like power slide, and held the accelerator all the way through the "up" ramp. He moved expertly through the garage to the street, and checked for oncomming traffic. Has he turned onto the road towards the medical center.

"Where too from here?" he asked.

"Night Life ER, I want to make sure 'Busa gets those claw wounds treated. Even Oni can get infections, or so says what litterature there is." Sian replied, her face white as the proverbial sheet. "and I know you are a fantastic driver, but Ryan, please... later." There was the faintest hint of a whimper in her voice and she hated that

She gained back some color as he took a left at the next possible street, then a left again taking them north to the entrance to I-10. His driving as smooth as that of a professional chauffeur. The Hospital wasn't a mile as the crow flew, but the various one way streets made it a slightly longer drive.

"I'm sorry that I got you into trouble with Cain."

.Sian wanted to apologise before the massive migraine that was building swept over her.

Dilana smiled as he helped her up, "Thanks, I'm sorry but I forgot your name. I know you told me, however with all this crazy shit started happening I forgot."
"What kind of music do I like? I'll listen to anything once."

Ryan made the drive smooth. He would wait till later to take the car out, to push it to see what it could really do. However, at this point, the car seemed to glide over the streets. The ride was quiet for the most part, the sounds of the road penatrating the cockpit.

They rolled slowly to the night life emergency room, Ryan hoping Busa had called ahead or made note of their arrival.

I'm sorry that I got you into trouble with Cain.

"Meh, don't worry about it," Ryan replied. "Ego trips and all. I wouldn't have done anything to get me in trouble if I didn't want to. Cain'll calm down, or something like that. We'll figure it out later on. Right now, we just need to get you into this hospital. And don't worry about Cain. We have our issues that we can, well, settle, on our own time. It was just as much my fault."

"Most people just call me Hayabusa, 'Busa for short. My heart name can't really be pronounced any but another Oni." He said rather shyly as he shut her door and trotted around to the drivers side.

"Hey, could you grab the celphone out of the glove box and punch in 5. That will get the Hospital. Some one needs to let them know that Sian's on her way in. And I bet Ryan hasn't thought of that." The Oni asked at he turned the Hummers big engine over and backed it out of the parking spot.

Soon they were up on street level and heading for the the Night Life Hospital.

As soon as they reached the apartment Godolkin set Red no the bed in one of the two bedrooms. She was in pain from the bouncing and clenched her jaw tightly. When Harrow finally caught up he went in and opened the med kit, taking out a pain inhibitor. A neuro blocker that worked on the receptors that transferred pain signals. He injected her with it and then closed the kit. He did a brief examination, trusting that her naturaly fast healing and Godolkins altered blood would be enough.

Godolkin had locked the door and turned out the lights, standing by the window, where Harrow knew he would remain. Harrow grabbed a chair and took into Red's room, placing it close, but not too close, so he could keep an eye on her.

"Hayabusa," Dilana repeated as he had climbed into the front seat, "I like your name, it's interesting."
Dilana reached into the glove box, pulling out the cell phone and following Busa's instructions.
"Hello," Dilana said in to the phone, "I am calling to inform you that Doctor Sian Rese is hurt and is on her way to the hospital. Yes, thank you; bye."
Dilana shut the phone off and put it back in the glove box, leaning back in the seat.

"It was just as much my fault."

Sian didn't press the issue. She would just have to be in better control of herself in the future. Sian did not want to distance herself from Ryan. He was not her only friend, but he was the truest one; the one she could most be herself around. The one for whom wealth and power never mattered, just her. And that he still seemed to feel that way after what Cain had revealed tonight made him even more special to her.

She sat quietly in the car, too hurting inside and out, to try and open the door. Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes and she fiercely dashed them away. "Silly to be crying over a little thing like a broken ankle."

"The hospital knows that Sian is coming," Dilana said to Busa as he drove, "Can I do or call anyone else?"

"I need to let my mother know later that my cousins are okay, but thats an international call and I'll do that from my 'hide later on." He replied as he turned on the Hummer incredible sound system. He'd put well over twenty k into it and every note was concert hall perfect.

"From an old movie that is still kick ass" He identified the selection as part of the sound track of Kill Bill, the driving notes of the Battle without Honor or Humanity pulseing through the Hummer.

As it ended, the peice wasn't long, he chuckled. "I just had to play it seeing that Ryan had ripped one of the revenants arms off."

In the movie the heroine had removed many limbs from those she battled in the sceen in the Tomoyasu Hotel.

Dilana smiled as the music blaired, "This song sounds familiar, what's it from?"

Silly to be crying over a little thing like a broken ankle

Ryan shrugged. One thing he always learned is when it hurts, it hurts. He knew it was more than the ankle that was causing the pain, bringing the tears, but now was not the time to push it. "Don't worry about it. Pain is pain. No way around it."

The paramedics were exiting the hospital, moving out to help Sian out of hte car. Ryan walked over, offering any help he had.

Sian looked up at Ryan as he offered to help, and asked him to lift her out of the car. She knew she would be a negligable burden to him and that he would not drop her. For the barest second she let herself luxuriate in his arms. Then the team was there with the gurney, and they were beginning to fuss over her. "Thank you Ryan."

"oh..and have fun with her." She gave Ryan as wicked a grin as she was capable of and nodded toward the TVR. Then heaving a sigh,she turned her attention to the barrage of questions being thrown her way as the medics and nurses began to assess her - even before they got her wheeled into the ER.

"This song sounds familiar, what's it from?"

"Kill Bill, Vol. 1. Where Uma Thurman's character takes on the gang" Hayabusa turned the Hummer into the Hospitals parking lot, but parked a little ways from the commotion around ER.

"Here ya go" He dug among a double handfull of MP 3 players and handed Dilana one with earbuds. "Can never have enough music. The entire sound track is on there along with some other stuff." He exited the Hummer, jogging around to open her door for her and help her down.

"Corruption," Rivan commented with a note of annoyance. Even thought it was occasionally helpful if a local Alpha or MoC or whatever other group's leader that held sway in any given local had their hands on the puppet strings to the authorities, it still irked his sensibilities.

