Alley-Fang ran trough the corridor, unseen but hopelessly lost. The gift of blissful ignorance would keep him hidden from sight, but surely the people in this facility had other means to track down rogue werewolves.
And as if things weren't bad enough, he had to figure out what was going on in this complex that was bad to both the Wyrm and Gaia.
"Man, I'm having a really bad day" he thought.
The hallway he was running trough led him to a large open room that seemed to be a supply depot, there were crates everywhere and trucks that seemed to have come by a large garage door at the far end of the room, could this be a way out?
There were two people talking with a short, fat man who seemed to be the truck's driver, one was a woman with a white blouse, the other a man in black official looking suit. Aaron briefly considered shifting to Crinos, ripping the garage door to shreds and running for his life, but his curiosity took over and he sneak toward the three persons talking, hiding behind crates (he was invisible anyway, but he knew the gift wasn't infallible, especially with Leicher on his tail.
"Well, the truck driver said, it's all there, if you no longer need me…"
"You, of course, have told no one of this cargo, or where you were taking it?" the man in the suit asked with a hint of a threat in his voice.
"Not a living soul sir…"
The man frowned and, Aaron could have sworn, growled at the driver.
"…Just a matter of speech sir, I didn't tell any one dead either, no one really." He babbled, seeming terrified.
"Good, you may leave now."
"With all due respect sir…I'm…heu…kind of running low…"
"Oh, yes of course…"
The Man in suit raised his sleeve and brought his wrist to his mouth, where two sharp canines tore the flesh and let blood pour trough. He raised his bleeding wrist over the man's head and let a few drops fall in his open mouth. The fat driver swallowed every drop as if his life depended on it, bowed slightly and headed back to the truck.
"Did you have to do this in front of me?" The woman asked in disgust.
"This would be a bad time for his loyalty to wax, wouldn't it? So close to our objective…"
"It is our objective, Mister Wendell, it just so happen to benefit you enough that you would finance our operations. Your ghoul's loyalty his considered no more certain than yours in that matter, and we do not trust you."
"I can't blame you for being suspicious, knowing what I am. But do not worry; your project greatly benefits me, as well as my colleagues. We will live long, Miss Clark, and even longer when we are rid of the less…reasonable shape shifters…"
"Very well then, you can tell your prince that in twenty four hours, project static X will be putted in motion, until then, your presence here is no longer required."
"One question though, Miss Clark. How do you, and the other werespiders, benefit from all this?"
"This world is dying Mister Wendell, it is beyond saving and it will never get better. We will make sure it never gets worse, and that it never ends. Just like the werewolves, we seek to prevent the apocalypse. But our cousins are blinded by their rage, seeing the apocalypse as a battle to be won. We see it as a more or less natural disaster to be prevented. That is what project static X is all about."
"Glad to know I'm more or less involved in an attempt to save the world, although my main benefit in this is the drop of the werewolf number in the world, and thus a drop in the depredation they practice on the kindred."
The two were interrupted by Leicher barging into the room in spider-human form, followed by soldiers. Alley-Fang judged that this might be a good time to make a run for the open garage door and get the hell out of there.
"The bone gnawer has escaped, did you see him?" the spider shifter asked them.
"There is a werewolf on the loose in his complex!" the vampire in black suit asked in panic.
The woman simply pulled out a gun and looked around nervously; apparently, Leicher was the only being strong, or foolish enough as to not fear a fight with a werewolf in this room.
So much as he would have enjoyed ripping the two werespiders and the vampire's throat out, he now knew that something big was going on in here, and he would need his pack, and maybe a couple more werewolves to even the odds.
He shifted to hispo and ran for the garage door. It led to a long underground tunnel, which eventually got him out in the open. The night sky the fresh breeze, how good all that felt after 2 days in an aseptic weaver controlled facility. He lifted his eyes toward the sky, where he met with a reassuring sight, the gibbous moon shined down on him, setting his heart ablaze with the fire of rage.
He tested the nearby gauntlet, which became much thinner as he walked away from the building, until he finally managed to change world, entering the umbra. The spirit world felt much better after so much time on the wrong side of a very thick gauntlet. Free, he had managed to get free!
"Alley-Fang, is that you?" a familiar voice resonated in his head.
"Weasel? It sure is good to hear you again, where is everyone?"
"The rest of the pack is sleeping at Asenka's apartment, along with that human girl. They will be quite relieved to know you are safe. Come to the city, I'll meet you on the way."
Knowing better than argue with his totem spirit, Alley-Fang started to stride toward the city, enjoying every second of his renewed freedom.
Meanwhile, a very scared boy was running trough the city's back alley on a soar leg. The boy had just learned the hard way just why the rest of his kind insisted on staying hidden.
"So that's what the masquerade is for…screw the humans, from now on, I'm hiding from the werewolves."
