* * * * *

Live fast, die young.

Never feels as good the following morning.

* * * * *

* Mei -

A dark figure stood in the dimly lit lobby, illuminated by the sole surviving light fixture, casting her short frame in long shadows. Lin Mei, Champion of the Tiandihui, stood in the abandoned hotel that reeked of mildew, in her dark dress and leggings, wondering what exactly she was supposed to do. Her warm honey features were drawn down in a heavy frown, looking around at the cracked plaster, suspicious stains, and descending stairwell. The walls had once been white, but were now grey. Tiles, chipped and broken underfoot, shifted as she tried to decide on a plan of action. It wasn’t going well.

She'd been ordered by the Leader of the Tiandihui - Honourable Master Long - to stop the efforts of the Night Watch in their assault on the Vampires. He’d made it clear that failure was not an option. He’d invested too much in this plan. Thus, it fell to her to ensure it stayed afloat.

The problem in carrying out his orders had been obvious from the start. While they were ‘technically’ allied with the Vampires, that wouldn't save them if they were caught in an exposed position… which she was bound to find herself in the moment she stepped into the Brood’s lair.

Thus, there was no way in hell they - herself and the smattering of henchmen she’d been permitted - were going down in the tunnel systems. Compounding this issue, there was no way she could track the Night Watch once they’d infiltrated the Brood. ‘Infiltrated’ was her word of choice when reporting back to her conceited leader about the damage she’d uncovered at the Vampire’s front. Even with years of working in the system's gritty reality, Mei knew she wasn’t going to forget the sight of a Vampire torso, all limbs torn off, twitch when she’d bent to examine it. After her heart rate returned to normal, they'd driven all over the district to each of the known haunts. Her hope had been to catch up to the Night Watch-Kin coalition. Instead, all she’d found were fleeing bloodsuckers.

Adding to the list of unreasonable orders, was the small matter of doing all of this ‘without’ being noticed by the other Factions. With the Kin on high alert, the Inquisition not that far behind, and the Night Watch’s overpowered Warlock…

Mei ground her teeth. ‘Do not allow us to be further implicated. And just how am I meant to do that?!’

Eventually they'd noticed that most of the Vampire’s locations had been abandoned. By tracking the sporadic bursts of scattering Leeches fleeing these strongholds, Mei was astonished at the speed in which those underground were clearing the leeches.

And last but not least, they'd arrived at this hotel just in time to see hordes of the biters bolting through the lobby to the upper floors. Now she stood with her men, wondering just what the hell she was supposed to do. She wasn't about to leave the biggest congregation of parasites they'd found, but it wasn't like she could stay with them and seek out the Night Watch at the same time. Then she heard a new noise bouncing off the tunnel walls and she realised she didn't have to.

“Into position,” She ordered, listening to the faint sounds of gunfire. “Don’t move until I give the signal.”

Henchmen scurried to obey just as another wave of Vampires fled the tunnel. Mei saw the stricken features, the panic filled eyes, the manic energy of flight. She swallowed, rubbing at her arms. She couldn’t fail.

For minutes they listened, the sounds of combat growing steadily, then in a rush. A massive swarm of the parasitic bloodsuckers exploded into the lobby, most making for the hotel’s higher floors. Working beautifully into her plan was the fact the Night Watch had been firing almost non stop. By her estimation, most of them had run out of ammunition. Annoyingly, the Vampires had ceased any form of resistance, instead allowing themselves to be mowed down from behind.

The Warlock emerged into the lobby from the basement. He turned, “Take the inj-”

Her blast of compressed sound slammed into his back, sending him head-over-heels into the tightly packed followers. His shield did its job and saved his life, deflecting the brunt of the blast out and away. The 'softer-than-it-could-have-been' landing saved his shield from winking out entirely.

Mei had followed him to the edge of the pit, gathering energy within herself for another blast. Her two dozen men opened fire on the small passageway, pinning them down. Mei, unable to bypass the Warlock’s elemental shield, targeted the walls around them. A rock golem tried to help in supporting the structure. It pushed beyond the stairwell, only to be pulverised by a resonant whine from Mei. The high pitch drained her reserves faster than larger shrieks, but the banshee knew how to pace herself.

