Kailin made her way out of the building and down the street towards the coffee shop that was near their apartment. She tried to keep herself hidden within the shadows so that no one would notice her near the scene. In the past she had had far to much trouble with the human police, and on one occasion Gabrielle had to murder one to stop him from probing any further. She didn't enjoy watching an innocent human die, and therefore wanted to keep the humans as safe from themselves as possible. With those thoughts in her mind, she got closer to the shop and noticed the flashing lights of the police cars.
Sighing, she looked around trying to find somewhere she could get in close enough to see if it was indeed Kristian or another poor soul fallen to the Mephis. There was only four police cars and six officers, Kailin assumed this was a recent find. Noticing a bush near the body that one officer was guarding, she made her way down the street and crossed it. Through the alley, and towards the other street, she walked up past five buildings and entered again through the alley way. The bush was ahead of her, and getting down on all fours she crawled into the bush as one man began taking pictures of the body. Though the face was brutally destroyed, she could still sense Kristian's aura. Her eyes shot around the area, she had to think of a way to get him out of there. If he continued to heal in front of their eyes it would cause far to much publicity. Looking down at herself, she noticed that she was still in her dress from the party and the carnation was pinned to her strap. Reaching up she snatch the flower from her dress and threw it to the ground.
Heading back into the alley, she jumped from wall to wall up the tall building, until she reached the top. When up there she removed her clothing, and jumped back down. Concentrating, she began to change her form, gray and white hairs began to cover her body. The pain of the shift was only momentary and then she became a white wolf. Charging down the alley, she ran out to the officers and began growling, showing her fangs.
"Paul." One of the officer's said, "Look."
Paul stopped taking pictures, and came to stand next to the other. "Just a stray dog, call animal control."
The fur on the back of the wolf's neck stood up, and it snapped his jaws together and started walking towards them, as Paul turned his back.
"Paul!"
"What?" He turned and stopped with his eyes wide.
Kailin growled again, and then snapped her fangs. Picking up her speed, the cops began to run towards the others. When all six police officers were looking at her, she hoped Kristian would have enough strength to get up and run away.
"Easy there, boy." One officer said as he reached out his hand.
Kailin snapped at the officer's limb, and missed on purpose.
"What the fuck do we do?" Another man asked.
"It's six of us and one dog." The officer who tried to touch her said.
"That isn't a dog, Stan." He looked at his partner, "I'm pretty sure that's a wolf."
"A wolf in the middle of the city?"
With their attention on her, Kailin got the urge to play with the humans and sat down for a moment. Looking up at the sky, she let out a long deep howl.
"Why the hell is it doing that?" Paul asked looking at the man who had told them it was a wolf.
"Calling to its mate probably."
"Why?" Another asked.
"Because it's found food."
It wasn't until she looked down that she realized Stan had pulled his gun, and the others followed his lead.
"Don't run, running makes you look like prey. You have to stand you ground, and make loud noises." Stan told them, "Don't run!" He said as another officer took off.
"Fuck this I ain't getting bit." He said.
To their surprise the wolf didn't chase him, instead stood up and began growling and snarling.
"Think it came from the zoo, Randy?" Paul asked the man who had identified her species.
"Probably."
"I don't get it, why is it just standing here." Stan asked.
"Look!" Paul pointed towards the bushes.
Another wolf limped out of the alley way, and whimpered. Kailin looked back at Kristian, and walked over to him. He slipped away and then used some of his energy to change into a wolf to let her know he had gotten away. Looking back at the officers, Kailin snapped and barked, charging them a little just to scare them enough to not check the body before they were gone. It proved to be a little to much for old Paul, and he let out a gun shot which hit her in the side. Her wolf form let out a yelp, and the two wolves disappeared into the alley way together.
They both waited to change back to see if the police would chase them, but they didn't attempted to bother them. Shifted back both she and Kristian were nude. He had several broken bones and open wounds on his body, but they would all heal within a few hours.
"You alright?" She asked him, looking down at the bullet wound above her left hip.
"Yeah, you?"
"Fine, where are your clothes?" She asked as she began fishing the bullet out of her wound with her fingers.
"They are all messed up from the Mephis attack, I'm going to head home. Thanks for your help." He said turning around.
"Hey, make sure you get your clothes. You can't leave evidence like that laying around."
Kristian nodded, "Alright." Then bending down slightly he leapt up, and disappeared over the wall.
Kailin followed him up to her own clothing once she removed the bullet and clenched it within her fist. She had heard the commotion of the officers when she realized the body was now gone as she got dressed. She needed to hunt and clear out any Mephis, but the dress she was in would constrict her and so she headed home to change, now that Kristian was alright.
"I hate when you do this!" Gabrielle exclaimed as she stomped her left foot onto the ground.
Kailin looked over at her, as she placed her guns into their holsters, "What?"
"You know what I want to know!"
She nodded, "He's fine, but I have to go back out and take care of any stray Mephis. There are a lot of humans out right now because they found his body."
"But he got away right?"
Again she nodded, "I'll be back in a bit, I need to feed to."
"Didn't you feed at the party?"
"Yes." She told her as she opened the door and stepped out into the hall.
Gabrielle looked around the corner, "Be careful, Kai." She told her as Kailin got the elevator, Kailin only turned around and winked at her as the elevator doors dinged opened.
Almost immediately after stepping out of the apartment building did Kailin feel the presence of the Mephis, however as quickly as the sense came it vanished. At least now she had an idea of where they were, and she began down the street in search of the few that dared enter her territory. As soon as she was able, she leapt onto a building, keeping her sharp eyes out for any movement.
