CHAPTER 11 - Fallenstellen [Entrapment]
'K'so!' muttered Yohji when he found out they were locked inside the mansion. He kept on banging the door open, pulling it, hitting it, kicking it, however it would not budge.
'So this is a setup…' Ken said grimly, staring at the locked door. 'The windows are bullet-proof, and I think this place is made of titanium alloy…if I am right that's the same metal which makes up a rocket…'
Omi sighed. 'What do we do now? The locks are not computer generated, I cannot hack into it and break the codes or something.'
'Look for a way out. There has to be a way out somewhere…' Ken answered, scanning the dark place. Suddenly the lobby looked more like a void of shadows in the middle of nowhere. 'We've been through worse, we can find a way out.'
'And just in case you've forgotten it is your hacking that brought us into this trouble,' Yohji reminded Omi, irritated.
Suddenly, heavy walls fell from the lobby's ceiling and landed on the floor, blocking all entrances deeper into the mansion. The lobby seemed to be a death chamber for all of them. And before they knew it, gray clouds of gas streamed in, fogging their vision as it made breathing hard.
Death was just a couple of hours away.
*
Ran's breath sped up.
'I wonder how they found us…' Kei mumbled to herself.
'Are you sure you didn't call them here?' Ran asked, staring straight at Kei's bewildered face. 'This is not another trap or is it?'
'I knew you wouldn't trust me,' she replied in a small voice. 'But I didn't call them here nonetheless. They found us, perhaps because of some transmitter one of us has. I am not sure if I accidentally brought mine, or they placed one in your body.' She planted a kiss on his lips. 'Wait, I didn't come here unarmed.'
He looked at her, startled as she crawled toward the other side of the room. The feel of the kiss was still in his mouth.
Ran barely knew himself anymore. He never imagined doing this…
The sharp sound of a gunshot stole him back to reality. Worriedly, his eyes followed Kei as she took her ammunitions---a handgun and Ran's katana.
Hastily she crept back beside him and handed him the katana. 'We had better get back to the mansion,' she told him gravely. 'Falke planned on trapping your friends there. Your wounds have almost healed, I'm sure we'd manage.'
*
Ran and Kei found a motorbike parked at the back of the inn. Without thinking of whom it belonged to, they took it, picked the lock and dashed away from the inn back to the mansion.
Jin's men were already at their tail, firing incessantly at them. The bike swerved on the rough road, but remained undaunted. Kei was thankful though, it was early morning rush hour and many cars were on the main road besides them. It made pursuit harder, and she knew Jin was already getting frustrated. Some cars that blocked their way were shot accidentally by Jin's men, leaving behind a sight of smashed cars and flat tires.
The forest where the mansion was withheld neared them. Ran veered sharply to the narrow path and raced to the mansion. An ominous feeling swept over him.
As they approached the house Ran observed thick smoke-like gases inside the lobby and figures moving strangely inside. The rest of the Weiss seemed to be locked in the lobby and were being poisoned fast.
Ran parked the motorcycle beside the mansion and sprinted to the back door, Kei behind him. Their pursuer was close, and was still shooting at them. Panting, they hid behind the mansion and rested their backs on the solid walls.
'How do we get in?' Ran asked.
'Follow me.'
*
True to Ran's suspicions, the manor was more tortuous than he imagined it to be. He reckoned it was a World War II hangout for Germans, and if his inklings were right, this mansion belonged to Falke, used for shelter during the war. The walls were not merely concrete, but bound by titanium, Kei informed him.
Secret passages were abundant in the place, and Kei had conducted him to one. She had exposed an underground route through the basement door. They slipped through an unused dumbwaiter, which led to the manor's lobby. No words were spoken, but the feeling of dread hovered in the air between them.
*How long would it be until they die?* Ran pondered anxiously as Kei steered the dumbwaiter to an opening at the entrance hall.
The dumbwaiter screeched as it halted. It trembled momentarily before pulling to a stop, and for a second Ran thought it would crash. Kei then opened the latch for them to get out.
Almost immediately after the bolt was released, suffocating air filled their nostrils. Ran coughed abrasively, covering his nose and mouth with a free hand. Kei held her breath as she glared ahead at the foggy surroundings for any sign of the rest of the Weiss.
True enough, Yohji, Ken and Omi were sprawled on the floor, unconscious, their faces pale. Stunned, Ran hurried to his friends to check if they were still alive. He inspected Yohji first, noting his heartbeat was slow and could barely be heard.
Ran's lungs tightened, perhaps because of the toxic ventilation drifting in their midst.
Hurriedly, Kei had already begun dragging Omi to the dumbwaiter for an escape. Ran, following her lead, lugged Ken behind him, then Yohji.
Somehow the dumbwaiter grew larger with the five of them inside it.
The dumbwaiter creaked as it abandoned the venom of the lobby.
*
'Falke-sama, Kei and Aya are inside the mansion,' Jin reported through a transmitter he held.
'Sou ka,' Falke said in reply. 'Do you have their current location?'
'Yes, it seems they have freed the other members of Weiss, and now heading for the left wing.'
'Ah, Kei is taking them to her room,' reckoned Falke. 'She had kept much of her medicines there. By now she would've suspected we used the drug to poison those rats. Traitor she is…' he muttered under her breath. 'Go, launch a full attack. Make sure you kill all of them and retrieve the formula. It is extremely vital to our growing business.' Then the line went static.
