by Lila Dubois
Runako imagined wrapping his hand in her hair and guiding her soft, plump lips to his…
“For the love of God could you please pay attention,” she hissed.
“I am.”
“No, you’re imagining me naked.”
Runako started. “Do you have psychic powers?”
“No. I have horny-man radar. What do you—”
A door opened, and the hall was flooded with shouts and screams. Not all those screams were animal, some sounded like rending metal. Runako pressed Margo back and peered down the hall they’d intersected. At first he didn’t see anything, and as he watched, a door midway down the hall swung shut, sealing in the noise.
He scanned the hall once more for the person who’d opened the door. There was no person, at least not all of one. An arm, no longer attached to its owner, lay on the floor. It must have hit the door with enough force to open it.
“Things are going very badly in Containment Unit B,” he commented.
“Why?” Margo leaned around him and scanned the hall. “Is that, is that a severed arm?”
“Yes. Are you going to faint or be sick?”
“No. Maybe. That is gross. We have to get in there. I think they tried to make a super soldier and now he’s running amok.”
“So?”
“Runako!”
“I have no desire to save these people.”
“You could stop this. With great power comes great responsibility.”
“Isn’t that line from Spiderman?”
“Figures you’d know that. Okay fine, it is, but seriously… You know what, I’m not arguing with you. I refuse to stand here while I know people are suffering needlessly, and I could help. A bullet to the brain would be better than being ripped limb from limb.”
The last was said as she scooted around him and ran down the hall. Her words hit him—after all, that was what they’d done to his sister. No one—not even the evil humans—deserved to suffer that fate.
He sprinted down the hall, and reached the door a split second before Margo did. She offered him a gun as they paused by the door, but he declined.
He looked to Margo who was pale. Her hands were shaking. Runako cupped her head with one hand, brought her face to his, and kissed her hard and fast.
“We will survive this.”
“Damn right,” she agreed. She nodded, and he opened the door.
Beyond the door lay a scene of carnage. Wounded men huddled behind tipped tables and desks. Arcs of blood graced the walls and papers floated through the air like so much confetti. In the far wall a set of double doors stood open, revealing a second room. The inner room was all steel. Chained in the center of that sea of metal was a Monster.
Margo sucked in a breath. Runako let out a roar of rage and plunged into the room. Margo dashed behind him, keeping her attention not on the Monster, who thrashed side to side in his chains, causing the metal to scream, but on the men behind the makeshift barricades.
Some jumped up as Runako ran past. Several shouted warnings. One raised his gun.
“Stand down! Hold your fire,” Margo screamed. The soldier looked at her, his eyes wide in surprise. He lowered his gun.
That’s it.
Plan in mind, Margo followed Runako into the inner chamber.
Murdering, torturing, despicable humans.
Runako darted towards his Clan member, ignoring the humans with guns and cattle prods. The monster in the chains lunged at him, mouth opened in a snarl. Runako had forgotten he was human.
“It’s Runako,” he said in their language. “I will free you, be still so I can loosen the chains.”
The Monster he faced stopped thrashing. His scarlet wings hung limp behind him, and one dangled at an unnatural angle. His lungs worked like bellows, and Runako could see blood running from multiple stab wounds and dark circles on emerald flesh where he’d been burned. There were bullet holes around the rear facing knee joints.
Out of his peripheral vision Runako saw a man raise his gun. He spun, preparing to lunge at the man, but there was no need.
“Drop it, motherfucker,” Margo snarled, the barrel of her gun pressed to the man’s head.
“Who the hell are you?” He snarled. “This is a private facility.”
“Who am I? What I’d like to know is who the hell you think you are. Do you have any idea who it is you’ve decided to kidnap and torture?”
“This thing is a monster.” Several of the other men nodded. Runako did a quick count. There were four dead, including the man whose arm was in the hall and the girl who’d come to fetch the doctor, three wounded, and two, including the man Margo was holding at bay, still on their feet.
Five to fight, plus the men in the other room—he hadn’t counted their numbers.
“Monster…or a member of the most elite and patriotic fighting force on this planet?” Margo said.
The man turned his head, mouth open and gapping. Margo snatched his gun away with her free hand and held it out. Runako took it. What was she doing?
“All right, men,” she said, voice ringing with authority. “Drop your weapons.”
The single soldier who remained standing hesitated. “But, ma’am…”
She turned to Runako, “Tell him,” she jerked her head at the monster, “that we’re going to get him out of here and that it won’t be necessary to kill any more of these idiots. Have him nod if he understands.”
Bewildered, but trusting, Runako turned to his Clan member, “Do you understand what my mate is saying? She is speaking the human language English. Nod your head up and down.”
He bobbed his head, saying, “I cannot understand. The pain…my wings.”
“We will get you out of here. Be strong.”
He nodded again.
“What do you think you’re doing?” the man Margo had disarmed asked. “You’re…you’re the stupid hikers.”
