The Dark Cage

by Dana Gricken

  “Free us…” they whispered. “Let us out of the Quintessence…”

  “No,” I replied, too low for Patrick and Jacob to hear. “I’m not opening the portal. I’m sorry about the terrible things that happened here, but you don’t belong in this world.”

  “If you do not come to me, you will never learn how to control your power,” the Cardinal whispered in my mind. “You’re not a fool, Riley. You can feel your control slipping—and when it crumbles, you will crumble with it. Say you’ll join me. I can be your guide.”

  I closed my eyes, forcing him out of my head. I couldn’t let the Cardinal distract me now—not with the growling we’d heard in the distance. But as we carried forward, I couldn’t help but wonder…

  Was the Cardinal right? Did I have to go to him to save myself?

  “How many of them are there?” Patrick asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. “A dozen? A whole damn army?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. Mira said hundreds died, but she didn’t tell us how many lived.”

  “We’re almost there,” Jacob whispered. “The main lab should be coming up on our left. Be prepared.”

  I approached the heavy doors to the main lab, Patrick and Jacob right behind me. I took a deep breath, preparing to open them—and preparing myself for what we could find.

  “Ready?” I asked. “On the count of three…”

  Before I could even start the countdown, the door opened. It smacked me in the face, sending me plummeting to the floor with a hard slam. Something jumped on Patrick, snarling and growling in his face.

  I looked back and realized it was a Red Sentinel. The more I stared at it, the more it looked like someone I had known…but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Patrick struggled with the monster, trying to reach for his Deathblade, but it had gotten dropped in the scuffle.

  Before I could rush to help him, Jacob removed a crystal from his trench coat. It was flashing green, and burst into a haze when he threw it on the ground. When the green smoke caught up to the Red Sentinel, it coughed and choked and stopped attacking.

  Then, it rolled off Patrick and slumped to the ground. I ran over, kicking it to move it on its back, and noticed it wasn’t breathing. Its face of red crystals was completely still.

  “What did you do?” I asked Jacob.

  He shrugged. “Just a little Savage Crystal. You know, the one that can kill Golems? It works on all monsters. I don’t have many left, so we’d better save them for the General.”

  “Don’t be modest,” Patrick muttered, rising to his feet. “You saved my life.”

  “Hey, don’t mention it. Just doing my job as a Scout,” Jacob replied. “Any idea who that is? Every Red Sentinel was someone once.”

  I bent down, looking a little closer at the Red Sentinel. Red crystals covered its entire body, far worse than Mira or even Iris and Damon. Their body was degrading, judging by the bruising and multiple wounds, so it was possible they would’ve died soon anyway, if Jacob hadn’t killed them first. It took me a few seconds, but the characteristics started to look familiar.

  “This is…President Miranda Lang,” I said, backing up. “I can’t believe it!”

  Patrick sighed. “Damn. Guess the General got to her too. Must’ve been desperate if she volunteered to be a Red.”

  “We just killed the president of the United States. Don’t you see how big this is?”

  Jacob shook his head. “When the president became a Red Sentinel, she was already dead. This isn’t her anymore. We did nothing wrong, Riley.”

  “I know it was self-defense, but still…I was holding out hope some of our leaders had survived. But if the president was turned, what chance do the others have?”

  “Sure you still want to go in, kid?” Patrick asked, pointing at the door. “Don’t know what else lies in there, but it won’t be pretty.”

  I sighed. “We have to go inside. I know the General hasn’t come after us yet, but if he does? We can’t let these monsters go free. Jacob, get your Savage Crystals ready.”

  He grinned. “I’m always ready, Riley.”

  I took a deep breath, approaching the door again. “I hope it goes better this time.”

  I swung the door open, jutting out my Deathblade. But when the three of us entered the room, it was dark and empty, just like the rest of the building.

