Ethan, walking by himself now that the Dimitrescu girls decided to grab a snack and taking Rosie with them, approached the armory. The man was pleasantly surprised when Bela mentioned how Tom managed to procure some crayons for Rose and was quite happy to volunteer to watch over her while they did their grim business. If the tall man minded being relegated to a babysitter, he hid it well. While the father wasn't too keen on leaving his child behind, Tom did absolutely nothing to warrant suspicion of any kind so far and it sure beat the idea of taking his daughter to the massacre that would surely take place on the island.
Finally inside the ship's armory, Ethan was treated to rows of guns of all kinds, just waiting for him. The armory was small, but well-stocked. The man's gaze lingered on several instruments of death-dealing before stopping at a particularly large, closed weapon case that was placed apart from the rest. Approaching the black case slowly, the blonde was stopped from touching it by a strong hand on his shoulder. The armory master, a large and gruff-looking man spoke firmly, in a deep voice.
"I am sorry, but that's not for you, Mister Winters. You're authorized for any other pieces in this armory, however."
Intrigued, but not belligerent, Ethan just nodded and, after some deliberation, settled on the pieces he was most familiar with, instead.
Putting a tactical harness first the man picked up a Heckler & Koch VP9, with a large, 20-round magazine. The comfortable grip felt familiar in Ethan's hand. A Kel-Tec KSG, a pump-action shotgun, capable of holding up to 15 12-gauge shells. A solid weapon, overall. Finally, what seemed to be an M1851 Wolfsbane magnum found its way into the blonde's holster. This large-caliber hand cannon took down even the nastiest and meanest mutants back in Romania. It's bulky form gave the man a degree of reassurance. Helping himself to ammunition for his chosen firearms, Ethan caught the armory master's approving glance at his choice of weaponry.
Not forgetting about protection either, not after that talk with Bela, Ethan put on a solid kevlar vest, with some lightweight ceramic plates in front and back offering an additional degree of protection to his vitals. The overall weight of the vest was still quite hefty, but it restricted his movement little, if at all. All these hours spent in the gym were paying off, it seemed.
Grabbing a trio of green herb-based first aid sprays next, Ethan hoped they would work on him just as well as their liquid cousins did. Placing the medicine into his belt pouch, the man was locked and loaded. Giving a silent nod to the gruff man, he started to walk towards the armory's exit, not noticing a couple of dark flies perched around the doorway.
Turning a corner into a hallway that would lead him to the upper decks, Ethan suddenly came face to face with a grinning Cassandra, instead.
"Rah!"
Startled, the man stumbled back in shock, her wicked giggling following him. Leaning into the wall, Ethan glared back at the playful brunette vampire. Still chuckling, her amusement was plain on her features.
The blonde was then further surprised at the attire she had on. A far cry from her previous outfits that left little to imagination, the middle sibling was now sporting a desert-brown safari get-up. Below her face, only pale skin he could see were short patches between her black leather gloves and the medium-length sleeves of her outfit. On her feet she had a pair of heavy-duty black combat boots. A dark leather belt with multiple pouches decorated her waist. Aviator sunglasses that hid her yellow eyes finished her get-up.
If she aimed for a badass hunter look, Ethan had to admit it was working. He also noted, with some satisfaction, that her nose was still angry red where he had broken it before. What he saw next made the man almost gasp in shock.
A barrel of a long, dark grey rifle was peeking from behind her back.
As if this crazy vampire witch was not dangerous enough without modern firearms…
"You're using a fucking rifle now!?"
Cassandra scowled at him, seemingly not happy at his remark. She brought the rifle from her back, gliding a single, gloved hand over it slowly, almost sensually. She responded harshly, making the man lean back into the wall - he sure wasn't looking for a rematch with her any time soon, if ever.
"You watch your filthy man-tongue! That's my baby you're insulting here!"
Running a hand through his blonde mane, the man was quick to apologize, not wanting to provoke the dangerous and unstable woman.
"Sorry, meant no offense to you or your...baby. It's just that I took you for someone who prefers to do that stuff up close and personal."
The witch grinned at him at that, her previous anger quickly evaporating. The sight of her white, sharp teeth made a spike of phantom pain run through his three-fingered left hand. He still remembered vividly these very same teeth taking a chunk of his flesh. Suppressing a shudder at the horrible memory, the man listened to Cassandra's response, her voice sounding surprisingly calm and casual now, as if she talked about weather and not murdering people in the most terrifying ways.
