"Oh...” Ethan blushed, “I'm sorry you two... you caught me in an awkward moment."
"You shaved..." Damien replied. "I've never seen you like this before."
Ethan nodded in agreement.
He made his way to the top of the stairs. He turned back around and looked at the kids.
"Make yourselves at home. I'm going to finish up here and get dress. When I get back... we’ll have time to talk. In the meantime, you two settle in."
Damien and Sera both looked at each other. As Ethan left towards the second floor landing, wet footprints trailed on the stairs behind him. Damien shook his head as Sera laughed.
***
At the head of a long table, Sera sat in silence as Damien and Ethan banter with one another back and forth. She observed the two of them as they sat on the opposite end of her. Damien gleamed with excitement as he reminisced with Ethan about their time spent together on the farm. Vigorously shoveling food into his mouth, Damien ate the dinner Ethan prepared for them. Sera looked down upon her plate. Strange meat, leafy green stuff and something that looks to be a fluffy brown ball. She glanced up at Damien as he sat next to Ethan in the dining room.
"The whole building was coming down... and Sera was all like, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh with her hands... and a dark force field appeared around us!"
Ethan smiled while Damien continued his anecdote. He turned towards Sera and noticed her apprehension.
"Are you Okay, Sera? Is everything to your liking?”
Sera stared at Ethan while her arms rested on the chair.
"The last time I was seated like this in a chair..." she uttered. "I had my wrist tie down and was drugged."
Ethan bowed his head. "I'm sorry to hear that... you don't have to worry... I promise you, you are safe now."
Sera adjusted herself in the seat.
"If it makes you feel any better..." Ethan continued. "you can always put me to sleep."
Sera smirked as she nodded her head in agreement.
"Anyways, Damien told me you wanted to know more about your mother... To be honest, I really don’t know where to start. The events lately have been baffling at best."
Sera placed her fists on the table.
"The Angela I knew was a brave woman... growing up with her, she was a very sick child. Because I suffered from the same illness as her, I was chosen to participate in an experimental procedure that would be used to cure her."
Damien looked at Ethan confused. He glanced at Sera. She sighed apathetically.
"For a very long time, I was in love with that woman. Sadly though, she was never mine to have those feelings for. We've remained good friends, her and I... but one night, something went terribly wrong. I can't describe it, but something took over her... possessed her. Now, it's like she doesn't even recognize me-"
"See, Sera," Damien interrupted, still chewing food in his mouth. "How could he have killed your mom if she's still alive! She can’t even recognize him!”
Sera's glanced at Damien with murderous intent. Ethan placed his hand on Damien's shoulders eagerly.
"I got this, pal," he assured him.
Damien agreed.
He shoveled more food in his mouth.
Ethan rose from his chair. He approached Sera.
"What my friend here is trying to say ..." he paused before continuing. "Angela didn’t die. She alive... and still here with us."
Sera leaned forward in her chair. She urged Ethan not to come any closer.
"What does that have to do with anything?” she uttered. “She was hurt by you.”
Ethan lowered his head then sat in a chair next to her.
"I must warn you... everything your father has told you has been a lie. He manipulates to control and evades the truth that he was the one that abused his wife. Angela was shot... I made a promise to protect her and I didn't. In that respect, I own up to it. But if you seriously want me to be punished... I'm punished enough with the fact that Angela is no longer the person that I knew before-"
"Maybe she is!” Damien mumbled with a mouth full of food. “Don’t you think whatever possessed her before, might have come back to finish the job?"
"I don't know?" Ethan replied.
He took out a piece of paper and placed it on the table.
"What I do know is this, there are more questions now than answers."
"Like what?" Sera inquired.
"This right here."
He pointed to the paper upon the table.
"It's a note addressed to Dr. Belmont that I found when I searched the house. It was stapled to his desk in the study. I couldn't miss it, the whole thing had a knife stabbed through it."
Damien stretched out his neck to glance at the paper.
"What does it say?" he muttereed.
