Chapter 51

Chloe's POV

The moment I get Beca's message, my anxiety skyrockets. The last time there was a battle in the clearing, she almost died. If I lost her again, I'm not sure what I would do.

"Alright, there are a lot of us," Theo comments when we make it to the lab. He slowly drives down and when we reach the security booth, no one is there. Looks like my mom's letter worked.

"We'll split up into two people teams. Find a partner and stick with them. Ashley, you're with me. No one goes in alone."

"Want to be my partner?" Jessica asks me and I smile at her. Joyce teams up with Cynthia Rose, laughing at her antics. Of course, Stacie and Aubrey are a team and the rest sort of find their way to someone else.

"Okay, we'll each go to a different floor. Since Ashley and I have worked here, we'll take the fourth floor. I'm warning you, since you guys have to go through the fourth floor to get to the others, it's not pretty. Just be prepared."

"Where is Fergus's office?" I ask Theo and he holds up one finger. "That's what we'll take."

"Okay, sounds good. Is everybody ready?" We all nod and then everyone grabs a pack. Each pack is filled with enough explosives to bring the building to the ground. Hopefully, not with us in it. Everyone goes through the door and when the stench of death hits us, most gag. I manage to hold it back, but it's not easy.

Bodies are scattered in piles, waiting to be cremated. None of the bodies though look human. Some have extra arms and scales or fur instead of skin. The faces are all grotesque whether it's from wounds or just what Dr. Fergus turned them into.

"Oh god," Joyce gasps. "What the hell did he do to them?"

"Most of them weren't even human to begin with," Ashley informs us. "A lot were grown in test tubes. The others were supernatural creatures that he captured."

"Holy shit, is that a dragon?" CR wonders and we all look to where she's pointing. Sure enough, a creature larger than all of us combined lay on one stack.

"How long do these bodies stay here?" I ask and Jessica sets a hand on my arm, sensing my uneasiness.

"They stay here for days, sometimes weeks. Dr. Fergus never cared when they were destroyed, just that they stayed out of his sight when he was done with them. Many of the guards waited for someone else to cremate them, so they would sit in here for weeks. Beca killed that dragon several days before escaping. It's still here."

"Damn," I mutter, wondering how someone can be so cruel to not give these things the burial that they deserve.

"Okay, I know it's rough, but we have to get this done," Theo says, spurring us into action. Everybody except Theo and Ashley load up into the elevator.

"Remember, once all of these explosives are set, a 15 minute timer will start. That's when everyone needs to be out and in the van. We don't want to be anywhere near this building when these go off." The doors close, barely giving Theo enough time to finish.

"Look, if everyone is not in that van by the 10 minute mark, tell Theo to leave. There's no point in putting everyone else's lives in danger. Does that sound good?" Everyone nods at my words and pretty soon, it's just Jessica and I in the elevator heading up to the first floor.

The moment the elevator doors open, I know we're not alone. Someone must've stayed behind. Jessica starts to move forward, but I stop her, holding up a finger to my lips. Slowly and quietly, we move forward, keeping an eye out. As we get closer to Fergus's office, I hear the shredder.

"No," I gasp and take off running. I hit the door full force, not realizing that it wasn't all the way shut. I fly into the room and hit the desk before falling to the ground. That's going to leave a bruise. The door slams shut, leaving me and the person alone in the office. A guard stands before me, furiously shoving papers into a shredder.

"Stop that," I demand, standing up. The guard glares before lunging at me. Fists fly and over the roaring in my ears, I vaguely hear Jessica pounding on the door. The bastard must've locked it once he saw that there were two of us.

"Stop," I shove the guard away and hold up a hand. "Why are you doing this?"

"I was ordered by Dr. Fergus to shred everything."

"Why?"

"It's not my job to ask questions."

"Did you not get the letter?" The guard nods his head and I sigh. "So you're just stupid. This building will be destroyed in less than an hour. I advise you to stop what you're doing or you're going down with it."

"I think I'll finish my job. I'm more afraid of what the doc will do to me if I don't." The guard turns as though he's going to continue, but I stop him. He spins around, punching me in the face. I stumble backward and he comes after me for more.

Stop! I shout in my mind, making the guard hesitate. You will leave this building this instant. Go home and start looking for another job.

"I will leave," the guard says, his eyes glazing over. "I think I'll start looking for a different job." The guard turns around and opens the door. As he walks out, I tell him one last thing.

This time, don't work for a homicidal maniac. He nods and walks out, leaving Jessica standing in the doorway, looking at me in confusion.

"He's leaving."

"What was he doing in here?" Jessica asks, coming in.

"I'm guessing Dr. Fergus had the great idea to shred everything. Probably knows that we are gonna do everything to take him down. Can't leave any evidence behind."

"Well, did he shred anything you need?" I rub my sore jaw and look around. Laying on the ground is a file with Beca's name on it. I grab it off the ground and let out a moan of frustration when I realize that it's empty.

"Looks like he got to it. Fergus probably ordered him to destroy that first. Damn it!"

"It's okay," Jessica assures me. "Let's check his computer. I know that he kept some records on there."

"I didn't even think of that. Let's do it just in case my mom can't get to his files in time."

"Okay, let's have a look. Password."

"Try his name." Jessica shoots me a weird look and I point at the computer. "Just try it." She does and when it works we both laugh.

"Should've known his ego was that big," Jessica jokes and starts searching through the computer.

"I'm going to lay out some of the explosives while you search." Jessica gives me a nod and I grab the pack before heading out. For several minutes, I dart in and out of rooms laying down explosives and rigging the timer. The moment Theo presses the button on his remote, the timer will start and we'll have 15 minutes to get out. After I finish with the explosives, I head back to the office. Suddenly, everything goes dizzy and the hall disappears.

It's replaced with the outside. Cries of war and pain surround me. I blink a few times, but it doesn't help. I must be at the waterfall, or at least mentally. Everything looks shimmery, like I'm underwater. I'm just an observer here and when I see Beca, I wish I could be more.

Beca fights through the crowd, taking down creature after creature. Eventually though, they take over, piling on top of her. Blood covers everything and screams echo, overlapping each other. Dr. Fergus stands in the background, grinning. He knew that his experiments were too strong. From the get go, we never stood a chance.

"Ahh," Beca screams, shoving several creatures off of her. Fur covers her and her features are contorted. She must've partially shifted. Her claws slice through the air as she fights through the crowd. The creatures keep coming and show no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Inhumane growls erupt from her throat as she slams into creature after creature. Her silver eyes seem to glow, making it hard to focus on anything else. A creature lunges onto her back, making her stumble. It reaches around and jams it's claws into her stomach. She gasps and I take a step forward.

"Beca!" Of course she doesn't hear me and instead, drops to her knees. She clutches at her stomach and-

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Suddenly, the clearing is gone and I'm back in the hallway. I glance down, confused by the noise. When my eyes hit the timer, I gasp. Oh shit. He started it. Why would he start it? It couldn't have been that long.

As I run down the hallway, tears stream down my face. In my heart, I know that Beca's not dead, but I feel the pit in my stomach expand. Something horrible is gonna happen and I can't do a damn thing to stop it. I reach the office and bust open the door.

"Jessica, we have to go now."