––––––––
A heavy weight pressed me into the mattress, smothering me. Air whistled from my compressed lungs. I felt like I was drowning in a dream. The haze of unconsciousness was slow to recede and it took a while for me to realize that I could open my eyes. They peeled back with a disgusting crusty sound that felt even worse than it sounded. It was utterly black in my room and I would’ve let out a shriek of surprise if I could’ve breathed. Instead, I flailed my arm at my assailant, nails arced and ready to attack. I got a muffled grunt in return.
What the hell...
Vaguely, like a movie you fell asleep to, the memories came tumbling back. Demitri. He’d done something to me. My arm gave a sharp ache of protest as if to remind me. I clubbed the person on top of me in the side of the head with my fist. “Get. Off. Me. Demitri,” I hissed, my words a choked whisper. I was confused and disoriented, but I didn’t appreciate him sitting on me.
The weight moved a little and air rushed into my lungs. “Really? I leave for two weeks and you’ve already let another guy into your bed?” A dim green light chased away the darkness. Liam poked his face close to mine, close enough for me to make out the startling blue of his eyes in the dark. He smiled at me and my heart beat faster. “I’ll have to talk to him about that.” He rolled away and yanked me until I was sitting. The room spun in a sickening whirl and my mind had a hard time keeping up.
Where had he been? I tried to connect the synapses in my brain. He had gone...but where? Why was everything so foggy? Ugh. Why did I feel so awful? The room lurched.
“Whoa.” I pressed both hands to my face. What the heck happened to me? Did Liam say two weeks? My vision took on a fuzzy, dream-like quality. Liam caught me as I tipped to the side.
“Careful, Princess.” He put his hands on my shoulders. His tone was light but the tightness around his eyes told a different story. “How are you feeling?”
I blinked several times hoping that something would click into place, like maybe reality.
Nope.
No such luck.
“What is wrong with my head?” I groaned.
I half expected Liam to chuckle and say well, that’s a loaded question. I even heard it inside my head, but he said, “Does it hurt?” His eyes narrowed with concern.
I closed my eyes and swallowed. Nausea, yes. Pain, no. I told him as much. Before he had a chance to respond the door to my room flew open, banging into the wall behind it. We both jumped, except Liam leapt from the bed, plasma gun extended in front of him. I swallowed again; his movement made me feel sicker. Bright light spilled into the room, blinding me.
“You’ve got to hurry,” Gavyn said, her eyes darting between Liam and me. Her hair had frizzed beyond all belief from her haphazard French braid. Demitri appeared in the doorway behind her. Liam lifted the gun again before dropping it to his side. Everyone was on edge.
Demitri’s grim eyes landed on me. “How is she doing?” he asked Liam, though his gaze didn’t leave my face. I couldn’t read his expression; he seemed to waver between concern and disgust.
What had I done?
“She’ll live.” Liam lowered his voice. “I hope.” I didn’t like the sound of that. In fact, I didn’t like anything about this situation, except maybe that Liam was here. Was he really gone for two weeks? What was he doing? Why had he left us here? Before I could ask, Liam came back and pulled me gently from the bed. I was unsteady on my feet but at least I could stand on my own. Things started to come back to me. Scary things.
I was pretty sure I’d killed Gary. Mr. Pershing, my scumbag father in this dimension. Crap. How would I explain that?
“We’ve gotta move,” Liam said, hand on my waist, stabilizing me. I leaned against him gratefully.
I’d killed another person. How many people was that now? I’d lost count somewhere. I was a murderer, maybe even edging on serial killer. How many people constituted a serial killer?
“Where are we going?” I said, taking in the three of them, all dressed for battle. Gavyn and Demitri were heavy with weapons; Liam still held the plasma gun in his free hand. Just what was going on here? Black leather, guns...
Were we escaping?
Demitri looked away and Gavyn pressed her lips together. No one answered me. “Guys?” I tried weakly. Nothing. Not a word. I dug my heels in, stopping Liam from dragging me from the room. “What is going on?” I glanced at each of their faces and I didn’t like what I saw. A thought tumbled into my brain. “Does this have something to do with Lena?” Oh my God. I’d killed Lena. I could see it like a movie in my head, the knife arcing through the air, Lena jumping in front of Demitri. I let out a strangled cry. My mouth hung open in shock. From the looks on their faces I knew it was true. “Am I...did I...how?” I covered my mouth before anything else could escape.
