Chapter 1

The black of night, the time that most people are spent sleeping is the time when the battles occur that help keep those people alive. Wars are waged to keep the humans safe from those that would kill them all. While most of those that fight for humans are human with special gifts, a few are not humans.

One of those humans is out tonight hunting. He is forty-six years old, with graying brown hair, he shows his growing age. His keen brown eyes look around him, trying to find his prey. He finds a scent, and follows it to its source. It takes him to an abandoned complex. He slowly walks in, careful not to disturb his quarry. He sees a light in one of the rooms on the second floor. He walks to it and prepares for the attack.

The door swings open and he unleashes a power bolt into the room. The bolt hits the wall and its energy dissipates, blackening the area it had hit. He looks in the room to find no one inside of it. The source of the light is a fireplace. The air in the room smells of hickory, and he turns around to look somewhere else. He turns into the barrel of an old Colt Revolver.

“And what are you doing in my study?” The woman in front of him asks in her Scottish accent. She is an attractive woman with black hair, and green eyes. Even so, something about her made him feel uncomfortable, and that was the sign he needed. He jumped to the side and kicked her in the stomach. She stumbles backwards and looks at him with anger in her eyes. He jumps at her and takes out a knife, slashing at her. She nimbly dodges it and hits him hard in the stomach. He grunts and hits the floor.

She sits on top of him and asks, “What were you doing?” He replies, “Looking for you, Vampire.” “Well, you’ve found me.” She hits him in the back of the head, causing him to almost blacken out. He loses his grip on his knife and she smiles and takes it away from him. He growls and hits her with one of his power bolts. She flies off of him and hits the far wall.

“You stupid Vampire, you don’t stand a chance against me.” She licks her lips. “Wrong, foolish human, you shall die.” She rushes towards him, and he unleashes volley after volley of power bolts at her. She skillfully dodges them and closes with him. She grabs him and throws him into the side wall. He impacts, and his shoulder blade gives way. He falls to the floor and she smiles down at him. “You may be a Dark Mage, but you’re still human, so you never stood a chance against me.” She fires a power bolt of her own into him. He grunts and feels the blood dripping from his body.

He looks at her. “Go ahead then, finish me off.” “Gladly.” She fires a fireball into him, burning his flesh, turning him into nothing more than a smoldering ash. She gets a dust pan and brushes his ashes into it, then throws it into the fire. She grabs the book that was on the coffee table and sits down in the seat close to the fireplace and continues reading her book.

At his house, Jenos can feel something wrong with the night. He has brown hair and brown eyes. He is twenty-three years old, and another person that fights to keep humanity safe. He then senses a silent scream of pain. He stands up and screams. “No! Father!!!”

Chapter 2

Jenos wakes up, wishing that it was just a dream, that his father was still alive and well. He gets up, gets dressed, and goes to his father’s room, and finds it empty and the bed still made up. Depressed, he walks into the kitchen of their home and sits down at the table. He remembers all the time the two had spent together, especially after his mother died. “Alone, I’m alone now. I’ll never see him again.” He bangs on the table. “Why?! Why did this happen? Why did he have to die?” He gets up and goes into the bathroom.

He splashes his face with cold water, trying to wake himself up. With the water dripping down the stubble of hair on his chin and moustache, he looks at himself in the mirror. “I may have lost Father, but I’m not going to let that stop me from completing what we had started.” He exits the bathroom and goes back into the bedroom. He opens up the closet and pushes a button hidden behind a shoe box. The button activates, and a small door opens up. Jenos puts his hand inside and pulls out his .45 Berettas and holsters. He places them between his underwear and his jeans. He then grabs his two knives and places them around his ankles.

Jenos exits the house and goes into the crowded street at 8:32 am. He walks to his job, a security guard at the 1st National Bank in Worchester, New York. Another boring day where nothing happened, as it never does. He finishes work at 6:00 pm, and prepares for his hunt. He heads for a darkened alley and then starts a chant.

“Wind blows, air flows, ground below. Footsteps of the man, that walked these steps, show me his path, guide me with thy light.” The ground starts to give off a glow, shining a dull yellow, showing him the path of his father. He follows it and gets ready for battle.

