Stage One: Hope in Darkness

The Monster (Annabelle)

The stark white halls were getting harder to pass through unnoticed. This area was more secure, the closer I got to his lair  the more complex it was getting. The only logical person who could get into the control room was me. One I knew where it was and two I was the most familiar with his lab. There was going to be only one way to get in. He was going to open the door for me. He wanted what was flowing through my veins.

His arrogance would be his undoing. Even as his city fell he would only care about his own wants. And he wanted my blood, badly. He would ignore everything else to get it. Even if the rest of the city fell, it would never truly be over until he was gone. I hadn't told Lara what I was really doing. She never would have let me go to face him alone if I had. I loved Lara but this was my fight. A warm head presses into my palm. Well mine and Hannibal's.

Standing in front of the elevator that would lead us to the upper levels, right where the control room was. The door slides open with a snick of smooth metal. I am ready for this. For the first time since I first saw that monster I am not afraid. I had let this man crowd my soul into the shadows for too long. Let him push me further away from who I really was. Push me into hiding and not really living. It was time to push back.

Hannibal and I step into the elevator. The doors close and it starts up without me having to do a thing. He was offering me an open invitation. I smile, inviting me to his death party. I am going to kill him. It feels how I imagine Shadow does all the time. Eager and happy waiting for the kill. The excitement of fresh blood being spilled. I have waited years for this, and I am going to savor every second of it.

The numbers above the doors climb steadily, nearly to the top now. The final number slides into place. The room stops and the doors open with a sharp *ding*. Stepping into the control room, Hannibal right beside me. Time to end this.

There he stood, in the center of the room. The monster who haunted my dreams.

"Annabelle, my precious Anna. Welcome home." Swallowing bile I narrow my eyes in the most hateful look I have in me. Stopping when I am ten feet away from him and even that feels too close. Like somehow he will infect me with his evil.

"Oh right, you can't speak. I am sorry about that, you know. I just lost my temper. Just one moment of bad judgment." I spit at him. One moment?! So all the rest of his torture was alright in his mind. Fucking inhuman psycho. His lips curl in a scowl,

"This is your last chance Annabelle. Come with me. With you I could change the world. Join me in the new world Annabelle." He holds out his hand to me. Did he actually expect me to go with him?! That arrogance was going to get him killed. By me. How could one man be so delusional as to think that I would be willing to go with him after everything he has done?

I pull my knife from its sheath, Hannibal growls. Good boy.

"Have it your way then." He takes several steps backwards quickly. hitting a button on the console as he passes. Gas starts to fill the room. Sitting right there is a gas mask that he pulls on. Too bad for him that the gas didn't affect me anymore. I had grown used to its pain a long time ago. This was nothing compared to all the pain he put me through. Striking out with my knife, I feel resistance and the squelching tear of flesh. He screams and I rejoice. The gas obscures my vision. A growl followed by a cry of pain. Hannibal. Following the sound I come upon Hannibal curled up on the floor.

He is making such horrible sounds, writhing in pain. His bones start to stretch under his skin. The gas was doing something to him. Something is really wrong here. I had to get rid of the gas before it did any more damage to my good boy. The console glints out of the corner of my eye. I rush over to it and slam on the same button he did. The gas is quickly sucked out of the room with a power whir of sound.

The room is empty except for Hannibal and me. He was gone, the coward had fled. Damn him. A trail of blood leads out a door on the far side of the control room. I can't chase him. I needed to be here to open the doors. The whole city could be controlled from here. Lara might need me to open doors or something else I couldn't think of. The main gate could be controlled from here, and we were going to run the rippers out of the city.

Hannibal is laying on the floor, no longer making any noise. With the fog of gas cleared from the room I can finally get a good look at him. He lays still, I stare until I see his chest move. Crouching by him I can tell immediately that the gas has done something to him. He is huge. My little wolf boy now about the size of a horse. Carefully I pick up his head and place it in my lap. The transformation seems to have wiped him out. His chest moves slowly, his breathing shallow. He is fast asleep, I hope that is all it is. I can't just leave him here, helpless, like this. Carrying him was obviously no longer an option.

The master would have to wait. I stare at his blood on the floor for a minute more before focusing on the task at hand. I will get you. Hopefully I had done enough damage to kill him. With any luck he would just find a corner and bleed out. The others would need my help taking the city, but I needed to stay here. The control room could open the main gate and who knows what else. I started by looking at the security cameras. All the cells that held people, except the one that held Rose, I opened them. They might not be in the best condition but they deserved to be in on this fight.

Leaving this room would mean leaving Hannibal and that was something I couldn't do. I shut down the elevator to this floor and set all the locks for the doors. Barricading myself in. That's done. A take a chair and through the glass window with the best view of the city. I still had my rifle. I could offer my best support from here. It will be just like old times. Like back at the camp. I laid down in a prone position and set up my rifle. I turn my scope towards the prison, I got your back Lara. Ready to take out anyone who got in her way to the weapons vault.