Chapter Thirty-Five:
NERO
"Nero? Nero, bud, get up."
Adam was shaking me. I opened my eyes. Fire burned around us. Smoke curled in the air, grasping at people, trying to choke us. Adam was covered in soot and had a massive gash in his head.
"We've got to get out of here," he was saying. "Listen, the whole facility's gone bang. Reyna grabbed Esme and they flew off out of the way. I can barely see, mate. Get up."
He slapped me across the face and my ADHD kicked in; I pushed him off with my feet and jumped off, wired to go. Standing up, Adam noticed his cap was missing.
"Crap," he muttered. His blonde hair stuck up in all directions. Then his eyes widened. "DUCK!"
Instinct threw me to the ground and something soared over my head. Fresh screams burned through the air as it landed some few feet ahead of us, and I felt the impact of hard metal burying into the ground. The screams were silenced.
The smoke was thickening. My vision was tinted with orange and red and yellow, here and there, with the grey tinge rocketing through every now and then. I rolled out of the way as flames licked towards us.
Then I saw them. Nightmarish figures walking through the flames, completely untouched. Led by a man in his late twenties, with dark hair and skin as pale as milk... and eyes like black crystals, cold and invincible.
"Take out any remaining monsters," the man commanded. "Fight with your last breath, soldiers."
He came towards Adam and I. I could barely see but his eyes pierced through the hazy burning of the flames.
"Nico di Angelo." He didn't smile, or offer a hand; he just kept stony-faced. "I'm a son of Hades. I, er... I knew your dad. A while back."
He gestured behind me. "My half-sister will be along soon. Meanwhile, my legions of dead will hold back any monsters. I'm not sure what to do about these fires, though." He glared at Adam. "Can you take them out?"
"Worth a try," Adam replied. "Listen, where's Leo and Esme and everyone?"
Nico shrugged. "Leo was seen chasing some man, I did notice that. Last I saw of Esme was her on a horse, and then she was gone. Now. These fires. Go."
He disappeared in a vapour of steam, leaving me and Adam confused.
"What do we do?" I asked him.
"I guess we just do what the creepy guy said," Adam muttered. "Let's go."
We started, Adam jetting streams of water out of his palms. I tried to search for people but I was coughing and spluttering. Adam wasn't looking too great, either; he had all his old bruises (I still didn't know how he looked the way he did a year ago) and that cut down his forehead. We were both weak.
Neither of us saw Nico. Adam's attempts were making no difference and I couldn't hear any thoughts. Either nobody was near... or they were all dead.
Another explosion rocked the ground. I fell and saw Adam knocked off his feet. Crawling over to him, I was slammed to the dirt with a boot on my back.
"GET OFF ME!" I tried to yell, but I was muffled with grass in my mouth. It came out more like, "MMT OFMM MMM!"
I got spun round and punched in the face. Zarah sat on me, her teeth clenched, eyes blazing with fury. She wrapped her hands around my neck.
"This," she roared over the hissing of the flames. "THIS is your fault, Nerovian Jackson. Don't you see? The demigods who ran into that facility to destory the Borne Extermination Agency... they're all dead. You, your sister, and that flaming Grimshaw. You three bear the weight of death after death after death!"
She loosened her grip, just slightly, so I could talk. "Not... my fault... you... traitor!"
Zarah laughed. "I'm a Borne, Nero. But I don't support this messed-up world. Kronos should've won. Gaia should've won. An age, ruled by the Titans, with the gods removed from this pitiful planet. Don't you see? The human race would be amazing."
She grinned. "I'm sorry you couldn't see it with me. I already had to murder Kheo Heliosi Khamen."
"Murdered?" I choked out.
"Oh, are you shocked?" Zarah looked happy. Really happy. "She moved Adam's execution outdoors. And look where that's got us. We've lost valuable soldiers. You've lost precious little pals of yours. Who's going to be next, Mr Jackson?"
I struggled and searched for Adam with my mind. I couldn't get his thoughts. Please don't be dead, I thought.
Nobody was close enough to get to us. I was on my own.
"You killed... Kheo," I spat.
"Yep. It wasn't exactly hard, either. To be honest, it was a bit too easy. Kind of bored me. I mean, don't get me wrong - when I signed up for this, I didn't set out to become a killer of my fellow Bornes. But Kheo just wouldn't give up. Pretty enough girl, too. Valuable enough."
"Is that... all... she... meant to you? Value?"
"Pretty much. That's how this world works, Nero." Zarah sighed. "Don't you see? I've become as warped and as twisted as I have because of humanity. We evolve over time, we change, we become bitter and we become wrong. We defy the gift that the gods bestowed upon us and we use it for our own selfish needs. Except, Dr Chadwick and Rula Verenspik - they founded this place. They realised that vermin needs to be disposed of. I may not be the most likely of adversaries, but let's face it. My survival is an element to this operation. I will live, Nero, and I will see you die.
