Anamnesis ©
Chapter Twenty-Two
By Fiction Writer #13
(nosex, sci-fi, paranormal)

“Report.”

“Forty-second floor clear.  The Gythe Queen and a few of her guards slipped out during the fight, probably the same way our target did.  Minimal casualties, sending the walking wounded down now.”

“What of the device you found, can it be turned off?”

“Doesn’t appear so.  We have a mage up here working on it.”

“If he can’t get it turned off I want you to shove him and that fucking thing out the window, got me?”

“Understood Sir.”

Donovan paced back and forth in the only clear area he’d been able to find, the narrow alley behind the check-in counter.  That Gythe device was screwing things up majorly.  Hours spent siphoning Ether away from the hotel all for nothing.  So long as that thing remained in the building, magic users could draw on its power.

“Sir, a word with you.”

Donovan looked up to find one of his men standing in his path.

“News?”

The man nodded before leaning in and whispering in his ear.  When he’d finished, Donovan allowed himself a small smile.

“Good.  Tell the others to be ready.  And remember, this stays off the coms.”

The soldier nodded once again before disappearing back into the packed hotel foyer.  Donovan began his pacing once again, like a caged jungle cat eagerly awaiting his chance to turn the tables and devour its captors.

‘Patience, Donovan,’ he calmed himself. ‘Not much longer now.’

“You still got it, old man.” Sixty-four year old Ethan Gains admired himself in the mirror he’d just wiped clear of condensation brought on by his long shower. “Biggest sale in company history, and all to your credit.  You’re going places, my friend, all the way to the top, and ain’t nobody gonna tell you different.”

Mr. Gains quickly dragged his electric razor across his five o’clock shadow.

“Too old to be out in the field.  Not in touch with modern business practices.  Should be considering retirement at my age.  HA!  This’ll put them greenhorns in their place.  Fuckin’ little pricks.  All that expensive education and they don’t know shit.” Ethan smiled as he splashed on some aftershave. “But you do, old boy, you bet your ass you do.  Time to celebrate.  Hit the strip clubs for some entertainment, and maybe some extracurricular activities.  What the wife don’t know… HA!”

After a quick combing of his silver hair and a cursory inspection of his teeth for any missed bits of his steak dinner, he wrapped the towel around his midsection and opened the bathroom door.

“What the fuck?”

His bed was in ruins.  Its legs were shattered, the mattress and box spring on the floor, the sheets ruffled and pillows scattered about.

“How the… who the…” he stammered, his mind trying to piece together what in the world had happened in his room while he’d showered.

He stumbled forward, a deep sense of violation crashing down on him.  Who could have done such a thing?  Why?

He’d taken no more than two steps when the bed crashed once again.  His heart seized within his chest, his hand instinctively grasping the flesh stretched over ribs as if to prevent it from leaping free from his body as he tumbled backwards to the floor.  There before him three figures stood amidst the disheveled sheets that had not been there just a moment before.  His vision tunneled as the pain in his chest tore at him.  He felt numbed, disconnected from what he was seeing.  There were monsters in his room, and they spoke with a hissing accent.

“Where is the boy?” the snakelike being demanded as her accomplices brandished flame licked swords menacingly.

“I… I…” Words failed him; the pain was just too great.

The female, he guessed due to her garb, bared her fangs before nimbly extricating herself from the tangle of sheets that entwined her bare feet.

“The Nephilim is not here.  Come, we must go.”

As quick as they appeared they slipped out of his room, this time using the door.  Ethan gasped for breath as sweat poured from his skin.  The towel around his waist felt heavy and tight as he crawled towards the room phone.  He had to call for help, his time was short and he knew it.  The handset slipped free of its cradle, the dial tone sounded as if it were in an echo chamber, the buttons felt stiff and unyielding as he depressed them… 9… 1… 1…

“We’re sorry; the hotel phone service is experiencing technical difficulties.  Please hang up and try your call again later.  We apologize for any inconvenience this might…”

Ethan fell to the floor and stared blankly at the spinning ceiling far above as the automated voice on the phone continued its apology.

“Son… of… a… bitch…” he managed to mutter aloud as his vision grew dark.

‘Best day of your life, old boy.’ A sly grin appeared on his chapped and dry lips. “HA!”

The door barely clicked shut behind them when all three let out a sigh of relief.

Kayleigh slid to the floor with her back against the wall. “We made it.”

“We’re not out of it yet.” Tiff headed for the bathroom, pushing the door closed but not completely shut.

Kay smiled at Rob. “I call next on the bathroom.”

“Damn.  I’ll be quicker next time.”

Rob tore through his belongings, opening every pocket until he found the business card Nick had given him.

Kay stood and moved to the night table beside the bed where her fully charged cell phone waited. “What’s the number?”

