*CAMERON"S POV*YOU KNOW THE SAYING, that when you are about to die, everything you did in the past will come running back inside your head? Yeah, that"s what I see behind my eyes when I saw the warrior--I was supposed to kill--turn into a beast. Both literal and figuratively. I missed my first shot and I was preparing for the second when he suddenly went rigid and dropped to the ground. I know I should have finished him right there and then. But that"s now how I fight. I like to win my battle fair and square even though he doesn"t deserve that. I watch as he gripped his head like it"s splintering into pieces. And then something peculiar and deadly happened. He vanished, well not vanished as in disappeared but a blanket of different colors came upon him. Enclosing him like he"s some kind of present. Then that blanket expanded. Every single thing in its way dissipates into nothing, it"s eating them.
I was good 50 yards away when I started running away from it. But it chases after me fast even though I increase my speed, it does me no better, it still catching up. I am running out of breath and I almost gave up and just let the void take me away but it stopped right in front of me as I bring my hands up, shielding my face. I don"t really know how that will help me but ya know, it"s what we do when we are on the verge of dying.
My heart is still thumping so loud even though it stopped and retreated a long time ago. What just happened? One minute ago I am fighting with a warrior then the colored blanket started eating everything then it stopped right in front of me then it vanished as nothing happened. The fog in my head started to clean up and I finally have a clear view of the damage it had done. There"s not a single tree before me and the warrior was lying on his back on the ground. I should have run when I still had the chance but it"s too late because he sat up and the first thing--for all of the things--he saw was me. I froze on the spot but that"s hardly the reason why. Because it"s my turn next.
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I lay there, gasping for breath, staring at the blazing sun when a shadow fell over me. "Hey, bro, ya okay?" I just gape at him. "Stew?"
"Clain?" That came out as a whisper but I know he heard me still.
"Yeah," he"s grinning from ear to ear. "Glad you remember me too. I was afraid earlier that when you are done, you will resume shooting me."
"Maybe I will, after all, you caused most of my hard times, ya know?" I sit up, groaning when my head felt like going for another second round. G.o.ds, I"m gonna die if it takes off for another shot. I felt like I just died over and over earlier.
"Payback"s a b*tch. Come on," he groans while helping me stand up. He claps me on the back and said, "We"ve gotta find the others."
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*RAVEN"S POV*
I hit the wall with my head so hard that I start to see stars. The headache I felt was something to die for. G.o.ds, it felt like torture and blessing at the same time. Because I finally have my memories back. And having them back stirs something inside me, it adds fuel to the fire I am already having.
When the judge came to me and told me that I have to see what"s the government hiding in the south, I never thought that it would be this vast. I thought, normally, there might be a monster or something very hideous and dangerous that we are not allowed to cross the borders. But now I know--thank the knowledge my memories brought to me--it"s because they don"t want us to know the experiment they"re running. Now that I have all the knowledge I need and the newly found power I have. And I know that the 8 gammas are now preparing to battle. h.e.l.l would break loose.
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*ELLIE"S POV*
Cries of dismay and agony filled up the eerie silence of this penitentiary. Consecutive cries from my friends who are experiencing what I experienced earlier. We are regaining our memories and our abilities are getting stronger. Abilities that can actually melt this h.e.l.l.
Having my memories back and knowing the past only ignites the rage inside me. They awaken the beast in its own slumber. Questions of why, and what, and how, filled my head but not enough to fuel down the anger burning in the core of my heart.
I can feel the rage filling my veins up, running in my bloodstreams heading straight for my aching soul. Soon, my mind, as well as my limbs, are heating up, infecting the metals that cling on my wrists and ankles. They change from a cold metal chain to ashes in the span of seconds. I slowly rose up from my sitting position, moving leisurely to the prison bars. They melt to ashes as I get nearer and I have no trouble from going out of my cell.
