Ladies and Gentlemen [Kat, ASK]

[Luka Neverov]

Ladies and gentlemen please
Would you bring your attention to me?
For a feast for your eyes to see
An explosion of catastrophe

Like nothing you've ever seen before
Watch closely as I open this door
Your jaws will be on the floor
After this you'll be begging for more

The theatre was chilly and dimly lit by candle light and sparse crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. The walls were black, the velvet covered seats were black crushed velvet, and the floors were a deep, severe crimson that matched the color of stains over the oak wood stage.
The air dripped with malice; it oozed death. Though the delicately painted backdrop and props up on the raised platform seemed harmless enough, they too, were spattered with opalescent white and pink bits of once living human tissue and bone.

The hum of excited chatter echoed as the crowd began to gather; some sitting, some acting the part of social butterfly flitting around to spread gossip about the beautiful but wicked show that was soon to begin.
Black cloaked figured stared hungrily out over this gathering of cattle. Red ringed eyes silently picked off necks to rip into and tongues snaked across parted lips.

The most sinister air wafted from the very last dressing room in the back of the theatre. The air was colder back there; stifling. It seemed to suck the warmth right from your body.
A single candle illuminated an intricately embroidered divan; the body of a woman; or what used to a woman, propped limply up against the blood stained arm.
She was nude, torn open at the neck and the gut, intestines wrapped around her bound wrists and bright ruby smeared across her cocoa colored Cajun skin.
Double puncture wounds plagued what use to be her perfect body; a daub of the crimson ooze marring the tender place at her inner thigh.

The Russian, unclothed and covered from head to foot in the red stain leaned back unashamedly next to the body. His wiry arms were stretched across the back; mouth gaping open in a pant though he was still fully rigid. Shame he hadn’t been able to control the gnawing hunger before he’d finished…

The blade that lay on the floor at his feet was a ‘prop’ used in the play scheduled to take place…five minutes ago. Oh well. The dead and used ‘doll’ lying beside him now was supposed to be part of the show.

Reaching down absently he palmed the blade and brought it easily across the sinewy belly; a red slit appeared over the perfect abs, and then spilled down to the deep curve of his hip. Gasping in rapture from the pain, Luka let his head fall back against his neck and moaned; dropping the knife as his body tensed all as he stepped into the abyss. He convulsed until all the sin was drawn from him, and then slowly, he became a man again.

Wiping carelessly at the moisture all over him, he cleaned up and dressed in a pair of black jeans and a crisp white button down.
His hair was a chaotic tousle in the front, adding to the boyish countenance. His feet remained bare.

With a grin he stalked onto the stage, and suddenly the crowd hushed, in awe of such a dark, but curiously intriguing man.
“Ladies and Gentleman.” Luka began, his voice lazy and thick with his natural pronunciation. “Enjoy the show…”
He bowed and then the cast of ravens, cloaked vampires pretending to be human, rushed onto the stage like a moving shadow.

[Lt. Commander Katarina Foster]

I'm gonna fight for what's right
Today I'm speaking my mind
And if it kills me tonight
I will be ready to die
A hero's not afraid to give his life

When the call had come in, Kat had been skeptical of the validity of the claim. A vampire theater in the public eye without anyone busting it? It was just to absurd to really believe but something they couldn't really afford to over look, either.

That was what the team was for anyways, right? Right.

After discussing details with her uncle and deciding that further evaluation of the situation was called for, the red headed commander had placed Curse in charge of the troops and then headed to New Orleans for some recon with DeVoux. John's new "trainer" had arrived the day before and was busy teaching the newly turned vampire how to deal with his new identity so she was feeling like a third wheel anyways.

She wasn't exactly sure she approved of this new guy but her option hadn't been asked for. Something about him put her nerves on edge and she'd caught him watching her at times in ways that made her decidedly uncomfortable. When she'd raised her concerns, Hawk had assured her his qualifications were impeccable so she closed her mouth and kept her thoughts to herself.

Even if she had taken to watching him like a hawk.

In hind sight, this job to New Orleans was probably a life saver. She needed some space and distance to get some prospective. She'd been so wrapped up in John that she suspected that her view of things was warped by it.

In all honesty, Kat needed some time on her own to think about things and all the ramifications of this new relationship she and her team mate had developed. By her own actions, she'd broken about every rule she'd ever made for herself or the team. As much as she didn't regret those actions, it did make the soldier inside her cringe.

Oh yeah... This trip to New Orleans might just be what the doctor ordered.

Turning her attention back to the present moment, the fiery hybrid glanced up and down the street. Derek was the surveillance expert of the team and he was even more adapt at stealth than she was. Between the two of them, she was confident they would cover all the bases and determine exactly what was going on with the supposed "Vampire Theater".

