The new recruits shot down wave after wave of the defiled vampires, but they were seemingly endless. They crawled on the walls and the ceiling in their attempts to reach the humans, but the recruits barely managed to hold them off as shots made them fall. Vampire bodies littered the floor, turning back to humans, but no one dared get a closer look. Occasionally, one of the recruits would throw an incendiary grenade, burning every vampire in the area and bathing the floor in fire for a few seconds. Still, the vampires just kept attacking. Marcia, Jamar, Harry and Robert were all sweating as they fired their guns.

“They gotta run out of these things sometime!” shouted Robert.

“We just have to hold out until the holy water is restored,” shouted Harry. “Then we…”

He was cut off after a twang and a thump. Out of the corner of her eye, Marcia saw Harry fall, an arrow sticking out of his forehead. Looking towards the door to the stairs, they could see vampires aiming crossbows, even as defiled spilled past them.

“Fall back!” cried Thompson, throwing an incendiary grenade.

A few more hunters were hit with crossbow bolts before the grenade went off, filling the hallway with flames. As the recruit hunters retreated further down the hallway, Marcia took one look back at Harry’s body. She could see no life in his eyes.

Once the flames cleared, all the vampires, defiled or not, gave chase.

###

Cora and Jasmine swung their swords furiously, spilling vampire blood everywhere. The fallen vampires lay in pieces, and a few defiled had their heads cut off with their hearts intact, leaving the heads snarling. From the door in the stairs, a few vampires shot crossbow bolts, but the two dhampirs deflected them. Cora even kicked a defiled vampire in the chin to knock it upward, blocking a crossbow bolt before she cut it in half.

However, with the sheer number of vampires attacking, the pair were slowly but surely forced backward. No matter how many they cut down, more would attack and force them further back through the hallway.

And then Jasmin got hit in the arm with a stray crossbow bolt.

“Retreat!” cried Cora, cutting the head of three defiled at once before the pair of them ran down the hallway.

Further down, at the water tank, a line of Night Hunters had placed simple barricades and held their guns at the ready. Another line of hunters stood atop the tank, ready to reign down bullets from above. Agent Walker stood with the priests at the top, ready to bless the water once the tank was full enough. Within the tank, the water had finally cleared and was just now filling up. There was only a small amount covering the floor of the tank, and Agent Walker shook his head. This was going to take far too long.

“Vampires!” cried a hunter.

Walker looked to the hallway and saw both Cora and Jasmine running, vampires at their heels. He raised his hand.

“Hold!” he cried, trying to give the dhampirs as much time as possible to get to them. “Hold!” He could feel his men read to fire like a rubber band about to snap. “Hold!”

And then the two dhampirs kneeled, going into a mighty leap to soar above the barricades.

“Fire!” cried Walker.

Cora and Jasmine cringed as bullets rained on the vampires. Some defiled had leaped after the two dhampirs and were shot out of the air. The two dhampirs landed in a heap, immediately covering their ears as the hunters shot the vampires.

As they fired, Walker went back and checked on the tank. The water level had not risen much, and he grimaced in frustration.

###

Outside his office, Director Farrow heard gunfire, as even his floor had been breached. He’d locked his own office as he had the key that set off the holy water but felt frustrated that all he could do was wait. The water tank couldn’t fill fast enough. He could only hope that his men held out, especially on level five.

If any level had to hold out, it was level five.

###

“Waiting, huh?” said Phoenix, glaring. “I’ve been waiting to kill you.”

Standing at the entrance to the chapel, Lord Victor Sorenson chuckled, “As much as I’d love to trade barbs with you, my time is not unlimited. I’ll make this simple. Give yourself up to us, and I can end the bloodshed right here, right now.”

“No!” cried Alice.

Lord smiled hungrily, “I’m even prepared to spare your sister…if I must.”

The vampire licked his lips, and Alice felt a shiver run down her spine at the way he was looking at her.

“No one is surrendering to you, vampire,” said Gordon.

Phoenix’s glare never wavered, “Of course not. As if I’d trust a vampire.”

Lord Victor’s smile widened, “Oh, that’s fine. I’d rather have both of you anyway.”

Alice, feeling her skin crawl, raised her rifle, but by the time she’d fired, Lord Victor was already gone.

