A Housing Development in Northern Italy

The housing development stood alone, a half completed skeleton of timber and steel bracing in the rural countryside. Poor weather and budget mismanagement had stalled the project for some time now, leaving the various construction vehicles and supplies untouched in various piles around the partially completed buildings. Within the basement of the most completed structure, a pair of voices shouted back and forth at one another. More specifically, a single voice shouted over and over again much to the chagrin of the second voice's owner. Despite the pitch blackness of the basement, the two individuals were able to have their conversation without the slightest difficulty.

The first, far more vocal of the twosome, was a gruff individual standing at nearly seven feet tall. Though a bit on the lanky side, his long frame was packed with dense muscle barely hidden by his leather biker jacket and chaps covered jeans. His full beard shook with each new exclamation, spittle flying from his gaping mouth. "The fuck are you talking about, man!? Why the hell should I keep sitting around on my hands when I can do shit like this!?" the biker shouted, spinning in place to swipe his bare hand across the concrete wall of the basement. Each bare finger left deep gouge marks in the solid stone. Still heaving with rage, the biker stuffed his hands into his pockets and glared daggers at his companion.

Across the room, the other man gradually lifted himself up from his sitting position on a tall pile of lumber and rose to his full height. Though not as tall as the biker, nor as muscular, the second individual displayed no sign of intimidation towards the angry man. Hands in his own pockets, the blond man crossed the room, his black overcoat blending in perfectly with the low light environment. He closed his crimson eyes and let out a sigh of frustration at these continued antics before finally speaking. "I'm not going to say it again, Charles. Lower your voice. I don't want anyone getting too curious about this place just because you decided to throw a temper tantrum. We're in Catholic territory after all."

"Fuck that! You seen what I can do and you're a fuckin monster, son! Why aren't we out there eating people and shit! Just fuck all ya know?" Charles said, lowering the volume of his voice several notches. The blond haired vampire removed his right hand from his pockets and ran it through his hair, leaving only a single lock falling across his forehead before gesturing in the vague direction of his bald accomplice.

"Speak again and I'll pull out your tongue with my teeth. Now please, do try and summon what little brain power you have and just listen. I have important business in Italy, business that will go far more smoothly without a great deal of attention. You feel free to let loose as much as you like, big guy. But you wait until I tell you," Almos replied matter-of-factly, crossing the room with inhuman speed until his lips were centimeters from Charles' throat. "Understand?" he asked, his cold breath sweeping over the larger man's bare skin.

It was enough to create goosebumps on even the giant biker who opened his mouth to speak only to quickly stop himself, remembering Lorand's earlier threat. Smiling warmly, Lorand patted the young vampire on the chest and headed for the door, flashing out of sight mid stride and disappearing to parts unknown. The giant fool was quickly becoming more trouble than he was worth. Ideally, the plan had been to part ways when Almos was able to find a more exact lead on a relic. Let the idiot run off in the opposite direction and draw a bit of the Church's attention. The only problem was that Charles lacked even the barest level of patience and Almos had yet to find a definitive location for his prize. If things continued as they had, he might as well just gut the biker and be done with it. Then again, if he were to lose control, old Charles might do well as bait. It had been a while since Almos had the opportunity to take down a priest, let alone with such a perfect scapegoat to blame the murder on.

Enter from Underground Training Facility
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Seated in the back of the car that acted as their transport with one leg crossed over the other, Veronica was ensconced in a comfortable position with one of her many bibles displayed openly in her lap. The trip had seemed an eternity, especially for her, since this would be her daughters very first assignment and the possibility of it being fatal was extremely high, just as all missions were, even with Corvis herself attending as an overseer, so she had decided to lighten the atmosphere and ease the tension that was likely to be present with a bit of verbal reading from her holy book; both for herself and for Ada.

The pest that had attracted the attention of the Catholic Church had taken refuge in a nearby Housing Development, after terrorizing the surrounding populace of a near-by town and leaving mounds of unanswered questions. True Cross had been send to exterminate it, but seeing as how the reports were typical of the cookie-cutter variety vampire, who attacked churches and other individuals indiscriminately, she had thought a low class vermin of the average variety would be a good final test for Ada.

The car had finally arrived near their destination, to which Veronica had closed her bible and signaled for the driver to stop at the entrance of the development, causing the vehicle to slow to a halt. She gave a glance at Ada who was seated beside her. "Ada, this is a standard target that we typically deal with, so there shouldn't be anything special about it. Remember your training and everything you've been taught, remember that they are not human and deserve no mercy or sympathy; do not hesitate as they deserve only death. If you do that, Ada, then everything should go smoothly."

She opened her door and stepped out into the night air, expecting Ada to do the same as she placed her bible into the satchel on the back of her waist. Her amber eyes briefly surveyed the construction equipment and surrounding area before her eyes locked on the tallest construct in sight, then briefly looked back over her shoulder to her daughter. "I'll be watching everything you do from an observation point I've already picked out. I'll be evaluating your performance and grading your use of tact from there. I'll also be acting as a safety net, so you don't have to worry if something goes terribly wrong. However, I will only involve myself should you be on the verge of death, and I will not help in your investigation to find the beast. It is up to you and you alone to locate and erase him; this is your prey, not mine. Take extreme caution, they are crafty creatures. May God go with you, and make me proud."

Veronica waved her hand in the direction of the vast housing development before them, indicating for Ada to begin her search. Once the child did and was out of sight, the bible pages from the holy books in her satchel would erupt from their carrier and enshroud the nun in a golden veil, carrying her toward the top of one of the large cranes which was the tallest perch in the area. There, her pages would retreat to their book spines within the confines of the satchel and Veronica would stand in the darkness, hidden from prying eyes and perfectly balanced, probing the area with her attuned senses, to observe her daughters first hunt.

