by K. H. Kate
"Who said we are leaving? You are leaving. I think you forgot the fact that I'm banished to hell forever. Like him, I also can't return to earth." She said with a dark look and I swallowed hard. None of this was adding up. Was it a game to see if I ran? Were they playing a sick joke?
"Then why are you helping me?" Keisha should save her skin since that's the type of person she was. Instead, Keisha's dark brown eyes were filled with unshed tears.
"I know you hate me as I hate myself. You weren't wrong about your sister. I warned her but she never listened. Didn't even let me tell her the entire truth. I did kill her. I admit it was my fault that she's gone. But you are smart. You know what's at risk. This time I won't let him ruin your life." Fuck. If this Sage never existed then I would've lived a happy normal life with my family. But that bastard had to drag himself in. He had to destroy everything...
So, he was so going to have to pay.
Badly.
"Interesting sight to see but we have bigger problems in hand now, don't we?" Suddenly my gaze found the culprit as his face looked like he was smirking. The bastard I so wanted to avoid at any cost.
Breathe in...
Breathe out...
I didn't want to kill him...
Not yet...
Get a grip, Lana...
"Long time no see, Mikhail." And then I coiled my fists only to throw it on his face hard.
THREE MONTHS AGO
"What the heck was that for?" He yelled out, rubbing his cheeks.
I was there.
But I couldn't feel anything or any remorse. What just happened. Oh, God. What just I lose?
"Lana, you're scaring me."
"Where are they? What have you done?" I couldn't recognize my own voice. It's like I was looking at Samara's dead body again, waiting to understand why she wasn't waking up. I felt hands on my skin, cold, a madman's.
"Where are they, Mikhail?" I asked again, refusing to see the three bodies around me.
"I had no choice. Lana. I had to do that. He wasn't going to kill her so I had to send him back, that was the only way we could stop Fredah."
I couldn't understand what he was talking about. "Send him where? Mikhail, answer me!"
He had the nerve to look apologetic. "To hell. I sent him to hell."
Hell?
A chuckle left from my lips. "You hated him that much..."
"It's not about who hated who. I don’t know why I even do that but I did what was necessary to save you!" So easily he said those words like it wasn't breaking my heart again. I wanted to scream so loud that the sky broke open. I wanted to hide, to shout at Mikhail. Or kill Byron. I couldn't let myself feel the pain or I would never be able to run.
I stared outside.
This was our chance.
"We need to get to 5133."
"What?" His tone was rough from chanting for so long. "What are you talking about?"
My gaze ran wildly at every place I could look. We had to come up with something. Fast. "Need to take 5133 with us. Byron made sure no one was here to see what happened. We have to run before they come back. They'll never let us leave. Now!"
I didn't know why he followed me without a question. Did he even think of his actions at all? Or was it another way he wanted to proclaim his hate for me? Maybe it was guilt or maybe even he knew the truth in it. Byron would never let us go. Whatever we needed to do, this was the time.
Thankfully we didn't collide with any orderlies or anyone who could question us. The moment I was inside the room, 5133 jumped from the bed.
"What is he doing here?"
"We need to leave. Do you have any weapon that we can use?" I didn't realize there were tears in my eyes until she pointed that out.
"5132, you are crying...can you please calm down for a second and tell me what happened?" When I didn't answer and just kept looking for that damn crack, I heard her ask Mikhail.
"What happened?"
I could feel his stare burn my back. "I-I had to open the gate of hell. They are dead. Those sisters."
"That's good, right?" She exclaimed with a laugh. "What? Did I miss something?"
"It wasn't just those sisters. Sandy. Him..."
5133 backed up, hands raising as if to ward him off. "No way! You don't mean Byron, do you?"
"Not Byron. Zach." I answered for him. Looking him in the eyes to see him flinch.
Her eyes widened. "Oh, no. 5132..."
"Can I talk to you for a second?” Mikhail gritted out, avoiding my eyes for some reason.
