"We need to leave," Noah said as the saw trees in the far distance move, shaking from side to side but it was too violent to be from the wind. There was something moving through the forest and whatever it was, it was heading towards them. "Go, now!" Noah cried out shoving Damien away, Lucas taking off towards the battle disappearing from view.
Noah himself took off towards the battle with Damien on his heels but he was soon racing off towards their right where most of the vampires were. Noah darted, dodged, maneuvered, and raced past everyone and everything around him as he tried to find his family. The first one he found was Fred who was currently pinned down by a werewolf, his gun tucked under the werewolf's chin which was the only thing keeping him from being bit as the wolf snapped it's jaws at him. Noah didn't even falter in step as he ran right toward them, crashing into it's side knocking the great beast down. The werewolf let out a loud snarl, rolling back up onto it's feet probably to pounce on the two hunters as Fred scrambled to Noah's side to help him up. Suddenly, the werewolf's head snapped to the left like he had heard something, oblivious as Fred and Noah quickly disappeared into the crowd. Whether he heard the creature, or maybe something over the pack link, was unclear but suddenly he didn't care about Fred and Noah but was running off back towards the forest.
"I could have handled that!" Fred yelled over all the hissing and growling all around them, trying to run off back into the thick of things but Noah grabbed his arm in a vice grip tugging him away from the battle.
"We have to get out of here! There's something coming!" Noah shouted as he looked around for their family.
"What do you mean? Are there more werewolves and vampires coming?" Fred asked seriously, his grip on his gun tightening but he looked down at Noah in confusion as he shook his head almost violently, his blonde hair flying around his head.
"We need to find dad!" Noah called out when he spotted Liam fighting off a vampire. "Liam!" Noah screamed over the noise, hoping his brother would hear him, but the fighting was far too loud even as there were quite a few vampires and werewolves fleeing back into the forest from whence they came. Fred followed close behind Noah, aiming his gun at anything that came too close as they drew nearer to Liam so they were within shouting distance. "Liam!" Noah called again, almost tripping on a vampire that was knocked down by a werewolf.
"Little busy!" Liam shouted, punching a female vampire in the gut before sending her sprawling on the ground gasping and wheezing for breath. At least, that's what she wanted him to think as she suddenly rose up on her hands swinging her legs around like a break dancer sweeping Liam's feet right out from under him.
"Pamala!" a young looking male vampire called, suddenly appearing next to her as she jumped up to her feet like a cat. "We must leave, now!" the vampire hissed grabbing the girl's arm and dragging her away whispering angrily back and forth to one another while Noah and Fred practically pounced on Liam helping the boy up to his feet.
"Since when did vampires listen to rap music!" Liam shouted after the female vampire who shot him a glare over her shoulder.
"We don't have time for bad puns!" Fred snapped, using the butt of his gun to knock a werewolf in the head that tried to bite at him.
"Where's Issac, William, and dad?" Noah asked Liam almost desperately, gripping the front of Liam's jacket when that strange roar erupted from the trees behind him. It practically shook the very air around them causing everyone to whip around toward the sound, both werewolf and vampire frozen where they stood. Fred and Liam unconsciously drew nearer to Noah, gripping his arms and the back of his jacket to keep him close.
"What was that?" Liam asked in a small voice as he too recognized that was no werewolf or vampire, none like he had ever heard anyway.
"Where the hell is dad?" Noah ground out, looking around but he could only see vampires and werewolves on either side of them.
Before either of his brothers could answer him, Fred mumbling something about seeing Jonathan fighting the alpha wolf last he saw him, the sound of branches and trees rustling together drawing their attention to the very spot where Noah, Damien, and Lucas had been sitting not so long ago. A lone figure came out through the trees, standing on the small incline of the hill. Whatever Noah had been imagining, a hulking figure like the Incredible Hulk or some kind of monstrous Big Foot, was completely unfounded as a young boy, not that much older than Noah really, appeared out of thin air. He stepped out on bare feet onto the grass wearing only a ripped up white t-shirt and a pair of black shorts that were extremely ripped at the bottom. He was by no means strong looking but he had a solid build of a high school athlete. The strangest part about him was his face. There was something thick and red covering his chin, as dark as blood but there was something round and clumpy on the skin of his chin like warts or large pimples. The boy or... creature looked down at them all, his eyes vacant and his face devoid of all emotion.
