The Awakening (58 page)

They were armed to the teeth and aiming towards us. For a split second I thought we’d been tricked again. But then I felt a bullet whip past my head. I turned to see a Depraved crumple and roll along the ground. It was clambered over by its kin.

We broke through the barrier. The night was filled with the sounds of gunshots and the anguished screams of the Depraved. We reached the front entrance, where dozens of Alliance cars and bikes were scattered about. We set Tim down on his feet. There was a bag by one of the motorbikes. Delagio picked it up and flung it to me. I caught it one-handed and unzipped it. Inside were the Crimson Twins and a Kapre belt, loaded with guns.

“I have the swords now. I’m going to lure The Sorrow away from here. I don’t want any more innocent people to die because of me.”

I went to argue, but could tell from her face it would be pointless. Instead I handed her one of the Crimson Twins. She used its sharp blade to cut the bottom part of her dress away, so that it now stopped above the knee. She dropped the material and slid the sword into a makeshift holder on the side of the bike. I ran to it - a sleek black Kawasaki - and used the keys to start it. Gabriella hugged her arms around my middle. I was reminded briefly of when she’d driven me to the underground station. I’d felt so weak and confused.

Things had come so far since then.

I looked over at Tim. He was staring at me with a dazed expression. “If I make it out of this alive, we’ll have a chat,” I promised.

He gave a slow nod.

I turned to Delagio. He gave a solemn tip of his hat. “Good luck,” he said. Then he piled Tim into a jeep. Jumped into the driver’s seat and roared off.

From somewhere amongst the roar of battle, I heard the shriek of the Sorrow’s demented steed.

“Go!” shouted Gabriella.

I twisted the accelerator and the bike squealed into action. I doubled back to where the Chosen were locked in combat with the depraved.

“Come on you ugly bastards,” I hollered. “We’re the ones you want!”

Their heads snapped to our direction. Scarlett looked up from the carcass of a fallen Depraved. “Alex what are you doing?” she yelled.

“Look after Mikey,” I shouted back. Kicking the bike around, I accelerated through the main gates. The Depraved broke away from the fight, jumping into trees and over school buildings in a desperate attempt to catch us. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the deformed Unicorn jump the school wall. The Sorrow rode on top, the thick chains clutched between its gauntlets. I pulled the accelerator as far as it would go.

We swerved in and out of traffic. Angry drivers smashed their horns and rolled down their windows to shout abuse. The shouts turned to screams when they saw what was following us. The Sorrow overtook its soulless followers, vaulting over one car and landing on the roof of another. The metal caved in and the driver spilled out of the door, running for cover. The panic was contagious, spreading from person to person. Cars collided with one another, people scrambled into restaurants and bars, trampling each other and knocking bouncers down as they went. The thump of the nightclubs bass was drowned out by the sound of pure fear. The only consolation was that The Sorrow and the Depraved were so focused on us, they ignored everyone else.

“We need to take them somewhere unpopulated!” Gabriella shouted above the roar of the engine, hooves and screams.

I veered off down a quieter street, heading away from town. I turned to see The Sorrow and Depraved still close behind. There were only about ten cars length between us and the nightmare that followed.

The bike shuddered as she started to pull the gun triggers. There were squeals and the unmistakeable sounds of bodies collapsing. The gun blasts seemed endless, again and again the sound filled my ears followed by the feral screeches as the Depraved fell.

“Bend!” I shouted over my shoulder. I heard the clatter as Gabriella dropped one of the guns into a side well. She wrapped an arm backwards around me, knotting my shirt material in her fist. We hit the sharp turn low, power sliding in the slick road, so close to the ground we could touch it. The turn opened up onto a cross road. We rocketed out – tyres squealing – and missed a bus by a few inches. The driver had a look of pure shock as he swerved out of our way. I turned and watched as he ploughed into a group of Depraved, sucking them under his wheels and spitting parts of them out the back.

The Sorrow didn’t stop. It snapped the rusted chains and forced the Unicorn to vault onto the roof and gallop its length. When it jumped off, the bus had lost a third of its height.

“Faster!” yelled Gabriella above the gunshots. “They’re getting too close!”

I looked down and saw that the throttle handle was tight in my white knuckles. The speedometer was pointing towards a space beyond the numbers.

“We’re at top speed!”

“Damn.” She carried on pumping the triggers and then I heard the guns click. She swore loudly and threw them away. She leaned down and retrieved one of the Crimson Twins from the side holster.

One pounced for us. I jerked the bike to the right. Gabriella swiped downwards, severing its head with a single blow. The two parts bounced separately along the road for a few more yards. Another tried its luck and was similarly dispatched. A third somehow appeared in front of us. It dived directly at me. I swerved the bike to the left and without thinking, ducked down and retrieved the second sword from the holster. I stuck it out to the side. The Crimson Twin unseamed the Depraved from the jaw downwards, sending its innards splashing over the road. Several other Depraved slipped in the gore.

But they kept coming, and I could tell Gabriella was struggling to take them out fast enough. All the while the looming mass galloped ever closer, its hooves pounding their death knell on the tarmac.

I need to find somewhere!

