Julia awoke to the sound of blaring sirens, and flashing red lights temporarily blinded her. Her body shot up, pulse erratic, and her legs carried her to the bars that secluded her from the rest of the building. The metal chain clung onto her, but it was quickly removed by Zane as Matthew threw the door aside. She felt disoriented, but still managed to let herself be dragged out of the cell and out into the hallway. Despite the raging red lights, the dungeon was pitch black for a few moments before someone flicked the lights on.
"Bring her here." Samil stated in front of her, Julia's eyes darting to his bulky form a few yards away. She tried to grasp the idea of what was going on, and it didn't take long to realize that her family was finally there to get her back. Matthew shoved her forward and Samil's harsh grasp pulled her closer to him. Before Julia could blink, he was ripping at her clothes.
She kicked at him, only to have him grab her leg before Matthew spoke from where he stood.
"She likely has a tracker on her."
Julia heaved her leg away from Samil's hands and twisted her body to turn it into a roundhouse kick. Landing the lucky blow on Matthew, she turned back and avoided a hurdling punch from Samil. Someone grabbed her from behind, the touch feeling familiar as she recognized Zane's hands around her. She bashed the back of her head straight into his face, effectively causing him to release her. She didn't waste any time as she made a run for it.
Barely making it six feet, she was tackled to the ground by Matthew. He effortlessly lifted her up and threw her against the wall, pinning her there. Samil walked over to her and rummaged through the pockets of her hoodie while Zane looked through the leather jacket he had picked up from the bed in her cell. Samil moved down to her pants, found nothing, and continued moving down until his hands travelled to her boots.
"That's where she had her knife." Zane informed him and in one fluid motion, Samil lifted Julia's leg up to about the same level as his chest and pulled the small hook in the back of her boot down. Like before, the transmitters fell out of the hidden compartment and dotted the floor. He didn't stop to look through them, though. Samil simply shook his head before checking her boots thoroughly. To her dismay, he found the attached tracker.
"There's some wit to you after all." Samil admitted, smiling ruefully at her. "But, I'll be keeping this. Matthew, Zane, take Julia with you and move to the other side of the building. Their first motive should be checking the holding cells before following her tracker."
"What about you?" Zane questioned him, watching Samil carefully. "Surely you can't do this alone—you'll be outnumbered."
"I won't be alone." He replied before whirling around and exiting the basement. She felt someone tug her arm so hard that they could've easily taken it out of its socket. A growl echoed from her throat as Matthew pulled her along, Zane leading the way to the opposite side of the hallway.
"He doesn't trust you." Matthew murmured to Zane.
"He doesn't trust you either." He retorted, side eyeing him. Matthew shoved her forward, an indication to pick up her pace. "Where are they entering?"
"I don't know."
"You didn't ask?"
"Samil had no interest in what I had to say besides focusing on Julia." Matthew lashed at him, growing irritable. "You didn't ask?" It was silent as the three rushed down the hallways, every room they passed being empty.
"There's no one here—"
"Which means we stay here for now. You watch Julia. I'll check the hallways ahead." Matthew was gone, disappearing at the corner after taking a sharp left. Zane pulled Julia along towards the end of the hallway before turning into an abandoned room. As he told her to stay put, he moved to the windows cautiously and peeked out from the curtains, making sure not to move even an inch of it.
"Zane,"
"What, Julia?"
"Let me go." She ordered him from across the room, inching towards the door they entered from. He looked over to her and stared for what felt like hours, deeply contemplating something.
"I can't."
"Yes, you can." She stated firmly, her fists clenched tightly. "You can let me go back to my agency, but you're too scared to."
"I'm not scared—"
"Of Samil? Yes, you are. Just let me go, Zane. Everything can go back to how things were. You need to take me to my parents before they take me back by force and kill half of your agency in the process. They won't spare you if you do nothing about this." Her voice was fierce and full of frustration, unable to believe how stubborn the boy in front of her was being. It was likely that things weren't going to revert to before, but if he complied with her and aided in bringing Julia back, her father might not kill him on the spot. "Zane, you have to—" He turned away from her and looked out of the window once more.
"We came from the south side of headquarters." Zane muttered to himself, moving away from the window. "They could either be out in the north or somewhere occupying the eastern or western wings." He quickly grabbed Julia's hand before pacing out of the room, meeting Matthew at the corner.
