Talon Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 [center][b]Warning: Intense Mature Themes, Violence, Gore, and Language[/b] [i][color=crimson]How do you sleep at night, friend? How do you sleep knowing the nightmares are waiting for you? How do you sleep knowing you may never awaken the next day? Do you take pills, and pray vainly for a dreamless slumber? Do you ease your guilty conscience with altruism, heroism? Or do you grimly bite the bullet, and tell them all to go to Hell? The things that go 'bump' in the night...no longer wait 'til sundown. The bogeyman hiding just out of reach...no longer rests under the bed. This world of monsters, this world of nightmares, is slowly becoming more active. The demons are slowly overlapping this world with ours. We have no choice, now, but to fight. We're the only ones who can. It's a war we may not win. After all...even God isn't on our side. -[b]Witness1[/b][/i] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [b][size=3][u]Prologue: To Take Up This Cross....[/b][/u][/size] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/center] [i][pindent=2]His eyes were cold and restless. The bandage wrapped around his left forearm clung tightly, but offered no crimson revelation. It had almost healed. His right hand gripped the steering wheel of the stocky station wagon as his left dangled out the window, a cigarette clenched between the index and middle finger. He looked up, briefly, into the rear view mirror, catching a glimpse of the empty interstate behind him. He smiled grimly as his eyes returned to the road.[/pindent] [pindent=2]He shook his head slowly, raising his left hand to place the filtered cancer stick in the corner of his mouth, brushing the loose braid of hair, beads, and one feather behind his left ear. He idly ran his fingers through his short, black hair, sighing quietly as he finally spotted the name of the suburb he was looking for. He turned off onto the exit a mile down, pulled into a mostly-empty gas station. He waved off the attendant who came walking out at the sound of the bell, idly noticing the man was haggard, weary. Life was hard on him.[/pindent] [pindent=2]He chuckled wryly at that as he climbed out of the car and pulled out a map, along with one of his prepaid cell phones. He noted his full reception signal as he opened his text message folder and compared notes with the map, nodding as he discovered his path. With another grim smile, he put the map away, flicking his cigarette into a nearby trash bin without so much as a glance. His destination wasn't too far. He looked up and glanced around. The attendant was behind a closed door, and the interstate exit was empty. The gas station at the entrance ramp on the other side of the interstate was empty, as well. He nodded with some satisfaction.[/pindent] [pindent=2]He reached into the wagon's back seat and knelt on the floor, grappling momentarily with a latch beneath the seat before the entire thing flipped back, revealing a small weapons cache. He looked at the phone again before nodding to himself, grabbing a bandolier and four grenades marked 'WP'. He then slipped a pair of knives into the strap, as well as a number of unmarked 'pineapples'. Having filled the bandolier, he turned his attention to a pair of sidearms. He favored two Colt Peacemakers for this particular Hunt, and thus replaced his typical sidearms with the old-fashioned handcannons. He nodded quietly to himself as he slid several of the six-shot round-reels into his coat's pockets, pulling his favorite sidearm, the Desert Eagle, out of the cache and sliding it into the holster under his left arm. Finally, he checked and loaded an automatic rifle, several clips of ammunition for it and the Eagle, and grabbed four bricks of military-grade plastic explosive. He glanced up and nodded, smiling genuinely, now. The attendant was still behind that opaque wall of his.[/pindent] [pindent=2]Closing up his backseat and placing the M-4 and the bandolier under a tarp in the very back of the station wagon, he wound his way up to the front counter inside the service station. He dropped fifty dollars cash on the counter, nodded to the attendant, and went back outside without exchanging a single word. When he got onto the road headed north, he had forty bucks worth of gas in the tank.[/pindent][/i][/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raiha Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]“I guess you could say I always was a watcher. But it wasn't until the Messengers had forced their hand that I'd become a Watcher.” [i]The lines of her diary lay open in the rose colored light of her bedroom, the only time she picked up a pen and paper was in the early morning, when she wrote down her thoughts and memories before the day tainted them. The hunts she'd been on, things she'd killed successfully. She closed it carefully and turned, drawing a brush through her tangled hair. The bed’s sheets lay tumbled to one side where she’d thrown them off, and she pulled them back, replacing the overlarge pillows as she did. The shades were drawn, but then again, sun would kill Manjusra just as easily as it would a monster. XP had ensured that she’d always be shunning sunlight, crouching down in shadows when she could. But she had made the most of it, at least recently. A Hunter like her was a rarity, incapable of bearing the presence of the demons and freaks that freely roamed the earth, and often shying from her own kind, it still suited her. The Hunter-Net ensured that she’d never be completely cut off from her peers, and she could easily transmit what messages she had that way, or through the cell phone that always managed to find its way back to her no matter how many times she tried to misplace it. And the headaches had never gotten better. Only worse. Hair combed and plaited, Manjusra made her way to the small shrine in the alcove just off the side of her bedroom and knelt before the two jizo statutes dedicated to her sisters. Lighting the tips of the incense that would burn for the rest of the morning, she bowed and intoned the Lotus Sutra for the pair of them in an extremely low voice. After bowing twice she turned as her computer beeped at her and rose to her feet, obeisance done for the day. The computer’s screen, set to a very low light setting reflected her face as she sat at her well used desk. The other lights in her room the glow from the incense and the rose colored night light over her end table, Manjusra was used to navigating by touch alone. Even so she had a small bookshelf along the back wall that was filled alternately with fiction novels and BDSM pornography. The messages in her inbox were scanned through quickly enough. Several from lesser hunter’s looking to see when she was available to do readings, a couple pieces of spam, and a letter from her uncle in Xianjing. One from Beartalker; and instead of the usual text it was a video file to boot. Some days were worth getting up for. She pressed play and leaned back, his dark voice pouring out through her speakers, his face partially shadowed.[/i] “Opticall88; I’ll need information if you can get it on a hive downtown. The corner of Westminster and McArthur. Go during the day if it’s not too much for you and please respond after receiving and after recon. By the way, I think Shield223 will be seeing you very soon.” [i]The message abruptly ended without any ritual farewells, but Beartalker had always been curt with her. Perhaps he was uncomfortable with her religion, or the way she was often apathetic about the fates of some humans, but when it came to it, she would always take requests he made. Simply because she felt that he was higher ranked than her, she could even say that she owed him her allegiance. And indeed, she could even admit that she could respect him at times. Typing out a reply almost absentmindedly with one hand, she turned and drew aside the curtain that separated her closet from the rest of the room. The sun was already shining overly brightly on the cold day for Manjusra’s taste, accustomed as she was to the dark and quiet of the late nights. But even so she pulled on a pair of dark wash jeans, her combat boots, and her overcoat. Her hair pulled back in a tight knot at the base of her neck, she pulled her hood deep over her eyes, pulled her turtleneck up over her nose and stepped out into the light through her back door. Downtown was only a six mile walk from her apartment, and she didn’t mind. About 50 degrees Fahrenheit in broad daylight, unseasonably cool, but just right for Manjusra. The pavement under her feet seemed to tingle through her legs, and her ears buzzed every now and then as she passed normal looking people and one or two inactive monsters. Finally, she reached the location of the supposed hive that Beartalker had mentioned and took up a position in the office building across the street from it. Sitting in the second story lobby of a dentist’s office, Manjusra went utterly unnoticed as she put her face close to the glass, looking down into the seemingly abandoned building. Thankful for her sunglasses, Manjusra carefully raised a hand to her eyes and reaching underneath, touched the pupil of both her eyes and whispered.[/i] “Samadhi.” [i]Immediately, behind the darkness of her glasses, the building exploded in a seething, heaving mass of dark green auras. They crawled and writhed everywhere within the confines of steel, wood, and drywall. Manjusra’s stomach roiled but she managed to contain it, then looked again, her red eyes glowing slightly with the effort. By tilting her head downwards, she could see the Mother that had made her nest what seemed like two stories down from the ground floor. She’d seen enough. With a quick jerk of her head, she shut off the Sight and turned towards the exit. A light buzz in her ear, perhaps of a weak Hunter passing her by on the street as she beat her way home, moving quickly, as if she were being followed. As she made it into her safe house, she locked the door and threw the deadbolts twice, just to make sure. Undressing back down to just a turtleneck and looser fitting jeans, she sat down at the desk again and turned on her web cam, modified to emit only a dull blue light. She began to record almost immediately after.[/i] “This is Optical88. Recon completed on suspected hive downtown. One Mother burrowed and made herself a basement. Over 50 Crawlers, varying stages of development, perhaps six fully grown. By tonight there should be a few more reaching adulthood. No further abnormal presences detected. Will clarify further if necessary.” [i]She ended the message without a farewell of her own and sent it into cyberspace, leaning back and waiting for a call from the other select few Hunters that knew her number. It was nice, not being very well known. And there were very few Hermits out there. But she knew a few that could call her if they really needed help. Or wanted a reading done. Or needed to know if their death was walking in their eyes.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arichan16 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 [B]?Gwendolyn? Gwen, is that you??[/B] Gwen flinched at the familiar voice. She couldn?t help but think a curse. It was an old friend, one from the days where she still attended school. What was his name? She couldn?t remember it anymore. She had replaced useless knowledge like that a long time ago. She had replaced the names of her old friends with the names of different species of freaks. It was useless, knowledge like people?s names. She had long since rejected her older memories, the pointless ones, and had replaced them with more useful information. Like, which freaks she could kill with what. Or the usernames of people on the Hunter-Net. A long time ago Gwen used to go down to this little coffee shop a few blocks away from her school. Usually it was when she knew she?d be up all night studying for the next exam. Now, on the other hand, Gwen stood in the coffee shop for a different reason. She had been up all night the night before, but not studying. There had been some rumored activity around the area. She hadn?t much liked the idea of coming back to her ?hometown?, but she knew the area the best. It made her sick to her stomache imagining the kind of filth that was roaming around this place. The filth that she had been blind to for so many years? Gwen didn?t smile as she turned to the person who used to be her friend. What made it worse was that, over his shoulder, she could clearly make out an entire table of the class she had left behind. They were waving happily, which made Gwen oddly uneasy. [B] ?Hi.? [/B]She said simply to the guy. She then waved over his shoulder at the table so they would stop trying to get her attention. Why did she ever hang out with these people? She couldn?t remember. [B]?Wow, Gwen! It?s been so long! You dropped out so abruptly? We were worried, you know? I mean? after??[/B] He trailed off, avoiding the subject. She knew what he had intended to say, though. ?After your family was murdered?. [B] ?Oh, hey, nice tattoo!? [/B] He changed the subject as quickly as he could, his eye catching the black symbols that ran up the length of Gwen?s arms. [B]?Is that Aramaic??