Hunted Blood II: Dark Reign Ch. 3

Waiting longer than he had wanted, Stone and Mariko left the dojo. He had made her change clothes before they left. Mariko had came out dressed in her kevlar reinforced bodysuit. Stone had shook his head. This was a recon mission, he told her. She had left, and she returned dressed in a blue evening dress. It was somewhat sheer, with a slit up the side that showed her shapely, tanned legs.

Michael was dressed in one of his best Armani silks. He looked every bit the part of a wealthy American businessman. Mariko looked as much like an expensive Japanese prostitute. Their facade was a shroud for two deadly hunters of vampires.

Stone drove Mariko's four-door Toyota down the winding mountain road. It was night, and it was cold. The car's heater had not yet warmed the interior of the car. Stone could still see his breath. A glance at Mariko's chest showed the outline of prominent and hardened nipples atop the swell of her breasts. Outside, a brilliant moon shined upon the landscape. The lights of Tokyo skylined before them.

"You seem impatient, Stone-sensei," Mariko noticed.

Michael glanced quickly at her. "You need to get used to calling me only 'Michael'", he told her. He received a polite nod. "And, I may seem that way, but I am not. However," he added, "I am ready to see this particular mission end. I had plans for a vacation."

"A vacation?" Mariko smiled. "To what part of the world are you off to?"

Stone smiled slightly. She probably thought that he would go to Paris, Rome, or maybe the Austrian Alps. To him, however, a vacation meant a trip home.

"To see my father," he answered.

Mariko's eyes widened in astonishment. She had assumed that Stone was like most other hunters in The Organization. An orphan. She was, and she had no idea who her parents were.

Stone nodded. "He has a farm in Indiana," he began. He then told her the story. Stone's father, John, had been a hunter as well. John Stone was one of the few in The Organization's long history to become a Director. John was not appointed by a government. He had been selected by The Organization's Council of Directors based on 'job performance'. It wasn't long after that John Stone's wife, Jeanine, became pregnant. She died shortly after Michael was born. She was killed by a vampire. Michael's father had designed much of the parameters within which the present-day hunters operated. He had retired ten years ago.

Michael maneuvered the car through the crowded streets. The neons glared upon the black paint, shining their hideous light without mercy. Stone parked the car in a partially sheltered area that belonged to a photographic equipment company. They were within a block of the target area. An area that Osato-sensei had remarked as being possible hunting ground. It was area filled with nightclubs. Nightclubs that particularly catered to the appetites of businessmen, both American and Japanese alike.

It was the third one that they entered that made Michael's blood chill. Inside, with the garish neon lights bathing them in an eerie glow, were vampires. Stone slowed his breathing, centering himself, assuming the posture of the wind. He glanced, and to his relief, saw that Mariko had done the same.

They took a table, where a waiter took their orders for drinks. Stone then took Mariko by the hand, pulling her to her feet. They headed to the dance floor, where speakers blared out a hip-hop song in Japanese.

Stone held Mariko close as they began to gyrate their hips to the music of the bump-and-grind beat. He spoke into her ear. "They are all around us," he said to her. "Male and female. I have never seen such a concentration of them in one place."

Mariko felt his breath as it tickled her ear. She reached up and smoothed her shiny, black hair away from her face. She pressed her ear closer to him, feeling the light brush of his lips against it. A shudder ran through her. Her arms went around his neck, pressing her pelvis against his leg, riding his strong thigh. "What do we do?" she asked, looking up at him.

"We wait," he told her. "This is a recon mission. Stay centered and focused. We will return in daylight."

She started to speak again, but Stone silenced her with a slight smile. He then pushed her away from him, and took her hand. He pulled her from the dance floor and headed towards the exit.

Outside, Stone glanced up. The building was as he thought. It was tall, at least four stories. There were no windows at all above the first floor. A likely nest for the creatures, he knew.

Michael and Mariko disappeared onto the crowded sidewalks. They had walked for half a block when Mariko suddenly looked up at him. "The car is back that way," she said.

Michael nodded his head. "I know," he said. "Keep walking."

"What is wrong?"

