Three black cars made their way up the twisting and winding switchbacks of the Hollywood Hills slowly making their way to the gates of the mansion of Ebenezer Chillton of the Chosen. The cars stopped and the first slowly rolled down its window and a man pressed the button, " His eminence here to see you" he said.
The gates parted and the three cars drove through the walls. The three cars circled around the half moon drive in front of the house and the middle car stopped directly in front of the doors. The rear door opened and two men dressed in Catholic vestments stepped out. The doors opened and Ebenezer walked out with Maresa and Charity close behind. " Ebenezer Chillton" Ebenezer said.
The older priest with receding grey hair offered his hand, " Father Mathew Carpenter of the Order of the Holy Blade" he said with a regal air, " this is my associate Brother Shane Harris."
" Welcome to Los Angeles, this is my daughter Maresa and the representative of our field agents Charity Li" said Ebenezer.
" Hello" he said.
" Please come in" said Ebenezer.
The pair entered the house and Ebenezer led them into his study. " Mr Chillton" said Mathew very formally, " we are here to formally announce our presence in Los Angeles and to request a situation report from you."
" Certainly Father Carpenter" said Ebenezer, " but first I would like to know what brings the Order of the Holy Blade back to Los Angeles after forty years."
" We believe that you and your organization are losing control of Los Angeles" said Mathew, " our forward approach will certainly bring this city under heel."
" With all due respect" said Ebenezer, " your forward approach like you use in Chicago will not work in such a wide area, you can't simply station men on every street corner and kill every vampire you see."
" Of course not" said Mathew, " but the Vatican has plans and we are here to implement them. We don't need to run them by you, we are simply here as a courtesy. Now your situation report, please."
" Certainly" said Ebenezer, " currently we are in a state of tension. Renegade vampires are becoming more brazen and conducting their activities with less secrecy. It appears that Dante's grip over the city is being to slip. From our reports it appears that Dante is becoming more and more paranoid. We just recently uncovered a stockpile of blood it looks like Dante believes trouble is coming. To add to our events we've had a werewolf sighting very close to a populated area, the excitement never seems to end."
" Thank you" said Mathew.
He turned and walked out the study, " Wow talk about being holier than thou" said Charity.
" He is" said Ebenezer, " he is a priest in the Roman Catholic Church."
" So these Holy Blade guys are the religious equivalent of us?" asked Charity, " and why did you have me track the GPS in their cars?"
" Our two organizations have had a rather difficult past" said Ebenezer, " on the surface we play nice and pretend like we're friends, but in private they are up to something and I want to know what. They left this city in the 60s claiming it was going to be destroyed by God for the excess and the sin and went back to their powerbases in the east."
" I'm willing to guess they don't have a chapter in Las Vegas" said Charity.
" No, they don't" said Ebenezer, " keep an eye on their GSP signals I want to know where they are setting up headquarters."
" No problem" said Charity.

" So who is this Sergi guy anyways?" asked Ophelia.
" Old friend of Malcolm's" said John, " they were friends back in the seventies."
" You'll love to meet him" said Jack, " a true one of a kind type of guy."
The car rounded a corner and saw a large used car dealership and towering above the lot was a massive gorilla holding a sign that read Gypsy Trader Used Cars.
" And this guy knows something about werewolves?" asked Ophelia.
" He better" said Malcolm, " his family has been hunting them for centuries, he is part of the Iliescu Gypsy Tribe."
" Gypsies, like bang the tambourine, tell your fortune, make a love potion, pick your pocket, kinda gypsies?" asked Ophelia.
" The same" said Malcolm, " but they've expanded into new rackets, like selling used cars and diet pills."
Malcolm slowly drove into the car lot and pulled up to the office. A giant 6'7" man with a barrel chest and a big smile on his face emerged from the tiny little office. " How was the drive?" he asked, " you know I could get you a much better car for a small fee and a trade-in."
" Wasn't bad" said Malcolm, " and I think John is partial to this old beater."
" Too bad" he said, his attention turning to Ophelia, " and hello to you as well, I'm Sergi Iliescu chief of the Iliescu Tribe and your humble host."
" Have you done any preliminary investigations?" asked Jack.
" I sent two of my men out to the site of the incident, we found tracks we're dealing with one rogue male by the looks of the tracks, probably a juvenile" said Sergi, " probably came out from the north looking for surf and sun."
" And unsuspecting people to munch on" said Jack.
