Chapter 5: Descending into Purgatory
Chapter 5 BONDS IN BLOOD
Title: Descending into Purgatory
Disclaimer: All characters belong to me and if you dislike them, TALK TO THE HAND.
A/N: Aha aha! I have surprised! I bet no one expected this so fast, huh? On a side note... I LOVE HITPLAYER'S DRAWING OF RITSUKA AND I SERIOUSLY NEED A PIECE ON SOUBI FUCKING RITSUKA INTO THE GROUND.
*brain explodes*
Chapter 5: Descending into Purgatory
The place smelt faintly of pizza, and there was a distinctly pale, burnt odor in the air. This was usually what happened when a room became inhabited by two lazy bachelors. A pile of blankets, and a large lump in the middle of it took up most of the small room. The lump rose and fell regularly at intervals, the person beneath the heap presumably sound asleep. Or at least, that was what it looked like to an outsider.
His roommate, however, knew better.
Ronald was passed out cold.
He had been that way in fact, ever since the night before, when his malfunctioning brain had deemed it a good idea to down six bottles of distilled spirits from Korea that had arrived in the mail. There were many hints that this was not a very bright thing to do, one of which was that the mailer was anonymous. People from Insignia were rarely popular with the outside world, as their job required them to be constantly on the run about the country and too many things had to be kept secret. Thus, relationships were practically impossible.
For all they knew, the alcohol could have been poison from a pissed off ex-girlfriend. Yet Ronald had gone nuts over the casket, grabbed the bottles, and refused to let go. He had staunchly insisted on drinking the whole lot himself too, not sparing a thought for his poor, thirsting roommate who was in severe need of alcohol. Putting up with Ronald on a daily basis was in itself deserving of at least ten shots each night.
The second most obvious reason was that Ronald could not hold alcohol to save his life.
And that was the reason why, as his roommate now sighed, that Ronald was sleeping like a baby at this time of the night. On most other days, he would have been practically impossible to deal with at this hour. He suspected that Ronald was secretly some kind of night creature, whose biological day started around somewhere at seven in the evening and lasted all the way to eight or nine in the morning.
No matter, now anyway. The fellow was bound to sleep for at least two days, if he didn’t die of liver poisoning first. Upon his awakening, his roommate would have prepared string, hangover medicine, and anti-depressants, so that Ronald wouldn’t cut himself and bleed to death in his hangover agony. (The complete lack of ADH in a body could do that to some people.) The first time this overdrinking thing had happened, the roommate had barely escaped alive, and this was only because his automatic reflex powers had acted up and prevented him from being mutilated with a razor.
That had been an absolute nightmare. This time, he would be sure to be ten miles away from the house by the time the idiot awoke. Yes, there was nothing to worry about currently. The roommate took a sip of his favorite Starbucks cappuccino, and prepared to enjoy two full Ronald-free days of bliss.
That was when the lump beneath the moldy blankets shot out like a bullet and ricocheted off the wall, letting loose a Tarzan-like howl that sounded remotely like the word, “KEVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!”
Kevin sprayed coffee all over the table, just as a disheveled, vaguely humanoid shape pounced on him, cutting off the air to his windpipe effectively.
“DAMMIT RONALD!” he roared, defense mechanisms activating and deflecting the shape into the pile of blankets with dead accuracy. It lay there for a while, and Kevin thought it had died from overexertion or liver failure. However, the thing moved, slowly pulled itself to a sitting position, and blinked open green eyes.
“R-ronald?” Kevin thought the guy should be having a bloody splitting headache right about now and going bonkers, not staring off into space like that. Something was very wrong. “Oi, Ronald, what’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”
“Kevin.”
“Uh, yes?”
“Trouble. 47th district in the city, six Level Bs approaching at high speed. Dan, Kiba and Kil are the targets, and they can’t handle this alone.”
“Shit. Is this the arcanis theorem at work?”
“High possibility.”
“Grab your weapons, let’s go.”
“Roger.”
The two of them pulled on armed leather jackets and hopped onto their motorbikes, exceeding speed limits as they made for the city. This was not the time to be worried about getting tickets.
* * *
“Quiet, Dan,” Kil whispered. “I need to hear.”
Dan looked behind him, realizing that Kil was already in full gear, heels exchanged for tough boots and gun in hand. Her eyes were shut as she tried to concentrate. Other than her additional mind powers, Kil was born with an exceptional sense of hearing, which came in useful at times like these.
He watched as a bead of sweat rolled down her cheek.
“Dan, we’re surrounded.”
“How many?”
“Six, and these are not going to be easy game.”
Dan cursed. What the hell was going on? What the fuck was Kiba doing? Why hadn’t they been alerted? Such a powerful attack could not be mere coincidence, so that only meant one thing: the arcanis theorem was behind this. That being the case, the three of them alone were not capable of holding them off. And Ash was not even qualified yet. The best thing to do at the moment was to find some way to let Ash escape with one of them, and leave the fighting the other two, before reinforcements arrived. Dan was fairly sure Ronald was already aware of their situation. It was only a matter of time before the others appeared.
He turned to Kil.
“Kil, there is a high chance the arcanis theorem is behind this. It is too dangerous for Ash to stay here. I need you to confuse the enemy and create an escape route for Ash and yourself. Take her to the mansion and the Underground. Alert the rest, then come back to help us. Kiba and I will hold them off as best as we can. Oh, and I also need you to go to Kiba’s stuff and contact the head. Have Sig 117 alerted. I want to know just what the hell is going on.”
Kil nodded, just as the metal partition came up. Ash’s face floated into view. She was trembling with fear. “T-There’s something outside, and Kiba- Kiba- he, I think he’s injured.”
She leaned back, and both of them saw the ugly gash bleeding profusely on Kiba’s forehead. It looked quite nasty. Ash had torn a strip of shirt and tried to apply pressure to the wound, but blood was still leaking out and the entire cloth was soaked. However, there wasn’t time to worry too much about the wound. What immediately caught everyone’s attention were the visible figures that could be seen through the front windscreen.
