3.9
I'd only made it two steps inside before Leo tackled me from behind. I fell hard, cutting my chin open on the hard floor, and tried to fight back, but his hand slammed against my neck, and I let out a silent scream. It burned. He was burning me.
"Le-Leo - Leo, stop -" I gasped out, cringing and trying to twist away from him.
"Come back with me to Howell and I'll stop," he hissed.
I had no choice but to agree, so I nodded and he pulled me up to my feet. My neck felt like it was boiling. I knew I was lucky Leo hadn't caught my shirt or my hair on fire. That would have hurt a lot worse. I tried to focus on that, but Leo gave me a shove and the thoughts scattered.
Somehow, I had to get Braken and escape this place. Anna was here, too, though I wasn't sure where. I hoped she was okay. She'd somehow gotten away after getting shot. Maybe she could heal herself.
I glanced at Leo when he gave me another shove, and then stood up straighter. I came back because of my own free will. I was not Leo's prisoner.
I noticed that he had fresh bruises and a few cuts across his face. His limp was slightly better, though still heavy. I could easily out run him. His jacket sleeves were rolled up to his elbows - and his elbows were scraped raw and bleeding. My eyes flickered to his wrists, where the scars and scabs were painfully visible. There were a few fresh cuts, too, and I winced when I saw them.
Leo caught me staring and scowled. "Don't look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like you feel sorry for me."
"Oh." I dropped my eyes, and then shook my head. "Sorry."
It took us only a moment to get to Howell, and when we did, I had to take a breath and brace myself. I forced my hands to be still and not shake, but my knees barely supported me. We were in Authorized Access.
The room was dark, both in lighting and in feeling. I felt sick as soon as I walked in, but I tried to hold my head high anyway. I was terrified, but I was ready to finish this.
"You think you're a big strong man, don't you?" Howell said, his voice low.
Before I could answer, his fist slammed into the side of my face and I staggered, my hands flying up to cover my head as stars exploded through my face. I could taste the blood filling up my mouth and spit it out of the floor.
"I should have killed you when I had the chance," he growled, grabbing the back of my shirt and yanking me back up to my feet. "I thought he'd come to you, but instead, you brought everyone else! You've been nothing but trouble, Joel. You're just as bad as they are."
"I'll take that as a compliment," I said with a wry smile.
"Tell me where he is, or I'll make you wish you were dead!" Howell nearly screamed.
"I don't know where Braken is. I'm sorry," I said. "I actually came to see if I could find him here. Someone told me -"
"Get him down on the floor," Howell ordered.
Two soldiers grabbed my arms and quickly pinned me on the floor. I tried to fight back, but their grips were like iron. "I swear I don't know -" I tried to say, but they knocked the breath out of me and I let out a squeal instead.
"Leo." Howell flipped open a switch blade and handed it to him. "Cut him open - preferably his wrists. I have something that will get him talking."
"I ..." Leo glanced at the knife in his hands and bit his lip nervously. "I don't ..." He hesitated again and took a deep breath. "I'm not going to -"
Howell seized the back of his neck and his wrist and pulled him close, grinning like a wolf. "You do everything I say, remember? You'll cut him, because I know how good you are at cutting." He started to laugh, his fingers digging into the scabs on Leo's wrist. The Gifted cringed, his face flushing red.
"Don't say things like that!" I snapped, trying to twist my arms out of the soldiers' grip.
"Or what?" Howell chuckled, slamming his foot into my gut. I gasped in pain and tried to curl up, but the soldiers kept me flat on the ground.
Howell released Leo, and he stumbled and slowly knelt next to me. His hands were shaking and he almost dropped the knife. "I'm sorry, Joel," he breathed.
I started breathing faster and faster as the knife moved closer to my exposed wrist. The suspense was killing me. "Leo, you know I'm telling the truth," I begged.
"I know," he said, squeezing his eyes shut, and then he slashed the knife across my wrist.
