P.J. McKrafty Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 [FONT=Arial][COLOR=Navy]The corpse filled the Hunts-mobile with an absolutely horrid stench. I guess the mixture of roasted wolf and the already lingering wet dog smell, that I was sure that was already there, combined to make a nauseating aroma that I just knew won't be coming out of the seats for a couple weeks. Let's add the smell of a dead animal to that list of perks for the Hunts-mobile. The painters mask I am wearing has so far, not helped one damn bit. The things I do for friends. [/COLOR][/FONT][FONT=Arial][COLOR=Navy]I hated driving through the industrial district. The whole place just feels, depressing, especially at night. I know it isn't street legal, but i have the K.C. lights on. A little light could do this place some good. Besides, there are barely anyone on the road at this hour, and cops don't patrol this side of town much anymore. Why Kaz uses this place for a H.Q. i will never know. When I pulled up I saw him standing in the loading dock of his building. The K.C. lights hit him and he squinted and covered his eyes with one of his arms. I switched the toggle and turned them off. I opened my door and waved to him. [B] "Kaz! Good to see you again."[/B] I said while closing the ddoor. [B] "Your still driving this junk heap?"[/B] He replied in his cold manner that I was a bit accustomed to. We traded grips and went around the back of the car to see the body. [B]"My god, what did you do to it?"[/B] [B] "Killed it,"[/B] at this point of time I got a good look at Kaz in the cabin light. [B]"Jeez, you look like a beaten Eskimo! When was the last time you slept?"[/B] He gave me a jagged stare then sighed.[B] "Good question, I'll grab the trolley and you help me with the body."[/B] We loaded the body on the trolley and I locked up the Hunts-mobile while Kaz went inside. I just caught up with him before he closed the guard on the service elevator and the slow assent began. I have never had awkward silences like I have with Kaz. Good times. We reached the top and he wheeled the trolley into a curtained area and put on a mask before he started to examine it's wounds. [B] "How did you burn it?"[/B] he asked not looking up from the corpse. [B] "I didn't, it was Kurt, he threw a Molotov cocktail at it." "That kid you found a couple years ago?" "Yeah, he fucked up the hunt though, I had to put the thing down for him."[/B] Kaz remained silent while he finished looking the thing over. [B]"Make yourself at home. I will be a while and then we can catch up and whatnot"[/B] I smirked at him and went into the back to root through his fridge. The second story of the place was much better than the first but it still needed some work. The ceiling was leaking in a few places and a little TLC couldn't hurt. Maybe a few potted plants would perk the place up. I found some leftover takeout and a generic diet soda in the back behind the alcohol. Sure I wanted some, but I didn't want a relapse so I just took the soda and went and sat down and waited for Kaz to finish. [/COLOR][/FONT] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horendithas Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 [COLOR="Indigo"][SIZE="1"]Marcus was still figuring out the fine details of how the iPhone he had taken from the last freak he had dealt with worked. It was certainly easier to port around than a damn laptop was, though he still had that in the car should he really need it. But being able to access the net from anyplace where there was a signal was a hell of a lot more convenient. Anything that made it easier to access the Hunter-Net, or information to better facilitate dealing with whatever was out there was a definite plus. He ignored the messages that were waiting for him. Unless they were related to hunting down and dealing with more of those things, he didn?t give a damn about socializing with any of the other hunters. New or not, there were very few he?d even bother to give the time of day. Getting drunk, sex -[I] vices as they called them[/I] - were for the weak. Anything other than sleep was a total waste of time in his opinion. Especially if it could interfere with his ability to deal with whatever was crawling in the neighborhood. Very few understood his mindset, even other hunters such as himself. Once he had realized that he saw the world differently after the [I]accident[/I], he had figured out how to start dealing with what was out there on his own. Marcus hadn?t discovered the Hunter-Net until a good six months later. He had looked into it out of curiosity and then finally registered when it became obvious that it would be a good way to pick up information on the creatures out there, as well as where to go for special ammo needs among other things. Marcus finished off the coffee he had been drinking while he browsed the Net and set the cup on the table he was sitting at. The tiny outside café was one of the best he?d run into in a while. It was a pity that he never stayed in one place long enough to truly learn the best places to shop and eat at. He finished checking but there was nothing new on the Net that concerned him, and his morning work of tracking down a few more details before heading out for the next target was done. He logged out. He tossed enough change on the table to pay for the coffee and the tip next to the cup as he stood up and left. A few blocks over was the non-descript car that he used to get around. Faded blue paint and rust spots graced the aging Chevy. The model name eluded him at the moment and part of him didn?t really care. It worked and that was what mattered. Though fixing most basic problems was something he could do with ease. A car?s engine was simple in comparison to the semi?s he use to drive. He crawled into the car and turned the key. The engine sputtered to life as he ran the checklist through his mind. The replacement ammo he needed was already in the trunk as well as a few other things he?d managed to acquire. Marcus smiled grimly. All that was left was to stop by the hotel first, the arrangements for that should be ready by now. If not? With another grin he cranked the volume on the radio when a song he liked started playing. If he had a vice, music was it. It was one of the few things he still enjoyed, especially the loud and busy rhythm of hard rock that bordered on metal. Marcus was oblivious to the looks from others over the loud music as he pulled into the parking lot of the seedy hotel he would be staying at. He waited for a moment with his eyes closed for the song to finish before killing the engine and exiting the car. The hotel was busy with people checking out for the day and it took a little time for the solitary clerk to finally get to assisting Marcus. ?[B]What can I do for you sir?[/B]? ?[B]There should be a key for a room waiting for me.[/B]? ?[B]Right sir,[/B]? The clerk moved to look it up in the system. ?[B]The name?[/B]? ?[B]Claget.[/B]? Marcus waited patiently for him to look it up and then nod when he found it. ?[B]ID please.[/B]? He pulled out his license and handed it over, waiting while the man checked it briefly and then slipped it back into his wallet once he handed it back. ?[B]You?re in room 132,[/B]? He handed over one of the magnetic card keys that places used these days. [B]?If you need anything just let us know. Enjoy your stay sir.[/B]? Marcus took the card key without a word and made for the hallway leading back to where the rooms were located. It took him very little time to find the room in question and with a quick swipe of the card the door unlocked and he let himself in. [/SIZE][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 [INDENT][SIZE="1"]Marseilles really was a beautiful place to spent a few days at this time of year, regardless of the fact he was only back in his birthplace by on the Order?s?orders. That would never sound right, no matter how many times he heard, or said it. The fact that he didn?t have to wait until the middle of the night to call to his parents, as most of the other Redeemers who stayed with them had had to, was certainly a blessing. It also meant that he could wear normal clothing for a change, instead of the Franciscan habit he?d usually have to dress in, which was also certainly welcome. Sebastien had been given no specific intel yet on the Hunted he was dealing with. Marseilles was thankfully one of those cities which never had major problems with Hunted like say, Paris, who?s vampires required a permanent, sizeable presence of Redeemers. There were plenty of other Hunters at work in the capital as well, often leading to contention, and once or twice outright clashes. Sebastien had spent a month or so in Paris only the previous Christmas and found it a pleasant reprieve from working abroad. As much as he enjoyed trips to places like America or Asia, being back on thoroughly French soil had no competition. A handful of key-strokes had logged him onto the Hunter-Net, most Redeemers were members of the online community there, even if it was only in a limited fashion. Others tended to view their Order as at best an ally who?s sermon you had to sit through before the actual work got done, and at worst, a crowd of pacifistic lunatics who?s babbling left them suitable only for bait. In his own experience, Sebastien probably fell somewhere closer to the former rather than the latter, but then he tried his best to avoid working with Avengers, and God-help him Waywards whenever possible. His mobile-phone, which had sat motionless and silent on the beside locker a moment before now warbled with the familiar tone of La Marseillaise. He?d glanced at the caller and allowed a genuine smile to cross his lips before pushing the accept button. ?[b]Done already ? I guess my Arturo was right in calling you a ?fast woman?.[/b]? He received a bubbly laugh in response, the chatter of her own highly accented French to what he assumed was a nearby market vendor. ?[b]Oh, and else did dear Brother Arturo tell you about me Sebastian ?[/b]? ?[b]Aside from the fact he wished he?d been twenty years younger ?[/b]? She chuckled again, the very idea that the taciturn and stoical Arturo would even think that way about any woman, let alone her was certainly worth a laugh. ?[b]Well, it?s a shame I prefer younger men then isn?t it ? Particularly cute little French teenagers who blushed whenever I smiled at them.[/b]? Giving an overly melodramatic sigh was perhaps his best option after that, despite the eight-year age difference between the pair, Sebastien somehow managed to be the voice of maturity in the relationship. But then the fact that Michelle had seemed to somehow avoid aging physically passed her early thirties when she was closer to her mid forties should perhaps have been an indicator. ?[b]You win, now come on back here with breakfast, I?m starving and the bed?s getting cold.[/b]? With a final laugh she ended the call, leaving Sebastien to once again peruse the new information on Hunter-Net. Salvage458?s videos were one of the few things Sebastien was loath to admit he watched with a certain morbid fascination. Although Redeemers first intention was always to save a Hunted where possible, knowing where to slice or shoot in the event things went pear-shaped never hurt. He?d been so engrossed with the vid, that the pitched sound of a new message had actually caused Sebastien to shudder in shock slightly. Picking up the phone once more, he thumbed through the menus. There were only a handful of words, but it was enough to spoil his mood. ?[I]Vampire nest, unknown strength. Reinforcements will arrive later today.[/I]?