Chapter Two (Julian)

Seth's apartment was just a couple blocks down from mine and Adam's, and bigger considering he had a better job and parents that were constantly trying to help him keep afloat. They were pretty upset that Seth didn't want to achieve their dream of becoming a doctor or a lawyer, but techsupport was a good enough start for bigger things.

I walked down the sidewalk, approaching the glass front doors to the apartment where the intercom button was. I stepped up to it and hit Seth's button, waiting until I heard his voice over the speakers.

"I see you, Julian, I'll let you in." He said. I let go of the button and glanced up at the security camera that was watching me intently. I looked away when I felt something tingle on the back of my neck, like someone was watching me or something. I turned my head out of paranoia to see a woman across the street eyeing me up and down before giving me a flirty, embarrassed smile at being caught before she sauntered off. I looked away, rolling my eyes.

Usually it was Adam that got the looks from people. They would eye him like a piece of meat, but he never paid any attention to them. He didn't even give them the courtesy of a smile. He just kept his eyes on the job, or me. It made me shiver to think that now I had plenty more time with Adam, and for both of us to be alone too. No more interruptions or awkward encounters. The first night we moved in we spent mostly having sex on the new bed. The really nice, comfy new bed.

The front doors made a buzzing sound and I opened it up, heading inside and listening to it click shut behind me. I went up the stairs to the third floor where Seth's apartment was and stopped in front of his door, knocking only once before Kipp opened the door. He hadn't particularly changed in the past year or so. His dark hair was a little longer, and he still wore those slip beanies and dress shirts that he wore sloppily with loose ties and jeans that never matched. Although, he had stopped chasing girls after he broke up with Leslie, the backstabbing slut that Seth had put on his hit list.

"Where's Seth?" I asked. Kipp pouted, stepping aside to let me in.

"No, Hi, Kipp! It's so good to see you after two weeks. I missed you. How rude."

"Oh, hi, Kipp."

"Good enough. Come on, Seth's in the living room." He closed the door behind me and led me through the hallway with three different doors, one leading to the kitchen, one to the laundry room, and the other to a storage closet. We passed another hallway that went to the bathroom and bedroom. The living room wasn't as big as Adam and mine's, but then again, our living room was also our bedroom and kitchen.

Seth was sitting at his computer in the far left corner that faced the balcony. It was a dual monitor sort of thing with fancy expensive speakers, a leather chair that he seemed to enjoy spinning around in, and the keyboard lit up whenever he hit the keys. Seth was still the same as he was before, a bit on the short side with dark curly hair and dark eyes that were moving around behind the reading glasses he was forced to get a few months after graduation. He looked up, taking off his glasses and setting them on the table, waving me over.

"This is pretty important. I know you said we're not ready to do anything yet, but I still managed to find some useful information." He told me. I cocked my head curiously, glancing at Kipp, who shrugged and followed me to the computer. Seth put his glasses back on and did a few clicks on the screen before he brought up some articles and documents.

"So, Alex called me the other day--"

"Alex called you?"

"Yeah, he said he called you, like, seven times, but you won't pick up, so I took the call and he told me the general, Jack Reese, had escaped from prison and was joining up with the other generals, but when I did a little hacking and poking around, I found out that Jack Reese didn't escape from prison, he was let out."

"Let out? Who would let that psycho out?" I asked in disgust, leaning over Seth to study the articles on the screen.

Jack Reese was the fifth general of Zephyra and completely psychotic. He killed dozens of people, humans and vampires, and told the judge that, who didn't let him plead insanity and sent him to the state prison. Jack Reese enjoyed it there, at least, until they put him on death row for killing two other inmates and sucking their blood, which to the humans appeared to be an act of pure insanity. I mean, no actual creature sucked blood, according to them.

And according to the article on the screen, Jack Reese was let out by three prison guards before he killed the last one that stood in his way of the exit. So, he was let out, but at the same time, he sort of escaped, but why would three guards let him leave the prison? It didn't make any sense.

"This is the most recent information I could get on the generals," Seth explained as he studied the articles, "Most of them haven't made a move in years, except Giorgos and Orion, sort of. They've been moving around from place to place. Well, Orion has, but I'm just assuming Giorgos is with him. And from the looks of it, they still haven't hired someone to take Wulf's place as a general, so instead of seven, there's six right now."

