Embers & Ice (Rouge) (28 page)

FORTY-NINE

There
were footsteps behind them, and Hunter and Will made it to the end of the
corridor before they were attacked by three Men in White.

The
darkness made it hard to fight, but Hunter threw her fire anyway. She wasn’t
afraid to hit Will – his power let him heal. Bright fire blinded her attackers
and while they dodged the balls of flaming heat, Hunter shot forward and took
them out.

“Where
did they come from?” asked Will as he tried to catch his breath.

“Dr.
Wolfe probably sent them after us.” She yanked on the hatch of the door marked
‘Cell Block’. “Hopefully there aren’t many left after Alfie got loose. Maybe
they’re-”

Her
words froze in her throat as the door swung inward and they faced the Cell
Block corridor – or what was left of it.

Alfie
had destroyed the place. Clouds of dust still floated in the air. There was
rubble strewn across the walkway. Cells were blow apart, the walls crumbled in
and the doors lying open. Beams of light from the broken ceiling were scattered
right to the end. The bulbs were flickering on and off and buzzing with
detached electricity. An eerie silence wrapped its claws around Hunter’s heart
and for a moment she wished they’d never come back. But a part of her knew this
was the right thing to do. They had to rescue Alfie. And she had to at least
try to find Jack.

Will
glanced down at her in the dim light and nodded, his jaw clenched. “After you,”
he said.

With
her eyes wide open, Hunter started to creep down the Cell Block. Each step was
louder than a scream in her ears. She was shaking from head to foot, praying
that Alfie was in his cell – alive, at the very least – and it helped motivate
her.

She
stepped unsteadily over a pile of broken stone–

And
something grabbed hold of her ankle.

Hunter
shrieked. She groped for Will as she struggled to tear her foot from the grip
of someone lying under the rubble.

“Will-”

The
figure moaned. Hunter lit her palms on fire and pointed them at the debris. Her
stomach turned over inside her at the sight of a woman coated in dust, trapped
under heavy slabs of concrete with dirty blood dripping down her face. Her eyes
were closed but her hand moved slowly, begging them for help.

“Oh
my Go-”

“There’s
nothing we can do,” said Will. “Hurry, before-”

Something
jumped out of the shadows and collided with Will. A high-pitched screech fell
out of Hunter’s mouth as Will and the attacker – a man in torn clothes –
tumbled over a pile of fallen rocks. Hunter swore she heard Will’s ribs crack
and break. The man looked about to rip Will apart as he growled and raised dust
in the struggle.

Hunter
didn’t waste a second. She grabbed the man’s neck and dragged him back. He
kicked at her, and when his head whipped around and a light flashed over him,
she saw a mutated face with black and malicious eyes. Hunter felt just as much
shock when he raised his hand and slashed across her stomach with his fingers.

Pain
seared her. Blood began to seep through her white jumpsuit and she stumbled
against the wall of a cell. The man had razor-sharp blades for fingers.

“Go
Hunter!” Will shouted, and the man jumped on him again. “Find – Alfie!”

Hunter
didn’t want to, but her choices were few: Stay and free Will who could heal
himself anyway, or continue on her suicide mission that was becoming more and
more impossible the deeper she dove into the caves.

Leaving
him tore her apart, but it was what Will wanted. She scrambled to her feet. No
longer did she care about staying quiet. The corridor loomed before her, the
possibility of more psycho mutants hiding behind the walls, ready to jump out
at her, filled her mind with fear. So she thought of Jack, and that helped her
run.

Her
fingers were slick with her own blood. She twisted her ankle on a loose slab of
stone but she kept moving anyway. Her eyes were on Alfie’s cell, but her heart
was taking her to Death Cave 1. She tried to ignore the grunts and screams of
Will and the mutant and banished images of more of them piling onto him and
tearing him to pieces like cannibals, because that slowed her down.

She
came to where Alfie’s cell once was. A gaping hole in the roof and torn-down
walls where he had transformed lay before her. No Alfie.

Why
did Dr. Rosenthal choose to let Alfie run loose and kill half if not more of
these innocent people just to set us free? Where is he? Where is Dr. Wolfe?

Hunter
buried her questions in the back of her mind and stepped back. Her heart
thumped in her chest as she watched Will struggle. Out of the corner of her
eye, she saw a girl standing in a slash of light, her figure silhouetted by
shadows. She watched Hunter for a moment, then raised a hand and waved slowly.
Chills ran through her and all she wanted was to get away.

So
Hunter ran to Death Cave 1. If Dr. Wolfe was keeping Jack alive, he would be
there. Hunter felt strangely responsible for the horrible things that had
happened to Jack, and that only made her run harder. Her chest burned from the
slices the mutant had made, but she didn’t care. She nearly tripped in her
haste to get to the bottom of the stairs and threw open the door that led to
hell.

