Though it was the primary responsibility of the Hunters to kill the Vampires and the Guardians to protect the Hunters as they did so, under these circumstances it was completely permissible for a Guardian to engage any and all attacking Vampires. All of them posed a threat at this point, so most of the Guardians were on the offensive as well, seeking out the predators before they could turn their attention to the Hunters they were assigned to.

Aaron was forced to take this position as well because he couldn’t keep up with Cadence. Any attempt at situating himself between Holland and Cadence was out of the question as soon as Cadence took off. Cadence knew as she marched on in pursuit of her prey, she was making it increasingly more difficult for him to judge exactly which path she was taking to reach her goal and to head her off. However, at this point, she was more concerned about getting Holland than she was being protected as she did so.

Cadence knew she would probably have a clear shot at Holland within twenty yards of reaching her, which she was closing in on now. But she understood that Holland was betting she wasn’t planning on using a gun to kill her. Otherwise, she would have never called her out. The rest of the Vampires knew that Cadence was off-limits, and after seeing how quickly she was taking out any of them that entered her proximity, most were staying as far away from her as possible.

Many of the humans had either fled the scene or had fallen victim to the Vampires within the first few minutes of the battle. Originally, they had made good screens for the Vampires to wind their way through to close in on their Hunter targets. However, with fewer humans, there were fewer places for the Vampires to hide, and their numbers were starting to dwindle. Though Holland’s strategy to outnumber the enemy almost four-to-one sounded good on paper, it wasn’t holding up against the far superior weapons her enemies employed.

Not all of the Vampires were having such bad luck, though. Chantal was engaged with a towering brute; his club-like fists had knocked her weapon out of her hand, and before either of her teammates were able to train their guns in his direction, he had severed her arm, plucking it from its socket as if he were defeathering a chicken. Hearing her scream, Sabin turned and fired, making the attacker pay with a direct hit to the heart. She rushed to her friend’s aid, and Genevieve covered them with her guns as Sabin attempted to stop the bleeding.

Aaron was standing close by. He couldn’t stop to assist because he was trying to keep up with Cadence. “Jamie, we need you in the back by the stage.”

Jamie was doing what he could to assist Stormy, but she wasn’t in dire need of his assistance for certain. “I’m on it,” he shot back to Aaron and headed toward Chantal.

Elliott was able to take out quite a few Vampires from his location after all, especially since the crowd had dissipated. Now that the number of Vampires was diminishing, he ascended to the roof of the building so that he could make sure no reserve forces were about to infiltrate the location and to begin to ascertain how best to go about the clean-up process. In situations like this, it was never easy. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people had now had an experience either inside or outside the club. Generally speaking, the best way to convince the masses that they had seen nothing paranormal was to utilize the media, and he was hopeful that, when those sirens he could hear off in the distance reached them, they would be accompanied by a news van or two. “Clear on the exterior,” he reported before making his way down to the street level to begin the second half of his assignment.

Cadence had reached her destination. Holland stood across from her in the center of the room. A few fallen bodies scattered the floor around them, but for the most part, the area was clear. Holland had increased her height, stretching to a seven-foot tall towering specter. Her arms had lengthened and her teeth were bared. Still, Cadence was not frightened. She had full confidence in her ability to take this bitch out once and for all, thoughts of Drew’s face flickering across her mind. “Are you ready to end this?” she asked, tossing her Glock aside.

In response, Holland tossed the top of her head back, opening her jaw almost 180 degrees, and roared. Cadence could feel a rush of warm air billow through the space between them, filling her nostrils with the stench of death and the rusty smell of blood.

She removed the two Berettas, discarded them, and tossed her jacket as well. She could see Aaron shaking his head off to her side, but she knew what she was doing. The rest of the room was almost clear of Vampires, just a few more meeting their demise in the darker corners of the club. Holland’s entire clan had been eliminated, at least those present, and she was more than pissed. She had nothing to lose.

Holland made the first move, stepping forward and swinging her claws at Cadence’s head. Cadence was able to dodge her with no problem. However, when Holland swung her other arm around, she did so quickly, and it caught Cadence a bit off balance. She stepped backward, recovered her balance, and used Holland’s disproportion to her advantage, delivering a swift kick to her stomach. With her elongated skull, it caused the Vampire to become top heavy, and she reeled to the side. Holland wasn’t stupid, however. Recognizing that her attempt to frighten Cadence with her appearance was working to her own disadvantage, she quickly brought her body back together, regaining her more human form. Cadence wasn’t expecting this tactic, and she had to reformulate her plan of attack. She only had a second, however, before Holland threw herself at the Hunter, the force of her body causing Cadence to fall on her back. Cadence used both legs to kick Holland off, and she went shooting into the air, landing about fifteen feet behind where she had been standing. This just provided Holland with more of a running start. This time when she launched at Cadence, however, the Hunter was ready. Just as Holland was about to land on top of her again, Cadence sidestepped and kicked out her leg, sending Holland tumbling to her right. She hit the ground hard this time, and Cadence took the opportunity to jump on top of her.

From Aaron’s perspective, this was excruciating. His entire purpose in life was to protect Hunters, and the one that he wanted to defend more than any other wouldn’t allow him to assist at all. He knew that, if he needed to, he would shoot Holland without hesitation, despite any protest onlookers might make regarding a fair fight. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to Cadence. Period.

Right now, it didn’t matter, however. She was winning. Cadence held her knees against Holland’s hips and chest. Though Holland was attempting to claw Cadence off of the top of her, she was unable to land any blows in her present position. Cadence was attempting to gain a forcible enough grip on Holland’s head that she could sever it, but she was having trouble doing so because of Holland’s sharp claws. They were like razor blades and could easily slice Cadence’s arm open or removed a finger. Holland was able to catch Cadence when she was adjusting and didn’t quite have her balance yet. The Vampire used her feet as leverage and pushed up, knocking Cadence off of her and to the ground. Holland threw herself at Cadence, and though she didn’t have time to jump up, she did spring her legs out, catching Holland, sending her flying through the air. She landed on one of the tables, shattering glasses and bottles and spraying bits of glass into the air.

Despite the glass, Cadence heaved herself at Holland, pinning her down on the floor. She had her by the throat now, putting all of her pressure against the ancient bones in her slowly elongating neck. Holland attempted to claw at her again with her fingernails. Cadence pinned her left arm down with her knee. She caught Holland’s right hand with her left and began to squeeze. Holland could not scream because of the pressure Cadence had on her neck. Within a few seconds, Holland’s tendons began to pop and tear. Twisting seemed to help, and Cadence pulled up, ripping Holland’s arm off and tossing it away.

Holland’s last attempt to save herself was to mutate her mouth, trying to grow her teeth long enough to swing the top of her head down at such an angle as to catch Cadence’s arm, but the Vampire was very conscious of the breaking ligaments in her neck. Now that her left hand was free, Cadence was able to apply even more pressure around the Vampire’s throat.