32. American Idiot.

I set off. I had no rational thought in my mind, just rage, panic, and desperation combined with the need to escape, so I was a soulless killing machine; I enjoyed it. My killer side was out. I got out of the room and into the corridor and was met by the first nurse.

She was saying something, came closer, and tried to touch me; I slammed my hand with direct force into her chest and ripped her heart out, threw it aside, and two guards approached and shot something at me. I felt the sensations, but I didn't care.

I thrust my hand into the other man's stomach, vampire claws at the ready, and pulled something out; the man groaned and fell to the floor, and I released my grip on the hot entrails. They felt so hot in my hands. The other guard was more careful and didn't come so close. I approached the victim with determination. I got more sensations, but I didn't care; I just broke his neck.

I didn't take his gun, as I didn't want to shoot now. Mimosa was awake in my head. As confused as I was, I felt her rage, too, our rage. I didn't see anyone as human, only as victims, and I kept going. My hands were bloody. I always had some body parts or entrails in my hands as I slaughtered the next victim and kept going. Nothing mattered now. I enjoyed seeing them dead or dying, that expression, oh it was perfect.

I didn't even know where I was going, but there were always new victims, new ones to kill, and I felt only a deep satisfaction as the victim always fell to the ground. I knew I'd always done such a bad enough job that none of them would survive, even if they were left gasping for breath or wailing on the floor. Soon, the voices always stopped. I continued on my way. My victory.

Damon and Magnum got the supplies together, and they were soon on their way. Both were quiet, and the car had a clear charge. Damon was turning over in his head different scenarios of what condition Mimi would be in and what he should do.

He had limited equipment with him, and the trip to the house in Chicago could take some time, as it was in a different part of the state than their house. But it would be the best place for treatment, and Damon knew his teeth might be part of the treatment too, how all the drugs had been eliminated and broken down. But first, Mimi would have to be gotten on board and treated.

They finally arrived, and the vampires were in position. Damon and Magnum armed themselves, and Damon had a small bag slung over his shoulder. He walked in the front door and fired one shot, and the victim was dead.

He knew Mimi had been doing whatever she was doing for at least three hours, and now it was just a matter of going floor by floor and getting things done. They went into the first patient room, and a quick examination made Damon shake his head.

There was only a crack as the victim was released from his pain. Damon terminated all six victims in the room while Magnum set the explosives. They went into the archives, or some data collection room next, and Damon quickly looked through the various files.

Then he found Mimi's file and quickly scrolled through it. He saw several dozen experimental drugs in wild doses, all the studies, and the enzyme collection. He knew those enzymes would be worth saving if they could find them.

He told Magnum, " Mimi's number is 789610; find the tanks with this number on them and recover them; there's some enzyme from Mimi, and I want them recovered. Samuel can see if they're any good, but they're doing something."

Magnum said, "OK, I'll try to find them."

They continued the victims could not be rescued, and Damon did his job quickly and painlessly. Magnum searched for the containers, but they still couldn't find them. They moved on to the next floor and were always the same.

Damon's vampires came to help when they found the drug rooms, and Damon told them to pack the drugs in sports bags and deliver them to the car; he looked himself at a couple of tranquilizer guns and a dart. One dart was strong enough to kill a horse, and these were powerful animal tranquilizers. Somehow, Damon knew that these had been used for Mimi.

Sark heard gunshots and watched on the monitor as two men entered the facility and started killing everyone, but what caught his attention was the strange sounds from behind his door. Sark went and opened the door.

He smelled the blood and the bodies, saw the slaughter, and at the other end of the hallway, a thin figure dropped some from its hand; it was a heart. The figure turned to look and saw an open door.

Sark recognized the target, and this was now dangerous. There was enjoyment in its face as it smiled when it saw him. Sark knew he must save himself and abandon this facility. He shut the door, set his computer to destruction, gathered his supplies, and cursed in his mind when he couldn't access the enzyme tank.

He went to the closet, pressed the button, slipped into the secret passage, and escaped by the escape route, ready for the next time he wanted that target again. Still, it was now in some kind of homicidal psychosis.

Sark had studied the target enough to know that this would not be easy to control because he had seen several tranquilizer darts and bullet wounds in the target, and apparently, its rage kept it working, so Sark saved himself and waited for a better day when he could get his hands on that wonder again.

I had just killed another one and was looking at the heart in my hand emotionlessly, dropping it to the ground, when I noticed movement and saw one door open. I saw him; I wanted to kill that bastard and I felt beastly smile coming to my face. I heard gunshots from somewhere and didn't care; that was after the guards had shot me a few times already.

I had several tranquilizer darts in me. I felt the drug, but my rage roared through it. I started walking towards the stairs, going back down. I was dizzy. I knew I was pretty fucking weak, but the rage was blazing and made me feel pretty fucking strong and invincible again. My killer side enjoyed. 

