Misfits, Inc.

by Holly Copella

  “Hailey!”

  Hailey looked back at Skyler with surprise. Marcus appeared in the bedroom doorway and hit Hailey on the head with his gun, dropping her to the floor. Skyler lunged forward without a plan. Marcus turned toward him with his gun aimed. The white tiger leaped out of the bedroom and tackled Marcus. Marcus fired several rounds at the tiger as they fell to the floor together. The tiger took multiple shots, blood streaking its white coat, and fell limp on top of Marcus. He pushed the dead tiger off him. Skyler grabbed the fire poker and lunged for Marcus as he started to stand. Marcus sprang to his feet and aimed the gun at Skyler. Mel cried out and grabbed Marcus’s arm as the gun fired and narrowly missed Skyler, who instinctively ducked. Marcus shoved Mel backwards and into Lucinda, who had been leaping to her feet. Marcus turned for Skyler as he swung the fire poker and caught it in his bare hand. He punched Skyler in the face and then kicked him in the chest. Skyler flew backwards, fell onto the coffee table, and smashed it beneath his weight. Two creatures suddenly leaped from the bedroom, stopped on cue, and snarled at the women. Lucinda clung to Mel as both women screamed.

  Marcus shook his head with disgust, although he seemed humored by the situation. “I don’t know why you people insist on fighting battles you can’t win,” he announced.

  Skyler groaned as he slowly rolled onto his back alongside the broken coffee table. Marcus approached Hailey, who remained unconscious on the floor, and then casually eyed the frightened women.

  “Fortunately for you two, I’m more interested in this one,” he remarked.

  Skyler slowly sat up while holding his bleeding temple and glared at Marcus several feet away. Skyler’s fixated look was hateful despite his obvious pain.

  “You stay away from her,” he growled lowly as he weakly moved onto his knees.

  “Don’t worry about your little friend,” Marcus announced and then flashed a devious smile. “I need her alive. You, on the other hand--”

  Marcus motioned the creatures to attack Skyler. The beasts snarled and lunged for him. Mel and Lucinda screamed while clinging to each other. The room suddenly vibrated. Skyler cast his bloody hand toward the lunging beasts. Both creatures were violently hurled backwards and crashed through the glass balcony doors. All eyes were on Skyler. He slowly stood, transfixed on Marcus, as the room continued to vibrate with his rising anger.

  “I said stay away from her!”

  Marcus showed concern for the first time. His arrogance quickly returned as he aimed his gun at Skyler. The gun trembled in his hand, alarming the intimidating man. A vase suddenly shattered over Skyler’s head, and he dropped to the floor. The room instantly became still. Mel screamed and looked at Lucinda, who casually tossed a small piece of the broken vase aside.

  “Enough games, Marcus,” Lucinda growled with a sneer on her face. “Deal with him!”

  Marcus aimed his gun at Skyler on the floor. Mel screamed, lunged for Skyler, and shielded him as she clung to his head. She pinched her eyes shut as if anticipating the gunshot that was about to follow. Instead, there was pounding on the door, causing everyone to jump. Lucinda and Marcus looked at the door.

  “Hailey! Skyler! Open up!” Logan yelled from outside the door.

  “Rafe, hurry,” Vance shouted. “We heard gunshots and no one’s answering!”

  “Shoot them now,” Lucinda ordered in a harsh whisper. “We have to get out of here!”

  The dead mass of white tiger twitched, concerning both, almost as if they knew what was about to follow.

  “Get out of the way,” Rafe was heard yelling just outside the door.

  “We have what we need,” Marcus informed her.

  He swiftly picked up Hailey then hurried Lucinda to the bedroom. As the bedroom door slammed shut, the suite door was violently kicked open, cracking the frame. Rafe charged into the room with his samurai sword prepared to decapitate the first thing that moved. Logan and Vance entered behind him and saw Mel holding Skyler’s head to her chest from her position on the floor. She frantically pointed to the bedroom.

  “Marcus and Lucinda took Hailey!”

  Vance and Logan ran for the closed bedroom door and attempted to bust through. Rafe ran for the balcony, scaled the half wall, and dropped over it. Mel cried out with horror while clinging to Skyler’s head and stared at the dark skies beyond the balcony.

