Keyoko rushed back to the elevator, all the soldiers she'd passed earlier were gone now. She could see bloody drag marks on the floor and assumed Gigi had killed the soldiers that had been stationed here. She tried not to think about it, frantically pushing the elevator button. Several seconds passed before she came to her senses. She didn't have time to wait for the fucking elevator, she needed to get out of here and now!
She pulled from the elevator and looking for the entrance to the stairwell. When she found it she opened the door and practically flew up a flight of stairs. She almost made it up a second flight before she slipped and fell forward. She cried out as she hit the stairs hard, banging up her knees and wrists. She struggled to stand back up and her arm surged with pain, it felt like it was killing her. There was so much blood it was dripping onto the stairs. She realized she couldn't keep ignoring it, she had to do something, even if it was only temporary.
She stumbled up several stairs until she got to a landing. She took a few minutes examining her arm. Though she'd never been shot in this life, she could recall other lives where she had been. As far as she could tell, it looked like a through and through. She let out a sigh of relief, knowing she wasn't going to have to dig the bullet out.
If she could stop the bleeding, her wound should heal up in a few days, rather then a few weeks or months. Now that she was awake, she was suppose to heal at least seven times faster then then normal. She grabbed onto the pant leg of her jump suit, seeking to make a bandage. Normally she'd never be able to rip such a strong fabric with her bare hands but she was stronger now. She tore at the fabric like it was cardboard. Once she'd removed it from her jump suit, she tore it into one long strip. She wrapped it around her arm and tightly secured it. She hoped that would stop the bleeding. She really couldn't afford bleed ou-
Keyoko froze, she suddenly got a strong sense of Urel, Eyo and Gigi. She scooted herself across the landing until she was in the corner. With her back to the wal she lifted her hands up and sent out several burst of air. She worried they were trying to sneak up on her with one of Gigi's invisibility illusions. She kept sending out burst of air, her heart racing, she was near tears. A second or two later she began to feel them pull farther away.
It occurred to her they must have been in the elevator? Where were they going? Just what were they doing now? Did they already know where Jeza was, were they going to her or were they up to something else all together? She didn't like not knowing. She sat there for several minute still wound up.
More then anything, she just wanted to curl up and break down. All of this, the pain, the fear, it was too much for her. She didn't want to deal with any of it but she knew she had to. No one was going to save her, Harold wasn't going to find her and make things better. Her heart sunk thinking of Harold again…
Whenever things had gotten too hard, he'd always find her, wherever she was, he'd always knew just what to do and just what she needed. Be it a peanut butter sandwich or an extra marshmallow fudge Sunday or a Coma Coma Gano Manathon. She sobbed thinking of the last time she saw him, laying on the floor of her art room. He was really never coming back. This wasn't one of her nightmares...she wasn't going to wake up.
She wasn't waiting, she wasn't hiding, she was existing here and now. She wiped her eyes knowing she needed to grow up. She needed to take charge, no one was gonna take care of her, she needed to take care of herself and come up with a plan of action.
She took hold of her emotions and pushed them down. She tried to focus on finding Jeza. She closed her eyes and spent several minutes trying to sense where she was on the base. When she realized she couldn't feel her anywhere, it meant she was either, hiding her stone, out of range or...dead. Keyoko doubted Jeza would be hiding or that she was out of range that took a while. Most likely she was probably dead.
Keyoko wondered how long she'd been down, it usually took a few hours, sometimes even a full day to come back. Once they were awakened, normal deaths didn't permanently kill them, it just temporarily shut them down. Once their body healed they would started up again...unless they were dead, dead. While they were harder to kill once they were awakened, they could still be perma killed in special ways, it was usually how they eventually died and got reborn over and over and over again, for all infinity.
