Evacuate!

  Gabriel and Alyssa were still in the dining room that Mrs. Goldman had set up for the evening, as the long wait for Cornelius to return was beginning to frustrate most of the people in the room. Gabriel could tell Alyssa and Diane were rather nervous as the young girl went to her sister and hugged her for a while as they waited. Their patience was eventually reward as there was a loud swooshing sound that let them know that the big vampire was returning. Cornelius entered into the large room and slowly approached everyone who was awaiting his return. He didn't look like his cocky self, and rather somber as he walked up to the big table. It was assumed he would return to his seat and resume eating, which was what Gabriel had thought, but he didn't. Instead the big vampire stood behind his chair and remained standing as the look on his face didn't give his younger brother the impression that all was well.

  "I'm afraid things were not settled," Cornelius said, "I'm sorry."

  Gabriel was at a loss for word, as those were two words that he never heard his older brother ever speak in his presence and certainly never that sincerely as well. Rather than dwell on it, Gabriel approached his brother.

  "What's going on?" Gabriel asked him.

  "They're rather determined to come get you, brother." Cornelius answered, "To the point where it's not safe here. We need to evacuate the town, immediately."

  "What?" Mrs. Goldman said, rather stunned by the statement. "When?"

  "Right now," Cornelius said, "As soon as possible. They seemed rather angered by our exchange. I didn't help matters at all."

  "Dammit," Gabriel cursed, "Where should we go?"

  "What about the rest of the town?" Alyssa asked.

  "We can't save everyone," Cornelius said, "We need to save those who are important to us first, and if I have time, I'll see what I  can do for everyone else."

  "I'll take Diane," Mrs. Goldman said, standing up. "The safest place for her right now is in Salem."

  "Yes," One of the other witches called out in agreement. "We shall all escort her there ourselves. Combined with all her guardians, she will be quite safe."

  "I want to go too," Alyssa said, standing up.

  Cornelius walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "You cannot."

  "What?" Alyssa said, angered by that. "Why not?"

  "Only witches are allowed in Salem unless authorized through diplomacy." Cornelius explained, "I can pull some strings and get you access, but she's right. Salem is the safest place for Diane right now. Let the old woman care for her, and we'll retreat to New Lycan for the time being."

  "I will care for her as if she were my own child," Mrs. Goldman said, "Your mom was my best friend, and I will never let anything happen to her."

  "I believe you, M' lady," Cornelius responded, "Because if you fail, every one of you will answer to me."

  "We understand, my lord." The other witch replied, fully aware of what he meant by that statement.

  Alyssa and Gabriel walked Diane to their building, back to the apartment as quickly as they could without catching anyone's attention. Once in their apartment, Alyssa started to pack up their personal belongings. Things that couldn't be replaced such as pictures, old books and clothing that meant something. It was at this moment when Pablo came into the room, as he could tell what was going on.

  "What are you doing?" Pablo asked.

  "Packing," Gabriel replied, "There is trouble coming our way."

  "What kind of trouble?" Pablo asked.

  "California," Gabriel answered, "They're less than twenty miles away and are none to pleased. This is going to be Denver all over again."

  Pablo's eye grew as wide as saucers as he could hardly believe it.

  "What's the plan?" Pablo asked.

  "I'll pack this stuff up," Gabriel answered, "You get Sean and his family back into the big trucks. We need to hit the road for New Lycan before it's too late."

  Pablo didn't even respond and just bolted out of the room, and one his way to break the bad news to Sean and his family. They'd have to go on the run again and from the same people as last time. Gabriel used his speed to pack faster than ten men could in the same time, but packed light aware that space in the trucks were limited. He checked in on Diane and she appeared to be packing everything rather than just the essentials.

  "Diane," Gabriel started.

  "I'll be alright," Diane interrupted, without looking at him. "I have over a hundred guardians that are all volunteering to carry it for me to Salem.

  "Alright," Gabriel said, "Good luck out there. Alyssa and I will try to come over and visit as soon as we can. Follow Mrs. Goldman's lead and you should be alright. If what I've been told is correct, that entire town will protect you. You're the safest of us all right about now."

  "Fair enough," Diane said, still packing, "Just don't keep me waiting too long then, or we'll come looking for you."

  Gabriel nodded and then zipped into Alyssa's room and started to pack all her stuff into small bags with lightning speed. When he was done, he looked back up at her and noticed her shocked look.

  "I tried to be gentle," he admitted, "Just trying to help out."

  "Alright," Alyssa said, sighing. "Just a warning next time, okay?"

  "Promise," Gabriel said, "I'll get these to one of the trucks.

  Gabriel grabbed a few of the bags and zipped down to the same two trucks that had helped them evacuate from Denver only a short time ago. They would be their savior again but far sooner than Gabriel had hoped them would be. Pablo was down there and he took the bags from Gabriel as he came down.

  "Such a shame," Pablo admitted, "I was really liking this place."

