Nevil's protests are quickly swallowed up by the gloom as I leave him behind. If he wants to stay behind and make excuses for himself, that's fine. Being a coward is his choice. I'll keep doing my thing, regardless of whatever anyone else says. Soon the only noise in the streets is the rapid fire pitter patter of my footsteps as I retrace my way back to the warehouse Paul had been summoned to.

Sara's cry all but proved that something bad's going down right now. I can only pray that I'm not too late. But a treacherous thought surfaces in my head. What am I going to do once I reach the warehouse? Am I just going to hide and watch? And do I even have the strength the make a meaningful difference in Paul and Sara's favor.

My hand reflexively pats at a trouser pocket and finds the reassuring bulge of the blood phial there. I've got a Plan B if the shit hits the fan, even if that Plan B is mighty shaky in the first place. Nothing ventured, nothing gained though. If the situation is as serious as Nevil had implied, I don't think Paul can hold out long enough for me to engage in another long winded debate with myself over the merits of using the blood phial.

I'm going to have to throw caution to the wind and let the chips fall as they may.

The warehouse quickly looms into view, a peeling sepulchral structure sitting squat on a large empty parking lot. The street lamps turn flicker on as darkness settles, illuminating the area with pools of sickly fluorescent light. Other than muffled banging noises coming from inside the warehouse, deathly silence prevails over the neighborhood. I nearly stumble in shock when my eyes catch a sharp glint coming from one of the shadows before realizing that its just the chrome of a parked motorcycle.

I need to calm down. Nearly thought the creature from my visions was waiting in ambush right there.

Remembering Maus's lessons, I "assume the position", dropping into that awkward crouch shuffle the rat had taught me. Maus might be full of shit but her trick of semi invisibility's the real deal. I begin shuffling toward a side door of the warehouse, cries of pain now joining the muffled sounds of combat coming from within.

"Hang on, Paul." I grit my teeth, "I'm almost there."

The side door creaks open when I push gently at it. Carl must be really confident that no one's coming to interfere with his fun. Or more likely, the bogus report of the chemical leak was started by him in the first place. Sliding through the gap, I nearly cough from the cloud of dust my footsteps stir up. The crap is everywhere, on the floor and walls, even the windows are stained to complete opaqueness. Several sets of footprints left on the carpet of dust tells me I'm on the right track.

"Paul, nooo!"

Oh, Sara's wailing's a pretty good indicator too.

"Please settle down, young miss. I do not wish to hurt you." Carl's bored, urbane voice replies.

"Cut out the crap!" Paul snaps back before he grunts in pain, followed by tired panting.

The warehouse has been long abandoned, most of its fixtures having been scavenged ages ago. The corridor is pockmarked with gaping holes where the lights should be mounted. There's nevertheless enough moonlight filtering through the dirty windows for me to find my way about. Rounding a leering maw which was once a door in better times, I arrive at the warehouse's cavernous storage area and realize why it had been abandoned all those years ago.

Soot and burn marks line the walls of the warehouse interior, all that's left behind by a fire that had gutted the structure. Heaps of junk and scrapped machines a piled about at intervals, leaving the central part of the building clear. What's left of the warehouse's central staircase is left hanging in midair, still attached to the second floor. The electricity to the building is obviously out but Carl had the good grace to set up several emergency lanterns, delivering harsh artificial white light at the center of the room.

"Shit, Paul." I murmur. The boss stands bloodied among the heaps of scrap, barely able to keep his back straight. Paul's heart pulses, feeding energy through a gossamer thin thread to his soul weapon, an imposing looking halberd. Blood sluggishly drips from Paul's wounds, staining the floor.

"Had enough yet?" Carl yawns as he stands with his back to me, "This farce is getting rather tiresome by now."

Carl stands at ease, not bothering to summon his own soul weapon. Both of his hands are leisurely clasped on to Sara's shoulders, forcing my friend to her knees while her hands and legs are bound with coarse rope.

"Face me like a man!" Paul demands as he swings the halberd about in challenge.

