Killer Instinct

Chapter IV

IV.

The house was on fire, filling with smoke. So much, so much.

I ran for Linda's room, and found myself blocked off by too much smoke. I reached out to touch her mind, to make sure that my baby was okay.

But all I found was a black hole.

Dead.

I choked on a sob, wheeling to find my husband, reaching for the faint spark that was his mind. He was barely alive and holding on.

And then he was there. In my living room, tall and menacing.

Doug.

"You did this?" I shouted, my emotions a mixture of grief, anger and desperation. And fear. If Doug had done this, if Doug had murdered my family, that meant he wouldn't hesitate to kill me also.

"You know too much, Selene." He stepped towards me, but I scrambled back, terror pounding through me.

"You cannot just kill me, Doug! I am an agent!" The tears were streaming down my face, along with the sweat that soaked my clothes from the fire. The flames were an angry orange and red, leaping closer and closer, the heat making me weak.

"Were. You were an agent." Doug sighed, looking tired. "She's precious, Selene. And she's impressionable. You can't teach her the things you taught her. You can't tell her the things you told her. She is already too smart for her own good!"

"Isley should know the truth!" I shouted. "She is not your daughter. She has never been. She is just a weapon! Always has been, and always will be."

Doug's eyes darkened, replaced with a calm sort of fury that sent more fear scampering up my spine. Despite my tough talk, I knew that I was going to die. There was no way that he would let me live.

"Goodbye Selene." He said flatly, bring the roof down, and then it was hotter than hell, so much smoke, no time, so weak...

My emotions were a jumble, undecipherable. All I could do was lay there, sweating and immobile, ready to die.

When Selene removed her hand, I gasped, shaking all over, sweating from the fire in her dream, fear pulsing through me. Cold and gripping.

"My father ordered your family killed?" I gasped, tears were gushing now. And I could not stop them.

Selene bowed her head. "I was teaching you to think for yourself. Deviating off course. You weren't a good little puppet anymore, and someone had to pay."

I shook my head. "My father can be ruthless. But he is not cruel. He is only trying to protect us. That's why he hunts the Resistance!"

"He is not your father!" She shouted, a blinding rage searing through her. I gasped, never having seen her that angry before.

"He is not your father." She repeated, grasping for some sense of calm. "Your real father died in the fifth World War. Your mother is still alive, although she has no knowledge of your existence. It was as if you were never born. You had no ties, no true family. And it was the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the perfect weapon."

"You're lying to me," I whimpered. "My father would never do that! He wouldn't kidnap me from my mother and lie about it. My mother's dead!"

"You look nothing like Doug. Or Braden." Selene pointed out.

I looked away from her dark eyes, knowing that to be true. My father's excuse had always been that I looked like my mother. But then again, there weren't any pictures to prove that she'd ever existed.

"Isley," Selene whispered. "Where is Doug now?"

"He abandoned me." I spat the words, stale from my mouth. "He told me that I would either survive this or die. It was my punishment for going against orders."

"What father would do that to his only daughter?" Selene asked gently. "Not your father. I knew your father. And he was a damn good man, Isley. He loved you and your mother very much. But he was killed in a plot that hatched as soon as you were born."

"Why?" I asked, truly feeling confused.

"Because you are the most powerful Mental to walk the Earth. You are a Universal. You can do anything with your mind; and if you don't know how to, you will find a way."

She touched my platinum bracelet.

"This is why that is so necessary. If you had full access to your powers, you would be an unstoppable force."

"But I've had access to my powers before." I told her, shaking my head. "I've felt what I can do."

"No. No you haven't." Selene had a slight smile on her lips. "What Level did they tell you that you were currently at?"

"A Level 20." I whispered.

Selene laughed. "That is ridiculous. You don't have a Level. You are infinite. Your power, unless tampered with by platinum, could detonate the world. And it would only cause a pulse of power and concentration."

I shook my head. "Sel, I know I'm powerful. But not that powerful."

"You have platinum implanted all over your body. You just don't know it. This," She held up my left wrist. "This is just one. We'll have to remove it for you so that you will know."

I glanced up at the old man. James was his name, if I remembered correctly.

"He doesn't like that idea very much."

"No he doesn't." James retorted, his face pinched with irritation. "They put that platinum in you for a reason. Such power shouldn't exist."

"Then we all should die right now." I told him. "Power is power. Quantity doesn't matter, nor quality. And if I cannot have what I was born with, then neither should you."

My little speech made him smile.

"She's got fire," James repeated ruefully, shaking his head. "Goddamn, Selene. She's a piece of work."

"My piece of work." She smoothed my hair back again. "Let's cut her ties. She's not going anywhere."

Apollo stepped forward, snapping his fingers. And the zip ties fell away like little pieces of plastic.

"Your welcome." He told me.

"For what?" I asked, blinking at him. "That marvelous left hook back at Dulce?"

"No." His lips twisted into a predatory grin. "For saving your skin. Now you owe me."

I smirked. Obviously this kid had no clue who he was dealing with.

"You did that purely out of the kindness of your heart." I told him with an angelic smile, standing to my feet. The pounding in my head hadn't ceased, and the room began to tilt, as did I in my six inch heels.

Apollo caught me before I could kiss the floor.

"You owe me," He repeated firmly, his green eyes glowing while everything else slowly began to fade. "And I always collect on favors."

"I don't owe you shit," I muttered, just before the darkness rolled over me. Sinking into a blissful cloud of black.