The Breed

By Dream Janus

Disclaimer: All rights are protected and the story cannot be reproduced without permission.

This story is a work of fiction and contains scenes of gay sex between consenting individuals. If you find this offensive, are under the age of 18, it is illegal wherever you are to read this, stop reading now. Leave this site. If you are offended by harsh language, please exit this page immediately. You have been warned. This work of fiction is property of myself and may not be copied or used in any way without my express consent.

Much thanks and appreciation goes to Rubilacxe, my editor and second set of eyes.

Note from Dream Janus: If you enjoy reading "The Breed" you may also enjoy reading the prequel "I Antino".


Chapter 13 "Battle ON!"


Ray turned his gleaming black eyes toward the approaching form of George. His cold furious visage softened slightly when he recognized his Alpha Zomé's arrival. "When the clean-up crew works this mess, they are to leave this one alone." Ray said with a voice that echoed in dual tones.

Ray then turned to the scared boy holding a blood soaked shirt on Steve's left shoulder. "His name is Steve, try to talk to him and find out what happened." Ray said to the boy, attempting to take the edge out of his voice, but failing.

Ray then focused on the area and drew on all of his senses. He could tell that Steve had been dumped from a vehicle, as he was able to see that the boy had rolled and left a slight blood trail. Ray could tell that the vehicle was a car and not a truck as the remaining exhaust from the last car in the area was too low for most trucks. His nose picked up the scent of leaking oil and a badly taken care of exhaust system so he figured that the car was an older model in need of its oil changed. Ray then caught the scent of something else and his energy flared anew. There was a Regia'an in the area, very close by.

Ray lost his train of thought as he quickly located the trail of the Regia'an and began to follow it. The visual scent trail showed that the Regia'an was the first one on the scene and fled down the alley and up the side of the three story bank next door. Ray followed the trail until he arrived at the spot that the Regia'an went up the side of the building.

Ray closed his eyes and concentrated, quickly the darkness that was swirling around him like a violent black cloud took another form, totally encasing his body from head to toe in darkness. Ray looked up the building and growled, instantly the darkness lifted him into the air and up the side of the building. His fury propelled his upward travel to the point that within the same second he was stepping onto the roof of the building.

The sight on the roof of that bank made Ray pause in his attack. He was not expecting the sight that met him. A girl child was on the roof crying, she was no older than five or six. Her face was the mixture of Regia'an and Human, feline like features including the slits of cat eyes. Her hair was course and had a combination of streaks and spots. Her clothing was torn and unwashed. The thing that stopped Ray in his tracks was that the girl hid her face and continued to cry when she noticed his approach, instead of running or attempting to fight.

"Look at me child," Ray demanded. "I am a Conclave Lord and you were found at the scene of a crime on Conclave property." He had no intentions of hurting the child as long as she was not involved in Steve's beating.

The girl blinked blankly at Ray but fixed her eyes on his. Ray noticed that the girl was noticeably underfed and looked sick, even for a Regia'an. She blinked again and then spoke in a very soft whisper. "Is the boy that man hurt going to be alright?"

Ray knelt near her upon hearing that and then he chose to forget for the moment she was a mixed breed of the blood enemy Regia'an and was supposed to be killed on sight. "What man?" he asked in a near whisper.

"He drove a smelly old white and tan car" She began to explain in the same whispered voice. She then cocked her head to the side and mimicked the voice of the man she heard and saw. "That bitch's faggot son works around here, maybe this faggot will be a sign to him not to fuck with me and my family."

The copied voice made Ray's blood boil once again. It was the perfect likeness of his mother's boyfriend Paul. A plan of action formed in his mind instantly. Ray extracted his cell phone from his shadow hidden pocket and pressed the speed dial for his grandmother. He looked down at the girl and lightly touched her face as he waited for the phone to be answered.

"Hello" Iris answered the phone.

"It is me," Ray began. "Has mother contacted you?"

"Yes" Iris responded with a questioning tone. "She and the kids are here, they came home tonight."

"My house tomorrow afternoon" Ray demanded. "We have a very big problem."

Ray then hung up the phone and called to Antino's direct line. When the phone connected Ray started talking immediately.

