Chapter Fourteen

"An amusement park?" I asked.

Keros nodded as we approached the boardwalk just on the other side of the city, jutting right into the ocean. Atop the wooden boards was exactly what I would expect of an amusement park, according to my textbooks anyway. Huge rides from a ferris wheel to a roller coaster, several dozen little tents full of games and food that filled the air with a rich deep fried scent. Lots of people, loads of laughter and joy rippling through the crowd. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before.

"Whoa," I managed at the sight of it. Keros smiled.

"Ready to check it out?" He asked. I nodded absently, still awed by the actual size of it in person. I followed Keros as we checked in at a front desk and entered the amusement park.

"What'd you want to do first?" Keros asked as he adjusted his wristband. I looked at the flimsy piece of bright purple paper on my wrist before looking up at Keros, amazed.

"I have no idea," I admitted, "You pick." Keros inclined his head, then surprised me when he took my hand and led me to the arcade tent.

We entered into a world of video games. There were hundreds of games to play, from shooting games to claw machines, even a virtual reality set. I couldn't even guess which one to play first, but thankfully Keros took over and led us to a shooting game. It took a few to set up, but once we got into it, it wasn't bad. I wasn't good at the games at all, but thankfully neither was Keros. We jumped from game to game before we headed out and decided to try the rides.

The rides were my favorite part of the park. Especially the fast ones. I could tell Keros wasn't a huge fan of those ones, though, because he tensed whenever we were locked into the ride, but he didn't complain at all the whole time, even when I asked to ride the roller coaster. The roller coaster was the best! It gave you that exhilarating near death experience without the actual death part, which was pretty fucking great. By the time we finished riding, I realized we hadn't actually eaten anything and it was dinner time.

"Let's grab something to eat. Want to sit down or try fair food?" He asked, gesturing to the little carts nearby with vendors selling finger foods.

"I want to try all of it," I said, staring at a huge corn dog-like thing in someone's hand as they walked by. Keros nodded. We hit up a few of the little kiosks for food, going from deep fried stuff like Oreo cookies to exotic things like spicy fried squid. There were so many different kinds of food, but I settled on seafood as a special favorite. There was something so special about it, especially when it was fried or breaded. There was no seafood back at the compound, unless you counted canned tuna. So it was a delicacy I wasn't used to, and I loved it.

Eventually we ended up finding a sit down restaurant, because the fair food wasn't enough to fill me up.

"It's so weird to be able to eat this much," I said, spearing a piece of crab on my fork, "Usually I'd have been forced to stop after that first donut." Keros looked at me.

"They didn't feed you?" He asked. There was a note of anger to his voice.

"They fed us," I said quickly, "Just... the normal amount. They never let us gorge ourselves." Or rather, they never let me gorge myself. I was restricted because of the baby fat that refused to go away. Even if it left me still hungry and aching inside. I had to maintain an appropriate weight in order to be lethal in a fight.

"I wouldn't call eating a meal and some snacks gorging," Keros replied dryly, "Eat as much as you want. Don't let me, or anyone, stop you." I smiled at that, looking down at my food, feeling a giddy wave of delight at being told I could do what I want. Because I'd never been allowed to before.

So I took advantage of that and ate as much as I wanted.

The best part was that Keros didn't shame me or look at me odd for eating so much. He ate as much as I did right alongside me and I loved it. I didn't feel self-conscious. I felt... alive. Real. Normal.

"You're beautiful when you smile," Keros said suddenly, making me blink and look up. I felt heat rush into my cheeks.

"How can you say things like that," I said, making Keros cock his head curiously, "I mean just... I'm not used to it, sorry. It's still something I have to wrap my head around." Keros studied me for a moment, then shrugged and looked back down at his food.

"I'm honest," he replied, "You can always count on me to tell you the truth." I paused at that, because there was an odd note to his voice, almost like he wasn't sure he believed himself. I looked up curiously, but he had dropped his eyes. I opened my mouth to ask him what that was about when a strange sensation began to tingle up my spine. I narrowed my eyes and dropped them to my food.

I reached out with all my senses to pick up on what was giving me a bad feeling. I couldn't pick anything up, but I couldn't shake that feeling either.

Someone was watching me.

And they were not a friendly.

I glanced up to see if Keros had picked up on it, but he was preoccupied with eating his pasta without flinging it everywhere, which almost made me smirk.

I took a chance and glanced around the room. Tons of people filled the restaurant at the tables, laughing and chatting away without a care in the world. Soft music played from speakers mounted on the walls, huge floor to ceiling windows looked out over the boardwalk and amusement park. It was dark outside now, but there were so many lights on outside that it lit the boardwalk up like it was daytime. I studied the people passing by the windows outside, scanned each and every one of them from head to toe, when I got that chilling sensation again on my right shoulder.

