Re: Neo-Nowhere: Book Two - The Sisters

SKAutomatic-Machinegun Fri Dec 28, 2012 2:33 am

With what felt like a bolt of lightning Vlad's thoughts all turned to one perfect idea... Kill all the weak!

Like a man possessed Vlad focused all of his energy to mutate his barrier into an aura of pure power enhancing his speed to the point of almost teleportation and his strength to points unknown. "Huh, at this point I could eradicate this entire infection or just Slice this planet in half!" Vlad teleported next to Chris, "I'd rather take you all out personally!" With that Vlad summoned a force blade to his hands and slashed through Chris, exploding him at an atomic level thus rendering his power useless.

"Well that was easy, Now for you!" Vlad moved like a flash to the zombie goliath and punched him into outer space. "let's see you chase us now... well me, everyone else will be dead." Moving with a blur to Drake, Vlad only gave a smirk as he wrapped Drake in a force field and crushed him into nothing.

"I suppose it would be a waste of time to track the others so I guess I will go with plan A after all." Calling upon the force blade again Vlad swung at what seemed like nothing, then with a slight shift the earth split in two, then shattered to bits with an echo of the last living creature laughing hysterically. Vlad's laughter caused stars to burn out, planets to crumble, and galaxies to dissipate. leaving only one thing left in the universe...

CHEAP!

**FourStringFingerSting** Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:33 pm

Drake was determined, this could work. It had to. The wrecking ball now building up a respectable amount of momentum, all he needed was for the goliath to stand in just the right spot...

Looking over the construction yard wall, Drake saw Vlad standing in place, as if immobilized, with Chris nowhere to be found. He also could see what appeared to be a finely dressed man standing near the entrance of the hospital just across the street. He wondered if something terrible happened. In an attempt to snap Vladimir out of whatever sort of mental trance he was currently locked in, Drake yelled at the top of his lungs.

"VLAD, WHATEVER THE HELL'S GOING ON IN YOUR HEAD, SNAP OUT OF IT! I'M BRINGING THE PARTY TO YOU!"

At the high point of the wrecking ball's now massive swing, Drake jumped towards the cable holding it in place, grabbing on with the most forceful grip his nerdy arm strength could muster. Standing atop the behemoth ball, he waited for the most opportune moment...NOW!

Goliath, here comes David!

Drake pulled on his D string as hard as he could, letting back a high snap note that was sharp enough to cut steel. The note sliced through the air and severed the thick cable that held the wrecking ball on it's axis. The note punctured the air as the wrecking ball barreled through the air, Drake holding onto what was still left of the cable still clinging to the wrecking ball. In a delirious fling through the air, Drake couldn't keep his grip, and started to flail through the air, eventually slamming hard into the dumpster just outside the surrounding wall, Ivan bounced across the pavement, spraying nearby infected with an array of random tones, turning them into flesh eater salad until the bass slid to an innocent stop across the street.

The wrecking ball payed no mind that it's passenger had taken an early flight. With a nearly unstoppable amount of force, the wrecking ball flew straight through the torso of the monstrous zombie legion, spraying infected halfway down the street, leaving little of them still held together. It was too soon to tell if the goliath was down for the count, but at the very least they had time to think of their next plan of attack.

Drake's body lay motionless near the dumpster for a moment. Ow... After flinging through the air and taking a hard conk on the noggin, Drake sluggishly lifted his beaten self off the ground. He raised his head off the pavement to see drips of blood falling from his forehead. Well this sucks. Propping himself up against the dumpster, he leaned his head back for a moment and let in a deep breath. His exhale was cut short at the realization that Ivan was now across the street, he barely had the strength to get back on his feet, and a walker was crawling towards him on his left, merely a few yards away.

You've gotta love this city...

SKAutomatic-Machinegun Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:45 pm

Vlad felt the drool run down his chin as he snapped back from the daze of power overuse. "Ugh gross," wiping the drool from his face, "I hate drooling in my sleep... that was a neat dream though." Vlad now remembering what really happened, teaming up with Drake and Chris, the Goliath chasing them, and foolishly trying to charge his sword into a 'force bomb' and failing miserably. "Well that explains why I feel like a deflated balloon."

Vlad started to take in his surroundings. A few yards to his right his sword was lying in the street with a handful of infected around it. "Huh, something must have took down that Goliath. Only problem is I'll probably fallout again if I use too much power trying to get to my sword through these stragglers." Vlad took in a deep breathe held it in and let it out preparing to charge into the infected for his sword. As he exhaled though he realized something requiring a bit more urgency. To his left about the same distance it would be to his sword he spotted an infected closing in on a battered Drake laying in a construction yard.

"Alright Vlad, that sword is as much a part of you as your head, you practically just met this kid it's an easy choice." A voice decided in Vlad's head. "You're right..." Vlad said out loud as if talking to the voice, "It is an easy choice!" With that Vlad turned to the left, focusing the small bit of energy he had left around his hands making them like small blades and sprinted towards Drake's location. "Hold on kid I got you!!!" Whhiiirr slish slash Vlad sliced the zombie's head off in his dash and collapsed unconscious again a few feet next to Drake.

DDWRINKLE Tue Jun 04, 2013 11:45 pm

Smash!

What the fuck was that? Chris spoke to himself in his head. Sitting inside the massive zombie monster, he was fully hardened, and waiting till it was the right moment to emerge. Something must have hit the goliath pretty hard, because I feel like the ghouls around me are slowly falling out of place. Man, and I was getting so cozy. Suddenly Chris felt something rock solid hit him and launch him through the air. Should i be worried? he thought as he was sent rocketing to his new resting place. Going through the window of a nearby hospital, Chris almost instantly jumps up ready for a fight, but soon after his feet hit the floor, the wrecking ball hits the side of the building. Cringing for a second waiting for the ball to bring down the building, he looks up from behind his arms. The wrecking ball stuck solidly into the wall.

Shrugging off his stroke of good luck he rushes for the stairs. He sees a painted "Level 8" next to the door. "Shit, I don't have time for this. Chris turns around and rushes for one of the many broken windows. Taking a leap of faith, he jumps right out into the open air hardened up mid flight. Slamming the ground like a ton of bricks, he crushed two zombies upon impact. Standing up and rock fisting three more ghouls, he ran in the direction where he last saw Vlad. Chris almost took out a fourth ghoul when he realized he wasn't an undead. Surprised as all hell he took a look at the finely dressed man. "Hey! If you're a survivor you're welcome to follow me!".

