Showdown | Run This Town | Brooklyn

[Brooklyn]

Kara Garcia
18 years old

--

"Please, Chris, come on. I've been sitting down here, doing nothing, for months. I'm the only one who hasn't been allowed to help the others. Come ON." Kara and Christopher had had the same argument every week for nearly two years. And every time, it ended with the same outcome - Christopher would tell her no, she couldn't go into the open, and Kara would give up arguing and flop down near the entrance, and wait for everyone to return. Except, this time, it was different. Christopher looked like he was considering it.

"You're the youngest here, Kara, and by a good few years. And you're one of the only women left," Christopher argued, although for once he only sounded half-hearted. Kara forced herself to hide a smile.

"I'm eighteen. And I can do anything that any of you guys can."

Christopher didn't answer for a few seconds. Then he smiled. But Kara recognized this smile. And it wasn't a good one.

"Okay. It's nearly dark. You have two hours to go up, and get some food. Bring back enough, and you can go up more often. Fuck this up, and you'll be down here for a long time, kiddo. Deal?" Chris held out his hand, and without hesitating, Kara took it.
"Deal." What could have been easier? Kara would go up, grab some wood, maybe food if she was lucky, and be back before they knew it. And she'd prove Christopher wrong. He handed her a rucksack, and, after looking inside, Kara found a knife, and a cross. She frowned. "You do know the whole vampires-being-repelled-by-a-cross is a myth, don't you?" she said.

"Better safe than sorry."

"What's the knife for?"

"Just in case."

Kara didn't want to find out what 'just in case' meant. She shoved the knife in her pocket, and the cross she left behind. Chris didn't bother showing her where to go, and instead walked away, leaving Kara to it. She followed the tunnel until she came to a smaller one - the one leading up above ground. She got on her hands and knees and crawled until she came to the end. There was a ladder leading to a vent, which, in turn, opened up and led to the street. Kara fiddled with the locks on the air vent until it made a loud creaking noise, and pushed it open, pulling herself onto the street. It was almost pitch black already, and Kara felt uneasy. She hadn't been above ground in about 2 or 3 years, and back then, it was safe. Even at night. Now, nowhere was safe, no matter what time of day. Nonetheless, she didn't turn back. She started walking, until she came across a street full of shops. The majority of the shops were falling down, but they had to have something useful, right? Kara climbed through the window of one, scraping her leg along a piece of broken glass in the process.
"Ow, shit," she muttered. She ignored this, though. She couldn't go back because of a small cut! Christopher wouldn't let her hear the end of it, AND wouldn't let her back up again. No, she just had to be quick, grab whatever she found, and then go back. Before she got caught.

[ShowdownVD]

Damien Laurence
23 Years Old

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I grabbed his neck and threw him up against a wall, not letting go, but letting my nails dig into his skin instead.
"Beg. Now." I said in my hollow voice. The other man was clutching at his neck.
"Damien!" A voice rang out behind me. "Enough! He's learned his lesson."
I cursed under my breath and let go. He will pay, I thought to myself. I turned and walked out of the building.
"What has gotten into you, lately?" My friend, Will-- who also happened to be the owner of that last voice-- asked me as we walked. "You've been cranky for a couple weeks now. What's wrong?"
"I don't know man," I replied, leaning against a broken street light, "I just don't know."
"Come on, D, let's go hunting. We need sustinance and it will help relieve... whatever you have."
I smiled. He always knew how to cheer me up. I shrugged my trench coat off my shoulders and placed it in my "locker,"-- which was simply a blue mailbox on the street with a lock attached to it. I had drawn some special hexes to make sure that no other of my kind could force their way in, and the markings tended to scare off humans as well. Besides, who was going to come to Vampire territory simply to look into a mailbox?
I climbed the building next to me and took off in a dead sprint for the rooftops of the multi-story complexes. That was where humans usually liked to go for food, anyhow.
I stopped on a gargoyle overlooking a street and watched, letting the dark help my eyesight improve. Full sun-down was still a couple hours away, but the buildings provided shadows and so I was able to keep from being hurt in direct sunlight.
Ah, I thought, There we are...
I smiled slyly as I watched a manhole cover move and a girl crawl out. She moved fast, so fast, indeed, that she cut herself on some broken glass.
Oh, no. Poor thing. Maybe I should...
"Relieve her?" I spoke out loud to myself from my perch. Will had already moved to a different section of the city. I sat there in my black t-shirt and my dark jeans and my black alligator shoes, watching. She moved into a building and I jumped, landing silently on the ground.
Now, time for some dinner....
I smiled cruelly as I walked towards the storefront.