"Maybe he does, or erases or blocks the recording." He commented as he noticed the camera. "I also wonder what was responsible for this chaos?" He wondered outloud.

"Thanks," Dilana said as he had given her the mp3 player, "You're right; that movie did kick ass; I remember seeing it."
She smiled as he had opened her door; she not used to people especially men being so kind towards her, "Thank you, you really are a gentleman," she said as she extended her hand.

"Corruption,"

Merry snorted at the disgust evident in Rivan's.

"I also wonder what was responsible for this chaos?"

Heyoka and Merry both looked at him wide eyed, but Merry spoke first. "They were reacting to the death cry of one of the most powerful of us Night Life. They couldn't tell what set off every atavastic fear their subconscious clings to but every warning bell they had went off at full frenzy. And once the first fear passes they destroy what they fear."

Heyoka nodded and looked down at the table top for a long moment. "Look I like Mundane politics as much as I do our politics," He shuddered at that - he loathed politics "but Mundanes Are the reason for that 'corruption' you scorned earlier."

He waved a hand as the slowly clearing club. "Rivan, they outnumber us. We may have mages, but they have technology, infrastructure, economy, armies...if they knew about us what do you think would happen?"

"Thank you, you really are a gentleman," Dilana said

'Busa was glad it was night and that the sodium lights of the parking lot made every ones color look odd. He really didn't want Dilana knowing that he was blushing. Taking her hand gently he helped her down. "It's a cultural thing" He tried to shrugged it off.

"Darn it looks like the medics have seen us." he tilted his head towards the medic jogging their way.

"Hey I'm Mike." The young Night Life paramedic introduced himself. "You must be our new nurse. Dilana? Right?" He shook her hand with a smile. "You and I are assigned to patch Hayabusa here up."

Hayabus sighed and led the way into the ER, figuring the sooner it started the sooner it'd be finished.

If he got out by two the cops would be busy watching the drunks try an make their way home and he could take advantage of that.

"I understand the necessity of it, I just don't approve of it. As to the cause of the chaos, I was actually wondering what had done the killing, human, 'night-lifer' or underworlder." Rivan explained

"As to what would happen, it depends how it was approached and whether there was the groundwork done to intergrate us. Of couse by necessity it would take decades at the shortest, or it could go horribly and result in another inquisition."

"Underworlder? Do you mean like a demonic?" Heyoka asked Rivan, having gone slightly pale.

Merry twitched and obviously wanted to direct the conversation back to another quarter but said nothing for the moment.

Not many Night Life wanted anything to do with those from Hell, despite any misconceptions Mundanes might have.

Dilana took busa's hand, as he helped her down from her seat.
'It's a cultural thing.'
He had said as Dilana squeezed his hand, "Still, it's nice of you."
When the man known as Mike had aproached them, Dilana stuck out her hand for him to shake.
"It's nice to meet you," Dilana said, "I asume Sian told you about me? Or, did you sense my coming and that Sian had given me the job."
Dilana spoke as the three of them began walking in to the hospital.

"Occasionally, but more the rogues like the Bitten as you call them, the feral vampires. The ones that give the rest a bad name, the 'movie monster varients'." He replied as he noticed Merry seemed uncomfortable with the subject matter, "So what is life like in your pack?"

"I asume Sian told you about me? Or, did you sense my coming and that Sian had given me the job." Dilana questioned.

"Oh I'm as thick as any brick of a Mundane when it comes to 'sensing' things. I come from a long line of Hobbs." As they stepped into the white lights of the ER one could see the decided grey tinge to his skin and the unMundane white of his curly short hair. "Served the finest families in Europe till they stopped believing, or died off in wholesale lots in the last pandemic. My da and mum immigrated over just after that, amid all those leaving Europe after World War One.

He led them to a treatement room and advised 'Busa to loose the sweats in exchange for a brightly patterned hospital gown. While the lanky Oni glared, Mike just grinned and led Dilana to the staff changing room.

"There's scrubs of all sizes in that supply closet, take any unmarked locker you want, and the ladies shower and restrooms are though the first door on the right. I'll go get 'Busa's assessment started while you get comfortable."

He knew that she wouldn't want her dress to get any more damaged. She, like Sian had apparently been planing a nice relaxed evening out, not something resembling a riot.

"So what is life like in your pack?"

"Oh the 'movie monster varients' are just a part of life that we just have to deal with. What we call the Underworld are the things that even we can't deal with." Merry replied before turning to a more comfortable, for her, subject matter.

"Life in our pack....Hmmm.. we have our traditions, but they're flexible. Aunt Windra, and the leaders before her, has always been open minded, and flexible. She says take the best of everything, mix and serve."

"There's a reason we're the wealithiest pack in Texas. So many think we're 'denying our animal nature' by hiding ourselves so well." Heyoka snorted, his voice rather fierce. "Yeah so I dye myself green and pink and wear lots of leather. I'm a Contrary by nature..but the Mundanes see an out of sync punk and thats it! And when they see me in wolf form?" He belly laughed, then mimiced an old ladies voice perfectly. "Oh here poor abused puppy. Look at what some horrible hooligans have done to this helpless puppy."

"Heyoka is right. We use the Mundane world to get what we need. Money buys power, power buys safety, and priviledge. And there are good things about Mundane society, despite the dangers and the out and out crap." Merry added.

Ryan nodded as Sian disapeared into the hospital, and turned back to the TVR. He eyed it over, then checked his watch. It wasn't to late to get any races, in fact, at this time, most of the rice boys and V6'diots were out, and the fast cars were running the roads. However, unlike most nights, he just wasn't feeling a race. He sighed, and decided he just take the TVR home, and bring it back to Sian later the next night.

He was drivng casually on the highway, holding it about eighty, not really trying to attract any attention, changing lanes smoothly around traffic. He had slid past a few cars that looked like they would put up a fight, but non that he wanted.

He was nearing his exit when the interior of the car changed to a red and blue flashing hue. Fuck me twice, he thought as the squad car pulled up on him. He wasn't going that much over the limit, and most officers now a days would let someone go on speeding. But tonight must have been different. Ryan considered checking to see if it were a full moon.

