The Vampire's Apprentice

"You know, when she told me she had kind of a crazy plan, I would have never expected it to be quite this crazy," Alain said.

Currently, they were all inside an alley, just down the street from where Sable had disappeared into the slums. When she'd told them what her plan was, they'd all decided to stick as close to her as possible without being seen, because they knew that the instant she went through with it, the Tribunal was likely to descend upon her.

"Look sharp," Heather commented, peering out from inside the alley. "I think it's happening."

Alain tensed, checking to make sure his guns were fully loaded. After confirming they were, he leaned against the wall next to his mother in order to get a better view. A few seconds later, an old man dressed in dirty rags came sprinting down the street, screaming his lungs out.

"Vampire!" he called. "I just saw a fucking vampire! Oh, God, she's after me! She's going to eat me!"

"Is this seriously the plan?" Felix deadpanned as the panicked man sprinted past them. "Getting some crazy homeless man to draw their attention by scaring the living shit out of him?"

"Yes," Alain replied evenly. "Give it a minute, we'll see how it works."

"This has got to be the worst-"

Felix didn't even get to finish his sentence before several shapes descended from the rooftops, landing below and taking off in the direction the homeless man had just run away from.

"I stand corrected,' Felix said.

They all took off running after the shapes, who turned out to be four men in black cloaks. They soon realized they were being followed, as two of them turned around and began to move towards them.

"Heather, Az, you handle these two," Alain said as him and Felix kept moving. "And try not to kill them – we need them alive."

"No promises," Heather growled, drawing a revolver in one hand and a wooden stake in the other.

Alain didn't get to see the beginning of their fight, as him and Felix rushed past the two vampires without stopping. Gunshots from behind them told him everything he needed to know about how it was going, though.

"No offense, but your mother scares me," Felix commented as they ran.

Alain didn't offer a response, as the two of them approached the next city block. Sable was there, standing in the middle of the road, two other vampires closing in on her. Alain wasted no time in raising his shotgun and firing off both barrels at the nearest one. Buckshot rained down upon the man, causing him to flinch, and he turned around, his eyes ablaze with pure hatred. He began to rush towards Alain as he reloaded, but Sable cut him off before he could there, grabbing the vampire and slamming his head into a nearby building as hard as she could.

"You two handle the other one, I've got him!" she called.

Alain closed his shotgun and thumbed back the hammers just as the last vampire got to him and Felix. He raised his weapon, but the vampire was too fast, and grabbed it before he could fire off a shot, then ripped it from his hands. He went to break the gun over his knee, but Felix stopped him with a few shots from his rifle. The vampire was forced to drop the gun and retreat, and Alain retrieved his weapon as both men closed in on where he had run.

The vampire suddenly lunged out from the darkness, his fist cocked back. Alain screamed as the man made impact with his leg; it felt as if someone had just smashed him with a sledgehammer, and he was amazed that his leg wasn't instantly broken by the force of the impact. He accidentally discharged one barrel of his shotgun involuntarily, the buckshot flying harmlessly into the air as he fell to the ground. The vampire closed in on him once more, the time intending to crush his head, but he didn't get a chance before Felix let loose with several more rounds from his rifle.

The vampire fell off Alain, and he fired the last shell in his gun at the man at point-blank range. The vampire let out a pained hiss as buckshot pellets ripped through him, but none of them were lethal, or even incapacitating. He staggered back, in obvious pain, but still very much in the fight. Alain and Felix, meanwhile, both dropped their long guns and drew their revolvers.

The vampire charged, this time aiming for Felix, who fell back just in time to avoid having his chest caved in by a powerful blow. Alain fired off several shots at the vampire, who was able to avoid them all. With a growl of frustration, Alain checked the cylinder of his weapon, noting he only had three shots left, and that there was no time to reload.

"Felix, get his attention," he said.

"Get his attention?" Felix echoed. "What the hell are you going to do?"

"Something incredibly stupid. Hopefully it works."

"Hell, your crazy plans have never steered us wrong before…" Felix cleared his throat. "Hey, buddy! Your leader is a bloodsucking bottom-feeder, and you're all stuck hiding in a mountain because humanity kicked your asses so hard!"

The vampire's face contorted in rage, and he advanced upon Felix, intending to go in for a killing blow. Felix tensed, waiting for the pain to arrive, but it never came; Alain cut the vampire off, tackling him to the ground. They both fell, but before the man could get up, Alain pressed the barrel flush to his head, then thumbed the hammer back and pulled the trigger three times. The vampire's head fell back, his brains painted against the pavement underneath his body. Alain stared at him for a moment before letting out a breath, then rising to his feet.

"I thought you wanted them alive," Felix said, offering Alain his shotgun. "What changed?"

"That guy was a huge pain in my ass, that's what," Alain hissed. "Fuck me, my leg feels like shit… bastard. Hopefully, the others had an easier time than we did."

"Alain!" Sable called, running down the street. He turned to face her, and noted she was covered in small injuries, but nothing major. That being said, her hands were also dripping with black blood, though he could tell that none of it was hers. She stopped a short ways away, eyeing them both up and down. "You both alright?"

"For a given definition of the word," he answered. "Honestly, if you think this is bad, just look at the other guy."