[/SIZE][/INDENT] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 [SIZE="1"]Kazimir didn't bother to turn on his camera for the wolf's autopsy. It wasn't necessary since he couldn't save the poor creature. But he hoped to learn as much as he could about this wolf. Especially why it was away from the pack. He knew from experience that Martin cleaned up well and if there was more than one werewolf, Kazimir would have them on a table next to this one. He took hair samples, blood samples, urine samples, and skin samples. He collected the brain, (and could only imagine how the sickening noise had effected Martin) and most of its organs before finishing the autopsy. He deemed that the female became injured while on a hunt and her pack had abandoned her. This probably wasn't the normal case for werewolves, but living in an urban area, most monsters adopted the method of leaving the injured. Kazimir figured that she had wandered into town in the confusion. Which was where Kurt had found him... Kazimir wrapped her up in a plastic body bag and wheeled the body out to the service elevator. He took her down to the basement and threw her in the furnace that he had kept running on his own ever since he moved in. After the body had been disposed of, he returned to his makeshift headquarters and sat down at the computer. (it was 5:59 in the morning, after all) The Hunter-Net wasn't too active throughout the early morning hours except for a few vampire sightings and slays. He had a small portion of fan mail concerning his new weiland video. And only one new message: [FONT="Times New Roman"][B]To:[/B] Archangel298 [B]Subject:[/B] RE: New Inhuman Data [B]Body:[/B] Unfortunately my policy is as follows: 1) Always take werewolves 2) Take other inhumans only under live conditions 3) Never take insects So while I would love to inspect this new monster that you've discovered, a dead subject will not aid me in my goal. Perhaps if you could tell me how you came across this new subject, it will aid me in finding a live subject. However, beyond that, I cannot accept the bodies. -Salvage458[/FONT] He grabbed his usual breakfast from the fridge (a beer) before going to speak with Martin. The autopsy lasted three and a half hours. Bruiser was long asleep in the most comfortable chair in his "bedroom." Kazimir didn't even have a bed. He preferred to avoid the temptation of sleep. His dreams haunted him every time he closed his eyes. The sound of his popping bottle cap woke Martin. [B]"You finish examining it?"[/B] He asked, rubbing his eyes. [B]"Did you finish drooling on my chair?"[/B] Kazimir responded, lighting up a cigarette to accompany his breakfast. [B]"Did you want a beer?"[/B] [B]"No."[/B] The response was curt. Kazimir had forgotten that Martin quit drinking. [B]"You should really consider getting a T.V."[/B] [B]"I can't get cable, and the boring channels I get with an antennae only put me to sleep."[/B] [B]"A radio?"[/B] He suggested. [B]"I thought about it, but decided that music might put me to sleep. I need to stay focused anyway."[/B] [B]"I know I've asked already,"[/B] Martin began, [B]"But when was the last time you slept?"[/B] [B]"The last time I didn't have a subject to dissect or a hypothesis to test."[/B] [B]"Which was?"[/B] [B]"About eight days ago."[/B] Kazimir said, watching in amusement as Martin's mouth dropped. [B]"It's not that bad. I've had several 10 minute naps here and there."[/B] He said that, reassuringly. [B]"Doubt it."[/B] [B]"So what about you, Martin? What have you been up to since our last big hunt?"[/B] He asked. [/SIZE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 [color=crimson][i][pindent=2]He couldn't think, couldn't do anything but return the attention reflexively. He was out of his element. Oh, certainly, he'd kissed before, and several times, at that, but this was far above and beyond simple kissing. For one thing, she was laying skin to skin against him beneath the covers of her oddly-ominous bed, and for another thing...well...that was pretty much the gist of it, actually. He gave another, shuddering gasp as he felt some internal alarm sound, and he broke the kiss to warn her only to have her fingertips silence his efforts. A sudden tightening, a low groan, and another kiss signified a temporary cessation to the Hunters' distractions that night.[/pindent] [pindent=2]It was early in the morning, the sky wasn't even lightening yet, when he padded outside to his car in nothing but his jeans. As he gazed at the sky, a slightly dazed, goofy look in his eyes, he seemed to have a far greater appreciation for the sounds of the birds waking up, the sight of the very slight slash of gray against the violet of the sky, that horrible smell...wait. He blinked and groaned, looking across the street and shaking his head, opening the back of the car and retrieving a fresh change of clothes from a briefcase hidden next to another cache of ordinance. He covered his nose as best he could, but there really wasn't anything one could do about the waste products of a veterinary office except, perhaps, close your windows.[/pindent] [pindent=2]He smiled to himself as he showered in Manjiusra's larger bathroom, ignorant of the sound of the door opening and footsteps entering in his musings. He closed his eyes softly, enjoying the feel of the cool spray on his skin as he realized the simple things, like a girl's attention, or the smell of a pet care center's waste from the night before, still affected him; he was still human.[/pindent][/i][pindent=2]"That Ghast....I need to look into that. Focus, Amadahy...."[/pindent][/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLarge Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 [I][SIZE=1]Help me, Jackson...help me... [/SIZE][/I][SIZE=1]Jax awoke with a start, his breathing heavy and his body covered in sweat. He ran a hand across his face, shivering in the cold perspiration, then laid back down, burying his head in the pillow. These nightmares had begun not long ago, and he was unsure why. He dreamt of something that had happened a long time ago, something he had blocked from his memory for years. For some reason, it had begun to resurface recently, and they were starting to get in Jax's head. He rolled out of bed, his torso glistening with the cold sweats of the night before. He had slept with his trousers and boots still on, in case he had to leap to action at any point in the night - it was much easier to pull a t-shirt on than to put trousers and boots on. Stumbling to his kitchen and rubbing his eyes to wake himself up, he yanked open the fridge, pulling a bottle of microbrewed ale out. He realised that you weren't supposed to refridgerate ale, but he needed something cold. He twisted the top off, and completed his morning routine by grabbing a cigar from the kitchen counter, biting the end off and twisting it into his mouth. He picked up a box of matches, struck one and held the flame to the end of the cigar. A puff of smoke billowed out, and he leaned his head back in appreciation. With his bizarre breakfast in hand, he dropped down onto the seat in front of his computer desk and logged on to Hunter-Net. There were some more messages from the night before, including a video post from Salvage485 showing an autopsy of a Weiland, which Jax watched with mild fascination. It was interesting enough, but the conclusion worried him a little. [B]"Suggested mutation?" [/B]he whispered to himself, taking another drag on the cigar, [B]"Something's going on. Mutated Weilands and this super-Ghast - these freaks are getting stronger." [/B]He opened a new thread and began writing. --- [I]Discussion > New Thread [/I]Thread Starter: Wanderer59 Topic: New Freaks Is there any new information regarding commonly-known freaks mutating or changing in some way? I see from Salvage485's autopsy that there is a suggested mutation in the Weiland population, and as some of you may know already I had a rumble with a Ghast much stronger than any other I've encountered. I'm beginning to see an odd sort of pattern emerge, and I was wondering if there was anything more to add to this pattern. If you've encountered any freaks stronger than normal, please respond to this thread. --- He created the thread, then leant back in his chair. He needed to talk to a few contacts to try and hunt down some more powerful ordinance. So he pulled on a shirt, drained the last of his beer, and finished his cigar. Then he opened his closet, and spun the shelves around to reveal a stockpile of weaponry. Assault rifles, shotguns, handguns, grenades, knives, a sword, a long halberd, plastic explosives, throwing stars and homemade nail-bombs. He grabbed a shotgun sawn off to an illegal length, and tucked it into a holster, slinging it onto his back. He grabbed a few more shells, stuffing them onto a bandolier which he slung around his chest. Then he put on his gunbelt and pulled his jacket on over the weaponry, making sure there were a few knives hanging from the inside of the jacket. He just hoped that he wouldn't run into any cops out there. Then he'd be pretty screwed. [/SIZE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raiha Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][i]Manjusra luxuriated in her bed, rolling over to the spot Chase had vacated, curling up in the warm dent still left in her pillows. Hearing him come back in, she waited until he was in the shower after fiddling with the dials for slightly longer than she'd expected, then pulled herself out of bed and slipped in behind him, pushing the water warmer with her left foot curled around his side. He let himself relax again, feeling her body curving up against his, even if her head only came partway up his chest. Turning, he leaned down to give her a kiss on her upturned face, barely visible in the partial light of her bathroom. LIke her bedroom, it was illuminated by downward turned nightlights, which he could only guess made shaving complicated. Not that he typically did but why on earth was he thinking such idiotic thoughts anyway? Oh yes, to distract himself from the small female currently sidling past him in an utterly sensual way, reaching for the shampoo with delicate outstretched- She turned to him, only her silhouette visible and with her hair full of suds, she watched him with one of her eyes while the other had suds run over the lid.[/i] "You want to go see the Ghast today, don't you?" "How did you-" "Well it's obvious. You're trying to focus on work so you aren't distracted any more by me." [i]Chase managed a sheepish grin, which Manjusra inferred, rather than saw. After all, she might be able to see in partial darkness better than him, but that didn't mean she cared to strain herself when it was only 4 in the morning. Fifteen minutes later, Chase was still standing in the shower while Manjusra wrapped a towel around her waist and picked up another from the adjacent linen closet for him. He came back into her bedroom, about to ask her about the Ghast's location when he noticed she was kneeling at the shrine again, still wrapped in her towel, with her fingers pressed together solemnly. Feeling like he was intruding, he slipped backwards into the kitchen and waited for her to finish, pouring himself a glass of water as he did. Five minutes later, fully dressed, Manjusra came back out, pulling the disparate strands of her hair into smaller braids, twisting them around quickly so they wrapped over themselves and smiled up on him.[/i] "Morning again. Would you like some breakfast?" "Er, just a beer?" "What kind of hostess would I be if I let my guest have beer for breakfast?" [i]Chase opened his mouth for a reply when she snatched up an apple from the fruit bowl and popped it into his mouth, catching on his teeth. He chewed while she turned to the stove and began mixing cream of wheat, sifting in cornmeal with her fingers. He sat down at the table when she pointed and gave him a look over one shoulder and while she set down a beer, a bowl of cream of wheat, and a fat jar of honey, he couldn't help but wonder if she was this nice to all of her house guests. Not that a girl like her would get many.