"Don't let it happen." "Don't open it." "Don't do it." " Sponge." " Ah!" "Deep breath, sweetie." "This might sting." "Ripped By mstoll" "I think we woke the neighbors." "Screw 'em." " I got a better idea." " Yeah?" "What's the problem, asshole?" "Ready to answer my question?" "I didn't know you asked one." "If you weren't running, you would have heard it." "Whoa!" "Okay, okay!" "Ask me the question." "Sands." "A vampire." " You know him?" " No no." "Yeah yeah, Sands." "Yeah yeah, I know him." "I was his personal familiar for a while." "I quit 'cause the perks were shit." "How do I find him?" "Man, how the hell would I know?" "Okay!" "Shit!" "God damn it!" "The guy's got a habit:" "Gambling." " He hangs out in casinos?" " Uh-huh." "He got a favorite one?" "I don't know, man, something shitty." "Something with bad lighting." "He doesn't like to be looked at." "He got pretty messed up a while back." " What, that's it?" " Bonus question." "Great." "You pissed off the House of Chthon." "Do you know how?" "Yeah, I ashed a heavy hitter." "Winston Haupt." "Haupt?" "You sure?" "Two years ago, I watched him serve up a Cub Scout at a party." "I'm sure." "Hey hey... hey, do not take my money!" "That is some bullshit!" "Hey." " About you ashing vampires..." " Yeah?" "Keep it up." "Got the tags?" "Yeah." "Car belongs to one Patricia Barton." "Waitress, married, mother of three." "Disappeared someplace between her last shift and her home in Spearfish, South Dakota." "I went to her wedding." "They were about to adopt." "This connected to that rest-stop thing at Sturgis?" " What thing?" " Just came in." "A trucker vanished from a rest stop." "Lots of blood, no body." " Whoever it was torched the cargo." " Where's the truck?" " Have to ask Sturgis." " You ask them." "Please." "I'm told you're not drinking enough." "The more hemoglobin your body metabolizes, the faster you'll regenerate damaged tissue." "Allow me." "The curative properties should be particularly potent." "I just fed." "I'm sorry about Fritz." "His demise was an unfortunate necessity." "One you recognized and acted upon." "Otherwise Blade would've taken him." "For preventing that, you have my most sincere appreciation." "Only a few have faced Blade and survived." " I guess I got lucky." " No." "You had an angel on your shoulder." "How are you feeling?" "Thankful." "It's amazing sometimes... how things work out." "Krista needs her rest." "And I think we can leave this door unlocked now." "Oh, and Krista?" "Don't forget to drink." "Oh, thank you." "What's this?" "For services rendered." "You found Cain." "Is he dead?" "Man's doing a public service." "What, by keeping people hooked on dead vampire ash?" "Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad." "Well, from my side, it's all bad." "Well, if you can't use it..." "No, wait wait." "No, I can use it." "I can use it." "Listen." "I'm out here treating the symptom." "And, yeah, you're going after the disease," " no doubt about it." " What's your point?" "There might be another approach." "Not for me." "Good luck." "You know this is all gonna end bad, don't you?" "It always does." "Krista." "Thank God." "Are you all right?" "Where did I get this?" "I can't remember." "I gave it to you..." "your sixth birthday." "Honey, where have you been?" "We haven't heard from you in days." "I've been busy." "Well, where are you staying?" "Uncle Pat's been looking everywhere." "I'm sorry." "Honey, are you in trouble?" "Just trying to make things right... for us... for Zack." "For Zack?" "Oh, Krista." "What are you doing?" "I'm just..." "I'm just letting you know, uh," "I'm not going to be around for a while." "Mom?" "Mom." "Here, here." " Go over here." " No, I'm okay." " I'm good." " Sit down." " What's the matter?" " I'm fine." "I just don't want to lose you." "Krista, if anything bad happened..." "Zack's gone." "You're all I have left." "I know we've had our troubles..." " Mom." " I just want time." "I want to get to know my daughter again." "I want it like it was." "There'll be time for that." "But I need to do this first, and I need you to trust me." "Please." "You're so cold." "If I can track you, so can Chthon." "I had to see my mother." "Get in." "If Marcus even suspects you still have a link with your past..." "Marcus spends his time renovating old buildings." " I don't think a link to my past..." " That's his cover." "Yours doesn't include dropping in on Moms." "If you're pissed about Fritz, it..." "No." "You played it right." "How's that healing?" "Slowly." "Good." "Now what did they give to Fritz to make him immune?" "It's called Aurora." " What is?" " Some kind of vaccine." "Marcus made it." "No." "Someone made it for him." " Any ideas about that?" " No." " Are they all on it?" " I don't know." "Get me a sample." "Sure, I'll get right on that." "And while I'm doing that, what are you going to be doing?" " Looking for a vampire named Sands." " Why?" "He may be one of Marcus's failed experiments." "See if he can lead me to the doctor in charge." "I didn't sign up for this." "Yes, you did." "You wanted to know what Marcus is up to, I told you." "If I get you this vaccine, this