Final Truth

Chapter 34: Something Terrible

Cassia's point of view:

I bolt for my friends, their cell quickly coming into view as I skid a bit on the wet floors.

Adam jolts to a standing position when he sees me, his red hair plastered to his face and his clothes completely soaked. Kyle and Susan look the same as he does, though Susan seems particularly seething from having to constantly wipe never-ending water off her glasses

"What happened?!" Adam demands.

"I'll explain in a minute. Stand back," I tell them all, having to raise my voice over the sound of the sprinklers.

Adam and Kyle do as I say, and I enfold the lock on their door in my hands. With a bit of effort and concentration, the lock turns to mush in my hands due to the excessive heat from the electricity. It clutters to the ground in a smelted pile of metal.

I open the door and the boys scatter out, Adam looking uncertain while Kyle looks dumbfounded.

"Thanks Cassia," Kyle utters to me, heading over to Susan's cell as I follow to do the same.

"You just melted a lock," Adam comments as the lock on Susan's cell begins to disintegrate just as theirs did.

"Yep," I comment.

"So your new power is..." Adam questions himself, mulling things over as Susan's lock melts completely.

"Electricity," I finish for him, Susan's cell door opening.

She pays no attention to my newfound power and practically sprints out of her cell to stand by Kyle, stretching her arms out and jumping up and down in joyful freedom.

"This prison can kiss my-" Susan begins in a singsong voice, but Kyle puts a hand over her mouth before she can finish that sentence.

I would've laughed if the situation wasn't so dire.

"Okay, now that we're out, we've gotta go back the way I came and find Cade. We're getting out of here," I tell them, beginning to walk back the way I came.

Adam quickly grabs my arm, however, spinning me back around to face him.

"We can't just leave, Cassia. If we escape, Will will just come after us, and I don't think he'd hesitate to kill us this time. We have to end this, right now. The box must be destroyed, and Will has to die," he tells me in a serious voice, not flinching.

I stare at him for a moment, heart thudding at his words.

"You...we have to kill Will?" I ask, nervous.

"Unless I can think of some way to subdue him, that's our only option. But at the very least, that box has to be destroyed," Adam says.

"Why would you want to destroy the box? What was the point of taking the time to go through all those powers in the bunker if you just wanted to destroy them?" Susan interjects, stepping forward to look at him.

"I went through those powers to see how his society treated them as opposed to ours. I wanted to understand the science behind them and to figure out how to use them against him. I planned all along to eventually destroy the box, but the information I gained from it could help us in the future if we ever decided to make new powers. However, we won't have a future if we don't destroy that box. He doesn't know it, but all Will has to do is inject himself with some of the more deadly powers and that, combined with the destruction he can already do, could demolish this entire city," Adam explains, beginning to look frantic.

His words make sense, and I have no qualms about the box. It's Will that concerns me.

"I don't care if we destroy it," I begin, stepping toward Adam and jabbing a finger at him. "But I am not okay with killing; it goes against everything I stand for. You better promise me to try and think of another way before it comes to that. Now, come with me."