Dark Paths Ch. 09

"If they are unwilling to bargain I will indeed most likely die, but not before I enjoy killing you first," Steffen told him coldly.

Xavier did not need to hear that. They had headed out across the Bay Bridge onto the interstate and the car was powering up into the hills now. Traffic was lighter. He saw his chances of being rescued dimming, his chances of surviving - even if the others did catch up - even slimmer. In a desperate move he grabbed the wheel and pulled. The SUV's tires squealed in protest, the front end came around hard and the offside tires came up off the ground. For a second it seemed the vehicle would stick it, and then gravity did its thing and they were rolling into the median.

If Xavier hadn't been belted in he probably would have been seriously injured, if not killed. Amazingly he came out of the roll unharmed. He wasn't going to stay that way long though, he thought as he scrambled to release the belt and crawl out of the wreckage. He had barely gotten free when a weight fell onto him from above. Steffen grabbed him and rolled him furiously onto his back.

The vampire's face was a mask of blood and rage. He sat on Xavier's chest, one hand clamped on his throat and punched him with the other. Xavier might have been more interested in the explosion of pain along the side of his face if he weren't so preoccupied with the fact that he couldn't breathe.

It just wasn't fair. He had come so far, skinned by with only a hair's width to spare so many times now. It wasn't right that he should die like this; the life being slowly choked from him while an enraged vampire beat on him. His arms were flung out to the sides, his hands failing around in the tall grass for anything that might help him.

Luck, or whatever powers that be, were still smiling on him. His hand closed on something cold and hard. The dark of the night sky seemed to close in around Xavier. His fingers curled around and clutched the cold metal. He brought his arm up and fired at the same time.

The bullet hit Steffen in the side of the head, and fortunately the gun was not loaded with those nifty exploding shells. The vampire reeled back. Xavier drew great heaving gulps of air, unable to do more then sit up and point the gun with a shaky hand at his attacker. Steffen moved and Xavier pulled the trigger again, this time emptying the clip into him.

Steffen swatted the pistol away like Xavier had been shooting him with a squirt gun. Xavier was still coughing and trying to draw a decent breath as a car pulled over. A good Samaritan jumped out.

"Hey! Are you guys alright? Hang on, I'll call 911..."

Steffen stood and the guy's eyes grew big as he looked over the tall vampire and really took him in. The vampire smiled, reached out and snapped the guy's neck without a moment's hesitation. He grabbed Xavier by the back of the neck and hauled him up, shoved him into the unfortunate man's car, and moments later they were speeding down the highway again.

Xavier slumped in the seat, too battered and dazed to even think about escape at this point. The vampire still drove recklessly, but after a short while he slowed, heading off the main highway and onto a secondary road. Xavier recognised the area. They were heading toward a vast area of state land. It was the type of place people went camping, stepped off a trail, and a week later helicopter crews found them. If they were lucky.

Steffen parked the car and got out, pulling Xavier out too. He shoved him along toward the dark trees and underbrush. Even had Xavier not just been in a car wreck and a battle for his life this would not have boded well. He was a city boy; the first root snagged his foot and sent him to his knees. Steffen yanked him up and pulled him along another couple of feet before a fallen branch tripped him. With a short impatient growl he grabbed Xavier and slung him over his shoulder, making haste deeper into the woods.

Xavier did not take this docilely. He kicked and struggled, cursing colourfully. It seemed like a long time had gone by, but it was hard to tell, and even harder to tell how far they'd come. The vampire moved remarkably fast despite the underbrush and Xavier's struggles. He finally came to a halt and threw Xavier to the ground.

Xav landed with a huff of breath as the wind was knocked from him. He tried to get up and found it was an effort just to roll to his side. Steffen stood a short distance away, he was kicking the ground and only when he bent and pulled open a rusted metal door did Xavier realize he was uncovering some kind of underground hidey-hole. That did not even bear thinking about. He was so not going down into that hole. No fucking way!

Calling on his last reserves of strength, from who knows where, Xavier shoved himself to his feet and bolted.

Steffen watched him go, grinning. He let the boy run, unable to deny himself the pleasure of a chase, and then he was off after his fleeing gazelle.