Aurora thing, that's your proof." "After that, I'm done." "Come on." "Son of a bitch!" "Used to be a halfway respectable joint." "Now they let about anybody in here." "Let's go." "Or what?" "You gonna stake me right here?" "Take a hike, daywalker." "Eye in the sky's watching you." "It's a stupid game!" "I come here all the time, I never win!" " I destroy this place!" " Uh-oh." "I am Godzilla!" "I play all the time!" "I destroy this place!" "I am Godzilla, you are Japan!" "You stupid!" "Okay, go ahead, kill me." "See if I care." "This living forever thing ain't nothing but one long bust." "What, are you gonna sunglass me to death?" "Wondering about the scars." "Go to hell." "What do you want?" "I want to know who did that." "Okay." "You want information, I want to keep breathing." "So here are my terms..." " God!" " Here are the terms:" "You talk and you get to keep your rotting dick." "Junk grows back." "Then I'll be busy." "Gentlemen!" " That's off-limits." " Oh, uh, it is?" "I'm sorry, I didn't know." "This place is like a maze." " Where's the kitchen?" " Marcus wants you." "Now." "You don't trust her, do you?" "I trust your judgment." "That wasn't the question." "Yes, it was." "And how are you this evening?" "Bored?" " You can say it." " No." "Just wondering what I'm going to be doing for the next few hundred years." "Some decades I wonder the same." "I'm a bit shorthanded at the moment." "I need you to make a delivery: 140 Park Place." "Give that to Vanessa, care of Carver, Schultz." " Is that a law firm?" " No." "Well, do I need to know what's in the bag?" "Do you?" "The clock is ticking." "Evening, boys." "This is a private game." "I got my invitation right here." "Hey, hot stuff, Johnny Black on the rocks." "Hold the rocks, make it a double." "You were cheating vampires?" "Yeah." "Mostly scum from the House of Armaya." "You fleeced Armayans?" "And I thought you lived dangerously." "2,000." "Raise." "5,000." "Whoo." "Well... got to be in it to win it, huh?" "Call." "Whoo." " Cheat!" " Hey, today must be my lucky day, you know?" "Think again, hot stuff." "I walked right into an ambush." "They dragged us out, and they locked us up in cages right there." "Whole operation was right there... lab, scientist types... and lots of knives." "How did you get out?" "A few weeks later, I found a loose brick in a wall." "That led to a crack in the foundation." "So I crawled through, dug my way out." "Some of the others were behind me when it all hit the fan." "They didn't make it." "Pal, I been reading faces a long time." "Yours is telling me that you know exactly what's going on." "Who carved me up?" "The hired help." "Research scientists that work for one of the Houses." "Res..." "researching what?" "Tell me." "What was I there for?" "Wh-what was I there for?" "What I need from you is a name... the doctor in charge." "I don't have one." "Okay, no one used names, no nametags." "Okay." "Let's go." "Go where?" "Back there?" "No fucking way." "I'm not going back there." "No, no." "Just in case." ""Carver, Schultz."" "Excuse me." "You wouldn't happen to know a Vanessa, would you?" " Who?" " Vanessa." " Who?" " That's okay." "Never mind." " I don't know Vanessa." " We don't know a Vanessa." "That's okay." "Thank you." "I think you missed all the fun." "Yeah." "Congratulations." "Blah." "I'm just glad the damn thing's finally over." "Vanessa's been expecting you." " Vanessa?" " I'm going as fast as I can." "Sorry, I thought you were my boss." "No problem." "I'm just making a delivery." "Is everything okay?" "Tell the doctor I said thanks." "Sure." "Uh, which doctor should I thank?" "I work for a few." "Okay, seen enough?" "Can we go now?" "I mean, you get the point, right?" "There's not much to see here, so..." "Keep it up, he's going to nail your jaw shut." "Well, looks like a dead end to me." "Now, can you just take me back to the Nugget or kill me, please?" "Oh!" "Or you could smash my head through a wall." "You want the six or the nine?" "The nine should do." "Watch our backs." "Hey, how about I get one of the big weapons?" " Shut up." " No, really." "My timing's off, I got this thing with my eye." "Seriously, shut up." "They kept 10 of us in here, all from the House of Armaya, except me." "First two weeks, they didn't feed us..." "no blood, no nothing." "Then when we were too weak to stand," " took us out one by one." " And did what?" "We're not talking about that." "The lab was down here." "Let's get this over with." "Stop." "Four aces, my ass." "How you doing?" "I'm hungry." "Buffet's closed, pal." "Time to fold 'em!" "We got to go!" "I got one last thing I got to kill." "Get out of here:" "You're done." "What?" "Don't make him say it twice." "I think we may have got the doctor's number." "How?" "Trace those." "Tell me who bought that." "Might just be another Van Sciver front." "Might not be." "Hope you don't mind." "Pretty." "Where'd you get it?" "Found it." "What are you doing?" "Seeing what you have to wear." "These aren't my clothes." "I don't know where they came from." "We pick a few things up here and there along the way." "You make the delivery?" "Yeah." "Did you peek?" "I