Alex had been crafting all night and needed a break, she sent Madison a text message asking her friend if she was free later and wanted to hang out or cause some trouble. She then got undressed to take a short soak in the reflecting pool she had in her hideout, leaning back and relaxing after the tedium of making the traps she paid her decorator with. Not just traps, either. Dozens of rigged cameras a month as someone keep taking them from all the places that Kira and Alexandrea owned lately.
She wondered if the bombs that she and some human, whose name she had forgotten, had made and stashed near the gate of the Quarantine Zone were still there. The urge to blow something up was getting stronger lately and Alex just needed to work up the courage to do it. And find some extra hands to help. The guards would need to be distracted long enough for the bombs to be placed in enough places that the whole gate would collapse, not just slightly open as it did when Enver had crashed his car into it.
Giggling slightly at the idea of the mayhem the undead creatures that were trapped there would cause if they were let free to wander the city, she chanted softly to herself; "Zombies and Feral and Mooncalves... oh my."
She didn't really want to hurt anyone deep down, she just had a strange idea of what was funny.
Besides, if the humans saw all those critters running around the town, the masquerade was bound to break. And then the vampires could save the humans from the other undead creatures and they could all get along and help each other. She hoped. Alex believed what the Wraith Guide, Eskoph, had told her. The real threat to the city was Crow and the Fae. In her mind, an alliance between the humans and the vampires was the best way to protect themselves against the threat of Crow and the Fae.
If only she could just get up the guts and find someone to help. Maybe a few someones. They could set the bombs that Alex had stored away, if they were still there. While Alex provided the distraction giving her helpers the best chance at escaping without being seen. Alex would try to run herself, but as it was her plan... if anyone was to get caught, it should be her. If that happened, she wondered just how the hell she would explain what she had done to Jarrett.
Who could she ask? She didn't know many of the other members in the Fifth Column, yet. Enver had just introduced her recently. Well, she could ask Maddie and Enver... it wouldn't hurt to just ask. Maybe they would know others too. Now it was just a question of was Alex brave enough to try.
Standing up, she climbed out of the pool and walked dripping water across the floor as she went to dry and dress in the small bedroom. She took her phone with her hoping to hear back from Madison.
((deleted and re-posted due to run on sentences, lol.))
Madison made her way through the dank darkness of the sewers, heading from Wickbridge towards the quarantine zone. Taking the pseudo shortcut past the d'Artois training room she was delighted as she caught a glimpse of a naked backside heading in the same direction as she. He made it out of the tunnel and into the one that lead up to the quarantine zone when Madison stealthily caught up to him. Tapping the man on the shoulder, he spun around with his weapon out but before he could get a swing off at her, Madison shot the paladin in the face.
Blood sprayed in all directions as the two bullets she had shot at point blank range went right through the paladin's head. He never had a chance. Her tongue slipped out of her mouth to lick away the spatter of blood that had hit her face as his body crumpled to the ground. Madison never cared enough to dispose of the bodies she left in the sewers and stepped over his just as another paladin came running around the corner, alerted by the sounds of her gun firing. He came at her swinging and managed to slice her side open. Roaring in anger she whipped her gun back out and started shooting wildly. Bullets sprayed all around, ricocheting off the sewer tunnel walls but one managed to hit the paladin square in the chest. Rushing forward Madison jumped upon the naked man like a ravenous dog, knocking him to the ground and sending his weapon skidding across the floor. Shoving the barrel of her gun straight into the man's mouth she pulled the trigger.
Getting back up to her feet she checked the wound the paladin had given her. His blade had sliced right through her brand new blouse and stained it with her blood but the wound beneath the cloth was not bad and already healing up. To give herself time to fully heal she took her time going to the sewer entrance. Climbing the ladder up and out of the sewers, Madison found herself in the quarantine zone. There were a few zombies milling about but she ignored them all and headed for the deserted asylum which was her favorite hunting grounds for monsters in the entire city.
