The Exclusive One

Chapter 5

Day 2.

6:45 a.m.

Ryan:

I feel numb and my stomach churns. I could get sick at any moment. I still haven’t heard from Bella and I have a bad feeling that this has something to do with her. And I just know that my sister has to be the cause of all this.

I’m terrified for Bella though.

Please God, just let her be safe. I can’t live without her. Don’t make me.

We get to the destination of our mission and Parker is talking about each of our roles. It’s always the same though Travis and Ashton go off together, Jasper stays with the vehicle in case we need a quick getaway, and I go off with Parker. So, I don’t really need to pay attention. My thoughts continue to race, and I only snap out of it when I notice Parker took off running and I’m supposed to follow her.

I rush to catch up with her and make sure to stay about three feet back from her just in case. I watch as she skids to a stop and I hear the voices that must’ve made her stop so suddenly.

I notice the tree near her, so I start climbing it. I’ve always been good at climbing trees and I’m quiet, so no one ever notices me. I notice Parker looks up at me in surprise making me smirk at her face. I put a finger to my lips to make sure that she doesn’t talk. She nods in understanding and I get inside her head, “Hide.”

She nods again and looks around and dives underneath a bush. I shake my head as I continue to climb up higher- of course she would pick a bush to hide behind. One of the easiest places for someone to find her.

I notice some Aberrations coming towards us and I almost lose my grip when I see my sister get slammed to the ground. Her head hit the ground with a loud thud making me wince.

Rage runs through my body and I want to attack him, but I know I can’t- not yet.

Nikki grunts as she lifts herself up and I feel proud of her for a moment- she’s always been a fighter. She notices Parker first and then glances up at me and her eyes widen. I get into her head trying to reassure her: Calm down, sis, we’re going to get you out of this. Everything will be fine.

She shakes her head frantically and gets back into my head: I can’t calm down.

My eyebrows furrow and I watch her face carefully as I respond: Why can’t you?

She looks away and doesn’t answer for a moment her voice is quivering as she says: They’re going to kill me, Ryan.”

I’m not going to let that happen.

She sighs in my head: You can’t stop it and don’t even attempt to, please promise me that you won’t interfere.

Sis, I can’t promise you that. You’re my baby sister. I can’t lose you.

I hear her sigh in my head before she says: Promise me you will stay quiet and out of the way and that you’ll keep Parker safe.

Nikki, you’re the only family I have left I won’t let anything happen to you.

She looks away as Hunter, the leader of the Aberrations walks into her space and I look at him too. He can’t kill her. She’s the Exclusive- he can’t kill her, not yet.

He starts to circle Nikki and he’s tensing up he’s about to attack her. I glance down to see Parker lifting her head out further from the bushes. She’s going to get caught!

I climb down quickly and wrap my arm around her waist and press my palm over her mouth to keep her from screaming. I pull us back against the tree, so we are both in a crouched position with her head hitting right below my chin and her body wedged in between my legs.  We can’t get caught and we both know that as we watch Nikki get slapped, kicked, and punched over and over again. I move thinking that I could take him by surprise when I hear Nikki’s voice in my head: Stay put, Ryan I want you to promise me now.

I can’t stand this anymore Nikki. I’m going to get the boys over here now and we’ll figure this all out.

She hisses back to me: I told you already he’s going to kill me. Don’t interfere. I love you. Now, promise me you won’t make a sound and that you’ll keep Parker quiet and safe.

I hesitate before I hear her yell in my head: I said for you to PROMISE! Please promise!

I sigh in defeat, I promise, Nikki, I will not interfere.

I look at the scene and it takes everything within me to not beat the hell out of him. Hunter hisses at her as he kicks her back again making her fall down with an oomf he asks her a question that puzzles me, “Is it you or her?”

Nikki stares at him and he commands his men to ungag her. She doesn’t even look our direction as she answers harshly, “It’s her.”

What are they talking about?

Hunter’s eyes widen in surprise and he steps backwards, and he seems too stunned to speak. Why is he so shocked? What did she mean?

I get into her mind: What are you talking about?

She forces me out of her head and I try to force her to open back up. If she doesn’t want to tell me, fine, I will search her head and find out the answer myself. I push and prod, but she has her mind shut like a vault. So, I continue to watch the scene unfold in front of me in curiosity. After a few moments Hunter clears his throat before stating, “Well then, I have no use for you. Anything you want to know before you die?”

What do you mean you have no use of her?

No, no, no, you can’t kill her. She’s the Exclusive you need her. Hunter, damn it, you need her! You can’t kill her. Not my little sister- not now.

 ******

Day 2.

7:00 a.m.

