Blood Prize (31 page)

N
oah tried to avoid them, but the wheels of their vehicle continued to smash into potholes and gullies. With each violent jolt, Isobel’s brain felt detached, as it bounced and sloshed inside her skull.

“Hell, Noah. Slow down. You’re giving me whiplash.”

They bush-bashed their way from the site, racing towards an elevated area to the south.

“Sorry, Isobel. I know it’s rocky and uneven, but we need to get there fast. We have to get out of sight so we can give Tom covering fire, if he needs it.”

Isobel twisted in her seat, searching for Tom, but she couldn’t see him. Then, not for the first time on this awful journey, she wondered what life might be like without him.

“How will he survive, Noah?”

“He’s a brave lad, Isobel.”

Isobel heard the priest’s grunt. She thought it sounded angry. Judging the vehicle’s wild jerks she leant forward and searched his tear-streaked face.

“You don’t think he’s brave, Nico?”

When he turned and looked at her, she felt scared. His wide eyes searched backwards and forwards with a look of desperation, like a wild animal cornered by a mortal enemy.

“He’s on a fool’s journey. Tell her the truth, Noah.”

“He’s a strong lad, he’ll be fine.”

The priest began to shout at Noah and Isobel recoiled in her seat. She didn’t like what he said.

“That’s simplistic rubbish, Noah. The truth is … we don’t know what’ll happen and there are extra risks.”

Isobel raised her voice and screamed just to be heard.

“What does he mean, Noah? What extra risks?”

Noah ended his furious eye contact with the priest and turned towards Isobel. He hesitated for a few moments before he began.

“Tom’s father didn’t get the chance to finish his research on the Prize before they killed him. It could be unstable for a human to …”

“What if Tom uses this thing?”

The priest cut back into the conversation, his voice snarling with anger.

“Tell her, Noah. It’s a dangerous substance. Anything could happen.”

Isobel attempted to stand upright in the jerking vehicle, but the seatbelt held her back. She fumbled with the latch and once free, she began to yell.

“Stop. Stop the car. Stop.”

Noah slammed on the brakes without thinking, which gave Isobel the time she needed. She fled the vehicle before either man could react.

Alright, I’ve got to run … Hard. I’ve got to get back to Tom, before the Assembly get here.

She took one last look over her shoulder before she left. The priest sat very still with his face in his hands, while Noah waved his arm, gesturing for her to return.

She smiled at him and he stopped waving.

Goodbye, boys. I hope I get to see you again.

She turned towards the cavern’s entrance and started to run.

A
s Tom climbed down the metal ladder into the darkness, he counted forty-seven steps, before his feet came in contact with the cavern’s floor. He took several more tentative steps away from the stairs, before the oppressiveness of the cavern enveloped him.

Panic set in and the muscles stiffened along his spine.

Keep calm … Turn on the light.

He fumbled with the torch, as he tried to find the on-off switch and when he turned it in his hand, he saw its faint glow.

Bloody hell. It’s already on. What kind of dark magic is this?

Then he remembered his father’s warning. His words seemed like an understatement. The black emptiness of the cavern felt like it sucked the light from his torch. In this dark abyss, he lost all ability to determine direction.

“Come on … Relax … Breathe.”

He stilled his mind, then slowed the intake of oxygen until his attack of anxiety subsided.

More black magic.

He began to feel a strange elevation of thought, as if this new awareness somehow compensated for the lack of light.

Am I imagining this?

He could hear the long vertical leaves of distant eucalyptus trees rustling in the hot breeze. He could hear motorbike engines revving in the distance. He could also determine female voices from faraway and the sound of feet pounding the ground in a panicked run.

I’ve heard those voices before.

“Uta …”

He tried to remember the sound and tone of the other women’s voice: ‘I’ll find you no matter where you go.’

It’s the auburn-haired monster who chased me in London … Speaking with Uta. Oh my God, they’re here together.

He shook his head in the darkness.

I get it.

They looked and acted the same and rode together towards Raptor Park; hardly a coincidence.

“That’s just great. They’re twins and they’re working together, against us.”

The heightening of his thought continued and he began to see his life with remarkable clarity. Every event in his world seemed connected, like a multitude of individual strings, skilfully woven into a perfect rope.

The word
destiny
appeared in his mind, but its association with the death of his parents made his chest tighten with anger.

