Chapter Twenty:
"Everyone run and hide!" She screamed and immediately the body of students reacted. They pushed pasted the men guarding the door and into the hallways. Footsteps pounded down the halls as they heeded her command. Ekka turned to run herself, but more men moved to block her way.
One of them pushed her to the ground with his gun, and Mandla stepped forward, enraged.
Ekka scrambled to her feet just as Mandla dove down to grab her. She ran to a man who looked a bit distracted with the escaping students.
Ekka plowed into him, knocking him to the ground. His head slammed against the glossy wood of the gym floor. Ekka yanked the metal band off his forehead, and forced her mutation into him. "Protect me!" She said, out of breath.
The man responded immediately, his fingers growing claws as he fell on all fours. He snarled, ready to fight any and all who approached.
Mandla and his men stepped forward, they all had guns pointed at her and the snarling man. Ekka quickly moved and took the man's gun from him, her shaking, sweating fingers managing to unclip it.
Ekka had only ever held a gun one time, and that was when she tried to shoot herself last year. This gun looked a lot more advanced, she didn't know how to work it.
Ekka looked up and saw Adrian behind Mandla. He rose a gun up high to attack, but immediately the black cat jumped on him, bringing him to the ground. "No!" Ekka cried, standing straight. "No! Leave him alone!"
Mandla rose an eyebrow and glanced over his shoulder at the black lion. "No," Mandla said, amused at Adrian as he struggled.
"Please! I-I will come with you! Please, do not hurt him!" This gave Mandla pause. He turned back to Ekka, an eyebrow raised. "I will!" Ekka said again.
"You will do it now," Mandla said simply.
"Ye-Yes." Mandla smiled and waved his hand. The black cat retreated, but the men beside Mandla moved to hold Adrian.
"No! Ekka! Don't do this!" Adrian said, his eyes wide in terror. Ekka didn't say anything. She walked towards Mandla. Her arms crossed right around herself as Mandla grabbed her shoulder with his big, firm hand.
He motioned to the men beside her and they pulled out a pair of strange handcuffs that looked a bit darker than usual. When Ekka put them on, they felt a lot heavier.
A man touched them, and then then the metal shifted and covered both her hands.
Ekka swallowed hard, keeping her tears from falling down her cheeks. She looked up at Mandla, who was smiling warmly. "Get the car ready," he ordered and a few men nodded, running to bring his car around.
Finally, Mandla looked back down at her, victory evident in his eyes. He moved her head so she could watch Adrian as he helplessly struggled against the men holding him.
"I will teach you many things," Mandla told her. "Today, you learn your first lesson. Never give into weakness." He flicked his hand and both the black cat and the lion pounced on Adrian. They sank their canines and claws into his skin and Adrian yelled in pain.
"No! No!" Ekka screamed, her heart pounding. She could see Fira trying to fight back against the hungry, vicious lions, but she wasn't strong, and one of them got a good bite.
And Father left her to die.
Ekka couldn't do this. She couldn't let anyone else die. Not like this, not if they were innocent. Ekka screamed at the top of her lungs. She screamed as tears ran down her face. She screamed as terror and anger pumped through her veins.
The men holding Adrian sank to their knees, their hands moving as they struggled to desperately take off the metal bands. At Adrain's feet, both animals writhed in pain, and they screeched too.
Mandla took a step back, gripping his head with one hand. "Be quiet!" He growled, his fingernails slowly growing longer. He rose his hand to hit her, but he missed.
Adrian ran towards her as soon as he wss free, pulled her away from Mandla and into his chest. His arms and leg were bleeding heavily, but he didn't complain. Ekka continued to scream in agony as Adrian held her tight and stroked her hair. He shushed softly her, whispering, "It's okay, I'm alright. It's okay, it's okay."
She finally stopped when she heard growling behind her.
Ekka turned, to see that some of the men had ripped the headbands off of their heads. They were growling at Mandla and and the others who were still gasping in pain.
