(Part One) -- The Vampire Warehouse

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As a small armada of soldiers swarmed out of their vehicles, heading towards the glass doors of the lobby, I could feel the tension beginning to increase within me. After Dashe's sanctuary, Erick's warehouse, and a number of other situations, I had almost gotten used to the formation. I recognized the pattern. And I knew that this could go really bad, really fast.

I reached for Taryn's hand and pulled him a little closer to me. Silently swearing to protect him from whatever may come through those front doors.

Strings turned to the Jeweler, "I'm on your time, boss. What's the plan? You want me to get Cage and his stooges down here to step in and handle this?"

With a calm smile, The Jeweler replied, "Do you think they'll be necessary?" The two of them shared a grin, and waited for the soldiers come flooding into the lobby like a swarm of ants. All dressed in black. All wearing masks, with nothing but their eyes left exposed. But these weren't the kind of expendable humans that were used in the raids I've been a part of. These were vampires. Every last one of them. A vampire hit squad of about 20...maybe a few more.

My heartbeat increased as they marched their way right through our security and straight to the front desk. As my anxiety began to tighten my limbs and my extras prepared themselves for action, The Jeweler looked over at me, and gently put his hand on my arm. Giving me a slow nod and telling me to be steady. I don't know what it was about him, but the look in his eyes was so...comforting, somehow. Even at a time like this.

One of the soldiers emerged from the center of their tactical positioning and stepped forward towards the desk. He had a dark red star hand painted on his vest. It was right where his heart would be located. Almost as if it was made to be a target for any other vampire that had intentions of finishing him off.

Before he could speak, Strings hopped his little butt up on the desk in front of him, and let one of his yo-yo's drop down from his hand with a bratty smirk. Still chewing away at that gum as though it had just been invented yesterday. "Can I uhhh...maybe help you fellas with something?"

"We've been given direct orders to make a thorough sweep of your facilities in regards to reports of a highly dangerous entity that may have possibly wandered onto the premises." The commanding officer said.

"Ooooh! That sounds important. Hehehe!" Strings said. "But, I'm afraid I'm just gonna say 'no' and send you guys back the way you came. You're more than welcome to make an appointment with our secretary for a later date, however. Why don't you and your band of merry men here try coming back on, I don't know...'Taco Tuesday' or something? It'll be much more convenient for all of us, I'm sure. You wanna bring some zesty guac with you, or...?"

"This isn't a game, son. We're under high order to investigate what's going on here."

"Awwww, you called me 'son'!" Strings said, turning back to us. "He called me 'son'." Then his smile faded slightly as he looked back at the commander. "That's really sweet but...I don't believe I know you, dude. Like...at ALL!"

The Jeweler spoke up, "Under who's authority did you find it necessary to disturb my peaceful sanctuary?"

"You SUCK at this game, dude!" Strings told him. "You're not making any points at all. You're never gonna get him to ask you out to the prom if you don't at least throw a few compliments his way."

"Strings..." The Jeweler merely had to say his name to keep him from antagonizing the situation any further.

Strings suddenly hopped back down from the desk with a loud stomp. "Grrrrr-RUFF!!!" He barked at the commanding officer. "I hope you boys know what you're doing." Then he walked back over to where Taryn and I were standing to fall back, but remain ready in case he was given the order to do anything else. He began to make that aggravating 'whizzing' noise again as he began dropping those yo yo's again. First with his right hand, then with his left. Stretching them out, letting them dangle for a few seconds while the wheels spun, then pulling it back up again. What kind of sick pleasure does he GE out of that, anyway. Strings looked over at us, then downward. "Really? Holding hands? Welcome back to the third grade, ladies and gentlemen."

I didn't bother responding to his stupid remarks. It would have actually been hard for me to believe that Strings could possibly be more irritating than he already was, but something about the tension in the air, the danger approaching us...it was almost as if he fed off of it somehow. I noticed him flexing his fingers, cracking his knuckles, almost antsy to further push all the wrong buttons on the soldiers in the lobby.

The Jeweler asked their commander again, "Specify. Under who's authority are you operating your little late night mission here? I received no previous word from the Elders that any of this would be necessary."

"Not from the Circle Nocturnus, you haven't. And they are the only ones looking over this particular jurisdiction."

The officer sternly told him, "The ones I answer to are not bound by jurisdiction."

"An illegal operation, then?" The Jeweler kept such a calm grace about him the entire time that they were discussing it, but the tension in the room continued to increase. Especially once some of the other soldiers began to step forward. "I was promised, not only by the Elders in charge of Sector 9, but by Lord Zarius himself that I would be able to assist the Elders by giving them information and underground support of the highest caliber...provided that I was allowed to operate with complete autonomy, and without question or interruption. This was our agreement. Those were the rules."

"The rules cannot simply be changed. That defeats the whole purpose of them being 'rules'." The Jeweler stood firm in his stance, his tone of voice getting a bit more 'insulted' as the conversation continued. But the other soldiers seemed to still try to find secretive ways to inch ever closer to the front desk, looking to get access to the elevators.

