A/N: this chapter is from Beatrix's perspective, it takes place a few hours after she left to find Marcus
I'm in the basement
I reread the ominous text as I stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at the dark basement below. I was at the bottom of Marcus's apartment building, where I had managed to track him down. Now that I was here, I was feeling a lot less confident.
"Marcus?" I called. "I'm here."
"Come down," he called back.
"Can't we talk up here?" I asked.
"No, I can't move. It- it burns."
I felt sorry for him, then. He sounded like a scared kid, and not like what I had though of him. And I knew how he felt. Every moment, the pulsing and faint voices in my head grew louder, and feelings that weren't mine washed over me. But now was not the time for sympathy.
As I walked down the stairs, my own worry grew stronger. What if he was resisting my control? What if he hurt me? And what if I had been wrong about him, and I'd been influencing an innocent person this whole time?
But I had been right about Evianna. I had felt her helpless, desperate anger, her need for power and control, which was hidden underneath her sweet disposition, her pretend to help while she tried to gather as much information on Damira as she could, who I had tried to warn.
As my feet touched the concrete of the basement floor, my fingers searched the wall beside me, looking for a light switch. Before I could, the small space was illuminated by fire.
Marcus stood in front of me, a ball of flame in his palm, lighting up his face, and mine. He was a lot closer to me then I had sensed. I hadn't even been able to feel him down here. And that scared me the most, more then the dangerous boy with fire in his hands in front of me. My powers were failing me. And they couldn't keep me safe, not now.
"Hello, Beatrix," he said.
"Marcus," I responded coldly. "I finally found you. Where did you go?"
"I needed to get away from your mind control," he spat. "I wanted to rule, to control. To actually use these powers, like I was doing before I met you. But in the past week, I haven't felt that at all. It's like something was censoring my thoughts and feelings, and making me numb. I suddenly wanted to help Damira and the rest of you with whatever your fucking plan was. I didn't even realize something was wrong until after the whole rescue mission, when I went to school and spent a whole day away from you."
"You sound crazy," I told him. "I think you're just imagining all of this. Maybe this was just you, subconsciously trying to be a better person."
"Don't try to manipulate me!" he said angrily. "I know you did something to me! Why?!"
Because as soon as I'd met him, I'd known who he was. What he'd done. I had felt it on him. And I'd known he would destroy us all if I didn't... change his mind.
"Why?" he demanded again. "Tell me why!"
"I know you're the arsonist the police are looking for," I told him. "You burned down that apartment complex, didn't you? You set fire to that restaurant."
He didn't answer, but his face told me everything I needed to know.
"Why did you do it?" I asked. "I mean, what was the point? Did you just feel like causing chaos?"
"A guy living in one of the buildings," he said bitterly. "He insulted me. And after that... I realized I liked it."
"You burned down an entire building because some guy insulted you? Christ, you're insecure. That's embarrassing for you," I mocked, unable to stop myself.
"Shut up!" he yelled, brandishing the fire in his hands. I stumbled backwards, my back hitting the wall. As it did, I brushed the light switch, and the room was bathed in light. Then I got a better view of the fire in front me.
It circled around me, raising tall, until I was in the middle of a circle of flame, inches away from me.
"If you move, you'll be burned to a crisp," he informed me, like I was blind or something.
"What do you want from me?" I demanded.
"I want you to get out of my head," he said, turning away from me, and heading towards the stairs. "I want to meet my maker. I'll come back later, and let you out. If you're not dead by then."
"If you kill me, Damira's going to kill you," I promised him. "She's stronger then you, by a lot. She will destroy you."
"I'm not afraid of Damira," he said with a chuckle.
"You should be," I told him. "She might pretend to have a moral compass, but she killed her best friend in cold blood, and threw the body in a river."
This made him pause, turning to look at me with curiosity. "Continue."
So I kept going, speeding up. "She killed her best friend's sister when she was confronted with what she did. And she killed a dozen people in that huge car crash that was all over the news. And none of those people did shit to her. So what do you think she would do to you?"
