Chapitre 4: Chapter 4
The journey carried by an awkward and heavy silence finally ended when the car stopped in front of its destination. Michael stared at the large, ruined-looking building as he stepped out of the car with curiosity and a measure of apprehension, but decided not to question it and just followed Selene towards the entrance to the place.
Although he was not comfortable with the idea of being in an abandoned place with someone who could easily kill him as she said she should, a small part of him felt he could trust her despite her icy exterior. Perhaps because she was the only one to give a relief to her mind tormented by doubts about everything he had seen.
Or for another reason …
"Since he bit me, I've been having these ... hallucinations." Michael spoke as he followed the vampiress up the flight of stairs. The mention of the visions he had witnessed was enough to make his head hurt. Confusing, incoherent and totally random. He could barely make sense of it, although he doubted it has anyone except mental stress finally peaked.
"These are not hallucinations, they are memories. You were bitten, so his memories were passed on to you."
Her words came out as neutral as ever, although with an extra touch of causality, like an adult explaining something as simple as the wind to a child. Although Michael didn't know, he was relieved to know that he wasn't going crazy, or uncomfortable to have memories of another living being in his head. Memories that weren't his, that didn't belong to him were all he didn't need. It was almost unhealthy, an involuntary invasion of privacy that he didn't even seem to be able to stop.
Not wanting to think about it, he just continued to follow her in silence. Between distressing whatever is going on inside his head and following a woman who radiated a… energy of lethality that intrigued him to some extent, he preferred the second option.
"This is one of the places we use for interrogation." Selene said when they reached the top, opening the doors that led to the only clean room in the place. "You will be safe here."
Computers being booted and shutters opening to reveal the night sky were part of that room, revealing that it was in fact more advanced and tidy than the ruined exterior of the building makes it seem. Opening a freezer, Selene handed Michael a bag full of blood that he studied for a moment.
"Ziodex Industries."
"We are the owners, when it is approved it will be our biggest source of income." Selene said, starting the safe house systems and configuring the cameras on the screens. Satisfaction was felt, but not shown in her stoic expression.
"It's cloned blood…" Michael murmured, before looking around and noticing several objects on a table along with several worn and bloody silver bullets on top. The smell of the blood… of that blood felt nauseating and uncomfortable, as if he was trying to send some warning signal that his body didn't understand. This, however, did not stop his curiosity from getting the best of him when he asked, "What's this for?" Even though he felt like he wasn't going to like the answer.
"Lycans are allergic to silver." Selene replied, giving him a look before resuming typing. "If we don't get the bullets out fast, they will die during questioning."
"What do you do with them after?"
"We put the bullets back." Selene replied, cold, blunt and completely unperturbed by the fact. There was no reason to lie, or even try to hide it. It was just what it was, usual business, the underworld he would live in if it lasted so long.
And for that, regardless of how dark and hard it was compared to his old life, he needed to learn how it worked if he wanted to have a chance at survival.
Michael said nothing, not knowing if there was anything right to say about it. The meaning of the strange blood alert seemed much clearer now and judging by how indifferent she seemed about something as sinister as killing, he thought the best thing to do would be to sit and be quiet for now.
Selene watched him sit ironically in the place where the lycans were chained for questioning. Another in her place could appreciate the irony, but she simply left the ex-human to organize his thoughts while she went to the window where she stood watching the night sky with black rain clouds, entering her own moment of reflection to organize hers .
When looking at how complicated all this was being, she considered for several moments during the car ride and even now while breathing the same air as him if the best decision would not be to take the gun and put him out of the misery that would be his existence as soon as the full moon appeared. But for some reason, she felt that her conscience would not let her live peacefully if she did.
'Conscience ... funny.' She never thought she really had one, at least not anymore. Completely erased over time. Everything she lived, how much she struggled, made sure to take care of it. However, now it was there, bothering her just for considering it and she couldn't explain why. Maybe because he didn't have any choice about what he became, and killing him would be no different than shooting a human for nothing, something she tried very hard to avoid.