[Brooklyn]

The inside of the building smelt damp and musty. There was rubble everywhere, and the only thing in there left standing were a couple of tables. Although by the look of them, they weren't too stable. Kara tentatively touched one, and it nearly fell apart right there and then. She lifted the top off, and made a mental note to go and grab one of the others so they could help her bring it down. She did the same with the other, and moved both of the table tops into the back of the store. It was like she'd hit a jackpot - the back of the store was filled with wooden cupboards, and although most of them were falling apart, they could easily be used as wood for fires, or whatever else the others wanted it for. Kara started snapping the doors off of cupboards, snapping the pieces of wood until they were just small enough to fit inside her bag. Even after pulling the entire room apart, Kara didn't find any food, and gave up trying to look. The wood she found would be enough. She glanced outside. It was pitch black now. Kara climbed back over the pieces of rubble and back out of the window, being careful to kick out the piece of glass that had cut her earlier, and jumped onto the street.

For a second, she paused. She bent down, running a finger along the cut on her leg. It stung, but it wasn't bleeding anymore. Kara glanced up, and her blood ran cold. Someone was walking towards her. He was walking with this confidence that wasn't human. That's when it hit her - he WASN'T human. He had to be a vampire. Kara's heart nearly stopped. She fiddled around her pockets until her hand came over the knife, and she pulled it out, gripping it in her hand. Can I really fight him? she thought. With every second she was standing there frozen, he was getting closer. She had two choices - fight or flight. And she knew which one would she'd be better off with.

"Stay away from me!" Kara warned. And with that, she spun on her heel and ran.

[ShowdownVD]

"Fiesty. I like it when prey runs."
I sprinted off after her, relying on the extra leg strength I developed to gain on her quickly. I chuckled as I realized that it was now pitch black outside. Using all my strength, I quickly caught up and stepped around in front of the girl, causing her to hit me square in the chest. I smiled as I stared straight down at the human, not having even gave way to a stumble as she collided with my chest.
"Well, well, well. A little far from a human camp, aren't we? I have to thank you, though. I would never have guessed that I could travel though a sewer hole to get to your pathetic little lives."

[Brooklyn]

Kara had no idea where she was going. It was pitch black. And her knowledge of the other entrances to the tunnels were poor. She'd never left them before, so why would she have any knowledge? Her first priority was losing the vampire. She needed to get away from him somehow, before he killed her. She turned down one street, and then another, and another, and another. She had no idea where to go, and could only guess. For a second, she looked back over her shoulder, and she was filled with adrenaline and hope as she noticed that he wasn't behind her. Kara turned back just as she collided into someone. The one someone she didn't want to see. The vampire.

"Well, well, well. A little far from a human camp, aren't we? I have to thank you, though. I would never have guessed that I could travel though a sewer hole to get to your pathetic little lives."

He'd seen her leave the goddamn tunnels? So not only have I got myself caught, I've probably signed everyone's death warrants... Kara thought. She took one step backward, putting some distance between them. Kara still had the knife in her hand, and, warily, she held it up. Kara had never attacked someone in her life, it showed. It was more a pathetic threat than anything. "Leave them alone. Please. We're just trying to survive. There's only a few of us left-" Slight lie. Kara usually stayed in one part of the tunnel, and there were only a few people who ever bothered her. Normally Christopher, or Jordan, or Leon - who considered themselves the 'leaders' of the humans that were left. According to Christopher, although they lived in different parts, there were apparently 400 or so people in the tunnels. The tunnels stretched for miles in different directions, so Kara didn't find that too hard to believe. Like Kara, everyone had their own part of the tunnels. Kara had trailed off, and she looked back up to the vampire. She wasn't going to play the victim anymore. And, hey, at least if she killed or injured a vampire, she'd become a kind-of legend down in the tunnels. She took another step back, and held the knife so it was pointed at the vampire's neck.

