The Hidden Evil 3

Chapter III: The Russian Massacre

Arran led the others towards Trance City. Ronnie could tell he was angry, and she didn't blame him. Arran didn't look behind him, he kept his gray gaze ahead. Ronnie and Rueben stuck closely beside each other, Ronnie's fingers trembling in adrenaline. Isla walked up beside Ronnie, looking at her from the corners of her eyes.
"I'm sorry my brother is being the way he is," said Isla.
"No, it's all right. It's better someone like him take charge who's confident," Ronnie replied.
"Just so you know, I'm not too sure he actually knows what he's doing, so if you have any ideas I'll be happy to hear them," Isla uttered.
"When I think of something, I'll let you know," Ronnie said. Isla nodded, looking to her brother in front of them.
"Hey Arran, do you even know which way Trance City is," asked Isla. Arran looked behind him to his sister, his eyebrows tightened.
"Of course I do," he scowled. Isla sighed, looking back over to Ronnie.
     "I don't think he does," she shrugged. Ronnie inhaled the humid air, feeling her lungs fill up with oxygen. She's never preformed such a big mission under the leadership of an unprofessional. Karma had always been there to guide them, and she knew that she could rely on him to make good choices. Arran, on the other hand, was unpredictable and not very bright. But, he seemed confident in leading them to victory, so she stuck behind him like a good soldier would do. She marched on, droplets of sweat forming on her forehead. Would they ever reach Trance City? Even worse, would they reach it in time?

The wagon rolled up to the Trance City gates that were guarded by their garrison. They recognized the Shippendale symbol on the wagon and stopped the horse with sharp "hey, you."
"Yes, sir?" Nash looked over to the man who was responsible for the sudden shout. It was a young man with an army helmet on his head. He had thin dark brown hair, almost black, that stuck out of the helmet on his forehead. Nash immediately recognized this man to be Naero Lukin. Naero had manipulating forest green eyes and many freckles dotting his tan face. He had black paint smeared under his eyes and the Russian flag plastered on the side of his helmet. "Naero?"
"Nash? What're you doing with a Shippendale wagon," asked Naero.
"We stole it. Me and Dima have prisoners, so can we please get through the gate?"
"Oh—yeah. Is it all right if I tag along?"
"Yeah, hop in the back."
Naero climbed into the wagon, his eyes immediately widening at the sight of the bloody Shippendale soldiers. The other members of the garrison let them pass through. Nash kicked the horse and proceeded into Trance City. As the horse pulled the wagon through the street, Naero and Dima chatted.
"How'd you capture these soldiers," Naero asked Dima.
"We shot this one," Dima pointed to Karma, "and this one we didn't even mean to catch. He was just in the wagon when we stole it."
"Who are they," questioned Naero.
"That's Karma Alekhin, he's the top captain in Shippendale. He's also my relative," Dima replied. "And that's Boris Oblonsky. He's one of Karma's soldiers."
"Why'd you capture them?"
"Karma killed our father, also Killroy told us to catch him and bring him back to the city. Boris, we're just planning on killing because he has no significance to us," uttered Dima.
"So that's what happened to your father.. and Killroy was there all that time? Why didn't they kill him, too?"
"They imprisoned him, Keiko, and Rhys. They finally escaped, though."
Naero and Karma exchanged glances. Karma recognized Naero, but he couldn't remember where he saw him. Then it came to him where Naero was from. Karma looked over to Boris and leaned over to whisper in his ear. Dima pressed his lips together and separated the two. "No talking!"
Karma growled and leaned back over to Boris.
"What did I just say?"
"Just let me tell him something," Karma muttered. Dima sighed, allowing Karma to whisper into Boris' ear. Boris looked from Karma to Naero. Naero was a spy from Shippendale. He could get them out of this mess if he was willing to blow his cover. Karma looked back at Naero and drew in his breath.
The Lukins were a distant relative to the Alekhins. Karma's grandfather's sister was Naero's grandmother. The Lukins never associated with the Alekhins much, knowing that they were bad people. Because of that, Karma and Naero barely knew each other, all they knew is that their family was related.
As they rolled up to the prison, guards started to walk over to them. Nash looked down on them from the horse he was mounted on, loosening his grip on the reins.
"We have two prisoners. Do you mind escorting us to their cells," said Nash. The guard nodded.
After they parked the wagon, the guards helped Nash, Dima, and Naero escort Karma and Boris to their cells. Once they were in the cell, Nash untied their wrists and took the tape off of Boris' mouth. He walked back out of the cell, closing it behind him. He locked it with a key that he slid into his pocket.