In her study, Mackenzie Tathal is reading another book. She senses that someone is in the building, looking for her. She smiles. “So, someone else wants to try to take me on, fine by me.” She exits the room and hides. Jenos enters it not too long afterwards. He enters calmly, not going in with his guns blazing. He goes to the chair she sat in and notices the book. He picks it up and starts to read the beginning of it. Mackenzie enters the room and doesn’t see him waiting for her. She heads towards her chair and stops when she sees him in it.

“Hi, I guess we haven’t met, have we?” Mackenzie looks at him dumbfounded. She thinks, “The nerve of this man, trespassing in my house and making himself comfortable in MY chair.” She speaks, “What are you doing in my house?” Jenos looks up. “I was waiting for you.” She is shocked for the second time. “Waiting for me? Do you even know who I am?” He shrugs. “Don’t know, don’t really care. I’m lonely, and I noticed this place, then the light, so I figured that someone had to come around here sometime.”

Suspicious, Mackenzie walks behind the chair and looks over the back of it. Her arms go to him, pushing him against the back of the chair. “And why would you think that I would want to keep you company?” “Well, seeing as how you yourself are alone, I figured that maybe you want some company like I do.” She just looks down on him and glares at him. “I like my privacy, now leave me alone.” Jenos gets up and looks into her green eyes. “No, I won’t leave until both of us aren’t lonely.” She grins, showing off her fangs. “Fine, I won’t be lonely with your dead body around.”

She grabs him and throws him into the wall. He impacts and draws his right hand Berretta. He shoots at her, and as with his father, she nimbly dodges the bullets. He runs out of ammo in the clip and she closes in on him. Jenos drops the weapon and raises his left hand, firing a power bolt. It connects, and she flies back into the other wall.

“I came here to talk, I didn’t intend on fighting, but I was prepared to avenge my father if it came to that.” Mackenzie looks at him, for the first time looking at his features. She notices the resemblance between the man she killed and him. “Hmm… so you are his son. He didn’t fare very well, so what makes you think you could avenge him?” Jenos and Mackenzie circle each other. “Because I fight for honor, I won’t allow myself to lose.” She smiles at this. “Yes, you humans are very obsessed with your pathetic honor.” She stops circling and fires a power bolt at him. He raises his right hand and absorbs it. Surprised, she asks, “How did you do that? I don’t recall any humans able to absorb energy. Your father certainly didn’t.” Energized, he replies, “Absorption isn’t all that common, even among Dark Mages, but some of us can. My father lacked that ability however…”

Mackenzie rushes forward, then jumps up and tackles him. They tumble on the floor, fighting to keep the other from being on top. After a few tumbles, Jenos ends on the bottom and uses his legs to push her away from him. She hits the wall, and he rams her back into the wall. Her legs give and she falls to the floor. Jenos catches her, and slams her back onto the floor. He gets on top of her and asks, “Why do you want to be left alone so badly?” She glares at him. “I don’t want to be bothered. Us vampires like to live alone.” She then knees him in the gut. She grabs him and rolls over, getting on top of him. “Now, what shall I do with you?” Jenos grins at her. “Well, pretty much whatever you want, it seems.” She licks her lips, and he prepares for the end.

Chapter 3

Mackenzie bends down, and kisses him. Jenos blinks his eyes and wonders what the hell is going on. She breaks it off and sits up straight on his stomach. “You look surprised.” Jenos stumbles on his words, “Well, yeah, I guess, I mean, what the hell happened?” She lightly laughs at him. “Well, we kissed. You do know what kissing means don’t you?” He glares at her. “Of course I remember what it means. I’m wondering WHY it happened.” She leans down on him and playfully licks his cheek. “Because, I’m having fun toying with you. It’s been a while since I’ve last done this.”

“Oh really, are you sure that you’re in control?” She looks at him and is taken by surprise as he kisses her back. She closes her eyes and enjoys it. She thinks, “Gods, it’s been so long since I was kissed back.” He wraps his arms around her and breaks the kiss so he can start to lightly nibble and kiss on her ear. She looks at him, slightly saddened that she must kill him. She thinks, “Even if I have to kill him, I can at least enjoy him while he’s still here.” She licks his cheek and rubs her hand on his chest. She speaks, “You know, it’s been so long since anyone has actually responded back.” He stops and looks at her. “What, with your looks? You gotta be kidding me.” She shakes her head. “Nope, I haven’t because I’m a vampire.” “Ah.” He kisses her cheek and hugs her. “I’m sorry that that happens to you.” She shrugs it off. “I’ve learned to accept it.” “True, but still…” She shakes her head. “It’s not so bad.” She kisses his forehead and starts to get up. “You must leave however, I want to be left alone.”

