Olivia knelt down and the two hugged for a moment. "It's nice to see you as well, Herman," she replied.
Herman pulled away, then went to the counter and sat on a stool. "What brings you to Honest Herman's?"
"We're wondering if you can help us find out who this belongs to," she said as she pulled out the bullet shell and placed it upright on the counter.
Herman peered at the shell for a moment with wrinkled brows before he pulled out some spectacles from his breast pocket and put them on. Herman leaned over the counter, moving to the left and the right as he examined the shell. After a moment, all the while muttering "hmms" and "haahs," he picked up the casing and inspected it further.
After a few minutes he looked up at Olivia, Kara, and Raymond, and began slapping the casing against the palm of his hand. "You sure you want to know about this?"
"How do you think we got that? We have no choice."
Herman smirked. "I don't know who you pissed off, but it must have been someone important. This is from a hitman called the Celtic Butcher. He's former Irish Special Forces, and a powerful psychic. If he's after you, you've got your work cut out for you."
"We managed to fend him off in his first attack, but just barely. That's why we want to take the fight to him."
Herman's eyes widened and he leaned back in his stool. "That's impressive. How did you manage that?" Olivia and Raymond both looked at Kara. Herman adjusted his spectacles. "Ah, yes, I understand. You had your own psychic assistance. I see."
Kara looked away, expecting an attack that never came.
"So, you want to attack him before he comes at you again?"
"That's right. Do you know how to find him?"
Herman nodded. "I'll need to call in a favour from someone, but I can get you his address. I'll be back in a moment." Herman got down from his stool and went into the back of the shop.
The three of them all glanced at each other with confident smiles on their faces. Soon they would have what they needed, and their final showdown with the Celtic Butcher would begin.
4. Sense of Guilt
Address in hand, Olivia, Kara, and Raymond left Honest Herman's.
"Now that we have the address, we have to come up with a plan," Kara suggested.
"I think we need to see his place before we can come up with anything. It's better if we have an idea of what his house looks like, and then we can plan how to enter and where to strike," Olivia commented.
Raymond looked at the address written down on a piece of paper in Olivia's hand. "The address isn't far. Let's go now, and then we can plan."
The three of them entered Raymond's car and headed to the address. The Celtic Butcher lived in a middle class urban neighbourhood, which surprised them all. From what they could see, the houses were populated mainly by families, all of whom had children. Some parents were out in their yards playing with their kids on swing sets and with other toys.
They pulled up in front of the house, and were not surprised to see that it looked like all the others along the street. The assassin's house was two storeys of a drab white color with curtains blocking all the windows.
"This is it," Raymond said.
"Do you sense anything, Kara?"
Kara focussed her mind on the house, but she couldn't feel any psychic energy in the vicinity. "No, I don't think he's in there."
Olivia frowned. "It's a chance we'll have to take. If he's not here, this is the perfect time to bust in and set a trap. We'll attack him when he returns home, when he least expects it."
Kara leaned forward in the back seat, concern evident on her face. "What if there are other people in the house? I can only sense psychics, I can't sense anyone else. He could have a family."
Olivia glanced at Kara and then Raymond, who had the same concern written on his face. "If there's someone else in there, then we'll deal with them." Olivia went for the door handle, to leave and put an end to any arguments, but Kara stopped her.
Kara felt something stir inside her, like a twinge of guilt and sadness that awaited them if they entered that home. "Olivia, I'm getting a bad feeling. We shouldn't be doing this."
"Did you have a vision of us dying?"
"No, nothing like that. I'm just getting a bad feeling that if we enter that house we're going to regret it."
"If we don't die, how can we regret it?" Olivia argued.
Kara was a loss for words. She didn't know how to express what she wanted to say, and so Olivia shrugged and left the car. Raymond wore a sad smile as he looked at Kara, and then he too exited the car. Kara followed soon after, pushing the feeling out of her mind.
