"You!" Carl immediately catches sight of me on my knees as the overbearing moon bombards everyone in the warehouse with white noise. It doesn't take a genius to work out what I was planning to do with the iron pipe in my hands. Sara briefly struggles against the rope binding her limbs before deciding to roll toward the corner where Yvonne had been left leaning against.

Carl doesn't bother with Sara's antics and starts summoning his soul weapon. A flare of power pulses from his heart and wisps of ethereal power begin forming an outline of a sword in Carl's right hand. But before the process can complete, Carl's eyes bug out, totally bloodshot, and the soul weapon shatters abruptly. Carl uses a shirt sleeve to wipe away tears of pain from his eyes and his legs are literally quivering from the agony he must be experiencing.

This is my chance. Gritting my teeth, I raise the rusty pipe and prepare to rush Carl, hoping to finish the fight with a single blow.

The moon has other ideas though.

An excruciating blast of static tears through my head, forcing me to drop the metal pipe. My vision begins to spin and I barely manage to stop myself from collapsing on the floor. Both Carl and I are left glowering at each other balefully, caught in an unexpected stalemate.

Not that anyone else is doing much better. The pair of jump suited flunkies are still spazzing about, their bodies in a constant flux of fading away and materializing thanks to them tripping in and out of the shadows. Paul staggers drunkenly, soul energy crackling about him in a nearly uncontrolled state. Yvonne lies quietly in her corner while Sara keeps on rolling across the dirty floor.

"You shouldn't be here!" Carl snarls, bearing his teeth at me. But the white noise shows no mercy, causing Carl's facial muscles to painfully lock up. A vein in his head pulses angrily while Carl struggles to keep himself from foaming at the mouth. Pretty boy's looking far less pretty right now. More like a rabid dog that needs putting down.

Except there's this horrible white noise. Hearing it is like having needles shoved into my crotch. Nobody in the warehouse can focus thanks to the overwhelming pain. If trying to subdue everyone using the stele is Nevil's plan, its a really lousy one.

Wait.

Sara and Yvonne aren't in pain. And Sara has no problem rolling about on the floor. Why?

Taking a deep breath, I take a stumbling step away from Carl. Its time for an experiment.

Turning laboriously away from pretty boy who's still glaring venomously at me, I instead focus on Sara and Yvonne. The need to rescue them from whatever sick shit Carl has gotten them into. My vision swims again for a moment as the white noise undulates ever so slightly.

And just like that, the throbbing pain recedes.

"The white noise prevents hostile actions." I murmur to myself, realizing Nevil's plan. He never meant for us to defeat Carl and the world's most obvious assassins. Nevil triggered the stele, effectively stopping the fight and giving us a chance to escape. The noise subsides to a dull headache, a reminder of what's in store if I break the enforced peace.

Works for me. I wouldn't have a prayer against Carl if pretty boy decided to get serious. Breaking into a run, I make my way to where Sara and Yvonne are huddled.

"Robbie." Sara wails in relief as I begin working on undoing the ropes holding her fast.

"Happy to see you too." I grunt back, fingers moving as fast as lightning, "What happened with going to the library?"

"Carl's people kidnapped me." Sara sniffs as she wriggles her way out of the remaining knots, "They kept me here with Yvonne. Carl said we're bait to draw Paul out."

"Bastards." I grit out as I begin working on Yvonne's gag and blindfold, "Yvonne? Are you OK? Say something."

Yvonne releases a slurred moan, her eyes dilated and face pale. She tries to raise her head to speak but gives up quickly, sinking back to the ground with a tired snort.

"Yvonne refused to be quiet earlier. Even the gag didn't help." Sara explains as she helps with releasing Yvonne, "Carl eventually lost patience and drugged her."

"Damn it, we'll need to bring her to a hospital." I pull Yvonne to her feet, checking whether she can walk. Yvonne sways worryingly but manages to grab my arm.

"Robert, I knew you would come for me ..." Yvonne leans heavily against me, her body soft and warm.

"Heart pounding romance!" Sara cheers with flushed cheeks.

"How can you think about that our current situation?" I shake my head exasperatedly while holding Yvonne up. With a bit of help, Yvonne should be able to make a getaway with us. Probably.

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"Robbie." Paul stutters, waving weakly at me, "Get the girls out of here."

"Boss!" I yell back, "Don't bother fighting! Follow us to escape!"

Paul gives me a bemused look, as if questioning how I expect him to extricate himself from the white noise. But the glassy expression on his face quickly clears up and Paul gives me an expression filled with new respect. The soul energy churning around Paul focuses and he rockets through the warehouse's roof with a soaring leap.

"Time to go!" I shout, pulling Sara and Yvonne behind me. The three of us burst through the warehouse's side door into the stifling heat of a muggy evening.

Paul lands from his jump right in front of us with a solid thump. He quickly falls in behind us as our group begins weaving its way through the side streets.

"Good thinking there Robbie." Paul says, "How'd you work out that deal about the white noise?"

"Thank Sara. She gave me the inspiration." I grit back. Sara's gamely pumping her legs but Yvonne is barely staggering along. We're moving far too slowly for my taste.

"Yay! I was helpful!" Sara cheers before growing fearful again, "But wouldn't that mean Carl can do the same thing and follow us as well?"