They only stood for a minute before attacking. They jumped on each other, going for their throats as they flailed under them. The men shot at their own in a weak attempt to survive, but it wouldn't help. As long as Ekka wanted them to fight, they would fight.
A small, dark part of Ekka didn't want them to stop. She wanted them to suffer. To feel the pain she felt. To slowly murdered these men who had threatened so many people; who were affilated with her Father.
Before Ekka knew it, she was strategically coordinating an attack. Forcing the men to rip off the headbands that were keeping her mutation from infesting their minds. She wanted them all under her control.
The only way to keep another Father from hurting her was to make sure they knew she could hurt them back. Ekka didn't want to be hurt anymore, she didn't want to be locked away, or suffering, or missing fingers. Ekka wanted to be strong. She wanted someone to pay. This man, this man who claimed to be her father, was simply too convenient. He was going to have to do.
Soon all the men were under her grasp, and Ekka suddenly felt her control slip. A few had branched off to run away, squirm in the ground, or convulsing and foaming at the mouth. Ekka couldn't control them all. She couldn't keep them all here. Her arms trembled and her vision was focusing in and out, but she made it work.
Ekka made the men come forward, several of them detained the black cat and the lion, the rest held Mandla back, who had his hands covering his headband in a desperate attempt to keep it on his head. He didn't want Ekka in his mind.
He didn't have a choice.
The men ripped it off, leaving him vulnerable to whatever Ekka wanted to do to him. She wanted him dead. She wanted him to suffer as she did.
She made him reach to his gun and point it at his fingers. He cocked it, his hand dangerously even. He wouldn't miss.
He took the first shot, mutilating his index finger. He groaned in pain but Ekka didn't move. She smiled softly. They were all going to pay. One finger at a time. This was their punishment.
"Ekka!" Ekka blinked, turning to her side. Adrian was staring at her, his brown eyes wide. She stared back, shocked. Was he scared? Why was he scared? What did she do?
"Who is he for you to stop and wait on him!?" Mandla demanded through clenched teeth, and Ekka turned around sharply. He was sweating but he was grinning at the same time, pride shining through his own torture.
Ekka was losing focus! More of the men had turned away, and began to do other things. "Ekka, please," Adrian begged, moving to stand. He placed a hand on her shoulder. He was using it to clutch his bleeding arm. Ekka swallowed a hard knot in her throat. "You're better than this. You don't have to be like him."
Ekka pressed her lips together, her concentration wavering. Mandla's arm trembled as he slowly tried to regain control of his body. She was going to shoot off all of fingers. Just like Father cut here off. Just like he beat her and hit her and burned her.
If this man, this 'Mandla' claimed to be her Father, Ekka would treat him like her Father treated her. Ekka was going to make him suffer and then she would kill him. "Listen to the weak man. Let me live and see how long he will." This disciplined Ekka even more. She glared at him, and his arm went straight again. He took another shot at his pinkie finger, and Mandla laughed loudly as his control was snuffed out like a candlelight.
Blood dripped to the gym floor, staining the glossy wooden floor red. Just like her own when she lost her fingers. Ekka's eyebrow twitched and her chest constricted. They were all going to die. They were all going to suffer!
Adrian's grip tightened on her shoulder, pulling her away from her dark temptation. "Ekka, if you keep doing this, you'd be just as bad as your father." Ekka froze, her control dropping immediately.
Ekka took a step away from Adrian, her eyes wide. She couldn't become Father. She couldn't be her Father. He was terrible. If she as bad as him would Adrian hate her?
Ekka stared behind him at the blood on the ground. She suddenly saw herself in the Circus, the knife in his hand as he slowly cut her finger off. Blood seeping from the wound like a unleashed waterfall. The appendage hanging from the remnants of muscles as Father sawed through it.
Ekka felt sick. Vomit rose in her throat as she squeeze her eyes shut, trying to get rid of the image. Ekka was not her Father! Ekka was not her Father!
Mandla curled his lip angrily, and he rose his gun, pointing it at Adrian and Ekka. "You are weak!" He snapped, and then fired his gun. Everything else happened so quickly.