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akieen Cloud Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 [COLOR="Navy"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Amia had been wondering around the town for nearly hours now and not one thing had happened, no hell hounds, no call from any of the others letting her know what was going on. She sighed as she walked back into her hotel room and logged onto Hunter-net. Seeing the latest posts she typed a small reply about not seeing anything different yet and logged out dropping her head to the desk and letting out a sigh. "I wonder if any of the others even care..." She picked her head up and dragged her body to her bed and flopped down face first and within a few moments was asleep. It seemed like she has only been asleep for a few moment when the sound of her phone buzzing on the desk woke her up. She groaned and got up from the bed and stalked over to where he phone sat and looked at it with a look of disgust. Reading the message she shoved the phone back into her pocket and headed for the door. "Check the park they say, got a reading there they say. I've been there, nothing, not a single clue of anything being there not a damn one.: She locked her door on the way out and headed for the park stumbling from her lack of sleep slightly. Seeing a nearby coffee shop she walked in and ordered a small coffee to go and paid for it. Downing it in a couple gulps she continued to the park where she indeed saw a few hell hounds. She hung her head and sighed as she drew her 45s. Aiming she fired off a few and noticed that they had been feasting on a stray domestic dog. Grimacing slightly she took aim and fired a few shots hitting one in the leg and realized with a weak laugh that the hound she had shot at was indeed a female. "Oh great...it's a pack." Putting the guns away she drew her two swords and readied her self for a bit of a fight. She blinked as the female growled at her and took off running into the woods by the back of the park, looking behind her she noticed the horizon glowing a light pink and sighed. "Dawn, my hero." She walked back to the hotel and into her room, back to the bed and fell onto it falling almost instantly to sleep, she picked up her phone as it rang, put it to her ear without caring who was on the other line. "I've been up for the past 3 days, I'm going to sleep, leave me be!" Closing her phone she threw it onto the table not to far from her and dozed off into an uneasy sleep. [/FONT][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.J. McKrafty Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 [B][COLOR=navy][FONT=Arial]"What you just saw was a great example of what I have been doing,"[/FONT][/COLOR][/B][COLOR=navy][FONT=Arial] I replied, leaning back and rubbing his eyes. [B]"I need another big hunt. This is just getting tedious." "Count me out, I don't think I can survive another bonding experience with you."[/B] We both laughed at Kaz's response and then drifted off back into an awkward silence. [B]"Get up! A beer isn't a proper breakfast, lets go get something dripping in grease at a diner."[/B] I spouted heading for the door. [B]"I don't know-"[/B] [B]"I don't know,"[/B] I jeered while attempting to mimic Kaz. [B]"Catch!"[/B] I tossed Kaz the eight-ball key chain. Kaz sighed and shook it. [B]"It is a corner... I can't read either side."[/B] [B]"That's a good sign, let's go." [/B] Kazimir rolled his eyes and followed me to my car. We both climbed in, and off we went in the early morning twilight. Windows half-rolled down to fight the smell of dead werewolf that still lingered. The streets were deserted except for the night-shift workers that were heading home. The banter between Kaz and me was pathetic and getting worse as the ride dragged on. I think we were both relived when I pulled into the parking-lot of the Waffle-House. We took our seats in the back and placed our orders.[B] "This place smells." [/B]Kaz declared a bit abruptly with a wrinkled nose. I about spit coffee all over myself before I regained my composure. [B] "That is the familiar smell of broken dreams and hash browns. It has comforted me over the years."[/B] We both laughed at this. The waitress came over and placed our orders down and staked off with a rather displeased expression. [B] "I think she heard you."[/B] He replied in a whisper leaning in. I shrugged while shoving half an omelet in my mouth. We both ate our food in almost complete silence. I finished in a matter of minutes, again, while Kaz seemed to take his time. I placed down the money (mostly in one's) and sat back and waited for Kaz to finish. One of the worker must have turned on the radio; campy country music leaked out of the cheap intercom system. I looked around to make sure no servers were around before I started speaking. [B]"So have you seen anything on Hunter-net that might interest me?" "Nothing that just shouted 'Martin' to me," [/B]Kaz said putting his fork down. [B]"Why do you ask anyway?" "I barely check now-a-days, do you know how long it has been since I have been chased down a hallway by an explosion?" "I'm going to go out on a limb and say, never."[/B] I rolled my eyes and got up and left with Kaz trudging along behind me. We both climbed back into the Hunts-mobile and took off. The sun now cresting over the horizon. The light was blinding so I donned the gold rimmed sunglasses (replicas of what Elvis wore) I had on my dash. Kaz just looked at me and laughed. [B] "You look like a fool." "Yeah, yeah, where to there big boy?"[/B] [/FONT][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 [SIZE="1"][COLOR="DarkRed"]With a sudden start Amanda burst out of bed at the sound of screaming nearby her hotel room's window. Instinctively she grabbed her Walther from it's holster and took aim in various directions as she scanned the room for possible intrusions. It took a minute for the shock to wear off enough for her to think clearly. It was late, sometime in the hours just before sundown, by the look of the room's shadows. Had she really been asleep that long? The sound of screaming now cleared itself up, and was more recognizable a angry yelling than the sound of panic induced screams. A quick glance to the street from behind the room's curtains revealed the cause. [I]It's just a car crash. Quick acting like kids, exchange your information, and get driving.[/I] Amanda sighed quietly as she holstered the gun and turned from the window. Reaching into a bag on the table she grabbed a small breakfast bar to calm her hunger, and grabbed the empty pot off of the electric heating unit. Luckily for her the hotel she had picked provided a self-heating pitcher for guests who like a strong cup of coffee, or green tea in Amanda's case, to start off the day or end the night. After filling the pot she set it down on the heating unit and turned to the computer on her desk. Straight to Hunters-Net. [I]Hmm? A message from Salvage458 already? Insomnia must be handed out free with the job.[/I] Reading through the contents of the message brought little surprise to Amanda, and she mentally composed a response while brewing a cup of tea. [I][B]To:[/B]Salvage458 [B]Subject:[/B] Re: Request for further information As of right now I have no definitive information regarding the method of locating Wraiths. Up to this point I have only managed to track them from their kills, days behind in many cases, due to a lack of useful intel from a contact. So far the best tracking method is to look for unusually high body counts with little to no physical wounds and a visage locked in pure fear. High concentrations of carrion feeders in urban areas or anywhere unusual may also be an indication of where to start a search. I will attach a map of the area I have found the first Wraiths in to this message, and will continue to apprise you of further information I collect on the upcoming hunts. For now I will be working the hunt without the outdated reports I had priorly received, so new updates may take a few days of tracking to surface. --Archangel298[/I] Having long since finished her food and drink during the composition of the message Amanda shut down the computer and went to clean up, both the food and herself. Shortly thereafter she headed out of the hotel and back towards the building of her previous night's encounter. A few Rots and and some other low level carrion feeders had to be taken down from their feast on the human bodies left behind, however it seems none of them had gone near the two Wraiths she had killed. Both were still lying there in a pool of the black substance that had poured from their wounds. [I]So, even the death feeders wont touch their corpses. I'll have to note that one just in case. Now comes the fun part.[/I] Amanda was glad this building was located in a quiet part of town and long since abandoned to the ceaseless political whining about what to do with the area. It made moving the bodies to her truck much easier without the notice of others. Cleanup was always one of the worst parts of the job. Once she had all of the remains moved into the covered bed of the slightly beat-up pick-up truck she owned Amanda moved them out into a field a few miles from the city. There she proceeded to move them a short distance in and doused them in gasoline before talking a match to the remains. As the funeral pyre ignited she bowed her head for a moment before making her way back, careful to cover as much evidence of her presence there as she could. Now she just had to return the hard part of the night. Picking up a trail of any remaining Wraiths which could be cold, if not completely nonexistent.[/COLOR][/SIZE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engel Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 [color=#E32636][size=1]Upon awaking, Thom made with his usual morning routine. Absinthe mixed with a spot of Dr. Pepper was a good wake up call. It cleared his head right up like a kick to the face, a punch in the gut, being told your mother was just torn into beautiful little pieces by a couple of disgruntled Spanish men who were tired of the tricks she was turning. Things like that. Grabbing his guitar and clearing his throat, he pulled the lyrics out that he had wrote last night, digging in his pocket to find a guitar pick. The first few strings were plucked roughly, and the rest came smoother, a flurry of notes that filled his hotel room with music that rang so sweetly through fake plastic trees. Feeling like he was warmed up enough to face the day, Thom set the guitar down and stripped out of yesterday's clothes, scratching a scar on his stomach absently. Blue jeans clung easily to his legs, a Red Hot Chili Peppers shirt displaying the album art for "The Zephyr Song" on it. On a whim, Thom found a spot of styling wax for his hair, bothering to put it up just a bit. Some days it was nice to look half decent, even if it was your job to slay supernatural creatures that threatened the fate of humanity. And other things. Strapping his Lugers onto him and throwing on a denim jacket, Thom stepped downstairs and headed for the doorway while he began to send a text to Manjusra, reading [i]Hey, feel like doing something tonight, Ghostie? This town is so fucking boring.[/i] He had barely sent it when a hand on his chest snapped him from the reprieve. Tucking his cell phone into his pocket, he looked up at who had stopped him. It was a police officer. "Excuse me, Mr..." "Yorkton." Thom lied with the most absolute confidence. "Mr. Yorkton. You're not allowed to carry firearms in this building unless you're one of the police officers stationed here, or security. Why don't I take you back to the security office and we'll deal with this there?" "Sure, whatev, man." Thom shrugged, tracing the five o'clock shadow that was starting to come in with his palm thoughtfully. With a gentle hand on his shoulder, the officer directed him away. Taking a look at the cop, Thom studied him with a semi-interested eye. The others around here weren't that observant. This cop was kinda portly, and smelled like freshly powdered doughnuts. What a pig. As soon as they were out of sight by the normal hotel staff, the officer shoved him into a small room, filled with officers. They all seemed to be just like this one. Large and pot bellied and buldging at the seams, like they were trapped in their skins. Piggies. As if they could hear the thought, or notice the change in Thom's demeanor, they squealed like rats in a cage. Thom leapt to his feet, standing in front of the only way out. The door. Their horrible shrieks wracked his head, and he only had his trusty Lugers and his fists. With a smile, Thom looked at the one that had brought him here. "Can't we talk this out?" He was met with an enraged, terrified squeal and a charge meant to gore him with the horns rapidly protruding from the Piggy's head. Thom was quicker, and he drew the Luger on his left side out with his right hand, sticking it into the nostrils of the beast and pulling the trigger twice. It squealed and twitched, it's faces screaming at him in a mortified death rattle. God, it sounded so [i]sweet.