“How? We don’t know where to start,” Abby said. “Everything got destroyed. Which brings me to another question, how in the hell did they bring that place down?”
“It had to be mechanic. The sounds we heard when it started … they had some type of machines drilling through the areas stabilizing our structure. It had to be the Magal,” Dax said, practically hissing the last word. Dermetheus’s little tinkering genius made my blood boil. Because of that thing, Dax was almost killed. “It needs to die,” he continued, looking up at me. It was the first time I had seen Dax like this. Normally, he was the stay behind the screen guy with a logical thought to share every now and then.
“He will,” I assured him. “Do you really need all the equipment we had there to work some magic?” I asked him as I pulled out the tiny chip and tossed it in his direction. He caught it with one swift motion and held it up to the light.
“I have some things at my parents house I can get and bring here. I don’t need all that fancy junk. It just made it a little easier on some things.”
“Good. Savannah and me went up to that room they were meeting in to see if they left anything behind we could use. We found that and this.” I pulled the small baggie out. “Not sure if this helps in anyway, but we thought it couldn’t hurt to check. Maybe it can tell us where they went.”
Masey crawled across the couch and took the bag from me. “I can get lab equipment from the high school to analyze this. Should tell me if anything in it is specific to one location.”
I folded my hands, finally feeling like we weren’t lost anymore. We had something to go on that would hopefully lead us somewhere. “Abby go with Dax tomorrow to his parents’ to get whatever he needs after y’all drop Raven and Masey off at the school. We need to get started on this first thing in the morning. The three of us,” I said motioning to me, Savannah, and Lance, “will take the boat back to the boat landing to see what’s left of the training camp. Maybe we can find something to help us that didn’t get destroyed. We also need to find a way to get back in touch with Jace. We need that info.” I stood, slipping my shoes off, and pulling a blanket off the back of the couch. “Everyone get some sleep. You’re gonna need it.” Savannah flipped the light back off before her and Lance disappeared to the bedroom. I crawled in beside Abby on the floor, curling my arm under the pillow my head rested on. There were only a few hours until daylight. My eyes were dry and burned finally giving in I fell asleep.
“Shayla!” I heard my name being screamed, thinking it was part of the dream I was having about me being on a cooking show. Every dish I made wasn’t turning out right even though I mixed and prepared the ingredients to perfection. The host kept yelling at me, telling me how bad I sucked. “Shayla!” I heard again, this time jarring me awake. Morning light spilled in from the sliding glass doors leading out to the patio in the front. Lance stood over me with a cup of steaming coffee in hand. Bless him. I sat up, using one hand to wipe away some eye crusties, and taking the cup with the other. My back was stiff from the floor. I grimaced, trying to stretch the soreness.
“Everyone already gone?” I asked, taking a sip of the morning refreshment. It wasn’t as good as mine, but it would suffice. Another three cups and I should be good to go.
“Left about an hour ago,” he said before disappearing down the hall. The blankets lay rolled in balls around me, with their pillows on top. I didn’t hear a sound from them. Of course, that didn’t surprise me. When I went to sleep, I was basically in a coma. Alarms were a joke.
Pushing the cover to the side, I managed to scamper my aching ass to the bathroom. The linoleum was peeling up from the floor, leaving spots of sticky glue, which caught the bottom of my jeans. I yanked it free; causing me to stumble and spill coffee across my hand. “Son of a bitch!” I yelled at the cup like it did it on purpose. I wiped the liquid away, it leaving a bright pink tint to my skin. I sat the cup down on the vanity and splashed my face with water. My reflection showed dark circles under my eyes, and wait a minute was that a wrinkle? I shot forward to analyze the tiny line running under my left eye. My nostrils flared as the anger pulsed. “Another reason to hate them. I have my first wrinkle thanks to them assholes.”
“You’ve had that wrinkle. I just didn’t want to say anything,” Savannah said, shoving the door into my back, pushing into the room. She eyed the toilet seat for inspection. After it met her approval, she sat down.
“Couldn’t you wait until I was done before you came in?”
Her brown hair cascaded down her back, tangled from sleep. “Nah, it’s cool,” she said following it with a yawn. I shook my head and left the bathroom to grab another cup of wake-me-up. After pouring another cup, I lotioned my new tattoo down, and put on my shoes.
“Ready?” Lance asked, coming into the room while running a hand over his shaved head. Savannah followed him smacking her lips together from the lip-gloss she applied.
“Already? I still need at least two more cups before I can function.” My voice almost sounded like a whine. Gah. When did I become such a baby over coffee? I stood and started out the door, their remarks never reaching me. I didn’t want to hear it. I knew what I just sounded like.
I climbed in the boat, taking a seat in the back. They got on board and Lance started the engine. The morning air was misty, sticking to my skin. The faster we went, the cooler it got, until my skin felt icy. Wave after wave the boat beat across the water until we were back at the Gainestown boat landing. A group of people were there walking around, picking things up. A line of red tape was stretched around the entrance to keep cars from coming in.
“What’s going on?” Lance called to a group of guys standing near the waterline.
