Chapter 16: Chapter 16 – Combat Link

 

The klaxon blared as they were led down hallways filled with rushing researchers and security personal.

“Was it the Eve Clan?” Amanda inquired as she followed along.

“I don’t know. My commander ordered me to bring you somewhere safe until the situation has been resolved.” He replied hurriedly, rushing past a checkpoint flashing his ID.

“Why are you taking us to the depot? This isn’t protocol.” Amanda’s aide questioned as they passed a pair of heavy double doors.

“Protocol’s changed.” A cold female voice replied ahead of them.

“Don’t move. Be silent.” Natasha commanded, using the voice.

Amanda let out a startled yelp as every muscle in her body tensed and locked, but it was abruptly cut off as her vocal cords became paralyzed.

She felt a cold chill run up her spine as she recognized the person in front of her. She’d read the woman’s dossier half a dozen times.

Natasha Romanov Nikoleve, successor to The Eve, also known as The Siren of Despair.

The reports from the second world war had proven just how dangerous these monsters could be, hundreds, sometimes thousands, dead by their own hands. This seemingly young woman had torn a bloody path through Europe during the war, earning her that nickname.

As Amanda’s eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the warehouse, she saw the corpses spread out around their feet, many of whom were still holding their sidearm.

“Where is Aleksandros Titanos? Speak only the truth.” Natasha commanded, looking directly at Amanda.

After being promoted to division head, Amanda had gone through standard extrasensory conditioning to resist compulsion, but that resistance crumbled under the sheer weight of the famed Nikoleve line’s power, feared by even their own kind.

“He’s being held in the Omega Class detainment center.” Amanda heard her own voice answer, feeling somehow detached from herself.

Natasha held up her wrist. “Location confirmed, cut all emergency power.” Before turning to the soldier she’d used to lure them here.

“Look at your watch.” Natasha commanded, forcing the soldier’s arm to whip up in front of his face.

“Wait five minutes after we leave, then take out your sidearm and shoot those two in the head, and then yourself.” Natasha said coldly before leaving, three previously unseen Custodes following closely behind her.

 

***

 

Natasha and her team moved swiftly down the halls, weapons raised and ready, but met no resistance, only the occasional hushed whispers behind closed doors from those who hadn’t yet evacuated.

A custodes at the center of their formation placed a hand on Natasha’s shoulder, sending her a silent burst of information.

“Twelve hostiles ahead, armed and barricaded.”

Natasha raised a fist, and her team spread out, taking up defensive positions before slowly reaching out their senses to each other, establishing a combat link. The moment the circuit was completed, each of them was flooded with information, every sense and thought shared. All four Custodes moved as one as they unhooked a baseball sized sphere from each of their belts, twisting the upper and lower parts before rolling them down the hallway.

The matt gray spheres kept rolling as if they had a will of their own, eventually making a sharp turn at end of the hallway, neatly splitting up with two going each direction.

Their senses pushed down the hallway sensing the tense alertness turn to confusion, then panicked realization before-

BOOM

The team of Custodes burst into motion, moving deftly over debris and bodies with a speed not even an Olympic athlete could match. They no longer had such things as blind spots, as each individual’s sight was shared with the group.

They easily homed in on their target’s location using their empathic senses and dispatched each with a short, controlled burst, often fired from another custodes rifle. Each movement synchronized and shared with the rest of the team. Never halting their advance or breaking formation, they moved through the rest of the building like automatic turrets.

After reaching the detainment wing, and securing their position, Natasha broke away from the link to reach out and search for Aleks’ unique mental signature but she was interrupted as she felt something behind them.

All four Custodes spun around and leveled their rifles at an overturned desk, reaching out and feeling the thoughts of the person hiding there.

“Fear. Realization. Panic.”

“Stand up.” Natasha commanded, and a man in a white lab coat sprang to his feet, confusion and terror on his face.

“Lead us to the Omega class wing. Specifically, your latest captive.” She ordered.

His expression became frantic as his body moved against his own will.

The team followed the awkwardly moving researcher down the halls towards a heavily armored door.

“Open it.” Natasha commanded again.

After a series of retina and fingerprint scans, the team followed the researcher inside.

Natasha felt rage and worry bubble to her previously calm surface, her face twisting into a snarl.

In front of them was a twelve-foot-tall cylindrical glass tank containing a glowing greenish liquid. Aleks floated in the middle of the tank, chained with manacles made of a pale gold-like metal and wearing a respirator, tubes and wires attached all over his body.

Natasha slung her rifle to her side and reached into a side pouch, whipping out a collapsible baton and rearing back, readying to break the glass.