The three of them crossed the street to the house. Olivia used her honed vampiric senses to scan the area. After a moment of watching and walking towards the home, she motioned for the others to follow her, and they ran to the side of the house.
Along the side of the house, at the bottom, there was a window to access the basement. They all glanced around, checking to see if anyone was looking their way, or if the neighbours were looking out their windows. Kara used her powers to move the neighbours' curtains out of the way just to be doubly sure no one was watching.
Olivia kicked in the window and used her foot to clear the glass shards out of the way. Then she knelt down and moved a black curtain out of the way. Raymond entered the basement first, followed by Kara.
Kara fell to her knees on the concrete floor of the Celtic Butcher's basement. When she rose to her feet she peered around, and what she saw confirmed that they were in the correct home.
In the little light afforded by the window they entered through, Kara could see tables filled with weapons of all kinds: swords, knives, guns—both automatic and manual—and the tools to care for them. On one end of the basement, there looked to be a training area with wrestling mats, a martial arts dummy, and a target for throwing knives. There was also other miscellaneous equipment that Kara didn't recognize, but it looked high tech and new. On one of the tables, she could see a drill station, and bullets lying around it.
Olivia jumped into the basement behind Kara, and when she got to her feet she whistled. "This is our guy, no question."
Kara went over to one of the tables filled with guns, and when she looked at them she felt the same feeling of guilt she'd felt since they approached the house. As Olivia made her way to the stairs to the main floor, Kara looked around. Her eyes fell on a plaque in the centre of the room.
"'For one, many,'" she read. What does that mean?
There was a loud snap at the top of the steps, then the creaking of a door. "The lights are off, looks like no one's home," Olivia whispered. "C'mon, let's go."
Kara walked backwards a few steps, staring at the plaque for another moment before she turned around and went up the steps with Raymond.
The basement stairs brought them into the kitchen of the main level, which had a completely different feel than the basement.
The kitchen was spotless, and had all the best amenities for someone who seemed to love cooking, including nice, well-worn equipment. The dining room was right next to the kitchen. There was a large wooden table for several people to sit at, and it had a nice white table cloth and a cornucopia centerpiece. Above the table was a crystal chandelier with candles and light bulbs.
The three of them went from the dining room to the entrance—where a flight of stairs led to the second floor—over to a living room. The living room had a nice large couch and a television above a fireplace, as well as a computer in the corner.
"Tch. This guy must be making bank off the lives he takes," Olivia commented.
Kara went over to the unlit fireplace, and looked at some framed pictures over a mantle. She picked up one picture and turned it to the outside light to get a better look. In the frame was an older gentleman with a strong jaw and toned muscles kneeling next to a child in a wheelchair. They were both smiling, and they looked like they had just been playing catch with a baseball.
Kara placed the picture down
and clutched the mantle. She closed her eyes and tried to push away what she saw. This man is going to kill us if we don't kill him, she tried repeating in her mind over and over.
"What's wrong, Kara?" Raymond asked.
Kara handed him the picture. Raymond looked at it for a moment before placing it back on the mantle shelf. He turned Kara around and made her face him. "Kara, we can handle this on our own. You can leave us here," he said.
Kara shied away from Raymond's gaze. She was torn between both options, because of the possibilities of both. If she stayed, she would have to kill the Butcher, and that meant all the possible consequences that came with it. If she left, the Butcher could kill Raymond and Olivia. And, for some reason, perhaps because of the overwhelming guilt she was feeling, the Butcher's death felt like the worse option.
"What?" Olivia questioned.
"I don't think Kara can do what's necessary."
Olivia looked confused, and then saw Kara's face. Raymond handed her the picture. Olivia took a look at it for a few seconds before throwing it to the ground. The frame and glass shattered on contact.
"This is horseshit, Kara! You're having second thoughts just because he might have a crippled kid?" she shouted. "He almost killed us, and if he finishes us off, he'll go on to kill other people."
