Chapter XI
Preparing for Battle
Amelia had summoned Malachi to her new office at the Ziodec facility. She had something she needed to tell him, something important, something that may help with his mission.
"You wished to see me My Lady?" He asked as he entered the room.
"Yes, Please take a seat Malachi" she answered, motioning for him to sit down. "There is something you need to know about your mission Malachi."
"What my lady?"
"Despite what I told the others, I have no intention of sending you on your own" she told him. "You must find yourself an ally."
"An ally, my Lady?" he began "who could possibly be of use to me, who else could take on Markus?"
"His Father." She answered dryly
"Now I am lost" he told her
"Alexander Corvinus" Amelia stated "The first immortal, he is very much alive and has been working behind the scenes for centuries, trying to keep knowledge of the immortals away from human eyes."
"Those men in Black" began Malachi with a sense of realization in his voice "the ones who engaged Director Holtz and stole Lord Viktor's body. They're working for Alexander Corvinus aren't they?"
"Yes" Amelia confirmed
"How do you know this?" He asked her
"Viktor discovered centuries ago, and told me. We decided not to tell Markus, we didn't even tell the council, it is our most important secret; however we must assume Markus knows as well. When you have assembled your team I want you to go and find Alexander Corvinus. Form an alliance with him, and prevent Markus from freeing his brother."
"Why would he help us destroy his own son?" Asked Malachi
"Because he has been protecting mankind from his legacy for over a millennia, he's not about to stop now."
"Do you know where he is?"
"Not exactly" said Amelia "However, the fact that he has been involving himself in our recent events suggests he is near by."
"How do I find him?"
"You and your team will take a helicopter" she instructed "You will visit all of the ports and the docks, in this city, that is where you will find him."
"How can you be so sure?" he asked her "why the docks"
"Because he operates from a ship" explained Amelia "His vessel is called The Sankta Helena, as it is not registered you will have to find it the old fashion way."
"Of course My Lady" he bowed
"Promise me one thing Malachi" she asked
"Anything Princess" he responded almost instantly
"Promise me you'll come back, that you won't leave me" she pleaded with him
"I'll do everything in my power, My Lady" he reassured her, she held out her hand as she had done so many times, her black knight took it in his and kissed it, before turning to exit the room.
"Good hunting" she called after him.
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Malachi walked through the bowels of the Ziodec facility, he needed to build his team and get airborne as quickly as possible. However his strides were interrupted by a familiar, and always welcome voice. "I'm worried about you" it said.
"There is nothing to worry about Nina" he told her.
"This is big" she said "dangerous!"
"It's all in hand angel" he reassured her as he caressed her ivory white cheek
She pouted slightly and pursed her lips "Just be careful" she sulked
He took a second to take in the view of his lover, his angel, a gothic vision of beauty; he leant in and kissed her full lips, for a moment. As he pulled away Nina smiled a little and wiped some black lipstick from his mouth.
"Thanks" he smiled
"Go on" she sighed "If you're going to go, go now."
He kissed her forehead and headed back up off the corridor "I love you" he told her
"You got a funny way of showing it sometimes" she said
"Tell me you love me" he goaded her
"You know I do" she sighed
"How much?" he smiled
"To the end of the Earth and back" she said with a slight blush
"Then tell me." He repeated
She walked back up the corridor and wrapped her arms around his torso, with Malachi returning the embrace immediately "I love you Malachi" she assured him, looking into his eyes, she tiptoed and gave him another kiss, "Now Go!" she told him "Before I start crying" Malachi began walking again and called out "Don't worry Angel this'll be easy, it's not like Markus is the first dangerous Vampire I've ever had to kill."
