The Fallen

Kevin

Instinctively I grabbed the wrist of whoever had the knife and twisted it until I heard a satisfying crack. He groaned in pain, dropping the small blade to the ground. It made a surprisingly loud clang as it hit what must've been concrete.

I hadn't even realized what was going on until a moment later. I'd grabbed the man by his throat and had him pinned against a wall. My vision was adjusting enough to where I could see the outline of his face. He was scruffy, gasping for breath against my deadly grip. I didn't even know I had the strength to do this. I was holding him up with just one hand, and though he clawed and struggled he couldn't get free.

"Where is she?" I hissed, surprised at the anger I heard in my own voice.

"Hell." He spit at my face, but I tilted my head sideways to avoid it.

"You'll be joining her then." I crushed his windpipe easily and let his limp body slide to the ground. I sensed the presence of the next person just in time to duck. I picked up the knife from earlier and threw it up, despite not even seeing who had attacked me, I knew the blade sunk home by the thunk of another body hitting the ground. Every movement I made was instinctive, deadly, and precise.

One after another, attackers kept me from advancing any further inside, and one after another, they felt my rage. I felt nothing as they dropped, and I had no idea where the weapons I were producing came from. I would just think of how I needed another knife, and an exact copy of the first one would appear in my hand.

I eventually made my way to the center of the warehouse, where a skylight pooled the room with a soft, blue, moonlight. Standing in the middle of the room was a boy with black hair that had red dye in it. He seemed familiar, but I wasn't worried about why. I was only worried about Amirèe.

"I knew you would come for her eventually. You have no idea how happy I am to see you Kevin." He looked at me with hateful dark eyes, and I'm positive my gaze was just as deadly. "יש לנו עסק לא גמור" He spoke in a deadly, old tone, and I knew exactly what he had said. We have unfinished business.

"Where is she?"

"Gone." He sneered. "She's smarter than I gave her credit for. The girl kicked the bolt loose and knocked the back door down. She's probably running through the parking lot now, though I've ordered my men to keep her hostage until you get to her. They might be dragging her back here, or really, anything."

"Get out of my way." I growled when he stepped in my path as I walked past him.

"Or what?" He challenged me, green eyes sparking with anticipation.

I wished for a knife and it appeared, I plunged it into his gut and twisted. He dropped to his knees, coughing blood, but somehow, I knew that wasn't going to kill him. He would be incapacitated for a while though. "You're just as deadly as you've always been." He laughed.

I ignored him and ran forward, out of the moonlight and past the door and into the parking lot, across the pavement. I saw one thing, a scruffy man with a beard, dragging Amirèe by the hair behind him. She was screaming, slapping him uselessly with her chained fists. One moment I was meters away, and the next, he was a crumpled mass of muscle on the ground. I could feel Amirèe behind me, and a group of men and boys alike amassed before me. They didn't bother moving, they didn't come any closer.

"Kevin?" Her voice was small, strained from screaming, maybe even crying. I ached to turn around and hold her, tell her everything was alright, but I didn't trust turning my back on those men. They weren't normal. All of them were injured, knives protruding from their chests, one's neck was bruised where I'd crushed his throat, and the boy who I'd stabbed in the gut stood behind all of them, smiling. I wanted to crush him into a million pieces. I wanted to stab him to death. I wanted to burn him, no them, alive.

"It's you," I heard her voice crack behind me, and felt her head press against my back as she erupted into sobs. My heart broke and hot fury coursed through my veins like fire. I felt as if my rage alone was burning the world, until I realized that it wasn't my anger that made the air in my lungs burn hot, or the night turn bright with heat.

When I blinked my eyes again, a wall of pure white flames had erupted, engulfing the group of men and even the boy who was behind everyone. It was blinding, and horrifying. They were screaming, some covering their faces as if it would stop the flame from burning them. I used the chaos to lift turn and lift Amirèe into my arms and run.

She clutched onto my shirt with shaking, but firm fingers, face and body turned into my chest as if I was a comfort to her just by existing. Her sobs had stopped, and eventually, her chest was rising and falling in the pattern of someone who had fallen asleep.

Somewhere along the way, I remembered I still had her phone and found a quiet park to stop in. She opened her eyes when I laid her on a bench, they were foggy with exhaustion and though we were out of immediate danger, I could see her fear. I wished I had the key to her chains, I hated seeing her like this.

She didn't say anything to me but sat up on her knees. She put her cheek on my shoulder, still shaking, and closed her eyes. I grabbed her wrist and thought to myself, whatever has been giving me weapons, fighting instincts, and fire, please just give me the key to her chains, she doesn't deserve this. Sure enough, a small key popped into existence in my palm, and I unlocked her chains.

I saw the bruises on her skin, purpling on her wrists from the manacles. Her arms were marked from the chains she had wrapped around her skin, probably so she wouldn't trip as she ran away. I used all my strength to keep from going back to that warehouse and murdering everyone. Once her arms were finally free, she wrapped them around my neck, hiding her face in the crook of my neck. I just knew she was crying again, I couldn't see them, but I knew silent tears streaked her cheeks. Without moving her, I pulled her phone from my pocket and went through her contacts until I found her mother's name.

It only rang once before Mrs. Dillon answered. "Hello?"

"I found her." I said, it was as if the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. Those were the most beautiful words I'd ever heard myself speak, and I hoped I would never have to say them again.

"Where are you? Can you put her on the phone? I'm coming to get you two right now," I could hear her rustling around the house in the background, moving frantically.

I looked at the street signs around us, telling Mrs. Dillon where we were, and saying that Amirèe was too shaken to speak. After what felt like forever her family pulled up next to the park and ran across to where we were. Amirèe had stopped crying, and was laying with her head in my lap, face turned to me.

Her father got to us first, Corey tailing behind him energetically. Her mom was slower, but just as thrilled to see her daughter safe. No one wanted to wake her up, so her dad lifted her into his arms and carried her to the car. Her mom walked behind him quietly, hushing Corey as he loudly asked what had happened to his sister.

I stayed on the bench, and pressed my palms to my face, relief flooding through me like an ocean of emotions that couldn't be controlled. Mrs. Dillon walked back to me by herself, gently laying a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to meet her eyes and was surprised to see how furious she was.

I heard a crack and blinked. She had slapped me across the face, and I was too surprised to do anything but stare. "Don't you ever run off and do something that dangerous again." Her eyes were watering. "I was so worried about both of you." She turned and stalked to the car, and this time I followed.

I felt an unfamiliar joy bubble up in my stomach and couldn't help but smile. Corey was standing outside of the car, refusing to sit in the middle of the backseat. I slid in next to Amirèe's sleeping form without protesting. Her head slunk against my shoulder, and my heart throbbed. We all sat in silence the rest of the ride to the house.