Kara was on the verge of tears. "I just don't know what's right in this situation. All this guilt I feel in this place is messing with my mind. I know all that you're saying, but I just don't think killing him is the right thing to do."
Olivia let out an angry sigh. "We don't have time for this," she said. She looked at Raymond. "We need to plan how we're going to attack. Kara, if you're going to join us, do it soon, otherwise you might get caught in the middle."
Olivia's verbal slap in the face had the intended effect, but it was the wrong timing.
The door of the home flung open, sending a cold wind in through the frame. A man jumped inside holding a gun. He took aim at the three vampires and pulled the trigger.
Kara was still reeling from the guilt and Olivia's version of a pep talk, and her reaction time was dulled. She couldn't make a decision on whether she should attempt using telekinesis again, or to move out of the way.
Raymond jumped to the side out of the way, and Olivia was about to follow until she noticed Kara looking like a deer caught in headlights. Olivia jumped in front of Kara and pulled her out of the way, but she took a bullet in her side, and fell to the ground.
"Liv!" Kara shouted.
Olivia clutched her side as blood seeped out of it. "I'm fine. It only grazed me," she said through winces.
"I tell ye I was quite surprised ta see yer car parked outside," a voice with an Irish accent came from somewhere in the house. "Ye did a number on me side there, missy. Glad I could return the favour."
Raymond got up and started to leave Kara and Olivia.
"Raymond, no! We have to stay together!" Kara whispered, but he didn't listen. He went off deeper into the house.
Olivia tied her jacket tight around her waist and then she moved forward in a crouched position towards the back of the house. She inched her way forward, listening for any sound within the house. Kara mimicked her, but she wasn't able to hear anything. It was beyond quiet. Too quiet if a normal human was moving through the house. Even ex-special forces would be no match for a vampire's ears, and yet nothing.
The plaster of the wall next to Kara exploded as a fist rammed through it and hit her on the side of the head. Kara fell to the ground on her shoulder, and her arm popped out of place with a loud crack. She screamed out in pain. Olivia rushed to her aid. The Celtic Butcher moved into the living room.
Olivia turned around and gritted her teeth, then bared her fang. She jumped towards him with a snarl, her fang and claws poised to strike. The Butcher moved his hand down towards the floor, and used his powers to force Olivia to the floor as well. She was on her knees, and fighting against the psychic power. She made eye contact with him.
"Kara!" Olivia screamed. "Use your powers! I'm trying to restrain his."
Kara turned around and sat up as best she could. She looked at the corner of Olivia's eyes, and could see something akin to Vasha's psychic-numbing eyes, but it wasn't as powerful. She pushed away the pain in her shoulder and focussed on the man in front of her. She thrust out her good hand and set her fist into a ball.
The man's eyes went wide, and he ran away without a sound. He disappeared into the house once again.
Olivia was able to move again, and she started to run after him. "No, Olivia!" Kara said, pushing herself up to her feet. Olivia stopped in her tracks. "We need to stay together."
"Thas right, you have a psychic with ye. Never thought I'd see the day when a psychic teamed up with a bloody vampire," the man shouted.
"Can you fix my arm?" Kara asked.
Olivia grabbed Kara's arm and gave it a swift tug. With another pop, Kara's arm was back in place. She bit her lip and suppressed another scream. She moved her arm around, but it still hurt too much to use. She motioned to Olivia that she was alright, and the two of them followed after the Butcher.
They went through the house, peering around every corner, until they made their way back to the other side of the kitchen. They could hear noise. Footsteps approached. Olivia tensed and looked at Kara. Kara concentrated her mind, and nodded.
Olivia and Kara both jumped into the kitchen. Kara used her powers to lift the man into the air, and Olivia went to strike, but stopped short. They'd almost attacked Raymond.
Kara let Raymond down to the ground. "Where is he?" she asked.
