Shift

The Rage

"Get away from him!" she said, bounding down the basement stairs.

Nat turned, holding the fire-poker tightly in his hand. "You're back."

"Yeah," said Scarlet, "I'm back, and I'm pissed. Don't touch him." She rushed to Adrian's side, shoving Nat away as she passed.

Adrian's face was red, and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth as he sat crumpled on the ground, his hands chained behind his back. He looked up, through one eye, the other swollen closed, black and blue. Deep wounds covered his arms and his chest.

"Scar," he said, his voice a shaky whisper. "You're okay."

"Yeah," she replied. She crouched next to him, cupping his face with her hands. "But you're not." She heard the distant, slow thudding of his heartbeat as the blood oozed from his wounds. His face looked incredibly unfamiliar to her and it was scary.

"He failed," Nat said. He stood behind her, wielding the metal fire poker like a sword at his side. "Adrian knew the price he'd have to pay if anything happened to you, and—"

"And I'm right here," Scarlet said, "unharmed." She stood, squaring her shoulders as she faced Nat, her lips pursed in rage. When she spoke again, her voice vibrated the walls in a thunderous roar. "Let him go, now."

Nat blanched momentarily before regaining his composure. "How dare you. I'm the alpha, here, you don't call the shots. Get out!"

"No!" She moved even closer to him, becoming a wall of impenetrable fury. "Unchain him, right now."

"And just what will you do if I don't?"

Her nostrils flared as she glared at him. "I don't know, but I'm sure neither of us wants to find out."

They stared at each other, neither one budging. Suddenly, Nat swung the fire poker hard against Scarlet's face. She fell to the floor with a clumsy thud, blood falling in streams from the gash across her cheek.

"The both of you can rot down here," Nat said. He started toward the stairs.

Scarlet leaped at him, jumping onto his back and wrapping an arm around his neck, her forearm pressed against his throat. He threw her to the ground and swiftly kicked his right foot into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. He spat onto the floor next to her before ascending the stairs and closing the bookcase over the door.

Scarlet pulled herself up from the floor and turned to look at Adrian. He sat up, chains rattling, and watched the gash across her cheek slowly pinch itself together and heal. All that was left behind was a smear of crimson.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He stared, incredulous, at her cheek. "How," he started to ask. He winced.

"I'm going to get you out of here," Scarlet said. She looked up the staircase at the door and set her jaw.

She stood and took a few deep breaths before ascending the stairs. When she reached the top, the door was locked. She began pounding on the door, throwing her body against it with all of her might as she yelled. She could hear books shaking free from the bookcase on the other side, dropping to the floor.

"Open the door," she said. "Open it, or I'll break it down."

"You can't break through that door," Adrian said. His strained voice drifted up to Scarlet's ears but she refused to listen.

She glanced over her shoulder, brow furrowed, and said, "Watch me."

She continued to slam the heel of her hand into the door, then her fist, then her shoulder. Dust shook and fell from the frame around the door. Scarlet stepped back and launched herself forward. A faint crunch could be heard near the knob.