The hallways of the sixth floor was a dark hallowing pit. The walls seemed to be looking down on her snickering at her silly self, she had lost a factor. Fighting in the dark was going to be a damned pain. It was only going to make the struggle much easier for her opponent who had already lodged herself somewhere nice and pretty awaiting her assured silly attempt to escape.
The bothering feeling of being followed had been so slight when she walked in here. However as she walked deeper, the heavy shadows at her back thickened, she was being watched, being followed, someone... someone was here, and she wasn't alone. Even a normal well bred dweller of Ac-ra would know that.
Whoever it was, had probably lost his patience, 'his.' .. because that was definitely not Allegra's foot steps she heard when the strange stalker had decided to make himself known. Allegra's lethal husband? Damn it! That was surely not on her playlist! Sh*t that man looked blood thirsty even when he stood there doing nothing. Rounding a corner she felt with her palms, she made a silly turn to whatever corner was near, and surely whoever was following her knew these walls better than she did. He'd effortlessly traced her steps his cold breath almost burning her back, f***k! She still had to find Lara, they had to escape, those damned demons couldn't get their hands on her sister and whoever this man was, he wasn't going to stop her from getting the hell out of here. Rounding another corner, she hid in between a double protruding wall and awaited her stalker who was surely going to be her victim tonight. Clutching the dagger tight between her palms she baited her time, slowed her breath and controlled her pounding heart, she couldn't stop the damned thing from ringing in her ears though.
She awaited her stalkers closing steps, steps that seem to have halted and completely disappeared at some point between her thundering heart and pounding heady sense. Where was he? Damnit! She didn't have the time for his little play, he wouldn't be the first person she dipped her dagger into... And maybe he wouldn't be the last. She realized they were probably escaping men way powerful than she'd analyzed and she was rarely wrong, rarely so misguided, so taken by surprise and especially rarely scared so shitless. Ever felt your breath stick to your throat?, the damned air refusing to meet the wicked world outside? Well that's what she felt at the moment,in a split second, she felt the shadow behind her exposed back, his head dipping ever so slowly, ever so f***ing mockingly.., and if she had been too stupid to not notice that feint subtle and yet so damn familiar scent before, the voice that breathed down her neck was enough reminder what demon was breathing down her neck. She had been so wrong. From the very beginning, she had lost. She'd been so sure so trusting with her ability to handle all gigs thrown her way.
However the familiar shadows that shrouded her back whispered the words of failure into her being, she'd been too stupid to think she could escape. To think she could get away from the monsters that made a playground of her home.
"You are indeed a runner. Lois..., is it?" She knew that voice, she'd only had the chance to near the twin devils once, but she could hear that wicked beckoning even in her sleep. The first and last time she'd seen the monsters, their hands were dripping with the blood and innards of her former boss. And she would've deluded herself and said it couldn't be.... But she knew, she could feel it, it was too real, the bloody murderous air the twin devils carried, they were monsters and the essence of their cruel devilish ways mingled with their presence. It was Dan, the hasty vengeful twin. The one whose grin was not at all a grin. A predators snarl, those little skittering sluts down the maidens alley would've found his grin beckoning, a pleasing sight on his sinful face but she knew the minute she saw that grin after he'd shoved a string of bullets down that master's throat that he was an incarnation of something vile, something that craved gore and the mess it came with and yet whatever that something was, had not been enough to overcome the gleam in his brother's eyes and although the guy just stood there with his damned stoic face and cold glance, she could tell something more ancient dwelled within him.
Wait, his twin, they always walked together,they....
No, no...no, Lara..f*ck! F**king hell!
How could they be so fast, Allegra could only prompt them of their presence when they actually got here. And it had only been so few hours ago.
She realized then, where she had gone wrong, they were never going to get out their damned hands. She should've known, although Kantama only kept a shipping port as it's main transport system, those bastards could probably afford a jet.
Before she could force her limbs back into her control and cut the damned stalker to escape and get her sister, she heard the click..
The familiar flick of a trigger. A gun. Someone held a gun, and that gun wasn't pointed to her head, that flick of dare, wasn't hers.
"Hands off ... brother... "
The new stranger stood before her, and somehow she hadn't even realized when that had happened. The two tall bastards were burning the fire above her head. And she wasn't at all a short stud, but these men were just way above normal.
At the moment she'd pay everything to escape from between their ready to war stance. She still had to find Lara. And her mind just won't let her register the fact that Gordon also came for her. That presence, the existence behind the vile twin with the shadows and the gun, it couldn't be anyone else but him. She could feel it within the bones that joined her wobbling muscles. The only reasoning to why Gordon Darcen, the shadowy and mysterious brother of the devil twins would come down here himself would be the other side of the shadowed and shrouded wild card she thought she'd never get to see. She'd rather be on an unending run than to face the other side of the man who's rumored to be able to tame those two reckless devils.
