by Liv Curtis
Sage heard a branch snap behind her in the trees. Without thinking she whipped her dagger out from its holster and threw it in the direction of the sound. To her shock, it stopped in midair less than an inch from Miles’s face. His eyes glowed warm, amber-orange as he stared straight at the blade. The blade dropped into his palm as he joined the group.
“I believe this is yours. That’s some good aim you’ve got there. Maybe this plan of yours isn’t so impossible after all.” He handed the dagger back to Sage and smiled at Cade.
“What are you doing here?” Piper rolled her eyes.
“Believe it or not, I am here to help.” Miles looked between Sage and Cade his eyes were honest when he spoke.
“For some reason my sister trusts you all, and I trust her. So, I will fight with you but you have to promise to keep her safe.” Miles smiled and Kennedy stepped out from behind the tree.
“What he means is that he doesn’t trust Blythe can lead us, but he believes in you.” Kennedy nodded towards Cade.
“We all do.” Kennedy grinned and, suddenly, dozens of telekinetic tribe members, dressed in varying orange tones emerged from the tree line.
“How can we help?” Miles smiled, and Sage could finally see that he and Kennedy were truly twins.
“You can help but gathering weapons once the path in clear into the armory.” Cade tossed Miles a bag and walked into the woods.
They followed Cade through the tall pine trees, walking through patches of moonlight that speckled the forest floor. The smell of evergreen was heavy in the air.
“You want to tell me what that was all about back there?” Jax whispered from next to Sage.
“I don’t know, I couldn’t remember this one when I woke up. All I know is that it wasn’t good and you were a part of it.” Sage had stopped walking and stood directly in a moonbeam. Jax had stopped to stand in front of her, the light catching on his slightly upturned nose and cheekbones.
“Whatever happens, I need you to know that if it hadn’t had been for you, I would still be in that cell.” Jax’s eyes were soft when he spoke, flickers of silver catching on his lashes.
“Nothing is going to happen. I will do everything I can to make sure of that.” Sage felt a tug deep in her stomach. She knew she had just lied, but she wasn’t sure how.
“Still, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you, and I don’t think I can ever repay you for that.” Jax smiled and took Sage’s hand in his.
Sage felt the tug in her stomach again but it was quickly overpowered by the sound of a blood-curdling scream. Without thinking, Sage and Jax burst into a sprint towards the direction of the scream to find River consoling Audrey in front of a horrific scene.
Lying on the ground that surrounded the armory were the lifeless bodies of the twelve guards. Each guard had a gun in their limp hands and several bullet wounds that had successfully soaked the ground in sticky red blood. The air was metallic and reminded Sage of being stuck in Jefferson’s basement, making her stomach lurch.
“What happened?” Sage gently placed a hand on Audrey’s shaking shoulder.
“We just found them like this, looks like it just happened.” Cade knelt next to one of the bodies as he took the key to the armory off the guard’s belt.
Sage bent down and took a gun out of one of the guards’ flaccid hands and was shocked to find the chamber was still warm.
“We need to get out of here. Get what we can out of the armory and let’s go,” Kennedy urged Cade as he opened the large metal door to reveal a staircase headed deep into the ground.
One by one, they filed into the armory, following the yellow lights that lit the way. At the end of the staircase was another door that opened to reveal a massive room with more weapons than Sage had ever seen.
“Grab what you can carry,” Cade commanded as he made his way to the back wall that was covered in several different types of guns and filled his duffel bag. The others who followed quickly filled their bags with weapons and ammo.
Once their bag was full, they turned and went back to the camp. Suddenly, Sage saw a dark figure move against the wall in the shadow of the door. Without thinking, she loaded the chamber of the gun she had taken from the guard and pointed it in that direction.
“Who are all of you?” The figure stepped forward into the light, dressed in a full guard uniform with a gun pointed directly at Sage.
There was something about his voice that sounded familiar to Sage, but she ignored it and pressed forward, stepping into the light that flooded though the open door.
