God keep us safe... safe tonight
Keep our eyes toward the skies
Send down an army of angels to make us brave
And keep us strong and unafraid... God keep us safe
-Lyrics to 'Keep Us Safe' performed by Carrie Underwood
Crimson Bonds Part 76
Gently running a finger over her abdomen, Anna sang softly, "I've heard there was a secret chord that David played, and it pleased the Lord. But you don't really care for music, do you? It goes like this the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift, the baffled king composing Hallelujah.... Hallelujah... Hallelujah... Hallelujah... Hallelujah..."
On the other side of the wall, Broderick smiled sadly to himself. Closing his eyes as he lay on his cot, he took in the beautiful sounds resonating through the steel. " Your faith was strong but you needed proof. You saw her bathing on the roof. Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you. She tied you to a kitchen chair. She broke your throne, and she cut your hair. And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah... Hallelujah... Hallelujah...Hallelujah... Hallelujah."
The sound of the doors sliding open had the Hunter sitting up, and quickly blinking in disbelief.
Mark Barnett was the last person Broderick ever expected to see again. However, when his initial surprise in seeing the conceited smirk on the young murderer's face, the visit made perfect sense. This was Septum's way of adding insult to injury by having the one person he despised deliver his end.
"Hey, prick," the once disgraced Hunter greeted in a singsong. "Time to meet your maker."
Rather than fight the inevitable, Dawson stood tall and proud as his hands were cuffed behind his back. "Good to see you're back in Millers' good graces," he snorted.
In her cell, Anna sniffled through the tears filling her gold-ringed eyes. With her heightened sense of hearing, she was able to make out what was happening to her friend. She knew what was coming for him.
Glaring up at the ceiling, she sang all the louder for him to hear. "Maybe there's a God above. But all I've ever learned from love was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you It's not a cry you can hear at night. It's not somebody who has seen the light. It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah.."
Barnett snorted, "Yea, well, keeping my head low for these last weeks was worth it now that I'm the one who gets to take you out. Sure hope those freaks were worth it to you."
Still, the song carried on. "You say I took the name in vain. I don't even know the name. But if I did, well really, what's it to you? There's a blaze of light in every word. It doesn't matter which you heard, the holy or the broken Hallelujah. Hallelujah... Hallelujah... Hallelujah... Hallelujah."
There was no hesitation from Dawson as he nodded firmly, "They were more than worth it." A blindfold fell over his eyes and was tied tightly at the back of his head.
Mark delivered a hard kick into his rival's lower back as he barked out, "Get moving!"
Holding his tongue, the tall young man followed his orders and moved forward, guided by the hand on his shoulder that signaled when he should turn. Moving past the Siren's sealed off room, he held onto the last strains she belted out for his sake.
"I did my best, it wasn't much. I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch. I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you. And even though it all went wrong, I'll stand before the Lord of Song. With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah. Hallelujah... Hallelujah... Hallelujah...Hallelujah."
Those words ringing truest for him, Dawson kept his head high and readied himself for whatever was about to come for him without any regrets.
* * * * * *
"I'll be able to block the signal of your trackers for at least a couple of hours starting... now. Let me know if you'll need more than that."
Wufei responded, "That'll be more than enough time. Thanks, Crystal," Wufei replied. Closing and stuffing his cell phone away, he threw the hood of his fleece over his head and turned towards his brother and cousin. "Let's go."
Nodding, Trowa held onto Heero's arm and the trio disappeared from their Hawaiian safe house in a swirl of color to materialize in the entryway of their friends' log cabin in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Darnell was already waiting for them in the doorway leading to the long hall. Smiling, he opened his arms and sighed in relief, "Glad you were able ta get here so fast." He exchanged handshakes and one-armed embraces with his visitors and pointed over his shoulder to the corridor.
"Our friend is in the last room on the right," the tall host announced, a bite in his deep tone at the sarcastic endearment. "Still unconscious at the moment, so ya best move before she wakes with a nasty headache from the hit she got from Margi."
Heero gestured to Trowa and responded in a low growl, "We'll be happy to get her out of your hair." Barton followed his cousin from the foyer, their steps long and purposeful as they disappeared to transport the woman that had been taken captive.
Tilting his head towards the door they passed through, Darnell told the scaly Infected, "I'll take you to the girl. Margi's in the living room with her, trying to calm her down. She had a very close call with the Hunter that's still got her as nervous as a rabbit facing a pack of dingoes."
A concerned frown marring his face, Chang grunted in acknowledgement and stepped out into the hallway alongside his long-time friend. "What's her name?" he asked, removing his hood and opening the zipper to his fleece to appear less intimidating for the frightened child.