As I step out of my own jail, I inhale the sweet scent of rust, the stinky smell of raw blood and rotten bodies along with the bitter odor of death. Death. The word rolled off my tongue in a fluid motion as if it belongs there. Because it does. And today, at this very moment, the people inside these walls will learn what death smells like.
The creaks of every cell"s door opening hums in my ears. I smirk at the familiar presence on my right side. "Wow, what a wake-up call." Riley breathes out. "Thanks... Wait, should I call you Rebecca or Recca or Ellie because I am so confused."
"What do you want me to call you? Riley or Ila?" I ask her without looking at her. When she doesn"t answer, I glance at her way. Her brows are furrowed and her lips are puckered like she"s thinking. "Well?" I emphasized.
"Neither sounds right to me." I nod in understanding.
"I will not use either of those names. They are not me. For now, the city will know me as the black hunter."
"I love that name!" A very welcome and enthusiastic voice said on my left side because apparently, the director is dumb enough to let us have our cells adjacent to each other.
Riley smirks at my side. "Glad to see you"re finally back to your old self. Where is the shy and timid Aikah I"ve come to know?" She teases Avery.
Avery juts out her bottom lip in a form of pout, narrowing her eyes at Riley. They were always like fighting when we were kids. Well, I guess bad habits really do die hard. Finally, Avery sighs, straightening her spine, and said in a bored tone, "Well." She studies her fingernails as if all the scenarios we"re in is boring her. "Let"s just say she"s dead. Buried a hundred feet under. Hold up there, we"re talking about names. Your name is so cool and I want something like that," she said while pointing a finger at me. Then her eyes light up and she gasps. "How about, I"m going to be pink hunter then you--" she points at Riley--"you can be the yellow hunter. Then Nathaniel can be the Red one and then--"
"We are not f*cking power rangers Avery," Riley cuts her off. "Grow up please."
"Puh-lease. As if you"re better at giving names." She gives an expression like duh. But their fight was cut off by the sound of boots on the ground and the front door banging to its hinges. Avery"s eyebrow rose up higher than necessary.
My smile turns sinister as a memory came into my mind. It was when I was still a toddler and I was a puppy to Sarah. I had asked her one time, "Why do the warriors need to kill the exiles?"
She gave me no expression as she crouched down to my height and whispered in my ear. "Because they are dangerous."
"So what do we do now?" Riley"s voice broke me out to the surface from my memory. The exiles are now just stepping out of their own cells, some are looking frightened and scared while some look determined and ready to fight. This dungeon is in the shape of a circle for sure because of the large circle s.p.a.ce it has in the middle. Directly in front of us is the front door where soldiers are now running in.
I know that these exiles know why they are being imprisoned. Although they don"t have their memories, I know that they are very much aware of our situation right now so they have to fight. They WILL fight.
I look between Avery and Riley. "Let"s just get out of this h.e.l.l first. Then we"ll figure out everything later."
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"SARAH"S POV*
"Mom?" I wipe the tears away and turn towards the little girl standing by my doorway. For once, I am glad for the darkness because it covers my tear-stained cheeks.
"Yes, baby girl?" I ask Rebecca. Just like promised, I take care of her. I treat her like my own. I know that this little girl will be the earth"s last saving grace one day along with the other seven kids I"ve discovered. She moves from where she"s standing to me.
The bed dips at my side and I hold out my arms to her. She snuggles to me as my arms enclose over her small figure. I inhale her scent, silently sending a prayer to the One up above. Please, I don"t want to do this to her. She"s still a child. She has a life ahead of her. I close my eyes and pray that this time, there are some changes. But just like always, I see the same thing.
The plague infecting all people and everyone living on earth die, either from the disease or from hunger. My arms tighten around Rebecca as my mind made up on one thing. If Rebecca is our last hope right now, then that means I"m going to do whatever it takes to toughen her up. She"s got to be prepared to take over when my time comes. Even if it means losing the only family I have left. Or even if it means turning her against me.
