And Paige couldn’t help but wonder if Angela had abilities to make herself extra-heavy, given the fact that she could have hidden powers as an alien princess.
Sadly, despite all her mother’s efforts, Dillon was still dragging her toward the Viper and Paige had a sinking feeling this was their last chance to beat him.
If they failed, they wouldn’t lose just Angela or the Viper, but another planet as well.
And that was something they had to prevent by any means necessary.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Dillon! Stop!” Paige yelled. “It’s over, you can’t win,” she bluffed, but it kind of worked.
He slowed down and turned to face them.
If Paige learned anything about him it would be that he liked to brag, and she hoped now would be no different.
“I can’t win you say?” Dillon replied with that smug smirk on his face.
Bingo.
“Paige,” she heard Kwan whispering behind her.
She turned toward him ever so slightly, not wanting to alert Dillon they were up to something.
“Tell me, what’s our plan here?” Kwan asked. He was a bit breathless, but Paige could hear the urgency in his voice. And once again, she was grateful he survived and was here to help them because to take this lunatic down they would need all the manpower available.
Since Kwan can’t fight with Dillon physically... Paige started to come up with the plan on the spot.
“I already won,” Dillon continued to boast. “I have this traitor right here, and I’m taking my ship back. The only thing missing is all of you dead.”
“No,” Paige’s mother rebelled and started to fight him with renewed strength.
Paige used Dillon’s momentary distraction to reply to Kwan.
“We need to get the mothership’s outer door open to get to the Viper,” she explained, moving toward Dillon and her Mom. “The Viper is docked, it’s locked, and we need to fuel it up! We need the fuel badly, Kwan!” Paige insisted, still whispering, and hoping he heard her.
“Piece of cake,” she heard him mumbling back.
Yeah, they were in a shitty position. That was their new normal though.
“The Necromancer is already fueled,” Dave jumped in.
“Yeah, but from what you've said, it's smaller, and not parked here,” Paige countered instantly.
“Good point,” Dave replied.
“So, we need Viper,” Paige concluded.
“Look,” Kwan said, as he came closer to her, so she could see his face. “I’ll take care of the fuel, okay?”
“What about the rest?”
Dillon spotted them approaching and he started running again, but they were running out of space, pun not intended.
He went around the corner and Paige followed.
They were now in the same corridor they walked through upon entering. And through glass walls, Paige could see the Viper waiting for them.
If Dillon finds a way to unlock the door then its game over, Paige panicked.
“The guns on the Viper will take care of the mothership’s hooks that are holding it in place...”
“And we can easily take care of this door,” AJ jumped in.
And he was right. Paige opened Kwan’s cell door using the Black Mass so it would be easy to do it again.
The only problem that truly remained was Dillon.
Dillon smashed against the locked door and realized too that he had to use his advanced abilities to get through, and that was not easily achievable when you had a wild banshee next to you.
Angela really did her best to kick his ass.
And Paige was impressed.
But Dillon had a gun.
“If you don’t stop fighting me, and if your daughter comes any closer, I will blow your head off,” he threatened loud enough so that everyone could hear him.
And of course, Paige obliged, stopping in her tracks.
So, it looks like we came to an impasse, she thought to herself.
“Go now Kwan, we really need that fuel,” AJ urged.
“You won’t leave without me, right?” Kwan asked under his breath.
“Of course not!” Paige replied in that shout/whisper way just as AJ said: “Don’t worry about it, Kwan,” he assured him. “We’re taking you with us.”
He nodded and started running, taking a different corridor, seemingly away from them.
And Paige really hoped he knew what he was doing.
What about Dave? He could be a liability in this fight as well. Paige didn’t want to see him hurt.
“If we're going to bail this place I need to go and get Peter,” Dave said, solving that little problem for her.
“Yes, go, now,” Paige replied. “Just be careful and hurry up.”
“Should I worry you'd leave without me?” he deadpanned and Paige smacked him, not being able to help herself.
“Just go, you fool,” she snapped, without actual heat in her words.
And he chuckled. “How about a good luck kiss then?”
“I will seriously hurt you if you don't start moving right now,” Paige countered giving him the Look.
He nodded and followed suit after Kwan.
Dillon watched their departure with suspicion and not wanting to give him a chance to ask questions Paige took a step forward.
“Stop right there Paige, or I’ll shoot,” he threatened.
“Paige, you have to stop him from taking the Viper,” her mother pleaded. “Even if he kills me...”
“Mom, everything is ok,” Paige cut in. “Dillon won’t kill you.” And he’s not taking the Viper, she added mentally.
She would rather blow it up than let this maniac take it.
“I won’t?” Dillon asked, looking slightly amused. Just as Paige hoped he would.
“Nope,” Paige replied faking confidence.
“And what will I do, then?”
“Surrender calmly and without a fuss?” AJ replied.
And Dillon laughed.
Paige and AJ advanced forward ever so slightly.
“And if I don’t? What are you going to do then? Float me out again?” Dillon challenged, and gone was the amused look on his face, instead, he started to turn red.