" It is strange to see one of them so close to civilization" said Sergi, " my mother is convinced it is a sign of a growing storm."
Jack smirked, " And she said you would smirk too" said Sergi, giving Jack a soft punch.
" The woman maybe able to make some of the finest potions in all of California, but I have yet to meet anyone that can accurately predict the future" said Jack.
" You spend all day mixing potions and fighting vampires and you don't believe in psychics?" asked Ophelia.
" Nope" said Jack.
" Enough of Jack's grumblings" said Sergi, " head to our camp and find Sasha Iliescu, she is heading up the werewolf hunt."
" She good?" asked John.
" She better be, she is my daughter" said Sergi.

Jenna rubbed her temples and swallowed a fistful of aspirin. This was a nightmare and it was getting worse. Melinda dropped a folder in her lap, " Every break-in in the last six months" said Melinda, " 48, got this is a rough neighborhood, makes me glad I live on the beach."
" Because your house is in the water half the time?" asked Jenna.
" And the place is such a dump nobody thinks we have anything valuable" said Melinda.
Jenna put her feet up on the dash and began to scan through the incidents. Lots of it looked like juvenile stuff, kids were out of school for summer vacation and several looked like just kids playing pranks. There were a couple that stood out, they were close to Mystic Springs and looked a little more professional, but nothing even remotely close to the scene Jenna saw. " You think it might be an occult angle?" asked Melinda.
" Like Satanic Worshippers grabbing her organs to sacrifice to Satan?" asked Jenna.
" You never know" said Melinda, " remember the case we had in Griffith Park?"
" All right maybe" said Jenna, " has Alameda or Perez found any friends or family of the girl?"
" Couple of friends that lived close by" said Melinda, " according to them Christie was the nicest girl they ever knew and they couldn't even think of anybody that didn't like her let alone hack her to pieces. No family yet, the two girls said Christie mother was dead."
" God I don't want this to turn into some random crime" said Jenna, " let's go and talk to the super, bet he is going to love this."
The pair drove back to Mystic Springs and found the super, a skinny Hispanic man chain smoking in front of the building. " Are you two the detectives in charge?" he asked.
" Yes" said Jenna.
" I knew letting that girl open this shop up would be nothing but trouble" he said.
" What was she like?" asked Jenna.
" She was friendly enough" he said, " but a store that caters to unusual religions? Sounded strange to me and now look what happened."
" Did you see anybody strange hanging around the area lately?" asked Jenna, " during the day or after the stores closed?"
" We get a lot of bums in the alley" he said, " damn liquor store down the street sells them their stuff and they come up here to drink themselves stupid. She did have a boyfriend a while back, I really didn't like him."
" Why?" asked Jenna.
" He had a bad look to him" said the owner, " I meet him only once when I was fixing the locks on the dry cleaner's back door I saw him come out the back. Tall well built white man with brown hair and the strangest tattoo I've ever seen. It was green with a whole bunch of arms and nasty teeth. He looked over at me like he was sizing me up to rob me. Twenty years owning my restaurant I knew that look well. I kept an eye out for him but never saw him after that."
" When was that?" asked Jenna.
" A month ago maybe more" he said, " I'll give you her rental agreement, she put some names down as references, they might be fake, a lot of my tenants do that but if their not maybe they will help you."
He walked to the end of the strip mall and disappeared into his Mexican restaurant. He came back with a piece of paper, " When will you be done with the store?" he asked.
" We'll let you know" said Melinda.
" Rental space is at a premium these days" he said, " I would hate to lose money over this."
" See you've taken the American dream to heart" said Jenna.
" Hey you know how much my property tax is these day?" he asked, " I need all six open or I'm going to go bankrupt."
" We'll finish up as soon as possible" said Melinda.
" Thanks" he said, " weird religions, I knew my wife was right, nothing but trouble."
" So what to start hunting for guys with weird tattoos?" asked Melinda.
" No I want to run these names down first" said Jenna, " and then pay Kevin a visit."
" Great" said Melinda, " I was thinking about not eating for awhile."

The Iliescu camp was a trailer park northwest of Encino out in a dusty little valley. The trailers were setup in rings around a large canopy strung with Christmas lights in the middle. " Wagons are certainly different" said Ophelia.
" Lets go find Sasha" said Malcolm.
The four got out of the car and found the first person they could to ask where they could find Sasha Iliescu. The old woman smiled a toothless smile, " I might know" she said, " but my memory isn't what it use to be, possibly you could help me shake my addled brains."
