Disclaimer: This story, though maybe not in this chapter but in subsequent chapters, will have celebrities in it. I have no knowledge of their sexuality and this is not intended to imply their sexuality. This is all from my own mind. Scary!! People actually get a glimpse into my mind!!!
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters created by Joss Whedon. Copyright 20th Century Fox.
Batman, and all related characters created by Bob Kane. Copyright DC Comics and Warner Bros.
X-MEN, and all related characters created by Stan Lee. Copyright Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox.
Star Trek and all related characters created by Gene Roddenberry. Copyright Paramount Studios.
I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered.
In this story, which has been floating around in my head most of my life, you will find many universes merging, as the above copyrights reveal. I hope you all enjoy this. I appreciate any feedback that you may want to give. This story doesn't deal so much with sex, sex, sex, but more of my feelings that I struggled with and am starting to come to terms with. Part of his background is mine. I do hope that you enjoy it!!!
jmsotc@yahoo.com
Chapter 17 The Vampire Hunt
The following day was full: began some reading, followed close to Dr. Allison, learning the ropes, some of which I knew. When work was done, I went right home and showered, changed, packed my suit and went to see Justin. At the hotel, I called up on the phone.
"Hi, Eric. Good to see you," JC greeted.
"Thanks. Is Justin here?"
"Yeah. Come on up."
I got to their floor and went right into the living room where Justin sat reading a magazine and listening to his headphones. He looked up and immediately turned the headphones off. "Hi," he said getting up and embracing me. "I'm glad you're here."
"Me, too. Can I talk to you?"
Justin looked in my eyes. "Sure. Is something wrong?"
"I think you better sit down."
Justin sat on the couch. "Something is wrong. Tell me. Are you breaking up with me?"
"No. Of course not." I sat down on the coffee table across from Justin. I took his hands in mine. "I've got some bad news. Turic is back in town."
"He's what?" Justin's eyes filled with tears. Fear came over his face. My heart went out to him. "Great! How do you know?"
"You're nightmare last night. I talked with someone who knows about vampires. He believes Turic put a spell on you to control you. That's why you have the nightmares. They happen when he is close and only he knows how to soothe them. He made it so you feel you need him."
"But I don't want him. I want you."
"I know. I'm not worried about losing you. I love you and I know you love me. I wanted to tell you in case you wonder why I'm not home right away from work. I am going to help find Turic and break the spell."
"How do you do that?"
"If his spell book is found, there should be a counter spell. If not, staking him is the only other solution. I'm going to help find him."
"Come back here and stay with me until this is over. I want you to be here with me through the night. I feel safe with you here. Damn, things are turning back into me living in fear of my life. It's so unfair."
"I know, Justin. I know. It will all be over soon. I promise." I leaned in and kissed him. Then I departed for the hunt.
After moving around to the back of the alley, I changed into my Bat-suit and began my search for Turic. I decided to check out the warehouse. That was the only place I knew of Turic to be, besides the guys' hotel floor, and I didn't think he would be present there, at least, not yet. My objective was to get to him before he made a move against Justin. But why would he want Justin to begin with? Why bond with him just for a sex toy? And if Justin was his "sex toy", why come back when he knows he has a vampire slayer to deal with? The questions kept coming, questions I had to find the answers to.
All was quiet at the warehouse. I looked around the perimeter and inside, even looking for secret panels. Nothing. The only thing for me to do was to begin a sweep of the city. I had to have a plan for that. If I just began looking at random, Turic could elude me indefinitely. I had to know where vampires frequented. And the only person in town who knew that was Garrett, so it was back to his place and inquired of vampire hangouts he knew of. He wrote a list of bars, nightclubs and other places where vampires patronize. That's all I needed.
I arrived at the first place on my list: a rather sleazy dive in the east end of town. I was very cautious, observing the patrons moving in and out of the place. I tried to determine the best course of action. Considering these beings were very dark beings, the only way I could get their attention would be by surprise. So that's what I did.