"Come any closer to me, and I swear to God I'll kill you."

[ShowdownVD]

I chuckle as I hear the fear in her voice. Surely, she has never attacked anyone with that kind of threat. I smiled slyly and leaned down, letting the tip of the knife touch my neck as I placed my hands behind my back.

"Go on. Do it."

I wait, giving her a chance to 'slay' me.

[Brooklyn]

He'd leaned down, so his neck was touching the tip of Kara's knife. All she had to do was stick the stupid thing in his neck, and run like hell. Her hand was shaking, and it seemed like forever until she could finally react. She knew what she was going to do. She couldn't kill. It wasn't in Kara's nature, and doing what she was about to do made her feel guilty enough. She dropped her hand, as if she'd given up trying to kill him. She waited a couple of seconds, and looked up at him. Then, without any further hesitation, she plunged the knife into his leg and shoved him away from her as hard as possible. Kara's guess was that he'd (hopefully) be in too much pain to come after her for the time being, and she'd have a chance to go back, warn the others, and they could run. God knows where, but hopefully, Kara had bought them some time.

She turned back the way she came, trying to remember where exactly she'd just run from. She'd taken a left... then a right? No, she should have been at a row of shops.. no, this was the right way! She was almost back at the entrance! She knelt down where the manhole cover was and started lifting it up, her panicked state making her clumsy. It was just as she'd got a grip on the cover that she felt two hands grabbing her arms and pulling her back. Before Kara had a chance to react fully, she was being held close to someone else, with their arm locked around her stomach to stop her moving, and a hand over her mouth.
"What's a little thing like you doing out this late at night?"

[ShowdownVD]

I cursed as the knife went into my leg. I didnt expect her to be as fiesty as she was. It was definitely a surprise when she stabbed me. I. Hissed at the sting of the metal in flesh. Pulling it out, i tossed the knife to the side and licked my hand, rubbing my saliva on my leg. Vampires have healing properties in their spit that helps a wound heal without infection. I sighed as the wound then numbed up and i was able to run agan. I quickly headed back to where I first saw the girl and stumbled upon Will holding her from behind.
"Will," I stated calmly with a firm voice, "She's mine. Let her go."
"She got away," Will responded, "Fair game."

[Brooklyn]

Kara was twisting and turning in this new vampire's arms, trying to get out, but his grip on her was too strong. "Stop struggling before I break your neck and leave you at the side of the road," he threatened. That stopped her from moving. This was it. She was going to die that night, and she might as well accept it. She could get away from one vampire, but she doubted she'd get away from this one.

Wait, no, she couldn't even get away from one vampire. The vampire she'd stabbed earlier came running up to them. Yep. She was definitely dead.

"Will," the first one started. At least she knew who one of them was. "She's mine. Let her go."

"She got away, fair game."

Kara wriggled a tiny bit until her mouth was free, and uncovered by Will's hand. "If both of you just let me go, I promise you'll never have any human interference here again. Please," she pleaded. She sounded pathetic. A tiny, human girl, who couldn't even kill a creature that was trying to kill her in the first place! But this was worth a shot - and if that didn't work... Kara didn't even want to think about her next offer: give herself up to both of them to stop the others getting hurt.

[ShowdownVD]

Will ignored the statement by the human girl.
"Just admit it, Damien. You lost her, and I found her." Will was starting to get on my nerves now.
"Will," I added more sternness to my voice, "I said to fucking let her go!"
Will chuckled and jumped about thirty feet in the air and elt her go from the height. He smiled as he flew away.
I cursed, ran over and caught the human.
"Gotcha." I placed her on the ground. "Are you okay?"