#comets return

Montgomery drew in a long, steadying breath. Vampire spawn. Scum, but scum that paid well. Vampire dust -- to the discerning eye -- was of course only purer and more valuable if you were able to get the older vamps. Fortunately, Montgomery was selling vamp dust to someone with far less discerning eyes then his own. Machete gripped in his right hand and a stake gripped in his left, Montgomery crunched down into the gravel of the catacombs. The dim light didn’t hide the obvious signs of the spawn and it didn’t take Montgomery long to pull the vial of bait from their belt. Within moments they were swarmed with three spawn. Easily more then Montgomery would’ve needed for this particular job, but a few extra supplies weren’t going to be the end of the world. The first Spawn snarled, darting forward through the dark. Montgomery’s machete sliced through the air, decapitating the vampire into a pile of ash. Montgomery pivoted on their heel, bringing the stake through the second vampire’s heart and watching it collapse. Without hesitation, Montgomery ripped the stake from it’s chest. Satisfied by his work, Montgomery began to whistle at a low pitch as they began collecting the vampire dust. 

Tracking down a target wasn’t anything new for Nell— not when she’d made a life of it in the past few years. But this was different. This time, her prey was more important than it had ever been before, and much more personally charged as well. The man who had hunted her. The man who had killed her sister. The man who was responsible for her still troubled sleep, always on edge as if he or someone else were going to appear out of the woods, tranquilizer in hand to hurt her, her friends, and her family. The sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears was a testament to the adrenaline pumping through her veins, razor sharp in her focus as she made sure Bea and Luce were beside her, in position and ready to go. She nodded to each of them, signaling that Montgomery had finished his own hunt, and it was time to finish their’s. Her hellhounds were already summoned beside them, and with a tap on Shaggy’s shoulder, she sent him towards the Hunter, cast in the darkness that the catacombs provided. He was low to the ground, careful per Nell’s instructions as he let out a low whine that almost melded with the tone of Montgomery's whistles, joining the hunter’s song until the hellhound’s whines grew into a low, eerie howl that echoed off the craggy walls. They’d waited long for this, and with the full moon quickly approaching she’d known they needed to act now, or else she’d be left magicless to deal with the man whose actions  seemed to have been the beginning of everything going wrong. Tonight would be the night he'd finally pay his penance for the scars he’d left on each of their souls.

When Nell had led them down into the creepy tunnels under White Crest-- the Catacombs?-- Luce had been less than thrilled. But, it did little to dampen the vengeance that still burned within her. Montgomery had gone for far too long without facing the repercussions of his actions. But, just as retribution had come for August, it was coming for Montgomery now. What did they have to lose now anyways? Their coven? Their family? They’d already lost those. All they had left was each other. And they were going to make him pay for all the anguish and suffering he’d put them through. As Shaggy made his way to Montgomery, his belly practically pressed down against the dirt, Luce glanced over at her sisters. She wanted to let the fire dance from her fingers, let the flame lick the sandstone walls of the catacombs. Can I set the fires? Or should we wait? She asked, relying on the magical link that they’d set between the three of them. She would wait, if that’s what the others thought was best, but she wanted to watch the panic grow in his eyes when the fires spread. She wanted to witness the very moment he realized there was no escaping the Vural sisters. 

Months. They had to wait months to begin the hunt. Bea understood why, of course, the injuries they had all sustained, both physically and mentally, needed to heal. She hoped that the Hunter had let himself forget the women he had wronged, she hoped that he thought himself safe from them. She wanted to see the realization in his eyes when he understood what their presence meant. Start the fire, Bea thought to her sisters, nodding forward for them to start their approach. Bea couldn’t be sure he would remember her, but she did her best to make it easy for him. She had purposely dressed similar to the outfit she had died in. She wanted her sisters to appear before her. She wanted the Hunter to think this was a simple case of revenge rather than knowing his kill had crawled her way out of death. She used her magic to begin to rattle the bones around them in the catacombs. Let the Hunter know he is prey now. 

Montgomery heard the low whines of something, and turned his eyes on the darkness. Spotting nothing. Hairs stood on end. Shivers trickled down his spine and he couldn’t help but swallow nervously. Normally everything was planned for and accounted for. But there was always some level of surprise to every hunt. Whether it was a change in the wind or whether it was an extra kill to be made. As the bones of the catacombs began to rattle, sweat poured down Montgomery’s back from the exertion that he’d given to the killing of the spawn. Clutching the vials of vampire dust that he had collected, Montgomery’s hand slipped to his holster and his hand curled around the revolver sat there. “Who’s hiding there?” Montgomery asked curiously. Fake it till you make it. It had been a hunter’s motto. He couldn’t remember the fool's name. Montgomery had never had been one for faking anything, but maybe just this once. Swallowing, they peered into the darkness, daring someone to make a move. 

As Montgomery turned, and his face came into focus, Nell’s stomach began a tumultuous gut reaction. First, it dropped like a rock, her fight or flight reminding her that this was the man who turned her life upside down. This was the face she’d seen when she’d been convinced she was going to die. The hands that had ended Bea’s life. The heaving feeling was quickly replaced with anger, pure and hot as he reached for his gun. They’d have to get rid of that. Without warning, Shaggy dived forwards, aiming to clutch Montgomery’s hand and gun between his teeth, trying to disarm the hunter of his initial weapon. In tandem, Nell darted out from the shadows, taking advantage of the distraction to jerk a hard and swift knee between Montgomery’s legs. They needed to get him down before they could do what they wanted. To make sure he couldn’t fight back. To make him pay for all he’d made them and countless others lose. “Hey, Monty.” Her tone was sickeningly sweet. “Thought we could do with a rematch.”

