Cassandra growled in anger as the shockwave from the explosion that rocked the house their group hid in blasted her body away. Impacting an abandoned armored car with a solid thump, bending the metal door under her overburdened bulk, the woman wasted no time in getting back to her feet, none the worse for wear.
All this human gear was weighing her down more than she'd care to admit and she had yet to spill blood herself, even as it flowed down freely. Somehow, this was different from her practices on the range or even the great many hunts she had…Tonight she felt helpless. Frustrated. Weak.
Her reverie was interrupted as a round wheezed right through her head, momentarily stunning her. As always, her solid flesh and bone shifted before the bullet could do any real damage and the blowflies that took their place darted quickly out of the projectile's path, before coming together and reforming, once again. The whole transformation process was far too swift and efficient to ever be considered natural.
Gosh, I really hate it when I get shot in the head. Ugh! So annoying! Let's see how they like it!
Rotating her lean but muscular frame around, all the heavy gear worn almost weightless to the powerful woman, her keen eyes were quick to scan the surrounding area. A muzzle flash was the only thing of note she saw before a fiery projectile struck her dead-center, forcing her to take a step back. The ceramic armor plate shattered under the impact of a small, yet powerful round, but completely stopped the incendiary compound that would've been so deadly to her flesh.
Aha! I knew I put that fucking thing on for a reason! Bela ain't the only one smart in the family.
Still, the brunette realized that she was not looking forward to more of these fiery rounds finding its mark in her body and was quick to dash to an alleyway, breaking the line of sight with the barely visible sniper.
Seeing no other way, Cassandra decided to walk around the block, instead. She could only hope that her sisters were okay. The last thing she saw of Bela and Dani was Winters covering them with his own armored body. The middle child wasn't sure if she should've been annoyed or overjoyed at how selflessly that man protected her sisters.
Walking at a brisk pace, Cassandra came into a small but open square. Still leaning against a corner of an alley, she took a moment to appreciate the scenery. Fresh corpses were strewn around; with fires burning all over the place, lighting up the night. The brunette's nostrils twitched at the delicious aroma of so much man-blood, spilled freely and generously. The smell of burning tires and charred flesh made the sadist shudder in pleasure. A recently deceased handsome man with a Dire Wolf badge, only a couple of feet away was staring at her with unseeing eyes, the expression of pure agony frozen on his features.
Cassandra couldn't suppress a small moan of wicked ecstasy as her senses were overwhelmed by the sights and scents of death and misery. The brunette's free hand inched towards her nether regions, without a conscious thought.
Whatever the mad woman wanted to do was put on hold as she saw a curious scene unfold. The leader of Sandcastle mercs, a man Cassandra found to be easy on her eyes, was dragged along by two Dire Wolves. He was beaten and bruised and Cassandra lips curled in distaste at the pathetic weakling. She scoffed at herself for finding the pitiful thing moderately attractive previously. Still, he was an ally and she would provide assistance, begrudgingly. Bela expected no less from her.
Before she could do as much, a large, exceptionally powerful-built man in a red beret appeared from another alleyway and stomped right up to the prisoner. With no hesitation whatsoever, the brute executed the Sandcastle commander in cold blood, with a single shot to the temple from his sidearm.
The brunette stalker couldn't help but wonder how long would this beast of a man last with her, until he would beg for the sweet release of death. That was a leader, a fact made obvious by a pair of guards that followed him; an enemy commander.
Cassandra would never admit it out loud and anyone who would dare to imply it would be treated to her fist, if not a knife - but before, during that ambush on their convoy, she felt uncertain and even scared. She was completely out of her depth in a violent warzone where a random explosion or a gout of flame could reduce her to a smear on the ground. But now… this was a familiar situation to her. The brunette's normal confidence returned with a vengeance and Cassandra knew exactly what she wanted to do right now.
Marching up right towards the middle of the square, an arrogant smirk upon her dirtied but still fair features, Cassandra bellowed out a challenge, even as five barrels of guns quickly turned to point her way. In return, she pointed a lone index finger at her newest nemesis, as her rifle was held over shoulder, casually. She was the very picture of calm indifference.
"You there, human! Fight me."
The brute of a man her finger pointed to watched her with hatred plain in his cold blue eyes. Santiago Escobar's voice was as gruff as she expected it to be. Cassandra couldn't suppress a shiver of anticipation that ran throughout her body at his tone, so very familiar to her. A defiant fool to be broken.
