Page 11 (1/2)

Nightti the equipht-ties of the area around the retreat facility, as well as nated points of interest withinfinally arrived, both vampires felt as prepared as possible for their endeavor As Alton helped load their implements into the Jeep, he took note of Katrina&039;s focused manner

"I&039;ve seen that look on your face before, you know," he observed as she closed the back door of the Jeep with a resolute push of her hand

Her piercing green eyes probed into his as she inquired, "And as that, exactly?"

"Decades ago, actually Around the time of your last hunt for Chimalma," he recalled

She arched an eyebrow "Yes, but this time&039;s different"

"Really? How so?"

Her expression was stony "Last time was a fruitless hunt This tiain a little closure"

Alton nodded silently as he walked around to the driver&039;s side of the Jeep while Katrina secured the cabin&039;s front door

This time, Chimalma, I&039;ll commit you to dust, she vowed coldly, and you&039;ll never threaten Caleb or ht was cold and clear, with a crescentthe sky They arrived outside the retreat facility close to ten o&039;clock and parked the Jeep so the vehicle, they each wore black jeans, sweaters, leather gloves, and hiking boots They dabbed black shoe polish on their faces to subdue their pale skin, confident they would blend into the night quite effectively Additionally, Katrina tied her long, red hair back in a single, tight ponytail

Alton secured two coear and was armed with a small automatic pistol with silencer They were his weapons of choice for the type of activities they planned Though fighting wasn&039;t his preferred activity, he had experienced enough in his tier to various forms of coear that held a nu stars They served her hen she perfor to her hip was a long coil of steel cable, which he had convinced her was superior for carrying in a stealthy situation and was al She adht on the ht of it first She also sported the repeating combat crossboith a leather sheaf of the wood-shafted, metal-tipped bolts

Both vampires slipped small tactical ear bone conduction ht ears, which would allow them to stay in relatively silent co as they remained in close proximity and away frohly effective and commonly used by military and police tactical teams

Alton handed her a small handheld detonator "I have one just like it tuned to the saer the explosion e&039;re ready"

Katrina nodded, and he handed her the small electronic ja in Atlanta

"Do you re its use?" he asked

She nodded

"Don&039;t forget you only have tenwhich tio dead"

"Got it," she replied while slipping it into a holder attached to her leather harness "I&039;ll try not to use it, if possible"

"Let&039;s go then," Alton suggested

Both vampires moved out silently into the nearby woods in the direction of the retreat facility

The area was hilly and packed with dense trees interspersed with hiking trails Se river running directly below the small meadow intended for use as the kill zone Both of theh their skilled vah the dense coverage Theythe retreat grounds froles Katrina intended to approach somewhat from the front, while Alton would approach from the back because it was closer to the area where he needed to set up the kill zone

Altonof a steep, tree-covered hill and soon ca trails He avoided the trail because it was more easily watched or booby-trapped and remained in the trees as his acute senses tuned to any unusual sounds or movements

After tenaround in the dry leaves covering parts of the ground He approached to within twenty feet of the guard, ore hunter&039;s gear and carried a rifle with a night scope The guard s trails and appeared soenerate warht for soed to creep to within four feet of the htly behind his area of vision He raised his pistol and fired once at the base of the ure sluarette and pulled the figure into some dense bushes nearby Then he uards

"One down," he whispered

Katrina heard and sh the trees Her senses felt attuned to the natural environment around her, and she reveled with the thrill of the hunt Yet another part of her was anxious for it to be over The sooner she finished, the sooner she could return to Caleb

Still, she shamefully admitted that the renewal of violence of the past few days had rekindled a sense of pleasure She loved to stalk prey, regardless of whether it were humans or animals It was a vah in recent years, she soughthabits Now she felt the call of the hunt, though for serious reasons and her stakes than her personal pleasure Now it&039;s for ht of Caleb and the manner in which he fulfilled the role of or for her task at hand

Before long, she heard the sound of a person so zeroed in on the an the stealthy endeavor of stalking hiarb, but held an assault rifle with infrared scope Theto his right and sweeping left in her direction

She increased the speed of her closure to the man&039;s position andarc wouldn&039;t point in her i around Even in the dry winter conditions, she avoided noise that would alert someone to her presence The breeze caused tree li some ambient noise as her footfalls fell relatively silently one after another

Once she arrived to within thirty feet of the ure and carefully locked hi for the ht the man squarely in the round with little struggle, and she closed the distance to him to slash swiftly doards across his throat with one of the coear

"One down," she whispered

She continued on her way, once again scanning the distance with her keen senses to detect another guard

Within an hour, both of theuards out of operation Altonhis explosives in an even, circular pattern for the most efficient detonation

Meanwhile, Katrina moved closer to the retreat facility, a mediuuest rooms There was also a s with a s an oversized pond just behind the e storage building positioned well away from the conference center to the east of the boat house

Katrina was struck by how the entire compound seemed to be closed There were only half a dozen vehicles in the parking lot, which likely belonged to souards on duty She had expected to encounter a contingent of guests ould pose an additional impediment to their plans The Website for the facility didn&039;t indicate any specific closure periods during the winter h it was only about teeks from Christmas Whatever the reason for the abandoned facility, she found the develope building, the nearest structure to her position, allowing her the opportunity to exaree of cover As she hugged the building, she wondered how Alton was co with the explosives

"Alton?" she whispered "Status?"

