XXXII.
At the end of the day, that was her purpose; the only reason why she existed. She was born to die.
Over the next forty eight hours, the two of us slowly but surely made our way on foot towards our final destination. Lauren had been right, there were small suburbs scattered all around the city of Harrisburg that stretched out over multiple counties of which I didn't bother remembering the names. It didn't matter though, seeing as we entered and left each within a matter of hours.
Just because we no longer had the car, didn't mean that we stopped being tourists. Lauren and I stopped at a few small towns to get a good look at the scenery and sample the local cuisine. Turns out that an entire box of maple sugar candies did more harm than it did good in terms of my inability to stay in one place for longer than three seconds.
Ashland was a small burrow that sat about an hour away from Centralia. It was a quaint, yet conservative town that had been structured around a single main street and gave off a strong mining vibe. We parked ourselves at a friendly, family owned motel for a single night so Lauren could explain to me exactly what the plan was from here on out.
Currently, I stood in front of tall walled mirror with my arms up so Lauren could fumble around with the knife belt around my hips and readjust the sheaths. Rather than hidden under my jacket, the blades now rested down the length of either thigh.
"It's better from now on that people know you're armed." She explained, tightening the belt before stepping back and giving a nod of approval. The girl then turned around and held my jacket open so I could slide my arms through the sleeves.
"So what exactly are we going to do when we get there?" I questioned. "Do you have a plan?"
"I guess the plan is for us to go and find Clara." Lauren replied. "She'll surely have a more intricate way to get rid of the rest of the place. It'll probably involve taking down whoever's in charge."
"Do you know who's in charge?"
"No." Lauren turned me around and reached down to zip the jacket up halfway and adjust the layers against my chest. "But they shouldn't be too hard to find."
I then watched as she elevated the collar of her own black jacket and brought the sleeves to her elbows. She had strapped a small brown pouch around her waist that was half hidden under the hem of her coat and mostly contained small weapons and basic first aid supplies. "Take this." The girl told me, holding out a black piece of fabric and hardened plastic with a strap on either side.
"What is it?"
"A gas mask." Lauren had a second one in her other hand, and demonstrated its application by placing the contraption over her nose and mouth before strapping it just above her ponytail. I was taken aback at how much she resembled one of our attackers with the dark outfit and matching headgear. "The mine fires underground expel noxious gasses that we shouldn't be breathing in for long. These will take care of that."
I nodded, pulling the mask over my mouth and nose similar to the way she had. Lauren's approving eyes made me feel considerably more intimidating than I knew I was, but it was reassuring nonetheless. Taking a slow breath in, the air felt cooler and cleaner than before.
Backpacks strapped securely to our bodies, the two of us left the small town and took off in the dead of the night. I felt good, moving at a steady pace behind Lauren as she led me through the trees. It didn't take long for me to start realizing the changes in our environment. The air began to get visibly smokier, and the scent of pine became thicker the further away we got from town.
A half an hour into the journey, Lauren slowed to a stop and quietly held out her arm so I would do the same. We were in the trees, Lauren perched on a thick branch just below me with her eyes shifting suspiciously.
"We're not alone Camila." The girl glanced up. "Stay close to me."
I nodded, reaching to my left and pulling out one of my knives. I held the blade tight, slowly turning around and catching just a hint of movement through the trees a few feet away. "Behind us." I told her sharply, causing Lauren to turn on her heel and jump off the branch before landing swiftly to to the ground. I followed, standing back to back with her and abiding by her command to stay close.
"Whoever we're dealing with isn't the same as the others." Lauren mumbled, her voice somehow louder than I expected it to be. "Can you feel it Camz?"
"I can." I nodded, getting hit with a surge of energy that was suspiciously familiar.
A few seconds of stale silence passed before a blurred shadow rushed towards me. I inhaled sharply, bringing my blade up to clash against another just before the person could come any closer. I caught just a hint of eye contact, noticing a flash of gold-hazel eyes before Lauren sent them flying away back into the trees.
"You're an idiot if you think coming at her like that is going to work." The green eyed girl called into the distance. I puffed my chest out proudly, preparing for a second assault.
Over the course five seconds, two dark figures emerged from the trees and stood shoulder to shoulder gazing at us. Unable to see either person's face aside from their eyes, I recognized the hazel of the first attacker, and was introduced to a stunning blue of the second.
"Come quietly. We'll keep you safe." The hazel eyed figure spoke. His voice was characteristically male, and just around our age.
