The Loners

They arrived at Blackwood National Forest within a few hours, choosing a remote place to park. The afternoon sun shined high in the sky as they came to a stop and stepped out of the car.

Alan, Katie, and Rachel stretched once they were out of the car.

"How are we going to find this camp anyways?" Alan asked, breaking the long standing silence that had settled in the car once Lord Constantine had left.

"They'll most likely find us first, since they know we were coming." Rachel answered.

"So, what? Do we wait by the car, or go on a long hike?" Katie asked, not looking forward to a long walk into the forest, even if there were paths.

"We hike. They won't approach us in the open like this. As Lord Constantine said, there's a reason that the undead and ghost community can't leave the country." Rachel answered.

Katie sighed. "Well, I guess it could be worse."

Rachel went to the trunk upon seeing that no one was in the vicinity, and took out two pistols for herself. "You two should carry something on you, in case there is trouble. We don't know when we'll get back to the car." Rachel told both Alan and Katie.

Alan had no problem taking a pistol and pocketing it, though Katie was a little more apprehensive about it. Rachel decided to leave the edged weapons behind, since they were more difficult to conceal as she closed the trunk.

"Alright, let's get going." Rachel said, and they began hiking into the large forest.

*****

Lord Constantine awaited the arrival of his Greaters at JFK International. Lord Constantine also noted that there were a handful of other Greaters in the area, who Lord Constantine assumed were watching the airports on Lord Caleb's or even Lord Christian's behalf. Not surprising, and not a factor, though it meant he had to play the facade.

"Hello Liz, Benjamin." Lord Constantine greeted, as the rest of the Greaters filed off. It would look suspicious if he was leading an entourage of individuals, after all.

Constantine Anthony Elizabeth, or 'Liz' for short, was a short, 5'5'' woman with emerald eyes and shoulder length brunette hair. She possessed creamy, smooth, and sun kissed skin that would make most men drool at the mere sight of her. However, this usually didn't happen since she possessed a very serious expression on her face constantly and almost never showed any sort of seductive side except on rare occasions or when she was fucking.

Although she was on the small side, including her breasts, the best part about her was her flexibility both in the bedroom and in battle, which Lord Constantine himself tested out several times in both ways. She could bend and twist in many, many ways without being broken. Liz was Lord Constantine's favorite woman out of the many he had, and it was accepted that Liz and Lord Constantine were more or less 'lovers'.

Liz wasn't necessarily hated for this because she never tried to use her favor to her advantage over others, which Lord Constantine had made clear that he would not accept. Liz was also a very cold and calculating woman, and spoke with what many would consider a rude tone. Another reason for the respect that she received was her ability to fight, which a handful had attempted to put to the test in the past only to be embarrassed by her amazing precision and flexibility.

Constantine Thomas Benjamin the Second was Lord Constantine's favorite man that he had, though Lord Constantine did not have sex with men. Benjamin, oddly enough, was almost the exact opposite of Liz. Standing at 6'1'' with very black skin, the kind one couldn't see at night, Benjamin was almost all muscle from head to toe. He also had long black hair that was tied with braids, though no one dared to question his choice of hair due to his immense figure.

Despite his size, Benjamin was a very fast fighter, and was probably the strongest fighter that Lord Constantine had. Given a few more years, or perhaps a decade or two, and he may actually start becoming strong enough to challenge a Vampire Lord in open combat, something that Lord Constantine had been planning and training Benjamin for.

Another surprising element of Benjamin was that he was a very soft spoken and polite man, and very rarely raised his voice even when he was angry. As some might say, he has the personality that wouldn't hurt a fly if he didn't have to.

Whenever Lord Constantine went out in public, he was always accompanied by these two, which formed a sort of 'family' in the eyes of ordinary humans. Although he accepted that it was the oddest family that most had ever seen, it was enough for him to get by.

"So, how did it go?" Benjamin asked. Both he and Liz were also Lord Constantine's confidents, and were well aware of what he was actually doing.

"Fine, I wasn't given too much trouble."

That meant that Lord Constantine had made contact, and the renegades were directed to Blackwood.

"How shall we proceed?" Liz asked.