As she neared the entrance Madison caught sight of a feral vampire hunched over a body laying on the ground. The creature was tearing flesh away from the bone, not eating it but simply ripping the body apart. Pulling out her sword instead of her gun she crept up on the damned monster and stabbed it in the back. With an unearthly cry the feral fell forward and then rolled to the side to face Madison. With claws stretched out it came at her with ferocity, swinging its hands at her in attempt to save its own measly life. The blows did little to stop her as she took another swing and decapitated the head of the feral from its body. To her delight the feral was bleeding out black blood. Taking an empty vial from her bag she knelt down beside the corpse and filled the vial with the caustic blood before turning and heading into the asylum.
Once inside Madison paused in the doorway and gave a look around. As her gaze scanned from left to right she caught sight of her decoy that was still standing off to the side, doing nothing as decoys do. But when her pale blue eyes scanned the area off to the right she was met with the horrifying sight of a fadebeast. The shadow creature was pacing the doorway that lead into a small room off to the right but Madison was not afraid of the beast as she had been previously. The last one of their kind she had come across she had slain, her first fadebeast kill.
Charging at the monster, she came at it swinging wildly. The blows did little to the fadebeast, some of them passing through its body as though it weren't even there but one swipe managed to slice open its throat. The fadebeast didn't seem to appreciate Madison's attempt to kill it and came back at her with gnashing teeth. Its arms wrapped around her before she could dodge it and the fadebeast bit straight into her head. Blood began to mat her hair as she tried to dislodge the beast from taking a chunk out of her head. Taking her sword she made a clumsy stab at the creature and managed to slice open its gut which was enough for it to let go of its bite. Again it came at her, this time with claws outstretched and slashing at her body. There was no time to react, no time to fend off the blows as time and time again the creature's claws bit into her flesh, spattering the asylum floor with her blood. Figuring out that she was outmatched, Madison ran in the other direction. The fadebeast didn't follow.
Running into the equally small room off to the left she huddled in the corner of the room to lick her wounds so to speak. It was as she was taking into account all the tears and rips in her clothing as well as all the nicks and cuts in her flesh that her phone began to vibrate in her pocket. Madison ignored it for the time being as her hands were on her head, feeling the holes created in it by the fadebeast's teeth. Those were healing slower than the rest as her body tried to rebuild her skull and tissue. Wiping her hands on her already blood-stained jeans she finally pulled out her phone to see a text from Alexandrea.
Madison hit reply and typed out a message back to her friend, "I'm in the deserted asylum right now. What did you want to do?"
HELBORNE First Turned PC Blood Thief NOT CURRENTLY ACTIVE IC
She finished dressing, choosing to wear several layers of clothes. If she was able to get her plan to work she would need enough clothes on to last for an entire song. The idea of stripping on the roof of the morgue both terrified and excited her at the same time. Could she do it? Alex wasn't sure but she wanted to be ready just in case.
Her phone beeped and Alexandrea picked it up, reading Madison's message and texting her back quickly. 'I'll meet you there. Have a few things to pick up on the way but I 'll be quick.'
Alex had passed by a shop the other day that had an old fashioned "boom box" displayed in the window, she hoped it was still there. She skipped taking the train, running was faster. The man working there was about to lock the door and close but after sweet talking him, Alex managed to get him to let her in.
The bulky old radio and cassette player hadn't been sold yet and the shopkeeper let her plug it in and see that it worked. Alex picked out a cassette tape from the store's collection and turned the volume up to hear how well it would play. It wasn't as good as a cd player but it would suit her needs. Paying the man extra for his time, Alexandrea went to get batteries next, checking to be sure that the tape player still worked with them as the power source as well as it did with the cord. She got some looks from the other people in the drug store when she cranked up the music too loudly but she just grinned and left, the music still playing as she went down the street.
The song ended and she turned the player off before breaking into another run and then jumping over the river to head for the deserted asylum. Alex went in and started looking for Madison, ignoring a zombie that lurched passed.
