[hider=VOIDED] [center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/tRszFRgk/blade.png[/img] [hr][h3][color=crimson][b]ISSUE #2 BLOOD RAVE[/b][/color][/h3][hr][color=crimson][b][u]Lou's Butcher Shop; New York City, New York[/u][/b][/color][/center] Jeremy was just getting off work when a woman came to him and asked for a ride all the way to NYC. He didn't know why he had agreed to drive her to some butcher shop all the way in New York City. Maybe it was because she was hot, maybe he just needed to get away from the city if only for a little while. It didn't matter, because here he was, a couple dozen miles from his shitty apartment in Hoboken and parked outside a butcher shop. He was about to leave when the woman whose name he still didn't know touched his hand and said [b]"you're coming with me, honey."[/b] They entered through the front door and saw a big, pale man in a bloodstained apron behind the counter. She exchanged a few words with the butcher, who nodded and gestured for them to head through the back. They went through a surprisingly large and spacious kitchen to a door in the back that was guarded by two bulky men in black suits. Jeremy could feel the beat of music as it played from behind the door. They let her through without a word, and were about to stop him until she held up a hand and simply said [b]"he's with me."[/b] The room they walked into appeared to be a freezer, but was styled like a night club, with people dancing to the beat of [url=https://youtu.be/3FuFLrXAI4o?t=73]the music.[/url] Said music came from a DJ stand set up in the back. Jeremy slowly smiled, and began to squeeze his way into the crowd. He looked around as he danced rather awkwardly, noticing that the people looked a bit... Off. Most of them had a pale look about them, almost sickly, and their eyes almost looked yellow in the low light. Still, they were all very clearly having a good time, and he was intent on joining them. He lost track of the woman in the crowd, but was soon occupied by a pretty blonde in a cheerleader's outfit. She seemed to be taken by him too, if the way she hungrily bit her lip indicated anything. He thought he saw a glimpse of a fang for a second, but quickly forgot about it, instead focusing on the woman as she pressed her body against his and began to shimmy to the music. They were separated as a man bumped into him. [b]"Hey asshole, what's your fucking prob-"[/b] Jeremy's words were cut short as he got a good look at the man who bumped into him. He was younger than he was, but had an intimidating aura of confidence about him. The man's cold gray eyes gazed steadily into Jeremy's, and a small smile made its way onto the man's pale face. [color=powderblue][b]"You were saying?"[/b][/color] he had an almost nasally voice that would've been laughably pathetic on anyone else, but somehow his voice sounded far from pathetic; no, it was terrifyingly cold. [b]"N-nothing, haha. Sorry for being in your way."[/b] Without another word, the man left, running a hand through his slicked back black hair. The next half hour was spent with that pretty blond girl until she left with another guy. He ended up finding his way back to the woman who had dragged him there, the woman whose name he still didn't know. They were dancing together for a moment, until the DJ's voice boomed through the speakers. [b]"WHO'S READY FOR A BLOODBATH!"[/b] A resounding yes came from the ravers. And then blood poured out of the sprinklers. Jeremy looked up in disbelief, and still didn't think it was actual blood until it got into his mouth. He tasted it. It tasted like the blood he had licked away from his lips during a nosebleed, or sucked out of a paper cut. Human blood. He slipped and fell while trying to back away to the exit. The woman who brought him there was smiling. Smiling wide enough to show her fangs. [b]"What's the matter, baby? Afraid of a few drops?"[/b] He screamed, and flailed, and panicked. They descended on him, but he managed to push a few of them away, picked himself up and ran. He tripped again once he got out of the crowd, landing on his face. He pushed himself up, and found himself staring at a pair of black combat boots. Slowly, he looked up, finding a black man dressed in black and red attire, with aviator shades on his face. On his back was a large broadsword and a shotgun, in his hands a pair of pistols. I grinned. [color=crimson][b]"Well. Looks like I'm late to the party."[/b][/color] Alright, now let's back it up a bit. [center][b][i]Thirty minutes earlier...[/i][/b][/center] I was just lounging around my shop, waiting for something to happen, when suddenly I got a call. Guy gave me the password, and unlike the last asshole who called me, he didn't want to come and kill me. He had an actual job for me, some vampire rave club based out of a butcher's in Queens. I discussed the details with him, he said he was a fellow vampire. I almost wanted to go after his ass when he said that, but he explained that he didn't think killing humans was worth it; instead he lived off of blood from Red Cross and shit, had a contact inside, but that's beside the point. He lived in the neighborhood and had managed to get in one night, said they did shit like pour blood on themselves while they danced. Occasionally lured humans there to kill 'em and shit. He apparently saw some girl head in there with a human guy not long before, so that's why he called me up. [color=crimson][b]"How'd you get this number anyhow? I ain't exactly advertising, and the only people who've called in the last couple weeks have been dickheads looking to kill me, dickheads looking to prank call me, or dickheads who found me in a phone book and got curious."