With that she left and when she did I glanced at Carter with my eyes wide open giving him a look that said can I kill her please! Why the hell did she show up anyway if she wasn’t going to help us? She definitely wasn’t ordered to warn us or was she? My train of thought shifted for a moment once something crossed my mind.
“Mathew, there was a fight here obviously. Where are the bodies?”
The look on Mathew’s face was telling he looked like he had been caught in a lie even if he didn’t speak. “About that it’s probably better if you don’t know that’s from Juliette not me.”
I was about to question it then a thought hit me…Juliette was in town…what kind of hell was I in for. I looked at Carter and he had the same look on his face we had come to the same conclusion there was a reason Juliette was in Re gahn. I just wasn’t sure I wanted to know why.
Chapter 10
Getting to the hospital from my place is a decent way to go that was why we were driving, more specifically AJ was driving. Carter was in the passenger seat and I was in the back with Mathew. I glared at the back of Carter’s seat while muttering to myself, I was loud enough to attract his attention.
“Something you want to say to me?”
I rolled my eyes. “Why am I in the back of my car?”
Carter looked over the interior of the car before saying anything. “Well for one this is my car why else would I have been painting it for the past few days?”
I took a deep breath while clenching my right hand into a fist. “None of the cars in the warehouse are yours you didn’t buy them.” I said the words through gritted teeth.
Carter smirked for a moment. “You sure about that I remember paying for something.”
I honestly had no idea what Carter was talking about and I didn’t care, I needed to place my attention elsewhere. For one when we reached the hospital we would have to be prepared for anything.
“Turn right to enter the parking structure, the hospital is right across from here.” Carter commented.
AJ turned just as he was instructed then drove around for a moment searching for a spot, if anyone had actually been paying any attention to us it would be easy to mistake this for a pleasant normal visit but in reality it was anything but.
“Here’s fine.” I stated.
AJ went into the parking space just like that and turned the engine off after that the four of us left the car while I patted myself down. My guns pressed against my body for a moment, it really was a strange thing. Moving around with concealed weapons, it was necessary after all but still strange at least for me it was. The four of us headed toward the hospital. I dialed Beth as we walked, it took three rings before she picked up and by then the hospital entrance was insight.
“Hello…Alex.”
“Are you and Shield ok. No one has tried to attack you guys or anything like that?”
“No we’re fine. I’m just a little tired I’ve been talking to the doctors since I got here they advised against moving Shield but he’ll be ready to go any minute now.”
I nodded even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “So what’s the plan to move him?”
“Bright’s sending over a chopper. He also told me that William will be on his way now that his sister are in a safe place. Tessa should be arriving soon too.”
I nodded again then told Beth to be safe and that we’d see her in a minute. I ended the phone call while the four of us entered the hospital building. I went to the stairwell immediately, speed walking passed a number of hospital personnel. I could hear them shouting, I wasn’t paying attention if any of their shouts were directing at me. I honestly could care less at the moment. My only concern was to make sure Beth and Shield were ok. The moment I entered the stairwell I noticed something was off. I couldn’t tell what until I saw movement from the floor above us. I looked up searching for a moment more when Mathew pointed at something.
“What’s that thing?” He whispered.
Not too far ahead of us on the stairwell was a weird scrawny looking person their skin looked albino white and they had incredibly long and thin fingers. I stared at whatever it was for a moment before realizing that its fingers were curved at the end like talons.
“What in the wor…”
Suddenly the person or whatever turned and looked us over while its body fidgeted oddly Kaaaaaaaaakaaaaaah, the creature let out a pierce wail just before jumping onto the rail and launched itself straight toward Mathew and me. I pushed Mathew aside while stumbling backward just in time to avoid the creatures’ claws which embedded itself into the wall. The creature continued to fidget while a large number of silhouette began moving above.
“Go, go, go.” I yelled.
