The Minotaur

14: Fun and Games

Michael zoomed up the stairs in the direction he saw Regina take and ended up in a corridor that opened into so many rooms that it looked like a bottomless beehive.

He engaged his senses and almost immediately, he caught the ancient decay smell that was the female vampire. It was incredibly prominent even in the presence of all of the wealthy scents of the mansion's decor; plus her excitement hung in the air so thickly sweet that Michael could practically taste it.

Regina wasn't trying to hide from the ancient vampire. She wanted him to hunt her. Perhaps, she even loved it.

Michael traced Regina's smell to a wall at the end of the corridor which he pushed on to reveal the secret entrance to a very large, almost dome-shaped room.

No sooner had the ancient vampire entered that the wall slid close behind him and Regina appeared balanced at the top of a plank above, grinning. She had changed out of her club gown and was now dressed in black leather pants and top. She seemed very ready for whatever she had in mind to come next.

"Good job, Minotaur," she said, clapping as if in admiration. "Obviously, the years haven't dulled your senses one bit."

Regina jumped down from the plank and landed gracefully in front of Michael, immensely thrilled by herself and action. She pressed a button in her hand and another portion of the wall slid open to reveal a compartment filled with jars of various sizes and colours. They contained preserved vampire fangs, severed hands holding a silver dagger or some other weapon of the sort. Some jars even held tuft of hairs from something the ancient vampire would rather not think of.

"By the souls of the night Regina, what are all these?" Michael asked, unable to keep the surprised expression from off his face; and he was rarely surprised.

"Don't be so gloom, Michael," Regina returned, smiling a little. "They're just my trophies from all those who've played this game before. And now, it's your turn."

Without waiting to see if the ancient vampire was even ready, Regina charged at him. She made to hit him in the face but he dodged her punch; she trying again at his chest but it was all too easy for the ancient vampire to move out of the way of.

Michael zoomed towards the door, trying to get out. But the door was firmly shut even against his strength.

"It's reinforced with high grade steel, Michael," Regina informed him from behind. "No one's getting out of here till the game's done. Besides, you haven't even thrown a single punch yet. You don't want to be a bad guest to me, now do you?"

If the ancient vampire didn't know better, he would have thought that Regina was offended by his choice not to fight. "Guess I was hoping you'd change your mind," he returned, sighing, "but if you insist."

Using all of his vampiric strength, Michael charged at Regina, colliding with her with so much force that she screamed in pain or surprise; or a mixture of both. She tried to react with a wide kick but just like the others, it was too slow and he easily caught her leg, flinging her harshly into the wall at far side of the room.

For some seconds, it looked like Regina wasn't going to be able to get back on her feet again, especially because the fall broke one of her arms. But she did and was ready to go again.

Reaching to her side, Regina brought out a gun, took aim, and fired it right at Michael. It was a silver bullet that came flying out; the sudden appearance of it seeming to catch the ancient vampire off guard and he froze on the spot.

But just as the bullet was a few inches from hitting him in the chest, Michael's body suddenly seemed to take on a rippling form and the metal passed right through him- he had turned incorporeal.

"Ah, another gift of one thousand," Regina remarked, impressed; and as if to further test the ability, she took aim again and prepared to fire.

But Michael wasn't prepared to let himself to become target practice for the other vampire. With the deftness of a hunter, the ancient vampire zoomed at her, turned the gun away just as she pulled the trigger; and then he broke her wrist to ensure she didn't do it again.

That didn't deter Regina though as she aimed a punch at Michael's face. The ancient vampire easily dodged it, parrying a return blow which allowed him to get ahold of her arm and break it with a strike from his. Seeing her about to move, he broke both her legs; effectively forcing her down on her knees and he grabbed her neck.

However, Michael refrained himself from snapping Regina's neck and taking the memory he wanted. He could have. In fact, it was the logical thing to do.

But a certain sense of the familiarity the ancient vampire had shared with the female vampire over the years stopped him. It wanted him to give her a chance to change her mind and give him the information willingly; and so, he did.

But looking up at him, Regina smiled even through pained eyes. "It's all fun and games, Michael," she said to him. "All fun and games."

And then, there was a snap.

Michael's exit from Regina's mansion was one in a foul mood, and not just because of the insane "game" the latter had just forced him through.

As it turned out, Regina really did have an information on her that was very vital to Michael. It was on a supernatural who had come asking about him at Charon.

But that particular supernatural was of a kind the ancient vampire had desperately hoped he would never have to deal with: a spiritualist.