Or maybe ... for another reason?
Shaking her head, she forced herself to think of something that was worth thinking about, not something that would do nothing but serve as a distraction. There would be a time for her to question herself, but now was not the time. If things went as she hoped, Viktor was already awake and all she needed to do was alert him to the situation. The rest would come as a result: the threat hovering over the coven would be eradicated along with the dog's nest hidden somewhere on the battlefield that was Budapest.
"How long are we going to stay here?" The pivot of her doubts asked, even while trying to keep her mind away he still found a way to regain her attention …
"As long as it takes." She answered simply. "Try to relax, it may take a while."
'It is not exactly an easy task.' Michael thought, looking at the instruments of nefarious purpose beside him, the uncomfortable smell that this… lycan blood produced, seemed to somehow send feelings of discomfort down his spine. He didn't want to just sit back and allow himself to be plagued by these sensations or the discomfort in his mind, he wanted to avoid that.
As much as she wanted to keep her own doubts out of her head.
"So… how long have you been doing this? Fighting this war I mean." He asked. It wasn't like he wanted to break the ice, but it was an opportunity to keep his problems away, to learn about such a war and perhaps even about the mysterious woman with him in the room.
"Long enough to be good at this." Selene replied, without taking her eyes off the window.
Seeing that she would not elaborate, he decided not to continue with this. If she didn't want to speak, he wouldn't force a conversation. Being here with him was probably the last thing she wanted to be doing. He might not understand every aspect of who she is or what she does, but he was not foolish enough not to understand her words that were very clear. "I track down and kill your kind". Exchanging two words with him, maybe even breathing the same air should be a big burden for her.
"Six centuries."
"Huh?"
"I've been doing this for six centuries." Selene let out a short breath. There was no need to answer any such question, but she was strangely comfortable with that. Very strangely. She preferred to avoid any kind of interaction that might serve to add doubts in her mind about him, but they were here, and she would have to think about it eventually, talk to him eventually.
Understand how she felt eventually …
"Well… you look… good… for your age." The bewildered tone in Michael's voice, along with his awkward response, did not go unnoticed by the vampire who turned to look at him with an rise eyebrow.
"I… I didn't mean to say you're old or something! Because you're not! You're in good shape and-"
"I already understand, Michael." Selene interrupted him before he fumbled more in his little moment of embarrassment that became comical, which even caused a small smile to appear on her lips.
Michael for his part, although he was a little embarrassed, could not help but be surprised by the amused expression on the vampiress's face that until then had only exhibited coldness. It was something unique, like a little flash of heat on a huge mountain of ice. It was something he liked, something that made him smile a little awkwardly in return when he saw her stoic expression turn into fun for the first time since he met her.
That was until as quickly as it appeared, the brief moment of relaxation disappeared when the apathetic expression returned to the pale face of the vampiress who looked out the window again. The speed with which she did this did not go unnoticed by him, it was almost as if she had just done something that she did not find appropriate, it just intrigued him and made him wonder if the woman in front of him really relaxed at all.
"So it's true, do you guys live forever?" Michael asked, trying to get back to the topic.
"Practically. At least, if we are not killed by a lycan before we can put a round between their eyes." No matter how indifferent she tried to make her response sound, he could see a slight spark of anger in her words.
He was not so arrogant as to say that he understood her after exchanging just a few words with her in the short space of time they met without anything involving injuries or escape happening between them. But in a way, this was what intrigued him, she was an enigma to him, a real mystery that he didn't seem to be able to solve. But he could see, the anger barely contained, the contempt as burning as the sun that according to legends could burn those like her, was right there. This was personal.
"Why do you hate them so much?"
Although it was just as curious a question as any he had ever asked, without the young doctor's knowledge, it instinctively made her mind go back to that fateful night that never left her memory. Even though six centuries had passed, it was still fresh in her mind. The sound of rain, the screams of despair, the pain in her heart, they face ...