"They entered north, but they're taking over the west wing." He reported to Zane, glancing at Julia before turning around and walking down a narrow path. "Samil said the east side is currently unoccupied and they might break off to enter down south for the holding cells. We need to move, or we'll be caught."
Julia followed the two boys willingly, assessing the hidden passageways and memorizing the building's layout. Despite her impatience, she understood that with her current position, she couldn't warn her agency about Samil's trap. She couldn't risk escaping either, for the likelihood of encountering Mortifer agents and getting slaughtered was too high when alone.
"We need to pass through the main area to get to our destination." Zane mentioned, glancing around every inch of space and monitoring every step he took.
"That's too much of a risk." Matthew immediately shot down.
"We can't continue as we are. If they really are breaking off and forcing through the south section, we need to go to the pit and cross over there."
"There are Virtus agents near the main area and the pit."
"Our agents are there too." Zane shot back, glaring at Matthew. "We need to take this chance, or they'll close in on us." They raced through the rest of sublevel one, a floor higher than where Julia was kept. Zane continued to grip her wrist tightly, seemingly unaware how raw her skin was becoming from the careless pulling he was doing.
The group reached a large set of stairs, its landing stating that above them was the first floor. Zane switched Julia off to Matthew before he climbed the steps to the door. He crept towards it and looked through the glass panel situated in the middle of the steel door. With a brief nod, he motioned for Matthew and Julia to join him.
Matthew pulled her closer to him before practically flying up the steps, leaving Julia stumbling over a few steps to keep up with the sudden jostle.
"We need to move quickly. Take the back rooms once we reach the pit." Zane did as he was told, rotating into another room when the group reached the end of the hallway. The space was long and narrow with conjoining rooms, but what surprised Julia was the one wall made entirely of glass.
She looked through the glass wall, her eyes meeting with a large space full of doors on the walls adjacent to her. The wall across from the glass had a single door that towered over the rest, likely locked as a precaution. Matthew moved closer to Julia, seemingly aware of the sudden hope that filled her eyes when she realized how close her agency was.
Julia crashed into something, looking back in front to see that it was Zane. He stood frozen to his spot, staring at something towards the pit. Her head quickly snapped towards the glass panel, and she watched as Mortifer agents filed into the room from multiple doors. They were braced near the main entrance when suddenly, the main door blew off of its hinges and hurdled right into an agent.
Red emerged through the smoke filling the pit. She held her specialty twin knifes in her hands, her weapons covered in blood. Behind her were more Virtus agents, who sprayed bullets into the enemies in front of them. They split off from behind Red once she gave them the motion, and she zeroed in on her first target.
"Shit." Both the boys cursed as Red pounced onto a nearby agent and effortlessly slit their throat. As soon as she had done so, the windows high above the doors shattered, revealing Julia's team propelling themselves into the spacious battlefield. Instantly, they attacked anyone within a ten-foot radius.
Red was crouched down low, watching her next target as she wiped the blood off her knives before smearing some onto her cheeks. Rage filled her cerulean irises as she planned her next assassination, allowing her previous kills to feed her desire for destruction. Her target visibly paled as he witnessed her psychosis, seemingly understanding the force that stood before him.
Aside from her hair color or what seemed to be her favorite color to wear during missions, there was a reason why Amber was given the name Red. Since her birth as an agent of Virtus, she'd always been found covered in someone else's blood. A visual or even a feel of it was enough to have her fall into a killing frenzy. It drove her to commit unspeakable acts against her enemies. It was for that exact reason that Red had been in the same team as Julia's parents before moving to supervise Julia and her team.
"Red, you're being creepy again!" Steven cried out before slamming his foot into a man's stomach, completely winding him before stomping his face into the ground. Just as another agent charged towards Steven, he lowered himself, allowing Michelle to brace her hands against his shoulders before swinging herself over and plunging a knife into the enemy's shoulder. The two used any Mortifer agents around them as cover, taking long range enemies down with the throwing knives strapped all over their bodies. Bryan, one of the first people to turn sixteen in their group, used his gun to its full advantage. He supported anyone who needed it and didn't hesitate to shoot down anyone who posed too much of a risk.
