Silence In Numbers: File One (34 page)

She crept slowly into the kitchen area, which was small and only separated from the living room / bedroom by one wall. Katsumi’s place really only had three rooms, so there wasn’t a place for anyone to hide. Nothing was in the kitchen, but a couple of the lower cabinets were open, as if someone had been looking for something. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she felt the air grow cooler. Her grip on her pistol tightened as her eyes darted around the small kitchen. The most likely explanation was paranormal; strange dreams, spotting things in the corner of the eye, a sense of paranoia, odd physical occurrences and cold air were all signs of a spiritual presence, which could be as deadly as a living intruder.

Something brushed her calf; a light, faint touch, followed by a strong grip on her leg. She spun around and aimed the pistol down. Her lavender eyes locked onto brown ones and the pistol dropped, bouncing impotently on the tiled floor.

“Do you know what I’m going to do, Miss Samakura?”

“Don’t…”

“I’m going to give a little show.”

Katsumi dropped to her knees, staring into the eyes of the young boy who died in the Square, the final victim of Jerne Kintashi. Why his ghost had chosen to seek her out she didn’t know; he simply stared at her. “Why?” she asked softly. “Why are you here?”

The young boy just continued to watch her. How old was he? She guessed he was five or six at most; she wondered how much he knew about her. Enough to come here, but why? Katsumi could feel herself shaking as the nightmares reorganized themselves in her mind, finally making sense. Her guilt was released in full force as she reached out slowly, laying a hand on the boy’s head. “I was… late,” she said quietly. “It took me too long. I’m trying… Really trying to do better, but I can’t… bring you back,” she finished as she looked away.

The boy stepped forward and she felt him press against her, felt his small arms hug her. Her eyes widened and she looked down at him, slowly bringing her own arms up to embrace him as the tears finally escaped her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He stepped back after a few moments and beamed at her. He hopped backwards as if playing a game of tag, laughing and waving before he started running and disappeared. “Katsumi?” Ayane said softly as she stepped around the corner, spotting her older sister on her knees with tears running down her cheeks. She carefully knelt beside her, brushing her hair from her face. “What happened?”

Katsumi looked at her, smiling despite the tears. “It looks like… forgiveness is possible, after all.”

Things were going well. Katsumi was actually smiling as she took on a backlog of paperwork for once. The city was quiet, with no serious troubles anywhere. Her injuries had healed fairly quickly once she’d listened to Ayane and rested for a couple days. They’d been doing some work with Hitomi, mostly getting her used to what she was and the extra sense she’d never known she had; she was progressing rapidly. And finally (and most importantly to Katsumi), Ayane was spending her last night at the hospital. Tomorrow Katsumi would be going to purchase their new home. If she relapsed, they would deal with it then, but for now everything was looking good.

Which was exactly the time for things to start going wrong. It started as simply as anything could: a single text to Katsumi’s phone. She flipped it open to examine it, expecting something from her sister.

Katsumi was already up and running out into the light rain that was just beginning as she held her phone to her ear, calling M as she sent the message to him. “Get the entire team mobilized, and get them to Garrus Limited! I’m on my way to the hospital!” She grit her teeth, yelling over the link to her sister.
Ayane, WAKE UP, NOW. Someone’s coming after you!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

WAKE UP, NOW. Someone’s coming after you!

Ayane sat up, blinking awake.
Huh…?
The door to her room opened quietly and a masked soldier wearing Blood Angel colors stepped in, raising a rifle. Ayane rolled off the bed as he opened fire and shredded the sheets and pillow. She hit the floor on her knees and narrowed her eyes, shooting her hand under the mattress and withdrawing the katana hidden there, the one that had been a gift from Katsumi years ago. She gripped the blue sheath tightly, standing to her feet after the firing stopped, her eyes a hard glare as she unsheathed the blade.

The soldier blinked in surprise, taking a moment to stare.
Is… that a sword?
, he thought. He was going to question the worth of such a weapon in this age, but questioning anything became something of a problem as his head split horizontally just below his eyes despite his full-cover helmet. Blood sprayed outwards as the top half of his skull hit the floor, followed by his convulsing body.

His ally saw the blood and pressed against the wall for cover, firing at the doorway to catch the girl when she came out, but she didn’t. Instead severe pain shot through his side when the sword was driven through the wall beside him, piercing his hip. He cried out in agony and the girl took the chance to step around the doorway. She used her sheath to knock the rifle from his hands before she grabbed his head, pulling him painfully off of the blade. The last thing he saw was his head being shoved back towards the blade that still jutted from the wall.

