Star Dust

Chapter 22 ~ Katie

 Matthew and Gryphon are close, I can feel it, but where exactly could they be "Andrew any idea's" he ignores me and raises his arm to access the watch. A bright green screen displays the living creatures in the building "give me a moment to hook up to security" he says taping at the watch and then glancing at the screen. Suddenly dots appear on it and get larger in number, and in a matter of seconds there are streams of red dots all over.

 "We're surrounded" I gasp, the sheer numbers choking off my last shred of control. Andrew rolls his eyes "give me a second they might not be a live" a few taps later and the thousands of dots are reduced to a dozen, a nervous giggle escapes me. 

 "Follow the carnage" Andrew shouts running in one direction, and I follow him, into a long corridor that slants downward. This hospital has only two directs up or down and right now our goal is down, down to the basement, to be reunited with our friends. We pass door after door and still we trek on, me following Andrew and him following his screen. Lighting the way as it gets darker and darker, dots fade in and out of the screen snarls come from all directions all the same. 

 A roar makes the tunnel shake, dust and dirt rains down on us and we cover our ears as more snarls and roars threaten to permanently damage our eardrums. The corridor opens up into a grander room and the next roar almost succeeds in deafening us. Matthew the bear is fighting off a never ending sea of Kayan while Gryphon fends from the ceiling. Dropping bodies and slashing throats, a relentless storm of claws and feathers, splattered with blood, who's I don't know I don't know for sure. There are so many I won't have to worry about accidentally hurting my friends, so without hesitation I raise my good arm and whatever liquid I can find does just that.

 A torrent of dark liquid surges forward bashing the incoming wave of nasties screeching in protest as the still warm liquid washes them away. 

 "Katie?" Andrew gapes at me accusing "did you know you could do this!"

  "No, no I didn't" I stare, disbelieving the cruel power I possess at the wave of my hands. The moment is cut short as more bony grey bodies push forward, trying to take us down, but we are stubborn, refusing to fall. The waves of bodies rush past us and the world slows down every snarling creature with teeth longer than an inch goes down. 

 My brain no longer registers the time only the amount of enemies left standing, I turn around and wipe out the onslaught behind me. At last the sea of Kayan end, we all turn weapons raised to the hall we entered from, ready to intercept whatever was stomping down it. 

 Dylan bursts into the chamber, covered in sweat and blood smiling from ear to ear "I'll take it everyone had a good time" he laughs, half mad with exhaustion. 

 "Katie check for injuries, Andrew create an easier way to get up and down this freaking spire, Matthew collect the medicines Katie asks for and" Dylan stops. We all stop to stare at Gryphon who is having another giggling attack, she is perched on a pile of Kayan almost too close to the ceiling. 

"Are you ok" I ask her, instead of an answer I get more giggles, so I grab a dangling leg and yank her down to our level. Dylan takes her by the shoulders so they are facing each other "speak" he barks, "it's so funny ... I've lost everything from what was once my life and now ... I am across the galaxy destroying enemies like flies and going to doing hell knows what else!" She hiccups in his face. 

 I step forward, and slap her across the face, hard.

 "what the hell was that for" Gryphon snaps at me, a hint of a snarl in her raised voice. 

 "She's alright" I say a little too pleased in the sharp sting my reddened hand emits "Matthew look for sedatives and painkillers, of all strengths" the bear nods his massive head. Noise in the air he barrels of grunting what could have been "be back soon" I watch him leave curious as to how he feels about being turned into a bear. 

 Turning a corner I lose sight of him and focus on Gryphon's injuries, as she makes every effort to make my job difficult. Andrew disappeared down a corridor following that glowing screen in search of materials that will aid our ascend to the peak of the spire.

 Hours pass and we have gathered medicines, linens, even some food some of which is being cooked over a gourd spewing blue everlasting fire. Everyone has returned to the open space where we fought, well everyone besides Andrew who continues to wander the hospital's underground labyrinth.  

 Hours more have gone and Dylan refuses to rest "I'll keep watch" he grumbles I fold my arms and glare at him "I know you're going to make a break for the stairs, you've been away from her more than couple hours" he sighs deeply.

 "Roughly twelve hours, I only want to help her but..."

 "but what?" I ask.

 "there has been an interesting" he pauses considering his words "discovery" I nod encouragingly. 

 "Andrew and I were making our way through the spire, when we found this... room" he is breathing heavily at this point, and I wonder at what he found. He continues "it was a lab... with a holding cell..." his mind is lost to that room "up against the far wall was a board with notes and pictures of the... specimen they were experimenting on. Most of the images had scientists doing something productive... injections, tests and such but there were a few that caught me off guard." 

 Those clear blue eyes glistening slightly with an emotion I can't place Maybe Gryphon and Matthew were right when they said that more was going on between them then they care to show. 

 "Some of the photo's had her in them, the notes had things like blood type and behavior, dissections... everything. The newest photo had Mystery conscious for the first time in a long time, a caption above it said 'Mystery's revealed, mission accomplished', it is really corny but it got me thinking." 

  Dylan turns sad eyes on me "do you think she is not who she says she is?" I sigh, look him in the eye "you've known her longer, by far and when she wakes up..." 

  He snorts "if she wakes up" 

 "we will know the answers, ok" he nods. "now go to sleep" I breath, silently so as not to wake the others, and this time he listens.