Being chased by a gang of familiars all the way to the Gate almost made it to the top of my ‘Most Fun Things to Do’ list. I really needed the cardio. Not.
My lungs were already aching and if the chase kept up, I was sure I would drop dead anytime soon. Coughing, I looked behind me. The pathway was obscured by thick smoke. All I could see was that there were still about three or more familiars following us. The only thing slowing them down was the blazing trail Byron Flynn left as we draughted off. The dog practically coughed up fireballs just to make our escape a bit easier.
When I glanced at Vincent, he was already out cold. His face was pale and covered with sweat, his breathing shallow and rapid. The pain of the instantaneous healing must be too much for him.
Soon, I finally spotted the end of the path—a big stone archway leading back to Sinclair Mansion. Weathered and old, it jutted out of a scaffold that was barely recognizable beneath the thick flowering vines that crept over the whole structure.
I stopped in my tracks when I saw someone standing in front of it.
“Wait,” I told Byron Flynn, using the short chance to catch my breath.
I strained to see who it was until I saw the guy’s strange weapon gleaming as the fireflies gathered near it. It was a long sword with an undulating silver blade. Right then, I knew who it was. If I could fly, I could’ve flown with anticipation.
“Alex!” I screamed through the ragged breaths, stumbling as I reached the foot of the steps leading to the archway.
In one swift motion, he stepped down and caught me by the arms, my head landing on his chest. When I lifted my face, his metallic eyes fixed on me with that sort of glad look but not quite a smile.
I had to gasp for air while gawping at him for not less than three seconds before I could manage to say, “Alex! C-can’t say how glad I am to see you,” sounding like a total idiot as I held onto him for support.
Alexis’ extremely pale eyes shifted left and right, then to the path where we came from. “I’d say the same but I think Vincent can still hear us,” he said, smiling slightly to himself as he fidgeted with the cross guard of his peculiar sword.
Once back on my feet, I tried to flatten down the creases of my Nysmic dress, my eyes on the ground as I did. I knew it wasn’t the time and place but for some reason I felt kind of embarrassed.
Suddenly, Alexis’ took my hand. It got me a bit startled so my first impulse was to pull my hand back. But he didn’t let it go. Instead, he placed a small metal box on my palm. About five blank seconds passed before I was able to recognize what it was.
“A Hacker…” I vacantly muttered to myself, feeling stupider by the second.
Awkward. I really wanted to slap my face hard now but that would make me look like a moron.
Of course, it was a Gate Hacker. What was I expecting? Some sort of diamond ring? Mechanically, I fidgeted on my skirt and pressed my mouth shut.
“Yes,” he answered, glancing momentarily at Vincent who was slung like a sack of flour over Byron Flynn’s back before his eyes twitched and fixed somewhere else. “I linked it to the Sinclair’s Master Door so you should still be able to cross back without any interference.”
The veils of smoke were starting to clear out as the Elemental fires Byron Flynn created slowly died out. Our pursuers were visible now, not too far from us. Easily, they skirted the fires, fully intent on getting closer. There were more of them as I had expected.
Offhandedly, Alex began stepping toward the enemies with his sword in front of him. Most of the time, he just looked confused, distracted. But he never looked more focused when he was wielding his weapon. It was like he suddenly transformed into Alexis version 2.0.
“There’s no time left. Go now.” His’ voice was as calm as his façade, considering that he was just about to get into a fight where he would be badly outnumbered.
I stared at the Gate Hacker then at Alexis’ back. He couldn’t really be serious.
“What are you doing? Hey! Alex!” I screamed at him when he didn’t turn around.
“Helping you escape, what else?” Smugly, he spun his sword around his hand, caught the handle and pointed it to the sky with his free arm behind him.
“By yourself?”
Only then did he glance over his shoulder to throw a pretentiously offended look at me. “Vincent might be a lot stronger, quite faster than me but I compensate with this,” he replied matter-of-factly, tapping an index finger on his temple. “Don’t tell me you’re underestimating my abilities, Aramis Rayne.”
I straightened up, a burn making its way to my cheeks. “No. Of course not, s-sir.”
That was the first time I heard him laugh. “Good. Now go.”