Taking off in the other direction Chris really didn't care if he followed or not he just wanted to find his friends. Running down zombies like it ain't no thang, Chris was a bull charging down the matador. "Dammit!" he swore aloud at the sight of the goliath still standing on two feet. The middle of the torso was blown out and it didn't look too stable. "Alright big guy you're going down", Chris said grinning at the thought of finally toppling the beast. Running out from under the falling zombies Chris made it to the giants feet. "AARRRRRGGGHHH!!!!" He liquified his right foot as he swung it full speed at the things ankle. Right before he made contact he hardened it to the point of diamonds. Obliterating the whole thickness of its ankle, goliath shrieked in pain. In one fluid movement Chris turned on his left foot and sprung forward with his rock solid right hook shredding straight through the last thing holding the beast up. The giant was toppling fast so Chris made a hasty getaway.

On his way around the falling behemoth he spotted something shining in the sun. "Vlad's sword!", Chris exclaimed aloud. Looking up though, he realized that his giant friend was falling right on top of where he need to be. Ugh why can't things ever be easy. Jumping for the sword, was a fatal one. Chris was crushed instantly into a liquid pulp.

Hardening to his natural state Chris stood up unscathed in a pile of mutilated, decaying corpses. Holding in his right hand was Vlad's sword. "He better thank me for this shit", he said scrambling out of the pile of bodies. Searching the nearby area he quickly spotted his two companions. "Jesus christ", Chris breathed when he saw the condition of them both. "Drake!", Chris yelled running over to him, he crouched down next to him "hey, are you able to walk? Cause we should probably get off the streets soon before more crazy shit happens".

**FourStringFingerSting** Fri Jun 07, 2013 3:57 pm

In disbelief at the raw display of power Chris showed in toppling the goliath, Drake managed to wrench a smile as he staggered to his feet, his body still in poor condition after the wild air ride he took, following some face time with a dumpster mere moments before. Drake looked over Chris' shoulder to see the zombie giant in absolute shambles. The remaining zombies that hadn't been smashed into hamburger by Chris' assault struggled to clamber together again, but could barely form an entire leg before toppling over onto the concrete.

"That's so strange...They're mindless, how the hell could they have the intellect to do something like this?" Drake turned to see a dark figure peering around the edge of the hospital nearby. Drake could make out his face from across the street. His eyes were blood red, and his face was a sickly grey color, almost as if he was a zombie himself. He met eyes with Drake and started to flee. "HEY!"

Drake sprinted towards the figure, wincing in pain after realizing the full extent of his condition. He was lucky not to have any broken bones at this point. He stopped himself, knowing he wouldn't be able to catch him in his current condition anyways. He was sure he'd run into this freak again sooner or later. It was apparent that someone was spying on him, testing him even. Peering to his right, Drake saw Ivan resting on the ground a few feet away. He reached for it.

Whatever their intentions are, there's no way in hell I'm gonna let them get the better of m-

Drake's entire body went cold. He could taste blood pooling in his mouth. He looked down. It soaked his clothes and covered his hands. Peering upwards in confusion, he realized everything around him went black. He couldn't make out his surroundings. There was only infinite blackness.

SNAP! The sound of lights clicking on sent a shiver up his spine. He turned around to see a stage, all lit up, and littered with music equipment. His glasses had fallen off his face at some point, and he couldn't see very well. He walked closer for a moment, to get a closer look.

And there she was. Claire...

Suddenly, realization kicked in. Drake knew exactly where he was. In a panic, he ran in the opposite direction. He got too close.

Drake? Where are you going? What's happening?

He stopped. Her voice...Turning around, Drake saw the calm smile that used to grace him at every band practice, back in the garage days. Suddenly, his other band mates appeared behind her, with warm smiles abound. Tears started to well in Drake's eyes.

"I thought you guys were all...dead?" Suddenly, the stage lights clicked off. Drake could hear screams. Cries for help.

He knew what this was. That night...Drake heard Ivan humming disturbingly. The curse. Drake desperately fumbled in the dark, looking for Ivan, knowing full well what would happen if he couldn't stop it. It would happen, all over again. It was no use, the room was too dark. He tripped over tables and bar stools that persistently kept him from preventing the horror that was bound to ensue.

DRAKE!! HELP MEEEE!!

Suddenly, quiet. The humming silenced. Everything felt numb. The stage lights clicked back on. His band mates no longer remained. Blood filled the light fixtures, and dripped onto the stage. It was theirs. Raining over the microphones and instruments like some sort of fucked up stage effect.

Drake felt it in his chest again. The pain of helplessness. Once again, he failed.

He failed.
He failed.
I FAILED.

Drake could hear Ivan humming again, before finally closing his eyes. He'd seen this far more times than he wanted.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Drake woke up, eyes gazing straight into the sunlight. He laid flat out on the concrete, still in the same spot he was before he blacked out. Ivan was gripped in his right hand, silent. That vision was vivid. Too vivid, even. Drake tilted his head back to see his companions standing there. It made him feel better already, like he wasn't alone in all of this. Standing up, Drake smiled at all of them.

"Sorry about that guys, a got a little sleepy there for a second. Hope I wasn't too much of a burden, I just needed a quick cat-nap." Drake chuckled, realizing how bat-shit insane he probably just sounded. He didn't care, he knew everything was going to be just fine in the end. One way or another, Drake was gonna own this curse, and he knew just where to look: Sable...

MakeOneUp Fri Jun 07, 2013 5:59 pm

For the first time in a long, LONG time, Maximillion felt like he needed a drink.

In the span of less than a few minutes, he had seen a giant man made up of many other men explode and crumble. He also had to contend with the fact that what made the man explode was a wrecking ball. A goddamned wrecking ball. That was severed. By some punk-looking mother fucker with a guitar. A guitar that severed the cable holding the wrecking ball, that was flying, flying, flying.....

BABOOM!!

The ball crashed right into the hotel right above where Maximillion was standing. He immediately ran a few steps to his right so he wouldn't have to worry about becoming a very wealthy pancake in case that ball should drop. As he stood there in shock, hoping he didn't just add some brown to that Giorgio Armani suit of his, a teenager bolted past him from out of the hospital.

"Hey! If you're a survivor you're welcome to follow me!"

Maximillion was dumbfounded. A survivor of what, exactly? He needed answers. He decided to follow this new kid as he ran towards punk-looking mother fucker, who was laying in the street with some other person standing over him, drooling like a moron. If he was going to find out exactly white the hell was going on, he might as well start here.

DDWRINKLE Tue Jun 11, 2013 3:56 am

Struggling to carry Vlad's unconscious body, Chris walked up to where Drake was standing.

