All Hell Breaks Loose

We realize, of course, that the entire hostage situation, had in fact moved down the few blocks towards the police station where all the action was. The gargoyles and mini dragon had led the captives that were left down the street after no one in charge – even the gnome – had stayed to watch. The vampire hippy war protestors, of course, had followed suite: partly because they feared for the life of their leader’s daughter, and partly because they had nothing better to do.

And so, it was with an almost grateful sigh that the entire crowd had watched Dina reunite with her parents, and with fear in their hearts that they had watched the fragile girl finally break from the stress she had been under. In fact, some of them had begun quietly, amongst themselves, making bets on whether or not the girl would attack the dragon who had so rudely and arrogantly ignored the decency of being, though not a human being, a living creature.

And it was with such distracted eyes that the entire crowd happened to miss the forces that were slowly moving in on them. Not just a pack, but packs of packs of large, dark black wolves were slowly advancing from all sides. It was the forgotten half of the veil, the conveniently forgotten half. The dragon had expected them to be too dumb, and too confined to realize the freedom that had been granted. Oops.

The first attack struck the line of people who had not quite made it to the front of the crowd. Perhaps two hundred people had gathered around the perimeter of the police station’s parking lot, and it was those on the far end that first realized the danger. Well, felt the danger – no one realized until the first canine mouth had bit into a fleshy leg, and the scream erupted not seconds after Dina had finished her own.

Every creature – except those attacking, spun to look at the danger, and were hastily pushed out of the way by the SWAT team just seconds later. Complete chaos emerged, and every unarmed civilian rushed towards the police station, safety their only concern. Well, a few rushed towards cars. But, in any case, the humans scattered like sheep.

“Take cover!” The dragon roared above the human cries as he lifted into the air and rose above the scene majestically. There were already three humans that he could see down on the ground, moaning or not moving at all.

Jaer-al-loh had not honestly remembered about the werewolves that the creatures of the veil had unanimously voted into their own cage of fashion, made itself, out of veil material. They had figured that only the portal that they had seen had opened. They had been so eager to escape that they had not noticed when the entire veil had more or less dissipated, leaving the hundreds of werewolves contained, released.

Jaer-al-loh dived towards the sea of black fur and mangled bodies with a flame so hot that the pavement flickered in the heat. He hoped that the humans had been smart enough, because he could only direct the fire a little. Hearing only howls as the response to his fiery onslaught, he assumed that he was safe. Deciding the fire was out for a second, as he was heading speedily down with the force of gravity, the dragon lengthened his neck and dove quickly into the mass, landing on and crushing as many as he could.

“Daddy, what’s happening?” Dina asked her father from inside the bullet proof glass of the police station, where hundreds of people had gathered. Jacob Reedy looked down at his weary, broken daughter and shrugged.

“I don’t know, darling. But, we’ll make it out alive. We always do – and you have proven yourself more than enough these past few days.”

“Isn’t the dragon supposed to be killing us?” Dina asked. “He seems to like killing every other damn thing.” Dina’s voice was full of resent. Jacob, unsure of how to proceed, shrugged.

“I think he’s better equipped for this battle than we are. I don’t know what they are.”

“I do.” A fairy had apparently mingled with the crowd. The fairy zipped in front of Dina, just out of her grasp, as she currently had a death vendetta against anything with wings and a glowing body. “I sincerely apologize for Broon-dy-kao’s behavior. He went, as you would put it, insane.”

“So what’s going on?” Jacob gently led the situation away from his daughter’s experience. He didn’t really want to fund a trip to a mental institute – or pay for a fairy funeral.

“I remember, because I am older than most of my species.” The anonymous fairy looked at Jacob sadly. “Those are what you would call, werewolves. They did not have anything to chase or eat in the veil, and they became restless. They began picking off members of my species, and the council was called to put them in their places.”

“What do they normally… chase, and eat?” Jacob Reedy looked at the fairy suspiciously. He had an idea of what the fairy was going to say, and he didn’t like it much. Not one tiny bit, in fact. Who wrote the rules again?

“Their idea of a prime rib dinner would be a vampire.” The fairy said. “But humans, they’re like chicken.”

“What are fairies?” Dina asked, looking up with a sick gleam in her eye.

“More like dessert.” The fairy admitted, and flitted away, back into the crowd.

“Well, that was interesting.” Jacob growled, and looked down at his daughter with a tender smile. She looked back up at him, completely aware of what was going on.

“Was it just screwing with us? Or did it mean what it said?” Dina asked, fearing the response. Jacob shrugged.

“I don’t know, sweet heart. I wish I did, but I don’t. But, we’re safe here, for now. I’m almost thinking it’s time for us to leave Sedona. The past week has been insane.”

“Tell me about it.” Dina said, leaning into her father as if releasing some of the weight upon her shoulders. Thankful to the gods, Jacob threw his arm around his daughter’s shoulder. The only bright outcome of this ongoing situation so far had been the increased love and connection he felt between his daughter and himself. They had been slowly drifting, but these incidents had just glued them right back together. He was even feeling more tolerant, though not loving, towards his ex-wife.

“Are there places for vampires outside of Sedona?” Dina asked more quietly, trying not to be overheard by the nearby people.

“Of course there are, dear.” Jacob felt bad: he had only told his daughter when she had been released from the kidnapper the truth of his current health as a human. “There are plenty of us – all over.”

“How come I’m not a vampire?” Dina asked suddenly. Jacob stared down into his daughter’s eyes.

“Because the disease is passed through blood, not through DNA. So, unless I bleed on you, you’re safe.”

“What if I don’t want to be safe?” Dina asked. Jacob sighed, pulling his daughter closer to his body and wishing he could never let her go.

“Darling, being a vampire will not make you any safer from the lunatics and bad people in the world. It won’t even give you powers that are really, really cool. But, being yourself – and standing up for yourself and your rights – that will give you the power against those crazy people.”

“Are there crazy people outside Sedona?”

“They’re everywhere.” Jacob admitted quietly. “Lunatics are everywhere.”

Silent now, the two watched from one of the glass window panes the scene outside. Most of the humans had cleared out, taking cover from the onslaught either in cars which the subsequently locked, or behind the SWAT shields that had been set up. The dragon was doing most of the work, and the girl could see dead wolves everywhere that wasn’t blocked by ongoing battles. It had been a massacre – and not in favor of the attackers’ ambush.

Two figures pushed their way past the line of SWAT shields, struggling with the weight of a younger woman. They made their way towards the ambulance vehicles parked in front of the police station. The woman was crying, but they could not hear her over the roars of outside. Dina looked, horrified as the woman convulsed in pain. From what she could see, the dog had not just bitten her, but had actually taken a chunk out of her calf muscle. And her jeans. The door to the ambulance opened and the woman was rushed inside as quickly as possible, just as Jacob covered his daughter’s eyes and manually turned her around. They needed to find her mother.

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