The Loners Ch. 12

"It's because I didn't want this to happen! Any of it! You're asking me like I fucking wanted all of this to happen! Fuck you! I just wanted us to be left alone and in fucking peace! I'm fucking frustrated at the fact that that will never happen now!" Rachel took another much needed drag.

"Great, just fucking great. First, I stick my neck out to try and get you guys out of there alive, and all you fucking decide to do is give me an attitude, thanks a fucking lot!"

"It's not what you did that that I have a problem with! It's your attitude! You come flying in after Katie and I have been worrying about you, and tell us both to search corpses!? You completely disregarded the fact that Katie might not have been mentally ready to deal with such a thing."

"And then, you harshly tell her to not fuck up, like she's some idiotic disobedient child who isn't going through a small bit of trauma? She deserves at least a little respect and caring, something you completely lack right now for some reason! And lastly, you blatantly blow smoke right into my face in a show of complete disrespect! That's what I have a problem with!"

The tension remained high as the car went silent. Katie hadn't dared to try and speak, though this was one of the things she had feared. Rachel at this moment was acting like a completely different person.

Alan and Rachel stared each other down, until finally, Rachel relented, looking away, and settled back into her seat. She put out the finished cigarette she was smoking, and lit up another one immediately.

"Look...I'm sorry. I just...I have a lot going on and it's all getting to me okay?" Rachel's voice had gone soft, as though she were normal again.

Rachel took another drag as Alan watched her closely, and Rachel realized that he would not accept an apology only. He needed, no, he deserved an explanation, as did Katie.

Rachel took another drag. "Look, there's something you two need to understand. I'll begin by asking this, just what exactly did you think I did for sixty two years when I was trying to win Caleb's attention? If you think it was playing dress-up for him, or trying to be the best sex servant possible, you are sadly mistaken. Caleb has no need for more sex dolls, he's got plenty of those."

"No...what he needed was someone who was strong, someone that he could depend on. At least, that's how I looked at it at the time. In any case, that's how I got started. I spent my earlier years as a vampire becoming proficient with various weapons, whether they be a sword, guns, or even an RPG. I also learned the art of killing, whether it be quick and quiet, or painful and loud. Saboteur, assassin, drug dealer, pimp, these are all terms that described me for those sixty years. Sure, Vampire Lords have legitimate businesses that make money for them, but most of their money is made through the untraceable manner, underground."

Rachel took a small break to take another puff of her cigarette, while Katie and Alan listened intently, stunned at what they were hearing.

"I've seen and done a lot of fucked up shit for the sixty two years that I've tried to gain Caleb's attention. I've sold drugs to kids who were still in middle or even grade school if money could be made. Hell, I've sold off ten to fifteen year old girls that sick hardcore bastards love to break. I have mutilated, tortured, and killed people in ways that would make your stomachs turn upside down."

"I won't make any excuses, but I'll say this, to help cope with all of this fucked up shit I was doing, I kind of developed a second persona per say. Like a war veteran who has tasted battle and forever has a brand new yet separate part of themselves that some develop to help them cope with the horrors of war. I did the same thing, if I hadn't, I probably would have been driven insane. I'm sorry to say, but you two just got a small glimpse of that part of me, my dark side as I have come to know it."

Rachel turned away, staring out the window, killing the cigarette she was smoking. "That was the biggest thing I wanted to escape from. After sixty two years, I couldn't stand this part of me that I had created any longer. This cold, merciless, and unforgiving monster that had failed to do the one thing I wanted it to do. It was naive of me to think so, but I had hoped that maybe, I could free myself and wipe my slate clean."

Rachel turned to Alan. "When I met you, it was like a dim light in a world of darkness. A small beacon that could perhaps lead me to freedom...but..." Tears began to form in her eyes, and she was now openly crying. Rachel turned away.

"Instead I'm doing the exact opposite! You're not bringing me to the light, instead, I'm dragging both of you into my darkness!" She cried out, leaning up against the door as she shook with her cries.

"Rachel...why didn't you tell me any of this?" Alan asked.

"How could I!? How could I tell the one decent, normal person that I love that for sixty two years I was little more than a ruthless, cold hearted bitch? Just how the fuck did you expect me to do that Alan!?"

Rachel's anger filled response caused Alan's own anger to rise. "I don't know, okay! But any fucking time would have been better than right now!"

