Time to act. She charged forward out of the shadows and lifted her right arm up across her front, gripping the knife with the blade pointing down, thumb pressing the end of the handle to ensure it would go deep. She closed the gap quickly, then leaped up and, with a downward arc, drove the knife down into the soft gap between his neck and deltoid, behind the collar bone. In the gym with Evan, she had learned a few deadly techniques from him. The wound would severely debilitate him. If she cut an artery, he would bleed out internally.
The guard jerked up his head in anguish as she landed to his right and twisted the blade. He gave a guttural yell and released Elena. His right arm useless, Miguel twisted toward her and swung a powerful left open hand, striking Jackie in the face. Her head snapped to the side and she fell to the ground.
She raised a hand—dazed eyes met Elena’s.
“Momma!” she cried and reached out to her.
Miguel pushed Elena away with his left arm and shoved Jackie back with his right foot. By that time, ABCs had emerged from the room.
He gave Jackie a quick kick in her side as he pointed the gun at her head. “Oh, I love your spirit,” he sneered.
She looked up at his glowing red eyes, defiance shining through, and snarled, “You love nothing.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. But we’ll have plenty of time to discuss it. For now, I need you a bit more tame.” He paused for moment. “I imagine you’ll still be useful with a few broken ribs.” ABCs stepped back, lining up a harsher kick just as two gunshots rang out, jolting him out of the moment.
𓂓
A few minutes earlier, when they saw Jackie the first time, Sean had whispered the news to Clay, who stepped forward and peered over Michael’s shoulder. At first, he hadn’t seen anything, then suddenly, her silhouette appeared like an angel, softly illuminated from behind by the dimming lights of the SUV parked behind the main room.
She was giving hand signals.
Sean had relayed the message, “She saw two men down the hall. I think she’s going to—”
Muffled cries from inside interrupted him.
Clay saw Jackie’s attention snap back to the hallway and without hesitating, she flung the door open and, with an off-balance gait, slipped through.
The gunshot rocked Clay. He moved from behind Michael, intending to run in after Jackie, the white light in his eyes intensifying. As the amalgamation with Evan strengthened, something washed over them, like an incoming tide nourishing a rocky shore. With Evan, Clay had found his purpose. If necessary, he would give his life to save Elena. He understood that there is no higher purpose for an adult who has passed his zenith, than to sacrifice his remaining years to preserve those of a child who had not yet had a chance to live.
Michael put his arm out. “Not yet.” Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a soft white luminosity beginning to build. He turned his head to see the amalgamation take hold of Clay. His eyes glowed with a pure white fury that sent goosebumps all over Michael’s skin. The air seemed to crackle around them. The ground hummed once again like a subwoofer brought to life by the energy moving around and through them.
Michael looked over at Sean. “Take out the headlights.” Michael turned to aim at the left headlight and Sean did the same for the right. Michael squeezed the trigger first, the crack of the rifle reverberating off the walls. An instant later, Sean did the same. The inside of the main room fell dark.
“Go!” Michael said to Clay. “We’ll cover you. Stay low when you head down the hall.”
Clay didn’t hesitate. The connection with Evan, with the Wächtergeist, now surging through him, he moved deftly toward the far-left corner to the door Jackie had gone through.
Sean and Michael saw his white eyes glow as he stood, half hiding behind the column and the door. Michael put up his hand signaling Clay to pause, then he and Sean scanned the row of windows with their night scopes. Nothing.
Michael looked up and swung his hand, motioning Clay to go through. Clay pulled the door open and paused as he saw deep red eyes staring back at him from the other end of the dimly lit hall. Jackie and Elena were in a mass on the floor on the left. A guard leaned on the right-hand wall, holding his shoulder. He looked weak and pale. ABCs glowered at him from behind them all, hatred emanating from him. “You!” he snarled and lifted his handgun, taking aim at Clay.
Out of the night, two thunderous booms shook the air and the windows nearest to ABCs exploded, sending glass in all directions. Jackie reached for Elena and pulled her closer. ABCs stepped backward, instinctively pulling his arm up as shards of glass pelted him. Clay launched himself down the hallway, keeping as low as he could. Two more reports from the rifles shattered more glass. Clay/Evan sprinted through as if it was a steady rain on a warm summer evening. A pause and two more reports bought precious time to close the distance. Unarmed, he had no defense other than the speed and enhanced hand-to-hand combat skills merging with Evan gave him.
As Clay reached the group at the end of the hall, ABCs lifted his gun and opened fire on the approaching form before him. Red eyes erupted with angry sparks as he let his fury fly. He was not a good shot with his left hand, but the bullets still struck Clay one after another. The first landed in the side of his abdomen, then another further up, and another went through at the outside top of his chest. ABCs was pulling the trigger as he lifted the gun, landing those first three shots but missing from there as he continued firing. The next few bullets snapped by Clay’s head as he took the last couple of off-balance steps. He leaped between Jackie and the guard and, maintaining his momentum, Clay did what came naturally—he lowered his shoulder and drove his full mass into the gut of The Alphabet King. As they crashed to the floor, the men slid in a tangled mass of rage into the back wall. ABCs’ head was pinned against it, bending his neck at an agonizing angle. Clay lifted himself up and rained down a flurry of wild punches. Ground and pound, Evan called it from somewhere in the back of his mind.
Jackie clambered to her feet. Unsteady, she stumbled toward the opposite wall looking for an opening to help Clay. Pausing, she looked in horror as she saw ABCs working to get his left hand, which still held the gun, under Clay. She leaped at them, grabbing the hand and wrist that held the weapon. She fought his inhuman strength. Blood poured from Clay’s wounds. He slowed a bit. ABCs saw his opening and jerked his arm away from Jackie’s grasp. The gun went off again and hit Jackie on the inside of her left arm, tearing through the flesh of her triceps. She spasmed forward in pain and ABCs lifted the gun, striking her on the forehead with the butt of the weapon. Once again, Jackie fell unconscious.
