The air trembled when he walked along the darkness-shrouded hallway.
Red lines pulsed along the obsidian-shade walls like veins, as if in response to his presence. His feet thundered against the ground and behind him, his guards remained perfectly quiet, their gazes diverted away from him as though they worried that looking upon him might be all too costly.
At the end of the hall, a circular door, one that rotated to permit him entry as he neared. There was significantly more light in this room, light that stemmed from pulsing crimson orbs that appeared implanted in the walls and in the ceiling. And to the right of the room, a large window, a field made primarily of energy. At the window stood the doctor, pad in hand, a frightened expression on his face.
On the other side of the window, suspended inside a tube, long spindly limbs being pulled apart by mechanical hands, one of the little pet projects.
"What happened to it?" he demanded, stopping beside the doctor and peering through the window at the creature. Blood was oozing from its single eye, one it could barely keep open now.
"Far as I can tell, it was wounded," the doctor responded in his slightly raised, high-pitched tone, affecting an accent that made him sound much more important than he really was. "I've been able to get some information out of it. It was damaged by one of their experiments, but it inflicted its own damage too."
"Is it alive?"
In response to this query, one of the creature's limbs twitched.
"Yes," answered the doctor. "Barely capable as the human experiments might be, they have neither the means nor the ability to kill one of ours."
"And my daughter?" The man's voice was steely and sharp then, and there was a noticeable hesitation on the part of the doctor before he provided a response.
"No sights on her," the doctor responded, slowly and with a hint of worry in his voice. "I believe she may have slipped away during the chaos, unnoticed by both the specimen and the human experiments."
Silence followed. It lasted a half minute, human-standard.
"Ravan. Did you not provide your word, your unwavering guarantee that this specimen of yours was more than equipped to retrieve my daughter?" The anger in the man's voice was unmistakable now, and when he turned to fix his crimson gaze upon the thin doctor, the doctor retreated slightly.
"Y-y-yes, of course, I did, my Lord." Ravan gulped. "B-but there were unexpected…err, variables…and the specimen's attention was easily diverted, but that, I assure you, is fixable. I will try again, and I will retrieve your daughter."
"You assure me?" The man advanced on the doctor, and once more did the air seem to tremble. "Am I to put any more stock in your assurances, Ravan? My daughter is out there now, driven by her petulance and naivety and whatever delusions her mother managed to put in her head before I could rectify the matter…and there is no telling what she might do to my plans if she tells the meatbags what she knows. I am usually a patient man, Ravan…but the time for patience is past now."
"I-I-I know." Ravan gulped again. "But believe me, there will be no mistakes this time. I offer my life, my head, my breath…as guarantee. Should I fail you again, they are yours to do with as you wish."
"Is that not already the case?"
The man moved in a blur then, and in an instant he was holding the doctor high in the air, the struggling man's feet dangling seven feet above the ground. Ravan made a series of choking sounds, but he made absolutely no attempt to pry himself free of his Lord's grasp, for such would have been a request for death.
"Please," Ravan choked out, veins very quickly bulging along his forehead and the sides of his face. "I'm sorry."
The man grunted. He released the doctor. The doctor landed on his knees with a loud thud. A deep gasp for breath followed.
"Don't fail me again, Ravan," spoke the man, his back already turned to the doctor as he made his way out of the room. "Do what you must with the resources available to you. I do not care much what you do or how you do it…I care only that you retrieve my daughter from wherever she has gone to hide. And obliterate the human pests while you're at it."
"Y-yes, my Lord."
The man left the room, and Ravan rose to his feet, rubbing his throat sorely as he did. After allowing himself a moment to recover his wits and composure, he returned his attention to the specimen on the other side of the window.
"Failure," he spat angrily, before clenching his fists firmly and taking a deep breath to calm himself. "But no matter," he said. "We will try again. We will retrieve the princess. And then, we proceed with the plan."
Jin stuck to the shadows, the hood of a newly acquired hoodie drawn over her head. From the alley in which she stood, half-empty can of tuna in her hand, tuna smeared across her mouth, she could see them. The boy and the girl from earlier. She saw them emerge from the long hall, saw them speak to one another. She heard them too.
"Let's go search like Hardy asked," the boy said.
"And if the one from last night is still there?" the girl queried, her voice flat and almost emotionless.
"We try not to let it finish what it started."
