Author's Note: Well, I got inspired, had the time, and set out to write the next chapter and wouldn't you know? Boom, another chapter in a day's time. Hope you enjoy it, reviews are always appreciated, and it wraps up Chinatown, for now...
Chapter 38 – Into the Fryer
October 4, 2004 = Monday
~Eliza Flores~
Stepping out of the shadows in the parking garage, the police presence was already thick. Red and blue lights flashed everywhere, and cops milled around in groups, near the entrance. I raised the kickstand before sliding a leg over the seat and reversed it out by foot, not being noticed by anyone until I started the meaty engine and began to idle out.
A group of officers at the exit fanned out, blocking the way. I stopped short of the blue line of men, and killed the bike. One of the officers approached, hand on his gun, and it made me wonder if I might be in trouble. Not that they had me on anything except for being at a crime scene. I figured the worst that could happen was spend a night in the police station, which would be alright if they didn't search me. The thirty-eight and the Glock I might explain, but the Magnum and the Desert Eagle would be harder but feasible. The Uzi and Kalashnikov? Eh, maybe things would be better if they didn't search me.
"Excuse me, ma'am," he said after I shut the motor off. "Were you here for the shootout upstairs?"
"No, officer," I lied, giving him a pretty smile. "I was down at the Macy's looking for fine jewelry for an upcoming event. I'm so tired of moissanite jewelry and wanted real diamonds. So, I'm out shopping. Tomorrow I'm making an appointment with Isaac's jewelry store in Hollywood, see if they have any real diamonds."
"Um, yes ma'am," the officer said, uncomfortable with a sudden thought. "We need to check your bike for damaged and evidence, and if we find any, we may have to impound it. Where was it parked?"
"Oh, pooh," I said, making a frowning face that wasn't entirely faked. I didn't need legal hassles. "It was parked here on the ground floor, just over there," I said, pointing to the empty spot I had vacated as I slipped off the bike, kicking the foot stand down to let the bike stand on its own. "Do I need to call my lawyer as well?" I asked, and the officer got even more uncomfortable as he used his flashlight to inspect my bike.
"Oh, no ma'am," he said, moving to the other side. "This is just standard procedure. I'm not seeing any holes or blood splatter, so the bike is good to go," he said as he looked at me. "Did you carry that bag with you Macy's?"
"Yes I did, officer," I said, my hand clenching around the strap in case I needed to use it as a weapon.
"I just need to see a license then and a number where an investigator can reach you if we need to ask any follow up questions," he said, taking a pad and pen from his pocket.
My name is Elisa Flores," I said, using my fake name that was on my license as I fished it out of my coat. "I live at 23191 Pacific Coast Highway, just outside Malibu."
"Pacific...Coast...Highway..." he said, writing it down then went wide-eyed. "That's on the beach!"
"Yes, it is," I said smiling brightly. "Just bought a beautiful five bedroom mansion there on an almost full acre of land."
"Holy cow," he said, smiling back at me. "What do you do for a living Miss Flores? You active in Hollywood?"
"Not right now," I told him. "I'm mostly an investor, and I own part of the nightclub Four-Play. I'm looking to expand, maybe get a part in another club in LA called Confession, though I hear it's went downhill in recent months."
"I know both, actually," the officer said as he wrote in his book, then pulled his radio from his belt. "One-Adam-Twelve, needing a ten-twenty-nine on Elisa Flores." he said, giving my license number. "I get a few calls a month out at Four-Play, mostly drunk and disorderlies. Seems like a nice enough place, good aesthetics."
"Dangers of running a club," I said smiling at him. "Get any calls about Confession?"
"One, just before we came here," he said as he handed me my license back. I tucked it into my coat pocket, and he continued on. "Seems that Ms. Dare's bouncer, Adrian, got himself into a fight. Pretty bad, had to send him to the hospital."
"Was it related to the club?" I asked, wondering if I might use that later when I actually got to meet Venus Dare.