"Maddie? Where are you?" Alex sang out cheerfully. "Come out, come out, where ever you are... "
People were trying to bring his spirits down, but Enver wasn't feeling any of it. Sure, he felt a little off kilter, but the guy really didn't care. It wasn't like he got up to doing much with his nights. Truth was, Enver was kind of the lazy sorts, but he'd like to think he was 'relaxed.' He first notice things in his life were being affected by some of the thing he tried to do. Making traps, picking locks for things Lel needed, but when the guy couldn't kill an ancient zombie, he knew his luck was going downhill. And it made him chuckle at the wasted effort of the person trying to ruin his nights. He definitely ruffled some feathers and it didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out who had their panties in a twist. The big, bad owls. The hypocrites, lairs and slaughterers of their kind. He only hoped Eskoph had something in store for them once he and the wraith put The mischeivous Crow out on his ***.
He snapped his fingers. He hadn't spoken to Eskoph in a while. Enver grabbed out his phone, tracked the location of the guy and caught the train to the other side of the town. He didn't want the wraith to think Enver lost sight of his vision or had forgotten about him. "Evening." Enver nodded his head at Eskoph, then pulled his hat off as he looked around. The wraith guide stood there, as if he was protecting something, and Enver guessed he was in a sense. Not only his secrets for his known tricks of the trade, but intel on the fae, who was pretending to be a vampire. It made sense, didn't it? From what he could gather, this 'bounty system' was in play before he was around. Since the vampires came back around, from what it seemed. How did someone just make that up one night, after all the older ones were released? Or maybe it was before any of them were released, which meant the guy must have been living and had never died. But he was told all the vampires died and stayed that way for a long time. Too many holes in this bounty theory and this all mysterious Crow being.
"Thanks for pulling me out of that bind last week. I've been telling everyone what you did. I think I'm gathering some followers. Or some believers at least." Enver chuckled, then sat down by the guy. The wraith didn't say anything, he rarely did. Unless it was bestowing Enver with his infinite wisdom. "I'm thinking it's time we got serious about The Crow." Enver said quietly, finally sparking some life in the wraith. The guy sure did like talking about The Crow and didn't have anything positive to say about him. "I'm just not real sure how to go about it. Doubt the Crownet is hackable. Not the parts that lie about people getting bounties. Good thing you had your eye on me." Enver scoffed, then shook his head. "So that's not a choice." Enver continued, pushing past his own bounty discretion with the Fadebeast and cop incident over a week ago.
"The bounty thing gets some attention, but it's not big enough. And gets me close to getting killed. And now things are a little different." Enver trailed off, looking down at his wedding band. Eternity. He and Lel were tied together for an eternity. How long was that in vampire years? He twisted the band around his ring finger, then chuckled. It had been spontaneous, neither one of them giving it much thought, but he wasn't sorry about it. She'd have to deal with him and he'd have to deal with her. They'd fight, do stupid ****, but they'd have to work it out. They had no choice. He bit back another chuckle and then sighed. "I need a little more direction. I've got to do something on a big scale. Those people on the radio had it right a few nights back. But it has to be bigger than that." Enver nodded his head, then rubbed at his jawline. It sounded like a job for his friends at Fifth Column. They'd have to work together and hopefully, in the end, they could destroy this Crow guy.
He jolted up from his chair. Fifth Column had some good members in it, but they could always use more. Alexandrea came to his mind. After their incident at the QZ, Enver had walked away a little worried. Worried she might rat the incident out to others, but when nothing was said to him about it from others, Enver came to realize he could trust Alex. And if she wasn't telling anyone, that meant she didn't give a damn about the Masquerade. She'd be perfect for Fifth. Enver tugged out his phone from his suit coat, shoved a hand over his shoulder at Eskoph, with a "See you, buddy," Then began texting the woman.
"Hey. What are you up to, blondie?" He wondered if that sounded rude, but he figured he had a good idea that Alex wasn't one to get easily offended and knew he wasn't saying it to be a dick. After he hit send, Enver put the phone back in his pocket, grabbed the train and headed to Station Net Cafe. It was public, not far from a train so he could meet her, or she him and they could both enjoy a coffee or whatever while they talked.
Her fingers were tangled in her hair again when her cellphone vibrated and moved across the tile of the deserted asylum floor. A little square popped up on the screen signifying Madison had received another text message from Alexandrea. While still trying to detangle the mess the fadebeast had madeof her head, she leaned over to see what it said and simply left it there when she saw that Alex was on her way.