“Three vampires and three Lykens,” Dan noted, with a grimace. “And they’re coming.”
At his words, there was a sharp breaking of glass as one of the figures crashed into the windscreen, snapping its jaws at the passengers behind the glass, which was fast giving way. Ash gave a terrified scream as she tried to claw backwards; there was barely ten centimeters between her and the monster. The next moment, two gunshots rang out, and Kil was crawling over Kiba to Ash’s side.
Ash felt as if she couldn’t move. The sudden appearance of the creature had paralyzed all form of muscle and brain activity. She wasn’t even sure if she was still breathing.
Kil was panting a little, perhaps from the exertion of having jumped from the backseat to the front, and Dan guarded the rear. “That should have scared it away for a bit, these new bullets are really something,” Kil said. “But not for long, though. They have superb healing powers. Listen, Ash. I have to get you away for now; it’s too dangerous for you to be here. You’re gonna be killed. So what we’re going to do is escape from the circle, and leave Dan to do the rest.”
“Leave Dan?”
“He may not look like it, but he’s really strong,” Kil offered. Beneath her, Kiba suddenly groaned.
“Kil, get off me.”
“You’re awake? Good, you and Dan need to hold these creatures off, because Ash and I have to make a quick getaway.”
“Kil! Keep your voice down!” Dan said urgently. “They’re approaching again.”
Kiba cursed. Ash held her breath as he slowly drew his gun, and the four of them tensed, trying not to make any sudden movements. “Can’t we all escape together?” Ash asked, but both Dan and Kiba shook their heads at her.
Just then, there was an ugly crunching of metal and splintering of glass from all sides, as their jeep was torn up meticulously from the outside by the vampires and Lykens. Ash squeezed her eyes shut when the creatures surrounding them let loose growls and inhuman howls, almost causing her eardrums to split. It was horrendous, like an excerpt from some freak movie. She couldn’t believe everything was happening so fast; the situation had spun out of control ever since their jeep had been forced to halt by an unseen force.
Outside, the human screams had faded and people had fled, leaving their cars and the entire street empty. The danger was very real, and Ash’s terror was rising to the point where it was almost tangible in the air.
Beside her, Dan and Kiba had started shooting madly away at their adversaries, but with little or no effect on them, as the creatures continued to break down the car. The roof gave way first, and Dan jumped outside, aiming a kick at nearest vampire and causing it to stumble back a few feet. In the midst of the confusion, the creatures retreated and formed a tight circle around the humans.
What the hell…?
There was a blinding flash of fire, and a tall vampire appeared out of the blue, right in front of Dan, his black cape billowing slightly.
“It’s been a long time, Dan.”
* * *
Several miles away, Ronald tensed on his motorbike. “Kevin.”
“This is the fastest we can go without crashing, Ronald!”
“Someone bad just turned up.”
Kevin paled. “Who?”
“The same one as last time.”
“Holy fuck.”
* * *
Dan’s brain was working as fast as it could without it dying on him. Right now, it was very inclined to go into panic mode, but he had to think about the rest, as well as escaping with even a fifty per cent chance of survival himself. Unfortunately, the odds were against them this time. Things had already been looking bad with the six ancient ones, now that this happened… Well he was going to have to tread this one very carefully… And first things first, the ultimate bastard was still waiting.
“It’s been four years, I believe,” Dan said coolly.
“Yes, and where’s your partner this time? I’ve been dying to meet you two all this while.”
“A pity you didn’t.”
“Now, that would take the fun out of everything if I had, …right?” The vampire swooped down on Dan at that instant, the same moment Dan shouted, “Kil, NOW!” There was a flash of green, and then the vampire dropped back suddenly, clutching his head and yowling in agony. The other six closed in almost immediately, when they were also attacked with bright flashes of green.
“Take Ash and run!” Kiba yelled. “We’ll take care of them!”
Ash found her hand grabbed by Kil, who took off at a speed approximate to that of sound. She followed blindly, managing to keep up just barely, even with the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Shock was still coursing within her body as they wound through walkways, alleys, roads, and occasionally rooftops. There was no breath left to ask questions, and the one time Ash tried to open her mouth, Kil had responded by, “We’re being followed.” without a backward glance.
They doubled their speed after that, not even stopping once. Kil seemed to know the way around the city pretty well, and she was taking pains not to stray into people-infested areas. They had to be running for about half an hour now. Ash was starting to feel breathless, and her muscles strained. Her breath came out in short gasps as she panted heavily. Kil was slowing down too, and the hand gripping hers tightened.
They slowed to a trot, and came to a deserted car park. The lone vehicle standing there was a worn out-looking motorbike.
“That’ll have to do,” Kil gasped. “Quick, make a run for it, Ash!”
As they sprinted for the motorbike, two figures materialized in front of them. “Going somewhere?” one of them asked, baring his fangs.
Shit.
In response, Kil shot him in the head, then aimed her gun at the other vampire, but it was knocked mid-motion to the ground as he came forward in a flash and pinned her to the ground, opening his mouth to strike. Mustering up the dregs of her energy, Kil threw him a weak psychological attack, and using his momentary confusion, she managed to lift her leg straight up and kick him into the air to a height of about two meters. As he fell back to earth, her foot connected with his stomach soundly, sending him flying backwards. Without missing a beat, she snatched up her fallen gun and shot him twice in the head.
Meanwhile, the other vampire was healing fast. Kil walked over to the fallen body, knelt down, aimed the barrel of the gun straight in the vampire’s hair, and fired. Brains and blood spattered the ground as the head exploded.
“I’ll like to see you heal that,” she said grimly.
Then she turned around to look for Ash. The poor girl was white with terror, and a few dashes of blood marred her pale visage. It looked strangely disturbing, but Kil had no time left to ponder why. The vampires would be up and about in approximately fifteen minutes; they looked old enough to be that powerful. So she grabbed Ash by the arm roughly, lifted a sleeve to wipe at the blood, and practically dragged her over to the motorbike. The key was in the ignition, but it took several tries to get the engine to work. When it finally came to life, Kil took hold of the handlebars and kicked up the stand.