"Oh geez! It's just a stupid vampire," Liam grumbled, rolling his eyes, but then he noticed there were quite a lot of vampires to his left who were staring at the creature like he was some kind of alien. The werewolves, though most were still in wolf form, similarly looked freaked as a few backed away with threatening growls. "Why do they all look like they've seen a ghost?" Liam whispered, Fred groaning with yet another bad pun when Noah grabbed Fred's jacket urging them to back away. "Okay, dude, you're starting to freak me out," Liam muttered, following Noah's example backing away from the strange creature.
"We need to find dad and the others now," Noah hissed as his skin crawled just looking at the young man even though they were halfway across the large field from the creature.
"What is that?" Fred whispered, pulling both Liam and Noah backwards sensing something dangerous.
"I don't know but I don't think they like it any better than we do," Liam hissed back as he glanced between the vampires and werewolves who were also retreating, slowly but surely.
The creature just stood there, silent and still watching them all with such vacant eyes. It didn't move. It didn't blink. It didn't even look like he was breathing. Every single person on that field was unnerved but there was a few who couldn't stand that feeling of fear. One of the werewolves let out a snarl, snapping at the air like it was poisonous to him. He suddenly darted forward even as other werewolves barked at him, clearly telling him to get back but the werewolf didn't listen. It bounded up the hill in no time at all, lunging at the creature aiming for the young man's neck. Quicker than the speed of light, the creatures arm shot out and caught the werewolf by the neck causing it to yelp in pain. It thrashed and squirmed, growling in anger but it soon turned to pain as it tried to scratch at the creature but was unsuccessful. In fact, even as it's claws raked down the young man's arm, it did absolutely no damage. The werewolf scratched at his chest, even kicked his legs, but that only tore up his clothes. There was no blood, no sign of pain on his face, not even a scratch on his skin. Just those vacant eyes staring up at the werewolf as it struggle and whimpered in pain.
"Release him!" one of the werewolves started to bellow, stepping forward, when they all heard the audible snap as the creature snapped the wolf's neck with such ease that it didn't even look like the creature moved.
Everyone seemed to move at once; the werewolves all howled with rage looking like they were going to go on the attack, the vampires hissed and started barking orders at one another to retreat even as many of the vampires looked like they wanted to kill the creature just as much as the werewolves. Noah was suddenly slinging his shotgun strap over his shoulder across his chest before grabbing the fronts of his brothers shirts whipping them around.
"Get to the truck!" Noah yelled over the noise of angry monsters, yelling for Issac and William and their father hoping they'd follow his voice but the fighting seemed to resume with several vampires and werewolves clashing together as they tried to attack the creature.
"I see William!" Fred suddenly shouted, pointing to their left where William was fighting off a vampire.
"I see Issac!" Liam cried out, pointing in the opposite direction where Issac appeared to be wresting with a werewolf.
"You guys grab them. I'll look for dad!" Noah said, racing off before they could object. The creature let out another inhumane roar, nothing like any of them had ever heard, before jumping into the fray easily knocking werewolves and vampires away like children's toys. "Dad!" Noah called, dodging werewolves and vampires alike as they fought around him avoiding the creature. "Dad! Where are you?" Noah screamed as he searched around desperately, his shouting becoming desperate pleas.
"Looking for dear old daddy?" a voice asked causing Noah to whip around to see a pale man with long black hair standing behind him, wicked fangs revealed as he smiled grimly. "Don't worry. I can be your daddy," the vampire said with a lemon peel smile, slowly creeping forward towards Noah who aimed his gun at the guys chest. The vampire let out a low chuckle, unimpressed as he drew even closer. "I've got a thing for blonde's. You'd get along great with my other fledglings," the vampire said with a grin, showing fangs of course, when a boot appeared out of nowhere planting itself in the vampire's stomach sending him flying backwards into the fray.
