Breaking Free (BXB)

Chapter 27-A Room Full of Bodies

I stared up at the boy. He stared at me. His eyes were cold and glittering with malice, nothing like the boy from the battle who had spared me. At the battle, I could see the fear in his eyes, I could see his reluctance to hurt me. I could see his innocence. At that moment we were the same: two boys caught in a war neither had asked for, scared for their lives. Now, instead of seeing what made us the same you could see what made us so glaringly different. I was shivering and sweating on the floor, the body of my friend lying still several feet away, and I could feel that my eyes had turned a bright yellow as if a film had passed over them. I was scared and alone, and there he was. His face was twisted into one of insanity. His hair was strewn all over and drenched in sweat and his legs shook as he held the gun to my forehead.

"It's all over, cat." He spat, his eyes wild. I could feel his hands shaking through the gun. My heart thundered in my chest and the sword whispered to me to kill him. To hurt him like he would hurt me, to maim him beyond recognition. Shaking my head free from the whispers of the sword, I stared up at him. His eyes were red and brimming with tears, but steely and cold as if he had no heart at all. His body shook and I saw a bead of sweat drip off of his forehead. He gulped and reclaimed his resolve. This was a boy who was scared for his life.

"You don't want to do this." I murmured, my voice surprisingly steady. The boy shook his head quickly, drops of sweat flying free. He smiled sadly, tilting his head to look at me. Something had come loose inside of him and I had to put it back together or risk it all. Jerking up, the boy dug the gun further into my skin. Wincing, I leaned back a little bit, the cold metal biting my skin and making my blood rush in my ears.

"You don't get it!" He cried, his voice trembling. "They'll kill me if I don't." He stared at me, his eyes filled with tears. I could see a bruise darkening his eyes and a cut on his cheekbone, dark red and swollen with the start of an infection. My heart ached for him. He had been forced into this world just as much as I had, and he didn't have the luxury of someone on his side.  I could've just as easily been in his position. I could've been him if I had made different choices than I had. I could've been him if it wasn't for Alo, who was laying, wheezing out every breath beside me. If it wasn't for Owen, who had loved me enough to fight for me. If it wasn't for Sera, who could be dying at this very moment. I had a part to play in all of this, and my part started with a choice, unlike him. And he was the one who would decide my fate. Gulping, I steeled any courage inside me. It was now or never.

"What's your name?" I asked, my voice shaking in a fake bravado, and the boy flinched. He knew I was scared and it seemed to open something up in him. I wasn't sure if I could trust what that openness showed or not, but I just had to hope that he wasn't too far gone. I watched him open his mouth and close it, and open it again before he responded, his voice choked.

"Luke." He conceded. Relief washed over me. He wasn't too far gone. Slowly, I pushed myself to my feet, looking him in the eye. I was terrified beyond belief. But if I could help just one person, and managed to live to tell the tale, then it would be worth it.

"Luke," I cajoled. "Luke, are they hurting you here?" He flinched, and I knew I was right. "You can come with me. I'll keep you safe. I promise." I murmured, cautiously watching Luke tremble, then slowly lower his gun. A breath of relief escaped through my mouth.

"There you go, nice and easy." I murmured. I heard the gun clatter to the floor. Then I heard footsteps pounding up the stairs. Luke's eyes widened, and we stared at each other. Time seemed to go on forever as the dust floated around the attic room. Then the shouts reached my ears. Luke whirled around, fear coming off of him in waves. 

They appeared ina mob of shouting men, screaming obscenities at Luke, and at me. I glanced around for an exit, finding a small window just big enough for me. I glanced at Alo, dying on the floor. I couldn't leave him. The drop was far, and I was reminded of when the Hunters first found me, alone and ignorant to this entire crapshoot supernatural world. I had thrown myself out of it, not sure exactly what I was running from or why. I had come crashing down on the hard pavement and was suddenly introduced to the world of the supernatural, one I could never leave behind. I wouldn't have even gotten that far if it wasn't for Alo. But I couldn't run this time. I had to face them head-on.

