[ 11:28 AM ]
gray and i merge with juniper and persephone at their position.
"dude-"
"hold that thought," juniper interrupts, as two of dom's fireballs fly our way.
i form my force field over gray and i as the balls land on the ground around us.
junipers' silver force field and mine disappear. persephone stares at me perplexed.
"get your boyfriend!" she huffs.
"not my boyfriend!" i correct.
"well tell him not to kill us!"
"i can't! it's the woman controlling him!" i tell her.
juniper sends two silver fireballs toward them.
"how is this so easy?" she asks me, looking at her hands in amazement.
"don't know," i shrug.
"we need to move," gray yells.
"we gotta get inside. she's in there. if i can't get through to him, i'll use her," i reason to myself out loud.
"let's get to the back. i have something for this," persephone suggests.
i nod at her.
"alex is going to help," i tell them. i push 'talk'. "matt move positions. we need you. back of the building."
"movin'."
we start sprinting to the back of the building as if our lives depend on it, and well, they sort of do with a deranged dominic and an unwilling alex sending blue and green fireballs our way.
we finally get to the back, huffing and panting hard.
"fuck!" i curse, holding my aching side.
persephone takes off her backpack and kneels a few feet in front of us. she takes some sort of contraption out of the bag she built at the mall and begins to work on it.
i look around for dominic. we ran but not that fast.
gray taps my upper arm and holds out an open water to me. i take it and chug some down. i pass it to him and he reaches over me, passing it to juniper.
"you learned all of this in high school?" i question persephone.
she turns to me.
"and then some," she grins.
"we get in, then what?" gray asks.
"try not to die," i say, letting out a slight chuckle.
"i'm not out yet but, almost," he tells me, checking how many shots he's got left.
"here." i hand him my .45 and the rest of my magazines.
"what are you-"
"i've got to put trust in myself. i need to learn. i have to do this for dominic and i."
he nods at me.
matt runs up, huffing and panting, laying an arm over junipers neck.
she picks his arm off her and steps away from him, closer to me.
i look around again.
"it's ready! might wanna brace yourself," persephone announces.
we all kneel; gray, persephone, and matt behind juniper and i. we two hold hands and call upon our force field.
a light pink force field surrounds the five of us.
"woah," juniper whispers as persephone's homemade bomb explodes; fire, smoke and debri flying around us.
the ground cracks underneath us before giving way. we fall through.
the force field disconnects.
i land on rocks and roll so i don't injure anything further on my body. i stop before everyone and pick myself up off the floor.
i turn and look at everyone.
"you guys okay?" i ask as they all are picking themselves up off the floor as well.
"hands up!"
i spin around seeing we've landed in a room of armed men.
fun.
"HANDS! UP!"
i turn back around to my crew. gray, persephone, and matt hold their guns up, unphased.
i look at juniper.
🌹| thinking what i'm thinking?
🕊 | say the word.
"HEY!"
we all look up at the hole we created, seeing dominic and alex peering down on us.
🌹 | now.
i form two fireballs and throw them at the six guards. they hit two and the complete disintegration of them, surprises the rest of them.
a silver fireball takes out a third as shooting starts behind me.
"we need back-"
i squeeze my hand into a fist, the guard clawing at its neck. with my other hand, i throw the fifth into the nearest wall.
the last rises all the way to the ceiling, wriggling in the air.
my guy finally falls limp. i release my hold and as his body thuds to the ground, the sixth and final officer meets the ground in a haste, bones breaking in all direction.
i grimace at the scene.
jeez juniper.
"let's move!" matt yells, still firing shots.
i locate the door and make my way toward it.
i open it slightly, peering out. i don't see anyone so we exit out into the black steel walled hallway.
"we need to find this lady before dominic finds us," persephone tells me keeping an eye on our rear with matt.
"we need him off our scent," juniper adds.
