XIX
Three days passed without incident, and I became situated again in my daily routine; though it lacked excitement it was enough to keep my mind occupied. It was at night when I found myself recalling the hunter in the lab not far away, recalling the way his name had come so quickly to me; I was utterly and completely at a loss as to why I'd name such a thing. Perhaps I'd wanted to give a title to what had stalked me, hunted me; perhaps it was a way for me to deal with the unknown and the faceless. Whatever the reason, it confused me, and I found myself dwelling on this for long hours when sleep eluded me. Reed stopped by only once, and that was for a brief time. We spoke of mundane things, and when he left he took my hand in his and kissed it, his eyes holding promises that left me both exhilarated and disturbed. After he left I felt much like a school girl with a first crush, but still there was that nagging sensation, that distant voice of conscience telling me to be careful—careful of what, I had no way of knowing.
I awoke that night from a fitful sleep, and for a moment couldn't comprehend what noise it was I was hearing. I sat bolt upright when I realized what it was—alarms. They were claxons like you'd here on a military base, and their noise was deafening. Instantly afraid, I crawled out of the bed and grabbed the zip up jacket lying at the foot of the bed. It took me only a second to get it on over the tank top I wore for the purpose of sleeping, and once it was on I moved to the door and laid my hand on the knob. I hesitated before opening it, wondering what I'd find in the world beyond this small sanctuary …
The corridor was dark but for the lurid spasmodic flashing of the red lockdown lights located on the ceiling. Out here the claxons were even louder, and I had to resist the urge to cover my ears against the onslaught. The first thing I noticed was that the guard that was usually across the hall from my door was gone, but something dark on the floor glistened under the emergency light. I was five paces from it when I realized what it was—a pool of blood. I backed away from it quickly, heart pounding, eyes racing once again up and down the length of the corridor to try and find somebody, anybody. But it was deserted and I was alone, and I had no clue what the unholy hell was going on …
"All security staff to zone 002 immediately! Repeat, all security staff to zone 002 immediately!"
The voice on the loudspeaker was barely audible over the alarm, but I heard it and realized in that instant what was transpiring. Zone 002 was the lab where Reed had taken me, the place where the creature was kept subdued … I'd barely put the thought together before I turned around, and for a moment the air in front of me wavered as it does on a hot day. But then something appeared as though shaping itself out of nothing, something huge, something humanoid—
I screamed; it was close enough that I could see my reflection in the dark visor of its mask. And as I swiftly stumbled backwards it merely stood still, watching me with its head tilted to the side. In that instant I remembered seeing this creature in the exact same pose once before, and the rush of familiarity that washed through me was almost overwhelming. I stopped abruptly when I felt the wall at my back and I stood as though paralyzed, staring at the thing before me. It hadn't moved, merely watched me, and I found this exceedingly bizarre. I was its prey, wasn't I? I carried its mark … the same mark, I noted with a sense of detached calm, that was etched into its mask …
It took one step towards me then, and every muscle in my body tightened painfully. I didn't think I could outrun it, and overpowering it was a laughable idea. Screaming wasn't an option either, as I doubted there was anyone within range to hear me over the harsh blare of the claxons. When it took another step I sucked in a deep breath and tensed, and when it took another I pushed myself away from the wall in preparation to make an escape attempt that I knew would be futile.
I was saved from having to act by someone shouting my name; gunshots thundered from somewhere behind me, and I dropped to the floor even as the creature before me disappeared. I stared at where it had been, searching for a ripple, a tell tale wavering to reveal to me where it had gone. But there was nothing, and when I heard my name again I got shakily to my feet to find Reed fast approaching from the direction of the elevator with three armed guards at his back, their weapons held ready.
"It was one of them," I told him, shouting to be heard over the alarm and amazed I could form a coherent sentence. "One of the hunters."
"Lex! God, Lex! Are you all right?" Reed sounded frantic as he pushed forward to me. Once sure I was whole, he shouted over his shoulder to the guards. "Stay alert! It may still be here!" He turned back to me, clutching my arm. "Are you hurt at all? Did it touch you?" His eyes flickered to the scar on my face.
"I'm fine," I said, but when he suddenly enveloped me in his embrace I let him, grateful for the comfort. After a moment I pulled away and asked, "Did they come for the other one?"
