A completed version can be found at - patreon.com/Nevvan
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At the Strix headquarters in Europe, Tristan was in his office putting the final touches on things when Aya arrived.
"You have news?" Tristan inquired, continuing to scribble without looking up from his work.
"Everything is ready. The planes are prepped and capable of taking off at a moment's notice along with all our elites," said Aya.
"And what of The Sisters? Have they found a way to trap them yet?" asked Tristan.
"They have. In their research, they discovered tales of a relic called the Serratura that was made for just such a purpose," answered Aya.
"And they know where this relic is?" asked Tristan.
"They say it's in New Orleans, where, coincidentally enough, the Originals currently are," answered Aya.
Tristan paused his pen, placing it gently down, and sat back. "New Orleans, you say? That's the last place the Originals called home before Mikael found them and drove them out. They must be feeling nostalgic since Rebekah's passing to return there. And the relics there? That is interesting. Someone from their past must have had the same idea and made it to capture them when they were living there."
Picking up his pen again, he completed scribbling his signature a few more times on the necessary paperwork, gathered everything up, and handed it to the waiting attendant. "Make sure this gets where it needs to go," he instructed.
The attendant bows and takes his leave.
"It seems luck is on our side, Aya. Everything is lining up perfectly. I think it's time for us to head to New Orleans," said Tristan.
…
An older man on his cell phone was following a couple speeding. Parking on the side of the road when they turned into a gas station.
"They've stopped at a gas station, you need to get here now damn it, they're killing people in there!" he exclaimed, slamming his fist down on the center console. Hearing screams and a gunshot going off.
"We'll get there when we get there! Wait for us!" came the frustrated reply.
"Yeah, yeah. Shit! Hold on, something's happening," said the man as another car driving by swerved back around and entered the gas station parking area.
.
Halfway through their drive to New Orleans, Finn caught sight of a bloody scene through the window of a gas station as he drove by. Hitting the brakes and abruptly spinning the car around.
Reacting quickly, Finn grabs Sage's sleeping form before her head can smash against the side as she wakes suddenly from the erratic maneuver.
"Sorry for waking you. I found us a meal," said Finn, driving to the gas station and parking.
"Next time, warn a girl first before you do that," Sage grumbled, following him in.
.
"Well, what's happening?" asked the voice on the other side of the phone.
"A car randomly swerved around, parked, and another couple stepped out and walked in. I'm not sure if they're human or not," said the man.
"Could they be hunters?" asked the voice.
"I didn't see any weapons, likely more vampires," said the man.
"Do we continue?" asked another next to the voice.
"What do you mean, do we continue? It's only two fucking more!" The man shouted into his phone.
"I don't like unknown variables, Bob," said the voice.
"And I don't like letting monsters roam around killing more people, Tripp!" Bob replied heatedly.
A sigh could be heard from the other side, "We're almost there, just keep an eye on them."
Bob snorted, "You don't have to tell me that… Shit, fuck me as if this day couldn't get worse."
"What is it now?" asked Tripp.
"A cop car showed up; people inside must have got a call out," said Bob.
"Just one?" asked Tripp.
"Yeah, two men going in now with guns drawn," said Bob.
"They'll call it in, and more will show; we might need to call it after all," said Tripp.
Hearing gunshots, he grits his teeth, making up his mind, "I'm going in," he said, grabbing his crossbow.
"Don't you dare, Bob, Bob, BOB!" shouted Tripp angrily as the line went dead.
"Shit!" he cursed, tossing his phone away.
"I take it Bob is running in. I told you he was too soft for this; you shouldn't have sent him out scouting," said one of the men in the back seat.
"Shut the fuck up Jay. I didn't fucking send him; he went on his own and called it in," said Tripp.
"Are we still going?" asked the woman in the passenger seat. A woman in her 20s with medium-length, dark brown hair, often tied in a ponytail, and emerald eyes.
"Yeah Penny, we're still fucking going, so if any of you don't have the balls, tell me now," said Tripp, looking around, using his rearview mirror to look at the backseat passengers.
"We're with you," said Penny, prepping her buckshot.
Tripp grinned. "Good, I'm glad to see I chose right," he said, putting the pedal to the metal.
.
Earlier, back at the gas station, the cops pulled out their flashlights after seeing the darkened interior through the windows and carefully entered the door.
Lights and guns trained on the back of a standing figure in the center of the massacre, holding another man who seemed to be in great pain, though from what they couldn't quite see with the man bent over, his face in the neck of the other.
