My nerves were out of control as my mind coursed over all the different possibilities of what could happen next. I was locked in a cage and everyone else was deep asleep. Pennington had my best friend and my brother, and he was on the verge of summoning a demonic gate, which I singlehandedly needed to put a stop to.
Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw the hazy outline of a demon but it vanished once my vision focused.
Concentrate, I thought, trying to calm myself down. I wouldn't stand a chance against them if I couldn't get ahold of my emotions.
I slowly rolled onto my side and peeked through the bars. I expended a lot of energy just for that simple movement. My muscles were heavy and languid. Even though I was awake, my body was still fighting off the gas.
And it didn't help that my mind was fuzzy as well.
All of our weapons were piled up in the farthest corner of the room. The two swords were leaning against the wall. Seth's baton and a half dozen of Mara's blades were thrown carelessly on the ground.
My attention was then drawn to Pennington as he held up his hand, a signal for the men behind him to lower their weapons, which were presently pointed at Luke. "Lucy, is this the one who told you about the boy?"
"Yes sir," Lucy said. There was a trace of regret in her voice. It was so fleeting I almost didn't even hear it, but it was definitely there.
I allowed myself a brief moment to hope. Maybe Elijah and Luke were right when they thought there was a chance she'd turn on her tyrannical father. If only there was a way I could reach out to her.
Or maybe it was just the aftereffects of the gas, making me see things that weren't really there.
"Lucy, how could you?" Luke said, twisting to break free of the two guys holding him down. His attempt failed; one of the men roughly grabbed a fistful of his long blonde hair to keep him in place. "Connor's only twelve!"
Howard Pennington scoffed. "At the age of twelve, I was already building my company from the ground."
My heart ached as I finally got a good look at my brother. His whole body sagged with exhaustion and he had dark circles under his eyes. His bound hands were ringed by red, the skin underneath rubbed raw from the ropes.
"You're a horrible man," Luke spat. "AJ is going to bleed to death if you don't get him to a hospital!"
"He may already be dead," Pennington said coldly.
"You don't know that! And how do you plan on getting away with murder? And kidnapping?"
"Once this child opens a portal for us, the cops will be of no importance. The world will be thrown into chaos, and the well-being of one singular person will be the last of your concern."
"You can't do this."
Lucy stepped in front of Luke. "Father, if his presence is bothering you, I can take him away."
"We'll keep him as reassurance that the child will do as we ask," her dad responded, beckoning his men to grab Connor. "Come. It's time."
It felt as if my blood had suddenly turned to ice.
Trying to clamp down on my frantic emotions, I willed time to stop, like when Mara had the gun in her face. I diverted all my energy into it, but it didn't work. I was too emotional.The men kept shuffling towards the door, dragging my brother and Luke along with them.
My mind was racing at a million thoughts a second.
They couldn't leave. They had to stay here where I can keep an eye on Luke and Connor and still help AJ.
And in my current state, I was too weak to stop them.
Lucy practically begged her father as she said, "You have his mother. And now you have his sister too. Surely he'd cooperate without Luke—"
She was so twisted. All she cared about was Luke. It didn't matter to her that her father had kidnapped and drugged her classmates and was planning to wreak havoc on mankind. She just wanted to keep Luke, and only Luke, safe.
In some parallel universe, he would be over the moon about this.
"Lucy. That is enough. I've tolerated your absurd fondness for this boy up to this point, and I'm not standing for it anymore," Pennington said darkly. "If you don't want him to meet the same fate as your mother, then I suggest you cease this foolishness and follow our plans."
She looked like she'd just been slapped.
"Lucy," Luke said. "You don't have to listen to him—"
He groaned as one of the men holding him struck him across the face with the butt of his gun. Luke's back was to me so I couldn't see much, but it sounded painful. Lucy started yelling for the man to stop hurting him.
I wanted to scream too. Desperation clung uncomfortably to my skin as I willed for something, anything, to happen. This was like a nightmare that I desperately wanted to wake up from.
