Regenesis (Book 1): Impact (61 page)

Lauren
sat with her chin rested in one hand and swirled her drink in its glass with
her other. She’d only taken two sips from it and since there wasn’t anyone to
drink with she almost felt guilty for having it in the first place. In fact,
she almost exclusively drank with friends back in Paris, which made the event
sobering in one manner.

She
retrieved her cell phone and tried to give David a call, but it only went
straight to voicemail. “but leave me a message and I’ll be sure to return your call as soon as I’m able
to.>”

The
tone sounded and she quickly cheered herself up and said, “Lauren. I’m sorry to call like this,>” she stopped and realized what time it
was in France and apologized for that as well. “you and chat for a bit, but maybe some other time.>”

She
hung up and quickly downed the rest of her drink.

--          --          --

Lauren
walked toward the elevator and met up with a young man who waited somewhat
anxiously for the compartment to arrive. They boarded shortly thereafter and he
asked which floor she was on after he pressed the button for the fourteenth
floor.

“That’s
actually the floor I’m on as well,” she told him.

“Oh.”
He remained quiet for a moment before he asked where she was from. “You don’t
sound like you’re from around here.”

“I’m
from Paris…and just so you know, this is a hotel, so most of the people staying
here aren’t from around here.”

He
reddened and admitted that it was a stupid question. “Are you enjoying yourself
at least?”

“Somewhat.”

“What
brought you here?”

“Family.”

“Did
someone die?”

“funeral would be quicker,>” she muttered in French.

“What?”

“Nothing,”
she sighed. “Listen, I don’t want to sound like a bitch, but I’m not really in
the mood to make any acquaintances.”

“Ah,
yeah, sorry.”

The
rest of their elevator ride was silent, even when others boarded. Lauren looked
away from him and the young man kept his eyes low. Once they reached the
fourteenth floor they both disembarked and headed down the left hall.

“I-I
wasn’t hitting on you or anything,” he suddenly told her. “I just don’t like
awkward silences.”

“It’s
fine. Just forget about it.”

She
left him once he arrived at his room, which was only one room down from where
she stayed. However they heard a commotion and a scream from her room before
she managed to leave the young man’s side. He didn’t hesitate to walk past her
to the room, pounded on the door, and asked if everything was alright.

There
wasn’t a response.

“Get
out of the way,” Lauren snapped. She retrieved her card-key for the room and
opened the door.

Lauren
didn’t see the attack, but the young man with her managed to pull her out of
the line of fire of four shuriken-like projectiles. She hit the floor and in
what seemed like a blur, the young man produced a firearm from thin air,
grabbed the door to the hotel room before it swung to a close, and placed
himself between the assailant and Lauren.

The
young man seemed vastly different from the timid boy she met on the elevator
moments earlier. The fellow before her held a dead aim at their foe. He did not
waiver and he remained in control of his emotions amid the tense situation.
Lauren saw her mother’s motionless corpse on the floor between Lauren’s savior
and a well dressed man who held her father hostage with little more than a set
of earbuds wrapped tightly around her father’s throat. Her father struggled
vainly for air.

The
sharply dressed man cracked a smile and spoke up, “My my my Nick. Yer more
surprisin’ than I thought. I’d seen ya scared shitless a few months back, so
where did ya find this new set of stones kid?”

Nick
took a reassuring breath and tried to remain sure of himself, despite the beads
of sweat that trickled down the back of his neck. “Drop him or–”

“Or
what?” the man sneered. “Y’ll shoot? Go ‘head.” He ducked behind Lauren’s
father and told him it wouldn’t make a difference. “By the way Nick,” the
killer’s voice change and he lost his accent, “Do you even know why I’m here?”
He showed himself again and looked entirely different. Nick, nearly dropped his
weapon.

“V-Victor?”

The
assassin nodded and told him the Facet family were members of the Dáfù’s plan
to attack the Seattle Art Museum. “I’ve been working with Mizuno for years
Nick. I’m sorry that I couldn’t tell you about all of this sooner, but I had to
fake my death and lie to you for his project.”

Nick
stared at his brother in disbelief and asked why Mizuno wouldn’t say anything.

“It’s
because he thinks someone’s aware of his plan and is out to get him.”

“Is
that true?”

Victor
nodded. “Of course. I would have told you I was alive–”

Nick
took a poor shot at the man, missed, and shouted with tears in his eyes, “My
brother’s been dead for weeks you son of a bitch.” He retook his aim and
demanded to know who he really was.

Victor
gripped the cord around Lauren’s father’s neck tighter. “You know this isn’t
going to end well, right Nick? I have a job to do and I will complete it one
way or another. If not today, then tomorrow.”

“Who
are you?”

The
charlatan shook his head and told Nick he had nothing more to say. He retrieved
a knife and in a fluid movement flicked the blade open and slit Lauren’s
father’s throat. Victor raced toward Nick with Lauren’s father as a shield and
tackled Nick to the ground. The charlatan fled afterwards while Nick tried to
free himself from under the dead weight of Lauren’s father.

Lauren
watched Nick curse under his breath as he freed himself and struggled to try
and stop the bleeding. Blood covered his hands and slid through his fingers.
Nick watched as the man stopped struggling for air and grew still through tear
soaked eyes. Finally, he set the man aside, wiped his hands on his jeans, and
composed himself. Blood remained on his hands, no matter how he tried to rid
himself of it.

Nick
took a breath and realized that Lauren was gone. His heart raced and he dashed
out of the hotel room and scanned the area for any sign of her among the other
guests who slowly emerged from their rooms. He heard the shocked comments about
the blood, the confrontation they overheard, and of a man who fled, but Nick
tuned them out and looked for a young woman he had neglected.