“Somethin’ exploded underground, it looks like. We out here trying to see what it was and clean up,” a man called as he removed his cowboy hat and rubbed his forehead. He leaned forward and spit before repositioning the tobacco behind his lower lip.
“Need some help?” Savannah asked in her sweetest, most southern accent. The men smiled at her. Nothing they liked better than a good ol’ country girl.
“Sure. Could use all the help we can get.” We parked the boat a few feet away. Lance tied it around a tree and we maneuvered through the crowds of people. Most were standing around, eyeing everything with no interest to help clean. They just wanted to be nosey like most people who lived in these parts. We headed for the way we came out. The explosion had completely sealed the entrance.
“Let’s head back this way. We know we’re on top of it. Maybe we can find another way down from where it caved,” Lance said. We followed him through the woods, leaving the crowds of people behind. “Whoa. Check this out.” He stopped, staring at the ground. A hole big enough for about two sewage drains was carved into the earth, curving a few feet down. “They had somethin’ that could dig.” He paused for a minute looking around before jumping into it. “Looks like we found a way in,” he said flipping on a flashlight. Savannah and I sat and lowered ourselves down. “Stay close,” he said, leading the way on his hands and knees.
“Are you sure this is safe?” Savannah asked.
The light hit us in the face as he turned around. “No, but there isn’t another way.” He kept going, leaving us no choice but to follow. The thought of being buried alive wasn’t something I ever wanted to consider, but now it was all I could think about as the tunnel turned downward, heading deeper into the ground. The dirt packed under my fingernails as I dug through it. It was all I could smell around me.
Finally, we came out on the other side, which was in Reese’s old room. Her bed was drilled through with pieces of stuffing and shreds of cloth everywhere. The red emergency lights were off now, leaving it in totally darkness. We walked into the hallway, or what was left of it. Huge pieces of concrete blocked most the path. We crawled under and over, slowly moving toward the elevator. Lance pulled something out of his bag and moved the flashlight to the crease of his elbow. “Ready to go down?” he asked, tossing us a
pair of gloves as he stretched his fingers though the tight leather.
I held the gloves like they were a poisonous snake. “You must have lost your mind.” Savannah looked just as skeptical as me, with her hand now drumming against the side of her hip. “If you wanna go down, go ahead. Doesn’t mean we have to.”
He stopped and stared back and forth between the two of us. “So what, y’all are just gonna leave me hanging? What if I need some backup? What happened to all that you said about us having to stick together?” He crossed his arms over his thick chest, making his shirt look like he shopped at the Baby Gap. I made a quick mental note to buy him larger shirts on his birthday. It pissed me off that he was using my words against me, but it pissed me off even more that he was right.
I let out an overdramatic grunt and jerked the gloves over my hands. They were too big, not to mention plain black, which bored me. I was trying to find everything possible wrong thing with this picture.
The elevator sat on the bottom floor. I reached out as far as I could, before jumping to grab the cable. Slowly, we crawled down one floor to where our classrooms and debriefing room were. The damage was just as bad there, if not even a little worse.
“Watch for any loose creatures. Some could’ve gotten out of those holding cells on the bottom level,” Lance said.
Instinctively I jerked around as if one was behind me. I had completely forgotten about them. Shuddering, I remembered my training exercises. “You think any survived all this?” I asked.
His light beamed down. “Highly doubt it. It looks completely destroyed down there.” We managed to find some weapons that were unharmed, guns mostly, a few knives, and containers of chemicals.
At the debriefing room, trepidation made me stop at the entrance. The screen Jace was on not even twenty-four hours before was half hanging, its surface covered in dirt. I replayed every emotional and embarrassing action from the day before in my mind. I could still see his face as if he were still on the screen. I crossed over, touched it, hoping it would bring him back.
“There’s nothing in here we can use. I think we’ve got all we can take,” Lance said from behind me. I started to stand, something black catching my eye just under a turned over chair. I shoved it off and pulled out Fuzz’s laptop.
“This might be helpful,” I said, holding it up.
“Damn right,” he said, putting it into his bag. “Let’s go. I don’t want this light going out before we get back up. That would suck.”
“Uggghhhh,” a voice sounded from the corner of the room. The three of us stopped and stared at each other. “Help me,” the voice called. Lance threw several desks out of his way, and a piece of rock. A Snake Demon was trapped under a piece of wall that had fallen. “Please, get me out of here,” he pleaded. He was back to his human form, golden skin, green eyes, and thick wavy brown hair.
“Why should we help you?” I asked, wanting nothing more than to split his head open, wait for him to heal, and do it again. They were the reason our safe place was destroyed. They were the reason Fuzz wasn’t with us anymore.
“I didn’t want to be a part of thissss,” he hissed. Glancing at each of our faces, he continued his pleas. “Do you see any more of us around? They got everyone else out, but me. I tried to stop them. We can live here together if all the fighting would stop.”
“Do you think we’re stupid? They probably just didn’t find you,” Savannah said. He didn’t say anything. He shook his head and threw a hand over his eyes.
