"Ouughh...nnrrahh..." Akio gasped as he suddenly jolted upward.
"Easy..." he heard a familiar voice that sounded like it was coming from a long tunnel. He moved his head back and forth as his vision started to clear. He had been hoping that something had caused him to hallucinate seeing Cassandra before he passed out, but there she was—just standing there, dagger still in hand. How could he have been so stupid? He tried to jump up, suddenly realizing he was tied to a chair.
"Stop! If you keep thrashing around like that you'll reopen your wounds." Her voice was actually dripping with concern. Akio had to mentally shake his head to remember what had just happened.
"You mean the wounds you caused when you stabbed me? Word of advice, psychopath, if you want to successfully feign concern for someone, don't let them see that you were the one who caused the damage in the firs—Uurrghh!" Even talking hurt like hell as soon as his mind was able to catch up with the situation he was in.
"It took us about an hour and a half to patch you up and get those bandages on you. Don't screw up our work," Cassandra shot back. It was as if what Akio had said hadn't hit home with her in the least. But the next thing she said made it seem like maybe she was paying attention after all.
"You should really consider whose side you're on. Think about it; if they so were concerned that I might turn on you, why did they still send you into the field with me?" Her voice was low as if she was really straining to think about it, or just plain disgusted—maybe even both.
"I really am sorry about the dagger, but I couldn't just let you eliminate some of my father's men."
"So that was a lie too, then. If you're working with him, obviously you aren't that annoyed by him. Not only that, but you don't consider him to be just a senile old man—you've been lying to us from the beginning…lying to me!" Akio growled. "So like I said, don't you dare feign concern now."
"Don't get me wrong, I meant what I said. Working with the old man is like pulling teeth, but what we're doing, we're doing for the best."
Akio couldn't help but laugh. "Let me get this straight. The leader of an extremist human hunter organization is stupid enough to believe that working with the very people he's so disgusted with is for the better of their goals? That's rich."
Cassandra inhaled sharply; clearly he had hit a nerve. It was true that she, too, thought it was a bit strange. And, despite being his own daughter, Mr. Thompson was treating her like a lackey—or was lap dog a better description? Either way, she didn't like it.
"At least I'm not expendable!" she shot back.
Akio simply shook his head with downcast eyes, his voice was low and serious. "Oh, you think? Let's start with sending you to an organization with a vampire leader. It's true that we don't hurt people unless it's absolutely necessary, but still, your father didn't know that and I doubt he believes it. Then you've got these guys, vampire extremists. Are you telling me that you really believe that crap about the world they're trying to build actually being better for you?"
Just then the tall man with the dragon eye tattoo struck him across the face, splitting his bottom lip. Cassandra shot out an arm between them, glaring daggers at the man.
"What the hell?! I'm handling this!" Her words made Akio let out a chuckle, soft yet deep, making a pang of fear run through Cassandra's body, and turning her blood ice cold. The laugh could only be described as psychotic.
"Did you really think your fox words would make me suddenly change my mind and betray the company? You may not have any loyalties, Cassandra, but I do." He let out a deep sigh before finally looking up. There was something new in his grey eyes. "I do need to thank you, though. All that prattle made this pretty easy." Just then he sprung up off the chair from his toes.
"Damnit, magic!" Cassandra growled as he took her to the ground.
"That? No, that's just a parlor trick I've been doing for my little sister since she was 3 years old," he explained as he held her shoulders down. "I liked you, I did," he admitted, biting his lip. "But I can't have you hurting my family," he said as he let go of one shoulder and pinched her cheeks to make her open her mouth.
"Nnaaggh... Akio no!" she protested as she dragged her free hand across his face, raking it with her nails. Akio howled as he held his face and Cassandra rolled him off her, allowing her to get to her feet and head away. Akio sighed as he got up to pursue, but he looked back just in time to see he man with the tattoo following. He heard the man's footfalls as he approached. Akio reached into his pocket as he muttered something under his breath. The man grabbed him, hoisting him into the air by the collar of his jacket. Akio swung his right hand, thrusting a knife which burst into flames with a brilliant white light as it stabbed into the man's neck.
