I wanted to scream.
I managed a gasp.
“You’ll fight for us, May Wheaton. You’ll kill your sister.” He knelt beside me. His voice grew soft and reverent, the way one would speak in a house of God. After she dies, we kill you. The circle of life. The way nature intended.”
“You’re . . . sick,” I managed.
He spread his hands. “I’m human.”
Somehow I doubted it.
He yanked me up and tightened his meaty fist around my neck. He held me for the crowd to see. Jeers erupted around us.
My sister came into focus. She stood in front of the stands with Ashleigh in a head-lock. I blinked and realized she held a knife to the girl’s throat. “Step away from my sister,” she shouted.
“Or what?” Thexus shouted back.
“Or Ashleigh dies.”
He chuckled. “Go ahead.”
Ashleigh let out a deafening shriek as Lillie pressed her knife into the girl’s throat.
“Lillie, no,” I shouted.
“She’s one of them,” Lillie answered. “You know I have to do this.”
“You’re killing an innocent girl.”
“Who says she’s innocent?”
My rope lay near my feet. Thexus stood motionless beside me, watching the events he’d orchestrated play out. I knew what he wanted. I knew I was playing right into his game when I grabbed the rope and stood.
“Lillie, stop. You have to let Ashleigh go.”
“I won’t. You don’t see this like I do.”
I took a step forward as I tied the noose. “Then how do you see it?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Ashleigh started it all. She ran away from home. She knew her mother would come to us. She purposely caused contention between us. And then she led us out of the sewers only to capture us again.”
“What are you saying?”
“She’s their leader! She pulls everyone’s strings. I don’t know why we didn’t see it before.”
“That’s not true.” It couldn’t be true.
“It is. Think about it, May. It all adds up.”
The rope caressed my fingertips like an old paperback book that I’d read thousands of times. “She’s only thirteen.”
I took another step, then another. A few more feet and I would be within range.
Ashleigh stared at me with pleading eyes.
“Ashleigh, tell her,” I shouted at the girl. “Tell her you aren’t in on this!”
My fists tightened around the rope. Ashleigh winced as Lillie pressed the knife into her throat.
“I can’t let this go on any longer,” Lillie said. “Look what she’s done to us.”
The knife sliced deeper. Ashleigh screamed a hoarse, shrill cry. It sickened me to watch my sister spill an innocent’s blood. I couldn’t watch Ashleigh die.
I whipped the rope into the air, spun it twice, and then flung it at my sister, catching her around the neck.
Lillie gasped and fell back. Her knife hit the turf with a thud.
“Let me . . . go!”
Ashleigh darted away as I made my way closer. Lillie gripped the rope and attempted to pry it away. I pulled it tighter.
Lillie lunged for her knife. I darted for it at the same time, but she grabbed it up. In one fluid motion, she cut the rope binding her neck. She yanked the rope away from me. I stumbled as my only weapon flew out of my hands, out of my reach.
Ashleigh sprinted for the caves. Lillie chased her down. She caught the girl by the legs, and then slammed her to the ground. Ashleigh hit the rock floor with a sharp thud. I heard the distinct pop of bones cracking.
Ashleigh shrieked. Her cries mingled with the frenzied yells from the crowd. Lillie balled her fists and knocked the girl in the jaw. Tears stung my eyes as I raced for Ashleigh.
Time slowed. It took hours to reach them—at least it felt that way. I grabbed Lillie by the shoulders and pulled her off the wailing girl. I shoved her back, then stood between my sister and Ashleigh.
“Get away from her,” Lillie said through clenched teeth.
“I won’t let you hurt Ashleigh.”
“She’ll kill us both.”
“She won’t.”
Lillie lunged at me. She grabbed my knees and tackled me. I fell back. Rocks dug into my backside. Lillie chased after Ashleigh, but no way would I let her hurt that girl. I got to my feet and sprinted after Lillie.
My sister caught Ashleigh by the hair. I slugged Lillie in the face. My knuckles throbbed as they connected with her cheek bone. Lillie screamed and stumbled back. I flexed my fingers, ready for another hit.
