by Faulks, Kim
No, I stepped closer, shaking my head. “You’ll kill us too.”
In an instant the energy died. Her forehead creased as she glanced toward me.
“It’s okay.” I tried to smile, tried to ease the snarl in my voice. “I’ve got this.”
Three massive dogs appeared in the middle of the hallway, their hackles were raised, white fangs glistening as Pitch raced forward. We swept through the illusion, heading for the south east corner as the dogs advanced along the hall. I focussed on the illusion, as cries cut through the air, “Jesus Christ how did they get in here?”
The dogs advanced, pushing the assholes further from the main hallway, giving us time to head deeper. Pitch motioned left and then held up two fingers as he made for another hallway at the end of this one.
Gunfire broke out behind me. But their bullets were wasted, just like their screams. The crack of a two-way came from the hallway behind us as we turned left.
Mavi lifted his hand. Dark mist seeped in from everywhere, swamped our feet as we moved.
“Keep moving,” he murmured then slowed. “I’ll hold them back.”
The south east corner was close…so damn close. Spark looked behind her, catching my gaze and then Mavi’s. Her steps faltered. “Wait,” she called to Pitch.
“Go,” Mavi urged. “Go find your dad. I’ll be right here.”
She turned to the southeast corner and then shook her head. “No, we stay together.”
Mavi’s eyes widened as he slowly nodded. Energy swirled as the dark mist climbed, inching along my calves and then over my knees. “Hold on, I’m coming,” he whispered and then closed his eyes.
Dark mist crawled over my thighs, moving to my waist. Mavi turned his head, dark eyes glinting with wicked thoughts. “Want to have a bit of fun?”
Pain stabbed through my fucking thigh, still I found a smirk and lifted my hand… “They didn’t like my hounds…I wonder how they’d feel about a shark?”
“Great white sounds perfect,” he murmured as the dark mist climbed.
Power raced through my veins as I whispered, “Let’s make it three.”
Piercing screams filled the hallway, we slipped away as the boom…boom…boom of automatic gunshots peppered the walls.
“Hurry,” Pitch called.
A door slammed open at the other end of the hall. Three men pushed in with weapons raised high. One stepped between them, blond hair…blue eyes, Gready. He lifted a hand, and then smiled.
“Run!” I roared.
The crack punched a hole in the wall five inches above my head. I lunged, driving Spark forward as we turned the corner into yet another hallway.
My steps were deafening, driving tremors through my legs and into my thighs. My right knee buckled, agony roared. It was all I could feel now…all I could see. Bright sparks detonated like fireworks. Mavi grabbed my arm, dark eyes crowded in.
“Keep going,” he growled.
Sweat ran into my eyes as I nodded. I reached out, pushed off the wall as the doorway to my right opened…and out walked the Senator’s husband, Seth Williams.
“Daddy…” Spark stumbled toward him. “Daddy!”
He jerked his head toward us.
But there was something not quite right here…
Something very wrong.
“Spark?” Dark eyes flared with surprise as he reached for her and stumbled forward. “Spark, honey? What the Hell are you doing here?”
There were no cuffs around his wrists, no mark of violence on his skin.
The Senator’s husband was unharmed…in fact he looked perfectly fine.
Like nothing had happened at all…
A shadow cut across the doorframe as another man stepped out. He was tall and lean. Sharp blue eyes carved through mine in a heartbeat, and then settled on Spark.
She froze in the middle of the hallway, fingers brushed her father’s before she pulled away. “What…what the Hell is going on?”
The stranger smiled a cold, cruel smile and murmured. “Well isn’t this a surprise. Who knew our daughter could be so…determined.”
Daughter…the word was a punch to my stomach.
I knew then…knew where I’d seen those clear blue eyes before…
They were the same color as Spark’s…this man was her dad…her real dad.
Spark
Daddy?
I flinched and turned toward him. “Daddy…what’s going on?”
There was a twitch at the corner of his mouth. “You weren’t supposed to know. Leah wouldn’t give us the information any other way.”