"I highly doubt that," Jonathan Bridgeton said, wiping blood off his cheek. "He's too adorable. Your fledglings would get jealous," Jonathan said with a smirk, looking down at Noah who rolled his eyes feeling a pang of annoyance.
"Dad, we have to go. There's some weird... thing here. It's neither werewolf or vampire. It's-"
"I know. I saw," Jonathan said through gritted teeth, looking around them for enemies but they were either too focused on each other or retreating back into the forest. "Have you seen your brothers?" Jonathan asked, gripping Noah's shoulders who nodded eagerly.
"Yeah. Fred and Liam are getting William and Issac. We have to go!" Noah said, pulling on Jonathan's sleeves when they both suddenly sprang apart as a large wolf lunged at them.
"I'll meet you by the truck! Stay safe!" Jonathan called out to him as he swiped at the wolf with his manchette, kicking a vampire away as it tried to charge at Noah.
"No! Let's just go now!" Noah yelled, desperate to leave, when a cold palm pressed against the back of his neck with long pale fingers curling around Noah's neck causing him to freeze.
Jonathan noticed too, his eyes widening in horror and looked like he might lunge forward to save Noah but the man holding the blonde let out a "Ah, ah, ah. Not a step closer," the Dracula looking guy spoke, letting out a long tired sigh. "I'm rather tired of dealing with you Bridgeton's. I fought with you great, great, grandfather when he was around his age," Dracula guy said looking down at Noah. He paused for a moment, staring down at Noah critically, before reaching up to fix Noah's messy hair. Noah's heart was pounding, his muscles vibrating with tension wanting to fight back but resisting against a vampire who could easily snap his neck wasn't a good idea, but he found himself relaxing a little as the primping continued, Noah looking back at his dad with a quizzical look that was mirrored by Jonathan even as he wearily glanced around at their enemies in case anyone tried to jump them. "There! Much better," Dracula guy said with a delighted smile once he was satisfied, making Noah turn to look at him to admire his handiwork. When he turned back to Jonathan, he opened his mouth... and then closed it again. He tired opening it again but his face screwed up into a confused scowl. "What was I saying?"
"Something about my great, great, grandfather," Jonathan said with a long sigh, rolling his eyes.
"Right! He was also an annoying thorn in my side. You should thank me for not killing him cause he was really irritating," Dracula guy said, sounding tired, when they all heard a high scream of a woman. Dracula guy's head suddenly snapped to the side, his eyes searching, when all three of them spotted the strange creature in the middle of the field holding a woman by her neck who was struggling desperately, clawing at the creatures arm but she wasn't trying to attack him. She was trying to get away! She had been running back towards the forest when the creature had appeared in front of her and it was clear she was a fairly young vampire which were normally very strong, almost feral as they were getting used to their new senses, but against a strong monster like this? She looked terrified! "Marie?" Dracula guy said quietly, his grip on Noah loosening. The blonde wasted no time using his arm, essentially karate chopping the man's elbow, causing his hand to fly off Noah's neck who practically lunged into Jonathan's arms. Dracula didn't even notice or acknowledge any of that had happened as he took a step toward the creature and the young vampire. "Marie!" he called out but he was too late.
It all happened so fast...
The creature brought his arm back as if to punch the vampire, Marie, who let out a frightened wail when another werewolf got the guts to come at the creature. It charged at it from behind with it's jaws open to bite at the creature when its other arm shot out with lightening speed grabbing the wolf by the neck lifting it above his head. There was another snapping sound before blood sprayed down all over the creature and the vampire. The creature closed it's eyes as the blood slowed to a trickle and, to Noah's awe and horror, it licked up the blood around it's lips and even opened its mouth as if trying to catch rain water on its tongue. Several wolves howled in pain and anguish, a few almost charging forward to help their fallen comrade even though it was far too late, but others were holding them back urging their people back into the forest. Among the wolves trying to get at the creature was the Alpha. He was the largest wolf with pitch black fur and dark red glowing eyes that could be seen like burning coals in the dark. He was bark in pain and agony for both wolves they had lost, his growls deep and rumbling as he glared at the creature with such hatred. Noah swore he could feel the vibrations from where he and Jonathan were standing, Jonathan sheathing one of his machetes so he could grab Noah's arm, dragging him behind him like a kite towards where their brothers were gathered except for Fred who had run to get the truck for them. While being dragged, Noah watched the creature drop the werewolf to the ground turning to look down at Marie again who had started to tear up.
