Walls

23

Abbie knew what to do. If she could get Jonah any closer to her, she might be able to stop him.

But he was still pacing beside the terminal a good two feet away from her. His hands were in his hair pulling them out, and his eyes were burning with rage and anger.

Abbie knew that this was her last chance.

She scanned Jonah's outfit top to bottom - there was a bulge in his pant pockets. It could be a gun. She couldn't take a chance with Jonah. She needed her plan to work.

Abbie swallowed. The lump in her throat did not bulge. Her heart pulsating in her eyes and her ears were heightened by the Acute-X06.

Now or never, she thought, literally.

"You know what, Jonah?" she squeaked.

She did not expect the crack in her voice. But it was enough to get Jonah's attention. He snapped his head towards her, walking over and putting his arms beside her on the armrest.

"Now what is your theory? Do you have some logic about how it is I who killed Ivy?" he spat the words in her face.

To her utter disbelief, it was exactly what she had intended to say. She had believed that it was enough to get him to come closer. And clearly, it was.

"No," Abbie improvised, staring directly into his eyes.

The blue in them reflected her image. She found it eerie that she once thought they were the infinity pools that would be her sanctuary.

"What is it then?" Jonah's teeth bared, exhaling a breath of coffee in her face.

"I don't think you'll agree, but this is as far as how long I'm going to tolerate you."

With that, she jammed her knees into his crotch. The sheer force of the move snapped whatever it was around her wrists in half.

The shock in Jonah's eyes, before they pinched shut in pain, was priceless. Abbie could feel the heightened muscle strength and agility in her body. The Acute-X06 was working just fine.

She dashed forward to the terminal that had a "Press enter to install" message flashing on the screen. She pounced on the desk as her finger slammed into the enter key.

Abbie heard approaching footsteps behind her, growing louder and louder like the pitter-patter of rain. She spun around to face Nathan holding a gun towards her head.

"Oh Abbie, you should not have done that," he said, his face twisted in a sour expression.

A shot echoed in the air. Abbie ducked as fast as she could, her adrenaline pumping faster than ever.

There was no pain.

The world shifted to a blur. Abbie pried her eyes open, taking in the scene before her. But it took a second for her to realize that Nathan was clutching his stomach, slithering to the floor - he was shot.

Abbie snapped her head towards Elias, who was standing over a writhing Jonah and the latter's gun in his hands.

Of course. Abbie had forgotten that once she hit enter on the terminal, it reactivated all chips, including Elias'

"I swear it's not the Acute-X06. My aim was spot on from day one," Elias smiled at Abbie.

She rolled her eyes, turning around to the terminal to notice the message flashing on the screen that the install was complete a few seconds ago. Abbie prayed that it had reset all the other agents as well.

But, judging by how Elias was pulling both Jonah and Nathan to the elevator all on his own, Abbie was sure that the reengineering worked just fine.

"Come on, Abs, we need to sort this out and get back to our engagement celebrations that took years to plan," Elias shouted over his shoulder.

Her heart recognized the feeling - the flutter in her stomach when Elias called her 'Abs'. It was his nickname for her. He had insisted on calling her 'Abs' when it was universal knowledge that Jonah used to call her 'Abbie' - Elias had not wanted a name to remind her of Jonah.

Her hand shot to the little tattoo under her engagement gift - the pretty pendant. She now remembered why it was still a J - she had gotten it tattooed to convince herself that Jonah was the one, and whatever weird thing he did, he would always be the one.

Elias had wanted to turn it into a stylistic E - by himself. Which meant Abbie had to stomach the feeling of seeing the letter 'J' on her skin, and be reminded of Jonah each time she saw it, until Elias practiced how to tattoo a person without killing them - especially with his heightened strength.

She smiled. Elias was very extra sometimes - but deep down, she knew the wait was worth it.

Abbie heaved a long sigh, deciding that she needed a cool bath to calm her body. With a smile on her lips, she followed Elias to the elevator.