by Aaron Slade
“The other guards will have heard the gunshots,” Matthew said. “Donnie and Adam can’t hold them off for long.” He spoke with certainty, and I knew he had already seen this in his visions.
“What do we do?” Mom asked. She clasped Dad’s arm for strength and refused to leave his side.
“We have to meet the others on the ground level,” Matthew said. “Adam will be waiting to get us back to Fallon. We have to help get these two downstairs.” Matthew pointed at Dad and Uncle Jesse, whose bodies were still partially under the influence of the Knight.
All of us moved out of the room. We followed the curve of the building to the nearest stairwell. Matthew and Cricket supported Uncle Jesse and Mom helped me with Dad. Dad tried his hardest to put one foot in front of the other as we dragged him down the long, grey hall, but he didn’t have the strength. Gun shots and sounds of fire erupted from all over the building. I looked over the balcony and saw a pillar of fire engulf a section of the floor. The heat was so intense that I felt it four floors above.
“Randy’s got trouble,” Matthew said. He stopped running, forcing everyone behind him to come to a halt.
“What’s wrong?” Evee asked.
Matthew remained silent. His eyes focused and searched for something that the rest of us couldn’t see. “Adam’s in trouble!” he exclaimed. Matthew looked over the balcony down to the first floor.
I followed his gaze when I heard a voice in my head. Casper. I heard my name. It was Uncle Jesse. Colonel Ford and Zana are here– in the building. I can hear their thoughts. I felt a surge of fear run through my body. Uncle Jesse continued in my head, They’re going to kill you, he told me. I looked at the lifeless expression on Uncle Jesse’s face. They would kill all of us if we didn’t get out of the facility quickly.
I followed Matthew’s gaze off the balcony and saw Adam fighting a man with grey hair. It wasn’t until I saw frozen debris hurled toward Adam that I realized it was Colonel Ford. Several more guards surrounded Adam, but he grabbed them from behind, and disappeared with them, reappearing in an instant. The guards tried to stay aware, but were too slow. Adam picked them off one or two at a time.
“My dad’s here,” Evee whispered to herself. I saw a flare of fear light up her face.
Adam was trying to get close enough to Colonel Ford to teleport him out of the facility. Every time Adam got close enough, Colonel Ford sent a gust of frozen air directly at him. Adam teleported around the room, evading the chunks of ice aimed at him. Colonel Ford grunted in frustration. He was always just a moment too slow to land a hit on Adam.
A second later, a throbbing pain pounded inside my head and everyone around me collapsed on their knees, clutching and grasping their heads with their palms. Even Evee’s phantom body caved under the severe, head-splitting ache.
I could barely focus on the guard that rounded a corner from the stairwell, holding a pistol in a firing position. He blocked our access to the stairs.
“My ability may not be lethal, but this gun is,” he said. He looked down on us over his crooked nose. “Lay down flat on the ground.” He kicked Dad off his knees, making him land on his stomach. “Now!” He fired a shot, hitting Uncle Jesse in the shoulder.
Uncle Jesse screamed, clenching the already bleeding wound.
Cricket let go of Uncle Jesse and his legs gave out. She made a grab at the guard, fiercely gripping his wrist. A blue current of electricity buzzed and crackled over her dark skin, and when the electric flow reached the armed guard, he broke into a fit of convulsions. The attack blasted him back several feet, knocking the gun out of his hand. A putrid smoke rose from his blackened skin.
Cricket was quicker than I realized. The pain in my head subsided, and everyone rose to their feet. Uncle Jesse applied pressure to his shoulder’s growing red stain.
“Good, Cricket,” Matthew said. “Clear the stairwell so that we can get to the first floor quickly.”
Cricket’s body materialized into a current of electricity and absorbed into the lights. I knew she had to be a class one extra-human with such a powerful ability. Evee looked impressed as well after watching Cricket disappear.
“I think I can walk,” Uncle Jesse said. “I’ll be slow, but I’ll manage.” He continued to clench the bullet hole in his shoulder. Blood stained the area of his shirt around the wound, dripping down.