“So, we used you,” the blue-eyed bastard murmured.
He was so cold…so goddamn cold. The hallway seemed to spin. Finley and the others were there, reaching for me. But I couldn’t feel…
I couldn’t feel anything but pain.
Agony slashed across my head. Memories crowded in…
I said, walk, the voice echoed from the darkness of my mind. I’ll be watching.
I tried to remember, tried to push past the pain. Flickers of the past stabbed like shards of glass…she won’t remember a thing, not after today…will you, Princess?
Blue eyes. Blue eyes haunted me. “You used me. You…you both used me.”
I stared at my dad, at my real dad. The man who raised me, who fixed my knee when I fell…who held me when I cried—who never once turned his back on me—even when I was dangerous. “How could you? How could you do this to me…how could you do this to Mom?”
A stranger answered. “We needed the girl. It’s always been about the girl.”
Fail Safe.
Hate grew thorns inside me and wrapped tight with piercing tendrils. Thunder snarled as a door somewhere close blew open.
“Spark,” Dad warned. “Easy now. This was nothing personal…it’s was just an assignment.”
“Nothing personal?” I repeated as the wind found me, casting strands of my hair against my face. “It was personal for me. It was personal for Mom.”
He shook his head, sadness crowded his gaze. “I never meant for you or your Mom to be hurt. I only needed—”
“—the girl. Yeah, I got that already.”
“We need to go.” Finley’s fingers skimmed my arm. “Spark, we need to go.”
Thunder roared overhead. The deafening sound shuddered the walls and sent vibrations through the floor.
“You’ll never get out of here, Constance.” The bastard who called himself my father stepped closer. “Give yourselves up. There’s no point in running.”
Hate seared through me. Hate and hurt and pain. I took a step backwards, with the men who protected me…the men who risked their lives…for nothing, and then turned from the man I’d loved for as long as I could remember.
Gunshots rang out in the distance and the sound of pounding boots drifted along the hall. Finley and Mavi raised their hands, desperation filled their eyes. Finley hobbled and winced and for the first time I saw the darkening stain on his black jeans. “You’re hurt…Finley, your hurt…”
“It’s okay…hey, I’m okay. We just need to get you out of here.”
Need to get me out of here? It wasn’t about them…never about them.
It’d always been about me. Everything. Finding me, saving me…fighting…for me. He reached out, grasped my hand in his and stumbled.
The air around us grew thick and heavy. Our footsteps muffled and strange. Pitch and Mavi looked backwards as they lunged, their hunger reaching me. Burned through me, and drove me faster.
“Spark!” Dad called behind me. “Come back here!”
Finley’s hand tightened around mine, pulling me with him as he hobbled and ran. We shot past the hallway where we’d come in and kept on going, tearing past open office doors and closed conference rooms.
All for nothing…
Everything was for nothing.
My life.
My Mom.
Her death…
The echo of footsteps came from behind us. Still I kept
running along the hallway.
“Stop!” Someone called out, and the crack of a gunshot sounded.
“Gready!” My father roared. “Stop. You’ll kill her!”
Hell was on our heels…hell in all its many faces. Gready, my biological father…and the one who betrayed me. Mavi lifted his hand at the emergency exit at the end of the hall and the dark winds around us blew. I stumbled, caught my fall as Finley gripped me tighter.
Pitch hit the doorway first, dropping his shoulder to ram through the metal. The night air rushed up to meet us, slapping me awake with a frigid rush.
“The car.” Finley dropped my hand and dug into his pocket. “I can’t run, not like this.”
Pitch reached out, grasped the keys from him and sprinted for the gate.
The crack of a gunshot battled the howl of the sirens. “Stop or I will shoot!”
Finley slowed and skidded to a stop. He turned, reaching out to grasp my hand again. One hard tug and I was stumbling as he dragged me behind his body.
“Stay right there,” Gready snarled and stepped closer.
But he was the only one here…and there were four of us.
“Easy now.” Finley raised his other hand, drawing the focus.
