Volume III Release

Chapter 1

Prelude To Peril

It was silent and eerie, the bright lights illuminating the room harshly as Ebedias stood brooding out the window overlooking the city. Dawning a fashionable trench coat, the blonde haired and blue eyed man also wore a top hat that was black with a red ribbon wrapping the circumference. Despite his slim appearance, he stood tall with a gleam in his eye as he peered down at those beneath him walking about the city streets.

At the sound of a door knob turning, Ebedias turned to watch as Auron Karn entered the space. Nodding slightly, he folded his arms behind his back and left the window sill as he took his seat at the table located in the center of the room. Auron joined him at the opposite end, folding his hands professionally as he lifted his chin.

“It’s been some time, I feared you had lost the need of my services,” Ebedias gave the man a wide grin. “Tell me, sir Karn, what do you require of my particular skill set?”

“Cooperation with my daughter, regarding a mission of the utmost importance,” Auron spoke cryptically. “However she is late, per usual. My apologies, she is still rather young compared to your specific experience.”

“Oh?” Ebedias grew curious. “I have not had the pleasure of meeting the young Zelena, she is involved with your more… Nefarious operations?”

Auron shrugged. “Perhaps. Nothing that shall be discussed other than the most important task I’ll have ever requested of you.”

“Then let us not waste any more of his time, father…”

Ebedias shifted his gaze, noticing a young woman having entered the room. A sadistic expression was all he saw, her eyes dawning red tinted contacts as if to make her appear even more evil than she was already giving off. With long, black hair that was as dark as night, a mixture of red and white highlights weaved in the deeper regions of her hair. Her bust was rather noticeable, especially considering she was wearing a tight, black dress made of latex that accentuated her curves, and split at the seams revealing her tone and attractive thighs all the way down to her black heels.

Stunned by her beauty, Ebedias stood to his feet and bowed before her immediately. Removing his top hat with his right hand, he held it over his chest as he brought his head down to honor her in his own fashion.

“What a splendid introduction indeed, Zelena Karn! I never could have imagined that Auron could possess such an incredibly attractive offspring!”

Zelena stepped elegantly towards the table, blushing vainly as she bit her lip and took a seat across from her father, with a clear view of Ebedias at the opposite side of the table. Lifting her left leg slowly and erotically, she crossed it over her right thigh before leaning over the table as her bosom rested gently atop it. Placing her elbows on the surface, she interlaced her fingers and gave a prideful grin aimed towards this charming man of whom she had never met.

“Yes, tell me more about how beautiful you think I am…”

Auron rolled his eyes, quickly interceding with no desire to entertain his daughters' games.

“You are late, I told you how important this was,” he scolded without so much as peering over at her.

Sighing with annoyance, she leaned back into her seat and placed a hand on the armrest of her chair. Placing her chin on her other palm, she blew at the hair in her face and smiled.

“I am sorry, I didn’t mean to hold you up, father. So then, who might this be?” Her eyes gazed back over to Ebedias, who returned her smile.

“Ebedias Morrow, milady. Pleasure to get acquainted.”

“Ebedias is a master assassin, and also an expert in the art of war,” Auron explained. “The reason I’ve recruited him is to compliment your personal strengths, my daughter. There is a mission of great importance, for an operation that could very well change the nature of our world as we know it. I cannot express just how important this task that I’m about to reveal to you is.”

“Then consider me piqued with interest,” Ebedias inserted. “What’s the mission?”

“Do you recall one of the first instances in which I required your services?” Auron asked him.

“To track down your lost guinea pig, the little girl, I remember. I also remember I had failed, surprisingly.”

“Yes,” Auron confirmed. “Annie… Though now the world knows her as Gullivette. You had thought she was lost to the sea, but as it turns out, she’s been alive this entire time.”

“Interesting… You wish for me to terminate her?”

“She is not involved in this specific task,” Auron answered. “Nor is Jacob, it is likely he is either dead, or has abandoned the organization I’ve been aiding completely. Your mission should be simple, with only one little hiccup that will stand in your way.”

“Then get to the point,” Zelena moaned impatiently. “I grow tired of reminiscing details of the past… What exactly do you require of us?”

“There was another test subject, one I never told anyone about other than the scientists I recruited for the project, before their unfortunate demise.” Auron stood to his feet, placing his hands behind his back as he looked at both Zelena and then Ebedias. Beginning to walk around the table, he began to relent the details.