Ayane stepped back into her room, yanking her katana from the wall.
I’m alright, Sumi, thanks to your warning,
she said over the link as she flicked the blood from her blade before sliding it back into its sheath. She then took the pistol from under her pillow before stepping back out. She looked back and forth down the hallway, deciding on a direction before four more soldiers appeared at the end of the hallway. She ran two steps and flipped over the desk in front of her room as they opened fire. She sadly noticed the nurse that worked outside of her room lay dead behind the desk; she’d always been kind, and had always allowed Katsumi in outside of normal visiting hours – she’d been a friend. Her sadness fed her rage as she grabbed the rolling chair, shoving it across the hallway. The soldiers opened fire at the movement and Ayane sprinted around the corner, returning fire with her pistol. They were too slow to adjust and two of them went down to bullets before their aim tracked her.

She spun to the side away from the bullets, ran two steps up the wall and flipped to the other wall, gaining distance the whole time before she launched herself off the wall towards them, drawing her sword in the air. As she spun past the remaining two soldiers her blade took the head from one. She landed and turned, dodging a burst of fire from the last one and removing his hand with her katana before she flipped it around and drove it up under his chin and through his head. She yanked it free, letting his body drop as she took off down the stairs. Another soldier was coming up the stairs and opened fire but she flipped over the rail, firing down into him as she went, then landed behind him and continued running as he fell.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There was a very large number of soldiers outside of the hospital, dozens even. Katsumi noticed this as the SIN car she’d taken screamed around the last corner, tires squealing as she kept her foot on the gas and barreled towards the building. It wasn’t a stealthy approach and they all unloaded their weapons on the car, but it was pretty well enforced. Katsumi threw herself down and lay across the seats as gunfire shattered her windshield and windows, tearing apart the tops of the seats and making dozens of dents in the hood. Rainwater sprayed into the car from the newly-opened windows but she kept her foot on the gas and her hand on the wheel, steering the car for the glass doors to the lobby. Soldiers dived out of the way as the dark grey car blew past them, leaving the smell of burning rubber behind as it smashed through the glass doors and sent yet more glass and shrapnel everywhere.

Katsumi opened the door and dropped out of the car behind it as the soldiers inside the lobby began firing on the car. She couldn’t handle all the soldiers outside, though, and they were coming, so she didn’t have time to hang around and pick off the ones in here with her pistol. She grabbed the car door’s handle, slamming her foot into the door. The metal joining it to the car bent and groaned. She then slid back, growling as she threw her shoulder into the door and broke it off. She kept a grip on it, rushing forward as bullets pinged off the metal and the floor around her. She turned it vertical and fired around it, taking out two soldiers. She reached one and slammed him in the head with the car door, sending him to the ground. She then flung the door at another soldier, dropping him as well.

She took off down one of the hallways, ignoring the shooting behind her.
I’m here, Ayane. Making my way to you as fast as I can.
The elevator wasn’t going to work so she headed for the stairs. Four soldiers stood guard at the bottom and Katsumi shot two of them, but her pistol clicked on the third one, empty. Katsumi growled and flung it at the third one instead, dazing him as it hit his helmet. She went into a slide as the fourth soldier fired at her. She kicked his legs out and spun as she rose, catching his neck and driving his head up into the wall. She then spun to the recovering third soldier, grabbing his gun and jerking it to the side as he fired, then driving her elbow into his neck. As he backed off unable to breath, she flipped the gun in his grip, holding down the trigger and unloading its magazine into his chest.

As the soldier slipped to the ground Katsumi grabbed the other’s rifle and sprinted up the stairs. The next two soldiers were simply gunned down, but the magazine ran dry at the third. As he fired she leapt from the stairs onto the railing, then flipped upwards, landing her feet on his shoulders. As he staggered backwards under the weight she slipped one leg under his chin and the other behind his head, falling back until her hands touched down so she could use the momentum to flip him back over her head, snapping his neck as he hit the floor. She grabbed his gun next and continued running, knowing she had no time to waste as she could hear many, many soldiers coming behind her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reno brought the chopper to a stop above the entrance to the Garrus Limited building, lowering it enough for Kurasano, Law and Rufus to drop out. Hitomi had remained at the SIN HQ, as they knew she wasn’t ready for something like this and would just be in danger. Sano really had no idea what to expect as he led Rufus and Law into the building. They were expecting soldiers, but the building was strangely empty. M informed them that sensors indicated something bad going on deeper inside the building, though, so they kept going. This building was in the middle of a densely populated area; if anything big happened here a lot of people would die, so they found themselves running.