For the most part, Ryan wanted to stop. He would have pulled over, flashed some vangs or used one of his other powers, and been done with it. However, stress was a thing that needed to be dealt with and removed with great prejudice, and tonight was full of it. He slid over to the side of the road, and waited for the officer to approach. "Is there something wrong officer?" he asked calmly.

"Yeah, you were going about twenty over in your little speed race piece of shit here. I would have let you go if you had a decent car," the officer snorted.

Ah, hes not a cop, hes a pig, Ryan chuckled mentally. Sian had told him to have fun with the car. Ryan decided he would. "I was speeding, officer?"

"Yes son, you were."

"Like this?"

With that comment, Ryan reved the car high, dumping the clutch, and rocketing away from the officer. He flew up to the century mark, and past it. He held the gas, ripping through shifts. He danced the car in between the traffic, sliding around the moving obstacles as he pulled farther and farther from the cop. He smiled as the spedometer clicked far past 150, reaching towards 170. A set of lights up ahead signaled a highspeed chase car, preparing to intercept the flying TVR.

Ryan slammed through fifth, diving into the breakdown lane, swerving around the police car. He screamed by his exit, looking farther ahead, noting that the next exit was three miles away. He weaved in and out of the traffic as the Camaro chase car slowly fell back behind him. He slammed on the brakes, slowing the car, swerving towards the exit.

He kicked the clutch, sliding sideways around the turn onto a less than busy city street. He repeated the manuver, drifting perfectly around a corner, gathering the onlooking watch of several club goers, still trying to get into a new club. He flipped the wheel in his hands, expertly sliding the car back onto a straight path, taking the next turn not as a drift, but as a race style turn, cutting the edge close, his wheels nearly nicking the curb.

He cut the wheel again, this time engaging the TVR into a tire smoking drift, plumes of the acrid white smoke pouring off the rear tires. He watched as a squad car over shot the turn, slamming into a light pole. Ryan, nearly in a nintey degree turn, watched the street pull away from him as he again straightend the car. He was close to the apartment complex, and took it easy, letting the car slip unnoticably by unlookers. He pulled into the parking lot, and began searching for a good space by his apartment. He saw his Camaro, an open spot next to it, and slipped in, turning the car off.

Dilana smiled at Mike as he had answered her question, then shown her where to change and get ready.
"Thank you," Dilana said after Mike had pointed out where to go, "I promise I won't be long and I'll be there to help you."
She then left and went in to the closet, shutting the door and going through the clothing. After holding one outfit to her body, and knowing that it would fit she exited the small room and walked into the dressing room. She stripped out of her gown, taking a rag and quickly washing the dried blood off her face and neck.
'Perhaps from Red.'
She thought as she hurriedly changed and hung her dress on a hook. Looking down at her shoes, she realized they would not go with her outfit.
'Who cares.'
Dilana thought as she put her shoes back on anyway, and hurriedly went to the hospital room where Busa and Mike were.
"Mike," Dilana called as she appeared in the doorway, "I couldn't locate shoes anywhere so I'm afraid my shoes aren't right. Before I come back here I'll go out and get some propper shoes."

"I couldn't locate shoes ianywhere so I'm afraid my shoes aren't right. Before I come back here I'll go out and get some propper shoes." Dilana advised Mike.

Mike looked over from where he was finishing up noting down Hayabusa's vital signs. "I knew I forgot something! It really won't matter for tonight, but we have tons of these slip over booties. He waved a hand at a door below the main counter that was half open. "There's a box of them down there, they'll keep your shoew from getting dirty, or should I say dirtier. Most of us just wear Addidas, or New Ballance, both go through the washing machine well."

He put the BP cuff and Oxy meter away and nodded over to where the sterile suture kit lay. "You want to do the stitches or shall I. We don't stand on much formality here. 'Busa has three places that need to be flushed and the epidermis sutured. Doc Eggar stepped in long enough to check that nothing internal was torn, no muscles or nerves."

"That's good," the young woman replied, "No real surgery then."
Dilana looked over Busa, "I can do the stitching, I'll get the slippers now though."
Dilana quickly turned her back and went over to the counter, bending over to retrieve the slippers as she had called them when she worked in the hospital in Tarayshia. She put them onto her shoes and straightened up.
"I'm ready," Dilana said as she walked over to the other man. She took the kit over towards Hayabusa.

Rivan nodded as they reached another linguistical difference.

"You do appear wierd, or at least very unusual." He admitted, "So how many packs are there in Texas?" He asked as a person bounced into and off him.

"I guess life is how you make it and using what you can to survive. So do either of you have any questions for me?" He asked

"How many packs in Texas? Merry do you remember the last census figures?" Heyoka shrugged at looked over at his cousin.

Merry brushed a lock of hair from her face as she thought a moment. "About six thousand WereWolves in the whole state but I don't remember the number of packs. There are five packs here in Houston" She replied apologetically.

"I guess life is how you make it and using what you can to survive. So do either of you have any questions for me?"

"Yeah...What's it like being without a pack?" Heyoka asked bluntly.

'Thigh, chest, or wing?" Hayabus quipped with a sigh as he watched Dilana lay out the suture kit while Mike grabbed the antibiotic laced Lactated Ringers that would be used to flush the wounds of the various minor debris.

"Lets work from the top down, Dilana" Mike suggested. 'Smallest to the largest, and that will give the local a longer time to work down on that thigh."

The syringe with the local, a new longer lasting anesthesia, was ready for Dilana to begin administering it at each of the sites that needed sutures.

The tear in 'Busa's left arm was small, needing less than eight stitches, and would be best tended to while he was sitting up. However the next, just below his last rib, and the one on this thigh, could only be stitched properly with him laying stretched out on his side. They both required fifteen stitches each.

"Hmmm," Dilana murmured as she surveyed Hayabusa's tares, "I'll do the arm first; what did you call your arm, a wing?"
Dilana asked as she took the syringe in her hand and gave the shot in his arm, "I hope I still got the nursing technique," she joked as she waited a moment for the numming affect to kick in before beginning to stitch.

