by Lucy Rains
My feet began moving then, walking out of the water, pushing my body towards the source of the presence. I must have been going in the right direction, because the emotions became clearer, stronger.
As I moved, the bitterness became clearer and I had an idea of who we were dealing with. Pierce followed behind me, trusting my instinct. I wove through sand dunes, and around tall grass to a small wooden shack by a towering resort that was once used to rent out umbrellas and beach chairs. The sign was sun faded and there were no supplies around the building to rent. You could see into the shack over the bar counter and it appeared to be deserted.
I looked around, wondering if I was in the right place. But with each step the emotions became stronger. I eyed the back door to the unit and was ready to open it when Pierce stepped in front of me, placing a hand on my waist to stop me. He grabbed the handle and pulled the door open slowly, looking around inside.
“Katie?”
Shock pulsed through me as I stepped closer, looking around Pierce’s body to see a female figure, huddled on the floor in a corner of the wooden shack. Sand was gathered in piles around the floor, creating a dusty white surface that she sat on. Her knees were bent, tucked close to her body. I pushed Pierce forward, urging him to step inside and I followed.
My lip curled and I would have sent a bolt of energy straight into her head if she didn’t already look a terrible sight. A black eye, cut lip, bruises along her arms. Her clothes were stained with dirt and possibly blood.
“What the hell?” I hissed.
Pierce placed a hand on my arm to steady me, but I felt his own wary emotions.
Katie glared at me, then at Pierce. “I should kill both of you,” she said, but her voice lacked its strength.
I wanted to react to her comment, but I was too stunned at her presence to react. Then her words sent questions running through my mind. Why didn’t she shoot us? What was stopping her?
“Not as much as we should kill you,” Pierce retorted.
Katie raised an eyebrow and began moving, pulling herself up to a stand. I shifted my feet, bringing up my hands in defense if needed. My eyes watched every twitch of her muscles, eyeing her hands for any weapons. I saw the subtle outline of a firearm tucked into the side of her jeans under shirt. But there was no hostility. No emotional signals that she wanted to attack us.
“You’re fools,” She grimaced as she moved. “You should have left the country as soon as possible.”
Before I could snap at her Pierce answered first. “Every option has its risks. Airports especially.”
“Why?” I asked. “Why are you even here? What do you want?”
“How did you find us?” Pierce asks over my own questions.
Katie scowls at both of us, knowing she needed to share information but not really wanting to. “I came to warn you.”
“Bull shit,” I say.
“Not for you,” she snaps, her eyes flickering towards Pierce. She tightened her glare on my face. "I don't owe you anything."
"Katie," Pierce said, and I hated her name on his tongue. “How did you find us?”
Katie glanced at me, her eyes running over the length of my barely covered body. “Zraa figured you would head somewhere familiar. So they have been watching any cities that you guys had been sent to for past operations. A few days ago, Alex and...her, were seen getting ice cream.”
My hand went to my forehead and I closed my eyes in frustration. She wasn't lying. The realization that we had truly been found became real in that moment.
“We tracked the vehicle they were driving and located it here.”
My stomach dipped nauseously. I wanted to run at that moment, take Pierce and head to the nearest airport.
"You're all fools…” she whispered again.
“Why did you come?” Pierce asked.
Her face softened as she looked at Pierce. “I saw the lab. I saw the bodies….” her voice trailed off. “I realized it was all wrong. Zraa, Jason, what we were working for.” Her head shook, “I realized that you were not the enemy.”
I glanced at Pierce, What do we do?
Just let her talk.
I didn’t want to let her talk, I didn’t trust her.
“I tried talking to Ari, tried to tell her that the lab, about what we had seen. The experiments, the rooms...” she shuddered. “But she wouldn’t listen. And then others found out that I was questioning things.” Her head dipped down and she pushed into a pile of sand with her tennis shoe.
“What do you want?” I asked again. “You’re not here just to warn us.”
