The Lion, the Wolf & the Oldsmobile (David/Evelyn)

[Michael 'Love' Lovett]

The bustling crowd that hovered around the sea lion display started to die down as the first faint sound of thunder shook the surroundings. It was then that Love turned to look beside him at his new compadre David, new to the ranks of the hunters.

Love wasn't much for talking, merely nodding when David spoke as he kept watch over the crowds from the large cavern which he was propped against. It was a small faux cave made for children to play in. Love made good use of it, staying out of sight yet being able to see everything that went on in front of him.

He donned his usual attire, a tattered trench coat with an olive drab t-shirt underneath, a pair of worn jeans and on his feet a pair of Nike Vandal sneakers, the black and white coloring faded from being many years old. Beneath his trench coat was his Ithaca 37 shotgun, the stock cut down with a makeshift harness attacked, made from a simple rope from a hardware store. Also on his person was a small satchel which he kept around 30 shotgun shells and six spare speed loaders for his Ruger Security Six .357 which was tucked in his rear waistband, the grip of the weapon digging into his lower back.

The humid air didn't agree with his attire today. Sweat beaded down his forehead, catching onto his eyelashes, causing them to sag down from the weight. The droplets acted as a refractor for the light, blurring his vision before being swept away by his hand.

Love's attention shifted about thirty feet from the sea lion exhibit, to a small hot dog stand. Currently at the stand were three men, the two at the rear flanked the man in the middle who was just paying the man for his food. At that moment he turned, followed by his two accomplices and started towards the sea lions, thunder clapping louder than before in the distance. Love squinted, bringing a hand up to shield the sun from his eyes and t0ok note of the trio. The man in the center was one of the men they were tracking, a werewolf.

"Okay, I count three of them just down by the sea lion exhibit. On the balcony just above the tank about thirty feet from the hot dog stand. You see them?" Love would say, turning his head slightly to the right to look over his partner and his choice of attire before shifting his optics back to the trio of targets. The man in the center was now hunched over the railing, looking down at the sea lion tank as the creatures glided around in the water, occasionally popping their heads up. The faint sound of thunder was growing louder and louder every minute. Love's eyes peered up beyond the zoo, to the sky a few miles away at the hovering black clouds looming towards them. Creeping death.

"Alright, there is still no sign of the girl or the fourth man. We can either wait it out and see if they re-group or take these three now. But whatever we do we need to do it discreetly. We don't want a panic on our hands. That would not only fuck this whole thing up, but mix us up in the police affairs, something our superiors wouldn't be to gracious of. Now I'm gonna scope them out. I'll take this path down and hook back around to the hot dog stand, thirty feet away from their position which is where you will meet me in exactly five minutes. Got that?" As Love spoke he gestured, extending his arm to the path before tapping his watch to the mention of his time limit. Once David had responded Love nodded to him and patted his back, slowly stepping out from the cavern as wind shot through his hair with a final glance toward David. "Stay frosty."

Love had faith in David, he certainly had potential. However he had the feeling today was not their day. And the impending storm didn't help them one bit. But no matter what happened they couldn't let these guys walk. "Semper Fidelis, Love. Semper Fi..."

[David Cortes]

David's first true mission. Well, not his first mission per se... But his first mission as a hunter. Of werewolves. He normally hunted specific people, and honestly had gotten very good at it, but this was a whole new ball game. New set of rules, new set of procedures, and this game was much deadlier.

"So let me get this straight..." He asked as they waited in the faux cave. "We have to take on monsters in places like this? In large public venues... Where the potential for collateral damage far exceeds the potential reward of taking down these monsters?" He sighed. "With all due respect, that seems kind of stupid. We should be taking them out in the forests and alleyways, not big open venues like this..."

Because of the locale, he could not dress in his combat gear the way he wanted to. Instead, he wore his jeans, boots, black USMC Force Recon t-shirt, and his baseball cap and leather jacket with the smiley faces. Honestly, it was a bit too damn hot to be wearing it all... But he needed some way to hide his colt .45, knife, and ammunition magazines. He also had a backpack with a partially disassembled m4 Carbine and several magazines of ammunition, because it's always best to be prepared.

Listening to what Love said, David took a quick look at his surroundings and realized there were other alternatives than staying on the ground. One thing he had learned well from his time in recon is if you can cover as many bases as you can, do so. The more fields of fire you laid down on an enemy, from more directions, the greater the confusion you could cause. Also, having an overwatch could prove invaluable.

"Hang on." David said, grabbing Love's arm before he left for the hotdog stand. "Look, over there, about 50 meters away."
David pointed to the small clock tower near the monkey exhibit. On one side, it was covered by trees, vines, and other foliage. On the other, it gave a clear line of sight to the three werewolves standing next to the sea lions, and a considerable vantage point over half the park.

"How about this. That tower's got a commanding view of our operation's area, and it'll be pretty easy to spot any incoming werewolves along with keep tabs on the current ones. You can scope them out from the ground here. I'll find a way to the top of that tower and re-assemble my carbine. It wouldn't be such a hard shot if we do decide to take them down, and should they spot you by the hot dog stand they'd have one nasty surprise coming at the from their flank. I'll call from my headset when I'm in position. In the mean time, do what you do best sir."