“Sage Blackwell?” the guard groaned and suddenly dropped his gun to clutch his stomach in pain as he fell to the floor.
“He’s hurt.” Kennedy rushed to his side and quickly removed his vest. Three bullets had punctured his shirt underneath, leaving behind deep wounds in his abdomen.
“He needs to be taken to the hospital, now.” Kennedy held her hand over the wound to stop the bleeding and attempted to remove his mask with the other hand.
“You can’t be serious? We’re going to try and save some council agency killing machine?” Miles helped his sister remove the helmet from the guard, despite his questioning.
“He’s still a person. Just shut up and carry him,” Kennedy responded as Miles lifted the guard into the air and carried him up the stairs. Sage followed closely behind, trying to get a better look at his face.
When they reached the entrance of the armory the moon had fully illuminated the man and the sight shocked Sage. Lying lifelessly in Miles’s arms was a much older version of a man she hadn’t seen in fifteen years other than in photographs at River’s house.
Suddenly, River stood in front of Kennedy and Miles. His face was paler than the moon as he rushed to get a closer look. The resemblance was shocking to Sage as she watched River take his father’s hand.
“Dad?” River choked.
Henry lifted his hand to his son’s cheek and smiled right before he lost consciousness and his hand slipped away.
“We need to get him to the hospital now!” Kennedy directed, and Sage ran ahead to clear the way. When they made it to the hospital Sage pushed open both doors and Miles ran Henry into the elevator.
“Take him to my office!” Kennedy yelled from behind.
Sage, River, and Miles, holding Henry, got into the elevator while the others took the stairs. When the doors opened Sage nearly ran straight into Blythe.
“Watch where you are going… Why are you carrying a CA Agent?” Blythe narrowed her eyes towards Henry and stepped forward, trapping them in the elevator.
“Not now, Blythe.” Miles rolled his eyes as the sweat dripped from his forehead.
“I don’t know who you think you are talking to, but I can assure you—” Blythe sneered at Miles.
“We can explain everything. But, right now, we need to get him to Kennedy.” River cut Blythe off as he pleaded with her, but Sage knew it wasn’t going to work.
“You will explain yourselves now, then we will see if I let you through.” Blythe’s face contorted into a grimace, and Sage couldn’t handle it any longer.
Allowing the anger to boil in her veins, she placed a hand on Blythe’s chest and allowed her mind to clear. Suddenly, Blythe was halfway across the room, pinned against the wall by an invisible force.
Sage felt her eyes burning and knew she had tapped into something she hadn’t done before, but she kept walking as River and Miles rushed into Kennedy’s office.
Just then, Kennedy and the others burst out from the stairwell. Sage’s focus quickly changed and when she looked back Blythe had slid down the wall into a heap on the floor. She rubbed her throat with shaking hands and stared at Sage with wide eyes.
“What happened here?” Emery stopped in front of Blythe and grinned.
“She just got in the way.” Sage smiled at Blythe and followed Emery into Kennedy’s office.
“I am going to need both of you to help me.” Kennedy looked at Miles and Emery with expectant eyes.
>
“What? I can’t do surgery.” Emery stepped back towards the door.
“You aren’t doing surgery. You’re going to use your telekinesis to remove the bullet from him.” Kennedy extended her hand out to Emery urging her to help.
“Please, Em.” River’s eyes were pained as he looked between Emery and his father.
“How do I do it?” Emery set her shoulders and stepped up to the table where Henry was lying unconscious.
Kennedy smiled and took Emery’s hand placing it two inches above one of the wounds.
“Now, try to feel the bullet. You might feel cold, hot, or something else.” Kennedy placed her hand over one of the other bullet holes, and Miles did the same.
“I feel it. It’s like a cool breeze.” Emery’s eyes were closed as she furrowed her brow.
“Good, now imagine moving it closer to your hand, draw it towards you.” Kennedy closed her eyes and focused on her own wound. Right then, three small silver bullets emerged from Henry’s abdomen and hovered underneath each of their palms.