Phoenix and Gordon had already covered their ears, and grimaced in pain, “Would you warn us next time.” Phoenix snapped.

A moment later, the warlock’s shadow began creeping into the room. It wouldn’t be long before those tendrils formed again.

“I’ve got to stop that warlock,” said Gordon, gripping Excalibur tightly. “Stay in the chapel.”

Phoenix started to protest, but Gordon ran out just as the tendrils formed. Phoenix, gritting his teeth, began slashing at the dark tendrils as fast as he could, moving in a blur. Alice watched him, gripping her gun tightly, just in case.

Out in the hallway, Gordon encountered defiled vampires, which attacked immediately. However, Gordon swung Excalibur in a wide arc, cutting through five of them. The enchanted sword burned the creature’s flesh, turning them to ash within seconds. The sword glowed with a faint white light as if happy to destroy these evil creatures. Upon seeing the magic of this sword, the rest of the defiled fled, screeching in terror at a power their primitive minds couldn’t comprehend.

With the defiled dead, Gordon ran forward, running like the wind. It wasn’t long before he encountered Lord Victor Sorenson, standing in the hallway with his black sword drawn. The elder vampire smiled smugly as Gordon stopped, raising Excalibur.

“Agent Brand,” said Victor. “I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of doing battle before.”

“No pleasure to be had meeting the likes of you,” said Gordon.

Victor laughed as he snapped his fingers. The vampires behind him ran up and attacked. Gordon flowed through the vampires like a dancer, using three strikes to take down twelve vampires. Excalibur cut through both the vampires and their swords easily, leaving piles of dust in his wake. When he rested, the remaining vampires fell back, hesitating.

Lord Victor sneered, “It’s been a long time since I last beheld that wretched blade, and it’s still too soon. Stand back, all of you. I’ll handle this.”

Victor ran forward, and Gordon blocked. When Excalibur clashed against the black blade, the two swords flashed with power. The hallway behind Gordon was bathed in light from Excalibur, while the black blade cast pure darkness behind the Elder Vampire. The light and shadow flashed parallel to the angle of the blades as they clashed, their movements a blur.

Within the chapel, Agent Phoenix fought as fast as he could, but the dark tendrils just kept coming. A few slipped past him and reached for the people behind. A couple of Night hunters and religious leaders got speared, pierced by the tentacles and spilling blood all over the floor. Phoenix quickly realized he couldn’t defend them on his own.

“Start shooting!” cried Phoenix as he turned and made a great leap over the other hunters.

Alice, gritting her teeth, raised her guns with the others and fired a shot at the nearest tendril. As the black tentacle burst into smoke, the rest of the hunters following suit, shooting the tendrils down. As Phoenix landed towards the back, he landed face down, covering his ears shutting his eyes as the sound reverberated through his body.

As Gordon fought with Victor, he could hear gunfire back at the Chapel. At this distance, he could just barely tolerate it, but cringed. Lord Victor seemed unaffected and grinned at the dhampir’s discomfort.

Gordon, gritting his teeth, focused. He sniffed the air, looking for a human scent. Most vampires couldn’t use magic due to a restriction the first vampire placed to prevent potential rivals from challenging him. If there was a witch or warlock nearby, it would be a human thrall. After a few moments, even as he sparred with the vampire, Gordon caught the scent of a human male. Judging by the distance, it would be a room on the left where the warlock was hiding.

Gordon couldn’t see, but Walter, hiding in the room marked, ‘psychology,’ had his eyes shut tight and was trembling, even as he was cloaked by that enchanted darkness. Surrounded by office doors marked with the psychologists’ names, the spell he was casting required all his concentration. While Gordon could see none of this, he instinctively felt that that the magic user was vulnerable. If Gordon could just get there…

Gordon darted to his right, swinging his sword and twisting his body when the blades collided, hoping to slip past the vampire. Victor, however, simply reached out a hand, grabbed Gordon by the neck, and threw him back.

Gordon landed on his back, but quickly rolled back up to stand. He eyed that patch of darkness in the corner, but Victor quickly moved to stand in the way, grinning. Gordon then jumped up to crawl along the ceiling, but Victor leapt up and blocked him off. Gordon leapt to a wall and Victor was before him.

