pROLOGUE VI : tHE sHAKEDOWN

Tempest enters the club, through a blacklight archway.
You will enter a room and they shall part to allow you a path. Your very prescence will silence them.
Eyes begin to wander his direction and whispers begin to fill the air. Tempest walks further into the club and as eyes meet his shades, they begin to step out of the way. He makes his way down the bar, feeling the glares and hearing the whispers.
One figure begins to walk towards him.
"And just what the hell do you want?" he asked.
"What I want is irrelevant." Tempest said. "What will be, will be."
"You got a problem, little man?" he asked, flashing his fangs and went to stick a pointing finger into Tempest's chest.

With lightning reflexes, before the vampire's finger touched his chest, a leather gloved hand snatched the finger, bent it backwards with an audible crack. As the vampire begins to scream in unexpected surprizing pain, Tempest headbutts the vampire, kicks out his left knee and from underneath his trenchcoat, unsheathes a shotgun. He cocks it and aims the barrel into the face of the vampire knelt by force.

"Garlic rock salt won't do anythin' fer yer already pale complexion, sucka." Tempest sneers, as the vampire stares at the shotgun barrel in submission.

"IT'S A REAPER!" a voice shouted.

Tempest kept aim of the shotgun on the knelt vampire, as the crowd begins to gather around in front of him in a crescent moon shape.
"Garlic salt won't kill him, Reaper." a voice said, and the crowd parts to show a figure with long dark hair. His eyes full of centuries of wisdom.

"Yeah, but he'll sure feel it in da mornin'." Tempest smirked.

The wise one with the long hair waves his hand magestically at the crowd behind him and they begin to back away, all except for one, a blonde female, dressed in battle armor and armed like an army with an assortment of weapons in her arsenal.

"I am Count Barnabas Collins, Reaper." he speaks with wisdom and caution. "We have been expecting you."

"Let me deal with this prey..." the blonde whispers to Count Barnabas Collins, as his hand raises to silence her.

"Are we to shed blood this night, Reaper?" Count Barnabas Collins asked.

"I don't bleed." Tempest sneers, relinquishing his shotgun aim on the knelt vampire, but a combat boot to his chest shoves him into the crowd to Count Barnabus Collin's right. "But da next set a fangs that tries ta touch me is gonna end up a pile a ash."

"Fair enough. "Count nods.
A dark haired female emerges beside the armored blonde and whispers to Count Barnabus Collins.

"You're not going to just let him come in here and kick us around, are you?" she asked.
Count Barnabus Collin's eyes do not leave the Reaper, however, he leans in her direction and says softly back.

"Do you wish for all of us to perish before it even begins, Skye?" Count Barnabus Collins asks.
Skye glares at the Reaper with a flash of her fangs and a hiss.

"Ya might wanna keep dat mouth over there, honey." Tempest sneers. "This shotgun ain't got buckshot in it."

Skye is through the air, fangs bared. She slashes downwards at the Reaper, whom sidesteps and as she swings upwards, her fist meets the stock of the shotgun. He spins the shotgun to knock her right wrist downwards, then yanks it backwards, then thrusting it forwards, sending the stock of the shotgun into her chest. Skye sprawls backwards, remaining on her feet, her eyes furious, as she looks back up at the Reaper.

"Whatcha gonna do, toots?" Tempest asked.

Skye roars with rage and begins a second charge. Tempest simply extends his leather gloved hand and Skye stops in her tracks, her eyes wide with surprize. His leather gloved hand clutches the air and yanks back towards him with force.

Skye's human body hits the floor, as he holds her essence in his leather gloved hand, a dim, smoky, ghostlike replica of her human self.

Tempest sheathes his shotgun and lowers his shades to look into her essence eyes.
"SOULBURN! THE REAPER IS COMPLETE!" the blonde with the arsenal shouts and the crowd, including Count Barnabus Collins begins to back away.

Tempest scolds the essence of Skye.
"This is gonna hurt ya...alot worse than it's gonna hurt me." Tempest sneers.
Tempest, with a forceful wave of his hand, throws the essence of Skye back into her body. Her body reacts with the impact and ceases to move.

The floor begins to open, the red glow of the flames of hell lights up the area. No demons this time, even Tempest is surprized to see Lucifer himself, shirtless, tribal tattoos and tinted shades rise from the opening.

"I see it has begun." Lucifer says. "I got this one."
Lucifer takes the lifeless Skye into hell.
"Don't have too much fun, Reaper." Lucifer lowers his tinted shades to show the flames of hell dancing in his eyes. "It makes more work for me."

"Yer gonna be busy, Luc." Tempest assured Lucifer.
"We shall see about that." Lucifer sports a sneer of his own back, and the opening to hell closes.
Tempest focuses on the rest of the gathered.
"Anyone else up fer a lil trip ta hell?" Tempest asked.
"It does not have to BE LIKE THIS!" Count Barnabus Collins said furiously.
"And whadda ya suggest, Count?" Tempest shrugs at him.
"There is more you need to know." the armed blonde assures the Reaper. "We only have untill the next full moon before the werewolves come. There is much you need to understand."
"Livid..."Count Barnabus Collins began, but Tempest interrupts.
"Oh, I understand it all." Tempest said. "Neither one a yas gonna get that amulet."
"If that is all you think is to this, then all is already lost." Livid sighs.

Tempest's eyes squint in puzzlement underneath his tinted shades and he recalls a question Torrence asked him earlier...
"What if it fell in your hands, Reaper?" Tempest could hear her voice in his mind.
"Come, Reaper." Count Barnabus Collins invites, as he places an arm around his wife. "There is much you should know."

Tempest glances at Livid, whom even has lowered her guard with a touch of sorrow, but still has enough ferocity in her eyes to instantly be a force to be reckoned with.
Tempest pauses, looks around the room and sees that obviously something has changed over the last thousand years. His mind races with everything he was taught. Everything the voice told him...and at this very moment, he only heard two things. The sweet music of a violin singing in his mind and the silence of what he did not understand...