"And you must be the Dimitresqua bitch that killed Paulo. I've been waiting for this moment."
Outwardly, Cassandra frowned at the improper pronunciation of her family name. Her own tone was completely unperturbed even as the men kept aiming their guns at her. Inside, she was shaking with exhilaration.
"Who? I don't usually ask my prey their names, sorry. I am sure his death was delightful, however. "
The man exploded in rage at that. The middle daughter cursed herself once her fingers betrayed her once again, as they started that uncontrollable twitching she worked so hard to get rid of. She so badly wanted to appear cool and collected.
"My brother, you daft whore! I'll make you pay for that! A hundred grand to whoever brings me that cunt's head!"
Not a moment passed before a barrage of gunfire rained down upon her. Cassandra just grinned in mirth as she sprinted into cover behind a large truck, the few rounds that struck her doing little harm. Even burdened by her gear, she was but a blur to the humans. She taunted playfully, even as she primed her enormous Barrett rifle.
"I've killed a lot of brothers and sons and fathers and husbands. What makes yours special? Just one more insignificant worm squished, if you ask me."
"You're DEAD, you hear me!? I'll fucking end, you bitch!"
As the mercs reloaded and the lull in gunfire became obvious, Cassandra, cackling madly, leaped out of her cover, aiming her deadly rifle with a practised ease and inhuman swiftness. In a feat of incredible marksmanship, a single .50 BMG round struck one of the Dire Wolves right in the neck, tearing his head off completely, to the sadistic brunette's wicked delight.
Cassandra Precision Dimitrescu, BITCH!
As the headless corpse fell down, a fountain of blood spurting from its stump of a neck; another mercenary primed an incendiary grenade, but Cassandra saw the motion plainly with her sharp yellow eyes.
The middle child did not miss a beat in ascending to the skies as her swarm left her damaged heavy armor behind, as well as the cumbersome rifle. Cassandra's torso, together with arms and head coalesced whole as the rest of her swarm carried her above the roaring inferno burning right where she was, mere moments ago. Like a Spectre of War, the monstrous woman hovered over the battlefield, her nimble fingers quickly grabbing her dual pistols, offered to her by the buzzing blowflies.
She opened fire gleefully, laughing in joy even as her enemies finally realized that they had bitten more than they could chew. The mercs gazed with unbridled horror at the floating upper body of the devilish Dimitrescu, the vicious insect swarm akin to a halo of darkness around her; merciless, cruel laughter reaching down deep into their hearts, as her bullets tore into their flesh.
"HA HA HA! Bow down before your queen, BITCHES!"
The return fire passed through her intangible shape even as she scored a number of hits herself. One mercenary fell over, dead before he hit the ground, a 9mm round making a neat little hole right in his temple, ruining his skull-motif bandana. Another cried out in pain, as numerous less-lethal shots peppered his frame. With blood gushing out of his legs and arms, he was out of the fight and would likely bleed out in minutes. The final little mouse scurried behind cover, cursing her with shaky breath: "Fuckin' monster!"
Not caring of the fact that she wasn't hitting anyone anymore, she kept firing until her pistols ran dry. Discarding them without a care in the world, Cassandra focused on her next target that was foolish enough to present itself, cackling all the while.
A Humvee vehicle drove roughly into the square, the machine gunner on top of it opening fire immediately; Cassandra's monstrous form weaved around, not making her an easy target. Suppressing a hiss of pain as her swarm was rapidly losing members the woman giggled in sadistic mirth at the chance to test her newest toy, instead.
Even as Cassandra kept dodging the barrage, her hands were quick to grab an RPG launcher that was still attached to her back. Taking a moment to make that single-shot weapon count, the brunette wraith held her breath as the rocket-propelled grenade streaked towards the vehicle. The armored car, exploding in a fireball made Dimitrescu's eyes open wide in joy and her mad cackling reached even higher pitch.
Discarding the now useless launcher, the woman fluttered towards the final standing merc, who was firing at her from behind a short stone wall with panicked eyes and cries of distress on his sweaty lips. Coalescing fully right above him, at around third-floor level, the monstrous woman used the momentum of her sudden fall as well as her inhumanly powerful leg muscles to deliver a bone-shattering kick that snapped his neck with a loud crunch.
Standing up gracefully, Cassandra dramatically cracked her fingers together as she grinned at the frowning form of the merc leader, who observed the devastation she just caused with folded arms, not taking part in the fight himself. She almost felt like giving a theatrical bow, like an actor would after a majestic performance, to a thunderous applause of the grateful audience.