"Didn't appear to be," he said as he got a radio response. He talked back and forth with the other end, then hung his radio back up. "Story accounts we got indicate he walked in beaten up, but we weren't able to follow up before we got called out here."
"Hope you get whoever beat Adrian," I told him and he nodded his head.
"Thanks," he said as he looked back at his note book. "Investor huh? Seem to be making good money at that."
"I do alright," I told him, wondering what he was fishing for. "Biggest trick is to stay ahead of the other guy."
"Mind giving me an example?" he said and I smiled.
"This isn't an ordinary shooting," I said and his eyes went up. "Two sides, minimum, probably automatics, and there was a cop killed here."
"How do you figure that?" he said, his eyes studying me.
"If it were one on one, there might be a few cars," I said and he looked around at the sea of blue around us and nodded his head. "Instead, I see what looks like every available cop in the area. Last time I saw a response like this was during the North Hollywood Shootout in '97."
"You're ahead of the other guy alright," he muttered, and looked at his feet. "How do you figure there was a cop killed here, though? Why can't we be just late to the big shootout?"
"You don't often see cops called off a case unless there's a man down," I said and again he nodded.
"Well, you seem to be on the right side of things, so we're not going to detain you," he said as he put his notebook and pen away. "Please don't leave town for awhile in case we need to contact you."
"Don't worry, Officer...Reed," I said, reading the name off his nametag. "I have too many interests in town to think about leaving."
"Have a nice day, Miss Flores," he said as I started my Ninja and idled on out the parking lot.
I headed north to Chinatown, getting there by nine, and parked out front of the Red Dragon restaurant. The Ninja was a dream on the freeway, as I was able to dodge in and out of traffic the entire way as I pretended to run from a hunter. I couldn't see but one way I would ever get caught, and that was if they shot the bike out from under me which would get me caught no matter what bike I rode.
Entering the restaurant, the hostess wasn't at her podium, so I looked behind it to find the elevator call button that had to be there. It was easy found, and I called it down and took it to Wong Ho's private offices. Wong Ho was sitting on his leather couch when I arrived, reading some sort of data sheet as he marked stuff with a pen.
"Ah, my friend!" he exclaimed as I came off the elevator. "I was able to get word to Zhao. He has agreed to meet you as soon as you possible at his business, Zhao's Imports. It is on the north end of Chinatown, and I have written the directions here," he said handing me a sheet of paper with a map.
"I wish you success in your mission," he said as I studied the map, finding it was easy to get to. "And may you recover your friend safely. And if there's anything you should ever need help with, do not hesitate to ask. I can never repay you for returning my Kiki to me, unharmed."
"Take care of her, Wong Ho," I said, folding the map away into my coat. "And should you ever need a hand protecting her..."
"I shall not hesitate to ask," he said with a smile.
"Farewell, Wong Ho," I said, turning and going back into the elevator. I had what I came for, a meeting with Zhao and I left the restaurant in peace.
Back on my bike, I followed Wong Ho's directions to a two story warehouse in the industrial area. The warehouse itself was dark and seemingly empty, and the only door I saw read 'driver's entrance.' Hoping Zhao was inside, I parked near the door and went in, finding the warehouse dark, even to me. Lines of shelves that stretched to the ceiling filled the space, making it difficult to navigate. Some of the boxes sat on the ground, and searching one yielded nothing but packing peanuts.
Going through the warehouse, I found an office with its lights on and a man standing at a window. Going up the stairs that led to it, I found Zhao standing there with what looked like a cheap Uzi in his hand. He didn't turn when I opened the door, but his eyes continued to scan the warehouse.
"Wong Ho called," he said, his voice deep and sad. "I don't know where your friend is, but I know the Tong are involved. They have been contracted to kidnap some, odd, people lately. I have heard such attacks were mostly unsuccessful, but one was. Only Johnny would certainly know where he was sent."
I bit back a curse as it sank in. Technically I didn't have much to go on, but it was better than nothing. Like walking on thin ice, it was better than no ice at all.
"Where can I find Johnny?" I asked him, when three booms crashed through the warehouse.
