THE EMPATH

NARROW ESCAPE

"I am going to ask you this for the very last time," the leader shouted. By now I knew his name was Melvin and he was the one in charge of the six Cleaning Crew members that lived there. I also knew that he was the one with mating privileges because he was some kind of an Alpha and his genes had the highest chances. "Remember Vicky, pain is an illusion, you learn how to hide from it and you will never be a prisoner of it," Robert's words kept ringing in my head. Melvin had been torturing me for about three hours but I had not even opened my mouth. I could feel my face swelling real fast but with my new abilities, healing was going to be quick. He had also broken two of my right-hand fingers and my left foot on the knee joint. So far he had nowhere else to go and his last option was to scare me with a chain saw. "Are you going to talk or should I start with...say your pinky...you don't need that much, do you?" He went on. I didn't say a word and he got real angry. The next thing I knew, the tiny toe on my right foot was gone.

"Oh god, Melvin, stop! you are going to kill him," the tiniest one in the group said. I could tell he was disgusted by what Melvin had just done but he had no say over it. "Okay Tiny, it seems you have a soft spot for this human, why don't you clean him up and take care of that toe before he bleeds to death," he said and made it as if to walk out but then turned towards me. "And you, see you early tomorrow. This is just the beginning," the other five looked at him with admiration and a hint of jealousy. They all wished to be like him someday, as they followed him out of the house. I had just found my way out. All I had to do was get through to tiny now that I knew he regretted being one of the destroyers. I knew I could break him and then, then I would have a chance to get out of that horrible place with all the girls. "Tiny, you know you don't have to stay if you don't want to...," I started but he stopped me before I could finish. He was angry and that hindered any chance I had of getting through to him at that moment. "Shut up dude, you have a broken leg, a missing toe, and a deformed face, that is what you should be worried about right now, and leave things that don't concern you alone." he had said. I stopped talking and decided to wait until he had cooled down a little. I let him nurse me and this time, I was in pain. I was in so much damn pain that I wanted to cry out loud but I stopped myself. There was no way in hell I was going to give them the satisfaction.

"Tiny, your mess is still waiting for you. Just throw the guy down and get out here," Tony said. He was the guy who had held Trixie by the hair and by now I hated him and planned to take his teeth as a trophy after I had skinned him alive. "Sorry dude, this is the best I can do for you, but on the bright side, the bleeding has stopped," he told me right before throwing me down the stairs and into the basement. "Vicky, oh my...what the heck did they do to you?" Dianna asked. I dragged myself up to where she was and explained to her that it was not a big deal and that I was going to be alright. I could feel her hopes of ever getting out of that hell hole dropping real quick. She previously thought I was capable of saving her and the other girls but looking at me then, she couldn't help but feel like we were all doomed. "Don't you girls worry, I know I am no hero, but my life depends on you leaving this place alive and I will do anything possible to make sure of that," I told them.

About an hour later, Tony came down and took the new girl with him. Screams followed from upstairs and it broke my heart to think what was going on up there. I tried to get up and walk over there but my body was locked into healing mode which meant it was using up most of my strength. My stomach was also rumbling from all the hunger and that didn't make the situation any better. I needed to get out of there while I still had some strength left. Lucky for me, it was Tiny who brought the girl back and he was calm. "Tiny is what they call you right? I know you don't want to be here, I also know that you can't just leave because they will kill you if you do. I can offer you a free way out if you help me," I was not sure he would listen but I had to try. "Look at yourself dude, you can't even get up from where you are seated, how do you plan on beating six superhumans?" Good, he was listening and that was all I needed. "I have a plan, you won't even be in it if you don't want to. Just give me food and leave the door open tonight," he took one look at me and then left the room. I could feel the girls thinking just how stupid I was. They had tried all that without getting anywhere and they had no belief whatsoever that I was going to succeed either. They had no idea that I was no ordinary human either.

My words got to Tiny and moments later he brought me food but he made it clear that he could not leave the door open. He had been into enough trouble already and he was not willing to get himself into much more. "We are heading out to the club in search of Trixie, they will be back soon. I would advise you to not try what you have planned but then again, if you stay they will kill you for sure. Whatever you do, if you succeed, remember I helped you as much as I could," he said and turned away to leave. His "friends" were calling from upstairs.

I listened to them leave and it was time to activate my plan. "Okay, here

goes nothing." I said out loud as I dragged myself up the stairs to the door. My strength was almost back and the swelling on my face had gone down. At this moment I knew there was no going back as the boys would have noticed that my healing rate was not normal. The door was locked but not all the way. I shook it a little and I could tell that with a little bit of strength I could bring it down. My plan was simple detail wise but surviving was it was a different story all together. I banged the door a few times and it gave way. I was finally out of the basement. The next thing was to get my phone ready to dial 911 because I knew I would definitely need backup in case my plan went south. Now, the one thing about the police, is that they were always late to answer. If I called them as soon as the boys got home, they would answer two maybe even three hours later which would be bad business for me. I thought I still had time but boy was I wrong.

