It's what a Big Brother Does.

Plan Twenty-Eight: The Boom

I trotted down the empty hallway, frantically clearing my wet face of emotions. Romeo said the bomb was on the floor below. But where were the troops of bloodthirsty, confused vampires? I figured the dark hallways would be swarming with them.

I made my way down the stairs. For some reason there was a door at the bottom keeping these two floors apart. “That’s curious…” I muttered, but nothing else about it hit me as odd. I’m here trying to kill a club of vampires called Sr. Ellik and protect my brothers along with the oddest couple of the century: a century old werewolf and vampire.

That or my adrenaline level was too high to even care.

I reached for the knob, only to catch sight of dark scrawling on the door. I leaned in, taking a closer look.

The Sr. Ellik for Life!

That’s what the graffiti had said. Mindless, if you asked me. But then I remembered something in the rush of my mind.

‘Think about it. Their odd-ball name isn’t just something that was made up. What’s Sr. Ellik backwards?’

“Sr. Ellik backwards…” I muttered, touching the letters with the tips of my fingers. I narrowed my eyes, my fingers tracing the name from the back to the front. “Sr. Ellik? …K-I-L-L-E-R-S… Kill… Killers! The Killers?!” I freaked, stumbling back. All this time, it was literally right under my nose! How could I have not seen it? Romeo—everyone tried to warn me! How could I have been so blind?

I groaned, slapping my forehead with my palm. Up until this whole situation I thought I had known it all. But I’ve actually known nothing. This was no time to regret and mutter over past quarrels and chosen paths. There was only time to make things right. And this was how I would pay for my ignorance. With newfound courage and bravery, I pushed open the metal door and was met by irritated, worried, anxious, and surprised dark stares.

This is where they were, this army of ghastly shadows. And now I was here, too…

“Jeraud Fray,” One particularly gruff and recognizable voice sounded above the rest, making its way towards me. It was the soldier from before, the one who was always there to help me. Now I held nothing but suspicion for him. “You were with Claire. Where is he?”

“Um…” I shut the door behind me. If they couldn’t get past it for whatever reason, let’s keep it that way. “Yeah, I was. He’s still…up there.”

The vampire narrowed his eyes at me, his other soldier friends stopping to listen in curiously. “And what of the intruder?”

“The intruder? Oh, Rose—I mean…the werewolf?” I asked shakily.

“Yes. Claire’s werewolf.” He answered, his voice ice cold and frigid.

I tried hard not to gulp. “He said he wanted to take care of her himself. I was, um…unfit for the job.” I looked away, trying to seem disappointed.

The vampire continued his steely glare before giving an assertive nod. “Wise choice; you do still smell rather…mortal. Very well then, we need you in front lines. And by that we need to know how you got through that door.” He pointed to the steel door behind me.

“Uhm… Claire let me through here. I think he has that, uh, key…” I answered, breathing slowly, trying to keep my heartbeat in check. If Claire could hear it loud and clear, no doubt these shadowlings will. And I don’t want them to have any doubt about me.

“Right. And Claire had not finished his assignment yet. Then I figure we’ll just have to wait.” He turned to someone behind him and gave a hand signal.

“AT EASE EVERYONE! TEN MINUTES TOPS!” the other person hollered out. The crowd of ghostly figures spread out lightly, movement increasing throughout the troop.

I looked up at all of them. Why were there so many crowded up into this one hallway? That was probably why Romeo put the bomb here, knowing that this was their meeting point.

The bomb!! I looked at the fourth door on my left. That was the one Romeo hid the device in! That was where the bomb was… My heart jumped in my chest at that thought.

Heads quickly turned my way, each with hungry eyes and drooling mouths. I gulped, my heart thumping harder against my chest. Oh no! They could hear it!

The troop leader gave me a sideways glace, no doubt hearing my heart beat easily. “Are you alright? You seem a little…on edge.”

“No, I’m g-good!!” I answered quickly, shaking my head. “I just…I need some time to chill out!” I walked towards the room, slinking closely to the walls and away from the hungry-looking vampire. “Yeah, I think I’ll chill out in here!” I opened the door to the room. It was dark aside from a blinking green light in the center of the floor. This was it. I turned back to the troop leader who gave a questioning look my way. “Yeah, this is good!” I gave him thumbs-up before walking in and locking the door behind me.

“Phew… Dodged that one.” I sighed in relief. But, that was all child’s play. The real heart-pounding thriller starts now.

I stared at the machine as it blinked at me. It just looked like a cylinder-shaped object with a handle and a few buttons and knobs. It didn’t seem menacing in the least. But as the light blinked on and off at me, I couldn’t help but feel as if it were a warning to the danger it would cause. The danger a slight chance in pressure could do…

Walking up to the machine, I took a deep breath. Possibly my last deep breath. My heart shook. Could your heart even shake? Or was it just something it did moments before your own death? I trembled at the thought of my own death. Could I really pull through with this? The troops didn’t know I had double-crossed them, I could still get away. It would be so easy to just run off.

No. That was coward talk. I couldn’t be a coward anymore. A coward never let me talk to Myrtle. A coward kept me distanced from my family. A coward got me into this whole mess. And this was how I would pay my dues. This was how I would end my cowardice.

I took a deep breath, knowing this one to be my last, and quickly pressed the blinking, green button…