The Enemies of Vengeance

by P. A Ross

  "Just checking nothing had changed. So when do we finally kill this betrayer?"

  "He has a few hours left. The doctor and his team have only just eaten, and they want their food to go down before cutting him open. Even with their experience, they would prefer to do it on an empty stomach."

  "Sounds messy. I would love to watch but would settle for being the one that gave him the injection to put him under, knowing mine was the last face he ever got to see."

  Bramel placed a hand on Giles's shoulder and laughed. "Sorry, but there is no anaesthetic injection. Any drugs in his system will ruin the results. Same reason we haven't given him any food or drink. We need the organs intact and untainted as possible."

  Giles glanced down at me and then back to Bramel. "You mean they will cut him open while he is still alive?"

  Bramel loomed over me. "Yes, they will have to cut him open while he is still alive. And it will be a slow death. They want to keep him alive as long as possible. So will probably put him on machines to keep him going to remove all his organs or test them while in situ."

  Giles put his hand to his mouth and stepped back. I pulled at the straps binding me to the bed. "I'm going to kill you," I shouted at Bramel.

  "That seems highly unlikely considering the circumstances. I suppose you're waiting for another rescue from Thorn. I would put that out of your mind if I were you. As soon as they could, they ran. They are not coming back for you this time, and they wouldn't know where to find you, anyway."

  "Are we not at the base that Max was trying to scout out?" I asked.

  Giles had recomposed himself and stood next to me, glaring down. "As if. Our real base is somewhere else."

  I hoped Giles was just playing along and hadn't switched sides again.

  "But how did the information get to us? How did you find us?"

  "I can answer that question for you," Bramel said. "We have spies in your camp. And we know who the spies are in our camp. So we fed your spies false information and our spy told us where you really were."

  "None of them would help you. They are Dragans, they are your mortal enemy," I said.

  "Yes, but I gave you something to think about earlier. A name. South. Have you worked it out yet?"

  Bramel had told me that South was the real leader of the Turned and Hunter alliance. The person that he answered to, but they weren't a Turned. They were something else.

  "You're trying to tell me that the true leader of the Turned, the person you answer to, is a Dragan. And it was them who told you where we were."

  "I'm not telling you anything. I'm just opening your eyes to the possible truth. Not that it makes any difference. You're going under the knife in a few hours and will suffer a long lingering death. I suggest you save your strength and forget worrying about who's betraying who."

  "This is just another trick, another torment for me to suffer, making me think my friends have betrayed me."

  "You can believe whatever you like. Giles, let's go and discuss what happens next in your training."

  Bramel walked towards the door, but Giles hadn't moved. "I want to have a final word with him," Giles said.

  "You can come back later and talk to him just before they take him away."

  Giles glared down at me and slapped the side of my face. "See you later, dead boy."

  Giles and the guard followed Bramel out of the room, leaving the guard on duty outside the door.

  I laid in the bed, hoping Giles was acting a part and would return within an hour to help me escape.

  If I were lucky, Thorn would return before then, having followed the signal to the watch, assuming the watch was still in the base and working. I just hoped they had gotten away safely and put their differences behind them to mount a rescue. I couldn't think what else to do while waiting for Giles to return. I pulled at the straps, trying to see if I could loosen my hands. But they were too strong and tight to get any movement to tear the material apart.

  I thought maybe I could pull the bars out and strained my arms. The metal was welded onto the bed frame. This was no standard strapping on the bed; it had been specially made to take the strength of a Dragan. I slumped back into the bed and stared at the ceiling.

  Instead of focusing on the possible tortures ahead, I decided to think about what I could do if Giles came back to rescue me. I tried to put a plan of action together if he did free me from my constraints, or what to do if Thorn arrived. However, I was still weak from the fight with Giles, even though they cleaned up my wounds and gave me some blood, but it was only enough to keep me alive.

