Nature or Nurture Ch. 14

After the play they introduce themselves to Bruce's friends, collect their weapons and go to the appointed meeting place. As a group, they move stealthily towards the large ship. They decide that Sir Malcolm, Sembene, Miss Yves and the American are to find and destroy the creatures, assisted by Bruce and his five friends.

Six martial arts specialists armed with wooden stakes are quite a force, and they hope to get all of the creatures this time. To cover all exits, Vincent, Victor and Adison have decided they will take the back exit as their entrance. Both groups will have a priest, and both will have quite some fighting power.

Vanessa is glad she has decided to join the expedition, when Dorian called today to ask her to spend the evening with him she was tempted, but she can call on him tomorrow. With a force this size they can clear out the nest with no chance of escape, and if they do get Mina she needs to be there, to reason with her.

Also, she is still fascinated by the doctor and his two friends. Seeing them operate in a fight will be interesting, neither of them looks to be useful in a fight, but she suspects they might be well-trained, especially the pale actor whose strength and quickness surprised them all in the matter of that unfortunate boy.

And then there are the Chinese men, boys really. They are small and wiry, and dressed in loose black trousers and tunics. Their spokesman introduces himself as Bruce, an engaging fellow who also has a role in the play. They are supposed to be excellent fighters, and she is looking forward to observing their style.

She is not afraid, she never is. Her only fears are stagnation and boredom. She expects no danger to herself in such a well-armed group.

The inside of the ship smells horribly of death and decay. Bruce and his team spread out around Sir Malcolm's group, scanning the area for danger. The space is low, as is usual on a ship.

All too soon, they are rushed by the screeching white women of their former encounter, and she can see the boys in action. They whirl and turn, striking with their hands and kicking as well, even as high as their opponents' heads. They are clearly not used to foes that keep coming despite being struck repeatedly, that stand up again and again after being floored.

But they soon adapt, freeing their stakes to put an end to their enemies. There are quite a few opponents now, some men also, who are clearly possessed.

Ethan and Sir Malcolm shoot several, and Sembene also accounts for quite a few. The ranks are thinning quickly, mostly through the efforts of the six black-clad fighting machines, of which Bruce clearly is the star. He is faster than lightning, not staying in one place long enough to even take one hit.

His tumbles and jumps are incredible, he seems to be flying sometimes, always landing on some foe, ready to kill. Soon, there are no creatures standing. Something changes in the atmosphere, it thickens somehow, a feeling of dread is trying to get hold of her. Maybe some spell?

Then suddenly it clears away, and Mina is standing before them.

The fighters regroup behind her own companions, the fighting over for now they'll watch their backs.

Mina reaches out her hand to Vanessa, her expression mild and thankful.

'Dear Vanessa, papa, thank you for coming to save me!'

Vanessa, desperately eager to believe that this is the moment that her wrong will finally be righted, walks towards her, arm outstretched in welcome. But when their hands touch, Mina's expression changes from mild to gleeful.

She pulls Vanessa towards her roughly and takes her in a strangle- hold around her throat.

'Welcome dear Vanessa, my master will be so pleased to finally meet his wife!'

Her eyes are totally black, and she exudes evil. Time slows for Vanessa, and still she isn't afraid, half-strangled and threatened to be given to some evil mastermind.

From where she is held, she can see the reactions of her companions. Bruce and his mates still alert to danger from behind, but also ready to rush Mina on a word.

Ethan indecisive for the moment, probably wanting to shoot Mina but afraid to hit herself.

Sembene is seeing something more than just the two of them, he looks above them. Sir Malcolm looks anguished, and says, 'Dear Mina, we have come to save you, please let Vanessa go.'

She laughs scathingly, and replies, 'Perhaps I don't want to be saved, father, perhaps I'm happy as I am now.'

The look on Sir Malcolm's face changes towards determination. He aims the gun and shoots his own daughter in the shoulder, any shot closer to a vital part as likely to kill Vanessa as Mina. Or maybe he doesn't want to kill his daughter at all.

Despite feeling light headed from lack of air, Vanessa is ready to make a run for it, towards safety. As soon as she feels the bullet-stricken arm waver, she tears loose, and runs towards Ethan, collapsing in his arms.

With six black-clad warriors running towards her, Mina is hit by another bullet from her father's gun, this time much closer to a vital part of her body. She collapses wordlessly, but before anyone can reach her, one of the evil creatures drops down from over their heads, picks up her still shape, and disappears in a wink.

Bruce and his guys find no trace of blood, no sign where they went. He asks Sir Malcolm, 'Sir, do you want to take the lady home? We can comb out the ship to see if we can find them.'

'They're probably miles away by now, you won't find them. But suit yourselves. Thank you for your help tonight, may we impose on you again if we have to go out another time?'

'You certainly may, Sir,' is the answer, 'good night to all of you, and good luck for the lady!'

And with this, they part company.

Bruce and his friends comb out the whole hold of the ship, and finally they find a hidden door that the creature may have disappeared through. They open it, and indeed they find a blood trail, proving that this is the right way to go.

After the main group has disappeared into the hold of the ship, Adison, Vincent and the doctor enter via a hatch in the poop deck.

Descending an narrow stairs, they soon find themselves in a twisting corridor. Walking along, keeping a close watch out for danger from front and back, they move along at a good pace.