"At his club, Glaze, behind the Lotus Blossom in Chinatown," he said becoming more anxious and I nodded my head. "The passcode on the door is seven-two-five."
"Thanks Zhao," I said as he raised his gun and broke the window. Rattling metal could be heard throughout the warehouse, and I wondered what it meant.
"You should go," he said as several doors suddenly rose. "My debt to Wong Ho has been repaid, and in doing so I have betrayed the Tong."
"You should get out of here," I said, when Tong poured out of the doors. Zhao began firing, and I opened my messenger bag and pulled out the Kalashnikov.
The Tong spread out, some disappearing from my view as I readied my rifle, and the moment Zhao's gun went click, they all stood as one and poured automatic fire into the office. Zhao was cut down in the hail of gunfire, and the moment they stopped, I slid deeper into the office and out of sight, then pulled some extra clips out of the bag for the ensuing fight.
Zhao coughed some, rolling towards me and gave me a sad look. "She-she li-li-lied t-to," he tried say, coughing up blood onto the heavy traffic carpeting. A second round of gunfire ripped through the area he had been hiding at, and his body spasmed in pain as more bullets seemed to find him, then he lay quiet.
It wasn't long before the Tong came pouring up the steps, and I was ready with a shouldered rifle, determined to hold my own. When the door burst open, I used my potence to hold the rifle steady and poured a whole clip into the group, felling many of them. I quickly reloaded the gun, having it ready to fire just as another Tong appeared in the door. I gave him a burst from the rifle, then inched forward to look out into the warehouse as he fell down the stairs.
Several more booms filled the warehouse, the rattling of the doors as they began to be forced open following. I changed the clips in the rifle for a fresh one, snapping it home just as one of the doors opened. I took aim at the first man through, and fired in short bursts at each man who came through. Several of the Tong that came out of that particular door were severely wounded by my fire, a few definitely dead as I scored head shots.
The other two doors poured fire in random directions, trying to suppress the shooter as they made a run for cover. I reloaded, then jumped over the railing and hid behind a shelf as we began a cat-and-mouse game. A Tong came around the end of the shelf I was hiding behind, facing the other way as he searched for me, and I shot him in the back. Two more came around the end, and I opened fire on them as well, killing both just as the gun went click.
Running down a random aisle, I took cover behind an open crate and stashed my rifle back in the bag along with the empty clips and pulled out the Desert Eagle. Armed, I started to work my way back to the doors, gunning another Tong down where he cowered behind a crate.
Moving on, I could hear them begin shouting to each other, and I began honing in on where they were shouting from. One I found climbing the shelves, trying to get a sniper position on the whole warehouse before I put one in his back. Two more I found sitting back to back, and the one shot I put in the head of the one facing me also killed his buddy as the bullet plowed out the back of his head and kept going.
Going over the different people I saw leaving the doors in the fight, I found there was only one I had yet to account for. I began searching near the doors, looking for the last survivor as I headed out. It didn't matter if he survived or not, along with the injured as I hadn't displayed anything out of the ordinary.
I was opening the door to leave, having just slipped the Uzi back in my bag, when I felt the barrel of the gun press into my back. "You move, bitch, you die!" the man said, yanking the messenger bag's strap over my head and off my arm. "Who sent you here?"
"We call him the prince," I said, trying to keep him talking. I didn't want to get shot, it did hurt, but I wasn't worried about dying. "I'm looking for someone the Tong kidnapped."
"You can have her back after she's through with the first five million," he said, and I just shook my head. Foolish little man.
"I'm going to make you suck my..." he started to say, when I activated my celerity and spun, dropping my body and leaning so I was no longer in the line of fire. The roar of the gun was loud in my ear, the whistle of the bullet high and screaming as it passed close enough for me to feel as I was spinning to face him. Raising an arm, I knocked his gun further away and then flat-palmed him in the chest to knock him back.
As he was falling, he let go his pistol and it clattered away. I stood over him, and he looked up at me in fear.
"Who the fuck are you?" he exclaimed.
