Chapter 2
Reims, France 2012
The 25 year old Lana ran down the alleyway as fast as she could. *Arrêtes maintenant, fille! (Stop now, girl!) She did not look behind her as she heard footsteps trailing closely to her, *Arrêtes! (Stop!) Lana kept running. She knew what they were after. Ducking inside another alleyway, she stopped; her way blocked. Turning around, four men blocked her escape *Nour Vous avons maintenant, fille. (We have you now, girl.) Lana's eyes grew wide as they approached her. Someone cracked their knuckles as one of the men reached for her. She grabbed his arm and wrenched hard before he could even touch her. The man screamed in pain as he grasped his broken arm, *Chienne (Bitch). He looked at her with an angry glare as he told the other three men to capture her.
Lana watched as the last man fell onto the ground. He groaned in pain as she stepped over him, *Au revoir (Goodbye). Picking up the man's gun, she quickly disassembled it and tosses the magazine in one bin and the empty pistol into the grinder. A faded card fell from one of the men's coat pocket and onto the cobblestone pavement. Lana picked it up and reads the details off the card, 'Reyals Center: Research & Development.' Lana walked back to her apartment, not noticing that someone was watching her from afar. Pushing her dark hair back, she sighed trying to figure out why the last few years she had to move from city to city within France; always running from these strange men, ~m~What do they want from me?
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Viktor wrapped his arm around his sister as they made their way through the Mountains. Her body was weak as she looked up at her brother, *Please stop. I cannot go any further. He brushed his sister's hair as he looked down at her face. His love for her reflected for a bit before it quickly disappeared, ~ml~We must keep moving. We are not far. The inn loomed in front of them as they approached. Darkness and mist rolled through the village as they drew nearer, *Ce te aduce aici, la această oră târzie? (What brings you here at this late hour?) Viktor stopped walking as he told his sister to get inside, ~ml~De-te Acum (Go now.) He waited until his sister rushed into the inn, *Arată-te (Show yourself) A flash of white teeth could be seen emerging from the shadows as Malick grinned, *I see that you haven't change much through the centuries. Viktor stood back in shock, *You are suppose to be dead. Malick seemed please with himself before he answered, *I am suppose to be many things, but dead, I assure you. I am not.
Malick and Viktor began to battle as Viktor took him away from the village and his sister. Their fingers locked together in a sheer clash of the titans as electricity and thundered rolled and pitched above in the dark skies. Viktor pulled away as he grasped his chest. Five long furrows were drawn across his chest as they ripped through muscle. Clutching his chest hard, Viktor concentrated on stopping the blood flow. His fingertips were marred in his blood as it dripped dark red droplets onto ground. He felt something run down the side of his face as he stared at Malick, his face harsh and unyeilding as tried to find a weakness in his opponet. Malick grinned as he stared at Viktor, *I see that you are still as naive as before. Viktor looked down as his skin started to burn. The blood still ran red as it spilled onto the ground faster. *Hurts doesn't it? A flash of lightening revealed something malevolent about Malick as he stood there and faced the hunter.
Viktor crawled from the darkest recesses of the cavern as he felt the heavy hand of Malick grasping his ankle. He tried to shake it off as they fought. Without warning, he was dragged back into the bowels of the cavern's darkness as Malick pulled him across the floor like a ragdoll. Calling forth fire, Viktor forced Malick to relinquish his hold on his ankle. Malick let go quickly and smiled as the hunter stood up fast to face him. Viktor growled in anger, but stopped as blood-red tears fell from his eyes. Malick grinned as his hand plunged deep into the hunter's chest, passing his rib cage and reaching for his pulsating heart, *If I go down, you are joining me. Viktor stared down in horror, even though his face was a mask of a harsh glare.
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Lana's eyes opened as she awoke in her bed to searing pain as she gripped her chest. Falling off the bed, she twisted and turned as she tried to stop the painful fire that ripped through her chest cavity. Her body began to sweat as she tried to find the source of the pain. She reached blindly towards her desk as she tried to turn on the light. A flash of a vision hit her instantly in that moment, *The bloody hand of man reached in and squeezed the life of the hunter as he tried hard to extract the heart. The gurgling sounds were sickening as the hand squeezed harder on the pumping organ. The hunter's face was streaked with sweat as he tried to expel the other man's hand from his heart.* The vision grew darker as Lana reached out through the vision to speak to the unknown man with dark amber eyes, ~ml~Fight back! Please fight back.
Viktor's eyes widen as he felt the same familiar feminine touch as the words echoed in his mind. Her voice was soft, yet angry at him, her body in pain as he felt her trying to will him to fight back, *Let go. Leave me. Slamming a barrier in place, Viktor threw the unknown woman from his mind. The pain stopped as Lana sucked in a breath as she forced air to fill her lungs. Sitting up slowly, she tried to pull her bedroom back into focus as she pushed her long hair from her face. Biting her lower lip, she frowned as she thought of the man. ~m~Was he alright? She scrambled to her feet to head for the bathroom only to stop in mid-stride as the sound of her front door drew her attention. *She is in here. The post said Cadet on the front. Swearing silently to herself she grabbed her bag that she stowed under her bedside stand and she had to run again. Rushing to her bedroom window, Lana crawled through it quickly and quietly. Without looking back, she ran far and as fast as she could.
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Viktor clawed at the snowy ground as he dragged his broken body from the cavern entrance. His body was bloody and bruised as he lay on the cool ground as he tried to regain his breath. Closing his eyes, he summoned the strength to remove what he just saw. Fire and brimstone could still be heard spewing from the darkness as the final screams died out. Malick screamed as he pounded against his cold prison. *You will pay for this Viktor. Mark my words. You will pay!