Kitty Pryde, Logan, Excalibur, the X-Men and all characters therein are trademarks of Marvel Comics. This story is an unauthorised work done purely for my personal enjoyment, and is not intended to infringe on any of their rights in or their profits from these characters. But this story is copy write to me.

Comments, especially (constructive) criticism, always welcomed. Please e-mail me at

mark_shakespeare@lineone.net

This story is set in my 'Excalibur Redrawn' timeline, whilst Kitty was still with the X-Men, before she returned to Excalibur. The reference to their battle with the Hand is to do with a story not yet told......

Notes : Please note that this story is a Horror story - it contains graphic imagery, sexual content, violence and strong language. If that sort of thing is offensive to you, or illegal where you live or for someone of your age, please do not read on. You have been warned.

* italics * indicates telepathy

< italics > indicates thoughts

[" "] indicates non-English speech

< [italics] > indicates non-English thoughts

Hunter's Moon - part 13

"Wow, Logan, this is some pretty weird stuff! Throwing seeds to distract them? And it's supposed to work?!" Kitty could hardly believe what she was hearing from her old friend and mentor. Even though she had found some wild and outrageous stories about vampires when searching the internet, she didn't remember reading any of this during her research. But then again, remembering some of the things she had come up with, what Logan had just told her perhaps shouldn't have been so surprising, she thought.

"That's what she said, darlin'. Thought it weird shit m'self, but that's what I was told, an' now I'm passin' it onta you. So, ya get anythin' interestin'?" The stocky X-man slumped into the nearest chair, and pulled out a Cuban cigar, unrolling it and savouring the smell of the rich tobacco. He ignored Kitty's pointed look as he removed the wrapping and snipped off the end, before pulling out his silver lighter and flicking it to light the cigar. He then placed it in his mouth and took a long, grateful drag on the cigar, before blowing out a thick stream of blue, feeling the hot tobacco smoke swirling around in his lungs. It was something he didn't have as much chance to indulge himself in anymore, ever since the mansion had been declared a no-smoking zone by Hank, backed up by the ladies. Although Kitty might send him a look or two, he knew she wouldn't make a fuss about him lighting up - after all, she'd dated a chain smoker, she could hardly protest too much, could she?

The young woman opposite him merely rolled her eyes. She had few problems with smoking per se, having learnt to put up with it, at least occasionally, but did think that, as this wasn't their house, Logan might like to ask before smoking indoors. Then she shrugged - he was old enough to make his own decisions and deal with the consequences, which at least wouldn't include lung cancer. If Walt Cunningham objected to indoor smoking, which he might given that it was his house they were staying in, then Logan could argue his own case. She looked again at the files she'd downloaded from the internet. There had been satellite pictures of the Big House and its vicinity, but perhaps even more useful than that had been floor plans, taken from back in the Twenties, when the then owner had made some changes to the internal layout of the house and had been forced to file plans with the local council. She took those plans out and passed them to Logan, along with the photos of the house and its grounds. Lockheed, waking up at last, cooed at his mistress, and she shook her head. "No, we're eating later, dragon. We've got some business to attend to right now, if you don't mind." The little alien grumbled under his breath, and she laughed. "Well, if you hadn't slept through breakfast and lunch, you might not feel so hungry!" < Actually, we'd better have Lockheed with us when we go vampire hunting - his fire could be very effective indeed against them. >

Logan grinned when he saw what she'd passed him. "Nice piece o' work, darlin'. Looks like we got ourselves a damn good look at where these vamps're hangin' out. Mebbe we should -" He paused as Walt Cunningham knocked on the door and came into the room, a worried look on his face. Lockheed quickly dived back under the sofa, not wanting the man to see him.

"Is something wrong, Mister Cunningham?" Kitty's voice was soft and reassuring, as she could see that the old man had something he wanted to discuss, and was on edge. Walt gave her a thankful look and dropped into one of the free chairs.

"Yes, there is, thank you young lady. The thing is, I was just working in the front of the shop, when I looked out and saw a car parked and waiting. The problem is it had dark glass in the windows so I couldn't see who was inside, or how many. Anyway, it waited there for about an hour, then drove off just before you rode up on your bike. So, I'm wondering whether they were waiting for you to show up - whether they were, in fact, here to spy on you." He looked from one guest to the other, wanting to hear words of reassurance, Kitty thought. Unfortunately, it might be the case that he was correct in his supposition that they were being watched. In which case reassurance was something that she couldn't give their host.