Slowly but surely all the tangles were worked out but her hands were covered with blood and strands of hair that had broken or pulled loose. She didn't need to have a mirror or a reflection to know that her normally blonde locks were not stained a pinkish-read color. The clothing she wore wasn't too horribly destroyed.They couldn't be worn again but none of the rips and gashes were over any areas that may have been considered lewd. Digging through her messenger bag, Madison searched for the little packets of wet wipes she had swiped from a local barbeque joint. As silly as it seemed to steal the little things, they sure came inhandy when cleaning up blood.
It was while she was giving herself a makeshiftbath with the wet wipes that she heard Alexandrea's voice call her from the entrance to the asylum. Madison shouted out so Alex could hear her, "I'm over here!"
Getting to her feet Madison swung her bag over her shoulder and moved to thedoorto greetAlex, "Hey Alex! Sorry I'm such a mess. Had a run in with a fadebeast that gave me quite the beating. It might still be in the building if we care to find it."
Normally she would have embraced the other blonde with a hug in greeting but in her current state she refrained from doing so. Instead she adjusted the bag on her shoulder and canted her head slightly to the left and questioned Alex, "So what's up?"
HELBORNE First Turned PC Blood Thief NOT CURRENTLY ACTIVE IC
Alexandrea wandered around the Deserted Asylum for only a few moments before she heard the voice of her friend calling out to her. Turning, she saw Madison coming towards her, looking like she had been in several serious battles.
Maddie made apologizes for her appearance and Alex just laughed, remembering the time they had stitched each other up after a battle with the naked sewer people had gone bad. "Why are you sorry? As if I haven't seen you looking roughed up before, Mad Maddie May?" Alex had a load of energy bursting throughout her body, so she went over to Madison and stroked her friend's arm, spending healing energy into the other woman.
Normally, Alex would have asked first but Madison was one of Alex's very best friends, her oldest friend in fact. So she was pretty sure Maddie wouldn't mind. She knew Alex loved her.
"A Fadebeast, huh? Normally I'd say let's go hunt it down but I have another idea in mind for our evenings entertainment... we might want to get you a bit cleaned up first though. I have an idea of a way to distract attention but no reason to take unnecessary chances."
Her phone went off just then and Alex pulled it out, seeing the message from Enver. She grinned but didn't reply just yet, instead she held the phone up so Madison could see the text on the screen.
"What's up is that I have a plan to shake things up around here and I think our buddy from that car crash a few weeks ago might be just the guy to rope into giving us a hand. What do you say, girlfriend? Want to cause some trouble with me? We can take the sewers or I can toss you over the river into the small park across from the old graveyard. Your choice if you want to come along."
She gave her fellow blonde a wicked grin and then texted a message back to Enver.
'I'm with my buddy Blondie 2 and trying to talk her into causing some mischief? Wanna come out and play with us? We're in the QZ but will be leaving soon. Meet at the Moonlight Cafe?'
As he waited for a reply from Alexandrea, Enver thought best how to broach the subject of joining a group that was against the Crow guy and the Masquerade. It wouldn't be easy, but he knew he was right, along with his buddies in Fifth Column. Just too many holes in the system and the elders weren't coughing up any info, which only put more suspicion in his mind.
His phone buzzed in his pocket and he grinned. He read the reply and tried to think hard on who Blondie 2 was. He snapped a finger and realized it was that other one from the car crash. She seemed a little...tense, but maybe, if he could get Alex to join, he might be able to get Madison to join. Friends did things that friends did and usually had the same opinions on things. But he'd need some help and the only two people he could think of was Killian and Vivi. Everyone else seemed quiet these nights.
Enver shot a reply to Alex, confirming he'd be there, then celerity'd to the cafe she asked to meet up at. He had a few minutes to spare, he guessed, so he sent a text to Vivi. "Hey, there. I've got some friends looking to start a ruckus. Thinking of bringing them in to Fifth, depending on how things go. Meet us at the Moonlight Cafe, if you're interested." Enver hit send, ordered a coffee and waited for Madison and Alex to show up.
