The Azrael (Book 5): Prisoners

by Gagnon, Jesse

  “Thank you Miss Giselle. It seems the storm is occupying their senses.” Toko speculated.

  “So it seems.” Giselle agreed. “Who’s your friend?”

  “Oh, this is François. He’s one of the five.”

  “A pleasure to meet you Giselle.” François grabbed her left hand and attempted to kiss it. She yanked it back.

  “Eww, don’t touch me.”

  “My apologies. François did not mean to offend you.” François apologized.

  She scowled.

  “Does he always do this?” Giselle asked.

  “Unfortunately, he can’t help himself.” Toko groaned.

  François shrugged.

  “Is that the serum?” She asked while pointing at the leather bag Toko was carrying.

  “Yes Miss Giselle. This should be a more appropriate dose for the young lady.” Toko answered and walked over to Samantha. He sat on his knees and removed an appropriate dose, sucked it into a syringe and injected it into her neck.

  “How soon should we notice a change?” Giselle asked.

  “I have no idea. I’ve never seen this type of transformation in the field. We’ll just closely monitor her throughout the night. Get some rest Miss Giselle. You need it.” Toko instructed.

  “No…I’m fine. I am hungry, though. Did you bring any…?”

  Toko removed his backpack and tossed two packages of high calorie MRE packs at Giselle. She caught them with a smile.

  “I filled my backpack full of those. I’ve got another duffel bag full of them in the car just in case.”

  “In the car? I didn’t hear it outside.”

  “Well, we parked a mile away and walked. Didn’t want to draw any inside.”

  “So, what if we need more food?”

  “Then I’ll go out and get it. Do not worry yourself about it Miss Giselle.” Toko answered.

  She bit into the package and tore it open with her teeth. She immediately started to eat it. François groaned.

  “Does she know that it tastes better warmed up?” François asked.

  Giselle’s stomach growled and she rubbed it with her right hand as her left was tipping the bag’s contents into her mouth.

  “No time for that. I need to eat now!” She protested with a wad of beef stew in her left cheek.

  “Well, that’s a first.” François admitted.

  Jason pointed to one of the packs.

  “You want one of these too?” François asked.

  Jason shook his head and pointed outside and mimed biting.

  “What is wrong with your friend Toko?”

  “That’s Jason. Didn’t I tell you about him? He’s an awakened.”

  “Oh, that guy. I thought that you were joking about that. I guess I do smell his Azrael stench. I thought it was still seeping through the cracks of this shabby domicile.” François scowled and shook his head. “An awakened, huh?” He continued.

  Jason nodded. His stomach grumbled too.

  “He eats meat still but only animals.”

  “Unless he is asleep, then we are all on his menu.” François grimaced.

  “That’s why he locks himself up downstairs before he goes to sleep.” Toko answered.

  Jason nodded.

  “Whatever, I am here for the girl. Once she is stable enough to move, we will bring her back to the Veil for diagnostics and training.” François explained.

  “Diagnostics? She’s not some object to study.” Giselle barked through a mouthful of food. Some spat out at François’ face. He wiped it off.

  “What a crude creature you are.” François snorted.

  “I do not care what François thinks about Giselle.” Giselle spoke with a French accent, mocking François, with her lip curled up.

  “I do not appreciate your tone.” François snarled.

  “I don’t give a shit.” Giselle beamed.

  “You are the most…”

  “Enough with this bickering.” Toko hollered, interrupting the two.

  “Fine!” Giselle conceded.

  “Fine!” François agreed.

  Again, Jason’s stomach groaned.

  “Are you sure he cannot eat the MRE packs?” François asked once more.

  “Well, I’m not sure. Jason, what do you think? Want to give it a shot?”

  Jason shrugged. He put his hands in a catching pose. Toko tossed him one. He opened it and shook the congealed chicken noodle soup into his mouth. He swallowed.

  “So?” François asked.

  Jason forced a smile. Seconds later he began to vomit all over the floor.

