IV
IV
“I can do this," she reassured herself. The underground passage's lights flickered. Eris kept up her brisk pace. During the day, construction workers were there, but after dark, it was empty. For Eris' purposes, it was the best route to get out of the train station.
"I can do this," she said again. She was used to running away. The bunker, a lavish house, a back alley . . . she'd had many temporary residences.
She was always alone. Occasionally, someone would care for her genuinely—until she showed her powers. Then, they'd leave her behind. Some people would even try to kill her.
"You've got me," the priest had told her. He'd said it sincerely, but he didn't know about her powers. He'd turn on her as soon as he found out, just like all the others. He couldn't be trusted.
She heard the jingling of the keychain on her bag. The little black cat snapped off and fell to the ground. It looked up at her, its eyes reflecting the flickering fluorescent lamps. Eris stared at it, unable to work up regret or remorse.
"Cheap piece of junk," she said to convince herself. It really is a worthless piece of plastic. But it's the thought that counted, right?
"Hmph!" she grunted.
Eris bent down to pick up the worthless plastic trinket. As soon as she touched it ...
BOOM!
Her hair whipped around her face from the force of the bullet that had almost hit her. Eris didn't even have time to question what was happening.
A series of bluish-white flashes sparked behind her—bullets ricocheted off the walls. Eris saw a red laser cut a path to its target. She pressed her back flat against the wall.
BOOM!
She screamed as the rounds went by. Bullets struck the overhead lights, plunging her into near darkness. Eris looked down to see the red light beam rest on her shoulder. This shot would be the end of her for sure.
"Eris!" someone screamed.
A blurred figure grabbed her by the arm and spun her violently.
BOOM!
She heard the blast as she tumbled down, but she didn't land on jthe ground. She landed on top of a man. He scooped her up and rolled them to the cover of one of the tunnel's support columns.
She screamed again.
"It's okay. I've got you," the voice said calmly. The man scooted them both into sitting position and rested his cheek against hers. "It's okay, so please calm down," he whispered.
"Father?" She knew that voice, and the clean smell of his subtle cologne. The gangly, goofy priest was now acting like a sleek, sexy shark. It was a horribly tense situation, but he didn't even break a sweat. Eris was impressed.
"How did you find me?" she asked.
"Talk later. Run now!" Abel yelled.
Multiple gunshots rained down relentlessly. The powerful rounds turned the concrete wall into Swiss cheese.
They ran toward the next column, but they didn't make it. Abel tripped on a pipe. He collapsed on top of Eris; their legs tangled together. The sudden stop saved their lives. Beside them, the wall was riddled with bullets at chest height. Had he not been so clumsy, they would have been shredded.
"Father!"
Now in the pitch-blackness, Eris thought the priest was dead. She worried he would suffocate her with his weight. Her heartbeat drummed in her ears. Convinced she'd be shot dead because the priest's body was trapping her, she panicked.
She heard footsteps in the darkness.
An emergency lamp suddenly flickered on and bathed the area in an eerie red light.
Eris looked up to see a man pointing a gun at her face. The barrel was huge—she could easily make out the spiral grooves inside. This is how I'm going to die . . .
"What are you doing . . . ?" Abel asked, sitting up and clutching his thigh. A bullet had gone clean through the meat of his leg, and dark blood seeped out of the wound.". . .Tres?"
Tres, what are you doing?" Abel implored.
M. "I checked up on the girl," Tres responded. The priest's monotone was not comforting. The smell of spent gunpowder was even more disconcerting. But what really had Abel worried was the gun pointed at his chest—or rather, pointed at Eris' head as she cowered behind him.
"The first case was two years ago. Her biological father shot her mother and killed himself: a murder-suicide. After that, she was placed in foster care. The second case was her foster father. He shot himself in the head with a hunting rifle. The third case was at her replacement orphanage. One year ago, eight boys in the orphanage slashed each other to death with kitchen knives. It was deemed a gang-related fracas, but the motives were very unclear," Tres explained.
The girl went pale as Tres pitilessly spoke about her past. She crouched behind Abel's back, unable to hold back her sobs.
