Misfits, Inc.

by Holly Copella

  “Are you okay?” he demanded.

  “I’m fine, but Lucinda got away.”

  The cougar, although badly beaten, was victorious while panting over the two dead beasts. The cougar turned into the black cat and jumped into Hailey’s arms. As she held it, its injuries immediately began to heal. The little cat purred in response. Hailey held the cat despite her alarm to the impending situation.

  “They intend to kill everyone in the banquet hall and make it look like an accident to keep their secret hidden,” Hailey informed them. “Skyler is unconscious, but he’s been in contact with me since he was knocked out. We have to get to the banquet hall and stop them.”

  “Kill everyone? How?” Logan asked.

  “She intends to bring the building down on them,” Hailey announced. “Now that we know her plan, I’m sure they’ll be ready and waiting for us in the banquet hall. We have to hurry.”

  “We need a plan,” Vance informed them while shifting looks at his comrades.

  “We’ll make it up as we go,” Rafe announced bluntly and stormed from the chamber.

  Logan glared at Hailey and shook his head. “Your Guardian doesn’t play well with others, does he?”

  “No, not really,” she muttered.

  Hailey didn’t have time to worry about her warriors not playing well together at the moment. She ran from the chamber after Rafe. Logan and Vance exchanged looks, released deep sighs, and hurried after her.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  The elegant banquet hall was large enough to host wedding receptions and other venues up to five hundred guests and still maintain enough room for a decent dance floor. Its current function, for the moment, was an emergency storm shelter for the hotel guests and employees riding out the massive storm slamming the island. One side of the banquet hall contained large windows, which were reinforced. The windows faced the garden area before the pool rather than the ocean itself. Only a small alcove faced the beach, but it contained a storm door, which could be closed in the event of an emergency. The worst storms usually skimmed the ocean side of the hotel and struck the lobby the hardest. Nearly two hundred hotel guests and almost one hundred employees socialized within the otherwise unused banquet hall. For marketing purposes, the room remained lightly decorated and contained several round tables set up for an elegant, imaginary function, so it could be shown with little advance warning to potential customers.

  The bar, which was usually left empty, had been hastily set up for the ‘storm gala event’. A silver, multi-tiered mimosa fountain flowed cocktails and an elegant brunch was served buffet style. Despite the rush on the banquet hall, the staff did an amazing job at keeping the guests occupied and entertained while they waited out the approaching storm. While the resort guests socialized and seemed unconcerned about the severe storm just outside, staff planned for the worst and secretly scurried about the banquet hall. They gathered supplies in the event of a power outage. The backup generator could take a lot of strain, but it too could be knocked out in extreme situations. Mel kneeled alongside a sofa on the far end of the hall, where Skyler remained unconscious.

  Hailey, Rafe, Logan, and Vance entered the ballroom with their weapons raised and ready, prepared for battle. All four stopped and stared at the elegant social event playing out before them. They exchanged stunned looks.

  “Where’s the ambush?” Vance asked as two women passed him carrying champagne glasses.

  They eyed him and the bloodstained baseball bat he held. He immediately hid it behind his back and smiled innocently. Despite what they had seen, both women eagerly smiled back and swept lustful gazes over his body. Logan and Rafe casually hid their swords behind their backs as well. Hailey studied the room, including the ceiling and shook her head.

  “Something’s definitely not right,” Hailey muttered then looked around the room for Skyler.

  “There’s another exit across the room to the garden,” Rafe announced while glancing at Logan. “You check it out. I’ll keep watch here.”

  Logan placed his sword under his arm to conceal it and headed across the room. He paused before the garden side door, opened it, and looked around outside. He looked back at them from across the room with confusion on his face and shrugged. Hailey continued to scan the room then saw Mel tending to Skyler on the sofa. She hurried toward them with Vance only steps behind. Hailey kneeled before the sofa where Skyler remained unconscious and placed her hand on his forehead. Mel was surprised to see Hailey and stared at her.