And suddenly, the man who had hit Luke was thrown across the room. My eyes followed him as he slammed into the wall with a loud thud and fell to the ground.
I hadn't done that.
The thugs obviously didn't know where to aim their guns. Uncertainty was etched onto their faces as they realized how useless their guns were against supernatural capabilities.
"Did you do that?" Pennington asked Connor.
"You said you wouldn't hurt anyone if I helped you," Connor said through clenched teeth. "You lied."
"Don't act so betrayed, as if you didn't already expect it. It wasn't my first and it most certainly won't my last time, I'm afraid."
Suddenly, AJ groaned weakly.
"He's still alive. Oh thank God, he's still alive," Luke said. "Please, he needs a doctor."
"Be quiet. I won't tolerate your outbursts any longer," Pennington said. I heard a squeak from the chair as he stood up. "The next time you feel like opening your mouth, we'll put a bullet into another one of your friends. And next time, we'll make sure they're dead." Then to Connor, he added, "And I suggest you don't try anything like that again."
"I should just kill you. It'd be so easy."
"Yes, it would be quite easy, wouldn't it? Except you would regret it dreadfully. You see, I have a heart rate monitor hooked up to me right now, and if anything happens to me that causes my heart to stop beating, the guards I have watching over your mother won't hesitate to kill her."
My brother balled his fists in anger, and Luke whispered, "It's not worth it, buddy. Not right now."
AJ was becoming paler with each passing minute. At this point, I could almost wiggle my fingers. Fat load of help that was going to do for him.
"You still haven't told me where my dad is," Connor said.
"That's because you've yet to give me what I want."
I concentrated my power on Connor. I wanted him to look over so I could show him that I was awake. I didn't have much strength, so I wasn't sure if I could even reach him.
Lucy suddenly turned her head.
Her eyebrows were furrowed, like she heard something but didn't know where it came from. Her blue eyes locked with mine before I could pretend to be asleep. Her mouth parted from surprise. Fear washed over me as I thought that she was going to tell her father. As her gaze flipped from me to Luke, I could tell she was silently debating what to do.
I had a general idea of what was going on in her mind. If she revealed me to her father, Luke would never forgive her. If she didn't, he might kill Luke.
Maintaining our eye contact, I silently begged Lucy not to say anything.
Her decision was made for her as her father ordered the men to take Luke and Connor to the roof. She threw me a final look that read you owe me.
"It's time to open the gate," Pennington said. "I want two men to stay here and guard the cells in case the Wade girl wakes up. Keep one of the monsters here as well. The last thing we need is her interference. If the other three wake up first, shoot them."
"What about the fourth one, sir?" one of the men asked.
"I'm not concerned. He's already as good as dead."
Connor tried to resist as they yanked him towards the door, but he was so tiny compared to the men that it almost like they were dragging along a puppet. Luke kept his eyes on Connor the whole time, while Lucy trailed not too far behind him.
Even though they were all out of my sight now, I could hear the footsteps thundering up the stairs and through the doorway on the ground floor where we entered from.
And then I was left with two guards, four unconscious Dream Crashers, and a friend whose life was slipping away the longer the sleeping gas lingered in my system
---
My eyes hadn't deceived me.
A wispy demon floated around the edges of the room, its red eyes flashing violently at the guards. They watched it warily, clutching their guns tightly to their chests.
"What do we do if it attacks us?" one of them asked.
"Mr. Pennington told us not to shoot at it, but if that ugly thing comes after me, I'm not holding back."
Another few minutes had passed since the room had emptied. My head was beginning to clear and I was regaining feeling in my limbs. Even though I still felt zapped of strength, I knew I had to do something.
I couldn't let that portal open.
"Do you think it's true that once the boss gets the gate open, we can get powers like that kid?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"The most we're gonna get out of this is a fat paycheck."
Ever so slowly, I craned my neck so that I could see into the next cell. AJ's chest was still rising and falling, but just barely.
I felt something poking me in the back as I shifted my position.
