-CHAPTER THIRTEEN-
•The Outskirts•
Jennifer POV (Point of View)
I tried to keep my distant as the mixed breed followed behind me. I'm still unclear of the power he possesses'. He may be an infamous student that everyone seems to fear, but he has no idea of what I'm capable of. Powerful or not, I will take him out if he tries anything.
"We still need to talk," said Charles.
"Alright; what is it?"
"Victor told me you helped us catch that girl. Why did you help us?"
"What she was doing...it wasn't right."
"It's a survival test we're supposed to kill each other."
"That's not a rule that specifically says we have to kill each other-it's a survival test, not a battle to the death. I don't think anyone cared to acknowledge that."
"You have a point. But either way, we were all doomed once we stepped inside this forest. And no matter what all of you Restricted students were everyone's main target. The test was rigged that way.
"That was pretty obvious the day it was announced. But you said the test was rigged-what do you mean by that?"
"She has a map of the entire forest and before the test even started she planted a tracking device of her own inside of that boy."
"Boy...which boy?"
"The blonde one; he has the power to look into the past."
"Argo...? Wait--that was you two that night, the ones who snuck into our sector?"
"Yeah..." I lowered my voice. I had a moment of regret. "I didn't come to this school to be a part of the academy."
"Then why are you here?"
"I was called for a job--something I've been doing all my life."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm...I'm an assassin."
He grew silent. I got the strange feeling that he was staring me down from behind.
"You got a job that involved you having to eventually kill us, right?"
"Yes..."
"So, who else was your target. We couldn't have been the only ones I'd imagine?"
I couldn't answer, not if I wanted to keep things in order. If anyone found out I was the killer, I'd be executed for sure.
"Restriction was my only objective."
We approached the barrier that blocked off access to the hideout; Tank and Casper were standing outside the base, armed and on look-out for any intruders.
"Wait here."
"Why? We can make it passed them."
"Maybe, but there's no point in risking it. We can't draw any attention, this place has cameras everywhere. Just wait here until I get back."
He smacked his lips. "Well make it fast. I have to catch back up with my team."
I brushed the dirt off my pants and passed through the barrier. Casper tapped on Tank's shoulder.
"Look whose back."
"Well, well, well...how's the search going, your highness?"
"Hunting down the mixed breeds...fun. I just came back for some gear we left behind."
Casper put his hand out to keep me from entering.
"You're alone? Where's Jinx?"
"She stayed behind just in case Restriction passed by."
Tank gave me a suspicious glare.
"Go on in but hurry up. You don't want to keep Jinx waiting."
I passed through the holographic wall and headed straight for the laptop; the screen still read: weapon armed. I hacked into the computer and searched for a way to shut it down. I quickly stopped when I discovered what it was. Crowley had a lot of time on his hands. He must of been setting this stage for quite some time, and now he was one step closer to his ultimate goal; whatever that is.
I tried everything I could to shut down the computer, but nothing seemed to work.
"Having trouble?" Casper and Tank entered the room; with their weapons readied.
"I knew we should of killer her the first time she came. We're not letting you go this time."
"What's going on?" The voice was familiar. Jinx stood there; free and unharmed.
"You made it back just in time. We were just about to rip her apart."
"Good work guys. This little traitor thought she was clever. We ran into the mixed breeds and she took their side; they held me prisoner until I finally found the chance to escape."
It sounded liker her, it even looked like her. Is this really happening right now; am I going to die?
"Good to see you back in one piece. What do you want us to do with her?"
She looked up at me and brushed back her red hair. Shooting a wink and showcasing a devilish grin.
"Kill her..."
They both smiled, and then came at me like rabid dogs. Tank lunged his spear at me; I managed to dodge but he struck again, slicing through a piece of my shirt. Casper filled his hands with ice and sent a blast of cold air my way; chills ran down my spine.
"You should get some of this action, Jinx." Tank said. "I know you've had your mind set on killing her since the very beginning. Why don't you do the owners."
I threw four daggers back to back, each piercing Tank in a different spot: his leg, shoulder, heart, and in the middle of his forehead. He bled, but he continued to stand. He had a big grin on his face; he showed no pain. I had no idea what was going on.
"That was perfect."
