Bloodlines: Severed Ties

Chapter 38: Run

Zalla nearly broke her own door off it's hinges on her way out. The group followed her, all pouring into the narrow hallway of the residential area. The guest rooms were just down the corridor, but they had left nothing there. Only the recently cleaned room, and a couple of awkward conversations.

The residential area was nearby the main square, which was where Sirius was. They had time to stop by and rescue him, but Zalla was on strict orders. Over the phone, Sirius had told her to get everyone else out, that he would meet her at the agreed location afterwards. He assured her he would be ok.

But she couldn't help but feel like she had to save him. All her life that's all she had been trained to do, save everyone. Be perfect. Be the strong hunter her parents always wanted her to be. Any mistake was frowned upon, and deviation from the Hunter life a sin.

Yet, Zalla knew how to follow orders. Orders came above everything else.

"This way," she grunted out, turning to her left. They started running down the hallway, their foot steps echoing against the brickwork.

"I thought you said this place was impenetrable," Darian called out from behind. Glancing around, he saw other hunters had the same idea. All were running in the same direction. There was no fear in their eyes, only determination. It was something they had all faced in their life, this type of danger. Just another day, right?

"Under normal circumstances, yes," Zalla shot back. She was in no mood for Darian's poking and prodding right now. He could make fun of her later, given they all survive tonight.

"If I recall correctly," Aliyah butted in, "building upwards is inferior to building down, based on a strategic standpoint."

Zalla gritted her teeth together. She hated having her own words thrown at her, but now wasn't the time to pick a fight. Instead, she powered through, leading the group to the stairs that would ascend to the main platform upstairs.

They wound up the stairs, Zalla taking them three at a time. At the very top she paused to look down at the group, seeing a small huddle of hunters accompanying them.

Good, she thought, looks like everyone made it out. Almost.

She looked across the platform, towards the descending staircase. They still had time, the vampires aren't here yet. Looking around, Zalla saw the pile of empty crates and boxes from their most recent supply haul. Without skipping a beat, she lunged at it, grabbing as many as she could and hauling it over towards the downward stair case.

"The hell are you doing?" Darian puffed at the top of the stairs. The hunters behind them were streaming forward, climbing up the stairs on their way to freedom. Where they would go, no one knows. But one thing was clear.

The hunters were divided.

"Blocking it off. Are you gonna just stand there or help me?" Zalla grunted. She had about 70kgs worth of crates in her arms, and not enough room to give a crap about being civil. They needed to delay the vampires and make sure everyone made it out alive.

"Can we at least grab our weapons first?" Darian huffed. Zalla paused for a moment, before nodding a stern yes. She then jerked her head towards a chest, and once Darian opened it he saw not only their weapons but the weapons left behind by the hunters.

"Hunters fleeing from vampires. Never thought I'd see the day..." Dirella muttered. Truth is, it had been a long time since she had seen the hunters and their political system. But very clearly they had moved from a solid united people to individuals. No team work, rather soloist survival.

As he grabbed a crate and turned around, Darian noticed someone was missing.

"Hey, where's Sylvia?" He asked. The group paused, turning to look at one another. Darian looked at Aliyah, and saw panic across their face.

"She must have gotten lost..." Aliyah said.

"Yeah. Right," Dirella retorted. She knew where Sylvia was. After everything that had come to light, she knew Sylvia couldn't just leave the Sigil. No, she was going to need answers.

"I will go after her," Aliyah said, tearing off down the stairs case. Darian went to follow, but was soon blocked off by Dirella.

"Darian no. We need you up here," she said. Darian looked around her, watching Aliyah run off. He couldn't help but feel a little bit replaced by Sylvia's non-binary toy, but also trusted Aliyah to get to her and bring her back safe. Instead, Darian started heaving more crates.

***

Truth is, Sylvia had no intention of running straight to the exit. As soon as they exited Zalla's apartment, she watched while the others ran to the left. Instead, she slowly paced to the right. Hunters flew past her, offering only a confused side eyed glances as they ran. Confused at why this small woman was so calm, and walking in the wrong direction.

But Sylvia knew exactly where she was going. As soon as Zalla had announced they were to abandon ship, Sylvia knew this would be a prime opportunity. With all of the hunters fleeing, including his own personal body guard Zalla, that left Sirius open for... Negotiation.

Sylvia wanted answers. She had found out too much during her short stay at the Sigil. Hell, she hadn't even been here a day and she had found out that not only did the Hunters have a peace treaty with the Vampires, but were actively working with the blue eyes. Worst of all, it had been the Hunters to tell the vampires where the Trellom's lived, kickstarting Sylvia's whole down spiral of a life.

Sylvia slowly made her way to the main courtyard. She felt calm, collected, without a shred of doubt in her mind. It was completely deserted, as she expected. Save for one person.

James.

"Sylvia, didn't you hear? We have to evacuate immediately," James called out. Sylvia saw him bending over a crate, loading it onto a cart that was behind him.

"I heard. What the hell are you doing though?" She asked, walking up towards him. As she walked closer, she saw all the crates in the cart contained documents. Hundreds of them, all piled up.

"My father refuses to leave everything behind... I told him we didn't have the time but... He wouldn't listen," James sighed. Sylvia looked towards the door, the door that Sirius sat behind. Even now, he was jeopardising his own family to remain the leader of the hunters.

Sylvia and James both froze as they heard footsteps coming towards them.

Click.

Clack.

Click.

Clack.

The steps echoed off of the walls. In such a tiny space, noise carries for ages. But this noise, it wasn't a casual stroll. No, these were deliberately loud footsteps. Sylvia had heard nothing before them, no indication that anyone was down here besides James, Sirius, and herself.

Staring into the darkness, Sylvia saw the dark silhouette of a figure. Indeed, the person was deliberately slamming their feet into the ground, lifting their knee high before driving it back down.

Click.

Clack.

As the man stepped into the main square, Sylvia felt her heart drop. She felt cold and clammy, nausea overcoming her. She had seen him like this before, yet it still had such a visceral effect on her.

It was Anthony.