The four us of ran up the stairs, there was a blue flash of light for a moment which I assumed was Carter dispatching whatever the hell was stuck in the wall. It didn’t take us long to clear the first flight of stairs once we did I could hear screaming from the hospital staff. The four of us picked up our pace and made it to the third floor, the door had been hacked to bits but I didn’t look at it long enough to marvel at what was left of it. Instead I went through what remained of the door and surveyed the room. There was at least six of those fidgety creatures and a seventh that looked different from the others, he was wearing a black jacket and was doing something weird with his hands. I shook my head for a moment…
“No time to worry about that.” I ran toward Shield’s room just as I closed in on the door, I saw at least two of the pale creatures enter the room. I was about to rush in when one went flying along with a chair and only a few seconds later a second launched through the wall. It moved around vigorously like it was having a seizure then liquefied, I blinked twice in surprise then entered the room to see Shield and Beth huffing and puffing. I blinked twice again even more surprised.
“Looks like you two didn’t even need my help.”
Shield was still catching his breath but managed to answer me. “Can’t let you have all the fun. Now you mind doing me a favor and finding out what the hell that thing was.”
“Sure. I think I know a good place to start.”
I exited the room and stared at the man who was moving his hand together like he was washing them or something.
“Is he rolling something?” Mathew asked.
That’s when I noticed it looked like he was rolling dough or something like it, maybe clay. The man looked up at Mathew then smiled just before throwing a ball of clay at him. Mathew moved out of the way then gave the man a confused look. I was about to join in when I noticed the clay that was on the ground was expanding at an alarming rate, it took a few seconds before the ball reached around my height. It stopped for a second before becoming wider and wider, Mathew stepped away from it while it continued to expand then it burst.
Kaaaaaaaaaaa Kaaaaaaah!
Three of those creatures stood in place of the clay bubble. I didn’t wait until they made their move aiming my right hand at them. I fired a green ball of energy which hit one of them in the chest. It stopped moving for a moment then screamed and ran at me. Carter blasted them with a bolt of electricity but it only seemed to barely slow them down. AJ joined in and fired a succession of blasts while Mathew threw whatever metal objects he could find. Bits and pieces of the creatures came off but they kept coming that was when I notice something from the corner of my eye. I took two steps back to avoid a charging creature, Mathew, AJ and Carter weren’t so lucky. They were downed by some of the creatures that were already running amok on this floor.
Carter looked like he was having a hard time holding the pale creature back when he decided to place both his hands on the side of its head. After a moment I could see the sides of its head heat up and become brittle. It took a moment but its head crumbled into dust and the rest of the body followed. A smile worked its way onto my face just before I yelled the words Get Down. Heat began to gather in the palms of my hands spreading through them until flames emerged. I pointed my hands in their respective direct
ions then without wasting another second unleashed a sea of flames from both my hands. Once the fire came out full force I began spinning to allow my flames to wash over the entirety of the hospital floor. It didn’t take long for me to finish the job and for the sprinkles to activate.
Carter, Mathew and AJ immediately got to work putting out the more stubborn flames while I put my attention to the clay maker who looked like and sounded like he was whimpering. In the pit of my stomach I felt something but wasn’t sure what it was. Whatever the feeling was made me hesitate for just a moment. That’s when the clay maker unzipped his jacket and revealed that his body was covered in patches of clay. The patches moved around as the water gave them life, the clay maker grinned ear to ear as his body began shifting.
I tried to use Marcus’s power but it didn’t work, my hands were too wet. I looked over at Carter who shook his head, of course his powers wouldn’t work properly if his soaked. Damnit. It took the odd growling sound of the clay maker to snap me out of my train of thought. The man had grown in size and looked like a weird snowman, he was oddly round with scrawny feet but a hulking top. The clay makers face was covered in clay which dripped across his face and body as he began approaching me with an odd growl.
“I’ll make you pay.” The voice was deep and barely audible. But it came from the clay monstrosity’s mouth. Swiitt…cheee cheee cheee, the clay monstrosity stood still for a moment then fell to the ground. After a few seconds a puddle of blood started running from his body. I stared at it for a moment…
“You know most people say thank you.” A familiar voice commented.
