Briar Preparatory Academy

The Lengths We Will Go

Seth POV

I send the enemy soldier to the ground, conscious of my surroundings. I have a gun but I really don't want to shoot.

I don't want to kill.

I close my eyes and I see Celeste's face. I see her face illuminated by the full moon and shimmering from the glitter on her silver dress. I hear the sound of her voice. I hear the confidence that I know she has in me; the endless faith that she has given me.

I see the recording of them cutting her arms and slicing her tattoo.

With these images in my head, I point the gun at the man on the ground and kill him. The image of Celeste screaming in the darkened concrete room with blood dripping down her arm is enough to push me over the edge.

I stand still, breathing hard as the bullet leaves the chamber. I am frozen when his body goes limp. Another soldier takes this moment of hesitation as an opportunity and comes at me from behind, kicking my lower back and sending me flying into the wall. My head starts to spin, dark dots dancing in the corner of my vision. The man's gun was thrown across the hall when we were fighting and he has resorted to using his hands. He slams my head against the wall and a piercing pain shoots through my temple.

I gasp for air and my vision goes blurry as his fingers tighten around my neck. I fight to keep breathing, swinging blindly towards the man in a desperate attempt to get him to release me. Fire dances in my lungs. Suddenly, I feel the pressure release from my neck. I collapse to my knees and gasp for air for several seconds before my vision clears and I can function properly. I take several ragged breaths in, my scratchy throat welcoming every breath of oxygen with greedy arms.

I see the body of the soldier who was choking me slumped on the ground and a hand is extended above me. I look up to see who it is, my eyes squinted. I don't take his hand, hesitating at first.

Several long seconds of silence passes between us as I think about my options. "We need to find Celeste." Joe says, doing his best to veil the concern in his voice. With that, I reach up and take his hand and he pulls me up. I brush off my slacks, looking down and remembering I am still completely dressed in what I wore to the Gala.

"I thought she was with you." I exclaim, immediately looking at our surroundings to find her. If we lose Celeste in this chaos there is a huge chance that she won't make it out alive, especially if Jasper and his men are targeting her.

"I lost her. We were running through the school and I lost her." He says, running his fingers through his hair. He obviously is afraid of losing her just as much as I am. I have a sudden flashback to standing outside the burning and crumbling library, swearing that she was running right behind me.

But she wasn't.

"Where could she go?" I ask him, having no idea where to start.

"Wherever Jasper is. He wants to kill her, no doubt. He's in this building somewhere. If I had to guess, he would be in an empty room away from guards and students; that way there is no way anyone can interfere..." Joe's voice trails off.

"The party was in the East Wing. He's probably in the West Wing somewhere near the science labs and vacant rooms." I tell him, the layout and diagrams of the building flashing through my head as I think through every hallway and corridor.

"Good place to start. Let's go." He tells me, and we start running through the long halls of BPA.

I have mixed feelings about Joe. Something about him seems familiar; like a strange sense of I. He seems to genuinely care about Celeste, but I can't get the images of him destroying her tattoo out of my head.