Nadya’s Nights: Road to Vengeance
Night Two: Race for the Cure
Chapter Nineteen: Pitfall
by Indy McDaniel
Copyright © 2009 Indy McDaniel
The Maserati screeched to a halt outside of a large stone home. Nadya flicked her cigarette butt out of the window before rolling it up. She’d been chain smoking ever since Ulbrecht had taken the wheel and she still looked more than a little stressed, not to mention pale.
The gas tank was hovering near empty again, but that didn’t matter so much now that they’d arrived at their destination. Nadya only hoped that the man they’d come to see was home. And that he could help.
Once Ulbrecht killed the engine, she opened her door and got out. As she pushed the door shut, she noticed her hand trembling slightly. She clenched her jaw and focused, making the tremors cease. Rounding the car, she fell into step alongside Ulbrecht and together they headed for the house.
It was more of a mansion than a house, really. Two stories and quite large, she figured the place had to be pretty old. Whoever this guy was, he had money if this was where he vacationed.
A tall, wrought iron gate was directly in front of the mansion, with stone walls moving out away from it to surround the perimeter. She noticed a call box as well as the security camera that seemed to be tracking them as they approached. She looked away from the camera as they stopped in front of the gate. She reached over and tapped the button on the call box. A few moments later, a voice responded.
“Who are you?” the voice asked in a suspicious tone. It was gruff and distinctly American.
Nadya sighed. It wasn’t that she despised Americans per say. She just didn’t particularly care for them.
Pressing down on the transmit button and leaning slightly towards the call box, she replied. “Nadya Valentina and Ulbrecht Reinhardt.”
Another pause, this one longer than the initial one. “Why are you here?”
Suppressing her impatience and aggravation, she hit the button again. “Word has it, someone here knows how to stop the curse of the werewolf.”
Hardly any pause followed her statement this time. “You’re mistaken.”
“The hell I am,” Nadya muttered, before pressing the transmit button to reply to the annoying American. “My friend is infected. He needs the cure.” After a few moments of hesitation, she spoke again. “Please.”
“I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” the reply came. “Please leave.”
Nadya glared into the security camera then hit the button.
“No.” She looked over to Ulbrecht. “I’ll be right back.”
She examined the gate more closely. It was designed with an intricate pattern that made it a work of art and quite beautiful to look at. Unfortunately for the homeowner, it was piss poor as far as its ability to keep someone out.
Especially if that someone was a limber Russian girl who’d been trained very well at infiltration.
In a series of quick movements, she scaled the gate, ignoring the pain emanating from her bruised knee. She dropped down on the other side and took in her surroundings. A well manicured lawn, some bushes, a few trees and some shadowy statues were all she noticed. Nadya started to walk up the path to the front of the mansion, limping slightly on her injured leg.
About ten feet away from the front door, a series of lights clicked on, illuminating Nadya and her surroundings. She squinted her eyes against the bright light and looked around herself again, her senses kicking into overdrive.
Maybe she’d set off a motion detector that automatically lit up the exterior of the mansion for the convenience of whoever was taking a stroll through the grounds, but she doubted it.
After remaining still for several long moments with nothing happening, Nadya took a step forward. As her foot came down on the stone pathway, something gave underneath it.
A whole lot of something.
She watched with wide eyes as the path before her dropped away, opening into a dark chasm before her. She pin wheeled her arms, trying to get her balance under control but the sudden change had caught her completely off guard and she found herself falling forward into the black pit.
“Nadya!” she heard Ulbrecht cry as she fell.
Reaching out for something to grab hold of, she came up empty. She dropped into the darkness.
Nadya didn’t fall for long, no more than ten feet or so, but her fall was ended by an abrupt stop as she collided against a slopped hard surface. She landed on her wounded shoulder and let out a yelp of pain before she began to roll further downwards. Her world spun and the fact that there was no light only helped to disorient her further.
Finally, the slope came to an end and she thudded face first against a cool earthen floor. Coughing several times, Nadya began to push herself to her feet, using mostly her right arm and left leg to accomplish it. Her already battered areas were alive with throbbing pain.
Once she was standing, she brushed herself off and looked around. The room she was in appeared to be a holding cell. Directly across from where the shoot had deposited her was a wall of bars and a gate that was currently closed.
“Perfect…” she said, cursing her rotten luck.
Beyond the bars, there wasn’t much more to the room. A single wooden door was the only thing of any note, which she assumed lead up into the mansion above. She turned and examined the slope but quickly realized it was too steep and smooth for her to make it back up. And even if she could, there was no way she could get back out of the pit she’d fallen into.
Nadya heard the creak of door hinges and spun around to find the door opening. A man who appeared to be in his mid to late thirties entered the room, his dark eyes trained on her. She remained where she was, looking back at him. She assumed this was the American she’d been speaking to over the intercom. “That was a stupid move on your part.”
“I agree,” she responded. “I thought you’d only have attack dogs.” She lifted an eyebrow. “Or attack wolves, rather.”
The man gave her a curious look. “Why’s that?”
“Birds of a feather and all that,” she said. “Are you going to let me out?”
“Eventually,” he said. “First, I want to know who told you about me.”
“A French woman named Elise Lussier said you could help my friend. A two-bit informant named Lonestar sent me to Elise.”
The man nodded. “I know Elise. She’s trustworthy.”
“She’s also dead,” Nadya added.
His face went from shock to deadly in a matter of seconds. “You?”
She shook her head. “A werewolf-turned-vampire named Remy. I killed him as the one thing but he came back as the other. He’s also the one who infected my friend upstairs.”
“When?”
“Last night. As far as I can tell, the curse hasn’t taken hold yet. If he can’t be cured, I’ll have to put him down,” she said, trying to keep her voice smooth. It didn’t entirely work.
The man smirked. “Sounds like you’re the one with the attack wolf.”
“Not yet,” Nadya said, shaking her head. “And I’d much rather keep it that way.”
“All right, then,” he said, producing a key from his pants pocket and stepping to the gate. He unlocked it and swung it wide. Nadya moved forward, limping even more on her busted knee. The man surveyed her hobbled walk. “I find it hard to believe you got that banged up in the fall.”
“No,” she replied. “The fall just helped to awaken some not so old injuries.” She exited the cell and the man pulled the gate shut behind her.
“You’re bleeding,” he said, pointing to Nadya’s shoulder.
She looked down at her left shoulder, noticing blood staining the fabric of her shirt. “Must’ve popped my stitches.”
“We should get you patched up,” the man said, turning to lead her through the door and further into the mansion.
Nadya followed after him. “I’ll take care of that. You just worry about my friend waiting outside.”