Rivan's eyes widened, "Six thousand, with five packs in this city alone?" He asked in disbelief. The figure was far, far higher than he'd expected as there were only three packs, with a total membership of four hundred members in all of Colorado.

"Life without a pack, well, it's interesting and quite a bit more challenging. It requires far more self-relience, and also brings you much more in tune with nature. In a way it's like a human's hermitage."

Cyrian's desperate teleport tumbled the three of them to the ground in the alley at the back of Cabretta's Coffee Shop. Lillian picked it straight away: one alley is much like another to the main-street crowd, but not to a cat-lady. This was Blackie's alley, Sheba's alley, Tigger's alley. They and their friends weaved around her feet. Meowwww? Merowwwttt? She'd already been here once tonight; was she back with more food?

"Not now, furries," she soothed, considering her options as Vanessa murmured uselessly to the retching Sidhe. This was home for the waitress; Lillian could reasonably surrender the Elfling to her care and take up her nightly round again.

But that would leave the silly boy surrounded by his own death. Abandon an addicted Sidhe in a coffee-shop, just when she'd found a way to hook him out of it?

"We've got to get him home. I'll need your help," she told Vanessa, hoping the girl was still too shaken by the events of the evening to wonder how Lillian knew where Cyrian's home was, or why she herself couldn't be allowed to go back to her room above the shop.

If the two young idiots could be safely ensconced in her apartment, Lillian knew that they would be much, much safer. How, she wasn't sure; but it had become plain to her some time ago that she enjoyed some form of protection. She suspected it was connected to the cats. It worked like the "don't notice me" aura that felines could force on most humans when they wanted to.

Right now, though, she wanted them to be noticed. Coaxing and cursing by turns, she got the pair to the well-lit road where taxis cruised by. Then it was simple enough. The driver who pulled up was Rhoda, the big woman who dared to drive the night-time streets. She saw them into the cab with only one comment -- "If ya buddy upchucks, Lil, y'all get out-chucked!" -- and swept the trio back to the apartment building where, Lillian was sure, Seklh kept watch and Jim Hanson slept.

"I hope I still got the nursing technique," Dilana joked.

Hayabusa gave her a not too happy grin and made sure he didn't watch what Dilana was doing. He never minded getting hurt, but when it came to him geting fixed up...well he didn't want any one knowing how big a wuss he was.

Mike worked on flushing out the other two rents in the Oni's hide, then after Dilana finished stitching the arm made sure that the sutures were protected by a guaze dressing. "Busa your sweats are pretty bloody let me go get you some clean scrubs to wear home, you can bring them back later."

"Sounds like a plan to me" 'Busa agreed, then closed his eyes again as Dilana finished tieing off the last suture in his thigh. He waited till Mike had bandaged it as well then sat up carefully making sure the sheet covered him to the waist. "Dilana do you need a ride home?"

One of the other nurses had paused to let them know that Sian was indeed going to be hospitalized, though they weren't going to do surgery on her till morning- the hospital had too many other injured Night Life coming in to spare a doctor to do the surgery now.

"Six thousand, with five packs in this city alone?"

"Merry, you're remembering the ten year projection, on the total. I think the actual current population is really only about three thousand." Heyoka corrected his cousin. "But yeah we share the city with four others. We're the smallest pack though. We're only thirty seven strong. Smoggy Bottoms, down near Damanation Alley is the largest, they're maxed out at two fifty." He explained further.

"Life without a pack, well, it's interesting and quite a bit more challenging. It requires far more self-relience, and also brings you much more in tune with nature. In a way it's like a human's hermitage."

Merry shook her head. "We all do the traditional wanderjar, our version of a 'walkabout' but we always come home. I don't think I'd be happy with out the knowing that my pack waits for me." She spoke slowly trying to express her feelings. "It's not a crutch, but a welcome embrace. It's not a hole to hide in but solid ground to leap forth from. Every one is unique, and cherished and supported, but the pack is more than the sum of it's parts."

"I know it's challenging" Heyoka said. "Sorry Merry there is a lot of BS out there that a female out wandering doesn't get hit with." He held up a placating hand as she started to object. "I know you mostly see through the facades, but some of it's camoflauged to a fare thee well."

Merry subsided as Heyoka continued. "I had more fights than I want to think about Merry." He looked over at Rivan his face serious, eyes shadowed with memories. "I prefer to be a lover but I can fight if I have to."

Merry reached over and placed a comforting hand on her cousins. He hadn't talked this much about his time away, but now was not the time to make him delve into them.

"It looks like it's cleared enough that we can leave. Who wants to go for a howl? We could try and take down that buck that beds down out near Bear Creek Park." Merry suggested as she noted that the club was empty save for a number of Night Life who were trying to finish calming themselves down. She aslo noted that the camera man had vanished, escorted elsewhere by a buisness suited vampire.

Vanessa had moved like an autonomaton, eyes wide and blank, fitting perfectly the description of "lights on, no one home"...untill she stumbled out of the cab, tripped and put a major run into her pantyhose. Then she jerked to her feet before any one could begin to reach out a hand to help her.

The scream that tore from her throat was primal, almost inhuman sounding. In a flash - for a human, and for the nonce faster than the still nauseous Cyrian could react- she was running full tilt down the middle of the deserted street, wailing, flailing and most assuredly devoted to simply rremoving herself from the vicinity.

Cyrian, gallant even in tha caffine induced near dreaming had tried to reach out and catch her as she tripped, but had gone to his knees.

Rhoda turned to Lillian, her eyes wide. "Should I call the cops or the National Enquirer?" Shrugging her shoulders she turned the cab's engine off and came around to where Cyrian was trying - and failing - to get to his feet. With surprizing ease Rhoda picked him up in a firemans carry. "Lead the way Lillian."

Rivan nodded, thougth he found the concept slightly strange from his own exprience, Merry's words made a sort of sense. He could also sympathise with Heyoka somewhat, as he'd had any number of death challenges.

"Few enjoy fighting, and those that do tend to wind up face down in the dirt eventually." He commented as his own memories touched his mind for a second.