*
'K'so!' muttered Yohji when he found out they were locked inside the mansion. He kept on banging the door open, pulling it, hitting it, kicking it, however it would not budge.
'So this is a setup…' Ken said grimly, staring at the locked door. 'The windows are bullet-proof, and I think this place is made of titanium alloy…if I am right that's the same metal which makes up a rocket…'
Omi sighed. 'What do we do now? The locks are not computer generated, I cannot hack into it and break the codes or something.'
'Look for a way out. There has to be a way out somewhere…' Ken answered, scanning the dark place. Suddenly the lobby looked more like a void of shadows in the middle of nowhere. 'We've been through worse, we can find a way out.'
'And just in case you've forgotten it is your hacking that brought us into this trouble,' Yohji reminded Omi, irritated.
Suddenly, heavy walls fell from the lobby's ceiling and landed on the floor, blocking all entrances deeper into the mansion. The lobby seemed to be a death chamber for all of them. And before they knew it, gray clouds of gas streamed in, fogging their vision as it made breathing hard.
Death was just a couple of hours away.
*
Ran's breath sped up.
'I wonder how they found us…' Kei mumbled to herself.
'Are you sure you didn't call them here?' Ran asked, staring straight at Kei's bewildered face. 'This is not another trap or is it?'
'I knew you wouldn't trust me,' she replied in a small voice. 'But I didn't call them here nonetheless. They found us, perhaps because of some transmitter one of us has. I am not sure if I accidentally brought mine, or they placed one in your body.' She planted a kiss on his lips. 'Wait, I didn't come here unarmed.'
He looked at her, startled as she crawled toward the other side of the room. The feel of the kiss was still in his mouth.
Ran barely knew himself anymore. He never imagined doing this…
The sharp sound of a gunshot stole him back to reality. Worriedly, his eyes followed Kei as she took her ammunitions---a handgun and Ran's katana.
Hastily she crept back beside him and handed him the katana. 'We had better get back to the mansion,' she told him gravely. 'Falke planned on trapping your friends there. Your wounds have almost healed, I'm sure we'd manage.'
*
Ran and Kei found a motorbike parked at the back of the inn. Without thinking of whom it belonged to, they took it, picked the lock and dashed away from the inn back to the mansion.
Jin's men were already at their tail, firing incessantly at them. The bike swerved on the rough road, but remained undaunted. Kei was thankful though, it was early morning rush hour and many cars were on the main road besides them. It made pursuit harder, and she knew Jin was already getting frustrated. Some cars that blocked their way were shot accidentally by Jin's men, leaving behind a sight of smashed cars and flat tires.
The forest where the mansion was withheld neared them. Ran veered sharply to the narrow path and raced to the mansion. An ominous feeling swept over him.
As they approached the house Ran observed thick smoke-like gases inside the lobby and figures moving strangely inside. The rest of the Weiss seemed to be locked in the lobby and were being poisoned fast.
Ran parked the motorcycle beside the mansion and sprinted to the back door, Kei behind him. Their pursuer was close, and was still shooting at them. Panting, they hid behind the mansion and rested their backs on the solid walls.
'How do we get in?' Ran asked.
'Follow me.'
*
True to Ran's suspicions, the manor was more tortuous than he imagined it to be. He reckoned it was a World War II hangout for Germans, and if his inklings were right, this mansion belonged to Falke, used for shelter during the war. The walls were not merely concrete, but bound by titanium, Kei informed him.
Secret passages were abundant in the place, and Kei had conducted him to one. She had exposed an underground route through the basement door. They slipped through an unused dumbwaiter, which led to the manor's lobby. No words were spoken, but the feeling of dread hovered in the air between them.
*How long would it be until they die?* Ran pondered anxiously as Kei steered the dumbwaiter to an opening at the entrance hall.
The dumbwaiter screeched as it halted. It trembled momentarily before pulling to a stop, and for a second Ran thought it would crash. Kei then opened the latch for them to get out.
Almost immediately after the bolt was released, suffocating air filled their nostrils. Ran coughed abrasively, covering his nose and mouth with a free hand. Kei held her breath as she glared ahead at the foggy surroundings for any sign of the rest of the Weiss.
True enough, Yohji, Ken and Omi were sprawled on the floor, unconscious, their faces pale. Stunned, Ran hurried to his friends to check if they were still alive. He inspected Yohji first, noting his heartbeat was slow and could barely be heard.
Ran's lungs tightened, perhaps because of the toxic ventilation drifting in their midst.
Hurriedly, Kei had already begun dragging Omi to the dumbwaiter for an escape. Ran, following her lead, lugged Ken behind him, then Yohji.
Somehow the dumbwaiter grew larger with the five of them inside it.
The dumbwaiter creaked as it abandoned the venom of the lobby.
*
'Falke-sama, Kei and Aya are inside the mansion,' Jin reported through a transmitter he held.
'Sou ka,' Falke said in reply. 'Do you have their current location?'
'Yes, it seems they have freed the other members of Weiss, and now heading for the left wing.'
'Ah, Kei is taking them to her room,' reckoned Falke. 'She had kept much of her medicines there. By now she would've suspected we used the drug to poison those rats. Traitor she is…' he muttered under her breath. 'Go, launch a full attack. Make sure you kill all of them and retrieve the formula. It is extremely vital to our growing business.' Then the line went static.
*