by ID Johnson
***
Howard and Clayton were dead—finally. When they hadn’t been able to lose Aurora and her team, they had decided to try and make a break for the jewelry store, using it as cover until they could make their way into the chamber below the floor. They thought they would at least be able to take out the two Hunters and impede the Guardian’s progress enough so that they could get away; they were wrong.
Shane had done an excellent job of protecting the Hunters from the Vampires’ fire as they advanced on the storefront. He had taken several rounds of fire himself, but Vampire bullets bounced right off of him, and neither of the girls had a scratch on them when Clayton, and then Howard, finally met their demise.
Now, they were desperately searching for the opening to the secret chamber they believed must lay below the floor of the store. Cadence had managed to let them know she could hear them. It had to be there somewhere. They just hoped they could find it before it was too late.
***
“Do you see anything down that way?” Christian asked Aaron as they made their way along the darkened, underground corridor.
“Yeah, dark, dark, and more dark,” was the response.
“How much further can this tunnel possibly go on?” Christian asked.
“You said it was pretty far from the Delaware to Jeweler’s Row on foot right?”
“I guess so,” Christian admitted. “It just seems like we’ve been searching forever.”
They continued to make their way through the narrow passage, both able to see through the infrared on their IACs, though Aaron could certainly see better than Christian. After a few hundred more yards, they came to a split in the passageway where they could go right or left. They both looked at each other and then peered into the darkness trying to determine which way to go.
Even with his X-ray vision, Aaron couldn’t see any differences between the two. “Pick your poison,” he offered.
Christian shrugged. “I’ll go left.”
“I’ll go right. Be careful. See you on the other side.”
***
While Gibbon rubbed at his eyes and screamed, more from outrage at being temporarily blinded than from pain, most likely, and Giovani attempted to pull himself together across the room, Cadence half-hopped, half-dragged herself across the cell to the door. She had been watching carefully when Zabrina unlocked the cage every time, but she wasn’t exactly sure which key it was. She knew it was smaller than some of the others, and she was sure it was bronze. There were three keys that matched that description, and she prayed that she picked the right on first.
No such luck. The first key she tried didn’t fit at all. She dropped it, and glancing back over her shoulder, she saw Gibbon regrouping. She hastily grabbed the next key and forced it into the lock. This one turned a little bit, but not enough to move the lock. She heard footsteps behind her now, and as she slipped the third candidate into the keyhole, she felt Gibbon grab her hair with one hand and the back of her shirt with the other. She fought to twist the key, and just as he swung her away from the gate and into the back wall, the door creaked open. When Gibbon brought her back around in an attempt to toss her back against the bars again, she was able to project herself through the open gate, crashing hard against the brick wall on the other side of the room. The room spun around her as she felt herself slowly sliding down the wall, and then there was nothing.
***
Aurora was stomping. It was her last resort. She walked a few paces, stopped, stomped her foot, and listened. She did this over and over again until she was almost in the back corner of the small room behind the jeweler’s shop. There, she believed she may have heard something slightly different. “Guys, be quiet for a second!” she yelled to Meagan and Shane. They complied and she stomped again. This time, they heard it, too—an echo. “This is it. It’s right here!” she exclaimed.
They dropped to their knees, attempting to pull up the floorboards. Meagan saw a small sliver around the edges of some of the boards. “Look! It’s hinged,” she said sliding her fingers into the crack and flipping the door open. They were staring at a very steep staircase that led into the blackness.
Shane led the way, and as they neared the bottom of the staircase they saw there was a thick oak door. Pressing his ear against the door, Shane listened intently. “Someone is crying,” he said.
***
Giovani wiped his nose on the back of his hand and pulled himself to his feet. Cadence was crumpled on top of the bed nearby, her head bleeding, her eyes closed, and Gibbon was standing in the doorway of the cage. He didn’t know if he should run in fear or barter with his monster. He may have never seen The Hunger Games, but he had read Frankenstein. Giovani slunk back into the corner of the room, his gun in his hand, and waited to see what Gibbon would do.
He looked confused at first, like he wasn’t sure what his options were. His step-mother seemed to be lying dead across the room. The man who had declared himself to be Gibbon’s father—but had also locked him in a cage, chained to the wall--was standing over in the corner with a weapon draw against him.
Gibbon saw the door on his left that he knew led up the stairs to the place where all that noise was coming from. To his right, there was another door. No noise came from that direction, and no light seeped from underneath either. He chose the darkness, and without another glance at the two forms across the room, he stepped out of the cage and sprinted at the door. Though it was solid wood and locked, he easily knocked it down and continued to retreat down into the tunnels underground.
***
Cadence wasn’t sure if she had completely lost consciousness or not, but she consistently heard Aaron and other teammates calling her name, even when she was swimming in blackness. Gathering all the strength she had left in her, she opened her eyes. She was hanging upside down off the edge of the bed, sideways, and through her own feet she could see Giovani cowering in the corner. She watched as Gibbon knocked the door down and took off into the tunnels. Giovani watched him go, longingly, his revolver still clenched in his hand. Once Gibbon had disappeared, Giovani slowly turned to face her.