[/B] [B]?Uh? Yes, actually, it is.? [/B] She wasn?t used to people knowing the language. A select few thought that it was Hebrew. Which was close. Of course he would know what it was, she should have known. She had forgotten about the people from her classes and how they were just as interested in languages as she was. Some were into it for different reasons. But, he had been in the class for the same reason as her. He wanted to study the ancient artifacts, to decipher the codes. Just like she once had wished to do. Not anymore. How quickly her life had changed? [B]?Here, let?s see if I can get it right.? [/B] He was going to try to read her tattoo? Part of her wanted to laugh at him like she used to. Part of her wanted to poke fun at him like she always had before. Because she knew that he would only laugh at it and give an equally joking retort. His eyebrows scrunched in thought as his eyes scanned up and down her arms. Obediently she extended her arms and turned them around so he could see it all. [B]?I can?t read it all yet.? [/B] He muttered. [B]?But I can tell from the beginning. I know this verse. Book of Revelation, right??[/B] Gwen took her cup from the counter, bringing the hot liquid to her lips and sipping before responding. [B] ?Yeah.? [/B]She said simply. [B] ?I should?ve known, coming from you. You were always into the biblical stuff. But isn?t the verse you chose a little odd??[/B] Gwen took a long sip of her drink. [B]?I don?t know what you are talking about.?[/B] [B] ? 'I know what you have been doing. You are known for being alive, but you are dead'? You don?t think that?s an odd verse to choose??[/B] [B]?Isn?t it odd to have any biblical verse tattooed to my arms in Aramaic??[/B] He gave a nervous laugh. [B]?Well, yeah, I suppose you?re right.?[/B] There was an awkward pause between them as Gwen tested how fast she could drink her coffee without burning her tongue. [B] ?So uh? Why don?t you come join us? We?ve missed you, you know. I?m sure everyone would love to catch up. And you know a few of them are going to want to try and translate your tattoo, too.? [/B] And there it was. She knew it had been coming, she had just hoped that it wouldn?t. [B]?Look, I have other plans tonight. I just came in for some coffee. It?s going to be a late night for me. Even later if I hang around. I?d rather not be up until the break of dawn.? [/B] She could feel the disappointment radiated off of him in waves. She almost felt bad about it. They had been friends once, hadn?t they? Even though she still couldn?t remember his name? [B]?Maybe some other time.? [/B] She finished off her coffee in one more large sip, waving as she went to throw it away in the nearest trash can. It was cold for the time of day it was. She shoved her gloved hands into pockets of her cargo pants. Almost instantly she had forgotten to feel bad about leaving her old friends behind in the café. It didn?t matter anymore. Rumor had it that there was a hive downtown. Last she checked, they were going to ask Optical88 to do some recon. She wondered vaguely if they had heard word back yet. She could go back there. To her house, that was. She still hadn?t sold it, even though she had started renting a small apartment outside of town. Maybe she should just move back in and save up the money she had been spending on rent. She?d have to clean it up first. The splintered table was still the focal point of the dining room. Maybe she?d file down some salvageable pieces into stakes. That actually sounded like a good idea. Why hadn?t she thought about it before? The streets were relatively quiet as she adjusted her course to her left. Her feet knew the way back to her house without her even having to think about where to go. She titled her head back, staring up into the daytime sky as she put herself into auto pilot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engel Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 [size=1][color=#E32636]The traffic filtered through the pre-determined pathways, all red stop, yellow slow and green go. It unnerved Thom. He hated cars. Wheeled death traps. Contraptions that facilitated explosions and loss of life. Tore holes in the ozone. Killed us all, slowly but surely. He [i]really[/i] hated cars. Turning away from the street to the building behind him, Thom lit up a cigarette, squinting one eye and looking up at the sun. It smiled, even though it was dulled by the city smog. It seemed so hypocritical. The force of nature that gave them all life, so bright and burning, so smiling, while we crawled around in the mud lost to our God. With a deep drag of the Camel Frost in his fingertips, he exhaled and entered the building. It was a hotel, moderately high-range. Thom wandered where his music and the Hunter-net took him. He had a few safe houses, permanently owned, utilities kept up to date, but he mostly stayed in hotels and if applicable, a fellow Hunter's house. The deskkeeper made to stop him from smoking the cigarette, but an unamused glare from Thom silenced him. He made his way upstairs, feeling the familiar weight of the twin Lugers snuggled up against his side, little bullet maritime lovers drawn to his warmth like a moth to the flame. They were a comfort, along with cigarettes and guitar riffs in an unsure world. With a grunt, he reached into his back pocket and withdrew the card key, severing the magnetic lock on his room. Inside, besides the default furniture, the decor was rather plain. A laptop sat on the desk, an external keyboard and mouse laying next to it. A half eaten sandwich was in the fridge, along with a selection of wonderful, intoxicating liquors. His guitar was propped up against the wall, perfectly tuned to Thom's standards. A new e-mail message was on the screen, about 18 minutes old. With a slight rise of his eyebrow, he opened it and peered across the message. It was sent by Manjusra. With a one-sided grin, Thom punched her number into the phone, and as he drawled upon the cigarette, spoke to her when she picked up. "Gonna be able ta handle those big nasty creatures all by yer littl' self, now, snowflake?"[/color][/size] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.J. McKrafty Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 [FONT=Arial][COLOR=Navy]The last curb jolted the Hunts-mobile something fierce, but the old gal can handle it. I had received the call from Kurt not five minutes before now. He had run into a situation that he couldn’t handle, again, and has called me to pull him out of it. I made another hard turn and did my best to swerve through traffic. Promptly running a stop light I could still hear the horns of the cars driving in the opposite lanes. [B] “Note to self, install siren first chance I get.”[/B] I muttered to myself as I weaved through a couple more cars. He was in the city park; there had been sightings of a werewolf in the area, and big boy with something to prove has to go and look for it. Now it’s wounded and on the hunt while numb-nuts is cornered with a dozen other by standards in a park shed. This night just keeps getting better and better. [B] “Vigilance513 to Bruiser267,”[/B] The C.B. crackled to life. [B]“He is right on top of us. Where are you?”[/B] Kurt whispered though. It came out quite loud on my end. I didn’t answer, genius didn’t take into consideration that me replying would probably give off enough noise for the damned thing to pinpoint his location in the shed and scarf them all. The Park entrance came into view as I turned the last corner and I went speeding into the parking lot spewing gravel from under my tires as I went. I slowed down as I started to get close and turned off my lights. Letting off the gas I let the Hunts-mobile stop herself to reduce noise and then prepped myself. I grabbed my silver push dagger and checked the cambers in my .44. My last two silver shells and four hollow points just in case. Before I hopped out I opened my center console and pulled out a cherry sucker and popped it in my mouth. Candy is better and any other vice. I locked the car (Can’t be too careful.). Then cast my eyes to the small magic eight ball on a key chain. [B] “Will I live and save the others?”[/B] I asked shaking the trinket. [I] Cannot predict at this time[/I]. I like surprises anyway. The trees cast awful shadows from the moon and the orange lights the park has set up. The whole place just felt spooky. I could hear the beast before I saw it. I snapped on my flashlight and saw the whole story. The kid must have tried to confront the thing head on with a silver blade. He gets overconfident and winds up disarmed. From the glass and scorch marks on the grass the kid must have thrown a Molotov. I thought he missed until the creature turned to me, must have caught my scent, and I saw that he had hit the bugger right in it’s furry mug. Its eyes were just gone and there was no fur to speak of, just charred skin. It was a horrible sight. It sniffed the air trying to find out where I was. Being blinded isn’t that big of a deal for a werewolf. They are like dogs, scent and sound are their main senses. But scent is shit for depth perception. I took a knee and lined up my sights. My shot met it's mark. The creature collapsed without a sound other than the din my .44 conjured up. I checked the body and Kurt poked his head out of the shed before retreating back inside for a moment and finally coming out. [B]"Was that so hard? Shoot him it in the head, I taught you that! What the hell is this sword crap?"[/B] I said in a scolding manner to Kurt. [B] "The sword was all I had."[/B] he replied with his head down. [B]"Then don't go on the hunt. You are a dumb ass, you know that?"[/B] Kurt looked up at me embarrassment written all over his face. I couldn't help but feel for the kid, he was sixteen, I made mistakes like his when I was older than him. Hell, I still was making these mistakes. [B]"We will just chalk this one up to hormones, now you go talk to those people in there and explain what they just saw."[/B] I left him there without another word. No love like tough love. I hopped in the Hunts-mobile and sat there for a moment just staring at the wheel. I threw my sucker stick out the window and opened up my glove compartment. I pulled out a military grade cellphone that I use only for hunter to hunter talk. The ones that can call overseas and can get reception just about anywhere. I pulled down the driver side mirror. A list of names, Hunter-net names, and numbers was written down the yellowed paper. I found the name I was looking for and typed in the number on my phone. It rang five times and instead of going to machine it gave me three extra rings telling me she was on the phone. The machine picked up. [B]"This is Optical88, no I won't check your future and I'm not going to help you." "M.C., it's Martin, I need a change of scenery, call me back." [/B]With that I hung up the phone and sat in the car a moment longer lingering on what had happened tonight. I picked up the magic eight ball again and then shook it. [B]"Is M.C. deeply in love with my roguish charm?"[/B] [I]It is decidedly so.[/I] Knew it. [/COLOR][/FONT] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raiha Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][i]The day slowly approached twilight, and Majusra had already finished the reply to her uncle’s letter, gotten the mail, made dinner now slowly baking in the oven, and brewed a cup of gunpowder green tea. Sitting at the low table in her breakfast nook, she stretched her legs out and slowly sipped the savory liquid, considering the taste as a philosopher would contemplate the meaning of life. Slightly tangy with a gentle undertone that slowly snuck up on you like a creeper about to take your eyes from your head. With a shrug, she turned those thoughts aside and sat up to go check her e-mail one more time. Her phone quietly received a text message that she didn’t read, probably because she’d accidentally set it to silent mode instead of vibrate. On the hard wooden surface of her desk, the sound was loud enough to get her attention.[/i] "Wonder why nobody's called me yet." [i]Walking over to her phone, she found the text still illuminating the screen and took a closer look. Nothing too interesting, just a future request. She shrugged, turned it back to vibrate and prepared dinner. And while she chewed slowly, contemplating things the way someone with far too much alone time always could, her phone was quiet. After dinner she did the dishes, as few as they were, fed the small bowl of betta females swirling around glass marbles and a flourishing bamboo plant. ......still nothing? I must be losing it. Manjusra sat in a mountain of pillows, her cell phone resting on the end table while a dim light illuminated the glossy centerfold of the Marquis Magazine. Flipping one of the pages to a Midori special on Japanese bondage, Manjusra sucked on her lower lip intently, studying the way the knots formed little flowers against the backdrop of the model's dark hair. As she was thumbing through the second half of the publication the phone began to vibrate, jolting her out of her reverie.