Mutations:
~ Chapter Forty Six ~
There was no warning for what would come next.
Nothing could have prepared me for what happened. Ripper stood like he owned the land, staring defiantly at Veronica's men with a rage in his gaze that could be understood by anyone; no translation needed.
Ripper was furious.
"What have you done?" Eric hissed quietly, staring at the people who came forward to circle us in. There had to be at least nine of them and they all looked equally battle ready, "What are they?"
Ripper inhaled dramatically deeply and rolled his head around to scowl at Eric, "Now is not the time, Eric." He drawled through a moody tone that would've been funny at any other moment, "Let me live my life. This is my vengeance to take for myself; I deserve this."
Eric clenched his jaw shut with great resentment shining in his dark gaze, but he knew when to shut up; and this was one of those times. Even Veronica's men lost their authoritative smugness that they had a second earlier, their haughty stances became less so and now they looked worried.
And rightly so.
"You come here today to take my monsters from me, and what?" Ripper stepped forward with a grand predatory smile on his face, the face of a man who has won something, "Capture me in the process? are you so unbelievably pig headed to think that I would come without protection?"
I held my breath, nervous as to what would happen next. The men sent for as had trained eyes that darted from one face to another, their fingers rested on the triggers of their guns, and I could tell that they wanted nothing short of a reason to pull them and let the metal rain on us.
But Ripper's confidence, or perhaps it was stupidity, seemed to give them a reason to hesitate. Because he didn't look like a man who had anything to fear, despite the fact that he had all those guns trained on him, he was standing like we were all having a casual talk about the weather.
The air itself was damp and I could tell that it was going to rain, the sun was cowering behind gathering clouds, that painted the sky a grim shade of gray. Rain liked to mess with my nose but I could still smell all the other...interesting smells that surrounded us.
Ripper had created more Splices. Or something akin to us, because these strangers were not all human, but I could smell something close to human DNA within them.
"You have forgotten who I am! I am not a man who bends his knee to the kind of people who steal other men's work!" Ripper shouted, stirring his Splices as they shifted from foot to foot with anticipation, "You either walk from this fight, or you die in this horrible field! Both will only end in humiliation in your part."
I felt Eric lightly nudge my arm and I glanced at him. His gaze was intense but I heard his words clear, even in the low hoarse whisper, "Run." It was like he was shouting it at me, the demand in his eyes was like none other.
'Eric wants us to run.' I instantly informed my pack through our bond and Two straightened his spine, 'I can't run.' He was the first to answer, and I glanced back at him, 'It's not in our DNA, Six.' Three added but he didn't need to tell me either, 'I've still got some fight in me.' Five added enthusiastically but we were all the same.
We were all exhausted but the tease of a fight seemed to wake something new in me; now that I'd had a taste of the violence, it settled at home in me nicely. I wanted to fight but I didn't know how; I wanted to fight with my pack. I wanted to protect our Handlers, but I didn't want to be controlled by them.
Then, it turned out that no decision needed to be made.
"You've made your choice." Ripper suddenly said, drawing me back into reality, "Now you will die with it."
One of Ripper's fighters were the first to move; a woman. She was tall with a thick main of blonde hair that flew behind her as she rushed forward into a long run, before suddenly launching into the air with a simple bend and flex of her legs.
"Holy shit!" Five hissed watching the snarling woman land in the middle of the fight with a savage growl. Eric crashed his body over mines as the bullets began to fly; disturbing the eerily peaceful air with their teeth rattling shots, "Tell me we can do that!"
"Two!" Hayden roared as he threw her backwards and rushed forward at an inhuman speed. The sight of Two running towards the fight awoke something in me; the same need to protect that I had for Eric.
"SIX, NO!"
I broke out of Eric's grasp on the ground, unable to stop my feet as the innate predatory urge took over. The one that drove me to protect the man who wanted to become my alpha; I might not completely trust him but Two was someone who I wanted to trust.
I didn't hate him, I didn't want to see him dead.
Two moved like he was made to fight, the way he slammed one man off his feet and snarled as he darted for another. I watched in amazement as Two grabbed one girl and threw her out the way, making her body fly backwards, just as a bullet cut through the air where her head would have been.
Not everyone was so lucky though; they were skilled sharpshooters with eagle like precision.
Bullets shot from behind us unevenly as our Handler's tried to protect from afar. Eric looked like a furious bulldozer as he stealthily streaked across the landscape towards me, dodging the flying metal with ease that even made him look comfortable.
'Down!' Three roared slamming into me just as the flash of blinding light burst over us. The noise it made was deafening; sending a wave of searing hot air that knocked us off our feet.
We both collided with the grassy ground and I bit my tongue hard enough that I thought it might have been separated. Three weighed more than a tank and knocked the breath out of me, making me eyes bulge in amazement at the sheer size of him. I knew he was big but I never thought much of how much he weighed.
'Two!' His voice was like a shout through our mental bond, my panic made it sound even louder than the explosion that clouded us in darkness. Disorientation made my head spin and I couldn't even find the movement to lift myself off the ground, 'Five!?'
Three held me against him as he rose from where we crashed, "They're fine. Get up." He grunted through a cough but I could barely walk when my body felt it had just been belly flopped by a whale of muscle, "Six! Move your ass, there could be more coming!"
