by A. P. Kensey
“Okay, fine,” said Bernam, sounding bored. “I will hurt you. No reason to lie about it.” He waved at the guards. “Go and get them.” He turned his back and approached the machine.
The guards fanned out and moved quickly across the room, the barrels of their rifles trained on the pillars near the elevator.
One guard hugged the wall on either side of the room and the third walked right down the middle, sweeping his gun barrel back and forth around each pillar he passed.
The one walking toward Corva stepped around her pillar just as she shoved the heel of her palm into his throat. He coughed out all of his air and dropped his rifle, stumbling backward as he choked to take a breath. She moved forward to finish him off.
The guard in the middle raised his gun.
“Look out!” shouted Colton.
Corva turned around just as the guard fired two rounds. The first bullet hit the pillar next to Corva’s arm and tore off a chunk of material that went flying up into the air. The second bullet hit her in the shoulder and spun her down to the ground. The guard she hit in the throat stood over her and smacked her across the cheek with the back of his hand.
“Alive, if you please,” Bernam called loudly from across the room.
Colton stepped out from behind his pillar just as the last guard approached. The guard had let his rifle hang around its strap and instead held up his fists in a defensive stance. Brass knuckles glinted over the fingers of his dark gloves.
Colton kicked out, aiming for the guard’s knee, but a brass-knuckled fist shot down and knocked the leg aside. The guard took a step back, waiting. Colton lunged again—sloppy, he could feel it—and the guard deftly moved to the side as Colton’s momentum carried him forward.
The guard grabbed Colton’s outstretched arm and punched him twice in the side of his ribcage. He kicked the back of Colton’s knees to send him to the ground, then grabbed him by the hair and dragged him toward the machine. Colton tried to twist the guard’s wrist as he slid across the floor but the man was too strong.
The guard pulled Colton to his feet by his hair and shoved him forward, then pushed him down to his knees.
The other two guards dragged Corva’s body next to Colton and dropped her on the ground.
Bernam looked down at her for a long moment.
“I said alive.”
“She’s still breathing,” said one of the guards.
Bernam’s gaze moved to Colton. He frowned.
“I thought you would be dead by now,” he said. “You must be remarkably strong to survive so long without your ability.” Realization dawned on his face and he smiled. “Unless someone else gave you theirs.” He stood looking down at Colton. “Pity it takes so long to get used to a transfusion, or else you may have been able to help your friends.”
He walked over to Corva and used the tip of his shoe to tilt her face to the side.
“Pretty,” he said. “Am I to understand that she has actually found her counterpart?” He looked over at Alistair, who nodded. “The Russian, correct?”
Colton clenched his teeth and looked over at Reece, who still hung suspended from the machine.
“Oh!” said Bernam, following Colton’s gaze. “I almost forgot. Alistair, help him down, would you?”
Alistair stepped up to the platform and unstrapped the heavy bindings. Reece slumped down to the ground and groaned softly as Alistair dragged him to the floor.
Shelly ran over and knelt next to Reece, resting his head in her lap. She looked at Colton helplessly.
“Some friend,” said Bernam thoughtfully. “It took hardly any convincing to betray you, Colton. Ask him about it if he ever wakes up. He still hates your guts. Jealousy is an ugly, ugly thing. I tried to warn you.”
“What did you do to him?” asked Colton.
“I did what I always do with fools,” said Bernam. “I let him take the risk so that I can take the reward. You were supposed to transport the Phoenix energy back to the machine, and I daresay you would have been able to do it without any of the long-term effects from which your friend Reece here will suffer. Yet you denied your ability and chose instead to side with the weak. That reminds me—did you get a chance to say hello to your dear mother during your time with the outcasts?”
Colton lunged forward but the guard standing behind him cracked him in the skull with the butt of his rifle. Colton fell to the floor on his stomach, his jaw bouncing off the hard tile. He sat up and spat blood at Bernam’s feet.