"Worthless! I see I have to do everything myself, again."
The man's gruff voice was resolute as his battle rifle roared out high-caliber, incendiary rounds, making brunette's eyes grow wide in fear once again, her previous mirth quickly suppressed by one phobia she had. She didn't like fire and she had nothing to protect herself from it now.
Cassandra weaved and dodged, knowing perfectly well that her body was weak to military-grade incendiary compound. Avoiding most of the projectiles behind some wall, the brunette still hissed in pain as a single graze to her forearm sent spikes of unbearably agony throughout her body. Thankfully, the flames didn't take.
Growling in rage, the woman rushed Santiago the moment he had to reload. With yet another extraordinarily powerful kick, she knocked the deadly weapon far away from him.
The large man didn't miss a beat as a shock baton whooshed inches from her face, deadly electricity sparkling from it. Licking her black lips, the woman taunted, huskily, even as she dodged every attack, with inhuman agility. This was a fight she could take and she knew it.
"I think I finally remember your poor brother Paulo. Such a shame what happened to him. I think he was crying for you as he died! Please, save me, big bro!"
Cassandra's mocking tone enraged the man even further, with spittle flying everywhere as he roared and pressed his assault. Even the unbelievably fast brunette Dimitrescu had trouble keeping up now. Cassandra hated to admit that this human was good. Better than his shitty brother. Perhaps too good even, as she started to sweat from the exertion of keeping that deadly baton away from herself.
However, one major advantage she held in that little duel of theirs was that her mind was crystal clear as his own was clearly clouded by rage and hatred, courtesy of her ceaseless mockery and taunting, as well as his own short temper.
It was only a matter of time until he made a mistake and provided an opening she needed. With an open-palmed strike of unbelievable power against his temple, Cassandra stunned the man momentarily, allowing her knife that found its way into her other hand to pierce into the man's right wrist.
To Cassandra's own shock, instead of letting go of his deadly weapon, he jabbed it hard, right in her stomach. As God only knows how many volts of electricity went through her unprotected flesh, she spasmed and twitched as he kicked her body away, making it tumble in a heap.
The vicious man was quick to approach her downed form, stomping hard on her knife-wielding hand, making the bladed weapon drop to the ground. Picking up the dagger, the man admired the ornate weapon that still had dried blood of his brother on it. Throwing the blade far away, Santiago started edging his hand towards the incendiary grenade at his belt next, eager to end this vampiric menace. The man spat right on her face, as he hissed out with clear menace.
"Let's see how tough you are without your weapons, you little bitch!"
Cassandra, recovering from the incapacitating effect of the shock baton, just stared at him in bafflement and disgust. Wiping off the vile spittle with her gloved hand, the brunette quipped with disbelief at the man's stupidity.
"You think you've disarmed me of my weapons? Ha… Foolish man-thing… I am the weapon!"
Not letting the dumb brute process her words, Cassandra fully dispersed into her swarm form, but this time, she did not disengage. Her ravenous, angrily buzzing blowflies assaulted the commander from every angle, biting and burrowing themselves into his skin, his eyes; a trickle of them flying in through the ears and the nose to wreak havoc on his innards.
Santiago screamed out in pain as hundreds of filthy insects tore into his flesh, but that only allowed even more of them to pour inside of him, imperiling his organs as well.
Swinging his arms around, the man desperately tried to get them off, but his every effort was in vain as he was slowly but steadily eaten alive. Realizing that this was not a foe he could ever hope to beat and this was not a fight he would walk away from, his hand pulled the pin on his grenade, determined to at least take his killer to Hell with him.
The desperate motion was not lost on Cassandra, however, as a single keen-eyed insect saw it clearly, even as the rest of her swarm devoured the foolish brute. As if on command, her every single blowfly sped away from the doomed man, pouring out of his mouth and bursting from his skin. Mere seconds later the canister erupted into a roaring inferno that consumed everything within range.
As the panting brunette reassembled herself some distance away, she became keenly aware that more than a few of her flies perished along with the brute, not to mention the numerous insects lost to all the gunfire she took before. She felt weak and lightheaded… Sitting down on the ground, Cassandra, eyes hazy, dizzily mumbled to nobody in particular, as she was the last person alive on that bloodstained square.
"I'll just take a little break, I think… Just five more minutes, mom...Ugh."
She promptly lost consciousness.
