Shadowhunter in the Apocalypse

Mia was quite frustrated at the moment, as she stared at the other big guy she had saved for questioning. The moment she had even asked him why they had been extracting blood from actual supernatural orphans and he started talking—

POP.

Just like that she was covered in blood and brain matter, the sudden explosion of flesh and bone painting the walls. Someone was listening or could at least sense when their members were telling their secrets.

The Equalists were improving at a rapid pace, and the thought itself was very worrying.

She decided to head inside to see if she could find more clues. Unsurprisingly the door was locked, which further convinced her that someone was monitoring the entire situation.

With a solid kick the door burst open, the reinforced metal bending under the weight of her strike. Once again she had her improved body to thank, though she could have probably used her shadow magic to achieve the same result.

The scene inside stunned her momentarily. It was like this was a secret NASA base, large screens, computers, tech that was so massive one had to wonder how they got everything in here, right under everyone's noses.

Teleportation magic was the only thing that came to mind, or at least someone would have atleast investigated this, if not them then the Apostles or the warlocks that new York belonged too…..hypothetically.

Usually she would have blamed warlocks and witches, only them had teleportation magic as a subset for demonic magic but with the Equalist unexplained power to mix blood that shouldn't be able to work together, chances were the warlocks weren't the cause of this.

She tried one desktop. It was entirely clean, wiped to the core. A bad feeling surged through her body. She checked five more, all were as clean as the day they were bought.

Some one had wiped all of them clean at once, probably when she was fighting those two off.

It was either someone had remote access, or someone was in the building at that very moment to take care of the cleaning.

She focused on her vampire senses. Within the weeks she had taken the serum, everything was too hyper for her, light too bright, sound too loud, the scent of everything was to thick and that annoying desire to feed was ever present except she knew what to feed on but for her sanity she chose not to think about it.

It was like she was set up to be a heroine to a porn movie, but it kind of made sense when she thought about it, Fae survived in their realm because of the their giant trees abundant life force, while vampires survived on blood from humans, if one mixed both qualities with whatever they added, it made sense she desired life force but from a person's body….unfortunately and fortunately at the same time, it wasn't blood she desired.

It was the only thing she couldn't dial down, it grew slowly each day. But in regards to her other senses, she had found a handle on them, especially hearing, like a dial in which she could mentally control the flood of sensation, and so for the most part she was running at thirty percent vampire senses.

Now she cranked it up a bit and heard shuffles of feet.

Underground.

She blurred in the direction of the noise, looking for any secret door, which she found promptly.

"-ctivate the sequence quickly for Ultra!"

"But sir, all our work!"

"Just do it!"

Mia got there right on time.

"I'm sorry but I can't let you do that."

"Aghhhhhhhhhh!"

The woman collapsed on the ground as the horrifying pain hit her all at once, her hand fell at her side limp.

"Christa!" A man yelled, quickly pointing a gun at her direction, causing her to look at him curiously.

"You both are still human… you didn't take the serum but yet you know about the supernatural?" She asked in confusion before staring back at the woman on the ground who had now passed out from the pain.

"Don't take a single step or I swear I will shoot!" the man threatened as he walked back slowly.

She took time to really assess the man. He looked to be of Hispanic origins, bald but with a full beard, in his late thirties.

The gun was slapped out of the man's hand before he even had time to pull the trigger. Mia lifted him up by his neck.

"You don't have the right to ask me to do anything when you are taking blood from children!"

The man glared at her trying to project some kind of strength but she could smell the fear coming off him.

Pathetic.

"You said something about an Ultra? What is that?" She released her grip a little on his throat but the man didn't seem to appreciate her kindness.

"Fuck off."

She gripped an arm and crushed it. A horrified scream escaped from his lips. "Not going to ask twice."

"Please don't, I'll talk, okay! He is—"

POP.

Mia sighed as she brought down the shadow shield she had reflexively put up. It was the same thing that happened.

POP.

The woman on the floor didn't seem to be spared the same fate. They were erasing all evidence.

But Mia had managed to get something before the man died. The most prized possession in this base was a guy called Ultra.