  “What a waste of good food.” Giselle grumbled.

  “It was worth trying Miss Giselle.”

  Jason hung his head low.

  “What a pathetic creature he is.” François spat on the ground.

  “Fuck off François. It’s not like it was his choice.” Giselle scoffed. She lifted Jason’s chin and looked into his eyes. “You think you can make it until morning?”

  He shook his head.

  “Will you make it back before your body shuts down?” Giselle asked.

  He nodded.

  “Well, hurry up then. I’ll keep an eye out for you.”

  Jason nodded.

  Giselle, Jason, Toko and François quickly removed the furniture from the door once more and Jason slipped through the threshold. They restacked the furniture again.

  “There…now everyone gets to eat.” Giselle rubbed her hands together and smiled.

  “Go get some rest Miss Giselle. I will wait for your brother to return.” Toko instructed.

  “You sure?” She asked.

  “Hai.”

  “Fine, I’ll be on the couch near the kitchen. Wake me if something happens.” She instructed and headed over to the couch. She collapsed into the pillow face first and fidgeted a few seconds before she was in a deep coma like sleep.

  “Are you really going to wait for that…thing outside to return?” François glowered.

  “I gave Miss Giselle my word, François. You can take a nap too. You need it. You have the next watch.” Toko smiled.

  “You are not doing this because you think that Giselle will sleep with you?”

  “No, it has nothing to do with that François. Not everything revolves around sex.” Toko retorted.

  “You should not deny yourself the pleasures that this world has for you, Toko. Are you afraid of rejection my friend?”

  “I’m going to find something to clean that mess up.” Toko ignored François’ question while gesturing to the glob of undigested chicken noodle soup on the ground.

  “Pathetic!” François groaned.

  Toko waved François’ insults away and disappeared into a room attached to the kitchen. He returned with a straw bristled broom and a plastic dustpan.

  “Are you going to clean up his shit too?” François pointed towards a rank aroma coming from the basement.

  “Usero yo!” Toko cussed.

  François grinned from ear to ear.

  “Finally, a reaction.” He laughed.

  “Why must you always do this?”

  “Because I take pleasure in transforming the sheep into the wolf.” François admitted.

  “There is nothing wrong with finding peace.”

  “Keeping anger bottled up behind the guise of peace is unhealthy.”

  “You may find pride in becoming the wolf, François, but more cunning than the wolf is the shepherd. “

  “So you believe that you are the shepherd?”

  “No, I am also the wolf. The will of the universe is the shepherd.”

  “Oh, allez. Here you go again with your universe theories. Somehow, you have discovered the secret messages hidden in all life locked away from all of mankind.”

  “It is because I listen to the universe, François. Try listening instead of running your mouth all of the time.”

  “Listen to what? There is nothing to hear, you imbecile”

  A knocking on the windowpane followed. />
  “Did you hear that?”

  “Is that your universe, knocking at the window?”

  “No, it is Jason.”

  Layered in a fresh layer of blood, Jason wore a massive grin behind the window.

  “Disgusting!” François spat.

  “Hurry, help me with the furniture.” Toko instructed.

  “Fine! He’s just in time to clean up his own mess.” François gestured to the pile of puke with his eyes.

  “So it seems.” Toko beamed.

  Once inside Jason quickly darted downstairs to the basement. They could hear the cuffs clanking as Jason applied them. After a few minutes of silence, Jason roared ferociously and banged against the pipes wildly with attempts to break free.

  “It looks like he stuck you with his mess yet again.”

  Toko frowned and retrieved the broom and dustpan from the floor nearby.

  “I am starting to like your universe, Toko.” François belted out a good laugh.

  Chapter 25: Finally Awake

  Disoriented from weeks spent unconscious, Taliah awoke lethargic and confused.

  “Wh…where…am I?” She mumbled to herself.

  The uncomfortable itch of an IV in her left arm caught her attention. She turned her head slowly towards the bag steadily dripping a substance into the collector below. The letters on the bag were fuzzy and the numbers that she could make out didn’t make sense.