"Red!" Julia screamed out, the burst of emotions she was feeling causing her to call out to her organization. Matthew slapped his hand over her mouth and dragged her to the door on the other side of the room. It was undeniably loud where her team was fighting, but from the sudden snap of Red's head turning to Julia's direction, she was sure that she'd heard her voice. Julia saw her lips part and form two single words before Zane broke through the door and the pair hauled her away.
I'm coming.
"She couldn't see us." Zane began, kicking doors open and striding down the hallways with Matthew and Julia close behind.
"She heard her," Matthew pointed out, lifting Julia off the ground when he noticed her bracing her feet against the ground. "She'll be coming after us." Julia fought against his grasp as he threw her over his shoulder and continued sprinting after Zane. They reached a long hallway fortified with steel, its walls stripped of any exits aside from the door that loomed at the other end.
There was a loud slam in the distance coming from the direction of where they'd once came, and Julia lifted her head to find a red figure in its horizon. Matthew hissed at the sight.
"Get to the barricade!" Matthew yelled out to Zane, who was already dashing to the end where the door was. An emergency switch with a plexiglass cover hung against the wall, electrical piping branching from the base towards different sections of the corridor. Zane broke the cover with his bare fist before punching down on it, watching as Red spun around towards the direction of Matthew's voice.
"Julia!" She called out before shooting out after Julia, her arms pumping as she ran like a deranged cheetah. Blaring sounds were heard again and right in front of Julia, merely two feet away, a steel wall was lowering itself from the ceiling. At the sight of this, Red's legs moved faster, but she wasn't going to make it on time.
"Red!" Julia shrieked, thrashing at Matthew to free herself. She pounded her fists into his back, but the blockade was only a foot above the floor, and a roar ripped through Red's throat as the slab of metal closed completely, automatically clicking into the hinges on the walls. Matthew wrapped an arm around Julia's legs to restrain her kicks as he carried her away.
"You miserable cowards!" Red snarled at the two boys, beating the metal gate with her steel toed boots. Julia knew she'd been tempted to throw her knife at Matthew during her run, but Red wouldn't have been able to without risk of injuring her. "Expect no mercy when I come for you."
"They're heading to the East wing!" Julia called out, earning herself a hand over her mouth. Before the door closed behind them, she heard footfalls echoing down the hallway, indicating that Red had heard her.
The group entered the first room they saw, shutting the door and locking it.
The room was silent except for their heavy breathing and Julia's shaky cries. She was so undeniably angry, and as soon as Matthew released his hold on her, she grabbed anything within a five-foot radius of her and hurled it at the boys.
"Julia—"
"Get the hell away from me," she roared, making even Matthew flinch at the animosity evident in her voice. "That was your only chance, you idiots. If you'd just given me up when you had the chance, you wouldn't have to face torture and execution."
"We—"
"I despise your existences," she continued to babble out, unleashing everything that was in her system despite how hysteric she sounded. "I hate everything about Samil and your agency, and how you care for absolutely nothing. I hate you both for ripping me away from her." Julia wasn't making sense any longer, fragments of her thoughts spewing out of her mouth and hurdling at them. "Lives are being taken because of a game of revenge, I can't trust the one guy I genuinely liked, and I have to deal with a guy who suffers from a personality disorder—"
"Julia." Zane whispered to her and somehow, she broke off from her brain to mouth ranting. Her eyes travelled over to him, and she noticed then how broken Zane looked. He swallowed hard, a regretful stare causing his blistering gold irises to create deeper shadows in the contour of his eyes.
Her lips parted, but she had nothing else to say. The situation was too hopeless and volatile, and she didn't know how to feel about the two in front of her. Sighing angrily, she rubbed her hands down her face.
"We need to tell Samil." Zane reluctantly stated to Matthew, his eyes glancing away from Julia's to look at his teammate. "Every Virtus agent probably has word that she's here." He was already heading to the door, but before he could turn the doorknob, Matthew's hand clamped down onto Zane's arm and yanked him to turn around.
"Don't do anything stupid." Matthew growled angrily at Zane, the warning from his eyes clear. "Do you hear me? Don't do anything stupid."
"I won't." Zane assured, his eyes traveling over to Julia once more. Matthew huffed a furious sigh before he let Zane go, watching him leave the room. "Goodbye." Julia knew that the last statement was directed to her, but he'd already closed the door before she could utter a response.
It felt like she would never see him again.