Disclaimer: There will be some language and harsh and gory details in this chapter, proceed with caution.
Three years later...
"In position. I have eyes on the target," Nathan's calm voice came through on Cade's ear piece as he settled into his own spot across the street from the small cafe where Marcus was supposedly grabbing a meal. Nathan's position was up in an abandoned apartment building with a clear view of the front entrance. He was to use his sniper rifle with specially made wooden bullets to slow Marcus down, while Cade went in to make sure he was finished.
All was calm, for the moment, and this would be a good chance to catch the vampire off guard and finally end his existence for good.
"It's quiet right now, but as soon as all hell breaks loose, be ready to take the shot," Cade replied smoothly. His eyes roaming along the windows to count how many civilians were present and to glimpse Marcus.
He heard Nathan scoff in his ear, "You sound like I haven't done this shit before. I was in the army, remember? Plus, with your craziness the past three years, I'm always doing this stuff and saving your ass."
Cade rolled his eyes and grinned, Nathan was right; Cade had dragged him along for his revenge and Nathan had adapted hard and fast to his vampire lifestyle, blowing every expectation of his through the roof with his brilliant strategic mind and skills. He couldn't help to be protective of him, however, he had changed him himself and wanted to keep him alive because they had grown into fast friends and he valued that relationship more than anything, not including his revenge against Marcus of course.
"Shut up, you imbecile, and keep your eyes on the prize," he shot back.
He didn't hear it, but he knew that Nathan was laughing at him, "Alright old man. One would think that you could come up with a more modern version of the word 'imbecile' with all the new technology and slang nowadays."
Cade grinned. He was right, sometimes he still talked like he was still in his youth. The insults now are more vulgar than they used to be. People had class back then and he couldn't quite shake the language. He was working on it though and slowly learning the new languages as time went by.
"Alright, idiot, focus before we miss him. It already took us a month to find him after we missed him the last time," he growled half-heartedly.
He heard his friend chuckle, "Alright. Alright. I have eyes on the target. Farthest northwest corner in the building from the window, he's talking to the waitress."
Cade nodded and shifted his eyesight to the vampire, easing into the focus of a trained killer instantly. "I've got him. Now we wait until he emerges," he sighed and leaned against the side of the building in the darkest shadows of an alley way nonchalantly. He became so still that it was almost as if he'd merged into the building, and to any onlookers who might walk by, that's how they'd think.
They waited patiently for over an hour, barely communicating with each other before Cade heard the curse in his ear from Nathan suddenly. Marcus hadn't moved, so he was confused as to what made his friend break focus. "What?"
"I see my sister," Nathan said after a moments hesitation. He hadn't seen or made any contact with his family in three years, so it had to have been a shock to see her after all this time. Cade wasn't sure what to say to him. "She's gotten beautiful," he mused, "I think she works at the cafe."
Cade tensed slightly, he had heard stories of Nathan's family and little sister over the years and he knew that his friend was extremely protective over her before the army claimed he was killed in action and sent his family the American flag as a tribute. "Where is she?" He asked quietly, he wanted to make sure that they didn't accidentally hurt her while trying to get to Marcus. He didn't want her blood on his hands, nor did he want to face Nathan's wrath for getting her involved.
"She just handed him his food. Tiny build, curly blonde hair, and chocolate brown eyes," he explained. Cade's eyes immediately found her. Nathan's little sister was truly gorgeous, he thought to himself, she looked like a small fairy with how small in stature she was. Her dimples winked every time she smiled at a customer and some of her hair had slipped from her ponytail to cascade around her delicate face. Just like three years ago with Nathan, he couldn't tear his gaze away. Something about the siblings caught and held his attention, as if fate wanted him to take notice of them.
"What do you want to do, brother?" Nathan asked. What he wanted to do was storm in there and carry his sister away from the danger in front of her, but he knew that wasn't what he was implying.
"All we can do is wait. I'm assuming Marcus intends to stay until closing time, we should be able to finish it then and keep your sister out of it." He hoped. All of their plans to get Marcus so far have ended up screwing them over because wherever they found Marcus, there was almost always a horde of humans around to dissuade them from taking him out without causing unintended harm to others.
"Right. Assuming the jackass will just let every employee and patron leave alive after close," Nathan said sarcastically.
"I'm hoping he'll at least be the last to leave and no innocent gets hurt because of us. We'll adapt to either option. We always do."
