Twisted

by J. L. Meyrick

  The clock had run out. This was their time to act. No more sparring matches, no more plans to make. Now they had to enact the plans they had spent hours pouring over. The anticipation was palpable in the base. Everyone was a messy mix of excitement and nerves. Even Yates, in all their worldliness, seemed on edge with it all.

  Liliana pulled her hair tight into a hair tie. The last thing she needed for the mission was to be blinded by her own long, dark hair. She was sure it was frizzy as hell, being pulled back like that with no product, but she wasn’t aiming for a good look. Purely practical on mission day. She almost envied Johnathon with his short back and sides, and Yates’s headscarf. Both very helpful on such an important mission.

  Liliana was lost in her own world as she prepared to ship out for the prison. She almost missed the noise her phone made, lying on the coffee table where she left it the night before. They weren’t bringing phones with them as it could track her outside of the base. A message had popped through on her lock screen. Liliana wondered who it could be. Rose hadn’t messaged her in a while, as she was being watched too closely. Liliana picked up the phone out of sheer curiosity.

  It was her mother.

  Why on earth was her mother texting her? They hadn’t spoken since their argument in the hospital room the other week.

  Mother: Liliana, I am writing to let you know your cousin Maria has an opening in her shop. If you are still looking for a job, she would be happy to give you an interview.

  Well, that was the weirdest message she could have got right before carrying through with a prison break plan. Liliana paused in her astonishment. Her mother, formal as always over text, completely ignoring the last words shared between them. Suggesting that she interview for a shop assistant job with her cousin. A bit of a change from her career as a journalist.

  She didn’t even know how to respond to that message; she stood there staring at the message.

  “Everyone alright?” Johnathon asked as he joined her in the living room, ready for the mission.

  “Just a message from my mother.”

  “Oh?” Johnathon didn’t know about her relationship with her mother, so this must seem like a normal situation to him.

  “Telling me that my cousin wants to interview me for her shop,” Liliana said, half chuckling at the absurdity of the message.

  “What’s so funny about that?” Johnathon furrowed his brow in confusion.

  “Well, the last time we spoke I came out as bisexual to my incredibly religious and conservative mother. Or rather, I shouted it at her from a hospital bed. We haven’t spoken since,” Liliana explained.

  “Ah. That must have been awkward.” He looked concerned. “I take it she didn’t react well, then?”

  “Not really. She just stormed out of the room,” Liliana continued. “I wasn’t surprised, given how she always treated Rose.”

  “Oh, is Rose bi as well?” Johnathon asked.

  “Gay, actually. We dated for a while,” Liliana replied. Normally she wouldn’t discuss the sexual orientation of others, but Rose was out and proud. She wouldn’t mind Liliana confirming the truth. “You didn’t really get to know her before this all happened, did you?”

  “No. She seems like a lovely person, though a little scary,” Johnathon said.

  “Hey!” Yates shouted as they saw Liliana and Johnathon chatting. “We don’t have time for sitting around. Get moving!”

  Liliana and Johnathon almost jumped out of their skins as Yates shouted at them. They were right, though; they needed to get moving. Dawn was a couple of hours away, and they needed to get in and out before the sun caught up with them.

  Chapter 28

  The ride to the prison was tense. With every turn they made, Liliana expected to come across a blockade of some kind. Or see Sentinel standing in the street ahead of them, ready to stop them. But the roads were blissfully quiet. Everyone was still sleeping as they wound their way through the city towards the prison on the outskirts.

  There was no direct path to the prison from the base unless you wanted to go seriously cross country. But that would be fairly obvious in their van. At the moment, they just looked like a worker getting an early start to the day.

  Liliana looked at the quiet city as they drove through the familiar streets. She felt like she was viewing the city from a different perspective today. Technically, she was about to become a criminal, or vigilante. It depended on your stance on the Supers. If it became known that she was involved in the prison break, she wouldn’t be able to just walk around the city freely again. She would hide with Max, at least until they could clear his name.