  The room seemed to stretch on for miles. As I passed my flashlight around, I noticed several tables full of lab equipment. There was an ominous red glow in the room, emanating from the stacks of Power Crystals. The place was dirty and disorganized, with blood spattered on the science equipment.

  “Someone’s been doing some experiments,” Patrick muttered. “And not the good kind. Best if we avoid touching the Power Crystals, so watch your step.”

  “General Grissom? It’s Riley Stark. We don’t mean you any harm,” I yelled. “Please, come out and talk to us.”

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing, kid?” Patrick asked, grabbing my arm. “You trying to get us ambushed?”

  “No, I’m trying to do the opposite. If we can draw the General out, then it won’t be a surprise.”

  “Well, I don’t see anyone in here,” Patrick replied. “No General, no Red army… This place is a bust. Think it’s best if we leave.”

  “Empty or not, there has to be something here that could tell us more about the Red Sentinels. I’m not ready to go just yet.”

  I heard something fall to my left. It sounded like a microscope. I immediately shone my light in its direction, and it illuminated Jacob’s face. “What was that?”

  Jacob blushed. “I tripped, sorry. There’s a lot of crap in here!”

  I shook my head, trying not to laugh. “Let’s split up. There’s a lot of ground to cover, and if someone is hiding in here, I want to find them.”

  Jacob and Patrick nodded, one heading to the left of the room and the other to the right. I continued walking forward, and tripped over something solid. I glanced down, shining the flashlight, and noticed it was a person—and they weren’t moving. There were two other bodies right beside it, all killed execution-style.

  “I’ve got three dead bodies over here,” I said, and Patrick and Jacob rushed over. “Let me see…”

  As I turned the bodies over, I realized they were Vice President Henry Vaughn, Dr. Tabitha Sullivan, and Angela Grissom. But as I stared down at them, I noticed one thing different about them from Mira and President Lang. They had no Power Crystals anywhere on their bodies.

  “They’re…not Red Sentinels,” I said. “They look just as I remember. How is this possible?”

  “Maybe they refused the transformation,” Jacob replied. “Mira said those who disagreed were murdered.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, you’re probably right. That’s more leaders killed. What’s going to happen to our country with every authority figure dead?”

  “For now, let’s just worry about our own skins,” Patrick muttered. “Come on, let’s keep hunting.”

  Jacob and Patrick went their separate ways again as I continued forward. I saw a glow at the end of the room, and it looked like a light from a lamp. I contemplated telling Jacob and Patrick about it, but maybe Patrick was right. Maybe stealth was the best way to approach this.

  As I walked closer, I noticed the light was coming from a small office at the end of the room. The yellow glow peered through the cracked wood, even with the door closed. I pressed my ear against the door, listening—for monsters or anything else.

  I heard nothing.

  I turned the handle and found it unlocked. As I entered, I saw the office was messy and cramped, and someone stood hunched over a table of Power Crystals. They looked to be experimenting on themselves, adding more of the dangerous crystal to their veins.

  They turned around, and I noticed all the little Power Crystals deep in their skin. It was much worse than President Lang had looked, and I wondered how they could withstand the Power Crystal’s influence. When their face twisted into a s
mile, one that was inhuman, I still knew who it was.

  “You’ve found me, Miss Stark,” General Grissom said. “At long last, we’re together again.”

  I gulped, taking a step back. “General Grissom…what happened here?”

  He chuckled. “What happened here? Do you honestly have the audacity to ask that, Miss Stark? You happened. This monstrosity is your doing.”

  “Don’t blame me for this. I never forced anyone to become a Red Sentinel.”

  “No? I beg to differ. You decimated our forces and took over my leadership. You’ve welcomed the soulless into my building with open arms, foolishly believing you can be united as Samaritans!”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I’ve been watching your progress from afar, Miss Stark. Now that you’re soulless, I doubt you’ll see the truth. The soulless can’t be allied with. They must be fought, and only a Red Sentinel can overpower them all.”