Matthew froze, seeing a vision, then snapped out of it and looked at me. “Help Adam,” he commanded. The look on his face made it seem like it was a matter of life and death.
I looked over the edge of the balcony just in time to see Colonel Ford make contact with Adam. The attack threw him to the other side of the ground level out of my sight from where I stood. I instinctively jumped over the balcony. Mom and Evee both shouted my name, which faded away with the rush of air blowing past my ears.
I panicked that I was falling. I felt gravity pulling me to the ground, gaining speed by the second. I passed the other floors so quickly that I became afraid that I wouldn’t be able to stop. I focused on my family… on Evee… on the idea that we would succeed. Finally, my momentum began to slow. I hit the ground landing on my feet, unharmed by the impact.
I stood between Adam and Colonel Ford, but the severity of Colonel Ford’s attack unnerved me. A long, thick icicle pierced through Adam’s shoulder and pinned him against the wall. He cried out, trying to grip the bloody, slick ice, unable to move or teleport.
Colonel Ford’s face was vicious and his eyes were colder than the lingering, winter air. “Where’s my daughter?” He no longer wore his Military uniform, but now wore something similar to Zana’s team. His grey hair and light eyes contrasted against the black leather uniform.
“I don’t know where she is,” I confessed. “She thought it was best I didn’t know.”
More gunshots fired from above us, followed by another cloud of smoke and fire. The loud, piercing scream of a girl sounded from just a few floors above. Sara. She sounded so terrified that the sound of her scream caused my aura to flicker.
Colonel Ford snorted in front of me. “So you can fly, and you have some sort of shield.” It wasn’t a question. “How does that work, Casper? What exactly is your ability?”
I didn’t answer. I stood my ground between him and Adam, hoping that the others would be here soon. I kept my eyes on the stairwells on both sides of the large, circular room.
“You don’t have to answer me,” he said. “When you’re dead, it won’t even matter.” He tried again to hit me with a whirlwind of chilled air, but it didn’t make contact with my skin. My shield was resilient enough to withstand all his attacks.
I heard his deep laugh as the icy mix around me settled, and Colonel Ford came back into view.
“Just let me take my parents and go.”
“I can’t do that,” he said. “Casper, you’re the reason I’m in Fallon in the first place. Been searching for you for years. When the Military reassigned me to Fallon, Future Intelligence told me someone there had the ability to fly. When my daughter told me she was dating the human, who could have guessed that you’d be my target?”
“If you kill me, what relationship do you expect to have with Evee?” I questioned. I had to try my best to make him see reason.
“Believe me, Casper,” he said. “It will be far worse for Evee and me if I fail to kill you today.” There was fear in his voice as well as malice. He raised his arms to attack again.
The shards of ice being forced at me were closer to my body this time. They shattered like glass as they made contact with my aura. The light flashed as I tried to fuel it. The floor beneath me froze more. I lost my grip and felt the harsh wind push me backwards. I started to doubt the plan, making my aura smaller. Where were the others? Had we failed? As I lost my balance on the ice, my aura disappeared and the gust of wind sent me flying at the same wall as Adam.
I stood back up as quickly as I could between Frost and Adam. My head spun from his last hit. I strained to stand up straight, listening t
o him talking, but I was unable to comprehend. My aura weakly shot back to life as soon as I regained my balance. When I looked back at Colonel Ford, there was someone else with him. Zana.
“Are you going to kill him or not, Frost?” she asked. The thought of me dead caused the black cloud around her to thicken.
“I’m trying, but he has some type of shield that I can’t penetrate,” Colonel Ford replied. He sounded so casual about the whole thing. Killing didn’t seem to affect him.
“Have you tried this?” Zana raised a gun from the holster on her side. “His shield can probably stop a bullet.” Her face contorted into the deranged expression of pleasure. “But if we break his focus, I imagine we can break his shield.” She held the pistol pointed at me, but shifted the barrel towards Adam.
Dead silence followed the two bullets fired. I looked towards Adam, who clutched his stomach with both hands. He removed his hands, now stained red from the holes in his belly.