Nearly two hours past, and she came up empty handed. Not even the slightest tingle of another vampire to let her know even a bowery or a Pyrrhonian were nearby. There was always one or the other, and she continued to look, thinking perhaps that the Mephis had gotten a few of them. It was on the rooftop of a bakery that she heard the crash in the back alley, and as she looked over the side of the roof she witnessed a stray cat run away from a bag full of opened cans.
Kailin sighed, and then sat down on the roof. Perhaps she should feed and then begin her search anew, she hadn't lost that much blood from the bullet wound, but it might have been enough to slow her senses. It was then she felt it, an elder hallowed nearby and with him the sense of at least seven Mephis. Standing up she leapt from building to building, until she found them within the darkness of an alley way fighting.
The Mephis were minions, and their once human forms were almost completely destroyed. Their skin was a sickly gray, and their eyes circular and black. They hunched over and one could see their spin, as their long arms hung down to the ground with large hands attached. Their mouths full of razor sharp teeth, and ready to bite and feed from anything living, including their own kind. They were disgusting creatures, a disease no one would ever wish upon their worst enemy.
The elder hallowed was a different story, he was a large man at least six feet and five inches tall, he had dark olive skin and short black hair, and he, like most vampires, wore a black overcoat. The coat didn't hide the large muscles that flexed as he swung his giant sword. Kailin felt a small flicker of awe in her stomach as he fought back the Mephis with such fury. It wasn't until one Mephis pounced forward and knocked the sword from his hand, sending it back towards the street, did she realize that he was truly in danger.
Standing up, Kailin pulled her guns, and leapt off the side of the building. She let out four shots, and hit three target, but one target twice. It was a good tactic to blind the Mephis as they didn't heal nearly as fast as a hallowed, and would remain blind for several days. Both the Mephis and the Hallowed Elder stopped to look at her as she landed. Putting her guns away, she looked at them and did a back flip picking up the Elder's sword as her hands touched the ground.
The three injured targets scratched at their wounds, trying to dig the bullets out of her eyes, and in doing so ignored her presence, but the other four decided that she was more of a threat then the Elder. They charged, and Kailin grabbed the large sword with both her hands, despite that it was built as one handed for the large Elder. The sword swung into the belly of the first, while she kicked back the second, and then yanked the sword from the creature abdomen. With a steady swing, she took off the head of the Mephis she had kicked. Returning her glare to the Mephis with the slash abdomen, she removed his head as well. The other two that had been charging her stopped in mid step and watched their comrades fall.
"Mother." One hissed at her, and the others living looked up. Soon they all echoed in their raspy, mucus filled voices, "Mother." They cried again, and this time began slowly crawled up the walls, using the suction on the hands and feet. Even the ones with bullet wounds ignored the pain to escape her presence.
The Hallowed Elder waited and watched as they ran from her presence, and when they were gone, he took a deep breath. Kailin stared at him for a moment, he had a strong face. His eyes were a chocolate brown, his jaw and chin were sharp, all in all he was a handsome man. "Thank you for the assistance." He spoke in a deep, attractive voice.
"I wasn't assisting you." Kailin said, then walked over to him, pressing the hilt of his sword into his chest, her body close to his own. "I would recommend staying indoors at night if you cant handle a few Mephis." She told him, and then turned to leave.
She saw the anger burning in his cheeks, but he remained silent. "Wouldn't you like to know who I am, and why I am here fighting Mephis?" He asked.
"You are my shadow stalker, and I've got a pretty good idea why you are fighting them." She told him, with her back still turned.
"My name is Mathias Saverio, my unit and I were…"
"Unit, what are you a human solider?" Kailin laughed and turned to look at him.
He shook his head, "No, but it's the best way to describe us."
"Mathias!" A female vampire ran down the alley, followed by two other males. They were all Elder Hallowed, Kailin sighed, this wasn't what she had planned for her evening.
Her long dark brown hair flowing behind her, she didn't wear the black overcoat, instead she just seemed to dress like any human at the time. She smiled at Kailin as she walked up, and in the most cheeriest voice possible spoke, "Hi, I'm Lycorisa." Kailin rolled her eyes at the elder who was much shorter then her. She had soft features, that reminded Kailin of a child.
The two men came in one that was at least five inches taller then Mathias, his mace attached to his back, wearing the black overcoat, and black boats. He had long blonde hair that he kept in a low pony tail, and large muscles. He too had a sharp facial features, but even more so then Mathias. Looking between them, it was Mathias who had the baby face. The other man was Kailin's height with black hair, and an expressionless face. His features were soft, and though he was not muscular, he was thin much like Kristian.
"This is Jareth." Lycorisa said pointing to the thin man, "and this is…"
"I am Khaldun." The other large man said.
Kailin looked between them, "And I am not in the mood." Pushing between them, she headed towards the street.
"You've got some attitude, fresh." Khaldun snapped in a deep thunderous voice.
Stopping she looked back at him and glared.
"Wait, are you hunting Mephis?" Lycorisa asked, "There are eight more not to far from here, you want to help out?"
"We don't need a fresh to help out with Mephis." Khaldun told her, which only made Kailin want to join.
"Very well." Kailin said, and followed them all up the building, and down a few blocks.
Lycorisa was correct there were eight Mephis feeding on two corpses almost out of the alley. Most of the time Mephis fed in the alley so they wouldn't be disturbed by other prey. Everyone kneeled down on the roof, and the elder began discussing their plan of attack.
