UNEDITED, NOT PROOF-READ!

Chapter 31 PART I

"I can't believe you're making me do this." Finn grumbled from next to me, shoulders hunched with his hands buried deep into his new military jacket. The air was cold and damp as we all stood around the corner to the large warehouse Chris was claimed to be currently in; the twenty three men who had accompanied us running around and shouting orders.

I rolled my eyes at his antics, checking my gun barrel and insuring that the chamber was clear before clicking the safety and placing it in my holster, "I can't believe you're actually wearing that."

"Yeah well, sorry I'm not into your weird Earth style yet. Besides I'd rather not be. Earlier I saw a woman walking down the street with trousers the same size as her underwear. Honestly, you're saying that this is worse than that?" He replied, gesturing to his rather steam punk looking outfit of a long black military coat over a loose neck brown tunic of sort and thin trousers which ended in combat boots, "Besides, you're one to talk. What on Ecrim are you wearing?"

"Rule number one, magic man; never let them see your face. It'll only come back to bite you on the arse later on." I explained in reply while opening the boot of one of the SUV's, pulling out the overly large wooden crate, "Come on Captain Jack, we've got work to do."

Making my way to where Cody and a small group of men were all gathered around the blue-print of the building and muttering amongst themselves, I placed the crate down with a thud. Popping off the lid, I carefully removed it to reveal the lines of porcelain white masks set in polystyrene supports, "I found these at the local drama school. Thought they'd work considering our lack of time."

"And you expect us all to wear one of these?" Cody asked, picking one up from the box and inspecting it, "Are they really necessary? They're a bit..."

"What?"

"I don't know...  There's something about them that doesn't sit right with me. They're so emotionless." He replied, turning one to look at the plain interior. I rolled my eyes and started to remove them from the packaging; passing them amongst the men and instructing them to not take them off until they were safely back at the cars

"They're kids' masks Cody, calm down."

"And you trust him?" He asked, nodding towards Finn who was busy staring at an over-head holographic billboard advertising STD's in awe; completely unaware of his surroundings.

I forget he lives in practically the dark ages...

I shrugged, turning and facing the Irishman fully, "...no."

"Then why are we doing this? Why risk it?" Cody replied frustrated, trying his best to keep his voice down. I didn't bother to turn, and just continued to stare at the mysterious man who stood but a few yards away. I supposed that the reason of having a feeling wouldn't be enough for Cody, nor was the fact that I was contacted by the magic man's wife and daughter who seemed like nice enough people. So I found the next truth. The thing driving me the most in this situation; which I had been hiding as best as possible.

"... Because I'm terrified. And this is the first lead we've had. I've lost so many people I care about, Cody. I don't want to lose Christopher. Not now. Not when it's just starting. Plus, why would he lie? He's new to this world, heck he didn't know what a toilet was until a few weeks back. We had to sedate him to get into the car which drove him here because he thought he was being eaten by a metal demon. That's why I believe him. Because he is so hopelessly ignorant." I explained, only glancing at him once during the reasoning. I didn't want to admit it, but if Chris did end up to be dead, I would be devastated; and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why it was as such a level of importance to me he was still alive.

Silence followed shortly after my mini confession, Cody's realisation that I was actually scared taking him slightly off guard. However a few seconds later, he sniffed loudly, "Right, well then... let's not keep the Luna worrying for much longer, eh?"

Thanks, Cody.

"...I thought I wasn't Luna 'Yet'?" I mumbled back, glancing up and smiling slightly through my worry while referring to our conversation a few days back. At least he wasn't pressing on the obvious weakness I had shown.

"I'm willing to acknowledge it for now." He sighed, a small teasing smirk appearing on his lips by the end of his sentence.

I let out an unladylike snort in laughter, "How considerate of you."

"I know I'm amazing."

Shaking my head I quickly turned and went on my tippy-toes to peck him on the cheek, "Survive this for me alright?"

"I've made it this long haven't I?

I rolled my eyes at his antics, falling back on my heals and shifting my bow into a more comfortable position on my back, "True. Who would have thought that Earth would be this bad, huh?"

"Ha!" He barked, turning and grabbing two guns and extra clippings of silver bullets from a duffle bag on the floor. "This is nothing compared to Ecrim believe me. Now that place, ugh I've still got nightmares."

It took me a moment to register his words before what he said hit me, causing my eyebrows to furrow as he stood back up and checked the chamber on one of his guns, "What do you mean? You haven't been, have you?"

