city of night

               1.
         It’s dark; rain pours down in thick heavy sheets. The steady tick-thump of the wipers matches the rhythm of Adrian’s heartbeat; the cab is cold but dry; but that is no consolation for what is about to happen.
         “This is the worst part of the job…waiting” Adrian mumbles

Tick-thump…

An apartment building... dark… foreboding, two floors from the top… a light.
         “ Hmmm well they’ve gone to work, Warren’s usually quick…” he sighs and lights up a cigarette.

Tick-thump…

He isn’t a tall man, not even a well built man but this line of work doesn’t exactly call for much more than the occasional heavy lifting, he usually spends his time driving, nothing more than that. Go to the job, pick up the bodies, drop them in the lake. He doesn’t know the people, they’re just luggage as far as he’s concerned. But still he can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong tonight…something is off, he doesn’t know what, but the feeling is there, and his feelings are always correct.

Tick-thump…

         He rolls down the window a bit and flicks some ash out onto the street, faintly he can hear what is going on at the top of the building, muffled screaming, followed by two faint gunshots…it’s ten-thirty now… ahead of schedule. It’s sad, in this city no one cares about the person next to them, they can’t afford to, people go missing, bodies are found and no one asks questions, no one wants to know…after all it’s just a job.

Tick thump…

         Mary-Anne feels uncomfortable in her own house tonight. The girls Sara and Cindy are asleep, her husband sits alone in the living room pretending that the events of two days ago… the lying, and the slut…didn’t happen. But they did, and now like before he wont talk to her. She’s not bothered by this; relieved actually. People sometimes stay for all the wrong reasons, but if u asked her, she would say that she stayed for the right ones, for the kids. Things have been different since the earthquake, the whole world has been turned upside down, only a few cities remain, the biggest she and her family call home. The biggest…and the most maddening, it’s worse than dying, knowing that one of her daughters will disappear, maybe she’ll come back, if she’s lucky she’ll never return. Any child that does always comes back the same. Covered in a thin sticky black film…dead. She does not want this for her daughters.  But it’s inevitable with twins…they take one, and let you keep the other, no one knows why it happens, and in this city no one cares.

Tick-thump…

         “Move your ASS Adrian!”  The voice belongs to Warren, he is tall almost eight feet, and all muscle; three hundred pounds of muscle. His eye’s glow red with the touch of vampire that is in him, and from the blood on his lips it looks like he’s already dined tonight.
         “Hey gimme a hand with this you fucking dick!” he snarls
I flick my cigarette out the window and climb out, warren has a large bundle slung over his shoulder, with a grunt he drops it to the ground; it lands with a hollow thud.

Tick-thump… tick-thump…

         “Got two for you this time, some asshole from the other side tried to be a hero. She kept saying something about a baby…assholes” Warren muttered.
         “Two! I don’t get fucking paid for two if that’s not the contract!” I hiss.
         “Well I get paid per kill so I could give a shit about your problems… cops are coming so get em’ in the car and haul ass, I gotta get back to the mansion before Draven wonders what happened, you had better fucking be there tonight” he says.
“I will be, but I wanna get paid for this extra bullshit, who’s the other body?” I ask.
         “ Fucking other-sider… fucking hero ass, had to put one in his head, then the dumb shit didn’t go down, damn near ripped his head clean off. That put his ass to bed real fucking quick.” He says.
I look at the bodies at my feet, blood has begun to pool around them seeping through the sheet they’re wrapped in. I open the trunk…time for heavy lifting.

Tick-thump…

         Mary-Anne flips casually through a newspaper…there’s a page now just for missing persons, tears begin to well up in her eyes; somehow she knows that tonight is the night, she also knows that she will do nothing to stop it. Not because she doesn’t want to, because she can’t; no one can.
         Upstairs, two girls sleep soundly, peaceful expressions on both their faces, across the room a closet door slowly creaks open, inside…darkness. Cindy the younger of the two jumps awake, she wants to look away but she cant, they’ve come for her; she knows that all she can do is cry while her sister sleeps… her twin sister, who will never know she existed. A dark hand reaches from the shadows…and that’s the last time Cindy Mchail was seen. In this city no one cares, no one cares because no one can stop the inevitable. People die; people go missing everyday, that’s life in Duskhaven, that’s life in the city of night.