"just run!" i chuckle, finding this little cat and mouse game kind of fun.
we're playing with our lives, but it will always be me over them.
i take off in any direction to give us a leeway.
we'll work on one thing at a time right now.
i need to find ann and worry about dominic later.
we pass by so many different doors with certain symbols on them. some are marked with the same symbols but i have no clue what the significance of them are.
i slow down and try a door, it not budging. i look next to the door and see a black box of some sort. there's no keypad and doesn't look like a fingerprint scanner or retina scanner.
i look down and see a small opening at my stomach height. i bend down to peer inside.
in a corner is a woman, laying limp, blood pooled around her.
i go to an adjacent door and peer in; a guy this time- alive. if that's what you want to call it. he's spaced out, maybe even not on this reality plane anymore.
i stand.
"are these all prisoners?" i question, looking at the long hallway of doors.
"we must've passed at least hundreds of doors," juniper says.
"HEY!"
a guard stands in the middle of the hallway, blocking our left and right exit.
i take a step and a gust of wind passes. i stand in front of the guard.
i kick them in their side and they double over. they grab my forearm and i think to jab them in the face but i realize: helmet.
fuck.
i try to pull away but they have a grip.
shots go off and the guard falls, letting me go.
"next time no hero shit," matt speaks. i roll my eyes at him. "you're welcome."
we continue moving.
🐲 | you're making too much noise.
🌹 | where is she?
🐲 | who?
🌹 | the lady alex. come on.
🐲 | ann? i don't know. she kept me locked up and drugged.
🌹 | that's her name? ann?
🐲 | yeah. malecot.
ann malecot.
an alarm blares as the lights flash red and leave us in darkness for one second.
"we've got to find this lady!" grayson yells.
"i know!"
we turn a corner, finding two more guards standing in front of a rather large elevator.
bingo.
maybe that's got my answers.
"hands in the air!"
they aim their guns at us.
i sigh.
"i'm honestly tired of hearing this," i tell them back, holding my hands behind my back.
i continue walking toward them, their faces visible this time.
"stop right there!"
i hold up a finger to my counterparts.
"these two are mine," i tell them.
the two men look at each other and lower their weapon.
"look, you're a young woman," one chuckles.
i chuckle with him, mine a slight mock.
i get up to a good feet away.
i lay a punch on left, i lay a punch on right. i kick left in the stomach and uppercut right. i roundhouse kick left, run and jump off the wall, superman punching right.
i look at everyone, stopping at matt.
"i don't need your help," i tell him.
he scoffs and we walk to the elevator.
i press the button. it dings but doesn't open. above it is the same black box contraption from the doors.
"soraya!" i hear behind.
i turn around and see juniper toss something gold toward me. i catch it and look at it.
a bracelet.
i hold it up to the elevator. it dings again but this time it opens.
i clip the bracelet to my wrist as we step inside.
the doors close and i look at the panel of buttons.
LVL 2
LVL 3
LVL 4
LVL 5
LVL 6
LVL 7
LVL 8
LVL 9
LVL 10
LVL MEET.
LVL 12
LVL 13
LAB 2
"where's level and lab one?" gray asks.
"i don't know," i tell him something drawing me to 'LAB 2".
"thirteen levels of prisoners?" persephone asks.
"i take back my hundreds, their must be thousands!"
"you think they all did something bad?" persephone asks.
"i don't know," i repeat.
i tap 'LAB 2' and the elevator starts down.
i stand ahead of everyone.
this is unfortunately my mess i've been thrown in. if anyone's dying, it's me.
if i have to turn myself in to save anyone in this elevator- even matt, sadly- then i will.
juniper walks up and stands next to me.
"we do this together," she states.
i want to argue with her but i know that it'll all be circles.
"don't have much left," matt says behind me.
"i have your backs," i declare.
"well we're not going in there exposed," persephone says. we all turn to her seeing a silver canister in her hand. "i grabbed it off one of those dudes."
"smart thinking," i smirk. i look around the elevator. "against the walls."
juniper and persephone stand across from gray, matt, and i.
i watch the levels descend until finally 'LAB 2'.
the elevator stops, dings, and the doors slide open.
i press the stop elevator button and the machine rumbles in agreement.
persephone's about to throw the canister in and i hold up my palm, juniper seeing and stopping her girlfriend.
"ANN MALECOT!" i yell out.
