Christian Belock's Story

Four days had passed since Viktor and Valentina's engagement with the hunters, and there had been no change in his condition. He had yet to regain consciousness, but it was difficult to say if it was an affect of the toxin, or if it was a conscious decision to retain his strength.

Fortunately the groups efforts in tracking down Jaeda had proved successful - if expensive.

If all went well, they would have the necessary means of treating the toxin tonight. Valentina had been left behind to monitor Viktor's condition, and to keep her out of immediate danger. Vampire or not, she still had the mentality and understanding of a child, and the hunter's HQ was no place for her.

Christian, Varia, Arien, and Talyria where all in the company of Jaeda though, prepared to infiltrate the HQ. If all went according to plan there would be minimal fighting, but they where prepared for things to go badly.

Arien walked near the back of the group, green eyes staring into the dark of the night perceptively. Swirls and flecks of crimson danced intermittently across his irises as he kept alert for unexpected life-sources wandering too close. A handgun was tucked into his jeans, and a ceremonial knife was strapped to his side within his jacket.

Conspicuous in its absence was the scar upon his face. He'd disappeared in the gap between the retrieval of the arrow and tonight, and when he'd returned, the burn was gone. He hadn't spoken of it, and had avoided questions should they have been asked.

Despite the teenage vampire's tendency towards taking very little seriously, he was focusing tonight. A few hunters he could shrug at - or at least thought enough of himself to say he could. But infiltrating their headquarters was enough to have him on edge.

Talyria's metallic midnight blue iris with Silver sunkist around the pupil stared into the darkness keenly with a look of half anticipation half determination. She had gone with studded leather armor consisting of a breastplate and fingerless gloves that cut off just before her elbow. Otherwise she wore a pure black microfiber t-shirt under the breastplate, black flare leg microfiber pants, and a pair of black leather combat style boots. This get up was old school, but it always suited her just fine considering battle possible situations. er armor was lightweight specially designed for agile movements. To avoid detection she pulled her hair into a ponytail then braided the ponytail and pulled on a pure black baseball cap. She visible held no weapons, but it didn't take her much, but a split second to summon a weapon and only a few seconds for it to manifest itself. She figured no weapons visible and on her, more chance of stealth. She looked about, surveying their surroundings then looked tot he company she was with. This was surely insane, but the stakes for not doing anything was worse than the stakes of them attempting this heist. She rolled her shoulders in a means to loosen up the partial tense muscles. She prayed this would go off with little to no problems. She nodded to the people that she was ready. She glanced to Jaeda, giving her a look that told clearly, that she didn't trust the once human hunter. It was ironic though that she didn't trust the woman since she herself was once human. Yet, her motivations behind it were solid as steel. She prayed they would make it back to Viktor in time.

Jaeda skimmed her eyes around the vampires she was to lead that night. She nodded to them each in turn. "I'm going to warn you about a few of our largest threats before we go in. I'm not as worried about the normal guards. I think I can trust you to deal with them. And if you can't do that much, I'd rather have you leave right now." The ex-huntress glanced over them again.

"Now, there's likely a hunter called Duke in there. Big blonde man. Shoots out holy swords of light. He's quick, ruthless. There's a banshee who can phase through walls. There's also a newer hunter I've never seen in action, but before I left, there were a lot of rumors he was fairly powerful. Has wings and horns. White and purple. It would be best for you not to engage these individuals in the unlikely event that we run into them. There's a few cameras on the east side of the building I'm going to disable, and we'll make it in through the garage door."

The plan was carried out very simply, very easily. As they began to come close to Hatyara HQ, Jaeda dissipated into a flurry of bats, which scattered around the area. It wasn't suspicious or easy to pinpoint that way.

Some perched along the cameras on the east side of the building, ripping at the wires that kept them running. When they were all disabled, Jaeda materialized behind a pair of guards and took one out, using his knife to swiftly down the other.

It was like a video game solution. They had key cards, which Jaeda used to open the gates for her group. She beckoned them inside after stealing one of the Hatyara guard uniforms from the guard. One would think it was hardly necessary. People could identify Jaeda by face easily enough. Even though she'd been there a while, however, the woman had certainly changed since her recent affliction.

She opened the door within the garage, which seemed empty. The same was said for the hallway she guided them down. "I chose the least busy time for Hatyara. Evening and morning hours aren't quite bustling," she assured them.

They would come to a large, domed room that had nothing but a large platform beneath their feet. Lights adorned the walls, but they were dim. There was a room to the side with controls, separated with a thick, bulletproof glass.

"This descends into the labs. They're underground."

As they slipped inside the building, Arien paused by the fallen guards. He knelt quickly by each of them and made a miniscule cut in one of their arteries. With a flick of his wrist, he drew out small threads of their blood into two small vials that he produced from inside his jacket, before slipping them back inside. Once he was done, the cuts sealed shut again.

"Just in case," he murmured if anyone thought to question him, before continuing on with the others. Taking samples of the guards' blood would give his blood magic a greater edge against them, should it come down to it.

