Vices and Maces

Chapter 85: This Building is like a Maze

CW: implied deaths

By the time Roman got to the street, it was quite obvious which building Virgil and Patton were in. The street was full of people leaving nearby buildings, getting to safety. On the bright side, they're blocking the street and the police can't get there.

His phone started ringing and he pulled it from his pocket, almost dropping it which would be bad considering he's several feet into the air. He looked at the caller ID before answering.

"Remus, are you guys heading here?" he asked.

"Yeah, we're almost there, but Roman, be careful, Jan says that Wolfsbane's main office is on that street! She says they think Virgil's going after Black."

"Black's here?!" Of course... that would make sense. Virgil had something he needed to do, and Patton saw him here. Smoke was coming from the side of a building where most of the commotion was coming from.

"Not just Black, a whole building of Wolfsbane members! I'm sending some members their way, just stay put and we'll be there fast."

He's going to kill Black. Virgil's going to kill Black!

"I can't do that," he told Remus, looking down at the street. He saw a familiar car abandoned in the middle of the street and flew down towards it. "I found Patton's car, but he's nowhere to be seen. He must be with Virgil, I need to find them!"

"You can't do that alone! You're still hurt, Ro-" Remus's voice was cut out as Roman hung up on him.

He put his phone away and turned to the building. "I'm sorry, Thorn, but I can't stay put while they're in danger."

~~

Remus has been letting out a string of curses from the moment Roman hung up on him to the moment he and Janus got to the building. The majority of the crowd cleared out, and there were police sirens heading their way.

They both knew they had no time to waste, so they rushed in through the front glass door, which at this point were shattered. The main lobby was trashed, like a typhoon had gone through it. Some people were knocked out, some weren't going to get back up ever again.

Despite there being no movement from the main lobby, there was still plenty of noise. Janus grabbed Remus and pulled him towards the stairs.

"Come on, I don't know where your brother is, but Virgil is going to go towards Black's office!" they shouted.

"I can't let my brother fight by himself!" Remus argued. "He can only use one arm!"

"Virgil is no fighter! And he's hurt too!" Janus threw the door open and ran up. Unfortunately, it only led to the second floor. There was one staircase on each level, each far away from each other, set up like a radio station. Why it was like that, Janus couldn't say, probably to give Black enough time to escape in a situation like this.

"Iris must be with him! Or near him! Roman's all by himself! I can't let him fight by himself!"

"Fine then whoever we find first!"

They ran down a hallway, Janus running straight for the staircase. They would use the elevator, but neither of them would trust it. Either they could be cornered in there, it's already being used by Wolfsbane members, takes too long to get to them, or someone could cut the line and honestly that doesn't sound like fun.

A fight was happening ahead of them, and as soon as they turned the corner, they found Roman which made Remus smile. The vampire hit someone with his rose mace, which was on fire already. Someone tried to jump on him from behind, but he spun around and hit them too.

"Hell yeah!" Remus shouted, rushing over to join.

Janus just sighed, his anxiety clawing at her chest. But there's no use in arguing, Roman's goal is to find Virgil too. And they can lead them to Black's office.

They stayed back to watch the twins finish off the rest of the crowd. Remus pulled out his morning star and got those that were behind Roman, and Roman got those that came in reach of him. It looked awkward swinging around the rose mace with one hand, but he managed.

Janus didn't wanna join for fear he would get hit by one of the twins. The hallway was too crowded to join, but thankfully the fight finished quickly.

"Alright, what's the plan?" Remus asked, turning to Roman.

"Find Virgil and Patton," Roman answered. "And kill anyone that gets in the way."

He turned to leave but Remus grabbed him. "Uh, hello? This isn't a rescue mission anymore, we have people coming this way! They should almost be here! This is gonna be a full on battle now! And-" An explosion from below interrupted them. "And it sounds like Wolfsbanes got some back up too."

"Even more reason to find Virgil."

"Then let's go!" Janus urged, grabbing Roman's left arm and Remus's collar. "We have a dumbass to save!"

They were only able to take a few steps before a loud voice from outside shouted through a megaphone, "Police!" Janus looked out a nearby window to see the flashing lights of several cop cars. "Everyone come out calmly! We will arrest anyone who resists!"

"Great, and now we have the police to worry about..."

"What the hell do we do?" Remus asked.

Janus turned down a hall, away from the stairs. "We can fly, we just have to get to Black's room before Virgil does. We'll go through the back."

"The back?" Roman asked.

"The back window. Away from the stairs and police."

Janus started to lead the way before Roman frowned and stopped. He didn't care about finding Black or avoiding the police at this point. He looked around and saw the window at the back of the hall.

"I'm going to find Virgil," he said.

Remus stopped and turned around. "What? Of course we are! What do you-" But before he could finish the sentence, Roman ran down the hall and opened the window, climbing out and flying up. "Roman!"

"We have no time for this!" Janus argued, grabbing his arm. "Your brother can obviously take care of himself! Back up should be downstairs or coming soon. Come on!"

The halfling growled in anger before following Janus towards the back of the building. Janus was right, Roman can take care of himself. But this whole situation felt upside down, nothing felt right. Nothing felt as it should be.

He just had to trust everyone would be okay.