I felt Taryn's grip on my hand get stronger, knowing that I may have to fight our way out of this. But the whole time that we were standing there, The Jeweler was constantly giving me secret signals to stand down. It was then that it all made sense to me. Perhaps this wasn't just some random raid of The Jeweler's premises. Perhaps...they were there looking for me.

"We don't mean to offend with our intrusion, sir. It's simply a matter of us following orders." The officer said, and the other soldiers closed in even faster than before.

I felt the energies within me building up to ready themselves for a fight, but The Jeweler turned to me with a gentle gin, and said, "There's no need for that, Justin. The situation is well under control."

"Justy...I don't like this..." Taryn said, sending me a private message in my mind. "Let's just go, before things get out of hand."

The commanding officer looked at Taryn and I, obviously hearing what was being said between us. He demanded to know, "Who is this? And him too. Where did they come from?"

"There will be no scans taken today." The Jeweler told him. "In fact, I'm declaring this little intrusion of yours over. Please leave. This is a place of worship and peaceful meditation. It is not a warzone."

I jumped a little as I heard guns being cocked back, the soldiers now taking aim at us as they proved that they had no intentions, whatsoever, of leaving. Not until their...'scan' or whatever was complete.

"We're only going to ask one more time, sir." The commanding officer said. "Any failure to comply will be seen as a resistance, and a deliberate act of hostility. I suggest you not make this situation any more difficult than it has to be."

The Jeweler laughed to himself. "Strings...can you please demonstrate for our unexpected guests just how uncomplicated this situation really is?"

"Ohhhhhh my GOD! I have been waiting for you to say that! Goodie!" Strings giggled. Then, out of nowhere, he reaches into his mouth to pull out a slimy wad of gum, putting it in Taryn's hand and saying, "Here. Hold this, will ya?"

Taryn was immediately disgusted with the pre-chewed up gum, and cringed as he instantly jerked his hand back and tossed the chunk of soaking wet mush to the ground!

Strings was more than happy to step out from behind the safety of the counter in front of us. His hand raised slightly as one of his yo yo orbs dropped down from his hand again, dangling a half inch from the floor as he moved into position.

The commanding officer immediately told his squad, "We've got hostiles! Deadly force has been authorized!"

Strings smirked. "Seriously? I came all the way down here expecting a party and this is all you brought with you? A bunch of 'red shirts' waiting to get their asses kicked?" There was a silence as they prepared to subdue every last one of us to get into this building. "Red shirts. Ya know...red shirts? What, no Trekkie fans in here? Tsk tsk! Well you guys are in for a treat!"

"Advancing..." The soldiers began pressing forward, and I stepped back with Taryn close behind me. Ready to run for cover if needed. But The Jeweler didn't budge an inch. I was looking for emergency exits and trying to figure how quickly I could get Taryn to the elevator before things got dangerous...but The Jeweler just smiled to him self. A subtle smile, but one that confused me, considering what was going on here.

Strings loudly cracked his knuckles once more, quietly uttering the word, "Showtime..."

Then...faster than even our vampire eyes could follow, he quickly LAUNCHED himself directly at the advancing foot soldiers and began engaging them in ways that they weren't prepared for! It only took a few seconds for confusion to set in, and three of them were on their backs with a harsh spin kick before both of Strings' yo yos were released from the center of his palms. He began rapidly swinging those two silver orbs around him so fast that it was hard to see the actual silver strings attached to them at all! As annoying as his yo yo habit was in the beginning, I now got to see him turn that irritating children's toy into a pair of unequaled lethal weapons that had an entire squad of trained vampire militants tripping over their own feet!

The whizzing sound of the wheels spinning at the end of their strings could be heard at a distance as he moved and rotated his body with a fluid motion that kept the orbs in constant motion. And every time they connected with their intended target, he sent an electric charge down the string to the end, creating a dazzling array of high powered 'sparks' that flashed and lit up the walls of the lobby like little bolts of lightning as the soldiers cried out from the pain of it.

They couldn't even follow him. He was SO fast! I had never seen anything like it before. Not even in darkness. He wrapped the strings around his wrists, his legs, his elbows, his waist...and they never ONCE got tangled! They just kept moving, whipping those hard wheels around him, lashing out in all directions. They couldn't even draw their weapons on him before he was flipping and cartwheeling out of their line of fire. There were a few moments when he brought the yo yos back to his palms, but only for a split second. Then they shot right back out again. What the hell was I watching right now???

With a few quick kicks to the abdomen or the back of the knee, Strings could bring any one of his taller attackers down to his level, and he swiftly made short work of them from there. I was fascinated at how he was able to control the length of the strings themselves. Almost as if they could stretch clear across the room if he willed them to, and yet, the closer the yo yo's end got to his body, the faster they whipped around his arms and waist. His hands and fingers controlling a series of tricks that were never made for a child's plaything. It was almost like a second set of fists for him to use to his advantage. He definitely knew how to move between the soldiers in the squad too! Just to keep them second guessing on whether they should fire on him or not, for fear of hitting one of their own teammates. Human or not...bullets HURT! I'm sure they wanted as many people as possible to press on stay in working order.