Darkest Before The Dawn

by Michael Anderle

“We will. Speak soon,” Yuko confirmed before closing the call.

  Suddenly there was a clatter and Jacqueline’s attention snapped to where the sound had come from. Akari was standing there, her hair still wet and dripping, scuffling to pick up a microphone-like device that was attached to one of the computers.

  Jacqueline raised an eyebrow. “Everything ok?” she asked, bemused by the girl’s expression of surprise coupled with that of a child about to be chastised.

  Akari nodded, fumbling with the device before replacing it on the top of the console. “Yes. Sorry,” she said, her face flushing with embarrassment.

  Jacqueline glanced at Ichika, who was a few feet away. Ichika shrugged. “What can I tell you? Ninja training at its best.” She smiled.

  Jacqueline chuckled quietly, noticing how Ichika certainly didn’t fit the mold of the other fighters she’d seen at the dojo. Even her smile was bright and mischievous.

  “Come on.” Jacqueline grinned. “Let’s go find out if the boys are nearly done.”

  She headed out of the room, followed by the others. “Hit the light—” She stopped, and looked at the light switch. “This place had power?”

  Ichika wandered over. “Backup generator?”

  Jacqueline rolled her lips inward. “I guess so…” she responded, her Spidey senses tingling even more. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” she reaffirmed, striding out and back down the corridor.

  Ichika followed, and then Akari left, hitting the light switch as she exited the room.

  Saint-Genis-Pouilly, France

  Sabine ducked when a rocket came over her fort, rushing past her down the hallway to explode fifty feet back. “You missed me.” She coughed. “Fuck it.” She started shooting down the passage like they had back in England, using up her ammo like it was free.

  She barely considered what she would do when she ran out. She didn’t have an arm to load another magazine anyway.

  She struggled to get up on one knee, shooting the whole time through what was left of the barrier. She used the wall to walk forward, firing and waiting for the bullet with her name on it to find her.

  She made it back to her fort. There were at least nine bodies that she could see. An occasional bullet made its way into her area. She sat down, crying out when her arm hit a board and nearly fainting. She leaned back, allowing her eyes to flit from area to area, looking for the next target to shoot.

  —

  The pain was horrible, and the desire to just give up and dissipate was intense. Then he remembered who this was all for, and he fought on. He would offset the pull of the magnets with the energy he drew through the Etheric. He could not move into the other dimension, but neither could the collider pull him apart. He wasn’t sure if he was moving down the pipe or holding still.

  All he could be sure of was the pain. That, and the fact that he had people depending on him not to give up. For him to be there when they did whatever it was, they would be doing, to save his arrogant ass.

  He hoped to God that Bethany Anne couldn’t feel what he was going through right now because he was sure it would piss her off so much that she would remember until they met again.

  He doubted he would get the toe-curling kiss he was looking for if that happened.

  He tried to send extra energy into the device that was pulling him apart, but nothing happened.

  He was well and truly fucked.

  —

  “Why. Won’t. He. Die?” William screamed. He was watching a video from the main operations room. It should have shown a glitch in the system, perhaps an energy anomaly, but instead there was a massive energy flux. Hell, it was in some way driving the damn collider itself.

  “You power your own demise.” William chuckled. “How ironic.”

  Under the Kurobe Dam, Server Room

  “Eureka!”

  Riku heard Mark celebrate his geeky success for the second time in as many minutes. He poked his head around the stack to see him still standing at the console, the light from the screen illuminating the intense concentration on his face.

  Haruto came up beside him and watched Mark with him. “And to think he’d never really seen this level of tech before he came here a few days ago.”

  Riku heard the hint of admiration and respect in Haruto’s voice. “I don’t know why the Diplomat saw fit to give him the task and not us,” he commented. “After everything our master has done for her, you would think she would have honored him by entrusting us with the task.”

  He felt Haruto’s eyes on him and turned in the half-light to meet his gaze. “What?”

  Haruto’s eyes were full of compassion, which only served to irritate him even more. “We’re warriors, not tech wizards,” he explained. “You hold anger in your heart, brother. In the heat of battle that will cause you to make mistakes. Allow it to leave so you can be free.” He put his hand on Riku’s shoulder, then wandered into the darkness away from where Mark was working.

  Riku seethed as he watched Mark continue his task. He knew Haruto was right. Sensei Kashikoi had told him as much many times over the years. He just hadn’t figured out how to release this fire that burned in his heart all the time. He clenched his fists, trying to burn off the energy, and disappeared behind the stack again to give himself time to think.

  Under the Kurobe Dam, Server Room

  “Aw, shit!” Mark exclaimed.

  Riku emerged from behind a dead server. “What’s up?” he asked with a look of concern.

  Mark rubbed the top of his head, having hit it on a shelf as he was looking behind the server. “It’s ok. Just not paying attention to my physical dimensions,” he responded, turning his attention back to the server he was hooking into.

  Riku squatted next to him. “So how does this work?” he asked, peering at what Mark was doing.

