Re: The Prince of Evil

[Guest]

"I intend to bring the directorate down." he told Rhoan. "Those that began the Directorate may have had good intentions. Well all but Amilia. Those that you and the other guardians kill or kindred. They have lived outside the humans way of life because they are different then the humans. They have needs that are different then humans and have lived a life, for many, longer then the directorate has been around and in ways that have become the norm for them. To impose laws upon them that is made to mainly protect the humans is not right. Does the humans have laws that prevent them from hunting and killing our kind?" he asked as he sipped his coffee.

"Tell me how much of these laws that the directorate has come up with pertain to the protection of non humans from the humans. Now do not get me wrong Rhoan. I know that there are those non humans out there that would even harm their own kind. Some are probably very dangerous and should be eliminated if they kill our kind. But like the humans, they need to be tried by a court, not by one that is judge, jury and executioner. " he had a feeling that he was not getting through to Rhoan. That he had been so trained or brain washed by the Directorate that he could not see any other perspective other then theirs.

"You might think that the Directorate is all powerful, but it is not. That it can protect its guardians. It can not. Did your sister tell you of the hunter that was hunting her last night? A hunter that seemed intent on finding perhaps even you, by following her. Now how do you think a hunter could know who she was? She has not done anything that would bring about suspicion of someone like a hunter has she?" He was trying to drive a point home to Rhoan, but he had a feeling he was not getting through.

[Lady Lara]

"You fail to see though, that non humans are much faster and stronger than any human. These hunters you speak of cannot possibly be human. Nonhumans are assumed to have the ability to protect themselves, and seeing as humans are the weaker race, we need not worry about their troubles." he said, still not giving in. Though, now, there was a tone of anger in his voice. It was noticable, but his frustration did not get the best of him. He had learned long ago to control his emotions. He put down his coffee once he finished, and looked at Anubis once more, his blank expression not matching his slightly irritated tone. "It's the strong non humans who think they can take over the world that need to be taken out. There's no changing their minds. I've tried once and nearly got killed for it." and with that opinion finally said, he shifted his weight and leaned against the counter, still watching him intently.

Meanwhile, Riley had explained everything to Hannibal, glad that they had an understanding of each other now. Riley had warned him of Anubis' plans, and told him to warn the others, or get the other guardians ready for the upcoming battle. She said nothing of his location, but she was given a very tiny tracker that was to be placed anywhere on Anubis' body. Once she was finished chatting with him, she put the tracker inside a box inside her purse, then carried on to see her friends at their desks, trying to talk them into switching over, but keeping quiet about it. Luckily, she had the ability to make them forget the conversation and think she just stopped by to say hey if they refused. She'd managed to get a werewolf siphon named Kye Murphy, a horse shifter empath named Kade Williams, as well as an old vampire friend Quinn O'Connor to join her. Unfortunately, everyone else was too concentrated on being loyal to the Directorate to get a grip on what was going on. She already had their personal numbers, so she said that she would call them as soon as she knew of a meeting point. Once back in the Astin Martin, she rang Anubis...

[Guest]

Anubis shook his head. "Yes we thought we could do that along time ago, and we failed, because though like you said we are stronger and faster then humans, we are fewer in numbers. The humans killed a number of us back then, almost all of us because they wanted to take power and were afraid of us so wanted us all dead. Perhaps that is the reason why today the humans want us all dead." he wondered who he was talking about that wanted to rule the world. Amilia was definately one of them and perhaps Hannibal. "If there are those of us foolish enough to try and take over the world, they will find it impossible, as I did." he looked at Rhoan a sad look on his face. "It cost me dearly and I swore I would never do it again."