"Hey I know that was fucking insane and all but don't you still need some new strings, let alone you are in no condition to be out in the streets? Look the music shop is right around the corner and I think I'll scout ahead to see if we can make it alright. Follow up behind me and take your time. Don't hurt yourself anymore", with that said Chris started to walk off in the direction of the music shop.

Realizing that the rich looking fellow was actually following him he said to answer the confused look, "once we get to the music shop then I'll bring you up to date on whats going on around here". Slowly rounding the corner, Chris was relieved to see that the street ahead was pretty much deserted. "That goliath must've taken most the zombies out of this section of town", Chris said to himself. Dodging what little traffic there was Chris quickly made out the music shop on the right. Jogging up to the front door he couldn't believe that the place was actually unlocked. Getting inside and swiftly laying Vlad behind the counter he said to the newcomer to watch over Vlad for him while he went and made the way a bit more clear for Drake. Strangely enough Chris didn't even think to question the newcomer about his intentions and just gave him all the trust in the world, and not only that, but he hadn't even bothered to scan the building for anything suspicious.

By the time the music shops door closed behind him though, Chris was in another world. Filled with zombie smashing and gore.

SKAutomatic-Machinegun Tue Jun 11, 2013 10:56 pm

Vlad woke up from his "nap" yelling obscenities thinking he was still fighting infected. Once he realized it was clear, he stood up not saying a word to Drake or the Suit that apparently was a new tag along, walked outside of the shop to the street, and spotted a sign that read "SUB-atomic: Home of the 13" sub", and calmly walked across the road to the shop. Once he was to the door he peered inside spotting an infected feasting on the remains of a former sandwich scientist. Vlad kicked open the remains of the glass door alerting the infected, as it shambled towards Vlad he leapt back and delivered a roundhouse kick to the infected's jaw knocking it to the ground in the door way. "Looks like you're hungry too huh pal?" Vlad lifted his leg and delivered an axe kick knocking the zombie's head through glass left in the door frame and killing it instantly. Stepping over the corpse Vlad began to make a sandwich mumbling under his breath about losing his sword, being too hungry to hold up a barrier, and of course how much of a bitch Allison is.

**FourStringFingerSting** Wed Jun 19, 2013 7:04 pm

Shaking off the vibrantly twisted vision he just witnessed in his own head, Drake recomposed himself and confidently gripped Ivan as he put one foot in front of the other as he attempted to catch up with Chris. Rounding the corner, he could see the entrance to the music shop not too far down the street, it's sign still illuminated from whenever the owner decided to bail after the infection started.

"I guess that means my membership card won't be any good." Drake laughed, cutting himself off instantly as the pain crawled up his lungs. "Sunnova bitch..."

Walking didn't come too problematically for him, it was inhaling. He must have cracked a rib or something. Drake's known worse, far worse.

A group of infected from a nearby alleyway started funneling in onto the street after eyeballing the tenderized meal that just happened to stroll into their neighborhood. One of them caught Drake off guard with a surprising burst of speed as it sprinted towards him. Gripping Ivan by the neck, he made a wide swing, batting the zombie's brains across the concrete. He overemphasized the twist and felt a sharp pain in his side. Shit...Can't be doing any more of that.

Trying to pick up the pace, Drake saw what looked like Vlad crossing the street from the music store to the nearby sandwich eatery, Sub-Atomic. He looked angry about something. Regardless, he knew he'd have no problems defending himself. He was about to reach for the door when an obnoxiously driven Chris busted it open in front of him. He kind of just stared.

"Uh...hey? Thanks for clearing the way. I know what I need, I'm just gonna walk in and find them real quick. Have fun with these fools coming up behind me."

Drake knew this place like the back of his hand. He bought all his music equipment here, except for Ivan. Picked him up at a garage sale in his neighborhood years ago. They've been a part of each other ever since, more literally than you'd think. Sentimentality aside, Drake took a straight shot back towards the guitar section, and found the strings he needed. Hearing a growl on his right, Drake turned to see an infected lurching towards him from the stock room. It was the owner.

"Reggie, you poor bastard..." Setting Ivan down, he reached up for the 12-string acoustic guitar that hung on the wall next to him. "Hmm...I wonder..." With the same intent as he would with Ivan, he strummed a G chord aiming towards Reggie, the recently reanimated owner of the music shop. The sound wave shredded him into chunks, like a thousand dull knives. Strange how such a beautiful sounding instrument could do something so grisly. "Ew...No thanks."

Drake put the guitar back on the wall, and made a quick sweep of the store, killing off the spare few infected that still haunted it's halls.

"I guess Chris didn't really scope the place out. Oh well, should be safe now." Drake took a seat in Reggie's chair behind the counter, and started restringing Ivan. "Okay...Here goes." The process requires total concentration and complete patience. With every removed string, Drake feels his energy leveling out. As the strings loosen, so does he. The tension on the neck of the bass slackens as does Drake's composure. He had to be careful when he did this. It was like acupuncture with a guitar. Baby steps were key.

After a few long moments, Drake had done his dirty work, and Ivan was restored to his former, 4-stringed glory. The bass hummed cheerfully, and so did Drake. He was rebalanced, and could feel Ivan's soothing hum course through his hand and throughout his body as he gripped it by the neck. Ivan was back to full strength, and Drake would be as well after a short time. Drake played some recreational tunes for his own enjoyment for a moment, glad to have his bass back in ready order. With every vibration of the strings Drake could feel the pain in his chest subsiding. When Drake would tell his peers that playing was good for him, he wasn't kidding. Ivan wasn't a walking medical center by any means, but he did a damn fine job of helping Drake recover quickly when he needed to.

"I do believe I'll check in with Chris and see how he's doing." Walking towards the front doors, Drake saw the well dressed man from before standing near the entrance. He hadn't even noticed him when he was walking in. On his way out, Drake acknowledged him.

"Sup?"

DDWRINKLE Thu Jun 20, 2013 4:05 am

Stepping out the door Chris immediately sees Drake rush by yelling something about fun. With a shrug he turns back out to the open street, and into the oncoming march of at least a dozen undead.