"ahh! ms. peters, i see you've found out my name," she responds.
"even playing field!" i respond. "you're trapped!"
"hmm, so are you. what is this? a suicide mission?"
"you're trying to kill me! i'm just returning the favor," i say.
"no one's trying to kill you. on the contrary, you shot one of my men out there first."
"on the contrary," i mock, "you kidnapped alex first!"
"you started this first ms. peters. the virus, the deaths."
"i didn't do shit. none of us did anything!"
"then where did the powers come from? huh?"
"i was going to ask you the same thing."
"don't lie ms. peters."
"who's lying? who's your source? what evidence have they given you? seriously? because i'm starting to believe you all are fucking idiots! i graduated B average and that surprised me! i didn't- i still don't- care about the school system! i don't know shit about chemicals. i couldn't name an uncommon element from the periodic table if i tried! either you have the wrong group of people or you know all of this in hopes to blame innocent people for something they didn't do! and if that's the case, then this is a suicide mission because i'm not going down without fighting!"
"would dominic want that?"
"i think dominic answers to you now. so you tell me!"
"someone of your caliber is very important. you dying would be a waste."
"were you this confusing with dominic and alex? because seems like you don't know whether to kill me or recruit me!
she laughs.
"i need answers, and i'll do anything to get them. you're not dying ms. peters. in fact, none of you will be leaving."
"wait, mother, you promised that i can kill someone," a younger female voices.
mother?
"anna?" matt questions and i snap my head in his direction, looking past gray.
"hi matty," the voice speaks.
my body reacts before my mind. gray holds me back as matt jumps away from me.
"did you know?!" i grit at him.
"NO! no! i didn't! i met her three months at a music festival! i promise!" he explains.
i calm down.
three months ago?
have they been keeping tabs on us? for how long?
"we are all confused here ms. peters," ann says, a certain tone of amusement laced in her words.
i shake my head, confused about what the fuck is going on right now.
if they've been keeping tabs on us, then they know! they know there's no way we did any of this!
capturing us was never for a confession of crime.
i look at the panel of buttons.
LAB 2
dominic's not her second.
he's her experiment.
i look at persephone.
i'll be damned letting any of us take orders from this formal bitch.
i nod.
she unpins the canister and rolls it in.
"FLASH BOMB!"
i hug matt and gray, my force field appearing as the canister explodes, the room and elevator filling with smoke.
someone's screaming bloody murder in there.
i throw two fireballs inside and take cover.
"LUNA GET DOWN!" someone screams.
persephone stands in the opening, firing shots into the room until she's out of bullets.
the screaming stops as persephone's bullets stop.
she jumps back to cover as bullets rain in.
i cover my head, sitting knees to my chest.
the shots eventually stop.
i look around the elevator. the bullet holes... aren't holes at all.
i run my hand upwards of the elevator wall and grab the "bullet".
it's a small vial, filled with a clear liquid, and a needle on one end.
i show gray.
"oh shit," he whispers.
"now more than ever, do not get hit," i tell everyone.
i throw the vial down.
🌹| we need a layout of the room.
🕊 | i've got your back soraya.
🌹 | it's definitely not the time but my friends call me ray.
🕊 | whatever you do, i'm covering ray.
i stand.
i form my force field and run into the room. about halfway, i fall to my shins and slide, looking around as best as i can.
the needles bounce off of my force field as i take in the room design.
three steel barricades that form a triangle with the point, pointing at the elevator. there's people behind all barricades, firing those needles at my bubble.
four silver fireballs soar over my head and land somewhere around the room.
i stop myself from hitting the middle barricade with my hands and stand, ann standing opposite of me.
she roams her eyes over my force field, marveling it.
"magnificent," she whispers. "don't waste this."
i stare her down.
i lost dominic to her?
i turn and run back into the elevator, taking cover.
"three barricades. triangle format. one to your left, one to your right, and one in the center further in. people behind all. not a lot but still an advantage!" i yell to them over the vials still being fired inside.
"we go in with what we have left inside of the force field," juniper suggests.
"then what?" matt asks.
"make one last stand," i tell him. "we don't get that, then juniper and i will kill everyone left."
