Chapter 11 #2
The feral rage that had slowly been building inside me in tandem with the agony shredding my mind to pieces cranked up another notch.
“I FUCKING NEED TO LEAVE NOW!” I yelled, my claws extruding, and my fingers twitching with the burning need to tear up his face.
This time, he placed his hand on his blaster, a menacing expression descending over his features. Two of his four colleagues standing watch by the door took a few steps towards us, ready to intervene if things got out of hand.
“Last warning, Temern,” the guard warned. “Back off until things have cooled down. Do not force us to—”
He never finished his sentence. A massive explosion rocked the building.
In my last moment of lucidity, I vaguely realized the explosion had come from right outside the exit door.
I didn’t know what kind of device had gone off.
But by the way a few of the windows shattered, it had been something serious.
Had the guard allowed me out when I wanted to, I probably would have been grievously hit by the blast.
Linsea’s face flashed before my eyes as fear for my female swelled within me.
But even that faded in the split second both these thoughts crossed my mind after the explosion.
The most debilitating pain I had ever felt sliced through my brain and down my spine.
My knees nearly buckled as I dry heaved, my stomach twisting atrociously.
All around me, people were screaming, bumping against each other in their panic to seek refuge from the unidentified source of the threat.
Their terror was like so many blades repeatedly stabbing me and then having acid poured inside the wounds.
I retched again, as I stumbled forward, slapping my hands against the wall, moments before I would have collapsed.
My brain felt on the verge of exploding while a demonic hand was tearing my spine right out of my body.
I needed them to stop, to be quiet for just one second, one blessed second before they killed me.
But they didn’t stop. Instead, feeding from each other, the crowd only grew even more terrified, especially as some people started to fall, some getting trampled by those who were still standing and frantically trying to run for cover.
Something snapped in my head.
“STOP!” I shouted with such force that my vocal cords hurt.
But nothing could even remotely compare to the agony in my head. At the same time I pointlessly shouted that word, I attempted to push the debilitating noise out of my head with all my might. I couldn’t explain how, but it felt like a massive blast detonated all around me.
And then, things went quiet.
No, not quiet. The noise still assaulted me, but it had significantly reduced, as if half of the people bombarding me with their wretched emotions had suddenly vanished.
Leaning against the wall, my innards still horribly twisting, I blindly tried to make my way back towards the main entrance.
After only a couple of steps, I nearly fell when my foot bumped into something soft.
On instinct, I sank my claws into the wall for purchase and yanked myself back into a straight position.
Blinking, my head pounding, I tried to make sense of what my blurred vision was trying to show me.
This couldn’t be right. And yet, it couldn’t be denied.
Dozens of bodies lay at my feet. Everyone around me, all the way to the end of the corridor, was passed out on the ground.
I couldn’t say whether they were dead. One seemed to be breathing, but I couldn’t swear to it.
Anyway, even if I had wanted to help, I was in no condition to do so.
The excruciating pain crushing my skull also had me on the verge of collapsing.
As I clumsily navigated my way around the fallen, the semi-reprieve all these people passing out had given me was quickly fading.
More panicked voices and fearful shouts ahead assailed me like a rabid flock of screeching banshees.
I doubled over and dry heaved again. Every muscle in my body screamed as if they were being pummeled by spiked clubs.
A warm liquid began to trickle from both my ears. A part of me knew what it was and understood that it indicated that my body was nearing critical failure. I didn’t know if I would make it out in time. I could only focus on putting one foot in front of the other while I still had strength left.
To my horror, as I reached the main hall, I could vaguely see the silhouettes of people crouching on the balcony, looking for cover, while others were attempting to crawl towards one of the rooms likely to hide.
The people on the opposite side of the hall from me were conscious and terrified.
My brain couldn’t comprehend why they were on the floor, most of them kneeling with their hands up.
But that also didn’t matter to me. The thick liquid pouring out of my eyes was almost blinding me. Just as I was opening my mouth to yell at the people kneeling to get the fuck out of my way, two masked males burst into the main hall from the entrance.
“What the fuck is going on here?! What happened?” one of the men shouted as he glanced at all the unconscious people behind me. “Why are your eyes bleeding?”
“Quiet,” I whispered, the sound of my own voice painful to my ears.
“What the fuck?!” the man exclaimed, raising his blaster towards me. “Get down on the floor, you freak. Don’t take another step!”
“Quiet!” I repeated, this time louder as a murderous rage swelled within me.
“I fucking asked you to—!”
“QUIET!” I yelled, interrupting him.
With a will of their own, my hands rose before me. My palms tingled, and intense heat radiated around them before a blinding light went off. Both men looked as if they’d been hit by a ram, and they flew back, crashing brutally against the wall before sliding down to the floor, unconscious.
As one, the people on the other side of the room started screeching and scrambling to get away.
It felt like a thousand hammers bashing my skull all at once.
Something broke inside me as I tried to push them away.
The air shifted around me, as if a powerful vacuum had sucked the oxygen out of the room.
Everyone went quiet. But I no longer cared. The floor rushed towards me. I never felt the moment I made contact with it as blessed oblivion claimed me first.