Parker

As soon as I get done talking with everyone, I take off running and I listen to make sure Ryan is behind me. He seemed a little distracted during our pow wow.

We run as fast as we can; all I can hear is my heart beating, the sound of our footsteps, and the sound of our breaths intertwining. I hear the faint sound of someone talking and I skid into a stop. I look behind me for Ryan and I see that he is steadily climbing up a tree and he puts a finger to his lips and gets into my head and says harshly: Hide.

I crouch low and hide myself behind a bush. I look up to see Ryan shaking his head, but I couldn’t help it I don’t have anywhere else to hide and I’m not as good of a climber as he is. I keep hearing people talk and I focus really hard to hear what they were saying, “Do you think that the master is actually going to kill her?”

“I suppose so; that’s why he’s sending us out here.” I hear muffled noises after he said that and heard the man chuckle creepily as he hissed, “Ain’t that right, princess?” He said that word with such distaste that I know he is actually talking to somebody.

I slowly lift my head up and watch in horror as he slams Nikki to the ground. Her head hits the ground so hard it makes me cringe. She grunts and quickly notices me as we make eye contact and I’m sure if she wasn’t gagged right now, she would be mouthing for me to leave. Her eyes widen when she sees me, and I see her look above me to where Ryan is and she shakes her head frantically. I can feel a strong presence in the air, but I keep my eyes on Nikki I am so focused on her and how we get her out of this I don’t even notice that he came in.

A shiver goes down my spine when I see him- just him being in the same space as me gives me goose bumps. He has such a strong aura about him and it’s frightening.

My eyes are glued to his every movement as I watch him circle Nikki. I am about to scream and try to attack them when I feel a hand clamp over my mouth and an arm wrap tightly around my waist.

I guess Ryan was able to tell I was about to attack, so I force myself to breathe deeply against Ryan’s sweaty palm. This is one of our crucial cases we need to save the girls and that won’t help us if I get us captured as well.

We both know that as we watch Nikki get beaten. He hisses at her as he kicks her back again making her fall down with an oomf he asks her the same thing he asked me yesterday; making me have a sense of déjà vu, “Is it you or her?”

Nikki stares at him and he commands his men to ungag her. She doesn’t even look our direction as she deceives him, “Her.”

His eyes widen in surprise and he seems too stunned to speak.

That’s a first.

After a few moments he clears his throat before stating, “Well then, I have no use for you. Anything you want to know before you die?”

“What’s your name?” She asks and it surprises me how clear her voice came out since she knew he is about to kill her. Yet she still sounds so strong even in the face of death.

She is trying to help us; Hunter’s real name has always been a mystery to all of us. We used to know him, and he lied to us saying his name was Hunter, but we never learned his real name. He looks at her and states, “Hunter, but you already know that.”

“Your real name, Hunter, what is it?” She asks in a harsher tone. He kicks her back again, “Sorry, but I can’t grant you that wish.”

He nods towards his men and she made eye contact for a brief moment with me and I can see in her eyes she wants us to leave. Ryan’s hand never moved from my mouth and his arm tightens around my waist as Hunter walks closer to her.

I want to run and push her out of the way and take her place, but Ryan holds me still.

She looks at Hunter and I know she isn’t going to look away as he kills her. Hunter grabs onto the back of her neck pushing her head down and we watch as she screams in pain before grinding her teeth to hold back the rest of her wails while her neck disintegrates. Time seems to stop as Ryan, and I watch this happen and after what seems to be an eternity Nikki’s head rolls away from her body and the guards drop her limp body to the ground making her blood spilled everywhere. 

Tears spring into my eyes and start to run down my cheeks and they hit Ryan’s hand. We wait quietly for the Aberrations to leave, but even when we no longer see them, we refuse to go towards Nikki’s body just in case it is some sort of trap. Ryan slowly pulls me away from the scene and gets into my head: We need to run.

I nod slowly as Ryan hesitantly let go of me as he made sure I was ok to run.

I turn around and run in front of him. We run as fast as we can and we can hear the sound of vehicles in the distance; we know they aren’t ours as we force ourselves to speed up zipping in and out through the trees and bushes hoping that whatever they were driving on wouldn’t be able to go in the territory we are going through.

I am gasping for air by this time- I have never run this fast before. I trip and hiss as I skin my knee, but I quickly stumble back up and run after Ryan. We finally make it to the clearing where our car is already started and Jasper, Ashton, and Travis are all waiting with the trunk open for Ryan and I to jump in. As soon as we are in the car before we even close the trunk, we are yelling for Jasper to drive. I pull the trunk down as we start speeding off and Ryan and I both lean against the side of the car and gasp for air. I look over at Ryan to see that he is already looking at me and neither of us need to say anything. We don’t need to; we both know one thing:

We failed.

