Radioactive: Chapter Two

Radioactive

Chapter Two

~Haunted Houses and Monsters~

Part Two

Kiri followed the blood trail from the hole in the ceiling to the second floor room. The walls in the room were covered in claw marks and blood smears. The floor opened up to Kiri’s right. A small notice appeared in her vision. The DNA from the blood sample belonged to the latest missing person, Mr. Granger. He disappeared after stating to his wife that he was going to take a walk and would be home soon. Kiri sighed. He wasn’t coming home as he intended.

Her attention shifted to the claw marks on the walls. There appeared to be a struggle of some kind in the room. Kiri scanned one of the claw marks and put it against her vast database. She didn’t find any direct matches. Kiri filed the information to use on a later date. Whatever made the scratches had five claws, awfully sharp by the looks of things.

Curious she brought up a virtual schematic of the house. She scowled when she didn’t see Kaiba’s tracking number come up where he said he’d be. Instead of in the basement he was below the house in what looked like an air pocket that the house was almost on top of. Fortunately she rarely listened to Kaiba’s order not to monitor him. On more than one occasion, he had bitten off more than he could chew. Naturally he would insist that he would have been fine.

A red dot appeared on the screen labeled UO for Unidentified Object. It seemed to be pursuing Kaiba’s blue symbol in a predatory manor. Kiri glanced at the claw marks once more.

“And he asks why his father insists I come along on these missions,” Kiri stated.

She jumped through the hole to the first floor and walked toward where she left the briefcase. Her eyes started to glow purple. Ones and zeros crossed her visions on the screen. When they disappeared there was a hole where all the zeros had bunched together. With her briefcase, Kiri jumped into the hole.

Kaiba landed on a pile of bones. He stumbled forward, releasing his grip on his flashlight and ending up on his hands and knees. The flashlight struck the ground and went out almost instantly. Kaiba suddenly found himself alone in the dark. For a moment, he forced himself to breath evenly to calm himself. Nothing ever got accomplished by panicking. Then he started feeling around in the dark for his flashlight.

There was a sound behind him and Kaiba looked over his shoulder. Naturally he couldn’t see anything in this darkness. He forced himself to remain calm and levelheaded. It was just loose dirt falling from the hole. Nevertheless he found his hands searching more franticly for the flashlight. One of his fingers touched the butt of the flashlight, pushing it further away. The sound of something sharp scrapping against the rock rang out in the darkness. There was no rationalizing it anymore, there was something behind him. He grabbed the flashlight and tried to turn it on. It wouldn’t.

Kaiba swore and got to his feet, facing whatever threat was after him. He hit the head of the flashlight against the palm of his hand hoping to bring the device back to life. There was a low growl as Kaiba tried to make the flashlight work. He took slow even steps backwards, feeling his way through a place he couldn’t see. Once again he hit the flashlight against his palm and is slowly flickered to life. He pointed it in toward the darkness.

He jumped slightly, not expecting what he saw to be so close. At about four feet away was the mysterious predator. It looked part human in some appearances but was covered in green scales except for its face. Its face looked human by all means. It was around the neck that the scales started appearing, transitioning from skin to the green scales. Black claws extended about three inches from its fingers. The claws on its toes were much shorter. Its tail waved low to the ground. It appeared to be made out of segments and three blades shot out at the tip. Neural spines extended from its back at about two inches apart. They weren’t that tall but they were noticeable.

The creature growled. Its eyes looked large and innocent as the tapetum lucidum reflected the light of the flashlights light back. Strands of white hair fell over the creatures face. It looked at Kaiba with curiosity and interest. Kaiba tilted his head slightly and the creature followed the motion.

“So you’re what’s been following me all this time,” Kaiba spoke.

The creature cooed or something close to it. Kaiba took another step back, looking behind him a brief moment. The air pocket was wide and expansive. When he looked back at the creature, the creature had decreased the distance between them by a foot. The creature cooed again.