"The delivery girl," I said and he looked to his gun just out of reach. "Do it and I'll plant my foot across your face."
The Tong thug looked at me, then back to the gun. I knew his decision was already made, and in a split second he rolled over and snatched for the pistol. I followed his roll, and as he came up on a knee with the gun in hand, I connected a potence fueled kick to his head that caused the bones to crack audibly in the building. The thug then fell lifeless to the floor, his eyes glassy in death.
Picking up my messenger bag, I slung it back around my neck and exited the warehouse and got back on my bike. I worked my way to the Lotus Blossom, circling around when I got there to find Glaze. It was a plain building, but I could hear the thumping music within it. I parked my bike once again at the entrance, and went in, using the code Zhao gave me to get in past the bouncer at the door.
Inside the club, the part was in full swing as the place was filled with mostly young Asian girls and a few guys. I didn't see anyone who looked like they were in charge, but some people in charge looked like the lowest guy on the totem pole.
Going to the bar, I signaled for the barman. "I need to speak to Johnny!" I had to yell over the pumping bass, but the barman shook his head.
"Nobody sees Johnny without speaking to Ricky first," he yelled back, then motioned to a man sitting alone at a table. "That's him."
"Thanks," I said and headed over. Once I was at Ricky's table, I told him the same thing.
"About what?" he said, looking me over in a lustful way.
I opened the top of the messenger bag, then reached in and pulled the Kalashnikov out enough to see it. Ricky's eyes went up at seeing it, then motioned for me to sit down. "How much and how many you got?" he asked me, leaning in close with his hand under the table.
"Three dozen," I said, and he shot me a glance as if he didn't believe me. "You're little shootout in the Ampco garage got noticed. I jumped some Russians in a heavy cargo van as they left, and they were in the back, so I'm looking to unload them before I get caught. Also, since you're small potatoes, Ricky, I want to deal directly with Johnny."
I could tell by watching his face that he knew about the attack, but all I had admitted to was jumping the Russians. I could also tell that he was weighing what the Russians had done if they brought three dozen AK-47's for an ambush. Sensing that maybe he would blow up with a little more push, I added a bit more.
"Another reason I don't trust the small guy, is probably the same reason the Russians don't trust you," I said locking eyes with him. "Phony money? Really? It was quite obvious."
"Johnny's upstairs," he said, then turned to a far stairwell where a guy stood, and made a series of motions with his hands. "Go on up."
I nodded my thanks to him and headed to and up the stairs, the guy guarding the bottom scowling at me as I passed. On the second floor, I found it was a private type party area, but no Johnny in sight. Seeing the door on the far side, I headed over and opened it, finding it was a private lounge. The door on the back side was closed so I opened it too.
Inside was a dark haired, lithe young Asian male wearing mirrored sunglasses looking at a screen of an older Asian male before the screen went gray. The man in the room spun, and shouted, "Who the hell you think you are, bitch? You know who I am? You know where you are? You want to die?"
"The delivery girl, Johnny, Glaze and already did," I said to him. "I'm looking for someone and you're going to tell me where they are."
"You got something to say to me, bitch?" he said, yanking a small pistol from his back and aiming it at me. "Who let you into Chinatown anyway? You here for your mother? Ha, yeah, well we'll give her back after she's done with the last twenty guys."
"Where's Barabus?" I demanded to know, hand inching down to my bag. "I know you have him."
"Who told you that? Ho-how-how would you know about that? Who are you? Answer me!" he screamed at me, his hand shaking as he kept it aimed at me.
"As I said, the delivery girl," I said, when the screen came back on.
"Don't tell it a thing, Johnny," the guy on TV said. "Shoot it!"
Johnny looked back at the TV, then me. "You told me that guy was a nobody! Just what the hell did you get us involved in?"
"Shoot it," the TV man said again. "You'll find out."
"You're dead, bitch!" he yelled, then shot me in the chest. The light caliber bullet hit me in the chest, feeling like I got punched in the chest. I staggered back a bit, feeling the bullet rip through my body before it left out the back. I stood up straight though, as Johnny fell back against the TV in shock that he had shot me and I hadn't fell.