Every part of her body hurt. She was certain she had a concussion, her knee was blown out again, her ribs ached. She was unarmed and broken. Yet, here she was facing the same Vampire that had taken Jack from her and kidnapped her sister. She needed to find a way to defeat him once and for all, but she wasn’t sure she had enough left.
“Cadence, we’re almost there. Don’t give up now,” she heard Aaron say.
A banging at the door momentarily drew Giovani’s attention away, and in the split second that he was distracted, she kicked with her good leg, catching the gun and sending it spinning across the room. He hadn’t realized she was conscious, and so the action completely threw him off. As he turned to retrieve it, she threw herself at him, landing on his back.
Though he was no Gibbon, Giovani was quite strong, and he began to attempt to shake her off. Using her thighs like a vice, she let go with her hands and threw them over his head so that the steel cord was wrapped around his neck. Giovani clawed at her arm with both hands, but she dropped to the ground behind him, balanced on one leg, and spun her arms around, tightening the wire. The cord began to cut into his neck, and his eyes began to bulge. With every once of strength she had left, Cadence pulled her hands away from each other. The tension on the steel cord increased until it sliced completely through, severing Giovani’s head. It hung in the air for a moment, his body still standing as well, until his head dropped to the floor, his body crumpling onto his knees and then falling forward. Cadence watched as his body turned to ash, and just as she was about to collapse herself, Shane burst down the door, catching her before she fell, and helping her back to the bed.
***
Gibbon had to choose again—right or left. The tunnel split, and just like his choice between doors, he tried to determine which was darker, which was quieter. They seemed to be about the same, and so he chose to go to his right.
“Are you all right?” he asked as he stood back and surveyed the damage.
She was clearly in a lot of pain. Her breathing was labored, and the hair was matted to the side of her head where she had made contact with the wall. “How’s my sister?” she asked.
“She’s still resting,” Aaron assured her. “Don’t worry about her now. We need to take care of you.”
“Gibbon got away,” she muttered.
“I know, but Christian is about to meet him face to face, and we’re tailing him, too, so maybe we can stop him,” he reminded her.
“Christian can’t stop him,” Cadence whispered. “No one can stop him.”
“We will find a way to defeat him,” he replied. “The most important thing right now is taking care of you.”
As if on cue, Cale emerged from the jewelry store stairwell, medical bag in hand, and rushed over to ascertain the damage.
“How’d you get here?” Cadence asked, confused.
“Had one of my choppers drop me off,” he replied, smiling at her. “You are amazing. And a bit torn up. But we can fix that, I think.”
“Christian might need some light in a few minutes if Gibbon gets past him,” Aaron reminded him.
“Already sent my pilot back,” Cale nodded. “Now, let’s make you more comfortable, shall we?”
“So long as it doesn’t knock me out,” Cadence pleaded. “I want to see Cass.”
“Just pain medicine,” Cale replied, giving her a shot. “And then we’ll get you cleaned up.”
Cadence could see Aaron constantly looking over his shoulder at the passage now that Cale, and a few of his teammates, were on the scene. “Go,” she said.
“Are you sure?” he asked, clearly torn.
“I’m fine. Go see if you can catch Gibbon.”
He bent down and kissed her quickly on the forehead before darting off down the tunnel.
Christian heard Gibbon coming long before he could see him, the sound of his growling and heavy breathing echoing off of the walls. Even with Christian’s night vision, the monster was moving so quickly, he didn’t have time to fire his weapon until he was almost on top of him. Christian got off one shot, which grazed him in the shoulder, before Gibbon slammed into him. In the narrow passage way, there wasn’t much room for them both, so Gibbon powered his way through, throwing punches until Christian crumpled up and slid down the wall out of the way; Gibbon had no idea that he couldn’t kill the man in front of him, and he didn’t stop to see if he was dead. Once Christian was no longer an obstacle, he took off running again.
Aurora, Shane, and Meagan were there almost instantly, and Christian gestured for them to keep going, though he was doubled-over in pain, blood trickling from his mouth and his temple.
“You guys keep going; I’ll stay here with him,” Meagan insisted, and with a quick nod, Aurora and Shane took off. A few seconds later, there was a gust of wind and a blur in their vision as Aaron went by as well.
“Come on. We’re almost to the underground room, and Cale can give you something for the pain,” Meagan insisted, hauling the Guardian to his feet.
Aaron caught up to Shane and Aurora in a matter of seconds. But Gibbon was fast, too, and they watched his feet disappear up the stairs that led to the pier. Shane fired twice, but both shots ricochet off the steps, missing their mark.
