Embers & Ice (Rouge)

by Isabella Modra

  Joshua’s chair squeaked. It was almost as if he’d shouted “yes! I did it! I’m Iceman!” Barry chuckled under his breath and sat down opposite him. For a long time he remained motionless, letting it all sink in and hoping Joshua would crack under the pressure. But all Joshua thought about was sticking a thick, round icicle through Barry’s heart.

  “Do you know this man?” Barry slapped a photograph before Joshua and he tipped his head to the side, avoiding the glare from the lamp above them. The picture showed a man in his late thirties, gray-haired but strong-boned with thin lips and a beaky nose. He faced the camera, and only smiled through his dark, piercing eyes.

  Of course Joshua knew that man. He could not forget him. Dr. Wolfe was the only person on Earth that even the Iceman feared, and he had Hunter in his greasy clutches right at that moment, while Barry stood there cracking sly jokes.

  But if Joshua told Barry about the doctor, he would not cooperate the way he needed him to. So he shook his head and sighed.

  “Nope. Why, is he related to this case you’re working on?”

  Barry’s jaw twitched from side to side. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but what the hell. We believe he has something to do with the missing children. Dr. Winston Wolfe entered our country many years ago – around the time this photo was taken – and we have not been able to find him since. Not only that, but someone in our country has been transferring large amounts of money between here and China, and no one can track the location of this account. The money goes through just before the children are reported missing. Now this can either be a pretty damn stellar coincidence, or a connection. If you know the whereabouts of this man, Joshua, I suggest you give me something.”

  China? Oh shit. Joshua’s knee started shaking and a dark, cold anger stirred inside him. Dr. Wolfe was the definition of evil, and he had Hunter. He had to save her.

  The room started to get very cold, but Barry hadn’t noticed.

  “A lot of strange things have been going on,” he said, running a tired hand down his face, “and all point to you Joshua. Someone from your building reported an explosion and several gunshots from an apartment registered under your pseudonym – a Dr. Emmett Brown, I believe?”

  Despite the situation, Joshua couldn’t help but snort a laugh.

  “Hilarious, Einstein. You know that Hunter is missing, right? I assumed so, since you disappeared without her. Some girl put in a missing persons report. Have you seen her?”

  Again, he didn’t answer, didn’t even look in Barry’s arrogantly bright eyes.

  “Another thing I don’t understand is why you are driving to Seattle with Hunter’s boyfriend Eli and her psychology teacher.”

  Joshua’s brow furrowed. How did he know Eli was-

  “How do I know?” Barry sat forward again, typically getting in Joshua’s space as all cops do, and grinned. “I know because it’s my job to know. And part of my job is to get answers from you. So please, make my life easier by telling me what the hell is going on?”

  He sighed. “Fine. I’ll tell you. But I want my one phone call.”

  Barry’s grin faded. “Are you serious? Who you gonna call?”

  “That is just too tempting,” Joshua said and rolled his eyes.

  Barry snorted a laugh. “Alright. I’m in a semi-good mood tonight, so here-” he pulled out his cell phone and slapped it down on the table, “dial away.”

  Eyeing him carefully, Joshua reached forward and picked up the phone. The picture on the home screen was of Barry next to a sweet woman with curly brown hair in a waitress uniform. He dialed the number. The doctor’s cell phone – which he’d uncovered after a long search through his old contacts – was untraceable, so he didn’t worry that the FBI would be able to track it.

  As he turned and put both hands up, holding the phone to his ear, the chair squeaked in annoyance. No one answered, so he left a message.

  “Hello, it’s Joshua,” he said, knowing Barry would hear but still trying to protect his privacy. “Listen, I’ve run into a bit of trouble so… looks like you’re gonna have to carry this one out on your own. It needs to be done as soon as you get this message. Take whatever precaution is necessary and make sure she is taken somewhere safe. I don’t care what or who it costs. Please, Albert. Get her out of there.”

  As he ended the call, a single tear dripped from his eye and he brushed it off before turning and throwing the phone back on the table. Barry didn’t look so comical anymore when he saw the tears in Joshua’s eyes.

  “That’s it? A distress call?”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded. “Yep. That’s it.”

  “Alrighty then.” Barry leant back in the chair and crossed his arms. “Start talking.”

  THIRTY-NINE

  When Hunter woke up, it was dark and cold and silent. She was lying on a far comfier mattress than the one in her cell, and definitely better than the steel table in Dr. Wolfe’s lab. It only took her a second to realize she was in the old quarters, because the candles were blazing and she could smell the sweet, toxic odor of cigarettes. It only took her a second more to remember what had happened before she passed out.

  She was so paralyzed she couldn’t move. Before today – or whatever time it was – she thought that nothing more in this place could surprise her, but Dr. Wolfe had just stepped into a whole new level of deranged. When did he find Jack? After the warehouse? After he found Hunter? Had he really been locked up in a glass tank all this time?

  And then there was Jack himself. Joshua had said he was special, that he was like them. But the Jack she had just seen in Death Cave 1 was not the Jack she used to know. The old Jack studied in the school library and followed after her like a puppy. The old Jack was sweet and innocent and harmless.

