Fractured Soul (28 page)

At the base of the wall, where the floorboards came to meet it, part of the floor was slightly raised. I wouldn’t have noticed the deformity by looking down on it. I stood up and pressed my toe onto it. I heard a clicking sound and a section of the wall sunk in. I pushed on it and felt it give.

I was about to push it all the way open but stopped as I remembered all the horror shows I’d watched with Jake. A common mistake of victims was never telling anyone where they were going. I didn’t want to be a victim. I pulled out Liam’s phone and texted: “Found secret room in Cyrus’s office, behind desk. Latch on floor. I’m going in.” I hit send.

Before I got a response back, I pocketed the phone. I could probably guess what Liam would say, but there just wasn’t time to wait for someone to come with me, nor would I risk anyone else’s life.

I pushed on the door until it was wide enough for me to slip in. It was dark and cold and the air smelled faintly of rusted copper pipes. I produced a ball of Light. Just in front of me was a narrow, metal stairwell that spiraled down into darkness. I swallowed and gripped the railing.
Here goes nothing.

I wasn’t sure how far I’d gone, but by the change in the temperature, I guessed I was beneath ground level. A little bit farther and the stairs finally ended at the beginning of a long hallway. On each side were doors with small windows covered by bars. It reminded me of an old, abandoned psychiatric hospital.
I really have to stop thinking of scary movies
, I thought. I pushed the images from my mind and continued forward.

At least there were lights down here—two light bulbs hanging from a wooden slat ceiling. Occasionally a drop of water would find its way between the warped boards and fall to the concrete floor. Parts of the floor had a greenish-blue hue as if mold had taken root. That would explain the pungent smell.

I avoided the green areas and stopped only long enough to peek through the bars of each closed door. Up ahead, I heard faint voices. I worked quickly. Other than metal beds, some of them turned upside down, the rooms were empty.

I thought my efforts had been a waste of time, but then I looked into the last room. Tied to a chair and head slumped forward was a person sitting motionless. Although her head was covered by a black cloth, I knew by her tan pants and black shirt that it was Tessa.

I tried the doorknob and exhaled when I found it unlocked. I carefully opened the door to avoid any creaking of what looked like a two-hundred-year-old door. Tessa remained still. I didn’t allow myself to think that she may be hurt. I just needed to get her out of here.

After I closed the door behind me, I went to Tessa and lightly touched her back. She jerked as if doused by water and thrashed back and forth. “Be quiet, Tessa. It’s me,” I whispered. I removed the head covering.

She blinked several times. “What are you doing here?” She glanced behind me toward the door.

“Saving you.”

Not far off another door opened.

“Hide!” Tessa said.

I looked around. My only option was under the bed. I moved to dive under it.

“Wait! The hood,” Tessa whispered.

I scooped it off the floor and pulled it back over her head. Just before the door opened, I slid under the bed. The concrete floor was cold and wet in the corner.

Three people—or I should say Vykens by the way my body was reacting—walked into the room. For several seconds no one said anything. Then, “Someone’s been in here,” I heard Jameson say. “I can smell it. Search the room.”

There was only one place to look in the cramped room.

Black boots shifted in the doorway. If they found me, they’d surely kill me and Tessa. I looked around helplessly. The dim light in the room reflected off an oily water puddle just in front of me. The surface of it contained all the colors of the rainbow, shifting slightly by the commotion in the room.

Footsteps walked the floor.

A rainbow.

My mother.

I guessed I had about ten seconds before I was discovered. I flexed every part of me as if I were lifting a two-ton car and wished to be invisible.
Be invisible. Change!
Sweat broke on my brow.

Boots approached the bed.

I imagined my skin shimmering, transforming into actual Light. My nails dug into my palms.
Change!
My body began to vibrate, rattling my insides until I thought I’d break in two.

A knee joined the boots on the floor.

Be invisible!
I was shaking so hard I thought I might be having a seizure.

And then a burst of Light exploded in my brain and raced through my body. The shock of it felt like my skin was on fire, and the only thing that stopped me from screaming was the sight of Blade’s head looking under the bed only a foot away. His black eyes swept the area, completely passing over me. I would’ve been relieved except for the fact that I’d never been in so much pain in all my life.