bet you peeked, didn't you?" "No." "We're going out, just you and me." "Still haven't found the truck driver." "But if the prints are in the system, we should get a hit by tomorrow." " You said there were pallets?" " Mm, right over here." " What was the cargo?" " Based on the cremains," " we think it was people." " Alive?" "Dead folk don't need oxygen." "What is this?" "Sex trafficking, illegal body parts?" "I've never seen this before." "For the record, the truck has Michigan plates, but there's no record of any company based out of Michigan... or anywhere in the country for that matter..." " by the name of American Butcher." " Huh." "That's a hot fire." "To get this kind of ash, you need 1500°." "In the truck?" "It's barely burned." "Not likely when the fire lasts two seconds." "So how does that happen?" "You got me." "This is interesting." "This pallet's pretty much untouched." "There's no ignition source." "Either there was nothing on it, or maybe somebody came along and took what was there before doing the driver and torching the cargo." "What's this got to do" " with your kidnapping?" " Maybe nothing." " It was just a busy night." " And weird, very weird." "I'll be over there if you have any more questions." "My name's Sara." "Hi, Sara." "I had a rough week." "Not that anyone cares all that much." "But I got through it." "One day at a time, right?" "Look, I'm not gonna stand here and play victim." "Sure it'd be real easy." "I could tell you my ex-husband was a real sick bastard... tell you how he'd get wasted and smack me around, bring his buddies home so they could have their turn... but that's not who I am anymore." "That pathetic, cowering little girl is long dead and buried, along with all the nightmares and all the suffering." "Nobody gets to hurt me anymore." "Nobody." " Are we done yet?" " Just setting the hook, honey." "Trolling for the dregs, the ones no one will miss." "Well, all right, Sara." "Takes a mighty strong woman to do what you did... and I love strong women." "That would be my addiction of choice." "If you had a choice." "Name's Theo." "Pleased to meet you." "Who's your friend?" "Oh, that's Chuck." "Chuck!" "Chuck, meet Carol." "Hey, Carol." "Hi." "I mean I just go to the meetings for the coffee." "Yeah, so I've been rebuilding the thing for about a year now." "It was my dad's truck," " so sentimental reasons and all that." " Sure." "Hey, Carol?" "Do you think maybe you kids might want to run off and have a good time?" "Run off where?" "Well, we're going in here." "If this alley's a rockin', don't come a knockin'." " Your friend's pretty funny." " Yeah." "So how long have you been sober for?" "No." "What do you mean no?" "Oh, you need a drink to loosen up, right?" "You stupid bitch." "Theo?" "You've got to get out of here." "Hey, you all right, man?" "Theo!" "Jesus Christ!" " What are you doing?" " I, uh..." "Are you gonna eat that?" "Don't sweat it." "A public kill takes a little getting used to." "We-we should go." "Just a second." "After you." "Everybody okay?" "We're fine!" "My boyfriend just passed out." "Okay." "Okay, according to customs, the entire production batch was shipped from the manufacturer in Pennsylvania to a clearing house in the Ukraine, where it sat for nine months before being shipped back to the U.S." "And sold to one Ravenson Wholesale Medical, right here in Detroit." "Ravenson's medical database for Detroit numbers 2700." "2700 customers?" " Give or take." " Get me one." "I'm grinding through that now." "How're you doing?" " Keeping your blood pressure down?" " Dropping in unannounced?" "Not a good idea." "Yeah, well, I saw two men murdered last night." " Did you feed?" " Screw you." " Did you?" " No." "You need more serum?" "I'm fine... considering." "You just came by to cry on my shoulder?" "What about Aurora?" "I know where they're keeping it, but security's tight." "Get around it." "How about I'll just tell you where it is, and then you can go in and get it yourself?" " Too noisy." " Since when's that ever been a problem for you?" "I've been doing this a long time." "I make a move, they counter it." "They make a move, I react." "It's time to change the game." "If I'm going to keep them from winning this fight," "I have to trust another human being." "Just so happens she's a vampire." "And how hard is that?" "Almost impossible." "Take care of yourself." "I'll get you what you want..." " as soon as I can." " Thank you." "In case you're interested..." "I found the doctor." "Are you a cop?" "I'll take the eggs over easy." "Sure." "I bet your family doesn't appreciate you bringing work home with you." "It doesn't bother them anymore." "Can I have the bacon too?" "Sure thing." "Good luck with that." " Collins." " Hey, I've got those print results" " back from the truck." " Okay." "Hold on." "Okay, go ahead." "The print belongs to a fellow out of Detroit." " Name?" " Brian Boone... 5'10", 190 lbs." "Oh, and he just happens to be one of Detroit's finest." "He's a cop?" "A homicide detective, to be precise." "One who's been recently listed as missing." " Is this your guy?" " I'll let you know." "Can I help you?" "Ripped By mstoll"