“The suspected face thief, the murderer, showed anomalous energy readings, sire,” Emilia said through the phone cradled against her chin, while she checked on the two beat-up policen. Officer Davies, the one who kicked down the motel door and was, in turn, kicked hard in the gut, was barely conscious and pale.
Officer Murdock, who had his service firearm stolen, was still unconscious from a blow across his chin. It didn’t look like his arm was broken, though there was so swelling on his wrist. She couldn’t sll any spilt blood, and his breathing was regular.
“Describe the anomalous reading?” the voice on the other end of the line, Emilia’s progenitor, said.
“When I first tracked the anomaly, suspected face thief, using aura imprint, it faded faster than expected. And now, the imprint is of a different shade and texture, not to ntion it seems to be growing stronger rather than fading.”
“Oh? What colour is the imprint?”
“I cannot tell, sire. My skill in the discipline is not high enough.”
“Then capture the anomaly so that I can see it for myself.”
“May I request the use of our clan’s special human forces?”
“You don’t want to make use of your fellow kindred?”
“My apologies, but the reading I got out of the anomaly makes it seem dangerous to us.”
“I see, that’s nothing unusual. Granted.”
“Thank you, sire.”
Emilia waited for her sire to hang up, then dialled 117 for the ergency hotline. “Two officers down, in a motel called 23rd & Drive. On the corner of 23rd Avenue and Sandstone Drive.” She hung up right after and stared at the aura imprint.
She still could not see the finer details, even less so than before. Where she saw silhouettes back then, now, she saw a washed-out streak of gold. The colour was slowly becoming paler, but at the rate it was going, it would take days before it faded completely. Unless sothing acts on it, anyway. The streak went into the motel room, then into the ensuite bathroom. She didn’t need to follow directly since all she had to do was go back out and stare at the roof. The streak climbed up the office building behind the motel and disappeared into the roof. Her aura imprint viewing technique had a limited range, so she couldn’t just get on a helicopter and follow the trail that way. Even so, the distance she could track the imprint was farther than she’d ever been able to before. A testant to the anomaly’s impact on the world. And the reason for Rotblu to ensure they capture her.
The anomaly was probably not a face thief, but there was little doubt that the girl who entered the feeding room was different from the one who left it. So what happened? She’d leave that to the psychologists and forensics experts. For now.
She called to leave a ssage for the clan’s retrieval specialists' pager, “From Enforcer Krese. Assemble rally point 2.” Once the operator acknowledged, she hung up. She pursed her lips as she observed the imprint, going so far as to try to touch it. It felt as if she was exposed to sunlight. Not enough to burn, but definitely uncomfortable. New Kindred of the Night were terribly allergic to bright lights, and the day was the most uncomfortable part of their new lives. Age brought resilience, and there were disciplines that allowed the acceleration of gaining that resilience, too. But this imprint…it not only felt dangerous; it felt downright hostile.
Suppressing a shudder, Emilia left the motel after making sure both of the thrall police officers were in recovery position. They regained consciousness before the ambulance arrived, so she left them to head to the rally point, which was about five blocks away. She wasn’t as well-versed in the discipline of agility as compared to her discipline of senses, but she felt the expenditure of her blood reserves worthwhile. As an enforcer, she could easily recoup her expenses while on a sanctioned mission.
She tracked the aura imprint trail and noted with so worry that the farther from the motel it got, the less intense it beca. She had to wait for a quarter of an hour before the special squad arrived. They were in two black vans, and she rode shotgun on the lead vehicle. She directed them along the trail, but since the anomaly travelled along the rooftops, it took much longer to follow than expected. It was another hour before they arrived at a public park, and the imprint’s quality had returned to the way it was before the confrontation at the hotel.
She took one of the shortwave radios from the squad’s leader and said, “Let off here. I will coordinate from a distance.”
She couldn’t tell what the man’s expression was because he was masked, but she trusted that he wouldn’t complain. They were well paid and compensated by the clan. The street lights provided minimal illumination, and while Emilia could see well enough in the dark, the humans couldn’t. They compensated with night vision goggles, but the intermittent lighting could prove detrintal, especially if it flared. It could leave them blinded for a crucial mont or two.
“Half of you remove your goggles,” she commanded while she took a vantage point. The anomaly was in the middle of the park, seated on a bench. What she was doing there, Emilia didn’t know, but hopefully, they would capture her.
The n were ard with assault rifles, which weren’t really the best weapons to take soone non-lethally. But the anomaly was a killer, and her sire didn’t really say they had to be taken alive. Dissection could provide more information than missing the capture. She was just debating whether to have the team try for the capture first.
“Half of you load rubber bullets,” she finally decided.
“Advance.”