  “Are you okay?” Mel asked her softly then looked around. “What happened to Lucinda and Marcus?”

  “They got away,” Hailey replied in a soft tone, so as not to alarm the other guests. She nervously glanced around. “Anything strange happening around here?”

  “Surprisingly, no,” Mel remarked while attempting to mask her concern. “Everyone’s in a great mood. I think most are drunk.” She stared at Hailey with a demanding look. “Are you going to tell me what happened?”

  “Later,” she replied.

  Skyler finally woke and looked at Hailey with disorientation. She was thankful she was able to pull him out of his unconscious state. He groaned softly with relief to see her, sat up on the sofa, and hugged her.

  “Hailey, thank God,” he gasped.

  She barely had time to return the embrace when he suddenly pulled away and stared blankly, as if sensing something. She felt alarm rushing through her. She was starting to know that look all too well. Talbert approached them and was about to speak when Skyler’s expression dropped. He looked at Hailey with alarm clearly on his face.

  “They’re swarming,” Skyler gasped almost loud enough for other guests to hear. “It’s a trap.”

  Hailey stared at him and searched for a response.

  Talbert became irritated and pointed accusingly at Skyler. “You need to stop with that--”

  Skyler abruptly stood, shoved Talbert out of his path, and looked around the banquet hall. Hailey joined him and scanned for any signs of trouble, but everything seemed unusually peaceful. Rafe looked at them in silent question from the main doorway. Hailey signaled to him. He gave a general nod to Logan across the room, indicating for him to keep alert. When Logan turned back toward his door, several beasts suddenly charged into the banquet hall, nearly trampling him. He fell to the floor and the sword flew from his hand. Rafe charged across the room for the first rampaging beast as it jumped on one of the guests, tearing its sharp teeth into the man’s arm. Rafe swung his samurai sword while sliding toward the beast on top of the man. The sharp blade connected with the creature’s neck, decapitating its head. As the beast’s head toppled across the floor, blood sprayed across the room. Rafe pulled the injured man to his feet, giving him a chance to escape.

  Men and women screamed and ran from the large, snarling creatures that charged after them. Mel joined in the chaos with her own panic riddled screams while clinging to Skyler’s arm. Logan sprang to his feet and slammed the door shut before more creatures could enter. Several creatures slammed against the sturdy glass doors. Logan reclaimed his sword then hurried deeper into the room to help Rafe and Vance stop the rampaging beasts. There were at least five creatures already within the room attempting to kill frightened guests and employees.

  Hailey stared at the glass doors and windows with horror on her face. The beasts were swarming the glass attempting to break into the room. All she saw was a sea of black creatures slamming against the glass.

  “What the hell--?” Talbert cried out in panic.

  “There must be over a hundred outside,” Hailey gasped and looked at Skyler, who shared her horror. “She wasn’t going to destroy the hotel, she organized a slaughter.”

  One of the creatures tackled a woman to the floor, knocking the air from her body and leaving her defenseless. Vance swung his baseball bat for the creature’s head and knocked it off her, although it didn’t go down. The creature shook its large head, snarled at Vance, and charged him. Vance coiled back and swung the
bat at the creature’s head. The large creature was thrown backwards and struck the floor with tremendous force. It moved slightly. Guests and employees immediately pummeled the writhing creature with chairs and trays until it stopped moving. Rafe and Logan slashed at creatures with their swords, needing more than one blow to take them down. Guests and employees trapped behind the bar attempted to keep two more creatures from getting across the bar to reach them.

  Mel yanked harshly on Skyler’s arm, attempting to pull him toward the interior door with the heard of stampeding guests running for the exit. The first man to the door opened it to reveal another snarling beast waiting to get inside. As it attempted to plow through the doorway, several guests helped the man close the door on the creature. Everyone screamed until they had the door closed and locked, keeping the creature outside.

  “We’re trapped,” Mel cried out while frantically looking around the room.

