The Hazing Tower

by Leland Roys

  “Rebecca?”

  She jumped up and turned on the lights. “Logan?”

  “Hello, Rebecca. You are even more beautiful, if that is possible.”

  She looked into his blue eyes. It has been so long. She had not been expecting him to come alone. His hands were covered in blood. It looked like he had been in a fight.

  “Why? What are you doing here alone?” she asked him.

  He walked over and handed her a cigarette. “I still remember which ones you like.” He lit it for her and sat down.

  “I think you know the answer to that,” Logan responded. “To die. It’s what you want, right?”

  She sat back down, her hands were shaking as she smelled the sweet smoke filling the air.

  She nodded. “I was going to kill you and the men you brought to take Nikki.”

  “I killed the men sent with me,” Logan said.

  Rebecca looked at the blood on his hands.

  “I tricked Richter one last time; he expects me to bring you all back to his estate.”

  He walked over and sat next to her.

  “The man that has been giving you orders, his name is Richter,” Logan told Rebecca.

  “The man with the hideous face? He’s one of your men, right?”

  “He was. A long time ago, we thought we had perfected the serum, Rebecca. He was a scientist, a brilliant scientist at one point. Now, he is much stronger than I am; he took over a long time ago. He is completely insane, Rebecca, more now than ever.”

  “Mr. X. The serum.”

  “Mr. X?” Logan looked confused.

  “I gave him that name. It wasn’t until recently I started to guess that maybe he had taken control. I never knew his real name.”

  “Yes. You see, me and you, Nikki, Alex. There is more to this genetic condition than the skills it gives us. Let me ask you something, Rebecca. Do you still love art? Music? Travel?”

  “Of course. I always have.”

  “Did you ever wonder why you never got bored of life after hundreds of years? Why you didn’t fall behind, considering how fast the world is changing.”

  She hadn’t thought about that. She started to listen closely.

  “You crave excitement, learning, knowledge. It’s part of the condition. It took me decades to figure it out. It’s what keeps us from going insane.”

  “Richter — the serum isn’t perfect?” Rebecca said, recognizing what Logan was saying. It was making sense now.

  He nodded. “He slowly went insane. He is stuck in the past. His mind cannot handle the fast changes the world offers up. Each year he slips more into the abyss. He surrounds himself with the past, his past. The future scares him. He has gone almost completely mad. Even worse — I don’t know if it’s the paranoia or the serum, maybe both — he is super sensitive to any danger. He can react much faster than us. I tried to eliminate him once; he let me live only because he still wanted to use me. Richter wants Nikki. At first it was to get his sanity back. Now, he is too far gone. He doesn’t even realize he is insane now. He wants Nikki because he is aging.”

  “Yes, I noticed that,” Rebecca said.

  “He wants to live forever, of course. He knows Nikki is the key to that.”

  “The clues. All the information I gathered over the years. You gave that to me?” Rebecca asked.

  He smiled but still looked sad. “Yes. Some of it, you found a lot yourself. He keeps me on a tight leash. He is very smart and paranoid; he has people watching everyone. I am sure he knows by now that I have betrayed him. One moment he can be as clear and sharp as ever, the next, completely insane. It’s like a light switch.”

  “Logan, we need to go. Nikki and Alex are not here.”

  “Yes, I figured that.”

  “They are on their way to find you. And another thing. This place is set to explode.”

  He didn’t seem shocked by that statement at all.

  “I would have expected nothing less from you. I don’t care anymore, Rebecca. But you, Rebecca. I don’t think you are ready to die just yet. I can see it in your eyes.”

  She looked down and thought about Hunter.

  “You are falling in love?” He looked at her closely.

  She didn’t answer.

  “It wasn’t you then. You didn’t kill Mia’s parents?”

  He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Rebecca. In any case, I created the monster, so it might as well have been me. I created the devil himself. Richter killed them. He finds pleasure in killing. It is a game to him.”

  “He was going to kill me, wasn’t he?” Rebecca asked.

  “Yes, he wanted to. He still trusted me back then, I talked him out of it. I made a deal with him.”

  “Not to see me again?”

  He nodded.

  Rebecca put her head down as the full reality flooded over her. “Will you help me go after Richter? I sent Nikki on a suicide mission.”

  “You care about her. You will die for her?”

  “Yes. I would. Don’t ask me to explain, because I can’t.”

  He lit his own cigarette. “We will die if we take Richter on. But then, if we are already dead in any case, why not one last adventure? I do so miss our adventures.”

  Hunter heard everything on his headset link. He felt numb. She had planned to die? She was falling in love? With him? He pulled the sniper rifle back up and walked slowly inside.

  Logan held out his hand. “Hunter, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Your reputation precedes you.”

  Hunter just nodded and looked at Rebecca.

  “You forgot to add the part where you had planned to die here” Hunter told Rebecca, sounding hurt and angry.

  Logan broke the tension. “I read up on you. You were the top sniper, best in the CIA. Are you still as good?”

  “I can hold my own.”

  “Then we need you — if we want to save Nikki and your friends.”

  Only the engine sound roared through the Jeep as they drove down the dark, windy road. Nikki pulled the phone from her pocket. Alex glanced over and quickly looked away.

  Nikki could see Alex’s hands shaking on the steering wheel. Tears rolled down her face. “I’m so sorry, Alex.”

  “We never have to say we’re sorry, Nikki. Promise me that. Promise we will be together forever.”

  “I promise. Together forever, Alex; I do love you, Alex. I love you more than I can explain.”

  He held her hand softly, “I won’t let anyone hurt you, Nikki.” His eyes had fire in them. She tried as hard as she could to hide what she knew. She couldn’t let him know what Rebecca had opened her eyes to. How had she not thought of it before? She knew why; it was because for once, for the first time, her life was worth living. She wanted so badly to live now. She held his hand tighter.

  They pulled up to Rebecca’s jet. It was even larger than the one she flew in on, Nikki noticed. She was starting to take this lifestyle as normal, surprised how fast that was happening.

  She went up the ladder first and looked down at Alex unloading the car. He must be broken inside, she thought to herself. She had to shake it off for now; there wasn’t time. Rebecca was right, she was sure of that. A war was on the way, and she was somehow the key. The sad memories would have to be locked up for now. It was time for her to be a cop again, time for those street smarts. She walked inside. She had almost forgotten in the chaos of it all.

  “Nikki? Are you Nikki?” Joshua asked.

  “Oh God! Joshua, right? Yes, it’s me. Sit back down, you look so tired.”

  “Please, can you help Jinny? Rebecca said you might be able to. If you can, I beg you.”

  “Show me.”

  They walked back into the jet. She saw her, a beautiful young girl. She looked so sick, so sad.

  “This is Jinny?”

  “Yes, they injected her with something, it was meant for you,” Josh said. “I tried to give her my blood. It didn’t help; she’s getting worse. I love her —” He started to break down.

 
Alex walked up, and she could hear the jet engines start up. Nikki could hear Jinny trying to say something. She couldn’t hear her. She knelt down and got close to her and held her hand.

  “Tell Josh I need to talk to you alone, please?”

  Nikki motioned to Josh, “Just for a minute, OK?”

  She was alone with Jinny now. “Nikki, is that your name?”

  “Yes, I’m here. I heard you have been trying to help us.”

  “Don’t tell Josh, OK. I need you to promise me, if helping me —” she paused to gather her strength.

  “If helping me is going to hurt you, I don’t want you to do it. Promise me.”

  Nikki wiped a tear from Jinny’s face. She was so young and so brave.

  “I can see he loves you very much.”

  Jinny nodded. “He’s one of a kind.” Another tear rolled down her cheek.

  “Rebecca’s smart; if she says it will work, I am sure it will. Why don’t you try to rest now.”

  Nikki walked back into the main cabin and sat down with Josh and Alex as the jet took off into the black sky.

  “Tell me everything Rebecca said, Josh. And Alex, you have done this before, with me, right?”

  “Yes, but Nikki.”

  She stopped him and got real close to him. “I want to do this. I understand the danger. I need to do this, Alex.”

  He nodded.

  Nikki couldn’t sleep. Her blood was being pumped through some machine and then back into Jinny and Josh. They were both out cold with the drugs Rebecca had prepared.

  “You really should sleep,” Alex told Nikki, taking her hand. “I can give you something.”

  She shook her head. “I would rather talk to you. Do you think they will survive?”

  “I don’t know. I will try my best. I’ve never done this to someone without the gene before. I have no idea.”

  “We have a couple of hours, right? Before we land?”

  “Yes, almost four hours.”

  “I know my timing is so way off. I wondered if you could tell me, I mean, your story. How you are here? Rebecca. The mystery of it all.

  “I understand if you don’t want to talk about it now, I mean, she is gone. I just wondered if you could tell me about your life.”

  “I don’t want to hide anything from you, Nikki, we are one now. You should know the story before we start this fight.

  “It’s good you are sitting down for this. It’s a bit freaky.” He tried to smile.

  “I was born in 1892. I’m a baby compared to Rebecca, I mean was.” She could see the pain in his eyes.

  “My family was actually quite wealthy at the time. Life seemed good for a short time, such a short time. It was a leap year you know; 1892 — not that it matters, just weird, I guess.”

  She didn’t want to even blink, to miss even a second of this.

  “Cholera. A nasty infection. Back then they didn’t really have a clue of how to stop it, not like now with antibiotics and all. My father died first, then my sister. I was sick as well. At the time, I thought it was cholera; of course, now, I know it wasn’t.

  “You remember the pain, of course.”

  She nodded.

  “I was in a hospital. They didn’t have much for pain back then, and they didn’t even know why I was sick. I tried to end it, like you did. I just wanted to go.

  “I grabbed my clothes and stumbled out into the cold rain. I still remember the rain that day. I was 31 years old. I planned to jump into the river. I figured the cold would kill me quickly.”

  “Rebecca—” He paused.

  “I woke up in her house, much as you did mine. I don’t remember how she even got me there. After a couple of months, I was as strong and healthy as I had ever been, more so, as you know by now. At first, I didn’t know what to think. I wanted to see my mother, my brother. I didn’t believe her at first, of course. She said I was going to live forever, never get sick again. I thought she was insane. Then something changed.”

