I, Immortal

Chapter Twenty-Five

I stood beside Maisie, constantly shifting my weight from one foot to the other in nervous movement. Maisie sat at my feet, tapping a rhythm on her lap. Every few minutes, she checked her timepiece, frowned and continued her tapping. Cy was somewhere in the shadowy alley behind us, hacking into and wiping the system. I wondered where and why he had learned to hack. He didn't even need a computer to do it - he had his implants connected to the system. Hands free hacking.

Maisie checked the time again, and stood on her feet. "He'll be here soon." She murmured.

Cy appeared from out of the shadows. He tapped his blinking implants. "Wiped the system completely. If anyone is lucky enough to find a hard drive in the rubble, it'll be as corrupt as a power-hungry politician."

"You think that up by yourself?" I muttered. He ignored me and leaned against the brick wall without another word.

"He'll be here soon." Maisie whispered, checking her piece again.

The minutes ticked by. Dima still did not appear. I craned my neck and watched the stars until my neck ached, then I sighed and resigned to stand beside Maisie and watch the door as I was supposed to.

Maisie straightened the hem of her jacket, muttering frustratedly to herself. "Why isn't he here? He should be here by now."

I breathed a long, low sigh and closed my eyes, trying not to think the worst. Then a screeching whine pierced through the night air. I looked up; the Protonet building flooded with light, and the doors swung open. Five men dressed in SWAT gear exited the building, carrying weapons and shouting muffled orders. On the curb directly in front of them, Dima's hunched form flickered into view, then disappeared. Seconds later, he appeared again, stumbling into the street. One of the SWAT members aimed and took a shot at him, but he vanished into thin air once more.

Maisie let out a guttural howl, raised her hands. The fire glowed bright orange before me, and her eyes seemed to burn red. "I'm gonna kill them."

I stepped in front of her. My ears pounded from the high-pitched screech of the sirens. "Don't kill them. Stop them some other way. Just don't kill them."

"Don't try to be a hero." She sneered. "They're working with Protonet. I'm not letting them live."

"This isn't right!"

"Is that all?" She bared her teeth, and I suddenly realized I was the only thing standing in her way of destroying Protonet. She could burn me to ash and carry out her plan without batting an eye.

"We're not monsters, Maisie." My voice rose louder, "This isn't who you are!"

"This?" She shrieked, holding up her flaming hand. "No one should ever be this!"

Her entire arm set ablaze in red and orange flame. The fire sprang from her hands, spreading to the building. I watched in terror as the five SWAT members dropped their weapons and screamed as the flames consumed them. The large metal overhang above them melted and flowed over the doorway like lava, trapping the people inside. Fire spread through the building. Seconds later, a thundering boom roared through the streets, smothering the sound of the sirens. A series of louder blasts quickly followed. Debris spattered against the pavement. Screams rose up from the people trapped inside. The building groaned and crumbled, then fell with a deafening roar.

As debris rained from the sky to the pavement mere yards from where I stood, I spied Dima stumbling in the street, appearing and vanishing. A chunk of concrete crashed into the pavement beside him, and he stumbled from the impact. Maisie rushed from the alley to his side, helped him to his feet and dragged him further from the crumbling building. Dima looked straight into my eyes; the street lights illuminated his worn face. He waved his arm at me, shouting wildly. "Go! You have to go! Now!"

I stood in place, even as hundreds of projectiles rained from the night sky. I watched the destruction, even as I vaguely heard Cy yell at me to run. Maisie looked over her shoulder, screamed, tried to help Dima walk faster. I looked to the crumbling building, then back to the pair stumbling through the street. I found the strength to move, and I ran, but not to escape. I rushed into the street toward Maisie and Dima. My heart pounded inside my chest. Above us, the Protonet building screeched and groaned, falling, crumbling. I ran to help; I wasn't fast enough. I skidded to a stop, just before the building fell forward and toppled into the street.

*

Bright light seeped through, flooding my vision for a brief instant before passing over where I lay. My head throbbed as I fought to keep my eyes open. A sound, ringing and clouded, stuck in my ears. Everything sounded like I was underwater. What had happened? I tried to reach a hand up to my aching head, but my arm wouldn't budge. Couldn't. I suddenly remembered, and realized where I was - trapped under a pile of rubble. Trapped. I couldn't move, pinned to the pavement by debris. A muffled voice reached my ringing ears. Cy's voice.

"Cy, it's me! It's me! I'm...I'm here!" I shouted, choking on the dust in my mouth.

The bright glow returned. I squinted and wheezed as the pile of debris around me began to move. Cy cleared a metal plate away from my face, shining his flashlight into my eyes. "I'm here for ya. Hold on. Just a second." He quickly pushed aside the rubble, and within moments I was free. He wrapped my arm around his neck and helped me to my feet. I winced and looked down at my right arm, flopping uselessly at my side. No doubt my arm was broken.

"Where's...wh-where's Dima? And...and Maisie?" I coughed on the dusty fog in the air.

Cy quickly limped along, nearly tripping over a mangled support beam. "They're not coming with us."

I looked over my shoulder at the wreckage around us. Fire crackled beside broken concrete boulders; glass diamonds haphazardly covered the cracked street. We climbed over small hills of rubble, what was left of the massive Protonet headquarters. I squinted into the dim, dusty light glowing from the few intact street lamps, searching. When I found what I was looking for, hot tears blurred my vision. I wanted to shout, to cry, but the lump in my throat choked me. Dima's still form lay mangled on a hill of burning rubble. Parts of his body were opaque, some flickered, and others were completely invisible. His face was twisted in a pained grimace.

"No." I whispered. I struggled against Cy, who grabbed me tight and dragged me out of the street. "We have to go back! He can't be dead. We have to help him!"

"He's dead, Xander!" Cy shouted. I'd never seen him so angry. "You're lucky you aren't dead with him! We have to go before the FBI gets here. Where's the car?"

I didn't want to leave Dima lying in the dark street, but Cy shook me roughly by the shoulders and told me to pull myself together. I took one last look at the wreckage behind me, then hurried alongside Cy to the vehicle still sitting untainted two blocks away. We clung to the shadows as three black vans sped past us, then rushed into the safety of the car. Cy turned on the engine, hurriedly ordered the vehicle to drive out of the city.

"We'll take care of your arm once we find a safe place to stop." He rushed, eyes front to the road.

"My arm is fine," I muttered, and it was. I could move it without any pain. I didn't have so much as a scratch on me. My pain was deeper than mere skin and bone.

I stared at the sky through the skylight; the stars didn't seem so peaceful anymore. I leaned forward and wiped at the tears spilling from my eyes. Dima was dead. Maisie was dead. President Lund was dead. The mission had ended.

My nightmares had just begun.