Keyoko opened her eyes, thinking this wasn't helping. She had a bad habit of trailing off, when she needed to focus. Right now she needed to find Jeza and get out of here, that's it. If she couldn't sense Jeza, then she needed to think of some other way to find her. She ran a hand over her mouth thinking. She recalled how she'd first met Jeza in this life. She'd noticed her in the thoughts of others. Maybe...just maybe she could try to read them on purpose, see where Jeza had last been seen and follow the scent so to speak.
"No," she pounded her fist into her hand, thinking that wouldn't work. One, she hadn't been able to control it so far and two, Gigi had been pretending to be Jeza. Any minds Keyoko read, wouldn't know the difference between the real Jeza and the fake one. Who knows what trouble Gigi had gotten into, pretending to be her.
Keyoko sighed, tapping the back of her head against the cement wall. She supposed she could just wander about the base and look for her but she didn't know how big this base was. She had no idea how many people she could run into and her time was limited. She didn't know what the others were doing but she knew eventually, they'd come for her.
She bit her lip trying to think what else she could do, her eyes wandered around the stairwell and she saw a camera. Right cameras, this whole place probably had cameras. If Keyoko could find the security room, she could probably look at the entire base from one room. She'd be able to find out what room Jeza was in and go straight to her.
She got to her feet having a plan at last, the only problem now, was finding the security room. There had to be a map of the base around her somewhere. She vaguely recalled seeing one around the elevators, when she was looking for the door to the stairwell, maybe each floor had one. She turned to the door to this. She took a deep breath and slowly opened it. She poked her head out to see if anyone was around. When she didn't see, anyone she stepped into the hall.
She kept an eye out for anyone and prepared herself to run or fight. She slowly moved to the elevator and was surprised no one was stationed near it. She doubted Jeza had killed everyone on this floor. She didn't see any drag marks, so where was everyone? She paused staring at the flashing lights and hearing the alarm. Of course, they were probably following lock down procedures, whatever those were.
A little more confident, she move to the other side of the elevator. She hoped to find the security room on the map and then pop back into the empty stair well. She saw the map in the same place, it had been on the other floor. She quickly ran her finger across it and found a yellow room on the map, three floors up that said security. She let out a heavy sigh, she knew the others had gone up. There was a chance if she went up, she could run into them but if she stayed down here eventually she'd run into them too. She had no choice but to try.
She quickly darted back into the stairwell and started climbing another flight of stairs. Half way up, she heard a door open and close. She paused as she heard footsteps on the stairs. A moment later, a man turned and stepped onto the landing just in front of her. Her heart sunk as her eyes locked on Milner.
She doubted, she'd run into him by accident. A moment later his thoughts reinforced her assumption 'YES, FOUND HER!' She could read Milner's thoughts, understood that when the alarms had gone off, he knew where he was suppose to go, what he was suppose to do but had chosen to seek her out instead. He wanted revenge. He had a feeling the alarms had something to do with her and he wasn't going to let her get away. While she had been looking for a way to find Jeza, he had been going floor to floor, looking for her. He pulled his gun on her and said, "Do you know who I am. Who my sister is!"
She knew he wasn't asking her a question, he just wanted her to know why, she was about to die. It was important to him that she knew. Keyoko held her breath, knowing he wouldn't be reasoned with. She had to do something but didn't want to hurt- Milner suddenly violently jerked, his hand snapped in the opposite direction. She could hear his wrist and arm cracking as they broke in several locations.
Milner's screams filled the stairwell as he dropping his gun and was suddenly pushed back into the wall. She could hear his body violently smack into the cement again and again before he was pushed forward and thrown down the center of the stair well. Keyoko's eyes widened as she dropped her head and watched Milner's broken body bounce off the railings, on his way to the ground. She hadn't done that but then who-
She turned her head, looking back to the top of the stairs, there was no one there and yet she saw a shadow. "Atoe," she gasped.
Suddenly the alarm turned off and the flashing red lights stopped. Everything returned to normal and a voice broke out over a loud speaker, "Keyoko!" She recognize Jesep's voice. "You are wanted in the command center, at once."
