Vices and Maces

Chapter 84: I Spy with My Little Eye, Something Purple

CW: blood, electrocution, death

"Do you know where he might have gone?" Patton asked as he turned down the street, driving slow as he looked for any familiar faces.

"No, we're looking now. Where are you?" Roman asked, his voice coming from the speakers in Patton's car.

"Lowland Lane."

"That's Wolfsbane territory!"

"I know, he might be trying to do something here. Do you think he's looking for Black?"

Roman was quiet for a moment before answering. "I hope not... but he might be. He didn't go to the office, and we've been looking around town. I just hope he's not stupid enough to try to face Black by himself."

There weren't too many people out, it was past nine so most were at work. "Do you know when he left? Maybe we can hack into traffic cameras and try to find him."

"No, he must have left late at night. I hope he's okay."

"I know Petals, but I'm sure he will be. I'll call you if I know anything." Patton squinted into windows of different buildings.

"Thank you, stay safe. If you're caught by anyone from Wolfsbane, don't let them know you're from Bleeding Rose. Protect yourself."

"I know, I will." HIs grip tightened on the steering wheel, not wanting to think about what would happen if he got in a fight here. It felt like he was in the heart of Wolfsbane. But these were business buildings, surely their office can't be here. "I'll call you ba-"

An explosion from a nearby building interrupted Patton, the shockwave pushing his car slightly. He held on, and thankfully he wasn't close enough to get caught by it.

He looked over, seeing it was a small explosion. Glass fell from nearby windows, fractured by the force. The worst damage was a whole in the wall of the building the explosion was in. Flames licked at the wall, coming from inside, destroying wooden crates fueling them.

Patton's eyes widened when he saw weapons through the smoke. Some were scattered on the ground, others were hanging from the walls. A wooden plank from the crates was blown onto the sidewalk, and stamped on it was a flower. A Wolfsbane flower.

There seemed to be fighting inside of the room. Patton couldn't see until normal people ran out of sight and the smoke cleared just a bit. Two security guards were in the room, both holding weapons too destructive to belong to normal security guards. They were fighting-

"Iris?! Are you okay? What happened?" Roman's voice finally broke him out of the trance.

"I- oh my god, I found Dandelion! I have to go help him, get over here now!" He put his car in park before grabbing his keys, jumping out as he fumbled to hold the small axe. He whispered a cantation and the runes on the small handle glowed before the axe grew. Silver metal with a heart sized hole in the middle of the blade.

He could hear the worry in Roman's voice, he knew how much the vampire cares for Virgil, and he's not about to let them lose each other.

~~

Virgil really didn't expect a giant explosion. After being cornered in a room that looked like held weapons for those in this building, he attempted to fight his way out as quietly as possible. Black can't be alerted about danger, then he'll leave the office and Virgil might never have another chance!

There were three security guards, and he shifted back to his human form as they got close. He was wearing his gloves now, having put the weapons on his person and discarding the bag earlier. The adrenaline pushed away the drowsiness the strange gas he was sprayed with caused.

As he tried to punch the closest security guard, they grabbed his wrist and twisted it so his fist hit a nearby crate. They really should have read the warning on the crate, that it's fragile. In this room that meant one thing, crystals. In this case, fire crystal bullets wrapped in metal sheets.

There was a potion on Virgil's knuckle that exploded against the box and created a chain reaction. Both the security guard and Virgil were blown back, but the difference between them was one wasn't getting up. She had hit her head against the wall, and her skin was burned.

Virgil's clothes were burned but not destroyed. Something had hit him right above his eye, and a deep cut dripped blood into his sight. He put out the fire on him as he stood up, noticing some of the vials were cracked. He'd have to be careful with those.

The other guards were picking themselves up, grabbing a weapon since their other ones were dropped. One grabbed a battle hammer, the other grabbed some gauntlet that had claws. It was an odd pairing, but Virgil just had to stay out of arm's reach. He didn't want to use his gun though, he'll avoid killing if he can.

Looking around, he grabbed a whip that was made from metal, leather around the handle and a button where the thumb would go. He clicked the button, and heard the faint sounds of an electric current going through the metal whip.

More security guards would be coming soon, he has to get away from this room. But they were blocking the door, and Virgil didn't want to leave the building, otherwise he'll never get Black!

The one with the hammer came at him first as the other put on both gauntlets. Virgil swung the whip from the side, the metal wrapping around him before he reached him. He hit the ground with a spasm as Virgil shut off the electric current. The whip was still around him, being held tight between his body and the ground.

He didn't have time to pull it out before the other came at him. First he put up his arm to protect himself as they slashed, their claws scratching against the metal between to potions. Virgil backed up and was followed by the security guard, trying to dodge or block the slashes.

As he went to block another with the back of his arm, they grabbed him instead of slashing. They twisted their body, pulling Virgil along and throwing him against a table that had guns set out. The guns were all empty and some fell off from the impact. Virgil's right side hit the table as he fell, and he curled up, his hand hovering over his ribs as he tried to take a deep breath. His vision was blurry from tears and the pain, but he knew the security guard was walking towards him.

It felt like it was Dahlia again, when she hit him in the side and he was down on the ground, pain racing through his side. He shouldn't have come with broken ribs... but there's no turning back now.

He really didn't want to, but he reached for his gun that was strapped to his chest under his jacket. As his fingers curled around the trigger though, a figure came through the hole that was blasted in the wall and knocked out the guard.

Virgil looked up to see Iris, the man who said he was Roman's secretary. He held an axe, and must have hit the security guard with the dull end. That would definitely still hurt though.

Patton rushed over and held a hand out to him, which Virgil took and painfully stood up. "What are you doing here?" the nymph asked.

"What are you doing here? How did you even know I'm here?!"

"Everyone's looking for you! We need to leave." Still holding his arm, Patton started to pull Virgil towards the hole.

"No, I can't go yet!" Virgil pulled his arm back. "Everything's going so wrong... I have to find Black."

"Are you insane? You almost lost this fight! You're still hurt!"

"And more security guards are coming, so I'm leaving. You find somewhere safe to go!" Virgil ran towards the door, pushing it open.

"Wait! Then I'm coming with you! I have to make sure you don't die!"