“Put that down!”

Tiff burst out of the bathroom, startling Kay so much she nearly threw the phone across the room.

“Jesus Christ, Tiff.  I nearly shit a brick.”

“Sorry.” Tiff tried not to chuckle. “It’s just that, if you turn that on I’m sure they could find us.”

“There’s no number on the card anyway.” Rob stared at the plain white card, searching for some way to use it. “Nick said that if I ever needed help, the card would let him know.  Or something like that.”

“How?” Tiff asked as she stooped to pick up Kay’s discarded phone.

“I don’t know.”

Kay took her phone back from Tiff and returned it to the table. “I think we should start thinking of other ways to get the hell out of Dodge, just in case this Nick guy doesn’t show.”

“I agree.”

Both girls were staring at Rob when he finally looked up. “What?”

“Think you could make us all invisible again?” Kay queried.

“I’m not really sure how I did that the first time.  Besides, those Gythe things saw right through it, so I don’t know what good it would do us.”

“What about moving through the floor again?”

“You feel like falling to our deaths?  We got damn lucky, I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t been able to stop us when I did.”

Kay frowned. “Good point.”

“If I could just get this stupid thing to work.” Rob went back to turning the card over and over in his hand. “I know Nick would be able to help.”

“You have a lot of confidence in this guy.” Tiff peeked out the window. “I hope he brings an army with him.”

The alley was dark, all the street lights having been purposely turned off.  You could barely make out your own hand in front of your face, unless you had your helmet on with night vision activated.  Soldier 5746 moved through the muck and refuse, the piquant aroma of garbage left to stew in the August heat not affecting him in the slightest.  Thirty feet off the main street down the narrow passage he found what he was looking for.  The rear entrance of the large truck trailer loomed before him.

As he approached he began typing his coded identity number into the keypad located on his forearm.  The invisible signal was transmitted to the door lock, and by the time it took him to reach out his hand the door began to open, spilling red light into the alley all around him.  He’d barely stepped a foot inside when his helmet alerted him to trouble.  The motion detectors blared as indicator lights flashed in the direction of the quickly approaching danger directly above him.  He raised his weapon, swinging it towards the threat in one swift motion.

Brrraaaaattttt!

His shots rang out in the empty alley, muzzle flashing like a strobe light on a dance floor, but there was nothing there to impact.

“Damn it,” he cursed his equipment. “Fucking malfunction.”

After making one final sweep of the area just to be sure he hadn’t missed something, he continued into the rear of the truck trailer.  The door closed behind him, sealing him inside a small room.  The red lights flashed three times as he was scanned for listening devices before changing to a deep shade of green.  Another door opened and he passed through into the belly of the Mobile Command Center.

Far above the MC2, on a rooftop still radiating the excess heat of the day, two figures slowly crept on their bellies until they could peer over the ledge.

“That was close.”

“First one to take a shot at us.”

“Do you think he saw us?”

“Naw.  We’d be dead by now.”

“How many does that make?”

“By my count, fifteen.”

“Fifteen?”

“Yeah, fifteen.”

“So, you’re counting that last one then.”

“Sure, why wouldn’t I?”

“Because we didn’t actually see it hit the target.  We were too busy diving for cover, remember?”

“Just because we didn’t see it happen doesn’t mean I missed him.”

“Doesn’t mean you got him, either.  You could have missed.”

“I didn’t miss.”

“We’ll see about that.  Call it in.”

“Just remember, you owe me twenty bucks.”

“Only if you got him.”

The second figure tilted his headset mic down and spoke. “Alley Cats to Peeping Tom, we got another one.”

The other rolled his eyes though the action was hidden behind his Bug Eye night vision goggles.

“Good work Alley Cats.  Stay on your toes; you’ve got another target coming your way.”

“Roger that.” The second figure grinned in the darkness as he slipped away from the ledge. “I’m fifteen for fifteen.  A bet’s a bet.  You owe me twenty bucks.”

The first figure moved to join him beside a large duffle bag. “I think you’re cheating.”

“You say that every time you lose.”

The second figure pulled a green birthday balloon filled with some kind of liquid from the bag.

“Because you always cheat.”

The first figure placed his bare hand over the balloon and began to chant.  His carefully chosen words formed a spell that would hide the balloon and its contents behind the Veil, at least for a little while, just long enough for the spilled liquid to completely dry on the unfortunate target’s uniform.

Once the balloon faded into nothingness, the two figures carefully crawled on their bellies over the gravel covered rooftop.  Once again they peered dangerously over the edge.  Down below, their new target appeared.

“Care to go double or nothing?” Willis smiled as he stretched his arm over the ledge.

“What’s the point if you’re going to cheat?” Russo argued.

“I’m not cheating.” Willis let the balloon drop. “I’m just that good.”