The command center, of course, that must have been what he and the others had been up to. While she had been looking for Jeza, they must have been seeking to get full control of the base. It would seem he'd succeeded in his task. She looked about seeing the camera's in the stairwell had moved, they were all trained on her now.
"Take the next two flights of stairs up," Urel chimed. She could hear the eagerness in his tone.
Atoe was just as eager, he moved about gesturing for her to follow, offering to show her the way. Keyoko didn't move, she just clutched the railing. What irony, she thought, she needed to go up two more flights to get to the security room...the security room that was on the same floor as the command center.
When she didn't move, Atoe grew bigger, she could see he was getting impatient. He took the gun, the solider had dropped on the ground and crushed it up. Keyoko swallowed realized Urel must have rejoined with Atoe. He could now effect the phsysical-
"You know what I can do Keyoko, don't test my patience, anymore then you already have. MOVE!" the radio blared.
She let out a sigh, knowing exactly what he could do. She glided her hand up the railing, she didn't want to go to him but what choice did she have...What choice did she ever have... She lifted her foot, finally moving. She took each step slowly, one at a time as she scrambled to think, what options, if any were left to her. When she reached the level he wanted her on, the shadow opened the door for her.
She paused and Urel sang "Come along now, don't keep me waiting."
Keyoko cringed but walked through the door. The shadow moved showing her which way to go...It was time to give in, give up... surrender. She saw dozens of guards dead on the floor, saw where Urel and the others had pride the reinforced doors open. She entered a large room, seeing more dead bodies, just like in her nightmares...everywhere he went, there was death and destruction.
She saw dozens of desks had been moved about, leaving the center of the room open and in the center, stood Urel. She could see how he'd changed, his ice blue eyes were brighter and yet darker at the same time. Standing so close to him, she could feel his dark presence fill up the entire room, it was nearly suffocating.
She felt her own darkness stir up, her body grew warm, wet. She recalled the last time they had been together. She winced thinking of it now. She'd tried to deny it out… to blot it out but she couldn't. This wasn't one of her paintings she could drag her hands over, when she didn't like what it showed.
The shadow moved to Urel, becoming his shadow. Urel offered his hand to her, "At last our true reunion."
She froze several feet away from him, feeling sick. Urel grimaced, "Come now Keyoko, we both know, there is no use fighting this!"
She clenched her fist glaring at him. She expected to be afraid but seeing him now, she felt rage. The items in the room began to shake. Urel pulled back studying her, "Keyoko...you can stop. We both know what you really want...need." He grasped hold of his privates giving them a shake.
Keyoko was repulsed she sharply turned her head and screamed "NO! NO! NO! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!"
Urel wagged his fingers as the items in the room began to rise. He taunting her "Do you…or do you HATE that you love it so much."
"I DON'T!" she protested "I NEVER WANTED THIS! NEVER WANTED YOU!"
"Right," he chucked before continuing in a mocking tone."I forgot you're "cursed," condemned to eternal torment. If you'd simply accepted what you are, you be a lot happier Keyoko. You can deny it all you want but eventually your just going to have to accept it. You're not cursed, your simply a whore! My whore!"
He beckoned her once again, urging her to take his hand...to take her place. Keyoko knew it was pointless to fight, she was outnumbered, out powered but she still raised her hands. She still resisted, refused, she sent the objects that she'd risen up hurling at his head. She wasn't going to surrender to him, to give in that easy. She'd given herself to him once before but not this time. This time she'd fight with everything she had
Urel moved, dodge several of the items, she hurled at him. She moved her arms swining the remaining items around, not letting him get away that easily. She released her angry, pumping her hands, she sent everything she'd gather at him. She watched the items pass through him and smash into pieces as they hit the ground. She pulled back confused, then she felt something shifting behind her, not something...someone.
