Nightclaw: Blood Moon Apex

Chapter 11: Our Next Move

When the sun began to rise over Darkveil once again, Nightclaw left the Order of Blood camp and returned to the town once more, hiding behind the church to conceal herself from everyone else while she transformed back into a human. Once she had reverted to Carla Rosenblood, she ran back to Darkveil Manor as quickly as she could.

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At the mansion, however, Dave Rosenblood, Countess Valeria, Esther, Lily Ladair, and Theo Ladair were all already awake. The five of them had already finished their breakfast and were now watching the television in the living room with grave concern, the news report currently on the screen bringing immense anxiety with it.

"We're now going live to the scene of the crime, which is currently being examined as we speak," the newscaster in the studio said before the image transitioned to a different anchor standing in front of a familiar-looking area; a massacre scene with four overturned smoking vehicles, a series of heavily-mutilated bodies, and sprays of blood which coated everything nearby in an eerie shade of red.

"Thanks, Jim. Our sources have discovered quite the disturbing scene outside of Darkveil this morning," said the new female anchor. "The place behind me seems to have been the location of a brutal bloodbath. As you can see, the victims have been completely violated, to the point where they are near-unrecognizable. At the moment, no visible clues can be found.....however, outcries from the local populace have already begun to surface. Specifically, suspicion has fallen on Darkveil's werewolf vigilantes, who were thought to have gone straight but now appear to have relapsed."

The show then cut to several conducted interviews with Darkveil residents, all of which were quick to blame the Order of Blood for the poachers' deaths while remaining completely unaware of Vultur's existence, nor that of her fellow Generals or their followers.

"Who else could have performed such a heinous act?" asked a random man. "There is literally no one else out there capable of such carnage on such a massive scale."

The scene then cut to a woman. "I thought they had backed off....I really did....." she lamented, sniffling. "What do we do now? We don't even feel safe anymore!"

"I know they were poachers and all, but this is a whole new low, even for the Order," accused a third man who clearly looked like he had too much to eat. "Perhaps we were wrong to blindly put our faith in them three years ago.....perhaps Dwayne Vargas had a point."

"They're nothing but murderers!" wailed a fourth interviewee, this one also female. "And that's all they ever will be!"

Both Lily and Theo looked visibly disturbed at this last line, clearly having flashbacks to Frank Vargas and his stubborn, bigoted mindset towards vampires.

Dave shut off the TV and leaned back in the couch, putting his hands behind his head and groaning. Meanwhile, Esther looked down and buried his face in his hands while Valeria facepalmed, got off the couch, and headed for the kitchen to get a drink. "I didn't think the Order would do anything like this again....." Esther lamented.

"Neither did I....." Valeria added as she opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of wine. "No.....there's no way it could have been them.....Nightclaw should have....."

Carla..... Dave thought to himself in heartbreak. Please tell me you haven't become a murderer.....

At that moment, the knob on Darkveil Manor's front door turned and eventually gave way, flipping inward on its hinges and allowing Carla herself to frantically dart into the mansion and make her way towards the living room.