As they moved through the facility, he kept his senses peeled for any guards. He could sense life within the building, faintly and vaguely enough for him to be reassured it wasn't nearby.

"Seriously?" Varia asked as Arien was pocketing the vials of blood. "Come on, you're wasting time," she muttered.

Her weapons where sheathed so as to keep her hands free, but she was armed to the teeth with a wide assortment of blades ranging from knifes of a few inches in length to the the two swords on her back that where closer to two and three feet in length. Varia was clearly of the mind that more was better when it came to weapon availability. Between the assortment of silvered blades totaling seven in total, it was a wonder she wasn't a danger to herself.

She made the mental note of the descriptions given on people to avoid and noting the likelihood that they might encounter them as Jaeda had said it was unlikely. She watched as Jaeda transformed into a bunch of bats and couldn’t help but smile at the tactics. It was a rather clever antic to avoid detection. Though she was curious how well they paid attention to their camera surveillance. She relaxed once Jaeda had returned and watching her easily take out the guard.

She watched as everyone made their way into the facility. She paused by Arien curious of his intentions were for the blood. She shrugged and continued on without second thought to his motivations. She just wanted to get this whole thing over with and Viktor alive, well so to speak, and take care of the debt she owed him for all his kindness.

The floor hummed beneath their feet. There was definitely a machine down there, and the thin grooves where the wall met the floor spoke even more of its nature. There was a distinct magical presence around them, even in the midst of cold metal and machines. An surge of it dancing around the entire room.

"We need to get in there using the control room," said Jaeda. "That can be a bitch to get into if you're not a trusted slayer. Luckily..." A slow grin came to the vampire woman's face.

The magical energy around them seemed to sink into the ground. There was a high beep, and with only that as a warning, the ground beneath them shifted. Whole sections of the floor liquefied completely and jutted upward to envelop the hands and feet of the company around the ex-huntress, sinking them into the floor.

In the window above at the control room, Sargas Lace smirked at Jaeda. "It's going to be difficult to separate them as such, so they're all going to cell A-57. Vampire Wing. We can put them in different cells later. All the same, good work, Jaeda Fleischer. Welcome back. I haven't seen such a great catch in an age."

"You bitch." Arien swore, struggling against the restraints for a few seconds before realising it was pointless. "How the fuck can you do this when you're a fucking vampire?! What's so special about you that means they won't kill you, huh? Can make an exception there, but not for when we're just minding our own fucking business?"

He bit down forcefully on his cheek, letting blood pour out of it and into his mouth. Crimson gathered in his eyes angrily as he focused his will on Jaeda, all the intensity of his anger pouring into his words as he tried to dominate her utterly. "Fucking kill yourself, bitch."

He didn't really expect it to work. She'd likely feel the tug, a brief desire to end herself, a taste of what Arien felt towards her... but with her not even looking directly into his eyes and likely quite used to resisting vampiric compulsion, even the blood magic probably wouldn't be able to get her to do anything that drastic.

Arien spat blood at her feet.

She glowered at Jaeda. She considered summoning a weapon to her aid to cut her down where she stood, but reconsidered with all consideration of their location. She turned to Arien; his statement was absolutely right. She glanced back to Jaeda. "in all due time Arien." She said coldly. "In all due time, every cobra dances with a mongoose and looses." Her voice was icy cold, void of emotion despite the turmoil inside her as it raged on, begging to be released and relieve the woman of her head. She hoped her comrades would understand the analogy and understand that time for planning was at hand in comparison to fighting with them. Jaeda knew nothing about what exactly she was, and she would be sure to completely use that to their advantage, but not just yet. They needed to penetrate the compound deeper for the antitoxin. *A little long Viktor.* She thought to herself.

The group found themselves in a cell contained within three walls of some metallic substance with the fourth wall formed out of an energy field of some sort. There where other cells down here, and the one across from them appeared to be occupied by a woman.

Varia turned on Christian, grabbing a fist full of his jacket.

"I told you that we couldn't trust that bitch," she spat vehemently.

"Calm down," he told her. "Maybe it's part of the plan?"

"Part of the plan?" she asks incredulously. "She fucking betrayed us. And worse yet, they probably know exactly where Viktor is."

"Yeah yeah... look let's just find a way out of here," he answered.

His flippant attitude had Varia's blood boiling, and she wanted nothing more than to drive her fist into his face as she grit her teeth.

"Already on it." Arien murmured, taking a seat on the ground and pulling the vials of blood out of his jacket. Keeping his activities largely concealed by hunching over his lap, he began to focus intently on the first vial, drawing the blood out and gathering it above his hand in a small sphere. With his free hand, he pulled a knife out, and slowly drew it over his palm. His own blood trickled out and he brought it upwards to swirl around the sphere. Both his and the vial's blood began to smoulder with an unnatural smoke, giving off faint crimson light.