He grimaced and looked around, then began to lead me away from the spot. "Yes," he spat. "They took it with them and killed half a dozen of my men in the process." He was so angry with himself, with the monsters. "It looks like that's all they wanted this time." He did not have to say anything else, I could feel his eyes on my mark again, the fear and worry behind them.
I told him again, feeling a rush of gratitude that he was so obviously concerned with my welfare, "I'm fine."
He looked as though he wanted to argue, but at that moment we caught sight of guards running down the hall towards us. I listened as the foremost among them detailed the situation out to Reed—the hunter in the lab was gone with all its equipment, seven men dead, and no further signs of the intruding creatures anywhere. Reed sighed when the man was done speaking and ordered one of them to run and shut off the alarm. He turned to me then, brushing gently at my mark before speaking.
"Listen, this is going to take a lot of cleanup," he began, "So I'm going to ask you to go back to your room and stay there until we get this taken care of, ok?" He motioned to the remaining guard. "I'll send an extra man with you. Wait there, lock your door, and when it cools down--well, we'll have to talk about assigning more security later, too. If they were going to do anything else tonight, they'd have done it when they had the chance." His brow furrowed. "You sure you're fine?"
I nodded, although my heart beat loud enough I was sure he could hear it. He gave me a brief, warm smile before ducking and kissing my forehead. Without another word he strode off in the direction of the lab, the other guards going with him. After a moment I moved hesitantly towards my room, trailed by the other two guards; I entered without speaking to them, although I was immensely grateful to see them take up posts on either side of my door. Once inside I flicked on the light and stared hard at my surroundings, looking for the smallest, most insignificant sign that I wasn't alone. I found nothing, though I searched until my eyes ached, and with a sigh I moved to my bed. I laid down and closed my eyes, feeling my blood still pulsing rapidly through my veins. It seemed Reed's story was true—the creatures had come not only for their comrade, but for me as well …
When sleep finally found me, it brought with it dreams that left me feeling afraid when I woke in the morning.
XIX
The next day was uneventful, passing in the manner all the others had. Whatever questions I had about the incident the night before went unanswered as the doctor simply ignored them and Reed was nowhere to be found. I couldn't sleep that night either; I lay wide awake waiting for the claxon to sound, for the garish red of the lockdown light to spill over me like it had the night previous. I left my room light on, knowing that it wouldn't help if one of those … hunters was here; I hadn't seen the one the night before until it was right in front of me and had shed its cocoon of invisibility, bleeding into sudden and terrifying existence in front of me …
Driven by apprehension, by an irrational, annoying sense of concern that I couldn't discern the origins from I got up and put on the thin zip up jacket over my tank top before leaving my room. The presence of guards had doubled since the escape of the wounded creature—Scale, my brain helpfully reminded me—and so as I made my way down the hall toward the elevator I found myself feeling slightly better to know that security had been tightened. On the ride up to the second floor, I stared at my reflection in the polished metal of the elevator and noted how pale and drawn my face looked, and how the scar, the mark of the hunters, stood out against my skin in vivid clarity.
The doors slid open, and I stepped out into the second floor. Unlike below, I encountered only one guard, and he was stationed not far from Reed's door. Hesitant, I paused before knocking, wondering if maybe I shouldn't be there, if maybe I should have stayed in my own room. But then I remember Reed's obvious concern for me the night before, the way he'd looked so shaken when I told him what had occurred, and so I rapped with my fist lightly on his door.
It opened after a moment, and he looked surprised to see me. "Sorry to bother you," I said quietly, but he shook his head and opened the door wider.
"Is everything ok?" He ran his fingers through his hair. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting company. Do you want something to drink?"
"No." I said as I stepped into the room, and then said, "Yes. And everything is fine, I just … I couldn't sleep."
He made a sympathetic noise, gesturing me to sit on his couch as he made his way into the kitchen. I watched him go, noticing that he was wearing only loose-fitting pants, most likely those he slept in, and that his upper body was bare. A fine time for my hormones to kick in, I though with grim amusement, but couldn't help the way I felt. My life as it was was just a mass of broken recollections and stories I couldn't verify. I was stuck in the farthest corner of the world in a facility without anyone I knew well enough to be absolutely, one hundred percent sure I could trust. I was effectively alone, isolated by loss of memory from the others around me, and I was tired of being scared and worried and confused. And so when Reed returned with a small glass of clear liquid and sat down close to me, I didn't pull away. I took the drink gratefully and downed it quickly, wincing as with a harsh, lingering burn the alcohol made its presence known.
