by ID Johnson
Cadence was listening intently, hanging on every word. "He killed a Hunter and a bunch of kids, and he's still out there? Are you serious or are you just yankin' my chain?"
"No, he's serious," Eliza affirmed. "Barbarosa is one old bad dude. But his place is set up like a labyrinth, and he always seems to know we're coming. It's about the worst idea I've ever heard. There's no way that Aaron would go for it."
"I totally agree," Elliott said, sitting back in his chair. "There's no way that Aaron would go for it." Then, leaning in to catch Cadence's eyes again, he added, "But then, he's not feeling well, and I'm not sure we need to disturb him."
She considered the idea for a moment. Thinking again about how mad Elliott was when she and Aaron had toyed with the idea of becoming a couple, she wondered if Elliott was just trying to come up with a plan to get her knocked off. But, on the other hand, the idea of taking out another bad-ass Vampire, one like Holland, was extremely appealing. And it would be one-on-one, though she would have at least one Guardian with her in Elliott. "What's his place like?" she asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.
A small smile curled at Elliott's upper lip. "It's got a huge iron wall around it. Inside, he's grown a barricade of thorny bushes, at least ten feet high. Most Hunters can't make it through without him jumping out at them and taking them out from behind. If you happen to get inside, his house is a series of tunnels and passages that wrap back around on themselves. If you should happen to get that far, the possibility of actually catching Barbarosa off-guard or in a vulnerable position is nil-to-none. And then, engaging him in battle is almost futile. He's one strong bastard."
Cadence glanced around at the other faces in the room. Both Eliza and Hannah were shaking their heads in disbelief. "How many Hunters has he killed?" Cadence asked, returning her attention to Elliott.
It was Hannah who answered. "Too many to count. Don't go, Cadence," she said forcefully. "It's really not worth it."
Cadence could feel Hannah trying to change her energy, attempting to persuade her that she was too tired to go or too upset about Jack. Because she knew how to detect this sort of persuasion, she was able to block it, and found it rather annoying. "Did you say a hundred miles? How would we get there? We don't have a car."
"Oh, I can take care of that," Elliott said, with his relaxed tone again. "I've got connections."
He winked at her, and Cadence thought it was a bit creepy at first, but then she realized that was one of his persuasive tactics. Now, she was wondering if he wasn't the one trying to sway her emotions. Either way, the idea of going after this particular Vampire seemed extremely appealing to her. "I think we should go," she said, her mind made up.
"No way," Eliza said, her head shaking frantically, burgundy locks being tossed about. "Forget it. If Aaron found out, he'd kill you." She was addressing Elliott but glanced at both of them.
It was Cadence who replied. "Well, he can't kill us if Barbarosa gets us first!" Her tone took on the lull of a teenager trying to scare her friends into going to a haunted house. "I'm in; let's do it!" she declared, slapping her hands down on her knees and looking at Elliott.
The sneer on his face reflected the delight he felt in his heart. "I'll arrange for the car," he replied tartly.
"You're insane! You can't let her do that!" Eliza interjected sternly through Elliott's IAC.
"Relax," he replied, calmly. "I'm not really going to let her tangle with Barbarosa. I'll drive her out there and then bring her back. It'll be fine."
"It's too dangerous," Hannah stated emphatically. "What if she gets away from you?"
"You guys worry too much," Elliott shot back as he stood and crossed the room. "She wants a hunt, I'll give her a hunt. It'll be fine. She'll never get out of the car."
***
"Just wanted to make sure you're aware that we've got a newbie in Lincoln," Mitzy began, once she'd connected with Aaron on the IAC. She was already aware before she received the call from Laney, but another sighting was confirmation enough to let the Leader know. "He's hooked up with Giovani, and a couple of free agents are attempting to relocate them now. Think they're headed toward Omaha."
