text in italic = thoughts
Chapter 2 - Adela
"Oh God, not again! This is a nightmare!", growled a feminine voice from the now pitch-black bathroom. The power was down…again, the water was getting cold and she was getting late and very angry. "I can't stand this anymore; it's like the Middle Ages over and over again. All I want is some hot water now…is it so much to ask, God?" Muttering a "if you're up there, you must really hate my guts" under her breath, she rinsed her hair with the ice-cold water and stepped out of the shower, giving a curse with every breath.
As she stepped into her small living area, she realized that the fancy candles she bought over the years proved to be the best investment of her life. Lighting a couple of them, and the first cigarette of the day, she looked into the full length mirror on her wall. The tall pale woman looking back at her resembled a wet angry cat. Her long hair was a mess and her black eyes screamed murder. Half way into her cigarette, she managed to calm down enough to be able to see the funny side of this. It was tradition already. It was an event when the power stayed on, and that shouldn't be such a surprise, since she was living in the transformed attic of an old mansion. But, you get what you pay for, and this was cheap enough to work.
Taking a deep breath, she started to dig into the closet. With a sound of victory, she came out holding her prey. She managed to put on a pair of loose jeans and the first black t-shirt that was in her way, blindly found her shoes, coat and camera bag and she bolted through the door, leaving a mess behind her.
She frowned as she saw her reflection in one of the shop windows. She looked a mess, and the bright daylight didn't help her much. With swift practiced moves, she managed to straighten her outfit and her damp hair well enough not to give the impression that she was thrown out of a washing machine. Still trying to ignore her reflection as much as possible, she walked towards the nearest subway station, thinking of today's excuse for being late on her job.
The train was almost empty, since it was nearing the final stop, where she had to get off. Adela worked as a photographer, collaborating with various agencies and magazines. The schedule was lax, one of the reasons she accepted the job. Today she had to go to a shooting, somewhere outside town. She stared blankly in front of her, wondering once again who the hell decided to place a huge modern office building in the middle of nowhere, close to the point where the town ends and the corn crops begin.
The only persons close to her in the compartment were two males in their 30s, who kept talking in German while pointing very enthusiastically at a city map. They could have passed unnoticed, if not for the pointy looks they were giving her from time to time, when they were "sure" she wasn't looking. One of them picked up his phone, dialed and started to mutter something, very fast.
"….sie ist hier. …"
Now isn't that interesting. I may not know German, boys, but I can understand that much.
The two men seemed less interested in their map as the station approached. The stares, though, were getting more frequent.
Aren't they just subtle…You can't get more obvious than that, maybe just by waving a banner.
Just then, the subway stopped in the final station, where 5 guys in black uniforms were set at every door of the compartment, waiting to get in.
She raised an eyebrow at the greeting, being sure by now that she was the target of whatever they were trying to accomplish. She made no move and waited for the doors to open and for the few passengers to get out.
Come on my friends, get in, we'll have a great time. Well…I'll have, on your expense.
She saw them looking straight at her as they started walking towards her seat. In a split second, as the doors were closing, the bolted through them at an inhuman speed, making all the attempts to catch her useless. Alone on the platform, she grinned and waved the people in the train bye bye. Oh, I'm good at this. I think I should also take a bow, that was a master performance.
She didn't have enough time to congratulate herself, because she heard voices, and in the next second she had to dodge a small arrow. She moved in time to avoid it, but she almost froze when she saw the ammunition. Tranquilizers. Tranquilizers?
"Hey! What the hell do you take me for, an animal? Are you trying to take me to the zoo or something? " Again, she didn't have time to argue, as the second arrow flew less than a centimeter from her neck, getting stuck in her hair, shortly followed by a third. Thinking that the best way to deal with this, at the moment, was to run, and ask questions/break limbs later, she dashed in the opposite direction, trying to conjure a plan in less than 10 seconds. As she ran through the weirdly empty station, more and more people picked up the chase. They are everywhere, who the hell are these guys?
Not being human had its advantages, like speed, and she didn't feel any shame in using it. Even so, she was greatly outnumbered and sooner or later one of the arrows that she managed to avoid would hit.
But then, like a gateway to heaven, a gateway to the ventilation system appeared. Not losing any momentum, she jumped to the access hatch on the ceiling, blew the metal bars covering it and lifted herself into the low humid tunnel.
This is cozy. Bad air, not enough room to move, no light, almost feels like home. Now, let's wait for the idiots to catch up.