"We'll start our search here in the east, in case they come here. We'll leave the obvious to everyone else. We must search carefully, and turn every suspicious stone we find. Who knows what'll turn up."

In other words, that meant to start digging up on weakness in Lord Caleb's holdings.

*****

"Such a horrible flight that was. I wish the Pacific ocean was so much smaller." Lady Pandora said as she stepped out into LAX.

Lady Pandora was a very attractive woman of Asian descent. Standing at 5'7'', she had pale white but smooth skin, brown eyes, and long black hair that was tied into two ponytails that started near the top and back of her head, which still managed to reach the middle of her back.

She also possessed a very alluring figure, which she showed off by wearing tight fitting outfits. The most glamorous part about her was her ass, which seductively swayed as she walked. Her generous chest made their presence known as well, which Lady Pandora used to her constant advantage in any conversation, especially with the large cleavage she left on display.

Lady Pandora was accompanied by one of her Greaters, Pandora Adam Jessica the Fourth. Jessica, like Lady Pandora, was a very seductive and very sexy woman, and her curves attracted many eyes. Unlike Lady Pandora, however, Jessica's best attribute was her long, smooth, and tanned legs. Jessica almost always showed off her legs as she was right now, wearing very short shorts that rode dangerous close to the beginnings of her tight ass.

"It's not all bad, my Lady. At least we had some fun during the flight." Jessica said with a wink and smile.

Lady Pandora sighed at the memory. Jessica is currently one of the best pussy manipulators that Lady Pandora had ever encountered, and was always ready and eager. Whether it be eating, teasing, fingering, or fucking, Jessica did it all, and had gotten Lady Pandora off a few times during the flight. However, the favor couldn't be returned, since Jessica was a screamer, and that would have been hard to explain on the plane.

"That reminds me, I'll have to rape and ravish you when we get to the hotel, after all of the business is settled first."

Jessica's smile broadened. "I look forward to it my Lady."

Lady Pandora's eyes then wandered, looking nowhere in particular. "So, have you noticed yet?" Lady Pandora asked, testing Jessica's observation abilities.

"Yes. Two...actually, three."

"Good girl. It's to be expected, the arrival of a Lord in another's territory is a rather large affair. I would be doing the same thing. Of course, if they try and follow us beyond the airport, well, that just means we'll have toys to play with, but I doubt they will."

*****

Both Lord Caleb and Lord Christian had been watching the airports very carefully. For now, and to their general relief, only two of the other Lords had chosen to come to America personally. The other Lords had only sent their agents, which were a concern, but little else. It was the Lords that they were really worried about, especially Lord Caleb, since he had bad blood with the three female Lords at the very least.

However, Lord Caleb wasn't that concerned. Once the renegades showed themselves, and they will, the other Lords will no longer have a reason to be in his territory, and then he can proceeded with his own plans.

*****

The cops who arrived at the Jacobs' residence had no idea what was awaiting them. They were here on a call from a concerned friend, who had not seen or heard from them at all for several hours.

Both Bob and Trish Jacobs were sociable individuals, and it wasn't like them to shut themselves out from the world. It was even more unusual that they weren't answering the phone in the middle of the day, even though their cars were home.

Rather than try and break in, the friend decided that it would be a better idea to call the cops. The two officers that were sent to the house were already acquainted with the Jacobs', having stopped by for questioning before when they had reported that Alan Brooks was missing.

They knocked on the door first, and attempted to peek into the windows, only to find that all of the shades had been closed. After several moments of no answer, they rang the doorbell next. Still no answer.

"Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs?" One of the officers called out as he knocked loudly on the door.

Still nothing, and the officers saw that a car was pulling up, and a middle aged woman stepped out.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but are you a friend of the Jacobs'?"

The woman nodded. "Yes, I'm the one who called you guys, anything?" She asked.

The officer shook his head. "No, nothing yet."

The woman cautiously approached the door, and knocked. "Trish? Bob? It's Amy, are you guys there?"

"Is there any reason you think that something's wrong?" The officer asked.

"Well, they were supposed to come to a barbeque I was having today, and they didn't show, and they won't answer any of their phones. It's not like them to just no show like that, and it's also not like them to shut out the world like this, so I was worried. I came by earlier, and saw their cars here, but, they didn't answer the door." Amy explained.

