FicWad

Chapter 21



Whoever coined the phrase "hell has descended on..." would have had a perfect picture and example of such a term, for such was descending on lower Manhattan at that moment. For Chiyuki, this was more than just Clan business. She felt like she had been personally affronted. For a thousand years, she had been treated like something that did not deserve to live, and then everything changed one autumn night in Tokyo. She ran into one that could have shared her fate had not certain hands intervened on his life. He also had every reason to be bitter, but instead, he turned it into something else, and learned to accept everyone despite how he had been treated. Instead of pushing her away, he took her in. Instead of despising her existence, he showed that he loved what was inside. For the first time in a thousand years, she had peace, a place to stay, and most of all, a family. Many times, there had been those that tried to take the family from her, but just like antibodies in the bloodstream, her family rejected the virus time and time again. It shook her a bit when this one that loved her as a sister wanted to go after something that she had once been, but she also understood the threat, and joined in. Now, the last of them lay in reach, but they had slapped her in the face as far as she was concerned. Instead of being smart and laying down like a good endangered species, they lashed out. Not only did they take away Jean-Claude, but they also tried to take away her haven, her family, and proverbially raped, and flaunted that rape, one of her dearest friends.



Fumio was a human, but she had the biggest heart of any human she had ever met. On first meeting, Fumio had no judgments against her. She just took it in stride and took her in. This woman had no idea how she had literally put her life on the line day in and day out just by associating with vampires. However, even if she had known, she would not have cared. In fact, during the Clan's darkest hour in the Great Bokor War, when a vampire warrior was in desperate need, she literally stuck her neck out for him, knowing it could have cost Fumio her life. Chiyuki had always respected her choice for staying human despite many offers from many vampires trying to preserve the family that Karin had formed. Now, she had been turned against her will, and then they tried to use her to go after her own family. Chiyuki was grateful to have been able to help her make the transition to where she could have peace with the whole situation, yet, considering the sins that Amayah were piling up against her family, and now the family needed to be avenged. Considering the personal conflict she held because of the foe they fought, she wanted to keep out of it. However, even if they had not been hunting the households, Amayah would have had the ambition to come after them anyway, the same thing would have happened, and they would have deserved extinction. Now, she was going to insure that it happened in the most gruesomely ways possible.



When the strongholds began to be hit, she and Ai only gave them just enough time for them to acknowledge who stood there. There was one thing that many did not know: the reputation of the Devil Sisters was universal in all the world of /Hominid Nocturnes/. They were feared, dreaded, and now stood as the judge, jury, and executioner of anything of House Amayah. They moved with blinding speed, and many did not even know what had hit them. Any who tried to flee were being dragged back in as if the two were a leviathan, stretching out their tentacles, insuring that nothing got away. No one that faced them would see another night. In the process, though, they were never out of control, in that, the fires they set were one's that would destroy the place, but would be something that the fire departments could easily put out. They were also leaving behind evidence to prove just how dirty Amayah was, and she hoped that, if it went no further than that evening, Amayah would be crushed, flushed out of their havens, and then slaughtered in order when they had no place to flee.



Blade, Crystal, and Shin were wreaking havoc of their own style. Certainly, they were nowhere near to the speed of the Devil Sisters, but in the world of the undead, just mention the words "Blade" and "day walker," and then watch them shudder in fear. Now, it was worse, because, now, the blood of the true pure blood vampire now coursed through his veins, and he became more powerful than ever. At that same moment, the Hand was striking along the ports. In both areas, the same patterns were established: kill all that they could, burn the place out in a controlled burn, and leave evidence behind. It got even worse on the port when they discovered that in which Amayah had been trafficking. They had been involved with arms deals, drugs, and selling orphaned children into some of the most perverted slavery known to man. This was also one of the biggest sources of feeding for Charlotte, because she loved to drink only the blood of young children and babies. To her, it was the purest, freshest, and most energetic taste that any blood drinker could want. Being that she was in the position that she was, she would always have a supply. When Chiyuki found out about this, she became even more vicious, and she wanted to get her hands on the dog whore child demon more than anything else. In the case of the Hand and Blade's crew, there were some that did flee, and that was exactly what they wanted.



Back at WTC 7, there was nothing but chaos in the office of Marcus Draco. Phones were ringing off the hook; the press wanted a word he had no time to give, and Homeland Security wanted a word with him as well. Things became more complicated when those that survived the attacks were heading right for WTC 7, which was the last thing he wanted. He could not risk exposure at this point, and their coming there would do just that. With the feds on his case, it would blow the lid of the thing. Normally, he would have feared the retribution of the other pure bloods for such things happening, but he and Charlotte were the only two left, and now the only thing they could think of was saving their own hides. Thus, the decision was made to kill any that got within five blocks of the trade center area, just to keep the household from crumbling. If they survived this, they could go underground and start again. What made things even more interesting was that the very leader of such things was locked up in one of the rooms that was just two floors up. He was living in the lap of luxury, which was the irony of it all. They wanted to kill him right then, but they had use for him. They still wanted to break him and make him one of their own as a final trophy and slap in the face to the Clan. They could have made things real miserable for him at the very least, but they also knew it would take longer to break him that way, so they were stuck. Besides all that, there was no way that he could have ordered the attacks from where he was, so there was not much that could have been said at that point anyway. When the troops from the building turned on those fleeing to them for safety, they turned around and fled, and ran right into those that they fled from in the first place. By the time it was all said and done, the only thing left in Amayah were the just over 100 left in WTC 7, and there was now no longer safe haven for the undead in New York City, save for Lichen, where some interesting things were happening.