I snapped my head around and saw something disappear around a corner near the restrooms.

"Hey," I said, making Keros look up, "I'm gonna run to the bathroom real quick." Keros nodded. I got up and headed toward where I'd seen the shadow disappear. I stepped into the small hallway to the restrooms, but there was no one there, but a couple of old fashioned telephones and a little table with a flower on it. I made my way toward the restrooms, opening one of the doors and ducking inside.

There was a guy washing his hands at the sink, who glanced up at my entry, then proceeded to ignore me as he dried his hands and walked past me for the exit. I watched him go, then turned back to scan the stalls and the little halfway that separated the urinals from the rest of the bathroom. I approached the half wall and looked behind it, but saw nothing.

That was fucking weird.

I swore I saw someone--

"You really thought you could sneak away?" A voice breathed against my ear. I stiffened as the air shifted behind me and a second later, something cold was touching my neck, pinching the skin just enough to let me know a blade was cutting against my skin. I could feel the bead of blood run down my chest.

I recognized the voice after a moment.

"Four," I muttered, disgusted by who'd they sent to kill me and Thirteen.

Four was another artificial, with obviously higher clearance than I had originally thought if he was allowed outside the compound on his own. Unless...

"That's right," Four murmured against my ear, making me tense, "Right about now, there should be a team descending on that cute little rich bitch castle to kill that brat you call a brother." I gritted my teeth and felt my arms twitch in the need to attack, but the knife at my throat cut deeper and I went still again.

"Any last words before I slit your throat and watch your corpse drop next to a fucking toilet?" Four sneered. I rolled my eyes up to glare at the ceiling, caught a reflection of Four in the reflective tiles on the ceiling. Still six foot five of solid asshole, Four was still as bulky and muscular as I remembered. He always failed agility courses back at the compound. He was just too big to move fast enough. He probably couldn't scratch his own damn back with how thick his muscles were. And he prided himself on it, something he was going to regret very soon.

"Yeah," I said slowly, "You're about to kiss that toilet seat." Four scowled, then cursed as I dropped abruptly and he swung the knife to slice my throat, only to miss and nearly cut himself. He jumped back to put space between us, but he just wasn't fast enough. I swung my leg around and knocked his legs right out from underneath him so he fell in a heap, the knife spinning across the floor and skidding to a stop over a drain.

I bolted for it, snatching it up at the same time Four spun himself up onto his feet again to face me. He smirked as I turned on him with the knife.

"You really think you can take me? You're nothing, but a human created in a test tube," he sneered, advancing on me slowly. I noticed the flicker of static between his fingers, and knew he was charging up a spell to attack me. I felt a smirk spread across my lips.

I didn't fall for his mind games, and charged at him with the knife. He threw a blast at me, which I ducked and dodged to the side, slashing the knife out at his arm. He barely managed to avoid it and swung his arm around to hit me, but I ducked and took the knife, jamming it right up into his kneecap.

His scream morphed into a roar of rage as he realized what I'd done and he lunged for me, but I rolled out of the way and popped back up, bringing my hands together and slamming them down on the top of his back so he was down for the count. I went to kick him in the ribs, but he managed to catch my leg and swung me around into one of the walls.

My breath left me in a hoarse gasp as I hit the floor, wheezing for air.

Four definitely wasn't fast, but holy shit, the fucker was strong. Just a quick grope to my side revealed I had a busted rib. I could feel the bone shifting awkwardly, feel the pain pulsing through me. I struggled to get to my feet as Four yanked the knife out of his kneecap and twirled it, holding it up and aiming it at my head.

I rolled out of the way to avoid his attack and swung myself around, latching onto his back. Four roared once more, heaving himself to his feet, then falling back down on one knee again as I wrapped my arm around his throat.
At the same time, I saw the bathroom door open and close a couple times, obviously someone about to walk in, then having to do a double take at the sight in the bathroom.

The distraction was enough for Four to throw me off his back and I hit the floor, rolled, and hopped back to my feet again, gasping for air as my busted rib screamed at me to stop moving. Four swung around and charged me like the idiot he was. Four always had a temper, and he always attacked out of abrupt mindless rage. I dodged out of the way and he followed me. I kept ducking and dodging as he swung at me, kicked at me, tried to grab my head so he could pop it like a balloon.

Finally I had him where I wanted and I leapt back up onto the toilet seat as he went for me again. I leapt up and caught the top of the stall, swinging myself up and around so my legs were wrapped around his neck.