"I see." The officer acknowledged. "You wouldn't happen to have a key to the house would you?" He asked next, hoping that he wouldn't have to break down the door or something.

Amy shook her head. "No, sorry."

The officer sighed. "Great. Is there anyway to get into the house that you know of?"

Amy shook her head again, and knocked on the door once more. "Bob? Trish? What's going on here?" She asked, her concern growing.

The two officers looked at one another, then to Amy. "I'm afraid we may have to break down the door, will you accept responsibility on our behalf?"

Amy nodded. "Yes, I'll pay for the door or whatever you want me to do, that's fine, I just want to make sure that they're alright."

It wasn't much, but, it would do for now.

"Okay, step back." The officer instructed, and he proceeded to kick the door open. The sight that greeted the three was beyond anything they had imagined as they stepped in.

Blood was splattered in nearly every part of the living room, and the stench was overwhelming. The four bodies had been cut open, and the organs had been removed, randomly placed or tied in various locations, like something out of a horror movie, with blood still dripping from the entrails. Amy immediately recognized both Bob and Trish's faces, which were left untouched, though their eyes were wide and their lips hung open in shock and lifeless. It was a scene that would invade their dreams for years to come.

Amy gasped, then let out the largest scream she could muster as the two officers stared at the scene, overwhelmed by the carnage.

*****

"Umm, not to sound like a pain in the ass even though I will, but are we sure that this 'camp' is even out here?" Katie asked, slapping yet another bug that was trying to attach itself to her leg.

"This forest is rather large, and it's not like the ghosts or undead are going to leave signs that say 'Here We Are'. So we can't exactly stop looking yet." Rachel responded.

Alan slapped his arm, and was irritated that he missed the bug flying around him. "Katie does have a point. We're only going on this hike based on someone else's advice, we have no idea if what that Lord told us is true or not. And how come you don't seem to be getting attacked by bugs?"

"Not really sure. To be honest, I'm not that familiar of the supernatural influences on the natural environment. My guess would be that the bugs don't sense me as a living human, and therefore, aren't drawn to me." Rachel replied. "More importantly however..." She stopped suddenly, turning.

This caused both Alan and Katie to turn. "What is it?" Alan asked, as both he and Katie turned to face in the direction that Rachel was.

A blue, ethereal human figure emerged, phasing right through the ground. The figure was a man, who appeared to be a little past his prime, if he was alive. He was wearing jeans with a collard shirt, and almost looked normal aside from the fact that he was see through, and blue.

"Ah, so you are the renegades that I've heard about. Funny, I expected you to be more dangerous looking, instead you look like a bunch of harmless pussies." The ghost spoke.

'Nice to meet you too, dick.' Alan thought to himself.

'Wow, he must have had a way with people when he was alive.' Katie thought.

Rachel spat at the comment. "Glad to disappoint."

The ghost laughed. "Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter, business is business. Follow me." The ghost said, turning, and began floating off.

Alan walked up to Rachel. "Are all ghosts assholes like that?"

"I don't know, but if they are, we are going to have some issues."

Both Katie and Alan nodded in agreement as they followed the ghost, who silently led them to their destination.

Their destination turned out to be a very worn out wood tower right smack in the middle of nowhere.

"Well, here we are. There's a hatch that's leads underground in the bottom of the tower, and the end of my company. Benny will be there to greet you, see you kids around." The ghost said as he floated through the ground.

Rachel huffed. "Kid!? If only we were here under different circumstances, I'd kick that ghost's ass all the way around the world."

Katie turned to Rachel, confused. "How can you fight a ghost? You aren't able to touch him, right?"

"Oh, there are ways. Why do you think the ghosts have gone into hiding as well?" Was all Rachel said.

"I just hope this 'Benny' guy isn't as big of an asshole as that ghost." Alan remarked as they walked into the tower.

As the ghost explained, there was a hatch at the bottom of the tower. They opened the hatch, and found a ladder that led into a very dark hole.

"I can't see anything, how far down do you think this goes?" Katie asked, concerned. She wasn't the most comfortable around heights.

