Friggatriskaidekaphobia

[Ron Caliburn]

When I need help, believe me I'll ask for it. Right now I have a plan and it is moving forward. I just hope I'm ready when the plan is. I also hope the vampire is going to use the bait I think it is.

[Willie Long]

Not all of us are blessed with any form of rapid regeneration. You and I are lucky;

Blessed? Lucky? No, my friend...

That's aight, we can pretend he was talkin' to me.

[KonThaak]

Celeste... Nature, life, salvation, and damnation are ALL subjective. They are exactly what you make them out to be. I know, I know, this sounds like ivory-tower-grade crap, but hear me out...

I know exactly what you're thinking. I don't know how you feel, but I can imagine that much. I know there are a great many things you can no longer enjoy in life, and that there are a great many things about what you've become that you abhor...but you are capable of regenerating, it is incredibly difficult to kill you permanently (or, seemingly, at all), you have a vampire's resistance to quite a few different weapons, and you've helped a great number of innocents and fellow Society members. I'd say that makes a lot of people who can count their blessings that you are what you are, and not a human, a monster, or a corpse. In my book, that makes you blessed, and I can continue to hope and pray that, as Ron said in the other thread, someone finds a way to free you from the things that you abhor about yourself.

As a druid, I've spent a lot of time thinking about "nature"... What it is, what it means, and why so many people jump so quickly to use the terms "supernatural" and "unnatural" so damned much. From all I've learned about quantum physics, magic and psionic abilities all work well within the bounds of the laws of physics, so those who can wield energies fall under neither of those terms. From all I've learned about biology, and from all I've learned about wildlife, nature is, contrary to popular belief, neither nurturing nor caring; it is, in fact, harsh, brutal, and expects the strong to survive. In this way, I can understand why and how paranormal "monsters" fit into the realm of what truly is natural. It's nature's way of filling what could be a very important niche: To create a predator against mankind, so that we, as a race, do not stagnate, and die out completely.

Understand, I by no means condone the killing of the innocent masses, nor will I ever falter in my execution of those paranormal predators, when the times come that I must do so. I simply understand their place in the natural order, and know that they (and you, Celeste) are, despite popular opinion, "natural".

If you think vampires are horrible, you should check out spiders, mantises, and most "hive mind" insects (most specifically "killer" bees and African army ants)...and if you think humans have the capacity for nobility, look to most species of common American ants. There are better creatures than humans in the world, and there are worse creatures than vampires. They simply don't have the capacity to do as much harm to us, so they don't get as much notice.

[Celeste Darken]

Celeste... Nature, life, salvation, and damnation are ALL subjective. They are exactly what you make them out to be. I know, I know, this sounds like ivory-tower-grade crap, but hear me out...

I listened. The posts you and Willie sent have given me a lot to think about. . . .

Right now I have a plan and it is moving forward. I just hope I'm ready when the plan is. I also hope the vampire is going to use the bait I think he is.

And I just hope you're ready when it doesn't.

In spite of your defeat, my bet is still on you, Caliburn. Don't disappoint me.

[Bert_the_Turtle]

Were I Ron I'd trade in my standard loadout for some water guns. Remind me later to tell the story of the time I defeated a Vampire with a garden hose.

[Ron Caliburn]

Well I had a load of silver on the Friday in question, which does seem to affect vamps, the problem being I didn't get any of it stuck in the beast's heart. At the range I was firing, my shots were actually going through the body. Now if i had gotten a blast form the shotgun off, that would have been a different story, those pellets would have definitely stopped in the body and in such a big mass that the heart would definitely be within the wound cavity.

Bu I have a lot of other interesting anti-vampire tricks. It's amazing what you can do with some garlic oil, holy water, and access to police supplies at wholesale prices.

As for the timing, my big worry is Tuesday. Despite the rather horrible nature of the neighbourhood where his has been happening, there are still an awful lot of kids out for Hallowe'en. I know and the vampire knows that I can't let it have access to that type of smörgåsbord and I don't have the time to locate it's lair.

So it knows and I know that I have to be out on patrol looking for it at least a night before Hallowe'en and I may not be fully recovered by then.

So, in short, I have to give it a chance to finish me off to bring it out.