[/b][/color] [b]"You're making the rounds these days, Blade. The vampire who hunts other vampires. Some folks are even calling you the Daywalker, for the fact that you're apparently not weakened by sunlight like the rest of us."[/b] [color=crimson][b]"Daywalker? Shiet, that's bad-fuckin-ass."[/b][/color] [b]"You said it... Hey, just so you know, I called another hunter too. Figured you might need the help, bunch of vampires like them."[/b] [color=crimson][b]"Long as they don't get in my way I should be good. That all?"[/b][/color] [b]"That's all."[/b] And then I took about half an hour to find my way there. Turns out I forgot to ask for the address, and he forgot to include any directions beyond "butcher shop in Queens". By the time I got in there, the party was already under way, and our human friend was crawling out of the swarm of vampires. You know the rest already. I twirled my guns, then aimed them at the crowd of vampires. [b][color=crimson]"So, what's it gonna be babies? One at a time, or all at once?"[/color][/b] Half the group charged, the other half ran away. The human guy slipped away with the runners. [url=https://youtu.be/1kjvfD8dt9M?t=152]I grinned.[/url] Guess it's gonna be all at once. I fired off a few rounds into the crowd, then holstered the pistols after I realized they would all go down too quickly that way. Instead, I pulled out my sword and came out swinging. [color=crimson][b]"Don't lose your [i]head[/i]!"[/b][/color] I shouted as I chopped off one vampire's head, his body crumbling into ash before the head hit the floor. A few from the group began to swarm me, their claws swinging wildly in a vain attempt to maim me. I let them get me to the floor as I slowly pulled my shotgun off my back... [b][i]*BOOM!*[/i][/b] A single blast sent the five of them flying away in a cloud of ash. I slowly rose, what little damage they had done with their flailing healing rapidly. I brought the shotgun down to my hip and fired once, twice, three times at the vampires. About six went down, leaving the last dozen for me to face off against. I wanted to have some fun, so once again I put my gun away and brought out the sword. I swung low and chopped off one's leg, then chopped off his head before he hit the ground. I ducked below a lunge and stuck my sword through the vampire's gut as she flew over my head. I swung her onto the ground and blew her head off with a shot from my pistol. As soon as the sword was free from her ashen grave, I swung it around to catch one that was trying to ambush me. It wedged itself into the side of his chest. I cleaved it through, cutting him clean in half. [color=crimson][b]"You ain't half the man you used to be! ... For real, you're more like a third of the man you used to be."[/b][/color] The rest of the fight carried on quickly enough, and before long the club was empty. I turned my back on the carnage to leave... ... And felt a stake fly into my chest at a high speed. The force of the thing sent me flying and pinned me to the wall across the room. I grunted, pulling my body through the vampire killing device, and groaned. [color=crimson][b]"Fuck, can I go one week without taking a sharp object through the chest? I was so close!"[/b][/color] I looked at where the stake had originated from, and found myself looking at a man that seemed to be around my age. He had blond hair and blue eyes, and an athletic frame hidden beneath oddly posh clothing out of Victorian England. In his hand was what appeared to be a modified shotgun that could fire stakes underbarrel; didn't seem like a bad idea actually. Clearly, this was the other hunter my employer had called. And judging by the look on his face, he wasn't gonna let me out of here without a fight. [color=crimson][b]"You just missed the party, pal. Who the hell are you supposed to be anyway, barging in here and shooting a guy through the chest?"[/b][/color] [color=mediumseagreen][b]"Who am I supposed to be? I'm a vampire hunter. And I'm here to kill myself a few vampires."[/b][/color] He pointed his shotgun at me. [color=mediumseagreen][b]"And it looks to me like I found one. Though you're not quite like them, are you? That stake through the chest would've killed any other vampire."[/b][/color] [color=crimson][b]"I'm what you call a dhampir, buddy. Half human, half vampire, all whoopin' your ass if you keep fuckin' with me."[/b][/color] [color=mediumseagreen][b]"Dhampir, vampire, all the same to me. If you're a bloodsucker then I'm coming after you either way!"[/b][/color] The guy seemed hellbent on getting into a fight he couldn't win. But whatever, I might as well humor him. [color=crimson][b]"Alright then, have it your way. But I'd like to get the name of the dumbass whose ass I'm about to kick."[/b][/color] At that, he smiled. [color=mediumseagreen][b]"The name's Frank Drake, and I'm about to send you straight to Hell!"[/b][/color] [/hider]