I ran to Adam. “No no no!” I pulled at the bloody icicle, releasing Adam from the wall. Adam twitched and kicked his legs, trying to find relief from the pain in his bleeding shoulder and stomach. His eyes watered and he gasped for air.
“What are you doing?” Frost asked Zana. “We have orders to take him.” He took a step towards Adam as if to help, but Zana stopped him.
“Do you want to explain to Him why we weren’t able to kill the primary target?” Zana said. “It will be harder for young Casper here to protect himself if he’s mourning the death of his friend.
“Cas-sper,” Adam whispered. “You have to get out of here.” A puddle of blood grew in size on the floor. He tried to grab my hand to teleport me away, but I jerked free. I couldn’t give up on the others. Adam had to teleport them away too, but how much time did he have left?
From a floor above, a smoldering cloud of fire and electricity exploded, and I heard Mom’s unmistakable scream followed by Matthew and Randy shouting. They were in trouble, but I couldn’t help. Half a dozen guards entered the room surrounding Adam and me. Colonel Ford ordered three soldiers to go investigate. The three unarmed men ran up the stairwell. These guards were the higher class extra-humans.
“Hold him,” Colonel Ford said.
Two of the guards grabbed each of my arms and dragged me into the middle of the room. I did my best to jerk free but their hands locked around my arms like shackles. The stout guard on my right, I was sure had some sort of extra-human strength; his grip made my arm feel like it was stuck in a brick wall.
Adam’s whimpers echoed in the room. I could hear him still struggling on the floor. He was going to die if I didn’t do something quick. But what could I do? All the syringes of Nurse Rebecca’s blood had already been used. I knew Adam wouldn’t leave without us. His damn loyalty was going to get him killed.
Colonel Ford and Zana stood a few feet in front of me with looks of satisfaction. “I’m not happy about this, Casper. If it were up to me I would let you live, but unfortunately for you… I have my orders. Instead of killing you in the most painful way I can think of, I promise to make it quick.” He turned to Zana and held out his hand. She gave him the gun.
Was I afraid to die? Where would I go after death? I’d never wondered until now.
“Stop,” Adam pleaded weakly. “Don’t do this.” His voice broke off into a fit of coughing. I couldn’t see his face, but I could hear the rasp to his voice that I could only imagine was blood. His cries made it impossible for me to focus on my shield.
“Don’t worry about your friend,” Zana told me. “If he doesn’t die first, we’ll take good care of him.” Her voice was sadistic. Her dark features grew grimmer with her aura. “But by the looks of him, I would guess he only has a few minutes left.”
He cocked the pistol. This time I didn’t close my eyes. I looked into Colonel Ford’s. They weren’t the same blue as Evee’s, but they were the closest thing to them. He stared into my eyes as well, but something behind me caught his attention. His gaze looked past me.
“Don’t do this, Dad,” said Evee’s voice from behind me.
“I’m only going to ask you this once,” Colonel Ford said. “Where is your body?”
The gun in front of me started to shake as he grew angrier. He steadied his hand to let Evee know he was serious. Would he really take my life in front of his daughter? The v-shaped veins on his forehead enlarged.
“My body’s hidden, and if you fire that gun, I promise you will never see me again,” Evee said. There was such finality to her voice that I knew he would believe her. She walked in front of me, positioning her phantom body between me and the gun. “Don’t do this.”
“Evee, I don’t have a choice,” he whispered. “Things are never going to change. We’ll die if we try to fight against - ”
Zana interrupted him. “Hold your tongue, Frost. You’re already on thin ice. Ignore your daughter and kill the boy.” Their attention turned back towards me.
The guards on either side of me hadn’t moved at all. I fought to break free of their grip even harder than before. I don’t know if it was the fear of dying or the will to live that gave me extra strength, but I managed to budge one of the guards. When he lost his grip on my arm, he landed a blow on the side of my face. I could barely open my left eye after the punch, and the guard resumed his grip on my arm. They forced me to my knees. My blood splattered on the floor.
“Please,” Evee begged. “You have a choice.” Evee’s voice sounded desperate as if she was using the last chance she had. I wondered if I could see her aura if I had control of my ability.