“Now hold on tight.”
Kil stepped on the accelerator as far down as it could go, and they sped off, even as Kil willed the motorbike to increase its speed. They weren’t safe yet, far from it in fact! She would only pronounce everything over after the creatures had been taken care of with no casualties. And also - dammit, Ash was holding on too tight, causing her to be near suffocation.
“Will you ease up!” she yelled over the wind.
“What?” Ash said into her ear.
“I said, I CAN’T BREATHE!”
“Oh, sorry.” Ash’s voice seemed rather soft, and she loosened her hold.
Kil took a much-needed breath of air. “Hey, could you reload that for me?” She nodded to her gun. “Ammos in - shit.”
“What?”
“Um, actually, it’s in my bra… It’s fine, I’ll just steer one-handed… hang on…”
Ash smirked. “Keep those eyes on the road, I’ll get it.”
The next moment, the motorbike had veered violently off the road, almost upsetting its passengers and narrowly missed crashing into a lamppost; Kil was cursing vehemently, and her fair face was rather red.
Ash tsked. “Such language, Kil.”
This only resulted in a violent retort from the driver, who told her in no uncertain terms to “procreate asexually in the gutter”, the phrase of course loosing something in the translation.
Ash ignored her, and reloaded the handgun deftly without any major problems, for someone who had handled guns the first time only the day before. Dan had taught her well, though he had neglected to give her one of her own. All in due time, she supposed.
They spent the next polite ten minutes in silence, as city lights gradually decreased in number, and more countryside became visible. There was no time to enjoy the night scenery, however, as Kil found herself in a dilemma. She was sure the two vampires were following them by now, even if they seemed to have concealed their presence, as they no doubt lay in wait to see where the pair was headed for. She had two choices, to fight it out and risk Ash’s life, or bring Ash back to base and risk having their hideout found out.
Dan’s mansion had been base for three years, and their sig had gone to painstaking lengths to keep it concealed from the enemy. Much of their information and research was kept there, and to lose it all on one night, was practically insane. Three years of hard work, earned through blood, sweat and tears, vanishing overnight? No way. In fact, they’d sworn it to secrecy the first time Dan had brought them all there, hadn’t they? Kil distinctly remembered herself threatening to kill any traitors who revealed the place. Each and every one of them had fought to the brink, almost died, and come back before, yet even at times when the entire situation seemed hopeless, not one had taken a step in the direction of their base. They had guarded it with their life.
It was like a second home, a secret sanctuary, where work and play had combined into a peaceful atmosphere that made up Dan’s mansion. Could she bear to risk destruction of the only place she ever felt attached to, one, which she could call home?
Dammit, just looking at Ash, she could. Ash was important. She was Dan’s cousin, and she was above all, innocent! True, she would be an Insignian in a matter of days, but she hadn’t even received any proper training yet. She’d been terrified during the encounters with the supernatural, even though she had seemed so tough at first sight. Even right now. The slight tremble of the fingers wrapped tightly around her waist could attest to that. No, she couldn’t and wouldn’t let Ash get hurt. Especially not now. Vampires didn’t play with their prey twice. The next attack would be the last, and Kil would either kill or be killed.
What had Dan’s orders been? Take her to the mansion, and the Underground. Alert the rest, then come back to help us. He had made it very clear that Ash’s safety was top priority, yet hadn’t said anything about stray vampires tailing them with the purpose of uncovering their hideout, which was weird. Surely he should have seen this happening. Few things escaped Dan, who sometimes had a sense of foresight so keen, he rivaled her even with her activated powers.
So what was it, then? Unless… had Dan underestimated the enemy this time?
Kil shook her head, in an attempt to clear the confusing and conflicted thoughts swimming through her brain. She needed to think. Whichever the case was, she was alone now. The decision was up to her to make, even if it concerned their sig largely. This was not a time for hesitation.
A steely edge came on in her voice. “Ash, we’re going at max speed now, no stops. Don’t fall off.”
Ash, who was feeling cold and rather left out of Kil’s thought processes by this time, only nodded and tightened her grip around Kil’s waist and on the gun. She had no idea what sort of conclusion Kil had come to, nor anything that had been going through the brunette’s mind, but she had noticed the tightening of lips and slight frown that indicated that the girl in front of her had been doing some pretty serious mind work.
And that was, at best, the most she could figure out about Kil right now.
* * *
The motorbike ground to a halt in front of the mansion, the engine emitting small puffs of smoke.
“Shit, Ash! Get away! Quick!” Kil shouted. They both vaulted over the seat, then made a mad dash towards the mansion gates, just before the entire contraption exploded in the air, the impact sending waves of energy outwards and heaving them with a thunk against the gates. Bits of metal and sharp pieces rained through the air, though thankfully they had escaped out of range of the dangerous bits.
Kil spent about a second lamenting the loss of her motorbike; she’d have to quick foot it back to Dan and Kiba, if she made it through the damn battle. Her nerves were fraying already. She had to get Ash Underground as soon as possible, and there was no telling when the vampires would commence the attack.
“Ash, stay close to me,” Kil muttered. She ran up to the gate, then knelt low in the grass to find the computerized keypad hidden within the leaf blades. Next, she punched in a long sequence of numbers that had been imprinted in her brain ever since she’d been introduced to this place. As the gate started to grind open in response to the code, Kil turned around, pulled Ash roughly in, and pressed a button on the other side. The gate stopped its opening halfway through and started to close. Kil breathed a sigh of relief. A structure of this caliber wouldn’t be able to stop the vampires, but it always made her feel better to have a barrier between them.
“Listen to me very carefully, Ash.”
Ash looked at Kil solemnly. Kil appeared tired; there were dark circles under her eyes, yet she had to be wound up and incredibly stressed at the same time. Her gaze was steady, but her eyes seemed to be filled with thoughts, actions and responsibility that were way beyond her years. The person in front of her was so transformed from the girl Ash had first met that she somehow felt as if she were in a dream.