  I lay in bed running through all the options of what could happen next, all except the one where I was cut open and systematically dissected while still alive. But I couldn't help keep going back to that picture of me screaming while my body was slowly taken apart. My stomach cut open and my intestines pulled out in front of me.

  I watched the clock on the wall marking every second I moved closer to my death. Back in school that clock seemed to drag by as I waited for the end of each day, but now it was on fast forward. But despite the tortures and my impending death, I felt a sense of relief for rescuing Giles. I had repaid my debt of guilt.

  I tried to stay positive. I stared at the wall instead of the clock which sapped my strength with every tick. I still had a chance to survive, Thorn or Giles could make it and I had my own plan already set into motion.

  When Giles returned an hour later, I was relieved to see him. He walked around to the side of the bed and stared down at me. His eyes narrowed, and he glared and gripped the sidebar of the bed.

  "You're going to get everything you deserve for betraying me," Giles said.

  My heart sank. I couldn't think of what to say. Giles smiled and winked, and then glanced over to the side of the room. I followed his eyes to a camera in the top corner.

  I guessed this was all part of the act as they could see and hear everything.

  "My betrayal is nothing compared to this. You're sick and crazy to hook up with these idiots. After they cut me open, it will be you next."

  Giles shuffled around the side of the bed, so his back was to the camera, concealing his hands around the straps on my arm.

  "They respect me. They have helped me and I help them. You Dragans do nothing but take take take." Giles undid the strap on my arm, and as the vision of the camera was obscured, I leant across and unstrapped my other hand.

  "Let me tell you a little secret. Let me whisper into your ear how I'm going to kill your girlfriend."

  Giles leant over me and whispered into my ear. "We need to lull the guard in. While he is busy checking your wrists. I will knock him out. But then we will have to make a run for it. I'm not sure how far we can get."

  "Don't worry about that. Just get the guard in and stand well back. I have a plan."

  Giles frowned but nodded in agreement and shouted, "guard, guard. There is a problem, can you come and look at this."

  The guard walked through with his machine gun slung across his chest, Giles stepped back, and the guard stood by the side of my bed and saw my left wrist was unstrapped. "What on earth is going on?"

  I launched bolt upright in bed, as my skin healed, my eyes burnt red, fangs jutted out, and claws ripped through my finger ends. I twisted his head to one side and bit into his neck. Giles jolted backwards and stumbled into a table of medical equipment, sending it flying. The guard tried to fight my grip, but I was far too strong.

  The blood rocketed into my stomach and absorbed into my body, giving it the strength it so craved. My magic sphere blossomed with the exhilaration of feeding and the guard helpless in my grip. I gulped the blood down, and Giles watched on in astonishment. I held the guard in my grasp as his life force drained. As my strength increased, my psychic powers connected into his fear and eventual death. I finished and let the guard go, and he crumpled to the floor.

  "What the hell just happened?" Giles said as he wrenched the machine gun off the guard.

  "Just a little
trick I picked up over a bottle of wine in the South of France."

  Giles aimed the gun at the exit. I undid the straps on my feet and sprung out of bed. I undid the guard's clothes and pulled them on. Giles handed me the machine gun. "But I thought you were human again?"

  "I was taught how to hide my Dragan powers. How to prevent my healing so I could appear to be human still. My mentor thought it may give me an advantage. I think I owe him a large bottle of wine."

  I finished getting dressed and put the radio clip onto my belt buckle when it hissed into life.

  "The patrolling guards have picked up our expected visitors. They have engaged the enemy. Everyone into your position as briefed by Bramel. We will kill these Dragans once and for all."

  "Sounds like the guards are occupied already," I said and smashed the CCTV camera just to be sure. We walked to the door, and I peeked through the window. With the sounds of gunfire in the distance, groups of guards stormed up and down the corridors as red alarm lights flashed.

  "I know a back way out. Follow me," Giles said.