Raymond shrugged his shoulders. "I checked upstairs then came back down when I heard the commotion. I heard his voice coming from this direction, so I came this way."
Where did he go? Kara pondered the question for a few seconds, and then it dawned on her and the others at the same time.
They all looked at the entrance to the basement, and then rushed to go down before the Butcher could claim his arsenal. When they looked down into the shadows, they saw the barrel of a gun staring up at them from the bottom of the stairs.
Bullets from an automatic weapon sped towards them. Kara didn't hesitate this time, and used her powers to push them all out of the way. Bullets cascaded through the wood of the house and sent chips bounding around the kitchen. The bullets hit the windows in the kitchen and glass joined the wood. Kara helped her friends into the dining room, and then let them go on the floor.
The three of them continued running to the entrance, and then up the stairs to the second floor. When they reached the top of the steps, Olivia and Kara went right. Kara glanced over her shoulder to see Raymond heading the opposite direction, but bullets hot on their heels shunted any thought of going back for him out of her head.
Olivia pulled Kara into one of the rooms, and they took cover behind a bed. Kara glanced over the edge of the bed at the door. She used her powers to close it silently. "If he enters, I'll use my powers to bind him, and you use your eye to suppress his powers," Kara whispered.
"I don't know if I'll be able to hold him for long. Vasha didn't teach me. I'm just going off of what you told me."
"It'll have to do," Kara replied. No teacher and yet you still learned how to do that? Just what kind of training are you doing, Liv?
The room they were in looked like a boy's room, with posters and toys and colourful sheets on the bed. There were also some pictures hung on the wall, with the boy and the Butcher playing together like the one on the mantle downstairs. There was no mistaking that he must be the father.
Footsteps approached. Olivia and Kara tensed and held their breath. There was a loud snap and a crash as the Butcher busted down one of the other doors. More footsteps came to their door. After a second, the door flew open, and the Butcher raised his gun.
Kara put a barrier on the trigger, locking it in place. That gave her and Olivia just enough time to stand up. Olivia focused her gaze on him, and he seemed to be in a light stupor, but i
t was only on the surface. Kara bound his entire body with her powers, stopping his movement. When he pushed back against the fog in his mind, she could feel him testing the barrier. He was stronger than her, even with Olivia working her magic.
Olivia was sweating from the effort. Whatever that ability was, it was taking a toll on her. "I can't move. You need to kill him, Kara."
Kara was holding her hand out, rapt in the force she was exerting on the Butcher. She shook her head. "We don't have to," she replied. Before Olivia could object, Kara talked again. She stared straight at the Butcher. "It doesn't have to end like this. We don't know who called on you to kill us, but if you just let it go we can all walk away from this alive."
Sweat beaded on the Butcher's forehead, and his lips curled into a smile. "That ain't how it works, missy," he replied. "You look like a smart lass, you should already know how this has to end."
The tension in the room was thick. The power pulsating in the room made the air dense and hard to breathe. The smoke that was their psychic powers was choking their minds and bodies, sucking the energy out of them.
Kara clenched her teeth as she held the binding firm. "We don't… You have a son, don't you?" she asked. "What's going to happen without you there for him?"
"Ain't ye just the sweetest? You never killed a'fore, have ye? Ye best blacken yer soul quick-like. The world we live in ain't the place for tender hearts," the Butcher warned.
Tears streamed down Kara's face. "Please," she begged. "Please don't make me do this."
Before the Butcher could answer, a hand burst through his stomach. The force of the blow lifted the Butcher into the air. He looked over his shoulder to behold his killer before he coughed up blood and his eyes went listless. The killer removed their hand, and the Butcher fell to the ground.
Kara mimicked the fall and her knees hit the carpeted floor with an equal thud. The Butcher was bleeding out, and was going to die. There was nothing she could do to save him now.
Psychics Vs. Vampires Episodes 1-4 (Psychics Vs. Vampires Collection) Page 13