I smiled just before turning toward a soaked Tessa standing a few feet away. She smiled back at me while I just stared at her.
Chapter 11
I thought about saying thank you but the thought passed just as quickly as it had emerged, instead I glanced over at Shield’s room just in time to see him and Beth exiting. Both of them looked at the room which was in complete disarray. Water covered the ground, there were a number of burnt objects and singe marks along with some claw marks. Lastly there was wet clay and the body of the Clay Maker which was still leaking blood. I looked up at the sprinklers thinking to myself when are those things gonna stop spraying. And that’s when they did, I gave the room a quick look over before focusing on Shield and Beth.
“You two ready to get out of here.”
“Yeah just wish I was leaving the hospital, not headed to another one.” Shield spoke softly as he leaned on a metal pole which he could wheel around. I smirked wanting to say something reassuring but nothing came to mind so I headed for the stairwell. Water splashed as I walked, I stepped carefully worried I might slip. That didn’t stop Tessa though she fast walked passed me causing water to splash everywhere, it was almost like she thought this was a race.
“I wouldn’t put it passed her.” I muttered to myself.
Tessa sighed loudly then opened the door to the stairwell, she entered then started working her way to the roof, I and the others followed after her. While we did I could hear some of the hospital staff complaining which irked me a little but it made sense. The Clay maker was after Shield and Beth so we were kind of responsible…
“No we’re not.” I said while climbing up a flight of stairs.
“You have no idea how much I missed that.” Tessa said without turning her head.
“Really you missed his weird thinking out loud?” Mathew asked.
Tessa turned then smirked in my direction. “No I didn’t miss it at all. I’m gonna miss not having to hear it though.”
I rolled my eyes as I continued up the stairs, it wasn’t long before we reached the roof of the hospital. The roof was mostly white while some parts of the roof like the helipad were black. A whirling sound caught my attention so I closed my eyes and focused. It was the sound of helicopter blades chopping at the air.
“Looks like we made good time. Chopper should be here in a few minutes.”
No one really said anything while we waited we all just sort of stood quietly maybe we were all on edge, dividing our focus on the roof entrance and the sky, one was because it was possible that we could get attacked again, the other was more obvious. The whirling sound grew louder as the helicopter came into view, it flew across large buildings and made its way to the helipad. As the helicopter descended onto the helipad it was accompanied by an unpleasant gust of wind which blew through my wet clothes. My body shivered if only for a moment, the helicopter touched down onto the helipad while we said our goodbyes to Beth and Shield.
“Alex, do me a favor would you make sure those Prometheus bastards pay.”
I smiled at Beth’s comment. “Of course.”
In the corner of my eye I noticed Carter was subtle moving Mathew toward the helicopter he didn’t make anything of it at first.
“What are you…”
“You can’t stay here kid.” Carter interrupted.
Mathew and Carter almost started to argue when Beth walked off and grabbed hold of Mathew’s wrist and headed off toward the helicopter. It looked like Mathew was going to fight back at first but he didn’t, instead he just sort of pouted while he was led into the helicopter.
“We’ll make sure your grandma’s safe.”
Something about that made me think about something that we might have forgotten, that’s when the door to the roof opened. I pulled the rifle from under my shirt and aimed at the door.
“Don’t shoot...don’t shoot.”
My eyes opened wide, I immediately put my rifle away. “Sorry about that Mrs. Mason.”
Shield’s Grandma just sort of stared at me then walked toward the helicopter, there was a doctor behind her that was helping her. Helping was a loose description of what was actually happening in reality the doctor just walked behind Silma trying to help but she wouldn’t let him.
“Tough old lady.” Carter said to himself, I glanced at him but said nothing.
Once Shield’s grandmother was onboard the helicopter began to take off, the helicopter blades blew gusts of wind furiously toward us as it ascended into the air. I stared at the helicopter quietly as it left then looked at the others.
“So what’s the plan?”
