By: Sean Buono (Shooter18)

Chapter 5

The two found themselves chained to a brick wall on the side of an abandoned building, their arms and legs stretched out disallowing movement. Sunrise was close, as well as their deaths.
The leader vampire smiled. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Blackston. It’s great to see you guys in the flesh, finally. Aktur has told me so much about you guys!” His face wrinkled with expression as he spoke. Definitely an experienced vampire he was, for even his walk showed it.” He paced back and forth a few times in front of the shackled two. “Unfortunately the things he told didn’t please me, so I thought I’d personally take care of you two for him.” Again he paused. “Such a shame, you two are. Well! I think it’s time for us to leave two lovebirds alone for your last moments of precious life! I’m sure we’ll be missing you.” He laughed and walked off. The other goons followed him, a few chuckling.
The buildings around them were pretty high, forcing the sun to be a bit higher in the sky in order for it to reach them with its deadly rays.
“So what are we gonna do?!?!” Louis panicked; he hadn’t been in a situation like this before. “He started to pull on the chains, hoping to rip them out of the brick. No luck.
Edgar showed his cool on the outside. “Don’t worry, there’s still another ten or so minutes until sunrise.”
“Don’t worry!?? DON’T WORRY?!!? What the hell do you expect to happen?!! DAMNIT!!” He tried more at the chains, still unsuccessful.
As minutes went by, Louis grew more frantic. The sky was getting brighter as each second passed, as well as their lives closer to ending. It was only a matter of time before the sun would rise.
“We’re screwed!! I swear if I get out of this I’ll kill Aktur!! That bastard is gonna pay!!” His voice echoed easily in the abandoned streets. Edgar stayed quiet, enjoying his last few minutes of immortality.
“You guys need any help?” Louis looked up on a rooftop nearby to see the one person he’d least expect.
“NINA! DAMNIT GET DOWN HERE NOW AND HELP US BEFORE OUR ASSES GET FRIED!!!!”
“Geez, no need to get all pissy on me.” She smiled, jumping down from the rooftop, hurrying over to the two.
Edgar was extremely grateful. It’s great to see you again Nina.” How was your trip?”
“Not bad.” She quickly and easily sliced the metal chains holding Edgar and Louis with her claws. The sun’s first rays started to appear on the side of buildings as the three took cover in a ruined subway.

As night fell, Molly and Father D were on their usual rounds. The two got to know each other better as they hunted together. Usually, they went together slaying three or four nights a week, searching in dangerous or populated vampire areas. Their runs paid off as well, getting an average of two vampires a night, being told most of their locations via Father D’s cellular phone from frantic people spotting one here and there.
Once again as they were driving, the cell-phone rang.
“Father D here.”
“Hey there’s a piece of shit vampire tearin up my pool hall…Vito’s Pool Hall on Brookstar and Carney road. Get down here quick and take care of this thing for me before it does more damage!”
“We’re on our way.” The car sped away down the street.

Molly’s car screeched to a stop in front of the small building. The two jumped out and headed inside, already hearing glass shattering and yells.
“Die you piece of shit.” A man standing next to one of the pool tables was looking down on a vampire corpse, lifeless on the table.
The brute of a man snapped a cue stick in half with his hands. He then, very easily, shoved the pointed wooden stake through the vampire’s chest. The beast perished in seconds, leaving the pool table saturated with a new color of deep red.
“Little bitch ruined my game…” He smugly backed off and lit a cigarette. Holstering a large pistol. A few others applauded.
Molly and Father D still standing by the door exchanged looks, and then smiled. The two made their way to the back of the room as the music from a juke box started up again, and billiard games whichever weren’t ruined by the quarrel resumed.
Father D smiled as he spoke first to the strange slayer. “Quite impressive there. You a slayer or was that your first?”
The man sucked on the cigarette, surprised by the question. “Naw, I’ve killed a few of them shits before…A slayer eh? …Never thought about being one.” He hesitated before continuing. “What about money? What you guys do about that sorta stuff?” He took another puff.
“We usually get paid for our slayings, kinda like the one you just did.”
The man smiled as he spoke. “You here to offer me a job?”
“No, not exactly…If you want to become a slayer, that’s your choice. Oh, by the way, my name is Father D, and this here is my partner, Molly.” He extended his hand in Molly’s direction. The three shook hands.
As he and Molly shook hands, she caught a glimpse of his holstered pistol. “What kind of weapon is that, I’ve never seen one like that before?”
He followed her eye sight. “Just a pistol that fires shotgun shells, I like being unique in my choice of firearms.” He smiled devilishly. “It’s called a Thunder 5.” He took it out and showed it to them.
“It’s a beautiful piece, very sharp looking too.” She handed it back to the man.
“They call me Eightball, got the nickname from being the champ in this pool hall.” …Another hesitation for a puff from the cigarette. “So you guys are like real, full-time slayers huh?"
Molly grinned. “Yeah, it’s kind of a thing we love doing. …A Good rush from the danger.”
“You guys wanna play a game? Or are ya on duty and stuff still?” Eightball snagged a few sticks and offered them to Molly and Father D.
“I think we’ve got time to play a few.” The two took off their coats, grabbed drinks, and headed for a table not damaged to play.