[Bert_the_Turtle]

True enough about the silver rounds. Its just that water hurts on contact and its cheaper and, that gives me an idea if you can't eliminate this thing by Halloween night.

I really wish you'd recruit some help from the boards. I'm waiting to hear if KonThaak wants my help, but if he doesn't you're welcome to it. There's a few other people around too.

[Shadowstalker]

Ron get some backup, my team is in the area PM me and I can have somebody there in a few hours.I have made same offer to KT though in his case that might be overkill, things are getting to weird at the moment whatever happens good luck.

[Ron Caliburn]

Naw, this thing is stalking me. If I show up with a team it won't engage until after they have gone home.

[Celeste Darken]

Naw, this thing is stalking me. If I show up with a team it won't engage until after they have gone home.

Or it may just try to kill them one by one.

[Shadowstalker]

Ron KT and others are worried with some cause. Celeste you may be right that it would try to take out anyone who shows up to help Ron, but speaking for my team and myself it may find that simpler said than done. Oh so you know Ron we are setting up to stay the duration so no problems there. We also know how to keep low profile as well as maybe turn the tables on the vamp and any allies it has.

[Ron Caliburn]

My big fear is that this thing will just melt away if it detects a team and I won't get to bag him before he does his own trick or treating.

I just wish I had the chance to track his lair, but do you have any idea how much territory a bat or a wolf can cover in one night? We're talking as much as a 100 mile radius here.

[Bert_the_Turtle]

Take a page from Sun Tzu's "The Art of War":

To paraphrase: "Control your enemy's actions by attacking that which he must defend." If you believe that he's been hired to kill you on someone's behalf, which seems like a logical place to start, if you can figure out who his employer is likely to be you should be able to draw him out by attacking the employer. Even better would be having someone else attack the employer on your behalf but that may not be possible.

[Ron Caliburn]

Trust me, I read a chapter of Sun Tsu every night before bed and a chapter of Clausewitz to get me going in the morning.

Regrettably the time constraints and the injuries I received kept me from doing the necessary legwork on tracking down either this beast's lair or the reasons he's here. My gut links it to that guy who's been up against KT, and it seems like another vampire was drummed up there, so the MO seems to fit.

Unfortunately, I seem to be limited to the holding action here, I have to deal with the minion before it causes a catastrophe. Those of you up with KT will have to with the source of the problem, since it's focus seems to be there.

Speaking of my condition, I still have a few tender spots, but the vision is back and the vertigo and headaches are gone. I won't be at 100% by Hallowe'en, but I'll have a better chance than I thought I would.

Though thinking about how many it must have fed on these last 2 weeks makes me want to break down and cry.

[Bert_the_Turtle]

"Trust me, I read a chapter of Sun Tsu every night..."

That doesn't surprise me in the least bit.

"Regretably the..."

True. And it does fit together.

"Unfortunately, I seem to be limited to the holding action here..."

I hope you're right and its based here where we are and you're dealing with the minion. If its the other way around we've seriously misallocated our resources. Although, from what we've seen that's exceedingly unlikely.

"Speaking of my condition..." That's good. I've been meaning to ask you about that.

"Though thinking about how many it ust have fed on these last 2 weeks makes e want to break down and cry."

I empathize. Unfortuneately we can't save all of the people all of the time. You narrowly avoided death and incarceration. If you had died then or gotten yourself killed by trying to be a hero how many hundreds if not thousands more people would die to the supernatural as a result of your premature death?

[Ron Caliburn]

A premature death is far from my mind tonight. Instead I'm focusing on the one that's long over due.

I've closed up my shop early and begun my preparations. When vampire hunting I like to make sure everything is better than perfect. This time, I know I'm not 100%, so I have to make sure my gear is able to compensate.

It's funny how much the little things matter in these cases. Heck, I'm even eating a half dozen cloves of raw garlic before I go out. By that point my breath should be lethal to anyone, not just vampires.

Anyway, my plan, such that it is, has been thoroughly gone over and is as close to fool proof as I think it can be. Unfortunately, it rests on a few big assumptions I made because I have so little other information to go on.

I just hope that I am able to think like a vampire.

