Blood: Awakening - Part 3

 

As the rain began to come down harder, the rush from Kaydle's first feeding began to intensify. All of her senses were amplified and beginning to overpower her. Her heightened senses combined with processing everything that was going on caused her to experience what felt like a very intrusive panic attack. She spun out of control and collapsed behind some garbage cans just as the backdoor to the nightclub flew open again. This time, a very large, muscular man accompanied by more goons stepped through the door and into the alley. 

Zulu (center)

The frontman walked over to Shotz's body and examined him. "Alive. Pick him up and bring him in." He then went to examine Kaydle's first victim. He nudged his former goon over with his foot and revealed a hole in his abdomen. "This is no gunshot. There is no burning." He said as he then turned his attention towards the last badly beaten man. His body was stiff, almost petrified. The large man examined the body and noticed the claw marks torn through his shirt and into his shoulders. "What on earth could have done.." his words were cut short as he further examined and noticed 2 small holes in the man's neck. "This...this can not be true. Gather Shotz and get inside NOW!" 

Shotz groaned as they lifted him up and he regained his consciousness. "Ay, ay Zulu man, it's some spooky shit going on out here my dude." Zulu ran over to Shotz then responded, "Shotz, tell me what happened. What did you see?" The interview was cut short as Kaydle came roaring from the shadows. To her surprise, Zulu was very agile as he immediately turned her way and dodged her attack which caused her to collide with one of the goons attempting to help Shotz up. "Oh SHIT!" screamed Shotz as he went flying back to the ground. "It's her! shoot this crazy bitch!"

Anxious Shotz

Shotz readied his shotgun as Kaydle wrestled on the ground with his fallen comrade. The other unnamed gunman jumped into the scuffle once he noticed the small woman was easily overpowering his friend. Kaydle was handling her own against the 2 until a swift running-charged kick from Zulu knocked her into a wall, giving Shotz a clear opportunity. "BANG!" Kaydle was swept off of her feet as the shells shredded her leg. The second she fell to the floor Zulu charged in with a power flurry of uppercuts, alternating left and right with each swing. Kaydle regained her composure and caught Zulu's fist, only to be met by another shotgun blast to her shoulder as Zulu ducked down and Shotz leaned in to deliver the blow. "Fuck!" Thought Kaydle to herself as she felt whatever force that charged her before beginning to fade away, "I don't think I can-" "CRACK!" a metal pipe to the back of her head sent her sprawling forward. Zulu leapt into Kaydle and snatched her up then swiftly slammed her into the ground, using her own momentum to power up his attack. 

Defeated Kaydle

The men stood over Kaydle's body as Shotz readied his shotgun at the back of her head. "Zulu say the word I'll dead this bitch right here and now." Said Shotz as his itchy trigger finger thirsted for blood. Sirens could be heard in the distance as Zulu sent one last brutal kick to Kaydle's ribs just in case she was regaining her strength. "No Shotz. Restrain and take her downstairs to the rat room. I have an idea." Zulu and his men hoisted Kaydle up as Shotz sent a devastating blow to the back of her head with the handle of his shotgun as a precaution. They gathered Kaydle, their remaining men, and some shell casings then hurried back inside the back door of the club. 

Zulu scheming

Deep in the woods miles away from the city, footsteps could be heard echoing faintly through a cold, dark cavern. As he turned the corner swiftly and silently, Damien ran his fingers through his ghostly-white hair as he tilted his head back and exclaimed "Ahhh...I sense my little fledgling has had her first feeding. it won't be long now." He hissed to himself menacingly as he made his way deeper through the cavern. 

Damien

He continued walking silently through the dark down a narrow walkway. He walked for another 20 feet and then stopped at a dead end. There was a small hole barely big enough for him to fit through at his feet. Damien silently leaped down and into the hole. He gracefully landed on his feet at the mouth of a wider, dimly candlelit area in the cavern. It was an ominous room illuminated with oil lamps and candles. In the center of the room, there sat a medieval-style table with a small number of hooded individuals sitting at it. At the head of the table sat a very pale, serious-looking woman who shared some resemblance to Damien.  