I was worse than a murderer. I was a terrible, awful person. I didn’t deserve to live. Lena wasn’t exactly nice, but I’d still counted her as my friend. And I’d killed her. Why had I done that?
Liam tugged on my arm. “It’ll have to wait, Princess. Right now we gotta get out of here.”
I glared at him, but the tension in his shoulders and the worry in his expression softened me. “Fine,” I conceded, letting him pull me from the room. I didn’t want to think about it anyway.
We followed Demitri and Gavyn into the strangely empty hallway. Funny, I remembered guards here, Nevin or his thick-necked look-alike. Maybe both. The memory was hazy.
“What’s happening?” I asked, ignoring how painfully tight Liam’s grasp on my wrist was. Did he think I was going to run away? I was happy to see him.
Liam’s shoulders were hunched, his neck tight. Demitri stole glances down every hallway we passed and all three of them had their plasma guns drawn. I felt like I was in a James Bond movie. The theme song flitted through my brain.
No one answered me.
My nausea doubled, this time from anxiety. Liam couldn’t just drag me around and not tell me what was going on. I was about to have an all-out panic attack. My Ginger heart thrummed fast in my ears and my head wasn’t all that steady. As it was I stumbled against Liam, my feet heavy and lethargic.
Was I drugged?
Demitri stuck his head around a corner and, though I didn’t hear the sound, a bright light flashed and I knew he’d blown someone to bits. As we rounded the corner the gore on the walls proved this. The remnants of the person dripped in fine rivulets to the floor.
The nausea won out and I puked up whatever I’d last eaten, not that I could remember. The past few hours, not to mention weeks, were kind of dim. Liam, who’d grown used to my frequent vomiting problem, jumped out of the way just in time to save his badass boots. He was pulling me along again before I even had time to wipe my mouth.
“Sorry to slow you down,” I grumbled. They ignored me, not even quick-witted Liam had a retort. The silence was not helping at all. “Will someone please tell me what is going on?” I locked eyes with Gavyn for a split second but hers skittered away. Seriously?
Another turn. Another hallway. It was like a maze.
Demitri skirted a body on the floor, and seeing this, Liam tried to shield my eyes. He wasn’t fast enough. Cathy lay on the floor, her open eyes dim and sightless. There was a red stain seeping across her chest.
I felt myself dropping to my knees but Liam kept a firm grip on my arm, hauling me upright. “Come on, Princess.”
“But is she—is she...?” I struggled to get the words out. Dark hair fanned out over her head like a halo. She looked so much like my mom that my throat tightened. I couldn’t get enough air in my lungs. My head swam. Cathy—my mom. They were Opposites.
The realization sunk in.
If I hadn’t already vomited, I would’ve lost it. Instead, I only dry-heaved. Liam had one arm firmly around my waist as he steered me away from Cathy. I closed my eyes but all I could see was Mom. Bleeding. Dying. I bit my lip to keep from crying out.
We turned down another hallway and I knew where we were. The door to the huge garage loomed before us. Demitri didn’t hesitate as he threw it open and, followed by Gavyn, the two of them burst into the space. Liam tucked me neatly behind him and the two of us crept through the door. In front of us Gavyn and Demitri had their plasma guns aimed at our opponents.
The room was full. Every member of the army was standing ready in the huge space. Like a beacon, my eyes sought out Gavyn, finding her bright red hair. She took us in, surprise lighting her face. She, too, was dressed in war gear. Weapons hung from her belt but she didn’t reach for one. Confidence rolled off of her.
Of all things, she smiled as she strode toward us, hair flaming behind her. I stuck my head around Liam to watch. “Well, well, what do we have here?” Her voice held a menacing edge. “Come here, Gavyn,” she ordered. Liam’s fingers tightened on my arm. What did he think? That I was going to run to her? Hell, no! I pressed myself closer to him.
Gavyn tilted her head. “Strange.” She took another step forward but Liam pointed his plasma gun at her face. His hand didn’t shake. “You wouldn’t,” she said, dripping false sweetness with every word.
“Try me.”
I snuck a peek at his expression. If Gavyn valued her life she wouldn’t push him. Liam was on a warpath.
