by Lucy Rains
My head was starting to go dizzy, my dinner was coming up. I bent over, away from Gavin and heaved uncontrollably. Shots were fired outside our room and Gavin left me to tend to the situation. My stomach emptied Sucking in air filled with rotting flesh wasn’t helping. I opened my eyes and realized I had tripped earlier on a small red cooler when we entered the room. Other coolers were scattered around the room, in various sizes and colors. Numbers and addresses were written on top in black marker.
I wiped my mouth and stood up slowly, brining the nightmarish sights back into view. Blood splatters covered the ground around the dead women’s table. The little metal trays lined along the wall with small incision tools, were also still covered in blood. Her body naked, sliced open down the middle, was now hollow inside. There were two other black body bags on the other side of the room on the opposite wall.
I choked again, this time on tears.
A hand touched my shoulder. Gavin was talking softly but I couldn’t hear him. My response was to push him away and try to leave the room.
Before I could get anywhere Pierce appeared in the doorway and pushed our door open.
“We found the girl.”
CHAPTER 16
I tried to maneuver around Pierce, not caring about the hostage anymore or wherever the hell she was. I wanted out of the room that stank of death and rotting flesh. I wanted out of the building. But Pierce grabbed on to my arms and held firm. I squirmed, trying to break out of his hold.
“Let me go,” I whimpered.
“What’s wrong with her?” he asked. The question was directed towards Gavin, but his eyes never left my face. He brought my arms closer to him, which in turn brought my whole body against his.
“We picked a bad room,” explained Gavin.
My eyes were on Pierce’s chest, unfocused and bleary. My body trembled. “I can’t…” I whispered, “Let me out,”
Pierce pulled me into his chest and wrapped a thick arm around me. My shaking subsided slightly as my face felt the warmth and hum of his chest. When his eyes found what we had already seen he swore loudly.
“Yeah,” agreed Gavin, “that’s what I said.”
“Let's hurry, finish the job, get Jade out of here.”
“Have you found the leader?” Gavin asked. “The one the FBI is looking for?”
I didn’t hear Pierce’s response as I buried my head into his chest and took a deep breath, trying to regain my composure. I can finish this, I told myself. I have to finish this. I shook off the cold inside my limbs and tried to push the images of blood and gore from my mind. So much death…the building was full of dead bodies.
I pulled back, and looked up at Pierce. His eyes studied me, his jaw clenched tight.
“Where is the girl?” Gavin asked.
He pulled his eyes away to look at Gavin. “A few doors down, sleeping. She had been drugged.”
He opened his mouth to say more when his eyes suddenly closed and his head tilted up. My blood froze at the look on his face and I shrank back from him. At the same moment a heated presence jumped into my mind.
Pierce tried to speak, “Someone-”
Gunfire sounded at a distance so close to our room I screeched in shock and my knees buckled. Pierce let go of me to grab his gun and I dropped to the ground.
“There’s our man.” Pierce twisted around to the door opening, trying to peer out around the wall. I saw the dark hulking figure across the way on the other side of the balcony, with a gun pointed in our direction. Pierce threw himself behind the door, with his back to the wall. Gavin crouched on the other side of the door.
Shots fired again, but not from the man I had seen. I looked over Pierce’s shoulder and saw the man duking behind doorways, moving in the direction of our room. Pierce raised his gun and tried to take a shot, but the man fired off first. The bullet skimmed Pierce's shoulder, tearing fabric, slamming into the wall at the end of the room..
“Alex! Kyson!” Pierce shouted, “Take the shot!”
More shots fired, more bullets hitting walls and metal.
I wanted to do something.My mind went through various ideas of using my energy. But my body didn’t move. I couldn’t find my voice to even offer help.
“Kyson is hit!” Alex shouted over the noise.
Fear filled my chest, and I was about to speak up, offer help, when our door was suddenly kicked in. I scurried backwards, tripping over coolers.