"It's from Leo. It says that he has a woman named, Neoma and that a missing piece of his heart is within Sera. Meet him in the bog and Dr. Belmont can have Neoma."
"Neoma?” Damien scoffed. “Who in the mother of god is-"
"My mother," Sera scolded rising from her chair. “My... natural mother.”
She stood from the table and marched towards the doorway. Ethan rose from his seat and followed.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Sera stared up at Ethan.
“Listen...” he uttered.
He looked into her eyes then took a step back.
"Leo is dangerous... ” he continued. “He has killed in the past and will kill many more. He wants to claim you as his daughter-”
“Because I am,” Sera replied. “The doctor mentioned a name. It provoked me to follow his orders.”
“What?” Ethan exclaimed. “Neoma?”
He reached for her shoulder.
“Okay,” he uttered in haste. “Just wait... you’re not leaving without me!”
Damien reached for the paper on the table. A flash drive fell to the floor.
Sera took Ethan hand from off of her.
"I'm not saying don't go...” Ethan continued. “...but please don’t go alone."
He walked back towards his chair and removed a silver lid that covered a metal platter. A syringe gun, three vials of medicine and three location devices was inside. Ethan picked up the gun. He loaded it up with a vial and shot himself in the neck with it. He reached over to grab Damien's arm and injected him with the medicine next. After Ethan inserted the last dosage, he approached Sera with the apparatus.
"What’s that?" she insisted. "You're not drugging me, Ethan!"
"It's nanomachines set to a tracking device. If we go out there to the Bog, we should all be able to find one another... just in case something doesn’t fly right."
"Why are you doing this, Ethan?" Sera cried out as he injected her.
Sera screamed out.
***
The three of them sat in silence as they sat back at the dinner table. Damien swung his head, first to the left then to the right, as he sat in his chair and watched them both like a tennis match.
"That wasn’t a good idea, Ethan.”
Ethan ignored him and continued his staredown with Sera.
"Hey?" Damien asked her.
Sera tilted her head and cracked her neck.
"Well then!" Damien uttered, rolling his eyes and turning towards Ethan. "Have you looked at this yet?"
Damien held up the flash drive. Ethan stood up and snatched it away.
"Yeah... and so has Leo."
Ethan walked towards the window. He pulled back a curtain and noticed a wolf-looking dog out by the main gate.
"Ethan..." Damien asked. "Who’s out there?"
“Nobody...” he replied. “It's nothing. Just a dog hanging around outside."
Damien looked at Sera then laughed. "It's Sera's guardian."
Ethan turned to her. "You have a pet guardian?"
"It's not a pet!" Damien smirked. "It’s her soldier."
Ethan looked out the window again. The dog was gone.
"Some guardian," Ethan replied
.
“I think it was tortured...” Damien continued. “Sera saved him. He protected us in return. I guess he's out there making sure that everything is good."
Ethan nodded his head as he released the curtain.
“Seems like a dog is a girls best friend,” he uttered.
He heard a rumbe. As he looked out the window, a beam of headlights pierced through the night as a handful of military trucks approached the main gate.
He snapped the curtains shut.
Ethan rushed towards Sera. Damien followed in pursuit. They ran towards the back of the dining room but was knocked down as the double hinged doors leading to the kitchen swung open. Sera reached for Damien and Ethan. The two kids screamed as an ominous figure slogged towards them. A pair of glasses gleamed from the shadows.
Sera inched backward as she held on to Damien and Ethan. With dark black eyes, Dr. Belmont approached the three of them. His clothes were threadbare and a sickly look appeared on his face.
"Welcome home, Ethan."
The doctor imparted his pale-gray skin. He reached out a hand revealing his phantom arm.
“What do you want?” Ethan uttered.
Damien stared at the doctor’s arm. His eyes widened.
"Join me, Ethan," the doctor replied, his voice harsh in tone. "I can keep you alive... just give me the girl."
"NO!" Ethan replied. "You will never lay another hand on her."