There was a silent pause

"Nearly halfway coe building just east of the boat house to survey the grounds further," she whispered "Then I&039;ll ht," he replied "Be careful I&039;ll head for the storage building after I&039;m done here"

"Copy that," she whispered She permitted a small smile to cross her lips as she uration of explosives and double-checked the array While working, he reflected on his experience with de clandestine operations that he perforain during brief periods of the Cold War Of course, he had conducted the operations under separate names and identities, but the cumulative experience had proven handy at such ti careful to ensure that no additional guards e building near the boat house, he failed to see Katrina in the i," he whispered

There was a pause, and Katrina replied, "Area surveyed Moving into the e near the facility to watch for guards and respond as needed," he whispered

"Copy," she replied

Katrina corounds of the retreat couards outside Shewhere there was less direct lighting fro was dark, except for main hallways and some offices, which appeared vacant

She tried the rear entrance and hen she found it to be unlocked Abruptly, she heard the sound of Chimalma&039;s voice from within the lower level near the ear, extracted the s device, and activated it Unfortunately, her communications with Alton would be suspended until she turned it off again or until the ten-er heard the sound of Chimalma&039;s voice as she entered the open area, which appeared to be a gathering rooistration desk She peered down the length of a long hallway as she made her way to the front entry area and on to the inally heard Chie uniforun appeared at the very end of the hallway and pointed his weapon at her In a blur, she grasped three throwing stars froth of the hall towards the guard as he was pulling the trigger Two rounds passed in front of Katrina&039;s body The others ild into the ceiling when the throwing stars impacted the round clutching at his neck, and in a matter of seconds, fell silent

She proceeded towards the e building to head for the front of the facility when he heard a small sound behind hi, curvy blade of a knife already speeding towards hi hit in the chest with the blade, instead irunted froure of Chi hiht to land on the ground nearby

"Well, if it isn&039;t Alton," she offered with a dark expression as she hefted a short-bladed ht hand "Ever the foolish chevalier, I see"

"Go to hell," he h clenched teeth as his hand went to the hilt of the blade buried in his stomach

"You first," she seethed back at him with scowl as she moved towards him with the e and Caleb They perfor laundry, vacuu the bathrooms He was less than enthusiastic about the chores, but she quickly convinced him that despite the anticipation of word froe emphasized that Katrina was particularly orderly and would be very appreciative for their efforts upon her return That finally convinced hior into his endeavors She was additionally pleased that it kept hi less ti arrived, Paige showered and changed into fashionable blue jeans that fit her perfectly and a Goth black Garbage concert T-shirt bearing a picture of Shirley Manson After Caleb showered and cleaned up, he slipped on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and went looking for sole-sized, oven-baked lasagna, Paige walked by the kitchen counter where he sat She shriveled her nose and frowned unpleasantly as she glanced at hi the last bite

"Dude, there&039;s way too ust

He raised his eyebrows curiously "Oh yeah, vaave hi, vaarlic," she teased "There&039;s just way too much in that dish Remearlic alters the appreciable flavor of your blood for a tirinned "Sort of curdles thelike that"

"I guess I&039;ht then," he quipped with a s, "Not funny, Tree-Branch Boy"

He washed the dishes as she perched on a kitchen stool casually watching hiht? Movie, TV, or ame of cards? I&039;m a prettythem in the drain board next to the sink "How about chess?" he suggested

She considered his offer "Ok, kiddo But I hope you won&039;t feel too bad when I kick your butt at it"

"We&039;ll see," herooer," Paige interjected "Go brush your teeth and use soarlic breath No cheame!"

He chuckled and headed upstairs Ten e sipped at a glass of warm blood that he had prepared for her

"No sy," she warned "But thanks, ed a series of rapidsohly about his strategy The spunky vampire proved to be quite an accomplished chess player It surprised hiirl But then, he considered there was likelytwo fingernails of her right hand on the coffee table as she stared across the chessboard at hi," Caleb mock-complained as he carefully studied the variety of pieces re," she retorted as she continued the strulanced up at her, noticing her intent stare "What?" he pressed with a frown

"Are you sure you&039;re up to a gae asked with a grin

Caleb grinned back and challenged, "You know, humans are far better chess players than vaure?"

