This just wouldn't get out of my head until I finally wrote it down...
Prologue:
Somewhere 1994
The sun hung high in the sky as it burned down on the deserted streets below, the air above the asphalt distorting with heat though it was only May the sun's rays were merciless in central Spain as they baked the capital.
It was eerie seeing the metropolis laying there so still and silent; no cars driving in and out, no irate pressing of horns as another car cut the way off, no people walking the streets, no pitter-patter of children's feet or raised voices from the playgrounds and schoolyards, no low murmur of conversation to be heard, no clinking of glasses or cutlery, not even a single pigeon to desecrate a national monument… only a cluster of empty buildings under the endless blue sky in a hot pot of a valley no sane person would contemplate spending the height off summer within.
That had been the norm for many years now, the same each day without fail... that is until today.
The blue sky was marred by multiple columns of thick white and sooty black as the scent of smoke and fire was prominent with every breath. The sound of boots slapping heavily against the stone floor echoing off the façade of silent buildings, the fast rhythm fast and frantic.
She ran.
Femininity discarded as useless and buried under padded jacket and multi-pocketed gear only evidenced in the long obsidian curls that had once been tied up in a tight bun but now flying behind her freely. The woman cared naught for the frivolities as she ran for her life.
Behind her huge plumes of thick smoke darkened the sky as the Palacio Real burned, the earth trembled as a the fires reached another pocket of explosives and a shockwave burst and rattled windowpanes, forcing her to throw her jacket covered arms over her head to protect herself from the rain of glass.
Almost there…
There was a whistling sound and she ducked as the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, instinctively dropping flat on the hard asphalt.
The ground trembled under her sweaty body as she felt a blast of intense heat pass over her.
She would recogise that sound anywhere;
That psychopathic little weasel had a grenade launcher. Fuck, fuck FUCK!
Slightly dazed and ears ringing she looked up to see the Casa de Cisnero's outer wall massively damaged, she watched with wide eyes as the entire west side crumbled after the fiery explosion. Her weapon stash!
That had been the perfect place the small tower to the eastern North gave her the best sniping point and easy getaway over the rooftops to the neighbouring blocks east when she needed the escape. She cursed venomously as she watched the flames blaze through the gaping hole in the façade the damage reaching far into the building making any thoughts of a quick retrieval far too risky, her hope for an advantage lost.
The revving of an engine did not inspire any kind of confidence and had her up and running before she could properly process that.
Scrambling back to her feet she ran.
She ducked and weaved through narrow streets and arches her every step followed by the roar of an engine and blasts of explosions, as her pursuer threw around grenades like they were going out of style with the enthusiasm of a kid on a sugar rush. The Worst. Combination. Ever.
It made her hands itch for her beloved sniper rifle that would see a 338 Lapua Magnum lodged between his eyes and put a stop to that infernal incessant cackling.
"Run, run, run as fast as you can~ but I'll catch you because I'm the bogeyman!"
And those rhymes.
God! Can't forget those fuckin' - truly horrible - taunting rhymes.
She grit her teeth as she was suddenly airborne, having been just that damning split-second too slow, and consequently hurled through the air by a pressure wave her eyes burning behind her protective goggles as they came far too close to the flash of explosion.
Despite her best efforts she was loosing ground, her body was slowing and the maniac was gaining and most frustratingly; she was forced to deviate from her mapped course to avoid heavy trauma and third degree burns, again.
She had to get off the streets!
Azure eyes lit up and fixed upon the arch with the tunnelling steps up that appeared like a heavens send before her, she sprinted up them hearing the engine and squealing of the wheels at her heals.
The sound of by now very familiar whistling of air had her push her body to an even faster speed and jump behind the first pillar she saw once the ground levelled. And just in time; as the rush of hot air blew past her location followed by a mighty crash and blast of dust and pebbles as the tunnel-like passage collapsed behind her, the building over it coming down.