"What? Chris didn't tell you?" He asked in confusion, his head cocking to the side slightly at my question. I was sure that Chris had said...

"No, tell me what?"

He stepped back slightly to turn to me fully, "That--"

"Danny!" A voice suddenly cut across, one of the soldiers running up to us who I had acquainted during the training. Why is it, that whenever something important was about to happen someone had to but in and intervene? Honestly... "We're in position. Everybody's ready on your word."

This is it...

Glancing at Cody, he mouthed 'later' which I nodded to with a look of you better before I took a deep breath and rolled my shoulder. We're coming Chris.

Looping the string of the mask over the back of my head I fastened it accordingly before pulling up the hood of my Harking Coat and adjusting my bow, "Right then... let's do this."

"After you." An Irish voice suddenly piped up out of nowhere, honestly scaring the crap out of me but I managed to only show it from the sudden closure of my eyes.

"Ever the gentleman." I shot back sarcastically once I recovered from my shock, turning and glaring at the tall blank masked man as we quickly made our way to the front of the warehouse, making sure to keep hidden until the all clear was given.

His mask lifted slightly which showed that he was smiling from underneath, "But of course."

"Stand by."

"So remind me again what this place is, exactly?" I asked Cody, as the three of us and a further group of seven covered the front exit; waiting for confirmation from the side team. We had the seven of us coming in from the front, four in the rear, six on the roof, four back at the SUV's in order if we needed a quick getaway and two coming in from the side entrance. After pulling a few strings, Cody had somehow managed to get the blue-prints of the building and acquire thermal imaging scanners; meaning we could see everything that was going on back at the cars.

Got to give it to him, the man could take initiative.

"It's listed as an abandoned slaughter-house.

Almost laughing at the irony of the situation, I shook my head slightly to clear my head, "Of course it is. What about now?"

"Nothing. No one's come up to buy it and I wouldn't blame them. There are rumoured gang-relations in the area and a lot of listed missing people have been spotted within a three block radius. Drug-dens, high murder count; I'm surprised the cops haven't caught on yet."

I sighed, "Well at least we know that if this place does turn out to be a dead-end at least the people were probably murderers... probably. Anyway, what's B teams' status?"

"They should be entering now. We were right about the mind-block though, we've lost communication with the men." One of the soldiers spoke up, as he had a head piece beneath his mask which linked back to the SUV's and basically our HQ for now. Considering that no one could in fact mind link with Christopher, we theorised he was in a place which had been lined in order to block mental communications; sort of like what they had back at the prison in the pack house.

"Alright, switch to coms."

Nodding, the soldier pressed a few buttons on his touch screen device before placing it into a pouch in his uniform. Well I say uniform; everyone was just basically wearing casual dark clothes. Fiddling with my ear-piece for a bit, I finally managed to get it online like everyone else before I gave the all clear to proceed, "B-1, B-5 come in, over."

"B-1 here ma'am, we're moving into position. We've located and dealt with two guards on the eastern perimeter. Scouting the first floor... it's clear. We'll open the door now, over." A voice crackled back through the coms, followed by a few grunts and pushes.

"And let there be light." B'1 muttered from within, as the front door opened and revealed the dark interior of the building.

We all quickly made our way inside in crouched positions, guns at the ready (Or in my case 'bow') as we past the two men in white masks and entered the small front room of the building. "What's the situation?"

"Thermal scan confirms sixty-five life forms in the building, sixty-seven if you count the two guards which we just took out and not including us." The soldier replied, as we all scurried in crouched positions for cover while moving forward. The room was dark (Even darker when the door was quietly closed behind us), but followed the blue-prints we had obtained perfectly; meaning we knew the basic floor plan perfectly. The place was dank and dusty, with birds nesting able to be heard above and groans from the old foundations of the rusty building being a constant worry. I will not be amused if I die from this ceiling caving in on us...

"Anything overly suspicious?"

"Smell could be something." I cut in, my voice sounding slightly muffled as I held back from gagging due to the heavy scent of rotting meat in the air. The four of us came to a crouched stop behind a conveniently placed rotting and dusty box, each one with weapons at the ready as the other three scouted ahead into the open plan floor and through the mangled strip door at the end of the room.

Cody merely shrugged, "It's an old slaughter house, there's bound to be some rotting meat someplace or another; anything else we should look into?"

"Yes sir, we've got a blind spot in a room upstairs on the third floor; nothings coming out of it. No heat, no light, no energy. Maybe it's something we should check out." He replied, looking down at what looked like a tablet and a live stream from the SUV thermo scan. Nifty...