"I told you, we're at war." Selene spoke categorically, her eyes focused on the rain that started to fall. Not a sign of the discomfort that she buried deeper inside displayed.
"So, is that it? Are you just following orders?"
She looked out of the rain and towards Michael, who just looked at her hoping she would answer her question. But instead, she looked back at the window without saying a word.
"Why can't you just answer the question?"
'Because it is not a question that can only be answered.' Selene thought, suppressing a sigh. In addition to being painful, it was not something she talked about. It was something she kept to herself, a reminder as sharp as a blade of why she needed to continue, of the reasons she had to fight. Talk about it ... she never wanted, never needed.
But why it felt so right to let off steam now and with him instead of everyone else, it was something she couldn't explain. After all, she never did. Not even for the few vampires sharing their same duties that came close enough for her to consider a friend. All she knew was that her mind was now on that night marked by blood and pain when the words started to come out of her mouth almost on impulse.
"Something was in the stable, cutting our horses to pieces. I could not have saved my mother or sister; their screams woke me up. My father died outside, trying to fight them away.
Michael, seeing where she was going with this, remained in respectful silence. This was clearly personal that he didn't have to snoop on, the most he could do was let her take what he needed from her chest.
Because even if he wasn't looking her in the eye, you could see the pain in her words.
"I was at my door, about to run to my nieces' room when…" she paused for a moment, hesitating. Something she rarely did. Not even when facing the most bestial and enraged lycan, not even on this rainy night when breaking the chain. She never hesitated, not until the memory of her faces came to her strongly "Twin girls, just six years old, slaughtered like animals."
"Jesus Christ…"
"The next thing I knew was that I was in his arms. The war had invaded our home, he was tracking the lycans for days. He threw them out and saved me."
"Who?"
"Viktor, the oldest and strongest of us." A small and subtle affectionate smile, one of the few she has ever had, appeared on her lips when she quoted the elder vampire with some affection. She owed him a lot. "That night he made me a vampire, he gave me the strength to avenge my family. Since then ... I never looked back."
Michael remained silent, having no idea what to say. 'An "I'm sorry for your loss" would not be far enough.' He thought. This was something very personal and tragic, and part of him was scolding himself for making her relive it. 'So many different ways to start any conversation and I had to hit the bleeding wound. Stupid, you are stupid!'
"I saw your pictures." Selene spoke, drawing his attention. Curiosity in her voice, no longer the coolly composed tone from before, she was just as curious about the ex-human as he was about her. "Who is the woman your wife?"
It was his turn to look away when thinking about the memory of his own unhappy and tragic experience that he still carried with him. 'Give and receive is what they say. We have something in common, we both have baggage, and she confided to me even though she didn't need to.' He sighed, gathering the courage to share his own pain with the woman who had done the same to him.
.......
The lycan den
Pushing the plastic curtains out of his laboratory and removing his bloody gloves, Singe stopped walking when he noticed the head of the great body that was the horde circling right under his feet coming towards him.
"It would be wise to keep an eye on our cousins." Lucian said, much to the scientist's surprise.
"I thought Raze and the rude were going to mediate that-"
"I fear that I will have to place my faith in you, my friend." Lucian interrupted, resting a hand on Singe's shoulder. "Our time is… running short."
"I will do what I can."
"I know." Her tone, while casual and even encouraging and friendly, was also clearly a warning. A clear indication that he would not tolerate more failures, a reminder for the little lycan to remember where those who were attributed to it before him made a mistake so he would not make a mistake.
Few people managed to put something like that in words so simple and short, but Lucian could and Singe understood perfectly the message that the pack's alpha was giving him. With a light friendly slap, he turned away from the scientist who seemed to understand that it was better not to be left wanting.