The dagger that I'd slipped in the waistband of my pants earlier was still there. I was surprised it hadn't been taken from me like all the other weapons, but they probably didn't expect me to have anything on me.
There wasn't much I could do with it at this point, but the feel of the metal against my skin was comforting.
"What good will money be if he's bringing on the apocalypse?" the guard muttered.
"Exactly."
"Do you think all of this is a bad idea?"
"Do you really want an answer to that question?" he replied dryly.
"I guess not."
I thought I saw Seth's fingers twitch. Did that mean he was waking up? I tentatively reached out a hand and shook his shoulder. Although his eyebrows furrowed slightly, he didn't stir.
"Hey, she's awake!" one of the guards suddenly yelled, pointing at me.
"I'll radio the others."
I had to act fast.
Turning over so I'd have a better view, I flung the large office chair in their direction and knocked them to the ground. They both dropped their guns. One of the men tried to scramble for it, but he found himself pinned down by a heavy force. It was like gravity had magnified and was crushing him like a house.
Then I fried their communication equipment. They both yelped and tore the devices from their ears.
As I tried to pry open the bars to the cell, the demon suddenly whipped around and charged in my direction with an outstretched claw. It slipped easily between the bars and I had to duck swiftly to avoid its talons. It veered in the air and grabbed my upper arm.
I cried out in agony as warm liquid spilled over my skin. My eyes watered at the immense amount of pain from having my skin sliced open. Using my other hand, I grabbed the dagger stashed under my clothes and plunged it into the demon, like how I'd seen Mara do it so many times before.
It screeched and twitched violently before collapsing on the floor of the cell, dangerously close to Seth. Dark liquid oozed around its still body.
My breathing was heavy as I changed the metal bars to paper. I quickly tore through them and climbed into AJ's cell.
The blood around the bullet wound was dark and dried. I resisted the urge to just tear at his clothes. The last thing I wanted to do was exacerbate the wound. A pair of scissors materialized next to me and I used them to cut away a patch of his jeans. I suppressed my gag reflex as I observed the entry point.
I wished Elijah was awake because I had no idea what I was doing as I dug through the first aid kit that had just appeared by my side. My hands shook while pouring the rubbing alcohol over the wound. AJ's body responded by writhing in pain.
"Oh God," I muttered breathily to myself, "I really wished I paid more attention in anatomy."
My stress levels were through the roof as I patched him up. I tried not to doubt myself too much as I worked, but for God's sake, I was patching up a human being with magic. And it wasn't even as simple as slapping on a bandage. I was rebuilding his skin, without any knowledge or experience.
Under the skin, I could see the dark fibers of muscle and then the sheen from his femur bone that had stopped the bullet. Clenching my teeth, I visualized the muscles joining back together. A diagram of a sarcomere from biology glass, with it's I bands and Z lines or whatever, quickly flashed in my mind.
I really, really hoped what I was doing wasn't crippling him for life.
Then I remembered what Elijah had said. "We can deal with the muscle death later."
He was right. The main priority was keeping him alive.
After mending the muscle, I started on the skin. Slowly but surely, the edges of his skin around the bullet hole stretched forward and met in the middle. I let out a small breath of relief as his wound healed over. If AJ survives with this sorry excuse for a skin patch, I swear that once this is over, I will pay more attention in school and volunteer more to help people. I promise to do good things in life, please, just let him live.
"He's bled out," one of the guards said, observing me. He was still pressed to the ground. "You need to get him to a hospital to replenish his blood."
"Shut up."
"You don't know what you're doing."
"I'm trying my best!" I snarled.
"He'll die regardless. You need a doctor."
"Shut the hell up—"
My words were replaced by a scream as the ground started shaking. Cracks split throughout the walls and ceiling as the building swayed, causing debris to rain down on us. A huge chunk of plaster broke off from the ceiling and landed on top of one of the guards.
"Oh God, the portal," I whispered.
Panic and terror flared up inside me as I realized what to do next. I had healed AJ to the best of my ability, and now I had to stop the demon gate from opening.
