by Holly Hook
But the Mother wasn't listening. "This is your final chance to complete the test. If you choose not to, then I will have no choice but to destroy you. I will not have a weak people. Weakness is ugly." She still refused to face me. Instead, she eyed her guards. She would use them to shock me, and then she would rip me apart.
"Turn around," I said. "Now that you know I can see well, you won't look at me. Are you hiding something?"
Bathory whirled on me, fingernails out. She scraped them across my face, and a stinging burn flared across my cheek. I flinched. The Mother held me in a glare. Anger filled her reddened irises and hatred boiled in her pupils. "I am not hiding anything."
"I know what you're doing because I have to hide, too. Why else do you wear a veil and all that makeup?" I pulled against my manacles again.
But two of the guards stepped away from the wall, ready to attack. If they shot, I was done.
"I do not wear makeup," Bathory said.
"I can see it behind your veil."
Alyssa tensed. Xavier groaned in pain again. The dragon emperor watched with intent as if he had forgotten his own agony.
Then I saw. "You caked it on, didn't you? You've got burns on your skin."
They came into focus as if I had been staring at one of those 3D hidden object pictures for a long time and suddenly seen the boat. Bathory's whole cheek was pink under her foundation. The big splotch was raised as if grease had splattered her while she was still human. The burn rose onto her temple and stopped right above her right eye.
Vampires could heal, but they couldn't erase scars gained during their Normal years.
Bathory wore her veil and slathered on makeup to hide that fact.
"You're not beautiful," I said. "Someone did this to you and you became a vampire to fix it. You wanted the blood of beautiful people. It didn't work, so you wear your veil."
She screeched and turned away, covering her face with her hands.
"Stun her!"
The half dozen guards charged me.
"Janine!" Alyssa shouted. She ran to intercept one, but she, too, wore Infernal Iron. She kicked, striking the guard in the shin.
A taser fired. The spring shot towards me.
I hit the floor, missing it by inches, and rolled towards the dragon emperor's bed. His blood container came into view, and the burning rubber smell intensified.
Connor released Maisha and reached for his weapon. My friend bolted out the door and down the hall. Bathory continued to cover her face. She could wreck me in an instant but I had to take the opportunity. I needed all the power I could get.
I pulled on the tab to release Gaozu's dragon blood, and I put my mouth under the faucet. The substance tasted the way it smelled, and it took all of my strength just to get down a mouthful. His blood burned on the way down but that same fire and power spread through my body.
Connor stood above me now, aiming his taser down at me, while the other guards stood around him. I sat up just as he fired.
The spring shot at me and struck.
Nothing happened.
He had used his weapon on my classmates as I suspected.
"Huh?" Connor asked.
I launched myself off the ground, stronger than before, and crashed into him. I shoved him back into a pillar on the side of the room. His back made horrific cracks as he landed and slumped to the floor like a rag doll. Was it the dragon blood? Or still Xavier's? Maybe it was both.
A second guard, a woman, rushed me and fired, but I dodged the extending spring and the business end of her weapon with ease. It flew past me and struck the wall, leaving her open for my attack. I searched for a weapon, but the only one in my direct sight was hers, so I shoved her back, making her drop the taser. I kicked and got rewarded with another awful crack. The woman staggered back, gasping in pain, as her leg bones crunched and tried to heal.
All this happened in two seconds.
"Janine!" Alyssa shouted.
She waved me over to Gaozu's bed. My wrists still had manacles. I grabbed the taser off the floor. I could still aim, push, and kick. Four other guards made a semi-circle around me, unsure what to do.
And then a hand wrapped around my arm and squeezed.
I knew right away who it was.
"How dare you accuse me of ugliness," the Mother said.
I faced her. From the corner of my eye, a guard raised a taser. I still held the woman's, but against four and in the grasp of this monster, it might not do good. Bathory wouldn't let me get away with uncovering her wound.
The hatred in her eyes told me she would not let me live.
I pulled against her grasp, but her strength matched mine. I might have the blood of two powerful beings on my side, but she was still the first vampire.