Tick-thump…
                                                     2.
         Duskhaven is a large honeycomb of a city, tall gothic buildings dominate the landscape; Fifty years ago a massive earthquake decimated the planet. Many theories sprang up, polar shift; the end of the world…most people blame the other-siders. New York is a forest, Vegas has been taken back by the desert, and California is at the bottom of the ocean, only a handful of cities across the world remain, Duskhaven is the largest, located in the Midwest, the city was one of the first to crumble, but after the earthquake and the moon moving in front of the sun resulting in a permanent eclipse, the city was re-built and re-named, no one knows what the place was originally called, now though it is simply known as… Duskhaven…the city of despair…the city of night.
         Rain lashes the windshield and the wipers continue their rhythmic tick-thump; the cab flies through the streets in five minuets it will reach the lake to deposit it’s macabre cargo, the lake didn’t used to exist, but after the earthquake this seemingly bottomless body of water appeared, and quickly became the best site to dispose of any un-wanted trash.
         “Two…fucking two!” I yell, “I can’t believe this shit, and one of them is from the other side!” I light up another cigarette; the car drives over a pothole, I can hear the bodies slam about in the trunk.
         “Just keep telling yourself it’s just a job…” Up ahead the lake grows ever larger; fog rolls up the banks in thick waves. There is no sound at this place, almost as if any wildlife that would live here remain silent, either out of fear or simple inability. I pull the cab up to the boat launch and as per the contract, a small motorboat is waiting, it takes about ten minuets of heaving and pushing to get the two bodies into the boat. Still the sheet covers them, knowing what they look like makes this job even harder, and beyond that this is the firs other-sider I’ve ever been around. I don’t even know what they look like. A ten minuet ride and I shut off the engine and begin the other half of my work, tying cinderblocks to the bodies to keep them under the water is hard but important work. The first body rolls over the side and falls into the water with a splash, the women is gone in seconds. The second body is seemingly impossible to lift again…but it to goes over the side, as it begins it’s descent one hand slips free of the sheet and latches onto the side of the boat, making the whole vessel roll to one side, falling backward I watch in horror as the sheet falls free of it’s face revealing something that looks like a living shadow. Its head hangs to one side lolling from left to right; thick white blood oozes from its neck, then its eye’s open. There are no pupils, just a deep blue orb that draws you into it and I cant help feel the worst sorrow I’ve ever felt, like someone has ripped from me all of the memories that have made life worth living and burned them in front of me. Tears roll down my cheeks, then its mouth opens…one word escapes… “Savior” it says. Its voice is light, musical and terrifying. Then its other hand slips free and wraps its spindly four fingers round my head, enveloping me like a baseball mitt. The world goes white and for the first time I see the world the way they do, all the pain, all the hatred. I see the war they fight with the vampires that run this city and know how they fight a losing battle. Bodies of the others lie strewn across the street, the city burns with a white fire, buildings crumble into dust and there amidst the chaos stands my boss, the vampire lord Draven, he smiles and the flesh on his face tears away revealing a bloody skull, still grinning, his mouth opens and laughter at his slaughter erupts like a volcano. The world comes back into focus, my mouth is dry and I can feel blood slosh between my ears. The body of the other is gone, lost below the waves. And for the first time in fifty years the sun peeks out from behind the moon. And just as quickly it’s gone. I make it back to the car without issue, climb in and in the mirror I see myself. And I scream.
         “He’s late…” Warren says. The big man paces around the great hall like a caged tiger, a large altar sits at the head of the room, its immense cross looms over the hall casting a shadow the length of the room. Enough pews to seat over four hundred people cascade towards the back door, and still Warren paces…alone. Faux daylight spills in through huge red and black stained glass windows, depicting ancient battles past, suddenly the two arched doors at the front of the hall swing open and slam against the hallway walls. There stands a tall, broad shouldered man with flowing white hair. His wide smile and fair complexion are a visible lie once you gaze into his glowing red eyes.
