Chapter 10

Search and Rescue

It feels like we are waiting for hours, but nothing happens, and no one comes in or out of the church. I lay my head against the brick wall behind me, Zack has created a purple Rubix cube he fidgets with, and Rod was staring at him. “Isn’t that pointless?” He asks pointing at the cube. “What do you mean?” Zack continues to mess with it, “I’m solving it.”

“But it’s all one color,” I say moving away from the wall. Zack shakes his head. “No, no, it’s all different shades of purple.” I look closer at it, and he’s right. But it’s the slightest change in colors so it’s nearly impossible to see. Zack then held his hands up with the cube presenting it to us, “Ta-da! I’ve solved it!” Rod crossed his arms and glared at the cube, “Bullshit.” Zack tries to look offended, but the smile still remains, “How could you say that!?”

I hear something below a door opening, a slight noise under Zack and Rod’s arguing. I turn back to them and cover their mouths and whispering, “Quiet.” They both stop talking, but voices are heard down below. I let go of their faces and we slowly move toward the edge of the floor we are on. Peaking our heads out to look down.

“I cannot believe you lost the girl!” A man in military uniform yells, then a familiar voice follows. “Well, she had help! He was too strong for us!” That jet-black hair, that coat, the way he speaks, it’s Zayden! What is he doing here!? How did he survive!? We blew up the laboratory everyone in it should be dead, John is dead. If Zayden is still alive, did he die for nothing? I start to move forward not of my own accord, but Zack grabs hold of my arm keeping me back. “Not now, just listen.” He whispers into my ear, and I direct my attention back to the men below.

“Did these holy idiots at least find her!?” The man with the military uniform yells again. Zayden runs while the man walks towards the back of the church, “I-I don’t know, General.” That’s the general? I look over at Zack, he looks at me but says nothing. Then, I heard Zayden speak again, “I will go look, just... Wait here.”

“What is going on?” Rod asks in a hushed tone. “That’s the guy that was holding Lil captive in the lab. Seems these two are looking for her, but why?” Rod shrugs and looks back down, “Hopefully we will get some answers, although I am more worried about the girls we are looking for.”

Their voices feel muffled, I feel the panic rise in me. He didn’t die, he’s looking for me. I thought I was free, but I’m not I still have to run. Then, a door slams open. Zayden runs out of a room from the back of the church, “It appears... they haven’t found her, just some teens with the same description.” A bunch of girls come out of the room, they look to be beaten and bruised, hands bound together with rope. Then the priests of the same description Rod gave in his story walk out behind them. They wore black and white cloaks with cross patterns of the opposite color on them. Their faces were unseen with their hoods up, just endless darkness where their heads should be.

The general huffed and looked at the girls with disgust, “They aren’t even the right age either. The subject is eighteen these kids look twelve, your priests must be fools, Zayden.” He shakes his head and rubs his temples, “Why haven’t you just gone into the town yourself and taken her?” Zayden stutters in his responses, “W-Well we don’t want to c-cause a panic.” The general doesn’t look happy with the response he was given, “I don’t care about causing a panic, I care about winning the war against the princess and her minions! Fighting fire with fire is the only solution! AND YOU LOST OUR FIRE!”

The scene before me is so strange to watch, for years I knew Zayden as this terrifying man. Now, before me, I see a stuttering coward afraid of the Army. But why, why do they need me so much? Am I the only demon they have come across, Zayden always acted like I was so easy to discard. Perhaps he was lying all along, I am the only one they were able to get their hands on. Now they lost me, now they are panicking, taking the church under their reign to get their hands on me once again.

“Please, we just need more time,” Zayden says, holding his hands out in defense. “Time? You have had time. Time is wasted, as more of our men are dying in battle on the front lines! The princess and her minions are not backing down! We need your project!” Zayden scratches the back of his head, “Perhaps if we let the magic users join us?” Chris groans in anger, “No! they are Satan worshipers on their side! They would only turn against us.”

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Zack looks over at me, whispering, “Seems like when I got you, we caused problems for them.” Rod smiles at us, “Honestly, I should be thanking you for that.” Now, I didn’t expect that. “What? Aren’t they defending your kind?” Rod laughs silently, “Yeah, but they are taking such drastic measures. The Army has basically turned the whole of America against itself. All Witches and Wizards have been taken out of their homes for their practices. I’m happy they didn’t get ahold of you Lil, if they did, and you won the war. They would just kill you after.”

