“I mean you no harm,” he said to assure us that he was no enemy of ours. Even with each rifle at the room pointed in his direction he never showed an ounce of fear or intentions of harming any one of us.
I didn’t trust it. Didn’t believe it. And with good reason. I was enemy number one. A threat to King and his regime and everyone knew it.
“You have exactly two seconds to tell us just why we shouldn’t blow you right to Hell,” Julius shouted.
Even with the threat of imminent death at our hands the man never once dropped his hands, holding them out in a show of good faith. King had some great actors on his team, that was certain.
“I’m not here to hurt you. Listen, I need help. I don’t have much time. I disabled my communications so they can’t hear us, but there is a government attack squad in this area. Now, I can help you, but you must help me,” he answered calmly. He stopped at the base of the stairs, staring directly into the barrels of each M-16 pointed at him, but I didn’t buy the act. Not even for a second. I was a cynic at my very core.
“Who are you?” my mother questioned.
I glanced at her, but not for long, my gaze shooting back to the man I felt deep inside of me was a threat whether he acted as such or not. I had learned to trust my intuition, and it told me to fight or run, and I was tired of running.
“My name is John Baker,” he replied. He looked past Julius, Ryder, and Jameson to my mother, his eyes pleading for the help he claimed he needed.
This caused me to feel sorry for him for all of a second, but only that. Fear contorted my mother’s expression as well as recognition instantly, causing me to realize even more was amiss here than I originally wanted to believe.
“What?” she asked in shocked realization of the name. “Oh, God. Oh, God no…”
The man that introduced himself as John Baker took a step back at my mother’s terror. His reaction led me to believe I may be wrong after all.
“Mom? What is it?” I asked. Anxiety began to peak, and my power unfurled in a spiral of warmth within my gut.
“He did it, Mila. The son-of-a-bitch King did it!”
It was my turn to be confused, but I didn’t get a chance to speak before being interrupted.
“Did what?” Jameson probed without looking away from John.
“Mom! What do you mean? What did King do?” I nearly shouted when she didn’t answer quickly enough.
But I didn’t bother looking at her. I looked at John whose expression was puzzled and, just as suddenly as the confounded expression took residence, it was gone, leaving a look of complete and utter emptiness. His face went blank as if a switch had been turned to the ‘off’ position. John’s body froze in place. Not even a muscle twitched.
In a blur of movement, John shot forward, pulled his arm back, and struck Jameson with such force a cracking sound ripped through the air and the man went flying. Jameson landed in a heap ten or so feet to my right, but I was frozen in fear. Ryder and Julius each took steps back to distance themselves from the threat as Daley took a step forward to stand in front of me, firing off rounds into John’s chest and stomach in rapid succession. John staggered back a few steps, not doing anything to stop the bullets from penetrating his flesh as blood began to pour from the wounds. After what felt like an eternity, he fell to the ground. Dead.
“Fuck! Jameson!” Ryder shouted as both he and Julius rushed to Jameson’s side.
All I could do was watch, my limbs refusing to move even though one of my comrades, protectors and even friend was hurt and not moving. From where I stood I saw blood coming from the corner of his mouth, jaw dislocated, and at such a painful angle I nearly cringed if it weren’t for the terror pumping through my veins.
Without warning, John’s eyes snapped open, the wounds healing before our eyes as he popped to his feet like he hadn’t been injured at all.
“Oh my God…” Rickson cried out.
Rickson opened fire on the man again, but John barely reacted to the shots. John’s hands shot out and he gripped Rickson’s forehead, twisting his head with a sickening crack that caused bile to rise into my throat. And it all happened in a blur of motion. The vertebrae that twisted and snapped protruded through his flesh and blood oozed from the wound. John then dropped him to the ground like a useless rag doll as everyone attempted to make sense of what had just happened, eyes wide with fear. Bullets began to push out from within his wounds, clinking to the thick wooden floor as even more blood oozed out around them, the injuries healing as I observed. John’s stare shot in my direction then, and Daley was directly in his path to get to me. I reached out to him as my power continued to move through my body and toward my outstretched hand, acting without thinking at all.