"You can't even deal with a pair of women." Carl remains singularly unimpressed, "I see no need to intervene personally."

"A ripe piece of meat." a husky female voice echoes throughout the building as a young woman emerges from the darkness. Brandishing a pistol and knife with relish, the new comer licks the bloodstained blade with salacious intensity. The bright yellow jumpsuit the woman wears sears my retinas with how out of place it is.

"Yaksha, stop wasting time." Carl commands in a disinterested tone.

"Wouldn't happen if you gave us what we need, Carl," Yaksha replies with wild eyes, her head of frizzy hair giving the woman an unhinged appearance, "my sister and I have been neglected by you."

"The shadows are cold Carl," another female voice simpers in the darkness, "and so terribly hard to bear."

A muffled curse comes from the corner of the room where I see Yvonne tied up securely and left leaning against the dirty wall. Unlike Sara, Yvonne has her mouth gagged and eyes blindfolded, causing her to wriggle about impotently like an upset earthworm.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The darkness behind Paul explodes into motion and a pink jump suited woman flies forward like a bullet, her knife aimed straight for Paul's neck. Paul shuts his eyes and concentrates, choosing to command his soul weapon through willpower alone. The halberd snaps free from Paul's hands and slashes in a powerful backward arc, intercepting the pink freak.

Sparks fly as the pink freak parries the halberd with her knife, and her guard is broken from the impact of the blow. The rictus grin on pinky's face doesn't waver as she stumbles away off balance, the flat emergency lighting doing the dark rings under her eyes and unflattering crew cut no favors. Paul's halberd lashes out again, following through with what should be a killing blow.

Pinky's stretches an arm into the shadows and her body immediately becomes translucent. The halberd slashes right through her as if she was a ghost, gouging a nasty wound into the concrete floor but doing little else. Pinky titters in amusement and falls back into the shadows, her body vaporizing into formless mist.

"Kajay, stop playing around." Carl grumbles as he shifts his grip more comfortably on Sara.

"So cold," Pinky mewls, "like your heart. Do you not appreciate us?"

Yaksha lunges forward like a yellow rocket, her knife seeking Paul's ribs. Paul's face pales in alarm as he hurriedly recalls his halberd. barely managing to deflect the attack. But Yaksha still manages to leave a fresh bleeding cut on Paul's torso.

"Damnit!" the boss man curses as Yaksha fades into the darkness as well, "Fight me fairly!"

"Let darkness be your cloak of invulnerability." Carl says, "That is the path my family's courtiers tread. Not all of us are as boorish as the Wyvern Conglomerate."

Kajay materializes again, trying to backstab Paul once more but the boss man bull rushes forward, forcing her back into the shadows. The moment she touches the darkness, her body loses substance once more, the knife passing harmlessly through Paul's chest.

"Bloody assassins." Paul growls, "None of you stand a chance against me in a proper duel!"

"We fight in the manner our strength allows." Carl waves Paul's protest away, "And your family did not provide me with the honor of a proper duel either."

Paul flushes with shame.

"That had nothing to do with me. I tried to stop the attack!"

"That's just too bad then." Carl smiles thinly, "I cannot allow the insult to go unpunished, at any rate."

The duo of Yaksha and Kajay slash at Paul simultaneously, always retreating back into the shadows before boss man can effectively retaliate. Paul's strong but the duo are clearly experienced in fighting as a tag team. Both of them attack in sequence, forcing openings in Paul's guard and causing him to make unintentional mistakes. What's worse, by pacing themselves, the duo are kept relatively fresh while Paul tires rapidly.

"Look and learn, young miss." Carl gently raises Sara's chin so she gets a better look at the fight, "Even a pack of hyenas can take down a lion."

"You told Paul to come alone." Sara whimpers, "And he did, he followed your instructions."

"And I'm grateful for it." Carl whispers into my friend's ear, "It has made things so much simpler."