“Gavyn, sweetie, come over here,” she tried again.
Was she insane? Oh wait, I already knew the answer to that. She was insane and idiotic. My anger got the best of me. She’d killed everyone—everything. We were all dead. “Why would I do anything you ask?” I spat. The edges of my vision were red as I stepped out into the open. Surprisingly, Liam didn’t stop me. I took one step toward her and then another, Liam trailing me. I didn’t flinch at the plasma guns pointed at us. Something bigger than fear bloomed inside of me.
“You know,” Gavyn said, no hint of worry in her voice, “I’m curious as to why you don’t listen anymore.” Her eyes flicked to Liam, ignoring the plasma gun. “You wouldn’t happen to know something about that, would you?”
“It’s over,” Liam whispered.
“You’re right. It is over. I’ve won, Liam. There’s nothing left for you.” Gavyn gestured to the open doors and the sand beyond. “Go on, take her. Take your little girlfriend and run. I know you won’t kill her and that means you won’t kill me. I’ve got the army and there’s nothing holding me back anymore.” She grinned but it looked more like a snarl. “You can thank your girlfriend for killing my daddy. I killed Cathy, but she was worthless anyway, just a toy that Daddy kept around for amusement.” She turned on a fake pout. “Sorry about your parents, Gavyn. Collateral damage and all.” Gavyn lifted a dismissive hand.
“Shut up,” I snapped. She couldn’t talk about them like that. She couldn’t devalue their sacrifice.
“What?” She raised her shoulders. “Not strong enough to make it on your own? You’re weak. You’re useless. I’d kill you if I had the chance, if it wouldn’t kill me. I’d kill them all over again. I don’t care.”
Before I could react to my actions, I shook loose of Liam’s fingers, crossed the space between us, and had Gavyn by the throat. A lot of things happened all at once.
I felt my fingers digging into Gavyn’s skin, tearing into her throat. I would rip out her windpipe; there was no doubt in my mind. Her eyes widened and air choked out of her lungs. She didn’t look scared though, mostly pleased. I let my eyes drift from her face to the army around us. Every single person had a plasma gun angled at us. What did it matter? The world was going to end anyway.
A funny thing happened inside of me.
I didn’t care.
There was no fear, no terror for my own life; there was only anger. Gavyn needed to pay for the things she’d done. My mom was dead—Gavyn had killed her when she’d killed Cathy. My dream journal was gone—I’d never see Lena or Drake again. Never see home. There was nothing left for me.
My fingers tightened and I pressed my face close to hers. “This is for Mom. This is for Liam.” I gripped tighter and tighter with every word. “Most of all, this is for me.” She turned purple.
I was wrenched away from Gavyn. My fingers slid from her neck and I let out a cry. She dropped to her knees, hands clutching her throat. “No, let me kill her.” I flailed and kicked, hitting Liam. “Let me kill her. She has to die!” Liam grunted as he took one of my kicks in the groin. He handed me off to Demitri, who wrapped both his arms around me, restraining my arm. I continued to kick but couldn’t get close enough to do any real damage.
The army had converged on us, angry and murmuring; the sound reminded me of a river.
I’ll kill her, I thought. I’ll rip out her throat.
“Go now,” Liam ordered, gun trained on Gavyn who’d picked herself up off the floor. She rubbed her bruised neck with a look of disgust on her face. And still she didn’t appear afraid. She looked...confident. I struggled against Demitri, wanting to wipe that smug look of superiority off Gavyn’s face.
Demitri hesitated, his eyes locked with Gavyn’s, the curly-haired one, not the evil one. She had her gun pointed at the army, but her gaze on Demitri. A moment passed between them.
“Liam,” I cried. “Kill her, please...kill her...”
Liam refused to look at me. “Please, Demitri. Go.” His voice didn’t waver.
Why won’t he look at me? His face was a blank slate as he stared down Gavyn.
Demitri dragged me across the floor while Liam and Gavyn held back the army. The room erupted in chaos. Bright lights burst from their guns and bodies started exploding. Spots from the lights clouded out my vision and I lost sight of Liam. There were shrieks and cries and the sounds of bodies clashing together.
Above the noise I heard another sound that stopped my heart. Demitri and I were surrounded by tinkling glass. This world wavered, shimmered, and disappeared completely.