Regenesis (Book 1): Impact (62 page)

Mizuno
tried to talk him out of it but Strom discarded his headset and lost himself in
the confusion. “” Mizuno searched for him through the
disaster but instead espied the murderous newcomer and immediately recognized
him. “”

Jeremy
Dalton stood strangling some poor soul before he turned and launched a set of
shuriken toward Mizuno. He dodged the projectiles with ease but lost the
assassin in the process. Mizuno returned to the communicator and told Kyle to
contact the police and firemen in the area and have them get to the museum as
soon as possible. “can make our escape.>”

“I’ll handle it, but you’re going to have to move on without me,>” Kyle told
him in Korean.

Mizuno
stopped and saw Kyle partially buried beneath a pile of debris, illuminated by
the fires and the hole in the wall nearby. “with you, get out of here and leave Kyle, Strom, and myself.>”

Within
a second everyone in the building went blind. The shrieks of the terrified art
patrons overtook the commotion of the gunfire between Strom and Dalton. Mizuno
wasted no time in the temporary darkness to reach Kyle and began to remove the
rubble that pinned him down.

“you come back for me?>” Kyle asked him in Korean. “”

Their
sight returned and Mizuno quicken the excavation. “vital member of the team. Had you been Yong I might have left you behind.>”
He finished clearing enough of the collapsed wall for Kyle to move. As he
helped Kyle to his feet they heard another massive explosion near one of the
far exits. Mizuno ran the situation through his head in an instant and said,
“”

“he planned this?>”

“course I did,>” Dalton told them in Korean.

Mizuno
didn’t have time to react to Dalton’s surprise attack, however Kyle managed to
see the impending assault before Mizuno and placed himself between Dalton’s
blade and Mizuno. Dalton sliced deep into Kyle’s shoulder and brought Kyle and
Mizuno to the ground.

Strom
caught up to Dalton and took a shot at him but missed while his opponent
retreated into the growing inferno. He left Mizuno and Kyle to pursue Dalton.
Strom took cover, reloaded his weapons, and tried to keep his wits while the
building began to collapse.

“Fancy
meetin’ you here Strom,” Dalton called out over the crowd. “How ‘bout we just
end this here and now?”

“me the bravado, Dalton,>” Strom barked in German.

Three
more explosions shattered support beams and brought the entire floor down a
level. The rubble pinned Strom and Dalton attacked him before he managed to
locate his weapon. The assassin dug one blade into Strom’s left bicep and a
second into his right shoulder. Strom tried to move to counter Dalton but found
his arms immobile.

Jeremy
Dalton snickered and wrapped a set of earbuds around Strom’s neck. “Y’know,
I’ve waited fer a very long time ta be in this position. I neva got an
opportunity ta put it to tha test, but I always knew I was the better man
Strom.”

A
shot rang out that missed Dalton entirely, but managed to scare him off. Mizuno
and Kyle appeared from behind him and worked as best as they could to free
Strom. Kyle activated his communicator and was relieved to find he could still
contact Mithra and the others who escaped earlier. He called for an immediate
extraction and gave Afifa their rough location in the crumbling museum.

“the hell happened?>” Strom muttered, even though his words were nearly lost
in the collapse of the building.

Mizuno
told them to shut their eyes as Afifa returned for them. She didn’t waste a
second to transport them out of the dying museum before the entire structure
collapsed.

--          --          --

The
colony of bats left Rachel and her wounded companion alone on the roof of a
skyscraper miles from the Seattle Art Museum. Rachel’s heart raced and a rush
of adrenaline caused her to body to tremble. She looked around the cityscape
from where she stood and tried to catch her breath while Vladimir wandered off
toward the other end of the roof.

“Oh
my word…” she gasped. “Did you see him? Ghost, he looked right at me and…And
what the hell happened back there Vladimir?” Rachel waited for a reply before
she repeated her query. She looked around the remote and deserted rooftop for
her Romanian companion but failed to find him initially. All she saw were a few
air conditioning units and a stairwell entrance. “Vladimir?”