He sat his coffee cup down on the counter and turned to go. He could see that Rhoan would not believe him. He would have to find out himself. "As for the hunters, Rhoan. They are human. All of them are. They have been trained to know all our weaknesses and exploit them. When you go back to the Directorate, if you are able to, check the computers on the human side of it. I think you will find some of the data there interesting." He was referring to the extensive file on the hunters, their whereabouts and how to contact them. Jack had briefly been able to access the computers and had been able to put a tap on them. That was why Anubis had given him the sword and had him check on a Master Hunter. "But I bet you will be denied access to their computers if you ask them." He then left and awaited for Riley's call.

Hannibal laughed when Riley told him that Anubis was planning to take on the Directorate. "He will have no chance against our guardians. There is no need to warn them. They can take care of themselves, just as you are able to. He put no stock in Anubis' plan. He was one old vampire with little or not contact with others of his kind, let alone other non humans. He had distanced himself so much that he had fallen off the grid so to speak and if it had not been for Riley, Hannible would never have known that Anubis was even still alive. He was satisfied with her story and told her, "He tries anything you let me know and we will be ready for him and deal with him."

When Riley did call he answered. "Well I see you are still alive, so I figure you were able to convince them that you are still on their side."

[Lady Lara]

Rhoan frowned finally, watching him walk away, then made his way up to the room to further organize things. He wanted to move elsewhere, but he couldn't just abandon his sister with this... this lunatic. It was the only way Rhoan decided to describe him, but he wasn't about to admit that anytime soon. Riley had a better grip on protecting her mind, but that didn't make it any easier to read Rhoan's. He would remain in the room until Jack called him, or until Riley returned. He didn't want to even speak to Anubis right now.

"Yes," Riley answered, "it wasn't that difficult." she said, not having much to say at all. "Only three of the guardians believed me. Once we figure out a time to meet, I'll call them and let them know." She hated the fact that Jack just laughed at her... He deserved a fate worse than death if he kept that up. She started the engine and waited for the interior to warm up before going anywhere. While waiting, she continued the conversation. "I have a couple of things that I need to check out before I head back... How's Rhoan? Did you talk to him?"

[Guest]

It was good to hear from her and that everything went well. Three guardians would come over to them was a plus. Perhaps Jack could get a couple more as well. He didn't like what was going on as well, and that was why he kept Anubis informed of things when he wanted. When she asked if he had talked to Rhoan, he sighed. "Yes I talked to him, but I fear he still beleives every thing the Directorate has told him to belive. Perhaps he will listen to you alot better. And I don't think he likes me to well." He chuckled. She said she had a couple things to do before coming back, he smiled and nodded even though she was not there.

"Well you take it easy and watch your back. Remember there is a master hunter out there and for some reason he wants you and perhaps even your brother dead." When he hung up he called Jack. He told him to get what ever he could on other non humans that were in the area that would be of possible use to them and every address of every guardian. He would bring terror and death to the Directorate if he had to.

[Lady Lara]

Riley shook her head when he mentioned Rhoan was not believing him at all. She didn't blame Rhoan. They had been in the Directorate for a couple decades now, which wasn't long to some, but it was an eternity compared to the other workers there. "Yeah... I stocked myself up on weapons before I left the building just in case. If all goes well, I'll be back in about three hours." she said, looking around the vehicle, then pulled out of the parking lot, toward her destination downtown. "If I'm not back in five hours.... well..." Riley would have suggested that Anubis go looking for her, but she had a feeling that Hannibal was probably putting a close watch on her, just because of the scene in the lobby that morning. "Whatever. I'll be back when I get back." then with that, she hung up, and continued driving toward the outskirts of town, keeping an eye on her mirrors to see if she was being followed or not. She had managed to memorize everything they had on the master hunter, so even if she encountered him, she'd be more prepared than any other time she would have encountered a hunter.

She had managed to make it to her destination just fine: a beachy bungalow on the outskirts of town, without being followed by any other vehicles. Nonetheless, she kept an eye on her surroundings. She had parked a couple blocks away from the house, as there was nowhere closer to park the Astin Martin. She didn't sense anybody or any silver nearby, but she knew that didn't mean that nobody was around..