Enter from Underground Training Facility
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Ada sat beside Veronica in the back of the car taking them to the location of her first mission, To say she was nervous was an understatement she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. However she hid it well beneath a facade of calmness as she checked the equipment she'd checked out for her first mission. In her possession were an assortment of throwing knives all blessed and laced with silver nitrate, Two karambit knives way different from the two she'd carried a month ago, A Glock 17L Handgun with two spare magazines and a bible. The knives were carried in a harness worn over the black outfit she was wearing while the pistol sat in a holster on her belt. Unlike more experienced True Cross agents Ada wasn't accustomed to fighting in full Clerical garb and was permitted to wear something that would improve her chances of survival. Mainly a pair of black military style BDU pants, and a black T-shirt with black combat boots and fingerless gloves.

As she finished checking the chamber of her handgun for the 10th time since they'd left she finally sat still listening to her mother drone on reading more from the bible. Normally she would be annoyed but at the moment she was just hoping that maybe god really was watching out for her tonight. When she'd asked the mission coordinator she'd met with before they left the training facility she'd been giving a very vague description of what she'd be up against. Few eye witness reports indicated that her target was large and likely male and should be approached with caution. She let out a sigh closing her eyes still slightly bitter at the extreme lack of information.

As the car stopped Ada's heart skipped a beat, Had they already arrived at their destination? Part of Ada wanted to tell the driver to take another circle around the area. At the moment this car felt like an impenetrable shield defending her from whatever could be lurking outside in the dark. Her eyes snapped to Veronica as she began speaking she wondered how her mother could be so calm in the face of so much danger. How many of these monsters had Veronica herself faced down. Part of her wished to know how Veronica could bear throwing her to the wolves like this.

Ada sat for a moment after Veronica had exited the car taking a moment for herself to mull over her thoughts. When her fellow recruits had heard of Ada's mission a few had been envious, others congratulated her, while a select few merely looked away with solemn expressions. At first Ada had wondered why these people did what they did but now that she was here standing at the mouth of the lion's den she could see why. They didn't expect her to survive the night. Taking a deep breath Ada closed her eyes and bent over taking a few more shallow breaths in attempt to rid herself of her frayed nerves. Sitting back up she slapped her palms against her cheeks before taking one more deep breath. "I'll survive...I have to." Ada said to herself before stepping out of the car.

She felt that sense of vulnerability wash over her once more as she felt the night air brush against her face and arms. She shivered a bit but pushed her fear aside taking a deep breath and looking toward Veronica as she began to talk about the mission stating that she was merely there as an observer and as a sort of contingency should something go astray. She wouldn't lie the knowledge of having Veronica watching over her prepared to step in was a comforting notion even if it would only be done if she were on the verge of death. To know she wasn't truly alone was a feeling that eased her troubled mind. As Veronica waved her off she walked through the gates of the housing development.

Once Veronica was out of her sight the sense of vulnerability only intensified but instead of fear, caution was the dominant thought within her mind. She pulled her handgun from it's holster and flipped off the safety just as her firearms instructor had taught her. Reaching for the sheath beneath her arm she pulled one of her karambits slipping her index into the hole beneath the blade. The entirety of the Karambit's blade was sharpened giving it a cutting edge with both the front and back edge and a stabbing point. Just as she was taught in training she shifted her hand knife arm over her gun arm in a cross shape with the point of her knife pointed in the same direction as the barrel of her pistol. "Target gets within 16 feet switch to CQC." Ada whispered to herself taking some comfort in the things taught to her.

As she moved through the housing development she listened intently trying to pick up any sudden changes in the environment. Her eyes scanned intently trying to pick out anything that didn't belong around her. Her body was tensed and ready to react all of her fear was taking a back seat now the only thing important was finding and killing her target hopefully quickly. But from what she'd learned from reading up on her enemy in the archives hopefulness wouldn't get the job done for her.

And just like that he was gone again. Snarling, Charles turned on his heel and slammed his meaty fist into the concrete wall once more, leaving a deep indentation of his fist in the stone before moving to the center of the room, still simmering and cursing under his breath. When he'd first gotten this power it had been a seemingly unending carnival of pleasure. He could kill whatever he wanted, fuck whatever he wanted, do anything he wanted without fear of reprisal. When the blond vampire had first appeared, Charles honestly believed he'd found a kindred spirit, somebody who was ready to drown themselves in carnal fun. Even now he could just barely see it inside the older vampire, that hunger for experience and pleasure but it was far different than his own. It had been fed for decades and now sat restrained by the blond man's will towards whatever goal he had. Honestly the scrawny bastard terrified Charles to no end and was the sole reason he hadn't cut loose entirely yet. Sure there were some bodies here and there but that wouldn't matter would it? Grinding his teeth, the young vampire continued his temper tantrum, crossing the room to the pile of lumber Lorand had used as a seat and began tossing it about the room. He didn't even know the blond guy's name and he'd been reduced to an obedient little puppet. Fear or not, it would take more than verbal warnings to curb Charles' wrath now.


Some ways off in the distance, Almos Lorand's form blurred back into existence, his high speed movement having taken him outside the main congestion of construction to the nearby woods. Hands in his pockets he casually leaned against the wide trunk of an old oak tree and peered up at the stars, or at least he tried. Thick clouds were rolling in, obscuring the vampire's view of the twinkling lights. Exhaling lightly, Lorand reached up to rub the back of his neck, enjoying the feeling of the night air on his skin after having been stuck in that basement with the giant idiot. Even now his enhanced hearing could detect the faint sounds of Charles' rampage in the basement.