"But, you know who I want to see die most? Your sister. I want to see the flesh melt off of her skin. I want to see the bones fed to hellhounds and tossed as chew toys to little baby monsters. I want to see the BEA win this war."
"A prophecy..."
"That can't come true now, Nero." Zarah smiled again. "A Borne is dead. There will be no battle against the 'wall'. You, Esme and Adam aren't far off your inevitable deaths, believe me. And I'll get my tight hands around Joey and Lucas' necks, too. You'll see."
"And what... happens... to... you?" I growled.
"I live, sweetheart. I live."
Now was my last chance. I threw my arms upwards and pushed with all my might. Even though I was underneath and not that strong, I still managed to push her away. But she came back, nails clawing into my neck. Then she softened.
"I know you stole my phone, by the way," she whispered. "I didn't really appreciate that."
I kicked my feet upwards and hit her in the back as hard as I could. She lurched and fell, releasing her grip on me. I didn't see where she fell; the whole place was still alight.
"ADAM!" I screamed, my voice hoarse. "AD-ARRRRGGHH!"
I did that because Pegasus suddenly swept underneath me and I ended up hanging onto his leg as we rose ten feet, fifty feet, a hundred feet into the air.
"Oh oh oh!" (I might not have said something quite so polite as oh.)
"Hey!" Someone grabbed my hand but I couldn't see. That, however, was my sister's voice.
"Your powers!" I gasped, trying to ignore the ever-growing inferno beneath me. "Um, can I, um..."
"Sure. Bet you're crapping yourself."
"No I'm not!"
"Yes, you are!"
She let go of me. She actually... she let... I could barely process a thought as I fell through the air to the burning mass beneath me.
This is how I'm going to die, I realised. I thought it'd be cooler than this.
How do you get much cooler than fire swallowing you whole? I thought.
Then someone landed on me, and two arms wrapped around my waist, and a big violet sphere encased me. We slowed down slightly.
"Esme, you..." I bit my tongue to stop a curse pouring out. "You made me believe I was going to die!"
Esme laughed. "I figured we needed a little bit of fun to brighten up the gloominess."
"Kheo's dead, Esme. Zarah killed her for moving Adam's execution."
Esme closed her eyes. "She was a good friend," she said gently. "You know, during..."
"Yeah." I pulled her into a hug. "I know."
We felt into the fire in silence, and I have to admit: it was the most exhilarating and terrifying and altogether beautiful experience ever.
Thick pillars of bright orange crawled along the side of Esme's forcefield, licking the shining buzzing sphere. Shots of black and white mixed into the swirling blaze. Finally I saw the bodies, at least a dozen, all charred remains. The sight made me gag.
Esme didn't look much better.
"Where's Adam?" she asked, still embracing me.
I realised tears were in my eyes. "I think he's dead," I whispered.
She pulled away. The blood drained from Esme's face and I saw something I'd never seen before: grief. When Dad lost his old friend Rachel, his expression was a mixture of sorrow and bitterness and - shamefully - relief. He was slightly pleased to lose someone who loved him so, but his feelings for her as a friend were also there. But Esme's face dropped entirely, and the look in her eyes was pure devastation.
"I..." She buried back into my shoulder, further. She didn't just cry; she howled.
She really cares about him, I noticed. It made me sad.
The two of us cared about Adam a lot, and we sobbed together as we spent what could've been minutes or hours or days, watching the fire burn itself out. Because we shared our agony, our loss, our heartache. I had lost my best friend and Esme - I didn't know what she'd lost, whether it was friend or love or enemy or all three, but she'd lost it.
We just wept.
It was horrible.
_____
I know this isn't long but Esme and Nero believe they have lost their friend and their fellow Borne, Adam. They're terrified, they truly are, they're so upset.
BUT Adam might not be dead.
BUT he might be.
BUT he might not.
BUT he might be.
BUT BUT BUT. You'll have to wait and see.
So yes, it's short, but hey - it's on. And I'll be writing another one for sometime soon.
I'm staying at my nan's for the next five days because my family are going to Legoland (I decided that, at fourteen, I didn't fancy it. Especially as it would be with my family).
Little bit of Adme but that could be the LAST EVER ADME MOMENT EVER OH MY GAWWWD.
Anyway. I hope you're all looking forwards to half-term. That's just over a week away :) I love half-terms! After that I've got my youth literature festival and I'll be writing for the blog - after I've done that, I'll share the web address and maybe some of you would check it out.
Enjoy.
- Lauren xx