The doctor approached him.
"I don't apologize for your mother's death...” he whispered. “...but I do wish thing could've been different between us."
Ethan shook his head.
"It’s too late for that. Soon, you're going to die... just like your son... Hunter."
Dr. Belmont looked down at the dining room table. He noticed the note from Leo.
"So..." he growled, turning towards Ethan. "It seems the only question is what?”
"Project Neoma... The mother of the Titans... Sera has lineage to them... and Leo-" Ethan replied.
"Don't play stupid with me," Dr. Belmont scolded. "...It doesn't matter... The fact that you're here and Hunter isn't, only justified the deselection operation."
"Take me," Ethan replied. "Let the kids go. We both know Hunter isn't the father."
Dr. Belmont looked at Ethan and picked up the flash drive. He crushed it with his hand and scattered the pieces on the floor.
"Of course he wasn't the father... because you are!"
Dr. Belmont grabbed Ethan by the neck with his phantom arm. Like an elastic band, it extended across the room. He slammed Ethan against a wall.
"You stole my legacy..." he screeched. "Everything I've worked for... gone. All because of you and that filthy whore!"
"I loved that woman," Ethan replied as he struggled. "Why is that so hard for you Belmont's to deal with?"
Dr. Belmont lifted up Ethan. He slammed him on the table.
"It’s not!"
Ethan held his head as he rolled onto his back.
"Finding the girl to be yours and not his, I switched the results of the test and injected her DNA with the genome of my dead wife... who would guess... the final result proved to be brilliant than suspected."
Dr. Belmont paused.
"But you couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?"
Apex soldiers breached the door to the dining room and stormed in. They tossed in a canister and smoke filled in the room.
Dr. Belmont raised up his hands.
Ethan held out his arms and Sera and Damien came rushing towards him. He glanced over at a nearby gun case.
“Squeeze her hand,” Damien whispered.
"Soldiers..." Dr. Belmont spoke. "Stand down. You have no authority on these premises."
Windows and door suddenly clanked shut with steel reinforcements, barring everyone in the room. A seven-foot-tall grandfather clock struck ten-thirty. Sliding to the right, the clock revealed an emergency doorway that pried open.
Infrared lasers search through the fog like neon beacons fixing themselves on Ethan, Sera, and Damien.
"Freeze," a soldier demanded. "Stay right where you are!"
The Apex soldier approached Dr. Belmont. He drew his rifle diligently.
"No more games, Belmont. Tell me where the president is... We're releasing Hera, now!"
The soldier applied restraints on the doctor as he bent him over across the table.
Dr. Belmont lurked.
"You boys must be mistaken. Hera's dead... Just like you'll be."
With his phantom hand, he pushed the officer back with incredible force. He vanished into a haze of fog and maneuvered through the room towards the hidden door. As the smoke dissipated, the secret door behind him closed.
Ethan flipped over the gun cabinet. The two kids hid for cover as Apex soldiers fired their weapons. Ethan nodded his head to Sera. She held both his hand and Damien’s and disappeared.
The soldiers continued their assault as they sprayed the entire dining room with bullets. Ethan hovered over Sera and Damien as they stayed in cover behind the cabinet.
"Do what you do kid...”
Sera glanced up at Ethan.
“Nighty-night time!"
She peeked her face from around the cabinet. She quickly returned and nodded her head. She turned back around and a grenade flew by her face.
"Somnum," she yelled.
Emitting a light from within the grenade, the device exploded near Sera’s face. She fell back and landed unconscious in Ethan's arms.
The transparency broke from Ethan and Damien. Ethan noticed the silence of gunfire. He peeked his head from around the cabinet. He watched as the Apex soldiers collapsed to the floor.
"Wake up," Ethan uttered as he smacked Sera's face. "C'mon, kid get up!"
The soldiers stirred as restlessly they got to their feet.
"Only a nap?" Ethan uttered.
He lifted Sera in an upright position.
"Help me get her out of here, we need to leave now!"
