Project: Killer (Project Series Book 1)

by J. L. Beck

  “I don’t believe you,” I screamed again. Then I turned to my father and saw the panic on his face. Why was he panicked?

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “He knows the truth, and he won’t tell you. Tell her, Richard. Tell her!!” He was yelling, and my head was on the verge of exploding. Too many voices, too much noise. I couldn’t think straight.

  “There is nothing to tell her, Roger. Nothing at all.” The way my father spoke caused shivers to run down my spine. I could feel my heart beating out of my chest.

  “There is. Tell her because if you don’t, then I will.” Roger’s voice was going in and out in my mind. The look on my father’s face said all I needed to know. There was more than I knew. More than I was being let on to know.

  “Is Roger right?” I didn’t want to question anyone else because I knew just how manipulative Roger could be. But I also knew something wasn’t right. I could feel it deep inside my bones.

  “Tell her why you took the job working for my father, Richard. Tell her what she is.” Roger’s voice was fading. I clenched my fists together knowing what I was about to hear was going to change my life forever.

  “What’s he talking about, and don’t you dare fucking lie to me. I can tell you know something. Just tell me.” I almost allowed myself to beg, to be weak. Never again would I do that. I wouldn’t lose sight of hope in this place.

  “Can we just talk about this after we go back and get Killer out? He should be waking up soon.” My father dismissed my anger and uncertainty. It was uncanny to say the least. I glanced over at Roger, who was now fast asleep.

  “What are you lying to me about?” I growled, taking steps toward him until I was gripping him by the arm.

  “I cannot tell you here. You wouldn’t understand.” He defended himself, shrugging away my grip before walking out of the room and down the hall. My gaze drifted from Roger to my father… What was he lying about? Without hesitation, I entered the hallway. The walls were white and clean. Making me feel like a speck of dirt. The tiles reflected my facial features from them as we made our way down the hallway. I cringed, tear streaks marring my cheeks at seeing the red marks from Roger’s hands.

  My father placed a key card into a slot in a door, and it opened. A glass wall and steel door separated me from Killer. I remember the way he looked at me, the things he said to me not that long ago.

  He was lying on the ground in the middle of his cell. I couldn’t even tell if his chest was moving. Fear seized me. If he were truly dead, I wasn’t sure I could live with myself.

  I pounded on the glass before yelling at my father.

  “What did you do to him?”

  “He was going to kill me. I had to do something, Maggie.” A shiver rippled through me as I whirled on him.

  “What did you give him, the same thing you gave Roger? What are you hiding? Are you even on our side?” The questions kept coming. I was so confused, afraid, and unsure. I was about to have a breakdown.

  “Breathe. He’ll be okay once we get him out.” I clenched my fists staring at him through the glass. His dark hair shielded his face, hiding his eyes from me.

  I hoped he was right because if Killer were anyone but himself, we wouldn’t be able to escape this place, and we most certainly would be dead.

  nineteen

  KILLER

  SOMETHING IN MY head pounded. It echoed deeply through my mind. My eyes felt heavy, my body unable to move effectively… Anger bubbled to the surface, the past and present clashing as one.

  More pounding. Where was it coming from? I forced one eyelid open, and then the other, gazing around the cell I was in. Richard was gone. Maggie was gone. I was alone. They left me here. For some reason, the thought made my chest fill with sorrow.

  I sat up, facing the glass barrier. What my eyes landed on had me thinking I had seen a ghost.

  Maggie. She stood there helplessly afraid. There was tension built up in her body, and she looked like she could explode at any point in time.

  She used you. She wanted you here.

  The beast inside of me reminded me of what she had done. A growl rumbled deep within my chest.

  “We will release you only if you promise not to kill us.” Richards’s voice came over the intercom in my cell. I wanted to laugh at his comment. It was amusing of him to ask me not to kill him as if they would indeed release me. If they were smart, they wouldn’t step a foot inside of this cell.