"And last week's case at the safe house. Now we finally know why the vampires killed each other. It was not a territorial skirmish.This girl manipulated them to kill each other. Department of Inquisition has ruled that she is a witch. She is wanted, dead or alive," Tres continued.
"Your kiss? You used contact telepathy. That's how you bewitched me," Abel murmured to Eris.
Before the Armageddon, scientists were able to decipher human DNA, and they developed techniques to alter the genetic
codes. "Witches" were descendents of those genetically altered humans. They developed amazing mental powers: telepathy, ESP, telekinesis, and pyrokinesis. They could, reportedly, read people's minds or move objects without touching them.
After the Armageddon, vampires and humans went to war. Both sides detested witches and hunted them ruthlessly. Global genocide resulted, leaving barely any witches alive. In rare cases, some powers lay dormant during the Inquisition; these traits skipped a few generations, and then appeared randomly in some descendents.
Eris was one such witch.
"Listen to reason, Tres! It's true—she has an unexplained power. But how can we say that she was responsible for all those deaths without digging a little deeper?" Abel asked.
"Intent and responsibility are not of our concern. She was involved, and she is dangerous. That is all the evidence we need. This is not our decision, Father Nightroad; this is our superiors' order. It is highly probable that the vampires at the safe house wanted to usurp her powers. She is a living weapon and cannot fall into their hands. She must be terminated," Tres said coldly.
Abel mulled Tres' words over while Eris tugged on the back of his robe, silently asking for his protection. What if her powers can influence a large city or a Vatican military base? Is protecting one life worth that risk?
"This girl is not human," Tres said. "She is a bomb in a human body. She is a threat. We need to neutralize her now."
Abel looked down at the ground. Tres was right, and he knew it.
"Step aside, Father Nightroad," Tres commanded. "No," Abel replied, his gaze still downcast. He pulled his revolver from his hip holster and stood defiantly before Tres. "I promised to help her. And I keep my promises."
"Are you going fight me, Crusnik?"Tres asked.
Abel said nothing, nodding his head ever so slightly. Blown out cable boxes popped and hissed, but otherwise, it was silent.
Gunslinger nodded as well. "Affirmative. If you say so, then so shall it be."
"I didn't say anything," Abel argued, trying to buy some time.
"You leave me with no choice. Removing AX Agent Abel Nightroad from the friendly identification list," Tres announced.
If Tres were human, he would have shown a change in demeanor or expression. But Tres wasn't human. In a fraction of a second, his spinal CPU altered his combat program's genocide mode, though nothing outwardly indicated this.
"You have disobeyed the papal duty regulations, Canon Article 188. Abel Nightroad, you must be eliminated,"Tres said.
"Tres, wait!" Abel tried to interject, but it was too late.
He hoisted Eris up and kicked Tres in the chest in one fluid motion. Abel grimaced in pain, the bullet wound in his leg burning as he exerted himself.
The maneuver didn't do much to Tres—it bought them a second or two at best.
Abel leveled the pistol, but before he could pull the trigger . . .
BOOM!
A flash of light in the darkness blinded him temporarily. His revolver was knocked so forcefully from his hands that Abel was just grateful he'd managed to keep all his fingers.
In the next instant, Abel took another blow, this time to the forehead. It spun him around.
"It is no use, Nightroad. You cannot escape me—not with your specs," Tres informed him from somewhere in the darkness. Precisely tracing Abel as he limped along, Tres fired again, and the column separating him from his targets was reduced to powder.
Abel made a move for his discarded pistol.
"You're zero point three seconds too late," Tres said.
BOOM!
"Father!" Eris screamed.
Abel lost all feeling in his left shoulder. He crashed to the floor. His arm was barely attached, but he could still twitch his fingers.
His revolver was just outside his reach. Still, he tried . . .
Then Abel felt something pop and spark on his right arm. He knew instantly what it was.
Methodical footsteps approached, then stopped two yards away. "Stand down and show some dignity, Father Nightroad."
"I've got plenty of fight left in me," Abel snarked. He wrapped his right hand around a rubber cord.