“I will be brief and to the point,” Auron began. “Over two decades ago, I was provided an ancient sample of a being far more powerful than we could ever fathom, from another world entirely. Upon studying this sample, it was discovered the potential to create a new form of human life unlike any living being in our existence. Aside from myself, there were but three other scientists involved in this top secret project, a short time before Jacob or Annie ever received their abilities upon their specific experimentation.”

“What?” Zelena was shocked to hear this, having assumed she’d always been privy to every detail that her father possessed. “Why didn’t you ever tell me about this?”

“Listen and I’ll tell you,” Auron snapped sternly, continuing to walk around the table as Ebedias listened earnestly.

“Not only was the project successful, but the aftermath was intensely volatile,” Auron continued. “Everyone that was included in the project believed that Jacob was the one who caused the explosion, allowing both him and Annie to escape. That is because those who knew about the explosion, only ever heard it through rumor, since those involved were all killed in an instant.”

Returning to his seat after circling the table, Auron placed his hands on the surface and leaned forward. 

“That sample gave birth to the world's first genetically bred human, with abilities we couldn’t begin to fathom. Once her birth cycle was complete, and her sentience had come to exist as a newborn, her powers were quickly shown to be volatile and destructive. Had I been there that day, I’d have perished myself. Subject zero, birthed from the project ‘Omega:Genesis’, given the name Blaire Whitaker after being adopted by the Whitaker’s of Seattle with the hopes of one day being able to harness and control her great power.”

Sitting down in his seat once more, Zelena and Ebedias exchanged glances of disbelief as they struggled to understand what they had just learned.

“Your mission is simple,” Auron stated. “I need you to sample Blaire’s blood. Then, I need you to terminate her life before she is able to learn of the power she possesses.”

“Coffee or soda, sir?”

The flight attendant stood at the rear of the cart, turning to face Jacob with a smile on her face as she gestured towards the assortment of beverages. Turning slightly to smirk, he shook his head for an answer.

“Some crackers, then?”

“No, thank you.” Jacob nodded, facing the window of his empty row aside from his own seat.

The flight attendant continued down the aisle, offering beverages and snacks for an otherwise expensive flight. Clutching at his jacket and pulling it tight, Jacob leaned back into the seat as he stared off into the clouds that whirled on passed him. The bumps every so often reminded him that he was lucid, as his mind wandered every which way with lackluster focus.

“Boogeyman!”

Jacob heard the word, but reacted anxiously. Turning to face the row of seats across from him, he noticed a mother sleeping soundly as her young daughter sat beside her and stared at him with a toothy smile.

“Excuse me?” Jacob was confused, was this little girl talking to him?

“Boogeyman!” The girl repeated again, covering her eyes with her palms and shaking her head in a goofy manner. “See it? The boogeyman!”

Peeking through her fingers, the girl appeared to be staring towards the seat adjacent to the young man. Finding himself disturbed, especially after recent events, Jacob slowly turned to look at the seat next to him. It was empty, yet he felt an unnerving sensation coursing through him. Despite this, he wasn’t about to entertain the fears of a young child.

“There is no boogeyman, see?” Jacob smiled at the young girl, patting the seat up and down to show her there was nothing there.

“Boogeyman…” The girl pointed, however she was pointing at him now.

“You think… I’m the boogeyman?” Jacob swallowed nervously, was he being pranked? The girl nodded to confirm his suspicion, her finger shaking as terror began to fill her eyes.

“He’s inside of you… THE BOOGEYMAN IS INSIDE OF YOU!”

The girl began to scream bloody murder, as the lights on the plane began to flicker violently as extreme turbulence took hold of the plane. Oxygen masks were ejected as passengers desperately tried to grab them, others being jostled about as the plane tilted to the left, right and then up and down.

“Mommy! MOMMY!” The little girl screamed and screamed, yet her mother would not stir from her slumber.

‘What the fuck is happening!?’ Jacob began to panic, unsure what the hell was going on as he undid his buckle and leapt across the aisle and caught the little girl who was nearly thrust into the roof of the plane as another violent turbulent assault caught the passengers off guard.

“I’ve got you!” Jacob shouted, clutching the little girl tight to his chest as he crawled over her seat and began to shake the mother in an attempt to wake her.

“Wake up! The plane is going down!” Jacob tried to wake the woman, clutching her daughter as he began to slap her out of desperation. “Damn you! Why won’t you wake up!? What the fuck is happening!?”

Realizing the mother would not wake, and the girl crying profusely, Jacob began to question his sanity. Opting to fend for himself and the girl, he left the mother to her fate as he backed away and entered the aisle, the plane tossing and turning as other passengers began to scream and cry.

