10
Sekhmet was curled up on the bed in the apartment she had been provided, worried sick about Marcus. The older vampire had been gone for a week now, and she was scared he'd been deleted.
"Still so worried, child?"
Sekhmet nodded miserably. She was, after all, a very young program; she'd written sunrises for close to two years, she'd only been an exile for a few months and free for a week and a half.
The Oracle sat on the edge of the bed. "Don't worry. Everything will be alright." Sekhmet didn't move. She knew better by now to plague the woman with 'what-ifs'.
"He has avoided his choice for now... but it will still come."
"What choice?"
"The choice I told you about before... where he must lose a part of himself."
Sekhmet was silent, knowing that she would get nothing more from her. "I miss him…."
"You don't have long to wait."
Sekhmet perked up a bit. Just then, there was a knocking at the door. The catgirl sprang from the bed and bounded to the door, hoping that it was Marcus. Seraph entered the room. Her hopes died in mid-air. She was barely able to give him a bow of greeting before fleeing to a back room, fighting tears.
"Are you okay?" a different voice came now, from behind her. Sekhmet froze, scarcely daring to breathe. "M-marcus…?" He smiled. "Who else?" "MARCUS!" she shrieked, turning and lunging to hug him tightly.
He hugged her back. "Marcus… I was so worried," she whispered, holding him. "I thought an Agent had gotten you or the Merovingian had taken you back…." "No, I'm fine," he smiled. She gazed up at him, a smile in her blue eyes, and her small hand softly caressed his cheek. "I'm glad you escaped."
"I'm glad you escaped too."
"Seraph saved me," she told him softly, "when I couldn't run anymore. He brought me to her." "I owe him a lot, then." He smiled at her. Sekhmet smiled back and nodded, holding onto the vampire. "We owe Red very much now...," Marcus mused.
"Red?" she asked, looking up at him curiously.
"The rebel... he helped me escape the Agent."
"He… purposely entered the Matrix… to help you? Against an Agent!?"
He nodded. "Yes." Sekhmet goggled at the concept. "But… humans run from Agents!" "Usually, yes," he replied. Sekhmet drew closer to Marcus. "You're right… we owe him a lot." He held her tightly. She smiled up at him. "I… I don't think we have to worry about a place to stay."
"Oh? She wouldn't mind?"
"I… don't think so…"
He smiled. "I'm glad." "Me too," Sekhmet answered.
****
Red grinned as he saw the warehouse up ahead. "Home and whiskey, here I come," he sang softly. "Another day I have survived, another drink I will imbibe." His voice deepened to the bass register as he changed tunes. "I've been a moonshiner for many's the year/ I've spent all me money on whiskey and beer/ I'll go to my hollow an' I'll set up me still/ An' I'll make you a gallon fer a ten-shillin' bill/ I'm a rambler, I'm a gambler, I'm a long ways from home/ An' if ye don' like me, well let me alone/ I'll eat when I'm hungry an' I'll drink when I'm dry/ An' if moonshine don' kill me I'll live till I die…."
How he loved the songs of his homeland.
Suddenly, a razor pressed againsr his throat. "Tell us where they are." Red reacted instantly, his gun coming up behind him and blasting his assailant three times -- or it would have, had the holder of the razor not turned incorporeal. Red sprang forward and whirled, seeing the freaky albino who had nearly killed him in the Merovingian's château six years earlier. "Oh… shit…." He leapt into the air, bending the rules of the Matrix and landing on top of a back-alley building.
The Irishman dialled Salvo quickly. "Oi, Sal-me-love, gimme an exit, quick! Or I ain't comin' ho--" A gunshot rang out, striking his hand and forcing him to drop the cell phone. "SHIT!" His assailant finished floated through the building behind the man and shoved him hard off his perch. Red barely managed to catch hold of the roof, looking up at the albino… then down at the albino. "Sweet Mary Mother o' God," he whispered. "There's two o' him!"
The Twin faded back down into the building as the other approached from behind again. Red pushed off of the wall, coming up and around the edge to land again on the roof, where he retreated to the middle, picking up his cell phone on the way. "Sal, love, y' there?"
The reception was iffy. "Yeah...m...ere..."
"Sal… I don' think I'm comin' home," he said softly, his eyes darting around for the albinos. They were approaching on either side of him. "Don' unplug me unless y' have to. I'd rather not die if there's a chance I c'n escape."
"..ed....r..n...now..."