“Rachel,
please, stay back.”

She
walked to the other end of the stairwell structure and found Vladimir. He
clutched his shoulder and backed away from her. Rachel saw the blood on his
hand from the bullet wound and resolved to aid him. Rachel rushed to his side
and set her hand on his shoulder. A light poured out of his wound, but rather
than mending his wound, Vladimir’s blood began to boil and the flesh around the
injury blackened.

Vladimir
let out a bloodcurdling shriek and cast her aside without regard for her
safety. Rachel fell to the floor while he cursed her and clawed at his abrasion
to remove the darkened skin and the bullet lodged deep in his shoulder near the
rotator cuff. He tore the metal slug out and cast it away as his shoulder
regenerated itself, though the area Rachel touched remained darkened.

Her
eyes widened and she asked how long he had known about his ability. But
Vladimir only nursed his shoulder and told her it wasn’t her concern. “Rachel,
you need to leave.”

“What?
Vladimir…”

He
walked away from her and tried to distance himself, but she followed after him.
“Vladimir, what happened? I tried to heal you but–”

“Rachel,
please, leave me alone.”

“No,
I’m not going to abandon you when you’re hurt–”

“I
am not hurt,” he barked. “I was completely fine before your intervention.”

“How
did you heal yourself when I couldn’t heal you?”

“Leave
it alone Rachel and get out of here.”

She
picked herself up and tried to approach him once more but he only lashed out
and told her to flee. Rachel frowned and told him she would not. “You know I
never meant to harm you, right?”

“That
is not important now Rachel–”

“Yes
it is,” she cut in. “Vladimir, I would never do anything to harm you.”

He
paused and lowered his head for a moment. Vladimir released his grip on his
shoulder and asked what she meant earlier when she said she wanted to be with
him. “What do you want Rachel?”

She
hesitated to say anything. Her pulse raced at the thought of confessing her
feelings for him, and doubted she could say anything romantic or overly
heartfelt. She simply repeated what she told him at the museum, “I meant that I
want to be with you.”

Vladimir
looked away and asked her in a whisper, “Do you love me?”

Her
heart beat faster at his words and with all the courage she could muster Rachel
admitted that she did love him.

Vladimir
only let out a sigh and told her he never meant to mislead her. “I do not care
for you in such a manner Rachel.”

Her
heart stopped and she felt as if she was hit by a truck. It took everything
Rachel possessed to avoid tearing up and bawling, but she managed to contain
herself and say, “I-I thought this was what you wanted.”

He
shook his head and told her she misread the situation. “I should not be here,
and neither should you. In fact, you and Jordan–”

“I
hate that ass,” she spat. “I broke up with him because I wanted…I want to be
with you.”

“And
I cannot be with you.”

“Why
not?”

“Because
I do not love you Rachel.” He watched her start to cry and tried to console her
by restating their friendship.

“Why
won’t you at least try?” she asked. “Couldn’t we just see where it went? I mean,
just to see if you could love me?”

Vladimir
rubbed his eyes and told her things were not as simple as she believed they
were. “This situation, my state of being, that is, is far too complex for love.
And I must add, not that I mean any harm or disrespect to you, but you and I,
or myself and anyone else for that matter, will never be.”

“Why
not?”

“I…”
he stopped himself and tried to find the words to tell her what he needed to
say without revealing anything, but could only manage to tell her that his life,
the reason he was even in Washington State, was too complicated for him to
explain to her.

“Could
you at least tell me why you’re flat out rejecting me Vladimir?” she asked
while she wiped tears from her eyes and crossed her arms.

“I
do not know if I can,” he hissed, “That is why this entire situation irks me
and is why I cannot simply tell you why we cannot be together.”

“Why
not?”

“I
have no idea Rachel!” he finally shouted. “I wish I knew why I was even here in
this city, or at that school, or why I even know who you are. I really do. But
I am as lost as you are.”