Her head snapped up. I expected a nasty glare again but her emotions turned desperate. Her eyes wide with fear. “Take me with you,” she gushed. “They're after me and there’s no where I can go.”
I jerked back like I had been slapped, my head shaking.
“No,” Pierce said, mimicking my own thoughts. “That’s not an option.”
Katie tilted her head when she looked at Pierce, her mouth twisting into a smile. “Yes you can. I know you guys have special abilities.”
“You don’t know anything,” I said calmly.
“I saw Jason’s body.” Her mouth twisted in disgust. “And Marcus. Self inflicted head shots?” She shook her head. “I know what I saw.” She stared right at me, “And I know what I felt.” She tapped her temple with her index finger. I remembered then that Gavin had been in her head back at the house, forcing her to shoot Ariana with the tranquilizer.
I let out a heavy sigh, taking a step back, ready to be done with the conversation. Alarm bells were firing in my head that we needed to get as far away from here as possible.
We need to go! I shouted at Pierce.
He didn’t move, still looking at Katie.
“They have to be following her, Pierce. We need to go now,” I stated aloud since mentally communicating wasn’t working.
“Please!” Katie said again, and I noticed her hands shaking. “I know you have ways you can take me. I can help you!”
Pierce began shaking his head again, opening his mouth to speak, when Katie was suddenly flung backwards. A dot of red appearing in the middle of her forehead. Her eyes were wide open, a trickle of red running down her face. She fell against the wooden wall and slid to the floor.
Silent. Unmoving.
Chapter 10
I leaped back from her dead body, my mouth falling open in a shriek.
I turned to yell at Pierce, but stopped when I saw his fluttering eyelids, his body frozen as it was caught in his premonitions.
My own body froze as I felt the hostility closing in on us.
“Pierce,” I choked, reaching to grab hold of his arm.
My body was suddenly tackled and I was pulled on top of Pierce’s body as we rolled to the floor. Two bullets pierced the wall above Katie’s head and I bit down on my lip to keep from crying out.
Pierce pushed me onto the floor, his body hovering above me. I winced when another bullet cracked into the wall just above us.
He looked down at me, “I need you to tell me how many are out there.”
My chest heaved with each breath, I coughed on the sand that filled my nose. I pulled a hand up and pushed it into his chest that loomed so close to my own. When his vibrations pulsed into my hand I closed my eyes, pushing my 6th sense out, beyond the shed, searching the surrounding area.
I felt them. The aggressive presence of one, two, three, I kept looking, four individuals. My eyes pinched and I pushed harder into Pierce’s chest, letting his energy run into me and support my ability.
“Four,” I whispered. I craned my neck back, taking my hand from his chest and pointing the direction my head was pointing. “Two that way.” I closed my eyes and pointed to my right, where the door was, “One that way. I can’t get a strong enough grab where the fourth one is.”
Pierce nodded, then looked behind him, at Katie’s still body.
“Grab her gun,” I said.
Pierce army crawled over an
d pulled her shirt up to retrieve the handgun.
“How many bullets does it have?” I asked.
Pierce fidgeted with the glock, opening the clip and then closing it. “6 rounds.”
Another bullet into the wall.
“How can they attack us with all the people out there on the beach? Why aren’t people screaming?” I asked.
“Suppressors. Snipers. I wasn’t paying attention when we were talking to her, but they might have cleared the area.”
“Snipers…” I said. “That's probably where the fourth shooter is, up in a building.”
Suddenly the door was kicked open, flinging backwards into the wall with an ear shattering bang. I jerked my hands up, throwing out a force of energy to knock the person backwards that was trying to enter. Bending my knees to my chest, I rolled backwards over my shoulder and came to a crouch. Pierce positioned himself beside the door, peering around it to aim his gun at our attacker.
A shock of blonde hair paused his hand, “Ari?” He leaned farther out to see her.
