Reaper

by Kelsey Nicole Price

  The truck was directly in front of us; that was Brone’s cue. Stepping from the darkness, the truck’s brakes squealed as it tried to avoid crashing into the massive cyborg blocking the path. Brone snarled, slamming his palm on the hood; the truck tilted upright, the back wheels rising from the blacktop to spin in the air. Yelping in fear, the two humans inside gripped the console tightly, seatbelts digging into their flesh as they struggled like animals caught in a trap. Brone tossed his head back and laughed, enjoying the sound of their fear and frightened expressions.

  “We got movement from the back,” Viper called from the darkness. “I’m on it.”

  “Me too,” Acer echoed.

  I pulled my axe from the holster strapped to my back and joined Brone at the front of the truck. “I’m with Brone.” Two blades, two plasma rifles, and a set of throwing daggers were tucked into different pockets of my cargo pants. Military Models always came prepared. But, by far, my most favorite weapon was my battle axe. In tight quarters, I relied on my smaller weapons, but out here in the middle of nowhere I had plenty of space. With a flick of my wrist, I swung it over my head, watching the humans’ eyes grow wide. Moonlight struck the blade and it gleamed. Their eyes trained on the razor-sharp metal as I swung it in circles over my head.

  It was all for show. A dramatic effort meant to spike terror in their blood. Killing was an art I had practiced on many different battlefields. Certain times called for the killing to be done quickly, but when I had the luxury of time, I indulged myself.

  Brone watched as the blade moved faster and faster, his eyes flashing. “You know I could simply crush them, right?”

  “I-”

  Viper cut off my reply. “Where’s the fun in that?” A head rolled past my feet.

  Launching himself onto the hood of the truck, Acer’s bare metal fingers caught the seam where the hood met the car. Pushing back the hoodie he wore over his face, he leaned against the glass. “Boo!”

  One of the humans in the truck let out a scream. Another head rolled by. I sighed, starting to believe I wasn’t going to get to kill anybody on this mission.

  “Plea.... please don’t kill us.”

  His partner elbowed him. “You’re begging a fucking machine for your life? You’re nothing but a fucking coward.”

  “Maybe I am, but I don’t feel like dying for that crazy bitch.” He put up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “You want the cyborgs? Take ‘em.”

  The scent of fear teased my nostrils. This one was afraid. The other wore a mask of rage.

  “Cyborg-lover,” the angry one sneered. “Go on and take them, you won’t be so smug when you see what the good doctor did to your friends. She cut them up good. One of ‘em could only lie there and drool after she was finished.” Satisfaction flickered in his gaze. This one had enjoyed my brothers’ pain and torture. I will enjoy killing him.

  He gave a cruel laugh. “What? You thought you were catching us before the drop? All you’ll be getting tonight is the doctor’s leftovers. Oh, and tell that blonde bitch that the doctor is waiting for her and she can’t wait to pick up right where they left off.”

  I saw red, my vision systems blanking out and restarting, my face twisting into a mask rage.

  “I think you pissed it off,” the other stammered.

  “Like I give a fuck.”

  A metal hand smashed through the glass, wrapping around the human’s throat. Acer squeezed, cutting off his air supply. The man clawed wildly at his neck, trying to pry Acer’s fingers from his neck but he was no match for the cyborg’s strength. Loosening his grip slightly, Acer let him take a shallow breath, the sound coming out as nothing more than a sharp wheeze. Acer repeated the cycle, tightening then releasing, tightening then releasing, over and over a look of glee on the yellow cyborg’s face. “I can do this all night.”

  “Acer stop.” I ordered. “You’ve had your fun.”

  Gold eyes flashed. “But-”

  “I gave you an order. He threatened my female. The kill is mine.” No one threatened Aria and lived. Not that I planned on letting them live anyway. They had signed their own death warrants by transporting my brothers into a fate worse than death.

  My turn. Leaping onto the hood, I swung my axe through the window, imbedding it into the human’s skull who had threatened my female. The other human raised his hands in surrender. Suddenly, the scent of piss wafted from the truck.

