The Noblesse and his Love

Chapter 17

Thoughts

*Rai-Lin*

For the thousandth time, we were on the rooftops, staring at a building before us. "People that are in the building except the organization's facility are all ordinary people. They have nothing to do with the organization," M-21 was saying. "They can control the inside of the building and surveillance is tight, which is a good cover for hiding the branch," He glanced at us. "Where will you break in? I think it's better to use the other floor windows and not the rooftop. That way, we can use the elevator."

Raziel didn't answer as he led the way to the front door. "What are you doing? You're really walking through the front door?" M-21 asked as he stared at the building.

"It's Master's decision," Frankie didn't look back as he spoke.

"Besides, I think this is for you," I said, placing a hand on M-21's shoulder since I had been walking beside him. I needed some time to think. "Wouldn't you feel better if you walked through the front door?" M-21's face hardened as he gave me a short nod.

We stopped suddenly as Raziel stared at the automatic doors. I peeked inside his mind, finding him amused. I resisted the urge to facepalm. Moving forward, I came to stand beside Raziel. "I'm going to evacuate the building in case this gets messy."

"How do you plan on doing that?" M-21 asked. He was getting antsy.

I tapped my temple. "With my mind." I sent out tendrils of thought to every person who was in the upper levels of the building. All movement stopped as they received their directions. Then, the people started to file out of the building, coming around us in a wave. We walked through them- I made sure that they parted before us like water-until we reached the elevator. I didn't listen to the conversation as I focused on making sure everyone was out of the building. As soon as they were, we entered the elevator.

As the elevator went down, M-21 said, "That mind trick you pulled was impressive."

Inclining my head, I said, "Thank you. I've spent a very long time working on it."

"But you couldn't have spent too long doing it. You're still young."

I smiled wickedly. "Looks can be deceiving."

He went to open his mouth only for the elevator to stop moving. He smirked, growing out his claws, and shredded the doors. He froze. A shut door loomed above us. "What? Why is this door closed? It shouldn't be closed."

"What's wrong?" I asked calmly.

"The door locks from the outside and can't be opened from the inside, so it's not normally used."

Frankie's eyes darkened. "Having this door closed, does it mean that it's blocking something from coming out?"

"Yes, but usually it's not used to capture enemies, but to stop the workers from running away. When there's a lockdown, it includes everyone that works in this branch," M-21 tapped away at a console. The door opened to reveal an abandoned hallway. "No one here. F4 should have the strongest security. We'll find out when we get to the control room."

"You all go on ahead. I'll see if I can't find anyone here." I broke away from the three of them.

M-21 reached out to me. "Are you sure that's safe?"

"I've been on my own many years. I can handle whatever lies in here, especially after my learning experience with Jake. Thanks for the concern though." I smiled sincerely before disappearing.

It didn't take me long to come across a gruesome sight. The hallways were painted with blood. I nearly gagged. I wandered around hallway after hallway, all painted with the insides of people, until I heard footsteps. I slunk back in the shadows as a man dressed in military grade clothing limped around the corner. When he passed me, I stepped out of my hiding spot. "Who are you?" I asked. He whirled around and fired several shots. I caught each of them in my hands, using my power to slow them down. I dropped them to the ground. "Well, that wasn't very nice."

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Oh, dear. I believe I already asked you that question. That does make things awkward." A smile curled my lips.

"Tell me who you are, or I'll kill you." There was no real threat behind his words.

"Didn't you already try that?" I flicked imaginary dirt off the cuff of my very nice pajamas. No, I hadn't bothered to change. Yes, I was trooping around this terrible place in my pjs. My enemies could deal with it.

He growled, but more footsteps sounded behind us. He whirled around and shot at Raziel, who had emerged. In an instant, my power was wrapped around the man, holding him in place. "I will kill you for that."

"Rai-Lin." A command.

I backed off. "You're lucky he wants you to live." I released my power from the man, and he dropped to the ground.

"Simon," M-21 greeted.

"M-21," Simon spit a glob of blood out of his mouth. "You betrayed the organization. Why did you come back?"

"Betray?" M-21 laughed. "The organization used us and eliminated us when we became useless. You call me a traitor?" The clank of bullets hit the floor as Frankie dropped the bullets he had caught like I had.

After a long silence, I asked, "What happened?"

Simon looked at me before quickly glancing away to stare at M-21. "It was Crombell."

"Crombell did this?" M-21 made sure.

"Not just me. Everyone at this branch was attacked."

"Why?" My voice was all business.

"Dr. Crombell came to check on an experiment that was being run here. And it seems that experiment was quite interesting to him. He wanted to keep that to himself, even if it meant killing everyone that took part." Simon was panting now.

"That's enough. You are only tiring yourself out. I will simply look through your mind instead since I can't tell if you are telling the truth or not." I glanced at Raziel to get his approval. He nodded. Before Simon could protest, I was inside him mind, shifting through memories. It was all gruesome and made me want to kill this man even more. Then, I hit something that made me curse.

"Damn," I said, pulling out of his mind.

"What is it?" Frankie asked.

"That stupid vampire has been used as a test subject to great success. Just wait till I get my hands on him." I stalked away in search of the vampire.

It didn't take me too long to find him. He was sitting in a room by himself, surrounded by dead bodies. I didn't bother to hide myself as I stepped into the room. The vampire cackled. "Hey...look who's here. I'm so happy to see you. Never thought I'd see you so soon. You didn't tell me your name."

I looked at him lazily. He had definitely been improved. "And I'm not going to tell it to you now."

"Suit yourself," he sneered. "Shall we get started? I've so wanted to kill you."

"We can certainly get started, but I don't think you will manage to kill me." I rolled my shoulders as he attacked.

I dodged without any difficulty, though he had gained speed. My eyes turned blue as I brought my power forth, lashing out at him. He screamed out in pain before swiping at me. I moved deftly aside. "Is that the best you've got?" I taunted. "I thought you had improved."

"Improved," he repeated. "Indeed, I have improved." I noticed Raziel and M-21 enter the room as the vampire transformed. Spikes formed on his arms and great tentacles grew out of his back. Things just got tougher.

The vampire turned to Raziel and M-21, but I moved in front of them. "Nope. We were fighting, remember? Not you and them."

"How noble, sacrificing yourself for your friends. I'll kill you all anyway." His tentacles came at me, but I brushed them aside with my power.

"Wait," Raziel said. I froze. "Let M-21 fight him."

"Okay." I went to walk away only to be attacked from behind. I blocked the attack before throwing the vampire back. I bowed to M-21. "He's all yours."

M-21 smiled before letting his claws out.