Diabolus: The Lost Phoenix

Chapter Thirty Six

KAI WOODS

I'm not sure if I ever knew what assault feels like; at least not how a normal person would feel it. The adrenaline, the power, that suddenly takes all of your body, it was always there. But not the fear. Not until this day came, blinding me with fear, anxiety; to be honest, I forgot how it felt like.

Until this day. When I feel the death's hot breath on my spine.

I know that my tantrum begins when breath is turning from quiet and regular to a panting gasp. When I'm sucking the air, like it had suddenly become thick and was now almost too difficult to draw in. When my every move is impulsive, when I trust in my reflexes more than I could trust in my sober thoughts. We don't have a plan, we don't have an escape. But what we do have, is hope.

In this fight, there are blindfolds around our hearts and our thoughts are caged by fear. I want to run through the crowd of cops, I want to push everyone aside, to kill everyone who stands in my way; just so I could reach Her. Just so I could pull Her into another hug. Just so I could plant a kiss on Her lips, if only just for a second. To feel Her in my arms again. To get the strength that I need, seeing her loving ocean blue eyes.

And I know I can't. I have to make sure she's safe; which means I can't find out where she's hiding.

The walls, that were once dyed in creamy beige color are now painted in red; stains of blood all over them, and lifeless men on the ground, covering the carpet. As I look around, all I can see is stray limbs and dead creatures - once fine young men, who now are no longer recognizable as human. Then the gunfire starts.

"Kai, get down!"

I grab the bulletproof shield from one of the lifeless men, laying in front of me, when Brent takes a step and shows the power of his machine gun. The bullets cover once calm, silent atmosphere of the hotel's hallway; yet now its name is profaned forever. They're small, cruel killers, only having one aim - to take someone's life away.

The time has stopped when I raised my head up from the shield that was covering my whole body. A tiny, but deadly bullet, flying straight between my eyes. Fast enough, I turn my head to the right, to let it fly its way without touching me. Funny, isn't it? After all that I've been through, after all the fights that we won, I could die from this tiny thing, if it would cross my body. Well, that at least would be poetic.

But not at this moment.

"Fuck, are you alright?!"

The bullet flew just an inch away from my eyeballs; if I was closer to it, I wouldn't be able to answer Brent's question anymore. It landed somewhere in the wall behind me, making a small, rounded hole inside it, reaching its destination which wasn't as lethal.

"Of course, partner."

Brent gives me a hand to grab onto, helping to lift me up from the ground. Just behind him, I see Kevin; with a heavy flamethrower on his right shoulder, threatening to burn his enemies alive. But the look on his face... it seems like life abandoned his, but not those dead men's eyes. It's like he was that bullet, having one aim - to kill everyone who will stand in his way.

"We need to find a way out."

"You know that's not possible. There are dozens of them, and only five of us."

"I know. Let's make sure that there will be less of them."

I feel myself giggling when Brent puts a hellish smile on his face; yet I feel how the insides of me are boiling. My vision blurs as a flame curled in the pit of my stomach. My brain goes on overdrive as it picked every moment that I spent running. From the cops. From Carlos. My rage holds all the power of a wildfire, the flames, roaring in my eyes, ready to ignite anything that I will come in contact with.