Sector 2

Chapter 12

I was bracing myself for someone to attack as we tried to leave, but not this. What was he doing?

Jon's hands held steady and tight around my neck, and I was losing air. I gasped as Jon lifted me into the air as I clawed at his arm. He looked at me with wide yet unfeeling eyes. When black dots started appearing at the edges of my vision, I swung my leg up and around until my shoe slammed into the side of his head. He let go and stumbled until his face was obscured from my sight.

I landed on my feet, still dazed from the sudden action. "Jon," I rasped, creeping closer to him as if he was an angry dog. But that was all I could get out before Jon turned and instantly punched me, aiming for the face. I reacted to it this time, blocking the impact with my arms. But it wasn't enough to stop the force. I catapulted back into the steps, a throbbing pain blooming in my back. I looked down at Jon who was making his way up the steps with unmoving eye contact, his jaw clenched.

I didn't know what to do. Jon was acting hostile, but it was Jon – I couldn't hurt him. I had no idea where his unforeseen strength came from, but in a matter of seconds, he had caused my vision to go slightly blurry and my back to feel like hell.

I started to scrabble up the stairs, but Jon grabbed my collar and lobbed me off the stairs and back into the reception room. The pain in my back blossomed and I slid across the smooth floor. As he marched to me, I picked myself up and regained my footing.

"Jon, this really isn't the time. What did they offer you?" I asked. But I knew Jon wasn't the type to throw everything away for a materialistic offer. Yet he kept walking towards me, his gaze remaining ominously inert. "Jon, answer me," I demanded, dread slipping into the wake of my emotions.

When Jon was a few feet away from me, he began running. He jumped to land a punch on me, but I was ready for it. I dodged as Jon's fist tasted the ground. But barely a split-second later, Jon retaliated with more swings, delivering as fast as Lexie. I laced in between each, before catching one of the punches and glaring at him.

"JON! Cut it out!" I yelled.

Irked eyes narrowing, Jon attempted to knee me in the stomach, but I released his fist and danced away. Almost immediately, Jon lunged to me and responded with a missed uppercut. I was being chased into the wall.

"Isn't he wonderful?" Lexie voice rung through the air through an unseeable speaker; I could hear the smile in her voice. "We were initially only planning to conduct the heart experiment but alas, the result of the little... exchange that we had was quite unsatisfactory for me. So, we tinkered with his mind as well. We did some... engineering – I'm sure you wouldn't have minded," the sly witch chuckled.

As Lexie ended her speech, I stepped back to make way for another blow, but I was stopped midway by the glass wall. I had nowhere to prance away, so Jon was finally able to strike me with a force strong enough to send me flying through the glass. I laid on a concrete floor, amidst shattered glass, listening to Jon's footsteps grow louder.

What was I meant to do? If it carried on like this, he would surely kill me. But the only other option was the eradication of Jon.

Unless there was one more.

I leapt to my feet to face Jon. He had picked up a serrated shard of glass, completely dismissing the line of blood trickling down his hand as he gripped tightly to it. I waited for him to take the first move. He confronted my wish by swiping down at my shoulder with the glass; I took the chance to shove him further forward and dart behind him to run to the where the glass had smashed. There had to be something to stop Jon without bringing him pain. I was sure he'd had enough of that.

I expected to at least make it inside without Jon catching up, but I barely made it halfway before I felt Jon's hand lock around my arm and haul me back, crashing me into a tree. There was a ringing in my ears and the bittersweet taste of blood coated my tongue; I had to fight back. Maybe I wouldn't need to go too far.