Chapter 26: Epidemic 5-4

"Vegg!" Kamala shouted.

The water between us and the swarm surged upwards like a waterfall in reverse. It blocked the rats and locusts but they began to collect together, towering in one spot until they formed a wall of their own. I saw Kamala strain as she tried her best to fortify the wall, but I knew she wouldn't be able to hold it for long. I channeled my will into my axe.

"Fulmen!" I roared, throwing the axe into the wall of water that was a foot thick at this point. The axe was engulfed with electricity as it flew into the water. Sparks flew and there was a bright flash of light once the axe electrified the water, shocking the first layer of pests that had gathered to overtake the wall.

I recalled my axe and then there was...nothing. Just when I was beginning to relax, Brother Kanker shot right through the wall of water like a bullet, his body engulfed in the electric blue aura of Potence. The locusts, wasps, and beetles flew through the hole he created in the wall and began to engulf him almost like a second armor. Damsel threw a knife with deadly precision, and it would've pierced his throat if he hadn't knocked it aside with his own combat knife. I stepped him and met him in midair, slashing his midsection with my axe with all of my strength. There was a loud clang sound as it hit his midsection, but it was like hitting a brick wall. It knocked him down but as soon as he hit the floor, the wasps began to swarm me.

I was never afraid of bugs. As a kid, I'd play with spiders and poke wasp nests for fun. But I can't deny that there is something terrifying about a swarm of killing machines gathering on you, guided by an intelligence that is possibly centuries old. They crawled all over my skin and immediately triggered my panic response. If I were a lesser person, I might've frenzied right then and there. I closed my arms and mouth tightly to keep them from getting inside of me. It was a relief that I didn't have to breathe.

"Blåse!" I heard Kamala call out. A gust of wind strong enough to roll me over to my stomach blew, sending the wasps flying off of me. As soon as I got up, Brother Kanker pounced. Damsel intercepted, launching him with a Potence-charged kick. He went flying into a concrete pillar, tearing a chunk out of the rock and bouncing off of it violently. Despite the hard hit he took, he got right back up. There wasn't a single scratch on his body.

His rats poured through the hole he created in Kamala's water wall, which weakened as soon as she cast another spell. Like a flood of pure filth, the pests began to pool around us, crawling up our legs. Damsel began shooting at the rats as best she could. Kamala and I manipulated the blood from the wounds the rats created, crystallizing it and turning it into spikes that impaled several of the pests. It didn't take care of the wasps and locusts, but at least it enabled us to move.

I couldn't open my mouth or else the insects would get inside, and the prospect of being torn apart from the inside didn't appeal to me. Using Auspex, I projected a telepathic message to Kamala.

"Get as much water into the air as you can!" I thought to her. "I have an idea."

Kamala nodded, confirming that she'd heard me loud and clear. I saw her blur and appear near the entrance of the room, away from the swarms. A few wasps still covered her, but she seemed to be ignoring them well enough. She dropped onto one knee and pressed her hands into the water. I could feel the silent stir of power in the air gather around her, swirling and becoming more intense.

"Fordampe!" She said, and I could feel her voice more than I could hear it. The water beneath us suddenly turned red hot, boiling as if the ground beneath it had turned into magma. It violently exploded, erupting the entire room into more chaos than it had already become. All of the water rapidly turned into steam so dense that I couldn't see further than two feet ahead of myself, even with Auspex. Now that everything had been set up, it was my turn to move.

I opened my arms as if I were getting crucified, commanding my blood and my power to gather to my extremities. Through my blood, I gathered my will. So much power had gathered that I could taste copper on my tongue. The air smelled of ozone. Sparks formed at the edge of my fingers.

"Everyone, protect yourself!" I yelled, clenching my fists. I'd gathered enough power, now I just had to make it happen.

"Concursu ominum!"