A sleek gun was pointed at Pierce’s head. A smug smile on our attackers face. I thought I was scared before, it was nothing compared to now. The weapon pointed at Pierce’s head filled my body with a horror I had never felt before. My instinct screamed in protest at the image.
Though the man was of a light complexion, his eyes were dark and soulless. They reminded me so much of that day three years earlier. Eyes filled with evil intentions.
Though the men downstairs had been of various ethnicities, this man was light skinned, blonde, wearing a well-tailored suit. His smell of sweat and cheap cologne fought with the aroma of decay.
“Who da hell are you!?” An accent thick in his words. Russian, I was guessing. “Who sent you? How did you find dis place?!”
I looked between the guys, wondering if they would answer him. Gavin’s hand twitched towards his thigh and the man snapped his gun towards him. His reflexes were quicker than I was expecting. My heart sprang into my throat, a whimper escaped my mouth. What little sound I had made caught his attention and he slowly turned his gun towards me.
“Don’t move,” the man ordered slowly. His tone lethal and promised pain.
My fear was debilitating. I knew what I needed to do, what I had to do. But thick sludge filled my limbs and held me down. The mans lips curled up into a sinister smile. His tongue darted out to wet his upper lip. The gun clicked in preparation to fire. “I think,” he said thoughtfully, “that I will save you for last.” His smiled turned wicked.
Nausea filled my stomach, and my throat clenched at his words.
His gun moved away from me and back towards Gavin as he walked farther into the room. Pierce pleaded at me with his eyes.
“You think you come into my place, and get away with it. I will kill all of you,” he said with absolute resolution.
“Jade,” Pierce whispered.
The man’s head whipped to look at him, then turned to look at me.
“Do it now, Jade.”
My mouth opened as my breathing became shallow and I tried to flex my fingers. I desperately needed to move. Fire and needles burned in my palms. It was ready. My energy knew what it needed to do even if I was caught in a trance of fear.
“Now Jade,” Gavin demanded.
Clenching my teeth, I forced away the physical block that held me down. Faster than the man’s eyes could track, my hands flew up, letting out a fierce blow of energy. The man fell backwards, slamming into the wall behind him, his gun misfiring as it flailed from his hand. I felt the sharp sting of the bullet tear through my neck. I shrieked in both pain and surprise. The wretched fire burning a path where the bullet had seared along my flesh.
“Jade!” Pierce yelled.
Gavin took advantage of the distraction I had created and moved quickly. His foot came up and knocked the gun out of the man's hands, snapping bones at the same time. Ignoring the snarl of cursed pain from him, Gavin grabbed the hair on the man’s head and threw his head backwards, cracking it on the wall, then letting him fall unconscious to the floor.
My neck was on fire and the feel of warm liquid ran down my shoulder and into my shirt. Pierce growled and crouched down by me. “It’s just a scratch, didn’t go inside.” He ripped at the bottom of his black shirt and pressed the fabric on my neck. The pressure brought a new wave of pain and I moaned weakly in protest.
My eyes fluttered close, and my vision became spotty. I could barely hold my head up. Gavin took notice of my weakness and came over.
“For a second there I wasn’t sure if you were going to help us out.” His words
didn't match the concern I felt from him. He angled me against the wall to support my back and head.
I heard another ripping noise. I opened up one eye to see Gavin scowling at me and handing the black fabric from his own shirt to Pierce.
“Stay with me baby,” said Pierce, fear laced his words.
The pain was easing as the seconds passed by. Slowly, but steadily, I could feel the wound healing and my skin closing. I blinked and opened my eyes. I brought a shaky hand up to my neck. “I’m okay,” I whispered.
Pierce wasn’t convinced. Gavin grunted and stood up
My head rolled over as Gavin duct taped the man's arms behind his back. Black fabric had been tied around his head to cover his eyes.
“Who is he?” I croaked.
“I don’t know.” Pierce replied, letting me take charge of holding the black fabric to my neck. It was warm and damp. His eyes were tense as he watched my movements.
“Its okay now,” I whispered.
