Post by ReadingTrance on Aug 4, 2013 18:27:26 GMT -5
Chapter 6: Through the Fire and Flames
March 1, 1985, London, England
“Rachel’s...” Abraham paused, unwillingly picturing his sister as a pale vampire. “She’s one of them now, Blade.”
With his eyes still blackened and fangs extended, the Daywalker screamed and swiped his arm across a nearby counter, destroying glass beakers and various other objects.
Abraham and Boris both took several steps away, watching as Blade panted in rage. Neither of them were sure of what to say without angering him even more. Both men feared for their lives, knowing one wrong word could set Blade off.
After several seconds of heavy breathing, the Daywalker looked Van Helsing in the eye.
“When are you going after them?”
Abraham cocked his head in thought. “As soon as I take care of a little problem here.”
Blade slowly withdrew from his vampire state. “What is it?”
“Well, I believe you met several of his henchmen. I need to either kill James Walker or remove him from power. He’s causing chaos here and obviously now knows where I live.”
“Let’s deal with that tomorrow and then we’ll go after Dracula afterwards.” Blade laid out the plan.
Boris jumped in. “How do you plan on taking out James Walker tomorrow? We don’t even know where he is.”
“We’ll discuss it in the morning.” The Daywalker responded. “He’s human, which makes him easy prey. Walker isn’t the one we have to worry about. Dracula is going to be much tougher.”
“I agree.” Abraham supported him. “Let’s get some rest and regroup when we wake.”
The three hunters retreated from the underground bunker into the cold, brisk outside air and then proceeded to enter the Van Helsing estate next-door.
It was a two floor house. It held three bedrooms and two bathrooms. While the big white house looked beautiful on the outside, the inside had been poorly kept. Not much housekeeping could be expected of two male hunters living in a large house.
Abraham showed Blade to the spare bedroom, containing nothing more than a twin-sized bed and a lamp on a wooden nightstand.
Blade removed his sword and placed it next to his bed, while carefully laying his gun under his pillow. Abraham had just reached the door to leave, before turning around for some final words.
“I look forward to hunting with you. It’s an honor.”
Blade looked over at him. “An honor? Why would that be an honor?”
“You’re one of a kind, Blade. A daywalker. One hell of a hunter too, from what I hear. I’m just glad you’re on our side.”
Eric shook his head as he removed his sunglasses and black trench coat. “Don’t think too highly of me, you might be disappointed.”
Abraham was unsure what he meant by this, so he disregarded it. “See you in the morning, Blade.”
Van Helsing closed the door behind him as he left.
Afterwards, Blade reached into his trench coat pocket and pulled out an injection. The Daywalker had left the rest of his injections in the car. He had a limited supply and had to be cautious of how often he used them. However, he was definitely overdue for one as anyone could easily tell with his little hissy fit after hearing about Rachel.
Blade stuck the syringe into his neck and injected the fluids. He grimaced in pain as he removed the needle. After placing the syringe on the nightstand, Blade climbed into bed and quickly drifted off to sleep.
Sometime Later
“Eric...” A female voice echoed. “Eric!”
Blade’s eyes shot open. Sitting on the edge of the bed was the last person he expected to see.
“Rachel?”
The light-skinned brunette that Blade had fallen for was sitting on his bed. He thought he had lost her.
She flashed a much-missed warm smile. “Hi, Eric.”
The Daywalker looked for his blade next to his bed, wary that this woman was supposed to be a blood sucker. However, Blade was unable to locate his weapon of choice.
“It’s not there, Eric.”
He looked up at Rachel. “Where is it?”
“Back in the real world. This is just a dream.” She smiled as she crawled towards him.
“A dream?” Blade questioned.
“That’s all it is. I promise.” Rachel was now laying a couple of inches away from Blade’s face.
The Daywalker ran his hand down her cheek, keeping his emotions in check. She felt so real.
“Why are you coming after me, Eric? You know Dracula is too powerful for you and you know you’ll never be able to get me back.”
“I have to try. You would’ve asked me to end your life if you became one of them.”
She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “Not at the cost of your own. You’re too important to this world to sacrifice yourself for a little crush.”
“Rachel, I have no purpose anymore. I had two goals and I couldn’t accomplish either of them.”
She ran her hand down his arm. “And what were those?”
“To kill Frost and to keep you safe. I failed both of those.”
“Eric,” she still smiled, “you haven’t failed either one. Frost is still out there, waiting for you. And as for me, it was my own choice. Don’t punish yourself for something I chose.”
For the first time since he was a child, a tear began to run down Blade’s cheek. “I should’ve gone with you, Rachel.”
She ran her hand through his hair. “No, you made the right decision. You always do, even now.”
“Even now? But you said Dracula was too powerful for me.”
“For you, yes. But if you bring my brothers with you, you’ll have a fighting chance. I know I can’t stop you, Eric. I know you’re going to go after Dracula. You’ve always been stubborn in your decisions. Just know there’s a vampire out there that looks a lot like me, but it’s a completely different person.”
Blade blinked, sending another tear down his face. “I know. And I’ll do what I have to.”
Rachel slowly leaned forward and softly kissed Blade’s lips.
The Daywalker closed his eyes as he embraced the woman he loved. His arms were wrapped tightly around her, as their legs intertwined. He savored every second of the lips he had been missing for months. Then, Rachel slowly pulled away.
As the kiss concluded, Blade’s eyes opened again. This time, he had returned to reality. To his surprise, the tears on his cheek still existed in the real world; unfortunately, Rachel did not.
March 2, 1985, London, England
Blade’s Perspective
Blade didn’t respond, staring at the wooden kitchen table in a daze. He could still picture her face.