New York 1988
A young girl walks through the streets of lower Manhattan, no more than seventeen, she has just come from work, her raven blonde hair falls about her shoulders, she's still wearing her work uniform. She goes about her business, not bothering anyone. She is a shy girl, aware of the looks a lot of men are giving her, she keeps her head down, so as to avoid the attention that is being projected her way, she only wants to get home so that she can completely unwind, and go to sleep. In a just world she would be able to do that, however the world is far from just, following this girl is a tall man dressed in black, it had just got dark, his favorite time of day. There was something about her, something about the innocence he sensed in her, he could not resist. However this would not be the kind of night he desired, for tonight rather than being the hunter, this man was the hunted. If he had bothered to cast a glance upwards he would have seen that he to was being stalked. Following him from the roof tops was another creature of the night. Also dressed in black, he is wearing a tail coat, carrying a cane and sporting a suit worth more than most people could ever afford. He jumps from rooftop to roof top keeping up with his quarry with relative ease, just waiting for his moment. Just as she walked passed an alleyway the man in black made his move. He jumped a whole fifty feet to catch up with her, however this impressive display would result in his downfall for as soon as he left the ground his pursuer jumped from the roof top to intercept him. The two made contact in mid-air the man in black felt the sharp sting of metal break his skin, as Malachi's cane made contact with his face and sent him falling into the alleyway. Malachi landed perfectly and jumped into the alleyway after him, the whole move from jump to landing took a matter of seconds. The blonde girl turned round with a startled look, she could have sworn she had just heard something, however there was nothing there; she shrugged her shoulders and carried on with her journey. She would never know that she had just had the luckiest escape of her life. The man in black staggered to his feet "Hello Galen" smiled Malachi, as he shot the Vampire through the forehead with a revolver.
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When Galen came to he was handcuffed and lying on the floor of a dank run-down abandoned building, judging from its size a factory or something. "I'm glad you're awake" smiled Malachi who was standing over him.
"Who are you!" Demanded Galen as he tried to get to his feet, his efforts were met with punishment, as Malachi drove the silver point of his cane into Galen's knee. He let out a cry of agony "Who are you!" he demanded
Malachi again smiled, and drove the silver point into Galen's leg "Lady Amelia sends her regards" Galen rolled onto his stomach and with his arms still cuffed behind his back began to crawl away from his attacker. Malachi drove the point of the cane into Galen's spine, halting his advance. "Nina says hello as well."
"Who…, who the hell is Nina!" Galen managed to spit through the pain.
Malachi picked him up by the collar, and hit him in the face with the handle of his cane "Look around you Galen" he said before hitting him again "Nina lived here for awhile" another shot to the face "Alone" another hit "Afraid" another "you put her here" a fifth hit to the face sent Galen crashing to the floor. "What else can I tell you about Nina" he said coldly, before kicking him in the face, Malachi looked down at the bloody form standing beneath his feet. "Or maybe my friend can tell you a bit about her." At this he twisted the handle of his cane, and unsheathed his beloved silver blade and crouching down in front of Galen displayed the blade to him "after all" he smiled "we've got all night."
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Malachi at last finished with Galen, he would have liked to have to have taken longer, but he didn't think the sun would wait for him. He looked down in disgust at his vanquished prey. He was about to leave when he thought of something, Nina, she deserved some comfort from this. He looked down at Galen; ideally he'd dump Galen's body at her feet to reassure her that he could never hurt her again, that she would be safe. However carrying a body back to his car would raise suspicion, even in this neighborhood. He would need something else.
A few minutes later he exited the run-down building carrying a package in a canvas bag he had recovered from the factory floor, the package was not much bigger than a football. The well dressed man walked back to his car, a black Jaguar, placed the package on the passenger seat along with his cane, and calmly pulled away. Amelia had advised him to be discreet, no fancy clothes, expensive car or anything else that drew attention to himself, however that was not him. He got back to Amelia's estate just before dawn, after parking his car he headed to his mistresses chambers to give his report on the evening proceedings. As he was walking along one of the antique lined corridors of Amelia's great mansion, he felt a delicate hand tap him on the shoulder.