"Emma," the rancher replied. "She has no living family to claim her and has been surviving on the streets of Darwin for a long time in her eleven years. That was all we could git outta her since she was able to clean up and force down a light snack. She's still getting her wits about her."
Letting out a puff of air, Chang murmured sadly, "That poor kid. She's practically a baby." He took a deep breath when they were about to reach the designated doorway and nodded to the other immortal, "Thank you. I'll take it from here."
Darnell bent respectfully at the waist and took a couple of steps back while the Chinese Vampire entered the living room. Her head lifting when she sensed his arrival, Margi kept her arm around her shaking guest's shoulders and smiled in relief. Gently squeezing her distracted charge, she rose from the couch they shared and embraced Chang before taking her quiet leave.
Coming out of her daze, the slight living gazed up to notice the Infected cautiously approaching her and gasped sharply. Her damp green eyes widening, she whimpered.
"Hi, Emma," Wufei smiled warmly, keeping his voice low as to not startle the already shaken child. Lowering himself to a knee at her feet so that they were eye-level, he introduced, "My name's Wufei."
His heart broke for the teary-eyed girl when she sniffled and nodded that she knew. She had seen Anna and Duo. There was no question about it by her reaction to him. And whatever she had been through with them and after they were separated had wracked her.
Unable to read her mind, Chang would have had to resort to asking the child questions. She was not up for that in her condition. The father in him took over and he opened his arms to the child.
Sobbing, Emma threw herself in them and clung onto the scaly Infected's neck with all of her strength. "I don't know...don't know where they are now," she cried into his shoulder. "I got lost when I got away."
Wufei's throat tightened. There was no need to ask who 'they' were. He was so close to rescuing Anna and yet still so far. But as frustrating as that was, there was also an immense relief in knowing that they were closing in. Holding onto the little one tightly, Wufei rubbed her back in circles. "It okay," he whispered reassuringly. "We'll find them. For now, I need to get you away from here."
Panic washed over Emma's face as she pulled away to stare up at him. "I can only be here for so long before I'm spotted," the Vampire explained, tilting his head towards his tracker. "Anna and Duo could get hurt if whoever holding them sees how close I am."
"Septum," the girl breathed, fear dripping from her voice. "His name's Septum... the guy holding them, 'n you're right... he would do something bad to them if he knew."
Drawing a deep breath, Chang nodded, "Right. You'll still be able to help us save them with whatever you can tell us, but we need to get as far from here as we can. Do you trust me?" He was answered by another fierce hug as the child buried her face against his chest.
It was all that she had wanted after her ordeal... someone who could hold and protect her. Clearing his throat of the lump that was forming, Wufei smiled and returned the tight embrace as he murmured, "Good girl." Rising to his feet, he carried her along with him and turned towards the doorway where his friends had been listening in anxiously.
"You'll let us know as soon as ya have something to go on?" Margi asked. "We have neighbors who'll look after the horses on a moment's notice if we need to move."
The corner of his lip curling up, Wufei promised, "You'll be amongst the first to hear from us as soon as that happens."
Waving, Darnell replied, "We'll be waiting. Good luck, mate." He added with a smirk to the girl, "Chin up, Emma. N'one's goin' to hurt you again, kiddo. You're in good 'ands."
Her first smile spreading at that, the child waved back in gratitude to the pair. Before her eyes, the world faded away in a swirl of brilliant color. By the time her lungs filled with a rush of air, the cascade faded so that she could gaze around an entirely different living room.
"Ah there she is," a voice murmured in relief. Spinning around, the orphan took in another lovely Infected with brown hair and gold-ringed irises. "We've been waiting to welcome you in, sweetheart," she grinned in a way that instantly put the girl at ease.
Snickering, Wufei told the child in his arms, "Emma, this is my cousin, Midi. She'll get you settled in while Heero and I have a... talk with the Hunter. Are you okay with that?"
One last glance at the pretty Vampire that put her at ease had the girl nodding. "That's a brave one," Midi praised quietly. Once her charge was lowered to the ground, she took a hand into her own and squeezed it. "Come along, darling. I have peppermint tea to soothe those nerves and a hot meal cooking on the stove for you."
Just the mere mention of food had Emma's empty stomach grumbling. Keeping their hands locked, she followed the Infected's lead from the room and down the hall.
The smile on his face melting away into a deep scowl, Chang made his way through the opposite corridor until he reached the close door where Heero and Trowa were waiting on him with cold expressions of their own. "Is she awake?" he pressed.
"Not since we last checked," Yuy quipped out. "I think it's time to do something about that." Neither his brother nor cousin raised an argument. Opening the utility room, he led the charge inside to reveal the unconscious blonde sitting upright, her back against the water boiler that she was tied to with a thick chain.