For the moment, however, Derek had slipped off to catch some z's at his lady's place and Kat had been left with time on her hands. Deciding she was to wired to rest, the young woman had headed out to check out the rumored locations of the place and ended up standing outside a filling theater.

"Well, Well, Well... What have we here?" she thought to herself while observing the building.

For the next couple hours, the commander watched the going ons and then mingled in the crowd as they dismissed and chatted about the "play". With her keen sense of smell, Kat had immediately caught the scent of freshly spilled blood and gone on instant alert. It had been all she could do not to rush the stage and find out what the hell had happened but her training had kicked in enough to make her realize that that would be foolish. So, she'd bidded her time and waited.

As the crowd ebbed out the door, the young woman had proceeded to hid herself in the shadows and then crept towards back stage when everything was silent. Now that she was here, she might as well have a look around, she told herself. The closer she got to the stage, the more intense the smell came and she knew something terrible had gone down here.

Evidently, the tip had been true and this was definitely something that the shadow team was going to have to look into. Damn, and here she'd been hoping for some down time.

[Luka Neverov]

Ladies and gentlemen good evening
You've seen that seeing is believing
Your ears and your eyes will be bleeding
Please check to see if you're still breathing

Hold tight cause the show it not over
If you will please move in closer
Your about to be bowled over
By the wonders you're about to behold here

------------------------------------


The ‘play’ was a morbid rendition of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
Luka played the lead role, a dark and dashing Romeo, while the part of Juliet was filled by a willing member of the audience.
They were so easy; humans.
After announcing that their female star had gone missing, over half of the spectators had volunteered to be the understudy. It had been mostly women, but surprisingly some male viewers as well.

Luka chose a petite and reticent blonde that seemed as terrified as she was honored to have been selected by the dashing Russian vampire.
And so, it began.

The actress giggled and gazed longingly at her dark leading man, oblivious to the blood running vividly across the stage during the awe-inspiring battle between the Montague’s and the Capulet’s. The blood was very real. Most of the troupe was played by vampires pretending to be humans, but some ‘actors’ were chosen specifically for dying roles, thus, they were purposely mortal.

Even the final scene; the death of the lovers, was morbidly breath-taking.
‘Death’ was played by cloaked vampires that slipped onto the stage like a living shadow. They swarmed Luka so that he could exchange places with another vampire; surreptitiously pulling on a black robe and hood as his replacement laid on the floor in his stead.
No one suspected that when it came time for Juliet’s death scene, the reaper that moved in on the woman was played by none other than the handsome Neverov.

He bent his hooded face down into the crook of the human’s neck, whispering sweet nothings to calm her trembling before sinking his fangs into her pliable skin.
Luke clung to her as a lover as the life seeped into him; the warmth and covetousness growing inside him like a weed. If he could have, the vampire probably would have crawled inside her, taking up residence as the pain of death filled her to brimming.
As the females memories leached in with the blood, he began to swoon, seeing before his red hazed eyes all the gloriously innocent things she had done.
So pure. So utterly clean.

When she finally sank to the floor the crowd erupted into thunderous applause that shook the stage. The enigmatic vampire pulled back the hood and the thunder grew into a roar; adding lightning to the thunder.

When the red velvet curtain came down to end the show, Luka’s adrenaline was really pumping. That was just the foreplay before the real show. Now he needed a violent release in the worst way.
Intent on finding a way to ‘release’, the Russian waved dismissively at all the other little ticks that looked to him as their sovereign, and made his towards the back of the stage.

As the din of the crowd seemed to dissipate, the vampire was lost in thought; pondering what the next ‘play’ would be and how he could make it even more gruesome.
The presence of another individual hiding in the shadows almost slipped his notice; that is until the divine scent of her struck his nose like a corporal blow.

She was not human. But…she was not vampire. The intoxicating aroma fairly drove him insane.

Like a shadow he crept up behind her; cold hands winding around her hips to twist her around. “I see I have gained a curious enthusiast. Are you looking for autograph Milaya Moyna?”

[Lt. Commander Katarina Foster]

I can't help but follow in spite of going insane
For i know you'll swallow the whole of my pain
I, i'm stepping out of the light to feel what darkness can sow
I stare at the dead red lie...just one glance and i know
All disguised beneath the smile of the temptress, siren, evil child
The devil's sweetest whore

God.

The smell of blood was almost overwhelming. As was the stench of terror and pain that hung in the air. Whatever had happened on that stage had nothing to do with the innocent production of a morbid play and everything to do with the torture and slaughter of innocents. Kat could still practically feel the presence of those souls lost in whatever macabre scene that had transpired. If she had been fully vampire, she had no doubt her senses would have been triggered and she'd be hard pressed not to want to feed. That was simply the nature of the beast inside.

Thank God she had come alone.

Or maybe not.