"Don't you dare hurt her!" Paul screams in rage as Yaksha jumps onto his back, bringing her knife down. Paul throws his entire body into the shadow, causing the frizzy haired lunatic to dissipate once more and saving himself a skewering.

"I would never hurt you." Carl murmurs as he forces Sara to look at him in the eyes.

My skin starts to crawl at this sight. Kajay seems to take offence as well and shrieks like a madwoman, rushing at Paul without bothering with her shadow invincibility tricks. She nearly pays for it when Paul's halberd comes within a hair's breadth of decapitating her. As she desperately retreats, trying to find succor in the shadows, Paul swings the halberd like a bat, sending a junked piece of machinery flying at Kajay.

The scrap metal slams into the woman's gut, knocking Kajay off her feet and sailing through the air. As she plunges into the shadows, Kajay's body dissipates safely, saving her from any truly serious injury. The scrap metal hurtles onward and plows right through the wall of the warehouse.

Damage and neglect causes a spiderweb of cracks to burst along the wall's and with a shower of plaster, the entire thing collapses. Cold wind floods the warehouse and the moon shines down on the combatants. The stele stands erect in the distance, like a referee judging the fight. Yaksha and Paul begin sparring again, with Paul attempting to corner her to no avail.

"Bad, bad Carl." Yaksha hisses, "Always wanting what is out of reach. Never appreciating what's in front of him!"

"Who the hell would want a pair of crazy broads like you?" Paul snaps as his halberd tears through the air in fury. Yaksha twists gracefully, always keeping one limb in the shadows, letting her partially dematerialized body tank the blows.

Damnit, Paul can't last much longer like this. And Sara and Yvonne are absolutely no help either. Its going to be up to me then. I grab a rusted metal pipe from one of the piles of junk and the scraping noise immediately catches Carl's attention. He spins about but the "position's" invisibility holds true. Carl's eyes boggle for a few seconds before the battle with Paul draws his attention again.

I breathe a sigh of relief. At least I know that the "position" will allow me to strike first. And Carl hasn't summoned his spirit weapon yet, so he's completely defenseless. If I can brain Carl with the metal pipe, I should be able to take control of the situation by holding pretty boy hostage. Doesn't matter how powerful he is if his gray matter is leaking through both ears.

Alright, I begin creeping up on Carl, my hands slick with sweat. Nevil's certainly right about tonight's event being high stakes. I've got no illusions what Carl will do to me if I fuck this up.

And isn't that Nevil scaling the stele?

No way, its totally Nevil climbing up the stele. He's using the forest of power cables as makeshift handholds, fearfully moving upward and onward. Even though the climb itself is relatively easy, I wouldn't dare do it myself. Playing among live wires is just asking for a free session of shock therapy. And there's no guarantee that the cables can bear Nevil's weight. Even from this distance I can tell that Nevil is probably shitting himself.

Nevil reaches the top of the stele and draws a tool from his pocket. He begins using the tool to pick away at the stele, quickly prying loose a panel. Nevil's hand then plunges deep into the depths of the structure, digging and pulling away.

What the hell is he doing?

Carl notices Nevil too and he roughly tosses Sara aside in alarm.

"Stop you fool!"

Carl's words never reach Nevil. The cowardly driver triumphantly pulls a component out of the stele and is rewarded with a menacing grinding noise coming from the sky itself.

"ANTI TAMPER PROTOCOL EXECUTING."

The stele booms a hidden speaker.

The grinding noise intensifies tenfold, blasting away at our eardrums. And to my horror, the sky begins to turn blood red.

"The fuck?" I mutter as the moon bears down, beating like a barren heart. With every pulse of the moon, white noise floods the air, forcing itself into my brain.

Screams come from all around me, with Carl keeling over in a fetal position. Paul stumbles about half blind, his soul halberd crumbling into errant particles. Yaksha and Kajay support each other, blood dripping from their ears. I collapse on the floor, forgetting about the "position" entirely.

But no one cares that I'm now visible.

The only thing that matters is the white noise.

And the endless crimson sky.