Everything
had been repaired; the glass tank, the broken equipment, and even the blood
stain from the guard that exploded. The room felt much bigger without all the
scientists and Men in White crowded around Terminal 1. Hunter hurried forward
without checking the shadows that bordered the room. If there was anyone
hiding, she didn’t see them as she pushed her way around a machine to the front
of the glass tank.

There
was a bed inside. On the bed was Jack. She was surprised to see him look
exactly like he used to; no more black veins, no more Hulk-like exterior or
complete anger radiating from every muscle in his body. He was asleep, hooked
up to at least three different monitors. She found herself standing on the
platform with her hands pressed to the cold glass and tears spilling from her
eyes.

“Jack,”
she whimpered. “I’ve come for you, okay? I’m so s-sorry.”

How
do I get him out?
Taking him away from the machines would kill
him. Hunter searched the tank for a way inside but couldn’t find the button.
She began to panic. She forgot about Will and the others and whether they’d
escaped or not. All she cared about was getting Jack away from the institution
and back to Clare and the real world where he only dreamed about superheroes
and never thought he was one. Where there was no pain or torture and he could
be normal again.

But
he was not normal. He never would be.

“It’s
no use trying,” said a voice from the shadows behind her and Hunter spun.

“Who’s
there?” she asked, even though she knew.

Dr.
Wolfe stepped into the light. He was covered in dust and blood and looked more
physically exhausted than she’d ever seen him. But that didn’t stop his gaze
from sending chills through her body.

“If
he leaves that tank, he dies.” Dr. Wolfe walked towards her and the Men in
White started to bleed from the darkness with their tasers aimed at her. She
felt sick and angry at her own stupidity that she’d let herself get caught for
no reason but to see Jack. “You should have known better.”

“He’s
alive, right? Dr. Rosenthal didn’t kill him?”

“Of
course not. He will heal in time.”

“Then
what? You’re going to train him to become a killer? To destroy the world?”

“No
training needed, my dear.” Dr. Wolfe was only feet from her and it was all she
could do not to burn the smirk off his filthy face. “Jack is already a killer
all the way to his core.”

“You
don’t know him like I do,” she said confidently. “Jack is selfless and brave
and he would never join you.”

“Oh,
it won’t take much. Just like your fire, Jack’s darkness and destruction eat
away at his soul. He doesn’t have anyone to help him overpower it. I only want
him to nourish that darkness. Jack will become one of the most powerful beings
on the earth, and there’s nothing you can do to stop that.”

A
crash at the back of the room made all of them turn. One of the Men in White
started dragging something from behind a desk. Hunter’s heart shattered at the
sight of Will’s bloodied and bruised body.

No.

Why
had he followed her? Why didn’t he run to get away from the mutants? Why did he
have to get caught like she did?

Because
he said he wouldn’t let me do this alone.

“Ah
William,” said Dr. Wolfe. “I should have known you’d be here to save the day.”

Will
spat blood onto the floor and slouched in the grip of the guards. As usual, he
said nothing.

Hunter
clenched her fists so hard, her bones throbbed and her fingernails pierced her
skin. It was her fault they’d both been caught. But at that moment, it was
easier to be angry at the doctor than feel guilt for her actions.

“I
must say; I’m not entirely surprised that you two found each other here. You
had a very special bond when you were young. I suppose that bond has
rekindled.” The doctor turned to her and smiled. “It’s a pity you will never
get to see each other again.”

Something
exploded inside Hunter. She launched herself off the platform and set her hands
on fire as she fell through the air. All she wanted was to rip him apart and
wipe that sadistic smirk off his withered face. The doctor moved out of the
way, but she managed to catch his arm mid-jump. She pulled him down with her
and they went rolling on the floor. The Men in White hauled her to her feet,
but they couldn’t stop the fire. It was out of control. Molten-lava oozed from
every pore in her body. She raged and screamed and burned anything that tried
to hold her back from revenge.

Then
a white-hot pain stabbed at her side and she felt her entire body jar from the
electric shock of the taser. Her vision blurred. She jerked on the floor in
agony. It must have been set on a low dosage, for it didn’t knock her out.

“Hunter!”

Will
called her name. It cut deeper than the slices the mutant had made in her
stomach.

Dr.
Wolfe leered over her. She could hear Will struggling in the background. Her
head flopped to the right and she saw the guards beating him mercilessly, each
punch like a gunshot in her ear.

“I
know it was not you that initiated this escape Hunter,” said Dr. Wolfe, his
breath blowing hot against her face. “But I will make you
suffer
for
leading them out of here, of that you can be certain.”

They
got out. I did it, they’re free.
Despite the throbbing aching
of her body, she managed a small smile. But the smile – the thought, even – was
not enough to wash away the fear that rose within her at the doctor’s next
words.