I woke up in a start, panting and gasping for air. I sat up, brushing the locks of hair away from my forehead, feeling the dampness that gathers in there. My heart is racing and I can feel the pulse pulsating in my temple. I gently put on pressure there.
Then the thing I have been dreading to happen has happened. The burning sensation I felt years ago was back but I manage to seize to my ability from breaking out. It stopped almost immediately and I brace myself for the second wave that always comes stronger than the last one. It was moments later that it finally decided to stop.
In my entire life, this is only the fifth time that I"ve experienced this and I am not outside battling nor am I on the verge of dying. And I am just sitting in my bed, waking up from a nightmare. This means one thing. The 8 Gammas have reawakened. It means they have their memories back and they are coming for me. I feel the corners of my mouth quirk up. Finally, they are ready.
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*ELLIE"S POV*
As we run out of the dungeon, I shout to Riley and Avery, "Hey! You two go to the other prisons. Free the exiles and get out of here!" They both nod and went onto separate ways. "Raven, I need you--" I whirl around to see him, leaning onto the wall for support. My eyes widen at the sight of his wounds and the gash on his forehead. "Oh, my ghad! Raven! Oh, G.o.ds." I run to his side and cup his face. "Raven look at me." But he won"t look at me. His eyes are looking heavy and his breathing became ragged. "Nathan! I swear to G.o.ds if you die right now. I"ll bring you back to life just to kill you again!" He gives me a goofy grin.
"You"re so cute when you"re angry. You look like Terence. You know, the red angry bird." He laughs lightly. He continues to blabber but I don"t hear anything anymore but my own words from earlier. That"s right, I am the royalty. I"ve seen my mom did this in the past. I can do this. I can make his wounds disappear.
I press my forehead on his and look directly in his eyes. Then like horses galloping, an electric current shot between us causing us to jump back from each other. "What was that?" Nate whispers.
"I-I-I don"t know," I stammer.
"It"s your ability as a royalty, Ellie." I jump in startled when I heard a voice in my head whispers that I recognize was Leo"s. "Just relax, Ellie. Let your ability flow from you to him." I take a good look at Nate and notice that some of his wounds are shrinking but they do not completely disappear. I take a deep breath and step forward.
I"ve crossed our distance once we are at arm"s length. I put both hands on either side of his face, my thumbs on his temples while the other fingers enclose around his head. I pull him in until our foreheads connect again. This time I let my powers flow just like Leo said. I can feel it tingling from my insides to my hands to him. I blew out a big breath and release my hold of him.
I watch as his wounds condense then completely vanish from sight. I huff out a sigh and laugh. "Whoa," Nate said in awe.
"I did it," I said in a small voice but he still hears me anyway. He looks at me and his eyes soften. We stare at each other, the chaos around us disappearing and suddenly it"s just the two of us. My bottom lip trembles when he grabbed me and encompa.s.sed me with his arms.
"I missed you," he said in my hair as I hug him back.
"Me too," I said, my voice m.u.f.fled in his chest. He hugs me tighter and I cling into his body like he has my life. And maybe he did.
The sound of marching feet broke our moment of peace and we step away from each other, preparing to fight. "Are you ready for some test drive?" He asks from my right.
"You bet," I smirk as the group of five warriors round the corner of the hallway, meeting us, with their newly-made weapons pointed at our heads. "Hi," I said in a singsong voice. Then they pull their triggers.
We could"ve died right here, right now at this very moment but the thing is. We are Gammas and we wouldn"t want to disappoint, right? So the bullets stop mid-air in front of our faces, turning into ashes as they fall to the ground soundlessly. Their eyes widen at the sight and I can"t help but feel the pride bloom in my heart. We start walking to them and they continue to fire. But their bullets haven"t even reached mid-way before they turn to ashes. I stop right in front of a warrior, pressing my hand on the barrel of her gun. The gun falls from her hand, ashed and useless. I don"t need to look beside me to know that Nate had disabled their guns without even touching them. They are quick to respond though. Lightning dances between their fingers and they make a move to strike us but the moment their hands shot out, their lightning has left them. "What?" One of them mutters and I shake my head at them.
