Chrono X Angel, Book 7: Trial By Fire

Chapter 10

The trip from Washington DC to the GARDNA server farm in Nebraska was a long one, considering Nonami wished to drive it rather than fly. Agent Millar had also been sure not to use a car from the FBI's motor pool, at the Vampire's request. Instead the pair were driving in a nondescript windowless van containing a multitude of devices needed to hack into said server farm, as well as a compact travel coffin for Nonami to rest in. They drove constantly, the Vampire rarely resting for more than an hour or two at a time, and letting Millar take over driving when she did. She was determined to get this grim work done and over with but... even as they eeked closer and closer to their destination, Nonami realized she was not sure what she was going to do with it. True, exposing the project and those behind it might be a good thing, but did GARDNA really need to be thrown into such chaos right now? When they were dealing with not only the imminent resurrection of Ahrimanes, but also a team of enemies with enough combined power to ravage most any city on Earth? To say the Vampire was conflicted would be an understatement. Deciding to take her mind off things for a while, she decided to strike up a conversation with her new "friend".

"So, Agent Millar," she said as they passed through Illinois on Interstate 70, "What started your obsession with our kind? Monsters, I mean. Where did this all come from?"

The FBI Agent looked over to his orange-haired German copilot and sighed.

"I doubt you'd believe me even if I told you."

"Try me."

"When I was a teenager, my sister Suzy was abducted by Bigfoot."

Nonami nearly veered off the road from laughter. After pulling over, it took her several minutes to regain her composure. It was not so much what Millar had said so much as it was the blunt, flat tone in which he had said it that had broken her. He stared at her, and Nonami could feel his gaze burning into her.

"Apologies apologies," she said once she had regained a semblance of control over herself, "It's just... something about how you said that got to me. I think I've been up too long. That said, my condolences, although I've not known too many tribes of Chumbawa to take humans. Typically they stay far away from your kind."

"Chumbawa?" Asked Millar.

"It's what the North American version of 'Bigfoot' call themselves," explained Nonami, "Different tribes of them from different areas call themselves different things. Assuming you dealt with the most common of them in the Pacific Northwest, they would have been the Chumbawa. At any rate, perhaps you should take over for a bit. I am clearly getting a bit delirious over here."

The two got out of the van, Nonami sliding the back door open and closed quickly so no passerby might risk seeing her coffin in the back. Millar watched her get in, amazed by what he was seeing.

"So you guys really do sleep in coffins," he remarked, "I know I've seen you do it a couple times now but I just can't get over it. Is it true that Vampires have to sleep in their native soil as well?"

"Yes and no," replied Nonami, her voice muffled from within the box as the van started moving again, "While there's no supernatural requirement for it, a lot of our kind, myself included, find it oddly comforting when we're away from home. My coffin back in Japan is lined with a layer of it, though sadly I wasn't able to secure any for this travel one."

The conversation lulled for a bit, Millar taking some time to digest the information he had received. Finally Nonami spoke up again.
"So, your sister. You're certain it was them who took her?"

"I watched it happen," explained Millar, "We were out camping as a family, but our mom and dad had gone to a neighboring site to visit some friends. Suzy and I were playing cards near the fire when they appeared. Four of them, covered in hair and standing nearly 10 feet tall. They took her, and I tried to go after them but I couldn't move. Couldn't even scream. It was like they'd paralyzed me or something."