Inveigle

Chapter Twenty-Eight: New Strengths

There is no where to go except inside. I am blocked from running back to the car, and too afraid to give away Aunt Sarah Gene's location. I run for the door and hope there is someplace I can hide. The large metal door looms in front of me as I sprint full force. I reach it and slip inside before turning to slam it shut. The cold metal is heavy against my palms, but I hear the click of the latch catching. There is no lock on the inside, but I see a rickety table and chairs where it looks like the men had been sitting playing cards. I grab a chair and jam it under the handle at the same moment I hear fists slam into the other side. It won't hold them for long, so I run.

The warehouse room is large and mostly empty. Wooden pallets line one wall and there are spring loaded rat traps in the corners. There are two darkened hallways and a door at the far end of the room. The door looks like it might belong to a bathroom, so I head down one of the hallways. As I slip into the shadows, the sound of metal scraping across cement rings through the air. Footsteps burst onto the floor, echoing down the hallway. I try to control my breathing, afraid that the rough edges of my breath will give my location away. I swallow and feel a scratchy tightness in my throat.

I slow to a walk to soften my steps. The hallway is pitch black as I inch along, feeling the walls with my hands. Shortly I see a red light ahead of me blinking on and off. I walk a little faster, aware that wherever I am going I need to get there fast because it is eerily quiet. My hands feel a door handle, and I realize that the light is blinking on the other side of a glass window in a door. I turn the handle slowly so as not to make a sound. I enter the room and the lock catches with the smallest click.

I peer through the window just as the hallway lights blaze on. Temporarily blinded I duck down as fast as I can. It isn't until I am rubbing my eyes that I become aware of heavy breathing that isn't my own. I open my burning eyes to see Sam.

He is tied to a wooden chair that is bolted to the ground. He is blindfolded and even though the light coming through the window doesn't fully illuminate him I can see darker spots on his skin that can only be bruises and cuts.

"Sam," I whisper as I rush over to him.

His head perks up, "Cora?"

A mechanical sound catches my attention. It's the lens of a camera adjusting with a little red light blinking above it. From the camera extends a long black tube that swivels to point at my forehead. A barrel. I hear a round drop into the chamber.

I drop to my knees as the glass shatters behind me. There is a heavy thud. One of the shorter men had been standing just outside the door. The bullet went through his chest and the soft gurgles of blood and air could be faintly heard.

Quickly, I pulled the pistol out of my pocket and as I heard the drone's gun reloading I pulled the trigger. The drone exploded into a million pieces, small pieces of heavy plastic left cuts on my face and the back of Sam's head.

"What the hell is going on?" Sam shouted.

There was no time to respond. I grabbed a shard of glass from the floor and began slicing through his bindings. Running footsteps were coming down the hall, closer, and closer. My hands shook as I worked to free Sam, but everything seemed to be going too slow.

"Hey," a voice behind me boomed.

I froze.

"Cora, what happened to the plan?"

It was Boss. Relief washed over me. But then a bullet whizzed through the air and went into the wall just above Sam's head leaving a dark hole in the metal.

"Fuck you, eh!" I recognized one of the Disciples' voices, maybe the one called Goat.

"Cora, get Tank. We got you covered," Boss yelled through the broken window.

Gunfire began to rain in the hallway. It was impossible to tell which side it was coming from. I worked as fast as possible cutting at the ropes. Finally, his hands were free. He reached up to take off his blind fold, and for a moment we just looked into each others faces taking in everything.

But there was no time.

"Boss, I've got him. Let's go!" I shout.

Sam and I burst out of the door with our heads down. We jump over the corpse of the man with a hole in his lungs. Rounds miss us by mere inches and pound into the wall behind us.

Everyone is running, Boss is in the lead retracing the steps they took to get this far. Behind me I see the large man with glowing green eyes running full force. He looks angry and the shots he fires go wild. A breeze cools my face, and I see a door being held open. We dart into the night air, gravel beneath our feet.

The Marquis comes flying from around the corner, spitting up rocks under the wheels. We all make a mad dash for the doors.

BOOM.

The air sizzles as the warehouse opposite from the one we just exited explodes. All eyes turn to see the green eyed man with a new toy. He bends down to one knee as the shorter man behind him loads what looks like a rocket into the back. He turns to aim at the car.

We need a miracle.

I see something reflect the headlights. Eyes that belong to something big. Eyes that belong to a grizzly bear.

Get him.

I don't know why it works. I can feel the shock of Pathos and Logos internally. They know as well as I do that I did that. That they did that.

The bear charges, tipping over the trash can it was looking through. A claw raises and swipes at the back of the large man's head. With a sickening crunch he crumples to the ground. The smaller man runs off into the darkness.

"Get in, get in, get in!" Aunt Sarah Gene yells. We pile inside. As we accelerate, I look back to see the silhouette of the bear tearing into flesh as the fire burns.