On that note, I quickly fumbled with the metal cube in my hand. I had always felt really uneasy whenever Alexis was around me. But this time, it was just plain weird. I was thinking maybe I should stay and fight with him. Hell, I knew that was what exactly I would do. Not listening was one of my best traits. But here I was, pushing the small button that would trigger the Gate to open, not bothering myself what would happen to Alex after I left.
As the linear lights flashed back and forth the archway, I had this strong urge to look back. But my head wouldn’t move and my hands kept manipulating the device although I couldn’t really tell what on earth I was doing.
Behind me, Byron Flynn growled, wrinkling his nose. He crouched down and I knew that the enemies were right behind us.
“Gentlemen!” Alexis said without much enthusiasm but I could tell he meant business. “How do you say we sit down and talk this out?”
Like that would work. I groaned inwardly. Tried that already.
I kept listening for any sign that the familiars were attacking. Surprisingly, they weren’t. None of them were cursing or trash-talking either. Looked like I lost to Alexis in the charisma department. Lucky him.
Finally, a black vertical void appeared in the opening of the archway, like a big crack in a black mirror. The void was warping, unstable with a force that felt like it was sucking us in. A strong wind whipped at us, throwing my hair to my face.
Step by step, the Gate pulled me. Byron Flynn let out a weak snarl as he too was drawn closer toward the void against his will.
I chanced one last panicky look at Alexis.
“Oops!” Alexis said in a mock-threatening tone as one of the familiars tried to advance, waving his pointing finger as he did. “No one makes a move until I say so.”
If he had any brilliant plan under his sleeves to go around this, nothing showed on his face. There were five familiars surrounding him. Still, no one was making the first move as if the enemies were frozen. The one who had tried to follow us was double-backing to his comrades. If for fear or because of the Gate’s force, I couldn’t point out.
“Hurry!” Alexis shouted over the turbulence from the Gate.
Mechanically, my feet stopped resisting the pull. Without even thinking, I plummeted into the Gate, seeing nothing but blackness, the sound of clashing metal reverberating in my ears—that eerie ringing sound whenever Alexis’ sword met another blade.
I would say I enjoyed being inside Point Zero for the second time if you could consider being thrown into a dark and stuffy giant washing machine—after it was turned on—enjoyable at all.
After less than a minute of being whirred into a smoothie, my cheek hit the cold hard floor. Dazed, I blinked a few times and let my eyes adapt to the incandescent lighting.
Judging by the shell lamps bolstered on the roughly polished stone walls, the odd roman numerals on the rows of doors lining the corridor, I was back in Sinclair mansion.
Byron Flynn groaned beside me, trying to get up with Vincent still lopsidedly hanging on his back. Quickly, I got to my knees and shook the haze off my head. As I was moving the unconscious Vincent back in place on the dog’s back, I heard the noise of broken glass being stepped on.
Intruders. I didn’t expect that they would still be here when I came back.
I rested my hand on Byron Flynn’s head, pressing my index finger on my lips before carefully sneaking close to the bend leading to the main hallways. Carefully, I took the route to the right wing, making sure that there were no enemies before beckoning Byron Flynn to me. The dog was getting antsy. Having used that much Elemental firepower must’ve took a lot from him.
I tried to listen to even the smallest sound that would tell me where the enemies were. All I could hear were incomprehensible conversations from not too far away.
In no time, we traversed the first corridor then another without any obstacles. As we passed by Vladimir’s study, my heart sank at the state it was in. The old grandfather clock that used to wake me up at midnight was toppled down. Broken glass scattered the floor. The paperbacks in his once meticulously arranged bookshelf was torn to pieces.
All I could do was clasp my fists until it hurt. What could they possibly hope to find in the kid’s study? Death got his stupid scroll back and I was sure he did some interrogation while Vlad was in his custody.
All of a sudden, Byron Flynn stopped, his ears pricking up as we heard the sound of boots against the floor. On impulse, I grabbed the dog’s collar and pulled him into the study. I closed the door behind me, trying not to make a sound.
My breath hacked through my throat. I pressed my back against the wall as soon as I heard the footsteps approaching. In my current state, with Vincent all battered and with Byron Flynn literally dog-tired, there was barely a chance that I would be able to fight our way out.
