Persona

by Amy Lunderman

  “Moira, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault, I’m a horrible friend.”

  “It’s not your fault. They would have got me eventually. This isn’t my first rodeo.”

  Raven starts like she’s going to say something else, when she gets a better look at Moira’s bleeding abdomen. Moira follows her gaze, and feels sick at what she sees. Right above her bikini line area is an incision mark about four inches long. She touches the stiches sticking out, and it oozes blood. Her head feels all light all of a sudden, and she feels like she might pass out. Her vision goes in and out, as she starts to fall forward, but Raven grabs onto her.

  “Easy there, lady. Don’t you pass out on me yet, you hear. Let’s get you dressed, yeah?”

  Moira holds her for dear life and tries to ignore her body’s protest of giving up. The girls set to work to dress Moira, and they try their best to hurry. Liam is still in the doorway, but keeps shifting his feet back and forth. His shoulders are tense, whether to look at Moira or anticipating company. Finally, Moira is fully dressed in the scrub shirt and pants, they are a little baggy but better than nothing. She doesn’t have shoes in the room, but Raven managed to find some slipper socks for her.

  As Raven slips the sock on for her, Moira asks, “How did you guys know I was here?”

  She pauses for a heartbeat before answering, “Your dad came to us, the night you went missing.”

  “Came to us?” Moira’s not hundred percent sure she’s referring to Liam.

  “The local pack.”

  “The what?” Moira asks in surprise.

  “He had help though. I went to him right after you were taken from the school. I showed him where to get the help we needed.” Liam answers from the doorway.

  Moira turns to him, and he’s watching her reaction. She doesn’t know how to react though. Why would Liam go to her father, and what is a pack? She looks to Raven for the last question, and the other girl flinches under the scrutiny, as if she knows what Moira is thinking. Raven gets saved from having to answer, when someone runs into the room. Instinctively, Liam crouches slightly and bares his now visible teeth and claws. The intruder squeaks and comes to a stop.

  “It’s me, and we have more company coming fast. It’s time to go.” Daisy says as she quickly makes her way back out the door.

  Nodding, Liam turns and goes over to Moira fast and helps her off the bed. Raven joins them, and takes hold of Moira’s other side. With small cries of pain slipping from Moira’s lips, they make their way out of the room.

  Chapter Ten

  The first thing Moira see’s, as they walk out of the room, is a prone form on the ground. He must have been the one that got thrown into the door before, and her stomach rolls at the thought of who it could have been. This leaves her fast though, he could have also been one that hurt her, and she thinks he deserves it. The corridor is as dark as her room, but Daisy easily leads them down the narrow walkway. From behind, Moira can see her nails are pointed and her hair flows in golden waves.

  “I was just up on level two, and two guards were called down here. If we’re lucky, the stairwell will still be clear.” Daisy calls over her shoulder.

  Liam’s grip on her tightens as Moira struggles to stay upright. Every movement causes pain to go up her spine and into her skull. Her vision comes and goes, she’s barely hanging on when they come to a stop at an open door at the end of the hall. Daisy steps inside first, and then comes back out and waves them forward.

  “Any movement on one?” Asks Liam as they get through the threshold and start for the stairs going up.

  “As far as I know Ray is still at the stairs door, but I haven’t heard anything aside from my level.”

  “How much time do you think we have before the rest of the base is alerted?” Raven asks from behind me.

  As we go to go up the stairs, Liam notices they are too narrow for the three of them. Him being the stronger one, takes hold of Moira, and Raven calling on her persona takes the back. Moira just gets a glimpse of Ravens locks going midnight black before she disappears from her view.

  “If we’re lucky, we can possibly make it outside before that.” Liam grunts.

  Moira has to concentrate to just lift her legs up the stairs and she can’t hold back the cries of pain that she makes. Liam tries to take all her weight so she has to do less, but they continues up the last few steps as quick as they can. As they come to a landing, they have two choices to either go up more stairs or go through the door that is there. They can hear footsteps on the other side of the door, and Moira realizes this is level two where the soldiers Daisy talked about.

