Without A Heartbeat

Scarlett picked up the gun and checked it over for a moment, working out how it operated. Winching back the loading dock, she armed it and held it in one hand as she crept out of the room, Viktor’s skeleton key clutched in the other.

The corridor was empty, and Scarlett rushed down it as fast as she dared, gun ready and aiming. She pressed against the wall at the end and peered through the gate. Four sets of two Vaultguards were patrolling the level, walking together in circles, like the hands of a clock. She waited until Adara and her partner were just past her and then stepped out, wrapping her arm around the Vaultguard’s chest and pressing the muzzle of the gun to her temple.

“Don’t move or I will shoot her!” she screamed.

The other Vaultguards turned to look and their hands instinctively went for their guns. The one closest to her aimed at Scarlett’s head and she ducked behind Adara. “I mean it!” she shouted. “I want all Vaultguards to move together at the opposite end of the walkway!”

Adara raised her hands towards her colleague. “Do what she says.” The guard dropped his hand and backed away, joining the others at the far end. The prisoners noticed what was happening and a series of excited whoops and cheers filled the vault.

Scarlett started to move forward, dragging the Vaultguard with her.

“What are you doing girl? This is not the plan!” hissed the woman.

“The plan was never going to happen. Sage Blackwood ordered Viktor to have me killed instead. He sent Sarul into the guard’s washroom and then when I killed my attacker, tried to do it himself,” she replied in a hushed voice.

“I had no idea. Viktor said he was letting you use our washroom to protect you.”

“He lied.”

Where is he now?”

“Dead.”

The Vaultguard sucked in air sharply. “What? You stupid girl, they will see you burn for this.”

“No they won’t. Huntmaster Solignis came to me and I explained. He will be coming here later.”

“Then why not wait for him?”

“Because then the plan will be ruined.” She flicked her eyes towards the glaring guards. “Besides, I think the longer I stay here with them, the sooner I will be dead.”

She kept forcing the Vaultguard forward, feeling the eyes of everyone on her. The whooping of the prisoners was almost deafening. They reached Gabriel’s cell and he gasped as he took in her appearance, wrapping his hands around the bars. “What did those filthy sinners do to you my sweet girl?”

“It doesn’t matter. Here.” Scarlett pushed the key through the bars.

“Resourceful as well as beautiful, you really are the perfect creation,” he said, taking the key.

“Just open your cell,” she growled.

Gabriel unlocked the bar door and stepped through, using Adara as cover. He took her gun and cocked it, aiming at the guards.

Crack!

A bullet slammed into the wall next to Scarlett. Aiming upwards, she saw that the Vaultguards for the next three levels were leaning over the railings, guns aimed down towards them.

“Stop or I will kill her!” Scarlett screamed.

“They will let me die,” said the Vaultguard. “Rather that than the humiliation of loosing two prisoners.”

As if on cue, a hail of bullets started to thunder down onto the walkway. Scarlett shoved the Vaultguard away and dove for cover. Gabriel ducked next to her, grimacing as bullets cracked just over his head. He intensified his expression and stared at her. “Listen to me, when I move, do exactly what I do. Do not hesitate or you will die.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

Gabriel stood up and vaulted right over the railings. Scarlett gasped as she saw him fall, catching onto the chain of the central elevator. Before she could talk herself out of it Scarlett copied, launching herself into the air. She plummeted downwards as bullets whizzed past her. Her hands wrapped around the chain and her shoulders almost yanked out of their sockets as she jerked to a halt.

Scarlett started to slide down the chain, feeling the pain as the metal burned against her skin. Gabriel was ahead of her, dropping as fast as he could. They reached the bottom, where three armed Vaultguards waited. Gabriel pounced off the chain, kicking one in the chest and shooting another in the hand, disarming him. Scarlett broke free from the chain, rolling on the ground and shoving her shoulder into the unarmed Vaultguard, knocking him off his feet. A bullet clipped against her ear and a piercing ring hummed through her skull. Before she could react, Gabriel hammered his trigger, sending bullets thudding into the offending Vaultguard’s chest. It sent the man careening to the floor, and the Bloodling moved in to deliver a killing blow.

Scarlett grabbed his arm. “We don’t have time!”

Gabriel nodded and picked up two spare guns, throwing one to her. They both ran to the open cage. They both piled inside and Gabriel closed the door, wrenching the lever up. The elevator creaked to life, winching itself upwards. “Start shooting and do not stop until you have no ammo left. If you get hit, get the bullet out as soon as possible. They are coated in Banshee poison.”