"Should shit hit the fan I'll have my radio headset on, but I plan on being in position much sooner than you'd need to call me. Let's get this done sir." He then gave a small grin. "Semper Fi."

He then started off towards the tower, weaving his way through people quickly, but not quickly enough to arouse suspicion. He whistled softly to himself the tune "do you hear the people sing" as he moved behind the monkey enclosure and ducked under the fencing to the base of the tower.

[Evelyn van Buren]

The zoo was a fun place most times she'd been there. The rest of her visits generally tended to end regretfully.

She was hoping this time would be different. The group she was meeting was different from the rogue Lycan s behind the "vampire attacks" on humans, but they seemed like they had just as much potential. Evelyn worried though, after the initial meet, that they were a little too hotheaded for their–and her–own good.

Still, that was generally the basis for being a lone wolf. A certain degree of impulsiveness and thrill for danger. If she could get them to help her reach her nefarious ends, she didn't mind.

This was progress for her. She hated most rogues. But this group, she believed, had been needlessly attacking humans lately, and so she had thought she could use the opportunity to point them to a more productive means. She couldn't stop them from killing entirely–not on her own–but she could use these unfortunate deaths as a reason for why vampires were so very dangerous.

She moved slowly through throngs of tourists and local New Yorkers moving in the opposite direction–toward the gates. The tide jostled her and she made a beeline for the reptile house, throwing out an occasional "Excuse me" in the classically aggravated tone of a New Yorker in a rush.

Why the reptile house? It was ideal in a storm forecast, and generally less crowded than other locations. The ingenuity of the plan was, hunters or suspicious people generally didn't lurk about at the zoo, so she was really hoping this would wrap up quickly and she could go home to a hot bath.

All they needed to do was tell her their plans and she, in turn, would endorse their actions and turn a deaf ear to their upcoming misdemeanors. Evelyn had hesitated to give her approval yet, simply on the gut instinct that maybe she should spend a little more time with these guys before she decided to back them.

She huddled under her beige raincoat, the colour letting her melt into the crowd. Beneath the coat was a striped blue-green shirt dress. Her waist-length brown waves were out, falling freely around her face and shoulders to aid the appearance of a relaxed young woman enjoying one of New York's most beloved locations. She was even wearing waterproof mascara, something she usually did not do when meeting potential contacts.

Evelyn's knee-high snakeskin rain boots sloshed through puddles and navigated her around obstacles like crying children, pretzel vendors, face0paint artists closing up and gigantic strollers parked in the middle of the pavement. She did not meet anyone's eyes as she passed, despite her natural inclination to smile politely at everyone and everything. In New York, a smiling stranger wasn't usually taken well.

She pulled open the doors to the reptile house and entered.

***

She'd bought herself a bag of crisps and was leaning against the metal railing surrounding a glass anaconda tank–with a snake that looked more like it had died in its sleep than anything–when she smelled them. The rogues had arrived.

Evelyn's brow crinkled. There were just three. Someone was missing. And...Despite the deserted hall, she smelled a human. She swallowed the crisp in her mouth and licked Chinese salt off her lips, watching the trio emerge around a corner and toward the anaconda cage.

Evelyn's eyes widened in disbelief at the human male one of them was dragging under one burly arm. A security guard by his costume, bleeding from a bruise on his temple. The Lycan holding him did not set him down, so she knew they didn't intend to let the man go.

Her eyes narrowed and fury rose in her chest. "What's this?" she snapped, instantly reverting to a woman suited to having her voice obeyed. "I was having second thoughts already and now you prove them right. You actually had the nerve to bring him here! In the middle of the zoo, you're going to take a lunch break?"

The Lycan looked momentarily abashed but recovered, his face darkening. "None of your business. We're here to disc–"

"See, that's where you fail to impress me. Again and again, the same dimwitted retorts," Evelyn cut him off icily, lifting another crisp out of the Lays bag and biting into it rather viciously, imagining it was his head. Her burning glare stayed on him until he looked away. "Everything you do is my business. This is my city. Let's not forget that, yes?"

His eyes narrowed back at her. Evelyn replied with a raised eyebrow. The man gave just the slightest growl in his throat. It incited a threatening smile from her. She didn't say anything in reply. She didn't have to. He was well aware she could have had his whole gang rounded up and exiled, or worse, if she felt like it.

But she'd thought they might be useful. If that changed, she was more than willing to dispose of them. Needless killing of humans was distasteful.

There was a terse pause before another Lycan hastily barked, "So what exactly are you proposing?"

"It's not a terribly big change," she assured them, polishing off another two crisps. She shifted slightly on the metal bar, crossing her legs at the ankles in front of her and ignoring the lust that flared in their eyes. "Just drain the bodies...you know–"

"Like a Vampire," the first Lycan said, tearing his gaze off her mesh-clad shins in time to correct his grip on the security guard. Evelyn's lip curled as she debated tactics to have him drop the human. She didn't think changing forms and attacking the worthless runt would help their new alliance. She'd been told she made rash decisions when dealing with topics of personal interest. But he had been getting cocky. So maybe...