         “ Where is the driver?” the man says, his voice sounds like two large boulders crashing together, deep and gravely. “Where is Adrian?” he bellows. Warren takes a step back, most certainly in fear of the man before him, “ Umm sir he hasn’t returned yet, I’ve sent a squad of benders to locate him…they have yet to report in...” He stammers. The white haired man slowly walks towards Warren, the hollow sound of his boot heels is deafening in the hall, as he draws near he sweeps open his long coat to withdraw a cigar and matches. He lights it and sits in the front pew. After many minuets he sits forward looks at Warren, the glow in his eyes grows deeper, but his voice remains calm. “ I want you to head this up personally, benders are useless without a leader, and he needs to be found, he knows too much; and I cannot have the others get their hands on him…you have no idea how important Adrian is.” He says as he sits back in the pew, “ Go now…time is very short.” With that Warren bows and walks out of the hall, outside rain still pours down in sheets, warrens cell phone rings, “ report…what have you found?” he says. A raspy voice floats over the speaker, “ the cab is abandoned the driver is nowhere to be found, it looks as if he left on foot, to where we do not know. We’ve dispatched two blood hounds they’re on his trail right now.” He walks toward his car and opens the trunk, inside is an arsenal large enough to slaughter a village, he reaches in and removes a shotgun, he checks both barrels loads them and snaps the gun closed. “ I’ll be there shortly, call in the hounds, we can’t fuck this one up.” He closes the phone and drives off into the night.
         The car was a simple thing to discard, evading the benders was the tough part, benders are insane vampires, mad with strength these former humans are the worst in the vampire kingdom, roughly six feet tall covered in strange tattoos, each unique to that persons clan, they can punch through solid rock and throw a car a city block with ease. To fight one means to be ripped apart, only a rhaan can stop a bender, Warren is one, but Warren is most likely looking for him, he knows this, he also knows that to die at their hands is a slow and painful death. To that end, Adrian reaches for the revolver on his side table, a curious thing it is the only one known to still function, covered in ornate engravings, only one bullet calls this artwork home right now, but only one bullet is needed for the task at hand. He places the barrel to his forehead, pulls back on the hammer and closes his eyes…outside the apartment is dark, on the ground floor is a muffled pop and a flash of light followed by silence.
                                                           3.
Nothing in the room has changed, save for the colors. The room resembles a negative, what was black is now white, some details become clearer, others loose focus. A pile of rodent feces lies under the side table, next to that some long forgotten coins, lying at my feet is my body, the top half of my head is some horrible painting on the wall, bits of bone protrude from the drywall, brain matter drips to the floor, behind me a voice says “You idiot, that won’t do…not at all.” The voice is the same musical tone I heard on the boat, spinning around quickly, I fire a punch right at the thing behind me; it lands with a weak slap in the palm of its four-fingered hand. It’s eyes pulse with that strange blue light, and again it speaks.
         “ My name is Dosh…I have infused you with a part of my being, now you cannot die, as our life force are connected, you have a job to do, and I will make sure you have the strength to complete it. Now get your ass back in your body and get to work.” With that he places one hand on my chest and shoves, arms flailing I fall backwards into my corpse, the light in the room is blinding, and the pain in my head is unbearable. Then a feeling as if thousands of volts of electricity rushes through my body, chunks of skull work their way free from the wall and slide back into my head, blood and muscle return, pulling together like two halves of a torn sheet. Finally my skin begins to grow back there is a terrible tearing sound as it comes together in completion, lastly my hair sprouts from my scalp. Gasping I sit up and look around, my strange visitor is gone… cars pass by not knowing the strange events that have just transpired, a feeling of unease washes over me, someone is watching this building, someone is hunting me, hounds perhaps, but more likely its Warren and his benders, then the voice is back, faintly it floats through my thoughts, “ you must leave, now, they’re here and they want you dead…. Now run!” it says, I grab my coat and the gun and head for the bathroom. Quickly and quietly I slide the window open, and climb out, dropping onto a dumpster in the back alley… now its time to run.
         