  Acer sneered. “I hate when they piss themselves.” Hopping from the hood, he shook his head in disgust.

  I plucked a dagger from my side pocket and twirled it through my fingers. “Because you didn’t threaten my female, I’ll make it quick.” I was past the point of granting mercy. Any human in the truck was responsible for all the pain and suffering my brothers had endured; for the threat made against my human, I was bringer of death. My name, chosen for a reason. Flicking my wrist, the dagger hit its mark, piercing the human’s heart, cutting off his cries.

  I collected my axe and dagger from the head and chest of the now deceased humans and hopped back to the ground, my boots shaking the asphalt. Brone lowered the truck to the ground and we met Acer and Viper at the back of the truck. I flung the door wide and found two large storage containers fastened to the floor with heavy straps. When I scanned the inside of the truck, I saw that it was completely bare, not even a stray bolt lingered on the metal floor.

  I glanced at my team and hopped into the truck. “I want the three of you to stay back until I find out what condition our brothers are in. If the human was telling the truth...” I didn’t finish my statement. Brone, Acer, and Viper had all been witnesses to the aftermath of Dash, Aria and Iris’s stay with the doctor. They’d helped me set the lab on fire, burning it to the ground. One strategically placed plasma fuel cell had wiped its existence off the grid. Nothing but ash remained once we finished. A part of me had been grateful it was gone, but another part of me knew that without killing the doctor it was far from over. A woman like that—someone willing to commit such atrocities, wouldn’t simply give up. In the back of my processors, I knew somehow, someway she would start her house of horrors all over again.

  I walked to one of the boxes and withdrew one of my blades from its pocket to snap the straps. One by one they fell away, granting me access to what lay hidden below. Gripping the sides of the lid on the first container, I shoved it to the side and peered into the container. What I saw caused every bit of my manufactured breath to flee my synthetic lungs. Stumbling backward I nearly fell out of the back of the truck, only a metal arm gripping my shoulder managed to keep me from falling.

  “You okay?” Acer asked as his fingers dug into my frame, a look of almost concern playing across his unfinished face.

  “I don’t think so.” My wires fired like mad as I tried processing what I had seen. I thought I understood cruelty. Seeing what was in the box had me reevaluating that belief.

  Acer let go, stepping up to the container to look for himself. “Oh shit. “I thought being yellow was bad. How many cyborgs is he?”

  “At least six,” Viper answered as he hopped up into the truck, joining Acer as his amethyst-colored eyes scanned the cyborg in the box from head to toe.

  The cyborg was not one single color but a collection of them. A red arm. A purple leg. A gray torso. A blue head. All crudely pieced together to form a complete frame. Locking my frame tight, I refused to give in to the overwhelming sense of helplessness. Accepting this job, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Lead, don’t follow. Never leave a cyborg behind. Carry on despite the pain.

  “Close it up. We don’t touch him until Dax and Dr. Shaw can determine if he can even come back online. His damage might be too severe to save him.” Acer and Viper replaced the lid and moved to the next container.

  Ducking his head inside, since he was too big to fit inside the truck, Brone eyed the straps still sealing the other box. “Do we even want to open that one?”

  Steeling my spine, I went to the other container. “We ha
ve no choice.” I cut the straps. “No matter what shape these cyborgs are in, they are still our brothers.” Relief washed through me, releasing the breath I didn’t know I had been holding. A complete blue cyborg met my eyes. Still, I didn’t get my hopes up. There was no way to tell if this one suffered internal damage just by looking at him. Just because he looked like he was in one piece didn’t mean he truly was.

  I shook my head at my team. “I don’t want to risk bringing him back online. Who knows what has been done to him. Get them both ready to be transported. The mission is complete, let’s go home.”

  Could I even call this mission a success? Yes, we had retrieved two of our brothers but just how much suffering had they endured?

