"Hey, new town. I get it. " Jay stepped over to the electronic lock and entered a series of numbers with quick precision and practice so that Micheal couldn't see the combination. "I can't loan you any firearms. Ethan insists we keep those on a tight leash. Come on down... see what we got."
Jay leads you down to the basement of the Hall. You can see that this is a sizeable area devoted to the Hunt. On the back wall are a series of scrapbooks. The first three are marked '2010', '2011' and '2012'. The other three have smaller text that you'll have to get closer to inspect. Jay ignores the bookshelves and walks to the center of the room where two tool benches stand. Peg board has been mounted behind the tool benches and a number of things have been traced with markers so it is very obvious where everything goes. You can see a few things are missing - a knife, a med kit, a flashlight. The peg board is very organized - a section for lights (five head lamps and four Maglights) and a section for knives (two switch blades and two fixed blades). Miscellaneous gear is between - rope, measuring tape, a bag of chalk, a tape recorder and all sorts of survival gear.
The two tables have been stenciled with names - Jay, Ethan, Chrissy - making it clear which tools belong to each person. You can see Ethan has a heavy lead pipe and a baseball bat with nails in it, while Ray has a long metal pole with a loop of wire on the end- a dog catching pole? You wonder about that...
Below the peg board are some power tools, some wooden dowels. A couple of sharp stakes.
"So what do you need?" Jay asks. "What do you think this is?"
Michael smiles as he runs a hand over the stakes. He takes one of the fixed blades and rolls it around in his hand, feeling it's weight and nodding in approval. "I only use firearms when I have no other choice." He looks over the remaining gear with a smile that could only be described as 'Loving' before looking around. He noticed the bookshelf and moved over to it after setting the knife down in the same place as before.
He picked up the book marked '2010' and perused it before asking Jay over his shoulder. "Do you have Crossbows, swords or hand axes?" He asked idly as he began to look through the pages of the book.
"Um, no." Jay stated in a voice that suggested he thought the question was odd. "How do you hide something like that walking around Santee? We have easily concealed things and...baseball bats. Things we can explain."
The scrap book is a collection of newspaper clippings for the first three pages. Missing children or suspicious deaths. Then on page four, there's a reference to one of the clippings and a simple 'found a beast with a child's skeleton in closet. killed it.' The first few pages are dry and have little information. Midway through the book, he notes a new handwriting with flowing cursive. This handwriting details that on June 6th, the cell met with the cell from L.A. and learned a new tactic for dealing with vampires. A later note said 'refer to page 30, for dealing with Vampire Vanessa'.
Michael flips to page 30 before replying. "Yeah, easy to explain but when dealing with a vampire they are dangerously useless. A Crossbow and sword are the best weapons because you can stake a Vampire at range to send it into Torpor then remove it's head while it's paralyzed." He replied as he read the book, interested in learning the tactics they had learned to see what he was dealing with.
"Also, during daylight hunts a crossbow bolt can be attached to a high tensile cable and when it hits the vampire, you pull the cable with a winch mounted on a truck to drag it into the sunlight to kill it. Useful tactic for taking out havens safely." He added before finishing his read and setting the book on the shelf and picked up the next book marked '2011'.
"Uh... " Jay shrugged. "I guess. We've found our tactics deal with them just fine. We haven't seen a lot of vampires around here lately."
Page 30 has a brief description of a vampire who had been luring young college boys from campus and then they went missing. Jay had posed as bait on a freshman orientation - and describes an 'odd feeling. I loved her.' Chrissy and Ethan used his GPS to track him to her lair, where they used a tactic to immobilize the vampire. Once they interrogated the vampire to find that none of the victims were alive, they had set the vampire on fire.
"You looking for something specific?" Jay asks as Michael picks up the next scrapbook.
[Describe what Michael is looking for? There are pages of newspaper clippings and summaries of hunts]
Michael closed the book and set it on the shelf then turned to Jay. "Well, all it takes is one Vampire to create a lot more. They can quickly become an epidemic if they so choose and since Los Angeles and Sacramento are Vampire havens it won't be long before they branch to San Diego like a migration." He replied before moving over to the work benches. He picked up the knife and a stake, tucking the knife under his shirt at his lower back and sliding the stake into his cowboy boots.
"All it takes for Vampires is a feeding victim and some their blood and you have a freshly made bloodsucker." He said scornfully as he walks back over to Jay, he seemed to radiate his anger towards Vampires as he says so.
"Firearms are enough to stun them but in the end, Stake to the heart with an axe to the neck is the most efficient way to handle them. Sunlight is a tool to keep them hunkered down but in the end, you have to go inside their havens and they always have Ghouls guarding it." He said again, "From what I read you got lucky with the Vampire that hunted in the college, it was a loner. But a nest of Vamps would have torn you all apart." He added before turning about the room. "Mind if I take a look at your files, I'd like to get caught up with what you guys know."
Jay frowns at Michael's assessment, watching Michael for a minute before replying.
"Chrissy likes to go over them, so you could come back when she's come back with the others. "Jay states as he turns to head back upstairs.
"We've just met. I'm not sure how she'll feel about you looking over our files to see 'what we know'.' There's an edge to Jay's voice that hadn't been there before. Had Michael offended the man? Jay doesn't wait for Michael, ascending the staircase back to the Hall proper.
"I'm sure that you'll want to meet the others, right? Your new cell?"
Michael followed after a long few moments, regretting what he said. As he reached the top of the stairs behind Jay he spoke up.
"I apologize for what I said.. I was out of line." He said shyly, "I was never great with people on a personal level... well, not recently that is." He said calmly as he stepped through the door behind Jay and walked into the room proper. He took up his bible and turned back to Jay.
"I would very much like to meet them yes. Thank you for the items... they will be very useful." He said with a casual smile.
Jay regarded Michael for a beat. His gaze is hard and Michael is beginning to wonder if Jay is the sort to hold a grudge. Jay's eyes softened somewhat before speaking.
"I can get that, I suppose." Jay allowed, a bit grudgingly. "But this is what we do. Hearing that 'we got lucky' - when that was our first vampire hunt? Your damn right we got lucky. We weren't trained how to do this crap. We taught ourselves."
There's a note of pride in jay's voice and you realize that it was wounded pride that you had glimpsed earlier. A self made man, perhaps, this Jay was.
"You might be a 'vampire hunter extraordinaire', but to be honest, Michael, that's just words on a piece of paper from a guy I don't know. Maybe you're all that. Maybe they're just words." Jay's voice was conversational, but you wonder if he's challenging you or if its normal conversation.
Michael smiled and nodded. He opened his bible and saw the note from his contact and remembered suddenly, he checked his watch and noted the time. Michael tucked the bible under his arm again and offered his left hand to Jay.
"We all started somewhere, my first encounter with a Vampire I brained it with a wrought iron cross. Barely survived it..." He said with a slightly smile as he shook the mans hand, he breaks the handshake and chuckles. "Ahhh, but people forget the power of words. Words can form nations or break the strongest of men... but I promise you.. they are not just words." He said before sighing. "Sadly I must go for now, I have to meet a friend across town." He gave Jay a quick blessing, he crossed himself and bowed his head in silently prayer. "In the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit I bless thee." Michael smiles and taps Jay on the shoulder, "Never hurts to have abit of protection. Until we see each other again..." He says before walking towards the door.
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