The agony of his back wound overwhelming his senses, the Cyclops slumped forward. It took all his might to stay on his knees and not collapse entirely. He tried to straighten up, but the sting in his back muscles forced him back down. He could hear her now. Soft footsteps circled around him slowly, purposefully loud enough to ensure he could detect them. His weapon tumbled about, barely out of reach, as she kicked it teasingly from side to side. A satisfied hiss slithered through the air, mocking, delighting in his torment. Soft, warm breath brushed against the back of his ear, while simultaneously the unmistakable prick of a cold dagger pressed against his neck.
“I enjoyed our game together,” Luminita hissed into his ear, relishing every syllable with palpable menace. “Alas, you lose…”
“Luminita!” Alex’s voice burst forth. “I can see you, Luminita. Let him go!” Alex stood at the edge of the clearing, Vega’s firearm aimed directly at her. Moody slouched next to him, her face grim, knife held out.
Luminita hissed at the intruders, a mocking sort of laugh. She studied Alex’s eyes carefully, lip curled in ridicule. “You don’t have the balls, little man,” she snickered.
“I do,” Moody grunted.
With a flick of her wrist the hunchback hurled her knife directly at the obscure form hovering behind the Cyclops. The blade would have pierced the assassin in the throat had she not darted to the side, and instead carved a line from her chin all the way up the left side of her cheek, stopping just under her eye. Seizing the opportunity, Hammett flopped forward, grasped his gun, and rolling onto his side began discharging it in Luminita’s general direction. Alex watched as the sly woman rolled and zipped along the ground, slipping behind a tree unscathed. Moments later he caught the sight of her bleeding, disfigured face far in the distance, glaring back at them with inhuman abhorrence, before vanishing completely.
“I think she’s gone,” Alex sighed, unwilling to take his eyes off her last location.
“Damn it man, why didn’t you shoot her when you had the chance?” Hammett growled. “No one will ever get an opportunity like that again.”
“Well, for one thing, I don’t have any bullets,” he replied with a sheepish grin. “And that’s really not my thing. I’ll leave the lethal judgment stuff to the guys with the badges.”
“Damn it all to hell. I’m in far too much pain to listen to your pathetic naiveté. Goblin licking, gorgon loving, son of a harpy, this hurts! And my ribs were just beginning to feel normal again. Damn it! Help me to my feet and I’ll rouse your friend,” Hammett nodded toward Serene, still sleeping peacefully on the forest floor, wholly unaware of anything that had transpired around her.
Chapter 37- Necrosia Stubbornness
“She appears to be in some kind of deep sleep,” Alex noted, nudging Serene’s shoulder gently.
“Step aside,” Hammett grunted, hobbling over to the inventor’s side, “I know precisely what to do in these situations.” Instead of procuring a bottle of smelling salts or antidote, the Cyclops calmly pinched Serene’s nose closed and waited patiently.
Within twenty seconds Serene opened her eyes, coughing and gasping. “…And I’ll tear a hole from your throat right down to your diseased…,” she yelled, kicking her arms and legs violently, before pausing with a confused look, surprised to see smiling faces looking down at her. “Alex? Can it be? This had better not be another hallucination triggered from a bad batch of Sinner’s Muse…”
“No, it’s really me. And Moody, too.”
“Oh, my dear boy!” Serene sat up, kissed Alex on the cheek and wrapped her arms around him tightly. “My dear, dear boy! I knew no harpy wench and her flying abominations could best us,” she added, nodding proudly to the hunchback. “Well done! Well done indeed. And who is this fine gentleman?” she asked, sizing up the handsome Cyclops.
“Daniel Hammett,” the inspector answered courteously, holding out his hand, which Serene in turn reached out for daintily, “Chief Inspector of the UEL.”
“U-E-L?” Serene pulled her hand back abruptly and contorted her previously flirtatious face into one that would imply concentrated lemon juice had been flushed up her sinuses.