Aaron had been attempting to rest, but with all of the chatter on the IAC, he was not having a whole lot of luck. "I was aware of the newbie, but this is the first mention of Giovani. Has anyone got a visual?" Though he didn't express his concern to Mitzy, Aaron knew this made Jack more dangerous than he had initially realized. On his own, Jack could cause some problems, but hooked up with a notorious Rogue, the trouble could easily get out of hand. Giovani had a reputation of taking whoever he wanted, whether they were approved prey or not, including the occasional child or victim in broad daylight, both huge no-nos. Aaron was aware that Laney and Laura had tracked him across most of the country. It made sense to Aaron that Giovani would be in the area since Holland had been there just a few weeks ago. In fact, he had been surprised that Giovani hadn't shown up at the Eidolon Festival. Perhaps, the two sisters had been close enough on his trail that he had to find some cover. Either way, if Jack was with Giovani, chances were he would violate a rule sooner rather than later and that would make matters even worse for the newly-born Vampire.
Mitzy, a former member of LIGHTS who now operated on her own, was playing messenger between the two parties who refused to speak to each other. Checking back with Laney, she awaited an answer.
Laura was driving much faster than the posted speed limit, weaving the Charger in and out of traffic, yet drawing little attention from the other drivers as she did so. Just as Laney was about to answer Mitzy's question with a negative response, the two girls spotted a familiar Corvette about a quarter mile ahead of them travelling almost as fast as they were. "Affirmative," she said, the smile on her face almost detectible in her tone. "We are in pursuit."
Mitzy passed on the information. "Laney and Laura have visuals," she informed him and waited for another message to pass along to the ladies.
Upon hearing precisely who it was that had Jack in their sights, Aaron sighed. Pushing his personal feelings aside, he tried to focus on the task at hand. Though Aaron would appreciate the women doing whatever it took to take out Giovani, Jack had not done anything wrong, not yet anyway. Therefore, he fell under the protection of the Guardians. "The newbie's name is Jack Cook, and he's not a Rogue, not yet anyway. If they should happen to engage Giovani, tell them to keep that in mind. Jack needs to be brought back here unharmed."
Mitzy relayed the message, making sure they knew not to harm Jack.
Laney tried to keep from snickering. "Do you honestly think either of us would come back there, for any reason?"
"Well, I can tell him that if you want, but I don't think he means you have to bring him back yourself," Mitzy replied. She had been a Hunter for a very long time and retired from the team about forty years ago, before Aaron had taken over. Nevertheless, she found this game of telephone exhausting. She let Aaron know that the girls refused to bring Jack in themselves.
Aaron would have rolled his eyes if she could have seen him. "No, I suppose they won't. I can arrange a pick up if necessary. My point is, Jack Cook is to be apprehended unharmed."
"I'll pass it along," tag-team Mitzy assured him before going back to Laney.
"Okay," Laney agreed. "We'll do our best. But if he gets in the way of us taking out Giovani, sorry, but the new guy gets it."
"She said they will do their best not to harm him, but they're after Giovani. Period." Mitzy was growing a bit exhausted now and hoped this conversation was about over.
"Understood," Aaron replied. "Let me know how it goes."
"You know I will," Mitzey stated, emphasizing the I.
Laney had no personal qualm with the Guardian Leader, and she didn't particularly like to have to use an intermediate. But she wouldn't interact with Aaron if she could help it, especially not with her sister present. She knew, as soon as she let Laura know the conversation was over, she would be interrogated. What did he say? What do
you think he meant by that? How did Mitzy say he was breathing? Do you think he was thinking about me? Not that I care if he was thinking about me. But still, is it possible he was thinking about me?
"Reported," Laney said aloud, addressing her sister. "He said that newbie is to be apprehended unharmed. He's not a Rogue. And that's all he said, so don't ask me anything else," she added, hoping to quash her sister's questions before they were even formed.
Laura looked offended. "I wasn't going to ask anything else," she said smartly, still weaving around the other cars. They were beginning to close, and she was thinking about how to sneak up on Giovani without him noticing while still traveling just as quickly as he was. It would be almost impossible for him to miss the Charger.
