Combing through the long, concrete tunnel had ended up being an arduous task. By the time they reached the small door on the opposite end, everyone's elbows and knees were sore from the constant contact and dragging. It was a good thing that no one had been wounded in the exchange, as treating someone else's injuries would have proven to be impossible within the confined space of the tunnel.
Ethan counted his luck as it came, hoping that the number would just keep rising. He feared when the moment would arrive that they would not catch a break, which seemed due at any point. Vikcia was peeling their options off, one by one. If the witch did not get them, then one of her creations surely would.
It was only a matter of time at this rate.
When Bela pushed her way through the small opening, Kyia was not far behind. Ethan did not want to get out so quickly, just in case there was an immediate threat that required the others funneling back inside. Thankfully, the coast seemed clear, and he was safe enough to get out of there. The moment he popped out, the room was dark, but the moonlight from the outside shined through many of the large windows that were visible closer to the ceiling.
It gave a clear enough view of their surroundings to realize that they were now in the lobby of some big building, but the specifics of it could not be deduced just quite yet. There were chairs all around beside the barricaded door to the front. This was likely a waiting area, he thought. Ethan played with his flashlight, testing it to see if it was still useful.
A few taps to the bottom and out came that bright beam that Vikcia so hated.
Bela and Kyia jumped as soon as the light took them by surprise, but they settled down just as fast. The blonde trained her gun ahead, preparing herself if they were not alone. Columns in the middle of this room shielded his view, and he had to move around to see past them. On the other end, to their left, was a large reception desk with multiple seats.
Was this a lobby? It had to be, he figured.
Kyia stood by with her book cradled in her arms. The woman seemed as afraid as ever; her green eyes shifting in all directions as the light passed around. Ethan moved the beam higher up towards a set of letters that were hung on the wall above the reception desk.
'Serpenmoor Constables 5th Station'
Confident that they were without company, for now, Ethan lowered his flashlight and turned it off. He turned back to the closed-up door that led to this place, praying that Vikcia was not smart enough to follow them through it. An overturned podium was the best thing he could grab to blockade the entrance, hoping to seal off any dust that could potentially poke through.
Once he was done, Ethan turned his attention to the two women, voicing his opinion, "I think we're inside a police station."
Bela raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"
Shaky, Kyia glanced over at the words on the wall. "The constables. They enforce this city's laws, or, more so, the church's."
Bela still did not understand. "Okay? What is the big deal about that?"
"Kyia," Ethan asked. "Do these people have weapons on them?"
"They do," she replied.
"Guns?"
"Yes."
Ethan looked right at Bela. "That's the big deal. We need weapons and maybe this place has some."
The blonde seemed to consider such possibilities. If this building housed better weapons than what they had, then hopefully there was something they could utilize to end Vikcia for good. The sheer size of this room told her that there was still plenty more to the building. It would make no sense at all to imagine that such a large structure would be completely deserted.
The time spent crawling through the tunnels was considerable. This building was not beside the one that Kyia had taken shelter in. It must have been further south, down a few blocks of roads that neither of them had traversed before.
South, maybe West? East? She didn't know. They weren't getting any closure to the clock tower from here, though. That much she was certain.
Bela moved closer to Ethan, holding her twin-barreled firearm out to him. "You're better with this than I am, here."
His eyes widened. "Are you sure?" It was a silly question. Though he did not doubt a woman's ability to shoot, her frame was slender and the caliber of the rifle barrel was already monstrous. It could put any strong man on his ass if he didn't shoulder it correctly. He had more experience with guns than she ever did, and trusting him with this may have been the best course of action to take, for now.
"I'll stick to what I know," she patted her hand against her sickle. Ethan took the gun without any further remarks.
As soon as he slung the weapon over his shoulder, he withdrew his pistol and gestured toward Kyia.
The brunette appeared sheepish, if not also very confused. "What?"
"Here." Ethan wiggled the handle of the LEMI in front of her.
"I do not want that." Her hands tightened around her book. The thought of holding the gun seemed to scare her.