At least he wouldn't be able to follow her through it anymore.
Panting she took stock of her aches and was glad to note that besides feeling like one giant bruise, her protective gear had done it's job and no bones were broken.
The thump of boots echoed as Kai jumped from his hijacked military jeep with a small pleased smile, he would have preferred a nice tank but that would have been far too cumbersome and slow in the streets of the Spanish capital. He grinned in anticipation as he slung the semi automatic over his shoulder as he hefted another model from the crate in the back that was quickly becoming his favourite, who knew when he needed something with more oomph again?
Now to his mouse in the trap...
She stared in horror at the large open space before the Plaza Mayor seemingly stretching endlessly before with that measly statue in the centre providing the sole sparse cover.
That clever bastard had planned this! He'd herded her here like cattle to the slaughterhouse and she fell for it hook line and sinker!
As if to prove her worst fears true, he appeared. Like an angel of death he stood in the north eastern arch his form silhouetted by light that paradoxically made him look sinister as his his face was obscured by deep shadows. Malachai looked like something freshly risen from hell, dark hair tousled, clothes singed, and a unhinged smirk that seemed to glow from the dark leering at her diabolically.
She quickly slid around the pillar and out of sight before those wicked eyes of his could spot her. Damn her uncles to the deepest pits of hell! They were far too thorough in teaching tactics and military warfare and like the sicko he was, Kai had soaked it up like a sponge.
"Oh Meeellll~! Come out, come out, wherever you are~!" came the taunting sing-song, making her heart miss a beat and her stomach plummet.
It wouldn't have been half as obnoxious if he wasn't using a megaphone, her hand twitched again wishing once more for her the familiar weight of her darling that Kai had so cruelly ripped from her over an hour ago.
"No? Well, if you're feeling shy today… I'll just have to encourage you." With a mockery of a smile that came straight from hell and exuded pure evil, being more a baring of teeth than anything else, he withdrew a remote with a blinking antenna from one of his numerous pockets, deliberately pressing down on the button with a click. "Boom."
…!
BOOOM!
Barely a second later the ground trembled and loose papers and objects flew the air as eight cache's of C4 detonated simultaneously, the once proud buildings reduced to stones and rubble.
Wooh~! was he glad he was not Spanish or he might have been upset at all the landmarks being ravaged one after the other. But since he wasn't… he watched in glee as one arch after the other collapsed and all exits were buried.
Save the one directly behind him.
Ah there she was… his eyes lit up as a figure stumbled out from between the crumbling columns and darting with feline quickness across the open space directly in front of his guns barrel.
He clicked his tongue in disappointment as she avoided the bullets expertly as she dropped into a roll that sent her directly behind the statue of some king or other. She hadn't even looked his way while doing so.
Could humans actually develop a sixth sense to when one was about to be riddled by bullets? What an intriguing thought.
He might investigate that later...
Cowering and silently thanking the statue of Filipe III for it's meagre defence, she wiped her mouth and ignoring how the back of her hand came away crimson, just as she had ignored the tang of copper and iron in her mouth, and did her best to catch her breath because - Holy shit! That vicious bastard had nearly blown her up!
That had been far too close for her tastes, buried under tons of stone was not the way she wanted to go.
Taking a deep breath to centre herself, her mind raced a million miles a minute; there had to be a way to turn this around…
Frantic azure finally caught on the large metal grids set in the cobbled floor of the plaza; the underground parking lot ventilation.
She was not a naïve little floozy; as soon as she'd arrived in Madrid, she'd done the sensible thing when one knew there was a armed sociopath on the loose and scouted out all escape routes and broke into the Ayuntamiento archives and filched all canalisation and underground plans memorising the best routes as best as she could knowing she might need it when Kai finally tracked her down. When not if.
She knew he would; he always did.
The siphoner had turned out to be quite the blood hound, during their sick game of 'hide and seek' across the world.
It was only a few meters, she could do it, but she would have to be quick.
