Purple storm clouds swirled east of the city. Lenobia brushed her hair behind her ear and glanced to the west, the sun was slowly dropping into the distance. She turned from the other side of the balcony she was able to see the Ambrose mansion not far in the distance.
She closed her eyes as another vision flashed across her mind: flames, smoke, screams, burning rubble, and blood.
Opening her eyes, she saw the mansion standing perfect and untouched once more. She heard the door open in the room behind her.
"They're not be prepared for this," Louis said.
"No, they aren't," she said. She clenched her hands into her dress and inhaled a deep breath. "How is Hermione?"
"Recovering from the last change," he said. "Her visions are getting more precise. She's seen what's going to happen. Alana and Van had to restrain her from trying to escape."
"She's afraid for them," Lenobia said.
"She wants to be there for the reckoning. I cannot blame her. Keep her sedated we cannot allow her to throw herself into danger unnecessarily," Lenobia said. "And have Alana make sure that Van doesn't change his mind. They are too valuable to be allowed to wander towards the battle."
"It's not Van that I'm concerned about, Alana has also been uneasy about this since the beginning."
"You must keep your fiancé away from there, Louis. It's dangerous for her to step into this battle."
"What have you seen, Lenobia?"
Lenobia took a moment before answering. "Too much rests in uncertainty. Allowing them to take unnecessary risks may result in their death, and the deaths of us all."
Fei examined the trucks in front of him. A large semi with a metal container, a black military truck, an armored prison transport, a blue moving truck, and an ambulance. Men and women dressed in black and green uniforms, and SWAT gear moved around him packing weapons and supplies into each truck.
"Fei!" Nia and Sam walking towards him. "Where do you want Sam and I?" Asked Nia.
"The third truck, the prison transporter."
"Prison transport?" asked Sam. "What's that for?"
"It would be a suspicious if they were to see a bunch of military assault vehicles rolling down the highway."
"Oh…. that's smart," Sam said looking at the men and women around them.
To him, a rescue mission probably didn't need so many weapons, but he didn't really know what to expect so he made no comment. He turned around and saw a dark-haired woman jump down from the cab of the semi-truck. He squinted at her, she looked familiar but he couldn't place where he had seen her from.
She turned towards him and glanced up momentarily, then walked over to Fei and Nia. "Is everything in order?"
"Yeah, our charges should be set a few minutes before the sun goes down," Fei told her.
"If they're vampires then don't you want to attack when the sun's up still?" asked Sam.
"We are attacking while there's sunlight, however, we have some…. allies that are supernaturals…. they're helping us with the mission and they are more powerful while in the dark," explained Fei.
"We also don't want to accidentally kill your sister if they've changed her," said Nia.
Sam's face fell. If Serena had been turned there wouldn't be much they could do to help her. He saw the woman with dark hair glance at Nia suspiciously. "Who is that, Nia?"
Nia glanced back and her face darkened. "Momiji, Sophia's daughter."
"She doesn't seem to like you too much. She's been glaring at you since she saw you."
Nia looked at Momiji, ever since she had pretended to sympathize with the Vampires Momiji had continuously kept an eye on Nia. She was glad that her acting had helped persuade Momiji to join Sophia's cause but her constant suspicion was begging to annoy her. "Well, there was an incident a while back, she doesn't exactly like me right now."
"She looks familiar," he said.
"You've been living in the same place for a while you probably saw her around."
"No, I think I know her form before," he said breaking away from Nia. "You used to live with Serena." Momiji looked up at him. "You were with her when she lived with that Abby woman."
"Yes, I used to be friends with Serena..." Momiji cleared her throat. "I hadn't seen her in a while, but then my mother told me that she had been kidnapped. I agreed to help…retrieve her."
"Thank you, I know she will thank you too," he said putting his hand out to her. Momiji glanced at it then tentatively took it. Gripping her hand firmly he gave her a nod then went back to Nia.
Fei glanced at her. "Does that give you any hesitation?"
"No, what needs to be done will be done, even if it means sacrificing some." She turned and climbed into the driver's side of the truck. "How many have we got in there?" she asked glancing at the container.
"Seven. The three originals and then the four others that we rounded up over the last few weeks." He sighed. "He is just a kid, he's innocent."
"There's no one innocent in the world," Momiji said.
Fei leaned on the truck door and looked at her. "Yeah, that's what Yoshiki and Aunt Sophia always say."
"They are correct, there is no one in this world….."
