A/N: Thanks again to ikhan11 for his assistance in this chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 22, meant a lot to me as always. It may shock you to know just how many chapters you've got to follow this one : / Shocked me as well when I worked it out... you really wanna know? You do? Seriously? Okay, okay, I'll tell you, don't look at me with those puppy-dog eyes! You've got *looks from side to side* ten, including this one. *ducks for cover as objects may be thrown at her*
He ached all over, more than he could remember in a long time, and he had to take deep slow breaths to settle it. Tom had been alone for about an hour now. Anise had left the room quietly after breaking down in front of him. He couldn't help but feel for her, even though he had told himself not to, reminded himself that she had betrayed his trust.
"C'mon, dammit," he muttered angrily under his breath as he tried again to loosen the manacle around his left wrist, cursing loudly when it resisted just as firmly and successfully as it had countless times before. Now his hands ached as well, and he was in a worse mood to boot.
He thudded his head back against the wall behind him twice before realising that was a bad idea, and wished he had something to throw, or even a gun to fire at something, anything to relieve the tension and anger he felt inside.
Tom swelled with so many emotions he didn't know which to give in to first. Anger, hatred, guilt, regret... even fear. He had allowed himself to be tricked so easily. What shocked him the most was perhaps the fact that Charles Evans seemed to know so much about him.
He drew his knees up to his chest, and rested his forehead on them, letting out a long sigh, the burning in his sides making him close his eyes tightly for a moment before it subsided.
There was only one thing eating away at him at that moment as he sat in complete resignation, as his mind cleared of everything that had happened and the truth hit him in its fullest form.
Where was the League?
She revelled in the chase, a good chance to let herself go. Now if only she could quell the hunger inside, she would be able to enjoy it to the full. Her prey was losing their energy now, she knew, and she was gaining on them... him... she could smell him.
She let it fill her, let her otherworldly senses take over, and she quickened her travel. Mina had started off on foot, but then taken to higher ground when the coast was clear, when the risk of being seen by a bystander was less.
Her feet travelled swiftly and with ease over the rooftops, skirting the slopes deftly, and leaping the gaps between buildings with grace. Experience had brought her a certain... agility, she felt. It had also brought her caution. She knew not to take risks.
Down below her, closing in around the startled creature, were Skinner and Jekyll. Nemo and some of his crew were shutting off the trap from another angle. They would be upon him soon.
That was when she saw her oppurtunity. The coward emerged from a shadowed hiding place below, and made to dart down an adjacent alleyway. This was her chance, her window. She had to take it.
Gracefully and swiftly, she leapt from her high vantage point, sailing down through the air with the agility of a bird in descent, and landed on his back, rolling away and to her feet immediately after her ambush.
She heard his infuriated snarl, and saw his eyes flash a bestial shade of yellow. Fangs elongated, and claws lengthened from his nails, but he seemed incapable of undergoing any further transformation.
Mina returned the favour by revealing her own demonic attributes, and growled back at him, her eyes red now, feeling the tips of her own fangs against her tongue. Her hair whipped about her face slightly; free from the restriction of the pins she normally kept it in. She had two daggers concealed in her long leather coat, and she wasn't afraid to use them. She knew where to strike.
The man had an oriental look to him, narrowed eyes glaring, dark skin flushed with exhaustion. His clothing was tatty and encrusted with dirt and long-dried blood. His black hair was matted and in desperate need of washing, or just simply shaving. He had stubble forming around his jaw and upper lip, and as he snarled he bared yellowing teeth.
Mina glowered, and lashed out at him, spinning like a dervish, her daggers outstretched. She struck out at him, the blades facing out from her, hilts gripped firmly in her feminine hands, sunlight gleaming off the weapons.
The werewolf let out a snarl of fury, and spun like the cornered animal that he was, claws slashing at her, mouth open wide in a feral threat. He was trying to keep her away from him. Was he afraid?
Vampire and werewolf clashed in the centre of the alley, blood spilled at once from the chest of the latter. The creature let out a pained yelp, and slashed back at Mina. She arched her back, head craning to avoid the claws.
She was back upright at once, only subconsciously registering the arrival of Skinner and Jekyll, who stopped at once to witness the combat with wide eyes and gaping mouths.
Mina lashed out at the beast before her, never hesitating, and soon the man was sprawled on the floor before her, a bleeding wreck, panting and gasping for breath, in an almost overwhelming amount of pain, she was certain. She simply stood looming over him victoriously, not a scratch on her. She had been very careful to dodge his attacks. Mina wasn't certain what would happen to her were she wounded by one of these creatures, and she was in no hurry to experiment.
She signalled to Nemo and his men to approach. They had just arrived.
The waning yellow eyes glared up at her, and a growl emerged from his throat.
Mina slammed her boot into his face, watching him slump limply to the floor entirely, motionless now except for the heaving of his chest as he breathed. Her blue eyes travelled up to meet the shocked face of Jekyll, and she sighed, throwing him a certain look that made him reconsider his chiding her for her brutality. He calmed.
Skinner came over to her cautiously, and actually asked with concern, "All right?"
"Perfectly fine," Mina replied earnestly, tossing him half a smile for emphasis. "He was in no condition to fight anyway. He was weak... perhaps fatigued from hunger. The blood on his clothes makes me suspect he was in battle not too long ago. He may be one of the werewolves who was fighting on the dock."
Jekyll nodded as he too approached, frequently glancing down at the werewolf that Nemo and his men were taking away, saying, "That is a possibility. He doesn't look too well off, does he? What made you spare him?"
