by Amy Braun
Chapter 13
Riley moved quickly, leading us down a dark corridor that seemed to snake through the bowels of the ship. Despite the poor condition of his body, the survivor ran with purpose, probably understanding that the sooner he helped us, the sooner we would lead him to freedom and safety.
“Where are you taking us?” Sawyer whispered aggressively behind me, trying to talk to Riley while hiding his voice from any Hellions that might be nearby.
Riley stopped and turned around, looking past me to Sawyer. I could barely see his face in the darkness, but when he spoke, the fear in his voice was obvious.
“They keep all the food in a single room.”
“You mean the survivors,” Sawyer corrected bitterly.
“That’s not what the Hellions see us as. Our blood is food for them. When they drain us, they turn our remains into fuel. Stay with them long enough, and you’ll think the same thing, too.”
I pictured Sawyer’s angry scowl before turning back to Riley. “Will there be any Hellions inside this room?”
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “They aren’t supposed to be because of the Vesper, but Hellions don’t always abide by the rules.”
“What is the Vesper?” I asked.
Riley shook his head. “Not what. Who. The Vesper is the king. The leader of the Hellions.”
My heart skipped a beat. We were standing in the ship that belonged to the ruler of the Hellions. The thought both amazed and horrified me.
“Is he here?” I asked.
“No. He’s not on this ship. I have no idea where he is. I’ve never met him, only heard about him.”
“How do you know this?” Sawyer whispered. He sounded just as nervous as I did.
Riley lowered his head. “I overheard it. Some of the stronger Hellions speak Aonian. Spend enough time around the monsters and they’ll be happy to tell you their secrets. They don’t think you’ll live long enough to tell anyone else.”
Hearing the old pain in his voice made me want to offer a comfort to Riley. I couldn’t begin to imagine what he had been through, or how much he was risking for us. Before I could offer my sympathies or some kind words, Riley lifted his head.
“We’re almost there,” he told us. “Are you sure you want to do this? We can still turn back. We can escape now.”
“Nothing has changed,” I replied without hesitation. “Why would it?”
“I’m just trying to warn you,” defended Riley. “You’re not going to like what you find in here.”
My lips pressed into a firm line and my hands tightened into fists. “My sister is here. I’m not leaving without her.”
Riley watched me for a moment, as if he thought I would change my mind. When I didn’t budge, he nodded once and turned down the hall again. I followed close to his heels, though my heart was beating dangerously in my chest. I knew that I would be horrified by whatever condition I found Abby in, but what could it do for this Vesper?
I shook my head slightly, trying to push the thought from my mind. I was about to steal from the most powerful monster in Westraven and destroy one of his ships. I knew there would be repercussions for that, but I didn’t care about them right now. The only thought that would keep me from losing myself in a mind-numbing panic was finding Abby alive and taking her far away from here.
Riley stopped in front of a door, which had barely visible edges lining against the walls. He reached out to put his hand on the door handle, then glanced back at me. I could see him silently asking if I was prepared, and I nodded. It didn’t matter if I actually was or not. Abby was here, just one door away from me. I had to accept that she was alive. Anything else… It wasn’t even worth thinking about.
Riley turned to the door and pushed down on the handle, grunting with effort as it screeched open. I winced at the sound, hoping he could push the door open without making more noise. He was having difficulty moving its weight, until Sawyer brushed past me and added his muscle to the door. In a matter of seconds, both men had pushed it open, revealing a cool room lit by bleak yellow light bulbs. A dull humming noise bounced off the cold metal walls, coming from some kind of machine. The shadows in the room were thick, but there was enough light for me to see the horrors beyond.
Rows upon rows of metal plates about the size of a man lined the lengthy, towering walls, each with leather straps that stretched from left to right on the top and bottom of the plates. Held in place by those straps were half naked humans with more than a dozen needles in their bodies. The needles stabbed into their necks, chest, arms, and legs, everywhere a main source of blood could be found. The clear tubes steadily pumped fresh blood into a blocky, black electrical mechanism at the base of the metal plates. The tubes connected to the black box snaked along the blood-spotted floor and connected to a large tank filled with thick red liquid.
So much blood, I thought with horror. So much… Too much…
Forcing my eyes away from the huge tank, I saw an even larger circuit breaker next to it. The breaker was lined with numbers and lights, some glowing green while a couple blinked red. I looked at the survivors, watching the short, slow rise and fall of their chests. Some of these people were still alive, while some weren’t moving at all.
There were at least a hundred victims.
Horror and sickness filled me, almost making me vomit. Men, women, boys, and girls of all ages, though most were no older than seventeen.
Children, so many children, stolen from their homes, captured and tortured, their blood filling a tank that was twice as tall as I was. I didn’t even want to think about what Hellions– or the Vesper– would do with so much blood.
Riley was right. I didn’t like what I’d found. I hated it.