I started running for the stairs, but stopped when I heard something,
"Rory, wait."
Turning my head, I said happily, "You're awake."
Seth slowly pushed himself up until he was on his knees. His eyes darted around the room, taking in every detail. "What's happened?"
"He took everyone to the roof, including Connor and Luke. We have to go now. They're opening the portal as we speak," I said hurriedly.
"Damn. Help me up."
I helped pull him onto his feet. "Are you gonna be okay?"
"My legs feel like jelly and I feel like I'm whacked out on drugs," he replied. "I just need a few seconds to get adjusted. How's AJ?"
I chewed nervously on my lower lip. "I fixed the wound. He's stopped bleeding, but he's already lost a lot of blood."
"We'll just have to hope he'll be okay. Our priority is to get to the roof now." I could tell he wasn't happy about that decision, but he had to prioritize the portal now that we've done all we could do for AJ. "Also, did you really have to leave the demon corpse right next to my head?"
"I had more important things to take care of," I said, holding my hand out towards AJ.
"I'll let it slide this time." Seth made his way over to the corner and picked up his baton. He also slipped one of Mara's blades into his belt, just for good measure. "Let's go."
He steadied himself and we both climbed the flight of stairs to the ground floor.
"We need to get to the roof."
"Left is faster," Seth said.
"How do you know?"
"We were studying Elijah's floor plans in the dream," he answered, "trying to locate any other secret rooms where they could've been hiding anything else, like your family."
"Did you guys find anything?"
Seth led us to a second stairwell.
"There's another part of the basement we haven't seen yet," Seth said. "It must've been where they kept Connor. That's where Elijah and Mara are going if they wake up. We need to get to the roof and stop the portal from opening."
"Okay. But what about AJ?"
We passed a sign telling us that the next flight of stairs led to the roof.
"We can only hope he'll be fine. AJ would want us to stop Pennington," Seth said bravely.
On the door, a placard read THE ROOF IS RESTRICTED ACCESS: EMPLOYEES ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT.
He hesitated as he touched the door handle. Turning to me, he said softly, "Be careful out there, okay?"
"I will."
Then as he pulled me tightly against him, he said, "I don't want anything to happen to you. After AJ... I can't bear it if anyone else got hurt, especially you Rory. You never asked to be a part of this."
For a second, I let myself feel content with the warmth of his body and the familiar scent. "I know, but it's not your fault," I told him.
"Just be careful."
He placed a hand on my cheek and tilted my face up so he could brush his lips against mine. My hands automatically wrapped around his familiar military jacket and I pulled him closer. His breath hitched as I kissed him back feverishly, with everything in me. I felt the nervous energy I'd been harboring drift away as I was overcome with fluttering in my stomach and my pounding heart.
We pulled apart after a few seconds.
"What was that for?" I whispered.
"For good luck. Be careful out there," he repeated, eyes glazing over.
"I will."
His shaking hand found the door handle and he pushed.
I didn't know what to expect as we stepped onto the roof, but it was nothing like what was in front of me.
"How the hell did Mara not mention any of this when she came up here?"
Bright light posts were stationed at the four corners of the roof. They illuminated all that was happening in the middle.
Connor was laying on some sort of lab table with dozens of wires attached to his forehead and arms. He was hooked up to a computer that was a connected to an enormous metal platform. Pennington was typing away in front of the computer with two demons hovering behind him.
Lucy was asleep too, curled up in a ball on the ground.
Then I saw something that made my heart stop. "No. No, that can't be."
Tears sprung to my eyes as I saw Luke's motionless body sprawled on the ground. His hoodie was ripped and there was a trail of blood coming out of his open mouth. His eyes were closed and I couldn't tell if he was breathing.
"Watch out!"
Seth pulled me out of the way as a spray of bullets went over our heads. Instinctively, I threw up an invisible shield. The bullets bounced off the shield and fell to the ground. Then one by one, I ripped the guns out of the men's hands and threw them off the side of the roof.