“This is it. War on this bastard is official. He’s not gotten away with something like this. All we need is a plan.” Edgar was determined for revenge.
Louis agreed with him. “But we don’t need a plan. All we need to do is raid that damn club of his.”
“No good. You know he’s got too many guards. They’ll stake us on the spot. We’re not even supposed to be alive right now anyways! It won’t help trying to get into a place where we would be most wanted.”
Nina piped into the conversation. “Well, what about catching him off guard? …Like a slayer?”
“Yeah, good point. I mean he doesn’t stay in that club all the time. We’ve gotta track his general schedule, like when he usually goes out to catch a meal.”
The three sat and thought of what to do about it for a few more minutes before going out to get a quick hunt in.

Chapter 6

It’s got a great rate of fire. Great size for how much power it packs.” The man behind the counter was pointing out all the good things about the shiny unloaded Uzi in Molly’s hands.
“How much is it?” Molly was sold; she fell in love with it.”
“Well Molly, since you’ve taken care of quite a few of them vamps for me, I’ll let ya have it for a reasonable discount. …Say $500?”
“Done.” She walked out of the store happily a few minutes later with a brand new Uzi and clips under her belt.
The sun was settling, and the air was getting colder. Winter seemed only a few days away, temperature wise. Looking at the people walking past her, one caught her eye. She grabbed his arm as he came close. It was Eightball.
“I thought I recognized you!”
“Oh hey, Molly right?” She nodded. “Cold night isn’t it? I figured I’d go shoot a game or two of pool. Care to join?” He eyed her Uzi under her belt. “What’s this?”
“Oh, it’s just something I bought a few minutes ago. I need something pretty fast when they get too close. I’ve had a couple situations when I was lucky with my crossbow, and I want to make sure no more happen.”
“Ah…slaying. Haven’t gotten one myself since that night the three of us met. Hm…you and Father D huntin’ a few tonight?”
“We sure are. You want to join, or are you still keen on your few games of pool?” Molly was anxious to see what the strong, agile man was capable of.
Eightball thought for a few seconds. “Sure, we’ve gotta stop by my place real quick first though, I’ve got to grab sumthin.”
“As long as we hurry, we have to meet up with Father D around 8.”

