[OLD] The Scorpion Mission (#2)

Twenty-Nine

"Ivy, don't," Claire said.

"I'm not." Ivy shot John a glare. "Nice try, though."

"I'm not lying," John said.

"And I'm not coming with you. Goodbye."

They entered the hallway, which was emptier than it had been earlier. Some of the Altered were moving toward the roof. The remaining ones were cornered by the stairs, fighting off the Supers.

Ivy narrowed her eyes when she spotted a familiar face in the crowd. Without so much as a glance at the others, she pushed her way through the fight.

Terrence's eyes widened when he saw her coming. "Ivy," he said. Was that a hint of fear in his voice? Ivy clenched her fists. Heat rushed to her fingertips.

Behind Terrence, the last of the Altered rushed into the staircase and headed toward the roof. Terrence took a step backward as if to follow them, but Ivy grabbed the front of his shirt.

"Not so fast," she growled.

"Ivy, wait!"

Ivy glanced back as Spencer ran toward her, followed by Claire, Victoria and Ace. Ivy's fist tightened as she fought back the heat.

"He's not worth it," Spencer said with a glance at Terrence. It looked like he was fighting back a look of disgust.

Victoria cracked her knuckles. "I don't know, maybe we should rough this punk up a bit."

"Victoria, please."

"Just saying."

Claire piped up. "I don't think Summer would want us to kill him."

Victoria rolled her eyes. "I didn't say kill him. Maybe just a punch in the face. Or two."

Ivy turned her attention back to Terrence. His eyes were wide with fear. Smoke had begun to rise up from Ivy's hands.

The building started to shake.

"What's happening?" one of the Supers asked.

"Earthquake, maybe?" someone suggested.

Terrence drew in a deep, ragged breath.

Ivy frowned. "Are you doing this?" she asked.

Terrence was shaking, now. Definitely him. "I—"

There was another tremor, and the floor beneath them gave way.

Ivy screamed as she, Terrence, and Claire fell through the opening. Victoria and Spencer cried out somewhere above them as they hit the ground.

The ground opened up beneath them. They fell again, and a shriek escaped Ivy's mouth.

Terrence's shirt slipped through Ivy's fingers as they slammed into the next floor. She watched in horror as he disappeared through another hole and into the darkness of the floor below. He cried out, and his fading voice indicated he had farther to fall.

Ivy's heart hammered in her chest as she started to slip.

"Hang on," Claire exclaimed.

An invisible force pulled Ivy up and away from the gaping abyss. She looked up at the two holes above them. The lights on this floor and the one above were out, as well as everything below them, apparently. Scorpion was getting ready to evacuate, leaving the twelfth floor as their only light source. Ivy could just make out the voices of the others above them.

"Come on. Let's get back up there," Ivy said. She lit a flame in her hand to light the way.

Claire didn't respond. Ivy frowned and turned to look at her. "Claire? You okay?"

"It's here," Claire whispered. "I can sense it."

Ivy didn't have to ask what she was talking about. "Where?"

"Two floors down. It's coming this way." Claire closed her eyes. "I think Newman was partly right about how it detects things. I'm trying to read its mind... it's really strange. Different. But it seems like it's using echolocation to get a general idea of its surroundings."

Ivy swallowed. "Is there something else?"

"It's sensing us the same way I'm sensing it. Telekinetically." Claire opened her eyes and stared at Ivy with fear in her expression. "We can't hide from it."

How did it find us? Why does it keep finding us? Ivy tried to push back her frustration and fear. "Let's go."

They hurried toward the stairs. As they climbed, Claire whispered, "It's on the floor below us. Almost to the stairs."

"It's faster than us," Ivy muttered. They weren't going to make it to the twelfth floor. And even if they did, what then?

They couldn't keep running. However it was doing it, it had managed to track them—her—across the country.

The only way to stop it was to kill it.