Shimmering golden eyes scanned Gabriel's face for all the information they could gather, flicking back and forth between his luminescent red eyes with urgent concern. Mithias blinked in frustration, sensing something just on the edge of his consciousness, just out of reach of recognition. The obvious question arose; had his father done something to him, or was Gabriel experiencing the same disturbance? Mithias couldn't be certain, yet he looked to his maker for aid.

The elder vampire's words and sad smile stopped everything. Gabriel himself looked unsettled, which was of course, unsettling. Mithias had never seen this side of him before. It was too human... 'death' to something that was born to be immortal and invulnerable, like the desecration of a sacred alter. It wasn't meant to be. Ones such as he should live forever. It left Mithias stunned with questions and a growing fear that something terrible was going to happen.... or did happen.

For a brief instant, gone was the facade of unbreakable confidence and eternal amusement, and the demifiend spoke truly to him, man to man, soul to soul. The vulnerability and honesty caught Mithias off guard. Having focused his entire attention to Gabriel, listening intently, Mithias had inadvertently opened himself up for psychic attack. For an instant, a conduit opened between them, a crack, and like an expert sniper, Gabriel shot through.

Mithias gasped as he felt his mind invaded, a familiar force, one that did not seem violent or destructive, but an invader nonethelss, which clearly intended to subvert his will. "No!" He tried to resist, closing his eyes and tearing away, but it was too late. Gabriel had gotten to him, and he knew it. Even though he didn't know why they had fought or what Gabriel had changed, he knew he had lost. So, even after almost 800 years, he still couldn't fully protect himself. It was a disappointment, but not nearly so much as the fact that Gabriel felt he had to do something like this. Why couldn't they work together? What happened?

"... what happened?" Mithias staggered briefly, trying to put together the last several moments. Kilo Point, the smuggled weapons, the anticipated attack... Gabriel, Matt's attack, the gun going off, cards... ignorance is bliss. Mithias turned. Everyone around him was experiencing a time freeze, which he recognized. "Father?" He said quietly to himself and ran partway to the edge of the camp where said vampire was leaving. Mithias stopped, forcing his feet to stay put on the ground where he placed them, ignoring their pleas to persue. whatever Gabriel had said to Matt, Mithias couldn't recall it, yet he felt that more was being kept from his memory by his father. He had been spared something that seemed to be tormenting the oldblood. Surely that couldn't be possible.

Mithias watched with his gifted sight as the figure he had not seen in centuries once again returned to being nothing more than legend. The wind cast down the tops of the blades of grass in a wave in front of him. He sighed, and regardless of whether or not he had been deemed worthy of trust, a spark of will flared in his eyes. "Whatever burden you bear, ancient one, I'm not going to let you face it alone."

Still determined to get the the bottom of this mystery, Mithias realized that hunting down Gabriel would have to wait. He walked back to Matt and the others who seemed to return to normal perception as he returned to his former place. Gunfire sounded in the distance.

"He is right, the voices and memories keep us from moving on..."

This man, this person who had been completely driven insane, presumably by Gabriel's aura, now crawled before Mithias. The vampire's brow furrowed in a painful expression as the man pleaded for death as an escape from his suffering. Mithias' lips parted as if he were going to speak. Yes, he was a monster, and what was justice without mercy? Morality struck him like a lance from heaven, and he gritted his teeth. This human did not deserve to die, yet he wanted to more than anything, or so it seemed. It wasn't for fear of the Contract that Mithias shied from granting his request, but something about Sten tugged on his heightened empathy. He couldn't let him suffer, but he couldn't let him die.

Explosions echoed through the air.

Mithais looked in Sten's eyes and felt sadness mixed with anger. Wasn't there enough suffering in the world? He hated that there were vampires, like his father, who could do this kind of thing and feel nothing. Wasn't there enough wicked blood in the world to drink that innocents could be spared? And yet there would always be casualties. There would always be new lives that needed to learn old lessons.

Without a word, and without really fully understanding what he was doing or why it would help, Mithias pulled Sten to his feet and embraced him. There was no right or wrong answer to this dilemma. There was only hope or no hope. He held the anguished human, inexplicably comforting him. To Sten, fear and pain became less important, slowly becoming replaced with peace. Mithias closed his eyes, simply feeling like he didn't want to lose another family member. He held him, until the quaking laughter and tears receded. "The voices and memories, are why we keep moving on."

