Irradiated

Chapter 30: Inhuman

My first instinct was to basically charge whoever was holding that damn metallic killer, but I decided against it. I was just not in the mood to get shot again... I never thought I would be saying that so casually.

Instead, I quickly spun around and placed Angeli behind me, putting myself in between her and the person with the gun. Not so surprisingly, I was faced with someone that would be expected by now.

"What? So now you're going to kill us too?" I spat at him, my eyes growing darker and darker by the second.

He said nothing as he stared at me, his eyes an icier blue than they once were. They were even a bit red underneath, almost as if he had been... Crying? No, that couldn't be. Why would he...

"I'm not pointing it at you." He said in a hoarse voice. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and peered behind me to see that woman again. I stared at her, trying to recognize her facial features. Wait a second.

"You're no fun, Derrick. I was planning to give them a bit of a surprise." She pouted, her eyes flashing in the darkness that surrounded her. She had been hiding in the shadows of an unused and opened cell. Around us, various empty cells opened and multiple guards emerged, each pointing a weapon at Derrick.

"I am quite boring, aren't I?" His eyes instantly darkened as he fired a shot at the woman, who quickly sidestepped the bullet. None of the guards made a move to hurt him, however. "Quite." He repeated. I watched their interactions carefully, gripping my hand softly around Angeli's hand.

"What is going on?" She whispered, confusion written over her face.

I wore her same expression. "I have no clue."

"Oh, Derrick. You are such a traitor, aren't you? First you betray these kind people and then you betray your own mother?" My eyes widened. That's why she looked so familiar. She looked way too much like Derrick. "How pitiful." She seemed to mock him.

"Oh, but we both know why these 'kind people' are here in the first place." He said between clenched teeth.

"But they... Do not." She looked at us when she had paused. "And they never will know. That's the fun of this - they never know why it happens to begin with. They are merely killed without an answer to their, 'why me?' It's rather enjoyable." She smiled, which stirred a deep hatred from within me.

"Ugh... You see why I hate you so much, mother?" He sneered, his grip tightening on his gun. "Because this is what you forced me to grow up with." I watched Derrick intently. His whole body seemed to shake with an emotion. Whether it was anger or sadness, I didn't know. It could've been both. "You forced me to do this. You... You MONSTER!" He screamed finally, his hair completely pushed out of his face.

"Shut up!" She pulled her own gun out and shot his shoulder, causing him to scream once more. She waltzed over to him once he was on the ground and looked down at him with a cruel face. "Learn your place, will you? It may end up getting you killed." He gave her a hateful face contorted in agony.

My mind was whirring at this point. I glanced back at Angeli who seemed just as filled with thought as I was. He was forced? No, he could've just decided to run away, right? He didn't have to do all this if he didn't want to. Then again, just how much power did his mother have? Did she have the power to just look for and find him, only to continue threatening him to do as he was told? Was he in a Queen and Prince situation? Always listen to mother?

"I'll never wear your broken crown." He muttered, allowing himself to sink into unconsciousness.

"Oh, but you already are, sweetie." She smiled, looking back at me and Angeli. She thought for a moment before ordering, "Take the girl. I have some few last words to say to this young man." I pressed myself against Angeli, pushing her back to the wall as I faced the many guards around us. I could feel her hands gripping the back of my shirt as I towered my tall figure around her.