As the sun was edging closer to the nearby hills, Brian was getting more and more nervous. Robby had contacted Colleen, and soon after, two unmarked packages were delivered to the hotel in Brian's name. All the weapons were there. There was plenty guns to chose from, including pistols, revolvers, Tec-11s, Tec-12's, AK-42, MP5, and an M16. Howie was mostly the one who needed to explain everything about every type of weapon. Nick picked up one of the guns with his eyes wide: "I've never seen anything like this before..." Howie moved in next to him, critically observing the weapon: "It's a Browning nine-millimeter pistol with a Birdsong desert brown finish." Nick looked at him suspiciously: "What's Birdsong?" "The Rembrandt of pistol finishes. The pistol is basically stripped, sandblasted, and then sprayed with Teflon, which is baked on. It's mainly waterproofed and painted to blend with the environment. It's used by FBI, SWAT teams, Navy SEALs, counterterrorists, ...etc." Howie observed the choice of weapons and then grinned widely and pulled one of the guns out. Nick's eyes widened even more: "What the hell is that?" Howie gripped it as if he held that gun his whole life: "See, it's almost like a rifle. It's Winchester Black Talon... this was taken off the market years ago. But the bullets prove it." He held one out so Nick could see it: "Black-coated, brass jacketed with a notched hollow that blossoms when fired... makes half-an-inch hole and it's unbelievably destructive. Goes through you like a buzz saw." Then he pulled out another one and tucked it in Nick's hands: "Use this. It's Sig P220... it's black and it looks a lot like a nine-millimeter that cops usually wear. It's far from a regular cop gun though. This .45 is loaded with high-performance ammunition and it's so destructive that the best medical examiners wouldn't be able to follow its pattern. Not that something like that is gonna matter with vampires." Robby grinned at Brian: "This guy is great... that's some Italian blood he's got there." Brian smiled back: "You know what's really funny?" "What?" "He's not really Italian." Either way, Brian felt as if the day was dragging on forever. Mark's flight had made it somewhere around noon, and he had showed up briefly to give N'Sync the schedule for the next couple of days. No one really listened to him, even when he mentioned that they have an important photo shoot later in the evening. No one had even considered backing out. Brian noticed obvious change in almost everyone. Howie, Kevin and Robby seemed more determined as the day went on; Lance did too, but you could clearly notice his nervousness although he tried really hard to cover it up. Joey had made jokes, but his jokes seemed more forced and far apart as the time passed by, until they stopped altogether. Nick seemed to be all over the place, some from the excitement and some from the nervousness too, while AJ had not moved from his chair for hours, absorbed in his own dark thoughts. JC had showed up late, his eyes red and matching AJ's, but they both refused to talk about whatever it was that was bothering them. Justin was still in his room, hopefully getting some sleep. Derrick was the hardest to read. He was hard and cold most of the time, but Brain would catch a glimpse of him when Justin's name was mentioned, and the change of his expression was priceless. The earlier tension between him and Justin was something Brian would have never expected, because he knew very well what that type of tension meant. He didn't have the time to think about it though, there was way too many things on his mind. He himself picked out .380 automatic just because Robby insisted that everyone brings a gun, whether they like using it or not. Robby already had .357 revolver tucked in his belt, but Brian knew that Robby hated the idea of wearing it. When he had mentioned it, Robby refused to admit that he minded carrying a gun. Brian himself didn't really feel comfortable with the coldness of the automatic against his skin, but the swords he had requested were already in their places on his belt, and he could almost feel the safety radiating from them. Some half an hour later, Justin slipped into the room, and after a few quick sentences with JC, he moved towards the gun case. Derrick was next to him in a matter of seconds, and was holding out a gun for him: "It's a .380 semiautomatic. It shouldn't be hard to operate... I'll show you." His voice got softer as they moved away, and Brian focused on Robby who was standing right next to him: "When are we moving?" "Less than quarter of an hour." Raising his voice, he announced to everyone: "We're moving in fifteen minutes. The bullet-proof vests are in a second package... I don't care how claustrophobic you are, unless you wear one, you're staying here. There is going to be a lot of vampires and humans out there, and you never know who might mistake you for the enemy." In less than five minutes, everyone besides Derrick and Robby had a bullet-proof vest under their jackets. Brian looked around one last time. They all looked so different, loaded with weapons and strengthened by pure determination to stay alive... Brian found it hard to realize that they were the same people he knew only yesterday. Robby looked at his watch: "OK, countdown... 10... 9... 8..." There was sweat on Brian's forehead. His heart was furiously beating in his ears so he could barely hear Robby's voice: "7... 6... 5..." Derrick was the only one whose face didn't give away anything at all. Brian looked at Robby and squeezed his hand tight. Robby returned the squeeze without taking his eyes off the watch: "4... 3... 2..." Brian swallowed hard. Here it comes... "...1!" A loud explosion from the street below shook all the windows in the room. Robby yelled over the noise: "Now! Move now!!" Brian quickly stepped into the hallway, his hand still in Robby's. They moved down the back stairway while panic from the street could clearly be heard. Right before they reached the bottom steps, Robby signaled them to stop and stay silent. He seemed to be concentrating on something far, far away, and couple of seconds later, another explosion shook the ground so hard that half of them ended up on their knees. Robby kept yelling: "Get up! Up! We have to move now!!" When they reached the back exit, the security guards were long gone, trying to stabilize the situation in front, or more likely, as Brian saw it, trying to hide somewhere. They stepped into the early evening light, and didn't stop moving until they were a block away from the hotel. Seconds after they reached the road, two cars, a black Lexus and a Mercedes pulled up, and Robby bent to speak with one of the drivers. The he turned around to face everyone: "We have to separate. I want the Boys with Brian and I, and the rest with Derrick. Once we join Colleen, the attack starts and there is no turning back." How no one seemed to even consider turning back at that point, Robby smiled slightly: "Let's go then." Quietly, he added: "Good luck." But no one besides Brian had heard him. Once they were in a car and speeding down the streets which turned darker with every minute, Brian couldn't let go of Robby's hand. It was the only piece of reality he had left, and he held on to it with dear life.