She barely finished that thought, when they arrived just below the trapdoor. She could see now that whoever was after her kindly sent 30 men for the deed, and that they were looking pretty pissed. However the temptation to gloat seemed too much to resist.
"Yo!"
The sound hit every wall, giving an eerie echo in the empty station. That got their attention, and they all started looking in every direction, searching for the source.
"Who's there?" one of them asked before thinking.
Adela almost snorted, but decided to play "I am the ghost of the Christmas Past! Who do you think I am?"
Their eyes were still searching frantically.
"Up here, you morons! I'm the girl you were shooting at 3 minutes ago. Does that ring a bell?"
"Think you humans could catch me, huh? Well, let's see how you reach me here. Try to jump, make a human pyramid or something". The smile on her face grew wider at their confused faces. "Now, as much as I would love to see that, I have a bus to catch, so ciao!"
And then she was gone, in search of the exit. Five meters down the tunnel, her stupidity came back to bite her…hard. Great work, idiot. You just had to rub it in their faces. Now they know where you are and where you'll be getting out. Amazing work! Realizing the only way to get out of this one was to get to the exit before they did, she moved as fast as she could through the tight space. Less than 3 minutes later she could literally see the light at the end of the tunnel, so, with a final effort, she reached the metal bars covering the exit, bent them and got out into the sunlight, hungrily breathing in the fresh air.
Around the second gulp of oxygen, she felt herself being lifted from the ground, by the collar of her coat.
"Hey Liz, look what I found crawling out of the sewers! Hello kid!"
The initial startled look on her face gave way to resignation, and then, to her usual sarcastic mask. Putting on her most innocent smirk, she saluted her captor.
"Well hello Red! Isn't it nice to see you on this beautiful morning! Liz! You're here too…Now this really brightens my day! Now are you going to keep me in this undignified position all day, or you plan to put me down?"
"Red, put her down this instant!" said Liz, as she ran down the empty street to where they stood, a huge red demon and a dirty girl dangling in his grip.
Red put her down, but kept his stone hand securely on the back of her coat. She looked around, at the deserted place. The place was swarming with agents, but no civilians were in sight. Figures, the demon is toasting in the sunlight after all.
"Look, Adela, sorry we had to do this, I really want to apologize, but we needed to get to you", said Liz.
"So, that entire circus was set up by the BPRD?" She was dumb folded. Usually her interaction with the BPRD consisted in going out with Liz from time to time or arguing with Red, who couldn't take no for an answer and kept trying to convince her to get back to her former job. Being hunted by the agents in a subway station was somewhat new.
"Who else would be chasing you, you brat? You're getting slow" said Red, trying and failing not to laugh in her face.
Adela snorted in a very unladylike manner "Ok, so you needed me. Is a phone call so outdated that you had to hunt me? Literally, with tranquilizers! You had to brainstorm for that or the idea just popped in your heads?"
Liz had a guilty look on her face and seemed very interested in her boots.
"Those weren't exactly tranquilizers. That substance would have prevented you from transforming or using your powers, for a limited time. Enough to get you to the center", she said meekly.
Adela gave a low growl and her eyes started to turn red. "Is that so! I had no idea that kind of substance even existed. What the hell is this all about? I ask for...no, I demand an explanation right…"
Red made himself useful and shut her up with his other hand.
"Chill out kid, you're losing control and we don't want that in broad daylight. You'll have to come with us to get answers".
"This was uncalled for. You could have… "
The demon rolled his eyes and shut her up again, while Liz tried to reason with her.
"We can't tell you anything now, but please, come with us. You might be interested in what we have to show you", her former colleague said.
Adela calmed down enough to make Red remove his hand. "Fine. I'll come with you, listen to whatever you have to tell me and then I'll leave, if I so choose, got that? Also, you'll deal with my boss and make sure I still have a job to come back to."
"Good enough", grinned Red, and pushed her towards the garbage truck.
Adela was still mighty pissed about how her day had turned out, but decided to be nice and cooperate, for the moment. The substance mentioned by Liz was the main reason she gave in so easily. It seemed like a small chat with her former boss was in order. Walking towards the garbage van, she huffed, amused.
"As stylish as ever, I see. You know, you don't even have to try too hard to look like a garbage man, Red, it somehow suits you", she grinned.
Red glanced at her less then perfect attire, giving her a haughty smirk.
"Now, your majesty, I wouldn't talk if I were you. You're dirty enough to pass for the trash I collect".
Since that seemed to shut her up, they got into the van and drove towards the center.