"You should be dead." I said, with disbelief.
"That's the cool thing about rapid regeneration, but I got to admit that did sting a little." He removed each dagger and each wound began to quickly heal.
"He can't die," said Jinx. "He can barely be wounded; he's basically indestructible."
"That's right," he replied. "I'm a real super-man!" Tank threw his spear at me and caught a bundle of my hair; it pierced through the wall and my hair kept my head planted to the wall. Casper froze my arms to the wall and my feet to the floor. I was completely trapped and extremely cold.
As they approached me I caught a sudden glimpse of Jinx; the mark on her arm was missing. She lifted her finger to her lips and signaled for me to be quiet. She held electricity in both of her hands and her body began to ripple, like when a rock skips across a lake. The boys were too focused on me to notice that the person standing behind them wasn't Jinx, it was the mixed breed--Charles.
Casper took a look over his shoulder and saw the sparks. He tried to warn Tank, but Charles hit him with a roundhouse kick; he flew back onto the round table. Before Tank could react, Charles had already sent high-powered volts through his entire body; he fell to the floor as he shook uncontrollably.
"How long were you going to watch?" I could have been killed, and now my cover is blown!"
"Calm down, drama queen. They knew you were up to something as soon as you stepped in. If I didn't come it would have been a lot worse."
"Whatever. Just get me out of this, it's really cold."
"Yeah...I can tell."
I looked down and checked my shirt; words alone could not explain how embarrassed I was.
Charles replaced his sparks with flames and melted the ice that imprisoned me. Once I was free I pulled the spear out of the wall. Luckily, I didn't lose all of my hair.
"Did you shut it down?" Charles asked.
"Well, I was trying but I was interrupted. Plus, the security is too advanced for me."
"There's only one person I know who can take care of this--Rose. We need to find her. She can disable it, I know she can."
"We may not have enough time."
Charles grabbed the laptop. "Still, it may be our only chance."
As he was talking a shard of ice ripped through the laptop, and cracked the main computer screen; it malfunctioned causing it to set itself into self-destruct mode.
"You're not taking that anywhere!" Casper said.
Tank managed to stand after being electrocuted with enough electricity to power an entire city. He popped his neck with aggression, and then reached for his spear.
Charles grabbed my arm and whispered to me, "Run."
"No, I can fight."
"I know what you can do, but I'm doing what's best so we can both make it out of here. We don't have that much time left."
"No one's going anywhere." Casper covered the exit with a hide block of ice. Instead of throwing the spear, Tank charged us with it out in front of him, with the intent to kill.
Charles quickly reacted and covered the entire floor in flames. Tank didn't stop; his clothes caught on fire, but he continued to run. I summoned a clone to help us, and Charles killed it without hesitation.
"What are you doing?" I yelled.
He ignored me, and then I suddenly felt something wrapping around my ankles; a bundle of vines leading from outside trapped me where I stood. The countdown showed one minute remaining.
"Let me go!"
"Stay there!" He spun a fireball in his palm until it formed into a circle. He threw it towards Casper and it turned into a spiraling ring of fire. Casper exhaled a wave of ice in front of his self and created a thick wall of ice; the flames struck the wall, but couldn't burn all the way through.
Tank took advantage of me being trapped and focused his attention on me again; he threw his spear with incredible force and it flew my way like a runaway rocket. As soon as I thought it was going to take me out, a piece of the metal floor rose up and shielded me; the wall braced the impact.
"Why won't you just let me fight?"
"I was told not to let you get hurt."
"Who would tell you something like that?"
"James Nightfury, who else do you think?" Charles set fire to the ceiling and the emergency sprinklers turned on; water shot around the entire room.
"How long can you hold your breath," he said.
The question frightened me. "Wait, what are you doing?"
"We're going swimming."
Before I could respond he stuck out his hand and the water surrounding us, began to flow in sync with his movement. He lifted the water; it slowly began to rise higher and higher until it was touching my chin. The water soon swallowed me whole; I was anchored down by the vines, struggling to hold my breath. I could see the time through the rippling waves; ten seconds remained.
Tank was slowed by the weight of the water, and Casper began to seal himself in a giant boulder of ice. Charles quickly swam to my side. He took control of the metal wall protecting me and formed a metal barrier around us. My lungs were slowly beginning to give out. I knew I only had about a few more seconds before I lost the remaining air I had left.