Steeling myself, I looked around the room, my eyes stopping at the circuit breaker again. The plate beside it held a little girl with unkempt blonde curls, dressed in an oversized shirt. The tubes and needles on her body were too large, seeming to be connected to every inch of her. I couldn’t see her chest rising. My heart went to my throat.
Abby.
I ran for my sister, stopping in front of her plate. I clutched her shoulders as gently as I could.
“Abby! Abby!”
She didn’t answer.
Tears blurred my vision, and I struggled to breathe. I stared at the tube in her neck, watching it drain the life from my sister’s body. I grabbed it and steadied myself to tear it out.
“Claire, wait!”
I glared at Sawyer over my shoulder. Riley was standing beside him, looking apologetic and uneasy.
“Find a way to stop the machine,” Sawyer said reasonably, stepping closer.
He was right, damn it. The sight of my sister’s closed eyes and the needles in her ashen skin made me lose focus. I took a deep breath and stepped back. Forcing myself not to look at her, I turned to the humming circuit breaker. Near the bottom was a square piece bolted onto an otherwise solid chunk of iron. I looked at Riley.
“What will happen if I stop the machine? Will they all die?”
He paused to think, then said, “I don’t think so. The Hellions come in here every few hours to feed them intravenously and remove any unwanted fluids. They want to make sure the food stays as fresh as possible. That’s why they try to take children so often. They can keep them in this state longer, extend their life so they produce more blood… I’m sorry, Claire.”
When he trailed off, I realized that I was crying. Tears streamed down my cheeks, my heart breaking when I looked at my little sister again. My entire soul felt shattered. I’d done everything I could to protect her, to hide her from the horrible monsters in the sky, and it hadn’t been enough. It hadn’t been nearly enough. She would have nightmares for the rest of her life.
“Help her, Sawyer,” I begged in a trembling whisper.
The marauder put his hand on my shoulder, steadying me.
“Shut down the machine. We’ll take care of the rest.”
Having a purpose pulled me a
way from the horror I was facing. I knelt down in front of the circuit breaker and drew a screwdriver from my belt. The bolts were easy to remove, dropping with soft clatters onto the floor. I peeled away the panel and studied the wires inside.
There were hundreds of them, but past the smaller wires was one large black cord about the size of a closed fist. The power cable. Just what I needed.
I reached inside the opened panel and felt around the bottom of the cord. It was attached to the floor by four heavier bolts. Still holding the screwdriver, I put my second hand inside the machine. It was difficult to work both of my arms in the small, square hole, but I managed to find the first bolt and twist it out.
It took little over a minute to get the rest of the bolts unscrewed. I put the screwdriver back on my belt and grabbed the cable, giving it a fierce yank. The cable made a loud, angry pop as it was released, air hissing into the new space.
Then the whine of machine began to dull. I pulled my arms back and stood up, turning to Abby. Blood no longer flowed into the tubes on her body. I had to believe the same could be said of the other survivors.
Sawyer and Riley worked together to gently pull the needles from my little sister. I choked on a sob when I saw how long the needles were. They might as well have been daggers. Refusing to stand there and do nothing, I rushed forward to help them, pulling the last of the needles free. I sobbed again, trying not to look at the blood staining patches of my sister’s shirt. I quickly unstrapped Abby from the plate, starting with her legs. As soon as I undid the straps around her chest, she toppled forward. I caught her and carried her with me onto the floor, tears spilling from my eyes.
“It’s okay, Abby,” I whispered, smoothing down her tangled curls. “It’s okay, baby sister.”
There were subtle noises in the background, what I assumed were Sawyer and Riley working to remove the other victims. I couldn’t do anything but sit on the cold floor and rock my sister back and forth, hoping she would breathe again.
Please, baby sister. Please don’t leave me like this. Please.
Another sob wrenched from my chest. I held her tighter, wishing my body heat would be able to warm her again. She felt so cold and tiny. I didn’t know what to do–
There was a slight breeze against my neck.
“Claire?”
Her voice was hoarse and frail, so small I thought I imagined it. Then I pulled back just enough to see her chest bumping against mine.
She was breathing. Abby was alive.
I pulled her close to me again, wrapping her up as best as I could and stroking her hair again. I’d never felt this kind of relief before. The joy was painful.
“I’m here, sister,” I told her. “We’re getting out of here.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” she whispered. “They’ll come back. They always come back.”
My heart ached, and I prayed that I hadn’t lost her to the insanity that gripped Riley when we found him. I gently pushed away from Abby and held her shoulders, being as mindful of her injuries as I could.
“They won’t touch you again. I swear it, Abigail.”
For the first time in what seemed like forever, I met my sister’s eyes. They were filled with a horror and suffering I would never be able to take from her. There was the possibility that she wouldn’t forgive me for her torture, but I pushed those thoughts aside. Right now, I just needed to get her out of here so she would be safe. I’d deal with the consequences when I finished my actions.
