“You’re here earlier than I thought.” A voice said behind me.

I turned around and saw Jacob and Sable as expected, along with four other individuals - three of whom I didn’t recognize - with them. They gestured for me to follow them, and immediately saw the other patrons of the bar move out of their way. I could hear scattered whispers in the background, as well as other hushed voices that suggested that the people here knew that Jacob and Sable - and maybe even their company - hold a significant amount of power.

“Let’s talk in the back,” Jacob continued, ignoring the gawking people around me as he strolled towards the back door, “I’ll get you fully briefed there.”

In the back room was a large, oak table surrounded by uncomfortable looking chairs; everyone sat in one of the chairs, with Jacob and Sable taking the front seat, and I did the same.

With everyone seated and focused on the front, Jacob continued. “Before I begin, I would like to thank our four volunteers, as well as the gracious Mr. Bastion for coming on this dangerous mission. I think introductions are necessary, as all of you are only acquainted with my sister and I. Just the basics will do, such as your name and any information you think the others will find helpful in this mission.”

The person sitting closest Jacob removed his hood and spoke, “Hey there, um, my name’s Evan Bregin; I work under Sable in the Fifth Platoon since the revolution… Should I add anything else, Master Jacob?”

I didn’t know how the hierarchy of these assassins work, so naturally I didn’t know what these platoons constitute, but I didn’t bother asking. All I needed to know was that they’re trustworthy, and the fact that the two siblings are willing to vouch for them was good enough for me.

“That’s good enough. Mikhail, you’re next.”

“Of course.” the big Russian man sitting beside Evan said with a heavy accent, “My name is Mikhail. I’m not like Evan, who is in Platoon, I simply volunteer because I hear we kill Big Boss. I don’t speak English very good, just enough to have simple talk, but I’m very confident in fight.”

Without being prompted, the next individual, a young looking girl with bright red hair, spoke up, “I’m Susan, also part of Sable’s Fifth Platoon. I specialize in stealth and infiltration.”

The last person to speak up was someone I recognized. It’s the girl who tried to assassinate me earlier, and she looked pretty unhappy to see me when our eyes met. I can’t blame her though, because even though she’s not dead, I did kill all of her co-workers, and injured her pretty severely. I’m actually pretty amazed that she’s well enough to be here right now.

“I’m Alexandra,” the girl said without a hint of expression, “former captain of the third platoon… Mark and I have met.”

Before I could voice my doubts about the integrity, and not the mention the safety, of having someone who’s team mates I slaughtered on the team, Jacob spoke up and said, “Don’t worry, Mr. Bastion. Alexandra has no lasting qualms about your earlier actions, and she is here to repent for her mistake. You will find that she will not be a hindrance to you, and if you deem it fit you may remove her from the party.”

I thought about it for a moment and decided that I could probably accept all the help I could get, and said that I was ok with her being here.

“Excellent! In that we should better get going.” Jacob said with a smile.

* * *

I guess I’ve been watching one too many western movies, with these kinds of operations happening in dead silence, and in the dead of night and what not. But instead, Jacob and his sister just lead us through the front door of Vlad’s castle. No one batted an eye at the weapons they were carrying (or at least the ones the others were carrying, since my own blade was still hidden from sight), much less question us about why were here. I guess I expected, even wanted deep inside me, to meet with more resistance, to fight our way in all Rambo style.

Heck, I didn’t even get to use any of my new-found abilities, since the people that Jacob marked as affiliated with Vladimir were quickly dispatched by one of the others without a word spoken between them. I almost felt left out. It only took a matter of minutes for me to be guided to Vlad’s inner chambers, the big, wooden door was literally the only obstacle in my way during this entire “mission”, if you could even call it that.

Before letting me do my thing, Jacob gave the rest of the squad swift instructions to route the house of any people not on our side, and with a final nod he too left. I took a deep breath, unsheathed my sword and using all the strength I had I kicked down the door to Vladimir’s study. The man was at his desk, surrounded by paperwork, and it seemed to me that he didn’t have a clue as to what was happening. Before I allowed him even the tiniest moment to compose himself, I dashed towards him, sword brandished and pointed at his chest.

To be honest, I expected this attack to fail; for him to dodge at the last second or maybe even counter it with an attack of his own. The last thing I thought was going to happen was for me to strike him dead in the centre of his body, but that’s exactly what happened. I knew that he was weakened, but he didn’t even put up a struggle. I plunged my blade deep into his sternum, and as the unholy fires consumed him, he only looked at me with a face of grim realization.

“You fool…” he muttered before falling to ashes, “you’ve undone us all…”

The second he fell to the ground a huge psychic shock reverberated from every corner of the Sprawl, sending waves of energy scattering around, and it took every ounce of energy I had to keep upright.

“My, Mark,” a familiar voice said from behind me, “that was much easier than I thought. Who’d have guessed that you would run head first without so much as a thought. Have the centuries on the surface really dulled your senses so?”

In my confused state, I wasn't able to process who that voice was. Thus, I forced myself up, griped my sword with all my strength and swung wildly towards the source of the sound. But my blade only met empty air. It seems that whatever that was was only a projection.

“Laurel?” I questioned, staring at the fae lady.

“Wrong!” Laurel said, but her voice changed to a very, very familiar one, and soon her body followed, “You always were a dull man.”

“Lilith...” I muttered, “I should have known. What did you do?”