Welcome to the harsh face of reality, huh? This had been Kil’s job all along, this was what was expected of her, and it was what everyone else had to do. Dan had already told her that, but Ash still hadn’t been prepared. This was the first and last time she would underestimate this entire escapade. There was no backing out.
“I’m listening.” Ash realized Kil was speaking urgently.
“You need to get to the Underground, AKA the true base of Insignia.”
“How am I supposed - “
“Take the elevator behind the twisting staircases in the grand hall. Descend to B4. There, there would be a password you need to punch in. The password is kanametomoe. After that, there is a passageway directly beneath the mansion, which leads to Insignia’s base. Dan hasn’t told you this yet, but there exists a network of transport systems below the ground, spanning the entire American continent, unknown to almost the whole world. And they all lead to one place, the base of Insignia.
“Away from the public and military eye, Insignia has developed a form of transport that only works beneath the ground, called the Infra-beamers. It’s a small craft that defies gravity and rides the sensory waves that only appear near the earth’s core. Each of us has one of these crafts. You’ll take mine and follow the internal GPS tracking system to base. The way to fly is almost the same as any vehicle. You step on the accelerator, and it automatically lifts off. The only things you need to keep an eye on are the accelerator, brake, piloting device to control direction, and the speedometer. Once you reach Insignia, remember to mention Dan Lee, your cousin, as well as Kiba and I. We’re in Sig 212. They already know you’re here, and they’ve got your all documents and files. There should be no problem getting into Insignia. If you need to contact us, there is a speakerphone in my Infra-beamer that has a direct line to Kiba’s earpiece. He’s in charge of communications and fieldwork. Any questions? We need to hurry.”
Ash nodded slowly, brain soaking up the information. “Only two. Which is your craft, and what’s the password again?”
Kil suddenly smiled. “It’s the pink one. And the password’s K-A-N-A-M-E-T-O-M-O-E. My mum’s name. Are we ready? We’re gonna split up at the staircase. You make straight for the elevator, and don’t turn back if you hear anything.”
Ash refrained from groaning.
Together, the two of them ran up into the mansion’s porch, just as two wisps of black materialized behind them. Kil and Ash managed to sprint to safety inside, and Kil slammed the huge double doors shut on the vampires. The ornate door immediately dented inwards as a large force was rammed into the middle.
“Ash, go now!”
“What about you!”
“I have work to do! Don’t get in my way! Leave now!”
Ash stood there a moment longer, and then she disappeared behind the staircases. Kil closed her eyes, perfecting her hearing, until she heard the elevator doors open, then close, taking its passenger down into the depths of the mansion. Ash was safe. Part I of her mission, accomplished. Then her eyes snapped open to the doors. It would cave in in a matter of minutes. Time was of essence here.
Kil turned and sprinted up the stairs, making straight for Kiba’s laboratory, where the communications was located. She kicked open the outer door, which had been left unlocked, and faced the inner set of transparent Perspex doors, a gel pad placed in front of it. Stepping up, the laser scanner began to scan her body features. Unfortunately, the scanner was a faulty old thing that Kiba had inherited from some remnants of his past childhood, and was slow to the point of scrap-metal.
Scanning… 67% complete.
Kil cursed, and held her gun steady. They definitely had to get the latest security device in Insignia. This was a fucking ancient piece of shit that was no use in emergencies. Shit, below, the vampires had already broken down the door…
88%…
They were coming up the stairs…
95%… Dammit, could it go any faster? Just a little bit more…
They would be here any moment… Kil held her breath. Her heart was pounding heavily.
99%…
Kil felt her hair whip up in a slight breeze as the outer doors were flung open behind her. She lifted her gun and turned, aiming two shots with quick succession at each vampire.
Scan 100% complete.
They both dodged the bullets and came for her as she hastily backed into the comms lab through the newly open doors, which slammed a millisecond after they reached it. Screeching with fury at her narrow escape, they clawed at the doors and roared, causing the entire place to vibrate. Kil ran to the headphones and switched on the radio, meanwhile also booting up the laptop. This was the only thing that didn’t need to be started up within five minutes. She had to hurry if she wanted to save her precious mansion from total destruction.
Frequency… 99.6, 7, 8 Static buzzed through. “Pat. Pat. Do you read me?”
…
“Pat?”
“…Loud and clear.”
“This is an emergency. We’ve been attacked. I need immediate back up at Dan’s place. Two ancient vampires. Ronald and Kevin should be on their way to Kiba and Dan. How long will you and Jeff take?”
“…Half an hour, tops. Will you be able handle it?”
“It’s gonna be a hard one. Hurry.”
“Roger.”
Kil terminated the connection, then turned her attention to the screen of the laptop. She opened up a videoconference line and clicked the direct head’s channel. The channel was open as usual, as it was supposed to be, at all times of the day. The head’s face took up the screen in front of her as he swiveled to look at her.
“Kil.”
“Yes, sir. There has been an attack on us, starting approximately forty minutes ago. The arcanis theorem is behind it. Six creatures of the night; three vampires and three Lykens attacked our vehicle on St. 47, and moments later, Regale joined the whole troop.”
“Regale?”
“Yes, sir, the Vampire Regale. I am afraid Kiba and Dan were left to their own devices shortly after. I escaped, took Ash and came to our base, right here, as two other ancient ones chased us. Ash will be arriving in Insignia shortly, I believe. Right this instant, the vampires are trying to get into the comms lab, and I have alerted Pat and Jeff to arrive as soon as possible. Dan also wants Sig 117 informed of this attack.”
“I will inform 117 of this, and get them on this case at once. How are you doing over there?”
“Not too good, I’m afraid, sir. They’re getting in. I have to go.”
“Good luck, Kil.”
Kil slammed the screen down, and reached for her gun. It was time to pull out all the stops, and face the two creatures of the night. No more hiding. In fact, she wanted to draw them as far as she could away from the mansion, if that was possible, and commence battle. The mansion had incurred enough damage during the past thirty minutes.
And that was why she broke into a fierce run, punched a hole through the glass window of the lab with her gun, and dived through it, falling to the ground ten meters below.
