Before the Enclave even came to a full stop, Cadence was out of it, her eyes covering the fence as rapidly as a cheetah stalking its prey. By the time Elliott caught up to her, she had already found what she considered to be the weakest point and was scaling the structure, almost to the top.
"What are you doing?" he called from below her, unable to believe how quickly she had surveyed the situation and started to move.
"I'm going in," she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice at having to state the obvious. She popped over the top of the fence, landing between two of the bushes below, not even snagging her jacket on the way down.
Elliott began to panic a bit. "But Cadence," he whispered, sharply, "I didn't think you'd actually go in."
"What?" she asked, using her night vision to identify the path of least resistance in front of her. "What do you mean you didn't think I'd actually go in? What did you think I was going to do? Snap a photo and drive away?"
Glancing up at the massive fence between them, Elliott began to realize he had little choice but to follow her. "No," he said, huffing a bit as he hauled his massive frame up the iron wall. "I thought I'd have a chance to tell you I was bluffing. There's no way you can take him by yourself. I told you, we lose Hunters every time we try this."
Cadence didn't appear to be waiting for him. She was already picking her way through the thorns, carefully moving between them, almost as easily as a little girl skipping through a field of daisies. "Well, I guess I'm lucky I'm not alone then," she said, disappearing into the thicket.
Elliott decided to switch to IAC. "Listen, Cadence, you can't actually be serious. Despite your incredible skill, there's no way you can sneak in there and take out Barbarosa by yourself, or with me, or at all."
"Why not?" she asked. She had one Glock in her right hand and used it to part the thick branches in front of her. Though the thorns were long and jagged, the bushes were not as close together as she had initially thought they would be, and she was able to step through without gleaning too many scratches.
Elliott was not faring so well. He had made his descent and was attempting to follow her, though his larger frame and less agile movements were leaving him with several pokes and pricks. "Come on, Cadence, let's go back and find a nice baby Vampire to play with, okay?"
"Do you have a weapon?" Cadence asked, nearly through the brambles now. He had told her it was a labyrinth, and perhaps it had been at one time, but it wasn't now. She was able to make her own path with little difficulty. One of Cadence's most critical assets was her ability to follow her instinct. Though it had already gotten her in trouble once in her short career as a Vampire Hunter, it had also allowed her to destroy several deadly bloodsuckers. Her feet kept her moving forward, despite the nagging voice of Elliott begging her to quit before it was too late. She had no reason to think that Barbarosa was any more menacing than Holland, Henry, or Carter had been. If she could take them out, this old man should be a piece of cake. And she was almost certain she had the element of surprise. If he had detected them, he had made no move. She was confident she would have sensed him if he had.
"Yes," Elliott answered her. "I have a Glock."
"You got my six?" she asked, imitating all of the tough-guy movies she had watched with her dad.
"Uh, I'm covering you from behind, yes," Elliott begrudgingly admitted. "But I'm still begging you not to go in there."
"Stay as close as you can," Cadence ordered as the building came in to view.
"Okay," Elliott acquiesced. "But I'm gonna go ahead and put in an order for the flowers for my funeral. You wanna go halfsies?"
"He can't kill you," Cadence reminded him.
"True, but Aaron can. And will," Elliott clarified.
Chuckling under her breath and wondering if that were even true, Cadence crouched down beneath the branches of the only tree that seemed to have survived the strangling fingers of the thorn bushes. Up close, the house didn't seem as large as it had from the road. Though it was tall and long, it was quite skinny. This would lend itself nicely to a labyrinth. If Barbarosa wanted as much security as possible, he would be in the center of the house. Anything on either end would be too reachable. Likewise, he wouldn't want to be on the top level where he would have to chance traveling all the way down before he could exit. No, if he was a smart creature, and it seemed that he was, he would be on the second floor, in the area of the house that had the least amount of access points, with an easy exit nearby. Her eyes covered the building quickly, resting on a spot near the center of the house where there were no windows. There was a small balcony about twenty feet to the right, the entrance somewhat obscured. That was her best bet for getting in, finding Barbarosa, and destroying him without being detected.
The balcony was on the second story. There was no fire escape or other ladder, but Cadence didn't need one. She slunk beneath the thorn bushes, catching her hair a few times, knowing her path had to be more direct this time, more precise, until she was just under the balcony. She paused, listening for movement of any kind. She heard a bird in the distance; other than that, nothing, not even Elliott.
In one leap, she bounded over the railing, landing firmly in the middle of the balcony, so lightly that she hardly made a noise. The only evidence that she had even made her ascent was the softly humming squeak of rusty metal, gently caressing the air, from the shift in balance of the well-worn metal railing.
Cadence knew that Barbarosa wouldn't be in the room directly through the door, not unless he had heard her and had come to greet her. Rather, she felt she must enter the room, find a hall, and get into the room next to this one. By the sounds of it, the hall would be a winding one. Standing on the balcony contemplating her next move, she realized there had to be a quicker access point between the two rooms directly in the wall of the room in front of her. She also recognized that there would be some sort of alarm on the door to the balcony. If she took too long to find the entryway into the adjoining room, he would either be on top of her or escape before she could get to him. Unless....
Cadence had seen Aaron enter through her own bedroom window so quickly on more than one occasion that, if there had been an alarm, he said it wouldn't have gone off. Cadence had never attempted such rapid movement before, but she would have to try. If she were genuinely going to sneak up on the monster, she'd have to do so without setting off any blaring horns.
Before she touched the door, she looked at the latching mechanism. It appeared to be locked, but she was strong enough to break through just about any human-made apparatus. This appeared to be a simple lock, not even a deadbolt, and she was confident, when she turned the handle, the door would react as if it wasn't even locked at all. She peered through the glass, attempting to see the wall between the two rooms. A large bookshelf covered most of the wall. "Damn," she whispered aloud. If one of the books were the trigger, she would never figure out which one fast enough. Another idea popped into her head, and she decided it was time to move.