I gunned down the road; scanning for anywhere I could lead them. Houses flashed past as I sped up again. A crack of thunder boomed over my head. I looked up to see a swirl of red clouds gathering overhead. Each bloom of lighting exposed more streaks behind the clouds, like veins under blood-stained skin.

Behind us the pack grew within touching distance.

I found what I was looking for. A construction site closed for the holidays. Through the fence I could see covered cubes of bricks, abandoned diggers and large hills of dirt. Most importantly, there were no people.

“Hold on!”

I spun the bike in a tight 180 degree turn. We drove straight through the pack. Gabriella sliced and hacked her way through the Depraved. At the far end, The Sorrow lifted its colossal sword with both hands, waiting to strike. I swerved the bike away as the blade guillotined down. It hit nothing but air.

We smashed through a chain link fence and into the construction site. I slowed the bike and we both jumped from it. The unmanned bike wobbled and upturned, sliding into a dirt mound with a burst of wet soil.

Gabriella and I stood next to each other, Crimson Twins raised in our rain slicked hands. The Depraved reached the entrance first - but didn’t enter. They stayed still, watching us through their dark eyes and twittering in their unknowable language. They parted away from The Sorrow. Above, the thunder was deafening. A bolt of lightning hit a JCB in a shower of sparks. It left a large scorch mark on the yellow paint.

The Sorrow stopped a few yards away. It jumped from the corrupted Unicorn, which snorted and stamped its hooves on the ground. Then it retreated to where the Depraved were gathered like some demonic audience.

The Red Storm had settled right over our heads. A thick pool of darkness, surrounded by swirling red clouds, hovered directly above. A constant stream of lightning smashed down around us. Each blast was so loud; they left ringing sounds in my ears. Small fires ignited where the bolts struck the ground. The dancing flames were black and grey - as if nature had forgotten to colour them in. Rather than extinguish, the torrential rain seemed to fuel the flames, making them grow fiercer.

Adrenaline coursed through my veins. My heart threatened to hammer through my chest. The suit clung to my skin. Gabriella’s dress was as slick as oil and her hair now hung around her shoulders in wet ropes. I wrapped my other hand around the hilt of the sword, raising it up like a baseball bat. Gabriella copied.

The Sorrow unsheathed its own gigantic blade. Every one of my senses went into overdrive. I could smell the dirt in the pools of rain, could make out every individual drip as it slid down The Sorrows rusted armour. I could see the rise and fall of its colossal chest. For what seemed like an eternity, no one moved. We stayed locked in our positions. Statues.

Then The Sorrow curled two fingers into a taunting ‘come here’ gesture. I felt Gabriella’s body tighten.

“Wait!” I warned, but it was too late. With a scream of pure hatred, she charged.

“
Gabriella, stop!”
I screamed. But it was as though she couldn’t hear me. She continued to charge forward, Crimson Twin arched above her head, ready to unleash a devastating blow.

It was a bad move - one borne out of hatred rather than years of honed practice. Gabriella sliced the sword down in a streak of red. The Sorrow deflected the blow with its own. The force of the impact drove the blade from her hand. I sprinted to help her.

I was too late.

The sound of Gabriella’s flesh being pierced was the sound of my soul tearing apart.

Her body jolted. The tip of The Sorrow’s sword appeared through the middle of her back. Blood pooled to the top and dripped to the ground. More followed, until it became a steady stream. I watched in horror as the life drained from my soulmate, into a red puddle at her feet. A noise that was barely human escaped my lips.

Gabriella slumped to her knees, sword still skewered through her body. Placing a foot on her shoulder, The Sorrow yanked its blade free, sending Gabriella rolling backwards along the dirt. She stopped just short of my feet. I fell down next to her. The world sieved away, and all that remained was Gabriella. I gathered her on my lap. A horrific wound stretched from her chest to her belly button. It pulsed out blood. She coughed and more seeped from her lips. Barely able to see through the tears, I placed my hand over the wound and closed my eyes, trying to heal her. I waited to feel the surge of electricity.

Nothing happened.

Come on! Work! Oh god, please work!

I concentrated harder, but still I felt nothing happen. I opened my eyes and looked at Gabriella. Her eyes were half open. She stared at me, with a look that burned into my soul.

I shook my head. “No, I’m
not
leaving you. I won’t.”

A tormented scream ripped from my lungs. I cradled her limp body against my chest, trying to squeeze the life back into her.
No, oh god, please no.

Her body grew cold. My soul felt like it had been shredded to pieces. I couldn’t breathe. There was nothing,
nothing
to live for. My world plunged into darkness.

Gabriella was gone.

I want to die, please God let me die.

Through blurry vision, I saw the Crimson Twin lying a few feet from where I huddled with my dead soulmate. It was all I needed to end the pain. Faru had said that it supposedly could kill anything.

Then it can kill a Chosen.

I gathered the sword into my hand and rotated the blade, pushing the tip against my solar plexus. I barely felt the pain as it started to sink it into my flesh.

I looked up. The Sorrow was standing about ten feet away, its head cocked in amused curiosity at the situation. The rage inside grew into something I’d never felt before. It ran into every part of me, coursing through my veins, joining with my blood.

It consumed me.

I slid the blade from my flesh. Carefully, I lay Gabriella’s body on ground and stood up. I extended an arm, pointing the tip of the sword towards the vile creature.