Abnormals underground 01.., p.69
abnormals underground 01 - one to five, page 69
"Come on," Xavier said, throwing down his taser. "I think these weapons are spent."
I clicked mine again and nothing happened. We had depleted the battery or this room had sucked the power from them. These weapons weren't meant for long term combat--just to paralyze an enemy for arrest. Thoreau lifted one arm and I fumbled for the gun on my belt. "We have to kill him," I said.
Xavier pulled out his own gun. "We're about to do this as Normals," he said. "I wonder if I'll get my--"
"Shhh!" I said, fearing it might already be too late. I pointed the gun at Thoreau and fired as Xavier jumped back. Sound exploded. I pulled the trigger over and over, sometimes hitting the cave floor, sometimes hitting the mayor. Xavier joined in and we riddled Thoreau with bullets. Black blood burst through holes. My ears rang and the sewage smell finally reached me. This might not kill him. We had barely done it last time with War Magic and falling stalactites. I fired until the gun clicked over and over and Xavier did the same. The smell was unbearable and Thoreau was covered in spreading black flowers.
I wanted to throw up.
But he was still breathing. He would heal. Next to him, the portal was still alive as if the Infernal Dimension were just an arms' reach away.
"Throw him in!" Xavier shouted. "It'll buy us some time!"
It took both of us to roll Thoreau into the portal. He slipped inside, growling, vanishing from view as if the image before us were just a curtain. I waited to see him appear on the other side, but there was nothing.
"We have to go in there," I said. "We have to get our people out!"
Xavier seized my arm. In this form, he was stronger than me. The feeling was so new that I couldn't get over it. "We need to go," he said.
"But we're here! Our parents are in those barracks! Where else does Thoreau keep his army?"
"Let me go in," Xavier said. "Someone needs to be here for the Underground if I don't make it back." He took my arms and stared at me. I couldn't believe that this mustached man was him, but the caring was there in his eyes.
"But you don't have your War Magic right now," I said.
"I will. Soon. I need to get to the barracks. You need to get out of here. Once I wake the fighters--"
"Don't go alone," I said. "Tell me, right now, why you're so scared of me going in there, and maybe I'll do what you want and get out of here. You'll need me to help kill Thoreau. I'll be fire proof again soon. We won't free anyone who's Bound until we kill the mayor." I had a point and I knew.
The image in the portal was fading already, vanishing before I even had the chance to go in. Xavier looked at it and back to me. The air in the room felt less alive than before.
His eyes were already changing.
The brown was slowly morphing into a blue with a hint of purple.
"Alyssa," he said with horror.
Our glamours were wearing off.
"Not already," I said. I sniffed the air. The sewage smell was a bit stronger now and I could smell the water, too. My abilities were slowly returning. "Now what?"
"We leave," Xavier said, eyeing the fading image of the Infernal Dimension. "There are other portals we can use. Thoreau is right on the other side of this one. There's no doubt being in his home world will help him recover. Then he'll be back here."
"But we're here!"
"We go!" Xavier shouted, pushing me towards the exit. "I was hoping our people wouldn't be behind one of these. I was hoping for cells. But there aren't. I'll come back here later. We have Thoreau's ID card."
"What is your problem?" I asked, but a growing part of me warned me to drop this, get out of here, and go on with another way to rescue our people.
"Go!" Xavier shouted. A hint of his voice returned. "We won't get out of here if we wait any longer. We're turning back. The magic in this place must be sapping our glamours away like it did the power in the tasers."
The portal had completely faded now and was going from black to blue. They didn't stay open long after someone went through. But I still had the vial of demon blood.
The ATC uniform felt a bit loose on me and the pant legs a bit too long.
My chest ached. I was giving up my chance once again. My father was on the other side of that portal but we weren't armed. I wished I had brought my sword. All I had was this dagger.
