Bitten (Book 1 - Book 4)

The message felt like a hard blow to Natalia. Gussy had moved since the recon team had seen him. She glanced over at Uri, but he was gone off the roof. The party below her no longer looked like people but a sea of movement. She looked around herself and was still alone on the rooftop. Come down.

It was a text from Uri

She went to the same side she climbed up and climbed down, not evening making any attempt to hide herself. No one seemed to notice anyway. Everyone seemed to have a drink. The smell of beer was everywhere. There also wasn't a single Viperian within the crowd that she could see.

She stood in the alley, not really sure what direction to take. The mass of people on the main street didn't look inviting, so she went the other way. This was the direction toward the park.

She headed that way, expecting Uri and the ladies to catch up because there were no more texts from Uri. She paused when she reached the edge of the park. There appeared to be fewer people since people were wanting to be on the party street. Even thought she knew that she and Uri couldn't have been gone more than twenty minutes or maybe a half-hour at most, the park beyond was empty. The Viperians that had been there, sitting silently in the dark, were gone.

She felt a shiver go up her spine and felt some desperation when she texted Uri.

Where are you?

Natalia felt tense and her chest was tight. She had counted twelve breaths before she got a response.

Come to party. Go south.

Uri wanted her to go back to the party street.

She took a couple of more breaths to ease her tension before heading back. On the way, she found a red and blue bandanna on the ground. She took it and wrapped it around her upper arm as if marking herself to be one of the party goers. However, once she reached the party street, it didn't seem to matter. It was still elbow to elbow people, and there seemed to be few wearing the gang colors. It bothered her that there still wasn't a Viperian in sight.

She edged her way through the crowd. At one point, she passed a man who was sitting on the sidewalk with a tapped keg. He was giving out free beers. There were going to be a lot of drunk people. She wondered if that was the plan. But whose plan?

The further she got from the bar, the fewer people there were, then, as if she crossed a line, there was no one.

At the end of the block she was on, she realized there were barricades. Uri and the ladies were there and they weren't alone. There were hundreds of Viperians and police just standing there. No lights. No sirens. Waiting.

“What's going on?’

“Now that you're clear, they're going to clear this area,’ Uri said.

He gently took her hand and led her between police cars.

“What about Gussy?’

“Everyone's on the look out for him,’ he said.

“Where are we going?’

“We're heading to Viperia."

“Shouldn't we be heading back toward the lake?’

“We're going to help with the siege of Viperia, but from the other side."

As if a whistle had blown, the police and Viperians surged toward the party street. However, it seemed like a large group of Viperians were following them.

Uri broke into a trot.

“We'll clear the vandals as we go,’ he said, heading into A'ppollo.

Natalia noted they weren't going direct to Viperia.

They passed along a block with shops. One store, Viperian marked, was being emptied out. A group of Viperians broke off and attacked the vandals. More Viperians surged ahead of them. A few blocks later, Natalia saw people that appeared to be tied to street sign posts or streetlights.

'Who are they?’ she said.

“People we need to deal with later,” he said.

A Viperian trotted up to them.

“We need you for a second, Uri.

“Lead on.’

They followed the man to a store farther down the street. Inside, there were two large men with knives. They were Undents, but they were holding the other Viperians at bay.

“Stay back, you filthy Hollows.”

That's when Natalia realized that none of the Viperians had their marks covered.

'Uri's here, the Viperian they followed announced.

All the Viperians stepped back.

“Yeah, you know who the boss is here,” the biggest Undent said, waving his knife.

“That would be me, actually” Uri said with a flick of his wrist.

Natalia only saw one flick, but two knives flew out.

Each Undent stood there, seeming unaware, until the blood started pouring out. They each now had a knife in their throat. Their expressions changed to disbelief then horror. The largest man dropped his knife and sank to his knees. He tried to remove the knife in his throat but seemed to miss, then he keeled over. His companion stood a few more seconds before dropping to his knees. He almost looked as if he was going to cry.

Uri grabbed her hand and they left the building. A few moments later, a man caught up to them and handed over his knives.

“Thanks.

“No, thank you, Uri."

The group of Viperians around them thinned as they spread out. The only ones that remain close to them were Bonnie and her sisters.

More and more people were seen tied to posts. All of them were Undents. When they passed the center of the city, they came across the first Viperian. While the Undents were tied with just their hands behind their backs, the Viperan man was on his knees with a pole against his back. His ankles were tied together with each hand tied to the opposite ankle. He looked very uncomfortable.

"You want to be bit or will you tell me where Gussy is?" Uri said, stopping and standing in front of the man.

“I don't know where that foul animal is, the man said. “He conned us all.’

“What did he promise?"

“Super tea. He said we would all be welcomed back to Viperia.’

“Unfortunately that super tea kills Viperians,” Uri said.

“She kills Viperians, he said, glancing up at Natalia.

