“You let us in now, or I will cut your head off and drink your blood.”

Ra’ul gulped hard as the three men stood in front of him in the lobby.  They wore long trench coats and their skin was as pale as snow on a moonlit night. 

The one that seemed to take the lead rubbed his beard. “So, will you let us in, or will I be having a free meal tonight?” 

The man next to him had long flowing hair, and a fresh scar across his face.  He calmly looked about his comrades, “I think we should gut him now.”

Ra’ul looked at the man speechless; he rang for security several times, but they were nowhere to be seen.  All of the guests had left, and he was now alone and afraid in the lobby.

The man with the scar reached his hand into his coat pocket.  Ra’ul’s eyes opened wide as he took a step back. 

“This way gentlemen.”  All four of the men at the desk looked at the large ornate doors.  Scott was standing their holding them open, “Mr. Bartlett wasn’t expecting you so early.” 

The vampire with the scar pulled his hand from his coat and waved the other two men to follow. 

Mr. Scott held out his hand inviting them to enter past the heavy wooden doors.  The vamps gave him a dirty look as they passed. 

The bearded vampire spoke up as they entered the restaurant, “We don’t need permission to see our dear friend, Mr. Bartlett.” 

Scott smiled at the bearded vamp. “You should watch your tongue, Bradock.  You have few friends here.” 

The vampire with the fresh scar stepped forward to Scott.  Bradock stopped him with his hand, “Not here Yerick… at least not now.”  Bradock let a malicious grin overtake his face as he finished his sentence.

Scott stood in front of the men unaffected by their taunts. “Please, follow me gentlemen.” 

Bradock turned to the third vampire, “Stev, keep your nose up, she could be hiding anywhere.” The third vampire nodded and followed them up the stairs. 

When they reached the top, Yerick looked at the lone table overlooking the restaurant.  Sitting all alone was Andrelle, grabbing some food off of Red’s plate across the table.  “Look who it is boss.” Yerick nudged Bradock with his elbow. “The traitor, Andrelle, is here.  The girl must be close.”   

Yerick started to reach into his coat again when Bradock grabbed Yericks arm. 

Bradock shook his head at Yerick disapprovingly, “You already screwed up once tonight. Don’t make any moves without my say so.  We can’t afford mistakes this late in the master’s plan.”  Yerick bit his lip and shrugged off his fellow vampire.

  Bradock turned and smiled as Scott led them towards the table.  He knew the elevator to Mr. Bartlett’s office was on the other side, but letting the girl vampire know that she was found out would be a nice topping to this night.  Once he returned with the little girl, master would make a place for him in the new world.

As the trio of vampires got closer to the table, Andrelle looked behind her, hearing the footsteps of several men.  She saw Bradock and her eyes opened wide, behind him she noticed Yerick, the vampire from the warehouse.  She quickly turned back to her food and whispered to herself, “I knew I should have killed him when I had the chance.” 

She soon felt a hand on her shoulder. “I can relax now that I know where you are, my dear.”  Andrelle looked back to see Bradock smiling a devilish grin. 

“Even my friend, Yerick, is happy to see you.” 

Yerick stepped forward and started to say something, but Andrelle quickly cut him off, “Nice face, Yerick, did you do something new?” 

Yerick’s jaw clenched and he bit his lip again, drawing blood.  He quickly reached down and grabbed the back of her neck. “How about I kill you now?  I missed my chance at the warehouse.” 

A sharp pain hit Yerick in the chest. He looked up at Scott.  The man’s hand jabbed at his chest.  Scott gave a slight shove and Yerick jerked back, catching himself from falling. 

Scott’s face was cold as stone. “We are here for business,” Scott pulled his arm back to his body, putting his hands behind his back. “If you step out of line again, you will have to deal with me.” A thin smile then spread across his face, “And them.” 

The vamps looked behind them to see several of the restaurant’s guards holding large rifles.  Bradock shifted from side to side a bit, deciding whether or not he could take them on.  He then forced a smile onto his face and raised his hand to Scott, “Lead the way.”

“I need you to hide in here for now.” Mr. Bartlett slowly pushed Sam and Starr into his closet. 

Sam stopped him before he shut the door, “What’s going on here? Answer me now!” 

Mr. Bartlett gave an uneasy smile. “I have some expected guests that are looking for a certain little girl.” 