"Nice try." Lauren muttered, nudging me. "Are you good to go?"
"I'm always good to go." I countered with a grin, dual wielding my knives as we were rushed. Whether it was the maple candy, or the intense prospect of danger I had no idea, but I it took nearly no time to disarm and pin down the teenage boy while Lauren handled the other without wasting a breath. Mistakenly letting my guard down for no more than two seconds, my legs were swept out from beneath me, and I hit the ground, dazed.
"I said quietly." The boy was up once more, a small dagger in his right hand and the other closed into a fist. "Come on, we're not here to hurt you."
"Bullshit." I hurled one of my knives upwards, only to have him deflect it with his own, sending the blade skidding away across the forest floor. Prepping to scramble up and reach for it, I was stopped when he pulled away his mask and bared his teeth, opening his mouth wide and hissing like a snake. Spitting a rather confused expletive, I watched as a purple coloured smog erupted from his throat, streaming into the air and forming a menacing cloud.
The back of my jacket was yanked up and dragged away, and I turned around to see that Lauren had pulled me backwards. "It's poison Camila." She muttered, sliding my knife she had retrieved back into place against my thigh. I still held the other, and was refusing to even loosen my grip.
"Poison?" I watched curiously as the boy turned his head towards us, and the purple cloud grew. "How is he doing that?"
"I don't know, and I'm not going to stick around here to find out." The girl replied, taking my hand and pulling me well out of the way. "Come on, lets go."
"No, they're just going to follow us." I stopped her, planting my heels into the ground. "We have to either figure out what they want and walk away peacefully, or get rid of them." As I spoke, I noticed just a flash of movement above. The boy that Lauren had recently incapacitated had recovered, and was perched above, looking down at us with knitted eyebrows. He was going to strike, and it was going to be soon.
"These guys are just kids though." Lauren muttered as I glanced upwards and met his eyes. "What if they—"
"Lauren move!" Jamming my second knife back into it's sheath, I cut her off sharply, pressing both hands hard against her chest, giving her as rough a shove backwards as my remaining strength could muster. The girl stumbled away, losing her balance as I hit the ground and landed hard on my backpack. Scrambling up into a sitting position, I felt something hard and cold digging into my chest in a five point start pattern.
"Camila!"
The boy had dropped down from the trees and was advancing towards her, one eye remaining on me while Lauren took him on angrily. The pressure on my stomach was coming from a heavy black piece of metal that was digging into me like a claw gripping a wall. It almost looked like some kind of tracking device, but much more menacing and not at all used solely for surveillance. The purple cloud some feet away began to clear, and the boy with hazel eyes emerged from within the poison holding a small black box. The next thing I knew my field of vision was blurred by a web-like pattern over my eyes.
I was in a net.
I swore, spitting angrily and fumbling for the knives at my waist.
"Don't bother." The cold voice above me froze my movements. Looking up, I glared at the stranger and forced my voice as bitter as it would go.
"Let me go." I growled, grimacing when my arms were pinned tight to my sides and my legs were forcefully snapped together. The net around me had tightened considerably, and the only movement I could pull off was a feeble wriggle against the ground.
"Just be still." The person replied. His voice was definitely characteristic of a young boy, no older than me. Eyes a blazing amber, he moved his gaze from me to where Lauren was advancing towards us.
"Get away from her!" A boyish wail cut through the area as her opponent went flying through the trees, skidding across the ground painfully. She was at my side within a matter of seconds, crouched in front of me with a razor sharp throwing knife in her hand that I assumed had previously belonged to him.
"Don't move!" The boy with the device shouted back, his index finger hovering over one of the buttons. The object looked like a child's toy, but something told me it was very much something more. "If you harm my comrade one more time that'll be it for her."
I shimmied on the ground, twisting around to see the boy locked in a bought of ferocious eye contact with Lauren. My eyes widened as she released her grip on the on the small blade and sent it zipping through the air. The target stepped aside, and the knife fell to the frozen ground. A unexpected scream tore through my throat as my vision went white, and a pain like nothing I had ever experienced before tore through every cubic centimetre of my body.
"Camila!" Lauren had turned around and was looking down at me confused. "What happened?"
I tried to respond, but all control of my body had been relinquished to whatever hell-bringing pain that remote had induced. My body locked up, and I felt a warmth pulse just against the hollow of my throat. Lauren's will streamed through me as the net began to loosen, and I was able to bring my wrists up to see that my markings were aglow.