"Marie!" Dracula guy called again, looking like he was going to run forward to save here but two men suddenly appeared on their side of him grabbing his arm. One of them was Damien who glanced over at Noah for a moment, Noah staring back at him when they both heard another scream from Marie but this one was in pain and agony. "MARIE!" Dracula guy screamed, resisting against Damien and the other vampires arms as they watched the creature take a bite out of Marie's neck.
Unlike humans, vampires didn't bleed. When they get injured, it's like someone took a chunk out of a statue. They can heal over time, with some blood, but Marie didn't have that kind of time as the creature contemplated the taste of Marie in his mouth. Noah swore he could hear the creature swallow, its eyes going wide for a moment before it stared down at Marie.
It went in for another bite.
"Alucard, we have to go!" Damien shouted, dragging Dracula guy backs towards the woods as the other vampire called out for everyone to retreat.
The only one's who weren't moving were the Bridgeton's who were huddled together at the edge of the woods waiting for Fred to come with the truck. They were only human so even if they did run, the creature would no doubt catch up to them, and they didn't want to risk getting separated from one another. Besides, inside the truck were all kinds of weapons they either had in their duffle bags or were stashed in secret places all over the truck. Maybe they'd have something there to kill the creature but there was just one problem.
"What the hell is that thing!?" Liam hissed as soon as Jonathan and Noah joined them, his brothers instinctively gathering around their baby brother who found himself smushed between four burly chests.
"I could use a little air!" Noah wheezed, slapping his hand against Issac's chest urging them to give him some space.
"We need to get out of here as soon as we can. Get Noah in the truck and keep a watch out to make sure no one's sneaking through the woods to catch us off guard. I'll keep an eye on that thing," Jonathan said, looking into the forest for the trucks headlights while the others watched the creature wearily in case it headed their way.
"Shouldn't we try to kill that thing?" William asked, checking his gun quickly, but Jonathan pushed the barrel down when he tried to aim the gun.
"We shouldn't draw attention to ourselves until we know what we're dealing with. We need to know what can harm, or even better, kill that thing or we'll be like sitting ducks. Be ready to hop in the truck. We're going home for tonight," Jonathan said sternly, meeting each of their eyes to get his point across.
The Bridgeton's stayed huddled together as they watched the creature eat the vampire Marie, the field clearing out as the vampires and werewolves retreated back into the woods. The creature was so busy eating the remains of Marie that it didn't seem to notice while everyone else was keenly aware of it. Noah looked left and right watching them retreat, several wolves swarming around the Alpha wolf making it back up even as he growled and glared at the creature. Dracula guy, or Alucard, was also walking backward as Damien and other vampires were drawing him back away. Both were in agony. Both were grieving over the loss of their people. At least three were dead on both sides, the creature moving on to a corpse of a wolf after it had devoured most of Marie. The night finally seemed to go quiet again, Noah's heart pounding in his ears as he imagined the creature coming after him and his family. Maybe Alucard and the Alpha wolf were imagining the same thing, anger rising as their people were eaten before their eyes. They suddenly broke free of their people, Noah letting out a gasp gaining the attention of his family as they turned to see what he was seeing.