"I'll go first. I'll call you two when it's safe." Rachel said as she made her way to the ladder and began climbing down.

"Be careful." Katie said to her. Rachel smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." She said as she disappeared into the hole.

After several anxious moments, they heard Rachel's voice echo from the hole.

"It's safe, you can come down. It might seem like a long climb, but don't worry, the ladder is sturdy and stable. However, I'll be down here in case I need to catch someone."

Katie and Alan looked at each other, and Alan could see that Katie was uncomfortable with the idea of climbing down a long ladder.

"You go first, I'll be behind you." Alan suggested, and Katie nervously nodded.

Katie slowly proceeded to the ladder, and cautiously took the first step or two down. When he saw that he had enough room to follow, Alan began climbing down after her.

Alan caught up to Katie almost immediately, and was forced to slow his climb as she cautiously took step after step, not daring to look down. Alan also began to see a small light at the bottom of the hole, which grew larger and larger until they finally reached the bottom.

Katie let out a breath of relief when she finally touched solid ground, but when she turned, she let out a loud gasp and jumped as Alan touched the solid ground.

Curious on what made her jump, he turned as well, and he blinked several times at the sight.

There was a large, middle aged black man holding a torch. He was wearing a casual dress, jeans and a tee shirt, and was completely bald. The surprising part was the fact that he had several holes, which appeared to be bullet holes, in his chest.

"Humans...so easily spooked." The man said with a smirk.

"Well, they've never seen this kind of thing before. I had a similar reaction when I saw my first undead." Rachel commented, who was standing next to the man.

"Wha-what happened to you?" Katie asked, trying to get over her shock.

The man spat. "I was a robbery gone bad. Didn't help that the robber was high on coke and trigger happy when he robbed me."

"Did they ever catch him?" Katie asked.

"Yeah, they got him. It pisses me off though. One, he wasn't caught for what he did to me, and two, that fucking bitch is still alive! Ten fucking years I've been waiting for that bitch to die so that, maybe just maybe, I'll move on."

The man then sighed. "Whatever, enough about that. With my luck, I'll be around another twenty years before that fucker dies since everyone's so damn adamant against the death penalty. My name's Benjamin, or Benny if you want. Lord Constantine already filled me in. So that means that you must be Katie, and you are Alan. Pleasure's mine."

Benny extended his hand, which both Katie and Alan took. They found that his touch was very cold, which wasn't that surprising. The man was dead after all.

Benny turned, smiled, and began leading the way through a long and dark tunnel. "So, you three have been stirring up trouble for both Lord Caleb and Lord Christian have you? Good, those two are assholes anyways."

"So, you guys really don't like Caleb or Christian, do you?" Katie asked.

"Lord Caleb is just a straight fucking neo Nazi prick, so I have double the reason for hating his guts. As for Lord Christian, he's not as bad, but he's convinced that he's so damn superior and us undead and ghosts should be his servants by default. It's retarded, you would think that arrogance or ignorance of this kind would go away within this kind of community. Nope. If anything, it gets bigger as the egos do." Benny answered, the bitterness in his voice obvious.

As they made their way through the tunnel, they began hearing echoes, which became louder the further they walked, and light could be seen in the distance. The tunnel itself ended, and opened up to a large underground cavern. To the surprise of the outsiders, the cavern held within it what appeared to be a rather nice town, complete with two story houses scattered all over the open space. The cavern was also lit with both torches and actual electrical lights.

"Wow..." Katie marveled at the sight. A real underground town. This was something she never imagined seeing.

"Yeah, no kidding." Alan remarked. "But, how do you guys have electricity?"

"Lord Constantine. He found a way to give us both power and even cable TV down here. It helps when a Vampire Lord can dedicate his resources to you. In short, this setup down here is his payment for our services. Cell phones, however, are unusable down here, so we have actual phone lines." Benny explained.

Several floating blue forms could also be seen randomly floating around the town, along with walking figures. Some of the walking individuals either had obviously broken limbs or were even missing limbs all together.

"Not only that, we've been working on building this place for quite a few decades to turn it into what it is today." Benny added.

"And you guys managed to build all of this without being noticed?"