by Tom Harem
"You may leave. These two are done."
The girls left the pantry and Kendra, with Vic's help, locked the men there. They took out the comms they both had in their pockets and gave them to Elisa so she could freeze and tear them apart. Maggie melted the lock so no one could help them. Our exit was a different one.
"So far, so perfect," Maggie said.
"I don't believe it," Vic said, "is that what I think it is?" she added, staring at the glass walls.
If on one side the wall was light blue and standard, on the other side the wall was made of thick, transparent glass. There were dozens of human beast skeletons rows, two scientists assembling one of them and three armed guards protecting them. Instead of guns, each had a Hunter's gun; one with a gray and blue ice glove, one with a brown and black earth glove, and the other with two small crossed swords fastened to the rear part of his trench coat.
"If they release that into the world, we're doomed." Maggie said and a flaming ball swelled in her hand, widening in size until it covered her face and the squints bounced to the ground, "we have to end this now. While they least expect it."
"Take it easy. Leave them be." I said, "Let's not get carried away. If we're going to blow this place up, we don't need to go in there and do the killing. Let's stay calm."
"Get down, quick! Before they see us." Elisa said.
We were so distracted by the apocalyptic sight, imagining what it would be like if a hundred human beasts were to leave with the mission of ruling the world, that we didn't even think that if we could see them, there was a good chance that they could see us too, and we couldn't risk being caught.
We crossed halfway down the hall on our knees until Lipa grabbed my pants sleeve.
"I know this voice. Oh, fuck. It's the albino. What the hell is he doing here?" She said, "Don't move."
"The albino? You're serious, right? Are you sure?" I asked her. His presence there didn't anticipate good things in our favor.
"Of course. I wouldn't forget his voice. We have to hurry. If he sees us, we won't have time to get out of here."
"Is he that good?" Elisa asked her.
"Yeah. Not many people are better than him in hand-to-hand combat." Lipa said, "Let's get going."
We were a third of the way there when the albino answered a call. At first, he just mumbled a long "HM..." until it was finally his turn to talk. His voice was like an age-old haunting, a memory that I had buried in a vault at the bottom of my memory but that someone had opened it and let it loose.
"I'll be there tomorrow. Prepare everything to my liking. Yeah. Yeah. The chubby one they captured in the assault on the base? No, he's with me. I've been holding him captive in a warehouse in Gendrana. Yeah. No. One week before I start my attack. We are now taking care of the final details. I won't admit failures, Shimmer. A new era is about to begin. Don't let me down." He said.
Vic had her phone recording everything while we strived to breathe without anyone hearing us. Kendra almost sneezed but Elisa held her nose before it happened. Only the pounding of our throbbing hearts seemed to override the Albino's voice. He was still on his cell phone. Scientists were still dropping metal pieces on the table and picking up others, attaching them to the human beast's body shape. There were different leg formats, arms, heads, and even different skin tones. They were so realistic that one of them could walk among us and we wouldn't even have the faintest idea. It was the scariest thing, for me, to know that I could have confided plans or something personal to a beast who smiled and hugged me while holding a false smile and at the same time shared everything with the Reapers behind me. My knees and arms were already aching from dragging them across that vinyl floor.
"We've enough. Let's move on. Hurry, hurry, hurry. The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can try to save Gordon."
"I have a bad feeling about this." Maggie said, "I don't like this."
"Are you afraid that your father is here too?" I asked her. We whispered our words so no one would hear us.
"Yes, I hope not. It was the last thing we needed right now. Besides, my dad can fight, too. He's great at fighting with nunchakus with poisoned tips."
"How do you know that?" Kendra asked me. We were still crawling along the floor. We were already near the gate that was going to give us access to the whole laboratory's technology infrastructure.
"I saw old videos of him. When he was younger in fighting tournaments. My father always believed that in order to have a good mind it was also necessary to value the body." She said.
Elisa opened the two-grey doors and, one by one, we all went inside. It was dark except for the blue and red wires that glowed and the computer screen where there were programs running that I had never seen before. A mishmash of letters, numbers, and punctuation that arose on the screens and were replaced by others at a dizzying speed. Victoria pulled the explosive out of the bag and handed it to Lipa. She scheduled it to explode in 20 minutes and hid it between two high-caliber towers.
"Let's get out of here." She said, "Hopefully we'll blow up the albino and it's one less problem we have to deal with."
I wanted to smile, to celebrate like them, but something within me was telling me that it was too early for that. That weird feeling that something's about to happen. A creep on my back as if someone was whispering behind my ear and humming for me to brace myself. I made sure I had my gun in my holster and signaled that we should get out of there. As it was in Poe's layout, there was an emergency exit in that room. A long corridor that carried us within a few seconds to another part of the laboratory, one that was supposed to be empty and that was supposed to have direct access to the warehouse where we had left our van. I looked both ways again before we walked into the new hallway. It was like the other one, but both walls were identical and half the size. There was only one red door on the right side and there was a "flammable" sign on it.
