Wolves In Helfire

N E W E V I L

It’s been a week since I’ve told the girls about their mom. Not only has they had this to worry about, but there’s a lot going on upstairs. Someone has attempted to breach the facility’s security, putting every life here in danger.

I can only imagine who’s behind it. From what I’ve heard Kourtney explain, this is an inside job. Someone, working for Casper, has turned their back on their oath made to protect the helpless children from the outside evil.

The biggest yet, were the attempt on Karen’s birthday. The cafeteria threw together a small gathering in celebration for Karen at my begging request.

While a small portion of us kids were in the cafeteria enjoying a piece of peace, there was a rumble above our head. We later found out that someone had gotten close after shutting down our defenses and used grenades as their weapon of choice before getting executed by the soldiers. From my understanding, there were 3 individuals who carried out this attack.

A day later, someone on the inside was caught leaking intel about the layout of this facility to a foreign group and was also executed on the premises. Today, there’s no activities and everyone must stay in their room until told otherwise.

In our room, there’s Karen, Stacey, Emma, Kiki, Ashley and myself. Byron was M.I.A. Everyone else was in their designated areas as instructed by the staff. We were told of an alarm, if sounded off, everyone would meet the soldiers in the center to proceed to a hidden area we weren’t shown on our first day.

Ashley and Kiki were arguing about what they believed was going on upstairs. I sat quietly on the opposite bed with Emma and Stacey. Karen was in the bathroom, doing God knows what. Understandably, she hasn’t been herself lately.

Stacey’s taking things better than I could after finding out her mom had been killed. The way she held her emotions together was inspiring to the overcoming strength within the hurting soul. We waited, patiently, for the alarm that never came but rang through all of our minds.

“Kiki, I’m telling you, this has nothing to do with terrorist from another country.”

“You don’t know s**t, Ashley, alright. People in other countries frown upon children being held captive by military forces in fear their doing scientific experiments on them to improve their weapon capabilities.”

“b***h, please. The people who are attacking us are most likely a parent of a child here. Think about it for a sec; if this were another country, things would be a hell of a lot worst right now.”

“OH MY GOD. Can you two please shut the hell up already. You’re given me a headache.”

“Damn, Karen, I’m sorry.”

“Cousin, why don’t you tell them who’s been knocking on our door lately.”

“Karen, this isn’t the right time for…”

“It’s Justin’s psycho father. Yeah, Justin’s dad is the reason all of this s**t is happening. He’s the reason my mom’s dead. Stacey’s mom, dead. He’s the reason why we’re here, trapped in this f*****g place and scared out of our minds right now.”

“KAREN…”

“What? Am I lying, Justin?”

“DON’T YELL AT MY BROTHER, KAREN.”

“Go to hell, Emma. The only reason Justin feels he has to protect you is because you’re so damn weak and can’t protect yourself.”

“Karen, what hell is wrong with you?”

“Don’t you start with me either, Stacey. For f**k’s sake, your mom is dead because of his parents.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to take your anger out on Justin. Besides, my parents were a part of the SPOTTERS before either of us were born. They chose that path for themselves, not because of your cousin. Your mom died because she was protecting you most of all. Justin didn’t start this, so back off.”

Karen let out a yell and went back into the bathroom slamming the door behind her. Everything was quiet for a moment. I got up and entered the bathroom to comfort Karen. Even though she were being a b***h to everyone, I had to check on her. What are family for, right?

“Karen, look at me. I understand you’re upset, I do, but flipping out on everyone is not gonna help.”

“f**k off, Justin.”

“No, I won’t just f**k off when I know you’re in so much pain right now.”

I walked up on her and pulled her into a needed hug. She cried on my shoulder, letting tears flow like a running faucet. Her heart was torn apart from all of this s**t we’ve been through and there was no way I could place it back together.

She calmed down eventually then came out to apologize to everyone. They were understanding and accepted. Everyone except Emma who was still highly pissed at what she had said. It was like Emma burst from the thoughts that raced through her mind.

“Let me tell you something, Karen. I am not weak, I’m just not strong as the rest of you. If you ever yell at my brother again, or me, I’m going to punch you in your mean face. Justin is a good person, friend, and brother to me, so you watch how you treat him around me…”

Emma was so serious. She had her fists balled up and was turning red in the face. There was a fire in her eyes I’d never seen before. Karen walked over and hugged her, then said ‘ok’ with a smile. I believe we all was shocked at Emma’s actions, but I was the most honored.

I sat her back down on the bed and wiped the angered tears from her eyes. Soon after, a voice over the loudspeaker announced that the threat was over, and we could now resume with our normal activities. That was probably the greatest relief for everyone in that room in particular.

We all left for the cafeteria. It wasn’t a surprise that there were a crowd considering we’d been on lockdown for nearly 2 hours. I managed to convince Emma to sit and eat with us despite the large number of people surrounding us.

Other than evil eyes from The Crows, we ate in peace. Until…

“Hey, Justin, you managed to train your freak.”

Laughter.

“Hey, Zac, you want me to break your nose again?”

I stood up.

Stacey grabbed my arm.

“Babe, please don’t.”

“He better keep his mouth shut then.”

Emma stood up.

“You’re a meanie, Zac, and that’s why no one loves you.”

“What did you say to me, you little b***h?”

Karen got up and walked over to The Crow’s table along with Kiki, and Ashley. I stood up once more.

“If you ever call her a b***h again, we’re not gonna stop Justin from beating your face into a bloody puddle. Better yet, we’re going to help him, and we won’t stop until your breathing does. Do I make myself clear?”

