†Chapter 10: Dawn, Departure, and Reunion†
AN explosion shook the entire dome surrounding the artificial Wilds with a boom.
The real night sky broke through the fake daylight projected into the massive domed habitat. Early dawn had arrived in the outside world. It wasn’t long before it would start to rain. Not a single star could be seen through the thick, gray clouds.
The whoosh of blades spinning was heard in the distance. A powerful searchlight attached to the bottom of a helicopter shined down from the hole in the sky.
Zelaide and Euphemia looked up just as the source of the pulsing roar appeared. The gaudy Renaissance TV logo stuck out like neon lights on the side of Haydn’s company helicopter.
“Hey, howdy, hi! Good evening, people! Oh wait, it’s almost dawn, huh? Then what a joyously good morning it is! Your favorite Arthur Molina is here!” exclaimed an effervescent voice that was so cheerful it was obviously faked enthusiasm.
Haydn owned Renaissance TV. Was this part of his escape plan? If it was, then Arthur Molina was the enemy.
“Oh my Muta! Would you look at that? There is a huge diorama under this great big circular dome! Can you viewers at home see it with the searchlight? What beauty!” Arthur narrated what he saw for their news program.
“Oh, wow! There are people inside. Can you zoom in with the cameras? Why, isn’t that our esteemed CEO collapsed on the ground? He seems to be face down on the marble balcony with a bloody nose. Get the kids out of the room! We are about to show you an ocean of blood! It’s not even this bloody in the movies. Are the people inside all right? What in the twelve colonies happened here?!”
“Son of a Bijour…” Zelaide cursed.
Zelaide hid Euphemia behind him and turned toward the enemy he had to fight on the ground first.
“Shit!”
Shank was gone.
The stealthy Beast Blood had escaped while they were preoccupied by the blast that took out the top of the dome.
A trail of fresh blood disappeared off the side of the balcony, and the man who had been ready to kill Zelaide had vanished entirely from the playing field.
“Where is he…?” Euphemia followed Zelaide’s gaze around the dome. Stepping forward sent searing pain surging through her.
Seeing her cringe, Zelaide removed his jacket and undershirt.
“Hey, Zel! Don’t strip. We’re being filmed live.”
“Don’t care. You aren’t losing a ton of blood, but the cut is deep. Gonna wrap it tight with this for the time bein’.”
Zelaide wrapped his undershirt around Euphemia’s calf and gingerly adjusted her disheveled clothing. Her gorgeous golden hair and autumn dress were stained with blood, sweat, and tears. Even so, his mate mesmerized him with her overwhelming beauty.
“…Thanks.”
“It looks bad… Can you stand?”
Zelaide checked over her injuries while feeling like his heart was being crushed in the process. She hadn’t lost a lot of blood, but the rapier tip had pierced through her leg. Most people would’ve fainted from the shock it caused. Anger reignited, Zelaide shot a killer glare at Haydn crumpled on the ground.
I can still rip his rotten heart out…
“He’s not worth it, Zel! I’m alive. He just cut off a little excess fat. If it had gone through bone, I would be in agony, but I’ve got plenty of fat to get rid of. So let’s not kill someone over it, okay?” Euphemia tried persuading the Beast Blood who looked like he was ready to pounce.
Zelaide was unconvinced by her reasoning. But, if nothing else, he decided not to deal the killing blow. He instead turned back to Euphemia, brought his face extra close to hers, and flashed a lopsided smile.
“Fine… I’ll do it your way.”
“You look worse off than me, Zel…” Euphemia said, eyeing the knife still sticking out of his boot. He was injured saving her. “I’m so sorry,” she muttered, heartbroken.
“Don’t apologize…”
Zelaide hugged Euphemia, using his back to shield their faces from the cameras. Meanwhile, the helicopter slowly descended into the dome until it was level with the balcony. They kissed as the spinning blades created a harsh gust behind them. Stimulated by the rotor’s vibrations, they passionately embraced the person they thought they had come close to losing forever. The blinding searchlight obscured their entangled silhouettes.
Those perverted cameramen could go right ahead and film them. In this moment, they were just happy to be alive and together.
The helicopter descended until it landed in an open area crafted to look like the Wilds. The obnoxious whooshing of the blades slowed until it eventually ceased altogether. Voices could be heard from below the balcony.
“Zel…” Frightened of what awaited them, Euphemia snuggled into him. She had stayed strong through everything, but she was still scared of the unknown even though she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“It’ll be okay. Keep your face hidden best ya can. I’ll deal with Molina. Lay low until then.”