"What the fuck?" he said, backpedaling away into the corner. "I shot you! You're dead!"
"That's exactly it, Johnny," the TV man said. I got the chance to look at the camera under the TV searching the room, probably looking for me, but it couldn't find me due to my clan curse. "It is dead. Normally, a bullet of that caliber would likely ricochet and tear up the small intestine, but as you can see, it likely exited cleanly through the back with little external bleeding. The reason being; it's internal organs have atrophied. Also, it appears that the myth that vampires have no reflection is true. Do you have a mirror?"
"I'm afraid he's right," I said, sliding my messenger bag off and removing my coat as Johnny looked on in horror. The hole his gun had made was visible as I held it up, as was the little blood involved. "And now that you know that, I have to kill you," I said, dropping the coat to the floor.
My words seemed to galvanize Johnny, as he struggled for composure as he raised his gun again. I reached for mine just as Johnny fired his first shot, completely missing me as his gun hand was shaking so bad. I pulled mine, and fired several times as Johnny tried to calm his gun hand with his other hand, failing miserably.
As he slumped to the floor, the TV man shook his head. "You had to kill him, didn't you? It's part of your code of survival, covering your tracks, so to speak. It's a pity you don't show up on camera, as I would like to make your acquaintance. If you feel the same way, please come to the Fu Syndicate building, 420 Ord Street. We have a meeting room just to the left of the entrance. I will waiting for you there."
With that the TV showed static, indicating that the transmission had been cut. Rapid pounding on the door startled me, and slipping on my coat and grabbing my messenger bag, shadow-stepped to my bike to avoid a shootout. At my bike, I headed back to the entrance of Chinatown to find the map I had used when I first got here to find my way to the Golden Temple to meet Ming Xiao.
I found the proper street, then headed down to it on my bike. The Fu Syndicate building wasn't really that impressive, a large concrete building with a fancy sign on the front. Several cars were parked out front, and I parked my own ride in an empty spot. I didn't know what to expect as I went in, figuring they'd have some sort of night security on guard duty, but the guy just waved at me before he returned to his book.
A large conference room was visible to my left, so I went in to it. It was empty, but the guy on the TV stood there, waiting. Finally, I heard a voice from the TV say, "She's inside," and the man perked up at that.
"So glad you finally decided to show up," he said. "If you want to meet your comrade, walk through the doors at the rear of the room."
"You don't scare me," I told him, then entered the elevator sized room.
"I'm waiting," I called out, and the doors closed on me. When the lift rose, I looked to where an opening was revealed by dim lights, which as I rose into it proved to be a concrete cell with a heavily reinforced steel door to my left, and a large, reinforced observation window in front of me. Around me, set into the walls, were row upon row of spotlights, though only the a few fluorescent lights overhead were on.
Behind the observation window, the man I had seen on TV stood there, with a smug look on his face. "So glad you finally decided to show up," he said as he looked down at his control board and began to do something. "I am told you are a rather resourceful individual. This should make you a most intriguing specimen. You and your kind may play mortals for weaklings and fools, and that may be fitting to some, but you underestimate me."
A man in a blue lab outfit soon arrived with a clipboard, and the man nodded to him. "Begin recording," he said, and the man reached down to turn something on that I couldn't see. "Subject is female, appearance suggests early to late twenties, true age unknown. Heritage would suggest a Latin background, but that is indeterminate at this time.
"As with the other test subjects," he said, continuing on in a flat tone, "there are no visible vital signs, no body heat registers on thermal cameras, even conventional cameras do not register the subject as being there. Test chamber air sample is ninety-seven percent carbon monoxide, meaning normal respiration cannot take place. Subject is by all definition, clinically dead."
"Hello in there," he said, looking up to smile at me as if I were a pet. "I'm going to run some tests on you. I'm interested in how you work, but only because it's my task to find the most efficient way to kill your kind. Please give me everything you got," he said, then turned to his assistant. "Begin the experiment."
