The moment I stopped moving, I lifted my leg and stomped hard on the foot of the man holding me. I swung my elbow into his stomach and slipped out of his grasp. I didn’t waste any time before I connected my fist with the closest jaw. I cried out as someone punched me in the nose. Another blow landed in my jaw, and then it was three against one, and they were winning.
My mouth was filled with blood when I finally managed to swing a blow at one of them. I threw my fists out again, and then, reaching for one of the dining chairs, I swung it around and connected with the skull of one of the men. He fell down immediately, and I grabbed his gun.
The moment it was in my hands, I fired twice at the men rushing toward me. It was after they fell to the ground and blood splashed onto the floors, walls, and all over on my body that I felt a rush of anger and pain. I just shot two men; I killed them. Finally, I knew my father hadn’t been training me just to protect myself. He had been training me to become a killer.
Andrei shouted in Russian at the sound of the gunshot. Two more men came into view. I fired twice, hitting one and missing the other. He fired his gun and missed only because once again, the bullet stopped mid-air. I took advantage of the man’s shock and shot him in the left leg. I was shocked too, but the panic of losing those I loved was more compelling than whatever weird thing was going on.
I ran over to the entrance when I heard my mother’s screams and the start of car engines. I flew through the front door to the house just as the cars started pulling away.
VENGEANCE
“A moment, that’s all it takes to live.
A hope, that’s all it takes to believe.
A dream, that’s all it takes to wish.
A blink, that’s all it takes to lose it all.”
Melody Manful
I ran back inside toward the security pad beside the front door. A password—Cells Mansion—would force the grounds into lockdown.
My hands shook as I keyed in the password. What if something happened to my mother and bodyguards? I couldn’t stand the thought of it.
After entering the password, an alarm went off. I scanned the grounds through the closest window. Cells Mansion was now on lockdown, but I wanted to make sure Andrei and his men stayed inside the main gate.
I was about to open the front door and rush out, barefoot, when I heard a sound behind me. I turned and reached for my gun, but the man who had crept up behind me fired first.
I didn’t even reach to react to the bullet racing toward me when a shadow stepped in front of me. A second later, the man who had fired the bullet was on the ground, and Gideon was standing in front of me, holding the bullet in his hand.
“How…but…” I couldn’t find the words. Gideon had saved my life, again.
“Don’t be scared,” he said calmly, but I was already freaking out. “Who are these people?”
“You’re not hurt.” I took his hand and studied it. “Are you hurt?” I was freaked out, scared, and thankful at the same time.
“No, I’m not. Are you?” he asked. I looked up into his eyes, and they were pure red. I stepped away from him.
As I collected myself, I remembered where I was going. “My mother.” I made an attempt to run out the door.
“I’ll get her. You stay here and don’t move.” Like hell I would!
“I need to get her!” I shouted. I had no doubt that Gideon would be able to save my mother and bodyguards. He just killed a man and saved me, but I still didn’t trust him.
“Fine.” Gideon took my hand and the next thing I knew, we were almost beside the gate. I’d have taken about five minutes on foot, and Gideon got us there with a snap of his fingers. Don’t panic, I whispered to myself, because I didn’t need to start freaking out when my mother and bodyguards were still in danger.
“Abigail,” Gideon said, taking my hands and steadying me. “If I beg you, will you go back inside?”
“She’s my mother!” I argued. “I need to get her to safety. My father asked me to protect us and—”
“Fine.” He sounded angry when he said this. “I’m going to be right beside you,” and then he was gone.
I looked around.
“I’m still here,” Gideon’s voice came from somewhere beside me. I couldn’t see him, but he was there.
I ran toward the gate.
Upon getting close, I heard Andrei asking, “Where is the girl?” The rest of his words were lost to me because he slipped into his native tongue. “You mean to tell me that one girl—a teenager—has not only defeated my men, but you also haven’t caught her yet?” Andrei shouted, and then started ranting quickly in Russian again. I had no doubt that Gideon had killed off the rest of his men somewhere. What the hell was he anyway?
“Andrei, she is too—” The man didn’t finish because Andrei shot him in the head.
“Useless people. They can’t do anything.” Andrei turned away from the dead body and walked toward the gate where another body lay. “The gate has high voltage power. How do we get around it?” he asked Felix.
Two men held Felix beside one of the cars. Ben was also held by two of the men, and my mother stood beside Andrei.
“I don’t know,” Felix answered. “There’s no way out.”
“You will tell me a way, or I’ll shoot her.” He pointed his gun at my mother.
I shouted, “No!” Once again, I didn’t have any plans. I pointed my gun at Andrei. “Let them go.”
“Abigail.”
I hated the way he pronounced my name.
“There you are,” he said. “This isn’t fair. First, you destroy my men, and now you want me to let my hostages go?”
“Did I stutter?” I asked. I didn’t like seeing my mother on the receiving end of a gun. She looked shaken. Was this how it felt for my parents? All those years, knowing what could happen.
“Brave. Like your father.”
“I said to let them go!” I shouted, and then I fired my gun. The bullet entered the forehead of one of the men who held Ben. The moment the man fell, Ben kicked the other man trying to restrain him, freeing himself. He then took his gun and shot him.