[Guest]

Anubis went back up to his room and turned on the monitors. He went trough the recorded footage of the day to insure that no one was snooping around, especially guardians or hunters. He nodded as he saw nothing out of the ordinary on the recordings and then poured himself a drink. Sitting down in an overstuffed chair, he sipped his drink as he began thinking of what he was about to do. He had avoided much of the non human population and now he was going to be gathering them in to have them fight the Directorate and take on the Hunters.

Most were solitary creatures, especially vampires. They seemed to prefer working alone though he had heard of enclaves of vampires in Romania and some of the other surrounding countries. These he would get in contact with and see if they would join him. Other non humans, shape shifters mostly, again tended to be solitary people. They feared discovery and tried to blend in with the humans the best they could. He shook his head, wondering how he had gotten himself into this. It seemed that when he met Riley ever thing changed. He had not cared one bit about the other non humans or what happened to them. Now he did. It was confusing, but it felt like it was the right thing to do.

"That's right, I want her followed, but discreately. Stay back far enough so she can't see you. No it is not that I don't trust her, it's I don't trust him. Anubis is a rogue element that needs to be put away p;ermently, but I have to have enough on him before I can go against the order to leave him alone." Hannibl hung up the phone and looked at the report infront of him, just handed to him by a guardian. "What do you mean you couldn't track her today?"

"Sorry sir. Something seemed to be jamming the signal from her tracker. I think it's origin was coming from this building." the man said.

Hannibl was on his feet, his hands balled into fists resting on the top of his desk. "From inside the Directorate?" he growled. "Search the building. I want to know who and why this was done!" The guardian nodded and quickly left the room. "That Son of a Bitch! He has a mole in the organization!" he almost yelled.

[Lady Lara]

Witnesses to hunter attacks... She fell deep into thought about this as she made her way toward the house. It was odd that Anubis had never mentioned there would actually be witnesses... but then, these witnesses were human, so they wouldn't be harmed. However, hunters were supposed to be discreet. They were supposedly the most stealth of all recently known killers. Riley shook her head, getting rid of the possibility that she was about to walk into a hunter's den. Witnesses were also possible suspects, despite that there was no evidence on them... hence them just being called witnesses. She strode up to the door and knocked loudly. She could sense somebody inside the house, so she didn't walk away just yet. She had to stay until her task was completed. Riley had to at least speak to them. She knocked again, and yelled "Directorate! Open the door or I'll break it open!"

[Guest]

From the house came a mans voice. "You have no authority here, go away you inhuman freak." Then she could hear the distinctive sound of the slide on a shotgun being pulled back and released. It was evident that the one inside knew what the directorate was and what Riley was. Also it was clear that he had no respect for her and did not like non humans. "You just try to break it open and see what you will get." the man called out again. "Damn non human garbage. You all should be eliminated."

The sound of a baby crying in the background could be heard now and the muffled sound of a woman trying to sooth the child.

The guardian sent to follow her pulled his car up a distance away and watched. He wondered what she was doing at a humans place. It was not on any of the directorate's data bases and it definately had to be a human's place of residence. "What is Riley up to." the guardian asked himself. "and why is Jack so worried about her. Having him tail her. The vampire known as Anubis was not even with her. Ever since that confrontation in the Lobby of the building, Jack had been almost nervous and worried about something.

[Lady Lara]

Hearing the child crying, it was the only thing stopping her from kicking in the door. "Actually, I do have authority." Riley said, just loudly enough for him to hear. "I just need to ask you a couple of questions about a murder. It won't take very long." she said, really hoping that he would at least open the door a crack so that they wouldn't have to yell back and forth. However, given his rude attitude toward her, she doubted she was going to get anything out of him. She blinked, switching her vision to infrared so that she could see where the mother and child were, and exactly where the man was and how he was holding his shotgun. He was too close to the door for her to kick it in, anyway, she noticed. "Just put down the damn gun. Hell, you could even come outside if you don't want me inside." she continued, "If you don't talk to me, I have all rights to arrest your ass whether you like it or not." she held up her badge to the peep hole so that he could see it if he looked through.

