Chapter 19.

  It was near dusk after Hank and Kramer finished their little party with Trevor. Scott was leaning against Hank’s car, having the last in an entire pack’s cigarette for the day. Hank was marching towards the car with the same look on his face Dad had when he found out one of Mom’s coworkers made a pass at her. That look meant some serious shit was about to go down.

  “What’s going on? Did Jacobin break?” Scott asked, tossing his butt.

  “Get in the car,” Hank said as he ripped the driver's side door open.

  “The fuck's going on?” Scott asked, looking in the window.

  “Get in the fucking car!” Hank said with the voice their dad used when he definitely would not repeat himself.

  Scott jumped in and struggled to buckle up as Hank pealed out of the parking lot, spinning in a doughnut to make his way to the road.

  “You want to hit the siren, now’s your chance,” Hank said as the engine of the BMW roared its way through the city towards the exit to the 485.

  “Oh, hell yeah!” Scott said, jamming his fingers on the siren, laughing as the blue light spun around Hank’s dash as he wove through traffic.

  “What’s the deal, what’s going down? What did Trevor say?” Scott asked.

  “Susin Collins, 776 Simmons Lane, Trevor buckled, said he was there, said she’s the killer, said he was at the scene, wrote the messages we found, but she’s the one who actually did the deed. Says he just helped set up the bodies, but the messages were her words, not his. Said she had some kind of power over him, she commanded him to do it,” Hank blew over two lanes to get on the highway as he revved the engine to eighty.

  “Susan Collins,” Scott thought for a second, “Fuck, you’re talking about Suvilia. She was his girlfriend, a big player at the parties,” Scott said.

  “I don’t give a fuck what she calls herself, either Trevor is trying to pin this on someone else or the blubbering mess gave us everything we needed. Either way, this bitch knows something and we’re going to find out,” Hank said, jumping off the main highway and onto the express Busway, his siren giving him ultimate authority to do whatever the fuck he wanted to do on the road.

  Dispatch buzzed Hank’s radio, “We got a possible arson as 776 Simmons Lane, fire department en-route,”

  “Fuck that’s where we’re going,” Hank said, “Going to need you to answer that, kind of focused right now,” Hank said, keeping his eyes on the road and the wheel in a death grip.

  Scott fumbled with the radio, “Uh, car, shit, what’s your number?” Scott asked.

  “Not a Squad car, just say Detective Tavares,” Hank said, his engine roaring as he slid back onto the freeway.

  “Officer Tavares en-route,” Scott said.

  “Approach with extreme caution,” Hank said.

  “Yes, communicate extreme caution, niner, niner, suspect may be armed and dangerous, I repeat extreme caution, ten-four,” Scott said, relaying Hank’s words to dispatch.

  “Ten Four means you hear them, not you told them, and niner is. military dumbass,” Hank said, ripping off the highway onto the exit towards Susan’s neighborhood.

  “I am not good at this,” Scott shook his head, “How the hell do you remember all these numbers?”

  “I’m good at my job, that’s how the hell,” Hank said as he slammed his brake, twisting his wheel to turn the car sideways onto the driveway of a house with a roof engulfed in flames.

  “Fuck this,” Hank said, pulling out his service weapon. Kramer wasn’t far behind. He skidded over the lawn next to Hank’s car to form a barricade.

  Hank got out and ducked behind his car as Scott scrambled across the driver’s seat, tumbling out, following him.

  “You pulling usually means I should too,” Kramer said, getting his .44 Magnum ready.

  “Still can’t believe they let you use that thing,” Hank said, “Not complaining, might need it,” he said.

  “Fire department is on their way, guessing we should tell them to take their time. We got bigger problems,” Kramer said.

  “Yeah, a fucking Vampire,” Scott said, drawing their Dad’s old .22.

  “Fucking put that away, you are not in regulation to use that,” Hank said.

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  “You don’t know what these people are capable of, I do, if you’re strapped you better believe I will be too,” Scott said.

  “So, was the pussy good enough to get you in league with a god damn Vampire?” Kramer asked.

  “Not the issue at hand!” Scott said. The discussion was cut short by a large crack of a mighty gunshot that rang through the air.

  “What the fuck!” Hank said, grabbing a look over the car, his gun up ready to fire. Out of the front door of the raging inferno came Susan Collins, Lady Suvilia, wearing a white silk dress and brandishing a firearm.

  “Holy shit, she’s got a fucking Desert Eagle,” Hank said, getting back under the cover of his car. The gun was so big in her hand, but she held it like a pro.

  “I knew you were coming, I knew Jacobin was a mere pretender from my first meeting with him, no matter, he’s served his purpose well, helped us with our great work. I knew that eventually you Hunters would show yourselves, it was only a matter of time,” Hank took another look, she was smiling, with a thousand-yard look of death in her eyes. He ducked back down as she fired one off, putting a hole in Kramer’s hood.

  “God damn it!” Kramer said, breathing hard, hand soldered to his gun, finding himself in another firefight next to Hank Tavares. Honestly, not another cop he’d like by his side in this situation.

  “She’s the fucking killer, Trevor spilled everything he knew, said she was the one whose been doing it, gave us this address and low and behold the bitch has gone completely off the deep end,” Hank said, getting up and aiming his weapon. “Drop your weapon!” he said, firing off a warning shot just over her shoulder, so close it grazed her hair.