It hurt more than I had expected. I let out a shriek and tried to yank my hand away, but he held it firmly in his grip, cutting me again and again. After a moment, I almost became numb. I almost welcomed it. I didn't mind the warm sticky blood flowing into my palm.
"Alright, move," Howell ordered, shoving Leo over and taking his place, a bag of white powder in his hand.
I clenched my fists to drown out the pain and glared at him with as much anger as I could muster. "I swear I'm telling the truth."
"We'll see," he said, pinching a bit of powder and taking it out of the bag.
"Is that salt?" I asked skeptically. I wasn't sure how I managed to sound so brave - or maybe I was just stupid - but I didn't fight it. I needed all the courage I could get.
Howell snorted. "It's much worse than salt."
He tightened his grip on my wrist and rubbed the powder into my gashes, and suddenly my mind went white. That's the only way I could describe it. I let out a strangled scream as white hot agony consumed my entire body, though my wrist was by far the worst. It was like someone had turned the brightness or the intensity up on a screen. I couldn't see anything but a mass of pain.
"Tell me where he is," Howell said, his voice nearly drowned in the blood roaring in my ears.
"I swear I don't know!" I screamed, my voice cracking. I knew I had to be sobbing, but I couldn't feel it. I wasn't thinking clear enough to come up with a believable lie.
"How unfortunate." He and the soldiers released me, and I quickly curled up, hugging my wrist against my chest. The searing hardly faded. "Stand up, Joel. I have one last thing to say."
He gave me a sharp kick to the ribs and I dragged myself to my feet, hoping to avoid anymore pain. I could barely stand.
"Here, Leo," Howell said, handing him his gun. "Kill him."
Leo's eyes widened. "Wh-what?"
"Shoot him. Kill him."
"Leo, please, no," I whispered, barely able to see him though the white blur of agony. I took a step backward and staggered, my hand against my heart. "Don't do this. I'm your friend. Please."
Leo held the gun up with both hands, though he was shaking, almost completely out of control. Howell stepped behind him and grabbed his waist with one hand, steadying the gun with the other. "What are you waiting for, Leo? Kill him."
His finger hovered over the trigger, but the terror and doubt was written plainly across his face. "Leo, please, listen to me," I breathed. "I'm your friend."
"No one is my friend," he said, his voice cracking.
Then the door burst open and someone screamed. "LEO!"
Without even taking a breath, Howell jerked Leo around and fired the gun three times. I staggered as if I'd been shot, but he wasn't aiming at me. Instead, the bullets slammed into the wall, missing their target.
Braken lunged for Howell and tackled them from the side, catching them both off guard. Their fight lasted only a second, as he was thrown off and hit in the face with the barrel of the gun. He quickly scrambled to his feet and stood in front of me, his arms out. He wasn't wearing his hoodie, and the bandages across his back were slipping off. He'd been in a fight before this.
Howell stood up, his lips forming a tight line. "How nice of you to join us."
"D-d-don't touch - don't touch him," Braken growled. His voice was raspy and hoarse, like sandpaper.
"You can talk?!" Leo yelped.
Howell fired his gun into the floor as a warning and he went quiet. "I thought I told you, freak," the man hissed. "You are never to speak in my presence." He smiled morbidly. "I can't believe you've forgotten the rules. Not with all those reminders left on your body."
Braken went completely rigid. "I - I said - I said, d-don't touch him."
The man signaled and the two soldiers rushed forward. Braken's eyes flickered between the two and he jerked forward, grabbing the first by the neck and disintegrating him before he could even make a sound. The second nearly shot him, but Braken was quicker and managed to squeeze his wrist and kill him before the gun went off.
"Don't be difficult," Howell said, raising his gun.
"Y-you - you're afr - you're afraid of - of - of me, aren't you?" Braken said softly, slowly staring toward him. Howell hardened his glare, but he backed up just slightly. Braken smiled, but it seemed to darken the room. "You're a c-coward. A - a - a t-terrified, path-thetic coward."
Leo quickly scrambled across the room to join me on the other side. He was shaking - he was terrified of this new side of Braken. I shifted a little closer to him.