[Guest]

The man sneered, "You have no authority over humans bitch, just over your damn non human trash. Get off my property or I will call the authorities and have the deal with you. Try to come in and I will cut you in half." The man was definantely against non humans. Then Riley heard a cell phone being dialed. "Yeah, you were right, there's one here now. I think the bitch is here to kill us. Yeah, please hurry." she could hear the man say in a low voice.

Her infared showed that he was back from the door and the shotgun at the ready to blast anything that came through it. That is when she could feel the presence of silver. Perhaps in the shells of the shot gun. "Go do as he told you to do if one of these damned monsters came to us. Hide and don't come out till I come get you or I am dead and these bastards are gone." she could hear the man whisper to the woman.

[Lady Lara]

Riley laughed out loud, then made her way back to her vehicle without saying anything else to him. It definately was not worth her while to stay there. Even though the Directorate did actually have authority to interview the humans, they couldn't actually arrest them. She could have been more kind, and didn't say anything about being Directorate personnel. They wouldn't have been able to tell otherwise. She looked around the area, getting the feeling that somebody was watching her. She was still using her infrared vision, so she could see anybody around. Most others were in their homes, and there was one in a vehicle, the others walking around. She blinked back to her normal vision, her eyes on the vehicle with somebody in it. When she saw that it was a Directorate vehicle, she shrugged her shoulders, and went back to the car. Now, she was on her way to meet the suspect of being the master hunter... She had her weapons ready, and her energy was as high as it had ever been. Either way, she needed to find him before he found her.

[Guest]

As she drove off she had to pass the Directorate car. The man in it was slumped over the steering wheel, blood running down the side of his head from a bullet wound. The body was still warm and gave off body heat, which meant that he had just been killed with in the past few minutes. Again the sense of silver could be felt.

Not far off he waited on a hill top, covered with sniper camofluge that would would block any infa-red vision, natural or man made. His telescopic sight was now trained on Riley. He grinned knowing he could take her out in a heartbeat, but he wanted bigger fish. He had sent his apprentice out to follow her, so she could lead them to her brother and then any others that the so called Directorate had in its employ. It was hard to tell which was non human and human since both worked at the building that the Directorate occupied. Those that could blend in so well could not be detected as easily as vampires. He had found out that Riley had hooked up with a vampire that he had searched for for many years, and other hunters through the ages had as well. He was close and he wanted to be the one to take Anubis down.

[Lady Lara]

When Riley was passing the vehicle, she noticed the sting of silver, and stopped. Her car was now blocking half the road, but she didn't care. She rang Hannibal immediately, shock running through her that she hadn't even heard the gunshot. "Bad news, boss..." she said, in place of greeting, "One of your men has just been shot with a silver bullet." She looked at the broken glass through which the bullet had entered the car, then the man's head. It was hard to tell, but it looked as though the bullet had gone in on an angle. With normal vision, she followed the angle, and looked for any odd bumps or shadows in the scenery. "I suggest you get more people out here asap. I have to get going." she said, getting back into the car, telling Hannibal the location of the dead man slouching, and made her way to her next house.

[Guest]

"Thast right missy, call your boss and have him send some more people out. I'll have a nice little surprise for them." he watched as she drove off and then rose from his position and made his way back to his car. He intercepted her on the road and fell in behind her, and as he saw the direction she was going he had a feeling she might be heading for his place. One did not become a Master Hunter by not having a good intuition. He took a side street so she would not get supiscious and pulled into the back ally behind his place and making sure no one was around, unoaded his rifle and sniper gear and entered his back yard and then the house. He quickly concealed the rifle and gear in a secret compartment behind a wall in a closet, then made a quick call to have the surprise waiting for those that showed up to claim the body of the non human. He then waited to see if Riley would indeed show up.