"So aside from Orion, Giorgos, and Jack, there's Liam Vonlio, William Holmes, Gray Wolf, and Gregory Ulyssus, right?" Kipp asked, and I replied with a nod. Seth did some clicking and brought up some more articles.

"Unfortunately, I could only dig up a little dirt on Liam, William, and Gregory. Most of them own their own companies and are pretty big in the corporate world."

"What about Gray Wolf?" I asked with a frown. Seth hesitated, then did some clicking and typing before he brought up a photo. He was a muscular Native American man with black hair that he kept cut short, save for a lock near his left ear that hung down over his shoulder and was laced with ribbons. His eyes were narrowed at the camera and he wore only a pair of ratty black jeans. he looked sort of normal compared to the other ones, but at the same time, a bit too rugged for Zephyra, so why was he a general?

"Honestly," Seth began carefully, "I couldn't find anything on this guy. I just found a photo that was found in a cabin somewhere in Montana and I did some asking around to the locals and they only said that Gray Wolf was slippery. He could come and go and no one would notice. It's like trying to catch smoke. So he'll probably be the hardest one to deal with."

"Fantastic," I muttered, leaning away from the computer and folding my arms over my chest, "Well, I'll mention this to Hunter. Apparently he called Adam's work yesterday." Seth gave me an odd stare.

"His work? Why didn't he call your apartment?" He asked. I shrugged, shaking my head and walking over to plop down on one of the soft leather armchairs.

"No idea. He's been a bit weird lately. He ditched his old phone and got a new one and changed the times we were allowed to call him. He didn't say why." I admitted. Kipp frowned, glancing at Seth, who was studying the floor intently now.

"Do you think he's in trouble?" He asked. I cocked my head at that, leaning back in the armchair.

"Wouldn't he tell us if he was?" I asked. Kipp shrugged awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot.

"Not if he didn't want us involved. Maybe he doesn't think we're ready yet, that's why he won't ask for our help." He suggested. Seth and I shared concened looks at the thought. It sounded like something Hunter would do, which both infuriated me and worried me. How many times in the past had Hunter been in trouble and not even bothered to contact us? I was losing count.

"Maybe we should get Adam and Walter and see if we can get a hold of Hunter ourselves." Seth suggested at last. I nodded slowly at the idea, getting to my feet when the door bell rang. Seth frowned instantly, getting up.

"That's weird. No one called in." He muttered, tossing his glasses onto the coffee table and making his way to the door. Kipp and I looked at each other and got up to follow him. We approached the hallway as Seth peered through the peephole, then stepped back, turning to face us.

"I have no idea who these guys are." He stated, making Kipp and I stare at him. I quickly went to the door to look through the peephole when someone kicked hard on the door, making it crack under the pressure. I pushed Seth back near Kipp, making him glare at me, but I ignored it as I stood my ground in front of them.

"I know you're in there," A man's voice crooned tauntingly, "Come out, little piggies, or I'll blow your fucking house down." I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists as there was another kick on the door, this time, causing the hinges to pop right off and shoot across the floor. I looked up as another kick did the trick and the door came crashing down into the hallway, revealing four members of Zephyra.

"Shit." I muttered. The first one came at me, but I sidestepped him and caught him by the arm, slamming him into the wall hard and grinding my knee into his back. A second Zephyra came up behind me and pried me off the first, twirling me around to punch me, but I ducked and slammed my fist into his stomach. The first Zephyra member was about to attack my back, but Seth grabbed him around the waist and threw him into the door to the kitchen, causing it to explode into splinters. He went after the guy with enough wrath to assure me that the Zephyra member was completely fucked.

The two other members started to lunge at me while the second was still attacking me, but Kipp went at them with fists flying.

We were definitely disturbing the neighbors and no doubt someone was going to call the police, so we needed to get out of here as soon as possible. Zephyra wasn't here to bring me in or anything, they were here to kill us for getting nosy and Seth had a hardrive full of shit on them.

"Seth," I shouted, ducking a punch to my head, "Get to your computer! Wipe the harddrive!"