“He’s inside, move slowly, we don’t want him to know we’re here.” Warren says. The group of four benders that he has brought with him begins moving toward the front door; silence from within the building tells them that their quarry is still inside. With a bang they kick open the door guns drawn, the room is empty… searching they find that the bathroom window is wide open, the first bender reaches for a walkie strapped to his shoulder, “ Sir, the target is gone, looks like he went out the back, sending benders two and four to investigate.”
          “ Fuck… hold position, he knew we were here, I don’t know how, lets not let him know that we know.” Warren says, shouldering his shotgun he heads for the alley.

Running I come to the end of the alleyway a parked car sits on the street still running, I can hear them behind me. Running with more fervor than ever I jump into the front seat of the waiting car, hopefully its owner doesn’t mind; I put the car in gear and drive. Street lamps scream by above me, and my pursuers become a distant problem, now another problem arises, I have no idea where to go. So I drive.
                                                           4.
Mary-Anne flips another page in her newspaper; the faucet drips slowly across the room, in the living room the television plays some old re-run of the letterman show, what her husband sees in it she’ll never know…upstairs the girls still sleep soundly, suddenly Cindy screams. Mary-Anne leaps from her seat and races up the stairs, throwing open the bedroom door she watches in horror as a dark shadowy figure emerges from the closet, the thing wraps its arms around Cindy and lifts her from her bed as if she weighed nothing; “ GET AWAY FROM HER!” she shouts, the thing looks up and a huge hideous smile spreads across its face. Mary-Anne leaps at it but it is far too fast for her, with its free hand it reaches into the shadows and seems to scoop some of it up and roll it into a ball. It lets loose with a softball pitchers throw; the ball casually sails through the air and strikes her in the chest with such force that she is thrown against the bedroom wall leaving a woman sized hole in it. Jack McHail reaches the top of the stairs in time to see his wife thrown back by a tall dark figure, he enters the room brandishing an aluminum baseball bat, but he too is not quick enough, the thing smiles, exposing long wicked looking fangs; its deep red eyes flash and it disappears into the closet. Jack follows it into the closet, he turns the light on…the closet is empty; he rushes over to his wife. Blood pours from the hole in her chest, he can see her heart beating rapidly beneath her exposed ribs; tears cascade down his cheeks, 
“ Mary…I am sorry…I am so sorry, can you hear me?” he sobs. Slowly she turns he head more blood spills down her chin, she coughs and opens her eyes, already they have begun to gloss over,  “Jack?” she whispers again she coughs, “ Jack…get her back…you find her. And get…her…ba. . .” the light in her eyes suddenly goes out and her voice just stops. Slowly Jack rises from the floor and walks over to his other daughter, a blanket is pulled over her head, he removes it; “Sara…honey are you alright?” her back is to him, he rolls her over and the tears begin to flow again, on her neck is a large gaping wound, the blood around it is already dry. “ I am sorry…oh...Sara.” he replaces the sheet and walks downstairs, he doesn’t bother to close the front door behind him, he folds the family portrait that used to hang at the bottom of the stairs and places it in the inside pocket of his coat, a car careens around a nearby corner and slams into a telephone pole, its driver is tossed through the windshield he lands on the pavement and lies there for a moment before slowly rising to his feet, Jack runs over to the man, “HEY! What the fuck…Are you alright?” he asks the man stands up, Jack can not yet see his face, but something about the man seems off…

The car is sluggish and unresponsive up ahead a sharp corner looms, I cant make it, I reach the corner slamming on my brakes; the car crashes into a telephone pole and ejects me through the wind shield, glass tears at my face and back, blood gushes into my eyes, the ground rips my jacket apart as I slide to a stop, a man is yelling something but I cant quite make it out, my wounds heal and I climb to my feet. He is a stocky muscular man with short black hair and a salt and pepper growth of stubble on his face, the long tan trench coat and black pants he wears give him the look of some old cowboy, again he speaks, “ Hey are you alright…you should be dead…” as soon as the last word escapes his lips; fresh tears slide down his face. Brushing myself off I raise my head and ask, “ What’s your name?” sobbing he licks his lips and replies, “My name is Jack. Why aren’t you dead?” Looking around I notice the front door of a nearby house is ajar, “ do you have a car?” I ask. He takes a step back a look of caution on his face. “ Why?” he asks. I start walking in the direction of the house without answering; as I walk by I look at him and say, “ Get the car…I’ll explain on the way.”
         