"Killroy will be here in a few minutes. Don't try anything smart," Nash told them before walking down the hall. Boris sighed and hoisted himself up off the floor. He walked over to the cold bars and grabbed them, looking out to the other side.
"I used to clean these floors," Boris mumbled. Karma stood beside him, his arms crossed.
"We can't let them kill us. We need to figure something out," said Karma.
"There's no use, we're dead," sighed Boris. Footsteps could be heard from down the hall, and they sounded like heavy boots. Soon enough, a teenager with white hair and deep blue eyes stood in front of him, a teenage girl behind him.
"Long time no see, Karma," Killroy smiled.
"Killroy, let us go," commanded Karma.
"Dana failed to kill you, so now it's my turn," Killroy stated.
"If Dana couldn't kill me, neither can you," Karma argued.
"But Dana didn't have you locked up in a cell. He also didn't have backup," Killroy said.
"Listen, I don't know what I did to make you so angry, but whatever it is I'm sorry," Karma told his brother.
"What did you do? You sold me. You sold me to a horrible place. I live everyday knowing that my family hates me, and they'd rather me suffer than be loved by them," Killroy muttered.
"I wasn't even aware of what was happening, but if I was I would've tried my best to keep you," Karma said.
"Oh, sure you would've. You're such a liar, Karma. Have you ever told the truth in your life?"
"Of course I have."
"You made everyone believe you were someone you were not. Even if you told them the truth, you still lied to them for how many years?"
"That was for my safety. You wouldn't understa—"
"It's called being selfish, Karma. You broke the law, just so you could keep on living your happy little life on top of that happy little hill."
"So you're gonna kill me.. just because you were banished from the family? That wasn't even my decision, Killroy."
"That's why you're not the only one I'm gonna kill. I'm killing every last one of the Alekhin family, only then will I feel accomplished."
Suddenly, a bullet shot through the air. Killroy ducked, and it just skimmed his messy hair. Karma and Boris both gasped in shock, taking a step backwards in the cell. Killroy and Keiko both looked down the hall to the person responsible for the gunfire. It was Naero, and he had the rest of Team Karma behind him. Killroy growled, clenching his fists.
"You traitor," Killroy thundered. Ronnie immediately ran to the cell, looking inside of it to her captain and peer.
"We're here to get you out," she told them. Faux ran over to Ronnie, but he was caught by the arm and thrown against the concrete wall. Killroy looked down on him, a crazy smile on his face.
"You.. you're the Lurker Shifter, aren't you," Killroy asked him.
"Get away from me," Faux growled. Arran rammed into Killroy's side, knocking him to the ground. Arran unsheathed his sword and swiftly impaled Killroy through the heart. Everyone went silent, looking over to Arran and Killroy's bleeding corpse.
"Arran did it," gasped Isla. Suddenly, Killroy reached to his chest and pulled Arran's blade out from his body. Arran backed away, his eyes wide with fear. Killroy smiled, standing up from the bloody floor.
"His eyes! You have to stab his eyes in order to kill him," Faux loudly explained.
"Try me, I'm more powerful than all of you combined now that I'm half Lurker," Killroy sneered. Isla and Ronnie managed to lock pick the lock on the cell, releasing Karma and Boris. Karma grabbed the fork from the table in the cell before charging out and attacking Killroy. The two brothers struggled on the ground, Killroy trying to keep the fork away from his eyes with all his strength. Rueben grabbed Boo's arm and ran down the hall.
"Where are we going," asked Boo.
"We have to make sure the others aren't—" Rueben was met with Nash and Dima. Nash looked angry, a knife in his hand. Rueben grabbed the handle of his sword, pushing Boo behind him.
"I knew you guys would come," Nash said.
"Just surrender," Rueben growled. Nash gripped his knife even tighter, feeling an overwhelming force to drive it into Rueben's body.
"Your captain has killed two of his close family members, including my father," Nash told Rueben.
"You're related to Captain," gasped Rueben.
     "My father was Dana Alekhin, the one who your captain killed just last year," Nash explained.
     "I'm sorry, but your father was a bad man," Rueben said.
     "But he was my father, and in my mind he didn't deserve to die," scowled Nash. Boo looked over to Dima and recognized him to be the person who threw the can of spray paint into the fire and cause the explosion that burnt half of Boo's face and his arms. He grabbed Rueben's sleeve and pulled him down so he could whisper in his ear.
     "Hurry up and kill them already," whispered Boo.
