Hidden behind an American flag in the corner of the auditorium, Fritz peeked out from where he was as he watched the assembly. A lot of it was kind of boring, not at all what he imagined that it would be like. But there was some cool stuff, like the people in cloaks who were apparently witches and wizards. Sure, both Charlie and Evan had told them that wizards and such existed, but being told that and seeing it? Different things entirely.
Other parts, however? It made him very, very angry. The type of anger that he had not felt for a while, which had usually been directed at the man who had murdered him. Said parts having to deal with who they were going to conduct a raid on.
Apparently, there was a vampire that was going around and killing kids, draining their blood. From what was said, this was going on for years now, with them coming out with the thought that said vampire made use of the ongoing war to keep attention off. The magicals had admitted that they had also known about said vampire for some time now, and even had a task force assigned to the case, though a small one.
Not because they did not care about some vampire going around killing people, because they did care about that. But with the continuous pressure of the war, alongside the previous administration's focus on trying to prevent the fall of the Statute? Which also included persecuting "Statute breaks" more than anything else?
They simply had not had the full amount of manpower needed for the job.
Despite how something called "MAYFLOWER" meant that their manpower was depleted even more, with a lot of people disappearing, this was a good thing in disguise in some ways. They were able to drop the issues with regards to the Statute nearly right afterwards as the new administration cared far less about it. Which in turn allowed for them to focus on other things, other matters. Such as a certain serial killer vampire and his group.
Very quickly afterwards, they had compiled a lot of information on said killer. His habits, background, and the like. And working alongside their counterparts in the FBI, had come to find where he was currently hiding out. Which now led to this meeting to do the final planning for the coming raid that would hopefully take down the vampire once and for all.
On the large screen was brought up a picture of an old, abandoned hotel in Appalachia. At one time, it had been a fairly popular resort, at least for the State that it was located in. But it had seen a decline over various years, until the war gave it a hit that it had never been able to recover from. The owners had then gone bankrupt and the resort seized by the bank. Unfortunately, no one was interested in said place, and it was left to decay in the mountains, with things like cars left behind in the parking lot slowly rusting.
Like many other similar abandoned places, the nearest places with people spoke of it as being haunted. They told tales of how hunters, hikers, and woodsman in the area heard strange sounds from the abandoned resort. As well, sometimes odd things were seen, especially at night, such as lights and the like by people who told what they had experienced back in town…
At least, those who had returned from the woods in the area, anyways.
MIB had very quickly determined that it was the location from which the vampire that they were currently looking for used as his main lair. They had made use of some giant owls that they had to fly magical instruments overhead, determining that there was a high concentration of dark magic, particularly dark blood magic, in the area. At the same time, the FBI had made use of drones loitering high above said place to keep an eye on the location and had gotten pictures of those staying there. One of whom was identified as the vampire that they were looking for.
From what Fritz was seeing, the plan was to have the various groups portkey in at specific points. There, they would be met with Curse Breakers who had been spending the past few days slowly, carefully, opening holes in the spells surrounding the place. It would then be a fifteen-minute hike to their positions. Once all the groups were in place, which would be shortly after noon with the Sun high in the sky and the sky cloudless thanks to weather forecasts, they would quickly move in.
Unfortunately, as much as both the FBI and MIB wished otherwise, they simply did not have the time to fully prepare.
Part of that was due to the simple fact that they had determined that the vampire had already kidnapped a new bunch of kids. Hence, they were now on the clock before he killed them. Another part, however, was that there was movement in the area making them realize that they were preparing to head to another hideout. Very likely, they never stayed in one particular place for very long in order to make it harder to be caught, which meant that when they moved, it might be months before they got another chance as they would need to find them again.
Hence, the decision was made to very quickly gather their forces together and move in. Something that it was very much obvious that no one was happy about. But, at the same time, none of them wanted to chance passing up this chance as they might not get another anytime soon. A fact that all of those there realized.
