The gunman was certainly skilled, but the Apostle felt no fear. Humans were so very frail. Their bones broke at the slightest blow. Their wounds took weeks to heal.
They were slow, and weak, and pathetic, like stars next to the sun. Still, this man was very skilled. He managed, if just barely, to fend her off. He even got in one good slice at her face, narrowly missing one of her eyes, drawing an angry hiss from Cain. Normally a gash like that would have chased him away, but he remained in her mind this time, though she could feel him straining against the instinct to flee from the pain.
Pressing the gunman back hard, she whipped her blade through the air so fast that it whistled. She scored hit after hit on his arms, his legs, and his chest. She could see into his heart and soul with the powers that Cain had bestowed upon her, and he did not have a shred of fear that she could use against him.
“Beaten by a girl,” the gunman muttered as he blocked a slash with his pistol
barrel, and danced aside. His wounds were not even slowing him down. He was
amazing. She wanted him. She wanted his memories and everything that he was to become a part of her as had those of the man she’d drained of blood. She began salivating at the very thought of it. It was a pity he likely wouldn’t survive it. She could use someone with his skills.
Despite his lack of fear, and his extreme skill, the Apostle slipped through his defenses and ran him through. He folded forward, crashing into her. Despite her superhuman strength, she was an extremely light individual, and his superior weight pressed her down to the catwalk. Her armor grated against it as she twisted her blade in him, to be sure of the kill. His blood poured over her hands and began seeping through the gaps in her armor. Just the smell of it made her shudder with the pleasure of what was to come. Something deep inside of her craved his blood more than she had ever craved anything before. She had never felt an emotion she could not control, except that last time she’d drank the blood of a human. She could not control her craving now.
Jerking the gunman’s head aside, the Apostle plunged her fangs into a bulging
vein. He drew in breath sharply as his blood began to flow into her. Again she seemed to fall into his very soul, immersing herself in ecstasy beyond reason. She felt the burning pain of her blade in his belly, and the feeling of his life leaking away. His memories began to flow into her, and she saw the man that Cain had ordered her to kill.
Go now, Cain bellowed in her head, crushing the pleasure of drinking human blood. Kill him!
The Apostle felt Cain take control of her and toss the gunman away, over the
railing.
Screaming in the agony of having her connection to the man broken so forcibly, the Apostle was jerked to her feet by Cain’s power. She felt it coursing through her, pulling every part of her tight. Having her mind ripped away from his so abruptly was like being torn in two. Her consciousness wavered, on the verge of shattering, as Cain pulled at her. Her back arched and her joints popped as he tried to pull her limb from limb.
You can indulge your sick pleasures after you’ve finished my work!
“Yes,” she managed.
Then go. Kill him. Now!
“I obey,” the Apostle gasped as she was abruptly dropped on the catwalk face
first. She could see the body of the gunman floating in a spreading cloud of blood in the water below.
It took several tries to work up the strength to get back to her feet. Retrieving her sword from where it had fallen, the Apostle started around the inner ring of the catwalk toward the place where the man Cain wanted dead would be waiting. Her body was sluggish from the violent way her connection to the gunman had been broken. Her muscles were weak and watery, and she felt as though she was going to be sick. Her joints would not bend properly, and she could only manage a slow shuffle.
Glancing toward the silvery sphere, the Apostle realized that it seemed to reflect everything but her. In her place, Cain watched her with unblinking eyes, shooing her on her way with his hands
The Apostle set her jaw, biting down hard to keep herself from grinding her teeth and forced her sluggish body to continue. A ghost of the pain she’d felt earlier shot through her body, and Cain began laughing maniacally in the recesses of her mind. She had to find some way to free herself of his influence.
Something shot down her spine like an electric shock, causing every muscle in her body to contract and freeze. Unable to breathe, the Apostle realized that she was trapped far deeper than she had first thought. Cain couldn’t just control her thoughts and actions.
If he wished it, she would drop dead on the spot.
You are mine. It is time that you learned who made you, and whom you were meant to serve before you drew your first breath. You cannot plot against me. I know your thoughts better than you do. You will learn who holds your leash my little wolf, and you will never be free of it.
“I will be free one day,” the Apostle growled as the tension in her muscles loosed.
“And then you will feel this wolf’s bite.”
Cain only laughed.
Chapter 41: Sacrifice
Looking up at the sound of gunshots, Gabriel couldn’t quite tell where they’d
come from. The crackling of electricity above and below the black hole, as well as the acoustics of the cavern made it impossible to say which direction they originated.
“Look back at the screen,” Allie said. “I cannot see what I am doing.”
More shots sounded, and then there was as much silence as was possible in the
containment area.
“Marius seems to have found her,” Allie said. “Now look back at the screen. I need to finish.”
Looking back at the console, Gabriel winced as the distortion around the black hole bent his surroundings, making his stomach heave queasily. He was going to puke if he had to watch everything distorting much longer.
Once again his fingers began to fly over the keyboard with a life of their own.
Impatience weighed heavily as seconds ticked by. He could practically feel the Apostle sneaking up behind him as a sense of urgency began leaking through from Allie. Though she had once been human, she was a computer now, and Gabriel found the thought of a computer feeling emotion rather strange.
Tapping his foot nervously, he watched his hands fly over the keyboard with a
speed he never could have imagined. Despite that, it felt far too slow for comfort with the Apostle prowling around, and him unable to look away from the screen while Allie worked.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a black-cloaked figure coming around into
view from behind the sphere. Her image stretched and bent into it as she used the railing to shuffle along. There was blood all around her mouth.
Seeing her was like seeing the great judge of all man’s sins approaching the
pulpit. He’d killed so many people over the last few days, first to rescue Sam, then to put Allison out of her misery, and fight his way to the coolant duct that led him here. The need to be judged for those sins weighed heavily on him.
The Apostle slowly, doggedly continued her inexorable approach, one hand on
the railing to keep herself upright, and the other on the hilt of her sword, which dragged on the catwalk beside her, drawing sparks with every step. As she hobbled slowly along, her cloak fell away, showing gray streaks of lead on her breastplate where Marius had shot her. Her armor was a lot stronger than Gabriel had expected it to be. Blood dripped slowly down it. At least Marius appeared to have wounded her.