"They knew we were human sooner than I knew they were vampires," he told her. "There is one following us now."

Mariko knew better than to turn around. But, she did not know what to do.

Stone understood this without her having to say it. "Taking her out is our only option," he said.

"Her?"

Michael nodded. "She was standing near the door when we entered the club. Japanese. Short hair. Wearing a black leather skirt."

Mariko nodded again. "I remember her," she said. "How did you know?" She had been trained in their recognition, but she saw no tell-tale movements, or the extreme blank stares from this one.

"It comes after many years of experience," Stone answered. "You learn to pick up on the vibe that they give off after a while. The only way you can do this," he explained, "is when you shut off all your mental emissions, and exist only in mushi-no-in."

Michael looked at her intently as they turned the street corner. "The reason we left so quickly is because I knew that you had slipped your concentration. They felt you. Instantly they knew that you were afraid. So did I."

"How?"

"I could sense it," he said. "And you are afraid now."

Mariko looked down at the sidewalk. Stone pulled her close, then quickly turned into an alleyway that ran behind several shops. They walked a few paces into the alley, to the point where the lights from the street only cast shadows. Michael pushed her up against the cold wall. He put his strong hands on her thighs, prodding gently for her to open her legs. Mariko complied, moving the slit of her dress high, opening her strong, tanned legs. Michael slipped in between them. He looked into her eyes.

"She will be here any second now. Be ready." Mariko nodded, then looked down, between them. Stone was quietly fitting a small sound suppressor onto the muzzle of his Glock 36.

Mariko noticed that Stone's lips were only a fraction of an inch from hers as he spoke. "You will have to tell me when," he said.

Mariko watched out of her left eye. She saw the opening of the alley. There were a few people passing by, some thirty yards or so across the street. Then she saw the vampire.

The female turned quietly off the street. It seemed to see the two figures against the wall. Either they were about to do it, or they had just finished. Mariko saw the vampire smile. She came down the alley at a slow pace. Smiling. A brilliant smile. And then Mariko saw the fangs.

"Now," she breathed.

Stone turned, in one fluid motion, and extended his right arm. The muzzle of the silencer-fitted pistol came to rest only seven feet from the female vampire's head. Stone pressed the trigger to the rear. A soft thud, hardly louder than a cough, came from the pistol. It coughed twice more.

Mariko cringed at the sight of the blood that spattered across the wall behind the vampire. The three rounds from the .45 had turned the thing's head into a pulpy mass.

Stone looked only for a brief second. Just to make sure it was dead.

--

They now had the task of removing the body from the alley. Mariko wondered why there wasn't a team that went around and did this. She did not like it at all.

"I guess you think we should be able to speak into a radio and say 'Clean up on Aisle Ten'?" Stone asked her.

Mariko laughed. "It would be much better than this," she said. "This sucks."

Michael agreed with her. He had picked the remains of the vampire up, and had carried it onto the roof of one of the shops. It was hidden behind several exhaust vents. But, Stone knew, the morning sun's rays would strike it upon sunrise. And it would burn.

No one really knew why they burned. Vampires had an intense sensitivity to direct sunlight. It caused their blood to boil and their bodies to combust. It was known, however, that no particular part of the sunlight was responsible. Experiments had been conducted with UV, IR, and visible spectrum rays to find the source. It had been surmised that it was the combination of all of them, in the complete spectrum of natural sunlight that was responsible.

--

They made their way back to the parked car unhindered. Stone drove in silence back to the dojo.

"Why so quiet?" Mariko asked.

"I'm thinking, Mariko-san," he told her. "About our return to the club. I don't think that you should go."

Mariko stared at him for a cold second. "But," she started.

"I am not sure that you are ready."

"There is no way in hell that you can take them all on by yourself. I am kunoichi," she almost yelled. "I am trained to kill them, just as you. You must take me."

Michael said nothing as he parked the car. They both got out, and as Michael was opening the door, Mariko grabbed him by the arm.

"I am going with you," she stated flatly.

