Days of Darkness

Chapter 39

"You have to promise me," I said quickly to Abigal, "you have to care for her. Don't let them hurt her. Promise me!" Abigal was in a panic with the lack of context for my words. "Just promise me you'll take care of Teegan."

"Yes, of course," Abigal said, not fully understanding. I hugged her, finding her stiff as if no one had ever hugged her before.

"Then know I love you, Abigal," I said as the door burst open. I stood apart from Abigal and faced five black-shirted security guards. It took them a moment to wrap my wrists behind my back and secure them with a plastic tie. Abigal watched in shock as I was led away.

I was back in the same chair I found myself when I first woke in the mansion. Victor was watching me with concern, obviously not fully understanding what was happening. There were four black-shirts in the room as if trouble was suspected from a bound woman. Another tie was added to my wrists, securing them to a bar on the back of the chair.

"Your boss is insane," I told Victor. He looked about to speak but held his tongue. There would be no help from that quarter. Paychecks were a hard thing to give up. I was a little surprised to see two of the black-shirts whispering to each other. They were usually so stiff and all business. Maybe they weren't sure that tying up a helpless woman was the right thing to do.

Corbett entered the room with his insanity clearly displayed in his eyes. They were wide and unblinking, bathed in an angry red tinge as if he hadn't slept. I could almost see heat waves of fury steaming from his mind. I was so proud of my daughter; I almost didn't fear what I suspected would happen next.

"Is she secure?" Corbett demanded. One of the security guards nodded.

"Sir, I'm not comfortable..." Victor started.

"Leave," Corbett commanded, and looked at the guards, "all of you." Victor was hesitant, his feet not wanting to comply, but the order was clear.

"Protect her," I called out when I caught Victor's eyes.

"Leave!" Corbett demanded again when Victor slowed. The door closed, and I was alone with a madman. No cameras or audio to record what I feared might be my last moments.

"What did you do?" Corbett spat. I almost started to feign ignorance but knew it would only infuriate him more. Teegan trusted me and wouldn't bond with someone so wrong. She was growing up.

"I'm her mother, and I don't trust you." I spoke clearly without hesitation. I couldn't have been prouder of Teegan. "She defers to my judgement and death threats don't sit well with me." For an older man, his hand moved quicker than I had thought possible. I barely had time to close my eyes when his palm seared into the side of my face. I felt the pressure of impact and was surprised when pain didn't follow. I opened my eyes without uttering a sound. My lack of reaction infuriated him, and his hand returned knuckles first. I could taste the tang of iron as my mouth began to bleed, though all I felt was a little pressure.

Sam's entered me in a wave of tremendous force. There was so much anger and hatred I could barely breathe. My eyes welled up to feel him so distorted. I would rather be beaten then to feel what he was becoming.

"You have to stop!" I yelled at Corbett. He hit me again. "Please," I begged him as I felt Sam lose his humanity.

.27 - Sam

The first strike caught me by surprise. It stung, and I looked quickly among the vets, trying to decipher who had slapped me. We were just outside of Corbett's house, or compound as Todd Renault called it, on the street side of the high stone wall. Harry was pointing out the cameras he had identified on a crude drawing. He'd never be an artist, but it did show the few blind spots that existed. His special forces training lead him to believe it would be easier to enter unaccosted during the day. The infrared cameras would light us up if we attempted something at night. The whole goal was to retrieve my family and leave without alerting the world. A diversion was necessary to tie up the bulk of the guards as we maneuvered for retrieval. The plan was being developed for the next morning.

The second strike was more forceful, and I realized it was Natalie. On reflex, I drew Teegan into me as my anger exploded outward. Another strike and reason fled replaced by an awful determination. They were beating Natalie, and death seemed an adequate response.

"They're beating her," I said as I moved toward the wall.