Slowly crouching down over her, Heero leaned in to whisper by her ear, "Good morning."
A startled gasp rising from the captive, her head jerking up as her restraints kept her in place when she tried to stand. Wide-eyed and tossing her head from side-to-side while her hair flew in her face, she struggled momentarily to focus on her surroundings. Then she peered up at the three faces boring down on her.
Slack-jawed, Aisley felt a cold chill shoot down her spin in the startling realization that she was being held by none other than the remaining figure heads of the Barton-Yuy Clan.
That fear only grew all the more when the Japanese Original righted himself and greeted, "Hello, Lucie." Despite the defenses that she was mentally scrambling to put up, she couldn't hide her surprise in hearing her name.
"Our friends took the liberty to go through your jeep before they met with you in the cave. They were alarmed by the amount of weapons a young woman like yourself was toting when they decided to investigate," Heero explained. "We've all had enough run ins with Hunters to know one when we see one."
Barton folded his arms across his chest, huffing, "Though I have to admit this is the first time I've ever known a Hunter to track down and attempt to kill another living."
Adding to that, Chang growled, "Not to mention that fact that the living is an innocent child. What could she have possibly done to deserve that?"
Since entering the room, the Mimic had opened his mind-reading ability; he discovered that there was not a single thought to pick up. Though the same thing had happened with Emma, this time it was brought on deliberately on Aisley's part. So she knew that she had to protect herself on such a level by clearing her head.
Yet another strike against her if she was doing it to try any deny any involvement with Septum Millers.
Lucie shrugged, the chains looped around her torso along with her arms locked down at her sides clinking together at the movement as she responded nonchalantly, "Oh, I don't know. You all seem to have it all worked out." A smug smirk coming on, she suggested, "Why don't you tell me your theories? Maybe I'll tell you 'hot' or 'cold.'"
Keeping his own face trained in its stoic mask, Heero warned, "You're only going to make this harder on yourself if you don't come forward with what we want to know. Where is Septum hiding? What has he done to Duo and Anna?"
Without so much as a flinch, the Hunter's smirk turned more sinister. "You'll never get it from me. And holding a mortal against their will like this won't exactly bode well for your kind when I'm freed and talking to the world about this."
"Nice bluff," Trowa snorted. "You want all of this kept as quiet as possible or else your own skeletons will be revealed- namely your status as a Hunter found in possession of illegal weapons and your ties to Millers who's wracking up his own impressive list of crimes."
Remaining calm and sure of herself, Aisley changed the subject to declare, "You're not getting a damn thing out of me." Pausing, she snickered, "Besides, this is all going to be out of your hands before long. As for what's in store for Duo, I can't say since that much is still in the works as the details are in the process of being wrapped up..."
Her head turning towards the scaly Infected, she went on, "But I'll give you a little heads up on what's about to happen to your freak of a wife and those babies she's carrying."
Freezing, Heero and Wufei breathed at the same time, "Babies?"
The blonde kept her attention on the Chinese warrior as her smile only grew all the more pleased. "That right," she said with a nod. "You don't know. You're having triplets. Congratulations."
It took every bit of resolve Yuy had to not come apart right then. Triplets. He and Duo were having triplets. Only the Hunter had no idea that Anna was a surrogate for them and naturally expected that his brother was the father.
Putting on a pout, Lucie sighed, "So sad you'll never get to see or hold them. Aw, but what your poor bride is in for... maybe she'll be shown mercy and she'll be killed before she suffers as she's cut apart up once those little demons are ripped out of her."
From the corner of his eye, Barton noticed his cousin tensing up, his chest rising and falling with shallow breaths that he fought to control. Scaly hands balled into fists, shaking at the intensity squeezing them closed.
"Wufei," the Latin Original warned quietly, trying to not encourage the Hunter into poking at him any more than she already was. But there was no change in the other Vampire other than the narrowing of his eyes set upon his target.
And even more frightening than that was how still Heero was in light of what he was hearing regarding his husband, sister and children. There was not one single shift in his demeanor or relaxed stance.
Beaming, Aisley mused, "I wonder if she'll scream when she's opened up, or try to keep that brave face she's had all this time-" At the howl of a cry that ripped from Chang, she gasped and stiffened as he sprang for her, arms out to wrap around her throat.
Only seeing the flash of his fangs, she prepared for the bite, only for it to be caught short when Trowa shot ahead to intercept him in a blur. The brutal collision knocked the cousins to the floor, ending with the tall Latin pinning the soldier down on his stomach.
Propped up on one knee with his hands restraining the scaly Infected's wrists as he pinned them against Wufei's lower back, Barton gritted through his teeth, "Come on, Wufei."