Carter looked at me with an uneasy look which made me feel a little queasy for some reason.
“….I hate to say it…but we need to talk to Juliette.”
Without even so much as a sideways glance I headed toward the roof entrance, Tessa followed after then AJ and after a few seconds Carter came along as well. The four of us were silent as we navigated our way to the bottom of the stairwell. Even after we left and headed through the hospital entrance there wasn’t a single word traded between the four of us. Eventually Tessa became fed up with the silence and asked.
“Who’s Juliette?”
To which no one replied, instead we just headed to the car which annoyed Tessa slightly so when it came time to enter the car to leave she decided she was going to walk. I shrugged casually, she could probably move faster than the car anyway so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Carter took the wheel and AJ went into the passenger seat, this time I happily went into the back. Mainly because my bag was there and I planned on changing out of my wet clothes. Carter and AJ didn’t bring a change of clothes, so they were out of luck. I fumbled around inside the bag pulling my clothes out as Carter started the engine. Tessa waved then vanished while the car moved forward, I was jostled around in the back since my seatbelt wasn’t on. I took off my sweatshirt first then stripped off the guns while I undressed occasionally obstructing the rearview.
Which caused Carter to reply by swerving side to side. His driving knocked me over more than once which was annoying because I was currently trying to put on my clothes. After about three minutes I manage to work my way into my dark camo pants while holding onto my green sports jacket. I put on an undershirt then placed the Remington specials back in their holsters after that I put on the sports jacket which put a smile on my face I do love the color gre
en I thought to myself. Then my smile disappeared partially because Tessa was peaking her head into my window which made me wonder how long she had been doing that.
“So we’re just gonna drive around until we find Juliette.”
“I’ve got a few ideas where she might be. Alex tell your girlfriend not to get that close to the car. I could have hit her.”
I narrowed my eyes. “First off she’s not my girlfriend….
Hoooonk hooook I looked out my window to see Tessa zigzag through traffic, apparently some people weren’t too happy about the fact Tessa was taking a stroll through traffic. The honking wasn‘t the worst part, a few people started hurling insults which didn’t seem to bother Tessa. Then there was one that began with crazy and ended with something that you probably wouldn’t say in front of your mother. Tessa nearly activated her arm blades which caused me to go wide eyed then she went up to my window and grinned ear to ear with her eyes closed. I was about to call her crazy, when she opened her eyes and zigzagged very suddenly it seemed different then before plus there was enough space for her to move freely. Speeee baaaarp baaarp speee…first bullets broke through the back window then I could hear the whirl of a helicopter.
“Don’t tell me…”
Tessa started to move evasively as bullets began to rain down on the street, the car’s tires screech loudly as Carter made a sharp turn to avoid the gunfire. I couldn’t see Tessa for a moment then she reappeared beside us.
“Choppers seriously.”
I was going to agree with Tessa when I realized she had said choppers, as in more than one. I was about to sigh when I decided I wasn’t going to be a sitting duck. Balling my hand into a fist I struck my window breaking it instantly. I gripped my rifle moving it over my jacket as I stuck my head out of the window. Baaaarp baaaarp baaaarp I pulled my head back waiting for the break in fire, once I heard it I stuck my head out again aimed my rifle at the helicopter that was following behind us and fired. Baaaaarp baaaaarp baaaaarp…bullets burst out of the rifle hitting the underbelly of the helicopter, which caused the helicopter to begin moving higher in the air making it harder for me to aim at it. The tires screeched again as Carter made another sharp turn which he regretted almost instantly. A couple hundred feet ahead was another helicopter this one was armed with a turret, plus traffic was tight here so we couldn’t move about as freely as we would like. For some reason or another Carter pressed down the gas and headed forward, my heart started beating faster while adrenaline started to work its way through my system. The helicopter stayed in the air as we approached….beeershoo beeeershooo suddenly an explosion of smoke launched from the underbelly of the helicopter missiles.
Noble Revelations (Noble Series Book 3) Page 5
