Scarlet Dawn

by Megan J. Parker

  Axle frowned, “The Council?” He sneered, stepping back, “You’re a clan warrior?”

  “Don’t sound so surprised, ass-hat!” Serena glared, “And I’ll have you know I’m a clan leader!”

  “Oh…” He sized her up again, “Slim pickins for your kin, I see. My condolences.”

  As Serena lunged for the bag, he yanked it away and swiped his leg out, taking her legs out from under her and sending her flat on her ass, glaring up at him.

  “I think I’m going to like this city a lot more than I thought,” Axle smirked and turned away, starting towards five hooded figures who appeared behind him; each one toting their own bag of stolen loot.

  “You are going to pay for that!” Serena called out after him, jumping back to her feet.

  “I’ve got the cops driving in circles two blocks east of here, boss,” one of the hooded figures—an auric from what Serena could see—called out to him, handing him his bags. As the others also forfeited their cargo to their leader, they all looked back towards Serena, “You want us to deal with that?”

  Axle shook his head, “No. I think I’d like to see her again in a future adventure.” Glancing back, the therion winked at her, “Until then, doll.”

  “Doll?” Serena started towards them, “You little—” An auric blast caught her off guard and sent her sprawling back. By the time her head stopped spinning and her eyes regained focus, she saw the last of the rogues jumping out the window. “God dammit!”

  Sprinting after them, Serena launched herself through the window and, still airborne, caught sight of Axle and his gang driving through the streets towards the highway. Below her, Zoey was already pulling the car around.

  “At’ta girl, Zoey!” Serena smiled and threw out her purple aura, securing a hold on the car and pulling herself into the driver’s seat right as Zoey slipped back into the passenger side. “You feeling better?”

  Zoey rolled her eyes, “Does it make a difference? Just get after them!”

  “Don’t gotta tell my ass twice!” Serena pushed in the clutch and slammed her foot on the gas as she threw the car into gear. The sound of gears violently meeting echoed into the night and the sudden lurch caused Zoey to let out a breathy squeal as they peeled off after the rogues’ car. “Couple of pussies in a pussy-ass Jag ain’t getting’ away from me!” She grinned as she sped after them.

  Zoey frowned, “Isn’t this a Jaguar too? What’s the difference?”

  Serena rolled her eyes, “Theirs is red! Don’t you know anything about cars?”

  “Not entirely confident that you do…” Zoey bit her lip.

  “It’s really quite simple,” Serena started. “You see—motherfuckers!”

  As they began to catch up, Axle made a sharp left onto a side street, forcing Serena to interrupt her speech and quickly jerk the wheel to keep on them, their car fishtailing and nearly spinning them out into the sidewalk.

  “Serena! You’re going to get us killed!” Zoey cried out as she hunched forward, looking sick to her stomach.

  “Asshole’s grandmother must’ve taught him how to drive!” Serena growled as she righted the car and began to chase them down once more. The chase worked its way from Main Street onto a highway onramp, where the two wove around several slower moving cars.

  As the two cars roared down the nearly-empty interstate, Serena began to close in on them. She watched as Axle, motioning to one of his gang members, sacrificed the driver’s seat and jumped onto the trunk of his car.

  Zoey frowned, “What is he…?”

  As the two watched, the hand Axle was using to stabilize himself shifted and transformed into a muscular and clawed therion hand. Digging his fingertips into the car and securing himself, Axle smirked and used his free hand to casually wave at Serena.

  “HEY, DOLL! WASN’T EXPECTING TO SEE YOU SO SOON!”

  “That pretentious… the fucking nerve!” Serena growled as she shifted gears and floored the accelerator, bringing the chase to over 100mph.

  “Serena! You’re going to overheat the engine!” Zoey cried out.

  “He is not getting away, Zoey!” Serena smirked, wrapping her bright purple aura around the car and the car began to lift off of the street.

  Noticing this, Axle called back to his gang. A moment later, an orange aura surrounded their car as well.

  “You cheap bastard,” Serena shook her head. “Zoey! I need you to slow them down!”