A gunshot split the air.

I watched, horror circulating in my veins as Luke fell to the floor in a pool of his own blood, the light draining out of his eyes. Speckles of blood smattered my face like dark red freckles and I felt something in me flip, something that had probably been there all along but had never risen to the surface. The sword purred in delight. I hadn't known him, and the sum and total of our interactions had consisted of him trying to kill me, but we were in the same boat. We were two sides of the same coin. Two boys caught in a war neither of us wanted with no choice but to fight.

"Get him!" Someone shouted, and I glanced up, staring at the mob of men rushing towards me. Something dark surged through me and the sword glowed red. I felt the urge to kill them, to avenge this boy in front of me, to avenge my friends who had been put through so much suffering in the name of a pointless war. A war I now had to finish at the expense of a normal life. Rage seared my veins, and my eyes narrowed. A scream bubbled up my throat. Raising the sword above my head, I charged. I felt power like nothing I had ever felt before, pushing me to kill them. To kill all of them. To make them pay for what they had done to Luke, to me, and to my friends and family.

A roar echoed around the room as I ran at the men, slashing and stabbing faster than humanly possible. I could hear their screams in my soul. I reveled in their screams. They deserved to feel pain for all that they had done. It was their fault I was like this. It was their fault my dad was imprisoned. It was their fault that Luke died. It was their fault Sera was fighting for her life. It was their fault that Alo was lying in a pool of his own blood. It was their fault. All of it. I could feel my hands coated in blood and the sword pushed something dark in me. Something I didn't want to think about as I single-handedly massacred the Hunters. I could feel skin tearing beneath my sword and bones breaking. I could hear the final breaths of at least a dozen men and I could feel the weight of their deaths settle on my shoulders.

"Stop!" I froze. The red haze in my mind cleared and I saw there was one man left alive, bloody and staggering forward. One man surrounded by one hundred dead men. My stomach lurched. What had I done? I saw the men laying still facedown in their own blood around me and I felt acid creep up my throat. Falling to the floor, I clutched my shirt as I heaved up nothing but air, coughing desperately.  I had done this. I had done this. Maybe I was a monster after all. 

Hands jabbed out, clutching onto my neck. My eyes widened and I desperately clawed at the hands of the man in front of me. I couldn't tell what he looked like, he was so covered in blood. I coughed and kicked wildly, trying to free myself with all of my might. Part of me wanted to just give up fighting. I had killed these men and broken every moral code I'd ever put in place, I deserved to die for that. But then my mind went to Owen's smile. Owen's hands in mine. Owen's lips laying soft kisses on my neck. Owen's laugh. Owen's voice. Everything that made him, him. I could see my father, laying in his cell waiting to be rescued and Sera dying surrounded by all of her friends but me. I could feel Alo's life seeping out of him with every second. They needed me. I couldn't die here. Not yet.

"That's right. My eyes will be the last you will ever see." The man spat blood in my face. "Just like that little friend of yours." Ice filled my veins. Cooper and Rose had been with them, innocents left to their mercy. "What was his name? The blonde one." I felt tears prick my eyes as my fingers and toes started to tingle, background music to the screaming pain in my lungs. "He cried when I killed him. Cried like a baby as I  stabbed him clean through. The other one, the pretty red-head, she won't be far behind. They've got her downstairs probably torturing her to madness. Not that she doesn't deserve it. The bitch." His voice was cold and twisted with the sharp daggers of malice. I felt my stomach sink. I couldn't die here. I had to get Rosy. I had to save her. Mustering all the strength I could, I brought my sword up and pushed it deep into his gut before he could even move to stop me. I could feel his organs ripping and I could hear the man gasp, blood spilling from his mouth. I watched, my hands shaking, as the light left his eyes. Another weight rested on my shoulders.

And I was alone in a room full of bodies.