Lilith/Cain

Vivian drifted back to consciousness, but her arms and legs were leaden. She opened her eyes slowly and Dr. Smythe’s face hovered over her. “You’ve been bad girl,” he admonished her with a wag of his finger. “I have the results of your preliminary blood tests and you’ve been keeping secrets haven’t you?”

Vivian moved her mouth sluggishly, but only a low murmur escaped her lips. Her head rolled back and forth.

“You’ve unwittingly thrown a wrench into my works. I’ll have to contact Gregori, as this is more his area of expertise than mine.” He let out a creaking sigh. He pulled a phone out of his lab coat pocket and tapped at the screen irritably.

From her vantage point she could see the handle of the dart gun sticking out of his pocket, as well as the deringer she’d been carrying. Both guns were less than a foot away from her, but her body still wasn’t responding. She went over her medical training, trying to figure out what kind of drug he could have used on her, and just how harmful it was.

“Don’t do this...” her voice finally came out, weak and sluggish.

Dr Smythe ignored her, phone to his ear. He swore in German and pulled it away. “Blasted machine.” He pocketed his phone again. “No worries, I’ll send someone over to fetch him.”

He turned his attention back to Vivian. “Now, I will explain the procedure. I have no intention of keeping you in the dark about this. Hopefully in time you see just how important your role is, and why it could only be you.”

He folded his arms behind his back. “I knew Katrina Riley a long time ago. You could even say we were friends. Gregori and I were both enamored with her. Not right away, of course, but over time. She never returned our feelings, but she did trust us with certain responsibilities. When the Nazis came for us in Paris, she helped us escape to London. Without her assistance, we would have both been killed. Or worse, recruited.”

He paused for a moment, recalling the memories with a far off look in his eyes. “In return she entrusted me with her genetic material, which was no small thing. She wanted children of her own, but would not admit it to anyone. I vowed that I would make her dream come true. Now I finally have the means to do that.”

He focused back on her. “Rather than a human child, I shall create a hybrid between vampire and human. You might ask why,” Vivian shook her head again. “The answer is that it is fitting, in a way. She spent her entire life tracking down and trapping a single vampire. She knew him more intimately than she did anyone else. She wasted away watching over him.” There was a bitterness in his voice now, and a dark look in his eyes.

He walked over to a small table nearby. Placed on it was a metal box. Condensation frosted over the surface. He opened it and inspected the two vials inside. “I knew that the father could ever only be one person, but he was trapped away for half a century, where I could not reach him. Thanks to David Lucian’s schemes, he was finally freed. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Franz had him in his care without even realizing it.” He picked up a thin vial and held it up to the light. It was labeled G.S. “It was nothing like the surprise I felt when he and your daughter arrived in Paris. Then she was handed to me on a silver platter by Manigault. Can you guess what I discovered when I inspected her?”

Vivian squirmed on the table, but her body just refused listen to her commands. “Angie…” This was the one, the vampire that had experimented on her daughter. “You bastard…”

“Now now, she was quite unconscious when I performed my examination, which I assure you was purely professional. I had to make sure Manigault had not damaged her in any other ways.” He paused. “She looks so much like Katrina, so could you really blame me?” As soon as she could move, she was knocking all of his teeth out.

xxxXXXxxx

Arthur stormed into the small studio apartment, nearly taking the door off its hinges. He was a tower of barely suppressed fury. “Where is Vivian?” He kept his tone civil, but his voice rumbled like Zeus having a bad day.

Callie sat crosslegged on her bed, facing the door. She held a small white bottle in both hands. She brought it to her lips and sipped the contents delicately. “I knew you would come here, I’ve been waiting.”

“You sent me a text.” His foots echoed purposefully as he approached the bed. “You knew she would be taken.”

“I sent Sybil to help, but he’s too quick and too keen. He decided not to wait for you to reach your destination.” Her lips pursed in a frown. “Even now he’s one step ahead of everyone.”

“You could have called me, couldn’t you?”

“Adding another chain to the link of communication just makes it easier to be seen. I needed to speak to you in person, and I’m unable to leave this place without being detected.” She brought the bottle to her lips again.

Arthur studied her mannerisms carefully. Her movements were slightly exaggerated. She looked up at him, but her eyes stared straight ahead. Was she still ill, or was more going on?