“Your neck?” he asked.
I shook my head, “The building.” I paused to catch my breath, “There's no one else.”
Footsteps sounded and Alex entered the room in a flurry. His eyes grew wide, darting from me, to the man laying on the ground, to the corpse. “Mother fu-” he cut himself off when he saw me. “This is some nasty shit.”
“We know,” Pierce agreed, “How’s Kyson?”
“He’s fine. All healed up.” He walked over to me and swore again under his breath as he squatted down. His eyes scanned my neck, widening at the sight of my blood and healing flesh. His face darkened with anger. “What the hell did he do?”
Pierce stood up and moved to let Alex come closer to me. “I’m okay. Just help me up,” I said.
He slid a hand behind my back and brought me to my feet. I brought the rag away from neck and shoved it into my pocket. Gently touching my neck, I felt my skin puckering as it healed. Blood was drying but the area was still sticky.
“You know,” Alex murmured close to my ear, “All that blood looks kind of good on you. Brings out your eyes.”
Gavin snorted but I was too tired to give a retort. I leaned heavily on Alex as he walked me out of the room. I wasn’t going to fake bravado, I was completely depleted inside and out. “How’s Kyson?”
“I told you, he’ll be fine. Took one in the leg, but it's already pushed out.”
Gavin gave me some space as I leaned on the balcony railing. I took a deep breath, my throat constricted, coughing out the putrid air I had been breathing.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
Gavin and Alex looked to Pierce for an answer. But before he could say anything, the wail of sirens went off in the distance. All three guys physically cringed.
“Shit!’ Alex spat. Gavin copied the phrase.
“Alex, stay with the prisoner.” Pierce directed. “Kyson will take Jade back to the truck while the rest of us wait here for Jason and his team to arrive.”
My feet froze mid shuffle. Back to the truck? “Will Kyson stay with me?” I asked in confusion.
“He can’t,” Alex answered quickly. “We all have to be here. Ready and waiting for the authorities.”
I shook my head fervently, “No. Please, no. I want to stay with all of you,” I pleaded. Panic pricked at the edges of my chest. Waiting alone in the dark solitude of the truck after everything I had seen and gone through was going to send me into a state of trauma I couldn’t image. I knew I was fragile, ready to break at any moment.
Pierce shook his head, “No. We can’t let our contact see you yet.”
“Jason?” I asked. “Why?”
Gavin shook his head, “Not now Jade.”
“Pierce!” Kyson appeared in the hallway, standing by the door to the girls’ room. “They’re coming!”
I looked at Kyson and then back to Pierce. My heart hammered in desperation. “Please, don’t do this.”
Pierce ignored my pleads, “Kyson, take Jade now.”
A hand wrapped around my waist and I was being ushered backwards down the walkway back towards the stairs. “Pierce!” I screamed, but Pierce wouldn’t meet my eyes. He turned and went back into the room with the man. “Damn you!” I shrieked at him, anger taking over my fear.
I tried to pull out of Kyson’s grasp but just like with Pierce, it was useless. I attempted to use my whole body to pull myself away but only aggravated my healing neck wound and winced at the stabbing pain.
“What happened?” he growled.
“Just a nick,” I snapped, still trying to free myself.
“Jade, please. You have to understand, this is for your safety.”
I lifted my arms to try pushing him away but my energy was draining. Since it was still working on healing, my weak body wasn’t keeping up with my mental panic and I stumbled slightly as I tried to walk. I reached out to grab the railing but was swiftly picked up into Kyson’s steel arms.
“We don’t know if we can trust Jason, and what he might do.”
“I don’t care!” I whimpered, leaning against his chest. “You can’t just leave me alone there in the dark! Not after...after everything.”
I kicked my legs and pushed against him. When Kyson stopped moving to set me on my feet, I had a brief flicker of hope in my heart that he had changed his mind, or came up with a different idea. But when the prick of a needle throbbed into my neck, harsh betrayal hit me in the gut.