“NO STOP, YOU’LL KILL US ALL!” the researcher yelled out, panicked. Natasha would have continued, but she felt the truth in his words.

“Explain. Everything.” She demanded.

“There’s enough power running through that tank to power this entire base ten times over. Just look at the cables leading to the tank!” The researcher frantically pointed to the wide and heavily insulated cables connecting to the tank.

“The EPI reports also stated that it should always be kept in fully luminescent nonconductive liquid. They were very specific about that.” He continued.

“EPI?” A Custodes asked.

“Extrasensory Paranormal Individual. They’re what we use to gather information and track powerful entities like that.” The researcher explained, pointing at Aleks.

“Those reports… I’ve never read anything like it. They burned out three EPIs just to figure out how to contain it.” He said, looking more uneasy about being this close to the tank than the four vampires in front of him.

“Bound in the whitest of gold and bathed in shadowless light, can he be contained.” The researcher recited flatly from the report.

Natasha’s patience ran out, and she leveled the baton at the researched threateningly.

“Turn off the power and open the tank.” She commanded.

The researcher’s body moved to comply, but his mouth shouted out protests.

“No! Please! The current isn’t to contain it. We were trying to study the exotic energies surrounding it-“ Natasha grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off the ground and hissed out.

“HE isn’t an IT.”

A Custodes moved forward and put a hand on Natasha’s shoulder and she calmed, dropping the researcher to the ground where he coughed and wheezed for air.

“Listen, you don’t understand,” the researcher hoarsely pleaded. “We found something. The current unlocked a sort of different space contained around him. The readings for immaterial entities went through the roof and kept climbing the more we increased the power. We only stopped after the final ESI report came in. It read out like a fucking horror story; dark things contained within shadows.” He finished as his body pulled a breaker on the wall, cutting off power to the tank.

As the tank dimmed, so did the lights around the room, and judging by the terrified expression of the researcher, it wasn’t supposed to.

After barely a minute, the wall previously just a couple of feet away was shrouded in impenetrable darkness with no depth to it, it was just a border of emptiness in front of them.

One Custodes snapped a chem-light and threw it into the dark, where it subsequently disappeared as if he’d dropped it into a pool of oil.

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Natasha had seen this before and reacted quickly, she hurried towards the tank and swung her baton hard, even with her immense strength it still took several hits before the glass shattered and a tide of liquid flooded the room before being swallowed by the dark slowly creeping towards them.

Aleks hung limply from his wrists, still unconscious.

“KEY. NOW.” Natasha ordered, the researcher fumbling with a safe on the side of the room not yet consumed by darkness. One of the Custodes quickly grabbed the key out of the clumsy researcher’s hand and flicked it across the room, where Natasha effortlessly snatched it out of the air and unlocked the manacles.

“Aleks, I really need you to wake up now! Aleks?! Wake up,” Natasha yelled worriedly.

“WAKE UP” Natasha ordered frantically, holding Aleks’ head in her hands, as the inky blackness slowly crept closer. sinister shapes moved in the dark, causing an instinctual fear in all those present.

“ALEKS SNAP OUT OF IT!” she yelled out, using the voice with every ounce of strength she had.

 

***

 

As I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Natasha’s worried face in front of me. I felt her warm hands on the sides of my face, causing an inexplicable sense of relief and happiness. But it was short-lived as I noticed the frantic fear on her face. I followed her eyes and saw my domain wide open and spreading quickly.

I tried to stand up, but my legs weren’t moving. It didn’t take long to figure out why, as I could feel the foreign substance pervading my body.

“Vampire venom,” I thought.

“Natasha, I need you to help me to my feet.” I said calmly.

Thankfully, the concentration was nowhere near as high as last time, but it would still take some time for me to clear my system of its influence, time we didn’t have right now.

Natasha lifted me up effortlessly, wrapping an arm around my waist as I placed my arm around her shoulders for support.

I took a deep breath, steeling myself as I looked out towards the darkness which had now enveloped the entire room, before walking forward.

“Stay close to me, no matter what.” I whispered.

The dark had engulfed the entire room, leaving only a small concrete island.

We reached the edge of the dark and I willed the miniscule amount of power I’d gathered into my legs to allow me to stand on my own as I pushed Natasha behind me.

“AK’NOR HALLOCK, AL KRA’UL TAL O’L GRAL, FENRIS, GERI, FREKI AL GARM! MATA KIAM AK’MOL!” I called out, my words echoing deep into the dark.

The shadowy shapes stilled and looked fearfully around them, but nothing happened. One familiar shape stepped forward, its blurry, distorted form becoming distinct and clearer.