[/i] Imbuing himself in it's death, Thom took the rest by surprise as he threw his hand up to catch one on the back of the head, slamming it's snout down on the table in the middle of the room, it's fragile skull shattering easily underneath his crushing force. Thom realized he was lucky in taking such bold leaps - they were terrified of actual combat, when their true natures were shown. The five or six left were huddled up in corners, squealing freakishly and afraid for their runty little lives. One jumped for him, making as if to snap at him with it's enormous molars. Thom caught that one with a round in the kneecaps and it fell, and just for then, he left it there to suffer. What happened next, no one could expect. Thom started singing as he danced his dance of brutality. "Have you seen the little piggies, Crawling in the dirt, And for all the little piggies, Life is getting worse-" He paused to put a round through the Piggy who's kneecaps he'd shot out, the bullet passing through his engorged belly and causing no real lasting damage besides excruciating pain. "Always having dirt to play around in." He ended the writhing creature. Four more were alive. "Have you seen the bigger piggies, in their starched white shirts? You'll find the bigger piggies, stirring up the dirt, always having clean shirts to play around in." Adding his second pistol to the mix, Thom lazily shot two rounds at the two Piggies, clipping one in the skull and killing it, the other being shot int he neck and stuttering for breath. "In their cities with all their backing, they don't care what goes on around, in their eyes there's something lacking What they need is..." Thom tucked the pistols away and took the last Piggy remanding in his hands, almost gently. The other one had passed out at the sight of blood. He smiled into it's eyes, so sweetly, before he brought his fist to it's face again and again. "A damn good whacking." Stepping on and crushing the throat of the one passed out, Thom took his lighter out and grabbed the papers that had been sitting on the desk, now scattered and harried. Deconstructing his lighter and pouring the fluid on the papers, he tucked one into each body and lit the paper on fire, sending the Piggies up in smoke. Checking his phone for a reply from Manjusra, he realized something. Bacon sounded really fucking good.[/color][/size] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akieen Cloud Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 [COLOR="Navy"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Stretching she sat up and groaned as the sunlight beamed through her hotel window. Standing up she walked over to the open blinds and yanked them shut. Walking over to her computer she looked at the Hunter-net page again and noticed that one of them hadn't posted in a while. Going to her mail she began typing to James. Hey James, It's Amia, I noticed you hadn't posted in Hunter-net lately. Wondering if your alright or if anything is wrong. Get back to me and lemme know. Thanks. Amia. Hitting the send button she went about cleaning her guns and swords when there was a knock on her door, quickly putting one of her colts back together she went to the door and looked through the peep hole. "Who is it?" "The cleaning lady, I've come for your sheets." "Their fine. You can get them when I leave tonight." "Um...alright." Amia waited till she heard the footsteps fade and went back to the desk, pulling out her wallet she looked through it to find out how much she had left. "Enough for a middle class room for a night or so, not to bad. I do have to keep moving otherwise I'll be tracked and that won't be good." Putting her other gun back together she changed into a pair of spandex shorts and a sports bra and turned on the small stereo on the beside table and began to nod her head to a rock beat that was playing it wasn't long til she was singing along to the music as she went through her exorcise routine. Push ups, crunches, pull ups, the works til she was dripping in sweat. Going to the bathroom afterward she started a cool shower, stripped and climbed in still listening to the radio.[/FONT][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted July 22, 2008 Author Share Posted July 22, 2008 [color=crimson][pindent=2][i]Chase shut the rear door of his car, shaking his head softly, a small smile sneaking into his expression as he turned and looked back at Manjusra's door. He cracked his neck and shook his head; she had been quite insistent upon his breakfast, and after a rather enjoyable repast of cream of wheat, honey, and good old fermented grains, he was feeling rather invincible. That could possibly attributed to the pleasant activities that almost immediately followed breakfast, in which he had, this time, been a more than active participant. It had been with great regret, in fact, that he left her apartment following the completion of his laundry's run in her dryer.[/pindent] [pindent=2]She was asleep now, he assumed, but she had shared with him the location at which she'd spied the Ghast, and he was just wrapping up his pre-Hunt reload and restock. He would have to make a stop at one of the safehouses he and Beartalker had up here to restock his car-cache in a week or so, but for now, he was preparing for something much more immediate. He sighed as he climbed in the car and drove off, looking back at Manjusra's apartment one last time. Had the sun not risen just enough to cause a glare, he could be forgiven for believing he saw a pale figure looking down at him from the shaded safety of her balcony. Shaking the wishful thought from his head, he put the car into gear and drove off.[/pindent] ~~~~~~~~~~~~ [pindent=2]He strode calmly into the abandoned, broken hallway, shaking his head quietly. He had tracked the beast here, with no little difficulty, to a run-down hotel slated for demolition. At first, he wondered why he felt no shudder, none of the crush of the undead he usually had in environments like this that were....inhabited by the living-impaired. Then he realized why as he ascended to the second floor landing in the stairwell; something had brutally and efficiently slain what might have, at one time, been a rot. There were traces of that black mist in the area of the smeared corpse, but it was quite dead. Chase checked his 1911 and holstered it, drawing instead his Desert Eagle .50 caliber. It looked like he'd need a bigger punch.[/pindent] [pindent=2]As he climbed higher, a long, tracking stain of semi-fresh blood trailing up to the fifth and final floor of the building, he felt a growing sense of foreboding, a painful buzzing in his skull he'd felt only twice before in his life. Before his eyes, a message written in blood reading 'Help me!' became a message written in glowing blood, reading 'HIS EYE IS UPON YOU'. He fell to his knees as the painful sensation faded and he shook his head, looking around slowly, then at the ceiling above him. There was nothing there. Perhaps the Messengers were wrong, though they never had been before.[/pindent] [pindent=2]Perhaps his mind was still fogged with afterglow, or perhaps he was growing complacent in his proven ability to handle the freaks he faced on a nightly basis. Perhaps he was just tired, or it may have been a combination of factors. Whatever the reason, his search of the area around him failed to include one obvious location; underneath him. With a great roar, the creature landed immediately behind him and slammed him into the wall. It was only with great force of will that Chase managed to keep hold of his weapon as the Ghast, having leapt five stories up from the basement level, stepped back to repeat his charge. Chase rolled out of the way, watching concrete chips pepper the landing as the hunched thing in front of him turned to face him. The beast roared with a bestial fervor that somehow seemed human at the same time; Chase just cocked back and decked it, activating his collar-bound radio with his free hand.[/pindent][/i][pindent=2]"Hey, Sword; this is Shield. Put out a notice to everyone you-WHOA!- can! I need help, five buildings down and two south from the crawler-stay DOWN, damnit!-infestation last night! Over!"[/pindent] [pindent=2][i]Having completed his call for help, he threw all of his attention on the fight; his inattentiveness had already cost him a festering slash to his lightly-armored back and the makings of a migraine, his head having made good friends with the concrete wall, courtesy of the unwelcome guest currently ignoring the bloody bullet holes in its shoulder, chest, and abdomen.[/i][/color][/pindent] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raiha Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][i]Manjusra methodically washed the dishes, a towel tucked into the waistband of her jeans. She was glad Chase had come in, and she would punch Beartalker the next time he visited and let him have the job of explaining the fractured jaw to his wife. She set the dishes on the rack and went to the bedroom, hanging up the towels she and Chase had carelessly dropped on the floor. Everything set back into place, she found her jeans thrown up against the bookshelf and her shirt just under that. The benefit of not being an active hunter meant that she didn't stink up her clothing too often. A hood from a light jacket pulled over her eyes, she sat at the computer desk, trawling the pages and blogs of hunters just to ensure nothing new and horrible was about to happen. And then the e-mail came. Manjusra leaned forward slightly in her chair, a finger pressed to her lips in preparation for the headache that was sure to descend in the form of either the Messengers or some other horrible revelation. Instead she found herself slightly irritated at the pompous tone of the missive. Cattle? Sure some were eaten, but to most of the demons and monsters, they were hardly kine. Of course the way some of her fellow Hunters charged blindly into battle made her wonder if the unknown sender really did have a point. Manjusra added her response to the thread discussing it, which was mostly filled with angry blustering about why other Hunters shouldn't just come too.[/i] "Remember, we are men and not beasts to be herded. To oblige this unknown sender we must obey his rules for he would not make idle threats. Old world rules still withstanding, it's best to do it his way as much as it rankles. Any Hunter I see approaching the coordinates that wasn't listed will be pointed out and brought down. We are not Kine." [i]She hesitated before hitting reply, wondering if the unknown sender would laugh at her. But the hell with it. Manjusra hadn't spent her life being pushed around more than a bit. In fact, she was ready to take this to the end. The Thing must've known she could only get so close. Perhaps with enough sight she could save herself. And see what would be. The doorbell rang and Manjusra jumped slightly. Pulling her hood down further and picking up the gun on the way, she paused to collect herself, then opened the door and found herself staring into the eyes of a badly wounded Chase.[/i] "The Ghast might be following me! Let me in!" "You went for it yourself? Why? I told you how strong it was." [i]Chase shuddered and shivered, bleeding from half a dozen wounds, and Majusra let her eyes flicker over his form, just for a moment. Then she pulled back and let him in across the threshold, leading him into the living room, the Mauser by her side, loose in one hand. When she beckoned him to sit at the table, he suddenly jerked back when he noticed Manjusra had leveled the weapon at him and was glaring through narrowed eyes.