Walking through the decaying and slightly dusty corridors of the den where he and his companions were forced to stay due to the needs they were in, Lucian stopped suddenly, letting out a breath. There was no real annoyance or surprise given that he was already hoping for something like that, just a little irritation at knowing that once again he was right about what kind of attitude were part of the lycan's repertoire failing miserably to remain hidden from his senses.
"Don't think I didn't notice you spying."
"Would you believe me if I said I was just passing by?" Coming out of a dark corner with his greatest attempt at an innocent look on his youthful face contrasting with his gray hair, was Brick, as casual as ever.
"No."
"So let's be honest here, boss. Of so many options, did it have to be him?" He signaled over his shoulder, an unnecessary gesture since Lucian knew exactly who he was referring to. He made a point of showing his displeasure whenever the opportunity arose, and now it would be no different. .
"Whoever is assigned to anything within this den is for me to say, so just focus your attention where it is due, Gabriel. You have your orders, so do as you are told." Simple, direct and hard, as an alpha should be. Being the leader of an entire pack requires strength, cunning and often rigidity to keep those under your leadership in line. Even if the time they have known each other is as old as the very beginning of the war, that would not prevent Lucian from reminding his lieutenant that he should follow his orders just like the others.
"You can't blame a guy for trying, unintended pun there." With a simple shrug, he took a cigarette, brought it to his lips, lighting and puffing the carcinogenic smoke. It wasn't indifference in an attempted challenge, or anything close to that. It was just his usual way. "But let's be honest here. Maybe I don't have the scarred face that I'm sure that turns the girls on, but do you really think he's better than me?"
"When it comes to provoking and angering the enemy to death or until they lose their heads, nobody is better than you, Gabriel." Lucian responded with a half-smiled smile when the mood seeped. Even after all the hardships they went through on so many unnerving occasions, Brick was one of the only ones who could on occasion lift the mood of the older lycan.
"Whatever you say, boss, but never forget: there is a reason for not sending doctors to do the work of a soldier."
"I'll keep that in mind. I think if you're up here, it means you've already prepared things for tomorrow."
"Not really, Raze will take care of that part."
"It was not what he said."
Brick gave a short laugh before noticing one of the rare slightly amused looks that were unlikely to appear on Lucian's face. Either the joke would be too funny that he couldn't help himself, or the truth was more painful to the point of being funny in his eyes.
He was serious …
"Of course, he didn't." A grunt that came out more like a small animalistic roar escaped Brick as he stubbed out his cigarette in anger. "I'm going to kick his ass for this later.""
"Just be prudent. Amelia is an elder, and therefore is not someone to be underestimated. Especially when confronted in an environment as confined as the one you will have to invade."
He heard the gray lycan give some kind of comical or witty response before running to the dirtiest, dirtiest parts of the den where ironically the biggest concentration of his pack was, while Lucian took the opposite path, to the stairs that led to the parts tallest of the building connected to the tunnels housing its people..
A short journey to the stars that reside in the sky, as dazzling as the moonlight yet to fully emerge. He went up step by step, slowly and unhurriedly, there was no need. For all these centuries it was always there, and now it would be no different. Opening the door that led to the top of the building connected to the hiding place of her horde, she was there, with her glow in the dark and partially rainy sky, attracting her eyes that shone as she reflected her light.
The moon, half full, like his progress, like his decades-long arduous search that seemed to be finally coming to an end, and all that was missing were the pieces of the puzzle: the blood of his oppressors, and the last descendant of the bloodline of a common ancestor that he and his cousins had. 'A last bond that unites us, a last reminder of an origin that we all share even though we have become so culturally distant. How ironic.' Two puzzles difficult to achieve, but no longer out of reach. The conclusion seemed like a reality. The victory seemed like a reality, and his revenge ...
"So close." He spoke, as low as a whisper even though there was no one to hear.