“HAAARK’NOR TARM’LAAAAAR” its voice boomed out, causing Natasha and the Custodes to wince and hold a hand to their temples with pained expressions. A man in a lab coat I hadn’t noticed until now fell over as blood poured out of his eyes, nose, mouth and ears. The many mouths full of jagged teeth covering the shadow’s body smiled unnaturally at the now dead human.

It moved forward slowly and confidently until suddenly, a roar erupted from what felt like miles away within the darkness. The confident smiles dropped from its form as deep rumbling howls resounded from all directions, the sounds of which shook the concrete beneath our feet.

“Go fuck yourself.” I smiled back confidently.

It looked hatefully at me before turning to run.

It didn’t make it far as four glowing red eyes charged at its shape in the darkness. A wet crunch of jaws and savage tearing of flesh could be heard.

Panicking, the rest of the surrounding shadows ran for it, but one by one they were ambushed, letting out unnatural screeches as they were dragged away by a pair of unseen predators.

Only one shadowy horned form remained. Instead of fleeing, it had chosen to angrily charge its hulking mass at Natasha and me. As it reached the edge of the darkness, one of its massive hooved feet slammed into the concrete, sending out a web of cracks. It towered over us easily three times my height. But it didn’t make it another step as a pair of enormous jaws closed with such force that the windshear almost knocked me off my feet. Half its giant body had disappeared, wet chunks of shadowy mass fell to the ground from above. A pair of protective eyes looked down at us before turning away and chasing after the fleeing shadows. Each step reverberating enough for me to feel it in my chest.

I swayed on my feet as my knees buckled, but before I hit the ground, Natasha caught me.

“Don’t worry, I got you.” She said softly with no hint of the fear she’d shown moments before and when I looked at the other Sentires, all I saw was gratitude and slight recognition as they looked upwards at the departing giant wolf.

The darkness slowly receded enough for us to find the door.

 

***

 

I walked down the hall with Natasha under my arm for support.

“You know, this would go a lot faster if-“ Natasha began, but I interrupted

“I am not letting you princess carry me out of here in your arms.” I stated loudly, for the third time.

“We don’t have to label it like that. We could call it a prince carry instead, if you’d prefer?” She laughed as a Custodes moved ahead to cover a corridor.

Natasha had been worried we’d have to fight our way out, but it quickly became apparent why that wouldn’t be a problem. For the past three hundred feet, the walls had been bloody and covered in claw marks. Anyone who hadn’t evacuated before, wouldn’t be a problem now.

“That was Fenris back there, wasn’t it?” Natasha asked curiously. The three Custodes around us perked up visibly as they listened in for the answer.

“Yeah.” was all I said as I looked at the hellscape I’d caused.

“Stop that. This wasn’t your fault.” Natasha frowned at me.

“What happened to Clara?” I asked, fearing the answer.

“She’s still alive. Several teams moved in when you went down. They told her to get on the ground and when she refused, they shot her in the leg and made a move to grab you… She pulled off the ring and used the voice on them.” Natasha said hesitated before continuing.

“The voice is based on emotion just as much as willpower and age. She used the pain to increase her power enough to compel them. If she hadn’t held them off long enough for us to notice what had happened, we would’ve never found you.” She finished soberly.

“I’m sorry.” I muttered, barely a whisper, before suddenly being thrown with my back against a wall. As I slid to the ground, I looked up to see Natasha glaring admonishingly down at me, before her expression turned hurt.

“You were surprised,” she said, looking away pained.

“You didn’t think we would come for you.” She continued in a voice full of hurt.

I felt a thick knot in my chest as I looked up at her.

“You think those things in there change anything?” She asked angrily, looking back at me as I saw the three custodes moving a little further down the hall.

“I know what I am. This was all my fault. I should have never come back. I’m worse than the fucking things I try to keep locked up. You’re all better off without me.” I thought, but immediately I felt an impact rocking the back of my head into the wall.

Natasha pulled back her fist and grabbed my collar, pulling me to my feet and pushing me against the wall. She placed a hand on the back of my neck, leaning my head down before kissing me.

“We didn’t leave you. We won’t leave you. You might be a monster, but we accept you, all of you. You are not alone. We are yours and you are ours, now and forever. And we will never be better off without you.” She said as she pulled away.

“We all felt those things in there, and they weren’t connected to you. Not like Fenris and the other three were. And we all felt your resolve to sacrifice yourself to save us if it came down to it.” She finished, looking at me.

“But I-“ I began

“-Do you want me to hit you again?” She sighed in exasperation.

“Now, are you ready to go home? Or do I have to prince-carry you out of here?” She joked.

 

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