“Yes, Serene, he’s from the UEL,” Alex explained, in a calm but firm voice. “I brought him and his partner here. It’s time to put an end to all this.”
“Why you villain!” she screamed at Hammett. “You deceiver! What have you done to my dear Alex? Brainwashed his fragile mind, have you? Well, just you listen here, you one-eyed bastard, I…”
“Hey! Hey!” Alex jumped in, restraining the wild woman. “They haven’t done anything to me…aside from saving my life…more than once.”
“Oh, that’s what he would love for you to believe,” Serene continued, “luring you in, making you think they’re your friends, and once they have everything they need, they reach in and…”
“Shut up, Serene!” Alex’s tone was so forceful that the woman instantly obeyed. “Hammett and his partner found me, left for dead, in that motel where the goblins attacked.”
“That reminds me,” Serene interrupted, “those filthy little devils received their comeuppance, oh yes indeed. I can’t wait to tell you all about it.”
“Serene, please. Let me talk for once. Okay? Just shut your mouth for sixty seconds and allow somebody else to do the talking. Can’t you at least do that for one freaking minute? God…you are so freaking…” Alex clenched his fists and ground his teeth, shutting his eyes and taking in a deep breath to keep calm. “We can’t keep running like this.”
“Oh yes, we certainly can!”
“No, we can’t! Just look at you, Serene! Some freaking assassin would have hauled you off to torture to death if it weren’t for…I mean, don’t you see what a lucky break you got here?”
“Luck? Don’t make me laugh. It has nothing to do with luck. I’m a Necrosia, damn it!”
“Yes! Yes you are! That’s precisely your problem! You are a freaking blockheaded, pain in the ass, stubborn as hell lunatic Necrosia! Ninety-nine percent of the time I feel as though I need to wring your freaking neck! And I can’t believe I’m saying this…but despite all that…despite all your constant crap…you and Moody are the closest thing I have to a family…which is really freaking sad, by the way. I can’t sit here and watch you barrel down this self-destructive course, waiting for that day when life finally catches up to you. I can’t live my life like this, I can’t go through each and every day afraid that someone will jump out of the shadows and shove a gun in my face…or a freaking flock of harpies will come raining out of the sky. You may think that you’re invincible (which is absolute crap, I’ll have you know), but I’m not. And even though she wouldn’t admit it, neither is Moody. For once, Serene, just once, please think about us….about what you’ve been doing and how it affects us. Would you please do that for me? Please?”
“It’s time to stop running, Serene,” Moody agreed.
“Whatever we have to do to make things right,” he continued, “to clean up all this crap, it has got to be better than what’s happened to us ever since leaving Eville. And whatever it takes, Moody and I will be there with you, every step of the way. All right? We’ll get through this. But we can’t do it alone and on the run from the law.”
“Oh my dear boy,” Serene’s eyes went teary, placing her hand on Alex’s face. “I’ve never said this aloud before…but…I only have a few regrets in life, and just under being awarded Paragon of the Millennium, I cannot deny it saddens me I have no heirs.”
“That’s because all of your husbands turned impotent from your experiments,” Moody interrupted, rolling her eyes.
“That’s none of your business, Quasimoody. Damned busybody. I don’t know how you find out about these things. And for your information, it didn’t occur to all of them. The truth of the matter is that I could have born a child, but I invested all of my efforts into my work above all. However, be that as it may, if I ever produced a son from these glorious loins of mine, I wish…I wish h
e possessed at least some of your qualities.”
“Just some?” Alex laughed.
“Well, we do need to toughen you up a bit. And you’re far too cynical. You could be braver, a better fencer without question, and any son of mine would only leave a laboratory kicking and screaming…but…well…nobody’s perfect.”
“Right. Thanks. I’ll just bite my tongue and try not to spoil the moment.”
“Very well, officer,” Serene addressed Hammett, “I submit myself to your custody. But I warn you now: if you betray the trust my dear Alex has invested in you, no fury in heaven or hell will match mine, and no one can shield you from my wrath.”