“I think it’s safe to say that it’s better if you don’t get much closer,” Kaiba took a step back.

The creature tilted it head and crept closer, maintaining the new distance. Kaiba nearly tripped backwards over some remains. He looked down at the remains, only half eaten by the creature. Kaiba felt his breath get caught in his throat. Suddenly the creature screeched, bearing sharp fangs. It lunged at Kaiba.

Kaiba raised his arm to defend himself. He felt the creatures fangs dig deep into his arm. Kaiba fell backwards at the impact dropping the flashlight. This time the light remained on. He tried to crawl backwards as the creature tried to bite through his arm. Kaiba took his other arm; a blade pierced his through the skin of his wrist. The blade was six inches long. Kaiba thrust his arm into the creature’s abdomen, the blade digging deep into the flesh. The creature cried out in pain, releasing Kaiba’s arm. It retreated into the shadows.

Kaiba quickly got to his feet. Blades extended from both wrists. He looked around, the light from the flashlight only provided uneven light. Kaiba looked into the shadows. He knew that the creature was still out there, waiting for another opportunity to attack. The blades extended to about a foot. His eyes scanned the darkness. He heard something behind him. Acting quickly, Kaiba threw his arm in a wide arch and pivoted around.

He cut the creatures face as it lunged at him. The creature fell to the ground. Kaiba took his other hand, the blade sharp and ready, and thrust it in the creature’s chest. The creature moved in time and the blade struck the creature in the upper right shoulder. Angered, the creature’s tail lashed out towards him. The three blades dug deeply into Kaiba’s back. He cried out in pain.

Kaiba pulled his arm back and severed the creature’s tail. He stepped back and tried to pull the three blades of the tail from his back. The creature turned its body and attacked again. Kaiba darted to one side. He grabbed what was left of the tail and pulled it out of his back. The creature turned toward him again and started to attack. It leaped and lunged at him but suddenly it whimpered and was thrown to one side. It struck a rock, a silver blade dagger sticking in its leg. Kaiba turned to where the dagger came from. Kiri stood there, an annoyed look in her eyes.

“You couldn’t wait until I was done with examining the first and second floor?” Kiri asked.

“Can we talk about this a little later? We have a little bit of an issue,” Kaiba muttered.

“Would you like your briefcase now or later?” Kiri held the briefcase out.

The creature growled anger at the new comer.

“Later! Later! I’ll look at it later!” Kaiba shouted impatiently.

“Yes, sir,” Kiri put the briefcase down.

She shifted herself into combat mode, redirecting most of her energy to her weaponry, arms and legs. The creature charged at her. Kiri stepped to one side, grabbed one of the creature’s arms and threw it into the opposite wall. The creature struck the wall. Kiri charged at it, her fists glowed a light purple due to her routing additional energy to her hands. She punched the wall where the creature was just moments before. Acting quickly she pivoted and punched the wall repeatedly following the creature as it tried to escape along the wall.

Dust, dirt and rocks fell off the wall. The creature screamed as Kiri pursued it. It ran away from the wall and Kiri was hot on its heels. She extended her right arm. A long compartment opened along her arm. A sword appeared and a machine slipped the sword down her arm and the hilt into her hand. She focused her energy in to her legs and jumped. Kiri pointed the blade down and landed just inches off her target. The creature darted out of the way the last moment. Unfazed, Kiri transitioned into her next attack. She took the sword and threw it narrowly missing the creature as it started to scale the walls.

Kiri straightened both her arms. Compartments in both opened revealing two silver handguns. Once they were placed into her hands she aimed and shot at the creature. She struck the creature several times and it lost its footing, falling back to the ground. There were two clicks as all her bullets were spent. The creature rolled over from its back and ran toward her. Kiri dropped the guns and stood still. The creature rushed at her and leaped. Out of nowhere Kaiba rushed passed her. The blade of his right arm was extended to three feet. He cut the creature from its opened mouth and cut through its entire body.