Xavier hauled ass as fast as he could, darting blindly though the trees that slapped and tugged at him. In the back of his head he knew it was a futile effort, there was no way he could out run the vampire and no way he could hide from him. He was only delaying the inevitable, but it wasn't in him to just go docilely to his fate. He jumped over a fallen log and skidded in the dried leaves, scrambling to change direction. He kept running, legs moving as fast as he could push himself and lungs burning. In the dark he nearly ran into a large branch that had fallen, almost impaling himself on the jagged end.

He had to stop for a second, hands on his knees, gulping air. He felt a faint cool presence brush feather light in his mind and knew immediately it was Rayne. Not that he had any time to really think about it, but there was the same sense of relief he'd felt earlier when he'd stopped shielding and known Rayne was alright and was comforted by it. It wasn't like telepathy, they couldn't actually communicate this far apart, it was just a feeling and Xavier took what momentary comfort he could from it.

The branch sticking out of the ground gave him an idea. He couldn't keep running, Steffen was bound to catch him sooner or later. He grabbed the branch and broke it free.

Something heavy dropped from above almost directly behind him. Startled, he bolted again, only this time he didn't get nearly as far. A heavy hand hit his shoulder, spinning him around. Xavier swung the branch like a Louisville Slugger and it impacted with the side of Steffen's head.

The vampire grabbed the makeshift weapon and ripped it out of his hands. Despite being injured and exhausted his prey actually gave him a good run for his money, Steffen thought. Which made it all the sweeter when he finally brought him down. The boy tried to run again when he tore the branch out of his hands. Steffen grazed Xavier's hip with his powerful fingers and spun him around before he dropped atop him, pinned him to the ground. Steffen was hard and excited from the chase and his prey's struggles beneath him only exacerbated the situation. He ground his hips down, biting lightly at the boy's slender throat.

"Get off me!" Xavier panted, chest heaving with the effort. "Get the fuck off me!"

The boy's voice was high and afraid and only fuelled Steffen's desire further. He clawed his tight pants open and pulled them down his narrow hips.

Xavier shoved and hit him, bucking his body and trying desperately to fight free. When he had been locked in a room with this fucker, wounded and terrified, he'd though his best chance of survival was to be passive and offer no resistance that would only excite the monster. Now he knew others were looking for him. Knew they would find him if only he could stay alive that long. He hadn't managed to run far, and his attempts to fight him off only seemed to amuse and inflame the vampire, but they did buy precious time. But now he was caught, and his time was running out. His captor hit him hard with the back of his hand and the world seemed to tilt and spin madly.

Steffen flipped Xavier over, shoving him face down in the dried leaves and dirt. He did nothing to muffle the boy's screams and curses, there was no one out here to hear them except for him and he delighted in his victim's cries of rage and pain.

A warm flow of blood ran from Xavier's nostrils down his chin. A hand fisted in his hair and pulled his head back sharply to hold him still. Xavier struggled and as he did he knew he couldn't prevent what was about to happen. He stilled suddenly, and tried to reach for the calm Dominic had been trying to teach him so he could shut Rayne out, he could do that at least. But he'd waited too long and his thoughts were too scattered.

Steffen opened his fly and eagerly rubbed his excited cock over his captive's smooth pert buttocks. He shoved his hard member savagely into the boy's rectum and laughed cruelly at the scream that tore from his lips.

DOMINIC:

In the hotwired Beamer, PJ was clinging to the dash and the suit hangers in an effort to stay alive as Lord Warren floored the accelerator. The mad old bastard drove like such matters as speed limits and traffic lights were an irrelevance. Busy interchanges, Give-Way signs and pedestrian crossings were ignored as he forced the unfortunate vehicle through impossible gaps in the evening traffic.

"Have you any idea which way they were headed?" he yelled at Warren, freaked out by the Englishman's singlemindedness.

"This way," Dominic said, his gaze narrowed as he swung the wheel and the car banked sharply left into a one way street.

"I... uh... I don't think we have the right of way down here," PJ ventured, shaking his head. "How the fuck do you figure they came this way?"

"Same way a vampire would track his victim, I can see aura traces from the kid," Dominic told him mysteriously. "But more importantly, the SUV got hit and it's leaking oil or water or something... leaving a trail a blind grandmother could follow. They're not going to get far."