"Don't get me wrong, I still love to hear and feel my prey squirm. Nothing quite beats the spray of warm, fresh, arterial blood in your face on a chilly day." She licked her black lips at that. Ethan couldn't suppress a shiver now. "Still… stalking the quarry through the scope of my baby is a whole new different experience. The knowledge that they are a hundred meters away from you, utterly unaware of you, just minding their own business, yet completely at your mercy. And then. Click. Bang. Dead. Beautiful."
Ethan offhandedly noted that the brunette in front of him loved to emphasize certain words far more than any other person he had ever met. He wondered if that was a common psychotic quirk or just Cassandra's own. She had a dreamy look on her face now, likely recalling some of her previous victims and the atrocities she had committed upon them. Completely unnerved at her casual speech about her preferred ways of inflicting wanton cruelty and murder, Ethan decided to take his leave.
"Well...I am glad you're so passionate about your craft...I guess. Meet you on the bridge."
The woman, broken out of her momentary trance, just curtly nodded and headed into the armory herself, likely in need of extra ammunition for her beloved rifle. Ethan wasted no time in getting to the bridge where the rest of the team waited already.
Entering the ship's command centre, Ethan noticed that the place was a hive of activity. Crewmates run from one station to another. Duke was in the captain's seat, smoking a cigar and observing the rest, giving an occasional approving chuckle. Bela and Millie watched some monitors in interest. Daniela sat by herself on the sofa next to a wall, reading some book with a sleazy image on its cover in silent fascination, her mouth making a cute 'O' shape and her yellow eyes open wide.
Both Dimitrescu sisters switched their respective summer dresses for a much more utilitarian outfit. Long black boots, nylon pants in an urban camouflage style, completed with simple grey shirts with short sleeves. Daniela had a bright yellow smiley face pin on the right side of her shirt. Ethan smirked at seeing that accessory in amusement. He assumed she didn't like bleak colors too much, especially considering her previous colorful outfit.
How did she last all these years in her fully black robed dress before? Or maybe the girls wore them just for special occasions? I should ask that later.
Letting the redhead read her sleazy novel in peace, Ethan approached Bela and Millie. They were watching what he assumed was the drone feed. It showed a clear bird-view of the island.
"A dozen guards then? Maybe two, if you count the ones in the buildings? Seems a bit light for a facility this large…"
Millie spoke in a curious voice, Bela nodding her blonde head in agreement at that, her yellow eyes narrowed in thought.
Seeing him approach, Bela's sharp eyes quickly took in his own form. Just like the Dimitrescu siblings, Ethan was now dressed for action. With his combat boots, military jungle-camo pants, an armored vest and an unshaven face one could mistake him for a mercenary himself. His kind gray eyes that lacked greed or lust for violence that were typical for that profession betrayed his true nature to Bela, though.
She smiled warmly at the man, who quickly returned the gesture. He noticed she had her blonde hair in a long ponytail now. She actually looked like some kind of cute military junior officer. Despite wanting to mention her unusual but admittedly eye-catching new look, Ethan decided to skip the smalltalk and get right to the business at hand.
"Found anything interesting?
The blonde's lips twitched into a tiny, barely-perceptible frown at that conversation starter. Perhaps she was expecting a compliment? Regardless, if the woman was disappointed, her perfectly neutral tone didn't show it.
"No sign of any aircraft there, at the moment. There is a small supply ship docked at the shore, though. What worries me is that the island doesn't appear to have much in the way of security." She pointed at several points of interest on the drone feed with her finger, as she continued: "Two watchtowers, in total, likely containing no more than one or two guards each. We counted four patrolling guards. Likely at least some are inside the warehouses here, perhaps even a few inside the hangars, here. Maybe one or two inside that small administrative building, here. Surely several more are resting inside the barracks, here. No heavy weaponry or combat vehicles of any kind seen from this angle." Bela hummed with some annoyance. Ethan wasn't much of a facility defense organizer, and he suspected she wasn't, either. He still asked the obvious question.
"You find it suspicious then, I take it?"
Millie answered that.
"By all accounts, this seems to be an important logistics base for The Connections. Even if they counted on subterfuge as a primary line of defense for this facility, this severe lack of defenses just doesn't make sense. These guards would struggle to fend off a random pirate raid, much less a dedicated assault by rivals, which they have."
Bela drummed her slender fingers against the monitor as she spoke next, sounding frustrated.
"I don't like this. Daniela said that they have sent twenty elite mercenaries to subdue mother alone, with twenty more hiding in the bushes as back up. And now they have barely a dozen guards, defending an important and large facility like this. The warehouses alone likely contain a great deal of valuable property."