"What happen back there?" Mathias asked.
"Lycorisa got knocked out, and they all felt our presence." Khaldun told him.
Kailin had been staring at the Mephis and looked back at them, realizing then that she could no longer feel the auras of the vampires around her. She understood now, Lycorisa had the ability to hide the trace of vampires auras so that they could use the element of surprise in their attacks. It was probably also why Mathias had been able to watch her for so long without her sensing his aura.
"Alright, Khaldun and I will go down first, followed by you three." He pointed at Kailin and the other two.
"I don't think Lycorisa should go down, she just gets in the way, and…" Khaldun began.
"Hey! I have been in this group far longer then you have, and I want to fight and I have the right too." Lycorisa snapped.
"I'm just saying that you keep getting hurt and we need you to hide our auras so we don't get ambushed, so I think…"
"Oh fuck this." Kailin snapped, and stood up, pulling out her guns, she jumped down into the alley way.
"Wait you stupid fucking fresh!" Khaldun yelled and went to jump down, but Mathias stopped him.
"Just watch." He told the giant.
When Kailin landed the Mephis turned to face her, they all hissed in effort to scare her. Kailin showed her fangs, and gave her own hiss, and then fired three times from each gun.
One of the uninjured charged her, and she leapt up, pounced off the wall. While in the air, she twisted her body to kick the creature in the back of its head. Another hiss from behind her came, and right away she knew that she had made an error in her judgment. It was a sup, and turning around she watched it prepare to spit on her. When the flames left it's mouth, it landed on her arm. The Mephis' lips were scorched, and she looked as her left arm went into flames, but it didn't hurt. She watched her hand in flame, not letting out scream of pain, and twisting her arm from side to side as it burned. The flames seemed to extinguish themselves, as if they were sucked into her arm. Turning her head to the sup, she grinned.
"Your mistake." She told it, as the creatures began to bloat slowly.
The other Mephis watched in horror, as their sup started to swell. The sup looked at his hands and felt his face as they tightened and bloated even more, and then when it was too much, the creature exploded. The others began their hisses of Mother, and took off over the walls to escape their certain death. Looking up at the Elders above, they jumped down.
"Khaldun, this is Kailin." Mathias told him.
"Oh, greetings. I didn't…"
"I don't care and I don't want to care. I suggest that you all remain out of my life and…" She looked over at Mathias, "out of my sight."
Lycorisa frowned, "We are only trying…"
"As I said, I don't care." Kailin put her guns away, and headed out towards the alley.
"You think you are alive today because of luck or because you are just that strong against the Mephis? You think that you keep their leader away, Duchess Caitlyn?" Mathias snapped and said her name sarcastically.
Turning her head to look over her shoulder, she kept the scowl on her face, "I told you, I don't care."
"You haven't, we've…"
Kailin turned the corner, leaving them to themselves.
"Over two hundred years of taking care of her, and protecting her since she was an infant, and we get that kind of greeting." Lycorisa folded her arms, as Jareth came to stand behind her.
"She wants nothing to do with the vampire world, it's not as if that comes as a surprise to us." Mathias told her, and then turned back to the walls the Mephis had disappeared over. "Come on, lets go finish them off." He ordered and leapt onto the roof of the nearby building.
Lucas thought it was so strange how he fit right in. It was like he had always been there, Jerry treated him more like they had been partners for years then a few months. When he had called him, the man near cussed him out, but somehow it didn't bother Lucas, and all he did was chuckle.
Looking over at the uniformed cops, Lucas reached for the door handle.
"Alright, let's take a look." Jerry's deep, menacing voice said.
Lucas had laughed when he first saw him that evening, his suit looked like he had pulled it out of the laundry basket. His hair wasn't brushed down with the usual amount of grease he used to keep his tight, black curls from becoming an afro. He even had toothpaste on the corner of his dark lips, that Lucas thought at first was powder sugar from a donut.
Getting out of the car, Jerry walked over to one of the uniformed officers with Lucas close behind.
"I'm Detective Jerry Penn and this is my partner Detective Lucas Stark. Name?" Jerry said, taking out his little notebook.
"Paul Marcin." The officer said nervously, surprising both the detectives that he didn't use his rank. The man was shorter then both Lucas and Jerry, his hair was a mess, probably from running his fingers through it. Such was a common habit when one messes up a case, and knows their job is on the line.
"What happen here tonight, Paul?" Lucas asked, he liked to be friendly with the uniformed officers, while Jerry acted like he was better then them.
"Well, I don't think you are going to believe me, but here it goes. We got a call about eleven pm about a body laying on the sidewalk. My partner, Randall Carver, and I arrived first, then officer Stan Wilkins and his partner, and then two singles…"
"Yeah, yeah…" Jerry rolled his hand trying to hurry him along, "Get to the part I care about, already."
"I started to take pictures of the body right away, and then Stan yelled at me and when I looked up there was a wolf coming out of the alley over there. It charged us, and we ran into a group…"
"Did you say a wolf?" Lucas asked. "In New York?"
He nodded, "I swear to you, it was a wolf."
"Alright, go on."
"It snapped and growled, but never really tried to hurt us. After a short while of us trying to figure out what to do, another wolf appeared this one looked injured. The first wolf walked over to it, seeming to check it out, and then charged us again. I fired my gun, because I thought for sure it was going to attack one of us."
Lucas held out his hand, "Let me see the gun."
Paul handed it over to him.
"How many shots did you fire?"