I got to the next floor after going down the stairs. I could have just walked all the way down, but I was killing, and everyone would die. Everybody deserved to die. I started walking down the corridor and kept on killing. I had to wonder, though, because the guards were brave; they shot me, and then I had time to kill them.

Some scientists ran away like rabbits, but when I looked out the window, there was no one there; the sounds of gunshots kept going, so maybe someone was killing the scientists who were running away. The next guard came towards me, and my head was spinning; I staggered. Miraculously, I stayed on my feet. The guard fired something at me and I didn't let it stop me from moving. I charged at the guard and broke his neck.

Damon and Magnum moved on to the next floor. They shot all the scientists who tried to escape, and Damon knew Mimi was the culprit. Mimi was killing everyone and in a rage, but if Mimi were in the same state as last time, she would recognize that Damon and Magnum were friends, but even so, Damon had very strong, extra-strong zip ties in his pocket to capture Mimi if he had to.

The smell of blood was very fresh here, and Damon heard a few of the victims were alive. Magnum walked ahead, turned the corner, stopped, and looked. The corridor was full of dead or dying people. At the other end of the corridor, he saw a very thin figure just breaking the guard's neck.

Damon came over, watched for a moment, and pulled Magnum away around the corner so Mimi couldn't see them.

He said, "Stay here; look for those enzymes; there are storage rooms; I'll go and see if I can get the lady under control, but for now, don't come near. She is very dangerous, and I don't know if she even recognizes me or if she just remembers that I betrayed her. She's on drugs, in a rage, and not in control at all. Her inner darkness so to speak is out, and she wants to kill."

Magnum nodded and went to investigate the storerooms as Damon took a deep breath and went back around the corner. To face Mimi.

 I tore all the tranquilizer darts out of myself and wondered why there were only holes in me. Bullet wounds... They distracted me as they bled. I wasn't healing anymore, and every time someone shot, that wound bled, but I didn't mind; I made new blood, yes, and fast. I looked ahead—next victim. I felt my rage boil over, and well and truly.

This was the culprit. This one had betrayed me, and my rage empowered me. I saw a scalpel on one table; I took it in my hand and looked at my victim; this one was the worst. This deserved its end. I felt hatred like no other.

Damon went around the corner and watched as Mimi went over to the guard and snapped the neck of another guard. Then Mimi ripped the darts off like they were nothing. Then Mimi stuck her fingers in the bullet holes and stared at her fingers for a while.

Then Mimi raised her eyes and looked directly at Damon. 

He knew he had to be clever now. Mimi's eyes were blank. Mimi was now acting on nothing but survival, instinct, and rage. Now Miss didn't seem to really recognize him, and he got a small thought out of her head that she only saw him as a victim, and the worst kind of victim.

He sensed her genuine desire to murder, and now he had to take it easy and get her under control. He could smell her panic, her fear, her desperation, the drugs, her weakness, and his teeth were about to kick in, but he could control himself, and from what Damon had heard from Adam and Bran, Mimi was now at her most dangerous.

He would probably have to hurt Mimi a little before he could make her harmless, but he had to be quick and ruthless; he didn't want to break Mimi's neck now; he just wanted to get her tied up and dragged into the cage. And then to Chicago, where he and Samuel would see what to do.

Now, he had to be in charge, dominate the space, and get her under control quickly and efficiently. Mimi was skinny; Damon wasn't sure he'd ever seen her so skinny, yet she was moving, killing with an efficiency that would have been almost enviable in any other situation.

He approached calmly but firmly.

Damon said, " Come on, baby, smell me. Remember, I'm the safety, come on. It's all right.."

He spoke in a low, calm voice with a clear dominance and edge. He wasn't a victim, and he could see her eyebrows furrow as his tone somehow went into her mind.

Damon approached slowly but surely, talking all the while, " Baby, start putting the rage down. Come on, young lady, calm down. You're in pretty terrible shape and I can't really make anything out. You're a mess. Come on... it's all right."

Damon was talking as much to himself as he was to Mimi. He knew she might not understand the words, but the tone of voice, and he could see the scalpel in her hand, the murderous rage in her eyes.

He didn't blame Mimi; this had just gone too far, and now she had snapped. Damon knew that all the people Mimi had killed deserved their fate. He was now very close to Mimi. He carefully took a few zip ties from his bag and put them in his pocket. They were needed and there was nothing he could do for Mimi now but get her under control and into the car. No drugs yet.

This victim said something and came towards me. This was not a weak victim. But it didn't matter. He will die like the others. I encouraged myself. I took a deep breath and let the rage help me a little more. Mimosa was as confused as ever, and I could feel her desire to sink her teeth into this victim and to keep on mauling until there was nothing left but a bloody mess.

