Sub Zero

Chapter Ten

This seems too easy. We step out into a tunnel-like hallway and see no one. Could they be waiting for us? Is this a trap? I brush aside my uncertainties. We have no time to waste, so I reluctantly trail behind Finn, who still has Indie slung over his shoulder. Her head bounces around uncomfortably as Finn jogs on. Earlier, she had passed out from downright terror and is still unconscious. Poor girl.

We practically stumble over each other as we dart down a narrow hallway and into a large open room. Huge mistake. At least a dozen people are standing at the far side of the room. I gasp. Finn shushes me, but it's too late. They saw us the minute we stumbled in.

The room is large, lines with what looks like picnic benches along the edges. The gathering of people are huddled on the far side of the room, playing cards. Despite our current situation, I find this quite humorous.

A tall, bald, muscular man drops the dice he was holding, then grins unnervingly. He stands from his place at a small table, his bulk pushing his chair to the floor with a resonating clang! He makes his way towards us, withdrawing some kind of weapon from a tool belt wrapped around the waist of his dirty jeans. A sword? I've never seen a yellow sword before. Wait, it seems to glow. Glow? Swords most definitely do not glow.

I hear Finn curse. A small wiry man hunched in a corner flicks his gaze around nervously, like a trapped rat. "Jason, Lord Torren warned us not to hurt them." He warns, his voice like dirty fingernails scraping cardboard. I shutter. The large man doesn't even turn around to look at the rodent man. "Shut up Ryder." He growls menacingly. Ryder shrinks back into the shadows.

"Crystal, whatever you do, stay behind me." Finn says quietly as he gently sets Indie down behind a nearby table. I give him a quizzical look, but his eyes are glued to the strange weapon held in Jason's meaty hand. "He could easily strangle me." I think in horror.

The brute notices me watching him. His horrifying grin widens. He lowers his muscle-ripped arm and begins to menacingly drag the sword on the concrete floor, orange sparks showering down upon his boots. Bile starts to rise in the back of my throat. "Finn, let's go. Now." I whisper from behind him. Without realizing it, my eyes lock with Jason's. His are beady, black,  and cold, almost lifeless. A chill runs down my spine.

Finn swirls his fingers behind his back. My heart begins to race. "Finn!" I whisper more urgently. My fingers dig into my palms, forming small creases in the soft flesh. My breathing becomes ragged, panicked, as his eyes seem to draw me closer to him. Blue flames begin to dance upon Finn's fingertips, then slowly expand. They spread down his fingers and to his palm. The fire still grows, swirling into a perfect sphere.

"Crystal, get down when I tell you." He says, ignoring my warnings. I bite my lip. It's hopeless to argue with him. The brute stops walking. I can smell his sickening scent from here. Like a concoction of cigarette smoke and body odor. I almost gag.

Now!" I duck next to Indie just as the bulk of a man charges, his sword wielded. Finn shouts, hurling the fireball at him like a pitcher in a college baseball game. The two weapons collide, exploding in a brilliant flash of blinding light. The sword flickers like q hologram, then disintegrates. Finn smirks. He already has another fireball ready.

The man's face grows red with fury. He glances over his shoulder, and nods, signaling for someone. A small girl with pale skin and black hair emerges from the crowd of people that occupy the opposite side of the room. "Raven, go to the blonde girl." Jason jabs a thick sausage-like index finger in my direction.
"Yes sir." The girl says, almost automatically. The hair on the back of my neck stands up in alarm.

I look at Finn. "I can't handle them both." I hear him mutter to himself, then curse. I take a deep breath. "Finn?" I call out, my voice wavering in fear.
"No, Crystal." He automatically says, his forehead creasing in a frown.

I grit my teeth in frustration. "Finn. Let me go." I say, more demanding.
"I can't do that to you!" He yells, momentarily glancing at me with pleading eyes. I flinch at the intensity of his voice. I exhale shakily, then stand from my place of cover.

"Finn, I have no idea what your situation is, or where you came from. But for the past few years I've done nothing but hide." I draw in a deep breath. "I need this." I say desperately. He looks at me once more, his expression hopeless. For a moment I think he'll just yell at me again. But, instead, he simply says, "Don't get killed."

Raven walks over towards me, looking me over, head-to-toe. Finn stands aside as she passes him, glancing at me nervously before perusing the giant of a man. She winks at him, and jealousy consumes me.  For a moment I wonder why she just let him go, but I realize it's all about the sick game of war.

She stops directly in front of me, and lets out a short humorless laugh. "This will be too easy." She claims while smirking. I focus with all my might, gathering up as much of my power as I can. Frost begins to gather on my fingertips. The air becomes cool.

I pause as the air around the girl becomes electric. She raises her arms up above her head, and tendrils of what seems to be lightening races down to her outstretched arms, and curls around them from her shoulder to her wrists. Her body hisses and crackles, absorbing the static electricity.

Finn curses behind me. "Crystal, don't let her touch you!" He warns. Raven suddenly darts towards me at an incredible speed, her arms up in front of her, almost like a boxer in a fighting rink.

I stumble backwards. My arm shoots out from behind my back, and in one quick motion, I hurl a swirling ball of snowflakes at her. She ducks, and it hits a chair behind her. Her leg shoots out and sweeps me off my feet. I scream in pain as I hit the ground and volts of electricity shock every nerve in my body. I'm momentarily paralyzed, but I soon recover after I use my neurological powers. I shakily stand.

The chair is quickly encased in ice. Raven turns, and watches as it shatters. Finn looks surprised, and even somewhat amused. He quickly begins to fight Jason once again, hurling orbs of fire at the large man. However, the brute fights back at him with a real sword this time, slicing through the luminous fireballs, but not before melting the steel sword a bit along the edges. "How hot is his fire?" I think, awestruck.

Before Raven can turn back around, I channel all of my emotions into my power. I think of all the bad things in my life. A snowball forms. However, I notice that it's strange. It almost seems to radiate this dark energy, wisps of black and red violently swirling around inside the case of frozen crystals. My hand begins to sting the longer I hold the dangerous snowball in my hand.

I gasp, and instinctively chuck the snowball away from me as if it's a grenade. As I look down at the now charred flesh of my hand, I hear a shout. My gaze flickers up from my arm. My  senses are numb from the overpowering sensation of my neurological powers, flooding into my flesh and trying to cool it. What I see startles me.

Raven looks down at her shoulder in surprise, clutching the area where the ball of snow hit. She desperately claws at the spot, the fabric of her shirt ripping where her nails pierce the damp fabric.

"What did you do?" She shrieks, crumpling to her knees and writhing around on the concrete floor. Finn and Jason stop fighting. The girl gasps for air, the faint blood veins in her arms turning black. I gape at her in horror as her eyes roll into the back of her head and her mouth foams, like a rabid animal. The black substance trickles out of her nostrils and from the corner  of her mouth. And then she's still.

Her convulsions stop, and she goes completely limp. The pale hand that clutched at her throat so desperately, falls, hitting the ground with a small "thump."  The rodent man gasps, scuttling over to the lifeless girl.

I begin to hyperventilate. My vision swarms with tears, threatening to spill free. I stare at my shaking hands and I can swear that there was blood on stained on them. But as I blink, and the warm liquid rolls down my cheek, they're normal once again.

I can't sense very much. The room becomes blurry. The voices are muffled, but I can barely hear Ryder's gruesome voice, filled with grief and rage.

"She's dead!" He shrieks. Dead. I'm a killer.