The Last Elementalist

Chapter 19

Evie was woken by a banging on the heavy metal door of the tunnel. Everyone scampered to find something to hide behind, but hardly anything was suitable. As they ran, Evie tripped on a loose stone and flew onto a cracked section. Footsteps sounded from the hall and she squeezed her fingers through the crack and pried it off. Shadows appeared on the floor of the room as she slipped in, pulling the stone back over her.

She sat still, shaking at her narrow escape. The stone above her jiggled and some screams and grunts hardly made it through, but one was definitely Connor.

Too quickly, light hit her eyes and as she blinked them away, two bodies tumbled into the cavern. Lielle landed nose to nose from Connor and Evie scowled ever so slightly. Connor barely even knew this girl and he was already in love with her? This was an outrage!

They snorted and stood up, then helped the others down. "Nice job, Evie," Layla congratulated as soon as she hit the ground.

The narrow hall twisted downhill and emerged in a room full of tiny lights. Beeps sounded from their sources and Lielle held out her arm, peeking around the corner. She indicated that people were in the room, then lit up her hand to tell them to feel free to use them as practice dummies.

Their squad snuck in and Lielle shot the occasional blast of energy from a generator. Turns out she can absorb power from objects too, but luckily it was only temporary. That girl already scared her enough.

As they passed the first unconscious guard, she grabbed his gun and handed it to Evie. She closed her hand around the cold handle and loaded some ammunition. Gun pressed against her leg, they continued forward with the occasional slurping sounds of air forced out of lungs or a sneaker hitting skin and bone.

For the most part it was a noiseless journey. Giant screens showed cameras throughout the compound which seemed to be several hundred miles long and completely underground. Silence filled the air as Lielle sat down by a computer to shut off the cameras, mapping a route on her watch as she went. They split up after discussing tactics until plans and backup plans flooded their brains. Every scenario was played out before them before they split up, Cassidy, Layla and the twins going one way, the original trio in the other.

* * * * *

As soon as they entered the main compound, guards rounded the corners every second. Each of them had their abilities and gun plus their fighting skills. They dropped like flies before them as they took bullets to the chest or stomach, or frozen in ice and scratched and bitten by a tiger or a wolf.

As they neared the center of the map which laid under western Massachusetts. Evie could have sworn she heard growling. Lielle fired her gun twice, shielded by the wall and they crouched through the hall ahead. A shout emerged from the next corridor signaling that they had obviously heard the gunshots. They held their guns in front of them as the men emerged. Shots fired in both directions and screams from both as well.

Connor seemed shaken and was clutching his arm. Blood seeped through his fingers, but despite that, he was the first to run ahead, the first to enter the great room with walls of stone and steel and fighting groups with burly instructors. It reminded Evie of the Freespace that she had enjoyed hanging out in back at the Thrillers headquarters.

Turning up their collars, they trudged into the belly of the beast, praying they wouldn't get caught. Connor caught sight of two bickering young children in the other end of the room and led them to the others. They mixed up the groups and stalked away in pairs, each one taking another exit.

The cold barrel of the gun pressed against the small of her back as they walked through halls and doors with as much courage as they could muster.

"That door looks important. It needs an ID and everything."

"Well there must be people inside, then," Evie pointed out.

"Only one way to find out." Layla swiped an ID card through the scanner and the door slid open. "Well, it worked."

The two cousins inched forward, shooting down only two women before reaching the large oakwood table. Chairs made of ivory added much needed elegance to the dusty, dimly lit room. The conference room was thankfully empty other than some papers that were left behind. Layla started forward but Evie held her back. It could not be so simple. These people would not be so sloppy but they would take great care of their confidential information. Evie had been slightly suspicious that Mr. Black had been careless enough to leave his files in her plain sight but this was the real deal. Once they attempted to do something, there was no turning back.

A light in the room they were in flickered on followed by each one after it, leading straight to the table. One look at the shot guards would alert them to their presence, and only the important people would attend a meeting in this grand space, people with a sense of authority. Layla grabbed the nearest body and shoved it behind a cabinet, followed by herself. On her way, Layla managed to trip and hit a metal filing cabinet.

The shudder of metal made her ears ring and her heart pound. Heavy footsteps ran to the source of the commotion. They held out their guns and fired a warning shot. Despite the threat, five men and women in black and gold rounded the corner and fired. Bullets flew everywhere and Evie pulled at the trigger, but the gun would not fire a single bullet. She ran to her cousin in an attempt to turn her intangible when touching her, but nothing happened and a bullet entered her shoulder and leg. She collapsed, moaning, and waved Evie ahead. She grabbed her long loved family over her shoulders and ran closer to the firing men, but they soon realized their disbenefit and spoke into their walkies.

"I want this compound on full lockdown. Sweep through the entire place and find the intruders."

Evie threw the two of them into a closet and sat down next to her sister. One look at her paling face made Evie break down.

"I'm sorry, this is my fault," she sobbed. "I tried to help you but I couldn't make you intangible like I did with the twins and I'm so, so sorry."

Layla smiled gingerly and shook her head in the smallest of ways. "No, it wasn't your fault. You did the best you could and that is all anyone can do. Go find the others. I can take care of myself."

"Anything," and Evie flew out of the closet and dashed through halls in hope of any sign of anyone who could help.