Turning to make his way towards the front of the plane, hoping to stop this nightmare should the pilots be struggling, he was stopped in an instant. With wide, horrified eyes, Jacob saw something truly unsettling. Turning to pit the girl away from this monster, he took a few steps back as his heart began to race.

“What’s the matter, Jacob?” Said the voice of Avaramix, though this man was a twisted, evil version of the frail man Jacob had once served.

No longer frail, but in fact quite intimidating in appearance and aura, Avaramix spread out his arms and gave Jacob a wide, welcoming grin. The young man could only stare at him in disbelief, questioning his sanity as fear filled his heart.

“Ah, I understand,” Avaramix spoke, lowering his arms as his smile dissipated. “You aren’t sure if you’re dreaming, or if this is reality. I assure you, both are yet to be true, you just haven’t realized it yet. Traitor…”

“I won’t be your weapon any longer…” Jacob whimpered, finding himself unable to remain confident nor courageous. Holding the terrified little girl in his arms, refusing to let her go.

“My weapon?” Avaramix cackled maniacally. “You were never my weapon, Jacob. You were a volatile demon in which I hardly had any control over. What is that name you gave yourself, again? That’s right… Nefarious. The monster within you, oh so terrifying, so brutal and destructive. Yet now, you cower like a pathetic fool.”

“This… This isn’t real…” Jacob shook his head, backing away even more as the trembling girl in his arms buried her face into his shoulder.

“You will hand over the girl,” Avaramix ordered, stepping closer and closer as he closed the distance between them. “She belongs to me, Jacob. To the organization. You cannot keep her from me!”

“Don’t hurt her… She has nothing to do with this!” Jacob cried.

“But doesn’t she?” Avaramix cooed, getting even closer to him now. “She is everything to me, Jacob. Without her, my existence is futile. Now hand. Her. Over!”

“You don’t have to do this!” Jacob shouted, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks as he questioned whether this was real or not, unable to make a decision out of his own fear.

“You don’t even know what she is, do you?” Avaramix chuckled. “Fate brought you both together, and destiny brought me to you both.”

“What…?” Jacob turned his head, his gaze meeting the girls as her tears filled her eyes.

“What is your name, little one?” Avaramix asked, as the girl turned to face him.

“B… B-Blaire…” The girl responded, as Jacob felt his soul leaving his body.

“What? No… Wait… This can’t be…” Jacob shook his head, as he turned to face Avaramix, but it was too late.

The hand of evil clutched at Jacob’s throat, his grasp on the young child causing her to fall to the floor. Avaramix then lifted Jacob into the roof of the plane, before throwing him towards the back as the young man collided into multiple seats before smacking his head on the wall and hitting the aisle floor painfully.

“Blaire!” Jacob cried, attempting to crawl up the aisle, realizing all of the passengers and attendants were now nowhere to be found. Watching helplessly, Jacob watched as Avaramix grabbed the child and lifted her up.

“Don’t you hurt her!” Jacob shouted. “Blaire! BLAIRE!?”

“You won’t save her,” Avaramix mocked. “You can’t save anyone, Jacob. You’re a monster, a killer at heart. You are pathetic…”

Then, without any hesitation, he snapped the girl's neck and let her body hit the floor. Unable to fathom this nightmare, Jacob screamed and cried out, holding out his hand as he watched the little girl’s lifeless corpse hit the aisle floor, the plane tearing into two pieces as the swirling void consumed him and nothing was left but darkness…

… “Sir! Sir, please wake up.”

“What!?” Jacob stirred from his sleep, sweating profusely as he looked around in a panic.

“The plane has landed, you’re the last passenger aboard. We need you to deplane, sir,” the flight attendant demanded.

“What? But…” Jacob realized the plane was empty, and indeed he had simply suffered a nightmare. It had been so real, why was he hallucinating so vividly as of recent? Had the nightmares become even worse? What did it mean, exactly?

“My apologies, thank you for waking me…” Jacob sighed, standing to his feet and grabbing his bag as he began to de-board the plane.

“I get nightmares too,” the attendant spoke. “Something bothering you as of late?”

“A woman,” Jacob answered, turning to face her. “It’s been some time since I last saw her, and I’m not sure she’ll like the kind of man I fear I’ve become…”

“Then just be the kind of man she deserves,” the flight attendant smiled cheerfully.

“Yeah, I suppose I should,” Jacob feigned a smile back, sighing as he began to head up the aisle.

“Good luck! Maybe take some time to think about what you’ll say when you see her again,” the attendant advised.

“I have plenty of time,” Jacob answered, heading towards the exit.

‘Or perhaps I have no time at all…’ Jacob thought worriedly.