Retrieval

Butch -There were times when I knew it was cool to yank V’s chain and there were times when it was stupid to waste time. I’d already seen my Hellren tear out of the Pit like he had a fire under his ass. Something was up and it was hitting the fan in a big way. This wasn’t one of them nights when I would lounge around the Pit buck naked and try to entice my male. Too bad really… I took a quick shower and had my leathers already on by the time I got a text from Vishous. I hurriedly drew on my weapons and was in the garage in under two minutes. I slid right into the passenger seat of the Escalade and looked over at V’s face.- That bad huh?… Alright, let’s do what we do. -Vishous was the one person that I didn’t have the itch to question until I had the whole picture. Of course I was curious as shit but I trusted him. It was only in those moments when he was shutting down that I felt the need to poke and prod. I sank back in the seat and checked to see that my guns were loaded.-

Vishous As soon as Butch was in the vehicle and even before the door was shut I was jerking the Escalade in reverse and backing out like a bat out of hell. I didn’t glance over once, my eyes were trained on the road and the location of the first sight. Clark County Hospital had two civilians laid up in its morgue but not for long. After we were out of the safety of the Manse and all the gates I aimed for town. “I’d take that bad over this shit any fucking day.” I dove straight into the heart of it and gave the basics. “It seems whoever the new ForeLesser is, they are fucked in the head and showing it in a big way. Tonight there has been a mass murder of Civilians and each one was left in a place that they would definitely be found by humans.” I bypassed going through town and instead opted for cutting through the back way and down a few choice alleys before I finally parked in the furthest corner of the hospitals parking light. I cut the engine off and pocketed the keys before opening the door and stepping out. “Our job tonight is to retrieve our people and clean up any traces that would lead back to us, but as you know we’re fucked with time so each Brother is doing exactly the same shit we are right now. Let’s do this Cop.” I wasn’t pumped in the normal sense that I got when I was on rotation, no, I was pissed the fuck off and if I actually stopped to admit it I was hurting inside for the senseless crimes against the innocent ones of our race, ones we had sworn to protect and failed to do so. That there was the crux of it, failure and not just I failed to stop at a red light, this was some heavy fucking life defining shit and it shrouded around me like a black cloak.

Butch -I was dumbfounded by what Vishous was telling me. It has always been understood that the war between lesser and vampire was kept behind scenes. And V was right, it would take the twisted mind of a new forelesser to come up with a plan like that.- You know that was always one of the things that I really liked about this job. I’m not tracking down clues to find some mystery killer, I’m taking care of the bad guys before they kill… -I was more mumbling to myself than anything at this point. I watched the town whirl by in the bright colors of lights at night feeling a sickness sinking into the pit of my stomach. I came to the conclusion quickly that I would throw all of my efforts into finding this new jackass no matter what it took. I was uniquely qualified to do just that and it was high time I put my skills to use in a serious way. I was out of the Escalade in a flash alongside my other half. I stopped him before we entered the hospital.- I can find this guy Vishous. You know I can but you might not like the lengths. -I hadn’t exactly pieced all the parts together in my head yet but a plan was there and I knew that I would need Vishous.-

Vishous I had my Mhis up around us and I was already taking steps when Butch started speaking and only then did I stop and for the rest of what was left of this night it would be the last time I stopped to talk. “Don’t, not fucking now Cop. Right now the last fucking thing I need in my head is you sucking down a mass of Lesser and risking all. I need my head in this shit. Damage control, true?” My fingers curled up so tightly against my palms that I felt my blunt nails biting into my hands and I had to consciously think to uncurl them. I couldn’t go down that trail of thoughts right now, it was harsh enough that they attacked those that had no knowledge of fighting but to add on Butch going way the fuck out on a limb to take the fuckers down was overkill for my control right now. I gave a quick nod and stepped up to one of the back doors to the hospital, this one had a simple badge swipe security and after using my blade I worked the back of it and heard the click on the door. I pulled it open and went down the long corridor until I found the exit sign right above a door that was marked stairs. Bingo I thought and high tailed it down them and through another hallway. I passed up fuck load of closed doors until finally we came to the one with a side placard with (Morgue) on it. This door had a key pad beside it and once again I went to work on it and waited to hear the familiar click and opened it up. Right there dead center of the room were two stretchers with white sheets covering them. “Alright the plan is simple, we go up the elevator that we passed then back out the door we came in and once outside we load them in the ambulance that was parked out back and you follow me in the Escalade. We have another location to hit after this one. You good with all that Butch?”

