The Loners Ch 24

"Katie sure is taking her time, isn't she?" Rachel commented.

"It probably feels like that because we're waiting for her." Alan responded.

"Yeah...I guess so."

"Not only that, I'm sure she's just getting her thoughts straight before she comes back."

Alan was currently aimlessly swinging his sword slowly, while both Rachel and Liz watched.

"You weren't kidding when you said you've gotten attached. Do you honestly planning on swinging around that sword for the rest of your life?" Rachel asked with a smirk.

"Well, I honestly am enjoying myself. I personally always had a thing for swords."

"Alan, how many times have I told you? Stop trying to be so damn fancy with your swings. You aren't using that to dance with your opponents. You're using it to kill them, don't forget that." Liz commented.

"I'm not practicing, I'm just having fun at the moment. That reminds me, when do you expect Lord Constantine to call for us?" Alan asked.

Liz shook her head. "Not sure, I'm assuming very soon. But not anything definitive."

The main door opened, and all three turned to it. However, instead of Katie emerging from the door, a very different figure emerged instead.

Rachel gasped and shot to her feet, while Liz's eyes widened and was on her feet as well.

"Well, well, well. Look at what I found here, the little rats who have been scampering around for far too long." Lord Caleb said with an evil smile.

Alan saw that both Rachel and Liz were on their feet. "Who is this?" Alan asked.

"You as well? The little human asked me the same thing just a little while ago. Very insulting indeed."

Alan's eyes widened, as did Liz's and Rachel's. "Katie!? What have you done to her!?" Alan shouted.

The smile on Lord Caleb's face widened. "Not to worry, she didn't suffer if that's what you're concerned about. In fact, how about I give her back to you? Well, almost all of her anyway."

Lord Caleb then reached for something outside that was unseen, picked up what appeared to be a body, and tossed it at them.

Rachel gasped at the sight, as both Liz and Alan stared at the body, which was difficult to identify because it was missing the head. Those clothes, however, were undoubtedly the ones that Katie was wearing when she left.

"Sorry I couldn't give her all back, but you see, I plan on mounting this..." Lord Caleb said as he raised Katie's severed head, which held a look of terror in the head's lifeless eyes and face. "...on a nice place on my wall somewhere as a reminder of those who dare cross Lord Caleb."

'Lord Caleb!?' Alan's mind raced. 'This is Lord Caleb!?'

"Caleb! You fucking son of a bitch!!" Rachel screamed, fighting the overwhelming urge to cry and break down.

"That's 'Lord Caleb' to you, little girl."

Liz remained silent, suppressing all of her emotions. This might be their chance to take him down, if he was alone.

"So it's decided." Alan suddenly spoke, his voice low and grim.

Alan then growled, showing his teeth. "First my family, and now Katie...you..."

"...I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!" Alan exploded, breaking into a full run at Caleb.

"No Alan, stop!" Liz called out, not wanting him to attack Caleb recklessly. She then followed after Alan, as did Rachel.

Lord Caleb's eyes narrowed, and he tossed the head aside for the moment, drawing his own sword as Alan closed the distance, who roared as he swung his sword down on Caleb with all of his might.

Though the strike was powerful, it was not enough to force Caleb to give ground. Alan growled as he swung at Caleb again, now determined to kill Caleb at any cost. However, in his anger, Alan let his guard down, allowing Caleb to pierce his stomach. Alan coughed up blood in response, some of which ended up on Caleb.

Caleb, however, didn't get time to perform a finishing blow, for he saw both Rachel and Liz, now armed and running at him. Kicking Alan off of his sword, Caleb then charged at Liz first before both she and Rachel could close in together.

Liz stopped, and ducked to avoid the swing aimed for her neck, narrowly dodging it, though Caleb did managed to nick several strands of Liz's short hair. Caleb then kicked Liz aside, and turned to meet Rachel.

Caleb smiled as Rachel swung at him, and met Rachel's sword with his own. The force of Caleb's swing, however, was much greater than that of Rachel's, and it was enough to throw her off balance and take a step back.

Caleb grabbed Rachel's face in the unguarded moment, and tossed her effortlessly at a wall. Rachel hit the wall with a loud thud with her back, the impact enough to create a small crack in the wall as Rachel gasped in pain and fell to the ground.

Alan, ignoring the pain that was swelling through him, was on his feet, and ran at Lord Caleb once again.

