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"Citadel On A Hill" ICC
lazy_lupin3
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
John
Snow was coming down hard and thick as the truck rounded another corner, a pillar of smoke rose over the city. This was the fourth fire in as many weeks and john knew something was up. they were getting more complicated, angry in a way most fires aren't. Not many people understand that fire can be complicated. Most of the public sees firefighting as a one step process“ put the white stuff on the red stuff” but there is more to it than that. Fire lives, and handling one is like trying to tame and tiger after it has already eaten you alive.
a voice cracked over the radio “We have visual…Jesus Christ,” A concussive blast blew out three windows on the second floor of the apartment building and the truck jounced as the driver swerved to avoid the debris before stopping. “The boys have already cordoned off the whole block and all but seven of the building tenants are accounted for” there was another blast fallowed by shouting and radio chatter.
A voice erupted of the radio “Fuck! *static * …Too hot captain we cant make entry” John saw the man on the com stumbling away from the blaze, arm around his fire buddy and dragging some ruined equipment.
“It’s a bad one kid” john gave the Rooky a fatherly look and handed him a mask. He was not much older than nineteen, green at the gills. That was good, better that than chomping at he bit. “ Do what we trained you to do and you got nothing to worry about son” Hhe kid nodded and put on the mask. John stepped out onto the trucks running board, tucked his hair into a brave’s ponytail, slipped on his mask and hefted a fire axe from its slot on the door. "stick close and do your job. Its time to earn your pay kid”
Snow was coming down hard and thick as the truck rounded another corner, a pillar of smoke rose over the city. This was the fourth fire in as many weeks and john knew something was up. they were getting more complicated, angry in a way most fires aren't. Not many people understand that fire can be complicated. Most of the public sees firefighting as a one step process“ put the white stuff on the red stuff” but there is more to it than that. Fire lives, and handling one is like trying to tame and tiger after it has already eaten you alive.
a voice cracked over the radio “We have visual…Jesus Christ,” A concussive blast blew out three windows on the second floor of the apartment building and the truck jounced as the driver swerved to avoid the debris before stopping. “The boys have already cordoned off the whole block and all but seven of the building tenants are accounted for” there was another blast fallowed by shouting and radio chatter.
A voice erupted of the radio “Fuck! *static * …Too hot captain we cant make entry” John saw the man on the com stumbling away from the blaze, arm around his fire buddy and dragging some ruined equipment.
“It’s a bad one kid” john gave the Rooky a fatherly look and handed him a mask. He was not much older than nineteen, green at the gills. That was good, better that than chomping at he bit. “ Do what we trained you to do and you got nothing to worry about son” Hhe kid nodded and put on the mask. John stepped out onto the trucks running board, tucked his hair into a brave’s ponytail, slipped on his mask and hefted a fire axe from its slot on the door. "stick close and do your job. Its time to earn your pay kid”
lazy_lupin3 on
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Acting without thought, John drew of the winter wind. Borrowing its power and providing a counterpoint to the song made by the roaring fire, this would provide him some protection from the fire's full fury.
"Come on rook. Who wants to live forever." John grinned, his face mostly covered by the firefighting mask.
He hefted the axe and hustled across to the burning building. "Do we have any lead on the seven tenants?" he said over the radio.
"I'll take lead, rook." The big man said as he barreled into the burning apartment building.
"Damn...she's always late" Alice hissed to herself as she stood shivering next to her car. " She told me 9:30 whats keeping that girl?" being asked to meet her twin in some godforsaken rust bucket corner of town was nothing new to her, what was new was having to do it in the cold and wet with very very little notice. Fiona had called an hour before from a cell phone, she'd been out of breath and clearly running. Her Fiona had a lead on...something and needed her sisters help tracking whatever it was she had gotten a snoot of down. Naturally the ragamuffin hadn't the time or inclination for details so Alice came prepared for a war. The streets were dead. The snow was starting to come down thick and heavy and the wind was picking up. She reached into her car, a 70s mini with a cracked window and no heat, and grabbed a thermos of tea. "loaded for war indeed" she thought and smiled a little despite the cold.
There was a thump and the little Mini bobbed on the it shocks behind her. Alice jumped a bit and burned her lip on her tea. "For FUCK SAKES!" Alice whipped around and slapped and her sister thigh. Leaping from the fire Escape twenty feet above had left Fiona no wore for ware, sat cat catlike on the hood of the car grinning fiercely, her hair whipped into a wild mane by the wind.
"come on we almost have em"
"who's them?
"Red court I think, been running them down all day.
"wheres your car Fi?
Fiona slid in to the passager seat and popped the driver door for her sister. "in the bay, long story, had to be done, nothing for it."
Alice blinked at her sister " so you've been running on foot?"
"obviously, come on get in" a car pulled around the corner and slowed. "oh damn, down down!" the sisters hid themselves as best they could in the diminutive car a. It passed without noticing the two red heads. "fallow them!"