  “H…hello?” Her airy breath escaped her mouth yet she heard nothing beyond the equipment beeping and some mechanical noise coming from the corner. She heard footsteps beyond the door approaching. Before she could say anything else, they dissipated into the distance. What was going on?

  The room was unlike any hospital that she had been in. A half dozen machines clunked and hissed as they operated in the corner pushing a fluid through several tubes below the front panels. The tubes disappeared through the walls nearby.

  Taliah attempted to recall the last thing she was doing. Her mind was hazy. She remembered being at a dinner with someone. It was a big house. An image of a swan faucet flashed into her thoughts.

  “Eleanor…” She mumbled.

  Who was Eleanor? Taliah’s head ached from thought. The house…it was Eleanor’s house. Why did she remember that house? An image of someone climbing through her window quickened her heartrate.

  “They’re coming!” She stammered in a raspy voice.

  The image faded and a windowless room returned to her. What was going on? She heard footsteps again. There were two sets of them. They stayed behind the door. A beeping noise followed and it swung open. She could smell a man’s cologne. It was covering a pungent body odor that caused her nose to twitch. A faint scent of jasmine adorned the other visitor. Who were they? She closed her eyes and listened.

  “I’ll check the pumps this time.” A man’s voice addressed the other.

  “Fine, I’ll check her urine bag. Stacy didn’t note it on the last check.”

  “That was at ten-thirty, right?” The man asked.

  Taliah slowly felt around for a urine drainage bag and found it.

  “Eww.” She whispered to herself.

  “It’s been four hours and who knew if Paul checked before his shift ended. He never remembers to log that stuff.” The woman added.

  Paul? Stacy? Where was she? The aroma of jasmine returned as the woman approached. The sounds of papers flopping and a ballpoint pen scribbling something was but a few feet to her left.

  “Her heartrate spiked a few minutes ago.” The woman mumbled and the sounds of writing returned.

  Taliah could smell cinnamon, oats and sugar on her breath. Why were her senses so acute? Was she bitten? She thought and scrambled to find the thought of it. The sound of her heartrate escalate echoed from the machine nearby alerting the woman.

  “It’s happening again.” She mumbled to herself. “Is…she awake?” She asked.

  The aroma of cinnamon, sugars, jasmine and oats amplified when she lifted Taliah’s left eyelid. Her face was mere inches from Taliah’s and she flinched and pushed the woman away.

  “My God, she’s awake!” The woman gasped.

  Taliah could hear the woman’s heartrate elevate. The man ran over.

  “She’s what?” His sloppy appearance matched his pungent aroma.

  “Where…where am I?” Taliah whispered.

  “She’s…talking?” The man asked in surprise.

  “You’re safe Sweetie. Just relax, I’ll bring the doctor over to give you the rundown of your condition.” The woman answered with a southern drawl.

  “Wha…what happened to me?” Taliah asked.

  “The doc will tell you everything. I’ll be right back.” The woman urged and exited the room.

  The man stayed. He removed a few items from his pocket. He pressed a button on something that resembled a keyless entry car remote. He walked over to her IV, inserted a syringe into the injection port of her IV and pushed in its contents.

  “W…wait. What are you…”

  A sudden urge to sleep overpowered her senses. The man hurried over and before she could say something else. She entered a deep sleep.

  The woman returned with Dr. Aoki a few minutes later. Taliah was gone.

  “Where is she?” Dr. Aoki asked firmly.

  “I…I left her with Eric. Maybe he brought her to…”

  “To where?” The doctor asked.

  “I…have no idea. This doesn’t make sense.” She fumbled with her words.

  “Sarah, How long has Eric been working here?”

  “A year…maybe two.” She responded with uncertainty.

  “And no odd behavior?”

  “Not that I can recall…Wait, about a week ago I overheard him talking to someone on the phone in lab 2B. He had been off his shift for a few hours. I thought it was unusual, but he told me it was a personal matter with his wife. So, I ignored it.”

