{Chapter 27}
“Candy, you home,” Ashley asked setting down her bag and heading toward the bedrooms. It was surprisingly quiet in the apartment and she wondered if her friend had gone to Hunter’s place. “Candice?”
She peeked into the room and saw a lump under the blankets. “What are you doing sleeping,” she asked with a chuckle. “It’s the middle of the day.” She crept forward when the other woman didn’t stir.
She got to the bed and kicked it. Still Candice didn’t stir. “Good Lord,” she chuckled grabbing the blanket. “What’d Hunter do fuck you to death?” With that she threw back the blanket and jumped back.
Candice lay on the bed completely naked, her eyes staring blankly and her tanned skin a sick shade of blue. She had been a nurse too long to not know that her friend was dead. She retched and rushed into the bathroom emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet.
“Oh God, Candice,” she whimpered as she slid down the wall. Fat tears slid down her cheeks. It hadn’t gone unnoticed that there were puncture wounds in Candice’s neck. She knew a vampire was responsible for this. Once again she retched and emptied the contents of her stomach.
Shakily getting to her feet she made her way to the phone and called Shawn. “Shawn,” she sobbed. “Candice is dead. A vampire got her.” She listened as Shawn spoke. “She’s in her bed.” She listened again. “All right,” she said sniffling. “I’ll wait for you.”
~~~~~
“That was Ashley,” Shawn said to the others when he got off the phone. Marcus’ head snapped up at the mention of her name. “Candice is dead.”
“Fuck,” Punk exclaimed. “What happened?”
“Vampire,” Shawn said with a sigh. “Ash found her in bed.” He ran a hand through his hair. “All right, Matt and Jeff you’re with me. Paul, Brian, Punk and Bobby you guys keep trying to get in touch with Hunter.” Lashley nodded as Matt and Jeff prepared to head over to Ashley’s.
“I’m comin’ with you, Shawn,” Marcus said. Shawn opened his mouth to argue, but Marcus waved him off. “Ashley could be in trouble and you know I can help.”
“All right,” Shawn said. “Come on.” With that the men left.
~~~~~
When Ashley opened the door for them her eyes were puffy and red rimmed. “She’s in her room,” she said softly, not noticing Marcus was with them.
“Are you all right,” Marcus asked Ashley, gently grasping her shoulders.
She shrugged him off glaring at him. “Why is he here,” she demanded.
“Ash, calm down,” Shawn said gently. “Marcus is here to help.”
“How do we know he didn’t do this,” she screeched.
“Because this was done by a freshly sired vamp,” Marcus said. Shawn groaned. “Shawn, I’m sorry. It’s Hunter. They’ve turned him.”
“How do you know,” Ashley demanded. “You could be saying that to cover up what you’ve done!”
“Because Candice isn’t my type and she’s in there naked as a jay bird. It's obvious that she was killed during sex,” Marcus replied with such venom that Ashley flinched. “Hunter obviously lured her into the bedroom, screwed her and killed her.” Ashley bit her bottom lip, though it didn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks.
“SHIT,” Matt groaned. “He was our best asset.”
“All right,” Shawn said getting everyone’s attention. He hated the thought that his best friend was capable of such a horrific crime, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. “We’ve lost Hunter. That doesn’t mean we’ve lost the battle. Let’s take care of Candice’s body and move on.”
The Hardys busied themselves with preparing the body, taking it into the alley between buildings. There they set the pyre. The shadows were pushed back by the dancing flames as the body burned.
Ashley watched the flames for a while before leaning on Marcus, who wrapped an arm around her. No tears fell from her eyes now. She couldn’t cry anymore. Candice was gone and nothing could change that.
“I’m so sorry,” she said softly to Marcus. “I shouldn’t have accused you.”
“I’m not mad,” he replied. “I’m just thankful you’re safe.”
“Come on, Ash,” Shawn said once the deed was done. “You’re stayin’ at Punk’s place tonight. It’s not safe for you here.”