Everything was so close, yet so far. And in the face of the moon that seemed to grow with his restlessness, he was playing a game of patience. Patience was what took them so far, patience not to march on the walls of the ordogahz in the same way that his brothers had done that day when their world turned into pain, patience to not let anger make him throw his people like a loofah cannon, patience to honor her...
Honor her, and her memory that he still carried with him. The memory of the moments of love and caress that would never leave his mind, the memory of the strength and personality that made her win a place in his heart, the memory of what they were and what they might have been had if he had not failed with her, if he had been more patient instead of jumping straight into a trap to rescue her.
His hands went to the necklace around his neck, squeezing the jewelry tightly. His impulsiveness cost him something that could never be recovered, and the centuries he spent fighting took from him the only thing he had left: his humanity. He was no better than Viktor, no more. And the man she once loved no longer exists. The cruelty and brutality with which he hunted his enemy made a point of guaranteeing this, making him a different creature, very different from the young lycan who dreamed of going beyond the walls with his mate at his side.
And for that he would cause their world to collapse, their great alliance of bureaucracies and conspiracies that they claimed to exist to preserve the laws that kept them from his "wild" family would be shaken, burned by the fire that would mark the end of a war that would die together with his instigator, his blood enemy, the one whose mark no longer rested on his arm whose skin had been removed to seal the profane agreement.
The agreement that would give its freshest fruits just six hundred after it was made: the fulfillment of his will and the memory of her ultimately honored. He just needed to wait, to wait for what ironically symbolized intense minutes of agony for the youngest of his kind ...
Full moon.
......
"I tried to swerve but he hit us, threw our car in the opposite lane. When I woke up I realized that part of the engine was in the front seat. And she was right there, six inches from me ... in a horrible position. I think she was in shock because she kept asking if I was okay… she was more worried about me." A weak laugh escaped him, but there was no dose of humor, just a great sadness born of the irony of the fact. In such a critical condition, his well-being was her biggest concern. Even on the verge of death, she was more concerned with his life than with her own.
Selene listened carefully, not only to her words but also to the pain in them. She found herself bowing her head briefly in a condescending manner, remaining silent as the ex-human continued. Words of comfort, she had none, as she never really had to comfort anyone in her entire life. She was not good with emotions, not anymore. But she wanted and could offer something: the respectful silence of someone who understood his pain and the courtesy to listen to what he had to get out of his chest.
Just as he had done for her.
"If I had known what I know today I would have saved her, I have no doubt about it. But ... she ended up dying right there ... about two minutes before the ambulance arrived." Two minutes ... just two minutes. He could have saved her, but he couldn't. All he could do was ... watch, helpless. So he has been trying ever since, trying to do what he couldn't before, save, heal. Doing for others what he could not do for her….
"After that, I didn't see any reason to stick around. I spent a summer here with my grandfather when I was a kid so... after I got my degree, I just... I took off. I came over here to move on, to forget. It seemed like a good idea at the time."
At the time when the world was simpler, not the turmoil of confusion and bizarre events that it has become in the past few hours. Forgetting, moving on, was all he wanted when he arrived from America, when medicine was his way of partially fixing the past, of doing better for others when everything was simpler.
When there was no war and the possibility of him not being more human…
"And have you? Move on." She had been so quiet that he was even surprised by her question, her expression complacent.
"Have you?"
She stared at him for a second that seemed to last an eternity while he simply looked her in the eye for an answer. But an answer never came when she turned around again, facing the rain again in a gesture that he was beginning to interpret as her not giving an answer.
That was why it was so surprising not only that she spoke, but also that her voice was full of something he hadn't seen before, something that seemed to deviate from the professional attitude and ice mask she wore.
"I don't know. I just… hope to find out in the end you know, when it's all over. When they finally gone, when they can't hurt anyone else, I hope I can breathe and finally have… moved on, managed to leave it behind."
"Killing them all, do you think that will really help, that will make up for everything that happened?" That will really be the best for you? "If there's one thing I learned, it's that we can't change what happened, no matter how much we want to."
