"Screwing in a storage room with the door wide open?"
Lefevere pulled a face that showed his disdain, "You better not let anybody else catch you two like this."
My jaw dropped to the floor. Lefevere took one more disdainful look at us, as if we were insects soiling his floor, and walked off without another word. Silence blanketed the small space, uncomfortable to say the least, but Wren shattered it by doubling-over and releasing an entire chorus of laughter.
"You have the nerve to be laughing?!" I exclaimed, exasperated, "He thinks we were fucking in here! You better explain this to him!"
"Okay, okay!" he gasped, "I'll take care of it!"
Completely mortified, I stomped out of the room and went in the direction of the elevators, planning to hide out in the safety of my dorm for the entire day. I knew that I was going to see Lefevere again tomorrow for our morning training, so I considered the thought of ditching...or possibly avoiding him for the rest of my life. It was tempting, but that idea quickly went down the drain once I realized that it would be damn near impossible.
The following morning, I entered the gym and automatically headed to the track, as Lefevere was already sitting at the center with his stop watch and tablet. After running two miles nonstop, I was made to do endless reps of pushups, sit ups, and burpees, that by the end of it, my entire body was throbbing with the sensation of pins and needles. I wanted to crawl right out of my skin, it was so unpleasant.
"It's hurting right?"
I sufficed for a simple nod.
"That's how it's supposed to feel when you use your lightning. It's good that it hurts. Give the electricity a chance to course through your entire body, not just your arms. Familiarize yourself with the sensation. It gets easier and less painful with time."
That made more sense, I suppose. I asked, "Does it get more stronger?"
"The currents you can release grows the more it gets associated with its host."
I winced when I straightened, trying to stretch out my spine. Lefevere got up from the stool and looked to be about ready to leave, "That's it for today. Your team got put on for a mission late last night, so I suggest heading to the conference room in HC-223 before the go-down starts."
I blanched, "What? You couldn't have told me sooner? I'm sweating like I just took a dunk in the pool!"
Lefevere shrugged with a rather infuriating smirk plastered on his handsome mug, "Better be quick then!"
.
.
.
When I entered the conference room, everyone from my squad was already seated at the round table. I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. I quietly made my way over, but the man speaking from the monitor everybody's attention was directed at, paused.
"As I was saying, this scouting mission is strictly a non-combatant one. In and out. You are to go into this zone and take tabs, anything out of the ordinary, you report in."
Nods and affirmative statements came from everyone in the room before the screen finally switched off. Wren got up, signaling for the rest of us to follow him up to the locker room. I trailed after the rest of the guys broodingly, silently cursing Lefevere for making me miss my first mission's debriefing.
The last thing I wanted to do was go out those gates with my head in my ass, so while I rode in the back seat of the humvee, I got Hak to explain the details I missed. The place we had been assigned to was an area under the territory of a gang. From the stories that I'd heard jumping around the base, they were anything but a normal society of survivors. These guys were an organized international body of criminals, with the complex and ruthless behavioral code intact and all.
The ride toward the territory was fairly short, given that it was only a small branch of this organization's dominion. Nonetheless, it was still too close to Aegis Stronghold for comfort. Roary parked the humvee underneath the tree-line, where it would be sheltered by the wild undergrowth, and the other vehicle Roary and Hudson rode in pulled up behind us. We all filed out with our packs already strapped onto ourselves.
"Alright ladies," Wren began, nudging his helmet lower down above his eyes, "I want a full spread of the perimeter. Hak with Santiago to the north, Hudson you take east with Roary, Fang and I'll take care of west. Anything suspicious, you radio in."
I stuck to Wren's heel, silently following him through the forest until we reached a clearing that overlooked a valley miles down. Right at the center was a chain of buildings surrounded by a chain-linked fence and a cement wall. There were armed men sauntering at all corners of the compound and a single watch tower positioned alongside what appeared to be the entrance in.
Just as the thought of whether a sniper was posted there or not crossed my mind, a minuscule flash of light reflected off of what was definitely a scope that had swept past where we stood. Wren quickly pulled me behind a bush and we both crouched down.
"No getting caught today, Fang," he joked with a toothy grin.
I didn't smile, but only turned back to train my vigil again on each of the men I could lay my eyes on. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for. We crouched and sat for what seemed like hours. Wren tried to initiate a conversation throughout the duration of the time, but I'd let it die out each try.
"Sarge, do you copy?" Santiago's voice suddenly crackled through the walkie on Wren's chest.
"Come in."
"Convoy incoming. Three clicks from south. Over."
We both snapped our heads in the direction he'd said and sure enough, there was a dust cloud in the near distance gaining.