A light began to flash on the dashboard as the stolen BMW headed out on the I80 towards the Bay Bridge, still following the intermittent stream of fluids from the SUV. Warren had the headlights on full beam and was blissfully immune to the barrage of horns and abuse this attracted from fellow road users.

"Buggery!" he muttered to himself, letting the speed drop to a rather less hair-raising 70 mph as they cruised across the Bay in the gathering darkness.

"What's up?" PJ was still scanning the road ahead for any sign that they were getting closer.

"There's no fuel in this bloody car," Warren cursed, slapping his hand against the steering wheel. "We're not going to get much further. Where the hell are they going?"

He put his foot down again, impatient with the lack of pace. PJ reached into a pocket for his cellphone and called Clay's number, deciding that it was only fair to let his buddies know what was happening.

*~*

Some three or four minutes later, a black BMW with a broken window executed a perfect U Turn on the Interstate, nearly causing several different accidents as it swerved back down the highway in the wrong carriageway to the point where the trail of fuel left the road and vanished into the scrub. It was there that Dominic and Paddy had their first real shock.

Even discovering that the body lying sprawled next to the abandoned vehicle was not Xavier did not totally alleviate the heartstopping sensation. PJ slumped against the flanks of the upturned SUV as Dom crawled around peering into the wreckage for any signs of life.

"They've gone," he huffed at last, looking irritated.

"On foot?" Paddy speculated.

"I doubt it. This poor bugger didn't walk out here all the way, he's not dressed for a hike. He got out of a car and..." Dom pulled a finger across his throat indicating a teminal outcome. "I reckon they took his wheels."

He wrestled with the catch on the trunk and managed to force it open. Several boxes of ammo fell out and he jumped back like a startled rabbit, but fortunately none of it exploded. Resolutely he gathered as much weaponry as possible and threw it into the Beamer whilst Paddy stared at him incredulously and made a point of checking his watch.

"Well... better to go prepared than show up unarmed and get wiped out like this poor sod," Dominic argued defensively. "Look... if he was going to kill the kid he'd have done it in the parking garage! The only way we can help him is to keep chasing."

By the time Dominic had rigged a contraption from the hoses and spare gas canister on the SUV to siphon fuel into the BMW PJ was practically ready to rip the other man's throat out himself.

"He could be dead by now!"

"If you would give me a fucking hand, this would not take so long," Dominic reminded him, struggling to lug the heavy canister across to the Beamer.

"This is America, there's probably a Gas Station about five minutes down the road," Paddy argued.

"And if there isn't, we're royally fucked and so is Xav!" Dominic tilted the can and transferred the contents into the fuel tank of their stolen vehicle.

"That poor kid!" PJ growled at him. "Christ that vampire bastard could have done anything to him by now."

"If he was going to kill him he'd already have done it," Dominic reiterated with a shake of his head. "Load the weapons if you're not going to help with the gas, Patrick! I am not going to drive into another ambush unprepared. This time that fucker is going to eat some lead... or whatever the fuck it is that Mersen puts in these damned cartridges!"

PJ looked at him incredulously and stomped back around to the trunk to punch exploding bullets into the breach carriages of the guns.

"Carefully!" Dominic's voice piped back at him. "Jesus, Paddy!"

Within fifteen minutes they were on the move again but to Paddy McNamara it felt like half the night. Fortunately, Dominic no longer had any reservations about putting his foot down and he pushed the Beamer to its impressive limits now. For once, his companion had no complaints.

The BWM pulled off Interstate 80 without warning and took a backroad, curling up into the hills. PJ had stopped asking how Dom knew where he was going after the first attempt at an explanation bewildered the bejaysus out of him. Something about colours and airwaves and some mystical bollocks that the big Irish American would have laughed out of town if there wasn't a young life at stake.

When the road they were following became little more than a dirt track leading to an abandoned vehicle, Dom stopped the car and reached wordlessly for one of the rifles. The other vehicle stood with it's doors still open, the engine pinking as it cooled down. Warily, the two men eased out of the Beamer with their weapons primed, ready to shoot anything that moved. Unusually Dominic had not even bothered with instructions this time. They both knew what to expect. If the vamp was still here they would have to fight him. He was not going to leave them for dead a second time.

