Lights | A Forever Fanfiction

Chapter Twenty-Four: No Man's Land

Hadynski stared at us, her eyes emotionless. Behind us, the door creaked open, and I heard Jo's startled gasp. Hadynski raised her arms, and the dark grey edge of a gun gleamed in the darkness.

"Lights, Henry, why...?"

"It's a long story that I'd rather not go over, right now," I said. "Jo?"

"Yes, I see it," she replied.

"Drop your weapon," Hadynski ordered. "Now." Behind me, I heard a quiet clang as Jo dropped her gun. "Move." I pressed against the railing, my knuckles turning white as I clutched the metal even harder. She pointed the pistol at me as she passed. Doctor Morgan refused to step out of the way. "Move."

"I can't let you do that," he breathed. I could feel the panic radiating from him.

"Henry," Jo warned softly. "Henry, please move." He glanced back at Jo, and then at me. I closed my eyes and nodded at him. Silently, he leaned against the wall, and Hadynski passed by him. Jo stood perfectly still, her hands raised above her head. Hadynski approached her, moving towards the door. As she laid her palm on the metal surface, Jo picked up her gun and stumbled towards her.

Jo tried to wrestle Hadynski's weapon away, and they struggled for a long time. Finally, she grabbed the gun, but Hadynski clawed her, digging her nails into Jo's wrist until beads of blood grew into bubbles that melted into drops. Finally, Jo let go, clutching her wrist. Hadynski snatched up the weapon, but Jo grabber her own gun, trying to aim it properly at Hadynski. Hadynski panicked, raising her hand to shoot Jo, but Jo caught her wrist, snapping it backwards. Dr. Morgan sprinted forwards, to help, and a shot rang out in the muted darkness. There was a pause, in which everything stood still, for one quiet moment.

Dr. Morgan fell backwards, breathing quickly, his chest. I stumbled down the stairs, kneeling next to him and pressing my hands down over the wound. Panic flared in Hadynski's eyes, and she smacked Jo, hard, and Jo fell against the wall, a smudge of blood trickling to the ground as she fell. Hadynski fled into the night, the door flying open. I heard Hanson's shout of surprise, which was cut short, leaving a silence full of terror and deadly implications.

"Lights," Dr. Morgan wheezed. "I told you this was a horrible idea."

"Stop talking," I ordered him.

"Let me die," he insisted. "Don't waste your time. I know how much this means. Find them."

"I can't leave you and Jo here," I argued softly.

"Give me your phone." I handed him the rectangle of plastic and metal, and he dialled 911. "Get going." I stared at him, hesitation weighing me down to the ground.

"You're noble fool, Doctor Morgan," I whispered. "Goodbye." I tore myself away, the feeling as raw as a slap to the face. I stepped through the door, trying not to look back as I heard him mumbling into the phone, to the operator on the other.

Hanson was unconscious. His eyes were closed, his hands sprawled carelessly around him. The woman he had been trying to arrest was gone. She was probably in cahoots with Hadynski. I gently lifted his gun from his motionless hands and ran out the only other exit out of the room: the loading dock. I felt the cool night air graze my skin as I tore across the field. In the distance, I could see two silhouettes, fleeing gracefully towards another part of the factory. They slowed to a halt, unaware of my presence. I slipped behind a crumbling cement wall, peering around it carefully. They ducked into a storage building, and after a moment, I followed them.

This was possibly the worst idea ever.

Possibly.

The storage complex was filled with rubble and debris. I heard a sound that resembled drums, only to realise that it was my own heartbeat.

I head a grating sound coming from the back of the room, and then there was a loud click. I moved towards it, to see a door close. I opened it silently, and stepped into another room. Pillars supported the ceiling, and in the back of the room, Hadynski and the other woman were talking to Adam in hushed tones, their words distorted and muffled by the expanse of space. I shuffled into the shadows, moving around the pillars, lifting the gun in my hands silently, my thoughts blurred and twisted, convoluted by rage and hate and fear. I got closer, and closer, until I was just a yard or two away from them.

And then I fired.

It was loud, and the recoil was painful, jolting. I didn't know how Jo could do it.

My shot missed, burying itself in the wall, the shell falling to the ground with a quiet clink. Adam rose, his eyes narrowed into the shadows. I whirled around, pressing against the pillar, closing my eyes as terror filled me.

Oh, what a damn idiot I was!

I heard footsteps, closer, closer, closer. Then, nothing. Only breathing, and the sound of my pounding, pounding, pounding, frantic heart, trying to escape from my chest, trying to escape from the circumstances. It was so still for so long, that I dared to hope that the three had gone.

I risked a peek, and flinched against the wall. Adam was a few paces away, flanked by the two women.

"Well, well, well," Adam drawled. "If it isn't the young Miss LaVaughn."