Home
CHAPTER 15
Cyrus
Cyrus
Alchemy City. 24th May 2038 – 12:48
Four guards move down the hallway toward the interview room as they escort two scientists and the prisoner. The scientists stand either side of a stretcher that they are dragging, the squeaky wheels echo in the corridor as the group move slowly down toward the interrogation room, the guards keep their guns aimed at the prisoner that lies bound and gagged on the stretcher with a blindfold on, the group around him keep quiet, each of them just wanting to get the interview over with so that they can put the monster back in his hole to rot.
They approach the door to the interrogation room, one of the guards steps forward to open it as the other three keep their weapons aimed at the stretcher. The stretcher is then moved into the room, they all nod at Connor as they place the stretcher at the opposite end of the table where the chair had previously been removed.
Once it is in position, the scientists raise the stretcher so that the prisoner is upright and they bolt it in place. They carefully remove the gag and blindfold, and then check that the harnesses are secure enough to restrict any movement. The scientists nod at the guards and say that the prisoner is secured and then they leave the room as quickly as they can two of the guards leave with them to go back to their posts.
Connor is so shocked at the state of his old friend that he doesn’t hear the guard talking to him.
“I’m sorry?” He asks the guard.
“Would you prefer us to wait outside during the interrogation?” The guard says again.
Connor notices that neither guard can look at Cyrus for long. “You may leave if you wish.”
The guards leave without giving it a second thought, Connor can hear them both retching before the door closes behind them.
Connor stands in silence, unable to take his eyes off of the body that stands before him. He knew that Cyrus would look bad but he could never have imagined anything like this, the stench itself is unbearable but it isn’t as half as bad as Cyrus’ appearance.
Cyrus stands six feet high on the stretcher, thick leather harnesses are wrapped tightly around his body, and his body is stick thin. His skin is grey and has green and yellow blemishes that make him look moldy, the skin is so thin that he looks like a skeleton that has just bin covered in latex. Veins, muscles and internal organs are all clearly visible. His hair is white and wispy and his nails are several inches long and they have started to curl. His lips are torn to shreds from his attempts to try and get blood even if it was his own. Cyrus had clearly chewed his lips so badly that he could reach them anymore so it appears he started to eat the inside of his cheeks, creating large wounds in the side of his face, large enough to clearly see all of his rotten teeth.
Connor knows that the wounds caused by the stakes in his coffin would easily heal if he was to drink some fresh blood or at least the synthesized platelets, but that was never going to happen. Not after what Cyrus had done in the two years leading up to his capture.
Connor is so disgusted by Cyrus’ appearance that he can taste bile in the back of his throat and he has to look away from his old friend before he vomits. He turns and looks at the mirror behind him, he wonders how Grant has reacted to Cyrus.
Grant sits on the wooden chair next to Gabriella his head in a bin as he throws up, Gabriella hands him a glass of cold water.
“Are you okay detective?” She asks in a soft tone of voice.
“I... I’m okay.” He replies, he tries to give her a reassuring smile but isn’t sure if she got to see it before he puts his head back into the waste bin.
“You can wait outside if you wish.” Gabriella suggests.
“No. I want to stay; I need to hear what Cyrus has to say about Jack.” Grant says as he sips at the cold glass of water and tries to compose himself.
Connor sits patiently opposite Cyrus, trying his best not to look at his mentor directly. He isn’t even sure what Cyrus will be able to tell him, he has been in a box in the ground since 1942 but Draken is right. Cyrus is the only living person that has ever found a pattern in Jack’s methods.
Connor just hopes that his methods haven’t changed; otherwise this will have all been for nothing. He see’s Cyrus trying to open his eyes, he is blinking wildly as they adjust to the lights in the room. Connor tries to be patient, knowing that it must be a shock to the system after ninety six years in darkness.
A few minutes pass before Cyrus is able to keep his eyes open properly, his irises are permanently red like a Rax’s, because he can still see the whites of Cyrus’ eyes, Connor allows himself a moment to relax.
“It’s been a long time old friend.” Connor says as Cyrus opens his eyes fully.
