by C C Sommerly
“You need to hurry. Alarms will sound when you try to leave the lab with me. I overheard the doctor talking about the protections on this place. We have to get out of here before he bleeds me dry.”
As he said that, I noticed he did seem much paler than earlier. I hope the soldiers hadn’t come back and beat on him more once we left. Dark purple circles framed his eyes and his cheeks looked hallowed out. He looked downright sickly. It was the first time I saw him look anything other than beautiful, well, if you didn’t count the beat down where he was a bloody mess.
“Are you well enough to escape? No offense, but you’ve definitely looked better.”
A belly deep laugh was his response as he cradled his stomach and laughed until tears streamed down his face.
“I assure you; nothing can keep me from freedom once I’m through the lab doors,” said the demon.
I bent down and studied the restraints at his wrists. They looked like thicker versions of handcuffs, but I didn’t see a keyhole.
“Do you always wear these or just when you are out of the holding cell?”
“Just when I am out of it. He uses some sort of device to clamp them on. He always neutralizes me before taking me out, so I am not sure what all it involves. I’m sorry I cannot be more help.”
Hmm…wonder if I could try some of my cool demon powers. I remember the other hybrids telling me that releasing their powers was a natural instinct. Ginger said that you felt for the heat inside because it was the source of your power. You felt for it, relaxed and let it consume you, slowly swallowing you up until all that was left was the heat. I could do that.
“Okay, I’m going to try something, but I’m not sure it will work. Don’t move.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm myself and see if I could sense what they were talking about. After several attempts, I couldn’t find that heat they talked about.
“Whatever you are doing, it’s not working.”
I could feel myself shaking with the urge to use my power, but his yammering didn’t make it easier. “I’m trying to access my power,” I said.
“Whatever you were trying, isn’t the way. What are you doing exactly?”
“I’m trying to find my heat source to show me where the power is, so I can release it.”
“Have you done this before?”
I could hear his frustration, which only increased mine. Wasn’t it obvious that I was new at this?
“No, but I’m hoping my power is something useful that will let me get these restraints off you.”
“Okay, listen. Try this. Sensory is an effective tool for controlling your power. Imagine what you want and then it will happen.”
Sure, it would be that easy, I thought. Taking my sword, I lifted it and imaged it breaking the chain that connected each of his wrist to the chair.
A loud snap of the sword breaking through the chain and let out the breath I was holding.
“It worked!”
“And you nearly froze my hand off. That’s not a demon power.”
“Who said freezing your hand wasn’t intentional.”
At his shocked expression, I laughed before answering the rest of what he said. “Of course, it is. I’m part demon.”
“Hmmm…”
I released his other hand and helped him to his feet. He staggered, but quickly stabilized. Good. I didn’t relish trying to carry or drag him out of here. We slunk through the lab until we reached the door that would let us into the main part of The Underground.
“I hope you can run. We need to go around the edge of the cave. It will keep us from running into most of the people. Thankfully, the hybrids are at the training field and busy with the soldiers.”
“Just get me close to the door and I can do the rest.”
He grabbed my arm before I could push the door open, “Wait. Access your power, freeze the door, it could short out the controls and prevent the alarm from sounding.”
I imagined what I wanted my powers to do as I touched the control panel. It frosted up with a thick layer of ice and crackled with the shorting of the electricity. I carefully opened the door, no alarm sounding. Whoa, relief.
We dart through the edge of The Underground. We didn’t encounter anyone, which was and wasn’t surprising. I didn’t factor into this rescue what a distraction the soldiers would be for everyone. It looked like the whole underground moved to the training field to watch the fun.
We reached the outside access door and without another thought, I pushed through, pulling the demon by his arm. Once in the sunlight, the demon, winced and raised his hand to block out the bright rays of sun. Giving him a moment to compose himself, I looked around to make sure we weren’t spotted by anyone. Still not seeing anyone, I pulled him along.
“We need to find Merritt. Any idea how to find him.”
“Actually, yes, he has my blood in him, so I can track him that way. We are linked. All of you that have taken of my blood are connected to me.”
“So, I am connected to you. What does that mean?”
“It means I can sense where you are and a generally idea of what you are experiencing if they are strong emotions.”
“Can you read my thoughts,” I asked in horror.
“No,” he reassured me without meeting my eyes.
“Why can’t you talk to me now that no one is around. Can you even talk like normal?”
“Most people cannot handle hearing my natural voice. It will cause all sorts of problems, so for now, I will continue our mind speak.”
Okay. “Which way, since you’re the walking Merritt compass, which direction then, demon?”
He growled and stomped towards a northernly track. We continued in the same direction until the sun dipped low on the horizon. I didn’t trust the demon to spend the night out in the open with him.
“We need shelter, but if we do, we run the risk of the other hybrids finding us.”
“No stopping, we are close. Maybe a couple of miles at most” he assured me.
Ugh! A couple of miles. “Fine, let’s continue then. I hope you’re right.”
“Why would I lie to you?”
“Why wouldn’t you? You’re a demon. It’s in your best interest to do evil things.”
