Pisces -
Chapter 2
Justine disappeared. One moment she was sitting there—handsoutstretched towards the car. And the next she vanished—the car explodingthrough the window and slamming into the wall on the other side of the café.
Then everything spun into a blur and I lost sense ofdirection. I landed against something sharp, and the air was knocked from mylungs. The place filled with screams, pain shot through my arm as somethingheavy landed on it, and I realized the ceiling was caving in. I triedscreaming, but couldn’t. Something was pinning me down, and it wasn’t until Istarted struggling I realized it was someone—not something.
Whoever it was moved off me, and I bolted up heaving a breathonly to be thrown into a coughing fit when dust and smoke invaded my lungs.
“Nora, are you alright?” Matt’s voice sounded muffled andfar away.
My head snapped right, and I jumped when I saw Matt crouchedbeside me panting and covered in blood. I opened my mouth, but a cough was theonly thing to escape. My eyes burned and my face felt like it was on fire. Ibrought a shaky hand to my face, jerking it away when the burning intensified.
“Don’t touch it,” Matt said grabbing my hand and pulling itaway. His own hands firmly held my face while he examined me. “It’s not as badas it looks. You’ll be okay.”
He muttered something under his breath and pulled out aradio. “This is agent Mercer, Nebula has made contact. I repeat—Nebula hasattacked. Pisces is injured, and there are civilian casualties. I need backup.”
Agent Mercer? What was he talking about? Matt tried cleaningmy face as best he could while I was in my stupor, until something he saidstuck.
“Justine.” My head snapped around so fast it felt like Ireopened a few of the cuts on my face. “Justine!”
Through the settling haze I saw the bottom of the car facingme, the entirety of it crushed like a can and lodged into the wall. My bestfriend was trapped behind that car. I watched it take her away with it. My bodymoved on its own, clawing across broken glass and splinters oblivious to thepain. I had to get her out, but Matt’s arm snaked around my waist and yanked meback. I screamed at him, flinging fists, nails, and feet at his body in an attemptto make him let go.
But he wouldn’t. Instead he grabbed my wrists and lockedthem behind my body. I fought back but it was useless as he used his own weightto keep me in place.
“God dammit, let me go! I need to get to Justine,” Iscreamed. Tears blurred my vision, but he didn’t let go. I cursed him. Triedbiting him. But the bastard wouldn’t let go, and it wasn’t until I was forcedto take a breath that I heard it—a deep groan echoing through the entire room.
Matt swore, grabbed me around the waist again, and tossed melike I was weightless. Not a second later a large crash rocked the caféeliciting even more screams. My eyes fought through the dust, and I finallymanaged to make out the car. Or what was left of it. Most of it had been buriedin thick beams of wood and concrete, and the place I’d been in only a secondago was covered in more debris.
“Matt?” I whispered, hoping for some kind of answer.“Matt?!”
“Nora,” Matt’s muffled voice answered. My heart pounded as Imoved towards his coughs. Beneath a broken table I found him, bleeding heavilyand legs pinned.
“Nora you need to get out of here,” he wheezed. “They’recoming for you.”
Who? The question echoed in my mind, but never reached myvoice. Instead, the light filtering in from outside was blocked, and when Ilooked I saw four people wearing black suits and white masks.
Before I could react they were on me. Sharp, slender fingersdug into my cheeks and yanked my chin up. When I tried to fight back the griptightened painfully.
“Don’t,” was the only command. The voice was a low andfeminine, and my surprise gave her enough time to compare my face to a picture.Then her grip shifted to my arm, and she pulled me up. “It’s her. Be thankfulyou didn’t kill her, Brutus. Tell Pluto we’re ready.”
One of the other masked intruders hit the speed dial on acell phone. It must have rung once because he immediately began speaking, andwhile he did the woman turned to another one.
“Brutus, buy us some time and close that hole.” Brutusnodded and turned towards the hole. Thrusting his arms out, he clenched hishands focusing his energy.
An explosion followed ringing my ear, and I watched asBrutus’ head snapped to the side with a crimson spray and he crumpled. My eyesdarted back to where the explosion came from, and Matt lay there barely holdinga gun up.
“Shit, it’s one of GASPR’s dogs,” the woman yelled swingingme to the side and kicked Matt’s hand. There was a dull crack, and the gun wentflying across the room followed by Matt’s scream.
“You’re going to do a lot more screaming before I’m donewith you,” the largest of the group said.
The man was massive, easily weighing 300 pounds and lookedto be at least six and a half feet tall. He moved quicker than I thoughtpossible, but before he could reach her the woman holding me barred his path.
“You’ll do no such thing. He’s only a Pulsar, and now he’sdisarmed.”
“But Brutus—”
“Dead. And now we can’t close the hole because he was ouronly LED,” the woman said, slamming her boot down on Matt’s broken hand earninganother scream. “So cover the hole. Use your gravity to keep them out.”
He didn’t move, and that’s when I realized they were wearingporcelain masquerade masks trimmed in small black feathers. Under normalcircumstances, it would’ve looked ridiculous. But with the powers they werewielding it made them seem detached—subhuman even.
“That’s an order, Ajax,” the woman growled, moving in frontof the man easily three times her size. For the briefest of moments, I hopedthey’d fight. But as if sensing my thoughts she tightened her grip on meyelling, “Now!”
Ajax flinched as if struck, then moved to the hole. Lookingover her shoulder at Matt, she whispered, “That’s the last time I save yourskin. Quit playing with the big boys Matt, you’re going to get yourselfkilled.”
“Mina,” Matt said struggling for air. “Please stop.”