"Big shit at the club tonight, a human schoolmate of mine was beaten and near death and it looks like it was caused Paul." Ray paused. He then looked at the girl and sighed deeply. There is a second problem; two witnesses, the main witness is a Human/Regia'an half breed female child about the age of six or seven. She appears to be orphaned or abandoned. The second is a human male who has been attempting to make sure that Steve did not bleed to death."

"Understood" responded Antino's voice through the phone. "I take it that we are not cleaning up after the human male?"

"No, I will deal with him myself" Ray responded.

"The Human/Regia'an half breed will have to be studied" Antino continued. He paused and then said "I cannot make any promises on that one."

"I understand" Ray responded.

"Isolate the female and protect her until I get there that is a direct order." Antino said with the full authority of the Ancient in his voice. Both he and Ray knew that it was unnecessary to be directed at Ray, but it gave Ray the authority to stop anyone that attempted to kill the girl before Antino got there.

"Done and done" Ray responded.

"I will be there in about fifteen minutes" Antino said returning his voice to normal.

"We will be in the club" Ray responded before hanging up the cell phone.

Without a further word Ray picked up the small half breed girl, walked to the side of the building and jumped off. He used the shadow energy to slow his descent. It was not to stop him from getting hurt, but to make the landing soft and gentle for the girl. When they landed Ray was immediately was surrounded by members of the clean-up crew. A woman and man Ghoul both reached for the girl.

Ray growled at both the man and woman, baring his fangs to both of them. "Hand off of her, by order of Antino." He then glared at everyone in the area saying "I will personally rip out anyone's throat who even comes near her!"

Both the man and woman quickly back off but they kept a look at Ray's fangs. The woman then said under her breath. "Uppity smart ass mutt needs to be taught a lesson." The man blanched but he only had time to blink as Ray was instantly in front of the woman.

Ray had shifted the girl from both arms in to right arm and flew in front of the woman. He grabbed the woman by the throat extremely roughly. His eyes, hand and arm where black as night. Ray pressed his now elongated finger nails into the woman skin. He then growled "you just broke an executive order of the Ancient; It is an automatic death sentence bitch." He tightened his grip on her throat drawing blood. "The only question is if you want to die by my hand or by the hand of the ancient!"

The woman struggled unsuccessfully against Ray's grip. She looked at the man for help and then looked back at Ray, pleading in her eyes. She knew that she was looking death in the face and she was scared. Her neck now burned with the shadow energy, she noticed that her blood was now flowing freely down Ray's hand.

"Release her, this instant Lord Toban!" boomed a voice behind Ray.

"FUCK OFF, She broke an Ancient order in front of me." Ray roared. "Her life is forfeit." Ray didn't even look back to see who it was and out of anger tightened his grip on her throat. He would not release the woman for anyone except Antino himself.

"Which order was that?" answered the familiar voice of Antino. A trace of humor echoed in his voice.

"This bitch broke the Mutt order in my own presence!" Ray bellowed. His rage was still flowing from him. His shadow energy flowed back and forth around him and the woman.

"Her life is his to do with as he wants, Eduardo" Antino answered coldly. "If he doesn't kill her and he releases her, I will kill her myself." Antino was also pissed, but withheld killing the woman himself. He hated the term "Mutt" and he hated having the few orders that he issued broken.

Ray turned himself and the woman around so he could see Antino's eyes. When he saw that Antino was serious about killing her himself, Ray nodded and began to pull with the shadow energy. He felt his energy increasing.

The woman's face contorted in fear and panic as she felt her life energy draining from her, through her neck. She shivered as the cold hand of death came upon her. The change in her body was at first unnoticeable, but the longer Ray pulled the more noticeable the change became. In front of everyone, the woman became to wrinkle and age. Her hair began to grey first, followed by wrinkling of her face and hands.

Ray felt the energy begin wane as the woman's body slump toward the ground. Her body now appeared to be almost mummified, but there was still a small spark of life in her. He released her neck and allowed her to crumple all the way to the ground. Ray then switched the girl in his left arm to his right and looked at the people standing around him. "LET THIS BE A WARNING TO ALL." Ray bellowed.

