rr (ON HOLD)

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Kaina slinked back into the warehouse, unnoticed by any of the guards - only the Count spotted her, but he said nothing, only glaring at her with those shark-black eyes. He didn't have time for stupidity right now.
As he checked his wrist watch, he gave a sigh.
"4:19, only five minutes to go, Ms Redfort."
Hurry up, Spectrum, thought Kaina.
Ruby frowned.
"What happens in five minutes?"
The Count gave a laugh.
"In five minutes, Mr Blacker will tell me the location of the Mars Mushrooms."
"And what's so special about 4:24? Are the Buddha's eyes only readable at certain times?" Ruby asked sarcastically.
The Count clapped his hands in delight.
"Correct."
"Oh," muttered Ruby. Oh bozos, where's Hitch when you need him?
Kaina suddenly straightened up. While Lorelei was gifted with her nose and smell, Kaina was gifted with hearing. She heard the very low, quiet sound of footsteps and whispering, so quiet that only she could hear them.
It'd be another twenty minutes until Spectrum reached where they were, Kaina realized. But they'd have no chance if the Count knew they were there.
So Kaina kept her eye on his gun, as she had been doing since she called Spectrum.
Strangely enough, he almost seemed to sense her eyes on him; he turned around and frowned at her. He'd noticed her eyes constantly were trained on his gun, and had at first assumed she did it because she was scared. But now he began to get suspicious - was she planning something?
He turned around and began taunting Ruby, reasoning Kaina was no match for him, nor would she be stupid enough to do anything foolish, not with Lorelei in the room.

Three minutes passed, Kaina counted.
Seventeen minutes minute to go.
Two minutes minutes until 4:24.

"I'm afraid your friend here isn't prepared to drink the truth serum," the Count gestured to Blacker. Then he raised his gun and shot him, in the leg. Blacker gave a cry of pain. Seeing Ruby's expression, the Count smiled. "Oh, don't worry, it won't kill him."

One minute to go.

The Count held up the Lucite key tag.
"I must ask, Ms Redfort, how does it feel knowing your eyes hold the secret to immortality?"
"Very special, for sure. But I gotta say - the Mars Mushrooms don't give you immortality, don't you know?"
The Count gave a chilling smile.
"On their own, no. But with something else... well, it's certainly a different tale."
Fifteen seconds.
"Being immortal can be quite boring," Ruby persisted. "You watch all your friends die while you live forever, always alone."
"How poetic, Ms Redfort, I'm sure, but you forget; I need no one," the Count looked at his pocket watch. "Time's up."
He read the Buddha's eyes first, and as he did he took out a small notebook from the breast pocket of his suit, along with a pencil, and wrote down the code.
Then it was Ruby's turn.
"Blink and you die," hissed the Count, as she struggled.

The Count pulled a small bottle from his pocket, filled with a strange colour that Ruby had seen before. He poured three drops into Blacker's throat; the agent made no retaliation, he knew it'd be pointless. Besides, he should save his energy for when they escaped.
If they ever escaped.
The Count swiftly untied Blacker's hands, and gave him the notebook and pencil.
"You have ten minutes, work out the code, and don't try anything stupid."

Nine minutes later, Blacker had the code decoded.
"They're coordinates," Blacker said, pointing to the notebook.
"And you are sure these are correct?" the Count asked, looking at him curiously. At Blacker's nod, he clapped his hands. "I really must thank you two, dear Ms Redfort especially." He turned to Ruby.
"How you have infuriated me in the past - but now I have what I need, you, Ms Redfort, are no longer needed. Many times I have tried to kill you and every time you have managed to escape, but this time there is no one to save you, not Spectrum, not your dear friend Master Crew, not LB, not even the great Bradley Baker."
At Ruby's horrified reaction, he laughed.
"Oh, you thought I was going to kill you this time? No, Ms Redfort, I feel we have gotten along so well that I'm sure I'd miss you if I killed you."
"That's very flattering and all, but who is gonna kill me?"
"Lorelei, of course."
Ruby froze.
"You needn't worry about that yet," the Count waved his arm with a flourish. "First, you can watch your friend die. Unfortunately I hadn't enough time to prepare something, so Mr Blacker here will just have to be simply shot. Quite boring, I know, but I promise your death will be far more - dramatic." He smiled at Ruby, his sharp white teeth glimmering in the low light.
He faced Blacker, and raised his gun. Ruby said nothing. She wouldn't give him the win of hearing her cry.

