J. Spelbring: Perfection

The explosives remained a secret—Leland had been honorable in that aspect. But troops moved toward her newfound family in Missouri.

Ellyssa’s heart fell, but she remained stoic. Rein still had a chance. She opened herself up to all of them, plucking thoughts from their robotic minds. Just down the hall, she noticed a surprise for her father approaching.

Dr. Hirch held his hand out toward Ellyssa. “Now, if you will come with me, we can put this unpleasantness behind us.”

A smile played across Ellyssa’s face. “I think the unpleasantness is just about to begin, der Vater .”

A loud shot ricocheted through the room and Micah crumpled to the floor, his azure eyes glazed in death. Detective Angela Petersen edged around the door jamb, a P229 in her hands. That type of gun was assigned only to Gestapo , but the detective seemed to be very astute when it came to acquiring illegal firearms. She had a duffle bag full of them hidden away in her closet.

“Too bad you didn’t create one with the gift of precognition, isn’t it, Dr. Hirch?” Detective Petersen said as she stepped over Micah. She skirted along the wall, the barrel pointed at the doctor. She made a slight waving gesture at the doctor with her weapon. “Join your children.”

Dr. Hirch stared at his head of security, his mouth slack. Stunned shock shut down any logical thought processes on the doctor’s behalf. It took him a few seconds to regain his composure and his thoughts to settle into coherent images. He had to get back within the safety of Xaver’s shield before he unleashed Aalexis on the detective. With Detective Petersen’s firearm pointed at him, the sudden pain might cause her finger to twitch and his life to end.

Without giving his fallen son a second glance, he stepped closer to Xaver and Aalexis. “Xaver,” he said. The doctor’s thoughts were cut off from Ellyssa as Xaver’s shield rose in place.

Safely inside Xaver’s bubble, Dr. Hirch said, “You realize you will not make it out alive.” He had his hand held out in a silent command as he spoke.

“You give me too little credit,” she sneered, jabbing her gun into the air. “You and your precious ‘superior’ children. All of you think I’m so inferior. But it was I who found where your daughter ran to. It was I who uncovered an operation that’d been going on for decades.”

The detective glanced down at Micah. “I bet you never imagined, Doctor, how fragile your children are. They succumb to bullets, just like everyone else,” she said, cocking her head to the side. “You too, Ellyssa. Join your family.”

Ellyssa shook her head and stepped between Detective Petersen and Rein.

“Fine. You can be first. Ever since that day in the park, I’ve imagined this moment. Watching the life seeping from your ‘superior’ flesh.”

The detective took aim at Ellyssa as her father gave the signal. Xaver’s shield lowered. It seemed Aalexis gift couldn’t work within the protective safeguard. Thoughts rushed toward Ellyssa, but the one she was concerned with was the command to squeeze the trigger given by the detective’s brain. Ellyssa ducked. The air displacement lifted her hair as the bullet whizzed by. Her ears rang with the crack of the gunfire.

By the time Ellyssa righted herself, the detective was writhing on the floor as Rein had before. Detective Petersen screamed and screamed.

Within all the activity, red lights started to flash, and a bell rang loudly throughout the corridors. Fire alarms. Woody’s signal to Ellyssa that also served to save uninvolved workers. The countdown had begun.

Everything happened at once. The screams stopped, but the detective remained on the floor. Dr. Hirch appeared confused and unsure, human emotions shining through his usually-calm façade. Her sister glared at the detective, her forehead smooth. Xaver stood to the side, watching the doctor as if awaiting orders. The red lights continued to flash, and the piercing alarm reverberated through Ellyssa’s bones.

Reacting, Ellyssa grabbed the forgotten P229. She spun around and squeezed the trigger. The sound was lost within the racket, but a red teardrop spread down the white of her father’s lab coat. He looked down, then gazed at Ellyssa in surprise before he toppled to the ground.

A shrieking “ NO” soared over the alarm; the next thing Ellyssa knew, heat exploded in her stomach, consuming her. Her jaw locked and she fell to the floor, completely incapacitated. Bringing her knees to her chin, she rolled to her side.

The intense agony, the loud whooping alarm, and through it all, Ellyssa heard Rein.

I love you .

She focused on him. Her memories drifted to his smile, his touch, his warm embrace. All of her concentration centered on him, and his mind.

Through Rein’s eyes, she saw herself wrapped up like a ball, her face pinched. His hand reached for her. Slowly, everything except Rein faded as Ellyssa’s mental barricade slid into place. The pain subsided, and her muscles unclenched. The aftereffects of the assault, though, still warmed her insides, like embers that were just starting to cool.

Shielded from her sister’s gift, Ellyssa rose to her feet just as the last fire alarms faded away.

Flashing red tinted Aalexis’ porcelain face as she bunched her forehead tighter.

Unaffected, Ellyssa advanced on her. “It is no use,” she said. “Your gift can not affect me anymore.”

Aalexis’ eyes narrowed as her mental focus shifted. Ellyssa saw what she had planned. Chairs scratched across the floor as an invisible force pushed them.

Ellyssa jumped out of the way before two of the chairs crashed into the wall behind the spot where she’d just stood. The desk lurched forward, and its legs screeched as they were dragged across the linoleum. Ellyssa sidestepped the assault and bolted toward her sister, knocking Aalexis into the wall. Air gushed from Aalexis’ lungs and, for the first time ever, surprise crossed her sister’s face before her pale lids closed.

Ellyssa spun around, intent on grabbing Rein and escaping. Before she knew what was happening, she was on the ground, pressure crushing her chest, large fingers stretched around her neck.

Xaver looked down at her, lips pulled into a snarl.

Ellyssa tried to break his hold with a swipe of her arm, but his fingers dug into her flesh, squeezing off her air. Clutching his hand, she tried to pry his fingers loose. He squeezed harder while smacking her head against the ground.

Thump, thump, thump rang through her skull as stars spun before her eyes.

The flashing red light, so bright against the white walls, hurt Rein’s eyes. Warmth still flowed inside him, but the fire was extinguished. His face hurt, as did every inch of his body.

He glanced around.

There were still people in the room. The clashing and thumping of furniture. Struggling. Someone was wheezing, gasping. Foreign, guttural words were being said.

A blurry, shadowy figure undulated strangely next to the door. The body was distorted and bent in a way no human could bend. Limbs whipped around under the red flashing. He blinked, and the blur of the edges came together into two distinct people. The one on top, he recognized as the boy who’d been with the witch and the madman. He held down a blond girl. She kicked frantically, trying to dislodge him.

Like pieces of a puzzle, everything clicked.

Ellyssa .

Never taking his eyes off the struggle, he rolled over to his hands and knees. His muscles quaked under the strain and threatened to hurl him back to the ground. He crawled to a chair, and used it for support while he staggered to his feet. Bile rose in his throat. He worked it back down.

Even if this was the very last thing he did, he would save her. He grasped the chair in one hand, and his foot slid forward.