  Several guests fended off a third creature that had followed the crowd to the main door. They were only succeeding in holding it back and quickly losing ground.

  “They’re going to get in,” Skyler warned Hailey and immediately fidgeted, but his movements were constricted by Mel’s arm tightly wrapped around his.

  Hailey turned toward Talbert, who appeared to be in shock as he watched the three men at the bar fighting the beasts, which were now focused on them rather than the screaming guests.

  “Is everyone here?” she asked Talbert.

  Talbert didn’t respond but, instead, just stared helplessly at the deteriorating situation within the banquet hall. Hailey grabbed him by the arm and gave him a firm jolt back to reality.

  “Is everyone here?” she demanded.

  He finally snapped out of his shock and met her gaze, fumbling for his words. “You were the last of the guests, but more than thirty employees never reported.”

  “That’s because they’re involved,” Skyler remarked and looked at Hailey for their next move.

  “This room is expected to withstand a hurricane, right?” Hailey asked Talbert.

  “Yes, but those things--” Talbert began.

  Hailey didn’t bother waiting for him to finish. She turned to Skyler with a serious look on her face.

  “The guys are handling the creatures already in the room and should have the situation under control shortly,” she informed him. “It’s important that no one leaves the safety of the banquet hall.” She quickly turned back to Talbert and commanded his attention. “I need to get to the roof. Is there another way out of here other than the main doors?”

  Talbert appeared surprised by her comment then considered his answer. His eyes suddenly lit up.

  “There’s a crawl space in the bathroom,” he announced. “It’ll take you to the men’s bathroom just off the lobby. They’re connected. It’s too dangerous though. What if those things are in the lobby?”

  “I’ll have to risk it,” Hailey replied.

  As if reading her mind, Skyler stared at Hailey with a look of alarm. “Please, Hailey, don’t do this,” he pleaded. “You don’t have to risk your life.”

  “Do what?” Mel gasped in terror as she gripped Skyler’s arm even tighter.

  Hailey’s mind was already made up as she backed away from Skyler. “I’ll keep in touch with you,” she announced. “Just make sure this room remains sealed.”

  Hailey hurried into the nearby bathroom without giving him further chance to protest. Toward the center of the room, Rafe slashed the throat of the beast he fought. Trapped guests screamed and backed up behind the bar while dodging spattering blood. The second beast leaped for Rafe. Rafe somersaulted over the creature and speared it in mid flip. The creature struck the floor with a thud. Rafe landed gracefully and pulled his sword from the beast. Several feet away, Vance struck another creature in the head with his bat, tossing it toward Logan, who swung his sword and decapitated the remaining creature. As the last creature fell into a bloody heap, more creatures attempted to get inside.

  “We need to reinforce the doors,” Vance yelled to the panicking guests.

  With the last of the creatures in the room dead, a group of men assisted Vance and helped move one of the heavier tables in front of the garden door. Rafe hurried toward Skyler, who finally managed to free his arm from Mel’s clutches. Rafe looked around with concern then met Skyler’s gaze.

  “Where’s Hailey?” he demanded.

  “She said no one can leave and the room needs to remain sealed,” Skyler announced, his concern clearly showing.

  “What? What’s she up to?”

  Skyler shook his head. “I don’t know what she’s planning, but I can tell you it’s going to be bad.”

  “How could you let her leave without protection?” Rafe suddenly demanded then appeared preoccupied with his concerns. “I have to find her.”

  He turned to walk away. Skyler grabbed his arm and stopped him.

  “I’m concerned about her too,” Skyler announced firmly. “She’s the only friend I have, but we have to trust her.”

  For a brief moment, there was no telling what Rafe’s intentions were. Skyler braced himself for whatever backlash was about to come his way. To Skyler’s surprise, Rafe relaxed, although maintaining his disapproving look.

  “Then I suppose I have no choice but trust her,” Rafe muttered then turned and was about to help the others reinforce the doors. He hesitated then looked back at Skyler. “And she’s not your only friend.”

