WATCH HER DIE (Shifter Series Book 2)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: BLIND ATTACK

“We are under attack!”

One of the soldiers who’d witnessed Scott’s mysterious death alerted the others and immediately opened fire in the direction which he saw the footsteps leaving. The footsteps changed course and trotted towards him. Fast. And suddenly a knife appeared from thin air and plunged into his chest. His eyes went wide and wild as the knife drove deeper, twisting about in his chest, crushing his rips, and piercing his heart. Mouth agape with shock and acute pain, the soldier dropped, blood gushing from his chest.

Almost immediately, panic-stricken, they all fired randomly in every direction. And one by one, the soldiers dropped like flies. It terrified Kevin as he watched the masked figure walk amongst them, stabbing each of them in the chest. They couldn’t see him. None of them could—but he could. It terrified him to know he was the only one who could see the hooded figure.

“I was never crazy, after all,” Kevin thought aloud. He wasn’t sure whether to feel happy or terrified. “He was in that room watching us.”

Derik grew more confused. “What are you on about?”

“The masked man—he’s here, and he is killing them one by one,” he stuttered, fear transforming his face as he followed the masked figure with his eyes. “Don’t you see?”

Derik turned to look around at the soldier shooting as they were being stabbed by something they couldn’t see. He searched around for their attacker. He saw no one—only bodies dropping all around him. His eyes were drawn to a soldier left standing amid the cadavers.

“John!” Derik called out to him when he saw the footsteps approaching the terrified soldier from behind. “Watch out!”

John’s fingers were trembling as he tried to grip the gun firmly, eyes darting about searchingly. Sweat broke on his brows.

The footsteps were moving at a fast pace towards him.

“Behind you!” Derik’s warning came a second too late. He watched in horror as John let out a shrill while a knife moved along his body, tearing his chest open. The contents of his stomach poured, and Derik—horrified, turned away in revulsion. The soldier collapsed dead on the floor. One by one, he watched as the soldiers that were left standing squawked and bled before they dropped dead.

“We lost before the battle even began,” Kevin said in a quivering voice. He observed as the masked man sneaked up on the soldiers from behind and plunged his knife into his unsuspecting victim. “We can’t win, Derik,” he turned around and started running in the opposite direction, leaving Derik behind.

A glance at the scene confirmed Kevin’s statement. Some soldiers who were still standing fired fiercely in all directions at something they couldn’t see before the knife came through their chest and they instantly dropped dead.

Derik ran into the forest, following Kevin. He heard the painful screams of the men he left behind and wept bitterly. He had underestimated this organization, and now the soldiers were all paying for it with their lives. He’d led all these people here to be slaughtered.

He shut his eyes in regret. “I’m sorry, William. I’ve failed you once again.”

###

Frank escorted William into the laboratory. They came upon a door with the tag special project written just above it. The room inside was empty and dark, except for the medical bed placed at the centre. Frank reached for the bulb switch beside the door and turned the light on.

The red bulb hanging from the ceiling shone dimly across the room, revealing a bald man that lay on the bed. His arms and feet were strapped with chains to the bed.

William’s brows waggled. “Why the chains?” he inquired, eyeing the bald man as he slept. He moved closer to examine him. He was startled when the bald man suddenly opened his eyes. William scrambled backward at the sight of his bright yellow eyes.

“I would move away from him if I were you,” Frank warned. “He’s a little unpredictable and dangerous at the moment. That’s why I decided it’s best we put him in chains. It is for our own safety.”

William neared for a closer look, eyes bored into the bald man. His face lit with recognition. “Wait, isn’t this the thug that assaulted my daughter?” he frowned at the discovery.

Shady suddenly raised his head at William, opening his mouth as though he wanted to bite his head off. William quickly retracted backward, almost stumbling. Shady hissed as he returned to his original lying position.

“Why on earth would you use a thug for an experiment as important as this one? This mission is too important to be left in the hands of just some thug—and especially the one that assaulted my daughter.”

“Sir, there are a number of reasons I chose him for this experiment,” he started off. “Before we successfully carried out the experiment on Mrs Eulich, we had some other lab attendants who had volunteered, but they all lost their lives during the genetic transmutation process. For this new project, I worked on improving the genetic characteristics of the test subject, such as his strength and speed. That’s why I brought in Mr Shade as a specimen for the experiment. I never imagined the experiment would succeed at first trial.”

“So the truth is finally out, you brought me in here as your lab rat after all,” Shady sneered, sounding agitated. The chains on his arms rattled as he struggled to break free, then slacked as he forced his arms to relax. “So much for giving me a second chance,” he scoffed.

Frank turned to him. “I turned you into something better than your old self.”

Shady forced himself up, charging at Frank with an angry groan, but the chains restrained him from reaching him. “You used me as your lab rat for some idiotic experiment!” he grunted, glaring at him, shaking with barely restrained rage.

For a moment, their eyes locked on like magnets. Shady looked at him with scorn. “I promise you punk, when I finally get out of here, which you know I will, I will come for you, and I will tear you apart from limp to limp.” He spoke under his breath.

Frank knocked him down with a hard blow to the head, and Shady fell unconscious onto the bed. And turning to William, his features formed a humourless smile. “We are currently working on a procedure to erase his memory.”

William watched in silence as Frank continued. “Mr Shade won’t remember a thing once the procedure is completed. He will undergo a re-education exercise. It will be like learning from scratch. That is where we shall introduce him to the objectives of the mission. He will be taught all he needs to know about the mission. I assure you, sir. Nothing can go wrong.”

William turned to him. “Time is not on our side. I need him to be ready as soon as possible.”

“We shall begin protocol to erase his memories as soon as possible.”

The door burst open, and Frank’s receptionist, Catherina, peered through the door. “I’m really sorry for interrupting,” she quickly apologised. “But there is someone here to see you,” she said, directing her gaze at William. “He said it’s urgent.”