  “Well, that would be going back on my promise then. Plus, I plan to make your death far worse than hers.” I sat up stumbling to my feet.

  I watched Maggie’s hand cover her mouth, fear riddled out of her. I could smell it—taste it. It was delicious, and I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into it.

  “It was all a lie. A big huge lie, Killer. You have to believe me. You have to,” she cried out to me from the other side of the glass.

  She’s lying. Something inside me told me that she could be telling the truth, but I refused to let my guard down. They wouldn’t get the best of me this time, not ever again.

  “Trusting you got me in here. I’m hardly that dumb, little one,” I replied keenly. I watched her eyes light up with determination. Fear was pushed to the back burner as rage surfaced in its place. My cock got hard as she stared at me with anger in her eyes.

  “Trusting me brought us back together. I know that you’re inside there, Diesel. I know you know that I didn’t do anything wrong.” Her voice was natural, almost familiar.

  “STOP!!” I growled, my head feeling as if it was going to burst. I gripped my hair. Diesel. Diesel wasn’t here. He no longer existed. Diesel was no one.

  “I know you’re in there. I can feel you in my heart. We did this together. We have come this far. Don’t give up on me—on us. Please…” I could see tears falling from her eyes. Those tears meant something to me, or at least they should have. Her life meant something to me—I just couldn’t pinpoint it.

  Don’t listen to her. She’s no better than the rest of them.

  “Diesel!” she screamed. That name. I would make her pay for trying to make me be someone I never was. A look of indecision crossed her face, and then she slammed her father’s hand down onto the pad in front of him. The glass barrier that separated us opened, followed by the steel door to the cell that held me. Before her father could close them both, she ran through them. Straight to me.

  The beast inside of me growled in approval. She was mine at last to do whatever I pleased.

  “I know you’re in there. I can feel it—come back to me.” She reached out for me. I recoiled, my mind uncertain as to why I wasn’t lashing out, why my hands weren’t around her neck ending her pathetic life.

  “Stay away from me,” I screamed. The voice wasn’t my own—the feelings coming to the surface were unknown to me.

  “Come back to me,” she cried out again taking another step forward, failing to heed my warning. Within a blink, I was gripping her by the shoulders, pressing her against the nearest wall. My hold was gentle but firm, and I wasn’t sure why. I should be hurting her… forcing her to feel my pain, making her bend to my will.

  “Leave. Me. Alone.” I pronounced every single word for her so she could understand. Nothing in her eyes said she was backing down, and that only made me angrier.

  “Remember us, remember this.” One of her hands cupped my face while the other forced my hand over her chest—her heart. I could feel the beat, the pulsing of blood as it pushed throughout her body. I tried to pull away, but she held my hand there, forcing me to feel her warmth, her beat. I listened to the rhythm, staring deeply into her eyes. She knew me, really knew me. I could feel it.

  A snapping formed in my head, and I pulled away gripping at my scalp. Pain seared through my mind, and into my eyes. What was happening to me?

  I fell to the ground, my knees bouncing on the hard floor. I could feel something ripping from inside of me. I could feel it pushing its way out. Like a snake weaving through the grass, it was go
ing to make its appearance soon—striking at me while my defenses were down.

  “What’s wrong?” I heard Maggie’s scream, and that was all it took to push me over the edge. Memories played out behind my closed lids. Colors of every spectrum were showing like a rainbow before me. Maggie.

  Her delicate pink lips. Prom. A dress so beautiful it was startling. Her soft body beneath my own. Her panting for more.

  A strangled sob ripped from my throat. My body was stiff as I absorbed all that I could, my nails dug into the floor. Then peace. Absolute silence was all I could hear in my mind. When I looked up at Maggie, I knew I had found myself again.

  “You’re here…” She cried out with joy, smiling softly. She looked like she had been battered and bruised.

  “Are you okay?” I asked. I wasn’t sure what had happened to her. I felt disconnected from what was taking place as if a block had been placed in my mind. I prayed that it wasn’t me who had touched her like this. If so, I didn’t think I would ever be able to forgive myself.