  They had planned nothing for after the prison break just yet. It seemed silly to, with such an important step to take first. She hoped they would end up in a position to do some good in the city, to help clear Max’s name and reputation. And to help Liliana’s reputation at the same time. How they were going to expose the Supers for what they were, she did not know.

  So many possibilities faced her but with one big question mark blocking her path. The prison break. She needed to focus on the mission before she could get obsessed with their next steps. She berated herself for getting distracted by the city lights instead of focusing on the mission.

  Yates was behind the wheel, steering them through the city, with Johnathon sitting in the back with all the bags. It couldn’t have been very comfortable, but he was stubbornly gentlemen about the decision to sit in the back. Liliana didn’t feel too bad about taking the comfy seat up front. She could get bruises from the bags, Johnathon wouldn’t.

  They turned down the last main street in the city before it released them to the outskirts. Liliana could almost see the bright lights used to see the outer rim of the prison in the distance.

  “Not far now,” Yates commented.

  “Good to know,” Johnathon replied loudly in the back. The van turning around the corner led to another loud thud. “I’m getting beaten up by the equipment back here.”

  “You can take it, Mr Invulnerable,” Liliana shouted back, laughing a little at Johnathon’s expense, trying to lighten the mood.

  “Okay, if I end up with a superhero name, please don’t let that be it,” Johnathon replied, a begging tone carrying through his voice.

  “Oh, no? What sort of name would you like then?” Liliana asked.

  “I don’t know. Something that hints at my power without saying it outright?” Johnathon shouted back. “Something like Dragonhide.”

  “Dragonhide?” Liliana replied. “That’s a ridiculous name. You aren’t a dragon, nor do you look like one.”

  “Maybe not, but it’s cool, don’t you think?” Johnathon tried to convince her. All it did was remind Liliana how much younger Johnathon was to her and Yates.

  Liliana looked over at Yates to see them trying their hardest not to laugh at Johnathon.

  “Why have you gone quiet?” Johnathon asked, a little panicked. “Wait! Are you two laughing at me?”

  “No,” Liliana replied as the laughing broke free from the both of them. Laughing right before this kind of mission didn’t feel right, but it felt good.

  “You guys are so mean to me sometimes,” Johnathon shouted over the laughter.

  “Sorry,” Liliana tried to keep the laughter under control. “But that wasn’t the best name, to be honest. We don’t live in a fantasy world after all.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” Johnathon replied, slightly annoyed that they had shot his suggestion down hard.

  “You’ll come up with something better than that, I’m sure of it,” Yates called back, finally getting their laughter under control.

  They were finally getting close to the prison; it was tucked away at the bottom of the hill they were driving down.

  “Liliana, I think it’s time for you to climb in the back with Johnathon,” Yates said. Liliana unbuckled herself, something she wouldn’t have done a couple of weeks ago. A daredevil. She climbed into the back with Johnathon, almost falling on him in the pr
ocess.

  “Not as easy as they make it look in the movies,” Liliana commented as Johnathon helped steady her against the van wall.

  “Pull that screen across and start the hacking programme on the computer,” Yates ordered as they started down the long drive to the security gate.

  They had fit the van with a whole host of stealth tech which Max’s company had been working on for several years now. Liliana pulled the canvas screen across the width of the van, cutting them off from Yates. It blinked to life to let her and Johnathon see through partially. Yates had previously told them that anyone on the other side would only see a van full to the brim with boxes. Boxes they were supposedly delivering to the prison. It was an amazing piece of technology. Liliana was surprised the military hadn’t claimed it yet.

  Johnathon had opened and booted up the computer they had packed the previous night. Yates had organised the software to be user friendly. All Johnathon had to do was set it running once they pulled up to the gate. It should update their system to let them all in. Liliana could feel Yates slowing down to pull up to the checkpoint.