Rob rubbed Nick’s card between his thumb and forefinger until the friction began to burn.  Kayleigh had left to take her turn in the bathroom leaving him alone with Tiffany.

“Anything yet?” she asked after taking a long swig from one of the bottles of water.

Rob shook his head. “I’m beginning to think Nick was screwing with me.”

“Don’t give up.” Tiff smiled weakly as she once again took up a position by the window. “Who knows, maybe he’s already got your message?”

Soldier 7473 crossed the street in front of the hotel to rejoin the other five members of his squad.  They’d been tasked with the removal of all the abandoned vehicles in the surrounding area, a task which only now had been completed.

“That’s the last of them,” he reported.

“Good,” Soldier 5843 nodded. “Let’s do one more perimeter sweep before calling it in.”

“Roger that.”

The six soldiers split up into teams of two and moved off in different directions.  7473 and his partner, 9299, marched down the center line painted on the empty road.  All was clear.

“First bit of action we get and what do they make us do?  Valet service.”

9299 chuckled in her helmet. “No tips either.”

7473 was about to respond to her, but he caught something odd out of the corner of his eye.  He turned to look, but nothing was there.

“See something?”

“I… I thought I did, must just be a trick of the light.”

“What did you see?”

9299 laughed. “I thought I saw another fucking car.”

“Where?” 7473 looked around the empty street.

“Parked right over there,” he pointed towards the empty curb, “across the street from the lobby doors.”

9299 shook her head. “I thought you third gens were supposed to be superior to us second gens.”

“Yeah.” 9299 continued to stare at the empty street. “We are.”

“Come on; let’s get this over with so we can do something else.”

7473 gave up staring and chuckled. “They’ll probably order us to do their laundry next.”

The two soldiers continued down the street, but every so often, 7473 couldn’t help but look back over his shoulder at the spot where he swore he’d seen an old blue Chevelle.

“Okay, listen up boys and girls.” Guardian Angel squinted through the view finder. “I’ve got three Gythe still moving within the hotel, looks like they’re on a hunt.”

“Location?”

“Twentieth floor.”

“Any sign of our lost lamb?”

“Negative, Peeping Tom… wait… the Gythe have stopped.” Guardian Angel made a quick adjustment to his targeting sensors. “They’re just standing there.  I’m scanning adjacent rooms.”

The rifle swayed to the left and right in a nearly imperceptible motion.

“Room 2017… one male… too tall to be our lamb.  Room 2018… one male, one female… having sex, not our lost lamb.  Room 2019… one… no two females… and…”

The third figure was difficult to discern.  Its shape fluctuated, blurred and reformed over and over again.

“Peeping Tom, third target is… third target is being masked somehow.  Please advise.”

The voice on the other end paused only slightly. “Protect target.”

“Your turn, kiddo,” Kay sighed as she exited the bathroom.

“Thank God.” Rob jumped up. “I was about to piss…”

The room door burst open.  Green blue flames danced in the air before extinguishing on the ceiling above with a sizzling hiss.  Two Gythe warriors rushed into the room, swords pointed at Kay and Tiff who froze in place.  Rob staggered backwards away from them, his eyes full of fear.

The Gythe Queen sauntered in through a cloud of acrid smoke, her elaborate gown trailing behind her.  Gone was her human disguise. She raised her hand, her fingers clenched as if she were holding a ball.  Tiny arcs of red electricity flickered at her long finger nails. 

“Time to die, Nephilim child,” she hissed.

The window curtain beside Rob’s head suddenly billowed outward as if someone had been hiding behind them.  The Gythe Queen stopped moving, the red electricity within her hand ran up the length of her arm before fading out of sight.  Her head tilted to the side and she stared blankly at Rob before falling to her knees.  She teetered, her lips moved, but words didn’t come, before collapsing to the floor in a heap.

The warriors reacted in horror at seeing their Queen felled so easily.  Rage filled them and their swords blazed twice as hot.  They raised their weapons and charged forward.  Kay barely dodged what would have been a deathblow before the attacking warrior suddenly collapsed to the floor himself.  The remaining warrior swung his blade through the air wildly, attempting to strike down Tiff who was throwing anything she could get her hands on at him.  She picked up the lamp, ripped the cord from the wall, and plunged them into semidarkness.  The sword’s flame lit the room in a ghostly glow as it whizzed back and forth.

Rob snapped out of his stunned daze and grasped a side of the bed mattress.  He lifted with all of his might and tossed the cumbersome object at the Gythe.  The sword sliced into it, the heat of the weapon eating through it as if it were nothing.  It smoldered and smoked before falling to the floor.  Tiff flung the lamp as the Gythe stepped over the burning heap at his feet.  It exploded against his face, tearing great lacerations into his reptilian skin.  Blue-green blood flowed from his wounds as he continued his attack.

