A Scripta

They chased the darkness into Houston. Dmitrius wanted to get to Houston at a reasonable hour, and the plane touched down at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport at ten p.m. The two men went through security without an issue, and were waiting for their bags when Dmitrius turned to Kalius and spoke in their native tongue. "Old enemy standing at door two, the security guard."

Kalius passed his eyes over the area and noted the man, tall, gaunt, sunglasses, in a security guard's uniform. He didn't even look like he was breathing, he stood so still. Dmitrius and Kalius picked up their bags, and then Dmitrius turned to door two. Kalius said, "Reinforcements," noting four more men behind him.

"Behind," replied Dmitrius. Kalius passed an eye behind them to see two more men.

They started walking toward door two, not directly looking at the security guard. They got past him, and were quickly flanked by him and his friends. Dmitrius watched their reflection in a window as they passed by, the two men in front pulling their suitcases followed by half a dozen men in security guard outfits. Although it was late in the airport, there were still too many people around to get into a fight.

In the terminal itself, a few people were gathered to pick up passengers. Dmitrius scanned them and saw a black man in a suit coming toward them. He nodded to Kalius, and then went to greet the man. They shook hands warmly. Dmitrius turned to Kalius. "This is Billy McCain, he's a driver for Rowena. Billy, this is Kalius."

Kalius shook Billy's hand. Billy nodded to him.

"Sabbat still in control outside the airport?"

"Yeah," Billy said, and took their bags. "They let me in without a problem. Maybe they're busy."

Dmitrius nodded behind him. "Not really."

Billy met the security guards' eyes, and they melted away. He started walking to the front door of the terminal. Dmitrius asked, "So is there anything I should be aware of?"

"Rumors of your demise." Billy smiled at him. "They thought your sudden retirement was brought on by torpor."

Kalius knew that meant a sort of sleep that some vampires put themselves in, where they could sleep for centuries and not awaken. Most of the time they did it to heal from grievous wounds. Sometimes they did it out of boredom.

"Rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated," Dmitrius said as they walked out the doors.

"Noted, sir."

They went to a black Cadillac sedan, and Billy tossed the luggage in its ample trunk. Kalius noted that he handled the heavy luggage easily, so realized that he was probably a ghoul - a human with some vampire blood in him. Dmitrius explained that the human would be utterly devoted to the vampire, would do anything for him, and in return he would get some of the vampire's abilities in a lesser manner and only temporarily.

Dmitrius and Kalius climbed into the back seat. Billy got in. "Buckle up, I saw a couple of packs on my way in. They might not want to let us out."

The two men did what he said, and Billy eased out of the parking space. He stopped to pay his way out of the garage, and suddenly a couple of cars appeared before them. "DOWN!" Billy yelled, as some people jumped out of the cars. Kalius didn't see what they were doing, but Dmitrius grabbed him and pulled him down on the seat, covering him with his own body.

Billy gunned the car and peeled forward. People jumped out of the way - he deftly wove between the cars and used the sidewalk, barely missing a bus stop and plowing through the redlight, heading out to the main road. There wasn't much traffic at this time of night, luckily, and he roared through the main streets.

The rear window exploded, covering Dmitrius and Kalius in glass. Kalius could swear he heard gunshots. "Shit," Billy spat, and pushed the car to 90, tearing down the main road, ignoring red lights, heading to the highway. Dmitrius got up, shedding glass, smelling blood. He risked a glance at Kalius, but it wasn't his blood he smelled.

Billy had one hand on his neck, the blood flowing between his fingers. He glanced in the rear view mirror at Dmitrius. "I'll be okay. Need to get you to the haven."

Dmitrius, although he had fed and was satiated, licked his lips at the sight of the red fluid flowing from his neck. He took Kalius' hand to reassure himself that he didn't need the blood, that there was something more important to concentrate on.

Kalius let out a breath. "You always get this kind of welcome home?"

"Actually," Dmitrius said with a small smile, "Yes."