  “My God! He jumped!”

  Vance and Logan turned with surprise and hurried for the balcony beyond the shattered glass doors. Mounds of broken glass crunched beneath their feet as they hurried to the half wall. Both looked over the balcony for signs of Rafe. A mountain lion suddenly ran past them and gracefully leaped over the half wall. Vance and Logan were surprised as they watched the massive cat jump the wall. They hurried back inside. Both looked at the injured, unconscious man in Mel’s arms.

  “Is he okay?” Logan asked her.

  “He’s out cold, but he has a pulse, and he’s still breathing,” she announced while fighting her tears.

  “Stay with him,” Logan ordered.

  Logan and Vance ran from the room as Talbert and Brody entered through the broken door. Both stared after the two men then looked at Mel with the unconscious Skyler alongside the broken coffee table.

  “What happened?” Talbert gasped with concern.

  “He needs a doctor,” Mel quickly replied.

  “The doctor is in the banquet hall with the others,” Talbert announced as he hurried toward her. “We’re using it as a storm shelter until the hurricane passes. The banquet hall is reinforced with shatterproof windows.”

  “Can we risk moving him?” Brody asked.

  “He can’t stay here,” Talbert informed him. “With that hurricane coming, it’s too dangerous.”

  The two men picked up Skyler, removing him from Mel’s lap. As the men carried him toward the broken door, Mel looked around the room with concern while gently rubbing her shoulders. She groaned with frustration and hurried after them.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Hailey couldn’t understand why she felt so cold, almost damp. Her head was pounding in rhythm with the aching in her back. She kept hearing Skyler’s voice talking over her, but his words made little sense. Hailey slowly opened her eyes and saw dozens of candles burning in the dim lighting of the sacrificial chamber. She then realized where she was. Although she still heard Skyler’s voice, she knew he wasn’t with her. He talked as if he were confused himself. She then realized that something had happened to him in Lucinda’s suite, but she wasn’t sure what became of him or Mel. Hailey thrashed against the newly replaced iron shackles that firmly held her wrists and ankles to the stone altar.

  Candles lined the altar, surrounding her in some ritualistic fashion. Hailey was almost certain she was about to find out what happened to the men and women who had been mummified to the mineshaft walls. She then saw Lucinda standing alongside her. Lucinda leaned over her with a sympathetic smile and gently brushed the hair from her face.

  “Are you okay, dear?” Lucinda softly asked.

  Hailey again pulled on the shackles and felt panic sweeping through her cold, damp body.

  “We have to get out of here!”

  “The door is locked,” Lucinda replied. “I checked already.” She then looked around and appeared concerned. “What is this place? Are we still at the resort?”

  “It’s a long story,” Hailey announced and attempted to look around. “You have to find the keys and unlock the shackles. We’re in terrible danger.”

  Lucinda nodded, acknowledging the danger they were in, reassuringly patted Hailey’s arm, and then searched the dimly lit room. As she searched the room with one of the candles in her hand, she cast a look back at Hailey.

  “What’s going on?” Lucinda asked. “There were these horrible creatures--”

  The events of the morning were quickly returning to Hailey. She remembered seeing Marcus and realized he must have knocked her out. She glanced at Lucinda and felt an enormous amount of concern for her frie
nds.

  “Are Mel and Skyler okay?”

  “I’m not sure,” Lucinda replied from across the room. “Those things brought us here. I don’t know what happened to Mel and Skyler.”

  Hailey looked around the large chamber while following Lucinda’s voice and the tiny glow from her candle. Skyler was alive. He was still talking to her, but he didn’t know where he was and seemed to ramble. She was almost certain he was unconscious. Several spirits materialized and floated near her with Amy, Penny, and Desi among them. She stared at the three familiar, ghostly faces. They whispered words that she couldn’t understand and appeared frightened for her. Hailey glanced across the chamber to Lucinda’s back. She had no signs of dirt or abrasions after claiming she was dragged by the creatures. Hailey looked back at the spirits hovering around her. They continued to whisper their concerns. She could still hear Skyler’s voice as he spoke incoherently.