Evee blocked my view of Colonel Ford, but Zana’s face had a shocked expression. I could feel Colonel Ford’s hesitation. Evee was getting through to him. I heard his heavy breathing on the other side of Evee.
“I– I can’t do it,” he finally said. “I’m sorry, Evee.” I heard his fear and sorrow.
Evee gave a sigh of relief, and her aura flared.
My body relaxed and I exhaled a deep, stale breath trapped in my lungs. I let my head relax and I stared at Evee. I noticed a few red drops on the back of her pants. Blood– my blood. How did my blood get on her? A staccato gasp exited my mouth as I saw the blood drip from my face onto the floor. This wasn’t Evee’s phantom body!
Zana lunged towards Colonel Ford. “Give me the gun,” Zana demanded. Her body jerked. She pulled the pistol away from him and directed it at me. Her finger curved into the trigger of the gun.
Evee shifted her weight and positioned herself in front of the gun, moving it away from my head. The gun fired and the bullets exited out Evee’s back. She collapsed on the ground beside me. The fact that his daughter’s real body had been in front of him the whole time caught Colonel Ford off guard.
I was too overwhelmed with shock to react. The room around me went silent as if I’d lost my hearing. Evee’s face was all I could focus on– tears swelled in the corners of her eyes and she twitched in pain. The muscles in her face and arms tightened with each small movement she made.
Colonel Ford blasted both of the guards holding me with a flurry of ice, knocking them feet away from where I fell on the ground. I moved closer to Evee as Colonel Ford directed his attention on Zana. My hands trembled as I attempted to touch her. I was too afraid to make contact or even speak. Either would have caused more agony.
Adam crawled by my side. His lips moved frantically as he talked, but the room was a vast vacuum of silence. His face was pale from the loss of blood. His shirt was stained a wet crimson. Zana held the gun at Colonel Ford as he tried to disarm her.
Matthew, Cricket, and Donnie arrived on the floor from the stairwell. Mom and Dad followed, and momentarily froze at the sight of me grasping Evee on the floor. Dad’s eyes opened wide, and Mom’s hand covered her mouth.
Sara, Randy, and Seth bolted out the door, unprepared for the horror. A fragile man followed, dressed in the same clothes as my parents who I just barely recognized as Seth’s dad. Evee’s nails dug into my arm, and I leaned ove
r protectively.
The team of family and friends in the doorway of the stairwell sprung into action. They attacked the few remaining guards in the room. Donnie and Cricket got to them before anyone else.
Adam inched his way towards Colonel Ford and Zana. There was an explosion of noise as my brain processed the sound in the room again. Neither Colonel Ford nor Zana noticed Adam. Both of them were too preoccupied with each other. Colonel Ford had Zana in the same icy grip that he used on me. Adam grabbed both of them as if it was his last effort, and they vanished.
“Casper,” Evee said. She pulled herself into my lap, her head cradled in my arms. “Don’t be upset,” she managed. Her voice trembled violently as her body shivered. “I hid my body in the prison,” she said. “Pretty smart, huh?” She placed her hands over the wound on her stomach as if to hide it from me.
What could I say to her? She was going to die because of me. “You didn’t have to do that.” Speaking triggered tears; I didn’t have the strength to fight them back. She reached up and brushed the moisture off my face. I grabbed her hand and kissed it. I nearly asked if she was in much pain, but I didn’t want to know her answer.
“I had to do it,” Evee said. She gasped for a breath deep enough to speak coherently. “You’re supposed to do something…something great. How could you do it if you were the one dying?” Evee found Matthew standing with Cricket and Donnie. “There has to be a reason the Military wants you dead so badly.” She continued to talk, but I couldn’t focus on her words.
I looked over at Matthew and realized what Evee meant, but I didn’t know if I believed it. How could I be any use to anyone without her in my life? The back of my throat was sore from trying to fight the emotion that strained my voice.
Our audience of family and friends surrounded us. I tried not to look at them. Mom’s face only made it harder to bear. I placed my hands on Evee’s. The warm blood of the wound covered both of our hands.
“You can’t be afraid or sad,” Evee said. “There’s nothing to be sad about because I love you.”