The twinge in her ankle was not encouraging in the least.
Aware of the limited space there'd be and need for speed, she did away with all the extra weight after pulling out what was still of use, including that very needed mini crowbar she made a point of carrying around with her.
Dropping the outer layers that were too cumbersome, too hot to tolerate now that they no longer served a purpose as even her military vest's deepest pockets had been exhausted, she was left with the tight protective jacket over her tank top.
Palming the canister of smoke grenade she had preserved for an eventuality such as this one she added her last two grenades to the mix. It would have to do.
Her eyes flitted around trying to spot the dark head she knew was lurking and lying in wait like a rattlesnake. She pulled the pins and simultaneously lobed them behind, leaving the live smoke grenade in her place as she threw herself at the metal barrier separating her from escape crowbar first.
With a deft move she had the crowbar slammed into one of the numerous square gaps of the grid and heaved levering the square grid out in one fluid move and seamlessly moving onto the next, eyes narrowing dangerously as she saw a metal bar barring her access and lashed out with her magic swift as lightning, blasting it away and doing away with stealth as she could literal feel the time slip between her fingers.
Yes! Dropping her weapon belt inside and about to follow when her body suddenly went rigid. Eyes widening, her head flew up as she stared into the sky disbelievingly as the magic in her reacted and she felt a disturbance in this artificial world around her.
Involuntarily her head whipped to the side and she stared to the far west where she knew - an ocean apart - company had arrived.
Her, and the scorned eldest twin of the Parker brood were no longer the only people in this empty world.
Excitement sang in her heart as she realised what that meant.
It was short lived. A moment later she chocked on a scream as agony tore through her as a her lung was speared, looking down she saw the tip of a knife protruding from her chest her front quickly soaking her front.
There was an exaggerated sigh of disappointment from behind her.
"And you were so close. You shouldn't have gotten distracted." Kai tutted, grey eyes alight with mocking satisfaction.
That fucking cloaking spell! It was times like this she deeply regretted ever teaching him that revolting cheat. May the devil take the imbecile who came up with that accursed thing and feast on their soul.
It was her last thought before the pommel of a gun connected solidly with her temple and everything went dark, her body dropping to the floor limply, black curls spreading out on the cobblestones framing her sooty face like a halo.
"My win." Kai declared with a smirk, popping his neck and relaxing, the hunt now over.
His prey was dealt with, Kai too allowed his attention to drift and do as his prey had done just moments before, grey eyes searching for something he couldn't see but so clearly feel; it was like a blazing beacon beckoning to him from across the ocean - a torch to his moth. It was irresistible as it finally promised a way out of this hell.
His vengeance was near, he could almost taste it.
He looked down at his unconscious and bleeding companion for the last eighteen years, the toned and curvy body hidden underneath the layers of protective gear and impressionable azure eyes forced behind eyelids…
"A snack for on the way." He grabbed a limp arm and watched eagerly as deep red glowed from between his fingers as he sucked up magic with vigour, sighing in bliss as potent power rushed through him like a tidal wave of fresh melted glacier water after a long drought, refreshing him and granting him new vitality as all fatigue fell away.
Looking up into the blue blue sky now baring evidence of his successful hunt, chaos all around him, his eyes danced as he laughed in triumph. On to the next hunt...
Without even a glance at his downed sparring partner for his long duration of imprisonment, he whipped out his gun a single shot echoed across the expansive Plaza Mayor as a bullet found it's mark unerringly in the center of the females forehead, he strolled out of the plaza a merry tune on his lips and plots already forming in his mind for a long anticipated hunt...
Now he had a plane to find.
Crossing the Atlantic for months by boat and landing on the wrong continent once was enough. A dab hand with a hunting knife he may be, but a person with navigational skills he was not.
.
...
Surrounded by smoking ruins, the corpse of Melania Parker stained the cobblestones crimson, her life blood flowing out and dropping into the depths that had promised her continued survival.