Bela briefly wondered if that was how Daniela felt when her inner beast took over. To see naught but red and experience nothing but the burning desire to tear your foe apart, limb from limb. To obliterate them so utterly that nothing would be left of them, not even a bloody smear on the ground, nor a memory in the wind.
The blonde woman laid the body of Ethan, that she caught mere moments ago, gently upon the floor. Daniela was quick to scurry over, gushing over it and spraying the horrible wound with a first aid spray. Bela knew how useless that was. No human could survive a wound like that, not even Ethan, with his impressive regeneration. He was dead. Bela saw it in his frozen eyes.
Unheeding the danger to herself, the eldest Dimitrescu sibling marched out to confront the person who took Ethan from her. Cold flames of rage that could only be extinguished by her foe's demise ignited in the daughter's heart. She would not rest until she brings that person to justice.
The sniper hid well, but Bela's keen eyes always had remarkable attention to detail. Cold fury that burned within only magnified that quality, allowing her to spot a tiny, camouflaged form, perched on a roof of a three-storey building, some distance from her.
Bela's normally beautiful and serene visage twisted into a hateful sneer of such intensity it would've put fear even into even the bravest mortal soul that dared to gaze upon it now. A moment later and the woman became a swarm of angrily buzzing flies, heading straight towards the sniper's nest.
An incendiary round headed her way, but the elder Dimitrescu daughter was expecting it. Her swarm was spread thin and the fire that ignited only claimed four of her blowflies. Her brown shirt, struck dead-center, was ruined, however, and the insects discarded the burning article of clothing with no regard, letting it fall to the ground. Vengeance took precedence over modesty.
What came next was less expected… the assassin threw a large metallic orb her way, which quickly opened up to launch a wide, electrified net. At this distance it would've been impossible to divert the whole swarm away from it in time. For Daniela or even Cassandra, this would've been a dangerous threat.
Fortunately for her, Bela's proficiency with her hive-minded insects was second to none amongst the Dimitrescu daughters. Almost every single insect made it through the deadly obstacle, either flying around it or right through - only a dozen touching the electrified wires of the net and suffering the lethal electrocution.
Leaving the obstacle behind, she was finally upon the tiny figure of the assassin and Bela's form became whole once more, her hand swinging the sickle even before her feet touched the roof. The attack, executed with avenging wrath, was lighting-fast. No normal human would've been able to dodge it.
The assassin Styx was no normal human. The movement she performed to avoid the bladed weapon could only be described as a flash. Winning some distance away from the blonde avenger, the tiny freak smirked as she took in Bela's shirtless form, her bloodshot eyes lingering on the vampire's simple black bra and the assets held within.
"Damn... if I wasn't paid to kill you, I'd ask you on a date! Then again, you did kill my pets, so it's kinda personal now!"
Bela didn't respond, her mind was focused only on one thing - to dismember this hideous, murderous bitch. She rushed in forward, as fast as she ever was in her life, no, faster than ever, as her rage fueled her movements. She swung her sickle with grace and swiftness that was completely inhuman, her dagger soon joining the onslaught.
The barrage of lightning-fast slashes and stabs that would have left any average opponent in pieces three times over already didn't even put a scratch on that ghostly woman. In fact, Bela felt like she wasn't even close to putting a scratch on that smirking, perverted bitch who was ogling her chest even as she dodged yet another slash.
The elder Dimitrescu always knew that they were faster than humans by default, thanks to their mold-rich blood that energized their muscles. Yet this little woman was in a whole different league… Her movements were impossibly fast. And not just muscle speed, either.
Her reflexes were just as sharp and the tiny assassin read Bela's own movements perfectly the very moment the blonde initiated them. There was simply no possibility of landing a hit like this. The elder daughter pulled back as her bright mind pondered the next move. Styx took the opportunity to gloat in her childish, high-pitched voice that grated on Bela's ears, making the taller woman grit her teeth in frustration.
I'll shut this bitch up yet, somehow…
"You look angry, gorgeous. Don't tell me you and that dumbass Winters were a thing?" Seeing Bela's features harden from that remark, the little bitch's eyes widened in mirth as she realized that she had struck gold.
"Oh, you were! Damn, I usually charge extra for fixing unresolved sexual tension!"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP WHORE!
Bela, enraged like never before, grabbed her pistol and unloaded the whole clip, her finger pulling the trigger again and again, in rapid succession. Styx just laughed as she leaped sideways and let herself fall down the roof, not a single round striking her. Her mocking voice came from below next.
"That's rich, coming from someone flaunting her rack around! We ain't on a beach, sunshine!"