[Michael 'Love' Lovett]

The first few drops of rain fell, the remaining visitors clamored up the walkway leading toward the aquarium or huddled beneath the shoddy pavilion down by the food court. Love now leaning against a tree, a few feet behind the hot dog stand, radio in hand. His eyes narrowed, watching as the trio of men conversed before scanning the area and darting off towards the reptile house. "Fuck..." Love muttered under his breath, clicking on the radio and took a few breaths before speaking. "David...? You seeing this? They're going towards the reptile exhibit."

After a short pause Love wiped the sweat from his brow, kicking the dirt beneath his feet and clicked on the radio once more. "Listen here's the deal." Michael took a pause to breath and think this over. He was outnumbered, outgunned and out of luck. Going into that reptile house was a death trap. For all he knew the fourth one could be in there and they had caught wind of their presence, just waiting for him to walk in the door. But it was a risk they had to take and there was no sense in risking both their lives.

"Okay, David I'm gonna go inside and check it out. If I don't come out in ten minutes you make your way up here. If they come out and I'm not with them you take them out. All of them. There is probably other entrances so keep your eyes peeled." Michael let his hand relax, greeted by the sound of static from his radio. This was a bad idea...

"I'll see you on the far side, David. Stay frosty." Michael now turned his radio off, replacing it into the inner pocket of his trench coat and brought a hand over to his Ithaca 37, loosening the makeshift sling so he could grip it and held it at his side.

Rain droplets pelted Love's head, making his way up the path. A flash of lightning illuminated the evening sky followed by a loud thunderclap that shook the ground beneath him. Love's eyes peered up to view the enormous black cloud that loomed above him. Of all the days to storm..

Love peered through the frosted window of the reptile exhibits main entrance. His breath fogged the window even more, wiping it with his sopping wet sleeve which didn't help much. He couldn't make out any people, no sign of the three men he'd been tailing. Maybe David had seen them leave through a different exit. After a deep breath Love gripped his shotgun and pulled the door open just enough for his slender body to slink through, gently pulling the door closed behind him.

Love's shoes made a sloshy noise against the marble flooring, taking to the right down a hallway of LED lit tanks. There was no light aside from the battery powered ones in the tanks, making him hard to see as he crept through the building. Beneath his feet was a ragged brown carpet, making his steps silent. Love peeked through the tanks to the other side in the main room.

At the far end near the Anaconda exhibit were two of the three men with another laying at their feet. 'Shit.' Where did the other one go? Probably smelled him and is waiting somewhere. Unless it was the man on the floor. He couldn't make out who it was but also with the men was a woman, munching on a bag of Lays chips. He didn't realize how hungry he was until he saw the chips in her hand, his stomach growling in retort.

Ignoring his stomachs begging he continued down the hallway, eying the various snakes, lizards and spiders until he reached an exit from the hall, hugging close to the wall. Now he could hear them speaking, faintly. Unable to make out what they were saying from this distance however. Time to move in closer. He peered his head out from the doorway ever so slightly and noticed they all were looking away from him. That's when he made his move, darting out and ducking down behind a desk in the center of the room which was now deserted.

"Game time..." Love raised his shotgun, taking a deep breath and crawled out from behind the desk, keeping the weapon trained on the man with the hostage, who he recognized as a security officer.

"Alright, nobody fucking move. You got guns you put them on the floor now. And tell your friend to come out from wherever the fuck he's hiding." Love stepped closer, shotgun level with the center man's head and moved over so he could look over the woman. She certainly didn't belong with these men, however the fact they had a bloodied guard at their feet meant she was either blind or in on it. "Who are you?" He kept his eyes fixed on the two men as he spoke, glancing over for less than a second at her before returning his gaze upon the two. Behind him the sound of a weapon being cocked sent a shiver up Love's spine. He didn't care turn around. He knew exactly who it was. Mind racing, heart pounding and swear dripping from his brow, Love had to act fast, slowly reaching one of his hands down to his belt, going for his revolver. His best chance was stall the guy long enough to get his sidearm out and turn to drop him. It may work. Or he may get a round between the eyes. "Look, lower your fu-" The sound of gunfire broke out from nearby, his head snapping around towards the direction just long enough for the two to draw their arms.

At that moment Love dropped flat on his chest and fired his shotgun. A deafening blast emitted from the barrel, blowing apart a nearby tree and wounding the center man. Love rolled over behind a small tree, remaining on his back, racking another round in his shotgun and fired at the third man who was now in front of him, just missing as the man darted behind a wall. The base of the tree provided him cover, racking a new round in his shotgun before rolling back over, leaping to his feet and fired again, diving into a shattered exhibit as he did. Gunshots wrung out around Love, now inside the Anaconda exhibit in a pile of mud and glass. The snake didn't seem to notice him, instead slinking off into the small pond area at the back of the tank and disappearing beneath the murky surface.