But when I thought about going through that portal, dread spread through my gut. A horrible thought was trying to worm its way up but I held it down, determined not to let it finish itself. Maybe Xavier was right and I needed to avoid the portal at all costs. Maybe--
"Keep going," Xavier said. "Use the card. Thoreau used his. We can get out. Maybe he won't be able to if we close this behind him."
"Good idea," I said, keeping the card in front of me.
We scanned his card and the gate slid open. It was a relief that our fingerprints weren't required. Xavier and I rushed through and glanced at each other.
His eyes were fully blue now. None of his other features had changed.
And I had taken my contacts out for the glamour. If the eyes changed back first, that meant mine would be reddish. Dangerous. Obvious. The people in the office would know. I imagined this place had security ramped up to keep Abnormals from leaving.
The two of us bolted up the hallway and towards the surface. The steel door to the office was closed. I scanned Thoreau's card into it. The door slid open. I started to look at the floor to hide my eyes, but stopped.
The first thing I smelled was blood.
Lots and lots of blood, filled with breakfast. My sense of smell was coming back stronger now.
The second thing I noticed were the bodies on the floor.
A woman lay half-out of the cubicle. I was glad that she was facing away from me. Two men were also on the floor opposite her. I wanted to throw up. Standing against the wall, pale and horrified, was Cristoff. She was the only one left alive and there was a full cubicle blocking her off from the exit. It wasn't that she would make it if she had a clear shot, anyway.
Closing in on her was a woman with a black veil and dress.
I realized what this meant.
Thoreau had bought breakfast for his workers to make them tasty for his fellow Dark Council member.
Bathory faced me. "I see that two more have arrived," she said. "I'll get to you in a moment. Allow me to enjoy a bit more blood first."
Chapter Fourteen
Bathory must have been hiding here the whole time, waiting for Thoreau to get her meal ready. Maybe she had even come in one of the vans and Thoreau had offered her a closet to bide her time in. She must have known it was time to finish these people before they figured out what was really going on in the prison area.
Cristoff turned her gaze to me. Silent tears of terror ran down her face.
Even though I didn't know her, she reminded me of Janine.
We had to save her but I had no weapon. I searched around with my improving vision. Bathory still thought we were Normals. Not dangerous. Not a threat. It might be better to just leave while we could, but I couldn't abandon this woman.
She took a step closer to Cristoff, who whimpered.
"Don't," I said. "Haven't you had enough blood? I mean, look. You wasted a whole bunch right there." I pointed at a puddle on the floor. It smelled like pancakes and sausage with a bit of syrup mixed in.
"You have a sense of humor," Bathory said, reaching out and taking Cristoff by the blouse. She pulled the hapless woman closer and lifted her veil with another hand. "I like that. Thoreau likes that, too."
I had to stall her. "Why do you need so much blood, anyway?" I asked, inching closer to the only weapon I could see in the room: a new, filled coffee pot that still had some coffee dripping into it. "Shouldn't biting just one person be enough for you? I mean, you don't even have to kill someone to do it."
Bathory faced me. I could see her reddish eyes through her veil now.
As I was sure she could now see mine.
"Well," she said, looking at my uniform and back up to my eyes. She loosened her grip on Cristoff for a second, enough to allow the woman to scoot away. "That's not something I see every day. How did you get through the application process for the ATC?"
I seized the coffee pot. "I'm not in the ATC."
"Sanders!" Cristoff shouted.
It was too late. I swung the coffee pot and sent about twelve cups' worth of hot liquid right into her face. The satisfaction of revenge burned through me as she screamed with pain and brought both hands up to her dainty features. I hoped it would scar her. Make her less beautiful.
But she would heal.
And then she would pursue us.
"Come on!" Xavier shouted in his own voice. But I didn't listen. I lunged at Bathory, aware of the subtle peeling noises her skin made as it etched itself back together. She healed fast.
I still had Thoreau's dagger in my belt.
I took it out and drove it into her chest, willing my fire magic to work, willing my death magic to come to life, but I wasn't fully back yet. Blood spurted out and she made a gagging sound. I had gone close to her heart. Behind her, Cristoff climbed onto a counter and hopped over the wall of the cubicle. She banged on a door, then ran to another and opened it, vanishing.
