The Portal Effect

Chapter 28

Jessie had to hold me from breaking through the vent while McFay watched with hatred at the video. Chaos erupted as people began to argue. I heard some say the video must have been altered, as I was no murderer. The two people I had eyes for were Cody and Keegan. I was relieved to see Keegan was glaring at his father, as he had seen me with blood on my hands and clothes.

"Please, let there be silence in the hall." Solace called over the people. When I looked at Cody, however, I saw hurt and confusion cross his face. I felt a sense of despair. A tear fell down my cheek as the man I thought could be an ally twisted the truth.

McFay was the first to pull us along as people began rising and running back through the doors. It was essentially a witch hunt.

We crawled through the vents as quietly as we could, trying to find a space where we could exit without getting caught. It took nearly six minutes before we found an empty hall and quickly evicted ourselves into the hallway. We started running as footsteps echoed down the hall. But before we could get anywhere, a loud bang echoed behind us, and Jessie fell hard. McFay and I ran back to her.

"Leave me! I won't be responsible for your capture!" she hissed, clutching her thigh. Blood pooled around her, but it was not an arterial bleed luckily.

"Uh-uh. I don't leave my people behind." I said firmly.

"Harley, if there is one of us who can make a change and tell people the truth about the beasts and the Gates and portals, it is you. You have the most influence here. GO!" McFay snapped. I felt tears fall down my cheeks, and I closed my eyes before taking off.

The downside to where we had exited the vents was that we were on the second floor. I could hear the soldier chasing me, yelling for me to stop. I could hear gunfire in other halls as some people tried to stop the soldiers from finding me. Hope welled up, but I felt dismay at the same time. People were willing to die to protect someone who by all accounts was a murderer. Someone they might not even know.

Bullets flew past me, miraculously missing me by a mile each time. Up ahead, I saw a window and groaned as I realized there was nowhere else to go.

"STOP! You have nowhere else to go!" yelled the soldier chasing me. I could hear more footsteps behind him and decided I had no other choice but to jump out of the window. I picked up my pace as much as I could, hurling myself out of the window. The glass shattered on impact, something for which I was grateful.

If it had been normal glass, I would have been a pancaked mess. Even as I flew through the air, I realized I might become a pancake anyway. Yet another miracle played in my favor as I landed in a pile of leaves. Getting up quickly, I sprinted across the grass and to what I hoped to be a possible exit from the base. Realizing I'd need to catch my breath before diving into the water, I searched for a place to hide.

Around the base people were becoming active and lights flew on. I managed to disappear into the area past the current light grid before I was spotted. I did not realize how big this island was until now.

After nearly thirty minutes of corner hopping and ditch diving, I made it to the edge of the island. But before I could make it to a suitable recovery spot, someone called my name.

"Harley! Over here!" called a familiar voice. I looked around until I saw a faint light flicker. I quickly hurried over and found Kaia and Keegan sitting in a vehicle hidden to the side of a building.

"How did you guys know I'd be here?" I asked as I tried to regain my breath.

Keegan chuckled before explaining that coincidentally this was the only section of the island coast that was not monitored. Kaia was dropping him off here to see if he could find me.