  “You should have seen the teeth on those things,” Lucinda dramatically gasped from a far corner.

  “Trust me,” Hailey muttered while tensing from the ghostly voices, “I have.”

  Hailey stared at the candles and put her effort into concentrating. The flames rose higher then bent toward the shackles on her wrists and ankles. Within seconds, the keyholes glowed bright red. The spirits whispered and collected around her. Their concerns were rising, and they appeared to be shielding her. Within the corridor, she heard the faint snarl of several beasts followed by sharp, shrill wails. The corridor was suddenly quiet. Lucinda stared at the chamber door almost frozen then turned toward Hailey. Her concerned look turned back to sympathetic. The candles surrounding the altar were burnt down to waxy nubs. Hailey remained shackled and watched as Lucinda approached with a thin dagger in her hand. A strange smile twisted across her face.

  “No keys, but I found this--” she announced and revealed the knife.

  “Is that how you killed them?”

  Lucinda appeared surprised by the question then smiled and played with the dagger almost lovingly. She caressed the blade in a sensual manner.

  “Pity you had to be the one sent to destroy me,” she announced with a dreary sigh.

  “How do you know that?” Hailey asked with surprise while attempting to read her expression in the dim lighting.

  Lucinda’s statement was bizarre considering Hailey didn’t even know why she was commanded to the island. She hated that she was the last to know everything.

  “You weren’t the first,” Lucinda casually replied. “Your father, the Emperor, exterminated my people nearly two decades ago. He deemed us a threat to your society.”

  Hailey stared at her while attempting to put it together. Strange stories were flooding her mind. It was as if her subconscious had been mysteriously unlocked and small parts of her young life were returning to her. She was only a little girl, but she remembered being told the stories by a man, possibly her uncle. They were bloody, merciless stories burned into her mind.

  “Your kind feasts on humans,” Hailey boldly announced. “Your kind destroyed my people.”

  “Only the small and the weak,” she announced gleefully in true Lucinda fashion. Her playful smile turned angry. “Your father destroyed my entire family. Only a few of us escaped.” Her lips curved into a scowl. “We were only children, but he would have killed us too.”

  “And with good reason.”

  Lucinda became enraged by the comment. “Enough to sacrifice his five daughters?”

  Hailey’s mind suddenly reeled from what she had heard. Was it true? Did she have sisters?

  “Five?” Hailey suddenly gasped.

  “You had four sisters,” Lucinda informed her then appeared humored by the irony of the situation. “All of them with the same gifts you have and each of them failed.” Her twisted smile mocked Hailey. “They had years to prepare and develop their gifts. They were the fail-safe, I assume, in case his most trusted guards failed at locating us. Unfortunately, you just realized you were different a few days ago. I assume because your uncle died, you never knew the power you possessed. If your sisters were no match for me, how can you possibly expect to defeat me?”

  Hailey felt the anger building inside her. She’d just found out she had four sisters and that they were dead all at the same moment, killed by the retched woman before her.

  “You killed my sisters?”

  “I had to,” Lucinda replied almost innocently. “There are quite a few of us living on this island, and your sisters were getting close to discovering us. Considering you knew nothing of your powers, it’s baffling how you and your council were drawn here. A Numinous doesn’t have that much power, and considering the one you’d picked, you’re lucky he didn’t blow his brains out years ago.” Lucinda seemed particularly pleased with her assessment of Skyler. “Had you known your identity, we probably could have tracked you down around the same time we did your sisters.”

  Hailey felt her entire body twitch. The powers she contained were rising within her. Lucinda smiled with false sympathy and gently brushed the hair from Hailey’s face.

  “Oh, you poor thing,” she cooed. “It was nothing personal, I assure you. It was them or me. You understand.” Her mocking smile returned. “They went quickly, if it’s any consolation. Two of them met their demise trying to find this island. One was involved in a tragic plane crash, and your other sister’s boat sank a mile from the island. Your eldest sister, the first to go, never even made it that far. She died tragically in a car accident with her entire council shortly after her high school graduation.” She appeared thoughtful. “Not that killing one’s council really matters.” She looked back at Hailey and grinned. “See, if you die, your council loses their powers, and, in most cases, their memory of the experience. That’s a plus for me. For you too,” she announced. “If I kill you here and now, your council wouldn’t necessarily have to die. I know you’d take comfort knowing that.”