Angela slowed down as the car in front of her continued through a red light and was T-boned in the intersection. "Oh shit!" She exclaimed. "What the hell was that explosion?" Clearly, it was an explosion, and enough to distract a lot of humans in the local streets. Looking uphill out her windshield, she saw the smoke. "Oh my God, Bouwe. Outside? I'm not sure we should be in town tonight. Let me get us out of here." She spun the wheel and maneuvered around the car-chaos. Nobody was hurt, at least not here. "I've seen enough on tv to know this could be more than some kind of accident. That's the SOLDIER base up there, so we shouldn't go anywhere near it... Oh no. What is this a traffic jam??" The woman looked at him, her brown eyes sincerely worried. "I don't like being stuck this close to those explosions, and I think I hears shots being fired. Bouwe... I kinda wish you were still a vampire."

Sten slowly fell silent. He stood there unable to move.
The vampire was cold. He didn't know what to do.
Finally he decided that there was nothing he could do, and somehow found comfort in that.
As he cleared his mind the voices calmed down and became clearer.
Until only a single voice echoed trough his head.

"̢̀͡ Sorry "̸̶̴͠

"Yeah, I'll miss out on some perks.."
Bouwe looked at the vehicular chaos on the streets.
"But I still have over a hundred years of experience, that's got to count for something.
He stepped out of the car and walked to the side of the street. Casually he took a little pin from his pocket and jammed it in the lock of a door.
"When you combine a century of tricks with some human ingenuity.."
Click.
The lock surrendered and Bouwe gently pushed the door open.
"Let's hide here for now then."

Angela swung the car door open and got out of the car, but not before she had grabbed her purse and took a small handgun out of the glovebox. Anxiously, she followed her gentleman friend, and left her 2007 Saab behind. Frequently, she peeked at the building tops behind them for any new smoke or lights. "Brilliant, Bouwe!" She exclaimed softly as he picked a lock. His experience certainly was useful. Perhaps half of a vampire's power simply was knowledge.

Keeping close, she followed behind him. "What is this place? Does someone live here? You know we can't just go trespassing in the South. Someone could shoot us..." It was dark, and Bouwe was in front of her, impairing her view of the room they entered. It sounded quiet. Was this a basement? A warehouse? Either way, stone walls were fairly protective. Angela had to stop to calm herself. "Bouwe..." She wanted his attention, to see his confidence. "I'm kind of scared."

Finally after some time the convoy was about to arrive at Kilo point, but something felt wrong. As the convoy entered Kilo point it imediately split up to assist Soldier's men. Junko's truck however, headed directly to Soldier's HQ. As Junko's truck stopped, she was the first one who grabbed her equipement and jumped off. At first she looked around for a short moment to get an impression of the current status. A lot of Soldiers were in a hurry, Junko wondered if SOLDIER is being attacked, but if they were, why did her truck drive to the HQ then? Junko shook her head, she had to find the commander. So she went over to a men who looked like an Officer and saluted "Shirakawa, first class sniper. I am looking for the commander!".

Bouwe traced the walls trying to find a lightswitch in the dark.
"I've almost forgotten how dark the nights can get without my bloodseeker eyes." His joke softly echoed trough the black abyss around them.
With the pale guiding light of a mobile phone he finally found a metal rack holding candles and he lit one.
The small speck of warm light pierced trough the darkness and lit up just enough to reveal the floor and a pillar with a stone water basin on it.
Just enough to guess why the roof was too far up too see, to guess why the place was so cold and why their voices echoed from afar.

They had snuck into the Kilo Point Parish's back entrance.
"Breaking and entering in the house of god. The one sin I didn't have on my vampire consciousness." Bouwe kept up the lighthearted banter, but in manner of speaking you could hear a slight trace shock and fear.
"At least we'll be somewhat safe here. Many of us- I mean, them. Many of them still respect religious buildings as an area of sanctuary for humans."
Bouwe lit a few other candles, then slipped some money into the donation box and walked over to the basin of holy water to draw a cross.
He sighed of relief when the water did nothing that water wouldn't normally do. Somewhere he still expected it to burn like acid.
He seemed remarkable calmer after this.
"So what's our plan?"

Luitenant Katzenjammer paced the SOLDIER headquarters in a fit of distress.
Not in years had the place been in such dispensary and disorder.
He was quite displeased.

Numerous reports of several incidents all over town had reached headquarters and they had gone in high alert.
Sadly, since Matt was out in the field, that meant utter pandemonium.
At least, by the Luitenant's standards.

