EXPEDITE ▇▇▇▇ VOLUME TWO
━━ ❛ 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 ❜
chapter no. 043!
THE MANSION ON THE HILL HAD BEEN EMPTY FOR GENERATIONS. The name of it was long forgotten, and its very existence glanced over. If someone was asked who owned the rickety, battered mansion on the hill just past Sharpburgs Avenue, they wouldn't be able to answer. Not a soul had, knowingly, stepped foot upon the soil of that forsaken land. No one had bothered with demolishing or refurbishing it. The mansion was simply a gaunt shell.
What were once mullioned sash windows were now empty space; polluted air wafting throughout the building, whistling up and down the corridors. In the areas where there were traces of glass left, rust and grime of decades' worth covered it.
The double doors to the mansion had once been thick and marveled out of an oak tree with a golden doorknob that was carved into the shape of a lion's head, but now, the knob had vanished, and the grand doors had been blown straight through. The left side of the double doors had been removed many years ago, but the right one was still hanging by its hinges, creaking ever so slightly at the smallest movement.
Against the dark and star-filled sky, Piper Lita could see the disheveled threshold from where she stood at the bottom of the hill, her hair flowing behind her in the early morning breeze. Breathing in deeply, a slight frown crossed her lips in the cold autumn darkness.
"Don't let its appearance fool you," the man beside her spoke, noticing her wavering expression. "What comes across as broken and ruined can actually be in better health and condition than those who have not been shattered like glass yet."
Looking away from the building up on the hill, her hollow, dark-brown eyes narrowed as her gaze settled on him. "Don't speak in metaphors. They don't suit you," she grumbled, shoving her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket.
A cocky smirk danced across his lips as he chuckled, shaking his head. "I nearly forgot how grumpy you are this early in the morning," he mentioned, reaching for her arm. Noticing his movement, Piper was quick to step away.
"Don't touch me," she spat.
"Do you really want to walk all the way up that hill, or do you want me to run us there?" he questioned, raising a somewhat mocking brow. The redhead rolled her eyes, turning her head away as she held her hand out to him. Taking her hand in his, he couldn't help but smile at the feeling of their skin pressed together.
Oh, how he missed her touch.
In less than a millisecond, he had stepped towards her, wrapped her small frame in his arms, and sped them up to the mansion's front steps. Nearly immediately, Piper detached herself from him, hastily letting go of his hand.
She felt absolutely sick to her stomach, her heart racing faster than it had in days.
"Don't act like you don't miss my touch, too," he whispered, noticing how pale her complexion had gotten. Making his way closer to her, he watched as she refused to look him in the eyes. "Piper... look at me, please."
Piper shook her head, stepping away from him once more. "You said yesterday that I had to come somewhere with you, and here I am. So, show or tell me whatever it is you need to, Savitar. I don't want to be here longer than I need to be," she snapped, feeling the stilled anger in her chest boil.
Savitar simply nodded, allowing the subject to drop for now.
"Follow me."
The redhead raised her eyes and watched as the brown-haired man walked towards the decaying porch steps. Pushing down the rising anger and anxiety, she trailed behind, reluctantly stepping onto the wooden planks.
Once she'd reached the top, she came to a stop. In front of her were the remains of the original double doors, litters of mold and grime sprouting everywhere.
Savitar continued ahead, pressing the palm of his hand against the fragile frame of the hanging door. Glancing down, she noticed how cracked and splintered the plank she was standing on was.
The sound of hinges screeching squealed in the darkness, and she looked up, meeting the expectant gaze of Savitar. Huffing, she walked towards him, passing by an ivy-covered window.
She quickly noticed the browned wooden walls doused in water stains when she made her way past the threshold. Slivers of light from the moon shone through the cracks in the walls, igniting the dusty and dirty atmosphere and allowing enough light in for her to scarcely see. Her footsteps, along with Savitar's, echoed violently throughout the empty halls as he led her past a half-standing staircase.
A hollow pinking noise crept by them as they turned left, setting down another hallway.
Shuddering in the cold and dampness of the house, Piper groaned inwardly, regretting ever waking up. As she tread forward, she was overly aware of the gloomy shadows that were following her. Tentatively stepping over holes in the floorboards, she felt a tangle of cobwebs hit her in the face.
