2,9 Honeymead
Gangster Raid
Bullets spray cement down on the man ducking behind a large metal trash bin as they hit the wall behind him sending bits and pieces of the brick flying as they ricochet off the wall. Pinned down the man sets his suitcase down and opens it up, pulling out a rifle and quickly assembling it. More rounds hit the wall and then there is silence for a moment. The man, John Doe shouts out “You missed!”
More gunfire erupts, buying him time to finish assembling the gun, push the magazine in, give it a slap. A pull later and the rifle is ready. John draws his sword and lays it on the ground in front of him. Gangsters. When he heard of the strange noises going on in a building in Honeymead District he had thought perhaps it was something supernatural going on.
He and Jane had interrogated one of the gangsters who had been speaking about it. Information was easy to get if you knew how to ask.
The place was like a gangland war zone. Jane was pinned down across on the other side of the building. He was stuck here for the moment. Only for the moment. He was no normal human and these gangsters were. They didn’t know they stood no chance against him. Spinning John comes around the corner, a single shot rings out from his rifle taking one of the three gang members in the face. Blood sprays out and skull fragments clatter on the floor as the body jerks suddenly. Before it has a chance to fall John is rolling sideways, bullets from the two remaining gangsters kicking up dust on the floor around him.
He comes up aiming and a second crack rings out the .308 round taking the second gangster in the heart, dropping him before the first gang member has even hit the floor. John pivots slightly, still in a kneeling stance and aims. The last remaining gangster fires, the shot wild, the pistol in his hand held sideways. John sees the bridge of his nose appear in the sights of his rifle and pulls the trigger. Another red spray appears in the air and the third body collapses.
Rising he walks over to the bodies and plucks his rewards from them, some cash, meth, 10mm rounds. Pathetic. He was hoping these losers might be carrying the same rewards that had been found on the docks.
Spinning he brings his rifle up at a movement caught out of the corner of his eye. Jane. He lowers the gun seeing the shapely silhouette framing the nearby doorway. “You hit?”
“No. I’m fine. Are you?” Jane stepped from the shadows toward John. Her boots had every footfall echoing out in the distance between them. Her lips and chin were gore-streaked. She had fed. The thought excited John. Her blood was like heroin to him. He was a junkie as far as her blood went, he was hopelessly addicted to her.
Her voice is musical to John. It always has been. Even before she became what she is Jane held a certain mystical quality about her. One that made her seem powerful, special, even when their stepfather was doing his best to despoil her, break her.
“I didn’t hear any gunfire from your side of the building.” He said as she reached his side. Her eyes scan the scene before her, the bodies and she gives a little grin at the sight.
“No,” she says, “you wouldn’t. I didn’t use a gun.”
The woman next to him had been his sister until she was murdered and revived by a vampire. A vampire who had enthralled their stepfather and came for the two of them to avenge his slave’s death at Jane’s hands. He had not just destroyed the humanity of Jane though. He had also tainted John with his blood, He had made him what he was. John was not sure now that he was the de facto man of the house what to do now. The gang shipment that had been washed ashore had made him plenty money, the events earlier on in December had seen the vampire who had enslaved him and his sister destroyed and after he had been found by a tattooed warrior in the sewers and brought into the fold as one of them he had gained control over his former sister. It was awkward, she was the smart one, she was the charming one, the strong one. She should have been in charge. Fate was twisted and it had left him at the helm of a ship adrift on the high seas devoid of any form of navigation or steering.
“Did you get any loot?”
“Some, they weren’t carrying much John. An Uzi, a glock and a shotgun.”
John noticed several other people beginning to arrive. They moved like Jane, the arrogant saunter, predatory grace. Vampires. Even though he was the equivalent of a super-soldier with his supernatural gifts he was still mostly untrained and no match for most vampire. All but the weakest of them could kill him with ease. “That’ll have to do for now then. This place is becoming too dangerous. Let’s get out of here.”
“As you wish.” Jane's eyes wander over the new arrivals as they slink into the shadows of the building, disappearing. Sounds of gunfire erupt further into the depths of the building.
Together the two retreat, leaving the killing grounds to the alpha predators of the night. It was safer to leave than risk discovery.
