Chapter 24: Running
Were you born to resist?
Or be abused?
-Foo Fighters
A combination of modern steel and stones nearly two millennium old, the walls still quivered as Michael bounded up the stairs. Somewhere along the winding path, he tore his shirt away, allowing his skin to breath in as it changed over into its hybrid state. The familiar sting of his nails extending into claws followed by his vision becoming clear as a perfect night's sky gave him incentive to move faster. His mind briefly wandered back to the basement where Selene lay in the corner, a frozen, broken woman who looked more like a tired child sleeping in a time-out.
He ached to hold her, pulling her back from a self-created hell, but nothing was more important to either of them than Nyssa. Just the picture, the very vision of her pitch black eyes, wings spread, and shrill cry drove his animal side ballistic with pride,joy and rage; his baby girl lived and was being hunted.
As he came up to the landing in the house, he sniffed with a disgusted face. Vampires, many of them, and their various perfumes choked his senses briefly before wearing away into just a revolting stench. Every smell floated about him until...there! Nyssa's scent, the only one like it in the world, tickled his nose faintly. Turning his head to the right, it grew stronger and he flew down the long hallway with a loud growl.
Following it like a map, he made his way along several corridors and up a flight of stairs onto the next floor. It was not until he reached another set of stairs that he first saw some of the vampires. Several Dealers' bodies decorated the floors, deep, sloppy slash marks spilling precious blood from their necks. It was obvious that Nyssa was trying to get away, probably swinging only when she got too close.
Most of them still had a finger resting on the trigger of their gun, never having the change to fire. Others, civilian vampires, hid behind thick wooden doors, too afraid to open up themselves to the carnage in the halls.
Michael continued on his way, running faster as his daughter's scent grew stronger and stronger. Climbing the next flight of stairs, his ears registered screams coming from one more flight up. While the scent drew him down the body-littered hall before him, he flashed up the next set of stairs and went head-long into the chaotic screams and gun fire.
"FIRE! FIRE!"
The Dealers raised their guns, searching the ceiling above them. Too many people crowded the hallways, making it impossible to mobilize with any efficiency. Trained warriors competed with the soft, decadent vampires as they shoved each other around to find safety.
"SHE'S JUST A CHILD! FIRE! BRING HER DOWN!" William's voice grew much louder as he burst from around the corner, a group of Dealers following on his heels with their weapons also aimed high to the sky. Most of them thought him to be Marcus, the hybrid scent almost exact to that of their leader, and fell right into line without question of the Lycan lord's commands. Those standing the hall briefly grew silent as a piercing screech cut in over their panic, reaffirming their fears and sending them into any room with a door still open.
The men looked up, blazing hunters' eyes widening as a form barrel-rolled across the stone ceilings, wings curled about in the most devilish way, before fanning out to reveal the demon child herself. She screeched again, dodging bullets as they fired at her. In a bold move to escape, she swooped down, sending two Dealers into separate walls, the force so great it cracked their skulls and killed them both. Staying low, she ducked beneath another archway and passed into the next part of the hall.
"AFTER HER!" William roared, bolting down the hall and knocking over everyone in his path. Once the brief craziness passed, all of the Dealers fell in line with him, calling into radios for those who still remained at the extremities of the castle and demanding back-up.
Of all the confusion, none of them found this situation odd. Maybe it was centuries of obedience without question and undying loyalty to their species, but not one Dealer or civilian found the interesting irony of this particular chase.
For the last five years, ever since Marcus had been revived and news of Selene's pregnancy had reached them, the entire effort of the coven was focused on Nyssa. At first, a plot of sweet revenge for Marcus against the Clan leaders drove every plan and action. His original thought: kill the infant in front them, slowly, painfully, letting them hear every weak cry a newborn babe could produce before letting it die on the floor, mere inches from its parents. But with word from the scientists that the blood capacity of a five year old child with hybrid traits and Corvinus lineage could revive his beloved twin, Marcus automatically changed gears.
Don't kill it, save it. Waste not, want not.
But here he was, William, the father of the lycan race, a being who owed his very existence to years of the worst abuse and torture ever imaginable being inflicted upon a child and its family, hunting down the being that brought him to back to life. Scariest part, something that one day Nyssa herself would be able to look back on and hopefully dismiss just as easily was that he didn't even care about her sacrifices. He only saw revenge.
