The Serum

Part 13

An: A fallen stag? How poetic of you my dear, lol. Thanks for the reviews peeps.

It seemed to take them so long to fall, Granger mused as he watched the as-yet unidentified body fall from the fifth story of the building. They had to assume it was a body, if it wasn't dead already it would be when it hit the ground. They had heard the crash of glass even as they stepped out of the cars - he and Davies had come in one car and their backup team had come in a second. Jaylynn's message had been brief, a feral like June loose in an apartment block, please send reinforcements. He had briefed the other team accordingly, giving as much information as he dared about June and the potential threat of this woman. They had called the ambulance as soon as they had heard from Jaylynn but it still hadn't arrived. For now it was all that they could do to watch the poor bastard fall, twisting and turning as he did so.

The figure was at the second floor before Granger realised who it was and turned away, swearing loudly.

"Granger, what is it?" Davies asked his superior.

"It's Ella." He explained, turning back and hearing Davies' panicked gasp. It was the least he could do to watch her as she came to an end. He frowned as he watched her fall. Was it just him or was she slowing as she neared the pavement. It couldn't be, could it?

Taking in deep breaths, Eliza felt herself slip away as the feral took control. Sit this one out, it told her. I'll deal with this. She rolled onto her stomach in the air, feeling the air resistance increase as she spread herself across the fall. Seeing the ground come ever closer she closed herself up and landed in a crouch, the few meters extra deceleration time given by the length of her body enough to take some of the impact off her ankles. She looked up and found Granger open mouthed beside her. Her vision was sepia yellow from the presence of her feral eyes, but there was too much adrenaline in her system for her to force them away and she saw the others start as they saw them.

"Ella?" Granger asked, voice breathless in awe.

"Can I borrow your cuffs?" She asked, standing to brush herself off and shake away the yellow eyes.

"Sure." He said, offering her the metal device from his belt and watching her tuck them in the back of her own belt.

"Thanks. Get upstairs as soon as you can, room 158. I'm going up the quick way, I'm worried that now she thinks I'm gone she'll go for the others." She explained.

"The quick way?" He asked. She winked, her eyes flashing feral as she did so.

Jesse ducked as Nikki swung at him. He was already bleeding from his lip, the first punch she had thrown him had hit true. He checked to see that Eliza's friend was regaining her feet after a kick had knocked her sideways.

"You Ok?" He called across as he scrambled away from Nikki, desperate for a moment's respite from the feral.

"Yeah, but we're not going to be able to fight her on our own." She replied, searching about her for a weapon to use.

"The others should be here soon." Jesse offered. Seeing Nikki advance out of the corner of his eye he massed as she swung at him. There was a sharp crack and a yelp from Nikki and she jumped away from him, holding her hand close. Jesse moved to Jaylynn's side, whispering, "Eliza keeps a gun in her top draw of her dresser. She showed it to me the other day. Think you can get it while I hold her off?" Nodding, Jaylynn dashed for the door while Nikki was distracted nursing her injured hand.

Turning away from the police cars and men on the ground Eliza leapt for the first floor balcony, directly below her own apartment, then the second, then the third. Landing on her balcony she stepped through the broken glass door, hearing the crunch of glass under her feet, and stepped into the room.

It was quiet, too quiet. In the sense that it wasn't quiet at all. The couple upstairs were going at it enthusiastically and the teenager next door had his music up loud. This wasn't the kind of noise you expected in a time that suggested possible impending doom for two of your best friends. Perhaps dramatic music, or spooky silence. She let her feral senses take over, knowing that she would have preferred the silence, the other noises shaking her feral hearing.

Hearing a thud and a cry she ran for the living room, seeing Nikki stood jubilant over Jesse prostrate on the floor, unconscious once again. Nikki looked up as she stepped into the room, feral eyes flashing.

"And the game just got that little bit more interesting." She said, eyes wide. "You should never have been able to survive that fall." Eliza flashed her feral eyes in reply. Nikki kicked Jesse to one side as she advanced on the other feral, grinning widely. "At last I get a fair play off and we finally get to see which one of us is better after all these years."

"I'm not back to full strength yet, Nikki." Eliza warned, hoping that perhaps this might dissuade the undecided feral. Nikki simply sighed and shrugged.

"Oh well. At least I get to play before I kill you."