A quick smile flashed across his face, and with that flash of sadistic happiness he was already raising fists and getting hard (heh). The first two he crushed like pillars of ground beef underneath his hammers of stone he called hands. Stumbling at the impact he almost didn't catch the third ghoul as it reeled towards his face. Side stepping quickly to the right and placing his feet firmly under him he launch another fist of fury at the third fucker. Misjudging the power he put into the leap he crashed fist first into the next three ghouls. Landing hard on his side, he was dazed a bit before his consciousness could recoil and jump start back into action. Already a sixth and seventh undead was upon him. Scrambling away he was backed up against a car with only a few feet in between him and his hellish friends. Thinking up a plan he turned around sharply and opened the drivers side door. Crawling through to his escape he swiftly closed it behind him. The hungry zombies that probably waiting for days to eat didn't think twice when all of them crammed themselves into the car. Dashing up onto the hood of the car and onto the roof, he took one last calming breath before flopping down like it was his new bed. Hardening his whole body midair he obliterated whatever human shells were left inside the vehicle. Soon Chris began to shift his body back to its normal consistency.

"Ugh this zombie killing shit is fun and all, but it's really tiring", Chris sat up into a slouching position and raised his head to the sky. The sun was starting to peek through the clouds and it sorta dawned on Chris that "I have no idea what the day is or even what the time is".

That solitary thought rushed through his mind like the ravings of a mad man. What the fuck time IS it?!

Standing up on rickety legs, Chris shambled towards the music shop. His thoughts wrecked across his face like a scowl he couldn't conceal. Why does this single thought bewilder me? I can't get it out of my mind!

Almost mimicking his movements a zombie walked straight up to him asking him the time of day. Fury raged inside of Chris and he pounced on the fucker who dared mock him. Slamming fist after fist into the already mashed face of the once snarling ghoul, Chris didn't let up. With rage induced fist he wrecked its face until he pushed his tools of destruction through it into the pavement decimating anything underneath his war torn knuckles. Standing up he looked down at the small crater where the thing's head used to be. Heaving air through clenched teeth he heard something ring next to the dead body. Staring hotly to the source of the noise, he picked up the cell phone that fell out of the dead man's pocket.

Opening it up it read Thursday, 4:03 PM

Dripping from head to toe in guts and blood Chris breathed a sigh of relief. Realizing his horror was over he turned heavily to the side to see Drake walking out the door.

"Hey Drake feeling better?".

SKAutomatic-Machinegun Tue Jun 25, 2013 10:24 am

As if reading his mind, which at this point Vlad should have just assumed, Alison chimmed in. "So I'm a bitch huh!?" Vlad found himself in what seemed like a forrest with Alison's voice echoing through it. "I'll have you know mister I have feelings and you seem out to hurt every one of them!" Another echo of her voice rang through the trees.
"You know what bitch? I'm finding it hard to care." Vlad responded angerily, "You read my mind, you fuck with my head, and next thing I know I'm waking up in random locations and I'm sick of it!" With that Vlad started to hear crying and in a blink all of the trees became uniformely cut stumps, the crying stopped echoing and Vlad spotted Alison sitting on one of the stumps. She turned to face him and softly said with a tear in her eye, "come here."

Vlad decided there could be no harm in it and sat on a stump next to her as she began to speak. "Look, I'm sorry that I keep messing with your head but it's the only way I can communicate with you. From now on I'll at least try to leave you where I find you."
"That's all fine and good, but I'd still like to know why you want me following the guy with the bass?"
"I don't have time to explain." Alison said flatly as if to avoid the question, "I'm sure you've noticed those infected, well there's an item in this town and I think that Music Man plans to do something horrible if he finds it."
"So what does this have to do with me?" Vlad asked sharply.
"Well..." Alison paused, "If he seems a threat I may need you to kill him."
The words echoed through the air and just hung there pestering Vlad as he realized he was all alone in the sandwich shop again. "Kill Drake? I couldn't do something like that he's done nothing wrong." Vlad stood in the shop battling Alison's words and his own moral code. "She said he plans on doing something horrible but that just doesn't seem like him. I can't just kill a man based on suspicion alone that would make me as terrible as one of these things roaming the streets... or worse, they're just mindless husks, I am a man, a man with a mind and a soul! YOU HEAR ME ALISON! I won't just kill a man until there is solid proof of his wrong doings!" With that Vlad angerily force punched through the counter and headed back to the music shop. "What a bitch."

MakeOneUp Wed Jun 26, 2013 3:04 am

Maximillion stared at the punk looking mother fucker with disbelief.

"Sup? Are you serious? All of this shit is going on, and all you have to say is 'Sup?' Do you have any idea who I am? I am Maximillion Tiberius Williamsmith III! I am one of the richest people in the world right now. And you need to look out because some of these peasants are trying to make a meal out of you," Maximillion finished while pushing wannabe rocker kid out of the way. Six zombies had appeared out of a nearby alleyway, and were shuffling as fast as the could toward the new odd couple. Maximillion aimed his hand at one of the zombie's head and let a lightning bolt fly from his palm. The bolt hit the zombie squarely in the face, making its head explode. He repeated the process until the rest of the zombies had fallen. After the peasants had fallen, Maximillion straightened himself out.

"Well that was a bit shocking," he said, turning to the kid. "Now, you're gonna tell me exactly what the hell is going on."

SKAutomatic-Machinegun Thu Jun 27, 2013 12:12 am

As Vlad was about to cross the street back toward the music shop he spotted a group of infected stumble out of a near by alley towards Drake. Vlad reached for his sword on pure instinct only to grasp at nothing. Just as he remembered he still didn't have it, the rich looking guy who showed up while Vlad was passed out stepped in front of them and seemed to take them out with ease with what seemed like lightning bolts. Vlad crossed the street over to the group quickly. "Seems like you. e got some nice moves." Vlad addressed to the suited man while offering out his hand in greeting, "Name's Vladimir Valentin."

Turning his head to address Drake, "So... any chance somebody grabbed my sword?"

DDWRINKLE Thu Jun 27, 2013 8:47 pm

Dripping in blood standing dazed and confused out in the middle of the street, Chris watched at the newcomer quickly dispatch 6 or so zombies. Roused out of his stupor by Vlad's question he said, "yeah I left it inside behind the counter where I set you down".

Returning his gaze back to Max. To answer his question Chris began to recite everything that has happened to him personally within the last day or so. "And so I killed the goliath and now were here".

"Where'd you come from exactly?"

**FourStringFingerSting** Fri Jun 28, 2013 2:16 am

Drake met eyes with the 3 unlikely characters in front of him: the very annoyed Vlad, the blood-spattered Chris, and the hot-headed suit who introduced himself as Maximillion.

"Pleased to meet you?" Drake wasn't certain how true this statement of his was, but Max didn't appear to be out for anyone's blood from their current party, and he was pretty eager to blow the heads off those zombies, so he shrugged off his uncertainty. "Sorry for the confusion back there, we've had a pretty crazy couple of days. All of us. You seem trustworthy enough though. I'm Drake."

