by Angela Horn
The blonde never paused as the gun was raised or even when it was fired. Joaquin saw blood burst from Sophie’s back as several shots ripped through her. Even newly wounded, Sophie didn’t flinch. Nor did she pause when she reached Karen.
Joaquin braced himself for a battle, but Sophie’s first punch turned out to be the only one. Thrusting her fist through Karen’s chest, Sophie tore the traitor’s heart out with ease. When Sophie yanked her arm back, Karen’s body flopped to the ground. Just like that, it was over.
Sophie studied the bloody mass in her hand before tossing the heart next to Karen’s body. Grabbing a sword from a dead villain, Sophie finished off the traitor then turned to Lila.
“Well that’s done. Now what?” Sophie asked with a grin.
Smiling, Lila rolled her eyes. “Show off.”
Wobbling to her feet, Lila searched for more weapons. “Shut the door. Lock it if you can. We also need to finish off these villains before they regenerate. I need ammo too.”
“Then what? The villains wasted all their bullets on me and Joaquin. I’ve only found half a magazine left,” Sophie said, shutting the door and slipping the weak lock into place. “What’s happening outside?”
“Chaos. We have them on the run, but they’re running everywhere. I don’t know where the brothers are,” Lila said, checking the single magazine remaining in the mess of emptied weapons.
“And Roman?”
Lila didn’t answer as she shuffled towards the mostly dead villains. Sophie finished them off with a sword then followed Lila to where Joaquin lay. As the women stood over him, he felt nervous under their gazes. Sophie’s eyes were soft though, loving even, as she waited for Lila to make the next move.
“I’m still a bit fuzzy on things,” Lila said, wiping blood from her face. “Karen’s the Reaper, but what about him?”
“He’s one of us which is good because I think I’m married to him.”
Lila glanced at Sophie and rolled her eyes. “Of course you are. Okay, so we need to get him to safety before those villains pour in here and take us out.”
“Where is it safe?” Sophie asked.
Lila motioned towards the hall where Joaquin and Sophie struggled earlier with Karen.
“Let’s hope the darkness allows us to see them without them seeing us,” Lila said, yanking a jacket off one of the villains. “He needs to keep pressure on his wound or no amount of hiding will help.”
Sophie took the jacket and pressed it against Joaquin’s chest wound while studying him with a calm smile.
“Do you understand the plan?”
Joaquin frowned at them, not amused by his role as victim.
“I can stand,” he said, even though his legs wouldn’t cooperate. The pain in his chest was intense enough to make him dizzy.
Smiling patiently, Sophie grabbed him under the arms and lifted him to his feet. Joaquin wished to display his usual talents. Instead he mostly fell limp as the woman who looked like his dead wife pulled him into a dark hall while the woman from his dream hobbled after them.
Sitting in the darkness, Joaquin watched the women check their weapons and noticed blood soaking through Lila’s shirt. Sophie noticed it too and reached for Lila who smacked away her hand.
“Tootsie Pop time. You need to be all hard shell, no chewy center right now.”
“Hard shell, I get it,” Sophie said, her voice again betraying the fear under her cool demeanor. Glancing at Joaquin, she pointed to his chest. “Keep more pressure on your wound.”
“You should go,” he said. “Staying here, even hiding like this, will not save you.”
Lila glared at him. Weak and dying, she showed no interest in going out quietly. Joaquin felt the same way, but Sophie’s presence and the prospect of watching Heidi die again drained him of strength.
“No one likes a martyr, Joaquin,” Lila said then turned to Sophie. “I assumed he’d be more, you know, big dogish.”
Smiling, Sophie eyed them both. “We can all be friends later. For now, we need a plan. Lila?”
“We have about six shots and three swords, plus the benefit of seeing them coming. I figure we can take out up to ten or twelve of them,” Lila said then added, “But that estimate might be clouded by my blood loss.”
“So more like eight then?”
“If we can lure them into the darkness, we have a better shot at winning.”
Frowning, Joaquin took the gun Lila handed to him. He realized he would have to be the one to point out the futility of this situation.