Louis sat on the edge of the roof with patience, daydreaming about when he was a human, what he could do. What he could do if he was still a mortal…Oh how he missed the daylight! …His family! …To sleep whenever you wanted to instead of when you had to!
His thoughts were interrupted by something below. He brought his legs back up over the ledge, and then peeked over. Aktur was walking out of the back entrance of his club.
“Bingo.” Louis stood up and hopped to the next building, following Aktur from the rooftops.
Eventually, Aktur had wandered and unknowingly lead Louis to a common street, but it was an alleyway he was heading for. Louis looked over to see a manhole cover at the end of the narrow alleyway, which Aktur approached and easily uncovered.
Revealing a ladder, he eagerly climbed down and replaced the cover. Louis dropped down from the rooftop silently. Waiting a minute before following, he lifted the manhole cover from its placement, revealing a short descent by ladder to a sewer tunnel. It didn’t smell like a sewer though. A very strong, sweet smell arose from the hole. It attracted Louis, smelling like something he already knew.
When he landed, the shallow water splashed under his feet. Louis looked both ways to see if either path was obvious to take. One way looked like it had a hole in the wall on the side nearby. He walked closer towards it, slowly and quietly.
Louis poked his head into the hole. It turned out to reveal a descending staircase. He stepped through it and started to walk down the stairs. A scream sounded from the room below, echoing in the sewers.
“Go ahead and scream! Lure more of your pathetic kind done here for me!” Aktur yelled smugly.
As Louis went down each step, the smell, the strong stench grew. Bodies started to come into view. Obviously dead, some carcasses had severed limbs and all were decapitated.
“Why did you being me here?!” It was a male human’s voice. Louis got to the end of the stairs, but only revealed his head around the edge to the left, where most of the dungeon, Aktur, and the human came into view.
Bodies were stacked up along the walls, with a few heads here and there. The room was lit only by dim candles, enough of them though to see most of the room. A few satanic drawings were on the floor, adding a little atmosphere.
The human was tied to a wooden cross, placed against one of the walls, by his arms, with his feet still touching the ground. The poor mammal was tortured through the air, worn out from the constant vomiting and no food or water. Aktur was pacing in front of him.
“Come now, you know why I brought you here. You just don’t want to accept it. You humans are so stupid and naïve.” He cackled, bringing the man close to tears.
“Kill me damn it!! Just end it!”
Aktur smiled. Finally, what he wanted to hear…surrender. “Ah, so now you want to die? Such a shame, I was actually going to let you live, but if you insist…”
The man was about to speak, but Aktur didn’t let him. He instead dove his head into the human’s neck, gulping the blood quickly from being ravished. It died in only seconds, not being able to hold onto its life.
Aktur slowly took his mouth from the neck when he was done, and looked at the now limp corpse, on its knees and help up only by its tied arms. He took the head in his hands and held it. Louis still looked curiously at Aktur’s actions.
His right hand moved away a bit as his left kept the head up. Slowly, he started to dig the nails of his right hand into the left side of the human’s neck. His last two fingers wrapped around the spinal cord, under the stretched skin.
No blood seeped out from where the nails cut into, for there was no more left in the shell. Aktur pulled up on the head, and gradually increased his pull until the head could no longer hold it. It snapped out, the skin ripping, and part of the spinal cord still holding on. The headless corpse dropped back down to its knees.
Louis gasped in shock at what he did. Aktur must have heard, for he turned his head in the direction of the staircase, human head still in hand.
“Anyone there?” Louis heard Aktur start to walk slowly towards his position. He knew he didn’t want to take him on alone. Aktur would have sliced Louis up easily.
Quickly, Louis dashed up the steps, through the sewer wall, and back up the ladder. He had to tell the location of Aktur’s hideout to the others.

“Eightball! Great to see you! Does this mean that it’s official?” Father D was delighted to see a familiar face joining them.
“I dunno, maybe. Tonight is just a fun night out for me. Haven’t really gone out on a night dedicated to slaying before…”
“Beautiful rifle you have there…you much of a sniper?”
“Thank you, it’s a Winchester, and yeah, I snipe a bit every now and then to keep my skills up.” He handed him the rifle to look at more closely, as the three headed off from Father D’s house, brewing up some conversation along the way.

Louis met up with the others and told them what he saw. Edgar became satisfied with the information.
“Okay, the best way of doing this would be to ambush his hideout. Arm yourselves with a stake of some sort I’m sure you can easily make one. If we can hurry, we can probably catch him before he heads off again.” The three dispersed quickly.

Father D, Molly, and Eightball walked down a dark, poorly lit street happily, chatting antic dotes or interesting stories freely to pass the time.
Father D stopped speaking abruptly in the middle of one of his stories, looking up towards the roofs. The other two followed his glance.
Three vampires were lunging from one building to another in a hurry. They didn’t even seem to care of the slayers back on ground level.
“O.K. guys, let’s move. Keep up with em and find out where they are going. Keep a tight search line.”