Bela's brow pinched as she watched the grown woman beside her respond like a skittish child. The sight of that large book cradled in her arms only added fuel to the fire. "Could you be any more useless?" She said.
Kyia snapped her eyes at Bela. "Excuse me?"
"What are you going to do if we get attacked? Are you going to hide behind us, or are you going to lull the monsters to sleep with one of those stupid stories that you have in there?"
Kyia took immediate offense to what she had said. Her knuckles went white as they clenched around the bindings. Her sharp cheeks rose to the bottom of her baggy eyes, and her mouth pinched into a scowl. "I am not comfortable with violence. Not as comfortable as you."
Bela took a step closure. Her voice was sweet and low, if not demeaning, "Well…if we're going to survive, it looks like the librarian is going to have to get comfortable with hurting things."
Kyia's teeth peeked out from her tense lips. "What is a librarian? What is that supposed to mean?"
The blonde rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she turned and walked away. "You really are a bigger idiot than I thought you were."
"Do not walk away from me!" Kyia began to approach her. "You will apologize for what you have just said."
Bela instantly spun around and wasn't afraid to get in her face. Kyia stopped in her tracks, yelping as soon as they locked eyes. "I'm not going to apologize, so deal with it. You're the idiot who almost got herself killed over a book. That is pretty damn stupid to me."
Ethan finally stepped in. "Okay, ladies, please, stop arguing. None of this is going to help us." Kyia raised her shoulders and lowered her head as she angrily walked over to his side.
Bela rolled her eyes again and tossed him the pouches of ammunition that she carried. There were enough bullets to keep the gun fed for a while. "You know how to use that pistol better than I do, too. If Kyia is to serve a purpose, she could at least use that book as a shield."
The brunette clenched her teeth, muttering quietly, "Stop…insulting me…"
"Bela…" Ethan sighed. "Please, just leave her be. I'll work the guns, it's fine. You two just get behind me in case anything crazy goes down."
The blonde was not done with her remarks. No, not even close. "I don't think she is too happy to share."
Kyia's head immediately lifted with a shocked face that turned furious in a split second. She stomped her right foot on the ground without hesitation. "Be quiet!"
The scream was too loud for Ethan's liking. Something had to have heard that. As it echoed around the room and across the adjacent halls, Kyia quickly realized the error of her ways. There were no growls or voices to respond, but this building seemed to be vast and could have housed anything – or anyone.
As much as Ethan cared for the brunette, he could not keep the aggravation from escaping him. "Kyia, none of what she says is important right now."
Bela reared her head back; her amber eyes fixated on the back of that man's head. She knew what he meant, but those words also brought a sense of scorn and betrayal into her frozen heart.
None of what I say is important? That came off your tongue so well. You really just had to say that to her. Ugh, why do I care? He can have her. She's just perfect for an idiot like him.
Ethan continued to address Kyia, "We can't afford to react like that in this kind of environment, okay?"
She looked at him with wide, still eyes, and a half-pinched brow. She knew Bela was wrong, as was she to respond as such. Ethan was right, but, she was angry at him for not defending her more. She was even more upset that he had to correct her. Her teeth briefly quivered before she held her book tight and high against her chest and huffed a breath.
"I'll just stop talking, then," she stated. Bela cracked a tiny grin as she turned her head back to the front.
Perfect.
Ethan was far too into survival mode to want to revisit the topic. He figured that they could just work all this stuff out later. Right now, it was time to understand exactly what the deal with this constable station was about.
Were there valuable resources and weapons available at their disposal?
And if so – would they have to fight to obtain them?
That was a question that they would need to answer. The building could be holding all sorts of things, and running out into the street was another sure way to get killed. They had played that game before, and Vikcia was always close by. Ethan felt that he would rather spend his time with something that he could kill, compared to a mostly invulnerable demon.
He shined his light again across the room, highlighting the presence of a door on the opposite end. Close to the reception desk was a large set of double doors that could easily be seen, but there appeared to be some small barricades placed in the front. The horizontal bars that normally would have acted as handles now appeared to have been bolted together and tied with metal strings.