Four snarled at me, grabbing and ripping at my clothes, trying to find something to grab onto so he could throw me off his shoulders, but I hung onto the stall frame for dear life, keeping my legs tightly knotted around his throat.

At that moment, Keros decided he was going to come into the bathroom to investigate.

"Holy shit," Keros managed. I looked up.

"I'm fine," I told him as Four's struggles became more desperate and frantic, pointless really. He was running out of air and slowly passing out. In just a few minutes, Four's legs were giving out on him and he hit the floor. I lowered myself down with him, using the stall frame for support until I was standing beside Four's unconscious body.

"Are you alright?" Keros demanded. I nodded, then winced as my busted rib decided to remind me that no, no we were not fine.

"Busted rib," I managed, and Keros opened his mouth to speak, but I shook my head, "I can't heal myself very well either. That's why it's not doing anything." Keros gritted his teeth for a moment, then reached out and put his hands over my ribs. I hissed through clenched teeth, then groaned as I felt his magic pulse through my system, rushing to heal the damage. Not only did he knit the bone back together, but I felt him sending out more magic to make sure every bruise and cut from the ordeal was gone.

He stepped back, a bit of sweat dampening his temples from the effort, but overall, he seemed fine as he studied me.

"Who is that?" He asked, glancing down at Four.

"Four," I replied, making Keros look up and arch a brow, "We're artificials created in a laboratory. No one's gonna name us Susan or Kenneth."

"I guess," Keros admitted, then shook his head, "We need to take him in for questioning."

"Don't bother," I muttered, making Keros look at me curiously, "He's not gonna talk."

"You talked," Keros said. I glared at him.

"I did not."

"No, I didn't mean it like that--"

"I don't talk about it because I want to leave it behind," I snapped, "It's not exactly dinner appropriate conversation either. If you want to take him back to wherever, fine, that's your business. He's not gonna talk and once he wakes up, he'll try to commit suicide the same way those people did back at the compound they sent Thirteen." Keros cursed at that, then reached down and took out his phone.

"Hello? Hades? Yeah, it's Keros. We have a situation that requires your immediate attention... No, I mean, like, it's related to the artificials. This has nothing to do with Holly... I'm positive... I'm not lying. Why would I lie?" Keros asked bewildered. There was a long pause on the other line as Hades seemed to consider Keros's words.

A second later, there was a ripple in the air and Hades materialized right near me. I jumped, startled by his sudden appearance and stepped closer to Keros, who sighed and hung up his phone to look up at his grandfather.

"We have a situation," he said, gesturing to Four on the floor. Hades, who appeared this time not in scrubs, but in torn black jeans and a v-neck sweater, dropped his eyes to the body on the floor, a scowl working onto his face.

"Damn, he looks creepily familiar," he muttered, turning and kneeling down on the floor to pick Four's face up so he could study him, "And I mean, like, familial familiar. Like, I'm willing to bet we know who his parents are."

"Genetic carriers," I said without thinking. Keros and Hades looked at me. I averted my eyes.

"Genetic carriers," I repeated, "We're not allowed to call our genetic carriers parents... It's kind of their thing."

"Makes sense," Hades said dryly, letting Four's face go so it hit the toilet seat, "Keeps you from getting close to them, keeps a firm line drawn between you. Except you can call them what you want, and in the end, they created you. Maybe not knowingly, but that did. Anyway, that's not the problem here. Right now, we need to get this kid to a hospital fast. He's not breathing too hot and I want to get that suicide thing sorted out before he thinks about it."

"Just what I was thinking," Keros agreed.

"He's not gonna talk," I said, watching Hades reach out to grab Four by the collar of his shirt, "We're trained from a young age not to talk about the compound, or the Mother."

"I have ways of making people talk," Hades replied. I glared.

"So you do torture people," I stated. Hades looked at me. And for a weird moment, I saw something flicker in those eerie glowing blue eyes of his. It wasn't threatening or evil. If anything, it was almost... distant, like he was somewhere else that wasn't here. I looked at him curiously.

"I do what I need to to protect those close to me," Hades said firmly, that look in his eye disappearing, "But for the record, I'm not gonna hurt the kid. It's not his fault someone shoved a load of bullshit down his throat. Shit like this happens when there's a power hungry psycho on the loose. Like good old times, right?" He turned to Keros, who grimaced.

"You and I both have very different ideas of good old times," he responded. Hades shrugged, then hoisted Four up like a wet kitten, as if he didn't weigh over two hundred pounds of solid muscle.

"I'm gonna take him up to the Peace Headquarters by the capitol. You're welcome to meet me there," Hades said. Suddenly I remembered what Four had said about Thirteen and alarm shot through me.