This stranger passes me and I see his face for the first time, half looks normal; green eye, clean shaven, short sandy brown hair and slightly yellowed teeth, possibly from smoking. The other half however resembles a living shadow, the facial structure is the same but his skin is black, far blacker than any normal human; one strange blue glowing eye, short pitch black hair and teeth that gleam with a light so bright it hurts to look at them. His clothes are torn and he is covered in fresh blood but shows no sign of injury. I follow the man towards what was once my home; searching for the keys in my pocket, “ hey, what’s your name?” I ask as we draw closer to my car. He maintains his silence and stands next to the passenger door. “ You’re driving, I am talking, and then we plan the next step.” He says.  I walk around to the driver’s door, and climb in. normally I wouldn’t be as agreeable but something about this man is very familiar, maybe it’s because he has half of an other in him, maybe it’s because this really is the man they told me about.
         We begin driving, silence blankets the car, only the radio makes a sound, The DJ comes over the speakers “ that was The bottle kids, with their song clown penis.” Five more minuets pass, finally the man reaches over and turns the radio off; “ we need to go see a man… his name is Jericho, he’ll give us some direction… and weapons.” He says. I reach in my jacket and pull out a cigarette; taking a drag off of it I say “ so what…you come out of the night, you steal my car, take me with you. You don’t even tell me your name and I am just going to shuttle you around? I mean Adrian what the Fuc…” he points his gun at me so fast I have no time to react. “ You’re right I didn’t tell you my name, so how do you know it?” he calmly hisses. The gun still in my face I take another drag off the cigarette and reply, “ I work for the same people that have recruited you, they told me you would arrive tonight, but… something unplanned happened. My wife…my daughter Sara they’re both dead, and something took my youngest Cindy, so I’ll make a deal with you, I’ll help you with whatever it is they have planned and you help me find that bastard and get my daughter back, sound good?” I ask. I look at the six-gun in his hand an notice that it’s completely empty, “ Oh and get that empty fucking gun out of my face before I take it and shove it straight up your ass!” with that he re-holsters the gun and sits back in his seat, a look of defeat on the still human side of his face, defiance on the other half.
         Two hours later we have arrived at our destination, a large cathedral, the only source of light is coming from a small window in the basement, with the car parked we climb out and head to the back of the building.
                                                           5.
Warren’s car is parked just out of eyeshot, he sees the two men walk towards the cathedral, He sees them go into the basement. He will wait…but not for much longer…

         We reach the backdoor, I look at Adrian, he seems calm yet nervous, I reach out and knock on the door.

Once…

Twice….

Three times…

         The door flies open. Standing in the doorway is a stocky old man he sports short gray hair, A long beard sprouts from his face, he has deep brown eyes and a long jagged scar runs the length of his face. But it’s those eyes that are the most shocking… wispy plumes of light blue smoke pour from around his eyes. He looks around then silently motions for us to follow him inside. A large descending staircase pierces the floor of the main hallway, the strange old man disappears into the abyss without a sound, we follow.
         At the bottom is a large open room, silver cabinets cover the perimeter of this room, the light coming off of them is blinding, Adrian seems most affected by it. His eyes are almost shut and a look of pain covers his entire face. The old man stands at the center of the room with his backs to us, slowly he turns and says, “ you boys are in some serious shit…vampires want you dead, and the others seem to think that you Adrian are their savior.” He walks over to a cabinet on the far side of the room and opens it, from this case he pulls out a wicked looking pistol, between its two barrels sits a small clear box of silver liquid. “ Have either of you heard of liquid silver?” He doesn’t take his gaze from the strange gun, “It’s a company that created bullets containing liquid silver, it was highly dangerous to the vampire when the sun first went out the silver compound they created is called variable silver, a material that can alternate between solid and liquid shapes, this compound has all the properties of raw silver but it can hold a specific shape, like a bullet or a knife. This is the only weapon of its kind… you’ll need it.” With that he tosses the curious gun to me, its heavy in my hands but not uncomfortable, a small red button protrudes from where the safety would be located, I push this mysterious button. The small box on the top of the gun cracks open and the silver inside explodes from its confines, stretching from the gun this mass spreads out and solidifies into a long wicked blade, I stare in amazement while the old man opens another cabinet. He pulls out a few boxes of bullets and hands them to me, ‘ these will work in Adrian’s gun, I’ll get you out as soon as I can but first you need some direction don’t you?” he asks, thin plumes of blue vapor drift from his eyes. Slowly he maneuvers himself over to Adrian and places one hand on his shoulder, finally he turns his head towards me and says “ you had better load that gun and watch the door, we need to have a private conversation.” With that he turns back to Adrian and closes his eyes.