He smiled "Because vahts&039;"

Paige shook her head with a sour expression and retorted, "Ew I&039;a a deliberative period of ti

As Caleb pondered his next e suddenly cocked her head to one side and froze in place He looked up curiously and started to ask her rong, but she held up her hand for silence

Her eyes widened, and in a blur of rab hi him to his feet abruptly "Crap! We should&039;ve played in Katrina&039;s rooed him into the kitchen and threw open the door to the baseoing on?" he demanded as his pulse rate soared

At the bottom of the stairs, she pointed to the far corner of the room towards a stack of crates and boxes and ordered, "Hide behind those crates and keep quiet, noback for you!" Then she bounded up the stairs, closing the door to the baselanced frantically around him and started for the stack of crates when he paused and looked at the nearby workbenches Need a weapon, he resolved

Spotting a rabbed it and hefted it in his right hand The lights abruptly went out, but instead of heading for the crates, he moved back towards the foot of the stairs and felt his way to the side of the concrete steps He stood along the lower side of the stairs in front of the refrigerator so he could get a clear swing at soht descend to the floor level It also provided a sree of visual shelter for him until sooing to explode as he listened intently for any noises fro sound followed by a door crashing into a wall There was theupstairs

Caleb jolted as he heard the song "Tein to blare above fro

I a

He heardscream and a thunderous crash upstairs

I a for my moment

Another un blasts

I just can&039;t get enough

I&039; at you for a littlecrash sounded upstairs, followed by so sounds Then there were no further noises, save for the loud

I a slightly, but his jaas set as he heard the door open at the top of the stairs He saw a red light appear on the steps and walk its way down to the botto in the pitch blackness He raised the croith his right ar as the music blared froht as it unfire erupted, and he swung the croith all his ht In the quick successive flashes froles wearing body arure&039;s head with a dull thud

Caleb slipped on so under his feet and plu of bullets while the figure&039;s assault rifle continued firing, even as the figure sprawled onto the floor near hih his jeans and he reached up to rub his forehead with his hand, shtly with the substance

You are a secret

A new possession

I like to keep you guessing

He heard another sound at the top of the stairs followed by footsteps Raising the crohere he sat panting, he planned a desperate strike at the figure&039;s kneecap

Katrina made her way into theback to small offices In the hallway she noticed letter-sized pieces of paper lying on the floor approximately two feet apart froe black letters

She frowned and followed the trail of papers while brandishing her crossbow, ready to fire at any iistered only silence, reassuring her nobody else was in the immediate area

At the end of the hallas a s a se of papers leading across the floor towards it On the tabletop were a sital recorder and a white piece of paper, which read ALTON IS ALREADY DEAD

Katrina turned off the ja device and snapped, "Alton! Alton, can you hear istered no response in her co on the table reactivate and begin playing its loopingvoice "Katrina, Caleb is dead Mercenaries texted me to say they just entered the house Too bad It seems humans just don&039;t take bullets very well, I&039; stabbed repeatedly by a knife She wanted to screaed to contain herself Da around, she ran through the facility towards the nearest exit in a blur Her eyes were blazing green, and she felt like a er and bitterness She had one immediate focus: kill Chimalma

Her only hope was to locate Alton&039;s last position and expect that Chimalma was still there

The cool, sticky fluid he sat in rendered standing too risky, so Caleb crouched on the floor He nervously held the crowbar like a baseball bat, hoping heto someone&039;s kneecaps left in him As he heard the tentative footsteps above, he hoped his luck would hold out as it did with the first attacker

"Caleb?" cae&039;s tentative voice

The crowbar clattered to the concrete floor, and he asped froht snapped on to flash down at hilanced down in the flashlight&039;s glow to see he was sitting in a pool of blood "Jesus!" he cried with shock

"Crap, crap, crap," Paige chanted as she dropped the flashlight into his lap and began feeling around his body with her frantic hands She sniffed suddenly and stopped running her hands over him "Wait," she snapped and bent her face close to his

Her tongue quickly darted to the blood on his forehead "Good, good Not your blood," she uttered "Stay here!"

Then she was gone, and the assailant&039;s body next to him see, dragging sound Within hts snapped back on

"Ew, gross," he muttered as he stood shakily and stared at the red, sli his hands and the floor where he stood

He heard a brief footstep on the stairs above, but when he looked up, Paige was already standing before him There was blood smeared around her mouth, and he stared at her ide eyes Her youthful and playful appearance had turned ized while wiping her one?" he asked