“You
will never leave this place. You will never see another soul outside of my
staff. And you will hear of Jack’s destruction as we work together to bring
havoc to the world. I promise-” He grabbed her chin and forced her eyes to his.
They were black with rage as he sneered down at her and spat out his words,
“-That you and William will listen to each other
scream
in pain and
misery every day and every night until you take your very last breath.”

The
taser jabbed into the side of her neck. This time there was enough power to
send her into complete darkness where she prayed to God she’d never wake up
again.

FIFTY

The
barrier between reality and unconsciousness fell apart and Hunter broke through
the surface. She wasn’t aware of the space she was in. She couldn’t feel
anything, but she knew on some level that wherever she was, it was cold.
Everywhere was dark and blurry, the shapes outlined in a thin glow as they
bobbed around her. Suddenly, she was grateful not to feel pain.

Through
the numbness, Hunter started hearing voices.

“Keep
her under. Dr. Wolfe doesn’t want her gaining consciousness just yet.”

The
voice was not familiar to her.

“I’m
at fifty milligrams,” said another voice. This one sounded fuzzy.

“Add
another ten. The cuts are deep. She lost a lot of blood.”

Help!
Hunter
begged in her mind for her tongue wouldn’t move.
Help me…
She was too
sleepy and hazy to move at all. Even her mind started to drift again.
What’s
happening to me? What is Dr. Wolfe doing?

Hysteria
surfaced inside her. The faint beep of a heart rate monitor increased and the
shadows around her moved quicker, waving at each other as they tried to make
the beeping cease. The sound was suddenly a scream. Was it her own?
Make it
stop… please…

She
drifted, and then she woke again, and there was silence and darkness around
her. She squirmed and felt her fingers clench.

A
shriek of pain from a room nearby filled her ears. It was Will, she knew it.
Her chest heaved as she thrashed on the bed Dr. Wolfe had her strapped into.
There were tubes sticking into her arms that doused the fire and made Hunter remember
the chair Joshua kept her in, the chair that fed ice into her bloodstream. No
matter how she struggled, she couldn’t get away. Nor could she block the sound
of Will yelling in agony.

You
and William will listen to each other scream in pain and misery every day and
every night until you take your very last breath…

Dr.
Wolfe’s words were so loud in her mind that she suddenly believe he was
standing right beside her, repeating them over and over. It had begun: The
eternity of suffering he promised her.

No.
Please no.

She
tried to imagine the others reaching the outside world, finding their families
and living their lives again. She searched her mind for their faces, but they
no longer existed. Fear seized her in a grip so tight that at once, she was
gasping for breath.

I’m
alone,
she thought.
Forever and ever.

A
faint light started to glow around her. Hunter opened her eyes wider, blinking.
She saw the fire of her reflection standing over her, looking grim.

You’re
not alone,
she said.
Not while I’m here.

Then,
Hunter slept.

Dr.
Wolfe stood over her. Hunter had never been more afraid of a man in her entire
existence. Even her nightmares about Joshua and his pale eyes as he cackled
over Eli’s dead body did not compare to the terror that slithered under her
skin.

He
said nothing – just watched her, just smiled with yellowed teeth. She wished
she could get up and run or even close her eyes. But this time, she was wide
awake.

“I
like this much better Hunter,” he finally muttered. “Now I have you and Will
and Jack together, and I don’t ever have to leave. The only thing that would
make this ideal would be if Fearne was still with us. Oh, and Joshua of
course.”

Hunter’s
heart pounded like a drum. She was surprised at how much that thought pained
her.

“I
will find him soon, I promise.

“What
will you do with me, with us?”

“Well,
since I now have less test subjects in my Death Caves as I began with, Hunter,
I am in desperate need of your assistance. You see… I have studied Will for
sixteen years. And I have studied you enough to know exactly how your body
works. I no longer need your DNA – I have plenty of samples. And there are no
more demonstrations either. My next project is much bigger, and much more
complex.” He grinned down at her. “I need you and William to be my new mutants
along with those that survived the cave-in.”

For
a moment, Hunter wasn’t afraid. Because in the doctor’s eyes she saw anger and
disappointment, as if he had failed only himself. So much loss had occurred in
his institution and he had no one else to blame.

But
the satisfaction was momentary, for now he had a real reason to cause her pain
and no desire to keep her alive. He got what he wanted and now it was time for
revenge.

Perhaps
she deserved it. She was stupid enough to separate herself from the group when
she could have easily followed them out to safety. Instead, she had to play the
hero and run blindly back to imprisonment.

But
Will did not deserve this. Furious guilt swarmed inside her. It was because of
her that he would suffer, and that was worse than any pain the doctor could
imagine.