"Just one, hit it in the side and then it took off with the other one."
Lucas checked the gun's cartridge, and then put the gun back together, before he gave it back to Paul.
"Ok, what does any of this have to do with the missing body?" Jerry asked.
"Well, once the wolves were gone, I went to check the body and it too was missing. Nothing left but blood smears."
"Was a sample of the blood taken?" Lucas questioned.
"Yeah."
"When you shot the wolf, did it bleed out?" Lucas asked and watched him nod, "We need to see if we can find some of the blood, and then take a sample. This way your story is confirmed, understand?"
"I'll go look now." Paul walked off.
Jerry finished writing down a few more things, and then looked at Lucas, "Now, what?"
"I want to take a look at where the body was laying." He told him, as he walked over to the sidewalk, and around one of the marked cars that was blocking the view of the body.
There was a puddle of blood that was laid almost in a S shape, Lucas looked around and noticed several dog prints leading out of the blood. Looking around he found a piece of cloth which he quickly bagged. His eyes shot around, looking for anything that would let him know what had happened. Soon they stopped on a white flower in the bushes, walking over he pulled the flower out to get a better look at it. This carnation was familiar to him, he remembered seeing the bug eaten petal before.
"What is that?" Jerry asked.
"A carnation, I've seen it before."
"That particular one or the species?"
Lucas grinned, "This one. One of the petals was eaten by a bug, and it left this L shape in it, see?" He held it up to his partner that was standing behind him.
"So?"
"When I was at the party earlier this evening, I was taking to this woman with a carnation with the same exact bug eaten flower." Lucas stood up, and looked at Jerry. "I think it might be the same flower, and if it is then she was here."
Jerry gave him a glare, "How could you possibly remember something like that?"
He shrugged, "It was next to her chest." He jested, and then looked back at the blood puddle while his partner chuckled. "Hey, look at this." Lucas stared beyond the puddle while he put the flower in a bag.
"What?"
"There are blood drops leading up to that building there." Following it over to the building, they found an excessive amount at the base of the building and then it went no where. "What the…"
Jerry sighed, "Guess we should go up there, huh?"
Lucas looked over at him, "Seems to be the next logical step."
"Alright, come on."
The roof was filled with dust, but in the corner there was a pile of bloody clothing. Jerry took a few pictures, and then pick it up to get a better look at it. It was a tuxedo, a very expensive one at that, but it had several tears throughout, and even some chunks of flesh. To Lucas' interest there was a white carnation pinned it to with the very same gold colored pins that Phillip had used.
"Carnation." Jerry said, when he noticed Lucas staring at it.
"This is much more then a coincidence, same flower and same pin. I am beginning to think this might have something to do with Phillip's…" Lucas's thoughts went back to Kailin, and the last words she had spoken to him. "Fear of death does not control me, only those who have a life to lose." He said out loud, and Jerry rose his eyebrow at him. "The woman I met she said those words to me, before she walked home. I could swear that carnation in the bushes was hers."
"You think she did this?"
"Either that or she is another victim that we don't know about. I need to see the pictures, maybe I can tell if I saw the person at the party." Lucas told him, and began down the stairs leaving Jerry to bag the bloody clothing.
"Wait!" Jerry called to him, causing him to stop at the doorway, "You know, Lucas, it might just be wolves like the uniforms said."
"Last I checked wolves didn't pull people up four story buildings, and strip them of their clothing."
"Perhaps not." Jerry looked back at the pile of clothing, and mumbled to himself. "I'll get someone to bag this."
Lucas made his way to the car, and tried to open the door. Jerry had locked it, so he leaned against the door and waited. He could still see Jerry's large figure on the roof, and wonder what he could possibly be doing up there.
"Lucas!" He heard a yelled, and looked up to see Jerry waving at him.
He walked over to the building and stared up into the darkness. The street was lit well enough from the street lights, but Jerry told him to grab a flashlight anyway. Paul handed him one, and Lucas turned it on.
"Check the wall, do you see any blood?"
"What?" Lucas asked.
"There is no blood coming up the stairs, nothing visible anyway." Jerry yelled, "These clothes are pretty soaked."
Lucas gave a nod that his partner couldn't see, and looked over the wall. "No, I don't see any."
"There is a big smear up here and on the ledge, and after that it falls into the pile. Other then that, there is no evidence how the body got up here or was taken out of here." Jerry hollered still atop of the building.
"Well…" Lucas realized he was yelling and sighed, "Maybe they wrapped it up in something."
"Like a tarp?"
Lucas nodded, and Jerry took his silence as an agreement.
"Perhaps, but why would they risk wrapping the body up and bringing it up here to drop the clothing?"
Lucas shrugged, "I don't know, we'll have to find out."
"I think we should wait until daylight to take a better look around."
"Come on down, Jerry, I'm tired of yelling at you." Lucas waved him down, and went to lean against the car.
Paul took his flashlight back before he even reached the car. Jerry came down with keys in his hands. The uniforms were questioning the shop owner, and he kept repeating the same story he had told Lucas and Jerry.
"Let's head over to head quarters, so I can take a look that those pictures."
Jerry nodded, and unlocked his side of the car.