[/i] "Name yourself ghost." "Loa Ama. I appeared in this form to get your attention, although it seems you saw right through it. I should've known you of all people would've." "Don't fuck with my head. You're a loa, you're supposed to be beneficial." "This is a small portion of what could happen to your paramour because of the Ghast. What you Saw was only a fraction of the real thing. Flickering shadows thrown on a wall." [i]Moving around, always keeping her back away from the loa now inhabiting the body of Chase, Manjusra reached for the tin of chewing tobacco on top of the refrigerator and set it down on the table, across from the loa. It took a handful and chewed, spitting it down across the floor like some kind of baseball player. She narrowed her eyes and took a step forward, when the loa held up a hand, gesturing for peace.[/i] "Be careful Watcher. That message you received today. I'm sure you can divine its true meaning in time. But remember, you truly are Kine. Every one of you." [i]Without another sound, Loa Ama was gone. No whirling smoke, no cloud of dust, just gone. The tobacco juice went with it, and Majusra set down the gun with a sigh of relief. Loa in her house was a rare occurrence and when it did happen she either had to clean up the corpse it left behind or work at controlling herself for several minutes after. In this case, Manjusra sank to the ground, breathing hard, forcing herself to calm down.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neptune Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 [I][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"][FONT="Arial Narrow"][SIZE="2"]He sat, waiting. He seemed to always be waiting ... waiting for something, waiting for someone. Sometimes even James was clueless as to what he was waiting for.[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/I] [COLOR="DarkSlateGray"][B][FONT="Georgia"]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/FONT][/B][/COLOR] [I][FONT="Arial Narrow"][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]It had been a few years since his he and his wife had been attacked in the car dealership. At the time the thought of monsters and ghosts existing had almost driven him completely crazy, how could people go on living normally not knowing the dangers that faced them everyday? He must be insane, hallucinating. Maybe he killed his wife and the car dealer in some kind of blind rage? Was it possible that he had actually hallucinated the entire ordeal? So on that note, he checked himself into a mental institution. The doctors were at first interested in his stories of vampires, ghosts, and goblins, but their patience wore thin. Scans run to test James's sanity all came back positive, nothing could be found mentally wrong with him. Just because the guy believed a few ghosts stories didn't make him insane, just wierd. On that note, James was released from the hospital, with a renewed feeling of hope and vigor that he could live a normal life once again.[/COLOR][/FONT][/I] [COLOR="DarkSlateGray"][B][FONT="Georgia"]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/FONT][/B][/COLOR] [FONT="Arial Narrow"][I][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]He shook the thoughts out of his head ... what had happened in the past did not pertain to now. He held the SVD (Dragunov sniper rifle) tightly in his hands, not wanting to miss this next shot. He had been perched on the roof of this building for three days now, rations were running low and so was his patience. He had received a tip from one of his fellow Hunters on the forums that a vampire had taken up lodging in one of the abandoned building not to far from his location, so for the past three days he had kept the sight of his rifle aimed directly at the doorway, hoping the monstrosity would come through and then BLAMMO!, that would be the end of that vampire.[/COLOR][/I][/FONT] [FONT="Arial Narrow"][I][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]But, of course, it was never that easy. The undead were always moving, changing their location to throw a hunter off their scent. Occasionally the stupid ones would hole up in the same place for as long as they could, thinknig themselves unkillable, almost godlike. Those were the easiest ones to kill. James zoomed the sight out a few notches and began to scope out each window of the building, hoping to catch a glimpse of anything. With no luck, he zoomed back in on the doorway. Wait, was the door handle turning? Perhaps it was his lucky day. The door was opened and out came a grotesque looking man dressed in a tattered blue suit. The creature was obviously young because its usually hidden antennas were sticking quite noticably out of the top of it's head. [/COLOR][/I][/FONT] [B][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"][FONT="Arial Narrow"]"Do these little buggers even try anymore? And I thought this guy was supposed to be a vampire, not a Jumper! Well, a kill's a kill, I don't care."[/FONT][/COLOR][/B] [FONT="Arial Narrow"][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"][I]He pulled the trigger of the rifle with ease, and within an instant the brains of the Jumper were splattered against the door that had sealed its fate. He had dealt with some nasty Jumpers in the past, fast little buggers if you didn't catch them off guard. Although he tried to tell himself otherwise he was disappointed, a vampire is what got him into this mess and he still held a small amount of hope that he would find the vampire that killed his precious Rebecca. Unfortunately, today was not that day. He stood up and collected his belongings into his satchel, let out a sigh, and began the process of making his way to the Jumper to clean up the mess he had made. Stupid things.[/I][/COLOR][/FONT] [COLOR="DarkSlateGray"][B][FONT="Georgia"]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/FONT][/B][/COLOR] [FONT="Arial Narrow"][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"][I]He had just gotten out of the shower and booted his computer up for the first time in over a week. By instinct he logged directly into the hunter homepage, checking his e-mails and such. Looks like he had two new e-mails ...[/I][/COLOR][/FONT] [CENTER][FONT="Arial Narrow"][SIZE="2"][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"][B]To:[/B] SureShot275 [B]From:[/B] Wild143 [LEFT]Hey James, It's Amia, I noticed you hadn't posted in Hunter-net lately. Wondering if your alright or if anything is wrong. Get back to me and lemme know. Thanks. - Amia.[/LEFT][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/CENTER] [I][FONT="Arial Narrow"][SIZE="2"][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]I'll reply to this later, lets see what this other e-mail is about ...[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/I] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuyYouMetOnline Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 [COLOR=indigo][I]They were all her enemies, all of the freaks, but it was the vampires she truly hated. Her first freak encounter was with a vampire, and her hatred of that kind hadn't faded. They were among the most dangerous freaks; they were tough, they looked much like normal humans, and they could increase their number easily. That was Vaxla's rationalization, and it had some merit to it. But it was that first freak encounter, when Jaron raped her, that truly motivated her. The encounter she'd burned into her mind. Many people got over traumatic incidents; Valxa could not. Others tried to forget; Vaxla had deliberately relived it again and again while learning to use her abilities. The psychological effect had already been significant; now, the impact would never fade.[/I][/COLOR] [I][/I] [COLOR=#4b0082]Vaxla had spent the day preparing. She'd taken vampire spots before, and she had an established routine that had worked every time. As night fell, vampires began gathering in the bar. Mortals didn't visit the place; those that did were either killed or turned into vampires. Vaxla didn't have to worry about mortals; none would be present. So light would be enough to kill all of them.[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]Soon after her imbuing, Vaxla had obtained a large number of various types of lights, from simple flashlights to heavier fare. During the day, she'd set up lights on the roofs of the places beside the bar, as well as a couple on the place across the street and a couple behind the bar. They were plugged into outlets inside various buildings with extension cords, and were about as strong as lights could get without needing more power than a standard plug could provide, which was more than enough for Vaxla's purposes.. Nobody'd objected to Vaxla's doing this, not when she started throwing money around. Besides, they were just lights. What harm could they do?[/COLOR] [I][COLOR=#4b0082]Vampires were active at night, so Vaxla generally was, too, although not exclusively. Mundane activities were usually done durring the day, and when she needed to set up for an attack, she did so in the afternoon, so no vampires could discover her actions. She stuck when they had gathered, and usually, they never saw it coming.[/COLOR][/I] [COLOR=#4b0082]It was midnight. Vaxla was on the roof of the place to the left of the vampire bar. The lights were off; she had them on timers so that they wouldn't come on until she wanted them to. Which would be very, very soon. The bar was packed, which was good; more vampires present meant more vampires dead. It was time to begin... [I]now[/I].[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]Vaxla focused on theleft wall of thevampire bar and closed herleft hand into a fist. The wall exploded, causing startled reactions from inside. Then Vaxla blew the back wall, and the roof began to collapse. Vaxla finished the job by blowing the other two walls, then jumped to the ground.[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]One of the vampires saw her, and shouted out to the others. "Hi, there," Vaxla said. "I have to say, you picked a bad night to come here."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]"Oh yeah?" one of the vampires said as they formed a semicircle around Vaxla, whose back was against the wall of the place she'd been on the roof of. "And why's that? You got friends hiding around here?"[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]"Yeah, like that'll help," another vampire said. "You're the one who picked a bad night. Most of us have been around a long time; we were having a meeting of sorts. I'm afraid most of us won't be harmed by anything but the sun."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]"Interesting," Vaxla said. "However, I think you'll find that I'm better prepared than you think." Right on schedule, the lights came on. "See?"[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]A vampire laughed. "Plain light can't harm us, only the sun. You must be stupid if you thought to kill us with plain light."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]"I think you know better than that," Vaxla said. "You should be able to tell that I went through a lot of trouble setting this up. Surely you don't think I'm that ignorant about your kind, do you?[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082][I]Lux[/I]."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]And it begun. Vaxla did one light after another, until the entire area was illuminated by the simulated sunlight of her Edge. "Now you die."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]Vaxla saw movement out of the corner of her eye. One vampire had ducked between two buildings in time to avoid the light, and was trying to escape. Vaxla didn't give him the chance. She closed her left hand into a fist, blowing the walls out in front of the vampire. It stopped and turned, taking a couple steps towards her. "You don't have your light here, bitch," it said. "Bad move." It was upon her before she could react. It threw her to the ground and bent over her, holding her down. "Any last words?"[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]"[I]Vis[/I]."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]Vaxla gave the vampire a kick, which, impowered by her Edge, sent it flying. She ran towards it, pulling her flashlight out. Unfortunately, it wouldn't work; she'd fallen such that she'd landed on it, and it was broken. "Well, that makes things interedting," she said. She pulled out a wooden stake; even if it couldn't kill this vampire, the creature would be in pain, allowing Vaxla time to Impact and knock it back into the light.