by A I Knowles
“What’s happening?” I can barely hear my own voice above the din, let alone El’s reply. He grabs my arm and leads me to the door, then we set off at a run down the hallway.
Boom. The building shudders again, throwing me into the wall with bruising force.
No. No, please, not again. The alarm assails my ears, drowning out the pounding of my heart and the gasping of my breath in my throat.
As soon as El regains his footing, he takes my hand and pulls me along. “Come on!” I see him say the words, but I can’t hear anything beside the alarm.
We speed down the hallway, and when we are nearly to the kitchen, Nate comes running around the corner with such speed that he crashes into El. The impact nearly sends the two of them tumbling to the floor. He motions for us to follow and we continue down the hall.
At the end of the corridor is an arch that leads to a stairwell. Nate leads us down, all of us clinging to the rail for dear life when another impact shakes the house.
Boom. I’m caught off guard, and I tumble down the few steps to the next landing, crying out in pain. I can’t hear my own voice, but somehow I can hear each of the impacts as bone and flesh hit concrete. El pulls me into his arms and staggers to his feet, hugging the wall as we continue downward.
Boom. Above our heads, something cracks. We’ve reached the bottom of the stairs. Nate pulls the metal door open and waves us through. We plunge into a dark room.
As soon as the door swings shut, the world goes quiet. Nate flicks a switch, revealing a basement full of boxes and crates.
When El sets me down, I hold onto him to keep from falling. “Where are we?”
“What’s going on?” El’s demand is directed at Nate, who walks swiftly toward a large object covered in a tarp.
“They’ve found us.” Nate yanks the tarp and it falls away, revealing a small, car-like vehicle. He turns to us. “And I know how.” He holds out his hand, and with his other he removes something from his pants pocket. “Alyss, I’m sorry, but this is necessary.” He steps forward with lightning speed, and before either El or I can react, he grabs the back of my neck and something sharp rips into the healing wound.
I scream and clutch at my neck while El yells and lunges forward, but Nate is stronger than both of us. He keeps his hold on my neck and with his other hand, digs his fingers into the bleeding wound. Blood runs over my hands as I try to pull him away, certain he’s killing me. It was him. He did it. He’s betrayed us. He’s going to kill us both.
But when Nate finally lets me go and stumbles back, a small object is held between his thumb and forefinger. “Aha!”
El freezes. I clutch at my neck, sobbing from shock and pain. “Nate...what is that?” El’s voice is dangerous.
The HA wipes the little object off on his formerly pristine suit, and I gasp. He nods at me. “She recognizes it. It’s a Society implant.”
“But it exploded. They took it out of her.”
“I thought so, too. Until I heard the chatter. Before they moved her, they put another one in her. This one was purely a tracking device. El...they set this up. They wanted you to find her. They wanted you to take her to your base, so they could finally find and destroy all of you.”
It was me. It’s my fault all those people are dead. I led the Society to them. I’m the daughter of murderers, and now I’m a murderer myself. It’s my fault… The horror of it all nearly drives me to my knees. Darkness sparkles at the edges of my vision, and my legs tremble.
Boom. The building shudders again, and Nate pockets the implant and knife, then grabs both of our arms. “You have to go.” He pushes us toward the car, which faces a blank wall. “The button on the dashboard will open the tunnel.” He takes me by the shoulders and shakes me. “This was my insurance policy, but it’s only enough for the two of you. You have to escape, Alyss. You have to get out. Tell the world what the Society has done. You have to stop them.”
I nod, even though the loss of blood has me dangerously close to passing out and I can barely process what he’s saying. My knees give out, and Nate picks me up, then carries me to the car and places me in the seat. He bends down, his blue eyes blazing so close to mine. “Escape, Alyss. Save them.” Then he stands, and I barely register the bump as El climbs into the other seat and closes the door. There’s a thud and the screech of metal, then another thunderous boom overhead. Just as the little car surges into motion, I hear the terrible sound of cracking concrete, and Nate’s shout just before we plunge into darkness and my consciousness fades toward oblivion.
You have to stop them. Save the people, stop the Society. It’s up to you, Alyss.
The world goes black and I remember nothing more.
THE END
Hey everyone! I hope you loved this book! If you did, check out book 2 in the series, with a release date of February 9th, 2019: The Outside (Book 2 in The Society Series)
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