Ethan feared that the outside placement of the modifications signaled that it would have been impossible for anyone to take refuge beyond them. The only explanation was that whoever did it, did it so that whatever was behind the door would not get out so easily. The other door appeared to lead to a different section of the station, and that was likely where the person who barricaded the door would have surely gone to.
The man made his ideas clear to the other two, "Something's got to be back there, and someone did not want it to get out. If we try that door, it might be safer. I'd normally avoid both, but the longer we stay in this lobby, the closer we may get to Vikcia. I'm sure that bitch is just waiting for her chance to crawl through and grab one of us."
Bela turned her eyes onto the two entrances to the deeper aspects of this building. Ethan had brought up a decent point. Even she did not sense a good outcome from those double doors near the desk. To break those placements that kept them together seemed like the perfect way to be begging for trouble. She wanted to leave this spot as much as he did, and that made the other door all the more alluring.
Kyia remained as quiet as she had said she would be; offering no opinion on the matter. She silently looked to the ground. It made Bela sick.
I just want to strangle the life out of this obnoxious woman…
"Fine," the blonde said. "We go."
"Stay behind me." Ethan moved forward, leading the way as they moved through the lobby toward the other end. He studied the firearm in his hand, noting how similar it was to a traditional double-barrel shotgun; only with one barrel being a shoulder-breaking rifle. He cracked the action open, seeing that the rifled section was on the right side. A quick turn of the receiver and inspection of the two triggers identified the one furthest ahead as being on the right side as well.
That had to be the one for the rifle, he figured. It would have been painful to expect a controllable shotgun blast – only to be met with the intense force of such a round, instead.
His eyes moved all around the room, identifying nothing of use as they got closer to the next step in the journey. Kyia simply followed and remained quiet. She had to have been upset, and as much as he wanted to cheer her up, now was not the time. Bela's curiosity of their surroundings got the better of her, as she devoted her attention to the various posters of what seemed to be religious figures that were propped up on the walls.
The deities were ones that neither of them could discern. They appeared human – or, some of them did.
It had to have been 'The Fabled Ones' that Kyia spoke of. These figures were clothed in long garments of various colors and intricate designs. It was what Ethan would have expected to see of any religion that he did not understand. None of these figures made sense to him, but they had to have been a big part of these people's lives. It was a little chilling, however, that a group that held such high legal authority to detain and arrest would also vigorously adhere to these figures to the point where they appeared to be a factor of their job.
Kyia must have been right, Ethan guessed. Break religious law, and the hounds will come.
Bela followed the posters with her eyes before they fell out of view. "Strange things," she remarked, but to no response.
Ethan approached the door; the two women close behind him. He extended his hand to check the knob and see if it would turn. Success. The door was ready to go as soon as he would pull it. He gestured for the others to step away, just in case something were to come running out. As soon as they were clear, he slowly yanked it back – his gun the first thing that anything behind it would see.
The coast was clear – for now.
The path ahead was dark, and the complete lack of ambient light forced Ethan to have to turn on his flashlight again. It lit up what was a narrow hallway, which took an L-shape to the left, cutting off the view from anything else. "You ladies ready?"
Kyia once again said nothing, but Bela moved past her and joined him. "On you."
"Okay." Ethan took the first step in, keeping his gun trained on the open corner of the hall. He crept up cautiously, popping over the corner with his weapon already pointed ahead. "Eyes, muzzle, target," as Chris had often taught him during CQB training. "If you're turning the corner of a wall, your gun better be pointed in the same direction as your eyes. You so much as even move your fucking head; you beat your ass that weapon is turning with you."
Bela watched as he cleared the area, noting how precise he was with what he did. Ethan's actions were not some scared reactions to his environment. He wasn't jumping ahead because his heart could not handle the anticipation of what was to come. It was deliberate. He needed to get the drop on whatever it was that would be in his way.
And she knew for damn sure that he would have killed it.
There was something about that that she liked.