The red beam of Tres' laser sights bore down on the back of Abel's head.
Suddenly, Eris slid across the floor. She scooped up Abel's pistol and dove behind a column. It took Tres, one of the Killing Doll series, less than a second to adjust his aim on her, but it was all the time Abel needed.
A bluish-white spark viciously struck Tres in the chest.
"Zzzzzzz!"
Tres screamed, staggered clumsily, and went down on one knee. A web of sparks covered his chest and spread out like a net.
"Eris, run!" Abel screamed.
Tres writhed and wriggled like a hooked fish. Abel couldn't stomach much more; he yanked the live wire off of his former friend. He looked back, surprised to find Eris beside him.
"What are you doing, Eris?! I told you to run!"
"I'm not leaving without you, Father!" she sobbed.
He shook his head and put his arm around her shoulders.
They stumbled up the stairs and into the lobby. Just as they did, the departure bell rang throughout the station. The train blew steam, preparing to leave the platform. Both of them dripping blood, they zigged and zagged their way to Sister Louise.
"Father Nightroad, what happened?" Sister Louise asked, her mouth agape.
"Sister Louise, please take the girl," Abel implored.
"Father!" Eris protested.
Abel pushed her into the open arms of the nun, and then he turned around. He could hear Gunslinger's labored, mechanical steps.
Eris gasped. "He's not dead!" she whispered.
"Eris, please go," Abel rasped. He was barely able to stand, but he pushed away her outreached hands. "Please . . . run away. I'll slow him down."
He coughed. A trickle of blood dripped down his chin. "Now!"
Sister Louise understood his urgency, and she pulled Eris toward the train. The girls' eyes welled up with unshed tears. She couldn't thank him enough.
The priest smiled softly at her.
"Why?" she asked.
"Why what?" he whispered.
"Why are you being so nice to a monster like me?"
"You are not a monster; you're just different." Abel winked.
"Come, Eris," Sister Louise demanded. "We need to listen to Father Nightroad."
"B-but . . ." Eris stammered.
"... Please go," Abel whispered.
She yanked free from the nun, and kissed him before he could pull away.
Abel braced himself for the worst, expecting her to use contact telepathy again., but nothing happened.
He gently nudged her toward an empty passenger car, and Sister Louise ushered Eris onto the train. He stood there and Watched her lips move as the train began to pull away. Her goodbye made him smile.
The train exited the station, Eris now on her way to safety.
Abel turned around to find himself face to face with Gunslinger. He wasn't surprised, just fatigued. "It's too late—she's already gone."
"I suppose so," Tres agreed. The Killing Doll put his gun against Abel's bleeding forehead. Travelers on the platform saw this and called for security. In a matter of seconds, train station employees and security guards rushed to the scene.
"It is not over yet, Father Nightroad. I have not given up," Tres said, turning to the station employees. He lowered his gun. "Contact the next station and have them stop that train," he commanded.
"The next station? That train isn't going to another station," one employee said.
Abel's eyebrows shot up in shock. "Say what?"
"That train is out of service; it's going straight to the repair warehouse," the man explained.
"Wh-what do you mean it's out of service?" Abel asked breathlessly.
Before the train station employee could answer, a nun approached. "Excuse me; I hope I'm not interrupting something, but are you two from the Vatican Papal Affairs Department?"
Abel's jaw dropped. He already knew what she was going to say next.
"I'm sorry for being late. I'm Sister Louise from the Saint Rochelle Convent. I'm here to pick up the girl, Eris? Where is she?" the nun asked innocently.
Those Vatican stiffs are such idiots," said the vampire as she tugged at her nun costume.
Mileil Manson snickered to herself. Her smile exposed the tips of her long fangs. Her laughter was not malicious—she looked more cynically amused than anything. But her jovial mood quickly turned sour.
"It's nice to finally meet you, you little monster," Mileil growled.
"No need for pleasantries, old lady," Eris replied venomously. Despite being chained and shackled, she was still full of spirit. "I'll make sure to say goodbye nicely when they kill you."
"Stop dreaming." She got right in Eris' face. "We won't make the same mistakes twice. We know that you can't use your powers unless you touch your enemy," the vampire said.