This will be a long night, even if I succeed I probably won't be back until after sunrise, so don't wait up for news. If I can post, I'll post tomorrow or the day after.

If you don't hear form me in a couple of days, KT knows where I stash the extra key. Mr. Fluffer's food is in the top cupboard, left side of the sink. There are some letters next to my computer I'd like put in the mail.

That's enough for the self indulgence.

It's Devil's Night, and I have to go pay the Devil his due.

[KonThaak]

Good luck, Ron. Many prayers are going your way. May Creator and Gaia light your way on this earth, and protect you this night.

If our paths never cross again, for whatever reason, I am glad to have met and trained with you.

[Bert_the_Turtle]

Ron'll be fine. He's too ornery to die. I'd wager anything on him no matter what the circumstances were.

[Willie Long]

Good luck, Jack. Shoot straight.

[Ron Caliburn]

My strategy was simple. The vampire had told me it was sent to kill me, and I knew it wasn’t going to stop until it had. Both me and the vamp knew my place was too tight for him to get into so that meant he had to bring me out. With Hallowe’en just around the corner from our first confrontation, we also both knew what the perfect bait was – trick-or-treaters.

I wouldn’t have enough time to find the vampire’s lair, and my injuries made going out too early very dangerous, but the vampire would know that I have no choice but to go out before Hallowe’en to try to stop it before it could jump any kids.

This brings us to Devil’s Night. My best shot for finding the Vampire, because he would want me to find him.

Yes, it would be a trap. No, I wasn’t sure I would win, but if I didn’t try to stop it before those kids were out there . . . I couldn’t have lived with that either.

It was a little after midnight when I pulled up to the spot that I’d fought the vampire last. It was the only place we had in common and so the logical place it would leave a clue. I normally prefer to fight vampires after sunrise, but I had no choice this time.

I had the queasy feeling of being watched when I got out of the car, but I would have been more surprised if it wasn’t watching me.

Not that I could see him.

I started going over the scene of our last duel, looking for clues. It didn’t take me long; the vampire obviously thought I needed all the help I could get.

Among the graffiti on the wall, there in about 2 foot characters, in glistening red blood was a word.

"Hunter" I took a quick scan of the area to make sure there were no physical traps (not that I can check for the other kind) and approached the wall. I looked it over then looked around. I immediately saw it further up the road "Hunter.”

It was going to be a trail of breadcrumbs.

So I followed it. Up streets and down alleys. Over fences and through parks. Into a bar and out a school. It was a long, winding path. I took me just over three hours to complete the circuit, the entire time ready for something to jump out at me. I suspect it wanted me disoriented, frustrated and tired before our confrontation.

It was working.

I finally tracked the marks down a narrow alley into a parking lot among the high rises. The crumbling buildings closed in the parking lot on all sides, with the only way out being the alley I’d just come down. The parking lot had the usual urban detritus. Trash cans, dumpsters and a stripped out car sitting on blocks. All the ground floor windows were barred and the doors looked like they had been reinforced to keep the drug dealers out. There might be a few people living up in those buildings, but for all intents and purposes, there was nobody around except me.

At the far side of the parking space was the last clue “Hunter, here you die.”

“X marks the spot.” I said softly and warily crossed the parking lot.

No sooner am I at the far end of the lot, checking out the last bit of the wet, red graffiti than a thick and heavy mist rolls in. Within a few seconds visibility drops to less than 20 feet and clear vision is maybe 5 feet at most. I can no longer see my way out of the place and the vampire may be anywhere in there with me.

I’m trapped.

“Hunter.” A soft, dark voice drifts from the mist. “Oh Hunter. What’s wrong Hunter? Are you lost? Did you expect to find a monster to slay? Did you just walk into a TRAP?”

The last word echoes off the walls a few times before being sucked up by the mist. There’s no way to tell where he’s speaking from. He could be on top of building or right behind me.

I find a wall and put my back to it. I crouch and try to peer through the mist, shotgun ready.

His laughter echoes through the place. “You think that will help do you? I know exactly where you are.”

Flapping wings sound just over my head, I raise the shotgun but it’s gone before I can pull the trigger.

