Chapter 14
The building was a large non-descript concrete block building. No identifying information anywhere on the building, no address, no business name. There were few cars in the parking lot, but nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing to suggest what might be going on inside.
Maxim Reynolds was pacing in the security suite.
"Any sign of them?"
Staff at the security monitors all reported back the same thing. Nothing on camera, nothing on infra red. So far Vincent and Catherine had not put in an appearance.
"Let me know the minute they show…."
JT came to slowly. He could feel his heartbeat in his head, the pounding thump thump, thump thump. His stomach was a little queasy, he attempted to open his eyes, but the blinding light had him quickly closing them. He took a deep breathe, no pain and he could smell disinfectant and the chemical heat smell given off by computer equipment. As he lay there he realized he could not hear anything, he could smell the computer equipment but he could not hear it, no humming or buzzing which was odd because to have enough equipment running that he would notice the smell the sound should be pretty obvious. But he heard nothing, just the sound of his own breath and heartbeat.
"Tess," He whispered, eyes still closed. "Tess can you hear me". No response. Opening one eye JT looked at his surroundings. He was in a cell, but it was clear, like glass or plastic. There was a tiny little private area with the toilet but that was it, the rest of the cell was completely transparent. He could see other cells, and right next to him was Tess and next to her was Gabe!
JT slid over to the shared wall of his cell with Tess and called her name. She was lying down as well, he could see that she was breathing but she was not moving. "Tess!" He yelled louder pounding on the wall. She didn't move.
Beyond Tess's cell he could see Gabe, just sitting and staring at them. He looked at JT, nodded his head in acknowledgement and then placed his hands over his ears, and shook his head. Gabe was telling him what he already had figured out, these cells were completely sound proof.
The cells were arranged in a ring around the outside of working lab. In the middle were the tables and chairs, beds, computer stations and other equipment in what looked like a very well funded laboratory. At this time no other cells were occupied.
Tess started to wake up, JT concentrated on her, as if he could will her to look at him and sense that he was there. Tess shot to her feet and then promptly fell to her knees grabbing her head as the last effects of the tranq wore off. On her hands and knees Tess looked up and around and her eyes found and locked on JT. She said something but JT was not good a reading lips. He put his hand to his ear and she realized he could not hear her.
Tess was trying really hard not to freak out. She wanted to take apart this cage and take a piece out of the old guy that had brought them here. She looked around the cell…Then noticed Gabe next to her; she automatically backed up towards JT. Gabe just shrugged and smiled sheepishly at her. Tess turned around and placed her palm against the glass. JT did the same, they stood there a moment staring at each other and then at the same time they mouthed…."I'm going to get you out of this" They laughed.
Gabe had been shocked when Maxim brought JT and Tess here. They were obviously caught in the cross fire, Gabe could not see Maxim letting either of them live once Vincent and Catherine showed up. For that matter, Gabe wasn't sure if he would continue to live once Catherine and Vincent showed up. Maxim had not explained anything to him, one minute he was strapped to the chair about to get the beast serum he wanted and the next minute he woke up in the cell, he had beast powers, but he still could not get out of the cell. His greatest fear was that Maxim had injected him with Sam's beast serum and he would be at the mercy of Maxim once he did get out of the cell.
Vincent was able to open up the ventilation system and he and Catherine entered the building that way. They did not speak to each other as they moved through the system, Vincent trying to get a sense of what was here and how the place was laid out. Catherine was following him and watching his back. His backside actually….Catherine thoughts started to drift…..she wanted to reach out and grab a hold of that backside in front of her and…..
"Get a grip Chandler" She said to herself.
"What," Vincent stopped and turned back to look at her.
"Nothing" she said, her voice an octave higher and her face beat red.
Vincent smiled, his dimple winking at her. He could tell that her heart rate was elevated and she was aroused. "Catherine, focus…."
"I'm trying but….."
"Stop checking out my ass" Vincent said laughing quietly. "Now you know why I didn't let you go first, one of us has to be paying attention."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Payback's a bitch mister."
He lifted his eyebrows in challenge. "Can't wait"
She knew this banter was just a cloak over the fear they both had that something bad was about to happen. But in their lives they had learned the hard way you had to take the happy where you find it.
"Can you sense JT or Tess in here?" Catherine wondered.
"Faintly, there are a ton of scents in here to process through but I am pretty sure JT is at least here. I am more familiar with his scent than with Tess. Let's keep going."