“Leave her alone,” I said.
Lillie cradled her cheek. Judging by the stabbing pain in my hand, I knew her face had to hurt something fierce.
“Is this how we’re playing it now?” she asked.
“You forced me to do that.”
She shot me a razor-edged smile. “You know I’ll beat you.”
“You’ll try.”
She pulled out her blade. I reached for my rope.
She circled me. “I always wondered why you carry that stupid rope around. It won’t do any good against steel.”
She sprang at me, but I whipped my rope out and caught the blade. I yanked it free. It sailed through the air and thunked to the ground.
I tossed my rope aside and readied my stance.
“No more weapons,” I said. “We’ll settle this the old-fashioned way.”
Her eyes darted from her knife to my fists. I knew her well enough to know what she was thinking. Dive for the weapon or fight one-on-one.
I didn’t let her think long.
I aimed a kick at her stomach. I knew I’d have to kick hard. She prided herself on her two-hundred-sit-up-a-day abs.
She leaped back, avoiding my kick. She grabbed my ankle and twisted my leg backward. I lost my momentum and fell forward, catching myself before I smacked face-first into the turf.
I kicked back and her grip relaxed. We faced each other.
“Give up before I hurt you for real,” she said.
“Judging by the soccer-sized bruise replacing your cheek-bone, I’ll claim the same thing.”
“Stop being a wise-ass.”
“Stop being an idiot.”
She thrust her fist at my face, but I caught her wrist. I pulled her into a head-lock. She bucked back, but I’d wrestled bull calves heavier than her.
I’d sometimes wondered who would win if we fought. Lillie could pull her own weight, but she didn’t have the experience. Years of working a farm hardens a person. This fight had never been an even match.
I had to save Ashleigh. That thought drove me as I kneed my sister’s face.
Mad howls erupted from the crowd.
Lillie’s head jerked back. I balled my fists, waiting for her to react. She sat in a crouch. Blood dripped from her nose and leaked onto her Death Metal t-shirt. Gray fabric darkened as the blood soaked into the cotton. More and more blood came until it gushed onto her cheeks.
I’ve heard a nose that won’t stop bleeding is a sign of a traumatic brain injury. I prayed I’d heard wrong.
“I’ll kill you,” she said.
“I think we both know you can’t.”
“I’ll die trying.”
The crowd ate it up. Their maddened screams reverberated through the dome. She leaped at me, hands clawing at my eyes in an act of desperation. I pushed her back with ease.
“Please, Lillie. I don’t want to hurt you. Stop fighting me.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes you can. Let Ashleigh go. She can’t hurt us.”
Lillie peered behind me. I rounded to see Ashleigh walking to us. Something slammed me from behind. I hit the ground. My ears buzzed as if filled with hornets. Stars twinkled in my vision.
I tried to make sense of the world, but found it spinning too fast and had to shut my eyes.
“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Lillie said.
I rose onto my elbows.
“I’ve been
waiting for a chance like this. You think you’re better than me. Now I get to prove you wrong.”
What had happened to make us enemies? Was it the Xeros? Or had we always been ready to kill one another? I remembered Ashleigh and Gemma on this same field, best friends turned enemies. I’d wondered what had made them hate one another. Now I knew. Because the Xeros did the same thing to us.
I got to my feet. Lillie lunged, and I managed to catch one of her arms. I wrenched it behind her back. Her screaming filled my ears as I threw her to the ground. Rocks cracked apart as she hit the ground.
The Xeros howled.
Obviously I hadn’t hit her hard enough last time. This time I’d be sure she wouldn’t get up.
I moved for my sister, but Ashleigh darted between us.
“Stop,” she said.
“Ashleigh?”
“You’ve got to stop.”
Lillie looked on with pain-filled eyes.
“I can’t stop,” I said. “If I do, my sister will hurt you.”
“Let her.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s right. I tricked you. I made you fight.” She hung her head. “I’m sorry.”
“Are you their leader?” I asked.
She nodded. “I’m one of them.”
“I knew it!” Lillie gasped from the ground.
