Jonathan Bond - The Terminus experiment

At first, Marco couldn’t believe his ears. He had taken refuge in the building, knowing that if he joined the battle between the Fratellanza troops and Wake’s vampires, he might be taken out in the confusion. He had stayed just out of sight, willing to let his little brother take down the enemy, but, now, right there was his brother. Talking with the man who had killed Derek.

Marco shook his head, which had begun to ring, a warning sign of another seizure.

Filled with rage, he willed his body to float, and pressed himself forward, in mist form. His pain faded, and his rage grew focused.

The vampire, the one known as Martin de Vries, had his back to him, and Marco concentrated himself toward that point. A meter from the hated vampire’s back, he let his form solidify, bringing his hands into being before the rest of him. Curling his fingers into stiff claws, he jabbed forward with all his strength and speed, set to rip de Vries’ heart from his chest and devour it before the vampires dying eyes.

Except de Vries wasn’t there any more, and Marco’s hands thrust through empty air.

His momentum carried him forward, and he stumbled painfully. With an effort, he kept his footing.

“Clumsy,” came de Vries’ mocking voice from behind him. “Did you honestly think that a deformed thing such as yourself could challenge a true vampire?”

Marco turned slowly, letting his rage build. “You are an abomination, not me. You are a self-hating freak who can’t even bring himself to commit suicide, but instead takes out his self-loathing on his own kind.”

Marco smiled as he saw his words hit home, but De Vries’ voice was calm as he replied. “You are not my own kind. You are nothing more than a rabid beast that needs to he put out of its misery.”

Marco felt a tightness in his stomach as he raised his hands. “Talk, talk. If I’m so beneath you, then have at it. Maybe I’ll teach you what I’ve learned in such a short amount of time.”

De Vries smiled and stepped forward.

“No!” It was Julius, from just to Marco’s left.

Marco didn’t turn. “I’ll deal with you soon enough, little brother. You have a lot to learn about family.”

De Vries, however, had stopped moving forward, and was looking over Marco’s shoulder. With a small bow, the other vampire stepped back.

Marco glanced back quickly, to see Julius standing with a flamethrower pointing directly at him. Behind his brother, Marco caught sight of Warren lying on the floor. Warren looked absolutely normal, and it made Marco’s heart sink to see it. Wake had lied to him. Pakow had lied to him. Warren hadn’t undergone the procedure.

“It’s over, Marco,” Julius said. “You’ve caused enough pain. Both to the people I love, and to the people who served you. It ends now.”

Marco cast one glance back at de Vries, who said, “I’ll not interfere. Sometimes it is best for family to straighten itself out.”

Marco turned to face his brother. “Even when we were children, little brother, you could never beat me. What makes you think you can do it now that I’m stronger than I’ve ever been?”

Julius shook his head. “Stronger?” His voice was soft. “I don’t see any strength in you, Marco. All I see is a craven coward who has always preyed on the weak.”

Without warning. Marco moved. Using his legs to awkwardly propel him across the floor, he managed to move with a speed that surprised even him.

Julius never flinched as he triggered his flamethrower. Marco screamed as the fire consumed him. It felt as if his entire body were being ravaged by a million razors. Through the flame, he saw Julius. and let his momentum carry him forward.

The last thing he felt was the flesh of his brother’s neck part beneath his burning hands.

With a curse, Rachel kicked the still burning body of Marco off of Julius, who lay in a growing pool of his own blood, choking.

Rachel knelt by him, quickly pressing her hands to Julius’ wounds. “Julius?”

Julius managed a tired smile. “Finally beat him at something.” He coughed, and choked up blood.

Suddenly Rachel’s world turned into an inferno, Explosion after explosion tore through the compound, ripping the structure apart.

De Vries was the first to react, as the wall of flame spread down the hall.

The next thing Rachel knew, the vampire had taken hold of both her and Julius and flung them out through the door, Rachel landed, still clutching Julius to her chest, She looked up just in time to see de Vries streak out of the burning building with Warren and Sin over his shoulders.

A ten-meter gout of flame followed them, and seemed to lick at his back like a hungry beast whose prey has just managed to escape its vicious jaws.

Then the flame was gone, snuffed out by the shock wave that followed, a shock wave that caused the entire compound to crumble in on itself.

De Vries hadn’t stopped running. He carried Warren and Sinunu to one of the still functional vehicles and yelled orders to the man driving it. Rachel watched as the two limp bodies were loaded up and the vehicle streamed out of sight. She wanted to be with Warren and Sin, but that would leave no one with Julius.

Nearly deafened by the roaring in her ears, she lifted her head, and called out for help. “He’s dying.”

Within moments, de Vries was there, with Killian on his heels.

Rachel looked up at the vampire. “You’ve got to help him!”

De Vries knelt beside Julius. He studied him for a few moments before doing what she guessed was some kind of magic. Then he looked Rachel in the eye. “I can heal him, but he’s infected now.” He pointed to the blood-soaked ground where Julius had fallen.

Rachel looked down at Julius, who was gazing up at her, trying to speak. She leaned close, and with an effort, she could make out his voice over the shouts of the men around him.

“Rachel, it’s my time. Accept it.”

Rachel looked into his eyes, and knew there was nothing she could do to stop the inevitable. Her heart hardened again and she stood.

“Give me the flamethrower,” she said.

Surprisingly, it was Biggs who handed her the weapon.

She strapped it on and pointed the nozzle down at Julius’ body. He was in pain and would soon change as the virus took control. Rachel stepped back and triggered the flame watching as the man’s body was consumed by the ravenous jaws of fire.

She tossed the flamethrower to the ground, and looked up.

De Vries smiled softly at her. “I know it’s difficult.”