Chapter 7

Back on the rooftops, Louis was leading the other two to Aktur’s chamber.
“It’s over here guys.” They stopped above the manhole cover, just as Louis had, peering over the ledge of the building’s roof.
“Let’s go.” Nina was more curious than hostile, for she had never even met Aktur. She only tagged along to help her friends.
The party jumped down, opened the sewer cover, and headed into the dark, death stenched tunnel. Louis went ahead of the others and through the hole in the wall, descending the staircase. The extremely strong odor of decay reached Nina and Edgar’s noses, making them cringe, even as vampires.
A humming started to be heard from below. It was identifiably Aktur. The three were near the end of the staircase, almost ready to jump out for a surprise attack.
“Come in, my guests.” Nina, Louis, and Edgar stood frozen in surprise. “Come now, no need to stay in hiding when I can see you in a mirror…You shouldn’t make me bring you in the hard way…”
Edgar stepped down first. “Hello Aktur…” He was organizing the piles or corpses, tossing one or two at a time near the back of the low ceiling, dark chamber. He paused to look up to see who it was.
“Ah! Edgar…such a surprise to see you…literally. I shall have to make short order of Blackston for letting you live…” He went back to his organizing. “Who else did you bring along? I don’t like suspense…”
Louis and Nina came from the staircase, looking around at the massive amount of corpses piled up along the walls.
“I must apologize for not giving much hospitality, but this is a thing that must be done.” He looked over at Louis and Nina. “Hmph. Looks like a torture for Blackston now... Hello…who’s this? A new friend I see? I must say, quite the attractive kind too.”
Nina was slightly taken aback by his words. “I’m Nina.”
“Nice to meet you Nina. So how did you get stuck with a few pieces of scum like Edgar and Louis? You should choose your friends more wisely. Picking the wrong ones involves consequences. I hope you understand what point I’m trying to make.”
“Oh I understand. I think I’ve chosen the right friends. It’s you that needs to make better choices. You screw with the wrong people, and it involves consequences. Understand what I’m trying to say?”
Aktur smiled weakly. “Such a shame… Oh well, back to organizing…You three going to leave or be entertained by my chores?”
Edgar started to walk towards him slowly, followed by the other two. “There’s a problem Aktur. When we leave, you’ll just send more of your goons after us to do your dirty work. We’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
“Hahaha! You’re joking right…?” He paused, grinning. The grin slowly turned into a disappointed face. “You aren’t…very well. It’s your own death wish. You could have died quickly through my other methods. Now, torturing you slowly will be a pleasure.”
He rolled his sleeves up, revealing his huge arms, with two inch long sharp claws at the end of his fingers. He whipped his hair back out of his eyes, flashing his fangs as his head was all the way back. Slowly, his arm stretched out, his hand curving then beckoning them to make the first move.
Without hesitation, the three lunged at Aktur. He surprisingly moved quick, kicking Louis in the stomach midair, dodging Nina, and slashing Edgar all at once. Louis flew backwards from the kick, his breath stolen from such an unexpected blow, then finally landing on his back, struggling to catch a quick breath.
Aktur took the opportunity to jump on his stomach again, crouching quickly and bending down, looking furiously into Louis’s eyes.
“Time for you to die!” Raising his arm, and striking with lightning speed, Aktur went for Louis’s neck. Edgar and Nina regrouped, then started for Aktur. They were too late. All five of his claws were finger deep into Louis’s whole neck.
Louis’s eyes were wide with terror and pain, afraid of death…loss of immortality. Everything seemed to happen in minutes, when it only lasted seconds. Near tears with his hands gripping Aktur’s killing arm, Louis tried to cry “no”, only able to mouth it instead. Aktur pulled outward quickly, ripping Louis’s head and part of his spinal cord in all right out of its place.
Louis realized what had happened, it all seemed so unreal. Slowly, and ever so gradually, he faded to black.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Edgar screamed as loud as his voice could allow him. “DAMN YOU SON OF A BITCH!!” Edgar’s legs felt like a thousand pounds each. He couldn’t move. He just saw his best friend get killed in seconds. They had underestimated Aktur… Nina stood frozen in fear and confusion, no knowing what to do next.
Aktur stood up, Louis’s head still held by its hair. Slowly, he turned facing Edgar and Nina. “You see what happens? You just sacrificed your friend’s life. Now Edgar, for more torture! You’ll watch the girl die next!” Throwing down the head, Aktur lunged at Nina with incredible speed.
In midair, Edgar T-boned Aktur, making them fly towards a wall of corpses and bones. They crashed, sending piles of bones and corpses from up high to come crashing down on them. Edgar and Aktur battled off slashing a bit at each other as they wrestled.
Aktur jumped up to his feet and pulled Edgar up with him. Nina joined, making Aktur’s maneuvers harder to execute.
After a few minutes of thrashing, Aktur managed to uppercut Edgar square in the jaw, sprawling him backwards to the cold ground. Instantly, he grabbed Nina and tossed her in the opposite direction of Edgar.
Aktur quickly climbed atop of her, about to strike. “YOU'RE DONE NOW!”

To be continued...