Hades Corp

The rain fell lightly across the black city. A heavy mist resting along the pavement, the heat of the city cooling only slightly from the rain. It was late; the lanterns had been lit along the streets in some places, in others it was total darkness. The large clock, whose face looked upon the wide flat slum from the side of the Hades Corp. building, struck twelve, in a long low baritone note that resonated in Cyn’s chest. Curfew had fallen, shop lights were blown out as store owners and workers made their way into the quite streets. Cyn pulled the hood of her jacket up and close to her face, her mental shield going up with extra caution. Hades’ dogs would be out and prowling soon, making sure everyone was closed up tight in their homes; she didn’t need to be noticed. Her grandfather’s Kase Reeder 10 mm pistol hung heavy at her waist, a relic of the past. It was illegal to own a firearm in the city, but she had no intention of going anywhere without it. The world was dangerous now, the world was at war. She lived alone, in a small rundown slum building not far from the soup shop where she worked. The rain and mist beaded up on her skin as she walked. She took her time, cautiously watching her surroundings. She couldn’t get close to a Cerberus, her shield protected her from most things and most forms of detection that Hades had produced but the Cerberus were different. Genetic manipulation was Hades Corp’s business and they had done well with the Cerberus. Men and women, chosen or taken by Hades and turned into something remarkable. Beasts that could detect a psychic, beasts that were driven by bloodlust for those with special powers wanted by Hades. It was rumored that they could change their form at will, from dog to human and back again, but she had never seen a Cerberus in human form. As she walked the streets emptied and the lamps that were lit became few and far between. She was nearing her slums, a darker, poorer, more dangerous end of town. Cyn undid her jacket, resting her hand on her pistol as she pulled down her hood. She wanted to have a wide view, not obscured by the hood, and wanted her pistol handy if needed. Dreary windows allowed candle light to fall to the streets through musty curtains. Slight movement to her right caught her eye at the shadowed entryway of an alley. She paused, her grip tightening on her gun as she met a chilling golden gaze. He was sitting, his back against the wet brick of a building, his legs extended before him. He was shirtless, his bloodied chest rising and falling with labor, his head resting against the brick behind him as he tilted slightly and gazed at her. His right arm was in the light of a window, mangled and shredded to the bone, his palm turned upright as it rested on the ground. Blood ran down the left side of his face, a long wide gash running from his eyebrow along the corner of his eye to his jawbone. They stayed like that for what seemed an eternity, frozen in his gaze and him simply staring at her. She knew his golden eyes to be that of a Cerberus, if she were to move closer she was certain to see his heavy metal collar that was imbedded in the skin about his throat. She swallowed hard, letting her fingers slide off her gun. He was no threat to her, she was certain he knew what she was just as surely as she knew what he was. Even with this knowledge he didn’t move to attack her. She took a step towards him, watching him, wondering where his handler was and why he was in such a deplorable state. He still made no move against her. Perhaps he was dying. She closed the space between them to three short yards, every fiber of her being wanted to run. It was his gaze, if he weren’t so badly hurt he would devour her. But then she realized, perhaps she could use him. Perhaps her future wasn’t as certain as she had thought. Perhaps, if she asked him nicely, he would kill her quickly and allow her peace.

“Do you want to eat me?”

His expression didn’t change; it was as if her words fell on deaf ears. She noticed the glint of four large metal rings punched into his right ear along the cartilage. All Cerberus had a certain number of similar rings, she noticed the number varied but she didn’t know what they stood for.

“I’ve eaten more than enough little girls today.”

She bent down to look at him closer, his eyes were clouded, he was close to death.

“Perhaps you’ll make an exception.”

She moved to his left side to the arm that was still whole and tried to pull him to his feet, his skin was burning hot to the touch, even with the cold rain to cool him. With a little help from the dog he was on his feet again and she could clearly see the damage done. Bite marks littered his sides, his flesh pulled away from his ribs to expose the white bone. His shoulders were laid open from fangs of fellow dogs that had gone for his throat and had found his shoulders instead. The back of his collar where it was imbedded into his skin was bloodied and the flesh was torn to ribbons. She had never seen in person the damage that a Cerberus can cause. Despite all of this he had more strength left in him than she had expected, she helped only a little in getting him up and he stood on his own. She turned and walked out of the alley, glancing over her shoulder briefly to make sure he would follow. It was two short blocks to her slum; he walked behind her the entire way, several yards between them. She let herself into the building and walked down a narrow hall to a set of stairs. She glanced back from time to time to be sure he was still following, he always was. Once up the stairs she went to her apartment door and let herself in, he followed.

“Sit there.”

