Aleu walked still in awe at her surroundings. Obviously the complex was underground and the red stone the place was carved from could only indicate a location either somewhere in Utah or Arizona. “So where exactly is this place? Where are we?” The she wolf asked to her guide.

“What this? This is home!” Rohn replied.

“Yeah ok, but WHERE is ‘Home’ exactly?” Aleu asked again.

“Well sooner or later you’d find out so I’ll tell you. This is the ‘Citadel’; it’s our Central Headquarters for the North American continent. We decided to hollow out one of the Rock Formations in Monument Valley. We’re hiding in plain sight as it were.” Rohn explained. Then Aleu stopped in her tracks.

“Wait a sec… Your telling me that you guys practically hollowed out a MOUNTAIN to build your Headquarters!!?! How is that possible?” Aleu said in a bit of shock. Rohn looked over his shoulder to her.

“Well, our technology is roughly a few decades ahead of everyone else. For example the tunnel you brought our train in with. That was made with a Tunnel Boring machine. We can bore through solid rock tens of feet in an hour. We don’t do a lot of blasting that much anymore.” Tunnel Boring Machines!? What else have these guys created? Aleu thought to herself. Rohn was about to continue speaking but paused, suddenly he stopped and stood at attention. Coming from the other direction was a VERY tall lean figure, standing roughly 7 feet or more! His hat, like Rohn’s, had a very broad brim and completely shadowed out his eyes, well at least one of them. His left eye glowed blood red! His duster was black and was very worn and tattered toward ankle and knee height. On the side of his thighs were two Massive revolvers! Each with a blade affixed to their grips. Just this man’s presence was intimidating, but it appeared as if her were the other men’s superior. The tall figure walked up to Rohn, his tarnished silver spurs “chinging” and he said was a single word.

“Report.” Was all the figure said in a deep voice.

“Sir, Mesa Verde is a total loss. It’s been completely burned to the ground. No sign of survivors, except for her.” Said Rohn, hinting to Aleu standing behind him. The tall man looked at Aleu and then back at Rohn.

“Debriefing is in an hour.” Then the tall man walked off down the corridor.

“Who was that?” Aleu asked. Rohn returned to an eased position and looked at Aleu.

“Him? Heh, he’s a living legend to us regulators! That’s Jericho, Jericho Cross. He’s our second in command; the only one above him is the General. But he acts more like us grunts, going of into the field with us. If it weren’t for him we’d all be dead.” Said Rohn to Aleu. The watched as Jericho vanished into the distance.

“What’s with his eye?” She asked. Rohn let out a subtle laugh.

“Jericho’s a walking irony, at least for us that is.” Replied Rohn followed quickly by another question.

“What do you mean?” The wolf asked. Rohn sighed a little.

“The Darkwatch’s mission is to combat the Supernatural Forces of Evil. Technically speaking, Jericho is our enemy!” Aleu was puzzled by what Rohn said.

“Your enemy? What do you mean by that? He’s YOUR commanding officer, isn’t he?” Aleu said. Rohn nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, he is. But Jericho is a Half Breed, he’s only half human you could say. The other part of him is a Blood Sucker, a Vampire. But even so he’s one of, if not, our most valued member. I can’t tell you haw many times he’s saved our bacon!” Rohn continued to lead Aleu down the passage. Then stopped at one of the many doors along the hallway, a “Red Cross” symbol was messily painted on it. Rohn led Aleu inside, it was the infirmary.

The room was huge and was in multiple levels. Basically it was a small “Mini Hospital”, capable of handling almost any injury imaginable. From a simple paper cut to brain surgery. Soon, almost out of nowhere, a doctor came up to Aleu. He was clearly German.

“So! Diss iz deh yung voomen I’ve herd so much about, ja’? Now, let me inshpect zat vound.” With his exaggerated “Coke bottle” glasses the doctor inspected the cut on Aleu’s arm. “Mm mmm, zat von’t do at tall’. I am sorry but I must steetch diss to cloze deh vound. But first I vill need antiseptic.” The doctor moves over to a cabinet and takes a bottle from the shelf. The liquid inside had a clear brown color to it. The doctor the pulled the cork seal from the top with a low pop. Then he oddly brings the open bottle to his nose and smelled it? “Ah Viskey, 1798. A good year ja?” The doctor was about to pour some of the whiskey on Aleu’s cut when she quickly reached out and snatched the bottle out of his hand.

“What the hell do you think your doing!?” she shouts at the doctor. Then she brings the bottle to her lips and takes a couple big swigs, afterward she hands the bottle back to the doctor. “Alright, continue.” Waving her hand to the man; for a short moment he paused. But then he proceeded to pour the whiskey over the cut. Aleu winced a bit from the burning sensation as the alcohol did its work. Then the doctor pulled out a sterilized needle and thin wire and began to stitch up her wound. Again Aleu winced as the doctor passed the needle through her skin. But the process was relatively quick and was soon over.

“Zer vee are!” said the doctor as he clipped the excess wire off the stitch. Aleu’s wound was still sore, there was a residual pain that lingered afterward but it was nothing after the patch work was done, a minor annoyance at the most.

“Hey Doc, would it be alright if we had some privacy?” Rohn asked. The doctor nodded his head and obliged, he left the room to take car of another patient. Rohn made sure that he and Aleu were the only ones in the room before he continued speaking. “Aleu, listen. I’ve been waning to tell you about this but right now has been my first opportunity.” Aleu raised and eyebrow, not knowing where Rohn was going to take the conversation. Then Rohn continued. “This organization, the Darkwatch, has remained secret for millennia. We’ve been around since the fall of Roman Empire. Our goal is to protect all mortal kind from the forces of Evil, though we are no better than our enemies. Protecting innocent civilians is a high priority. Saving a town is one thing, when we save an individual, like your self, complicates things. You see when lives are spared they have to swore an oath of silence. For towns and congregations they tend to keep their word. But individuals acting alone are less likely. What I’m saying is that you, as an individual, know too much about us as an organization. This is knowledge that CAN NOT be made public.”

“So what are you saying exactly?” Aleu asked. Rohn lowered his head and nodded subtly.

“This is the worst part about being a Darkwatch Regulator Aleu. But the Darkwatch can not risk getting any knowledge of our existence out in the open. You have two choices Aleu, you either become one of us or…” then Rohn paused.

“Or what?” Aleu replied.

“Or be executed.” Rohn reluctantly replied.
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Ok Guys! Here's Chapter 5!

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