"Thanks," I told him, setting my glass down on the table. He set his drink down too; suddenly it was very hard for me to meet his eyes. I said casually, "I couldn't sleep because I kept thinking about last night."
"Which part?" he asked lightly, though the air around us seemed heavier, dampening his words. His face was near enough to mine for me to feel his breath, though he waited. He always waited, except for that once, for me to choose whether to close the distance or pull away.
I smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile. "I think coming face to face with the thing that wants to kill me is what's bothering me. Hard to shake that memory, you know?"
His smile was an echo of mine; between one heartbeat and the next I took the initiative, folding myself against him and letting my face rest against the cool skin of his chest. His arms went around me and I let myself feel safe, feel normal, feel the way I wanted to feel. A short silence followed, poignant with things undone and unsaid; when his fingers found my chin and tilted my face upwards I let them.
"Stay with me, Lex," he said simply, and he kissed me.
Like before, it was pleasant, a way for me to ignore all the dark shadows and terrible things in my mind and focus on the here and now. The kiss changed after a time, became a little more forceful, a little more demanding, and I let it. One of his hands moved up to cradle my neck while the other wandered, silently and quickly undoing the zipper to my jacket. When it was gone, when all that separated my flesh from his was the thin layer of my tank top, he stood suddenly and pulled me up with him, and with a whispered urge tugged me with him to the bedroom.
When I saw the bed—queen sized, thick dark coverlet and black sheets—I hesitated, suddenly unsure. Was this what the old me would have wanted? Did I really know Reed well enough to go through with this? As if sensing my reluctance he moved around behind me, nuzzling at my neck while his hands brushed the curve of my breasts. Whatever issues my brain had my libido didn't; suddenly it was very hard to breathe properly. His deft fingers closed over the hem of my shirt and I lifted my arms to aid him; as the shirt fell to the floor he turned me around, and I found myself entranced by the intensity of his eyes.
"I don't think …" I started to say, driven by that something lurking in the depths of the missing memories that belonged to the Lex that had been. He dropped his head to lick a warm trail from my collarbone to the swell of one breast, and my voice deserted me. He lifted his head again, smiling, and I remembered my protest, "I can't …"
He quirked a brow at me and, as if to silence me, lowered his mouth to my other breast. "Lex," he murmured against my skin, "Don't over think this. You don't know how much I have been looking forward to this," he punctuated the next few words with kisses wherever he could reach, "to you. To us."
His touch incited my pulse to quicken; when his mouth hovered over mine a moment later I leaned against him and closed the distance. This kiss was fierce, a ravening of mouths, and I liked the way it felt, liked the way he felt. His fingers played along the waistline of my loose sweatpants, and I sucked in a startled breath—
-his hand rounding back to my face despite my attempt to push him away. "Miss Woods, my patience has a limit." His tone grew darker as he spoke, his arms trapping me against the wall—
An awful feeling accompanied that memory; I could hear the words but the voice that spoke them was still veiled in fog. I shook my head and made a noise, but Reed had already loosened the drawstring on my pants and they fell to pool about my feet. A gentle shove and I was on the bed with him looming over me, and when his hands touched me next everything fled from me except for the raw sensation of hands on my skin. Breath whispered along the lines of my ribs; fingers brushed my thighs before creeping upwards—
-I kicked and squirmed, reaching with my hands for his face, for his eyes, wanting to inflict an unholy amount of my wrath upon him and inwardly panicking—
I stiffened as I was assailed again by lost memory, as I remembered the body on top of mine, a punishing weight, as I fought to recall the visage behind the attacker. Reed's mouth was on my own suddenly, his tongue delving, his fingers striving hard to make me his own, to make me succumb. A breathless cry left me as pleasure I hadn't experienced in so long mounted within me, steadily growing—
-Too late I saw his fist coming toward my face. I tried to dodge, but still it connected, jolted my teeth and rattled my brain. I staggered back into a stalagmite column, head spinning. He advanced, backhanding me with the same arm. This time, I stumbled to the side and fell to my knees. "Lex, Lex," he sneered, "You don't look so well."