She listened for any other heartbeat. She found one more, very peaceful and normal.

She tracked it to find a man sitting in a glass room.

The glass was reinforced, thick, with faint veins of steel etched along its surface. It looked like the kind of room you would use to contain something dangerous. Yet inside, the man looked anything but dangerous.

He sat on the ground, his knees pulled up to his chest, head bowed. His hair was dark and messy, his skin pale. The clothes he wore were standard white scrubs, stained with dirt and dried sweat. He looked like he had been here a long time.

Mia walked closer, her eyes narrowing. She pressed her hand against the glass and tapped it with her knuckles.

The man did not respond.

"Hey," she called, her voice firm. "Can you hear me?"

Nothing.

She tapped again, louder this time. "I know you can hear me. You're alive. I can sense your heartbeat."

Still, he did not reply. His chest rose and fell slowly, the only sign of life.

Mia's instincts warned her to tread carefully, but something in her chest tightened. He looked… broken, like he had given up on life.

She tried again. "I can get you out. I'm not with them. I don't hurt people like you."

Her hand slid across the glass, as if she could reach him through it. The man did not lift his head, but she swore she saw the faintest twitch of his fingers.

She remembered her training to not let emotions cloud judgment, not to act without proper risk assessment. But she thought even with everything, she could probably handle whatever was thrown at her, she was going to be an S class for goodness sake she can't be scared of the unknown.

Besides she wanted to save something, anything, after all the terrible things she had walked through on this mission, it was quite depressing that her first mission had to do with people taking orphans' blood for malicious purposes.

She looked at him one more time, no pale skin….his ears seemed human from what little she could see, no giant anything, he looked very plain….and helpless.

But they had called him ultra….or maybe they were still in the process of making him become that?

She made up her mind, she was going to save this poor soul on her first mission before they completed their process.

Mia moved to the control panel by the side of the glass cell looking for a release button, she eventually found it encased in a glass covering which she broke and hit the button.

Red alarms started ringing out.

A little doubt seeped into Mia's heart at that very moment, this treatment couldn't be for any prisoner right? She knew the Equalist motto all depended on making humans powerful so maybe they…

The door creaked open halting her thought process.

She stepped forward carefully into the room, the figure still hadn't raised his head. "It's okay," she said softly. "You're safe now. I won't let them—"

Her words cut short.

A rough, tight hand clamped around her throat with crushing force. Her feet lifted off the floor in an instant, the world spinning as her body was held aloft like a ragdoll. The man she had pitied had moved faster than even her vampire eyes could track, and his grip was like iron as he cut of her oxygen.

Her hands clawed at his arm but her strength seemed to be of no use compared to his, shadows gathering instinctively to her skin as she prepared to melt into darkness and slip free.

But before she could vanish, her body slammed into the wall with bone-jarring force. The reinforced surface cracked under the impact. She slid down, dazed, the blow leaving her vision swimming. Her body was enhanced, yes, but the sheer speed and power he had unleashed was beyond anything she had braced for.

The bag she carried fell and the vials inside shattered.

The vials Kane had collected burst open across the floor, blood spreading in a gleaming pool.

The man's eyes snapped toward it instantly.

Mia staggered to her knees, trying to shake the dizziness. Her gaze locked with his, and for the first time she saw them clearly. Not the eyes of a victim. Not the eyes of a prisoner. They were wild, sharp, gleaming with hunger.

He dropped to the ground like an animal, crawling on all fours toward the blood. His fingers dug into the floor as he lapped at the crimson liquid, licking every last drop, his throat working as he swallowed. The sound was feral, primal, more beast than man.

When the last streak of blood vanished under his tongue, he froze. His head lifted slowly, eyes locking on her. His lips were wet, his breath heavy.

A low growl tore from his chest.

Before she could even summon her shadows again, he blurred. The reinforced wall behind him exploded outward as he crashed through it. Then another, and another, moving with speed so sharp she could barely register the motion. Within seconds, the sound of destruction echoed deeper into the facility, leaving Mia crouched on the bloodstained floor, her chest heaving.

What the hell had she done.