Chaos

Prologue

PROLOGUE

Location: Unidentified Lab

Young Girl

Shit, that hurt. I dusted off the dirt and grime from my baggy T-shirt—the one I just borrowed from the dead guard. I surveyed the damage, trying to decide my next step of action. The pounding footsteps down the hall spurred me into movement. I limped out of the room. The sound of running feet seemed to surround me, as if a platoon was coming to keep me from freedom. I wasn't going to let that happen. I wouldn't be a prisoner any longer.With my heart beating rapidly, I quickly stepped on a crate lying sideways and pulled myself up and into the ceiling. My shoulder protested against the action. My right foot felt like fire when anything touched it. My face, battered and bruised, throbbed constantly.

Trying to ignore the searing pains from my body, I replaced the tile in the ceiling so I could only see a slim portion of the ground and I waited. I should be safe here no one ever looks up. The footsteps I heard in the hallway reached the room I just exited; a loud bang indicated the door being kicked. Voices began calling out reports, breaking the eerie silence in the corridor.

"I have visual on a body. Male, late twenties, Jaguar." A deep, gravelly voice crackled into the air reporting the death. I stretched out very carefully trying to get a clear view of everything. Several people wearing black combat boots with black fatigues and vests stood below in the hallway. I noticed a black bandana wrapped around one of the soldier's head.

A second speaker asked, "A broken neck? How the fuck did she manage that?" The swear startled me. The man's pleasant voice sounded as if it should be on Broadway, not in the middle of a semi-war zone. My eyes nervously cataloged each of the warriors, looking for any telltale sign that they belonged to Peter. I couldn't find anything but my heart wouldn't calm down because each had a standard Glock strapped to their waist. The man I dubbed Bandana had a submachine gun dangling in his hand.

I tried to control my rugged breathing and my pounding heart. Who are these people? No one knows I'm here. That is what Peter said yesterday morning. It was impossible to control my reaction. Panic began to crawl down my spine, spreading through my limbs. I took several deep breaths trying, unsuccessfully, to regain control of my body.

"Did you hear that Command? Broken neck on the Jag Shifter." The deep voice said. "We have not yet spotted the girl."

I closed my eyes tight, wishing that everything and everyone would just go away. I opened my eyes and pushed away the useless wish. It didn't work before and it wouldn't work now. The only person I could rely on was myself. I needed to move and locate an exit. However, I was transfixed with the speakers, as if a spell was woven around me while I waited for them to come into view.

"Should we continue searching the premise or help evacuate the survivors?" A pause. "Roger that, Command. We'll regroup at the helicopter," Deep voice stated.

"Derek, how was she able to overpower a Jaguar Shifter?" Irritation crept into Broadway's voice at the end. Glass crunched under the men's boots as they moved out into the hallway, rejoining the four other men.

"I don't know, Kade," Deep voice, now identified as Derek, sighed. From my vantage point, I could identify the person named Derek to the tall, white man standing just outside the door. His hair, a dark muddy brown, was buzzed short like military style. His shoulders were defined by large muscle, making his t-shirt stretch unbelievably tight.

Derek addressed Broadway, or Kade, who had his back towards me. I couldn't see anything other than the back of his shaggy blonde hair and the rifle slung over his back. Derek's voice filled the hallway once more.

"Okay team, listen up. We are to do a swift, but thorough sweep of the ground floors and basement cells to find this girl. Remember what I said before, she is to be handled with extreme care. She's been traumatized; let's try not to add to that. We are to meet up with Logan, Braden and the rest of the team in fifteen minutes. Move out."

"Derek, what do we know about this girl? Do we even know her name?" questioned a voice with a Cajun accent. I couldn't pick out the speaker, just his accent.

"No. We don't know who she is or what her name is. We only know she's someone the Agents want."

As the soldiers began their methodical sweep of the building, Kade stated, "Once we find this girl, it'll be over, right Derek?" I didn't hear Derek's response since the soldiers rounded the corner at the end of the hallway. I thought about Kade's question.

Finally my body reconnected with my mind and I began to crawl. Unfortunately my body decided to remind me of the tremendous abuse it was put through early today. Each and every bone ached in pain. I could barely put one arm in front of the other to imitate a bastardized form of an army crawl. I found an empty room and dropped out of the ceiling. Moving as fast as I dared, I headed in a direction away from the soldiers' footsteps. I desperately hoped this direction would lead to an exit.

I was determined to get the hell out of the crumbling building as fast as possible. After hearing the word Agents, a sickly feeling had descended around me. Derek was certainly right about the Agents wanting me. I'd rather be die than be captured and held prisoner by them again.

I eventually dragged my beaten and bruised body out of the building and into the dark night. I struggled to continue to stand. I leaned against an outcropping of rocks, taking special care not to agitate my shoulder any further. A quick glance around told me I had taken an escape route, dumping me out about a mile away from the facility I was being held prisoner in. A loud whomping sound filled the air. I glanced over the cliff and spotted a black helicopter beginning it's take off. Its blades spinning picking up sped and stirring up loose dirt. As the helicopter ascended into the sky, I answered Kade's question, "This is only the beginning."