"No." I ran my hand through my hair, thinking how I was going to end Byron. "I have better things to-found it."
"What?" 5133 looked over my shoulder to see what I was looking at.
"The blueprint of this place. Thanks to a psycho ex that your brother just killed, he had it hidden here."
I flinched, feeling someone brush their lips near my nape. "How do you know?"
"He told me one day. I just didn't want to believe it." Just like I couldn't believe what was happening right now. I must have blanked out for a second cause Mikhail was scanning my face with a worried frown.
"Did you hear what I just said?"
I shook my head.
"How do you want to do it?" When I still stared at him, he sighed. "This escape. How do you want it?"
"Starting with Byron. He needs to pay."
And, so do you...
PRESENT
"What the heck was that for!?" Mikhail yelled out as soon as my fist connected with his jaw.
"You know what that was for! Seriously? You couldn't have just told me, oh, babe, I may kill you one day because that's what I was meant to do. Toodles!" I screamed at his face while he was still rubbing his jaw. I could've yelled more if not I finally noticed his eyes. They were shifting between vibrant blue and silver.
What the hell?
"What happened to your eyes?"
"My what-oh..." He paused, rolling his eyes. "I just got the news that you were gone and then out of nowhere, I was summoned in a not-so-welcoming way with all the dragging through the dark vortex with the screeching of birds as background music. Excuse me, if I am shifting between my true form and chosen form without any control."
There was no point asking why he had a chosen form to begin with. Either he would give me a half-assed reply or say nothing at all.
"I was gone for a long time." I pointed out instead.
"Yeah, someone kept deleting my messages. What's this place anyway?" He asked finally noticing where we were and the abnormality of the situation.
"It's a limbo." Keisha raised her eyebrows, giving me a deliberate look to give her a further elaboration but I pretended not to notice.
It's Mikhail who broke the silence. "Wouldn't you introduce us, Lana?"
I internally winced. He was never going to stop calling me Lana, would he?
"Meet my mother, Keisha, the one who abandoned us. And this is Mikhail and he-"
"He's your Seeker, right?" She stated flatly.
"Yes. But why do you sound so cold suddenly?" I asked her out of curiosity. Even Mikhail's shoulder stiffened when she voiced her concern.
"Because I'm a Reaper, remember? We're supposed to hate each other not the other way around. But clearly, you were hanging out with a Seeker without thinking about the consequences." The disgust in her voice was clear.
I wanted to defend myself right at that moment. Keisha didn't hold the right to say anything anymore. Where was she when I was suffering in a sanatorium or Zach was torturing me to the point I thought death was the easy way? Keisha had no right to tell me who I befriended cause she was never in her life.
Before I could say something though, Mikhail beat me to it. "That's why I was wondering where that awful smell was coming from..."
"Anyway...we needed to get out of this limbo and now you've made it risky for all of us," Keisha said again while giving him a side-eye.
"I will take care of it but-" I wanted to say more but I couldn't ignore how ex
hausted Keisha actually looked. Our original plan was to take souls to feel much stronger which I was getting over, thanks to Mikhail but he would never let Keisha do that.
So I had two choices now.
Either, I let Keisha take a soul in front of him and offend his purity complex.
Or, I could take him with me to clear the path so Keisha could take as much soul as she wanted.
Obviously, I was taking the latter option. The next thing I needed was to start a war between ourselves. Without waiting, I hugged Keisha to whisper the plan in her ears.
She was smart enough to keep her mouth shut.
"So Mr. Hernandez, we're repeating the history again," I murmured once I could see Keisha disappear behind the manor that looked exactly like the coven back in the earth.
"What history?" He asked, trying to keep up with my pace.
"We're escaping this limbo...just like we did with the sanatorium."
I couldn't find a word to say.
After saying goodbye to Keisha, we were on our own. I could just feel the tension between us the more distance we covered.
"How are you?"