Ashley nodded, allowing Marcus to lead her back to the truck. They rode to Punk’s place in silence. Learning that Candice was gone and that Hunter was now the enemy weighed heavily on all of them. Shawn closed his eyes leaning his head back against the seat while Jeff drove. A single tear slid down his cheek. He knew that he had to do something he had hoped he never would…kill his best friend.
~~~~~
“It’s ringing,” Lashley said putting the phone on speaker. They had been trying to get in touch with Hunter since Shawn left with little luck.
“What the fuck do you want,” Hunter answered the phone.
“Hello to you too,” Lashley said smirking. “Where are you?”
“Just having some fun,” Hunter replied.
“Listen man, we have some bad news we need to tell you,” London said.
“What?”
“Not over the phone,” Punk replied.
“Fine,” Hunter sighed. “Meet me at that dive bar we like to go to after a hunt.” With that he hung up.
~~~~~
A half hour later Hunter sauntered into the bar and joined the others at a booth in the back. “So, what’s goin’ on?”
“Candice is dead, man,” Lashley said.
“Damn,” Hunter said solemnly before laughing. “I guess that’s what happened when I fuckin’ sucked her dry.”
“Son of a bitch,” Lashley said clutching his gun, but not wanting to use it in a public place.
“Go ahead, Bobby, shoot me,” Hunter laughed. “I know you’re just itchin’ to. Wait, you won’t because you haven’t got the balls to brandish a firearm in front of civilians!” Chuckling maliciously he headed out of the bar into the night.
“Motherfucker,” Lashley yelled slamming his fist on the table. “They fuckin’ got Hunter. Son of a motherfuckin’ bitch!” Lashley was still fuming when a smile spread across Punk’s face. “What the fuck are you smilin’ about?”
“If he’s still got his beacon,” Punk said. “I can track him…maybe back to Calaway’s place.”
“What the hell are we sittin’ around here for,” Lashley said understanding what Punk was getting at. “Let’s get you to a laptop.”
~~~~~
Ashley was sitting on the couch at Punk’s place when Marcus handed her the cup of tea and took a seat next to her. “How you holdin’ up,” he asked softly.
“As good as can be expected,” she replied, offering him a wan smile. “I mean my best friend was just murdered by her lover. Yeah, I’m peachy.”
“And not at all bitter,” Marcus said smirking. She chuckled a little for the first time since discovering Candice.
“I want him dead,” she said with such venom in her voice. “I want Hunter to die a slow painful death for what he did to Candice.”
“Ashley,” Marcus said taking her hand in his. “He’ll get his. I don’t know how slow and painful it’ll be, but you have my word when all is said and done he’ll be dead.”
Just then Lashley and the others came back. The men were yelling and cursing up a storm. Shawn quieted them down and asked for one of them to explain what was going on.
“We had him,” Punk groaned. “We fuckin’ had him. We had the location of Calaway’s place and just like that it was gone!”
“Hunter’s beacon was working fine one minute and the next it was gone,” Kendrick explained. Shawn frowned, knowing exactly why that was.
~~~~~
“Come on, you son of a bitch,” Hunter groaned as he dug in his shoulder with a knife. “Yes,” he said finally locating the beacon that they had all had injected under their skin. “Try tracking me now, motherfuckers.” He said watching the wound on his shoulder heal before his eyes. He dropped the beacon on the floor and crushed it with his foot.
{Chapter 28}
“Finally some competition,” Rose said smiling as she pulled her auburn locks into a bun. She had been sparring with Hunter to see how he fared, but he grew tired of it and Beth Phoenix had taken over.
“Again,” Beth asked pulling her blonde locks up off her neck into a ponytail.
“This is the hottest shit I’ve seen in a long time,” Hunter said to Leviathan, who nodded with a smirk. Though initially he had disliked the hunter turned vampire Leviathan had managed to make friends with Hunter. “How about you ladies lose an article of clothing for each take down,” Hunter snickered.
“I second,” Kennedy said with a smirk.
The men laughing it up distracted Rose as Beth tried to sneak up on her. She grabbed Rose’s arm, but found herself hip tossed onto the cold stone floor. Beth attempted to pull Rose down to the ground with her, but found herself being kicked hard in the shoulder, practically dislocating the joint.