"I AM LORD TOBAN, GRANDSON OF THE GREAT LADY MAR'UUL, PROTÉGÉ OF BOTH ELZABETH AND ANTINO THE ANCIENT, SHADOW LORD OF THE CONCLAVE!" Ray's voice rose even louder. "I AM DEATH TO ANYONE THAT SAYS THE WORD MUTT IN MY PRESENCE!!" He then turned and walked toward the club, avoiding the body of the woman on the ground.

 

Ray noticed that George and Mike had the boy seated with them at a table near the back of the club. Rex was pacing back and forth like a caged animal until he saw Ray enter the club; he then rushed to Ray and began to try to hug him. Rex stopped short when he saw the girl in Ray's arms. He cocked his head sideways and looked at the girl with a mixture of fear and confusion.

 

"She is under the Ancient's protection." Ray said answering the unasked question. "And mine." He added for emphases.

 

Rex nodded and then smiled. "I see that you are staying out of trouble, my love."

 

Rex and Ray both laughed and then Ray began following Rex over to Mike, George and the boy. They had stopped talking and were watching Ray intently. George stood up and gave his seat to Ray. Mike stared openly at the half breed girl. Ray he gently placed the little girl on a chair next to him. The little girl looked up at Mike and smiled softly.

 

Mike smiled at the girl and asked, "What is your name, little one?"

 

The little girl looked up at Mike and then to Ray, blinked twice and said "My name is Shanny." Her voice was small and delicate.

 

"My name is Mike," Mike began. "This is Rex, George, and you already know Toban." He said as he pointed to each of the men. Mike then look at the new boy and asked "What is your name?"

 

The boy looked up with light blue eyes that showed he was still afraid of Ray, or as he knew Toban. He had slightly calmed down since George went out and retrieved him, but he was still afraid of what they would do to him. "My name is Terrance, but everyone calls me Terry."

 

"Are you going to kill me?" Terry asked directly to Ray with fear in his eyes.

 

Ray blanched as he realized how scared the boy was. "No, you attempted to save a friend of mine. Therefore, I am in your debt." Ray then tried to smile. "No one here or outside will harm you, but we ask that you do not tell anyone about what you saw."

 

"No problem," Terry explained. "I just saw the boy being pushed out of the blue car, by that man."

 

"What were you doing back there?" asked Rex softly.

 

"I was looking for food," Terry answered, very softly.

 

"So you are homeless?" George asked slightly in shock.

 

Terry nodded sadly, a tear leaking out his left eye. He quickly rubbed his eyes to remove the tear trying to hide from everyone.

 

George immediately got on his cell phone and called Tyler. "Hey Ty, I have a boy here needing your help."

 

Tyler answered that he would be back at the club in less than a minute. He knew that George asking was a rarity and meant something was going on. Tyler ran across the parking lot where he had been helping calm down the few people that have been at the club when the incident happened. He entered the club quickly, quietly and was standing beside George before the door was heard shutting.

 

"So is this the young man that I am going to be helping?" Tyler asked looking at Terry.

 

"Yes, he is homeless and needs as much help as we can get him," George responded.

 

"Terry, Tyler is here to take you to a secure place that you can live," Rex explained. "You will be safe there, no one will hurt you and you can stay there as long as you need."

 

"Well, dude, it is nice to meet you. Let's get you to the Haven, " Tyler said with a great big smile.

 

Both Tyler and Terry walked out of the club slowly and into the night air. Tyler planned on keeping a close eye on the boy as he realized that he was important to both Lord Toban and the Ancient himself. Terry was scared as they walked to Tyler's car, but he also felt very secure.

 

 

 

Fifteen minutes later, Antino, another vampire and Harold all walked into the club. The other vampire and Harold both had deep frowns on their faces, Antino's face was enigmatic. They quickly walked over to Ray and Shanny. Ray bristled immediately as he realized that the other vampire was the one who told him to release the woman. He further realized that the vampire was one of the Elders of the Shadow Council. Ray he did not know whether to act like he was sorry for his actions or not, even though he was far from being sad about his action at all.

 

Antino stopped at the table and immediately took the seat vacated by Terry. He quickly put his feet on the table and leaned back. He looked at each of the young men, popped his neck, and then smiled. "That is one hell of a mess," Antino then leaned back in his chair. "I asked Harold to talk to you about the situation with the cleanup crew."