It can only get better. It’s been crappy so far.

With an effort, Tom dragged his mind back to his present circumstances. Having no sense of direction inside the cavern, he needed a way to start his search. He began by walking in the opposite direction from the stairs. On his twenty-first step he collided with a hard surface. He took a step back and aimed the torch at the wall.

I’m less than a metre away and it’s invisible.

He decided to turn off the torch and save the batteries, but in his fumbled attempts to find the switch, he dropped it.

It didn’t make any sound.

He kicked the ground and slapped his thigh, but the sound that normally accompanied the action, didn’t occur. Even yelling, made little difference. The noise seemed to vanish the moment it left his mouth. He could only determine resonance as an internal reverberation or a strange knowing of sound outside of the cavern.

I need help … I need the letter.

He squatted down and fumbled around until he found the torch. Balancing his weight on the balls of his feet, he rested the paper on his right knee, flicked on the torch, placed it as close as possible to the script and began to read.

Dear Tom,

I must again stress that the letter you are reading is only for you. Even our special friends are to be excluded from its contents. My reasons will become obvious as you read on.

I am very proud of you, my son. Your journey must have been terrible and your previous living arrangements equally unbearable, but I do believe necessary in avoiding disaster.

Tom, you know now that the cavern contains the Prize. Only a select group from the Assembly board know the meaning of the Prize. It is now time for you to understand your destiny, which you share inexorably with this Prize.

As you are already aware of the basic truths concerning the Angels and their suits, I will skip most of the history.

The discovery of these alien suits allowed the Assembly to create the fraudulent Seven Angels, yet the same suits started to bring them undone. Once the Assembly’s first born sons put them on, they became trapped and although they lived an elevated life, they experienced it as a brief existence compared to our standards. They lived the experience of the ages, for each of our years, but to our eyes, they grew old quickly. I estimate that only one or two could possibly survive into your time.

When the Assembly sons began dying horribly, they hired me to find a means to reverse their decline. That’s when I found the Prize in the cavern; the place where it all started.

Over time, I discovered that the alien blood-like substance contained only a small similarity to the DNA structure of the suits, which we assume the original owners hid to counter possible blood loss.

I began experimenting with the alien DNA strands using gene sequencers and vastly better computers than are available at present. I managed to come up with a modified DNA, which I believed enabled humans some compatibility with the suits.

This now brings us to the difficult part, Tom. Back then, I didn’t want to test my findings on another human being until I personally proved its safety. The Assembly didn’t agree and, after a lot of argument, their heavies injected me with the compound.

I suffered at first, but after only a short time, I began to feel healthy and experience heightened senses, such as sight, hearing, smell and awareness. I didn’t, however, gain the super powers of the Angels nor the immortality of their suits.

When your mother started to show signs of her pregnancy, I became worried about how this alien DNA might affect you, but apart from a super IQ, you didn’t present with any other observable indicators in your early years.

In subsequent tests on live human organs, I determined that the Prize, in its purest, unaltered form, dramatically changed human flesh, yet the same tests created different results when applied to your blood work.

Tom, I have worked hard to make sure that you are the one who finds the Prize; you are the only person I could ever trust with this paranormal Excalibur.

By now, you will fully understand the danger involved. If the Prize is correctly harnessed, it has the power to resurrect the Angels and we can never allow that to happen. Any wearer, who has the benefit of an alien DNA, might live almost indefinitely; consider the life span of the suits for instance.

This is not a situation that we can tolerate. At their prime, the Angels became an unstoppable force and their alien nature made them objects of worship, even without the Angelic disguise.

Tom, it is my shame to send you on this terrible journey, knowing that every possible outcome has undesirable consequences. Unfortunately, you have no choice and must follow through, no matter what.

The Assembly are frightened of you; frightened that they may not be able to control you if you’re the one to administer the Prize, so they will hunt you and try to end your life.

Once you find the Prize, you should inject, into a vein, all of the liquid that can be found in the second and adjoining chamber of the cavern. Once the liquid has started to take effect, there is no return. If you are under pressure you may swallow the substance, but it will be a far slower and more painful undertaking.