  “You fell in love.” Nikki held his hand.

  He nodded.

  “I did. I had never met anyone like her before. It was like she could see right through me. She was so patient, so kind.”

  “And beautiful. You can say it. It’s OK, Alex.”

  “Yes, of course. That was part of it, I’m sure,” he said. “For a long time, we lived a dream. We traveled to almost every place in the world. The thing is, Nikki, I have always been, what’s the word, well, not street smart. You are street smart; Rebecca was. I could only see the good in life. I never saw the evil. Rebecca could see it.”

  “She left you, right?”

  “Yes. This evil she talks about. She told me all about it, as much as she knew at least. We were going to run away, to hide. I—” He paused.

  “One day — I remember it like it was yesterday — we were in New York City. You remember the apartment; it’s where you first found me. It was a very cold winter that year. I could tell she’d been crying. She told me she was leaving, and not to follow her. I begged her to take me with her. I pleaded.” He paused. “She told me she didn’t love me anymore, that she had met someone new. She told me to leave her alone, that I was a child and needed to learn to live on my own.”

  “Did you know why she really left?”

  “Not at first. I was crushed. She was right that I was a child. I didn’t see the big picture like she did. There is evil in this world beyond what I could comprehend. Later, many years later, I started to understand that maybe she was trying to protect me, to save me yet again. You see, though, I’ve been hiding from this, hiding from the reality of what she always knew. I thought I could just close my eyes and the world would be fine. I knew that wasn’t true deep inside . . . I never went back to that place, our apartment; the next time I was there, well, you remember—”

  She nodded.

  “Now it’s my turn, Nikki. I need to fight like she did. I can’t hide anymore.”

  “You are not alone. Remember: I am the key. I know you will want to protect me, and trust me, I love that about you. Alex, we need to do this together. Rebecca knows how powerful these people are. If we fight them, we need all the help we can get. We need Joshua and Jinny as well; we need everyone if we are going to win.”

  “I know.” He pulled her close and softly touched her hair. “Let’s try not to think about it for a couple of hours.”

  Nikki looked over to Alex, his eyes were closed. Rebecca had been right all along. Nikki had to be the one to end this, her alone. Even if they could kill this monster, she was still a danger alive; her very existence put everyone else at risk.

  She had to die, and this time she wanted more than anything to live. At least she had a taste of real life, of love, of joy, more than most people, she figured. A part of her wanted to tell Alex everything. She knew he would try to stop her. He would do anything to protect her. It was up to her to put other people above her life. She always had before. She was born for this, saving people; it was who she was. Maybe fate did exist.

  She stared out at the stars and thought back to camping trips with her father. Maybe she would see him soon. She felt it getting closer again; this time it seemed closer than ever.

  • • •

  Paris

  Nikki didn’t sleep the whole flight. They landed at a private airstrip outside of Paris. The plan was to get to Rebecca’s flat in Paris and from there, well, she had no clue.

  They all helped Jinny and Josh into a van. Jinny had some color back now, but still looked very ill. Nikki had to get some strength back before she could give any more of her blood.

  She looked out through the tinted windows at the Paris streets. It was still beautiful, even though she knew what she did. If only she had more time; the world must be a wondrous place. She could see that now. She had never left New York before all of this. Now she longed to see the world with Alex. She had to keep telling herself that some things were more important than her own happiness.

  It was as if they had g
one back in time. The buildings looked nothing like the city she was used to. The streets were so small; it was like a storybook.

  She was mesmerized by the scenery as the van slowed to a stop. They had pulled into an underground garage.

  “We’re here.” Alex had that look again.

  The flat was huge. It must be four stories, Nikki thought to herself. They set up Josh and Jinny in a bedroom and tried to make them as comfortable as possible. They were both still out cold.

  Nikki was staring out the window at the street below. She felt Alex’s arm on her shoulder.

  “I want to give them another transfusion.”

  “You will pass out, Nikki. At least let me feed you.”

  She smiled. “I’m stubborn, I know.”

  “You’re not stubborn, you’re kind. You always think about other people before yourself. It’s one of the things I love about you, Nikki.”

  She felt a lump in her throat as she thought, once again, about what Rebecca had said.

  The food did taste great. She was starving, and all the blood she gave had sucked her strength. She ate enough for three persons.

  “So we need a plan,” she said, looking up from her food.

  He nodded. “In the morning we can start. You have the data from her phone. Let’s just hope Josh and Jinny get better. I think we will need their expertise.”

  “Do you think it’s possible? To kill him, I mean.”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. I wish now I had asked her more about Logan. Like I said, my eyes were closed before. I was so foolish. She said he always is a step ahead; that means we need to be even further ahead. You saw how much power you have, Nikki. I don’t think Logan could foresee that.”

  She could hear the rain picking up outside. It sounded almost like music; all the roofs here seemed to be metal.

  “You really should sleep now, Nikki.”

  “OK, one more transfusion, then take me to bed?”

  Nikki put her arm over and felt for Alex. Her eyes opened wide when she felt the soft skin. That didn’t feel like Alex.

  “Jinny —”