Creeping through the shadows, the redhead had only a split second's warning before an arm wrapped around her waist and twisted her around. Moving with the speed and agility that her nature and training had given her, Kat let her hand drop to the knife in her boot and had it out and at the man's throat before he ever had the foresight to check her for weapons. As she came to rest close to his profile, she gazed up at him and almost recoiled from the whiff of blood she caught swelling off him in waves.

It was enough to make her sick even as she took in the beauty of his features and the madness in his eyes. Oh yeah, this was one bad dude and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this was the creature responsible for the blood bath that had reigned on stage.

"DIdn't your mother ever teach you its not polite to sneak up on people, mister?" she growled, eyes glowing with tension and elevated emotions. "As far as that autograph? Sure.. If I can sign it with your own blood and finished it off with your head for a souvenir!"

[Luka Neverov]

I am the bad one,
Distant and cruel one,
I am the dream that,
Keeps you running down,
With distraction,
Violent reaction,
Scars of my actions,
Watch me running out,

Hell doesn't want them.
Hell doesn't need them.
Hell doesn't love them.
The Devil's Rejects
--------------------------------------------

Luka wasn’t expecting the feisty red head to react the way she did, but it thrilled him none-the-less. Humans were so inanely predictable. They almost never had any fight in them. They were oft too quick to faint or blubber to the deity above to save their lives instead of using the strength or sense that said -god- gave them to save themselves.
It was obvious by her unique aroma that this one wasn’t pure human; the scent of vampire lingered on her skin like a heavy perfume. A Halfling perhaps? How intriguing!

She moved with inhuman speed and the Russian caught a glimpse of shining silver a moment before the sharp pain in his neck hit him like the junkies needle to the vein.
Obsidian eyes rolled back to show the whites and a moan of rapture crawled up out of his throat.
It was enough to distract him for a moment; head swimming and his body tightening in anticipation of more. He thrust himself headlong into that spiral of pain and pleasure, pressing forward onto the sharp tip until a ruby droplet was loosed from his skin. It fell down like a crimson tear, staining the smooth pale skin beneath it.

The pain was much too fleeting, as the skin around the wound began to knit itself back together. The heady sensation faded as if it had only been his imagination.
Luka growled and caught the female by the throat, his lip curling up into an animalistic snarl. He wrenched the blade away with the other hand, already mourning the absence of the sting of cold steel slicing through the membrane. It was tossed aside just as easily as it was for him to regain the upper hand. If she wanted to play, he was game. He was always game.

“My mother vas a whore whose loins vere used to spawn the devil." He tightened his grip around her porcelain throat, lowering his face into the crook of her shoulder to inhale deeply. Her courageousness was a rich tang on the back of his throat, the pound of her heart furious; a music which he could dance to. His nose was pressed to her skin now, an appreciative rumbling coming out of him. Suddenly, his fangs pierced the supple skin there, and her blood exploded into his mouth like an orgasm. The vampire nearly went weak in the knees.
Power seeped into him as her ruby essence spilled over his tongue and fed the never-ending hunger. Just as he’d suspected, the taste was both mortal -and- vampire and it danced deliciously across his taste buds.

The Russian could feel the strength vanishing from her with the rush of her memories, though her will was iron, the human part of her was fading.
With a dissatisfied groan, Luka pulled away from her; his onyx eyes ensnared in that vibrant crimson glory that leaked from her wound. He did not want to kill her yet. Oh no.
This one was much too precious a plaything.

The Russian tossed her away from him as if she weighed nothing. The thirst drove him to seize her vein again, but the foreign, rational part of him forbid it.
"Fight me all you vant, Halfling, but my head vill stay intact for now. Yours on the other hand…” he chuckled as he imaged the mind games he could play with her. “May not be for long…”

And with the swiftness and agility born of the dark curse, he was on her again; cold palms clutching, grasping. A shadow wrapped around her, moving rapidly towards the back rooms of the Theatre.

[Lt. Commander Katarina Foster]

The redhot nail inside of you is me
I am the nail
Now drunk on lust I drown in you
Tension prevails and it takes me over again
I am the nail
Forever within I'm lost in you
Deeper with pain as it takes me over again
I taste lead in every drop I spit out my throat
I crave death with every kiss I can't live without
An overwhelming state is burning through my every vein
Mine's the pleasure as I force-feed her all my pain

Yeah, this was certainly going how she'd pictured it.

Big fucking NOT!

The vampire was obviously older and in in possession of powers that none of the other's she'd taken out had. The light of insanity in his eyes was not only there.. it seemed to pulse out from his very core. He wasn't just wicked... He was evil incarnate.

And she'd walked right into his lair.

Fuck. She might as well have wrapped a ribbon around herself and gift tagged her ass with the way this was going down. Why the hell hadn't she waited for DeVoux again? Oh, thats right, she'd been stupid and allowed the need for action to propell her straight into the mouth of the lion.