They both chose a direction and with two guns each, started firing. Deafening noise filled Sinner’s Vault as bullets burst from the muzzles. Scarlett made sure that her aim was always slightly off-target, so that none of her shots connected. Bullets whizzed in every direction as the Vaultguard’s returned fire, until the prison descended into a storm of gunfire that was joined by the excited roar of the prisoners. Scarlett kept hammering the triggers, as bullets pinged off the side of the cage. Gabriel grunted and a bloom of red appeared at his side as one sank into his flesh. He stopped for a second and dug it out of his side, before shooting again, his bullets knocking Vaultguards to the ground.

The elevator kept cranking upwards, feeling like it was going at a snail’s pace to the frantic Scarlett. Every Vaultguard in the prison had joined the fight and Scarlett shrank into herself, trying to make a smaller target. A Vaultguard suddenly appeared from underneath the elevator. He wrenched the door open and stepped inside, and Scarlett saw that it was Boone. The others stopped shooting for a moment, and he raised his gun with a sneer.

Before Scarlett could do anything, Gabriel thrust a foot into Boone’s chest and sent the Vaultguard screaming to the floor hundreds of feet below. He grabbed the door and swung it shut as hails of bullets thundered against it once more, chorused by the furious shouts of the guards. Scarlett’s guns clicked as she ran out of ammunition, followed shortly by Gabriel’s. They shrank to their knees and huddled together as bullets whizzed by them. Something sank into Scarlett’s arm and she howled as the bullet bit at her flesh. Without warning, Gabriel sank his fingers inside the wound and as she gasped in pain, pulled out the bullet. He threw it through a gap in the mesh and wiped the remnants of poison on his trousers.

The elevator kept going and a thousand infected bullets kept clanging against the metal mesh.

Scarlett heard a scream and realised it was coming from her own throat.

“We will make it!” shouted the Bloodling over the din, holding her shoulders and pulling him into her. Scarlett was so terrified she didn’t try to break away. Bullets kept thundering into the cage in a never-ending storm.

Then they stopped.

The cage had raised into the tunnel, the darkness of it a welcoming blanket. Gabriel stood up and helped Scarlett to her feet. He checked her over for more bullet wounds, before checking himself. Despite what they had just survived, they were both relatively unharmed.

The elevator reached its destination and Scarlett swung open the door with a shaking arm. She was about to run, when she heard Gabriel call her name.

“Help me with this.”

He had his hands on the elevator lever. Scarlett placed her own hands on it and together they wrenched at it, until it broke free. Afterwards, Gabriel jumped on top of the elevator and climbed the chain until he reached the mechanism that controlled it. He wedged the bar between the cogs, and it stuck fast.

“That will slow them down.”

He jumped to the floor and took hold of Scarlett’s hand, pulling her with him as they surged through the gloomy passageway. “I have an old acquaintance who can provide us safe travel out of the city.”

“Where are we going?” she asked.

The Bloodling glanced at her for a second.

“Teine.”

Scarlett and Gabriel rushed through the streets of London under the cover of shadows. It was late and the streets were largely unpopulated, for which the girl was glad. Even with her desperation to escape, she had not forgotten that the man she travelled with was insane, and she did not doubt for one second that he would kill anyone who got in their way. As they sprinted down the smoggy streets, avoiding the yellow glow from the iron gas lamps that lined the pavements, she heard angry shouts in the distance behind them.

They Vaultguards.

Gabriel and Scarlett ran for their lives, twisting down the roads that lead deep into the heart of London. They reached a wide street called Shaftsbury Avenue, where a number of pubs were still open, the loud chatter of drunken revelers pouring out from within their brightly lit interiors. They slipped past unnoticed.

“Here,” whispered Gabriel, pulling Scarlett into an alleyway at the rear of a quiet building and down a shallow set of steps that lead to a hatch door. He knelt down and knocked frantically on it. A few seconds later it swung open and a large Bloodling with tanned skin and slicked black hair stared up at them.

“Jesus, you’ve been through th’ wars ain’t ya?” he said in a thick cockney accent.

“We need to speak with Malachi urgently,” said Gabriel, glancing behind him.

“In a spot of trouble are ya?” The Bloodling flicked his head to the side. “You’d better come in then hadn’t ya?” He stepped back to allow them access, before slamming the hatch door closed. Scarlett followed Gabriel down some more steps and through a corridor that opened out into some type of underground pub. Everything was a mix of luxurious black and red, with a thick wooden bar and varnished tables, ringed by plush seats. The lighting was dim and a violinist sat on a small stage, playing a complicated piece of music. Several Pandemonians were drinking and talking quietly amongst themselves. They paused and looked over at the new arrivals, frowning at their blood-covered prison garb.