Emery opened her eyes and smiled with surprised to see the bullet hovering only an inch away from her hand.
“Excellent. Now, place the bullet in this, and then we will stitch him up.” Kennedy passed Emery a small metal pan where they all placed their retrieved bullets. She took a small needle and thread from her table and stitched the wounds shut.
“He will probably wake in a few minutes.” Kennedy tied the knot on the last stitch and removed her gloves.
“Who is he?” Cade asked from behind Sage.
“My dad. I thought the government killed him when I was a kid. He never even got to meet Audrey… Where is Audrey?” River looked around the room frantically when, suddenly, Henry moved. He gasped and winced in pain as Kennedy bandaged the final wound.
“Careful, you’re safe here.” River stepped forward and gently placed a hand on his dad’s shoulder.
“How are you here? You should be in the Frame.” Henry coughed and winced as he sat up.
“Well, that is a long story, but I’m sure we will get the time to tell you.” River smiled as tears streamed down his cheeks. Sage hadn’t realized it but, at some point in the chaos, she had reached for Jax’s hand and found comfort in the small electrical pulses jumping off his skin.
“Where are your sister and mother?” Henry’s eyes nervously scanned the room, landing on Emery and Andrea for a few moments before moving back to River.
“Audrey is here somewhere. Mom…Mom was taken by the chancellor when we tried to escape.” River’s eyes were deep with sadness when he mentioned his mother.
“We have been trying to figure out how to get her back, but we needed the weapons from the armory to do it. That’s why we were there.” River smiled wryly before he spoke again.
“How are you here? I was at your funeral, I-I saw you in the casket.” River choked on the words as he said them.
“When they found out what I had done, they said that they were going to let the chancellor choose my fate. She felt it was too easy to just kill me so she sent me to a secret branch of the CA called the Elitist Legion. They faked my death for the public and sent me off that night to the mines, where I was forced to comply. They had implanted a mind-controlling device much stronger than the ones you were given when you were born.” Henry stood from the table and retrieved his jacket off the chair.
“This device allowed the chancellor to program myself and the other eleven members of the Legion to be mindless murderers, trained to kill anything that tried to get into the armory.” Standing next to River, Sage could see why Jefferson had recognized him immediately. They were practically the same person in different stages of life.
“Do you remember any of it?” Cade asked, his voice cutting through the quiet room like a blade.
“Every grueling moment. Ya’ see, that was part of the torture. The chancellor let us have our memories, but we were not in control of our words or actions.” Henry furrowed his brow at Cade as if he recognized him.
“Ten years ago, my friend was murdered after he came too close to the armory. Was that you?” Cade’s eyes were garnet red as he stepped closer to Henry.
“I do remember he was young, and very powerful. He nearly held us off on his own. But you must understand, this wasn’t a choice we made, this was our punishment.” Henry’s eyes were the same deep blue green as River’s, and they swam with ripples of navy sorrow.
“I understand, and I don’t blame you, but someone needs to pay for it.” Cade’s eyes flashed red as he turned to leave the room, Eliza following him.
“Does anyone know why Blythe is sitting on the floor outside the room?” Audrey walked into the room and stared at River with wide eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Audrey stepped closer to River, recognizing he had been crying and hugged her older brother.
“Audrey, there is someone I want you to meet. This is…our dad.” Henry’s eyes darted back and forth between River and Audrey.
“I-I don’t understand? Dad died when I was a baby. How…” Audrey’s eyes watered as she looked between Henry and River, clearly recognizing him from the photos.
“It doesn’t matter, he is here now, and I think he would really like to get to know you.” River placed his hand gently on Audrey’s shoulder. Audrey retracted at first, but to Sage’s surprise, she reached out and hugged Henry.
“I would like that, too.” Audrey squeezed her eyes shut and hugged her dad tightly before she broke away and went back to River.
Just then the building shook, and the sound of an explosion reduced Sage’s hearing to nothing more than a high-pitched ring. Suddenly, there were two more, and the room crumbled. Fearing the worst, Sage ran out the door to find Eliza.