Oh Happy, Happy Joy Joy... Maybe she should ask him if he'd like fries too!

Before she could do more than think those things though, the creature was on her and she felt the bit of fangs in her neck. Oh HELL NOW! She was NOT going to go out like this. He might be stronger than her but she'd be damned if he'd take her out this easy. Unfortunately, even as she overcame the spike of seduction his bit automatically shot through her system, he tossed her aside.

Wait... Not this maybe she could use to her advantage. Her human side begged for retreat but her vampires side was at the helm now. Reaching down, Kat found the other dagger a second before he was on top of her once again. Grunting against the hold he pulled her into, she grinned evilly even as she looked up into his eyes and then shooved the dagger straight into his side. Made of steal and etched in the purest silver, the dagger might not kill him but it would definitely hurt like a bitch.

"My mother was no mans whore, asshole. You really shouldn't talk like that about a woman you don't know!" she hissed before twisting the knife and pulling it back for another blow. "And lets get one things straight.... I'm not your bitch and I'm not here to fulfill your twisted little fantasies... If I die, I'm taking you with me."

Yeah, ok, so maybe Kat knew that she was in big trouble but since when had she ever been the sort to beg for mercy? Her only thought was to give this bastard as much pain and misery as she could before death claimed her. After all, her team would be coming soon and she had no doubt they would trace her here. He might kill her but he'd be living on borrowed time.

"Whats a matter, vampire? Not used to your prey fighting back?" she sneered at him. "Don't worry.. theres more where that came from, buddy!"

[Luka Neverov]

Yeah, I am the brains
Some say insane,
Blood is the rain,
That's what life's about,
In the great wide,
Head split and tongue tied,
Watch the sun die,
When you're running out,

Hell doesn't want them.
Hell doesn't need them.
Hell doesn't love them.

The Devil's Rejects

---------------------------------------------------

The Halfling’s blood still surged through the vampire, giving him not only a swelling strength, but a renewed thirst for cruelty. He straddled Kat, pinning her to the ground as he leaned down to perversely run his tongue along her neck and up her cheek, letting a throaty chuckle slip from him as he leveled his obsidian eyes in her azure orbs and saw the fire in them.

She hadn’t given up yet. Good. It was so much better when they had some life left in them. And all the better that she was only half mortal. Perhaps the immortal side would sustain her while he tortured her…over and over again. Perhaps that would be the game, Da? To see how much a Halfling could take before they broke. Oh, this was going to be so enjoyable.

He was too distracted by crimson stained plans and blood-spattered agony. Luka didn’t even notice when the female reached down to pull a second blade from her person, sticking him in the gut and twisting to worsen the wound. The Russian drew backwards and gasped at the blinding white burst of pain in time for the female to pull the knife out only to puncture his side again.
Hissing and covering the gashes with a pale hand, he rolled off of Kat and rose, leaning against the velvet draped wall. Looking down at the wound, he moaned in half agony, half rapture. The black pants he wore grew tight around his crotch and he begun to laugh darkly, savoring the taste of violence and pain and the taste of the woman all over his lips.

“Had you aimed just a little to the left and dragged the blade across, you could have eviscerated me.” He coughed, and let her glimpse the wound, which had slowly, but surely begun to stitch itself. “That kind of wound takes longer to heal, especially if the intestine are seeping out.” Luka continued, amusedly, hoping to add fuel to her flames by being as revolting as he could. “Vod you like I show you?”

He took a shaky step back towards her, dragging his tongue across his bottom lip eagerly. “And I -prefer- ven you fight back. I want more…so, so much more…” Luka told her and continued to advance on her. “Come and show me vat you’ve got, leetel vone.”
The eccentric Russian lifted his hand, palm facing him, and did that Matrix style c’mere finger wave that he adored.

[Lt. Commander Katarina Foster]

I can't help but follow in spite of going insane
For i know you'll swallow the whole of my pain
I, i'm stepping out of the light to feel what darkness can sow
I stare at the dead red lie...just one glance and i know
All disguised beneath the smile of the temptress, siren, evil child
The devil's sweetest whore

Ewwww.... Just.... Ewwwww.

She so had not needed that mental picture. Not that it was any worse than some of the crap she'd seen in the middle of a battle but ... damn... This bastard seemed to take great glee in describing the details. Kat guessed that just proved what a sadistic son of a bitch he truly was, as if she needed anymore proof.


"Good God, man..... I've heard of gloom and doom but I've never met a creature that preferred to talk instead of fight." she drawled coolly back, a delicate brow arched as if to show her boredom. "I think you'll find that I'm not quiet the same sort of easy prey these poor idiots that you've slaughtered in here were."

His next words, however, made it very hard for her to maintain her control. Her fury and disgust battled in her head while her logical side said that he was baiting her. Anger would do her no good in this fight so she had to keep her head on straight.

