"What's this now, Billy?" Gina could hear the Hound yell in defiance, actually sounding more collected than she would've guessed. "Have you finally become so enamoured with Death that you are actively courting it? Because let me tell you, there are easier ways of committing suicide, not to mention far less painful."<br/>The voice of the Hound brought Gina back to the world of the living. If it could be called that considering the company she kept these days. She felt disoriented but was starting to find her bearings. Seemed like she had lived through yet another car crash.<br/>She crawled out of the back door but had to stop once her upper body was through the door. Moving around had made her feel sick, maybe she had gotten a concussion. She just lay there in the snow for a bit, trying to get a sense of what was going on.<br/>She could see their adversaries now, there were at least ten of them, arrayed in a perfect semicircle. Some of them were standing next to a motorcycle, all of them with their glaring headlights facing the van, so Gina couldn't make out more than their silhouettes.<br/>Facing them was the Hound, standing alone in the middle of the circle. He stood perfectly still, even with his back to Gina she could tell that there was a strange sense of calm around him. She would've expected him to have lashed out by now, no matter the odds. And she couldn't figure out why he looked soaked, like someone had thrown a bucket of water at him.<br/>She was suddenly startled as she noticed a couple of the strangers moving around the van. She gasped as something cold and wet hit her. She recognized the smell. Gasoline!Over her stood a strikingly beautiful redhead clad biker leather. Gina could see another biker pouring more gas over the van.<br/>"Just make sure you stay fucking put," the redhead said with ice in her voice as she stepped back, lighting a road flare. It didn't take a genius to guess what she would do if things didn't go her way.<br/>"Mr Hound," one of the bikers said, taking a few steps forward, "the years have been kind to you. Kinder than they have to me, at any rate." If the man knew who and what he was facing his voice showed a remarkable lack of fear.<br/>"I'd like to say that your bark is worse than your bite, but I know first hand that it's untrue. More importantly, you know that I know, so how about we dispense with the fucking posturing, ok?"<br/>To her surprise, Gina could hear the platinum blond vampire chuckle. This was the sort of things he found amusing? At least he seemed a little less...twitchy now.<br/>"Fine," he replied, "speak. I'm dying to hear what reason you could possibly have for doing something so pathologically stupid as breaking the Accord."<br/>"Not yet you're not. And we didn't break it. You did."<br/>"That's a load of crap!" Gina could hear someone shout from inside the van. "You bastards shot me!" Grendel. If he was awake, what was he still doing inside the wrecked vehicle? The question was answered almost immediately.<br/>Billy laughed, joyless and mocking. "Your boy is starting to sound a bit agitated! Didn't know you took getting shot so personally. It was mostly to get your attention. Had we intended to harm you we would have gone about things quite differently." Suddenly his voice turned cold as ice.<br/>"On that note, make sure your band of nasty fuckers stay put. I see one blood sucker sticking so much as a toe outside the car we will start tossing our flares and mollies. We also have two members of the krewe standing ready with grenade launchers if you lot try anything. We know you are fast, but I doubt you are that fast. You might get some of us, but not before we light you up like candles."<br/>The Hound yawned, a bored look on his face. "Now who is posturing? I assumed you wanted a conversation, not a monologue. Were I wrong? Because I have places to be, so why don't you get to the fucking point?"<br/>The man that might or might not be called Billy chuckled. He was about to reply, but something distracted him. He had just noticed Gina for the first time.<br/>"Red! What. The. Fuck?!? Did I not tell you exactly what to do if any of the leeches tried to crawl out? Have you suddenly gone retarded?"<br/>"No Billy," the woman spat back, venom in her voice. "But there are complications!"<br/>"What. Kind. Of. Complications!?!" Billy yelled like a mad man. The whole thing would've looked pretty comical, had it not been for the threat of impending violence hanging in the air.<br/>"Like the fact that she has got a pulse, perhaps?"<br/>"Really? Well, that's an unexpected twist," Billy said, all anger drained from his voice. Now he only sounded curious. He walked over to where Gina was lying, which triggered an angry response from the Hound.<br/>"Let her be! She has nothing to do with this, this is between you and me."<br/>"Shush you. I like to decide that for myself if you don't mind." Billy kneeled down by Gina, watching her with evaluating eyes. He was a rather handsome man, Gina thought, especially if he just trimmed that full beard of his. He must've been a sandy blond once, but now both his hair and beard was shot through with eerily symmetrical streaks of grey. He had some fine lines in his face, also hinting of someone of a fairly advanced age, yet the way he carried himself and the way he almost radiated vitality completely screwed up any attempt to guess his age. Was he 30? 40? 50? 60? All of the guesses seemed possible, and for someone who took pride in noticing as much as she could by only glancing at a subject for a second it was frustrating as hell. Was he even that handsome? Maybe not, maybe it was his charisma, because he did not lack in that department. Gina could sense it, she was almost awestruck by the force of his personality. At first she had been surprised how someone, a mere mortal as far as she could tell, could stand up to someone like the Hound and not only keeping his wits about him, but also appearing to be his equal. She wasn't supprised anymore, this was what cult leaders were made of. Clearly there were more to this man than met the eyes.<br/>"She doesn't seem like the usual kind of dimwitted bigoted fucks you usually drag around, so what the hell is she doing with you?" He looked straight at her, rarely had Gina had such trouble reading a man. Billy, on the other hand seemed to see much in her eyes. Maybe to much.<br/>"Just who the hell are you, lady?"