[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]The vampire sprung to its feet, but Vaxla kept it from truly recovering. She'd knocked it into the street, and she used everything she saw as a weapon, repeatedly closing her left hand into a fist as she ran towards the freak with the stake in her right hand. It couldn't take a step without something blowing up in front of it. Trash cans, chunks of asphault, cars, everything was fair game. Civilian casualties meant nothing to Vaxla. She tackled the disoriented vampire and shoved the stake into its heart. Clearly, this one hadn't progressed past that weakness; the signs of its coming death were obvious to one who'd seen it as many times as Vaxla. She turned and walked towards the burning remains of the bar, and saw a car speeding towards her, the driver apparently drunk and not paying attention. Vaxla closed her left hand into a fist one more time, and the vehicle exploded. In the wreckage, Vaxla saw four bodies; a group of young men who'd spent the night partying, most likely. Vaxla didn't care; they were of no interest to her. She quickly gathered the lights before the fire spread to the surrounding buildings and left, exhausted from using her Edges so much. She walked away before any police or firemen arrived; the deaths of the four in the car, and of those in other vehicles she'd exploded, were already forgotten.[/COLOR] [I][COLOR=#4b0082]It was a good night. Such large kill counts were rare, it wasn't often that a vampire gathering spot was located. Usually, she worked one vampire at a time, and usually without being able to make preperations as she'd done this time. Such large victories were rare, and Vaxla savored every one of them she had. Many vampires had died. It was a good night.[/COLOR][/I] [I][/I] [COLOR=#4b0082][I]The previously mentioned location has been dealt with,[/I] Vaxla posted to Hunter-Net later. [I]All vampires present at the site at that time are presumed dead; I don't know the exact number. Location was destroyed. [/I]Vaxla knew that other Hunters would learn of the extra damage, but she didn't care. They could think of her however they wanted too. More freaks had died; nothing else mattered.[/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLarge Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 [SIZE=1]Jax was halfway to his arms supplier's house when his PDA buzzed in his pocket. He stopped, leant against a lamp-post and pulled it from his pocket, opening the new message. He stood for a few moments in calm contemplation, reading through the message three or four times. Then he closed the message, tucked his PDA away and rubbed his hands across his face and through his hair. This freak clearly meant business. Whoever it was had gone to a lot of trouble to discover the identities of every single Hunter on the network, and something willing to do that amount of work never meant anything less than a whole heap of trouble. He had scanned the replies to the thread, but ignored them - the less-experienced Hunters had reacted badly to the threat, and begun to shoot their mouths off, getting angry unnecessarily. Jax saw no reason to be anything other than calm about this. He needed to keep his head together in order to beat whatever had sent this message. His thoughts were disrupted by a second message buzzing through, and he knew exactly what was coming before he even took his PDA out of his pocket. [B]"New Orleans," [/B]he muttered under his breath after reading the second message, [B]"Long way from here." [/B]He slipped his PDA back, thought for a moment, then changed his direction and began heading towards the nearest travel agent. He needed a plane ticket to New Orleans, and he needed it promptly. --- Standing outside the small, dingy travel shop, Jax's PDA buzzed a third time. This was unusual - he didn't let just anybody have his number. It continued buzzing, indicating a phone call rather than a message. He pulled the device from his pocket again, and looked at the number. [B]"Sword, what can I do for you?" [/B]he asked impatiently as he answered. He listened intently for a few moments, nodding along with the conversation. [B]"The same Ghast?" [/B]he asked, not quite believing what he was hearing, [B]"Where is he?"[/B] As soon as he knew the answer, he hung up and began running. He recognised the location as a disused hotel - the perfect place for an ugly beastie like the super-Ghast to hide out. --- As soon as he arrived, a little out of breath (he knew he should have left that most recent cigar), he could hear sounds of a scrap from inside. A few seconds later, something burst through the outside wall, landing in the plaster dust at Jax's feet. He recognised the face, bloodied though it was, of the Ghast from the building-top, although it had somehow found a change of clothes since then, and it's burns and other wounds had healed a lot quicker than usual. [B]"Hello, ugly," [/B]he snarled down at the thing, pulling his shotgun out of his jacket... [/SIZE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allamorph Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 (edited) [FONT=Calibri]Nicholas Flaherty sat cross-legged on the hotel bed farthest from the door. It was a fairly standard bed: slightly lumpy in places, with too-soft pillows, an itchy comforter, and that same brown faux-velvet blanket thing that always rested beneath the comforter and the sheets. Vellux, he thought it was called. The reason for its existence eluded him. He had pulled the deskâ??also standard, this one rectangularâ??into the walkway between the two beds and was studiously oiling his gun, a Ruger Blackhawk revolver that looked out of place with the era, even in his current cheap surroundings, and the same gun that had replaced his old Beretta several years ago. Nicholas didnâ??t trust automatics. They jammed. His ears registered the click of the lock, but he declined to look up. A glance at the digital clock on the nightstand told him it was time for Claget to return, and sure enough it was the recently imbued Hunter who stepped through the door. [b]â??And?â?[/b] Nicholas asked, dispensing with greetings. [b]â??Piggies,â?[/b] confirmed Claget, equally terse. He nudged the door shut with his foot and drew the chain. [b]â??Good tip.â?[/b] Claget didnâ??t answer. The bed across from him sighed as his partner sat down, and Nicholas heard him draw out his laptop and flip it open, his hand drifting into Nicholasâ??s peripheral vision to plug its power adaptor into the outlet over the nightstand. Claget was undoubtedly checking Hunter-Net as he did every other night; Nicholas waited until enough time had passed for him to sign in before speaking. [b]â??Thereâ??ve been a lot of piggies lately. I wonder if thereâ??s a connection.â?[/b] [b]â??Dunno,â?[/b] said Claget. [b]â??Someone posted a notice about another herd of them a while ago; looks like Eraser took care of it.â?[/b] Nicholas raised an eyebrow. [b]â??Probably wasnâ??t too obvious about it, either.â?[/b] [b]â??Heh.â?[/b] There was another moment of silence. Nicholas finished his oiling and held his weapon up to eye level, giving the cylinder a test spin. Satisfied, he began slipping cartridges into the chambers. He had no fear of an accidental misfire; single-action revolvers only fired after their hammers were cocked manually, since the trigger couldnâ??t do the job. Better than a safety. Clagetâ??s fingers paused their skittering over the keyboard, and he made an amused noise. [b]â??Sheildâ??s taking down a ghast soon,â?[/b] he remarked. [b]â??Hmm?â?[/b] Nicholas spun the cylinder again. [b]â??Yeah, Optical posted it for him.â?[/b] He flicked a few more keys. [b]â??She says itâ??s a big one, wants people to bring in high-level ordinance.â?[/b] Nicholas smirked. [b]â??Too bad,â?[/b] he said. [b]â??Sounds like it would have been fun.â?[/b] He sighted down the barrel to the corner of the ceiling, keeping his thumb away from the hammer. [b]â??Or at least more interesting than another herd of these accursed pigs.â?[/b] [b]â??You getting tired of this already?â?[/b] Claget queried, shooting him a grin. [b]â??Itâ??s just boring after a while,â?[/b] answered Nicholas. [b] â??Itâ??s always the same thing. Go in, shoot up the station, wait for the patrols to arrive for backup, take â??em out, mourn the casualties.â?[/b] He put his revolver on the nightstand and retrieved his scabbard from the back corner, unsheathing his sword to oil it as well. [b]â??I donâ??t like routine.â?[/b] Eyeing the Ruger, Claget switched the topic. [b]â??Iâ??m telling you, man, you need to get another gun.â?[/b] Nicholas raised an eyebrow. Theyâ??d had this conversation several times before, always ending the same way; by now their responses were almost reflex. [b]â??And I want to know whatâ??s wrong with the one I have?â?[/b] he retorted, continuing the game. [b]â??The barrel,â?[/b] said Claget, like always. [b]â??Itâ??s too long. Something comes at you hard and fast, youâ??ll never get it out of your holster in time.â?[/b] [b]â??Right,â?[/b] Nicholas murmured. This reaction would be interesting to watch. [b]â??So I ordered one.â?[/b] [b]â??Youâ??re kidding.â?[/b] [b]â??No,â?[/b] Nicholas assented,[b] â??I checked a few sources and had one sent to a drop box a few states north of here.â?[/b] He dug a piece of paper out of his pocket and tossed it to the other bed. [b]â??Here. I think youâ??ll like it.â?[/b] Claget unfolded the slip and scanned it. [b]â??A Ruger Redhawk Alaskan.â?[/b] He snorted. [b]â??Another revolver?â?[/b] [b]â??Double-action,â?[/b] said Nicholas, [b]â??since you complained about my rate of fire. Also very short, so itâ??ll be great for a shoulder-holster.â?[/b] [b]â??And itâ??s a four-five-four Casull,â?[/b] continued his partner. [b]â??Jesus, man, thatâ??s bigger than the one youâ??ve got now!â?[/b] He caught Nicholasâ??s stern glance and sighed. [b]â??Sorry, Preachâ??. Old habits.â?[/b] [b]â??For we know that our old self was crucified,â?[/b] returned Nicholas, [b]â??so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.â?[/b] Claget chuckled. [b]â??And which part was that?â?[/b] he half-sneered. [b]â??Romans 6:6.â?[/b][/FONT] Edited March 25, 2012 by Allamorph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaryanna Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 [COLOR="DarkGreen"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Jonathan cursed his bad luck that put him in a graveyard in the early morning hours. He moved as silently as possible and yet he was still making more noise than he would have liked in his haste to find the damn kids.[I] Careful fool, you won?t do any good if you get yourself killed.[/I] He tightened his grip on the solitary pistol he was holding up, pointed towards the sky. The hint of a false dawn was starting to show as he kept weaving in and out of the various headstones. He was halfway through the place when nervous laughter echoed across the burial grounds. Oh good, he was going to make it? Screams replaced the laughter and with a curse he took off towards the sound at a dead run. ?[B]God. Damn. Stupid. Kids![/B]? He muttered to himself as he stumbled over the uneven ground in the darkness. There were five of them, lumbering things that despite their appearance were surprisingly quick. The teenagers, three of them, were attempting to find a way through the monstrosities that had surrounded them. One was clutching their left arm tightly where blood was flowing from a gash. The sounds of flesh being ripped apart in the past intruded into Jonathan?s mind and with a savage jerk he stuffed the semi-vision down and took aim. Before the creatures could even realize he was there, one by one he took them down, the shots knocking them over. ?[B]Get out of here.[/B]? He snarled at the terror-stricken teens who were staring at him once the clamor had died down. ?[B]Now![/B]? He barked when they hesitated. ?[B]But?[/B]? one of the girls started to stammer. ?[B]Shut up.[/B]? He growled, moving over until he was less than a foot from the kids who cowered. ?[B]Get the hell out of here. I?m not going to explain what happened and you?re going to behave and not do something so stupid again.[/B]? ?