Yelping, Piper quickly stepped back into one of the holes as she ran her hands over her face, removing all the silken threads. "Get off, get off, get off."
Turning around, the brown-haired man raised his brows, holding back a chuckle as he watched Piper hastily brush away the cobwebs. "You good?" he asked once she was done, watching as she pulled her foot out of one of the floorboards.
"Shut up and keep walking," Piper snapped, shooting him a glare when she noticed the smirk threatening to show.
As they continued forward, her eyes stayed glued to the villainous speedster that was only a mere few feet away, his shadow falling behind as if it were trying to hide. After another minute of aimless wandering, the two came to a halt. Piper's heartbeat quickened at the sudden stop in movement.
Savitar had stopped short in front of their destination: a faded green door, its paint curling with age and its brass handle nearly consumed by a thick network of cobwebs and dust. Reaching out, he turned it.
Peering around his shoulder, Piper furrowed her brows at the sight of a pitch-black room. At first glance, she mistook it for a black hole, but now she wasn't so sure. All she knew was that something didn't feel right. She could feel the darkness drawing closer to her and pressing down, suffocating her as she stared deeper into the black doorway.
The unknown entity lying in the shadows unnerved her as she could feel someone's eyes on her from behind. Taking tentative steps closer to the brown-haired man, the infinite exposure of the lack of life there dawned. It was clearer than ever that there was utterly no sign of life ever existing in that mansion in decades. The darkness had overcome any sense of purity, consuming all hope of cleanliness and wiping out any light trace.
Although the immense blackness of the foreign room frightened her, the redhead managed to find some sense of tranquillity within it.
"Votre sauveur est arrivé avec un cadeau," the speedster shouted, the volume of his voice causing Piper to advert her eyes to his confident figure.
Suddenly, a flood of brilliant lights blinded the two, causing Piper to reach up and shield her eyes. Lowering her arm, she furrowed her brows at the sight before her.
The room they'd walked into was far more massive than she had imagined. In the center, a collection of steps led to a fire pit and a circular row of chairs around it. A flaming fire was burning, casting orange and red paint splatters across the wooden ceiling. Four figures, doused in black cloaks, were standing around the fire silently, heads bowed down upon their presence. There was a metal cart to her left, an array of objects foreign to her littered on it while others, cloaked as well, stood around the room.
Not noticing that Savitar had grabbed onto her arm and pulled her further into the room that heavily reminded her of a cave, she glanced back to the pit. One of the figures turned around and lowered their hood, and Piper watched diligently as the others around the room lowered theirs as well.
"Pour préparer le monde, nous travaillons avec celui qui l'a fabriqué. Notre seigneur, notre sauveur, Savitar. À notre reine, l'efficacité, nous nous félicitons." A collection of obscure voices chanted, countless pairs of eyes resting solely on the two. Raising her brows, the redhead looked to the man on her right.
"This is your new family," Savitar whispered, gesturing to the group.
Piper scoffed. "You've gotta be kidding me," she hissed, noticing the speedster's somewhat annoyed expression. "There's no way in hell that these Death Eaters are my new family. I already have one."
The brown-haired man narrowed his eyes. "This is your new family. With us, you will have all the power in the world at your fingertips. You'll be a God."
"I'm atheist." Piper snapped, glowering at Savitar, who simply rolled his eyes.
A loud clicking noise sounded from behind the woman, and she couldn't help but flinch, turning her head to see that the door had slammed shut. Looking back at the cult of people before her, she raised a brow as she noticed that all eyes were on her. "Can I help any of you?" she asked bluntly, ignoring how the man next to her rolled his eyes again.
"Efficacy... we've waited a long time to meet you," a deep, scratchy voice echoed. Stepping out of the shadows was a bald man with a pale complexion that nearly matched hers'.
Recognizing the emerald green eyes right away, Piper's mouth dropped. "You're Kyle Nimbus, the Mist," she pointed out.
A sly smirk spread across the man's face at the mention of his alias. "I see there's no need for introductions," Kyle replied, glancing to his left as someone else stepped forward.
"I hope you remember me." A sweet lullaby voice sang, and the redhead moved her eyes to the familiar face.