Butch -My lips pursed in a tight line as I listened to Vishous. Two things occurred to me and neither one really sat well. First, Vishous appeared like he was not thinking ten steps ahead like he normally did. He was focused on the task at hand, which was admirable, but he was blocking out all else and it wasn’t something that he normally did. I knew that it was because of me but I could deal with that another time. It was the second thing that had me more worried about myself. I was a homicide detective for so many years that the death of innocents was almost commonplace to me. I didn’t stop to think that it wouldn’t be the case for someone like Vishous. Sure it upset me but it was something that I saw everyday and yes, sometimes in these quantities that he was talking about. I’d always thought that he was the more jaded of us but in this particular instance it was me. I looked back up, jolted from my thoughts, and quickly followed after the retreating form of Vishous. I immediately went to one of the stretchers and set my hands on the cold metal.- I’m good, nallum. Let’s get this over with. -‘So that I could find the sonofabitch responsible,’ I thought internally. I ducked my head like I hadn’t even had the thought and pushed the stretcher through the door.-

Vishous Another quick nod and I was pushing one of the stretchers out the door and down to the elevator that we passed. Luck was actually on our side as we made it back up to the first floor and out the same door we came in. The ambulance was still sitting there and I jimmied the back doors open and instead of taking the stretcher I slipped my arms under the sheet and the body. I could already feel the coldness of the body setting in as I lifted the fallen one onto the stretcher that was already in place in back of the ambulance and went to the second stretcher and did the same thing but this one I actually loaded the bed into the cramped back space, seeing as any emergency vehicle only comes equipped with one. After we had them secured I locked the doors and tossed the escalades keys to Butch. “Our next stop is the park on State St. I’ll follow you there and fix the lights for us as we go.” I went around to the driver’s side of the vehicle and got behind the wheel, it only took a minute to disengage the security on it and get the engine going.

Butch -I caught the keys in one smooth motion and jogged back over to the Escalade. It was a good damn thing that V was with me because I wasn’t sure how cool my fast talking was on an active crime scene. The last time I’d tried it I had to dress Z in a hazmat suit. I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I drop the SUV trying to ponder what the forelesser was after with this move. Was he trying to drive all vampires out into the public eye? Was it an elaborate trap to catch the Brotherhood? Or was it the actions of a pissed off child? And how was he identifying the race so easily? Did he have an inside source? Was he torturing some vampire right now? There were too many questions for my liking and the way that the hearts were ripped out had to be some sort of clue to his motive. Should I care about his motive at this point? It wasn’t like he was going to have his day in court. Maybe it would help find him though… I wasn’t sure. My head was spinning by the time I pulled up at the park. I quickly took in the scene and walked straight toward the one body that I saw, knowing that V would be right behind me.-

Vishous We made it to State St in record time and when we pulled up there were a few cops walking around a body that was just lying there to be gawked at. I growled out my annoyance at this race. They were useless as far as I was concerned. I stepped out and made my way to the crime scene. It was no big surprise when the cops milling around started coming at me as if I was carrying a chainsaw and wearing a mask. A sneer curled my lip up and as soon as they were close enough I brought all their eyes to focus on me. With a few short words they parted ways and started picking the scattered garbage off the grounds around them. My iridescent eyes glowed with each step I took that brought me closer to the next victim. It didn’t take a genius to see that an outright battle went down here, I could smell the Lesser filth from a mile away but what floored me was the one laying on the ground void of a heart. It wasn’t a civilian vampire; no this was a Doggen, a male Doggen. I knelt down next to the male and inspected the cold ground around him. “There were many others here Cop, many males and at least one female.” Shaking my head I lifted the Doggen from the ground and nodded at the Cops that were still picking up the littered garbage. “We better get out of here before any new arrivals show up and see those clowns.”