Red muttered something about lousy reception and ran for all he was worth, leaping to another building and landing awkwardly. He winced as he felt his ankle snap. "Shit." The twins zoomed up through the roof, on either side of him. "Where are they?" one demanded. "I dunno what th' hell yer talkin' 'bout," Red replied, testing his weight. The leg wouldn't support him. Nowhere to run.
The Twins advanced, flipping out their razors.
The Irishman growled, discarding his leather jacket and drawing his last pair of guns. He'd have to be careful if he was going to survive this. They suddenly rushed forward, slicing down hard at the rebel. He fired his guns, causing them and their weapons to become mist. They stepped back then, trying to get around the Irishman, to be on either side of him.
Forgetting his ankle, he took a step back and collapsed as it gave way. "SHIT!" The Twins moved in instantly, one's foot rising in a kick into the falling rebel's back, the other meeting this motion perfectly with a powerful double punch. Red yelled in pain and nearly blacked out; on board the Zodiac, his "sleeping" body coughed blood.
"We are getting irritated. Where are they?"
"Go… t' hell," he ground out through clenched teeth.
They raised their blades to finish him... when suddenly one of their cell phones rang. They both halted as the one received orders from someone loud and French. "Holy God," Red whispered before blacking out. "I'm dead."
***
He woke slowly, hoping he had miraculously jacked out of the Matrix, but the pain in his shoulder and ankle proved otherwise. Red groaned, trying to move, and quickly discovering that each of his limbs had been tied down. Looks like Merv ain't takin' any chances wi' me….
"So, it finally awakens," came a deep French accent. "Y'know, what I don' understand is how y' French c'n be so arrogant after th' Germans kicked yer collective ass in World War II," Red replied easily.
"I do not see how you people can be so arrogant after ze machines enslaved your entire race," he retorted. "Touché," the rebel answered softly, testing his bonds. "You will find zey are quite stable," the Merovingian smirked.
"What th' hell d'you want, Merv?" Red demanded angrily.
"Ze rogues."
"Don' have 'em."
"Ah, but you know where zey are."
"What'd ya do? Tap th' line?"
"I 'ave my ways."
"I refuse t' believe this is jus' about them."
"You underestimate how petty and vindictive I am," he replied.
"Or maybe I overestimate how badly I pissed you off six years ago."
'That too. Do you know what you're lying on?" the Merovingian asked suddenly. "No," Red replied, "But I get th' feelin' it ain't good f'r me health."
"You are correct, at least in zat assumption. You are currently lying," the Merovingian walked over to a wheel on the wall, "on a rack."
"Well, fuck."
"You are aware of ze principle behind ze invention?"
"Me high-school hist'ry teacher was sadistic. He explained 'bout th' torture devices in graphic detail… don't y' think I'm tall 'nough as is?"
"No. Now, tell me what I want to know... and perhaps I will not use ze machine... zat much."
"I thought ya knew ev'rything."
The Frenchman turned the wheel slightly. Nothing from the Irishman but a wince. "I didn't hear anysing… maybe if I turn it more..." The rack was given another, longer turn. Red gritted his teeth, thinking, Well… twenty-four's a nice age t' die at… no kids left behind, no grieving widows, jus' me n' this cheese-eatin' sadist….
The Frenchman then pulled away. "On second thought... perhaps your friends will come to save you."
"What friends?"
"Ze rogues. Ze rebels."
"Bullshit they'll come after me."
"I sink ze rogues will."
"Why in hell would they do that?"
"I know zis Marcus. I sink he may sink he owes you."
"I doubt it."
"You would be surprised."
"Bite me."
"I would rather 'ave Abel 'andle that."
Red growled.
"I will let you stay 'ere for a bit... after all, you aren't going anywhere with zat ankle."
"No shit, Moriarty."
The rack turned slightly once more, and then the door to the cell opened and closed.
"… fuck…" Red muttered before blacking out once more.
Yes, it's a triple update! Just don't expect any more updates for about two weeks; both Soldier Zero and myself have finals to contend with. Reviewer's notes'll be in the next update, however, to Alocin, congrats for having correctly guessed Sekhmet's saviour. We only made it slightly obvious. ^_^
Virtual cookies for Alocin.
Next contest: Guess what Red did to piss Merv off so much! Can you do it? People who guess correctly get previews of Red's back story. Oh, and before y'all ask: Yes, Red is insane. He is Irish, and he is one of my characters.
(Note: I love the Irish, except for the IRA. Don't flame me if you think I insulted them somehow.)
See ya in two weeks!