“How can we lure them in here when we can barely maneuver in our condition? They also have weapons with more than six shots in them. If they fire into this hallway, we can’t overwhelm them with physical force.”
“What other option do we have?”
“I am not trying to be a martyr, but we can not win this battle. The only choice we have is for you two to disappear into the building. You can wait them out while I make an attempt to slow them down.”
The women responded with identical frowns - displaying an anger he doubted he should test.
“Karen’s story always felt wrong because she left her friends to die,” Lila said as she applied pressure to her chest wound. “Sophie and I aren’t cowards or traitors. If we die, we die together. No crybaby running away, get it?”
“We’re not going to die,” Sophie said with certainty. “We need to go to New Orleans to find Ivy. God said so in your vision.”
Lila bit her lip, her face conflicted now. “Maybe we find her or maybe Roman does or maybe you do. Visions aren’t always clear cut. Look at my vision about him. I thought he was the rogue and it was Karen and she wasn’t even in my vision.”
Lila paused, obviously uncertain, but Joaquin heard none of the worry in her voice when she spoke again.
“You could make a run for it while Joaquin and I slow them down. You’re the only one who has a chance to get away, if things have turned bad outside.”
“I thought you said we were winning?”
Lila shrugged, avoiding Sophie’s gaze. “Yeah, we beat them back, but the brothers were pinned down when we lost contact with them. I don’t know where Roman is. As far as we know, we’re the only ones left. Not all of us can survive a prolonged battle, but you can.”
“Where would I go? I can’t find Ivy on my own,” Sophie asked, her confidence slipping.
“Go back to Gus. He’ll help you. He can build you an army, if need be. Ivy knows you as well as she knows me and neither of us actually remembers her. It doesn’t have to be me. It just has to be someone.”
Sophie looked to Joaquin who showed her no pity. She needed to leave them if she was to survive. His mind was also on Maximo.
“Heidi and I have a nine year old son. Maximo’s like us, but he sees things too. Visions. You need to take him with you. If I don’t make it back, he’s defenseless.”
“He’s alive? Karen said he died when I did,” Sophie muttered then turned to Lila. “Please tell me what to do.”
“I already did.”
“I don’t accept your solution. We can survive this. We’re going to win.”
Lila leaned against the wall and sighed. “I can only tell you that if things turn bad, you should bail and save the kid.”
Sophie knelt down next to Joaquin. “Where is he?”
Joaquin did not respond, somehow afraid these women were his enemies and this whole scenario was a trick to locate Maximo. He knew his paranoia felt wrong. Why go to such great lengths to find Maximo when they could have just followed Joaquin back to his hotel? Yet the idea of this woman with his son disturbed him.
“If things start to look bad, I will tell you.”
When Sophie frowned at him, he felt awkward under her gaze. She stood up and returned to the doorway with Lila. Glancing back at Joaquin, Sophie frowned darkly.
“It’s funny really. I’ve spent the last week planning to kill you, only to find out we’re married. Yet you’re the one with trust issues.”
<
br /> Lila watched them with a grin. “You two can bond later. We’ve got company.”
The villains entered the same way Lila did earlier, only to find a massacre awaiting them. Maybe they understood the implications of Karen’s death or possibly the chaos of the day left them overwhelmed.
Either way, they could only stand dumbfounded in the warehouse. Joaquin saw them wandering around, mumbling to each other. He also saw them carrying automatic weapons that would make any potential hunter last stand very short lived.
Sophie signaled to Lila who shook her head. For that moment, it did seem the villains might exit the way they came. The hunters could then escape slowly through the dark halls. One of monsters stopped mumbling and scanned the room, its face twisted with suspicion.
“We’re not alone here,” it said and the others raised their weapons.
Watching the woman he so desperately wanted to believe was Heidi, Joaquin knew their time was up. While Sophie only had eyes for Lila as they waited for the villains to approach, he sensed her mind was elsewhere. Maybe to the child she needed to save? Joaquin’s mind was on Maximo too. He wondered how long it would be before the boy knew trouble was coming? Would God warn him in time or wait until it was too late as He had done with Heidi?
