The Apex Predator

by **Jordan Reynolds** June 27th 2013, 3:39 am

The night was fine, or as fine as a Las Vegas night could be. There were plenty of human bodies brimming with their precious fluids and a certain immortal that planned to take advantage of such liquids. There was a single man within the city that the ancient had her sights set upon, and tonight was the night that she made her move. This mans name was known simply as Alphonse; a drug dealer and general scum bag. He was in fact human scum that was far below the usual fare that she dined upon, but then again this was simply the whim of a capricious immortal. She had grown used to the easy pickings, where no fight was put up but perhaps this one would prove to be more than the others. Perhaps he would amuse the predator.

The man was in fact performing what could be considered a rather cliché form of criminal activity, and that was drug dealing; the drug was new though. It was some form of euphoric, something that made the user feel wonderful. Made them feel as if they were floating on a cloud or something of an equal tranquility and Delicia had tasted blood tainted with the swill. After three weeks of steady hunting, the move would be made and this scum of the Earth would draw his last disgusting breath.

The vampire looked down upon him from the fire escape above, silver eyes glinting in the dim light as the measured up his worth. He had a single gun hidden in his left coat pocket, ready to be used if a deal went south, and what looked like a pocket knife in his right pants pocket. Both weapons would prove useless against the vampire, and with his human frailty, there was no chance that he could really take her by surprise. ”let the hunt begin.” The vampire whispered under her breath as she soundlessly made her way to street level. He didn't notice the approach of the pale beauty until she spoke his name in her unnatural lilt that would send a chill down the spine of mortal men.

”You're the one they call Alphonse, am I correct?” Delicia asked as she ran a slender hand through a rather expensive looking leather hand bag, as if rummaging for money, this was however a ruse.

”It all depends on who’s asking.” He said with a voice that held a hint of an accent, one that went along with his reddish skin, one that she had seen in her ventures through the states bordering the country of Mexico.

The vampire pulled out a small wad of bills, approximately five twenties and a single hundred in total, but how it was prepared made it appear to be so much more than that and the mans eyes seemed to light up at the presentation of such monetary gain. ”I'm sure you can guess what I want.” She said raising a single snowy eyebrow as the man reconsidered the offer of the strange female. It was rare that such a prestigious looking woman came to him in this venue, yet who was he to turn down such a large sum of money?

”I see. Come with me and perhaps I could get you what you want.' His heartbeat picked up as she had anticipated, and he would be taking her through the alleyway to where he kept the product, likely in a well guarded truck instead of on his person, where it could be more easily stolen. The further they ventured, the closer he came to his inevitable death.

When they had entered a section that was nearly bathed by the darkness, and with only a small amount of light, the vampire made her move. In a swift moment, she had her hand upon the mans shoulder and pressed him against the wall with a strength he could not hope to outdo. He let out a surprised curse as his eyes snapped wide open and the smell of sweat pread across his body. His heart race increased to the point that it was like a piston almost and its sweet rhythm nearly drove Delicia crazy, as the blood thirst washed over her like a blinding wave. ”Are you one of those metahuman freaks? If you want money, I can give you that and tons of it.” There was a sneer of derision when he said metahuman and the notion alone disgusted her.

”What I am is of no concern to you. All you need know is that I will be the one that snuffs out your bright candle.” There was fear and the something that Delicia had only half expected, her mind temporarily preoccupied by the sweet aroma of his blood. The loud bang of a gun permeated the alleyway as his pistol fired off a single round into her stomach and the black blood splattered across his torso. The pressure on his shoulder did not lighten as he had expected but in fact it had increased.

”Are you satisfied?” He looked down in horror as the wound did the impossible. It rejected the bullet and spat it out on the ground as the wound quickly ceased its futile bleeding. Now he knew how pointless his attempts against the pale, inhuman monster were. ”Your guns are worthless to me, and so are any other of your pathetic human weapons. Look into my eyes and know what I am..” She drew a sharp nail across his face, as a small line of blood oozed from the wound and dripped down his cheek. A pale tongue shot out to lick up the sweet nectar, sending a tingle of pleasure throughout Delicia.

