"Wait a sec. We are free." I pointed out.
"That can mean one of two things: I accidentally killed the people who were controlling us, or they went to get more people. Come on, let's check it out." Mike suddenly whispered. He led me back to the forest. Leaves bustled when we brushed them away from our faces. Trees lined up side-by-side, bushes befriending them. Sod sprinkled the ground, free of debris other than some dead leaves. My knees buckled un- expectantly. Damp soil broke my fall and stained my side.
"Are you okay?" Mike mouthed. Pain seared up my tainted leg. I twisted to glance at him. No, I am not okay. There is nothing with me or in me that is okay. You would honestly think that he would know that by now. My eyes filled with tears, never able to force the pain out of the emotional concoction brewing in my heart. Mike dove right next to me.
"What are you doing?" I mouthed, a bit annoyed.
"Look through the bushes." He mouthed back, violently pointing his finger over me. Sighing, I turned my head. My eyes widened: ten men, all the same man, obtained weapons of all sorts. Synchronized hand signals bombarded my sight. I snapped back to Mike, who was still staring at me. His face contorted into a questioning glance. I didn't know what to say, or should I say mouth.
"I think…" I mouthed, but stifled myself. Creaking of the hard wood distracted everyone outside. My eyes crept to see what is going on above my head. A hand shaped object slid off of the branch. I cocked my head to the side. Before I was focused enough to see the reality of what it was, a body came crashing against me. A sharp, stinging scream pierced the humid air, coming from my meager lungs. A mucky hand slapped onto my mouth, silencing my shrieks. I dug my nails in the mud, the cool feeling calming the shivers running through my arms. A dead man hovered over me, blood drizzling from the infliction of the gruff man. One drop of blood came face to face with my eye, my new focal point.
"Renee, Renee, look at me." Mike whispered, cupping my chin with his hand. Breathing came out of me, short and shallow. I faced him very closely and gulped. His eyes expressed a deep sense of security and reassurance. A smile formed on his cut up face, glowing in the darkness that cloaked our lives. Like never before, my breathing became normal. The intense shaking and anxiety vanished.
"Push the guy away." He instructed. I slightly moved my hand, sending the dead man smashing through the leafy abyss.
"Listen to me. Things are going to get very bad. You must not stop holding my hand. I have to let go of you for only a couple of seconds, okay? I have no make sure none of us are visible." He rolled onto his chest and inched towards the bushes. A thought bothered me. Why can't we hear the men? Shouldn't they be searching for us? Out of the blue, shooting had started in random directions. I tried flattening to the ground even though I could not be any flatter. Mike's hand attached to my ankle in fright. Hundreds of bullets sped through us.
"Mike!" I motioned to him. He lifted up his hand from the back of his neck.
"Let go of me for five seconds." I raised my voice in the sounds of gunfire.
"But-" He tried.
"Just trust me." I demanded. He shook his head, but obeyed. The men did not stop shooting and a sense told me it would just get worse like Mike had said. I took a deep breath and paid attention only to the deafening sound of shots being fired. Another sickening scream tumbled out of my throat. A deeper groan followed and Mike's hand found its way to my ankle. Did he get shot too? Or did he catch on to my plan of playing dead? Five bullets lodged themselves in my heart, stomach, throat, leg, and arm. Blood spurted from my mouth, and I coughed and coughed.
"S….." I attempted to tap him on the shoulder. Mike stayed down, but half opened his eyes. The wounds closed everywhere, except the wound on my throat took the longest. Bullets plopped to the ground. I scooped them up and lay on top of them.
"Stay down and play dead." I cleared my throat to barely whisper. There was no time to waste. As soon as the firing started, it had stopped. The crunching of boots on the dead grass forced me to twitch in the oddest manner.
"God please let my plan work!" I prayed to myself. One large man's silhouette shadowed over me. He kicked me in the side and rolled me over to see my eyes. I went limp and allowed my weight to plant my face into the mud. A sharp blade shoved itself into my back. Pain rippled straight into my spine, but I was determined not to reveal my life to this man. My breath escaped me, leaving me more pain than one could imagine. The dog tag of the man hit my ear: he is going to Mike. Oh no! The breath had refilled my damaged lungs, yet I still could not breathe. The sound of a sharp blade squishing in and out of flesh disrupted the short peace. No more, no less.