“It was fun at first. Now I hate it.” She turned to Lillie. “I don’t want you to hurt May. I don’t want May to hurt you.”
Lillie clutched her ribs. “Why?”
“Because I’m not your enemy.”
“Then who is?” I asked.
Thexus laughed behind us. I spun around.
He barreled forward. I heard Ashleigh scream as he punched me in the stomach. I doubled over. He circled me, yellowed-eyes focused on my face.
“Stop,” Ashleigh yelled. Thexus ignored her. He flexed his fists.
“I said stop!” She pushed her hand forward. A pulsating mass of electrified air caught him. It forced him back. He straightened, and then growled. He lunged at Ashleigh, grabbed her by the collar, and hurled her away from us. She thankfully landed on the turf. I wanted to go to her. Thexus blocked me.
“Leave her,” he said.
I stared into the man’s face. I was tired. I was tired of his games, tired of the violence. This ended now.
I felt the rope clutched in my palm. Funny, I didn’t remember picking it up. I clasped it tight.
I stared at Thexus the way I would a bucking bronco.
If May Lillie can, then so can I.
I whipped the rope over my head and flung it forward. When my rope met the resistance of Thexus’s bull neck, I yanked tight.
His eyes bulged.
Don’t think he expected that.
He grabbed the rope and tried to fit his fingers through the loops. I tugged the rope forward and he fell in a heap.
I hog tied his arms and legs, and several more loops around his neck to make sure he wouldn’t go anywhere.
“Hurts, doesn’t it?” I knelt beside him.
Terror filled his face.
“You’ve got five minutes to live,” I said. “Give me answers and I loosen my rope. Don’t, and I leave it. Do you understand?”
He didn’t reply.
“Do you understand?” I repeated.
His face turned red, then gray. He struggled against the ropes. His frantic flailing got him nowhere. The crowd quieted. They stood in silence, yet no one came to his aid. After two minutes, panic filled his features. He turned to me and nodded. I guess he realized I was serious.
I loosened the rope around his neck.
As soon as I did, horrific memories slammed into me like a bursting dam of filthy water.
Mom’s death had been hard, but nothing compared with the torment I’d put myself through afterward.
She’d been gone three months. I sat in the shower. I’d cried all day and didn’t think I had any tears left. I was past that point.
I held my razor and stared at the blade. I knew not to slit my wrists straight across, that wouldn’t get the job done. No, this required that I slit them lengthwise.
I exhaled a sob and thought of how I’d killed Mom. I thought of everything she’d ever done for me, of her sitting by my bed while I puked my guts into a bucket she held, I thought of how we’d stayed up way past my bedtime so she could pick nits from my hair, I thought of all those Sweet Valley books she’d bought for me, of every birthday cake she’d made, of every present, and of every lecture that had turned me into a better person.
And I had killed her.
At the time it had seemed like a mercy killing, but the more time passed, the more I saw myself as a murderer.
She’s dead because of me.
Shudders wracked my body. My hands shook as I held the razor. Reliving the darkest moment of my life drained my mind, my body, my soul. A hollow emptiness settled inside. In my mind, my tortured screams begged for relief. I would do anything to make those images stop.
“You’ll die,” I heard Thexus’s voice from a distance. “You’ll die just like she did.”
The razor cut through my skin.
No! This couldn’t happen. I had to stop it.
I blinked and forced the memories away, though it took every ounce of strength to do it. The images blissfully faded. I collapsed onto my hands and knees. Tears slid down my cheeks and dropped onto the rock-strewn floor.
The stadium came back into focus. Thexus came back into focus. Shock filled his face as I gathered my strength and stood over him.
“How . . . how did you—?”
I pulled the rope tight around his neck.
Thexus struggled on the end of my rope. No way would he trick me again.
I felt the crowd’s eyes boring into my back. I refused to give them what they wanted.
I stood over Thexus with the rope tight in my hands. “It’s over,” I told him. “The killings, the fights, the lies, they all end now. I won’t fight my sister. I won’t let you win. Tell me who you are. Tell me why you’re doing this.”