It was in the building’s auditorium meant for big conferences and speeches that they found what they were looking for. The Shade they’d been after was something different now, almost humanoid in shape. It was composed of blue fire and energy, constantly flickering like a TV channel getting bad reception. It was huge, some twenty feet in height, standing on two thick legs with reverse-bent knees. Its arms were held slightly away from its body in an aggressive pose. Its head was angular, with two large horns jutting out from either side bent straight back and up. Two pits of cold fury in narrow shapes were its eyes, directing a burning hatred at the three men.

“That is… not good,” Law stated as he raised the large weapon in his hands.

“Our men will be here in a few minutes,” Rufus said. “If we can just hold it off-“

A booming laugh interrupted them and the demon, despite being faceless at the moment, seemed to smile. “You will be dead before then,” it said in a voice that was a deep rumbling and
a high-pitched scream at the same time, unearthly in every respect. “You are the final obstacles between myself and physical manifestation. You will suffer and bow before Belphegor, the Lord of Opening!” A loud whine filled the air as the specter spread his arms and two massive shadowy wings spread out behind him.

Rufus adjusted his sunglasses, looking at the shade of the being before them. “It’s true, then… an Ancient One, one of the two hundred angels that followed Lucifer in his rebellion against God.”

“Don’t really care what he is,” Law said, readying his weapon.

“Law’s right, it doesn’t matter,” Sano said. “We have to kill him regardless.”

Belphegor didn’t bother paying attention to their words as a portal opened up on either side of him. Inhuman howls tore at their ears and abominations began to pour through the portals. The eyes of all three men went wide as they watched. They looked at each other, and then all three raised their weapons and voices at the same time, opening fire on the demons. This was a bad, bad situation, and the chance of survival dropped with every creature that stepped into their world. Sano could only hope their Captain was doing better, and could get here soon.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Katsumi ducked beneath the barrel of a rifle, slamming her fist into the soldier’s stomach. She slipped behind him and lifted his arm, pulling the trigger on his weapon and shooting two of his allies. She curled her arm around his neck and snapped it before shoving him away and racing ahead. Blood sprayed out of a doorway ahead of her and her heart lightened as Ayane slid out of it. Blood coated the girl’s hair and clothing, but none of it seemed to be hers.

Katsumi reached her and caught her in a hug, feeling relief as well as Ayane returning it. They shared a smile before Katsumi looked over her shoulder. “There’s too many of them. We have to get to the roof and go from there.”

Ayane nodded. “The stairs up are mostly clear. We should be able to make good time. Should we do something to stall them, though?”

“Good idea,” Katsumi said as she looked around. They decided to move two desks into the stairwell, wedging one atop the other to block the doorway. It wouldn’t take more than a minute for the soldiers to clear it, but that was a minute without bullets at their heels. Knowing time was short the two sisters took off once more, racing up one flight of stairs after another side by side, panting for breath but making no stops. Both grew hopeful as the door to the roof finally came into view minutes later. Together they threw themselves into it, breaking through onto the roof.

Then they stopped.

Joseph stood in the rain with saber in hand and a lack of emotion on his face, graying brown hair soaked enough to show he’d been waiting for them. He used a single finger to wipe water from his glasses as if a bit bored. Ayane had her katana but they had no other weapons, no firearms. Both were tired, having just fought and sprinted their way up through the building with no breaks. Neither of them hesitated before charging the man with matched looks of determination and rage. Their steps fell into a rhythm, their muscles working in unison. Two steps before reaching him they shot apart and launched themselves at him from either side.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the SIN HQ, Hitomi paced back and forth in her room. She had been in the command center with M, but listening to the screams and sounds of violence over the radio had gotten to her. She hated that she couldn’t yet help any of them. She knew Katsumi and Ayane were in trouble, and she knew that Sano, Rufus and Law were all in trouble, too. Even Reno was in danger as he flew recon for the others, having to dodge demon attacks that could bring him down in a fiery crash.