Justin sat very close to Derrick, his body tense and nervous and his mind in even worse condition. Chris and Joey discussed their choice of weapons loudly, probably to avoid nerve-wrecking silence, while Lance sat close to JC and was obviously trying to find out the reason for JC's earlier behavior. He felt Derrick's hand on his shoulder, and jumped up, some from surprise and some from his touch. Derrick smiled: "Relax, you shouldn't be so nervous. Everything is going to work out fine." Justin swallowed, his throat painfully dry: "Those explosions... they sounded pretty... destructive." Derrick frowned: "Oh, didn't Robby mention?... They're fake... the entire thing is fake. It's just the force of the noise that was real. Robby wouldn't set up anything that could hurt people in any way... not unless he was forced to do it." He pushed his hand under the seat and pulled out a cell phone. Starting to dial, it seemed as if he had already forgotten that Justin was there. Justin tried to give him some space but that was almost impossible to do, so he settled with where he was. It seemed as if the phone rang couple of times before someone answered. Derrick's voice was low, but Justin could understand it perfectly: "Hey... we're on our way... Yes, at the Bridge Square... um, as far as I know they're going to end up more east, probably Main Street..." Derrick seemed to listen very carefully for a couple of minutes, and then ended the conversation with couple of quick sentences: "Lady Lake... I understand... Warn Robby about no contact. Good Luck." He placed the phone back under the seat, and Justin leaned in to look at him: "Change of plans?" "You could say so... we're hitting from three sides now, not two. Which means we're getting separated from Brian. But we're all going to end up in the same place anyway; The Blood's head quarters or coffins." At his last sentence, Justin's face turned white and he started to tremble slightly. He just couldn't take death so lightly... not yet. Everything was still so sudden, and the thought of losing his friends... losing Derrick, was more painful that Justin ever thought it could be. Derrick noticed the expression on Justin's face and took his hand slowly: "I'm sorry. Bad vampire humor; I always forget you're human. We're going to survive this, I promise." Justin gripped his hand although it was so deathly cold that it sent chills through his body. But he gripped it anyway, and held on tightly until the car stopped.Colleen crouched in the darkness of the lake trees, and went over the plan in her head over and over again, making sure that everything was planned out perfectly. She knew that no battle attack plan was perfect though; everything usually works out fine until the first bullet gets fired, then all you can do is ride the luck and hope it doesn't throw you off. Her father had told her that many times before he died, although she was too young to understand. But when she got older, that was the most valuable piece of information she had, and it had gotten her through many fights and night battles. Dom was right next to her, staring into the darkness like an experienced hawk waiting for its pray. She could clearly see the fire in his eyes; fire she hadn't seen in so many years that she had began to think she had imagined it. But it was there, and Colleen knew that Dom needed this more than she did. He missed the old days when her father, the Capo of Parotti family made him his most trustworthy Soldati and raised him in the family to the highest position a Soldati could achieve. He missed the times when the iron fist of Mafia ruled the town, and when nights were full of gun shots, hunting, and freedom. This war gave him a chance to be the man he used to be, and Colleen knew he would try to make the most of it. Checking her watch, she raised her gun and waved it over her left and right shoulder. Soon, the soundless shapes started moving away from lake and towards the crumbled buildings some hundred feet away. Colleen squeezed Dom's shoulder and whispered softly: "For The Family." He glanced at her and responded just as softly: "For The Family." Soon, the darkness swallowed them both.