“Westport Hotel,” he whispered as the villains moved closer.
Sophie once again stared at him with uncertainty. She then nodded and returned her gaze towards the oncoming attackers. Lila lifted her blade and pointed for Joaquin to get ready. With over twice as many villains as bullets, Joaquin’s six shots needed to count.
The lead villain, the one smart enough to sense hunters nearby, lifted its weapon towards the doorway. Joaquin knew the onslaught of bullets would kill Sophie and Lila before they had a chance to fight back. He chose to take the shots, even if it meant confirming their location.
The villains moved in quickly, firing their weapons into the entryway. Lila and Sophie ducked back, avoiding the bullets while Joaquin used his final five shots to take out the villains with the deadliest weapons. The click of the empty gun caused a panic in Joaquin who tried to stand. He knew Sophie was about to die. Whether or not she was truly Heidi, he couldn’t watch that again.
One of the villains began to fire wildly into the doorway, the bullets chipping the walls and zipping past the women. The villain soon moved closer, its shots penetrating the walls. Leaning into the doorway and taking a few shots to the torso, Lila threw her sword and sliced off the villain’s head.
“Yeah, that’s what I was going for earlier,” Lila said, toppling back into the darkness.
Sophie glanced rapidly between Lila, who collapsed to the floor from her new wounds, and Joaquin, who could only stand with the help of the wall. Other villains approached, wary now of what the hunters might do, but unwilling to give up.
Joaquin signaled for the women to back off and move deeper into the hallway. Lila scooted slightly, barely able to stay upright as her blood darkened the floor.
Sophie motioned for Joaquin to take the lead. While it made sense to let her watch the rear because she was the only one who could fight, Joaquin shook his head. The plan to flee felt wrong anyway. He and Lila weren’t going anywhere, let alone quickly. Sophie remained the only one with a chance at survival.
“Go,” he said, pointing towards the dark hall.
Sophie shook her head and shot him that frustrated look Heidi always used when he refused to save her captive friends. Arguing with her was pointless, he sensed. Sophie wouldn’t budge and her time to run ended as the villains again opened fire on the doorway.
As the bullets whizzed around the dark hall, Lila fell to her side, her hands at her chest. When the shots ricocheted closer to Sophie, she dove across the open doorway and threw her sword, decapitating one of the villains.
The remaining villains attacked with fury now, finally realizing the hunters wouldn’t be throwing swords if they possessed higher caliber weapons. Sophie crouched next to Lila who glanced up at her.
“Poor Roman. I almost wished he’d die too, so I wouldn’t feel so guilty for doing this to him again.”
“Glass half full, remember?” Sophie said with a tight smile.
Lila forced herself to sit up. “You need to rush those monsters and get a weapon.”
Nodding, Sophie stood. “It’s just crazy enough to work.”
“No, it’s suicide,” Joaquin said, grabbing for her arm.
“So is sitting here waiting for them to pick us off. I’m going for it.”
When Joaquin pulled her to him, she looked ready to put up a fight. Instead, she held still while he kissed her.
“You said it was good luck,” he whispered. “It was until you died.”
“Good to know,” Sophie said, caressing his cheek.
“Tootsie Pop, Sophie. Nothing but hard shell.”
Sophie smiled confidently, glancing up as if to get one last reassurance from God before taking the leap of faith. “I’ll be right back.”
Joaquin could only watch her move towards the doorway with the knowledge that God had brought her back to him once. Easing down to the floor across from Lila, Joaquin ached at the image of Maximo alone.
Sophie bolted into the doorway, found her target, and barreled towards it. A gust of wind burst through the windows, shattering them. Sophie stood stunned only a foot from the also bewildered villains.
A second gust erupted from somewhere inside the room, blowing Sophie’s hair into her eyes. The ground shook furiously under her feet and a few of the villains took off running. The one closest to Sophie shrugged.
“How about we call it even?” it asked.
Frowning at the absurdity of the offer, Sophie rushed the villain. The other villains turned towards the struggle and aimed their weapons, willing to kill one of their own to terminate a hunter.