“Daley, run!” I cried, my entire body moving toward him instead of away. I wasn’t thinking about my own safety at that point.
John came toward us like a bullet from a gun, his fist punching through Daley as soon as he had turned toward me to get me to run, which he knew full well I wouldn’t. John’s large hand came straight through Daley’s midsection, ripping through vital organs, and tearing his flesh as blood coated his dark skin. Tears of absolute terror and grief streamed down my face.
“I’m sorry,” Daley could barely mutter through a mouth full of blood.
I screamed in absolute horror as blood flowed and the man pulled his arm out of Daley’s body. He fell to the ground at my feet. I only had eyes for the massive man in front of me that was bent on my destruction even though, just moments before, he had stated he would be no harm to any of us.
“Goddamn, you!” Julius roared as he dropped his rifle and leaped forward. He screamed in agony as corrosive acid ate away at his flesh and shot from his hands and into the face and chest of the human monster before us.
The acid ate at John’s shirt, coat, and weaponry first, moving onto the delicate flesh underneath and the mass of muscle. The skin of his face corroded quickly, giving way to the bones and muscles it was supposed to protect, but rendered useless under Julius’s acidic touch. He fell to the ground for the second time, but I didn’t have any hope in my body that he was truly dead. A part of me knew better than that since I had watched him withstand a barrage of bullets more than once.
“Goddammit, let’s get out of here,” Julius shouted.
“Wait,” Ryder barked. “We can’t just run out there blind. He said there was a hit squad out there!”
All I could do was stand there and listen to them yell at each other, staring at John’s body slumped to the ground just behind the man who had been there to protect me. Had died doing so. And I was numb. So numb as I stood there and tears streamed down my cheeks in rivers that I couldn’t stop.
“For all we know he was the fucking hit squad, Ryder! We dropped our guard, and now two of us are dead, and Jameson is down!” Julius yelled in reply.
The arguing had to stop. It wouldn’t save us for whatever else waited for us and, even if John was dead, people were waiting just outside waiting to blow us away as soon as our feet hit the dirt.
“Enough,” I roared. “We need to get out of here! We can clear a path and…”
“That won’t be enough to stop him.” My mother panted, genuine terror in her eyes as she turned to look at me. Her chest heaved from excitement.
My brows furrowed in confusion as I stared back at her, but her gaze never wavered.
“I melted him to nothing Horatia, how…” Julius began.
Julius was interrupted by the sight of John’s eyes opening yet again, everyone turning in his direction as he stood. Muscle returned first, making way to the fat and flesh that lay just over it. He healed before our eyes so many times in moments, never slowing down. Never stopping until his objective was complete. Kill me. Kill everyone. He moved toward Julius with lightning speed. He quickly moved out of the way as Juliu
s reached out to shoot another fountain of acid, the acid hitting the floor and burning with a hiss. Like that, he was gone, but I had a feeling he wasn’t finished.
“Where is he?” Ryder shouted. He moved to stand in the front of the room where the shadows were the thickest, causing my anxiety to spike again.
“Ryder, get Jameson and get to the basement! We’ll use the sewers. Mom you get down there now right a…”
My words were cut short as Ryder was jerked into the shadows by an invisible hand, sounds of a struggle coming from within their inky depths. Within seconds Ryder flew out of the shadows and through the air, colliding with one of the concrete pillars in the massive room. There was no time to react as Julius moved in front of my mother who had been stone still during most of the event. Not that I had been any better. I had no idea what this man was, but the terror of that was enough to freeze me solid. He sent a blast of acid into the shadows where Ryder had come from, and there was the familiar hiss of it hitting the wooden floor.
“Do you see him, Mila?” Julius asked.
“I can’t see him at all,” I replied.