The question halted my walk, making me turn around slowly. I thought I'd see him avoiding my eyes like he did before but this time he held my eye contact. Fuck.
"Lana-"
"I'll be fine, Mikhail, I always do. It's like a factory setting. Now let's just find that son of a hellhound." I couldn't help but avoid looking at him. The last time I saw him, I was leaving for Norcia. The last time I talked to him...one night of drunk call wasn't enough.
He looked at me with concern. "That doesn't sound ok at all."
"No, it's fine. The faster we can find something the better." I was already walking ahead when I was stopped by a hand on my arm.
"Can we actually talk?" He asked quietly as if I would just run. "I begged you not to give up on us but you did. Again and again, you keep running. Are you ever going to stop?"
"I don't know. Didn't find a reason to stop yet."
His stare intensified and I hated it. I hated to see him like this.
"Is this about him? What you said that day?"
“Yes.” Fuck lying, I was going to be brutally honest to the point he wanted to leave. “It’s about him. It’s also about how you want to fix me. How do you think I feel every time you call me Lana? It’s like you only want the pre-sanatorium me. The girl who died and has no identity anymore. You look at me and you see a case you can solve. Sorry to disappoint you but I’m not your cold case you dedicated your life to solve.”
Without waiting for an answer, I started to walk ahead not even waiting for him to catch up. It will only ever work if he accepted the real me.
Also Zach who's already gone.
"How many people you think are working for Sage?" He asked at last.
He had to stumble twice to reach me. Even then I couldn't answer him with accuracy. "I was taken into a dark room since I was kidnapped. I never saw how many worked for Sage."
A twitch on his jaw was the only emotion to show that he was angry about the fact.
There weren't too many people I'd seen today and it couldn't be just luck. I paused, suddenly noticing the sight. There, just a little ahead was a one-story house and if I was right, all the chattering was coming from there. I didn't want to go farther but what was my other option?
"You stay here, I'll check that place out." He said, trying to rush forward. Shit, this was a suicide mission. You don't want to see the wrong side of Sage. If provoked, he could call his equally disturbing minions which could kill us instantly even before we could blink. So, before Mikhail could get both of us killed, I stopped him with a grimace.
"Let's just go together OK? We don't need the same thing that happened to us before." I reminded him to which we both visibly flinched.
Like hell, I was going to do that same mistake twice.
***
THREE MONTHS AGO
"You take 5133 and make a move. I will deal with Byron."
He stopped to look at me like I was crazy. "Never. We're going together."
"I stand by him this time. You have no idea what he's going to do." Groaning, 5133 threw her hands off. "Just let us see the print and make a plan."
Make a plan.
Easy enough.
"Fine. These tunnels end right at Baele street. Maybe we could use that to escape. I don't think the front gate will be unsupervised for long so this is the only way. Also, you want us three to go together but crowd attracts people. It's better to split up and meet somewhere in the middle." There was a wary grin on 5133's face and I knew I was right.
Mikhail immediately started shaking his head. "No, no, no. You can't be serious."
"What? She drives a hard bargain." 5133 slapped my shoulder in support.
He narrowed his gaze but none of us backed down.
"Shit. Fine, we'll meet at a safehouse I own but who's going where?"
"5133. You go to the kitchen. The tunnel is easier to access from there. Mikhail and I will go see where Byron is and I'm not asking. Please." She started searching my eyes and I let her see that I was absolutely serious. After only a second, she cursed, pushing past us but not before hugging her brother.
Before I could walk out of the door though, deadly feelings crashed down on me. All the pain, suffering that this place had given me made me turn around to see it for the last time. I was not the same girl that came here.
I died here.
Yeah, they deserved what was coming for them.
Mikhail noticed my silence but said nothing until I looked at him. "You ok?"
"Yeah, let's go."
“It’ll be like a game.” He reassured with a grin. “Hide and seek, baby. What do you say?”
I was game.