Leave absolutely none of the material, for it only takes a small amount to regrow and for some unknown reason it has a need to recreate itself. Strangely, this process ceases, once seven of these creatures have been created. If the Assembly gain even the tiniest portion, they could create another six of these powerful beings and they have the suits, which add to their strength and range of capabilities.

As I write this my beautiful son, I am sitting here imagining you sleeping and it is not that hard to envisage the man in the boy. Go to your destiny now Tom, with our love. It will be difficult, but always remember, we will be with you in spirit.

Dad.

P.S. The back of this letter contains a small map of the separate caverns, where in one, you will find the Prize.

Tom tried to picture his father sitting by his side, but his concentration became saturated by an unwanted understanding of his heritage.

I’m part alien. God knows what will happen once I take the stuff?

His entire expectations came down to either a horrible death at the hands of his enemies, or the possibility of suffering a supernatural nightmare that could turn him into something horrific and even more alien.

T
he two black-clad riders raced their BMW trail bikes along the main track before reaching the end of the Maneroo Creek Flood Plain.

Uta noticed the offshoot, which she didn’t need to relay to her twin. In unison they turned south, travelling through the dry watercourse to where it joined the junction of Spring and Sancho Creeks.

As they approached the dry creek bed they slowed their pace creating no obvious dust trails.

We’ve almost made it to Raptor Park and it doesn’t seem like anyone spotted us.

Without any signal, they both eased to a stop and Uta pointed into the distance.

“Réz, do you see their dust. It looks like the G11’s are moving up towards that ridge.”

“It’s a good position, except for helicopters. They must be trying to cover Fox from there.”

They preceded west up Spring Creek, encountering a continuous quantity of tree fall, sink holes and exposed tree roots and their progress slowed even further. Uta could see that the watercourse suffered from infrequent, but damaging storms, where a sudden deluge could tear the landscape, sending trees and debris tumbling down the gully.

It took longer than their original estimates, but eventually they found the smaller tributary that joined them from the south. One hundred metres further along, they hid the bikes and entered the plain.

They proceeded with caution. The dig site sat near the middle of an open and exposed area.

“I’m glad we got here before Vogel and Wolf, Réz. We couldn’t cover any of this ground without being noticed.”

“The G11’s haven’t made it to the top of the ridge yet. We should get a clear passage. Let’s make haste my love.”

In the flat surrounds, both women spotted the open metal-hatch and the fresh piles of earth lying nearby. They proceeded at a run, keeping as low as possible. Then Uta stopped and took hold of her sister’s arm.

“Réz. You hear that? Quick. Get down behind that pile of dirt on the left. I’ll take the other pile to the right.”

“It looks like Vogel’s made good time, Uta, but we’ll only have to wait for a moment. The fool’s taken the longest route and gone up the far tributary. It gives us plenty of time to get the job done.”

“It also gives us a safe line of retreat to the bikes and good cover when the killing starts.”

Uta stopped talking. She spotted movement further out on the plain.

“Réz. Look.”

A girl emerged from the creek bed directly south of their position and ran across the open plain towards them.

Uta smiled in wonderment.

How opportune. Little girl, you’ve made my day.

“Time for a new plan, Réz my love. Stay here and cover me. Only fire if it’s necessary. I’ll stay hidden until the girl is close. Fox must be in the cavern. I’ll capture her and take her down. He’ll give us whatever we want for her.”

“Don’t waste time, Uta. I won’t be able to hold this position if things get too hot.”

Between bandages Uta’s mouth stretched into a smirk.

“Vogel won’t wait long before he approaches the cavern. When the shooting starts, he’s the target. The others will fall away and run once he’s dead. They have no cover and no choice. Then we can make our exit just as we planned.”

_____________

Isobel’s throat felt like fire; she could hardly swallow as she ran. She felt on the verge of passing out.

Oh God. I hope this isn’t the most stupid thing I’ve ever done.

She knew she needed to stay positive. Her foolish act could compromise Tom’s position and both of the men she left behind.

It’s too bloody late to worry about it now. I have to keep going.

Nothing mattered, other than the entrance to that cavern.

She started to stagger only metres from the hatch and didn’t notice the physical presence directly in front of her.

Isobel screamed.

“My God … No … You’re supposed to be dead.”

“The devil spat me back out, so I could come back for you.”

Uta forced the barrel of her spitter into the side of Isobel’s head.

“Get down that hole. We’re going to see your boyfriend.”