  She nodded her head, gripping my hand, pulling me toward the exit. “We have wasted enough time. We need to leave now.” I looked up to see her father talking. I felt a tinge of anger toward him but wasn’t sure why.

  I stopped just outside the cell. “What happened to Roger?” They looked between one another before looking back at me.

  “Maggie put him to sleep. We need to get out of here and contact your people before it’s too late.” I tilted my chin up at him in understanding before pushing through the door. If we were going to break out, then we needed to do it fast. I was the biggest and scariest of all of us, the corporation’s prize possession. I could kill anyone who tried to stop our departing within a second.

  Silence settled into all of us, the knowledge that we may not all make it out of here alive running through our minds. Maggie gripped my hand in hers, a silent promise that everything would be okay. I pushed into the stark white halls. There were cameras all over this building. They had to be watching us, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.

  Our footsteps were heavy and loud as we ran down the corridor coming to the end of the hall. I allowed Richard ahead of me to scan his keycard. As we slipped through the next door without a sound, I knew something was up. They were making it far too easy for us. No way would they just allow us to walk out of here. At least not without being in a casket. Something wasn’t right.

  “We need to head toward the second level and then we can take the stairs,” Richard whispered as if it would indeed hide his discretions. He had already turned his back on the company the moment he allowed me out of that cell. Richard guided us up the stairs, our feet pounding against the flooring loudly. Fear was eating away at me. Where were they and why were they not trying to take us out by now?

  We rounded the corner and my eyes landed on the elevators. My gaze drifted to the camera in the far corner of the hall as we waited for the elevator. Time seemed to stand still as the doors drifted open, allowing us inside.

  Coolness encompassed me as the rush of relief flooded me. We were so close to getting out, so close.

  Those emotions were short lived as the elevator screeched to a halt, a screaming siren sounding off in the distance. The noise reached us, and I watched Maggie’s heart plummet. We hadn’t made it this far and through all of this stuff to have been caught and placed back in those cells. I pushed at the roof of the elevator. There had to be a way out.

  “This way.” I gestured, slamming my fist through the light and through the roof of the elevator. The draft of cold air shifted around us entering the elevator cart as I looked at Maggie.

  “You first,” I said, waiting for her foot to boost her up. She looked at me with apprehension as if I was going to turn on her at any second.

  “Do you trust me? I just want to protect you… If you want to live, then we need to leave.” I stared at her intently as she nodded her head yes.

  Within a second, she was placing her foot in my hand so I could boost her up. I watched as her hands gripped the sides of the open space and pulled her body forward. Once she was all the way in, I could hear her getting to her feet as she stepped on the metal of the shaft.

  “Hurry, I hear someone coming,” I heard her whisper. I looked to Richard next.

  “Go on, you can pull me up,” he ordered me. Something inside of me said to push him up into the shaft first, but I listened to him, knowing he could very well already have a plan in place. I wouldn’t lie and say that getting Maggie out of here wasn’t my first priority because it was. She had endured enough of this place. So, I listened to him and pushed up through the small space, just barely making it. Shoving off the side of the opening, I jumped off to the side landing on my feet like a cat.

  “Come on.” I extended my hand down to him. Voices could be heard above us, and I could smell the anxiety rolling off Maggie in waves and each one that hit me grew larger and larger. The elevator started vibrating, coming to life, the lights turning off and on, and then it was moving upwards. I gripped Maggie into my side holding us both as I looked down at Richard.

  I could tell by the look on his face, he wasn’t going. “Here, take this. Get to the second floor and use this for the doors. Once outside, run,” he ordered. “And take care of her, please,” he whispered.

  “Dad… No…” Maggie cried out. The elevator stopped, and I could hear the doors being pried open. Remorse crossed his face.