Apparently, Tony had left his phone and they all came back for it. I heard them while it was too late and all I could have done was dial 911 and get my blade ready. Turns out my plan was toast even before it began. I could now hear them at the front door and I waited for them in the dark. Tony walked in to get his phone while the rest waited for him outside. My hands were shaking and I was not ready to kill another person yet. Tony knew something was wrong the moment he got in and he made a half a few strides away from me. His eyes glowed and he saw me. I acted on my first impulse and before he could get to me, I had already slit his throat. He tried to yell but there was too much blood in his throat. I watched as he dropped to the ground. "One down, six more to go. Now focus, you can see in the dark, but unfortunately so can they," my guardian said. I was beginning to freak out by then and I was not sure about what I was going to do next.

"Do you guys smell blood," Melvin asked. "Maybe it is the humans," Tiny answered. All the others agreed but Melvin was convinced that my blood didn't smell like that. "Tony! what is taking you so long? We ain't got the whole night you know. We need to get that b***h before she tells anyone about us," Melvin shouted but there was no response from the inside. He knew something was wrong and he and the boys planned to get in and make sure everything was okay. I could feel the confused thoughts from the basement the girls were all scared half to death. I could also feel Tiny about to blow with fear and regret. He knew he shouldn't have helped me but now it was too late to do anything about it. He knew I had next to zero chances of survival and he knew he was toast as well. All the blame would go to him and they would kill him for sure. I had to fight, I had to win because the lives of fourteen people depended on it. I waited in the dark another one of the crew members came in and I pounced on him before he could spot me. I had no idea where I hit him but he didn't go out silently he cursed at me and let everyone know that I was the one and that I had a weapon with me. On hearing that, Melvin laughed out loud and turned on the lights.

"Look at you stupid human, you still have no idea who you are dealing with now, do you? you should have just told us what we asked of you and maybe we could have let you stay with us, alive, but now, you have killed two of my boys. That was a really stupid move on your side human boy," He said. At that moment, I was hidden behind the door and I could tell he knew I was there. I heard him go for his g*n and I knew I was toast. There was nothing I could have done right about then as I knew I was both outnumbered. My first thought was to come out with my hands in the air but I knew he would go ahead and shoot me anyway. I was out of places to run to so I just waited.

I heard his footsteps and then the door was locked and I was exposed. "Looks like you are not human after all," He said reaching for my face and turning me from side to side. "Boys! check on the others," he shouted right before pulling me by my ear. "I will tear you up piece by piece until you tell me who you are and what you want from us...I will make you bleed and by the time I will be done, you will be begging for death," his face turned red with anger and his eyes glowed even brighter. I saw these super-sharp nails grow from his fingers like blades. He was ready to run them through me. With the last bit of courage that I could master, I reached for my blade and stabbed him in the stomach. "A Red, you have a Red?" he said. I had reduced the force his hand was coming down at me with but the damn nails got to me anyway. He hit me on the side of my arm tearing both my t-shirt and my flesh. I felt the sharp pain for a while but then I employed Robert's trick and it all went away. Three of them were now down but there were three others ready to shoot me to hell. I was not at all lucky.

"I think you have taken out enough, any last words Protector?" one of the remaining four said and got himself ready to shoot. I was cornered and I knew that was the end so I just closed my eyes and waited for the end. All the pain came back dropping me to my knees. I was just about to say the grace when I heard police sirens and I a flicker of hope. "The police are coming, we have to go," Tiny said turning all their attention to him. "Wait, you were the last to go to the basement today, did you help him out, hah! Tiny? I always knew you were not on our side but Melvin said you were just scared." poor Tiny was in trouble and unlike me, he had no will nor strength to fight and he just lifted his arms while saying endless sorrys. Just as he was about to shoot, the police burst into the place and asked the guys to lay on the ground and they did. I was saved in the nick of time and the girls were saved right along with me. The three were taken to the police station as Tiny had managed to escape and was probably in hiding somewhere. The girls and I were rushed to the hospital for medical assistance and our parents were called. Soon the breaking news was out and the case of the missing girl was finally solved.

The worst part was over but there was still the part where I had to explain to my Mum how I ended up in a basement all those miles away from home. Then there was my guardian in my head telling me that I had to make sure that living Crew members had to die as well or I would have done Zero work. I had to come up with yet another plan to get to them in their cells and silence them before their leaders bailed them out. I hated where I was heading but I felt like I had no choice. That was about how my killing Journey started and I had just learned that the only way out was if I was dead. I rested my head on the hard bed and closed my eyes. "Tonight, we finish the business that brought us here," my guardian said and his, were the last words I heard right before falling asleep from the heavy sedative the nurse had just administered.