Through Glass(73)

I needed to be patient. I clenched the gun as I turned toward the men who continued toward me, their eyes hard and cold as they aimed at me.

“Put the gun down, miss,” one said, his voice deep and taunting, “Put it down and we won’t kill you right away.”

I wanted to smile and laugh at him, however I held it in. He was right; they wouldn’t kill me right away, but they would kill me. They would torture me.

I was stupid to drag this out. I needed to find my way out of here. My heart beat heavily as adrenaline pumped through me. The gun rose to pulse one stream of light after another, the beams hitting the bleachers, walls, faces, chairs, arms and legs of those who pursued me.

My aim was bad, but I didn’t stop. I silently hoped that there wasn’t an ammo gauge on this thing. I kept firing as I moved, the three men in front of me shooting their own beams of light toward me.

I dodged their attacks as best I could, firing wildly while my stomach cringed when I hit the first one, his death producing yet another white circle of ash. While another only fell unconscious to the ground. What was going on here?

I fired until I was sure I had gotten them all, the pitiful screams of those who remained echoing through the large space as they stayed hidden from me. They were afraid I would kill them, just like the others. The one who slept, he had killed everyone around him. I gulped at the thought, my mind screaming at the truth behind it. I pushed it away, ready to walk from the room when a voice stopped me.

“Lex!” I turned at the voice, surprised to see Bridget standing near the door I was sure I had come through only a few minutes before.

I ran toward her, the gun in my hands pointing between her face and the mostly empty commons room. I followed her into the white hallway while the metal door echoed loudly as it shut us into the large, empty space.

“Give me one reason not to put you down right now,” I hissed as I pushed her up against the wall, the gun only millimeters from her face.

“I’m unarmed, Lex. Tee asked me to get you out. He’s waiting at the wall.” She moved her hands up in surrender, a small, golden key grasped between her fingers. I recognized it immediately as the key to the handcuffs. I eyed the key before going back to her face, my jaw clenching menacingly.

“Tee?” I asked, fighting the desire to fire the gun, to run and be done with it.

“Travis.”

“How can I trust you?” She smiled and held out the small, orange lighter, the box bright against the pale skin of her hand. I took one hand off the gun and grabbed it quickly, the lighter fluid in the box sloshing in my hand.

“‘You have to make your own decisions, no matter how hard they are. And sometimes they really, really suck,’” she said, her voice soft.

My eyes darted to her at her words, as she repeated what I had told Travis all those years ago; words that were obviously fueling his actions right now. I narrowed my eyes at her, only Travis would know that. I wanted to trust her, I knew I needed to, but I couldn’t. I did need her to lead me out, however; so I would have to compromise.

I nodded once and Bridget’s face lit up as she moved to unlock the shackles around my wrists. The large metal rings fell to the floor with a clang, the sound ringing through my ears.

I nodded once at her before we turned, her tall frame leading us through the maze of tunnels that I had been led down only moments before.

I was beginning to doubt this was a school at all, everything was too empty, too cold. It felt more like an underground test facility than a high school.

Bridget turned one corner after another until we entered what looked like a small control room. Computers lined one of the walls with an endless beeping filling the space. At the end, like a giant window, was the cell they had kept me in. She walked in just as a man turned around in his chair, his face dropping in panic at seeing me there.

I didn’t hesitate, I lifted the gun in my hands and pulled, the beam of light hitting him right in the face.

“Good shot,” Bridget said as she grabbed my backpack off a large table. Her hand shoved the contents that had been spread across the table back inside. “But next time, try not to aim for the face. It takes them twice as long to wake up.”

“I’ll try to remember that,” I grumbled through clenched teeth, not really caring either way. “At least he didn’t turn to ash.”

“I told you, that doesn’t happen unless you are one of the Tar,” she said, her focus still on packing the bag.

“Tell that to the two men I just disintegrated in that sham of a trial.”

Bridget froze at my words, her whole body going rigid as she turned to me.

“Two men turned to ash?” she almost whispered.

“Yeah, some of the men in that so called trial you people forced me through. I shot them and they were only ash, big white rings of it…” I started to explain, my voice fading by the look on her face. I wasn’t sure if she was angry or scared, but either way, the dark cast in her eyes sent a shiver up my spine.

“What is it?” I asked, unable to help myself.

“Travis was right,” she said simply, staring ahead.

“Excuse me?” I asked, but she didn’t seem to notice.

Bridget handed me the backpack and grabbed her own gun, along with five boxes that seemed to be glowing orange. She shoved them in my backpack as I placed it on my back, the movement almost sending me off balance.