"Whatever," Laney replied. "He wants Jack Cook brought into LIGHTS unharmed."
"Ha," Laura said smartly. "Then perhaps he should get some of his own team members out here trailing Jack Cook. I'll bring him in--in a vacuum cleaner," she added, referring to their method of cleaning up the ash disappearing Vampires left behind right after they were destroyed.
Just as Laney was about to reply, it became very apparent that Giovani had spotted the familiar vehicle behind him. He took off, shooting through traffic even more deliberately than he had been before. The sun was setting, making it even more difficult to keep an eye on the fast moving Corvette and making the chase even more dangerous. Giovani was squeezing the car through openings between semis and passenger vehicles so tight, even a Smart Car would have had difficulty making it through.
Laura followed as closely as she could without causing an accident. Most of the time, humans didn't even detect the quick moving vehicles of Hunters, Guardians, and Vampires as they moved through the slower moving traffic seamlessly. This evening, however, because of Giovani's recklessness, others seemed to be taking notice. If Laura wasn't careful, she could potentially cause some of these innocent humans to be injured, or worse, and she didn't want that on her conscience. As much as she wanted to catch Giovani at last, she didn't want to do so at the expense of others.
"We're losing him," Laney said, bracing herself against the door, her trigger-happy left hand physically moving back and forth between the dash and the Glock at her hip.
"I know that," Laura replied tartly. Of course, she realized her caution was causing them to slip farther behind. "I don't want to cause a wreck."
Laney sighed impatiently. "Okay, but if he gets off in Omaha and we're not right behind him at the exit, we'll never see where he went."
Laura pulled the car around a charter bus, using the shoulder for more than its intended purpose. "I'll try to catch up. The traffic should thin out a bit as we get further away from Lincoln."
"Yay, but it will intensify as we get closer to Omaha," Laney reminded, squinting a bit as the car veered a bit too close to an SUV. "Hey, if we're going to live on the edge, may as well jump."
The older, more responsible sister tended to disagree. "Just... let me drive," she replied, attempting to concentrate on the road and ignore her younger sister.
Ahead of them, Giovani was finding humor and excitement in the pursuit. "They've been chasing me for years," he explained to Jack, whose grip on the "oh-shit handle" was so strong, his knuckles were white. "I love it when they get real close and then I rocket away from them. Crazy bitches."
Jack had so many questions he wanted to ask, but he was afraid, if he opened his mouth, the only thing that would come out was a scream, or vomit. Although, he wasn't quite sure that Vampires were even capable of that second one. The faster they went, the closer they got to the other vehicles around them, the more convinced he became that Vampires were just as capable of upchucking as any other creature.
He didn't need to ask questions anyway. Giovani didn't mind chatting while he participated in a high-speed chase. "You see, the older of the two, Laura, she used to date Aaron. He's the Guardian Leader. This was a while back, not long after he first took over. He's one of those micro-manager, total tight-ass types. He wanted everything so-so. But Laura, she's one of those I'm-always-right kinds of bitches; you know, can't ever be wrong about anything? Well, word got out pretty quick in our community that, if you got yourself into a situation with the team from LIGHTS, just cause a bit of disruption so that they go at it with each other, and you can sneak out of there pretty easy like." He continued to drive like a maniac, despite the fact that the Charger was shrinking in his rearview mirror. "So, one night I find myself in a bit of a situation. I was with Holland, and we were at a club in NYC. Minding our own business, except for the waitress we were sharing, when LIGHTS shows up. I'd never been in that kind of a predicament before. I was scared shitless. But Holland, knew exactly what to do. She starts screwing around, going one way, then the other, nothing predictable, takes out another human, whatever. The next thing you know, the whole LIGHTS team is arguing about what to do, and we walk out the front door. Not even kidding. Walked right past that Laura bitch. Literally, right past her. Funniest shit you ever saw, man."