"That sounds like it would be enjoyable, thought are you refering to a deer when you say buck?" He asked

After Dilana finished the last stitch and she turned her head as Hayabusa had sat up in the bed.
"Do I have a ride home?"
Dilana repeated as her eyes picked up on a small sink in the corner of the room. The young woman turned her back and quickly washed her hands before replying.
"Well, I was staying at Sian's house," Dilana said, "Since she's in the hospital, I am unsure if I can go back to her home alone with out her."
Dilana finished as she thought;
'I wish I could help Sian, however I'm just a nurse.'

"That sounds like it would be enjoyable, thought are you refering to a deer when you say buck?"

Merry started giggling "Well as fun as chasing money can be I don't usually do it four footed. It's only about thirty miles out to Bear Creek, a nice warm up. He's a wiley old stag, probably tough as shoe leather, and even if we don't make him breakfast giving him a good scare would be fun. He's real agressive."

People see a deer and think 'sweet little Bambi', and that just not the truth. Deer, especially stags, are mean creatures, who intend to survive and if that means fighting - they will if cornered, and a fair number actually attack. The stag could be less formidible now though with his antlers perhaps shed, but that might not have happened just yet.

"I'm up for a good run and hunt." Heyoka agreed. "We can take the car back to the shop and leave our stuff there." He gestured at clothes. The shop was no great distance from the club, just several blocks from the west end of downtown.

"Just checking" Rivan replied with a smile and chuckle at Merry's quip. "I'm up for it. even if the stag does taste like old shoe leather."

"I wish I could help Sian, however I'm just a nurse." Dilana said.

And Mike snorted as he finished packing up the suture kit for resterilization. "Dilana, no one is just "just'. There are too few of us for that. If you are up to it we could use your help here. If they are putting off Sian's surgery then they are overflowing."

Indeed beyond the door of the treatment room, it could be easily discerned that the small ER was full, with patients waiting.

"If you need to crash for a few there are also a couple of rooms set aside on the second floor for just that." He offered as well. "Don't push yourself, tired staff leave openings for mistakes. In fact 'Busa could you go get a ton of chinese take out. We're going to be starving in a couple of hours."

"Sure! What ever you all want." 'Busa pulled out the wallet he'd stuffed into the sweatpants pockets and pulled out a wad of bills. "This is for the work."

"Just put in the Jar as usual." Mike replied.

"Actually I'm feeling good," Dilana replied to Mike's saying that she may be tired, "I think you're right about how many people there are waiting."
The young woman said, looking out at the ER waiting area, "Mike, could you show me where to put people and perhaps give me the very basics of how you do things around here? Such as questions to ask; for example what night life thing they are. I'm new here I wouldn't want to afend anyone."
Dilana chuckled as Hayabusa was going to get the chinese, "I'll have the pork fried rice; or just whatever you bring back."

With the club empty of freaked out Mundanes, it tookRivan, Merry and Heyoka no time at all to get down to the level where the car was parked. With the door between the parking garage and the tunnels gone the air in the tunnel was acrid with the smell of smoke, the air system working over time.

However the parking garage was worse, heavy with smoke, and the smell was truely aweful. The fire had gone out had gone out when the last of the bodies had been consumed.

"Gaah! What a stink!" Merry gasped as her eyes started watering. "I can barely see. What the hell happened down here?"

"Mike, could you show me where to put people and perhaps give me the very basics of how you do things around here? Such as questions to ask; for example what night life thing they are. I'm new here I wouldn't want to offend anyone." Dilana asked.

"Oh don't worry about offending any one. Why don't we work as a team tonight." He handed Dilana what at first looked to be a clip board but turned out to be a Data Padd. "Just follow the 'tree' of questions. Get the name first and if they are already in the system their medical history and prior visits will come up. If they're new here just ask the questions in the order listed, and then do a basic assesment ."

Mike proved easy to work with, always willing to explain and having being a Hobb's made sure they never ran out of anything they needed. "I wish I could do that with gold, but not part of the gift." He grinned as he noticed Dilana noticing the oddity, his green eyes bright against the grey of his skin.

Time passed quickly with all there was to be done, and Hayabusa reappeared before they knew it with multiple armloads of heavily laden brown paper bags. "Sorry to take so long but I went out to Hunan Inn to get the best."

The small store front restraunt was one of Houston's best kept secrets. They were open twenty four hours a day and were seldom slow. The bags disgorged enough of the best chinese take out in the city to feed a large army, and every one - staff and patient alike dug into it with gusto.

"Thanks Mike," Dilana said as she took the data pad from his hands, "You really are easy to work with."
Dilana had left the hospital room, going out into the waiting room and briefly introducing herself. Dilana took care of the many people that had come to see her, some were in the system and a few were not.
When Hayabusa had come in with the Chinese food however, everyone seemed very glad and dug right in to the food. After washing her hands and checking on some people that she had recently tended to, Dilana joined in; loving the food.
"So Mike," Dilana asked after she had swallowed her bite of food, "What exactly are hobb's? You have such wonderful gifts, even though you can't make gold."
Dilana said as she laughed;

"What exactly are Hobb's? You have such wonderful gifts, even though you can't make gold." Dilana asked...

"We're a part of the Fae, just minor Fae though, cause we're mortal, and have no 'real' majik. We live long though and our gifts are good enough." Mike too a deep sip of green tea and snorted. "The Sidhe, both sides, are as bigoted and snobbish as the worst Mundane. Don't let any one tell you different."

He nibbled on a Thai pepper, then explained a bit further. "Hobbs need something, some one - a place, a family to take care of. It's so much a part of our nature with out that need being fulfilled we can fade away, giving ourselves to the wind, back to the Lady."

"My uncle takes care of the Lincoln Memorial and the family of one of my pen pals 'does' for Queen Elizabeth. I'm going to visit them for a month this summer."

"Who is, the Lady?"
Dilana asked, sipping at her tea, "That's wonderful that you're going to see your family in England."

Rivan caught the scent, turned green and blanched at the same time, a rather impressive feat all told. He plugged his nose and began wafting the smoke in an attempt to keep it out of his eyes and nose, thought only lightly relieving the disconfort. Catching a slightly greasy metallic tone in the reek, he replied, "You don't want to know, or at least not while here." His stomach lurched as he moved a hand to cover his mouth.