“I believe that means you have to lose an item of clothing, Beth,” Rose said smiling.
Beth stood glaring at Rose, holding her sore shoulder. She rotated it, feeling the joint pop back into place and smirked at Rose. “You’re good,” she said and swiftly dropped her pants to the hoots and hollers of the men.
~~~~~
“Guys,” Punk exclaimed. “I got somethin’!”
“You found Hunter,” Shawn asked making to Punk’s computer first.
“No,” Punk replied. “It’s a vamp beacon.”
“Do you think Hunter did this,” Shawn asked, hopeful that his friend was trying to help them from the inside.
“No,” Punk replied. “Remember a while back Paul shot a vamp and the beacon didn’t work?” Everyone nodded. “Somethin’ must have happened. Maybe the vamp was struck just right and that little light is the result.” Punk smirked. “That’s not the best part.”
“What is,” Lashley asked.
“That light is exactly where I remember Hunter’s beacon bein’,” Punk replied. “My friends we have found Calaway’s lair.”
“Nice work, Punk,” Shawn said smiling for the first time that day. “Boys, let’s mount up! We got some vamps to kill.” He headed away from the group to grab as many weapons as he could carry.
“Shawn,” Lashley called catching up to him. “You think maybe we could use a little back up?”
“Who’d you have in mind,” Shawn asked strapping a large hunting knife to his thigh.
“Rhodes and Holly,” Lashley replied. “There’s not far. They could meet us by sundown.”
“Call ‘em,” Shawn said nodding. “We could use all the back up we can get. Plus Bob and Cody owe me one.” He turned his attention to Ashley. “Ash, I need you to get in touch with Cena. We’ll probably have wounded and we’ll need him to patch people up.”
“No problem,” Ashley said heading over to the phone.
“Boys, let’s go kill us some vamps,” Shawn said, determined that if this was to be his last stand he was going to go down fighting.
As everyone filed out of Punks place Ashley caught Marcus’ wrist before he could leave. “I want you to come back to me in one piece,” she said.
“You have my word,” Marcus replied smiling. He tucked a finger under her chin tilting her head up and caught her lips in a tender kiss. “When all is said and done I’ll come back to you.” With that he left with the others.
~~~~~
“Father,” Rose said barging into Mark’s room unannounced. “The hunters are coming.”
“What are you talkin’ about,” Mark demanded. “No one knows where we are.”
“They have some tracking device,” Rose said holding up a bloody piece of metal that looked like a tiny ball bearing. “Hunter pulled it out of Beth when I told him of the vision I had.” She then recounted seeing Punk find the locator beacon on his screen and the hunters preparing for battle.
“Rosie, darlin’, you don’t have visions anymore,” Mark replied. “Marcus is dead.”
“No, he’s not,” Rose replied. “He’s alive and he’s with the hunters.”
“Son of a bitch,” Mark roared slamming his fist down on his desk with such force that it went right through the wood. “Get everyone together. Tell Orton and Copeland to guard the gate.” Rose nodded and left the room. Mark ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “So, Michaels wants a battle? I’ll give him one.”
~~~~~
When the hunters finally arrived at the mansion the sun had just set. They had met Cody Rhodes and Bob Holly on the way and driven over to the mansion in a convoy of heavily armed trucks.
“We gonna do this shit or what,” Holly asked hopping out of his truck and grabbing a shotgun from the back. Cody hopped out of the passenger side packing some pistols and back ups in holsters.
“Hold your horses, Holly,” Lashley said as he grabbed some weapons and tossed them to London, Kendrick and the Hardy brothers. Shawn was taking care of Marcus and Punk.
“You boys really don’t want to tangle with us,” Adam said sauntering over toward the hunters. He caught sight of Matt and Jeff and smirked. “Do I know you guys?” The brothers shook their heads. “Oh right,” he said smirking. “Which one of you was bangin’ that sexy redhead?” Matt’s entire body stiffened at the mention of Amy. “She was fuckin’ sweet!”
“Motherfucker,” Matt growled knowing that the blonde vamp before him was the one responsible for killing Amy. Without regard for his well being he rushed Adam.
