Prolouge
"He went over there." I said, pointing to the distant retreating form that we were chasing.
Charlie glanced at me and our group. "Should we flank him?"
"Yeah. Let's go."
The five of us were on every side of him. He had no escape. He was kneeling on the ground, head bowed, sword at his side when we came.
"Give it up, Reos. Let us take you in so you can stop causing chaos to our community." I shouted at him.
Joel Reos just laughed, throwing back his pale head. "Do you know what I am, human girl? So ignorant." His grey eyes met mine. "You think you and your pity friends can take me? You're wrong."
It was me, Charlie, Emily, Jack, and Leo against him.
There was no way he could win. Together, our power was greater than his. But yet.. what was he hiding?
Charlie looked at me quizzically. Now what? He wasn't willing to come without force.
If we attacked there was a chance he'd beat us all. We needed backup to neutralize him. So no one got hurt.
We needed to keep him talking and distracted while someone calls HQ.
I shook my head in Charlie's direction and lowered my sword slightly.
"Okay, Reos. You are obviously unwilling to comply. What do you want from us?"
Joel closed his eyes. His dark hair stood out against his pale skin, his long coat seemed to flutter in the wind. He was wearing a white t-shirt and dark denim jeans with his coat pulled over.
"You'll never understand what exactly I want from you, Nancy Mezzan. None of you will. My goals remain unfulfilled to this day." Joel's eyes opened and I glanced cautiously over toward Charlie. He was on the phone, silently whispering, getting backup. Across from me, my brother had his fists clenched in anger. Emily and Leo were exchanging glances of uncertainty.
"But I will not stop till I get what I want!" Suddenly Joel stood up and the rest of us reacted, pointing our weapons toward him.
"You pitiful agents disgust me. You'll never be able to stop me on your own. What is Josh thinking, letting you face me?"
He looked directly at me. "Leaving his precious weapon unguarded and defenseless? I thought better of you."
In a instant Joel had moved, picking up his sword and running towards me. My friends reacted, shooting their weapons toward where he was moving.
I dodged his first attacks, our swords clanging metal on metal. Joel had gotten hit by different types of neutralizers and lasers, but he didn't fall.
He brought his blade back and smacked an angry Jack on the head, who was coming up from behind, sending him flying.
"Jack!" I screamed.
Leo had conquered a wave of water, heading straight for Reos and I. I jumped up, hovering for a second as the wave hit Reos and Leo froze it over.
"Is this how you play?" He laughed. "Fine."
Joel disappeared in a grey smoke, dissolving through the ice. His form went straight towards me and I dropped, gasping, as his form engulfed me. Suddenly, it was as if he was inside of me. Intense pain engulfed my senses and I closed my eyes as my vision blurred, distantly hearing my own voice screaming...
.
.
.
When I woke up I had no idea where I was. I was lying on a bed, with the covers drawn over me.
"Nancy?" Emily's voice said from nearby. I looked up and there was my friend, smiling weakly.
"Hey, she's awake." Charlie said, standing up from where he was seated across the room.
"About time." Jack said. "You sleep like a baby."
I stayed silent, looking around, until finally I asked: "W-what happened?"
Charlie glanced at Emily and my brother before replying. "We don't know. We were hoping you could tell us."
Frowning slightly I closed my eyes, distant images of terror, pain, and finally darkness met me. I had no idea how I ended up here.
"I don't know." I whispered. "I don't remember."
Charlie opened his mouth to comment when the door opened and Leo popped his head in."Heya guys. Umm..yeah, I have someone who wants to chat." He said, slightly nervously, before fully opening the door.
Josh Meyers was there, following Leo into my room. Josh shut the door behind himself, locking it.
"No one should come and disturb us for a while. I told everybody I was away at an important meeting." He said before turning his dark blue eyes on me.
I noticeably felt the others around me grow tense. We all knew I had to be the reason he came.
Josh cleared his throat and let out an audible sigh. "Well, Joel escaped again. There are no whereabouts of his location."
"You would think it would be easy to track a scum like him?" Jack exclaimed, clenching his fists tightly. "We should put in more effort!"
Josh smiled slightly at his aggression. "We have agents working 24 hours/7 days a week tracking him." Glancing at Jack, who was about to protest, he continued. "But that's not why we're here.
"Recently, an agent discovered a possible connection to Reos: An old. abandoned lab in Poland. We want you to check it out."
Four mouths opened to protest but Josh held up his hand. "It's important." His tone grew dark and he moved to look at me. "Nancy has nothing wrong with her that we can see. Bruises, scrapes, but she'll be fine in a few days. This mission is important enough to need you guys to investigate."
"Nancy, Charlie, and Emily will investigate the lab while Jack and Leo will be on stand-by. You leave Friday. Any questions?"
None of us spoke or protested.
"Then its settled. Rest up, you don't know what you'll encounter."