"not anna!"
"please," i mutter, rolling my eyes. "the girl you met isn't the one that's in there."
"not. anna." he demands, staring me down.
i stare him down back.
"okay! we don't need this right now," gray interrupts.
i stand, activating my force field. juniper does the same. we hold hands and a pink luminous light surrounds everyone.
i take a deep breath and slowly let go of juniper, focusing on keeping the force field up.
we stand in a circle; gray standing next to me as i stand next to juniper who stands next to persephone as she stands next to matt who stands next to gray.
he hands me a smith and wesson and i check the clip. five in the clip, one in the chamber.
"i've got six!" i announce.
"five," gray states.
"eleven," matt says.
"three." juniper says.
"four." persephone says.
"twenty-nine. make them count. headshots only. backs to each other. don't break the formation," i order. "lets go."
we move into the room like we're some top elite badass team.
matt fires first and it begins.
i focus on a guard, aiming for the head and pull the trigger.
they drop.
i locate two more and they each fall.
no ones firing from ann's barricade.
i find another guard, taking them down. i fire my second to last shot at another's stomach. i sink my last shot in their head, they stiffing and falling.
i throw the gun down.
juniper and i look at each other.
gray, persephone, and matt's guns all come to a stop.
ann slowly rises from her barricade.
"you show great enthusiasm," she smiles.
"reverse what you did to dominic and let him and alex go. we go our separate ways and you don't bother us again."
"you're clearly out of ammo ms. peters. exposed. i'm short handed, but it takes one needle."
a young woman around my age stands up next. a look of pure disgust on her face.
"anna!" matt shouts.
she's west asian descent; long, silky black hair braided in a single braid. her facial features are small, and she resembles nothing of ann.
clearly not her biological daughter.
unless i'm off by a few yards.
"i'll start with him," anna speaks with disgust.
"believe me now matt?" i ask him.
"ms. peters-"
"reverse what you did to dominic! now!"
"oh... sweetheart, he's mine."
her words swirl in my head, taunting me. laughing at me. yelling at me. triggering me.
the force field disappears.
a pulsing sensation builds from inside and i scream, letting it takeover.
the energy pulls out of me, everyone flying away from me.
i fall to my knee and look around. junipers getting up quicker than anyone else. she looks at me and we nod to each other.
we stand.
i run and spring over the barricade.
mission: her. and her only.
she's still slowly getting her bearings, picking herself up off the floor.
i raise my hand and backhand her. she falls to her hands. she looks up at me.
scuffling and grunting happens behind me but i don't care.
it's me and ann.
she smiles at me, a scratch on her cheek.
"you don't want this fight ms. peters," she says standing. "i've trained my entire life."
"and i have super abilities," i rebuttal, getting into a fighting stance.
she does as well.
"sobeit."
we circle each other. i get a good view of my surroundings through my peripheral.
JP are getting their asses handed to them by anna. grayson and matt are wrestling two guards each.
"six on five ann, seems pretty unfair to me," i say, keeping an eye on her hands and feet.
she throws a punch in my direction and i weave it. i put some distance between us.
i smirk.
i hear a groan and a thud.
"one down!" matt yells.
i stomp on ann's foot, grab her arm and flip her onto her back.
she wheezes out.
i swipe my hand in the air and one of grayson's guards head twists. they fall dead.
ann sweeps her feet under mine and i fall to my back as we trade places. i groan. she brings her foot down and i roll out of the way, jumping to my feet using my hands.
"five on four," i grin.
i'm loving this fight. this adrenaline.
"like i said, enthusiasm."
"i didn't want to kill anybody," i tell her. she changes her expression to an indifferent one at my sentence. "i don't even want to kill you."
"that's sweet," she says sarcastically.
"yeah, because i need to kill you."
she throws another punch and i block it. she jabs me in the stomach and gives me distance. i couch out, the pain running through my body. i straighten up and step at her.
she backs away.
"i could end your life right now," i state as we circle each other again.
"so why don't you?"