I took out the scalpel I had found and approached and attacked. I slashed mercilessly and tried to hit him in the neck, but the victim was taller and quick as fuck, and instead of slitting his throat, the scalpel sunk into his shoulder, and the cut then went slightly downwards halfway across his chest. I pressed the scalpel as hard as I could, and suddenly, I felt muscular arms around me. 

A tight grip on my wrist made the scalpel fall to the floor. The grip numbed my hand, so that there was no feeling in it. I tried to kick, but my kicks were weak and missed. I looked at the hand around me and sank my teeth into it. A powerful hand grabbed me by my hair and pulled my head upwards, dislodging my teeth quickly. My arms were pulled behind my back, and I felt something being put around my wrists several times, so I couldn't get my arms free.

Damon felt Mimi attack and just managed to dodge before Mimi would have slit his throat open. He felt the scalpel sink deep into his shoulder and the slit continued almost through his chest.

He grabbed Mimi's wrist in his hand, squeezing three nerve points, causing the scalpel to drop. He dodged her kicks and suddenly felt her teeth on his wrist. He acted, not thinking, and grabbed her hair tightly, yanked her head back, making her release her grip, and acted quickly, pulling her hands behind her back and securing them with a zip tie with three at least.

He then wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing her tightly against him and holding her hair with one hand so she couldn't bite. Mimi whimpered, grunted, and almost squeaked, but he had her in a tight grip, and now they were getting ready. 

Magnum came out of one room as Damon was already walking Mimi down the corridor.

Magnum said, "I don't know who that Mr. Sark was, but in that room, the computer was destroyed, and apparently, some sort of secret escape route was in use. So someone got away. She's pretty damn wild. Can you keep her under control?"

Damon grunted and said, he got flash self-loathing creeping into his mind, "Sark is the guy I sold Mimi to, the lead investigator, and if he escaped, it would not be good because he was the one who put up the reward." 

Magnum said: "This facility is ready. I recovered the enzymes you were talking about. And don't worry about Sark; now that we know him, Reddington can help, and we'll get on with it. Knowing who the enemy is good, but here are these enzymes."

He showed Damon the three containers. Damon nodded briefly.

He said: "Time to get out of here."

Damon had to carry a squirming, shaking, even hissing Mimi into the car. He could feel Mimi's blood soaking into his clothes, and he held it as tight as required, even though it might hurt, but Mimi was now in a state of mind to take no chances.

He felt as if some part of him was still stuck somewhere, as if he wasn't fully awake. But he was an old creature and sometimes had strange feelings about himself. Like the feeling that his real self was in a cage, and he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

Luckily, they had taken Bran's caged car. It was a van with a strong cage attached to the back. Bran sometimes used it if he needed to transport a dangerous or injured werewolf. Damon had put a mattress and blankets on the bottom of the cage. Magnum went ahead and opened the cage door. Damon untied the zip ties as he threw Mimi into the cage.

He said: "Be good, baby, I'm going to fix you up. This is for your own good. Please calm down."

Mimi didn't respond but charged towards him, and Damon acted quickly.

He closed the cage door. Then he closed the back door of the car and sighed. His shirt was soaked with blood, Mimi's and his own.

 He could smell her bloodlust. She hadn't drunk his blood. She'd only bitten him. She hadn't figured out how to drink his blood.

He went to the water barrel in the yard to wipe off the biggest ones. He took off his shirt and used it to wash away the worst of the blood. The wound had already healed, and it was deep, but he was a powerful creature and fucking quick to heal.

His jacket was intact, and he had put his bag on the seat of the car. There were very many large sports bags full of medicines, and Damon knew he would have to go through them at some point.

Magnum said, "I've got some spare clothes over there in my work bag if you want."

Damon nodded

Magnum handed him a spare shirt. It was looser and a bit shorter than Damon usually wore, as Damon was taller but slimmer. It would do. Damon knew that the smell of blood might excite Mim even more, so that was why he washed as best he could. Mimi was still a vampire, and that was an added complication to the job. Damon didn't even think about what was going to happen.

The guilt after seeing Mimi's condition was almost too much, and he knew it was his job to get Mimi well. He owed it to Mimi. All the vampires were out of the building and they could now leave.

They got into the car, and Magnum started it up. He pulled out of the driveway, and Damon took out the transmitter and pushed the button. There were a series of explosions from the plant, and the entire building started to collapse. Damon looked at the wreckage for a moment before Magnum turned the car completely around, and the collapsing building was only visible in the rearview mirror.

They drove for some distance, Mimi's rage not subsiding, and the first emergency vehicles came towards them. Damon leaned back slightly, sighed, and braced himself for what was to come.