Chapter 4: The Night Stalkers of Arizona pt 3
So, a question was asked. A few. This fanfic here are side stories to filling Kat's timeline for the series. The next one that is an official continuation to the timeline is going to be called Book 3-Chooser of the Slain, it'll be a ship adventure. I don't own anything. Resident Evil belongs to Capcom and Tomb Raider belongs to Core Design, Crystal Dynamics, and I think Square Enix. The only thing I own is the changes made to the stories of the Tomb Raider games/comics and Resident Evil games/comics/CG movies, the Government branch S.P.E.L.L., the person that has taken over Kathrine Warren's life, and Rose Warren. This story also will be bloody, violent, and have cursing. It's rated T for Teen.
Country: America, State: Arizona, City: Saguaro Wells, Place: Black Umbrella Hidden Mountain Base, Area: Just outside the lab, Month: October, Day: Monday 12th, Year: 1998, Time: 20:13 MST…
They had quietly climbed up to the cave entrance and found a dip in the side where they could see into the cave safely. Leon looked down and away from the scene in the cave of the bats feasting on the man and the one that was shot dead. He looked back and could see that what controlled the Vampire Bats was the computer.
Kat however was looking to the box that the doctor was under. She could just barely see that it was a very long box. Made of metal with some sort of engravings on it.
"It's definitely some form of sonar." Leon said, keeping his voice low, as he sat back so Kat could look out into the area.
"Yeah…I need a closer look at that box." Kat said pointing at it. "It's got some engravings on it."
Leon looked at it and squinted. "Okay…"
"Not only that…but Leon I think I know what branch of Umbrella this is." She told him as she spotted a familiar logo on a lab coat and a wall.
"What branch?" He asked looking at her confused.
"The one the works with Trinity. Black Umbrella." She pointed at the logo. "They've updated their logo since the last time I saw, but it's them."
Leon looked at it. It was the Umbrella logo with the white parts replaced by black and a pair of gold and black wings came off the sides. "Isn't that the one from Yamatai?"
Kat nodded darkly. "There's more than just science going on here." She nodded to the box. "My guess is something mystical. That is what Trinity does; hunt down artifacts that can be used as weapons."
Country: America, State: Arizona, City: Saguaro Wells, Place: Black Umbrella Hidden Mountain Base, Area: Lab, Month: October, Day: Monday 12th, Year: 1998, Time: 20:14 MST…
"Now get to work, the rest of you." Dr. Callos yelled glaring at the other scientists that had stopped working to gap at the sight. "Or you'll share Vedley's fate." He snarled, his voice echoing on the walls of the cave. "I will not delay the transmutation any longer." He called as the scientists jumped back to work in a quick scared fashion. "Once we've successfully transmutated the vampire bats with humans, they will be the perfect way to spread the T-virus among the greatest number of people in the shortest amount of time possible." He then pointed at another elderly scientist. "Bonder, send the squadron out."
"Wha-where, sir? The town of Saguaro Wells won't leave their homes." Dr. Bonder stuttered.
"Saguaro Wells is too small now anyway." Dr. Callos hissed. "Send them to the next town. Elko! It is bigger and has more people."
"But-but shouldn't we be cautious, Sir-sir?" Bonder asked fearfully as he walked over to the computer.
"The time for caution is over, Bonder! We need more subjects to finish the process." Dr. Callos hissed into his ear as he grabbed his shoulder tightly. "Now send them out!"
"Ye-yes, s-sir!" Bonder nodded and hit the necessary button.
Country: America, State: Arizona, City: Saguaro Wells, Place: Black Umbrella Hidden Mountain Base, Area: Just outside the lab, Month: October, Day: Monday 12th, Year: 1998, Time: 20:14 MST…
"Damn!" Leon gasped as he and Kat pulled deeper into the alcove as the squadron of bats flew from the cave. "It'd be next to impossible to stop a flock of bats from spreading the T-virus." He whispered.
"Cloud." Kat stated instinctively as she got her axe and knife out.
"What?" Leon asked looking at her confused.
"A group of bats is called a cloud." She told him. "But we've gotta get in there and stop them."
"We need a plan too." Leon nodded looking to the cave. "We also don't know what magic juju is going on in there."
