CHAPTER 23: Enemies of the State
Adam just felt exhausted. He was famished and had no energy, plus he was covered in mostly hardened goblin blood. His hair was slicked back from it and his pants and shoes were torn up. Feeling quite gross, he was ready to call it a night.
The last bit of their exploring had shown them that in the rear of the castle, coming off a long hallway, was the back door of the warehouse. It was very weird how the space was bent, knowing that if they went outside the castle there was more space behind where the exit should be.
“Good work today, guys. We did it, we won. I know we have school tomorrow but get some good rest tonight. If anyone has trouble with nightmares let me know tomorrow and I’ll see if I can help. I know this should all be traumatic, so don’t hide or feel shame for wanting some help or comfort,” Adam said as he walked towards the exit.
“You too, darling. I know you seem oddly casual about this, so ask us for some comfort if you need it,” Andrea answered back.
Adam smiled at her, Abbey, and everyone. It was such a warm smile, that they could even feel through the connections Adam had reestablished.
The exit was two large sliding cargo doors, wide and tall enough for vehicles to drive through, though at the moment it was only open about six feet wide. Adam could see the twilight sky on the other side, indicating it was about six in the evening. There was a dark film over the exit that he easily stepped through. Once outside, Adam was unable to see inside the warehouse. Shrugging, he turned and walked a few steps before he saw people approaching.
Four police officers were there, coming around the corner. They quickly noticed him and two immediately drew their firearms and the other two pulled out tasers. Adam put his hand up to his side within view of the exit to stop everyone else from coming out.
“Halt! Hands on your head and get down on the ground,” a female officer yelled at him. Adam wasn’t bothered by it, knowing how messy he currently looked. He cautiously put his hands on his head and started to get onto his knees.
“What is the problem...” he started to ask when the officer unexpectedly fired the taser at him.
Shock struck him harder than the taser. Unable to pierce his skin, the taser stuck to his dried sweat and goblin blood and dispersed its charge. A light tingling rippled across his skin, but the surprise and his day of fighting caused him to jump back to his feet. As his arms came down, a second taser struck him. He snatched the prong out of the air and ignored the electricity coming out of it.
Anger welled in him through his exhaustion, pushing down his thoughts. Heat was building up and his bleary mind was already preparing for a fight, without considering what was happening. In his exhaustion he had a hard time thinking through the situation. A pulse went through him as the river flowed. He wanted to reach out to the coolness in his mind, use it to get things into order.
“Why did you…” he started, but was unable to finish as a gunshot rang out and pain bloomed in his neck. It was all Adam could do to steady himself, swaying dangerously. Wet heat poured down his whole body, coming from his destroyed carotid artery on the left side. His eyes watered and glazed over. The river boiled.
Adam tried to speak one last time, but his neck was so damaged that even his vocal cords would not work. The muscles on his neck were having trouble holding up his head. Blood was seeping into his throat and lungs. He tried to breath in and failed to, uncontrollably weak. Air would not fill his lungs. What should have been a roar came out as a hiss.
Inside himself, the river grabbed Adam’s consciousness and pulled him under. The feeling of choking and suffocating was felt as he was pulled into the intangible rapid waters, unsure if the sensation was coming from his body or mind, and that was the last thing Adam felt.
***
The group was getting in line to leave the warehouse, when they saw Adam’s hand come up, telling them to halt. They did not see what was in front of him, so Ed immediately sent out a drone and flipped open his laptop to watch.
They huddled around the screen, surprised by the appearance of the police. Gasps escaped them as Adam was tased twice, but the gun shot stunned most of them, though not all as Lucas, Brittney, and Nick dashed out the opening with their weapons in their hands. Brandon had the presence of mind to cast [Bolster] on them as they tore off.
Nick was the fastest as a speed fighter, but Lucas was right behind him with his sledgehammer, using his strength to leap forward with every step. Brittney moved quickly but was considerably behind them.
A large part of Adam’s neck was blown open and blood was everywhere. The blue that had covered him was quickly turning red. Adam was swaying and his head flopped backwards as he looked like he was going to fall. But he didn’t fall.
