techniques. With an unconscious combatant, it was proving
difficult to force the information he wanted to the forefront of the enemy’s
thoughts. He had to feel himself around thoughts of vague, dreamlike elements.
Kelly
righted himself, carelessly letting go of the gunman’s head. It landed with a hard
thud on the floor. Kelly went to the next unconscious man and stabbed him at
the base of his head.
Viktor
looked out upon the dark corridor. This compound was familiar to him, but he
was not prepared to search door-to-door until he had an exact location for his
wife. On the other hand, time was slipping away and he could bet money on the SWAT
team being moments from charging onto the scene.
Viktor’s
ears perked up and he glanced at his team behind him. The girls and Darksmith
all looked at him knowingly - more men heading in this direction. “Wait here.”
Viktor stared steely-eyed into the darkness as he walked down the corridor.
The
compound structure had three levels. The first level was below ground, a main
storage area and sleeping quarters for the help. The second level was the main foyer,
which led into a dining area, study, and garage. The third level housed the
kitchen and bedrooms. That was how Viktor remembered it from the last time he
was here, five years ago; the first time he met his wife. He didn’t want to go
from room to room, guns blazing, just in case there was a protocol to kill
Audrianna as a means to instigate a cover-up.
Viktor
took a few steps into the darkness before he came across two gunmen. They fired
shots at him – one held a hand gun, the other an AK-47 at full automatic. Right
before the shots came into contact with his body, they were deflected off into
another direction, encountering a mystically-charged force field, projected by
Hell’s Embrace, which surrounded him and protected Viktor from all harm. Once
armed with Hell’s Embrace, Viktor could attack at will, all the while being
automatically covered from all direct fire in this full defensive mode.
Viktor
reached out, held each man by their necks with either hand, and squeezed. Any
officer would only dream of being this close to an unarmed target . The men
fired. Groups of shots hit Viktor’s chest and shoulders, as the men were raised
above his head against the wall with his bare hands.
Eventually
they managed to fire shots at his head, but it made no impact on their current
situation. Viktor, teeth gnashing, eyes coldly intense, continued to squeeze
with a viselike grip at the men’s throat until each man went dead still. He released
them, allowing their bodies to slump and crumble to the floor. He grabbed their
collars and dragged them to the opening of the room where Kelly and the others
waited.
“Anything?”
he ground out at Kelly.
Kelly
responded with a shake of his head, looking down at the knocked-out figure in
his lap with the needle in its head. Kelly, sweat-drenched and fatigued, felt
the strained muscles at the base of his neck. He reached behind his shoulder
and squeezed to alleviate the tension. He looked up at Viktor. “Nothing- yet.
Many of these men were kept out of the loop, probably just hired thugs. At this
rate we’ll be the ones knocked out if we have to brace for more of them coming
at us.”
“Try
these.” Viktor released the men roughly before Kelly. “If you can’t get
anything from them, then we move on.”
Kelly
slapped his palm to his forehead and dragged it up to his hairline, wiping away
the sweat. Looking down at the two unconscious men thoughtfully, he reached
into his back pocket and pulled out what looked like a gold cigarette case. He
opened it to reveal more of the gold-plated needles he used to infiltrate the
minds of his prisoners. He and removed two before returning it to his pocket.
Holding the two men by the nape, he pressed them forward at the waist. They
slumped over, unconscious, the backs of their necks exposed to him. Kelly
stabbed each man with a needle,