  Zoey nodded and Serena watched as a bright blue auric tendril reached out from her chest and began to strike at the orange aura that was carrying the gang’s car.

  “That’s it, Zoey! We’ve got him now!” Serena smirked.

  In a clash of blue and orange, Zoey’s jabs at the orange aura caused it to lower the car to the street so that it could lash back at her attacks. Unable to see auras and, therefore, oblivious of the scene around him, Axle glanced back at his crew as his car began to slow down. Serena grinned at Axle’s confused look as she pushed with her own aura to move their own car closer.

  “That’s right, you son of a bitch! We’ve got two aurics, and you’ve only got—oh, come on!” Before she could finish, Serena spotted a green bolt extend from one of the other members of Axle’s gang and snake its way back, joining his comrade in fighting off Zoey’s efforts.

  “Serena! I don’t know how much longer I can hold them off!! Their auras combined are too much!” Zoey cried out.

  “Shit! I know, Zoey! Just hold on a little bit longer! We’ve almost made it up to them!!” Serena called out as she forced the car to gain even more speed with her auric hold.

  “SERENA!”

  Zoey’s warning came too late as Axle hurled himself from the trunk of his car, his body exploding into his full therion form before landing on the hood of their own. Though he’d transformed in his more bestial form, Axle had retained the soft-yet-muscular features and dirty-blond hair.

  “I thought they shot Ol’ Yeller,” Serena growled between clenched teeth, using her aura to rock the car in an attempt to shake their unwanted company.

  Axle stumbled, but once again used his metal-piercing claws to secure himself to the car’s siding and went to work ripping a hole in the hood.

  Zoey whimpered, trying to keep her strength as she pushed back another attack. “Serena, I can’t keep this up much—”

  “I know!” Serena growled, trying to see past the hulking beast to the car ahead of them, “Just a bit longer, Zoe! Please, you can do this!”

  Axle drove his clawed hand into the depths of the car and Serena heard the engine begin to sputter as he began ripping the guts from under the hood.

  “What are you doing to my baby, you fucker?” Serena glared, wishing she could strike out with her aura but knowing she’d be dropping their car onto the unforgiving street at over 200mph if she released a portion of her hold on it.

  Tossing a few of his prizes over the side of the car, Axle began to transform back into his human form. “It’s nothing personal, toots,” he offered when his face and vocal cords were back to normal, “but you are cramping my style. Call me sometime, though.”

  Serena glared, “You ass-sniffing mong—HEY!”

  But Axle had already leapt back to the trunk of his car, securing himself in place at the driver’s seat once again.

  “Ser-en-a!” Zoey’s voice cracked with each syllable as she fought to hold the aurics’ forces back. As her hold on the battle wavered, her aura shifted and broke—withdrawing back into her chest—and the two aurics, now free to reach the car, seized Serena’s own and broke her hold on the car.

  As the tires made contact with the street, they began to feel their gained momentum lag as they slowed down. Slamming her foot repeatedly on the gas but finding no reaction from doing so, Serena began cursing as the now-smoking car stuttered and began to skid out of control off the road and into the Nevada desert.

  “Bastards! Those fucking bastards!” She ground out between clenched teeth, slamming her fist against the steering wheel
with each word, bending it inward until it finally was torn free from the dashboard.

  “Serena…” Zoey said flatly, not taking her eyes from the night-bathed desert ahead of her.

  “Don’t say it, Zoey. Don’t you dare even—”

  “Next time, I drive!” She grumbled, ignoring Serena’s growls as she pitched her head over the door and finally threw up.

  Axle smirked, watching in his rearview mirror as his pursuers disappeared in the distance.

  “Man! That was close!” Axle smirked. “Well done, boys! You really did me proud back there! I was almost afraid she’d get us.”

  “As if! She was not even close to getting us!” Tristan grinned, “Though it was the first time I’ve ever had to lift an entire car just to avoid being caught. Wouldn’t mind doing that again!”

  “None of that was supposed to be fun!” Drake growled, turning to glare at the other three in the back.