******

Day 2.

7:50 a.m.

Ryan:

“What’s your name?” Nikki asks and he states, “Hunter, but you already know that.”

“Your real name, Hunter, what is it?” She asks because she knows that we are here, and it could help us. She’s always been smart.

He kicks her back again making me jerk because I want to help her. Parker sets her hand on my arm as if to calm me and tell me not now.

“Sorry, but I can’t grant you that wish.” Hunter nods towards his men and Nikki looks back at us with pity in her eyes. My hand never moves from Parker’s mouth and my arm tightens around her waist as Hunter walks closer to Nikki.

This isn’t happening. It’s a dream.

It has to be some super realistic nightmare.

I can’t lose the only family I have left.

I’m her older brother I’m supposed to be able to protect her.

I jerk wanting to move, but I feel her powers as she holds me in place.

Why isn’t she fighting back?!

She’s the freaking Exclusive; she’s more powerful than any of us! Why is she just accepting this fate?

I glare up towards my sister, but she’s not looking at me. She looks at Hunter and I know she isn’t going to look away as he kills her.

I hear her voice in my head and it sounds scared: I love you, Ry. Go find Bella and keep her safe.

In all of this I completely forgot about Bella.

I need to go find Bella!

But where could she be?

And how can I go off to find her without revealing myself and Parker?

My body is screaming at me to go and protect Nikki, but she continues to use her powers to hold me back because we both know that I am no match for three Aberrations especially since one of them is the leader. Hunter grabs onto the back of her neck pushing her head down forcing her to look away from him and I see his hand beginning to glow from his power.

I cringe when I hear her scream in pain before grinding her teeth to hold back the rest of her wails while her neck disintegrates. She never liked giving Hunter the satisfaction of hearing her scream.

I want to look away, but I can’t get my eyes to shut or get my head to move. I can’t stop myself from watching the scene unfold in front of me.

As Nikki’s head drops, I feel Parker try to turn her head into my chest. I am unable to move as I watch Nikki’s head rolls away from her body and the guards drop her limp body to the ground making her blood spilled everywhere.

I watch as the snow that’s on the ground turns a deep shade of red.

I will never be able to look at the color red the same way again.

I gulp to keep from crying out and I feel wetness on my hand snapping me back to reality. I glance down at Parker to see tears running down her cheeks. At this point I release her mouth and she then turns her head into my chest as she quietly cries.

We wait until the Aberrations leave and although it probably was only like five minutes of waiting it felt like we had been sitting there for over an hour. I get into Parker’s head: We need to run.

She nods slowly- she’s still processing all of this. I hesitantly let go of her as I make sure she’s capable of running. She moves forward and gets around me and starts to run with me on her heels. We run as fast as we can, and we can hear the sound of vehicles in the distance. Those aren’t ours; and we don’t know if they’re after us or not. So, we have to go faster.

I get into the rest of our team’s heads: Go back to the car now! Parker and I are on our way and we need to leave immediately.

I can hear Parker gasping for air as we go faster. She trips and hisses as she skins her knee, but she quickly stumbles back up and runs after me. She’s keeping a great pace with me especially with her skinned knee.

We finally make it to the clearing where our car is already started and Jasper, Ashton, and Travis are all waiting with the trunk open for us. As soon as we are in the car before we even close the trunk, we are yelling for Jasper to drive. Parker shuts the trunk and we both lean against the car trying to catch our breath. I look at her and she looks back at me. There’s no need to fill the silence we already know we didn’t succeed with our mission.

I look out the window and watch as the snow slowly falls. Winter has always been Nikki’s favorite season, but I will never be able to look at the snow without being reminded of her.

I look over at Parker and I have never seen her look so pale. She also has a greenish tint to her face and for a brief moment I wonder if she’s going to throw up.

I push myself into her head and I see the scene we just so repeating over and over again. I force the thoughts out of her head and say: Breathe in.

I watch as she does as I say and I continue: Breathe out.

She glances up at me smiling softly and I continue to put some calming images into her head to force her not to focus on the tragedy we just witnessed.

We finally pull up to our driveway at home and we all trudge into the house. I follow Parker into her room knowing that neither one of us wanted to be alone right now, but also knowing that we didn’t want to have to explain anything to anyone else.

We lie down on her bed and she holds my hand and I glance at her to see the silent tears stream down her face and I recognize that now I can break down too.

I don’t know how long we laid there crying. All I know is that I’m kind of grateful that I’m not alone.