But I couldn't. The smell. The smoke was so thick that it was suffocating me; I wondered in my deranged state how Three could even move in it, when neither of us had ever experienced it so thick before. I couldn't even see through it but Three, who threw me over one broad shoulder and nearly punctured my lung from the force, moved with ease.
"Get your scrawny ass up, Five!" He roared reaching down and lifting the madly coughing dark haired moron from the ground. Five cleared his throat long enough to tell Three to get to hell but done as he said, "You get burned? I did! I have something to complain about!" He choked out.
Two found us with ease, even though there were burns on his face he still looked concerned as his gaze instantly landed on me, "Five, get her out of the smoke!" He ordered without missing a beat.
"Don't puke on me." Five warned hoarsely, Three looked reluctant to hand me over but it must have been the awful wheezing noise I was making that persuaded him, "Why can't Six breathe?"
"Smoke." Three coughed shoving me against Five's chest, his arms catching me before we could both fall, "Looks like the whole scent deal doesn't fair well with it. Haul ass before she passes out!"
My breath caught in my throat at the sight of a young man, maybe the same age as we were, sprawled across the tall grassy ground with a hole in his head. And he wasn't the only one. A girl held the limp body of a red-haired woman in her pale arms; furious tears running down her cheeks
Five wasted no time in racing us out of the smoke, past blackened body with tiny streaks of red through them and then they were gone. It would only happen to us.
Once we reached the treeline, Five's foot caught something and we were sent tumbling through the wooded area, catching a scream of surprise from me and a streak of vile curses from Five.
"Don't look at me like that!" Five glowered at me, as I greedily inhaleD the clear air, "It never happens to me, it was a one time thing! It happens to every guy, okay!?"
All I could do was role my eyes as I flopped down onto my back, fighting for control over my senses. By the time I did, I felt a hand press against my shoulder, and Three loomed over me like a storm cloud, peering at me way too close for comfort.
"Good." He grumbled as he rose to his feet, his face smudged with soot, "You're useful again."
Two leaned down and pulled me to my feet with both hands, stormy gaze running over my features, "The Handlers are okay. They were too far out to be hit by the blast." He explained, making my shoulders relax a little, "It was grenade; I don't even think Veronica's men planned to use them."
"And so, we meet again!" Ripper appeared out of the smoke with an expensive looking silk handkerchief pressed to his face, "Hurry up, we have our own plane to catch. That is, if you so desire to come with us."
Two scoffed under his breath at the offer, "And, why would we?" He demanded stepping forward, his shirt had been burned and so some of his flesh had been exposed. He looked like a rebel solider who had just been through hell.
Accurate.
"Well, why wouldn't you?" Ripper shrugged casually, like he hadn't even been touched by the explosion, "I can offer you everything you've ever wanted. Freedom, answers; the truth."
A click of a gun caught our attentions as Eric waded out of the smoke with a grim look on his face, "No, Ripper." He gritted out with a deadly serious look on his face, "You're not dragging them into your mess."
Ander followed out behind them with a haunted look on his face, there was blood on his hands, and I noticed the way Three stiffened when Emma didn't appear. I felt it in a second. The way his body locked in place and his breath hitched, then I smelled it; the blood was Emma's.
"I'm offering them the choice, old friend." Ripper drawled sparing him a sharp-eyed glance, "They will never be free, not now. Veronica will do everything in her power to hunt them down, and when she catches them they'll be dead for good."
Three leaned heavily against me as his breathing became deeper, "She's dead." He whispered in a tone so quiet that I almost missed it. I could feel my heart break for him as I gently rested a hand on his arm, I doubted he noticed because he never pulled away, "They killed her."
"We have their best interests at heart." Eric looked disheveled but his tone was still marvelously even. His gaze cut to me within a moment's notice, "They belong with us; we can take care of them."
Five made a choked noise at the back of his throat, "But you wanted to take us back?" He exclaimed breathlessly, looking flushed but I didn't know if it was from the run or anger.
"We thought it would be safe, kid." Ander explained holding his hands up, "But we know another facility that will be safe to go; they can protect you there."
I tried to stay locked into the conversation but I could feel Three unraveling from beside me. His face was a blank expression but his eyes were shining like I had never seen before, I had never seen anyone look so destroyed before. It was like watching a mountain crumble.
"We don't want to be controlled." Two breathed heavily from exhaustion, "We want to be free."
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A/N
Okay, so Mutations is coming to an end now. I know it's sudden but I didn't realize how much I was drawing it out; Of course, I love you all, and love how much you all support Mutations but I don't want to drag it out and make it lose that original touch that everyone loves!
Which is why I'm telling you all that the next chapter will be the epilogue; which will be the final chapter of Mutations. However, my mind is brimming with ideas so I suppose we will just have to see what happens once Mutations is done. I might do a couple of extra chapters too.
Thank you all for the support guys; I meant to put it in the last chapter but I was so rushed that I didn't have the chance!
(Also: so sorry for the lateness. I sent out a status for those in Manchester but if you didn't see, I just wanted to let you all know that I hope you are all okay and I'm sending you all of my love and support! I wish nothing but the best for you all, and understand your loss. I hope those harmed make a speedy recovery and that this horrible attack bears no impact on humanity! Be happy, be free and don't be afraid of living!)
- EmbracingYou
xoxo
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