  Daisy pauses at the door listening, and motions for the others to start up the stairs and Raven goes up first. Moira is grateful for the brief pause, leans against the railing. She gazes up at the next flight of stairs with exhaustion. Liam notices her hesitation, so he just sweeps her into him arms. She allows him to finally take all her weight and goes limp against him while closing her eyes. She feels the slight shifting as they go up the stairs and hears the moment Daisy is following behind them. That’s when the door below them opens, and men come pouring out of it.

  With a yell of alarm Daisy pushes at Liam to hurry up the steps, and Moira opens her eyes with fright. There are three men below them holding guns, they yell for them to stop or they’ll shoot. Daisy turns in mid step, and kicks out at the closest man. He stumbles back from the hit to his chest, and smacks into the guy behind him. They fall onto the steps below, and the guy left standing points his gun at Daisy. Moira can only watch as she spins around to hurry up the stairs behind them, when she hears the gun fire once.

  Daisy stumbles then with a scream.

  The group pauses briefly, and then Raven yells for Daisy and gets around Liam to go help her fallen friend. The man with the gun is raising it to Raven now, but before he can fire it Raven leaps over the steps and throws herself at him. Her hands are outstretched with her nails barred, and she digs them into his chest as they collide. The man didn’t even have time to use his weapon, and it’s fallen to the ground with them useless. Raven jumps off him with a cry, and kicks him in the face before she turns to the others.

  “Thanks Rave, but I’m alright.” Daisy calls out, but that’s a lie. They can all see the blood blooming through her shirt at her shoulder.

  When Raven gets ahold of Daisy and they start up the stairs again, Liam continues going up. His grip on Moira tightens and she can feel the sweat seeping through the shirt covering his shoulders. She knows it’s not from exertion, but from the impossible situation they’re in. Moira can’t help but to feel guilty for Daisy getting shot, if it wasn’t for her they wouldn’t be here. She can’t understand why they would risk themselves for her, when she lied to them all. She feels her head getting lighter now, and doesn’t know how long she can stay awake. The pain in her body is slipping away and all she can feel is numb in her bones.

  As they near the door at the top level, it starts to open and they all freeze. Liam turns to the side, as if shielding Moira from whatever is about to come through. Raven swears from below, and Moira opens her eyes to see the fallen guards trying to get back up. When the door near them fully opens, Ray sticks his head out and they all sigh in relief.

  “You guys better hurry, those guys are behind you have guns you know.” Ray says with a slight smile.

  He steps aside as they all rush out of the dark stairwell, and into a dimly lit corridor. There are emergency light fixtures blinking up and down the hall, casting everything in a reddish glow.

  “Yeah, thanks captain obvious, we didn’t know that.” Raven says, as she and Daisy stumble through the door.

  He takes one look at the bleeding Daisy and pushes Raven aside. He lifts Daisy up with ease, and both girls protest.

  “I’m not an invalid, I can walk.” Daisy says.

  He just shushes her and gets a better grip on her in his arms. Daisy relaxes against him though and Raven just shakes her head at them. Liam is motioning them to
shut the door, and Moira can hear the men getting closer on the stairs. As Raven pulls it shut, Liam get to the door with Moira. Turning sideways, he frees his hand that’s under her legs and grabs the door handle. It’s one of those brass L shaped handles, so when he twists it at an unnatural angle, Moira knows the men on the other side won’t be able to open it. Just as he lets go of it, the men bang into and start yelling through the door.

  Liam adjusts Moira in a better grip and he turns them to the other door to the left of them. Moira can see an exit sign just over the door, and prays its safe outside. Over Liam’s shoulder the others follow, but she’s looking down the hallway past them. The glow of the flashing light end mid hallway, so the end of it looks intimidating. Moira expects someone to jump out at them at any minute, but does wonder where all the doctors and staff are.