Of course, that was when the briefing turned to setting up the various teams that would be heading in. A few of them were pure non-magical and pure magical groups, others were mixed between Aurors, Hit-wizards/Witches, and FBI Agents. One of those mixed groups, to Fritz's surprise, had Michael in it as the one in command. His arms crossed, said man simply nodded in reply to that.
Meanwhile, unknown to him, Fritz was furrowing his eyebrows in deep thought as he considered things. Even if he had not heard about them before from Evan and Charlie, he listened in on the explanation about Portkeys. Something which brought up the issue of the fact that when they teleported, he needed to go along with them. And that would be difficult considering Michael, so he would need to hitch a ride, probably grabbing hold of the portkey of another group when they left to hitch a ride.
Deep in thought, the ghost nearly missed when the meeting broke up for everyone to prepare. Eyes widening, he whipped around and then dove into the floor as the first bunch of people walked by. One eye peeking out, he then narrowed his gaze as he began following them, 'How did that song go again? Secret… Agent Man… secret… agent man…'
It was not long afterwards that found Michael with his team putting on their tactical gear. Checking his tactical vest, he nodded some before turning towards one of the magicals assigned to his team, a witch. Said witch slipped on what looked almost like a cuirass onto her, with two plates in front with one over the chest and stomach, and the other extending down to her groin. Eyebrow raised at that, Michael gave her a bemused look, "Isn't that heavy?"
With a small shrug as she adjusted her own straps, the female Auror gave him a slightly shaky smile, "Not really, lightening charms and potions are great for that. And the strengthening charms means that I can take a hit…" She then grimaced a little bit as she rolled her shoulders, shrugging her cloak over her body armor, "Better than having my kidneys suddenly outside my body…"
Lightly snorting, Michael gave her a slight smile, "I know the feeling." He then held out a hand even as he shoved his knife into his boot with his other, "Michael Afton."
Giving him a smile that still had a bit of nervousness, the Auror nodded and shook the offered hand, "Bethany Woodward."
Suddenly, she jumped a bit as one of the other FBI agents clapped her on the shoulder, "Hey, no need to be nervous." Grin on his face, he jerked his thumb towards Michael, "Especially since we got the T-950 here with us."
Rolling his eyes, Michael groaned, "For f*cks sake… why the hell do you guys keep calling me that…"
One of the female FBI agents snorted a bit as she laced up her shoes, "Because it's true? You're like a goddamn Terminator, Mike." She then turned towards the witch, who looked confused, "Once he gets a target in his sights, he pursues them, no matter what they do. Just like the Terminator from the movies, hence calling him the T-950."
Very much confused, Bethany slowly nodded, "I… see?"
Just sharing looks as Michael continued to grumble, the other FBI agents smirked, "No, but you will."
In reply, Michael gave them a near-universal gesture, "f*ck off."
All that got him was laughs and a few teasing comments to the bemusem*nt of the Aurors in their group.
______________________________________________________________________________
Slowly moving through the brush, snow crunching under his feet, Michael scanned his surroundings alongside the others. The muzzle of his M4 swept this way and that as he continued to move, all the while he also kept glancing at the ground. Not far away, he could see the abandoned resort, the windows boarded up. Eyes narrowed, Michael frowned behind his mask some as he paused and glanced around as the hairs on the back of his neck prickled.
Various instincts that had gained in his time in the different Freddy's restaurants, followed by saving his life many a time in first Afghanistan, then Iraq, followed by Blood Week and the days and months after. Instincts that only had been honed in his career in the FBI, all were telling him that there was something deeply wrong. And he was not the only one as he noticed some of the other FBI agents and even Aurors had also paused. Like there was something screaming at them.
Quietly coming up beside him, one of his fellow agents murmured while glancing around, "Mike? What do you think it is?"
Only shaking his head slowly, Michael frowned deeply as he furrowed his eyebrows, "Don't know-" Suddenly, he realized what was wrong and his eyes widened before he brought his gun up, looking through the scope, "You hear that?"
