RILEY
THE WARZONE turned into a light show that could trigger any epileptic into a string of seizures. The reinforcments Ethan called invaded the space, but support for the other side quickly showed up to keep pace. More black vans pulled up and joined in. That meant more mutants, more hunters and more agents. It became a deafening hell, and I couldn't bear it.
Blasts of energy blinded me. Their thunder combined with the rifles and screams made my ears ring. I stumbled deliriously over the snow, completely disoriented.
My gaze fell on Luc as he cracked an agent's neck in one swift motion. I started careening towards him even though I didn't know how much of a difference I'd make.
Mr. Kennedy intercepted me before I made it halfway, stunning white orbs scanning me to the last detail.
"Stay back. You've done enough."
The upbraid was clear in his words. My gut twisted to the point I almost bent over to hurl. I deserved every ounce of resentment because of Ethan and Adam's death. It was on me. I had to do something about that.
"No way."
If I hid like he told me to, I'd go insane.
In the back, Tony wrangled in a hunter and body-slammed him. Ben heaved his fist down and the ground conducted a trail of electricity, whipping another one. Someone cried over Ethan's body, haunting laments rising in the night havoc. Guns fired everywhere. There was so, so much noise...
I stepped forward in defiance. Mr. Kennedy impeded my path. He stretched out an arm in case I tried it again.
"You do not want this kind of blood on your hands," he said. "Let us take it from here."
I wanted to hit something, to kick and punch until my knuckles were raw and my feet were numb. But the way his eyes were downcast made me rethink what I was doing, as if he'd hosed me with icy water.
I'd gone this close to taking a life. And I would have.
Deep in my bones, I knew it.
I rubbed my injured shoulder, roiling in shock. Maybe... maybe I'd just make everything worse as usual. The others were handling it. I was in the way.
The realization upset me because I didn't feel deserving of a rest. I nonetheless managed a small nod and retreated near a tree. So much was happening at once that I couldn't keep track. I didn't have the time to get a grip.
"Everyone, hold your fire!" someone shouted, and I turned back around.
The shooting ceased almost immediately just as the air thickened.
My breath slaked. I hunched over trying to drag in more oxygen but it didn't work. Overwhelming pressure nestled in my chest and expanded, like my veins and organs were swelling. Everyone on the field—humans and mutants alike—crumbled to the ground, wheezing. My knees dropped to the snow as nausea stirred me whole, and I gagged on void.
The tension in me intensified like a coil compressing to its maximum capacity. I whimpered, and a powerful weight rammed me flat against my stomach. My head was going to explode. I cried out, and the sound mingled with the cries of others.
I forced myself to look up. There was a change in the air. I had no words to explain it, but it was moving, saturating the area. The atmosphere was... rippling.
Time crawled to an agonizing freeze. The mutants were gaping in one direction like inanimate statues, faces marked with distress. Chest heaving, pulse racing, my eyes latched onto someone—a figure. A lone person standing in front of the warehouse.
A girl.
She was not affected like all of us. She looked like an apparition, steady and alert. I didn't recognize her immediately. Her face was more angular, her frame taller, her dark hair pulled back.
Luc paled like the life was sucked out of him. He laid on the ground, struggling against the crushing weight. He stuck a hand on the ground and, shaking like a leaf, managed to stick another one to try and rise.
A deeper ache was etched on his face. He called out her name and collapsed again.
True, visceral fear dug its claws into every fiber of my being when she didn't react. The hunters' cries evovled into howls of torture. Their heads jerked back and, in the darkness, I saw all the blood pouring out of their orifices.
Her bright emerald eyes probed the mess in front of her, knifelike but impenetrable themselves.
Lauren.
➹➹➹
TO BE CONTINUED...
YOU ARE READING
(REWRITING) The Skylar Experiment : Coveting
Science Fiction"Three weeks. That's how long I got to have drama-free. I'm not sure what is happening to me or to Oakwood. Nothing's the same since I rolled into town and it just keeps getting weirder. Suspicious agents in suits roam the streets without an explan...
