The Elements Trilogy: The Secondaries

Chapter 34: Lightning

Skylar gulped. "Are you sure that was me?" she said breathlessly. "I have a twin you know. Looks exactly like me."

Bryner's face was twisted into a snarl. "Yeah, a twin brother. Whom you mercilessly killed with your own-" Suddenly, Bryner's back went stiff. She snapped straight up, her green eyes flicking all around the hallway. "Wait a minute." she breathed. "Wait just a damn minute."

"What?" Skylar asked. "What?"

Bryner stumbled backwards, and then suddenly tore off down the hallway.

"Hey, you get your little red-headed ass back here and tell me whats going on!" Skylar shouted down the hallway. "Why are you running away?!"

"Sky!" Evalynn interrupted. "Don't question it! We need to get Derek to Dr. Logan, now!"

I could clearly tell Skylar was torn between chasing after Bryner to find out what had gotten her so excited, and helping Derek. But eventually, her sympathy for Derek and love for Evalynn won over. "Okay," she cracked. "Tony, David, help support Derek, and start off towards the dance. Everyone else, let's go ahead and try to find Dr. Logan and tell him about Derek's condition."

Tony and I knelt down and looped one of Derek's arms around each of our necks. We helped him stand, and he leaned heavily on us, panting.

"You okay?" I asked him.

His hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat, and his cheeks were bright red. "I don't know...if I can walk."

"It's okay, just lean on us." Tony assured him.

We attempted to take a few steps, but Derek's legs were so weak, he could barely support himself. His tall, weak body wieghed down both Tony and myself, who were shorter than him.

I grunted as Tony and I stumbled under Derek's weight.

"Oh, give him here!" Harry snapped impatiently. He pushed through, and scooped Derek up. Derek moaned, and clutched his stomach. "Hey now," Harry said. "No vomiting on me, ya hear?"

Derek simply moaned again.

I felt a small, cold hand slip into mine. I looked up, and saw Evie's scared face looking at me. I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, and then we started after Skylar and the other girls who had already took off towards the dance.

I was dragged forward by Evie who held on to my hand, but insisted on running to catch up to Evalynn.

"Evalynn!" she panted. "Eva, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Evalynn glanced back at Derek, face white. "I have to be okay. One of us has to be."

***Bryner's POV

Not very many things scared me. Not even when that dumb Parker bitch had blown up my science lab with me in it. Even though many people died that day, the clones were shipped off the next month, here to The Forces branch in Germany.

But there was two things that scared me; the Hastings brats, Troy and Skylar. Sure, Skylar was tiny and I could easily throw her. And sure, Troy had worked for me, but he had become invulnerable to pretty much anything. Until Skylar had killed him.

The Hastings children were my two greatest creations, for a few reasons. They were the first test tube children I had created. They were exceptional at combat, and Skylar was very handy with her sword. And finally, I had designed them with one thing on my mind; they had feelings, yes. They could feel sympathy, empathize with people and feel massive amounts of guilt. But they could easily kill someone without the slightest bit of remorse. I had made them that way. The others couldn't kill without feeling guilt. But the Hastings? They didn't give a damn. They couldn't give a damn. And that's what I loved about them.

But Troy was dead, and Skylar with her friends. So why, as I stepped into a dark room, near the back of the building, did I feel fear trickle down my spine like someone had just slipped an ice cube down my shirt?

I couldn't tell you why I came here. I was just drawn to this room, a faint memory in the back of my mind, telling me to come here.

Someone sat behind a desk in the unlit room. I squinted, trying to make out who it was, but all I saw was shadows.

"Why am I here?" I asked, sounding braver than I felt. This was ridiculous. Why was I afraid?

"You are here," a voice said, sounding disembodied, with a steely tone, "because you remember."

"Yes, I remember." I said impatiently. "But instead of killing that brat then and there, I ran away like a coward!"

"You did not run." The voice said calmly. "You bought some time. I brought you here, because if you killed her then, they would have all killed you. We need them all dead."

"How? There are eight of them, and two of us."

The voice chuckled. "You forget some things yet, don't you?"

"Yes, I do." I snapped. "But I do remember that once I regain my full memory, I am your boss!"

The voice didn't reply. "That is...correct. But for now, I am yours. Four of those eight are not properly trained. One doesn't even know how to use his element. He is the sick one. He will die first from the yellow fever."

"And the rest?" I said, venomously. "Skylar could be a ruthless killer, just like her late brother."

"Her late....My dear Alexandra, you have no idea who I am, do you?"

I scowled. "No. But you obviously know who I am."

The owner of the voice chuckled, then turned silent. Then, he leaned forward, and light from the window reflected off his silver face, which was set in a horrible grimace. His next words came out in a hissing snarl. "Activate the clones."

Sorry, I know this is really short, but I'll be updating a longer one again tonight.