9 Lives

Chapter 23, Stranger

When I was going back to the entrance of the hideout, headquarters, or whatever Dougleman calls it, I noticed that the opening was closed. Weird. I left it open when I entered. I smirked and drew my sword. Someone entered after I did.

I looked on the floor and found footsteps too large to be mine and too deep to be old. It was obvious. Too obvious.

"Show yourself!" I demanded.

When I said so, none other than Dougleman himself appeared before me. My eyes widened in shock, and I tensed my muscles. I tried to remain calm, but looking into those emotionless eyes of a murderer, someone who had killed their brother, made me want to tear him into pieces. He said nothing but grinned maniacally.

"I finally have you by yourself, alone with one to protect you. I can kill you now. The power will be all mine."

He lunged at me with his sword, and I ducked to avoid it. I swung my legs to trip him, but he didn't budge. He shoved his foot in my stomach and pressed down hard. I couldn't breathe; I gasped for air that never came. I grabbed his leg and summoned my powers to shock him.

When it hit him, he barked in pain and backed off.

"Not so naive any longer, I see. Where did you find such power? I'll make it mine!" He laughed.

Sparks of lightning flying out of my hand, I lunged at him, aiming for his face. He grabbed my arm and flipped me over. I fell face-first onto the hard ground, my nose pouring blood. I barely got back up on my feet when Dougleman thrust his sword at my heart. I jerked away, grabbed the sword by the tip, and let my power flow into it. Dougleman let go of it like it was on fire, leaving it in my hands. He tried to take it back, but I swung it at him and he pulled his hand back. He kicked it out of my hand and swung a punch at my face. I caught his fist before it made contact with my face and kicked him in the stomach, the kick that sent Jacob flying now sending Dougleman flying into a wall. He bounced off the wall and landed on his feet. He sure was strong, but I wouldn't flatter him. I could feel my power gradually starting to fade. I had to ask about Seph before my powers drained. Without them, I couldn't fight back. I gritted my teeth.

"Where's Seph?" I demanded.

"Your angel friend? Oh, I killed her." Dougleman laughed like a maniac. "She's long gone now."

His words hit me like a ton of bricks. Seph, dead? No. It couldn't be.

"You son of a-" I screamed, but he cut me off.

"I want to take everything I can from you before I kill you. That's how things are." He answered monotonously.

Rage burned my throat and squeezed my heart. Seph didn't deserve to die in his hands. She was always serving others, putting everyone else before herself. This is what she got. Death by a power-hungry swine. I laughed. Just how useless was I? I couldn't keep Luke, I lost Seph, and I almost lost Jacob and Derek. I had no chance against him. But even without my powers, fully knowing that I would lose, I swung my leg and gave him a kick in the face that almost knocked him over. He doubled over and grabbed his face, his nose pouring blood, so I jumped onto his back, knocking him onto the ground. I didn't have the upper hand for long, though. Dougleman grabbed me by the neck with both hands and squeezed with such great force that I couldn't breathe once more and my vision began to blur. He got off the ground, dragging me up with him, still choking me, and drove me into the wall. I closed my eyes, unable to open them again. He was going to beat the crap out of me until I died. He drove me into the wall again, a third time, and another. My body was numb with pain and I could feel the blood dripping from my nose and trickling down my neck. I coughed, trying to breathe, but the air didn't come. He kept driving me into the wall repetitively, and I knew I was going to die. At least I didn't give up. At least I tried to fight him. I hoped that one day, karma would bite him in the ass and give him a taste of his poison. I wanted revenge. Seph's face smiled at me, her musical laugh echoing in my head, visions of her warm hugs and sweet kisses on the cheek. I didn't deserve her. I didn't deserve to have a friend like her. In my head, she was still alive. Even with my whole body numb, my nose pouring blood, and Dougleman beating me up, I smiled at the thought of her. Just a few more hits and I would see her again. A few more hits and I would die. I would reunite with her, Luke, Aron, Derek, and all the rest of my friends in heaven. I failed them all, and that hurt more than dying. I thought of Jacob, whom I failed. I assumed I could bring Seph back to him alive. That hurt. It hurt like hell.

Suddenly, Dougleman stopped driving me against the wall. I plopped to the ground and gasped for air. It was such a relief when it entered my lungs. My eyes shot open. Through my blurry vision, I saw Dougleman battling a cloaked figure. Did one of my friends come to save me? No. When my vision cleared, I saw that the cloak was navy and was much longer than the ones my crew and I wore. The figure and Dougleman were battling with their swords. The figure had very familiar movements. Had Rafael trained them? Who was it? The stranger had the upper hand and knocked Dougleman's sword out of his hand, cutting off his finger in the process. Dougleman flinched and grabbed his now regrown finger. While the stranger was swinging their sword, which Dougleman was avoiding, they also reached into their cloak and pulled out a small pocketknife. I understood what they were doing. While Dougleman was avoiding their sword, he wouldn't notice the pocketknife, which the stranger would use to stab Dougleman. That's just what this clever stranger did; they drove the pocketknife into Dougleman's stomach, who howled and collapsed on the ground. He had a microchip, so he would be fine, but he was visibly exhausted. He dragged himself off the ground, pulled a small silver ball out of his pocket, and threw it on the ground, causing a huge explosion of green color. When the green smoke faded, Dougleman was gone, leaving the entrance to the hideout open, but the stranger was still there.

The cloaked stranger approached me and pulled me off the ground.

"Thank you so much for saving me," I whispered.

"It was nothing," the stranger replied. It was a boy's voice that spoke to me.

"May I ask who you are?"

He didn't reply. We stood in silence until I had enough. I slowly reached out to pull his hood off, my hand shaking, and yanked it back. He was wearing a white mask. It covered his whole face, even his eyes. He had shockingly familiar blonde hair. I knew one person who had hair like that. Golden hair that shone in the light. I reached to pull off his mask. He made no move to stop me. Blue eyes, pools of the clearest water, glowing with courage and determination, stared back at me.

It was Luke.