"Kinda busy!" Seth snapped, then rolled out of the way before the Zephyra member almost crushed his skull with his boot. I grimaced, then whirled to my guy and grabbed him by the head, slamming it hard into the wall so there was a sickening crack from his skull and he hit the floor. I whipped around and darted into the kitchen, slamming into the other Zephyra member and sending him sprawling to the floor. I jerked Seth up to his feet.

"Go now! Grab anything you can, we're leaving!" I ordered. Seth nodded and left the kitchen quickly, so I turned to face the other Zephyra member, who was slowly recovering as he got to his feet. I didn't give him time to recover, though, and turned on the stove nearby. I grabbed him and slammed his face into the counter, causing blood to gush down his face from his nose. He squirmed and whirled around, backhanding me hard across the face and sending me stumbling back into the other counters.

He lunged at me, grabbing me by the throat and pinning me to the counters. I choked, gasping for breath and digging my nails into his arm. He tightened his grip, probably intending to rip my throat open, but I wasn't going to give him that chance and managed to bring my knees up between us, shoving him back hard so he slammed into the stove and went to push off at me, but I leapt on him and spun him around, pressing his face against the hot burner. He screamed in pain, writhing and kicking to get off, but I didn't let up and ground his face against the hot surface, watching his skin blister and crack open, blood bubbling past his lips and sizzling on the burner.

He whimpered and writhed, pushing desperately at the stove before he managed to twist away from me, stumbling into the wall and sinking to the floor to cup his face that was practically melting. He seemed too busy tending to his wound to care for me, so I darted out into the hallway just as Kipp was slammed up against the wall by one of the members.

"Too bad," He sneered in Kipp's face, "You're pretty cute for a human, so I'll do the next best thing and drink you dry." Kipp winced, then gasped as the man sank his fangs into Kipp's shoulder. I moved quickly, grabbing the guy by his head and prying him off as best I could without ripping Kipp's shoulder open. His fangs only tore a bit before I slammed the guy into the wall on the other side. The next member came rushing at me, but I caught him around the waist and slammed him into the floor where I landed a punch straight into his nose, then struck one into his jaw, causing blood to spurt past his lips as he rolled over, coughing and panting for breath. I grabbed Kipp and brought him over to Seth, who was typing franatically on his computer and doing a few clicks.

"Faster, Seth, we don't have time." I ordered, tightening my grip on the back of Seth's chair.

"Patience is a virtue." Seth answered past clenched teeth. I glared at him.

"Julian!" Kipp squeaked and I whirled around in time to see another Zephyra member coming after us. I did the first thing I could and grabbed the coffee table, flipping it over and whacking the guy over the head with it, sending them both crashing into the wall.

"I'm not going to look behind me," Seth said, clearing his throat as he typed away, "Because whatever it is, I feel like I'll have a bitch of a time explaining it to my landlord."

"Your landlord isn't being attacked by vampire terrorists." Kipp reminded him, making me roll my eyes just in time for another Zephyra member to come charging into the room. I winced and took a stance to prepare for an ass whoopin' when someone came up behind the guy, caught him around the neck and snapped it, causing him to crumple to the floor. I jerked my head up.

"Adam!" I cried in relief, coming over and wrapping my arms around his neck tightly. He hugged me back, kissing my temple before he stood back, both of us looking down at the Zephyra member that was squirming from his busted neck. I frowned, then lifted my foot and brought it down on his neck, crushing it further until he passed out from the pain.

"It looks like we made it in time." I looked up to see Walter picking his way over a Zephyra member that was laying sprawled in the hallway. He came to stand on Adam's other side, glancing down at the Zephyra member at our feet before he looked up at Seth and Kipp with a frown.

"What're you two doing? League of Legends?" He asked dryly. Seth scowled.

"I don't play online video games. I'm trying to wipe everything off the harddrive. I managed to get most of the important stuff saved on this flash drive so we can take it with us wherever." He answered, holding up a small flash drive that was designed to look like a lollipop, of all things.

"Why does it look like a lollipop?" I asked. Seth surprisingly blushed as he cleared his throat, tucking it into his pocket.