The anomaly had already detected them, probably even before they stopped to unload. Emilia stayed further back. Despite her noted accuracy, her pistol didn’t pose much of a threat, considering the grazing shot that carved a slice on the anomaly’s face had already disappeared. Whether it was true regeneration or a face thief’s flesh manipulation, she wasn’t sure. But it was a minor wound to begin with.
The anomaly approached casually, her expression amused. Then, she held out a hand, and all of a sudden, she was holding a sword that glowed like the sun.
The soldiers reacted instantly. They raised their rifles and all of them fired. Tsk.
The anomaly’s movents were as graceful as a dancer’s as she shifted sideways so that most of her body was behind the sword that she brought on guard. The weapon moved srisingly as it flicked to and fro.
Bang! Bang!
Twang! Thud!
“Argh!”
If Emilia didn’t switch from aura imprint reading to a general sensory boost, she wouldn’t have seen it. Even so, she couldn’t help but think that the anomaly moved like an elder kindred, swift and decisive.
The sword actually interposed between the girl and the bullets, but instead of just blocking them, she sohow managed to flick them away. Just as incredibly, the bullets struck the shooters, though with diminished montum, such that their bulletproof body armour was enough to safeguard them. Still, impacts from bullets, even if they didn’t penetrate, were still painful, and she knew these n and won would be seen to by the clan’s dical personnel. If they survived the night.
Even while the firefight happened, she thought about how she would write her report. The anomaly didn’t move quickly enough to be unseen, but the movents were those of an expert martial artist, and Emilia was no warrior. The most she could say was that the anomaly conjured a brightly glowing sword, then used it to bounce bullets back at the shooters. Ah, the rubber bullets lted and plopped on the ground after a couple of paces. They were burning and let out acrid, black smoke. The lead bullets held their shape long enough to hit the soldiers, though only so of them were heated rather than all. A strange detail.
The firefight lasted all of ten seconds before the soldiers took cover rather than continue shooting. One of them must have been hit at the wrong place since they collapsed on the ground, groaning.
From behind cover, the rest of the squad resud firing. The anomaly seed content to stand there and defend herself. Her expression was one of focus, but the edges of her lips twitched upwards.
She’s playing. The thought chilled Emilia’s heart. She was far enough back and behind so cover; she hoped she couldn’t be detected, but even if she were seen, she was confident in her ability to escape. The speed the anomaly showed wasn’t faster than what Emilia could accomplish by burning blood to power her agility discipline.
She burned the following scene into her mory. The anomaly simply toyed with the clan’s special forces and refined her swordplay. After a few minutes, the bullets she deflected were actually returning to the shooter. The fact that none of those bullets hit where they could have incapacitated was more evidence of the anomaly’s intentions. It was especially evident later when the anomaly tired of her play. Almost all at once, the bullets reflected and struck each soldier’s helt. The jolt knocked them all down, but thankfully, their equipnt was tough enough to allow them to survive. Probably with concussions, but still alive.
With a jolt, Emilia realised that the anomaly was looking towards her position. She resisted the urge to hide and continued to observe. She needed to know if the girl would co for her or not.
After a tense mont, the glowing sword dispersed. The sudden absence of light dazzled Emilia’s senses for a mont, and her blood rushed through her veins as she preemptively burned it to power her discipline. She leapt away from the tree she hid behind and crossed the street. Halfway towards the intersection, she glanced back, only to find that the anomaly hadn’t chased after her. Instead, the girl went the opposite way, and was already across the park, and almost out of sight.
Emilia skidded to a halt and sighed in relief. She wasn’t afraid, but there was no reason not to be cautious. This also ant that small forces wouldn’t be enough to capture the target, and she was already contemplating her next move.
A bit of a commotion caught her attention. On the other end of the park were a bunch of folks living in tents. They’d been harshly awoken by the gunfire, and so of the more foolhardy ones were approaching the fallen soldiers. Stupid. They didn’t know how twitchy their trigger fingers would be after their trouncing.
The fact that the anomaly had spared their lives while ending the two kindred back in the Stolen Whispers was another point of interest. Anyway, she called for support, and the less injured soldiers managed to get up, and they shooed away the rubberneckers. The more sensible hoboes were already packing their stuff and preparing to leave.
After ascertaining her safety, Emilia reached for her mobile phone and called her sire.
“Failure,” she said as soon as she finished her greetings.
“Return to the manor and tell all about it. Hmmm, but give your impressions.”
“The anomaly could conjure a sword that looked like a fragnt of the sun. She toyed with the special squad but didn’t kill any of them. She left after she got her fill.”
“A fragnt of the sun. Hmmm. It ans we kindred are at a disadvantage.”
“I believe that was how she slew Daniels and Laurent.”
“Regardless, we will need to secure her for the clan. Ah, but this might be too big to keep to ourselves.”
“I’ve an idea.”
“Which is?”
“We harass her. Tire her out. And when she’s exhausted, we catch her. The strength I saw could be comparable to an elder, but even so, there’s always a limit…”
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