Easier said than done when faced with the same sort of murdering son of a bitch that had probably raped her mother and then left her for dead.

Gripping her blade tighter, Kat began to move in a circle around the creature. Her keen gaze sought out weaknesses and vantage points. This was no normal vampire or he would be bleeding out on the floor at this very moment from the poison her silver lined dagger would have left in his system. But that left the question.... What was he? And How did he manage to heal so fast?

It went against everything they knew about vampires.

"Who are you anyways? What the hell are you doing here in New Orleans and how the hell do you manage to pull the wool over all these sheep eyes? You aren't normal... Even for a vampire.." she retorted, keeping her gaze glued to him even as she felt her own blood flow from the bit on her neck. "If you were... You'd be withering on the ground right now with silver racing through your blood."

Damn, she had to figure out a way to end this soon. Her body was growing more and more sluggish with the loss of blood even while the vampire side kept her on her feet. She was smart enough to know she was in big trouble but stubborn enough to keep her game face as she squared off with the blood sucker.

"And never let it be said that I disappoint.... I'm not really the lay down and die sort of girl. Thats so overrated, don't you think?"

With a quick feint to the left, Kat dove for him and knocked them both backwards in a movement that had them rolling on to the stage and across the wooden, blood soaked floor. When they came to rest, Kat straddled his body and tried to bring the blade back into play.

"That good enough for you, Vampire!" she hissed, struggling to outmaneuver the male.

[Luka Neverov]

Luka could feel the silver coursing through his veins like acid. It bubbled and burned and turned his blood into an inferno.
It wasn’t as if it didn’t affect him in the same ways it did other vampires; quite the contrary, the pain it caused was excruciating; nearly immobilizing. The truth was the pain was to the Russian like heroin was to the junkie; intoxicating, overwhelming, exhilarating. Already his body had hardened as if from a lover’s searing touch; a magnificent smile stretching over the vampire’s boyish face.

He wouldn’t die from it though, which -was- different from other blood-suckers. He was a progeny of an ancient clan. Within their blood was the magic to manipulate the cells, and as a result it absorbed the silver quickly, until it was no longer a threat.

Still, the agony inside remained, and it was with a slight limp that Luka mirrored Kat’s circle around him.
“Vat fun is it to simply snuff out a candle?” He asked, flashing her a sinister smile. “I prefer to play vith fire first.”
She was so much more than he’d previously expected. The flames within her matched her fiery hair; brilliant, striking, resplendent.

But even as she faced him without a hint of fear, Luka could smell a drop of perspiration at her temple. Ah yes, the human part of her was weakening.

When the Halfling leapt at him again, dagger drawn at the ready, Luka rushed into it. The cool steel sliced through his side as easily as butter and he groaned, grasping it with both hands. “Unfortunately, milaya moya…” He drawled and tossed the second weapon aside like the first, “Ve cannot continue game.”

He stood tall to face her, using the pain flared in his side to fuel his strength. His handsome visage began contorting into something out of a horror movie. The skin turned sickly gray and stretched tight over bat-like features, and massive fibrous wings pushed through the skin of his back. “I vodn’t vant to kill you before I’ve had all the fun I crave…”

The wing shot out toward her; a talon like appendage at its tip piercing though the female’s shoulder and pinning her to the wall.
Keeping her fixed flatly against the partition with the powerful wing, the vampire stalked forward, closing in until he could run a gentle gray fingertip down her cheek. “So beautiful. You vod be perfect addition to my collection.”

His hand moved down to ghost over her pale neck, along the curve of her collarbone and finally stroking down her arm until it found her thin wrist. “How vod you like to be part of my cast?” He asked in a slow, almost romantic burr, pulling the wrist forward as he grasped the other with his free hand. “Just think…you could be anything you’ve ever vanted. I could make you a star…”

The wrists were brought together and the skin suddenly fused as the power of flesh-craft flowed from Luka’s touch. The hybrid was shackled with her own skin and muscle.
“Don’t fight me leetel vone.” He pulled the wing from her shoulder and released the wrists. “It vill only cause pain and vaste precious energy.”

With strong arms he lifted Kat up, tossing her over his shoulder like a rag doll. They drifted through the quiet halls, only once and again spying a lingering black clad vampire from the play. Some had gone to feed. Most had simply escaped hell. All knew Luka’s thirst for death was not limited to humans, but for his own kind as well.

The air became cooler and damper as they descended down to the basement that housed old props from the Theaters prime.
Luka had turned it into a macabre funhouse with ghastly masks and costumes hung from the dark walls.

As they went further into the darkness, the pretend props gave way to something more horrible. Mangled bodies lined the partitions; what once had been human men and women where now flesh-crafted into morbid scenes from some of his favorite films.