As they moved along the system they could see laboratories, athletic testing facilities, dormitories. Not very many people though and no one that Vincent thought was a beast.
"Shouldn't this place be busier?" Vincent asked.
"Maybe it's like Murfield where they held you last year. There was a ton of equipment but not a lot of people. Maybe the keep each facility fully equipped but rotate staff for smaller projects based on what's needed. Less people are easier to control."
Vincent cocked his head "Not bad Chandler, not bad"
The moment Vincent and Catherine had entered the vent system, they had been tracked by Maxim's people. He made adjustments to sensors and other systems as Catherine and Vincent moved through the facility. He wanted them to find the lab and find their friends. Then there would be nothing that Vincent and Catherine would not do for him.
After crawling around for what seemed like hours, Vincent and Catherine came upon the lab holding JT and Tess. Vincent dropped down from the vent first, reaching out with his senses making sure it was safe before signaling Catherine that it was ok to come out. She jumped down trusting Vincent to catch her and set her down on the ground. She came up weapon at the ready and scanned the room back to back with Vincent. After not finding any threats, Catherine then turned toward their friends.
"Tess, JT and Gabe!" Catherine looked over her shoulder at Vincent who was near the door checking to make sure they were alone. He turned back toward the cages.
"What the hell, Gabe?"
Gabe just shrugged his shoulders at Vincent, he knew well enough that they would not be able to hear him so he did not bother.
"Tess, JT!" Catherine ran up to the cages, "Don't worry we will get you out of here." She said placing her hand against the glass of Tess's cell.
Tess held up her own hand and said "How?" At least that is what Catherine thought she said. She realized then that she could hear nothing from any of them.
"Vincent can you hear anything in the cages, can you hear Tess or JT?"
"No they are totally soundproof. My guess is they were made to hold beasts, which tend to make a lot of noise when they are pissed off. Look around and see if you can see anything release mechanism button thingy."
All Catherine could see were lab stations and a pair of really nasty looking chairs that looked like something a dentist would use. If your dentist was a soul sucking evil devil spawn that like to experiment on people. The chairs reclined, but had straps and metal shackles attached to it. Plus the chairs didn't look so much bolted to the floor as they did made from the floor.
"I know what you are looking for and you won't find it here"
Vincent snarled immediately in full beast mode as he swept Catherine behind him to face Maxim who stood in the doorway.
"Now Now, settle down Vincent we don't want anyone to get hurt. Ms. Chandler drop your weapon please. This place is monitored by cameras and everything is controlled by a central control station. So unless I say so…"
He nodded his head towards what appeared to be a lit up EXIT sign. "No one is going anywhere."
Six men in riot gear were behind Maxim all with tranq darts and guns and all pointed at Vincent.
"Don't feel bad that you did not hear me coming; this whole facility is designed to suppress your beast traits, not completely of course but just dampen them enough that you can be controlled more easily. I allowed you to find your friends… that is the reason I took them after all."
Catherine dropped her weapon and Vincent suppressed his beast side for now. He grabbed Catherine's hand, pulled her in close and they faced Maxim together.
Vincent did not say anything; he was not going to give this guy the satisfaction. So Maxim spoke first.
"My name is Maxim Reynolds." He nodded at Catherine as if sensing her question. "Yes we are related, it's not important how. What is important is that I have your friends and Vincent and I will kill them unless you help me."
"Help You? What makes you think that either one of us would help you?"
"I don't need Vincent's help, I already have what I need from him and he has completed his task in destroying rogue beasts. It's you I want."
"You will help me because while your attachment to your friends and to Vincent is your most redeeming characteristic Catherine, it is also your weakness. You would do anything for them, including die for them. Am I wrong?"
Catherine stared at Maxim, trying to find some resemblance, some token that she was related to this man, but she couldn't…. not having met any other Reynolds besides her father. What could he want with her, was it really her ability to calm beasts or the affect he thought she had on Vincent. She looked at Vincent and at Tess and JT, Maxim was right she would sacrifice herself for them.
It was driving Tess and JT nuts that they could not hear what in the hell was going on outside their cells. But it looked to Tess that Catherine was about to make a big mistake, she recognized that look in Cat's eye and the stubborn lift of her chin, Cat was going to make a deal.
"Your right, you want something from me, let them go, let all of them go and we can talk."
She let go of Vincent's hand and stepped in front of him, she heard him growl her name.
"Catherine you are not going to do this" He stepped up close to her.
She turned to him, "I love you Vincent and I always will, but you need to get JT and Tess and leave this place."