 

Harold looked briefly at each of the men, and then focused on Ray. "Cal'man, the woman that broke the Ancient's law was a good cleanup worker, but disliked by many. She will not be missed." Harold then smiled at Ray. "I am sorry she was a bother tonight instead of a help, there will be no cleanup fee because of her words and the damage they did."

 

Harold extended his hand out to Ray and shook it excitedly. He then turned his focus on to Shanny's small form. Harold's eyes noticed every detail of the small girls frame. He then smiled and asked her, "Little one, were you left alone by your mommy and daddy?

 

Shanny looked shocked at Harold's question, she cocked her head to the left and whispered. "My mommy died a long time ago and daddy left me downtown after I was not able to look normal for him." She then began to cry slightly. No one dared attempt to comfort her during the questioning.

 

Over the next hour and a half, Harold and Antino both asked Shanny many questions, some were about her parents, some were about what she saw and others were about what she knew about herself. Occasionally Antino or Harold would look back at the silent vampire, the man only nodded occasionally about what the girl saying. Ray realized he was acting as a lie detector for Antino and Harold.

 

Finally Antino said, "I am satisfied, what about you?"

 

"I as well," Harold responded.

 

"Agreed, with reservations!" The vampire responded.

 

"Lord Toban with a minor exception, the girl's future is up to you." Antino finally announced, in doing so making it an Ancient proclamation. "She was declared non-viable by those who created her. At this stage, she is no threat to us and it is very unlikely she ever will be. If you allow her to live, she will end up having to be sterilized and being marked as not a threat."

 

"I see no reason to destroy her," Ray responded coldly, hiding his true emotions. "She has actually been beneficial to us so far." He then stood up and said, "I would be remiss if she were to be destroyed simply for being a mixed breed or a mutt!" Ray then took Shanny's hand in his own.

 

"I will attempt to find her a permanent place, but on the short-term, if my Zoméa agree I would take her to my home and see if Ruth would be willing to babysit." Ray continued.

 

George, Rex and Mike all agreed that she could come home with them. Mike was already limitedly attached to the girl. George and Rex neither felt threatened whatsoever. Shanny looked nervous until she heard this and then she smiled, her cat-like eyes glistened with tears that threatened to fall with happiness.

 

"I can bet you that Ruth will want to spoil her," Antino said with sly smile. "Rotten!" he then added with a laugh.

 

"That you can be sure of," George said with a smile. "She misses her other children terribly."

 

 

 

Twenty minutes later George was driving the car up to the gate of the house. Rex was sitting next to his brother surveying the area as they traveled. Mike was holding the head of the sleeping Shanny in his lap. Ray was on the cell talking to Ruth up in the house.

 

"Yes, Ruth, she is about six and has some minor physical abnormalities but otherwise she appears to be normal." He then laughed. "I bet you are going to love her."

 

Ruth was standing at the front door with David Senior when the car reached the house. She barely allowed it to stop before she hurried to it and flung open the back door to reach for the sleeping form of Shanny. The men laughed quietly as she gently took the girl in her arms and softly said, "I am taking this poor child to a proper bed." Ruth then rushed inside and vanished.

 

David smiled after his wife and then turned toward Ray. "She has been on pins and needles since you called." He then shook his head. "Was she abused?"

 

Ray shook his head and smiled weakly. "Thankfully not, just abandoned. Her genetics were not what her creators wanted, so she was left downtown."

 

"Well, you know we will take care of her for you," David said with a bit of a bow.

 

Ray smiled and patted David on the shoulder. "That was what we figured."

The next afternoon Ray walked down the stairs yawning when he was attacked by the ball energy that was Davey. He latched on to Ray's leg and giggled. Davey bounced up and down with unbridled excitement. "Lor Toban did you brin me a new sister?" He asked breathlessly.

Ray smiled at Davey; He then picked up the hyperactive boy and hugged him. Ray was happy when the boy cuddled into his chest for a moment and looked into his eyes expectantly as they walked toward the kitchen. "Well, little man, she is going to live here now and if she becomes your new sister depends on your mommy and daddy." He then laughed. "Do you want her for a new sister?" Ray asked already knowing the answer.