"I said come on you piece of shit," I said sweetly, adding a smack to the dashboard. It seemed to be the motivation it needed--on the third twist the alternator finally kicked and the little car lurched forward.
I watched the other vehicle, a black unadorned Highland Guardian, make its way down Brigham road with very deliberate ease and stop at a red light. I eyed my twin askance, noticing the dark circles living under her eyes. The ragged mess of tangled red hair with what appeared to be flakes of blood near her hair line. I wondered if it was hers or someone else's.
"Why are you chasing down vampires anyway? Are you sure this isn't some kind of trap? Sun and moon, Fi, you can't just call me up and expect me to--"
"Just drive Alice, we don't have time for twenty questions. We'll lose them!"
"Lose who--"
"Drive!"
I growled and pulled the mini into the flow of traffic. It was getting late and there weren't many cars still out on the road, but there were enough to keep us from sticking out as obvious pursuers. At least that's what I hoped; chances are if they were indeed Reds they were not only well aware of us but also counting on us following them right into whatever little trap they had planned.
Whoever they were they didn't make any indication we had been spotted and the drive settled down into something that was if not comfortable, at least familiar. I could feel my sister's eyes on me in the dark silence and I finally met her gaze. We had soul gazed a long time ago so there was no danger there, but I tried not to make it a habit to meet Fiona's gaze. We share the same eyes, our mother's, but where mine are bright summer sky blue, warm and open, my sister's are sharp and piercing like chipped winter ice. Fi didn't scare me but at times she had a predatory look about her, lean and fierce.
"So," I said, bringing my eyes back to the road, to the black sedan up ahead (now making a left turn), "how's things? Found a boyfriend yet?"
"They're good. Don't fall too far behind but don't get too close."
"Yes, thanks mom, as if I've never tailed a car before. You didn't answer my question." Fiona just rolled her eyes.
"I don't see why my romantic life is suddenly a topic of discussion. Let's try and keep it business, aye?"
I turned my head at that, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, you want to keep it professional then? Okay, I'll charge you the standard consultation rate. Sixty dollars an hour plus expenses starting from when you called."
"Whatever, put it on my tab."
"Pff, might as well pay me in Monopoly money. At least with that I could buy Boardwalk."
That drew a laugh from her. I liked her laugh--it was like a bell chime, crisp and light. It made her seem less frightening. I let the moment sink in a little bit before I spoke again, quietly. "Can you tell me anything about what I'm getting myself into, at least?"
"Like I said, I've been hounding them all day. Stalking them. Dollars to doughnuts they're vamps. Part of Javier's crew."
"The Little Prince?"
"One and the same."
"Damn," I said, my eyes now boring a hole into the back window of the black Guardian up ahead. That did make things complicated. "What do you have on them?"
We wizards are sensitive to energies that most people never pick up on--magic only being one of them. We can pick up on emotions in people, places and things if we look hard enough. Or if they're strong enough. I'm no slouch when it comes to my Power and Fiona isn't exactly a bastion of self-control; the rage roiling off of her made the car feel suddenly hot and stifling. I thought I caught a taste of blood on the back of my tongue. "Saw them take a girl. Couldn't have been more than sixteen. Right off the street, barely even stopped. Right into the car. No one else caught it, it happened so fast," she said, the anger cresting. I didn't want to contemplate what a bunch of Red Court thugs would have in store for a sixteen year old kid.
"I see," I said, my mouth dry all of a sudden. That explained why the sudden call and the rush--she didn't want to lose them, vampires or not, Javier's people or not. "Okay then. What's our game plan when we get to the spider's lair?"
Fiona shrugged and leaned back, closing her eyes. She exhaled. "That's what I brought you for. Cooler heads and all that. Think up something clever and if the plan A doesn't work, plan B is snicker-snack." She made a swooshing motion with her gauntleted left arm.
"Right then, one clever plan coming up."
Fifteen minutes later we drove by a ramshackle apartment building five stories high. I had seen the vamps' vehicle pull into the back parking lot, disappearing behind the building proper, and so I drove a ways down the street and into the parking lot of a 7-11. I stepped out into the winter air, my breath clouding immediately, and popped the trunk. There wasn't much in it--an emergency kit for roadside repairs, a set of jumper cables, and a small backpack. I opened the backpack and retrieved a set of large leather gloves and a long titanium rod. Both items were ornamented with symbols and glyphs that would work to serve as a focus for magical energies channeled through them. I also pulled out a small handgun, one of those snub-nosed revolvers you used to see on the cop drama shows in the 80s and 90s. I retrieved the holster that went with it and clipped it to the back of my belt.
"Okay, right, brilliant plan. Uh," I said, looking up at the building. It was shabby, looked like something that had been put up in the late seventies or early eighties. Perfect place for a gang hideout, really--inconspicuous and out of the way, nestled in between two other buildings just like it. I chewed my lower lip a bit and made a call. I moved around the side of the building into the back parking lot I had seen the car go into, dipping into the shadows. My heart began to beat a little faster as we approached the Guardian. I whispered a word--"Hexus"--and felt the magic slide forward into the locking mechanism. I heard it kachunk and thanked my lucky stars that for once it worked as intended. "Keep an eye out," I whispered to Fiona before opening the driver door and slipping in.