  Mark readjusted the position of the battery he had just connected. “Well, this is just booting up now,” he said, nodding at the server. “Then I need to put this in a port somewhere,” he explained, pulling the dongle out of his suit pocket. He leaned forward again, being more careful about the shelf under which the server was positioned. His head disappeared between the server and the wall. “Got it!” he exclaimed triumphantly.

  Riku watched carefully as he swapped the dongle into his other hand to fit it into the server port. “Now what?”

  Mark started to get up, and Riku stood up and stepped out of the way. “Now I need to find a way of accessing this node,” he explained, looking around. He spotted a terminal tucked between more servers with different-looking facades.

  He pulled a coil of wire out of his pocket and ran it between the battery and the terminal.

  “Anything I can help with?” Riku asked.

  Mark didn’t even look up as he worked. “Not at the moment,” he answered. “Just chill for a bit. We’ll need to get moving as soon as we have what we came for. If it works.”

  Riku frowned. “What do you mean, ‘If it works?’”

  Mark sighed to himself. “Well, these machines aren’t compatible with modern machinery, so Eve had to call in some favors to find a dongle that would work with these old-style ports. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that this is actually going to work.”

  Riku nodded, then hesitated. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed too.” He wandered off.

  Mark continued to work, doing a little fist-pump when he got the terminal powered up and another when he successfully uploaded Eve’s patch to grant him access. Once that was done, it didn’t take him long to locate what they needed and start transferring it to the dongle.

  Riku was at his side suddenly. “All done?”

  Mark nodded. “Will be in a few minutes. When that bar reaches full, it will be done, and then we just need to retrieve the dongle and get out of here. Wanna see if you can find the girls?”

  Riku bowed slightly and disappeared.

  Mark watched the bar process. His arms folded, he felt rather pleased with himself. He was enjoying this new world
with its technology and coolness. He found himself wondering idly if this might be somewhere he could come back to. Unless what they were talking about with spaceships really was possible, and then maybe he could end up in spa—

  “Watch out!” a voice shouted from behind him.

  Mark spun around to see a refrigerator-sized server falling on top of him from the second tier. He held his arms up instinctively to cover his head but felt the impact anyway. His legs crumpled underneath him.

  Feeling dazed and overwhelmed and hurting all over, he tried to scramble out from under the weight, but his leg didn’t work. A second later he felt a jarring pain all the way through his body, like every nerve ending was on fire.

  And then nothing.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Minutes earlier

  Riku hadn’t heard anything from Mark for a short while. He stood up from the stack he’d been leaning against and in doing so, it rocked a little. Glancing up, he saw it was top-heavy because of a large, encased server.

  He pushed it again. It rocked again.

  I wonder, he thought as he peered between the shelves of equipment at Mark and his illuminated console.

  His method of escape dawned on him.

  He looked up once more before turning and heading back around the stack to talk to Mark.

  He paused at Mark’s elbow, looking at the screen he was working on. “All done?”

  Mark nodded. “Will be in a few minutes. When that bar reaches full it will be done, and then we just need to retrieve the dongle and get out of here. Wanna see if you can find the girls?”

  Riku bowed slightly and disappeared, only he had no intention of locating the others. In fact, if they stayed away a little longer, so much the better.

  He returned to his spot behind the wobbly stack and checked that it really did line up with Mark’s position. Satisfied, he took a deep breath and pushed as hard as he could.

  The whole shelf moved slowly at first, but after a moment in what felt like suspended animation it lurched forward. The server he had spotted slipped forward faster, falling off the shelf onto Mark.

  “Watch out!” Riku shouted, far too late to be helpful but just soon enough to assuage any suspicion that it might have been a deliberate attempt to hurt him. Insurance, should Mark actually survive the next few attacks he had in mind to layer on top of this one.

  Mark spun around just in time to see the fridge-sized server falling onto him. Riku watched with a degree of satisfaction as Mark’s leg crumpled underneath him. The rest of the gear and the shelving itself continued to crash down on him, pinning him perfectly in place.

  Riku hurried, knowing Haruto would return in a matter of seconds on hearing the crash. Riku pulled out the severed power cables that had been placed ready for him across the aisle against another stack. He tugged, pulling the long cabling out of its hidden place. He touched the ends together and they cracked, discharging an enormous spark. Without waiting, he threw one end down on the metal shelving that had fallen atop Mark, and then the other.

  The metal frame buzzed and sparked in cracks and bangs, and then he heard the thunk of a circuit breaker, and it all stopped.

  He could smell burning rubber where the frame had been in contact with the floor. He hoped it hadn’t grounded before it circuited through Mark, although he had no idea what charred vampire might smell like.

  He stepped closer, peering into the half-light. He couldn’t see anything. He heard nothing. He pulled his flashlight from his pocket, and then his tiny concealed gun. Flicking the safety off, he turned on the flashlight and swept the area. He spotted Mark’s head and torso. His eyes were closed, and already there was a lump forming on his forehead.

  Looks nasty, he thought to himself, raising his gun hand over his flashlight hand. Carefully taking aim, he focused on the spot where the bruise was already evident on Mark’s head, breathed, and pulled the trigger.

  He heard footsteps running in their direction. “Mark, Riku, are you ok?” It was Haruto.

