The guards beside my cage are still on the ground, but they're already moving to stand. Quickly, I grab a pant leg and hold tight, trapping one of the guards with me as the other two run off to see the commotion outside. Thankfully they don't realize their friend isn't with them.
With a scowl I drag the guard nearer to my cage, the bars burning the sides of my face, and I snap bones as I go along until I reach his neck. The last creatures left behind in their prisons howl when I kill the guard and they cheer me on as I search his corpse for a blessed key. Another explosion booms just as I find one, and rapid gunfire starts. Quickly, I unlock my cage and spring out.
"Help us!" the others plea as I stand for the first time in almost three days. I run to their cages, a fierce cramp in my left leg, and set them free. They thank me profusely then run out through the back of the building with all their might. Palming the blessed key, I sprint to the front of the building and peek out, only to find a war zone before me. Soldiers I recognize from down below are moving in on the property, trying to combat the crazy humans and the witches they're using. The old man witch I met when I first came here throws his arm out and a portion of the ground cracks and swallows up four soldiers in an instant.
My eyes fall on a large truck with the back wide open, and I hear soft weeping and praying coming from inside. That must be the transport vehicle. I run to it and jump into the back, my new blessed key at the ready. Immediately I start in on unlocking the cages and setting people free. They cry in relief and push past me as soon as they're out, wanting to get as far away from this hell hole as possible. A Were even transitions in her cage as soon as I open the metal door and she runs off in wolf form with a shriek.
"Lost!" I hear someone scream, and I recognize the voice as Tiffany's. She's in a cage at the back and I rush to her when everyone else is gone. She throws herself into my arms when she's released and sobs into my shoulder.
"Have you found my son?" she asks as she pulls back. Her eyes are wet and wide.
I shake my head and lift her to stand. We need to get out of here and I need to find Kahlan. I sense her nearby and my arm still aches with hers. "No," I tell Tiffany, leading her out of the truck. "I'm sorry."
She pulls on my hand when I try to take her away to safety and fights to keep me with her. "Please," she begs. "I saw a house. He could be in there."
I pick her up and move us both so we won't be in the line of fire. We're just in time, as a tree bursts and sends splinters every which way. Tiffany yelps in fear and covers her head.
"Okay," I tell her as I set her down. "We'll go check, but you have to help me, too. How proficient are your magic skills?"
"Why?"
"We're going to need them to make it through this alive."
-------------------------
We find the first explosive completely by accident and lose a good soldier to the mistake. The second we find with good teamwork and set it off to scare the cult into coming off the property. It works, and every squad moves in. There's six, including mine, and a 'squad' that's just Cas doing her own thing. Mariam is in a helicopter somewhere above and snapping for this squad to move there and that squad to move here. It's a brilliant system that keeps everything running smoothly.
But then trees begin exploding.
Chunks of wood longer than my legs go flying at soldiers and knock them off their feet, and splinters catch eyes, causing some to go blind. A particularly sharp projectile slices through my bicep enough to make me bleed, but thankfully the damage isn't serious. I worry about Lost feeling it but move quickly so that I can get to her.
The property holds a three story house, a large shed, and a barn converted into a warehouse. I don't know which one might hold Lost but my squad and another are headed toward the warehouse. We have to trek through thick wood lining the property and avoid exploding trees, and I have to hear Mariam's insane theories on how the cult is getting the phenomena to happen.
When we reach the edge of the property and start stomping in gravel, the bullets begin to fly, and not out of our guns first. I'm wearing a bullet proof vest but, damn, the scene is terrifying. To make matters worse an earthquake or something suddenly cracks open the earth and eats four of our men. It is unbelievable.
Mariam's helicopter hovers above the chaos as my squad and I try to advance on the warehouse. There is nowhere to hide so we have to move back a little to the safety of the trees, but even that is dangerous. As I aim for a particularly greasy man in combat boots, a large wolf leaps over me and my squad, but everyone is too engulfed in avoiding exploding trees and bullets to care. I notice a truck nearby and bark for my people to make for it. It would make great cover and we'd be closer to our mark.
I shoot and down a skinny woman with a rifle half her size and make a break for the van. My squad follows close behind, but I skid to a stop as someone flees from behind the van. Oh, my God...
Lost is running away from the van, a woman latched on to her back, and heading towards the house. The woman's legs are wrapped tightly around Lost's waist and she's throwing out her arm, sending- what is that?- energy balls of some sort from her palms. But I can worry about that later. I've found Lost!
"Lost!" I shout, forgetting about the van.