Mean while Anubis' contact Jack, saw the team searching for something and he guessed it would be the jammer he had set up just in case someone did manage to locate and follow Anubis. He had activated it to Riley's frequency when she left the Directorate with Anubis. He knew it would not be long before they found it so he got everything he could downloaded to a memory stick and stuck it in a special nitch in the bottom of one of his shoes and made his departure from the Directorate.

Once in his car, he turned on another jammer that was attuned to his tracker and took off. He would have the tracker removed once he reached Anubis. He gave Anubis a quick call to let him know that he had the information and that he was needing to know where to go. Anubis gave him the directions and address of the mansion and knew that Jack would not betray him.

The hunters that made it to the car where the dead non human was placed the bomb under the car. For those non humans that could be hurt or killed by silver, it was loaded with the suff in the form of small ball bearings. When the team arrived they moved cautiously up to the car guns drawn and looking around the area. As they reached the car one of the hunters in a car down the road, pressed a button on the remote detanator and the car erupted into flames and rose up off the ground a couple of feet, sending the silver ball barings flying in all directions and ripping into the non human guardians. Two died immediately and the other two lay there bleeding, on with a mangled leg and several wounds while the other had his back pelted with the silver balls. Even in excrutiating pain he mannaged to call the directorate for help.

[Lady Lara]

Soon enough, Riley drove up to the address, and parked the car across the street. She got out, already prepared with the weapons she might need hidden under her sweater and jeans. As soon as she took that first step toward the house, she sensed silver... lots, and lots of silver. She took a deep breath, cursing her pack for making her so sensitive to the damn metal, and strode forward, a dagger hidden in her sleeve just in case she needed quick access to a weapon. She wasn't very happy at all, with the amount of silver that she was sensing from inside the house. Her skin tingled with that strange burning sensation as she stood at the door and knocked. This time, she said nothing and just waited for a response.

[Guest]

Jason moved to the door when she knocked. That was his real first name. He used his alis as his name for the Hunters and the Church. This way he could live a normal life when not hunting the non humans. Also there was less chance of him being found out. How Riley had connected him with being a hunter he was not sure but if he had to he could find out. He had his ways.

He opened the door and smiled. He was a middle aged man but had taken good care of himself and had kept in shape. His greying hair and steel blue eyes gave him the appearnce of a buisness man. "What can I do for you miss?" he greeted her.

[Lady Lara]

Riley took in his scent once he was in full view and said, "I'd like to ask you a few questions regarding a couple murders." She recognized this reaction from silver from some time ago on one very different case... her brother's soul mate had nearly been killed by that particular fugitive... she had been lucky enough to catch him before he managed to kill him. She didn't smile back, and she certainly didn't accept the innocent act he was putting on... but her instincts weren't proof enough to make an attack right away. Riley wasn't so sure about entering his house now, but she'd rather keep him here, where he wasn't able to go out killing more non humans. At least now, she'd be able to recognize his scent if she crossed paths with him again. She knew what he looked like too, unless he was a master of disguise like a couple people she knew..

[Guest]

"Murders? Now what would I know of such things. I am a business man and have only recently returned home from a long and tiring business trip." His voice was steady and friendly. One could not tell if he was lieing or telling the truth. "Are you sure you have the right person? Are you with the police department?"

He stood there and acted the inoccent and bewildered citizen. He made not threatening moves or gestures. For he wanted to continue his survalence of her now that he knew what she looked like. His target was bigger then her, and after he took care of Anubis, he would try and find out who all the leaders of the Directorate were and begin to assemulate data on them for the future. The Church had given him his mission. Leave the Directoate intack, kill a few of them if necessary but they were providing vaulabale information on non humans for other hunters to eliminate.

