Misery Saves the Night

by Brittany Allen

  “The left!” She huffed finding herself out of breath sooner than expected.

  All while dashing down the hall and trying to avoid the cameras lined all along the wall, Recarie looked at her hands. They weren’t as thin as Daouen’s had been, but she was not in good shape either. It was going to take a miracle for her to escape the building.

  Out of one of the doors Recarie ran past, came two doctors. They seemed to be chatting over the notes in a folder they held together. Recarie had nowhere to hide so she kept on running hopping that they would not notice her, but being lost in her own thoughts she ran into a garbage can.

  “Hm?” The doctors looked up from their notes and saw Recarie had continued running.

  They needed no time to react as one, a telepath, sent out a message to all other telepaths with proper clearance that the girl on floor seven was out. Another alarm sounded throughout the office building that the other doctor had set off to put the rest of the staff on alert. Recarie was nearing the end of the hall and it seemed she had chosen right. There was a staircase and an elevator and she choose the staircase that lead to the rooftop.

  “Damn it!” She cried as this door was locked, but the elevator dinged and a man stepped out.

  With a rush of adrenaline, Recarie grabbed the man in the white coat and sent crashing to the floor as she jumped over his head. The man was knocked unconscious and Recarie was free to go. Her plans had changed now that the elevator did not have an option for the rooftop. It looked like if she was getting out, she would have to fight for it.

  Ian was just getting finished with his paperwork on the sixth floor and peered through the crack in the door the receptionist had gone through. Everything seemed to be normal than several of them turned pale. Something had happened and Ian knew those women were just sent an alert that was out of his clearance. He tossed the clipboard at the desk and casually walked out the door.

  “Oh heck!” Ian’s pace increased. “They’re on to me.” He pushed the elevator button. “Come on. Come on. Come on!”

  It was not coming fast enough so he tried the staircase next to the elevators, but they had been locked. Ian thought his heart was going to explode from all the stress just when the bell dinged for the elevator. The simple chime of the elevator sent his stress out of his body and for a brief moment, Ian actually believed he had died. He ran to the elevator and the stainless steel doors could not part fast enough.

  Recarie was slumped against the back of the elevator trying to catch her breath. Whatever life Daouen had sacrificed to give to her, was just enough to keep her heart beating. She took several deep breaths to calm herself and stop from exerting so much energy. Everything was going well until the little light for floor six lit up on the elevator. Someone was waiting to get on the same elevator she had commandeered.

  She checked for a hatch at the top of the elevator’s roof like in the movies she had watched back in Farous, but this ceiling was steel just like the doors were. Seconds ticked away like hours and then the elevator stopped. Recarie kept hitting the close button hopping that the door would stay shut, but just like everything else in her life, she was not about to get her way.

  The door opened slowly from all of the button pushing Recarie had been doing. Recarie decided that she would beat down the man she saw impatiently tapping his feet through the opening doors. Once the doors opened fully and the light cleared, Recarie balled her fist and looked the older man straight in his tired blue eyes.

  Ian stood there in front of the unknown girl. He took in all of her features. From that matted and grungy mauve hair to her striking sharp cheek bones and hips. On all accounts, this was the most beautiful girl Ian had ever seen.

  On the other side of that elevator Recarie was glued to the spot. She had been in this same situation before. “Ian?” Her eyes leaked tears without her notice.

  Backing up, Ian gave the girl another look over. “Do I know you?”

  “Huh!” Recarie’s heart ripped into two and her legs shook. “Huh!” She gasped for air. The situation had become too much and just in time, the elevator door shut.

  Recarie retreated back to the back wall and sobbed her problems away. She felt as though no one understood her and there was no one to talk to. There was a darkness that entered her thoughts. This darkness was full of all of her doubts. Ian had hurt her more than a few times in the past, but Recarie knew his reasoning behind them. Though, this one, this one time when he did not know her, it cut her deep.