Kat nodded as she peered in. "I'm wishing I got some climbing clamps for my boots. I could Spider-Man this and get a look at the engravings." She then faced palmed. "Do you have binoculars?"
He nodded. "You didn't bring one?"
Kat shook her head. "I didn't have a set and I was stupid for not barrowing one."
He pulled out his pair and handed them over. "Here you go."
She took them and put them to her eyes, looking to the box in the room. "Holy shit…" She breathed as she adjusted the wheel to zoom in and clear up her view.
"What?" Leon asked as he leaned over her shoulder.
"The engravings are in Greek." She told him.
"Can you read it?" He asked as the bats vanished into the night.
"Yeah, hang on. It's more on the Ancient Greek side, but…It's looking like a story…" Kat muttered the Greek words then her eyes narrowed. "It's a piece of the Odyssey…And it's…Holy shit!" She gasped her eyes widening. "Leon, I need a better angle."
"What, why?" Leon asked as she started to push herself up onto the edge of the cave floor from the alcove and turned her body so that she was partly hanging over into nothing below. She didn't even hear Leon hiss and grab her hips then he got a grip on her belt to hold her and keep her from falling. She was too focused on what she was seeing.
"The name on it, the part of the Odyssey it's talking about, it's Circe!" She hissed as she struggled to keep still and read it.
"Hang on, the witch from Greek mythology? The one that turned guys into animals?" Leon asked.
"Same one." She said as she got still. "Keep holding me would you." She whispered back. "I can't get at a better angle. But something in that box has to do with Circe." She told him. "We'd have to go in. But whatever they have in there can't be left with them or Trinity." She stated as she started to wiggle backward and back onto the alcove.
"Do you think it's her body? Like Himiko?" Leon asked as he pulled her back in.
"No, the box is too thin for a body, and the metal isn't right for a burial." She told him as she turned around to face him. "The Ancient Greeks burned their dead. And that box is too big to be her ashes. It's definitely an object associated with her." She said in archaeologist mode, whispering elatedly.
"Okay, so an object associated with Circe. Is that a long or short list?" He asked his hands still on her hips while they stood close and whispered.
"Oh, it's a very short list. She was renowned for her knowledge of potions and herbs. She used that knowledge and a magic wand or staff, so she could transform her enemies, or those who offended her, into animals. In a lot of the images of her she is holding a bowl or a chalice for her herbs and potions…" She then realized how close they were and felt warmth on her cheeks. "Um…your hands are…they're still…"
Leon looked down and pulled his hands away and backed up, feeling warmth on his face and ears. "Sorry, um…so wh-which do you think it is?"
Kat swallowed and looked into the lab. "With the size…the wand or staff."
"Is it a staff like a wizard staff or a wand like a magician?" Leon asked.
"I don't know. In some stories, it is referred to as a Wand and in others a Staff, different images have it at different lengths. But Trinity shouldn't have it, and neither should Umbrella." She stated.
Country: America, State: Arizona, City: Saguaro Wells, Place: Black Umbrella Hidden Mountain Base, Area: Just outside the lab, Month: October, Day: Monday 12th, Year: 1998, Time: 23:02 MST…
A plan ready, Leon gripped the radio as the cloud retuned with helpless people, who were screaming and thrashing. "Ready to go in?"
Kat nodded as she looked into the cave. "You sure you wanna do this?"
He nodded as he looked at the grapple on a rope, the ready grandees, then his gun. "Yep." He then called in. "Okay, Leader one, Warren and I are going in. Give us half an hour, then release the birds." He said as he hooked the grapple and rope into place.
"Copy, Good luck, Kennedy, Warren." A voice crackled.
With that, Leon smirked at Kat. "See you on the other side." He then dropped down the rope, throwing the pin-pulled grenades. "LET'S ROCK!" He yelled, shooting at the guards as he fell with his handgun to get the scientist's attentions.
The grandees went off making people scream and run for cover and the guards to shoot at him. Leon hit the ground and turned into the fall, letting himself roll toward the tall computer that controlled the Vampire-Bat-human creatures. It was attached to the kind of large speakers that you would see at a rock concert. He climbed up on them to provide the right distraction for Kat to scale down the rope, upside down and move toward the box from above it. She needed more time, so he faked a wobble and fell off the speaker.