Even with all the noise and commotion she stumbles in the gravel and makes a clumsy stop, then turns to look at me, her eyes wide. There are marks on her cheeks and arms, and there's dried blood all over her. I gasp, both hurt and relieved, and start for her, but slip and fall on my backside as Lost and the woman she's carrying are blown back by an invisible force. They tumble through the air like ragdolls and land in a heap.
"Run!" Lost cries at me, lifting herself to her hands and knees. She helps up the woman she was carrying as an old man steps in my line of sight with his back to me. Lost crouches down and snarls, putting herself between the old man and the woman. It seems as though the bullets flying are deliberately missing the three of them, but there's no way that's possible.
With a salivating growl, Lost leaps at the old man, her clawed hands aiming for his face. To my surprise she halts mid air and never reaches her target. Her legs kick at nothing and she paws at her own throat, fighting off something I can't see. In a panic I lift my gun and squeeze off a shot at the old man in front of me. Logic tells me he's doing nothing wrong, but instinct has me seeing him as the only possible enemy.
My bullet pierces his back where his heart is and Lost comes tumbling to the ground, gasping for breath. As soon as she's sucked in enough air she scrambles for me and I open my arms to receive her.
"Kahlan," she breathes into my hair, saying my name like a prayer. She holds me so tight I pretend my tears are because she's hugging them out of me.
I sob into her shoulder and grasp at her shirt. "I missed you so much."
"I know," she whispers, planting soft kisses on my head, "I know. I missed you, too."
I push away from her and wipe at my wet face as something shakes the ground tremendously. "We have to get out of here."
"We have to find Tiffany's son," she tells me, lifting me into her arms and carrying me away. She jogs back to the woman and we head towards the house. I see my squad already heading into the warehouse and I hear the team leader report that it's empty.
"Lost..."
The earth shakes again and Lost falters but doesn't stop. A bullet whizzes past us, then everything goes silent. This time Lost pauses, as does the woman, and I look around to see what's happening. There's a squad close by, guns held high, but I don't see any enemies. Something's wrong.
"Mariam," I say into my earbud. "What's happening?"
There's a moment of silence, then, "The house is lit up. Team two, have you reached it? Cas?"
Another voice chimes into my ear, male, "We're at the perimeter," as Cas's voice says a simple, "Yep."
I hold my breath, a sinking feeling in my gut. These people are a terrorist organization. They won't let us have them alive and they'll take down as many of us as they can.
"Don't go in," I say softly, realization setting in. "Oh, God, don't go in!"
Not a second later the side of the house bursts and showers the surrounding area with splintered wood and chunks of brick. I twist out of Lost's grip and stare on in horror as fire starts to eat at what's left.
"Mariam!" I shrill.
Panic is clear in her voice as she shrieks, "Cas!"
Lost sprints past me, almost toppling me over, and she heads directly into the chaos. Both the woman and I shout for her to wait but she's already gone. I grab my hair in dismay as parts of the house start falling away and the flames grow larger. There's no way the building will hold for long. Lost is hurt enough, she won't survive if the house collapses on top of her.
Fresh tears spill down my cheeks with the minutes that pass, and they come harder when gunshots sound in what's left of the house.
"Do something!" I cry at no one, to everyone. The woman Lost was protecting steps close to me and puts her hand on my shoulder. I stare at her through my wet eyes and recognize her as the same woman who was in my apartment with her son the day all of this started.
"We can't go in," she says softly. "It's going to come down soon. All we can do is wait."
"Fire trucks are only a minute away," Mariam barely says. It's obvious that she's crying, too, but is trying to hide it. "Who's left?"
I hardly listen as four squads check in. That means we lost two in the fight. The General won't appreciate that but I couldn't care less about him right now. My only concern is with Lost and Cas and the possible survivors of the squad that was at the back of the house when it blew up.
As I begin to lose all hope, a figure emerges from the flames, limping but otherwise okay. I run forward to meet them and find a sooty and bloody Cas coming towards me, a wailing little boy in her arms. She moves faster as the top floor of the house collapses and she steps up to me, her face scrunched in worry.
"She saved me," Cas says, not able to meet my eye. "She told me to take him and go. I did." She hands over the little boy as the woman snatches him up and kisses him all over. "She wanted to stay to save the rest of them in the basement. I'll go back, I'll-"
"You're not going in," Mariam says sternly. She sniffles and takes a deep breath. "Facility emergency services are here."
Cas scoffs and turns back to the house, but the whole thing caves in, flames licking the sky and throwing blackness everywhere. I cover my mouth with my hands and sob carelessly. Everything suddenly hurts.
I'm engulfed into Cas's arms much to my surprise and she holds me as I cry. She even follows me to the ground as my knees buckle. "I'm sorry," she says. Her hug is awkward and inexperienced but I appreciate it. "I should have stayed with her."