"Sure, she has funny eyes and neat hair." Davey responded crinkling his nose "and she is so quiet," he whispered and then giggled. He then noticed they had arrived in the kitchen.

In the kitchen, sitting around the table were Ruth, Rosann, Iris, David, Valen and Toby. Ray's face darkened and he gently put Davey down. "Davey, please take Valen and Toby outside to play for awhile, I need to talk to the adults for a little bit."

Davey looked up at Ray with respect and immediately walked over to Valen and Toby to obey his request. Davey extended his hands out to both of the other children and smiled. "Hi I am Davey, you are Lor Toban's brother and sister?" He grinned when they took his hands "Let's go play." He then led them out the back door of the kitchen.

Ruth hopped up and began preparing a meal for Ray. Ray took his seat at the head of the table and looked hard at his mother and grandmother. He was not angry at either of them but was upset at the situation and was not able to maintain his emotions in a cold and calculating way.

"Last night Paul brutally assaulted, nearly killed and dumped a school friend of mine near the club." Ray began. "There were two witnesses to the act." He growled. "He now is a threat not only to me and the family but also to the Conclave, I am declaring him a personal blood enemy of this house!" Ray slammed his hand down on the table for effect and to emphasize his point.

Rosann was crying as Ray spoke, she knew her former boyfriend was violent. She knew that she was strong enough and could have stopped him at any time but she felt she needed his support more so she dealt with it until Ray's promise that he would retaliate if Paul hurt either of the children. Last week Paul had hit Valen and that was the end of the relationship, for her sake and the sake of the children.

Iris' face was darkened along with her grandson's; she was in total agreement with him about the situation. If she was younger she would hunt down and kill the bastard herself. Iris' left hand began to twitch as she attempted to control her anger. She noticed the involuntary twitch and immediately hid her hand from view. Iris did not want her family to see her loose control and potentially realize the extent of her condition.

"I am going to call and find out about Steve here in a little bit," Ray explained. "If he can have visitors, I will go see him tomorrow after we get done with a Conclave job I have to do." He realized that Steve was being held at a private hospital owned and operated by the Conclave for breed related injuries and emergencies. Ray also knew that they would put on a proper show if and when Steve's parent's visited. He also knew that Antino would make sure that there was no medical bill for the service.

Ruth handed Ray a plate of rare steak, eggs and toast. She then placed glasses of blood, milk and orange juice in front of him as well. Ruth and Ray both noticed the surprised look on the faces of Rosann and Iris. Ray smiled as he realized that they had never seen him drink blood as it was not done in their houses.

"I began drinking blood on occasions, when I began training. I don't do it every day just when I need the extra enhancement." Ray explained.

That night Ray, George and Rex stood outside the junkyard's gate waiting on Junior and Karl to join them. After a few moments they heard the approach of the guard dogs and heard their voices {Kurr, Master, Play, Junn, Master, Play}. When they reached the gate, their barks changed to {Reuf, toy, Play, Gew'org, Play} and {New Toy, NAME? New Toy, NAME?!}.

A barked response came from Karl {NAME Master Toban, NO Toy!} His voice demanded and received respect from the dogs as they instantly fell silent. A moment later Karl's muddy face and clothes became visible as he jumped over the fence and landed softly in front of Ray. Almost immediately Junior landed beside his partner with an equally muddy body.

"Well I am glad we are on a mission and not going out partying," Rex said laughing. "You two look like you have been rolling in the mud again!"

"We were," responded Junior with impish smile and a lecherous lift of his right eye brow.

"Well you are sitting on towels in my car, you are not getting the leather dirty" Rex responded with an almost believable growl. George and Ray were laughing softly behind him.

Rex shot both of them the middle finger and stuck out his tongue. He then opened his car door and got in with an over acted flounce.

Ten minutes later Rex's car and George's car pulled into the alley staging area across the street and down the block from the drug house target. Immediately Ray was nervous as he sensed that they were being watched. He almost as quickly was able to spot the hiding place of T&T who were in the abandoned house that had been previously used to watch the drug house. Just as Ray was about to say there was someone else watching them Sherry stepped out of the brush and surprised Karl.