A
pit grew in Nick’s stomach as he failed to locate her, unsure of whether the
charlatan kidnapped her or if she fled on her own. But Nick called out for her
nonetheless. He finally heard someone sobbing towards the stairwell at the end
of the hall. He quickly made his way toward the distressed person and found
Lauren there, sitting on the floor, in tears.

Nick
collected his thoughts and asked if she was alright. Lauren however did not
respond. He helped get her back on her feet and told her in a hushed tone that
they needed to leave. Lauren tried to object but he cut her off and told her
the assassin who targeted her earlier would try again once he knew where she
was, even if she was taken in by the authorities.     

Nick
waited for her to say something, anything, but she only continued to weep.
Before she realized it, Nick led her by the hand down the auxiliary staircase
and toward the emergency fire exit. He told her everything was going to be
alright, though he was not sure she heard or believed him.

---*---

8:01
PM

Seattle,
Washington

Rachel
and Vladimir stood only a foot apart before Van Gogh’s
Starry Night Over the
Rhone
. Each painting was protected by five stanchions and ruby velvet
ropes. There were nearly one-hundred other guests at the gallery, though
neither Vladimir nor Rachel paid any attention to them. She had dressed up for
the occasion, which left Vladimir unseemly in his usual attire of slacks, a
wrinkled collared shirt, and a thin scarf.

“Where
were you last week?” Rachel asked him.

He
simply said he was sick and hoped to end the matter.

“Are
you okay?”

“Yes,”
he told her and flashed a smile, “Things will be better in the days to come as well,
so there is no need for you to trouble yourself.”

“But
I am worried about you,” she whispered.

Vladimir
didn’t respond.

She
looked away from him and muttered, “What are you hiding?”

“What
about you?” he asked. “Are you going to tell me why you invited me and not
Jordan?”

She
scowled and told him she’s ended things between the two of them. “He didn’t
respect me and I know I can do better than him.”

Vladimir
twitched. He cleared his throat and walked on to the next painting without her,
though he knew she would follow after him. The next painting was
Bedroom at
Arles
, which he personally enjoyed, though Rachel hardly noticed it when
she returned to his side.

“I
need to talk to you,” she told him as she took his hand and led him away from
the exhibit. They stood off a short ways from the rest of the group and managed
to have a moment to talk without anyone overhearing. “I left Jordan because I
want to be with you.”

Vladimir
only looked away from her and told her he couldn’t be with her.

Rachel
frowned and asked why he thought they couldn’t be together, however screams and
gunfire erupted in the heart of the gallery and a man dressed in all black and
a pearl mask emerged from the crowd and opened fire on the patrons. Rachel’s
heart raced as she tried to hide but froze when she saw the killer take aim at
her.

The
assassin shot once at Rachel, but Vladimir managed to shield her from the
bullet. The round caught him in the shoulder and although he let out a sharp
curse, Vladimir pushed through the pain to take Rachel by the hand and toward a
multi-paned glass window. Vladimir seized one of the nearby stanchions, freed
it of the velvet rope that restrained it, and brutally broke open the window in
a single motion. He clutched Rachel tightly, told her to hold her breath, and
transformed them both into a colony of bats, which fled out the window and into
the city.

--          --          --

Mizuno
watched as the young man fled with his companion and told his teammates, in
German, to forget about the couple who escaped through the window, “ten more here Strom.>”

Mizuno’s
group was intermingled with over a hundred people throughout three rooms with
pillars, paintings, and walls, which separated them from Strom. He wore his
usual attire along with his pearl Ghost mask and shot whomever Mizuno ordered
him to execute through the use of the communicator. The plan was to instruct
Strom to kill anyone Mizuno deemed a threat, without any sort of damage or
interference to any of the art or to the patrons Mizuno felt were innocent. As such
Mizuno only brought Strom, Yong, and Bruce to be able to control the audience
(in the event that anyone decided to step in as a hero), Kyle and Melanie for
their part in the translator system, and Mithra and Afifa for transporting the
group at the completion of the incident.

“left Mizuno? We need to wrap this up immediately,>” Strom told him in
German.

“aware of that, but Kyle’s jammed the cell reception as well as deactivated the
fire alarms and Yong’s locked every entrance and exit, so we have time. None of
the terrorists can escape. Since that’s the case, I’d prefer we do this right
and preserve some of the world’s most treasured art–>” The lights in the
building simultaneously failed. Mizuno did not bother to finish his sentence.

Emergency
lights came on and dimly illuminated the museum. Amid the renewed screaming and
wailing bellowed a newcomer, who shouted, “Y’all started the party without me?
How impolite.”

Mizuno
swore under his breath in Japanese and muttered, “the doors.>”

Yong
told him he had. “”

One
of the outward walls exploded inward and buried two people in rubble while a
second explosion within the building collapsed an interior wall and ignited
some of the paintings along with the building itself. A greater panic ensued as
the crowd raced toward the exits, all of which were locked.

Mizuno
peered through the chaos and smoke for the newcomer but failed to locate the
man. He touched his hand to his transmitter and barked, “you to gather everyone and evacuate as many people, friendly or otherwise, and
teleport them to the building we used for training purposes in Bellevue. Kyle
and Melanie, release all holds on communications and monitor my transmissions.
Afifa, leave without me. Bruce, you’re in command until I return. Got it?>”

Strom
chimed in and told Mizuno he planned to remain as well. “coming back to get me later, by all means do, but otherwise I’ll assist
Mizuno.>”