Title: Descending into Purgatory
Disclaimer: All characters belong to me and if you dislike them, TALK TO THE HAND.
A/N: Aha aha! I have surprised! I bet no one expected this so fast, huh? On a side note... I LOVE HITPLAYER'S DRAWING OF RITSUKA AND I SERIOUSLY NEED A PIECE ON SOUBI FUCKING RITSUKA INTO THE GROUND.
*brain explodes*
Chapter 5: Descending into Purgatory
The place smelt faintly of pizza, and there was a distinctly pale, burnt odor in the air. This was usually what happened when a room became inhabited by two lazy bachelors. A pile of blankets, and a large lump in the middle of it took up most of the small room. The lump rose and fell regularly at intervals, the person beneath the heap presumably sound asleep. Or at least, that was what it looked like to an outsider.
His roommate, however, knew better.
Ronald was passed out cold.
He had been that way in fact, ever since the night before, when his malfunctioning brain had deemed it a good idea to down six bottles of distilled spirits from Korea that had arrived in the mail. There were many hints that this was not a very bright thing to do, one of which was that the mailer was anonymous. People from Insignia were rarely popular with the outside world, as their job required them to be constantly on the run about the country and too many things had to be kept secret. Thus, relationships were practically impossible.
For all they knew, the alcohol could have been poison from a pissed off ex-girlfriend. Yet Ronald had gone nuts over the casket, grabbed the bottles, and refused to let go. He had staunchly insisted on drinking the whole lot himself too, not sparing a thought for his poor, thirsting roommate who was in severe need of alcohol. Putting up with Ronald on a daily basis was in itself deserving of at least ten shots each night.
The second most obvious reason was that Ronald could not hold alcohol to save his life.
And that was the reason why, as his roommate now sighed, that Ronald was sleeping like a baby at this time of the night. On most other days, he would have been practically impossible to deal with at this hour. He suspected that Ronald was secretly some kind of night creature, whose biological day started around somewhere at seven in the evening and lasted all the way to eight or nine in the morning.
No matter, now anyway. The fellow was bound to sleep for at least two days, if he didn’t die of liver poisoning first. Upon his awakening, his roommate would have prepared string, hangover medicine, and anti-depressants, so that Ronald wouldn’t cut himself and bleed to death in his hangover agony. (The complete lack of ADH in a body could do that to some people.) The first time this overdrinking thing had happened, the roommate had barely escaped alive, and this was only because his automatic reflex powers had acted up and prevented him from being mutilated with a razor.
That had been an absolute nightmare. This time, he would be sure to be ten miles away from the house by the time the idiot awoke. Yes, there was nothing to worry about currently. The roommate took a sip of his favorite Starbucks cappuccino, and prepared to enjoy two full Ronald-free days of bliss.
That was when the lump beneath the moldy blankets shot out like a bullet and ricocheted off the wall, letting loose a Tarzan-like howl that sounded remotely like the word, “KEVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!”
Kevin sprayed coffee all over the table, just as a disheveled, vaguely humanoid shape pounced on him, cutting off the air to his windpipe effectively.
“DAMMIT RONALD!” he roared, defense mechanisms activating and deflecting the shape into the pile of blankets with dead accuracy. It lay there for a while, and Kevin thought it had died from overexertion or liver failure. However, the thing moved, slowly pulled itself to a sitting position, and blinked open green eyes.
“R-ronald?” Kevin thought the guy should be having a bloody splitting headache right about now and going bonkers, not staring off into space like that. Something was very wrong. “Oi, Ronald, what’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”
“Kevin.”
“Uh, yes?”
“Trouble. 47th district in the city, six Level Bs approaching at high speed. Dan, Kiba and Kil are the targets, and they can’t handle this alone.”
“Shit. Is this the arcanis theorem at work?”
“High possibility.”
“Grab your weapons, let’s go.”
“Roger.”
The two of them pulled on armed leather jackets and hopped onto their motorbikes, exceeding speed limits as they made for the city. This was not the time to be worried about getting tickets.
* * *
“Quiet, Dan,” Kil whispered. “I need to hear.”
Dan looked behind him, realizing that Kil was already in full gear, heels exchanged for tough boots and gun in hand. Her eyes were shut as she tried to concentrate. Other than her additional mind powers, Kil was born with an exceptional sense of hearing, which came in useful at times like these.
He watched as a bead of sweat rolled down her cheek.
“Dan, we’re surrounded.”
“How many?”
“Six, and these are not going to be easy game.”
Dan cursed. What the hell was going on? What the fuck was Kiba doing? Why hadn’t they been alerted? Such a powerful attack could not be mere coincidence, so that only meant one thing: the arcanis theorem was behind this. That being the case, the three of them alone were not capable of holding them off. And Ash was not even qualified yet. The best thing to do at the moment was to find some way to let Ash escape with one of them, and leave the fighting the other two, before reinforcements arrived. Dan was fairly sure Ronald was already aware of their situation. It was only a matter of time before the others appeared.
He turned to Kil.
“Kil, there is a high chance the arcanis theorem is behind this. It is too dangerous for Ash to stay here. I need you to confuse the enemy and create an escape route for Ash and yourself. Take her to the mansion and the Underground. Alert the rest, then come back to help us. Kiba and I will hold them off as best as we can. Oh, and I also need you to go to Kiba’s stuff and contact the head. Have Sig 117 alerted. I want to know just what the hell is going on.”
Kil nodded, just as the metal partition came up. Ash’s face floated into view. She was trembling with fear. “T-There’s something outside, and Kiba- Kiba- he, I think he’s injured.”
She leaned back, and both of them saw the ugly gash bleeding profusely on Kiba’s forehead. It looked quite nasty. Ash had torn a strip of shirt and tried to apply pressure to the wound, but blood was still leaking out and the entire cloth was soaked. However, there wasn’t time to worry too much about the wound. What immediately caught everyone’s attention were the visible figures that could be seen through the front windscreen.
“Three vampires and three Lykens,” Dan noted, with a grimace. “And they’re coming.”