"Kill him—now!" Dr. Callos yelled pointing at Leon as he moved behind the computer, planting something no one saw. "Stop shooting! You'll hit the control system!"
The guards ran at Leon as he was standing up and tackled him to the ground as he smirked. Leon knew what he'd done and saw through the corner of his eyes that Kat had reached the box. One guard punched him hard in the diaphragm, knocking the wind out of him so that he doubled over. They each grabbed an arm and started to pull him toward the Doctor.
"So that machine dose control them, huh?" Leon asked still smiling through the pain of his arms being twisted behind him.
Dr. Callos glared at the agent. "Indeed." He leaned in toward Leon's face. "To bad you'll take that knowledge to your grave." He snarled.
Leon shrugged then before anyone could stop him, he gave a strong side kick at the screen of above the controls. Not only did the screen crack apart, but also his heel hit the 'Return to Base' button. Kat meanwhile opened the box, with her climbing axe and gasped at what was within, a long ebony wood wand, so long it could be mistaken for a staff.
"Stop him!" Dr. Callos screamed making Kat look down and see what Leon had done.
Kat snatched up the wand and clipped it to where her bow normally was as she held it in one hand. She nocked an arrow as the guards yanked Leon away from the controls. Shooting upside down, she loosed several over them cutting off the IV tubes and restraints on the people strapped to the hospital beds.
As the people sat up, they could see that this was their chance to get away. One guy seemed to take change and motioned the people to follow him. They snuck around the beds to the open door on the left side of the room that they had seen the guards and the Doctor come and go through.
"Throw him out onto the floor! I want to see the bats rip him apart!" Dr. Callos ordered as the Guards threw Leon to the floor, as they were all facing him and not the people sneaking out behind their turned backs.
Leon turned into the roll, using the momentum to get back onto his feet, stumbling a little bit, as he was still new to the move. He drew his gun again and smirked. "You people are really that stupid, aren't you?"
"Who are you?!" Callos yelled as he glared. "You know what, it doesn't matter you'll be dead before you can leave!"
An arrow sank into the Doctor's right shoulder. He screamed and fell to his knees grabbing at it as a woman dropped down next to Leon with a new arrow knocked, this one had a strange point to it. A tube of thin glass inside was a second tube, both had two different liquids in them.
"I didn't come alone." Leon smirked. "And you guys haven't figured out what I was doing did you?" He asked as he pulled out a detonator just as all the bat's returned. "Boom." He then pushed the red button.
A large explosion went off after a beep sounded. Leon and Kat turned tail and ran as it did. The fire and shock wave took out a few of the bats and Black Umbrella people. With the control computer gone, the remaining bats rushed for Dr. Callos, chasing him toward the door where the victims were still hurrying out. Leon and Kat jumped to the rope as Kat slipped her arrow back to her pack quiver. They both looked back at the scene. The vampire bats were going after any and all who survived the blast. They only attacked those that abused them or caused them pain. Ripping them apart as they screamed.
As they climbed the rope, they saw Dr. Callos trip over some kind of medical cart with a tray on it. The sound of the tray falling attracted the attention of a few Bats. The Doctor tried to get back up but when he put weight on the arm that Kat had shot, he fell back down on his face. He felt claws rip into his legs and drag him backward as he screamed in terror.
"Looks like they held a grudge." Leon nodded back to the carnage.
Kat nodded as they climbed out and up the mountain formation. Once at the top a helicopter hovered overhead and lowered a rope ladder to the pair. They jumped for it and climbed up it. Once on-board Leon grinned.
"Right on time, guys!" Leon called over the blades and wind, he helped Kat on board, and both pulled the ladder up.
Then two jets flew by their ride.
"There are the birds you called for!" Kat nodded. "The mountain is going to be nothing but rubble! Maybe the mutated people will be given peace!" She said as she looked to Leon.
Leon nodded and moved to the pilots and clapped hands with the copilot, a fellow trainee from the STRATCOM training. "Chalk another one up for the good guys!"
The pilot grinned. "Way to go, Leon! We found the survivors at the base of the mountain. Second team has them loaded up and getting them to safety." He explained. "We'll drop you guys off at Saguaro Wells."