  Frowning, Axle stayed quiet as he took an exit off the highway and started up the road towards the gutted factory.

  “That was too close for my liking,” Drake went on, “And if we intend to stay here and do what we’re doing, we have to do this right.” He narrowed his eyes at Tristan, “If Lucas hadn’t jumped in with his aura when he did, then that blue-haired bitch would’ve smeared us all over the pavement… and I think we all know that snarky dyke would’ve finished whichever of us weren’t already dead!”

  “Oh come on, Drake! We made it, didn’t we? We got the money and we got to stick it to the local law!” Shayne paused and shrugged, smirking, “Though the one with blue hair was kind of cute! Had a sort of Sailor Moon vibe to her.”

  Quinn frowned and shook his head, his sangsuigan fangs extended in response to his irritation. “No! Drake’s right! We’re not here to have fun and play Cops and Robbers with the local clan! We have a job to do and this stunt nearly fucked it up!”

  Axle frowned and shook his head, “Drake! Quinn! Chill-ax! We got the job done, but if either of you thought that we’d dodge the officials forever then you were both fooling yourselves! Everyone did exactly what needed to be done back there, and, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re here! Nobody’s dead and the money is where it needs to be!” He looked over at Drake, his childhood friend, whose body was so tense that it was noticeably beginning to shift into his therion form. Resting a hand on his shoulder, he sighed “Don’t worry so much. You drove like a beast back there, man! How could you think we’d not come out of this alright when you’ve got moves like that? And you”—he looked over at Quinn—“you made some great calls back there! I hadn’t even realized what those vamp-chicks were doing before you made the call to Tristan to take us off the road… literally!” He nodded to them, “You guys did great, but don’t take out your tension on the others; they’re just letting off a little tension after our big encounter. Either way, I can handle them.”

  Sighing, Drake nodded and allowed his body settling back in its human form.

  As they pulled up to the old factory, the tension began to subside. After Axle parked in the cracked and dusty parking lot near the long-unused loading area, he nodded to the others to collect the bags and glanced over at Lucas, who bit his lip as he felt a pair of eyes on him.

  Offering the shy auric a reassuring smile, Axle nodded, “You really saved our butts back there.”

  “Th-thanks,” Lucas’ shoulders eased noticeably in reaction to the compliment.

  Axle gave him a pat on the shoulder, “Keep an eye out for anything while we get the bags inside, okay?”

  Lucas nodded and stepped out with the others, leaning against the car and closing his eyes to let his aura do what it did best, nodding to him when he was certain that there were no unwanted onlookers.

  As the group brought the bags inside, they were greeted by the many excited cries of children, who rushed towards them to celebrate their return.

  “Oh no! They’re gonna get us!” Quinn play-cried as he saw the wave of young mythos orphans, and he quickly let go the two bags he was carrying and dropped to his knees to play-wrestle with the kids that honed on him in a group tackle.

  Axle smiled, seeing Quinn laugh and play. Though it was hard to get him to operate on any setting but “serious” anywhere else, the moment he was around the kids the fun-loving side emerged. This, however, came as little surprise to any of the crew, who knew of Quinn’s own history of growing up in such a setting. When he’d turned eighteen he decided to join Axle and the others to help raise more funds to keep the orphanage afloat. Though he was the youngest in their group, what he lacked in age he more than made up for in dedication. It was this dedication that had driven him to train and become one of the strongest sangs—young or old—that Axle had ever known.

  “Man, I hope this all works out for them,” Lucas stepped beside Axle. “Do you think that someday these kids can have a better place to stay? This isn’t fair for them.”

  Drake frowned and shook his head, “All that money and access to resources and The Council can’t help?”

  Axle shrugged, “Their parents lived as rogues—unregistered and denouncing any system—so, as far as The Council’s records go, they don’t exist.” He looked back and sighed, “It’s sad, yes, but The Council can’t do anything about the things that so many have gone to such great lengths to keep them blind of. It will get better for them soon enough, though. I promise,” Axle frowned as hefted three of the bags and headed further inside.