There was silence after that, both men focused on their task and each of them sending soothing thoughts to as many humans as they could to finish eating quickly and leave calmly so as not to alert Marcus of their presence. Cade took it upon himself to alert Nathan's sister to finish quickly and go right home after that. He didn't want Nathan to have to face her just yet. In a way, he wanted to protect them both from the heartache of being separated after all this time.
Soon enough, the open sign was flipped over to close as all but Marcus and a few employees had left once they finished eating. They watched expectantly for his sister to emerge, "Come on, Charlotte," Nathan chanted over and over again, willing his sister to come out safely. Cade found himself silently doing the same thing.
"Damn it," exclaimed Nathan suddenly, "it looks like he's going to try to take all the employees out. We have to get her out of there, Cade, I can't watch my baby sister die like that." They both knew how violent Marcus was when he fed and killed. He would rip out throats and spew whatever blood he doesn't gorge himself with all over the place, leaving bodies apart from heads and limbs like they were mismatched puzzle pieces. Cade's mind worked fast to figure out a solution when an idea came to him.
"You keep your gun aimed at Marcus, I'm going to distract him and bait him into coming outside, you take the shot and I'll finish him, then we'll get Charlotte to safety." Despite the gruesome details of the job and the necessary violence needed to do it, he felt an odd sense of warmth when her name rolled off of his tongue when he said her name out loud for the first time.
"Got it. I've got your six," Nathan confirmed as Cade moved out of the shadows swiftly and strode smoothly out onto the sidewalk in front of the window for Marcus to see him.
Once the black eyes of his once friend met his, Cade tilted his head in challenge. His mind touched Marcus's, smoothly bypassing the walls that were supposed to keep his thoughts hidden from others and spoke firmly, "Hello old friend, we finally meet again. I would like to speak with you face to face."
Marcus's grin was sinister, nothing like the boyish charm he used to have when they were children, this one was filled with disdain and rotten teeth. Being soulless changed a person, not only mentally but physically as well. Any good memories became twisted and dark, and the person they were once before became an evil version of who they used to be, the complete opposite of what vampire society deemed worthy of honor and justice.
"Ah Cade..." Marcus hummed back, "how nice to see you again. I suppose a chat is long overdue anyway." He stood up from his seat gracefully and walked to the door. He tugged on someone's wrist and pulled the person with him outside.
Cade barely contained the shock from spreading to his face when Charlotte was pushed in front of Marcus's body. Nathan growled in his ear piece a string of curse words at the situation in front of them. Cade couldn't speak out loud to his friend but sent a new plan through to Nathan's mind, to which he immediately calmed down and agreed saying, "The old plan wouldn't have worked anyway." Cade suppressed the urge to roll his eyes again at his friend's neverending sarcasm.
Charlotte's dark eyes were wide with fear, but she didn't move or make any noise so as not to force Marcus to hurt her. Cade sent calming thoughts to her while his eyes focused on the man holding onto her.
"It's been too long, Marcus," Cade started, his stance loose and elegant, ready to break into attack mode with the slightest of movements in an instant when he had to. "I see you've caused some havoc upon some unsuspecting locals around the area. I'm surprised you've stayed in one place for so long. You're usually pretty good at not staying immobile."
Marcus smiled and began caressing Charlotte's long locks beside her slender neck. "I've taken a liking to this place. The humans are quite tasty here," he eyed the rapidly beating pulse on Charlotte's neck with hungry black eyes. Cade watched as Marcus pulled her slightly closer to his body, preparing for a taste of her blood, and waited for the moment to make his move in getting her away from him.
"I do wish that you wouldn't feed on the humans in such a public place," he said wearily. He was tired of cleaning up the messes so that the hunters wouldn't be able to track them down. While not as many as there used to be of them, there were still quite a few that hunted his kind to the brink of extinction. Most vampires today we're in hiding, keeping to themselves. The ones that weren't, the soulless, were painting a bad image for the rest of them and making it dangerous to resume their lives the way they wished.
Marcus cut him a look of disdain before resuming his transfixed gaze on Charlotte's pulse, "I have no care if anyone sees my actions," he snarled, "I have always done as I wanted and I am not changing that now."