  This Jack was a cold-blooded killer with a powerful ability: Destruction.

  And Dr. Rosenthal shot him.

  Hunter turned her head and watched Will blow out a long puff of smoke. He had his eyes closed.

  “Hey,” she whispered.

  He jumped in surprise and relief filled his features. “Oh, hi. Are you alright?”

  As she sat up, she rubbed her eyes and reached for his cigarette. She was wet and muddy all over her back, as though she’d been dragged through the sewers. “I really need one of these. Thanks.”

  “Sure,” he smiled. “That was a pretty shocking sight in there.”

  Hunter nodded and breathed in heavily. As much as she wanted to tell Will it wasn’t the sight of the guard exploding like a tomato in the microwave or the horror of the mutated people locked in the dirty cells that made her faint, she wasn’t sure she wanted anyone knowing about Jack. Why, she hadn’t figured out yet.

  “How long was I out?”

  “A few hours. Everything is back to normal upstairs. After Dr. Rosenthal shot that guy, they detained him and put him in one of the other cells like the ones filled with people. Apparently the shot wasn’t enough to kill him. He must have some sort of power like mine. They’re repairing Death Cave 1. I dragged you in here before they could find us, then I went back upstairs and there were guards everywhere. Everyone was quiet. Zac said that they waited for us but we never came.”

  “We lost our chance,” she whispered, rubbing her eyes. “There was no security, we could have escaped. We wasted our time.”

  “Not exactly. The others thought of a plan while we were downstairs.”

  “What?”

  He pulled out another cigarette from the pack and lit it up. “Marcus and Mosi have been talking about it for months now. Apparently the lack of guards made it easier to carry out the plan. Marcus and Chantal snuck down to Dr. Wolfe’s office. That’s where he keeps the map of the institution.”

  “A map?” Hunter’s heart was thumping. “Are you serious?”

  “Yep. And it seems luck was on their side. Dr. Wolfe keeps the restraint locks in his office as well. Marcus was able to crack the safe even without his powers.” Will huffed a laugh. “Wolfe’s
not exactly on top of things these days, is he?”

  “After what we just saw downstairs, I’d say he’s a little distracted. What about the security cameras? Doesn’t he have those in his office?”

  “Marcus took care of it.”

  “Remind me to thank that guy.” She smiled and took the cigarette back, more questions flooding into her mind. “So we’ve got a way out, but how are we gonna do it when all the guards are back?”

  “We need to wait. Especially because the demonstrations mean there are more scientists around. They had a look at the map, and the only way out is through the labs. There’s a staff elevator leading up.”

  “There’s no emergency exit through the tunnels?”

  “It was blocked off years ago. But there’s another problem.”

  Hunter sighed. “Of course there is.”

  “It’s Jet.”

  “What?” A funny feeling arose in her stomach. “What’s he done now?”

  “He’s missing.”

  “Oh.” She wanted to say ‘who cares’ and leave without him, but something in Will’s eyes told her there was more to it. “Do you know where he is?”

  Will paused and rubbed his hands on his knees. “I think he went to Dr. Wolfe.”

  “Wh-” It dawned on her the minute she opened her mouth and she sat bolt upright. “That son of a bitch.”

  “He disappeared before Marcus and Chantal found the map and the key to the restraints, so basically all the little leech knows is that we’re planning an escape. It’s not as bad as it could be, but it’s still bad.”

  “And Mikayla?”

  “Marcus spoke to her. She’s not having any part in this. She’ll wait for Jet to come back.”

  “Suits herself,” Hunter shrugged. “What about Death Cave 1?”

  “I went back through the tunnels and hid in one of the empty cells,” he said. There was something snarky in his tone, as if he were proud of his courageous venture to defy Dr. Wolfe. “I heard Dr. Rosenthal and Dr. Wolfe talking. Apparently this guy – they call him Jack – has some sort of destruction power. He can destroy things with his mind; it’s like a disease that’s taken over him. It started off as objects and now I suppose he can destroy people with a single look. It could turn into buildings and cities and someday the world. That’s what Dr. Rosenthal thinks.”

  “So he wants to put him down,” Hunter nodded. Dr. Rosenthal is a noble man, would he really murder an innocent boy? “Is he going to kill him?”

  “I don’t know. Dr. Wolfe won’t allow it, he wants to use Jack as a weapon. But that could seriously lead to the end of the world, so I think I’ll side with Dr. Rosenthal on the murdering part. If it saves billions of lives, at least.”

  Hunter swung her legs over the bed and started pacing. Her blood was pumping and everything suddenly felt so real. You can’t worry about saving Jack as well as planning an escape, said the fire. It’s one or the other.

  But Hunter couldn’t choose. Not only did she feel sick thinking of Jack locked up downstairs with all of the other crazy mutant humans, but now she had to worry about the demonstrations that would be taking place in the next couple of days.

  “Will, what should we do about the people trapped in the Death Caves? Are we going to try and take them with us?”