“Glad to hear it.” Hammett sighed. “Now let’s find Vega and get the hell out of this damned forest before something else happens.”
They said next to nothing as they trudged through the woods. Hammett winced with every step, and it was obvious that all of his energies were invested in pushing through the pain. Alex felt far too drained physically and emotionally to say much of anything, and Moody rarely engaged in conversation unless she deemed it necessary. However, Alex could clearly detect the sly gears in the inventor’s mind grinding and clanking at full speed, but whatever her thoughts were, Serene kept them solely to herself. At least it didn’t appear as though she would attempt to run off, and for now at least, whatever her plots were, they didn’t seem worth worrying about.
When at last they came upon Vega, the scene proved quite surprising. Calm as ever, the Spaniard leaned against a tree trunk, nothing beyond patience and calm in his eyes. On the ground next to him lay two harpy corpses, recently bludgeoned to death with the stick Alex had found for him.
“Geez, I guess you didn’t need this after all,” Alex smiled, handing the empty handgun back to its owner. “I’m glad you’re ok.” Vega winked back playfully with an easygoing shrug, patted the young man on the shoulder, and returned the weapon to its holster.
“My old friend,” Hammett began, extending his hand toward Vega, pulling him to his feet, “I believe it’s well past time we headed back into civilization. I’m completely spent.”
Chapter 38- What Now?
“So what happens now?” Alex asked from the back seat. He had been giving the question a great deal of thought the past few hours, but didn’t want to start up this particular conversation in front of Serene. Now that the inventor and the hunchback were gently snoring next to him, though, he decided to broach the subject.
“I’m going to a damned medic, that’s what,” Hammett answered curtly, leaning forward against the dash in the passenger front seat. “Goblin licking…”
“No, I mean, what’s going to happen with us? Are we under arrest? Do we get thrown in jail or something?”
“Difficult to say. Necrosia’s ultimate fate is entirely out of my hands. The presiding body of the UEL will make that decision. But we still have to get you to them in one piece, and I have no doubt the CN and other loathsome maggots of similar minds are eagerly planning their next move. Until Vega and I can deliver you before the UEL, our enemies still pose a considerable threat. For the time being, though, we’ll hole up in New Brasov. There’re plenty of UEL agents to provide protection while we catch our breaths and devise our own plans. For now I’ll consider you under our direct supervision, with Necrosia serving as our primary concern. You’re not going to be running free range about town, but there’s no need to lock you up with the common riffraff, either.”
“Geez, it seems like everyone and their dog wants Serene.”
“Your friend stumbled upon the key to an unimaginable, terrifying power. Whoever holds the secrets to it could bring the entire world to its knees in the blink of an eye. Even if it were never unleashed, the mere insinuation would throttle every living soul with fear. And I guarantee you there’s not an organization on the planet who wouldn’t do anything, and I mean anything, to own that power.”
“Freaking Serene and her stupid death egg.” Alex turned to look at the inventor in frustration and sighed. “So this Luminita…who does she work for?”
“A particularly ruthless vampire lord named Constantine. A right goblin licker on all accounts. It was his men who attacked you in New Brasov.”
“Luminita couldn’t have been a vampire, though, right? I mean, she attacked us in broad daylight.”
“No, she is not vampire, but rather a huldra.”
“Huldra? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“They are few in number, and typically keep to themselves. Dangerous women of Scandinavian descent. As you witnessed firsthand, they have an uncanny ability to blend into their environment, easily allowing them to prey upon unsuspecting hunters bumbling through their forests. As for Luminita in particular, anyone in my field knows of her, for the whispered rumors of her deeds are not to be ignored. I had never faced her before, but on many occasions I have come upon her handiwork. To call the scenes gruesome and cruel would be a gross understatement. To my knowledge we are the first of her targets to ever live to tell the tale. So count yourself lucky.”
“Why would she be working for the Cosa Nosferatu if she isn’t one of their own?”
“That’s a very good question. Nobody knows anything about her, where she came from, what she wants. Maybe Constantine has dangled something before her she cannot refuse. Maybe she owes him a great debt. Or she might simply love what she does, and is willing to sell her services to the highest bidder for her own amusement and satisfaction. Whatever the case, we can be sure her pride will not rest easy on the blow we leveled upon her today. I guarantee you we haven’t heard the last of her.”
“Great. That’s all I need.”
“Try not to think about it right now. We have a ways yet before arriving in New Brasov. I recommend imitating your friends and catching a well-deserved rest.”
Chapter 39- Welcoming Party
“Okay. We’re here.” Hammett motioned to the passengers in the rear, and then proceeded to exit the sedan.
Alex followed Moody out of the car and gazed at the New Brasov police station. A number of officers were already lining the steps and standing in front of the doors, ready to receive Necrosia and her companions. The officers looked professional, keeping cool eyes on the surrounding area, but didn’t look hostile or judgmental either, which came as a great relief to Alex. Now that they had arrived he felt more than a little nervous about what would happen to them.
“I don’t suppose we might stay in a comfortable bed and breakfast instead,” Serene asked, sneering at the building. Hammett shot her a look that required no verbal response.
“Man, I don’t care if it’s in a cell, I’ll be thrilled to sleep on a real mattress for once,” Alex said cheerfully, stretching his legs.
“If that’s the case, you get bottom bunk, little man,” Moody said, playfully nudging his shoulder.
Suddenly the doors to the station burst open, and Snotwaddle rushed out, surrounded by a flock of reporters. “Serene! Serene! Oh, my dear, I am relieved beyond words to see that you’ve sided with reason!”
“Snotwaddle?” Serene croaked, mouth wide open. “Why the hell is he here?”
“Surely you jest. I have no doubt that the good inspector spoke at great length about my passionate dedication to your surrender?”
As Serene and Snotwaddle stared at each other, the reporters’ cameras flashed, and recording devices were thrust in the faces of the three fugitives and the two men bringing them in. “Serene Necrosia! Will you tell us precisely what happened in Eville? Serene! Ms. Necrosia! Quasimoody, what exactly is your role in Necrosia’s work?” Questions bombarded them all like a hail of bullets, relentless, the noise overwhelming. “Alex Hobbs! Mr. Hobbs! Is it true that you come from the ‘other side?’ Is it true you design goblin lingerie?”
“Get your damned camera out of his face!” Hammett barked, shoving a reporter aside. “No one will be answering questions today. Now go home before I arrest each and every one of you!”
“Mr. Hobb
s, are you Serene Necrosia’s lover?”
“What?” Alex yelled in profound offense. “I am most certainly not!”
“People! People! Gather round me!” Snotwaddle waved his hands, attempting to quiet the mass and draw their attention to himself. “I want to go on record this very moment, and announce my intent to serve as my dear Serene’s legal defense.”
“Like hell you will, you crusty toad!” Serene yelled.
“I told everyone to leave this instant!” Hammett roared above the chaos. “Officers! Escort these blood suckers from the premises before I completely lose my temper!”
“Come now, my dear,” Snotwaddle continued, “I have already invested a great deal of time on your case. I’ve decided that we shall declare your actions as those of an insane woman, therefore minimizing your guilt.”
“How dare you!” Serene leaped onto the portly professor like a rabid ferret and threw him to the ground.
“See! See! This woman is clearly out of her mind!” Snotwaddle yelled to the elbowing reporters, as two police officers wrestled Serene off the man.
“Get her inside! Now!” The veins on Hammett’s forehead were now protruding, and he brandished his handgun, waving it about in the air.
“Listen to me! Listen to me!” Serene yelled as three officers pulled her up the stairs toward the building’s entrance. “The truth is that I have been secretly working with the UEL to uncover the nefarious deeds of the Cosa Nostra, who would use my magnanimous gifts of technology for evil purpose!”
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