2 Does he need saving?
"For a kid who's been injected with a pure dose of CND, you are surprisingly smart," Damian praises as he unhinges the restraints on Lila's hands with the remote control.
He orders one of his subordinates and a researcher, Rames, to investigate. Nodding in approval, he watches as an unsuspecting nurse is overpowered and pushed against Lila.
In a bid to rid herself of the burden placed on her, Lila pushes back on the lady, unintentionally activating her ability.
"Eeeeee!" A screech can be heard from the nurse as she convulses and drops to the floor with a speedy rate of decomposition until nothing but dust particles are left.
There is a glow dimmed out by the blindfolds on Lila's eyes.
Damian looks at his wristwatch, making a countdown until the effect of the touch begins to emerge.
'Nooo!'
Sylvester watches Lila's body convulse, her screams of pain suppressed by the gag.
Damian's smirk only turns sinister as he watches Sylvester burn with rage.
"What horrors do you feel, little one? Did she kill little monsters like you?" He mocks Lila, mimicking her convulsion.
"The nurse must have been a bad... bad lady." He continues in a high-pitched voice, chuckling as he relishes in watching Lila react aggressively to the touch.
The rest all watch silently, suspicious of who their superior could pick on for yet another representation.
His attention is focused on the monitor once more.
Ding!
Diiiiiiing!
[... loading 12%]
Sylvester hides a grin underneath his stoic expression, ignoring the pain of the tubes stabbing him as they do. There is something different about his perception.
Leaning to the side, Rames adjusts his glasses as he whispers, "Sir, I think we might have gone a little too far–"
Damian pushes back against Rames who had been caught in yet another suspended motion.
Whipping his head toward the boy, his jaw drops at the glowing eyes of Sylvester that glare back.
"You're meant to be sedated–"
Boom!
____________
10 minutes ago
Outside the facility, heaps of unconscious bodies of the soldiers who are stationed around the premises of a one-floor building lie everywhere.
Hidden among the tall trees deep in the forest, the moonlight shines on a group of seven outlaws who advance and crouch in front of the huge metal door. They raise their heads to the grim reminder of what this means for their kind.
"Dahlia, are you sure we can rescue them?" a boy whispers with uncertainty about the plan of their leader.
She's wearing a black tank top with a v-cut neckline that shows off her ample cleavage, tucked into her denim shorts. A belt made of vines is strapped around her waist.
Glaring to the side, her blue eyes glow as her brown hair flies wildly around her with a rising dissatisfaction at the question.
A vine creeps and wraps around the boy's neck, tightening its grip the more she stares at him with a blank face.
Gasp!
Gasp!
"I'm sorry..." he mutters, wary of the spikes protruding from the vines.
There is dead silence as the rest can't speak, all eyes on the bushes or walls as a distraction.
Getting gratification as she watches the boy struggle, she scoffs and releases her hold on the vines afterward.
Cough!
Holding his neck while hyperventilating, the boy let out a sigh of relief to be alive.
"Those unconscious bodies beg to differ, dimwit!" she hisses.
"Are we all ready?!" Dahlia announces, raising her arm to signal the rest who stand guard and those crouching as she was.
They all give a nod with a grunt.
Placing a hand on the door, a girl with pink hair tied in twin ponytails cackles loudly as the metal door trembles under the pressure of her touch.
Wi! Wi! Wi!
The alarms are blown as the CCTV searches for the intruders.
Zzt!
The sizzling remains of the camera drop to the floor as the rest gawk in awe.
Dahlia whips her head at a blonde boy who shoots out lightning from his fingers, mimicking a gun.
A smile makes its way to her face at the quick thinking.
"My bad," he chuckles, scratching the back of his neck. "I must have missed that one."
Shaking her head at his excuse, she turns around to the girl, who has formed huge creases on the door as the screeching sound intensified.
"That's enough, Mae," Dahlia claps her hands. "It's your turn, Adam."
Pushing up his black sleeves, Adam grins as his green eyes glow, raising his fists to the door.
The crooked door flings open with a crash on the inside.
"Be ready," she warns.
Stepping in, Dahlia raises her hand and makes a clench that signals everyone to stop.
There is something strange about not meeting resistance upon their entry.