Mileil grabbed the back of Eris' hair and tugged violently, until the girl was on her tiptoes. Eris yelped as the chains bit into her. Mileil, enjoying her pain, brushed her fangs over the hollow of Eris' exposed neck. "I'd love to rip your little throat out, but the Rosenkreuz Orden has other plans for you.You're going to be our ticket to leave Fleur du Mai as of today."
"Rosen-whatzit?" Eris asked, as bratty as ever. It was false bravado; she was seriously worried about just how many vampires were after her.
"There's someone who really wants to see you. Told us about your little stay in the orphanage, too," Mileil went on.
Eris started to worry. Tres was right. The vampires were going to use her as a weapon.
"Murderer! You killed everyone in the orphanage. I heard them talking about it," Eris accused.
"What right do you have to call me a murderer, you little killer?" the vampire asked. Her smile said it all. She knew. She knew about Eris' parents, her foster father, and the little boys at the orphanage. "There are piles of dead bodies in your wake. Compared to that, vampires are practically saints." Mileil laughed. Eris wanted to snap back, but she just bit her lip. Maybe she deserved to be called a monster. All those deaths were her fault. Her ability to get into people's hearts and twist their emotions caused all of those tragedies.
In fact, her parents weren't even the first victims. There had been a priest in the village who had molested her. He killed himself horribly, stabbing a knife through his heart. After that, her parents made a suicide pact in order to escape responsibility for their daughter's freakish powers. Neither one wanted a witch for a daughter. Her foster father's suicide was self-defense. When he'd discovered she was a witch, he tried to kill her with a hunting rifle. She'd used her powers to make him take his own life. Finally, there was the incident at the vampire safe-house. She'd never forget that pungent, rotting smell.
"You have no one to turn to," the vampire whispered into her ear. "You're a monster. You're neither human, nor a vampire. You're alone."
Eris looked around nervously.
The landscape was dark, bleak. Eris saw several other vampires milling about the train. She had counted at least ten. Even if she used her powers on Mileil and escaped her bonds, she couldn't possibly make it out alive.
"I am alone," she whispered. Her eyes brimmed with hot tears. She'd gone through so much, just to get killed this way. 'She didn't want to die alone.
"Eris!" someone yelled.
She knew who it was instantly.
"Who the hell is that?!" Mileil screamed.
Abel held on tightly to the wing of an aircraft, his long hair and priest's robe whipping in the wind. .t "Vatican!" screamed the vampire.
The Iron Maiden pulled alongside the train. The sleek airship could easily have blown the train from its tracks, but Abel had a different plan. He clutched at one of the lower wings, hovering just outside the train's window.
"Sister Kate, move us in closer!" Abel yelled over the whipping wind. "I'm going to jump! Get us as close as possible!"
"I can't get you any closer, Abel! Besides, I still haven't gotten confirmation that this mission is sanctioned. You cleared this with Cardinal Caterina, right?" Sister Kate asked.
"It's approved!" he lied. "I'll get her authorization later," he muttered under his breath.
"What did you just say?" Sister Kate asked.
But Abel had already leapt, crashed through the window, and toppled inside the train. His landing was far from graceful. Abel's body careened through the seats, severing them from their metal foundations. He stopped smack-dab on his face. Without a word, he stood, cracked his neck, and raised an eyebrow.
Even the vampires were impressed.
"Father!" Eris shouted gleefully.
The vampires surrounded Abel. They hissed and spat at him.
"Why did you come, Father?" Eris asked breathlessly.
He smiled at the girl. "I told you, you've got me. Isn't that reason enough?"
He had an air of strength about him, despite the pathetic bandages that had been hastily wrapped around his shoulder and leg. Fresh blood seeped through the dressings. It was clear that he was far from one hundred percent, but he acted like he could fight the very devil himself.
"Either you're brave or just plain stupid," Mileil said. She screeched loud enough to rattle a man's teeth. Instantly, her fingernails grew, stretching as long as knives. She stabbed her twelve-inch nails into the wall, twisting and rending the sheet metal like it was paper.