  Tory watched the stars twinkle in the sky and felt the mid-winter breeze cross his exposed face. “There’s to be snow soon.” He clutched his feather down jacket to keep the air out and crossed the blue sand into the same Farous he had left.

  Places destroyed in Recarie’s battle against the NSSH had been rebuilt, but they weren’t the same. In fact, nothing was the same anymore. NSSH guards still wandered the streets as they looked for the remaining three fugitives. Non super powered humans from Disten roamed the cement streets that used to be lined with bricks. The town he had lived in for the past decade was gone.

  The FPA headquarters for that side of the continent was only one town away. That was one of the reasons he had taken the boat trip that landed in that part of Farous. Well it was its location and that he wanted to visit his former home. Though being there now all Tory wanted to do was leave and never come back. Tory had made his decision.

  “Once this mission is done. I am never coming back.” Dressed in his normal street clothes, Tory started his five hour walk to the FPA headquarters.

  It only took half an hour to walk through town, but the forest, one of thousands in Farous, was a good four hours. This would give Tory plenty of time to fine tune his plan. On the boat ride over, he had come up with a plan A and a plan B. When both options were played out, Tory remained uncertain of what he would do, but he was sure he could come up with something.

  Wolve’s native to that side of Farous could be heard howling in the distance. Tory was familiar with the animals of that area and knew he would be safe in his current position. He looked at the moon and knew it was what had the wolves in a uproar. That was when he saw the first cluster of snowflakes begin to fall and they were falling fast.

  To conserve energy, Tory started to walk slower. It allowed him to keep warm and keep a sense about what was going on around him.

  Click. Something stepped on dead leaves and put Tory on alert.

  “Not wolves. Not rabbits, as though they would pose a threat.” He began to cross off animals as he pounced off the ground and into a tree. There he stood perched on a tree limb like a vulture observing a carcass. “Omph!” Tory fell to the ground. Something had pushed him and then it disappeared. “Crud!” This person was attacking from all over.

  From his left, right, front, and back, this person struck with lightning fast attacks. All Tory knew was that this person hit him, then disappeared. This was not someone he had faced before, or was it?

  “Hm?” Tory had sensed a familiar energy and grabbed a hold of its signature using his abilities. When the person came in for their next attack, Tory foreseen it and grabbed their slender leg before they could kick him. “Oh, it’s you. Well if I’m not surprised.” He yawned as if expecting his opponent.

  “A few jagged rocks were no match for me.” The dainty woman with inch high heels and waving salt water dyed chestnut brown hair broke free of his grip. “I thought your master would have taught you better.”

  “I have no time for this.” All Tory wanted to do was turn and leave, but he knew the woman had to be taken care of. “Look, I am giving you a chance to walk away and let me do my job or we can fight with me killing you. Either way, I still get to my destination.”

  “You sure know how to piss off women, little boy.” She flicked her hair. “I can see he has taught you some things. Too bad nothing practical.”

  “That a ‘no’ then is it?” He took his stance. Legs slightly spread and hands resting at his side, Tory focused his energy.
This time she was not getting away. “So be it!”

  Tory dashed at the woman, but instead of going to a direct attack to her front as he let it seem. As the woman went to dodge his attack, Tory was there to meet her with a blade made of his own pure silver and purple energy. He watched her side bleed and drip all over the fresh fallen snow.

  “I really don’t want to do this.” Tory taunted as he had control over the situation.

  “Ugh.” She used her speed to dash off in every direction around him.

  The snow underneath her feet melted and left an easy trail for Tory to follow. He was able to make direct hits with his energy now in the shape of thin daggers. She pulled them out of her shoulder and leg and went straight for him. Following a move Tory had pulled earlier, she went in for the blow when he tried to dodge out of the way.

  “I am so done playing.” Gritting his teeth, Tory met the woman in the middle of the woods clearing.