Uri smiled.

“Of course, she does. She's my wife. She has knives.’

The man swallowed.

“I heard that, too."

“What do you think, Bonnie?” Uri said.

“He's telling the truth.’

Uri turned away from the man and broke into a trot.

“What's going to happen to him?’ Natalia said

Uri shrugged.

“We'll have some full prisons.”

There were the sounds of motorcycles.

“Ours,’ Bonnie said from behind.

Ten motorcycles passed them. The riders looked like gang members, except for the Viperian markings on both the motorcycles and the leather jackets. The markings looked as if they'd been hastily added.

“Let's follow.” Uri picked up the pace.

They came to another bar area. There was a brawl spilling out of the bar. All the motorcycle riders parked their bikes and joined the foray. Bonnie and her sisters rushed in as well. The added Viperian force quickly suppressed the skirmish.

“Look at what we found,’ John said, coming up to them, dragging a man.

John was a Viperian policeman, but he wasn't in uniform. He was sporting a black eye and some cuts on his face.

“Looks like we found a kingpin of the crime ring.’

“Look, gentlemen,” the man said. “I'm willing to share.”

He was well dressed in a tailored suit. His fingers held big rings, and he had gold chains around his neck. There was even a diamond pierced through his nose. Natalia was reminded of the Abbott and all his rich dressings.

“We don't share,’ Uri said with some anger.

“He had quite a posse of bad asses protecting him, John said. “I think we lost a few good men. What should we do with him?’

“There's only one option,” Uri said.

“I'm willing to bargain,” the man said. He had some confusion on his face.

Natalia realized he wasn't hearing the conversation between John and Uri because they were speaking Viperian. She wondered if Uri even realized he wasn't speaking the man’s language.

“I'll tell you what,” Uri said, changing languages and facing the man.

He smiled, placing his hands on the man’s shoulders.

“I think we can come to a good bargain,” the man said with a smile back.

Then, Uri's face turned ugly, and he bit the man on the neck. He stepped back. The whole movement was very fast.

“All yours, John.’

Uri took a few steps away before the man even reacted by dropped to the ground dead.

“Never thought Id do that,’ Uri said. “Never thought I'd be mad enough to bite a man dead.’

“I think he’s heading to the grubbie farm,’ John said.

“Don’t poison those poor grubbies,” Uri said.

John laughed.

“Thanks for the help, Uri. I'm all venomed out.’

“We're heading to Viperia.’

'So are we once we clear this area.’

Another hour passed before they reached one of the gates of Viperia. It was wide open and people were streaming in.

“We're breached?’ Uri said with a look of concern.

A young boy, who Natalia thought couldn't be more than twelve years old, stepped out of the shadows.

“No, sir. Apparently, they've discovered that super tea and Hollow riches are hidden at the grubbie farm.’

“Are you a relay, Arnie?’

"Yes, sir."

“What's a relay?’ she said.

“Children are spaced out, so messages can be passed on quickly," Uri said.

“We knew you were coming before you got here,’ Arnie said. “Most everyone surging in are Undents. The majority of the Viperian baddies are staying out. They seem to know better.’

'I take it everything is locked down?’

Yes, sir. Apparently, raids of this sort were common ages ago. Way before my time.’

“And mine,’ Uri said. “But we kept up the security all the same.’

“If you need to talk to someone, go over to that house,” Arnie said, gesturing toward a little green house across the street.

“Thanks. We'll do that to see where we should be.’

The surge of people waned and the gates closed.

Natalia felt a chill up her spine at what was going to happen to all those people. She followed Uri over to the green house. Kareen opened the door and ushered them in.

“Glad to see you two. I have a place to send you. You might call it a reverse rescue. We have some bad gang guys holed up. We want you to get rid of them,’ Kareen said.

“Where?’ Uri said.

Kareen gave him the address.

“We'll head on over.’

They left the house. Bonnie and her sisters still were with them.

I'm going to get back into shape doing this,” Natalia said when they took off at a jog.

"You already look great,” Uri said.

Natalia felt pretty good as they jogged. She knew it was well after midnight. The city already seemed to be calming down. The area they traveled was quiet and there weren't any vandalized stores. However, that changed quickly when they moved into a lower income neighborhood. The bodies started to appear. They were both Viperian and Undent. Natalia couldn't tell if they were bad Viperian or good. She hoped they weren't good.

Uri slowed to a walk. Another man joined them.

“Pier,’ Uri said in greeting.

'Uri. We have two gang leaders and five guys. They are armed to the hilt with guns.’

“Do we have any arms?’ Bonnie said.

Take your pick off the street,” he said, gesturing to a couple of dead bodies. “We only have a small band watching them. We've made them think there are more of us than there are. Unfortunately, that made them really dig in. We can't get to them.’

“Burn the building,’ Uri said.

“No resources,’ Pier said.