Chapter 6: http://rkphunt.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=185
Sighing, she looked around trying to find somewhere she could get in close enough to see if it was indeed Kristian or another poor soul fallen to the Mephis. There was only four police cars and six officers, Kailin assumed this was a recent find. Noticing a bush near the body that one officer was guarding, she made her way down the street and crossed it. Through the alley, and towards the other street, she walked up past five buildings and entered again through the alley way. The bush was ahead of her, and getting down on all fours she crawled into the bush as one man began taking pictures of the body. Though the face was brutally destroyed, she could still sense Kristian's aura. Her eyes shot around the area, she had to think of a way to get him out of there. If he continued to heal in front of their eyes it would cause far to much publicity. Looking down at herself, she noticed that she was still in her dress from the party and the carnation was pinned to her strap. Reaching up she snatch the flower from her dress and threw it to the ground.
Heading back into the alley, she jumped from wall to wall up the tall building, until she reached the top. When up there she removed her clothing, and jumped back down. Concentrating, she began to change her form, gray and white hairs began to cover her body. The pain of the shift was only momentary and then she became a white wolf. Charging down the alley, she ran out to the officers and began growling, showing her fangs.
"Paul." One of the officer's said, "Look."
Paul stopped taking pictures, and came to stand next to the other. "Just a stray dog, call animal control."
The fur on the back of the wolf's neck stood up, and it snapped his jaws together and started walking towards them, as Paul turned his back.
"Paul!"
"What?" He turned and stopped with his eyes wide.
Kailin growled again, and then snapped her fangs. Picking up her speed, the cops began to run towards the others. When all six police officers were looking at her, she hoped Kristian would have enough strength to get up and run away.
"Easy there, boy." One officer said as he reached out his hand.
Kailin snapped at the officer's limb, and missed on purpose.
"What the fuck do we do?" Another man asked.
"It's six of us and one dog." The officer who tried to touch her said.
"That isn't a dog, Stan." He looked at his partner, "I'm pretty sure that's a wolf."
"A wolf in the middle of the city?"
With their attention on her, Kailin got the urge to play with the humans and sat down for a moment. Looking up at the sky, she let out a long deep howl.
"Why the hell is it doing that?" Paul asked looking at the man who had told them it was a wolf.
"Calling to its mate probably."
"Why?" Another asked.
"Because it's found food."
It wasn't until she looked down that she realized Stan had pulled his gun, and the others followed his lead.
"Don't run, running makes you look like prey. You have to stand you ground, and make loud noises." Stan told them, "Don't run!" He said as another officer took off.
"Fuck this I ain't getting bit." He said.
To their surprise the wolf didn't chase him, instead stood up and began growling and snarling.
"Think it came from the zoo, Randy?" Paul asked the man who had identified her species.
"Probably."
"I don't get it, why is it just standing here." Stan asked.
"Look!" Paul pointed towards the bushes.
Another wolf limped out of the alley way, and whimpered. Kailin looked back at Kristian, and walked over to him. He slipped away and then used some of his energy to change into a wolf to let her know he had gotten away. Looking back at the officers, Kailin snapped and barked, charging them a little just to scare them enough to not check the body before they were gone. It proved to be a little to much for old Paul, and he let out a gun shot which hit her in the side. Her wolf form let out a yelp, and the two wolves disappeared into the alley way together.
They both waited to change back to see if the police would chase them, but they didn't attempted to bother them. Shifted back both she and Kristian were nude. He had several broken bones and open wounds on his body, but they would all heal within a few hours.
"You alright?" She asked him, looking down at the bullet wound above her left hip.
"Yeah, you?"
"Fine, where are your clothes?" She asked as she began fishing the bullet out of her wound with her fingers.
"They are all messed up from the Mephis attack, I'm going to head home. Thanks for your help." He said turning around.
"Hey, make sure you get your clothes. You can't leave evidence like that laying around."
Kristian nodded, "Alright." Then bending down slightly he leapt up, and disappeared over the wall.
Kailin followed him up to her own clothing once she removed the bullet and clenched it within her fist. She had heard the commotion of the officers when she realized the body was now gone as she got dressed. She needed to hunt and clear out any Mephis, but the dress she was in would constrict her and so she headed home to change, now that Kristian was alright.
---***---
Gabrielle sat on the back of the couch, chewing on her nails when Kailin entered into the apartment. She sprung up and stared at her for a few moments, waiting to hear what had occurred, but Kailin remained silent. Walking over to her bedroom, she went inside and dropped the bullet into the fishbowl that contained other bullets from her years in large cities. Quickly she changed into jeans, a gray shirt, and black boots. Gabrielle kept her stare as she stepped out as she put her gun holster over her shoulder, and then reached down for her jacket that she had laid on the couch."I hate when you do this!" Gabrielle exclaimed as she stomped her left foot onto the ground.
Kailin looked over at her, as she placed her guns into their holsters, "What?"
"You know what I want to know!"
She nodded, "He's fine, but I have to go back out and take care of any stray Mephis. There are a lot of humans out right now because they found his body."
"But he got away right?"
Again she nodded, "I'll be back in a bit, I need to feed to."
"Didn't you feed at the party?"
"Yes." She told her as she opened the door and stepped out into the hall.
Gabrielle looked around the corner, "Be careful, Kai." She told her as Kailin got the elevator, Kailin only turned around and winked at her as the elevator doors dinged opened.
Almost immediately after stepping out of the apartment building did Kailin feel the presence of the Mephis, however as quickly as the sense came it vanished. At least now she had an idea of where they were, and she began down the street in search of the few that dared enter her territory. As soon as she was able, she leapt onto a building, keeping her sharp eyes out for any movement.