“I’ve slain over two dozen hunters in the last decade. You will simply be another trophy for me, Hunter.“

He almost materializes from the mist, smacking my shotgun away with one stroke then knocking me down with a backhand.

He disappears into the mist again and I get to my feet. I bring out my Blade.

“You’re mine Hunter. I can kill you anytime I want to. The one who sent me will enjoy hearing of your fear, agony and powerlessness as I slowly take you apart piece by piece.”

I close my eyes and listen carefully, as I hear the rush of feet I drop the object I had hidden in my left hand and grab my Blade with both hands. A split second before the vamp strikes there’s a loud POP and a spray of holy water and garlic oil coats us both. It screams and recoils.

I follow up quickly, and leap at him with my Blade. The creature is half blinded from my grenade, but still fights back managing to knock the Blade from my hands and launching a square shot to my mid-section.

But I caught his wrist an inch from my gut. Surprised, he tried to pull away, but wasn’t strong enough. “What was that about ‘powerlessness’, Jack?”

[Willie Long]

I caught his other wrist when he tried to grab me with his free hand and we clinched. Shit, no pulse. This the third or fourth dead guy this month. I avoided his eyes, just in case he knew any mind tricks. “I got three things to tell you, Jack. The first thing is, I ain’t the guy you’re looking for.”

“No matter,” he snarled, “I’ll find him again once I’ve killed you. If not, there are others with an interest in him, a few more of us and we coud start a fan club.

"Not that he's the real prize, just someone who annoyed the wrong person.”

“Just like you. The second thing is,” I said, deciding to go fishing, “your dark druid boss won’t live long enough to hear about it, anyway.”

He stopped struggling and demanded, “What do you mean?”

Bingo. Bert and the rest of us wondered if this had anything to do with the showdown in Chi-town, and what KT and Ron discovered. He didn’t try to deny it, tell me I’m full of shit or nothin’, so I knew I hit paydirt. Since he was being so helpful, I answered, “The Society arrived in Chicago last week and it’s there for his ass, Jack.”

He scoffed in disbelief, asking, “A society of hunters?”

Guess he hadn't heard of us. Anyway, I didn’t like the look on his face, so I changed it by spreading his arms wide and kneeing him in the chest. It felt good, so I did it again. After the second hit he slipped my hold and scrambled to put some space between us, but he was hurting. While he was recovering I peeled the ski-mask off my shaved head and shook off the dirty coat and toy armor that made up the rest of my disguise, then took a wooden stake out of a special bandolier, just to see what he'd do.

He had gotten to his feet and was as collected as ever. “It’s hardly fair for only one of us to have a weapon. I think I’ll use this ...Dart,” he said, reading the make of the stripped car as he picked it up. He zipped forward and swung at me like he was Mark Fuckin’ McGuire.

I dropped the stake and caught the car mid-swing, wincing from the impact when the metal slapped heavily against my gloves. There was a short tug-of-war before I yanked it out of his hands and tossed it to the side, “Gimme that! ‘Fore you hurt yourself.” He seemed at a loss, so I took the opportunity to close the distance and engage.

I launched some quick jabs and snap kicks, just to gauge his response. He’d learned respect, and was parrying hard. None of my strikes got through. In between he threw a lot of punches, most of which were sloppy enough I could weave and immediately counterpunch, but some were good enough I had to block first. He wasn't quite as strong as me, but was strong enough that I didn't want to be on the receiving end of what he had. He was fast, too. Probably the fastest I've fought against, living or dead.

That thought suddenly reminded me of Huntress. I hadn't heard from her since L.A.

We were locked in a stalemate for maybe a minute when he snatched up a garbage can and swung at my head. I got my arms up to block but the force was enough to send me face-first into the wall, and I bounced off it down to the street.

Dammit! That hurt.

I rolled to put some distance between us before flipping back to my feet. When I looked around, he’d escaped into the mist and I was alone. Fuck! I wiped at the blood on my face. I was relieved when I heard him calling me again.

He said, “Obviously you are a skilled combatant, black man. While I would enjoy taking this fight to it’s conclusion one-on-one, I have a job to do. Lay him low, my pets.”

Then I heard claws scratching along the pavement, and the squeaks of rats. Hundreds, thousands of rats, coming from every direction. “Fuck me.” Where was Mr. Fluffers when you need him?