The blonde kept a safe distance, but her eyes would remain on him. He could not see her, but the slight crook in her brow expressed a focused woman. Her dark lips stayed flat together, as if an open breath would dispel his concentration. Yet, she also knew that it wouldn't. He was in his zone; so aware that he could hear anything, but too focused to let it slip him up.
This must have been the way he was when he was killing all the Moroaice. I could hear all the gunshots going on down there, but, there were only so many. You don't shoot like a fearful man. All your shots in this world had a purpose. Huh…why do I care?
Bela noticed the level of comfort that she felt as she traveled behind him. It was like the way it was after they had battled Vikcia in the streets, and she was left under his arm, using him for support as the city descended upon them. Even with certain death on the horizon, there was a part of her that did not worry about it.
When she was on her own in those city streets, killing the infected people one by one, she was afraid, even in her victories.
Being alone was just so scary – being with him was not.
Her free hand rose and touched her opposite shoulder. She wanted to mirror what it felt like to be in his arms, as that touch of comfort was one that she had never felt before. Being cradled beside him in that dark room was also so very strange for the blonde who had never sought the company of a man. He wasn't the touchy bastard that her mother has described his kind to be, and the truth of that perplexed her.
She still wanted to scramble his guts and smear them across the ground, but it felt to be more out of a sense of 'duty' rather than hatred. She was beginning to feel like his presence was less bothersome. Hearing his voice did not always fire up her emotions. If Kyia had not been talking to him when she woke up, a part of her might have even wanted to come sit next to him.
Kyia…
It was childish, Bela thought, but she could not stand to see how much that woman occupied his attention. The brunette played the part of the kind helper, but the differences in the way she acted between them were far too great. Granted; her animosity toward the blonde had been well-earned.
Bela understood that she had gotten what she wanted when it came to driving Kyia away from her. A couple of insults and threats would always be guaranteed to do the trick.
It wasn't that, however, it was the blatant switch of personalities that the slender lady expressed whenever they all interacted. She acted like Ethan was the only thing bringing out the light in her soul. Whenever they did not chat, she was extremely quiet; attached to that book that she never put down. Her emotions were out of sync – much like Daniela's.
Kyia would berate Ethan for even the slightest of actions; carrying on like a child and going quiet in response.
Bela was no stranger to a fierce tongue, but she would often turn around and say something to see what things were all about. She remembered the way she had flown into a fury when Ethan said that she knew nothing of love. Everyone had their breaking point, yes, but Kyia's was just too thin and too easy to reach. She wondered how the woman would perform under great stress. If she could not keep herself together, then she was going to get all of them killed.
Why does Ethan treat you so well? Is it because you were nicer to him than I was? What is it about you that makes you so special?
She sighed as they moved along, deciding that petty matters should have no place in her mind during this crucial time. Such things could wait until they found a safer place to stay. It was just that the idea of him being friends with her brought along the image of something greater happening between them.
That…something about that…
Bela did not know why it bothered her.
She stopped thinking about it right then and there.
Ethan cleared the next corner, highlighting another door that was found at the end of the hall. The walls contained more posters that were hung along. The vast quantity of them almost completely covered up the white paint that could be seen underneath. It made everything else darker and harder to discern, and they hoped that the next part of the building may have been more navigable.
Bela turned an eye to the posters, noting how they were all the same exact image of the four various figures in each corner of the paper. It was eerie how compelled someone would have been to place so many of those up. They were visibly old and must have been there for quite some time.
What was this city like before we arrived here? Before Vikcia arrived here?
Ethan opened the door in front of them – and the first thing they saw was a decayed corpse.
Kyia shuddered as she turned around and hunched over; gagging as if she was about to vomit. She was already making too much noise again, which forced Bela to have to shush her before anything else could hear them. The brunette turned a scornful eye her way, but she kept her words to herself. The blonde wanted to punch her, but opted to leave her where she stood.
If a monster came around the corner – Kyia could be the first one it killed for all she cared.
Ethan kept his light centered on the remains of whoever it was that had died, investigating the body for clues as to what may have been ahead of them. The skin was so dried and dark; stretched across the bone, yet, absent of flesh. This must have been here for at least a month. The decomposition was nearly complete at this rate.