"You will not leave this place alive," she said. "You have given me the demonstration I needed. I will keep this young man's blood for myself."
"All you want is people who worship you," I said. I would die. What was the point of being polite? "You want to be special."
She tightened her grip. My bones screamed and threatened to crack. "Don't you want the same?"
I swallowed.
I did, and that scared me.
Alyssa rushed to the dragon emperor's bedside, leaning down. A guard turned as she lowered her manacles to his hand, which he could only lift two inches off the mattress. Dragon fire blazed around her chains, cracking them and turning the Infernal Iron to rust. A guard turned, stunned, and fired a taser. It shot for Alyssa, arcing down into her shin. She grasped the bed as the manacles fell away, turning to dust.
Bathory squeezed and crushed my bones. "I will make this slow."
Shock ruled at first, and then a screaming agony took its place and a wave of dizziness swept over me. She must have severed the artery in my wrist. Already, my bones tried to pull together as I squeezed my eyes shut and seethed.
She would break every bone in my body before the killing blow. I kicked but found only air.
The Mother would kill me, and then she would destroy Maisha and the others.
My mom would never see me again but at least she wouldn't see me like this. I kept my eyes shut, listening as my bones popped and stitched themselves back together. I was healing, but this monster would break me again and again. She might take hours to kill me.
That was when the door burst open, something hit the ground, and smoke filled the air.
Chapter Sixteen
When I said smoke, I meant lots of smoke.
I opened my eyes as the pain in my wrist faded. I braced for another break from Bathory, but she released my wrist and whirled around.
A greenish vapor expanded from somewhere near the door and filled the room, blocking the guards from view. I could no longer see Alyssa or the two beds on the side of the room, but I could make out a figure standing within the fumes. They had a strange scent. This wasn't actual smoke from fire. It was something else meant to obstruct everyone's view.
But I blinked, and then I could see through it to the person who had dropped the bomb.
It was Brendan, complete with his gray hoodie, smashed-down hair, and reddened eyes. He remained frozen as if he wasn't sure what to do next.
But he was helping us when he had been trying to get me captured before.
I'd take it and ask why later.
Bathory backed away into the wall. She looked around the room and her guards did likewise. The smoke thickened, but I could still see through it.
I must be the only one who could.
Turning away from Brendan, I bolted to the dragon emperor's bed. He remained silent, and Alyssa gripped his bed, trying to stay upright. The taser had stopped pumping electricity into her leg. She must not have gotten a full dose. Alyssa stood upright, kicking the spring off. "Who's there?"
"Me," I said, leaning down.
Gaozu must not have seen me, but he didn't need to. This was the moment he had waited for, the moment he would make his move. Flames danced around his chains, making them
crumble, and a look of pure hatred filled his reddening eyes.
Had he and Brendan planned this?
"Get me out of here!" the Mother shouted. She whirled in a circle. I knew what would happen once Gaozu freed himself. This was a big chamber. He would take on his full dragon form, and then he would unleash his fury on Bathory and her now-blinded guards. They no longer had an advantage on him. Firing their tasers wouldn't stop him now.
We had to leave before that happened.
Vampires and fire did not mix. Only Alyssa could survive that thanks to her unique heritage. The rest of us, except for Xavier, would be crunchy and good with ketchup. Judging from the look in the emperor's eyes, he wouldn't care who he roasted. Guards rushed around, trying to find the Mother. She felt her way along the wall.
"Hey!" I said. "Free us!"
He faced me, and the hatred in his eyes cooled, making them more human than they had been a second ago. He nodded, and I leaned down. His binds crumbled away as he sat up and gripped the chain that kept my manacles together. I closed my eyes, bracing for the burn.
It delivered what I expected. Heat and pain danced around my wrists as he went to work undoing my chains. I bit my lip, holding back my screams.
