• Chapter 4:

    A minute later the lights went out, covering the whole building in a blanket of darkness. Downstairs in the lobby, where Becky and a few other guards were stationed, scattered beams of light broke through the dark as everyone turned on their flashlights.

    The room was fairly large and spacey, furnished with only a few leather chairs and wooden tables which had been moved out of the way against the walls. A heavy metal reception desk, bolted to the floor, sat near the middle of the room. There were only two entrances to the lobby. The main stairways that led to the upper floors were on the far side of the room, away from the entrances, along with a set of brass colored elevators.

    “Seems we lost contact with the guards outside,” said a large, dark-skinned man standing next to Becky. He was Jack, the Head of Security for the building.

    Becky nodded. “For all we know, he could already be inside the building…All the staircases have been sealed off, right?”

    “Yeah. Double checked a little while ago. Nobody is getting to the boss without getting through us first,” said Jack, triumphantly.

    “Yep! And even then, they’ll never find the keys to the stairways, right?” Becky added proudly.

    “Right you are, little lady!” They traded friendly smiles.

    The other two guards in the room did their best to remain alert despite their boss and his new friend’s playful behavior. It was simply amazing how well the both of them got along when they had only met that morning.

    “Okay, guys,” Becky called out, swinging her flashlight around. “Make sure to keep a close eye on all the hallways leading into this room. We should keep checking in with the other patrols on this floor at least every few minutes.”

    “Way ahead of you,” said Jack, checking his walkie-talkie.

    Becky waited quietly while he ordered the other men on the main floor to get into pairs and check in regularly.

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    Near one of the entrances to the building, a guard patrolling the hall received the new orders and was on his way to meet up with another guard patrolling nearby. Suddenly, he heard the sound of one of the exit doors opening behind him and turned to look with his flashlight, his hand reaching for his gun. The last thing he saw was a flicker of shadow before the blade of a dagger pierced his throat.

    The body stood still for a moment before silently crumbling to the ground.

    The killer caught the flashlight before it fell and switched it off just as another guard came into view. The guard’s beam of light slid over the corpse before darting to the figure near it. He pulled out his gun but was too slow as the assassin already had his own silenced pistol in hand and shot him twice in the chest.

    The killer smoothly wiped the blood from his dagger before swiftly moving on toward his destination, knowing that it wouldn’t take long before more guards would come.

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    Becky stood toward the back of the room by the metal desk with Jack, guns out and flashlights off. The two other guards stood at each entrance, their own flash lights and hand guns pointing at their respective doorways.

    Patrol 4 had already called in the two guards found dead in the eastern wing. There was no fooling around now. Becky was completely focused; alert for any sign of the deadly intruder. As capable as she knew Lily was on her own, she wasn’t about to let the intruder get near her if she could help it.

    A shadow flickered in the doorway she was facing followed by the swift retort of a suppressed gun, breaking the silence. The guard in front of Becky took the bullet in the chest and fell backwards. Becky instantly brought up her gun and shot three times at the doorway.

    The fallen guard’s flashlight rolled across the polished floor, swerving the beam of light in an arc around the room. Becky took a few steps forward to stop it with her foot. She then shot two more times at the doorway to discourage the intruder from sneaking in as she focused the beam back at the entrance.

    She stepped back again as Jack came up beside her, gun raised as he motioned for the remaining security guard to check on the poor guy lying on the floor. The guard knelt next to his fallen companion for a moment before nodding at Jack and moving him safely out of the room.

    Becky didn’t take her eyes off the doorway. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then there was a loud clank. Some kind of metallic, cylinder-shaped object bounced off the far wall and into the room, landing near Jack.

    Becky immediately recognized what it was and shoved Jack back toward the desk. “Flash-bang!” she yelled, placing an arm over her eyes and turning away just as the room lit with a blinding flash. A deafening bang pounded into their ears as Becky and Jack stumbled to the floor. Becky looked up, her ears ringing and her vision dark. She felt her hand on Jack, who hadn’t looked away in time and was left completely disoriented, his sight and hearing rendered useless. Becky gripped his arm and held her other hand, the one with her gun, out in front of her. She hit a smooth, cool surface, the metal desk, and found the edge before clumsily crawling behind it, pulling Jack along with her. Once behind cover, she reloaded her gun with a practiced hand, and waited for her vision to clear.