Brian couldn't not see anything beyond Robby's silhouette in front of him, but at that time it was enough. He wasn't even sure that he wanted to find out where exactly were they going. Robby moved as if flowing over the pavement, his coat the only noise coming from his body. Brian wasn't as skilled but he tried his best. The worst was Nick, who kept tripping over his feet the entire time, until Howie took his hand and made him follow his steps. Howie made as little noise as Robby did, if not less. AJ's faint steps could be heard, but that was the only type of noise AJ had made since they had left the hotel. Kevin stepped smoothly next to Robby, and did his best to be quiet. Brian was afraid. He hated admitting it, but he was deathly afraid. On the ride to one of the darker streets behind the Main Street, Robby had explained that they were to get inside of the building first, before everyone else arrived. They were to start the fight and distract everyone so that Colleen and Derrick could join them easily, without being slowed down by the night patrol. It seemed so simple when put into the words, but Brian could not stop picturing blood everywhere, vampire fangs biting into the throats of his friends, and Robby's agonizing screams echoing through the streets of the town, over, and over, and over again... if something like that ever happened, Brian would hear those screams in his mind for the rest of his life. Life he would stop wanting to have if Robby was gone. That's why he was determined not to let anything like that happen. That thought made his head little clearer and his steps more secure. However, when Robby stopped and whispered that they were there, Brian felt his knees weaken all over again. Robby didn't say anything else since the instructions have been given earlier, and he simply motioned for Nick and Brian to follow. They were forced to make the plan simple. There was no possibility of any other entrance than the front and the only door of the building. Windows were out of the question since they did not really exist from the inside, and the entrance from the roof was way to risky to even consider. So the only option they were left with was to force their way in at the front. The option Colleen and Robby had many heated arguments about, although he knew that there was no other choice. Later he apologized for yelling, and confided to Brian that Colleen and he usually fought before major battles. Apparently it was a way to take the tension off. Brian had honestly wished that he had someone to fight with. Anything to take away the tension. He didn't even notice when the building appeared in front of them, and he would have walked straight into it if Robby hadn't held him back. He pounded on the door, and soon heard a voice: "Password." "We love hate, we hate love." Robby waited couple of seconds, than announced loudly: "Here by the oath taken as a Blood Angel of underworld, I give myself in to the one and only true justice. I evoke the Hunt and bring myself forward as a gift, among the two other gifts for my Blood brothers." At that, the door cracked, and half a dozen vampires quickly grabbed Robby, Brian and Nick, forcing them inside and up the stairs without a word. Brian was shaking so hard that he couldn't breathe properly. Robby did mention that they should fake fear... the type of fear every human faced when he encountered a vampire. Brian didn't have to try very hard. Since he couldn't see the steps or anything else for that matter, he had to be half dragged up the steep stairs to the enormous crimson door at the top. The door was wide open and weak candle light flickered inside of the room, making gaping, hungry shadows over the cement walls. Brian stole a glance at Robby's face. Robby looked so beautiful that Brian bit his lips. His hair was already a mess around his shoulders, his face was cold and gave out no expression whatsoever, but when he caught Brian's glance for one tenth of a second, Brian could see the fire and love in them. It gave him new strength and a new dose of determination, and he straightened up to stand on his own. He was still held in-between the two vampires, but he didn't see them as a threat any more. Instead, he saw them as a painful annoyance that will be taken care of in no time. Nick stared right in front of him, as if in a daze, but Brian noticed the way Nick's right hand twitched every once in a while, and he knew that Nick was just waiting for the chance to pull out his gun. Mike showed up suddenly, stepping out of the shadows so quickly that Brian instinctively tried to step back. He was rewarded with a punch in the stomach which almost made him collapse to the floor. Catching his breath, he looked towards Mike, and saw the most peculiar expression on his face. And then he knew... Mike started talking softly, staring straight at Robby: "I though you were smarter than this. Or you underestimated my knowledge of the way your mind works. I just didn't know you'd risk the life of the one very dear to you... but then again, you always were a sentimental fool." Robby's face did not move an inch: "I don't understand..." "Of course you do!!!" Mike's voice roared through the room, echoing the walls like a scream of a wild animal. Brian fought away the urge to step back again. Although his next words were clearer, Mike's voice was obviously irritated and angry: "Do you think I'm a fool? Do you think I don't know what you're planning? Right this minute, most of the Blood is moving towards the Lady Lake, and the other part towards the Bridge Square... your little friends will be dead in no time. See?... I was always smarter than you... you're missing that urge for destruction. And that's why you will die, and I will live." Brian though his heart is going to jump out of his chest or stop dead at the same time. Neither Colleen nor Derrick were expecting vampires so close to their starting spot. They weren't expecting vampires to know about the attack either. Brian wanted to scream off the top of his lungs from desperation. His worst nightmare was coming true and he could do nothing to change it. Unless... Without even waiting for Robby's signal, he pretended to stumble as if he was too weak to stand, and then pulling his gun from under his jacket, shot straight at Mike. It took him a second to realize that Nick had done the same thing maybe seconds before he did, and then all he felt was pain. OK, OK, I know you all hate me now because you HATE cliffhangers, but I promise that the next part won't take long. It should end up being a fairly large chapter, and I wasn't sure if I should cram it all in chapter 11. But you don't mind waiting, right? :o) Don't forget to criticize, criticize, criticize...