At his words, there was a sharp breaking of glass as one of the figures crashed into the windscreen, snapping its jaws at the passengers behind the glass, which was fast giving way. Ash gave a terrified scream as she tried to claw backwards; there was barely ten centimeters between her and the monster. The next moment, two gunshots rang out, and Kil was crawling over Kiba to Ash’s side.
Ash felt as if she couldn’t move. The sudden appearance of the creature had paralyzed all form of muscle and brain activity. She wasn’t even sure if she was still breathing.
Kil was panting a little, perhaps from the exertion of having jumped from the backseat to the front, and Dan guarded the rear. “That should have scared it away for a bit, these new bullets are really something,” Kil said. “But not for long, though. They have superb healing powers. Listen, Ash. I have to get you away for now; it’s too dangerous for you to be here. You’re gonna be killed. So what we’re going to do is escape from the circle, and leave Dan to do the rest.”
“Leave Dan?”
“He may not look like it, but he’s really strong,” Kil offered. Beneath her, Kiba suddenly groaned.
“Kil, get off me.”
“You’re awake? Good, you and Dan need to hold these creatures off, because Ash and I have to make a quick getaway.”
“Kil! Keep your voice down!” Dan said urgently. “They’re approaching again.”
Kiba cursed. Ash held her breath as he slowly drew his gun, and the four of them tensed, trying not to make any sudden movements. “Can’t we all escape together?” Ash asked, but both Dan and Kiba shook their heads at her.
Just then, there was an ugly crunching of metal and splintering of glass from all sides, as their jeep was torn up meticulously from the outside by the vampires and Lykens. Ash squeezed her eyes shut when the creatures surrounding them let loose growls and inhuman howls, almost causing her eardrums to split. It was horrendous, like an excerpt from some freak movie. She couldn’t believe everything was happening so fast; the situation had spun out of control ever since their jeep had been forced to halt by an unseen force.
Outside, the human screams had faded and people had fled, leaving their cars and the entire street empty. The danger was very real, and Ash’s terror was rising to the point where it was almost tangible in the air.
Beside her, Dan and Kiba had started shooting madly away at their adversaries, but with little or no effect on them, as the creatures continued to break down the car. The roof gave way first, and Dan jumped outside, aiming a kick at nearest vampire and causing it to stumble back a few feet. In the midst of the confusion, the creatures retreated and formed a tight circle around the humans.
What the hell…?
There was a blinding flash of fire, and a tall vampire appeared out of the blue, right in front of Dan, his black cape billowing slightly.
“It’s been a long time, Dan.”
* * *
Several miles away, Ronald tensed on his motorbike. “Kevin.”
“This is the fastest we can go without crashing, Ronald!”
“Someone bad just turned up.”
Kevin paled. “Who?”
“The same one as last time.”
“Holy fuck.”
* * *
Dan’s brain was working as fast as it could without it dying on him. Right now, it was very inclined to go into panic mode, but he had to think about the rest, as well as escaping with even a fifty per cent chance of survival himself. Unfortunately, the odds were against them this time. Things had already been looking bad with the six ancient ones, now that this happened… Well he was going to have to tread this one very carefully… And first things first, the ultimate bastard was still waiting.
“It’s been four years, I believe,” Dan said coolly.
“Yes, and where’s your partner this time? I’ve been dying to meet you two all this while.”
“A pity you didn’t.”
“Now, that would take the fun out of everything if I had, …right?” The vampire swooped down on Dan at that instant, the same moment Dan shouted, “Kil, NOW!” There was a flash of green, and then the vampire dropped back suddenly, clutching his head and yowling in agony. The other six closed in almost immediately, when they were also attacked with bright flashes of green.
“Take Ash and run!” Kiba yelled. “We’ll take care of them!”
Ash found her hand grabbed by Kil, who took off at a speed approximate to that of sound. She followed blindly, managing to keep up just barely, even with the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Shock was still coursing within her body as they wound through walkways, alleys, roads, and occasionally rooftops. There was no breath left to ask questions, and the one time Ash tried to open her mouth, Kil had responded by, “We’re being followed.” without a backward glance.
They doubled their speed after that, not even stopping once. Kil seemed to know the way around the city pretty well, and she was taking pains not to stray into people-infested areas. They had to be running for about half an hour now. Ash was starting to feel breathless, and her muscles strained. Her breath came out in short gasps as she panted heavily. Kil was slowing down too, and the hand gripping hers tightened.
They slowed to a trot, and came to a deserted car park. The lone vehicle standing there was a worn out-looking motorbike.
“That’ll have to do,” Kil gasped. “Quick, make a run for it, Ash!”
As they sprinted for the motorbike, two figures materialized in front of them. “Going somewhere?” one of them asked, baring his fangs.
Shit.
In response, Kil shot him in the head, then aimed her gun at the other vampire, but it was knocked mid-motion to the ground as he came forward in a flash and pinned her to the ground, opening his mouth to strike. Mustering up the dregs of her energy, Kil threw him a weak psychological attack, and using his momentary confusion, she managed to lift her leg straight up and kick him into the air to a height of about two meters. As he fell back to earth, her foot connected with his stomach soundly, sending him flying backwards. Without missing a beat, she snatched up her fallen gun and shot him twice in the head.
Meanwhile, the other vampire was healing fast. Kil walked over to the fallen body, knelt down, aimed the barrel of the gun straight in the vampire’s hair, and fired. Brains and blood spattered the ground as the head exploded.
“I’ll like to see you heal that,” she said grimly.
Then she turned around to look for Ash. The poor girl was white with terror, and a few dashes of blood marred her pale visage. It looked strangely disturbing, but Kil had no time left to ponder why. The vampires would be up and about in approximately fifteen minutes; they looked old enough to be that powerful. So she grabbed Ash by the arm roughly, lifted a sleeve to wipe at the blood, and practically dragged her over to the motorbike. The key was in the ignition, but it took several tries to get the engine to work. When it finally came to life, Kil took hold of the handlebars and kicked up the stand.
