Rainbow Six: Bloodlines

"HOTEL CEUTA" - Chapter 3

Jackal grunted when the rope grew taught against his rifle. He and Doc heard glass shatter out of view, a few stories below them.

"Monika, come in!" Jackal glanced wide-eyed at Doc for a moment. "Thermite? What's your status?"

A shot pierced the air. The report of Glaz's rifle echoed out into the coastal city. Screams and shouts of scattering civilians could be heard below on street level.

"Target down," breathed Glaz. "Rooftop, south by southwest. Intersection down the road."

"This is Captain Vivas. Shot came from the Mercantile Registry building down the street. We're on it. Your teammates crashed through a window on the fifth floor. Three windows... west, from the southeast corner of the building."

The Rainbow teams on the rooftop acknowledged the callout and scrambled to action. The remaining Red Team members - Jackal, Ash, and Ying - took point at the rooftop access to an enclosed stairwell. Blue Team - Mira, Rook, Doc, and Glaz - lined up on the roof's edge and rappelled down in a gamble to storm the hotel room that Thermite and IQ had crashed into.

Jackal took point and switched on his Eyenox scanner. As Blue Team rappelled over the side of the hotel, Ash gave a nod to signal entry. They were through with a turn of the handle, and Jackal descended carefully down the rooftop stairwell.

"Captain Vivas," Ash said softly, "we've inserted via rooftop. We'll make our way down. Request that your G.E.O. teams begin a sweep & clear upward."

"Copy. Beginning sweep. We'll keep you informed."

The stairwell was dimly lit. Jackal led Red Team downward, taking the corners slowly. "I've got nothing on scan."

"Visual on teammates," came Mira over the radio. "Roping in."

Jackal continued on. Ash's hand was on his shoulder, her pistol aimed forward. Ying was close behind. As they took another corner, they heard Doc murmuring some soothing words over the radio while he gave IQ a STIM shot, before moving on to Thermite.

"Monika and Jordan are good," Doc announced. "A bit shaken, but they're mission-ready."

"Copy," Ash responded. "We'll continue down to meet up. Then-"

Gunfire erupted from somewhere inside the hotel, cutting off her words. They could hear it echo out into the street, and it sounded muffled from inside the stairwell.

"G.E.O. has made contact!" informed Captain Vivas hastily. "Ground level. Multiple hostiles. Sending reinforcements."

"Affirmative. We're en route."

Blue Team fanned out carefully into the hotel's hallways, using the room IQ and Thermite had crashed into as an anchor point. Above them, Red Team began descending the internal stairwell. Jackal stopped briefly at every floor Red Team reached so he could use his scanner to detect signs of activity.

He found none.

Ryad craned his neck to look back at Ash and Ying. "I don't understand. I'm not picking up anything."

Ying adjusted her glasses. "They've made contact with G.E.O. downstairs. Just must not have taken positions here on the upper floors."

"It's not just that," Jackal replied softly, his eyes wandering the floor. "If anyone was up here - tourists, housekeeping, hostiles - I'd see it. There's nothing. My scan picks up movement over the last five hours, and we just saw someone thrown from the damned window."

Ash and Ying exchanged glances.

Jackal stood. "Mira? Any signs of hostiles?"

"You would've heard by now. We've swept two floors completely. All rooms were deserted."

Ash frowned. "Hold position, Elena. We'll meet up with you and continue down."

"Like we have time to wait," came Mira frustratedly. "Hurry it up."

"Be there soon." Ash gestured back toward the enclosed stairwell with a roll of her eyes. "Let's go."

Jackal turned on his heel to follow when the buzzing started.

A deep, low hum filled his ears, sounding far away. The world around him slowly deteriorated to a blurry nothing, an unimportant backdrop to something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Jackal could hear Ying say something, but her words sounded as if she was underwater. The humming in his head carried her voice away like the wind passing through trees.

Ryad?

Jackal's heart jolted with recognition. The ghostly call was but a whisper, but the man knew it to be his brother.

He turned and looked back out into the hallway of the deserted hotel just a floor above where Thermite and IQ had crashed through. The doors lining both sides looked like silent sentinels guarding something hidden to the world. The texture of the walls was wavy at the edges of Jackal's vision.

Ryad blinked. Shook his head. He blinked again.

He was still in this strange Otherworld. At the end of the hallway, in the distance, a shadow walked into view and faced him.

Ryad.

Jackal's breath caught in his chest. He felt cold. He blinked yet again, trying to will away whatever he was seeing, but it remained.

The shadow stood motionless at the hallway's end, seemingly a mile away. Help me, Ryad.

Jackal's eyes widened behind his visor at his brother's plea. He rushed down the hallway, but his footsteps sounded muffled. The deep buzz in his ears somehow seemed responsible for clouding his vision.

He was moving impossibly slow.

Up ahead, the shadowy specter turned and walked back around the corner, out of view.

"Faisal!" Jackal called. "Faisal! Wait!"

It was like being in a nightmare. Jackal could not sprint. His legs felt weighed down by an invisible bog.

As he finally neared the end of the hallway, the man felt fingers close around his arm, tugging at him to slow his dash.

Ryad drew a sharp breath, whirled in painfully slow motion... and saw nothing.

No one was there. Just an empty hallway.

Ryad.

Jackal turned back to presume his pursuit. The shadow was not there, but the pinging of the elevator just around the corner beyond view echoed down the hallway.

He rushed for the noise. Panic overtook Ryad, his chest growing tight. His heartbeats were loud in his head, sounding like distant fireworks.

Jackal thought he heard a woman's voice behind him, from across a sea afar. He ignored it. Rushed forward. Turned the corner.

A lone elevator waited, just paces away. Jackal could see his shadowy reflection in the steel finish.

Beyond the ominous doors, the elevator hummed as it neared. Jackal saw the numbers counting upward on the floor indicator above.

The elevator's humming stopped. Its pleasant ping announced its arrival.

Jackal swallowed hard. Raised his rifle hesitantly.

The doors opened with a deep, otherworldly groan. The light inside flickered on and off, revealing a ghastly figure.

It was a young man in a 1980s Jose Camacho Real Madrid jersey. Jackal recognized his brother.

"Faisal," he whispered in shock.

The ghost of Faisal Ramírez turned slowly to face him. His lower jaw was hanging loosely from his skull. A gaping hole in the side of his head revealed dried out internals. The spectral, grey eyes of his dead brother met his.

Ryad. The ghost's voice was like leaves scraping concrete. It cocked its head thoughtfully.

You remind me of my brother.