The creature’s snarl was cut short as its death came. Blood sprayed all over Kiri as she stood there unmoving. Kaiba breathed heavily, blood stained the blade. He relaxed his arm and the blade retracted back into his arm. Kiri dropped her human cover. Her body glowed a nebulous purple. Soon after, her body returned to its original clean self, clothes, appearance and all.

“What now?” Kiri asked as she walked over to the brief case.

“Bag the body and the rest of the tail. I’ll have Jekyll do an autopsy,” Kaiba stated.

Kiri set the briefcase on its side and opened it. A laptop computer lay secured in the case. She pulled out a black bag from one of the pockets it the case and walked over to the creature’s body. The foundation gave off a loud creaking sound.

“We should get out of here before this whole thing finally comes down,” Kaiba closed the case and waited for Kiri to finish with the body.

Together they made their way out of the house. Once they stepped outside the house fell into the abyss. Dust and dirt stirred up into the air, hiding the world in in a hazy fog. Kiri placed the body in the trunk and Kaiba got into the passenger’s seat. He opened the briefcase and turned on the computer. Kaiba wrote a report just as Kiri was getting in the car.

“You’re bleeding all over, sir,” Kiri stated as she sat in the driver’s seat.

“I’m fine,” Kaiba smirked, “The sooner we get home the sooner I can get this looked at.”

“We’re going to the airport with you looking like that?” Kiri started the car.

Kaiba closed the laptop, “I was thinking we could take the Midnight Train instead.”

Yes, sir,” Kiri pulled away from the curb leaving the destroyed home behind.

Radioactive: Chapter One

Radioactive

Chapter One

~Haunted Houses and Monsters~

Part One

A scream echoed throughout the rock fortress. Electric sparks flickered as a man overlooked from a balcony. He wore a lab coat and black gloves. Thick black goggles covered his eyes as he smiled widely at the screaming withering creature below. He was tall. The man was at least six feet or so. He tapped his black booted foot on the ground as if waiting patiently for something to happen. One of the assistants below looked up at him with a question in his eyes. The man nodded and the assistant went back to work. The creature screamed in pain.

“Just hold on one more minute. It will all be over soon,” the man smiled.

He bit his lip to contain himself. To him, the creature below was a work of art and it was only moments from completion.

“We have completed the last procedure, Doctor,” one of the assistants said.

The Doctor walked down some steps and walked over to slab where the creature lay breathing heavily. Scaled arms were chained to the slab. The Doctor brushed his hand on the creature’s scaled face. He hushed the animal on the slab.

“Shh, shh,” the Doctor smiled, “It’s all over now. The pain is all over.”

The creatures green reptilian eyes looked at the Doctor with some affection even after the torturous procedure. It tried to speak but the Doctor placed a finger over its mouth.

“You’re beautiful,” the Doctor whispered, “You’ll be free soon. Free to cause all the havoc you want.”

A fanged smile spread across the creatures face. A forked tongue, long and snakelike, slithered out of its mouth.

“Yes, Doctor,” came a hoarse whisper.

~§~

Kaiba pulled the car over across the street from a large house. He eyed the home carefully with his perceptive brown eyes. With one hand he brushed a few strands of his brown hair out of his eyes.

The house was old and weather worn; just like the ones horror stories were made from. The front porch had a swing that swayed in the wind giving off a horrible sound every so often when you least expected it. The house creaked and groaned from old age. No one had lived in it for years but was now the center of several disappearances as of late.

Kaiba looked at the house a moment longer before stepping out of the car. His black appearance was normal: black shirt and pants. Instead of his usual black coat he wore a white and grey one. He closed the car door behind him. The passenger door on the other side opened and closed right after his.

