Silent as a wraith, I pulled two stakes from my bandoleer and hurled them, impaling two of them through their hearts. They fell and began turning to ash as their buddies jumped back away from the body. I could see their pale faces, blood leaking from their mouths as they hissed at me. Now, I drew my kabar from their sheaths since there was no way I would be able to use my swords in this more confined area. Besides, I wanted this dance to be up close and personal, plenty more fun that way. Thankfully, these newborns obliged and blitzed me, clawed fingers out and ready to rip me to shreds.
My beast powers pumped through my veins as I twisted around them, dodging their attacks as I drew bloody lines across each of them. They weren't fatal blows by any means, but they had to hurt as both vampires made low gasps of pain. They moved back in, but they made the mistake of being cautious. That allowed me to be aggressive, and I drove a blade through the heart of one. It wouldn't be getting up any time soon as the Aetherium steel did its job and partially suppressed their healing. The other hissed, and tried to slash at my throat, but I slashed at the tendons in that arm after leaning back just enough for the swipe to breeze by. My attack disabled that arm for the moment, and I flowed into my next attack. Ducking under another strike from its other arm, I slashed at those tendons as well. Now it had next to no use of its arms, but before it could turn tail and flee, I tossed one knife into its foot, grabbed another wooden stake, and rammed it through the thing's heart. It started falling apart, but I yanked the chunk of wood from the body and turned back to the other newborn. I could see the one I stabbed with my dagger was starting to twitch, and I knew it wasn't dead yet, so I took that same stake and ended the thing before it could recover.
The entire brawl maybe only took a minute or two in total, as we were all moving at superhuman speeds, but without these ones, I now felt the faint sensation that the noble put off. I could actually track down my true prey. With a fluid motion, I grabbed both my knives and sheathed them as I moved towards the feeling. I made my way to the back entrance of a club, and the bouncer back there took one look at me, and let me in. Not before radioing his boss that I was coming in, though. I used the obscuring property of my wrist tattoo to hide my blades, and followed my senses. They were leading me towards private rooms set aside for big time customers. They were mostly made up of privacy glass, but there were small spots on them that security could use to make sure nothing illegal was happening in them.
As I made my way to the proper booth, I glanced in, and my blood became ice. I saw that pale fuck, holding his claws to the throat of a woman with red hair. Her head was tilted down as he said something to her that obviously terrified the woman. This man wasn't my target, but judging on how he was dressed, he was the retainer to my target. As he finished speaking, the woman jerked her head up, stunning emerald eyes wide with fear. Now, my blood was set ablaze as I felt rage burn in my heart. This monster had Kaylee, and my rational brain shut down. It was now time for exceptional amounts of violence.
I pulled my mask up to fully conceal myself before taking a few steps back from the glass. Once I was sure I had enough room, I channeled as much power through my legs as I could, and charged the booth.
The next few moments felt like slow motion, as I felt a burning sensation in my left thigh, I glanced down, and a crossbow bolt was embedded in it. The bolt was small, too small to be from a full sized crossbow. A hand crossbow then, easily concealed and 'civilized', unlike my much more efficient.454. I was already moving too fast to stop, even as pain shot through my leg. My teeth clenched as I drew my pistol, and slammed through the glass in a dolphin dive. As Kaylee and the vampire looked at me in complete surprise, I sent a round through the bastard's skull, blowing his brains across the glass that was still behind him. He started dissolving into ash as the holy metal did its job, putting an end to him. I landed on the table in a roll, a shout drawn from my lips as I broke part of the bolt off on the ground. I was in a mind numbing amount of pain, but before I could pull the bolt out, a shadowy figure dropped down on me with a saber in one hand.
This
was my target, I knew this one, the Hunters kept tabs on flight risks from major factions around the world. This waste of biomass was Maurice von Glickerstein, descendant of Manfred von Glickerstein, Councilman of the Night. This pompous fucker tried to bring the blade down to behead me, but I rolled to the side, the blade only scoring my collarbone instead of cleaving it, like I'm sure he hoped.
