Hunter Session 07

Previous: Hunter Session 06

The day after their confusing victory at the Tarbol Mine, the hunters awoke to find Chet and Saria gone, leaving only a note saying they'd gone to take care of some things and didn't know when they'd be back. Everyone was very confused (and Melba was disappointed that she wouldn't be able to get more information from them), but they resolved to move ahead with the plan. Together, the hunters wrote Saigow a letter explaining what they'd done, packaged it with a copy of some especially incriminating clips from the video from the club, then mailed the package and sat back and waited. It didn't take long before the group received a response, delivered to a PO box they'd rented for that very purpose. Saigow said that he wanted a meeting at Chino Latino (summarizer's note: this was a real restaurant in Minneapolis, now defunct. RIP pupu platter) to discuss the terms of an agreement in light of what they'd brought to his attention. Delighted, the group agreed and set up the meeting for the next night.

The group made their way to Chino Latino, where Saigow and Haji were waiting for them. Things were strained at first, both because Arie was angry at Saigow's people for stealing some drugs from him during his imbuing (Saigow eventually agreed to reimburse him) and because Haji didn't seem at all happy to be granting any sort of concessions to the group. Saigow reported that he'd taken notice of the group's actions and said he'd be willing to do what he could to clear their names if they didn't expose him to the public, and if they returned to him the box they'd taken from Martin Bowers's apartment. Melba asked him why he'd attacked the people at the restaurant, but all he said was "I was making a delivery," implying he'd been working for someone higher up. Both sides agreed to the suggested terms and Saigow said he'd be in touch.

After the meeting, as Arie, Marta, Melba, and Will headed back to the apartment building, they noticed something disturbing: they were being followed by Haji and his people. They changed course so as not to lead them directly to the building, but all the fancy driving maneuvers that Arie tried couldn't shake them. Marta suggested that they might only want to talk, and Will (who generally had a good sense for danger...albeit not in this case) decided to let her try. They pulled over to the side of the road, only to have their car rammed by Haji’s people. Everyone piled out and confronted each other in a parking lot. Marta asked Haji what he wanted, and he said, "To see all of you cattle killed." Haji had a serious superiority complex when it came to humans, believing that vampires should rule over them. A fight appeared imminent, which the hunters couldn't possibly win, since there were only four of them and Haji had ten vampires backing him up.

Suddenly, Melba noticed movement on the other side of the street. The vampires and the hunters alike watched as Kai and about twenty guys from his gang slowly walked over to the parking lot to surround the vampires. Haji, seeming somewhat dissuaded by the sudden appearance of the mob but by no means less angry, hissed "This isn't over," got back into his car and drove away. Melba thanked Kai profusely for his help. The hunters returned to their apartment, relieved by their narrow escape and excited by the prospect of getting at least part of their old lives back.

Next: Hunter Session 08