This is all just a game to her! I will butcher that bitch even if that's the last thing I do! I swear it on Ethan's memory!
Slamming a fresh clip in, the blonde vampire rushed to the edge, hoping to see that little bitch laying flat on the ground, with a few broken bones. Instead, Styx surprised her by jumping right back in, using a grappling hook of some kind to swing herself around, her booted feet hitting Bela right in the face, knocking her prone.
"Here, my present to celebrate your newfound status as a single woman!"
Styx dropped a small canister with crossed bones and a skull right next to Bela, before she used her grappling hook on another roof to rapidly escape the poison gas cloud that rushed from the grenade.
The only thing that saved Bela from the toxic and undoubtedly deadly substance was her own inhuman reaction and quick thinking. Seeing the symbol the woman immediately exhaled and held her breath, praying that this small measure would protect her.
But the deadly assassin wasn't done, just yet. The blonde Dimitrescu heard that same whirring noise that preceded the explosive attack on the house, earlier. She knew what was coming next. Not wasting a single precious moment, Bela, still prone, leaped over the edge and jumped down. A moment later, the whole roof turned into a roaring blaze as the suicide drone struck it.
As the elder sibling's feet touched the solid ground once again, her swarm slowing her down enough that a fall from the 4th floor was barely an inconvenience, she heard the annoying childish voice once again.
"Jesus Christ, still alive? You're one tough bitch, I'll grant you that. I bet that Ethan guy would've loved to have his way with you, too bad he is dead!"
Bela looked up to see that white-haired midget smirking down on her. The blonde woman wanted to scream in frustration and hatred. What she wouldn't give to wipe that disgusting sneer off… yet her own powers were clearly insufficient for that task. Suddenly, that arrogant, self-assured leer was replaced by a pained, choking grimace, almost making Bela believe in divine intervention.
The assassin looked like she was about to just fall over and die with no outside assistance, with blood coming from her eyes, nose and mouth, some of it trickling down even from ears. Bela wasn't above taking a cheap shot at this point and quickly took aim at the assassin, even as Styx jabbed a small syringe right into her own heart.
The elder daughter cursed as the assassin collapsed out of her line of sight the very moment her finger squeezed the trigger. Still, her sharp mind learned a lesson from this moment. Whatever was in that syringe, the tiny woman needed it, badly. Bela's cold rage did nothing to impair her mental acuity.
Perhaps this is where her utterly unbelievable speed comes from? No… Why would she be in such pain from not having a dose then? Maybe it's some kind of stabilizing agent? Plausible. It's a long shot but I could try to outlast this dose and prevent the next injection… I can't beat this bitch otherwise… I hope at least Cassandra is alright… Would've been nice to have her at my side now...
Bela willed a dozen of her most agile blowflies to life as the plan was hatched in her bright head. Her tiny insects dispersed, unnoticed. The blonde woman attempted to use the assassin's talkative nature against her to win some time, next. The hatred in her voice was genuine, as was the intent in them.
"You little bitch. I'll make you pay for what you did."
The comeback, full of indignation, was instantaneous.
"Oh please. Look at that fucking Mother Teresa down there. What I did? Maybe you should read our file on your own dumbass family. What did it say...let me recall… Ah yes: 'Estimated number of victims between 1950 to 2020: over nine hundred.' Huh."
The assassin was standing upright once again, her long rifle already aimed at Bela. The tall woman knew she wouldn't last long unless she got into melee, where that rifle was too cumbersome to use. Using her swarm form, she rushed to the roof where the killer-for-hire stood. Gunfire and accusations were hurled at Bela's swarm on her way up.
"Honestly, you probably killed more people than I did, lady, and that's literally my fucking job. Really, I am just an avatar of Karma, finally catching up to you."
As Bela coalesced on the roof, she hissed in pain as the fiery rounds claimed several dozen of her flies on the way. The little woman's piercing words struck painfully close to home, as well.
If she is the universe's karmic hand, I'll just tear it off and smack it across the destiny's fucking face. Goddamn whore talking about karma after killing Ethan… That man never deserved any of the shit that happened to him.
Once again, a bloodless melee ensued, as Bela swung her blades around in vicious arcs, with skill and grace that would befuddle most opponents but today it just wasn't enough. Styx simply dodged every single attack, not returning a single blow as her own melee skills were apparently non-existent; she relied on her gadgets and rifle to do the job for her, instead.
