All of them could hear his echoing footsteps that trembled the forest floor as he drew closer to the base. However, they were followed by strange sounds, loud moans, as if he was lamenting the passing of someone. His wails were terribly loud and high-pitch that even the trees and the leaves squirmed away from him, and any living animals around rush away from his trembling steps. Draco only ceased when he reached the front metallic doors because he didn't want any of his sons to hear his sobs. Thus, as he wiped away the tears that were unusually huge that they could form their own puddle, he finally began pulling the lever that separated the doors.
The moment the doors opened, Draco sensed something was odd. It wasn't that he heard anything, it was merely his senses that were ticking. Something felt different; the trembling of the floors didn't feel harmonious, his feet didn't seem as stabilized. The light in the lobby was slightly dimmer than usual, and that set alarm bells ringing through his brain. He stepped inside, but the moment that happened, two objects rolled on the ground in front of him, and the last sight they all saw were his lips widening and his lengthy dangerous canines.
Suddenly, both objects exploded in front of him and smoke completely concealed his surroundings. It was definitely a gas bomb since he could feel his throat starting to clench and his eyes sting, causing him to blink profusely and lose his breath. The moment they heard his loud coughs, Dante was the one who shouted, "Now Lucy!"
"That'll definitely kill you in one blast." Lucius, from the end of the corridor, tightened his grip on a rocket over his shoulder and aimed it directly at the smoke where they assumed his father was still positioned. When the rocket was launched, Lucius was propelled backwards, tumbling along the floor and caught by Jake. The force had been much greater than expected that they both slammed into the wall at the end of the corridor.
All they saw was the rocket enter the smoke and disappear, but there was no explosion. "Did we get him?" Jake exhaled, glancing towards the smoke that was slowly starting to settle. However, the sound from the rocket was still buzzing, and they only realized what had happened when they saw the muzzle of the rocket redirected towards them. "Holy fuck!"
Both Jake and Lucius rushed to their feet and leaped to the side, but the rocket's speed was much faster that it collided with the wall behind them before they had time to place enough distance between them. None of them had expected for it to explode inside the base, hence there was instantly a combustion, fire spreading and causing all of them to reveal themselves and head towards the exterior of the base, coughing hysterically as they felt the carbon monoxide instantly filled their lungs. However, they hadn't taken into consideration the debris that began to collapse and a few of them fell stuck within the flames and the smoke.
Dante was the first one to escape with Tyler over his shoulder, but the moment he was out of the fumes, he collapsed onto the ground. He knew that coup wouldn't have killed their father, but when he glanced upwards, his father stood there without even a scratch, a massive grin on his face and his eyes widened with such ecstatic bloodlust that it made Dante want to puke, knowing he was most likely next. Tyler was coughing as well, but froze when she also realized Draco was standing in front of them.
The entrance of the base was still overwhelmed with fumes, but no one else was coming out. Dante finally felt his airway starting to expand, able to breathe properly and pushed himself to his feet. He had no care for his father standing there, gloating his initial victory, but instead on the fact that Nate was still inside the unsettling amount of smoke. Without any hesitation, he tried to head back inside but flames covered the entry, and he was almost burned by merely trying to get close.
"Don't go back inside Dante," Tyler shouted through coughs, "you'll die!"
"They're all still in there! I need to save at least one of—"
"Hold on, a little longer..." Reno, carrying Eleanor on his back, finally walked past the double doors. It was clear that the fire had damaged them much more, the coughing Eleanor with all the clothes on her back completely burned off and the fire had began eating at the flesh before Reno saved her. As for Reno, one of his arms had completely succumbed to the flames that he could barely move it from how much it had been burned, thus he had to lean forward to ensure that Eleanor stayed on his back.
When they finally made it far away from the fumes, he tumbled to the ground which made Eleanor fall forward as well. It felt as if the endorphins in his body was slowly starting to seep away, as he finally recognized how much his throat stung with every attempts to breathe and how much the burn made all his nerves feel as though they had been shocked by electricity. He hadn't even noticed his father, only realizing he was there when Draco boomed with cackles.
"Reno, did you see Nate?" Dante's voice didn't register in Reno's brain, and Reno paid no attention to him. It was evident, as he coughed hysterically, that there was something else stuck in his mind. "Reno," Dante cried as he raced to him, finally noticing that Reno was starting to calm down, "is Nate alr—?"
"Nate, watch out!" Reno remembered Lori's scream as he shoved Nate towards the exit. One moment, horror struck him when he recognized the debris were collapsing on them, and the next, they heard the splurge from Lori's body exploding as the metallic debris crushed him.