Blade stood up. “Room’s empty.”

As much as I was dying to let go of whatever power was making me invisible, I felt it was too soon.

Someone must have shoved Tessa because she grunted.

“Who’s been in here?” Jameson said.

“What? Huh?” Tessa made it sound like she was coming to.

There was a shuffling of feet and Tessa made a strangling sound as the chair she was sitting on lifted. “Who’s been in here?” Jameson said again.

She didn’t answer, couldn’t answer because she was still gagging. Her chair dropped and rocked backward. “No one,” she finally coughed.

“It was probably Jackson or one of his boys,” the other Vyken said.

Jameson must have accepted this because he said, “It was brought to my attention that you stole some of the Auras’ pills. I want to know what you did with them.”

“I didn’t—”

He slapped her. “Tell me the truth! Where are the pills?”

Tessa was crying. “I, I took them,” she stammered.

“Where are they?”

“I swallowed them.”

“Why?”

“I thought they would make me special. Like the Auras.”

There was a small pause before they all broke out into laughter. Jameson spoke first. “That is the most pathetic thing I’ve ever heard. A pill will never make you special.” He paused before saying, “But it will make you dead.”

“When?” Blade said.

“Wait until tonight. We can throw her body out with the trash.”

Another Vyken laughed and said, just before the door closed, “I don’t think the dumpster will be able to hold all the dead bodies. Maybe we should have the garbage truck come early.” The others joined in his laughter.

As soon as the door closed, I let go of whatever power was keeping me invisible. A sound exploded in my ears and my vision blotched black.

I barely heard Tessa say, “Llona?”

Stay conscious
, I commanded myself. I tried to slide out from under the bed, but I seriously felt like I’d been run over. Every part of me hurt. “One minute,” I said, but even speaking proved difficult.

“What’s wrong?” Tessa whispered.

I heard the worry in her voice, but it didn’t make me move any faster. I couldn’t. Arm over arm, I crawled toward her. Each movement sent mind-numbing pain up and down my body.

“Llona?”

“Hurt,” is all I could say. I reached the back of her chair and rolled onto my back. Through double vision I could just barely make out Tessa’s bound wrists. I blinked a couple of times, trying to clear my line of sight. It didn’t work.

I raised my hands, wincing because of the pain the action caused. I felt the ropes around her wrists. They were wet and slippery. I hoped it was from sweat and not blood, but when I squinted I saw red. This made me move faster.

“I’m so sorry,” Tessa said. She was crying again.

The ropes were tight, but after a minute I was able to get them loose enough to where Tessa could free herself. She swiveled onto the ground next to me. “What did they do to you?”

“No. Me. Invisible.” My vision was completely gone now. Only empty black space existed.

“I don’t understand.” She squeezed my hand. I tried to squeeze it back, but I had become paralyzed. No matter what I tried I couldn’t move. “Help,” I said with my last bit of strength.

“Llona?” Tessa sniffed, then waited. “I’m going to get help; don’t worry.” The last thing I heard was the sound of something heavy sliding along the floor, and I hoped it was Tessa stuffing me back under the bed.

My eyes opened. Blackness again. I thought I might still be under the bed, and I began to panic.

A voice said, “You’re safe. I’m here.”

My vision adjusted to the darkness. I was in my room, and I was familiar with the person sitting in a chair next to me. “Christian?”

He stroked my head. “You really scared us.”

“Is Tessa—”

“Yes, Liam has her. They snuck her out.”

“Is she okay?”

“A little bruised, but she’ll survive.”

Anger swelled within me. “Does her mother know?”

“Tessa wrote her a note. Can you move?”

I wiggled my toes. No pain. My fingers were next. When they felt fine, I lifted my arm. It took great effort, but it didn’t hurt like before. After I finished assessing the damage, I became angry. The pain Tessa and I had experienced was caused by Cyrus and his followers. And Jackson. Darkness returned inside me. And I let it. “How did you find me?”

“Liam called. He told me where you were going. I ran into Tessa on her way out, and she led me to you.”

“Did anyone see you?”