"So, what do you suggest I do?" he asked, sounding half sarcastic.
I couldn't quite believe he had the nerve to ask me for advice after trapping me in a circle of flame, but I painted a smile on my face and spoke. "Bring me with you."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Bring me with you to meet Thomas. He knows me. We used to work together. And I know Damira better then both of you. I know how to trick her, what to use against her. You'll never be able to take her down without me."
"I thought you and Damira... cared about each other," he said.
"Not anymore," I replied. "I controlled her emotions. She hates me. We tried to make it work, but it's dead. We don't owe each other anything."
He stepped forwards, and the circle of flame parted for him, until he was standing right in front of me. I was tall but he was taller, and I didn't move my head to meet his eyes. His hand was cold as he grasped my chin and forced me to look at him. I glared unflinchingly into his eyes. "You need my help getting to Thomas," I said. "So I'd suggest you get rid of that fire."
"What else is in it for me?" he asked, his hard grip on my face turning softer, as his fingers slowly brushed my lips.
"W-what?" I stammered suddenly much more shaken than I was by the fire.
"You know what."
I couldn't move, not with the fire. My powers weren't working. If he wanted to, I couldn't stop him, and it was the most terrifying feeling in the world.
Words from my childhood flashed through my head, my mother telling me to be cautious of men, to not walk alone at night, to learn self defence. Our kindergarten teacher telling us about good touches and bad ones, about what places of your body were off limits to others.
Even with all my confidence and cleverness and independence, I was really just a girl. Just another girl who had a boy pretending to be a man bigger and stronger than her, who thought he could do whatever he wanted.
His fingers were still on my lips, and he was leaning in closer. "There's nothing else in it for you," I said. "You let me go, I give you an in with Thomas. That's it."
He ignored me, moving closer to me, and I strained my mind as hard as I could. I needed my powers, I needed them now, before it was too late.
His hand on my lip twitched, and his other hand, that had been getting frighteningly close to the zipper on his jeans, pulled out the pocketknife sticking out of his pocket and put it to his own throat, only for a second before I lost my concentration.
"I told you to stay out of my head!" he yelled, getting right up in my face, but I wasn't scared anymore. I knew I had him.
"Then back up," I said coldly. I could feel heat of the flames right beside me but I kept my eyes open even as they burned.
After a moment, the flames disappeared. "I guess we should get going," he muttered, starting to walk towards the stairs. I followed. "You know, this is a much better outcome," he said, ignoring what had almost just happened. "Us working together, I mean."
"I agree," I said. "Your abilities and my knowledge compliment each other quite nicely." It was exactly what he needed to hear. Boys pretending to be men were so easy to manipulate, if you stroked their ego just enough, reminded them that you were just a helpless little girl with nothing but knowledge on your side, and they were big and strong.
We took a bus to Oakwood Drive, and I watched him carefully, trying to figure him out. His strengths were obvious, but he was arrogant, overconfident, and scared to cross me after I'd reminded him of what I could do.
If only my powers would start working again. Or maybe it wasn't my powers there was something wrong with. Maybe it was me. I couldn't focus enough to use them, with everything going on in my head.
"So, what do we do when we get underground?" he asked, as we approached the small house. "Just walk around until we find him?"
"We'll figure it out," I told him. As we came nearer, I saw there were two armed guards standing outside the house. It seemed they had upgraded from last time.
"How are the neighbours not suspicious by now?" Marcus asked.
"I bet no one actually lives in those houses," I said, looking them over. They were all tiny and frail and there were no cars outside.
"So, what do we do about the guards?" I asked.
"I can just burn them up," he said. "No," I said quickly. "Let me try them."
"Who are you?" one of them asked. "Hey, you look like-"
"Yeah, I'm Beatrix," I said, deciding honestly was the best policy. "Can I come in? I need to speak with Thomas."
The two of them looked at each other in confusion. They clearly didn't know whether or not to let me in. But all I needed to trick them into thinking I was allowed to be there, was some confidence, and honesty.