The sound of the front door slamming against the concrete wall caught his attention. Love racked another round into his shotgun, six shots left and peeked up over the shattered window he'd dove through to see the door hanging open. "Fuck!"

His eyes shot around the room as he spotted the girl struggling with a different entrance on the opposite side of the room. She appeared to be having a hard time which brought a smile chuckle to Love's lips as he hauled himself out of the Anaconda cage, his entire front side covered with mud with the exception of his face. Love now dropped to his knees at the unconscious security guards feet and removed his sidearm, a Browning High Power MKIII and stumbled towards the lady, keeping his new found pistol trained on her. A trail of blood lead from the security guards body to another hallway of tanks not far from the woman. He assumed it was the third man whom he wounded earlier. The second had darted off towards David's position and the first nowhere to be found. 'Don't let your guard down...'

He wasn't sure if she was with them yet, so he didn't gun her down. She didn't appear to be armed either. Instead, Love continued his scramble towards her, taking deep breaths as he did.

"Hey, stop! Don't you open that door or I'll fuckin' kill you! You he-" At that moment the hard marble floor felt as if it'd just split Love's skull open. He was laying on his back, staring straight up at the glass ceiling. A loud groan left his lips, grinding his teeth hard as he wrapped his arms around his side, partially rolling over. Laying on the opposite side of him was the man he'd wounded, struggling to get up in the puddle of his own blood which flowed down his left arm like a rapid stream.

With a muffled grunt Love pulled himself across the littered floor, reaching for his pistol which was a few feet away from him. The mud made it easier for him to slide across the floor, still gritting his teeth in pain. Another grunt filled his ears, but this was more deeper. Certainly not his own. Before he had time to react something swung down and hit him hard in his lower back, knocking the wind right out of him.

After several moments of gasping for air Love could breath, now laying on his back looking right into the black eyes of his attacker. Love's Ruger and Ithaca 37 were both underneath him. Getting his shotgun out would be impossible and he was to weak to draw his Ruger. He could barely move. The only thing that was on his mind was pain. His body had grown fuzzy and numb, his eyes drifting down the length of his arm to see the Browning just centimeters from his fingertips.

The attacker was now kneeling on his chest with a maniacal laugh. His arm pressed down on Love's shoulder, the blood soaking through his trenchcoat. "Wait..." Love muttered the words that barely left his lips with a dry cough, watching with wide eyes as the man produced a fiendish looking knife from his belt, a bloodcurdling chuckle left his demonic grinned face as he hefted the knife, Love's reflection visible on the blade. "Wait..." Love's eyes wandered from the mans face to the glass ceiling once more. Enough water to fill a small pool had accumulated on the surface. With another moan of pain Love stretched his arm out just enough to grip the magwell of the pistol and drag it into his palm, gripping the mans wrist with his other arm.

Time felt as if it froze when Love swung the weapon up and fired, not at the man, but at the ceiling. Love squeezed the trigger again, the man thrashed around, trying to work the knife into Love's chest. He was now deaf from the shots Love had fired beside his ear when the glass ceiling above them shattered from the weight of the water. Shards of glass rocketed down like bullets towards them. Love bashed the man in the head with his pistol and pulled him against his chest, using him as a human shield against the hail of glass and gallons of water.

Rain now pelted the ground around Love, pushing the man off him, who yelped in pain, thrashing around in a bloody mess. Love mustered enough strength to pull himself up and retrieve the discarded knife, plunging it deep into the attackers throat and churned it in his hand, watching as the puddle of water surrounding him turned a deep crimson, an exhausted sigh leaving Love's lips as he slumped over.

Seven seconds passed and Love was back on his feet, still gritting his teeth as he stumbled towards the now open door. He hadn't noticed the woman leave, but sure enough she battered the door open. Love retrieved two shotgun shells from his satchel and slotted them in the shell tube of his Ithaca, letting it hang at his side. Now standing in the doorway the woman had escaped through he saw her, running up the path towards the aquarium. Out of instinct Love darted out after her, the rain washing away the blood and mud from his person. "Hey wait! Stop!" Love doubled over, catching himself on the metal railing alongside the path and breathed heavy. His knees were jelly beneath him, grunting hard as he forced himself to push on, scanning the vegetation for the other men or even David but saw no signs. 'Dammit, David. Where the hell are you?'


The gray cloud littered skies blocked out any light the sun cast, leaving Love damn near blind in the rain. He let the railing guide him up the winding path until he reached the aquarium entrance, dropping to his knees before scrambling back up and collided hard with the doors. He used all his weight to ram the door again, and again before stumbling backwards against a pillar. His eyes just made out the word "Pull" on the handle. With an annoyed sigh he gripped the slippery handle and swung the door out so hard it shattered the glass of the window which it collided with. "Fuck!"