"Thanks fer tellin' us, bub. We'll keep that in mind." Logan, for one, was not someone who tended to give reassurance where it wasn't justified - and often not even then. He believed in confronting the world head-on. If they were being watched, it was better to know that from the beginning, rather than be taken by surprise later on.

"Thanks, Mister Cunningham. You might be advised to make sure everywhere's locked up tonight - just in case."

It wasn't what the old man had wanted to hear ....

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The car had not, in fact, gone far. It had merely driven around the back of the houses opposite, and now two of the ghouls were walking back towards Cunningham's house. One would watch the front of the house, the other would watch the back, and they would use their radios to report on any further movement from the people they were watching.

Each of them was also armed. Their jackets concealed high-powered handguns, each fitted with a silencer and a red-dot laser sight. No night-vision devices were needed, however, as the ghouls themselves had superhuman night-vision capabilities. They were under orders not to take any aggressive action unless attacked themselves, but were quite capable of killing if it proved necessary.

And they both hoped it would. Aside from giving them longer life, faster healing, enhanced senses, strength and endurance, the vampire blood they consumed which made them ghouls also gave them greater bloodlust than when they had been fully human. Though neither of them was so stupid as to go against Dania's orders, they would enjoy the thrill of combat if they could.

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"So, you feel like going for a run before it gets dark?" Kitty's voice cut into Logan's thoughts, and he raised his gaze to meet that of the young woman he'd known so long. From the sweet smell coming from her, he knew that she'd had some exercise earlier, while he'd been away visiting the old lady and her son. < An' now she wants ta get some more exercise in, huh? That's a pretty big change from the girl I taught when she first joined th' team. Used ta hate havin' ta get in th' Danger Room an' work hard. More'n once I had ta kick her butt ta get practisin', but now she's more'n happy ta work at combat practise, 'stead o' that dance stuff she used ta do. That mighta been good fer balance an' stuff, but fer survival it was pretty useless. I'm glad she's payin' more attention ta her fightin' skills. In this line o' work, ya can never be too well trained. >

"Sure thing, darlin'. Lemme put this stuff somewhere safe, an' we'll hit the road. I'm sure the dragon'll take care o' it all - right, 'Heed?"

"Yah!" The little purple dragon uncurled himself from where he'd been lying around Kitty's neck, and took to the air. As far as he was concerned, the sooner that His Kitty and The Wolverine got their run over, the sooner he'd be fed ....

"Great! I'll just lock the computer down and I'll be ready." At the stocky Canadian's enquiring glance at her current clothing, she shrugged. "I didn't shower after my weapons practise earlier, so it really won't make any difference if I go running in them."

"Fine by me, girl. Let's go!"

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The ghoul smoothly stepped up to the front of the nearest shop and made as if he was looking at the window display as the two jogged down the pavement towards him. He knew that these were the two visitors that he and the other two ghouls had been ordered to keep under surveillance, and he didn't want to alert them to the fact that they were being watched. The short, powerfully-built older man and the slender young woman ran past him without giving him a second glance. He waited a few seconds, then turned to watch them as they disappeared around the corner of the street. He pulled out his radio and called the ghoul still sitting in their car. ["The two we are observing are on the move. They are heading your way. Call Ravil and get him to move in front of them. I will follow, at a discreet distance."]

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Logan growled, and Kitty glanced at him curiously. "Something wrong, Logan? Any reason you sound like you've got indigestion?"

"Ha flamin' ha! That man we ran past - ya know, the one checkin' out the shop display? There's somethin' ain't right about him, ya know? Remember the two we fought in Cunningham's shop, the two vampires? There was somethin' about that man that reminded me o' them."

Kitty didn't look around in the direction of the man that her companion was talking about - she knew enough not to make it obvious that the man had been 'made', as Pete would have said. "So he's a vampire too, huh?"

"Nope. Whatever he is, he ain't one o' them. The feelin' about him weren't strong enough fer him ta be a vamp. It was pretty weak, nothin' like the two we fought before. But he's connected ta them in some way .... "

"Like he's in thrall to them?"