The beeping that followed the countdown came to a stop--our time was up. The room shook, like an earthquake had hit us directly, and everything began to fall apart. I could hear glass shattering and an emergency siren rang loudly. I could feel the force of the explosion passing over us; filling the room with a combination of fire, smoke, and water. The water helped, but I could still feel the intense heat against the metal. I still had no way to breathe and I was near my breaking point. I hit Charles, letting him know I needed air. He lowered the water inside the barrier and I desperately gasped for all the air I could get.
"Are you okay?" Charles asked.
"I'm fine...I just can't-" I started coughing up water until I cleared it out of my system. "I can't swim."
"Oh, I didn't know."
"It's cool. I think the fire is gone. We need to go."
Just when we thought things were okay, something struck the metal shell.
"You can't stay in there forever!" Tank said. He tore through the metal with his massive attacks.
"Hold on!" Charles shaped the barrier underneath our feet and turned the entire thing into a metal ball. Tank struck the wall again and we rolled away backwards; through the many tiny holes I could see sunlight. Charles dismantled the ball and we rolled out onto the dirt and gravel. Tank and Casper stood at the side of the mountain staring us down like prey. We stood, drenched in water, holding out our weapons, ready for another fight. Tank's facial expression suddenly changed and he fled with Casper at his side into a field of trees.
"What was that about?" I said.
The sound of a stick snapping in half made us jump.
"Are you guys okay?" I turned to the sight of James, William, Hawk, and Mcduff; our earlier allegiance seemed to still be in place.
"What happened here?" James asked.
"We had a little chat with Tank and Casper." Charles replied.
James approached Charles and shook his hand. "Thank you."
"No problem."
"Now that we've somehow come back to each other, what's next?" William said.
"Now, we get out of here," said Hawk. "I've already had my near-death experience."
"Well get ready for more, because it's about to get a lot worse, thanks to that red-head from the Vampire clan," said Charles.
"Jinx...?" James said. "What do you mean; what happened?
Charles pointed at me. "She can explain it better than I can."
I stepped forward, looking around at the my fellow classmates.
"Well, I have found evidence that proves the test is rigged. Every bit of it. And once we step passed the last piece of the barrier, we're all dead."
"Where does the barrier end?"
"There's a field just before we reach the exit. They have something hidden there, some kind of trap. We came here to stop it, but that didn't work out too well."
"Damn. We got to warn everyone," said James. "We can't just let everyone die."
"I agree," said Hawk, "But for now, we need to worry about ourselves. We should go it's going to be dark soon; where do we set up camp?"
"We don't; William and I have a safe house in this forest."
"Whoa, James it's supposed to be just me and you. What's the deal?"
"They helped me save you. They're not against us."
"Are you really being stupid in a survival test? Everyone is against us. They are the enemy."
I confronted him. "A simple thank you would be nice," I replied. "You should be grateful we're helping instead of killing you on sight."
"You guys need to chill out!" Mcduff yelled. "We already have a bounty on our heads; we don't need to attract any more attention to ourselves."
James pulled me to the side and approached William.
"Look, I know what I said, and I know you don't like working with other clans, but we need them. This is our first year in the exams and depending on what happens this could be our last."
"We can't trust them," he said. "Did you forget he died yesterday by one of these sneaky clan assassins?"
James averted his eyes. "No...I didn't forget."
"They're all enemies as far as I can see. He looked out for everyone, no matter who they were, and now he's dead. We can't trust anyone...not anymore."
"Everyone shouldn't be accused for what one person did."
"Who knows if it was just one person? The matter of the fact is that his killer is still out there; who knows who they're after next."
"I understand why you're suspicious, but this year's exams will be almost impossible to pass without help. I mean, come on we almost died within the first few hours. I want to find his killer just as bad as you do, believe me, but you know he wouldn't want us to do that. We can't risk starting another war."
William gripped his hammer and balled his fist.
"If something goes down and you're little friends betray us, you'll be the one staring down at a blade pressed against your throat, not me, big bro."
James glanced back at us, and then turned back.
"If that happens...I'll deal with it, until then, be nice to the team."