No, then they'd both be dead. Lost... She died being the knight she always was. She felt the hurt in my chest as the house burst and tried to save who I thought I'd lost. She saved that woman's son, she saved Cas. God, why couldn't she save herself?
Emergency services surround the enormous fire and they push us back to a safe zone. The woman, holding tight to her fussing son, gives me her condolences. She tells me how thankful she was for Lost, and she offers me her services if I ever need them in the future. I thank her for it but can't focus on her right now. I'm numb inside and can't seem to care about anything anymore.
Mariam comes up to me and gives me a comforting hug. I hadn't even noticed that her helicopter had landed. "Do you want to go home?" she asks carefully.
I wipe my face even though there aren't any more tears. I've dried up. "I... want to see her."
"Kahlan..."
"Just let me stay. I want to stay."
Sympathy on her features, Mariam nods and sits beside me. "I'll stay with you then."
We watch as emergency services slowly drowns out the fire. My eyes follow the smoke covering the sky, and I whimper when I think I see Lost's face within. It hasn't even been an hour and I'm already going insane.
"They've put it out," Mariam sighs after a while. "They'll be looking for bodies soon."
"I want to be here," I say, already knowing what she's getting at. I don't care if it hurts. I want to see Lost's body.
Mariam thinks for a minute. "I don't think this will be good for you. You don't want to see her like... that."
"I have to."
"Remember her how she was. Don't ruin her."
"I have to!" Groaning in frustration, I drop my head into my hands. "She was always there for me. I'm going to be here for her, okay? I'm going to be here."
"Okay," Mariam whispers, placing a friendly hand on my back. "Okay."
I lift my head enough to see the blackened remains of the house and the Facility retrieval team. They're preparing to go into the wreckage and bring up any bodies left behind. They're going to get rid of any evidence that we were ever here.
Barely five minutes pass before the retrieval team starts moving about oddly, and Cas comes running toward Mariam and I. Excitable, she slips to step before us, almost going into a split.
"You've got to see this," she says urgently. She waves her arms wildly and stammers for us to follow her, now.
Mariam and I run to keep up as Cas leads us to the steaming remains of the house. We all stop at the edge of the chaos, and Cas points somewhere in wreckage.
"Look," she breathes, excited.
I squint but see nothing aside from charred remains and the emergency services guys moving bits and pieces to look for bodies. Then, by their feet, the rubble moves. They move more remains from the spot and Cas shifts her feet.
"That has to be her, right?" she asks. "She's the only person that could possibly survive, right?"
Without thinking I throw myself forward to go see if it really is Lost, but Cas catches me around my waist. She holds me back and tells me to stay where I am, then she goes to inspect the scene herself. Mariam takes the job of keeping me at bay as we wait to see who's under the house.
Cas moves the emergency services guys out of the way so she can get down to business, and smartly they stand back as she kneels to dig into the rubble. Ashes and ugly black chunks are thrown into the air, Cas having no sense of being careful. But she does stop being so rough, though, and slowly moves wreckage to the side as she comes upon something.
"What the...?" I hear her exclaim. She reaches down into the dip she's made and bangs on something solid. She knocks again, hard, and falls halfway into the dip, which I think is a deep hole now. She cries out and the emergency guys grab her legs and drag her back to the surface. She immediately crawls back to the hole and reaches inside, her head and arms disappearing for a moment. Then, slowly, she comes back up holding two wriggling babies.
"I did not expect that," Mariam says flatly, letting me go. We stare in wonder as the emergency guys take the babies away and Cas disappears again into the hole. This time she brings up a little girl, maybe ten or twelve, looking scared but otherwise unharmed. She remains with Cas near the hole and refuses to leave to safety. I wonder why as Cas goes back into it, and this time brings out an adult, bloody and limp. My heart jumps to my throat when I notice the body wearing a collar.
Mariam must have noticed it, too, because she grabs me before I run off to see for sure. "Hold on," she tells me, pulling me back. "She's hurt. She needs a hospital."
Cas barks for doctors, and my eyes grow wet. I thought I couldn't cry anymore but seeing Lost unresponsive and injured has given me a reason to start again. "I need to go with her," I say as Lost is taken away. "I need to be there."
Mariam holds me so I don't run. "I know. We'll go in a different car. The doctors need to take care of her. Come on. We'll be right behind them."
I nod and follow Mariam, my eyes on what I can see of Lost. I catch the sight of something piercing her shoulder and I gasp. God, what happened to her?
Mariam ushers me into the back of a vehicle but I don't entirely register it. My mind and prayers are with Lost. She needs to live through this. She needs to live.
YOU ARE READING
Chain Me
ParanormalThird installment in the Command Me stories. Sequel to Collar Me cover by @Claire007Murphy
