The Storm Inside

Chapter Thirty Three: Up in Flames

A/N: not Beatrix and Damira getting back together for like twenty minutes before breaking up again 💀

Stopping the tornado proved more difficult than I'd thought. I could not just make it disappear into thin air, I had to slow it down and make it fade away, which meant I had to calm down the storm clouds as well.

I planted my feet firmly on the ground, trying as hard as I could to stay there as it passed over me. It was metres away from the building, ripping tile off the roof, tearing through the tank, before I managed to stop it.

I fell to the ground, exhausted and completely drained, wanting nothing more than to close my eyes and let it all drift away. I was bleeding out onto the grass, I realized, as I forced myself to sit up, my head swimming.

The first bullet had grazed my side. The second had gone through the middle of my ribs without exiting, I searched around in the grass for the bullet but didn't find it. The third I hadn't even noticed until now, it was another graze, nothing to worry about. The one that worried me the most, was the second one. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, I was starting to feel it.

I ripped my shirt sleeve, tying it around, trying to put pressure on the wound. I screamed out in pain as I made contact with it, and the glass windows on the building burst.

Eventually I made my way to the door, wondering if he was still in there, or if there was a back door. I stepped over the bodies and discarded weapons on the ground without looking at them.

The building was a warehouse, not nearly as big or tall as the facility or control tower. I pushed the door open, and found the man who started it all standing inside, in the centre of some computers and other equipment.

What I realized when I laid eyes on him, was how utterly disappointing he was. I'd expected some supervillain type, but he was just some old White man. He was just a fucking man, who'd had too much money and too much time on his hands. I resented him for that alone.

"Damira Williams," he said.

"Enzo Montgomery," I hissed out, hobbling into the room as I held my shirt sleeve against the bullet wound.

"I've been excited to meet you," he said. "Did you know, the level of power is only tied to your development, but actually very dependant on your level of dosage? We gave you a lot of serum, perhaps a bit too much for you to handle. If we'd given Beatrix as much, she might have ended up with your kind of powers. Thank God we didn't make that mistake. Can you imagine?" He laughed easily. I hated him.

"But then there was someone like Valerie," he continued. "Her parents would have done anything to get their business going, including agreeing to have their child genetically enhanced with dangerous technology."

"Don't talk about her," I spat.

"I'm sorry, I know you were close," Montgomery replied. "I've been keeping tabs on you for a while, you seemed to be closest with her and Beatrix. Tell me, where is she now, Beatrix? I would like to have met her in person as well."

"I made her stay behind," I said. "She's escaping right now, with everyone else." At least, I hoped she was.

"That's a shame," he said. "But I have people to stop that from happening. Well, maybe not anymore. Since you're in here, I assume a lot of them are dead."

"You're supposed to be dead," I said. "You should have stayed dead!"

"I'm afraid I haven't had time to be dead," he replied. "I had to oversee Thomas's work. Unfortunately, I think I overestimated him, put a bit too much trust and resources into him. He was always a clever boy, and ruthless as well, but not as much as I thought he was, it seems. He wasn't clever enough to get himself out of all the messes he made, and he wasn't quite ruthless enough either. He always had a soft spot for Alexis, but I suppose that was misplaced, as she's betrayed us."