Her wings hurt, along with her arms and legs. The truth was that being a newly revived hybrid did provide a burst of energy, but not enough to keep up a chase for as long as she had. Her lack of energy also was contributed to by the fact that the revival process had not even gotten close to being done, but she wasn't aware of those facts.
Small, tired, and too afraid to stop, Nyssa pushed herself hard, trying to evade the Dealers and the sprays of bullets.
Darting through a doorway and up an empty stairwell, she heard loud cries as they tried to figure out where she went to. Coming to the very top, she moved out into a stairs and onto the highest floor. From the musty smell, she guessed it was not used very much. Digging claws into stone, she latched onto one of the large window arches to rest momentarily. Her tiny heart pounded beneath thickened muscles, her ribs opening up just a bit further, but not so much that you couldn't tell she was a female and a child. Blinking several times, she shook the weariness from her head and peered out the window. Outside, the snow fell slowly, the high winds coming down off the mountains and making it look as if the storm still raged.
The sticky, red blood on her hands dripped down her wrists and arms. She wasn't trying to kill them, but when the halls dipped down into the small archways, she threw her arms out, swinging blindly and hitting whatever or whoever came too close. A few times, her claws would tug back on her fingers as they cut through skin like a hot knife to butter. When that pressure came, she refused to look back to see the carnage.
Nyssa turned her head, the sound of the Dealers going into the floor below her making her anxious. At this point, all she could do was what she felt was her job in life: run. Ever since she could remember, she ran, whether it was into the corner of her cage to escape another round of blood tests by the vampire scientists, or away from the car accident that killed her captors and allowed her to escape into the sewers. Even in the safety of her parents' home, she ran away from those vampire women. She was tired of being scared and weak from a lifetime of running.
All she wanted now was her parents' arms around her, the three of them back at their big house, sleeping in the huge bed. Maybe it was the overwhelming fear getting to her, or just fond memories, but her skin prickled slightly, the feel of the bed and loving arms coming over her senses.
"Top floor!" a voice roared up from the opposite end of the hall, ripping her away from comfort effortlessly. She fought for deep breaths, eying the stairwell passage as the heavy thud of footsteps echoed up a warning. Just as they passed through the door, she inhaled so hard it forced her muscles out further and unleashed a loud, bone-aching scream. Most of the Dealers clapped their hands to their ears and failed to see the hybrid creature detach from the wall and fly back into the stairwell on the other side.
The small space that gapped through each set of stairs as they spiraled upward was just big enough and Nyssa did a head dive, purposely screeching as she passed a stunned and wild-eyed William climbing those very stairs.
"We're less than a mile out from the back of the compound," a voice spoke over the head sets. "Cut lights and proceed with night-vision set on high power."
Every one of the Clan members adjusted their goggles, pressing on through the three feet of snow coating the ground. The back road with all of their trucks and extra equipment sat nearly three miles away; several drivers waited inside of the cabs for the signal to get to main entrance. Thomas, Victoria, Anna, and Kelley lead the group down a sloping mountain side and up a large hill that dead-ended into the back of the castle. A vast field stretched before them and a terrace with large doors leading into the great hall would provide entry to the vampires' safe hold.
Crackling came from the headsets. "Intel reports that the Dealers are already on high alert." Everyone stopped for a moment. Thomas pressed the button to speak.
"They've spotted us?"
"No sir. Something internal is causing it. Gunfire and fatalities have been reported." Thomas looked to his right, barely able to tell Victoria from anyone else dressed in the winter armor and gear.
"Its Nyssa," a more familiar voice told them. "A radio transmission said she was moving through the castle. She must have flown out there."
"Amelia, she doesn't know where this place is."
"She killed four Dealers and they had massive blood loss. She knew how to get there."
Thomas waved the group forward, speaking into his mic, "We'll proceed forward."
Michael halted completely, the urge to turn around suddenly very powerful. He dropped the Dealer whose throat now hung open like a flap of bloody meat and looked down the empty hall. Nothing was there. But that feeling, that heavy, heart wrenching feeling grabbed at him and wouldn't let go. Moving toward the stairwell, he heard something...like the distinct flapping of wings.