  “It doesn’t have to be this way, General,” I said, taking a step forward. I hoped if he saw I was genuine, he would back down. “The soulless are some of my best friends. If you’ll just listen to me, you’ll realize the war against them is pointless. We have bigger enemies now!”

  The General wasn’t listening. I doubted he cared what I had to say—and he’d care even less about the Cardinal threat.

  “Mira led you here, didn’t she? I knew she would falter. You remind me of her in many ways, Miss Stark,” the General said. “Both weak and stubborn, and with an inclination for disobeying my orders.”

  “She said you killed hundreds of people—innocent civilians. I found Angela’s body too. How could you? She was your daughter!”

  “I had to! By doubting my vision, they proved themselves to be traitors. The Red Sentinels will reclaim Earth, taking it from the soulless,” he replied. “But first, I must do something I’ve been dreaming of for a long time.”

  With one swift punch, he sent me flying through the air and out of the room. I crashed on top of a bunch of science equipment, glass shattering everywhere. Once Jacob and Patrick heard the commotion, they rushed across the main room and helped me up.

  I was bleeding and weak, and I could feel little shards in my legs from landing on the sharp glass. As Patrick and Jacob looked at me, desperate for an explanation, I pointed forward, into the office. “We don’t need to look anymore. I found the General.”

  Patrick and Jacob’s eyes widened as the General walked out of the office, taking long, quick strides. Unlike Mira or President Lang, his body didn’t seem to be degrading. If anything, he was getting stronger—and faster.

  “You’ve been a problem since day one, Miss Stark,” the General said, approaching us. He knocked over tables and chairs in his way, utterly destroying them. “I will enjoy killing you—and not just because you’re soulless now.”

  Jacob reached into his trench coat, pulling out another Savage Crystal. He threw it at the General, and it shattered at his feet, sending a wave of green smoke around him.

  Just when I thought it would be enough, the General walked through the smoke. He looked unharmed—and very determined.

  “Nice try, Mr. Cohen,” the General said, “but I’m not like the other Red Sentinels. Drinking their blood has made me stronger—and more equipped to survive our fight. Your weapons will not be as effective as you think.”

  Drinking Red Sentinel blood? That must’ve been the key to overcoming the Power Crystal degradation. I couldn’t believe General Grissom would want this for himself. Sure, he had tortured Sentinels in the past, but this was beyond what I had thought he was capable of.

  “We have to get out of here, kid,” Patrick said. “No way we can fight this…thing!”

  “Ah, Mr. Ramsey,” the General continued. “I haven’t forgotten you, either. I see you’re just as devoted to Riley as ever. No matter. You both will be dead soon, and the rest of the soulless will follow.”

  My hand started to ache again, and the voices of the dead souls grew louder. Their volume only increased as General Grissom cornered us, and I realized he was the one emanating death. He had caused a lot of it—and now he was like a beacon, triggering my power.

  “Uh, Riley, we have a problem,” Jacob said, looking down at his phone. “Another one, I mean. General Grissom isn’t the only Red Sentinel in the building. There are more who lived—hundreds more. All their cells have been opened somehow.”

  The General smiled. “From my office, I opened all the cells of the remaining Red Sentinels and locked you inside the building. Soon, the others will swarm you.”

  “We can’t possibly fight them all and Grissom,” Patrick said. “We’re trapped, kid!”

  I had to think on my feet. With more Red Sentinels coming, we needed a plan—and a way to stop them all.

  “Those science chemicals could start a fire,” I whispered, too low for the General to hear. “We need to take this building down.”

  “I’ve got just the thing,” Jacob said, throwing a black Smoke Crystal toward the science chemicals.

  On impact, the smoke crystal exploded, causing a giant blaze. It spread fast to one side of the room and around us, and I hid my face in my armor to avoid inhaling it.

  “Do you think fire can stop me now?” General Grissom asked. “I will not let you take away what I worked so hard to achieve! My daughter will not be sacrificed in vain!”

