Missing Vampire: Reward Available (Hypernaturals 6)

Siren Hall Inspection

The Siren Hall in Bulgaria is nestled in the valley between two rises. A long, ridge-like hill on one side, and a small mountain on the other. It and the roads to it run in a small valley between the two rises. The road up to the back remains fairly narrowly confined until just before the Hall, but where the Hall and the front parking area open out, such that by the time you reach the front parking and the mountain road on that side, it looks more like a mountain meadow braced by the hills.

It is still dark and it all looks very familiar. Last time I gave this place a very wide berth in the end.

The sun would be up soon. We intentionally came this late (or early, depending upon how you look at it) to make sure that the Hall would have closed down and the Sirens gone home to sleep. Time enough for the staff to clean and shut down the kitchen.

The Hall below is quiet.

Six of us stood atop the hill (as opposed to the larger hill, or mountain) side of the building, looking down at the roof and side of Hall. I scanned in Infrared, and saw no heat signatures. No one passed out in the night, and sleeping it off. The kitchen heat sources are cold so they have been off for hours.

Helen, Jessica, Morgan, and I were joined on this trip by Liann and Renee. This is trip one and is meant to only be surveillance of the area, so we do not need an assault team although, with four full power Vamps, Morgan and I, we are pretty heavily equipped. At a guess, in hand-to-hand, we could take on eighty to one hundred average Sirens. Maybe more: The problem with hand to hand in large crowds is that only so many can get within reach at any given time. Get within reach, and a full power Vampire will send a Siren on a trip through the air. Rachel busted down ceiling fans at 'The Firehouse' that way, using Siren bodies as projectiles, and she could not and cannot fight worth a damn. Rachel fights with words at the Times and on the Council. Not her fists or feet: not counting the fight with William where she had, in fact, learned a few moves. Kicked William right in the head.

We planned our approaches, even though we are moving upon an empty building. There is no such thing as an overabundance of caution when dealing with the HPA or their lackeys. Liann and Renee will circle in from the front parking lot side, where the main road through the Mountains allowed people to enter and exit to the front parking lot of the Hall. They will note all cameras and surveillance capabilities. Morgan and I will circle in from the back, where the smaller road is cut through the valley to allow for deliveries and trash collection. Helen and Jessica will bracket the sides, on the assumption that one Vamp is all that is needed on areas less likely to have alarms set up. That is not to say they will be casual about their approach.

Morgan and I tramped along the ridge away from the hall for a kilometer, then dropped down off the ridge to the road in the valley, and started our way slowly back. We stopped now and then to look up in trees for any hidden objects. A camera or a microphone or even a motion sensor of some kind. We saw nothing of note until we were back up to close to the Hall.

The dirt road widened out as it approached the back of the Hall, and there are places one could park alongside without blocking the road.

Morgan stopped and knelt to look at some tire tracks.

"Large van." She said to me, pointing at the ground. "Parked here a while back. It has not rained since you were here." She inhaled deeply. "New tires. Deep tread grooves. No oil or fluid leaks on the ground, so fairly new vehicle."

Morgan taught herself tracking skills when she was a Homicide Cop. Now with her hypersenses, there is no one better to find trace evidence.

I went to the shoulder opposite to where Morgan knelt, and looked. I am cheating. I saw where they were parked to begin with, and of course Morgan showed me the first place so I know where all the other van traces should be relative to that. I pointed at the ground anyway. "Another on this side. Looking at the wheelbase, the right size for the vans I saw the HPA in. Ditto the fresh tires and lack of fluid leaks as well. Mercedes five cylinder diesel motors in the vans that were chasing me down. Not getting any diesel fuel scent on the ground or burnt emissions in the air, so it has been a while."