The scanner guy and the guard must be dead. Cristoff could be the only survivor.
I withdrew the knife and stabbed again...and again...as Bathory backed against the wall and grabbed at the first cut. With each stab, my hands looked more like my own. My teeth were coming back. My hunger. My disgust. The air smelled of blood and coffee. It dripped off Bathory's veil and face, mixing with her blood. She had to die. She had killed so many innocents. Destroyed so many lives, including my own, with her disease. I stabbed again, but her cuts were closing as fast as I could open them. My fire magic wasn't back yet. She wasn't withering. Either that, or Bathory might be truly immortal. She had taken so much blood that she might be impossible to kill.
I lifted the dagger again.
She screamed and hit me with a lightning uppercut.
I flew back and crashed into the opposite cubicle. The computer shattered with the force of the blow and another Styrofoam cup rolled onto the floor, mixing more coffee with the blood below. Pain surged through my back, but already my bones tingled, trying to fix the bruises.
I was fully back to my regular form.
I was Alyssa Choy again.
"That was clever of you two," Bathory said, walking closer to me. "I couldn't have found someone to do a better disguise myself. You could have done one that lasted longer, however. I might have to take away some points for that."
I lifted my head off a plastic paper file.
She was holding Xavier's arm. He was fully back, too, dressed in a too-big ATC uniform. All of the color had drained from his face and now he smelled very strongly of adrenaline. He wouldn't take his gaze off of me.
Xavier was terrified for me. He was held captive by the most evil and most powerful vampire ever to live and all of his fear was for what I might have to endure. I could feel it. It was there in his eyes.
"Let go of him," I said.
Of course, she didn't. I sat up and slipped on some of the blood on the floor, barely catching myself before I fell into it. How could there be so much? I had the feeling Bathory just liked seeing it. She was a true monster. I wasn't like her. I had to remind myself of that. It was my job to protect Normals from dangers like her. I had saved Cristoff. Maybe Xavier was right that they needed us as much as we needed them.
"Now," she said with a smile. "It's time to head back down to the portal, don't you think? You wouldn't want Xavier's arm to come off, would you?" She moved her free hand to Xavier's shoulder.
He grimaced, not daring to speak.
She tightened her grip.
"No," I managed. "I wouldn't."
"Good," she said. Her voice was sickening and sweet.
"What's going to happen at the portal?" I asked.
Bathory twisted her hand into Xavier's shoulder and he bit back a cry of pain. "He doesn't need his arm to serve his purpose."
"Okay. Okay," I said, holding my hands up.
There was no diversion this time, no George. I knew that I should sacrifice Xavier's arm to save the world, but I couldn't. I just couldn't. Xavier's eyes begged me to let her do her worst, to get out of here and keep running. They begged me not to let Thoreau run the show again. They begged me to save myself.
Only, I knew, Bathory and Thoreau wouldn't kill Xavier. They would only find another way to get to me. The mayor might move on to hurting Thorne next. Trish. Maybe even my father.
The air smelled of sewage and the metal door came open with a click. Thoreau stood in the doorway, still in human form except for his eyes. There was no sign of Leon. He was fully healed and more vibrant than ever. His time in the Infernal Dimension seemed to have lent him more life.
"Run!" Xavier shouted at me right before Bathory tightened her grip on his arm again.
Thoreau smiled. "I wasn't expecting this," he said, eyeing Xavier and I. "I came in with the thought of bringing two brave ATC agents into my real service today. I underestimated your intelligence. Well, your intelligence, Alyssa. I'm sure this was your idea and not this boy's. He rarely has any good ones. Elizabeth, let's get these two down in the portal room. The Dark Council may not be officially together yet, but I'm sure those of us who are here would like to witness the next step."
* * * * *
The portal room looked untouched. The water was blue again as if the portal hadn't just been used.