Glancing about the construction site, Almos' eyes fell upon a wood chipper on the far end. Not a bad route to take as a means of punishing the younger vampire. Sliding him in feet first would do nicely alright. Loud and terribly messy but at lease it would take care of any traceable remains. Unfortunately his fantasies of violence were forced to take a back seat upon the arrival of a car at the gate to the development site. It was there only a moment before taking off, having dropped off only two individuals from what Almos could detect at this distance. The issue was what came after their arrival as a golden swarm of what appeared to be paper flickered through the sky towards the highest building in the construction site. Ducking low and out of sight, Lorand's brow furrowed as he took in these latest developments. They were clergy alright, but not just any clergyman could pull off a trick like that. Charles' idiocy had drawn the attention of at least one high level exorcist and a second unknown operative. After a moment the Hungarian's frown twisted upward into a satisfied smirk. Evidently the plan to use Charles as a distraction for his final push towards the relic was a lost cause but he still had a few uses left in him. Determining just how useful though would take some time. No reason to rush in blindly against a potentially formidable enemy. No, for now he'd sit back and enjoy the show. Charles was about to get the excitement he'd longed for and then some.

Standing atop her vantage point and hidden by the black shroud that the night had cast over her, Veronica's cross-armed outline observed the environment as best as her keen eyes would allow; attentive to both her daughter's location and application of tact, as well as being vigilant of the surrounding area and inspecting the property for any signs of movement or unholy taint, the latter of which was carried out through her attuned senses.

The report had made mention of only a single individual as their target and he had displayed the typical signs of a newborn, but most vampires had a habit of amassing revenants at such a young stage, or even forming groups with others akin to themselves, which meant that the possibility of more than one target being here was likely. Despite the fact that Crovis was curious to see how her daughter would react to and handle such a situation, she had decided to not think too deeply about such a dangerous scenario. Not yet, at least.

There was definitely something, though, that made her feel odd. She had hunted these creatures and others like them long enough to realize something had their eyes on her. It wasn't related to her ability to sense them, as whatever it was had positioned itself outside of her effective range, but it was an innate feeling that came with experience. Whether or not it was the eyes of the same target that they had been tasked of eliminating, she couldn't say, but there was definitely something there.

A tingle crawled up her spine for only a brief moment, and her amber eyes shifted away from Ada location for only a instant; casting a sidelong glance toward the treeline and the surrounding woods, before they refocused on her daughter below. The wooded area was swallowed by darkness, which was made no better as the clouds had began to roll in, but it was definitely where she had felt the prying eyes of someone or something fixate on her. She spoke to herself in a low whisper, absentmindedly and unintentionally. "Depending on the variables, Ada's first mission might get a little... complicated."

Each step Ada took seemed to bring her farther and farther away from her comfort zone. Every step only thickened the sense of dread that had overtaken her entire being. She struggled to stop her hands from shaking as her head turned left and right as steadily as she could manage trying to stay alert and focused on the task at hand. The ever present fear hanging over her head however made this task difficult. Part of her wanted to whip about wildly waving her pistol about but her mind disallowed this part of her mind from taking over. Her mind held true to her training as it attempted to keep some semblance of calm as it held true to her training.

However she couldn't rid herself of this ever present of feeling watched. It wasn't the same feeling she felt from being watched by Veronica, That sensation made her feel safe and secure, This new sensation was like being a deer being stalked by a pack of wolves. The feeling was unnerving, her grip on her pistol tightened as she continued scanning her surroundings looking for anything out of place. She stopped as she heard the sound of things being moved about quite loudly in fact. The sounds seemed to be coming from one of the nearby houses.

She held her position raising her pistol, She knew better than to enter to investigate into a location where she didn't hold an advantage. She slowly mad her way to a pallet stacked high with bags of unused concrete and kept her pistol trained on the building she could hear the sounds coming from. Taking her knife she traced it's edge lightly across her palm causing a thin line of blood to appear. If there was a vampire nearby it would know she was present now she wouldn't follow her target into it's lair instead she would bring it to her.

Watching the younger woman with ever-increasing interest, Almos was slowly beginning to put two and two together. The small number of operatives, the obvious gap in experience between the older exorcist and this girl with the gun, not to mention the girl's age; it was likely a training mission of some sort. Oh this was just going to be far too much fun. In fact, it had quickly developed into a situation too enticing to simply leave in Charles' less than capable hands. Licking his lips, Lorand readjusted his posture on the dry grass. The distance to the buildings was relatively short, short enough that he could get out of that little sentry's line of sight with a proper distraction. Knowing Charles, it wouldn't be too long. The faint smell of blood lightly wafted into the Hungarian's direction without warning, causing his red eyes to almost glow with excitement. Right about now...

Positioned much closed to the now bleeding girl than Almos was, the scent of fresh blood hit Charles much sooner and much harder than it did his senior vampire. With threats still bouncing around in the back of his skull, the biker attempted to hold himself in check for all of a minute before giving into his insatiable appetite for violence. Picking up and armful for 2x4s, the vampire threw them like makeshift spears through the basement window in the direction of that wonderful scent. Hot on the trail of his deadly projectiles, Charles exploded out of the window, mangling the frame completely with his bulk as he raced full tilt at his prey. Brandishing a larger piece of wood overhead as a makeshift club, the biker was intent on crushing the teen into the ground in one fell swoop.