From where she was, Bethany shook her head, "No? I don't hear anything…"
Trailing off, her eyes widened as the Afton nodded with a grimace, "Exactly. We're out in the woods, there should be a lot of sounds, especially during the day. No crows, no chittering squirrels, nothing."
As he looked through his scope, he focused first on a squirrel that was in its tree looking in their direction. That was followed by crows doing the same, chickadees, and even a deer that was also watching them. Every animal seemed to be watching them carefully and silently.
With their eyes red.
Cursing, Michael quickly brought up his radio, "ALL AGENTS! AFTON HERE, CODE TWO! REPEAT, CODE TWO! SUSPECTS KNOW WE'RE HERE, ANIMAL THRALLS WATCHING!" Not even moments later, they all had to duck as gunfire erupted from the building, bullets kicking up snow and tearing through branches. Grabbing Bethany from where she had dropped down, he easily lifted her up, "MAKE A MOVE ON, FOLKS!"
From where he was poking his head up from the ground, Fritz watched with widened eyes as the group of FBI Agents pulled out ballistic shields from bags at their side with bullets pinging off said shields as the agents returned fire. At their sides, some of the Aurors cast shield spells to cover themselves and others as those that didn't, also returned fire with spells, "Holy…"
Grimace on his face as another bullet hit his ballistic shield, Michael pointed at one window, "I NEED THAT WOOD GONE, RIGHT NOW!"
One of the Aurors simply gave a nod and fired off a Piercing Curse, which punched through the wood to shouts, "Got it!"
Bringing up his gun, Michael then took careful aim and fired the underslung grenade launcher at the now clear window. Briefly, he smirked as said grenade sailed through the open window, followed by a loud bang and flash, "MOVE!"
It did not take them long to reach one of the doors, with some of the FBI agents aiming upwards as one of them put a detonator on the door before they backed away. With a motion to them, the Aurors placed shields in front of the door before the breacher was detonated, with the door being blasted off its frame. One of the other FBI Agents moved a camera in front of the door and then gave a nod to the others, "Clear for entry!"
Moving in, the group found themselves into a hallway, with Michael pulling out a map and unfolding it, "Okay, we're on the west side of the main building. Most of it is conference rooms, cleaning closets, and offices. We got to make it to these elevators here, and the stairs here."
A frown on her face, Bethany narrowed her eyes, "I can understand the stairs, but the elevators?"
With a glance at her, the FBI Agent shook his head, "The stairs only start on this level, but the elevator is more of a lift between the basem*nt and storage area for things like food and the like. It is an easy way for any vampires to make their way up from where their coffins are to his level. From there, they'll try for the stairs." Michael looked at one of the other Aurors there, "Our anti-portkey and anti-apparation spells are up, right?"
Nodding, the man grimaced behind the bandana covering his lower face, "They came up nearly as soon as they began firing at us. No way to get out until they react at least two klicks-" Suddenly, there was a loud boom and the building shook with pieces of dust and the like falling, "What the hell was that?!"
Quickly pulling his radio, Michael scowled, "What the hell is going on out there?!"
Seconds later, he could hear Alondra's voice over the radio, "{Pillsbury here, they had some armored technical in the parkade and just tried a break out.}" Moments later, there was another building shaking boom, "{But they won't for much longer.}"
Dry tone to his voice, the Afton co*cked an eyebrow as he spoke into the radio, "Just try not to bring the building down on top of us, Doughboy."
That got him a snort and a "I'll try not to" over the radio.
Lips twitching some, Michael made a motion with his hand, "Let's move!"
With that and leaving three of their number behind to cover the door and help provide cover for the next team coming in, the group began making their way down the hallway. Each door they reached, two of them would kick in the door with the others providing cover. Then, they would duck inside, checking the room before shouting clear with them moving on to the next. Slowly, but surely, they made their way deeper into the building.
Passing by the closed elevators, and leaving part of the group behind to cover them, Michael and the others were partway to the stairs when things rapidly became much more active.