No matter where Gordon jumped, the elder vampire blocked him off, until one moment when Gordon leapt off a wall while Lord Victor was on the ground. The vampire swung his sword at the dhampir’s torso, and as Gordon blocked the magic swords flashing light and dark, Victor grabbed his ankle and threw him back. Gordon twisted in the air to land kneeling, but he was right back where he started, and Victor was on him in moments, giving him no time to recover.

Their blades clashed, sending light and darkness across the hall. After a few seconds of furious swordplay, the tip of Victor’s blade scratched across Gordon’s arm. Suddenly blood gushed out of the dhampir, revealing a huge gash in his skin. Gordon stumbled back, holding Excalibur up defensively as he clamped his hand over the bleeding. Lord Victor grinned, please with the magic coating his sword.

In the chapel, gunfire rained on the black tendrils. However, the more they shot them down, the more tendrils appeared to replace them. Soon, even the hunter’s guns weren’t enough to stop them, and a tentacle reached into the crowd, spearing a hunter through the head.

As he lay on the floor, covering his ears and doing his best to resist the pain, Phoenix could sense Gordon’s fight, and knew it wasn’t going well. On top of that, more and more night hunters were falling to the tendrils, forcing those remaining to back away. Hiding in the chapel was pointless if they couldn’t kill the spellcaster, and Gordon was running out of time.

A moment later, Alice’s gun was grabbed by a tendril. She didn’t panic, however, but reached for a grenade at her belt and threw it into the mass of tendrils. The explosion shook the room and dispersed the tendrils, giving the hunters much needed breathing room. A few bodies lay on the floor in pools of their own blood as the shadows on the floor coalesced. The tendrils were already forming again, blocking their exit.

Alice turned, checking on Phoenix. Her brother now stood, staring at the door with a fierce look in his eyes. Alice shook her head.

“No,” she said. “Arthur, don’t do it. You’re the one they want.”

She continued pleading, but the man once known as Arthur Hayes couldn’t hear her over the throbbing in his ears. All he knew was that they were losing, and he had to do something. If he didn’t, those tendrils would get to Alice. He ran forward, making a mighty leap just as the black tentacles reached for him. He landed outside the chapel, rolling to a stand and drawing his sword as he ran to help Gordon.

Alice tried to run after him but was quickly blocked by the tendrils as they attacked. Alice and the other hunters began shooting again. There seemed to be more black tentacles than ever, and Alice felt a shiver run down her spine when she heard one of the others shout, “I’m running out of ammo here!”

Out in the hall, Phoenix called, “Gordon!”

Lord Victor grinned as his prey came straight to him, and Gordon sighed. The elder dhampir was disappointed, yet not surprised, and in truth he wasn’t any closer to that spellcaster. Phoenix sent him an image of what had been happening in the chapel, and Gordon reluctantly agreed that hiding in the chapel was pointless now.

They had to kill that warlock.

They linked telepathically, syncing their movements. Gordon focused on defense, using Excalibur to block Victor’s sword and give Phoenix an opening. When Gordon knocked the enchanted black blade out of the way, Victor was forced to step back to avoid Phoenix’s sword. They sparred like this for a few moments, slowly backing him down the hallway.

Gordon and Phoenix grimaced. This was taking too long.

In the chapel, more and more hunters fell to those tendrils, even as bullets rained into them. The hunters were speared, smashed against the wall, and beheaded. The tentacles avoided attacking Alice directly but tried to wrap around her. Alice had taken to stabbing the tentacles with a silver knife when one got around her, letting it turn to smoke before going back to shooting as sweat dripped down her face. Occasionally, one of them would throw a grenade, but that only gave them a few seconds of breathing room. The hunters’ numbers were slowly but surely getting whittled down, and their reserves of ammunition and grenades were running dangerously low.

Alice felt herself panicking a little. Arthur, she thought, if you’re going to do something, do it quick and get back here.

The two fought Victor still, with Gordon blocking and Phoenix attacking. During that time, Gordon sent an idea to Phoenix in the form of images. Phoenix would run back to the chapel and Gordon would make a break for the magic user. Lord Victor would have to prioritize one or the other. Phoenix sent back his agreement, and the two made their move.

They traded a few more blows with the elder vampire, then in a flash Gordon threw Excalibur to Phoenix, who caught it as he tossed his own sword to Gordon. Victor, surprised by the move, immediately attacked Gordon, but Phoenix blocked with Excalibur, knocking the sword out of the way, and giving Gordon an opening to slip past.