“Okay… You aren’t going to leave me again, are you?”
“I’m not goin’ anywhere. Not gonna let you go.”
Euphemia buried her face in his muscular chest and took her first real relaxed breath of the day. Being together with Zelaide gave her peace of mind. She entrusted herself to him for the next battle they had to face. Zelaide gently laid her on the one recliner in the back of the control room that had survived the fight.
He pulled his leather jacket on over his bare chest and stood in the entrance to the control room, acting as the final line of defense. The reinforcements that came by helicopter likely knew the dome’s layout. It wouldn’t take long before they came to apprehend Zelaide and Euphemia. Haydn was still unconscious, but he was absolutely going to condemn them as soon as he came to.
With his foot mangled, Zelaide couldn’t run away carrying Euphemia. Beast Bloods were not immortal.
Zelaide’s mind raced.
I don’t care what happens to me. I was born into hatred. I’ll gladly sit in for my execution if that’s what it takes to protect Euphemia.
Euphemia not only hadn’t committed any crimes, she was the victim here.
While Zelaide stood ready to face what was coming, Arthur Molina went inside the artificial mountain and exited on top of the balcony. A secret entrance at the base of the mountain had an elevator that they took up.
“In here! This is the place! Guns up!”
Several men were shouting orders. Tension tightened Euphemia and Zelaide’s sweaty faces. Automatic doors slid open on both sides of the room and four armed Guardians stepped forward with their guns trained on Zelaide who had returned to stand protectively in front of Euphemia.
“Holy Muta! Those are some gnarly wounds. Are you all right? Men, attend to their injuries, pronto!” Arthur commanded, saying something entirely unexpected.
The camera crew and rescue workers rushed into the control room from the opposite elevator, carrying camera and medical equipment. Haydn writhed on the floor when he heard them.
“Ugghh…nnghh,” he moaned.
“Oh, President Haydn, you’ve come to! You have my condolences for what you went through this time.” Arthur swung his hand forward, signaling the Guardians with him to run over and help Haydn up.
“Ghh…it…him…he…did it…criminal…” Haydn’s words came out choppy as he choked on the blood seeping from his nose and mouth. He was trying to tell them to apprehend Zelaide.
Arthur coldly looked down at him. “Poor, poor President Haydn. You were beaten up pretty bad. You can relax now. We will see to your injuries—before seeing you locked up for your crimes.”
“WHAT…?!” Haydn’s swollen eyes bulged.
“Someone hacked into my IHT on the flight over after you asked me to come.”
“...So?”
“The message title was intriguing, so I opened it. Lo and behold, I was treated to an unbelievable live video feed.”
“Wha…?!”
“The video showed an illegal Night Bloom field, trucks full of refined Nightz, and Bijours being kept as pets. Possession of either is explicitly banned by colony law. I also got to watch as you stabbed a rapier into the young lady over there, pointed a gun at her, and your long tirade about how you planned to frame the Beast Blood who came to rescue her…”
Molina walked over to the balcony railing and looked up at the camera facing the control room. It was built on a pivot giving it a 360 degree view of the dome. “Looks like that’s the camera responsible right there.”
“I-Impossible. That’s…my—”
“Rest assured, your crappy performance was also caught on tape. But it seems someone tampered with the camera settings. The entire live recording was sent to me and the station, not your cloud drive,” Arthur explained, excitement in his voice. “You deceived us for a long time, but thanks to that, I now have the scoop of a lifetime. You have my thanks.”
“I-Impossible…” Haydn’s jaw dropped to his chest. Despair weighed heavily on his shoulders.
“I am genuinely amazed you were able to perpetrate this many crimes without arousing suspicion.” Arthur shook his head. “Then again, who would survive openly suspecting someone as big and entrenched as you? What makes it even worse, or better for my scoop, is that you committed all these crimes to satisfy your personal interests rather than for money or fame. My schedule just got very busy. I look forward to going on the air with this. Now then…”
Arthur stood up and turned toward the scowling Beast Blood and the woman clutched preciously to his chest.
“This is my second encounter with you two. As I thought, you were more than just small time players in the film of life. Oh dear, why do these things sound so clichéd when I say them? Oh well. Thanks to you, I got my hands on the greatest scoop since Gothic City was built. But before I get to that, we need to patch you up.”
The popular news anchor beamed at the bloody couple.