“Scraps!” The Warlock yelled from within.

‘Hellhound?’ Mei wondered.

A ragged blur, a shower of sparks, their only light went out. Her bodyguard squealed. Mei went for her flashlight. Someone jostled into her. The fire died down as they lost their line of sight.

Then the screaming started. Flashes of gunfire turned her ambush into horror movie snapshots, a hellish tableau of death. A black-winged monster flew above them, green flames rose at their feet, while a hooded figure blinked from person to person, leaving mangled bodies in its wake. Those bodies, some with both arms on one side, lurched forward, jawless mouths oozing blood as they tore at those still living.

Someone cried, “Get out!”

“We can’t!” Another wept. “The doors are barred!”

Mei and those closest to her retreated after the Vampires, rotten wood rattling as they ran. Behind them, the screams of those trapped continued, desperate shots dying out, and then… nothing.

‘What the fuck? What the fuck! What, the, fuck?!’ An icy finger stabbed her heart. The sound of footsteps, limping, after them.

The body of the man they'd left to cover the stairs, flew over their heads, and smeared against the wall in front of them.

That terrified them into a sprint, falling up the old, crumbling steps. On the next level, one of the gunmen fell through the boards, exposed pipes laughing his descent into the abyss. One stopped to look back at him.

A scrambling, skittering sound filled the air. The hair at the back of Mei’s neck rose. ‘This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening!’ Mei screamed within her head.

A muffled shriek bespoke yet another man gone, snatched away by a passing Vampire.

Mei’s chest constricted painfully. A sense of hopelessness consumed her. Another level, more skittering. To survive without killing the Night Watch's Champion would be a failure. She knew what would happen if she failed. It was impossible to run. Her sob of depression became a scream of frustrated anguish. The wall of force thundered along the hallway, clearing it of its hidden crawlers.

However, when she turned a corner, she found the stairs to the next level were gone, and the Vampires were creeping in.

* * * * *

* Ian -

After telling the others to get out of the frying pan, Ian began assembling the undead into firing squads. Weapons were hastily handed over, and soon the zombie fireteams were going after the retreating survivors, and feral Vampires. Whoever was left up there, was going to need his help ‘real’ soon. They were a block away in a vacant construction site when Ian called them to a halt, reaching the limit of his direct control.

In his mind's eye, he saw his undead contingent clear level after level. He directed their fire and manipulated their movements like a puppet master of the damned. Every time one of his cadavers had their strings cut, he replaced it with a fallen Society member. The slow march continued until they reached a hallway swarming with crawlers.

At the far end he could see the pink-haired Tiandihui Mage on her knees, keeping back the press of biters through a series of weak gasps. They wouldn't be considered deadly by any stretch. His army jerked forward as the last of her goons fell under the swarm. As one, he directed the dead to shoot at the backs of the Vampires. Some used their weapons as clubs, others just tore into them in a grisly display of teeth and nails. The stench of wood rot soon combined with the acrid coppery tang of blood. The stench befit what it was, a massacre.

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On and on they pushed until the resistance fell away. The Vampires retreated to the upper levels, easily bypassing the nonexistent stairs. The Banshee was on her hands and knees, looking frail and on the brink of exhaustion. Pink hair covered her face while her hands clenched as the dead drew close.

Ian appraised her through the Spirit World. What he saw revolted him. A black chain of thorns, tipped in fiery barbs, wrapped her in a snare. To his eye, it appeared her soul was a mesh of puncture wounds, lacerated under the scaffolding of razor wire that entombed her essence. It was strong, vivid under his magical black-light, and pulsated as it writhed about her.

‘A binding that strong must’ve been placed on her as an infant.’ If this was how their esteemed Society of Heaven chose to ensure compliance, he was going to have words with whoever ran it. He spoke through his corpses in a dry, cracked voice, "I think you'd better come with me."