The lights set into the wall flashed on, filling the room with bright purple light. My skin felt like it was on fire, and the most intense migraine hit me right behind the eyes. "Turn it off!" I shrieked, stumbling blind from pain. I ripped my glasses off to rub at my eyes, but that made it ten times worse. I fell to the floor to scramble for my shades, but I could no longer see as my eyes burned out. My skin still burned, and I huddled on the floor and whimpered, trying to shield my eyes as best as I could.
"Test chamber has been filled with ultraviolet light, releasing moderate UV radiation," I heard him say. "Does that hurt? Does it burn?" he asked me, but I could only scream as my body fried. Suddenly the lights clicked off, and I whimpered as the pain receded.
"How odd," he said, then the lights flooded on again. I screamed, my mind trying to find a way to work through the pain. I reached for a shadow, anything, but the lights must have been so bright, or my eyes so bad, that I couldn't find anything to shield myself with. Only when the lights clicked off again, did I feel the shadows return, and I pulled them to my hand like an old friend though I couldn't see to shape them into anything useful.
"The other subjects do not feel pain at being flooded with UV radiation," he said, my ears latching on to his voice to help compensate for my current lack of vision. It was returning, likely because my corneas had burned themselves out from what essentially amounts to looking at the sun. My pain eased, the longer the lights stayed off, and soon I could see well enough to find the observation window, to which I crawled so I could get out of this hell hole
"What makes you so different?" he asked, and I stood on shaky feet and wobbled to the glass. "Subject's skin has acquired first and second degree burns. Conclusion, UV radiation appears to affect some individuals, but not all. More tests will have to be conducted to determine why this subject is partial to UV radiation."
"Like cats or dogs," I told him, my eyes starting to see clearly now, "There are different breeds of us. I just happen to be the shadow in the group. That allows me to do things," I told him, and his eyes grew wide. "Like first, you can't hold me," I said, then shadow-stepped out of the room into the shadow behind him.
Alarms blared as the first thing I did was grab the assistant as he reached for a shotgun stored by the console and shove him face first into the controls. The boss ran off, and needing to get back into fighting shape pulled the assistant off the console and sank my fangs into his neck. I drank the blood so fast I didn't even get much of a taste, then threw the man to the ground to prepare for the attack that was coming.
I no more got my hands on the Uzi in my bag when the first guard came around the corner. He carried a semi-automatic shotgun with a big banana clip, which he raised to fire at me. I raised my Uzi, opening fire even though my aim was still to low and allowed the first few shots to raise my aim further. It had the desired effect, scaring the guy and made him miss his first shot as mine began to rip into him.
His fellow guards were unable to fire initially, and I continued to advance and pour automatic fire into the group until I ran out of bullets. More guards came from the other direction, and I dropped the Uzi and reached for the shadows to make a weapon. My brain latched on to the first thing I could think of, which happened to be a chakram, and threw the foot wide circular blade down the hall much as I used to watch Xena do on TV when I was younger. My aim was close enough, the chakram slicing into the first guys neck as he shot me, making me dance backwards in an effort to catch myself from falling while my chakram bounced sideways into the wall then back into his buddies behind him.
As I recovered my balance, I caught the eye of the second man in the group who was holding his buddy as he died and charged him. The guard seemed to realize he needed to kill me before I got close, and he dropped his buddy as he reached for his gun. Determined to get the upper hand, I pushed myself to go faster, activating my Celerity and closed the distance in the blink of an eye. The guard must have panicked, because as his hand closed around the grip and he put his finger to the trigger he began firing blind.
I could feel the bullets as they passed my legs, so I jumped and did a flying kick on the guy and knocked him back among the dead, dying and those about to be. Pulling on the shadows again, I made a set of weapons more suited for the close in combat I was engaged in; a pair of Japanese sai. As the first man got back to his feet, I sliced his throat open with one, and stabbed his heart with the other. The last surviving guard in the fight tried to scramble away, but I threw one of the sai into his back. The guard screamed, and I knelt over him and slid the other sai across his throat.