"Who hasn't done something bad, yeah, yeah, I know but think about it." Fei glanced back to Sam. "That kid hasn't ever done anything, he didn't even know about our world until Aunt Sophia grabbed him, and really he still doesn't know anything about it. He's just a pawn."
"I'm not going to discuss the ethical and moral problems with this plan. This is all for the greater good, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one, and if I have to sacrifice one kid to bring justice and order back to the world, I don't think I'll be losing any sleep over it!" She jumped down from the seat and stood in front of him, "Alright?"
"Alright," he held up his hands in defeat. "But just think if that kid had been you."
"Well, it wasn't. Now, stop wasting my time and get ready. We're burning day light."
Fei rolled his eyes at her as she walked away. "We're burning day light," he said his voice an octave higher to mock her.
Suddenly there was a loud clang from the metal container then a SHRIEK. Fei pounded his fist on the wall several times and yelled, "Shut up!"
"Let me out!" Hermione pounded on the door, her bloodied hands leaving fist marks on the thick wood. "I need out of here!" Her strength was fading fast, she was exhausted. "Please I have to warn them," her voice becoming softer and softer.
Her eyes started to drift close, she had no energy left inside of her. She was completely drained and the transformation hadn't even finished yet, she still had another stage to go through.
She glanced outside at the sun hanging low in the sky, it was going to be sunset soon, she banged against the door with and open palm, she wasn't ready to give in yet. She knew the hell that was about to be unleashed upon the Ambrose household, and she knew the number of casualties that would be created.
She had seen what Sophia's plans entailed and she knew that she needed to stop it. "Please, Van. Open the door," she weakly hit the wood. "Please, she's going to kill Serena."
On the other side of the door, Van buried his head into his knees. He sat in the dimly lit hallway across from the bedroom where Hermione was being held. Lenobia had told him to keep watch over her and to make sure that no one opened the door. She had said it was for Hermione's own safety.
He clasped his hands over his ears trying to block her out. "I can't, Hermione. I can't," he cried.
Christopher leaned back in his chair, "So, you don't even want me to engage in this little battle of yours huh?"
He spun around to look at Sophia, her back was to him, her eyes scanning the television monitors in front of her. He glanced over her shoulder and saw the loaded trucks and the last-minute details being taken care. Two screens showed the Hunters headquarters and the Ambrose Manor.
"You and I both know that no matter how well timed out or how powerful my plan is it will not guarantee anything. I am not egotistical enough to believe that I will eliminate every single member of the Royal family. Someone is going to need to take care of the aftermath."
"And that's what I'm needed for," he said entwining his fingers in front of him and smiling.
"You're a piece of it," Sophia said. "However, there is another more important piece that I need you to move for me." She reached up to unclasp the silver necklace around her neck and handed to it him.
Christopher looked at the Roderick family crest and then at Sophia's back. "Why are you giving me this?"
"You will need it for what I require of you." She turned back around, "Once we are done here get on a plane and go to London, from there travel to Windsor. Stay there for three months, money will be wired into your account monthly. Don't worry about your finances it will be a substantial amount. Do not lose that necklace its value is worth more than you could ever understand."
"Am I supposed to wait on my ass for three months?"
"Yes, if you are not contacted then you are free to do as you please, but when the time comes someone will find you, and you will have to do as you have promised. You know what will happen if you don't."
"Yeah, yeah, I know what this little mark will do to me if I don't answer the Bat signal," he said glancing down at the mark that now encircled his left arm. "But you still haven't told me why you're giving this to me. Aren't you going to need it?"
Sophia smiled, "No, but there is someone who will when it's time." She looked back at the monitors, the trucks were leaving.
"Sophia, what are you going to do?"
"Don't worry, Christopher. It's all going to happen the way it should. All of this is according to plan."
"All of it?"
"All of it. Now, watch as destiny unfolds."
Serena stood behind Darien's chair, she glanced down every few seconds reading the new reports from over Darien's shoulder. The team that had been searching for Kusanagi had returned with their findings. "What did the hunters tell you?" Darien asked.
"No one has seen the Prince in the last few weeks," said Lita "But there has been a suspicious woman buying up spice from different supplier's downtown, and in the surrounding suburbs. Apparently, she never goes to the same dealer twice, but buys a large amount each time."
"You think his kidnappers have been feeding him Spice," said Kreon.
Lita glanced at the King and Queen, "I do."
Serena saw Valencia clench her fists. "Have you any information on who this woman is?"