Victor didn’t let that opening last, though. He let the glamour drop partially, his cape turning to wings and his foot turning to a vampiric claw. With a flap of his wings, he flipped over, grabbing Gordon by the neck with his foot claw and throwing him back.

As Gordon was thrown, Victor looked to Phoenix, who had also caught the scent of the warlock and on a whim leapt to the wall away from Gordon. Victor sneered as he jumped after him, but barely missed as Phoenix kicked off the wall and landed running.

Victor landed on all fours, snarling, and leapt up to follow, flapping his weeks to catch up quickly. Before he could catch him, however, Gordon jumped up and grabbed Victor’s leg, slamming both of them to the floor. Gordon crawled up and brought his sword down, but Victor turned over and swung his enchanted blade, cutting through it and leaving Gordon with a little stump of a sword.

Gordon, however, threw his broken sword away to grab Victor’s wrist and neck, holding the enchanted blade at bay as the two rolled on the floor, wrestling for control.

In the chapel, more hunters were dead than ever, and Alice got caught by one tendril around her torso and a tendril around each wrist, forcing her to drop her gun. Alice panicked, thrashing helplessly as the tentacles lifted her up. Slowly the part of the tendril connected to the floor drifted slowly to the entrance. The other hunters were unable to help as they desperately shot the tendrils attacking them.

Meanwhile, with Lord Victor behind him, Agent Phoenix swung Excalibur through the vampires blocking his way, turning them to ash with each strike. The sword cut through the vampire’s swords as easily as butter, making Phoenix an unstoppable force. He made a beeline straight for the room Walter was in, Excalibur beginning to glow with each new vampire dead. Many vampires jumped out of his way, terrified, and Phoenix only changed direction to avoid Captain Wagner, still recovering where he’d fallen.

As Phoenix got closer, darkness spread across the floor from that room and formed tendrils. The tendrils lashed out at Phoenix, who sliced through them with ease before bursting into the room, knocking the door off its hinges and sending it flying to the side. Inside Phoenix found a mass of darkness with black tendrils rushing out to attack. Phoenix swiped away a few of them and then jumped, twisting his body to avoid the tentacles before slashing through that darkness as he landed, kneeling.

As Phoenix knelt there, gripping his sword, the darkness faded away, leaving an astonished Walter with his mouth open. He shook for a moment, and then the top half of his body split diagonally from the bottom half as both fell to the floor. The raven on his shoulder flew away, the red light in its eyes slowly fading.

In the chapel, the tendrils faded away, and Alice fell from the air onto the floor. She lay there for a few seconds, panting. As Alice sat up, she saw that she’d just been a foot away from the chapel door. That had been close.

Lord Victor, still grappling with Gordon, saw the darkness disappear from his sword. He screeched in a rage, twisting the two of them on floor and then kicking Gordon off him. Gordon hit the wall and Victor swung the sword, cutting Gordon’s legs out from under him.

Back in the chapel, as the hunters were tending to the wounded, Alice heard Gordon’s scream. It didn’t sound like her brother, but she knew it couldn’t be good. Looking around, she didn’t see a single person in the room that was uninjured. Even the religious leaders towards the back had sustained some damage. The only uninjured hunter was Alice herself. She took a deep breath.

“Please gather as much ammo as you can,” she said. “Hurry!”

Gordon crawled away from Lord Victor as fast as he could, the stumps of his legs leaving a trail of blood, but Victor placed a foot on his back, holding him in place. One of the vampires to survive Phoenix’s run came up and kicked Gordon’s sword away from him. If Gordon could get away, he knew his limbs would eventually grow back, but that would take too long. He was at the mercy of these vampires, and he knew it. Gordon shut his eyes, pleading. Run Phoenix, please. Just run.

But somehow, he knew better. Phoenix ran back, brandishing Excalibur. The lesser vampires cleared the way for him, but Lord Victor ran to meet him, his minions running over to hold Gordon down. Phoenix saw that Victor’s sword was no longer enchanted, and grinned. This would give him the advantage.

