Chapter 11
The shadows fall against the rough brick of the building. The electric lights cast their harsh light onto the pavement, creating the illusion of safety. It's a rough neighborhood, graffiti paints the houses and the pavement is covered in potholes. The blaring of police sirens cut through the air, and the smell of weed is thick in the air. A taller figure cuts it's way across the cracked pavement, to the building.
It breaks into a jog up the steps to the door. Pulling out the keys, the girl let's out a breath of relief. She let's herself into the house, carefully shutting and locking the door behind her. Pity it won't help. Not when we're already in the house. I pull out of the vision Jon's pushing through our heads and I focus.
I'm standing in a crappy excuse for a bedroom. Seriously it's a pile of sheets and a couple pieces of clothing. She must already know they're after her. She doesn't stand a chance on her own, none of us would.
From what we've gathered, 20 agents are coming tonight, just to assassinate this girl. She's 20 years old and her name is Leah Aldridge. Props to her for staying alive this long. From what we can tell, the only reason she's not dead yet is because she's been moving around.
England to France to Canada to Argentina. You name it, she's been there. The noise of footsteps sets me on guard and I sit up on the windowsill. She enters the room, totally focused in her phone.
"Hi." The effect is instantaneous. The second she sees me, she screams. Or try to, my hand is already covering her mouth. "Shut up. I'm not here to kill you." Her eyes, the same shade as mine, stare at me, fear flickering in them.
"I'm going to take off my hand now." I say slowly, "Don't scream." Slowly I remove my hand and she gasps. "Who are you? Why are you here?" I can see why she's scared. Total stranger in her room.
Not too mention I'm kind of dressed like as ninja, it all black and a hoodie which covers my face. "My name is Aria. We don't have much time, you have to pack. Get your stuff, we're getting you outta here." I wheel around and seize a handful of clothes, shoving them into the first bag I see. I continue to hunt, wrinkling my nose at the dirt and grime that cover everything.
"Help." I snap at her, which probably isn't the best solution as she seems pretty shell shocked. And that's when I hear the door slam. I move faster than I ever have and I knock her to the wall. My hand covers her mouth and we stand pressed together. I strain ears to hear footsteps.
The thumping of my heart is dangerously loud, traitorously loud. It's almost like it suspects it's last moments could be approaching. I can feel tears flooding down the girl's face, rolling onto my hand. And still we wait, for the bullet that might end our lives.
My hand creeps into my pocket and removes my knife. Slowly, slowly I click it open. The moonlight glints off the blade as we wait for the agents to enter the room. They're not even trying to be quiet, the footsteps sound like half a dozen elephants are trampling across the hall
. Maybe that's just my ears but I have resist the urge to laugh hysterically. It must be nerves because there is nothing funny about this. And than I hear a thud. Like someone dropping from a ceiling and my entire body tenses.
It's almost time. And then the house is ripped apart by gunshots and yells. After the silence, the din is deafening. I yank her arm so she stumbles after me. The dust hangs in the air and coats my throat when I go to inhale.
"Connor ." I cough out. Get her to Connor. That's my job. Get her out of here. She shrieks, stumbling on the rough carpet. "Come on." I snap. My feet find traction on the floor as we run through the clouds of dust and smoke, the gunshots ringing in my ears. I hear the noise of a gun from close by and instinctively turn, pushing her behind me.
A man stands in front of us, his face obscured, the gun in his hands is not. I don't wait for him to get ready before my fist collides with his stomach. He doubles over wheezing, the gun in his outstretched hand. I seize it, and slam it into his temple. Hard. Enough that he drops like a stone. And now I have a weapon.
Through all the crashing, I miss the shot. But I see the blood on her shoulder. And I hear her scream. Automatically I grab something. It's rough and hard and heavy and I hurl it in the direction of the shot. A dull thud tells me it hit it's mark but I don't care. She hunched in the corner, clutching her arm.
"Connor!" I scream as loud as I can. Her hand reaches out to grab mine and she grips it hard. Tears streak down her face and she's taking shaky breaths.
"It's ok. You're going to be OK." I chant like a mantra. A hand claps on my shoulder, and I shy away, my fist already swinging up. "It's me." Connor gasps. His hair is so covered in dirt that it doesn't even look red anymore.
"Holy Shit." He stares at her shoulder. "Get her out of here." I spin and run into the fray." But you're supposed to come…" Connors voice dies away, covered by bangs and shouts. Dust rains down from the ceiling and walls. I don't feel him coming. I just feel the pain hit my shoulder, as I'm slammed against the wall. Hot breath scalds my face, and I can feel his arm jamming into my windpipe.
"Bitch" he snarls, pulling back his hand to slap me. But it never hits me. Mostly because I've kneed him in the balls. He falls to the ground groaning. Huh. I thought people only did that in movies. I slam my gun into his head, just to knock him out. And than I'm moving, still coughing. I break out into the living room, which is thick with the tangle of bodies.
There a pounding in my ears that has nothing to do with the gunshots. I can barely tell who are my enemies and who are my allies.
It's too dangerous to fire a gun, I might hit my friends. Instead, I duck through the crowd, first time being short is an advantage to me. I aim punches at people I don't recognize but that's about all I can do. Than I see him. Luke. He's fighting off three at once.
He's a great fighter but so are they. They're slowly overwhelming him and he can't stop it. And he doesn't see the man with a gun behind him. I do. I can't run and I can't fight, I stand helpless as they ready the gun.
Than I can't hear anymore. All of the gunshots fall away like nothing. I'm no longer surrounded by people, just sparks of gold light. Mine burns brightly, utterly familiar. Another spark burns as bright as mine, almost pulsing.
The two sparks, mine and the other one, are connected. Pushing towards each other. Branches of the gold stretch in between them, tying the light together. The other sparks aren't as bright. Some barely glow. Almost as if in a daze I feel my hand stretching out in front of me.
Two of the not so bright sparks flicker towards my hand. They are almost reluctant to leave their places yet they cannot resist the pull.
The sparks slide towards mine, slowly, slowly. The tension I feel is incredible, I feel like my body is slowly being ripped apart. It's agonizing and the perfect relief all at the same time. My light envelops the others, they are dissolved within it.
It starts to pulse, throb and then there's a brilliant flash of light and I know it's from mine. It shines like a dying star and the agony in my body is increased by the ten fold.
Yet there's not only pain running through my nerves, there's an incredibly sweet rush of power. The feeling of it numbs my entire body. I can't even explain this feeling. It's like I've been in agony my entire life and just been given a painkiller now. It's the relief of every feeling, just a sense of peace. Peace that's tempered by a sharper emotion.
But right now, I really don't care. I could stay here forever, floating, feeling nothing but power. But I can't. The sharper emotion calls to me. Like a siren call it delves into my mind, something inside screams that I don't belong here.
My hand hovers over the light, the light that has this awful tinge of darkness to it. And I touch the darkness. It hits me like a suckerpunch, all the pain, all the fear of my life.
Every happy thought and every dark one. I'm sucked into my body and I'm still standing in the middle of chaos. Yet there something different.
Because 3 dead bodies lie at my feet and Luke stares at me in amazement. "What the.." He begins when I hear the shot. The shot not aimed at Luke but at me. In almost the exact second, a hand grabs mine pulling me into darkness away from the scene. The bullet cuts a thin line of fire across my shoulder and I cry out.
But we are already being yanked through space, travelling blindly as Connor pulls Luke and I home.
Authors Note
Hi guys. I am trying a new update schedule so this kicks it off. I will be updating on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays. I hope you like this chapter and please please review. Also the next chapter will be slightly later but I promise you will like it..