Chapter 5 - Red Sting

The forest sleeps in silence. The moon watching over the serenity that fills the air. The forest seemed ignorant of the things that are happening around it. Until..

The rustle of leaves and twigs being stepped on echoed throughout the silence. A boy desperately runs away from something. His arm red in his own blood. A modified AK-47 rests in his bloody hands. His breathing erratic... he is in a state of despair.

A silver bolt crosses his path. The boy stops and points his gun at the direction where the bolt came. Desperate was his attempt to aim at the shadow figure standing in front of him.

“What are you doing here kid?” a voice lingered. “You are not supposed to be here.”

Out of nowhere, hands grabbed his gun and threw him to the ground. He frantically scrambles to flee but another figure appeared in front of him. “Going somewhere?” the figure asked as it readily swings a blade to strike the frightened boy.

“Wait!!” another one shouted. “He is one of ours...” the figure added as it points to the insignia on the kids left shoulder... “He is with Sorenson’s unit.”

“What happened to you” the figure asked him. “Where is the rest of your unit?”

“Lycans... Lycans ambushed us… We all got separated...” the kid tried to answer clearly. “They got Davidson and Releyan laying somewhere back there. They are still after me...”

“Then there is no time to waste... We better get moving” the tall figure ordered. With no hesitation, the forest slowly swallowed them with no trace.

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The old cathedral stood humbly even if its wall is carved with mortar impacts. It would be an unlikely sanctuary for the vampires. The kid exhausted, stared at the men that rescued him from the forest. It is hard to distinguish one from the rest. All clad in black with masks hiding their faces.

“You are the Red Sting Unit, right?” he asked them... “Lord Vahnzynn’s unit?”

A man removes his mask to reveal his familiar face. “You’re quite sharp there kid...”

“Vahnzynn...” the boy’s face glowed. “You guys really are the Red Sting… Camarilla’s elite team.”

“Well, I never thought we would be that famous...” a man in red hair muttered. “What do you say, Rayne?” The kid stared at him, since he is now the only one still wearing a mask.

“I prefer to keep a very low profile...” another blonde vampire replied. His left eye covered by an eye patch. “But I am clueless about that one myself, Red.”

“Well, we will rest here… the sun is coming...” Vahnzynn said to them. “Kristoff... You check the bell tower... See if you could get a better view of the place form up there. Kramer, set the perimeter up... We don’t want to be caught unaware, don’t we?”

“Yess sir!!” two big individuals replied. The one we went up the stairs was quite bald. And the other had a greenish long hair.

“Take a look at the kid’s wound, Lasombra...” Vahnzynn added. “His bleeding has not yet stopped.”

“It’s ok...” the kid replied. “All I need is blood to regain my strength.”

“Here...” a vampire with black hair approached him and handed a blood bag. “Take your time..”

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The dawn spills open as the cathedral was once again silent. The vampires have now hidden themselves from the sun. Evidences of their presence disappeared with them. The forest around them grew back to life as soon as the light touched the place.

Several men in a humvee sped fast towards the cathedral. Two large trucks followed behind them. The convoy stopped in front of the old church.

“Looks like a convenient place for vampires to hide.. What do you think?” a man clad in uniform asked another as they stared at the holy sanctuary. “It may be worth the recon... Sir...”

“Vampires are the least of our worries, Lawrence... I’m more concerned of the lycans..” the officer replied. “But we will check this one out… we have to be sure...”

“Vampires are less of a threat to us in daylight than they are at night. With lycans on the other hand, they are still dangerous even in human form.” the officer added. “Set perimeter... Take 4 teams to check inside the cathedral... The rest create a barrier defense within a 30 meter radius.”

“You heard the captain...” Lawrence shouted. “Move!!”

Men scrambled down from the trucks... Movement became swift and precise. All moving to achieve the current objective.

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Unaware that their movements triggered sensors placed by the vampires around the cathedral. The vampires woke as soon as motion was detected.

“Shit, this is bad... We are helpless against them at daylight...” the kid said to Vahnzynn.

“Don’t worry kid...” Vahnzynn replied. “We know what we are doing...”

“But you all will die from the sun...”

“That’s why we are wearing these... They protect and insulate us from the sun...” Rayne replied to the kid.

“Got a name kid...” Lasombra asked him as the latter attaches his weapons unto himself.

“Dreunor... my name is Dreunor.” The kid answered.

“Well Dreunor... Hide and just sit tight, keep away from the lights... We’ll be back...” the red haired masked vampire said to him.

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