The first thing I did was open the glove box. Bongs and used hypodermics fell out onto the floor. "Gross," I mumbled, pushing more of them out of the glove box to get at whatever might be behind the drug detritus. It must have been my lucky night--a keychain with a spare apartment key, number identified as 301, sat wedged in the very back of the compartment. I grabbed it and went to put all the junk back but decided against it. The notion of getting the police involved flickered very briefly through my mind but I dismissed it out of hand. If they were Javier's getting the police involved would only end with a very dead teenager and possibly dead officers besides. No thanks.
"I know where they are. If we get the drop on them we should be able to take them out no muss no fuss," I said, projecting a little confidence into my voice.
And that's how, forty-five minutes later, we ended up on the roof of a building on fire with an unconscious sixteen year old girl cradled in Fiona's arms...
I didn't have my sword with me, a handcrafted, five-and-a-half-foot, antique beauty of a traditional scottish claymore. But I did have a nice big flaying knife I ordered off the home shopping network. And more importantly, I had the gauntlet. A magical piece of armor that increased the wearer's martial prowess significantly. Worn by Robert the Bruce himself! Those two things in hand and my twin at my side, I was confident that we could handle anything a couple of reds could throw at us.
Kicking in a door is kinda hard if you don't know what you're doing. You can't just take a flying leap at it, and slamming your shoulder into it is just gonna hurt your shoulder. But there was a technique I'd learnt from a free-runner to both kick open a door and keep your momentum going, straight into a run. Or another kick if you prefer. Catches people off-guard nearly every time, even when they think they're ready for you. A run down place like this was hardly going to have a sturdy door in the first place, and the frame was mostly plywood. Blew the latch right out. I was halfway across the room in a second and Alice was in the doorway a moment later, bristling with readied energy. She seemed especially mad for some reason. Oh, yeah, maybe she had wanted to sneak in...
Six reds were standing around, and I stuck two of 'em in their bellies and throats before the others even turned around. Bunch of newbloods these ones, little better than ghouls. Alice fried another three a moment later with some kind of red lightning spell that arced all between them. The one left standing seemed to be at least a little on the ball, because he was pulling the girl by her ponytail up a flight of stairs. Poor thing was trying to shriek around the makeshift gag they'd put on her, all but out of her mind with panic.
I didn't know what they wanted with her, and I didn't give a good goddamn. It couldn't be anything good, and I was in a position to end it.
Unfortunately neither one of us had noticed at the time that Alice's little light show, effective though it was, had shorted out one of the already faulty electrical sockets and started a fire. Magic tends to wreck all kinds of technology. Like that 'hexus' spell she used on the car, only much more unintentional, and all over the place. Growing up, moody wizards had been the end of more than one of my gadgets. I gave up long ago on ever owning a cellphone.
I charged after the girl and the vampire, taking the stairs two at a time, and Alice was right there behind me as fast as her little arse could manage (I keep trying to get her to come on runs with me for just this sort of situation, but she won't have it). The damn inhuman thing was faster than us though, even carrying a person, and managed to make it up to the next floor a few seconds ahead. Where several more of the beasties were waiting for us. I ground my teeth in frustration. Obstacles, the lot of them, and every one getting in the way of me and that girl's well being.
"Not today." I thought, "Not while I draw breath."
In the few seconds I had to assess things, I saw that there were two more of the bat-like Red Court vamps in the hall coming out of a previously knocked-down wall. Two human-looking people, a man and a woman, but I couldn't rule out that they weren't more vamps wearing flesh-masks. Even if they weren't though, they'd probably try to stop me. And three ghouls, frequent servants of the Red Court, coming out of 301 to cover the soon-to-be-dead bastard dragging the girl. Trying to put distance and bodies between me and it. Almost a smart move.
Alice and I had fought our way through the ghouls and one of the bats, before the one we were chasing got the smart idea to try and use the girl as a hostage. As if we hadn't been expecting it to do exactly that. Alice just discreetly unscrewed a water-bottle she'd had attached to her belt and dropped it as we started to feign surrender. Sunlight in a bottle, almost like a flash-bang without the bang. It's exactly that kind of cleverness I keep her around for. It filled the room like it was coming from every direction at once, and flash-fried the rest of the bastards. The two human-looking ones must've been in flesh-masks after all, 'cause they ran down the stairs screaming like pigs and looking like bacon.
That they started screaming even louder than before was what tipped us off to the fire coming up the stairs. Going back down the way we came wasn't gonna be an option. There wasn't a sprinkler system to be busted, and even if Alice could put out the fire on the stairs, it wouldn't get us out the door. So I grabbed the girl, poor little thing had passed out at some point in all the chaos, and got her bindings off. We climbed our way to the roof after that, hoping we could make it to another building that wasn't about to be engulfed in an inferno.
But it turned out the rescuers were getting rescued this time.