  With a few hits from her, Tory was able to block each one. It was the same when he tried to drop kick her and make another hit to her side. They were evenly matched and it would all wind down to who had more stamina and energy. Dashing around the woods had used up a lot of energy, Tory noticed, but it all depended on how much she had to begin with. He looked at her side and watched her stretch open the wounds each time she moved to strike him.

  He wanted to vomit. This fight was not like him. Last time he was pumped full of adrenaline and acting impulsively. The woman held her poker face, but he could sense her feelings all too well. Lost in his thought, she got in several hits, but nothing critical.

  “Time to end this.” She wanted to take advantage of Tory while he was spaced out. “Ugh!” Two waves of flames streamed from just above her wrist and she grabbed a hold of their blue ends. Rushing him, this was her final attack.

  Rheanne had her entire crew’s appearance changed with her psychic ability. Her powers were unmatched. That was how she and her family had gone unnoticed by the NSSH for so long. When she and Cirri first escaped the Zones when they were teenagers, she had been using her exceptional powers to make sure they would always remain undercover and safe. For added security, they joined up with relatives who operated an underground order to help combat the young NSSH.

  They stood at the entrance of the Disten’s NSSH headquarters. A tear came to Rheanne eye as she took in the situation. After all, she and Cirri had done everything in their powers to make sure none of their children ended up in NSSH control and yet, there Recarie was. Each one of them, after Recarie fled her tattooing, decided to let her live her life and never again interfere in it, but now they would no longer hold back.

  “Are you all sure you’re ready for this?” She asked the team.

  “Won’t they notice a group of unfamiliar people sneaking into the building of operations?” Gillian, disguised back as the man she was in Farous raised a very good question.

  “Not a problem.” Cirri, still the same old Cirri, but with no glasses and blond hair, went to adjust the glasses that were no longer there. “In about sixty seconds, we should get the signal and we can head right in.”

  “Oh, I am so excited. We haven’t all been on a mission of this magnitude in decades.” Justine, a six foot tall woman with strawberry red hair grabbed her aunt’s hand.

  “Quite excited. Wish we weren’t here to save young Recarie’s life.” The words she spoke sounded weird coming from a short man no taller than Tory.

  “Yeah…” They all agreed sounding like a bunch of zoned out surfers.

  “Ah!” Someone screamed coming out the door. After he fled to safety, a hoard of people followed as they ran for their lives from an imaginary fire.

  “Showtime.” Rheanne, back in her ‘Ray’ form kissed Cirri in front of a crowd too busy trying to survive to notice the two men in a passionate embrace.

  Holding hands they walked into the building, no one was there to stop them. Nodding to each other, they broke off and went their separate ways. Everyone had solo jobs. Yasire was to make sure everyone who did not pick a fight with her got out of the building. Justine was off to the controls room to access the power and other utilities. Gillian was to free all animals, and in some cases people from laboratory cages. Rheanne had given her only son the most sacred order to make sure Recarie got out of the building safely. As for Cirri and his wife, they split up to cover both sides of the buildings with explosives. This was just a precautionary measure in case something went wrong. Like if Temthaw Vene pulled out the heavy artillery, a very high possibility.

  Chapter 11

  Long Awaited Reunions

  Ian banged on the elevator door trying so desperately to open it. He knew that girl and somehow he knew she was the reason for him being caught up in that mess.

  “Ugh!” Summoning his powers, Ian ripped the elevators door back without laying a single hand on them. The steel door folded back like paper under his might. “Dang!” He was too late though and the elevator lift was already gone.

  “Go, go, go!” The women in the office behind him screamed encouraging their employees to get out.

  Panicking, Ian went back over to the staircase and turned the wood door into thousands of tiny splinters. He was not wasting time any longer. It was like a dream as he tumbled down each step. His lean legs wobbled against themselves in his rush to get down to the next floor and then, Ian finally made it. Heart pumping, Ian blew away the door the same as the one before.

  Several crowds of people started to charge for the staircase as everyone knew that you take the stairs in case of an emergency. Ian was being pushed back down the stairs, quite the opposite of where he wanted to be.