"Keep alert. Over and out."
Wren looked off. He looked...too serious. Either he didn't expect for this convoy to come, or that was just how his face was, but I doubted the latter because the guy was almost never serious, always cracking a joke whenever he could.
I kept my gaze planted on the convoy until I could make out two black vans and a matching sleek sports car leading from the front. I raised a brow at the extravagance of it. I could hear the engine from all the way over here.
"This place was practically deserted for the past four months. We've been keeping tabs on it, but this is the first time anyone's ever approached the compound."
I watched as the black sports car screeched to a stop in front of the gates. That door opened and out stretched a bulky male. Clad in all black, his pale blond hair stood out like a sore thumb while dark shades were propped low on his perfect nose bridge. I almost couldn't look away until the passenger side door swung open and Irene stepped out, making me sharply intake air as all the blood drained from my face.
I would know that monster from anywhere.
She was practically burnt into my memories— the very backs of my eyelids every time I'd go to sleep, I'd hear her laughter and my friends screams in my nightmares.
Wren must've sensed my growing meltdown because I felt a cool grasp around my wrist in the next moment. His eyes showed genuine concern.
Irene and the man were gone, already inside the gates.
I spared Wren, who now looked startled, a single glance before I moved. He scrambled to his feet, rushing to reach out and grab a hold of me, but I escaped his hands and began to sprint down the hill, dodging branches left and right. I could hear the blood roaring in my ears. It became all that I could focus on until something whizzed past my face— a burning sensation accompanying the jarring feeling soon after.
Wren had disappeared from behind and the watch tower was now opening fire, having spotted me in my frantic burst from our hiding spot. It was a challenge to dodge each bullet, but it was somehow possible, and as soon as I was close enough, I gathered a crackling ball of electricity within my palm and chucked it at the tower like a high-speed baseball. The man popped his head out before he disappeared altogether when the entire tower erupted from the top. I ducked my head as debris rained down from the sky and I dashed through the crevice of the barricade I'd managed to blow up as I unclasped my handgun.
I heard a gunshot from the right and I whipped my head around just as I did my arm, firing a single shot into the guy's chest. I kept on moving, eyes moving wildly as they tried to locate Irene.
The realization that I'd just shot some guy dead made me falter, but I quickly regained my speed. I was on hyper drive again. People were shooting at me, but I was somehow dodging each and every bullet as I ran sporadically. Either everyone was a terrible shot, or I was just incredibly luck—
I didn't get to finish that thought because white-hot pain erupted from my upper arm and I staggered into the wall beside me, nearly falling down. Debris fell from above my head and ducking, I scurried to escape the rain of bullets chasing after me. Frustration filled me when I turned into a dead end, and with an angry scream, I unleashed another bolt of lightning into a shed.
I might've made a mistake running out here, but if it's so that I can kill the bitch with my own hands, l'll tear down the entire place if I have to.
I took a deep breath in and exhaled it out, trying that same process numerously in an attempt to control all my senses. What use would they be to me if I couldn't get them under control? I tried to listen through all the noise, focusing on the memory of Irene's voice until I could almost hear it distinctly in the distance.
Bingo.
I swiveled on my heel and rushed back out into the front, ducking when bullets ricochet at my feet. I turned the next corner and caught sight of a door. Bracing myself, I body slammed into it and flew into the room.
Irene looked surprised when she turned around, mid-stride down the hall, while the man who was a little ways in front of her glanced back over his shoulder, enraged, "What the fuck is this?!"
Irene peeled back her lips into a terrifying smile, her eyes going almost maniac-looking, "You!"
I snarled before pouncing with the intent of ripping her hair right from her scalp. My fingers barely caught onto her strands when a heavy force slammed into me from behind. I crashed into Irene and we all fell down in a messy heap of limbs scrambling for dominance. Obviously, I posed the greater advantage strength-wise, so when I was about to demonstrate that very fact, I was rather shocked— literally —when I was tasered in the neck. I went down screaming through my clenched teeth and before I knew it, I had metal handcuffs restraining my wrists.
"Sorry, ma'am," the person who'd tackled me cleared his throat and turned to the man, "Sir."
The man didn't do anything but huff. Irene, on the other hand, stormed over and surprised us all by slapping me across the face. She was recoiling for another, more powerful hit, when the man hauled her back from her advances.
"Now, now, sweetie," the blond man called, "don't loose your shit."
Irene didn't remove her eyes from me as she stepped away, fixing her clothes and hair, still glaring and red in the face. We followed them down the hall in the next moment. I struggled in my captor's hold, throwing infuriated looks over my shoulder as I was forced down the hall and finally into a smaller room. I was pushed in and lost my footing, falling to a skid on my hands and knees. I was so pissed off, my eyes were burning with unshed tears. With an unsteady face, I turned around to the three who stood broodingly in front of the only exit out of the room.