She almost breathed a sigh of deep relief when the presence behind her retreated. Only for fingers to wrap round her throat only to be followed by the sound of a fired gun that shook the silent halls.
The metallic smell of blood reached her nose as she sensed the target of the hit, it was his arm, the twin's arm, the same arm that still holstered up and clutched her throat tight within his grip.He refused to let go, even when the tik tak of blood dripping only got worse.
She could see the gold weave round those silver ambers as she felt her breath drain from her,so this was the last thing his victims saw before they breathed their last. Such great similarity to Gordon's silver ones.
Just then, the lights in the halls flicked back on, and then she saw the face that stared down her draining one. A haggard man, a broken man, he's probably lost his mind all over again. And this was the first time she'd seen the twin make a kill without his usual grin. At the sight of him, her mind could only register a single thought. 'Her sister couldn't go back with these men.'
Behind the broken man was another. There he stood, the man who'd fired the gun. Maybe it was because she was dieing but that look on Gordon's face was something she'd never seen before. If it was true there could be a chaotic dispute with ones demons and his own mind, then maybe the reflection in Gordon's eyes would be a perfect description.
Yes this was surely the other side of the wild card.
Was he debating whether to let his crazed brother snatch the life from within her lungs or save her ? Well at the moment she wasn't so sure what would be the perfect choice either. She knew going back with this wild card would probably be a choice worse than being killed here on the spot.
"I'll take her away. We'll return to my territory and we won't come back unless she's tamed."
She heard the quiet voice of Gordon resound within the hollow hallway, and she couldn't help but wonder; 'had it been too long or did she just feel there was something very wrong with his voice and his stance...and his...everything, the Gordon she stared at now was an entirely different man from the one she'd left behind when she escaped.
But those words got a reaction. The grip on her neck stiffened, loosening until it was no longer squeezing her wind pipe tight. His grip still refused to let go, her coughing and huffing form was still held within his grip. His head tipped to the side to glance at his brother.
"And how are you so sure you'd tame her brother? "
"I will tame her."
The short response was met with silence. A deep silence that held meaning in their silent exchange.
Finally, there was that signature snickering grin that had taken it's time to make it's presence on the reckless twin's face.
" You vowed to never trace his steps. Guess we aren't so different from him are we? You couldn't escape the claws either."
Those silvers traced back to mine , his stomach churning grin broadening, "Right, you just missed your free pass. "
If what he meant was that she'd be better off dead, well he didn't have to tell her, she knew that already. She'd seen the glow in Gordon's eyes when he said he'd tame her. Like one tamed a wild animal. Tamed. What in the world was going to become of her life.
"Get your hands off my sister, you monster! "
Another, gunshot fired, this time to the roof.
She looked to the side and there she stood her dear sister, she couldn't even save her from these demons. And yet here she was, with a gun she'd gotten from who knows where, trying to save her instead. Even from a distance, she could see how her hands trembled with the weapon in her grip. She'd only taught her how to use it so recently. What if she hurts herself. Stupid girl.
She didn't have enough time to bicker her sister though. The silent steps of the man nearing in on her would've been unnoticed in the dark. But now, the light was an aid, she knew that figure, that face, not so similar to his twin's. Don, the ice cold ancient monster. His silence just unnerved her. She always thought he was much more dangerous for his ability to hold back and analyse. A monster with brains what could be worse than that. And he too looked as broken as his brothers. Her scream got caught in her throat when his steps suddenly hastened, Lara hadn't reacted fast enough, his hand wrapped round the gun's trigger and her fingers. And before today, she'd probably never realized her little sister was way less tall than she'd given her credit for. She saw the monster's head dip into Lara's ear, whispering something that had almost gotten her to stop struggling to gain control of the weapon.
"There she is, my little purple. As overly enthused as ever."
Finally, she felt the bloody hands move away from her neck. And she would've gotten the chance to breathe if she hadn't seen Gordon's approaching form. That and the heavy darkness that settled upon her when his fingers touched her neck. And she would've thought it a devils caress if she had not felt the attachment of something sticky on her neck. The sticky band placed on the side of her neck fizzled something into her system turning all her muscles into mash. And her muscles would have jolted and she'd bolt away of her they hadn't been made into liquid goo. She couldn't move and she couldn't even keep her eyes open enough to see what was going on with Lara. In the distance she could hear Lara yell at her fading form. She was in Gordon's arms, never had she thought she'd return back there. She heard Lara's scream stop, they must've drugged her too. And she couldn't hold on much longer, the drug was too much, too strong, even for her tampered body.
Maybe she was a failure after all. Maybe that's why Maa favoured Lara so much more than she did her. She only made things much worse. Her sister was going to be left alone again, she was going to be left in the hands of far worse deranged men. And this time it seems she hadn't gotten away either. But it was fine, surely Gordon is much better at holding back than his wild brothers. Maybe she could find another way to escape and come back. Come back for Lara.