He was now staring at a maze of shimmering glass tanks, filled with gliding monsters from the depths of our earth. For Love this was a hellish nightmare come true. He hated fish. Especially sharks which Love eyed the sign before him which had a picture of a shark with an arrow pointing in the direction of the woman's footprints. "You gotta be shitting me..." One false move in this place and it's adios muchacho's. Love once again gripped his shotgun, with a hard swallow and started off in the direction of the lady's trail, regretting he'd ever volunteered for this job...

[David Cortes]

Climbing the tower was easy. The vines were so gnarled and thick that it acted as a natural rope. Reaching the top before it began to rain, David quickly went to work. He unpacked his backpack, turned his hat backwards, and put on the web gear of ammunition he had planned to put on as soon as he got somewhere like this. He then pulled out his M-4 Carbine and re-attached the stock and hand-grip. Just as he was zipping up his backpack, he heard Love call on his headset. Quickly attaching the magnification sight to his Eotech sight, he aimed his rifle out the window and growled. Dammit, they were moving into the Reptile house. "Shit, all right, you take care. I'll watch the exits and remain vigilant of the fourth guy. Don't get killed Love. I don't want to have to explain how the hell I lost my partner on my first mission."

The rain slowly began to intensify as he saw Love enter the reptile house. Visibility was getting worse by the second, but at least it wasn't as bad as a sandstorm. Scanning the zoo, he noticed most of the people began to move towards the indoor exhibits, such as the aquarium. Something wasn't right... He shouldn't have let him go in there alone. Three against one... Those odds are suicidal. Dammit, why hadn't he accounted for the rain? He needed to...

He stopped scanning at the sight of one man in particular headed for the reptile house. Something about him was... Off. His demeanor wasn't one of a simple visitor to the park. His eyes were constantly shifting, he wore a trenchcoat, and was making a b-line towards the reptile house. Following the man in his sights, he noticed the man pull out a shotgun. That's when the light clicked in David's mind. He wasn't a friendly. He had seen Love enter the reptile house, and this was most likely the fourth man of that little group. Aiming for his head, David let out a quick burst of fire. *Bam, bam, rat-tatata-tat* In an instant, the man dropped to the ground, blood pulling around his now exploded skull. The blood was being washed away as David returned his sights to the reptile house entrance. Almost immediately, he heard gunshots echoing from the exhibit, and flashes of light from the muzzle blasts. Shit, Love was in there alone. Well, no time to wait.

Quickly grabbing his backpack and shimming down the tower, David flipped the magnification off his sights and began to run towards the reptile house when he saw one man bolt out of the reptile house. It was one of the three men from earlier. "Hey stop you bastard!!" David shouted as he brought his rifle up to his shoulder and began to hammer away at the man. He was quick though, much faster than anticipated, and David missed the man by a hair. Running after him, he saw the man jump over a clear glass fence and into the lion exhibit. Shit.

Thinking quickly (there was no way David could jump that high) David fired some rounds into the glass until it was weakened, then charged and busted through the glass. Quickly, he aimed for the werewolf, who was halfway through his transformation, and fired what rounds were left in his magazine.

"Rata-tata-tata-click-click*

Before David could reload, the werewolf, who by now had completely turned, charged towards David. Grabbing his colt. 45, David fired several rounds into the beast before it fell to the ground, howling in pain as the bullet wounds in his knee had finally caught up to him. Just as David reloaded his pistol to finish the job, he looked around him and stopped. There stood 4 very angry lions, circling around the two of them. Not good.

"Aww shit..." David sighed. He looked at the werewolf, who also realized the situation, then slowly began to back away as the lions moved closer and closer to the downed beast. Before either David or the werewolf could strike, two lionesses pounced on him and began to tear into his flesh as the other two watched. David, too, stared momentarily in morbid fascination, before coming to his senses and running out of the habitat. Now, not only were there werewolves, but lions on the loose too. Lovely.

Placing his pistol back in his holster, he ran through the rain as he reloaded his carbine. As he ran through the zoo, he could hear the sirens blasting as the police began to encircle the park. Not good. Now the law may be involved in this. He had to find Love. They had to get out of there now.


Running through the park, he finally caught a glimpse of a man with a shotgun running into the aquarium. He called out to the man, but he did not seem to hear him through the rain. Dammit, the aquarium was were all the civilians had gone. David turned and ran into the aquarium after Love, and jumped through the broken glass into the maze of aquariums.

"Love!" David called out, not sure where his partner was. "Oye Love we need to wrap this up fast! We've got cops swarming the area, and lions have broken out of their den! Love dammit where the hell are you!?" He shouted as he raised his rifle once again to his shoulder and began to move through the maze searching for Love and any signs of any other remaining werewolves.

[Evelyn van Buren]

Evelyn's mental debate about the pros and cons of changing form to teach her potential ally a lesson was broken by the sudden realization that they were no longer alone.

"Human," grunted the second rogue. Instantly, the first one made to drop his prize on the floor just as Evelyn opened her mouth to tell him not to do that exact thing.

There was the slightest creak as the main entrance to the reptile house swung open. Instantly, all four Lycans knew who they were dealing with. Human male, but at this point, he could be a civilian...no, no civilian would be so cautious about entering an exhibit building.