"How dare you call me a coward?" Howell growled. His hands had started to shake.
Braken laughed a little. He was almost close enough to grab him. "You're afraid - afraid of - of - of your own s-son!" he nearly screamed.
I think I shrieked, or at least made some strange noise, and Leo hit me to make me go quiet. He was Howell's son.
The door opened slowly, and timidly, Anna stepped into the room. "I think I -" She immediately froze when she saw us. I almost cried. She was alive. She was okay.
Braken glanced at her, and then returned his gaze to Howell. "You-you're too afraid to - to kill - to kill me." Before any of us could react, he took off toward Anna, hands outstretched.
"Braken, no!" I screamed, trying to run to her, but Leo held me back.
"Don't you dare!" Howell roared, throwing his hands out. Suddenly, everyone froze. I couldn't move - I could barely breathe. Braken was completely frozen in place.
"What's going on?" Leo whispered.
Howell looked as though he was frozen, too. He stared at his outstretched hands in confusion and awe. Slowly, he let his eyes wander around the room. Only me, Braken, and Leo couldn't move. Anna stumbled backward, her eyes wide and her hands against her heart. I noticed that her shoulder was still bleeding, though not as bad. I guess she could heal herself.
All of these people were Gifteds, too. Gifteds weren't really as strange as everyone thought they were.
"Howell," I managed to say, my voice barely coming out. "Howell, you're one of them."
"I am not!" he roared, whirling on me.
Instantly, I felt my chest tighten. I really couldn't breathe. I couldn't even move my eyes. I thought I should be panicking, but I couldn't think fast enough to process it.
"Time," Leo said, as if from far away.
"What?" Howell demanded, releasing me. I sucked in a huge breath of air and collapsed to the floor, grasping at my chest as if that would make me breathe normally again.
"That's your Gift," he said softly. "Time. You can freeze it." He glanced at Braken and Anna. "And them - your ... your kids -"
"They are not my children," Howell growled, and Anna flinched as if she'd been slapped across the face. Braken was still frozen, red faced and furious.
"You helped them become this way." Leo stumbled back as Howell marched toward him, but he didn't stop talking. "You and their mother. Not just her. It's your fault, too. Anna can turn back time to heal, and Braken speeds it up to age someone to death. And now you're one of them, and -"
He cut off as Howell reached out, grabbing with that invisible force - his Gift. Leo's face went purple almost immediately, and he started to shake. He could still move, but for some reason, he couldn't breathe. Howell was somehow stopping time in his body, in his lungs.
"And now I'm one of them," he screamed, "and I am going to rip you apart!"
Braken suddenly collapsed, but Howell didn't seem to notice. The small Gifted hauled himself back to his feet, coughing as he struggled to catch his breath, and staggered toward the man, but he wasn't fast enough.
"Anna, do something!" I cried.
"Like what?" she whispered.
"Anything!"
And then something dark and pointed like an arrow shot through the open door and slammed into Howell's shoulder. He let out a scream of rage and dropped his hands, and the time spell was broken. Leo crumpled to the floor, unconscious and barely breathing.
"You promised you wouldn't hurt us," Varien said from the doorway.
"Yeah, well, I lied." Howell ripped out the shadow arrow and threw it off to the side. "And I'm going to kill you all! Every last one of you!"
"He's cracked," Varien said, rather casually.
I finally managed to stand up, just in time to see Howell lunge for Braken. He grabbed a long metal stick on the way - I noticed now that there were rows of strange weapons against the wall - and slammed into him full force. Braken fell over backwards and yelped as the fat man landed on top of him, the stick pressed against his throat.
"Disintegrate it!" I shouted, but he didn't seem to hear me. His knuckles were white as he grasped the stick, but nothing happened.
"Come on," Varien said, running into the room. He scooped up Leo as if he was weightless and came toward me. "We have to get out of here."
"But what about Braken?" I asked as he shoved me forward.
"Leave him. He'll be fine."
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top