Caleb almost didn't see it coming, for he was busy admiring his handiwork on Rachel, and only managed to catch the movement out of the corner of his eye.

Alan nicked Caleb's neck, though it wasn't deep enough to cause major damage, it was enough to draw blood.

Caleb growled his frustration at how this insect managed to defile him, and attempted to swing at Alan's face with his free hand. Alan avoided the fist, though it was close enough that he could feel the air brush past his face, and Alan jumped back upon seeing Caleb swing his sword at him next.

Alan didn't stay away for long, and rushed at Caleb once more. Caleb decided that it was time for a change of pace, and brought out a pistol that he had been hiding on his person, raised it, and fired it at Alan before he could even try to avoid it.

Alan, out of both surprise and pain, fell to the ground, gripping his brand new bullet wound as Caleb stared on, who held a face of satisfaction.

Caleb's smile vanished when Alan, despite being shot, stood, and released the open wound that was several inches above and to the right of his heart.

The pain was great, but it wasn't enough to stop Alan. Not with Caleb standing right before him. Not when Katie's severed head was still a clear picture in his mind. Nothing was going to stop him. Even if God came down from Heaven or Hell froze over, Alan would destroy either force to kill the Lord standing before him.

Gripping his sword tightly, Alan embraced the pain, growled, and ran at Caleb once more, paying attention to the pistol.

Caleb raised the pistol once more, firing another shot at Alan. This time, he missed, and Caleb's eyes widened, not expecting him to still be so fast after being both impaled and shot.

Caleb holstered the pistol, and met Alan's sword with his own, finding that Alan's swings still had power in them.

Liz raised her head, releasing the area on her chest where Caleb had kicked her to find Alan and Caleb now trading blows. It was also dawning on Liz that despite their three to one advantage, they still were not going to win this fight. Alan was most likely in a berserk state, and that was the only thing driving him to fight on.

Unlike Lord Hector, Lord Caleb was here to kill, and not to drag out the fight for his enjoyment. If this continued, not one of them would survive. Luckily, Lord Constantine had an emergency back up plan in case this place was ever compromised, which just may work against Lord Caleb. At the very least, it should be able to separate him from Rachel and Alan. The bad part was how to make such a plan work.

Her mind raced as she broke away from the current fight to find what she needed, and since both Alan and Caleb were too focused on one another for the moment, she was able to slip away unnoticed.

Rachel shook her head, focusing her vision, which had blurred after her impact against the wall. The strength difference between Lord Hector, who was holding back, and Lord Caleb, who intended to kill, was now more than obvious. Rachel found herself surprised at how much Lord Hector had held back, even when it seemed like he was serious.

Yet, to her utter surprise, Alan was still standing, and still fighting Lord Caleb. It was also clear to see the pure hatred written on Alan's face. This time, however, Rachel could not blame him or hold it against him. Rachel stood on shaky legs, berating herself to get up and continue fighting. This was their best chance, here and now while Caleb was alone, and outside of his own territory. This was the time when he was most vulnerable. And he needed to answer for what he did to Katie.

Caleb was now getting frustrated, because this tiny pest standing before him would not stay down. He was also refusing to see Alan as anything but a weak newborn, even if he could stand his ground against a Vampire Lord. To do so would be to insult Caleb's own position as a Vampire Lord, something he was not prepared to do on behalf of this boy that was fighting him.

Caleb growled his frustration, but then blinked as he heard something behind him. But it was too late, and Rachel stabbed Caleb from behind. Though Caleb coughed up blood and was in pain, Rachel's shaky aim and vision caused her to miss a vital point. Caleb was about to turn and deal with her in his frustration when he saw Alan going for a killing blow, aiming to sever Caleb's head.

This also left Alan wide open, for he was throwing everything into his swing, and Caleb once again drew his pistol, which Alan had forgotten about in his chance for victory, and was shot once again. Caleb then turned around and shot Rachel, who wasn't able to move out of the way due to her injuries.

With the two of them now on the ground and writhing in pain, Caleb took the time to remove the sword that was thrusted through his body. It annoyed him even further because he was unable to reach for the handle that was behind him, so he had to push the sword out of him by pushing on the blade.

