Chapter 4- Wake Up Call

  It was warm. Full of comfort. Maybe too much so.

  Seth didn’t want to move. Practically paralyzed by the familiarity. He hadn’t slept this good in ages. It was like laying on the warm sands of the cove he grew up by, where every grain molded around him and the sun kissed his skin, a feeling he had often believed to be heaven. Even remembering the days he used to lay with his friends while water tickled their ankles could give him solace. Before his clan had been forced to move, everyone played by the rocky water caves and beaches; like an unspoken tradition. And the closest he’s ever come to feeling that way again was right now, enveloped by a vague sense of reality and cuddled up against an unknown warmth.

  The feeling of something threading through his loose strands of hair opened his eyes. In a haze he was acutely aware of the woman he had long thought dead staring right back at him. Dreaming. He must be dreaming.

  Slowly his hand reached up to brush a stray hair off her pale cheek. Then her eyes, the strange contrasting colors, widened. Not a dream then.

  Seth rose from her lap and backed away, a good foot of space between them now, and tried to ignore the ache in his back. Memories flashed through his brain like old film long out of use. The guns, bullets, and blood all painted the scene for him. His plan, though reckless and impulsive, worked. He and Emryn were now one step closer to escaping together.

  “What is wrong with you?”

  The rawness of her voice was distracting. Like an itch finally scratched. He couldn’t help the way his mouth lifted. “Not sure what you mean.” He leaned closer. “Maybe you should ask again. Closer. Just so I know I’m hearing you right.” Oh she didn’t like that. The closer he got, the further she pulled. Back at this game then. Fine, he could work with that.

  Her arms folded against her chest as her head turned away. Even still Seth caught the grinding of her teeth. “You had a chance to escape. Why didn’t you take it?”

  “Were you expecting me too?”

  She angled closer at that. Surprise flickered through her skin but she didn’t reply. The air was tense. Seth knew Emryn’s opinion of him hadn’t been good, skewed by whatever propaganda Abrax spread, but she had to have known he wouldn’t leave her again. This time they were both getting out.

  “I can’t leave yet,” he finally offered. “I don’t abandon those depending on me.”

  Emryn scoffed.

  “You don't believe me? Look where we are, Sunshine. This ain’t exactly a vacation getaway. I’m not here because I want to be. I’m here for you and Malcolm.”

  Her lips parted. The way she looked at him was lost, almost afraid.

  “I know you two have had issues in the past but he’s a good man and one of my own. I don’t have time to get into all the details right now but I need you to trust me. He’s been here too long. I’m getting you both–”

  “Malcolm is dead.”

  Seth’s world stood still. Thoughts like frozen air no longer able to drift. He heard her wrong. Surely he did. He didn’t know what to say. Words stumbled in and out of his mind, all that came out was, “What?”

  Emryn fumbled with her loose chains and avoided his gaze once more. “They killed him.” Her voice cracked. “They found out who he was, what he was doing, and they killed him for it.”

  Seth shook his head. “No.” He bit the inside of his cheek, the pain grounding him. “He was too good for that. He lasted years without anyone knowing.” Somehow that revelation made it worse. Years. He had left Mal here for years.

  “That was before I showed up.” Emryn’s chest convulsed as she tried to calm herself. “I disrupted everything. He said he didn’t know if he could trust me.” Her hand covered her mouth when a sobbed finally broke out. “Seth,” she looked to the ceiling, refused to let tears fall, then “I couldn’t save him.” Emryn met his gaze, but he wished she hadn’t. Seth didn’t want to see the anguish that he knew reflected his own. “I’m sorry.”

  Seth looked down at her hands, his blood crusted but still present on her pale skin. It hadn’t been her job to save Mal, it was his and he failed. Healing was supposed to be his talent, an unnatural gift from powers far above him. It wasn’t her fault he sucked at using it.

  “How?” He didn’t really want to know, but he was the one who needed to tell the others. He was the one who needed to know where he went wrong.

  “They sent him out on a mission and had a soldier…” Emryn struggled to finish, “stab him in the back.” Her hand combed through the tangles of her hair. A failed attempt at appearing put together. “Then he brought Malcolm back to Abax to slowly die out.”

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  Seth laughed. Slowly die out. It was nothing more than a coward’s way of avoiding blame. “Too scared to do it themselves then?” He laughed again, humorless and cruel. Emryn regarded him with cautious stares as he continued. “Abrax never changes,” he yelled. Seth moved to the bars, gripping them with enough force to break if he had been at full strength. “Isn’t that right!” His voice echoed down the long hall gaining the attention of the guards.

  “Back away from the bars,” one warned, he was taller and more bulky than the one on the left.

  “Or what? You gonna come over here and actually talk to my face, or are you gonna stay by that door?” he hummed, “Safe and far away.”

  The bulky guard stormed over after whispering something to the other, who left with quickened steps. Cowards the lot of them. The bulky man stood on the other side of the cell far enough away to be out of Seth’s reach. He pulled his gun from the hulster and aimed. “Back away from the bars, O’Conner.”