"Hi" said Nina, as he turned around
"Hello" returned Malachi "How's everything?"
"Not bad" shrugged Nina "considering"
"I'm sorry I haven't been to see you for a few days" he said "I've had a lot of work on"
"That's okay" she said "they've…um.. been trying to…… keep me busy" she still looked a little uneasy, shifting her weight from foot to foot.
"How are you fitting in?" he asked her
"okay… I guess" she smiled slightly "I… heard some of the maids talking….. they said that you….. They said that you were going after him….. the one who did this to me. Is that true?"
"Yes it is" he told her
"And?" she asked anxiously
He placed a hand on her shoulder "and you never have to worry about him again" he said in an assuring tone. Here, I hope this makes you feel better" he said as he dropped the bag he was carrying at her feet. She looked at him, and then at the bag, she nervously crouched down to it and hesitated before she opened the package. She opened the package and was surprised by what she saw, she tookthe bags contents in her hands and smiled. "You like it then? He asked her
"Yes" she said as she hugged the teddy bear she now held, it was the one she had been clinging onto when Malachi first found her, he had rescued it from that dank factory floor and returned it to the poor girl who so desperately needed some form of comfort. He watched her as a tear rolled down her cheek, she again rose to her feet, and for the first time since he first laid eyes on her, he saw her smile, a real smile, one of happiness rather than courtesy "That is so sweet" she sobbed happily
"Come on, don't cry." He told her
She wiped the tear from her eye and composed herself "Are you.. um…. Are you going to be at dinner tonight?" She asked him nervously
"I should be" he told her
"Well um.. I'll see you then" she said as she went to walk away
"Yeah" Said Malachi as he went to walk on as well, he started to walk away when he heard "Malachi!" he turned to see Nina walking back towards him, she stopped awkwardly in front of him, then after a moment of hesitation she tiptoed and kissed him on the cheek "Thank you" she mumbled being careful not to make eye contact with him as she shuffled off nervously down the corridor.
"Sir, we're approaching the second site" reported a Death Dealer, trying hard to make himself heard over the sound of the helicopter rotors. Malachi had selected his team, six Death Dealers some of the best in the coven, he had left the other six Death Dealers Nina had brought at Ziodec, so if they did fail, Amelia would have some Vampire protection left. They had already flown to one Hungarian port, there was no sign of Corvinus or his ship, they headed to a second site. As Malachi looked out of the window of the helicopter he could see smoke "Oh no" he moaned. As the chopper got closer they could see a huge ship on fire, and sinking "Oh for fuck sake!" yelled Malachi as he punched the seat in front of him. "Any money says that ships called The Sankta Helena . Take us down!" he ordered the pilot. When the helicopter landed Malachi and his Death Dealers headed over to a group of men who had fled the ship, they were dressed in black combat fatigues "Where's Corvinus!" Demanded Malachi as he grabbed one of them by the throat "Dead" the man choked. "Shit!" spat Malachi as he threw the man to the ground.
"What do we do sir?" asked a Death Dealer
Malachi answered him with a wave of his hand as he took out his phone, when Dimitri answered he demanded to speak to Amelia. "He's Dead my Lady" said Malachi "Corvinus is dead, Markus got here before us."
Amelia hesitated for a moment "Get back here" she told him
"My Lady you know we don't have much time" he sighed "We have to stop Markus before he can release his brother."
Amelia closed her eyes for a moment "Go" she ordered him
"Yes my Lady" said Malachi as he hang up the phone, he turned to his men who were anxiously awaiting their orders "Okay lets go people!" he ordered "Come on back to the chopper, we got places to go and people to kill."
As the chopper rose into the night sky Malachi watched as the burning image of the Sankta Helena sink into the distance, he sat in his seat and clasped his cane. They were heading to that ancient prison that held William, to face the first Lycan, a Hybrid and God knows what else. Malachi could not help but feel that despite what he had said to Nina, tonight could be the day he died.