Alan began to rise once more, despite the pain. Caleb, in his haste to simply force both Alan and Rachel away from him, had shot blindly at the two of them, not aiming for any specific area. The second bullet that punctured Alan had hit his right stomach, which was now bleeding profusely.

With Caleb focused on Alan, and knowing that Caleb had probably completely forgotten about her, Liz pounced on Caleb. Landing on him and grabbing him from behind, Caleb dropped the sword and gun that was in his hands to bring them up to Liz's arms, which were wrapped around his neck.

"Alan! Take Rachel and jump! Hurry!" Liz shouted as Caleb changed tactics, and elbowed Liz in the ribs, though she held on with all of the strength she could muster.

Alan instead raised his sword, though it was now shaking slightly. "No! This ends now!"

"You can't-" Liz was cut off as she was elbowed again, and this time, was forced to release her grip. She began to fell, but before she could do so completely, Caleb kicked her with the heel of his foot behind him.

Alan ran at Caleb at swung at him once more, but now Alan's movements had slowed down, and Caleb found that he could now dodge Alan's swings. When Alan missed the first swing, Caleb punched Alan in the face, which brought Alan to his knees.

After a moment's consideration, Caleb decided to take his frustration out on Liz first, in case she decided to do anything else funny. Picking up both his sword and gun, Caleb turned and began walking toward Liz.

What he didn't realize was that this is exactly what she wanted.

"Alan...take Rachel...and go." Liz heaved out in pain.

"Please. Like you'll make any kind of decoy? Go ahead and try anyway, like I won't be able to-"

"Not if I blow this place sky high." Liz cut Lord Caleb off, opening her right hand, which was holding a detonator.

Both Lord Caleb's and Alan's eyes widened upon seeing it.

Liz smiled. "Go ahead, stick around and try and track them." Liz threatened as she watched Alan rush over to Rachel.

"If you do, that means you die with me instead." Liz finished as she pushed the button.

It was Lord Constantine's fail safe plan to protect his holdings and secrets in case the mansion was ever compromised. The explosives placed all around the mansion were the last measure to ensure any and all evidence of anything that may be compromising would be destroyed.

The explosives were well hidden, and these were maintained and replaced as necessary by both Liz and Benjamin, the only two Lord Constantine trusted with such an important task.

"BITCH!!!" Lord Caleb shouted as the first explosion rocked the mansion, followed rapidly by several more as Alan and Rachel vanished.

With no time to try and track them, Lord Caleb was forced to retreat, and Liz smiled triumphantly as she awaited her death mere moments away.

The thought occurred to her that she would never have done something like this for anyone except for Lord Constantine. But, only after a few days of knowing and experiencing something so beautiful, even if it was in the blink of an eye, it was something that she decided that she could sacrifice her life for.

Liz closed her eyes as the explosions engulfed her, grateful to Alan, Rachel, and Katie for giving her a chance to finally fill the void that she had only just realized had been there all along.

*****

"FUUUUCKK!!!" Lord Caleb was furious. They were right there. Right fucking there! And they slipped from his grasp, all because of that bitch Elizabeth.

Lord Caleb had to admit that he hadn't foreseen that at all. He didn't think that she would just throw her life away for the sake of some simpletons.

Lord Issac was there, awaiting Lord Caleb's return, who was only told that Lord Caleb might have good news. From the looks of it, however, Lord Issac assumed that Lord Caleb only had bad news to present.

"What has happened? And who managed to wound you?" Lord Issac asked calmly.

"The renegades." Lord Caleb growled.

"Impossible. They shouldn't be able to injure a Vampire Lord by themselves. Unless they had assistance?"

"No. I managed to kill one of them, the human girl with blonde hair. However, the boy and that bitch managed to fight me on equal grounds. But, there was one who did assist them in their fight against me. And that was Elizabeth. Constantine Anthony Elizabeth, to be precise."

"Lord Constantine's favorite? Then, it was Lord Constantine who was helping the renegades?"

"The physical proof just went up in flames, which were the bodies I planned on presenting to the Lords. But I still have photos of Elizabeth with the renegades. Not only that, but Elizabeth is now dead. I imagine Lord Constantine will have a hard time explaining that to the other Lords."

"I see." This will shift the balance of the current stalemate that still hasn't erupted into a full blown war yet.

"Call a conference. They'll answer you before they'll answer me."

Lord Issac's eyes narrowed. "Do not presume to give me orders, Lord Caleb."