A truck came driving into the grounds and the Luitenant hailed it down with the report in his hand.
With a forceful stride he got up to the back of the truck and opened it to address the troops inside.
He looked at Milo with a stern look on his face, one which commanded authority due to his unscrupulously groomed mustache.
"Sargeant, this is a report of sightings of groups of vampires."
He unfolded a map showing downtown Kilo Point. On it were symbols and arrows.
"There's been attacks here, here and here. We suspect a larger scale attack on the center of town here soon.
You are to clear the area and secure downtown. If there is indeed a larger offensive call in for reinforcement."

His eye caught the sniper rifle in Junko's arms and turned to Junko strict and swift.
"And you young lady go here and set up a sniper's nest in the church bell tower."

akje said
With a forceful stride he got up to the back of the truck and opened it to address the troops inside.He looked at Milo with a stern look on his face, one which commanded authority due to his unscrupulously groomed mustache."Sargeant, this is a report of sightings of groups of vampires."He unfolded a map showing downtown Kilo Point. On it were symbols and arrows."There's been attacks here, here and here. We suspect a larger scale attack on the center of town here soon.You are to clear the area and secure downtown. If there is indeed a larger offensive call in for reinforcement."His eye caught the sniper rifle in Junko's arms and turned to Junko strict and swift."And you young lady go here and set up a sniper's nest in the church bell tower."

"SIR YES SIR," Milo responded the first bit of seriousness he's had all day. "Alright ladies we have the order, Rodgers and Johnson you two will take tactical squads 5 men each. Junko, I'll escort you to your set up with O'malley. O'malley and I will meet up with Rodgers to set up borders further in, Johnson you set up our fallback defenses then move up and meet us. Got it?"

"Yes sir" The men responded,
"Junko are you ok with this, or do you think you're to big for a babysitter?"

"I'll read in your report who did the babbysitting."
Lieutenant Katzenjammer said sternly.
No one could ever tell for sure if he made a joke.
His face would never betray it.
"Oh and sarge, we are on full defense protocol so don't remember your first priority.
Don't die."

The lieutenant closed the door and gestured for the trucks to move along to the coordinates they'd been given by his assistant.
Time to find the next person to yell at.

After the Lieutenant was finished Junko saluted him "SIR!".

"So my feeling was right... this should be just a mere covering mission, hopefully. Sight, sometimes I wish I was wrong..." she thought to herself before she heard Milo telling her to set up her sniper along with another Soldier called O'malley. Junko nodded and was about to walk ahead and make her way to the Church, but as she heard Milo mentioning the babysitting she imediately stopped. "...I don't care if you will escort me or not. If you want to you're free to do so, but..." she said with a rather cold voice as she glared at Milo for a few moments

"I am not a rookie...".

As she said these words she continued to make her way to the Church.

"I know you aren't but we all need a big brother..." Milo said to Junko, "You never know when the playground bully will come back."

"Alright men, move to your positions, Rodgers you'll be alpha squadron, Johnson that means you take Bravo. Comms are to be used between you two openly, try to keep me as an emergency use only don't know what will be at the church or on the way there. It's a damn good day to die men." He called as he everyone began hurrying off to their positions. "Oh and don't worry Lieutenant Katzenjammer, you'll have a report, but I make no promises on priority one." He said with a smile

"So Junko, if shit hits the fan do you know your exfill strategy? I mean you did miss festivities can't have you dying without that."

"Well of course I do have one, I've had more than enough time to think about one during the ride. I have a claymore which will protect my back and a grapnel attachement in my backpack so I can get on a nearby rooftop and get away either using the rooftops or a side alley. Any further questions, or do you have a better plan?" Junko replied to Milo's question. She didn't get what he meant with these festivities but she had to focus on the current mission so she ignored that last sentence.

Francis sat at his desk. He blankly stared at his screen, doing nothing but wait for his forums to update.
His room was dark and moody, as was Francis. Black Veil Brides blasted around him as he sat there.
Tired, bored, sad.
At first he didn't hear it. But after a little while he noticed a slight ticking on his bedroom window.
When he turned to look he saw a dark figure stare back at him.
The eyes he saw were his own reflected on the glass, but as he stared he saw yellow eyes and a sharp smile behind it.

Intrigued he took the pin from the lock and slowly the window slid open.
A white claw entered and a limber figure followed.
Before Francis knew what to do or say the creature stood before him.
His piercing gaze pinned Francis on his place and his lips spread once more, this time to speak.
"Hello Francis." the creature whispered.
Francis wanted to respond but he continued.
"Fear not childe. I come to bear a prophecy."
"A prophecy?"
"Yes. You are the chosen one childe. There is much hidden potential in you and one day they will find you.
You will pass your tests. Because you are special."
With those words the monster slithered out the window and disappeared into oblivion.
"Wait!" Francis threw the window open to follow but he saw no one.
"We are counting on you." A fleeting voice whispered.