Returning the pair of sai to shadows, I turned down the corridor and began searching for the boss, eventually finding my dropped Uzi which I stowed back in my messenger bag. I pulled my Glock, the trusty little pistol my best line of defense and continued my search. I opened a door, finding it led to a storage area full of crates. I started down the stairs, when I heard the boss start talking.
"My employer's punishment for your escape will be a thousand times more painful than anything you could devise," he said sourly, and I began to follow his voice. "I refuse to give you the satisfaction."
I tracked his voice to a corner behind a shelf. It was a good location, for him, because to get to it in any way I would have to present myself as a target and kept his back to a wall so I couldn't teleport behind him. I started down the steps when he let loose a hail of bullets, and I fell back. Once he was empty, I vaulted over the railing to see him dropping the clip out of his Uzi. I immediately took a knee, steadying my aim and shot him in the knee.
He cried out in pain as he fell, and I hurried over to kick the Uzi out of his reach. Kneeling on his arm to pin it, I held him down.
"Who's your employer?" I demanded and he grinned at me.
"That information I will take to my grave," he said, then spit in my face.
"Let me speed you on your way then," I said and shoved my Glock under his chin and pulled the trigger. The bullet through his head and out the top of his brain, and I left the man to rot.
"Is someone there?" I heard a gravelly voice shout. It was faint, and probably only my better than usual kindred hearing allowed me to hear it.
"Barabus?" I shouted back, recognizing the gravelly style voice all the Nosferatu seemed to have.
"In here!" he shouted and I followed it to a steel door in the wall. It was pretty heavy, with a steel lock that looked pretty tough. I looked at the lock, and pulled my picks and worked on it for several minutes before finally getting it to twist.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I opened the door and saw Barabus standing there.
"They get you too?" he said, sounding disgusted with himself as he shook his bulbous head. "I got no excuse. A Nosferatu getting caught by a bunch of humans, that's a new low."
"Barabus, I presume?" I asked and he nodded his head. "Gary sent me to come get you. I need info and your the payment."
"Wait, we can't go yet," he said and I looked at the cell next to us. Did they have more prisoners? "There are servers here. We need to hack out and get Mitnick to delete their research. Should be an access on this floor."
"So there's no other prisoners?" I asked and he shook his head.
"They got the Malk primogen, Grout," he said and I shook my head slowly. "Heard he died in some kind of fire experiment they had set up. If he did, it'll be on the servers."
"Let me check the cell before we go," I said, kneeling with the lockpicks and going to work on the lock. It didn't take me long to get it opened, but no one was inside. I did find the room was covered in scratches, probably from Grout's flaking mind. I couldn't discern much of it, as it was too thinly scratched, but I did discern one line. 'Ming Xiao betrayed me.'
"Ming Xiao," I breathed, and it finally made sense. She was gearing the Kue-Jin up for another war, and knowing how to efficiently kill us kindred would make it easier for her and her troops. Well, two can play that game.
"Yeah," Barabus said from behind me as I took a picture with my phone for vidence to show to Walsh and the Prince. "I was sent to spy on her and got caught. I think she saw me as Ispied on her while she was bathing. They caught me not long after."
"Naughty thing to do," I said as we left the cell behind. Barabus knelt by the man I had killed and took a key from his pocket, then picked up the clip and Uzi and took it with him.
"It's what we Nosferatu do," he said as he led the way out, probably more familiar with the layout than I was. "We spy on people and sell that information for what we can get out of it. Nothing personal, it's just I can't be seen in public without causing a panic."
"Just don't publish photos of me naked on MySpace, okay?" I asked he laughed at that.
"What will you give us to not to?" he said and I caught the joke. Blackmail was just their way of life, a form of currency that allowed them to survive in the shadows only a Lasombra could master.
"Well, if you get any, contact me first," I said and he kept laughing as he opened a door leading out of the storage room.