Well crap, Paige’s plan backfired.
There was a silver lining though. At least they were only a couple of feet apart now.
“That did cross my mind,” Paige replied, deciding to change her tactics. Maybe if she pisses him off enough, he would make a mistake.
Besides, they needed to buy Kwan time to fuel the Viper, Dave to return with Peter, and she didn’t know how long that would take.
Please guys, just be safe, she prayed before refocusing on the scene in front of her.
Dillon jolted backward as if Paige slapped him. He couldn’t believe she said that to him, despite holding Angela hostage and because of all that Paige grinned.
AJ smirked by her side at him as well.
Dillon was sweaty from having to exert so much energy getting Angela there, and he looked like a real mess. So much that Paige almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
Gone was the handsome boy they met on the tourist ship.
His nostrils were flaring, his eyes shone with anger, and sweat beaded on his forehead. Once beautiful hair was completely out of control and his face was completely red now.
And Paige realized that his outside matched his inside perfectly, he was downright ugly.
“Why did you do it?” he asked suddenly, his eyes wildly searching each and every one of them.
AJ looked at Paige with raised eyebrows, his meaning clear.
Was he really asking them why they killed him?
Or tried to, Paige hedged.
“Do you want a list?” AJ asked under his breath and Paige started to laugh but managed to stop without Dillon noticing.
“And you!” Dillon turned to Angela.
“You betrayed me too many times! You! Of all people, I can’t believe it!” He contin
ued with his rant, and while he did, Paige and AJ came closer, their movements mirroring one another, trying to slowly flank him from two sides.
“And you did it with such cold calculation too, shooting me and floating me off the spaceship!” He stopped to take a breath, and Paige held her own.
Dillon didn’t even notice them; he was too engrossed in his own speech.
He went all smug and superior suddenly. “There was not the slightest amount of brains between the three of you to work it out that I can’t really die from your silly bullets or from being out in space!”
Paige and AJ were not the only ones who used Dillon’s little rant to advance since while he was being distracted, boasting her superiority, Angela managed to free herself from his hold and punch him in the face, hard.
While he started to tumble his hand jerked and the gun went off.
“Mom,” Paige screamed.
“No,” Dillon screeched realizing he was losing his leverage.
Angela managed to dodge the blast and then ran by Paige’s side. And Paige wanted to hug her, with all her might but refrained from doing so.
This is not the time for silly emotions, she reminded herself.
Later, she promised.
And with Angela at their side, AJ sprung to action.
Dillon was already out of balance from Angela’s hit, but then AJ kicked him to the stomach, and he stumbled, hitting the door hard. Sadly, he recovered quickly. Still, AJ managed to grab hold of him by the neck. Dillon retaliated by kicking AJ to the knee and they both fell to the ground.
Come on AJ, you can do it, Paige cheered, itching to join in.
They started stumbling, wrestling on the ground, but since Dillon still held the gun, AJ constantly had to dodge blasts from it.
Paige desperately wanted to join in the fight but didn’t know how.
“Look out,” Angela yelled yanking her out of the way from Dillon’s latest shot.
“Thanks,” she managed to mumble a bit freaked she almost ended up with a hole in her head.
It was hard to tell who was winning with all that rolling around and trading punches like they were candies. But there was a lot of yelling, grunting and noises of flesh striking flesh, maybe even some bones breaking.
It was brutal, but nothing else could have been expected, they were both infused with the Black Mass and they both thirsted for blood.
Not being able to hold back any longer, Paige approached them just as Dillon landed a punch on AJ, causing him to cry out.
“AJ,” Paige rushed to his side as Dillon spurned back to his feet.
“I’m ok, Paige,” AJ tried to reassure her, panting. “Don’t let him win.”
Oh, I'm not planning to...
Paige nodded and without further delay lunged at Dillon. She went for a front kick, but he easily jumped out of the way, doing a sidekick that hit her directly to the kidney, causing her to stumble.
Shaking the pain off, Paige attacked again. He was ready for her, throwing the first punch, but she dodged that and threw a punch of her own. It connected with his jaw straight on, but she didn’t stop there. Paige hit him next to the chest and finished with the close knee kick to his groin.
Take that, you monster, Paige seethed.
He yelled in pain.
Dillon started to double over but when she wanted to kick him again, knock him out for good, Dillon hit her with both hands with all his might, pushing her off her feet. She flew a couple of feet away until she encountered a hard surface that stopped her. It was the wall, and it knocked all the breath out of her lungs.
And by the time she got up, Dillon recovered again and even grabbed hold of Angela once more, this time easily overpowering her with the spitting rage that took him over.
“You still don’t get that you can’t beat me!” He growled, enraged as the black tentacles began spreading out of his hands and started to burrow into her mother’s head, digging deep.
It was the same thing he used on the Genesis to get the information out of Paige and seeing history repeating itself, she screamed.
No, no, no... not again!