I made my way to the back of the bar and tried to open the door. No use. It was locked. "Where are all my gadgets?" I said to no one in particular. "The comic book Batman had a car and a belt full of gadgets. I don't even have a lock pick to my name. That settles it. First thing Saturday morning I'm going shopping for supplies." Fortunately for me that night was full of blessings. I don't believe in luck.
The door flew open as an employee was bringing out the garbage. I didn't even want to know what was in the bag. He turned and saw me and that's all she wrote. I jammed my stake right into his heart, turning him to dust instantly. "One down. A whole bar full to go." I opened the door and quietly slipped inside.
The bar was full of smoke. Seeing was difficult. So was breathing for that matter. I kept to the shadows, which isn't difficult in a bar, and moved about looking to see if I could spy Turic anywhere. I remember a rather large vampire that I steered clear of. His shear size along was enough to intimidate me. And the fact that he was a vampire made it worse.
I didn't want to waste my time here. And I didn't want to come back here later. So the best thing I could figure to do was politely grab a hostage, hold a stake to his heart and ask the whole establishment if anyone knew if Turic drank there. So that's what I did.
I looked and looked for a vampire that I thought would be valuable to the rest of the group but not one I couldn't handle if push came to shove. I hadn't had too much training with Garrett. Well, at least not enough to where I felt confident enough to take on a room full of vampires with only me as my help. Just didn't seem like the odds would be in my favor. When I found the vampire I believed I could handle, I approached him from behind and pulled out the wooden stake I was hefting and jabbed it into his back but not far enough to pierce his heart. Close enough though that I could push a little harder and he'd be dust.
"Who is that?" he asked.
"A fellow creature of the night."
"What do you want?"
"Information. And you are going to help me get it." I moved him over to the bar and climbed up, hands still firmly on my hostage. Then I grabbed him and lifted him up. "Can I have everybody's attention?" There was no response. The music must have been too loud. I would have to take care of the live band made up of vampires. Looking around, I saw a glass bottle of water. I picked it up, prayed over it and hurled it into the band. It smashed and landed on some of the musicians burning them. The music stopped and I had everyone's attention as all eyes were upon me with a murderous look in their eyes. "It's about time I got your attention."
"You're going to get more than that," one vampire called out.
"Come any closer and your buddy here is dust, literally."
"What is it you want?" the large vampire asked.
"I'm searching for a vampire by the name of Turic. Has he been here?" The large vampire looked a little nervous. He had information. He inched slowly toward the door. "Turic put a spell on a friend of mine. I plan on breaking that spell. I suggest you cooperate."
The large vampire ran through the door I entered. I tossed my hostage down to the floor, ran across the bar and dived through the doorway to the kitchen. Rolling, I landed on my feet and continued to run out the closing door. I looked around but couldn't find the large vampire. "Great. Just great. He got away."
Suddenly he landed on me. "I'm going to kill you."
"Man if I had a nickel for every time I've heard that." I swung my head back and hit him in his nose. He relaxed his grip on me and I was able to move out from under him. He stood up as did I, and I faced him. He wiped his bleeding nose and...sucked the blood off his finger.
"That is so nasty!" I said.
"Up yours."
"You wish. Now, where is Turic?"
"He's making his plans now to retrieve his possession."
"Justin," I whispered. Louder I said, "Where is he staying?"
"He's going to take Justin and return him to the state he was before, a helpless little puppy who will live only to pleasure the great Turic."
My anger was being kindled at this vampire's railings. "Great my ass!" I said leaping at the vampire. I tackled him and punched him as hard as I could. "Where is Turic staying? Tell me!"
He kicked me off. I stood as he got back to his feet. "I'm not telling you anything."
"Then you won't tell anyone anything." I grabbed the lid off a nearby trashcan and flung it at the vampire. He turned to run but wasn't fast enough as the lid made contact with his neck and severed his head off. I knew I was angry but didn't expect my strength to spin the lid so fast as to decapitate the vampire. His body fell to the ground and then turned to dust. Feeling a little bit relieved of my anger, I moved on to the next place on my list: a nightclub.