I'm on it, Bonnie said, pulling out a phone and stepping away.

“Show me what we have,’ Uri said. “Nattie, stay here.’

He and Pier left.

Natalia did a slow spin to take in the area.

There were no house lights on anywhere as if people were afraid to admit that the houses had occupants. The houses were small and crammed together. On one side of the street, there was a four-plex. The lawns were small and weedy. Cars lined both sides of the street since none of the houses had garages or laneways.

She caught a shadow that was a few houses down in the opposite direction that Uri and Pier left. Without looking like that was where she was going, she broke into a slow jog, pretending to focus on something else down the street.

The smell that reached her nose was similar to what she smelled earlier at the party in Viperia. It was fear and apprehension. When her peripheral vision caught three shadows, she stopped. She knew they were Viperian.

The shadows receded, but she knew they were still there. The smell of fear intensified.

Her ears twitched, catching the slightest of sounds.

“She's not Viperian. What are we afraid of?’

“She has knives.’

“She's not Uri.’

The voices were so low, she could barely catch what they were saying.

She took a few more steps down the street, but she placed each step with care, moving without a sound. The shadows were no longer visible. She figured if she couldn't see them, then they couldn't see her. In an instant, she dashed across the street to one side of a house. Her nose told her the three men were in the backyard.

“Knives must be earned,’ one man said.

Natalia could hear them clearly now.

“No way she coulda earned knives. She's Undent.’

Natalia couldn't contain herself.

“I am Viperian,’ she said in a low, whispery voice.

Natalia swore she could hear them hold their breaths. She waited patiently. There was a short stutter of breath when someone exhaled. One man stepped partly in view, but there wasn't enough of him exposed to be a target. She refrained from throwing a knife.

“Where is she?’

“Idiot. You weren't watching?’

“She's Undent.

“I am Viperian,’ she said, again, but in a softer voice as if she was farther away.

The man stepped farther into view. The moment he caught sight of her, she threw her knife.

The soft thud of the knife entering the man's chest seemed to echo.

“Shit. She can throw."

“Shit."

The two remaining men were on the move.

“I am Viperian,” Natalia said in a voice that was just loud enough.

She angled her head to make sure her voice echoed off the side of the house next door, making it difficult to figure out what direction it was coming from.

The men already seemed confused.

“I have knives. Do you want to know how many?’ she whispered.

That comment got them moving, but in the wrong direction for their sake. They were headed to where Uri and the other Viperians were.

Her ears tracked their movement. They weren't running, but trying to use stealth to get away from her. She felt as if she had Victoria with her. Her ears heard them perfectly. She waited until they were a yard away before she moved in to retrieve her knife.

“I'm just a Specter,” she said, hoping to hurry them on. “And you were afraid of the baby?’

She could smell their sweat and fear. Never before had she felt such fear in a Viperian. Viperians, that could walk through Hell as if it were a park in full daylight, were afraid of her. She was amazed at the power of a rumor.

The men must have realized there were other Viperians in their way. They headed out to the street in an attempt to go around them.

“Where are you going?’ Uri said.

He stepped around a car.

“They're afraid of me,’ Natalia said, coming up from behind them.

“They should be,’ he said.

“We're not looking for trouble,” one of the men said.

“Do you know where Gussy is?’ Uri said

Both shook their head.

Uri raised a finger and lowered it.

“Sit,’ he said

Both men dropped to the ground in the middle of the street.

Pier ran over.

“We'll take care of them. Little pests.’

“I'll watch them. You go do what you need to do,’ Natalia said.

Uri and Pier disappeared.

A car appeared at the end of the block, but it didn’t come any closer. She could see someone run up to the car and grab something. The car then backed up and was gone. A moment later, she could see that it was Bonnie.

“Mina to the rescue,’ Bonnie said, raising a paper bag. "You babysitting?"

"Yeah."

“Stay put.’

“Will do.’

Bonnie disappeared around a house.

The two Viperians sat, staring at each other. Natalia kept her focus on them, expecting that whatever Bonnie and Uri were doing, might become a distraction. And she was right.

There was a rush of what sounded like the wind. Men yelled. A half dozen men came in to view. The house they fled was now engulfed in flames. One raised a gun, but gunfire took him down. This caused more to raise guns, looking for targets.

Natalia noted the two men she was watching glanced at her. She shook her head, letting them know she was paying attention.

There was more gunfire, then there was nothing but the sound of the house burning. Firetrucks pulled up the street, but they weren't using sirens or flashing lights. Natalia had the feeling they had been alerted before hand.

Uri joined her. Then a handful of Viperians, including Pier, joined them. They all stood watch the firefighters set up hoses.

“We'll take over these guys,’ Pier said. “Get up you two."

The two men were led off.

“Any word on Gussy?’ Natalia said.

“Not a word,’ Uri said.

“Now what?"

“Back to Viperia. Let's check on our daughter.’