Any clothing that this person had worn had been reduced to a discolored, tattered blanket of fabric. It was hard to identify what may have happened to it, but the splotches across the middle must have been blood stains. The ribcage was exposed, and the abdomen was open, but everything was so rotted that it could have come with time.
As much as they wanted to assume that this person had been killed by one of the creatures, they may have killed themselves. Ethan searched around for the signs of any weapon, but there were none. It seemed as though that theory of suicide may be ruled out, but even if they had been murdered, it was not recent. Whatever could have done it might be long gone by now as well.
It was a somewhat comforting sign. The less occupants in this police station, the better. Bela did not say anything about the corpse as she walked over and stared down at it. What else was there to be said? It was just another dead body to her, and she had seen plenty of them. Her cold stare spoke volumes about the horrific soul that she carried.
But, it was her soft sigh that made Ethan turn his eyes to her. It just didn't match up with the woman she appeared to be. "We're getting deeper," she said.
"I just hope that I'm not leading us to certain death," he replied.
"Can I trust that you won't, man-thing?"
Despite the scenery, Ethan breathed out a slight chuckle. "Are you going to call me that forever?"
She cracked a half-grin and shrugged her shoulder. "If you lead us to death, then forever isn't that long, is it?"
He rolled his eyebrows, nodding along in agreement. "You got me there."
Kyia was not shy about coming up from behind the two of them. She did everything she could to avoid looking at the corpse, which caused Bela to scoff and walk away. Ethan reached out and took her by the side of the arm, gently moving her to the edge near the wall so that she could have some space.
"Here…" He told her. "Stay to my right, okay?"
The two of them locked eyes for a moment. Kyia's green irises shined above the illumination of his flashlight. They were so prominent; highlighted by the dark circles around them, and the pale skin that followed. She gave him a spiteful look, but there was some helplessness to go along with it. She was waiting for an answer to a question that she did not have to ask.
Ethan's face loosened for a few seconds as he took a breath. "I'm not mad at you, Kyia."
"I don't want to be here, Ethan…" She kept her eyes on him, but he did not know how to respond. He was wrong about whatever he thought she was going to say.
Bela did not hesitate to interject herself into the conversation. She had about had it with Kyia, and the bad blood that had been boiling between them was only about to get hotter. The blonde grunted as she stepped forward, aware that the door to the unknown was only just a couple of feet away from them.
"Do you think any of us want to be here?" Bela stated as she glared at her sharply. Ethan briefly moved his eyes over to her before they returned to the brunette, who stood there in silence. The lack of response was something that the eldest daughter would seize upon as soon as she could. She would talk for Kyia if she had to, and that meant that there were going to be some harsh words in play.
"Seriously, do you think that either me or that stupid man to my left are enjoying this? Are you that dense?" Bela continued. Kyia's lips pressed, and her breathing became faster and heavier. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she just couldn't. "You know what? Don't answer that. I already know that you are. You ran into a fire to go retrieve some stupid book while Vikcia was standing right there."
The blonde let out a sarcastic laugh as she gleamed a fierce smile at the brunette. "I thought my sister, Cassandra, was reckless, but you…you're worse. You're not dumb, because dumb people don't know how stupid they are."
Ethan cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Alright, Bela, that's enough, please."
With her face still frozen with tense anger, a single tear dropped down Kyia's left eye. "Are you finished?"
Her amber eyes narrowed in on her, remaining there as she gave a small hum to carry the thought. "I don't want to hear another one of your complaints while we're in here."
Ethan moved closer to her. "Okay, Bela, I said that's enough."
She would not listen; peeking her head over his shoulder as she continued to glare at her. "I swear, I will put this sickle straight through your leg and leave you to –"
"Hey!" Ethan was done. "What is your problem? Do we really need to go through all this right now? Huh? How about we all work together; doesn't that sound great?"
Bela's condescending nature would not die so easily. She hovered her eyes across his face, noting the heated expression on his brows. He was trying to order her around, and that was a part of him that she did not like. Where did he think he could talk to her in such a way?