Once Dom could be sure that his quarry was no longer in the vicinity of the stolen car he waved PJ back, conscious that the other man was exhausted and still hurting after his clash with the vampire back in the parking lot.

"Stay with the car," he whispered. "If anyone friendly follows us up here let them know I'm armed. If anyone else follows us, you know what to do? Don't let them take the car, we still need to get him back."

"You're sure you can do this alone?" Paddy was sceptical. He had seen Dominic's determination but the Englishman was one little old guy... hell they both were, he conceded. "What if he gets you?"

"Get out of here," Dom told him.

"But the kid...?"

"Just get out of here! If I'm not back in an hour, and there's been no trouble, get the hell out of here and let the others know where we went down." The expression on his face warned against any further arguments.

PJ bit his tongue and let him go. Then he phoned Clay again, from the inside of the car, without putting down the gun and tried to explain where they were.

SHOWDOWN:

As Lord Warren came to a wooded area halfway up the steep incline, the owl glided through the trees overhead, silent as a ghost. He passed over the lean figure of the English sorcerer as he made his cautious way through thick underbrush, his weapon cocked and ready. They were following the same thread of course. It wound through the trees like a softly glowing ribbon, warm and pulsing with life. The trail was almost a scent in the air... spicy cardamom and rich vanilla.

If the owl could have grinned, he would have at that thought. Xavier wasn't very vanilla but that was his scent all the same. The warmth of that aroma was suddenly interrupted by sharper smells; the hot musk of the rutting male and the copper tang of spilt blood.

Elian dropped from the air and was walking in his human form before he had even lost momentum. Steffen had the boy pinned down in the dirt, his arms pinioned behind him so sharply it would have dislocated the shoulder of a less flexible person. His jaws were buried deep and working hard at the crook of the boy's neck as his hips pistoned above Xavier's naked buttocks. He was feeding as much from the dancer's pain and terrified struggles as he was on his blood.

Steffen's head suddenly came up, eyes wild and fangs bared like a dog on the scent, turning toward Elian with a bloody snarl. Their eyes locked and Steffen saw his own death in the handsome face that stared back impassively at him. The Ancient's smile was as cold and cruel as his own. He had been found and the desperation of his plans were all for naught. He was going to meet his true death here, of that he had no doubt. With that thought foremost in his mind he flung Xavier's shuddering body aside and hurled himself at the older, stronger vampire fearlessly.

Elian caught him mid-charge. They twisted, and Steffen tried to lunge for his throat. Elian grabbed his face with one hand in a crushing grip, feeling the skull crack under his powerful fingers.

"I wonder, Steffen...should I toy with you, as you like to toy with your victims?" he growled low, lifting his hand so that the younger vampire hung like a rag doll, his kicking feet barely scraping the ground. "Should I prolong this torture for days, or weeks even? Break you, as you have broken so many others; so many sweet-tasting mortal boys?" He looked coldly into Steffen's dark eyes seeing defiance there and a little resignation, but no fear. That was good. He made up his mind quickly. "Or, perhaps not."

In an unimaginable demonstration of strength he tore Steffen's head clean from his shoulders with a twist and flick of his bare hand. The younger vampire's truncated heart-cry echoed in the hills for little more than a handful of seconds as he met his end.

Dusting his hands together as Steffen crumbled like ashes from a fire, Elian heard the sounds of Dominic Warren approaching through the undergrowth now. The fellow travelled softly but not soft enough to elude a vampire's sharp ears. Elian moved to Xavier's side as the mortal came into sight, hurrying a little more at the terrible cry he had just heard.

Elian reached down to help the human boy to his feet but the moment he touched him Xavier flailed at him.

"Don't touch me! Get the fuck away!" Xavier yelled in a choked voice as he tried to get to his knees and pull his clothes back on at the same time.

Elian hesitated; softly coaxed; "Let me help you, Xavier."

"No! Fuck off! I don't need your help." He had managed to get his pants up and he lurched to his feet. Blood was seeping from the deep and terrible bite at his neck, soaking into his shirt, but Xavier didn't notice it. He just wanted to get out of here. Get away from these people. Find a place he could curl up alone and sleep. He was so damn tired.