He fell backward, quickly jumping up again to see what just blind sided him. The growl in his throat died when he looked up to the far corner of the hallway. There, suspended by hands and claws, was Nyssa. In this light, he could see her even better. Her skin was a shade darker than his own, black lines crossing just beneath the surface. A flicker of her wings revealed the skin to be slightly translucent, showing off webs of veins and arteries.
Blinking very rapidly, she gave several mews and stared directly at him; in the dim light, he saw tears shimmer as they fell down her face. Pounding and hollers caused her to jump, her black eyes panicked as they scanned back and forth. Before he even got the chance to get to her, she jumped down from her perch and went back down the stairwell, so afraid of the Dealers that she fled even from her father.
Nyssa, he screamed inside, roaring outwardly. Getting down on all fours, he followed her.
William passed into the front of the group, nearly every Dealer going down either set of stairs. He couldn't understand it; how could that girl escape all of these supposedly powerful and trained Death Dealers several times? He knew to place little faith in them as it was, but this clearly hammered it home for him.
Suddenly, the scent, not that of Nyssa but another, caught his nose. Leaning over the rail as he pounded down the stairs, a figure could be seen going down a few flights below them. "Michael," he growled, increasing his pace as he went. What the hell is he doing awake? he fumed silently. But today was turning out to be full of surprises and his great nephew by some odd generations being completely free of tranquilizers was truly the least interesting thing.
As they reached the basement floor, a sudden wave of anxiety and pain passed through William's body. He felt something before, a few minutes ago, that felt like pricks of pins on the back of his neck. It would not stop and irritated him as he chased after his hybrid niece. Now it intensified, moving from his neck down his back and into his arms and legs. Everything seemed off kilter and he continued forward with a slight sway.
Anxiety crushed at his brain and heart. Something, somewhere was very much out of place. Trying to lock down the feeling, he ran faster through the small hallways and into the boiler room. At the same stairwell she escaped up before, Nyssa waited, standing on the short flight of stairs with the door to the outside wide open. Even from here, he could tell she was tiring; her shoulders slumped slightly and her breathing looked labored. With a tilted head, she stared at him and rose from her leaning position against the wall. With another high screech, she turned and went out the doorway into the snow.
"AFTER HER!" he commanded, running toward the door himself, only getting half way across the room before coming to a dead halt. The Dealers continued past him, rushing out into the storm. William looked around the room, trying to place why his heart ached as it pounded furiously in his chest. First, he noticed Selene was gone; either Michael hid her or she was awake as well. Perfect.
He found it hard to concentrate with the stench of burning flesh still overpowering the rush of winter air coming in through the open door. What the hell?
A glimmer of metal caught his eye. Something small sat right below the now closed door to the furnace, the fire inside dancing its reflection on the surface. William darted over and snatched the object up from the floor. Immediately, he recognized it, the distinct family crest intertwined across a shield. It was one of the two pendants his father had made for his twin sons on the occasion of their first birthday. William's fingers quickly wrapped about the identical pendant about his neck, running the thumb of his other hand over the soot-covered one it held.
The particular skin that crisped in the boiler now suddenly had a very familiar scent.
"MARCUS!" he screamed. His twin brother was dead, burning away mere inches from where he stood. Tearing the pendant off his neck, he held them both in his hands. Anger, pure blood thirsty anger shot through his body and triggered his lycan side.
His bones cracked and grew five times their size. Teeth turned into a series of razor sharp daggers that jutted out from his expanding jaw. A thick layer of gray-white fur grew out from his pale skin, covering him as he reached nearly eight feet in height, standing on his now hind legs. The wolf returned in full force. Roaring, he bounded down the hallway and out into the snow, smashing into stone walls and breaking the frame to both doorways.
On the ground near the boiler, the two pendants lay discarded, reflecting the firelight that barely escaped slits in the grate.
Now Nyssa really felt her exhaustion. Fighting against the wind and snow, she flew blindly into the night sky. All she knew was that she had to fly away, back to that house maybe, if she could even get there. Her wings flapped as hard as she could make them, but several times, she started to drop down from the sky. And although she could handle almost any temperature, the biting cold gusts caused her to whimper and hiss as she pressed on.