  His dark eyes swam with pain in the candlelight. “Hunter I don’t know. I was dragging you back through the tunnels and they were asking me to get them out, but… something about them gives me the shivers. I feel like they could be dangerous.”

  “We have to get Alfie out, at least. He didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Yeah but… he’s a dinosaur.”

  Hunter ran a hand through her hair. “I can’t just leave them there to suffer. They don’t deserve it.”

  “Can we think about this later?”

  Hunter’s heart skipped a beat. “What about Fearne?”

  “What about her?”

  “Has she been taken down to the labs at all?”

  Will raised slowly off the bed and dropped the cigarette on the floor. “What makes you ask me that?”

  Hunter pursed her lips shut. The murderous rage on Will’s face was blooming like gray storm clouds. His entire upper body clenched, but if he knew the truth, he would explode.

  “Hunter,” he seethed. “What – has Dr. Wolfe done – to Fearne?”

  “Will-”

  Will charged at her, put his hand on her shoulder and drove her back against the wall. She hit the cement hard and her jaw rattled from the impact. With his face so close to hers, she could feel the heated anger radiating from his body, from the arm he pressed against her throat that forced her chin up and from his heaving chest, pinning her to the cold cement. A fire burned in his eyes, a fire she’d never seen before. This wasn’t the Will she knew, and it reminded her of the blackness inside her soul that used to eat away at her.

  “Listen to me Will,” she said very slowly and very calmly, as though she were talking to a snake about to strike. He released his grip only slightly. “Whatever Dr. Wolfe has done, he will sorely regret it one day when everything collapses and all the people he hurt will return for their payback. Personally, I’d love to be the one dishing out the revenge, but right now there are more important things to worry about. Like getting all of these kids out in one piece.”

  Will’s eyes searched hers, and after a moment he nodded and broke away. “You’re right. I’m sorry. All of the shit that’s been happening lately has really gotten to me. And now this demonstration…”

  “Do you think we could make it out of here before it’s over?”

  “As much as I don’t want to go through it…” he sighed. “I don’t think we have a choice.”

  “I was afraid you’d say that. It could be weeks before we get another opportunity like we did today.”

  Will did nothing but stare at her. Then, after a moment, he stepped towards her, put an arm around her back and pulled her in for a hug. She buried her face into his chest and it was as if a wave of peace washed over her. It wasn’t strange that this was the first time they’d embraced in this way, because it felt so natural. “It will work out, okay?”

  “How can you be so confident of that?” she muttered.

  “Because… I have faith.” He pulled back and gazed down into her eyes with the smallest smile on his lips.

  “And when there is nothing else, there is always faith to cling onto,” she whispered. When Will frowned at her, she said, “that’s something my mother once said.”

  “She’s right,” he whispered.

  Hunter was afraid to move. It amazed her that just being in Will’s arms helped her forget the mess she was surrounded by. It was like being in the eye of the storm, where nothing could touch her.

  And then the moment ended. Will let his arms drop and stepped away from her. “We should get upstairs,” he said in an empty tone. “It’s Mosi’s turn early tomorrow.”

  Hunter nodded, feeling cold, and went to the door, but not before she turned to the dresser and blew the candles out, leaving them to follow each other in the darkness.

  FORTY

  The demonstrations continued with Mosi. It was just as ugly as Benji’s performance. The scientists tested the strength of his skin by firing heavy machinery at his unprotected body. They sawed at his bones with razor-sharp blades and dropped giant blocks of concrete on his head. Mosi grit his teeth and bore through it all, but eventually the pressure put him into unconsciousness and he woke up a day later.

  Then it was Will’s turn. Hunter watched them slice and burn and beat and crush his body over and over and she longed to be sick, but there was nothing in her stomach to throw up. His screams still echoed in her mind late into the night. No horror movie she’d ever seen could compare, particularly when it was someone she cared about. Oh, and she knew she cared about him. Because after what he went through, Hunter refused to leave his side in the infirmary until she was dragged away by three of the Men in White.

 
Her turn came the day after, and she walked into the Orb shaking from head to toe. She told herself to be brave for the younger ones, and having the fire swarm through her skin was blissful enough to give her courage. She wished Will was near, but his body still hadn’t reformed.

  The Orb was more terrifying when filled with people. In the center of the giant space was a glass box identical to the one Jack had destroyed in Death Cave 1. It stood on a raised platform, four silver gas tanks attached to each corner with tubes running up the glass and into the roof. Hunter swallowed as she was led up the steps into the glass tank that sealed shut behind her. All of the sound made by the whispering scientists and buzzing machinery around her vanished. In a way, it was oddly comforting. The fire blazed inside her and she lit her hands, forming balls of flames that danced around her like jumping rabbits. She smiled, enjoying the moment, before Dr. Wolfe’s voice interrupted it.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you subject 0997. Hunter Harrison, age 19. Subject has the ability to withstand impossible heat and – as is clearly demonstrated before you – she can also produce flames from within her body. Today we are going to test the limits of her skin and exactly how much heat she can withstand.”

  Hunter breathed a laugh and crossed her arms. That’s all he’s got? the fire laughed mockingly. It was easier to laugh than be paralyzed with fear.