“Now hold on tight.”
Kil stepped on the accelerator as far down as it could go, and they sped off, even as Kil willed the motorbike to increase its speed. They weren’t safe yet, far from it in fact! She would only pronounce everything over after the creatures had been taken care of with no casualties. And also - dammit, Ash was holding on too tight, causing her to be near suffocation.
“Will you ease up!” she yelled over the wind.
“What?” Ash said into her ear.
“I said, I CAN’T BREATHE!”
“Oh, sorry.” Ash’s voice seemed rather soft, and she loosened her hold.
Kil took a much-needed breath of air. “Hey, could you reload that for me?” She nodded to her gun. “Ammos in - shit.”
“What?”
“Um, actually, it’s in my bra… It’s fine, I’ll just steer one-handed… hang on…”
Ash smirked. “Keep those eyes on the road, I’ll get it.”
The next moment, the motorbike had veered violently off the road, almost upsetting its passengers and narrowly missed crashing into a lamppost; Kil was cursing vehemently, and her fair face was rather red.
Ash tsked. “Such language, Kil.”
This only resulted in a violent retort from the driver, who told her in no uncertain terms to “procreate asexually in the gutter”, the phrase of course loosing something in the translation.
Ash ignored her, and reloaded the handgun deftly without any major problems, for someone who had handled guns the first time only the day before. Dan had taught her well, though he had neglected to give her one of her own. All in due time, she supposed.
They spent the next polite ten minutes in silence, as city lights gradually decreased in number, and more countryside became visible. There was no time to enjoy the night scenery, however, as Kil found herself in a dilemma. She was sure the two vampires were following them by now, even if they seemed to have concealed their presence, as they no doubt lay in wait to see where the pair was headed for. She had two choices, to fight it out and risk Ash’s life, or bring Ash back to base and risk having their hideout found out.
Dan’s mansion had been base for three years, and their sig had gone to painstaking lengths to keep it concealed from the enemy. Much of their information and research was kept there, and to lose it all on one night, was practically insane. Three years of hard work, earned through blood, sweat and tears, vanishing overnight? No way. In fact, they’d sworn it to secrecy the first time Dan had brought them all there, hadn’t they? Kil distinctly remembered herself threatening to kill any traitors who revealed the place. Each and every one of them had fought to the brink, almost died, and come back before, yet even at times when the entire situation seemed hopeless, not one had taken a step in the direction of their base. They had guarded it with their life.
It was like a second home, a secret sanctuary, where work and play had combined into a peaceful atmosphere that made up Dan’s mansion. Could she bear to risk destruction of the only place she ever felt attached to, one, which she could call home?
Dammit, just looking at Ash, she could. Ash was important. She was Dan’s cousin, and she was above all, innocent! True, she would be an Insignian in a matter of days, but she hadn’t even received any proper training yet. She’d been terrified during the encounters with the supernatural, even though she had seemed so tough at first sight. Even right now. The slight tremble of the fingers wrapped tightly around her waist could attest to that. No, she couldn’t and wouldn’t let Ash get hurt. Especially not now. Vampires didn’t play with their prey twice. The next attack would be the last, and Kil would either kill or be killed.
What had Dan’s orders been? Take her to the mansion, and the Underground. Alert the rest, then come back to help us. He had made it very clear that Ash’s safety was top priority, yet hadn’t said anything about stray vampires tailing them with the purpose of uncovering their hideout, which was weird. Surely he should have seen this happening. Few things escaped Dan, who sometimes had a sense of foresight so keen, he rivaled her even with her activated powers.
So what was it, then? Unless… had Dan underestimated the enemy this time?
Kil shook her head, in an attempt to clear the confusing and conflicted thoughts swimming through her brain. She needed to think. Whichever the case was, she was alone now. The decision was up to her to make, even if it concerned their sig largely. This was not a time for hesitation.
A steely edge came on in her voice. “Ash, we’re going at max speed now, no stops. Don’t fall off.”
Ash, who was feeling cold and rather left out of Kil’s thought processes by this time, only nodded and tightened her grip around Kil’s waist and on the gun. She had no idea what sort of conclusion Kil had come to, nor anything that had been going through the brunette’s mind, but she had noticed the tightening of lips and slight frown that indicated that the girl in front of her had been doing some pretty serious mind work.
And that was, at best, the most she could figure out about Kil right now.
* * *
The motorbike ground to a halt in front of the mansion, the engine emitting small puffs of smoke.
“Shit, Ash! Get away! Quick!” Kil shouted. They both vaulted over the seat, then made a mad dash towards the mansion gates, just before the entire contraption exploded in the air, the impact sending waves of energy outwards and heaving them with a thunk against the gates. Bits of metal and sharp pieces rained through the air, though thankfully they had escaped out of range of the dangerous bits.
Kil spent about a second lamenting the loss of her motorbike; she’d have to quick foot it back to Dan and Kiba, if she made it through the damn battle. Her nerves were fraying already. She had to get Ash Underground as soon as possible, and there was no telling when the vampires would commence the attack.
“Ash, stay close to me,” Kil muttered. She ran up to the gate, then knelt low in the grass to find the computerized keypad hidden within the leaf blades. Next, she punched in a long sequence of numbers that had been imprinted in her brain ever since she’d been introduced to this place. As the gate started to grind open in response to the code, Kil turned around, pulled Ash roughly in, and pressed a button on the other side. The gate stopped its opening halfway through and started to close. Kil breathed a sigh of relief. A structure of this caliber wouldn’t be able to stop the vampires, but it always made her feel better to have a barrier between them.
“Listen to me very carefully, Ash.”
Ash looked at Kil solemnly. Kil appeared tired; there were dark circles under her eyes, yet she had to be wound up and incredibly stressed at the same time. Her gaze was steady, but her eyes seemed to be filled with thoughts, actions and responsibility that were way beyond her years. The person in front of her was so transformed from the girl Ash had first met that she somehow felt as if she were in a dream.