I tried to lift the rifle, to get a shot off, but he kicked it out of my grasp and sent it skittering across the stone floor. I had managed to get myself up on one knee when he caught me by the collar and hefted me upright; his breath on my face, his fierce and savage smile were combined revolting, and so I spit at him, enjoying the way my mingled blood and spittle struck his face. Immediately his expression soured, and when he spoke next he lowered his head until his lips hovered over my own.
"I gave you every chance, Lex, and now it's too late." His hand tightened, cutting off my air. "You would have been worth the aggravation."
I tried to choke something out, to verbally defy him though I was awash in both terror and fury. He was going to kill me without hesitation, and here I was helpless … I lashed out as best I could with one leg but it was a weak blow, and Reed's breath left him then in a soft chuckle—
Reed.
I lay absolutely still, my mind roiling; he had pulled away in order to divest himself of his pants. I sat slowly as the last image replayed over and over in my head, heart thundering in the wake of all I'd just realized. When he noticed me sitting he paused, still partially clothed, and raised an eyebrow at me. I said nothing, but came to my feet, wrapping the length of a long black sheet around me.
"You …" I said, unable to convey just what I felt in that instant because my voice wavered so badly.
He must have known, must have realized that I remembered something, because he went very still. "Me?" To his credit, he managed to keep the tone normal, light, even, though it was strained just the tiniest bit. "Lex," he said carefully, watching me with his head cocked a little to the side, "What is it?" He shifted, not enough to put him between me and the door, but the movement was almost instinctual, as if to try to trap me here.
I stared at him, feeling my skin crawl with the knowledge that I had let him touch me, kiss me. It took me three tries to find the words, and even then when I spoke it was almost incoherent. "You hurt me. Wherever we were, on the island … you tried to kill me. I remember …"
The change was sudden. His warm, quizzical smile, the faint confusion, all disappeared and reformed into what I instantly recognized as the true face of Reed--the calculating opportunist, the vile businessman. His eyes seemed to gleam from the shadow across his face, like some comic book villain, as his lips twisted into the cruel grin I remembered and hated. "So close, Lex," he murmured, "It's too bad, we were so close. It could have been a beautiful thing." He laughed harshly. "You took long enough to figure it out. I was beginning to wonder if the damage was permanent. Not that I would have complained; it would have just been...inconvenient. And you would have been useless. Except maybe here."
He gestured to the bed, then lunged.
I stumbled backwards with a cry, trying to avoid his reach, but the sheet I clutched to me like some sort of armor interfered with the movement and he hit me full force. We went down in a tangle; I curved my fingers into claws, trying to rake his face as I had in the memory that had returned, but he caught my wrist. Furious, terrified, I swung out with my other fist and connected a glancing blow to his cheek. He turned his head back to me slowly as I tried to worm out from beneath him, and the slow, drawn out chuckle that left him then chilled my blood.
"Lex, Lex, Lex," he sighed. His hands clamped down hard on my wrists. He straddled my hips, effectively keeping me in place. I had forgotten how tough he could be, how strong he was. This time, when he bent to my neck, he bit hard. "You stupid girl." His voice was a gentle whisper, at odds with the pain and the fear icing through me. "This is my world you're in. I own everything, everyone here. There is nowhere to go, because even if you got away, they would bring you right back to me. Do you understand?"
I understood. I knew that there was no way out of this situation, that I was now completely and hopelessly screwed. But there was welling up within me a fount of such fury, such rage at being manipulated so easily, and I couldn't have stemmed it even had I wanted to. The look on his face—that arrogant, mocking smile—made me want to scream; I heaved all my weight to the side at once, unbalancing him while at the same time bringing my knee up hard to catch him in the groin. He wheezed something as I scrambled out from under him, almost falling but catching himself on the edge of the bed. Holding the sheet tightly fisted against me I half-ran, half-staggered from the bedroom, thinking only to gain the hall, to scream and hope that someone, anyone, would help me. I heard his voice ring out behind me, too close, and made a frantic, desperate lunge for the door. The knob turned just as he slammed into me, and together in a wild mix of limbs we fell out into the hall.