Lita shook her head. "Everyone that was interviewed had no information on her and that she had been connected to them through another contact. None of her suppliers knew her directly."
"They've been blurring and erasing people's memories so that they can't be identified," said Nephrite.
Zoicite looked at Darien, "If they've been supplying him with a constant supply of spice this long his mind could be severely damaged. There's no telling what his mind and body have suffered."
"How long until the damage is irreversible?" asked Darien.
"Hard to say. If they have been administering high enough doses over the past few weeks it could already be too late," Zoicite explained.
Serena looked around at the grim faces of everyone in the room. Valencia especially looked as if she was holding back her emotions. "You were able to rehabilitate him before, why wouldn't you be able to do it again?"
"Last time rehabilitation took two years, and even then Kusanagi was only using the spice intermittently. If he has been exposed to spice every day for weeks then I can't make any predictions about his state," Zoicite said.
Serena nodded and looked at Darien, his hands were intertwined and resting in front of his mouth and his shoulders were tense. "Thank you all for your help. Tell the teams to continue their search and to report back if anything else is discovered."
Zoicite and Lita stood and bowed to Serena and Darien, then to Valencia and Kreon. After they had left the room Valencia collapsed into a chair. "My son…." She murmured.
"Kusanagi is strong mother, he was able to combat this before. There is no reason why he shouldn't be able to do it again," Darien said.
Serena continued to read the information that the search team had gathered.
"This is your fault!" yelled Valencia.
Serena looked up. Valencia was glaring at her. "My fault?"
"Yes, this is all due to you and your Huner sisters!"
"Hermione and I have done nothing except befriend Kusanagi. We have no desire to see him hurt," Serena said.
"You are still responsible! Your sister has taken my son! She's torturing him! All of you are the same, you care nothing about the feelings of Vampires because you don't see us as human!" Valencia screamed.
"I have nothing against you or your people, and if you have forgotten I am half Vampire myself."
"You have killed our kind for years!"
"And your people have murdered friends and family that I have cared for as well! There have been mistakes on both sides, but I am attempting to correct them. I am attempting to make up for what I've done."
"Serena…" she felt Darien telepathically try to calm her.
"Your loyalties have been to that murdering whore for years. I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't the one who was still giving you orders! How do we know that you're not a spy for the Hunters?"
"I have no allegiances to them anymore," Serena yelled.
"And where do your new allegiances lay? With your sisters? With your mentor? Or with your new family? It's hard to trust that you're with us when you continuously hide things and keep information from us!"
Serena opened her mouth to rebut, but was interrupted by a shrill alarm. "What now?"
Jadeite threw open the doors, "Darien, we're under attack!"
The windows behind Darien and Serena were suddenly shattered by gunfire. Darien held out his arm protectively in front of Serena and forced her to the ground under him.
Sunlight shone through the shattered windows blinding Serena temporarily. From somewhere in the room she heard a scream filled with agony. Eyes adjusted she looked up and saw that Kreon had moved himself in front of his wife, the back of his head was now exposed to the direct light. Pushing Darien off of her she scrambled to the window and pulled what was left of the curtains closed.
Darien went to his father. "We need to get him to Zoicite."
A bullet whizzed through the curtain and past Serena's face. Dodging it she dropped the curtains and took cover against the wall. Darien had moved his mother and father to the other side of the room to avoid the sunlight.
"Get the Queen to a secure location," he barked at his men. The two behind Jadeite pulled Valencia out of the room while Jadeite remained with Kreon and Darien. Kreon was unconscious, his breathing labored, it had only been a small amount of sun, but it had been the head. Serena knew that Kreon could have possibly suffered more damage under the surface of his burns.
A loud clunking sound caught Serena's attention, looking down at her feet she watched as a single grenade bounced through the shattered window, and rolled under Darien's desk.
She looked up and caught Darien's eye. "Move!" She threw herself against the furthest wall, covered her head, and curled into a fetal position. The explosion shattered the desk and threw anything near against the walls and ceiling. Mirrors, bookshelves, furniture, books, anything in the room was destroyed.
As soon as she regained her senses, she began to dig herself out of the rubble. Her ears were ringing and though she couldn't hear very well she felt the vibrations from other explosions around the rest of the house.