“Why did you take her away from me? Why couldn’t you just leave her alone?”
Bernam laughed. “The mouse does not ask the lion ‘why’—he either runs away or he is eaten. Stupid boy,” he said. “I’d like to kill you right now, but I need some guinea pigs on which to test my new abilities. Still, there’s no reason to deny others a little enjoyment. Shelly?”
He turned to Shelly and beckoned her forward.
40
She rested Reece’s head on the floor and stood up, wiping her palms nervously on the pockets of her jeans.
“Come now, girl,” said Bernam. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”
Shelly looked at Colton, then at Bernam, and shook her head, no.
Bernam sighed. “Young love,” he said. “You just can’t compete with it. Alistair…”
Alistair pushed Shelly to the floor next to Corva. Her hands slipped in a small pool of blood by Corva’s shoulder and she pushed herself back into one of the guards, who kicked her forward and pressed the barrel of his rifle to the back of her head.
“You—you promised,” she said.
“I did, promise, yes,” said Bernam. “And you believed me. You think I would let anyone else have this power? The strength of both a Source and a Conduit, without the need to rely on another to achieve it! Let it be a lesson to you, young lady. You can’t rely on anyone but yourself in this world.”
Bernam unbuttoned his suit jacket and slid it off, draping it neatly over a chrome rail next to the machine. He walked up onto the platform and turned back to face Colton. He smiled as he reached up and grabbed the outsides of the hanging restraints.
Alistair opened a small control panel on the side of the machine and flipped three small switches.
At first, nothing happened. Bernam stood with his eyes closed, waiting. A moment later, his body jerked forward as if he been kicked in the back.
Alistair stepped back from the machine as it pulled black energy out of Bernam’s body. Thin wisps of black smoke slithered out of his chest and spiraled up his arms and down his legs, into the platform. The machine chugged harder as the black matter moved across the tubes and disappeared into the metal boxes.
“What’s happening to him?” shouted Colton over the noise.
Alistair ignored him and watched Bernam intently. When the last of the black energy had been pulled from Bernam’s body, he sank down onto the small platform and breathed out heavily.
Alistair moved quickly to his side and helped him to his feet.
“It worked,” said Bernam weakly. “My ability is mixing with the Phoenix power in the machine.” His skin sagged loosely on his bones and for the first time Colton got an impression of how old he truly was. “Quickly,” he said. “Help me into the bindings so I may finish the process.”
Alistair put his hands on Bernam’s shoulders and smiled.
“Alistair, what are you doing?” said Bernam. He groaned in pain as Alistair squeezed his shoulders. “Guards!” he croaked. “Shoot him!”
The guards didn’t move.
Alistair sighed.
“I paid them off, Bernam. You should have watched the world around you, but instead all you could see was the machine. Tunnel vision,” he said, shaking his head. “Sad to watch. It’s time to step down, my old friend. You were right. You can’t rely on anyone but yourself.”
Bernam dropped to his knees and screamed. The skin on his face shriveled and clung tightly to his skull. Dark pockets sank into his cheeks and his hair fell ou
t in chunks.
“What was that you said about the mouse and the lion?” asked Alistair. His eyes flashed brighter as Bernam withered in his grip.
“Alistair,” hissed Bernam softly as his entire body shook. His eyes rolled back into their sockets and he stopped breathing.
Alistair released Bernam and his wasted husk hit the floor like a light plank of wood.
“Now then,” said Alistair, brushing his hands together. “Same plan as before. Don’t you three go anywhere.” He pointed at Colton, Shelly, and Corva. “I want to have some fun once this is all over. You there,” he said to the nearest guard. “Come here.”
The guard lowered his rifle and obeyed.
“What’s your name? Never mind,” said Alistair holding up his hand to stop the guard from talking. “I don’t care. Just…stand still, would you?”