"wouldn't satisfy me enough," i smile.
she rushes at me and before she can touch me, my body vibrates and i'm staring at her back.
i watch her slow to a stop and spin around, confusion set on her face.
teleportation?
fuck! this is so cool!
i will myself in front of ann, laying a left and right punch on her. i kick her in the stomach and she falls back, landing on the floor.
"MOTHER!" anna screams.
persephone punches her.
grayson falls.
"even fight," ann smirks, wiping her mouth and standing.
"gray!" i call to him, seeing a vial stuck in his neck.
i swipe my hand through the air, watching grayson's last guard fly into the glass cabinet full of vials.
i look at ann.
"anna's next," i tease.
"don't you dare touch her!" ann growls at me.
"oh! there's that fire!" i chuckle. "you're willing to die instead of giving me what i want?"
"i can't reverse dominic."
"fine. then die."
we get into our fighting stances.
i throw a punch and she weaves it. she hits me in my mouth and i taste warm metallic.
i spit.
i go to kick her and she catches my leg. she brings her elbow down into my thigh.
i wail out in pain, falling to my back. i roll out the way before she can think about stepping on me again.
i stand and she throws a kick to my rib. i block it. she throws a punch to my face and i weave it.
she's quicker than i measured.
"the thing about me and you ms. peters, is that you're nothing without your powers."
🐲| soraya we have a problem.
🌹 | what alex?
the elevator dings and the doors close.
🐲 | dominic fixed the elevator.
i launch a punch at ann. she blocks it. she punches me in my rib again. i cry out and back away from her, circling each other yet again.
as much as i'd want to use my powers; she challenged me.
i jab her in the face and in return she does the same.
i chuckle.
she throws a slap toward me but i block her arm. i backhand her again then kick her in the stomach.
i walk up to her and grab her shoulders, head butting her.
i grab at my forehead, underestimating the pain that would cause.
i reassess myself and punch her in the mouth. i punch her in the eye. i uppercut her. i grab her head and bring it into my knee.
she drops to her knees.
i steady my footing and roundhouse kick her. she falls and slides away from me.
matt groans out before a body thuds to the ground.
i look in his direction and connect eyes with him.
"MOTHER!" anna screams out.
"dominic's coming!" i announce.
anna tries to run toward ann and i push her into juniper and persephone's hold.
ann moans, slowly coming back to consciousness.
i look down seeing a vial. i bend down and pick it up.
i teleport myself in front of ann. i pick her up off the floor myself and twists her arm behind her back. she groans in response.
i hold the needle close to her neck.
"let's see if he's truly yours," i whisper to her. "matt!"
he jogs over to me.
we all wait for the elevator- for dominic.
"it's pointless," ann laughs.
"shut up!" i yell. "you don't speak. you understand? you only say a word when i tell you too."
the elevator dings and slides open.
i hold the needle closer.
dominic and alex walk in, looking around at the damage we've caused.
he finally looks at me and ann.
"let her go," he demands.
"or what?" i challenge.
"don't do this."
"we deserve the truth dominic, and this is not it. what she's told you is a lie."
"i want to hear ann say it," he says.
"no. you need to remember. do you know that's your blood brother behind you? i wasn't able to get to know you that well but you would do anything for him!"
"i know this!"
"no! you don't. you wanted to come here. you wanted to find your brother. you were tricked. ann fed you a false story about an origin of something that never took place. how long do you think you've been here?" i ask him.
he turns and looks at alex.
"i-i don't know bro," alex stutters.
he looks back at me.
"you think it was months? years? forever? because she made it seem that way. you want the truth? you and i met on day one of MAX20. do you remember max? your best friend? he was patient zero."
"i know this."
"you figured that the government speculated we had something to do with the virus and we ran. they took alex and we ran and we shouldn't have done that. alex i'm sorry. it was my fault. i told him we should run to get more information about everything going on and i'm sorry," i apologize.
"it's okay. you did what you had to do," he says.
"we found out that MAX20 was going to take place a course of 13 days."
"13?!" alex questions.
"say it ann. 13 days. that's the truth isn't it?" i order her.
she gulps.
"y-yes. 13 days."