Taking his que with expert timing, Almos made his move back toward the buildings as Charles burst onto the scene. With the giant idiot drawing any lingering eyes even for a moment, Lorand had the opening he needed to come sliding in against the wall of the nearest building, hidden from the older Catholic's line of sight. Straightening up, he dusted off his jacket and focused his senses to get a glimpse of the scene on the other side of the building.

The unmistakeable sound of glass shattering broke the silence, and Veronica's attuned senses caught it immediately. Even though she couldn't tell who was responsible for the sound, her otherwise still form gave only a small twitch in response to the effort that it took to restrain herself from leaping from her perch and rushing in, her fingers digging into her own crossed arms as a result. Hopefully she wouldn't have to.

She steadied herself a moment later and relaxed her grip, keeping her expressions monotone and vacant. However, that fact that things were kicking off confirmed her suspicions of there being two individuals here. The owner of the eyes she felt on her couldn't have belonged to the person who shattered the glass, and Ada knew better, or so she had hoped, to cause such a ruckus. The Nun's eyes widened for a brief moment, then gave another sidelong glance toward the area she had felt she was being watched from.

Earlier, it was just an innate feeling, something she couldn't verify. But now, whoever or whatever it was had entered the outer proximity of her maximum range, and they registered to her like a faint blip on a radar. The sheer fact she could sense it confirmed it's origin as unholy, and it was moving closer. Veronica made no movements, however, and she wouldn't. Not unless it made a move toward Ada or one that brought it closer to herself.

She was fairly certain the vermin still had an eye on her, and she didn't want to give away that she knew it was there. Instead, she instinctively readied herself to react in case either of those situations were brought into reality.

As the glass of the basement window shattered Ada quickly ducked behind her makeshift cover as the crude throwing spears flew at her. She could feel the cement bags move a bit as the boards hit them but her cover held firm against the thrown pieces of wood. Quickly popping up from behind cover. Halfway between the building and herself was a large bearded man wielding a large piece of wood like a club. Raising her pistol she lined up the sights on the man's chest and squeezed the trigger letting loose 3 shots in quick succession. She quickly began to back pedal squeezing off 4 more rounds at the man feeling her pistol kick against her wrists at each pull of the trigger.

She'd made contact with her enemy now all that was left was to kill him. "Finish it quickly." Ada thought inwardly as she kept her weapon trained on the man. She rushed to the left toward the framing of unfinished house glancing back to keep a visual on her opponent. As she ran the words of her instructors echoed in her mind. "Control the flow of battle, control the location, control the pace." Ada thought she fired 2 shots at her opponent before vaulting over an opening in the boards of the framing. She quickly took note of a few exits before refocusing on her opponent. She'd use her size to her advantage her enemy was much larger than she was so movement in between the boards would be easy for someone like her. Her enemy not so much.

At least for a human enemy it wouldn't. She'd seen this man throw 2x4s like balls of paper for all she knew he could burst through the wood of the framing like the damn Hulk. She took a short moment to take note of her surroundings. There was no walls in the framing of the house which meant she could slip inbetween the boards if she needed to maneuver. She also took note of a few tools and a few jerry can's of gasoline.

To his credit, Charles was able to evade the first salvo of holy ammunition from the young girl, ducking into a diagonal roll to his right before rising up smoothly through the overwhelming power of his muscles to continue closing the ever decreasing distance between himself and his prey.  The second barrage however, was far more effective.  Though he attempted to twist his body to the right and evade them, two of the bullets still punched through his left bicep and thigh respectively.  With a howl of pain, Charles dropped to the dirt still clutching his makeshift weapon and hurling curses at his opponent.  

Just a short distance away, the vampire Almos Lorand gave an annoyed sigh at the latest development.  He'd hoped that Charles would at least survive the first magazine of the small girl's weapon before dying.  Running his fingers through his hair as Charles began to fall, Lorand flew into motion rounding the corner of the house to arrive by Charles' side just in time to pull him out of the way of the two final bullets which would have assuredly ended the biker's unlife.  Charles nodded his appreciation for Lorand's help before moving to use his club as a walking stick and continue on his own power until his regenerative abilities caught up with the damage to his arm and leg.  Unfortunately for the agitated biker, the former monk wasted no time in kicking the 2x4 out from under him, holding Charles aloft by the back of his neck.  

Caught completely off guard, Charles had no time to question the sudden betrayal as Almos forcefully squeezed down on Charles' spinal column, rendering the biker effectively helpless as he squirmed in Lorand's iron grip.  "That's enough of that, big man," he said casually dragging the giant towards the house Ada had recently fled into.  Muffled groans of choking pain were the only response from the younger vampire but Almos had long since lost interest in the man currently being dragged through the dirt.  This little nun though, she had the potential to provide all sorts of entertainment. "Come on out of there, runt.  You can't hide from me in a place like that and you know it so let's put a hold on the holy feud for five minutes and have a chat." Lorand exclaimed in a surprisingly smooth and controlled tone for a man currently strangling a giant into submission.  The Hungarian flicked his gaze upwards to where the other nun stood surveying the scene and sent the grey haired woman a playful wink.  "Or does mother superior not like you talking to attractive strangers?"

Veronica had been multitasking her focus on both the scene below and on the unholy presence that had remained hidden, but now there was no need to. The second vampire she had sensed had finally revealed himself, and for a moment Corvis had entertained the thought of them being comrades, but that was quickly dismissed upon witnessing how the blond treated the burly biker a few moments later.

It only took a moment of analyzing the situation for Corvis to place the pieces together, as well as to decipher more detailed information on the rodents before her. The blond was obviously far more dangerous an individual, betraying him as a much higher category than the simpleton he was currently restraining with little effort. She had the experience to tell her that he was, at the very least, an evolution higher, perhaps two, than Ada's original target.

