The Empty World | The Empty World Sequence [complete | rewriting]

Fourteen

"My Lord!" Mother said to Morpheus, "look at him, he's so different and yet...he has Steven's eyes!"

The boy had amber-brown skin, and was taller than Steven, without being any more heavily built. His eyes were bright blue, as he looked at Joy, and then to Julien. "The paintings," he said, then began to swoon.

"Amadeo!" Joy called, "You must stay awake."

Shade drew Julien into the hall. "He'll live," he said, "It will be all right."

"Julien will never be able to forget this," Morpheus said.

They went to the Redjack's headquarters. They watched the building for a short while. Joy sat in the car, listening. "Mazaret is bringing others, but the will not reach us until day. Athen: he's coming."

"Now," Julien said in annoyance.

It was like an action movie, the way they broke into the Redjacket's headquarters. Vampires fighting armed and armored Human agents. Julien had a very strong ability to start fires, to will things to go up in flames. He did not lead or move to the front, unless he purposely meant to block or take a hit meant for Joy or Shade. Joy had a greater ability to fly than either of the male Vampyres, and would enter rooms crawling across the ceiling or walls, to fall on humans in surprise attack. Shade, of course, was just strong in every way, but especially at moving heavy objects by will.

As they made their way down to the basements, along flights of fire stairs, they exited into a corridor, only to to find a heavy stone slipped down, sealing them within. "I'll worry about it later," Shade told them.

They came to the menagerie. Here, the passages were packed with waiting Redjacks. Julien moved to the front and deflected a barrage of bullets. They three Vampyres were rushed by the Redjacks, and had to fight by hand. All around them, the prisoners cried out, taunting captors, or begging for release.

"Where's Angel?" Mother asked, "I don't see her fighting with the Redjacks."

Blade. Morpheus did not know her well, but he thought of things he knew through scrying at others: supermodel, reads comic books, somehow married both Shade and Lucifer on the same day. A mirror focused on her. "She's there, in the same room, just somewhere at the back."

"She's not even going to fight them?" Mother asked, leaning over Morpheus' mirrors.

Morpheus didn't know, but he supposed that it was easier to fight when she could think of the others as evil or monsters, not people she knew, however non-human. Julien was her brother, and she and Shade had probably managed to live as husband and wife a decade or so.

Shade stood very still, in the space between cells. He opened his mouth and shouted, "Open!" And the cells opened. For just a moment, Shade stood, weak, it seemed, but he recovered quickly, and forced his way toward Angel, around him prisoners rushed from the cells.

There were some prisoners who had other bonds or devices on them, or who were too drugged or sick to move. Joy called out, promising they would all get out this time, but she needed help to free those who were weak.

Morpheus watched, as Julien pushed through into one of the cells. There was a wide tank of water, like a glass coffin. Faye was lying at its bottom. Julien broke the lock and lifted the lid. He drew Faye out of the water. She lived, but her skin was nearly blue in color, and her whole body bloated past its normal size.

Joy was momentarily swallowed by the crowd.

Shade, still making his way farther into the room, found his pet wolf, near some smaller cages.