[Lady Lara]

"At the moment, I am only asking questions to possible suspects." Riley raised an eyebrow, "What would you know of such things, anyway? Any information you can share would be helpful." after a short pause, she asked, "Would you mind if I come in and sit with you? I don't want any passersby picking up on the conversation." which wasn't true, but it was a little chilly out. Surely, if this guy was telling the truth, he'd be okay with talking to her over coffee. She couldn't help but chuckle when he asked if she was with the police department. "I am with the Directorate of Other Races, actually." she raised her badge again to show him, then slipped it back into her pocket. She didn't want to say anything about the silver she sensed just yet... she wanted to see if he would say anything first.

[Guest]

"The Directorate? Of Oher Races? What is that?" he asked and stepped back so that she could come into the house. He shook his head and waved her to the couch in the living room and headed for the kitchen. "Would you like a cup of coffee?" he asked politely. All around Riley was silver. Complete sets of silver plates and acessories. "You will have to excuse the mess. As I said I just got back from a buisness trip. I buy and sell antique silver sets. You would not beleive how the the rich people of the world still love that stuff."

He came back in with a two cups of coffee on a silver platter with suggar and cream in silver containers. He placed it on the table before the couch. He could just feel her squimishness with so much silver about. Oh she would even be more agitated if she were in his basement. He had it all set up for non humans he wanted to question. But that would be later after she had lead him to Anubis.

[Lady Lara]

Riley walked in, sitting on the couch he had motioned toward. "You've never heard of them?" she thought it was odd, considering everybody else knew all about them. "It's the same idea as the police department, but we're trained to deal with nonhumans." she said, then rubbed her temples, not realising there was so much silver in the house before she had come in. "I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I think I'll pass on the coffee, actually..." she said, her voice sounding more agitated than she meant it to. "Why do you have so much silver here, anyway?" she asked casually, "It's not every day that I find someone with it drowning their house, even if they supposedly sell it for a living." Her own apartment had been ten times worse than this, so she really didn't care about the mess. She just wanted to ask her questions and go... hopefully he'd give off some clues that would aid in her final decision whether he was connected to the murders or not. Already she had two clues: all the damn silver in the house, and the fact that he apparently didn't know what the Directorate was.

[Guest]

"Non humans? What are you talking about?" he asked. "Same as the police department but for nonhumans?" He looked as if he was confused. He was a good actor, he had to be, to get close to his targets at times. "This is my buisness. All of this stuff is for clients here in the city. I buy it out of country and bring it back to sell to them for alot more money." He sipped his coffee shaking his head. "Like I told you earlier, I just got back after being away for a couple of months. So I think you have the wrong person. I know nothing of the directorate or he chuckled this nonsence about non humans. Inside he was grinning to himself, seeing her squirm and become agatated with all the silver around.

[Lady Lara]

Riley sat on the edge of the couch, keeping her hands on her lap. She'd never before seen somebody so oblivious... assuming he was actually telling the truth... but at this point, she had no idea what to believe. She moved smoothly, reaching for something in her purse. She pulled out a photo she had managed to take of Anubis and set it on the coffee table, being careful to not touch any of the silverware. "Do you know this man?" she asked, cutting the crap and skipping to her reason for being there. If she was going to get out of here anytime soon, she had to start asking her questions.

[Guest]

It took all of his concentration not to show regonition when he saw the photo of Anubis. He picked up the photo and looked at it, then placed it down on the table again. Shaking his head, "Sorry Miss, I have never seen him before. Who is he? Is he the murderer?" He knew about Anubis, had hunted him for a long time. But never could find him. He had left a trail of dead bodies all over europe. He had no real photo like she had, only an old painting that had been done a couple hundred years before of him. Oh he was so close to his goal, he could taste the delicious flavor of victory. He was not going to spoil it now. "Sorry, but I have no idea of what you are wanting. I don't know the man, don't know of any murder."

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