Danielle (center) 

"Where have you been brother? Off toying with those disgusting mortals as if we do not have our own issues to tend to?" Damien posted up against the wall of the cavern and hissed back, "That mortal will be the key to restoring our coven to glory. Wasting your time thinking of ways to keep the dogs satisfied when we should be expanding. Regaining this region." The pale woman clasped her hands together and then responded, "Speaking of the dogs, I do not know what you are up to in the tunnels but I've gotten complaints of a very particular smell coming from your little experiment areas. Whatever it is you are up to? Wrap it up." Damien scoffed at his sister as he ran his fingers through his hair and said, " Mind your tongue when you speak to me, Danielle. I am not one of these worms scrambling for a seat at the table. And I will wrap up my experiments when I am good and ready to." Damien laughed as he made his exit, silently fading into the darkness. 

Further into the caverns, Damien wandered almost aimlessly through the dark silently grinning to himself. He stopped at what appeared to be a caged door on the floor of the cavern. Damien hissed as he kicked dirt and rocks down into the cage. He then grabbed a torch from the wall and dropped it into the cage in the ground. As the torch fell, half-eaten bodies of large, fur-covered animals were revealed to be scattered inside. Damien watched the torch fall as he hissed "Ahhh there you are! Soon our little friend will be strong enough to come for you. Then I'll have the perfect soldier to rebuild my army with. Enjoy your lunch, beast." Cackled Damien as he kicked more dirt and rocks down into the cage. The rocks fell through and extinguished the flame of the torch as a dirty, bloody hand reached out toward the dying light. "Kaydle..." groaned Alison in the darkness, "Where are you?"

Back at the nightclub, Zulu was held up in his office debriefing his men on their current situation. "The police are gone. We had the cleaners sweep the alley before they arrived. They found nothing. Is the girl secured in the rat room, Jay?" A younger goon with mid-length dreaded hair flashed a thumbs up. "Good. Return to the rat room and hold things down." Jay nodded and made his exit. Zulu then motioned for the door to be locked, poured himself a shot, and said, " In my tribe growing up I heard stories. Stories of creatures in the night." He continued to talk as he knocked back his shot of liquor then glanced over a massive book collection that sat beneath 2 tribal spears. "These creatures of the night, vampires. They are strong. Fast. Capable of miraculous things." Shotz brought fire to the end of his blunt, inhaled then said, "Yeah because I shot the bitch like 57 times with a shotty, and she just, not dead. What the fuck type of shit?" Zulu raised his hand to silence Shotz then continued. "My point exactly. If we had that type of power on our side? We could take over this entire city like nothing." 

Zulu's inner circle of men began to chatter amongst themselves nervously as they contemplated what their fearless and, up until now, trustworthy leader had just proposed to them. Shotz shot through the general chatter and said "Man listen. I don't know what's going on. To be real with yall? If I hadn't seen the shit for my damn self? I would honestly think Zulu sounds crazy with this creature of the night shit. That little white lady we got in the cage down there aint normal. I don't want no parts of that shit bossman." 

Shotz Declining

Zulu could sense the hesitation in the air. His infatuation with the specific topic had temporarily blinded him to his reality. Zulu had studied creatures of the night as well as other dark arts for years. It was shunned by his people growing up so most of his studying was done in secret. Now that he has undeniable proof, Zulu intends to take full advantage of their situation. He cleared his throat and then said, "I understand that some of you may not wish to be blessed with such a gift. That is fine with me. Something tells me we will need mortal men in our corner to handle certain business aspects of the game. We also do not know if the girl we captured can gift us or not. From what I understand, she must have been gifted by an ancient vampire to have the ability to turn others. Make no mistake, whether you want to believe it or not, that girl healed from gunshot wounds before our eyes. I want a power like that for our family. Immortality, strength, speed. I want it. We WILL have it."