"It would sound great if you shut up and went ahead and made it safe for us," she told him, gesturing to the open room that likely still held many dangers. "Go do that and you'll see what I like."
"You want to know something, Bela?"
"What?"
"If I ever met a woman who looked like you, I would have been pretty damn surprised to see her with such a gross attitude." He walked ahead with nothing else to go along with that, which left the blonde hungry for answers.
"What does that mean?" Her posture tightened as she watched him move ahead. "Hey, answer me!"
"Shh!" Ethan raised his gun at something in the room. Bela and Kyia moved further back, not even looking at one another as they got close.
Ethan watched as the light scanned across the medium-sized set of office rooms. It was almost what he would have expected from a typical police station, but the desks were made of dark, red wood, and the stacks of papers and books on top of them were a reminder that 'modernity' was a different word in this city with the absence of computers. Chairs were either where they belong, or found toppled over on the floor. This building may not have been fully occupied when all this hell broke loose; which might have been yet another good sign.
Still – something was unsettling about the way everything looked. It was like this building was caught between being dead and alive. Everything looked abandoned, yet, somehow, it still seemed as though anyone would be back at their desk sooner or later.
Ethan's flashlight could only capture so much into the room before the shadows around the doorframes moved along and angled across the stuff inside. It left plenty of places for something to hide, and for a moment, he thought he had indeed seen something creep along the darkness. With the two women arguing and Bela's unending insults, it was open ground for the trio to be highlighted as Serpenmoor's next meal.
There were too many rooms for Ethan to focus on, and he could only give each one just a second or two of his time before he'd have to move on to the next. The room was built with three offices on each side; with a straight path cutting down through to the next door in between. With the corpse on the ground close by, he feared that something sinister was going to be found in one of the six rooms.
"Bela…" Ethan called upon his best option at this moment, hoping that she would be able to help him out. "I need you to come over here. There are a bunch of small rooms to my left and right. I need you to keep an eye on some of them, otherwise, I risk getting jumped by…anything."
She inhaled a deep breath, glancing at Kyia through her peripherals before she moved up to join him. Just as he had described; the path ahead was lined with many possibilities for danger. Ethan's light grew dim as it tried to shine into each of the rooms, and devoting it to one section left the other one in total blackness. This was going to be tricky, she thought.
Ethan recalled more of the CQB training that Chris had put him through. Scenarios like this were a complete mess, and they demanded the utmost care and diligence. A squad of people would be able to clear it; which required one man holding on the door to the front, as two separate teams made a simultaneous entry into the first set of rooms. The point man staring at the end of the hall would have been joined by two other men, who would each hold onto the rest of the rooms as best they could until the teams inside could move up and clear the next ones.
"That's the perfect plan in my eyes," Chris said. "But, there is always going to be something that goes wrong that you never think about. Someone is going to get shot. A weapon malfunctions at a crucial moment. You're going to walk into that building with the perfect plan and walk out feeling like you made every wrong decision imaginable. I promise you: if you walk out in one piece, or walk out at all, then your plan worked."
He always emphasized that no one ever had enough guys to conduct business accordingly. You make the best use of what you got and fight hard to stay alive as you do it. That was the situation that these three were in now. There was no Hound Wolf Squad to raid these rooms while the others kept watch. Ethan did not expect Bela to know anything about what she was doing if he asked her to systematically enter a room and take it over. If they both got into a fight in different rooms, who would save them?
He hated himself to imagine Kyia being as useless as the blonde had described, but, a part of her was right. In a combat scenario, it was all hands on deck if possible. Kyia may have been just like Elena, and he never expected that woman to come charging ahead with that shotgun and shoot it at her father like that. There was a fighting spirit in her for a moment; the ferocity to potentially survive such a horrific situation.
That only lasted so long, and she eventually found herself a victim of her own soul. A civilian had no place in those kinds of situations, and to expect Kyia to get involved may be the best way for her to get killed. He couldn't ask her to risk her life any more than he would have wanted Mia to risk hers.