“What did I do?” her projection said, smiling a devilish smile, “I did nothing. What you did, however, was destroy the source powering all of the wards and barriers formed around the Sprawl. You really shouldn’t believe everything that an 'Oracle' say, especially when you don't know if said Oracle a little closer to you think you think. I can't believe you bought that whole aura bullshit! Ah Barbas, you were always a trusting fool!”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Damn it Lilith!”

She laughed, “I mean, why did you think Vladimir was allowed to remain a leader even after being so obviously wounded? Did you think those other power hungry fools would allow him to exist if he had no other function? I just had to tell a few lies, pull a few strings, and you did all the hard work for me, little Barbas.”

Of course. Fuck! Everything was too easy, went too easy. I was too focused on getting out of this damn situation that I didn’t even think about Lilith, much less the fact that she would be the one who was working against me. But why wouldn’t she? She’s as constrained by the laws of Heaven and Hell as any other… and if anyone can get into the Sprawl, it would be her. I was played, and I couldn't blame anyone but myself.

“What did you do to the original Laurel?”

“Oh, that old bag.” She answered with a smile, “Well, let's just say that she's not going to be around for a while.”

“So the whole speech about the revolution was a lie?”

“No no, Barbas. That was all true. After all, all great lies must contain pieces of the truth; you should know this by now.”

I grunted in response.

“Oh, and Barbas,” Lilith continued, “you should probably head back to your hotel room. If you’re quick enough you might be able to save that nice girl Becca from certain death. I may want you dead, but not her. But don't worry, should her soul should fall into Hell, I’ll take good care of her… for old times sake, as it were.”

“What did you do to her?” I said, gritting my teeth.

“Once again, Barbas, I did nothing. If anything, you can think your own stupidity for what befell of poor Becca. In fact, I’m actually helping you for once.”

I swore again under my breath, knowing full well that talking to her further would be pointless. I ignored any more of her provocations and ran through the exit, but was stopped by a panic-stricken Jacob.

“Mark!” he said, “You felt that, didn’t you?”

I grunted an answer; I didn’t have the time to deal with him.

“Fuck! I should have known this would have happened!” He said again, looking genuinely apologetic, “This wouldn’t have happened if I had thought things through…”

“I have something to do.” I said without emotion.

“I know, but from my reports, it seems the streets are already overrun by an unknown force. I don’t know how they struck us so quickly, but without the barriers up we’re defenceless save for the few soldiers that we have. Take Alexandra and Evan with you for protection, I would go with you myself, since I’m the one who brought you into this whole mess, but I have to manage any form of resistance possible.”

With a prompt command, the hooded Alexandra appeared by his side and nodded at me. She was holding onto some sort of semi-automatic weapon along with two daggers at her side, and she looked ready for some action. Evan came a few moments later (how Jacob was able to communicate with his crew without any visible sort of device, I didn’t know), and he brandished a wicked looking battle axe, a weapon I didn’t see him bring in the castle.

“We’re going back to my hotel.” I told the two, “Getting there is the top priority, so if we can avoid the enemy then do it.”

The two of them nodded and we made a mad dash out. Jacob wasn’t correct when he said the place was overrun, no, it was more like pandemonium out on the streets. Minor demons were everywhere, causing as much chaos and havoc as they possibly could - after all, this is probably the only time they can ever go wild on the surface world - and the damage they’re doing shows. Some of the buildings have already toppled over from the sheer abuse they’ve been suffering from the Hellspawns, and the ones that weren’t completely destroyed were starting to crumble.

The weaker citizens of the Sprawl have already succumbed to the first assault, and their lifeless bodies were carelessly discarded on the streets. There were still desperate husbands and wives doing their best to protect their families, but those without a modest amount of power were quickly mowed down, and even the stronger species were badly outnumbered. I could pick out from where I was a few survivors that were holding their own, and they were desperately trying to rally up the disorderly citizens, striving to minimize the casualties and disorder as best they could, but they could only save so many in so short a time.

It was a slaughter, pure and simple. The minor demons that arrived were breaking everything in sight. The stronger ones where taking their time with the locals, doing things to them that I don't even want to imagine. There was death and suffering all around, and it was caused by me. All of it was because of what I did. But I couldn't let that get to me know. Not now.

I needed to get back to the hotel.

I could see that Alexandra and Evan wanted to help out their comrades, but the orders of their sires were absolute. They ignored the helpless like I did, and thanks to our speed we made it back to the hotel in record time. Thankfully the area that the hotel was in was still relatively unscathed, but it was only a matter of time before everything becomes overrun.

I smashed open the front door.

Sara was slumped on the ground, surrounded in a pool of crimson blood.

Next to her was a body.

A cold, dead pile of flesh.

A lifeless body that used to belong to someone.

That used to belong to someone I knew.

Someone that I loved.

Who I truly loved.

And someone that loved me back.

I walked towards the dead thing on the ground.

I saw the familiar black kilt, t-shirt that I always thought was two sizes too small, and the multicoloured hair that I used to ruffle.

But the scene was wrong.

Wrong...

Wrong.

WRONG!

There shouldn't be dried, copper red on that kilt.

There shouldn't be a hole square in the middle of that shirt.

That hair shouldn't be caked in blood.

I should have been greeted by that spunky girl.

We promised that everything will be ok.

Everything will be ok.

We'd live together after this.

I'd be happy for once.

I promised that I wouldn't fuck this up.

I promised I wouldn't...

That I've changed.

That I deserve a second change.

But...

I heard crying.

Sara, perhaps.

Or maybe it was me.