In an effort to find out where the man was, I focused my power on moving something instead of destroying. Debris started to fly. I influenced its trajectory and sent it into the shadows where Ryder had just come from. Nothing. No reaction. No grunt of pain. Nothing. Only silence except for when the debris hit the ground and other pieces of miscellaneous things.
“Where in the fuck…?” Julius suddenly disappeared into the floor, his screams of terror the only sign of his existence besides the hole in the floor. Two loud cracks rang from the man-sized hole and were quickly followed by his cries of torment. Then there was stillness, a hush falling over the building as his screams suddenly stopped. Almost final.
“Mila, listen to me,” my mother began. I turned to her, and she continued, “King has created a monster and…”
Before she got a chance to finish her explanation, a dark hand exploded through the floor between my feet, grabbed my ankle tightly, and pulled. I cried out as I crashed through the wooden floor, landing on the cement ground beneath in the basement hard. My neck jerked back when I hit the ground, slamming my head into the stone floor. A groan left my throat. My entire body ached from the impact, only amplified by the small cuts caused by the wood I had just been pulled through. I rolled from my back and onto my side, spotting John standing above me, his eyes completely blank as if nothing was happening behind the scenes.
“What are you?” I asked as I rose to my feet.
No answer, no reply. Confusion flooded me. He had just requested our help, and now he was attempting to kill all of us, but was it really him? I couldn’t tell, but I did have a sneaking suspicion something else was happening that we couldn’t see. If he was sent by King, John being in control or something else having it were both highly likely.
His fist came like a blur and hit me in the jaw, pain ricocheting through my entire head and neck with the impact. I felt like my head could slide off my shoulders and down onto the floor. Instead, I was flying, moving through the air in the basement before slamming into the basement floor. Pieces of cement crumbled beneath me and flew in multiple directions. I pulled myself to my feet as quickly as I could considering the abuse my body was taking. John stalked toward me, but slowly as if he felt he could take his time. In a gesture of peace and surrender, I put my hands out toward him and backed away a step.
“You asked me for help! Did you come to die? Is that the help you want?”
When he didn’t stop coming, I focused on the debris around me and forced my energy into it to send pieces and chunks of concrete and rebar toward him. His reaction was minimal as things flew in his direction. Dodging everything I sent his way, frustration and terror began to build within me, and my power unfurled even more, knowing it was nearly time to take over because of my ignorance of its use. Pushing it out of my hand, I focused on him and wrapped the invisible hand I could so easily imagine around his mid-section. With one final blast of energy, I sent him into the wall behind him, dust kicking up in all directions, tickling my nostrils. Swiftly, the soldier emerged from the dust laden darkness, his wounds healing instantly.
In a flurry of movement, nearly unseen, he slammed into me with a heavy blow that caused me to stagger back a few steps as pain crashed through my entire body. I saw the next hit coming through the pain and, as his fist sliced through the air, I dodged it and avoided it completely. Only thoughts of survival came to mind. My leg shot out and I kicked him in the ribs, but he barely reacted to the ache. The energy within me knew what to do next. My vision blurred slightly, coming back quickly and even sharper than ever as I focused on John’s entire body. An invisible hand that I controlled folded around his midsection and pulled at him, sending him flying into the concrete pillar behind him. It was almost as if I hadn’t done it myself, but I knew better. I still had my will, and I couldn’t let the power control me. Blood spurted from the soldier’s mouth as he smashed into the pillar. His back and neck cracked as his body nearly wrapped itself around the column. His body fell to the ground like a ragdoll, completely limp and lifeless.
Exhaustion took over in mere seconds despite the adrenaline pushing its way through my system, the strength that it took to use my power nearly snapping out of me and into the atmosphere.
“You got your wish,” I muttered through ragged breaths.