Bela had a killing nature about her, and that was what he figured could come to use now. Hell, it had carried her along on her own through those forsaken streets alone when they got separated. If she could make it then, then she stood a chance here.
Their partnership was still something that he could not get over. Teaming up with a woman like her was the last thing that he ever would have expected. It was like fate was trying to turn the tables on what might have been. Ethan figured he would have killed her during their fight and just kept going. There was nothing between them to salvage when they first met. She was his enemy and nothing less.
Now, she was one of the only two people he knew of in the entire world who would have his back. They may not have been friends, but seeing her by his side as they moved up the hall, checking the rooms as they walked by, made him wonder what lay ahead.
He hoped that in the end, she would come around and see things for the way that they were. He did not want to destroy what she had in that castle. He only wanted his daughter and that was it. Sure, she and her family were heartless monsters, but their deeds were done. There was no fixing the harm.
If she wanted to be with her family, then she could have them. He would not inflict violence upon those women if neither of them tried to destroy his daughter. He hoped that she understood that.
He could only hope.
The rooms were still too dark to get a good look into without the light. Ethan briefly flashed the beam into the one by his left, just fast enough so that he could get a good snapshot without risking Bela's safety. The corner of the room held another rotted corpse; one as decayed as the one that came before. There had to be a treasure trove of dead bodies in this place. These rooms were just the start.
Ethan and Bela approached the final set of rooms. They paused before they reached the doors, both listening for the sounds of anything that could be lying in wait. Kyia was still down where they started; standing there with her book to her chest and her eyes on the pair. The area was quiet. Not a single sound besides their breathing could be heard.
Bela's room was too dark for her to see into, but her sickle stayed close by her side; ready to swing at the first mark of danger. The edges of Ethan's flashlight offered what they could, but she waited for when he would be finished on his side to gander. Sure enough, what once was dark became clear as his beam suddenly swung toward her side. It was a brief moment, but she got a decent view of the abandoned office and confidently concluded that there was nothing in it to be found.
"Empty," she said, much to his relief.
"Yeah, same here."
The two relaxed as they went to check on the door to the rest of the place. Bela's hand was able to turn that knob without issue, but the blonde kept her impulses at bay for the time being. It was like part of her was not ready to move on, and just wanted to stay here for now. Ethan seemed to be the same way, as the man slowly moved toward the door and shined his light on it.
"It's not locked, I see."
"No," the blonde replied quietly. She took a breath before stepping away, seeking out the chair near the desk of the room she had just cleared. There were no objections to be had from behind her. In fact, it sounded like the others were following suit. Everyone wanted to rest. This wasn't going to be a ten-hour pause, but after all the mayhem that had just gone down, a short break was needed.
Bela pulled the wooden chair off the ground and took her seat in it, resting both elbows on the desk as she did so. Ethan funneled into the room, seeing that there was one other chair left.
"Take a seat, Kyia," he said. The brunette did not answer, but she did not want to stay in the shadows, either. She came inside, moving over to the chair in question. She quietly sat down, resting her book on her lap and turning her head toward the wall.
Ethan leaned against the door frame; gun still in hand. He wanted to lay down, but this was no place to do so. The lean was a fragment of relaxation before the next plunge into the unknown – nothing more.
Bela glanced at him as she sat there, noticing the same thing.
When you're in survival mode, you just stay there, don't you, Ethan?
Her eyes trailed down his frame as she took in the image of a man on a mission. His fierce drive argued with his everyday appearance. She would have overlooked such a weak-looking individual a thousand times over back at home. He was nothing but food to her, but the more she thought about how gifted he was in a fight, the more she thought about him in general.
He had not only fought for himself – but for her.
She knew that he stood there, willing to protect her, and that dispelled some of the negativity that she felt inside. Dare she say…she felt safe.
I shouldn't tell you how scared I am right now, should I? That wouldn't help either of us, I think. It certainly wouldn't help you. You must be scared, somewhere deep down in there. I can hear it in the way you breathe. You move at every sound, but you're ready to fight it. I admire that about you. I just wonder what you felt when you fought me for the first time.