“The fact that you think we’re hikers is proof that you have shoddy security, and explains why your organization wasn’t let in on a secret as important as this.”
The man looked unsure, glancing around at the remains of his men. “Who are you?” he asked again.
“Someone with a higher security clearance than you.” Margo stepped back and raised her voice. “Men, what you have here,” she gestured to the Monster, “is highly classified information. The man you just tortured and almost killed is one of the best fighters we have. I bet you think you captured some wild beast? Idiots. Did you really think you were the only people to know about their existence?”
She let that sink in, turning slowly so she could meet each man’s gaze.
“His leg.” The faint comment echoed from a dim corner. Runako turned to see one of the men who’d carried him in curled in a corner, his hands pressed to his belly, fingers covered in blood. “He can walk, his leg is fine.”
The soldier was looking at him. Runako pulled up the leg of his pants, revealing the smooth brown skin.
“That’s right,” Margo said as he dropped his pant leg. He didn’t know what she was doing, but he wasn’t going to interfere. “As you can see, our advancements in rapid healing are light years ahead of yours.”
“Who are you with?” the apparent leader asked.
“I’ll let you figure that one out. Release him.”
Margo’s command hung in the air. Some of the soldiers from the outer room had come to the door to hear what was going on, and they looked nervously at each other, then at their leader.
“You’re not going to release him? Fine then, prepared to be charged with wrongful imprisonment, torture and murder.”
“That thing,” the leader said through his teeth, “isn’t human.”
“Human? No. He’s not human, but he’s not an animal to kidnap and dissect.”
“Did you ask him,” Runako said, and the tension in the air ratcheted up as he spit out his tense question. “Did you ask him who he was?”
The leader looked at him, and Runako had a sudden flash
of memory, triggered by the man’s face. It was not his memory, but his sister’s. This man had helped capture her, he’d take a saw to her wings, he’d shot her, chained her down. His voice shouted the orders that led to her death.
“No, I didn’t ask the creature anything.”
He said it with contempt. Margo’s words were nothing to this man, though the others seemed cowed by her.
“And the other creature you tortured and killed?” Runako asked. “Did you ask her anything, did you ask her name?”
“So it was a female? Disgusting thing.”
Runako raised the gun and fired. He’d never shot a gun before, and the bullet went wide. The leader stooped and pulled a gun from a holder at his ankle. He raised his arm, aimed and fired.
Chapter Sixteen
Bang!
Runako held his breath and waited for the pain. None came.
A perfect red circle marred the leader’s temple. The hand holding the gun pointed at Runako fell, the gun slid from his hand, and he collapsed to the floor. Margo lowered her arm. He could see her hand shaking.
She’d killed a man to protect him.
“Who wants to be next?” Margo said. “Apparently I haven’t made myself clear. This man,” she pointed at the monster, “is not a human, but has the same rights. What you’ve done is completely illegal, and, because his very existence is classified information, you’ve also committed treason.”
The soldiers looked at one another, then back at her.
“Keith!” Margo shouted. The floppy-haired young man appeared from the outer room.
“Where’s the doctor?” Margo said. He pointed to a mess of flesh in the corner. Margo nodded. “You and you,” she said, singling out two soldiers who were still on their feet. “Let him down.”
They moved, responding to her tone of authority, but they were hesitant.
“You’re not going to be hurt,” she assured them. “My associate has spoken with him using a code.”
Runako held his breath sure this wouldn’t work. Would these men really obey her?
The soldiers went to a cabinet in the wall, and after a few clicks, the chains began to go slack. The monster slumped, swaying precariously.
Runako brushed the shackles away and tried to support his Clan member. Blood soaked through the scrubs, and Runako struggled to hold him up.
“I have to change, and we’ll need a way out of here,” he said to Margo. She nodded.
“All right everyone, stand back. Into this room.” She shepherded the soldiers through the open doors into the other room. A few tentatively lifted guns. Margo pushed the barrels down. “No need for guns. They need space.”
“Ma’am, are you sure? I think your boyfriend, er, associate, might need help.”
“No, he’s fine. All right men,” she yelled, “listen up. What you’re about to see is, again, classified. You cannot speak to anyone about this. We have an endgame in place for revealing these people’s existence to the world, but it’s not for another two years. I need you to swear to keep this secret.”
They all nodded. Runako didn’t believe they would keep this secret, but without proof who would believe them?
“Keith,” Margo said, “what’s the best way out of here?”
Runako stopped listening then. He trusted Margo to take care of it.
He stepped away from his Clan member, who swayed. Runako didn’t bother to strip off the human clothes. He didn’t have time. He released the spell, and his true form burst forth. He snapped his wings open and kicked his feet clear of the scraps of cloth. He looked for Margo, who was standing at the control box by the wall. She nodded.
“Runako,” his Clan member said in their language. “I am very glad to see you. It’s Seling.”
“We will be out of here soon.”