She tried to turn but it was too late, a hand snatched up the back of her neck. It held her tightly and she began to feel weak. She realized it had been a trap. She'd been so bent on destroying Urel that she'd forgotten to sense her immediate surroundings. The Urel she'd just seen must have been yet another of Gigi's illusion. She looked around, Urel must have been hiding somewhere, throwing his voice about, waiting for Eyo to get close enough to grab her. How could she be so stupid…she was always so stupid….
She let out a whimper as she felt the energy rushing from her body until she could barely stand. Jesep appeared before her then. She realized Gigi had been hiding him, with one of her illusions. He looked down at her and she saw the madness in his eyes...the cruelty. He was really back, she began to sob. Eyo continued to drain her, for a few more seconds before he shoved her forward, letting her go. She fell into Jesep's open arms. He lifted her up and hissed "Gothca," Like they'd just been playing a board game and he'd won.
He spun her around in victory. She moan trying to fight, trying to pull free of him but Eyo had taken enough energy that she couldn't fight back. At the same time, he'd left her with enough energy to stay conscious. It was no doubt, intentional. A filling of dread washed over her as Urel took her to a nearby desk that had been cleared off. He gently set her down and then ripped open her jump suit. He ran his hand across her breasts giving them each a hearty squeeze. Her eyes began to water as he pulled from her breast and grasped hold of her jumpsuit once more. He tore the rest of it off her, like he was unwrapping a present.
"What now," asked Gigi, dusting herself off.
Urel let out a pleasant sigh and responded, "Eyo knows what to do."
Eyo nodded and turned to Gigi, "I want you to keep an eye on communications, I'm going to do a quick sweep of the base and look into a means of transportation. You hear anything alarming contact me right away."
"Alarming, like what," said Gigi, twirling her hair.
"You know what I mean," said Eyo, getting agitated.
"It sounds boring," said Gigi dropping her hair. She folded her arms and continued, "I'd much rather have fun with the master,"
"Later," said Urel. He positioned himself between Keyoko's legs, sliding her so that her privates were touching his pants. "We'll play later...I promise,"
Gigi let out a haughty sigh, Eyo continued, "See if you can get in touch with any of the others, let them know whats going on,"
"Others," said Urel as he pulled his member out, "How many have you found?"
"Quiet a few actually, I think you'll be please with my progress," said Eyo.
"OUR PROGRESS!" snapped Gigi, "I found Yawna. Which wasn't easy, she's a guy this life."
Eyo glared at her but continued "We also have Raoul, Cante, and Bayon. I actually made a rather nice deal when it came to him,"
"Really," said Urel, "You'll have to tell me about it later.
He nodded to Eyo showing his approval and then looked down at Keyoko taking her in once more. He was pleased with Eyo's progress and eager to hear of this deal he had made but first...he needed to release a little tension.
He poked his finger inside Keyoko, she was wet but still not as much as he'd like. He spit into his hand as she weakly cried, 'No..pl..pl" She tried to struggle, to fight but was barely able to move.
He rubbed the spit on his member and then took hold of her chin, forcing her to look at him.
He leaned into her and said "I like it when you submit but you know what I love most, is when you fight back."
Her eyes glistened with distress, a tear escaped running down her cheek. He took in her expression for a moment before he pressed his lips into hers. Gigi rolled her eyes and finally moved to check on communications. Eyo watched Urel for a moment and then left the room, to clear out the rest of the base. In the hall the lights suddenly flickered. Eyo pulled back, sensing something before he could make out just what it was a hand fell around him, grasped hold of his head. In one swift moment his head was jerked to the side, his neck broken. As his body dropped to the floor, Luka seethed, "My turn!"
Urel pulled from Keyoko's lips as Eyo's head suddenly came hurling into the room. It bounced on the ground before coming to a rolling stop. His eyes widened as a man dressed in a military uniform entered the room. He was wearing a mask so Urel couldn't see his face but Urel didn't need to see his face to know who. He'd sensed Luka's presence earlier but hadn't realized he'd been so close. Urel heart began to pound in his chest as he pulled back from Keyoko. Luka brandished his sword, it radiated lighting as he turned it in Urel's direction and yelled. "YOU KNOW WHAT I LOVE MOST...WHEN YOU DIE!"