"you left two days ago dominic. we are now on day nine of the virus. we don't know anything about it. and neither does ann."
"two...?" he asks.
"matt."
i pass him the needle, then ann.
i hold my hands up for dominic to see.
"that is the truth dominic. search in your brain and remember."
i take a step toward him.
"be careful ray," matt says to me.
"remember your beautiful seven year old sister. she's waiting for you. she misses you so much."
"apple..." he trails.
"yes. she visited you today. she told me you were mean to her," i frown at him.
i take another step toward him, walking around the barricade.
"i... she..."
"think dominic. i don't know what you went through in here but i should've came sooner." i continue walking, closing the distance slowly. "as soon as i lost contact with you, i should've came for you. you didn't have the strength to do this alone. ann broke you. she's using you."
"i want to hear her say that!" he demands.
"listen to me dominic. why can't you listen to me? i want you to remember. i miss you," i confess.
"i... you could be lying!"
"she's not dominic," alex speaks up. we turn our attention to him. i use this to step a bit closer to dominic. "apple... she showed me. i remember."
"no!" ann yells.
"and you can remember too dominic," i tell him bringing the attention back on me. "apple she- she can help. she helped alex."
i'm now a foot or so away. a fraction, to be able to touch him and really take him in.
"but..."
"remember dominic," i say stepping into his space. "remember me and you. remember our family we can have."
i lay a hand on his cheek. i don't feel the vibration i felt when we first touched- what drawn me to him. i just feel his sweaty and warm cheek.
i look into his eyes, not recognizing the person in front of me.
what did she do to him?
he stares at me, his eyes searching my face before falling to my lips.
he leans in toward me and i move toward him instinctively.
right now, it's me and him.
our lips brush against each other's.
"soraya wait!"
a stinging sensation unravels in my stomach and spreads throughout my body.
i pull away from him and look down seeing a knife plunged inside of me, dominic's hand attached to it.
i look up at him.
he smirks at me.
i look down again.
he stabbed me.
i look back up at him.
i swipe my hand through the air, sending dominic away from me.
i grab the knife and pull it out, screaming in pain. i drop it and look at alex, everything fading away.
"the elevator!" i yell but can barely hear myself say it.
alex moves toward me, wrapping my arm around his neck and holding my waist.
the room starts spinning and i start to lose my vision.
i hold my wound, the tepid blood seeping through my fingers.
we get inside the elevator, juniper and persephone right behind us. matt is last, toting grayson on his shoulder.
alex presses some button and my vision blurs in and out as the doors slide closed. through the small crack before it's fully close, i see dominic and ann crouched over an unconscious ann.
i look down at my blood soaked shirt.
he stabbed me.
he stabbed me!
"ray! you good?" i hear matt, he sounds far away.
i lose feeling in my legs and almost fall to the floor, alex helping me stand.
"soraya!" i hear juniper.
"ray!" matt yells, yet they're all far away.
he stabbed me.
i look at my hand, it covered in my dark blood.
"she's in shock," persephone says.
"we need to get her help!" alex yells.
my eyes roll to the back of my head.
*️⃣
"soraya! hey! hey!"
i open my eyes, alex carrying me down some hallway.
"find an exit!" juniper orders.
i lose consciousness.
*️⃣
"head to lucille! follow me!" matt.
"stay with us ray! stay with us!" alex.
i open my eyes and see white clouds in a bright blue sky.
"don't worry ray we're going to help you!" juniper.
everything goes black.
*️⃣
"where do i go?! where do i go?!" i hear persephone.
"i-i don't- i don't know!" juniper.
"a hospital. we need to go to a hospital." matt.
"that's a dumb idea. their could be no one at the hospitals!" persephone.
"you have a better idea?"
my body bounces along, the pain starting up every few seconds as someone is pressing into my stomach.
i open my eyes and see we're in lucille.
matt and alex look at me.
"where's apple?" i ask matt, grabbing alex's wrist.
the two share a look.
"where is she?" alex asks.
"she was supposed to be in the van. i told her to stay in the van," matt tells him.
"she's not in the van!" juniper yells.
"wait..." alex trails off.
"where's apple?!" i scream.