“He’s in the back,” said the man and pointed to a leather-covered door in one corner of the ostentatious establishment.

“Thank you,” said Gabriel. “Come.”

Scarlett rushed with him to the back, where he bashed his knuckles against the door.

“Come in.”

He swung the door open and together they piled inside. A man dressed in a fine suit, with hair almost as silver as Gabriel’s was sitting behind a plush desk, sipping a glass of whisky. A barely dressed human woman was perched on his lap, kissing his neck and giggling. Several other girls sat on settees, stroking and kissing one another. The whole affair was so remarkably seedy, it made Scarlett feel repulsed.

“Good god, Gabriel,” the man said said, pushing the girl roughly off his knees and standing up. “What happened? The last I heard you had been taken to Sinner’s Vault.”

“I was, Malachi. Scarlett here broke me out.”

“And you both came here? What are you thinking?”

“We had no choice, the Vaultguards are searching for us.”

Malachi slammed his hands on the desk. “I have been trying to keep a low profile and you are leading the Alliance right to my door!”

“I am sorry. But we have no money and nowhere else to turn.” Gabriel narrowed his eyes. “Besides you owe me. We just need you to smuggle us to Ireland.”

Malachi glowered at Gabriel, his teeth clenched together.

“Please sir,” said Scarlett.

Malachi gave a sigh and pointed to a door near the desk. “Wait in there until I come back for you. Don’t step a foot outside beforehand.” He snatched open a drawer in the desk and pulled out a small bag that clinked with the sound of coins. Stabbing a finger into Gabriel’s chest, he grit his teeth together. “I do this and we are even, you understand me? I left your mad cult long ago and I want nothing to do with it. “

Cult?

“Of course,” said Gabriel with a nod. “Thank you.”

Malachi flicked his head towards the door. “Get in.”

Scarlett and Gabriel rushed into the room beyond the door, which held several boxes and shelves filled with bottles of wine and beer. They crouched behind a tall stack of boxes and waited.

Malachi returned almost an hour later, pushing the door open and calling their names. Gabriel and Scarlett emerged from their hiding spot. The man was holding two dark blue cloaks, which he tossed to them.

“Put these on, you need to blend in. The Vaultguards are crawling the streets looking for you both.”

Scarlett’s stomach twisted. What had started out as a simple plan had turned into a real escape, of which the outcome was no longer certain. If she was caught, she had no doubt the Vaultguards would kill her. Probably at the Sage’s orders.

“There is a carriage outside waiting to take you to the docks,” he said as they put on the cloaks and pulled the hoods up, hiding their faces. “A fishing trawler is ready to take you to Belfast Harbour. None will mention me by name, and if you get caught, you do not mention me either, clear?”

“Thank you Malachi, I will not forget this good turn you have done us.”

“I would rather you did.” He gestured towards the girls in his office, who were sat upright in a huddle, now looking decidedly more frightened than lustful. “I am trying to embrace an honest, accepting existence and you would not be a good person to be associated with.” He pointed a finger towards the door that led back into the pub. “Now go.”

Gabriel left the room.

“Thank you,” said Scarlett and motioned to follow.

“You watch yourself around him, girl,” Malachi whispered. “He and his cult are deranged.” Scarlett swallowed and gave a nod.

Together Scarlett and Gabriel made their way back out onto Shaftsbury Avenue, keeping low and checking for Vaultguards. The street was clear, apart from a single horse drawn carriage, waiting for them. The driver didn’t even acknowledge them as they climbed aboard. A second later they were being pulled along the cobbled streets. Scarlett settled back in her chair, trying to calm her nerves.

“We will make it sweet girl, divine fate had brought us together, it will not now tear us apart,” said Gabriel, staring at her and giving an eerie smile.

Scarlett gave a false smile in return. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to escape now she thought about it. To be caught was potentially deadly, but to go into the unknown with the insane Bloodling was just as bad or perhaps even far worse. She simply didn’t know what to expect. Malachi’s warning rang in the back of her mind. Who knows what he will do with me?

Some sort of commotion from outside bought the carriage to a halt. A number of people were talking near by. Inching back the curtain, Scarlett peered through the window. Her stomach lurched.

Several Vaultguards were swarming the streets. They weren’t even trying to be discrete, grabbing passers by and checking them before pushing them away. Scarlett recoiled from the window and pressed back into her seat, panic spreading through her. Someone was talking to the driver, only a few yards away from where they sat.

“Who have you got in there?” said a voice.

“Lord and Lady Wentworth,” replied the driver.

“What are they doing out so late?”

“Just returning home from a social engagement, sir.”

“I need to check the carriage.”