A choked rasp came from her as she tried to laugh. "Just my luck," She made out after hacking cough. "A fucking Necromancer… You had us all fooled, didn't you." Tears pooled in her eyes as she whispered, "Sorry, mum. I know you stayed because of me. I couldn't get us out after all…"

Ian's eyes widened as he realised she wasn't going to give up. He sent a minion lunging forward to hold her down. The Banshee threw her head back, releasing a long, titanic shriek with everything she had left. The zombies were blown to pieces, scattering down the hallway. Every window on the floor shattered as the walls fractured in long spiked cracks.

Mei's head lulled, drained body slumped forward. There was a horrible creaking noise and, a block away, Ian's body - which had been in a restful, trance-like state - shot up, his arm extended towards the hotel. They heard the metal beams groaning like a tortured whale. The supports gave out, upper floors coming down to flattening the level the Banshee was on, along with the two beneath it.

Ian felt as if he'd pulled something inside himself. He rasped, "Go."

Scraps flowed into movement, leaping an impossible distance off the construction platform in a dash towards the ruined building. Ignoring the few Vampires that managed to scramble out of the collapse, the Revenant powered through the rubble - a halo in his Spirit Vision calling to him like a lighthouse.

Shouldering the three ton metal beam in his way once, twice…, and on the third, dislodging the superstructure in a plume of plaster and cement. Cocooned in the hollow created by Ian’s shield, Scraps found the girl’s body. With the tenderness reserved for handling a newborn, the Revenant’s cloaked arms lifted her limp form out of the wreckage, before carrying her back to the waiting group.

As Scraps lay down his charge at their feet, Lily let out a curse. After a quick, almost lyrical, incantation, the Agent sighed. “She’s got a pulse, but she’s overdone it.” Pulling a glowing bottle from her pack, and daubing at the more physical injuries, she added, “Who knows what damage she’s done to herself.”

Murmurs went around in both confusion and anger. Not everyone had clued into who it was that had ambushed their exit into the old hotel. Now, that uncertainty was malforming into outrage. One member even went so far as to draw a knife and rush forward. Scraps casually backhanded the charger, flattening him to the floor and pinning him with a heel to the stomach. That brought everyone up short.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Rose demanded. The enforcer stopped struggling, shooting a smug look to Scraps and Ian before a feminine hand snatched him by the jaw. “Well?” Rose’s amber eyes flared. “Are you so stupid that think you could pull that shit in front of us and get away with it?”

“She tried to kill us!” The man’s sneer croaked in pain as Scraps upped the pressure on his ribs.

Tired as he was, Ian - along with Ember - could understand the mindset the Kin were deluded into. Many felt a sense of entitlement. Being on home turf would protect them from going against him, self-assured in their faith that their own Mages would defend them. The chump who was currently gasping and struggling beneath Scraps booted foot highlighted how idiotic that belief really was.

“Let me make this perfectly clear,” Rose announced to the group, glower never leaving her underling. “It doesn’t matter if they’re an ally of convenience or your own sainted mother, if one of us vouches for another, we respect that decision. We do not run about like rabid dogs killing without care. That’s what happened in Delridge and look what happened to them!”

Accusatory finger pointing, “You tried turning on him!” He winced.

“No.” Ian wheezed. The pain in his chest was diminishing. Now it just felt like he’d tried to swallow a grapefruit whole. “We negotiated the terms of any future dealings.” That wasn’t entirely true. They ‘had’ established that, but it was more of a by-product of the main sojourn. Scraps released the whelp while Ian and Rose regarded one another. She’d given him an ‘out,’ and they both knew it. ‘Undoubtedly,’ He thought, Waiting to hear why I did it.’ Accepting the out cost him nothing while earning him some brownie points in her eyes. His next throught came with a grin. ‘Never hurts to pay things forward.’

Eve asked the question everyone wanted the answer to. "Why?” If it was meant to be an accusation, it didn’t work. “She tried to kill us. She'll do it again, given the chance."

Resting against Ember as he tried to get his breath back, "Look beneath the surface." He flopped a hand at Mei. “Ember, can you remove it?”

The sisters glanced at each other, then stretched their senses to examine the smaller Chinese girl. The binding was so ingrained in her, they missed it on the initial scan.

Lily found it first. “Oh my god!” She gasped. She winced as she pushed at one of the barbs. “What is it? I… I can’t remove it,” She wavered, the thorn sinking back into place.