Apparently getting tired of avoiding the sharp gardening tool, the assassin dropped a smoke bomb; the distinct sound of the grappling hook making it clear that she repositioned once again. Bela could only let out a guttural roar of impotent rage at this situation. She never wanted to tear someone limb-from-limb with her bare hands as much as she did tonight.
Is this how humans who stumbled into our castle felt when they ran into us with their pistols or shotguns? Trying so hard but ultimately incapable of wounding us?
Goddamn it all...
The moment smoke cleared Bela's sharp amber orbs searched around for her foe. As she spotted her tiny form, and her menacing smirk, the blonde woman wasted no time in lurching to the side as yet another deadly round was aimed right at her head. Only her inhuman reflexes saved her from what turned out to be a potent acid round, now eating through her right shoulder instead of her brain. Bela couldn't help but scream out in pain, her anguished shriek heard far and wide as the potent acid ate its way right to her bone.
Daniela was almost catatonic as she cuddled the unresponsive body of Ethan Winters in her arms. Violent sobs wracked her body as she felt him growing colder and colder.
She refused to accept it all. The universe couldn't be so cruel to have them run into this kind and loving man, just to take him away so soon after. Ethan embraced the three sisters, when so many others viewed them as nothing but monsters to be put down.
And he made the best of them to come out. Bela was finally opening up to the world. Even Cassandra started to mellow out. Daniela herself was just so happy to be in his comforting and caring presence. He made her believe that one day she could be better than she was. That's all she ever wanted.
The universe can go to hell! I won't accept this, I won't!"
The redhead quickly brought their last first aid spray out and generously poured it all over his wound, which was almost closed already from the first bottle she immediately applied. It didn't do much for the man…
Daniela's voice, fighting to be heard through the waterfall of tears was as broken as her soul.
"Just wake up, Ethan! Think of all the mischief we could get into! You promised to help me control myself! How happy Bela will be to see you again! Even Cassie would love to invite you to a hunt or two, I know it! What about that camping trip you wanted us to come to? Please...just wake up...brother!"
The man was unresponsive. He was deathly cold to her touch, almost painfully so.
Suddenly, a familiar cry of pain pierced the cacophony of the violent night.
Bela is in trouble!
Hating the idea of leaving Ethan just lying here, the redhead did so anyway, gently laying his still body on the floor, before rushing out to aid her older sister, likely fighting the person who did this. Daniela herself felt hatred and bile rising up from inside her. She will make that man or woman share her pain.
Outside, close to where Bela's scream came from, Daniela turned a corner and her own dark blood chilled in her veins.
On a roof of a small building above, her older sister was badly wounded as she clutched at a shoulder, while hissing in obvious agony. The pain was so great the elder daughter didn't even react to their enemy aiming a gun, right at her unmoving head, this time.
World itself froze for Daniela, as she saw that she was too far away to get at that tiny woman that hurt Ethan and who was imperiling Bela now. The white-haired assassin took her sweet time, clearly enjoying the moment. Her lithe finger played around with the gun's trigger, not pressing it just yet. The hideous, sadistic sneer on her face would've given even Cassandra a run for her money in its cruelty.
There was only one thing the redhead could do. Taking out her own pistol in a single, lighting-fast motion, the youngest sister took aim. She only had one shot before this killer would end Bela. Daniela could barely hit the broad side of a barn before. She had to score a hit now. She had to.
Just like Cassandra and then Ethan taught her, she let out half a breath as she squeezed the trigger on her pistol, a millisecond before the assassin herself repeated the motion, intending to seal Bela's fate.
Daniela's bullet missed Styx.
It hit her rifle, instead, thrusting the weapon to the side, disrupting the assassin's aim and making the bullet meant for Bela's head go wide off the mark.
Styx did not waste a moment to address the newest threat, rotating to face Daniela in a heartbeat, making the redhead gasp in shock at the sheer speed of the assassin's motion.
Nevertheless, the youngest daughter's features hardened in her own hot, boiling rage. She was done being a helpless little girl who needed saving. Just because she avoided resorting to violence lately didn't mean she wasn't good at it.
Daniela was good at inflicting death and misery, a quality that belied her kind nature and pleasant looks. The Beast that was lurking right on the edge of her consciousness was let in voluntarily, today. Urged in, even. For once, the two sides of her had a common goal. Mutilation.
