Charlie, Impact Day
Being dragged to the interrogation room was never fun, but there was an urgency to them that lit a spark of hope in me. Something had changed. Something had unsettled them.
My old friend greeted me, his standard impatient scowl replaced with an almost ecstatic grin. That was less encouraging.
“You look happy,” I said, refusing to be intimidated. “Good day?”
“The very best,” he said, with an air of smugness that made me want to punch him in the throat. More than the usual amount.
“Care to share?”
“Your plan has fallen apart,” he said. “There’s no rescue coming.”
Butterflies in my stomach. He was too confident.
“What did they do, throw in the towel?”
“We have them,” he said. “You’ve lost.”
“Who?” I demanded, not giving up hope. So long as he didn’t say—
“Judging by their physical descriptions, I’m guessing young Aidan and Elizabeth,” he said, and my breath caught in my throat. My heart starting pounding, and I forced myself to rest my hands on the table, betraying nothing. I would give him nothing.
“How do you know you capturing them isn’t part of my plan?” I asked, but it was a weak plan. Didn’t matter.
“They showed their hands just a little too early, I’m afraid,” he said. “You never told me they were like you.”
“What do you mean, like me?”
“You know what I mean,” he snapped. “Immortal.”
“They’re not,” I said.
“Don’t lie to me,” he hissed.
“Dude, I told you everything,” I lied. “You’d know if they were—”
“You fed me nothing but bullshit for six months,” he said. “And now, I don’t need you anymore.”
“Oh,” I said, realising the point of this meeting. “You’re not here to ask questions. You’re just here to gloat.”
“I’m going to drop you in a hole,” he said, almost whispered. There was something intimate about it. “I’m going to drop you down the deepest hole I can find, and then I’m going to fill it with acid, and seal you in. And you can sit in there for the rest of your miserable life, because I never need to speak to you, ever again!”
“Is that all?” I taunted him. “After everything else you’ve tried, I thought you were more creative than that.”
“I don’t need to be creative,” he replied. “I just need you far away from me, and suffering.”
Without warning, an alarm staring blaring throughout the facility. It was a shrieking, echoing sound that hurt my ears. I didn’t mind. It bothered him a whole lot more.
“What the Hell?” he demanded, pulling out his phone.
“It’s about time,” I said, relaxing into my chair. He hesitated, looking back at me.
“What are you talking about?” he snarled.
I wanted to milk it, but I knew time was short. I was going to have to enjoy my victory privately, later on.
“I told you they would come for me,” I said. “I didn’t think it would take them this long, but hey. I’ll take what I can get.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” he growled. “Whatever you’ve got cooked up, we can handle it. You’re not going anywhere.”
I grinned, and the effect it had on him was delicious. He looked like he was on the verge of throwing a tantrum.
“If they made it here, it means they’re capable of dealing with anything you can throw at them,” I said. “I made sure of that.”
He sat back down, staring at me. I could feel the tension emanating from him, every whine of the alarm drilling it further into him.
“What?”
“What do you mean, ‘what’? You really thought you were in control? You thought you’d won by capturing me? Who the fuck do you think I am?” I asked, and he moved backwards.
“Tell me,” he said, the desperation creeping into his voice. “What are they? What’s happening?”
“I’m done talking,” I said. “I tried to help you understand. I really did. And now, you’re fucked. And I could not be happier about that.”
“You’re bluffing,” he said, but he didn’t sound convinced.
“Believe what you want,” I replied. “I don’t have time for this. They are going to tear through your goons like a hot knife through butter, and I really don’t want them to see the next part, so we’re gonna have to cut this short.”
“I’m not going anywhere. And neither are you.”
“No, you’re definitely not,” I said. I folded my hands over one another, and before he could process what I was about to do, I snapped several of the bones in my hand. I barely felt the pain at all.
With the broken bones, it was easy to slip out of the handcuffs. He stood up, fumbling in his suit to pull out a gun, but I didn’t need to rush. I just pushed the bones back into place, letting them re-set.
“Tell me you didn’t see this coming,” I mocked him.
“Don’t even think about it,” he said, pointing the gun at me. I just smiled at him.
“You don’t think that’s actually gonna work, do you?”
“I’ve shot you enough times to know how this goes,” he said, his hand trembling. “You’ll go down long enough for me to subdue you.”
“You’ll have to hit me first.”
I rushed at him, vaulting over the table. He was quicker than I expected, though. I managed to cover the distance, but not before the echoing boom of a gunshot filled the room. The force of the bullet knocked me over backwards, and I collapsed, darkness filling my vision.
“Done, he said, his confidence returning. He crouched over me as my vision faded, grabbing the loose handcuff. I could feel his breath on my chin.
I opened my eyes.
He twitched, surprised. He tried to raise his gun.
He was too slow.
I grabbed the edge of the handcuff, driving it into his face, right through his eye. He screamed, fell backwards as I drove it in deeper, into his skull, through the gap. Into his brain.
His body convulsed. I took his gun, firing several shots directly into his head. I took one more shot, shattering the handcuffs.
“I told you,” I said, breathing heavily. “I fucking told you I was going to kill you.”
He couldn’t hear me, but I didn’t care. I felt…
Numb.
The alarms were still blaring. I needed to move, needed to get somewhere different. The armoury.
I pulled myself to my feet, trying to shake the adrenaline. Don’t focus on what just happened. Don’t think about murder.
I patted his body down, finding the keys to the room. Idiot. He was scared of being locked in with me, so much so that he risked bringing a key into my room. Either that or he was so confident I couldn’t get to him that he didn’t consider it a risk. Either way, he was stupid.
I unlocked the door, and the two guards were ready for me. They must have heard the gunshots. I doubted it was me they were expecting, but they were definitely prepared for trouble.
It felt so good to move about freely again. My body was stiff and achey, but no less mobile. I disarmed the two guards and knocked them out before either of them could fire a single shot.
Still got it.
The alarm was a constant reminder. Time was running short. More guards would be bearing down on me at any moment.
I ran.
Next Week: We Need To Get You Out Of Here
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