“Why are they doing that to the witches? I don’t understand they are humans like you.” I say, and Rod sighs, “Just like the general said, the people think they serve Satan. Just like in the old days, everyone is fearing everything now.” I look down back to the scene below, Chris gets up in Zayden’s face, “You have one week, one more week, and if the girl isn’t here... I will go into the town and take her back myself.” He turns around storming out of the church. I wonder where he goes, where the military base even is. I look back to the pre-teens who are shaking and scared, surly they will let them go now.

Zayden turns around, facing the hooded men, “Kill them.” He says before then walking off through a door in one of the back rooms. “NO!” I yell, watching as one of the priests holds out their hand to the first child. Brown hair, green eyes, long white dress. A beam of light shines from his hand, I jump down, Zack and Rod following behind me. But no, no, of course, I’m too late! I watch as the child’s face is stuck in a scream, and she falls back deceased.

The girls scream and stumble back their hands still tied together, behind me I hear a shot fired, and the hooded man falls to the ground. Looking back there’s Rod, His mechanical arm held out and smoke coming from the side of his forearm, a tiny gun poking out. “Lilly, Zack, go!” He yells, and the priests face us pulling out golden blades from under their hoods. “They have holy weapons, don’t let them touch you, Lil.”

I nod, pulling out the knives from my back pocket and pressing the buttons as the blades extend out. I run forward to one of the men, my blade hitting theirs with a loud crash. The girls scream every time the weapons hit each other, nothing matter now, not Zayden, not the Army. The only goal is to get these kids out of here! I hear Zack behind struggling with two men of the five. One is down, so four left. Wait, where is the last? I look behind me, seeing another go for Rod but he just runs. I feel a kick in my back, and I fall to the ground. “Zack! GET ROD!” I yell out, getting back up and slashing through the priest's arm.

The girls have gathered to their dead friend, pulling her body away from the fighting. I block another attack and stab through his stomach, after pulling the blade out and watching the priest fall back. I run to the girls, who just scream and hold their friend away from me. “Calm down, calm down, I’m going to get you free.”

“But you’re a Demon!” I sigh looking behind, seeing Zack defend Rod against one of the priests, with his purple spear struggling against them. “Look at him.” I say pointing Zack out, “He’s defending the leader of your town, that man is my best friend, I am not going to hurt you.” They watch him for a long moment then nodded to me holding their hands out that are tied together. I press the button on one of my katanas and it retracted back into the handle. I take the now knife and cut through the rope on their wrists.

“You have to take her!” Another girl says, I look down at the body, the girl I failed to save by mere seconds. “Please...” the girl says, I sigh, and I pick up the body of the girl with green eyes. The one that spoke to me, puts her hand over her face to make it look like she’s asleep. I look back to Zack and Rod, they were running over, the small battle won. “Let’s go!” Zack says pulling on my arm. But the familiar voice behind rings out, and the sound of a gun being cocked.

“Not so fast.” Zayden says, “bring the child to me.” I assume he’s talking about me, I turn around, and Zack and Rod stand in front of me. “Not in a thousand years!” Rod says, Zayden growls and shoots the ground next to him. “I SAID GIVE HER TO ME!” He didn’t shoot him he is a coward! He won’t even attack us. Zack points his spear at Zayden, “No.” Zack speaks forcefully, it’s almost like Zayden remembers the fear from the other day, and his hand starts to shake. “You, you, have to give her to us! Or humanity will fall!” Rod glares at him, “Humanity will rise, with her at our side, fighting with us because she wants to. Not because she has to.”

Zack walks up to Zayden his spear changing into the form of a small knife. Zayden shoots the gun, one, two, three! But a small purple shield forms in front of each bullet deflecting it from hitting Zack. He runs forward shoving the knife deep into Zayden’s chest. “You will never, touch a hair on her head.” He pulls the knife back out forcefully air escapes Zayden’s lips, and he falls to the ground.

Zack lets go of the knife and it vanishes into a mist form, getting absorbed by his body. “Let’s go, quickly!” He says grabbing my arm again and pushing me forward out of the church. The girls followed us, leaving a bloody scene behind and a dead woman in my hands.