Very first sign of what was about to happen was when there was the squealing of metal moving alongside shouts as the elevator doors opened partway. Twisting around, Michael was in time to see something tossed through, followed by the hallway disappearing under a roiling cloud of darkness as Bethany shouted, "PERUVIAN DARKNESS POWDER!"
Unfortunately, before any of them could react, the entire hallway went pitch black as it was covered in darkness. None of the light sources that any of them had would work and even their radios descended into static. It was impossible for any of them to see, even as muffled shouts could be heard.
Or, rather, it was impossible for most of them to see.
Nearly as soon as the wave of darkness rolled over him, Michael's eyes changed with the whites and iris turning a pitch black and his pupil glowing white. To him, the room was still "Dark", but he was able to see what was happening just the same as if through low-light vision. From the elevator door, two vampires appeared, eyes glowing as they grabbed the agents and Aurors there and tossed them like ragdolls.
Grabbing one of the Agents and choking them as the FBI Agent tried to break the hold, it opened its mouth bite down on their neck and tear out their throat… only for its head to snap to the side as Michael shot it in the head. Moving down the hallway, he continued to fire in short bursts at the two vampires, causing them to stumble back. Then, grabbing one of his flashbangs, he pulled out the pin and tossed it at them, "Fire in the hole!"
Moments later, there was a loud bang and the two vampires screeched as their hands clapped over their ears.
That, it turned out, was a mistake as Michael took that exact moment to come up close and fire nearly point blank where their skulls met their spines. Both vampires dropped to the ground, paralyzed from the action. Even as they began healing, the FBI Agent flipped them over, grabbing their arms and quickly putting the specialized anti-vampire cuffs on them both, "Clea-"
It was then that he heard a sound and turned to see another vampire, the one that they were looking for, with a limp child held in one arm. Said vampire snarled at him through the darkness that still covered the hallway before moving in a blur and grabbing Michael. A second later, the breath was driven from his lungs as he was slammed into the wall with enough force that the wooden paneling splintered under him. Then, before he could do anything else, he was slammed into the opposite wall with nearly the same amount of force.
Michael heard, and felt a sickening snap from his ribs, followed by a oh, so familiar taste of copper filling his mouth as there burning agony ripped through him. Alongside that, there was also a piercing pain lower down as well. Then, as if that was not enough, the vampire lashed out one final time with his foot and, with a crunch, the FBI Agent's knee snapped to the side.
Dropping him, the vampire sneered at him before quickly taking off down the hallway towards the stairs, tossing those in his way to the side.
Behind him, Michael gasped as he pulled himself to his feet, ignoring the pain as he began quickly limping down the hallway as he spoke into his radio, "A-Afton here… in pursuit of… suspect… west stairwell…"
He then grit his teeth as he fought through the pain, with it lessening the whole time. There was another crunch and his knee was no longer bent in the wrong direction and he reached behind him to where the piercing pain was and groped there for a moment. Feeling something rather long, he grasped it and then yanked it out, tossing the nearly hand-length piece of sharp wood, most of which was covered in his blood, to the side. There was another snap and he could breathe easier as he reached the stairwell and took a moment to catch his breath.
Ignoring the darkness around him as he could still see through it, he grunted and began making his way up the staircase as he heard doors being ripped off and flung, "f*ck."
Right then, he felt two small arms wrap around him and begin lifting him, "Here, let me give you a lift!"
Very briefly struggling, Michael twisted his head around and could see Fritz there, "What in the-"
Sheepish look as the two flew up the stairs and over various flung debris, Fritz gave a shrug, "Um… I wanted to make sure that you were not, you know… like your dad."
About to say something, the FBI Agent shook his head, "Never mind, we need to get that kid away from him so he doesn't have a hostage."
Grin on his face, Fritz just nodded, "Leave that to me, you just distract him."