A male was stripped nude and manipulated into the Creature from the Black Lagoon, two women had been fused together to create a morose Siamese twin display…there were far too many to describe.

Luka set Kat down before his favorite scene; bodies in various stages of decay, some fashioned with fleshy wings and their backbones pulled up and out to make halos, and the others made to have long pointed tails and hooves, with horns protruding from their foreheads.
It was a scene of angels and demons; a battle between good and evil.

“It is beautiful, is it not?” He asked adoringly and wound a chain around her middle to fix her to a beam that extended from floor to ceiling. “I think that vone is still alive…”
And he pointed to one of the ‘angels’, where a tear dripped down from a glazed over eye.

[Lt. Commander Katarina Foster]

The redhot nail inside of you is me
I am the nail
Now drunk on lust I drown in you
Tension prevails and it takes me over again
I am the nail
Forever within I'm lost in you
Deeper with pain as it takes me over again
I taste lead in every drop I spit out my throat
I crave death with every kiss I can't live without
An overwhelming state is burning through my every vein
Mine's the pleasure as I force-feed her all my pain


Wow. Bram Stoker had nothing on this guy!

Before Kat could even gather herself to formulate an attack, he smiled as if they were playing some great game and then charged right into her blade. Unable to hide the gasp that escaped her, the redhead stared right into his eyes as he seemed to get off on the pain and then shuddered.

Holy hell in a hand basket.

This guy was a whole new kind of creepy crazy.. and Kat knew crazy. He was so far off the planet, he probably thought Freddy Kruger was a fairy tale prince! She was in big trouble here and her strength was failing even before he suddenly morphed into bat boy and stabbed her in the shoulder with a wicked looking talon.

"Holy Mary mother of god!" she thought even as pain slammed through her body and she gritted her teeth in order not to scream her agony. She had a feeling that would only incite him more and she wasn't about to give him that much pleasure.


"Go to hell you evil son of a bitch."she managed to push out through clenched jaws. "You.. and... You... little... dog.. too!"


Ok, so a bit of misplaced humor but.... it made her feel better!

With effort, Kat pulled her knees up just as the vampire grabbed her wrists and locked them together. Unfortunately, before she could launch another assault, the sensation of her own flesh changing pulled her attention to where the demonic creature had her pinned. Immediately, horror filled her being as she saw her own body had betrayed her and was now morbidly twisted to hold her captive to her own tissues.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" she snarled, trying to yank her wrist apart and feeling pain lance through them even as the creature picked her up and started to spirit her away.


"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!! NOOOOOO" she cried, struggling with all her might to no avail. She did no more damage it seemed than a fly might on the back of a big ox. "Put me down, asshole! If you like pain so bloody much, let me give you more."

And then... The cries of the damned fill her ears and her horrified eyes were forced to witness things that were better left unspoken. In her line of work, she'd seen many an evil thing. Had borne witness to more than one twisted creatures savaged leavings.

What she saw in that dark hole though.. It would haunt her nightmares for the rest of her life. The bodies... she could have handled. The stench from decaying flesh.. even that she could have eventually stowed away in the darkest recesses of her mind.

What she couldn't hide from, though, was the twisted, morbid creations that stared at her through LIVING pieces of "art". To her horror, she watched a tear run down the "cheek" of one in particular and felt a shudder rack her body.

"Oh God." she whispered hoarsely even as she realized that the vampire might very well have this in store for her too. "Your never going to get away with this! Some way.. Some how... I will kill you if it the last thing I do...."

Even as she spoke, the creature wrapped her in chains and bound her to a beam. With her strength wanning, Kat struggled to keep herself from showing any weakness but it was a losing battle with her strength sapped from the fight and the blood loss. Darkness crowded in on the edges of her vision and all to soon she found herself slumping against the steal.

"Damn you.... I hope your death is worse than any inflicted on these hapless victims.... " she whispered right before lights went out.

The only comfort she took with her was the knowledge that others would soon be looking for her and the vampires days were no doubt numbered.

[Mercedes Rowe]

{FIVE DAYS LATER}

One moment Mercedes was by Lucien's side the next he had vanished. They had gotten split up somehow, and she wasn't quite sure how it happened. It was probably due to the fact that she got a whiff of Kat's scent, the woman that she had recently just gotten to know.

At this point she thought she should turn back and look for the Lucien or anyone on the team, but she was afraid if she didn't trail the scent she would lose it. Her werewolf senses were kicked in and heightened. The woman's scent was pulling her right along, until she strolled upon some type of theatre.

Her hazel eyes lifted, peering at the name. Vampires? Ah hell, she didn't know about this, but she refused to run scared in the opposite direction. If Kat was in trouble maybe she could help get her out.

She strolled up to the doors, expecting them to be locked. She found it even more strange that they weren't, as it appeared that there was no show tonight or maybe it was already finished.