  Chapter Ten

  Aria

  I stared at the celling while I lay in my bed. The sound of Theo snoring from his room helped calm my frantic heartbeat. Theo had declared he was a big cyborg a week ago and, as a big cyborg, he needed to sleep in his own bed. There were times I still woke up with a set of little cyborg arms wrapped around me. I cherished those moments. Theo was growing faster than a human child. I knew my time with him was limited.

  Tossing the sheets off my body, I got out of bed. Worrying over Reaper, and facing the reality that the cyborg child I had claimed as my own would one day not need me, made it impossible for me to sleep. Every nerve was frayed. A soft knock pulled me from wearing a hole in the floor due to my pacing. Rushing to the door, I was grateful for the distraction.

  Dax was waiting on the other side. He offered me a smile. “I thought you would like to know that Reaper and the others have returned.”

  My heart finally returned to its normal rhythm. “Thank you, Dax. Umm...do you think that you could...”

  Dax stepped around me, inviting himself inside. “Watch over Theo so you can check on Reaper?” Dax planted himself on my couch. “Why do you think I came to your door instead of calling you?”

  I ran to him and planted a big kiss on his green cheek. Dax blinked rapidly, touching his cheek. He appeared stunned. “I owe you, Dax. Pancakes, chocolate, you name it it’s yours.”

  He grinned. “Another kiss?”

  Smart cyborg.

  I leaned down and gave his other cheek a quick kiss. “Don’t tell Reaper.”

  Dax winked. “I don’t feel like being ripped apart limb by limb. But, I couldn’t resist asking.”

  I winked back, laughing softly. “I think us humans are rubbing off on you, Dax.”

  He stretched out his green legs. “Some might think that’s a bad thing, but I don’t. Now go.”

  I didn’t wait; rushing out the door, I took one second to check out what I was wearing. Sleep pants and a tank top. It wasn’t my best clothes, but it wasn’t Iris’s cat pajamas. My best friend had more pairs of cat pajamas than I had socks. Good thing that blue cyborg of hers thought it was cute. Walking quickly down the hall, I was grateful to find it empty. When I made it to Reaper’s room, I froze. Now what?

  I resumed my pacing, but this time it was in front of Reaper’s door. “Should I just knock? And say what? I know it’s like three a.m. and you just returned and I’m standing here in a tank top and sleep pants because I just had to see you?” Great, now I’m fucking talking to myself.

  “Aria?”

  I jumped at the sound of my name and spun around to see Reaper standing a few feet away.

  Reaper’s brow creased. “Who were you talking to?”

  I didn’t answer, simply stared. The sight of Reaper stopped me in my tracks. His gray skin was splattered, dots of crimson played out like a game of dot-to-dot across his chest and arms. His cargo pants were decorated with blades, daggers, and plasma rifles. A huge axe was strapped to his back, looking like a big ‘fuck-you’ to anyone who even dared to think about messing with him.

  He followed my gaze, his cheeks turning a darker shade of gray as he watched me take in his appearance. “I just returned. I haven’t had a chance to shower and change.” His eyes narrowed as he took a step in my direction. “Why are you here, Aria? It’s past three a.m. You should be sleeping.”

  I felt silly, suddenly. Shrugging, I twirled a lock of hair between my fingers. “I guess I don’t sleep when the cyborg I like is out on some dangerous mission.” I avoided his blue gaze. “You probably think it’s silly.”

  “It’s not silly.” Moving closer, he reached out to brush my cheek but caught himself. “No one has ever cared if I returned safe until you. No one ever lost sleep worrying over me before.” He looked down at his hands. “I shouldn’t touch you like this.” My eyes wandered over his hands. They were stained a dark, rusty red.

  I know what type of cyborg Reaper is. A part of me had even wanted to tame it once upon a time but no longer. His violence protects his brothers, bringing the ones who were still lost back home. It had saved me when I was the one who was lost. Taming any part of him was wrong. He wouldn’t be Reaper without his violence or his concern or that big fucking battle axe he was sporting on his back.

  Like the cyborg.

  Like his battle axe.