[/i] "Gonna be able ta handle those big nasty creatures all by yer littl' self, now, snowflake?" "Snowflake? Well I guess it's better than being called whitey." "Someone called you whitey?" [i]Her upper lip twitched in a sudden burst of good humor. It was Eraser96, but she called him Thom just like he'd always called her snowflake. Their banter was always the icebreaker that kept things looser than the average hunter to hunter relationship. She put on her more sardonic tone and kept the laughter in through a superhuman feat of willpower.[/i] "He might've suffered from a lack of prior knowledge in his latest hunt and lost an eye." "Oh but baby that's what I like about you. So anyway, those freaks. Gonna need help?" "Not really. I'm just the sign by the wayside. I already pointed Sword224 and Shield223 in the right direction. I take it you saw the thread on the Crawler infestation earlier." "And it was some nasty shit. But there's also rumors of a couple vampires stalking over on 53rd and Madison. Could use a hand." "I'll jump in, if you don't mind me Suspending you while we're on the way there." [i]Hanging up before he could get the last word in, Manjusra noticed the voicemail, and punched in her pin number almost lazily. Ah, Bruiser267. The one with that horrifying station wagon and the interesting edge activations she had seen from a distance once. Might as well. A change of scenery? What did that mean? Shrugging as only a female hermit with utterly broken relationship radar could, Manjusra leaned back against the downy goodness of her pillows and chewed on her thumb, deep in thought. Then, without another moment of musing, she strode over to the closet and pulled out her combat boots. Silver knuckles she slipped into her left pocket, and chain whips were already lashed around her waist, tied loose enough to pull free with a minimal amount of effort. A simple scarf around her head since they wouldn't be out in the cold long. Vampire hunting. Always a refreshing intellectual treat.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 [color=crimson][i][pindent=2]He cruised down the street cautiously, one hand on the wheel and the other wrapped around a cigarette again. He spied the target building, swore silently to himself. Too many exits, a very strong tactical disadvantage. He looked around, nodding to himself. It was a mostly empty section of the city, some abandoned buildings, but only one had apparently been infested. He'd check the other two out tomorrow, or have Optical do it later that night. He sighed and pulled into the target building's neighboring carport. The empty carport.[/pindent] [pindent=2]That felt wrong, somehow, to him. He picked up the newspaper he'd grabbed from the broken dispenser back at the gas station and ran his eyes over it. There; a rash of disappearances in or around this section of the city, all going back about four days and all happening at night. Four days...then the Hive was pretty strong in terms of numbers right now. A beep from his cell phone confirmed it; a text from Beartalker. He sighed; over 50 of the bastards. He looked at his watch and swore; he'd have to throw his wall up around the entire building and get started. Nightfall was coming, and he couldn't afford to wait for backup. He grabbed his bandolier, took up his M-4, stopped and opened the seat to grab some more ammo, and began to march towards the stairwell.[/pindent] [pindent=2]It was growing darker, noticeably so. He waited a moment more, studying his cigarette, before placing it back between his lips. He raised his left hand and muttered 'Back!', and before his eyes, a shimmering turqoise shield, transparent and clear to all but him, domed the building. It was a painful drain on his willpower, but that would recover with time. The shield would last all of an hour before needing a recharge. That was alright by him. He grinned as he drew a combat knife and walked through the shield, his left hand free.[/pindent] [pindent=2]It was dark, and decidedly so. He groaned as he heard the muffled skittering that meant he was above the bastards. His eyes glanced around; plenty of open windows, now sealed by the shield, and an open-air stairwell. He nodded to himself; no carapaces or sheddings. He flicked his cigarette off to the side and approached the hole in the floor. And jumped back as something lashed out at him.[/pindent] [pindent=2]It was an ugly bug, almost up to his waist, he guessed, if it walked the way a bug should. It had way too many limbs, twice as many as a spider, and walked on four of them, extended downwards. It looked like something he'd seen in that movie he saw back at base, Starwars Troopers or something like that, only meaner. The bug crawled out of the hole and lashed out at him, almost catching his dogtags as he leaned back and parried its attack with his knife. The bug lashed again, he ducked back and redirected its attack again. This dance happened for a little while before he finally decided his back-up was too damn late, and he pulled out the Desert Eagle and fired once into the creature's belly. It fell, and the hunter kicked it with no little amount of disgust back into the hole that spawned it.[/pindent] [pindent=2]He pulled one of his grenades and tossed it into the hole, turning his head as the white phosphorus raged with blinding ultraviolet light. He heard skittering, squealing, hissing, and smirked as he heard the undeniable smack of bug-flesh on bug-flesh. He didn't know why, but WP grenades -always- made the bastards kill each other while they burned. He switched hands with the gun and summoned his tomahawk, shaking off the fuzziness that resulted in his concentration. He leapt down the hole.[/pindent][/i][/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arichan16 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 The house was quiet. Some part of her hadn’t expected it to be. Somehow she felt as though it should have been infested with freaks. She checked, too. Locking all the locks there were on her door, a whopping two, she had removed the gun that was strapped to her leg. She closed all the blinds as she passed the windows, gun pointing off into the shadows. She didn’t like guns, but she would use them if she had to. She entered each room with caution, checking every corner and behind the door before entering. Then she’d go to the window, close the blinds, and check every other hiding spot. The house was dimly lit by the sunlight that tried its hardest to seep through the blinds. [I]Note to self.[/I] She thought lightly to herself as she flopped back onto her old couch. [I] Get curtains. Nice dark black curtains. [/I] She reached into her back pocket, removing the Blackberry that she had almost squashed when she had sat back. Okay, so the Blackberry had been a bit of an excessive splurge when she had purchased it. It was one handy little thing, though. She didn’t have to carry around a bulky laptop to be able to access the Hunter-Net. Quickly she was browsing the forums on the area. So there was a nest downtown… It seemed as though someone else was on it already. And rumors of… Vampires, huh? Gwen smiled. And by smile I mean that odd little half grin one seems to get when they are thinking of things that aren’t considered very nice. She made a quick post. [b]Seer305: [/b] Count me in. I can be there in 20 minutes, easy. Gwen had parked her car in a garage by the café. It was halfway between where she was now and where she needed to be. It also had some extra stuff, tucked away in a special compartment in her trunk. She had the basics on her already, but it wouldn’t hurt to make a quick pit stop and grab some extra stuff. The sound of the trunk slamming echoed off the empty walls of the parking lot. It caused her to glance around, checking to make sure no one had heard. She was probably just being paranoid, but you couldn't be too careful when you had a katana and a row of wooden stakes hanging from your belt. She took the back roads to the intersection to avoid the cops. She hated cops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLarge Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 [SIZE=1]Pure, ice-cold panic coursed through the young girl's veins as she ran up the stairs, constantly looking back to see if the thing following her was far behind. She heard noises, shuffling and thudding noises that suggested that the creature wasn't far away, but she could never see it. She stumbled on the stairs, and immediately felt the thing's hot, stinking breath on the nape of her neck. Swallowing a scream, she struggled to her feet and continued up the stairs, kicking back at the thing. Feeling contact with the creature's face, she ran harder than before, trying desperately to reach the top of the stairs. Cold night air hit her square in the face as she wrenched the door open and ran out onto the roof, where she realised her mistake. There was nowhere to run from here. [B] "You look delicioussss,"[/B] hissed the creature through overlarge teeth, [B]"All the better for the chasssse."[/B] She whirled around to face the creature, and saw the horror that had befallen her. The creature looked as though it could have been human once - in fact, the tattered remains of a black business suit hung around it's haunches. But it was hunched over, on all fours like a wild cat. It's fingers had extended into long, pointed claws, and it's jaw seemed to hang loose from the rest of it's face, the mouth filled with enormous, sharpened teeth. Black hair hung limply into it's crimson eyes, and smudges of green blood were smeared across it's face. [B] "W-what the hell are you?"[/B] she stammered, fear causing her whole body to shake as she backed towards the edge of the building. [B] "Something nasty,"[/B] came a third, new voice, and two black-gloved hands reached, apparently out of nowhere, and grabbed the creature's head on either side, twisting with a sharp, jerking movement, snapping it's neck with a sickening crack. The creature fell limply to the floor, flopping down like a ragdoll. [B] "I've been looking for this son of a bitch for a long time,"[/B] came the voice, gravelly and deep, but with a softer edge than one might expect. The girl looked at him - he was an older man, perhaps late thirties, his face cloaked in shadow from the black hood he had pulled up. He shifted a little in his leather jacket and wiped the traces of green blood from his gloves on his black trousers. [B]"What was that thing?"[/B] she asked, her voice quaking with fear as she looked up at the man in awe. [B]"Nothing that you need to concern yourself with,"[/B] he said, turning away from her and crouching over the creature's body, [B]"It's better if you just forget this ever happened." "How am I supposed to do that?" "That's not my problem,"[/B] he replied, pulling open the thing's eyes and peering into them, [B]"Just go." "No. Not until I get an explanation of what that thing was," [/B]she said stubbornly, folding her arms, her confidence apparently restored. [B]"You want an explanation?"[/B] he asked, standing up and turning back to her, [B]"That was a Ghast - a creature of unimaginable malevolence. If he'd caught you, he would have knocked you to the ground, clawed open your chest and eaten your heart while you watched. He would have gorged himself on you from the inside out until there was nothing left but a skeleton with shreds of meat hanging off the bones. And that's if you're lucky. If you were unlucky, he'd have torn your skin off while you still lived, raped you and eaten your face. Good enough for you?"[/B] The girl said nothing, but instead looked shocked and sickened by the response. [B]"Well, you asked,"[/B] he said, turning back to the body. Which wasn't there. [B]"Oh, shit,"[/B] he said, looking around the rooftop, [B]"Where is he? Where the fu..."[/B] His last question was cut short by the bloodthirsty and now very pissed off creature leaping towards him, claws and fangs bared, ready for the kill. In the last split-second before impact, he managed to roll out of the way of the initial assault, although a claw did leave a fairly hefty scratch down one arm of his jacket. [B]"Bastard,"[/B] he snarled, running to the open doorway and grabbing something from behind it. When he emerged, he was holding a long, dark wooden staff, which he held in a fighting stance, perhaps bojitsu or kendo. [B]"Come on, ugly, where are you?"