"Alright, concentrate on eliminating the enemy and locating the alpha's group first, anything else comes in second priority. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir."

Chris is the main priority here. He has to return safe. He has to...

Damn, what's happening to me?

He nodded in confirmation as the soldier put away his tablet, "Okay let's move out." 

"Right."

"Hold it." I muttered, grabbing onto the men's shoulders and pushing them down as they began to stand. Watching over the box we were hidden behind (Well more like a crate really), I heard voices coming in through the strip door which caused my heart to jump. The three other guys were shrouded in shadow and were left unseen as a man came through while lighting a cigarette with a match; shaking the flame out as he took a drag of his smoke. Flicking the put out match to the floor, he leaned against the wall and sighed as he seemed to fiddle with something in his hands which I came to realise was a rifle.

Slowly and quietly I took an arrow from the holster on my back and adjusted the bow over the crate so that I had a clear shot but it remained shrouded. Not being able to see properly was a bit tedious, but the glowing nib of the light cigarette allowed me to get a general direction of my target.

I couldn't afford to be compassionate, not now.

Squinting slightly in order to get a more accurate aim, I took a deep breath to calm my heart and head while simutainiously allowing me a moment of concentration before holding it in and pulling the arrow back. After a few seconds, I released my breath along with the string; the second of the two flying straight and true as I heard a slight grunt before a body hit the ground with a thud.

 After a few seconds of silence, it was obvious no one had heard before I slowly stood, "Alright let's go."

Everyone in agreement, we slowly made our way forward and to the body; where the soldier with the tablet stopped and leaned down to scan the man's face. Looking down at the lifeless eyes of the middle-aged man in front of me, guilt started to seep through as I pulled the silver arrow out of his centre forehead, "Who was he?"

The soldier cleared his throat slightly as he shifted on his feet, "Um... his name was Brendon James."

"Who was he?" I repeated, not being able to fully let go of humanity as I wanted to make sure I didn't just kill a completely innocent man.

"...He was wanted for the rape and murder of his twelve year old son, ma'am. You did the world a favour in my opinion."

"Yeah ... It wasn't a favour for me to give." I mumbled in reply, before turning and walking through the PVC plastic which dangled from the door. I couldn't afford to care right now, not if I wanted Chris. It wasn't as if I hadn't done this before. I'd just have to get over it and pray that no one innocent would be killed. Brendon James was a just the start, I couldn't hesitate. Not now.

For Christopher.

"So... what's your plan if dear Alphy turns out to be dead?" A sudden Irish man piped up, as we both ducked down behind another crate before moving forward further into the room.

Leaning around the side of old meat transport cases, I checked if the cost was clear before answering him, "I kill you for being enough of a son-of-a-bitch to lead me to his murdered corpse with hope."

"Yes, but isn't it better to know than to be forever curious?" He replied as I scanned the room, my face dropping from beneath the mask as I realised that there were in fact a group of men patrolling.

Pressing the ear piece into my ear to activate the microphone, I spoke quickly and quietly, "Five ahead; A-team move in. C- team, what's your position, over?"

"C-3 here, moving down ma'am and no sign of the Alpha yet; proceeding to level four, over." A voice crackled in return, as one of the men spoke up about hearing a noise. He got increasingly closer and closer, two men spread out following him while unconsciously boxing us in.

"Shit." I mumbled quietly, slowly grabbing another arrow and making sure I was in the shadows before standing quickly, aiming and releasing the string. The arrow landed its target of the man's forehead; however his grunt of surprise didn't go unnoticed this time as the other men caught on to what was happening.

Before they could switch their safeties off; the rest of our time jumped in with their silenced silver bullets and eliminated the problem, making sure the coast was clear before turning and giving the confirmation. "Five neutralized, sir."

"Good, move up. Commencing to level two." Cody replied, as I retrieved my arrow and wiped it off before following the men up an iron staircase and to a green door led by Cody then Finn the guide. Stopping us with a hand signal, Cody began to turn the doorknob before the door burst open from the inside to reveal a man with a semi-automatic gun. He began to shout for help before a sudden gunshot silenced him and caused him to fall over the railing with a splat to the ground. We all stared at Cody in slight shock before we realised that it was Finn who in fact took the shot; causing him to turn to us before shrugging, "I'm not completely useless. Now come on, they must've catch on by now."

"He's right, let's get moving." Cody muttered, before quickly slipping into the second floor and allowing us room to follow. "Teams, report."

