They reached the front of the building, and once again, Cassidy was shocked to see there were no Guardians standing outside. The night before, they were everywhere. “This is so weird,” she muttered.
“Maybe it’s unlocked,” Dax offered, giving the handle a tug.
Cassidy was just about to say that wasn’t possible when the door swung open. “What in the world?” She looked at each of her friends cautiously before the three of them stepped in.
The lights were out, all but a flickering fluorescent bulb down what appeared to be the main hallway off to the left, and it reminded Cassidy of the streetlamp. They couldn’t hear anything except for the irritating sound of the light buzzing. Cassidy looked down the hall to the right, which was pitch black. She could see well enough, however, with her Vampire eyesight. Nothing was moving at all that way.
“What do you think is wrong?” Tara asked.
“I don’t know,” Cass admitted, turning back to the left. “But I don’t like it. I think we should call Aaron and Cadence and get out of here.”
Before the words were even fully out of her mouth a scream emanated from somewhere deep within the building.
“What the hell was that?” Dax asked as several loud crashing sounds reverberated down the hallway.
“I have no idea, but you guys shouldn’t be here. Go back outside, outside of the gate,” Cassidy insisted, taking off in a sprint in the direction of the sound. On her way, she desperately tried to get either Leader to answer on the IAC, but neither was picking up. She tried Elliott, Jamie, even Christian. No one.
She rounded a corner, and at the far end of the hallway, she saw several figures rushing by. They were moving so quickly that, without any light, she wasn’t able to tell who or what they were, but their erratic movement indicated to her that they were scrambling, attempting to find someone or something, possibly an exit.
Cassidy practically flew to the end of the hallway and looked off in the direction to which they’d gone only to see them disappear again around another corner. This time, it appeared to be two men, tall ones, with claws. None of that seemed good. Just as she was about to give chase, another scream cut through the darkness, coming from the other end of the hallway. She went that way instead.
As she sprinted, she tried everyone again and had no results. Out of desperation, she tried Brandon.
“What’s up? Are you back from training?”
“Look, I don’t have time to explain, but I need you to go get my sister, now, and tell her to take my IAC call.”
“What’s going on?”
“Go. Now.”
“Give me visuals, Cass. Where are you?”
“Go!”
“I am.”
She sprinted around a corner and almost lost her footing. At first, she thought perhaps someone had recently mopped the floor, but the stickiness of the substance let her know what it was before she even glanced down.
Blood was everywhere. Her white tennis shoes looked pink as the liquid began to seep up them. The pool she stood in had to be at least half an inch deep, maybe a foot across. The smears continued down the hallway, even along the white walls. Handprints, fingernail marks. This had to be from more than one person.
“What the hell?”
Hearing a voice behind her, Cassidy spun around, careful to keep her footing, her hands in a defensive stance. “Damn it! I told you guys to leave!”
“We heard another scream and thought it might have been you,” Tara explained.
“What the hell happened here?” Dax said, staring around in disbelief.
“I don’t know.” The shattering of glass and an alarm tripping came from the hall to their right. “Go back! Now! I can’t protect you, Tara.”
“I’m fine, Cass,” the girl insisted.
“Visuals, Cassidy!” Brandon screamed at her.
She’d forgotten he was even on. She allowed him to see what she could and ignored the line of obscenities he let out as he saw where she was standing.
“Listen, you two, I’m not kidding. Get the hell out of here. Now,” Cassidy insisted.
“Come on. We should go,” Dax said, grabbing Tara by the arm.
But the Hunter pulled away. “Whatever is happening, I can help. I’m not an infant, Cassidy. If you can be here, so can I.”
Cassidy realized she was wasting time arguing. She was beginning to formulate what must’ve happened here, and the idea of being the sole protector for a new Hunter made her queasy. But it seemed like Tara would not be deterred. Reluctantly, Cassidy took off in the direction of the latest cacophony.
The source of the blood was obvious as soon as she turned the corner. Four Guardians were splayed across the once white tile, their necks ripped open, blood either dripping or squirting from the holes. One of them was making an awful gurgling sound, and Cassidy recognized him as one of the men who had given them access the night before. They weren’t dead, but they were in awful shape, and while Cassidy was fairly certain none of them would expire because Guardians couldn’t be killed by Vampires, nothing would’ve surprised her at this point.
Stooping down carefully, Cassidy felt around the closest Guardian until she found a concealed Glock on the inside of his uniform. She watched as Dax pulled one off of another Guardian. At the far end of the hallway, a woman with much of her neck missing managed to somehow find the strength to swing her Beretta around to where they could see it, and Cassidy grabbed it, handing it to Tara. “Do not shoot any Guardians,” she reminded her friend, who nodded. The fact that only one of the Guardians still had a weapon in hand meant the Vampires had taken the others.
Cassidy read the name tag on the woman’s uniform and tried sending an IAC message to her to see why they hadn’t called for help, but she was unable to gain access. “Can you see my request to speak to you?” she whispered.
The woman only shook her eyes back and forth, as if to signal no.
