The Kensingtons and what was left of their hunting party emerged from the woods, coming back into the mansion grounds. There were seventeen of them left in total, three having been incapacitated in the woods as she made her way back here. Serena had led them full circle through the woods, but the signal from her collar had brought them right back to the house. As they got there, Edward checked his hand set, finding that the signal from Serena's tracker covered an area almost the full size of the house. He gave a little smirk as Frederick threw his handset onto the ground.
"Clever girl." He whispered in appreciation of her strategy. Inside the house, the tracking signal was all but useless, restricting the hunting party to looking for her the old-fashioned way. He had to appreciate the fact that she was cutting down the odds stacked against her.
"She's in the damn house!" Frederick roared. Just then, they heard some moaning from a little way off. Frederick signalled a couple of the hunters to go and check it out. They both gripped their shotguns tightly as they went over, finding the two guards by the jeep.
"Over here!" They called out, attracting the attentions of the hunting party. They all rushed around, finding both men on the ground. One of them was rolling around, clutching his foot, while the other had a nasty grimace of pain on his face, and was holding his backside.
"What the hell happened?" Frederick demanded.
"That bitch got the drop on us!" The one holding his ass told them. "She stabbed me in the arse again!"
"There's another one here!" Another hunter told them, finding a guy by the hedge maze, holding a cloth to a nasty cut on his head. "He's pretty out of it. I think he might be concussed."
"She's cutting down our numbers." Kenzo announced. He had joined the hunting party as a way of amusing himself until he could get rid of her, but now it looked like she was a much stronger opponent than he had given her credit for.
As they made their way into the lobby, they found another four guards, all writhing in pain, all of them sporting minor injuries that took them out of the fight, but that wouldn't be life-threatening. Kenzo just had a little smirk on his face as he saw this. Why would she risk letting her enemies live? These men were obviously no match for her. One of the hunters thought he saw a movement on one of the upper floors and pointed his shotgun, but Frederick snatched it from him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He demanded. "Do you have any idea how much this place costs?"
"But I thought I saw something." He replied. Frederick just rolled his eyes.
"Fine, but no guns!" He announced. He went to a display in the corner, a couple of crossed swords behind a shield bearing his family's coat of arms, and pulled out the swords, handing one to his father. "Find whatever you want, but just remember. This house is worth more than all of you combined!"
With that, they all split up into teams, going in search of Serena, little aware that she already knew they were here. She just smiled as she saw them go in search of her, realising her plan was working.
An hour passed, and the tensions were beginning to build. They had already found the other guards, all incapacitated like the others, meaning that the hunting party were now on their own. Edward and Frederick had made their way to Serena's room, figuring she might go in search of her possessions, but found everything there exactly as she left it.
"She's playing with us." Edward commented with a smile. He was far more into these hunts than his son was. Frederick only really went along with it because of his father. He preferred it when the odds where in their favour, when the hunt was over open ground and the quarry was unarmed and outnumbered. In the house, she had cut down the numbers, and they were reduced to looking for her manually. She had taken much of the advantage from them, leaving only the fact that she was outnumbered against her, and by the looks of things she was a deadly opponent. Edward, however, was finding himself becoming thoroughly excited at the prospect of worthy prey. He had enjoyed the hunts, but he had never faced anyone so formidable since he had quit the military.
Just then, they heard a noise from outside. Some sounds of combat, pierced with a scream. They both ran out into the hall, finding three members of the hunting party on the ground. As Edward approached, he checked their necks, finding each of them dead. He indicated this fact to his son with a cut-throat gesture. Frederick felt a chill down his spine. These men had come to the hunt for a couple of years now and he knew them.
"They're dead?" Frederick asked his father.
"Yes." Edward replied. "That is odd."
"Odd?" Frederick shrieked. "She just killed three of our...!"
"Why would she kill these three?" Edward asked himself, ignoring his son's panic.
"She killed two of our guards last night!" Frederick reminded his father.
"And yet, every person since then she has taken out with non-lethal attacks...until now." Edward continued. "Why?"
"Who cares?" Frederick yelled. "Let's just find her and take her out before anyone else dies!"
Just then, they saw an open door a little way off. It was Frederick's room. Edward gestured to his son to follow him and went over, opening the door with the tip of his sword. It didn't look like anything was amiss as they went inside, but then Frederick noticed a note on his dresser. He picked it up and read it.