Damien helped Ethan hoist Sera piggyback. As Apex soldiers reached for their guns, Damien quickly smashed the glass on the gun case.
"This is bad," Damien blurted.
"Grab something!" Ethan ordered.
A mechanical robot smashed through the dining room table. Gunfire erupted from the Apex soldiers.
Ethan covered his face and turned towards Damien.
“Quick... give me what you got!”
The Apex soldiers scattered throughout the room as they focused their fire on the giant robot. Damien held on to Sera and tossed Ethan a pistol.
Ethan looked at the weapon. He counted the bullets in the old revolver. He glance back at Damien then reached into the cabinet and picked out a shotgun.
Another grenade landed near Ethan. He kicked it with his foot towards the window. He scrambled to his feet and the device detonated. He looked at the wall as the barricaded window held little damage.
He noticed the sound of spinning rotors. Ethan looked up. As the scream of rockets soared through the air, he covered his face as wooden planks fell from above.
A searchlight shined across his face.
He looked in the sky. An Apex Carrier Delta hovered above him. It fired another barrage of missiles at the mansion.
The rockets bombarded the robot. The hull of the machine fell to the floor, revealing a hatch door that flew open. Dr. Belmont emerged from the cockpit, exposing himself. As gunfire approached him, he summoned a black barrier to repel as the weapons on his machine initiated.
He returned with his own assault.
Sera stirred and she became conscious.
The doctor held out his phantom arm. Summoning a shroud, a dark creature emerged. He threw out a blast and the creature flew towards Sera. As the creature landed on her face, it dissolved into a mist and seeped into her mouth.
"Sonoo..." she mumbled.
Sera grabbed her throat. She stumbled to the floor as she realized her voice was muted by the demon.
More Apex sol
diers piled into the room.
As the Apex Carrier Delta hovered above the mansion, Dr. Belmont targeted his anti-flight missiles towards it.
Flying too low to maneuver, the transport blew up.
Sera leaned onto Ethan's back and held onto Damien. They disappeared as a group, slowly maneuvering towards the breached wall.
Dr. Belmont opened fire. He initiated thermal vision and scanned the area for Sera.
"Got you, Ethan!"
From the back of the robot a net was released. It flung out and capture the kids and Ethan.
A dog jumped through the breach and leaped on to the machine. It attacked the cockpit, biting Dr. Belmont on his right arm.
Ethan scrambled to his feet as he removed the net from off himself. Damien glanced up at the dog. He ran towards the machine as soldier bombarded it with gunfire.
Sera reached out to Ethan.
“Do something!" she mouthed, still unable to speak from a muted voice.
Dr. Belmont flailed out his mechanical arms as he spun around in a circle. As Damien approached the robot, he ran underneath him and hid between its legs.
Dr. Belmonts fought with the attacking dog. An arm from the robot smacked against Damien’s chest and air rushed from his lungs as he hit a wall. The doctor grabbed the dog with his phantom arm. He held it by its throat and slammed it towards the wall near Damien.
"Please..." Sera exclaimed, still voiceless. "Get them out of there!"
Ethan ran back towards the house. As the colossal robot stood before him, he paused.
A whirling sound droned from the gatling gun’s weapon system. It signaled Ethan to fall back.
Two consecutive missiles exploded off the chest of the machine.
Ethan looked up.
“Another ACD” he uttered.
As the Apex Carrier Delta hovered above him, he turned around and ran back towards Sera. More jeeps and infantry approached him and the mansion. He evaded the soldiers with the cover of night. As he took Sera and snatched her up, he dragged her through the neighboring brush towards the hinterlands.
Ethan fell to the ground as he stumbled over a dead man soldier. He looked down at his feet and noticed the arrow that prutuded from the officer’s chest. He picked himself up and raced into the darkened woods with Sera.
Sera planted her feet.
"C’mon Sera, NOW! We need to go!"
She shook her head violently with a muted scream.
Raising Sera- Lineage Page 20