Smirk on his own face, Michael snorted as he muttered, "I can do that." Quickly reaching the last landing, the two landed and the older male paused for a moment at the door frame before moving through it, "Suspect is on the fourth floor, west side. Repeat, suspect is on the fourth floor, west side, Afton in pursuit."
Nearly as soon as he moved through the door, he had to hit the floor as a hallway table was thrown at him with enough force that it practically shattered upon hitting the steel doorframe. Snarl on his face, the vampire glared at him, "You truly are one persistent vermin."
Only smirking, Michael shrugged at that as he clambered to his feet, "Well, thank you. I certainly do try."
Eyes narrowing, the vampire leapt towards him, child still hanging limply in one arm, "That was not a compliment!"
Dodging under the swipe, Michael grabbed said arm and used the momentum to swing around. Planting his feet onto the wall, he then used that along with his bodyweight from the unexpected move to throw the vampire off balance and into the wall as he slammed his elbow into the vampire's throat. From where he was watching and waiting, Fritz blinked some as he remembered one incident back at Freddy's, "Wait, wasn't that what he used against Jeremy that one time?"
Quickly, however, Fritz threw off his surprise as the stumbling vampire screamed as the FBI Agent dropped to the floor, using his knife to cut through the tendons in the back of the undead being's knee. The shock and surprise alongside the unexpected pain was enough for the vampire to loosen the hold on the child, at which point the ghost made his move and grabbed the kid, yanking them free. Quickly ducking into one of the rooms, Fritz then slammed the door shut and moved a bed in front of it.
Meanwhile, outside, the vampire stared in disbelief before slowly turning towards Michael. Said man brought up his gun and began firing round after round, but the undead he was facing simply leapt onto the ceiling, fingers digging into the plaster before swinging behind him. Grabbing the FBI Agent, it first slammed him into a wall, and then into, and through, a door with it splintering as it was blown off its hinges.
Stalking into the room, the vampire's eyes were glowing in rage as he made its way to the coughing Agent. Then, he grabbed Michael's leg and yanked him upwards, causing him to slam into the ceiling with the plaster breaking around his form before smashing him into the floor with snaps heard. Yanking him into the air once more, it grabbed both his legs, twisting him around before power bombing him into, and through, a table with it literally blowing apart under the blow as the agent felt something break in his back. Not yet finished, it then grabbed him and threw him across the room into the wall, drywall breaking under the impact as Michael fell to the ground gasping and coughing out blood.
Glare on his face as the man tried to crawl away, the undead monster grinned, "Normally, I don't like my meals aged, but I'll make an exception in your case."
Before he could get much closer, he felt something clap on his shoulder and was twisted around to see a ghostly, decayed looking robotic fox that screeched in his face before throwing him a short distance.
Unnoticed by either Fritz or the vampire, Michael grabbed hold of a dresser as there was a cracking sound coming from his back and got to his feet with blood dripping from his mouth before grinning as he noticed something. Then, he reached out for what he had just seen with a gasping chuckle and a grin showing his bloodstained teeth, "That will work…"
At the same time, the vampire backed away from the fox with a disbelieving look on his face, "W-what in the wor-"
However, before he could finish, another hand clamped down on his shoulder and he was twisted around to find Michael there, blood dripping down his chin and nose, eyes completely black except for a glowing white dot with most of his face in shadow, "My turn, you f*cker!"
Then, the FBI Agent swung his hand and the vampire's head snapped back as it let out a shout of pain. Before it could recover, Michael slammed another fist home, followed by another, and then an uppercut as the former boxer grinned. A final blow direct to the face caused the vampire to stumble back into the wall. For a moment, it laid there before hacking into its hand, then looking at said hand which had blood on it…
And two white, and broken fangs.
Body beginning to shake in rage, the vampire raised its head to glare at Michael, who had a rosery wrapped around his hand, cross hanging from it along with the vampire's blood. Slowly, it got back to its feet with a snarl, "I… am going to make sure… you die… in purest… agony!"
Slipping into a stance, Michael merely smirked as he could hear the sounds of the stairwell being cleared, "Not the first time, and frankly? My little brother and his girlfriend are better at death threats."