Her eyes drifted down to her gloved hands that sat comfortably in her lap. Her fingers curled inward, taking in this moment of solace.
Would you believe me if I told you I was scared when that window came crashing open? I didn't know what to do. Everything just happened so fast. I shouted at you with everything I had in me, but behind the anger in my eyes, I could see the readiness in yours.
Bela sighed a low, unheard breath.
You were so, so ready…
A sniffle could be heard from where Kyia sat. Bela turned her eyes to see what she was doing, but the woman just sat there hunched over her book. She did not even cover her face. Ethan removed himself from the doorframe, but by the time he did so, she was already waving him off. "I'm fine."
"You don't sound fine, Kyia," he said.
She exhaled a long breath before she rested her back against the top of the chair. "No," her voice choked up. "I'm not. This is all too much for me. I'm scared."
"It's okay to be afraid under these circumstances," he reminded her. "We're all here to protect each other. It's the only way that we're going to make it out of this."
Kyia sniffled again, wiping an unseen tear away from her right eye. "When this all unfolded a few months ago, many of the constables were already sent out onto the streets. I don't know how many of them were able to make it back here by the time the clouds descended upon them, but I imagine that some made it."
Bela craned her neck over to the strange, pale woman; raising an eyebrow to her as she did so. "Why are you telling us this?"
"Because the constables often persecuted those that they felt violated the religious rules of this city. However, that did not mean that their duties never took them away from violent people. I had witnessed such individuals in their custody in the past. If the constables were outside when this matter unfolded, then those individuals –"
From a distance, behind the door that would serve as the entry point to the next location that they would embark upon, the trio suddenly heard the long, deranged laughter of a man. It sounded like a chuckle, fused with a series of giggles. The way it swam across the background sounded as though whoever was making the sound was in the process of galloping from place to place. Each high-pitched string of breath echoed along like the foreboding beat of a madman's drum.
The laughter was only coupled with the following noise of a deep, metallic clanging that carried on just as much as the sound of the voice itself.
That was when the laughter faded away to the sound of vicious growling.
Kyia gulped as she listened in on the commotion; fixing her eyes onto Ethan's as she whispered her next set of words, "Vikcia's dust can drive an ordinary person into madness. You don't want to see what becomes of those who are already mad."
NOTES:
Welcome back, everyone! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
Huh, a police station? Never seen this before.
So, our protagonists are not forced back onto the city streets. We've already seen what happens when one is caught out after dark, and there are only so many bullets and batteries before people start getting killed. Looks like they've found refuge in one of Serpenmoor's Constables stations.
Why did Kyia's shelter lead to this place? For one thing, that does explain where her supplies may have come from. I'm sure the rest of the answers will come in time.
While it initially seemed to be empty, it is clear that our trio are not the only inhabitants of this place. There are indeed others lingering about, but who? This station is about to prove to be the host of many unimaginable horrors. Vikcia's plague changes people in many ways, and our trio is about to see just how distorted the human body can become.
Should they expect some large, gray man in a trench coat to follow them around? Maybe not, but there was already mention of "larger creatures" roaming about. I wouldn't be surprised if one took up refuge in here…
Bela's still coming to terms with the way she feels about Ethan, and the presence of Kyia isn't doing her any favors, either. Maybe these two will get the chance to talk and fall in love, but she's not going to fall into his arms just quite yet. Bela is a pro at keeping to herself, after all.
What is it going to take to bring out these thoughts that she is too afraid to understand?
Plenty of more terrors lie ahead. Expect the next chapter on the 12th.
Also, I've been wondering what characters from the RE universe you would like to see in future stories set in new realms. I have a concept in mind for Leon and Ashley, which would play out like a dark fairy tale. Let me know what you think and want to see!
Thanks for all the support that you guys have been showing me. I hope you are all enjoying this as much as I am. There are so many things that I can't wait to show you, and this is the next arc of the story where our characters are really going to grow. In the meantime, I hope you all are enjoying life and staying well! It's hot out there, and the sun is no one's friend this summer. Stay safe out there and I'll see you all again very soon! 😊