"Fine, I grant you that. But you know as well as I do that it would be better if you made the call."

*****

It was black out where Alan and Rachel appeared. As soon as the jump ended, Alan fell the ground, exhausted. That jump had taken most of his remaining strength.

"Alan, are you all right?" Rachel asked, planting an arm on his shoulders.

"Y-yeah..." He breathed out.

Rachel raised her head to observe their surroundings. "...where are we?" Rachel asked. Luckily, they didn't jump into some place public, and no one seemed to be around. It was also currently raining, which would help drown out their voices and sounds from anyone who may accidentally come across them.

"I..I kind of picked a place in a hurry." Alan raised himself as he took the time to look around as well.

"If I did it right, we should be at the park where we first met." Alan tried to stand, but Rachel stopped him.

"Stay here. I'll take a look around. I'm probably in better shape then you are now." Rachel said as she stood.

'This is impossible.' Rachel thought to herself. 'After all of those injuries and fighting Lord Caleb, he shouldn't be able to jump that far.'

Sure enough though, as she walked away towards lights in the distance, this place did indeed seemed to be the park where they first met, which was virtually empty, aside from hard core stragglers who, for some reason, wanted to play or walk in the rain.

When she returned, she stared at Alan for several moments. 'How? He shouldn't have been able to get this far. Even I couldn't have jumped this far, and that's even if I'm in top shape. How did he manage to do it?'

However, Rachel was going to have to put those questions aside, for she felt hunger creeping in, and could only imagine how hungry Alan was. Alan was also still on the ground and breathing heavy. The blood that was flowing out of his body was also mixing with the rain on the ground, creating an unpleasant mixture of rain and blood in the area around Alan.

Rachel noticed that she was not doing much better, for the bullet hole she had received was still bleeding, and was soaking into the clothes that she was wearing.

Rachel knelt by Alan's side.

"Listen, Alan. We have to feed. There are people nearby, and though it's risky, we have to take what we can get. Are you able to do so?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, it won't be a problem. As soon as I get my strength back, I'm going after Caleb, and I swear I'll kill him this time." Alan spat, venom in his voice.

Rachel gasped inwardly at this. 'Nothing about feeding on live humans at all? Not a word about Katie or even Liz, just that he was going to go try and kill Caleb?' As she thought about both Katie and Liz, however, hatred filled her as well. Caleb had gone too far now, and Alan was right. He must die.

Rachel stood. "Okay, I'll go bring them here, how are my eyes?" Rachel asked as Rachel stared into Alan's currently altered eyes.

"They're fine, they're normal right now."

Rachel nodded, and she was off.

She kept herself hidden as she searched for potential victims. It took some time, but she found one such set. A young couple was walking around in the rain, holding hands and clearly enjoying themselves, despite the rain. It pained her to have to do this to what seemed to be two happy individuals, but there was no choice. It was either them, or try to wait and risk having something worse happen.

She made sure the couple was away from other people before she approached them, as well as to give her a chance to make false tears. When she was ready, she emerged in front of them, causing the couple to gasp at the sight.

"Oh, thank God!" Rachel cried. "Please, you've gotta help!"

"Are you alright? What happened?" The man asked.

Rachel ran at them, and began tugging at the man. "Please! It's my boyfriend, he's been hurt badly!" Rachel pleaded.

"Look, just calm down okay? I'll call for help, and you take us to where your boyfriend is." The woman said, taking out her cell phone.

An unfortunate development, but it would sound odd if she tried to plead with them to not call for help, so Rachel allowed it. Besides, they should be long gone by the time the help arrives.

"This way! Hurry, I don't know if he is still awake or even alive!" Rachel said in a panicked voice as she led the way as the both followed, the woman on the phone as she followed.

The woman finished the call as they arrive to where Alan was, who was still on the ground and bleeding.

"Jesus...what happened?" The man asked as the woman gasped at the sight. Rachel slowly worked her way behind the two as they focused on Alan.

"I'm sorry." Rachel said in a low voice, causing the couple to turn to her as Alan opened his eyes and rose, currently seeing nothing but food in front of him right now. Food he desperately needed.

Alan and Rachel pounced on the couple and began feeding before they could scream, and for several brief yet eternal moments, Alan and Rachel fed on their victims in silence, the only sound being the continuous rain that fell on the ground.