“Then
perhaps it is finally time to set things straight.”

Light
emerged from the space behind Rachel and a stranger in radiant armor descended
to the rooftop. The area returned to normal and the man lightly touched down
and joined Vladimir and Rachel.

The
stranger smiled and spoke in a quiet, yet strong and resolute tone, “I am sorry
that it has taken so long for this arraignment to finally come to fruition, but
alas, all good things come in their due time.”

Rachel
felt a sudden familiar sensation at the end of his sentence. The clamor of the
city stopped along with all of the traffic on the streets far below. Leaves
hung alongside the birds, midair and motionless. All wind and motion died in an
instant. She watched as the armored fellow and Vladimir readied for their
conversation and beckoned that she joined them.

“Who
are you?” she finally asked.

“We
have met twice now,” he reminded her. “I am Pyotr.”

“Vladimir’s
host brother?”

Pyotr
chuckled and admitted that his role of host brother was nothing but a ruse.
“You see Rachel, Vladimir and I have been friends for a very long time.
Comrades even before our common goal presented itself.”

Vladimir
frowned. “Pyotr, does she truly have to learn about all of this? Hasn’t–”

“Vladimir,”
the armored man stopped him. “Now is not the time to argue. I have my orders
and I am here to fulfill them. This should not come as an astonishing turn of
events; you suspected this from the moment you met her.”

Rachel
scowled and asked for clarification. “What are you talking about?”

Pyotr
said, with a smile, “When I told you that Vladimir and I have been friends for
a long time, I may have been too coy. I know this may come as a shock Rachel,
but Vladimir and I are both roughly just over two centuries old, though to be
correct, physically we are much younger, but we have tarried here on this
earth, some more than others, for a little over two centuries.”

Rachel
shook her head and muttered, “That’s not possible.”

Pyotr
agreed that the claim seemed outlandish, “But I assure you it is true.”

“How
can anyone live that long?” she asked. “Is that some sort of super power?”

The
armored man laughed and told her she wasn’t too far off from the truth. “I am
an angel of–”

“You’re
an angel?” she blurted out. “Do you really expect me to believe that?”

Pyotr
frowned. “Stopping time, appearing out of nowhere, flight, and the incandescent
light which emanates from within me isn’t enough to prove who I am?” He
smirked, “I guess times are changing and a super hero would sound more
believable now…but I guess you will have to take it on faith that I am
precisely who I claim to be.”

She
turned to Vladimir and asked if he claimed to be an angel as well. “Or are you
some kind of cherub or something?”

Pyotr
chuckled again, “No no, Vladimir is a vampire.”

Rachel
only stared at him without a word. Vladimir however was quite tired of Pyotr’s
intercession and broke in, “I am aware of how frustrating this must be and I am
sorry we are burdening you with all of this–”

“No,”
Rachel stopped them, “No, this, this is absolutely insane.” She started walking
away from them, and muttered, “Most people who have super powers want to make
the world a better place, but you two think it’s funny to set up elaborate lies
and use your power to threaten and intimidate others.”

“Rachel,”
Pyotr called out to her. “I apologize for the manner of my introductions, but I
am not sure how I could better enlighten you.” She turned and waited for him to
continue. “But please, allow me to share something with you that may allow you
to better trust in my words.”

Pyotr
slowly approached Rachel, who recoiled as he reached for her hand, but upon his
touch she felt a serene peace and calm overtake her. Warmth surrounded her like
a midsummer’s evening and in an instant the anxiety and unrest from the
conflict at the museum fled and she felt her body relax. For a moment Rachel
believed she was outside her body and that she floated unconscious in a
near-slumber like state of mind. All of the stars above her shone bright
through the ambient city light and the cosmos unfolded before her. She could
witness and feel the universe expand and retract, she trembled with excitement
as the universe collapsed in on itself and moments later burst and bloom into
numberless celestial entities, and Rachel heard each mortal soul in the
universe gasp for life in a collective sigh.