Dawn of Vengeance

Chapter 18 - First Strike

Jake's POV:

"Issac?" Jake asked looking over at the other boy who still looked like he was a bit unsteady from his fight with the three Strigoi. He looked up at Jake and he could definitely see exhaustion in the vampire's eyes. "Why weren't you able to kill those things by yourself? I thought as a Gargoyle you were stronger than a normal vampire, so how'd they get the best of you?"

The vampire scoffed before he answered. "Because Strigoi are stronger than a normal vampire too Jake. I thought you knew that?" Jake gnawed on his bottom lip, he did know that but he actually thought that a Gargoyle was supposed to be at the top of the food chain and was stronger than all the other Beings. "Think of it like this Jake. Strigoi aren't like other vampires, they don't feel pain. That's what gives them their strength, because our ability to feel pain locks away our full potential. When a human pulls a muscle that's their body's way of saying you're maxed out and you can't do anymore. It hurts you so that you won't permanently damage yourself."

"A Strigoi doesn't have that anymore." Issac continued throwing his head back against the wall of the elevator, showing off just how tired he really was. "They don't have a natural limit on their strength anymore. So they can be extremely strong just two of them are more than a match for me. In all honesty had you not been there when the elevator opened up I have no doubt in my mind that they would've killed me."

"Oh...they're that strong huh?"

Issac nodded to Jake's question making him feel a little out matched now. If Stark really did have more of those things under his control then what could really be done to stop him if he let them all loose. How did he have control over them in the first place, Jake thought looking down at his feet. Father Matthew said that Strigoi were basically brainless killers with no real form of intelligence, they only acted on pure instinct. That must've been why they went after Issac first, take care of the bigger threat first.

Jake was about to ask Issac why he thought the Strigoi listened to Stark, but the elevator dinged and the doors opened up. Jake looked at what floor they were on and saw that Issac had taken them to the very top floor. Without so much as a word the two of them exited the elevator, though Issac did so a bit more sluggish than Jake. He really must be hurt, Jake thought looking at the other boy. The bites on his body didn't look that bad but that didn't mean that they weren't. Given enough bites maybe that toxin was enough to hinder Isaac’s strength.

You can't worry about him right now. A voice in the back of Jake's head said loudly enough to draw his attention away from the other boy. You need to find Sister Mary, that's all. Issac can take care of himself, you just worry about her. Jake nodded even though he knew that it was just his own mind telling him that, but still he was finding himself thinking too much. Before it was just act on impulse and you don't have to worry, something he hadn't been able to do since he'd first heard about Stark coming into town.

Jake shook his head to get himself to stop thinking and just focused solely on what was in front of him. Papers were scattered across the floor and along the walls Jake saw streaks of blood coupled with bloody handprints. Clearly something had happened up here. This seems more like Strigoi behavior, he thought as he saw more bloody trails leading down the hall. He looked at Issac who barely paid the mess any mind at all. Must've been like this the last time he was up here.

As they walked down the hall as quietly as possible Jake heard what sounded like an animal screaming. Both of them froze in place as they both looked down the dark hallway that only gave them a ten foot range of visibility thanks to the lack of windows. The lights were off though Jake wasn't at all surprised by that. The two of them stood there staring into the blackness waiting for whatever was screaming to show itself. Jake felt his heart begin to pick up the pace as he watched the black hallway and began to hear the clicking of claws along the marble floor. Whatever it was that they'd heard was getting closer.