         Outside Warren walks up to the street cradling his shotgun like an infant, he raises one hand and points to the cathedral. Behind him thirty or so benders emerge from the bushes and rush at the large building, the only sound for now is the dull slap of shoes on pavement.

         The light has been unbearable since we entered this place, my eyes throb and I cannot focus on any detail around me, some old man is talking to Jack but I cant hear him, everything seems so far away. He walks over to me and places one hand on my shoulder, he mumble something to Jack and suddenly the lights go away, I am standing in the motel room again, Dosh is sitting on the bed and          the old man is standing with his back to me. “ So…you are meant to be the great savior, and you don’t even know what your capable of.” He turns around slowly and motions toward the bed. Dosh stands up and walks over toward the door, for what seems like an eternity nothing happens, then he opens the door and another dark skinned figure walks into the room, he crosses the threshold and strides over to the old man and embraces him, then he turns to me and speaks, his voice is the same musical tone as Dosh’s, “you need to awaken, it will take time. Sadly it is time we simply do not have, so I will tell you this. You have a power we others can only dream of, you can survive in light, and you can use the shadows as a weapon, and you have a responsibility to deliver us from the darkness, to deliver this whole world from darkness. Jericho will help you as much as he can, but it is you who must overcome your fears and distractions to accomplish this. You must leave the city, and go to the town of Dawns veil, there you must find a man named Recho, he knows of a way you and Jack can reach the other side safely. As for why you need to go there I cannot say; but trust in your abilities and Recho, he will guide you to the next leg of this journey.” I stare at him and finally find the courage to talk, my voice is raspy at first but I finally manage to wheeze out a question; “who are you and why are we here in this room?” I ask. He raises his head and replies, “ this room now exists in our world, you came here the moment you attempted suicide, Dosh came forward and revived you, now the only way for us to have a face to face is for you to kill yourself again or for Jericho to bring you here, I am like Dosh, I am an other but I am bound to Jericho, just as Dosh is bound to you. Sadly we are out of time, I can answer no more questions for you, they are at the front door and Jack is alone, you must go help him, if you need to talk again you know how to get here. Now back in your body.” He points to the corner of the room where I first killed myself, and lying there is my corpse, the top of the head still gushing blood, I can faintly hear Jack screaming and sounds of gunfire, I rush across the room and leap back into my body.

         The pounding at the door is getting ever more violent, Jericho and Adrian are still standing with their eyes closed, I check the gun and see that it is loaded, I open one of the cabinets and crouch behind the door. With a loud crash the front door comes flying down the stairs and the sound of many footsteps echoes down to me, suddenly they are down the stairs with guns drawn, at least fifteen of them come pouring out of the small doorway, and more come behind them. At first they are sitting ducks, my bullets rip through them painting the walls with blood, random arms and legs lie strewn about next to bodies with half heads, I yell for Adrian and keep firing, but there are just too many. Four of them surround me I raise my gun at the nearest one and pull the trigger.

Click. Empty… shit…

Timing could not be worse, the Bender I “fired” at punches me in the chest sending me flying across the room, my back screams promises of pain to come a I slam into the wall caving in one of the large cabinets, I rise to my feet and push the small red button, the sword springs forth from its housing, I rush the Benders and start swinging.
         The first loses and arm then his head, the look of shock still plastered on his face. More come pouring from the doorway. That’s when Adrian springs back to life.

“No.” he gasps.