Alistair grabbed the guard by the throat and lifted him off his feet. The guard’s rifle clattered to the floor and his legs kicked helplessly in the air as he strained to breathe. The other two guards stepped back warily but still kept their rifles trained on Colton and the others.
Black smoke flowed over Alistair’s hand and into the guard’s neck. When the last bit of smoke disappeared, Alistair released the guard and collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.
“Shoot him,” he said quietly.
The other two guards exchanged glances. The one who had just been given Alistair’s Conduit power took a step back and turned to run.
“I said shoot him!”
Colton closed his eyes as two shots rang out. Behind him, he heard a body hit the hard floor.
Alistair straightened his back and grinned at Colton when he opened his eyes. “If I can’t have it, no one can.” His skin was pale but he still looked a lot stronger than Bernam did after he gave up his ability.
He whistled softly as he walked to the machine, then stopped when he saw Bernam’s suit jacket hanging over the railing. Alistair picked it up as if it were a dead rat, inspected it, then tossed it on top of Bernam’s corpse and brushed off his hands once again as he stepped onto the platform.
He reached up and grabbed the restraints.
“To a new era,” he said, and waited. “Oh, right.” He snapped his fingers and hopped off the platform. He went to the small control panel and flipped three more switches, then pressed a series of buttons. “So hard to remember all of these things on your own,” he said. “There we are.” He closed the lid on the panel and walked back to the platform. “Right, then. Where were we?”
He grabbed the restraints as the machine’s hum grew louder. Blinding white light flowed along the tubes, into metal boxes, and then up to the top of the machine.
Alistair closed his eyes as the energy crawled down the bindings and glided over his skin.
On the floor next to Shelly, Reece coughed and opened his eyes. She bent down over him and brushed his hair back from his eyes.
“Reece?” said Colton.
Reece saw Colton and his jaw tightened. He closed his eyes and turned away.
Colton slowly looked at the remaining two security guards. They stood watching the machine as it fed energy into Alistair’s body. Colton shifted a little closer to the guard behind him, hoping he could grab the rifle while he was distracted.
The guard saw him and brought his fist down hard on Colton’s cheek.
“Don’t try it,” said the guard.
Colton spit blood onto the floor.
“How about this?” someone said from behind.
A bright blue ball of light exploded next to the guard’s head. His neck snapped back and he collapsed. The other guard turned and raised his rifle.
Colton jumped forward and shoved his shoulder into the guard’s stomach. He picked him up off the floor and slammed him onto his back. The rifle clattered out of reach and Colton brought his fists down on the guard’s face, over and over again. The guard grabbed a handful of Colton’s shirt and pulled him to the side, then stood and kicked him in the stomach.
Colton gasped for air and tried to crawl away.
The guard grabbed his ankle and pulled him back.
There was a flash of blue light and the guard screamed as he flew through the air. He smashed into the middle of a pillar, cracking it in half. His body stuck into the crooked pillar and hung there, suspended ten feet off the ground.
Haven appeared next to Colton and helped him to his feet.
“Was wondering where you were,” he said, coughing to catch his breath.
“We have to get out of here,” said Haven. “Right now.”
The white light in the machine intensified and Alistair screamed as if he were being burned alive. His body ignited with white flame and his skeleton was visible inside his skin.
Colton bent down and picked up Corva, draping her arm over his shoulder and holding her up by her belt. He started the long walk to the elevator at the far end of the room.
Behind him, Haven knelt down to help the others.
“Don’t touch me,” said Shelly.
Haven stepped back as Shelly helped Reece to his feet. He groaned in pain and clenched his chest. His breaths were wet and shallow. Shelly supported him as they hurried away from the machine, toward the elevator.
With a quick flash of light, the machine powered down.
Alistair fell forward onto his hands and knees. His black hair hung loosely over his face as he lifted his hands from the floor and looked at his palms.
“Let’s go!” shouted Colton.
Shelly and Reece were closest to the machine; Haven ran past them, moving quickly toward the elevator.
