VAMPIRE THE MASQUERADE

RAID THE TOWER

The alternating red-and-blue of a police siren washed over the white light from the single bulb dangling from the ceiling of Smiling Jack's hideout, which really was nothing more than a small hole of a room furnished with nothing but a small bed and a chair, which John was sitting on. Irene stood next to him, staring at nothing in particular, her cam expression a sharp contrast to the general mood in the room.

"A blood hunt?" Said Liz, still recovering.

"That's right kid." Jack responded, the seriousness in his voice helped rouse Liz up even more. "I only heard about it a few hours ago. Some guys busted in here looking for you, saying that LaCroix had placed a bounty on your head, your sire's too."

"A blood hunt?" Liz's confusion only grew. "I-I don't understand. What did we do...?"

"It doesn't matter now kid." Jack cut in, moving towards the only window in the room. "What matters is that we need to get the hell outta LA, and fast." He stared out the window, scanning the area, then turned to them. "That includes you two. They know you're with her, so they'll come looking for you as well." Irene was about to mention Beckett, but the word died in her throat.

Liz wasn't even paying attention. A blood hunt! She raced through her memories, trying to remember something-anything- she did that warranted her becoming a wanted criminal. Then she remembered the incident with Beckett. Could that have been it?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud knocking on the door, which caused everyone in the room to tense up. Jack slowly brought his pocket knife out of his back pocket. "Who's there?" He said, warily. "Is Liz here?" Responded the voice from the other side.

Liz's mood brightened. "Sylvie? Is that you?" She said. "You know the guy?" questioned Jack. "Yeah. He's cool, you don't need to worry about him."

This didn't seem to make Jack any less uneasy. Cautiously he opened the door to reveal Sylvester Robinson, who was wearing a sweater, fitted, blue jeans and sneakers. "Is this the guy?" Said Jack to Liz, who nodded in assent. His face softened considerably when he set eyes on Elizabeth, who rushed to hug him, profound relief on her face as well. "Aw geez." Sylvester began, holding Liz a distance from him. "You can't begin to imagine how worried I've been. I mean, I haven't seen you in almost a week."

"How'd you know I was here?" She asked excitedly. "The Tremere Primogen." He responded, his voice becoming more serious as he let go of Liz. "He and Christof have been hatching a plan to nab LaCroix once and for all, and they want all of us in on it."

John and Irene, who had been watching the exchange between the two with gnawing discomfort, became attentive as Sylvie's last statement. "Whaddya mean all of us?" John remarked. "You heard right." He responded, turning imploringly to John. "You see, the truth is whether you like it or not you all are in on this too. So you can either join us or die trying to flee."

"The answer's no pal." Smiling Jack interrupted, surprising everyone in the room. "There ain't no way we're gonna risk our lives for some jackass crony." He said, acid in his voice. "If you wanna go kill yourselves in the 'name of the Camarilla' then so be it. John and Irene are coming with me. Right guys?"

"I'm going with him." John said in consent, raising his head slightly. "I for one don't want to end up ashes on the wind to fulfil some elder's dumb coup."

"Uh... don't we already risk our lives for an elder, John?" Irene stated matter-of-factly, leaving him staring at her, dumbfounded. Before anything else could happen, though, the door flew clean off its hinges in a burst of splintered wood. John jumped to his feet.

"Sup, motherfuckers?" Said a vaguely Southern voice, which came from a dark-skinned man holding a shotgun. He looked around the room to see Liz, at which he began grinning widely. "Well, well, well. Look at what I found." He turned his head back. "Het guys! I found the fugitive! She right over-"