"What is it?" Edward asked him.
"Her weapon, that blade thing, I had it in here." Frederick told him. "She's found it."
"This hunt is just getting interesting." Edward said with a little smile as they left.
Meanwhile, Kenzo was making his way through the halls a couple of floors down. As he did so, he found another couple of hunters, all in agony with various painful and debilitating stab wounds. He just smiled.
"You're good girl." He complimented Serena thoughtfully. "However, your respect for life is going to cost you."
He counted the hunters who were down, another five. Between the three that were lost to the forest, and the three he had killed upstairs, that meant only nine remained, including Edward and Frederick.
He looked around, sniffing the air. As a result of his new mutation, his sense of smell was now a lot keener. Her scent was all around him. She had been here, and given the strength of the scent, she had been here recently.
"I guess you're trying to clear out your foes before going for the sword." He commented. "Why I wonder?"
Just then, a thought occurred to him.
"This place stinks so much I may not know where you are." Kenzo commented as he got up and made his way to some stairs. "Of course, I do know where you're going."
In another part of the house, three more hunters were stalking the corridors, looking for Serena. By now, everyone was more than a little nervous. They now knew that the hunt was no longer one-sided. By now, they knew that there was a chance that the tables would turn, and they were all worried about who was next.
Before they knew what was happening, one of the men found himself snatched backwards, and a blade penetrating his shoulder. Serena threw him to the ground as the other two turned to face her.
"Where the hell did you come from?" One of them asked her.
She didn't answer though, and in a short flurry, she had broken one's leg, and stabbed the other with her blade through the thigh, sending him to the floor. Serena just observed her handy work before running off.
"Fourteen down, six to go." Serena said to herself as she disappeared back into the darkness.
Frederick and Edward had gone around almost the whole house, finding hunters wherever they went. Some of them dead, some of them wounded. They both knew now exactly how deadly their prey was. They had just found three more hunters dead. So far, only Kenzo was unaccounted for, but they were beginning to think that perhaps he had either fled, or had fallen, and they simply hadn't found him yet. In the end, it didn't matter either way, they were working on the presumption that they were on their own.
Eventually, they got to the armoury. Edward gestured to Frederick to check out the balcony, while he made his way into the main room.
Edward stalked among the ancient weaponry, his gaze sweeping this way and that. His heart rate quickened in the combination of fear and anticipation that had thrilled him in his military days as he looked around. A small smile came to his face. Serena was close, he could feel it. Just then, he heard a noise in the corner and turned to see Michael in the corner, bound and gagged. He was bound to the podium where the Masamune should have been, but he could see that the sword was missing.
"Come on out girl!" Edward roared. "Let's finish this as a fair fight!"
Just then, he heard a scream from the balcony, and Frederick fell to the floor, landing in a heap. His blood spilled from a wound in his chest where his heart would be. He looked up, seeing Kenzo, holding the Masamune. He leapt off the balcony, landing nimbly on his feet by his son's corpse.
"Frederick!" He screamed, realising his son was dead. "You...you killed those men!"
"You catch on quick old man." Kenzo said casually. "I had intended a different target, though I could be tempted to go for a warm-up."
The battle was short. Despite his military background, Kenzo had trained with a sword his entire life, and was a vastly superior warrior. Edward fell to his knees, clutching a deep wound in his stomach.
"You enjoy hunting so much; I suppose you'll appreciate the irony." Kenzo stated, turning into his Nighlock form as he raised his sword over his head, preparing to decapitate him. "The hunter became the hunted."
Just then, there was a breaking of glass as the full-length mirror in the wall smashed, and Serena revealed herself. She came out of the hidden tunnel, knocking Kenzo several feet from Edward with a hard flying kick, before snatching up his sword. Kenzo got up, and looked to her in shock.
"How?" He asked her.
"When I was in the Slave Quarters, Frederick commented on the way I leapt down from the balcony. The only way he could have seen that was if he was here." She told him. "Then I remembered there were full-length mirrors in every room. They're two way mirrors. There are secret passages all over this house. I guess they use them to spy on guests, so I took a gamble the other guests and guards didn't know about them. It's a gamble that paid off."