  "Sean and his family getting ready?" Gabriel asked.

  "They're packing," Pablo said, "We'll be good to go in about a half hour."

  "Excuse me?" A voice called out.

  Gabriel and Pablo turned to see who was calling out to them, and it was Max. The mayor of the small town was walking up to them and had heard what Pablo had just said about leaving town and didn't seem too pleased about it.

  "You're leaving town?" Max said, looking rather suspicious. "What's going on?"

  "It's kind of difficult to explain," Pablo said, trying to bullshit his way out.

  "Try," Max insisted, "Because no one leaves this town unless I say so."

  "You sure about that?" Gabriel asked, as he walked over to Max and met him halfway. "Because I've been coming and going as often as I like."

  "Is that so?" Max asked.

  "That is so," Gabriel confirmed, "I don't need your permission to do a thing. I do what I want and whenever I feel like it."

  "I see," Max said, "And where are you off to in such a hurry. If I didn't know better, you guys appear to be running from something."

  "More like someone," Pablo corrected him.

  "More undead?" Max guessed, "Is there another herd coming?"

  "No," Gabriel said, "Not this time. Something alive and more dangerous."

  "What could be more dangerous than the undead?" Max asked.

  "You'd be surprised," Pablo retorted, "Very surprised."

  It was at this moment when there was a series of swooshing sounds, as Mrs. Goldman and the three witches from Salem launched off the roof of Alyssa's building. Mrs. Goldman had Diane with her and right after the four witches on brooms took off into the sky, close to fifty large winged creatures also launched from the same roof and flew into the sky behind the witches. The three of them all watched as the witches and gargoyles flew off into the night and vanished into the dark skies. Gabriel was a little sad he never got a chance to say goodbye but understood that the witches were not taking any chances with Diane's safety. The sooner they got her out of here, the better Gabriel thought as time wasn't something they had a lot of. Gabriel turned to face the mayor as he also watched with a stunned look on his face.

  "What the hell was that?" Max called out.

  "To be honest," Gabriel said, "You wouldn't believe us if we told you."

  It was at this point were Max pulled out a handgun from his person. While he didn't raise it or point it at anyone, the presence of it was supposed to be enough to intimidate one of them into talking.

  "Don't make me ask you again," Max demanded, "I want the truth."

  "You can't handle the truth!" Pablo called back, as it was a favorite line from a movie he always wanted to say.

  "I'm serious!" Max said, as this time he pointed the gun at Gabriel. "Tell me the truth or it will be the last thing you ever say!"

  "I doubt it," Gabriel said, "And we're in a hurry. So put down the gun and let us get back to work. Time is not on our side."

  "Time for what?" Max asked.

  Gabriel was about to finally make a move on the mayor, something he's wanted to do for a while. That nosy piece of shit had been getting on Gabriel's last nerve for some time and he never trusted the little worm since he tried to have Alyssa killed by the undead when they first met. It was something he had wanted to do to repay the corrupt mayor for a while, and this was his chance. Yet it was Cornelius who had other plans as he grabbed the mayor first and dragged the little man to the side of the building and pinned the mayor to the wall. Cornelius had one big hand wrapped around the mayor's throat while the other held the mayor's hand that was holding the gun. Before the mayor could wheeze out a single word the Dark Prince snapped the mayor's wrist, which caused him to drop the gun. Less than a second later Cornelius snapped the mayor's neck with his other hand, killing the man instantly. It was at this moment when the big vampire let the man go, and his lifeless body fell to the ground with a very loud thud as he crumpled on the ground like a piece of paper.

  "Whoa," Pablo said, as he could hardly believe what he just witnessed.

  "What did you do?" Gabriel called out, angered by his brother.

  "There is a time and place for diplomacy," Cornelius said, turning to look at his brother. "But this is not that time. We have to hurry, and this man was in our way. Now he is not."

  "How do you know all this?" Gabriel asked.

  "I just know," Cornelius answered, as cryptic as ever. "I can explain later, but right now our time is better served getting everyone to safety. Get back to work."

  Before either man could respond, Cornelius zipped away with great speed and was gone as quickly as he arrived. Gabriel wanted to check on the mayor, but the big vampire no matter how annoying he was happened to be right. If the Californians were as mad as he thought they were, this town was going to be flattened, and he needed to get everyone out before that happened.

  "What do we do?" Pablo asked.

  "I'll get rid of the body," Gabriel answered, "You get Sean and his people out here as quickly as you can. Cornelius wouldn't be moving this aggressively if he thought he had time to talk his way out of this."

  "Noted," Pablo said, "Let's get back to work."

  Gabriel grabbed the body, and flew over the wall with it, taking the mayor out of the town. He flew about a mile out, and dumped the body like it was a sack of potatoes and as he turned to head back to town, in the distance he could see what had his brother so worried. The lights from the vehicles that told Gabriel everything he needed to know about the situation. They were already out of time as an attack on the small town was imminent.