Ch. 5: I'll Never See Any Side of Heaven
Roman Tylon, age 56, President and CEO of Tylon International. And the one man who knew the secrets of the clandestine Divinity Project. If anyone in the world could tell her why she was losing control again, it was he. Machines whirled and buzzed around her, lights flashed and needles poked. A normal woman would feel violated at such an invasion, but Rahne was used to it.
Finally, it all stopped, Rahne stepped down, and put a shirt on while Roman looked over the collected data. He scratched his balding head, and let out a grunt of frustration. "I can't figure it out. Your physiology is the same as before. Same red and white blood cell counts, same EEG, same everything. Are you sure it is not merely stress?" he said with a smirk.
"Stress? Ye want stress? Ah nearly raped an innocent woman, Roman! There's something wrong wit me! Something ye and yer stooges did ta me during the Divinity Project!"
"Yes, many of the children did have defects, but you were pure, remember? You're not a defect, and I'm telling you there's nothing physically wrong with you!" Rahne gave up, put the rest of her clothes on, and stormed out. She had gone to the one man she despised over all others for help, and none was rendered. At least she was thankful no payment was demanded, for Tylon's price was always high. Inside though, the old man grinned.
"Kojiro Ohgami, it appears our perfect weapon is almost ready to be used. Harada Busuzima may believe he has claim to Divinity, but we know otherwise, do we not?" A man stepped from the shadows. He was tall, with long black hair pulled into a topknot, and amber eyes. He wore a simple black robe and carried a black handled sword in a black sheath, with gold accents. Under his robe, a tight black jumpsuit clung to a perfectly tones and muscled body, tempered by years of training. The only mar on this man was a noticeable scar over the right corner of his mouth.
"The woman is dangerous, Roman Tylon. I would advise caution."
"Nonsense, my boy! I have the son of the legendary Kenji Ohgami on my side! What could go wrong?"
"Confidence is an admirable trait, Roman Tylon, but in excess is deadly. I am your ally true, but only through the hand of your daughter. Do not forget this."
Rahne flew through the darkness draped skies, trying desperately to search her mind for the answers she sought. Divinity had been so long ago, she had thought it was behind her, but now the skeletons in her closet were threatening to drive her mad. Something was causing her pain, and she didn't like it.
"Rahne. They're lying to you Rahne... they are all lying to you..."
"Who are ye?" she yelled.
"Rahne?" a woman's voice called. Rahne turned to see Reiko standing in the shadows. "Rahne, what is happening?"
"Reiko... get out of here. Run, as fast as ye can... Do it, now!" Reiko stood steadfast, refusing to budge. Rahne ducked her head, letting out another feral scream like the one only hours before.
"She is yours, Rahne. She is, after all, only human..."
Rahne pounced, with vicious intent in her eyes. But before her attack could fully commence, a bright strobe pushed her back. She covered her eyes and winced, as the silhouette of a man flew from the circling helicopter to the rooftop below. He kneeled for a moment, then rose to his full height. He wore a long black coat that obscured his visage, with a shinobigatana strapped to his back. He gracefully swung to face Rahne revealing an aged, wizened face, yet devoid of the usual signs of such an age. His hair was long and silver, as well as the beard that hid his chin. His auburn eyes cut a path straight to Rahne, making her pause in primal fear. He bushed the right side of his coat aside, revealing several kunai tied to his leg and the chain of a kusari-gama wrapped around his waist.
"Rahne Wallace. I have no desire to hurt you, but if you insist on attacking my daughter, I wall have no choice but to defend her."
Rahne payed the man no heed, instead only lunged at him. He deftly spun around her attack, chopping her on the back of her head as she traveled past. Rahne staggered, and let out a growl. "Impressive. That blow would incapacitate a normal foe." The man's words of compliment were lost on the feral Rahne, and her only reply was another messy pounce. The man leapt into the air, and threw on of the kunai from his leg. His aim was dead on, pinning Rahne's hand to the ground. The beast howled in pain.
"Now, are we ready to talk like sensible human beings?" he asked. Rahne pulled the kunai from her hand, and it healed almost instantly. "I guess not." Rahne again lunged at her foe, but he simply spun around and again struck her neck. She leaned against the nearby wall. When she turned, the man made his own attack, turning his hands into mole like claws and impaling her in the stomach to the wall. He readied the other set aimed true to the beast's heart. She squirmed a bit, and finally fell limp when the man removed his claws. Reiko ran to her side.
"Rahne! Daddy, how could you?!"
"She will be fine. Is that not true, Rahne?"
"In that sense, yea, Ah'll be fine..." Rahne rose, with no signs as to her injury barring a torn shirt.
"Rahne, what are you?"
"Will you tell her, or shall I?" Reiko's father asked.