Clay pushed down on ABCs’ left arm in an attempt to immobilize the gun, but it was no use. Even with Evan, his strength waned from the gunshots. ABCs forced his right hand up around Clay’s neck and push him to the side. He rolled off his back and swung the gun around, pointing it directly into Clay’s face. He paused for a moment, a wicked smile crossing his face, his red eyes searing into the fading white light of Clay’s weakening glare. ABCs squeezed the trigger, but nothing happened. He looked down to see the slide of his handgun locked back, indicating an empty magazine. He cursed and swung the gun down on the side of Clay’s head.
ABCs pried himself up from the pile of bodies, looked down at the lifeless forms of Jackie and Clay, and spat at them as he threw the gun down to the floor. Wiping his face with his arm, he looked up to see Elena balled up on the floor, peering out through her arms, unable to speak. Staring at her mother’s motionless form, she sobbed softly.
The guard had shrunk down to the floor. He was losing consciousness. ABCs walked up to him and saw the knife from his kitchen sunk deep into the inside of his shoulder. Killed him with a knife to the shoulder? He looked back at Jackie, knowing she must be something special. A feeling of admiration passed through him as he wiped his arm over his face again. ABCs reached down and took the gun from the holster of the fallen man and then grabbed Elena. Not wanting to waste ammo, he turned and left them all there to die.
He wouldn’t be able to get them both out. This one will have to do. He picked Elena up around the waist, carrying her like a bundle of sticks. She kicked and screamed as he started up the hallway, walking boldly toward the shattered windows. As he passed the first opening, a shot rang from the darkness. A bullet struck the wall above his head. He squatted, struggling to make progress carrying the little girl. He set her down on her feet and grabbed her by the wrist. She leaned away to resist him as he dragged her down the hall, screaming for her mother.
𓂓
The single shot that struck Jackie’s arm had spurred Michael into changing the game plan. He was out of ammo for the Remington anyway, so he set it down and signaled for Sean to cover him as he went for his Glock, which had been dropped somewhere near the spot he had collapsed. Michael peered cautiously at the fallen guard near the wall who had shot him before moving out into the courtyard.
Sean saw The Alphabet King emerge from the darkness of the hallway. He had him in his scope, but he was walking strangely. Small arms and legs came in and out of view and Sean understood, he was carrying Elena. Not wanting to lose his chance, Sean took aim and fired a shot well over ABCs’ head. If ABCs had seen Michael in the courtyard, he may have opened fire. He couldn’t be sure. This way, ABCs would drop down out of view and Sean wouldn’t risk hurting Elena.
Michael jumped at the unexpected shot, then moved more quickly toward the spot he thought his gun would be. He looked around in the darkness for a moment and saw the glint of the Glock. He knelt to pick it up, knocked it against his palm to get the dirt off, and pulled back the slide. One in the chamber. He was sure the clip had a few rounds left. That’s all he needed. He turned to Sean, who signaled that he had seen someone in the hall. Michael turned in his crouch and raised the gun. He didn’t see anything. He looked back to Sean, who mouthed something to him in hushed tones. He stood and tracked back to him so he wouldn’t have to shout, keeping his aim up at the hallway. When he got close enough, he heard Sean. “ABCs has Elena and he’s heading up the hall.”
Michael reversed directions and loped toward the far corner where Jackie had stood, where Clay had gone through running into gunfire unarmed. He’d heard the gunshots but didn’t know what had happened. As he approached the door, he heard Elena’s struggling cries. Staying low, he came around and through the broken windows of the main room, stopping at the same column. He leaned his head in to look down the hall and saw ABCs hunched low, clutching Elena’s hand while he pushed his handgun into his waistband. Then he saw his hand move to the handle of the nearest door and begin to open it.
Michael had just a moment to decide. He looked down at the door handle and realized that he would have to pull the door open to get a shot off. Instead, he decided to swing around and aim up and over into the nearest broken window of the hallway. He turned around and took a step out into the courtyard. His foot caught an empty can on the ground, sending it tumbling noisily end over end into the basketball court. He paused and cursed, knowing ABCs would be watching over the window ledge.
Michael swung back around the column and poked his head in/out of viewing position through the window. The light from the door ABCs had opened momentarily blinded him. Two quick shots struck the glass as Michael pulled his head back just in time. He heard shuffling and struggling, more little screams as ABCs dragged Elena into the room. Then the door closed audibly behind them, the light fading to a thin glow around the seams of the doorway. Michael looked back through the cracked glass and saw shadows moving in the light that shined through the gap under the door.
Frantically, he waved for Sean to come over. Michael stepped out and pointed over the windowsill facing the door. “He went into a room. You can see the outline of light around the doorway.”
Sean looked up and nodded.
“I’m going to push the door open,” Michael continued. “If you have a shot, take it.”
Sean nodded and moved to take up position, aiming over the windowsill. Michael went back inside and grabbed the hallway door handle. He pulled the door open and stepped into the hall. The scene at the end struck him like a wrecking ball. A dim light shone from a room at the end of the hall, illuminating the motionless forms of Clay and Jackie. A guard was slumped against the wall. Michael wanted to go see if he could help but something told him they were probably lost. He could save a life right now. He looked up at Sean and flattened himself against the wall. He reached his arm out and pushed open the door to the lit room, then quickly stepped back into cover behind the wall.
“Clear,” Sean whispered. He pulled the gun from over the windowsill and ran around through the door to stand beside his brother in front of the doorway. The well-lit room was empty. Wooden doors of a hatch had been thrown open. ABCs was in the tunnels with Elena. All had been lost.