Rage was making me see red. It took every ounce of my self-control to keep me from flinging them all off after what they did to Luke and my family.
"Don't just stand there. Get them!" Pennington shouted, his eyes never leaving the screen.
The lights powered off and the rooftop was shrouded in fog and darkness as one of the demons howled. The temperature dropped and I shivered. I couldn't see anything anymore. The fog was so thick.
"Rory? Where are you?" Seth yelled.
"I have to find Luke!"
A hand reached through the fog and latched onto my upper arm. It pulled me, hard, and I went crashing to the ground. It was one of Pennington's men.
"Get off of me!" I yelled.
He screamed as I levitated him up in the air. His grip on my arm tightened as he tried to keep himself from floating away, so I dropped him. There was the familiar crack of breaking bone.
"You might want to get that checked out," I said coldly before looking around for Luke.
I tried scattering the fog, but it kept regenerating. I crouched on all fours because no one would plan on looking for me below. I saw Seth's familiar black Vans as he defended himself. And then I found Luke's outline through the haze.
I had almost reached him when someone stumbled over me and we both went tumbling. My head was spinning when I finally stopped moving. The thug regained his bearings before I did and grabbed me by the cuff of my jacket. He violently dragged me to my feet.
"Let her go!" Seth shouted, appearing from the clouds with his baton.
The man blocked the first blow with his forearm but the second hit him square in the jaw. He pushed me in his attempt to get away and I stumbled backwards.
"Rory—"
I waved my arms wildly as I tried to keep my balance, but I felt myself falling as the side of my shoe clipped over the edge of the building. My fingertips missed Seth's outstretched hand by mere inches and I tumbled over the side.
And then I was free falling.
I desperately tried to catch onto something, and almost miraculously, my fingers managed to grab on to the ledge of a third floor window sill. My whole body was tingling with terror and adrenaline.
Seth's eyes were frantic as he peered over the edge. From where I dangled, I could see his body sag with relief. "Can you levitate yourself up?"
I tried, but I was too scared. "No," I said breathily.
"Hang on. I'm coming to get you."
"Hurry," I said, feeling my fingers slipping. Sweat was making it difficult for me to grip onto the edge. "Wait, Seth, behind you!"
He had to spin out of the way of the two men who lunged through the fog. He elbowed one in the face and kicked the other in the groin. At this rate, he wasn't going to get here in time.
I wasn't sure I could hold on for much longer.
"Help!" I yelled.
Using my feet, I tried to find a foot hold in the wall. I just needed something to rest my weight on. I thought I heard some commotion from the opposite of the window. It slid open just as my fingers slipped.
I felt two strong hands wrap around my wrist.
"Don't think you're getting out of that chemistry exam that easily."
"Elijah! You're awake. You don't know how happy I am to see you!" I said, laughing with relief.
"I get that a lot." He pulled me up and helped me over the edge. "Mara's taking your mom and AJ to somewhere safe. We found her in the basement."
"I don't know how I can thank you," I said, "But first we have to get back on the roof. Luke is...hurt. Pennington is going to open the portal and Seth needs our help."
"Things are not looking so hot for us."
When we made our way back to the roof, it was too late.
It was still dark and foggy, but now there was also a buzzing noise, along with Pennington's evil laugh.
A huge gust of wind came and blew all the fog from the rooftop. A majority of Pennington's men were out cold and slumped on the ground. Seth looked fine for the most part, if you overlooked the new cut above his cheek and the layer of sweat near his hairline.
"You're too late!" Pennington yelled loudly. His grin was crazed and twisted with evil. "The gate is open and it's time to put an end to life as we've known it."
---
A/N: Here is part 23! I hope you enjoyed it. This is unedited, and I will come back to it tomorrow. Even though it's only 1am where I'm at, I am seriously falling asleep as I type this haha. Thank you so much for reading! Please vote and comment and show some love. Good night/morning to you all, depending on where you are. <3
Dedicated to SyafiqaRanny! Thank you for the wonderful messages and comments you've left me. You're so sweet!
- Kay xx