Inside the office of Henry Amberhill, the werewolf sat at his desk with his faithful and reliable secretary, Trisha on one side of him whilst his daughter Effie was sitting on the other side stroking the top of her gun, 'Effie Jr.', like it was a pet.
In front of Henry's desk stood members of his pack along with the members of Dark Garden including Malevolent Azalea, Sorrow Orchid who stood next to her boyfriend the Dark Watchman with her arm wrapped around his shoulder. Bloody Dahlia and Sinister Carnation stood next to each waiting to hear out Mr. Amberhill's plan. Sitting in a chair was Void Dandelion. The long time Dark Garden soldier twitching. For years the woman known as May Herring remained in S.P.E.A.R custody, undergoing psychological counseling. It quickly became apparent that May suffered from a dual personality. One personality, the meek and self conscious May. The other, the violent Void Dandelion.
After supposedly being cured, May returned to civilian life, only for the whispers of Void Dandelion to once again speak to her. It was only a matter of time before Void Dandelion overwhelmed May, returning to the Dark Garden once more. She hadn't been involved in the previous attack on Eliana Hoti's house. Despite Void Dandelion's immense power, that power was finite. If she expanded too much energy, she would become May once more. Needless to say, she preferred being Void Dandelion compared to May Harring any day.
"Thank you all for coming here, this ambush has long been coming and I intend to make sure there are no loose ends that will make my plans go awry. Before I begin, I would personally like to thank Dark Garden for coming to our aid tonight." Henry Amberhill said directly addressing Malevolent Azalea.
"My father sends his regards and wishes you luck in your endeavor, Mr. Amberhill." Malissa said bowing towards Henry Amberhill, although she herself didn't want to wish him luck. She had just come on this mission to make sure none of her friends from the Solar Guardians would be harmed.
"I appreciate the kind words. But I don't want luck, I prefer success. Now, our intel says that Eliana Hoti is living in blissful ignorance in that shack of hers with her daughter. She also has a roommate with a daughter about Hoti's daughter's age. According to the Dark Garden here, that roommate and her daughter are what they call Solar Guardians. I want them to be the only Solar Guardians who are at that cabin." Henry Amberhill stated putting his finger down on the desk as Sinister Carnation rubbed her two sickles together, while Effie cocked her gun happily with a chuckle.
Malissa didn't show it, but she got a little worried now inside for her friends at the cabin.
"Effie, you'll be with me, Trisha, and the boys at Hoti's house handling those two young girls." Henry said to his daughter who looked a little disappointed.
"Fuuuuck, daddy, do I have to babysit the brats? I'd rather just shoot either of them. Especially Hoti's little brat." Effie said.
"By all means Effie, you have my permission to injure or torture those girls however you please. But make no mistake, I want them both alive to see what I do to Eliana Hoti. I may have killed Luca, but I will do much worse to Eliana and make her suffer before she takes her last breath." Henry said with a smirk on his face and gently touched the claw marks on his face.
"There's the father I look up to." Effie said with a smirk on her face.
"Now, as for Dark Garden, I wish you to deal with those other Solar Guardian members however you can, distract them, kill them, do with them as you please, but keep them far away from me this night." Henry Amberhill stated as all of them nodded.
Dark Garden's forces had certainly grown stronger over the years. Caitlin Singleton had actually found her boyfriend, Dark Watchman, while visiting a cemetery. His real name was a man by the name of Jason Warner, by now a 36 year-old man and his family had owned a cemetery for years and was going to inherit the cemetery after his both parents died, but was irate to discover his uncle had changed his parents will where he would receive nothing. Caitlin had heard his sad story and convinced Jason to take matters into his own hands and take back what's his. He would soon earn his title as Dark Watchman not long afterwards with his scythe as his chosen weapon.
Malissa had been the one to find Sinister Carnation for her father when she was tasked with seeing if there were was anyone worthy of being recruited into Dark Garden, although she had secretly hoped there wouldn't be. She had found a now 37 year-old woman by the name of Emily Forman who was a businesswoman who worked for the Normal’s shell company before it collapsed. Malissa had told her stepfather that after meeting with her, she got the distinct impression that the red haired woman with blue eyes was cruel and calculating. Casseus of course, thought that made her a perfect candidate and was recruited into Dark Garden.
Void Dandelion was the one to come across Bloody Dahlia. She had originally been a 23 year-old Chinese girl by the name of Amy Lin, her father was one of the Serpent Society members before Death Riot put a stop a stop to them. Bloody Dahlia was very pleased to hear the ones they would be going after had ties to Death Riot.