They started to move then, walking away from the long hall. Behind them, another man emerged, tall and broad, bearded and with graying hair atop his head. She watched the man signal the guards at the hall, heard him utter instructions to them. A census.
She diverted her attention from the man back to the boy and girl from earlier. They walked very quickly, Jin noticed, and she knew from what she'd seen of them in the night that they could run much, much faster than that. The girl could fight too, or at least, she'd been able to hold her own against one of them.
That made her interesting to Jin. Potentially useful.
Jin slunk back into the shadows as Chloe and Jon neared, watched them go past, talking now about getting Lucas and the others to commence the search Hardy had instructed.
"I think we let Lucas sit this one out," Jon said. "He's too much trouble, wants to slam his fists into everything. After last night, I think I'd prefer if things were a little calmer this morning, and not complete chaos."
"What if we need an extra set of fists?" Chloe queried. "He's reckless, but he's strong. If the angry god's still out there, we might need all hands on deck."
"If that's the case, then we call for backup," Jon replied. "He'll be more than happy to be the cavalry who gets to gloat in our faces about how we were pretty stupid leaving him out of the action. But until then, let's try to do this with just Spike and Aiden, alright? Cool heads, not hot fists."
"Yeah, sure, whatever. What about the boy?" Chloe asked. "Mason? Hardy wants him out there with us."
"He's in a tent over there." Jon gestured in the appropriate direction with a nod. Jin tracked his gesture and identified the tent he'd pointed out. Jon told Chloe he was going to get Spike and Lee, and instructed her to meet up with them at the barn once she'd fetched Mason.
Jin watched from the shadows as they separated, thinking that there must have been something between the two of them. There was something formal about how they interacted for the most part—like the relationship between captain and subordinate. But beneath that, there was a layer of personal attachment, a closer bond.
Siblings, Jin deduced. In some way or form.
She let the brother out of her sight and moved between buildings quickly, tracking Chloe's movement, keeping her within her line of sight as she got closer and closer to the tent. She watched as Chloe came to a stop outside the tent, then craned her neck oddly as if she'd sensed something.
Jin's breath caught in her chest. She clasped a hand over her mouth, retreated further into the dark, pressing her back against a wall to obscure herself from view. At the same time, Chloe turned around, looking in her approximate direction with her eyes narrowed and glowing softly. She was scanning for heat signatures.
A moment later, Chloe turned back around and ducked her head to go into the tent, drawing the flaps behind her.
Jin let herself breathe again. "That was close," she whispered to herself. She shut her eyes gently and concentrated on her hearing, curious to know what was being said within the tent and what, if anything, the boy would say.
"Shit, you're the freak from last night," Mason said as soon as Chloe walked into the tent. "You're alive."
"This morning, not last night," Chloe responded. "Technically speaking, that is. You shot at my teammate and me at about two or three in the morning."
Mason gulped. "Erm, you're not mad about that, are you?"
"What did you do?"
"I'm sorry?"
"You had all of those Servants on your tail." Chloe sounded darkly serious. "And an angry god close behind. What did you do? Are you one of the freedom fighter radicals? The ones who take the fight to the nests?"
"Does it matter?"
"I almost died last night."
"I thought you said it was morning?"
"Tell me, do I sound to you like the kind of person with a humorous side?"
Another gulp from Mason. "Look, I'm not a freedom fighter or anything, alright? I'm what the others here have called me. A Stray. I've gotten by on my own the entire time, moving from safe zone to safe zone. And I was only here last n—this morning, because there was—,"
"A girl who wanted you to bring her here?" Chloe queried.
"Yes! Do you believe me?"
"No."
"Well, I'm telling the truth, alright! There was a girl! Short and dark-haired and rough looking, like she'd just been through a fight or something. Wounded, maybe, I don't know. And she was confusing for the most part, but she wanted to get here. To Aurora."
"And you brought her here?"
"Well, no!" Mason answered. "You shot out my goddamn fucking tires, remember? Totaled my car? And then those things attacked? That bloody monster sent my car flying. Chances are she's long dead, alright? I'm only telling you this so you don't think I'm here on some other agenda. I had someone who looked hurt and needed help, and I offered to help."
"Why was she in your trunk and not the back seat? Or even up front with you?"
"Because she didn't want to be seen, for some reason."
"Right."
"Look, honestly, I swear I'm not lying right now."