  Getting to the top of a flight of stairs, he turned towards the gutted office, already hearing the muffled pitter-patter of tiny footsteps nearing behind him. Grinning, he pretended not to notice the sound until the source was nearly upon him, then…

  “GOTCHA!” Dropping the bags, Axle turned in time to catch the young vampire in mid-jump, “Oh, look at that! Your teeth are coming in nicely, Fang,” he smiled, noticing that one of the young sang’s fangs had grown longer than the other.

  Fang was one of the newest additions to Sierra’s orphanage, having been brought there a week earlier after Axle had first arrived. Though he’d been born to innocent, unregistered rogues, their lack of shelter had made them and their child easy targets for a group of mythos hunters. By the time Axle had come across the scene, Fang—who had expressed a preference in Axle’s nickname for him over “Jace”—had already lost both of his parents and one his fangs. The humans were about to pull out the other, but had come to an untimely end at the end of Axle’s claws.

  “I know! I bit Elrik earlier to show him, but he didn’t like that,” Fang grinned.

  “You bit Elrik?” Axle chuckled, “I’m sure Miss Sierra didn’t like that, huh?”

  “No, but Elrik liked it even less,” Fang giggled and bounced in Axle’s arms, “Are you going to stay longer today? I want to play!”

  “I can’t today, bud,” Axle smiled softly, “but I promise next time I’ll stay longer. We’re just here now to drop off some things for Miss Sierra.”

  Fang pouted for a moment.

  Behind Axle, the sound of high heels clacking down the hall picked up as Sierra started towards them and Axle smirked, looking over his shoulder at her. She still had the same long, straight black hair and deep green eyes that she’d had when they were kids, but her years and assumed responsibilities had traded her once bouncy and casual demeanor with a stoic formality that only seemed to wane when Axle was able to rob a moment alone with her. It was his and Drake’s childhood friendship with the sang vampire that had carried their investment in her efforts with rogue orphans as well as introducing them to the vampires of their gang. Because all of Sierra’s initial efforts for the kids had been paid from her inheritance—an inheritance that had soon run out—the urgency for supplies had motivated the group to do all that they could to keep the hope alive…

  Even if their methods did get him into trouble with The Council.

  Setting Fang down and retrieving the bags, he held them up and smiled, “There’s two more downstairs, I’d have brought them up,
but Quinn was already drowning in kids and I think it’s gonna take a full team to extract him and the bags he brought—OOPH!” He nearly toppled over as Sierra all-but threw herself around him in a tight and thankful embrace.

  “Thank you so much, Axle! You really don’t know how much this means to us!” She whimpered, snuggling her face into his chest, “I get so worried, though. I just wish there was another—”

  “None of that,” Axle felt his chest tighten and he softened his face as he pressed his palm to her tear-soaked cheek as he lifted her chin. “It’ll be alright from now on. I promise,” he smiled warmly and wiped a tear from her cheek, “No tears now, alright?”

  She choked out a chuckle, nodding and quickly wiped her face and looked back to the bags and sighed, “I don’t want to see you imprisoned by The Council. They can be ruthless!”

  “As if they could catch us,” Axle smirked. “I’ve been doing this every night for a week now and there are zero leads. Nothing. For the humans and The Council’s lackeys.” Though he wasn’t happy about lying about the warriors they’d been lucky enough to escape from, he knew that telling her would do no good for either of them. Though Axle was proud of his therion roots, he often wished that he had the powers of an auric vampire—powers that would allow him to manipulate and shift emotions—to offer some aid to Sierra, who was prone to panic attacks. For a sang, she definitely didn’t have the strength and confidence that ordinarily seemed the norm with her kind, and he constantly worried about her wellbeing given all the responsibilities she’d taken.

  And what would happen to her and the kids if they were ever attacked…

  As Axle started to pull his mind from the nerve-wracking thoughts, he heard the others starting up the steps behind him.

  “Hey, Sierra,” Tristan called out, “Did Axle tell you about the warriors that chased yet?”

  Axle dropped his face into his palm.

  “Chase?” Sierra’s eyes went wide, “What kind of chase? Who was—”