  “You’re one of them, Maggie. You’re one of the healed ones.” I blinked, praying I hadn’t just heard what he said. He had to be wrong. He had to be lying.

  “Your lying, Dad.” Maggie shook her head in disbelief.

  I watched as his face fell, and the next moment, the doors behind him were opening. “Be strong, baby,” he mouthed as the guards grabbed him.

  I gripped Maggie tightly, not wanting her to get away. I could tell Richard wasn’t going to make it but knew better than to say something right now. How was I to tell the woman I loved that this was the last time she would see her father.

  “No, you can’t let them take him.” Maggie fought against my hold, her voice hysterical. I looked down at her, knowing there was nothing I could. With a tight grip, I held her to my chest as I grabbed the chain above us. I needed to get us out of here.

  Channeling all my rage, anger, and pain, I pulled us up the chain. My body went into overdrive. I could feel Maggie’s tension and feel her slipping from me in every sense. She was crumbling, falling inward upon herself.

  “He’s gone, they got him,” I gritted out, moving faster up the wall. I could hear them moving below us. They would be swarming us at any time.

  “Stop right there,” someone ordered below us. I didn’t bother to turn around. I had one mission, one thing that I needed to do and that was get us out of here in one piece.

  “He has a gun.” Maggie shuttered against my chest, gripping me like a lifeline.

  “Stop or I’ll shoot,” the man below yelled. His voice bounced off the walls telling me he was growing closer with every passing second. That was my signal to push harder. I looked up, estimating if I could make it. The exit had to be another ten feet up. I could do it. I had to do it. There were no other options.

  I heard the gun cocking, the pull of the trigger, and the wiz of the dart. I swayed to the left to move out of the way but was a fraction off, Maggie’s weight causing me to have to readjust. I could feel the prick of the dart against my skin. I smiled smugly—as if that was going to stop me. They had to be dumb to think that one dart would take me down.

  I allowed a loud roar to escape my lips letting them know that they had forced the beast inside of me out. My fist slammed into the shaft as I pulled us up the rest of the distance. Once at the entrance to the second floor, I threw Maggie over my shoulder and pried the doors open, all while hearing the roar of the elevator below us coming up.

  Pushing Maggie inside, I sighed in relief the second our feet met the tiled floor. We weren’t out of danger, but
we were so close, I could taste it.

  “Where do we go?” Maggie asked, fear in her voice. There was a red sign above us blinking the word Exit. I pointed to it and we took off down the hall. There were stairs to the right, commotion to the left, and the elevator less than ten feet away on the verge of opening.

  “Go… Go… GO…” I gripped her hand slamming the door to the stairs open and all but dragging her behind me as I moved as fast as I could. Before we were halfway down the first flight of stairs, Maggie’s legs were giving out. Not wanting her to slow us down anymore, I picked her up once again, throwing her over my shoulder as I moved even faster down the remaining steps of the stairs. Once we hit the first-floor landing, I spotted another exit sign hanging over a door. I felt my feet moving toward it of their own accord, and finally, we pushed through it as we were welcomed by fresh air and sunlight.

  Spots formed before my eyes as my legs started to grow weak. The dart they shot me with was starting to take effect. Stomping sounded behind us, and I knew it was too early to give up. We had to keep moving.

  “We are almost free,” I called out to her, jogging from the building into a nearby bush. The place was surrounded by forest giving us one option. Turning around would send me back toward the building, and going straight would send me into the city where they expected me to go.

  Maggie was weightless against my shoulder as I slipped her off for a moment, taking a second to breathe. I gripped her by the cheeks, bringing her face to my own.

  “They got me with a dart. I have to get you somewhere safe before it takes me out.” She nodded at me in reply, her face covered in a mask of sweat, and she looked as if she were ready to vomit. I understood what she was feeling all too well.

  Wrapping an arm around my waist, she steadied me. We hobbled to what I assumed was the east, but I was unsure. The dart they had gotten me with was certainly taking effect. My eyes started to drift closed, my steps off kilter.