Before the trio could get to him the swaying stopped and the head came back up. His skin had reddened as if he had gotten sunburned. Adam’s mouth opened, and while no air came out of it a roar shook the surroundings. The group nearly stumbled, but their experience with the roar allowed them to continue moving. The police, on the other hand, were completely frozen with terror clear on their faces.
The officer who had his gun pointed at Adam was shaking as Adam, heat causing the air around him to shiver as he released it, turned his blank gaze towards him. The blood on Adam began evaporating and another roar sounded out.
Just as his friends were about to reach Adam, he moved one foot forward and in one single move…stepped…all the way to the police office. It was about 30 feet away. He went from one place to another without having to cross the space.
No one had time to react as Adam snatched the gun with his right hand and grabbed the man’s neck with the left, raising him into the air. None of the police were able to move yet, still shaking and confused by Adam’s roar. Nick and Lucas instantly changed direction, with Brittney curving to compensate for her momentum.
Adam had blood coming from his mouth, neck, and nose. His eyes were bloodshot and blank, while his movements were stiff. His hand tightened on the officer’s neck causing the man's eyes to bulge.
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Nick did not hesitate and threw himself at the back of Adam’s knees, his tackle barely causing them to buckle. Lucas swung his hammer so that as he arrived the full force of it hit Adam’s forearm. There was a cracking noise and the hand holding the officer opened. The policeman fell to the ground and Adam turned his head towards Lucas, his mouth forming a snarl. Then Brittney’s goblin shield smashed right into his nose causing his head to flop backwards.
Adam’s head did not bother coming back upright as his body crumpled. The redness and heat dissipated from his skin as his eyes rolled back in their sockets. The three other policemen were finally shaking off the roar that had been only seconds ago, trying to turn towards where Adam was.
Lucas dropped his hammer, grabbed Adam’s body over one shoulder, and then picked up Brittney under his arm. He and Nick rocketed back to the warehouse door.
“HALT!” was shouted at them, and another gunshot was fired. They were moving way too fast for the officer to aim properly. Lucas hoped that everyone was away from the door as he blasted through it with Nick following. His momentum was so strong it took Lucas several seconds to slow down once inside, skidding across the greyish grass.
Everyone rushed to catch up while Lucas dropped Brittney on her feet and tried to gently put Adam on the ground.
“He’s barely breathing,” cried Andrea.
“Almost no more blood is coming out of his neck,” pointed out Randall.
“Ed, let’s [Heal] him,” Abbey shouted and her fingers flashed red as she touched him. Ed reached around his laptop, still displaying what was happening as the drone viewed them from above. He saw the spells going off but the skin on Adam’s neck barely moved.
Abbey was in tears after she used her entire mana pool without results. The entry wound had mostly closed but the rest of his neck where the bullet had exited was still blown open. His blood pressure was so low that they could not see more blood coming out and his breathing was too shallow to notice.
Andrea took Abbey’s head and turned it onto her shoulder as Abbey sobbed. Andrea’s eyes were also streaming tears, and they weren’t the only ones.
“The boss shrugged off losing fingers earlier but a GSW to the neck ends him, huh?” Tom muttered bitterly.
“Wait!” shouted Carlos. “He said he could regenerate.”
“Yeah! He drank blood to regenerate,” Alissa exclaimed as she pulled out Carlos’s machete and slashed her own hand. She moved her hand to let some blood fall into his mouth and then to the wound, unsure of which was needed.
They all waited with bated breath as the blood sizzled and evaporated within Adam’s mouth, not even needing to be swallowed. Seeing it disappear, both Lucas and Elias cut their own hands and drizzled their blood into Adam’s mouth. The more blood that went into his mouth the less pale he looked. Blood began trickling out of the neck wound and the skin released wisps of steam. His heart also beat stronger after a few minutes.
“Looked like it’s working, everyone give some,” Lucas insisted.
They reached a point where the neck skin had closed. Still, everyone took their turn to donate blood even after he looked healed. His breathing returned to normal and instead of looking dead he looked like he was just sleeping. Abbey and Ed used their [Heal] spell on everyone’s hands when more mana returned.
“Hey guys,” Joseph called from the doorway. “The police are trying to get in but can’t. I don’t think they can see in the door.”