The sound of ripping followed, and the black seams that held me together exploded away in a swirling field of cold air. Still holding the box tight, the boy was backing away slowly while Lauren advanced like a feral cat. "Back away slowly, or I'll hit her again." He repeated, finger hovering over the box. She refused to listen, blinded by anger.
And as if I was being tortured for some unknown crime, another black roped net enveloped my body from the device on my stomach, and I was pinned against the ground once more. The pain was back in a matter of seconds, this time more intense. My vision went white, a throb erupted at the back of my skull, and there was an uncontrollable shaking in my fingertips that no matter how hard I tried, wouldn't let up.
I watched out of one eye as Lauren advanced at the boy again, spitting expletives and angry demands to stop what he was doing. The more she fought, the worse the pain became.
"Lauren..." I called weakly, my throat burning and insides swimming with pain. "Stop."
Halfway through the assault, the girl jumped back and turned to look at me, confusion clouded in her eyes. Gaze shifting from me to the boy multiple times, I watched the pieces click together in her head.
"Let her go." Lauren muttered, dropping the last throwing knife in her hand to the ground. "Let's talk. Tell me what you want."
"I want you to come quietly." The boy replied, holding out the device with his thumb only inches from the surface. "You come with us, and I'll let her go. You'll be safe with us. You won't have to worry about survival out here."
I squirmed against the ground, coughing to clear my throat before putting in my two cents. "Lauren no!" I shouted. "Don't listen to him, get out of here, now!"
The boy hit the button, and my body was once more thrown into a blaze of searing pain. I cried out, gasping in a feeble attempt to let air back into my lungs.
"Stop!" Lauren rushed over to me, hand hovering over my bound body. "That's enough!"
"Come with us." Another voice emerged from the forest, and I shakily looked up to see that the comrade had recovered, and was slowly stalking towards us both. "We're not lying, if you come with us quietly, then we'll stop hurting her."
"And if I don't?" Lauren questioned boldly.
"Then we'll see how far we can push her body before it breaks." The blue eyed male replied, summoning weapons from being this back. He now had a knife in one hand, and a gun in the other. "Each net is wired with powerful electrical shortages."
"Lauren." I breathed, my entire body shivering. "Get out of here."
"What?" The girl looked down at me, features confused.
"You have to go." I muttered. "You're too fast, they won't be able to catch you."
"Camila, I'm not leaving you."
"Yes, you are." I grasped at the net and shifted my body so I had a little more room to move. "You need to get out of here, the more you fight, the more they're going to torture me."
"Camila." Lauren repeated, her voice turning into a growl. "I'm not leaving you."
Out of the corner of my eye, I could tell that our attackers were drawing closer.
"Lauren now!" I shouted, wrenching my torso upwards and grabbing at the net to push it a few mere centimetres away from my body. My wrists lit on fire, and somewhere in the distance a soft rumble could be heard in the sky.
Lauren stumbled backwards, shocked. "But..."
"It'll be okay" I breathed, my voice breaking in my throat. "We won't be apart for long."
"Camila..." The girl reached a hand out, fingers extended as if she was trying to grab me. The boys drew even closer, enough so that they could hear what we were saying.
"Go." I gritted my teeth, narrowing my eyes at her. "As far away as you can as fast as you can. I'll find a way out of this."
"What if you don't..." Lauren glanced over at the boy with the gun, and I knew we were thinking the same thing.
"I will." I pushed down all traces of fear and gave her as big a grin as I could muster. "I've learnt everything I know from the best."
When she didn't move, I squirmed against the ground and clenched my fists as best I could. The sharp movement spurred the surge of more electricity through my body, fogging my vision once more and leaving me breathless. The assailants around us advanced into a run from both directions.
"Go Lauren, now!" I shouted, using the pain as a fuel my adrenaline.
"Be strong Camila." Lauren backed up, rising to her feet. "I love you."
Opening my eyes, her frame was cloaked in a white blur. "I will." I replied hoarsely. "I love you too."
Lauren had her eyes on me right up until the strangers were a mere number of feet away from her before she lifted herself off the ground and into the trees. I craned my neck, watching her vanish into the foliage after a final longing look in my direction. Her voice erupted in my head as the boys screeched to a confused halt and scanned the area in a flurry of urgency.
I'm sorry Camz. Wait for me.
***
"Where did she go?"
"She vanished!"
"How did she move so fast?"
I grinned to myself, finally relaxing against the ground at the prospect of Lauren's safety. With the girl's insane speed, there was no chance they were going to catch up to her.