The building was in shambles as large pieces of it fell from the upper levels. A brick had struck Sage, leaving a large gash on her forehead. She ran up a pile of rubble when she heard her sister’s voice from higher up.
The glare of a fire was shining brightly in Sage’s eyes, but she saw a figure reaching out from above. It was Eliza, she had a cut across her cheek, but she seemed fine. Cade was with her, and they quickly ran in front of the building to see what had blown up the hospital.
Hovering in the clearing by the fountain were three CA air carriers, known as CAAC’s. A shiver of familiarity went down Sage’s spine as she looked on at the white bullet-shaped aircraft, and the rear hatches opened, spilling dozens of CA agents out with their weapons pointed at Sage.
Standing on the loading bay of the largest aircraft, in a bright white suit that glowed in the sun, was Chancellor Kelly.
Chapter 24
The world around Sage felt like it was moving in slow motion as she watched the chancellor gracefully step down onto the loading bay of the CAAC.
“Well, isn’t this something.” The chancellor’s eyes slipped across Sage and the others.
“I had hoped that when all of your chip signals were lost that you all had perished, but I see now that was simply wishful thinking, and now I must clean up the mess myself.”
The chancellor eyed Sage before she spoke again.
“I believe you have something that belongs to me.” Chancellor Kelly glared between Sage and Jax, who had emerged from the rubble behind her.
Suddenly, there was a piercing sound emitted from inside the CAAC. Sage felt a sensation fall over her like hot wax, and she realized the sound was a dampener, and it muted her Oculus abilities.
“Yes. You see, we knew you all could easily disarm us if we didn’t disarm your special skills so we had to even the playing field so to speak.” Chancellor Kelly sneered, and Sage could feel the blood boiling in her veins.
Just then, the sound of bullets ripped through the air as they bounced off the CAAC producing a sharp, metallic pop. Sage turned to see Miles with a small handgun pointed towards the chancellor.
“Nothing here belongs to you. This is our home,” Miles hissed through tight teeth.
“Well, if you
are not going to cooperate, then I suppose I will have to just take what I came here for.” Chancellor Kelly turned and walked back into the CAAC and the CA Agents readied their weapons.
Before Sage could even think the members of the telekinetic tribe emerged from the tree line, holding the weapons they had retrieved from the armory.
Sage knew the old weapons’ bullets were not strong enough to penetrate the armor the CA Agents wore. She felt a wave of fear run through her as the CA lifted their weapons.
Without hesitation, Sage ran towards the fountain, jumping off the edge to land on the loading platform less than a foot away from Chancellor Kelly. She quickly unsheathed her daggers and stood to face her.
“Call them off,” Sage demanded, her daggers placed directly in front of Kelly’s throat.
The chancellor’s eyes were wide, but not with fear. She smiled, and Sage could see that her eyes were wild with hate. Chancellor Kelly raised her hand, and the CA immediately lowered their weapons. Sage watched as the Telekinetics did the same.
“Where are my parents?” Sage kept her blades even with the underneath of the chancellor’s chin.
“Oh, don’t worry. I have put Mommy and Daddy to good work.” The chancellor’s face contorted into a gargoyle-like smile, and Sage couldn’t handle it any longer.
She moved quickly as she tackled Lucille Kelly, the chancellor of the Frame, a woman she feared her entire life, sending her sprawling to the ground just outside the CAAC. At this, several CA Agents quickly disarmed Eliza and the others holding them still at gunpoint and placed dampening cuffs around their wrists.
Sage leaped from the loading dock and landed with her feet directly in front of Lucille. As she scrambled back to escape Sage, Sage stayed close, blades ready in her hands.
Her hands both shook, and Sage knew the dampener had worn off. She could feel a tingle rising up her spine as she stepped closer to Lucille.
“Looks like your defense system isn’t very long-lasting.” Sage smirked and whirled her blades in her hands so that they faced down.