Together, Nate and I rendered them unconscious. I took the three on the right side while Nate took the other two on the left side. Their bodies fall to the ground with a thud.
We resume running and Nate turns to me. "Have you got any idea where we"re going?"
"Yeah," I said. I guide us to where Mica"s room is, finding two warriors guarding the doors. Figures. I whistle and they turn to us. Their eyes make contact with mine and I"ve got them under my spell, their bodies fall to the ground, thrashing at first before halting and falling completely. I didn"t kill them though, I just made them unconscious with my fear ability. We push the bodies aside and try to open the door. Unfortunately, it is locked. But luckily for me, I could just unlock it easily. We push our way inside and I see Mica lying peacefully on her bed, unaware of the commotion going on around her.
"Holy sh*t," Nate said beside me. "B-but I saw her taking the strike for you."
"Fortunately, the director still has some love left for her," I said while figuring out how to take these things of her.
"What?" The confusion in his voice is clear but I have no time to explain things to him.
"I"ll explain later. For now, I need you to guard that door."
"On it," I hear him move away from me. I pull off the wires attached to Mica"s temples as well as the IV in her wrist. Blood poured out but I healed the wound immediately. I carefully sat down on the edge of her bed. I put my hands on either side of her face, copying my and Nate"s position from earlier.
I can still feel her pulse, I just have to wake her up from her coma. I hear gunshots from outside so I know that Nate is doing his job but he"ll eventually need our help so I need to hurry. Please, Mica, work with me. I let my powers flow between us. After a few moments, I lean back and release her from my hold.
I wait for her eyes to flutter open or for her hand to move just slightly. But nothing happened. She remains rigid and motionless. I choke on my tears and sob. My shoulders are shaking and tears are flowing freely on my cheeks when the door opened. And Nate"s arm goes around my shoulder. "We need to go now." He whispers. I could only nod. As we make our way to the door, I heard a faint sharp intake of breath and we both stopped in our tracks. I turn around slowly and broke out in tears, again, when I see Mica sitting up. I step away from Nate"s grasp and run to Mica to hug her.
She seems taken aback at first but she relaxes in my arms and hugs me back. "Thank you," her voice hoa.r.s.e.
I nod and wipe away my tears to compose myself. "Let"s get out of here." Nate and I help Mica stand because apparently although I"ve helped her regain her consciousness, she"s still weak from her long rest. Nate is helping her walk while I lead us to the way out.
Once we"ve crossed the director"s office and I almost stop to take a look again but Mica"s life is my top priority right now.
We rounded a corner and I almost killed the three people who were supposed to help me escape. Dani, Aimee, and Lia stood there, holding what they think is a weapon. "Uhm, what are you going to do with that thing?" I ask them, motioning to the rod, candleholder, and thank G.o.ds they think to get a gun, they"re grasping for dear life. I would have laughed if we are under different circ.u.mstances but we"re not so I didn"t. "Aren"t you supposed to have abilities?"
"We have," Aimee said as she tugs on her hair. "But our abilities are useless now. Well, except for Dani"s but can"t use it all the time because it exhausts her. Lia"s have used hers enough already."
Just then, Riley and Avery came rounding the same corner, nearly knocking the three off the ground.
"Whoa," Riley said, preventing their fall.
"What are you doing here?" I ask the two of them.
"Yeah, well, one of those women has this awesome ability so she said she can take it from there because she knew that you might need us. And apparently, we aren"t wrong." Riley said as her eyes move to Nate"s side. Her eyes widen and her breathing seemed to stop. "What--"
"Hi," Mica said meekly. Riley pushes past through the three and takes Mica into her arms away from Nate.