After seeing the rest of his anarch coterie brutally rend to pieces by angry shape changers, following the camarilla's tradition seemed like a much better idea, the prince, at least, wasn't a nine feet tall engine of destruction.
He was heading toward the Elysium; the pain in his mangled leg reminding him that one of the werewolves had almost tore it off. But he had at least managed to shadow them and learn were they lived, maybe this would convince the prince to forgive his open defiance.
He reached the Kindred meeting ground, guarded by a large, muscular ghoul who seemed to recognize him on the spot, as he drew a wooden stake.
"Calm down, please, the young anarch pleaded (he was in no shape to fight), I come to surrender to the prince, I have information he might need…"
"The prince does not speak with the likes of you."
"Even if they have info about the shape changer wrecking havoc on the local kindred?"
The ghoul posed for a second and considered the young neonate.
"Fine, follow me, but if you give me half a reason to do so, I'll stake you and bury you in my backyard."
"Sure…" the vampire said, following the ghoul inside, where several kindred looked at him with haughty disgust. He cared not for the opinion of these arrogant undead, who preferred to embrace ancient rules than use their newfound powers to enjoy the eternal life that was given them.
Soon, he would have to become one of them, to get involve in their twisted politic, to become involved in the power play, in the complicated circle of alliance and treachery he had always hated. The depth to which he'd sink for survival disgusted him.
Soon, the arrived before the elder ventru, the city's prince, his name was Jonas Malcolm. He was wearing a casual tie and jacket suit and seemed to be discussing with one of his female ghoul…
He was slightly annoyed at the interruption…
"Under what possible circumstances would this low life be allowed in my presence?" he asked the large ghoul who had escorted the anarch.
"Sorry sir, he says he has information on the werewolves, I though you might want to hear it."
"Mister prince sir, the young vampire started, my coterie was decimated by a pack of three werewolves, and I followed them to their haven afterwards, I know where they live, what they look like, surely this will benefit the kindred in all the city…"
The prince didn't speak for a full minute…
"Very well, what you knew, no so do I. These werewolves however, will not be a problem, as I've had a call confirming that in twenty four hours, the number of shape changers inside this city will halve. And within days after this, the last one will be hunted down by specialized squat formed for this sole purpose. All this, anarch, has been in motion for five years, neither then nor now would such a trivial information would have bought you forgiveness for your treachery and insubordination. Now, you shall join the rest of your coterie, in final death…"
Before he could react, the neonate was staked in the heart by the ghoul that had brought him there.
"So it is true master, the werewolves will be destroyed soon?"
"On a planetary scale if all goes well, the city will then be ours to rule. Now please get this useless boy incinerated…"
A phone rang while the ghoul walked away; Jonas Malcolm answered his cell phone.
"Jonas Malcolm…" he listened to the person on the other side speaking "…WHAT!"
Back inside the complex, Leicher was seething. He was walking trough the corridor in human form, for he was in a part of the complex that didn't know of his four other arms. All the searching had confirmed one thing, that wretched street rat had escaped. Mister Wendell, his go between with the local vampire prince was heeling him, making a call with his cell phone.
"Sir, this is Wendell, one of the test subject has escaped Leicher's facility, there are good chances he knows that we are involved in project static X."
"I know sir, it also seems that one of the facility's human employees has deserted them and joined with the pack of the deserter, Leicher believe they will all meet in town…"
"Sir I know this is beyond what we…"
Leicher took the phone right out of Wendell's hands
"Now listen you rotting corpse, you find me those werewolves and you keep them away from here, or no static X, go it? I don't care how important you are to the rest of your kind, if you want this to work, you keep those fury brutes away from the complex…I don't give a shit how, just do it!"
He closed the phone.
"You probably shouldn't have done that, Mister Malcolm doesn't like being bossed around." Wendell said.
"I don't care about your prince's ego, I've worked too long and hard, and he's invested too much to see this project fail."
The werespider's tone let room for no reply from the vampire. They reached the office they were looking for, that of Professor Mark Hapkin.
He entered the room, interrupting the scientist in his reading of a file. Professor Hapkin raised his eyes over his glasses and putted down the file.
"Yes mister Leicher, what can I do for you?"
"Doctor Hapkin, I have filed report that indicate that you have putted the case of GLS-1H-24 in your daughter's hands."
"Yes, Doctor Sarah Hapkin asked for a psychological analysis of GLS-1H-24 and since this is what she has been hired for and that she assured me it was the only patient showing progress with her methods, I assume it would be good overall for the project."
"The subject has escaped, and we believe your daughter as something to do with it, as she has gone missing for a full day."
"I fully trust Doctor Hapkin, not because she is my daughter but because she his a smart and responsible young woman, if GLS-1H-24 managed to escape, I'm sure it was by his own mean."