  “ID,” a voice shouted through the little booth.

  “Here you go.” Yates handed over what was hopefully a convincing fake ID card. Johnathon tapped on his keyboard a couple of times as the guard checked Yates’s ID. He was so focused on the screen. Liliana almost asked him if it was working a couple of times. She had to stay quiet. She didn’t want the guard to hear her over the van’s engine.

  The guard was taking his time checking the ID; he was sending Liliana’s nerves through the roof. She began nervously tapping her hand against her leg, quietly, but radiating anxiety at the same time. She didn’t stop until Johnathon let out a breath of relief. He looked up from the computer and nodded at Liliana. They were in.

  The van shuddered to life once more as they were allowed through the first set of gates. They had to pause for a moment to be shut between the two sets of gates before being let through to the underground car park. Step one was complete. Step two involved an ingenious piece of software left behind in the guard’s station computer. A piece of software that would come in very handy when it came to them escaping together.

  While Yates found them a parking spot, Johnathon and Liliana grabbed the bag they would need for the next stage, yet more tech that Liliana didn’t really understand. They had suited up before heading out earlier that morning, something Liliana was thankful for. The idea of suiting up in the cramped van didn’t really need entertaining.

  A bang reverberated around them in the van. Yates pulled the side door open, letting them out into the car park. They had timed their arrival correctly; the car park was virtually empty this time in the morning.

  “Johnathon, head up to the security office. Stay on comms at all times,” Yates said, handing Johnathon the bag after taking some gauntlets out and strapping them to their wrists. “Liliana, you follow me through security and we’ll find Mr Victor.”

  Together they activated their suit helmets, hiding their faces from the guards in the prison above them. Liliana looked at the three of them, stood next to the van filled with their back up supplies, knowing there was no going back now. Not that she would want to.

  Johnathon headed upstairs before them, pulling out a small handheld device from the bag and activating it as soon as the door from the stairwell was open. The guards in the nearby security office passed out as the device let out a wave designed to render anyone nearby unconscious. Yates had built in shields to their suits, useful in case anyone else had similar technology.

  Johnathon moved into the security room, dragging the three guards to the side of the room and tying them up. He didn’t want anyone waking up before they were meant to, that could get messy. He had control of the prison complex’s security system. That felt far too easy to him.

  “You’re all clear,” Johnathon said through the comms system in his suit.

  “Quick, nicely done,” Liliana replied.

  She and Yates made their way up through the staircase, moving past the security room where Johnathon waved them through.

  “Any sign of Supers?” Yates asked.

  “Nothing yet,” Johnathon replied, checking over the cameras.

  “Keep us in the loop.”

  “According to their system, Max is in Cell Block D. He’s the only one in there.”

  “Is that weird?” Liliana asked. Why would Max have his own cell block? Surely, if nothing else, he would have been placed with the other people Sentinel and the Supers had captured over the years.

  “It’s a little odd, I’ll admit,” Yates replied as they crept through the corridor after Johnathon. “Keep your eyes peeled for a surprise attack.”

  A surprise attack, just what they wanted. A small part of Liliana had hoped they would get in and out without a fight, just using the tech Max had designed to bypass the obstacles a prison presented.

  The prison was quiet around them. The small number of guards on the night shift were all sleeping in the room behind them, the prisoners were out in their cells. Yates and Liliana made their way down the corridor quietly, footsteps muffled by their suits.

  After they passed a long row of cells, they reached a crossroad.

  “Max is to your right.” Johnathon was guiding them through the labyrinth that was the prison. Before they could take the right-hand option, they heard a noise coming from their left. Someone was on the move down to the left.

  “Johnathon, anything on the cameras?” Yates asked.

  “Nothing’s coming up. There’s something odd about this feed. It keeps blinking at me.”

  Yates and Liliana realised the problem at the same time.

  “It’s a recording,” they said together.

  “Someone could be down there, coming for us,” Liliana whispered, as if they could hear her talk. What were they going to do now?