"You'll die alone, Vatican. And so will this witch!" Mileil cackled.
Abel didn't so much as blink. "You must be members of Fleur du Mai, right? You're under arrest for eighty counts of murder, blood extortion, and kidnapping. I strongly recommend that you drop your weapons and turn yourselves in at once," he said calmly, fixing his glasses and adjusting his sleeves.
"Eleven against one? I don't like your odds,Vatican." Mileil smiled.
"Whoever said I was alone?" Abel asked.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Huge, unerring bullets whizzed though the compartment. Vampires were cut in half, sometimes two at a time, by the raw force of firepower.
The roof crumbled in on itself. Tres fell into the compartment, a pistol in each hand. He adjusted his aim and fired without pause.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Bits of vampires splattered all over the car. The blasts were deafening and blinding. Nothing could survive such a merciless barrage.
Tres divided his lines of fire, launching bullets in two directions at once.
"Don't kill them all,Tres!" Abel shouted above the din.
"Affirmative. I have many questions for them to answer,"Tres responded. He paused to reload.
Every single vampire writhed in pain, but they were all still alive. Some even had enough energy to fight back. Seizing the opportunity, a vampire came out of hiding and pounced on Tres' back.
"Too late," Gunslinger said. With a flick his wrist, his gun's magazine dropped from the grip's cavity. The next moment, a fresh magazine popped out of his spring-loaded sleeve and snapped into the gun. Aiming at the ceiling directly above him,Tres squeezed off three rounds. The roof came tumbling down, pinning the vampire to the floor.
"Grah!" the creature screamed in dismay.
After that, Tres leveled the remaining vampires. It only took another ten seconds and ten bullets. When he was done, the only people left standing in the train car were Tres, Abel, and Eris.
The glass-eyed Gunslinger surveyed his handy work. "Clear. Switching from genocide mode to search and destroy. Status report, Father Nightroad?"Tres asked coldly.
"Not a scratch from the firefight. Are you okay, Eris?" Abel looked the girl over for any injuries.
"Look out!" Eris screamed.
Mileil sprung up from the blood and guts on the floor. "Go to hell!" she screamed. Swiping with her claws, she lopped the head off the pinned vampire, then brought her other hand around and to split a hydraulic line on Tres' shoulder.
His gun dropped to the floor.
Abel's jaw dropped in disbelief.
Sparks burst from Tres' torso as she scraped his chest plate. Eris tried to intervene, but a stray fingernail sliced her shoulder open. Eris screamed and dropped to her knees.
Tres tumbled and tried to point his pistol, but Mileil kicked it out of his grasp. "Too slow!" She brought both sets of claws high into the air and prepared to stab Tres and Eris both.
Then her chest exploded.
Mileil's eyes widened as her heart ripped in half.
"Tres, please take the girl outside," Abel said calmly.
The priest—tall and thin, with long hair and round glasses and a normally soft gaze—now wore an expression as hard as stone. His fist protruded from the vampire's chest cavity. Ribs and guts hung limply from his forearm. He was buried up to his elbow in the vampire.
Mileil tried to speak, but her lungs had burst open. She was silently dying, her eyes rolling, searching for her killer.
Abel glanced at Eris with cold blue eyes. "Gunslinger, please take the girl outside," he said again.
"Father Nightroad?You're not going to ... ?"Tres asked with an unusual hint of surprise.
Eris wouldn't budge. She crossed her arms defiantly. "I want to see it," she insisted.
"I am quite sure you don't, Eris," Tres said.
"It's okay,Tres. Let her stay," Abel relented. He looked deeply into Eris' eyes and then began his ritual. "If I get out of control, please . . ."Abel said to Tres.
"Affirmative," Tres answered.
"Father?" Eris asked, suddenly frightened.
"Eris, I need to show you something." Abel extended his fingers and slowly removed his arm from the half-dead vampire's chest. "You and I are alike. I am also haunted by powers within me—cursed powers that try to devour my soul from the inside out," he explained.
His eyes changed color, fading from winter blue to blood red.