In the throne room of Clan Tower, 55 undead stood before the Golconda, relieved that everything they had been told was true. When they were told what was to happen to them, they started to cheer and cry, in fact, they ran the gambit of emotions. This was would be their year of jubilee, and essentially, year zero for them. They were joyous to know that, from that day forward, the Thirst would be under their control, and they would have to kill no one in order to feed. What was even better, they could now have the safety of humans to protect them that would not despise them. They could take things back to Oregon and start a faction of the Clan there. Once the change had taken place, it was about the time everyone was returning from their assault. Lucas said, "Indeed, the scent of death is all over you."

Ai responded by saying, "This is so you don't have to."

Mickey then said, "What have you learned?"

"Amayah's through," said Chiyuki,"We did all we could to insure that they would have nowhere to flee, because the humans would treat him like a human and try to keep him fleeing the country."

"Are you sure that would stop him?"asked Lucas.

"If he tried, he would expose himself," answered Karin.

"Further, we know where Big Brother is?" added Anjou.

Sheila then said, "Then we need to get him out!"

"Big Brother said to wait until tomorrow night," answered Anjou, "He has something planned."

A smirk came over Chiyuki's face, and she said, "How did we know that was coming? I just can't wait to see him in action again! I just hope he leaves me something to do!"

However, at that moment, a call came from the restaurant down below. Karin answered it, and she was told that there were two undead standing outside with a flag of truce, and a message. The Hand went down together with Blade and the Devil Sisters to see what they could possibly want.



When they arrived, it was indeed as they were told, but Blade came to the fore, as did the Devil Sisters and he said, and they started to back up. "Okay, just spill it," Blade spat.

The one that seemed like the spokesman said, "By now, you must already know we have your leader. Cease and desist these attacks, and all will be well with him. Do it not, and he dies."

Chiyuki walked up to him, blood boiling, and said, "If we do, he goes free?"

"Well, no..." he answered, but that was all he got, as if Chiyuki already knew his answer. She snatched the flag of truce and rammed it up his backside flag first, saying bitterly, "That's our answer!"

She then, with lightning speed, cut his friend in two and spat, "Now put his ashes in a cup and take him back as a part of our answer. No one does this to the Clan and lives...NO...ONE!"

He was in pain, but he was too scared to protest. He scraped his friend off the sidewalk and sent him back. Blade was impressed, and he said, "Now that was stylish and creative. That was more mercy than I would have shown."

"Being around for a thousand years teaches you something," she responded, "Besides; they wouldn't lay a finger on him. When they see that, they know that we mean business. If they tried then, they would find out just how resourceful he was, and that would be the last mistake they would make. If he has a plan, it is going to end tomorrow night, no question."



Jean-Claude sat in his chair, watching the news, seeing the disasters that were unfolding on Manhattan. One thing that surprised him was the fact that they had not kicked the door in and hauled him away for God knows what. The only thing he figured was that they had let it go because he still must have had some real estate value to them. Because of how things had happened, an aerial shot of that part of Manhattan seemed to affect a burning ring around the area where he was, as if to say, "You now have nowhere to run."

He did not know how much time he had left, but if they came, he would act. All he knew was that he was going to be ready for Charlotte's two goons this time, and make sure that neither could sneak up on him. He turned off the set and looked out the window. He saw the fires burning from his window, and he had to make sure that, whatever he did, anyone that was not involved with this mess did not have to suffer. After all, it was only a few floors, and not the whole building. He could slip out, but at the same time, the cavalry was coming, and he wanted a part of it. Moreover, he wanted that saber back, because it was too precious to him to lose. He switched off the lights and went to bed.



The next morning, a servant came with his breakfast. Charlotte and Draco had been so busy with damage control, that they had not had time to change the orders. When their soldier came back the way he did, it was the last straw. They had intentions of just starving him to accelerate things, but they were so tired that they went to sleep without even making the changes. The servant did all she could to be as quiet as she could, because she had been told that he just might lash out. She was frightened to death and timid, and she did all she could not to wake the sleeping beast. However, one thing that was odd about Jean-Claude's sleeping habits: he could sleep through all kinds of loud sounds, but let just a soft sound transpire, and he was awake. When the tinkling of silverware was heard, he just kept his eyes closed and said, "You know, you have to work on your silent entrance technique."

