Dark Inheritance
Chapter 24
Warning: Mature themes discussed
Cars with flashing lights filled the parking area. Law enforcement and emergency personnel rushed to secure the perimeter. The call had every major force running to respond: Police, EMTs, firefighters, FBI, all of them converged on the twin corporate buildings out by the bay. It was deemed necessary; according to the tip, it was the biggest crackdown the city had seen in years.
Detective Johnson got out of his car and joined the others. He looked at the buildings they had surrounded; large, corporate-style facilities, connected by a skywalk. It had once looked new and pristine. That was hardly the case now. Windows were cracked and broken, rubble had fallen off the walls, lights were flickering inside; the whole facility had been compromised. He could only hope casualties had been minimal. He headed over to one of the other officers.
"What's the situation?" he asked.
"We entered the building ten minutes ago." The man responded. "Looks like the damage is pretty extensive. No threat of collapse, though."
"Any encounters?"
"Some resistance from the staff inside." The officer said. "These guys had their own security force. Others were just regular staff. They cooperated pretty quickly once we showed up."
"Hostages?"
The officer looked grim. "Several people were being held inside. Many were children, some young adults. Most of them were okay. Others were found in a…'secured facility'. Not pleasant to see, sir."
Detective Johnson scowled. It had been as bad as he'd feared. He heard a car pull up no too far behind him. He looked and saw some people get out. A young woman with red hair, a teenager with brown hair, and an older gentleman in butler's garb. He thanked the officer and headed over to them.
"Mrs. Belmont." He greeted her.
Alice came forward. "Have you found him?"
"No word on that yet. We're still securing the buildings." Alice and the others looked disappointed. "He could still be okay. We'll find him, I promise."
Diana looked at the building. JC, please be okay. She thought nervously.
…
The underwater facility was smaller than the main one, but was still plenty big. The twins headed through several areas, looking for where Marcus could have gone. Some remaining staff member still remained, but they gave the two a wide berth; everyone had heard about what happened. The siblings ignored them; they no longer mattered.
At one point they passed by a window looking out into the bay. It was dark; at this depth, surface light was dim, helped only by exterior lights that lined the windows. Judith turned towards the view and stared out for a moment.
"What's wrong, sis?" JC asked.
Judith stared out for a moment. "I can't believe this." She said, irritation evident in her tone. "All this work, all this advancement, just to… just to do what they did to us." She leaned against the window in exasperation.
JC nodded. Regardless of what his relatives had said, their plan boiled down to simple kidnapping and experimentation. All just to further their own advancement. Marcus could dress up his motivation all he wanted. He was a common criminal, nothing more. "Well, so much for their plans." He answered her. "The project's ruined and the cops are onto them. They lost, we won."
"Have we?" Judith said, looking forlornly at him. "What do we have left after this? Our whole family's going down, including mom and dad. It's not like we can just go back like nothing happened."
JC understood. It was what he'd been thinking on the way over. Even if the plan was stopped, the damage was done. "Everyone responsible will rot in prison. That's our justice."
Judith shook her head. "Marcus tried turning me into a baby-maker." She said, seething. "Prison won't be enough. I want him to know exactly how much I appreciated that."
"Let's go, then." JC agreed.
…
The two continued through the facility, checking the maps displayed every so often. They narrowed down Marcus's location to one main place: The main control room. A few 'friendly questions' to the remaining staff confirmed he'd headed there.
The passage to the room was down a corridor deep in the facility. At the end was a large lounge-like area. No portholes looked out into the ocean; the area was too deep inside. A familiar face was sitting in one of the chairs. When she saw them, her expression turned cold.
"You two." She said, contempt in her voice.
"Melissa." JC said. "Interesting you decided to stick around."
"Where else am I going to go?" she said. "I guess you woke up prematurely."
"I have insomnia." JC quipped.
Melissa turned to Judith. "I suppose you're not…"
"Not at all." Judith smirked.
Melissa shook her head in frustration. "You have a coward's luck, both of you. Everything just seems to work out, no matter what happens. And everyone else around you suffers."
"Melissa, we'd love to snipe at you more, but we have other concerns." JC said. "So we'll be moving on, if that's alright."
"It's not alright!" Melissa yelled, energy crackling around her. "You two always win, no matter what! You're not bypassing me this time!"
JC drew his blade and started to step forward when Judith held him back. "She's mine." She said.
JC looked at her. Judith told him how Melissa had taunted her when she was in the lab. The determined look in her eyes told him she needed this. It was personal. He nodded, taking out the wand their parents had made for her. "Do what you must." He said, promising himself he'd step in if needed.