"That must be where they weld the pieces," Maggie said.
"A few more minutes and it's all going to blow up. Then you'll have your bullets and I'll have my information and the pleasure of slowing down the albino." Lipa said and there was that glow she had behind her eyes when she thought or spoke of other people suffering. It was something that made her stand out from her sister. Even if they both had icy hearts, Kendra's still had a tiny flame inside her.
We were so close to getting the mission done. Vic kept repeating that we were two hallways and three doors away from the basement. Vic and Maggie were leading us, I was in the middle with Kendra and behind us were Lipa and Elisa. Vic's palm pulled the door forward, but she failed to move to the other side. She let the door shove her back and bump into us.
"Damn it. Vic, what are you doing?" Elisa asked her.
"They... People... On the other side. We have to run!" She said, her voice trembling, her eyes bulging like she'd seen the devil.
Chapter V
"What do you mean by that? People? Vic, wake up!" Elisa told her, swinging her around by the arms but without getting a reaction from her. Vic was pale, the color faded, and her lips were disjointed, but nothing was coming out but a slight swallow of the cake scent that we had all eaten before.
We all had our eyes on the door. The atmosphere got heavy. A few strands of my hair adhered to my forehead, and my armpits dampened. A force pulled my feet against the ground and my toes trembled as I touched the trigger's cold metal. Someone kicked the doors so hard that both doors opened like an angel spreading his wings. The sound spread all over the corridor and drowned out the sound of our steps as we retreated.
On the other side of the door was the albino whose legs were in a perpendicular angle with the two swords boy beside him.
"Run!" I screamed.
But as soon as we turned around, we ran into the other two soldiers. Their arms were extended next to their bodies and they seemed to be waiting for the albino's orders. He laughed as he walked towards us, being followed by the other boy, who had already removed the two weapons from his back and dragged them
across the ground. They scraped on it and ripped it, causing the metallic sound to travel, and echo in our heads.
"What do we do now?" Maggie asked, "Do we fight?"
"We don't have much choice. Get ready." I said, and I removed my gun from my holster. I had the normal bullet's barrel forward and I wouldn't hesitate to shoot. I never thought that the time would come, just a few months after I became a Hunter, that I would ever have to put into my head that killing someone was the only way out. Vic took the bow from her back, placed three arrows on it and pointed them at the albino. Maggie already had a fireball in her hand and Elisa had pieces of stalagmite hovering over her glove. I pointed the gun at the swordsman, Lipa lengthened the two metal bars and Kendra unfurled the whip, prepared to fight, just like all of us. The albino didn't have a gun. Time was running out, and we could not see a future in which we would get out of there safely and unharmed.
"Good to see you here. It saves me a round trip." The albino said, "Lipa, it's been a long time since I've seen you. All I have to do is finish you off, and no one's going to oppose me when I subdue the entire black market. Good things happen to those who do good."
"With who do good? Do you really believe that? We don't do good. Don't fool yourself." Lipa answered him.
The moment was a dance waiting for the music. All that was needed was a step forward, a finger slipping in the wrong time and shooting an arrow or a bullet, and all hell would break loose in that place. There weren't any walls or glass that could hold us there. It was hard enough to deal with the death of several scientists, let alone the possibility of even blowing us up. I already had other people's blood on my hand, and I didn't want mine, much less theirs.
"Depends on the perspective. The world is rotten. It needs to be reformed. All corruption, pain, everything needs to be eradicated. Criminals killing good people in wet alleys that smell like shit. I'm going to end it all." He answered her.
"And how many good people will die to reach your perfect world?"
"As many as necessary. I see it as a sacrifice. Somebody's got to do it." He said, "Fortunately, Damien showed me the way. A world where no one is judged. A world where whoever causes evil is automatically eliminated."
"What if someone makes a mistake? What if somebody else does the wrong thing for somebody else? To protect her?" Kendra asked.
"For each other's sake, they must suffer. Damien taught me that."
"How could you let him manipulate you like that?" Lipa asked him.
"The clock is ticking," Maggie whispered.
"Manipulate? Not at all. He supported my entire growth without ever asking me for anything in return. He knew I'd understand. That I would see the evil in the world." He said, "Well, this minute's conversation was good, but it's time to end it. There's no way a couple of kids like you can defeat all four of us."
"Four? I don't think you've come prepared to fight," Lipa replied. As he tilted his head and giggled like a madman, she whispered to us, "Get ready. This is going to get complicated."
"I don't need guns to fight," he said and put himself in combat position; with his legs bent and fists at chest level, "gloves and shoes made of acix." He said and signaled us to approach.
We had been in several fights but never against humans. It was something totally different. They could fight back in seconds, mold themselves to our attacks, but above all, they could be unpredictable.
Before another word was said, Maggie's fireball flew across all of us, at high speed, towards the albino. None of the other three men moved. All it took was a powerful punch, from the albino, in the center of the blaze for it to disperse into hundreds of sparkles. A warm breeze flowed down the hall and past my lips.
