Downtown Chinook, Beyond the Pale bar, Late September

   Rhuv showed up about fifteen minutes after Anthony left. He was Niculai and Tomas' best friend and number three in the troika. They had been called that since they had all been children. Rhuv's crew cut blond hair and large leather covered body meant that he fit in well with the rest of the drinking, drugging, and dancing patrons of the bar. He skillfully dodged everyone and everything in his path as he made his way to the table that they usually sat at. One that was as close to the back wall and back exit as they could get. While there was no such thing as a saved table in the Pale, no Human would argue with the threesome for a table. They always had it when they wanted it, usually all they had to do was head over towards it and whoever was there would bail asap.

    Leaner and shorter then either Niculai or Tomas, Rhuv was still an impressive six foot five inches, over two hundred pounds of male Anvidai. The three of them were a sight seated together like the front line of a pro football team in leather instead of pads. Only someone very stupid or truly suicidal would even approach them unless they had to. Next to them even the most hardened customer of the bar looked like a grade-schooler pretending to be tough for a school play. They didn't so much fit in as set the standard that everyone else tried and failed to copy.

    The skimpily clad waitress approached then, her leather halter top had chains along the bottom that just brushed the top of her leather mini skirt. Her scent was a combo of both fear and lust. The fear spiking her lust even higher. All three of the Anvidai smelled the rich bouquet and if they'd been here at their usual time, after the fighting was done, then Niculai was fairly certain that Tomas would take the waitress up on the offer she was so clearly making. But not tonight. Tonight they weren't here at the end of the night but at the begining of it. Add to that the news that Anthony had brought them and any desire went right out the window, even for his mack daddy of a twin. So she was going to leave disapointed with only their drink orders and not the work out she was clearly aiming for.

    The three finished their drinks almost as soon as they arrived, leaving the bar to begin their patrol. All of them hoped for a fight to take the edge off. Niculai had filled Rhuv in while they waited for their drinks. Job satisfaction was going to be very low for the threesome until they knew the whys of the abductions. Then maybe they could do something about it and pay the Undying back, preferably in blood. Until then they were going to hunt down every one of the killers that they could and do whatever it took to get the info. Sometimes it was they only course of action you had. Not that any of them would enjoy it but that wasn't going to stop them either.

   After almost two hours of patrolling all three of them were starting to get fustrated. They both loved and hated the slow nights. Loved them because it meant that none of their people were at risk, theoretically. Hated because it meant there was no way to burn off the edge that a fruitless night in the field caused. Not that anyone wanted to be attacked but they all enjoyed fighting and were very very good at it. They had almost been bred for it truthfully. Being a warrior, fighting and protecting others against the Undying was the reason they had been born. As far as all the members of the Ashen War-Kin were concerned it was the best use of them and their lives. So yeah, a slow night in the field was a real love/hate kinda thing.

   The part of downtown Chinook near the docks where the Ashen patroled showed a very different face to the world than the one it used during the day. It was a colder and darker place and not just because it was raining or the sun had gone down. The only people that were out in this part of town hurried on their way with their heads down. Not making eye contact with anyone. Not wanting to be seen at all if possible. In this part of town the economy wasn't so much depressed as almost suicidal. What commerce did exist was mainly illegal in nature and the majority of the buildings were either abandoned or downright condemed. What little legitimate business did exist, closed its doors as soon as the sun went down. And no resident, legal or squater, would ever go to help someone who screamed for fear that they would be next. The rats in the alleys were both of the two legged and the four legged variety. The former being oh so much more dangerous. Most of the street lights had been shot out because none of the dealers in drugs or prostitutes wanted the light to shine on them or their customers. Darkness was their friend, hiding their activities from the sight of everyone that wasn't one of them.

    That was why the majority of the fights between the Ashen and the Undying happened in places like this. Places where a scream or cry for help went unanswered. No one was going to risk sticking their nose into the business of anyone willing to be out in this part of the city. That was how both sides wanted it to be. No Humans were wanted at the party. It was the only thing both sides agreed about. The hairless apes that was Humanity could mind their own business.

    The streets were still rain slicked from the showers earlier in the day. The oil in the street making rainbows where the few remaining streetlights shone. If it had been a warmer season the smell of garbage, piss, vomit, and cars that was the aroma of this part of town would permeate the air. But the cold air and rain meant that the stench stayed close to home as it were. Something that all three of them were grateful for. It was a toss up over which was worse, the bitter damp chill of the cold months or the nasal-rape stench of the warm ones. Tough call but at least the cold could be countered with warm clothes and gloves. The stench was just there making you wish you could stop breathing.

    The fight that they were looking for finally happened. Five Undying appeared right in front of them, coming out of an alley. That there were many poorer Anvidai and Lushidai living in the outskirts of this part of town was another reason that they patrolled in the area. The Anvidai and the Undying always made sure that any conflict between them took place in areas that either had no residents or the residents were unlikely to call the police. The C.P.D. were never a value add in the fights between the Anvidai and the Undying. Something that both sides agreed on. The Undying moved back into the alley they had come out of. Bonus was that there were no windows looking into it, Niculai thought as the three of them followed the Undying into the alley. And double bonus, all the businesses that abutted the alley were defunct. I couldn't have found a better place if I'd tried, Niculai concluded silently.

    "Looks like we're gonna have a party," Rhuv said with an evil smile, not bothering to hide his fangs.

    The two groups looked at each other from opposite sides of the alley before they all dropped into fighting stances. Both sides waiting for the other to start things off. The alley was poorly lit by a single streetlight in front of one of the defunct businesses. The low light that bled in was more than enough for everyone to see clearly. The multilayered aroma of vomit, piss, garbage, and cars that was typical of this part of town was almost overwhelmed by the stench of the Undying. It took a powerful stench to overpower what was brewing in this alley Niculai decided silently as he watched the Undying before him, looking for the first twitch or muscle movement that would signal the start of the fight.

    "Well, it looks like we outnumber you by quite a bit," one of the Undying stated.

    "Quality counts so much more than quantity," Rhuv replied in a confident voice.

    No reason not to be confident. After all the three of them had been fighting together against the Undying for over a century. Rhuv's reply was the bell that started the fight. Three of the five Undying charged forward, weapons appearing in their hands almost by magic. Two of the three had knives in their hands while the third was uncoiling a chain as he came forward. The other two Undying seemed to be waiting for targets of opportunity. They both unsheathed knives and one of them also drew what might as well of been a short sword it was so long.

    "Well, what do you know, a machette," Niculai said, dodging the swinging chain that was headed for his skull. It wasn't often that the Undying showed any individuality in the weapon department. Niculai was almost impressed by that as he got on with the fight.

Downtown Chinook, The Foundry, Late September

    Annik hated taking the bus, it was beyond annoying. Public transit was her worst nightmare, especially during rush hour. There were far too many people on the bus for her comfort, but what choice did she have. It wasn't like she'd have been able to drive during the day even if she'd had a car. Not with how sensitive her eyes were to the light and sunglasses only went so far. Even the ones she had which were the darkest available. Annik didn't understand why it was only sunlight that bothered her eyes. Any other light no matter how bright and she had no more problem with it then most people. But sunlight, no matter how dim made her eyes water and her skin itch. She supposed that her allergy to the sun might be part of it. But still it was annoying.

    Annik's thoughts wandered to the tales that her mother had told her when she was growing up. It was a good distraction, keeping her mind off of the people crowding around her on the bus. Even if thinking about the tales brought memories of her mother with them. Annik had always figured that the tales were ones that her mother had grown up with as well. It made her feel closer to her mother in a way. Thinking that they had both grown up hearing the same stories. It was all she had of her mothers people since the woman had always refused to talk about her past or where she'd come from. All that Annik knew was that her mother hadn't been born in the States, but had moved here as a very small child, maybe even a toddler. Annik wasn't sure and it wasn't like she could ask now. Annik was sorry that she hadn't asked her mother for more details. People never think that someone that had always been there might suddenly be gone one day.

    The tales themselves were a bit odd for children's stories. Not just because they were written in a language that her mother obviously knew but she couldn't find other examples of anywhere. They were all about vampires, shape shifters and other monsters that roamed the world. One group wanted to save the world from the another group that wanted to destroy it. There was a lot more violence then was usually found in children's stories, at least, from what she'd seen in the library. Although many of the really old tales had also been violent. Not even the scariest of old stories came close to the violence that was present in the stories her mother told her.

    It was obvious that her mother believed the stories too. Ingretta made Annik memorize the stories and all of the "protections found in them. Telling her that the tales might save her life one day if she remembered them. She frequently took precautions that were mentioned in the stories. Usually they were little things like leaving broken glass outside of a window frame or hanging a "blessed" blade point down over a door.   They even had a handmade door mat that was one of the few things that always moved with them. Ingretta had told her once that it had been made by a very special woman the she'd known before Annik's birth. All Annik knew was that the circular pattern that her searching through the libraries told her was called a mandala was beautiful. Its multicolored pattern was mostly in blues.