At the nod from Bea, Luce sent the fire creeping around the edges of the room, low and barely flickering. Like snakes, the streams of fire wrapped around the perimeter, docile and low. She watched. And she waited. Watched him pinch vampire dust into tiny vials, watched the sweat drip down the back of his neck, watched him reach for that gun. In an instant, Shaggy and Nell struck, the two of them lashing out against the man. With a laugh, Luce fed the flames, their blue tongues leaping into the air. The room was illuminated in an eerie glow as she stepped forward. He didn’t know her, hadn’t seen her that night. He didn’t know that he’d wronged all three of them when he’d raised his sword against her sisters. But he would now. Stepping forward, she let fresh flames trail across the skin of her arms. With a smile, she nodded at Nell. “We thought it was about time for a little hunt of our own.”

Bea let her sisters walk forward some paces before slowly following them. She heard the sounds of Nell attacking him, heard the hellhound, heard Luce’s fire. There was no way this man had a chance against them. Bea hoped he thought he had a chance, she hoped he fought and failed. As she saw the Hunter, a shark-like smile began to tug on her lips. She had been starving for sometime now, hollow without her vengeance, and now she was staring into the eyes of her meal. Unconsciously, Bea licked her lips. “I don’t think we got a proper introduction last time we saw each other, Montgomery. I’ve been dying to change that, I’m Beatrice Vural. I hope you don’t mind that we’re here to return the favor.” Her shadows swam at her feet, vicious little things ready to strike out if it came to it.

Montgomery was confident that he could deal with one Vural and her pet mutt, after all dealing with her sister and taking her head as a trophy had been easy enough until the arson attempt at his home. As a knee caught his legs, Montgomery grunted in pain and collapsed down to one knee, bringing him to eye level with the hellhound. As it leaned forward, saliva frothing from its maw as it prepared to snap down on Montgomery’s hand, his finger curled around the trigger and tugged at it, letting off a shot. The explosion at the end of the revolver rang out in the cavern catching the hellhound in its front shoulder. It yelped in pain but Montgomery realised that they should’ve been more concerned with everything other then the hound. A sapphire conflagration enveloped a second figure who stepped out of the shadows. Montgomery didn’t recognise her, but she looked like Penelope and Beatrice. Confused but ready for a fight, Montgomery’s stomach didn’t truly give out until a third figure came into view. “No, you’re dead…” Montgomery’s tone was rough and hoarse, full of disbelief. He’d spent hours gazing into her eyes as they hung suspended In formaldehyde. “I guess I’ll just have to do it again.” Montgomery could barely grunt the words as he tightly gripped his machete, turning and slicing at Nell in an attempt to gain some space. Any advantage that he could gain might get him out of here. 

Nell’s ire only grew stronger as Shaggy yelped. It tugged at her heart, but she knew the hound would be okay. After all, the demonesque dogs were built to take a hit or two. Next came the other two hellhounds from the shadows, eager to taste the blood of the man who’d hurt their brother. Almost as eager as Nell was to spill it- to savor it. Montgomery dropped down, and Nell didn’t have to imagine how he’d felt on that day while he stood over her anymore. For as he went down to one knee, and she watched the top of his head droop, the sense of power she’d been chasing after ever since that day had come to pass blossomed in her. It mixed readily with the rage pooling in her belly, and her eyes watched sharply as the machete that had most likely been the one to behead her sister, swung in her direction. “Drop it,” she demanded in a darkened tone, letting the magic she’d been practicing on Bea’s reanimated corpse flow through her savagely as she tried to twitch the gun and knife from his hands, bending his fingers against their own will. The same magic that had been unlocked in her on that cursed day.

The otherworldly glow of the blue flames danced across her skin as Luce stalked behind Nell. She could feel the fire within her growing, changing, just as it had the night she’d rescued Nell from the Ring. It sparked and crackled within her body, but she tamped the magic down. The delicate patchwork of scars across her chest tingled at the sensation of the lightning that rippled beneath her skin, but now wasn’t the time. No. This was just the hunt. She’d save the lightning for later. Instead, she curled her fingers, the blue fire  from around the room slithering across the floor, encircling the four of them. She kept her magic in check near her sisters, taking care not to burn them, but spurred the eager flames near Montgomery, She let them dance and jump, barely restrained. He was the reason for her blue flames, he was the source of their misery. It was about time they inflicted a little misery of their own.

“To have survived as long as you have, I expected you to be smarter,” Bea tsked as a shadow began to move toward the Hunter. “You aren’t going to do anything again, not after us. I won’t die again because of you.” The shadow slid up his ankle and tugged. She had little control over her shadows, but fueled by her anger, they seemed to listen carefully to what she wanted. Once he drops the weapons, we’ll restrain him. Bea was under no assumption that he wouldn’t be dangerous without his weapons. Each other magicks were newly acquired and Bea didn’t want to give him a chance to run.

Montgomery was sure that he had been in worse situations then this. He always survived. That was why he was such a damn good hunter. That and preparation. But he hadn’t been given the chance to prepare to have his own body betray him. As he fought the sensation of his fingers releasing the gun and the knife, he watched them clatter to the ground. Unable to speak for a moment as he fought against them, but whatever magic these women had access to kept him in place and Montgomery wasn’t sure how to beat it. He of course had plenty of other weapons hidden around him. A flash bang grenade in the small of his back. A small pistol in his boot. A knife strapped to his calf. More weaponry on his belt. But weapons wouldn’t help him now. “Three against one is so very brave of all of you,” he spat the words out with vitriol and hatred, “I get it, you couldn’t take me on my own so you had to team up. Real smart. You’d better hope that you kill me because if you don’t I’ll make you wish you’d never come back from the dead.” He wouldn’t keep her head as a trophy this time. He’d burn it.