The Alexandru Chronicles: The Beginning (39 page)

“
What's wrong?” it was Kyle's persisted voice, that had her instantly looking away from the door to him.

She didn't really want to tell Kyle her irrational fear. For one, he looked too drained to be able to handle any of her bullshit.

As she looked back the way she had come, she tried figuring out what she should do.

One, they could go back the way they came; the fighting didn't sound as bad—
in fact she couldn't really hear anything.

Or two, she could try getting that door open.

Shit damn, her options were definitely not good.

“
Gen..., I'm not going to make it.”

It was the drain in Kyle's voice, that had her not just
adverting her attention back to him, but, ultimately, making up her mind.

“
Hold on Kyle, we are going to get out of here...We're almost there.”

After she hesitantly glanced back in the direction she had come, she hastily carried Kyle into that dark room; toward the door.

While it didn't take but a few steps to get to that door, to Genevieve it had felt like an eternity. She had felt this foreboding feeling with every step and, while the room was deserted, her mind kept playing this nasty little trick on her; she kept imagining her sister's body, laying lifeless in the far right corner of the room.

Yet, it had taken a few brief glances for her to realize that that wasn't
true.

It was still somewhat of a surprise, when they finally got over to that door. Yet, that surprise was quickly replaced with her survival instincts; she needed to get that door open, and Kyle out of here.

Now that she was able to see the door and boards a little more clearly, Genevieve could now see that the boards were more rotted than they had appeared from the doorway. Also, the door looked to have seen better years.

Grabbing hold of one of the boards, she tried,
unsuccessfully, to yank this board away; with her one free hand. While the boards were rotted, Genevieve knew that, unless she either let Kyle go or she sprouted a third hand, that the board wouldn't budge.

Since the latter was inhumanly impossible, she would have to let Kyle go.
The main problem she had with this option, though, was that irrational fear, that the moment she let him go, her nightmare could very well repeat itself.

She couldn't bear the image of James holding Kyle's severed head in his hands.

Grabbing hold of another board, that looked looser than the first one, she tried, again, to pull it free, but found, that like the first one, it wouldn't budge. 

“
Gen...” when she felt Kyle letting go of her, she tried tightening her grip on him. Yet, it was his persisted way of wanting to be free, that had him pushing himself away from her and stumbling over to the right side of the door.

Propping himself up against it, he said, “Gen, you can't hold me and try yanking those boards free... at the same time.”

While the desire to argue with him was just on the tip of her tongue, Genevieve realized that that argument would waste precious time; she needed to get those boards down and Kyle to a hospital.

Before she started yanking the boards down, she chanced one last brief hesitated glance over at him.

“Don't move from that spot...You hear me Detective Ernesto, you stay right there.”

“
Yes..., mom...”  it was that sarcastic smirk, that he gave her, that had a little smile tugging at Genevieve's lips.

Hastily grabbing the first board in sight, she swiftly yanked it free and then proceeded to yank more free after that one.

It was on the third to last board, that she was about to yank free, that she felt the hand on her shoulder. As she looked over at Kyle, she noticed how big his eyes had become. Yet, before she or him could even utter a word, she was roughly turned around.

This person's sudden
appearance had had her so taken off guard, that she hadn't even time to utter a curse word. When her brain did eventually catch up with her eyes, she didn't even have enough time to react; before she was being yanked by her shirtfront, and then thrown, like a rag doll, through the air.

XXX

Brian hadn't really thought he would get away with double crossing Cirpian. It wasn't that he hadn't gone to Paris, he had; he had just doubled back – he had taken the first flight he could get, back to Tucson.

While he had only been in Tucson for three days. It was during those days, that he had wondered why it was that Cirpian hadn't yet figured out that he was back. He had thought for sure that Cirpian's senses would have picked him up a lot sooner, than right then. Yet, that hadn't been the case.

Possibly Cirpian was slipping. Where he had thought his old friend was invincible, he was starting to realize that the man had his draw backs. One of those draw backs, just so happened to be, what brought down most powerful men; the appealing appearance of a beautiful woman.

Or, in Cirpian's case, it had been that beautiful woman's scent.

His nostrils must have been all stopped up with that woman's scent.

Smiling at this thought, Brian swiftly took off another fledgeling’s head. 

It was the sting of the sword past his ear lobe, that abruptly had his thoughts yanked back to the reality in front of him. Quickly turning around, he was somewhat taken off guard, when the fledgeling, in front of him, thrust his sword almost in his chest. After swiftly side stepping his quarry, he slapped the fledgeling's ass with his sword – eliciting a growl from his opponent.

If not for him pulling his attention away, and chancing a quick glance over to Cirpian, possibly
Brian would have been paying more attention to his own opponent. Yet, instead, all he noticed was the fledgeling sneaking up on his old friend.

“
Cirpian, watch out...!”

Again if Brian had been more focus on what he was doing, he wouldn't have ended up turning back to his opponent and having a sword thrust right through his chest – nearly missing his heart.

It was after he stared down at the sword in his chest, that his instincts kicked in and, angrily bring his sword up, he rammed it up through his opponent's groin and all the rest of the way up – cutting his quarry in half.

While he had successfully killed his opponent, it was the excruciating pain of having that sword in his chest,
that had him kneeling over and dropping his blade. As he feebly tried to retrieve it, that's when he felt the sword at his throat.

“
This just ain't your day, pretty boy.”