This was followed by the sounds of someone hurrying as fast as this one could to get out of there and close the door. He then arose, laughing until it hurt. He then sat down and turned on the news as he ate. He saw that it was steak and eggs, and he just had the feeling like they were really trying to soften him up before they came down with the killing blow. No matter: it was all ending that night, so he just took it as something that would give him strength. As he watched, all that had transpired now made the headlines of CNN. The reports were interesting: the fire department was grateful that the fires were not something that would have burned out of control and then burn down lower Manhattan. However, what they also found odd was the fact that, whatever hit was actually careful to make sure that this was so. They way that there was evidence left out for the police to find made them write the whole thing off as a terrorist act, and turned it into a vigilante act. The mountain of evidence should have instantly had a warrant put out for Draco, but the problem was that he had been so good at his damage control that he made it look like this was some kind of retaliatory act by some rival. Nonetheless, Draco was told not to leave town while they investigated all the leads, and there were many of them. What was really interesting was that there were a few in the law enforcement community that wanted to link his missing status with what had happened. When he saw the officer giving the report, he noticed the ring, and then recognized him as one of the Clan, and one of the tenants in the tower. Apparently, he was trying to do his bit to try to get him out of this mess. Another thing Jean-Claude was able to deduce was that Draco must have been using connections within all levels of law enforcement to keep the heat off him, or else the authorities would have liberated him long ago. He finished his breakfast and decided to kill sometime by doing some bowling that was contained within the game console. It wasn't candlepin, but it was something. He just couldn't wait to go back to the tower and have Anjou pester him for about five strings or so in the 20 or so alleys he had built special below ground.



About fifteen minutes to noon, he slipped in his hunting clothes to the bathroom with clean undergarments and turned on the shower real hot. He closed the door and waited for about ten minutes. Once that had happened, he opened the door, and a waft of steam came out. It was like a sauna in there, which was exactly at what he aimed. He put on his hunting clothes, got a chair, lifted up a panel, slipped through, and put it back like normal. He then made his way to the panel where he knew the door must be. Things were as he had expected, because the steel wall that was hidden behind the paneling went all the way up, anticipating that someone may try this. He cracked open the panel and watched. Not moments after he had done so, the door opened, and in came the woman. He worked past the scent of the lunch and smelled that there were indeed just two humans that waited outside. He did not know if they were armed, or if so, with what, but as fast as he was going to be moving, they did not stand a chance. He waited until she set down the tray and started to retrieve the others, and then he dropped down. Before anyone could react, the two guards were thrown across the hall and hit hard. Just as fast, he was knocking their heads together and putting them out. Immediately, alarms were sounding, and Jean-Claude had to act fast. He snatched one of the MP-5 submachine guns they were carrying and grabbed as many clips as he could. They were garlic rounds, and they assumed that these had a better chance of hurting him, they knowing that silver would have no effect whatsoever. However, even these would not. He sprinted to the stairs just in time to see the first part of a squad making their way around the landing just below, and he opened up. He knew they were humans, but at the same time, he had no time for his normal actions. He had to just write it off as they making the wrong decisions and joining up with the undead. He then realized that there would be too many to get out quickly, so he then headed for the elevator. He then smashed open the door, punched open the top, climbed through, and started to climb the cables. With his speed, he was able to make the top quickly, and he was relieved that there were only seven floors left to the top. Once he got to the top, he assessed where the best place to hide would be, because it would not take them long to figure out where he had gone. It was then he found the main ventilation system, and calculated that the vents were big enough to transport him. With that, he quickly opened the vent, crawled in below the fans, and closed it behind him. By the time that they did get up there, they looked around, and now were confused. Unless he jumped, there was nowhere he could have gone. It was as if he just vanished. They then radioed in what had happened, and he had not jumped. That meant that he had to be somewhere in the building. There was no way he could walk out without being detected, so where had he gone? Someone suggested waking Draco and Charlotte, and that one was nearly pummeled for the mere suggestion. They knew it would be a death sentence if they even dared disturb their sleep. They would have to find him on their own.



Meanwhile, in the ventilation system, Jean-Claude was making his way back down to where Amayah had set up shop. As he went, he ran into Anjou's bats. They told him that everything was set, they just told him to tell them when he was ready, and they would relay it back to Anjou. He then said that they needed to stay with him, because he needed their help. He used them to create a ward to allow him to move around nearly invisibly. He reentered the floor he left, and it was crawling with guards, frantically trying to find him. However, they had no clue he was right there, so the ward was holding. He then leisurely looked all around until he found an armory. As he looked around, he found the MP-44 that he had when he was captured and took it. He took the clips, but he was not able to find the saber. He figured that it had to be in Draco's office, and he searched for that as well. Once he had, he found it odd that it was unlocked, and then realized just how confident this man was. Once inside, he found his saber on one of the book cases and took it down. Apparently, it was some kind of trophy, and he wanted to destroy this man more and more. He then also saw the door that must have led to where he was. He contemplated going in right then, but that would require him lifting his wards, and that would invite something more than what he wanted to deal with at that point. Therefore, he decided to wait for a better time. He then went back into the rafters, and waited for nightfall. The last of the undead houses was going to fall that night.