I opened my eyes, watching as my reddened skin calmed. Gaozu sat up now, and he faced Xavier's bed. The tube had fallen out of his neck, and embers burned inside his wound as he, too, healed. He got down with grace, and even though I sensed he couldn't see well in this smoke, he reached Alyssa's boyfriend and placed his hands on the chains. Xavier screamed as the same dragon fire did its work.
On the other side of the room, Brendan remained at the door as if unsure what to do. The guards scrambled around, bumping into each other and cursing, and Bathory turned in a circle. She didn't know the way out. To her, this place must be nothing but a green, rolling void.
Only I could see the way out.
Xavier sat up and seethed. His skin made peeling sounds as it healed. Alyssa took his arm and searched around, but she couldn't see through the smoke, either. I grabbed her hand and then reached for the dragon emperor, but he shook his head, eyes reddening. He'd stay and get revenge.
I'd let him.
"Follow me," I said. "I can see the way out." Brendan remained at the door, waiting and hoping. He had a lot of questions to answer.
Alyssa took Xavier's hand as his skin continued to heal and pull together. He had taken it much worse than I but he had also had more chains. He pulled the tube from his neck with a disgusting sound and threw it on the floor. "We can't leave my blood," he managed, kicking until he found the container. It shattered.
"Come on!" I shouted.
From my peripheral vision, the form of the dragon emperor grew, cracking and popping. No one could miss that sound. We had seconds.
Bathory bumped into a guard. "He's free!" she shouted. Fear filled her words. "Fire!"
The three of us hugged the side of the room. I led the way. Springs shot towards the growing dragon, but struck and bounced off. They hit the floor. The emperor had all the advantage now—and Brendan was backing into the hall.
I pulled Alyssa and Xavier out just as roaring flames rushed through the space behind us.
The Mother screamed. She was getting burned again.
The guards did the same. No one could hold the agony back.
The hallway had green smoke, but it was clear enough to release Alyssa's arm. Brendan nodded at me. "I'll talk later. Let's free the kids in the cave."
I wanted to know where he got the smoke bomb but as he said, later. We followed Brendan to the electric gate and didn't run into any more guards. Maisha had left to get help. Her smell had vanished. It remained shut, buzzing its deadly warning. Brendan fished a card from his pocket and slid it into the slot. The gate turned off and opened. Behind us, the screams continued. Vampires didn't die easily, but their healing powers wouldn't stay caught up. Fire roared again. The emperor was going for Round Two.
Brendan opened the next gate with the card that must belong to a guard. Already, people backed away, but I waved and took inventory. Everyone was still here and alive though two guys held their buddy up my his arms. One of the taser victims.
"Come on!" Xavier shouted. "We have a way out and I promise this isn't a trap! I'll lead the way."
People listened to him. Everyone rushed into the hallway, almost trampling each other. The four of us ran in the lead. Adrenaline mixed in with the smell of real smoke. A guard let out dying groans in the other room. It was a sound that would haunt me forever.
But Bathory shrieked with rage. She was still alive. How could anyone survive that?
Was she impossible to kill?
Another round of fire started, and I heard someone stagger out of the chamber. I didn't need to see down the hallway to know who had escaped.
And Gaozu would have to shrink back to human form to leave the room.
"Go," I urged everyone.
Brendan had to undo the gate again, since it had closed, but as soon as it opened, everyone rushed out. I expected to see the Mother with a crispy dress and healing skin, but she remained somewhere down the other hall. I had no doubt she could hear the trampling feet and the rush to freedom.
And a rush it was, up that incline that led to the offices. Maisha had already gone that way, I was sure. I had distracted everyone enough to stop them from pursuing her. The office door stayed open, showing the cubicles, so Xavier didn't have to blast the door down. After the school, I had the sense he didn't want to use his magic.
No one in the office stopped us. The place was empty save the bloodstains on the floor. But Alyssa grabbed my arm.
"Outside," she said.
That one word reminded me.
Whether Alyssa and Brendan and I could escape depended on the weather. Sure, Brendan and I wore hoodies and Alyssa wore long sleeves, but even then, we wouldn't tolerate full sunlight for long. A short sprint through it and into shade might be all we could manage.