I have been to Byron's room a few times but it didn't make it easier to go find him now. The fuck knew what he was doing. Probably bragging to his master about how he protected us. Bullshit. I reveled in the anger coming from me and Mikhail concentrated on his guilt. Well, I hope it was guilt or he was just as bad as they were.
We were just a few feet away when I heard his voice. "Yes. Get rid of the bodies. The Volkios will be here in a week. I'll make sure of that, just send my regards to Master."
My breath hitched and Mikhail shoved his palm on my mouth to stop the sound from getting through. Our gaze met and we nodded. We had to be careful if we wanted to catch him. Peeking from our hidden place, I noticed he was showing his back.
Good.
"Hide and seek." I mouthed the words.
Mikhail took a stand and started whispering. "Ih sko ajek olpa dios slaok."
Byron screamed. Now it was my turn. I didn't forget the knife Zach left for me. It was going to be poetic justice, really. With it in my hands, I ran toward him and rammed it where it was needed to be. Right in his heart. The glass table broke under our weight, the candles he lit earlier were now on the floor, probably catching fire to the curtains but I didn't care. This was happening. Shit, I was killing a vampire. He had enough time to turn back and watch my face before the edge of the knife pierced through his skin.
“For Zach. For Sandy and every life you’ve taken from here.”
Fuck, he should be dying.
But he let out a chuckle. "Vampires don't die from knife wounds, silly girl."
I knew that. That's why I especially used it. A knife that was made of half wood and half steel. A really really slow death. He understood that soon too when his nose wrinkled, the discomfort showing from miles away. And I should have run with Mikhail then and there. But no. I had to stand and watch him in agony. I had to see his last breath dying. Maybe that's why I didn't expect him to kick my legs to make me fall on my knees.
"You'll kill me?" He pinned me down too fast too soon and shit, maybe for a vampire, even dying, they were faster. "Then I'll take you down with me."
Mikhail screamed for me to run. Byron sank his teeth on my neck, making the world coming to a stop. The pain wa
s sharp and meant to kill. I lunged for him to get off of my body but he was like steel. No matter how many times I thrashed or cried out, he kept his jaw locked. Somewhere I could feel the blood on my skin and the smell of smoke but it's not until he started gagging that I understood just what happened.
He was choking on my blood, trying to spit it out.
Some of the blood got on my hair.
Some on my gown.
And some on the floor.
Right at that moment, I saw Mikhail's thundering gaze on us and him shoving Byron from me. I thought he was going to push the rest of the wooden part but he pulled it off and before I could even argue why the fuck he was doing that, he snapped Byron's neck.
"Come on! Get up, quick!" The smoke was starting to get unbearable. Fuck.
I was somehow able to stand, my hands immediately finding where Byron bit me. I watched Mikhail look at me and then Byron as if he was trying to make sense of something. In the end, he took the knife mixed with Byron's blood and started writing something on the walls.
All of you wanted to see evil, I'll happily show you what it means to be truly evil.
"Lana, listen to me. We weren't supposed to destroy the property. Valentine wouldn't take it lightly if he finds out that it was us. Write, help us, please, and things like that on the wall with your blood. I have a plan."
Byron wasn't dead yet.
Mikhail was offering a crazy plan. My head felt like it could pop off anytime. Despite all of that, I nodded, starting to curve the words in my blood. When that was done, he ordered me to get my diary. Everything felt like a blur as I wrote some entries about how Byron used to torture us. How he was going to kill us all.
How I died.
No one looks for the dead.
A perfect end to this misery.
I didn't even look back when he told me to leave the diary in the staff hallway. Taking a deep breath, I looked at him and he had the same idea. We had to take a right and take the stairs if we wanted to run far away from the fire. I could already hear some screams nearby.
Before we could leave though, the orderlies began to move in our direction. Shit, they were back. They must have heard the screams. His grip tightened around the sleeves of my gown. "Come and don't let go of me."