I was shocked, Matt knew her? How? The smallest hope ofescaping appeared. But just as quickly, it died when Mina turned away.
“Pluto shared his plans with me,” Mina said. “I’ll doeverything within my power to see them through.”
“He’s here,” the one who’d been on the phone said.
The air in the middle of the destroyed café darkened, thenrippled, and from it a man stepped out. He was different from the others,wearing a long, black, tailed suit instead of a blazer. His mask covered theentirety of his face while long black feathers wrapped around the sides. Buthis eyes were the most striking feature. Bright blue, they cut right throughme. Yet beneath that, familiarity tugged at me.
Before I could think on it anymore, he held out his hand tothe one he’d spoken to on the phone. He said nothing, but the silent order wasunderstood. The man pulled a gun from his jacket and handed it to Pluto.
My knees shook and my heart felt like it was going to burst.Was he going to shoot me? Why? What the hell was going on?
Pluto stared at the gun as if lost in thought. No one spoke.Then, my breath caught as Pluto raised the gun and held it to his eye. Silencecontinued, and I watched unable to process what was happening.
“Nothing.” Pluto said, “I can’t see it.”
His voice was so hushed I nearly missed it. Yet I could feel the power it held.
And the madness.
Why else would he look down a loaded gun? He was insane, andI refused to leave with these people, let alone him.
I snapped my foot out kicking the back of Mina’s knee beforepivoting and slamming my elbow across her temple. I knew learning MMA wouldcome in handy. I turned to run but couldn’t move my legs. Panic constricted mychest, and I looked down to see thick, black, tar up to my knees. I was so distractedI didn’t notice Mina get back to her feet.
“You bitch!”
I turned to Mina’s voice, and pain exploded behind my eyesas I met her fist head on. I felt her small hand grip the front of my shirt,and I braced for the next blow. But it never came. I opened my eyes, and jumpedto see Pluto holding Mina’s fist.
“That’s enough.”
Without even a moment of hesitation Mina bowed her head andstepped back, “Sorry, sir.”
“It’s fine,” Pluto said, and then his mask shifted to Matt.“He’s GASPR. Why’s he still alive?” Mina shifted but said nothing. “You knewhim.”
Again she said nothing, but gave a terse nod this time.
“Just this once then,” Pluto said.
“But he killed Brutus,” Ajax said stepping forward.
Pluto’s expressionless mask stared back at Ajax for amoment, and then scanned the room. “How many did he kill doing this?
“One.” I was surprised by my own voice, but the memory ofJustine disappearing replayed before me and I started to shake. “At least one.The bastard sent a car right at my friend. Fuck him!”
“Then I’ll consider it even,” Pluto said, and before anyonecould say anything else he held up his hand, “We’re leaving.”
The air rippled again. I tried to rip away but my limbssuddenly felt heavy, and as the seconds passed standing even became difficult.One by one, the group entered the rift and disappeared until it was just me andthe insane leader.
“Keep breathing or you’ll pass out,” he instructed.
He pulled me forward, and as I struggled against him I felta hand clamp around my ankle. Feeling me stop, Pluto glanced back and I feltthe irritation behind his mask. His eyes bore past me to Matt, and contempt saturatedhis words.
“Don’t test my patience.” He raised his hand and a blackhaze materialized around it and then condensed.
“Don’t underestimate me,” Matt spat back.
A pressure began building in the hand wrapped around myankle, and as it grew the same pressure started building in my chest and head.
“Let go,” Pluto said and pointed the black mass at Matt.
Whatever Matt was doing hurt. The pressure was unbearable, Icould hardly breathe. And every heart beat radiated pain before slammingagainst the inside of my skull. Yet nothing was happening, and that seemedwrong. All this pressure needed to release from somewhere, and if it didn’twhat would happen to me? Better question—what would happen to Matt if he gothit with that black stuff? Didn’t he care about that?
“Last chance,” Pluto said.
“Get bent.”
The black mass shot forward, and I screamed at the top of mylungs. Inside my chest something shifted. Then cracked. Then burst. A blindinglight flared up, and I felt weightless. A roar filled my ears as whiteswallowed the world, the pain disappeared, and then I was falling.
For the second time in the span of five minutes my breath leftme. I tried curling into a ball, but couldn’t. My body wouldn’t respond, I waslosing focus, and a wave of exhaustion weighed me down. I lay their gasping andplastered with sweat, nerves tingling with phantom pains. Movement caught myattention and I craned my neck up to look, almost too tired to move my eyes.
I wish I hadn’t.
Pluto stood hunched over me, panting and holding one of hisarms at his side. Fear rippled through me when we locked eyes.
“Too soon,” he whispered, and I winced as if he yelled. Butthere was something else in his voice, like he was frustrated and scared. “Youawakened too soon.”
I was beyond confused. Awakened what? He wasn’t making anysense. Hell, I couldn’t even focus enough to think straight. He let go of his armand reached for me.
I tried to move away, but failed. I tried to tell him tostay away, but only a whimper escaped. I felt helpless, and it made me furious.It wasn’t me. I was stronger than this. I could hold my own. I could fightback.
But this man terrified me. His very presence paralyzed me, andno amount of internal screaming could move me.
Just as his hand closed around me another gunshot rang out.Pluto jerked back grabbing his face, and somewhere behind me I heard voicesyelling and more gunshots. The edges of my vision blackened, and when Plutolooked back he was covering his exposed face, the bullet having broken hismask. A corner of his face peeked out, and it was all I needed to see for myblood to freeze. The air rippled, and he vanished.
My world went dark, and memories I’d suppressed long agoreturned. Memories of my dead brother.
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