Before he could shake hands with his finely dressed new friend, Drake felt a whisper of words sail by his ears, like an unnerving breeze blowing by.

The roof...Of the music shop...Make your way there...Your first stepping stone will present itself...

"The fuck?" Drake spoke aloud, more than likely sounding like a vulgar idiot to his comrades. Feeling it was unwise to ignore this message, Drake backpedaled into the shop and made his way up the stairs in the backroom.

"I'll just be a minute guys, sorry!" Drake yelled out the front door as he put one uncertain foot in front of the other. He wasn't sure what to expect, and had Ivan in an iron grip. He couldn't afford to put himself in a compromising situation like before, he had to be vigilant. Pushing on the door to the roof, the metal door squeaked as it swung open. The wind was blowing ever so calmly over Drake's face, pushing his hair into his eyes. He scanned the rooftop as he stepped out into the bright sunlight that was now blanketing the entire city. He wasn't sure of the time, but he never really was. This city was making itself more and more apparent every moment as a living organism, constantly shifting. Growing. Adapting.

Suddenly, Drake heard what sounded like a girl whimpering. He peered around a protruding vent around the corner to see a young, attractive girl slumped against the vent holding her foot. It was twisted; violently broken from the looks of it. She looked up at Drake, her piercing gaze catching him off guard. He failed at words in the presence of this gorgeous creature.

"What...What are you doing up here? Are you alright?" He drew closer to her.

"I'm fine, but I broke my foot running from those things out there...I was really scared, so I ran up here to hide from them. I'm really glad you showed up when you did, I wasn't sure if they'd find me." Her words felt as pure as water.

"Here, let me help you." Drake put his hand out to help her up. She gladly took his hand, and struggled as he pulled her to her feet. "Careful, don't put any weight on it." She winced as she attempted to shift her leg, her foot hanging limp.

"Is there anything you can do?" She asked, her words weighing heavily on him. He had to help this girl.

"Maybe...Can you keep your balance?" Drake asked her, she nodded. Her hand left his as Drake readied his bass. "Here, hold your hand against the body." She did as he said. Drake started to play, the vibrations from the bass coursing through her. Her foot felt better and better with every passing moment. She smiled at him after several minutes of playing.

"Thank you, that feels better already!" She tenderly put weight down on her foot, noticing the pain had mostly subsided. "You're amazing, how did you do that?" Drake let off a half witted smirk at her sincere compliment.

"I'm not entirely sure, I've had this power for a good while now, but I'm starting to notice my abilities are growing. Before I thought I could only do harm with it, but it looks like I can make some good happen too!" Drake's smirk turned into a full smile. He held his hand out to the girl. "My name's Drake, I don't think I got yours?"

The girl looked down at her feet, then peered up at Drake, her eyes still sharp and captivating as ever. "Oh...I'm Jennifer..."

GravePunchingBabyStomper Fri Jun 28, 2013 4:06 am

"VAAALENNNN!!"

Lurching forward, hands slapping floortiles, that name tears from Cross' wide-eyed face and rips through the city like a seven second tsunami.

Shaking with watery eyes, gaping and sucking air through bared teeth shock rules his expression as he passes through the motions not even attempting to recollect himself from the flickering imagery that shadows his mind.

"Light.. give me.. strength," he rasps through heavy breaths, the bile in his throat hot as coals from the strain of that scream.
What was that.. I can't even remember, why am I so terrified? Priest.. Allison- Valen. I am sure of it, he was in those dreams.

Gathering himself and getting to his feet slowly if a little unsteadily, Cross tries to shake himself of what he witnessed at least enough to assess the situation. Looking himself over, he notes his long coat is fairly dirtied by dried blood falling in flakes as he readjusts it, and his hair is slicked to his face with cold sweat and a little congealed blood.

"So.." he says softly to the rather damaged room, regaining a little strength in his voice, "I'm guessing that's the usual run of exits around here." Directing his gaze to the busted walls and wide-open double doors, he steps cautiously toward the latter and rests a hand on the frame, pausing to take long draws of breath. Damn, whatever that was it really messed me up..

DDWRINKLE Tue Jul 02, 2013 7:24 pm

Before Max could even say anything exhaustion washed over Chris like waves at the beach. He suddenly realized he hadn't ate anything this whole time. The only reason he was even still standing was through sheer willpower.

Forgetting that he was even talking to anyone Chris trudged his sorry ass across the street towards the sandwich shop that Vlad had emerged from.

Seeing that he didn't have many choices in what he had to eat, he made himself a standard ham and turkey sub.

Leaving the shop sandwich in hand, he oddly rubbed the back of his neck. Flakes of dried blood fell down across his already blood stained shirt. "Dammit I need to find a place to wash up".

Passing by Vlad and Max he finished his sub and entered the music shop without a second glance back. "I really hope this place has a bathroom", it did. In the far back underneath the stairs was a one man bathroom. Once inside he checked the only stall. It was clear. Seems like the bathroom was undisturbed after the infection started. Locking the door behind him he began rinsing his hair out in the sink.

**FourStringFingerSting** Sun Jul 07, 2013 2:37 am

Drake stared at his new female companion Jennifer, her eyes locked with his. She drew closer to him, starting to grab onto his shirt as a means to pull him closer.

"Thank you for your help, Drake. I don't know what I would have done without you..." Drake retreated, not sure how to take her extremely forward behavior. Something felt off. He kept staring into her eyes, as she bit her lip innocently. He decided to challenge her.

"So Jennifer...Explain something to me..." Drake let her take control for a moment. He had a feeling everything this girl said was utter bullshit. "You said you ran up the steps after you broke your foot, right?" She nodded at him, still attempting to reel him in. She tried to reach for Ivan as a means to pull Drake closer. He grabbed her hand, and held it behind her back, still giving her the intention that she had an influence over him.

"Tell me, did you run into the owner when you came in? How did you make it past her?" She drew back for a moment, obviously searching for an explanation.

"Oh, I just snuck past her..." her voice containing an inflection of uncertainty. Check mate, bitch. You're lying.

"Jennifer, I think it's time you tell me what you're really doing up here. The shop owner is a man, not a woman. If you think you're gonna prey on me like some sort of idiot, you have another thing coming." Drake smirked, but it faded quickly when an enraged look struck Jennifer's face. Suddenly, Drake felt something slither up from behind and yank Ivan clean off his back. He turned to see a black tentacle throwing the bass across the surface of the roof. Drake wasted no time booking right after it. He didn't get far before another tentacle snagged him by leg, and constricted his entire body. Laughing viciously, Jennifer drug Drake across the hard concrete, his glasses sliding off his face as she pulled him in. Drake cursed when he realized he was now blind as a bat and under the mercy of this psychotic bitch whom he'd just met mere moments before.

