Hunter's Strike

The ‘box’ was seven feet long, three feet wide, and three feet deep. It was made of carbon steel three inches thick on all sides and painted matte black. The lid slid into place from the bottom and was impossible to open from the inside. It was far too heavy to carry, and had to be brought down to the garage on a large cart.

Arthur and Red were ferrying it to the bottom floor, where they would load it into the van. “Do you really think we can bag him?” Red asked nervously. It was rare for his confidence to crack. He only showed it when the girls weren’t around.

“Harris said he was sending Black.” Arthur reminded him.

“You don’t like working with Black though, do you?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

They wheeled the box through the parking garage. The van was waiting for them by the entrance. Blue was at the wheel and Green was loading duffel bags and cases into the back. They brought the cart right up to the floor of the van and slid the box in.

When it was in place Green slid open a small panel on the side of it, revealing an OLED display, a keypad, and two holes. She tapped quickly on the keypad, then plugged long thin tube into one of the holes. The other end she plugged into a green tank of liquid nitrogen. She laid the tank down on it’s side next to the box.

Black was already in the van, sitting on the floor in a free corner. He was easily seven feet tall and built like a truck. He wore black vinyl from head to toe and a black motorcycle helmet that completely covered his face.

No one had seen him without his helmet or in different clothes. He never spoke. No one knew his real name, what he looked like, or how old he was.

Just looking at him made Arthur uneasy.

He decided to sit up front with Blue. Green and Red sat in the black. Green closed the doors and tapped on Blue’s seat to signal her to go.

“Red, you’ll be the one going in, so make sure you have everything you’ll need before we get there.”

“Yeah yeah, I know, I know.” Red unzipped one of the bags and began pulling out the gear he’d need.

“Green, you’re lookout and back up. I want you at least one hundred and fifty yards away from the action.”

Green had an earbud in one ear, connected to her phone. She pulled it out and tapped at the screen. She unplugged the earbud and tapped the screen once. A tinny voice from the phone spoke. “I can stay as far back as two hundred and fifty yards without sacrificing accuracy.”

“Find a good spot then and camp there.”

She plugged the ear bud back in again and put a long black case on top of the box and flipped it open. Inside were the pieces of a sniper rifle, packed in foam. She began assembling it.

“Blue, you stay in the van. If we need to leave in a hurry I want you able to get us out of there.” Blue scowled, but Arthur was firm. “I’m relying on you to provide us with a safe and speedy escape, understand?” She nodded.

Arthur stared out the window, watching the tall buildings pass. “Good.”

xxxXXXxxx

Sybil walked up behind Callie and wrapped her arms around the vampire’s waist. She laid her head on on her back and sighed happily. “I’m ready to go.”

“Are you sure?” Callie was uncertain.

“Are you not anymore?”

“I thought I was. Now…”

Sybil pulled away and took Callie’s hand. “Don’t let what Gabriel said bother you. It’s true that you can’t know everything, but you do know a lot, and you’ve been thinking about this a long time.”

Callie turned to her, her eyes worried. “What if I mess up?”

Sybil put a hand on her cheek. “You won’t.” She led Callie away from the party and back into the building. Sybil pressed the button for the elevator. “Thank you so much, Callie.”

Callie’s expression turned desperate. “Oh no, please don’t thank me sweetie. Please, it’s bad enough. I know how selfish I am, and I just...”

The elevator doors slid open and Sybil pulled her inside. “Don’t be ridiculous.” she said. “You’re the most unselfish person in the whole world.”

Callie’s shoulders shrank, her free hand clenching. “No, I meddle too much. I try to fix things the way I think they should be set. I don’t have the right to do that.”

“Callie, you have the roadmap to life right inside your head and the only you do with it is try to make other people happy.” Sybil put a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it gently. “You deserve to have something you want, too.”

Callie leaned her head on Sybil’s shoulder, her body trembling. “It’s too much for me.”

Sybil wrapped both arms around her. “Then let me help, too. I’m ready now. You threw this huge party and introduced me to new vampires and friends, just to make my last memory the best it could be.”