I sucked in a breath to scream at him, but his fist drove into my jaw and effectively silenced me. Dazed, my head lolled to the side; I could feel his fingers trying to pull the sheet away from my naked flesh, but even in this state I retained my death grip. I blinked as my vision came into focus, realizing that the misshapen lump of color I'd been staring at in the past few moments was actually a man—the guard, lying in a crumpled, bloodied heap on the floor. Reed's voice caught my attention, and still disoriented I shifted my eyes back to him.
His voice was choked; the blow I'd landed must have been a good one. "You bitch," he gasped, hauling on my wrist and dragging me up to him, "I am going to kill you when this is over. I am going to screw you first, and then--no, I'm not going to kill you. I am going to make you hurt, though." He slapped his free hand across my face, still shaking the one that gripped my arm and the sheet. "You hear me? I will make you suffer for all the trouble you and your monster have put me through. Starting now."
His backhand made the world reel around me, but I had enough left in me to struggle as he started to drag me back into the room. I dug in my heels and scrabbled with my freehand for his eyes, for his nose, for any part of him that would bleed. He grunted and drew back to strike me again; I stomped down hard, catching his shin, and with a garbled, pained curse he released me. I frantically gathered the sheet around me and prepared to bolt only to be jerked back hard by his hand fisting in my hair. The agony made me cry out and stumble; falling to my knees I braced myself for the blow I knew was coming—
-it never came, because Reed was suddenly airborne, flying several feet to hit the corridor wall—
-in front of me then, invisibility falling from it like water was one of them, and the noise it made was ear-splitting—
Panicking, I managed to rise on legs that shook violently, clutching the sheet as though it could protect me from both man and creature. It was the same one as the night before, I noted numbly—I remembered the mask. It wasn't paying any attention to me; its focus was completely on Reed.
Reed found his feet, and now he and the creature were facing off, Reed using the wall for support, inching back toward the keypad near the door. "I knew you ugly bastards would come back," he was saying, half-singsong, as if the towering monster before him was an angry bull. "Just stay there til the cavalry gets here--" He swung a fist sideways and hit a panel in the wall. It clattered away; beneath it was a button printed with red words on a white background. The fire alarm. He moved to hit it, even as the monster moved. An object hurtled through the air towards Reed, and before he could strike the fire alarm he reared back with a scream of agony. The object returned boomerang-like to the hunter, and it was then I saw it was a shuriken, its blades covered in blood …
Reed had staggered back, clutching his hand; through the mess of blood I realized two of his fingers were missing. With an infuriated, pain-filled hiss he looked from me to the hunter before lunging for the open door of his room. The creature moved to intercept with a swiftness that belied its bulk, reaching the entrance before Reed and catching him by the neck. It hoisted him effortlessly into the air; Reed clawed at it with his good hand, choking. The creature made a menacing noise, half-trill and half-growl before hurling Reed from him as though he weigh nothing more than a feather. Reed struck the wall once more and instantly crumpled; whether he was unconscious or dead I couldn't tell, for quite suddenly I was being advanced upon by the creature.
I did what common sense dictate I do—retreated. I was naked but for a bed sheet wrapped around me, trapped in a hallway with the prone form of a man and a large monster—both of which had at some point tried to kill me. Although I wasn't entirely certain, I was pretty sure that this was one of the worst situations I'd ever been in. By the time I'd decided to run the creature was right before me, and as I whirled around it reached out and caught me with one clawed hand by my upper arm. I stared up into the expressionless visage as it loomed over me, realizing that if ever someone had looked in the face of death, it would most likely look like this. I became absolutely still as it raised one massive finger—
-and brushed it slowly, gently over the mark on my cheek.
I forgot how to breathe. What was it doing? I inhaled, preparing to scream, but suddenly the creature made a noise, and it wasn't what I expected.
"Lex," it said in a voice, a human voice that was obviously a recording—Ana's voice.
Silence then, both of us completely motionless. With a soft, low trill the creature tilted its head at me before more using more words that weren't its own.
"Lex," it said again and then continued with the exact same phrase I'd heard from Ana days ago, "You're not safe here."
XIX