After a few minutes, he drew the vial's and his blood together, merging them with a hiss and a flash of brighter light. He then began work on the second vial, repeating the process in silence.

The woman in the other cell stirred slightly as they began to speak. She glanced over each of the newcomers with dead eyes before slumping back into her previous position with a haggard sigh.

"Abandon hope, all ye who enter here..." she rasped out softly before clearing her throat. "My suggestion is one of you kill the rest. Then, at least, only one of you will have to brave the torture." The woman apparently found this funny and launched into a breathy laugh, almost as if she was coughing.

Guards were situated at a room to the entrance of the hallway that lead to the cells, wearing a gun on one hip loaded with silver rounds, and on the other, long knives that glowed with blessings from a priest. Their armor had high necks and were dotted with various silver charms. Some were rosaries, others were witch's knots. The variation was too large to list. Each guard had other personal touches to them, but they were minute. They were mostly uniform.

The bulbous pillars down the center of the hallway emitted a soft light that colored the cells blue. They sent out signals that tried to detect other functioning energies within the cells that were foreign to Hatyara's personnel, either that of technology used by a prisoner, or things closer to magic and ability power. If the signal detected a foreign energy, it bounced back to the detector, which sent out an energy wave in pursuit of scrambling and upsetting the prisoner's meddling. A second detector wave was then sent out to make sure it had succeeded. Should it have failed, an alarm would be triggered.

The energy walls that provided their cell gates were solid, and burned if one pressed their bodies against it for too long. Security cameras were set right into the walls of the cells, watching them.

So it was, then, that the energy detector honed in on Arien's blood magic workings, and delivered a violent pulse of scrambling energy to his mind. He gasped with the shock, the unexpected jolt upsetting the fine balance of will in his mind that served to keep the demonic influences of the magic at bay.

He was forced to let the magic go, the blood falling to the floor in a splatter, to avoid very bad consequences.

"So much for that." he muttered irritably. It was possible, knowing what was coming, that he might be able to withstand the disruptor. But it would likely alert their captors, since they obviously had some way of detecting magic. He'd bide his time further with the remaining vial, instead.

After pocketing the vial again, he looked up at the woman in the other cell. "Torture, huh? They just get more morally upstanding by the second." he muttered. "I thought most slayers at least tried to pretend they were the good guys."

She looked around, studying the cell. She hoped maybe a weakness was somewhere within the cell or its structure. She frowned, but figured to test the theory. She ripped a small shred of fabric from her shirt sleeve and tossed it at the doorway in a ball. After seeing the end result she knew better than to try anything more in that approach.

Her head darted up from the floor as she was examining it for weakness at the sound of a foreign voice. She heard the woman's comment clearly along with the raspy tone it had originally partaken before clearing up. She raised a brow curious of the woman. She walked close to the barrier that sealed them in to try to see the woman.

Her only response to the woman was in a calm almost cold tone, "Well they have made you quite the sweet Cheshire puss haven't they?"

She sighed and leaned back against the wall and said aloud in a emotionless tone, "Let me guess, stakes, crosses, holy water, acid, and the whole I hurt but keep you alive lame nine yards eh? Sounds like these boys have a serious lake of imagination."

"As much as I am not fond of Christian, Varia, now in this small cell, hot headedness will not...hmmm..." She narrowed her eyes in thought and curiosity.

"Arien, that thing honed onto your magic right?" She softened her voice to just above a whisper as she knelt beside him. "What about a kinesis of sorts. Think that will work?"

The person who'd walked down the hall wasn't one of the guards that were stationed at the entrance of the cell hallways, but a face that was very familiar to at least one of the vampires down there.

Sargas, the pastily white, unassuming being that had been up in the command room above when they'd been imprisoned. White wings stretched out behind him, tipped with purple. This seemed to be the trend with the rest of him- his lips, his hair, the horns atop his head that met in the back, creating a circular crown nestled within his hair. He donned a long, black coat that swept the ground. At his side, there was a rapier, the hilt artfully curving into the beak of a wyvern.

He had one hand outstretched, as if to skim his fingers across the walls of energy that separated him from countless dangerous criminals, but they were just a hair away from contact. A smug little smile danced across those pale lips. He stopped in front of Arien's cell, giving him a side glance.

"I never thought you would dance into here so easily. Tut, tut, little vampire. I'd so hoped we'd have another tango."

Arien smirked derisively at Sargas, "What, so I could send you running like a little girl a second time?" he mocked, eyes swirling with a familiar crimson as he met the pale being's eyes. For one previously affected by the vampire's blood magic, it was a chilling sight - threads of his dominance still leftover in the victim's subconscious.

"Just be glad there's a barrier between us. I won't give you the luxury of a retreat next time." he spat.

"If I'd had my way with you then, that encounter would have been much different," hissed Sargas. "Unfortunately we need to be more quiet about our endeavors. Too late now." A wash of disappointment washed over his face as he shrugged. "I'll just have to resume my search, I suppose. You'd of been a great toy."