She pointed to a wooden chair next to the nightstand near her bed. He obeyed, seeming to fall into it a little heavier than needed; perhaps the stairs had been a bit much. He was bleeding excessively, she hadn’t noticed in the rain how much blood there really was until it was pooling on her floor as it dripped from his shredded arm and sides. The roof leaked excessively, as water dripped into several small bowls on her floor. It was a single room, her bed at the far wall near the window, the nightstand next to that and her only chair where the dog sat. A short kitchen counter lined the left side of her room, complete with a sink and a coffee pot. Old peeling cabinets held a few plates and food items. On the right side of the room was a dresser a closet and a bathroom. Cyn hastily lit a few candles and a small kerosene lantern to light the room. The residential part of the city had no electric, neither did the shop district or churches. The dog watched her as she looked through her bathroom for first aid supplies. She returned to him with several towels, a basin of warm water gauze and tape.

“You’re a powerful psychic, your shielding yourself.”

She didn’t respond as she tried to clean his wounded arm, she wasn’t sure that he would be able to keep it; it was more bone than anything else now.

“I can see things; I can see the evil in people and what they’ve done. I can manipulate small mechanisms like locks and I can listen in on phone calls through phone lines or see through a camera by touching its wire. I can sense where people are in some cases, mostly which applies to psychics though. And I can put barriers around myself or others if needed.”

He showed no signs of pain as she cleaned his wounds and tried to stop his bleeding. If she could bring him back a little perhaps then he will grant her, her wish.

“You want me to gobble you up, like the big bad wolf.”

She met his gaze then, unwavering, unreadable, and frightening. Her gaze dropped.

“Hades Corp has spread across this city. We have a curfew; there are raids and random home searches. They take people to turn them into dogs, or other things for their war. My powers are useful to them, it’s only a matter of time before they take me, and I refuse to be turned into a science experiment. People go into that building and they never come back out, and the only way to escape the city is through a gate that’s guarded by twenty or more dogs. I’m trapped here, unless I can find a way to scale a seven hundred foot wall that’s ten feet thick.”

She stared at the blood dripping from his mangled fingers as it pooled on her floor.

“If I eat you, I’ll heal faster; your blood makes me stronger.”

Cyn pulled her jacket off, her black hair was cut short to the nape of her neck but hung a little longer towards the front. She was small framed, and dressed in a shabby white wife beater and blue jeans. She took off her holster and removed her pistol. She ejected the clip and checked the chamber before setting it aside. A low growl rolled up his throat as he snatched a handful of her hair, yanking her head to the side. He threw her to the floor, placing himself above her as he slid his dog fangs along the skin of her shoulder.

“You tell me to eat you yet you’re afraid. I can hear the fast beating of your heart; I can smell the adrenaline coursing through you now.”

His words were a snarl, his breath falling against the skin of her shoulder as she winced in pain, his fingers tangling themselves tightly in her hair.

“Why are you torn to shreds?”

He smiled.

“I ate my keeper. I gobbled him up; my pack mates attacked me for it and cast me out. I’m a fugitive of Hades.”

His fangs pressed uncomfortably hard against her skin as he sighed breaking the skin only slightly.

“A Cerberus cannot be without a keeper, we go mad with power. But my keeper deserved what he got, I tore him to pieces and ate his evil heart and drank his tainted blood but it didn’t satisfy. You see? We have the same enemy.”

His tongue licked the skin he had been biting before, tasting only a small bit of her blood.

“I won’t kill you; I don’t wish to kill you.”

Silent tears rolled down her cheek, that’s not what she wanted to hear. It would be so simple for him, so easy for him to give her peace. His fingers released her hair as he pulled her up to him, encasing her in his arms.

“I’ve killed more than I wish to remember, don’t make me kill again. If I’m alone I’ll go insane, but I don’t wish to end my life. I have to have a keeper.”

She had never been held by anyone before, let alone a creature that was designed to kill her and her kind. He was wounded and alone, not unlike herself, perhaps they could benefit from each other.

“What does a keeper do?”

His fangs found her shoulder again, biting once more to get her blood as he lapped it from her skin. His claws were extended as well and were digging into her flesh as he clutched her, seeming not to feel his damaged parts.

“They are bonded to us; they keep us under control and give us purpose. Without them we can run rampant and drunk with power and blood. But the bond they connect a Cerberus and a keeper with at Hades is artificial, and works well for the manufactured Cerberus, not so much with the wild ones. This is why I was able to destroy my keeper without destroying myself.”

He was growing calmer with every lick, her blood was indeed helping him, and his eyes weren’t as clouded as he sounded less predatory.

“What is the real bond?”

She felt him smile against her skin.

“Blood.”

He pulled back from her; blood was dripping down the side of his neck from the wound on his collar.

“I need a keeper and you need protection. That is the relationship between Cerberus and keeper. I’ve tasted your blood, now you must taste mine.”

She swallowed. She wasn’t squeamish by any means, but the thought of tasting another’s blood seemed unnatural. She sat up, propping herself up on her elbows as he gazed at her intently. It was a good deal; with a Cerberus at her side she would be well protected from Hades Corp and would have the power to escape. She leaned towards his neck where the blood was dripping on her shirt. It smelled coppery, and the last thing she remembered was extending her tongue to lick away his blood.

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