”Oh God”

”God can't save you now.” She said mockingly and bit deeply into his neck, and the swoon began. His memories came like a flood trying to protect him, trying in some way to stop this thing from consuming all that he was, as well as his blood. Hands groped as they half tried to stop her and half tried to keep her close to him, as the swoon always did to weak minded mortals. The pleasure was overwhelming but he knew that she was killing him, and soon enough his struggles would amount to nothing. Soon enough his struggles came to a halt and all of the insecurities came to the surface, almost enough to make a monster weep really. She felt all of it and it felt like a shame, but the blood rushing through her body and casting that blush across her cheeks made everything worth it.

”Sleep well, you'll never need to wake again.” Delicia said slowly lowering the body against the wall as she applied her own saliva and the bite marks faded to minor bruises. Her hunger had been sated for now.

by **Illya** August 12th 2013, 5:23 pm

The City of Sin, a title once given to a place known as Sodom before it was destroyed by Creation. In the current era, the title belonged to a city known as Las Vegas in the land of the United States. Wodan knew little of countries, but it remembered the creation of the United States, a nation that would go so far for their beliefs that they would fight each other, causing one of the biggest massacres the world had ever known. As the Wild Hunt, Wodan had played its hand in the massacre while no one was looking; left completely unchecked. Without watch Wodan had caused death total to go much higher than what was recorded and left the free world in a much sorrier state than what was intended by the campaigns of their so called “great leaders”. Though Wodan respected the notion of fighting over dominance, the humans fought for reasons of self-gain, wishing to capitalize their holdings and continue their accumulation of arbitrary wealth.

Even as Wodan loomed over the new City of Sin, it still found humans playing games of chance for materials and glory, indulging in debauchery and sinful actions; the lights shining through the night and bouncing off of Wodan’s ebony form. The display was disgusting, a testament to all the wonders of the Universe that humanity is no good for anything; a cancer that should be cut loose before it destroys everything the Fundamentals worked so hard for. Wodan did not enjoy the notion of murdering the entire human race, but for the sake of its own children and the universe, it would make the necessary sacrifice.

However, tonight had something else to peak Wodan’s interest; one of its children was hunting within the boundaries of the city, it could feel the life force of a human going out. Based on events alone, Wodan believed that it was a member of the Vampiric strain. Vampires were amongst Wodan’s favorite children; their hunting style was much more innovative than any other. The idea of blending in with humans by taking their form, devouring the life force of humans one by one, giving them a thrill far beyond that of a hunt. Blending in such a way was not Wodan’s style of hunting, but seeing such ingenuity was refreshing. Humans had been growing in awareness as their existence continued, and the premeditation that Vampires had taken could not help but be given accolades. Despite the joy of seeing one of its offspring, the pup was still hunting in Wodan’s territory; and as an apex predator, Wodan could not take that sitting down.

Swooping down in the form of a crow, Wodan’s form split into an entire murder of crows; each crow flying in different directions. Wodan may not have developed the capability of molding in with humans, but the animals of the concrete jungle were more than necessary. Under the guise of its avian children, Wodan proceeded to scour the city for its child.

The search did not take long, while humans could not tell the difference between a vampire and one of their own, Wodan was not as inadequate. The pale skin, the development of fangs evident in the gums, their lack of breath; all of these traits pointed to this particular child to be one of the vampiric children in which Wodan gave conception to. Her form was made to be attractive to hormonal humans, causing even the biggest prude to be driven mad with desire; her dressing was to catch their eye in order to ensnare them. She was a marvel to behold, something to fear, but never to be noticed.

She also appeared to have just finished her meal.

Without hesitation, the Father of Monsters swooped down as an entire murder of crows condensed into its body, leaving to land to land in front of the vampire nothing more than a single black crow. Roosting on a small wire, Wodan turned its head to look at its child even closer, examining her kill.
Slowly, it swooped down onto the ground, landing on the now dead human lying on the ground. The only thing that could be seen was an average crow, picking at a corpse. The traces of essence could not escape, for the human would surely be resurrected if that were the case; Wodan was to erase the essence of these humans, so that the problem would never have to arise again.