Dark mist swept in around us, building like a wave to crash over Gready as he moved closer. Boots skidded behind me…Pitch. I glanced over my shoulder. His blue eyes caught mine, one small nod and he turned and raced for the gates, and our only hope of getting out of here.
The muzzle flared orange through the grey fog. The gunshot tore past me, smacking into the guard hut…right where Pitch had been.
“I will fucking murder you, and that purple-haired bitch.” Gready stepped clear, raised the gun as Dad tore from the hallway and out into the open.
“No!” he screamed and lifted his hand.
“Get behind me, Spark.” Stony words slipped from Finley’s lips.
His hand trembled, fingers dancing against mine as he pulled me behind him. His other hand was rock steady as it lifted in the air.
Colors swirled through a void in front of us…
“Close your eyes, sweetheart,” he murmured. “Do it for me.”
There was no hesitation. No flinch at the loss of control. I did as he asked, closing my eyes and let my ears lead the way.
“Leah?” Dad called. “Leah is that you?”
I flinched at the scrape of her heels against the pavement, and the low snarl of dogs followed.
“What the fuck is going on here?” the sperm donor snapped.
Claws and heels scraping against the pavement.
“Keep them closed now,” Finley whispered.
And it felt like he was all around me, swallowing me, cocooning me…wrapping his power around me tight. I held onto him…trusting him—like he trusted me.
Gunfire descended along with screams. I cowered from the sound, whimpering as semi-automatic gunshots rang free. The sharp skid of tires behind me turned slow and contorted, like a soundtrack played on half speed.
My ears became full, pressure built inside my head. Hands gripped me, warm, safe hands as I was lifted from the ground.
“I got you,” Pitch murmured in my ear. “Hold onto me Spark. I’ve got you.”
It was reflex as my hair swept through the air…reflex that cracked open my eyes…reflex that made me scream…scream at what I saw…the blood…the bodies…
Mom…
She turned at the sound and swiped the mess of blood from her mouth onto the back of her hand. It wasn’t life I saw in her eyes anymore. It was hate and rage. It was the desperate need for revenge.
Three massive hounds stood beside her. Their shoulders rose and fell with jagged breaths. My body jolted against Pitch as he ran. Mavi was close behind, his hand raised to the sky.
Darkness swirled above us….
Death closed in where we stood.
Blue eyes seized me in a wide-eyed bloody stare. He was dead. My biological father would whisper threats no more. But it was the others I searched for. Dad. Hate and pain swirled inside me like a molotov cocktail as I watched him shove from the ground and stumble to stand.
Gready raised his weapon with a blood splattered hand and took aim at the hounds. But it was Dad he was aiming at…it was Dad he was going to kill.
The spectral beast drew back on its haunches. Savage white teeth gnashed the air as Gready took aim.
“Dad no!” I screamed as Pitch’s boots hit the asphalt.
He looked up then. Blood ran in streaks over his eyes and down his cheeks, and then he was gone, swallowed by the sight of Pitch as he curled his spine and shoved me through the open rear door and against the seat.
Finley hobbled toward us, half running, half walking. “Drive,” he growled as he lunged toward the open car door. “Just fucking drive.”
I shoved against the seat, scooting over to the far side as Mavi yanked open the passenger’s door and climbed in. I caught a snatch of the massacre in the background, just enough to see Gready lower his weapon and stare at the bodies.
The beasts were gone…and so was Mom. There was nothing left now…nothing but blood and death. Finley hit the seat beside me and roared. “Drive!”
I grasped his shoulders, dragging his body against me as Gready turned his head…and stared at the car. The rear door closed behind Finley with a thud, and then we were tearing along the street outside the compound.
My heart was thundering, slamming against the confines of my chest.
Harsh breaths filled the space.
All I felt was Finley.
All I saw was Gready…and Mom. “She was alive,” the words tore from my lips. “She was alive.”
Finley closed his eyes and lowered his head. His breath was warm against my belly. His skull hard, pressed under my breaths. “No,” he answered. “She isn’t alive at all.”