"Where is she?" The net was grabbed and loosened from my body, allowing weak movement of my arms and legs. I looked up to where the boy with burning amber eyes was peering down at me, anger etched on his face.
Rather than responding, I narrowed my eyes and turned away.
"You seriously think she's going to talk Dex?" A second male voice shot at the first.
"I didn't think it would hurt to try." He replied. "Come on, let's get her back to the base before anyone else shows up."
"What about the other one?"
"We'll worry about her later. She's stronger, so we'll probably need backup."
"You're not going to get her." I muttered under my breath, just loud enough for them to hear. "Send all the backup you want, it'll be a waste of energy."
"Hey, careful." The boy who had been called Dex knelt down and glared at me, the device in his hand. "One push of a button and I can have you writhing on the ground wanting to tear your organs out."
"Yeah? Let's see you try pretty boy." I spat at him, eyes still narrowed.
I braced myself for impact, feeling the pain sear through me and turn my insides to soup. Rather than crying out, I grimaced through it, keeping my fogged, blurry gaze on him.
"Dex stop!" The device was snatched out of his hand. "C'mon, you proved your point, just grab her and let's go back."
I felt the net lift away from my body, and suddenly I was being dragged along the ground. I bit my lip to divert the pain, trying hard to keep my neck craned so it didn't scrape the frozen soil, but it was a lost cause. Closing my eyes, I let my consciousness slip away as the male voices picked up in a heated conversation.
The next time I came to, everything was dark. I was lying on a cold floor, my cheek pressed to what felt like polished cement and my limbs splayed at an uncomfortable angle. I was no longer bound, but it hurt to move so badly that I contemplated remaining where I was like a pathetic puddle of human soup for the next few hours.
Slowly but surely, I managed to regather my focus and struggle into a feeble sitting position. I was in a small room, no larger than my bedroom back home with a series of small, orange glowing lights. I couldn't see very far, but could make out a single door and a small wooden table.
My situation was dire, but the state of my body was even more so. Movement was unsuccessful; as every muscle in my body felt like it was being involuntarily tensed. I slowly shuffled back against the nearest wall and leaned back, closing my eyes and letting my head tilt back.
I must have sat there for hours before the sound of an unlocking door jolted my eyes open. I blinked in the darkness, narrowing my eyes and waiting for whatever fresh hell this was to begin. The wooden door slowly creaked open, and I came face to face with a male figure with a voice to match.
"You're awake."
I didn't reply.
"I'm here to take you to the boss. She's waiting to meet you."
Turning my head, I moved through the pain to straighten my spine and glare at the stranger. Catching just a glimpse of familiar amber eyes, I furrowed my brow and clenched my fists. There was a sharp low cry, as the entire room lit up in a mix of bright blue and blinding white. I felt energy in my body release, and the pain shivering on my insides began to ebb away. Something had happened, but I wasn't sure what.
"Holy shit." The voice muttered, closing the door and locking it from the outside. There was the rapid patter of footsteps that quickly faded away, then silence.
Breathing hard, I slumped back against the wall and closed my eyes. Stomach contracting, I felt my consciousness slowly slip away once more.
***
The vicious cycle of unconsciousness before waking occurred many more times before I was able to mobilize myself to do more than sit leaning against a wall. Over the course of the next few hours, I discovered a few things. My knives were suspiciously still attached to my thighs, my knapsack was sitting a few feet away untouched, and my gas mask had been removed and was sitting on the table on the other side of the room.
There were no windows, only a series of small candles that sat perched in holders against the patterned wall. Looking to the door, I noticed it was wood, and didn't look too hard to either unlock, or bust down. If this is how they did prisons in Silent Hill, then it was no wonder Lauren was able to escape.
Bringing my hand up to my chest, I sighed in relief when I felt the small silver charm sitting at my throat. At the very least I had the necklace.
"She's awake, but I can't get in there." A muffled voice on the other side of the door had me looking up.
"Why not?"
"Because when I tried to, she almost blasted me apart." The first, irritable voice countered. "Do you want to try going in there?"
"Were you instructed to?"
"Of course."
"Fine."
I prepared myself again as the door slowly opened and I came face to face with yet another teenage boy.
"Look, we don't want to hurt you." He said quickly. "We just want to bring you to our boss so she can meet you."
I tried to speak, but my voice was locked in my throat. Instead, I straightened my spine and breathed in, letting my subconscious deem them as a threat and releasing a brilliant network of bright light through the air. I gasped just as the boys did, seeing what I had done for the first time.