Another ten minutes passed and the group began to get nervous as they waited for Robert Dal`gen'gel and Ian Dal`gen to show up in the staging area when Ray felt a mental [PING]. He then located that Robert and Ian were already in their positions outside the house in a car. Ian planned on bringing up the rear when the attack began and Robert would remain outside to nullify anyone there.

[SHOW TIME!] Toban projected to everyone before grabbing hold of Sherry's arm and shifting into Shadow Realm. Once they were in the Shadow Realm, Toban and Sherry were able to move freely without touching. Sherry looked around with mild amazement but then looked to Toban for direction. He motioned for them to head out. They then ran quickly toward the house itself.

Thomas noticed that Toban and Sherry disappeared and quickly grasped George's arm and the arm of Junior. He then shifted them also into the Shadow Realm. George and Junior both took a moment to compensate for the reversed black and white appearance of the Realm. When they noticed that Toban and Sherry were already running toward the house, they quickly followed.

At the moment that Thomas touched George and Junior, Terry touched Rex and Karl repeating the same process. Rex and Karl immediately took after Toban and Sherry followed slightly by Terry. Karl was already growling and preparing for battle.

Karl's eyes darkened and gained the animalistic nature of his true form. His skin began to ripple as he forced the transformation began as they moved. His feet elongated and reformed into dog like hind legs. His knees reversed in to their animal counterparts as he fell on to his equally transformed forepaws. Karl's muscle mass increased dramatically over his whole body. Karl's handsome face contorted and popped as it reshaped, almost painfully a muzzle formed out of his pouting lips and Romanist nose. His ears slid up his head and reformed into the points of a wolf. His hair was added to by the thick coat of tan and grey fur of a North American Wolf.

Rex noticed that Karl was changing and began his change as well. He waited until his knees buckled before dropping to the ground to begin running that way. Rex's hair reddened as the Kodak fur overtook his own hair. His slightly slower gait became noticeable when they were fully changed and Karl had to slow for the larger Rex.

Toban's blood felt like it was on fire. The world exploded with sounds, sights and smells. His flesh began to boil. The bones began to groan and scream. Toban's legs lengthened and his heel extended up his legs. A small blunt tail formed out of his ass, his spine became more pronounced and curved. Toban's forearms extended and the muscle mass multiplied his shoulders and upper arms tripled in size, his chest expanded to twice its size in muscle mass. Toban's face distorted and changed his eyes changed to a cold black without any white; his mouth nose and chin formed into a short blunt muzzle with the nose looking like a cross between a bears and a wolf's. His ears rounded and rose slightly on his head as the whole shape of his skull reshaped into a more rounded form. Toban's whole body sprouted short course brown and silver fur to go with the hair he already had on his body. His grossly exaggerated human looking feet grew longer toe nails that hardened and extended until they touched the ground. His equally exaggerated human looking hands grew longer finger nails that hardened into claws. Toban's already present canine teeth extended further until he had vicious looking fangs.

 

The shadow energy crackled off of Toban's body like white lighting in the reversed white and black world of the Shadow Realm. Within a moment it settled down and formed a protective armor around Toban's body and a hood to hide his face from the enemy. The occasional jolt of stray shadow energy across the surface revealed that it was very special and very dangerous.

Sherry smiled at the multi-breed Lord in front of her as she began her own transformation. Her already feline like features became even more angled and furry almost instantly. Sherry's clothing split as a nearly prehensile tail grew from her pert ass. The deformed hand took a more natural claw appearance as its companion began to match it. She quickly dropped onto all fours as she became her true leopard form.

The immense silver Kodak form of George quickly followed them as they finally reached the house. Toban looked at the house carefully and noticed that a shadow of a near by tree entered in the house through a window, that would be their entry point. No need for doors when they could walk on shadows themselves.

George was the first to enter the house through the tree's shadow. He quickly checked out that the room was mostly unused and therefore uninhabited. George was checking out the hallway when Sherry entered the room. For the next few moments they both took alternating advancing positions as they searched the back of the house for traps and potential threats. Toban was standing at the door of the room waiting for them very impatiently when they returned.

[Everyone is in position,] Toban thought said in the Shadow Realm way of speaking.