Jenos doesn’t let her go. “No, I told you that I’m not going to leave here if you’re lonely, and wanting to be alone implies that.” She looks at him and sees how serious he is about it. “Really, so you’ll stay here with the person that killed your father?” “Yeah, I don’t want you to have to be alone like I am.” She begins to wonder whether or not to kill him like she planned. She thinks, “What is with this guy? I’ve killed his father, the person he said that he’d avenge if he had to, and he wants to keep me company. As much as I think this to be a trick, I don’t really want to be alone. Alright, I’ll keep him alive a little bit longer.”

“Fine, just let me get up will you?” He lets go of Mackenzie and gets up after her. She tells him to follow her to her resting chamber. Jenos is led to a room not too far from the study, just two doors down. Mackenzie turns the knob and enters the room. She goes to the night stand and takes off her earrings. “So, what do you think of my place?”

Jenos looks around the room. There is very little in the way of furnishings. The bed and the nightstand are the only things on the far side of the room. On the left is a desk with a chair and some papers on it. As he looks around, she reaches in one of the drawers and draws a tranquilizer gun. She turns around and fires one into him. He jerks at the feel of it and pulls it out just as he is hit by a second, and then a third. He falls to one knee and groggily looks at her.

“Why, what?” She puts the gun down and knees in front of him. She kisses him and says, “Because it makes it easier to probe you.” She grabs Jenos' head and focuses on probing into his mind. She looks for his purpose in coming after her. “Yes, you did come here to kill me.” Satisfied, she is about to stop and kill him when she notices one of his more recent thoughts. “Yeah, so she killed Father, but she’s as lonely, if not more so, than I am. Damn she’s good looking too, hard to kill a pretty face. Shit, don’t do this, don’t do this.. Humans can’t fall in love with vampires… can they?”

Chapter 4

Mackenzie lets go of Jenos and lets him hit the floor. “No, no, no! Humans aren’t supposed to fall in love with vampires. We are supposed to hunt each other. Even if it happened in the past, it shouldn’t be done.” She walks to her bed and sits down, remembering her past. “It’s been so long, centuries ago, that I loved anything. Sure it was a cat, but it was still the only thing that I’ve ever loved. The human slaves and servants I’ve had never meant anything to me, so it’s not like I’ve ever had to deal with that problem before. They adored me, but I never felt love towards them. I can’t say I’ve ever felt loved outside of my family.”

“Then perhaps that should be fixed.” Mackenzie looks at Jenos, slowly getting up. “Maybe, you should actually break down that wall and let someone come in.” Mackenzie growls at him. “This doesn’t concern you, human.” He gets to one knee and pulls the darts out of him. “If I was human, I’d still be on the floor unconscious. I’m not completely human, I’m a Dark Mage, I’m above any human.” Mackenzie jumps off the bed and tackles the downed Jenos. “You may be above a human, but you’re still lower than a Vampire.” She jumps on top of him and throws a punch into his face. He takes it, then he pins her with his legs and looks into her light green eyes. “Listen, I don’t want to fight you. I want to help heal your loneliness.” She glares at him. “I like being alone.” Jenos replies, “Then why were you talking to yourself about the possibility of being with another?”

She struggles to escape his grip, but to no avail. “I don’t want to talk about it, now let me go!” Jenos bends up and kisses her. “No. I’m not going to let you go.” He kisses her again and slightly pushes her backwards. “Mmmph!” Mackenzie’s eyes widen with the feel of the kiss. She breaks it off and gasps. “There is a need for something called air you know.” She continues gasping as he lightly laughs. She looks at him and sneers. “Was there any particular reason for that kiss?” He smiles at her. “Simple, I wanted to.”

He kisses her again, but instead of resisting, she enjoys it while she can. She wraps her arms around his neck and pushes back against him. They break for air and Mackenzie rubs against his chest. “So, Jenos, since I know your name, you can know mine. I am Mackenzie Tathal.” He smiles. “Mackenzie… mind if I call you Mac?” She shakes her head. “Go ahead.” She leans backwards, and he lets go of her.