On a rooftop ledge sits a cloaked figure, hunched over and his eyes fixated at the church backdoor.
A small shimmering reflection of light betrays his position.
A second figure comes nimbly clambering around the side of the building and casually sat himself beside the other figure.
"Hey Chip, you never guess what I just did." He snickered.
The other vampire took the silver file from his mouth and glared over his shoulder.
"I thought I told you to stop calling me that."
"But you're always filing your teeth.
"And your name is Dale!"
"Right! You are my sidekick bro."
"I'm not your bro, bro."
The two sat in silence for a moment.
"I'm totally your bro, bro."
After another moment of sitting and Chip filing, Dale broke the silence again.
"So did those two come out yet or what?"
Chip shushed Dale while pointing in at movement down the street.
"I spy with my vampire eye..."
"Game time."
Both grinned wide before splitting up and disappearing into the shadows.

DiZL ReloadeD said
"Well of course I do have one, I've had more than enough time to think about one during the ride. I have a claymore which will protect my back and a grapnel attachement in my backpack so I can get on a nearby rooftop and get away either using the rooftops or a side alley. Any further questions, or do you have a better plan?" Junko replied to Milo's question. She didn't get what he meant with these festivities but she had to focus on the current mission so she ignored that last sentence.

"Hey, don't get defensive with me little lady, I'm just doing my job. I've seen the others at work I know what Rodgers and Johnson can do, maybe not so much the men they are with but those two can get them out alive. I haven't even seen you till today and you've not seemed happy or even enjoying what we were doing, most of us don't like what we are doing but at least we form the bond between brothers that we can pull through fire and still be there. This army is family, learn to have a good time with us while we are here," Milo realized he was about to start ranting over nothing, suddenly cutting off what he was saying, "O'malley you got eyes on anything?"

"Sir, I thought I saw something it went into the shadows."
"O'malley its probably just your nerves, still might as well get on the lookout."

A small group of SOLDIERs stood on the town square surrounded by tall buildings, before them the even taller church,which stood before them striking an imposing look.
Their shadows drew long and sharp in the light of the clear moon and starry sky.
Behind every corner, in every alleyway creatures moved in the night.'
Sticking to the shadow, making sure not to break the aerie silence.

The moon's blood began burning in Milo, his eyes getting their famous red glow. The moon's powers infusing with him, his vision cleared in the darkness, what he saw he wish he never did. Everywhere they went, there was something. Walking up next to Junko he whispered, "Look don't panic to anything I'm about to say, act like this is a normal conversation. There's vampires all around us, we are horribly out matched, we will stick to the plan, this is your heads up. You are no where near alone here, if you need back up radio immediately."

Milo looked around again, a lot of bastards were around them when Milo, O'malley, and Junko made it into that church.

While Milo was ranting about her attitude, Junko wasn't paying attention.. something bothered her, it felt like they weren't alone. Her suspicions were confirmed as Milo walked up to her and whispered that they were surrounded. It is one of these days again... Junko thought before she turned to Milo "As you say..". After that she jogged to the church pretending she didn't know about the fact they were surrounded. As she and O'malley made their way to the top she stopped for a brief moment and planted a claymore at the entrance. When they reached the top Junko immediately readied her sniper rifle, loaded the magazine and went in position to provide cover. "Bring it on.." she mumbled to herself.

Bouwe looked up in surprise when they heard people enter the church at the front gate.
Quickly they stepped into the shadows. "Are those soldier units?" He whispered.

Outside a hand signal was passed on from sneak to sneak.
Suddenly a handful of vampires broke their covers and sped towards the church gate.

As the soldiers aligned their cross hares on their dead yellow eyes they saw no fear, no doubt, just rage and blood lust.

More waves were to come.

Angela exhaled long and rubbed the back of her neck in a self-soothing motion. she walked into the darkened church and was very glad Bouwe had lit a candle. She smiled at him as he touched the holy water. He was still so amazed with his change back to humanity. It was endearing. Suddenly they heard a sound from the front of the building. Someone was coming in the front door.

"Let's go see who's there." Angela cautiously moved forward, vaguely keeping behind pillars and walls in case whoever it was was unfriendly, one hand on her purse strap. She peered around the corner.