Phoenix swung wide, and Victor merely stepped back. Phoenix swung again, but Lord Victor redirected the blade. Phoenix, surprised, attacked again, and Victor knocked Excalibur away again. Paying attention, Phoenix realized that the elder vampire was fighting with enough precision that his sword only connected with the flat of Excalibur, not the edge. Despite Phoenix’s best efforts, the Elder vampire was an expert swordfighter, and gave the crucivire no chance to cut his sword.

But with quick move, Victor knocked Excalibur away and cut Phoenix on the arm. Phoenix didn’t even flinch, and pressed his attack, his eyes flicking to Gordon periodically. Gordon kept sending him telepathic messages, urging him to run, that he was no match for the Elder. Phoenix didn’t listen however, and an ever frustrated Gordon could feel the crucivire’s single minded determination to stop anyone from dying.

Slowly but surely, Lord Victor got in more scratches, blood beginning to spill from Phoenix’s tattooed skin. Phoenix grew more and more frustrated, trying to cut Victor’s sword, but the elder gave him no openings. Finally, Phoenix screamed and swung as hard as he can. Victor grinned and sidestepped, slipping his sword inside Phoenix’s defenses, and cutting off his hands.

Phoenix screamed in pain and stumbled back as Excalibur and his hands fell to the floor, blood spilling from his wrists. Victor was on him in a moment, and he kicked Phoenix in the chest as he sent a mental command to his minions. As Phoenix fell, the other vampires swarmed, holding his limbs in place. Without his hands, he was helpless to break free of them, even as he thrashed wildly.

Victor sent the command to tie him up as quickly as possible. They needed to leave, and fast. One foolish vampire tried to pick up Excalibur, but the moment his hand touched the hilt the vampire exploded into ash. As Victor rolled his eyes, he sent another command for his servants to kill Gordon Brand. As a vampire stood above him, Phoenix sensed what was happening.

“No!” he shouted.

Suddenly, gunfire rang out. A well placed shot ran through the heart of the vampire about to stab Gordon. That vampire fell, his body decaying until he was little more than a shriveled husk.

Alice stood by the door to the chapel, firing her gun. Vampires immediately rushed towards her, moving in blurs. Alice, using all her training, shot down as many vampires as she could.

Gordon, meanwhile, found breathing room to roll into one of the side rooms and shut the door. Until his legs healed, he was useless, so pushed himself up to lock it before falling down to the floor and resting.

Alice, shooting down as many vampires as she could, tried to aim a single shot at Lord Victor, but he was out of the way by the time she fired her shot. With the other vampires bearing down on her, Alice retreated into the chapel, gritting her teeth in frustration.

The moment she was inside, however, a vampire reached in, his hand beginning to burn. Alice was shocked as the vampire pulled her out, throwing her on the floor. Alice landed face down, and was about to get up, when she saw a pair of boots right in front of her. Looking up, she saw Lord Victor smiling down at her.

“Hello, my dear,” he said.

Alice tried to raise her gun, but Victor hit the gun away from her and grabbed her by the shoulders. As the elder vampire leaned in and bit into her neck, Alice cried out in pain, making a futile struggle to break free. Alice felt a familiar sensation of blood flowing out of her neck, as well as a familiar pressure growing over her mind, only far more intense than before. She felt tears welling up in her eyes.

This couldn’t be happening…not again.

###

Director Farrow watched the fight unfold from his office, security footage showing Victor biting recruit Hayes’ neck. He could also see other vampires tying Phoenix up with chains. He’d been watching with bated breath, hoping they could at least hold out long enough for the water tank to fill. Looking at it, it was only about sixty percent full. It wouldn’t get to the entire facility, and Farrow wasn’t even completely certain it would reach level five, but they were out of time.

“Walker!” he cried, pressing the intercom as he stopped the water flow. “Have the tank blessed!”

“Do we have enough?” Walker asked.

“It will have to do!” he cried. “Just do it!”

The next moment, he saw the vampires finish wrapping up Phoenix, carrying him between two vampires as they ran out of the facility. At the same time, Lord Victor picked up Alice and carried her off.

###

Across the facility, Night Hunters were being overrun. The defiled vampires were inching closer and closer to Farrow’s office. Doctor Brown could hear gunfire outside his office as he looked after Alice’s still unconscious mother. The recruit quarters were being overrun, with Marcia, Jamar, and Robert feeling the pressure.