"Unfortunately, my opinion differs, I as of now dismiss you from your current duty, you are to find your daughter and bring her back to the facility within twenty four hour, fail to do this and you will be fired."
"You can't do this!"
"Yes I can, now please be off and don't come back without Doctor Sarah Hapkin, ever."
The old scientist reluctantly gathered his stuff and left the building under Leicher's scornful eyes. Once he was out, Wendell spoke his mind: "I must admit I do not understand why you are doing this."
"I have good reasons to believe that the escaped werewolf will join with his pack, which I believe his safeguarding the Hapkin girl as we speak…"
"Doesn't that doom the Professor?"
"You vampires often get on the bad side of the werewolves, you wouldn't know that they tend to show restrain around humans. The pack will not attack or even transform in front of him; and you probably never observed the two Hapkins together, when the father asks something and insist, the daughter obeys. Unable to explain the situation to him and to disobey him without a good reason, she will be forced here without a werewolf escort, at our mercy."
"I see."
The two men walked out of the office, now assured that the werewolves would be stalled long enough that they would not interfere with their plans.
Sarah woke up feeling a little better, she had been even to tired to have nightmares, she felt rested and was ready to assist the werewolves in any way she could.
Asenka had woken up before her and walked into the room wearing a black T-shirt and jeans, she had similar clothes in her arms.
"Hey, I though you might want to get changed, after you have a shower and breakfast of course…"
"Thanks, you're sure your alpha won't want me to spill all I know as soon as possible…"
"Sarika is sleeping, and I think you should be treated like a human rather than a file containing vital info, the bathroom is on your right at the end of this corridor (she pointed the right direction) and if you'd rather eat, the kitchen is right this way."
"Thanks you." She stood up and went for the bathroom, she really needed to wash.
After a few minutes, the two other werewolves joined Asenka…
"What do you mean she's in the shower?" Sarika growled.
"She's washing, she really needs it, she got into two battles involving trained soldiers and vampires, she got bitten in the later and she's been under overall great pressure, can't we give the girl a rest?"
"She's right, Sarika, it's not like a few minutes are going to doom Aaron, beside, we could use some breakfast too." Cry said.
The alpha was about to answer when the door bell rang, Asenka went to answer.
"I'M HOME!" a familiar cheerful voice rang trough the apartment!
"Aaron?" the three werewolves asked in disbelief.
The bone gnawer walked into the apartment right past Sarika until he was in the middle of his packmates.
"What, aren't you happy to see me?"
Sarika walked up to him and hugged him strongly.
"Hey, I need most of those ribs you know…"
He gently pushed back the alpha, who seemed a little ashamed of her overreaction.
"We thought you were prisoner in the DNA lab."
"You actually though there was a somewhere on earth a prison that could keep me locked up?"
"I see the recent events haven't made you humble." said Cry-The-Red-Tear "It's reassuring."
"For the records, I'm glad to see you're fine too." Asenka added.
"Hey, don't take me wrong, I'm glad to see you guys too, but I will unfortunately have to cut the touching reunion, 'cause we have two important matters at hands…"
"Such as…" Sarika asked.
"Well, you guys did take care of Sarah while I was getting out of there, right?" Alley-Fang asked.
"Asenka, where did you put those clothes you…" Sarah, who had just come out of the bathroom, stopped talking when she saw Aaron. It was hard to tell whether she was happy to see him, embarrassed by the fact that she was wearing only a towel or both…
"Hey there, he simply said, if you're done, I'll need the bathroom too, been running in the woods half the night."
Asenka grabbed the clothes she had intended for Sarah and brought her to the bedroom.
"I'm sure you two have got all sorts of things to talk about, but it can wait until she has clothes on…"
"What was that on her wrist?" Alley-Fang asked, turning to his packmates suspiciously.
"Bite marks, from leeches, Sarika said, we lost sight of her for a second after escorting her from the DNA lab to here, oh and she didn't get hurt during the gun fight either and last I check, she was alive!" Her tone was rising trough the sentence, she really expected more gratitude.
"Sarika!" he interrupted.
"What?"
"I really appreciate what you did, considering it involved blindly following a plan orchestrated by me. Thanks for that, I see it's been hard on you."
She fell silent.
"Your welcome." She finally said.
Asenka and Sarah got out of the room, wearing very similar clothes, they joined the three others and they all sat around the living room, waiting for Alley-Fang to reveal the other matter at hand.
"Guys, the DNA lab is hiding a much larger complex, where vampires and werespiders are planning something called static X…
(((That's all for chapter 7, yes, yes, I said it wouldn't take me three months… but this time I have a rather good excuse that can be summed up in five words:
Hard drive
Scraped
No
Backup
Files
That being said, thanks to everyone who reviewed this story, I really appreciate it.
Stay tuned for chapter 8 (I'm not swearing anything for this one, lest something else comes up)