It was dark inside, but her eyes adjusted quickly, locking in with her werewolf sight. She stuck to the shadows of the walls and corners as she quietly wandered inside. The black outfit she wore when training with Lucien that evening would hopefully help to conceal her.

The place reeked of blood and the stench of rotting corpses. In the middle of all that blood and death scent she smelt fear as well. The smells mingled in the back of her throat causing her to grind her teeth together with disgust. Of course she was used to these type of smells from working at the hospital, but she had a feeling the smells here were far different than what was typically found at the hospital.

She let her eyes roam around the place for something she could use as a weapon, besides her claws, something that would kill a vampire. She wasn't even positive this was a vampires doing, but it was better to be cautious then to go in blindly.

There weren't a whole lot of options when it came to sharp pieces of wood, unless she wanted to rip a theatre chair apart or pull up a board on stage then hope to have time sharpening it with her werewolf claws.

Dammit! This place gave her the creeps!

Opening up her hearing, she tried to pull in Kat's voice as she continued to follow the woman's smell. It lead her towards the stage, which smelled a lot like fresh blood. It had the fine hairs on her body raising on end. It was taking all she could not to shift and go full out wolf here but, first things first, she had to find Kat before she went all crazy ass postal on a bunch of vampires.

[Luka Neverov]

What was it about this little kitty that Luka couldn’t seem to stop playing with her?
And, oh, the fun they had been having…

Not only had the Russian vampire fed from her, tortured her to the point of near death only to let her heal so it could start all over again, but he had used her like his life-sized, living doll. A living dead girl. *dark chuckles*
He had manipulated all the soft, pale, perfect skin time and time again; into different creatures from his favorite movies, and then his favorite actresses, and damn if it wasn’t excruciating not be able to touch her in other ways because he knew as soon as he had her underneath him he would kill her and it would all be over.

It was a good thing the ache of those kind of hungers was just like any other; a drug with which to distract himself. He savored the pain so much.
If it hadn’t been for that pain, poor Katarina would likely be a dead little halfling by now.

The games were never-ending with him. One of his favorites was making the red head watch as he took other victims. He bled them in front of her, killed them in front of her, and fucked them in front of her. Not in that order…okay, sometimes in that order.
The look on her face and the way the light was slowly fading from those sapphire eyes was so amusing to watch. But he had to slow down lest he break her and spoil the fun.

Luka was pressed up against the Halflings body and running his tongue down her bleeding cheek when the scent of something foreign invaded his nose.
He vampire turned, hissing into the dark quiet of his playground, and then grew silent, waiting until he caught a movement he could track.

And there it was.

From above, and from his estimate somewhere near the center of the theatre; the stage, came the lightest of movements.
Luka’s pupils were completely dilated, making them large obsidian orbs which followed the sound of the scarce sound from upstairs, and suddenly forgetting the Halfling and his hunger, he pulled away from the female.

Like a shadow he crept to the front of the storage basement, easing the door open so he could peer out into the hallway that led to the stage. The sound was coming from further, so the Russian whispered the door closed and locked it, stealing through the shadows until his onyx eyes could make out the figure of a slight woman sneaking around.

A grin turned up the corner of his lips, and he leaned against wall to watch her sniffing around at the faintest traces of blood left there from Kat and other victims.

“Bravo.” He clapped like the impatient Mad Hatter, unable to stifle himself anymore. “I had alvays heard wolves vere the slyest of predator, but you have proven yet another thing vomen are more horrible at that driving.” Luka let out a gurgle of disgust and shook his head. “Breaking and entering is not strong point, female. Vat is it that you vant?”

[Mercedes Rowe]

Oh god, Mercedes groaned as her nose filled with the scent of others blood, one being the scent of her commanders. This was not a good position for her. She didn’t know what she had walked into, and she did not need to be killed or whatever had happened to Kat as well. It had been days since her disappearance, so she was afraid she had met her death by the lingering smell of her blood, but she would not assume anything until she saw the corpse for herself.

She needed to get the hell out of there and contact Lucien or the team. They had done this a million times. They knew what to look for, she didn’t. All she could really do was go by her sense of smell, and her sense of smell told her the vampire was here. She smelled him, as sure as he smelled her. He was silent, but she knew he was coming, if not already with her. Her ears picked up the slightest noise, her nose the slightest change in scent.

His clap rang over the stage that she stood in the shadows of, still cautiously moving. She was trying to keep that distance between the two while going back the way she came. Why had she been so stupid not to make sure she didn’t have a cell phone on her? She could have been dialing Lucien up right now and giving him her location.