Gibbon reached the top of the stairs and was suddenly blinded by the helicopter lights. He shielded his eyes from the brightness, hesitating at the top of the steps. The noise behind him dissuaded him from going back the way he came. Looking around, he saw only one alternative and hurled himself into the darkness of the Delaware River.
The LIGHTS team came up just in time to see him splash into the water, and all three of them jumped in behind him. The water was murky, and even with their IACs it was difficult to see. X-ray vision was not very helpful because of the vastness of the expanse across the river. There was no sign of Gibbon anywhere. After a few moments, Aaron came up for air and looked around to see if there was any sign of him. Shane and Aurora popped up, too, but there was no trace of the monster. They went back under to try again, swimming in different directions, but Gibbon seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
The helicopters continued to shine their lights on the river long after Aaron and his team abandoned the water, but there was never any sign of Gibbon; it was as if he had simply sank into the black abyss and faded away.
***
After many a protest had fallen on deaf ears, Cadence had consented to a shower and a change of clothes. She wanted to stay with Cassidy until she woke up, but her friends insisted she would be of little use to anyone if she didn’t take care of herself. So she finally gave in. Cale had repaired her ribs and the gash in her head while applying another temporary fix to her ACL, all of which had completely drained him, and she had promised Jamie she would absolutely have an MRI on her knee so he could operate just as soon as Cass was awake. For now, she was sitting in a chair beside her bed, staring at the beautiful face of her little sister, who only seemed to be slumbering.
Brandon, who hadn’t let go of her hand since Jamie brought her in, was sitting on the other side. Aaron was in and out, taking care of business and collecting information on the search for Gibbon, and Jamie was also in the room most of the time, waiting for Cassidy to open her eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” Brandon said for the hundredth time that night.
“Please stop saying that,” Cadence implored him. “What’s done is done. You can’t change it now.”
“But… I should have stopped her,” he argued.
“You couldn’t have stopped her,” Cadence shrugged. “Once my sister has her mind made up, nothing is going to stop her.”
“Kind of like you,” Aaron said as he entered the room, stooping to kiss Cadence on the head. “Are you still feeling okay?” he asked as she leaned up to kiss him.
Releasing him, Cadence said, “I’m okay. I’ll be better once Cass wakes up though.” Cadence had turned her IAC off so that she could concentrate on her sister. “Any news?”
“Morgan finally caught up to that helicopter. She was able to take out the pilot,” he informed her.
“That’s good. That Morgan is one tough cookie,” Cadence replied.
“Yes, she is,” he agreed.
“So is Cass,” Brandon muttered. “She’s going to be all right, isn’t she?”
His face was swollen, his eyes bloodshot, and it was obvious he’d spent a good deal of time crying. “She is tough, Brandon,” Cadence assured him. “But I am not sure what we are going to have when she comes back to us. We’ll just have to see how she is.” She had considered using the word what—what she is. Jamie had explained to all of them that he had no idea what the outcome might be. When Cassidy awoke, she could be her normal self, if the serum didn’t take. If it did, she could be a Hunter. Or there was a possibility, that when she finally opened her eyes, Cassidy Findley would be a Vampire.
And there was also the chance that she would never open her eyes again.
“Regardless of what she is, I’m still going to be here for her,” Brandon vowed, tears welling up in his eyes again.
“We all will be,” Aaron agreed, patting him on the back.
There was a twitch then, a slight movement, in Cassidy’s arm, and then her head tilted to the side for a moment. Her lips opened and then closed again, and she let out a loud sigh.
“Cassidy?” Brandon called. “Cassidy, can you hear me?”
She tur
ned her head again, pulled at the blankets, and shifted her shoulders. Then, as they all gathered around her bedside, Cassidy’s eyelids began to flutter. Cadence held her breath, hoping to see those familiar brown eyes staring back at her, and as Cassidy’s left eye came open, Cadence breathed a sigh of relief at the familiar brown iris, until the right eye came open as well, and then she stepped back in shock and horror. Staring back at her from her sister’s familiar face, Cadence saw one beautiful brown eye, and one steel gray eye—the eye of a Vampire.
END BOOK 4
A note from the author:
Hey! You did it! You read my whole book! And chances are, since this is book four in the series, you probably read the other three, too! And that makes you the most awesome person in the universe! I can’t tell you how elated I am that you took your valuable time, money, and energy, and of all the books in the whole entire world that you could have read—you read this one! You really are pretty spectacular!!
Now, here comes the part where I beg you to leave me a review. You see, I don’t know how you felt about the book unless you tell me, and I would really like to know (especially if you liked it!) so if you could please return to Amazon and leave me a short review, I would be ever so happy. It doesn’t have to be long or wordy—just a few short lines. And your feedback will inspire me to continue onward and write book five. (After all, we can’t leave Cassidy hanging, can we? And what about Gibbon? We’ve got to catch Gibbon!) So if you have a few seconds, please leave a review on Amazon, and I will love you even more than I love you right now—which is a lot!