Dancing in the Dark - 13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13.

The sirens gave us a car. Scott’s car to be exact, and he wasn’t very happy about it. At least, he wasn’t until Viktor smiled at him and said thank you, and then the kid kind of melted and didn’t raise any more objections.

Not wanting to make the same mistake as last night though, this time I parked the car around two miles away from our target. The Compound was located on the south east shore of a lake around twenty minutes from the city. We parked at an inn on the highway and then hiked through a mile and a half of forest before we saw the first signs of a government operation.

Two men were patrolling a well worn path, chatting quietly. Viktor tapped my shoulder and I turned around so he could boost – or throw, really – me into a tree, and we silently scrambled to some branches ten feet off the ground right above where the path led.

“─is fucking insane,” the first one was saying as they walked below us. They were taking their time, peering into the forest and scanning the ground for tracks. They didn’t look up though, a common human failing.

“I know, did you see what he did to the new one? Can’t believe they just threw her straight in there with him,” said the second with a faint shudder. Horror? Or disbelief?

“I heard they’re expecting the merc they hired to kill that brothel bitch to come for her,” replied the first, and I tensed. “That’s why they softened her up by putting her in with Max, so she would tell them what he is. They thought he was human until they found the remains.”

“Where do you hear this shit?”

“Adam man, that techie knows everything that goes on in this place.” A flash of white teeth indicated a grin with that statement.

The second man snorted and chuckled. “Fuckin’ homo,” he said, giving the first man a light punch on the shoulder. They moved on, bantering and laughing softly. Viktor jumped down to the ground, landing in a crouch. I watched for a moment as he looked around, and even seemed to sniff the air.

I jumped down when he finally looked back up at me, landing a bit more heavily than Viktor had, and having to roll to absorb some of the impact. We followed the path in the opposite direction of the guards, keeping an eye out for security cameras and other patrols. We worked our way around the entire complex, looking for a way in, but couldn’t see any easy ones. The whole thing was surrounded by twenty foot walls topped with razor wire, strategically placed cameras and guards, and Viktor even pointed out some trip wires as we scouted.

I was growing frustrated after the fourth set of security guards we had to hide from and Viktor pulled me back from the Compound, deeper into the forest so we could talk.

“I thought this was what you did,” he said with a small frown, “I thought you were an assassin.”

“I am an assassin,” I snapped. “I’m an assassin that can’t fucking die so I’ve never had to worry about trying to keep myself safe. I just usually walk in and start killing everything that moves and I don’t worry much about what happens to me. I never have to worry about getting back out, because everything is dead when I get to that bit. Sometimes I don’t kill everything, but only if whatever’s left isn’t a threat to me, or isn’t my target.”

Viktor was silent for a while, pondering this. Finally he sighed. “Well, I’ve read a lot of reports about doing this kind of stuff, but I’ve never done it. It’s probably best to stick to what you know, I guess.” He shrugged.

I nodded slowly. “You think we can kill enough of them before they notice that they won’t go completely ballistic on Miri when they realise what’s happening?” I refused to acknowledge that we had already heard that she had been tortured last night. Viktor looked at me, gauging my expression.

“Let’s split up and start with the patrols. We can probably kill all of them before anyone notices they’re all gone. Then we can use their keys to get inside,” he said carefully. I hesitated for a second, but knew that he was right. This would be much quicker if we split up, even though the thought of letting him out of my sight so close to the place where he was starved to the brink of insanity made me uneasy. Well, ok, it terrified me.

“Ok,” I agreed reluctantly, “you still have the gun I gave you right?”

“Yes. I won’t use it though unless I have to. The longer we stay quiet, the better.”

I nodded in agreement, then released my magic, like I did the night before. This time, it reached out immediately to Viktor, and it sort of felt like it was wrapping him up, while at the same time it provided a conduit for his magic to flow into me and fill me up. Viktor’s breath caught in his throat and he reached for me, pulling me into a hard kiss.

It lasted only a second though, and then we pulled back, turned in opposite directions and started looking for people to kill. I found my first patrol quickly; they were only around fifty metres from where we had been quietly conversing. My sword flashed in the moonlight and seconds later their blood spewed from the gaping slashes across their necks. The smell of the blood hit me moments later and I took a deep breath, savouring it. Oh, I loved that smell.

Five minutes later and I repeated my performance, hoping Viktor was having as much luck as I was. The third pair of guards I came across were the first ones we had encountered. Unlike the other guards, these two were a few feet apart, and the one following went down with a throwing knife in the eye. The other stopped short when my sword came to rest against under his chin.

Panic set in immediately, and I let him breathe erratically for a moment before putting slightly more pressure on the blade and he became very, very still.

“How do I get in?” I asked.

The guard swallowed audibly. “My partner has a keycard. In his belt. Swipe it at the door on the southwest side of the fence.”

I fought off my disappointment at his immediate capitulation. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. I wish more people were like Emma. I was about to cut the guard’s throat when he spoke again.

“Please don’t─” he drew in a shuddering breath, “please don’t hurt Adam. He doesn’t hurt anyone, he just works in the lab, testing blood samples and shit. He doesn’t . . . he wouldn’t ever hurt anyone,” he finished lamely.

I stared at him. He’s about to die, and all he can think of is his lover who works as a lab tech in the Compound. I reversed my sword brought the hilt down on the man’s temple, knocking him out. He crumpled like a sack of potatoes and I stared at him for a moment longer before frisking the other guard for the aforementioned keycard.

Viktor was waiting by the southwest door when I got there, and unlike me he was completely spotless. He took in my blood spattered outfit with hungry eyes, and I returned his look with a level stare. He stepped aside so I could open the door, seeming to know without my saying that I knew how.

The card swiped, the light turned green and the door clicked open.