The bloodied warrior advanced on his prey, sword held high.  The curtains billowed out once again.  In the near darkness and smoke Rob could see a thin beam of light cut across the room.  It struck the Gythe warrior dead center in its forehead.  Instantly the warrior stopped, his sword going dark and his slit-like eyes wide.  With the fiery sword extinguished, the only light in the room was what little could spill in from the hallway.  The silhouetted form of the warrior staggered for a moment before crumpling to the floor with a crash.

Rob, Kayleigh and Tiff gasped for breath in the dark room.  Their hearts raced as they stood at the ready to fend off another attack, but none came.

Kay wheezed. “I vote we get the hell out of here.”

“You got my vote.” Tiff carefully stepped over the twitching corpse on the floor.

“Seconded.” Rob felt around on the floor until he found his backpack. “Let’s go.”

“Threat eliminated.” Stewart took a deep breath, the first he’d breathed since lining up the shot on the Gythe Queen. “Lamb is on the move.”

“Roger that, Guardian Angel, keep a close eye on him.”

“He’ll never leave my viewfinder.”

“Sir, we have a fire alarm sounding in room 2019.”

Donovan’s heart skipped a beat faster. “Any teams in that location?”

“Alpha Team is on the twenty-second floor.”

“Send them down to investigate.”

“Understood.”

He stopped pacing and scanned the foyer.  The gathered crowd was beginning to get out of hand.  They pushed and shoved at each other, desperate to reach one of the exits.

‘That’s it, time to gas them.’

Donovan picked his helmet off the check-in counter and pulled it down over his head.  The onboard computer took a few seconds to power up, briefly cutting him off from the world around him.  The silence and darkness was a far cry from what he had been dealing with.  In that moment, a wave of peace flooded through him.  An instant later that peace was shattered when the computer spoke.

“System online… Identify user…”

He spoke flatly. “Black Wolf.”

The inside of the helmet lit up like a fireworks display.  Onboard sensors began running full diagnostics giving more data than he cared to read.  His heart and respiratory rates, body temperature, brain wave activity and blood toxicity, were immediately checked by the system before uploading to the MC2.  His location was pinpointed by a private GPS satellite and superimposed over a detailed three dimensional blue print of the hotel.  Several dozen other dots blinked into existence in the surrounding building, each of them representing the exact location of one of his men.  The computer ran an inventory of the weapons Donovan carried, checking their functionality and updating ammunition counts.  His view through the visor began tracking and identifying targets by range distances and offered suggestions on the most effective means to eliminate them as a threat.  His men were identified by name, in their case, by the cloning batch series numbers each was assigned after their creation.  He waited the half second or so for the computer to complete its boot up then used the motion tracking system trained on his pupils to activate the self contained breathing function from a list of available operations.

“Open communications channel one.”

The helmet complied.

“All teams, this is Black Wolf.  Helmets on, we’re putting these people to sleep in ten.”

“Showtime everyone,” Qian grinned as she spoke into her mic. “Black Wolf is online and just ordered the children be put to bed.”

“Roger that Peeping Tom, moving into position now.”

She scanned the monitors, keeping a close eye on all the activity going on within the hotel, especially on Rob’s and Donovan’s location.  Hijacking the signal between MC2 and the hotel had proved to be a far easier job than she would have guessed, maybe a little too easy.

‘We’ll take your bait, 1.  I just hope we don’t end up choking on it.’

“Okay Peeping Tom, we’re ready down here.”

“Okay Black Wolf, we’ll see your gassing innocent civilians, and raise you one uprising.” Qian weaved her fingers together then bent them back until they cracked.  She flexed them a bit before placing them back on the keyboard and began typing away. “Okay Lone Wolf, you’re patched in with Rosenberg again.”

“Professor, time to take the stage.”

Marcus was nervous.  He was always nervous right before a speaking engagement, but tonight there was more to it than the normal stage fright that sent his stomach fluttering.  The voice in his ear did little to calm him.

“You have less than nine minutes to convince them.”

He stepped out of the relative quiet in the hallway and into the roaring applause of six hundred guests who’d been made to wait for him.  He knew that the applause was only a courtesy, they’d come here to rip him apart, not lift him up.

“You can do it, Professor.  Time to go to war.”

His notes were waiting for him on the podium, but he wouldn’t be using them tonight.  The spotlight seemed to be brighter than usual, or maybe it was because for the first time in a long time his eyes were truly open.

“Good evening everyone.” He cleared his suddenly dry throat and waited for the crowd to settle down before continuing.

“I’m sorry to be the one to have to inform you of this, but tonight...”

The sound system hummed in anticipation of his next words…

“... tonight you are all going to die.”