Hillman Compound
[COLOR=Red]Located in the industrial district, along the waterfront were 2 miles of nothing but warehouses. Some of the larger warehouses were fifty thousand square feet of storage and some were filled to capacity. On the south end, standing pristine and new, was Hillman compound, known formerly as Hillman, Inc. This is where the multi-millionaire stored his luxury items, docked his yachts and kept his precious things hidden away.
The warehouse itself was made of concrete and boasted security guards around its surrounding electrical fence. No one could come within 500 feet of Hillman, Inc without being thoroughly accosted by a gruff looking security guard with bad breath.
State of the art security and fifty cameras surveyed the premises. There were four check points and one main entrance. The surrounding warehouses have been bought and cleared out by Hillman, Inc and not a soul interrupted whatever went on down on the south end of the docks.[/COLOR]
The blast from the pen bomb decimated poor Terrance Hillman. The explosion caused a sizable hole in the wall where he was impaled and blew the walls of the room out. In the corridors leading up to the beast's final resting place, the walls buckled but one blew inward.
That wall happened to be the one connected to the explosive storage room.
The intense sudden heat engulfed the room and the boxes of explosives. One by one, smaller explosion erupted. The heat in the room grew with such intensity, it melted the c4 connected to the charge the the rogue vampire Alec had set.
One huge, magnificent explosion ripped level ten apart, sending its flames down the corridors, scorching the steel and buckling the foundation. It travelled down the hallways like a demon, searching out oxygen to feed it. It rippled the steel floors and blew in the doors till finally it reached the elevator shafts.
Blowing in the steel doors, the explosion travelled upward, melting, scorching and setting fire to everything in its path. Eating away at the framed foundation, seeking out fresh flesh to burn.
It didn't really help though.
Scrambling to his feet, he jumped up and pushed out the emergency hatch door. 'Let's go, let's go let's go.' He reached down for Ellis and hoisted her to her feet with Simon. It was only a small jump for the 6'2 man but he grabbed the ledge of the opening and pulled himself up and out. Even from here, he could feel the heat and hear the small explosions beneath him.
Reaching back down, he stuck his hand out for Ellis to grab. With a goofy smile, Ellis allowed herself to be pulled up and out into the elevator shaft. Simon followed quickly behind her, shutting the hatch just as another explosion rocked the shaft.
'Looks like we're in between levels four and five.' He looked around and found a recessed ladder. He pointed to it and Simon nodded. Kyle looked at Ellis who was standing on her own feet now. Good enough.
Then Kyle ascended the ladder.
'Was I not suppose to click it twice?'
'WHAT DID SHE SAY?' Ellis had double clicked the timer, shortening the detonation down to thirty seconds, most of which was wasted talking in the elevator. The explosion knocked the cameras on that level off line, but she caught enough to see the flames. That fire was going to find its way out.
She was about to tell Simon to go up the shaft when she saw on the elevator camera that he was already climbing up and out. The explosion vibrated up the shaft and knocked out the sensors, so she was blind but not deaf.
'Simon you need to move fast. You heard Ginnie and Alec. We can't really control the explosives if we let them go. Y'all might...it might all fall in or it might blow up and OUT.'
'You know Carol, you keep saying that like I don't already know it.' Inwardly he grinned, despite the all too certain death. His humor was lost on Carol.
'ATTITUDE!'
The last explosion blew the elevator doors in on nine and eight. The steel crumbling from the heat and force it was hit with. All three looked down from their vantage point and then continued on quickly to the third level.
'Carol we're just about to level three, how's it looking?'
Just then, the elevator door for blew in for five, then six.
'Oh god its moving fast.'
Indeed it was.
'It's clear up to you at level four now. I've never seen anything like it.'
Levels nine, eight, seven, six, five and four roared with fire. The demon slithered across the floors and ceilings, dripping metal at its touch. With a mangnificent roar, the demon leaped fully into level four, killing those who were trapped inside. It was if it was seeking out life, to extinquish it with its wrath.
Evil had caused this fire infested demon to live and it wanted out.
This fucking sucked, Ellis thought as she pulled herself up the rungs.
Reaching the third floor, the explosions seemed to have slowed down but so had they.
'Can we make it to the top from here?' She looked down, queasy at the site of flames licking up the walls towards them. Suddenly the second floor door above them exploded open and the steel door narrowly missed them as it fell back down to the fire.
'I'm going answer my own question and guess no.'
She motioned down to Simon, pointing at the third level elevator door beside them. Ellis pulled herself away from the ladder to find the emergency handle to crank open the door. Finding it she pushed with all her might and just barely got the mechanism to move, the elevator door creaking open slowly. The last bit of her vampire strength extinquished, none too happy about the sudden effort.
Ellis whistled up and got Kyle's attention, who reached over and put his hand in between the doors, pulling on one end, forcing the opening even bigger. Slowly, Ellis precariously leaned off the ladder and squeezed through the opening. Both men followed suit.