The android Kiri, his loyal companion, stepped around the car carrying a silver briefcase. She stood by Kaiba’s side; the wind blew some of her short black hair into her purple eyes. Her sleeveless purple kimono top looked new and unwrinkled and her black heels clicked on the ground with confidence as she walked. Kaiba barely gave her a second glance. She was like his shadow. He was used to her following him where ever he went.

Kiri looked down the way they came, down the hill they had just driven up. There was no one in site. Not a surprise, considering that there were a string of missing people spanning the last couple of weeks. The disappearances were unnatural and alerted the Tower computers of a possible threat. The missing people didn’t even have anything in common be it age, gender or places; it all appeared random. Even the computers weren’t sure exactly what was going on only that it couldn’t all be coincidence. Because of the mysterious nature of the mission Kaiba’s father, Sirius Galaxy, sent his son personally to see what was going on.

Both Kaiba and Kiri were part of an elite team of Fixers. Their job description was simple enough: Fix whatever the Tower needed fixing, including assassinations to media control. Fortunately, assassinations were a rare extreme. Usually they worked alone or with a partner. Only in rare cases does one see more than two Fixers on a case. This was a usual mission, no need for more support.

“Are we in the right place?” Kaiba asked, “The center of the disappearances?”

Kiri nodded, “3434 Sycamore Lane.”

“Hmm,” Kaiba looked around, “what a dump. Surprised the police didn’t check here first.”

“Rumors of a murderous ghost,” Kiri provided background information.

“Ghosts aren’t logical, therefore they don’t exist,” Kaiba shrugged off the superstitious idea.

Kiri turned to look at him, “What makes you say that?”

“Think of the world we live in. If there is a better place after death, why stick around here?” he left the question in the air and walked toward the house.

Kiri herself didn’t believe in ghosts but acknowledged Kaiba had made a good point. She looked at the house. Even though she didn’t believe in ghosts she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone or something was watching her.

“Are you going to stand there daydreaming all day?” Kaiba called over his shoulder.

Kiri noticed he was already across the street. She hurried to join him, carrying the briefcase. Together they climbed the two steps onto the large porch and stood at the door. Kaiba reached for the doorknob. The door opened easily and he walked in.

The inside of the house was in total disarray. They walked into a wide open room. A staircase ahead of them was half decayed and destroyed. Any furniture that was in the main room was covered in white sheets or was knocked over and broken. The sheets had holes in them from years of hungry moths. Sunlight peaked through the holes in the ceiling. Birds looked down at them as they hopped from support beam to support beam.

“Report,” Kaiba stated as he glanced at a watch on his wrist.

“Complete scan incomplete,” Kiri answered, “First and second floor clear of any dangers.”

Kaiba sighed, “I guess it will be faster to look on foot.”

He started walking through the house. Kiri rolled her eyes before following him. She changed her setting from normal to investigative. Her vision changed to a clear green, highlighting red anything that appeared out of place or curious.

Kaiba brought out a computerized notebook from his inner coat pocket and wrote something in the glass pages. He put it back and looked at Kiri.

“You check this floor and the upstairs. I’ll take a look at the basement,” Kaiba commanded.

“Sure,” Kiri nodded, “I’ll monitor you movements.”

“Not necessary,” Kaiba muttered, “By the way this house is falling apart, no one’s been in here for years. This honestly feels like a waste of my time. Make the sweep quick. The sooner we’re done here, the sooner I can get some real work done.”

“Whatever you say,” Kiri said

Kaiba left for the basement leaving Kiri in the main hall. She waited until she couldn’t visually see Kaiba anymore before she walked around the first floor. Kiri set down the briefcase and began walking around the floor. With one long candle like finger, Kiri touched an old desk. The dust was thick, making the surface of the desk almost white. She brought her finger closer to her face as she analyzed the contents of the dust. It was the usual; trace amounts of human skin and hair, pollen, mold, fungi, particles of wool, and of course rat feces.