Ethan scratched his own stubbly chin at that. He really needed to shave at this point. Planning assaults wasn't his strong suit. Before he could say anything, they all were distracted by the sight of Cassandra coming to join them, swaggering her way into the command centre as if she owned the place and smirking as the crew scuttled out her way. Clearly, she already had a reputation among the men and women serving aboard. Daniela, with clear disappointment, put her book aside and joined them, as well.
"So, what's the plan then, Bells?"
The woman actually flushed slightly at that nickname. Daniela giggled and Cassandra gave him a small frown. Bela cleared her throat and spoke, sounding subdued at first but quickly regaining her normal calm tone, which then further shifted into an authoritative one.
"Our goal is to find where the mother's plane has gone. Someone down there must have that information. You, Cassandra, Daniela and a couple of Duke's armsmen will get to the island by a motorboat, from this angle - they won't see you coming, a lot of vegetation and hills on this part. You cross the terrain by foot and get to the facility. Cassandra should be more than enough to deal with these guards, you and Daniela should focus on locating any actual employees or documents. Duke's men can secure the non-combatants."
Jeez, put a military cap on her head and you'd think she is a force commander now.
"You're not coming?" Ethan wasn't expecting her to want to sit this one out. The woman gave a sigh of worry as she responded.
"I'd like to stay here and keep an eye on you all, myself. Our gracious host has provided us full access to his ship, and there are plenty of tools around here that can be used in case an emergency of some kind occurs. I will be close enough to assist, if the need arises."
Millie eyed her in suspicion, at that.
"You don't trust the Duke to handle this part?"
Bela was clearly uncomfortable at that accusation. She shuffled her foot for a second and responded, quietly.
"It's not that I don't trust him, but there is no reason for me to go there myself as is. Cassandra is more than capable of handling the guards and interrogation, if that would be required." The brunette witch smirked at that, in obvious pride at being singled out like that. Bela continued: "I'll be able to respond to any developing situation better from here. Not to mention: it's just poor manners to make your host do all the work for you."
Millie seemed unconvinced, but unwilling to argue further. She just nodded. Ethan personally found that explanation to make sense. Cassandra alone was an overkill against a dozen unprepared guards. That woman was a force of nature, about to be unleashed upon unsuspecting mortals. The blonde man pitied them, even if they had it coming. Moreover, rationality aside, Bela had a good intuition and Ethan trusted her implicitly at this point, as did her two younger sisters. Seeing everyone reach an accord on that particular issue, the blonde woman continued.
"Once we get some solid information, we will blow that place sky-high. There is a huge cistern of fuel near the hangars. Ethan, if you'll be so kind?" She looked at the man in question, even as Millie offered him a delayed sticky explosive package.
That was a shocker to Ethan. He knew she would not hesitate to resort to violence to get back her mother, but this was more than that. This was cold-blooded revenge. A good number of non-combatants worked in that facility, most of them were likely just in it for the money. Did they all really have to die? This felt wrong to the man… Thankfully, it seemed like Daniela also felt the same way. She spoke in a timid voice, clearly unused at questioning Bela's authority in such decisions.
"But what about all the workers there? They didn't do us any harm…"
Bela pinched the bridge of her nose as she answered, with some annoyance in her voice.
"They picked their side, Dani. I aim to make a statement here, today." The redhead wanted to protest that, but Bela wasn't finished, to everyone's but Cassandra's relief. "However… that doesn't mean everyone there has to die. If you feel so inclined, you may warn them about our plans, once we have what we need. They can escape on their own ship then."
Cassandra scoffed in mild frustration, while the rest breathed a collective sigh of relief. For a second there, Ethan's blood chilled in his veins as he felt like he had misjudged Bela's character horribly, after all. The idea of cold-blooded mass-murder of defenseless people who barely had anything to do with their plight didn't sit too well with the blonde man. He, calmed by the suggestion, accepted the bomb still held out to him by Millie. Their blonde freshly-minted commander took a moment to look at everyone with narrowed yellow eyes, lingering her gaze on each member of the team for a few moments, as if measuring their conviction. Apparently satisfied with what she saw, she hummed and clapped her hands once.
"If there are no further questions or concerns… let's do this!"
Cassandra walked out first, with spring in her step, Ethan and Daniela taking more measured steps. Before they could get far, Bela put a firm hand on both of their shoulders, stopping the duo in their tracks. Turning to face her, once again, the pair found the blonde's uncharacteristically fierce visage gazing at them. She spoke with clear determination in her voice.