“That’s probably the dimensional security since we took ownership. We'll have to check that,” Elias called back. “For now, let’s just watch and rest.” Then he took the small brown control crystal and started inspecting it.
***
“Uuuugh,” groaned Adam, eyes slowly opened as he looked up into Abbey’s face. His mouth was dry and his stomach cramped from hunger. Aches and pains came from all over his body, especially his arm. It felt like he had run a marathon and lifted more than his body could take. Weakness and stiffness prevented him from moving much, but considering his pillow he thought it best to hold still. “That really sucked! Though this is a nice way to keep waking up, beautiful.” He tried to smile and was unable to stop it from becoming a wince.
Abbey smiled back at him sympathetically.
“What happened? Is everyone else alright?” Adam asked.
“You got trashed, boss, and still could have killed them all,” answered Tom excitedly.
Shifting his head and eyes slightly, Adam saw that everyone but Elias, Brandon, and Joseph were sitting around him. He tried to smile at that but again winced at the effort.
“I think darling needs more info than that,” chided Andrea. “Ed, just show him the video.”
The laptop was placed on Adam’s chest and Abbey brought his head up so he could see it. He watched high speed footage as he was tased, shot, almost killed the cop, and then was tackled and carried off by his friends.
At the end he released a big sigh. “Thanks for rescuing me. And that cop.”
“We knew you’d be upset from killing him and we weren’t about to let you die,” stated Lucas seriously. “We were able to get away easily with our speed and the cops being disoriented by your roar.”
“How did I survive? That was a lot of blood.”
Tom snickered. “We gave you blood. All of us. You're our own blood pact, boss. Maybe you have the vampire class.”
“Damn, I passed out after the gun shot but that hurt like hell.”
Abbey started stroking his dirty hair and making soothing noises as he squirmed a bit to reposition. He watched the video a few more times before having the laptop removed.
“Something was wrong with that,” Adam said after thinking for a few minutes.
“Wrong? Do you mean cops tasing you? Or shooting to kill? Or that amazing teleport that you did? I want to teleport. It couldn’t be movement since the video shows you just shifting from one location to another instantly with no blur,” Carlos said.
“Not that stuff. I mean, I looked like a monster, so it’s almost understandable that the cops treated me with hostility. Barely any clothes and all that dried blue blood. You can barely see my skin. No. What seemed wrong is that they were there in the first place,” Adam explained.
“What do you mean?” asked Alissa.
“I don’t remember seeing any police clothes in the room with the bodies. That means the goblins’ patrols weren’t noticed and the police were unaware of them. If so, then why were there four police, ready to attack, after we finished taking this area? When there wasn’t anything to draw them here and no one to request they come?” Adam frowned as he thought about it.
“You think they were sent after us?” asked Brittney.
“I have no idea, but we are being invaded. Who knows what that means. Infiltration? False info? We know brainwashing is real and not too difficult with the right ability,” Adam said.
Everyone sighed at that and looked discouraged.
“Well, nothing we can do without more information, and it seems like we can hide here if there are issues. When we leave, everyone should try stepping out and back inside just to make sure the rift lets them through. Otherwise, I desperately need food and rest. How long has it been?”
“Only an hour,” said Abbey. “We thought you should be kept still until you were all better. The police left about half an hour ago. We tried our phones and they don’t work inside this space. Ed sent drones out and there is no evidence of the police.”
“That is even more suspicious. If there was a legit police incident here, they would have kept some cars or continued to look around nearby. Oh well. If it looks OK to leave, then we should.”
Lucas helped Adam to his feet and supported him as Nick, Lamar, and Carlos got a car and everyone’s stuff from the first warehouse. Adam was allowed to eat any food that they had, and afterward he was still painfully hungry.
Adam was able to move better by the time Carlos dropped him off near his house. The group had prioritized getting Adam home safely, so Carlos was headed back to the warehouses to pick up anyone who needed a ride. Adam had left his second-floor window open, so after hosing himself off as much as possible he jumped to his window and climbed in. The 40-minute shower wasn’t even refreshing as he scrubbed his skin and repeatedly washed his hair to get all the blood off. Then he scrubbed the shower with bleach to get any blood residue to wash away.