take the stairs that led below the church.
To anyone who happened along, it looked like any administrative workplace. Computers were set up on several desks while filing cabinets lined the far wall. Each desk had a phone, a comfy chair and a print of the Virgin Mary pinned to the backboard.
But to Keegan, this was where wars were prepared for. He walked to the closet and pulled open the old oak door that still squeaked loudly. It never failed to grind on his nerves. A duster coat hung at the back and he quickly pulled it out and shrugged it over his shoulders.
“Ha,” he let out with a loud huff. The effect never diminished. Pulling the coat on could still bring a new sense of strength and invisibility. This duster, similar to the one he usually wore, the one Skars had promptly rid him of upon his capture, was as trusty as the strongest armor for all the confidence and power it brought to him.
No doubt Skars was aware of that fact. Responsible for Keegan’s immortality, Skars knew of all the weakness and strengths the young man had. After years as the most trusted hunter to the ultimate Strigoi, Keegan had developed a strange love hate relationship with the vampire, a sense of paternity.
After all, were it not for the twisted needs of that old vampire, Keegan wouldn’t even be alive today.
Today… a day that had shown Keegan just how evil Skars could be when he wanted things his way. The day when he would have to end the reign of the man who’d given him eternity.
If he didn’t succeed, Skars would not hesitate to terminate him, just as he’d done Dr. Franz. Up until that moment when his mentor’s lifeless body had been found, Keegan had all but forgotten about Skars and the years he’d hunted for him. Now, there was no way Keegan was going to meet the same fate as Dr. Franz.
In order to keep in Skars’ good favor, Keegan had to portray the faithful hunter he’d always been… and his first task was tending to Skars’ most annoying thorn in his side; Delilah.
He opened a filing cabinet to find dozens of bottles that contained holy water and shoved a few in his pockets. Several stakes were then shoved into the longer pockets that lined the inside of the duster and finally he clasped a crucifix hung on a chain around his neck and tucked the cross under his shirt.
Three long strides had him at his desk before a computer. A flick of the mouse and the screen lit up. He tapped in the coordinates he wanted and his screen came alive with the goings on at one of his hideouts. Before he returned outside and made a move, he wanted to be sure Skars hadn’t penetrated any of them.
The first, a shabby shack on the outskirts of town, looked clean, but he didn’t want to have to go that far. The second, the attic of one of the grandest mansions in town, also seemed undisturbed, but he knew the Morrisons were now back in town and heading there could be risky.
Then he turned to the surveillance camera he’d set up at Rusty’s Bar and Grill, a restaurant down by the beach. Keegan had known the owners for more years than he could count. From Europe, Martha and Frank had done everything they could to get as far away from Skars as they could. Vampires who truly did all they could to minimize their impact on human society, Keegan had spared them.
Poised to stake Frank, Keegan had hesitated as Martha had made an argument for their considerate and compassionate lifestyle. For once in his life, the only time in his hunting career, Keegan had turned his back to them and allowed them to escape.
Now, the surveillance camera was on Martha, pretty with her hair pulled back and her trim figure fashionably dressed in dark jeans and pale halter top. As she chatted with a customer, Frank passed behind her, lovingly patting her back on his way to greet the couple who’d just entered.
Frank was quick to shake the man’s hand and he nodded as he led the pair to a table. As they came closer and closer to the camera, Keegan’s
To anyone who happened along, it looked like any administrative workplace. Computers were set up on several desks while filing cabinets lined the far wall. Each desk had a phone, a comfy chair and a print of the Virgin Mary pinned to the backboard.
But to Keegan, this was where wars were prepared for. He walked to the closet and pulled open the old oak door that still squeaked loudly. It never failed to grind on his nerves. A duster coat hung at the back and he quickly pulled it out and shrugged it over his shoulders.
“Ha,” he let out with a loud huff. The effect never diminished. Pulling the coat on could still bring a new sense of strength and invisibility. This duster, similar to the one he usually wore, the one Skars had promptly rid him of upon his capture, was as trusty as the strongest armor for all the confidence and power it brought to him.
No doubt Skars was aware of that fact. Responsible for Keegan’s immortality, Skars knew of all the weakness and strengths the young man had. After years as the most trusted hunter to the ultimate Strigoi, Keegan had developed a strange love hate relationship with the vampire, a sense of paternity.
After all, were it not for the twisted needs of that old vampire, Keegan wouldn’t even be alive today.
Today… a day that had shown Keegan just how evil Skars could be when he wanted things his way. The day when he would have to end the reign of the man who’d given him eternity.
If he didn’t succeed, Skars would not hesitate to terminate him, just as he’d done Dr. Franz. Up until that moment when his mentor’s lifeless body had been found, Keegan had all but forgotten about Skars and the years he’d hunted for him. Now, there was no way Keegan was going to meet the same fate as Dr. Franz.
In order to keep in Skars’ good favor, Keegan had to portray the faithful hunter he’d always been… and his first task was tending to Skars’ most annoying thorn in his side; Delilah.
He opened a filing cabinet to find dozens of bottles that contained holy water and shoved a few in his pockets. Several stakes were then shoved into the longer pockets that lined the inside of the duster and finally he clasped a crucifix hung on a chain around his neck and tucked the cross under his shirt.
Three long strides had him at his desk before a computer. A flick of the mouse and the screen lit up. He tapped in the coordinates he wanted and his screen came alive with the goings on at one of his hideouts. Before he returned outside and made a move, he wanted to be sure Skars hadn’t penetrated any of them.
The first, a shabby shack on the outskirts of town, looked clean, but he didn’t want to have to go that far. The second, the attic of one of the grandest mansions in town, also seemed undisturbed, but he knew the Morrisons were now back in town and heading there could be risky.
Then he turned to the surveillance camera he’d set up at Rusty’s Bar and Grill, a restaurant down by the beach. Keegan had known the owners for more years than he could count. From Europe, Martha and Frank had done everything they could to get as far away from Skars as they could. Vampires who truly did all they could to minimize their impact on human society, Keegan had spared them.
Poised to stake Frank, Keegan had hesitated as Martha had made an argument for their considerate and compassionate lifestyle. For once in his life, the only time in his hunting career, Keegan had turned his back to them and allowed them to escape.
Now, the surveillance camera was on Martha, pretty with her hair pulled back and her trim figure fashionably dressed in dark jeans and pale halter top. As she chatted with a customer, Frank passed behind her, lovingly patting her back on his way to greet the couple who’d just entered.
Frank was quick to shake the man’s hand and he nodded as he led the pair to a table. As they came closer and closer to the camera, Keegan’s