"My brother," I blurted, "There's others! They sent others to the house!"

"Shit," Hades cursed, then looked at Keros, "Take him to the palace, right now. I'm gonna get this kid over to headquarters. I'll be with you in five." Keros nodded and turned to me. This time, I didn't complain as he put his hand on my shoulder and we teleported from the restaurant by the boardwalk to the palace.

We appeared outside the palace, just in time to see a small fire having erupted outside the kitchen window.

"Thirteen!" I shot from Keros's side and ran to the house, hearing Keros curse behind me and follow.

"Seven, wait! We don't know if--"

I threw open the front door, which apparently hit someone because there was a loud curse and a body hit the floor. I stepped over them, realizing they were an intruder and not one of my family members. Growling, I stooped down and grabbed the asshole by the back of his neck, swinging him around and throwing him up against the wall.

"Where's Thirteen!" I shouted in his face as he choked and coughed for breath.

"Fuck you," he threw back and went to hit me, but Keros caught his arm and pinned it down. I glanced at him to see that his blue eyes were glowing brightly, like a pair of lasers zeroing in on this asshole. He just stared at him, though. Didn't say anything. Just stared before he blinked rapidly, the lights in his eyes going out.

"There's still here," Keros said, making the guy's mouth drop open in surprise and I tensed, "They're still in the house. Akin and Thirteen are in a bunker. Hannibal's taking out the trash. They thought this guy was dead, but he was trying to make an escape." Furious, I picked the guy up and slammed him into the wall again, making him yelp.

"You fucking come here to kill my brother? He's a child!" I barked. The guy glared.

"He's a traitor!"

"He's literally five-years-old!"

"Fuck you, you treacherous worm! May the Mother see you burned in the Source's bowels for your betrayal!" He threw back. My vision flashed red and I bared my fangs, picking him up and slamming him into the wall again. All I could see was Thirteen's face, the fact that he was just a child, just an innocent child, and these assholes thought for one second they could try to kill him?

Fuck these people!

Fuck the Mother!

They had absolutely no right! They had no right to keep us from the outside world, no right to keep us from our parents, no right to take the life of a child! It wasn't fair! They deserved death for their stupid murderous ideals!

"Seven! Seven!" I blinked rapidly, feeling something warm and wet on my face. My vision flickered and suddenly it went from red to normal again... or wait, was it still red? I couldn't tell. All I saw was bright red blood splattered up across the wall. I looked down, following a sleek mark on the wall, realizing I'd killed the guy I'd captured. His head was smashed open and everything lay splattered all over the wall and floor. And my face and clothes.

I looked up to see Keros gripping my arm, like he'd fought tooth and nail to make me stop.

Except it wasn't his voice shouting at me.

I turned to see the King, Akin, and Thirteen standing there, staring at me in shock. Thirteen was standing behind Akin, trembling like a leaf, a little cut on his cheek, tears welled up in his eyes and streaming down his face. Akin and the King looked like they'd been put through the ringer, but aside from some bruises and rumpled clothing, they looked fine.

"Thirteen," I managed, relieved to see him. I started to go toward him, but Keros actually stopped me by tightening his grip and holding me back. I looked at him, bewildered. Suddenly sobbing made me jump and turn to see Thirteen wailing, having sank down to his knees and covering his face. Alarm had me yanking at Keros's grip to go to him, but Keros pulled me back further.

"Don't," Keros warned. I looked at him in surprise.

"What the hell is your problem? Let go of me, he needs me," I exclaimed, jerking at his grasp. Keros tightened his grip and yanked me closer, grabbing my face and forcing me to look at him, to meet those blue eyes that were glowing again.

"He just watched you kill someone," Keros seethed, making me blink rapidly in confusion.

"So? I didn't--"

"Seven, he's five," Keros cut me off. I stared at him, confused for a moment, until it started to sink in and I felt chilled to the bone. I'd just killed someone in front of my baby brother. He'd never seen something like that before in his life.

And frankly, neither had I. I'd never lost so much control before. Oh sure, I had moments where I saw red, but I'd never seen red and only red and nothing else. I'd never completely lost myself in it.

Thirteen's sobs broke my heart. I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I tried to turn to look at Thirteen, to try and comfort him from a distance, but Keros held my face in his hands and refused to let me look. He swept his thumbs across my cheeks, smearing my tears through the blood on my face.

"Hey," Keros said gently, "Hey. Look at me." I blinked rapidly, sniffing back tears as I looked at him.

"What just happened?" I managed.

"You're going to be alright," Keros murmured, stroking my cheeks, "You're going to be alright."