Boris sat at the table across from the Daywalker, quietly picking at his dry cereal.
“Blade?” Abraham spoke up, setting his plate on the table.
He blinked several times and raised his head. “Fine. I slept fine.”
“Okay.” Abraham defensively said. “You sure you don’t want anything to eat?”
Blade gave a familiar response. “I’m fine.”
Boris and Abraham exchanged glances, both unsure of what was bothering Blade. The Van Helsing brothers slowly ate their breakfast through the awkward silence.
The Daywalker eventually broke the silence. “What do you know about James Walker? How do we find him?”
Abraham took a bite of his eggs, Boris picked at his cereal and Blade was staring off into the distance when the trio suddenly heard the brief sound of glass shattering proceeded by an immense heat.
“Come out to play!” A voice shouted from the front of the estate.
“Shit! Looks like he found us.” Abraham shouted as he jumped from the table. “Everyone get out.”
While the Van Helsing brothers escaped through the back, Blade got out of the chair and swiftly ran towards the front to investigate the disturbance and sudden warmth. Flames were spreading throughout the house from Molotov cocktails that were being tossed through the windows.
Blade had a tough time seeing through the smoke to try and make out how many enemies were waiting outside. The Daywalker thought he saw three vehicles, but couldn’t be sure.
There were too many flames for him to continue forward, so he retreated towards the back of the house. Through the window on the backdoor in the kitchen, he saw two men. One of them kicked open the door with his revolver drawn.
“One here!” He shouted, aiming his gun in Blade’s direction and firing once.
After the bullet missed, the Daywalker quickly ducked behind the hallway wall and drew his own pistol. He heard the kitchen table flipped over, and assumed the man had taken cover.
Blade felt the flames approaching from behind him. It was becoming harder to breath as the fire ate away at the oxygen. He had to make his move.
The Daywalker quickly peeked around the corner and fired twice at the table that had surely been knocked over for cover.
Shortly after firing, he heard the man scream out in pain. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Blade quickly rounded the corner towards the enemies. As the Daywalker turned into the kitchen, the second target was attempting to change cover as the table wasn’t working so well.
Since being out in the open doesn’t work so well either, Blade quickly pulled the trigger and disposed of the incompetent enemy. He then quickly ran past the table towards the backdoor and without stopping used a single bullet to finish the first foe.
Blade ran outside to be greeted by two more enemies in close proximity that were pointing guns at him. As he ran outside, he reflexively tackled one of the men to the ground. Blade landed on his back with the enemy on top of him as a shield, forcing the second opponent to fire several bullets into his friend’s body.
Shocked at what he just did, the man dropped his weapon and fell to his knees. That wasn’t quite what Blade had expected, but assumed that they must have actually been friends.
While underneath the corpse, Blade felt something fall on to his face, just next to his nose. The liquid slowly inched towards his lips. When it hit his lips, he knew exactly what it was.
Blade licked his lips. Fresh blood. It tasted so good.
The Daywalker tossed the body aside and quickly got back to his feet. Eyes blackened and fangs extended, he charged towards the sobbing enemy. Blade tackled him to the ground and sank his fangs into the man’s neck.
He had forgotten what fresh human blood had tasted like. It was divine. He couldn’t stop himself as he continued to suck the life out of the man. Blade had entered a feeding frenzy.
March 2, 1985, London, England
Van Helsing’s Perspective
The Daywalker wasn’t responding. He seemed distracted by something.
“Blade?” Abraham spoke up, setting his plate on the table.
Blade blinked several times and raised his head. “Fine. I slept fine.”
“Okay.” Abraham defensively said. He was just trying to be a good host. “You sure you don’t want anything to eat?”
Blade gave the same response. “I’m fine.”
Boris and Abraham exchanged glances, both unsure of what was bothering Blade. The Van Helsing brothers slowly ate their breakfast through the awkward silence.
After the previous night, Abraham didn’t want to upset Blade. The news about Rachel had already hit them all hard enough. There didn’t need to be any more stress or conflict.
The Daywalker eventually broke the silence. “What do you know about James Walker? How do we find him?”
Abraham took a bite of his eggs, Boris picked at his cereal and Blade was staring off into the distance when the trio suddenly heard the brief sound of glass shattering proceeded by an immense heat.
“Come out to play!” A voice shouted from the front of the estate.
“Shit! Looks like he found us.” Abraham shouted as he jumped from the table. “Everyone get out.”
Van Helsing opened the cabinet under the sink. It was his emergency stash of weapons.
Abraham grabbed a pistol and several silver chakrams, while Boris nabbed a shotgun with a box of shells.
Both brothers ran outside into the cold crisp air and continued straight for the barren trees that stood a couple hundred feet behind the house. Several gunshots whizzed past the two as they reached the edge of the bleak forest.
The brother’s quickly took cover behind two nearby large tree trunks.
“Where’s Blade?” Boris shouted over to his brother.
Abraham shook his head as he tried to catch his breath. “I thought he was right behind us!”
Boris started to load several shells into the shotgun. “We need to go back for him.”
The brothers then heard someone yelling in the distance. “One here!”
That was followed by a single gunshot.
“Ah, shit!” Abraham shouted. “Let’s circle back around. We can’t run out in the open again.”
Boris stayed behind his brother as the two followed the edge of the forest back towards their home, making sure to stick behind solid objects as much as possible.
The two looked up at the house in the distance as smoke floated into the sky. It wouldn’t be long before the Van Helsing estate was engulfed in flames.
“What is Blade doing?” Boris questioned, noticing the Daywalker in the distance hunched over a corpse.
“He’s...” Abraham paused. “I think he’s feeding.”