"Store was all out of the regulars."

"So you went with a lollipop?"

"It was either that or a banana and I was already getting weird looks with this one around." He gestured a thumb at Kipp, who pouted as a response. Seth looked away to type a few things on the computer before he hit a button and stood up, nodding.

"All clean. Lemme grab a bag and we'll head out. And let's make sure these losers don't wake up, huh?" He asked, stepping over a corpse to get to his bedroom. Kipp shrugged and went after him, grabbing Walter by the arm and leading him along with them so Adam and I could have some alone time. I turned to Adam, who was giving the body at our feet a filthy glare.

"Adam, was it Hunter? Did he call you?" I asked. Adam nodded, reaching into his pocket and taking out a slip of paper, handing it to me. I frowned at the directions, then looked up as Adam studied the body and nudged it with his foot before looking up at me.

"He wants us to meet him there, now. We need to hurry. I stopped by the house to grab whatever money was left and a few changes of clothes, s'about it, though. Hope that's all right."

"More than all right," I answered, then hesitated when I remembered Seth talking about Alex's call, but I knew Adam would kick my ass if I kept the secret, so I sighed wearily, rubbing the back of my neck uncomfortably, "So, Seth said that Alex called him." Adam glanced up at me, raising an eyebrow.

"Alex called Seth? Why? Because you wouldn't pick up?" He asked me accusingly. I glared at him, feeling heat fill my cheeks.

"Whatever. He said Alex called and told him that Jack Reese, the fifth general of Zephyra, escaped prison. Or rather, he was let out by something. Three guards let him get away and the fourth was murdered. But now Jack's out and about and my money's on the fact that he'll probably be meeting up with another member of Zephyra soon, maybe even another general." I explained sternly, watching Adam nod slowly and look away thoughtfully. I tilted my head to look at him and wait for a response, but the others were coming back and the Zephyra members were starting to heal again and regain conscious, so we hauled ass outside to Adam's pickup. Seth climbed in his car with Kipp and Walter while Adam I rode in his pickup.

We hit the road and headed to the other side of the city where Hunter had asked us to meet. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my gut about this, though.

"How did Zephyra know I was at Seth's?" I asked, looking at Adam, who frowned.

"Hunter said they bugged our phone somehow. They're probably adding us to their wanted list along with Newell since we killed one of their generals. And by we, I mean me."

"Well, I was a witness, so I count too. Don't take all the credit."

"Anyway," Adam went on, casting me a droll stare before looking back at the road, "It means we need to be more careful now. We need to keep an eye on things, be cautious. They could be following us even now. So don't let your guard down for even a second." I nodded, sinking into my chair and nibbling on my lower lip as I watched the buildings pass by. Despite the fact that it was winter, it was raining now from a deep gray and purple sky.

Adam pulled around the corner of an old abandoned warehouse that was falling apart, especially in the back where it had been burnt out. We parked in the small parking lot just outside the front doors that were chained shut. We climbed out just as Seth was pulling up behind us in his silver Sedan. He, Kipp, and Walter got out and approached us as we stood in front of the warehouse, staring up at it through the cold rain.

"Is he inside?" Seth asked after a moment, shoving his hands into the pockets of his beat up brown leather jacket, his eyes scanning the busted windows. Kipp grimaced, taking a step closer to Seth, who didn't seem to mind for once.

"This place is super creepy. It's like those movies where the kids go into a creepy warehouse and there's a serial killer and--"

"You're really not making me feel better about this." Seth seethed past clenched teeth, passing Kipp a withering stare that made Kipp take a step back toward Walter, who was staring up at one of the windows with a frown.

"What?" I asked, following his gaze. He blinked and looked at me.

"I thought I saw something. I dunno." He admitted with an awkward shrug, lowering his eyes to stare at my feet. I sighed, then turned to Adam, who was studying the chains on the front door.

"Should we go in or wait out here?" I asked. Adam shook his head, stepping back to stare up at the building again.

"We'll need to find another way in. Stick together and keep your guard up, all of you. The last thing we need is another blood bath." He informed sternly. We nodded and let him take the lead as we walked around to the back of the warehouse.

