Zero

Chapter 57

Calum's POV

"I have to protect," Molly repeats, talking for the first time since Zara came over to me.

"I know," Luke assures her, still not dropping the forcefield.

"Maxima is strong," Molly is kind of in a daze, "Too strong. I can't win. I had to protect."

"You can beat her," Luke insists, moving a little closer to his sister, "You can Molly. I know you're scared-"

"She likes fear," she nods, seemingly unaware of her own words, "Anger then fear."

"I know," he continues, his voice sad, "I know, Molls, trust me, I get it. She gets you so angry. Twists your feelings into something way worse than they actually are. Then she threatens you, the ones you love. You feel like you don't have a choice but to just give in and follow. You're just so helpless and alone." I'm numb as I listen to his words. This is the first time I've ever heard him talks out what happened with Maxima. Judging by the looks on the others' faces, it's their first time hearing it too. Sierra looks heartbroken.

"Helpless," Molly agrees, nodding slowly, "Maxima wins." The forcefield suddenly drops. Luke gasps loudly, sinking to the ground. A red bloodstain grows on the front of his shirt. He lays motionless on the ground. Maxima is behind him, a knife in her hand. Sierra screams, scaring Zara. I hold her head, blocking her from seeing what just happened. She cries harder in my arms, clinging to me. I stare in horror at the scene ahead of me.

"Daddy," she sobs, "I don't like it." I go to comfort her, only to stop short as Maxima starts to move towards us. She passes Molly, who continues to stand there in a trance.

"Surprise," she cackles, stalking closer to us. Ash, Michael, KayKay, Crystal, Felix, and I back away nervously.

"What did you do?" Sierra screams in agony. She tries to go to Luke. Felix grabs her arm, pulling her back. She sobs loudly.

"What was necessary," she snarls, "Give me the child, and you all can live."

"Go to hell," I snap. She stalks closer. As she does, I feel my panic rising. I don't know if it's because of her powers or because I'm just this terrified. We're fucked, I realize. It's us against a supervillain. Neither Luke nor Molly can save us. She's gonna get Zara and kill us. I nearly vomit at the thought.

Maxima sighs dramatically, "I really don't want to have to kill you all, but I will if you don't cooperate. Just hand over Zara, Calum. You can even come with us. Molly too. You three can be a family." I hesitate, momentarily unable to figure out what's wrong with that. We'd all be together. Maxima doesn't seem so bad-

"Snap out of it," Felix hits me in the back of my head. I blink, suddenly remembering where I am and what's going on. Maxima's eyes narrow in frustration.

"Fine then," she settles, "I'll just kill all of you and take Zara myself." She sobs louder, gripping my tee shirt.

"Run!" Michael shouts. We all scatter, running towards the nearby woods to try to hide. I glance to my side and see that Felix is dragging Sierra along. I look back ahead of me and skid to a stop, falling to the ground. I land on my back, shielding Zara from the fall all together. Molly stands in front of me, her eyes bright red again.  I scramble backwards on the ground, my heart pounding as I search for an escape route. Molly stalks closer to me and Zara.

"Good job, Malice," Maxima praises from somewhere behind me, "Bring me the girl." She takes a step, then freezes completely. I glance back and see Luke holding Maxima in a forcefield now. He's barely able to even keep himself standing as he strains against her. But he's alive. I nearly cry in relief.

"She's cut off from Maxima's control," he shouts to me, "You guys gotta snap her out of this now. I can't hold her for much longer." Maxima screams, hitting her fists against the forcefield. She's completely muted.

"Molly," Felix is breathless as he rushes over, "Molly come on, please. We need you back now. If you snap out of this, I'll dye my hair pink like you want." She doesn't move. I let go of Zara as we both get to our feet. She flings herself onto Molly's body, clinging to her leg tightly as she sobs.

"Mummy," Zara cries, "Mummy, I miss you." Nothing.

"Kiss her, Calum!" Crystal shouts from across the yard, "Sleeping Beauty." I hesitate.

"If you're doing it, it needs to be now," Luke grits out, the red glow around his arms fading slightly. I move forward, grabbing her cheeks. I kiss her, trying to put all of my love for her into that single kiss. I pull away. She doesn't blink. My heart breaks. That's it then.

"Brat," Maxima snarls. I whip my head around to see her now free. Luke's collapsed on the ground, staring up at her in sheer terror. "I suppose I'll have to deal with you first. Such a disappointment." She pulls out a syringe of Mercury, moving towards him. She stabs her arm downwards, driving the needle towards Luke. Sierra screams. A breeze blows past me, nearly knocking me off of my feet. Maxima stumbles forward, falling to the ground. I frown in confusion before I see Molly and Luke standing over by the house.

Her eyes are bright blue.