[/B] he whispered to himself, stalking slowly across the rooftop, turning in circles so the thing couldn't attack him from behind. [B]"Over here, asssshole,"[/B] the thing hissed. He whirled around and saw the ghoul, now in the upright position, standing with his arm around the girl's neck, dragging a long talon over the soft skin of her neck. [B]"You think I care about her? I'll shoot through her if I have to,"[/B] he said, pulling a long-barrelled revolver from inside his jacket and levelling it at the girl, knowing that the bullet would come out with enough force to go straight through her and into the Ghast. [B]"You're bluffing,"[/B] replied the Ghast, a little hesitantly, scratching a tiny wound open on the girl's neck with the tip of his talon, [B]"You Hunters don't hurt innocents." "That's a risk you're going to have to take," [/B]the Hunter said, placing his staff on the floor and reaching inside his jacket with his now-free hand. [B]"Get another gun out and I'll kill her,"[/B] snarled the Ghast, dragging his long, slimy tongue across her cheek, much to her disgust. [B]"Fine,"[/B] replied the Hunter, pulling his hand out of his jacket and flinging it towards the Ghast. A whizzing sound ripped through the air, and a split second later the Ghast keeled over backwards, a long-bladed knife stuck between his eyes. Green blood spurted from the wound, covering the girl in the viscous substance, and she screamed in terror and disgust. The Hunter knelt down and picked up his staff, then walked over to the Ghast, staff in one hand, revolver in the other. The creature was lying motionless, face frozen in a look of agony and horror, and the Hunter holstered his revolver inside his jacket, took his staff in both hands, whispered something incoherent, and slammed the tip down on the creature's chest. Bright flames licked from the point of contact, spreading across the Ghast's body, eventually engulfing it in flickering, white-hot flame. The Hunter lifted his staff, and walked away, past the girl, towards the door. [B]"Go home. Shower and change. Then forget this ever happened - forget the Ghast, but most of all forget you ever saw me,"[/B] he said coldly, then went through the door and disappeared into the darkness. --- Jax looked up to the top of the building, where the Ghast's burning body was sending smoke billowing high into the air. He could vaguely hear sirens in the distance, which meant that someone had spotted the smoke and reported it - fire crews and police teams would be on their way, and he was no friend of either. Jogging round the corner, away from the building, he pulled his PDA out of the inside pocket of his jacket, and turned it on. Normally he didn't like having too much technology on him - some of the things he did sometimes interfered with it, and made it basically useless in the end - but since he travelled so much, the PDA was vital to keep in the loop with Hunter business. It also had a digital radio, an MP3 player and a cellphone contained within, so it eliminated the need for more than one piece of equipment There were a whole bunch of emails, a number from companies asking if he'd like to increase the size of his manhood, some from "Kayleigh, 18 and single," and a few from the Hunters. One immediately caught his eye, however. [B]"Crawler infestation, huh?"[/B] he muttered to himself, [B]"All in a night's work."[/B] He logged out and punched in a number he knew pretty well. However, he hesitated before calling. Manjusra enjoyed her privacy - it's probably one of the reasons she was a Hermit, and definitely the reason why he was one of only six people who had her cellphone number. She wasn't a big fan of humanity in general, and as such lived mostly as a recluse. Her condition wouldn't have helped much, either. Jax could appreciate her desire for privacy - he hadn't had a proper relationship, romantic or friendly, in a number of years. He understood that, in some ways, loneliness was the curse of the Hunter. It had improved slightly since the hunter-net had been developed, allowing Hunters from totally disparate locations to get in contact with each other, but it was still a solo gig, really. [B] "Needs must,"[/B] he decided, and called the number, holding the PDA up to his ear. The line rang five times and then went to the machine. After listening to the programmed message, Jax simply said: [B]"Optica...Manjusra, it's Jackson. I need to know if you've heard anything about new Ghasts in town. I've just met one and he's not one of the old guard. I left him on fire, but you know what these bastards are like. Call me back when you can." [/B] He hung up without a proper sign-off, and tucked his PDA back into his pocket. Then headed off downtown to help Sword224 and Shield223 with a Crawler infestation. All in a night's work.[/SIZE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akieen Cloud Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 [COLOR="Navy"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Amia sighed as she hauled her heavy duffel bag that held her armor in it; throwing it into the back seat of her black Z28 93 Camaro. After hearing the loud clunk of her armor hit the seat she shut the door and headed for the the drivers side of the car only to jump as her cell phone rang, she enjoyed a small smile as the Final Fantasy winning battle song play through her jeans pocket. Looking at the screen she sighed again as it notified her of a crawler infestation. "How many of us do they think they need to take care of a few bugs? Holy shit, I bet everyone in the damn area got one of these. I have better things to do than go and watch a bunch of us stumble around due to the fact that everyone's been called there. We'll be tripping over each other." Looking at her watched she sighed and hung her head. "Well it's not as if I have anything better to do. The hell hounds are moving that way anyway so I might as well stop in and say hello." She patted her jean jacket and nodded as she felt her colt 45's under it, tightening her gloves a little more she went to the trunk and opened it nodding to herself as she saw her two swords and her crossbow packed away in the back along with the rest of her luggage. It was time for her annual move to another city and it just happened that the pack of hell hounds she had been tracking was heading to the city the infestation was at. She opened the door and ducked into the small sports car and turned over the ignition smiling as the cars engine roared to life and idled as she slipped her i-pod into the installed CD player and flipped through the songs till she found one of her favorites, Already Over by Red. Putting the car in reverse she slowly pulled out of her parking space and flipped on the lights and than put the car into drive and headed for the next city over. She got there in relatively good time and roomed up in one of the middle classed hotel and hooked up her notebook laptop to the wireless connection that they had there and logged into the Hunter-net she looked over all the posts on it and noticed that Jax was in the area as well as a few others including MC. She looked at the ceiling not really sure of how she should react to some one else working on things that she had never really met. Shrugging she had gotten into her Camaro and left. She gave a fake shutter as she was thinking what the unknown woman might look like and her over active imagination flew away and gave her a strange image, she shook her head again and picked up her phone and dialed Jax's number getting his voice mail as she figured she would, her and only a few other really answered their phones when they rang. "Jax, it's Amia, just wanted to get word around that I'm in town, I think we'll all be showing up at some time or another, I think that crawler message went to everyone, waste of time if you ask me. But any who just wanted to let someone know my whereabouts so if the higher ups start to look for any of us I can vouch that I did call one of the others and let them know where I was. By the way have you heard from any of the others at all? I know I haven't I was just wondering if-BEEP." She looked down at her phone with an offended look. "Damn, I ran out of time. Oh well. He'll understand. heh." She closed the laptop, checked her time and rummaged through her bag and got on her armor and than headed out the door, her two swords on her hips, her gloves still on under her gauntlets. She took a map and her phone as well. "Time to see if I can track down those Hell Hounds before they get a good pack going..." Walking into the street she felt a chill creep up her spine and shook if off this was her job and she accepted that, never meant she had to enjoy being up at all hours of the night killing freaks and their pets.[/FONT][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuyYouMetOnline Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 [COLOR=indigo]They rarely wanted her.[/COLOR] [I][COLOR=#4b0082]The pain as the knife cut through her skin. The pain as the thing beat her.[/COLOR][/I] [COLOR=#4b0082]It never surprised Vaxla that other Hunters rarely wanted her around. Vaxla wasn't like them. They all had their own motivations, their own goals. Like Vaxla, many of them just wanted all of the freaks dead. But most of them excersized restraint to at least some extent. Vaxla did not.[/COLOR] [I][COLOR=#4b0082]The horror as it overpowered her. The horror as it raped her.[/COLOR][/I] [COLOR=#4b0082]Killing them was all that mattered to Vaxla. She didn't care about civilian casualties, about collateral damage, about anything but their death. Many Hunters saw her as a mindless killer, but that was far from the truth. She didn't always kill freaks on sight; sometimes, it was better to wait. Like last night, when she followed a vampire instead of killing it. Followed it to what had looked like just another bar, but turned out to be a gathering spot for vampires. Allowing the one vampire to live a little longer had directed her to many more. [/COLOR][COLOR=#4b0082]But Vaxla didn't kill then, either. Going against so many vampires would have been suicide. So she'd left to properly prepare herself. The next night, she would go in.[/COLOR] [I][COLOR=#4b0082]The fear as it came at her. The fear as she saw what it really was. The fear that its child would be a monster like it.[/COLOR][/I] [COLOR=#4b0082]She'd posted the location on Hunter-Net, and stated her intent to go in the next night, when vampires, safe from the sun, would come out again. But she didn't expect any help. Few Hunters would see the message and be able to make it in time, and odds were than none of them would want to aid her. Many wanted nothing to do with her, and some thought it would be better if she got herself killed.[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]She was expecting to be by herself when she went in. But that didn't matter. She would be properly prepared, and would be able to do it without help.[/COLOR] [I][COLOR=#4b0082]The satisfaction as she killed it. The satisfaction as its unborn child died.[/COLOR][/I] [COLOR=#4b0082]She didn't need any others. She would kill them by herself.[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082][I]The satisfaction of every kill.[/I][/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]She would kill them all.[/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engel Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 [color=#E32636][size=1]Thom smiled his trademark one sided grin. He had a few nicknames for Manjusra, from Snowflake to other things regarding her unique complexion. She never minded, either, which made it a little more fun to make new ones. If he listed his pastimes, making up more nicknames would be under the list. He moved to the closet, stripping out of his shirt. A brownish stain on the chest told him that he had a brief conjugal burn there, probably from an earlier fight. [i]Great...gotta replace this one. Excellent.[/i] He couldn't stand blemishes on his clothes - it was most likely some form of OCD he didn't know he had, but at the same time suspected it a great deal. Withdrawing a t-shirt that read "The Mars Volta" - detailed with the album art and bizzare, but wonderful images - and slipping it on, he strapped his tower shield to his back and withdrawing Myxoma from the closet. Mumbling under his breath, Thom cast his carefree stare out the window, observing the milling ants below. Crawling around in the dirt. Unbeknown of what fate held in store for them. It made him sick, and it made him smile. With passing thoughts on whether or not he was a horrible, sick and twisted person for thinking that, Thom whistled to the tune of his own drum - and guitar and synths and lyrics, as he played all the parts for the song - as he opened the window he had been glaring out of and used the length of high-tensile rope that led down to the bottom to rappel himself quietly and quickly to the bottom. The sun was setting. They'd be out soon. A sigh coloured his somewhat cold lips, a key withdrawn from his front pocket used to unlock the door to a car that was by no means bad and by no means extremely fancy. It was a Dodge Magnum, tinted a dark greyish-black, and for all intents and purposes, served Thom's needs. Shifting from park to drive, he made his way into the downtown, past shady areas filled with drug cartels and homeless beggars who wanted your money for more liquor or to lord it over the even more desolate that inhabited the area. Parking on the side of the street, Thom's nimble fingers plucked the phone from his pocket and hit the first number on speed dial. "I'm here, now's the time I say somethin' clever and you walk outta a door and into my car." [/color][/size] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raiha Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]"No kidding. You always had such a way with words." [i]Thom looked over Manjusra briefly as she climbed in the passenger seat, all legs and light jacket. Hadn't changed much, a new small diamond shaped scar on her cheek, but nothing horrific like he'd seen on some hunters that got faces full of acid and venom. Then again, Manjusra's slight size and uncomfortable gifts ensured that she'd always have to fight quickly and then dart away out of the range of discomfort. He noticed the glisten of the chains around her waist, and he smirked while lighting up two cigarettes and passing one to her. She took it and for a brief second, her face was illuminated in the glow of the cherry.