The Alpha and Alucard broke away from their people and started racing across the large field at amazing speeds. The creature noticed them too and rose up from the ground where it was munching on the wolf's corpse, thick amounts of blood dripping off it's chin onto the ground. The Alpha and Alucard were closing in fast but the creature was prepared for them. The Alpha was clearly aiming for it's legs while Alucard was aiming high. For his head, specifically, as Marie's blood was still covering the front of his shirt. So the creature reacted. He brought one hand up to grab the neck of Alucard who was in mid jump to lunge at his head, the other hand reached down to grab the back of the Alpha's neck as if grabbing a puppy's scruff. Noah's eyes widened in horror as time seemed to slow, the creature just inches from grabbing onto the leaders of both supernatural packs, when it happened so suddenly. Alucard's foot caught on the ground and he started to fall forward as if he was going to face plant. The wolf dropped down, almost laying down on the ground, before suddenly leaping up over the creature's reaching arm. Alucard grabbed the creature's legs just as the Alpha's maw chopped down over it's head and they tore the creature's body in half.
"Holy crap!" Noah gasped, slapping Jonathan's arm as if to get his attention but all the Bridgeton's were watching the scene just as he was.
"They were able to take out the monster so I guess there's nothing to worry about," Issac said with a shrug, rubbing his neck as if imagining his own head in the jaws of the Alpha wolf who was currently shaking his head from side to side like a dog with a chew toy, the creature's head popping off it's shoulders with the torso going flying up into the air.
"There's still a whole bunch of monsters all around us," Liam reminded him with a smirk, nudging Issac in the side.
"We're not out of the woods yet," William said as he checked his gun again, looking around, but neither the werewolves nor the vampires looked inclined to fight anymore.
Everyone was staring at the Alpha and Alucard who stood facing one another, the creature's body tossed down onto the ground at their feet. They stood there for long moments, Alucard flexing his clawed hands while the Alpha bared it's teeth with a growl, but to Noah's surprise they didn't start fighting again. Instead, Alucard let out a long sigh almost at the same time the Alpha shook out his fur licking the blood from his maw. There seemed to be a silent exchange between them, a sort of understanding after what they'd all just seen, so the two supernatural creatures slowly walked around one another, keeping a sharp eye on the other, before heading back towards the forest where their people were gathered. As an afterthought, Alucard turned to look back at the hunters staring directly at Jonathan who narrowed his eyes back at him.
"I think we're all tuckered out for today so maybe we should resume this battle of ours some other time. I for one need a long bath after all that," Alucard said, trying to act all cool and suave, but he was hugging himself so tightly Noah wondered if his shirt would rip from the strain but he just turned back and continued back into the forest with his people without waiting for a response from Jonathan who glared back at him but he didn't seem inclined to chase after him or the Alpha wolf. "There better be a glass of wine ready for me when we get home," Alucard drawled as he passed by Damien, placing a hand on his shoulder in passing. Damien scowled, looking annoyed by the touch, but he also looked concerned as he stared after Alucard. The Alpha on the other side of the field also joined his people, his head hung low and he remained glaring even as he approached one wolf in particular. Noah was pretty sure it was Lucas from the stormy color of the wolf's fur and by how large it was compared to the other wolves. He approached the Alpha with a low rumbling sound, not a growl or anything aggressive, more questioning and concerned. The Alpha made no sound in response, walking past him blending into the shadows followed by the other wolves. Before long, the only one's left on the field were the Bridgeton's including Fred who had finally arrived with the truck asking, "What'd I miss?"
"You missed a whole bunch, dude! That thing was eating the monsters," Liam said, wigging out a little, and started telling Fred in detail what happened in a rushed hyper explanation that the calm, sloth like Fred couldn't understand a word of. He just stood there staring back at Liam, blinking a lot whenever Liam got particularly loud or used random hand gestures he couldn't interpret.
"What was that thing?" William asked, looking between Issac and Jonathan who were both staring at the creature's remains and the remains of the fallen monsters behind it.
"I've never seen anything like it," Issac told him with a shrug, just as confused as they were, when they all looked up at Jonathan almost at the same time. "Have you ever seen anything like this, dad?" Issac asked.