Watching the screaming girl run, Lillian tut-tutted to herself: now she'd have another lost one to keep in mind. But she couldn't do anything about the girl at the moment, and the odd scream in the street wasn't enough to wake anyone in this neighbourhood, so all she had to worry about was Cyrian.

Rhoda did her bit womanfully, carting the semi-conscious bulk of the Fae up the stairs, waiting while Lillian fiddled with the lock and dumping him thankfully on the sofa-bed that his new hostess hurriedly pulled out.

She refused extra payment -- "When you get to our age, Lil, you don't take money for the chance to get your arms around a looker like this one!" -- and trundled back downstairs with a parting reminder to Lillian to "lock up good, now, you don't want him to get away!"

Lillian smiled to herself and went to fetch a basin. Arranging it on a chair beside Cyrian, along with a wet facecloth, a dry towel and a covered pitcher of water, she took herself and Seklh off to bed. She'd been careful to haul her unwitting guest into the recovery position, so there was little she could do for him until he woke up; and, besides, she'd had an eventful night, too.

There were no distressing sounds to disturb her sleep. Next morning she pottered about her breakfast tasks quietly, and by the time Cyrian's eyes forced themselves open she had toast and chamomile tea waiting.

The young Fae eyed them disdainfully.

"Don't worry," she assured him. "That's real silver cutlery, no iron at all, and the cups and plates are Belleek. They were my grandmother's, from Ireland. There's nothing there could do you harm."

"Nor any good," he grumbled. "Where's the coffee?"

"None in my house, which is where you are this morning, for all you could have been left in the street, like your manners, apparently." She waited, but gained no answering flash of anger. The lad was too dispirited even for that. Nor was he bothering to hide what he was -- though, after last night, he could scarcely do that, anyway. He hadn't even questioned her comment about the iron.

"There are those who'll be looking for you," she warned; and then, her tone determinedly devoid of sympathy, "What happened to your Steed?"

No muscle moved in the too-handsome face. But, behind his eyes, something withdrew. Lillian knew then that her guess was right.

"You're not the only one who's suffered," she told him brusquely. "When it's dark I'll take you to see another one who's lost everything. Till then, you stay here and we talk. Or you can just go through the shakes and the sickness by yourself; there's a spare room you can hide in, if you're too damn-fool dignified to take what help Seklh and I can give. Either way, you've had your last dose."

"Much help a cat would be."

That was all he said; but the message Lillian read was, I surrender.

"You don't want to know, or at least not while here."

"Burning bodies in public is not a normal activity even for Houston! And...EEEkkkMummmmfffffGggggggggggggrrrrrrrrr"

Merry's yelp of startlment, grunt as the air was whooshed from her, growl of pain and anger mingled as one as a small viscious figured flew into her midsection, tearing at her with a blur of claws and fangs. Vampiric strength broke the Were's incredibly strong bones with terrible ease and Merry was on the ground in the blink of any eye.

Rivan growled, "Leave her alone," as his flesh rippled, clothing tearing and ripping as muscles expanded and bones enlarged and warped. In his partially shifted form, he tackled the small vampire. In his youth he'd pitted himself against blood-suckers and for those weren't aged, had managed to match, or in a few cases overmatch all but a few of them.

He slammed into the savage vampire, claws flashing, tearing into the flesh of the soon to be dead attacker. An trait of his mother's bloodline leant his claws, in the partialized form, an exceptional sharpness capable of tearing throught flesh with easy.

Michael was just reaching the parking area when Rivan began ripping into the AV. He heard the viscious fighting and smelled the terrible stench. Pulling the large .44 with the explosive tipped hollow points he looked both ways and then up before moving out of the elevator. He began making his way toward the noise of the fighting, careful to look between cars and under cars as well as up and around as he made way over.

Who is, the Lady?"

Mike almost choked on his own sip of tea, as his head snapped around to look full at Dilana, as did all the others within hearing.

"The Goddess...Maiden... Mother...Crone?" Mike replied with questioning astonishment. He didn't know of but a tiny handfull Night Life who weren't some sort of Pagan, and those that weren't still knew of the Goddess and her consort.

The child vampire shrieked as Rivan's claws tore into it, but it's own claws left deep, freely bleeding, dreadful scores down the length of Rivan's torso.

Heyoka too had partially transformed, his half shape towering nearly nine feet. He was working on getting the badly bleeding Merry out from under the animalistic vampire, but he could not get a good grip on her.

The child vampire had kept the majority of its attention on Merry who was too shocked to manage any sort of transformation. One hand continued to tear into her chest while it's mouth lapped up blood as quickly as it poured forth.

Rivan lashed out in an attempt to grab and pull the vampire youth off of Merry, while biting at the neck. His jaws opened wide and chopped shut with the intention of severing the head of the savage from it's body.

The claw wounds he'd suffered were nothing compared to what he'd suffered before, or the fury that was driving him.

Rivan's claws scored along the child's body, drawing another shriek that was cut off abruptly as his jaws closed about it's neck and part of it's head. The smaller figure was lifted partially away from Merry as the enraged werewolf straightened.

The animalistic vampire turned both set of claws on Rivan. Blood flew, soaking every one from savage rents now criss crossing Rivan's shoulders, though they missed the vulnerable spots of his neck.

Finally Heyoka managed to get a grip on Merry's shoulders, and as Rivan shook the vampire pulled her away from where the pairs struggles continued. Though the animalistic vampire was obviously weakening, it showed no sign of trying to break free and flee.

As the vicious ainmalistic vampire continued trying to tear him to shreds and blood flowed from the fresh wounds, those received earlier already beginning to heal, Rivan slashed upward into the soft belly, with the intention of full out gutting the fiend.

Michael watched the confrontation, not sure what to do. Two were lycans, one was vampire. The fourth he was sure, but he figured it had to be one or the other. She looked to be in shock, not surprising with her injuries, but if she was vampire then why were the lycans helping her. If she was lycan then that would have to be one insane vampire to attack three lycans. Only older vampires had a prayer of winning those kinds of odds.