Wodan’s appreciation of its kindred aside, it was still a hunter, and it was still an apex predator. An inferior hunter invading its territory was something that the laws of the jungle would not stand for. Despite its current form being quite diminutive, Wodan’s killing intent was far from miniscule. It’s fury at the simple violation was enough to make the hairs on the back of the neck crawl by being in the vicinity; no human would come near the two of them now, unless they were acting against instinct, which humans often did.

Without further provocation, Wodan cawed, and with it suddenly two dozen more of it appeared, all cawing in synchronized fashion. Normally, this wouldn’t be out of the ordinary; Murders of crows caw at threats or intruders frequently, it is in their nature. However, anyone who knew anything about birds would find that something was amiss. Because while crows do indeed caw at anything that intrudes on their areas or threatens their homes; crows rarely caw at night.
However simple or abnormal the greeting was, its meaning was much more serious than that. What would happen next was a test on whether or not the vampire would respect Wodan’s authority as apex predator of the area, or whether she would stand her ground and challenge the creature that is so obviously threatening to attack her. Many predators have forgotten where they originally came from, and Wodan by default; but instinct was not something that predators could hide from, and Wodan was making it very clear to its child that it would break her if it was not respected as such.

It was up to the vampire to make the next move.

by **Jordan Reynolds** August 13th 2013, 12:03 am

So there he was, another drug dealer taken by the insatiable lust for blood that drove Delicia to feed constantly. The sight was beautiful, and a wonder to one whose very senses were heightened to a preternatural level, as she saw the very life leave him. She could even smell it, and it was a strange stench to be sure, yet one that forced her to watch the corpse for a moment. Could she have made him as she was? A wandering outcast damned to feed upon their brethren for all of their damned life, forced to be eternally preserved like a statue? No, death was to be his destiny, and that was exactly what he got. She would not show pity to the cattle that she fed from so freely, only the ravenous blood lust that bid her to rise long ago.

A flush had come to her face, a semblance of life that always come so recently after feeding. She was drunk off of his life, and was to use it to her own advantage. What he had wasted, she would put to good use while it ran its course through her perfectly pale limbs. His body would not be found for a while, a while that was long enough for the vampire to make her escape, and go unnoticed as she always did. So that was what Delicia would do, scout. Perhaps for another thrall to feed off at her leisure, or maybe another poor soul to be drained of his vital fluids. A singular crow landed upon her former meal, pecking at it.

Delicia recognized the distinctive fluttering of wings, and she also noticed more of them. A murder of the things had fallen upon her prey and their wretched caws could be heard, filling the alleyway with its darkness. She had seen battlefields, and how they became a feast for crows, and that only sent a wave of sickness through her being. Her silver eyes fell upon the large gathering, and her lips curled into a frown of disgust. She could have done away with the crows, but something about them being here unnerved her. From what she could tell, they acted as if this were their territory, but that could not be the case. Delicia had claimed the city a good year or two ago, animals and their territorial desires be damned.

However, what was even worst was that in an instant she was hit with a powerful wave of killing intent, one that she had never felt before. The vampire recoiled upon feeling it, and her fangs upon instinct showed themselves. It was then that she was now fully sure that these were no ordinary crows, but something different. The vampire let a sound approximate to hissing escape from her mouth, much akin to a cat and she felt the overwhelming need to flee. It would have been easy too, but she would not be cowed by a murder of crows; not by these animals. This was a dangerous predator, but so was she.

There was something that called to her as well, as if what stood in front of her was familiar in some way. There was the click of her heels as she took a step forward, eyes now hard as steel. If there was to be a fight, she would do so. ”So it seems you are more than a simple murder of crows. However...” She let clean and filed nails scrap along the rough wall, drawing indentions into them.”If it is a fight that you desire, I will be more than happy to oblige you.” There were no perceivable flaws within her movements to the human eyes, perhaps even to the eye of supernatural beings. They were not normal, that was for sure.

Nothing held such killing intent, and everything she knew of had some sort of scent that she could pick up. What the hell was she dealing with? Regardless of the ambiguity of her foe, Delicia had to be the first to act, and with great speed. In an instant she would be moving, aiming a powerful kick to one of the birds, which was sure to break the average crows neck. In fact, it had broken the neck of larger creatures, so of course it would have to do harm to these.

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