She then grabs him and tosses him towards the wall. “Never let your guard down.” She then fires a fireball at Jenos. He hits the wall, sees the ball coming at him, and dodges it. She smiles at him. “Now that that lesson is over, leave me be.” She summons a gust of wind that blows him out of the room and through the complex. It dumps him outside, and he hears a lock engaging, preventing him from getting back in. “Great, this has been one lovely night…” Jen gets up and walks back home.

From her spot in her room, Mackenzie broods over what happened between them. “I can’t fall in love with a human. I won’t follow in my father’s footsteps.” She sits down on her bed and pulls her legs to her chest. She breathes deeply, trying to forget the feelings she felt when they kissed.

Chapter 5

Jenos gets out of his bed and scratches the back of his head. He groans at the light coming out of the window. “Goddammit, does it have to be so fucking bright in the morning?” He closes the blinds and goes into the bathroom. He takes a quick shower and exits with a towel on.

He notices that the window is now open, so he closes it, grabs a knife, then looks for the source of the window opening. He hears the front door close, and he runs outside to see who it was. By the time he got to the door, the person had already left.

Jenos sighs and gets dressed. He puts the knives on his ankles, but leaves the Berettas in their hidden case. In the kitchen, he eats a light breakfast of a pastry and a glass of milk. Then, he goes off to another uneventful day at the bank.

A man around the corner sees Jenos walking off, and he heads back home, having fulfilled his mission.

Jenos finishes work and heads home. He has the feeling that he’s being followed, so he increases his speed just a little. He senses the other person, no, people, increasing their speed also. Jen forgets being cautious and rushes forward in a sprint, dodging everyone. He can hear people complaining as his stalkers try to keep up. Jenos turns a corner and runs into the graveyard.

The four men follow him in, not all nervous about going into a graveyard on a late autumn evening. They see Jenos in the middle of the graveyard, crouching on a tombstone. On it, it said, “James Korstan. 1985-2003” The four men watch him and draw their weapons. One has a pistol, another has a long sword, the third has a knife, and the last pulls out his brass knuckles. They slowly advance to him, ready for an attack of some sort. Jenos smiles at them and laughs. “So, you four think you can take me out?” They look at each other then rush towards him. The pistol fires, and Jenos nimbly dodges them. He ducks below a slash from the sword, and kicks the guy in the stomach. Jenos twists, and dodges the knife. The guy course corrects and tries to stab him again. Jenos kicks the knife away and roundhouses him in the face.

The fourth guy throws a high right, and follows it with a jab with his left. Jenos takes the right and grabs the man’s left hand. Then, he throws him at the gunman. They impact, and the gun hits another tombstone. The swordsman tries again, but this time, Jenos grabs the sword and throws him into a tree close by. The sound of a sword hitting into a tree is heard, and then the sound of a gurgle.

The sword is stuck in the swordsman, and pinned him to the tree. The gunman dives for his gun, but is surprised when he sees it sinking into the ground. A skeleton comes out of the ground, holding the pistol in its hand. It pulls the trigger twice, killing the gunman and the brawler. The knife user looks at Jenos, who smiles back at him. Underneath him, a hand reaches out and grabs his ankle. James Korstan gets out of his grave and rips the man apart.

Jenos looks at the two zombies, and thanks them. He then chants, “Death and life are these two in-between. Let them finally rest forever more. Earth, call back their bodies, and hell and heaven call back their souls. Rest now, rest forever, a job well done.” The ground beneath the two zombies absorb their bodies back into their resting place. Jenos walks out of the graveyard, and heads back home.

From atop a building close by, Mackenzie watched the events in the graveyard. “So, he’s also a necromancer. My, he sure is full of surprises.” The man that saw Jenos leave his house shows up behind her. “I’ve done as you requested, now, can you please fulfill your end of the bargain?” Mackenzie nods. “Souls below, hear my call. The lover of this man, came back to us all. Lovely Laura come back to live, so that I prove that I do not lie.” In the graveyard, a recently dug grave begins to shake. A body is pushed out. Laura comes out of her grave, and goes to Mackenzie.