My energy had knocked her back on her butt and she was climbing out of the sand to aim her weapon again. She frowned lifting her weapon and I let out another rush of energy, and again she was on her ass. I smiled.
“Stop using your energy,” Pierce barked.
My upper lip curled in frustration, “This is life or death! You expect me not to defend myself? To defend you?”
I looked back to Ariana as she knelt in the sand, talking into an ear mic while lifting her weapon again. She stood up, slowly, walking forward as she spoke. “I have eyes on both targets. Permission to fire?”
“Shoot her, Pierce.”
Pierce gripped his gun, kneeling on the floor and leaning against the wall as he aimed.
Ariana’s eyes went wide, her feet stopping. “Target has a weapon,” she said quietly. She brought her other hand to steady her gun and yelled, “Pierce, drop your weapon!”
I lifted both hands, ready to knock her flat again if needed.
“Don’t.” Pierce uttered. “I’ll do it.”
I eyed the weapon she held, moving from me to Pierce. The harm she intended to inflict on him made the hair on my neck raise and my canines sharpen. I bared my teeth to her, sinking lower into my crouched position, ready to strike if needed.
“Pierce!” She yelled one last time, a split second before Pierce’s gun went off.
At the same moment his shot fired another person jumped into the wooden shack from over the open counter bar, landing several feet behind Pierce. He was fast. But not faster than me.
The attacker had his focus on Pierce so he didn’t see me come to a stand. He drew an arm back in preparation to strike at Pierce, but before his hand could come forward, my foot came up and connected with his temple. The man staggered, his eyes landing on me as he tried to regain his footing. My fist connected with his trachea, while my knee simultaneously connected with his lower abdomen.
At this point he was writhing on the ground, where Pierce fired a bullet into his head.
I lowered down into my crouch again, backing against the wall. Pierce pulled the gun from the man’s belt and slid it into the back of his jeans.
“Two down,” he said quietly. “Look for the others.”
I drew in a shaky breath, glancing at Ariana’s body laying in the sand. Her prostrate body was beginning to draw attention. The gun shots must have been heard. I felt the alarm increasing in the area around us.
Setting a knee on the floor, I closed my eyes again and pushed outward. Someone was nearby, but not approaching. Waiting for us to emerge. I lifted my hand and pointed behind me again, where I had pointed out the first time.
Pierce shifted but I did not open my eyes, still searching for the fourth. I lifted my head, directing my ability up into the sky, reaching around the hotel buildings. It was then that I felt the distinct hostility that I was looking for. Whoever it was, they were becoming impatient, restless.
“Duck low!” Pierce shouted. But not before it felt like my cheek had been lit on fire. I fell to the ground, crying out as a bullet grazed the left side of my face. My hand instinctively went to my cheek, becoming wet and sticky with my blood.
A low curse escaped Pierce. Crimson drops pelted the sandy floor beneath me, a stark contrast to the white sand. The pain was easing with each passing second, and I released a breath.
“I’m okay,” I said. The burning had dissipated and now my cheek only felt a little sore. “Just a small graze.”
“We need to move,” Pierce said.
“Wait!" I gasped. “What about the others? The guys? Zraa knows we’re here, what if…” I couldn’t finish the thought out loud. The others were in danger.
Pierce shook his head, “I didn’t bring my phone. I thought we were going to swim.”
Dread filled my core, moving up through my chest and into my throat. I choked on it, suffocating on the thoughts of the other guys in danger.
Another bullet shot through the wall next to me. I scooted across the sandy floor to prop myself under the bar counter. It put me in front of the open door, but the bullets weren’t being aimed in that direction.
“Doesn’t matter where you go. His gun probably has a heat seeking scope,” Pierce said. “We need to move.”
I shook my head, “How? We can’t just run out there. It only takes one good shot to the head or neck to end one of us.”
Pierce’s arms flexed, sweat was dripping off of him and his arms glistened in the sunlight.
Shouting rose up from outside, a man had come over to Ariana’s body. He was talking on a cell phone.
“How about we make a run for the water?” I asked. “We make it to the ocean, we go under, swim down the shoreline.”
Pierce swiped a hand over his forehead. His white shirt was sticking to his body. He brought his body up, and moved into a squatting position.
“It will be the best way for us to disappear,” I continued. “Throw off any witnesses.”
“Can you point out the location of the sniper?” Pierce asked, flinching as a bullet hit the wall above his head.
I raised my hand, pointing in the general direction. “Up there, around mid level. But you have to know exactly what you’re shooting at. You can’t just put bullets through people’s hotel windows.”
Pierce drew in a deep breath and then exhaled. Putting both hands around the glock, he leaned his head out the door and raised the gun. Before he could fire off a shot though, he was forced back by a bullet hitting his right shoulder.
The pain pulled at the lines around his eyes. He leaned against the wall and took deep breaths, waiting for the wound to close. My stomach curled at the sight of blood that dripped down his wrist, over his fingers, and onto the floor.
It was time to end this.
I gritted my teeth, “Let me help you.”
Pierce opened an eye, shook his head.
Determination was set into my mind and I crawled forward. “Too bad.”
“Jade,” he growled through clenched teeth. He twisted his hand around, testing his tendons and the freshly healed wound. “What are you doing?”
I paused in front of the open door. People were gathering, and beginning to look around the area for Ariana’s killer. Sirens echoed in the distance. “We lean out together, I use my energy to both throw him off and slow down his bullets.”
“No,” he said again. “We’re going to draw too much attention.”
“We don’t have time!” I shouted.
The sirens were getting louder. Another low curse slipped from his mouth. Ignoring him, I propped myself up on a knee and Pierce positioned himself above me.
“On three,” he said. “One, two, three!”
We leaned out together around the corner of the hut, Pierce with his gun raised, me with my hands up. Immediately, a bullet bit into my upper thigh, but I threw out a gust of energy into the air anyway, aiming for the direction I had felt the shooter. I saw a dark figure moving on a hotel balco
ny. A black hat, sunglasses. Hot tears pricked my eyes, and I wasn’t able to hold myself up. My rear hit the wooden floor, but I maintained my focus on pushing my energy out.
Pierce let out a shot. Once, then twice. Screams filled the air. I felt the last hostile presence approach behind us, quickly advancing, hoping to take advantage of our exposed backs.
Pierce wrapped an arm around my waist, swiftly pulling me into him and rotating us out of the shack and into the sand. As soon as we moved, bullets peppered the wall where he had been. We rolled away from the doorway and out into the open. My hands raised up while we rolled and I threw out a force strong enough to throw our attacker backwards while Pierce simultaneously shot a bullet into his chest.
“Run, Jade!” Pierce urged, grabbing my hand and pulling me to my feet. My left thigh ached where I was still healing, and I limped the first few steps. Pierce glanced back at me, down to my limp. He growled in fury at the sight of blood running down my leg. Tucking his gun into the front of his jeans, he scooped me up and ran with me towards the water.
People drew back from us, mothers grabbed their children. The yelling behind us increased and I gripped tighter to Pierce. I looked over his shoulder to see police officials coming down the boardwalk between the resorts and pulling out their weapons.
“Hurry,” I whispered.
Pierce’s stride lengthened and within seconds we were immersed under sea water. My eyes closed as the fluttering sensations ran over my entire body, calming the anxiety in my mind. My muscles relaxed and my mind cleared.
Pierce grabbed my hand and we began swimming, farther out into the ocean at first, away from the shore. Then we turned and began swimming parallel to the beach. I wanted to push forward with everything I had, but I knew that would end badly. My fingers locked around Pierce’s and I let him help me along at his own pace.
We surfaced every several seconds to check our direction and location. At one point I looked back at the spot where we had entered the water. Several people stood knee deep, looking into the water, pointing. The sound of a boat motor came into the vicinity and I knew we had to get out of the water as soon as possible.