    Annik didn't believe the stories her mother told or the precautions that she took. Ingretta had been an amazing storyteller though. While she was telling the tales Annik would totally believe in the good guy vampires and all the rest of it. But as soon as the story was done reality would creep back in and so would her disbelief. After all the monsters that the stories described didn't exist in the real world. There were no shapeshifters or vampires. Nor were there any undead people that walked around like they were still alive.

    Annik didn't like her job anymore than she liked riding the bus. But at least her job was only at night. And there were no windows on the ground floor so even if she had to go in before the sunset she didn't have to wear her sunglasses inside, something that always made people look at her oddly. The Foundry, where she worked, was a relatively new business. Having opened about a year ago to rave reviews. The food was amazing, the booze was generally top shelf, and the music was great. Unlike many of the dance clubs or nightclubs in the area there was no spot for a minor to be. The Foundry was twenty-one and over only. That in and of itself seemed to be part of why it was so popular. The owner insisted that the food and the booze be the best possible so the kitchen wasn't an after thought that only served greasy snacks. Nope it served good food and that was another of the reasons that the place was so popular.

    Annik had just turned twenty-five and was very annoyed to only look like she was in her late teens. It was a royal pain in the ass as far as Annik was concerned. Yeah, sure everyone wanted to look young and all, but this was a bit too far. Looking young was fine but looking like you needed your mommy to cross the street? Yeah, no thanks on that one. At least she had curves finally. She hadn't even had those until about six months ago. Now at least no one thought that she was only ten or twelve. Nope, now they thought she was somewhere between her fifteenth and seventeenth birthday. An improvement, but not by much.

    Either way the only guys that approached her were the skeevy pedophile types. Not anyone she was interested in talking to much less dating. In fact if it wasn't for her job she wouldn't be talking to them. And thanks God that the fact ID she used was a really good one. Or she wouldn't be able to have a job at all. And that would have been an absolute failure now that her mother was gone.

    Annik was finally able to get off the crowded, rolling nightmare that was public transit. She hurried down to the alley that ran down the back of the building. It wasn't really all that safe in this part of town, especially the alleys, during the day, never mind at night.  But that was where the employee entrance was and at least there were security cameras that were actually monitored. And there was a guard just inside the back door to keep the girls safe when they left at night. The owner took the safety of his employees seriously. something that Annik knew was less than common.

    The drizzle in the chill air was neither a surprise nor welcome. It was just one more reason to hurry to the employee's entrance just a few feet in front of her in the alley. As much as she like the early darkness that fall brought, the rain and cold were not something that she enjoyed. Great, Annik thought to herself as she walked down the alley towards the employee's entrance. Now it's raining too. Just what I need. At least it's only a drizzle not actual rain. Small favor that. Still going to have damp hair when I get to work and it's going to take forever to dry.

    "At least it's warm and dry inside," Annik muttered as she walked through the club's employee entrance.

    The foundry was a refurbished warehouse. Many people had thought that it was going to be too big for a nightclub but the owner had known what he was doing. Not only was there a dance floor but there was a full kitchen that might as well as had Rachel Ray or Wolfgang Puck doing the cooking. The food was that good. And two different bars, one in the general area and one for the V.I.P.'s. There was also tables with seating in both areas with the gen pop seating being single tables with bar stools and the V.I.P. seating being banquettes, definitely higher end. The club was far more popular then anyone had ever thought it could be. It probably didn't help that in addition to the waitresses there were other girls that could be bought but only by the V.I.P.'s. A service that they paid well for apparently.

    An hour later, a hand reached out and grabbed Annik on the ass. Annik spun around wishing that she could just slap the handsy s.o.b. but that was against the rules. Even if she hadn't been working in the V.I.P. area slapping people was frowned upon. That was why they had bouncers after all.

    "I'm not on the menu tonight or any night," Annik couldn't slap him no matter how much she wanted to. But she could and did signal the bouncer to remove the guy.

    V.I.P. or not they weren't allowed to grab the waitresses or anyone else if they didn't want to be grabbed. Annik walked away not bothering to take his order, after all he was about to be evicted from the club. And if he got too mouthy with the bouncer it might be for longer then just tonight. Either way the bouncer would make sure that the customer understood the rules before he was ousted. If he was a repeat offender he might be black balled forever. It had happened in the past. One of the main ways that the owner kept the cops out of his hair about the working girls was that they got to decided who they went with, frequently they also worked as waitresses. Her shift was only an hour old and already the grabbing had started. God, this was going to be a very long night.