"Listen, I know you two are not that comfortable with all this and neither am I, truth to be told. But you have to understand that it's not gonna be as simple as taking mother and Mia back from them. We have to make sure they won't just come after us again in a month or two. And how to best achieve that result against an organization such as theirs? We make them see that they lose more than they gain for fucking with us. I will destroy everything in my path to drive that point home. I hope I can trust you both to go all the way with me?"
Daniela nodded with newfound resolve, her eyes staring at her elder sister with respect and adoration.
"I am always all the way with you, sister… you know it. I am sorry for questioning you."
Bela grinned and kissed redhead's forehead with sisterly love.
"It's good that you question, Daniela! A healthy mind should never obey blindly." The blonde sister watched her younger sibling with clear fondness for a few moments, before turning her gaze to the man at her side. She looked at him with interest in her piercing eyes. Ethan felt some sweat starting to bead on his forehead from the intensity of this moment.
"Ethan. Are you with me? All the way?"
The man in the spotlight locked his brown-gray eyes with her own molten gold orbs. This was a million-dollar question. Was he prepared to fully put his trust into this woman? To completely commit to the course she would chart? Could he count on her to see their grim task done without losing themselves in the process? His every previous interaction with the blonde vampire flashed before his eyes. Her violent attack on him as he invaded their castle, seemingly so long ago. Her unexpected kindness towards him after. Her unyielding determination to keep her family safe. The gentle and almost loving moments they already had on this very ship. Her pale hand, curled over his Rosie protectively. Her promise to get Mia back, even if she worked against them now.
"You gave me no reason to question your judgement before, Bells. I am with you, all the way. Count on it."
The woman's eyes widened in joy at that, just for a second, before returning to their normal, tranquil shape. Quickly leaning in, Bela pecked him on his cheek, before returning back to her station, not giving them another word or a glance. The familiar contact of her soft, warm lips on his skin, as brief as it was, made the man blush slightly. He cursed himself as he felt his body betraying him, craving for more. Shaking the thought from his head, the man and the redhead at his side walked to their waiting boat. Now was the time for violence, not affection.
Just like they planned, the small assault team consisting of Ethan, two younger Dimitrescu siblings and a trio of Duke's men, reached an elevation overlooking the airbase unmolested. They did come across a couple of tripwire-like motion sensors here and there, scattered across the vegetation, but the Duke's sergeant was an experienced tracker and spotted them with a practiced eye. The darkness of the night covered their approach. Everyone had a headset equipped, making sure they could communicate with one another, as needed.
Cassandra hummed in satisfaction as she observed the base through the scope of her rifle. Ethan could only stare at her wicked, grinning black lips in morbid fascination. Naturally, her leather-clad fingers were twitching in anticipation of the carnage to come.
Poor bastards… They sure didn't know they signed up for Cassandra when they accepted this contract.
As if reading his thoughts, the brunette spoke, her tone shaky and unsteady.
"These humans will regret working for our enemies today, I think."
The humans on their own team traded a couple of nervous glances among themselves. Cassandra put her tinted eyewear back on.
"Enough talk! I can't hold back any longer!"
And just like that, the brunette was on the move, walking towards the first watch-tower briskly, staying off the floodlight paths and trusting the pitch-black darkness to hide her from sight.
Ethan watched in deathly curiosity as she swarmed up the tower, all of her clothes and items carried along by her flies.
What kind of insane coordination would it take to do something like that? These girls are amazing… if a bit crazy and murderous…
First blood of the night went to Cassandra, as screams of the dying and violent slashes of a bladed weapon biting deep into flesh, as well as sinister giggling could be heard from the tower. Not a shot was fired as two men up there were butchered in mere moments. They had no chance to defend themselves as their only warning came from a sudden, loud buzzing before a sickle spilled one's guts out and a knife sliced another's jugular. Regardless, enough sounds had pierced the veil of night to alert the rest of the facility. Ethan and the rest exploded in motion - everyone had their own objectives to achieve tonight.
Cassandra, done with her first victims, licked the red blood off her lips as she grinned at the still twitching bodies of the men at her feet. Her face was already a bloodied mess. She couldn't resist taking a quick bite.
Ice-cold blood ain't all bad, honestly...but how can anything beat this beautiful, warm, red, fresh man-blood, straight from the source? Delicious.
