The Pulse Series (Book 1): Pulse (7 page)

He lifted a hand. "Was nice to meet you, Alex."

I nodded at him and opened my mouth to reply, but Rubin pushed me from behind causing me to stumble forward. "Eyes forward, prisoner."

I frowned in confusion. Rubin had been playing the bad cop before, but it had been designed to get me to talk. Now it seemed that he actually disliked me. What had changed? I decided to keep my mouth shut until I was sure what was going on.

Rubin led me through a twist of corridors until arriving at a plain door. Upon opening it and ushering me inside I realized it was the same interrogation room as I had been in before. Detective Roberts was sitting in his chair, a small stack of paper sitting in front of him. Rubin sat me down in the chair and removed my cuffs, and before saying anything else he strode out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Roberts winced at the sound of the door.

I looked back and forth between the door and Roberts. "What's going on? Why is he so mad at me?"

Roberts raised his eyebrows. "You seem chattier than before."

I shrugged. "I want to know what's going on."

Detective Roberts shook his head. "Rubin is upset because you're being transferred."

I paused for a few seconds before replying, trying to wrap my head around what he had said. "Transferred? How can I be transferred anywhere? I haven't even been formally charged yet."

Robert's jaw clenched slightly, but he took a breath and calmed himself before responding. "And you won't be."

I stared at him. "What?"

"All charges against you have been dropped."

"But… that doesn't make sense?"

Roberts sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Trey told us everything, Alex."

I shook my head. "No that can't be—"

"Everything. Your whole life story."

My head felt numb like someone had stuffed it with cotton wool. "But… why?"

Roberts shook his head. "He bought his freedom. And his reward."

"But how could he—" I paused, taking in what he had just said. "Reward?"

Roberts nodded. "There is quite a reward for reporting suspicious activity."

I felt my stomach drop. My hands shook. I felt like I was going to throw up. They knew. They knew what had happened to me. There was only one place they would be sending me, but I had to hope that I was wrong. "Where am I being transferred to."

Roberts looked up at me with a small frown. "The military."

NINE

I had been taken back through the processing facility where they had returned my belongings sans a bag full of heroin. As I checked through my things I noticed something else was missing. The butterfly knife that Trey had given me. I felt a sharp pang in my chest as I was reminded again of my friend's betrayal. I grit my teeth and tried to swallow the lump in my throat as the man behind the cage in front of me stared.

"Something missing?"

I looked up at him and opened my mouth, but just closed it and shook my head. I didn't want anything that had been given to me by that traitor. I turned toward Roberts who was standing by the door. His eyes lifted as I walked toward him.

"Good luck, kid."

I nodded at him and he opened the door. Standing just outside were two men wearing nothing but black. It wasn't the usual military fatigues, and something about it looked familiar. The larger of the two was a mountain of muscle with short, dark hair and dark eyes. He stepped forward and took me by the arm.

"This way."

He turned and began walking, the other smaller man falling in behind me. I frowned as I realized they weren't planning to cuff me, and a small smile started to form across my face but I quickly wiped it off. It wouldn't do to let them know they had given me an advantage.

We made our way through the police station, and I was surprised to see Trey sitting on a wooden bench filling out some paperwork. Fresh rage flashed through me and I began to take a step toward him, but the large man pulled me back onto course with a flick of his wrist. My ribs bumped up against the man and I grunted in pain. Trey's eyes flicked up to me, and within a second he was on his feet and walking across the room toward me.

"Alex, I'm so sorr—"

I spat in his face.

Trey stopped dead in his tracks, and a few people around us were looking our way. Even the man holding my arm had turned and raised an eyebrow at the situation.

I leaned forward into Trey's face as the spit dripped onto the floor. "I hate you."

I turned away from Trey and began walking with the man again, but I had seen from the corner of my eye the way Trey's face had fallen. I felt a pang of guilt, but that was soon washed away as I remembered the situation he had put me in. I had to concentrate on sorting my way out of this mess. No time for any thoughts about him.

