The Tale of Two Brothers

Hey guys, this is the intro. I have been working on this story very VERY hard and I promise, if I find out that it has been stolen or placed somewhere NOT where I have specifically put it, I will pursue legal action. Seriously.

Now, onto some better things:

This story centers around Nathaniel and Tucker, two wolf brothers turned vampire. Well, Nat is the vampire. Now. He stayed away for 10 years and now, Tucker has found him. What the fuck is going to happen now you ask? Well, read on dearies!

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Open water, no land for hundreds of miles. Oh, how he heated it. In fact, he hated even the thought of large bodies of water but alas, here he was, on a boat...out in the Atlantic. Instead of staying in the cramped room he'd been assigned, he was out on deck, leaning over the railing and watching the dark waters. It was night time and the moon was out. Not many others were around. He would have expected more for it being a cruise ship but it might have just been late enough for the parties to be over and the bar to be closed.

Brought out of his thoughts by someone bumping into him, he turned and watched as a group of men clad in long robes strode past, mumbling apologies. Face steeling, he watched them pass and noticed the holy symbols adorning their necks. It wasn't a symbol he was familiar with. One of the men turned just enough to stare at him and he stared right back, until his name was called.

"Mr. Forrester!" he turned at the sound of his name and watched as a man ran up to him, out of breath and handed him something. "This is for you." The last was said low enough that only he could hear it and he nodded, looking deep into the man's eyes.

"You will go back to your room. If anyone should ask, this never happened. You don't even know who I am. Now go." The man blinked, as if in a daze, and turned around, walking back to wherever he slept. Making sure no one was paying attention, he looked down to the envelope and opened it, then started walking towards his small room. Inside, he locked the door and walked to the small cot. He'd already pulled out the contents of the envelope.

Inside lay six gold cased bullets with a stamp he'd seen a few times over the last couple of years, a note, a package of photographs and a packet of information. The first thing he went for was the note.

Nat:
The job parameters are as follows: Secure the targets locations, take them out, clean the scene and report the hit back to the contractor. Take out any who stand in your way. If you fail, the contractor will take another hit out on you. As proof of the kill, he wants the ring from the right pinky of each man. Destroy this note.

With a grunt, he reached to his pocket and looked around. Smoke detector. With a closer look he noticed it was tamper proof. Damn. It wasn't just oceans he hated but most electronics. They didn't get along with him and vise versa. If he didn't need them to survive, he wouldn't have anything to do with them. Looking down at the note, He folded it and shoved it into his back pocket. He'd just destroy it later.

Reaching over, Nat picked up the photos and looked over the faces of the men -or women- who'd become targets for assassination. He nearly choked. Setting the photo's aside, he picked up the packet of information and flipped through the pages quickly. He didn't need to actually read the pages, he just had to glance at them long enough to absorb the material on them. Having a photographic memory came in handy. Especially for his job.

After looking through the packet, he looked back to the photos and studied them. The men pictured were apparently responsible for the deaths of several beings in the last few months. The beings who were murdered just happened to be found by -none other than- humans. After an insane amount of cover up and several other murders to cover up the beings who were murdered by these men, no one who was human was any wiser on the subject of there being other things living among their populations. Living in secret was a hard job without it being made even more so by a bunch of fanatics bent on "destroying the monsters." Yes, there were some beings who weren't human in any way and could be considered monsters but they kept to themselves and if they got out of line, they were dispatched.

The men in the photos were the real monsters. According to the reports he'd received after the murders, these men were the ones responsible for the rape and dismemberment of two females along with the skinning and beheading of three males. The two women had been heading up a secret foundation that helped maintain the secret of the other races on earth. They were sirenae. The men on the other hand, had been lawyers and the three of them were siblings. They just happened to be red wolves. they were murdered because somehow, someone found out about their lineage.

The faces in the photos matched the ones who'd bumped into him on deck. Wondering vaguely, he thought of why nothing -other than the way they were dressed- stood out to him. They didn't smell any different than normal humans and they sure as hell didn't look like anything other than humans so what were they? With a shake of his head, he grabbed up the sat phone he'd brought with him and punched in a long familiar number. After the second ring, a voice came on the line. Soft and feminine.

"Jack and Jill's."

"Black Five."

"Heya Nat. How goes the hunt?"

"If this line weren't encrypted I'd have to kill you for that."

"Could you really do it?"

"If I knew Jack wouldn't hold my head later, yes."

"Rude, as always. Hang on, let me get that bag of bones for you." He was put on hold. With horrible elevator music. Jill enjoyed annoying the hell out of him and in turn, he got to be as rude and as blunt as he wanted right back to her. After three agonizing minutes of old music, another voice came on the line. This one was gruff, low and belonged to the only being on the planet even more lethal than himself. Jack Richards, number on assassin extraordinaire. By day he ran a bakery. If Nat hadn't been afraid of him, he might have laughed at the thought. An assassin running a bakery.

"What?"

"Just as welcoming as your wife I see."

"If you didn't threaten to kill her on a regular basis she might be more welcoming."

"If she had more brains, I wouldn't threaten her anything." Jack chuckled but his voice grew ever serious.

"Why are you calling?"

"The targets have made contact, albeit a little differently than expected. They are under the cover of religious figures."

"What are you worried about?"

"The symbol around their necks is unfamiliar to me but whenever I think back on what it looked like, I get the feeling they aren't just human."

"No, they are real monsters those. Did I tell you what they did?"

"I saw the report."

"Then get it done." The line went dead. With a small sigh, Nat closed the phone and just as he was about to stand, a very loud sound made him jump to his feet. Screams soon followed and so did the unmistakable sound of gun fire. Without second thoughts, Nat grabbed up the black jacket he'd wore on the ship and the duffel bag that carried his baby. Inside the bag he stuffed the information, pictures and bullets then unlocked the door and started out of his room.

Outside his room, he noticed one of the robed figures had uncovered a gun and was dragging people from their rooms. A noise from behind him made him turn. Nothing there. Growling out a small curse, Nat moved back into the room, shut off the light and stood next to the entrance. When the door burst open he reached. There was a holler but with quick, precise movements, he snapped the man's neck and dragged the gun out of his grasp. Nat dragged the dead man's body into the room and shut the door, flipped on the light and started searching the body. The man wasn't just packing a gun. He had a few sick looking throwing knives, a machete, a few blocks of C4 with the primers and detonator along with the ammo for the gun in his hands.

This was no good. The cruise ship was being taken over. By men he was contracted to kill. What else could go wrong? As if the Fates thought to make a joke, clapping caught his attention. Freezing in mid motion, Nat scented the air and frowned. He turned and his eyes widened.

"Hey brother."

Damn.