Downstairs in the nightclub, Kaydle was held in a large dungeon-like area. She found herself in yet another cage only this time her hands were shackled to the wall behind her forcing her arms to hang over her head. "Well, this is just fucking lovely." She said out loud as she re-adjusted herself. "My body feels so weird. I know I took some damage out there but I really don't feel too much paint. More like a slight discomfort. I have to get out of here." She struggled with the chains as she tested out their toughness by pulling them down. The wall behind her began to creak as she pulled. "I think I can break out of here.." There was a loud bang on the cage as a young man with short dreads tapped the bars with a pipe. "Cut that shit out man I don't want to have to splatter your shit." He said to Kaydle as he aimed a very large shotgun at her head. "I can feel those other wounds healing but I don't think I could take a shotgun to the face." She thought as she began to settle down. 

Kaydle enslaved

"What's your name Kid? You don't even look that much younger than me.." Said Kaydle to her captor. "Jay. Now shut the fuck up I'm not supposed to be talking to you." Kaydle fell back into a slump as she began to run through some ideas in her mind. "I could try that thing I pulled with the guard in jail. I don't even know how I did it but it would be worth a shot." Just then the door opened and Zulu walked in accompanied by Shotz. "Ah our star awakes!" Said Zulu excitedly with his arms raised as he approached the cage. "Kaydle hissed and exposed her fangs as she shot back, "What in the fuck do you want with me? Let me out of here now and I promise I won't kill all of you." Zulu leaned close to the cage and examined Kaydle. "Your energy is fading is it not? You were recently turned, weren't you? That would explain how we defeated you so easily." Shotz choked at what he heard. "Easily? A nigga died, what?!" Zulu raised his hand demanding silence then continued, "I have a business proposition for you. If you are interested that is." 

Kaydle glared at Zulu for a brief moment and then fired back, "What in the hell could you possibly want with me?" Zulu glanced at his book, flipped through some pages then responded, "Your gift. I know what you are. I want to harness your abilities for my organization. We could be unstoppable. Rich beyond your wildest dreams, and most importantly, immortal. All-powerful beings. You may not know how to bestow your gift, but I believe if we work together we can figure it out." Kaydle sat silently as she thought about what Zulu had just said. As Zulu glared back at her while he awaited her response, Kaydle had a bright idea to possibly gain some leverage in her grim situation. "Look man, I'm not entirely sure what the hell is going on with me, to be honest. You are right, I'm feeling a little drained. You seem to know a little something about what's going on so I tell you what. I'll accept your offer and do my best to help you guys out under one condition. My friend is missing. She was kidnapped. I'm wanted and I need help finding her. You help me, I'll help you." Zulu placed his hand on his chin as he digested the information he obtained from Kaydle. This missing friend business was none of his concern. He also had this captor at his mercy, no place for demands. However, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for extraordinary power and immortality. His mind was mad. "You have a deal. Jay, open her cage." 

Jay

Jay put his blunt out against the wall and then said, "Bossman you sure about this shit? This lady is a whole monster, like, this is crazy." Zulu snapped a quick glare at Jay that informed the grunt he had better do as instructed. Jay made his way to the cage and opened the door. Zulu stepped inside the cage and knelt down in front of Kaydle as he examined her now-healed wounds up close. "Extraordinary. Shotz nearly blew your shoulder off and yet you barely have a scratch. This friend of yours, I'm confident I can lend you a hand. Not too much goes on in this city without me knowing. I have a lot of information on what I believe you are experiencing as I said. You have a home with us as long as you are willing to hold up your end of the bargain." Said Zulu as he unlocked Kaydle's wrist restraints. Kaydle looked at Zulu and then replied, "Yeah that's fine. Any help I can get right now, the better. I'm new to this whole thing but I know one thing for damn sure. I'm hungry. After what happened in that alley, I think it's a good idea if I made that public information from here on out." Zulu grinned as he placed his hand on Kaydle's shoulder and walked her out of the cage. "Oh don't worry. In this line of business, we'll keep you plenty fed." They exited the room and exited upstairs where they faded out in the bass and rumbling of the nightclub life.