More lightning than I've ever called before began to jet forward from my being as thick, almost solid tendrils. The energy electrified the mist, and all that could be heard was the ugly squealing of rats as they either exploded or were vaporized entirely. My energy covered the entire room quickly, overloading the overhead lights and making them burst. The steam was now cleared, and all that remained was the light from the garbage fire at the far end of the room. All of the pests were dead, and their corpses what was left of the water. It was now cloudy with black and red, and the oh-so pleasant smell of rotting flesh now had burning hair and cooked rat to add with it.

I was, for the most part, completely spent. I'd had just enough blood to keep the Beast from piloting me, and using another discipline was laughable at this point. There was no sign of Brother Kanker that I could see, but considering the Nosferatu's talent for not being seen, that wasn't saying much. Lifting my axe, I remained on guard. The water was gone from the room due to Kamala's spell, so it wasn't as if we'd hear him moving around. I tried my best to listen, but I knew that Brother Kanker could probably turn off any sounds he'd made as well. This guy was at least a New Elder, after all.

"You've destroyed my swarm...rather versatile, the Tremere are…" The Nosferatu said, his voice disembodied, coming from no specific direction that I could tell. "Unfortunately, it will not be enough."

Just a few feet away from me, Tanner's head was cut clean off of his head. I moved away as quickly as I could, throwing my axe in Tanner's direction. It hit nothing but dust as he died, leaving behind nothing but bones. Right as I moved back, a clawed hand grabbed my shoulder, completely taking control of my momentum with its monstrous strength. Brother Kanker manifested and lifted me above his head, slamming me down to the ground. I saw a blur in the corner of my eye as Damsel attempted to lunge, but the Nosferatu was ready. He grabbed her by the throat mid-jump, squeezing hard enough that I heard a nauseating crack.

"This has been rather amusing." Brother Kanker said. "But now, it is time for me to end this."

Reaching my hand out, I attempted to recall my axe but Kanker stomped on my foot, snapping my wrist. I yelped, white hot pain surged through my entire body and for a second, I wished I was dead - really dead. At the far end of the room, Kamala seemed to be biding her time, waiting for the best time to strike. There probably wouldn't be a best time at all, not until he'd killed both Damsel and I; and I had the lingering feeling that she'd have no problem sacrificing us both.

Man, fuck the Camarilla.

That left me. Tanner was dead, Damsel couldn't do shit, clearly. Even though it's four of us against one vampire, we were outmatched from the start. I looked at Kanker with the last remaining bit of Auspex I still had activated. Slowly, I could see his aura fading. He was getting thirsty. Now that I thought about it, he used his disciplines more than any of us had. There was no way he wasn't struggling himself. In my aura sight, he was lit up like Downtown LA on christmas night, but it was fading. His fortitude and potence were fading. Maybe Kamala could see it too. Maybe that's why she was biding time. I needed to keep him distracted.

"Who put you up to this?" I asked, doing my best to ignore the pain from my snapped wrist.

The question seemed to pique Brother Kanker's interest. It seemed that he held something in common with all zealots: he really liked talking, especially about himself.

"The Beast, child." He hissed darkly. "The Beast guides all of our actions. Tells us who to kill. Who to feed from. Who to lie to, to trick, to fuck. It encompasses us, and only a fool wouldn't listen to it."

If Brother Kanker were a battery, he'd be about a quarter full. I just needed to get him talking more, though at this point I couldn't tell if his fading aura was my Auspex deactivating or his disciplines deactivating.

"Yeah, yeah. I get that. Unleash the darkness within and whatever." I muttered. "But I don't get it. You guys can't be the head guys in the Sabbat. I mean, you never see the Prince coming out and doing the sect's dirty work, and his Sire? Well, I don't even know their name. I don't even know where they are. And you guys, so-called lords of the damned are really doing the work of the Sabbat? Kamala over there told me you guys were well-organized."

That made him pause. For a second, I thought he was going to attack me. His expression was difficult to read; he seemed angry, but his deformed face always looked angry.