Redhead's normally pleasant and even cute features were twisted into a raging grimace now that she, partially transformed and ignoring the painful sting of small acid rounds devastating her flies, swarmed up to the roof occupied by Styx. As soon as her once again solid feet touched the stone, Daniela let out a deafening, ear-piercing, banshee-like screech that actually made the tiny assassin hold her hands over her ears for a moment, with several windows shattering in the background.
"DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Not letting the tiny woman recover, the youngest Dimitrescu unleashed a barrage of her own blows, a sickle in one hand, a buttstock of a pistol in another as a secondary, impromptu melee weaponry.
Daniela's eyes were glinting with decades-old insanity as her erratic strikes with no fitness or even skill in them made Styx's own bloodshot eyes widen in shock. The crazed redhead's madness-fueled slashes had no pattern to them, no movements to read. All they held were raw, primal savagery. Their relentless onslaught, as well as the incredible speed of their delivery forced even the normally untouchable assassin on the defensive.
While Bela's surgical, precise strikes couldn't ever hope to best Styx's formidable defense, the tiny assassin found herself starting to sweat from the sheer intensity of the ceaseless barrage of blows she was subjected to now. Dodging the brutal pistol slam, Styx just barely got out of the sickle's swooshing slice, aimed right at her forehead. Something stung. A trickle of blood went down her brow, partially obstructing her right eye. The white-haired woman couldn't keep the gasp of shock from leaving her wide open, panting mouth.
Impossible! This can't be happening… I can't possibly lose, can't I?
Before panic at the unexpected power of her newest adversary could set in, Styx noticed that the redhead's body started slowing down, as the feral Dimitrescu was panting hard herself. Clearly, Daniela's unbelievable burst of speed and strength was not something she could sustain for long. All Styx had to do was to bid for time and the crazy girl would run herself ragged soon enough.
Smirking, the assassin used her grappling hook to disengage once again, this time going down, towards the dark alleyway. Styx used the opportunity to check for the blonde bombshell and hummed in satisfaction as the sexy bug-bitch was where she had left her, now kneeling and still clutching her shoulder, clearly out of the fight for now. Bela's vicious yellow eyes followed her every move, however, making the tiny assassin slightly unnerved.
Daniela was right at the pale woman's heels, unheeding of any danger, knowing only rage and hatred. She struck at her again and again, even as the redhead felt the strength slowly but surely leaving her body. Styx, in her turn, did not stay in place and ran around the alleys and scaled rooftops instead; tiring the youngest daughter out from the cat and mouse chase the assassin imposed.
Panting heavily, Daniela, who had slowed down enough to lose track of Styx for a couple of moments, turned yet another alley corner, growling in rage like a feral animal. The frenzied redhead didn't notice a small, hastily set-up tripwire.
The sparks of deadly electricity that run throughout her lithe body upon the next step made her convulse in spasms, before tumbling in a smoking heap, completely exhausted and broken.
Styx's mocking laughter was the last thing the bestial girl wanted to hear right now. All she wanted was the assassin's blood and flesh, ALL OF IT.
"Crazy bitch… You marred my perfect face! Let me help out with your own ugly mug then; a touch of flesh-eater acid would go well with your carrot top, I think."
Styx loaded in another round but before she could carry out her threat, a couple of 9mm bullets impacting around the petite woman forced her into cover.
Bela still knelt on that same roof, her shoulder in a horrifying open wound of melted skin and flesh. She fired her pistol with her left hand, inaccurate but effective at distracting. Her yellow eyes were glowing with determination.
Styx, from her cover, wanted to yell something vaguely insulting or perverted, as the blonde's shapely hourglass figure still excited her, yet all she could gasp out was a blob of her own blood. As colors and sounds started to fade once again, she inched her hand for a new injection, hopefully her last one today. Something unexpected happened next.
As she grabbed a fresh syringe, a dozen blowflies immediately came all over her tiny hand, yanking the injector out and carrying it off, somehow. Even though her grip was sloppy and feeble, sapped of strength, the notion that a bunch of insects could overpower it was laughable... or it would have been, if that just didn't actually happen.
The tiny assassin was completely flabbergasted at this most shocking turn of events. The surprise turned to horror quickly, however, as upon grabbing the next injector and about to stab it into her heart, the woman felt her frail wrist bone break as a towering form, suddenly looming over her, gripped it with inhuman strength. The life-saving syringe fell to the ground.
Bela was upon her and this time, Styx could do nothing but stare up into the narrowed, merciless orbs of the woman she wronged with her own, suddenly terror-filled bloodshot eyes.
For once in her short but perilous life, Alice Grant was truly afraid.