"And what the fuck would you have wanted me to say!? Tell me, how exactly would you have wanted me to start such a conversation!? Just wake up one morning and have me say 'oh by the way, I'm a cold blooded killer?' Think with your fucking head!"

"You're saying it right now!"

"Because I was forced to, you fucking asshole! The whole point was that I didn't want to say it!"

"So, you would have us live with a fucking lie, is that right!? What else can I trust you with now, huh? What else could you be lying about!?"

"Don't you dare go there, don't you fucking dare..."

"And why shouldn't I? You just admitted that you were going to try and lie to me for the rest of our lives? And it wouldn't be the first fucking time I've been lied to!"

"FUCK YOU!!! YOU KNOW THAT MY FEELINGS FOR YOU ARE REAL!!!"

"IF THEY WERE, THEN YOU WOULD HAVE TOLD ME THE TRUTH FROM THE START!!!"

"YOU SON OF A-" Rachel didn't even finish as she punched Alan on the right side of his face. She had luckily held back at the last second, but it was still a hard blow, enough to draw blood.

Every pair of eyes in the car widened at the event that just took place. Even more of a surprise was that Alan had taken the strike with almost no flinch, though he did turn his head before Rachel had struck him.

Rachel and Alan's eyes met, each of them conveying a wide range of emotions. Rachel slowly removed her fist, revealing that she had indeed drawn blood, as blood began to slowly pour out of the corner of Alan's lip.

Katie had seen and heard enough, and she began to pull over to park so she could say her piece.

Tears formed in Rachel's eyes once more as Alan stared her down. He was like she was, and the was the first time that Rachel had seen this side of Alan. He could be just as equally, no, even more cruel than she was. He knew how to attack where it hurt the most, the heart.

After a few moments, Alan relented, and his expression turned to one of regret. He realized that he had stepped over a very fine line, even though he was the one who was struck.

"I'm sorry." He said apologetically, and quietly.

Rachel fought back her sobs, though she was still shaking with them.

Katie had stopped the car, and turned to the two of them. "May I say something?" Katie asked. When neither of them answered her, she began, first with Alan.

"I think we all accept that you went too far with that last comment. I've only been with you guys for a few days, and even I can clearly see just how much she cares about you. True, Rachel was hiding something from you, but it certainly didn't mean that her feelings for you are false. That was a low blow that even I felt from up here."

Alan's head shrank into his shoulders, and he leaned up against the window. "I know." He said quietly, wanting more than anything to take back those words.

Katie then turned to Rachel. "He is right on one thing though. He has every right to know the truth, no matter how terrible it is. He has every right to know everything about the woman that he loves. You were wrong to hide such a large part of yourself from him, despite your intentions."

How Katie had become the mediator at that moment, none of them would be able to answer for the rest of their lives. Not even Katie herself.

"More importantly, however, is what is happening right this moment. As Rachel said, we have serious problems, let's deal with all of that first. Any ideas?" Katie asked.

Silence hung in the car once more, and though most of the tension was gone, it was replaced by a very depressing atmosphere. Both Alan and Rachel were facing the windows opposite one another, choosing to stare outside into the night rather than face each other or Katie.

"At the very least, we should leave this state." Rachel answered quietly. "As we do, we should switch cars on the road. I don't know if anyone from the motel spotted us on our way out."

It was here that Katie got a good look at Rachel's wounds, which surprisingly, hadn't been brought up yet. Then again, with the way Rachel had been acting, one wouldn't think that she had been shot.

"What about your wounds? Are you alright?" Katie asked.

"Yeah, I had a chance to feed from the cops that I had killed and replaced the blood that I had lost. I'll be fine, the wounds have already healed, but, I'll need to change clothes and dispose of these." Rachel said, eyeing her blood stained outfit.

Katie sighed as she turned back to the front. "So, we're on the road again, are we? Where should we go?"

"South. New Mexico or Arizona would be good choices to start, just avoid crowded areas." Rachel quietly answered.

Katie started up the car and began driving in that direction. The car remained silent as she did so, and Katie noticed that neither Alan nor Rachel would face one another.

*****

The cops arrived at the scene of the massacre. It turned their stomach that so many of their fellow officers had been brutally killed. They questioned the motel clerk, and got descriptions of the three individuals that he had seen.