“We can use him,” Lance said. I shot him a look. Had he officially lost his mind? He didn’t know what these things were capable of. I saw them tear girls a part and feed on them like they were nothing. Maybe if he saw that his thoughts about him helping us would change. “Think about it. He’s been with them so he probably knows their plans.”
“I don’t know if we should trust him,” I said. This thing was disgusting.
Lance’s gaze trailed over my face. “Do you seriously think I’m that stupid?” He paused waiting for my response. I shrugged, not giving him the satisfaction of an actual answer. I mean, he might be that stupid. I didn’t know. “I know we can’t trust him, but we can still use him. We’ll keep him tied up, and cover his head so he doesn’t know where we go,” he continued, trying to persuade us to see his side.
I locked eyes with Savannah. She sighed and gestured toward the thing in front of us. “He has a point. We need anything that can help us.” I couldn’t wrap my head around her agreeing with him. I stood abruptly, causing them to flinch.
“Y’all weren’t there that night. You don’t know what these things are capable of doing!” My words were pointless. They would never see it my way, and the sad fact was, as much as I hated to admit it they were right. We needed him.
“I promise you, I’m not like the others. Just give me time and you’ll see,” he pleaded. That was totally unorthodox for these things. Thinking they were bad-asses, smug, and drop dead gorgeous, yes, those were all qualities I experienced with them, not fear.
I paused mulling over the jumbled thoughts swimming in my head. “Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “But I get to handle him for the most part. If anything happens that I don’t like, I get to end him, no questions asked.” I thought my demands were responsible. I had the most experience with his kind. And if he as so much as sneezed and it didn’t sound right, I wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in his head.
Chapter Ten
Reese
At daybreak, I descended the tree. The forest seemed to be calmer than before, less noise and movement. The stealthy prowlers were asleep, getting geared up to hunt again tonight. Nevertheless, the wilderness was still dangerous. The warmth of the sun only gave it a superficial glow of being safe. The fact was, I knew nothing about my surroundings and was an easy target. My feet thudded against the moist ground. It was a much louder landing than I’d hoped for. Heavy silence surrounded me. I didn’t like it one bit. It made me feel uneasy, like I was being hunted. I began to tremble all over. A night in this unpredictable nature had set me on edge. I closed my eyes, breathing through my nose, and exhaling through my mouth. It did little to calm my rattled nerves, but at least I tried. Slowly, I took my first few steps, then stopped to see if anything around me had changed. Was that breathing I heard? I jerked around, narrowing my eyes, trying to peer in the direction of a thicket of jumbled bush and vines. I shrank back, prepared to barrel toward the tree, my safety net. Nothing. It was bad enough I was battling a split, crazed personality in my head, but now paranoia? Stop being stupid. You have every right to be paranoid. Do you really want something to eat your ass out here? I shook my head, answering my own question. I couldn’t stay in the tree and lose an entire day. No, I had to move.
I patted my side. The deadly blade was still there; ready to be used if necessary. My stomach growled. I only had a little bit of food, after that it would be up to me to hunt. I decided against giving into my needs. I could wait a little longer. I had too. It needed to last as long as possible. I took a few more steps and stopped at a rock. Kneeling, I pulled out the compass and map to compare to my coordinates. Northeast. Carefully folding it back up, I placed the items back into my bag, and started in that direction before I could talk myself out of it. At last, I left my tree behind, with a duck under a low-lying limb it was out of sight and just a thing of my past on this journey. I followed a track of worn grass for some miles. All the while my stomach aching more and more the longer I went. My temples throbbed, begging me to sit down and take a break. I found a nice shady spot and leaned against a decomposing piece of fallen wood. I pulled out what little bit of food I had. I ate a small portion, leaving enough for one more small meal when I needed it.
The rice was hard, but it hit the spot, satisfying my hunger. With nothing else to do, I pulled out the map again just to make sure I was still heading in the right direction. Still on course, just as I’d thought. I studied the terrains, before long I would have this thing memorized. It was
the only thing I had to look at other than my surroundings. I put it down beside me, rubbing my eyes, slouching just a bit. After staying up all night, I was exhausted. I closed my eyes. A minute was all I needed, just so they wouldn’t be so dry any more.
Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.
I swatted to my right, trying to stop the noise. Just a few more minutes. Please. I drifted off into a harder sleep.
Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.
“Stop,” my voice sounded off, like something was draped over my mouth.
“What’s the matter? Can’t take a little bit of noise?” I hated hearing her voice. Why wouldn’t she just go away? She had a bad habit of entering my thoughts when I was trying to sleep, making me see things. It was dark, so dark I couldn’t see anything. Cautiously, I walked inch by inch until my fingertips grazed a smooth surface. I followed it, hoping for a way out. “Just open your eyes,” she spat, the hatred drawing out her last word. As if on queue, my fingers clipped the corner of a light switch. With uncertainty, I stood touching it. What was out there? Did I really want to know? Sure the darkness held the fear of not knowing, but something unimaginable could be waiting for me. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see it.
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