Of course she's a psychopath...Just my luck.

"Alright Jennifer, you've got my attention. What do you want from me?" Drake squinted as hard as he could to make out her facial features. She grinned devilishly as her silver tongue spoke.

"I was told to keep some tabs on you, Drake Everest. You see, the sisters and I are looking for a certain artifact of interest, and we're under the impression some of you power humans might have an idea where to find it." The tentacles wrapped tighter. "Now tell me what you know."

Drake felt his limbs buckle under the pressure. He took as deep of a breath as he could muster, and spit back at Jennifer.

"Go to hell, I don't know anything."

She didn't like that. In a fury, she slammed Drake against the ground with an intimidating amount of force. Drake hacked up some blood as she pulled him back upright.

"I don't like it when my prey talks back to me. Sable told me not to kill you, but you're making it very difficult for me." Her grip tightened once more, Drake struggling to breath under her force. He glanced down at his jeans, and noticed something glinting in the sun, resting in his right pocket. He struggled to stretch his fingers out far enough to reach inside, but he was just out of reach. Maybe...

"Hey Jennifer, I do know something, actually..." She raised her eyebrow at him, "You're a psychopath." Another pounding for Drake followed that remark. Drake smirked through the pain though, as the impact from Jennifer's last blow gave him enough room to slide his hand into his pocket.

"Bad move, Jennifer. Now you're mine!"

In a quick snap of his wrist, Drake wrestled the broken bass string he saved from earlier when he was at the pharmacy, and slapped it towards the ground. The resulting vibrations sent a blast towards Jennifer, knocking her back several yards. Her grip on Drake vanished. Before she had the time to even realize what happened, Drake bounded towards Ivan, scooped him up off the ground, and proceeded to fire off a few more bass blasts in her direction. Jennifer was able to block most of Drake's relentless onslaught, but his feverish attacks proved to be too much at such close range. Drake got right up in her precious little face as she backed herself up against a wall. She was wounded, but certainly wasn't down for the count. For the time being, however, she was cornered. Drake gripped Ivan tightly, ready to fire a blast off in Jennifer's direction at the first sign of resistance. He still squinted at her, his glasses still resting on the ground behind him.

"Alright Jennifer, unless you want to eat this next bassline of mine, you're gonna talk. What the hell did you mean when you said Sable told you to keep me alive? What are the both of you trying to accomplish? I'm getting sick of her and her games. My patience is running thin, Jennifer." Drake let off a dud bass slap, making her twinge. "Do not piss me off."

SKAutomatic-Machinegun Sun Jul 07, 2013 9:28 pm

Vlad now standing outside with only the rich guy spotted two human like figures walking the street heading straight towards them. Remembering Chris mentioned his sword was still behind the counter he ran inside and grabbed it expecting a fight. Returning back outside he could see the figures much clearer, they didn't seem to be infected, their movements were to natural. Vlad, now standing bracing himself to possibly defend against these unknown men could now make them out a bit clearer, one was a man of a very in shape build standing about 6 foot 2, walking next to him a slender raggedy looking teen probably only about 5' 7".
"Unless there are many young men around these parts that carry such long blades and wear such mops as hairdos, I'd have to say it's pleasent to see you still alive Vladimir!" The tall man said in a gruff voice. Vlad shocked to hear the man speak, "Oh No Way! Mr. Priest!" Running up to the man they shook hands. "So, who's the kid?" Vlad pointed.
"Who you callin' a kid ya mook!" he responded in a brass accent. "His name is Kyle, I met him when I first came here. He actually tried to rob me, alot more talented than the scum back home, I didn't even see where he came from. Anyway he filled me in on these poor cursed souls and told me not to let them bite me... this of course after I promised not to snap his arm like a twig for trying to rob me. HoHahahaha!!!" Priest's laugh echoed as Kyle rubbed his arm, "Ya brute, ma arm still kills, I work with these ya know." With that Vlad notice Kyle seemed to become completely fixed on the rich guy. He then heard what sounded like a switchblade seeing Kyle slipping his hands in his pocket, Vlad blinked and Kyle was gone! "What! Where did he... " Vlad turned to see Kyle almost right behind the rich guy, "Rich Dude!!! Look out!!!" Right then Vlad felt something tightly grip his arm and shoulder and next thing he knew he was in the air then right back on the ground with Priest standing over him.
"You let your guard down, you never get flipped so easily." Vlad scrambled to his feet and took a defensive stance. "What are you doing, why are you letting that kid attack an innocent?" Allison's voice chimmed into Vlad's mind, "Why would the Priest even be here... for you... for punishment! Should have listened Vladie... Now DIE!" With her last word he noticed the Priest sending a swift foot at Vlad's head. Blocking with his sheathed sword he tried reaching the Priest again. "Old man! Listen what's happening, are you under control? Who is that kid?" The Priest answered, " I am controlled only by god's will! He deems you a sinner who must meet his fate! The boy is merely a tool the lord has sent me to help deal with pests. Being able to appear anywhere he wills like an angel!" The Priest put more weight into his kick knocking Vlad over again. Vlad thought to himself, "Shit! He's so strong, and unlike that clumsy bear man his skill is perfect, and that kid... there's no way he moves that fast... appears at will, like..." Vlad scrambled to his feet again and charged the Priest, "I get it now, He's a teleporter!" Vlad swung his sheathed sword at air as Priest ducked allowing Vlad to sweep kick and finally make contact. "That kid, call him off! Neither of us want this, we swore to be good men." Priest only responded, "Some mean stray from the path..."

MakeOneUp Mon Jul 08, 2013 2:43 am

It took Maximillion a good while to digest everything he had just heard. As he tuned back in to this warped reality, he saw that the three people he now knew as Drake, Chris, and Vladimir, had left. Drake and Chris were nowhere to be seen, but he noticed Vladimir talking to a couple of people, a man and a scrawny teenager. Deciding to leave them to their conversation, he started to mutter to himself, which he usually did in stressful situations.

"Well this is certainly a mess I've gotten myself in haven't I? When I took over my parents' company from that bastard Otis, I knew there would be tough times, but I must admit that I never saw this coming. After talking with them and listening to their stories, they seem honest enough. I see no reason for them to hurt me. I should probably stick with them for the time being. Yes, that sounds like a wonderful idea. If I stick with them, maybe they'll find a way back to the real world and everything will go back to normal. That, and my staying with them greatly increases my odds of survival versus me being by myself. I rather enjoy living, and staying alive is really good for business," he finished with a smirk.

