Chapter 18: Are We the Waiting
The soft rumble and occasional bump seemed quite out of place to Nyssa. Her side ached from laying on it all night. She rolled onto her back to alleviate it only feel a huge wave of nausea wash over her and a pounding start in her skull. She turned her head slightly only for a sharp pin-prick pain to start in her neck. Groaning, she pressed a hand to her stomach and one to her head, rubbing both locations. Slowly, her eyelids peeled apart, her vision blurry for just a moment before they came to a shocking focus.
This was not the house. It was a car.
Sitting up rapidly in panic, she retched with a violent cough. Her lungs burned with her gasps of breath and the drum in her head echoed even more. "Muh-muh," she managed between the harsh pains in her chest. Each of the still healing bones rattled, threating to break with anymore force.
Through her agony, a cool touch gently guided her back down to the car seat, a soft shushing noise to calm her moans. Thankfully, the soft leather of the seat cradled her as the pain slipped away. She touched her throat and found the warm, throbbing spot. Pressing down on it, she let out a soft whimper and quickly covered it with her palm.
"My apologies. I did not know that the dosage I gave you would have such an affect on you," a low, velvety voice spoke to her. Nyssa's eyes opened up again, tears building in the corners as the combination of her and Selene's memories placed a face to that voice. Looking over, she began to whimper and sob, pushing herself into the car's seat as much as possible.
"M-m-momma," she whispered, drawing her knees up to her chest and pressing her face into them. Even with the nausea returning, Nyssa would much rather hide away than continue to make eye contact with the elder vampire.
"Your mother will be fine. I'm sure she's already awake, plotting a way to get you back…again." He laughed under his breath. "She seems to have trouble keeping track of you." He watched Nyssa for a few moments, and then frowned with a grunt. She seemed damned determined to wrap herself up and hide from him. This would not do.
He reached out a hand and brushed some of her hair back. Immediately, she froze beneath his touch.
He went to speak, but all he could manage was a cry of pain as a thousand daggers ricocheted through his hand. He stared down to see blood gushing down onto the limos dark carpet, quickly staining it a darker red. Imperceptibly, Nyssa forced her razor sharp teeth out and quickly bit him. His flesh still rested between her jaws, the pressure growing as she clamped down tighter, drinking the blood that flowed so easily into her mouth.
With the same invisible speed, Marcus wrapped his other hand around her neck. Immediately, Nyssa gasped and coughed, blood spraying from her open mouth as she fought for air. She clawed at his hands, extended nails slicing the pale skin to ribbons in vain. He merely shook out his other hand with a wicked laugh.
"Now, now. We are not wild animals. But," he shrugged as he reached into a bag beside him and pulled out what looked like a gun, "if you insist upon acting as such..."
He pressed the nozzle to the small patch of exposed skin on Nyssa's neck and pulled the trigger. A needle point shot out, briefly jutting into the vein in her neck and injecting a powerful sedative into her bloodstream. Nyssa gagged, trying to cry out, but without air it was impossible.
Marcus slid across his seat to the back bench and placed Nyssa on it slowly. As she collapsed onto the seat, desperately taking shallow breaths as a bruise quickly formed on her neck, he wrapped his hand with a towel from the in-car bar. He watched her once again, satisfied as she finally found the deep breaths she needed and rolled onto her back.
Marcus coolly exhaled, looking into the convincingly innocent eyes of his niece. "Let me tell you, first of all, that I'm not one for destroying families. It is a shame that I have sunk so low...utterly low to finally put an end to this. But please understand, I'm not one to sit back and lose. Despite being killed by your mother, I still found a way back to life. And if all I can do this time around is see your parents suffer the pain of losing someone like I have, then so be it." He leaned down, stroking her cheek softly.
"You will end this feud, Nyssa. Be proud. A rare few can change the world just by dying."
Selene slammed the magazine into her second gun, slipping them into their hostlers on her thighs. Her fingers wandered across the foam form once again, this time selecting several nasty-looking throwing stars for a pouch on her hostler as well. She checked the two guns in her lap for their bullet capacity before slamming the weapon case shut. Sliding legs first, she went into the front seat of the jeep silently.