"But I have not given up on living. I can't hide from my sins. If I give in, I'll be nothing more than a monster. But I choose to live as a man. I choose to live with the burden," he whispered.
Taking a deep breath, he murmured, "Nanomachine Crusnik 02 forty percent limited performance—authorized."
A dry cracking noise filled the blood-soaked railcar.
"My God," Eris whispered.
"No, not God," Abel replied.
Mileil, free from Crusnik's fist, tried to stagger away, but fell limply to the floor instead.
Abel kneeled over her, his hand inches from the ground. The vampire's blood sprayed—undulating, coiling, twisting—drawn to pool in the center of the rail car. Abel's palm acted like a magnet, attracting the dark liquid. He lowered his palm into the puddle and it began to suck up the blood.
"Ever thought about it? Humans eat animals. Vampires eat humans. What if there was something that ate vampires?" Abel asked aloud. "Something higher up the food chain?"
The floor was spotless now, not a drop of blood to be seen.
Abel rose slowly. "I am a Crusnik—a vampire that feeds on other vampires."
"No way!" Eris exclaimed.
Mileil had healed enough to try to escape. She didn't get far.
With a sound like bending metal, the priest's right arm split open up to his shoulder. He didn't bleed; instead, the opening glowed darkly. From a pocket dimension, a double-bladed scythe sprung up into the priest's hand. There, the blade waited for its master.
"You reap what you sow, Mileil," Abel said.
He brought the scythe down in one fluid motion, so flawless and graceful that it seemed to defy physics.
***
"Are you okay, Eris?" Abel asked. The bloodstained priest reached out to the girl. As he did, his eyes returned to their winter-blue color. "Your shoulder was injured. We need to take care of that," he observed.
"Did you kill her?" Eris asked.
"No, actually. I just incapacitated her," Abel said proudly.
"Wlio are you?" she asked, stepping backward.
In that moment, Abel Nightroad's heart broke. Not because Eris stepped away from him, but because of the nature of her question.
"What are you?" Eris clarified.
"I'm a human being," he whispered, reaching his hand out farther, a brittle smile stretching his gaunt face. "Just like you."
Eris ran to him. He enveloped her in a hug, and they looked for all the world like a long-lost brother and sister finally reunited. "Don't get too close.You'll get dirty. I'm filthy," he warned.
"You're perfect," she sobbed, nuzzling him. "If you're dirty, I don't want to be clean."
Abel stroked her hair and took a deep breath.
Unfortunately, the click of a pistol's hammer ruined the touching moment.
"Tres? Are you still convinced she's dangerous?" Abel asked, threading his fingers through Eris' soft hair.
"Affirmative. I told you—her intentions do not concern me."
Abel turned to look at Tres. His laser pointed straight between Eris' eyes.
"We must eliminate dangerous elements as much as possible," Tres said. The Killing Doll emotionlessly pulled the trigger.
Abel tried to push Eris away, but he wasn't fast enough.
CLICK!
Nothing happened.
Abel blinked at Tres. They exchanged a long look.
"Out of ammo. The elimination cannot be accomplished at this time," Tres concluded.
Abel sighed, relaxing his shoulders. He knew better than to think that Gunslinger had actually run out of ammunition. "Thank You, Father Tres."
"Negative. It won't happen again,"Tres said.The android stared at Eris for a moment, warning her silently, then walked away.
"Raaaaaaah!" Mileil roared. She leapt up, her broken claws extended. It was an impressive display of fortitude and hatred, even for a vampire. But it didn't last long.
"Eris!” Abel screamed.
Tres moved like lightning. He didn't waste time turning around. A spring-loaded clip launched into the air from his wrist driver. As it did, he brought his M13 around in midair. The clip sprang into the empty cavity and a round chambered instantly. Tres fired a shot within the blink of an eye.
BOOM!
He fired another, then another. Each M13 shell struck the vampire's body, batting Mileil's frame around like a shuttlecock. Bullets pierced her brain and heart, finally killing her.
"Mission complete. Iron Maiden is waiting," Tres said over his shoulder.
Abel and Eris shared a frightened glance, both thinking the same thing: Good thing Gunslinger is on my side.