Jonathan didn't say anything for a long time, glancing left and right as if not trusting the vampires or the werewolves to go back to their homes without incident, before he finally let out a sigh and turned away from the field. "That's a first for me too. I don't think I've ever seen monsters eat one another," Jonathan said with a sigh, sheathing his weapons before looking at each of his sons. "Is anyone hurt? Any injuries? Anyone bit?" Jonathan asked, glaring down at each of his sons daring any of them to lie to him.
"I'm good!" Liam said, dancing around as if to prove that he was in tip-top shape making Jonathan roll his eyes.
"I had a close class but I'm good," Fred said with a shrug and a long yawn, mumbling to himself as he considered examining the creature's body to figure out what made it tick.
"I'm alright but I did get a small jab to the ribs. Might leave a bruise," Issac said, rubbing his side gaining Fred's rapt attention who came over to examine him in case he had any broken ribs.
"I'm fine. A vampire tried to use hypnosis on me so I'm a little groggy but that's about it," William said shyly, cringing as Liam started making fun of him. They had been specifically trained to avoid things like that so it was kind of expected for you to be made fun of if you did fall for it.
All of them suddenly turned to look down at Noah, the blonde jumping a little in surprise as Jonathan reached down to grab Noah by the shoulders again leaning down so they were at eye level. "Noah," Jonathan said, a warning note to his voice, causing Noah to squirm a little even though he had nothing to hide.
"I'm okay," Noah said seriously, smiling a little hoping that'd ease Jonathan's anxiety but Jonathan and all his brothers stared at Noah suspiciously. "I'm fine! Other than becoming that Dracula wannabe's hostage, I was the one hurting other people. Okay! Do you believe me?" Noah said in a rush, looking freaked. He knew what they were capable of when they were worried about his safety. They might just strip Noah and do a full body examine to make sure he wasn't hiding anything from them that could cause him further harm if left unchecked. "Seriously, I'm okay!" Noah cried out, flapping his arms in the air as if to shoo them all away even though they weren't closing in on him... yet.
"Alright," Jonathan said finally, letting out a small sigh of relief, when Issac set a hand on Jonathan's shoulder with a meaningful look on his face. Jonathan arched a questioning brow at him but he smiled after a while with a small chuckle. "I'm okay too. Maybe some bumps and bruises but nothing an icepack can't fix," Jonathan said before taking the keys from Fred. "Shall we go home?"
"Yes please! I've got a hot date tomorrow and I want to get my beauty sleep," Liam said before dramatically telling them all about the beautiful girl he met and how he had romanced her into getting her number.
"I'm gonna puke if I hear anymore," Fred said, gagging rather dramatically with William who pretended to double over as he wretched.
"I'd like to get home and try calling some of our hunter friends. Maybe someone has heard of a creature like this who might know how to defeat it if we run into another," Issac said with a yawn, ignoring his brothers antics as he started thinking about all the monsters he'd read about in hunter journals but he couldn't remember reading anything like this.
"Couldn't hurt to try," Jonathan said and they started bouncing ideas off of one another. Noah looked from one brother to the other, gazing up at his father with the same evil eye in case Jonathan was hiding any serious injuries, when Noah noticed something that caused him to gasp. "What is it?" Jonathan asked, all of them on high alert as they looked around thinking the werewolves and the vampires had doubled back to get them but Noah wasn't looking into the forest but out at the field where the dead bodies were.
"Where's the monster?" Noah asked, looking around the field but the body parts from the creature were missing.
"Quiet!" Jonathan hissed, grabbing Noah's wrist suddenly pulling the blonde behind his back. Without saying a word, Noah's other brothers gathered around him forming a human wall around Noah.
"This again?" Noah thought but he was more accepting of the human wall as he used this time to check his shotgun when he heard something that caused his head to whip up. His blonde hair went flying up and for a moment, all he could see was the strands of his own hair, but then they fell away and he found himself staring up into a tree where there was a crouching figure standing on the branches like a spider staring down at the circle of hunters with emotionless eyes that didn't even look like it was really looking at them. It cocked it's head to the side, as if it was a curious puppy, before dropping down right on top of the hunters. "Look out!" Noah screamed but it was much, much too late for that.