"Well, you got here at least." Kenzo told her, lifting the sword. "I guess you want this then?"
"Take it for all I care." Serena told him. "I just want to get the kid out of here and see these guys get what they deserve."
"Well, seeing as we're here, how about we see how good you really are?" He asked her. Serena just smiled. She turned around, cutting Michael's bonds and grabbing the kid.
"Come on!" She screamed, dragging him with her as she threw the sword aside. Kenzo just watched her go, and disappeared into a gap. She had fled like a coward, and let him get exactly what he came for.
Outside, Michael managed to get his gag off, and looked to Serena as they paused for breath.
"What the hell happened in there?" He asked her. "What was that thing?"
"It's best you don't know." Serena told him. "After the last week, don't you think you've had enough weird shit in your life?"
"Who are you anyway?" He asked her. "Interpol? CIA?"
"I'm just someone who wants a sword." She told him.
"But...that guy got the sword." He responded.
"It's the wrong one." She answered with a note of disappointment in her voice. "Listen, I can't be around when the authorities get here. Can you make it to town by yourself?"
"Yeah." He answered her with a nod.
"Get to town; tell the cops what happened here." She told him. "They'll want to know what's been going on here the last few years."
"What about you?" He asked.
"I've got to get my things and get out of here." She replied. "I'll be long gone by the time the cops get here."
Michael just nodded in understanding, before turning tail and running. Serena just watched him go and let out a long, low whistle, impressed by what she saw. The kid had already told her that he was a cross-country running champion, the reason he was chosen for the hunt.
"Wow, he is fast." She stated. "Alright Hayley, I'm just going to get my stuff. Where do I go?"
"Head South." She told her. "I'll have someone pick you up at the highway."
Serena went back into the house, gathering her belongings and making her way from Kensington Manor, thankful for the fact she would never set eyes on the place again.
"So why didn't you try and stop Kenzo?" Hayley asked her.
"He drew the sword." Serena told her. "That means it's the wrong one. Kasamune can only be drawn by a worthy mistress."
"So you did all that for nothing." Hayley sighed regretfully.
"Not exactly nothing." Serena answered. "Michael's alive, and God knows how long it would have been before anyone figured out what the Kensingtons really did out here."
"I guess you take any victory you can from these situations." Hayley replied. "Someone will be waiting for you at the highway. I'll contact you when you get to a safe location."
"Thanks Hayley." Serena responded as Hayley signed off. She hefted her bag onto her shoulder and ran off into the woods, heading south for the Highway, hoping that she could soon get a shower and a warm bed.
Meanwhile, in the Netherworld, Kenzo was waiting in a cave as Octoroo arrived, finding him there with the sword. Kenzo just sighed as he saw him.
"It's about time." Kenzo said sarcastically. "I contacted you ages ago!"
"You are not my only concern." Octoroo replied. "Master Xandred needed a lot of medicine today. I couldn't leave."
"Well, here it is, as promised." Kenzo said proudly, handing him the sword. "That girl ran off without putting up any kind of a fight. I swear, she..."
"Is this some kind of joke?" Octoroo interrupted him harshly.
"I got you the sword!" He protested. "Just like..."
"Don't you think it was odd that she just ran off without even trying to get the sword off you?" Octoroo asked him. "It's the wrong sword you idiot!"
"Hey, you sent me after it!" Kenzo reminded him. "I was just told to get it, and I did!"
"You don't think I was watching?" Octoroo asked him. "You had the perfect opportunity to take her out, and your ego got the better of you. Now, she's still on the hunt, and we're no closer to retrieving Kasamune than we were before!"
"Listen noodle-face...!" His words were cut off as Octoroo blasted him into the cave wall. He just levelled his staff at the half-human.
"I've had enough of your incompetence." He stated. "From now on, I call the shots. You will remain here. I will come when I need you again."
With that, he disappeared. Kenzo got up, kicking a rock in frustration. He knew that he could do nothing to Octoroo, and as an unknown Nighlock, if he left the cave, any he met would eliminate him as a potential usurper to Master Xandred's throne. Right now, he had no choice but to follow Octoroo's plan. As he thought about the manor, his rage burned within him. Next time they met, he would not let Serena go so easily. Next time, he would see her life extinguished at his hands.