  “Elevators are locked!” A man screamed as more people pushed their way into the cramped stairs.

  “Locked?” And now it all made sense to Ian. “She’s the one who caused the alarms? Must be a valuable creature to cause all of this commotion…” He rode on the wave of people as they headed to the ground floor.

  Inside the elevators, Recarie thought she was on her way out of the building. Everything seemed to be going well until the elevator stopped. She felt it jerk and send her several inches off the ground. Instead of falling into to the blackness of her mind, Recarie stood. With her family in mind Recarie floated off the ground. Shaking as she tried to reach the ceiling, she felt the metal and it melted away. Recarie had just enough strength left to land on top of the elevator lift.

  “Dang!” Trying to stand, she fell against the dusty surface. “Why is it just so hard for people to leave me alone?! I just want to go back home with mom and dad…” But this was no time for tears and she had nowhere to go. There was nothing Recarie could do. Without her abilities, she was stranded.

  In Temthaw’s office he called all of his Psychics, Combatant teams, and anyone else he could get his hands on. The monitors on his desk that showed what was happening in every corner of the building, blanked out one by one.

  “They’re here.” Surrounded by a room of scrambling people trying to get him protection, he could not help feel alone and ignored.

  “I can’t get a hold of any teleporter, sir!” One woman shouted over all the noise.

  “The Combat teams are on their way, but we lost all land lines of communication, sir!” Another employee thought it was the perfect time to share their bad news.

  Dink, did, did, dink. The lights blinked a few times before going out completely, leaving them with only the emergency powered lights.

  “Damn!” Temthaw watched the last monitor fade out. The last thing he had seen on it was a gray haired woman waving at him and blowing a kiss. This only angered him further, as was Rheanne’s intention.

  “Harm my babies will you!” She shouted grabbing the camera from its foundation on the wall with her bare hands.

  “Dang that’s hot.” Cirri caught a glimpse of his wife as he was headed to another floor. He also had a chance to see his daughters and future daughter-in-law in action. At that moment he had never been more proud of his famil
y.

  Gillian was just getting done with the labs on the second floor when she stopped for a glass of water from the water cooler. With the electricity out, there was no air conditioning and she had worked up quite a bit of sweat.

  “Who knew just how many labs we actually had here?! Dang!” She wiped the beads of sweat off her forehead.

  Luckily for Gillian she was not alone. She was able to persuade one of her old animal ability comrades into directing the creatures out of the building for her. Or she could have let them wander through every inch of the building and possibly die in its inevitable destruction.

  “Enough wasting time.” Gillian was pumped and ready to get on with round two.

  Yasire had been pretty lucky in getting people out of the building. Little to no resistance from most of the employees. She was doing pretty well until she reached the fourth floor and found herself in front of a Combat team. These men and women had got to their station just in time to find Yasire standing before them.

  “No chance you would like to leave this building in peace, would you?” Playfully she flicked both wrists as she asked the question. The Combat team only glared at her. “Well, he, he.” She chuckled manically. “Bring it on!”

  At those words the team all charged for her at once. Their first mistake. Yasire very rarely had to use much of her power, but when she did she usually went out of control.

  “Punch, kick, spin…” Yasire whispered as she charged her limbs with a paralyzing power. The team never had a chance against her and in three minutes, twenty of some the NSSH’s best were out cold. “No, ignore these.” She was choked up. Saying those words took more from her than the proceeding battle. “Their souls are pure darkness. Even without the NSSH, they would have done horrible things in their lives.”

  “Okay, Auntie!” Justine, now looking like her normal self and not the form her mother had masked her in, saluted her aunt playfully.

  Justine had done her job and was rushing to the rendezvous point. Twenty minutes earlier, Rheanne had retracted her power that disguised her family so she could focus solely on her task. She knew her oldest daughter had taken care of the utilities. By taken care of, she knew Justine had trashed all of the computers in the control room and left them inoperable.