“An enchantment and a compulsion,” Grim reported. ”The more she disobeyed the orders given to her by her masters, the more pain she’d feel.”

“Demonic,” Ember stated gruffly. “Only the original Demon, Warlock, or whoever this is tethered to, can undo it.”

“Necromantic energy is of greater power than Demonic ichor,” Scraps advised in his monotonous British timbre.

“What’d you go and tell him that for?” Grim demanded. “Now his fool-head is gonna risk his ass, ‘again,’ for some dumb broad that just tried to kill him!”

“It was the inevitable conclusion,” Scraps remained detached. “I was simply expediting the process.”

Ian sighed wearily and knelt beside the unconscious girl.

“See what you did?” Grim fizzled. “If you hadn’t opened that bi…”

Blocking out the bickering, Ian examined the spell before him, trying to find a weakness, origin, or power source. He knew that spells tended to require an anchor to keep them going. If not, the spell would burn itself out given time, consuming its component parts like a star going supernova. Taking the lessons he’d learnt from healing Bobby - Captain of the Night Watch, he shielded the area around the tendril as best he could, then used his Spiritfire to burn away the thorns.

It was a painfully slow process. He managed to nick his patient a few times, requiring Lily to smooth over the damage. It didn't help that his concentration was fucked, but eventually he was satisfied that she was free of the compulsion. By that time, they could hear sirens in the distance.

Lily gave a final shudder at the thought of what she'd seen. "I'll need to tell the Bureau about this. We might be able to bring Long up on charges of slavery or immoral use of magic, but I don't know how much will be done about it given his status."

Ian stared coldly out at the city, and the ocean beyond. The distant horizon was clouded, shades of grey mugging what little colour the anaemic sunlight could shine. In a low, frigid voice, "I see."

A small smile formed as Ember got a charge out of the darkness she saw rise to the surface in her lover's heart. They arranged another stretcher, gathered their things, and descended the bare infrastructure down to street level.

Ian led the way out. Just as he turned a corner onto the main level, a voice rang out, "Freeze! Police!" He stopped in his tracks and used his Will to push back those behind, keeping them hidden. "This is a restricted area."

Ignoring the obvious statement, he slowly turned towards the voice, saying, "You guys’s response time is getting better." When the lone figure was revealed, he cracked a grin as she lowered her gun - an expression of ‘ah fuck…’ on her face. "Nice to see you again, Officer Flores."

She put her gun back in its holster, grumbling, "It's 'Detective' now…, and this happens to be a restricted area." She frowned, "What are you doing here? And don't give me any shit about not seeing the signs."

"Signs?" Ian asked in wide-eyed innocence, his grin growing wider.

Sarah looked skyward and cursed the heavens for what she had to endure. Then concern curbed the animosity. "You're not squatting here, are you? Living on the streets because you're on the run?" A muffled laugh came from Lily. Luckily, Sarah didn't notice.

Ian slowly shook his head, amused at the direction the conversation was going in. “No Detective. I’ve… fallen into some good fortune after we last spoke.”

“Care to explain that further?” She ‘asked.’

Ian smirked, recalling the determined way the woman before him went about her investigations. ‘Probably explains her Detective status.’ Instead going with, “I won the Euromillions Jackpot. According to my email's spam folder; I’m a lucky guy.”

Sarah scoffed, and laughed, at the blatant lie, but let the matter drop. Patrol cars flashed past, headed in the direction of the less-than-structurally-safe hotel. "You know I'm going to have to take you in for questioning… Again." She hardened into professionalism, pointing a finger directly into his face, "And don't think I don't know you had something to do with that loud noise earlier, and what's been going on in this neighbourhood."

Ian managed to reign in his smile with a minor herculean effort. It wouldn’t do him much good to piss off the woman who had the potential of getting herself into a lot of trouble, especially if he didn’t play his cards carefully. As he left with her, he used his Will to brush a lock of Ember's hair behind her ear.

At her unmarked cruiser, Ian offering his wrists.

Sarah dropped her chin into her chest. "Just get in," She sighed, indicating the passenger seat. "Maybe you can make some sense of all this."