Ben then, pointed the gun at Andrei.
“This is how you play?” Andrei asked.
One moment Andrei’s gun was pointed at my mother, and the next, Felix was on the ground with a bullet in his chest.
“FELIX!” we shouted.
BLOODLUST
“Humanity is the word we use when we kill in the name of society.
Humanity is the word we use to make them believe we can feel.
Humanity is the word we use to cover up our dreadful crimes.
Humanity is the word we use to pretend we are not monsters.
Humanity, humanity, humanity! There, now we are invincible!”
Melody Manful
“Felix,” I whispered, knowing he was already dead.
“Your move, Abigail,” Andrei said. “I have two men remaining.” One was pointing his gun at me while the other aimed at Ben. “And you have two people as well.” He brought his gun to my mother’s forehead. “Should I shoot her first?” he asked.
I turned to his two men. The lights from the gate flashed against a knife in the hands of the man who was pointing his gun at me.
“All right!” I shouted, throwing my gun to him. “All right, just let them go.” The moment the gun was out of my hand, the man with the knife walked over. He put his knife inside one of this belt holes and pinned my hands behind my back.
“Abigail, what are you doing?” Gideon asked.
“Let go of her!” my mother shouted, but I knew she was in no position to make demands.
“Open the gate, Abigail,” Andrei said, and I intentionally moved closer to the man holding me as I searched for the knife on his belt.
“How do you suggest I do that with my hands behind me, Andrei?” I asked with a mocking smile.
My hand finally found the knife. I slowly pulled.
He smiled. “You’re clever, too.”
“Thank you,” I replied at the same moment the guy holding me screamed. He let go of me, and a second later he was lying on the ground. I knew Gideon had done this small favor, so I didn’t wait before turning around and immediately hurling the knife straight toward Ben. It hit him in the thigh.
Both my mother and Ben shouted in surprise. Ben bent over the moment the knife pierced his flesh. At the same time, Andrei fired his gun at him, but the bullet shot through the air where Ben had stood and landed on the ground.
Andrei spoke and then shoved my mother toward a man who pinned her hands behind her back.
I looked back to the man who was holding me before. I was pretty sure he was dead, and I was beginning to wonder what it was that Gideon had done to him. I was about to turn away from his body when someone hit me from behind. I dropped.
“How do you like that?” I screamed as Andrei rammed his knee into my stomach. “You little…” The rest of his words continued in Russian.
“Stop!” my mother shouted, screaming at top of her voice.
Andrei pulled me up by my hair. “I need you alive because I want your father to suffer for what he did, but now I think killing you would be much more fun.” Andrei landed a punch to my stomach again. His knee followed, and then he threw me to the ground. Tears ran down my cheeks.
I saw Felix’s unmoving body on the ground, and more tears rushed down.
I could see Gideon beside me, but he looked unable to move. He seemed like he was trying to force himself forward, but he still stood frozen where he stood. Was a normal hero too much to ask for?
I writhed on the ground; my eyes were watery and my heart thumped violently inside me. Each breath came out in sharp, shallow rasps. Every inch of my body burned. Trying to suppress the pain, I forced myself to stand, but I stumbled and landed on my face.
“Get up!” Andrei shouted, and once again he pulled me up by my hair.
“You—” Andrei paused. We heard a gunshot. The man holding my mother lay on the ground. Andrei was distracted, so I rammed my fist into his jaw. Then I kicked him.
“Take this,” Gideon said, and a gun appeared in my hand. Since everyone was busy freaking out, no one saw it, so I was the only one who was completely shocked.
I rushed over to Ben.
“This is gonna hurt,” I said, and I swiftly pulled the knife from his thigh and hurled it toward Andrei; it landed in his shoulder, and he cursed.
“Honey, be careful!” my mother cried.
“Don’t move, Mom!” I shouted at her when she made an attempt to move closer to Ben.
I pointed the gun at Andrei. “Don’t!” I shouted as he started to remove the knife from his shoulder. “Leave it!” I fired my gun. It missed him only by an inch; he did as he was told.
I walked over to Andrei. He smiled when I got closer.
“Abigail, it’s over. He’s not going to hurt you anymore,” Gideon spoke from right beside me, even though I still couldn’t see him. I knew that the worst was over, but I wasn’t done with Andrei.
“I actually like you,” Andrei said with a smile.
I struck him in the chin using the bottom of the gun. “Too bad I’m going to kill you.” I rested my finger on the trigger.
Logan and my parents shouted, “No!”
“Abigail, don’t!” my father said as he ran over to us. I didn’t lower my gun. “Abigail, don’t.” My father pulled me away as Logan pointed his own gun at Andrei’s head.
“Brian!” my mother cried, and my father went over to her. “Felix…” she sobbed, pointing at the body on the ground. “He’s gone, and…” My father let go of her and walked over to Felix.
He checked for a pulse, and when he couldn’t find anything, he cursed.
“Agent V,” Andrei called to my father. “It’s a nice girl you’ve got here. She single-handedly took out all the men I brought,” he said and then turned and smiled at me.