He seems changed, the light doesn’t seem to bother him as much, its almost as if the other half of him is doing all the work. He rushes from Jericho’s side and with superhuman strength begins tearing the benders limb from limb, he tosses two of them across the room as if they were nothing more than rag dolls, their impact puts out half the lights in the room, Adrian runs over to another bender and stops right in front of him, a devious smile on his face. He places a hand on its chest; its body seems to darken in that spot and in a spray of blood and shadow his spine erupts from his back and flies spinning across the room. Again Adrian raises his arm and launches what looks like pure shadow at a group of benders, the shadow arcs like lightning and strikes each one in the head, they shake like fish out of water for a moment before their heads explode in a shower of brain, blood and bone.

Five left.

Warren stands at the top of the stairwell, the sound of screaming and gunfire from below roars up to greet him, one bender reaches the top of the stairs panting for breathe. “ An other… cant touch him…. All dead…we-“ he is cut off as a wave of shadow rushes up behind him my long black hand reaches out and pulls him back in screaming. The shadow retreats back downstairs leaving Warren alone, and confused.
“What the hell… I’ve never seen that before.” He mutters, reluctantly he shoulders his shotgun and descends the stairs. At the bottom stands a lone man holding what looks like a gun-sword and the head of one of the benders, the only light in the room comes from directly above him, all else lies in darkness, “ who are you?” he asks raising his weapon and slowly walking into the light. “My name is Jack, and if I were you I would head back to your boss and tell him we will not stop sending bodies back to him unless he stops following us.” He says.  Warren pauses for a moment his eyes shrink into tiny slits, he thumbs back the hammer on his shotgun. “ Are you alone?” A sly smile washes over Jack’s face and he lowers his weapon reaching in his jacket, he removes a small knife. He tosses it in the air a couple of times and catches it, “ So… you going to leave or do we have to kill you now?” he asks. Again he tosses the knife. Warren never lets his gaze drift from Jack, behind him leading up the stair a number of flares burst to life, lighting a path back to the top, Jack’s smile finally disappears and he says, “That’s really too bad, Adrian was kind of hoping you might join us, oh well, oh and by the way I’d start running if I were you.” With that he throws the knife up into the only remaining light shattering the bulb, darkness falls over the room.

                                                           6.
         The large double doors to the hall fly open and warren stumbles in holding what remains of his right arm, a small frail breed of vampire known as the voice of the king comes running up to him. “ You cannot be here like this your bleeding on everything!” he says He begins to say something else but is suddenly silenced when Warren punches his head off with his good arm, “ get the fuck out of my way.” He mutters, walking with a feverish new purpose he passes the altar taking the steps three at a time, behind the altar is a large stone door, carved into the center of it is a lotus flower with a wicked skull leering from the middle. This door falls to rubble as warren forces his way through it. Inside is a small laboratory. Various different beakers and burners light the room a small figure is hunched over a long table, upon which lies a beautiful woman, her naked form is wickedly distorted by the gaping hole in her chest. The top of her head lays next to her on the table, the tiny man reaches into her chest cavity and pulls out a mass of flesh. A weak gasp escapes the still living corpse and a tear rolls down her cheek. “ What do you want warren?” the tiny man says, his voice is strangely raspy and squeaky, as he turns from the table blood dripping from his gnarled hands he pulls a pair of ridiculous looking glasses onto his face, “ I said what do you want, I am a very busy man.” He says again. Warren moves over to the man and grabbing him by the shirt he hisses in his face “ Brix I need a new fucking arm, and I need it now, so put one on and I’ll be gone. I have some business to take care of and I have no time for your human bullshit.”  Brix looks at the stub on warrens right side and gasps, veins and a small white orb of bone protrude from underneath his sleeve, and pieces of flesh have already started to rot, bits of shadow seep from the wound. “ How did this happen?” the inquisitive tone in his voice overshadows what concern might have been there. He leans closer and begins poking at the injury. Warren clenches his teeth and shoves Brix aside and screams “FIX IT!”  Brix stumbles back knocking a rack of vials over. Stammering he adjusts his glasses and walks over to the woman, reaching up he shuts off the light above her and places his hands on either side of her head, he leans close to her face, more tears stream down her cheeks as she weakly begins to sob. “ Shsh it’s all going to be alright.” he whispers, with a sickening crack he breaks her neck, intently watching the life fade from her eyes. Once again he turns to Warren and wipes his glasses on his bloodstained coat, clearing his throat he says, “ lay on that other table and lets get started.”