However, what Alan, Rachel, and Katie didn't know is that they actually got a lucky break, for no one knew what vehicle they were using. There were no cameras at the motel, and the bystanders hadn't dared tried to get a look outside since the gunfight had begun.

What the cops found most interesting though, was the four bodies that were on the ground, beheaded. Just who were they? And when did they show up? And why were they beheaded? Especially since two of them had bullet holes in them, which looked like it would have been fatal. And that's not even counting the one that looked he had been blasted at point blank with a shotgun.

They carried no form of identification, not even a driver's license. The cops would then receive a bigger surprise when several individuals in suits arrived, and immediately flashed FBI badges.

The officer in charge of the scene was immediately suspicious. What the hell were the FBI doing here? One of the agents approached him.

"What can you tell me about what has transpired here tonight?" The agent asked, not bothering to reveal his name.

Fucking FBI, think they're so much bigger than the rest of us. The cop thought to himself. However, he still had to answer to him.

"Sir, from what I understand, we were tipped off by the motel clerk that a missing person named Alan Brooks from New York had turned up here, along with two other unknown individuals. One was a black haired mid twenties woman, and the other was a blonde haired early twenties woman. Ten officers were sent in case it was a hostage situation. Every thing was going smooth until the black haired woman kicked the door down in the room they were staying in. Now this is one of the weird elements of this scene."

The cop gestured to the door, which hadn't been moved from where it was found. "This woman managed to kick this door, along with one of the officers that was behind this door twenty to thirty feet, right off the hinges. I've never seen anything like it, though I wasn't present at the scene at the time. After that, everything went to hell. According to the officers on the scene, before they were taken out, they were reporting that it was only the black haired woman that had attacked them, with only a single pistol in her hand, along with whatever she was picking up."

The cop then walked over to the four unidentified bodies. "Now here's another mystery. I have no clue who these guys are, or why they're here."

"They're ours." The FBI agent answered. The cop turned to him. "Undercover. This is not to be repeated, but we have been trailing the black haired girl in particular for some time. We believe she is a highly trained terrorist or perhaps even an international hostile operative. They had been instructed to bring her in the first chance they got. It is most unfortunate that they have failed."

Cold hearted bastard. The cop thought to himself. "There's more. When backup arrived on the scene, they saw one of our cars take off, and backup gave chase. The car then ran into an intersection, where it crashed. However, when our officers closed in on the car, we discovered that it was empty. There's no way that the driver could have jumped out, although we are reviewing the cameras on the cars now to ensure that we didn't miss anything."

The FBI agent turned and snapped his fingers, causing one of the other agents to turn and rush to him. "Confiscate all camera recordings from the cars." He instructed. The second agent silently nodded and walk off.

"H-hey!"

The FBI agent turned. "I'm going level with you, officer..."

"Tippet." What a fucking arrogant choice of words, Tippet thought to himself.

"Officer Tippet. This is a matter of national security at this point. According to all of the evidence, this single woman managed to not only take out ten officers and four of our own, but somehow managed to drive off in a car then suddenly vanished as she crashed the car. Is that the assumption you're proceeding under?"

Officer Tippet nodded.

The FBI agent then took of his black glasses, revealing his cold, brown eyes. "The truth of this situation is a very complex matter. However, I would like to ask you and your officers that are present here tonight to come to our office. Once there, we can...clear up some things."

*****

Lord Christian was furious. That fucking cunt managed to turn the situation upside down. At least the clean up crew was on scene, and much of the evidence of the girl's seemingly superhuman abilities will be erased. However, there's no way that this incident will be hidden from the other Vampire Lords, for it was already on the local news.

Lord Christian had been operating under the impression that the girl was a low level vampire that got lucky when she evaded Victor, but it seems that is not the case. Leave it to a fucking neo-Nazi sexist like Lord Caleb to completely overlook the fact that the girl might actually be strong, even if she isn't at the level of a Greater yet. That assumption may also be false, since the Lords choose who their Greaters are.

Not only had he been completely embarrassed by this girl, but now, the information he had was no longer worth anything, for Caleb would now figure out just who was traveling with the girl.

"Lord Christian." Troy came into his office.

"What!?"

"The other Lords are calling, they are requesting a video conference to review the situation concerning Caleb Rachel the Third."

Fuck. This was going to be humiliating. Lord Christian was now determined to have the girl and human brought to him so that he could kill them himself.