[B]Hey! How the hell were we supposed to?[/B]? The boy trailed off when Jonathan fixed him with a glare. ?[B]I won?t be around the next time you do something so stupid so get lost before?[/B]? A scuffling noise came from behind him and with yet another snarl he shoved them out of the way and whirled quickly in place, his gun coming up as one of the creatures lunged at him. ?[B]Results please,[/B]? he whispered to himself. The thing?s chest had a gaping hole where he had hit it earlier so it shouldn?t have been able to get back up and yet there it was, moving anyway. For a brief second he got the impression of something behind its left eye and without hesitation he fired. With a sickening jerk it came to a halt, shuddered and then fell silently to the ground. He ignored the stupid teenagers in favor of checking the rest of the Rots to make sure they were all down for good. The sound of footsteps as the group ran away reached his ears and he caught a flash of movement as the kids finally overcame their fear enough to run. With a sigh he stood up after checking the last one. It was time to go and get the clean up gear. Gasoline and a lighter would do the trick, at least there were no houses close enough for people to complain about the stench. [CENTER]********************[/CENTER] [B]Hunter-Net: [/B]New Post [B]Thread: [/B][I]Rumor of Rots in Cemetery by Stokes Development.[/I] [B]User: [/B]Searcher430 The hunt is finished so here?s a quick update on the rumor of Rots in the cemetery near the new housing development. Five hostiles dealt with and remains disposed of. One had an unusual strength which required blowing a hole through its left eye in order to take out since the usual shot to the heart did not do the trick. I hope this doesn?t mean the damn things are getting stronger. Indications in regards to kids going missing are true, confirmed via the sight. [CENTER]********************[/CENTER] Jonathan finished his short post and then logged out of the Hunter-Net. He?d check the new stuff after he got cleaned up and rested a bit first. He got up and took a moment to grab a clean set of clothes and a fresh towel before heading into the bathroom. Maybe getting rid of the stench might restore his appetite too. [/FONT][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raiha Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][i]Manjusra's phone buzzed and she picked it up automatically flicking through the text. The loa's departure had finally ceased to make her shiver and suffer, and now she could focus on the future troubles. Like the fact that Loa Ama had come to her specifically to both tell her the future and tell her what the future shouldn't be. She sighed and typed out a swift response to Thom.[/i] "Check your fucking e-mail dumbshit. We're wanted in the South Town. Something big is coming for us, gunning for us. We're kine again. And don't call me ghostie. Drunkie." [i]She stood up and found her boots lying in a corner, pulling them over her jeans, she laced the threads automatically. Mentally she calculated the risks of flying in an airplane to New Orleans and how much sun exposure it would mean. While her body was adapted to deal with extreme temperatures, she didn't really like the thought. But no real problems that couldn't be dealt with. And the Messengers would help, or think about it anyway. She grabbed her heavier coat and pulled the hood deep over her head, nearly eclipsing her entire face. Snatching her weapons from the counter she dodged the door and kicked the lock in place from behind, following the path she'd outlined for Chase. Knowing him he would be going straight for the Ghast, get his ass kicked, and get up and try again. But this time the headaches came on faster than the last time. The Ghast couldn't have moved that far on purpose, which meant that the damn loa was right and instead he was just getting stronger. His blast radius increasing. It meant a world of pain if she stepped closer. But it was also coming from Jax. .......why was he here anyway? Chase too. She closed her eyes for a moment to collect herself.[/i] "I hate you all. I'll always hate you for this." [i]Mouthing the words of her mantra, rolling them in her head, she began to use it to focus her thoughts further. "Om A Ra Pa Cha Na Dhīh." As she thought the words, she felt an incorporeal spirit brush past her, sending a wave of pure panic in its wake. Focus disrupted, she swatted angrily with one hand, pushing it to one side. Again, whenever she tried to focus, to brand the Ghast, it happened again. Finally, Manjusra lost her temper and slammed both of her hands into the ground from a crouching position and screamed the incantation instead, the edge blasting through several spirits at once.[/i] "Om A Ra Pa Cha Na Dhīh you fucking bastards!" [i]The brand, shaped like the Third Eye soared across space, invisible to the human eye, and plastered itself on the Ghast's face, glowing white. Jax paused for a moment, looking over his shoulder. There was only one hunter he knew that could send a brand like that, and only one who would make it take such a shape. He grinned and thumbed another cartridge.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 [SIZE="1"][B]"Yeah, yeah, where to there big boy?"[/B] Kazimir turned to Martin, who seemed pleasantly amused at his reaction. He knew very well that, besides occasionally hunting and going out to eat, Kazimir never left his home. [B]"Alright alright. Home. I just thought you would be up for an adventure."[/B] He refocused his attention on the road, trying to seem as upset as possible. [B]"I've got too much work to do."[/B] [B]"Yeah? Like what?"[/B] [B]"I've been analyzing a weiland for a couple days."[/B] [B]"How the hell did you manage that?"[/B] Martin seemed surprised. [B]"Those usually kill themselves before they would ever be caught by a hunter."[/B] [B]"Believe me, after about 20 tries, the process became a little redundant."[/B] Kazimir was carrying his usual mocking tone that he often held with Martin, [B]"But believe it or not, some hunters have skill."[/B] [B]"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that,"[/B] he said with a smile. It was always made painfully obvious early on in every conversation that they could never agree on anything. When they returned to Kazimir's headquarters, Martin invited himself in, as usual, offering to help him with whatever he needed. [I]When is this bum going to leave?[/I] he thought to himself, but agreed anyway. They spent most of the morning analyzing the weiland's calf bone. Or rather, Kazimir analyzed. Martin was dozing in and out of sleep while he took up working space. After a few hours, when Martin finally woke up and decided to help, they managed to create a series of 10 serums based on the new black substance that was found inside the wraith: Series - NWSA 2200 [B]"I've got a good feeling about this."[/B] Martin said. [B]"Go back to sleep. You don't even know what it's supposed to do."[/B] [B]"Sure I do."[/B] He argued, but stopped for a while, thinking of the correct thing to say. [B]"Make it unweiland-like?"[/B] [B]"No. I don't pretend that I'll ever be able to change it with one try. Or 22 for that matter. But this is the first one that I've met with that black substance on its bones. And if my guess is right, that's what kept this wraith from killing himself like the others try to do when you capture them."[/B] [B]"So, Kaz, what exactly are you trying to accomplish here?"[/B] [B]"Well, if this mutation occurs on a large scale or even inter-species, then hunters everywhere are going to be screwed."[/B] [B]"So you're only trying to change it back into a normal weiland?"[/B] [B]"Exactly."[/B] Kazimir finished mixing the final vial. The two moved into the area encircled with plastic sheets. Martin set up the camera, while Kazimir prepared the serum. It was now in a large syringe. [B]"Whoa. What's the giant needle for?"[/B] He said. Kazimir ignored him, seeing that the record light was on, [B]"This is Salvage458 with witness, Bruiser267. I'm updating you on the suggested mutation occurance in the wraith population. I've received several comments from my last video about other odd occurrences among many different species of inhumans. I have developed a serum that will hopefully nullify the effects of the black substance found on Weiland - 22."[/B] He approached the cold metal table and pointed to the Weiland's rib cage. [B]"As many hunters are familiar with, the only set of bones in a weiland's body are its rib cage. They protect the heart and I need this,"[/B] he said, pointing to the large needle, [B]"In order to inject it directly into the heart."[/B] [B]"Well this should be interesting."[/B] Martin said from the side, receiving a sinister glare from the czech. [B]"Class NWSA, Series 2200, test subject number one."[/B] He rattled off almost through sheer habit as he raised the syringe high enough to gain some momentum on the downfall. When the needle hit, the weiland didn't move much. It didn't even scream out. [B]Possible paralyzing effect,"[/B] Kazimir suggested to Martin and the camera. He grabbed his autopsy knife and began cutting the weiland's other calf in order to actually see if the black material was fading. Again the weiland didn't scream. Upon first glance, he saw the material squirm, as though it were some kind of symbiotic parasite for inhumans. He grabbed the camera to let his audience see just was happening. It seemed to fade a bit, surpassing even Kazimir's expectactions. But suddenly, it went terribly wrong. The Weiland burst into a brilliant display of purple flame. It started from the heart and quickly traveled throughout the rest of the body. It had only been five seconds before the weiland was a pile of ash. Disappointment washed over Kazimir with such unsatisfactory results. Removing his surgical mask, he said, [B]"NWSA - 2201 is a failure. Salvage458, out."[/B] He gave the camera to Martin and left him with the task of uploading the video. After all, the man had just said that he hardly ever got on hunter-net any more and was itching for a little excitement. Kazimir on the other hand, felt it was his duty to clean up. After he had collected some of the weiland's ashes for analyzation, the swept all the rest into a trash sack and took down to the basement. Before he even had a chance to get back up to his apartment, Martin burst through the door: [B]"Kaz, hurry up. You're not going to believe this."[/B][/SIZE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuyYouMetOnline Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 [COLOR=indigo][I]Nothing to do.[/I][/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]Aftertaking out the bar the previous night, Vaxla didn't have any info on any freaks, vampire or otherwise. Oh, there were all sorts of reports on Hunter_Net, but nothing in her area. Many cities had multiple Hunters, and thus a large amount of information, but Vaxla lived in Phoenix, Arizona, and there were only a couple other hunters in the Phoenix area, which was surprising to Vaxla, givin the size of the Phoenix area. But given the relativly small number of Hunters, it wasn't that strange. It was just how chance had played out, and Vaxla accepted that. It just meant she had to do more work on her own, but this didn't bother her at all.[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]Vaxla did make a point of keeping up with freak sightings in other places; she liked to know what was going on, and if there was something really big, she usually traveled to the site to assist in the effort against it. And sometimes there was information about freaks in the Phoenix area; there weren't many other Hunters in the area, but there were a couple, and Vaxla paid attention to any information they had. So she'd check Hunter_Net, but if there was nothing, Vaxla'd rest for the rest of the day, then head out at night to hunt. She'd probably return to the bar she'd hit; someone might be by to take a look at the remains, or someone who didn't know it was gone might come by. It was certainly worth trying, and Vaxla'd gotten good results that way in the past. Besides, anyone she found that way was likely to be a vampire, and those were her primary targets.