Vane: The Genesis of Revelations

By Izu Obi

In a world full of monsters, assassins, and psychopathic vampires, it's a miracle any one left is sane. A young emotionless assassin finds himself cut off from his past life, and on a treacherous journey into forbidden territories. He, alongside a group of scarred heroes, have come with a sense of vendetta to do the unthinkable that would either save them, or damn them all to hell.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9781387859504

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Vane: The Genesis of Revelations

VANE

The Genesis of Revelations

Izu Obi

Copyright © 2018 Izu Obi

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2018

ISBN 978-1-387-85950-4

Published by:

Black Lord Publishing

2, Oloye Street,

Abuleodu Bus stop, Lagos, Nigeria.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Prologue

ONE

Genesis

TWO

Victims

THREE

Emotions

FOUR

Revival

FIVE

Nightmare

SIX

Death

SEVEN

Heart beat

EIGHT

Abduction

NINE

Synergy

TEN

Revelation

Epilogue

This book is dedicated to my mother for being my messiah,

To my sisters, Ada and Ebere for being patient,

And to Oye Olatunji for being the brother I never had.

PROLOGUE

It was quiet in the laboratory. Two scientists were standing side-by-side and talking. They were in a highly secretive laboratory where a lot of bizarre experiments were carried out. Just at the edge of their vision was the lifeless form of a human. His face was drooped low and not quite visible under the dim light. His hands and feet were manacled. He was in some form of pod filled with a greenish liquid. One would wonder how one would be able to live like that as there was no air in the tube. Other weird animals were also stored in pods. Monstrosities that should have stayed in your worst nightmare. All the life forms had tubes running through their bodies like plugs to a socket.

There was excitement in the room. Professor Macmillan had just achieved a feat in transmutation. A feat no one had ever done before. The other scientist, the one with the air of menace, was smiling evilly. Everything about him showed a man capable of murder. He had the look of a twisted devil in lab coats. Such disregard to the medical science line did this man pose that Hippocrates must have been turning in his grave.

Professor Macmillan kept his composure, though he was inwardly quivering with fear; not so much fear for the monsters surrounding him but for the real monster in front of him. He cleared his throat, wiped his brow in nervousness, pointed to the man in the tube and said, This is our latest experiment. It was part of a long line of failed projects that I and my predecessor had carried out. We call it the VANE. It is a killing machine, incapable of experiencing anything but pure rage.

The second scientist folded his arms in a thoughtful manner. It was quite obvious that he found the project fascinating. Pure rage you say, hmmm…. I’m intrigued, Professor Macmillan. Tell me more.

Macmillan nodded and launched into an explanation of his work in laboratory. Placing his hands on the tube, he turned towards the second scientist. We injected him with an adrenal stimulating hormone. This was highly tested. We hoped that it could react with his body’s hormonal secretion the way we want it to. That is by causing the adrenaline that is secreted from the adrenal glands to be, let me put it this way, one directional. A new type of artificial adrenaline was also inserted. Once inserted, of course Vane’s strength, speed and reflexes increased to inhuman proportions, but this happens at a disadvantage to all other sensory perceptions like fear and pain which becomes practically non-existent. Vane is incapable of humane feelings. No pain, love, happiness, cold. He has no feelings but pure rage. We have also discovered that his body’s immunity is very high, well above that of a normal human… by far.

The second scientist was lost in thought for a minute then he seemed to come down to earth and smiled menacingly. He gazed at Professor Macmillan in the eye and said Good, he’ll be the instrument of my enemy’s destruction.

Beyond them, the man in the tube looked up, his eyes glowing blood red, the colour of evil.

Genesis

It was a dark clear sky. Hunched in the shadows of a building was Vane. His eyes, ever watchful. He was clothed in a Japanese type of fighting garb. His pale skin reflected the blood red rays of a dying sun. He was watching and waiting for them to come to him. He knew they would. Finally, he saw the car. A black SUV, following the SUV in front and back were eight guards on power bikes. Just eight damned guards. Vane liked it that way. As he stepped out of the shade, he could hear their individual hearts pumping erratically, the ticking of their wristwatches were rhythmic and distinct. The darn fool in the car was even chanting a prayer to the rosary. Immediately, he heard the cocking of rifles and the loading of cartridges, but he was prepared. They were all going to die. He was armed with just one thing. A long, sharp katana that caught the rays of the setting sun. He advanced so fast that no one saw him. That was until he made his first kill.

He weaved a bullet and ran a man through the heart. Not even waiting for the man to die, he removed his blade and moved towards man number two. The man fired two clear shots. Vane weaved one and sliced the second in half with his katana. He kept walking towards the man. More shots rang out. He dodged them all. One merely grazed his shoulder. He sprinted, the man tried to run but Vane was faster. He cleaved the man in half before the man could reach anywhere and shook off the blood from his sword in one swift motion.

Two down. The remaining men fired their guns in a frenzy, but Vane was gone. The men circled each other trying to see where the assassin had gone. Around them, the fog seemed to rise.

Then Vane appeared, flying through the dusty smoke way out of the darkness beyond, slamming into the men from behind. The force of the blow killed three men in an instant. Their bones twisted at odd angles.

Five down. The black SUV slammed hard on the assassin sending him toppling back. The assassin got up, his sword arm dripping with blood, he closed fearlessly against the men with his long Katana grappled firmly in his hands.

Bullets were fired consecutively, but Vane was quicker. Faster than light, he stabbed two men through the heart, appeared in front of the last man, an apparition of darkness. The man’s eye widened in surprise and fright. Vane grabbed his head and with one squeeze, he separated the man’s skull from his body. Vane dropped the limp body and moved to the car. He ripped the car’s door from its hinges. The man in the car was still praying to the rosary. Vane unsheathed his Katana, letting the man see the glimmer of red reflected on the blade. He sliced. Some minutes later where the rosary laid, you could hear the drip, drip of blood on the ground.

The street was silent as vane walked into the night. His hands were bloody from the aftermath of war.  He saw a dark warehouse in the distance and headed towards it. Underneath the warehouse was a lab. His creator was waiting for him there. Today he shall rest but only for today. He had another assignment the next day. Suddenly, he was stopped by a man; a homeless man begging for alms.

But Vane could not see him. Blood clouded his vision. Everything he had been made to see were just men waiting to die. He unsheathed his Katana and ran the man though the heart. He moved towards the warehouse leaving a dark pool of blood in his wake. In the dark of night, all that could be seen of him were two blood red orbs where his eyes should be.

*           *           *

It was dark once again in the laboratory. The cloaked figure of the assassin, Vane was silhouetted in the night. The two scientists were hunched over. He was being briefed for his next kill.

One of the scientist, the dark one, brought out a photograph of a female and showed him. This is Doctor Vanessa Pepple. She is your next assignment.

Vane studied the picture. Curved face, light skin, skinny arms, she was no obvious threat but she was to die, that’s all that mattered.

Doctor Bakare leaned forward and whispered into Vane’s ear, I want her blood dripping from your blade when you get back. With one evil grin, he squeezed Vane’s shoulder and walked into the lab of horrors beyond. The other scientist just stood there watching even as a feral hiss split the air. Vane checked his weapons. Two short daggers, a butcher’s knife and the katana. With a final glance at the doctor, he moved off into the night.

It was time to kill again.

*           *           *

Tonight was unlike any other night. The hoot of an owl could be heard against the stillness of the night. Certain to bring fear to anyone. Anyone that wasn’t the assassin, Vane. Let them fear.

Vane passed his normal route from the underground lab to the busy city.