Fighting With Fear-KOTLC Fanfic

Forever an Agent

Rowan's POV

The pain was unbearable. Even though I try not to, I scream. The sound bounces off the walls. My shoulder is on fire. Literally. I could feel the burn blistering. Blood oozes down my back and into my shirt. I stare at Dad. He holds my gaze and I get the feeling he wants to help me. But I know he would never do that. To them I'm an enemy now. I've betrayed them. I gaze at Jake and see him also staring at me. He reaches out and grabs my outstretched hand. I clutch his hand like it's the only thing keeping me alive. Tears stream down my cheeks and I sob.

I close my eyes and squeeze Jake's hand. I hear Mr. Interrogator laugh.

"Now you'll always be part of the Neverseen," he yells.

"You're insane!" I manage through dry, cracked lips.

Mr. Interrogator laughs again. I open my eyes again to see him staring at me with his cold grey eyes. He brings out a knife and stares at it lovingly. He threw the branding iron aside, but the pain in my shoulder still remains.

"You will answer my question or more hurt will come your way," Mr. Interrogator informs me.

He lifts my chin up with his finger. I want to jerk away but my strength vanished. He brings his face close to mine and whispers, "I know how you feel about a certain someone. And I can use that to my advantage."

My eyes widen and he smiles. How does he know about Fitz? But I don't like Fitz. Do I?

Mr. Interrogator crouches and traces the Neverseen symbol on my shoulder with his blade. I wince and try to move away but Mr. Interrogator puts his knee on my back.

"Question number one. What do you know about The Black Swan?"

The Black Swan? All I know about them is what we've been told by other agents. And I tell Mr. Interrogator just that.

"Wrong answer," he presses the knife into the symbol and makes one long, deep cut. I scream and more tears fall.

"Question number two. Why did you run away from mommy and daddy?" He made his voice sound babyish on the last part.

"Because Dad hit me and I got scared," I admit.

"Wrong again," Mr. Interrogator says.

"What? No it isn-" my sentence ends with a sob when he slices me again.

"One more question," Mr. Interrogator starts. "How will you kill Fitz Vacker?"

What? No, no, no. I am certainly not going to kill him.

"What are you talking about? I would never do that," I answer.

"You are wrong." With that, Mr. Interrogator stabs me in the shoulder.

I let out a guttural scream. It comes from a dark place in me. I let go of Jake's hand and clutch my shoulder. I barely see Dad tackle Mr. Interrogator. The knife is still in me. Jake crawls over to me and cradles my head in his lap. The searing pain in my shoulder makes me black out for a second. No, Rowan wake up. Don't go unconscious. Slowly my vision clears and I see Mr. Interrogator and Dad wrestling on the ground. Blood pours out of my shoulder and puddles around me and Jake. I feel Jake press onto my wound and try to stop the blood flow.

I hear a scream and look to Dad and Mr. Interrogator. Mr. Interrogator burned my Dad. Half of my Dad's face was burned. Leaving my Dad lying unconscious on the ground, Mr. Interrogator strides toward us. With great difficulty I stand, pulling Jake up with me.

"We have to get out of here," I manage to say to Jake.

He nods and we (try to) run to the door. I hear Mr. Interrogator closing in behind us.

"Do you have your pathfinder?" Jake asks me.

I shake my head. Glancing behind me I see blood trailing behind us, making a red path. Mr. Interrogator slips on it and falls to his knees. We make it to the door and run out.

"How do we leave?"

"I don't know," I answer.

Black spots dance across my vision and I lean against Jake.

"Hang in there, Rowan. You have to stay with me." I feel Jake kiss my head. I don't have the strength to tell him I don't like him like that.

"It hurts, Jake. It really hurts."

"I know," he soothes. "I know."

I start to recognize where we are and I point out the way.

"Remember we used that hallway to sneak out? It has a door that leads outside," I inform Jake.

"Let's go."

We stumble down the hallway. I hear footsteps from behind us. I glance back but don't see anyone.

"We have to hurry," I urge.

The pain in my shoulder gets worse with every step, and I trip. Jake catches me before I hit the ground. We finally reach the door and step outside. The fresh air fills my lungs and clears out the fog in my mind. To my right the woods stretch out for miles. Trees sway on the night breeze. To my left a cliff drops off into a river. I start towards the woods but Jake stops me.

"I haven't been totally honest with you," he starts.

I look at him impatiently and gesture for him to continue.

"I have another ability besides being a Flasher. I can teleport."

Before I can express my surprise a voice rings out from the door.

"A little late to go for a night stroll, don't you think? Especially with a knife protruding from your shoulder."

I whip around to find Mr. Interrogator standing in the doorway. He's holding goblin throwing stars. His pants are soaked with my blood.

"How did you find us?" Jake questions.

Mr. Interrogator simply points to the trail of blood leading to where I'm standing. Jake curses and picks me up, bridal style. Even though he's hurt and covered in cuts he manages to hold me.

"Hold on." With that Jake starts sprinting towards the cliff.

"Are you trying to kill us? And right before my sixteenth birthday?" I yell at him.

A goblin throwing star whizzes past my ear and I look to find Mr. Interrogator gaining on us.

"Faster, Jake. He's getting close," I warn him.

Jake huffs and puffs like the Big  Bad Wolf I read about in one of my mom's books. Another goblin throwing star grazes Jake's shoulders and he stumbles. He manages to catch himself though. With my shoulder pressing against Jake, I feel the knife go deeper into my shoulder. I suck in my breath and bite my lip. We finally reach the cliff and without stopping he jumps off. Still holding me we fall. The river coming closer and closer. I shout and scream at Jake about how we're going to die, but I was cut off when thunder boomed and a crack appeared . Jake and I fell into the crack and in the darkness.