Butch -All my instincts took over as I looked at the scene and listened to what was being said by the investigators. They had found the telltale signs of a greasy substance and ash but I knew for a fact they wouldn’t get anything off of that. It was the other blood spatters that I worried about and the extend of the actual battle. I stood by a large pool of blood and turned a full circle to see that whoever was here had been surrounded. This one could not have fought their way out, they were bleeding too much. I raised my hand and nodded with V’s assessment of the sitch. I followed the evidence markers, picking them up as I went. The trail of blood ended at the street and I could see the tire marks of a skidding vehicle. I came back to V and opened up the back door of the ambulance for him to put the body in with the rest.- The took a car with the one that was wounded. At least someone escaped with their life tonight… hopefully. Odd that in a place so public there were no witnesses found. Though there is one pissed off dude over there that got his car stolen. -Pointing to the guy who sat on a bench looking at his watch.- I’m willing to bet he was the one that actually called the cops.

Vishous I followed after Butch with the Doggen in my arms while he checked the layout of the scene and once we made it back to the Ambulance and he opened the door I tried my best to lay the third victim in as comfortably as the other two. Even though I knew it was a moot point I still tried. I shut the door and secure it once more before turning to Butch. “How about you go yack it up with him and get some info while I set a little fire to take care of the blood trail left behind here?” I gave a half grin and didn’t wait for anything else before I knelt down by the curve and removed my leather glove from my hand. The cops were well out the way of the area I was targeting. Even before I laid my palm down over the area I could feel the power rush through me as if it was happy as fuck to be in use again. With the barest touch of my fingertips the cold wet ground danced and sparked to life with a red haze of flames and it spread over the ground as if it was crawling and rolling through the blades of grass.

Butch -I tucked the evidence markers into my back pocket and wiped my hands off as I headed over toward the guy on the chair. I pulled out my notepad that I always carried and flipped it open before sitting down next to the guy who was obviously pissed that this murder had gotten in the way of anyone finding his car. I started with the standard things: name, make/model of the car, license and time of robbery. I jotted it all down but was actually more concerned with who had taken his car. The guy was very adamant about this part. His hands flew in every direction as he described how he been pulled from his car by Thor and how the guy had no fucking clue how to treat ‘his baby’. With some more prodding I got more of a description than that and it sounded remarkably like the Bastard that I’d met when I went out to pick up Bella. I made another note of that as the guy went on to add the description of another man with a wicked scar on his face carrying a beautiful chick that was obviously very hurt. I had a pretty good idea who the one with a scar was it was the female that I was concerned about. My brow wrinkled as I wrote down her description and I looked up to watch Vishous doing his thing. I flipped the notepad closed and tucked it away before standing up. I nodded to V that I had the information.-

Vishous When I got the nod from Butch I made my way across the street and that alone was enough to bring the guys attention to me and the now low burning fire across the street. Again I delved into his head as I did with the Cops and did some rearranging and twisting until he sit there looking at his watch again like he had not a care in the world. “Alright, hopefully the others were able to hit their marks and retrieve all the rest, Lets get back because I can feel the daylight fingers itching at the back of my neck.” I got ready to turn and leave but before I did I grabbed Butch by the back of his neck and pulled him in for a rushed kiss and then let go just as abruptly. I was licking his taste from my lips as I went back over to the ambulance and got in position to follow him back to the Manse.

Butch -I wasn’t as in sync with my new lifestyle yet to where I just knew when the sun was going to rise. I imagined it was a handy ability though. I didn’t have much time to contemplate it before Vishous was pulling me to him. All thought stopped and I moaned into his lips. The moment was over as soon as it started and I was left watching him saunter off back to the ambulance like nothing had happened. I growled lowly and eyeballed the fuck out of those swaying hips that rolled perfectly with his shoulders.- Fucker… -I adjusted myself and got into the Escalade. I paused long enough to light up a cigarette and than we were racing through the streets of Caldwell thanks to V’s handy ability to fix stop lights. He was right, I could see the sun peaking over the horizon just as we pulled into the underground garage. I only hoped that everyone else made it back with the tasks that they had as well.-