Giving a sinister chuckle, the woman returned her sickle and knife to their places at her belt, before taking out her rifle up next. Bringing her aim to the second watchtower, the brunette was momentarily stunned as a high-powered round went right through her forehead, distorting her beautiful flower tattoo for a second, before her head coalesced right back together, looking none the worse for wear. Her shattered aviator glasses fell to the floor in pieces.
"Ouch."
The woman felt the death of two members of her swarm keenly, too slow to get out of the way of the powerful round. It would take far, far more than that to bring her down, however. Grinning in mirth and feeling exhilarated, Cassandra took aim once again, her adversary already switching his own focus towards the group on the ground, likely presuming her dead.
"My turn."
Letting out a deep breath, the brunette became still as a statue, as her single digit depressed the trigger. Her yellow eyes widened in glee as her target dropped dead, a spray of blood from the exit wound in his head visible to her keen senses even in the dead of night. The dead man's partner gasped in shock at the sudden demise of his comrade and tried to bring his light machine gun to bear against her. With the speed that can only come from long hours of practice, Cassandra operated the bolt and readjusted her aim, just slightly. Click. An excited shudder ran throughout her body when her sharp ears picked up a cry of pain from the man, as her round found its mark in his torso, whatever flimsy armor he was wearing - no match against a full-power rifle round.
Humming in satisfaction at a job well done, the woman turned her cruel gaze back towards the insides of her own watchtower. Still holding her rifle in her left hand, with a grunt of effort, she picked up a surprisingly living guard with her single free hand. Holding him by his throat, she stared into his brown eyes with her own merciless orbs.
"Ppplease…"
Not interested in hearing whatever the sheep wanted to bleat at her, the vampire bit deeply into his jugular, turning his whole throat into a mutilated mess that leaked the vital fluid generously. Drinking to her dark heart's content, the woman moaned in pleasure at the rich taste she loved so much. The dying gasps and the feeble struggling of the worm in her unyielding grasp added the extra flavor, completing the exquisite experience.
Bela and Daniela are fools for denying themselves this. This is who we truly are.
Back on the concrete ground, the group was quick to dispatch the four patrolling guards, assault rifles barking violently in the darkness of night. The Duke's men were no push-overs and the sergeant himself claimed two kills with precision bursts. Neither Daniela nor Ethan had yet to spill man's blood today, but that was likely about to change as a loud alarm screeched throughout the base.
Six guards hastily emerged from the barracks, firing their assault rifles as they sought cover. The Duke's forces replied in kind, splitting up and pouring lead towards the newest contacts. Two guards went down quickly, their simple kevlar vests unable to stop rifle rounds. One more dropped on the concrete with a horrific scream of pain, as a powerful round, courtesy of Cassandra's rifle, found its way into his thigh, severing the vital femoral artery, making the white ground run red with blood. Without immediate first aid, that man was as good as dead.
A single guard rushed towards some small, unmarked, dark green container, near the warehouse, as two others provided suppressing fire to keep the Duke's troops down. Almost at the container, the man went down with a snarl as a round from Cassandra's rifle tore through his guts, leaving a lethal but not immediately incapacitating wound. Determined to reach his goal, the guard crawled on the ground, leaving a trail of dark blood behind him. At the container, the man struggled to input a code into a keypad, before succumbing to his mortal wound and losing consciousness, never to wake up again.
Shooting at the covering guards near the barracks with his 9mm pistol, Ethan prayed to God that this would soon be over. The massacre that was taking place was more than a little unnerving to the man. This was a far-cry from Dulvey or that cursed Romanian village; both places were filled with barely-sentient monsters. The screams of the mortally-injured men filled the night now. These were living, breathing, thinking people who were dying all over the place here. They likely had their own families, waiting for them back home. How many more orphans and widows will there be in the world after tonight?
Daniela was crouching at his side, her own sickle and pistol at the ready and her sharp yellow eyes giving her a degree of night vision as she acted as a rearguard. Her keen hearing alerted her to two pairs of combat boots hitting the concrete ground behind them. Quickly shifting around, she saw a pair of guards who had emerged from a small administrative building and were bringing their guns up, aiming at Ethan's back. Not thinking twice, the girl pushed the man out of the way roughly, her unnatural strength making him tumble to the side. On her feet now, she rushed the guards even as she fired her pistol at them inaccurately. The return fire went through her shimmering form without doing any real damage. Wincing in slight discomfort at losing her swarm members, the redhead shifted around rapidly, dodging automatic gunfire even as she closed the distance to melee. To a human eye, it seemed as if she blinked around and the guards cursed in distress as she swiftly got in their faces, their free hands trying to keep the hungry and biting flies that were all over them now, away, in vain.