“You shouldn’t believe all that you see. Some things are more than they seem.”
Sure, and I was an angel. Whatever, I thought.
An hour later, he pulled me into an outcrop of rocks.
“We are close, don’t speak. Follow me.”
I followed him down the dusty, gravel trail that ran down the mountain from us. He halted us halfway down and cocked his head as if listening.
“Just a little further.”
At the end of the trail, he turned us towards a copse of trees. We crept along and I could make out voices and the garbled speak of demons. Of course, getting Merritt out would require battling demons. I hoped it would be easy, but this proved me wrong. We wove through the trees, avoiding any dried sticks or branches on the ground. Last thing we needed was to alert them to our presence. If there was any hope of getting Merritt and ourselves out alive, it required stealth and the element of surprise. Deeper into the woods, I smelled fire, not of hell fire, but of the regular campfire variety.
I saw Merritt sitting dejectedly next to the fire. There were at least three demons that I could see, including the midnight horned one that the Boss went crazy about. Beyond the fire, penned, in a literal pen made of wood was a horde of Demented, who were mindlessly chewing on the wood posts and milling about the enclosure. Creeps. I joked that Wiley was creepy on occasion, but the mindless nature of these things was so unnerving. It was also hard to kill them. It was like slaughtered a person that was in a coma or sleep walking. They weren’t really there, so did that mean they also weren’t responsible for their actions. What if there was a way to truly cure them and we were killing them without giving them a fighting chance at being normal again? My attitude about the Demented was not any
different from how the other hybrids responded to Merritt. Had anyone truly tried to cure them? Even if it failed, why weren’t we continuing to look for a cure instead of creating more hybrids as Super Soldiers. It seemed wrong.
Merritt’s eyes briefly flickered in our direction before he quickly looked down. I know he saw us. He must know why we were here. Unless, he thought we meant to kill him. He did know I wasn’t here to kill him, didn’t he? Having mind speak like my demon dude next to me would be helpful right about now. Why hadn’t I tried it with the demon? It would have been nice to know I could do that. Even if I tried now, what if I didn’t speak to Merritt and instead got one of the demons — that would be just my luck. Nah, too risky. The demon better have a plan, I thought.
A hand covered my mouth. I fought against my attacker and heard a whisper, “Quit, it’s me,” said Reese.
While I was struggling, Manny forcefully tugged the demon that helped me until he was against Manny’s chest. In his crusher form, Manny’s was impossible to get away from. It was a rather effective power. Better than whatever my stupid, will it and it will happen power. Was that even a power? I glanced back at Merritt and the demons, who hadn’t noticed our little scuffle.
“Why did you take him?” asked Reese.
“Because he was the only one who would help me,” I whispered back. And that stung. I hadn’t known Merritt long, like the other hybrids, but I was the only one of us who wasn’t willing to give up on them. It would be no different if I was in Merritt’s place. They would have left me as well. Why did becoming Demented have to be a death sentence? They were wrong to treat them like that. They killed Demented on-sight for decades. We were slaughtering our own people, and no one was questioning it.
“We have to go before they hear us,” said Reese.
“I’m not going. If you try to make me leave, I’ll create such a fuss that the demons will hear. Try me,” I said.
“We’ll do it your way, but you’ll see when you get close to Merritt that he doesn’t want to leave and won’t leave. This little stunt was for nothing,” said Reese.
He continued, “We have to move fast. Uncover your wings, if we need to make a quick getaway, trying to fly out of here may be the only avenue for you.”
I stripped off the sweatshirt and he helped me get the belt off my wings. Once free, they opened and closed. The demon next to me gasped and stared.
“You have wings, feathered wings,” he said in my mind. “It’s you. It’s always been you the whole time.”
He was obviously stressed, tired, or suffering from internal injuries from the Super Soldiers’ fight club smack down. I couldn’t deal with whatever drama he was starting up. Yep, wings, the only hybrid freak with wings. Lucky me, still not belonging even with the hybrids, who the Boss said were the only ones I belonged with.
With hand signals that were barely visible in the low campfire light, Reese directed us. Manny held tight to the demon. We gathered around the edges of the trees. I was with Ginger, which aside from Ruthie and Manny, she was the next strongest of the hybrids. I took my place next to Ginger and waited for whatever signal we would get. In our previous missions, we always coordinated the signal, so everyone knew what to watch for. Night had completely fallen, and we wouldn’t be able to see any hand signals from a distance, so we all clustered close together.
Hunter lights up, as she activates her fire power. Engulfed in flames, she rushes into the clearing and the demons rushed towards her. It was an effective signal as Ginger and I joined her in the clearing. The other hybrids rushed in from behind as we worked the demons in teams. The demon with the midnight blue horns threw out a sonic boom that radiated out from him, knocking all of us, including the other demons to the ground. Hunter’s fire spread out around her, adding much-needed light to the clearing. Combined with the campfire signal, the lighting helped me make out the rest of the team in the dark.