The rage leaving him, his cousin's despair was plain on his face as he silently surrendered by allowing his body to sag. Fangs retracting, he was pulled to his feet and allowed the Original to usher him out into the hallway and close the door behind them.
All the while, Heero kept himself as rigid as stone without having blinked as he just stared at the living. Turning her eyes up at him, Lucie huffed, "What? Saving me all for yourself? You're not going to get a damn thing out of me."
Squatting down so that they were facing each other squarely, the Japanese merchant grinned. "You're a beautiful woman. Well-kept and with every air of someone who loves attention," he commented. "Even though you're trapped like this, you're enjoying being the center of attention you're used to being wherever you go."
Taken aback, the Hunter blinked widely before she glared at him again. How he had gathered as much on her in that short a time was a shock... but she wasn't about to gratify him. "You don't know anything about me," she sneered.
"I know enough that someone like you needs to experience what it's like to be alone," Yuy responded flatly. "A dark cell in the Vampire holding area should suffice. No one will be seeing your face aside from the ward who will check in on you from time to time. Once all of this is over, we'll settle how to handle you."
Aisley's heart began to hammer in her chest. The holding area was for those Infected waiting to stand trial before the Vampire Council.
Thoughts of being locked away in such a desolate place was causing a surge of anxiety in her that she had never known. She was about to be out of the spotlight for a very long time. And there was not a bit of good that her looks or charm would do her.
Sensing her concealed fear, Heero's smile faded and his own eyes narrowed. "If anything happens to Duo, Anna or any one of the babies, I don't care what sentence I would face before the jury of my peers... your life is forfeit to me," he all but whispered. "Only I'll make sure that your end is slow and agonizing. First I'm going to turn you so that you become a Vampire, the very thing you hate the most in this existence."
Lucie's blue eyes grew anew, her skin paling.
"If you survive the excruciating change as your organs shut down, I'm going to leave you in a secluded field or some wasteland," the Original continued, voice low and haunting.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Broderick frowned deeply when he felt and heard the jeep that he had been thrown into come to a stop. Seconds after the driver door opened, arms slipped under his own as he was hefted up and out of the back seat with a grunted, "Let's go, asshole."
Stumbling a couple of times, the tall Hunter managed to get his feet flat on the ground that he was dragged along. Once he was standing straight, the blindfold was removed to have his vision blinded by brilliant sunlight. Wincing, he blinked a couple of times until he could keep his eyes open and focused.
For as far as he could see, there was nothing but red and brown land with the scattered patches of scrub and distant cliffs. The Outback. So this was how he was going to die... he was going to be executed in the middle of nowhere.
When Barnett walked around him, Dawson closed his eyes and waited for the bullet that would be fired into the back of his head.
But then... he felt the handcuffs being unlocked and opened to free his wrists.
"This is where we part ways for good, you bastard," Mark smirked when he appeared once more. He had to lift his arm up to deliver a swift punch across his adversary's face.
It was not the worst blow Broderick ever took by a long shot, but he wasn't ready for it and he swayed ever so slightly off balance. When he recovered, the cocky kid was back behind the jeep's wheel and closing the driver's door behind himself.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Yuy shrugged, "Maybe I'll leave you with a weapon or two, just to make things a little more interesting."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Flipping the finger as he revved his vehicle to life again, Barnett smiled, "Good riddance, sucker!" He laughed when he peeled out, throwing a large black bag out from the passenger's side. Once the pack was rolling on the ground, he slammed his foot on the accelerator and rode away with a cloud of dirt behind him.
Broderick tilted his head in confusion. Walking the few feet between himself and the pack, he knelt down and opened the zipper. Inside, there were several water canteens, a blanket along with a few long blades, guns and ammunition.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sweat ran from Lucie's brow as she swallowed roughly. Unable to turn away from the cold, cobalt-and-gold eyes set on her, she bit her lip.
"Then I'm going to hunt you," Heero breathed. "It won't matter how fast or strong you might become. I'll be faster. I'll be stronger. And I'll be the one taking your existence from you."
For the first time in a very long time, the once proud and confident beauty felt a tear roll down her cheek. Oh she was praying then. Only that prayer was for the safe return of those she had captured and harmed.
She never prayed so hard in her life.
* * * * * *
Broderick's shoulders sagged as his steel blue eyes closed.
So this was it. He was about to meet the creature that had killed his friends who had left Septum's cause. He was no longer the Hunter, but the prey.
In the back of his mind, he remembered Anna's voice singing.
"Hallelujah... Hallelujah... Hallelujah...Hallelujah."
TBC...
Note: The featured song is 'Hallelujah' covered by many artists, most popularly known by Jeff Buckley.
Back to SkyLark's Fanfictions Page