"Aaaaaaauuughhhhgooggh!!!!!!" The man howled as he dropped Akio. Gasping to catch his breath he rolled onto his knees.
"It won't kill you, but it will hurt like hell for a while."
As he got up he noticed Cassandra trying to crawl and sneak back towards the elevator. He couldn't let her escape—as much as he hated it, he had to stop her. Springing off his toes he reached up for her arm, pulling her back. He held her with one hand as he reached into his pocket then pushed down just inside her shoulder blade. Cassandra felt her limbs suddenly turn to jelly as she dropped into his arms, allowing him to easily push a small tablet between her lips.
It was a new weapon. He wasn't exactly sure what was in it, but apparently whatever it was would cause all the body's major functions to shut down simultaneously for a painless death. He had reluctantly taken the tablet from Ms. Hinata before going to meet Cassandra. "In case things get... sticky..."
As her body got heavier in his arms he set her down gently, brushing his hand over her eyes out of respect.
He really didn't know why he was going through such measures—she had betrayed and stabbed him. Still, he hated it…he hated what he'd had to do. The man with the dragon tattoo was still trying to put himself out when Akio made a mad dash for the elevator. As soon as the doors opened he darted inside hitting the wall with a thud. "Auughhr..."
Holding his shoulder, he pushed the main floor button. The adrenaline pumping through his body must have temporarily caused his pain receptors to shut down, because as the doors slid open again he could feel a sharp tug at his ribs followed by a feeling of excruciating pain that caused him to fall out of the elevator doors onto his knees. A few bystanders looked at him with gaping mouths. There were a few murmurs of possibly calling an emergency vehicle when suddenly a tall man wearing a black suit and white tie pushed through the crowd. He bent down at Akio's side and helped him to his feet. "Don't worry, Haruka, I've got you," the man said as he started to carry Akio towards the door.
Outside, the stranger helped Akio into a dark blue car then walked around to the driver's side and got in.
"She really did a number on you, huh?" the man asked as Akio held his ribs. "Don't worry, once we get you to where we're going we can patch you up the right way." Akio nodded as he leaned on the passenger side door.
"You must be Ms. Hinata's informant. But wait, don't you work at Chimera Academy? My mom and sister met you during the open house, didn't they?"
The man gave a chuckle. "Yeah, well a man needs to make a living somehow, right? Even if he does work for a secret government agency." He paused for a moment seeing Akio's confusion. "Look, there's still a lot you need to know. By now though, I'm sure you've learned just how important your family is to the progenitor's family."
He wasn't sure if it was the man's words or the pain that was causing his head to spin.
"Right, never mind, we'll talk about that later. After you're fixed up you will be on the first private plane to wherever you want." Akio made a small noise of discomfort before speaking up.
"No, I can't do that. I need to protect Kokona—she's important, right?"
The man nodded. "That's exactly why you're splitting. Cassandra has only seen her once, and with her out of the picture, we're at an advantage. But if you go home, that advantage goes out the window, understand?" His tone was more matter-of-fact than questioning, which told Akio he had better just keep quiet and agree.
The car came to a jolting stop, causing Akio to groan as his head jolted forward and then back against the seat. "Sorry about that, gotta get those damn brakes fixed." He had parked in front of a building that didn't look like much—maybe an old elementary school, or apartments. It had to be one of the company's off-hand locations. The man opened the door and got out, turning to face Akio from the outside. "I'll be right back. Here," he said, tossing a set of keys onto his lap before running into the building.
About five-minutes later the man came back with a vial of dark red, almost black, liquid in hand. He reached into the car and handed it to Akio. "The one good thing about nightwalkers is we are able to use their blood to create regenerating serums."
Akio nodded, taking the vial and lifting it to his lips to drink the contents. It was sour and smelled like a cross between metal and hard-boiled eggs, but as soon as the liquid went down his throat, he could feel his ribs slip back into place. "Grrrraagggghhhnnnaaaaarraa!!!"
Akio's vision suddenly returned to normal, and as he traced his fingers along his rib cage, the man gave a satisfied smile. "Good, now get out of here," he said as he shut the driver's side door. Akio lifted the armrest and slid into the driver's seat, putting the key into the ignition. Next stop? Who knew.