Probably sleeping on the damn couch, recovering from his afternoon nap.

I regretted discarding the long coat. Eyes darting around the alley, I decided the fire escape was my best chance. I quick-stepped through the gathering swarm, trying to keep my balance when I’d step on the ever-increasing horde. I jumped up and grabbed hold of the wrought iron ladder, then took a moment to shake off the rats that had gotten on my legs. I dangled helplessly over a thickening sea of rats as the mist thinned.

“Oh, hunter, that’s so rude of you,” he cooed. “I promised them a feast. Be a good meal and come on down or I’ll skewer you with this,” he said, picking up the car from where it landed earlier.

“I can Dodge it,” I said, shrugging as best I could. “If not, it'll be the biggest shishkabob you've ever seen, motherfucker.”

He paused, car overhead, with a frown on his face. “You don’t seem concerned with the precariousness of your situation, Mr. Kebab.”

“And you 'don’t seem' to listen, Jack. I said I had three things to tell you. The third thing was that I didn’t spring your trap. You sprang ours.”

[Ron Caliburn]

The vampire wailed in agony when my stake slammed into its back. The rats likewise screamed and immediately fled back into the thick mist.

The vampire staggered, dropping the car but not going down. . . . I’d missed the heart.

Quickly I cycled the action on my shotgun and slid another silver stake into the muzzle.

Willie, freed from the rats, dropped down from the ladder and wrapped the beast in some kind of hold which rapidly transitioned into a devastating slam that I swear cracked pavement. It kept the vampire stunned long enough for me to step closer and fire my second stake point blank. Blood sprayed from the wound and the monsters mouth and nose and it toppled backwards, finally defeated.

The mist began clearing immediately so I turned off my goggles and lifted them up to my head.

"Good timing, yo. My arms were getting tired." Willie found my Blade and handed it back to me. "What next, chop off his head?"

"No. I’ve tried that before. It doesn’t work. All that happens is a new body grows from the head.”

“Really? Worked in Dracula.”

“C’mon, everybody knows that Bram Stoker and Anne Rice are plants to make vampires cool enough to fit into our culture and hide their real weaknesses.” I slid my Blade away.

"If you say so."

“So, Willie, how much of that blood is yours?” Willie’s outfit was soaked in blood.

“More than I’d like.” He replied. "Gimme a minute, Jack. I’ll be straight."

“Good” I said, “’cause in a minute I’m going to need your help getting this thing. . .” I kicked the corpse, but not too hard, I didn’t want to knock the stake loose. “. . . up there.”

I pointed up to the top of the building.

The vampire had chosen a great place for the fight (like I knew it would). He could control access easily, and the buildings were high enough and close enough together, that even at noon, the sun would not reach down to the ground in the parking lot.

I pulled out a body bag from my pack and unfolded it. I’d sewn holy symbol into it at strategic locations and my friendly priest had blessed it just the day before. Willie and I rolled the vampire inside the bag and zipped it up. Then Willie, moving easier all the time and reminding me of my still sore ribs, leapt up and again grabbed one of the fire escape ladders and we began the 30 story climb to the roof.

I do enjoy working with Willie; we teamed up in LA last October. I guess this is turning into an annual occurrence, eh?

I must say I was rather proud of myself for his one. Though I’m sorry I had to deceive you all so much – I couldn’t tell if there was someone on the boards reading what was going on who was helping the vampire. Some of you even suggested to me that some others of you were in league with this thing, or trying to get me killed . . .

Fortunately that wasn’t the case.

The vampire wasn’t prepared for Willie, but it was a skilled and dangerous opponent, which is why, even though I wasn’t 100% still, I had to tag along. But I couldn’t get close enough to be detected; otherwise the whole plan was ruined.

Equally fortunate that I own a police equipment shop, so setting up Willie with a wire and a tracking device wasn’t hard at all. I stayed a good distance away and listened for my cues. The “X marks the spot” told me he was where the vampire had prepared the ambush. The pop of my anti-vampire grenade was to let me know the fight had started.