Cade clenched his teeth together, one of his fangs nicked the inside of his lip and he tried to keep his anger controlled. He just needed an opening on Marcus to get Charlotte away from him and to plunge the stake he had stuffed up his jacket sleeve into his black heart. With his strength and speed, he was sure he could do both. He just needed that tiny opening for Nathan to take a shot and distract him from her.
"Would you rather the hunters come for us this instant?" Cade questioned, shifting his footing slightly to see Marcus's attention shift as if he thought Cade would attack. He countered it with his own movement to one side, leaving an opening for Nathan, he heard the buzz of the bullet as it whizzed passed his ear and into the vampires chest and bolted forward to grab Charlotte, simply lifting her off her feet and placing her behind him protectively while always snapping the stake from his sleeve and into his hand and spinning in a graceful move towards Marcus's heart. He hit the chest plate full force, and even though his aim was always true, Marcus ended up shifting slightly but it was enough for Cade to miss the center of the heart and only graze the organ.
Marcus growled and staggered back, the poison from the wood hitting his blood stream quickly, but not enough to kill him, he sneered at Cade and Charlotte before using his speed to get away. Cade sighed, lost him again. At least he would be weak for awhile so they had a chance to find him again.
He heard Charlotte hyperventilating behind him and turned to her. She had her hand on her chest and he heard the quick pounding of her heart as she tried to calm herself. "It's alright. You're safe now," he spoke softly, trying to soothe her worries as much as he could. Her face was pale and her eyes were wet with unshed tears and slightly glazed over. She looked to be in shock and he glanced towards where Nathan was hiding. Good lord, he did not know how to handle a terrified woman, he thought in panic.
"Uh...a little help here?" He asked Nathan helplessly.
"Big bad Cade can't handle women, can he?" Nathan joked, to which Cade inwardly growled angrily at his friend. "Don't worry, I'm coming. Hopefully I can help ease the tension, she used to always calm down when I came around before, being dead might freak her out more though so be ready for some screaming or something."
Cade nodded and placed his hands on her shoulders gently, "Charlotte. I need you to calm down now, you're going to hurt yourself if you keep breathing like that. Can you take deep breaths for me?"
She met his eyes and nodded, slowing her breathing down at his insistence. Her heartbeat went back to a normal pace and her breathing was still slightly shaky as well as her whole body began to tremble from the aftermath of the situation as Nathan walked up behind her.
Cade met his friend's eyes and nodded, silently telling him that she was better than before. Nathan smiled gratefully, "Char?" he inquired softly, afraid of her reaction to seeing him alive (well, somewhat alive) in front of her. She stiffened at the nickname before slowly turning towards her brother.
"Nate?" She breathed out quietly in disbelief before she passed out. Cade reached out to catch her instinctively before she fell on the hard ground and lifter her in his arms easily.
"Well, that went better than expected," Nathan murmured as he looked at his sister's unconscious body as she curled into Cade's arms for warmth.
Cade sighed and shook his head, "She must have passed out because of the shock and of all the drama of the night, possibly from exhaustion as well. I'm not sure what to do here," he confessed. He was way out of his element right now; give him someone to fight or to kill, send him into a horde of hunters or soulless vampires to slay and he's golden, but this female literally had him at a loss on how to handle the situation. It must be because she looked so fragile and the need to protect her, not only for Nathan's sake but for his own, was immensely strong.
"We should take her home with us for now. Make sure she's okay and maybe to explain some things to her," Nathan suggested, staring at his sister in awe and confusion.
"Alright," Cade conceded, "worse case she leads a team of hunters our way..."
Nathan grinned, "She wouldn't do that to me."
Cade sighed again and they then headed home with Charlotte's tucked against his chest safely.
Alright guys! I wrote this while incredibly sleep deprived and a little depressed, so if it sucks I'm terrible sorry!
I just wanted to let you know that there are going to be some language and some brutal images throughout the story, I believe, so if you are not comfortable with it I will understand if you stop reading. I sincerely apologise if I offend any one of you. I have a dark mind sometimes and it shows when I'm writing, so no matter how hard I try, my stories always end up with some brutality in it.
I'm thinking of asking a question for you guys each time I post but knowing how scatterbrained I can be, it will probably only happen every once in awhile.
The first question is: How old is everyone? I am 25 and married so I hope the question isn't too straightforward, I just want to know how many ages are reading this so I can try to keep it appropriate for all ages.
Please comment, critique, and enjoy the story! I look forward to hearing from you guys! Bye for now!