"Hydro Hunter, it's always a displeasure to see you." Piper seethed, sending the man with icy blue hair a sarcastic smile. His sparkling blue eyes, those of which matched his hair and nails, gleamed and burned into her own. "I see you brought along your old entourage," she spoke sourly, clicking her tongue as she looked over to Savitar.
The speedster simply nodded. "Now, onto why I really brought you here," he spoke slowly, watching as his acolytes began to walk away and form a circle around the fire pit while only one stayed behind.
A young man with blonde hair and piercing green eyes walked up to them, a scroll in hand. Adverting her gaze to the man, Piper furrowed her eyebrows as he looked oddly familiar.
Digging into the pocket of her apron, she pulled out her small notepad and quickly jotted down her number. The inside of her stomach was a raving storm as she handed the guy the slip of paper.
"Thanks. I'm Kyler, by the way," Kyler added, sticking his hand out, and the redhead glanced down at it before grabbing it, shaking softly.
Gasping, Piper's eyes widened as the memory came back to her. "Kyler?" she asked in disbelief, his presence completely throwing her off-guard. The last time she'd seen and talked to him was that night when Zoom came into the Streetwise Bay. He never texted her or anything. She genuinely believed that she would never hear from him again, yet here he was.
"Hello, Efficacy," Kyler greeted, emotionless.
The sound of the name 'Efficacy' being directed towards the redhead caused her to freeze, the insides of her stomach flipping. Two people had called her that in the past five minutes, and it felt oddly normal and right for that to be her alias.
She didn't like how well the name seemed to fit her. She didn't like it at all, yet something inside of her wasn't against being referred to as her evil counterpart.
"Are these the final blueprints?" Savitar questioned, nodding towards the scroll of papers in Kyler's hands. The blonde nodded, handing them over and walking away as another person strolled forward. "Ah! Xander, perfect!" the speedster sighed dramatically, gesturing for the silver-haired man to come closer. "Have you found a way in?"
Piper looked the man up and down, taking note of the eye patch he wore, and that was when it clicked in her mind.
"Hold up... Didn't I throw your ass in prison for murdering the Schultz family and burning down the police department after you froze time and stole all of their weapons?" she asked incredulously, narrowing her eyes down to slithers.
The silver-haired meta glanced at her, nodding lightly. "The name's Freeze Frame, Efficacy."
Blinking, she opened her mouth, "Savitar busted your ass out of prison, didn't he?"
Freeze Frame nodded.
Looking at the speedster, Piper crossed her arms and glowered at him. "How many criminal meta-humans did you bust out, huh? Let me guess, Copy Cat, Illusion, Judge Jigsaw, Static Seraphim, and Flight Flood are probably here too. Am I wrong?" she questioned, raising a challenging brow.
"Xander, did you find a way in or not?" Savitar interjected, cutting the redhead off.
Xander looked away from the woman and nodded, pulling a small remote out of the pock of his robes. "This remote will shut down all security protocols, cameras, and internet signal or access," he stated, handing the device to Savitar.
He ran his fingers over the top of the remote before glancing up. "That'll be all. Get back to the others."
When Freeze Frame was out of earshot, Piper spun on her heel to face the brown-haired man. A rush of adrenaline flowed through her veins, and her eyes were glowing with anger. "What're you playing at? Bringing some of the most dangerous meta-humans from our Earth here? What's that going to accomplish?" she exclaimed, brows raised and eyes wide.
"It's going to help us accomplish the mission," Savitar smirked, sliding the remote into his pocket.
"First of all, there is no us. Second, I'm not part of this. I'm not going to be part of this mission." Piper snapped, shaking her head vigorously.
The speedster laughed humorlessly. "After everything, you still seem to think you have some sort of choice here," he began. "Either you're a part of this, or your bright and shiny family will be sleeping in early graves. You've already made your choice, and there's no backing out. Even though you aren't fully on our side yet, you will be. Only one more week until it kicks in. Then, the fun begins."
Tilting her head to the side, Piper became confused. "Until what kicks in?" she asked hesitantly, afraid of the answer that lay on the other side of the bridge.
"You'll see. Now, it's time to tell you the mission and what I need you to do."