I admit I hadn’t expected the mist, or the rats (I did expect more dogs though) but fortunately I had my custom goggles on hand to let me see through the mist well enough to fire a stake into the sucker from about 50 feet. Too bad I missed the heart by about 2 inches, but Willie was able to capitalize.

In my opinion, the hardest thing was getting Willie a convincing disguise. I had to get an oversize version of my wardrobe and wear it almost non stop for a week so it would smell like me. I even had to lend Willie my Blade to complete the illusion.

Oh and before you ask how I could fire a stake out of a shotgun, I use special blank cartridges and custom machined silver stakes. I muzzle load the stake and it launches at the right velocity to go in and stay in. Pop out fins at the back of the stake keep it straight in the air and prevent it from passing through the vampire completely.

Anyway, Willie and me hauled that sucker up to the top of one of the buildings and then took it out of the body bag. We leaned it up on the East face of a little shack on top of the building and used a few more stakes to hold it in place.

BTW, if you ever need to get a deck built, just get Willie to come help you, the man is his own hammer.

I bought out a thermos of hot coffee and some sandwiches and we waited for the sun to rise. We talked about what was going on up in Chi-Town and hoped we could get there in time to help out.

It was a rather pretty sunrise, but the best show was on the roof. I never get tired of watching that happen.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Hallowe’en.

[Bert_the_Turtle]

Very well done. Yeah, in my limited experience its easier to just leave them staked out for sunrise. But if you have to you can decapitate them and burn the head and body in seperate fires. And to be safe after that I'd scatter the ashes but from what I've read it isn't necessary.

[KonThaak]

Don't forget to fill the skull with garlic first, and yeah, spreading the ashes isn't absolutely necessary if you make sure the fires don't touch at all, and the ashes don't come into contact until they're cold...but if you want to make totally and absolutely sure, then damned straight, spread the ashes.

I had a really strong hunch that Willie was headed in that direction...and I'm ecstatic to hear you're both okay. ^_^

[Ron Caliburn]

Yeah I crammed a clove or two in it's maw before I tossed him in the bag.

[Willie Long]

I do enjoy working with Willie; we teamed up in LA last October. I guess this is turning into an annual occurrence, eh?

I feel the same way. Anytime Ron needs backup I'm there. Next flight.

I didn't realize it was a year, though. Where does the time go. McVay dropped me a line last week to let me know he wasn't dead. Have you heard from any of the others?

I bought out a thermos of hot coffee and some sandwiches and we waited for the sun to rise. We talked about what was going on up in Chi-Town and hoped we could get there in time to help out.

I kept thinking about the horrible timing. Right after our plans were laid, KT sends an S.O.S. At least my posse and I held the fort 'till the Society arrived.

I hated having to keep them in the dark. All of us were concerned about you tryin' to solo the vampire at less than 100%.

I’m sure Willie is there by now....

Naw, Jack. After my posse and I arrived and got set up, I left them to handle surveillance while I drove to your city. We took care of business, then I grabbed a quick nap and drove back to my posse's OP. We're still out here waitin' for this guy.

“...there are others with an interest in (Ron), a few more of us and we coud start a fan club.”

This bothers me, yo. I don't like this at all.

I'm sure this is what the sucker said, 'cause we went over the tapes when we finished on the roof. KT thought the ambush at Ron's place was set up by the dark druid, but this makes it sound as though Ron's on someone else's radar, too.

[Bert_the_Turtle]

I wouldn't be surprised if he were. There aren't a lot of us that hunt the supernatural and few are as successful at it as Ron is.

[Ron Caliburn]

I usually don't let things get away, so I'm not sure who or what it could be.

[Bert_the_Turtle]

Well, let's assume we're dealing with some kind of intelligent being.

Now let's assume that it has sent agents into your territory.

Let's also assume that these agents vanished.

If I were it, I would want to know what was going on.

So while you may have eliminated everything you've hunted nothing says that some of those creatures weren't under surveilance.

[Ron Caliburn]

I've dealt with a few werewolves lately, but they don't seem organized beyond the pack level.

Most of the stuff I've dealt with in the last few years has been unintelligent, unless you count Ecclesia and the thing I busted up with Koyla last year..

There's also the gang that got PSC27.

I think that's about it for loose ends.