"You said this was the one with the powers?"
"Yes," Irene answered.
"Hmm..." the blond narrowed his eyes at me, "he's a lot more different than Lefevere."
I immediately bristled at the mention of Lefevere's name, but held back my tongue for the most part, instead fixing him with a hateful glare.
Irene joined in with her venomous voice, however, "He's just a kitten that needs to learn his place."
I huffed in outrage and practically spat out, "I can fry you right now if I wanted to, just untie me and I'll gladly demonstrate it."
"What's your name?"
I glared at the man who asked, "My name is none of your—"
"Fang. His name is Fang."
I wanted to strangle Irene.
"Well Fang, you can call me Bay," he went on, "I've heard a lot about you from my wife."
I couldn't held but scoff, "That's concerning. Coming from a criminal like yourself."
He guffawed, "That's what they call me now?"
"They call you a criminal, I call you a murderer."
The carefree expression on Bay's face turned serious all too soon, "Oh, about your other little group...ya'll stole all of our stuff, so Irene was just doing me a little favor."
"Your stuff?" I glared, "I don't recall seeing your name plastered on any of the stores."
"Well all the stores you raided were in my territory and I'm rather possessive of my things, especially in these drastic times. You're going to stay here until I figure out what I want to do with you."
I jumped up in outrage, but my foot slipped from underneath me, and with a gasp, I smacked the floor hard, rattling my ribcage painfully. The door slammed shut and the sound of a lock shifting in place issued right after.
.
.
.
The room I was imprisoned in consisted of a small bed, a sink, a toilet, an old fashion clock, and a chair. A ceiling camera hung from the front corner, just to the right of the door. Although I'd never been in a psych facility, this would probably be what one of their rooms would look like: white and barren.
Understandably, it creeped me out that they were watching my every move twenty-four-seven, but it pissed me off more than it unsettled me. I had no privacy whatsoever, and because of that, my bladder was painfully screaming out for me to relieve it after two hours of holding it in.
My arm had finally stopped bleeding after I'd wrapped it with a pillowcase. I was lucky it was just a surface wound and that the bullet hadn't actually imbedded itself into my skin. I now sat at the foot of the bed, head in my hands, sighing and groaning continuously as I mentally cursed myself for running straight into these guys' hands. I wondered how the rest of my squad were doing and whether they were even still out there in the forest.
Just as that thought left my mind, the lights suddenly went out, bathing the entire room in darkness. I picked my head up in alarm when the door creaked open and footsteps ensued into the room.
"Fang?"
He was right in front of me and taking the chance, I swung and clipped him across the face.
"Wait, wait!"
The person struggled to keep a hold of my flailing limbs as he forced himself on top of me and we rolled on the ground for a good minute until he yelped something out that made me pause.
"It's me! Fang, it's me!"
"Wren?" I huffed.
"Yes," he wheezed, "you're choking me!"
With a muttered apology, I released him from the chokehold and helped him up. He took a moment to gather himself, to which I impatiently waited while staring him down suspiciously.
"How did you get in here?"
He turned around, looking blindly for the direction my voice had came from. I pinched my face up in confusion, then came to a startling realization that I had been perfectly seeing through the darkness without much trouble. That was something I was unaware of until now and I made it a point to ask Lefevere about it in the future, that is if I ever got out of this place.
"Over here," I called, grabbing Wren's wrist, "you want to tell me what's going on now?"
"I only have two minutes top."
"Better be speedy."
"Okay, fine," he sighed, "the rest of the guys are about 200 klicks from here, waiting for my call. Look, I can explain this later on once I get you out of here. You weren't supposed to be caught."
"Well I got fucking caught, so sorry."
"Yui, I'm serious. You're in such a dangerous situation right now, I don't think you even realize it. Just please, please, please, don't rile them up. You've already angered Irene."
He hurriedly rushed over to the door and looked back one last time, "I'll be back in the next power outage. Be ready."
"Wait!" I hissed, "When's that?!"
The door clicked shut in the next second and a moment later the lights turned back on, making me flinch away from the brightness, "Fuck!"
I retired to the bed with a frustrated huff, sitting in the same position as before, staring at the door broodingly. My leg bounced up and down as the stinging from my bladder resurfaced. I could hear the clock ticking. How was I supposed to 'be ready' when I didn't even know when it was going to happen?
I looked at the toilet...and cursed as I sprang up and took the bedsheets with me to cover myself, fed up.