Maxim laughed. "While this is touching, you don't really think I am just going to let them leave do you? No, what I propose is that you help me and I won't kill them. Like this for example."
He nodded his head, again at the EXIT sign.
Tess could tell that something was happening inside her cell; she felt the change in air pressure and then it became difficult to breathe; she started to cough a panicked look on her face. JT started banging on the cell wall between them; you could see him yelling but not hear him. Tess was holding her chest and bent over.
"STOP, please just stop!" Catherine cried, "Don't hurt her, I will do whatever you want, PLEASE JUST STOP." Catherine was wide eyed and breathing heavy, chest heaving.
Maxim nodded his head again and Tess could hear the rush of air into her cell and feel the coolness of the oxygen. She slumped to the floor in relief next to the shared wall with JT; he slid down right with her.
"What we will be doing is put Vincent in a cell right next to JT; we wouldn't want him to miss anything."
One man kept his gun on Catherine, while the other 5 went to deal with Vincent.
"You can come peacefully or I will tranq you. Your choice…"
Vincent went into full beast mode; he managed to take out 2 of the 5 on him before he was hit with the first tranq dart.
"Vincent!" Catherine cried, "Please don't do this, and don't make them hurt you, Vincent please."
Vincent heard Catherine but there was no way he was going down without a fight, he pulled the tranq dart out and lunged for another guy. He was hit again with a dart.
He could hear Catherine screaming his name and the last thing he saw before he went down was Catherine screaming and being pulled away from him. Then everything went black.
Vincent came to inside a cell next to JT. He reached out with his beast senses and felt…nothing. Opening his eyes he saw JT sitting against their shared cell wall. Vincent shot to his feet. He looked around but did not see Catherine anywhere. He looked at JT who gestured to the door and shrugged his shoulders.
Vincent prowled around his cell searching for some weakness he could exploit, some way to get out. He was struggling not to panic. He had no idea how much time had passed. He could not sense Catherine anywhere. His brain knew that she was alive but his heart and his beast were having a mild panic attack.
"Get yourself under control man you can't help anyone like this. Think….."
Catherine was in a similar room in another laboratory; Maxim explained that it was necessary to keep her and Vincent apart for a little while.
"We need to make sure he is going to be cooperative and to test one of our theories."
"I thought you said you got everything you needed from him?"
"We did but, it won't hurt to have him here in the flesh to test our theories than to just test his blood or DNA. I think there is something about you that calms Vincent and gives him control over his beast, exactly the opposite of what Tori did to him."
"You knew about Tori?" Catherine shook her head, this was all too much.
"Of course we did, we have known where Vincent was this whole time and have been keeping an eye on him. Sam got in the way for a little bit and we were not happy when he killed Tori, but on the upside we got a new version of the beast serum so not a total loss."
"Catherine, you shooting him, Tori coming into the picture, watching Vincent self destruct was very informative. He was a more powerful beast but also out of control. Everything about him was negatively influenced by Tori. The way he acted, the way he felt, and the way he acted was totally out of character for him."
"It took him awhile to figure out that Tori was influencing him and I am sure that you being absent from his life during that time made it worse."
"I was surprised when he broke things off with Tori and starting making his way back to you. Tori dying and that influence being gone made that process happen pretty quickly, it will be interesting to test it again."
"Test what? What are you going to do with me?" Catherine asked.
"Several things, I really do think you have the ability to calm Vincent, but do you have that ability with all beasts, we will test that. What about a beast injected with Sam's serum that has the added mind control element. Will you be able to control him? I am especially curious about that since that type of beast is one we have not had much time to study. Or is your ability limited to Vincent?"
"And can you control Vincent in the presence of another female beast? Or can Vincent control himself because of you in the presence of a female beast, especially one who is actively trying to seduce him?"
"So you see there is a lot of work to be done."
"What about my friends?" Catherine asked.
"Well we obviously can't just let them leave so that is up to you. You cooperate and we can look at wiping their memories just like we did with Vincent and then letting them go, it's not ideal, but they would be alive or we can kill them. It's up to you." With those words he left her alone.
Catherine slid down the side of her cell and sat with her head on her knees and her hands wrapped around her legs. She was trying to be strong but tears slipped out, her mind was racing. Now what? This whole situation seemed impossible. She had no idea where Vincent was, no idea what was happening to him. How were they going to get out of this?
"Vincent," Catherine whispered…
In his own cell, Vincent whispered "Catherine"….