Jack was doing his best to follow Giovani's convoluted story, which was even more difficult since he wasn't sure exactly what some of those initials stood for or what he meant by causing disruptions in the team. The only type of team Jack was really familiar with was the kind that played baseball, and clearly Giovani was referring to something else. Though he wasn't any less frightened from Giovani's driving, he managed to ask, "What do you mean, disrupt them?"
"They can communicate through this crazy eye-implant they've got. So, if you get them all hung up in talking to each other, it's easier to distract them, throw them off. I think he was giving her orders, and she didn't like it or something. Who the hell knows? But when we walked past her, I'm sure he went apeshit on her. I wish I could have heard that conversation."
"The Guardians have that convo thing, or the Hunters?" Jack asked, realizing this could be vital information.
"Both of them," Giovani replied, slowing down just a bit. He could no longer see the Dodge Charger in his mirror. He wanted to give the ladies a chance to catch up.
"Wow," Jack mumbled, relaxing his grip just a bit. "Can we do that?"
"Sure," Giovani replied. He watched as Jack jumped just a bit, confirmation that he had received the message. He had sent it telepathically, something all Vampires could do. They could communicate with other Vampires by sending messages with their brains. It even worked with some humans, but he had never known it to work with either Guardians or Hunters. Unlike their enemies who relied upon the implanted IAC to copy their natural gift, Vampires were born with this skill, and they utilized it whenever necessary.
"How did you do that?" Jack asked aloud, not sure he liked the idea that he could hear Giovani's thoughts with his brain. What if he accidentally started transmitting his ideas to others without realizing it? He wasn't particularly thrilled with the idea that others could just walk around inside of his head, particularly if there was something he could do to unknowingly grant unlimited access.
"It's telepathy," Giovani replied, shrugging his shoulders. "We're born with it. You can do it, too. You'll figure it out."
Jack realized it didn't seem like a big deal to his new found brother, and he decided to let it go for now. With everything else that was new to him today, this was just one more thing to add to the list.
"We're almost to my apartment," Giovani said, as traffic around them seemed to thicken up again. They were approaching Omaha, and though the gridlock was nothing compared to LA or even Austin, there were suddenly many more cars and trucks around them than had been previously. "I think those two are long gone," he added, almost as an after thought.
Laura had slowed down considerably, not because she wasn't as eager as ever to catch up with the bloodsucker she had been trailing for so many years, but because she was hoping that her chances of sneaking up on him would be better if she used the darkness as her companion. She had no way of knowing which Omaha exit he would take, but she planned to speed up as
they neared the city limits, hopefully wind her way back around traffic, and get on his tail without him realizing it. As the city began to spring up around them, she accelerated, using her instinct and the training she had received at LIGHTS so many years ago to anticipate the actions and reactions of the humans around her, moving forward without impeding their momentum. If she could see what exit he took, she might be able to get behind him at the off ramp. If nothing else, they would be able to narrow their search. She was aware that Giovani's eyes could naturally cut through the darkness, while she would have to rely on the IAC's night vision. Nevertheless, she should be able to see him more clearly looking forward than he could see her looking in the rearview mirror. And this Jack guy wouldn't be much help, considering he was brand new and probably scared out of his mind.
As she drove, Laura reflected on what had brought her to this pursuit in the first place. It had been a botched job, one that had cost her more than she could bear to think about. The team had approached the club that night convinced of their ability to successfully take out two Vampires, one so old she was almost an ancient, the other her relatively fresh spawn, already causing havoc even in his first few years of life. Over the years, she had rehashed the scenario time and again, never quite sure what had made her act the way she did. She had clearly and emphatically disobeyed orders. She had argued with the Guardian Leader. She had cost her team a major kill, and allowed two Vampires to walk right by her undetected. All because she thought she was right, and she was more concerned with winning an argument than completing an assignment. At the end of the night, she had found herself broken, no longer trusted, no longer valuable, no longer part of the team. And, even worse to her shattered soul, no longer Aaron's girlfriend.