"Lori's dead." Dante felt his heart stop for a second. "Lori...he's dead." Dante felt his heart pound in his chest; if Lori was dead, that meant there was a chance that Nate had also died. His eyes looked around again, searching to see if there was any sign of Nate anywhere. He tried to approach the flames again but they were practically burning him the moment he tried to approach the entry.
"Moreno, I need you to tell me right now if you saw Nate."
Reno's healthy hand was quivering as he remembered over and over again the noise from the splash of Lori's body being crushed. He couldn't hear Dante's voice, grasping the side of his scalp as he shook his head, trying to get the image away from his brain. "Lori's dead, his brain was smashed."
The booming cackles that echoed across the forest felt as though it was a shockwave, causing both Dante and Reno to fall paralyzed. Drunk Draco tilted his head backwards, bursting out into hysterical laughter as he heard about Lori. "I didn't think it would have been that easy!" he bellowed. "How many more to go, six out of eight?"
The panic was starting to settle in Dante's chest, his breathing grow rapid and he couldn't control it anymore. He hadn't imagined it to turn out this way. They hadn't expected the blast to bounce back and cause an entire fire inside the base; they hadn't prepared any fire protectant gear. They were doomed and with every second that past, the fire at the entryway grew bigger and bigger until it was nearly impossible for all of them to be alive, especially with the large dark clouds of smoke escaping from the entrance doors. And even worst, before they could figure out what to do next, or allow the panic to settle, they heard a loud high-pitch yelp that caught their attention.
Dante had left Tyler alone, and Draco used that to his advantage. His attention had directed towards his daughter and as Tyler attempted to crawl backwards, she had been still weakened from the fumes that Draco was much faster, and much stronger.
"Your friends are taking too long, so let me get started," he beamed sadistically, reaching for her hair and pulling her upwards until her feet dangling from the ground. Her entire weight being carried by her hair caused her to shriek from the horrendous amount of pain. It felt as if her entire head was on fire from his grasp, and her hands instinctively reached for his fingers. "No more mercy." With his other hand, he reached around her thin neck that had gotten even skinnier from what Draco had forced her to endure. When she felt his fingers begin to tighten, her bulging eyes glanced towards her brothers who stared in disbelief. "Any last words, Tessa?"
Both Reno and Dante were paralyzed in shock, unable to believe this was happening. Their bodies felt as though it suddenly weighed ten times more and their bones stiff as bricks. They could not move, could not even think as they stared at their sister's legs convulsing while she pleaded, "D-Dad...Dad please...I'm your daughter..."
A murderous smirk pulled his lips. "You've always been such a disappointment."
"Dad, don't do this." His golden eyes sharply turned to Dante who had been able to push himself to his feet, his eyes filling with tears as he slowly stepped towards Draco. He started at the helpless eyes of Tyler that started to circulate with hope, as if Dante was her very last hope to survive. That only caused Dante's heart to clench, almost causing him to collapse to the ground; he had no idea how to get her out of this situation. As much as he was enraged with her, there were endless situations that Tyler had been there for him. She was still his little sister and although the betrayal was heavy, that didn't mean he wanted her to die; he loved her. She was the only family that he had truly opened up his soul, revealed all that was happening in his life and even took in her advice when it came to Nate. She had been there as the shoulder to cry on, and although he cursed at her and found her annoying most of the time, that was their sibling bond.
Dante swallowed hard, trying to keep his voice tight and authoritative. "Let her down, now."
Draco's smirk lengthened as he sighed, "I will in a moment." His eyes examined Tyler's hands slowly stopping its fight and her legs staying still. "Do you remember when we infiltrated Wolf's base, right?" His fingers began to tighten and Tyler felt her airway starting to clamp. "And this bitch was talking to me through the mic, very boldly, may I say." Her tint was growing redder by the second, her eyes bulging from their sockets. "I showed mercy when you first left us and I instead asked Dante to kill you knowing that he wouldn't. I showed mercy after you tried to ruin my rescue plan of Nate. I showed mercy when Jules helped you run away. But now," his grip tightened and tightened even further, "no...more..."
"Tyler, I don't hate you!" Dante shouted, rushing forward but knowing he was going to be too late. "I forgive you and I love y—!"
"...mercy...!"
Before Dante could reach Draco, his fingers squeezed terribly tight that it instantly broke Tyler's neck. In an instant, her legs stopped flailing, her head tilted to the side in a peculiar angle, and her arms fell limply. As if she had been a random piece of garbage, he threw her corpse onto the side, and Dante watched as if rolled a couple feet before coming to a halt right in front of him.