[/i] "I like your chains there. Very kinky." "You should see the ones in my basement." "If only. But alas, we have business at hand." [i]She smirked in a mirror of his own and exhaled slowly, leaning over to look out the window, drawing one finger in a quick jerk from her lower lip to the bottom of her chin almost before he noticed. Immediately he felt a light crackle and a buzzing pop in his ears, and all of a sudden Manjusra relaxed with an audible sigh. Crossing her legs, she casually cracked the knuckles on her left hand simply by contracting and releasing in a quick jerk. As Thom turned the corner on Madison, he turned to Manjusra, who had already used her edge again as the previous one wore off. For a moment they both sat in the car, idling to collect themselves, then, moving before Thom could, she stepped out on her side, and strolled casually to the dimly lit sidewalk corner across from the building. He followed behind at a safe distance, and she quickly tapped her fingers to her pupils and muttered a word he didn't quite catch. He did however catch the unmistakable eyeshine of her red caught in the sparse lighting across the street. Then it went away again and she shut it down by blinking a few times. Out of consideration he began to push down the power that always had crackled around him, just waiting for the order. She turned to him, her white hair slipping free from her scarf and glistening like molten silver in the lamplight.[/i] "Two like you said. One male, one female. Strong but not invincible. Both look like they're getting ready to go out for a feed. Their auras are clinging to their bodies more than they would if they'd just eaten." [i]He nodded slowly, and then dropped his cigarette, grinding it out with his boot heel, then shifted his grip on the first of his two guns.[/i] "Ready?" "More or less. I'll try to lead so you can pick off anyone who tries to flank me." "Not a bad plan. I'll try my best to not accidentally crush your skull. Maddie." [i]Manjusra was already tugging gently on the first seven section chain whip, pulling it out to clump together in her hand, ready for a quick snap to extend it out for maximum range. Thom gave her a smile that would've been a sneer on anyone else and the two quietly made their way into the building, the door already unlocked as if the vampires knew. But since she'd only seen the two there and no others with her Sight, Manjusra hung slightly back and waited for the first to materialize. With the same unnerving shriek she'd heard dozens of times before in her sleep, in real time, she steeled herself and watched for the burst of gunfire in the darkened room. Immediately, the buzzing in her ears took her over, and relying only on her Sight to keep her from breaking down, Manjusra spun around in a tight circle and jerked the second whip out as she flung the first towards the female vampire. The first missed and shattered a pane of glass while the second struck a glancing blow across the vampire's extended forearm. The smell of burning flesh filled the room, and she whipped both around her head and struck again, her eyes wide open and staring.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engel Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 [color=#E32636][size=1]The female had evaded the length of Manjusra's whip, which left her open for an attack. Seeing this, Thom put a dash into his step, smashing the vampire head on with his all-encompassing shield to keep Manjursa relatively safe. Of course, this was little to the bitch who he had blocked, using her immortal strength to grasp a spike on the shield and wrench it from his hand, throwing it aside. With a scowl and a slight bit of a grin, Thom clipped her in the joint of the arm with his blade, her arm overextended from removing one of his defenses. Peeling backwards from the vampire, he deliberated using an Edge to hopefully end it quickly. However, this would be unwise - there could be others lurking around in the dark, and that most definitely would not be good. Best to forget such abilities for now, he decided. Hand to hand it was. Thinking fast, his left hand dipped into the holster on his side that held one of the Luger pistols, whipping it out as he brought his blade up with his right to block the monstrous and lightning-paced blows from the female. As she rose her left foot to make a low kick at his shin, Thom titled the pistol down and fired two shots off into her kneecap, stifling her kicks and movements, but not doing any real fatal damage. Raising his sword to make a mortal strike, Thom noticed the male vampire cutting in out of the darkness with a cruel hand outstretched for his neck, to choke and break. Thom grit his teeth, ready for the impact of the blow, when he realized the male had stopped short, one of Manjusra's whips around his neck, choking the life out of him with every second he tried to struggle close to Thom. Using the momentary distraction caused by her partner, the female's hand slid across his cheek, creating a tear on his cheek, from his ear to his lips. It wasn't deep, but it stung like blood and toxins. That's most likely what it was, Thom thought passingly. Spinning on his heel, Thom's blade removed the male's head, and he hacked at it again, separating skull and brain matter and all sorts of joyous fluids. The female seemed stunned at the action, and her stunned silence allowed Manjusra to slide both whips around her neck, breaking and crumbling the bones easily, allowing a blade to be placed between her eyes, and her head to be severed. Cracking his neck and forgetting the cut on his face, Thom chuckled a little. "Star-cross'd lovers come to my mind, a bit, y'know?" He asked, withdrawing two cigarettes from his pack and lighting both up, his lips more intent around the one he then passed to Manjusra. "We should probably burn the bodies and heads or something."[/color][/size] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raiha Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][i]Manjusra considered them for a moment, then reached in her pocket for the silver knuckles, handing one to Thom over her shoulder.[/i] "You won't have to if we just destroy the heads completely. Fall to." [i]Without another word, she slipped the rings into her fingers and began to pound her right fist repeatedly into the remains of the female vampire's face, punctuating every blow with a sharp exhale of smoke.[/i] "I. Really. Hate. Leeches. Like. You." [i]As the rest smoked and smoldered underneath her fist, she smiled brutally to herself, the buzzing finally down to a manageable hum. Then she turned and wiped off the metal against the back of her pants, and held out her hand absentmindedly for the other. He handed it over and ran a hand up his face and through his tangled hair, remembering the slash across his face as he accidentally grazed it. [/i] "Ow, Jesus. Fuck!" "Oh, come here, I can fix that." [i]He leaned forward uncertainly and Manjusra placed the fingers of her left hand against his skin, rolling them across gently in a quick scatter of power that sewed the flesh back almost immediately. Her fingers pulled away with an almost audible pop, like static electricity, and she smirked as he rubbed the newly healed wound like it still itched. Giving him a "oh you big baby" smile she rolled up her chains and shoved them in her coat pockets and zipped it up, pulling her scarf back over her hair. The buzzing of her cell phone finally registered and she flicked it open, scanning the message from Jax and then snapping it shut again. She turned and gave Thom a look he'd seen before.[/i] "You leaving already?" "Ghasts. I'm sure you understand." "Sadly. Guess I'll check out your torture chamber some other time." [i]Already walking away, Manjusra waved a hand over her shoulder in farewell and turned her steps towards the directions Jax had left, hitting his number as she went. It rang an uncomfortably long amount of time before he picked up, sounding like he was talking in a waterfall.[/i] "Hey Manjusra. You caught me in the shower." "If only. How soon do you want me to stare at the Ghasts? I'm already downtown. Another Hunter and I beat a vampire couple into dust." "As soon as it's convenient. Wouldn't want to overtax you." "Spare me your slightly disguised machismo please." [i]He snorted and laughed the short bark of someone who doesn't really get a chance to use it often and she hung up, taking a slightly roundabout way home, headed for the building he'd mentioned in the message. And there the building was, the jangling of her nerves and eardrums an immediate warning to back off and circle around before she was detected. Doing just that, while fingering the edge of the whip in her pocket, she used her other hand to activate her Sight while she did, keeping herself from bolting at the overwhelming sensations. The aura of the Ghast was shrunken slightly in comparison to his body, but even that was ridiculous considering his sheer bulk. Bigger than any she'd ever seen before, maybe the result of a Ghast who had been allowed to live for too long, maybe just something that'd gotten an infection from another freak. But she was scared, and felt justified when considering the enormous thing that was making its home in the city she lived in. Shutting down her energy and then drawing the rest deep inside herself, she made tracks for home, throwing the locks behind her automatically, pulling and locking the blinds, quickly muttering the Lotus Sutra to herself repeatedly as she did. Once she had calmed herself with a cup of tea and a hot shower, she sat down in her bed, pulling the covers up to her waist, and reached for her phone. This time it skipped straight to message and she snapped out her report quickly.[/i] "This is Optical88 and I hate to overstate the obvious but it's huge. You'll need to bring in as much firepower as you can. Probably an RPG for good measure. I checked and it doesn't even seem to have the normal weaknesses nor any that made themselves apparent. I didn't want to get close enough for him to smell me because to be fair, he could probably eventually batter his way into my house and you know how it goes." [i]Then, without a qualm, she pulled the covers over her head and tried to relax enough to fall into a dreamless sleep.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 [SIZE="1"][FONT="Times New Roman"][B]User:[/B] Salvage458 [B]Password:[/B] ******** [I]Access to Hunters Network approved. Welcome, Salvage458[/I][/FONT] Kazimir scanned the new updates of Hunter-Net. It was almost ritualistic, as he did this every day at exactly 6:00am, 12:00pm, 6:00pm, and midnight. Just like clockwork. Perhaps it was the OCD talking, but coincidentally, there seemed to be most new updates around those times. He placed a cigarette into his mouth and lit it while clicking on a few topics he hadn't seen before. It was strange to think that there were so many hunters out there. And the fact that they couldn't take care of problems themselves was unfathomable. However, Kazimir did find a few topics interesting. (Most importantly the emergence of several new species of monsters. All of which seemed to have spawned within the past few months) He replied Haphazardly to a few of the new hunters, stating that if their instincts couldn't tell them how to kill something, they were up shit creek. (Or something along those lines) And then he replied to one of his old creed contacts, Ambrose499, who was currently working on an infestation of a new creature in Romania. Lastly, he looked in his contact list and saw that Shield223 had posted about a possible crawlers infestation, requesting help. [B]"Fuck that."[/B] Kazimir took another long drag from his cigarette before putting it out in the ashtray. Bugs weren't his specialty. In fact, the Czech man hated bugs more than anything. Even regular bugs, let alone supernatural ones. [B]"Besides,"[/B] He continued speaking to himself, searching for excuses, [B]"That was posted at 6:30. Those things are no doubt, very active at this late hour."[/B] Kazimir lit up another cigarette. He always had the tendency to chain smoke when he was 'operating.' His tank top was already covered in dark gray blood which the freak was releasing on contact. Kazimir put on his his rubber gloves and set up his tools after they had a chance to sanitize. He passed through plastic curtain in the center of his room, which he used to keep the blood from getting everywhere. After taking all the necessary precautions, (surgical mask, test subject's bonds tightened, subject sedated as much as possible, etc) he turned on the camera. [B]"This is Salvage458 preparing to resume autopsy on live subject: Weiland - 22."[/B] This was how Kazimir had received his fame on Hunter-Net. He was the only member willing to post videos of freak anatomy and conduct extensive research on their body. This was, as the number suggested, Kazimir's 22nd Weiland autopsy. He wasn't as experienced in Weilands, but he figured they were just as worthy of salvaging as any of the freaks... Except the bugs. He continued: [B]"Subject anatomy is... Typical."