And then Kaina took her chance; she could hear Spectrum outside the door, and she knew Lorelei could smell them - Lorelei was about to do something when Kaina snatched the gun from the Count's unsuspecting hand and threw it on the floor.
The Count immediately turned around.
"Oops," said Kaina as an apology, though her eyes said something else. Unfortunately, the Count was very good at reading eyes.
He knocked her gun out of her hand and lunged at her, and they fell to the floor, tackling one another, and Kaina was grateful that Lorelei had taught her aikamo and kung fu.
As they fought, Spectrum agents filled the room, untying Blacker and Ruby while others surrounded Lorelei.
The Count, realizing what was happening, grabbed Kaina's arm and smashed her body to the ground.
"You foolish, pathetic girl," he snarled. Kaina widened her eyes in fear; admittedly the Count was angry quite a lot, but he never showed his anger, always remaining calm, unless he was really and truly furious. "You stupid child, do you realize what you have done? You will pay for this."
"Get off me," screamed Kaina, and she kicked him in the crotch. Shocked, he let go and lost his balance for a second, before regaining control. By then, though, Kaina had grabbed her gun from the floor and shot dead the agents surrounding Lorelei, before shooting down the lights, so everything went black.

By the time Spectrum could see again, Lorelei, the Count and Kaina had disappeared.

Kaina ran; the Count was behind her, gun raised in hand, but he was walking.
"You run, girl, and I will kill you, have no doubt. You know I'll find you anyway."
She froze.
"So what happens if I don't run?" she whispered.
The Count smiled. Kaina saw the anger, furious bitter anger, in his eyes. If she stayed, he'd kill her.
He'd kill her either way. No matter how much use to him she might be, he'd kill her.
So she'd run.
To where, she didn't know.
But she'd run.
"Kaina," the Count tilted his head curiously at her.
She pursed her lips, and turned her back on him; she ran - the entrance of warehouse wasn't far, she'd make it.
She'd make it.
Wouldn't she?
Upon hearing the sound of gun shot, she ducked and slid across the floor.
As she ran through the door, she turned around and looked for the Count.
He'd made no effort to chase after her; he'd even only fired one bullet.
Shaking her head in slight wonder and confusion, Kaina pressed, or rather hammered, the 'close door' button.
She turned around in the open free air, panting slightly.
And then she gasped.
"God dammit."
"Where do you think you're heading, kid?" Lorelei von Leyden asked, pointing a gun to Kaina's face.
"As far away from you crazies as I can," replied Kaina nonchalantly.
Lorelei pulled a sad face.
"Ooh, I'm hurt. Kinda sad for you, I guess, that you're staying right here."
"You don't ever give up, do you?" Kaina asked sarcastically, as she slowly raised her hands.
Lorelei pulled the trigger, no signs of regret showing.
Kaina gave a cry as a bullet hit her leg. Lorelei approached her.
"Hit me," she whispered. "Knock me out. Then run."
"What?" said Kaina, puzzled.
"Just do it," snarled Lorelei. Sensing that they didn't have much time, Kaina reluctantly did. Lorelei's unconscious body was soon slumped against the wall, and Kaina limped away.

The woman was panicking...

...where was she? Where was her child? Was she dead? Was she alive?
"Hey," LB gave a very un-LB-like jump as Hitch tapped her on the shoulder. "Blacker and Redfort are safe."
"Good." LB looked as if she was going to say something else, but didn't.
"LB, call this personal, but you alright?" Hitch was concerned; his boss looked distracted somehow.
"Did you see where the Count's child went?"
Hitch looked puzzled. "No. But the Count seemed pretty angry with her, before the lights went out."
LB gulped down the fear which was poisoning her.