I shook my head as the night descended snatching away the glaring red compound lights. “But I saw her…I saw…”
“An illusion, that’s all she was, Spark.” He lifted his head, dark brown eyes gripped mine. “That wasn’t her. That was me.”
My lips parted, my hand smacked his head as the car turned hard, throwing me to the side. Unfamiliar streets were all I saw…
“Listen to me.” His hand was warm against my arm. He skimmed my shoulder…my cheek. Fingers curled around the back of my head, pulling me down to him. “I had no other way. They would’ve killed us. They would’ve killed you.”
He shoved his body closer, lifting his head toward mine. His lips were warm, so warm…so perfect and warm. I closed my eyes, holding onto him as the car bounced and swayed, tearing through one street into the next.
My mouth opened, lips parted. My fingers found his shirt and I gripped tight. I held onto him, held onto the need to have him with me…the need for us to survive.
His mouth was clarity. His touch, control. It pushed the images back from my mind, and the panic too.
Warmth left me as he broke the connection. He eased backwards, and under the blur of streetlights we passed I stared into his eyes.
“You got me?” he growled, his voice husky and deep. “You got me, Spark?”
I nodded and inhaled hard. “Yeah…yes. I’m okay now. I’m okay…”
There was a flinch, and then agony roared through his eyes. I looked down to the darkening stain on his jeans. “Your thigh.”
“It’s okay…” He grabbed my hand. “I’m okay. We just need to find somewhere safe, somewhere I can take care of it.”
“I’m already on it.” Pitch gripped the wheel and turned.
I grasped hold of Finley as the Jeep bounced and swayed. Buildings whipped past. Headlights flashed behind us in the distance, before they were gone.
“You know where you’re going?” Finley gripped the seat and growled.
“I know.” Pitch was focussed, and quiet.
He turned the car, and then again. Street signs whipped by, until all I saw was a towering steel fence and the whi
te banners of the construction site.
The building.
Pitch slowed the Jeep and jerked the wheel. Tires howled as the vehicle gripped the road, bounced up the brutal driveway and then pulled to a stop.
Steam billowed out from the sides of the hood as Mavi yanked open the door and raced for the fence with bolt cutters in hand.
Mavi worked the chain while Pitch scanned the streets behind us. “Come on,” he whispered. “Hurry the fuck up.” Steel rattled as the gate swung inwards. Pitch shoved the car into gear. “Thank God.”
Through the white steam of the Jeeps engine came the concrete skeleton of the building. The demolition team had ripped away the external walls, exposing the innards. Steel girders propped up walls and ceiling. The place looked dangerous.
“You sure this is safe?” I turned to Finley.
His forehead glistened with sweat. I reached for him, touching his skin with the backs of my fingers. He was cold and clammy, shivering under my touch.
“J-just a l-little sh-shock, that’s all,” he stuttered.
Pitch rolled the car through the gate, and killed the lights. “If we wait here in the car we can get him to a hospital at first light. It’s bloody cold out there.”
“B-better t-to hide.” Finley lifted his gaze to the concrete Goliath outside the window. “W-were s-sitting d-ducks here.”
Mavi yanked open the door and climbed in. He took one look at Pitch and then Finley. “What…what’d I miss?”
“Finley thinks we should hide in there,” Pitch muttered. “I think we need to stay put.”
Headlights pierced the gaps in the torn construction sign. I flinched as the glare washed though the car.
“Jesus,” Pitch whispered. His blue eyes washed out to grey.
“What-t?” Finley snarled.
“It’s Gready…” Pitch whispered, as though a mere sound would bring the bastard to our door. “How the fuck does he know where we are? How does he…”
Purple hair filled my mind. Her energy savaged and shred as it ripped through me. Oleander. Her name filled me like a hum.
Be careful of Gready, she whispered. He’s one of us.
“What the hell did you say?” Finley growled and shoved upright. “He’s one of us? How the hell did you know that?”