"We have to risk it," I said, backing into a cubicle to let the other missing students trample past. Mr. Connors came up in the back. "We can run into the woods."
Xavier scrambled, taking off his leather coat and hat. "Alyssa." He handed them to her, and she put them on. Leather was better than cloth at blocking light.
I only had this hoodie.
Once everyone had cleared the office, the four of us charged out through the no-longer-manned metal detector and the scanning room. Gentle rain poured down and the door to the outside swung shut. I rammed into it and burst into the cloudy, pale light. The clouds weren't as thick as before, and a headache bloomed between my ears, but I could handle it. It wasn't full sun. The woods were a few hundred feet away.
"What about Trish?" Xavier asked.
"We can't go back," Brendan said. "She hasn't tested her captives yet. We've bought them time. They're safe."
I dared to lift my hoodie from my eyes. I glimpsed the other students bolting down the dirt drive that led back to the road. They'd make it if the guards stayed distracted. "We have to go," I said, hating that we were leaving other prisoners behind. But the captured vampires were more likely to survive than captured Normals.
And then my headache exploded.
The clouds were clearing, exposing raw, blue sky.
Bathory could still control the weather. She was making good on her promise to destroy me with pain.
"Guys," Xavier said. "Get under the trees. Now!"
I squeezed my eyes shut to keep out the agonizing light. My exposed hands felt like they burned. I tucked them inside as a wave of nausea swept over me. I felt like I'd die. My knees trembled. Brendan hit the ground, covering his face with his hands. Alyssa pulled the leather hat lower over her face, but I glimpsed her squinting.
The light was too much.
Where was I supposed to run?
"Xavier," Alyssa said, leaning on her boyfriend. "Help them."
I ran. Xavier couldn't pull four people in the trees. Even while
covered, Alyssa couldn't do much without his help. The headache worsened until I was sure my skull would explode. I might vomit. The world was blazing pain.
Screaming, I fell to the ground next to Brendan. He groaned and his body twitched. Brendan was going into a seizure. Coma followed. Helplessness. Doom. As soon as we were down, Bathory would turn the rain back on thanks to the dragon blood—
I drank some of it.
"Rain," I said, turning my attention to the clouds. Though only the grass took up my vision, I imagined the sky above, and the darkest, most merciful clouds drifting over the sun. "Rain. Please." I squeezed my eyes shut. I wouldn't last much longer. Seconds, maybe. The clouds had to return and thicken. They had to unleash another downpour.
Someone placed his hand on my arm. "Janine. Get up." Xavier sounded underwater. "Move!"
"Xavier," Alyssa managed, weak.
Pain shrieked through my head.
Brendan twitched and convulsed, limbs slapping the ground. A roar filled my ears. I would black out and the world would end. Even through my closed eyelids, it seemed the world was darkening. I took a breath. The headache eased enough to allow rational thought.
A few raindrops struck the dirt, and the soggy ground refused to open to allow any more.
More followed. The roar in my head faded, and the world filled with pattering beads. The light dimmed. My hands cooled. Brendan stopped thrashing and groaned.
The clouds opened and cried a rush of cool water.
I opened my eyes. Thunder cracked and rolled. I turned my gaze up to see lightning forking between clouds, miles up, so high that no Normal could see them. A storm had never looked this alive.
I'd done it.
Xavier pulled on my arm. Alyssa trembled, but the leather coat and hat and spared her the worst. She staggered over to Brendan, who opened his eyes and darted his gaze around. She ordered him up and pulled him by the back of his hoodie.
The rain stopped.
Xavier helped me stand, and I ordered the sky to obey. Bathory was fighting me, and even in her weakened state, she might win. My legs trembled, and I struggled to stay on my feet as the young god helped me run towards the shelter of the trees. I forced myself to run faster and faster as the nausea rose again and the headache threatened another storm. Above, clouds struggled against light, but it was already too late for the sun. The four of us dove underneath the thick canopy, and friendly darkness swept over us as we continued to run.