At the sight of his wickedly happy face, I struck him again with the bottom of my gun.
“Abigail, we need him for questioning,” Logan said. “We couldn’t get in through the front gate because you initiated lockdown, so we had to go around the house. We’d have been here faster, but it seems you didn’t need our help.”
“Didn’t need your help?” I asked angrily. “Felix is dead!”
“One person,” Andrei scoffed. “You took down all my men and—”
I knocked Andrei again—hard—on his face. His nose started bleeding.
“Abigail.” My father pulled me away from him.
“You took him and his men down?” Logan asked, looking surprisingly at me. “Interpol and the CIA have been trying to nail Andrei for years, and you got him in one night?”
“I guess now they can send me a freaking thank you card,” I said bitterly and turned away from him. I had no doubt Gideon deserved a card as well.
Andrei started laughing, “She is adorable and I—”
The bullet I fired at Andrei landed in the same arm where I stabbed him. He screamed.
“Abigail!” my mother shouted in shock.
When I turned to face her, she was staring at me as if she didn’t know me. I didn’t know who I was either because a while ago, I was freaking out that I killed someone, and now I actually yearned to kill Andrei.
“You’re quite dangerous, aren’t you?” Gideon asked again. Hearing his disembodied voice should have bothered me more than it did.
“He doesn’t need his arm for interrogation, does he?” I asked my father.
Everyone was now staring at me as if they didn’t recognize me. I figured they were just used to lovely, obedient, good-girl Abigail. Bloodlust Abigail scared them.
“Honey, you are safe, you are all right, and we are here,” my father said slowly and calmly.
“Safe?” I shouted at my father. “After a bullet in the arm, having people beat the crap out of me, jumping off a moving motorcycle to avoid getting run over, and enduring this psychopath here, I’m safe?” Reality finally set in, and my body registered the excruciating pain I was in.
The adrenaline was slowly wearing off. I killed people. I had killed!
Suddenly I couldn’t breathe as I became aware of what I had done. Every bit of my body felt as if it were breaking into pieces. The stickiness of the blood on my skin made my head spin when I remembered where it came from.
“Abigail, I…”
I pulled away from my father, shaking my head. “Congratulations, Father. I guess now you can come home,” I said in a whisper.
“I never wanted any of this,” he said morosely.
“You wanted a killer! You’ve got one, and now you’re looking at me as if I’m a stranger. Take a long look, Father. This is me now.” And then without another word, I turned and walked away.
BROKEN STRINGS
*Gideon*
“You can run all you want,
but when your past decides to hunt you
only dead can hide you.”
Melody Manful
“What are you doing?” I demanded when I appeared in my room and saw Valoel peering through my telescope.
“I’m looking at Abigail,” she said and stepped away from the telescope. “I’m rather surprised that you helped her.” I ignored her teasing smile.
“How is she doing?” I walked over and looked through the lens.
Abigail lay still on her bed, surrounded by hospital equipment. A doctor stood beside her, flipping through some papers attached to a clipboard.
I aimed the telescope into her living room, where her mother was crying. Her house was filled with people in uniforms walking briskly around, each person busy with some task.
“Why did you help her?” Valoel asked as I turned the telescope back to Abigail.
“I didn’t do much—she got them herself,” I answered.
“I think you did enough.” Valoel snapped her fingers, and everything she’d seen
through the telescope played before my own eyes, as though I were watching a movie. Abigail did kill some of those people. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I wouldn’t have believed she could even hurt a fly.
“I did nothing,” I repeated. Abigail didn’t need a hero, and it was a good thing I wasn’t one. Still, how did she survive those men on her own?
My eyes met Valoel’s, and she quickly looked away.
“You did something,” I said, recognizing the guilty look in her eyes.
She didn’t look at me when she said, “I did nothing.”
“You helped her. You are the reason she was able to fight off those men before I arrived.”
“Gideon, that girl can take care of herself.” She wouldn’t admit to helping Abigail, being her guardian angel when Tristan wasn’t around.
“Fine. I helped her because she’s the only creature you don’t hate, and I didn’t want her to die.”
Suddenly, I knew she had something to do with the fact that I couldn’t move when I’d wanted to kill Andrei for hurting Abigail.
“You stopped me from killing that Andrei,” I said, annoyed.
“I couldn’t risk you exposing us. I had to erase you from the cameras around her house, and you killing that man in front of Abigail’s mother wouldn’t have helped anyone.” I wanted to argue, but I didn’t.
“How were you able to stop me?” I asked curiously.
“We are angels Gideon, we have the power to do that.”
“I know, but no one can do what you did planets away.” I voiced out my thoughts. Looking at Valoel, I was starting to wonder just how powerful she might be.
“How did it go? Did you and Tristan find answers?” Valoel asked, switching to another topic.
“No.” When Tristan and I visited Daligo, he didn’t know any more than we did about how or why we could hear each other’s thoughts. Tristan left to try to find answers from his parents, and I went to D to hunt. After that, I had decided to pay Abigail a visit, and I arrived to find her under attack.
“I need to go back in case those people return for her,” I found myself whispering, shocking myself when I realized that I sounded like I cared.
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