“As far as I could tell the place was empty, even Cyrus’s office. We were lucky.” His fingers laced through mine. I wanted to pull away, tighten my hands into fists.

Christian spoke softly. “Tessa told me what happened. I can only guess the reason you weren’t caught is you figured out how to turn invisible.”

I nodded.

“That was extremely dangerous. It nearly killed you.”

I tried to sit up. It was difficult, but I let my anger and hatred for the Vykens force me upright. “Don’t worry about it.”

Christian ignored my curt tone and helped me into a sitting position. “You don’t need to rush it. Go slow.”

I turned toward the window. Just a glimmer of moonlight stole through the glass. “What time is it?”

“Almost nine. Liam should be here soon.”

“Inside Lucent?”

“Hardly anyone’s here. They all went to the city to see some musical. Besides, Liam wanted to see for himself that you’re okay.”

This made me madder, but I didn’t know why. “Call him. Tell him not to come.” I slid to the edge of bed.

“Relax, Llona. Why are you so worked up?”

“Because I need to go kill someone.” Anger was burning my insides. I touched my forehead. Was I burning up? I stood too quickly and stumbled. Christian moved to help me. “Don’t touch me! I can do this,” I snapped.

“I’m just trying to help.”

“No, you’re babying me, so lay off.”

Christian reached for me. “What’s going on?”

I shoved his arm away. All I wanted to do was kill something, rip someone apart, but Christian was always in the way. “You are such a—”

My bedroom door swung open. Liam stood in the doorway. He walked straight to me and took hold of my shoulders.

“Hey,” Christian began, but Liam spoke only to me.

“You’ve got to calm down, Llona. It’s eating you.”

I pushed him away, my strength fully restored now. Liam stumbled back.

“What are you talking about?” Christian said.

Liam stared at me. “I could hear the poison in her voice from the first floor.”

“I’m fine,” I said, telling him what I thought he wanted to hear. I pulled on a beanie from off my dresser, anxious to leave. “I just need you two to leave me alone.”

Liam took a step toward me. “I know you’re scared. I know you’re mad, and hurt, and probably a lot of other things, but you have to think this through.”

I exploded. “You weren’t there, Liam! They hurt Tessa and said horrible things to her. They were going to kill her and throw her body out with the trash. And me too, if they would’ve found me.”

“I understand what you’re feeling, but you have to control it.”

“Llona?” Christian said, and I could tell by his expression that he had no idea what was going on. How could he?

I looked back at Liam, directly in his eyes. “I’ve never been more in control, and this feeling inside me is more powerful than anything I’ve ever felt. And it, more than any of your touchy-feely exercises, is going to help me kill Cyrus, so get out of my way!”

Liam relaxed. “Fine. But if you leave, I’ll kill Christian.”

Christian and I froze.

Liam continued, “Go, Llona. Get your revenge.”

I looked at him and then at Christian, who had gone from confused to tense. Both of us were trying to decide if he was serious or not. “You’re a horrible liar,” I said and moved toward the door.

Before Christian and I could react, Liam was standing behind Christian, his arm around his neck. Christian gasped for breath.

“What are you doing? Stop that,” I said.

“Make me.”

Christian tried to swing a fist up, but Liam tightened his grip, forcing Christian to use all his energy on just trying to breathe.

Liam’s actions surprised me, but I couldn’t be fooled. “Sorry, Liam, but I know you won’t kill him, you’re wasting my time.” I touched the doorknob.

“You’re right,” Liam said, and I turned back around. “I won’t kill him, but I will hurt him.” In a move that frightened me, Liam shoved Christian to the floor, and jammed his knee into his back. At the same time, Liam jerked Christian’s arm back to an unnatural angle. Christian cried out, and I knew by his expression that it was no act.

“Stop me, Llona,” Liam said.

I tightened my grip on the doorknob.

“Go, Llona,” Christian said. “This guy’s crazy. I can take care of—”

Liam punched the side of his face; blood splattered onto the floor.

“Stop me, Llona!” Liam said again. I stared at him, at his angry expression, but his eyes reflected a deep sadness. I didn’t want to fight him. I was itching to rip apart someone else, but then Liam pulled at Christian’s arm again until something popped. Christian screamed into the carpet.