And then my mind went elsewhere, focusing on those I had come with now that I believed the fight was over and we could go back to the Fallen Paradigm. Julius had been pulled down into the basement and assaulted by the superhuman soldier that I had no idea how to even explain. I turned around, trying to search the ground for Julius, deducing that I would need to move debris out of the way. The fight had caused damage and a lot of it. Using my power again or what little of it was left that I could feel right under the surface, I sent debris flying. Each piece that moved clattered along the ground and, after what felt like an eternity, Julius surfaced. From where I stood I could see protruding, glistening bone in his hands and blood flowing onto the ground from the wounds. Without a second thought, I ran to him, nearly tripping over a large piece of concrete that had broken off the pillar the invincible soldier had slammed into.
“Oh my God…Julius?” I ran over to him as quickly as I could, attempting to keep myself from falling over junk. I kneeled next to him and could barely hold the tears back as I reached out and gingerly touched his cheek. “What did he do to you?”
He didn’t move, didn’t even flinch. Julius just lay there unconscious and unresponsive. Tears stung my eyes, but I didn’t have time to cry. A noise came from behind me and, when I turned, the man that had introduced himself as John Baker before attacking us rose from the ground. Every joint cracked and he rotated his neck, the vertebrae cracking back into place from his neck all the way down his broken back. When he rolled his shoulders, his empty eyes met mine.
John took a deep, shuddering breath and roared, running in my direction. He lowered his shoulder, but I couldn’t react in time. He was too fast. His shoulder slammed into my gut, forcing all the air out of my lungs. Nausea climbed up from my pained belly. Then I was no longer on my feet, but flying through the air and toward a solid concrete wall that I was certain wouldn’t be nearly as forgiving of my body crashing into it as I had hoped. And I didn’t heal almost immediately. The power within me sensed that I was in immediate danger and flared to life and pushed out in another gust toward the concrete. A massive hole exploded out of the wall and I blasted through it, pieces of concrete flying around me as I flew through the air and toward a main street of the abandoned city just outside the building.
I couldn’t catch my footing in time. I hit the ground with so much force the pain was excruciating. The impact sent me sprawling across the old and battered asphalt. While the impact was painful, the shimmering effect of the shield my body
created around me kept me from being seriously injured. The adrenaline caused my heart to pump even harder, my body needing to expel energy in some way. I rose to my feet and could see John standing just through the hole, watching me with a confused tilt of his head. I knew I had to stop him, but I wasn’t even sure how. Out of my peripheral vision, I spotted a massive chunk of stone that I had broken from the exterior wall to save myself from a nasty blow. I concentrated my power on it, and at first, it had only budged an inch. I forced the energy out and toward it, wrapping it around the large mass and pushing it toward the soldier. It slammed into him, and both he and the slab crashed into the far wall of the bottom floor. Nothing moved except a few small pieces of concrete that scattered to the floor, a broken and nearly snapped piece of rebar swinging from the interior of the wall. When nothing more happened, I began to run back toward the building, sliding on the balls of my feet through the hole I had created.
“Mom?” I cried as I came to stand underneath the spot in the floor I had originally come through. If I could get to my mother, we could get Julius, Ryder, and Jameson out of the building before anyone else came in after us. “Mom?” I screamed again.
“I’m all right! Are you okay?” she called from above me, never once coming into my line of sight.
“I’m okay. Julius is hurt! I think I finally stopped him,” I replied, hoping that was truly the case.
I had only nearly killed him at least three times since we had entered the building.
“He hasn’t been stopped, Mila! You don’t understand! King he…”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw John emerge from the shadows, coming at me so quickly I didn’t have time to react. His bones snapped into place as he ran. The cracking sounds were sickening. Each one caused nausea to climb up my throat as fear flooded my body. The adrenaline hit my system hard. It was like it happened in slow motion, but my reaction was too slow. His leg extended and the kick hit me so hard I felt my entire body sear with agony, spreading out from my gut. The blow sent me flying through the air again. The sky opened up to me, and I flipped, doing a somersault as I attempted to right myself despite the dizziness from the hit. My feet slammed into the ground, and I slid along the asphalt outside of the building a few paces, but, as I began to fall backward, it was as if my instinct took over. I curled into myself and performed a perfect tumble. The clarity didn’t last long.
The Scorned (The Permutation Archives Book 3) Page 8