  “So you expect me to just let you kill me because you’ll spare my council?” Hailey shook her head. “You’re delusional. You always have been.”

  Lucinda sneered at Hailey’s scathing words. “Bad news, Hailey. We’re beyond all that. I intend to kill each one of them slowly and with as much pain as possible.” Her hostility returned as she paced the altar. “The last thing I ever wanted was one of the emperor’s daughters at my front door. But you’re here now, so our only option is to exterminate. You’ve drawn too much attention to our way of life.” She casually pointed to the ceiling with the dagger. “Everyone is gathering in the banquet hall until the hurricane passes. The roof is conveniently going to collapse from the storm, killing everyone.”

  Hailey’s mind reeled with the new information of a mass slaughter. She couldn’t allow Lucinda to get into her head. She had to stay focused.

  Lucinda’s mood again lightened as she smiled and became enthusiastic. “Oh, you’ll be pleased to know that according to the contract Brody signed, his share of the hotel reverts back to me, his new partner, in the event of his death. Between his investment check and the insurance money, I’ll be back on top.” She playfully tapped Hailey’s shoulder with the tip of the dagger. “Isn’t that wonderful? I knew you’d be happy to hear that.”

  Hailey glared at Lucinda and sharply raised her brows. “Aren’t you forgetting one thing?”

  Lucinda thoughtfully considered the question while tapping the tip of the dagger to her chin. “You die, your council loses their powers, and we crush them like bugs.” She looked back at Hailey and grinned, almost unable to contain her enthusiasm. “Nope, I think I covered everything.”

  The cougar suddenly leaped out of the darkness for Lucinda. She casually stepped out of its path, as if anticipating the arrival of her Protector. As it turned back for her, two beasts scurried out from under the altar and attacked the cougar. Lucinda turned toward Hailey and smiled as the creatures fought with the cougar, their snarls echoing throughout the room.

  She smiled, pleased with herself. “And that includes you
r pesky Protector too.”

  They heard the faint wails of creatures being slain within the corridor. The sounds were getting closer to the chamber. Lucinda seemed annoyed, although she acted as if it was a minor nuisance.

  “Your persistent council of misfits are getting through my pets,” Lucinda remarked. “I don’t mean to rush you, but we need to get on with this.” Her look turned more serious as she gazed at Hailey with a slightly seductive look. Her hand gently caressed her face in an almost loving manner. “I’m going to miss you. I had such high hopes for a more intimate relationship.”

  Lucinda pulled her hand back while sighing lustfully then raised the dagger above her head. As she thrust downward with the dagger, Hailey pulled her hands free from the shackles and caught Lucinda’s wrists. Having startled her former boss by freeing herself, Hailey easily knocked the dagger from Lucinda’s hand. Lucinda jumped back with more surprise than anger.

  Hailey quickly sat up on the altar and glared at Lucinda. “Actually, I never liked you.”

  “How did you get free?” Lucinda gasped while backing away from her.

  “You don’t give me enough credit,” Hailey scoffed. “Or maybe I’m just more powerful than you’d imagined.”

  The cougar grabbed one of the beasts by the throat and tore through it. The second beast then attacked the cougar. It was difficult to tell who was winning. There was an urgent pounding against the crudely fixed chamber door. Hailey casually jumped off the altar and paced before Lucinda, almost mimicking her boss’s actions. Lucinda continued to back away from her and toward the opposite wall.

  “My misfits are knocking on your door,” Hailey announced boldly as she cocked her head to the side. “Aren’t you going to answer?”

  The wall suddenly opened near Lucinda and she darted through. Hailey cried out as she bolted for the opening, but it closed before she reached it. She slammed her hand against the solid stone. The main chamber door burst open to reveal Rafe, Logan, and Vance. Rafe hurried to her and examined her for injuries.