Before their weapons fired, a villain cried out as its head separated from its body. The other villains faced the roar of wind and their fallen comrade. Another villain screamed, grasping at its throat while an unseen force tore through its flesh. Nearby, two more villains split apart from the invisible adversary. When a third ran for the door, a sword appeared from thin air and lopped off its head.
Peeking out from the doorway, Joaquin and Lila watched the chaos. Sophie continued struggling with the villain, firing its weapon without managing a kill shot. Pushing each other away, Sophie jumped for a sword while the villain crawled towards the exit. Other villains also headed for safety, only to be torn in half.
Glancing at Lila, Joaquin whispered, “What is out there?”
“I’m hoping it’s my husband Roman,” Lila said, her eyes bright with excitement and maybe fear. “If not, we might have a problem.”
The hidden force picked up the crawling villain and dropped it in front of Sophie who killed it. Standing calmly as the winds died down and the roaring lessoned, Sophie held the blade to her side passively. The air grew still and the room silent as Roman’s presence came into focus.
“Thank goodness, it’s you,” Sophie said with a casual smile. “I about peed myself for a minute. Lila’s in there.”
Roman nodded with a gloomy frown. “We need to leave. Take your husband to his car and find your boy.”
Sophie moved into the doorway where Lila and Joaquin both tried to get to their feet. Taking him under the arm, Sophie helped Joaquin steady himself.
“We need to get to Maximo.”
Roman nodded at Joaquin then moved towards Lila. Joaquin watched the man pick up his wife who sighed with irritation at being babied, even if walking was out of the question.
“Are we being hunted?” Joaquin asked Roman.
“It’s more complicated than that.” Glancing down at Lila with a look of sorrow and guilt Joaquin was familiar with, Roman added, “Sophie, get things in order then meet us at the rendezvous site tomorrow.”
Studying this big dog, Joaquin felt something more than guilt and sorrow radiating from Roman. A sense of doom maybe? Unsett
led by Roman’s demeanor, Joaquin followed the group outside into the now quiet day. Wanting to believe she was his wife, Joaquin glanced at Sophie. Yet her expression was unlike anything he had witnessed on Heidi. The coldness in her eyes bothered Joaquin, giving him more reason to doubt her identity.
Roman called to Sophie over his shoulder. “The villains took out the brothers’ SUV. We only have the one vehicle, so you’ll need to take Joaquin’s car.”
“It’s not far,” Joaquin said as they moved through the litter of headless corpses.
“Do you want me to get it and come back for you?”
“No, I’m fine.”
But Joaquin wasn’t fine and his wounds were the least of it. He didn’t trust this woman, this situation, that Karen was indeed dead. Too many thoughts rushed through his mind as he limped towards his car. The woman who looked and sounded like Heidi, but called herself Sophie took his keys and helped him inside. Driving to the hotel, Sophie touched his cheek at every red light, her soft embrace deceiving his logic.
“You’re still bleeding a lot,” she said more than once, each time her voice less confident. Forcing a smile, she said, “Tell me about our son.”
Joaquin shivered, hating her interest, hating that he would trust a stranger with Maximo. Hiding his suspicion, he answered her question.
“The Lord shows Maximo things. About the past and future, but not always,” Joaquin said, remembering the day they lost Heidi. “His biological parents were murdered by villains. Heidi and I found him in Mexico three years ago.”
Sophie frowned, crinkling her freckled nose in that familiar way Joaquin once loved.
“It’s weird. I remember being me three years ago, but the memories are faded, devoid of feeling, just pictures in my head. I guess that’s because they aren’t real. When I met you in Mexico, my memories weren’t real then either. I mean, I thought I was Heidi, but I wasn’t her. I was someone else before.”
Sophie stopped at a light and again checked over his wounds.
“I guess I’m the same person throughout all these lifetimes. Do I seem the same?”
Joaquin nodded, still unsure if Sophie could truly be the woman he buried deep in the Mexican desert. He hoped Maximo could see the truth that hovered just out of Joaquin’s reach.