"I'm a little disappointed. A set of old acquaintances for an ending so... Unsatisfactory." The albino said. The acix protection that enveloped his hand had acquired a bright orange color with red contours.
"Old acquaintances?" I asked him.
"Sure. Lenetius' daughter. I haven't seen you since you were a kid." He said after placing both arms close to his body, "and you... Elisa and the boy, you really thought I wouldn't remember you from the bar, did you? That I don't know you took my letter? Or that you, Elisa, had been following me for weeks? I'm sorry you weren't there to watch the havoc that it was." He said it and laughed in a strangled way. He was loving that moment. Enjoying our anger, fear, despair, all mixed up in jumbled movements; from the frowning of our eyebrows to the writhing of our lips, to our rosy cheeks. It was a blending of emotions that were hard to control. Even I, who was proud to keep them under control, now found it difficult not to react to his provocations. I wanted to make him suffer even though I knew it was a path with no return.
"If you knew I was following you, why didn't you ever act?" Elisa asked him.
"Two minutes have passed," Vic whispered.
"I told you. I wanted you to burn with them too. Didn't they tell you that a lot of them were carbonized? Hunters and criminals were mistaken for equals. At the very end of life, we are all mortals." He said, "Finish them off. Try to spare Lipa."
The fight began. Colors popped up in every way. The swordsman smashed Elisa's ice into small pieces at the same time as Maggie's fire burned one of the other men's wooden spears. The other boy, probably the youngest of them, with spiky hair and light blue eyes, was flinging ice marbles. They tore our clothes and cut the skin open until it burnt to a crisp flesh. I joined the fight. I was reminded of all the lessons I'd learned at the academy. I pulled my golden gun out of the holster and bullet after bullet shattered the ice before it even reached us. The ground whitened up until the ice melted and turned to water. From the corner of my eye, I saw Kendra and Lipa fighting the albino. Both trying to strike him with the metals, but he used his arms and fists to defend himself whenever he couldn't get away. It was all happening at the same time. In that narrow corridor where the temperature was constantly changing, the walls were freezing and burning and the floor was covering itself with ice, spark scars and blood. Time was running out. There was no clock nearby, but I couldn't shake off the constant tick-tock that echoed in my mind.
The ice boy tried to freeze the ground under our feet, but Maggie punched it with her hand shrouded in flames. The ice burned and liquefied itself on the ground. Before she could even get up, a thick trunk burst from the ground and slammed her right into her chin, tossing her against me, and I held her before we both fell.
"We're not going to make it out of here, are we?" She asked me.
The other girls were still fighting. Victoria fired arrows in different directions forcing everyone to pause for a few seconds. They never made it to halfway point, but they were buying enough time for Elisa to pull herself together and generate more ice. The albino had thrown Kendra to the ground and now Lipa was dealing alone with him and with the two-sword boy. She was losing ground and was already fighting practically on her knees.
"I hate to do this, but we don't have a choice. Let it all go, Maggie. All the anger you got in there. All the resentment. Release the flame."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, they shouldn't be expecting it. We must take advantage. Time is running out."
She closed her eyes. Her breathing slowed down. A red glow surrounded the entire glove and her blond hair tips reddened. A flaming chain unrolled, arising from the air like a braid being made, and hit the ground, vaporizing the water and fogging the corridor.
"Let's go with everything! Get on top of them!" I screamed. We weren't going to give up. We still had about 15 minutes. We just needed an opening to get the hell out of there...
"Come on!" Elisa said, "Vic, same as always. I've got an idea. Let's show them how we work as a team."
Vic prepped the arrows. Elisa froze the tips. The three arrows blasted open through the fog towards both glove wearers, and just before they got there, Elisa snapped her fingers. Chains of ice burst through the tip arrows and, like a hug, wrapped the two men. They had their flanks blocked and three arrows ahead
of them. The earth boy raised a wooden wall that shattered the arrows, but nevertheless, the chains did not dissolve, and fastened their hands to their bodies, extending also to the gloves and frosting them. They became useless, which angered the men even more, until they were uttering insults and shouting in an uncontrolled manner.
"Two down. Now what?" Maggie asked, still with the fire chain in her hand, the flames spinning around half her arm.
"The chains won't last long. Take care of the other two. Quickly." Elisa said, holding hers.
I looked the other way. Lipa was on the floor, with the two pink metal bars hanging in front of her face, protecting herself from the metal swords that scraped on them. The metal collided with the metal and sparks splattered over the floor.
"We have eight minutes. Quickly." Vic repeated.
She already had three more arrows in her bow. Kendra had grabbed her whip, flung it at the albino and pinned his foot. She tried to keep him still, but all he had to do was lift his foot and she followed along, being greeted with a kick in the face. Blood dripped from her nose as she tried to get away from him while he chased her until there was no longer any wall.
"Don't even think you're going to touch her," I screamed and fired an acix bullet. The bullet spun along the way, opening a path through the whitish air and lodging on the albino's shoulder. He was tossed through the air, striking the doors that had already closed once more and opening both.