Keyoko's eyes widened as she managed to turn her head to the side and saw Luka had arrived. She couldn't see Luka's face, he wore a military uniform and a mask. Was he a soldier? Just now when he'd yelled Keyoko realized he must have heard what Urel had said to her. How long had he been watching them? How long had he been awake? She had so many questions she wanted to ask but just then Urel pulled a gun from his back
He opened fire on Luka, Keyoko cried out but all that escape her lips was groan. To her surprise, Luka put his hand up, the bullets stopped before they got to him. She realized he was using his magnetism as he guided the bullet, into the wall behind him. When Urel's gun was empty, he threw it to the ground, cursing. She watched him pull his double sided ax from within his stone.
She watched the two men meet in the center of the room. Urel swung his ax and Luka blocked it with his sword. They stared each other down as they found themselves locked in their eternal battle once more. Keyoko struggled to keep her eyes on them as they pulled apart. They danced around each other quickly, before Urel feverishly swung his ax, Luka jumped back avoiding each strike until he could counter with a lunge. He manged to slice Urel's arm, drawing blood. Urel jumped back and then tried to attack again, unleashing several more quick swipes of his ax but Luka was too fast, too focused, avoiding each attack.
Urel roared out in frustration, it was clear he hadn't fought in a while. Keyoko thought Luka might have the upper hand in the fight but when he attacked lunging and swiping his blade, it was clear he was not used to fighting as well. The two men moved around each other lunging and swiping, while trying to avoid the others attack.
There were plenty of openings but neither managed to hit one another. After a few minutes Urel stopped attacking, he pulled back hard, putting some distance between them and raised his hand. He summoned Atoe and sent him into the fight. While Atoe had made quick work of the solider he seemed hesitant to get close to Luka. He did several circles around him, he moved in close and then pulled back keeping his distance.
Luka kept an eye on him and then thrust out his hand. He shot a bolt of lighting from his finger tips. Atoe tried to dart away but couldn't avoid the attack. The badd pierce his shoulder and black sludge spayed out everywhere. Atoe let out a wail, scampered back.
Luka scoffed as he turned to Urel, "Forgot about that did we-,"
He quickly shot back as Urel brought his ax down hard. Luka quickly realized it had been a distraction, Atoe swirled around Urel as he came at Luka again and again, swinging his ax. Luka tried to pulled back but Urel managed to run his ax across Luka's chest, on the third swipe, opening it up. Luka cried out holding his chest as it began to bleed.
He staggered back as Urel gritted his teeth and kept coming. He refused to give Luka an inch, swinging his ax again and again. Luka jumped trying to avoid the blows but each time the ax crept closer and closer. Urel changed the angle of his swing, going for a harder hit as it was set to come down on Luka.
Keyoko's heart skipped a beat as it looked like Urel was going to get him. However Luka changed up his foot work, instead of diving back he dived to the side, crouched down and then launched himself into the air. He spun and managed to get behind Urel as he was recovering from his latest swing, Luka ran his blade across his back.
Urel let out a painful roar, he struggled to quickly turn around. He pulled back from Luka and took a more defensive stance after that. Keyoko could see he was beginning to look for a way out. Luka became more daring or desperate with his thrusts, Keyoko couldn't tell which it was as his mask hid his expression. He lunged and swung his blade as Urel stumbled and jumped back.
Again and again, Luka attacked and Urel retreated, oddly Keyoko was reminded of the fight in her art room, when Harold kept attacking Jesep and he just kept avoiding him. Suddenly as Luka recovered from his latest lunge, the room filled with the sound of gun fire. Keyoko watched Luka fall forward as bullets tore through his back.