  At the exit door, Liam pulls it open without hesitation, and as soon as he does Marty is there to greet them. He’s in full persona, like a dark demon, and he’s practically jumping in his skin with nervousness. His eyes go wide when he’s sees how bad Moira looks in Liam’s arms, and they just about pop out of his head seeing Daisy in Ray’s.

  “We have to move fast, the guards out here went to get the power back on. We won’t have cover for much longer.” He rushes out in a whisper.

  Marty walks in before them, and lightly touches Moira’s cheek before turning back to the door. She feels so relieved to see him. She almost can’t breathe for a moment. They are about to go out the door and into the darkness outside, when a door opens behind them.

  ***

  They all turn in alarm, and Raven the only one without anyone in her arms, crouches and bares her teeth at the incoming threat. Marty pushes past Liam, and rushes to Raven’s side with a yell. Liam and Ray back up to the door holding tight to they’re cargo.

  From the end of the hall, a woman steps into the blinking light with her hands raised in surrender. Moira lifts her head from Liam’s shoulder and see’s that it’s the red haired woman named Dana. The woman’s eyes are wide, and she searches among them before spotting Moira. Her posture relaxes then, and she looks relieved.

  “I’m not going to try and stop you. I just want you to get her out of here.” Dana says.

  Raven and Marty stare at her in confusion, but back up to the others. As Liam steps out the door Moira gets a better look at the woman and see’s tears in her eyes.

  “Why would you let me go?” Moira asks in wonder.

  With tears falling out of her eyes, the woman says, “I used to work with your mother once upon a time. I owe her this much, to see her daughter safe.”

  Moira notices then that the woman is older than she looks, and she can see the age in her pain. If she really did know her mother, then she also knows everything that has been going on. Not understanding why she’s still working here, Moira can only stare at her in shock.

  “Moira, know he won’t stop until he gets you back. Stay safe child.” Dana whispers.

  Raven and Marty come out of the door last, and when they close it behind them, Dana disappears from her sight. Once outside Moira notices the outside of the base hasn’t changed much since she was here as a child. Most of the facility is underground, and the top floor in placed against the front of a side of the mountains. Even in the dark, she can see the perimeter of the property. The whole place is roughly the size of a football field, and only has about a dozen small buildings scattered amongst the trees. The place is surrounded by a large brick wall, which centers a guarding post, and sours several feet high.

  Still in Liam’s arms, with being outside in the cooler night air, Moira shivers more violently. The only good thing is that the cold wakes her up and she doesn’t have to struggle to stay conscious. The bad thing is that the numbness is fading away now, and her whole body is racked with pain. They’re group make their way to the right of the door they came out of, with Marty at the front and Raven at they’re back. They all try to stay hunched down, and try to stay covered with the darkness.

  Moira notices that they pace along the side of the mountain, and then cutting through a group of trees they start for the wall. On this side, it is about fifteen feet away, and they all hurry to get to it and pick up they’re pace the closer they get. Every movement Liam makes sends a jarring pain through her, and she can hear Daisy’s cries of pain over the same problem. They all come to a halt as they reach the wall, and Marty doesn’t hesitate as he bends down and jumps up to the top of it.

  “Ray, hand Daisy up to me.” He says as he reaches down for her.

  Ray comes closer to the wall, and shifts Daisy in his arms. She grunts in pain as she reaches her arms out as Ray pushes her up higher. Marty gets a hold of her, and pulls her up with ease, and he jumps down to the other side with her. Not even a second later, he’s back up on the wall.

  “Alright Liam, hand Moira over.” Ray says, but no sooner are the words out of his mouth, that a loud siren wails through the courtyard.

  They all freeze and Ray motions for them to hurry up, but then a flood light fills the area and they are in plain sight. They all cower in the light, and Moira is so frightened of being caught she feels sick.

  “You guys get on the other side, and then I’ll pass Moira to you.” Liam says, as he addresses Raven and Ray.