He caught a glimmer out of the corner of his eye and knelt to pick up a spent shell casing. Something else had happened here recently. He put the casing in his pocket to take to the Defender's headquarters for analysis and then focused on the conflict before him.

Shouting would at best get him ignored, at worse get attention he really didn't want. He was good, but he didn't have prayer at the odds he was looking at and didn't know who's side to take. The only reason he didn't move from his spot, gun in hand with barrel down but ready to be snapped up, was because the combatents were between him and his car.

Dilana could feel the eyes upon her with out needing to turn around. Instead, she cleared her throat and spoke, "I come from a nation where no money is put into religion. My parents didn't teach me anything, so I guess I don't believe in anything. It's not that I haven't tried to believe..."
Dilana's voice trailed off; the young woman feeling as she did when she was a child and after the attack by the lioness.
'No one will accept you now.'
A voice said in her head and she sighed as she began eating again.

"It's not that I haven't tried to believe..." Dilana's voice trailed off.

"Well, I am of the belief that I need some more fried rice." One of the patients quipped sensing Dilana's discomfort.

"You believe only in a full stomach."

"One of the best things to believe in."

Under the cover of the interplay Mike looked at Dilana and apologised in a low voice. "Hey, I didn't mean to make you upset. All are welcome here and what one believes or not has little to do with that welcome. Also, if you are curious, we have a lending library that has some good books on the subject."

Dilana chuckled at the conversation between the people, relaxing her shoulders as she leaned back.
"Well," Dilana began, "Perhaps I'll take a look, maybe I'll wake up a bit early in the day and go look at the books. Does anyone have the time?"

Rivan's heavy claws dug deep into the anmalistic vampires absomen and ripped up ward, but it was the child's neck that gave first beneath the terrible pressure of his jaws.

There was shuddering sharp snap the head tore free as the WereWolf's jaws met. The body seemed to go quintessent, after one last spasm. The claws left one last set of injury across Rivan's shoulders.

"Hey, Rivan, we need to get Merry to the Hospital." Heyoka's voice was barely understandable as he shifted human as quickly as he could.

He'd set Merry's limp body down on the trunk of a near by luxury sedan. Her wounds were closeing sluggishly and she had lost a massive amount of blood.

"Yes." Rivan replied as he returned to normal, grabbed the split shirt that he'd been wearing and wrapped it around Merry, to staunch the blood somewhat. He was worried about Merry, but as he didn't know where there was a hospital, Heyoka was the only one who could get them there.

"Watch her Rivan" Heyoka growled as he turned to look for the remains of his clothes, and more specifically the keys to the car. He froze as he saw the stranger with a gun.

"Rivan, we may have a Mess" He said slowly, hopeing not frighten the armed Mundane. The bullets would do him little harm but he really didn't want to have to kill a Mundane...or let said Mundane run to the police and press.

'Ahhh, NUTS', Michael muttered. He had hoped they would leave without noticing him. He raised the gun, "Easy now", he said, "I just need to get to my car." He pointed with his other hand toward the big grey cadillac.

'What the hell', he thought, 'may as well try'.

"You ahh, didn't happen to see a rather chesty red head around here did you? Black bangs and tips?" Michael figured it couldn't hurt. He was either dead or fine one way or the other, and certainly didn't have much say in the matter.

Rivan nodded to Heyoka's warning, and moved into position beside Merry as he noticed the gun-totting man.
"I haven't seen who you appear to be looking for, and you should likely put that gun away, or an accident might happen."

"In my experience worse accidents happen when I don't have it out." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his card, holding it up. "I'm with Defender's Incorporated. I don't know what's going on here, and I'm not being paid to care. I just want to get to my car and go about my business."

"You wouldn't happen to know what her blood smells like?" Heyoka mumbled as he finally got a good look around, and realised the the car he'd laid Merry on was in the middle of the driveing lane, instead of parked in a slot.

"Somebody went to town before we got here." He indicated several large calibur hand guns scattered about, some emergency medical supply debris near the armed strangers feet, and numerous blood splatters and smears.

Unmindfull of his near nudity - his half form was so massive that all his clothing had ripped during the change -he continued searching for his keys.

"Hey mister, you don't happen to see some car keys near ya?" He figured if the man hadn't freaked he probably knew the Night Life, though he'd never heard of Defenders Inc.

Michael picked up some of the bloody bandages and the handguns, then a piece of torn clothe, extracting the keys and putting his weapon away.

"This wouldn't happen to be them, would it?"

He held them out, taking out his own keys, "No, I've never met her. Besides, when it comes to women I like my steak pink", he said grinning.

"Thanks" Heyoka replied as he took the keys the stranger had found.

"Stay there Rivan,I'll go get the car." Unfortunately it was parked in the farthest corner from where the attack had taken place. Moving quick he hurried through the parking garage and was soon pulling the car to a halt near where Rivan watched over Merry. Climbing out he went over and picked Merry up.

"Rivan can you hold her as I drive, I think she needs to be kept warm." He worried aloud looking at his cousins pale and shocky features. He decided to take her straight to the Healer the pack used for severe emergencies, rather than the hospital. He was pretty sure they might be full up at the moment and the pack could afford a Healers prices.

Rivan nodded as he keep an eye on Merry and the oddball. "Of course." He replied in a slightly choked voice as he gathered her in his arms to try and keep her warm. He liked Merry, and was beginning to think it might be somewhat more.

Merry looked up at Rivan and murmured "Thank you. For fighting it off. I'm sorry to be such a mess all over you" as her eyes drooped closed. She relaxed in his arms, comforted by their strength. Wounds made by a vampire's claws didn't let a Were heal as quickly as they normally would. But a Were, even one healing slowly, was a definite heat source.

Heyoka got them into the car as quickly as he could, worried about both of them. Rivan had taken a pretty sever set of wounds himself. With a last nod toward the stranger Heyoka hopped behind the wheel and gunned the old but well maintained Volvo out of the garage.