  “The Hunters are powerless,” she fired off another round, she wasn’t even aiming at anything, just firing wildly into the sky. “The Dark One already walks this earth, he is the bringer of calamity, he will shatter your shields and run your rivers with blood, your maidens will cry and wish for death, for their own death and even the death of their babes,” another round. “He will bring the world of man crashing down,” she laughed with ruinous abandon, “I am honored to be his slave, to be one of his chosen,” she fired another around, “The Dark One speaks to me, told me I would be the one to reveal our presence,” she said, swaying down the burning houses porch, getting closer to the pathetic Hunters.

  “War!” Bang, “Famine!” Bang, “Pestilence!” Bang, “And death, your death, do you hear me Hunters?”

  “Fuck me, how many bullets does she have?” Scott asked.

  “Desert eagle, if it’s standard issue she should have nine,” Hank said.

  “I’m not counting, are you?” Scott said, clinging to his .22.

  “Eight so far, she’s got one left,” Kramer said.

  “Is he right?” Scott asked.

  “I wasn’t counting, but it felt like eight, she’s got one left,” Hank said.

  “His hour approaches,” she said as Kramer and Hank took position, bringing their sights on her. She lowered her weapon. Her smile faded to a look of grim determination. Now was the time. Kramer and Hank both took aim in a defensive position, trying to hide as much of their mass as they could behind the car.

  “You can’t stop what’s coming,” she stopped, just ten paces from the three. The roof of the house collapsed in on itself, sending embers dancing in the air as the moon was taking its place in the center of the blood red sky.

  “Desist, drop your weapon! Last Warning!” Hank commanded.

  “You know the Hunters will be the first to die in the coming war, the Hunters will die a peasant's death,” her smile curled back, she could hardly contain herself, laughing as she went on, “Strung up by your own entrails, that is the word of the Dark One. The word of who you will call a false prophet, though his words will be as true as stone. You’ll see his prophet rise next, and you have no idea, the misery and bloodshed that is to follow for those who will deny his greatness will be wild and rancorous, all you can look forward too is a thousand years of darkness, why do you fight against it so hard?” she asked.

  Scott was expecting another gunshot. He nutted up and drew his weapon, joining Hank and Kramer.

  “What the fuck are you doing!?” Hank hissed.

  “One bullet left, right? She can’t shoot all of us,” Scott said, grinning, “Maybe I’ll save your ass for a change,” Scott said.

  “Drop your weapon, you crazy bitch,” Kramer said.

  “This is my purpose, I have shown his works to the world, I have shown the world the beauty of his way, we’re given you all the warning the great compact demands. You now know of us, and you know of the Dark One, nothing more needs to be said,” Suvilia laughed, laugh and laugh, almost having to double over she was laughing so hard.

  “I’m taking the shot,” Hank said, taking a deep breath. He squeezed his trigger and fired one off, getting her right in the stomach. She fell back a bit but appeared to be unphased by the wound.

  “She’s probably hopped up on Adrenochrome,” Scott said, “She’s high out of her mind right now,” he said, keeping his weapon ready.

  Suvilia smiled, putting her hand to her stomach. She felt the wound, looked at her bloody hand and raised her eyebrows. She looked to the three Hunters and brought her hand to her lips, seductively licking her own blood off her fingers. This was her duty, her purpose, the message had been sent. The Dark one will be pleased with her. She would receive her eternal reward for committing the opening salvo in the war that would enslave the world of man for a thousand years.

  “It’s already started,” she said, her laughing subsiding as her voice became quiet, reserved, stating only fact, “You can’t stop it,” she was content, almost looked happy, as she brought her Gun up to aim at the Hunters before her.

  “End it!” Hank called out as he pulled his trigger, Kramer and Scott joined in as they all unloaded their respective clips into the crazy bitch. She dropped her gun as she was pushed back, taking over twenty bullets in the stomach, chest, legs, neck. She stayed standing, even with that much led pumped into her. In her last moments she looked to Scott, met her eyes with his. She smiled and gave him a wink before falling to her knees and toppling over on the ground.

  “Holy shit,” Scott said, getting up just as the fire department showed up. The men in yellow jackets rushed off the truck and hooked up to a fire hydrant to put what was left of burning home out.

  “So, that’s what it takes to kill a Vampire,” Scott said.

  “Need a collection team at 776 Simmons lane, had an active shooter, was neutralized with extreme prejudice,” Kramer said into his radio.

  “She wasn’t a Vampire,” Hank said.

  “We all emptied off in her and she was still standing. How do you explain that?” Scott said.

  “Like you said, she was hopped up on that adrenaline drug, she wasn’t standing for long, that’s for sure,” Hank said, cautiously making his way around the car towards the body as Scott followed.

  Kramer came up with them, “So this is a Vampire?” he said.

  “Not a Vampire,” Hank repeated.

  Scott shook his head, “Man, what the hell am I supposed to tell Amelia?” he said, looking over the dead and bloodied body of the great and powerful Lady Suvilia, “Next week’s party is going to be pretty awkward,” he shrugged his shoulders.