"Doesn't matter anyway." Jin heard the shuffling of feet. "We've been sent to go back out, give your car and a few other things a look, just to confirm a few things. And you're supposed to come with us."
"What, you're joking, right?" Mason asked, his voice fearful. "Are you out of your mind? There were hundreds of those fucking things out there this morning. You think I'm going to follow you out there? You think I want to deal with that monster? Hell no, I'm staying here. I'd much rather become one of you freaks than become breakfast out there."
"One of us freaks?" Chloe repeated.
"That's what the guy who spoke to me earlier said. It's what you do to Strays, isn't it? Shoot them up with something that makes them all fast and strong, kind of like you? I think I'll take my chances with that."
"Those are incredibly slim chances you'd be taking. Most don't survive it," Chloe responded. "And regardless of what you'd rather do, I have instructions to take you out there with us, and so you're coming. The only thing you have a say in is whether you come willingly or painfully. I'll give you five seconds to decide."
"What?"
"Five."
"Are you serious right now?"
"Four."
"You're not going to hurt me."
"Three."
"Jesus Christ, okay, okay! I'll come with you! But if anything happens to me out there, I swear I'll make sure you're the first person I bite."
"Won't do much good. We don't react to the bite like everyone else. Now get up and get moving."
Jin watched as a few seconds later, Mason emerged from the tent, a scowl on his face. Behind him, Chloe kept her eyes trained on him, alert, ready to stop him if he tried anything. As it would turn out, after taking only five steps away from the tent, Mason attempted to run for it.
In a mere blink, he was on the ground, one arm pinned behind his back by Chloe, who was atop him.
"Alright, alright!" Mason yelled, slamming his free hand against the ground. "I'm sorry! I just thought I'd give it a shot!"
Chloe returned to her feet, pulled Mason up, then menacingly nodded in the direction of the barn, gesturing to him where to go. Dusting himself off, with an expression of disappointment on his face, Mason started in the direction of the barn, Chloe close behind him. Jin watched them walk in silence until, after a couple of minutes, they'd vanished entirely from view.
Jin emerged from the alley then, onto the street, and scooped some more tuna into her mouth. It tasted like nothing in comparison to what she'd grown accustomed to, but she knew there was a pretty good chance she'd get into some sort of trouble if she headed to the kitchen for actual food. Not to mention, she wasn't sure anything being cooked here would be suitable to her palate anyway.
She walked down the street, digging into her can of tuna as she went. She ducked behind cover again when she saw Jon moving in the direction of the barn, accompanied by a woman and a guy she assumed were Spike and Aiden respectively. Once they too had vanished from view, Jin emerged again.
The timing this time, however, was inopportune, since she emerged from hiding just to come face-to-face with the man she'd gotten the canned tuna from earlier. She was certain his name was Evan, or at least, the others here had certainly formed a habit of referring to him by that name.
Upon seeing her, Evan hadn't reacted. His face had been blank. It was only when he spotted the canned tuna in her possession that his face contorted with rage, and he pointed a thick finger at her.
"You!" he addressed her in a tone of accusation. "You thieving scoundrel! What do you think you're doing with that?! And what are you wearing?! Did you steal that too?"
Evan huffed and puffed toward her, but before he could get too close, she turned and broke into a sprint. From the heavy breathing and loud thuds that followed behind her, she knew he was chasing her.
She was quicker than he was—a lot quicker than she was willing to show at the moment. She ran into a gap between two buildings, ducking to avoid the clothes hanging from the lines there, and glanced back over her shoulder to find Evan still in pursuit, a fiercely determined expression on his face.
She continued to weave in and out of the gaps between buildings, sprinting into alleys, leaping over dumpsters or piles of bricks that had been left around. Evan, quick as he might have been, wasn't as agile, and it wasn't long before he fell some distance behind her.
After a while, she emerged back onto the street, looked around desperately for somewhere to hide, aware it wouldn't be long before Hardy had her in his sights. With nowhere to go, and sensing his footsteps close on her trail, she ducked into the nearest tent and crouched right by its entrance, peering through the crack.
A moment later, Hardy emerged onto the street, within her field of view. He glanced from left to right, searching for her, and then after a few seconds ran off in a different direction.
Once he'd vanished from view, she straightened to her feet, dusted her hands off and had been about to leave when she heard someone clear their throat behind her.
"Well, well, well…what do we have here?"