When she arrives, Mackenzie looks at her. She has shoulder length blonde hair. She is only about 5 foot 4 inches. The man looks at her, starting to tear up. Mackenzie becomes a little jealous, so she order Laura to kill him. Laura grabs him and hurls him off the twelve story building. His body impacts with the ground, making a loud thud and a stain on the concrete below. “I said I’d bring her back, I never said she would come back for you.” She turns her attention back to Laura. “Return to your grave, o blonde one, return to your sleep. Your lover is now waiting for you again, return to him, linger not.” Laura jumps off the building and walks back to her grave. She is absorbed back into it, and her soul rests again. Mackenzie smiles to herself. “We have quite a bit in common Jenos. And now, you’ll come home to a very unexpected surprise. Hahahaha.”

Chapter 6

Jenos enters his house, a little tired from the summonings. He looks around and feels that something isn’t right. He enters his father’s room, and sees a message on the wall. “Hi, I left something for you in your weapons room. Mac” Jenos rushes to his closet and draws his knives. He pushes the button and instead of his Berettas, there are two red roses. He looks for his pistols, but they are nowhere to be found.

He hears groaning coming from outside his window. He opens it to see twenty dead samurais outside. One speaks up, “Jenos, we have been sent here to kill you. Your pistols have been taken away, and you may not use your powers. A fair fight. Now, prepare for battle.”

Jenos thinks about the weapons he has available. “Okay, I’ve my two knives, and I’ve also got a long sword in another container. Okay, three weapons against twenty samurai zombies….not good.” Jenos gets his sword from another hidden weapons cache in the closet. He then goes out the window and assumes a fighting position with the long sword. Four zombies rush towards him, each holding their blades in a different position. Jenos slashes at the one on his far left, and dodges the riposte. He stabs it in the back, beneath the traditional Japanese Samurai armor. He swings the blade from side to side to destroy the spine. The zombie falls to the ground, still trying to kill him. The other three slash at him, and he ducks and dodges the slashes. He senses something coming towards him, so he jumps up in the air away from it. Another zombie entered the fray.

Jenos wonders as gravity takes him back to the ground. “Why did only one enter the fight? In fact, why am I only facing four instead of all twenty?” He lands and blocks one zombie’s attack, while kicking another in the breastplate of its armor. It hits the incoming zombie, knocking both to the ground. Jenos kicks out the samurai’s knee out and lets it hit the floor. One zombie rushes into the fray as the two that were knocked down get up. Jenos slashes the head off of the lone zombie that had not been attacked yet.

The fighting continues for about ten more minutes. All twenty zombies have been downed and stopped. Jenos breathes hard and wipes the sweat from his forehead. He feels someone watching, and Mackenzie jumps off his house and lands beside him. Jenos takes a step back and brings his sword up. Mackenzie puts her hand on the blade, lightly pushing it down. “I didn’t come here to fight you. I wanted to test your strength and endurance. We have a common enemy, and I was wondering if you’d help me deal with them.”

Jenos looks at her skeptically. “And just who is this common enemy?” “It is something that plagues the humans, and has for sometime been a pain in all our sides, the werewolves. I could use your help, but if you don’t want to, I understand.” Jenos shakes his head. “I’m not going to let you go there without any back-up, I’m in.” She smiles and thinks, “Good, he’ll be of use…and it sounds like he’s going to try to protect me. That’ll allow me to do what I want.” She says, “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow night, we leave for Germany then.” She starts to walk away, then jumps at him and kisses him. She places her finger on his lips to prevent him from speaking. “Tomorrow.”

She runs away and leaves Jenos shocked and alone with the bodies on the ground. He sighs and goes back in the window. He sets his sword back, notices the Berettas back in their case, and the roses in a vase with water on his dresser. Another message is written for him on his wall. It says, “Thank you for accepting the offer. Remember, tomorrow night. Mac”. He shakes his head and gets packed for the trip. After he’s finished packing, he undresses and goes to sleep. Mackenzie looks through his window at his sleeping form, slightly smiling at him resting peacefully. “Sleep well Jenos, you’ll need it later on.” She places her hand on the window then leaves to go hunting for food.

Chapter 7

Jenos gets up at 6 am and gets ready for work. He goes through his daily routine, and starts his work in the usual manner. However, at work, around midday, something unusual happened.