  "I can't. I have to go and help Thorn. Sounds like she has walked into a trap. They knew she was coming."

  "We have them surrounded. It's just a matter of time," the radio crackled.

  Giles spun back. "This is your friends?"

  "Who else? On my watch, there was a GPS tracker. I knew Thorn would never give up on me, but someone knew she was coming. South must have told them. The informant is real. Let's head towards the gunfire. Our only way out is to help my friends."

  I ran down the corridor listening out with my superior hearing for the sound of gunfire and battle. A couple of guards came tearing around the corner, trying to escape.

  "It's one of them," the guard shouted. I responded with a bullet into his forehead, and then shot the other one through the heart.

  I knew that Thorn would hear the gunshots but so would everyone else. I threw the gun to Giles. "Do you know how to use this thing?"

  "Yes, Norris ensured I had extensive training in martial arts and firearms."

  "It appears we have a lot in common. Can you use the gun as I need to see if I can contact Thorn?"

  Giles held it into his shoulder. "Do you think she has one of the radios?"

  I tapped the side of my head with my finger. "No need for radioes."

  I reached out with my thoughts, but the environment was cluttered with the fear of the soldiers. But I could sense where that fear was coming from. Then I could detect another thought of pure rage. I knew who that was coming from. I focused in on those thoughts while Giles kept guard. I tuned in to those emotions and then cast my thoughts to her. 'We are alive and coming to you.'

  'We?'

  'Giles and I'

  'We will hold our position, but we can't hold them off forever or make our way further into the base. Engage the enemy from the rear. It will break their attack. Rip will ensure the exit remains clear.'

  'On our way.'

  "Okay, Giles. You ready to meet the Queen of the Dragans. Let's go."

  As we ran down the corridor, I scooped up one of the machine guns from the dead guards. Giles ran to the corner and crouched down and peeked around and then signalled me to move. I ran to the corner to provide cover for him to move out and down the corridor. He stopped halfway and crouched down again and waved me on. I ran past to the next corner where I checked around the side and signalled Giles to take up the covering position in the far corner.

  Giles and I instinctively work together as a team, checking the corners and working around the blind spots. He was well trained. In fact, he was better than me with the gun and his movements.

  He covered all the doors and checked all the entrances and exits. He signalled me to move up and hold when necessary. I had been trained in single combat, rather than working in a squad. Giles could teach our group a few things.

  We worked our way along the corridor towards the sounds of increasing gunfire and strength of psychic thoughts. A group of guards ran around the corner, looking back over their shoulders. I unleashed the machine gun and mowed them down. We rounded the corner to see a group of Hunters in a firefight. They turned to us.

  "Thank God, reinforcements." One of the guards said, then took a double-take at my Dragan features. He levelled the gun around to face us, and Giles fired in a burst, sprawling him backwards into the other guards huddled around the corner of the corridor.

  His momentum knocked them out into the open where they were shredded by bullets. I followed up with my own shots, finishing them off in between the crossfire. We jumped over the dead bodies and around the corner.

  Thorn walked out into the middle of the corridor, gun slung across her body. She smiled and gave me a flash of her fangs. "You won't even let me rescue you properly. You were already halfway out, I reckon."

  "Giles had already sprung me from the hospital room, and we were going out the back exit when we heard gunfire and that you were in trouble. I had to come back through the hard route to rescue you. I heard on the radio that they were expecting you."

  "I think I may have survived. But let's not hang around too long. Rip is keeping the exit clear. Let's go." She then threw a metal object at me. I caught my watch and strapped it back onto my hand and turned off the GPS tracker. "I think you lost something," she said.

  She ran back up the corridor and we followed. Max was waiting around the other side, holding a gun across his chest. Standing next to him was six other men, all dressed in black and carrying machine guns. Immediately I recognised them as the MI5 units that worked for Mary. I looked to Thorn.

  "We have some new allies," she said, "I will explain it all back at the base. The Hunters may have been expecting us but not in these numbers. We would have been okay."