"This is the police, drop him scumbag!" shouted the lead cop.
Finn paused his feeding and lifted his head, craning his neck to look behind him.
"Holy shit! Is that blood! Drop him freak! Drop him now or we'll pump you full of lead!" yelled the second cop, catching the redness around his mouth.
Not liking the sound of picking out bullets, he decided to comply and drop him. Having not yet experienced guns except through television and movies, he wasn't keen on testing them out now, thinking they'd be annoying to deal with.
"Now step away from the victim and slowly put your hands behind your head and get down on your knees," ordered the lead cop.
Finn sighed. Why didn't he go after the one who ran out the back instead of Sage? On second thought, if she were here, these cops would be dead.
Slowly stepping away from his meal, the lead cop grew confident from his compliance and pushed him forward, "Move it, scumbag."
Looking down, the cop sees the victim's openly bleeding throat and foregoes cuffing him for now to take care of the patient. "Crap, he's bleeding out, watch my back while I take care of this, and call it in," said the lead cop, placing his weapons aside to stop the blood.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," warned Finn.
"Shut your mouth, and stay still or you'll get what's coming to you sooner than you'd like!" the second cop yelled. He then radioed for backup and an ambulance.
"Damn it, I'm going to need help," the cop cursed as the man began reaching for him.
"Sir, I'm going to need you to stop moving. It'll only make it worse," said the cop.
"You really shouldn't do that," Finn warned again.
"I thought I told you to shut the fuck up asshole!" yelled the second cop.
"Sir, please, stop moving," said the lead cop, trying to keep pressure on, not realizing the blood was already nearly stopped.
And then, suddenly, without warning, the victim's hands pulled the cop in with a strength that shouldn't have been possible and latched onto his neck, biting into him.
"AH, GET OFF ME!" the cop screamed, unable to break free.
The second cop, shaken by the scream, moved his flashlight away from Finn as he looked down.
"Hey, stop messing around. What are you doing?" asked the second cop, unsure of what was happening.
"Told you," said Finn.
"I thought I told you to Shut…" the second cop went on, only to freeze when he looked up to find the perpetrator gone.
"He's killing me, I need help!" exclaimed the lead officer, waking his colleague. The second officer quickly moved to intervene, but he too was unable to separate them as the lead officer's condition deteriorated.
Seeing his partner dying right before his eyes, he starts pistol-whipping the victim on the head, trying to remove him.
"Help," came the much weaker voice of his friend as his life drained away.
"Fuck! FUCKING LET GO OF HIM YOU SHITTY BASTARD! DIE! DIE! DIE! ALREADY!" yelled the man, hitting away.
Not getting anywhere with his blows as the previously thought victim put out a hand to block them, he pointed the gun at him, but the evil thing's hand smacked it away and pushed him away as it stood up and grinned, "You should have listened to that man's warnings, though I should thank you for scaring him off. Thought I was nearly done for there for a second."
The cop desperately searched for the gun he had dropped as the monster stalked toward him. Upon finding it, he fired the entire clip, yet the creature still stood unarmed despite the many holes.
The monster grinned menacingly at him. "Ouch," he chuckled, walking towards him yet again, "You're going to pay for that."
"What are you?" asked the cop as it towered over him.
"Death," said the monster, and as it reached down, it suddenly froze as a wooden bolt hit it in the chest, and then dropped dead.
"Are you alright? Where are the others?" asked his savior, rushing over to check on him.
"I don't know; they were here, and then they disappeared," said the cop. "What are they?"
"Vampires believe it or not. My group should arrive shortly. I'm guessing you called this in. How far out are they?" asked the man, constantly looking around for any signs of movement.
"10 minutes out still, I just called it in," said the bewildered cop.
"Shit! That must be them," said the man, hearing a car peeling away.
.
"Did you have fun?" asked Sage, hearing most of it.
Finn snorted, "Got enough of a meal I suppose, and the hunter at the end was interesting, and the guns. Tell me, have you ever been shot?"
"No, humans aren't fast enough to shoot us, and I'm not dumb enough to let them," said Sage.
"What about vampires, do any of them use guns?" asked Finn.
"No, why would we when we're more than fast enough and strong enough to do it with our hands?" said Sage.
He didn't know about that. From what he knew, all signs pointed to bullets being far faster, so in the right hands, vampire hands, things could be different.
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A completed version can be found at - patreon.com/Nevvan