  Rafe hurried across the banquet hall to join Logan by the garden side windows. Vance was already organizing the people within the room to help clear away the dead beasts and secure the area. Logan stood before the large window and studied a beast on the outside as it clawed and scratched at the thick shatterproof glass, attempting to get to him. It barely scratched the glass, which was encouraging. Rafe looked from the raging, frothing creature to Logan and raised a skeptical brow in response.

  “That’s not exactly productive,” Rafe remarked.

  Logan didn’t respond. He appeared transfixed on something within the garden. Thick, thorny vines grew rapidly outside the window, crawling up the glass and the building. The creatures pricked themselves on the thorns and eventually jumped away from the window. The vines continued to spread rapidly, chasing all the beasts away from the windows. Rafe stared with astonishment while casting several glances at Logan.

  “I’d like to withdraw my earlier remark,” Rafe announced casually, patted Logan on the back, and indicated the plant life outside the window. “Have fun with that.”

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Hailey peered out of the men’s restroom and looked around the main corridor not far from the lobby. The corridor was quiet and empty. She hurried into the open elevator, swiped her keycard, and was about to press the penthouse button when she reconsidered. She pressed her own floor instead. She couldn’t risk someone possibly hiding out on the twentieth floor and hearing the elevator arriving. As the doors closed, she leaned against the wall and shut her eyes a moment. She wasn’t sure she was doing the right thing. Every instinct inside her screamed that her plan wouldn’t work. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy of potential doom. On the short elevator ride to the nineteenth floor, she kept thinking about Lucinda’s scathing remarks. She had four sisters; all who failed to destroy her evil boss. They were prepared for the challenge, and they failed. How could she ever hope to defeat Lucinda? Did she really think her misfits were up to the challenge? Had Rafe been right? Was she ultimately sending them to their death?

  As the doors opened to her floor, she was still debating her plan and questioning herself. She hurried along the corridor, past her room, and directly for the stairwell. Her dilemma continued as she ran up the steps toward the roof. All she could think about were the sisters she never knew; how they must have died; and those four deluded men willing to follow her to the depths of hell just because she said so. If they died, it was on her. She wasn’t sure she could live with the guilt, although if they died, she probably
wouldn’t outlive them by long. The thought didn’t offer any comfort. She reached the twentieth floor and suddenly stopped. She looked up the steps toward the roof exit, but something was urging her to stop on the penthouse floor.

  Hailey removed her keycard, which was the only way to access the penthouse stairs, and uncertainly ran the card through the slot. She gently pushed the door open and peered into the twentieth floor corridor, which was only home to Lucinda’s penthouse suite and the presidential suite. Lucinda’s penthouse door opened. Hailey ducked back inside the stairwell, holding the door open only a crack to watch. Twenty men and women she recognized as hotel employees left Lucinda’s suite and headed for the nearby elevator. They were talking softly among themselves while they waited for the elevator to arrive.

  “We’ll meet up with the others in the lobby,” a maintenance man announced. “When the interior door to the banquet hall is clear of snappers, we’ll run to the door as if we’re being chased. Once they let us in, it’s necessary we take out Hailey and her misfits first. The others won’t be a problem.”

  “And while you’re keeping her council busy,” a housekeeper announced, “I’ll open the garden door and let the remaining snappers inside to deal with the rest of the guests.”

  The maintenance man chuckled, finding the thought humorous. “That’s going to be a slaughter. I hope we at least get some of the leftovers.”

  The maid cringed her disapproval. “Do you really want sloppy seconds from a snapper?”

  “We’ve been starved far too long,” the maintenance man responded. “I’ll take anything warm right about now.”

  The elevator door opened and all twenty men and women filtered inside. As the door slid closed, Hailey was quick to share the newly found information.

  “Skyler,” she announced softly aloud, even though she didn’t have to say the actual words. “A group of your co-workers are on their way to the banquet hall. They’re going to ambush you once they get inside. Keep them out at all costs.”