“Matt, look out,” Jeff called seeing Randy coming up to help his friend. He whipped out his gun and fired off two rounds. They struck Randy in the shoulder and chest and he fell to the ground.
By this time Matt had tackled Adam to the ground. “DID YOU ENJOY EATIN’ HER, YOU PRICK,” he yelled pummeling Adam’s face with his fists. “DID YOU ENJOY KILLIN’ THE ONLY WOMAN I’VE EVER LOVED?”
“Let’s go,” Shawn called to the others seeing the gate was unguarded. Lashley grabbed the wounded Randy, dragging him behind him as they headed through the gates.
“Matt, come on,” Jeff yelled.
“Leave him,” Marcus said to the younger Hardy. “This is something he has to do.”
Jeff cast a glance behind him at his brother who had bloodied Adam up already and was continuing to pummel him. With a sigh he turned and followed the others through the gates. He knew once Matt had killed the blonde he would join them.
“DO YOU ENJOY ATTACKIN’ DEFENSELESS WOMEN,” Matt growled. He finally let up and stood, his knuckles bruised and bloody. “GET UP!”
Adam did what he was told, his face a mask of blood. He spit out blood and teeth and glared at Matt. “You feel better now,” he demanded. “Because I have a little secret to tell you.” He smiled viciously. “I didn’t just kill your girl,” he said tauntingly. “No, you see when I started to drain her…I heard TWO heartbeats.” Matt paled. “That’s right. She was pregnant. What are you gonna do about that, tough guy?”
Without a word Matt pulled out one of his guns and emptied the clip into Adam’s chest. The blonde vampire looked down at the smoking bullet holes, already feeling the silver seeping into his system, and dropped to his knees. Matt walked forward, nudging him down to the ground with his foot while reloading. His brown eyes were cold as ice as he brought the gun up and shot Adam right between the eyes. With his task done he followed the others through the gate.
~~~~~
“Son of a bitch,” Mark exclaimed as he watched the hunters coming up to the mansion. “Kennedy, get Viscera. Tell him we have some unwanted guests that need to be eliminated.
Kennedy nodded and left the room. Mark looked at his daughter, Leviathan, Hunter, Thorn and Glen. “Rosie, Glen I want you to stay with me. The others are expendable.”
“How touching,” Glen muttered. “Didn’t know you cared, Mark.”
~~~~~
“Let us in or we’re using this piece of shit as a battering ram,” Lashley yelled pounding on the door.
“Let them in,” Randy groaned. “I’m wounded here. Shit! This burns.”
“I could take care of that for you,” Shawn said grabbing his hunting knife and digging out the bullets. Randy screamed as the blade cut into his skin. “Better?”
“No,” Randy growled, trying to break free of Lashley’s grasp. In his wounded state he was too weak to do much.
“Doesn’t really matter,” Shawn replied with a smirk. “The bullets were pure silver. You had them in you long enough to kill you slowly.”
“Guys, I hear something,” London said placing an ear to the door moments before it opened revealing a mountain of a man standing there.
“Which one of you wants to be first to get crushed,” Viscera asked with an evil smirk.
“Shit,” London exclaimed and scurried back toward the others. Viscera’s hand shot out and grabbed him by the shirt collar. “Guys! Little help here!”
Just then Marcus ran forward and tackled Viscera. The large man let go of London out of shock as he stumbled back a bit. “You have a death wish, boy,” he growled.
“No,” Marcus replied smirking. “But you have a date with death.” He turned his head to the side so that he could see the hunters with one eye. “NOW!” With that he ducked and Shawn and Lashley opened fire on the large vampire. When their clips had been emptied Viscera fell backward sputtering and coughing.
“Can’t be too careful,” Kendrick said handing London a large bottle of holy water. Together they doused the large man until he was smoking. There was no way he was getting up from that.
“Split up into teams of two,” Shawn called as they made their way into the mansion. “Give a holler when you find Calaway.”
“Nobody is to touch him,” Marcus demanded. “That motherfucker is mine. Understood?” Everyone nodded and split, Marcus going off on his own.
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