  Ray nods, and jumps up onto the wall with no problem, and then he and Marty both disappear over the side. Raven hesitates, not wanting to leave them alone and vulnerable, but then turns away and jumps onto the wall. She doesn’t jump over the side though, and turns back to Moira and Liam and reaches her arms out.

  “I have to set you down for a second, Mo. It’ll be easier for you to go up, if I can get a hold of your legs.”

  Moira tenses in his arms, and glances up at him. She can see how scared he is of getting caught, but he’s trying to keep it together. She knows it’s going to be painful standing up and even worse going over the wall. But nothing can be worse than having to go back to the facility, so she nods her head and tries to be strong. Ever so gently, he places her down on her feet, and her legs tremble as she tries to stay upright. As he starts to squat down to her legs, Moira gazes up at Raven and hopes she has no problem lifting her. Just has Liam grabs both her legs together and raises his head to her, a shuffling in the trees behind them can be heard. Ravens eyes go wide as she looks over their shoulders, and Liam quickly lifts Moira up without warning. She can’t hold back her cries of pain as she goes airborne, but still she stretches her arms out to Raven.

  “Put the girl down son, now!” A mans voice calls out.

  Moira freezes mid reach and looks behind her, to the voice. It’s a young man in his early twenties, and he’s in a soldier’s uniform. The thing that startles Moira the most is that he’s holding a handgun and it’s pointed right at her. Liam doesn’t set her down, if anything he grips her tighter so that is nails dig into her calves. Moira glances down to Liam, and he’s watching her intently, almost trying to tell her something with his eyes. She doesn’t know what could be going through his mind, but she’s definitely not climbing the wall and leaving him to be shot.

  “I said put the girl down, now!” The man yells.

  Moira is shaking now, and not from just being hurt, but afraid the man’s yelling will alert other soldiers. She feels Liam’s hands tense, and she has an unsettling feeling that he’s about to toss her up over the wall. She looks up to Raven, just as a man pulls himself up onto the wall beside her. Moira barely has time to think that her father just climbed onto the wall, when he leaps over her head and tackles the soldier to the ground.

  Liam drops her into his arms, and they turn just in time to see her father get to his feet and kick the man’s gun from his hands. He picks it up before the man can grab for it, and uses the butt of it to knock him in the face. The man falls unconscious to the ground, but not before other’s can be heard coming from the distance.

  “Daddy!” Moira yells, as she’s about to leave Liam’s arms to run to him.

  Liam
’s arms sweep out though, and grab at her middle stopping her from getting too far.

  “Liam what are doing? Let me go dammit!” She ignores her body’s protests as she tries to get to her father and fight off Liam.

  Her father only gives her a once over before he stares down Liam.

  “I told you to get her out of there without getting caught.” He spits out.

  “I know sir, they found out faster than we anticipated.”

  Moira looks between them, not really understanding what’s going on. She knew Liam went to him to find her, but had no idea her father would be so involved.

  “It’s doesn’t matter now, all that matters is that you get her away as fast as possible. I can only hold them at bay for so long.”

  Her father’s words penetrate just as Liam lifts her back into his arms, and she screams as he pounces them both up onto the wall. Moira is trying to jerk free, but Liam hold firm and is about to jump down to the other side. Quickly, Moira searches out for her father. He’s still in the same position, but his eyes are on her, and Moira can’t help but to see sadness on his face. Sobbing now, she reaches lifelessly out to him, but he shakes his head and gives her a small smile before turning away from her.

  “Hold on to me.” Liam whispers into her hair, as all the air gets rushed out of her lungs as they fall to the ground on the other side of the wall.

  ***

  As soon as Liam’s feet hit the ground, Moira’s whole body is jarred with pain and her vision comes and goes in flashes now. She sees her friends all huddled beside the wall closest to them, and they all look terrified. When Liam turns away and runs, she hears shouts and gun fire on the other side of the wall. Biting her lip to not make any noise now, she feels her heart breaking for leaving her father. She hopes he’s all right, and prays Fletcher doesn’t get to him.