[/B] He sighed, removing his mask to take another drag from his cigarette. [B]"Subject displays little signs of human-like existence. Bone structure seems to allow for rapid movement, common among Weilands."[/B] He took the dissecting knife from his tray of instruments and cut into the frail leg of the already cut-open creature. It writhed in, spitting up gray liquid every time it moved. [B]"Subject seems to have a low tolerance for pain."[/B] he said as he peeled back the skin on it's assumed calf. [B]"This is strange."[/B] Kazimir said as he pulled the bone out of the creature with little effort. A sickening crunch filled the air as the joints gave way. [B]"Subject 22 seems to be missing the key component on the skeletal system that the prior 21 subjects have presented."[/B] Kazimir held the bone up to the camera. In the past, the Weilands skeletal system had a dark indigo liquid covering their leg bones. It was Kazimir's hypothesis that this was what caused them to move so rapidly. However, subject 22 had a black liquid covering it. It was different than the rest, but seemed to provide the same results. [B]"Suggested mutation among the Weiland population. Further testing is needed to clarify. I will attempt to render a serum from this liquid and see if it's possible to save subject 22. Salvage458, out."[/B] He turned off the camera and finished his cigarette before leaving the autopsy area with the camera and the Weiland's calf bone. Just as he was uploading the footage to Hunter-Net, he received a phone call on his personal line; a number that only a handful of people knew, most of which were from his dying creed. [B]"Salvage."[/B] he said. placing the bone on a table in the other room. [B]"Kaz, it's Martin."[/B] Only one person had ever called him 'Kaz.' [B]"What do you want Bruiser?"[/B] Bruiser267 was the only Defender that Kazimir kept contact with. Something about a special hunt that they both happened to be covering a few years back. It turned out to be so massive, it was still talked about on Hunter-Net. Their anonymity was kept, but it seemed to bond both of them for good. Even if neither one of them agree on anything. [B]"I've got a present for you."[/B] He said. [B]"Dead or alive?"[/B] [B]"Burned to a crisp and shot in the head."[/B] [B]"Call me when you've got something useful."[/B] Kazimir moved to hang up, but he heard Martin's voice. [B]"I thought you of all people could appreciate a good werewolf."[/B] Kazimir paused. His specialty was werewolves. They were what took away his brother, and if he could find some way to atone for that, weather it be dead or alive, he would take it. [B]"Male or female?"[/B] He asked. [B]"Does it matter?"[/B] [B]"Where? I'll come pick it up."[/B] [B]"No need."[/B] Bruiser said, [B]"I'm coming to you."[/B] And then he hung up. Just then, his computer beeped to inform him that the video had been uploaded to Hunter-Net.[/SIZE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 [color=crimson][i][pindent=2]He sighed grimly as he surveyed the destruction around him. He was surrounded by a large number of Crawler corpses, all of them burned badly by the guttering blaze in his left hand. He counted the dead in this chamber of the newly created basement for the abandoned building above him; twenty-two. Adding the seventeen in the last chamber, and the one he'd killed before he jumped down, that left eleven. Ten 'royal guards' for Her Majesty, the Mother.[/pindent] [pindent=2]He took stock of his munitions. He had two rolls of Long Colt ammo, three clips left for the .50 caliber currently slung under his arm. He checked his Colts and emptied the chambers, taking care to pocket the spent casings. After reloading, he stepped over towards one corner of this room and placed his third brick of C4, setting the detonator to activate upon his signal. Satisfied with his work, he checked the M-4 and sighed. Thirty rounds remaining. He banished the blazing tomahawk in his hand and took up his last remaining WP grenade, pulling the pin and releasing the safety. With a count of two, he hurled it into the makeshift door that led into the Mother's chamber.[/pindent] [pindent=2]The grim smirk grew on his features once more as the sounds of infighting reached his ears and he holstered the magnum, taking up his M-4 and rushing in, blasting at what little remained for him to shoot. Emptying the chamber, adding to the chaos of white phosphorus-induced rage, he dropped every single one of the 'royal guard'. Now, to the mother.[/pindent] [pindent=2]He closed his eyes to shake off the effects of his own grenade, ignoring the neon-colored blobs that decorated the back of hiis eyelids as best he could while he focused his hearing. He turned quickly, the skittering of a dozen and a half elongated, multi-jointed claws pressing in on him from behind. He drew a combat knife, wincing as he was thrown forcefully from his feet. He opened his bleary eyes and growled, only to have the bitch answer in kind with a screech. He tasted copper, spit to his left. The 'plap' of the gooey projectile resounded in the echo of the chamber, and he was surprised to see her jerk her, he guessed it was her head, towards the sound.[/pindent] [pindent=2]She was blind. She'd clawed her own eyes out, and his narrowed. They were getting smarter. The superficial burns along her thorax told him his grenade had detonated close to her, but the bitch was -huge-. It was minimal damage compared to her body size; she was bigger than he was. He used her temporary study of his blood and saliva to his advantage, body checking her and slashing under her thorax with his knife only to find his left hand well within the reach of her jaws. He grimaced as he felt the pressure of the initial bite, groaned when he felt stingers slam through his skin, and screamed when he felt the bones give and powder under the crush of her bite. He yanked back as hard as he could, flaying leather, cloth, and skin from his left forearm, dropping the knife as he summoned the tomahawk in his right hand.[/pindent] [pindent=2]The bug screamed, releasing what was left of his arm as she felt the searing heat of the primitive, flaming axe pierce the left side of her head. She flailed back as she felt a second slam to the same place, bit at his leg and twisted her jaws. A muffled groan and a loud snap signaled the give of his ankle, but it was too late. He let his body weight slam against her as he pummelled and pummelled her with the axe before falling to the ground, breathing hard as he raised his right hand and pointed at her head, willing it to explode in flame. His willpower guttered; he let the shield surrounding the building fall to restore it. His gamble paid off; the queen screeched as her body burned with white fire from within, and she fell, dead. He rested his hand over his heart as he felt his body begin to burn from the stingers still embedded in his shredded arm.[/i] "Not yet...."[/pindent] [pindent=2][i]He didn't have the willpower to heal everything on his body, but the violent burning sensation in his arm faded as he felt his bones realign, repair themselves. The skin, though, remained mostly shredded. He climbed to his feet and settled his weight gingerly on his right ankle, groaning. It was a bad sprain, no longer a break. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling of the chamber, smiling quietly to himself as a familiar Glyph made itself evident. The combination of squiggles and lines meant 'Success', as far as he could tell. The Messengers only ever sent it when a Hunter had finished a True Hunt, as he called it; the destruction of a Hive of ten or more freaks. He didn't know what the Glyphs really were, but he did know that no Hunter could create them. They could replicate them, certainly, but they never held power unless sent by the Messengers.[/pindent] [pindent=2]He turned and set his last brick of C4 on the side of the chamber wall, picking up the spent WP grenade and making his way back to the entry. He looked up to the hole and sighed, climbing up the mound of loosened soil that would allow his exit. He made his way up and out, pulling out a stick of chalk and scribing the Glyph he'd seen on the front of the nearby parking garage as he climbed weakly into his car. He turned on his phone and dialed a number into the keypad as he pulled out and drove off. As he pressed the 'Send' button, he was treated to the satisfying sound of the building's foundations caving in, dropping the entire structure into the ground.[/pindent] [pindent=2]It was with great satisfaction that he pulled into the late-night convenience store and climbed out. He'd filled up earlier, so he didn't pay any attention to the pumps as he walked in. Going right for the coolers, he grabbed a six-pack of Red Wolf and headed for the counter.[/i]"Hey, man. A carton of Doral Menth 100's, and those two DVDs over there. No, Bondage Babes and Ladies in Leather. And could I get some aspirin or something, too? Yeah, thanks."[/pindent] [i][pindent=2]He dropped sixty bucks on the counter, ignoring the stares his shredded arm got from the attendant turned, and walked out, checking his text messages for the directions. Climbing in his station wagon, he was stopped by the attendant.[/i] "Dude, your arm..." "Got in a fight with a lawn mower, earlier."[/pindent] [pindent=2][i]He ignored her stares as he turned the key and backed out onto the highway. He waved with the shredded arm as he opened a pack of cigarettes, packing them against the steering wheel as he wound his way through the city, lighting up as he approached his destination. Locking down the car and taking the time to hide his weapons, he collected his Colt 1911 and slid it into his side holster before finally making his way up to the townhouse with an extra pack of cigarettes in his pocket, the beers in his mangled left hand, and the DVDs under his arm. He raised his arm and knocked.[/i][/pindent][/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLarge Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 [SIZE=1]Jax stood, showered and refreshed, watching the Hive of Crawlers burn with white-hot flame. He had been a little too late, stopping in his apartment to check his emails after the shower had sluiced off any of the Ghast's blood that remained. [B]"If Wild143 hadn't sent me that bloody message," [/B]he muttered, trailing off even in his own thoughts. He was pretty sure that the Mother, the Queen if you will, had been taken care of by whichever Hunter had got there before him. There were no leftover Crawlers for him to take care of, and that was usually a pretty good sign that the Mother had been killed. He pulled his PDA out again, switching it back on and logging on to the internet as he left the scene, hoping once more that the police wouldn't be onto him. A message flashed up on his screen, and he recognised the number as Manjusra's. He lifted the PDA to his ear and listened intently for the few moments that the the message played. [B]"Fuck," [/B]he stated simply as he disconnected from the message service. If the Ghast he had encountered earlier was as powerful as Manjusra had said, and he believed in her and her Sight more than anything else, then the city was in for a whole world of shit. If his aura was still big enough and powerful enough to scare her, even after Jax had personally broken the thing's neck [I]and [/I]set it on fire, then it was definitely bad news. Usually Ghasts decreased in power when injured so badly - they had to put some of their energy into fusing broken bones back together, healing flesh wounds and such. But if this one still has as much energy in it's aura as Manjusra had suggested then Jax was in for a lot of trouble. If she had suggested he needed an RPG, then he would have to find one. He definitely didn't have that kind of artillery at any of his safehouses, so he would have to find an outside source that could provide one. Either way, the best bet was to hole himself up in his apartment for the night and wait until morning to sort things out. He needed to rest, to get his head together, and try and sort things out for himself. Going into dangerous situations half-cocked never worked out well for him. He needed to talk to Manjusra again, but looking at his watch he knew that she would be asleep by now. That idea seemed rather tempting to him as well, so he began the short walk back to his apartment. He'd been up for the best part of forty-eight hours, so he felt he deserved a little rest before the following day's exertions. Once he got back and dropped onto his own bed, he was asleep almost immediately, and it wasn't likely that much could wake him for a good few hours yet. [/SIZE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raiha Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][i]The knock roused Manjusra from her light doze, and dressed in a plain linen nightshirt, her hair still messy she snatched up the rifle that was always just under the end curve of her bed and bolted for the door before whatever-it-was decided to knock again with bullets. Her unannounced guest found himself staring into the business end of Manjusra's fully loaded bolt action Karabiner 98K. Covering him with the muzzle, all he caught was a flash of red against a background of pure alabaster. Then he heard her voice, low and raspy, as if she hadn't spoken in awhile.