His laughing died when two security guards with pistols stood there, and he pulled the door closed before they could fire at him. "Stand back," he said, as I pulled my Glock back out in case I needed it. Barabus took a step back then mule kicked the door so hard it flew off its hinges, hitting one guard and felling him to the floor. He rushed the other, sinking his fangs into the man's neck for what had to be a much needed drink.
While Barabus fed, the other man stirred a bit and I shot the man dead. I couldn't believe a man would work for a company and not have some idea of what they did, so I figured the man must've known something and went along with it for a paycheck.
When Barabus let the other man drop, we proceeded through the hallway again with the Nos in the lead. I think the man had some frustration to work out as he seemed more inclined to beat the men to death with his fists than his hands. When we reached an office with a computer terminal, Barabus sat to the computer for several minutes while he typed away. I covered the door, shooting several guards that found where we were holed up.
"That's got it," he said as he finally stood up.
"I need you to contact Gary as soon as you can," I told him, with him leading the way back to the front. "I wasn't kidding about you being a payment."
"The clan already knows I'm alive," he said, as he used his potence to break another door off its hinges. "Gary should be contacting you soon."
"Thanks," I said as he opened another locked door the kindred way and I found myself back in the entrance to the Syndicate. "Stay safe in the shadows," I told him as I holstered my gun and headed for the door.
"I will, and I'm also going to clean up here," he said another guard appeared. "It's my mess."
"Later," I yelled as he ran after the guard.
Outside the building I was almost to my bike when my phone began to ring. The number wasn't one I recognized, but answered it anyway. "Do you have Prince Albert in can?" it asked, the voice high and cheerful, but clearly male before it came again with a gravel to it that I recognized. "Well, better let 'im go, boss. You done well bringin' our back home. I got your info, hero."
"Who bought the Ankaran Sarcophagus?" I asked, and he chuckled.
"The same information I gave your prince, I also traded to the Giovanni for a bit of juicy gossip," he said, the name ringing only a bell that they were a clan of kindred, like Lasombra and Ventrue. "They both had equal opportunity to take it, they just had a bit more...initiative."
"The Giovanni clan?" I asked, prodding Gary along.
"If you're going to play Jyhad, you need to do your homework," he told me, scolding me for not knowing more. "Knowledge is power and power has a price. But seeing as I've already got what I want from them, I'll give you a freebie. They've got skeletons in their closet, literally! I should have played the Catskills. Incest, organized crime, death cults – that's the Giovanni. Spaghettie and corpses, boss.
"Where can I find them?" I asked him as I sat atop my bike.
"Oh, I'll tell you, and if you're foolish enough to go there don't say I didn't warn you, boss."
"Dangerous huh?"
"Even we Nosferatu don't try to sneak into their mansion, boss," he told me, and I wondered what my next move was going to have to be. I wanted to get the sarcophagus myself, not go rushing back to the prince with info. "They have a mansion in the hills, I'll draw you a map of it. They're having a reunion this Friday, and anyone who isn't a Giovanni shouldn't get within fifty yards, if you catch my drift."
I did, and smiled at the thought. "Thanks, Gary," I told him and he chuckled. "I'll take my chances though."
"You get 'em, boss," he said, roaring with laughter. "You give 'em one for Gary!" he continued, then seemed to sober himself up. "If you should survive and ever need any information, come back and see me. I'm always here."
"I'll remember that," I told him, as he chuckled again. "Goodbye, Gary," I said, ending the call. I hated to say it, but I was forced to wait to Friday before I could move on the Sarcophagus. The only thing I might do was scout the mansion, but even that was likely to be a bust if I was seen and tried to sneak in at the reunion.
Sighing, I could think of only one thing I needed to do, mostly out of boredom, and maybe a bit of niceness and that was to tell Isaac I had handled Andrei and his little minions. It should be a fun experience, and I needed my daily dose of sarcasm.
Another thought entered my mind though, and that was that Isaac was heavy into Hollywood, and I had a ghoul who might make it as an actress if I could get her foot in the door. Maybe I should have a talk with Isaac about that.
Couldn't hurt, could it?
Edit/1-13-2018: Forgot to have her put her coat back on after killing Johnny. Silly me.