Adrian pulled Ekka into his arms, his back to Mandla as he crouched down. The gun went off twice, and a second later there was a thud.
Ekka was shaking for several seconds, but slowly she turned to look behind her.
Mandla was on the ground, face to the side and a gaping red hole at the top of his head. Blood was puddling quickly underneath him, and soaked into the clothes of the men kneeling around him. Bits of pink muscle and skull were scattered everywhere. It wasn't a pretty sight.
Ekka's eyes turned to the stage of the gym. Xavier was holding himself up with one shaking arm. The other pressed firmly against his temple. His gaze was fierce for a minute before softening and he turned to Ekka.
Ekka didn't realize that she was breathing heavily. She didn't notice the tears slipping down her face. Then, she remembered the gun went off twice.
"Adrian!" She cried, pulling away. Adrian was covered in blood, and there was a gaping hole in his shoulder. Adrian smiled gently at her, and Ekka felt tears run down her face.
"Don't worry," he insisted, a stupid smile on his face. "A few cuts isn't going to take me out." Ekka couldn't stop the tears. Her heart was pounding and her hands shaking. He could have been killed. Mandla could have killed him.
She heard the gym door open, and saw someone race towards them. Ekka ducked down before a man fell on his knees in front of them and embraced Adrian and he hissed. Ekka looked up, it was Lucas.
Behind him was Brownie and Blanca, both of them panting and eager to lick Ekka's face. She let out a soft laugh, letting them have their way with her.
When Adrian and Lucas finally finished, Lucas turned to Ekka. She looked at him, and his blue eyes seemed to clear for a moment, as if realizing something important. "Ekka?" He said, his voice a surprise. Ekka couldn't say anything. He laughed and wrapped his long arms around her, hugging her tight. Ekka felt more tears run down her face and she laughed a bit, but they sounded like sobs.
She heard the doors open again, and this time, it was Hank and a man Ekka vaguely recognized. He was gruff looking and had long, sharp knife-like claws protruding from his knuckles. They were very bloody and recently used. Hank also looked a bit worse for wear. His glasses were broken and he was covered in blood. Ekka couldn't tell if it was his own or not.
The man with knives stared at her for a few seconds and Ekka gave him a small smile. She didn't know why she smiled. She just wanted to. The man blinked, surprised, but gave a small one in return.
Hank wheeled in a new wheelchair for Xavier and helped him into it. Once he was settled, Xavier called out. "Ekka?" She turned, and in the same movement, she felt him in her mind and shut her down.
~.•*•.~
Ekka woke up in a familiar, firm bed. She heard someone tapping on a glass window and moaned, turning over. It was bright and she was exhausted. "Ekka? Are you awake?" The voice sounded filtered and unrealistic.
Ekka's eyes snapped open and she was the glass divider of the window between herself and Xavier. She even noticed that it seemed a bit more thick now. Her cell's room was clean, too. She didn't smell the mouldy, dirty smell that she used to. Now, it smelt like bleach and cleaning solutions.
"I understand your want to go back outside, but after seeing what you could do, it is far too dangerous," he explained calmly. "I've wiped both minds of the men you were staying with, so there's no reason to try and go back. With your recent development in your mutation, I believe that if we work on it more, you could have full control of it in at least another year or two. So, if we work hard, we might be able to actually provide help for you."
Ekka didn't blink. She didn't say a word. She didn't even cry. She simply laid back on her bed and turned away from Xavier. "Ekka? Do you understand? We can get you help."
Ekka curled up on the mattress, not looking at the man at all. "I should have killed you when I had the chance," Ekka finally spat, loud enough for the man to hear. Xavier stared at Ekka for several minutes, before turning and leaving Ekka all alone again.
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Just wanted to say one thing before you have to wait another week for the next chapter.
In that scene where Mandla died, I was actualy considering to kill off Adrian too. I flipped a coin to see if he would die and, hey! Now he's still alive! Y'all are lucky lol.
Thanks for reading, I'll see y'all next time, and remember...
Don't melt~!
- Happyritas OOO