She pushed out of the debris completely and looked around. There was a large hole where the western wall had been, sunlight shone through into the room. She scrambled over the rubble trying to find Darien and the others. She stumbled and fell to the ground. Something wet and sticky trickling down her face. Reaching up she touched her forehead and winced, there was a large gash on her forehead. She reached down, grabbed a handful of material from her shirt and ripped. She pressed it to her head in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
"Darien!"
Her own voice was muffled to her ears and her throat was scratchy from the dust and smoke. Though her head was throbbing she tried to reach out to him telepathically, unfortunately all she was able to do was to determine that he wasn't with her anymore.
She pushed herself up and made her way towards the door, which was now just a large hole. She stumbled into the hallway, as she neared the foyer the pungent smell of burning flesh and smoke filled her nose.
Looking up she saw that the entire front room was bathed in sunlight, all the Vampires in that room were likely dead. She saw a female vampire laying at the end of the hallway, her legs burning in the sun. Serena grabbed her by her upper arms and pulled her into the shaded hallway.
She checked the woman's pulse and made sure she was alive. The burns were bad but Serena could do nothing, so she placed the woman in a semi comfortable position and made her way into the sun lit foyer.
The front door was gone, there were small fires around the room, and almost everything had been reduced to rubble. Glass crunched under her boots as she made her way to the bottom of the steps.
Serena coughed trying to clear her lungs of the smoke and dust that was encircling her. Looking around she saw several bodies lying on the ground. Some were half burned from the sun while others were completely black. The smell of burnt flesh made her stomach turn, she closed her eyes and tried to ignore it. She could hear muffled screaming but she couldn't tell where it was from, her head was still throbbing.
Turning around she saw Elena and her family standing at the top of the stairs. Gaius held the youngest child in his arms, she was unconscious and there was blood on her face. The eldest girl supported her brother, her face was smeared with dirt and blood. The boy's cheek was cut and bleeding, and his arm seemed to be sticking at an odd angle. Elena noticed Serena at the bottom of the steps.
Her lips moved, but Serena couldn't hear what she was saying. "I can't hear you," she said trying not to yell.
Elena turned to Gaius, she said something and then made her way down the steps. She continued to speak and finally Serena was able to make out Zoicite's name on her lips.
"I don't know, they're probably somewhere in the house trying to avoid the sunlight," she said to her mother. Elena looked over Serena's shoulder towards the entrance, her eyes widened and her mouth went slack. Serena turned around to see a figure standing in the fading light.
"How much time are you giving him?" Rin asked from the driver's seat. She and Momiji were in the large cab of the semi-truck.
Momiji looked down at her watch. "As soon as the sun's gone we breach."
Rin glanced sideways at her then she looked at the Ambrose Manor in her side mirror. Several SWAT members stood surrounding the perimeter holding their guns at the ready. They had shot out the windows and thrown the grenades and firebombs into the house. The front of the house was littered with giant smoking holes and the entire east wing of the house was a blaze.
Rin turned around to look at the house, she analyzed the path she would take to back up into the correct spot. She pressed the button to the walkie talkie. "Everyone be prepared they're going to come out in full force as soon as the sun's gone." There were several affirmative answers, Rin saw the men around the house ready their guns and their stances for an attack.
She heard Momiji inhale a deep breath next to her.
She clicked the safety off of her gun and opened her door. "Remember move as soon as the sun is gone," she said as she climbed out onto the ladder on the side of the container. She shut the door with her leg and climbed up.
Rin looked at the sky, the sun was disappearing now. She shifted the truck into gear, "Here we go."
As soon as the sun disappeared Rin pushed her foot down and steered the truck backwards towards the mansion.
Serena stared at Sam as he stumbled over the rubble and into the house. "Serena, Mom!" he ran to them and pulled Serena into his arms, hugging her tightly.
She could hear better, the ringing had stopped. Her eyes widened and her jaw went slack. She hadn't seen or heard from her brother in months and all of a sudden here he was standing in front of her ripped jeans, tee shirt, and jacket, as if nothing had happened. He had a bright smile on his face that was out of place with all the death and chaos around them. "Sammy, what are you doing here?"
His face was suddenly serious. "I'm here to save you. We have to go, they're not giving me much time," he said trying to pull her towards the door. "Mom, you too, and the kids, we've got to get out of here."
"Sam, who are you talking about?" asked Elena. "Are you involved in this?"
"Yes, Sophia sent me to get you, to help you escape," he said trying to pull Serena again.
"Sophia? Sophia Roderick?" Elena said.
"Yes, she's the one rescuing you guys."