“Shouldn’t we return to the Halo?” I heard an unfamiliar voice said. “It doesn’t appear that the battles would cease before long.”
“Patience, Calyx,” replied a hoarse voice which sounded like the owner had a ping-pong ball permanently stuck in his throat.
There was no doubt whose it was. Saul—who, not only once, almost killed me. He should’ve died. Vince killed him. But for some sick twisted fate, he was still alive and back with a vengeance.
Mechanically, my hand reached for my throat. I gulped. I totally wouldn’t mind not getting strangled for the day.
“Taking into account that the girl would, by any chance of good luck, escape from the Halo, the only way out would be through that Master Door,” Saul continued. “And when that happens, I will be here to settle old scores with her.”
My heart almost stopped when the doorknob twisted. Trembling and frozen, all I could do was watch as the door swung in.
Unaware of our presence, two men in white robes walked in. Both of them look like priests with their decent attire and manner but I wouldn’t rely so much with physical appearances when it came to immortals.
One of them was none other than Saul accompanied by a chiselled, brown-skinned man with long braided dark hair whom I could only assume was Calyx.
As Saul’s pale bloodshot eyes swept the room and noticed us at the far corner, a sinister crooked grin broke on his face. “Well, well…” he said, stepping slowly toward us.
Backing away, I readied my right hand to summon my scythe. As useless as it had been, I needed to at least try. No way was I going to let them deliver me and my master in a gift box to Pilgrim Reaper that easily.
“What did I tell you, Calyx?” Saul told his companion with an amused look about his gaunt face. “The mouse finds her way back into the trap. How very convenient.”
A threatening growl came from Byron Flynn’s throat, his fangs bared in a snarl. His red tail spewed out small spurts of ember which died as soon as they appeared. I wished it could’ve been intimidating enough. Just our luck, it just let the enemies know how defenceless we were.
“D-don’t come any closer,” I said to him in the best threatening tone I could manage.
Upon hearing the slightest quivering of my voice, Saul gurgled loudly. “Or what? You’ll burn us to death?”
First, I needed to buy time if I was going to summon my scythe. If that didn’t work, I would have to do things the hard way and when I said the hard way, I meant some good old hand-to-hand combat. To be honest, I couldn’t say I was all that proud about my fighting skills. During my training, Rosario thought I was the most uncoordinated being on earth.
Think, Aramis! Think! I nagged at myself.
Looking around, I saw a large shard of glass just beside my left foot. With a yelp, I pretended to trip on my feet and managed to land on the floor. In the process, I inconspicuously touched the Bind mark on my neck.
As quickly as I could, I harnessed the power of the Bind and willed it to materialize in my right hand. The Bind wasn’t as easy to manipulate as I would have wanted but I kept concentrating, praying silently as I did. Sweat broke on my forehead. Nausea took over me. I closed my eyes and tried harder to harness the force to my center but it kept faltering.
Shoot!
The moment I opened my eyes, Saul was already in front of me with that grim stare. Without giving me a chance to catch my breath, he snatched the collar of my dress and pulled me up to my knees.
“How pathetic,” he said, leaning over so that his pallid face was just a couple of inches away from mine. “She can’t even summon her scythe. I had expected our next encounter to be a most challenging one. You disappoint me.”
Letting out a low rumble, Byron Flynn tensed, about to pounce on Saul when Calyx draughted in front of him. With an effortless backhand strike, the familiar sent the massive dog flying across the room. Byron Flynn hit the wall before collapsing on the floor. He struggled to get back to his front legs and drag himself toward Vincent who was thrown onto the floor in a difficult angle. Hardly managing to lift his head, the dog barricaded himself between Vincent and the enemy.
With a limp hand, I tried to grab Saul’s arm and pry his fingers loose of my collar but that just seemed to make things all the more entertaining for him. I fumbled about on the floor for the glass shard. The instant I found it, I picked it up and aimed the sharp tip toward Saul’s chest. With all my strength, I stabbed him.
Just in time, Saul shielded his chest with his free arm. The broken glass shattered into little pieces, leaving several cuts into the familiar’s arm. It didn’t look like it would kill him anytime soon. He sure looked mad as hell though.