  "Yes, lots of new allies. Thorn, this is Giles. He is my best friend." I put my hand on Giles's shoulder as I spoke.

  "Good to have you on board. Glad you two have made up."

  "Thank you. Just glad we had the chance," Giles said.

  We sprinted through the base, twisting through the bloodied corridors, jumping over dead bodies. I jumped over the body of a man with his hand cut off. I guessed he must have been wearing my watch, big mistake.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  As we left the building through a fire exit, I looked back to a two-level flat roof building with multiple sections angled out into the forest. The lights from the building casting out into the night, providing a dim light into the dark. Ahead of us, the MI5 soldiers were positioned behind trees and rocks.

  Thorn led the way to the fence line. The soldiers fired back into the building, smashing the windows, hitting the doorway from which we escaped through. The bullets smash the lights inside, cutting off the dim light casting outside.

  The wire fence circling the hospital had been cut, and a soldier lifted up a flap of the fence for us to duck under. Cassius had to crawl underneath. I managed to duck through followed by Giles, then Thorn, Max and Rip. The soldiers continued with heavy suppression fire back into the building, and we ran through the woods.

  The MI5 soldiers retreated from the hospital grounds, following us back through the fence line and laying down suppressing fire as they took it in turns to move, take cover, and shoot in bursts at the chasing Hunter army. The Hunters tried to fan out and encircle us, but the heavy gunfire forced them to take cover.

  I heard screams and a couple of Hunters fell to the ground in a hail of bullets.

  We chased after Thorn as she led the way. The soldiers provided a shield from the pursuing army. Thorn held up a fist and we stopped. I crouched next to her.

  "Up ahead, three snipers in the woods. I can detect their thoughts," she said.

  Giles sniffed the air. "I can detect their scent. Even in my human form."

  "V, go left. Stay light on your feet and curl around the side. I will take the one on the right. Giles once you hear the screams, I want you to aim straight ahead and give it a good spray," Thorn said and ran off into the
woods.

  I sprinted off to the left, reaching out with my senses to pinpoint the sniper. I darted through the woods curling around to get to the sniper from the side. I paused for a moment to soak in the environment. Around to my left, I could smell something. I opened my mind and detected the nervousness of the person lying down in the woods. They hadn't had time to fully blend in. Hence, why we could smell them. I rested against a tree and poked my head around. A hundred meters ahead, a shape glowed in my Dragan eyesight. The heat signature of the sniper.

  The sniper rifle was pointing towards the building still. I had made it around without alerting them. I crouched on one knee and put the crosshairs onto their prone body. I squeezed the trigger and fired off a burst of shots. The sniper's body burst in blood and screamed for a moment. I ran over, kicked their rifle away and flipped them onto their back. A woman stared back. She had hands on her sides to stop the blood flow and was taking short breaths. She gritted her teeth and lashed out with a foot.

  I kicked the foot away and knelt at her side. I wasn't expecting the sniper to be a woman, but it didn't matter.

  "Keep the pressure on the wound. They will be here soon," I said.

  "It's too late. I've been hit too many times. I am going to die. I hope they catch you and gut you open, scum," she said.

  I stood up and fired a shot into her head. I heard other gunfire coming from the woods. Two sets of shots. One followed by another scream and the final one a spray of gunfire up the middle. Thorn had eliminated her target, and Giles had set down some covering fire. I ran across the woods, searching for the final sniper. The sniper had already turned in the other direction, firing into the woods as a dark shape dashed between the trees. I ran across to get a clear shot. The sniper had stood up to fire. I aimed, fired, and the target's head exploded. I didn't bother to go and look this time.

  Thorn walked out of the trees.

  "Good clean shot," she said, "I will radio back it's okay to move on."

  Thorn radioed Cassius and soon we sensed their approach. Giles ran past the dead sniper, glancing at the body.