Nearly two hours past, and she came up empty handed. Not even the slightest tingle of another vampire to let her know even a bowery or a Pyrrhonian were nearby. There was always one or the other, and she continued to look, thinking perhaps that the Mephis had gotten a few of them. It was on the rooftop of a bakery that she heard the crash in the back alley, and as she looked over the side of the roof she witnessed a stray cat run away from a bag full of opened cans.
Kailin sighed, and then sat down on the roof. Perhaps she should feed and then begin her search anew, she hadn't lost that much blood from the bullet wound, but it might have been enough to slow her senses. It was then she felt it, an elder hallowed nearby and with him the sense of at least seven Mephis. Standing up she leapt from building to building, until she found them within the darkness of an alley way fighting.
The Mephis were minions, and their once human forms were almost completely destroyed. Their skin was a sickly gray, and their eyes circular and black. They hunched over and one could see their spin, as their long arms hung down to the ground with large hands attached. Their mouths full of razor sharp teeth, and ready to bite and feed from anything living, including their own kind. They were disgusting creatures, a disease no one would ever wish upon their worst enemy.
The elder hallowed was a different story, he was a large man at least six feet and five inches tall, he had dark olive skin and short black hair, and he, like most vampires, wore a black overcoat. The coat didn't hide the large muscles that flexed as he swung his giant sword. Kailin felt a small flicker of awe in her stomach as he fought back the Mephis with such fury. It wasn't until one Mephis pounced forward and knocked the sword from his hand, sending it back towards the street, did she realize that he was truly in danger.
Standing up, Kailin pulled her guns, and leapt off the side of the building. She let out four shots, and hit three target, but one target twice. It was a good tactic to blind the Mephis as they didn't heal nearly as fast as a hallowed, and would remain blind for several days. Both the Mephis and the Hallowed Elder stopped to look at her as she landed. Putting her guns away, she looked at them and did a back flip picking up the Elder's sword as her hands touched the ground.
The three injured targets scratched at their wounds, trying to dig the bullets out of her eyes, and in doing so ignored her presence, but the other four decided that she was more of a threat then the Elder. They charged, and Kailin grabbed the large sword with both her hands, despite that it was built as one handed for the large Elder. The sword swung into the belly of the first, while she kicked back the second, and then yanked the sword from the creature abdomen. With a steady swing, she took off the head of the Mephis she had kicked. Returning her glare to the Mephis with the slash abdomen, she removed his head as well. The other two that had been charging her stopped in mid step and watched their comrades fall.
"Mother." One hissed at her, and the others living looked up. Soon they all echoed in their raspy, mucus filled voices, "Mother." They cried again, and this time began slowly crawled up the walls, using the suction on the hands and feet. Even the ones with bullet wounds ignored the pain to escape her presence.
The Hallowed Elder waited and watched as they ran from her presence, and when they were gone, he took a deep breath. Kailin stared at him for a moment, he had a strong face. His eyes were a chocolate brown, his jaw and chin were sharp, all in all he was a handsome man. "Thank you for the assistance." He spoke in a deep, attractive voice.
"I wasn't assisting you." Kailin said, then walked over to him, pressing the hilt of his sword into his chest, her body close to his own. "I would recommend staying indoors at night if you cant handle a few Mephis." She told him, and then turned to leave.
She saw the anger burning in his cheeks, but he remained silent. "Wouldn't you like to know who I am, and why I am here fighting Mephis?" He asked.
"You are my shadow stalker, and I've got a pretty good idea why you are fighting them." She told him, with her back still turned.
"My name is Mathias Saverio, my unit and I were…"
"Unit, what are you a human solider?" Kailin laughed and turned to look at him.
He shook his head, "No, but it's the best way to describe us."
"Mathias!" A female vampire ran down the alley, followed by two other males. They were all Elder Hallowed, Kailin sighed, this wasn't what she had planned for her evening.
Her long dark brown hair flowing behind her, she didn't wear the black overcoat, instead she just seemed to dress like any human at the time. She smiled at Kailin as she walked up, and in the most cheeriest voice possible spoke, "Hi, I'm Lycorisa." Kailin rolled her eyes at the elder who was much shorter then her. She had soft features, that reminded Kailin of a child.
The two men came in one that was at least five inches taller then Mathias, his mace attached to his back, wearing the black overcoat, and black boats. He had long blonde hair that he kept in a low pony tail, and large muscles. He too had a sharp facial features, but even more so then Mathias. Looking between them, it was Mathias who had the baby face. The other man was Kailin's height with black hair, and an expressionless face. His features were soft, and though he was not muscular, he was thin much like Kristian.
"This is Jareth." Lycorisa said pointing to the thin man, "and this is…"
"I am Khaldun." The other large man said.
Kailin looked between them, "And I am not in the mood." Pushing between them, she headed towards the street.
"You've got some attitude, fresh." Khaldun snapped in a deep thunderous voice.
Stopping she looked back at him and glared.
"Wait, are you hunting Mephis?" Lycorisa asked, "There are eight more not to far from here, you want to help out?"
"We don't need a fresh to help out with Mephis." Khaldun told her, which only made Kailin want to join.
"Very well." Kailin said, and followed them all up the building, and down a few blocks.
Lycorisa was correct there were eight Mephis feeding on two corpses almost out of the alley. Most of the time Mephis fed in the alley so they wouldn't be disturbed by other prey. Everyone kneeled down on the roof, and the elder began discussing their plan of attack.
"What happen back there?" Mathias asked.
"Lycorisa got knocked out, and they all felt our presence." Khaldun told him.