Veronica immediately came to the decision that this new target was way too far out of her daughters league. It was older, more experienced, and, due to vampiric evolution, possessed far more lethal attributes. She had to get involved, she wanted to get involved, but she was curious to see how her daughter would react to this development, how she would deal with unexpected change during a field operation. Don't do anything stupid, Ada...

The nun's arms were now calmly at rest by her sides, her deft fingers slightly curved inward toward her palm, though not enough to form a proper fist and showing no signs of tension. Upon meeting the vampires crimson gaze with her own golden glare, her arms suddenly blurred in a sudden burst of speed before falling back to her sides, the action allowing her to fill the gaps between the fingers of each hand with four crucifixion stakes that were hidden on her body.

A golden illumination radiated from behind her at the same time, signalling the coming gospel pages that would, a moment later, erupt from one of the satchels on her lower back and begin to encircle her. It was a single bibles worth of pages, the lot of which swirled and fluttered around her form at a controlled pace akin to typical paper at the mercy of the wind. Despite their leisurely pace, a mere second is all it would take for them to envelop and transport her across the compound and to the vampires location.  

The display wasn't a warning nor a threat; it was a promise of what would happen should the vampire bring any harm upon her daughter.  Honestly, she had no intention of letting either the blond or biker escape to begin with; at least one of them was going to return to dust tonight, she would make sure of that. However, this was a problem for Ada to deal with and react to, at least for now...

Ada's body was tensed to react waiting for her pursuer to follow her into the house framing, However instead she was met with the sound of her foe howling in pain. She took a moment to look through the framing toward where the sound had come from and sure enough her enemy was laid out on the ground gripping his crude club and throwing curses at her from his prone position. Ada raised her pistol she wouldn't take any chances now she'd finish the job and the night would be over she would be able to go home with the knowledge that she'd been able to complete her first assignment without incident.

However before she could pull the trigger on the creature she saw a man with blonde hair appear to help the large vampire up. Ada's body tensed and her heart dropped her grip on her pistol tightened. The way the blonde man had appeared gave her some indication of his origin he was a vampire just like the large man she'd just taken down. Part of her told her to fire now to end them both while she still had some semblance of an advantage. But another part of her told her to bide her time that acting too hastily would only provoke action from the mysterious newcomer.

The latter one out in her mind as she lowered her handgun a bit low enough that it was not aimed directly at the two infront of her but high enough that she could easily line up her shot once more. She nearly raised her pistol once more as the large man moved to come after her again her pistol was half raised as she prepared to fire again to end the man's undead life but she stopped in the middle of her action as the large man's companion kicked the crude club the large man was using away before gripping him tightly by the neck. "Aren't they allies?" Ada thought to herself as she once again lowered her pistol into a neutral stance.

She watched the blonde man drag the large vampire through the dirt as if he was nothing more than a bag of trash. The blonde man called to her urging her to come out from hiding to speak with him. "It's a trick he just wants you out in the open." Ada thought quickly as she turned the idea of actually coming out of hiding over and over in her mind. Finally she stood slowly keeping her pistol at the ready she hadn't exited the shelter of the house but she was now visible to the man restraining the vampire. "Most attractive strangers can't restrain a vampire that easily unless their something more..." Ada called out she wouldn't give up her defensive position that easily but she couldn't see anything wrong with talking as long as the blonde man gave no indication of hostility for now.

"I'd be more comfortable if you'd have let me put down the dog you have on the leash right there!" Ada called out nodding her head to the captive vampire in the blonde's grip.

Slowly but surely the little brat came out of hiding enough for Almos to get a proper look at her. She was evidently smart enough to not completely abandon her secured position. That was a good sign. Beyond that, she was open-minded enough to accept his offer for conversation. That was an even better. But perhaps best of all was the simple fact that the sight of her didn't instantaneously put Lorand in a foul mood. Throughout his unlife, the former monk had always struggled with the fairer sex. Whether too young or too old, they always seemed to strike a cord and bring up bad memories. This little nun in training would probably never even realize the benefit her age had provided her with. Oh well, not like it truly mattered at the moment.

Pale lips peeled back a bit to form an amused smirk at the girl's response. Such a good little Church pet. Whoever the older woman up above was, she seemed to have taught the kid well. "Not many of them can match my smile either, kiddo," he replied with a wink.

A sudden bout of renewed thrashing from the larger vampire in his grasp briefly drew Almos' attention back to poor old Charles. Exhaling audibly, Almos begrudgingly forced Charles' arms behind his back and pinned the biker to the ground face first, quite literally sitting on the giant's back. With his former accomplice subdued once more, Lorand sent a condescending smirk Ada's way. "After this one's head eh? And after all the times I told him not to go running off. I am curious though, just how many of these hunts have you been on, runt?" he asked despite having a relatively good guess at the answer. If anything this was a test to see just how forthcoming the little huntress was.

(Veronica said that her characters will likely continue spectating for now and to just continue.)

Ada held her position she took in the blonde man's appearance clearly now. She was still cautious keeping her eyes sharp for any sudden or subtle movements that might betray any hostile intentions. But for the most part the man seemed to be truly interested in just talking while he held down the large mass of muscle beneath him. She watched his lips curve up into a smirk at her subtle accusation towards his status as a vampire. Her eyes studied him heavily trying to find something that would give him away, Something that would show that this vampire was hostile.