"Good! I would like to tell the sheriff that the man behind his son's death has been brought to justice. Maybe it will give him some kind of peace and closure." Kat called to them as she took the wand out and started looking it over, reading the Ancient Greek inscriptions. 'I'll have to tell Lara about this. She'll have a cow.' She thought as she smiled.
They were maybe five minutes away when the explosion from missiles lit the night and rocked their copter with the shock waves.
Country: America, State: Arizona, City: Saguaro Wells, Place: Lonely Ridge Bar, Area: Booth, Month: October, Day: Monday 12th, Year: 1998, Time: 23:09 MST…
"You've been looking at that the whole flight and this whole time." Leon pointed out as he finished off his beer.
"It's very fascinating." Kat said. "These inscriptions, well, I definitely need to brush up on my Ancient Greek, but from what I can tell, this is actually the wand of Circe's apprentice. That's why it wasn't able to make the people into full Vampire bats." She told him. "And I think the incantation to use it is on here as well."
"That's weird. I don't remember there being an apprentice for Circe in any Myth." He put the bottle down. "Then again, I'm not as versed as you are. I'm limited to the movie."
Kat snorted. "I'm unfamiliar with an apprentice as well, but really doesn't surprise me." She looked at him. "Circe could've had a whole cult back in the day."
"Do you think it actually works?" Leon asked her, looking at the dark aged wood. "Was it really what turned those people into Vampire Bat Hybrids?"
"Not sure. A part of me doubts it." She looked to the wood in her hands. "But I can feel something from it when I hold it. It definitely has power. Maybe its aura helped the virus and bat DNA turn those people…I don't know." She shrugged. "But that's for the people at S.P.E.L.L. to figure out."
"You don't want to work on it?" He asked as they stood from the booth.
"I'd love to, but I might not be able to." She told him wistful sigh. "I don't know. I'll find out when we get back." She said as she wrapped the wand in the red tablecloth from their table before looking to the bar tender. "How much would I owe you for the cloth?"
As they walked out, Leon got out his phone and hit the record while Kat placed the wand in the back of the jeep. "Ok. It is quiet now and you are not driving. Can you try to remember something from your past? Tell me what you see."
Kat turned to look at the window, her reflection it in, sort of like a scrying glass. She pushed to try to remember where she was when she died. "I'm in the mountains, hiking up a trail, I'm alone…" Suddenly her voice switched. "The field is on fire, carts burning, men screaming in pain as they die or burn. A large man runs past giving a battle yell as he slams into another man. Sword and shield meeting over and over. As the men hammer at each other trying to get their sword past the shield. I left my spear and point to one of the men. The man does not notice me, but just as he gave a mighty blow, he leaves his side open to the sword of his foe. It plunges deep. I walk over and extend my hand to him 'Vegr marg-mennr heim veizla.' I explain…." Kat blinked and she was standing in front of the car. "I think I tripped on the trail, fell? That is all I can remember." She turned to look at Leon and he had a strange look on his face.
"Do you remember what you said?" He asked as he stopped the recording.
"I was talking about how I died. Right?" She hugged her arms around herself as if she felt cold in the noonday heat.
In answer, Leon played back the recording so she could hear what she said. When she heard her voice change, she tip her head and listened. The recording was not great, her back was to him, and she was talking softly. She made a motion with her finger for him to play it again.
"Wait, play that last part again." She closed her eyes as she listened. Her voice was there but deeper. There was a resonance in it that she didn't think she could do if she tried. Authority. Strength of character. But the last thing she said. She had heard it before. Or rather, someone is speaking it. "Gods… I know it, it is right there but I can't pin it down." She snaped her fingers a few times. "Not German, Swedish? Danish?"
Leon smiled as she started to pace as she muttered and talked. So, is this what she does when she is trying to put together a puzzle? He watched her look over the wand with such fascination. This was a different side to her. Not the fighting to stay alive and protect the people she loved side. This was the intelligence that was always there just not as on display.
"I need to go to the University and talk with the head of the Cultural Archeology Department. Maybe someone there will know the language. Can I have a copy of the recording?"
He nodded. "When we get back, I will play it so you can record just the part you need."
With a bit of a distracted nod, she opened the passenger door and slid in then blinked up at him as he held out a hand. "What?"
"Keys." He smiled as she laughed and handed over the keys so he could drive. "Let's go home."