    The assassin had definitely gotten in the room by now. The question was where? A few agonizing moments passed before Becky could see well enough to risk a peek and shoot if she needed to. She carefully made her way to the edge of the desk and stole a glance from behind it. The flashlight was still lying on the floor several feet away, except it had rolled over a bit and now lit up part of the wall with the stairway and two bronze elevators. One of the elevator doors had been forced open, revealing the dark, empty shaft. After taking another quick glance around, Becky stood up and hurried across the room, scooping up the flashlight along the way, and stepped into the shaft. The intruder was climbing the maintenance ladder up the shaft and was already almost to the third floor. Just as Becky shone the light up at him and readied to shoot, he reached out with his blade and swiftly cut through the elevator car’s lower support wires. The elevator instantly dropped, flying passed the assassin straight down toward Becky. Becky barely jumped out of the shaft in time as the elevator smashed into the ground behind her, the resounding crash echoing throughout the main floor.

    Several guards rushed into the room while Becky sat up and looked back over at the wreck that had almost killed her.

    “What the heck, does this guy think this is? An action movie?!” she yelled. One of the guards came up to her and asked her something but she shook her head. “Sorry, buddy, but you’re going to have to speak up.” She watched as the other guards went over to the desk where Jack was. “Go call Lily and the others upstairs and let them know our guy is coming up the elevator shaft. I have to go fetch the keys,” she said, getting up. She quickly dusted herself off before running out of the room.

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    After getting the call, Lily told Daniels to hide silently behind his oak desk while she pulled out her gun and walked over to the door. She silently opened it and peeked out, her view of the hall as clear as if it was daytime. The hallway itself was empty. The stillness bothered her for some reason but there was no sign of danger.

    Just as she was about to go back inside, she realized what was wrong. Where were the patrols?

    She winced as a sudden brightness lit the room behind her. She immediately turned away from the cracked door to address Daniels. “Turn that off! You’ll give us away!” she hissed, waving at him frantically with one hand as if trying to banish the light herself.

    A murmured complaint of “Can’t see a damn thing in here,” came from behind the blinding light before it turned off. Lily shook her head slightly and blinked the spots from her eyes as she pushed open the door.

    “Hey, where are you going?” Daniels demanded in a harsh whisper, panic etched into his face.

    “I’ll be right back,” Lily said softly. “Lock the door and stay behind the desk.”

    “Wait! Just what the hell am I supposed to do if you get yourself killed?” he asked, frantically.

    Lily looked back at him with a cheerful smile. “Relax. As long as you don’t play with the flashlight again, the intruder won’t know where you are. Just keep the door locked until Becky gets up here, okay?” Before Daniels could sputter out a reply, she stepped out the door and closed it quietly behind her.

    Lily’s eyes flashed silver as she carefully examined the area, her vision showing as a clear picture despite the complete darkness. The hall continued to the right all the way down to the other end of the building, with several other side corridors intersecting it on the way whereas to the left it only continued for several meters before veering off in a turn, leading towards the direction of the elevators Becky had been guarding.

    She turned toward the left and began carefully moving forward, glancing behind her at every few steps to make sure nothing was sneaking up from on her. Small bits of light filtered through a large window set in the wall ahead, giving Lily a clear view of the city outside as she approached the corner.

    She quickly checked down the hall as she rounded the bend before stealing a glance outside. Just as she thought, there were no stars in sight. Even the moon was only a faint circular glow against the sky; its soft ivory light barely visible behind the green lines crisscrossing the dome, giving the impression of stained glass covering the city.

    She was about to look away again, when a figure on the roof of a nearby building caught her eye. It was of a lone man, standing in the shadows of an even higher skyscraper and while even Lily’s advanced eyesight wasn’t enough to make out any defining details, she couldn’t help but feel that he was looking directly at the building she was in. A cold shiver of paranoia ran down her back as she remembered being watched back at the train station and she couldn’t help but wonder if the man on the roof wasn’t so much as admiring the building rather than looking at her. However, the thought barely lasted a moment before she quickly brushed it aside and turned away from the window. After all, not even a demon would be able to see through a dark building with those city lights glaring off the window.