"Some of these Solar Guardians have powerful allies with magic ties and if you should happen to come across them, keep them occupied as long as you can. That brings me to my next point: the wizard Misery. This woman has been living with this little family for a while now and will definitely be the biggest challenge for us. Luckily, we have Trisha here," Henry said motioning towards his assistant who nodded her head. "Trisha will trap this wizard in a....what's that word again Trisha?" Amberhill asked waving his hand trying to think of the word.
"A sigil trap sir, and I don't expect this 'Misery' to be very compliant with her temporary cage, as such, she will no doubt attempt to liberate herself. Her companions will no doubt attempt to do the same, which is where the rest of you come in." Henry Amberhill said addressing his men as well as Effie.
"The rest of you, do your best in backing up myself or Effie, I want these women so enervated that they have no energy left to fight back. Eliana's young pup hasn't managed to unsheathe her claws yet, but no doubt her little friend will help in trying protect her and her bitch mother." Henry said firmly to no one in particular.
"Now, if no one has anymore questions, I believe we'll...."
"Actually sir, there is one more thing that I don't think you had accounted for. Do we have a contingency plan if one of the Morelands is to show up?" Trisha asked her boss while adjusting her glasses.
"Ah right, the Morelands. I don't think they'll be much of a worry. Caleb Moreland can barely move at this point. His brothers? They aren't a match for me, especially that one with the cane. The girl isn't anything to worry about either, and neither is that Asian or African-American Mexican that he rolls around with either. Besides, if any of them show up, I'll just remind them why you should never mess with anyone named Amberhill." Henry Amberhill replied with a smile as Effie chuckled agreeing with her father's answer.
"So now, ladies, gentlemen, now that we have everything accounted for, I believe it's time to finally bring Eliana Hoti and her little extended family down to their knees and make her bow before me." Henry said as he took a knife from his desk and stuck it into the desk on the area where Eliana's house was.
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The very same night Henry Amberhill was discussing his planned attack, Spark Moreland was having a typical mother daughter spat with Kaida how much of a helicopter parent she was being when she always wanted to chaperone her daughter and her friends whenever they went places. Connor was glad that they didn't argue loud enough to wake up Jay, Calli, and Colton when they were sleeping.
Connor suddenly felt something in his gut, something telling him that something was wrong. He took his cane and stood up and walked over to the back porch door and looked outside and up at the moon not saying anything as Spark and Kaida stopped their argument and looked over at Connor now with looks of concern.
"Connor, is everything okay?" Spark asked but Connor didn't reply.
"Dad? Dad, are you feeling okay?" Kaida asked sounding concerned as she put her hand on her dad's shoulder.
"I've got to go see my Uncle Rick, there's something coming and I'm going to need his help." Connor said collecting some items in a bag.
"What? You can't be serious, just call Aaron or Chase and let them handle this. I know you're in charge of the demon hunter business right now, but that's no reason you have to go out there on the front lines and hurt yourself." Spark argued.
"What I do, what Caleb, Chase, Charlotte do, and what my father did is protect others, and protect our families. I'll message Aaron, Chase, and Charlotte and have them meet up with me. Now I'm going to need Arion's armor, where did you put it?" Connor asked as Spark crossed her arms looking away, not answering and trying not to cry.
"Spark, I need to...." Connor began to say.
"I can't see you hurt yourself again. You only got away with a limp last time, but....but what if this time, it's worse?" Spark asked looking at Connor and trying desperately not to cry.
Connor gently took Spark into his arms and gave her a hug as she let out a few tears with Kaida standing nearby getting a little worried for her dad. Connor noticed this and went over to her.
"Hey, don't you worry about me, okay? Your grandpa went through a lot worse when he was my age." Connor said with a slight smirk on his face.
"I'll get the armor out." Spark said as she went over to a chest with all their family pictures and stuff from when the kids were little. There was a hidden compartment underneath it hiding the armor.
Connor took the armor and put it on himself, making it feel like almost no time had passed since he wore it. His body felt a little stronger now, but he would have to his his uncle Rick in helping him out with extra strength.
"How do I look?" Connor asked as Spark took a deep breath not saying anything, but instead giving Connor a passionate kiss. The two had been married long enough to where Connor knew it was a kiss to tell him to come back alive.
Kaida now gave Connor a hug as well.
"Be careful daddy." Kaida said softly.
Connor now left the home as Kaida held her mother's hand before embracing her mother in a hug.
"Mom, can you....can you tell me the story of how you and dad had your first kiss, like when I was little?" Kaida asked as Spark gave her oldest daughter a gentle smile before the two of them headed to Kaida's bedroom.