The bank president goes and sees him. His blue eyes have a funny glow to them, almost like he’s not really in there. “Jenos, I need to speak with you, privately.” Jenos shrugs and follows the president into his office. The president takes a seat behind his desk and rests his hands on his corpulent belly. “I have heard that you have been bringing in unauthorized weapons into the bank, I demand to know why.”

Jenos sets his jaw. “I brought them for my own personal protection. And it was a good thing to, I was attacked last night on my way home after work.” The president looks at him. “Really, so you don’t have them in the event that the bank would be held up?” “I highly doubt that it’d be robbed, but I’d use them if it came to that.”

The president leans back in his chair. “You have too much fire in you my boy. You need to relax. So, I’m going to authorize you to a paid vacation. Have you ever been to Germany?” Jenos shakes his head, understanding completely what is going on here.

In her study, Mackenzie is speaking and acting for the president. “That’s all right, you’ll enjoy it there, I’m sure.” She commands him to write the note down, that Jenos is on leave for two weeks in Germany, paid for by the Bank. “Well Jenos, I hope that you’ll come back refreshed and feeling more relaxed. Oh, and you are to meet me at 8 pm at your place. Don’t bring your weapons, we’ll acquire more efficient ones when we get there. You may have the rest of the day off.”

The president stands up and shakes Jenos’ hand. “Until you return my boy.” Jenos leaves the office and walks out of the bank and heads home. He makes himself a ham and cheese sandwich and eats it as he tries to relax.

At a quarter till 8, there is a knock on Jenos’ door. He opens it to find two detectives at his doorstep. “Hi, we came here because we have received multiple calls from your neighbors, saying you have a large weapons cache. We have to come in and inspect your house.” They start to walk into his house, but Jenos puts his arm in front of them. “You aren’t entering my house unless I see a warrant. I do have weapons, but not a cache of them.” The detectives look at each other. “Sir, we believe that you are a risk to the safety of America, you will step aside now.”

Jenos stands completely in the way. “No. I work as a guard in a bank, they would know whether or not I’m a threat. Now show me your warrant, or walk away, or I’m going to throw you off my property.” The detective on the right looks at the one on the left, and he hits Jenos in the face. They rush in and Jenos grabs them and throws them out of his house and into the street. “And stay the fuck away!” He slams his door and locks it.

Jenos goes to his room and chants a spell to conceal the location of the weapons cache and their activation buttons. He then makes one last check on his stuff. When he opens his suitcase, there is a letter in it. It read,

Jenos, there has been a slight change of plans, meet me at my place. The detectives were controlled by me, so they won’t remember what occurred. I just had to make sure that you hid your weapons well and that you’ll read this letter. For a two week trip, you sure are a light packer.

Mac.

P.S. You’d better hurry, you have till 8 before I leave, with or without you.

Jenos quickly made sure everything was in there, and that nothing was added. He zipped the suitcase up and tore out of the room. He stopped at the roses he moved to the kitchen and smelled them. Then, he ran out of his house, making sure he had locked the door.

At one minute till 8, Jenos shows up at Mackenzie’s complex. She is standing outside waiting for him with her own things packed. Somewhat out of breath, he bends down and rests with his hands on his knees. “Well, I’m here on time.” Mackenzie sneers at him. “When someone says they leave at 8, that usually means that you get there at least five minutes beforehand.”

Jenos glares at her. “Well, it would help if you told me some other way than to send some cops over fifteen minutes ago.” She smiles, “Whatever. We depart immediately.” She closes her eyes and bows her head. “Time and space, merge as one. Let us cross thy barriers. Away, to Germany, away. Where the wolves lay, shall they soon die. Let us cross, deny us not.” The area around the two begins to fade into black, then it fades into a forest. They have arrived in Germany at 3 am local time.

Mackenzie starts walking down to the road, with Jenos right behind her. “Do you know where you’re going?” She nods. “Yes, there is a Tavern and Inn not too far from here. We will wait there for my cousin to arrive and bring us to his place.” “Ah, so is your cousin…” “A Vampire? Yes he is. Come, we have quite a bit to walk still, and I want to be at my cousin’s by sunrise.” Jenos shakes his head and follows her. Neither is aware of the two yellow eyes that watch them from the shadows.