Seling nodded, head drooping. Runako tucked his wings in, shuffled around behind the other Monster and examined the most troubling of the injuries—the damaged wing. It was broken. He peered at the damage. It looked like they’d tried to sever the wing, and done some damage to the bone in the process. Runako gripped the wing on each side of the torn flesh, and twisted, pushing the bone back into place.
Seling roared in pain. Runako held on and yelled for him to concentrate and heal his wing. It had to hurt but the longer the wing remained this way the harder the healing would be. Seling quieted, and the skin Runako gripped grew hot. The bits of bone he could see knit together, and the flesh tentatively rebounded.
Seling slumped, panting. “That is all I can do.”
“It will be enough,” Runako told him. He helped Seling to lean against the wall and then turned to Margo. What caught his attention was the expression of the human soldiers. Their guns dangled from their hands, and they stared at him with expressions that ranged from horror to…longing?
“He can change from human to that?” one of them asked Margo. “How long did the procedure take?”
“He would be the perfect assassin. He could kill someone in broad daylight, and no one would believe what they’d seen.”
“So the, the other one was really a woman? Jesus, we killed her. We killed her.”
“Flight, super strength, built-in camouflage.”
“Ma’am, if you’re looking for recruits…”
Runako couldn’t believe what he was hearing. After Margo’s comments it seemed they believed Runako was first human, and he became Monster, instead of the other way around. What he couldn’t believe was that these men also wanted to become Monster.
Though, why should he be surprised? This form was far better than a human body. It was only appropriate for them to be jealous.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Margo said to the one who’d offered himself up. “Keith, do you have what I asked for?”
The young doctor had returned carrying two cardboard boxes. “These are the external drives and some of the preserved pieces. There are hard copies of everything, but I didn’t have time to gather it all.”
“This is great,” Margo assured him. “Did you work on this project at all?”
“I-I didn’t know. I’m really sorry.”
“I’m not accusing you, I’m asking.”
“I did, a bit. I’m a molecular biologist primarily, though I’m working on my MD so I did the lab work. I didn’t know—”
“Keith!” Margo shouted, and the young man quieted. She crooked her finger, and he leaned in. They had a whispered conversation and then Keith pulled back, clearly surprised.
Margo took the boxes, and Keith turned to the control box. He hit a few buttons, and two panels in the roof parted. Gears squealed as the roof retracted.
“How many others have you taken and tortured?” Margo asked the soldiers. They shifted uncomfortable. “I need to know. You didn’t know what you were doing, though the decisions made upon discovering the first Monster were dubious. How many have there been?”
“This is the second,” the volunteer said. “The first we came upon while doing training in the woods. We brought the, er, Monster back to the compound. The commander,” his gaze drifted to the man Margo had killed, “spoke with someone at another facility. Some scientists came over, and they killed the Monster.”
“We didn’t know she was a human woman, ma’am. God’s truth.”
“Why,” Runako growled. Everyone, including Margo, jumped. “Why did you kill her?”
“I don’t know, sir. I believe that they hoped to develop some bio weapons and possibly some performance enhancing drugs. I’m sorry, ma’am, but that’s all I really know.”
“Do you know who it was who your commander called? I want to know who else would be aware of this.”
“I don’t know, ma’am.”
“I do,” Keith said, “it was the doctor. She came to this facility after the first one of, er, them, was captured.”
Runako let out a breath. The doctor was dead, as was the man they referred to as commander. He looked at the remaining human men. Some of them had participated in kid
napping his sister. They should pay for what they’d done to her.
“Runako,” Margo said. “We need to get him some help.”
Runako looked over his shoulder at Seling, then back to the men.
“Runako, please.” Margo said. The soldiers heard the note of panic in her voice and several of them shifted their guns. They were not pointing them at him—not yet.
Runako spread and raised his wings. The soldiers cowered back. Margo did not. She marched up to him.
“Make a decision. You either kill all these men, who are all former military and trained to obey orders, or we leave. You need to choose.”
Runako took a step back so he could look down at Margo without hurting his neck.
His sister was dead. There was nothing he could do to change that. The people primarily responsible were dead, and now that he knew about this facility it would be easier to monitor the humans.
His sister’s death was in his past, and his future stood before him—looking pissed and carrying a gun.
“We will leave,” he said, and Margo relaxed.
“You can leave me here if you need to get him out first.”
“His wing should have healed enough for him to fly. I’m not sure I could carry him.”
“Then let’s go.”
He lifted Margo in his arms. She cradled the boxes and looped one arm around his neck.
“I have the electronic copies of the information, but there are paper copies. Ideally we would burn this place down,” Margo murmured. Runako nodded, turned and asked Seling a question to which he replied with a nod.
“Ma’am, wait, what are we supposed to do?”
Margo looked back over her shoulder. “Evacuate the facility. You have five minutes. Leave everything. If you have vehicles you’d better get them away from the building.”
“You’re going to…” one asked, but Margo just nodded. “The bodies?” Another asked.
“It will be better this way.” Margo said.