“You won’t remember anything. Just this one night. Your childhood, your family, where you went to school. How can you be okay with that?”

“Because those memories are crap. I grew up ashamed of who I was, who I wanted to go out with. My parents were blasted out of their skull half the time. I’ve run away from five foster homes. I was ready to die when you found me, not because I hated the world, but because I wanted something to change. Not a little change, but something big and drastic, something so new that my old life was left in the dust.”

She placed both hands on Callie’s face and lifted it up so she could look into eyes. “I want to change. I want to leave it behind. I don’t even want to be me anymore. I want a new life with you. I want to be strong enough to keep you safe, to help shoulder your burden, to do all the things that you can’t. Please, let me be the Uranus to your Neptune.”

A small laugh escaped her chest. “What?”

“It’s a Sailor Moon reference. I’m very lame.”

The elevator creaked to a halt and Sybil took Callie’s hand again. She led her out into the hallway, down to their apartment door. “You can’t change your mind later.”

“I know.”

xxxXXXxxx

They dropped Green off at her spot first, over by some tall shipping containers, then Red.

Red zipped up his wet suit and adjusted his goggles. He shrugged into his pack and silently slipped into the water. The van drove off.

The pirate ship was on the other side of the dock, so he had a long swim ahead of him. He couldn’t enter the water any closer without increasing the chance of being spotted.

He swam until he reached the rudder. He surfaced and opened the pack, dumping dozens of silver orbs into the water. They bobbed up to the surface. The water was calm, so they wouldn’t be floating too far away anytime soon.

He dove back under the water and swam till he reached the anchor. He grasped the thick chain and began climbing up it, out of the water and halfway up the side of the boat. The opening the chain was fed from was just big enough for him to squeeze through.

He listened carefully and heard only silence. He removed his wetsuit and stashed it in a corner. He reached into his tactical vest and pulled out his phone.

Earlier that year Harris had ordered them to infiltrate the ‘Better Care’ fertility clinic in order to steal genetic material owned by Katrina Riley. Blue had gone undercover as a lab specialist in order to identify and obtain Katrina’s samples. The lab was attacked and the materials were stolen before she could retrieve them, but not before she had prepared a dummy sample containing a tracking device.

It had been a long time, but the tracker should still be emitting a faint signal that he could not pick up on his phone… and sure enough, it was.

He oriented himself, getting a bearing where his target lay. He flattened himself against the wall by the door, listening intently before opening it. The hallway was empty.

xxxXXXxxx

“Alright park over there, by that dumpster.” Arthur pointing to a spot not too far from the ship.

Blue parked and cut the engine. "How long before they notice us?"

"I'm not going to sit and wait." He opened his door and got out. He reached into his long coat as he made his way around to the back of the van. He pulled out a silver flask and took a long draft. He leaned on the rear bumper and stared at the ship.

He didn't have to wait long.

Three figures exited the ship and made their way to the van. Arthur recognized them at once.

There was Fiona, the ship's doctor. She was a tall vampire with dark skin and red eyes. She was dressed conservatively under her white labcoat. Her hair was made up of dozens of thin black braids, all tied up at the top of her head.

Next was Mint, the cook. She was a short, slight, vampire of Asian descent. She had a small nose and large black eyes. She wore a pink lacy blouse and a white frilly skirt.

Last was Jebediah Book, the Preacher. He was a tall vampire whose skin was a dry white and slightly yellowed, like aged paper. His hair was thin and silver, tied at the back of his head with a thin black ribbon.

"Isn't it getting past your bedtime, Arthur?" Book's voice was deep and melodious.

"I'm fifty-seven years old, Book."

"My how the time flies."

Book was the vampire that had killed his father.

Arthur hadn’t liked the old man. He’d never been around for him to get to know him. He had sworn revenge merely on principal.

It wasn’t the time for an all-out brawl. Not yet. He just had to keep these three distracted till Red was finished

xxxXXXxxx

The party was winding down. The music had stopped and couples had begun to wander off. Chris and Kieran sat at a table playing cards. Steven and Ricky were still in the pool, but they had stopped playing and were just talking.