  My hand shot out, catching his in retreat. Curling my fingers around his, I positioned my body closer. For a second, his jaw went slack then he caught himself, slamming it closed.

  I had just stunned my second cyborg of the night.

  I was on a roll.

  I peered up at him then used my free hand to brush over his speckled cheek. “Did you find your missing brothers? Are they finally home?”

  Pain flashed across Reaper’s blue eyes.

  My shoulders fell. “You didn’t find them.” I said sadly.

  Lowering his gaze, he laced his fingers with mine. “No, we found them, but they are...they are...” Reapers voice broke slightly as a tremble shook his great big, gray frame.

  I didn’t know what happened, but tears filled my eyes. Spilling over, they made silent tracks down my cheeks. I cried for the cyborgs and whatever had been done to them. Four months ago I didn’t even know cyborgs still existed. If I was honest, I hadn’t even spared them a curious thought. Now, my heart was breaking for cyborgs I had never even met.

  “You didn’t even know them, yet you cry for them.” There was awe mixed with disbelief in Reaper’s voice. Reaching up, he brushed the tears from my cheeks. “Don’t cry. They survived, but their damage is beyond anything I have ever seen. Maybe it would have been better if they hadn’t. The things done to them by her...” Reaper suddenly stopped talking, a look of fear slid over his features.

  “Her? Her who?” But in my heart, I already knew. There was only one ‘her’ that would cause Reaper to feel fear at the idea of telling me. I gave Reaper a shove. “Oh God. Dr. Rosenfield had them!”

  He immediately grabbed for me, pulling me into the solid wall of his chest. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to worry. You and Theo are safe here. She will never hurt either of you ever again.” He vowed, hugging me to his frame.

  *Reaper*

  Aria’s body trembled against my frame. The mere mention of the doctor sent her into panic mode. Pushing away from my frame, she stared at the floor. “I should go. You need to clean up and I left Dax with Theo. He’ll be awake soon.”

  She was preparing to flee. I would stop her. She couldn’t keep going on like this. This fear. Whatever had happened to her was eating her up from the inside out. It ended here. Moving fast, I scooped her up, taking her into my quarters, slamming the door behind me.

  Small fists pounded my chest. “Reaper put me down!”

  “No,” I said, dropping her on my couch. “I am going to get clean and then you are going to tell what happened when you were Rosenfield’s captive.” Before I headed for the bathroom, I punched a code into the keypad next to the door. Defiance burned in her eyes. I didn’t flinch. “You are stuck with me, Aria. One way or another, you are going to tell me what happened, even if it takes days.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Aria

  That gray son of a bitch. He locked me
in his room! I had been wishing for quality alone-time with Reaper, but this isn’t what I had in mind.

  Get over it, Aria. You need to talk about what happened. Remember the last time? You wanted Reaper to push you. To help expel the demons you hide away in the dark. Admit it, you were never planning on telling anyone unless someone forced you to talk. I’m tired of carrying this. We need to let it go.

  Shut up.

  I’m still right.

  I heard the shower turn on and sighed in frustration. A part of me wanted to ambush Reaper in the shower, make him forget all about the talk, but I knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Oh, I could seduce Reaper, fine, but there was no way Reaper would forget about wanting to talk. He was stubborn...and a cyborg...and doing this for my own good. Dammit, the little voice in my head was right.

  I rose from the couch before walking to one of the walls. Over a dozen holes had been punched through the concrete. Tracing one with my finger, I did another and another, not stopping until I had traced them all. Moving to the next wall, I traced those, too.

  “Most of them happened after I rescued you and Theo.” Reaper’s voice was soft behind me.

  I turned to find him standing across the room, wearing nothing but a black pair of sweats hung dangerously-low on his hips. Tiny beads of water glistened on his chest from the shower.

  Moving towards him like a moth to a flame, I circled around him finding the scars that decorated his back. I traced each one like I had traced the holes in the walls. I felt Reaper shudder with each brush of my fingers. “I will tell you about what happened if you tell me how you got these.” I said as I went back over the first scar I had explored.