Back in the Vatican all she'd heard from her instructors had been that Vampires and other supernatural creatures were the scum of the earth and the spawn of evil. Being the person of questionable faith she was she hadn't really bought in fully to all of that. As far as she was concerned a vampire could think and talk and that meant they could be reasoned with or manipulated two things that had helped keep her alive during her younger years. Considering that she was standing her right now having a conversation with this man already had her asking alot of questions regarding some of the things she'd been told. She'd remembered asking a good number of these questions when she'd first begun her training. The only answers she'd gotten were vague and cryptic bible passages that were supposed to have some sort of meaning. In all honesty it had only served to frustrate her and leave her with more questions to be asked.

As the large man beneath the blonde thrashed violently trying to escape the grip that kept him captive Ada visibly jumped and nearly brought her handgun to bear on the man finger tensed to pull the trigger. But the bout of defiance was quickly put down as the blonde man pinned his former comrade to the ground. She scowled at the condescending smirk the blonde had given her she certainly wasn't happy about showing her fear in front of the man. Soon the man spoke again asking her how many hunts she'd been on before this one. She sighed there wasn't any point in lying if this man was going to attack her it wouldn't matter if this was her first hunt or her hundredth.

"This is my first hunt..." Ada muttered keeping her eyes locked on the blonde man still maintaining her vigilant observation. "You asked a question...Now it's my turn why'd you stop the incredible hulk there from attacking me? I mean don't get me wrong I'm thankful but I thought you two were friends for a second there." Ada said.

So he was dealing with an honest little brat then. This was getting more and more promising by the second. Hell, at this rate he might even let the little girl live. He lowered his gaze down towards Charles as Ada asked her question. It wasn't an unreasonable question considering the situation. Knowing the good old boys in Rome, this little girl had been taught early that the only good vampire was a dead vampire, that his kind was nothing more than mindless beasts ravenously hungering for her very soul. Lorand couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. Though a generalization, they weren't exactly wrong.

"Friends? Let's not get carried away, kiddo. The big guy had his uses but I'm not about to cut him any slack just because he's got a pair of fangs," he replied, adding a bit of pressure to Charles' neck to illicit a small groan from the giant. "People should be judged for what they do, not what they are," Almos added, flicking his gaze upwards to the older member of the clergy still surveying the situation with a venom-filled sneer in place. "Then again, I don't suppose you heard much of that in Sunday school now did you?" Now that he was starting to get a grasp of the girl's nature, it was time to start pushing some buttons. The contradictions and shortcomings in the Vatican's attack dog philosophy were easy enough to shine a light on if handled correctly. The difficult part was finding a member that didn't just block out any and all rationale.

As the man declared that his connection to the large biker vampire was merely that of business and convenience Ada for some reason felt a bit more at ease. It wasn't some amazing sense of relief but to know that perhaps she wasn't completely at a disadvantage made her feel a bit better. She listened as the vampire opposite her continued to speak what he said next made her think a bit more she didn't know why but his statement just seemed to catch within her mind.

"People should be judged for what they do, not who they are,"

She kept her eyes on the blonde vampire as he continued making a comment about her probably not learning things like that in Sunday school. She felt a smirk tug at the corner of her lips if only this guy knew how much she often skipped Sunday school before she'd begun her training. Sure she'd sat through a good few classes just to keep Sister Agatha from contacting Veronica about her chronic absence. But those few classes were often spent day dreaming or just flat out sleeping in class. She could see the vampire gazing off in another direction but she wasn't going to break visual contact with a potential threat. She wasn't a religious prodigy but she'd taken to her training well and she knew that breaking visual contact with an enemy even for a second could spell out death for her.

"Not gonna lie I don't really hear much in Sunday school, I'm not really the most religiously inclined person if I'm being honest." Ada said.

A blond eyebrow quirked up at her response just a moment before Lorand let out a loud scoff, unable to contain his amusement. Covering his mouth and quickly regaining his composure, the vampire leaned forward from his sitting position just a bit. "Well that's just a fantastic attitude for an up and coming exorcist," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Shaking his head dismissively, the vampire looked down at the still squirming Charles as if reminiscing on their short but eventful partnership. However, it lasted only a moment before the former monk promptly plunged his free hand through the biker's back, impaling the heart from behind. A great shudder ran through the giant's body before finally beginning to decay at an accelerated rate. Rising from his seated position, Lorand flicked his hand free of excess blood and tucked his untarnished hand into is coat pocket.

"So what will you do now, kiddo? Act on the Church's desires and shoot me? Or listen to your own and let me walk away?" Almos asked, gestured with an open palm toward the girl. As if on cue, the vampire's crimson eyes began to glow just a bit brighter, serving as a reminder of exactly what she was dealing with.

Veronica's amber eyes, shining in contrast with the surrounding blackness with her bible pages, held their glare as she looked down upon the situation. The amount of time Ada was spending with the monstrosity in such a casual manner was unsettling, granted she had never let her guard down while doing so, she had yet to make a move toward taking the beings life. They were chatting, and knowing how vile the creatures of the night were, she was highly worried about what abysmal influence the beast might obtain over her daughters young mind.

Perhaps Veronica was wrong, perhaps her trust and expectations were misplaced, maybe Ada wasn't ready for a live field mission just yet, was it still too early, too soon after training? Ada had already broken one of the most vital rules when combating a vampire, so that was likely the case... These thoughts, among others that related to the immediate situation, swirled in Veronica's mind until she finally came to a decision. What ever game this vampire was playing at, what ever plot he was scheming, she would not allow it!