"Ah will, Kenji. Reiko, Ah'm nae human."
"This I know, you are a zoanthrope."
"Nae, Ah'm something else entirely. Me kind predates Zoanthropes, predates man even. In the beginning we had no name, but man has given us many. The Romanians named us Strigoi, in my homeland, we are Baobhan Sith, in China we are Chiang-shih, in Greece Vrykolakas, our names number en the hundreds. But the name 'vampire' will suffice to describe us."
"Vampire...?"
"Yae, it is true. That is why Ah never go out in tha daytime, why you've never seen me eat or drink, why Ah have no heartbeat or respiration, and why Ah heal so quickly. Ah exist on the brink of death, ever looking on either side."
"I had no idea..." Reiko uttered.
"It gets worse, much worse. Those things that attacked us and killed Richard, those are as much my children as Lisseth's. Lisseth is, Ah'm sorry to say, the closest thing Ah have to a daughter."
"A daughter?"
"In a way. Vampires are incapable of reproducing in the traditional sense. A new vampire is made when a human dies from 'r feeding. But as mankind flourished, our numbers faded. A few in Tylon learned of our existence. They knew of 'r immortality, and craved it. That began Project: Divinity, an effort to reproduce vampires without killing the human to do so, as is required normally. But what was created was horrific. Twisted, half dead mongrels, driven only by hunger. To this day, Lisseth, cloned from my own body and carried by me, is the only one to survive. She has all of my strengths, and few of my weaknesses."
"Sunlight, which scalds you, Holy Water, whose touch is like acid, the crucifix, which burns you, garlic witch repels you, and the stake, which kills you," a new voice said. The trio turned to see a man clad in a black robe, Kojiro Ohgami. "Your weaknesses are well documented by Tylon. "Hello sister, father. I am here to remove this creature from your concern."
"Ah should have known. So why come f'r me now, and not when Ah was in Tylon's lab?"
"Because," Kojiro said flatly, "we wanted you to fly free a little while longer. But if we don't take you now," he lift a finger to the air, pointing behind Rahne, "he will." Rahne turned to see another man, this one much larger, with glowing red eyes. She knew him a servant of Harada Busuzima, Dr. Stephen "Stun" Goldberg, Harada's own attempt to replicate Divinity.
High atop another rooftop, the woman clad in white watched with her children. "Poor Rahne. You know so much, yet are still so ignorant. Soon you will see the truth, dear sister, soon you will see..."
Roman Tylon, age 56, President and CEO of Tylon International. And the one man who knew the secrets of the clandestine Divinity Project. If anyone in the world could tell her why she was losing control again, it was he. Machines whirled and buzzed around her, lights flashed and needles poked. A normal woman would feel violated at such an invasion, but Rahne was used to it.
Finally, it all stopped, Rahne stepped down, and put a shirt on while Roman looked over the collected data. He scratched his balding head, and let out a grunt of frustration. "I can't figure it out. Your physiology is the same as before. Same red and white blood cell counts, same EEG, same everything. Are you sure it is not merely stress?" he said with a smirk.
"Stress? Ye want stress? Ah nearly raped an innocent woman, Roman! There's something wrong wit me! Something ye and yer stooges did ta me during the Divinity Project!"
"Yes, many of the children did have defects, but you were pure, remember? You're not a defect, and I'm telling you there's nothing physically wrong with you!" Rahne gave up, put the rest of her clothes on, and stormed out. She had gone to the one man she despised over all others for help, and none was rendered. At least she was thankful no payment was demanded, for Tylon's price was always high. Inside though, the old man grinned.
"Kojiro Ohgami, it appears our perfect weapon is almost ready to be used. Harada Busuzima may believe he has claim to Divinity, but we know otherwise, do we not?" A man stepped from the shadows. He was tall, with long black hair pulled into a topknot, and amber eyes. He wore a simple black robe and carried a black handled sword in a black sheath, with gold accents. Under his robe, a tight black jumpsuit clung to a perfectly tones and muscled body, tempered by years of training. The only mar on this man was a noticeable scar over the right corner of his mouth.
"The woman is dangerous, Roman Tylon. I would advise caution."
"Nonsense, my boy! I have the son of the legendary Kenji Ohgami on my side! What could go wrong?"
"Confidence is an admirable trait, Roman Tylon, but in excess is deadly. I am your ally true, but only through the hand of your daughter. Do not forget this."
Rahne flew through the darkness draped skies, trying desperately to search her mind for the answers she sought. Divinity had been so long ago, she had thought it was behind her, but now the skeletons in her closet were threatening to drive her mad. Something was causing her pain, and she didn't like it.
"Rahne. They're lying to you Rahne... they are all lying to you..."
"Who are ye?" she yelled.