"You're quite insolent for someone so young." He growled. "I'd have imagined you'd learned how to speak to your betters at this point. But I suppose not. Amusing, because according to the Archbishop, your Sire was just as insolent."

"Wait," I said. "You know about Justine?"

Brother Kanker only gave me a smirk. His aura was about as bright as embers in a fireplace now. It was time to attack. I barely heard Kamala's footsteps as she crossed several feet, pulling out a sword from seemingly nowhere. This time, Brother Kanker was unable to move quickly enough as the sword sliced through his forearm like butter. I heard him scream as he stumbled back, taking the pressure off of my broken wrist. Ignoring the pain and nausea from moving, I quickly took my sawed-off shotgun out of my bag and got up. Brother Kanker stumbled into one of the concrete pillars, narrowly dodging another swing by Kamala. The swing sliced into the foundation and she had to take a moment to try and get it out.

I tried to get as close to Brother Kanker as possible, like point blank. Aiming at his face, I pressed my finger to the trigger.

"So long-" The gun fired off and splattered Brother Kanker's brains all over the floor before I could get a clever line off. Damn it. I really need to time that better. The Nosferatu's body turned into ash and didn't leave behind a skeleton for some strange reason. Odd. I'll have to look into that later.

"Jesus fucking Christ…" Damsel uttered, her voice raspy because her windpipe was crushed. "I need a fucking drink. Let's get out of here."

I was about to agree before my phone vibrated. I held up a finger as if to say 'one second' and answered.

"A-Al, you gotta help us!" The voice on the other side pleaded. It was Copper.

"What?" I asked. There was no way they could be in trouble already. I checked on them just last week! "What's going on?"

"Th-The Anarchs are here!" He said. "They're t-trying to catch some old Gangrel vampire, says he's Sabbat! They've taken the others by force! They're planning on using them as bait!"

I was so pissed off that I almost frenzied right then and there. Why couldn't they catch a fucking break? Because of a few superstitious vampires? No, I promised E that I would look after them. Not a single one of them was going to suffer final death, not under my watch.

"I'll be right there." I said. "Gimme twenty minutes."

"Hurry!" Copper said.

I hung up.

"Who was that?" Damsel asked.

"A friend in Santa Monica." I explained, walking to the exit. "A bunch of Anarchs kidnapped his people on the beach. They're using him as bait to get the Gangrel that's part of the Brotherhood."

"And where are you going?" Kamala demanded.

I stopped and turned to her. "I'm going to rescue them, of course."

"Are you insane?" Damsel hissed. "All three of us are thirsty. I can see it in your eyes. I get looking out for your friends and all, but you aren't in any condition to fight another vampire. Especially not with your broken hand."

She was right, and I hated it. I hated it when Damsel specifically was right, and I also hated that I wasn't in any condition to fight for the thin-bloods. It would be a lot wiser to stay back, recover and let the Anarchs take care of it. They wouldn't just kill thin-bloods for no reason, right? That kind of shit seemed to be against everything the Anarchs stood for.

Nah, fuck that.

"We can get a drink on the way." I said. "I'm going."

"You aren't going anywhere!" Kamala said, raising her voice. "We have to report back to the Prince."

I closed the distance between her and I and got into her face. In hindsight, maybe this was too much. Maybe I was giving into the beast, but I needed her to understand.

"I. Am. Going." I growled. "You and Damsel can come if you want. But don't think for a second that you're my superior. My Sire was my superior, and she's dead."

Kamala looked like she was going to lash out, but she visibly took a moment to gather herself. I could tell that it was a struggle. Thankfully, she had enough self-control to realize that lashing out at a neonate like that - one part of her clan and in front of an Anarch no less - would look very bad. The Tremere were all about appearances, after all.

"Fine." She said. "But if we are going to help, we will be taking down the Gangrel ourselves. It is better to go to the Prince with two members of the Brotherhood dead than one."

We all left the sewers and went back into the empty streets of LA. I thought our job was over after killing Brother Kanker. It turns out, the night was just beginning.