The golden swarm of pages suddenly came to life, their once leisurely dance around their master quickly being overtaken by a sudden surge of motion, as if they had become consumed with and empowered by a new found purpose. The rapidly-spinning whirlpool of gospel pages enveloped the Nun in a mere moment, concealing her form as they darted across the sky in a large, golden arch towards the location of her daughter and the vile monster conversing with her. It only took a moment, an instant to cover the moderate distance, before the pages dispersed just enough to reveal the Nuns ready frame; stakes held firmly between her fingers, her arms crossing infront of her chest, and legs and knees bent as she fell toward her prey.

Gravity, however, was not the only thing propelling her downwards. Amidst the golden shroud, which now parted around her front to reveal her full frame, a transparent orb of energy, outlined and identified only by the dark blue surge of holy energy which constituted as it's physical makeup, formed, the words, "God Lives in Heaven" etched into the invisible surface in a neat italic lettering. It would reject the unholy presence of anything that touched it, and even inflict severe and lethal wounds on those of unholy origin, and she intended to ram it and all of it's holy glory down both the blond vampires throat and his biker friend all at once.

The feat would be possible, but only because of what accompanied the orb itself. The sudden speed, granted by the bible pages, turned her into nothing but a blur to both the human eye and the sight of lesser undead, giving her the speed and force needed to act as a literal missile of divine punishment on those below. "And God's wrath fell upon them like lighting, and crashed like thunder, and only desolation remained! AMEN!!!"

Ada's eyes widened as the vampire plunged a hand through it's former comrade's chest. On instinct she raised her handgun leveling it with the blonde vampire's head. If this vampire could kill an ally with so little thought what was stopping him from doing the same to her own still beating heart. The danger of the situation had pushed itself to the forefront of her mind. What really could she do against this vampire if he did decide to kill her, She'd seen his ally dodge bullets and throws 2x4 boards as if they were balls of paper. If this man could so easily subdue and kill her last opponent how much stronger was he. Would shooting at him even do anything or would her own blood stain his hands as well before she could even pull the trigger.

Part of her the part that wanted to make Veronica proud screamed at her to pull the trigger. That even if there was a possibility of failure she should try. But another part of her the streetwise pickpocket she used to be told her to just let this blonde stranger walk. He didn't seem like he was intent on killing her and giving him a reason to was stupid. And in the very back of her mind a part of her was questioning her purpose of being here. Did this man even deserve to die could she really judge him for what he was? By all means and purposes this blonde stranger might have saved her life by killing that giant walking pile of muscle he'd been partnered with.

"I'm going t-" She began to answer the blonde's question but was interrupted as a flash of light caused her to divert her sight cover her eyes. She squinted her eyes trying to see the source and as the light dimmed there stood Veronica. Ada's eyes widened at the sight of her mother with bible pages whipping around her like leaves trapped within a vortex of wind.

"M-Mom!?" Ada said the shock was obviously present in her voice. She'd never seen her mother hunt before she'd heard stories about Veronica's frightening skill and power but she'd never witnessed it first hand.

There was the doubt he'd been fishing for. Oh yes, this one definitely had potential to wise up if given a bit more education on the dark side of the supernatural. Unfortunately, it appeared as if that would have to wait until another day as the older nun had finally chosen to enter the fray. That golden swarm around the tallest structure flared to life and came barreling towards him only to soon reveal the woman enclosed within some sort of barrier. Oddly enough, it was in Charles' best interest that Lorand had killed him so painlessly. The giant idiot wouldn't even have been able to follow the nun let alone evade her. However, Almos was a far cry from the now deceased biker. Bending his knees, the vampire flung himself backwards at full speed to get clear of the crashing sphere of holy power summoned by the wrathful nun. His old studied in exorcism came flooding back at the sight of the woman's ability. She was definitely a top tier exorcist alright. Weaponizing gospel pages was already a very high level skill but to actually shape one's faith into a visual construct was nearly unheard of.

Visibly impressed, the former monk smiled warmly at the newly arrived nun. "No need to worry, mother dearest. I have no interest in harming your girl tonight. You might consider putting away the stakes though. What kind of mother goes around nailing random men in front of their child?" he said, hands sliding into his pockets before winking once at Ada.

OOC: 48 hours, skipping~
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A holy projectile from God, propelled toward the earth at a speed that could only be classified as inhuman, had descended upon her target with lethal intent. However, it seemed as though the blond haired abomination was a fair bit higher on the food chain than what she had expected and his speed, on par with her own, had allowed him to effortlessly move out of the path of her trajectory. If Veronica had been a tad bit slower in terms of her own reaction, she may have flattened herself against the pavement, but that wasn't the case here.

A fluctuation rippled through the sea of pages surrounding her form, shooting ahead of her like a cascading waterfall and crashing into her landing zone. The impact was enough to slow her fall as she disappeared within the jumbled mass, the resulting impact of her landing causing a small shockwave to shoot out and scatter the ash remains of the biker to the wind and kick up a fair amount of the surrounding dirt. Her obscured form landed in a crouch, but it was only in the position for a moment before she shot to her feet and spun on her heels, spinning around and whipping her arm out to send the three lethally blessed projectiles she held between her fingers flying forth from the golden veil directly toward the abomination and his unholy taint.

Taking the form a nothing more than silver streaks of blurred light, a spin was put on the holy projectiles just as they left her grasp to allow the already concrete-shattering spikes even more penetration against whatever surface that would be unlucky enough to suffer the impact. They would have no trouble punching three holes clean through the vampires fleshy vessel, let alone crucifying him toward the outer wall of the housing structure behind him.

"Hold your tongue, the Dead don't speak!"