“No!” Paige lunged at him but with the flick of one finger a small Black Mass projectile came her way and it wrapped around her feet, causing her to fall down.
Angela started screaming from pain and held her head with both her hands as if trying to pull the tentacle out from her head.
Unfortunately, Dillon knew how to use the Black Mass to his advantage, and AJ and Paige didn’t, but they still had to do their best.
AJ finally got back onto his feet, determined to fight, his fists clenched, his forehead wrinkled, but Dillon saw him coming and he did the same thing as Paige.
Luckily, AJ predicted that and jumped out of the way. So, Dillon fired a bunch of it at him next and one stuck, wrapping tightly abound his feet, making him lose ground underneath it.
With horror, Paige realized all too late that Dillon wasn't going to stop there.
Mass that was wrapped around their ankles reconnected with his tentacles and he rose them up in the air, making them dangle a few feet above the floor and upside down.
Paige screeched in outrage.
She hated being off guard and this was something she never expected to happen.
Stupid, stupid, she chastised herself dangling around.
Angela cried out again, as Dillon continued to torment her.
“Please, stop!” Paige pleaded. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Oh, I do,” Dillon countered half-crazed.
Paige tried to free her legs from the tentacles, but it was in vain. The more she tried to get her feet free, the stronger the tentacles became that held them.
“I can’t break it,” she said through clenched teeth.
“I know,” AJ replied in the same manner. “Just keep trying, ok?” He encouraged.
The entrapment she was in was all too familiar to her. She was held against her will by it way too many times. Almost died once as well. If she wasn’t a Seedling then the Black Mass inside of her would be in charge now, making her a mindless drone.
Despite everything, she still couldn’t win.
I should have known better, she chastised herself.
There was nothing she could do against the Black Mass, even though she had loads of it inside of her own body. Paige thought in her moment of weakness.
If only Paige knew how to control it, she would surely find a way out of this horrible situation. Yet, she was reluctant all this time, and used it only in extreme cases. If only...
If only, were the operative words here and at the moment Paige felt pretty beaten up and didn’t know how to change that.
A few Blue Coats arrived while Paige and AJ dangled above the ground and Dillon tortured her Mom. And of course, they were shocked at what they were witnessing.
“Hey, what’s going on?” A guard asked, shaking his gun at them.
“It’s that girl we saw on the camera today!” a female guard shrieked, pointing her gun at Paige. “Don't move!”
And for a split second, Paige wondered if she was blind or something.
How can she not see the tentacles holding me above the freaking ground?
So typical, Paige thought in exasperation. She was being tortured by a madman yet that meant nothing to these narrow-minded Blue Coats.
So, what was a girl supposed to do in a situation like that?
That is a question...
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Please help us,” AJ tried to plead with them. “That monster,” he managed to point with his head even though he was upside down, “is trying to kill us!
And Angela chose that time to scream again, completing the horror scene perfectly.
“Get the other security guards! We’ll float them out right here and now!” Yelled another man, clearly oblivious to everything, to Paige’s disappointment.
Dillon looked angrily at them.
“How dare you!” he yelled, not hesitating
to send more tentacles their way, knocking them off their feet.
He was in complete control of the situation; his once angry face was now showing a wicked grin. Dillon was clearly enjoying himself.
“What’s happening here?” the Blue Coats shrieked in terror, trying to stand up again.
Finally, a proper response, Paige thought to herself. She was getting tired of experiencing the world upside down. On the bright side, if there was any, she wasn’t feeling sick about it.
Well, Dillon was trying to crush her to death, but there was no queasiness from being upside down, she hedged.
“What is this thing? Kill him!” a leader ordered and a few of them pointed their guns at Dillon and shots rang out without hesitation.
Paige knew not to cheer prematurely because nothing happened. He was becoming stronger and more powerful using the Black Mass.
“Can’t you just drop dead already,” Paige blurted out and Dillon simply blew her a kiss.
“He is a monster!” The guys in Blue Coats shouted, looking terror-stricken as the guns shook in their hands while watching Dillon’s tentacles, that were threatening to get to them again.
“Back off!”
AJ was still struggling, trying to get free but it was in vain.
Luckily, all that movement helped him notice something. “Paige,” he called out to her, showing her with his eyes where to look.
Kwan! Paige cheered.
He was hiding behind the Blue Coats, who never noticed him, with Dillon being the main attraction.
He showed them a thumbs up which clearly meant that the Viper was fueled.
So that only leaves Peter and Dave to come as well.
“Someone needs to get on the Viper,” AJ said while struggling. “But the door is still closed.”
And Paige understood the message.
“Wait,” Paige pleaded, and Kwan simply nodded in return.
Blue Coats stayed where they were as well, misunderstanding her, yet she didn’t care.
She needed to open the door for Kwan so he could get to the ship.
Even though it was extremely difficult given the situation, Paige tried to relax.
She closed her eyes for a second and simply allowed herself to feel the Black Mass inside of her.
Mothership (Invasion Survivor Book 4) Page 25