Kailin had been staring at the Mephis and looked back at them, realizing then that she could no longer feel the auras of the vampires around her. She understood now, Lycorisa had the ability to hide the trace of vampires auras so that they could use the element of surprise in their attacks. It was probably also why Mathias had been able to watch her for so long without her sensing his aura.
"Alright, Khaldun and I will go down first, followed by you three." He pointed at Kailin and the other two.
"I don't think Lycorisa should go down, she just gets in the way, and…" Khaldun began.
"Hey! I have been in this group far longer then you have, and I want to fight and I have the right too." Lycorisa snapped.
"I'm just saying that you keep getting hurt and we need you to hide our auras so we don't get ambushed, so I think…"
"Oh fuck this." Kailin snapped, and stood up, pulling out her guns, she jumped down into the alley way.
"Wait you stupid fucking fresh!" Khaldun yelled and went to jump down, but Mathias stopped him.
"Just watch." He told the giant.
When Kailin landed the Mephis turned to face her, they all hissed in effort to scare her. Kailin showed her fangs, and gave her own hiss, and then fired three times from each gun.
One of the uninjured charged her, and she leapt up, pounced off the wall. While in the air, she twisted her body to kick the creature in the back of its head. Another hiss from behind her came, and right away she knew that she had made an error in her judgment. It was a sup, and turning around she watched it prepare to spit on her. When the flames left it's mouth, it landed on her arm. The Mephis' lips were scorched, and she looked as her left arm went into flames, but it didn't hurt. She watched her hand in flame, not letting out scream of pain, and twisting her arm from side to side as it burned. The flames seemed to extinguish themselves, as if they were sucked into her arm. Turning her head to the sup, she grinned.
"Your mistake." She told it, as the creatures began to bloat slowly.
The other Mephis watched in horror, as their sup started to swell. The sup looked at his hands and felt his face as they tightened and bloated even more, and then when it was too much, the creature exploded. The others began their hisses of Mother, and took off over the walls to escape their certain death. Looking up at the Elders above, they jumped down.
"Khaldun, this is Kailin." Mathias told him.
"Oh, greetings. I didn't…"
"I don't care and I don't want to care. I suggest that you all remain out of my life and…" She looked over at Mathias, "out of my sight."
Lycorisa frowned, "We are only trying…"
"As I said, I don't care." Kailin put her guns away, and headed out towards the alley.
"You think you are alive today because of luck or because you are just that strong against the Mephis? You think that you keep their leader away, Duchess Caitlyn?" Mathias snapped and said her name sarcastically.
Turning her head to look over her shoulder, she kept the scowl on her face, "I told you, I don't care."
"You haven't, we've…"
Kailin turned the corner, leaving them to themselves.
"Over two hundred years of taking care of her, and protecting her since she was an infant, and we get that kind of greeting." Lycorisa folded her arms, as Jareth came to stand behind her.
"She wants nothing to do with the vampire world, it's not as if that comes as a surprise to us." Mathias told her, and then turned back to the walls the Mephis had disappeared over. "Come on, lets go finish them off." He ordered and leapt onto the roof of the nearby building.
---***---
Lucas pulled up in the black car, his partner Jerry sitting in the driver's seat. There had been word of a body that had been found in the area was now missing. It took a little coaxing to get Jerry away from his bed, but Lucas finally convinced him that the case couldn't wait until morning. It wasn't Lucas that thought it couldn't, but instead the captain who had assigned it to them.Lucas thought it was so strange how he fit right in. It was like he had always been there, Jerry treated him more like they had been partners for years then a few months. When he had called him, the man near cussed him out, but somehow it didn't bother Lucas, and all he did was chuckle.
Looking over at the uniformed cops, Lucas reached for the door handle.
"Alright, let's take a look." Jerry's deep, menacing voice said.
Lucas had laughed when he first saw him that evening, his suit looked like he had pulled it out of the laundry basket. His hair wasn't brushed down with the usual amount of grease he used to keep his tight, black curls from becoming an afro. He even had toothpaste on the corner of his dark lips, that Lucas thought at first was powder sugar from a donut.
Getting out of the car, Jerry walked over to one of the uniformed officers with Lucas close behind.
"I'm Detective Jerry Penn and this is my partner Detective Lucas Stark. Name?" Jerry said, taking out his little notebook.
"Paul Marcin." The officer said nervously, surprising both the detectives that he didn't use his rank. The man was shorter then both Lucas and Jerry, his hair was a mess, probably from running his fingers through it. Such was a common habit when one messes up a case, and knows their job is on the line.
"What happen here tonight, Paul?" Lucas asked, he liked to be friendly with the uniformed officers, while Jerry acted like he was better then them.
"Well, I don't think you are going to believe me, but here it goes. We got a call about eleven pm about a body laying on the sidewalk. My partner, Randall Carver, and I arrived first, then officer Stan Wilkins and his partner, and then two singles…"
"Yeah, yeah…" Jerry rolled his hand trying to hurry him along, "Get to the part I care about, already."
"I started to take pictures of the body right away, and then Stan yelled at me and when I looked up there was a wolf coming out of the alley over there. It charged us, and we ran into a group…"
"Did you say a wolf?" Lucas asked. "In New York?"
He nodded, "I swear to you, it was a wolf."
"Alright, go on."
"It snapped and growled, but never really tried to hurt us. After a short while of us trying to figure out what to do, another wolf appeared this one looked injured. The first wolf walked over to it, seeming to check it out, and then charged us again. I fired my gun, because I thought for sure it was going to attack one of us."
Lucas held out his hand, "Let me see the gun."