"So I was thinking of getting a cell phone," Kipp was saying casually, making Walter and I give him a weird look, "No, seriously! I want one of those Japanese flip phones you see on the anime and stuff. Those things are awesome."

"Aren't you supposed to be poor?" Seth asked him dryly, his eyes sweeping up the walls as we walked beside the building. Kipp blushed.

"I'm not poor. I just... run out of money really fast. Like, my car payments, apartment rent, gas to get to work and to visit my dad, aaand the Bioshock games. Oh, and Silent Hill. Silent Hill's pretty awesome too."

"You're wasting money on those," Seth scolded, "Use your money for more important things. What are you? A child?"

"I'm nineteen. Yeah, I'm still a kid. Do I have a mustache and three kids? No."

"Your definition of adult is stupid."

"You're stupid."

"Kipp, I'm really starting to hope there's a serial killer in there just so I can use you as bait." Seth threatened dangerously, making Kipp gulp audibly and move closer to me. I rolled my eyes and looked up as we approached the back doors that were also chained, but the chains were slumped through the handles like a dead snake, broken on both ends. Adam and I exchanged grimaces before he pulled the chains off and dropped them to the floor. He pulled on the handle and we went inside behind him.

The warehouse was huge and falling apart with a few machines left behind and covered in tarps as well as a staircase that led to what looked like an office part of the building. The floors were wet from the leaky roof, so puddles of water mixed with leftover gasoline.

"It smells like something died in here." Kipp complained, pulling his sweatshirt off and putting it on backwards so he could put the hood over his face. Seth shook his head in disgust before his eyes widened for a split second.

"Look." He pointed to one of the tarps on a machine where blood was smeared across the from. Judging from the strong scent of it, it was very fresh. I frowned and moved ahead of the group toward it, walking around to the side to see a bloody hand print smeared across the tarp before it led down to an opening. Adam pulled the tarp back and my eyes went wide.

"Hunter!" I exclaimed in shock.

Hunter was laying against the side of the machine, blood oozing from a wound on his right side, his leg bent at an odd angle that meant it was broken. A bloody gash cut across his nose and his eyes were closed, dark circles forming beneath it. For a moment, I thought he was dead until I heard the faint throbbing of his heart in his chest. I lowered myself carefully onto my knees beside him, trying to be gentle about waking him up considering the fact that Hunter was super paranoid and super skittish.

"Hunter," I whispered for a moment, then spoke more loudly as I touched his arm, "Hunter, it's me, Julian. Can you hear me?" He didn't respond, just laid there. He was freezing, that much I could tell through touch, and his heart beat seemed pretty weak. He had dark stubble creeping across his jaw, matching his dark touseled hair. He still wore his leather biker outfit and the biker goggles that were tilted slightly on his head, a spot of blood on them.

"We need to get him out of here," I said, looking up at Adam and the others, "He's bleeding really badly." Adam hesitated and I could tell he was having difficulties controlling the hunger for Hunter's blood, and I understood completely, so I waved Walter to come over and help since he was the tallest of us and the strongest. He knelt down and took Hunter under the arms while I took him by the boots. We lifted him up with a grunt and started to carry him out of the warehouse.

"How did he get here," Seth asked, looking around warily, "Did you see his car?"

"No, not any other vehicle." Walter admitted with a frown, glancing around as we went outside into the rain that was coming down faster. We opened up Seth's car where he'd fit better and got him onto the seat. I went around to steady his head when all of a sudden, his eyes flashed open wide and I yelped, taking a step back and letting his head drop. He groaned in pain, blood sliding from the corners of his lips. I came back and held his head up, helping him sit up in the seat.

"Hunter, are you all right?" I asked, frowning as I watched the blood pump from the gash in his side that he kept clasping his hand over. Hunter hesitated, breathing hard before he looked at me, wincing.

"N-Not... Hunter..." He panted. I blinked and instantly let go of him, holding my hands up. Adam glared at him, body tense and ready while Seth reached for a gun in his belt, making me give him an odd look.

"Who are you?" Adam demanded, clenching a fist and ready to slam it into "Hunter's" face. The man in Hunter's body cleared his throat before speaking in a shaky voice.

"D-Daimonas."