Nightfire Warriors (Remastered)

18.

"My dad broke my arm when I was a kid," I laugh, remembering the story. "He was holding me and didn't know his own strength. It was an accident. At the hospital, he had to tell the doctors I fell off my skateboard. I don't even know how to ride a skateboard. He doesn't know me at all. Guess we're even because I don't know anything about my dad either. Not that it matters."

"It doesn't matter?" Lily is shaken. "Sag, he's your father. It should matter."

I stand up from the bed, grabbing onto the railing from the top bunk. We look intently at each other at the same eye level. "On the subject of, it doesn't matter," I say, "who called you earlier today? You were so upset."

She frowns at me and doesn't answer.

"Yeah, you were about to tell me something, but then Annie interrupted us," I recall. "What were you going to say?"

Lily can't seem to find the right words. I'm baffled by how ashamed she looks. "Sag...have you ever had a girlfriend?"

I shake my head. My answer surprises her.

"You haven't?" she asks. "Not even like a second-grade Valentine?"

"Nope."

"Have you ever even kissed a girl?"

"No." The answer doesn't hurt. I'm not embarrassed admitting it to her.

"You're not gay, are you?"

"If I were, I think I would have lost my virginity to Tyrone by now."

"Okay, so...you're not gay," Lily repeats. "That's good to know."

"Where are you going with this?" I ask.

"Sag, I know that you like me," she says, and I'm taken aback. "And I really like hanging out with you, too, and everything...but—" She slowly adds on the information. Each sentence stabs me like a knife. "But there's someone else I like. And it's JT."

"Okay..."

Lily looks unsure. "You know, Sag. This industry has treated me like crap. Why do they always have to be so bias?"

I can't agree more. "You're tough, Lily."

"So are you," Lily notices. "Even without your genetic ability."

We have a moment where we're about to kiss, but she quickly backs away from me. This might upset her more than me. I don't feel anything, not sad, happy, or indifferent. When she rejects my love for her, all I can say is, "you are beautiful, Lily."

"Sag, I want to forget everything I just said for a moment. Because whether I break your heart or not, I want to make sure the first person who kisses you loves you. Okay?"

"Okay."

Lily assumes the position. She sits upon the top bunk, so our faces connect. I close my eyes while she takes my hand, waiting for the impossible to happen. Then, when her lips lock onto mine, I swear I'm flying. Memorizing. I don't register the moment until later. Her lips release, and I'm appalled it's over. There's nothing I want more than to keep going. "I love you, Sag," Lily whispers.

"I love—" I'm dreadfully blindsided by a blade spinning towards me, slicing up my face. Fortunately, the thrower misses the significant arteries on my neck. But I can feel a red line of blood stretching down my forehead. Lily screams out my name but sounds distant. The next thing I know, I'm on the ground, terribly confused.

The other warriors wake up in a panic. "What's happening?" someone demands.

A second blade aims for my face. This time I'm ready for it. From the ground, I obliterate the incoming knife-edge, halfway between me and its thrower. My hands clench into fists immediately, prepared to blast another. The lights turn on, and someone sounds the alarm. A loud bell rings endlessly as we fight. Now I see my attackers. Two reptilians slither over the bunk beds, through the sheets, and around the walls.

"It's the Cluster!" someone cries. That same warrior dashes for his weapons bag underneath the bed. He frantically pulls out a gun and fires. The first reptilian dies from a bullet to the head. Black blood splatters all over the sheets. A'Dimsyte must know what's happening by now.

Even though ruthless warriors are effectively killing the intruders, for whatever reason, they have their focus on me. The reptilians can care less about anyone else in the room. Their motives are apparent the second they ignore Lily. They've come for me.

The reptilian springs forward, and I instantly blast. He outsmarts me by ducking—the explosion demolishes one of the bunk beds behind—and then attacks me. Our struggle on the floor is fast and painful. Catastrophe overwhelms me when I see the reptilian pull out a syringe.

"No!" I'm not quick enough to break my hands-free. By the time they're in fists, a sharp prick like a bee sting shoots up into my neck. Numbness takes over. My fingers flick, but nothing happens. My eyelids become heavy, and I'm desperate to keep them open. It's useless. Whatever drug runs through my bloodstream, I assume, is going to kill me. I would panic if I didn't feel so weak. I would beg for Lily's help or try to take the reptilian out with me. But I'm paralyzed. After my head hits the floor, my senses are gone. I can feel the reptilian carry me out of the room. It doesn't take long until I blackout.