When Calyx tried to help him, Saul just raised his bleeding arm and shook his head. “The girl is mine, Calyx.”
His voice was barely a squeak with all that anger. Given that I wasn’t in this tight spot, it might have even been hilarious. But with the brutal look in his wild eyes, all I could feel was sheer terror.
Helplessly, I thrashed about and kicked him in the shins. He finally lost his hold on me. I fell on my stomach, my chin hitting the broken glass on the floor. The pain shot to my jaws, rattling my teeth. Ignoring it, I crawled on all fours away from Saul’s grasp. Shards grazed my palms and knees but I didn’t stop until I was jolted back as a hand snatched a large clump of my hair.
I was forced to my feet, a cry making its way out of my mouth as I was being yanked back violently. Tears formed in the sides of my eyes. But I didn’t let myself make any more sound. Planting my feet on the floor, I jumped and threw my head backward.
A large black spot obscured my vision just as Saul’s head collided with the back of mine. The whole room spun around me. Staggering sideways, I dropped to the floor feeling numb all over except for the blunt throbbing in my skull. I was as good as blind as I groped for the wall behind me. Unsteadily, I leaned on it and pushed myself up, basically watching Saul walk slowly to me like he was savouring this moment of triumph.
In both his hands were a pair of sickles—his scythe—connected by a long chain which he was coiling over his hand as he approached. I couldn’t tell when he had summoned it, but one thing was for sure—he wasn’t here to capture me. Not anymore.
Panting, I tried to blink away the blind spots in my eyes with not much success. When I tried to let go of the wall, my knees wobbled. I had to hold on again to keep myself from slipping back down to the ground.
“I will surely enjoy this,” Saul mused, holding up one of his sickles, about to swing it down toward my head.
In a fraction of a second, Saul disappeared into a blur and crashed over the pile of splintered remains of what used to be Vladimir’s bookshelves. Next thing I knew, Vincent was pinning the albino familiar down. It took me a while for everything to sink in.
For some reason, Calyx was flat on his back on the floor with Byron Flynn’s massive paw over his chest. Every time the familiar tried to move, the dog would snarl at him and bare his knife-like fangs.
Vincent roared and pounded Saul’s face with his monstrous Cataclyst. “ARE!” Thwack! “YOU!” Thwack! “ENJOYING!” Thwack! “THIS?!” Thwack!
Splinters of wood were flung around the room with every hit. And with every hit, the albino familiar was getting pressed deeper and deeper into the pile of wreckage, deep enough until I couldn’t see him. At first, he was screaming. Then the screams turned into groans until I could no longer hear him. Cringing, I closed my eyes, wanting to cover my ears as the thumping went on and on. After that much beating, I didn’t think I could stomach looking at Saul anymore.
The noise didn’t cease soon. It made me want to throw up, sag weakly in a corner and hide my face. But when it did stop, I felt gentle fingers holding my chin.
Reluctantly, I opened my eyes only to see Vincent in front of me. Bright crimson speckled his pale but beautiful face. Thick blood dripped from the crooked talons of his dragon-scaled Cataclyst.
I couldn’t help but stare in shock at the bright red puddle on the floor. My hands shook as I fisted them, letting my nails cut into my palms if it was just to prevent myself from blacking out.
Slowly, Vincent lifted my chin so that I was forced to look directly at him. With a reddish mist, his Cataclyst began to falter, leaving the blood on his hand. His silver-gray eyes were kind, mellow, almost smiling as he looked at me.
“You’re okay...” he managed to whisper through the ragged breaths. “I’m glad…”
Suddenly, Vincent’s hands fell limp to his side. With something close to a smile, he closed his eyes and fell straight to the floor.
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Hi there! It's me again. Remember me? *cricket sounds* Anyone? *sighs* Can't blame you. Well, I'm actually the girl who writes this story. Still nothing? I've been gone for a while trying new things and real life stuff and I AM SORRY for the long wait. I'm gonna try to upload regualrly from now on as a sign of my gratitude. To those who commented and messaged, I cannot thank you enough. Even if I can't answer them all. Thanks to KatieHennessy for the super epic trailer!!! So there. Before this gets any longer... Next update will be on Monday :)