Evelyn's golden-brown eyes met the dark ones of the Lycan with the human lunch. He'd dropped the man face first at his feet and she hoped he hadn't broken the man's nose. "Don't react." The words were curt, leaving no room for argument. She nodded her head at the third Lycan, who had yet to speak. "You, go into that hallway back there, we might need to surprise him. You two stay right here."

The third Lycan vanished on silent feet as the human drew closer. Despite the carpeting, Evelyn could feel the shift in the air as he approached, and she smiled, both amused and impressed. He had to know what he was walking into, and yet he came anyway. Humans. She would never understand them.

Maybe he was a glory-monger? There were a lot of those. Especially among the more extremist sort of hunters.

The hunter made a swift move. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of black leather fly by. Her eyes narrowed at the two Lycans and she shook her head just slightly, warning them not to react, to pretend they'd seen nothing.

One of the Lycans reached under his coat, no doubt about to draw a firearm. She wanted to groan but as much as she'd rather not participate in a shootout, she had the gloomy premonition there would be one.

The hunter spoke, and Evelyn smiled again as she tilted her head to finally get a good view of him over the first Lycan's shoulder. So the man had caught on to the missing member of their little gang. Well at least he knew how to count. She doubted the Lycans standing with her could. None of them seemed to realize they were down one Lycan. Where was he?

The Hunter addressed her directly and Evelyn arched slim eyebrows at him nonchalantly as the other Lycans began to growl low in their throats.

That was when the fourth Lycan made his appearance. The moment she scented him, Evelyn decided it was a good time to exit. With the first blast of gunfire, she whirled about and bolted for the back door she had previously marked out. Glass flew in every direction behind her, and she dove behind a tank as a stray bullet ricocheted past the spot she'd been in seconds before.

Rolling to her feet, she ran on, reaching the back door and yanking on it. It was locked! Even as she pulled on it, she heard the dying groans of two Lycans and shuddered. This was not ending well.

Frustrated, she did the only thing that came to her head—she allowed her arms to change.

Fur bristled under the arms of her raincoat and sinewy muscles shifted down to her wrist. Her fingers thickened but she forced them to stop. She needed the arm muscle, but human dexterity too. With new strength, she reached for the door handle again, and froze as the hunter's voice hailed her.

Evelyn spared him a glance long enough to see the fourth Lycan appear behind him. She winked at the hunter and yanked at the door hard, nearly tearing it off its hinges as it swung open.

Then she was free, racing through drizzle and puddles as she fumbled for the communications link in her jacket. She flicked on the mic and snapped a few orders to her waiting bodyguard. The rain made it hard to run, even with her boots. She slowed down, leaping over puddles and stumbling on the slick pavement.

She had almost taken a turn past the aquarium when she heard the echoes of distant glass. Her stomach turned as racing feet rang in her ears. Her gaze drifted to the aquarium and she changed tracks, diving toward the doors and finding herself in the best place she could hide—a roomful of humans.

"Careful, miss," said a security guard standing just inside the entrance. His eyes took in Evelyn's tangles of curling, wet hair and muddy boots. She smiled thinly at him and continued in, slithering between parents with strollers, groups of teenagers and wandering guards.

She paused for a moment, standing in the middle of the crowd, and allowed her eyes to sweep around the room. She took in the glass tanks of water hemming her in and swallowed. What if these hunters didn't care about casualties? There were some of those, and she wasn't naive enough to think she could use humans as meat shields without disaster.

She caught sight of the stairwell leading up just as the doors swung open behind her. Even in the crowded room, her senses separated his distinct smell and her racing heartbeat quickened in panic. She raced for the stairs.

There was a security guard standing at the foot of the steps. Evelyn veered left and crashed into him purposefully as a pair of guards at the entrance began hollering at the hunter for breaking something. A few civilians screamed at the sight of him and she took the chance to swing a fist into the guard's head and knock him out.

She leaned over his prone body, checked his pulse, and decided he'd be fine. Snatching the handgun at his belt, she darted up the stairs, pausing to glance behind her.

The hunter had his gun in plain view. Small wonder the guards and civilians looked petrified. Evelyn hesitated for a moment, watching as he began to weave his way through the exhibits toward her. He hadn't seen her yet, and she'd keep it that way.

As a pair of guards raced after the hunter, Evelyn lifted the stolen handgun, fumbled with the safety for a moment, and fired off two rounds into the nearest shark tank, right in between her and the hunter.

Screams erupted as a swell of water brought the shark out of its abode and flooded the hallway. People began streaming for the doors and Evelyn fired twice more, cracking open another tank with what she hoped were piranhas before she turned and bolted upstairs.

Up on the landing, she spotted a fire escape and let herself out, shuddering as icy rain pelted her. Even with her natural body heat, she was freezing. The hunters would be miserable.

Nearing pavement, she dropped down gracefully on bent knees and continued to run in the direction of the parking lot, wet hair streaming behind her like a defiant flag. Her bodyguard contacted her again, letting her know he was still by the car as she'd asked. Almost there.