Welcome to the harsh face of reality, huh? This had been Kil’s job all along, this was what was expected of her, and it was what everyone else had to do. Dan had already told her that, but Ash still hadn’t been prepared. This was the first and last time she would underestimate this entire escapade. There was no backing out.
“I’m listening.” Ash realized Kil was speaking urgently.
“You need to get to the Underground, AKA the true base of Insignia.”
“How am I supposed - “
“Take the elevator behind the twisting staircases in the grand hall. Descend to B4. There, there would be a password you need to punch in. The password is kanametomoe. After that, there is a passageway directly beneath the mansion, which leads to Insignia’s base. Dan hasn’t told you this yet, but there exists a network of transport systems below the ground, spanning the entire American continent, unknown to almost the whole world. And they all lead to one place, the base of Insignia.
“Away from the public and military eye, Insignia has developed a form of transport that only works beneath the ground, called the Infra-beamers. It’s a small craft that defies gravity and rides the sensory waves that only appear near the earth’s core. Each of us has one of these crafts. You’ll take mine and follow the internal GPS tracking system to base. The way to fly is almost the same as any vehicle. You step on the accelerator, and it automatically lifts off. The only things you need to keep an eye on are the accelerator, brake, piloting device to control direction, and the speedometer. Once you reach Insignia, remember to mention Dan Lee, your cousin, as well as Kiba and I. We’re in Sig 212. They already know you’re here, and they’ve got your all documents and files. There should be no problem getting into Insignia. If you need to contact us, there is a speakerphone in my Infra-beamer that has a direct line to Kiba’s earpiece. He’s in charge of communications and fieldwork. Any questions? We need to hurry.”
Ash nodded slowly, brain soaking up the information. “Only two. Which is your craft, and what’s the password again?”
Kil suddenly smiled. “It’s the pink one. And the password’s K-A-N-A-M-E-T-O-M-O-E. My mum’s name. Are we ready? We’re gonna split up at the staircase. You make straight for the elevator, and don’t turn back if you hear anything.”
Ash refrained from groaning.
Together, the two of them ran up into the mansion’s porch, just as two wisps of black materialized behind them. Kil and Ash managed to sprint to safety inside, and Kil slammed the huge double doors shut on the vampires. The ornate door immediately dented inwards as a large force was rammed into the middle.
“Ash, go now!”
“What about you!”
“I have work to do! Don’t get in my way! Leave now!”
Ash stood there a moment longer, and then she disappeared behind the staircases. Kil closed her eyes, perfecting her hearing, until she heard the elevator doors open, then close, taking its passenger down into the depths of the mansion. Ash was safe. Part I of her mission, accomplished. Then her eyes snapped open to the doors. It would cave in in a matter of minutes. Time was of essence here.
Kil turned and sprinted up the stairs, making straight for Kiba’s laboratory, where the communications was located. She kicked open the outer door, which had been left unlocked, and faced the inner set of transparent Perspex doors, a gel pad placed in front of it. Stepping up, the laser scanner began to scan her body features. Unfortunately, the scanner was a faulty old thing that Kiba had inherited from some remnants of his past childhood, and was slow to the point of scrap-metal.
Scanning… 67% complete.
Kil cursed, and held her gun steady. They definitely had to get the latest security device in Insignia. This was a fucking ancient piece of shit that was no use in emergencies. Shit, below, the vampires had already broken down the door…
88%…
They were coming up the stairs…
95%… Dammit, could it go any faster? Just a little bit more…
They would be here any moment… Kil held her breath. Her heart was pounding heavily.
99%…
Kil felt her hair whip up in a slight breeze as the outer doors were flung open behind her. She lifted her gun and turned, aiming two shots with quick succession at each vampire.
Scan 100% complete.
They both dodged the bullets and came for her as she hastily backed into the comms lab through the newly open doors, which slammed a millisecond after they reached it. Screeching with fury at her narrow escape, they clawed at the doors and roared, causing the entire place to vibrate. Kil ran to the headphones and switched on the radio, meanwhile also booting up the laptop. This was the only thing that didn’t need to be started up within five minutes. She had to hurry if she wanted to save her precious mansion from total destruction.
Frequency… 99.6, 7, 8 Static buzzed through. “Pat. Pat. Do you read me?”
…
“Pat?”
“…Loud and clear.”
“This is an emergency. We’ve been attacked. I need immediate back up at Dan’s place. Two ancient vampires. Ronald and Kevin should be on their way to Kiba and Dan. How long will you and Jeff take?”
“…Half an hour, tops. Will you be able handle it?”
“It’s gonna be a hard one. Hurry.”
“Roger.”
Kil terminated the connection, then turned her attention to the screen of the laptop. She opened up a videoconference line and clicked the direct head’s channel. The channel was open as usual, as it was supposed to be, at all times of the day. The head’s face took up the screen in front of her as he swiveled to look at her.
“Kil.”
“Yes, sir. There has been an attack on us, starting approximately forty minutes ago. The arcanis theorem is behind it. Six creatures of the night; three vampires and three Lykens attacked our vehicle on St. 47, and moments later, Regale joined the whole troop.”
“Regale?”
“Yes, sir, the Vampire Regale. I am afraid Kiba and Dan were left to their own devices shortly after. I escaped, took Ash and came to our base, right here, as two other ancient ones chased us. Ash will be arriving in Insignia shortly, I believe. Right this instant, the vampires are trying to get into the comms lab, and I have alerted Pat and Jeff to arrive as soon as possible. Dan also wants Sig 117 informed of this attack.”
“I will inform 117 of this, and get them on this case at once. How are you doing over there?”
“Not too good, I’m afraid, sir. They’re getting in. I have to go.”
“Good luck, Kil.”
Kil slammed the screen down, and reached for her gun. It was time to pull out all the stops, and face the two creatures of the night. No more hiding. In fact, she wanted to draw them as far as she could away from the mansion, if that was possible, and commence battle. The mansion had incurred enough damage during the past thirty minutes.
And that was why she broke into a fierce run, punched a hole through the glass window of the lab with her gun, and dived through it, falling to the ground ten meters below.