Lightning? I questioned silently when the strangers ducked out of the room once more and hurried away. Holding my hands out, I noted that there were small white sparks flickering across my skin and dancing on the tops of my hands. Taking a deep breath, I held one hand out similar to the way Lauren did when she was showing me her own power, and focused everything I had into my palm.
Slowly, a small, jagged ball of light formed in the air. Eyes wide, I began to funnel more adrenaline into that single point, turning it upright and keeping my gaze on the sphere of what looked like electricity, but felt like a small, sparkling heartbeat.
Then, just as abrupt as it had formed, it went away. The room settled in darkness once again and I resorted to leaning back against the wall with my eyes closed. I was tired, but refused to sleep without Lauren. At least as long as I could help it.
My body slipped in and out of consciousnesses many more times as I fought to recover. A few times I woke to see a small plate of food sitting on the table next to my mask, most of the items resembling what you would typically find in hospitals. Eating was the last thing on my mind however, considering the burn in my stomach, and pain in my chest. It could have been days, even a matter of weeks until the door opened again, and this new, automatic defence system was activated in a blur of white, jagged light.
It happened over and over again, not stopping until my body was a ragged, crumpled mess on the floor, yet I refused to be afraid. I refused to cry, to feel sorry for myself, and to give up. As I lay on the freezing cold floor, I knew very well that the universe had been pushing me to the limit my whole life, and this was no exception.
Give me your best. I told myself silently, closing my eyes and building up as much tangible power in my body as I could. The blood moving through my veins was different than before, Lauren had been right. I was no longer the girl who left Miami with the desire to get away from the normal. Knives flying thought the air, electric nets, sparks crawling over my skin. This was my new normal.
My normal slowly evolved into the cautious honing of this new power, and I used every minute I had when I wasn't passed out to cradle the small heartbeat in both hands. It took me hours on end, but I finally began to see progress as I coaxed it into growing larger.
One particularly quiet evening, the door to my room opened and in the low light stood a female figure. She had one hand on her hip, and weight balanced on right foot. The girl didn't say a word, instead stepped into the room and looked me up and down.
"Don't come any closer." I muttered, finding my voice and shivering when I heard how unrecognizable I sounded.
"You've been sitting there for ages and we're getting impatient. Are you ready to come outside?"
I looked up slowly, blinking a few times and registering her appearance in my head. The girl stood at an average height and slim build with smooth dark skin. Her lean, muscular body very aesthetically pleasing, backed against a deep orange light and whatever illumination came from the hallway. Looking up further I saw that her hair was black, falling in a neat cut just below her ears and shining with evidence of pristine care.
Dark eyed and confident, the girl's intimidating stance reminded me of Lauren so much so that my chest began to ache.
"Don't come any closer." I repeated, holding a hand out.
"Relax." The girl held her own hands up. "I'm just asking a question."
"Unless you're here to let me go, you should get away from me." I spoke, my voice low. I dropped my head down so I was looking down at the ground, refusing to make any further eye contact.
"I'm not here to let you go."
"Then get away from me!" My voice rose uncontrollably as the room exploded with light and my heart felt like it had been torn from my chest. The girl ducked away rapidly, avoiding the barrage and feigning any shocking damage. Looking up, I saw that she had inched closer, and now stood a few feet away in the centre of the room. Narrowing my eyes, I gripped the wall behind me and let go, filling the room with even more energy. Bouncing off the walls and covering the ground, the white light just missing the stranger as for no more than a second, a blue glassy shield appeared to protect her.
"Stop!" She shouted, holding her hands out. "You don't need to be so defensive, I'm not here to hurt you!"
"I don't care." I replied hoarsely. "Just get away from me."
"Alright, alright." She backed up slowly, hands still up to denote a shallow surrender. "I'll go, but I'm warning you that you haven't eaten or drank anything in days. If you keep this up, you're going to die."
"Get out." I growled, lifting my hand and forming a spiky ball of light as bright as I could manage in my palm.
With that, the girl was gone. I was alone once more, silent except for the flicker of the wall candles and my lonely thoughts. Despite having banished away my only means of survival—I wasn't ready to talk to anyone if they weren't Lauren, so curling up into a ball, I tucked my arms around my waist and closed my eyes, slipping quickly into darkness.
***
A/N: I'm sorry for being so late guys, school's started and it took me longer than I thought it would to edit this. I'm still working on improving my descriptive combat scenes, so feedback is always welcomed. Good luck to everybody who's back at school! Work hard and learn lots (: