Keep

Chapter 12

"The Keep is a place of order and control." Dutch was pacing in front of me. All perkiness and free spirit was gone from her voice. "My control. And what do you do when I offer you shelter and food and training? You use my equipment against me and then befriend my staff." She was full of anger when she jerked her head in the direction of where Jack was stationed, motionless like a guard.

"He's your s-son," I told her. I was scared by how blurry and connected my words were. "May-e you should tre-eat him like i-it." The pain in my chest throbbed like a headache.

"You," she said, pointing a polished finger at me. "You need to shut up." As she went on, ranting, I tuned her out and looked around at my surroundings. It looked like I was in the same or similar room as before. Deja vu.

"And now I have to kill you," Dutch finished. That snapped me back into reality.

"D-Dutch... I don't th-think that's-s a good i-i-idea." I remembered what Jack had said about her needing me. I also didn't want to die. She pulled out the very same revolver that had given me the worst pain I'd ever felt. "J-Jack!" I called out to him. No response.

"Don't even try, Harmony," Dutch chuckled. "He's under my control." She pointed the gun at me again, this time right over where my heart was. She really was going to kill me.

Fear surged through me. After that, it was anger. Cold, hard anger. Anger at what Dutch was doing to children, anger at her for brainwashing Jack, anger for having all the power she had. A new kind of strength filled me with courage. I stood up, adrenaline aiding me in not feeling pain.

The gun never wavered. I never moved. I knew I would die right there in that moment, but I didn't want to die a coward. I tried one time to save myself with the only thing possible; holding my hand out, I focused on creating ice to pierce through her heart. Nothing happened. I looked at my hand, confused.

I didn't know when it had happened, but metal cuffs were around my wrists. "The cuffs cut off your power," said Dutch. "They dig deep into your skin and freeze your abilities."

When I looked up at her in a glare, I knew my eyes were rapidly changing. I could feel it. But it felt different from the other times. I felt power behind my gaze, like I could kill someone with a single glance. I started to walk towards Dutch.

"What are you doing?" Her voice cracked a little. She was nervous. "What is that? How...?"

"Lower," I said, my voice strong and back to normal, "the gun." Even though I knew it would work, I was still surprised when she did. "Now kick it to me." She obeyed. "On the ground."

Lowering herself to the floor, never taking her eyes off me, she said, "I don't know how you're doing this, but you can't keep it up forever." I bent down to pick up the gun. As I held it up, my arm steady, I saw true fear in her eyes. "Harmony, you don't have to do this. It won't make things better. You wouldn't be able to leave, my DNA is the code out. Kill me and you're stuck here."

"I can find a way. Your son could do it." My finger rested on the trigger, waiting for my brain to send a signal to move.

"Harmony?" It was Sam's voice. "What are you doing?"

I didn't take my eyes off of Dutch. "Sam, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. You weren't in the hospital wing."

"You need to leave, Sam."

"Harmony, this isn't like you. You're not a killer." I saw her out of the corner of my eye. Her face was worried as she inched her way closer to me.

"Stay back," I told her.

"No. I won't. And you won't kill her."

"How are you so sure?"

"I'm not," she said. "I'm just hoping. I won't be friends with a murderer."

I looked to Jack to see if he was making any move to apprehend her. He stood still. I'm guessing Dutch wasn't bothering to control him at that moment.

"You're right," I said, looking back at the woman hunched on the floor. "I'm not a killer." The revolver in my hand dropped down lower. I pulled the trigger. Dutch yelled out in pain. "That's for shooting me," I told her. My arm turned to the right and I shot her other foot. "And that's for everything else."

Fermilda Dutch sat on the ground, holding her feet in agony as I tucked the silver gun into my belt and started to stride off. I saw Jack again and turned around. "How do I fix him?" I asked her.

She was panting hard and putting pressure on her wounds. "Chip... In neck..." she wheezed. I nodded. Taking Samantha and Jack by the arms, I walked through the exit. "I knew... You were special..." I heard it as a faint call, drawing me back in. But I was never setting foot in there again, not after all that had happened. I walked out of there, back to my prison, and didn't look back once.