The Ancient One

Chapter 6

  Buckhead, October

"Mark, are you sure you saw it come in here?" Jake asked, as they moved their way through the many boxes and storage bins in the warehouse. This was one of the first real chances to catch a vampire in over a month, by any of the teams. Jake wasn't about to let it escape.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Mark confirmed.

In that moment of distraction, the creature leapt at Jake, tackling him. Vampires were incredibly fast, although it wasn't like how all the books and movies made them seem. They were also stronger than regular people, but again, not like they were portrayed. Their speed and strength was more like that of a cheetah, or maybe a leopard, as compared to a smaller cat. They were not like a superhero from a comic book, almost invincible.

Mark and the team were there in seconds, aiming their light cannons at the monster. In addition to the pain of the UV lights, they were using cattle prods to encourage it to get off Jake. Jake felt the shock as much as the vampire did, considering he was between the creature and the ground. It didn't seem inclined to leave him, though.

He used every ounce of his strength and will, and fought against the creature and the constant shock, as he managed to pull one of his stakes out of his chest holster. The creature was occupied with holding him down and snarling at the rest of the team, so it didn't notice what Jake was working toward.

In his struggle to get his stake out, he noticed that this vampire seemed to be more animalistic than other vampires he'd fought. It was even drooling, and growling. Putting that aside, he returned to the task at hand, which included his surviving the current situation.

With a Herculean effort, Jake managed to move his hand holding the stake into position. It took a massive amount of strength just to get the stake against its chest. With one last effort of will, using everything he had left, he rammed his palm on the top of the stake. If it hadn't been a very sharp stake, there's no way it would've gone in, but it was, and it did. As it slid into the creatures chest, the vampire dropped on top of him, all in the span of an infinitely long second.

"Get it off me!" he commanded, knowing it's blood might infect him. He was pretty sure he'd been cut when tackled. Amazingly, the creature was still moving, although it was definitely dying. This one reminded him of the wild vampires he'd seen back in August. Of course, that was a bit of a painful memory.

As soon as his men had removed it, he tore his body armor and shirt off as if he'd gone mad. When he was rid of that, he saw the gash in his left side, and knew the vampire's blood had thankfully not come close to his wound. But you could never be too careful with the evil creatures.

"I think you need a doc," Mark said, also looking at the gash.

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"You know, Kloss might not be happy with you. This one was supposed to be a capture," Mark said, looking at the creature.

"He'll get over it."

"Hey, doc," Mark called, leading Jake back to the van. Half an hour later, his men had cleaned up the warehouse, arranged for payment of any damages, and Jake was stitched up. Before the doctor could order him on sick leave, the radio chirped.

"This is team 4. Go ahead," Jake quickly grabbed the radio and replied, as Shelby scowled at him.

"Team 4, we have a new solo contact walking on Collier Blvd, heading into the residential area from the hospital. We understand injuries were taken. Advise status," the dispatcher said. Jake considered letting it go, worried it might be the girl again. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with her. With as few sightings as they'd had over the past few months, though, he decided to take it.