  “I’ll check it out,” Yates decided. “You carry on and find Mr Victor, continue with the mission as planned. Rendezvous back at the van once it’s all done.”

  “Okay,” Liliana agreed, hating the fact she was now on her own. She reluctantly turned her back on Yates as they explored the side of the prison they hadn’t planned for. She faced the next corridor, which seemed even more daunting now she was alone.

  Chapter 29

  Yates stalked down the dim corridor, Liliana walked away behind them. Someone was down here and it wasn’t just the prisoners that were being suspiciously quiet. All the guards had been accounted for, so who was it? Had Sentinel posted some of the Taskforce here o watch over Mr Victor?

  “I know you’re here somewhere,” a voice called through the darkness. Yates had always been quiet on their feet, able to sneak about without being noticed, but their nerves seemed to be affecting that talent tonight. Yates remained silent, trying to get a better sense of the voice before making any decisions.

  A light shone through the small windows above them, moving across the corridor towards Yates. The searchlight was swinging around, trying to find a hint of a break-in.

  “Where are you hiding?” the voice called through the darkness, quiet yet easily carried down the corridor.

  The searchlight shone on a figure slowly stepping down the corridor, red boots making barely a sound with each step. The light cast a strong figure. Armour? Yates couldn’t tell.

  Yates crouched down near an empty cell, trying to assess the figure calling out to them. They could see a hint of a cape draped behind the red boots. They were a Super. Or someone who fancied themselves a Super. Which one, Yates couldn’t tell.

  “Going by your silence, I’m going to guess you’re Max’s reserved bodyguard,” the figure continued to talk to the darkness. “What’s your name again? Bates?” The figure kept creeping closer and closer to their hiding spot. Soon enough they would be spotted. Especially if the searchlight kept swinging around. Yates needed to make a move, and soon.

  “It’s Yates, actually,” they replied, stepping back, keeping to th
e shadows. Waiting for the figure to make their first move, to show who they are.

  A light flickered to life just ahead of Yates, hovering around the figure’s left hand. Fire.

  “And you’re Lightbringer. Good to know,” Yates stated, grabbing for the devices Mr Victor had designed for this particular Super. Two blocks resembling gun clips attached to their wrists, ready to be aimed and fired at Lightbringer.

  “I would have thought a powerless human like you would be running right now.” Lightbringer stepped fully into the swinging searchlight, confirming who she was. “But I guess you aren’t as smart as Max made you out to be.”

  She stood, confident of her victory already, a red cape fluttering behind her bright-white suit. Her arms were exposed to keep clear of the fire she could command at will. Her platinum blonde hair was braided back, a streak of red winding through one side of her head. The red continued down to colour her eyes and her lips, pulled up into a smirk.

  “I’m just wondering how on earth people believe you’re the good guy when you look like that,” Yates shot back, admitting to themselves that the devilish appearance was a bit much for a so-called superhero.

  “Oh, sweetie, I’m gorgeous,” Lightbringer replied, her voice dripping in threats.

  “Don’t call me sweetie,” Yates replied as Lightbringer prepared to attack.

  Lightbringer threw her arms up in unison, bright flames quickly forming at the ends of her closed fists, aimed directly at Yates. In return, Yates lifted their own arms, aiming the specially designed weapons back at her.

  They shot flames and countermeasures simultaneously, meeting together in the hallway, which was lit up by the fire. Yates wasn’t sure how much fire suppressants they had at their disposal, hopefully it would be enough to put Lightbringer down.

  Hot met cold in the middle of the corridor, each one vying for triumph. Lightbringer threw everything she had into her fire stream, trying to power through the fire suppressants. However, Mr Victor had designed this weapon to release at a higher velocity to Lightbringer’s fire. Soon enough, the fire died down to just cover Lightbringer’s fingers. It flickered, struggling to survive under Yates’s counterattack.