"Traitor." The man growled and spat. My mind could not take this anymore. With my eyes closed, my mind spun around not willing to stop. My head pounded with every minuscule bug landing on my healed body. My hand reached for Mike, but went limp, splashing the mud. I blacked out, Mike by my side, alone in the blood stained soil.
"Mike…" I coughed, blinking away the mugginess. Nothing stirred.
"Mike?" I spoke up. I picked myself up, the sod sticking to my arms and hands. Sniffing, I get to my knees. Mike was spread out on the ground, his chest barley moving. His face blank and his eyes closed.
"Wake up Mike! Come on." I whimpered, twisting to him.
"M…" He croaked. I placed my hand on the hole in his abdomen that is pouring his soul out of his body. Tears flowed out from my hurt eyes like wax onto Mike's plump lips. Where was the sword wound? My eyes followed the new traces of blood to his leg. There is only one way for me to save him. But where am I to find out about these panels?
"Listen to me. You are going to be okay and you will complete what you have sough to do." My voice became stern. I have no way of knowing if he could hear me, or if I had already lost him. My mind is not in the right place and it will never be until I see my dad. I scrambled to get my sweater off, jamming the zipper more than once. I stuffed Mike's arms through the sleeves. Goosebumps formed on my arms, nervousness blurring my vision.
"Renee!" Alex yelled.
"Alex?" I called back aloud.
"Over here!" Alex exclaimed.
"What?" I turned around. A tall, well-built guy stood behind me, out in the open of the brittle compound. I could feel my tear soaked cheeks blushing in the sight of this lifesaver. I stood in stance, my shivering breaths puffing out in the pre winter atmosphere. Silence snatched our voices away.
"Mike… He…" I stuttered though my tears. Alex's jacket crumpled as he bent down, taking a look at the half dead body.
"Do you think—" The question took only a light breath. He peered into my eyes.
"I don't know any of it. There are only two ways to find out if you can transfer your powers temporarily by the panels. First is your father, but you know that is out of the question right now. The second is going to the small part of the medium building, the part with the most powerful mutants, contains the information we need." He walked over to me.
"What do you mean?" I rubbed my arms, furious.
"H-he is being interrogated right now." He wiped his mouth.
"How?" I yelled.
"Sh! Calm down! I am trying my best to make the interrogation have the least amount of pain for your father." He covered my mouth.
"Mmmm!" I mumbled through his hands, slamming my fists to my side, throwing a tiny fit.
"I need you to be quiet or this will not work. Do you have a convincing accent?" He let go.
"Do you know what happens when you freeze glass then heat it up?" I said in an Irish accent.
"That is great! Now we need to change what you are wearing… Make your jeans a pair of shorts. Here." Alex gave me a dagger. Heavy and warm to the touch, I sliced the fabric to my knees and yanked the rest of the scraps of jeans off of the edge. I tossed them to the bushes.
"Okay. Your shirt is different because we only saw you with the sweater on... Your hair! Go… Go put mud in your hair." He gestured.
"Why?" I was afraid to ask.
"I am just going off of each idea, but you could be part animal for your ability. And now that I think about it, the panel is going to turn off your ability, so they won't know your real ability." He explained.
"Okay, but wouldn't the panel turn me back to normal if I was part animal." I took the wet soil and smeared it on my curly blonde hair, making the curls straighten.
"No, it is more complicated than that. You need a background story and a reason to come here. The panels will not be changed to let you have your abilities until they think you are telling the truth." He stuck his neck out to make sure we were not watched.
"Give me a sec… So my name is Helen Walsh. I am from Ireland, but my parents abandoned me and I went with my grandfather to America. He brought me here, but was killed by humans for being a mutant. You recruited me, noticing me on your watches in the evening." I looked at my watch. Seven in the evening.
"That will work." He led me to a medium building.
"How is this going to work, you can still tell this is me. I am never going to save them" I moped. Alex halted and took my hand. He reached into his back pocket, and a fist appeared. He placed his fist onto my palm, letting a small metallic object fall into my hand. I clasped my hands closed, and then opened them back up. A black stretchy string looped around a small, plain silver ring.
"What is this?" I looked up to him.
"This ring belonged to my grandfather when he was very young. He is still alive today, but he wanted me to have it. He never told my why, but I wear it anyway. It is like a good luck charm. Anyway, I can distort what you look like in the guard's eyes. I just need the cosmetic basics of your changed appearance first." He smiled. I grinned back and tied the necklace close to my throat. Another thing was gnawing at my memory.