She thought to herself, that should be easy...right? When her camera link to the floor blew out, she decided she would have to reconsider that thought.
Out loud she decided, 'Next time, I'm choosing a business partner a little more wisely...say Sorin.' For sure these humans were just too much trouble to deal with.
Kyle looked back at Ellis who had fallen behind Simon as she muttered something about business partners. Simon, who had taken lead stopped suddenly and turned to look at Ellis. Kyle slowed his steps, watching the expression on Simon's face.
It was one of those looks again. You know, the one that said that one thing, only this time it was two words.
Deep shit.
'Next time, I'm choosing a business partner a little more wisely...say Sorin.'
Simon looked at her. Even in the fire, with sweat and smoke, she was radiant. The look on her face though, it was laughable. She genuinely surprised by his reaction to what she said. He could see it. All these years, he was nothing to her but a means to an end and she would discard him for Sorin if the pot was sweet enough. Oh she'd let him hang around, run her clan, keep them out of trouble but that's all he'd be.
Her butler.
Simon reached into his ear and pulled out his com link. He reached out and handed it to Kyle who curiously took it. Taking Kyle by the arm, he started to walk him off.
'Go to the surface. Now. Tell Carol.' He nodded to the com link and turned back to Ellis. Only in his hand now was his gun and what he did with it, surprised the hell out of even Kyle.
'Simon, come on...' She huffed, rolling her eyes. Seriously, this jealousy shit was just too much.
She started to walk towards him, just as he told Kyle to go to the surface. Glared at Simon. 'What the fuck are you d-...'
Ellis, in her annoyance, had not noticed Simon pull his gun. Nor did she realize fully what he intended to do with it until after he had done it. She was inches from it when he squeezed the trigger. The force of it propelled her back about ten feet. Her vampire strength and resilience gone, it shocked her into silence.
She laid there. Dumbfounded and bleeding. Ellis, flat on her back coughed up blood, much to her dismay. Her blood lust had robbed her of her strength and apparently her dignity. The wound hadn't killed her but the pain was just short of getting kicked in the head by a pissed off mule. She tried to sit up but her lungs caught on fire, causing her to cough more.
Simon stood there, in the same place, looking at her as the inferno creeped up onto the third floor.
Rolling over to her side, she half sat up and looked at him. Touching her chest, she felt the bullet wound, dead center of her breast bone. Oh, that's why she couldn't fucking breath now.
'You fucking SHOT me.'
'Simon?'
No answer. Suddenly she heard foot steps again, pounding on the floor and breathing.
'Simon.'
The moaning of the structure surfaced through, but still no response from him.
'SIMON!' She yelled as loud as she could.
Again the fluttering and a voice chirped through.
'Kyle, what the hell are you doing with the mic and where is Simon?'
He by passed small fires and hovered low as the smoke gathered around him, causing him to cough. He finally released the com link into his pocket, just ask Carol yelled into it.
Scrambling, he dug back into his pocket and pulled it out. Not slowing down, he looked at the odd black thing and stuck it in his ear. If was soft and fit perfectly.
'Kyle, what the hell are you doing with the mic and where is Simon?'
He stammered, not sure where the microphone was suppose to be. 'Uh...with Ellis. Can you hear me?' Dodging red hot steel patches and waving through the smoke, he continued his path across the compound.
Shit.
And they were still down in there? Hopefully they had their wills in order.
Wait. Who the fuck was Kyle?
Wait, who the fuck is Kyle? Does he know about the minefield we set? Do you know about the minefield Val set outside the exits? And what do you look like so we don't shoot you in the face?
"O great Al.. you've got yourself in a situation again"
Roling her eyes at herself she couldn't help but smirk at the situation, wasn't this wat she had been looking for? adventure, family? maybe... maybe she should go and find someone, maybe one of her fellow clan members needed her help? wait.. they didn't even know her yet... she only met the person named Carol when she got inside the Domicile..
Deciding to stay put for the moment she stayed in the shadows, visible for those who wanted to see her.
Damn you...MOVE!! he thought to himself
Mathias heard a voice praying to Saint Jude,patron of desperate causes and impossible situations. It took him a moment to realize it was his voice. We may be damned, Mathias thought, but this is most certainly a desperate cause.
" ..... Make use I implore you, of that particular privilege given to you, to bring visible and speedy help, where help is almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need, that I may receive the consolations and help of Heaven in all my necessities, tribulations and sufferings, particularly your request and that I may bless God with you and all the elect forever.... "
"Run...come on...."
The fire finally reached the third floor and an explosion down the corridor from where they had came rocked the level. There was a loud, painful groaning and the floor began to tilt. The corridor was dead center of the level and, like the other levels, connected the massive floor platform that led down to the beast's lair which was now so engulfed in flames that the metal had melted the foundation. The room beside them on his left suddenly started to slide off, the wall tearing apart and revealing the gaping hole of the melted center.
The structure was caving in, causing both Ellis and Simon to slide directly into it.