“To wh.. what d.. do I owe the p.. pleasssure of.. of your visssit?” Cyrus asks finally, his voice sounding husky and weak with a heavy lisp, he sounds like a snake that has been smoking a thousand cigarettes a day for the last century; which is obviously not the case.
Connor knows that his voice is most likely caused by severe dehydration, blood loss and the fact that he has chewed off the majority of his lips and cheeks probably doesn’t help either.
“Afternoon Cyrus. How have you been?” Connor asks, trying to keep Cyrus calm.
“I’m hungry.” Cyrus says abruptly.
Connor thinks that he may even be grinning but it’s hard to tell since Cyrus doesn’t have much of a mouth left.
“I’m guessssing th.. that there isss on.. only one reassson that you w... would be kno.. knocking on my coffin?” Cyrus seems to find it difficult to regain use of his vocal cords.
“I need to know everything you know about Jack.” Connor says, getting straight to the point.
“Typical old Connor.” Cyrus’ laugh sounds terrible as if his lungs are full of dust and mucus. “I sssee that.. you ssstill like t.. to get ssstraight to th.. the point.”
“I need you to tell me everything that you know.” Connor tries to remain all business, doing his best not to appear nervous or repulsed at Cyrus’ prescience.
“I d... don’t know mu... much and it c... could be ussselessss if h... hisss me... methodsss have changed.Wh... what do I get in re... return?” He asks.
“What do you want?”
“I want... to be free.”
“You know that that’s never going to happen but I’m willing to try and negotiate a softer sentence for you if you wish.” Connor hopes that Cyrus will believe the lie that he had just told him. Without Cyrus’ help, Connor knows that tracking Jack will be virtually impossible.
“H... has Jack ki... killed anyone yet?”
“He has killed a young female stripper, her father, a human detective and maybe a dozen other people but there could be more bodies that we just haven’t connected to him yet.”
“I assssume that... the ssstripper’ss father w... wasss someone w... with political in... influence?”
“Yeah, he was a mayor. Why is that relevant?”
“I guesss it isss impossssible for an o... old dog to learn new tr... tricksss.” Cyrus’ laugh is scary and sounds like a demonic cackle.
“What do you mean? What’s his endgame?”
“I don’t kn... know what h... hisss endgame isss, I can only ssspe... ssspeculate but Jack h... hasss had the sssame pa... patternsss. D... do you re... remember when we almossst ca... caught up to h... him in Mo... Mossscow?”
“In 1923?” Connor says as he tries to recall the memory.
“We... well he wasss after a di... diplomat then and at th... the time w... we had no idea why but I h... have had time to re... reflect during my sssentenccce and I h... have created a th... theory. I jussst obviousssly h... have no way of f... finding out if it isss true or not.”
“Come on old man, what’s your theory?”
“You have h... heard rumours of th... the coming war between h... human and vampyr’s?”
Connor nods.
“M... mossst of the talk is jussst rumoursss b... but they h... have been around for m... many ccccenturiesss and sssome vampyr’s – the R... Raxxx in particular – believe th... that it isss an ancient prophessssy and m... my theory isss that Jack plansss to jumpssstart the prophessssy and b... bring about the end of m... mankind ssso that vampyr’sss may rule.”
“That’s just a story Cyrus, everyone knows that it would never come to that.”
“In ev... every pieccce of fictttion th... there isss an element of truth.”
Connor hates to admit it but Cyrus’ theory does make sense and he has had almost a century to think of millions of other possible scenarios.
“Why would he kill the Mayor’s daughter though?”
“I... I don’t know.”
“What will Jacks next move be then?” Connor asks, wanting to get the interview over with before Cyrus gets to impatient.
“I d... don’t know.”
“You must at least have an idea.”
“I would sssuggessst th... that you attend the f... funerals of hisss victimsss. It isss unlikely th... that he w... will ssshow up himssself but m... might be worth a ssshot if h... he getsss sssentimental for sssome reassson.” Cyrus sniffs at the air. “Wh... what isss that sssmell?”
Connor smells the air and instantly knows what Cyrus is on about.
He can smell the blood from Grants head wound. Connor thinks, as he feels his calm demeanour start to evaporate as panic starts to seep into the deepest parts of his immortal soul.