Answers of confirmations returned as we all followed, the room itself shocked me as the place was the complete opposite of downstairs. The walls looked to be reinforced metal and were nothing but long and wide corridor with many turns. The place was brightly light with luminescent lights in the walls and the floor a cold concrete which gave the place a muted feeling.

They must've re-furbished after the original blueprints were made.

After a few minutes of making our way through the maze of corridors while taking the twists and turns given to us by the men in HQ, we came to a stop at a junction due to slight static with the coms, "So... you never answered my question."

Groaning in annoyance I turned to the Marbhán with my face irritated beneath my blank mask, "Listen, I still haven't forgiven you for trying to kill me so if I were you I'd concentrate on taking us to Christopher, capisce?"

"My God, just let it go woman. It was ages ago."

"It was literally three days ago."

He dropped his gun to his side, "What seriously? Damn I wonder why I didn't realise... oh wait I remember; because I was in the f***ing jail cell you put me in."

"Wow, is your wit this high on a daily basis?" I snapped back sarcastically, turning and facing him with my arms limp to my sides.

"Your mum."

I stepped forward in irritation, "That doesn't even--"

"Guys shut up for a minute..." Cody suddenly cut across, effectively temporarily stopping our little quarrel and peaking my irritation. I was already worried shit about Chris; the last thing I needed was this. "Could you repeat that please?"

He continued to speak to his bad static ear-piece before groaning when the lines went dead, "Coms are down. They must've used a jammer."

"Bummer." Finn remarked, earning a glare from both Cody and myself. Alright... we'd just have to trust our allies and make our way forward in the hopes of finding them alive before the others do. Simple...! Probably...

"Yeah, bummer. You know for once could you--?"

"Shh, what was that?"

I faced the Beta, "Cody, I swear to God if you take his side I will--"

"No, I'm serious! Listen..." He persisted, motioning for me to be quiet with his hand before bathing us in silence once more. Sighing, I too concentrated my hearing and tried to pick up something out of the ordinary. For a few seconds everything was silent, and I was about to ask Cody what was with the sudden paranoia before I heard something in the distance. What on Earth...? "...Over there."

Everyone turned to look down the left side of the junction which led to another T junction,  everyone getting their guns ready as we listened to the sound gradually become louder and louder. They sound like giant... footsteps? "Cody, we should go."

"Wait... let's just see." He mumbled back, taking a step forwards and trying to determine what the source was. After a few moments of further footsteps, a distant roar could be heard before the sounds became louder and more frantic along with my heartbeat.

"Cody, now." I hissed, taking a few steps back and readying my bow. Whatever was coming, it didn't exactly sound friendly. And I didn't want to stick around and find out what it was. I just wanted to grab Chris and go.

"...Okay, come on." He replied, turning and beginning to make his way back to us. However, the moment he his back faced the wall a heart-thumping crash echoed through the corridor and a gigantic, grey creature stumbled into the t junction; spotting us immediately and roaring as if on command.

The thing had a small head compared to its hunched over body; its face grotesque as it began running towards us clumsily with its large wart graced feet. Drool fell from its overly large, overly out lower lip as it's bald, loin clothed body raced towards us.

"What. The hell. Is that?"

Cody whipped back around with his gun ready, "No..."

"Shit--"

"TROLL!"

Someone yelled, before the group began to disperse and run from the giant creature. I stood frozen in place for a few moments as the thing came closer and closer; my eyes wide and a tiny voice in the back of my head yelling for me to move but my body not obeying.

That thing... was a troll?!

"Get out of the way!"

"Move it, come on!" Finn suddenly yelled, grabbing my hand and yanking us back the way we came. My feet took a few seconds to adjust, but after a bit of a stumble I began running at the same frantig pace as the man who was dragging me down the halls; away from the monster who was currently chasing us. It took me a moment to realise that it was now just in fact the two of us, and that the others had gone their own separate ways meaning we had now effectively been split up.

This did NOT look good.

"Why is it following us?" I yelled in urgency, my voice laced with fear as I turned while running and grabbed an arrow before letting go of the string. The metal weapon pierced the side of the creatures neck but only slightly, not enough to draw blood and definitely not enough to slow it down. It merely dangled from its thick skin as it ran towards us with a giant club of some kind.

It's like Harry Potter, only real.

"I don't know! Do you want to stop and ask?!" Was his reply, as I continued to shoot arrow after arrow in a hope it would pierce. His skin is like thick leather, it's practically armour.

Turning a corner, we continued to zig zag our way through the building which seemed far bigger than we first thought. "What do we do?!"