The glaring lights of on-coming traffic barely phased her, her pupils already dilated with a frosty blue shell. Absently, she ran her tongue over her enlarged fangs, slicing a straight line across the center of the muscle. She swallowed the tangy blood and let her animal nature take control. Her eyes shifted to the left, watching as Michael kept a tight reign on his own blood lust; his eyes were fixated on the road as his foot pressed harder on the gas petal.
The jeep sped up as it finally passed central Pest, veering off the highway into a dimly lit area northwest of the city. Only a few more minutes of pregnant, hostile silence passed before the jeep turned onto an overgrown drive. About a mile in, a large gate appeared, already opening as the vehicle did nearly 85k into a large circle.
The engine died off and both of them exited the vehicle at the same time, slamming the doors so hard, one of the back windows developed a crack. They climbed the short flight of stairs into a large, looming mansion. The doors opened automatically to reveal the building's common room filled with Lycan and vampires, arming themselves with heavy artillery.
They made their way through the parting crowd, the dull roar of speech falling to whispers as they passed into the next room. The large command center hummed with various radio frequencies, 3d maps, and inter-house walkie-talkies. A small cluster of people stood around a table in the center of the room. The wave of quiet passing through the ranks caused everyone to look up.
"Michael, Selene," Thomas bowed as they both came up to the table. Victoria and Kelli both moved aside so they could see the large map opened up before them.
"Are these all of them," Selene asked tersely.
"Yes, m'lady," Kelli responded. She tapped several of the markers on the map before continuing, "We've already gone into the houses in the southern half. Only six more remain. Ah, Selene, Michael, this is Anna, head of our special tactics team."
A young woman, appearing not more than 19 mortal years, stepped forward and bowed. Long, silky black hair stretched back into a tight pony tail, exposing the tan Italian skin on her face and neck. A large shot-gun looking weapon was slung over her shoulder; Michael quickly noted the small objects on her belt and realized it was a grenade launcher. At least she's prepared.
"Is everything ready," Selene asked again, her patience strained.
"Yes, m'lady. The teams assembled a few moments ago. Your car is ready." Selene turned on her heel and left with Michael close beside her.
"I want every house searched twice, files and computers check and rechecked. If there's any information about Nyssa, Marcus or anywhere they could be, I want it reported immediately. Kill the troops, keep their commanders alive for questioning. I'll deal with them myself," Selene barked over her shoulder. They exited back through the now empty common room and out into the driveway.
Thomas, Kelli, Anna, and Victoria all took to what looked like large repair trucks. Inside, each team of men sat impatiently to get into action. Once inside, they clicked on CBC radios and walkie talkies.
The jeep was now gone, replaced instead, by Selene's weapon of choice, the Mercedes Benz SLK 55-383. She climbed in the driver's seat and turned the key in the ignition. Michael quickly slid in, grabbing the CBC microphone off the box.
"Everyone in?" Several voices responded quickly. "Split up and head out. Anna, follow us."
"Yes, sir," a voice chirped back. Selene shifted gears and slammed on the gas pedal, the car spinning out for a second before flying forward. They buzzed down the drive and onto the roads, the trucks close behind. As they got up onto the highway, Michael replaced the microphone and took a really deep breath. His thoughts bubbled and boiled as he prepared himself to transform once they reached the vampire safe houses.
Before he could continue that line of thinking, however, he felt something touch him. He saw Selene's gloved hand in his own bare ones. In her eyes, liquid pooled, threating to fall. He ran his thumb under her one eye, catching the single tear that trickled down.
His mind drew a blank. No words of comfort, no wisdom of his young years would come forth. He just squeezed her hand tightly as she flicked on the turn signal to exit the highway into central Pest.
A/N: after a change in tactics, i think i've got this chapter figured out. Its just a bypass chapter, brief and short, just a set-up for the next one, which is proving to be one of the biggest debates of my literary mind. don't worry about it; i'm just going to need some time to get that one complete.
Special thanks to Ithil for her editing; you really helped and i am incredibly grateful.
Until next chapter,
anthestria.