    ‘Come on, Lily. Focus, focus, focus! There’s time enough to worry about stalkers later. If I don’t protect this guy now, Lady Tessa is going to kill m-!’ Her eyes widened and her thoughts were cut short as she turned to find the intruder standing several meters down the hallway, pointing a gun at her back. In a blur, she jumped out of the way just as he pulled the trigger. The glass from the window shattered as the bullets blasted through it, letting in the sounds of honking cars and distant sirens from the busy street below. Lily stood up behind the safety of the corner wall. She held her gun tightly in one hand, her irises glowing bright silver in the darkness as adrenaline swept through her body. All she could think of was how close the killer was to the room where her client was. Her less than impressive marksmanship record wasn’t helping her situation any, either. After a few short moments of racking her brain, she remembered a fairly large side table positioned against the wall not too far down the hall from the corner and she got an idea.

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    Meanwhile, the ‘intruder’ had been taken aback by the young girl’s swift reaction to his presence and even now he wondered just how lucky she was to get out of the way in time. Nonetheless, he didn’t dare take his eyes off the corner the young woman had used for cover.

    As he cautiously made his way forward, gun raised and steady, he kept his mind focused on where his real target could be located. He was positive that he was getting closer to him judging by all the guards he had encountered in this part of the floor, but as to where the company owner was really hiding at, there was no way for him to know.

    Just as he was approaching another heavy wooden door, he spotted the point of a pistol peaking from around the bend and managed to duck to one side just as the girl fired a couple rounds blindly down the corridor. The bullets missed him by a large margin. It soon became apparent that the girl hadn’t intended for them to be on target as she took the opportunity to dash out from the corner. He fired his gun once at her but erred in his aim and missed. The shot pierced the wall just behind the mercenary as she reached out toward a heavy side-table situated nearby, her hand grasping the thick wooden leg before flinging it singlehandedly across the hall. He barely allowed himself a look of disbelief before diving out of the way. The table slammed into the wall before bouncing back to the floor with a heavy crash. He glanced back up in bewilderment at the feat of strength only to find the girl rushing toward him, the long sword drawn forward and aimed in a thrust for his heart. He swiftly pulled his own dagger out in a reverse-hold and barely managed to bring it up in time to deflect the longer blade. While using momentum to force it aside, he swiftly brought his other hand around and smashing the butt of his pistol into the side of the girl’s head. She staggered to the side from the force of the blow but somehow remained upright and conscious. Still too close to use his gun, he brought up his dagger in a slash toward her throat which she clumsily blocked with her sword. He glared at her, irritated at her unexplained strength, apparent night vision, and overall persistence. It wasn’t until she looked back up at him, the familiar stubborn determination forming an unforgettable expression on her face, that his answers became clear.

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    Lily stared back at her opponent from behind their crossed blades but was unable to make out any defining features beyond his light skin and dark hair as half his face was covered by some sort of visor. Not that her focus was the best right now; her head was still spinning from the blow she had taken making it hard for her to even think.

    Using her unnatural strength she tried to shove his dagger aside with her sword for a clear shot to his chest. He was fast to react, breaking away and side-stepping her as she moved forward. Lily realized her mistake just as the hilt of his blade smacked into her head in the same spot the pistol had hit before. Her body hit the ground hard and her sword fell out her hand, bouncing once on the floor with a loud clang before coming to a standstill.

    She watched, vision fading, as the intruder sheathed his blade and stood over her, handgun aimed at her head. She waited, helplessly, for him to pull the trigger, but the shot never came. A small noise was heard down the hall causing the intruder to turn his head toward the office Daniels was in. Without so much as another glance at Lily, he placed his gun back in his holster and picked up her sword instead before walking off towards the office. Lily tried to get up but only managed to slightly lift her head.

    “Wait….” Lily said in a feeble attempt to get his attention, but her voice came out in a whisper. Her head swam and her vision finally turned black as she collapsed back into unconsciousness.

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