  Seth smiled and reached between the poles, arms folded in front of them, and his face rested against the cool metal with serpent-like ease. A predator in waiting, luring their victim in. “Or what?”

  “Don’t make me shoot.”

  “I doubt you could,” he mused, “No, if you wanted to hurt us what you’d do is starve us. That way you can say you hadn’t laid a finger on us. Nature simply went its course right?”

  “Stop talking.”

  Seth continued. “Because Abrax is full of bright eyed heroes who can do no wrong! You guys didn’t kill all those kids, it was just a byproduct of natural selection. It’s not your fault all the children you stole were weak!” The guard’s grip got tighter and Seth got feverish. “You're supposed to be the good guys after all. And what’s a few dead kids in the grand scheme of world peace!” A gunshot rattled through the room, the bullet grazing the side of Seth’s ear.

  “That’s it?” he laughed. His body fell against the steel bars and sank to the floor as he continued to mock the guard. “Can’t aim at point blank?”

  “Seth.” Emryn’s voice didn’t fully reach him. But it brought enough sense back to his brain to make him pick himself from the floor. When he slightly faced her the guard lashed out. Meaty fingers curled around his bicep but Seth’s movements were too nimble for him to take proper hold. Instead the guard was gifted with a twisted arm on Seth’s side of the cell.

  Seth slammed the man’s body closer, the bang echoing against his skull. He took hold of his neck and brought the guard’s face up. “Was it him?”

  Emryn’s face scrunched in confusion but she didn’t need to know what he meant. Seth could tell from the lack of animosity in her eyes this man couldn’t have been the one who took Malcolm away from them. He threw him against the hall’s wall before Seth fully lost his sanity and killed him. They didn’t want to give Abrax another reason to add more restraints.

  More soldiers burst through the hall doors, guns at the ready, and following close behind was a face Seth only ever saw briefly. Adnan Amin stood tall hiding behind guns and men. A coward leading cowards. Seth found it rather fitting.

  “Here to visit your pets?” he called.

  Abrax’s leader walked up close, not even acknowledging the passed out guard at his feet. “I came to get my weapons.”

  Seth motioned to the gun on the floor. “There you go.”

  Adnan ignored him. “Grab them.” Seth glanced at an all too familiar syringe in the soldier’s hands. Golden blood of wolf-spiders secured perfectly inside a glass vile.

  “Good luck getting that close enough to try.”

  Adnan smiled, a feature not meant for his face. “I won’t need to,” he said, then nodded to Emryn. A rectangular device was brought to his mouth. Seth reached for it the same time Adnan ordered, “Restrain him.”

  A gold glow encompassed his body. Seth couldn’t move, he could hardly breathe with Emryn’s power surrounding him. He had almost forgotten about this not so slight obstacle to their escape. Seth tried to sneak a glance at Emryn but her hold was too strong. He heard her chains clank to the floor but she never came into view.

  Adnan would pay severely for this.

  With a wave of his hand the Abrax dictator led the group to a large open area, nothing inside except a few chairs and doctors. The white overhead lights buzzed with static as anticipation filled Seth’s lungs. He and Emryn stood in the center of the room, void of their former selves and clear emotions. The absence of tools and the typical eerie tables puzzled Seth. He wondered just what kind of test Adnan had in store for them.

  Zaiden pushed through the doors and joined his father. This was the first time Seth had seen him since his abrupt arrival and the commander looked a bit worse for wear. If someone were to guess which of the two had spent the last weeks caged to a ceiling the odds of getting it right were slim. Zaiden’s eyes were bloodshot, heavy and dark bags resting underneath. His hair was in almost as much disarray as his clothes. The usual commander’s uniform was buttoned in the wrong places and tucked unevenly under his worn out belt. Seth would say he looked like he tossed himself out of bed but he seemed to be lacking a week’s worth of sleep.

  Seth slightly reveled in the fact his once rival looked as rotten as his soul. The perfect soldier image was finally gone. Zaiden deserved much worse and Seth would make sure he got just that, as soon as he gets out here that is.

  “Glad you could join us, son. We were just about to begin.” He tutted his hand at Emryn. “Release him.”

  When her hold left him Seth felt oddly empty. And once he was free he made no move to flee. Assess and reassess. He needed to figure out his next move. Fast.

  “I need to gauge what I’m working with.” Adnan relaxed into a chair, gesturing for Zaiden to join his side. “What do you think the best way to do that is? Hmm?” This time he spoke directly to Seth, mocking him with a snide tone and beat-less heart.

  “I thought you were supposed to be smart,”Seth drawled. “Shouldn’t you know that already?”

  Adnan grinned his anger away. “I do have an idea.” He leaned his elbows against his knees, assessed Seth with curious eyes, then continued. “We’ll test your healing and any other surprises through combat.”

  “I’ll kill anyone you put me against.”

  Adnan quirked a brow. A challenge. “Anyone?” His eyes drifted past Seth, whose face went slack and stomach clenched.

  “No,” Seth whispered, not meaning to say the word aloud.

  “636,” Adnan called. “Do put on a good show.”

  Then Seth was thrown to the ground.