It was a rather flashy nightclub with a dance floor surrounded by lots of tables. Looking through the skylight I watched the customers dancing and having a good old time. It brought a thrill to me to be able to crash their party. I jumped and crashed through the skylight. Opening my cape I descended to the dance floor. The dancers stopped and looked at me. Then I realized not everyone was a vampire. "I'm looking for Turic."
Just saying his name got a response. Several vampires immediately surrounded me. "I only want to know where he is. I'm not looking for trouble."
"You've got trouble now," replied a female vampire. "Turic isn't ready to be found. Not until he makes good his plan."
"And what might that plan be?"
"Taking control."
"Control of what?"
"The city. And now that you know, we can't let you leave here alive. Let's dance."
Why does this happen to me? Maybe it's the suit. I guess it brings out the anger and violence of others. Or it could have been the way I entered the club. I ruined the dancing. It was a good song, too. Too bad.
A vampire swung her rather long fingernails at me. I jumped as she almost made contact, then I punched her. She swung her hand back and hit me in the face. I backhanded her. She snarled at me and went for my throat. I grabbed her wrists and fell backward. Placing my foot on her stomach, I flipped her over my head. She landed with a crash and I stood quickly as another vampire attacked.
I spun and kicked him as a third vampire tried to take advantage of my distraction. The third vampire punched me and tossed me into a table. The table broke to splinters under the force of the toss and my weight. The third vampire came over and picked me up. "You're not going to win. And Justin will be Turic's."
My anger flared again and I kicked her in the stomach. She dropped me and clutched her stomach. Then with an uppercut, I punched her and she flew a few feet back. Something was happening to me. I was becoming stronger, stronger than normal. Was this the answer to my prayer I prayed over a month ago for strength? It wasn't a time to ponder as the vampires moved in.
With all my strength, I kicked backwards and hit the vampire behind me in the head. His head came clean off and he turned to dust. The vampires stopped. "What did you do?" the female spokes-vampire said.
Too startled and unable to explain why, I asked, "Where is Turic?"
"He's...he's..." An arrow flew into her chest turning her to dust.
Everyone turned to see Turic standing at the edge of the skylight. I crouched down and jumped as hard as I could, opening my cape. I was able to leap back up to through the skylight and landed on the roof. Turic was standing at the edge of the building. "Don't move!"
He turned and looked at me...and laughed. "You can't win." I threw my stake at him. He waved his hand and it exploded to dust. "I told you. You can't win." With that he leapt off the roof.
I ran to the edge only to find him gone. "No. He got away. He was in my grasp and he got away."
I went to Garrett's and reported to him what happened. I left out the part of the strength that seemed to come over me. It had subsided by the time I got to Garrett's and I had no proof that it happened. Then, I headed back to the hotel and a waiting boyfriend.
On my way to the hotel, I contemplated the sudden power I had to throw a trashcan lid hard enough to sever a vampire's head, to kick a vampire's head off his shoulder, and to leap twenty feet into the air to a roof. How did that happen? What was the source of this strength? I wasn't complaining about it. It was going to be an asset if I was going to continue fighting the forces of darkness with the Huntress. But I'm the kind of person who likes to understand 'why'. If it was God giving me this strength then it was yet another confirmation that He stands behind true love, whether it's between two people of the opposite sex or two of the same sex. It is true. God is love.
To Be Continued...
Are you stumped as to what Eric's mutant ability is? Here it would seem clear that it's incredible strength. But what about in New York where he was able to move a box without touching it? Hmm, mysteries, mysteries, mysteries.
Don't worry if you are curious about what is going to happen with David Gallagher and Michael Cuccione. There is going to be more to their story. Also, where the Huntress is will come into play in subsequent chapters, as well as where in the world is Josh! Lots and lots of stuff going on in Eric's life, including an ultimate showdown between him and Turic. Be prepared for a startling discovery!
Questions and comments are welcome, and anything else you would like to share. I'm sure many of you have experienced some things Eric has. I'd love to hear from you!