Ethan opened his eyes slowly and found himself in an unfamiliar place. Glancing around, all he saw was a flat, endless expanse of low-hanging dark gray mist, as far as an eye could see.
Looking closer, he was horrified to spot hideously fleshy ground, interlaced with some kind of black moldy substance, below the fog. The 'sky' above was dark and cloudy, with an occasional spark of lightning running through it horizontally. There was no sound of thunder to accompany it. The air felt heavy, almost oppressively so.
What happened? Where was he? How did he get here?
This was a place of darkness and no source of light was visible anywhere, yet Ethan saw it all clearly, regardless. The only thing that broke the uniformity of it all was a spot of whiteness in the distance. Somehow the sight of that splotch of pure white unnerved the man even more than the rest of the grim and joyless landscape.
Looking at it more clearly, the man was horrified to realize that it wasn't merely white, as in color. It was… nothing. He stared at nothingness itself. The next observation was even more terrifying: the absence of everything was growing, spreading, fast. It consumed the dark landscape, inch by inch, as it crawled outwards, in every direction and dimension.
Suddenly, the sound of someone knocking on the glass took him out of his morbid trance. Turning towards the noise, Ethan was shocked to actually see an enormous wall of glass, stretched as far and as high as an eye could see. The man would swear that this transparent barrier was not here before. Behind the endless wall of glass stood a small figure that made the man gulp in anxiety, for he knew her well.
Eveline grinned wide at him, even as her small palms were pressed against the glass that separated them. Her mouth opened, but whatever she spoke was muffled too badly for the man to hear. Realizing the predicament, the girl took one tiny hand of the glass and beckoned him closer with a single index finger, her playful smile not leaving her face all the while.
Looking behind him once more, the man shuddered as nothingness was creeping ever closer to him. What would happen once it reached him? Somehow, he was not looking forward to learn the answer to that question.
Reluctant, but not seeing an awful lot of options, he approached the wall of glass. Eveline pointed at her ear and then the glass, making the obvious implication. Ethan, doing as instructed, pressed his ear against the transparent barrier. Her voice was barely audible, but now he could make out the words, nevertheless. They sent a shiver down his spine.
"Let me in."
Backing off, Ethan saw something that was definitely not there a second ago. A single door knob on his side broke the absolute uniformity of the glass wall. It was curiously painted in an umbrella-like pattern: white clashing with deep blue. With a start, the man realized that this white/blue door knob was the only thing of color in this desolate place of white and black, with the endless shades of grey in between.
Looking back at Eveline, he found her own mirthful eyes glancing to that little door knob, before returning to his own. Her grin was even wider and her tiny fingers were twitching in anticipation.
The man couldn't suppress another gulp as the feeling of existential dread overtook him completely. Somehow he knew that if he turned that knob, there would be no coming back. This was a monumental decision. Or was it? Staring behind his shoulder yet again, the man was horrified to see the white doom rate of advance increasing. It would reach him in minutes.
For all her malice, Eveline offered him a chance at life, while the creeping nothingness behind him promised only eternal oblivion.
The man could only hope that he was making the right choice as his hand inched towards the knob. Turning the rusty thing with some effort, Ethan half-expected an invisible door to pop out. Instead, as he rotated it fully, fracture lines started to spread from it, running all the way through the glass wall.
Before long, the whole enormous barrier shuddered as it collapsed under its own weight, millions of sharp shards falling to the fleshy ground in a dizzying display. The sound of cracking glass was deafening. In mere moments, the immeasurable wall was gone and even the endless shards left behind faded away, as if they never were there in the first place. Ethan, his hand still clutching a knob that was no longer in existence just gawked in shock. It was just Eveline and the creeping oblivion now, with him in between.
The girl murmured at him in a playful voice that, nevertheless, failed to disguise hints of malice from him.
"How good to see you again, daddy! Did you miss me? No, of course you didn't… but I missed you." There was a genuine tone to that last remark, laced with hurt. Her next words held nothing but spite, however.
"I see you've run into quite some trouble if you're willing to let lil' ol' me back in again…"
Author's Note:
So this is a pretty big chapter... But even though I personally try not to make chapters too long, I really felt like this one was just right in its length. I hope it will be as enjoyable for you to read as it was for me to write :D
This will be the last major combat-oriented chapter in the first arc of my story, and truth to be told, I had it running in the back of my head for a while now! Feel free to share in the comments which part you liked the most (or hated the least :s), I am genuinely curious!