Arcanum Hominem (#1)

Chapter 98

I quickly ducked and turned around, motioning at Killian. He walked to my side quickly, and I pointed at the door. 

"They're in here." I kept my voice so low, Killian had to move closer and tilt his head. He glanced at the door, and his eyes widened when what I said registered. He peered into the glass, and I watched his face to see his reaction. He looked confused and glanced down at me. 

"No one is in here," he whispered, confusing me. I shook my head and looked into the window myself, glancing around the room the best I could. He was right. They weren't in there anymore. 

"They were just here!" I whispered fiercely, glancing down the halls. They had to still be in there. I grabbed the doorknob before he could stop me and twisted it carefully, slowly opening the door. A large office was revealed, white sheets covering everything in the room, and the large space was empty. Where could they have gone? 

"I believe you. We need to look around and make sure that they don't escape." Killian whispered, and I nodded, agreeing with him. I walked around the space slowly, looking around each corner. There had to be a door in here somewhere. I made it to the farthest corner of the room on the right side, and there was a door hidden right next to a bookcase covered in a white sheet. 

"Killian, there's a door right he-" I started calling out to Killian when the lights suddenly shut off. I immediately froze. This wasn't good. I was about to retrace my steps to find Killian when I was shoved backward. I cursed when I lost my balance, falling on my back. 

"Scarlett!" Killian yelled out, and I heard him curse, and something heavy dropped to the ground. I hopped up, blindly looking around the dark room, trying to will the light in the hallway to help me find Killian. 

"Killian? Are you okay?" I asked and gasped when the lights flickered back on. I whipped my gun out, looking for the culprit. 

"I would say I'm surprised, but at the point, I'm not. Deep down, I knew you guys would find my location." Chase grinned at me, his own gun pointed in my direction. I heard a grunt, and I glanced to my right to see Killian on the ground, Archer standing over him with a gun shoved into his skull. 

"How did you know we were here?" I asked through gritted teeth, my gun still pointed at him. 

"We didn't at first. We moved to another spot to speak when we heard a noise in this room. It was just a matter of deduction. Who else would be after the both of us." Chase chuckled, which pissed me off. I glanced at Killian again and then made eye contact with Archer. There was a smirk on his face that I wanted to smack off.

"Hello, dove. Here to kill me?" His smirk grew into a grin when I narrowed my eyes at his words. 

"I wish. That's his job, though." I nodded my head at Killian. I turned to Chase. "I'm here for him." I hissed at him, and he chuckled. 

"Good luck. You've had many chances to kill me, and still, here I am, ali-"

I grabbed my knife and threw it at him, the blade landing in his shoulder, cutting off his words. He stumbled backward a bit, crying out, and grabbed the handle of the knife. I wasted no time running after him, pushing him back into the wall. I grabbed the knife and yanked it out of his shoulder, making him yell out in pain. Blood coated the blade, which sent an adrenaline rush through my body. I went to stab him again, but his hand stopped me, and he strained as I put my entire weight into the knife that was directly in his face. There was a commotion behind us, and grunts filled the room. I couldn't turn around to see what was happening, but I guessed Killian was no longer on the ground. Chase overpowered me and pushed me back, grabbing my wrist and twisting it. I hissed at the pain in my wrist and let go of the knife. He threw a jab at me that connected to my face, and my head snapped to the side from the force. I blinked quickly to stop the black spots from dotting my vision and punched him back, making him stumble. Pain spread through my face and my hand, but I ignored it. Chase ran at me, and I kicked out my leg, my foot connecting to his chest, but he grabbed my ankle, throwing my leg to the side. I lost my balance, falling to the ground and rolled so no damage would come to my shoulders.  

I huffed and glared at Chase from the ground, and he stood in place, grinning. I glanced to see Archer and Killian fighting brutally, their blood already smearing the walls. I was about to turn to Chase again when something smashed into my face with so much force, I lost my breath. Pain shot through my face and neck as my head jerked back from the force, and I coughed, spitting out blood. There was a ringing in my left ear that wouldn't go away, and I looked up to see Chase raising his leg to kick me again. I grabbed his leg and hopped up, shoving him backward. He stumbled, and I wasted no time grabbing another knife from my side and swiped at him. The blade connected to his arm, and he hissed at the action. I punched him with the handle of the knife, making his head snap to the side, blood splattering against the wall from his mouth. I yelled tried to shove the knife in the middle of his neck, but he skilfully stopped me and yanked the knife out of my hand, swiping at my face with the blade. I cursed when I felt the sting of my skin being sliced and kneed him in the groin. He dropped the knife and hunched over, groaning. 

"I'm going to kill you slowly now, Chase. Make you feel every slice of the blade in your skin, every bone breaking, and muscle snapping." I hissed as he slowly backed up, still hunched over in pain. I let him back up, and I slowly walked toward him, hand about to grab my gun. 

"Good luck." He hissed, and before I could do anything, he ran at me and slammed his knee into my stomach, making me lose my breath and wheeze to get air back into my lungs. I lost my balance and fell to the ground, clutching my middle. The urge to puke was strong, and I had to fight it. I got on my hands and knees, wheezing for air, and looked up to see that the room was empty. 

Chase was gone. So were Archer and Killian.