The wolf in her was just pacing below the surface. It was prepared for just about anything to happen. Mercy was expecting the worst. Kat was dead, and this lunatic was going to kill her too. “You heard correctly, but this so called misconception you have of women being horrible drivers is incorrect.” She was so exiting stage left. “Maybe not, but I’m not here to show off my skills.” She spoke as her foot hit a step to exit the stage. “You have one of ours, and we want her back. You can hand her over now or have this place teaming with people that kill your kind. They are all just waiting outside the doors.” She told him, giving him the ultimatum.

While she tossed that at him and hoped to get his mind thinking that the place was surrounded, she took off down the steps and ran quickly, far quicker than a human, but not as quick as a vampire. Her tennis shoes squeaked against the wooden steps from the sudden, quick movement. To hell with sticking around here with this one, she was going to try and make a break for it. It would be stupid on her part to try and take this man on alone. He smelled old, bloody, and the way he spoke told her he was a crazy ass vampire, not someone she’d want to be stuck alone with, period.

If he chased her though and it came down to flight or fight, at that point, she was going to fight him tooth and nail claw. She would rather her team knew exactly where she was, but if she couldn’t get out these doors, as she feared, she wasn’t going down without a fight.

She really hated those rogue werewolves and vampires. Why did they have to rain down on everyone’s parade?

[Luka Neverov]

Luka couldn’t help but cluck his tongue at the werewolf’s childish squabble, shaking his head and chuckling darkly. “If that vere true, leetel volf, you vod be downstairs vith my head on stake right about now.” His obsidian eyes tracked her slight movements, and they widened briefly at her mention of his little pet below and a slew of hunters outside before he masked it with his usual air of nonchalance.

There was no one out else there. The wolf must take him as some kind of a fool. If they were surrounding the place then why would they send in one lonely little shifter to come in and do reconnaissance? If they knew about the Halfling, chances are they knew about all the other slaughters that had taken place within the theatre lately, and it wasn’t likely they would send one female soldier in to take him down.

The Russian snorted in annoyance as she used his fleeting distraction to make a break for it, and he took a moment to simply shake his dark head at her impudence before bounding off after her.
The shifter was quick, but Luka caught up to her quite easily. His movements were like a shadow and he knew this territory like the back of his pale, ancient hand. Besides, it wasn’t hard to track that unique earthy smell that all werewolves had. The Russian loathed that smell. To him werewolves were nothing more than dogs that should be utilized as slaves and nothing more. Her kind was too prevalent, and to his ancient clan, they had always been immortal enemies.

Leaping over her with the ease of an acrobat, Luka landed spryly on his feet right before the wolf. The vampire’s gums lifted over his fangs in a disgusted snarl, and he grasped her by the collar of her top to pull her so that she was inches from the white gleaming points. “Petulant child!” The Russian growled, shaking her like an out of control parent would a crying infant. “You come into my house and lie to me? You should be ashamed! Did your owner never teach you proper manners?!”

With that he tossed her like a rag doll across the room, and she hit the adjacent wall with a dull thud.

“If you vant her back, you vill have to take her from me.” Luka stalked over to where her petite form lie and reached for her, his fingers lengthening grotesquely, and the nails becoming razor sharp claws.

[Mercedes Rowe]

It was so true, what Luka said. If the team had truly been there they would have come in for him. There would have been no way they would have let her go in alone, but she used trickery to try and get away from the vampire.

Her tennis shoes thumped a little too loudly to her ears, and she knew if they were that loud the vampire would have no problem tracking her across the theatre. How right she was. She could hear him coming up behind her, faster than she could make it to the exit.

He landed in front of her with an animal grace. She came to a halt, her shoes squeaking from the suddenness against the wooden floors. Her brow furrowed and she snarled at the vampire, going into the defensive. “I don’t have an owner. And if you are speaking of the person who infected me, I would just assume to kill him if I ever saw him again, just as much as I wish to kill you right now,” she ended her words with a deep growl.

She was going to shift, she knew it, but just as she thought she was the vampire tossed her across the room. Her back slammed against the wall and she dropped to the floor with a thud. There was a fierce disorientation that followed upon impact with the oncoming wall. Her mind reeling, she knew this vampire would be far stronger than her. However, no matter how strong he was, she was not going down without a fight. He would need to knock her completely out before she would concede. “I will take her from you,” she bit out her words.

Pushing up onto her knees, she groaned from the pain. Her hands flexed as they started to shift into claws. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw the vampire reaching for her. She pushed off of her hands, putting herself into a kneeling position and sliced a claw out at the vampire.

A loud growl filled the silence of a heartbeat between the two. Her body had begun to shift, which happened rather fluently. Her clothes were shredded from the shift, but they were the last of her worries. Her worries were getting out of there alive to give Kat’s location to the rest of the team.

The all black beast snarled at Luka. Its fur lifted off of its neck and down its spine. In a blur of black she lunged at the vampire, snapping her muzzle out at his face as her front claws connected roughly with his chest.