Josh composes himself before knocking on Lionel's door. As he's about to touch the door, an annoyed voice comes from the inside, "What?"
"I got news about the Empress."
Lionel takes a moment to think before he gives him an answer, "Come in."
Josh opens the door and finds him lounging by the table near the balcony, "The Shadow I ordered to follow the elite vampire captain reported to me."
"The captain? You said it's about the Empress."
He mumbles while looking down, "Can't you let me finish?"
"What did you say? Did you just complain?" Lionel glances at him then shift his eyes back to the outside view.
"No. And yes, it's about the Empress. As I was saying, she's finally spotted in Las Vegas. Looks like someone helped Rhine locate her then he dialed someone and gave the Empress's exact coordinates. He also heard her warn the civilians about an incoming missile."
Hearing the word 'missile' causes him to turn his head and pay attention to his next utterances, "She disappeared but the missile followed her, that's what the news said too. The weird thing about his report was Rhine suddenly not moving or even blinking like a statue, the missile was about to arrive nonetheless. So the Shadow decided to keep a distance from the missile- following it to try protecting her. It really seemed like she's the target."
Lionel lets out a sarcastic chuckle, "As if he could do that." Despite the attempted attack on Milla, he's still indifferent about it, "Is she dead?"
"No."
He shrugs, "Cool, then. Anything else?"
'He's so caring, I want to cry. His future partner will be lucky, not.' Josh nods to answer and swipes his watch- creating a holographic screen, "Here's the news about her."
"What's your take on this? Do you think they're right about her powers?" He stares again at a distance.
"It's possible however I never heard someone having the ability to control things like that. Do you want me to find out the ones responsible for the attack?"
"Right. No need."
Josh is about to leave when he remembers something, "There's one last thing, he saw the Empress leaving with a guy. He couldn't go after them because she's gone too fast."
Not receiving any reaction from Lionel, he takes off until he finally responds- an ominous feeling comes after, "Find their location."
He bows to him a little before leaving the room and proceeds to make arrangements. 'Who could be that guy and why are they together? This wouldn't end well,' he cannot help but sigh.
…
Rhine, one of the suspects for the attack on Milla, is on his way to the temporary headquarters of the generals in Russia. He will not risk getting captured back at Hinchinbrook Island if someone discovers him from the surveillance cameras- watching the Empress. It is beyond his imagination that things will go south for him.
Compared to receiving special treatment every time he visits there, security prevents him from joining the on-going meeting, "The generals are discussing some matters with the world leaders. We were ordered to let you make yourself comfortable in the lounge room while they do so."
They escort him to the room which raises his skepticism towards the situation. Leaving him alone, he feels the presence of a few guards that remain nearby. This never happened before and he realizes they are keeping him there for a reason. He knows where to find the answer so relying on his vampire skills, he waits for an opportunity.
Feeling the movements of five guards and the cameras, he quietly slips outside the room when no one can see him. There are two guards on the left hallway and three guards on the right, they are a little scattered so this will be easy for him. Going to the right, he sneakily approaches the nearest guard while removing his belt and buckling it again.
With his fast speed, he puts the belt over the guard's head and into his neck- pulling him to a corner, one hand covering his mouth, and the other pulling one side of the belt to fasten it tightly. The guard tries to give him a fight and reaches for his gun however Rhine gets it first. Now, he's having a hard time breathing that he focuses on removing the belt until he can no longer stand and his hands dropping to his side.
Rhine hides the body then puts the silencer to the guard's gun and wears his belt again. Running to the two other guards, he jumps to and off the wall, landing on the guard's shoulder and twisting his head with his legs in the process. The other guard hears them yet before he can pull his trigger, a bullet passes through his forehead, and Rhine dashes to him in order to avoid making any sound.
Still successfully evading the cameras, he runs back to his left with a gun in each hand. Feeling someone approaching them, the two guards turn around only seeing a blur. Too bad they do not notice the two successive bullets coming at them- one for their head and one for their chest. Pulling all the bodies away from the cameras' sight.
Rhine changes into one of the guards' uniforms and effortlessly enters a vent near the conference room. Eavesdropping to the heated discussion between the generals and the holograms of the world leaders. Apparently, they are talking about the events that unfolded in Las Vegas.
"There was no problem. We didn't expect him to fail his mission-"
"Is the mole restrained right now?" One of the world leaders inquires.
The generals nod to each other, "He's in the premises. They escorted him to one of the lounge rooms. What do you have in mind with regards to him?"
"Did you erase all evidence that might connect us with the attack?"
"It's done. There's only one problem, the back-ups of all footage are gone. And we have no idea who has them, our guess is the Vampire Royalties."
"Can they trace it back to us?"
"No. But the mole is caught on some of the tapes. Should we hide him or…?"
"Yes," Rhine feels relief which is taken away from him in an instant. "After he's wanted by the vampires, you'll give him to them. Telling them you caught him then they'll trust us."
'These bastards! After all I've done, f*ck them! So this is your play, that's why I trust nobody. You'll regret this…' He sneaks out of the headquarters, turning his head at the cameras by the gates, and smirks at them before disappearing.
The meeting inside is close to concluding when one of the generals received a message stating: "The Empress will know."
He mumbles, "The Empress will know."
"Do you want to say something, general?"
"The Empress will know. Someone sent me this message..."
"Who is it? Get the location of that number, right now!"
"Yes, sir!" The tracking team figures it out in a span of a few minutes, "It's from the outside of the walls near the front gates."
"Present surveillance."
"Presenting surveillance… No one spotted. Searching."
"There! The burner phone on the grass. Replay all footage near the front gates for the past 10 minutes."
"Replay, 20 minutes."
"Replay, 30 minutes. Stop! Rewind… stop. Zoom in."
"Who is that? Is that a guard here?"
The generals answer one of the leaders, "It's the mole."
"The mole? I thought you apprehended him?!"
"We did. Check surveillance outside the lounge room 24."
"General, there's no one even the guards…"
Grabbing his radio, "Team Alpha and Delta, proceed to lounge room 24, shoot to kill."
"This is team Alpha, we found two- no, three guards on the floor-"
"This is team Delta, we found two dead guards- one without his uniform, both were shot."
"Alpha, come in. Is someone alive?" The general talks on the radio.
"Negative, sir. Hold on, we got a heartbeat from one of the guards. I'll let my men send him into the infirmary right away."
"Good. Both teams, proceed to the lounge room."
"On it, sir." Both team captains respond on their radios.
Alpha's team captain signals the other squad to kick the door open and push forward in, '3, 2, 1, go!'
Getting inside the room, all are in position while some remain outside. Regardless, they do not see anyone. The generals can also see that since they have a live video from the teams' helmets, "Sweep out the entire facility, one team on the inside and the other on the outside."
What they do not know, Rhine is abducted by a single vampire he doesn't see even once before losing consciousness. This transpired after a few minutes of him running away from the temporary headquarters. The question is by whom- an elite guard, a Shadow, or is it someone unknown? And why? Will he gets to see the light or the darkness?