Cyrus starts to struggle and writhe on the upright stretcher, fighting as hard as he can against the bonds and restraints that hold him.
“Human!” Cyrus cries out as the thick leather straps start to come lose.
The two guards that were stood outside burst into the room to try and restraint him again, Cyrus manages to get one arm free and grabs one of the guards by the throat, and he lifts the guard effortlessly and hurls him into the wall hard. The guard hits the floor as he falls unconscious.
Connor knows that the guard will recover in a few moments but he will still be sore. He rushes toward Cyrus as the remaining guard raises the alarm.
Cyrus bursts out of his harnesses as Connor lunges at him, he grabs Connor in midair and hurls him backwards through the mirror, his body slamming hard against Gaby as they both slam against the wall and they both fall to the ground in an unconscious heap.
Grant dives to the floor as Connors body bursts through the observation mirror and slams into Gabriella, knocking them both out as they hit the brick wall behind them, shards of glass fall onto Grant causing tiny little cuts over his hands as he shields his head.
He stands as he pulls his pistol from under his jacket raising it toward Cyrus as five other guards pour into the room trying their hardest with the remaining guard to restrain the prisoner, but they are no match for him.
The six guards raise their weapons and fire their automatic rifles, Cyrus moves so fast that Grant can barely keep his eyes on him.
The prisoner grabs the nearest guard and uses him as a shield against the bullets as he approaches the second guard. He reaches out and tears out the heart of the second guard and lets both bodies drop to the floor as Cyrus dives through the air grabbing the third guard by the shoulder and chin, in one swift movement he decapitates the guard and throws the head at the fourth guard as he is reloading his gun and lets the body drop to the floor.
The fourth guard takes a step back as the head of his colleague hits him in the face, Cyrus takes the moment to grab the fourth and fifth guard by their heads and slams them together with so much force that their heads explode like ripe grapes.
The sixth guard finishes reloading his rifle as Cyrus drops the corpses and rushes toward him, the guard raises his weapon and fires but Cyrus is gone. He then feels a sharp pain in his back like nothing he has ever felt before; he lets out a brief scream as Cyrus tears out his spine.
Cyrus stands amongst the heap of dead guards covered in their blood, he had six automatic weapons firing at him and he hadn’t been hit by a single bullet. He hears a moan and looks down at the first guard he had knocked unconscious when he first broke out, he crouches down and lifts the guard up, holding him tightly against the wall.
The guard screams as Cyrus buries his fangs deep into the his throat, a few moments later Cyrus twists the guards neck until it comes clean off of his shoulders.
Grant stands frozen at the horror of the thing that stands before him, he watches as Cyrus licks the blood from his fangs and fingers then he looks straight at Grant with his blood red eyes, he moves slowly towards Grant as he opens fire with his pistol. Cyrus spreads his arms out and laughs loudly; the bullets hit him in the chest as Cyrus continues to approach him.
A moment later, Cyrus is a few feet from Grant.
CLICK!
Grants eyes go wide as he realizes his gun is empty. He looks at the heap of dead guards and then at Connor and Gabriella who still lies unconscious on the floor.
The alarms stop and Grant can hear Cyrus quietly growling like a tiger as it stalks its prey, savoring the taste of the meal that it’s about to have. Grant grabs the wooden chair nearest to him and hits Cyrus with it, the chairs shatters with the force of the blow. Grant picks up one of the chair legs and holds it tightly in his hand as he steps back until his back is against the wall.
Cyrus is slowly approaching, completely unfazed by the chair or the bullets that have hit him.
I am so screwed. Grant thinks as Cyrus crouches slightly.
Cyrus lets out a loud roar, so loud it could travel for miles if they were out in the open.
Grants knuckles go white as he grips the stake-like chair leg tighter, his hands start to shake. His heart pounds in his chest and he knows that Cyrus can hear it. He tries to calm himself down but then decides he just wants it over with.
“Bring it on then you monstrous son-of-a-bitch!” Grant tries to hide the fear from his voice.
Cyrus lets out another growl.
Then he pounces at Grant.
Seriously, absoluty amazing!!!!!!! Loved every second of it.