XXX

Being thrown, hadn't actually hurt. If anything, it had knock the breathe clean out of Genevieve. Yet, once she was able to get her equilibrium back, her survival instincts went on in full gear.

As she looked over to the person, who had thrown her, she was surprised and, at the same time, not that surprised to see that it was James.

As her gaze wandered over him, she noticed how his face was half way burned off. It was nothing, but bloody meat – it kind of reminded her of the way ground beef looked, before it was cooked.

It was just that sight of his bloody, deformed, face, that had her stomach instinctively lurching.

Yet, what quickly put that lurch to rest, was when he turned his ugly attention to her partner. Just the thought of what he was going to do to Kyle, had her instincts kicking in.

Instinctively fishing that vial of water out of her pocket, she unscrewed the cap. It had been her first thought, to just run at James with the vial and toss it in his face. Yet, seeing how that had only worked to screw up his face and anger him, she decided on a different tactic.

Bring the vial up to her mouth, she took a quick swig of the stuff and, after hastily getting to her feet, she ran over to James.

Before James could even lay a finger on Kyle, she, grabbing
James' arm, roughly turned him around and planted her lips directly to his.

XXX

Cirpian had successfully decapitated, not just the fledgeling in front of him, but the one Brian had warned him about. As he now made his way toward Madeira, he could sense how terrified she was. Yet, there was something else; she was still in denial about losing.  In fact, from what her thoughts told him, she had one last ace up her sleeve; that she was going to use against him.

Yet, no matter how hard he tried to pry into her
mind on what this ace was; her thoughts were unclear.

When Cirpian was not but an inch away from her,
he immediately sense the change in her scent; she was no longer afraid. In fact, she was, if anything, very sure of herself.

Deciding to not let his thoughts dwell on why this was, he raised his sword. It was just as he was about to bring his sword down, that she said, “I guess you have no use for your friend...”

Halting, he stoically stared right through her. “You know something, Cirpian, you and I are not so different...You, like me, use others to obtain what you want...”

The whole time that Cirpian had been listening to Madeira speak, he had also been
paying close attention to his surroundings.

While
his sense of smell was alerting him, to Brian being badly wounded; his acute hearing, was what warned him that there was a fledgeling behind him.

“
You have a choice to make..., either me...or your friend.”

As the fledgeling, behind him, raised his blade,
Cirpian coldly smiled.

It was that
very smirk, that had Madeira's fear quickly returning. And, without saying a word, Cirpian swung around and decapitated the fledgeling in back of him. And then, turning just as swiftly, he brought his sword right down into Madeira's neck.

XXX
 
  

Swiftly stepping away from James, Genevieve noticed how at first this satisfying look crept to his ugly mug. And then, when his throat started to sizzle, this look was quickly replaced with an angry frightened one.

“You bitch...!” he screamed.

When he advance
d upon her, she instinctively took a step back.

The moment his head blew out, like a balloon, Genevieve's thoughts were ranging from:
One, that's not humanly possible. And two, she really should look away from what was going to happen next.

Yet, she couldn't seem to.

As he continued to screamingly claw at his throat, he tried rushing her again. Yet, he was unable to even move an inch more from where he was standing.

Genevieve hadn't a clue, on how long they all stood there. James was screaming like a banshee. Kyle was just standing there with this puzzled look on his face, and his mouth hanging open. And, Genevieve, herself, was trying to keep th
is sour pile, in her throat, from coming up; it was taking all her willpower not to throw up. She was really going to need to brush her teeth and drink a bottle full of mouthwash, when this night was over.

When James' head eventually exploded, Genevieve was not just surprised by how quick it was, but she was astonished by the lack of blood and gore. All James' body and head did, was disappear; it was so quick, that Genevieve had to blink a few times.

“Hhhh...,” puzzlingly staring at the spot where James had been, she said, “now that's strange.”

Possibly if it hadn't been for th
at blood curling scream in back of her, Genevieve would have continued standing there – staring at that spot where James Fording had been.

As she quickly turned around to look behind her, it was then that she heard the scream again. Yet, while the shriek had startled her, she was very much relieved that nobody was behind her.

It was that last shriek, though, that had her feet moving and
her hands hastily yanking the last three boards free; not even caring if she was getting any splinters in her hands. As it was, she would need a tetanus shot; so a few splinters were no big deal.

After she had quickly got
ten the door open, she grabbed Kyle; and hastily hauled him outside.

It was that welcoming,
Tucson night air, on her damp skin, that had her guard instantly coming down.

It just so happened, that this exit/entrance, was closer to the front than the one she had used to come in.

Just as they made it to the front and she saw Kyle's worthless Mustang, which was, at that moment, one of the prettiest cars that she had ever seen; she was just breathing a sigh of relief, when someone grabbed her from behind.

If it was not enough of a surprise, to Genevieve, to be tossed on to the ground, for the second time that night – this was
really starting to become something of an irritating problem—what did surprise her, was when she saw the ugly fucker towering over her.

“
We were told that James would get first bite..., but, seeing how he ain't around anymore, I now don't see why I can't have you...all to myself...” licking his lips. “Oh baby, I'm so going to enjoy fucking you senseless...and draining you.”

If it hadn't been for
his attention being adverted away from her to his jeans' zipper, Genevieve wouldn't have been given that short reprieve of mapping out a plan on what she was going to do to him; give him a good swift kick in the groin. Yet, as she was raising her foot to do just that, that's when her car showed up.