Mina eyed the doctor seriously, and replied bluntly, "We need information. Anything he has could help us to save Tom and Anise... if there is still a chance."
There was a long uncomfortable silence that hung in between them. Skinner cleared his throat, Jekyll observed the second hand of his pocket watch for a while, and Mina watched the removal of the creature she had defeated.
She would get something out of the monstrosity... no matter what the price.
"And when was the last time he was seen in the city?"
Jacques turned on his companions, his 'pack' as Evans so affectionately called them, and sighed. "I have not seen him myself since he decided against our plans. Has no one any news of him?"
"None," Alessandro reported gruffly. "He has not been seen since his retreat. He was wounded after we tried to... change his mind, but all we know is he is alive, and most probably weak."
"So it could be possible..." Jacques began, "that he has been captured."
The others knew this was not a question, and looked to one another hesitantly. Jacques knew they were intimidated by him... this was how he wanted it. Fear, to him, was a healthy thing in the correct doses. He had been around long enough to know the exact amount of dread to instil in people, whether they be his followers, his prey, or simply a new acquaintance.
There were many different degrees of that fear in his company now. One or two were terrified of him. Several knew not what to make of him, and stayed somewhere comfortably in between fright and awe. There were an exceptional number, such as Alessandro and Paulo, who looked on him as a companion, and did not fear him nearly as much as the others. It was still there though... he could smell it, deep down inside them, perhaps where they did not even look.
"It is possible," Paulo agreed finally when no one else dared speak. "Would you like for a search party to scour the city?"
"No," Jacques told them at once. "It is too dangerous right now. Together, the League are strong... perhaps too strong."
His followers looked to him in confusion. The League... had he not told them of their enemy, their potential threat, the danger that they posed? Had Evans not done this? Did they know nothing?
Resisting the urge to submit to his anger inside, swelling up like a torrent of water, he took a deep breath, and suggested, "Very well. Send six. Return back every two hours and switch shifts, until Saito Kazuo is found. I want him returned at once. We cannot let him fall into enemy hands. He knows valuable information."
Alessandro nodded, taking the role of organiser, and even as Jacques left the room, he heard the man barking orders at everyone.
Henry was far from comfortable with this new situation, and he hovered near the rear of the ice room aboard the Nautilus, trying to be as invisible as he could. He envied Skinner all of a sudden. The coat and trilby stood near a pillar, leaning against it casually, the white face paint showing boredom on the covered features. The glasses reflected the light, and were turned in the direction of the struggling figure in the centre of the room.
Captain Nemo and some of his men stood at regular intervals around the cold room, spears and other instruments in their chilled hands. Henry was reminded of his own incarceration in this room... although in truth that had been Edward Hyde, not himself. It was a little different.
The last member of the League paced back and forth in front of the panting man, the werewolf. He glared at her boots as she moved. Mina had opted for trousers in this interrogation, giving her more freedom to move. Her skirts would only hinder her movement. Her hair was pulled back from her face in a tight, neat ponytail at the rear of her head. Her blue eyes stared icily, a different kind of cold to that in the room.
Henry knew she wanted answers, and he was only present -despite his better judgement- because he was eager to hear them, as were the others. It was vital they gathered information as soon as possible.
The werewolf himself, called Kazuo, or so he claimed, was kneeling in the middle of the floor, chains hindering his movements. They were locked about his wrists and ankles, and there was a collar, or something similar, closed about his neck. The restraints were fixed firmly to the walls. The man would have a difficult time moving further than a few feet.
"You still have not answered my question," Mina hissed at him, waving a very dangerous looking knife into the light, watching it glint ominously. The werewolf saw this too, and he growled.
He received a backhand for his temper, and soon fell silent. Mina glowered down at him, and restated her question, "What do you know of two agents... one American, and one French? A man and a woman. Is Evans responsible for their disappearance?"
Kazuo raised his brown eyes to Mina's face, and he seemed to be fighting the inner urge to attack her. His limbs twitched as if in spasm, and he took a deep breath. He appeared to be in some discomfort.
Henry reminded himself that it was too risky to approach the man and try to help him. He would probably resist quite vigorously. Henry was smarter than that.
Mina stopped pacing in front of him, her legs set apart at a distance, ready to move quickly if the man struck out at her. So far he had resisted doing so against her, perhaps fully aware that she was stronger and more agile. She admired the weapon in her hand. The blade was long and thin, and no doubt sharp.
"I am sure you are aware of your own weaknesses," Mina began in a low, threatening voice, pointing the blade towards the captive now. She narrowed her light eyes. "A normal blade would not harm you permanently..." She paused here, Henry guessed for dramatic affect, before persisting, "But silver might do more damage. I'm certain you would agree."
Kazuo flinched all of a sudden, trying to pull away from the blade as it moved close to his throat. There was a fear in his eyes now. "If you kill me," he stated in an accented voice, "you will never discover what you wish to know."
Henry had guessed from the look of the man that he had an oriental origin, but his voice made it a certainty. He was Japanese, or Chinese. Japanese, Henry guessed, from the name. He had met a few in his time.
"Who said I would kill you straight away?" Mina raised her eyebrows, tilting her head ever so slightly to one side, smiling tauntingly.
Kazuo looked to the others in the room, seeing no help there. He seemed to have hit his limit of resistance, as he finally said, "What do you want to know?"
There was a hidden sense of satisfaction in Mina's tone as she asked, "Sawyer and Delacroix... where are they?"
"I left Evans and his men when I discovered they were planning to continue what I thought they had finished long ago," Kazuo revealed, his voice breaking somewhat, as if afraid the man in question would hear him and punish him for his weakness.
Henry listened in horror as the details were given away.