Thoreau took his dagger back and walked to Don's office, returning with zip ties. Bathory kept us in the portal room while we waited, where I had to stand, unarmed, while she kept her death grip on Xavier's arm. Thoreau ordered me to put my hands behind my back when he returned. It wasn't like I had a choice. Bathory twisted Xavier's arm as he gave the command.
"Does the bunker supervisor know what goes on in here?" I asked as Thoreau put the plastic tie around my wrists, keeping them stuck behind me. I knew from experience that breaking it with my hands behind my back was impossible.
Thoreau bound Xavier as well and made him back towards the wall. We stood next to each other now.
"Of course he does," the mayor explained. "There's nothing he can do about it. He is Bound to me. And to think, I almost had the two of you Bound to me as well." He nodded to Xavier in a silent warning to stay put.
My battle partner was very quiet. There would be no chewing his binds off now. We were supervised.
And for the first time, virtually helpless.
Thoreau and Bathory walked a few feet away and conversed in a language with simple words and sentence structure. I had the impression I was listening to a tongue that was tens of thousands of years old. How ancient were Bathory and Thoreau? I had the sense they had seen parts of history that scientists could only dig up fossils from. I wondered if they were debating on bringing Gaozu and Death here to watch whatever was about to happen. For some reason, I felt a bit comforted by the thought of Death coming here. I felt like she had some warm spot for me. She was neither for nor against the end of the world.
It wasn't like she would be any help. Who was I kidding?
Thoreau and Bathory finished speaking and faced me. Thoreau's eyes remained black and burned with fire. Leon wasn't coming through at all now. Maybe Thoreau had found some way to suppress him.
He might be our only hope.
"Leon," I said. "Fight Thoreau. He kidnapped your favorite daughter. You can do it."
Thoreau laughed. "Do you think he can take over here?" he asked. "There are places he has the advantage, true, but there are also places where I have the advantage. Thanks to my trip to my old neighborhood a few minutes ago, Leon will not be coming through for quite a while. It's almost a shame. I've found him to be quite useful when he does appear."
"Leon!" Xavier shouted. "Stop being such a coward and get your honor back! You're a disgrace to the Lovelli family!"
I expected that flash of angry blue to appear in Thoreau's eyes, but Leon remained absent. We were truly on our own here.
"For once, I agree with you," Thoreau said to Xavier. Then he turned his attention to me. "Alyssa, it is time to awaken the fourth piece of you, one that remains dormant despite my attempts to let you bring it out on your own."
I gulped. "What fourth piece?"
Pure adrenaline pumped through Xavier. I could smell it.
"To be honest," Thoreau said, pacing along the edge of the portal pool, "I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet." He stopped as Bathory took a few steps back, waiting. The mayor took a bit of time rubbing the blade of his dagger across his palm, like he was ready to make a cut there. "You're more intelligent than that."
"Fine," I said. "Just tell me and get it over with, please. I'm having a bad enough day and I'd kind of like to get the worst of it out of the way."
Thoreau smiled.
I didn't like it.
"You're very smart, Alyssa, but sometimes you miss what's right in front of you," he said. "Literally."
"Um," I managed. I feared that I was starting to get his drift. "What do you mean?"
I really regretted asking that question.
"What do I mean?" Thoreau asked. "Why, Alyssa, I am your grandfather."
Chapter Fifteen
First I was shocked.
Then I was mildly grossed out as the horror spoon-fed a tiny piece of itself to me. Then the whole situation decided to say screw it and crashed into me full force. My knees buckled from the impact.
"Excuse me?" I asked.
The mayor kept his awful grin. Next to me, Xavier flinched and looked at the stone floor as if it were him instead of me getting this most awesome news of the year.
"Do I need to repeat myself?" he asked. "I will if you want me to."
"Um, no," I said. I shook my head. I had to find a way out of this, a way that would debunk what he told me. It was just too vile and horrible. "That doesn't even make sense. If you were really...if you were really..." I couldn't form the words. "Wouldn't one of my parents be like, a half demon like Beatrix?"
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