She looked up at the ceiling. There was a hole in the ceiling that was larger than some of the others. Something on the screen glowed red near the opening. Kiri started walking up the stairs but stopped suddenly. After a quick scan, it revealed that the staircase wasn’t the most reliable route.

Kiri transferred some of her power to her legs. She crouched and jumped in the air. With a loud thud, she landed on the upper balcony, the staircase behind her. She waited a moment before moving as the house settled once again. Kiri stood up and walked under the ray of light caused by the whole in the ceiling. A small piece of cloth hung from a sharp piece of wood. The cloth was stained with blood. Looking on the floor was a smeared blood puddle heading off away from where Kiri stood. She knelt down. A compartment in her upper right arm opened with a hissing sound. She pulled out a sterile cotton swab and took a sample of blood, placed the swab in a container and placed the container back in her arm. The compartment closed leaving no trace that it was ever there. It would take a while for the DNA results to come back. She then stood up and followed the trail.

In the stairway down to the basement, Kaiba felt the impact of Kiri’s jump. Dust and small pieces of debris fell on and around him. He coughed and covered his mouth with his coat. For a moment, he looked up at the ceiling as if Kiri could see his annoyed expression. Slowly, he made his way down the stairs. When the dust finally settled again he muttered something under his breath and reached into his coat. He pulled out a small flashlight and looked around.

The basement looked like the rest of the house: in need of attention. It was cold and dark. Mold grew on the walls and on the furniture that was left. Kaiba kept his mouth and nose covered. He aimed his flashlight to a wall. Kaiba took a step back. A claw mark stretched from one side of the wall to the other. Kaiba walked closer to get a better look. Something shimmered in one of the long scratch marks. It was like a scale in nature, round and shiny. Kaiba brought out a pair of tweezers and placed the small object in a glass vial and ceiled it.

He had just placed it in an inner coat pocket when he turned his flashlight to the shadows suddenly. A previously shadowed area of the basement was now illuminated. Kaiba’s eyes scanned the area carefully. He knew he had felt something watching him from that corner but whatever it had been was faster than he was. Suspiciously, Kaiba continued on with his exploration.

He walked down a small hallway. As he reached the end, here was a dark blood trail going from one room to another across the hall. Kaiba directed his flashlight into the first room then the second. He flashed behind him once more. He though he saw something move suddenly at the last minute. Kaiba stood there a moment looking, waiting, and watching. Convinced that it was his mind playing tricks on him he entered the first room.

This room was more lit than the rest of the basement because of a large crack in the basement ceiling. Blood was all over the floor. Kaiba even saw a hand print or two in the gruesome mix. He slapped on a pair of latex gloves and reached in his pocket for his tweezers and several vials that he might need. He picked out a painted nail from the mess and put it away. Kaiba also found a hair follicle and put it away for further analysis later. He also took several blood samples from different areas of the blood pool. After storing the blood samples in a small case attached to his belt and storing the others in his coat, he looked up at the gaping hole. From what he could tell, it was one of the off lying rooms from the main room. He shrugged, deciding to let Kiri handle the first and second floor.

Kaiba started to head over to the other room. His flashlight illuminated the door for a moment as if to frighten anything that might or might not be there. In the hallway, he looked one last time down the hallway. There was nothing there, not even a glimpse. Felling relatively confident, Kaiba entered the other room. The blood trail ended up leading to another hole. On the other side of the room was a gap in the concrete and soil.

“Wonderful. This house was built over an air pocket. Only a matter of time before the whole place gets swallowed up by the earth,” his spoke to himself.

He was somewhat surprised he was talking allowed to himself. Even more surprised that it seemed to calm some nerves that he was having. He looked over the edge and into the hole. It was pitch black. Not even the light of his flashlight could show him what was in store. He breathed heavily through his mouth. One last time he looked behind. There was just no shaking that someone or thing, was watching him closely. There was nothing there of course. Satisfied he stepped into the hole and fell to the unknown level below.