Keyoko realized it had to be Gigi. She'd completely forgotten about her. Gigi had made herself appear invisible and managed to get behind Luka, he was fighting. Luka was so focused on his fight with Urel that he didn't have time to use magnetism.
He dropped to his knees and Urel took this moment to make his move. He swung his ax as Luka turned to Keyoko. Their eyes locked from across the room, it was like watching her brother get murdered all over again. She was helpless... unable to do anything... Urel's blade sliced through the back of Luka's head, dropping it to the floor. Tears welled up in Keyoko's eyes so much that she couldn't see. Her heart felt like it was going to explode as she felt Luka's presence suddenly fade from the room.
She heard Urel yell at Gigi, "WHAT TOOK YOU SO FUCKING LONG!"
"I'M SORRY," Gigi cried, "I DIDN'T WANT TO MISS! Are you okay?"
"DO I FUCKING LOOK OKAY," roared Urel.
"No but Eyo-,"
"EYO WHAT! EYO can heal me. YEAH! When he comes back to life IN A DOZEN OR SO FUCKING HOURS!,"
"I...THIS ISN'T MY FAULT!," cried Gigi. "I- None of us knew he was back. WE COULDN'T HAVE EXPECT THIS!"
There was a long moment of silence, Keyoko sniffled, trying to focus on there voices...trying to focus on anything beyond the gut wrenching grief.
"...You're right," Urel finally responded, his voice suddenly calm, quiet. "You're right Gigi. I should have expected this. I should have anticipated he'd show up and try to ruin things like he always does."
"But you got him!" said Gigi.
"We got him," said Urel.
Keyoko could hear Gigi squeal with delight as she said, "That's Jeza and Luka, two down."
"Yes," said Urel, "I suppose you're right, we've got the advantage...once we lock them down, they'll no longer be problem, at least in this life."
"Yes," said Gigi. "Can I get you anything?"
"A first aid kit would be nice" said Urel "But return Eyo's head to him first."
Gigi nodded, Keyoko heard her rush off. Her heart plunge at the thought of being alone with him again. She sniffled closing her eyes. She heard rustling as Urel groaned in pain, she blinked several times trying to see what he was up to, her eyes were so watery. After a moment he came back over to her. She saw, he'd taken off his shirt, he looked angry, beyond angry. He glared at Keyoko and she knew even with his injuries he was still going to hurt her. She knew he couldn't help himself.
She started up at the ceiling as he moved between her legs once more. She felt him place himself and -
"NO!" Keyoko cried, her heart pounding in her chest. She blinked suddenly realizing she wasn't looking at the ceiling anymore but the center of a stairwell. She could barely make out Milner's body below. She jerked back nearly falling down the stairs. She quickly realized she wasn't on the desk in the command center, but the stairs in the stairwell. She looked up and saw Atoe looming.
Suddenly the alarm turned off and the flashing red lights stopped. Everything returned to normal and a voice broke out over the loud speaker, "Keyoko," she recognized Jesep's voice. "You are wanted in the command center, at once."
Keyoko swallowed, realizing she'd gone back in time, no she'd never gone forward. Her eyes lit up as she realized, she'd had her first vision since fully waking. She couldn't always tell when they were going to happen or just what they were going to show her. It had been so vivid, felt so so real. She replayed the events in her head, Luka's head had been cut of- WAIT! She looked around, realizing this meant Luka was somewhere in the base right now.
"Take the next two flights of stairs," Urel chimed.
Keyoko grasped hold of the railing, taking her first step, she realized there was still time to do something, to change things. She tried to focus her mind as she slowly went up the stairs. She tried to reach out to Luka, in her mind, hoping to warn him. 'LUKA! LUKA!' She thought as hard as she could.
She waited for a response but there was none. She wondered if he'd heard her, was out of range? She considered trying again but saw Atoe moving along, on the wall beside her. She knew she was being closely watched. If Urel noticed anything odd, he might realized she'd seen the future, potential future, if she had any choice in the matter, she was going to change it.
|