"Yeah, guess so. Where'd that come from?"

"Our run-ins with Dracula, remember? He was able to keep control of several of the X-Men at once, even though he hadn't turned them into vampires like himself. Maybe the man back there is under the control of the vampires the same way?"

The feral X-man grinned at his young companion. "I like the way ya think, darlin'. So, now we know they got people who they c'n use fer jobs, as well as vampires. That's somethin' we didn't know before, an' it may be useful fer us ta know." He threw a sideways glance at Kitty. "Anythin' else ya think might be of some use?"

The young woman smiled. "Just one. As I recall, Dracula could control the actions of certain animals, such as wolves, rats, and of course bats."

"That figures."

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Lockheed was bored. Bored, bored, bored. And hungry, too. He'd waited to est until His Kitty came back, but then she'd gone out without feeding him. Now he had nothing to do but sit around until she got back, and he couldn't even feed himself. Grumbling to himself, the little purple dragon flew over to the open window and launched himself into the air.

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The second ghoul had managed to reach the cover of a small clump of trees when Lockheed emerged from the house. The ghoul was too busy making himself inconspicuous to notice the little flying shape which had just come from the house he was to observe, and he was too far away for Lockheed's keen sense of smell to pick him out. With a quick look round, the little alien set off in search of something to eat, or something to entertain himself with.

The ghoul settled himself into position, eyes fixed on the back of the house, his place in the trees also granting a clear view of the sides of the building. He would easily be able to see anyone coming or going from the house.

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Their feet pounding in rhythm, the two mutants ran up the slope towards the tree line at the top. Logan was slowly starting to gain a slight speed advantage, due to the fact that he wasn't feeling the effects of fatigue thanks to his fast-healing factor, whereas, after nearly twenty miles of hard running, Kitty was starting to slow. Still, he had to admit that she wasn't going to let him 'win' their little competition without a fight, even if they both knew the inevitable outcome already. < An' that's the spirit the X-Men need ta keep goin'. If we ever just gave up 'cause we were outclassed, we'd all be long dead by now. Still, I'm always goin' ta win a contest o' endurance. An' I sure ain't goin' ta challenge her to a game o' chess! I like winnin', an' I ain't ready ta start payin' her forfeits fer losin'! >

They reached the top of the slope and turned left, back towards the town. Logan had a slight lead by now, but his companion was forcing herself to match his pace as well as she could. Then the feral X-man picked up the pace, pushing the speed from a fast jog to an all-out run. The young Jewish woman didn't even try to match him. < What's the point? We both know he'll win any endurance contest, so I might as well do this at my own pace .... > She kept her own pace steady, and watched as the stocky older man disappeared into the distance. < I dunno, we always had these sort of physical contests back in the X-Men, but we never had any sort of intellectual contests - and surely outwitting an enemy is just as valid a tactic as outfighting them? But nobody, not even Scott, ever wanted to use games of strategy to practise winning battles. But then, I guess none of the others was ever into mental challenges, apart from Doug. God, I miss him. We used to spend so much time challenging each other to computer games and simulations. I suppose that, now he's gone, I'm just the odd one out. I think too much. >

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The hirsute X-Man eased down on the pace as he reached the front of the house. He'd seen the man he'd noticed earlier, obviously (at least to him) watching the front of the house, and he guessed that there'd be another watching the back. < Mebbe I could go an' roust him out. Could be fun, 'specially if he's armed. Nah, let's not alert 'em too early. Later. > He looked round, but Kitty was nowhere in sight. He guessed that she'd decided not to race him after all. < Well, she'd've lost if she had. Still, I'd've thought she'd at least make th' effort .... > He saw her jog into view, her pace the same as it had been at the start of the run. Sweat was trickling down her face, and the sweatshirt she wore was plastered to her sides. She trotted up to him, and, without looking at him, stretched to touch her toes, breathing deeply. "Yer took yer time, Pryde. Decided ter take a time-out ter smell th' roses?"

She straightened and glared at him. "Listen, 'bub', just 'cause you've got a fast-healing factor which means you don't fatigue, doesn't mean you have to be a jerk about it! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have a shower." And without waiting for his response, she pushed past him into the building.

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