"What?" Todd called as I began to climb. The wall was built with large gray rocks. Unclimbable for your average man, but finding fingerholds in the mortar and setting my feet on almost imperceptible ledges seemed child's play. I knew exactly how to set my weight and hold the necessary tension to ascend. It would have fascinated me if Natalie wasn't hit again.

"This has to be planned," Devlin called up to me. Unfathomable hatred swelled in me when I felt the next strike. Plans didn't matter anymore.

"They're killing her," I yelled as I topped the wall.

"Go!," shouted Betty, "he's not joking." I could hear them scrambling as I dropped to the other side. Harry's grappling hook caught the top of the wall, but I couldn't wait. I broke out of the trees that edged the wall at a fast jog, straight for the nearest door. My eyes scanning for obstacles.

The first impediment met me halfway to the house. Some linebacker dressed in black. He told me to stop and started to inform me I was trespassing. My rage wasn't going to be slowed by a single man. He reached into his jacket as I increased my speed. I knew before he drew that a handgun would be pointed toward me. His arms angular momentum, the angle of his shoulders, and his lack of hesitation told me the round would catch me in the left breast.

I shifted as he depressed the trigger, planting my right foot and turning my body sideways for the briefest of moments. I could feel the bullet pass by me as I shifted back. He would over compensate with the next shot, so I planted my left foot and spun around backward, to the left. The round passed by me as I used my momentum to accelerate my foot, catching the side of his face near the temple. I didn't even slow to see him drop.

An invisible fist caught me in the eye. I could feel that Natalie was immobile as the uncontrolled fury building in my chest became my single focus. The thought of what was happening to her made reality disappear. I drew more of Teegan into me, piling on strength I wasn't sure my body could hold. I could feel her confusion, but her love let it go to me as she sensed my need. She was so much older.

Three more black clothed guards, two to the left and one from the right, began to converge on me. Guns were being drawn, and I could feel their intent. They had seen me drop their comrade and intended deadly force. The space between them was too great, I could achieve nothing with strength or agility, physically the odds were in their favor. My rage boiled when I thought of being stopped at the door. Something inside me snapped, and I sent my hatred to the three minds bearing down on me. I screamed, never slowing my pace, as part of me seemed to explode outward, shards of anger pierced the unprepared minds and the bodies dropped. I weakened at what I had done, my insides less solid, more liquid. My shoulder dropped, and I drove myself into the door as near the handle as possible. The frame shattered, and I burst into the house, knocking another guard down with me and I landed on top of him. I drove my elbow into the side of his head, just behind his ear and he went limp.

Standing was difficult. My body wasn't built for such a***e. I sucked in more of Teegan, trading love for the power I needed. I heard my name as a muffled scream from down a hall. I found Natalie's mind and saw the revulsion of what I had become. I stood on legs that should have collapsed and moved into the hall. A single black-shirted guard stood between me and my love. The terror in his eyes reflected what I must have looked like. I moved toward him, not caring if he had to die. He turned and ran. I let him go.

I entered the room my mind knew contained Natalie. She sat in a chair with tears in her eyes. Her face was bruised, and blood was dripping from her mouth. Her restraints still held. My heart broke at how long it took me to get to her. A scrawny man stood before her with the same terror in his eyes as the guard. There was blood on his hands. He had to die. I wouldn't let him go.

The man was flailing when my hands circled his neck. I ignored the scratching on my face as I shoved him against the wall. I relished the gasping as my hatred leaped from my mind, searing into his. I meant to prolong his agony. Watching him die slowly was my gift to the world.

"Sam," Natalie called softly. I watched the man's eyes bulge as blood was failing to circulate properly. "Sam," Natalie said again. Then I felt her; all her love entered me pushing out the hate. Teegan joined her and then that lovely unformed, unconditional love of my son. I tried to hold on to the rage and enact my mindless judgment. It faltered and my hands loosened. My breathing deepened as my family took hold of me, guiding me. I let go, and the man slumped to the floor in a gasping heap. I dropped to my knees as the payment for my anger came due.