"Maybe we can't, and I don't know if it's really going to make up for anything. I think I'll have to cross that bridge when I get to it. Until then, I just follow my orders and don't let it distract me."
"The road ahead is empty, paved
With miles of the unknown."
"City to city." She raised an eyebrow, glance at him over her shoulder. "Really Michael?"
"It's not like I have better sources for working here."
Her response not only made her smile, but made her gave a small, genuine chuckle that she didn't want to try to contain. Laughing, interacting with him, seemed easy. Perhaps because they both had their own demons that they were still trying to overcome, perhaps because they are both souls so broken that they can actually find some kind of comfortable ground between them. Maybe that's why she is so inclined to help him, they both lost someone, and they could understand the pain the other felt.
"There's something I still don't understand." He spoke, his tone serious again. "Who started it all, who started this war?"
Who started ...
A good question, that many of the new vampires and dealers still in training asked. Because, who, how, the general context could change but the question was always the same: who started it all.
"They, as far as we know." There wasn't much information, not that she needed it anyway. As animalistic as they were, she didn't doubt that they had made the first move, not after seeing firsthand how brutal they could be. "Seeking the past was forbidden a long time ago, when swords and crossbows were still our weapons. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't change anything. In the end we will win."
"You look very certain."
"Certain as the sunrise." An ironic statement, as her internal clock was already reminding her that the horizon would soon light up with the rays of sunlight that were fatal to her people. She needed to go back. "I have to go, the sun will be up in a few hours and it will be better if I'm not here."
Grabbing her weapon, she left her seat in front of the window and started for the door, only to be stopped by Michael who held her lightly by the wrist. "What about me? What will happen to me?"
"Viktor will know what to do, I'll be back tomorrow night."
"I will not be here alone."
"Will if you want to live, Michael."
"No, I want to go with you."
She looked him in the eye, and saw fear, fear of the unknown. She wished she could do more for him, but the safest place he could be was in this room even if he thought otherwise. But beyond fear, there was stubbornness. The stubbornness of someone who wouldn't just sit and wait, someone who wouldn't let her go alone. It was almost a reflection of her own will that led her to go against everything to fulfill her goals. He was going to argue, and she didn't have time for that. She needed to go now.
Of all the ways she could deal with this situation, she opted for the most unlikely. Approaching him until their faces were just inches apart, close enough that he could smell her perfume that seemed to work its way through her senses, she captured his lips in a soft kiss that sent a tingle through the young doctor's spine caught completely off guard by the beautiful vampiress's kiss.
It wasn't until they separated that he noticed the handcuff being put on his arm, pinning him to the interrogation table where he had spent the last few hours sitting next to him. He watched her walk away towards the door without looking back, the confusion and even the repressed desire for the stress that her kiss woke up disappearing in favor of the confusion. "What are you doing?"
She stopped, turning to look at him again. Her face was again wearing her "mask of cold professionalism" as he had dubbed it when she said: "when the full moon rise tomorrow night you will change, you will kill and you will feed. It is inevitable and I cannot leave you free to wander around, Michael. I'm sorry. "
She hasn't gone through the door, she hasn't come out yet. In her way of giving him a kind of temporary escape from the pain he would have to endure alone, she walked over to him, handing him the loaded gun. "A single round won't kill you, but the silver can prevent the transformation for at least a while. If I don't return in time, do yourself a favor and use it."
And so, she left, leaving him alone with his own fear, afraid of what he would face, what he would become. But suddenly these feelings didn't seem as prevalent as the confusion he was feeling about that kiss, how he felt about her after that.
Shared confusion, because instead of just continuing on towards the stairs, Selene stopped behind the door as soon as she left him, her stoic expression broken and her lips trembling. 'Kissing him… it was a maneuver, a distraction and nothing more. He's… terribly stubborn and that was the only way he could let go.' She repeated to herself, taking a deep breath and continuing on without daring to look back until she was in the car.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone