Marked by Pain

by Cece Rose

  Chapter 16

  Mackenzie

  Sitting on the cold floor of an unfamiliar grey room, I try to ignore the smug look on Verity’s face as she looks down at me. The victory in her green eyes is clear; she tricked us, betrayed us, and now we were going to pay the price for it. Great.

  “You really thought you could all just walk out of here?” Alaric asks me. I look to Ryan who is lying unconscious on the floor across from me.

  “I can’t believe she really believed she could just leap over the wall and into freedom,” Verity snorts, and I freeze as I stare at her. Wait, does she not know about the tunnels?

  “I wasn’t going anywhere. I was trying to save you, you selfish bitch,” I growl.

  “Save me? Did you really believe he was going to kill me?” she taunts, leaning down over me, a smug grin spread across her face. Her eyes suddenly widen, and she chokes. I blink in confusion, then I see the blood, and the knife in her gut. We have so many powers that could do the job, so many kinder ways to do it, but Alaric stabs her with a knife. I look over her shoulder, and he’s holding her from behind with his arm wrapped around her stomach, still holding the blade in. Verity’s head turns slightly, as if trying to look at him, and her mouth moves, but no sound comes out. He drags the knife further up her stomach, before roughly pulling the blade out. He steps back and lets her drop to the floor.

  “You’re both fools,” he says quietly, as he steps over her and towards me. I scramble back, trying to get away from both him and the blood that’s seeping across the floor. He laughs.

  “How could you just gut her like that?” I shout, and I flick my eyes behind him at Verity. I feel sick to my stomach when I see that she's still alive, but bleeding out fast. I doubt even a healer as gifted as Kelly could save her right now.

  “Who else knew about your escape attempt?” he asks.

  “Nobody,” I answer honestly.

  “You're saying Daniels has no idea you were attempting to break out his sister?” he questions disbelievingly.

  “Do you really think he'd let us do it? You know if he knew what I had planned, he'd have done it himself,” I reply, and he nods, seeing the logic in my words. Anyone who knows Mr Daniels would know that he wouldn't let something be so out of his control like this. I wish he had been there, had known about this. He would have had a better plan. Maybe Verity would have listened to him and we'd all be free right now.

  Hearing Ryan stirring, I turn to him. “Ry?” I ask quietly, hoping he can hear me. Verity knocked him pretty damn hard.

  “Why must I have not just one, but two disappointments for my children?” Alaric muses aloud to himself. I crawl closer to Ryan and rest my hand on his face as I look at him.

  “Ry?” I whisper again.

  “Shut up, Kennie. Why so loud?” he grumbles, batting my hand away.

  “You can't be serious. Ryan, get the hell up!” I snap, smacking his shoulder lightly, but really, I'm relieved he seems to be okay.

  “What are you bitching about?” he questions as he sits up slowly. His eyes blink open and as he looks between me and Alaric I see the realisation hit him as he remembers exactly what happened before. “Fuck.”

  “Now you get it,” I grumble, before looking up at Alaric “What now, asshole?” I ask.

  “Your mother really forgot to teach you two manners,” he chastises.

  “Shut up!” Ryan snaps, as he stands up on unsteady feet. I follow his movement and we both put our backs to the wall as we face him.

  “Oh, she taught us manners. But she didn't teach us to show those manners to psychopathic rebels who want to wipe out the human race,” I say. Ryan gives me a look. “What? It's not like he's not already planning to lock us up or kill us for trying to escape? What's the use of us playing nice now?” I ask him.

  “That's a fair point,” Ryan says, and then he shoves a gust of air at Alaric sending him flying back into the other wall. “Quick!” he shouts, and we sprint for the door. I pull it open, relieved when it clicks and opens with ease, as I'm about to step out, we're both thrown back by a jet of water. I call on my fire mark, and burn through the water creating a wall of steam. I reach for Ry's hand and try to tug him with me back towards the door, but I slide on the wet floor, pulling him to the ground with me. At first I think I've just slipped in the excess water from the jet shot at us, but then I realise exactly what it is. Verity's blood. Shit.

  “Oh my fucking god,” Ryan whispers in a mortified voice, and then I can hear him vomiting behind me. I really hope he didn't get it on my boots. The smoke screen clears, and a few of the rebels walk in and block the door.

  Alaric walks over to us, pausing right in front of us, just out of the puddle of blood. “Now, not only are you both disappointments, but you're idiots too. You cannot escape, it is hopeless for you to even try. If you cooperate, we’re not intending to harm either of you.” He turns his eyes to me. “This is why we had to remove Verity, in order to keep you safe, Mackenzie.”

  “Safe? Keeping me locked in a compound filled with blood-purity psychos isn't safe!” I growl, feeling a hand rest on my arm.

  “Now isn't the right time, Kennie,” Ryan warns quietly.

  “Perhaps one of you retains some sense at least,” Alaric drawls. “Put your hands out,” he says. Neither of us move. “Put your fucking hands out now, or I will knock you both out and drag you to your cells by your feet,” he says. Begrudgingly we hold our hands out. Iron cuffs are shackled onto our wrists, each with the protection mark engraved into them, as well as the magic itself used to protect others from our marks. Magic-muting cuffs. Great.

  We're pulled to our feet by a couple of unfamiliar men. Well, they're unfamiliar to me. Ryan is glaring at them in a way that screams he knows them all too well.

  “Throw them in separate cells, hell, separate cell blocks for that matter. I don't want any chance of them being able to coordinate another escape attempt. Are we clear?” Alaric demands, and they swiftly nod, tugging us along.

  Great, how are we getting out of here now? And will Enzo and the twins be able to find me in whatever hole he has me thrown into?

  Chapter 17

  Logan

  “Where the fuck is Kenzie?” I ask Daniels, crossing my arms over my chest. Locke is standing firmly at my side, and Enzo on the other.

  “She tried to escape with East and Ryan but she failed...” he answers, trailing off as he looks away.

  “Well no shit, Sherlock, we know that much already,” Enzo snaps, stepping forward towards his friend.

  “Verity's dead. They've said Kenzie did it. I've contacted East and he isn't sure what happened with them after he got away. He said Verity was escaping with them and betrayed them, he also said he wasn't sure why Verity was going with them anyway. Apparently Ryan said there wasn't time to explain,” he says. His voice cracks a little as he talks about Verity dying, but he covers it quickly, carrying on as if nothing is wrong.

  “None of this makes any damn sense,” I say, my mind drifts back to my conversation with Kenzie in the shower. She knew we had an escape plan. She knew we'd get her and East out, Ryan too if he wanted to leave. Which we didn't think he did before now. Something isn't right here... why would she do this and risk everything we had planned?

  “So East has no idea why they were breaking him out that night? Or why Verity was going with him? I don't get why Kenzie wouldn't just wait for us,” Locke questions, as if reading my mind. I'd spilled the beans to the others about telling Kenzie the truth. They weren't happy, but I think they were all secretly happy not to have to lie to her anymore. Seeing her hurt like that had been tough for us all.

  “He's as confused as the rest of us, but it seemed as if Verity was escaping too, for whatever reason,” he answers.

  “So they could be lying about Kenzie killing Verity?” Enzo questions.

  “Yes, they could,” Daniels answers him, but he doesn't sound convinced.

  “Kenzie wouldn't have killed her unless she ha
d to, you know that, right?” I say, stepping forward and resting a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugs me off as he steps back away from us.

  “She made her views on Verity clear to me before. Verity was past saving. I know she was probably right, but she was my sister, and now she's gone for good. I'll never get a chance to save her now,” he replies.

  I share a look with Locke. I know I'd never stop trying to save my twin, and he'd be the same with me. Luckily we agreed on most things, like which side of a freaking war to be on. Daniels begins pacing back and forth across the other side of the room

  “I'm sorry about your sister, but we need to come up with a plan b,” Enzo says, but his voice doesn't sound sorry.

  “Could you manage a little more tact?” I whisper, elbowing him in the gut. He rolls his dark eyes at me and then I step in front of Daniels to stop his pacing. It's annoying as fuck, and it's only stressing the rest of us out more.

  “Something isn’t right about all this, and only you will be allowed to visit Kenz,” I tell him and he shakes his head. We need him to see her, find out what happened.

  “I need to bury my sister, that’s all I need to do,” he says and walks out the room before any of us can stop him.

  “They aren’t going to let us near her, and we need a new escape plan. Daniels is too focused on his sister. We need to plan this on our own,” I say, annoyed that Daniels isn’t even going to give Kenzie a chance to explain. His emotions are clouding his judgement and I’m hoping he will snap out of it soon.

  “What the hell happened last night?” Kelly says as she slams the door open to my room, and quickly shuts it behind her.

  “So, Ryan and Kenzie didn’t tell you of their escape plan either?” I ask her, and she pulls her white lab coat off.

  “No, they damn well didn’t. I swear I’m going to kick both their asses when I can see them, but no one will let me in,” she says.

  Enzo stands up, crossing his arms as he starts to pace. “Kelly, you need to contact your mother, get a plan ready for two days’ time. I will get Mr Daniels to go and see Kenzie,” he says, before walking around Kelly and out the room.

  “How does he plan to do that?” I ask Locke, who shrugs.

  “He knew Daniels before the academy,” he says, and I look over to see Kelly biting her nails as she looks around.

  “Kelly, you okay?” I ask.

  “I’ve barely spoken to my mother in five years, and now I have to ask for her help,” she answers in a quiet voice.

  “For Kenzie and Ryan, you need to do this,” I say gently and she nods, turning around and walking out the room without another word.

  “What are we going to do now?” Locke asks, looking as stressed as I feel.

  “Train and get stronger, it’s all we can do,” I say, leaning against the wall and praying that Enzo can convince Daniels to get his shit together.

  Chapter 18

  Mr Daniels

  “Why are you here? You never liked my sister,” I snap at Enzo, hearing him step next to me as I look at the white-painted, wooden box in the ground. I won’t admit that some small part of me is happy that someone other than me is also at her funeral, no one should be buried alone. I wish she was alive, so I could shout at her and demand to know what happened. I don’t want to believe Mackenzie killed her, she wouldn’t do that to me.

  “That’s not true, I liked her when I was a kid. She brought chocolate cupcakes over to my house,” Enzo says quietly, reminding me how he must have met her a few times when we were growing up. He was always following me around, a scared little boy with bruises on his arms, and parents that weren’t worth the time of day. I remember the day I walked out from my house, seeing him sitting on the steps, dripping with anger in his dark eyes, but silent. I invited him to my local self-defence class, and then helped him train, helped him learn how to fight back. It wasn’t long until I had to go the academy and soon after, my parents were killed. Then Enzo came to the academy and proved to everyone that it doesn’t matter what your parents are, you choose your own fate. No one thought that the child of two drunks, with hardly any marks between them, would have eleven marks and be one of the most powerful marked in years.

  “I didn’t know she did that,” I say quietly. Enzo doesn’t say anything as I step closer, kneeling down and grabbing a handful of dirt. Why couldn’t Verity be more like Enzo? Why did she have to be like she fucking was?

  “I failed you, Verity. I failed you because as your older brother, I should have protected you. I didn’t know about our dad, not until it was too late and the damage he did to you was done. I wish I knew, I wish I hadn’t gone to marked academy and left you at home. Maybe if I didn’t leave you, you wouldn’t have been recruited, then our other parents wouldn’t have died saving you,” I say, dropping the dirt into the hole. Using my air mark, I swirl the dirt around above the coffin aimlessly.

  “You never failed her, you know that right?” Enzo comments, sitting next to me and looking down at her coffin.

  “I did. She was so sweet when she was little. How did I not realise what had been done to her?”

  “She was, but she changed after she got the pain mark, even at that young age. You just didn’t see it, but I did,” he explains.

  “What?” I ask, dropping the dirt on the coffin and looking at Enzo, wondering what the hell he is going on about.