Sam frowned, “What?” 

Mr. Bartlett tossed her bag into the room and shut the door on Sam, leaving her in the small closet with Starr and a mountain of questions.  She stood quietly for a moment, and then looked down at Starr, who was covering her mouth to keep quiet.  Sam was tired of all the secrecy surrounding Mr. Bartlett.  She wanted answers, answers to why he left her, answers to why everyone was after this little girl, answers to anything.

She shook her head. “Enough.”  She reached up to the closet handle when the elevator rang out with a ding.  She froze and peered through the very small slit in the closet door, trying to get a look at who was entering the room. 

Scott entered first, leaning in to Mr. Bartlett and whispering to him.  Mr. Scott then walked over to the desk, looking in the closet at Sam.  He gave a quick wink and turned to the men that had entered the room. 

They all wore trench coats that seemed to flow in a gust of wind as they walked about. 

Sam could only get a good look at the first man who entered.  He held out his hand to Mr. Bartlett, using his other hand to stroke his beard.

 Mr. Bartlett spoke up as he did so. “I see Horus sent his lapdogs to meet with me.  Too busy to do his dirty work I see.”  Mr. Bartlett smirked.  “He fears what I might do to him if he steps foot through my doors.” 

Bradock’s fist clenched tighter around Mr. Bartlett’s, but Mr. Bartlett gave no sign of pain, “You should be more polite when you talk about our master that way.  He is less forgiving than I am.” 

Sam tried to get a better look at the other two men.  One of them was sniffing about the wall, examining the photos.  The other was still partially behind the man with the beard.  After a few moments of shifting about the closet, Sam was finally able to see him. 

She caught her words before they left her mouth.  It was the vampire from the docks, but she had thought Joseph and Andrelle had killed him, but then again, she hadn’t stayed to find out. 

Starr saw the same man, and edged closer to Sam.  She put her arm around Sam’s leg, and looked up at her in worry.  Sweat was starting to form on the girl’s forehead.

“Let us get on with business please.  I would like to get to sleep before the sun rises, and rid myself of this hideous scar.” The vampire pointed to his face.

The bearded vampire nodded, “Yerick is right.  Do you have the girl or not?” 

Sam grabbed the girl standing next her in the closet, who was still covering her mouth to not let out a scream.  Mr. Bartlett wouldn’t betray her or Starr. He couldn’t.  She had known him to be one of the good guys, the one on her side.  It would all be over shortly if he led them to the small closet.  Starr would be taken and Sam would be killed by the vampires. 

“Let’s not be too hasty gentlemen, you are in my house after all.” Mr. Bartlett strode towards his desk and grabbed his drink.  Scott moved out of his way and stood by the elevator.  “I do not have the girl yet, but she will be here shortly.” Mr. Bartlett took a sip of his drink, and picked up his cane from the side of the desk.  He took a few steps towards the men. “What do you want with her anyway?” 

Sam eased up a bit, she was right about him.  Mr. Bartlett was playing them for information, but the vampire sniffing about the pictures was getting closer to the closet as he inspected the ancient art in the room. 

The third vampire was doing the same thing as Mr. Bartlett, playing the room for information.  Hopefully, Mr. Bartlett would be first to finish, otherwise Sam would be a sitting duck in the closet.  Sam swallowed hard.  Starr followed her lead, and swallowed as hard as she could.

“Do not assume we are friends, Mr. Bartlett.”  The lead vampire stepped forward.  Sam could see rage starting to form on his face.  His neck was tightening as he spoke on, “Our plans are our own, and the vampire race will be quite pleased with them.”  His face lit up with a large smile, revealing the fangs inside his mouth. “Now I would ask again, when will the girl be here? Horus will be displeased if we return empty handed, especially after all the men we lost tonight.” 

Mr. Bartlett took another sip of his drink, and set it back on the table.  His calm demeanor had cast a strange air about him.  He wasn’t the least bit taunted by these men.  “Horus can wait.  She gets here when she gets here.”  His words made the vampires enraged.

The vampire, Yerick, clenched his fist, drawing blood in his palm, and reached into his trench coat, “I’m tired of all this waiting.  Let’s end this now!”  He pulled a large pistol from his jacket and aimed at Mr. Bartlett’s head.

The other two vamps began to reach in their coats, but stopped dead in their tracks. 