'Do we know where we are going?' Victor asks.

Adison answers, 'We keep going to the front of the ship, as we come closer to the creatures I'll probably be able to feel their evil.'

She has her gun out, ready to fire. The others have their weapons readied as well, Victor his gun, Vincent a wooden stake. Silently they follow the corridor over half the length of the ship. Then it opens into a hall, with several doors. Now they have to choose a door.

'Adison, can you pick one?' Vincent asks.

He follows her as she checks out three doors. One, she dismisses outright.

'This one leads down to the engine rooms. They are not in that direction.'

She does not feel a lot of difference between the other two.

'Let's try the middle one.'

As they open the door, sounds of a fight reach them, and they hurry along the corridor towards the noise. At the end of the corridor, they find two doors to left and right, but the fight is clearly straight ahead. So they retrace their steps, ready to take the third door. They open it, and find a larger space, in the right direction. Crossing this room, they hear the sounds of the fight have stopped.

Adison now quietly points them in the right direction, she can clearly feel the evil close-by. They ready themselves for a fight, as they reach another door. But before they can open it, it crashes inward, opened from the other side.

One of the creatures emerges, carrying a body over its shoulder. As it sees them, it drops the body and hurls itself at Vincent with a howl of rage. He is shocked by the evil emanating from the thing, but his reflexes have already taken over.

He catches it with a roll, and launches a kick straight after. They hear it connect, but the creature is not beaten that easily. It goes for Vincent's throat, as if it wants to rip him apart, and its claws do manage to get a hold of him. But two can play at that game, and with one hand, Vincent grabs the creature's armoured throat, with the other, he manages to free his own neck before its claws can do serious damage.

He has only one hand to protect himself from the creature, and one of the thing's claws indeed manages to inflict a serious ripping wound to his chest. But even through the insect-like body armour, Vincent's iron grip is taking its toll on his attacker. The creature cannot breathe freely and loses strength quickly, its one free claw striking again and again, but with less damaging force.

Letting go of the other claw to force an end to a situation in which he is getting ripped by one of the creature's claws repeatedly, Vincent releases its second claw, grabs the thing's gruesome head, and snaps its neck.

As life seems to leave it, he doesn't take any chances, picks up his stake where it has fallen and rams it into the heart with all his force. The stake pierces the body armour easily, and the creature shudders, then dies.

Meanwhile, Adison has checked out the body it has dropped, whilst Victor stands guard. It is a woman's body, and it still has a little life left in it.

As she turns it to face up, Victor says urgently, 'That may very well be Sir Malcolm's daughter, better watch out Adison, she may still be dangerous!'

Noting this, she is extra careful, but she still feels sorry for the stricken woman. She has been shot twice, once in the shoulder, and once close to the heart, probably in the lungs, for her breathing is very shallow. The woman opens her eyes, and they are black. She does not look particularly evil otherwise, but Adison can feel it in her.

She takes hold of the woman's face with both hands, cupping it tenderly. Too weak to resist, the woman doesn't even seem to mind Adison's touch. Looking in her black eyes, Adison speaks a few unintelligible words and kisses her on her forehead. Closing her eyes as Adison kisses her, when the wounded woman opens them soon after, they are no longer black, but blue.

Victor gasps in wonder, still keeping an eye on both how Vincent is faring, and on Adison's safety. 'Did you cure her?' he asks.

'I don't think vampirism can be cured, it is an irreversible process in the body, but I think I have taken the enemy's control off her.'

Having defeated his attacker, Vincent now joins them, and as he sees the woman's face, he exclaims, 'That is the woman I met in the bar, in my former life!'

She briefly opens her eyes at the sound of his voice, and whispers, 'Heathcliff! How..' Then she passes out, the front of her dress drenched in blood.

Looking at Vincent in a reaction to hearing his real name, Adison sees the horrible wounds on his chest. Now they have two people in need of medical attention, and while they have two doctors, something is coming their way.

So with Adison checking out Vincent's wounds, Victor awaits whatever it is, gun ready. Fortunately it is Bruce, with his mates. He quickly tells them Sir Malcolm is already on his way home.

Now he and his friends can guard, whilst Victor checks out Mina's wounds to see if they are fatal. When he touches her, removing part of her dress to see and feel the wounds, she regains consciousness for a short moment, looking straight at him and begging him, 'Please help me.'

He tries to comfort her. 'Don't worry, my lady, we will take care of you.'

And with a last, 'Please don't tell my father that I'm with you,' she passes out again.

Adison has managed to stop Vincent's wounds from bleeding, now she wants to go home quickly to clean them and have closer look at them. She fears infection from the creature's claws, a small anxious part of her suggests they may even be poisonous. But there is nothing further she can do here, so they send the fastest two boys to fetch a cart, and proceed to lift Mina carefully out of the holds of the ship.

Vincent follows on his own two feet, but it is clear he is really hurting now, and Adison supports him wherever she can.

With the help of a hand-drawn cart from the Chinese quarter they manage to move the still-unconscious woman to their home. Victor asks Bruce to stay a little longer, for he may need to operate on her to remove the bullets, and to do that he will need to get her on his table in the attic. The rest of the boys return to their own homes, having promised to keep Mina a secret from everyone but their own Council.