Stone said nothing. He took her hand off his strong bicep and entered the dojo. He left her behind as he walked to his room in the anterior part of the large facility. He undressed. Michael changed into a kimono, grabbed a towel, and headed out the door.

Stone arrived at the large wood-sided tub. He touched the water and found it to be pleasantly hot. He shed his kimono and entered. The water came up to his chest as he sat down. He closed his eyes and drifted away.

Michael was startled from his meditation by the sound of soft footsteps on the wood floor. He looked up to see Mariko approaching. She was dressed in a black kimono like the one he had worn. She stepped up to the tub, her eyes never leaving his. She untied the belt, and let the kimono slide from her shoulders. Stone heard the soft rustle of the silk as the garment piled upon the floor.

She was indeed beautiful. Her long, black hair reached well past her shoulders. Her skin was dark and tanned. Her breasts were small, but very firm and capped by dark, crinkly nipples. Her smooth skin almost glowed, he thought, tracing her curves with his eyes, across her stomach to the vee between her legs. Stone saw that Mariko shaved. Her vulva was clearly visible in the dim light of the room. Her pussy looked swollen, the two lips puffy between her legs.

Mariko stepped into the tub. She said nothing, sitting down into the water opposite him. Stone looked into her eyes. She had not apologized for disturbing his meditation. She had not said anything, as a matter of fact. His gaze went lower, to her hardened nipples. And then he saw her mouth. The tiny, pouting lips, opening slightly. He could see the tip of her tongue. He felt his semi-erect cock grow to full size.

He could not restrain himself. No master of the arts could have kept himself away from the ripeness of the woman in that tub. Stone moved quickly. The water sloshed as he went to his knees in front of her. Her arms went around his neck, pulling him close. Michael reached under her, gripping her ass, and picking her up. He lifted her until he felt her thighs close around his hips. And then, in one movement, he was inside her. All the way inside her. He pressed his mouth against hers to muffle her cry of pleasure.

He pushed up and into her several times before she broke from his kiss. Her arms went tighter around him, her face burying into his neck. Her teeth were clinched, her lips pulled back as he shoved his cock into her over and over again.

Suddenly, he picked her up again. He sat her on the small edge of the tub, balancing her on her ass. Her arms were around him as he continued to unrelentingly fuck her. Her legs locked themselves around his waist. He could feel the heels of her tiny feet digging into the small of his back.

He supported her with one hand, while the other cupped her breasts. He squeezed them, pinching her nipples. Mariko bit her own hand to keep from screaming as she came.

The position, with her supported on the edge of the tub, had been perfect. Each thrust of Michael's cock raked against her hardened clit, causing the orgasm to build. The pinching of her sensitive nipples had sent her over the edge.

Michael stopped as Mariko's pussy contracted around him. He could feel the undulations of her vaginal walls as she came. He waited quietly and patiently as she gasped for breath.

When her breathing had slowed, she looked at him and smiled. Michael said nothing. Instead, he buried his cock in her as far as he could. He grabbed her hair, balling it into his fist as he fucked her deeply. He was close. So close.

Mariko knew nothing except that Stone-sensei had filled her slippery pussy up once again. Her last orgasm had just ended, and a new one begun as his cock pressed against her clit with each thrust. She felt him get faster and deeper with every stroke. She looked at his haze filled eyes and saw his face was tight with the impending orgasm. She felt his hardened body tightening.

"Inside me," she whispered.

The dam broke. Michael shuddered as he emptied his come into her. Mariko pulled him tightly against her as another orgasm swept her body. They stayed embraced for a moment. Then, the sudden fatigue stuck him, and Stone slipped back into the water. Mariko did the same.

They said nothing to each other. They simply sat still for a moment, their breathing returning to normal. Stone watched the flush fade from Mariko's cheeks. She just gazed into his eyes.

Then she saw that familiar look return. He was no longer her lover. He was once again Michael Stone, hunter of vampires. He stood and stepped out of the tub. He grabbed his towel and dried off. He put his kimono back on and turned to leave. Stone stopped, and looked over his shoulder.

"Get some rest," he said. "We leave in six hours."

Mariko smiled as she watched him walk away.