She realized she'd dropped the gun somewhere. That was fine. She hated using those. It was a weapon she'd never felt too comfortable with. She wished it had never been invented. Then again, more humans had guns used on them than the supernatural.

Right as she was thinking this, she heard the roar. There were not many things that made Evelyn's blood seem to freeze in her veins. A lion was one of them.

She whirled around and her eyes widened. Barely two hundred yards away, she could see the distinct golden head of the beast. Her jaw dropped. Why was a lion roaming the zoo?

The more important thing, however, was that he was headed right toward her, running from a handful of zookeepers with rifles.

She reflected that maybe the gun would have been useful at this point.

Evelyn turned and leaped over the wall between her and a central food court, ducking around tables and chairs and darting behind a snack shop as the lion closed the distance. She had no time to change, and a human was no match for a lion.

Even a superhuman. But she ran on anyway, with the endurance of a wolf guiding her across the park.

Until she took a wrong turn and found her way bared by a gigantic iron fence, no doubt housing some other ridiculously dangerous feline. Why, she wondered, retracing her steps, did humans feel the need to cage up dangerous beasts to gawk at?

She jerked to a stop, frozen. She was in front of the wolf exhibit. The lion was right on the other side, glaring at her across the dirt. The wolves began to howl and Evelyn clenched her shaking hands into fists. Somehow, she'd never disliked humans more than she did right then.

What now? she wondered, as the lion began its slow, stately walk toward her. She was hemmed in on three sides by metal bars.

Right at that moment, there was a clamour of footsteps. For the first time in her memory, she hoped it was the incompetent zookeepers or the damn hunters. A few seconds was all she needed to slip by.

[[OoC: Either David or Love (or both) could show up here (with zookeepers). Optionally, Evelyn can be godmodded to say she ran for her car, got in and drove off with her bodyguard.]]

[Michael 'Love' Lovett]

So, where were we? Ah, yes. The aquarium.

Love's ears were still ringing from the gunshots just moments ago, drenched from rain, sweat and blood. He was unsure if it was his own, of the Wolfe he had put down in the reptile house. Either way, at this point it didn't matter. All that mattered was catching this fucking wolf so that all of this wasn't for nothing. It had to be done. Otherwise Vaughn would roast his ass (And David's, however at this point that wasn't his biggest concern.) and probably put a price on his head if he ran.

Nearby, Love could hear David's Hispanic accented voice calling out from within the glassy maze of gliding monsters, however Love was unable to locate him. Still heaving out breaths, he couldn't answer him, instead raised his weapon and stumbled through the aquarium, letting the barrel of the shotgun guide him towards his partners voice.

As Love proceeded through the building he stopped dead in his tracks, squinting to make out what appeared to be a figure with a weapon drawn on the other side of the tank directly before him. However, something caught his attention that sent chills down his spine. A 20 foot Tiger shark, which glided through the sparkling water, a look of pure evil in it's beady black eyes. Love swallowed hard, trying to push the fear aside when something happened that made his blood run cold. The glass began to crack.

It seemed as if time had frozen, fear overwhelmed Love as he stared at the shark tank that was now crumbling into small shards of glass before his eyes, the water spilling out onto the polished marble floor of the aquarium.

Gunshots snapped Love out of the fear-filled trance he was in, water almost knocking him on his back as he lunged to the left of him, down a separate hallway in the building, falling flat on his chest as water rushed over him, filling his ears and nose, causing him to choke under the water.

His eyes going fuzzy, slowly losing consciousness, Love called out for David beneath the crystal water, grabbing onto a crevice in the wall and pulled himself out, sputtering out water in violent coughs. It was as close to death as Love had ever been. His body was trembling from the ice cold water that was now up to his chest and began to shuffle towards the stairwell, yelling out for David.

"David! David, where are you!? Fuck!" Useless attempts at signaling his partner left Love hacking up more water, now inside the stairwell, sopping wet from head to toe. It was as if the water had chilled him, straight to the bones. His skin was white as snow, eyes bloodshot and an expression of hatred and rage plastered to his mug. Priority #1 was capturing the bitch, but it would now be exceedingly hard to keep from bashing the ever-living shit out of her with his bare hands. As much as he wanted to, that would result in failure, and Love's head on a silver platter in Vaughn's office.

"Ow, shit!" Snapping the water-logged Hunter out of his daze was searing pain that ran up his leg. Now only up to his shins in water, halfway up the stairwell, Love looked down to see a fish of sorts, gnawing on his leg. Panicking, Love drew his revolver, cocking the hammer and fired a shot down towards his leg, missing the fish by a hair and fired again, this time hitting the tail of the beast and sent it thrashing away into the filling lower floor. Love breathed hard, pulling his leg from the blood filled water and examined his wound, grunting in pain as he did.

"Drop it! Don't make me put you down, kid!" Standing chest high in the rising water, just at the entrance of the stairwell was a security guard, weapon raised and trained on Love. 'Fuckin' A...' With a sigh of defeat, Love raised his hands, moaning softly and dropped his revolver on the stairs. Thinking fast of a way out of this, Love eyed the blood that filled the water. Sharks could smell blood from miles away. Pretty sure that Tiger could pick up the scent from a few feet away...