[/i] "Name, rank, and number." [i]He stiffened almost immediately at the snap of authority in her voice and barked out the answer, sounding as programmed as [/i] "Sergeant Chase Amadahy, Serial Number 555-77-6404." [i]First test done, she slowly lowered the muzzle to point at his feet instead of his forehead and pushed the door open just a little further to get a better look at the newcomer. Shredded arm, beer, looking like he'd just spent the night with Crawlers. She extended her right hand for a moment, and then let her eyes drift from his arm to his face, and for a half a second he could've sworn her pupils dilated to encompass the red glow of her eyes. Then they went back to normal and she gave him a rather welcoming smile, a flash of white and pink against white.[/i] "Welcome to my home. I'm Manjusra Cheung. Call me Manji if you like." [i]She stepped aside and let him in, the bolts nearly flying into place behind him and he turned for a minute just to watch her security system. After letting him take off his shoes once he noticed the neat rack just to the left of the door, she padded across the entry way into the kitchen and set the kettle, his beer under her arm, and headed for the fridge. He blinked a few times as he took a minute to look deeper into her house. A sense of overwhelming stillness filled him. No animals, no burbling fountains, but houseplants offsetting the stark sepia and light tan walls, the woven mats, and the carefully set hardwood floor in the kitchen. She came back for a moment and looked at his arm for a minute, then abruptly snatched it up in her hand for virtually half a moment and then dropped it again. Immediately, he noticed a difference. In the space of a few heartbeats, she'd completely restored his arm, and then gone back to the kitchen. As he washed his hands in the small bathroom near the vestibule he felt a slight crackle and pop around his skin, then heard her calling out from the kitchen.[/i] "I hope you don't mind tea, it's more or less all I have right now besides water and soy milk." "Uh, It'll be fine." [i]She came back holding a tray and looking almost picturesque, watching him with a slightly bemused expression. He sat down at her gesture, awkwardly at first, since the table was only perhaps two feet off the ground at the most. In a startling short amount of time she'd set down a tea set, in addition to a small plate of what looked like lightly powdered cakes, a frosted mug for his beer, and folded cloth napkins. Then, still in her nightgown but with her hair elaborately knotted in the back of her head, she sat opposite him and poured with a slightly turned wrist. The Long Ding splashed into his ceramic cup, dark green, almost black, and frothed up around the rim in greeting. Manjusra smiled at him benignly and pointed a delicate finger at the drink.[/i] "Careful, it's a little more bitter than most people are used to." [i]She picked up hers with a delicate gesture and held it up, waiting for him to take the first sip.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted July 19, 2008 Author Share Posted July 19, 2008 [color=crimson][i][pindent=2]Chase was damning Beartalker up and down as he lifted the teacup to his lips and took a long, slow sip, draining a quarter of the contents without so much as a flinch. He set the cup down and smiled hesitantly, awkwardly, as he studied the town house's occupant.[/i] "Thanks for the tea. A bit stronger than most would brew it, I think, but it doesn't disappoint."[/pindent] [pindent=2][i]He set about the brief repast, raging yet again at Beartalker for putting him in this situation. Save a bundle on hotel rooms, sure. He refused to allow any of this to reach his face; after years of hiding his rage and depression from his eagle-eyed grandfather, he was quite skilled at schooling his face to reveal only what he wanted it to, and at the moment, that was appreciation for good tea.[/pindent] [pindent=2]Spying the pineapple cakes she'd managed to set out without him noticing, he allowed himself to take one and bite down. Gods, he'd missed sweets; a thing of a past long since removed, years before even Basic Training. He smiled pure, genuine appreciation for the repast to the woman before him and leaned back in his seat. [/i]"Excuse me, but is there a place I could sit and enjoy a cigarette and a beer?"[/pindent][pindent=2] "There's a balcony upstairs that you may use, Mister Amadahy, and your beer is in the fridge. I wanted them to keep cold while you washed up."[/pindent] [pindent=2][i]He smiled again, brushing the loose braid at his temple behind his ear as he stood up and placed his empty teacup in the sink, rinsing it thoroughly before placing it in her dishwasher. He idly noted the spartan setup, and cracked his neck quietly as he turned to answer Manjusra.[/i][/pindent][pindent=2] "Thank you very much, Manji. And please, call me Chase or Wolf, if you wish."[/pindent] [pindent=2][i]With that, he opened the fridge and broke a beer out of the cardboard pack, smiling as he grabbed the frosted glass from the table and walked out of the kitchen for the stairs. Hearing the fall of her footsteps behind him, he sighed inwardly and focused himself on getting out those balcony doors, ignoring the candid view of the neighboring bedroom as he stepped out into the chill October air. Feeling the coolness on his face and left forearm, he glanced down as he stepped out of the doorway and sat down in one of the padded mesh-metal lawn chairs that served as comfortable seating. Reaching for his open pack of cigarettes, he looked up at Manjusra as he smiled hesitantly before suddenly remembering his 'gift'.[/i][/pindent][pindent=2] "Oh, forgive me. I picked these up on the way from the Hive, Big Bear said you liked them."[/pindent] [pindent=2][i]Placing the DVDs on the neighboring mesh-metal yard table, a tastefully-done square piece of furniture that fit well with the inner decor, he pulled out his Army Zippo and lit his cigarette, taking a deep puff and inhaling the smoke, immediately beginning to relax before turning to Manji, blinking as she got an eyeful of the DVDs and squealed in apparent joy.[/i][/pindent][pindent=2] "Um....would you care for a cigarette?"[/pindent] [pindent=2][i]Oh, yes. He'd kill Beartalker for this, for -damn- sure.[/i][/color][/pindent] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engel Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 [size=1][color=#E32636]Watching Manjusra turn heel, Thom scratched the back of his head with a long finger, and traced over his cheek where the scar - and her touch - had been. He huffed slightly, pushing his hair out of his eyes and deciding to take a quick search around the area. Sometimes, vampires horded treasures - like his Lugers, which he had looted from an earlier experience. There was no harm in looking. Searching through their pockets and clothing, he found nothing but crumpled dollar bills and change, false ID's and other such things. They could kill for what they wanted, but they seemed to like creating a high place in society to their fancy. It annoyed Thom greatly - the world wasn't their plaything. It was his. As he made his way through the rest of the place, he would occasionally mutter to himself, writing it down in his metal notebook to use for later. Hunts always inspired songs of his. Among other things. When he was satisfied - or rather, dissatisfied with what he found, Thom left with the odd 19 dollars and 92 cents collected, along with two fake ID's and a locket that held a picture of the male within it. "Stupid fuckin' vamps. Shoulda kept it skin on skin, mebbe then she wouldn'a looked so surprised when I chopped down her cherry tree." A miryad of small thoughts, like fleeting creatures, ran through his head, but he dismissed them by pocketing the locket. Maybe he could melt it down and sell it or something. It seemed to be made of gold. Going outside, Thom climbed into his car, turning on the radio and finding a suitable song. It was that Dragula one. By whatever band. The one that people always cracked jokes on. Thom found it suiting and shrugged as he drove home, mouthing along to the words. Pulling to the side of the street and exiting his car, Thom made his way into the hotel room, the cigarette between his lips now a smoldering cherry that he put out in a faucet, guaranteeing the taste of ash - also known as diet cola - for the next few people to drink out of. With that, he retired to his room, taking his guitar and begging work on a new song. "The Blood is Love."[/size][/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 [COLOR="DarkRed"][SIZE="1"]A bitter cold chilled Amanda to the bone as the wind whipped through the streets of the small town. No sign of the cold was evident in the way she walked through the dawning twilight. Despite having been up the entire night, and spending nearly two hours of it chasing a new, phantasmal creature through the remains of an old apartment complex, she walked with a steady grace and a stare void of noticeable feeling. Underneath her mask of indifference she was seething enough to explain why even the cold breeze could not keep her cool. [I]I swear, if I ever find the hermit that sent me this info I'll bring him on my next hunt, and see how he likes a firsthand view of his "special information".[/I] The last three days had not been kind to Amanda, as she spent most the nights awake chasing three steps behind the "Wraiths", as she had taken to calling them, that had infested a lower class part of the town. Normally three days of hunting on her own would have been fine. Time well spent following leads and gathering information on her prey. This time, however, she was offered to be let in on information a local hermit had supposedly gathered that would shave days off of the hunt. Too bad his information was so outdated that even the corpses left behind at the scenes had been feasted on days ago by Inhumans that Amanda had to deal with. At least there was a bright point to everything here. This small town was familiar to her, a place she had not seen in nearly a year, and had one place she could always go to feel at ease. She made a beeline through the streets to the local church, and found the doors open despite the rather early hour. Forging forward she made her way past the empty rows of pews and stood before the alter, staring up at the statues, paintings and stained-glass windows, now gleaming with the first morning rays. "Blessed be, do these old eyes deceive me, or is that an angel before the altar of the Lord?" The heavy Irish accent cut through the silence of the church as an aging gentleman made his was toward Amanda from one of the side doors. Amanda turned, bowed to him, and a small (and very rare) smile graced the very edge of her lips. "A fine morning to you, Father," she spoke quietly and carefully set down the violin case she had chosen to bring with her that night. "I am afraid your eyes must deceive, for I am not an angel. I am neither so holy, nor do my 'wings' carry me to or from Heaven." A dry chuckle loosed from the man's lips at the reciting of the jokingly ritualistic greeting between the two. "Of course, my child. Still, you are truly a sight of beauty to this aging eyes. How long has it been? Nearly a year, if I recall." He may have been in his seventies, but the feigned bad memory was a lie common to everyday conversation. "Tell me, does your return mean that you have found what you seek from the teachings?" "No, it does not. I have seen many religious practices through my travels, but an understanding of The Heavens still eludes me." Amanda had never taken to a particular religion for answers, but had looked to many for commonalities and guidance on her role in life and as one of the Hunters. She chose to refer to any divine level of existence, be it one god or many, as "The Heavens" to avoid taking a single view. "Well, the answers seldom come that easy, I suppose." As he spoke he lowered himself into the seat of the front pew. "Would you be willing to do an old man two favors? Please stay for the sermon this morning, and until then would you mind playing for me a bit while we talk?" With another small smile Amanda wordlessly opened the violin case and set the instrument to her chin. With her eyes half closed she started to play a slow melody with a relaxing tune that she had played only once before, and only for the man who now sat before her. [CENTER]***Later That Morning***[/CENTER] Having calmed down from her time spent in the small church Amanda now returned to the motel she was renting a room in. At the lobby she paused for a moment with her eyes closed, and uttered almost breathlessly: "Even in the shadows the eyes of the diving reign." She continued to glance around at everyone she passed confident that if any Inhumans were around they were being careful. Once in her room she bolted the door, shut the blinds, and logged into the Hunter-Net to check for any further information. All she found of interest was a video of one of Salvage458's recent autopsies. [I]Hmm, I really do find his methods grotesque. Still, I can't deny the usefulness of what he had found in many cases. Maybe he should know...