Mumbling a quiet "sorry" the redhead brought her vicious sickle down on the first man, her monstrous strength making the farming tool go straight through his skull, deep into the brain. As he fell, dead before he hit the ground, with a grunt of effort, Daniela yanked the sickle out before swinging it in a graceful arc towards the second man, carving deep into his exposed neck, as he was still distracted by the swarming flies.
The sight of gushing arterial blood so close to her made her go wild. Tomorrow, she would likely hate herself and go into depression once again, but now, all she saw was red. Deep, beautiful, gushing, sparkling, delicious RED. Losing herself completely, she pounced on the body and began feeding on it, savagely. Blood and spittle flew into every direction as she tore huge chunks of flesh with her sharp teeth, before consuming them greedily. Barely chewing, she gulped down meat and blood with insatiable, ravenous hunger.
Ethan, now fully upright, could only stare at the sight in undisguised horror. The sweet, caring girl that wanted to play with his three year old child earlier today now showed her true colors, as she mercilessly devoured a man alive, his still twitching form betraying his unspeakable agony as her teeth violated his flesh.
As if feeling his gaze burning holes into her back, the redhead paused her grisly feast and stood up slowly, before turning to face him. She was covered from head-to-toe in blood and viscera, her smiley pin now colored dark red. She looked absolutely feral as she stared at him with narrowed, vicious eyes. Mere hours ago her molten gold orbs gazed at him with kindness and affection, almost love. Now, they held nothing but murderous intent and beastial rage. As the vampire hissed and snarled at him, she clutched her sickle tightly and Ethan was suddenly prepared to fight for his life against the former ally - now tense and aggressive in posture, ready to pounce on him.
On instinct, his arms tried to raise his firearm at her, even though he just saw how little the regular weapons did against her intangible form. Two mutilated bodies at her feet attested to that. Thankfully, his rationality won out in the end, and he realized that any threatening gesture would immediately provoke her into attacking. Instead of aiming his gun at her, he slowly put it down on the ground, before standing up and calmly raising his hands up, palms open. Every motion was steady and deliberate. He spoke softly then, not breaking eye-contact.
"Daniela...It's me… Ethan. I don't mean you any harm."
Whether from his non-hostile posture, gentle tone, or familiar names spoken out loud, a spark of recognition returned to her blood-crazed eyes. As realization struck her hard, she relaxed her tense posture. Her sickle fell to the ground with a clung. A single tear went down her cheek as she turned away from the man, not being able to withstand his eye contact, in shame.
Deeply distressed from the harrowing experience he just lived through, Ethan breathed out a sigh of relief. The prospect of fighting Daniela was highly unsettling for more than one reason. Looking at her shaking form now, despite witnessing her callous cruelty just now, first-hand, the man wanted to comfort the monstrous girl. Still, even if the gunfire had died down, this was a battlefield, and he would do well to stay alert and aware of his surroundings.
Looking back at the barracks, Ethan noted that the rest of the security force were all down: dead or soon to be. An armsman from the Duke's ship lay motionless on the ground, a small hole right in his forehead. A single lucky hit was all it took sometimes. His comrade knelt over him, offering a prayer for his departing soul. The sergeant looked around, waiting to see if any more hostiles would emerge from anywhere. Glancing at the watchtower, Ethan could spot Cassandra's tall silhouette, still clutching her rifle, surveying the battlefield below - no doubt looking for stragglers.
Now that they've crushed the resistance, they could proceed with the second stage of their plan - to round up the non-combatants and to find the information they sought. Before Ethan could start on that task, however, his eyes landed on that single container by the warehouse. The man's blood chilled in his veins at what he saw there. A single, hulking shape was emerging from the now open container, it's two yellow eyes glowing brightly in the night.
This fight was not over yet… it was just getting started.
Author's note:
I just can't write a story without that 'Rah!' anymore. Forgive me.
Cuteness aside, this chapter I wanted to portray all three sister's darker sides: Bela's fearsome determination to reach her goal, no matter what gets in the way, Cassandra's sadism and callous disregard for life and Daniela's lurking insanity.
Originally I also wanted to include the 'boss fight' into this chapter, but as I revised the scenes and as the word count grew larger and larger, I decided to just leave it for the next one.
If anyone is disappointed that Ethan and Bela did basically nothing in the fight, don't worry - they will get their chances to shine.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you have any thoughts, questions or suggestions, feel free to comment!