Malcolm smirked and dug out twenty dollars, " It is coming to me, but at my age it isn't clear" she said.
Malcolm raised his eyebrow, " Okay, head down the lane, take a left when you come to the trailer with the twelve cats, head up until you pass the two broken Harleys then turn left again, go straight down that lane until you find the trailer with all the racy underwear hanging on the line that is Sasha's" she said.
" Thank you" said Malcolm.
" Glad to be of service" said the old lady.
The four wound their way through the maze like collection of trailers, first passing the trailer with twelve cats all sitting on the roof suspiciously eyeing them up, then passing the trailer with two Harley's with their parts spread across the ground, then finally to a trailer with lacy thongs and bra hanging on a clothesline strung between two trailers and the unmistakable sounds of afternoon sex echoing from inside the trailer. " Should we knock?" asked Jack.
" Let's wait" said John, " would be rather rude to interrupt such intense activity."
" Don't worry" said Ophelia, " he'll be done in a minute."
" Confessing something?" asked Jack.
" In college I got us to sitting out in the hall waiting for my roommate and her boyfriend to finish" said Ophelia, " in the beginning I brought a magazine, after a week I just counted to sixty and went in."
" So how was college anyways?" asked John, " none of us were ever college material."
" Nothing like advertised" said Ophelia, " think of high school only with optional attendance. I thought it would be different but the more things change the more they stay the same."
" Glad I didn't waste my time" said Jack.
" You didn't even graduate high school" said Malcolm.
" Like I said glad I didn't waste my time" said Jack.
" You never graduated high school?" asked Ophelia, " I thought you were the brains here."
" I am" said Jack, " I decided just to get my GED at 16 and started working for Chosen."
" How did they find you?" asked Ophelia.
" I blew up a chemistry set while trying to make love potions from a book I found in a pawn shop" said Jack, " I guess it set off their radar."
" Love potions?" asked John, " I thought you where trying to make gold."
" Its all the same" said Jack, " I managed to blow all the windows out of my parent's house and made the place smell like bad cheese for a week."
Malcolm looked at his watch, " Talk about a marathon" he said.
" I know" said Ophelia, " think he has a brother?"
Finally they heard the crescendo to the symphony of passion and Malcolm knocked on the door. The door opened and a naked girl with black hair and several tattoos stood there, " You must be the professionals" she said, still flushed and sweaty.
" We are indeed" said Malcolm.
" Sasha Iliescu" she said, walking out of her trailer still totally naked, " I've got four Weres to my credit."
" We don't need your resume" said Malcolm.
" Good, last time I had any dealings with you people I got a royal grilling" said Sasha, tugging a thong off the clothesline, " I'll take you to the sight of the first kill tonight if you want."
" No problem" said Malcolm, " what is your opinion of the attack?"
" Rogue male" said Sasha slipping her thong on, " young but with a serious vicious steak, I managed to sneak into the morgue and get a look at the pair, he shredded the guy, the girl, well, let's just say he played with her body a bit."
" He comes from the desert" said a man wearing a necklace of teeth and a pair of jeans.
" Meet my hunting partner Derek Quantrell" said Sasha.
" Hello" said Malcolm, " how do you know he comes from the desert?"
" The attack pattern" said Derek, " he circle for a long time and waited for the first kill and then immediately attacked the second. Weres from the mountains or the forest wouldn't strike the second so fast, our friend barely ate the guy before killed the girl."
" He will be tough" said Derek, " desert weres are mean bastards, probably all that fur in the heat gives them a mean streak."
Sasha pulled on some more clothes and put on a collection of necklaces. Derek passed her a large Weatherby Mark V hunting rifle before taking his own out. " You guys better gear up" said Sasha, " once we get out there he could be anywhere."
" Meet us at our car" said Malcolm.
" I'll pull the Jeep around" said Derek.
The four walked back out the camp, " What do you think?" asked Derek.
" The leader is cute" said Sasha, " but the girl had totally fallen for him. If you weren't such a great lover I would be all over him."
" I mean about our chances with the Were?" asked Derek.
" With them backing us up we'll have it killed, skinned and using it as a rug in a couple of days" said Sasha.
" Think your grandmother is wrong this time" said Derek.
" First time for everything, look it is just one rogue Were" said Sasha, " the only death that is going to happen in the mountains is his death."