I blinked at the brightness of the sunlight as we stepped out of the precinct. The man behind me jogged ahead of us toward the car park and pressed the button on a key in his hand. A large black sedan beeped as the doors unlocked, and I knew that once I was in that car it would be the end of my freedom. I looked down at the curb as we approached it and I saw that the man holding me would have to step down onto the road to open the door, or else bend awkwardly. I decided to take my shot then.

As he stepped down, in the second before his foot had touched the ground, I twisted myself around and slammed my free fist as hard as I could into his ribs. The mans grip was tight, and his hands huge, but all the strength in the world didn't mean a thing against leverage and surprise. His grip loosened and in that moment I was free from his grasp.

I spun on my heel, but before starting to run I lifted a leg and kicked him hard in the back. The man was a lot stronger than me, but with him already being off balance and taken by surprised I managed to send him stumbling into the car.

I took off at a run and as I did was painfully reminded of my injured leg. I grimaced as it tried to fall out from under me, but I caught myself in time and adjusted my gait to compensate for it. I knew I wouldn't be able to outrun them, but if there was one thing that I could do better than anyone it was climb. I threw myself into the nearest alleyway and jumped up onto a large trash bin, vaulted up, and caught onto a window sill. Within seconds I was climbing my way up the building.

The men on the ground, both of who were right below me, cursed. The smaller one started up after me while the larger man ran around to the front of the building. I looked up and saw that the building was only three stories tall, which wouldn't give me much time. I kept climbing and pulled myself onto the roof, hoping that the building's security would delay the large man in getting up to me. I peered back down at the man who was climbing up after me and laughed. He wasn't even halfway.

I turned and ran to a fire escape that was up against an adjacent building and started up the stairs. I was only halfway up the first flight when the door to the rooftop slammed open and the large man came stumbling out. The door crashed to the ground, and I realized that it had been locked. The man had slammed the thing so hard it had been smashed off its hinges.

I grimaced and turned back to my stairs and pulled myself up faster. My leg was throbbing even more now, and I knew that I was running out of options. When I reached the rooftop I looked around for an exit, and what I saw sent a chill through my body. There was nowhere left to go. How did I keep getting myself into these situations?

The only other building that was even remotely the same height as the one I was standing on was across the street. I jogged over to the edge of the building and saw that it was a two lane road that spanned between me and the next roof, which was a good ten feet lower than the roof I was currently on. A glance down to the street told me that only death waited there. There was not even a stall to jump down onto like a few days before. Just my luck. Now I would have to come up with
another miraculous escape without falling to my death. I was too high up for even the softest of landings to have a chance of survival. I turned back and started running toward the stairs again, and was halfway there when I saw the large man pulling his way up onto the roof with me.

I wasn't going to jail, and I knew for a fact that I wasn't going to the military. I made the decision, and started running toward the edge of the building. I was fit. I was fast. I was light. I could make this.

"Alex, stop!" The voice was familiar, but I tuned it out as I ran toward the edge of the building. I had to concentrate on making this jump. It was freedom or death. I hit the edge of the building at full speed and leapt out over the gap.

The second my foot had left the ground I knew I had made a mistake. There was no way I could make this jump. My leg was too hurt. I wasn't at my peak. I felt the air around me freeze as I realized I was going to die. This was it. I was dead.

A small shock wave passed through me, like silent thunder, and powerful hands grabbed me from behind. My momentum halted and I was yanked back through the air and onto the roof I had just vacated. As I fell to the concrete my head slammed hard into the ground. My world spun and I shook back and forth, trying to make sense of the images around me. I blinked as darkness started in on my vision, but squinted through it to look at the man who had grabbed me.

Bradley, the boy from prison, lay next to me breathing hard. He turned to me as my world started to fall away, and when they settled on me I froze. The gray seemed to draw me in as I stared him. I couldn't look away.

He blinked and gave me a grin. "Well that was a close one."