Paul handed it over to him.
"How many shots did you fire?"
"Just one, hit it in the side and then it took off with the other one."
Lucas checked the gun's cartridge, and then put the gun back together, before he gave it back to Paul.
"Ok, what does any of this have to do with the missing body?" Jerry asked.
"Well, once the wolves were gone, I went to check the body and it too was missing. Nothing left but blood smears."
"Was a sample of the blood taken?" Lucas questioned.
"Yeah."
"When you shot the wolf, did it bleed out?" Lucas asked and watched him nod, "We need to see if we can find some of the blood, and then take a sample. This way your story is confirmed, understand?"
"I'll go look now." Paul walked off.
Jerry finished writing down a few more things, and then looked at Lucas, "Now, what?"
"I want to take a look at where the body was laying." He told him, as he walked over to the sidewalk, and around one of the marked cars that was blocking the view of the body.
There was a puddle of blood that was laid almost in a S shape, Lucas looked around and noticed several dog prints leading out of the blood. Looking around he found a piece of cloth which he quickly bagged. His eyes shot around, looking for anything that would let him know what had happened. Soon they stopped on a white flower in the bushes, walking over he pulled the flower out to get a better look at it. This carnation was familiar to him, he remembered seeing the bug eaten petal before.
"What is that?" Jerry asked.
"A carnation, I've seen it before."
"That particular one or the species?"
Lucas grinned, "This one. One of the petals was eaten by a bug, and it left this L shape in it, see?" He held it up to his partner that was standing behind him.
"So?"
"When I was at the party earlier this evening, I was taking to this woman with a carnation with the same exact bug eaten flower." Lucas stood up, and looked at Jerry. "I think it might be the same flower, and if it is then she was here."
Jerry gave him a glare, "How could you possibly remember something like that?"
He shrugged, "It was next to her chest." He jested, and then looked back at the blood puddle while his partner chuckled. "Hey, look at this." Lucas stared beyond the puddle while he put the flower in a bag.
"What?"
"There are blood drops leading up to that building there." Following it over to the building, they found an excessive amount at the base of the building and then it went no where. "What the…"
Jerry sighed, "Guess we should go up there, huh?"
Lucas looked over at him, "Seems to be the next logical step."
"Alright, come on."
---***---
They had had to wait a couple hours for the building owner to show up, and allow them in. Once inside they climbed up the stairs, the building seemed to be nothing more then an old shop that was for sale. The owner told them that he hadn't been inside in two months, and was just trying to sell it so that he could move away from the city.The roof was filled with dust, but in the corner there was a pile of bloody clothing. Jerry took a few pictures, and then pick it up to get a better look at it. It was a tuxedo, a very expensive one at that, but it had several tears throughout, and even some chunks of flesh. To Lucas' interest there was a white carnation pinned it to with the very same gold colored pins that Phillip had used.
"Carnation." Jerry said, when he noticed Lucas staring at it.
"This is much more then a coincidence, same flower and same pin. I am beginning to think this might have something to do with Phillip's…" Lucas's thoughts went back to Kailin, and the last words she had spoken to him. "Fear of death does not control me, only those who have a life to lose." He said out loud, and Jerry rose his eyebrow at him. "The woman I met she said those words to me, before she walked home. I could swear that carnation in the bushes was hers."
"You think she did this?"
"Either that or she is another victim that we don't know about. I need to see the pictures, maybe I can tell if I saw the person at the party." Lucas told him, and began down the stairs leaving Jerry to bag the bloody clothing.
"Wait!" Jerry called to him, causing him to stop at the doorway, "You know, Lucas, it might just be wolves like the uniforms said."
"Last I checked wolves didn't pull people up four story buildings, and strip them of their clothing."
"Perhaps not." Jerry looked back at the pile of clothing, and mumbled to himself. "I'll get someone to bag this."
Lucas made his way to the car, and tried to open the door. Jerry had locked it, so he leaned against the door and waited. He could still see Jerry's large figure on the roof, and wonder what he could possibly be doing up there.
"Lucas!" He heard a yelled, and looked up to see Jerry waving at him.
He walked over to the building and stared up into the darkness. The street was lit well enough from the street lights, but Jerry told him to grab a flashlight anyway. Paul handed him one, and Lucas turned it on.
"Check the wall, do you see any blood?"
"What?" Lucas asked.
"There is no blood coming up the stairs, nothing visible anyway." Jerry yelled, "These clothes are pretty soaked."
Lucas gave a nod that his partner couldn't see, and looked over the wall. "No, I don't see any."
"There is a big smear up here and on the ledge, and after that it falls into the pile. Other then that, there is no evidence how the body got up here or was taken out of here." Jerry hollered still atop of the building.
"Well…" Lucas realized he was yelling and sighed, "Maybe they wrapped it up in something."
"Like a tarp?"
Lucas nodded, and Jerry took his silence as an agreement.
"Perhaps, but why would they risk wrapping the body up and bringing it up here to drop the clothing?"
Lucas shrugged, "I don't know, we'll have to find out."
"I think we should wait until daylight to take a better look around."
"Come on down, Jerry, I'm tired of yelling at you." Lucas waved him down, and went to lean against the car.
Paul took his flashlight back before he even reached the car. Jerry came down with keys in his hands. The uniforms were questioning the shop owner, and he kept repeating the same story he had told Lucas and Jerry.
"Let's head over to head quarters, so I can take a look that those pictures."
Jerry nodded, and unlocked his side of the car.
Chapter 6: http://rkphunt.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=185