"Rescuing us! This is an attack!" Serena yelled.
"Serena they've brainwashed you. I just thank God that I got here before they changed you into one of them. We can help you, but we've got to go they're going to unleashed the second wave."
Serena stared at him in horror. "Sammy, have you been with them the whole time?"
"Sere, I'm here to save you. I'm here to help you."
"I don't need saving Sammy… this is my home," Serena said.
"Serena, this isn't home. This is a prison, you're his prisoner! Trust me, Sophia will help you just like she helped the others," Sam grabbed her hand to pull outside but another hand grabbed his.
Darien held Sam's arm. "Let her go," he said his voice full of rage and bloodlust.
Serena saw his fangs and knew instantly that Sammy was in danger. "Darien," she attempted to steal his attention from her brother.
"Don't you see Serena! He's trying to keep you here! He's going to turn you into one of them!"
"No, Sammy he won't." Serena touched Darien's shoulder, "It's alright, Darien. Let him go." Reluctantly Darien let go of Sam's wrist.
"I came to save you, Sere. Sophia told me he planned to turn everyone into a vampire."
"That's not true, Sam."
"It is, his family is planning to do it!"
"No that's not going to happen."
"It will! He'll make us all just like him!"
"We're already like him!"
Sam froze, "What do you mean we're already like him?"
"Sammy, there's so much you don't know…." Over Sam's shoulder the last of the sun disappeared.
Suddenly, from within the house, came a scream that chilled Serena's blood.
The cry for war.
Vampires appeared their fangs and claws bared, eyes glowing. In the darkness they looked like Demons from hell. Bloodthirsty and ready to kill. Blurs rushed past as the Vampires ran outside. Seconds later gunfire and screams echoed into the night.
"Serena, we have to go!" Sam yelled.
"Sam..."
The ground beneath them began to vibrate and shake. All four of them looked up just in time to see the back end of a semi container break through the largest hole in the front of the house. Serena turned away and covered her head as dust and debris was thrown in their direction. Darien had moved in front of Serena and once again protected her from the rubble, as the dust cleared Serena looked up and saw a figure crouched on top the large metal container in front of them.
Though the world around them was chaos it felt as if time stopped as blue met green.
Serena had to remind herself to inhale as she stared up at Momiji, clad in black with a gun pointed right at her. Momiji stared down at Serena with a cold and hateful glare. Serena felt cold wash over her, she lost all ability to move or speak.
"Momiji?"
Momiji glared down at Serena, completely apathetic emotionless. She flicked her hand and the heavy metal bar that across the door of the container door flew off. She grabbed the metal pins that held the doors shut and pulled them from their place.
A foreboding feeling of danger overwhelmed Serena. She felt hands around her waist and right as the doors flew open she was moved to the side and forced into a hallway behind Darien. She tried to see over his shoulder, before she was able to see anything though she heard a bone chilling primal scream from within the container.
It was a scream that she had heard once before, on the last night she had seen Momiji, a scream that still haunted her dreams.
Hermione lay against the cold ground and the bedroom, tears running down her face.
She closed her eyes to block out what she was seeing. "God… make me a stone… make it end," she pleaded. She covered her ears trying to block out the screaming that echoed inside her head.
Light flooded the room as the door to the hallway was open, Hermione sat up and looked at Alana. Hermione saw the guns strapped to her legs with knives and a bag of ammunition in her hand. "Lenobia and Louis said I can't intervene," she said. "They said we are watchers we don't get involved."
She looked at Hermione, "Fuck their rules."
Christopher looked up at the darkened house, the only room that was lit was the room where Sophia stood watching the destruction. He had stayed as long as he could take it, but even he had a limit. Watching as Fei's men had systematically murdered and mutilated the Hunters had been it.
Glancing up again he shook his head and opened the door to his car. Starting the car, he turned on the headlights and felt his heart stop beating. Standing in front of his car staring at him with a deadly glare was Yoshiki Takada. Bruised and bloodied, with burning eyes he glared at Christopher. The power and rage radiating off the man was crushing. He knew that it he had to fight him to get out of the driveway he would lose.
Yoshiki stared at him for several more seconds then passed by without a word. Christopher watched him through the mirror as he walked into the dark house.
Christopher inhaled a deep breath and considered going inside to help his employer, but remembering the crushing power he felt he put his car into drive, pulled past the gate, and onto the street.
At the bottom of the hill he slammed his foot down on the pedal speeding towards East bound freeway.