Karen reached over and knocked his drink into his lap. When they came back to the table, Karen looked at Emma and winked her eye. I guess she was praising her for sticking up for herself. A proud moment indeed. After eating, I told the girls we’d catch up with them later and took Emma to the game room for our pool session.

“You can break, brother.”

“You know, Emma, I’m really proud of you. Standing up for yourself is very important, and you seem to be getting the hang of it.”

“I was scared, Justin, I’m not brave.”

“That’s not true, little sis. Being brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared; it means you are but do it anyway because you have to. Fear is a necessary emotion that’s underestimated by the fearless.”

I knocked 2 balls in on break, but that was it on the first match. How the hell is she so good at this? It’s like God guides her every shot. Game 2. She breaks.

“Oops, I missed a shot. You better take advantage, brother.”

“Now, why do I get the feeling that you missed intentionally?”

“I don’t know, Justin, maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.”

She did. I know she did. Ain’t no way she missed that easy corner pocket shot and scratched with no English whatsoever. This is a first. I went on to pocket three balls before, well, you should know by now what happened. Game 3. She knocked the 8-ball in on break and took the game. Dammit.

Entering the game room were 4 soldiers and a woman. It’s Kimberly, Casper’s wife.

“Justin, we need you upstairs. There’s a matter we’d like to discuss.”

“Ok, one minute. Emma, if you want, hang close to Karen and Stacey until I come back.”

“Ok. Do I tell them where you are?”

“Yeah, so they won’t worry.”

After we were upstairs, Kimberly took me into her office where her and Casper asked me some questions.

“Justin, how far will you go to protect your mother?”

“To hell and back, sir.”

“Good. That’s good to hear because what I’m about to ask of you may be just that. Listen, your dad has your mom captive in a rundown building about 100 miles away from here. He’s demanding to meet you in return for her freedom.”

“Won’t he just kill us both soon as I arrive?”

“That’s a possibility. He claims he just wants to meet you.”

“And you believe him?”

“f**k no, Justin. But this could be the only way my team can get close enough to him to finish him off once and for all. He knows 2 members of my team will escort you to his location, but Ray’s not a fool. He’d probably want his people to take over from the landing spot, which we cannot allow.”

“Ok, let’s do it. But if I’m to do this, I’m gonna need a gun or two to help keep my ass protected.”

“That’s negotiable. Do you have any experience with firearms?”

“I’ve been known to pull a trigger in the right direction a few times in my life.”

“Ok then, comrade. I’ll get one of my most experienced soldiers to give you a brief course before you set out. We’ll ship out in 48 hours so learn quickly and correctly.”

“Another thing, sir, I need to know the area before I sat foot out there. I hate surprises.”

“Spoken like a real man of war…”

He pulled up some images on his 3D holographic world map device.

“The location he said to meet is here. We’ll land over here and walk a mile to him. This will give the landing soldiers more time to spread around the area without raising too many eyebrows. Two soldiers will accompany you on the inside, but you’ll have complete support from the others that will move into positions here, here, here, and here. This will give us a tactful advantage that covers the surrounding area. The eyes in the sky will continue to watch over you all in case things start to get out of hand. Justin, it’s important to know that your life will be on the line and you will be in danger from the moment you leave this facility. Understood?”

“Got it. Can I go train now?”

“Are you sure this is what you want to do, Justin?”

“I’m not going to change my mind about this, and you can’t make me. She put her life on the line for years to protect us from him. It’s my turn now.”

He stood and saluted my choice. I saluted him back.

“Before I send you to train, you have 30 minutes to spend with your friends’ downstairs. Tell them you’ll see them in a week. Oh and, Justin, this may be the last time you’ll ever see them, son, so let the words from your heart do all the talking.”

I left to do so. Even knowing there’s a great possibility that I could die, I felt super. No fear. No worries. No concerns. I can’t say the same for those whom I’m about to leave behind. I’m gonna miss them. I spent time with everyone, but mostly Emma. She was the one who was taking it the hardest.

It was time for me to head back up to train. I was excited, knowing everything that Karen, Stacey, and myself had been through could finally be avenged with this action I’m taking. It wouldn’t bring back Cassey and Aunt Tina, but at least I’d make who was responsible for their deaths pay with their life.

I trained for 10 hours straight with every shot becoming more precise than the one before. I was exhausted. All I could picture on the moving targets was the photo they’d shown me of Ray, connecting 97% of shots taken.

I rested briefly. Ate the minimum. I gave myself the name Mongoose. They never eat past content so they’re always ready to strike when necessary. I exercised. Pushups, sit-ups, jumping jacks. You would’ve thought I was training for a damn marathon of some sort.

I knew what to expect when we shipped out, and that was the unexpected. Therefore, what I was expecting was the known unknown, and could easily be interpreted as the unimaginable. Things could go in many different ways but lead to the same 2 fates. LIFE or DEATH.

I was ready for either. If I lived, there would be a story to tell. If I died, my story would be told. If I was captured, then the outcome of my story would be what I made it to be in the moment. I didn’t put too much faith in the soldiers around me in fear I’d become dependent on them and not my skill they’ve help strengthen. Honestly, I feel as if they’d just created a New Evil, but for the good of man.

20 hours have passed. I repeated my training and exercising rituals faithfully. 24 hours. 30 hours. 37 hours. The closer time got to shipping out, the harder I trained. I was now considered a lethal asset for Casper’s team.

Watch out, world, there’s a Mongoose on the loose.