Angie struggled with a large black garbage bag full of empty cups, plates and other trash. She’d grabbed two ends in her fists, but it was too full to tie closed. “Can you give me a hand?” she grunted at Gabriel. “Why couldn’t Callie buy drawstring bags?”

He had been wrapping up leftover food, but put that aside to assist her. He crammed both hands into the bag, pushing the refuse down. He compacted it so that she would be able to close the bag, but she paused. “You never used to help out like this.” she remarked, her eyes on her hands. “You were always neat with your own stuff, but you didn’t help me with the chores.”

“I don’t mind helping.” he said simply.

“You used to mind.” She brought her eyes up to his chest. He was still in his bathing suit, and her cheeks reddened. She shifted her eyes to the side. “Why are you being so helpful?”

“I want to be there for you. It doesn’t always have to be the big things, just whatever you need.”

Her blush deepened, but she was also getting frustrated. She looked up at his face. “But why though? You’re not telling me why! Is it because you still feel guilty about me getting hurt when I was fighting Katrina? Or is there another reason?”

He leaned down and put both hands over hers. She jumped at his touch. He pulled the bag out of her hands and tied it tight. He looked her in the face and asked “Do you really have to know? Can’t things just be like this a little while? Haven’t you been through enough tonight?” There was a mixture of amusement and sadness in his eyes.

He lifted up the bag and carried it over to the dumpster by the parking lot. Angie put her left hand on her right wrist and rubbed the inside of it. “No. I need to know.” She called to his back. She lifted her wrist up and traced the scar there. “How can you act this way towards me when I’m just an emergency source of fuel?”

That made him pause. He’d known that he would have to face that mistake eventually. In fact, he thought this moment would have come a long time ago. “That night against Nora, biting you was a mistake.”

She shook her head. “No, I know why you had to. Nora had poisoned you with her blood, for a lot longer than we even knew. You needed blood that didn’t have her influence in it and I was what was available. I get that.” She covered the mark with her hand.

“Except that you’re not food, Evangeline. Not to me. I might have thought you were at one point, but not anymore.” He turned around and walked back to her.

“Are we friends then?” she asked. “Or just roommates?”

He reached out and took both of her hands in his. “One day I hope to be a very good friend to you.” he told her, his gaze unwavering. “and right now I don’t consider us just roommates.”

Slowly she pulled one hand out of his. She lifted it up to his face, a dawning understanding in her endless brown eyes. She brushed the tips of her fingers over one eyebrow and down to his cheek, as if she’d never really seen him before. He closed his eyes, his lips parting.

“God dammit!” Chris shouted, throwing his cards on the table. “You’re cheating, I know you are!”

Kieran laughed at him. “Just admit that you’re no good with cards.”

Angie jumped back, looking around guiltily. Steven and Ricky stood in the pool, leaning against the deck, staring at her. “Please disregard any interruptions.” Ricky said courteously.

“Pretend we’re not even here.” Steven offered.

Gabriel picked up another full garbage bag and carried it over to the dumpster. Angie fidgeted where she was, her cheeks bright red. She held her wrist to her chest, feeling a whispering in her heart she thought she’d never feel again. The feeling made her smile.

Nymph ambled up to her. “Donovan needs a ride back to the ship. I don’t think he can walk.” They laughed merrily.

Angie’s smile turned wry. “I suppose Nigel and Florence need a lift as well?”

“Oh yes, all three of them have overindulged in both drink and recreation.” The fey’s smile widened and Angie was sure it wasn’t a completely innocent one.

She sighed. “All right… but they won’t all fit in the Studebaker.” She turned to her brother, who was preparing to flip the table over onto Kieran. “Chris! Can I borrow your car?”

“No!” he called back. “I still haven’t fixed the window from the last time! I don’t mind driving you though!”

“Alright, I’ll go get dressed.” she hurried back into the apartment building.