"Ghad, you--"
"Guys, I"m sorry to break it to you but we have to get moving." They broke apart from each other and nod at me. "Okay. Go. All of you. I have another thing to do." I said as I run off to the other side but Nate won"t let me as he grasps my elbow to halt my movements.
"Wait, where are you going? I"m coming with you."
"No, Nate. You need to go with them. They need you. I promise I"ll be right behind you." I give him a rea.s.suring smile. I was taken by surprise when he suddenly grabs the back of my head to pull me in for a hurried but hot kiss. I return the kiss with the same pa.s.sion, both of us conveying messages through the kiss. Finally, he was the first to broke out.
Our foreheads are touching and we are both heaving. "Be safe." I stare right into his eyes that are filled with worry and something more that I cannot fathom.
"I will. Now go. I"ll be right behind you." I give him a slight shove because I don"t think either of us will let go so I took the liberty.
With one last glance over my shoulder, I see their retreating figure and I ready myself to face the director.
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I weave through the hallways leading to the director"s office, slaying everyone in my way. Once I reached the door, I was surprised to find it unlock of all places. I gently push the door close once I was inside but a voice startles me. "You could have gone with your friends already. What are you doing here?" My vision darkens at the sound of her voice. And I slowly turn around to face her. She was standing there, looking calm and stoic as always, her hands clasped behind her back, she"s staring at the city lights through her window.
"I want answers. And besides, even if we make it outside these walls, you"ll have your little puppets going after us. So I realized why not settle this once and for all, right?" I give her a slight shrug, wanting nothing than to turn her into ashes right in front of me.
"Why don"t you have a sit so we can have this talk? Maybe with a cup of coffee in hand?" She walks to sit on her chair behind her table and puts her face on her clasp knuckles.
"No, thanks. I prefer standing and not having poisoned." Her expression remains the same.
"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"
"Why?" I asked curtly, my hand tightening around the hilt of the gun.
"Surely, you would want to elaborate." I curse under my breath.
"Why, after all those years you"ve sacrificed just to raise me, why would you want to kill me now?" To think, that I once thought this woman was my mother.
She shakes her head at me, a deep sigh falls from her lips. "I do not want to kill you, Ellie. You don"t understand."
"What wouldn"t I understand, Sarah." I spit her name like venom in my tongue.
"Everything." We stare at each other as silence envelops us in its cold arms. "You wouldn"t understand everything." She said just as a barrel of a gun pressed behind my head. I was so focused on her that I hadn"t realized someone went inside.
"Put your hands up. And slowly release your weapon." I roll my eyes as another least person I want to encounter commands me.
"Sorry, but I kinda don"t like the way you said that." With that, I duck and elbow her on her stomach. She bends and clutches her guts. My hand shot out to her leg that turned into ashes the moment it made contact with it. She howls in pain and I turn my attention to her companions. They fall to the ground with a thud, not dead just like the others. I shift back to Belinda, and I watch as her eyes widen with fear then within seconds she"s as out as a light.
I whirl around to face the director once again but she"s gone. Poof. As though she was a bubble that popped. I run around because I don"t know maybe she"s hiding under the table or something but she"s not there. Where the fudge is she? Then something caught the corner of my eye. Attached to the leg of her table is a hologram. An effing hologram. Fudge. I can"t believe she used that trick on me. And it fudging work on me.
I reap it out off the leg then threw it over the other side of the room. I groan in frustration. But a rustle of feet caught my attention. I spun around in one fluid motion. I can tell that she"s not a warrior, she"s not one of the imprisoned exiles either. But I can"t see her face because of the robe she"s wearing and the hood of it swallows her head. It"s the only thing that keeps me from firing at her.
"Who are you?" I ask her. Then she reached to pull her hood which pretty much answers my question.
"Is that how you greet your old friend?" Samantha asks with a smirk.