  As he lunged at us, we moved out of the way, avoiding him. The fire had started to spread on all sides of us, but I feared it wouldn’t be enough. I heard footsteps behind me and turned around to see a giant army of Red Sentinels.

  They weren’t as coherent as the General. No, they were more like hungry zombies. They slobbered and growled, their bodies falling apart from the effects of the Power Crystal. I backed away, still sore and aching from my earlier fall.

  But the pain was nothing compared to what I felt when the light from my hand exploded, causing energy to erupt around me. The Quintessence wanted out—and I wasn’t strong enough to resist.

  A small portal of light opened, sucking a bunch of the Red Sentinels inside. General Grissom watched me for a moment before his face twisted in anger. We were winning the battle, but it wasn’t how I had wanted it to go.

  “What kind of evil is this?” General Grissom asked, motioning toward my power. “You have the nerve to say my Red Sentinels are monstrous, but your power is just as dangerous! You are the real abomination!”

  Once the Red Sentinels had completely disappeared inside the portal, I groaned, trying to close it. No matter how hard I focused, it wouldn’t budge. I saw dark energy swirling around inside of it, the same voices from before racing toward the portal. In a few seconds, they would escape, and their wish to be free would come true.

  “Kid, you need to close that thing!” Patrick said. “Before we have bigger issues!”

  “Do you think I’m not trying?” I asked, trying and failing to lower my arm. It was like it had a mind of its own. “I can’t control it!”

  “Riley Stark, always playing with forces she doesn’t understand,” General Grissom said. “You are a bigger threat to this world than I will ever be!”

  As fire and smoke danced around me, I could do nothing but watch as orbs of dark energy came out of the Quintessence portal. What had I done?

  22

  Out Of Control

  The orbs of dark energy, which I assumed were spirits, flew out of the portal and lingered around Grissom. They were like buzzing bees, attacking someone who had disturbed their nest.

  “What is this?” General Grissom asked, trying to swat them away. “What evil have you brought on me, Stark?”

  “I…don’t know,” I stammered. “I wish I could stop it. It’s out of control!”

  The General’s temperament changed. He went from looking angry to confused to afraid for his life. I hadn’t even known Red Sentinels could feel fear, but it seemed like he hadn’t lost all his humanity.

  “You will answer for your crimes here, General Gr
issom,” the dark energy said in unison. “The lives you ended will have their revenge today.”

  “No! Leave him alone!” I cried, but it made no difference.

  The General tried to run from the spirits, hiding behind a broken table, but they found him anyway. They descended on him like maggots eating a dead body, and he screamed and cried the entire time. They consumed him, like the sun eclipsing the moon.

  I knew I would never forget his screams of agony.

  When the dark energy finished, General Grissom collapsed, only his bones remaining. A heap of Power Crystals clattered to the floor, falling out of his skin. Patrick, Jacob, and I looked on in horror at the remnants of the General.

  “Good Christ, Riley,” Patrick muttered. “What the hell have you done?”

  I wished I knew.

  When the dark energy fluttered our way, Jacob reached into his trench coat. He pulled out a bunch of crystals and swung them around, trying to look intimidating, but I could tell he was just as scared as I was.

  “Stay back,” Jacob said, his voice wavering. “We know how to defeat you!”

  The dark energy hovered in front of me. “We do not wish to harm our master or her subjects. Thank you for releasing us.”

  The portal was still open to my right, and I could see more spirits deep inside. How many were there? And what would happen if they all escaped?

  “I wasn’t trying to let you out. I can’t control this,” I said, glancing down at my hand. “Please, get back inside the portal! You don’t belong in the living world!”

  “We will meet again, master,” the spirits said. “For now, we will be waiting until you are ready.”

  “Ready for what?” I asked. “Wait!”

  The cluster of dark energy flew toward the door, disappearing down the hallway. I tried to chase after it, but the light from my hand was weighing me down. It was like an anchor—one dragging me down to my terrible power that could open the land of the dead.