  “I worshipped you growing up, but you know that, and so did Verity. She used to use her pain mark on me, telling me that I couldn’t say anything as no one would believe me,” he says, making me freeze as I just stare at him. He wouldn’t lie to me, I know Enzo well enough to know he wouldn’t. My sister did that, my sister who most likely pretended to be sweet and innocent in front of me, and she was doing this the whole time.

  “I—”

  “Don’t say a word to anyone about it or even mention it again. As your friend, I’m just telling you what actually happened. I was a weak, frightened boy whose parents preferred to drink their problems away rather than look after me. I only had you to look up to, and I did anything Verity wanted so I could follow you around,” he admits, and I know it’s taking a fucking lot for him to admit this to me.

  “I didn’t have a fucking clue,” I admit in shock.

  “You lost your sister then, not now,” he says, putting a hand on my shoulder.

  “I’m starting to think you’re right,” I reply with a sigh, looking down at the coffin once more.

  “But you still have family, hell I’ve always wanted you as a brother. It’s sods law that we would fall for the same girl,” he chuckles, almost making me want to smile.

  “Mackenzie is hard not to fall for, she’s a whirlwind, that girl,” I say, almost smiling until I remember what Alaric said to me.

  “She killed Verity,” I whisper.

  “You don’t know that, you’ve only heard it from Alaric, and no one should trust a word he says,” he tells me firmly, and stands up, looking down at the coffin which I can’t seem to look away from.

  “It’s time to say goodbye and then time for you to go and get the answers from our girl,” Enzo says, holding a hand out for me. I grab his hand to stand up, and then quickly let go.

  “Goodbye, Verity,” is all I can say, before calling my air mark and pushing dirt into the hole and watching it fall on Verity’s coffin with Enzo’s help.

  “Are you going to see Kenzie? You’re the only one that can,” Enzo says once the hole is filled.

  “I couldn’t stay away, even if I wanted to,” I tell him.

  “That’s Mackenzie for you, I’ve been the same since I met her,” he says, chuckling and walking away. I pull out a small white daisy from my pocket, leaning down and putting it on top of the dirt. I call my earth mark, making the daisy grow into dozens and cover the whole grave. Even if her heart wasn’t beautiful before she died, hopefully she can have some peace now. Or that’s what I have to make myself believe to walk away.

  Chapter 19

  Mackenzie
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  I push around the carrots, peas, and the strange meat that’s on the food tray they slid under the door today. It looks like shit and I’d have to be desperate to eat it. I pick it up and slide it back under the door, before going back to my daily pacing. It’s been three days since they threw me into this room, the same one East was kept in. The sheets even still smell like him, and I know Alaric put me in here on purpose, as a reminder he had East locked up or maybe a reminder that he is hunting East. It doesn’t matter, because I have to believe he’s safe.

  Jumping when I hear the sound of a key turning, I force myself to stand still as the door opens. Mr Daniels walks in slowly as I let my eyes trail over him. His clothes are wrinkled, his hair is messy and his eyes look tired, he looks nothing like he usually does, but exactly how I expected him to be. He lost his sister, and my heart hurts for him. I wish I could have been there when he found out. I wish I could change everything about that day so that his sister didn’t die the way she did.

  “Shut the door and don’t disturb us,” Daniels tells the guard behind him, who nods and closes the door, as I keep my eyes focused on Mr Daniels. There’s a tense silence between us, neither of us saying a word as we just stare at each other.

  “Why?” he finally asks, his voice cracking, and it breaks my heart to hear it. I’ve never seen Mr Daniels weak, or anything other than strong, and yet right now, it’s the only way to describe him.

  “Why what?” I ask quietly, but my voice still seems louder than it should in the otherwise silent space.

  “Why did you kill her?” he asks me, making me step back in shock, not expecting him to accuse me of that.

  “You think I killed her?” I ask quietly, wondering how he could ever think that of me.

  “Did you?” he asks. “I know you hated her, I know she would have gone after you first, but she was my little sister Mackenzie!” he shouts, looking away from me, “Who I just put into the cold ground. She’s dead, and—” he stops, his words just cutting off as if he can’t bear to say anymore.