"Hold on. What do we do about Mike in the mean time? We can't just leave him here." I panicked.
"I'll take care of him." A gentle, familiar voice breathed. I jumped around to see Serenity sitting on the ground holding Mike. I let out a puff of air, but stayed where I was.
"But… You … Then…" I stammered. I was so surprised, so happy; no words could come out of my mouth.
"Don't worry. It is a very long story; I will explain it when we are finished here. Now go." She spoke. I trusted Mike with her and left with Alex.
The walk didn't last long at a brisk pace. Alex silently reminded me to be quiet until I am spoken to. We approached a fairly clean building that had a sense of brutality about it. A girl about my age stood guard, her eyes tracing me, head to toe. A smug look appeared on her face.
"Aren't you cold?" She smirked. Actually, I was very cold when I thought about it. Shivers ran through my body, numbing my fingers and toes.
"No." I lied, keeping an equal expression.
"I need to talk to Spud." Alex stepped in front of me.
"What? No hello?" The girl put her hand on his shoulder. Alex flicked her hand off in a flash, clearing his throat.
"Of course no hello. There is no time for what is happening tomorrow." He coughed.
"Fine. Here you go your majesty." She mocked him, bowing before him. The girl parted her hands and the metal crunched open instead of opening the door.
"Thank you." He grabbed my hand and led me to a warm scented place inside. The "door" shut, but a spike cut my arm.
"Crap!" I mumbled under my breath.
"Sh!" Alex shushed me. I nodded even though I wanted to do other wise. A hallway revealed itself and opened into a large room filled with the smell of meat and cheese.
"Alex, my brother!" A chubby man sat on his throne. His face looked an awful lot like Alex's and he was clothed with a dark blue coat. His fatty arms swayed welcoming his brother home.
"Brother!" Alex slumped over to Spud and shook is hand. Brother?
"Who is the beautiful young lady?" Spud peeked over Alex's shoulder.
"That is—" Alex was cut off by the hand motion of his brother.
"She can speak for herself." He smiled. How can this man be torturing my father?
"My name is Helen Walsh." I put the angry thought aside, remembering that I am supposed to be Irish.
"Come here dear and tell me your story." Spud bellowed. I gingerly stepped towards the large man, shrinking away when he took my hand and kissed it.
"I am from Ireland where my parents abandoned me because I am a mutant, just like many other stories you have heard. My grandfather brought me here to America, but he was killed for being a mutant. Alex found me in one of his evening watched and told me you could help me." I gulped. The beady eyes of the man gazed at me with such pity. I stood up straighter, breathing deeper and tried to think of a song.
"Poor thing. My name is Spud. I am not a mutant, but soon I shall be the most powerful mutant. You see, we, the mutants, will rise up and fight, destroying cities and lives, taking over the world. Essentially." Spud tried getting up, hugging me. What a sick man. Alex tapped his fingers against the chair, nervous sweat falling from his head. I felt my stomach churning, food coming up my throat.
"How are you going to do this?" I asked, still keeping the accent.
"That is another story. Let us go on. What is your ability?" Spud walked me to a table. Other mutants just observed, smiling a creepy grin.
"I am a toad, but I jump very high and can walk on water." I cleared my throat. The "king" gestured to me to sit down, snapping his fingers.
"Get me some food for the lady… Helen, would you mind doing a series of tests for me?" His hot breath shook my plastered hair. Steaming hot meat and potatoes floated to my side and set itself down with ease. My hand shook, taking a bite. Water formed in my mouth and the rough texture rubbed my tongue. My stomach accepted this meal with hunger. Gratitude must have shown on my face with a smile.
"Good! The fist test is how loyal you will be with me and if you really do trust me. The first part of the test is bathing in ice water for four hours. You will have to trust me that you will not die. The second part is killing a prisoner for me." His laughter echoed in my mind.
"When do we start?" I patted my hair.
"Right now." Mischief sparkled in his eyes.
"Alex, escort her to the ice tub, and if she tries to get out of the tub, kill her." Spud continued.
Alex wrapped me in a blanket and put his arms around my shoulder the whole time. My heart seemed to have leaped out of my chest. I can't kill an innocent person!