Sure enough, within twenty seconds the water about 15 feet behind the guard began to stir, the surface breaking as the fin of the beast rose above the surface. Love was never so happy to see a shark in his entire life. The bad news is he was still sitting in a foot of blood filled water with a 20 foot shark headed straight for him. Time to haul ass.

The sound of tile shattering filled the narrow stairs, shards of tile spraying and ricocheting all over as Love darted up, hearing the screams of the guard from below. The sound of water thrashing violently drowned out his screams, echoing up through the stairs. It was a horrid sound. Love knew exactly what had happened. After a moment of remorse he pushed on, charging straight for the door. A lone guard stood in his way, turning seconds before Love collided with him, knocking his gun to the floor. Before the guard could even react Love had shoved him over the balcony, into the flooded lower floor, making him an easy meal for any hungry fish.


Bullets ricocheted as Love emerged outside, the rain had picked up, falling harder than before, that dampened his vision. Stopping for a mere three seconds Love spotted someone, hopefully his culprit dashing into the parking lot, thirty or so feet ahead.

Just as Love was about to push on, something ripped through his trench coat. Blood flowed down the front of his attire, pushing the pain aside as he ran down the walkway. He'd taken a round in his shoulder, presumably from a guard mistaking him for the bad guy. Then again, from their point of view he was the bad guy. No need to return the favor, Love almost fell face-first onto the asphalt of the zoo parking lot, quickly scanning for his target, only to see her enter a car, a few rows down the lot. "Shit!" Thinking fast, Love spotted a man tossing his suitcase into his orange and black Oldsmobile Cutlass and began to fold up his umbrella. New plan.

"Get the fuck out of the way!" Love's business end of the shotgun was raised at the chest of the man, prepared to fire if he didn't shove off. "Hey, fuck you! You know who I a-" Before the man could finish, Love had swung the sawn down butt of his shotgun into the mans temple, knocking him flat on his back and climbed inside the car, ignited the engine and backed up, the car door hitting the man in the head as he did. Just as Love slammed his door shut he caught a glimpse of a man with a rifle darting into the lot. 'David. 'Bout fuckin' time.'

Beep-beep!

"Yo, David, we gotta move!" Shifting gears, Love flipped on the radio, smirking as Sympathy For The Devil began to play, David now seated beside him.

Time to get what we came for...

[[OOC: Sorry for the dissapearance, had a ton of shit going on and just was not doing well at all. Hopefully we can get things back on track now. Post sucks, but it's better than nothing. Hope you're all well, talk soon guys.]]

[David Cortes]

Moving through the aquarium, David couldn't help but feel a little... Restricted. He had been around water all his life, practically grew up on his father's boat in key biscayne... But he didn't exactly enjoy getting up close and personal with sharks. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. He wasn't exactly ready to deal with that again...

And just as he thought about that, a mako shark swam past him in the glass. Lovely. This was turning into a great day...

Then he heard the gunshots, the people screaming, and the all-too-familiar sound of rushing water. He looked up, and saw the level of the sharktank he was standing next to start to lower. "Fuck! You've got to be fucking shitting me!" He shouted, running up the stairs as quickly as he could. Before he could get to the top, he saw the water rushing down on him, and grabbed the railing, fighting his way up the stairs through the rushing water. It took most of his strength, and his feet nearly washed out from under him a few times, but finally, he made it to the top.

"I'm here dammit!" He panted, dripping wet, trying to catch his breath. He knew, however, that he had to keep moving or the water would rush him away. Pushing towards the other stairwell, he saw Mike and a small damaged fish bounding away from him. It was damaged, and there was blood. Blood... "Oh mother fucker..." He sighed, as he knew what that would mean. Soon, he saw the fin approaching the fish, and another... approaching him.

Without even thinking twice, he fired at the two sharks, killing one and wounding the other to the point where it swam away. He then ran up the stairs and got out of there as fast as he could, passing by huge streams of screaming people. Great... They never did say this job would be easy...

Once outside, he realized that it would be stupid to run outside without some kind of thing covering his face. Pulling his now soaking wet bandanna out of his pocket, he tied it onto his face, covering his mouth, cheeks, and any other distinguishing features aside from his eyes, and ran towards the car parking lot. He hoped he'd catch up to Mike out there, but if not, he'd need to find a way out anyway. The cops were arriving in droves and...

BEEP-BEEP!

What the hell... David sighed as he looked over. There, he saw Mike in an... Oldsmobile. He was in a fucking oldsmobile. "Lovett! Is that a fucking joke!?! You couldn't have picked a better god-damned car!?!" He shouted, then looked out of the corner of his eye and saw the sirens blaring, and a single Porsche beginning to drive of. It was being driven by a woman...

Hoping into the car, he pointed at the Porsche and shouted "Was that one of they lycans? If so, do you really think you could catch her in this piece of shit?"