"Not going to hide behind your brother this time?" Melissa taunted. "Don't think that stick's going to make any difference."
"We'll see about that." Judith stated, her own power flaring up.
JC stepped out of the way. The two girls faced off. Then Melissa raised her hands and gathered a ball of lightning. "Eat this!" she yelled, hurling the blast at Judith. Judith smiled and, with a quick gesture, created a shimmering field before her, blocking most of the blast. "My turn." She said. Holding her hands and her wand forward, he muttered something incomprehensible. Power coalesced at her hands and shot forward in a flurry of bolts. Melissa dodged most of them but a couple got through, knocking her back. She got up, a look of surprise on her face. "How…?"
"I was training as a wizard." Judith said matter-of-factly. "You think I was just sitting idly feeling sorry for myself?"
"Shut up!" Melissa yelled, fists charging with power. She thrust her hands forward and Judith's shield flickered and faded almost completely. "Let's see how well you do in close combat!" Melissa sneered, charging her cousin. JC prepared to intercept when Judith, at the last moment, Judith seemed to sink into the floor as a large, dark shadow, causing Melissa's attack to miss her completely. "Get back here!" Melissa snarled, trying to stomp on Judith's shadow form. The shadow slipped around her before rising back up in Judith's normal form – along with five other identical ones. Melissa was surrounded. She threw a powered punch at one of them. The blow connected – and the figure disappeared. Melissa tried to turn but one of the others hit her from behind, her fist glowing like a miniature sun. The impact sent Melissa sprawling to the ground.
"Had enough yet?" Judith asked.
Melissa chuckled. She pulled a small case out of her pocket, opened it and popped a dark red pill into her mouth. "Not even close." She said. Power seemed to radiate off her as she got back up. "Round two." She said. Judith took a stance when a deep fog filled the room. JC recognized the power. He turned on his enhanced sight. Judith was frantically looking about; she was blinded by the fog. Melissa smiled triumphantly as she charged again, striking and destroying Judith's images one by one. Only Judith was left. "No you're mine!" Melissa called. She moved in to hit Judith – who gestured and a wall of flame erupted around her. Melissa cried out in pain as she jumped back. She looked ready to try again but saw that flames had done more than burn her – they'd burned away the fog around Judith, who was now looking right at her. Gritting her teeth, Melissa again charged her, but Judith was ready. Black tendrils erupted from Melissa's own shadow and ensnared her, holding her in place. She struggled but it was no use. Judith raised her hands and concentrated. Melissa watched helpless as points of bright light forma on Judith's fingertips and shot towards her, striking her squarely in the chest. The tendrils released as she went flying backwards and struck the nearby wall.
"That's enough, sis." JC said, stepping forward. "It's over."
"It's not over!" Melissa exclaimed, popping another pill and she struggled to her feet. With a look of murderous determination, she charged up for an attack – then doubled over as a coughing fit overtook her. Drops of blood flew out of her mouth as she fell to her knees. A panicked look came on her face when she saw it. "No, please, not now…" she pleaded. JC and Judith stepped forward to check on her. Her skin had gone pale and she was short of breath. JC recognized the symptoms.
"The vector." He said solemnly. "That's what you've been taking."
Melissa coughed and looked up at him. All her old confidence was gone, replaced by a sick desperation. "How else was I supposed to measure up to you?" she wheezed.
The twins helped Melissa to her feet and carried her over to one of the chairs. They sat her as comfortably as they could. "We'll get you some help." Judith said.
"Don't bother." Melissa said, her words devoid of any remaining conviction. "I can feel it; my body's shot."
"Why?" JC said, exasperated. "Didn't you know about the side effects?"
"I knew." Melissa answered. She struggle to breath before continuing. "I told you about my father leaving. My mom and I were ignored by the rest of the family. Only those in the project were of any interest to them."
"Like us." Judith said.
Melissa nodded. "We were so desperate to get back in with the family I got tested for the godgene." She shook her head. "Mine was too latent, incomplete. Just barely enough to qualify any interest from them. They allowed my mom to take part in some of the operations, as a courtesy."
"Our birthday…" JC realized.
"Not only did you two get the most attention, you cost me the one remaining family member that gave a damn about me."
"I told you it was an accident." JC insisted.
Melissa coughed some more. "I know. I always knew. But after that, I had nothing left. Then they told me about the vector they developed. It could make even latent powers manifest."
"They made you take them." Judith said.