[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]There wasn't much information on Hunter_Net that interested Vaxla; there was a small vampire nest in New Orleans that the reporting Hunter didn't want to take on, but it wasn't enough to be worth the trip. There was, however, an unusual discussion regarding a mysterious message. Vaxla read the message, then shook her head. [I]Well, that's obviously bullshit. But everyone else is taking it seriously. Don't those idiots know bullshit when they see it?[/I][/COLOR] [I][/I] [COLOR=#4b0082]Then Vaxla recieved a private message from an unidentified sender. Vaxla wasn't too surprised when she read it. [I]I thought so. Whoever's doing this pretty much has to send the coordinates to people. Hmm... well, given how seriously everyone's taking this, it's pretty much a given that at least some of the others that receive the message will go. Odds are I haven't met any of them, but I may run into some I know. And who knows, maybe I'll meet someone it's useful to speak with in person. Besides, even if there's nothing else, there's that vampire nest. Sure, others will be there, but they don't go after Vampires like I do, so unless one of them's in New Orleans too, odds are none of them paid any attention to it. So even though this is most likely nothing, at least the trip won't be a complete waste of time. I guess I'll go.[/I][/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]Vaxla went online and found plane tickets for a flight later that day. There was a red-eye to New Orleans leaving at about 10:00 PM with empty seats in both first class and coach, so she bought a ticket for first class. She always took red-eye flights; they were what vampires used when they needed to travel by plane. Finding one on a flight was rare, but it did happen, and there was no chance of finding one on a daytime flight, so Vaxla lost nothing by taking red-eyes. So she bought a ticket. She'd use the day to prepare, then head for the airport.[/COLOR] [COLOR=#4b0082]Vaxla posted a message to the topic discussing the unknown message:[/COLOR] [I][COLOR=#4b0082]I suspect the message is false, as are the private messages specifying a location. However, I did receive one of these messages, and despite my suspicion, I will travel to the specified location to investigate. I expect I will be seeing others there, although I would recommend that anyone else who received the message not come to the specified location unless I find something there. I have already booked travel to the location; to any who come, I will see you there. Odds are you will not know who I am, so I will identify myself as Ravager401, which, as my _Net handle, is what you know me as. To the rest of you, I intend to post more information as soon as I obtain it.[/COLOR][/I] [I][/I] [COLOR=#4b0082]Vaxla disconnected after posting the message and turned her efforts toward preparing for the trip. She didn't bring all her lights, but she did bring a good selection, in addition to her other equipment. Sure, the extra weight meant it cost a lot, but Vaxla was never short on cash; she collected everything her victims had, including credit cards and other personal information. She had cards and PINs for many individuals, and she used the info to withdraw cash from their accounts. She'd made quite a bit just last night; the number of victims insured that if nothing else, there'd be a lot of cash left. Vaxla'd gathered what was there before the fire truly got going. And she had a lot from previous victims; money wasn't a concern for her. So she'd pay whatever she had to, because she wasn't going into anything without being able to properly prepare herself. She would be ready for anything.[/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted July 23, 2008 Author Share Posted July 23, 2008 [color=crimson][i][pindent=2]He groaned from his position on the floor, shaking his head very, very slowly. His gaze flickered around and he realized he was no longer in the stairwell; he was instead in what remained of the fourth floor. There were no walls that could be considered barriers any longer, and even a support beam or two were creaking woefully at their load. Chase stood, the telltale sounds of fighting carrying to his ears, and he banished all pain, pushed it down firmly to a recess in the back of his mind, and ran to join in.[/pindent] [pindent=2]What he saw surprised him to no end; another Hunter, one he didn't know, was busy whacking and shooting at a Ghast with a brilliantly-burning All-Seeing Eye blazed across its face. It couldn't seem to heal the damage the brand was causing, which gave Chase an idea. He summoned his tomahawk, rushing in, ignoring the shriek of pain his ribs and head protested with. He couldn't give in to his pain; he needed to fight to save whoever this thing was after. He leapt upon the Ghast's back with a guttural shout to whoever the other Hunter was; he ripped into the meaty hunch on the Ghast's back, hacking away and bucking on it like a rodeo clown. For a wild minute, he thought he was killing the thing before, with an audible crunch of bone-on-bone, the Ghast's shoulder dislocated, its arm twisted, and grabbed Chase violently, hurling him into Jackson without any visible effort.[/pindent] [pindent=2]He was getting desperate. This Ghast needed to go down, and even though his body hurt, he had to keep going. Resting his hand upon his heart, he whispered his activation and felt some relief flood his wounds. It wasn't enough to mend the breaks he knew he had, and for some reason the slashes on his back weren't healing, but it was enough to keep him in the fight. He stood and stared at the Ghast, raising his hand and gesturing roughly, sparking that shoulder into white flame; the Ghast's weakest link fell off, leaving a twitching, rapidly shriveling arm spewing blood and black mist all over the pavement as the creature roared in pain and began running towards the two fallen Hunters. Chase kept his eyes upon it.[/pindent][pindent=2][/i]"Cast in the name of God, let he who is innocent throw the first stone to draw the blood of the Guilty!"[/pindent] [pindent=2][i]The creature's forward motion immediately ceased and, save for the shifting of its weight from foot to foot, its body remained extremely motionless. Chase felt an incredible burden pressing down on him; the strain placed on his body for this Edge was always proportional to the strength of the freak in question. Refusing to take his eyes off of the beast, even as his ribs gave out and a trickle of blood that was hastily stymied by the healing Edge began to leak from the corner of his lips.[/pindent][pindent=2][/i]"Hey, buddy! Give this thing what for, will ya?"[/color][/pindent] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLarge Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 [B][SIZE=1]"Hey buddy! Give this thing what for, will ya?" [/SIZE][/B][SIZE=1]shouted the other Hunter, his voice garbled from the strain of holding the one-armed Ghast back. Jax pushed himself to his feet, grabbed his staff again and aimed the end at the Ghast's head, where Manjusra's Brand still glowed with stark white light. [B]"Adhaero," [/B]he said, drawing his willpower in and focusing it into the tip of the staff, which began to glow like embers in a fireplace, [B]"Adhaero, Adhaero, [I]Adhaero![/I]" [/B]He shouted the word, the glow of his staff increasing until the tip was white-hot, like a poker that had been left in the fire for a long time. With a concerted effort, he pulled the staff back and slammed it into the Ghast's head, sending both Hunter and Hunted flying backwards with the shockwave of thermal energy. The other Hunter dropped his power, wiping the trickle of blood that had formed at the corner of his mouth, and ran over to where Jax was picking himself up. [B]"That was some power you displayed there, buddy," [/B]the Hunter said, offering his hand to Jax, who didn't take it, getting up under his own power. It was a pride thing. [B]"Yeah, but it was too unrefined to do any real damage. I've never really been able to focus my energy that well - that's what the staff is for," [/B]Jax replied, pulling his staff from the wreckage that was the ground floor of the building. [B]"I don't think that thing's done for yet, though," [/B]the unknown Hunter replied, turning to see the Ghast haul itself from the wreckage, the fires of hell burning in it's eyes. [B]"Ah crap," [/B]said Jax, [B]"What more can we do? I've already broken this thing's neck, stabbed it between the eyes with a knife, set it on fire and blasted enough power into it's head to punch a hole in a building. How much damage can this bastard take?" "Tell me about it. I cut the thing's arm off and unloaded my gun into it close-range. Chase, by the way," [/B]he said, offering his hand. [B]"Jackson, or Jax if you like," [/B]the older Hunter replied, shaking the proffered hand, [B]"But enough pleasantries - what do you say we show this thing what Hunters can really do?" "Can't think of anything better to do," [/B]Chase replied, drawing his weapons, prompting Jax to do the same. [B]"Come on, ugly," [/B]Jax whispered, staff in one hand, revolver in the other, ready for the thing to attack. In a burst of movement, the Ghast set off towards them at a charge, snarling and snorting as it ran... [/SIZE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.J. McKrafty Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 [FONT=Arial][COLOR=Navy]Kaz and me read over the message. [B] "What was it you were saying about a big hunt?"[/B] Kaz sighed while finishing reading. [B] "Hot dog!"[/B] I shouted while pumping my fist into the air. [B]"This is great! We both made the list! So what do you think?"[/B] [B] "I think it is a trap."[/B] Kaz replied dismally. [B] "Exactly, thats why its so awesome! We need to get packing, that's New Orleans, from Atlanta thats about a seven hour trip." "Who said I want to go in a car?" "Do you have the money and patience for a plane? Honestly?" [/B] Kaz simply gave me a hard stare and stalked off grabbing a backpack off a table and going into a back room. I took this as a good sign and went down to the Hunts-mobile. After waiting around fifteen minutes he came back with a swollen backpack, a metal briefcase and his weapons under arm. I opened up the back and pulled up the interior to reveal the wooden gun case. We packed his weapons in snug and he put the rest in the back. We drove about ten miles before we came up on my street. I backed up into the garage and closed the door so as not to have any prying eyes from the neighbors. I opened back up the gun case and ran up into the house. My roommates all stood huddled around the computer and reeled when I entered the house. [B] "Marty! Did you see this?"[/B] cried Kurt pointing at the screen. [B] "Most likely. If it is the proverbial gauntlet that was just thrown down, then yes."[/B] I replied while running through the common room and slamming my door open. I opened my closet and grabbed a few days clothes and stuffed them in a gym bag. I then rooted under my bed and found the hard gun case and opened it. My Kalashnikov and four clips stared back at me. I quickly closed it and hustled out of my room with it and the gym bag. Making a double take I grabbed my aluminum bat that sat next to the door. You never know when you will need a replacement. I darted back through the common room and started loading my gear in. [B] "You got the coordinates? Where are they?"[/B] Asked Kurt from the doorway. [B] "They are a secret, you read that."[/B] I said closing up the back of the Hunts-mobile. [B]"I'm off to face uncertain doom and probably face my own death. See ya soon!"[/B] I giggled to myself at the accidental rhyme and I climbed into the drivers seat, hit the garage door opener and off we went. I can honestly say that Kaz is an unpleasant man while traveling. He has yet to say a word and just sat in the back reading some book with a rather unpleasant expression on his face. [B] "Will Kaz cheer up?"[/B] I asked jokingly as I shook the eight ball. [I]Outlook looks grim. [/I]Gonna be a fun trip. [/COLOR][/FONT] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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