Vivi was just chilling out in her room of the apartment, feeding Baby, when her phone buzzed with a new text. It took her only a moment to realize that the ruckus that Enver was talking about could most certainly lead to everyone involved being on the bounty list.
Not like she cared right now. Fifth had been so silent lately. She'd take any action over the general inaction that had been going on.
"Baby, guess what?" she said, petting the boa constrictor's head lightly. "Momma's gonna go meet some friends. There's going to be crazyness tonight."
The snake lifted her head, allowing the blond vampiress to press her lips to the top of her smooth scales.
"I might be home late."
With that, she returned the snake to her terrarium, dressed in dark blue skinny jeans, a black leather studded belt, tennis shoes, a light grey tank top, and a denim jacket, before sending a text to Enver.
I'll be there in less than five minutes. Looking forward to seeing you again. Been a while since we talked.
Sending the short message, Vivi left the apartment, taking the elevator to the ground floor. She'd been paranoid for far, far too long, and she knew it. She had to get out more. This would just be the beginning.
Upon finally reaching the Moonlight Cafe, Vivi entered the building, sliding one hand through her hair before taking a seat, not even looking around for Enver first. If she looked around for him, it might look suspicious.
That's okay, let's see how you do it Put up your dukes, let's get down to it!
Killian was sitting in the Catacombs, hunting ancient zombies for no reason other than he needed something to do and had entirely too many rounds for his Kalishnakov. Once he didn't see any more of them, though, the man decided to change tactics. He hadn't contacted anyone in Fifth Column in a while, so he took the phone dedicated just to members of the extremist faction from his back left pocket.
Scrolling through contacts quickly, he dialed Enver's number. The man was in the mood to stir up some ****, and his actor buddy was the perfect person to get ahold of for just such an occasion. He'd heard something on the news about a drunken actor driving his car into a security gate on the news last week, and there was no doubt about who it had been.
Waiting for the ringing on the other end to stop, Killian used Celerity to make it back to his house quickly and stock up on more ammunition. Even if Enver wasn't up for utter destruction tonight, he would still end up going on a spree. Shooting up gangbangers or something of that sort. Or, better yet, cops. He absolutely adored killing cops. It got so many people pissed off and afraid that they weren't safe that he wasn't able to resist.
He heard the telltale sound of his friend answering, and before Enver had the chance to speak, Killian started talking preemptively. "Enver, it's Kill. Got any plans for the night? I wanna **** some things up and raise the alert and was looking for a partner in crime."
What was taking them so long? He had gotten himself pretty damn comfortable in the cafe as he gulped down his drink. When he saw Vivi come in, Enver made eye contact with her, then looked around the place, as if he'd been looking for someone else. His head nudged to the seat across from him after a quick look around, then Enver scratched at his jawline as he waited for her to join him.
A quick snippet of an Ac/Dc song played, alerting Enver that someone was trying to call him. He wasn't sure who else would be calling him, his list of friends had decreased because a lot of his friends had died or decided to turn a new cheek and become another sheep in the pasture. It sickened Enver that people lost their desire to stand up for what was right and against the Crow, but he guessed he couldn't blame them any. After a handful of deaths, there was no option left, really. Play nice in the playground or die.
Enver scrolled his finger over the answer button and cleared his throat to say hello, but was cut off by an old friend. He chuckled as words spilled out from Killian's mouth on the other side. "Hey man. I'm just sitting here with a mutual friend," Enver paused, his eyes looking at Vivi as he gave her a wide grin before continuing, "We're about to have a little shin dig our self. Along with a few other new potential friends." Enver's eyes searched for the two blonds he'd been waiting for. "Why don't you join us? We're at Moonlight Cafe not far from the QZ. Bring a party favor."He chuckled, wondering just how much **** Killian wanted to **** up tonight and what that would do to the city. Vampires and humans lived side by side, but humans didn't know it. That had to change. Awareness was always the first needed step and if they planned on living side by side for the next few years (or forever), it was better to start sooner than later.