“Can you stand?” I asked.
Abby bit her lower lip and nodded. She was still terrified, but she trusted me. I threaded my fingers through hers and slowly stood up with her. I kept her close to my side, wrapping both arms around her shoulders as we turned to Sawyer and Riley. She didn’t scream when she saw the strangers, but Abby still whimpered and buried her face in my ribs. I held her close, looking at the marauder and the prisoner as they helped the others from their metal plates. Sawyer spoke in low voices to some of the stronger boys and girls, telling them to help free the prisoners. I released a few, but it was difficult with Abby refusing to let go of my leg.
After a while, a hundred victims stood huddling in the middle of the nightmarish room. Bloody holes covered their bodies, and while no one was shrieking right now, I could see them teetering in on the edge of sanity.
I looked at Riley. “What was done to them?”
The young man looked down, his shoulders slumped as if he were responsible for the suffering of these people.
“Their blood is divided. Half of it feeds the Hellions on the ship, and the other half goes through the Breach to the Vesper.”
That explains why the tank is so big, I thought. A lump formed in my throat, and I quickly swallowed it.
“That’s some intimate knowledge you have,” Sawyer pointed out aggressively.
Riley gave him a sharp look, his first defiant stand. “What do you want me to say? That I enjoy being tortured? That I want others to go through all that I went through?” He swept a hand along his body, indicating his scars. “I found out whatever I did because they thought I would die. I’ve struggled to live, holding onto anything that might save me. I want these monsters more dead than you ever could.”
Sawyer’s fists tightened with outrage. His restraint was collapsing. His distrust of Riley was obvious, and it would only take one more nudge to shove him over the edge. At the same time, Riley had experienced his own suffering at the claws of the Hellions. Whatever anxiety Sawyer had caused him earlier was quickly giving way to indignation.
I cradled Abby as best as I could. “We need to move. We’ll get the survivors back to the skiffs. Gemma and Nash should be at the door by now.”
Sawyer nodded eagerly, his worry becoming obvious. After the tortures we’d just witnessed, he wanted to find his friends and ensure they didn’t suffer as these poor souls had. He looked at Riley.
“Help Claire move the ones that can’t walk very well. We’re going back to the docking bay and we’ll get them off the ship, but you’re staying with us. We’re not done with the Hellions yet.”
Riley shook his head. “You can’t save them all. There are too many. I know how to fly a skiff, but it won’t hold a hundred people.”
“Good thing we have access to five skiffs, not one.”
“Still doesn’t make a difference. I can’t be five places at once, and if someone doesn’t know how to pilot those skiffs, they’re just going to crash–”
Sawyer turned sharply to face the skiffs. “Anyone here know how to fly a ship?”
Silence fell. Most of the children and teenagers shifted on their feet. Sawyer cut to the chase.
“If you can fly a ship, you’ll be able to go home.”
Heads perked up. Hope glistened in weary eyes. Twelve tentative hands raised, the arms belonging to some of the men who were our age. I wondered how long they’d been trapped up here, if their memories and minds were still intact enough to remember how to operate a ship.
I decided to go on faith. It was the only thing we had time for.
Satisfied, Sawyer said, “Figure out who’s the best captain. You’ll be taking groups of survivors down to Westraven. Where doesn’t matter. Just get them on the ground. Get them home.”
The victims said nothing, their eyes still wide with fear and hope.
Sawyer turned back around. Riley flinched, but he didn’t argue. The marauder captain was furious, barely holding onto his temper. I wasn’t sure what began to set it off, but I had no intention of getting in its way. Not after Sawyer had risked so much for me.
He turned to face the survivors, piercing them with his fierce gold eyes.
“None of you will make a sound. You do exactly what I tell you to, or I’ll drag you back here myself.”
I frowned at Sawyer’s harsh command, though I could see the reason behind it. Escaping the Behemoth would be tricky enough. The last thing we needed were a hundred survivors screaming our location to any other Hellions that might be on
the ship.
Sawyer turned to the door and drew his cutlass from the scabbard on his back. The survivors cringed at the sharp metal, but no one screamed. Maybe they’d spent too long taking orders from the Hellions. Yet another circumstance I didn’t care to think about.
While Sawyer stormed out of the nightmarish room and Riley gently urged them to follow. I led my sister to the doorway.
“They won’t let us leave,” Abby whispered.
I held her arm tightly and smirked down at her. “Good thing we aren’t asking their permission.”
Abby didn’t smile back. She clung tighter to me. I turned and knelt down in front of her, holding her shoulders and trying not to see the blood smeared on her neck and seeping through her clothes. Her wounds weren’t gushing, but she was weak and hurt. If I didn’t get her out of here soon, she would lose consciousness.