  “Do you think there’s a possibility that he’s been compromised?”

  “What do you mean? What do you think he’s done?”

  “I’ll check with Scott in security. Maybe the surveillance cameras in the hallway picked up something.”

  Dr. Aoki exited the room. Two security guards met Sarah at the nurse’s desk and brought her to an unoccupied office for further interrogations. Dr. Aoki met up with Scott Dorman in the Security Surveillance Room. After a few minutes of explaining, they were viewing recorded footage from Taliah’s room. Around the time of her disappearance, static and total video recording failed. It restored and minutes later, Dr. Aoki and Sarah Jones entered the room. They followed their departure on each camera by a magnetic disturbance on the video feed. Only on the shielded external cameras did they witness Eric Brummer pushing Taliah Banks across the parking lot and into an unmarked white van.

  “How did he get that far without security…”

  “My God…” Scott noticed dead bodies of all security personnel from the front gate to the exterior doors of the facility.

  “They’re all dead. How can this be?”

  “We’ve got a mole problem.” Scott admitted.

  “If you don’t figure out how deep this goes, I’ll find someone who can.” Dr. Aoki stormed out of the room.

  “Will do, sir.” Scott picked up the phone and dialed into an encrypted network. “We need Jimmy upstairs immediately.”

  Chapter 26: Taliah’s Transit

  “You’re joking, right?” Jimmy paused. “This actually happened? Here?” He asked.

  “What was that about?” Dr. Ang finished stitching up a gash along his spine.

  “Taliah’s gone.”

  “She’s gone? Bloody hell.” She tightened the stitches.

  “Ah…watch it.” Jimmy yelped.

  “Oh, my apologies. I mean, seriously, why doesn’t Tricon fuck off and die already.” She griped. She tied a few knots and snipped the excessive string. “Done.” She continued.

  Jimmy stood up and put on his ripped blood soaked shirt.


  “I’ve got to stop this.” He searched for his pants frantically.

  “On the chair over there.” She pointed.

  “Thanks.”

  “No worries.” She smiled and studied his butt as he pulled his pants up. “It’s a shame.” She continued.

  “What’s that?” He asked while pulling up a fresh pair of socks.

  “You’d be a great catch if you weren’t…”

  “Thanks for the reminder.” Jimmy mumbled.

  “We’re not all machines in here. A woman has needs too.” She forced a smile and began to clean and sterilize her tools.

  “Could you tell Grace and Bryson that I had to step out and that I’ll return as soon as possible?” Jimmy exited the door. It closed abruptly behind him.

  “Sure, I’ll tell them.” She grumbled under her breath to herself.

  The main level to the facility was riddled with bullet casings and pockmarks in the walls. The perky receptionist was lying face first in a pool of blood. Nearby, three security guards were missing their heads. Bloody wheel tracks from a gurney led outside and disappeared right near the entrance of the building in the parking lot. This was a professional extraction that must have been planned for months on the inside. A security team hurried past Jimmy and entered a pre-fueled armored SUV parked near the back of the parking lot for sudden missions. It was fully stocked with several weeks’ worth of rations and roughly a dozen various firearms. What they didn’t notice was a plastic explosive attached to the ignition just under the hood. When they started the vehicle, it exploded sending pieces of the van and the men across the parking lot. The explosion shook the building. The shockwave knocked the wind out of Jimmy and rendered him unconscious.

  *

  Taliah’s eyes opened once more. This time, she was strapped to a gurney in a moving van. It was dark and voices in the front of the van spoke.

  “We’re on our way with the package Mr. Kolovski.”

  “Very good. How soon should we expect your arrival?” The voice answered from a scratchy CB radio.

  “Twenty minutes at the most.”

  “Good work.”

  “Thank you, sir. I just wanted to ask a favor if you could…sir? Sir?”

  “He’s offline. Don’t waste your breath.” Another voice spoke. It was a female.