Melissa shook her head. "I volunteered. I wanted to show them I was worth something, that you two weren't the only 'remarkable' people in the family." Her breathing was getting shallow. "I knew it would end like this, one way or another."
"It didn't have to." Judith said.
Melissa chuckled painfully. "Perhaps not. But I vowed I would make something of myself in this, even at the cost of my life." She looked at her degrading body. "Guess I got what I asked for."
"Cousin, we're sorry." Judith insisted.
"Don't waste your breath." Melissa said reassuringly. "My troubles are finally over. I'm glad I accomplished something with my life, short as it was." Her coughing got weaker. She looked at JC. "Marcus is in the main control room down the hall. He's alone and unarmed. He'll be no match for either of you."
"Thank you." JC said.
"Get him for this." Melissa said softly. "For all of us." She smiled, leaned back in the chair, and closed her eyes. They didn't open back up.
…
The control room was where Melissa said it would be. The twins approached the security door and searched for a means to open it. To their surprise, it was already unlocked. They entered and saw Marcus sitting at a larger terminal, calmly watching the screen as windows of data flew by. He turned and watched as they approached.
"I was wondering when you'd get here." He said pleasantly. "Melissa…"
"She's dead." JC said. "Your vector killed her."
Marcus shook his head sadly. "We warned her that too much would destroy her system. But she wanted to best you so bad. She was so determined to get her way she thought nothing of the consequences." He eyed JC. "Sound familiar?"
"Don't compare me to her." JC said angrily. "She wanted revenge because she thought she had nothing left. I came at you to take back what still mattered to me. It's as simple as that."
"Your reasons are your own, cousin." Marcus said. He looked at the two with an almost amused look. "You know, all our research, all our studies, everything indicated we should have split the two of you up when you were younger. We could have effectively brought you into this project with little interference. But, your parents insisted it wasn't necessary." He shrugged. "Oh well, hindsight is 20-20, after all."
"How can you be so callous?" Judith said angrily. "You act like we were some science experiment that went bad. You treated my brother like an escaped animal and me like prized hog."
"Judith, my dear, my only regard was that for the rest of the family. With this project we could have elevated ourselves to level of the Progenitors themselves. All of humanity could have benefited from that." He slumped in his chair, a defeated look on his face. "Alas, fate has dictated otherwise." The computer behind him chimed. He turned, extracted a small device, and tossed it at JC. "This should have everything you need."
JC looked at the object. It was a flashdrive, one that held tons of data, one of the highest on the market.
"That contains everything about the project." Marcus explained. "I figured you called in the police after you got loose. That should help them close the case."
JC and Judith were surprised. "You're giving up that easily?" JC asked incredulously.
"I know when I'm beat." Marcus pointed out. "Let's be honest: You've resisted me in every possible way and I'm no match for either of you. Best to throw in the towel while I still can."
"You think that's going to help you now?" Judith said threateningly. "I haven't forgotten the treatment you've given me the past few months, especially what almost happened in you 'fertility lab'."
"And I haven't forgotten my 'experience' in Purgatory." JC added.
Marcus looked at them stoically. "You want revenge, is that it? Will that make you feel better? If that's the case, go ahead." He leaned back and spread his arms out. "We all know you're capable of such an act. Here's your chance. Avenge yourselves and your friends if you must."
JC pulled out his beretta and aimed it squarely at Marcus's head. He looked into Marcus's eyes and saw what he despised this whole time; his smug arrogance, his callous disregard for other people. If anyone deserved one between the eyes, it was him.
Do it he thought. He's tormented you and your sister, he tried to have you killed; Chelsea, Kayslee, and Andre have suffered because of him.
Marcus sat there, unmoving, making no attempt to plead for his life or even escape. His life was his for the taking.
His finger tried to press the trigger. His instinct screamed at him to end things here and now. Wasn't this why he'd survived all this time? To make Marcus pay for what he'd done?
I wanted you to have a chance at a normal life.
Slowly, dejectedly, JC lowered the gun. He looked at Judith, who nodded in agreement. Stowing the gun, JC took out the magnetic restraints head taken from the clinic. "Hands forward." He ordered. Marcus complied without complaint. JC slapped on the cuffs and secured them with a press of the button. Judith put a hand on his shoulder and stepped forward.
SLAP!
Marcus's head jerked to the side. He showed no further expression as a deep red mark appeared on his cheek. She stepped back, satisfied. JC glared at his cousin.
"Marcus Reinhardt, you're under citizen's arrest."
~To be concluded