“You’ve noticed,” she said then.

“Your eyes are clear, but you can’t see me, can you?”

“I can see you, just not with my eyes. The connection between them and my brain has been cut off by a third party.” She shrugged. “I will learn to cope, that’s not the issue here. We must find your wife first.”

“Vivian and I aren’t married.” His anger still seethed under the surface, but her calm demeanor was like a bucket of cold water over him.

She arched an eyebrow. “Don’t argue with me.”

“What do I do?” he asked, mollified.

“Go where I tell you, and don’t stop at any liquor stores on the way. No matter how many you pass.”

“What do I do when I get there?”

Her expression was steely. “Wait for backup.”

xxxXXXxxx

Angie woke up and found herself sitting in the backseat of a car. There was a person on either side of her. She looked up at Gabriel, whom she had been leaning on. “I think I drooled on your shirt.”

“That’s fine,” he answered. “I didn’t like this one, anyway.” He wore a white button down shirt that was exactly like every other one he owned.

On the other side of her sat Azri, looking over at them with slightly narrowed eyes.

Angie sat up straight and yawned loudly, stretching as best as she could in the small space.

In the front seat say Donovan and Nymph. Donovan was behind the wheel and Nymph was curled up in the passenger’s seat. It took Angie a moment to realize that Chris wasn’t with them. He didn’t want to leave his jeep at the airport, and was driving along behind them.

“How long have I been out?” she murmured.

“Over an hour,” Donovan said grumpily. “There was an accident on the expressway and getting out of Queens is next to impossible.” He stared sourly at the neverending line of cars in front of him.

“I didn’t know you knew how to drive,” she said in wonder.

“I can pilot anything that moves,” he boasted. He pressed on the gas as the line of cars moved, but then hit the brakes a few seconds later and swore. “We’re gonna die in traffic,” he predicted with a growl.

Nymph leaned back, one hand wrapped around a bandage on their wrist. “How are your eyes, Azrael?”

“They’ve grown back, but I still can’t see,” Gabriel told them.

Nymph laughed. “Remove the handkerchief.”

Gabriel frowned and lifted up his hand to the cloth covering his face. “I’m sure I’d be able to tell…” His voice trailed off as he pulled the handkerchief away. He blinked slowly, surprised. “Oh.”

Angie put both hands to the sides of his face, turning him towards her. His eyes flicked to her, then away, almost in embarrassment. “How do they look?”

His eyes were blood red, slitted with ebon. The skin around it had healed, fresh and gray as a drained corpse. His long black lashes twitched with uncertainty.

She released him. “Good. All healed up.” She turned back to the front of the car.

“Thanks for the nap, but we should talk about Cain. Lilith made it sound like he was going to do something really bad.”

“I don’t doubt that one bit,” Donovan said. “But you need to have some idea of what you’re planning on going up against, and if it’s worth it.” He craned his neck, looking out the window and across the bridge. “Good, you can see it from here.”

Angie leaned over Azri to look out the window. He rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. Donovan pointed out a tall black spire among the skyscrapers. “That’s him. Enoch Industries.”

“Wait, he runs that?” Angie blinked in surprise. “I’ve heard of him.”

“Of course you have. He builds everywhere. That’s the one thing he’s good at.”

“Mechanex was one thing. I don’t think we can take on something like that.”

Nymph had their eyes closed. “There won’t be much choice, I’m afraid.”

xxxXXXxxx

Chris peered at the car in front of him intently. “I wish I knew what they were talking about…” Now he sort of wished he’d let Azri sit with him. Anyone to talk to was better than silence.

The passenger door closed with a soft tap and Chris jumped in surprise. “Just keep driving,” Sybil said softly, looking out the front window. “You know, as soon as the other cars start moving.”

“Jesus- what the hell are you doing in my car?” he exclaimed.

“I’m Sybil. We met at the party last summer,” she explained to him calmly.

“I know who you are,” he hissed. Though he wasn’t sure why they were being so quiet. “Why are you in my car.”

“Callie sent me. She needs your help rescuing her.”

“Rescuing Callie?” Chris asked in confusion.

“No, you’re mother.”

His expression turned stony. He tapped at his phone in its dock on his dash. “Let me put Angie on speakerphone.”