Outside Rex, Karl, Junior, Thomas and Terry were standing to one side of the front door still in the Shadow Realm waiting for the signal. Ian was on the property ready to walk in the front door once it had been busted through.

George projected a map of the house as they had found it. Toban, Sherry and he were in the smaller of two bedrooms. A hall running east and west separated that bedroom from a larger bedroom where the house leader was located. There was a small bathroom also in the hall directly south of the doorway into the rest of the house. The living room which took the front of the house held seven drug dealers and three users. The dining room was on the east side and held another three drug dealers, the kitchen was on the west and held the only guards for the whole house, three of them.

Toban projected his plan of attack to everyone. He was going to go after the house leader. He was sending George and Sherry to attack the dinning room from the rear. Rex, Karl and Junior were to attack the living room; Thomas and Terry were to act as back up to the others. Thomas, Terry and George would also need to be prepared to attack the guards when they attacked.

[AGREED] echoed everyone's voices at the same time.

Toban, Sherry and George moved into the hallway. Sherry and George then edged slightly into the dinning room, Toban edged closer to the larger bedroom but within reach of both Sherry and George.

[Get ready,] Toban projected, instantly echoed by Ian. Ian projected a visual map of everyone's location and preparedness to everyone else. Toban waited until everyone was touching a shadow walker.

[GO!!]

Instantly everyone became visible. Sherry and George each jumped on separate drug dealers and quickly killed their first targets. A moment after the command the front door exploded with such force that it shattered into wooden projectiles. One of the dealers and two of the users were impelled by the wooden shards. The users were dead, but the dealer was only wounded.

Rex and Karl jumped on two other dealers. Terry ran to the wounded dealer and snapped his neck with a single twist. Two of the four remaining dealers attempted to fight Rex and Karl, the other two decided to attempt to run toward the back of the house and protect the leader. The two fighters were not ready when Junior and Thomas attacked them. The fight was over quickly as Junior tore out the throat of one and Thomas drained the other of all his blood.

The two that ran to protect the house leader were met by George, who was coming from the kitchen shaking his blood covered body. Their surprise made it easy for Sherry to get behind them and shred both of their necks with a quick dual swipe. She dropped to the ground with both bodies and then winked at George.

Meanwhile in the back of the house Toban charged into the room of the house leader, his claws extended and ready to attack. The house leader was an older male who looked as if he was a combination of human and feline with grayish skin, an angular face, amber cat-like eyes, and clawed hands. The leader's desk was covered with paperwork and five syringes of the drug, three of them were the regular green color of the drug, the fourth was red and the fifth was turquoise.

When the leader saw Toban he threw the three green syringes at Toban. Two of them bounced off of Toban's shadow protection harmlessly but the third stuck in Toban's chest. Toban grunted in pain as the drug drained into his body. He used the shadow energy to enhance his already deadly claws and sliced out at the leader.

The man screamed as Toban's shadow enhanced claws sliced into his flesh. Knocking the leader back onto his desk and scattering the paperwork on the floor. Energy drained from him but he reached for another syringe. The leader's clawed hand slid across the turquoise and landed on the red. The moment that Toban's claws thrust into the leader's chest grasping in search of the heart, the leader jammed the turquoise syringe in to Toban's hand. Toban felt his body stiffen and then he dropped to the floor. His body slowly began to harden and petrify as he began to loose consciousness.

The drug dealers and guards were all dead. The three users that survived had been pushed into the living room by T&T when everyone heard two screams. A moment later Ian's voice echoed in everyone head with fear and panic, [CODE OMEGA, THE LORD IS DOWN]. There was silence. Then [DEAR GOD, THE ANCIENT IS GOING TO KILL US, TOBAN IS DOWN!!]

Editor's Comments: What a great chapter but I think it is time to call the Cliffhanger Police! Will the drug dose that Toban received be fatal? Stay tuned for the next chapter.


Dream Janus Comments: Calling the Cliffhanger Police on poor little innocent me? (Looking all innocent)...Hahahaha (laughing evilly). I am not little or innocent!

Honestly guys, I am sorry for the evil Cliffhanger, but it is where the story leads and is important. I can tell you that Chapter #14 will not be that far away, the personal stuff that slowed #13 has been taken care of, finally.