"That's not a problem." Paul lightly pushes Sara along, "As long as Carl can't attack, he can watch us make our escape for all I care. I'm more worried about Yvonne."

"Yeah." I nod, glancing at Yvonne. There's no telling what Carl drugged her with. We might be working on the clock here.

My phone begins to buzz and the moment I pull it out, the device lights up with a message.

LEFT KEYS IN CAR. GOOD LUCK.

"Nevil was the one who brought you here?" Paul reads the message over my shoulder, "I told him that I would handle matters by myself."

"More like I met him by coincidence." I shake my head, "Was doing my own thing in this district and ran into your driver."

Coincidence is stretching the truth a fair bit but its more palatable than telling Paul the truth. That I was wandering about completely out of my mind.

"Why isn't Nevil with the car though?" Paul frowns, "Shouldn't he be waiting for us there?"

"Up there!" Sara exclaims, pointing at the stele.

Sure enough, Nevil's hanging on to the cables adorning the stele. The moon glowers at him from high above as the crimson sky churns. Even from this distance, I can see the absolutely terrified expression on Nevil's face. It doesn't take me long to notice the source of his fear.

A shadowy figure stands on the far side of one of the power cables, balanced like a tightrope walker. At first glance, the figure looks human, with one hand, two arms and two legs. But that's where the similarities end. Metal tendrils seethe across the body, flicking idly at empty space. The dull brown jacket and slacks worn by the creature undulates, barely managing to maintain the bare minimum human form.

"What's that?" Paul pipes up in surprise.

Lengths of black duct tape are plastered across the creature's face, obscuring its appearance. I have no idea how it manages to even see. But this confirms it. There was someone, or more accurately, something lurking around the warehouse as my visions had shown me. Nevil had inadvertently drawn it away when he messed with the stele.

"Nevil should be safe." I respond, "The white noise should protect him as well."

"Watch out!" Paul yells in alarm as the creature draws an arm back and lashes out. The entire limb splits apart into a storm of tendrils, seeking to rip and tear.

Nevil scurries behind the stele, putting it between him and the encroaching thrashing mass of death. The creature swiftly aborts its attack, pulling its arm away in a panic.

"It doesn't want to risk damaging the stele." Sara muses, "A guardian of some sort?"

"Nevil must have provoked it when he tampered with the stele." Paul surmises, "I know he was trying to help us but it might have caused an even bigger problem."

I merely nod along, not willing to share what I know from the visions. The creature might be protecting the stele now, though that wasn't the real reason why it had been lurking about. More like the creature had been forced to do so by circumstances.

"Robbie, get the girls to the car." Paul commands, "I'm going to help Nevil."

"How're you going to do that?" Sara protests, "You can't fight right now. None of us can. And that thing is immune to whatever the stele is doing!"

"There has to be a way." Paul's brow furrows in thought, "Robbie, any ideas?"

Before I can speak, a bright flash of light erupts around Nevil and a cloud of smoke bursts into existence. The creature glides down the power line and slashes its way through the smoke to disperse it.

"Nevil's gone?" Sara mouths in surprise as only the creature is left on the stele. It whips its tendrils about in frustration before turning to examine the damage Nevil had done to the device.

"Should have known Nevil would know some of Burke's tricks." Paul sighs in relief, "Nevil's been working for my family since forever after all."

"Good show." I agree, "We need to keep moving though. Our problems aren't over."

Yvonne groans again and I drag her along as quickly as possible. The car shouldn't be too far away now. Carl and his flunkies have yet to catch up with us and the creature is too preoccupied poking at the insides of the stele to take notice of us. We've got a golden opportunity to escape.

"Thank heavens!" I exhale in relief as we round the corner and catch sight of the limo at the other end of the street.

"Does anyone know how to drive?" Paul nervously asks, "I mean, Yvonne is the only one who has a license, right?"

"I don't think she should be driving." Sara points out as Yvonne blearily stares at Paul before going back to her fitful half doze.

"I've played driving games before in the video arcade." I shrug, "Should be more or less the same thing."

"I think there are more than a few differences!" Sara looks even more unnerved at my declaration and she nervously plays with her shirt collar.

"We'll have to deal with it." Paul grimaces, "Not many good options left for us."

We pass under a billboard advertising the Regulator cult, the picture displaying a sinister cowled man reaching out for the viewer. In the background is a cruise ship filled with partying cultists.

DEATH OR SALVATION? YOUR CHOICE.

And all of a sudden the sky loses its crimson hue, returning to the regular calming shade of evening. The moon falls silent, no longer throbbing like a wheezing heart. The white noise cuts off, bathing our entire group in blessed silence.

"Oh shit." I glance at the stele. The creature's disappeared, having repaired whatever damage Nevil had inflicted on the structure.

Our protection was gone.

"So what will it be?" Carl asks as he emerges from behind the cult's billboard, "Death or salvation?"

"Spare us." Paul snaps back, summoning his soul weapon.

"Never took you for a believer." I snort at pretty boy while gently laying Yvonne on the ground.

"I'm not." Carl laughs as his own soul weapon flashes into existence.

"So I guess there's only one choice for you on the table."