Dread washed over Scarlett. Gabriel moved towards the door, his hands outstretched, ready to fight. The door started to open and Scarlett felt a guttural growl grow in her throat. Someone shouted from further down the road.

“What was that?” said the voice just outside the door.

“I said a Pandemonian has come forward!” shouted the distant voice. “They saw them in Malachi’s place.”

The door was slammed shut and the footsteps moved away. Scarlett gave a gasp, as she released her tense grip from the edge of the seat. Gabriel sat back down as the carriage started moving again. “Not good news for Malachi, but then, he has always had a knack for wriggling out of things.”

The carriage reached the docks and the driver rapped on the roof. Scarlett and Gabriel slipped out into fog and the slight pattering of early morning rain. Dozens of fishermen were preparing their boats, setting up trawling nets and carrying boxes onto the many ships. One man was sitting on a low wall, smoking a pipe. He nodded at the pair, and they rushed over.

“You are the divine force who will vanish us from this place?” Gabriel asked.

The fisherman raised his eyebrows. “Not sure ‘bout that mate, but there’s a space on my boat to take ya to Ireland if that’s what yer askin.’

They docked in Belfast Harbour some ten hours later.

Scarlett had spent the entire journey sitting at the back of the boat staring out into sea. She had wanted to speak to Faru, to let him know what was happening, but there was never an opportunity. Gabriel never let her fall from his sight, and she had felt his eyes pouring over her, making her skin crawl. At one point he had said something truly bizarre, whispered on his breath as if not meant to be heard.

“You remind me so much of her.”

“Who?” she had asked.

“Someone I lost a long time ago.”

Gabriel led Scarlett through the streets of Belfast with the speed of someone who knew it well. They travelled by rooftops and alleyways, avoiding the throngs of humans. Soon they had broken away from the bustle of lights and sounds that filled the town and onto a road broke that led them towards Dorcha Forest. As they moved, a feeling of dread filled Scarlett, a dread that was realised when they reached a familiar path and a building materialised in front of them like a phantom in the grey morning light.

Oakley Manor.

Scarlett reeled away from Gabriel, a choking sound escaping her throat. “Why have you bought me back to this place?” she gasped.

“You will see.”

Gabriel pulled her around the back of the building, which was unusually quiet for the time of day. Wrenching open the kitchen door, Scarlett was overwhelmed by awful smells. Flies swarmed around rotten meat, blackened and leaking foul juices over the table. Old vegetables had dissolved into putrid piles and pots filled with food had burned dry on the stove. Scarlett hovered by the threshold, not wanting to step a foot inside the place that had managed to become even more sinister. Gabriel didn’t seem at all surprised by the state around him, and moved through the kitchen without a second glance, crouching down by the stove and pushing his hand into a narrow space behind it. He pulled out a long key covered in cobwebs.

“Come,” he said to Scarlett.

With reluctance she followed him down the steps towards the cellar. Her anxiety grew as she remembered the awful sounds that she had heard coming from within the room that was always locked. Gabriel turned the key and opened the door, stepping inside. Scarlett crept forward and peered over his shoulder. The dank room was filled with a run of sizeable, empty cages, the doors of each standing open. The smell from within them was overpowering, and Scarlett felt her predatory side spring to life. Something non-human had lived in those cages.

Gabriel picked up an oil lantern that was sitting on a box in the corner next to a book of matches. He lit the wick and the room bloomed into life. “Through here.” He held up the lantern and Scarlett saw a narrow hole bored into the wall. The passage they took sloped down into an underground network of tunnels. Scarlett followed in utter confusion, her nerves set firmly on edge. They twisted and turned down different routes until finally they reached a cavernous room filled with lanterns.

Scarlett gasped as she struggled to comprehend what she was seeing.

Dozens upon dozens of naked Bloodlings were crawling over each other in a sea of bodies. They writhed and twisted, hissing as if they were a pile of snakes. Hiveminds sat around the edges of the teeming mass, silent and motionless as if statues. Next to the creatures were dozens more Bloodlings, men and women of all shapes and sizes, clothed in red robes and staring at Scarlett in silence. A large banner hung from the far wall, depicting a blood droplet that was jagged at the bottom, resembling teeth. Below it was a large chair. A woman sat on it, wearing flowing red robes, her ragged hair hanging around her sallow face. It was a woman she had seen many times, and learned to respect through fear.

Mrs Ellison.

Now Scarlett saw her as something else entirely. Without her dark glasses, her yellow eyes shone out in the darkness, her pointed ears exposed now that she wore no bonnet. With her new senses and what she had read, Scarlett finally saw the housekeeper for what she truly was.

A Bloodseeker.