“Son of a bitch,” I whispered as the icy drug started running down my shoulders and into my body, taking away my ability to stand.
Kyson lifted me again, pressed me to his chest. “I’m sorry little jewel. Someday you will understand that this is for the best.”
************
I tried to fight them off but it was no use. The images of the night filled my head, like pictures flashing in intervals. They were relentless, my mind determined to relive them even in my unconscious state.
A sliced open body kept appearing in my head, the ribs pulled open, the flesh peeled back. Blood, carnage, wicked intentions, still bodies, empty eyes...I couldn’t contain it. I felt disgusting, inside and out. My soul was violated and sick with the horrors that I would never be able to unsee.
Then suddenly the images shifted, and visions of white lab coats began appearing. Darkness to light. Bright light. It was foggy, like a picture out of focus. Voices of men and women, and my mother. The lab coats moved around me as I sat in a chair. My skin was cold. Naked except for thin underwear. Restrained. Someone was touching my hair, my head. And then something buzzed along my head, pushing into my skull.
The memory of panic came back to me. Needles into my wrists, my inner arms. My bare head cold. My mother talking softly but not to me. My childlike voice pleads with her. I try to see through the fog, try to clear my ears but it was like pushing against a quicksand.
And then pain.
Wails pounded into my ears. I twisted around in my bed, my chest heaving, gasping for air. I closed my mouth to stop screaming. My hands went to my head, cradled my scalp, feeling for my hair. Then my wrists, my arms. Trying to rub off the memory of pain that still throbbed.
I bent over at the waist and focused on keeping my breathing calm. My body shook, and it took a conscious effort to peel my nails out from my palms. The light in my bathroom was on, creating a soft light in my room.
Footsteps sounded and my door flew open. I flinched, a tight shriek escaping my lips.
Kyson appeared in front of me, hands lifting to my face. I leaned away from him.
“Don’t,” I growled.
His eyes reflected the hurt from my response to him. I looked towards the door as the other three guys appeared.
“She’s white as a sheet,” Alex murmured.
Kyson reached out a hand and touched my face, “Sweating hard too,”
I turned my head away from Kyson’s hand. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered.
My eyes unlocked my tears at that point. They streamed down my face silently as I continued to
shake. Pierce brought over a water bottle to me and everyone sat in silence as I drank greedily. Trickles of water going over my mouth and down my cheek, sliding to my neck and chest.
Everyone waited for me to say something.
Something inside me was changing. I couldn’t put my finger on what was happening exactly, but I could feel the shift in myself, deep in my mind and body. The memories coming back to me weren’t the only indication. My stomach twinged in ways I had never felt, my muscles were tight and twitching. My chest hummed in warmth but it also felt like there was a weight shifting inside. A realization bloomed when I thought back to the pills my mother was having me take. There were more than just the red prenatals.
“K-kyson,” I stuttered, my voice raspy, “w-what do the purple pills d-do?”
I finally met his blue eyes, his overwhelming anxiety coming off him in thick waves.
His mouth closed and I could see his jaw click.
I swallowed hard, trying to make my voice firm. “Why was she making me take the p-purple pill?”
Kyson let out a heavy sigh and glanced at Pierce. Pierce rubbed a hand on over his jaw and leaned against a wall.
“It’s a neuro psychotic medication,” he answered.
I scratched my nails up and down my arms, trying to stop them from shaking. “Why? W-what do they do?”
“They were created to repress your memories. We had to take them as well in the lab. But they were never quite strong enough for us.”
I shook my head. Not wanting to accept his response. But I hated that it made sense. I hadn’t taken the pills in...3 days.
“It had to be created specifically for you, because our bodies burn through medications at a much higher rate than the average person. Your body is filtering the drug out of your system. So you might be remembering...things.”
The memories while I was running, the fountain. “Does the lab or compound where you guys were, does it have...a fountain? Like, by the front entry?” I didn’t think they would know this, seeing as they were held inside.
Pierce and Kyson looked at each other, but Alex was the one that answered. “Yes.”