Alistair stood up and brushed his hair back. He held his right arm in front of him and turned his palm outward, studying it as if it were an unknown weapon.
A beam of white-hot light shot out of his hand and hit the elevator. The metal doors turned to molten liquid that sloshed out into the room and burned through the floor.
“Get down!” shouted Haven.
Colton turned around just as the elevator exploded.
Chunks of metal burst out in all directions amidst a huge fireball that consumed half the room. The impact from the explosion picked Colton off his feet and slammed him onto his back. He did his best to keep Corva close but she was ripped from his arms. A piece of burning metal smacked against his ankle and he kicked it away.
Fire licked over the ceiling, crawling like lava pouring from a volcano.
Behind him, Alistair was laughing.
“Children,” he said loudly. “Idiots. Do you know how easy it’s going to be to kill all of you? You’ll find out soon enough.”
Colton flipped onto his stomach.
Haven was crouched behind a nearby pillar, staring at him. She pointed to a section of wall on one side of the room and made an exploding motion with her hands.
Colton didn’t understand until she pointed to herself, then to Alistair.
He shook his head, no.
She nodded calmly, as if it was something she had been planning to do all along. Haven pointed to Corva, Reece, and Shelly, then firmly back at the wall.
Colton fought to find a way that they could all escape without someone staying behind. He sighed and looked back at Haven.
As soon as he nodded, she stood up and stepped away from the pillar.
“Over here,” she said.
Instantly, a ball of white light tore through the pillar, splitting it in half and ripping it out of the floor and the ceiling. Haven ran away from the falling pillar, toward the machine.
Alistair tracked her, firing thin beams of white energy as she moved. The beams cut black canyons in the walls. She paused in front of the section of wall that she had pointed out to Colton. She ducked as a thick tube of energy slammed into the wall above her head and shattered the black tile. Sunlight poured in from the cracks.
Haven quickly stood and placed her palms on the wall. Blue light burst from her hands and a large section of the wall crumbled down the outside of the buildi
ng.
She turned and ran toward the machine.
Colton picked up Corva and looked over at Shelly. “Come on!” he said.
Reece leaned against her as they hurried to the hole in the side of the building.
Colton peered down over the edge—six stories straight down to the asphalt parking lot.
“This isn’t a good idea,” said Shelly.
“It’s all we have.”
“Just like jumping from the plane?” she asked. “I thought you were broken.”
“Maybe this will fix me,” said Colton.
He hugged Corva close and jumped.
Fear seized him as he fell through the air—the same fear that threatened to paralyze him when Alistair had thrown him from the plane over the desert. It was different, though, because the first time he truly believed he could rely on his ability.
He pressed Corva close to his body and turned slowly in the air so that his back was toward the rapidly-approaching ground—it was the only chance Corva had of surviving if he failed.
Colton focused on the air flowing around his body. He imagined the battery in his chest. He tried to imagine it filling up, even though he barely felt anything.
He screamed within his mind and reached out for energy—a light tingle at the small of his back; a brief flash of heat in his hands.
Colton closed his eyes and let it out.
He slammed into the concrete on a thin cushion of air that barely managed to keep his bones from shattering. The back of his head bounced off the ground and his vision went black.
Corva fell on top of him and one of his ribs snapped. He yelled in pain as he guided her onto the ground next to him.
Colton lay there panting, feeling the sun’s heat on his face but unable to see anything but a soft glow. He heard footsteps approaching and two figures dissolved out of the blackness, silhouetted by the faint light of the sun.
“Haven?” he said.
The closest figure stopped. Colton’s vision changed from dark to blurry and he could tell that it was Shelly who stood over him. She reached up and wiped a tear from her eye.
Reece stood next to her and guided her away.
“Let’s go,” he said. He cried out in pain and clutched at his chest. His breath came out in quick, ragged gasps as Shelly helped him to stay on his feet. “We don’t belong with them.”