"RUN!" I yelled back, as he began shooting at it with his gun. Taking another shot with my arrow, we once again turned a corner only to come to another flight of stairs which looked suspiciously like a fire-escape.

Ah memoires...

NOW IS NOT THE TIME!

"There!"

In agreement we quickly scrambled up the iron rust fire-escape with our heart pumping; and I almost made it to the door had it not been for the sudden crash that unhinged the structure beneath us and caused me to fall on my side. With a screech, I scrambled for the exit and stretched out to Finn's awaiting hand in the doorway. "Come on!"

Clasping my hand in his with a grunt, the structure suddenly broke away from the wall as my arm almost popped out of its socket. I began to breathe even more frantically as I was forced to dangle slightly from Finn's grasp while kicking with my feet to try and get a grip on the wall. My heart leapt into my throat as I attempted to swing my other hand forwards and latch onto Finn's forearm for dear life; my life hanging in the balance as he grunted and heaved before finally managing to pull me over the edge. Kicking as I went, with a slight awkward laugh of relief I dragged myself into the third floor with laboured breath and scrambled into a run once more without a pause, a massive roar following us as we went.

Running for our lives once more, the troll managed to climb the one story structure to the door and rip apart the wall surrounding the entrance before being able to squeeze through the door way. Taking the first left we could see, my legs burned and head began to ache as adrenaline and fear coursed through my veins.

We have to take this thing down somehow--!

"Look out!" I screeched, stumbling to a stop and scrambling for the door on our left as a line of men with guns appeared in front of us. Grabbing Finn by his upper-arm I yanked him into the room just as they began shooting. I heard a slight exclaim from Finn before I turned and slammed the door closed behind us, efficiently creating a barrier between them and me. However, my relief was short lived as a loud bang jolted me out of my skin and caused my body to physically jolt from the force. Slamming my body back I tried my best to keep them out, "Quick get the door!"

Turning to look at Finn properly, I realised he was holding his arm in pain and blood was pouring from beneath his palm. My eyes widened slightly when I realised he was shot, and I began to protest as he came up to the door next to me and pressed against it, "I got this, just find something to block this door!"

Stupid idiot, he was shot!

Seeing my look of 'Are you crazy?!', his body jolted when the door was once again banged on before slamming back into it; his bloodied arm supported with his left hand, "GO! I'm fine!"

Swallowing my doubt, I decided to comply by nodding while quickly pushing away from the constant banging and shaking to attempt and find a cabinet or something. Scanning my first proper look at the smallish room, I faltered slightly when I realised it looked like a lab of some sort; with tables filled with chemicals and machinery scattered across the floor-plan. The main feature had to be the giant mirror which seemed to be hooked permanently into two machines either side of it, while cables littered the floor like a carpet the closer you got to it. However, the central thing that intrigued me the most about this mirror, as I stood frozen in its presence; was that I was staring straight at it, but nothing was staring back.

...It can't be!

"What the hell...?"

It's not possible...

"Danny!" Finn grunted, after a rather heart-jumping bang emanated from the door. "Help me get something to block the door!"

Shaking it off, I turned and ran for one of the many lab tables, "Right."

I began to push the heavy metal piece of furniture with vigour, the contents on top shaking and falling to the ground with a smash as I did. I began picking up pace when I realised that Finn was struggling immensely to keep the door closed to the troops and troll outside, however faltered when I heard a small whisper of a voice.

Danielle Perkins...

"...What?" I mumbled, a sudden force taking over my body as I felt obligated to turn towards the weird mirror. It was suddenly as if something was triggered as the glass began to glow more and more in beautiful, vibrant colours. I stared awe struck as the entire thing began to shine and almost vibrate with power, my over taken body feeling the pull get stronger and stronger.

"It's so... beautiful..."

Suddenly, Finn cried out, "Danny, no--!"

"Oomph!" He grunted, as the door behind him was flung open and he was thrown across the floor only to crash straight into me. We both slightly skidded across the ground from the force before a blinding white took over and engulfed us both.

"Agh!"

Well... f**k

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Imma keep it short!

Woop woop, I uploaded!

Woop woop, We reacha da goalie!

Woop woop, I'm hungry and tired!

THANKS FOR ALL THE SUPPORT YOU GUYS IT MEANS A LOT TO ME! I got a lot of poisitve feeback on my last A/N which I'm so grateful for you have no idea!

80 comments for the next chapter you guys! We can do it! :D

Love you all!

Did I mention I'm hungry?

PEACE! 

Iggy Xx