At the water tank, the vampires were getting closer, forcing the hunters to fall back closer to the tank. Vampires crawled across the walls and ceiling to get to those above, and while most were shot down, making them fall to the floor, there seemed to be more of them than ever.

Atop the water tank, standing above the open hatch, a priest crossed himself as he recited a very brief prayer.

“Almighty Lord, please bless these waters in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.”

Another priest sprinkled some salt into the tank, letting mix in, and Agent Walker closed the trapdoor, clanging it shut.

“Now!” he cried.

###

In his office, Director Farrow turned the key marked, “Holy Water Rain.” The first room to activate sprinklers was the water tank room. Just as defiled were about to jump and attack the priests atop the tank, water fell from the ceiling, and the moment it impacted the vampires, they screeched in agony as their flesh burned, slamming into the water tank only to fall off. Everywhere, vampires writhed in pain as the holy water fell on them.

Running up the stairs, Lord Victor could sense the vampires dying, and increased his pace, determined to escape before the holy water fell on him.

Outside Director Farrow’s office, he heard the sprinklers go off, and the screams of vampires outside.

Soon after, the sprinklers burst water on the medical level, protecting the injured in the medical wing and letting Doctor Brown breathe a sigh of relief.

On level five, the sprinklers fell in a mostly empty hallway, most of the vampires having fled already. Gordon Brand, still recovering from his injuries, prayed silently that the waters would fall on Victor.

In the recruit quarters, a defiled vampire managed to jump on Jamar and bite his neck, making him scream in pain just as the sprinklers engaged. As the vampire pulled back, screeching in pain as the holy water burned it, Jamar threw it off and stopped the bleeding with his hand. Marcia and Robert, seeing the vampires dying as water fell down their faces, went to check on him.

On floor after floor, the sprinklers activated, burning every vampire beneath them. Finally, the waters reached the mansion itself, killing the vampires still inside.

And Lord Victor, standing just outside the mansion with Alice in his arms, looked back and grimaced at the vampires who’d failed to make it out in time. He’d lost a lot of vampires tonight, but this would be worth it. Looking to his left, he saw the vampire that had pulled Alice out of the chapel, cradling his burnt hand. Victor reminded himself to reward that vampire for his dedication.

Phoenix was bound head to toe in chains, carried between two vampires. He looked up at Victor and snarled.

“Let her go!” he demanded. “I’m the one you want, and you have me, so let her go!”

“No, my dear boy,” said Victor mockingly. “You are the one I need.” He looked at the woman in his arms. “Alice is most definitely the one I want.”

Alice, her head foggy from a loss of blood and the Vampire’s influence, mustered all the willpower she could and spit in the Elder Vampire’s face. Lord Victor seemed surprised for a moment, but quickly grinned. His long tongue came out and licked the spit from his face as he grinned down at Alice. Alice, for her part, shivered in disgust, unable to move herself out of this monster’s arms.

A moment later, Victor spotted the necklace around Alice’s neck. Running his finger through it, he revealed the silver cross and hissed. He flicked his hand and the chain snapped, falling off her neck and into the grass.

“Let’s go,” said Victor.

And the vampires left, taking their two captives with them. In his arms, Alice looked back at a small silver glint in the grass as it disappeared into the distance.

###

Director Farrow assessed the damage. The holy water hadn’t reached every floor, but the vampire’s numbers had thinned enough that they could regroup and clear the facility. The thing that ultimately captured Farrow’s attention, however, were the security cameras showing the outside of the mansion. He could see Lord Victor carrying Alice Hayes and Agent Phoenix away.

Director Farrow gritted his teeth and hit his desk with his fist.

###

At the water tank, as the water finished dripping from the ceiling, both Cora and Jasmine looked around at the carnage, Hunters standing around them in a daze. As they walked, they observed that most of the bodies had burned flesh from the holy water. Some of the corpses, however, had died to bullets, turning back to human before the holy water rain fell. Most of these were this new vampire variant, and Cora was curious to see what they would look like. She found one body with his face turned to the side and noted that his ear had been cut off.

Cora knelt and turned the corpse’s face, only to see that in addition to his ears, his eyes had been cut out and his nose had been cut off, leaving bloody pits in his face. Jasmine gasped, and both women looked away. Cora couldn’t help but close her eyes. She’d seen many horrific things in her life, but even she shivered at the sight of this.