The spell broke, my head fell down, and the world went black.

TEN

I woke to my body throbbing in pain. I opened my eyes, blinking away the brightness as they adjusted to the light. I could hear the hum of an engine, and by the way I jostled back and forth it was obvious I was in a vehicle of some kind. I tried to sit up but found my hands tied behind my back, and instead just managed to wriggle on the ground.

A deep voice rumbled. "She's awake."

I felt hands grab me from behind and start to lift me, but I thrashed out of their grip and fell to the floor. I hit the ground hard and a moan escaped my lips.

"Are you alright?" I looked up at the source of the new voice and found Bradley standing before me, concern etched across his face.

I closed my eyes and took a breath. "What the hell do you think?"

"Let me get you out of those cuffs."

"You sure that's a good idea?" said the man with the deep voice who I now recognized as the large man who had taken me out of the police station.

Bradley raised and eyebrow at him. "You think she's going to escape now?"

The man rolled his eyes and shrugged, turning away from the two of us and closing his eyes to sleep. I glared at the back of his head while Bradley undid my wrists. I felt the click of the release and my arms were free.

"There you g—"

I pushed my hands into the ground and threw my head backwards into Bradley's face. It connected with a crack that threw Bradley back off me. I spun and pushed him hard to topple him off balance further and he hit the metal wall behind him with a thud. I jumped up and spun to face the large man who was now standing and reaching toward me.

I reached past his outstretched hand and grabbed his wrist, pulling him off balance and slamming my elbow into his face. He gave a small grunt in pain, but the pain that shot through me made me think my arm broke. I pushed him away, ignoring the pain, and rushed to the nearest door and throwing all my weight into it.

I grunted as I pushed hard, but the thing didn't budge. There was no visible locking mechanism, so I concluded they must have locked it from the outside. I spun on my feet to put my back against the door and face my attackers.

I wasn't expecting what I saw.

Bradley was standing with his head tilted back and his hand pinching the bridge of his nose. Blood was fresh on his face from the nosebleed my blow had given him. The large man was back in his seat, chuckling at Bradley's comical look.

"Yeah yeah, Gus, she cracked you one too."

The large man, Gus, shrugged. "I'm not the one bleeding like a little girl." He lay back, putting his hands behind his head and watching Bradley as he tried to stop the blood flowing.

My heartbeat started to slow and I lost a lot of the tension that had built up in my body. I felt sore, and tired, but relieved they weren't going to attack me. I wasn't sure what to do next.

"Um…"

Bradley looked at me sideways. "You didn't have to do that you know." He reached into an overhead storage unit for a towel and pressed it to his face. "I was just trying to take off your cuffs."

I felt myself blush. "I'm… sorry?" I said, frowning for a moment. "No, wait, I'm not sorry. You kidnapped me. What the hell is going on?"

Bradley rolled his eyes. "We didn't kidnap you. You passed out and we brought you here. You're not a prisoner."

I raised an eyebrow. "Then why was I handcuffed?"

"Well Gus over there thought it was a good idea in case you freaked out when you woke up or something." Bradley glared at me and gestured to his face. "Which, in light of things, wasn't such a bad call."

"Fine, but why am I still locked in?"

Bradley looked over to Gus, who let out a chortle of laughter. This set Bradley off who started laughing, which in turn made Gus laugh harder. I stood with my hands on my hips and waited for them to stop laughing at me, getting more frustrated by the second.

"What the heck is so damn funny?"

Bradley stifled his laughter and looked at me. "That door isn't locked, but you won't be able to open it at the moment."

I sighed. "And why would that be."

"Because we're about 36000 feet above the ground."

My eyes widened as I realized what kind of vehicle I was in. I ran over to the nearest seat and threw myself down and strapped myself in. I started gasping in air as my whole body shook, and stared around the cabin in horror. My heart leapt into my throat with each beat and it felt like I was going to throw up.

I was in an airplane. In the sky. Not on the ground.