Scott stood back, holding two pistols, aimed at the other vampires’ heads.  There was a tense silence in the room. 

Sam pulled Starr even closer to her.  She would need to get Starr to the floor if the bullets started flying. 

Mr. Bartlett stared down the barrel of the gun and into Yerick’s eyes.

The moment of silence was broken by the laughter of Mr. Bartlett.  The vampires looked around at each other, confused by the man in front of them.

“Please gentlemen, even if I did have the girl, you broke the rules.” Mr. Bartlett walked back to his desk and flipped the monitor around. 

Bradock took a slow step forward, “What do you mean?” 

Mr. Bartlett showed them a white van, on the monitor.  It was parked outside the Fall GriGri.  “I’m guessing this isn’t yours then?”  He then flipped the image to another van outside, and then another and another.  He pulled them all up at once. “You brought guests without asking.”

Bradock and Yerick looked at each other.  Scott’s guns were still drawn, keeping them from making any brash moves.

Mr. Bartlett then took his place in front of the group. “Now, will you leave, or do I have to make you?” 

There was another silence in the room. 

The third vampire tilted his head up, and started sniffing the air again.  He could smell something, something human along with something else.

Everyone turned to him.  He slowly smiled and looked at his comrades, “She’s over there!”  He pointed to the closet and started to pull his pistol out. 

Yerick kicked backwards, catching Scott off guard, and knocking him to the ground. 

As Scott fell he aimed at the vampire in front of him, getting two shots off in his chest. 

Yerick shouted in pain and fell to the ground. 

The third vampire moved towards the closet, his pistol drawn.  As he was about to open the door, it swung open hard, knocking the gun from his hand.  He looked in horror as he saw a woman inside with an axe. 

There was no time to move as she swung down on the vampire’s head.  He let out a short gurgle then fell to the floor, bursting to flames.

Mr. Bartlett pulled up his cane and grabbed the silver-balled top.  He pulled off the bottom, which revealed a thin sword.  He stepped up to Bradock, who aimed his gun at Mr. Bartlett, shooting him twice in the chest.  Mr. Bartlett smiled. “You know that won’t work.” 

Bradock tossed the gun aside and held up his fists. 

Mr. Bartlett let out a short laugh, and then disappeared in a gust of black smoke. 

Bradock froze in wonder. “What are you?” 

Mr. Bartlett reappeared behind the vampire, “I’m a man,” he slashed at the vampire several times, disappearing again as the vampire turned to fight him. 

The gust of smoke reappeared behind the vampire. “Who hates.”  He again slashed the vampire multiple times, disappearing like before. “Rats like you.” 

Bradock tried to turn to meet the man again, but failed as he vanished before he could do so.  Deep cuts now had covered the vampire’s body. 

Mr. Bartlett then appeared in front of Bradock, “Infesting my planet.”  He took one more swing at the vampire throat, cutting clean through. “Join the rest of your kin, monster.” 

Mr. Bartlett then kicked the vampire out of the window overlooking the restaurant.  Glass shattered as the vampire flew through it and tumbled to the ground, cut in two pieces.  He exploded into flames as his body hit the ground, leaving a pile of ash.

Yerick looked around the room still lying on the ground.  His eyes stopped at the broken window.  He knew how to escape now.  He jumped up and pushed Mr. Bartlett aside as he leapt out the window and flew to the ground. 

Scott stood and ran to the window, firing his guns at the vampire gliding below him. 

Mr. Bartlett held out his hand for him to stop. “Save your bullets.  There are more outside.” 

Sam stepped forward, grabbing Mr. Bartlett’s arm, “What was that all about?”  She held tightly, not letting him go until he finally answered her.

Mr. Bartlett sheathed his sword and looked at Starr, who jumped over the dead vampire’s scorch mark on the ground, and ran to Sam’s side. 

“The vampires want the girl, more than everyone else it seems.  I’m still not sure why, but I’ll do everything I can to find out, if we make it through this.” 

Sam furrowed her brow, “Make it through what?” 

Mr. Bartlett walked to his desk and pulled out a revolver.  Sam recognized it as the revolver he used four years ago.  Her memories of that night shot back into her mind, and she suddenly got a pins and needles feeling in her stomach.

Mr. Bartlett holstered the gun in his jacket, “A horde of vampires, what else?”

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