He struggled against the ropes.
No one can go without air. It’s a simple fact. No matter how brave or strong you think you are, in the end, nature takes over. You’ll do anything just to breathe.
His struggles turned to thrashing. The solid lines of his body blurred. At first I thought I saw another memory, but that didn’t explain how his body changed shape.
The body convulsed and strawberry blond hair sprouted from the scarred scalp. Freckled white skin replaced his leathery flesh.
I no longer stood over Thexus.
“Karmen?” I gasped.
I loosened the rope. The girl clawed at the stone floor, her eyes wet with tears as she gulped in a lungful of air.
“It was you all along?”
I heard my sister stir. Lillie limped upright. She stared at me, and then at Karmen. Ashleigh stumbled and then stood. She didn’t seem surprised to see her sister.
“You can change shape?” I asked Karmen.
“Yes,” she answered in a rasping whisper.
The events of the past few days played through my memory. Karmen and her mother had hired us to find Ashleigh. But really they’d wanted us for sport. Who else had they done this to? Nephi Reno? The Gordon Gang? Max said they’d all gone missing. Had Karmen conned them, too?
“What my mom told you was true,” Ashleigh said. “A gang called the Xeros took my mom when she was young, made her fight, broke her. They took my sister three years ago. By then they’d stopped going after the mentally impaired and took young Shines instead. That’s when she learned what her Shine was. She could take the shape of whoever she wanted. And whenever she shifted, she could see into other people’s thoughts and make them re-live their memories. The Xeros didn’t know what she could do.”
“They put . . . me in a room with six other girls.” Karmen gulped a lungful of air. “They regretted it.”
“But now you’re in the same busines
s that the original Xeros were in? Why?”
Karmen gasped before speaking. “It’s . . . not the same. I limped home . . . from my fight with the Shines. Broken. Beaten. When Mom saw me she snapped. We went back to the Xeros hideout. I transformed. I . . . killed them all.”
I swallowed the acid burning my throat.
Ashleigh walked toward us with hesitant footsteps, her eyes guarded. “I watched my mom and sister become more and more bloodthirsty every day. Revenge was a drug to them. They couldn’t get over what the Xeros had done, so they did it to others. To me.”
I heard a voice come from the tunnels. “I didn’t want to hurt you.” Ms. Conrad appeared from the caves. The feral look in her face reminded me of a hyena. Gemma limped beside her. Her eyes didn’t meet mine. The thin Asian girl stopped behind them. Sun looked more emaciated than she had before, if that was possible.
Ashleigh turned to me. “My mom and sister killed the Xeros, but it did no good. The survivors all wanted revenge. In the end, they turned into the very monsters who tortured them. They even took on the same name.”
Booing came from the crowd.
Ms. Conrad took another step closer when my sister stopped her with a knife to her throat. “Not another step.”
“It’s over,” I told Ms. Conrad. “No more manipulating your daughters.”
Ms. Conrad barked a bitter laugh. “It’s not over until I say it is.” She nodded at the Shines gathered around her. Gemma lunged at Lillie, catching her off guard. She slammed my sister into a chain link fence. Sun rushed at me.
I stumbled back. Sun grabbed me before I had time to react. Bony fingers tightened around my arms. I resisted, but her silent, pleading eyes met mine. She shook her head. “Not yet,” she whispered.
I didn’t know much about Sun. I’d never seen her Shine ability. She’d managed to last this long, which meant it must have been something powerful. Did she have a plan in mind?
Ms. Conrad walked to us.
“Congratulations. We haven’t had a show this good in quite some time. Am I right?” Ms. Conrad raised her arms. Shouting and clapping erupted from the crowd.
Sun shoved me to the ground. Rocks dug into my back. Ms. Conrad produced a knife. The Xeros in the stadium shouted and jeered, goading Ms. Conrad.
“Mom, stop,” Ashleigh yelled over the noise. “I won’t let you hurt her.”
Ms. Conrad pointed the knife at her daughter. “Are you going to stop me?”
Shine: Season One (Shine Season Book 1) Page 44