"I'm going straight to the Healer, not the hospital. He'll take care of both of you." He stated as he turned on the heater. Once warm air flowed he fumbled in the glove box for the cellphone stashed there and made a call to his mother

"Don't be, you did nothing wrong." He replied as he planted a light kiss on her forehead as he conforted her and did his best to keep her warm. Heyoka took off and spoke about a Healer over hospital, and he nodded as he trusted him to know where to get the best care for Merry.

He knew his wounds were bad, and that he was making a bit of a mess in the car, but he also knew he'd had worse and healed naturally so he wasn't exceptionally concerned, thought a healer would be nice.

Michael watched as they got the vehicle, got in it and left.

'Good luck', he muttered, once they were gone, they had seemed decent enough. Then he got into the Enterprise and went straight to the defenders building. Once there he turned over the big guns and the one beretta, as well as the blood stained dressings, "Can you I.D. these for me as quickly as possible? Also I need a terminal."

The woman at the desk nodded and took everything down to the forensics lab once she showed michael to a comp and gave him the access to the worldwide files. He spent the rest of the night researching all he could on the Huntress. Several of the shell casings were from a .44 automatic, which meant the were probably hers. The massive guns and the beretta were not.

...When the sun comes up on a sleepy little town
Not to far from San Antone
And the folks are risin’ for another day
’round about their homes

The people of the town are strange...


"and thats a little Doobie Brothers to start your morning off right. The sun's about up and boy do we have more for the 'Wall o' Wierd'.." The dj's mellow voice changed just enough to ratchet up the tension. "Late night partiers swear that our beloved boys in blue near caught themselves a UFO, going fast and low on our highways 'n bi ways last night. At least one eyewitness swears that it was bright candy apple red... and we have our fifth sighting of Elvis in the tunnels. Thats the fifth this month, and once again he was seen in the vicinity of Bayou Place."

Mike looked over at Dilana. "That means it's five in the morning and another day closes without any serious mention of the Night Life. Going to crash here or want a ride over to Sians?" Sian had called the Enclaves security and advised them of her new house guest, reassureing Dilana that it was not problem. She'd also told her where to find the keys to the other cars.

********************************************

The healer a wiry older man of Italian descent closed the door behind him, and looked into the parlor where Heyoka and most of the pack waited. "Merry 'll be okay, she just needs to rest for a day or so. And the young man with her, Rivan, he'll be fine even faster. Remarkable even for a Were."

When the healer stepped out, Merry looked over at Rivan and smiled faintly. "I think I passed out on you, and I'm not sure I can keep my eyes open now, but would you hold my hand.?" Then she got a good look at her hands, and indeed the rest of her. They hadn't cleaned her up more than minimally. Now she blushed, not out of modesty, but shamed to be so filthy. "Maybe you'd better not. I'm a mess."

*******************************************

For some, they withdrew from the mornings light for survival, others becuase it was too darn bright without caffeine.

and so Chapter 1 ends...

Dilana nodded at Mike's statement, "That's good, I thought something may have been mentioned given what happened last night. Where do you stay Mike? I'm only curious; I'd like to take you up on that offer of getting a ride back to Sian's if you don't mind."

The healer had done good work, for which Rivan had thanked him, thought insured that Merry was taken care of before the healer saw to him.
"Yes I would," He replied as she added the comment about mess, "A bit battered perhaps, but never a mess."

The new woman at the desk of Defenders Inc. followed the plaintive beeping sound only to find Micheal asleep at the computer. The terminal was beeping it's pitiful cry about the fact that the keys were being held down. She nudged him lightly and when he stirred she said, "Right over here, sir, I have what you need", and she led him to a comfortable seat. Once he was done again he was out and she left him to sleep as long as he wished.

****

Lauralin rose quietly so as not to rouse Jessica and headed into the large living area. She looked out the window, feeling the sun warm her cold body. Watching the cars below she muttered the words that she had spoken so boldly to her father so long ago.

"It is easy to find something worth dying for. What is hard, is to find something worth living for."

After a few moments she sighed, "But is there a price that is too high to pay."

She decided to break her fast with Jessica and then head over to the Defenders building to begin her training. She probably wouldn't need much, not with the woman's background, and she also, most likely, had alot to add.

****

Red woke early and made her way out to the small living room.

"Blasphemy, you should not be about."

"Yeah, yeah."

Harrow roused himself from the terminal he had set up and stood, "Holy one.."

"Yeah, I shouldn't be up. Listen can you transfer one of my personal accounts to a bank in this area? We'll need funds."

"Of course", he said and began working on it.

She sat down, pulling the card from her shirt.

"You going to call her?" Harrow asked.

"Not today", she told him, "but I might."

He nodded, working on one of her accounts and figuring out the security protocals to make the transfer.

She ate breakfast and then went back to her room to lay down.

Jessica awoke slowly and yawned. The heat and passion from the previous night was still running through her body and she looked over to find Lauralin missing from the bed. She remembered the wonderful time the previous night and lay in bed for a few more minutes before deciding to get up.

Her only clothes were her latex catsuit and she slipped into it. Jessica walked out of the bedroom to find Lauralin staring out the window. The tiger smiled at her.

"That was amazing last night. I do accept your job offer."

Lauralin turned, a beleaguered look on her face that quickly transformed into a wide smile. She reached up, lightly touching Jessica's cheek. "It was wonderous", she agreed. "And I am so glad that you shall be accepting. I shall summon ..." she stopped for moment and then corrected herself, "I shall call for room service to bring something to break our fast. I believe I hunger for a bit of fruit today", she said and hugged Jessica, holding her for a moment.

Dilana had stayed at Sian's house for 3 weeks until she had found an apartment in the downtown Houston area, right in the heart of the city. The nurse had only been at her new place for a week, however already she was loving it and settling in to the town and her nursing job. Dilana worked at the hospital on Friday and Saturday nights, also on Wednesday and Thursday. Sian had told her that nurses usually started working 4 days a week. The hours were long, however with Dilana's energy she was able to keep up. Things for the first time were going well for the young human/lioness woman, however as she showered and sat in her living room flipping through the channels on the tv, the woman couldn't help but wonder how long her good life would last.

Please every one consider this thread closed. No more posts here but go to the new thread:

Better Red than Elvish... (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=476561)