As he looked up after his rant, he saw that Vladimir was on the ground. He had been pinned by the man, and the kid was nowhere to be found. As he readied to help his new-found partner, he heard a crunch in the broken road behind him. He whipped around to find the kid holding a switchblade, and about to acquaint that switchblade with Maximillion's back. Before he could do so however, Maximillion grabbed his wrist.

"Not smart. Now who are you and why do you want me dead?"

The kid smiled at him, and vanished. Maximillion's eyes widened in surprise as he quickly looked around to try and find him again. Noticing a shadow on the ground, he looked up to see that the kid had somehow teleported himself into the air, falling toward him with his knife outstretched. In one swift motion, Maximillion grabbed him by his arm and neck, slamming him into the ground and knocking the knife out of his hand. He then started to fill the kid with electricity. Not enough to kill him, but hopefully enough to disrupt his teleportation ability.

"You're not very smart, are you? Do you know who I am? I am Maximillion Tiberius Williamsmith III. Did you really think that you could defeat the CEO of the biggest electric company in the US?"

The kid grinned. "You are a fool, Williamsmith," he said. "This is about something much bigger than yourself or your company. I am doing the lord's work. Your greed has hurt many people, you selfish prick, and it is time you pay for your sins."

"I will definitely pay for my sins. You can count on that, but I will not be paying you. You are not judge, jury, or executioner. You are merely a peasant and a coward, and I hate cowards. Only a coward would dare try to stab a man in the back. You knew you couldn't best me in a fair fight, so you tried to outsmart me. However, you are the one that got outsmarted my poor unfortunate soul. You are nothing but scum and trash, and it is time for me to dispose of you."

"No, wait! PLEASE--"

Maximillion formed a sort of blade with the hand that was wrapped around the kid's neck, thus removing his head from his body. He stood back up and looked around to see Vlad kicking at the man who was holding him down. Maximillion started running toward the man, static cracking around his palms. After all, he needed Vlad alive. Vlad's survival was good for business.

DDWRINKLE Mon Jul 08, 2013 3:19 am

Looking up into the dirtied mirror of the small one man bathroom, Chris's clean skin definitely was a lot less red now. Smiling at the fine cleaning job he made under such circumstances, he realized that his clothes were permanently stained with the blood of his fallen foes.

"God dammit", he cursed under his breath.

Suddenly a loud bang came from above him. Wincing on impulse he looked up at the ceiling as if he could see through it. Snapping out of his stupor he threw open the door. Running to the stairs he glanced outside, and saw Max rip a fucking kid's head off. After a jaw dropping few seconds he rationed that he should deal with one thing at a time and drove it from his mind for the time being.

Charging up the stairs and through the door. He found Drake standing near someone next the edge of the building. Before he called out his eyes met with Jennifer. Sheer shock and fear struck her in the face like a blinded deer on a back town road.

"Oh you bitch"

Almost steeping on Drake's glasses, he picked them up and tossed them to him.

But it was too late for Chris, all sanity has just left the building. All that filled him was rage and blood. She could fuck with him but not his company.

He was a steam roller of death and on a slow march to the edge.

**FourStringFingerSting** Mon Jul 08, 2013 5:18 am

With Drake's momentary lack of depth-perception on top of Chris' angry toss, it was only expected that he missed when he reached out to snatch his glasses from midair. Taking a few cautionary steps back as to not crush them underfoot, Drake finally returned his spectacles to their appropriate place: on the tip of his nose.

Drake didn't notice Chris advance closer to Jennifer; a little too close for his liking. With Drake's restored vision, it was clear that Chris was starting to boil with rage. For whatever reason, he had blood-lust in his eyes. Drake couldn't let Chris obliterate (literally) the only thing that could lead him to Sable and his only possible chance at redemption. As confidently as possible, Drake stepped in front of Chris, putting a gap between him and Jennifer.

"Chris, don't move any closer. She knows things that we need to find out, and you're in no mood to deal with that kind of interrogation right now. I don't know what's getting you so fired up, but I'm gonna need you to calm down." Drake reaches out a gentle hand...

GravePunchingBabyStomper Mon Jul 08, 2013 6:10 am

Sidestepping around an uprooted trash bin, Cross surveys the wide street both ways before striding to the center and working his way south.
They are barren and eerily quiet, the streets, an utter calm beneath a dimming sky. Humming and odd tune he doesn't recall where he picked up, Red Coat continues walking at a brisk pace for a time.

A very long time.

Odd.. how long is this street? he thinks.

Coming up on a diner to the right he passes a glance toward the wide windows and sees a child standing there with an expression of hopeless acceptance on his young face. A non-infected child.

"Idiots.. I don't have time for this," he curses at the ground and with that, stuffs his hands in his pockets and keeps his eyes forward.

Fifteen or twenty minutes later his pace slows and he feels uncertain. This doesn't feel right. Just a little off.

Coming up on a diner to the right he passes a glance toward the wide windows and sees a child standing there with an expression of hopeless acceptance on his young-

What the hell-

Tossing another glance at the kid, shock roots his boots as the boy's face is horribly disfigured. Long, dark sockets where eyes should be are the only parts of the face that can be put into words. Long, dark sockets that are looking at him.

Forget it. No way I'm sticking around to see what happens.

Kicking up long days of dust from the road Cross breaks into a fast jog, his eyes frantically searching the buildings not for something familiar but for something.. different.

Idiot! Why did I let myself get caught offguard!? Oh you've got to be joking.

With the diner fast in sight once again, Red Coat moves to the opposing side of the street and slows his pace to try and observe it.

.........

The window is empty and barren, like the streets.

IT IS A TIME FOR HORRORS

Flinching at the sound of that voice filling his mind from every direction and within, Cross dry washes his hands on his dusty coat and turns around knowingly, his left eye dilated nearly black out of habit so as not to lose his mind upon viewing this creature with naked optics.
Indescribable, the form that haunts him from time to time and in his past.. moves? around in front of him, hulking over Cross like a tower of nightmares. One large, burning yellow eye centered at its.. face? Rows upon rows of teeth are near it anyway, though they do not move when it speaks, the body writhes and gestates as it hovers before him.

IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO PLAY YOUR PART INSTRUMENT

My.. part?

Dry rasping like wet leaves slaked over old wooden planks fills the air in a sort of laugh.

IN A CENTURY WE COME.

A little too unnerved to laugh, Cross manages a weak smirk and a snide remark. "A century huh? I think I'll let my great great grandchildren worry about that."

KE KE KE KE KE KE

Spine tingling at that rasping laughter again, Cross ventures to ask a question.

