Chapter 11
Svengali sat uneasily in her plush swivel office chair. She twisted first to the left and then to the right, lost in thought. Finally, she regained her composure and stood up. She walked slowly to a shut window which overlooked the entire premises and fumbled with the latch a bit. Her long matte-black nails were a hindrance. Numerous tongue clicking sounds could be faintly heard flowing through from beyond the closed window.
At last, the latch snapped open and she pushed it up and hissed in irritation. A sea of distorted, irregular clicking sounds flooded into the office from somewhere down below. The office was located on the top floor of a 97-feet tall building. She took a step forward and peered down; she smiled maliciously.
Five orderly columns of 10 hooded figures each all looked up at her, as they stood perfectly still-their black torn cloaks blowing violently in the night breeze. In their hands, they held their crooked daggers which had glowing Emeralds embedded in their hilts. She scanned across each of them with her eyes for a minute or so and shut the window. She didn't bother latching the window.
Turning around, she stepped away from the window and walked back to her desk. She rolled out her chair and sat on it; It creaked slightly under her weight. Then she reached to the left of her desk and pulled out an unlocked drawer. The only item within was a small safe box about the size of a jewelry box. It was carved from a darkly colored and ominous-looking material. There was no visible way to open it.
She placed her thumb to her lips and bit off a tiny bit of flesh from it. A blot of blood rose up from the open wound. Then, she turned the bleeding thumb downward and let the blood fall onto the box slowly. Drip! Drip! Drip!
At the landing of the third drop, the box's material began to crumble like decayed wood until nothing remained but black dust. The aftermath left a small piece of an emerald embedded into a silver skull figurine with a chain linked to it like an amulet. The emerald within had clearly been cut down to size. She took it up and blew off the surrounding dust. Then she placed it around her neck and played with it as it rested on the cleavage between her breasts.
With an ugly sneer on her otherwise beautiful face, she snarled:
''Come to me CAIN, come to me. I will have vengeance!''
~~~
The flames of the fireplace flickered but maintained a steady shape altogether. It was 3 in the morning. They were visibly running out of time. The moon above the manor was a Waxing Gibbous* the ensuing night would hold a full moon.
Trevor Vlad Tepes had arrived at the manor a half hour ago. He sat on a chair next to Cain, his blade lay sheathed on the floor at his feet. Everyone was silent. Cain wanted Shadow dead. That is, assuming he could be conventionally killed. Even he didn't know that-but he was desperate to find out. Light on the other hand, simply felt betrayed. Strada couldn't wait to get back to Heaven; although Gabriel's instructions were clear and Cain's health had already been restored, he decided to stay and help them defeat this growing evil. He could not betray his nature.
Cain stared at the flickering flames and scratched at his beard, lost min thought. He turned and directed his gaze to Francis. ''Do you have a plan?'' he asked impatiently.
''Indeed…many thoughts come to mind. But there is but one sure way to defeat her. We must go to her. She knows that we will come. She believes the upper hand is hers. But you have friends here she knows not of.''
Strada smirked and pulled out a piece of candy from his pocket and threw it into his mouth. ''Sounds a tad bit reckless to me.We don't know what else she's got under her sleeves. We've got surprises, so she might too.''
Francis averted his gaze to Strada with an undertone of irritation. ''Correction, you don't know what she has under her sleeves. I do. No truth is hidden from me.''
Cain spoke in a low voice. ''Then we have an edge. How large is this undead army of hers?''
''At the moment, there are exactly fifty of them. As such I advise we strike as soon as possible, before she's chanced to reanimate more of the poor souls in her possession.''
Strada raised an eyebrow and chewed on his sweet. It crunched loudly under his silver teeth. ''Fifty? Fat numbers. Well…I'm not much of a fighter but I'll see what I can do to help''
Light spoke for the first time. Despite her calm face, her eyes betrayed her true emotions. ''But how can we destroy them? From what we know, they can't be killed.''
Francis nodded his head knowingly.
''There is no truth in death. The answer to that, the Father has promised to reveal.''
Strada let out a small chuckle and rolled his eyes.
Francis pointed to Zara. ''But I see that she will be the instrument of his goodness.''
Zara eyed Francis thoroughly before she spoke. ''Uhh…I'm not going anywhere. I don't know really know what's going on here, but this seems like some pretty dangerous stuff and I've seen enough crazy. So..if you don't mind..'' she trailed as she got up to leave.
Cain looked intently at her and spoke softly. ''Please, Zara. Please stay.''
Her cheeks reddened sharply, even with the tone of her skin. Suddenly, she developed a stutter.
''W-well I-I-I think I c-can manage.'' She managed awkwardly.
Francis stood up with outstretched hands. ''Get ready everyone, we depart at sunrise.''
Sunrise met the team of six outside the manor gates. Cain's beard had been shaved, leaving his jaw clean without as much as stubble. He had his black turtleneck and grey trousers on again. On his left hand were his rings; on his right was his silver bracelet, 'the weapons master'. He toyed with the rings on his fingers as Francis briefed the group again on their strategy before they stepped into the open portal. Light had changed from her white robe into a more suitable outfit; a white body-hug leather tracksuit. Her rich melanin shone under the light of the early morning. The look in her eyes was different…fierce. Trevor stood under the sun and stared at his blade. The sun had no effect on him. He knew that this would be a tough battle. Zara stood a few steps behind Cain waiting for Francis to finish speaking. She had changed out of her scrubs into a pink t-shirt, jean jacket and matching color Denim Jeans. Strada was the last in line. He stood idly with his hands in his pocket, blowing on some green bubblegum.
''…so help us God.'' Francis ended. He opened his eyes and looked at the other five. The portal glowed brightly before them.
~~~