[/I] Amanda logged into the network's library of Inhumans and jotted down the information form the recent encounter with the Wraiths. Shortly after she posted a notice on the network directed at Salvage458, although open to everyone, seeing as she lacked direct contact to him. [I][B]Subject:[/B] To Salvage485, Re: New Inhuman Data Salvage458, if you have not noticed new data has been posted via the network on a recently encountered Inhuman. See the listing of "Wraiths" for current info, and attached pictures from the kills. If you want bodies I will save them pending your response. If you want live test subjects you are on your own. I do not approve of you methods enough to try and cage these Inhumans for you. You can find a Redeemer with a sadistic streak or a Martyr for that kind of work. --Archangel298[/I] With that she logged off and lay down on the less than comfortable mattress in the hope of getting at least some kind of rest before dealing with anything else. Best to think on a rested mind.[/SIZE][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arichan16 Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 She should have figured that they couldn't have waited twenty minutes. She had searched all over the place looking for the fight and only found some vampire corpses with their faces mashed in. She had been aching for a fight, too. Gwen sighed in her disappointment as she lifted the false bottom from the trunk in her car. Amongst the varying weapons she also had a few different license plates. Every so often she liked to switch them. She wasn't sure why she had picked up the habit, but she felt better doing it. She heaved her weapons into the false bottom and replaced it. It was getting dark out now. The nest was probably taken care of already. The vampires had obviously been taken care of. She wondered if there was anything else she could go fight. She slammed her trunk shut, turning so that she could lean back on the hood while she thought. Should she drive her car to her house? Or leave it in the garage? It probably wouldn't do much harm to drive it to the house. No one would think it was that unusual. She owned the house, after all. She should probably go shopping. If she was going to move into the house, she should probably equip it with food. She'd drive up to her apartment on the weekend to get her stuff and truly move. Shopping always felt odd to her. It was such a... tame... activity. She rarely gave herself time to live a normal life. It was her own fault. There were times where she wasn't out on a hunt where she could be doing normal things. She had time to take up a hobby or two. She just never did. She cleaned her weapons. She trained in using them. Sometimes she'd keep reloading threads on the Hunter-Net waiting for an update on the information. She tried her best to keep away from normal things. Because when she did something normal, like shopping, she noticed how tired she was. And that was when a part of her would nag, telling her that this wasn't healthy. It would tell her that if a freak didn't kill her, her obsession would. It just wasn't healthy, the way she avoided people. She was always looking over her shoulder, just waiting for the next freak to jump in and try to scare her. The only people she felt she could trust were other hunters. However, she was rather new to the Hunter-Net. A lot of the others had been around much longer. They knew each other, talked with each other. Some of them had been fighting freaks before she knew they existed. Sometimes she just felt like a kid in comparison. Maybe she should swing by the coffee shop tomorrow. If there wasn't a hunt, at least. She stocked her cabinets as quickly as she could, with no order or organization to speak of. She took one of the empty bags and shoved all of the others into it. She hung the bags on the cabinet beneath the sink. She doubted she'd need them, but it was good to keep them around anyway. Entering the dining room was almost painful. The blood had been cleaned up by the police a long time ago, but that didn't erase her memories. Out of the bottom pocket on her cargo pants she pulled a roll of leather. When it was unrolled it was obvious that it was really a pair of leather gloves. She slipped off her fingerless ones, rolling them up and shoving them into the pocket instead. She then donned the full fingered leather gloves and started filtering through the splintered wreckage. By the time she had sorted the pile, it was past midnight. She wanted to stay up and work some more, but her body told her otherwise. She wasn't sure she wanted to sleep in her old room, so she just crashed on the couch instead. While she was dozing off she started to make lists in her head of things to do. The water and electricity needed to be turned back on. She needed internet, too. The list went on and on in a rather drowsy sort of rambling up to the point where she actually fell asleep. Gwen didn't dream that night. Which was good. She never seemed to dream anything happy anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaryanna Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 [COLOR="DarkGreen"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Sometimes Jonathan wished he had never realized what he was capable of on account of the freaks that inhabited their world. He would have given just about anything to shut off the visions. For the most part he could control them but for the times that he could not, he couldn?t stand by and do nothing, not when innocents were involved. With a sigh he stretched a bit and then logged into the Hunter-Net. Not that he really wanted to see what was up, but trouble with the law in the last town he?d been residing in had made moving necessary. Without the Hunter-Net he?d have to rely completely on his own devices and that was pointless when it was easier to pool resources. His newest hell hole, as he liked to call it, was nothing more than a battered and worn down apartment building that the owner saw far more worth in than it really had. But he accepted cash for rent with no questions asked so it had been perfect, even if the carpet smelled of mold and the paint was peeling. Jonathan pulled his attention back to the information he was skimming, grimacing in distaste at some of the creatures that needed attention. He looked until he found something further out and less likely to? [I]Shit![/I] The apartment seemed to vanish as his mind was pulled into something he?d rather not see. It was like he was ingesting a hallucinogen as visions ran though his mind, focusing on a possible report of Rots in one of the old cemetery's on the outskirts of town. He clearly saw with his mind?s eye, a foolish group of teenagers out to dare one another to be brave enough to walk through the abandoned cemetery where others had supposedly vanished. It was as if he was there as he heard their screams and saw their frantic attempts to escape before being caught and ripped to shreds. It took some effort but he finally managed to shut the vision down and the apartment came back into focus. ?[B]Damn stupid kids.[/B]? He growled as he quickly noted on the Hunter-Net he was going to go and look into it before logging out. He snatched his pair of Barak pistols off the bed, tucked the knives back into their sheaths and tore out the door to climb into the old battered red Honda civic that he still used. It took all of his restraint to not drive like some bat out of hell, if he got stopped by the cops for speeding and they checked into who he was? he?d not only miss getting there in time to do something about the kids, he?d be in a lot of trouble.[I] I need to see about setting up a false identity. [/I] He resolved to look into that once he?d dealt with this mess. Traffic was light on account of the early hour so he made good time. Then as he left the city proper, the rolling hills were calm and seemingly empty, other than the new residential area being built up. Huge homes that the foolish builders were too stupid to realize were near an old cemetery. If they had any idea what could be there, they would not have?[I] Yeah right,[/I] damn fools were too greedy for money to care if someone?s kids got? Jonathan turned off the lights to his car as he got closer; no need to alert the damn things that he was coming. He pulled into the parking lot of an old church that bordered the edge of the cemetery and climbed out of his car. He only hoped he wasn?t too late. [/FONT][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raiha Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="times"][i]Majusra giggled and clapped her hands, picking up the first of the two to scan and absentmindedly holding her hand out for the cigarette a moment later.[/i] "Oh you shouldn't have! Thank you." [i]Chase watched, flicking the ashes into the ash tray she'd set on the table earlier. Manjusra cooed over the second title as much as she had the first, skimming the backs of the boxes and then setting them both down while taking long drags on the cigarette he'd handed her. Some part of him found the sight of one of the more bizarre Hunters in the system smoking and looking at porn a little more alluring than he'd anticipated. With a tap from her forefinger, she turned back to Chase and gave him a dazzling smile.[/i] "So Beartalker told you what I like then." "He did. Also told me you had the gift of Sight. Could tell what was where and all that." "It's true. If you noticed earlier. These red eyes see more than I really had planned on." [i]For a moment it looked like she'd be content to sit back and stare up at the stars, her lounge chair tilted back to the point of inducing dangerous relaxation. Then, like a light had gone out, she turned to him abruptly, her red eyes flashing black for an instant once more. Chase gulped down his beer almost purely as a reaction to the sound of her voice.[/i] "There's a new Ghast out there. Another Hunter asked me to see what it was like, and I've never seen one this big. It's like it mated with a Crawler and then ate it for good measure." "How big?" "Like I'm thinking if you force fed it some frag grenades it probably would still be alive afterwards. Just being within 50 feet was enough to give me a headache, and my range is normally 25." "So in short, a thermo-nuclear bomb wouldn't be overkill." "Give or take a few city blocks, yeah." [i]She ground out her cigarette in the ashtray, and looked down across the townhouse complex, then stood up and slid the glass door open again. With a jerk of her head, he stood up and followed her in, shutting it behind him. She took his glass from his hand before he could bus it himself and headed for the kitchen.[/i] "Just make yourself comfortable in there, I'll be right back." [i]He looked around uncertainly. A four poster bed with a light maple finish. A matching desk that looked like it'd seen some use, and a leather desk chair. Finding no other place that seemed acceptable, he sat down on the edge of the bed, finding it so low that he could just stretch his legs out instead. Manjusra came back in with two glasses of water and handed one to him, setting hers on the end table. She sat down on the left side of the bed, closest to the balcony, and looked up at him, showcasing for the second time, just how small she really was.[/i] "So what do you think of the place?" "I like the layout. And it's peaceful. Your living room floor looks comfortable enough." [i]Majusra laughed. Just a quick giggle that was over as quickly as it started. Chase felt his face color furiously as her meaning became obvious, and she leaned forward a little to get a closer look at him, reaching out pale fingers to stroke one of the braids on his shoulder. He put up a hand to feel hers, only to discover that he had the shakes. Almost as if she'd sensed his complete awkwardness she scooted closer to him and gave his arm a tug as if to pull him to the middle of the bed. He felt himself go rigid for a second, and then had to almost force himself to relax. So there's a beautiful woman and you're sitting on her bed and she's obviously interested in you. No reason to panic? Right? RIGHT?[/i] "Why so shy?" "It's just- I mean I'm a guest. And I wouldn't want t-. To take advantage of you know-" "Beartalker didn't tell me you were this silly." [i]Chase would've said something if his tongue hadn't felt like a useless waste of flesh slowly choking him, when he became aware that Manjusra was significantly closer to him that she'd been seconds before. In fact she was only a few inches from his face, her lips parted slightly, glistening with moisture. He looked up for a second and found that her eyes had dilated to the point of near total eclipse of her irises, and that her eyelashes were longer than he'd expected them to be. Then a few seconds later, he realized that it wasn't really getting warmer in her room, she was just so close he could feel her breath on his skin.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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