The nun was definitely fast, clearly a top of the line product of whatever physical training the Church put its' agents through. Without the aid of this Third Eye, chances were that those blessed stakes thrown from behind her golden smoke screen would have punched straight through his chest. However, the former monk had learned long ago to try and overestimate the clergy as much as possible. Ready for a potential follow up attack, Almos made a lunging step to his right in order to evade the holy missiles. Two were cleanly dodged but unfortunately for the vampire, he had cut things a bit too close with the final stake which effortlessly took off a small piece of his left ear. Cringing in pain as the blessed metal made contact with his flesh, Almos focused on regaining his composure as quickly as possible while straightening his posture to leave a bit of bend in his knees in the event he needed to make another sudden evasion.

"You sure about that, nun? You might like my tongue if given the chance," he said, another predatory grin showing off his fangs. "But that will have to wait until another day. So much vice, so little time." Calling upon his vampiric strength, Lorand leaped backwards once more to put some additional space between himself and the agents of the Church before making a break for the tree line in a subtle serpentine pattern. The slight curves in his running path would serve to make him a slightly more difficult target and allow him a better chance to make use of the construction equipment as potential cover against the furious woman behind him. Granted, it would cost him a little bit of overall speed but considering his pursuers were flesh and blood humans, he was confident that his superhuman speed would be enough to overcome such a minor handicap and then some.

The action around her seemed to be moving too fast for her to keep track of. She spotted something glinting as it flew through the air and faster than her eye could see the vampire dodged two of them. The last one seemed to graze him but didn't seem to cause any significant damage that would impede him. Part of her implored her to stand by Veronica and do what she'd been instructed to do. But another part of her pulled at the edges of her mind asking her if the vampire really deserved to die the way the church seemed to believe.

Her grip on her pistol tightened in the end she merely stayed where she was. The internal debate inside of her kept her rooted to her position. She grit her teeth why couldn't the choice be easy. The choice should have been easy she her hands fall to her sides holding her gun tightly. Veronica was her mother, She had taken her in and raised her and had been the light at the end of the dark fucking tunnel her life had been before they'd met. She watched the blonde vampire dash out of sight and took a deep breath. She could think of the morality of the entire situation later. Right now her indecision had forced Veronica to take action and that meant that Veronica was putting herself in danger on her behalf.

Ada jogged forward staying in the open gripping her handgun gripped in both hands as she looked around keeping herself sharp to react.

OOC: Due to schedule's rapidly filling up for everyone involved, I'd like to go ahead and make my official exit from this topic. I figured that any more time we ate up slowly working through this escape could be better served developing the relationship between Veronica and Ada even more. Anyway, if there are any major objections to my departure I'm always willing to edit but until then consider me off to parts soon to be known.

====>EXIT TOPIC

OOC: I'm terribly sorry for the wait...
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The foul creature was definitely on par with the upper echelons of his accursed species' evolutionary chain, as not many creatures of the night had shown the physical capability and the mental preparation to expect, predict and evade a concealed salvo when launched from the def fingers of the True Cross Champion, but the fact that he didn't escape completely unharmed meant that he hadn't yet stretched his existence into the realms beyond moral comprehension. However, he definitely showed potential to evolve into that which rivaled the ancient vampires of myth, and that was something she could not allow.

Immediately upon the stakes leaving her fingers and her eyes tracing the vampires movement to the limited extent that they would allow with their mortal origin, the blurred motion of both arms allowed a new set of blessed projectiles to replace those lost and rest in their solid grip, stationed in a ready position in the event of a counter attack as the blessed pages of Gospel swirled angrily around her, contrasting against her otherwise monotone expression and dead eyes, the look which commonly formed on her features when facing the unholy abominations that she spent her life erasing. A precaution, a small swarm enveloped Ada to both protect her from any potential harm and to keep her out of the way by hindering her movements.

"Pride comes before the fall, and overconfidence leads to ruin, abomination. Countless numbers of your kin have learned that by my hand, as I will teach you tonight!" The arms of the nun blurred once again as the vampire went into motion, the six blessed stakes launching from her fingers in streaks of silver light, like miniature comets with their following tails. Chasing after the vampires pale form, the silver smears of metal would narrowly miss their targets mark as he disappeared into the treeline, impacting the surrounding trees where some embedded themselves to their flat tops, while others blew off chunks large enough to topple some of the smaller pines that were unlucky enough to impede their path.

The stoic features of her face were painted with a dark glare in the vampires direction as she contemplated following to beast. It was a fact that she was slower than he on a physical level, but she had the ability of flight through means of the Gospel. Surely she could keep up with the beast from the air, but the option was rendered impossible as the Nun turned slightly, her glare piercing over her shoulder to look upon her adopted daughters form with a true sense of scrutiny and disappointment. If Ada had preformed at an adequate level, she might have let the child return to Rome by herself, but she clearly wasn't able to follow instructions nor was she capable of defending herself, as tonight's little display had proven.

A sigh, both of irritation and disappointment, escaped her lips as she turned to face the treeline once more. She would have to locate the vampire again at a later date, and he would not escape her then. She'd make sure of it. Placing the vampire at the back of her mind for just a moment, she turned her attention towards her daughter as she spoke, but did not face her. The small swarm that had once surrounded the young girl had dispersed, melding back with the larger mass before all of them shot downward suddenly, compacting within the satchel on her back in the proper order within the spine of the bible they had originated from.

"You stupid, naive, ignorant little child! What the hell were you thinking?!" She suddenly shouted, the monotone features that were once gracing her visage now all but gone, swallowed by an angry scowl as she glared over her shoulder towards her daughter. The hands that had once been a domicile for the blessed projectiles had clenched into fists, and her jaw had locked to grit her teeth. "What did I tell you?! You could have been killed, or worse, had I not been overseeing this operation! Why did you ignore your training?! Answer me!"