Before we could get up, the sonic boom demon stomped towards the tree line, where Manny stood with the demon. The demon struggled in Manny’s grip, before slamming his head back into Manny. I could hear the crack on his nose breaking, which until now, I wouldn’t have said was possible in his Crusher form. He jumped free of Manny and charged the demon. The two met with a collusion of power that created a crater in the ground from their impact.
Holy hell. What was that?
Punches were thrown faster than I could keep up with. They rolled on the ground, until, the demon I rescued, pulls out a burning log from the fire and smacks the sonic boom demon with it. The demon grunted and threw a sonic boom, which launched the other demon in the air. The other demons and the sonic demon stalked towards the lab demon. Oh, hell no, no one was beating down my demon. He was obviously in trouble with them for helping me, well that, and for fighting them.
I raced towards them, despite Ginger’s frantic call to stop. I flapped my wings, getting some propulsion and was upon the sonic boom demon. I jumped on his back and started thrusting my sword through his back and hacking into his wings. He roared and threw me off him. I skidded across the ground and landed near Merritt, who was crouched near the fire. He just stared into the flames, transfixed. It was eerie as all get up. I rushed the demons, who were surrounding the lab demon and taking shots at shooting fire at him. Bastards.
With little thought in what I was doing, I imagined shooting a lance of ice through the closest demon. No one was more surprised then me to see the icicle shoot through the demons back. He roared in pain and turned in my direction. Ginger transformed into a dragon and tore through the clearing to get in between us. Encouraged by the ice, I imagined the demon coated in ice so cold that it was the temperature of liquid nitrogen. He stopped in place covered in ice, as Ginger reaches him, she whipped out with her tail, shattering the ice and the demon. Gross. But the tails were certainly handy. Maybe a tail was better than wings.
Manny grabbed the other demon and started raining punches down on him. At this point, Reese was covered in his spikes and was laying into the sonic boom demon. Ruthie joined him, and before she could lay a hand on him, the sonic boom demon hit it away.
“I need him alive,” he said into my mind.
“Don’t kill him Ruthie. We need him captured. Remember what the Boss told us,” I said.
Ruthie pulled back with a glare, as Manny killed the other demon. This was the first time I’d seen the hybrids kill a demon. They were vicious and despite not being full-blooded demons, in numbers, they were savage. They showed that demons could be killed by them.
Ginger placed a scaled paw on the sonic boom demon, pinning him to the ground. “Now, we’ve got him Teagan. What are we doing with him?”
Before I could respond, the lab demon flings his arms out and brilliant white feathered wings sprang from his back and a halo of gold crowned his head. He was breathtaking and the light that came off him was blinding. All around, the hybrids dropped to their knees. I dropped in place, but what I now knew was an angel, touched my shoulder. “You do not bow to me little one. I should be bowing to you. You kept your word and freed me. I will do likewise and help find your friend.”
“I thought you abandoned us. We never saw angels. It was always ever just the demons. I thought God had forsaken us. So many of us believed that,” I said.
“God has never and would never forsake any of you. Just because you couldn’t see us, didn’t make us or him any less real. We’ve always been here, working behind the scenes to keep you safe. Did you not wonder why there are so few demons or Demented,” said the angel.
“It was assumed the demons didn’t want to conquer earth or start a war with us — why they had the treaty.”
“Oh, that treaty was our doing. The cracks in the protection between hell and earth are continuing to increase, we felt that we needed to ensure some level of control and protection. We can’t prevent the demons from escaping, but we can minimize the damage and potential harm to humans,” he added.
He materialized a pair of handcuffs th
at were several inches wide and think, like what held him in the lab. “Now that you all have helped here, I will be taking this fellow with me.”
“We need to bring him back to the Boss. It was our orders,” said Manny.
“My orders are from God, and that supersedes anything from your boss. I WILL be taking him with me,” said the angel. “Although, I’d like it if you came with me Teagan.”
“Why would I come with you? I didn’t do anything wrong?”
“No, not at all. Rather, you’ve done everything right.”
“I don’t understand. What are you talking about?”
“I know your Mom.”
“My Mom is dead.”
“Hold him,” he barked as he thrust the demon in Manny’s direction. The angel approached me and crouched down at my feet, “Please hear me out, little one.”
“Why are you calling me that?”
“It’s a term of affection for us. We call all our young that. And you, are one of us Teagan. Your Mother is someone I know rather well and trained with at the Academy. She’s an angel, which makes you half-angel, half-Nephilim.”
“That can’t be true. I have demon blood. You were in the lab when they activated me. I can’t be an angel.”
“Your wings and the ice power. Neither of those are demon powers. Did you not wonder why your powers were so different? No one else can will things into being, but you can. That is a very rare angel power and one that your mother also has. If you come with me, I can take you to the academy. We can teach you how to use your powers, how to fly and you can see your Mom.”
Meet my Mom, who was an angel? Would she even want to meet me? I was part demon, part human and some angel mixed to make me even more of a freak than the normal hybrids. I was even more of a mix than what I was told. I wasn’t like any of the other hybrids, but would angels want someone, who was part of their enemy. And, didn’t that mean I had the potential for evil. No one explained what being activated meant. Did my demon side make me partially evil?