In response, I drew Duna with one hand to fend off the blade, my other hand yanked out the remainder of the bolt in my leg. I could still fight, but I needed to end this soon, because once my initial adrenaline and shock wore off, I wouldn't even be able to stand. I tossed the broken bolt at Maurice, which he slashed in half, giving me enough time to draw Vrail.
I knew what I was going to have to do, and I hated the prospect. I had to fight defensively, because even though I could stand, I didn't trust my leg enough to dance around the man like I normally could. I saw him come at me with a two handed overhead blow. I blocked it with one blade, letting it slide down to Duna's cross guard as I lashed out with Vrail, scoring a deep hit into the bastard's side. He leapt back, one hand coming to hold the deep gash now there. He glared at me, but charged again, hacking at me with reckless abandon. I now could figure out why he went rogue, this guy had none of the talent or discipline that was needed to be anything more than a tool, used by his betters, and then disposed of.
I deflected his blows, sparks shooting from the clashes as I started adding wounds to him. A cut here, a shallow stab there, but for every hit I scored, he would give me one back. It became a war of attrition, and I would lose it if I didn't do something unexpected. So, with my adrenaline fading, I dared to hope, and used my injured leg as a spinning point to dodge an attack. I was now behind the stumbling vampire, and I drove both my blades through his chest, impaling his heart and both lungs.
The pain I got from the move was excruciating, and I collapsed onto the ground after a few steps towards a wall, my blades still buried in the man. My breath came in ragged gasps as I laid there, trying to get air through my cloth mask, and suppress the burning in my leg. I felt blood in my mouth, as I was sure that damn bolt had some sort of poison on it. The club was now quiet, mostly empty. I guess they had fled when I blew that one vampire's brain out, but there were two people I could see coming over to see me, and I knew I was fucked. My sister and one of the twins approached me as I struggled to sit up. Before I could, I felt a hand gently help me sit up against that low wall I was trying to reach.
"Let me help you."
It was Kaylee, and I was sure she could hear my struggles to breathe properly, as she started pulling down my mask. I saw her hands trembling, she was still terrified, but trying to push it away by focusing on me. I was just happy she was unharmed.
"Don't!"
My sister barked at her friend, but Kaylee didn't listen. She pulled the mask down, but thankfully, left my cowl up. She tried to move under my shoulder, to move me, but she couldn't quite do it.
"Kaitlyn, help me get him into a booth."
Her sister moved to help her, but Chloe grabbed her shoulder, keeping her away.
"Name and rank, now."
My sister demanded of me, but I smirked as blood dribbled from my lips. I shook my head, and I saw her glare as she started moving towards me. I swallowed, clearing my mouth of my vitea. She didn't get three steps before the main doors to the club burst open, and in walked a familiar figure.
A tall man walked in sporting a stylish, wide brimmed hat that matched his black trench coat. He wore a pair of round glasses on his face, their lenses a deep blood red, concealing the equally blood red eyes I knew laid behind them. His mouth was twisted in a savage, fanged grin, and his footsteps clicked as he approached us. This was Alucard, my unofficial uncle, and he seemed extremely pleased. He spoke to me now, his low tone filled with amusement. The twins shied away from him, Kaylee using my body as a shield, but Chloe merely turned her glare to him, instead of me. Alucard simply laughed her off.
"You did well taking out that little shit, a bit messy, and chaotic, but that's half the fun. He was at least a Gold rank threat, even if he was worthless compared to his sire, and a measly Silver brought him low."
His voice had a low, smooth tone, almost noble, but his wording broke that illusion before it could even take hold. He chuckled deeply as he continued to approach the group. I spoke up now, trying to make myself sound different enough to remain incognito.
"You sent me after a fucking Glickerstein, and didn't think to warn me?"