Finally, her strength gave out, and she was forced to land on an ancient stone wall that outlined the property. Choking, she pulled her wings in around her, shivering and crying as her body began to sting with pain. Through the swirling snow, she looked down at her feet and realized that they were almost a pale skin color...
"HOLD YOUR FIRE GOD DAMN IT!" Thomas yelled into his mic. The figure circled above them before going back up into the sky and moving away. Of in the distance, he watched it land, wings wrapping about its body. Nyssa! She's really alive, he thought triumphantly. His head snapped forward just as the Dealers came out from one of the side exits and the large doors on the terrace.
"Move forward!" he commanded, picking up his pace. Several small holes in the clouds revealed moonlight, further strengthening his lycan body and allowing him to quickly maneuver through the snow. "Line up!" Where he stopped, every one of the men and women behind him formed a line. In perfect military fashion, they raised their guns and waited. The Dealers, at an obvious disadvantage, walked forward in the snow, aiming their weapons every which way.
Thomas looked back to Nyssa and almost called out an order to get to her when one of the Dealers looked up, eyes going wide at the line of black-clad individuals. Instead, he screamed, "FIRE!" into the mic and their attack ensued.
Immediately, six vampires hit the ground, bodies convulsing as the UV fluid zipped through their veins. The snow dissipated slightly, allowing the confused Dealers better sight. Taking defensive maneuvers, they hid behind the thick stone walls on the terrace. As the Clan moved forward, they popped up, barely sticking their heads up and firing their weapons with expert eyes. Being in an open field, the Clan had no choice but to move forward, dropping into the thick snow every so often; it was high enough to provide protection from sniper attacks.
More dealers poured out of the house, causing Thomas to go down in the snow as well. "Get that damn thing up here!" he yelled, turning his head to look behind him. A small group carrying a large case came up on the right flank. Dropping in the snow and opening it up, they crowded around it for only a few moments, two in the group crying out as bullets hit and grazed them.
One of the men stood up, hefting the large rocket launcher on their shoulder. "GET DOWN!" he warned; those in front of him moved out of the way. Not waiting a second longer, he pulled the trigger, rocking slightly as a burst of light emanated from the metal tube. The rocket cruised straight past the Dealers as they threw themselves down, straight on through the terrace doors. A rumble and a ball of fire erupted, chasing the few Dealers left in the main hall and engulfing them in flames. Whatever it hit inside did some serious damage as part of the exterior wall collapsed in on itself.
With the Dealers stunned and much smaller in numbers, Clan members stormed the short distance to the terrace. Thomas allowed himself the satisfaction of snapping one of the Dealer's necks with his gloved hands, throwing him back into another as he raised his semi-automatic and fired several UV bullets into them both. Victoria came around him, going down on one knee and picking off the few vampires that struggled through the castle's rubble.
"Only a few are left in the building," Amelia said over radio, the sound of the tapped transmissions blaring in the background. "Get rid of them and keep the civilians contained. If anyone gets in your way, kill them." It was order well taken by the various Clan members that made for the side entrance.
However, they came to a halt as a large form crashed out of the castle, sending more stones out over the snowy landscape. Many of them did not know the large wolven beast before them, but a sense of fear and submissive horror filled them up, the lycan within each of them recognizing the father of their race.
William pounded forward slowly, staring down at the crowd of Clan members. Loosing a huge roar, he went forward and took out several of them with swipe of his large paw. Those not in his immediate path scattered back, aiming their guns up at him but knowing it was futile; UV bullets would not bring him down. He moved forward, crushing the body of a Dealer beneath his feet.
They watched as he suddenly turned his large head, baring fangs with a growl to someone behind him.
Standing at the end of the terrace, fully transformed, was Michael. He hissed and roared himself, challenging William to a second round. The lycan elder stood to his full height, unleashing a roar that seemed to shake the ground beneath their feet. When he finished, he looked down to find his nephew unimpressed and further infuriated. William began to charge forward, leaving the large group of warriors behind him in favor of killing Michael. He made it most of the way when-
"Daddy!"