     "Let me see if I can reason with them first," Rueben whispered in reply. Boo looked back over to Dima and clenched his fists. He decided to take matters into his own hands. Boo suddenly reached over and stole Rueben's sword right out of its holster. He swung the blade at Dima, but Dima dodged it. Rueben panicked, trying to calm Boo down by grabbed his shoulders. Nash growled before grabbing the blade and holding his knife to Boo's neck. Rueben grabbed Nash and thrusted him into the wall beside them. Boo was released, and Rueben took his sword back from him. Nash pushed Rueben away from him and grabbed Dima's arm.
     "Just leave us alone, and we'll leave you alone," Nash told Rueben. Rueben nodded, sliding his sword back into its holster. Nash and Dima started to walk down the hall away from Rueben and Boo.
     "Nash, but what about father," asked Dima.
     "Don't worry, I just can't afford to die just now. We need to wait for the perfect moment to strike again," Nash explained.
     When Rueben and Boo returned to the others, he saw Isla hurt against the wall. Rueben knelt down next to her, looking at the wound in her arm.
     "I tried to help, but I got sliced by Killroy's knife," she explained.
     "Killroy has a knife?" Rueben looked over to see Killroy with a knife in his hand. Karma still had the fork. Boris spectated from the corner, accompanied by Ronnie. Arran was next to Karma, his sword unsheathed. Rueben and Boo helped Isla walk over to Ronnie and Boris.
     "Nash and Dima left, it's just us now," Rueben reported. Ronnie nodded, focused on the battle happening in front of her. Keiko would occasionally whisper something into Killroy's ear, and he'd give her a small and quick nod. Karma held the fork tightly, his knuckles white. Blood slowly made its way down Karma's face from a gash on his forehead. Suddenly, Killroy ran after his brother, ready to make a move that only Karma had predicted. Karma shifted, grabbed Killroy, and shoved the fork into his eye. Keiko gasped as she watched the blood from Killroy's eye splatter against Karma's face. Killroy struggled to break free from Karma, the fork driven far into his eye socket. Ronnie and Rueben both watched in horror as Killroy screamed in agony. Karma gripped the fork tightly and pried Killroy's eye out of its own socket. The mangled eyeball of Killroy fell right in front of Ronnie and Rueben's boots. Ronnie gasped, her hands immediately darting to her mouth. Rueben stared at it with wide, fearful eyes. Keiko ran into Karma, knocking him into the wall. Killroy was released, his empty eye socket bleeding heavily. Karma still had the fork in his hand, the prongs dripping with Killroy's dark red blood. Keiko picked up Killroy's knife off of the ground and held it closely, her eyes flashing dangerously at Karma. Suddenly, she charged after him, the knife's blade evidently heading his way. He ducked underneath her and grabbed her legs. She fell to the ground on her back, quickly drawing in a gasp of shallow breath. Killroy shakily stood up, his only eye fixed on his brother. Killroy used the last of his energy to run after Karma, his teeth clenched and tears in his only eye. Karma whirled around, sensing that his brother was there. The fork drove into Killroy's other eye, immediately forcing him to take his last breath. Keiko screamed in utter horror, watching Killroy's corpse lifelessly fall to the ground. Ronnie and Rueben silently stood in shock. Arran slid his sword back into its holster and walked back over to his sister.
     "I'd say that's over and done with," said Arran.
     Suddenly, Karma felt the heat of pain shoot up his side. He looked down to see a knife stabbed into the bullet wound on his stomach. Keiko stood a few yards in front of him, her pupils at the corners of her eyes as she glared back at Karma. Suddenly, Keiko was gone. Ronnie and Rueben both ran over to their captain, worry in their caring eyes.
     "How did she do that," gasped Boo.
     "She's quick," replied Arran.
     Ronnie and Rueben both looked at the knife lodged into Karma's stomach.
     "Do we take it out," panicked Ronnie.
     "No, don't take it out," Rueben told her.
     "We have to do something until we get back to Shippendale," Ronnie said. Karma growled, his fists clenching.
     "Just do something," Karma urged. Boo shoved them out of the way to see the knife in Karma.
     "Don't take the knife out," said Boo. "If you keep the knife in, there's a lower chance of him bleeding out."
     "Well, then we'll keep it in until we get back to Shippendale," Ronnie said. Rueben walked over to Boris and helped him stand up.
     "What about Nash and Dima," Boris asked.
     "I don't know. For now, we must get back to Shippendale, and quickly," Rueben replied.
     "I bet I can get you guys back quickly. If we leave now, we can travel pretty swiftly on horseback," Naero told Rueben.
     "Then we'd better get going," Rueben nodded. He turned to the others, who were busy helping their captain. "Hey, let's start heading back to the city," Rueben loudly said.