"Well, alright. You can come down. But I'll come with you," one of the guards said gruffly.
We followed him down to the basement, and into the elevator. I noticed the keycard in his belt, and I wished I could swipe it, but I couldn't with him and Marcus watching my every move.
"So, what kind of business do you two have with my boss?" he asked. "He's been trying to reach you down for a while."
"Oh, you know," I said casually. "This and that. We had a bit of a falling out, but I'm back now."
The elevator came up, and the doors opened. He took out his phone, and suddenly he was on fire. I whipped around to Marcus. "Stop!" I cried, as the man screamed behind me.
"I did that for us!" he said. "He was calling for backup. We would never have made it onto that elevator."
I tried not to look at the charred body on the ground, tried to think of anything else.
I remembered last time we were here, rescuing Olivia. I remembered seeing her in her cell, looking so small and scared. And I had seen Cashlin's body, laying in that bed, as the beeping machines drained fluids from her. And that was the day I had realized that Thomas was unbeatable.
He had lost his mind with greed and hopes for a better world, and sometime along the way, he had gone from a mad scientist to pure evil, malice, cruelty. We could never win over him.
"Beatrix, good to see you," Thomas said, as he strolled up to us. "How on earth did you get in? My guards had orders to detain any of you if you were to show up."
"You should get some new guards," I told him, before Marcus could say anything.
"I have to ask, what are you doing here? I thought you picked the losing side."
"I changed my mind," I said smoothly. "I realized I don't want to die."
"A wise choice," he said. "And you are?" he asked my companion.
"Marcus," he said.
"Marcus," Thomas murmured. "Marcus... oh yes, I know who you are. Pyrotechnics, right? I see you'll be useful."
He started walking along the hall, and we followed him. "Was this all meant for weather control?" I asked. "Or something else entirely?" It was obvious he'd had more than one reasoning for all of this, given all the different powers showing up, but I was hoping he would elaborate.
"I'd assumed you knew it was meant for more than that," Thomas said. "We can't trust the other countries, if we ever could, and they can't trust us. Everyone is trying to breakthrough in science and technology, make the best weapon, just in case."
"You think there's going to be another war?" I asked.
"The human race is the slowest learning species," was all he said.
"It seems there's been a mutation with the serum," he continued, as we followed him, Marcus trailing behind as the two of us walked side by side like equals. "Something we didn't suspect, when it mixed with the recipients. I'm only relieved that I didn't use it on all of you, or I would have no test subjects left. The genetic enhancement was much more controlled, this was more of a little science experiment. I'll have do some research on you, when I round the rest of you up. Or, the survivors. You've been very helpful with that."
Why was he referencing the supposed death date? He didn't know that we knew? Or did he? Did he suspect Evianna had betrayed him?
"Survivors of what?" I asked. He didn't answer. "Thomas?" I asked, allowing fear to creep into my voice. "What are you not telling us?"
"Don't worry about it, Beatrix," he said. "But keep your wits about you. Tonight is gonna be long and hard, for everyone."
"I will," I said. "And I'll tell you if I hear from any of them."
"Good girl," he said, clapping me on the shoulder. "Try to see if you can get Damira to come to you. Or Valerie, I have business with her as well."
I heard soft footsteps behind me, and saw Evianna peeking around the corner. She was wearing a short red dress under an open leather jacket, and certainly didn't look like someone preparing for war. Or maybe she was just dedicated to always looking good. If I was another girl, I might be attracted to her for the qualities we shared, knowing we could raise hell together. But being with someone so similar to myself would get us both killed.
If I was another girl, I might feel insecure about her perfect hair and makeup when I was probably still shaking and wide-eyed from my encounter with Marcus. But she didn't make me insecure. I was prettier than her, and more importantly, I was smarter than her.
"Can I?" I asked, gesturing to her.
"You girls chat, I need to speak to Marcus alone," Thomas said, and I walked away, heading for Evianna. We certainly had a lot to talk about, and I knew if I could get her on our side, it would turn the tide of everything.