Everyone looked over in further horror as a human Nyssa stood bare-legged in the snow, the black tank top and pants staining her skin with soaked blood and black charcoal streaks. Until then, no one had noticed her change back; the battle had taken their immediate attention and she was a safe distance away. Or so they thought.
William drew back his lips, exposing his teeth. Realizing her mistake, Nyssa stumbled back, falling into the high snow with a short cry. But it wouldn't be enough; already, William came across the terrace and most of the field, almost up to her before pausing and crouching low. She could barely keep herself upright as she lay in the snow. Tears fell down her soiled face, various cuts on her skin causing strands of her hair to stick at random points. Ready to attack, he watched as Nyssa stopped moving away and stared at him, complete terror on her face matching her wild eyes.
The clouds parted completely, allowing a full moon to shine down upon the entire land. William looked at her, then turned as roars rose up from all around him. Layers of protective material and weaponry lay discarded on the ground, shredded horribly as almost every Clan member transformed under the full moonlight. Soon, William found himself surrounded by nearly twenty lycans, all of the growling and roaring at him. As they closed in on him, he looked back to Nyssa.
The very picture of weakness in his mind. Because of her, his twin brother was dead. Because of her, the Dealers were destroyed and the castle was in an uproar. It was all he wanted at this point; killing her would sate some of the pain he felt now. Despite the threatening lycans, he charged forward, roaring once more and causing Nyssa to scream and throw herself down face-forward into the snow.
He never made it to her. Michael bolted through the snow and jumped onto his back, sending him backward as he sunk his sharpened teeth into his shoulder, chunking off a large piece of flesh. Rolling over to take a swipe at him, William met the empty black eyes of the lycans. Michael stood back from him, the piece of flesh sliding from his mouth and a sneer on his face. The hybrid roared and everyone fell upon the massive creature, tearing at him with claws and teeth. William tried to escape the onslaught but they held him down with their bodies, chomping off chunks of his fur and feasting on the broiling blood and flesh revealed to them.
Under a full winter moon, the first lycan was killed at the hands of his children.
Michael stood back from the ravenous group, watching with sick glee as pieces of muscle and bone flew in every direction. As much as he wanted to be the one to kill William again, the sight of the lycans ripping him to shreds satisfied the animal in him much more.
The soft, wavering sound of whimpering drew him back. Turning around, he ran through the snow, his eyes searching the snow rapidly. Pausing, he grumbled low and waited. Suddenly, something dark popped up against the white land. Within a second, he was there, on his knees and gently touching Nyssa's head. Slowly, she looked up, her eyes wide and liquid, lips quivering from the cold and crying. Gently, he reached out his hands and gently cupped her cheeks, rubbing his thumbs along her cheek bones. They remained that way for a moment, their silence powerful enough to drown out William's dying whines as the lycans continued their execution.
"Daddy?" Michael realized then that he was still in his hybrid form, face caked in blood, and that it might be scaring her slightly.
But then he found his arms full of Nyssa, her face buried in his neck as she sobbed. "Daddy," she moaned, pressing her face into his skin as she began to cry. Careful of his extended claws, he held her close, rubbing his cheek against the side of her head and rocking them slightly. Taking a deep breath, his body reverted to its human shape. She looked up at him, bottom lip trembling as he smiled at her.
"Nyssa," he whispered, resting a warm hand on her icy cheek. Michael drew her into an even closer embrace, kissing her forehead and cheeks repeatedly. She was alive, alive and in his arms. He knew the night was far from over; the battle had only begun. But for this moment, everything fell away as he embraced his daughter.
Pressing up into his arms with a whimper, she curled into his shoulder as he picked her up fully. He held her as close as he could, closing his eyes against the joyful tears that threatened in the corners of his eyes. When another cold wind blew, it caused her to shiver and press into him for warmth. Not wanting her to freeze, Michael headed back toward the now much larger side entrance, wrapping his arms about her tightly.
As they passed the lycans, some now moving away from their kill and into the castle, Nyssa took in the sight of William's mangled corpse briefly before closing her eyes and resting her face in Michael's shoulder.
A/N: funny fact: i had a computer monitor fall on top of my this morning as i finished the rewrites. that one i couldn't dodge. one more chapter then the epilogue. and check out my profile for fun, new details (whispers) a sequel.
until next chapter,
anthestria.