"Rahne?" a woman's voice called. Rahne turned to see Reiko standing in the shadows. "Rahne, what is happening?"
"Reiko... get out of here. Run, as fast as ye can... Do it, now!" Reiko stood steadfast, refusing to budge. Rahne ducked her head, letting out another feral scream like the one only hours before.
"She is yours, Rahne. She is, after all, only human..."
Rahne pounced, with vicious intent in her eyes. But before her attack could fully commence, a bright strobe pushed her back. She covered her eyes and winced, as the silhouette of a man flew from the circling helicopter to the rooftop below. He kneeled for a moment, then rose to his full height. He wore a long black coat that obscured his visage, with a shinobigatana strapped to his back. He gracefully swung to face Rahne revealing an aged, wizened face, yet devoid of the usual signs of such an age. His hair was long and silver, as well as the beard that hid his chin. His auburn eyes cut a path straight to Rahne, making her pause in primal fear. He bushed the right side of his coat aside, revealing several kunai tied to his leg and the chain of a kusari-gama wrapped around his waist.
"Rahne Wallace. I have no desire to hurt you, but if you insist on attacking my daughter, I wall have no choice but to defend her."
Rahne payed the man no heed, instead only lunged at him. He deftly spun around her attack, chopping her on the back of her head as she traveled past. Rahne staggered, and let out a growl. "Impressive. That blow would incapacitate a normal foe." The man's words of compliment were lost on the feral Rahne, and her only reply was another messy pounce. The man leapt into the air, and threw on of the kunai from his leg. His aim was dead on, pinning Rahne's hand to the ground. The beast howled in pain.
"Now, are we ready to talk like sensible human beings?" he asked. Rahne pulled the kunai from her hand, and it healed almost instantly. "I guess not." Rahne again lunged at her foe, but he simply spun around and again struck her neck. She leaned against the nearby wall. When she turned, the man made his own attack, turning his hands into mole like claws and impaling her in the stomach to the wall. He readied the other set aimed true to the beast's heart. She squirmed a bit, and finally fell limp when the man removed his claws. Reiko ran to her side.
"Rahne! Daddy, how could you?!"
"She will be fine. Is that not true, Rahne?"
"In that sense, yea, Ah'll be fine..." Rahne rose, with no signs as to her injury barring a torn shirt.
"Rahne, what are you?"
"Will you tell her, or shall I?" Reiko's father asked.
"Ah will, Kenji. Reiko, Ah'm nae human."
"This I know, you are a zoanthrope."
"Nae, Ah'm something else entirely. Me kind predates Zoanthropes, predates man even. In the beginning we had no name, but man has given us many. The Romanians named us Strigoi, in my homeland, we are Baobhan Sith, in China we are Chiang-shih, in Greece Vrykolakas, our names number en the hundreds. But the name 'vampire' will suffice to describe us."
"Vampire...?"
"Yae, it is true. That is why Ah never go out in tha daytime, why you've never seen me eat or drink, why Ah have no heartbeat or respiration, and why Ah heal so quickly. Ah exist on the brink of death, ever looking on either side."
"I had no idea..." Reiko uttered.
"It gets worse, much worse. Those things that attacked us and killed Richard, those are as much my children as Lisseth's. Lisseth is, Ah'm sorry to say, the closest thing Ah have to a daughter."
"A daughter?"
"In a way. Vampires are incapable of reproducing in the traditional sense. A new vampire is made when a human dies from 'r feeding. But as mankind flourished, our numbers faded. A few in Tylon learned of our existence. They knew of 'r immortality, and craved it. That began Project: Divinity, an effort to reproduce vampires without killing the human to do so, as is required normally. But what was created was horrific. Twisted, half dead mongrels, driven only by hunger. To this day, Lisseth, cloned from my own body and carried by me, is the only one to survive. She has all of my strengths, and few of my weaknesses."
"Sunlight, which scalds you, Holy Water, whose touch is like acid, the crucifix, which burns you, garlic witch repels you, and the stake, which kills you," a new voice said. The trio turned to see a man clad in a black robe, Kojiro Ohgami. "Your weaknesses are well documented by Tylon. "Hello sister, father. I am here to remove this creature from your concern."
"Ah should have known. So why come f'r me now, and not when Ah was in Tylon's lab?"
"Because," Kojiro said flatly, "we wanted you to fly free a little while longer. But if we don't take you now," he lift a finger to the air, pointing behind Rahne, "he will." Rahne turned to see another man, this one much larger, with glowing red eyes. She knew him a servant of Harada Busuzima, Dr. Stephen "Stun" Goldberg, Harada's own attempt to replicate Divinity.
High atop another rooftop, the woman clad in white watched with her children. "Poor Rahne. You know so much, yet are still so ignorant. Soon you will see the truth, dear sister, soon you will see..."