"Why are you telling me this now..?"

IT TAKES ONE CENTURY OF OUR TIME FOR OUR VOICE TO REACH YOU.

Dread fills Cross' bones, like a cold sap leaving his marrow as his body numbs with fear. One more question flits about his mind and he forces himself to ask of it.

"Just how long have you been waiting for.. this part?"

LONGER THAN YOU THINK. LONGER THAN YOU THINK.

Hands burst from behind cross and grip him tightly, dragging him to the ground as many horrifying children fill his vision and with a THUNDEROUS roar the sky.. twists.. into a horrid distortion of swirling dark and flashing of lightning. The center a large, yellow eye bearing down on Cross with a malevolent force.

Fighting, biting and clawing against the hands that surround him and dry rasping filling his head, he yells a desperate "FUCK" as his jacket is torn ragged and many long-fingered nails rake thin lines across Red Coat's entire body where clothing was rent or non existent. To anyone observing it would seem he was flailing at air while on the flat of his back while he was assaulted by unseen attackers on a bright, fine day.

Fear filling him, he closes his eyes and screams a painful "Just.. Someone JUST HELP ME!" through the smothering barrage of razor-like incisions and pummels.

With a low whirring, the sky.. twists in on itself again and seems to shift while a low rumble (Like a bumblebee the size of a semi) fills the air and builds up, peaking with a brilliant implosion of.. light.

Realizing there was only one remaining hand clutching at his shredded jacket Cross opens his eyes and flails a wild blow behind him only to have it stop flat in the stoic palm of an aged man. Recollection filled Cross' eyes though the face looked more weathered and grim than it had used to.

Priest..

"No more a' that now boy I've got some things to see to." The strong voice looked odd on such an elderly man though he was clearly hardened and perceptive. Still awe-struck, Cross watches the man turn away and continue down the street for a time before he notices his former caretaker has a companion at his side. Then he notices that it is day time. A hot, sunny day and from what he gauges, he is several blocks down the path he was headed in the first place, and the city is back to a familiar normal, infection aside.

Scrambling to his feet he takes a hasty step after the priest and his companion in attempts to catch up with them and is halted by a mass of stinging, biting pain he didn't acknowledge until now. Taking a knee, he didn't even have to look at himself to know he was covered from head to toe in hundreds of thin, razor-like scratches, a mass of light bruises and his clothes mostly shredded, his jacket hanging in tatters.

Gritting his teeth, Cross straightens and begins pacing himself at a steady walk after the two barely-visible men ahead of him.
Exerting movement, tiny specks of blood begin to fill the neat little wounds..

DDWRINKLE Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:27 pm

The hand extended between him and his destination seemed to jump up at him through his mist of rage.

His eyes receded and came back into focus with Drake's. The order of his voice and the steadiness of his gaze left him struggling to keep a grasp on his anger.

"Ugh . . . . ", his shoulders slumped, and the rage fled from his eyes.

"Just make it quick so I can end this bitch".

He stalked back to the door but stayed put. Staying on his guard in case of any funny business.

SKAutomatic-Machinegun Tue Jul 09, 2013 2:54 am

After being knocked to the ground from Vlad's sweep kick, Priest noticed his companion's embarrassing loss and the electrified man charging at him. "Well Vladimir if you don't mind I prefer to keep this fight between the two of us. With that the Priest performed a rising uppercut to Vlad with inhuman strength and speed, landing both of them on a near by roof. Vlad was out cold, when he started feeling a comfortable breeze. Sitting up he noticed Priest was nowhere in site, in fact nothing was; no buildings, no streets, not even sky. Vlad got to his feet and was just confused at this empty world he now stood in, and as usual like clockwork, the regular voice of clarity rang.

"So are you willing to do as I ask yet?" Allison said as she appeared in front of Vlad. "You know there's no way you can kill Priest, even if you wanted to, he's way too powerful." "Call him off Allison! NOW!!!" Vlad yelled practically in her face. "Call him off? You honestly think I'm controlling him? Oh no no Vladie, I simply pointed him in your direction and told him some little white lies about you being involved in starting this chaos." Vlad was fuming, "Why would he believe that, he knows me, he knows I would never do anything like this, how would I even do such a thing?" Allison just laughed and touched his forehead, images shown through Vlad's mind like a silent film. Showing Vlad slicing up innocent people in droves as Drake seemed to turn the dying into infected with each strum of his bass. "You see, the only way to stop Priest is if you listen to me and Kill Drake. Priest won't rest until he is dead, and considering he thinks you're an accomplice he feels you must be wiped at as well unless you take out that 'bad' man." Allison chuckled at the revealing of her plan. The laughter echoed as sky reappeared and roof top lay underneath Vlad's limp body again. Vlad looked up to a familiar situation as the heel of Priest's boot came swinging from the air like an axe. "FUCK!" Vlad threw up a barrier as quickly as he could hoping the density would be enough. The heel cracked the barrier like glass but did not shatter it as Priest spoke, "Just give up and die like the scum you are... I am what molded you, taught you your skills, I will not allow you to be an instrument to help such dark deeds."

Vlad responded, "Dark deeds? Drake is an innocent man! Allison has shown you a false truth." "I can not believe you. You're probably lying to me, trying to deceive me like the serpent Lucifer deceived Eve. Even if you are telling the truth that means I have been corrupted by evil and no longer deserve to live." The Priest step away allowing Vlad to stand. "I see no other way than this then." Priest walked to one end of the roof. "Only one of us can continue to live, and it shall be God that decides." With that Priest took an offensive pose and drew a deep breath, planting his left leg forward and pulling his right arm back to his hip opening his palm. Vlad recognized this pose and could not believe it but realized that Priest had to be seriously ready to kill him so he tightly grabbed his sheathe in his left hand and the handle of his sword in his right and ran at Priest as Priest jumped forward at Vlad palm first. "I'm sorry" Vlad spoke as he dived down and slid across the roof practically going under the priest's legs. The Priest landed palm first putting a hole in the roof about the size of a sewer cover. Vlad quickly spun around, unsheathed his blade and plunged it through Priest's back. As blood came from Priest's mouth he smiled. Vlad removed his sword from his former mentor causing his limp body to fall into the hole. Sheathing his sword a single tear of lost memories fell from Vlad's left eye. He wiped it away and walked over to the drainage pipe to climb down. He spotted what appeared to be Drake, Chris, and an unknown women on an adjacent roof across the street, then started his descent. Reaching street level he walked back over to the suited man, "I'm pretty sure I spotted Drake and Chris on that roof over there."

Sponsored content