Roar escaping from him, the vampire charged at the Agent, with the man ducking under the swipe before landing a punishing blow to the stomach that nearly folded the undead being in half. That was followed by another upper cut that sent him stumbling back, and then a haymaker that snapped his head to the side. Unfortunately, that was when the vampire grabbed Michael's hand, ignoring the smoking from where said hand touched the rosary, and grabbed his bicep, causing the man's elbow to bend the wrong way with a snap. Then, he dropped said arm to grab the human by the throat with a crunch.
However, that turned out to be a mistake as the hand with the rosary then clenched shut and this time slammed into the most painful place in a male, causing the vampire to howl in agony.
Michael then followed that up by grabbing the canister of pepper spray and releasing it directly in the face of his foe, who screamed as he clawed at his face and backed away. For his part, the FBI agent dropped to his knees now that he was released and coughed and hacked as he tried to breath. Soft crunches could be heard from his throat before he got back to his feet... Just in time to see the still blinded vampire charging at him.
It took a moment, but he also realized what was behind him and internally winced as he had one last thought before the vampire slammed into him, 'God, this is going to hurt-'
Then, his back hit the boarded up window and both of them smashed through the wood and glass in a shower of debris.
Seconds later, they landed, with Michael impacting an old car roof hard enough to shatter the windshield and leave a decent dent where his body had hit. Groan escaping from him, one arm clutched around his midsection, he pushed against the ground, "F-*Hack*f*ck..."
Up above, Fritz just stared in disbelief at the sight down below before looking around. Then, he perked up as he remembered seeing something in the hallway and rushed out, "Hang on! I'll be right back!"
Down below, Michael spat out a glob of blood, he grabbed a door handle and slowly pulled himself up...
Only for a clawed hand to grab him by the back of his head and then lift him bodily, followed by smashing his face into and through a car window. Snarling through the pain as his skin reddened and blistered in the sunlight, the vampire then smashed Michael's face into another window, followed by ripping a door open and dropping him. Then, it smashed his head in the door a few times before yanking him out and throwing him nearly twenty feet into a damaged pillar from the earlier fighting.
Groaning as he laid there, blood streaming from his face and head, Michael reached up and yanked his badly damaged helmet off as he tried to get to his feet as footsteps came closer. The vampire then grabbed him by the vest and lifted him with one hand, the other grabbing some rebar and bending it, "You fought well, human. Better than many hunters... tell me your name so that I can claim a proper kill."
Eyes narrowed in a glare as the vampire slowly regenerated his burns from the sunlight in the shade, the FBI Agent coughed, "Michael Afton, and you can tell them in hell."
A grin appearing on his face, the Vampire then slammed him down, impaling him through the back and out the chest with the piece of rebar, "After you." Then, he raised an eyebrow as Michael grabbed said rebar, "Hmm? You certainly are tough to kill."
Cough escaping from him, Michael grinned some, "Want to know something...? They never look up."
Puzzled, the vampire was about to say something when he heard a sound and turned... in time to see Fritz coming down with a fire axe in his hand from height moments before it slammed into his back, "Got you, you black hearted scallywag!"
Scream ripping out of his throat, the vampire reached back to try and pry the axe free, only for another sound to cause him to widen his eyes. Mainly because Michael shoved himself back and down the hunk of rebar to brace himself, before grabbing said rebar. Then, he lifted himself off the ground and slammed both feet into the vampire's chest... and smashed him into the pillar behind him, with the head of the axe bursting from his foe's chest.
For a moment, the undead being stared at the axe head in disbelief, and then raised his head as he slid down the pillar, "W-why... why won't... you die...?"
Breathing hard, Michael's face was seemingly in shadow before he lifted his gaze. The last thing that the vampire saw was two irises glowing purple as the FBI Agent's next words were the last he heard, "Because when it comes to protecting and saving children from monsters like you...? I ALWAYS COME BACK."