Sable blinked, then peered past them. She scowled when she saw the fallen vampire's body.

"I thought the plan was to-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Alain conceded. "But I figure we only really need one, right? So long as Az did his job right, we should be okay."

"But not your mother?" Felix asked.

"Felix, you've met my mother. There's no way in hell she let that vampire live."

XXX

As it turned out, Alain was exactly right – when they found Az and Heather, they were both standing over a fallen vampire, who had been riddled with bullets before a stake was driven through his heart. Az, at least, had the other vampire slug over his shoulder, clearly unconscious, with his legs bent in a very unnatural position.

"At least someone did things right…" Sable muttered. "Okay, let's get out of here."

"Where are we taking him, exactly?" Heather asked.

"You've got a perfectly good abandoned building that you're staying out of. I say we put that to use."

"That's fine, just try not to stain the walls or floor too bad – vampire blood is always so hard to clean off."

"Yup," Felix commented to Alain as they walked. "Still scary."

Again, Alain offered no response.

XXX

"Hold on, he's waking up."

They all watched as the vampire stirred awake, though it wasn't gentle – the pain in his legs made him grimace, and a low moan of agony escaped him,

"Fuck me…" he breathed. He tried to look around, though the blindfold over his eyes made it impossible. "Where am I?"

"Good question," Heather answered as she leaned over him. "Unfortunately for you, I'm the only one who'll be asking those."

For emphasis, she reached down and put pressure on both of his broken legs. The man screamed, and she reached up and grabbed him by the head.

"Talk to me," she ordered. "What is the Tribunal planning?"

"Filthy fucking human," the vampire spat. "Why should I speak with you? You're so far beneath me it's not even funny."

"That's odd, considering I've killed plenty of your kind. What does it say about you as a species if so many of you have fallen to a lowly, ordinary human?"

The vampire fell silent, and Heather released his head.

"I'll ask again," she declared. "What is the Tribunal planning? I suggest you answer, unless you'd like for me to start taking pieces off of you."

"Is this really okay?" Felix asked. Currently, they were all standing just outside the room, watching Heather's interrogation. "Seems a bit… heavy-handed, I guess."

"Don't feel any sympathy for him," Sable said without looking back at Felix. "Whatever the Tribunal is trying to do, it's not going to be good for anyone but them, and he knows it."

The man suddenly screamed again, and Alain winced when he saw what had happened – Heather just taken one of his fingers.

"Shall I take another one?" Heather demanded. "Who knows, sooner or later I might just get to a piece of you that you do care about. Like, hm… that'd be a good one."

She pointed her dagger at his groin, pressing the tip of the blade against it. The vampire's breath hitched, and she smirked, knowing she had him.

"My, my," she all but purred. "Seems men are the same no matter what species they are. Somehow, I'm not surprised."

"Don't," the vampire gasped. "Please, I'll… I'll tell you everything."

"Get to talking, then," Heather commanded. "I want to know it all. Who's in charge, what are they trying to accomplish, how do they intend to get there, and where can we find them?"

"It's… Thorne," the man managed to get out. "She wants to bring back the old ways, where vampires were the dominant species and could do whatever they want."

"See? Now we're getting somewhere." Heather leaned in. "Where can we find her?"

"Not here," the vampire hurriedly said as Heather positioned the knife against his groin once more. "At least, not yet. When she learns we failed, she'll come here herself, though – she intends to lift the Veil once and for all in order to get rid of all of you. At that point, she figures that her plan will have advanced far enough that the Veil won't matter anymore."

"I see," Heather said with a nod. "A few more questions, then you can go… how does Lilith factor into all this?"

"Lilith…?" he echoed. "You know about-"

"I'm a vampire hunter, honey. It's my job to know everything about your kind, including the stuff you deliberately keep hidden from everyone. Answer the damn question, already."

"T-Thorne intends to channel her power using a ritual!" he stammered. "It'll require a lot of human sacrifices, but she thinks she has a way to do exactly that! What happened in Los Banos showed her there was a way, but I don't know the specifics."

Heather scowled. "How many members of the Tribunal are involved?"

"It's not all of them, just Thorne and some loyalists to her. The other elders don't know a thing, and neither does Lawrence or his men. I swear, that's everything I know!"

"Well, that's great." Heather stood up, pulling the knife away from the captive vampire's crotch. "Thank you, you've been very helpful."

Then, without warning, she drew her revolver and put a single bullet in the vampire's head. He slumped over, dead, and she holstered her weapons before turning back to Alain and his friends.

"Did that all make sense to you?"

"It did," he confirmed with a nod. "Good Lord, I knew Thorne wasn't trustworthy, but this… I never could have expected this."

"So what do we do now?" Sable demanded. "Wait for Thorne to show up?"

"Afraid so," Alain said. "But somehow, I don't think we'll have to wait very-"

He paused when he heard something outside – it sounded like a chorus of panicked screaming. They all froze at the sound of it, but then rushed over to the nearby window. Outside, a horde of people were sprinting down the street, away from the city's center. And off in the distance, a cloud of darkness was steadily spreading through the city.

"Holy shit…" Felix breathed. "Guys, that looks just like-"

"It does," Alain confirmed. "It's just like the darkness we saw in Los Banos."