Sylvie

Sylvie looked up from her hands and heard Casey’s request, and sent the same order through her contact lenses. “It should be running when we get there.”  Sylvie crawled over Casey’s sprinting body and held onto her back, watching their escape. “I have a bad feeling, this is too easy.”  Sylvie felt Casey come to a complete stop and she looked over her partner's shoulder.  “I had to say something.”  She hopped down and looked at the lone vampire soldier covered in crimson Kevlar armor.

Sniffing the air, the soldier pulled off her helmet and let her long hair drop to the base of her shoulders. “You two aren’t from here.  Your blood isn’t diluted like the others.”  She licked her lips and wiped a bit of saliva from the corners of her mouth. She pointed to the battlefield, “Those are vampires in the smallest of terms.  They serve because they have no choice.”  She laughed. “You two would be a great addition to Master Keenan.”  She rubbed her chin for a few seconds, “I don’t think he’d mind if I purified my own blood with a little of yours.”  She began walking and drew a metal stake with wires that seemed to curl around the metal and into the stake itself.  With her other hand, She lifted a small crossbow and fired a tiny bolt where it pierced Casey’s leg, and the newborn dropped to one knee, crying in pain.

Sylvie’s third eye opened in record speed as it had done in many prior battles when she was much younger and less wise.  Back then she attacked on instinct and her vision alone.  These days, she waited for the meaning, like she did with the dog tags during the Crow Farm encounter.  Sylvie saw what the Crimson guard was going to do a fraction of a second before she did it.  The aggressor reached for the button on the metal stake, and Sylvie thought to Code. 

-Drain the battery.-

Sylvie heard the baton-stake power down as soon as she pressed the button.  Sylvie side stepped a lunge that would have driven the point with perfect accuracy into her heart. 

-Come on, show me a weakness.  She’s a battle-hardened soldier now.…I haven’t fought for ages.-

Sylvie sensed the vampire recover and spin, hoping to catch the older woman unaware of the weapon headed for her face.  Sylvie crouched and spun her leg out, catching the soldier lady off guard, sending her to the ground in a loud thud.

Sylvie didn’t second think about the situation and pounced quicker than a panther on her prey.  Her vision highlighting the Crimson woman’s jugular, Sylvie’s fangs locked in place and she drove them true.

Yelping in pain, the soldier swung up with her hard Kevlar fist and hit Sylvie as hard as she could squarely in the face.  When the punch landed and broke her hand, she screamed even louder. “Wh…what?  I can’t be hurt…”

Sylvie spit the blood that she’d collected in her mouth all over the ground. “You're tainted, your blood is useless, almost useless to you..”  She balled up her fist and punched the woman in the face breaking her jaw with ease.  Sylvie’s vision faded as the short battle completed. “You are about ten years old…and know nothing except nightly killing.”  Sylvie grabbed the woman and shook her, “Age, you dumb bitch.  Age, that is why I can do this.”  Sylvie reached down and pulled the woman’s kneecap from her body and tossed it into the trees.

Pushing the arrow through her leg, Casey managed to get the little dart free and began regenerating immediately. “I will be okay, Sy-” She stopped in time to see the yellow-red in her lover's eyes and witnessed the brutality firsthand.  Next thing Casey knew she heard an old war cry emit from Sylvie.  She watched her lover paint her face in patterns with the girl's blood and grabbed a handful of the woman’s hair, digging her claws into the screaming soldier's scalp and yanking a strip of flesh and hair from the screaming vampire.  Once her scalp had been revealed, Sylvie peeled away the bone and exposed her enemy's brain.  Casey guessed that the cries that Sylvie started were her ancient spirit calls. “Taini, Here’s the stake, Taini.”  Casey handed the metal-covered wood to her partner and stood back. 

Taking the stake, Sylvie hammered the point into the woman soldier’s chest with one fist.  Sylvie stopped chanting long enough to produce a lighter and jam little sticks into the woman at different points. “The air spirits judge you, unworthy.”  Sylvie lit the kindling and dropped the woman’s scalp on her chest, then looked to her partner. “Let’s leave before I have to do that again.”

Moments later the two had gotten back to a running motorcycle and took off, leaving the wretched site behind them.  Casey adjusted her microphone and spoke softly to her shaken girlfriend. “You asked back there why Vivienne doesn’t stop that?”  Casey heard the engine rev louder as Sylvie nodded. “I think you know that answer, my angerball.”  Casey waited for a reaction from Sylvie that came in the form of a grunt. “Vivienne wouldn’t stop it because it is in line with her vision.  She doesn’t care.  She’d get involved if it messed with her ability to function, or if Faye wanted her to.”

Shifting the bike into its highest gear, Sylvie pushed the engine close to its redline. “Casey, they are farming blood.  The only good thing is the blood is so weak, there is not much value in it.”  She paused, “It’s almost a closed blood pool.”

Thankful that she didn’t see anyone following them either on the ground or in the air, Casey sighed a breath of relief. “Alright.  I have seen that terrible thing, let’s focus on the ledger and the diary.  Do you have any thoughts on the matter, angel-dove?”  Casey snickered.

Enjoying the rush of the cool autumn air flowing over her body, Sylvie smiled and spoke gently into her microphone. “Angel-dove?  Is that the best you have now?  Tisk-tisk.”  She revved the engine for more speed, and saw the exit sign for Stratton Lake. “We have ten more miles, my carmel-apple.”  Sylvie made sure to lick her lips loud enough for Casey to hear.

When her heart pattered for a second, Casey felt a warm tingle bounce all over her body. “Mmm, thinking of you bobbing for my apple…my word…”  Casey took a baited and shaky breath, “...I have never been this horny in my life.  See what you do to me, my cupid-cutie.”  Casey tapped Sylvie on the shoulder, “I was just warming up.  So I had one lame pet name.”  Taking a moment to rub her lover’s shoulder Casey again asked, “What’s the plan?  You didn’t answer that, but managed to get me riled up.”  Casey moaned and pushed her claws lightly into Sylvie’s shoulder. “Tease.”

“Amos said she was ready for any attempt to steal the items back, which to me suggests that something is on a sort of drop switch and will send the data all over.  Fighting that should be the top priority.”  Sylvie took the exit for Stratton Lake and called up Code. “Code, did you hear what I was just saying?  If so, is there anything you can do to interrupt services while we are onsite?”

“Affirmative, All speech is recorded for possible future use, unless turned off.  The area is controlled by a single company and I do not detect any satellite uplinks in the area.  More will be known as we approach 780 Madison Circle. Querry?” Code went silent and resumed the route on Sylvie’s HUD.

Upon seeing the little question pop up on her screen again Sylvie finally asked the AI, “Why are you spelling query incorrectly, Code?”

“Unable to process, stand by.” Code responded flatly. 

Ignoring the ongoing confusion from Sylvie’s tiny computer, Casey spoke up. “Alright, so you think the only preparations are about getting the data out?  What are the odds she is sitting in there with holy water and maybe a few stakes, or even a crossbow like we just witnessed?”

Slowing down to a normal pace for the area, Sylvie followed the little orange line into a wooded subdivision. “I would guess pretty good, given she knows Amos and the whole deal with Phantas.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Amos had threatened Miss Grant.”