Nick made his way through the secret passages of the upper floors of the tower.  The passages were narrow but made to allow a man to move through them.  The previous owner of the tower, before the war with the Vampires, had been a bit paranoid , thinking that people were out to get him.  When he had the tower constructed he had the passages made and then paid the designers well to keep the secret.  Nick now used them to descend from the roof.  It had been the logical choice to make since no one would think an intruder would be coming from a place that was not accessible.  There were no more helicopters anymore, so  the thought of anyone landing on the roof had been out of the question, and therefore no guards would be present.<br/><br/>Nick wore a form fitting outfit made of black material. It hugged his muscular frame.  He was a handsome man that looked to be in his early twenties, with sandy colored hair and deep blue eyes.  He had looked that way ever since he had reached the age of twenty three, and that was a couple hundred years ago.  He had been left on the doorstep of an orphanage as a baby.  He never knew who his mother and father were and as he grew up he he had seemed to be a normal child, except he was stronger, faster,  then any one else and healed faster from injuries.  No one really took notice of that, thinking he was just better then anyone else.  But as he grew older he became stronger and faster still and was agile.  He joined the Army and fought in the first World War.  It was there that he found out how he could heal from wounds that others were shipped back to Hospitals for.  Then between that war and the Second World War, where he had to Enlist once more he found that he had not aged any.  He still looked like he had when he was in the first war.  Then even more when the next one, the Korean war broke out.  His strength, and agility and speed made him a prime candidate for special missions that were dangerous.  He learned to blend into places and not be seen and to be quite as he moved.  He became the perfect assassin that took out dangerous positions.<br/><br/>By the time the Pure Blood Vampire known as Blackthorn made himself known with an army of other pure bloods and lesser vampires, he had again joined the Army, but under a new name, a new identity.  He had found he had to fake his death and then take on a new identity every so often.  Now he was a part of a special squad of soldiers that dealt with special situations.  When the war of the Vampires broke out, they were tasked with eliminating the most dangerous ones.  The ones closely guarded and well protected.  They were hard to kill and exhibited much of the charateristics he had.  Except he could stand the light of the sun and he did not require blood to survive like they did.  He learned how to kill them, where to strike and he became good at it.  But the Pure Bloods, now those were the hardest to get to and kill.  The lesser vampires though stronger and faster then normal people, were not as strong as the Pure Bloods and Nick.<br/><br/>Now he was working alone, and in a city that was controlled by the vampires.  The War had been devastating with the use of chemical and biological weapons as will as the use of small nukes.  The City they were in, which no one really knew what the name was any more, had been taken over by the Vampires during the war and cut off from the rest of the world by the strange forest that had grown out of control in a very short time.  It was filled with creatures, mutated by the bio weapons and radiation.  What had been the suburbs of the city had been taken over by the forest and only the construction of a wall about the city proper had enabled it to survive the encroaching wild nature.  Cut off the Pure Bloods took complete control of the city and enslaved the humans.  They kept the power plant functioning, and had cleared parts of the forest outside the walls for farms, surrounding them with high walls as well.  These fed the humans as well as the meat from hunts of the various wild life that teamed in the great forest.  Nick had been in the city when it fell and had been stuck there.  Now he made a living by killing Vampires, so other vampires could rise in power.  Money was no good, so his payment was in food and other supplies that might be rare but still available.<br/><br/>He finally made it down to the penthouse area of the top floors.  The music had stopped and he opened one of the spy holes and looked into the room beyond.  He saw the Vampire he was suppose to kill.  He raised a brow as he looked upon her.  She was a beauty, that was for sure.  It seemed she was waiting for someone.  They way she sat, the small smile on her lips.  He watched her for a bit and she did not move from where she was sitting.   Did she know he was coming?  It would not be hard to know that one of the other Lords wanted her dead and had hired him.  She would have spies in their towers just as they would have spies in her's.  But he heard no guards from the other room, no noise at all which was strange.  Even the most patient guard would move or something, giving off a sound.  He was there to assess the target, to see if she was what he deemed a necessary kill.  Since the time that the city had been surrounded by the forest that seemed to have sprung up over only a few days, it had been the Vampires that had kept the city going.  Yes the humans were enslaved and forced to do the menial work, but they lived and were not just hunted to extinction by the Vampires.  They provided power and water and ensured that the humans had food.  The city was well maintained and though there were no longer fuel for cars the people walked everywhere and were healthier.  So when he took a job he evaluated what the target did and what the successor would be able to do.  The Humans were his first concern.<br/><br/>He drew his gun from the holster on his hip.  It had a silencer on it and no one would hear it fired if he had to use it.  It was something he did not want to really do, but he had a feeling she knew he was there and was waiting for him.  Shaking his head he opened the secret door and stepped out, the gun pointed at her, the laser sight placing a red dot on her where her heart would be.  He gave her a slight smile and moved to be in front of her.  "It seems you have been expecting me."  he raised a brow.  "So tell me why should I not just pull the trigger now.  The payment is substantial for your elimination."<br/><br/>Little was known about her, except for what the humans under her control said.  She was not quite like some of the other Lords.  All but one of them were cruel and though they did not outright abuse the humans they made life difficut for them.  One other Lord he had noting on, though his humans flurished and seemed taken care of.  Yet he had a strong force of Enforces moving through the streets he controlled and the people feared him like the others.