  “Over here!” Riku called, trying to make his voice sound as panicked as possible. “Help! It’s Mark.”

  A second later Haruto came running around the shelf at the end and right into Riku’s sights. “I heard gunsh—”

  Haruto froze.

  Still holding his hands and weapon in the same position, Riku squeezed the trigger and delivered a shot straight into the forehead of his colleague and friend.

  Haruto’s body stood for a moment and then fell backward.

  Riku glanced at the vampire, who now had a hole in his head and was still motionless. Picking his way through the rubble of the data servers, Riku headed over to the other side where the dongle had been quietly downloading the information he needed. He scrambled deftly and quietly and pulled the unit around so he could access it. The light that had been flashing was now solid. He pulled the dongle out and made his way back down the aisle.

  He walked straight past the body of his former friend without so much as a glance in his direction, his eyes searching the illuminated area in front of him for his exit. Although it was almost obscured by another set of shelves with data storage units, he spotted it and jogged over double-time. This door didn’t need unlocking—it had already been left open for him. Without any hesitation he pushed through and disappeared on his escape route.

  Under the Kurobe Dam, Server Room

  Jacqueline made her way back down the corridor to the server room where they had left Mark and the others. She headed in the direction of the stack where he had been working. “I spoke with Yuko. She and Eve have been called away to help Micha—” She rounded the corner and found Mark only semi-conscious, and an exposed cable a few feet away.

  She ran to him. “What happened?” she shrieked, feeling her Were-self losing control in anger and panic. She touched him and got a spark, which quickly discharged into floor of the server room.

  Mark looked like his head was swirling. “Riku. Took the data…”

  Jacqueline spun, looking for the little maggot. “Where did he go?”

  Mark tried to get up before surrendering to his injuries and slumping back to the floor. “He must have left,” he said, wincing in pain. “I didn’t see, though. I was unconscious.”

  Jacqueline hesitated a moment, not wanting to leave him.

  “Go!” he told her, “I’m already starting to heal.”

  Jacqueline turned and ran out of the server room, taking a route behind the tiers of servers she had walked to the other side of. She saw Haruto lying ahead of her and ran to him. “Haruto!” she shouted. He didn’t respond. As she got nearer, she saw a bullet hole in his forehead.

  She felt her anger swell inside of her, but thought, This isn’t the place to turn Were. She needed to keep her wits about her and not be blinded by rage. She breathed, recalling the training she had undergone with Michael. Restraint was necessary for the advantage, he had taught her, even though when she saw him wreak devastation it never really seemed to jive with his worldview.

  She headed out of the room to see Akari and Ichika coming down the corridor.

  “What is it?” Ichika asked.

  “It’s Riku,” she blurted. “He took the data and killed Haruto. We’ve got to go after him!” She ran past them to retrace the route to the exit.

  Akari shouted after her, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  Jacqueline wheeled around, annoyed at the distraction, and saw the gun—the gun Akari was pointing at Ichika’s head.

  Jacqueline stopped, catching on to what was happening. “You?” she accused, confused by the turn of events.

  Akari nodded. “I have a duty,” she said simply.

  Jacqueline scowled as she started pacing toward the two women. “A duty to whom? To what?” she demanded, her eyes flaring werewolf-yellow.

  Akari reaffirmed her grip on the gun at Ichika’s head. “To maintain the vallitseva tila. These relics don’t belong with outsiders. They belong with us, the keepers. The protectors o
f the Sacred Clan.”

  Jacqueline shook her head. “And who exactly are the keepers?”

  Akari looked like she was under pressure. “You don’t need to know the details. You just need to know that this is bigger than you and your friends. We’ve been working far longer than you know about the existence of the relics, and we will prevail long after you’re gone. This is what is written.”

  Jacqueline shook her head. “You’ve been brainwashed, girl.”

  Akari adjusted the position of the gun against Ichika’s temple, and Jacqueline backed off a touch.

  “Protectors!” Ichika scoffed. “You’re not protecting anything if you’re not in line with Kashikoi.”

  “You’re wrong,” Akari shouted back defensively.

  “No, you’re wrong,” Ichika insisted, her courage growing despite the gun at her head. “Whatever these people have been telling you, they’re not trying to protect the technology. They’ll be trying to use it themselves. It has great commercial value. That is the cause you’re helping.”

  Akari’s grip on the gun tightened. “You don’t know anything!” she shouted, her agitation growing. “You’re blinded by your allegiance to your grandfather and his mysterious teachings.”

  “No, I’m not,” Ichika continued. “Tell me, what have they promised you?”

  Akari stopped.

  Ichika continued to push. “They’ve promised you something, haven’t they?”

  Akari’s voice was at a normal level now. “That’s none of your business. I’m serving the greater good,” she declared angrily.

  Ichika managed to wriggle away a little. “If that were true they wouldn’t need to incentivize your alliance,” Ichika reasoned, knowing she was on the right track with Akari.

  Akari opened her mouth to protest and at that moment Ichika saw her opportunity to get free. She spun and grabbed the gun as Jacqueline advanced.

  The girls scuffled.

  The gun went off and everyone jumped.