'This isn't like them,' she shakes her head, her gut feeling warning her of impending danger.
Turning her head slightly to listen, she jumps back in shock the moment she hears screams down the hallway, with a monstrous screech following right after.
The rest all look just as shocked and fear-stricken as their leader is.
Shattered glass and crash noises can be heard coming from the locked room that holds the awakeners.
"Would it be safe to assume we weren't the only ones who triggered that alarm earlier?" one of them utters, masking his nervousness with a chuckle.
A bulge on the metal door makes their eyes all widen in shock as some of them turn to Mae for consolation, as though hoping she would lie to them and say it was her doing.
"It's not me; you're not fools. My abilities don't work that way!" She snaps, folding her arms and rolling her eyes.
Bang!
Bang!
Boom!
The door flings open as a scientist crawls out, his broken glasses tilting on his bloodied face, and slips onto the floor.
His right eye closes from an impact they can't verify.
Dahlia tilts her head to observe he is missing his right leg from the knee. The jagged ripped edges of the purple pants stained in blood make her wince at the sight.
His right hand is outstretched to the blurry outline of a group of people he mistakes for soldiers.
"H–help m... m.. me!" He cries out in horror, looking behind him momentarily as he hears a blood-curdling scream resonate from the room.
Pulling himself forward with all his might with shaky fingers and a bruised elbow, he cries as he repeatedly reaches out to the group, tears trailing down his face.
"I don't want to die, I have my family to–"
There is a gasp from some of the outlaws as they watch his head heat up till it is visibly red.
'What the hell?!' Dahlia flinches, taking a step back.
A figure slowly emerges from behind, making a stop in front of the scientist.
'I found you!' Sylvester crackles in his thoughts, his hand covering half of his face with a twisted smile. Looking down on Rames
A frown forms on Dahlia's brows to the unidentified teenager, "who are you?"
Bam!
Sylvester stomps hard with the heels of his bare foot on the scientist's head without a second thought.
Breaking his jaw from the impact and compression of the head, blood splatters around, staining the gray walls.
Splurt!
"Hahaha!" Sylvester's outburst in a peal of maniacal laughter rings out as he repeatedly stomps on the remains of Rames.
'That's for causing Lila so much pain!'
Bam!
'That's for all you've done to me, you fucker!'
There is an awkward silence as all six outlaws hide behind Dahlia in fear of the threat.
"Are you sure we are in the right facility?! He doesn't look like he needs saving." Mae hisses through the corner of her lips.
Dahlia stares at the frail-looking boy who looks just about their age.
In contrast to his bony frame, she can tell that the stomps he had made have been augmented by his ability.
They all watch as he pulls his feet off the corpse, kicking off the blood with disgust.
Looking over his shoulder and at the group of teenagers, a smirk tugs at the corner of his lips.
'Teenagers, interesting.'
The rest cower in fear at his glare, feeling an intimidating aura much stronger than that of their leader.
Dahlia raises her chin, stomaching the fear as she speaks confidently, "our source says there are other awakeners held in here, are they still alive?"
'Sources? What sources? There are others apart from my sister and me?' Sylvester contemplates his options but refuses to respond.
Instead, he looks down at the scientist, placing his feet on the corpse, and wiping the rest of the blood on his white lab coat.
'Disgusting! Why won't this come off?' He complains, kicking the corpse multiple times to vent his frustration.
Dahlia lets out a little chuckle in disbelief at his action.
"Don't interfere, if you want to live." Sylvester threatens in a hoarse voice before walking back into the room.
Before closing the door behind him, he peeps through the little crack, shaking his head to affirm his claim.
There is still one scientist he has saved for last, there is no way he would condone interference at the start of his revenge on his captors.
Click!
"What do we do?"
"Whoever he is, he can handle this; we don't need to risk our butt off."
Dahlia hisses at her teammates' comments. "Who said we were risking anything?"
She clenches her hands into fists behind her back and glares at the door, ignoring the sounds of crashing and screaming from inside.
"Our mission is to save the five awakeners in there. If we can only save four, I can leave here without regrets," she says firmly.
Her teammates look at her in uncertainty, their gazes switching between her and the door.
"Should we try going through the front door?" Mae asks, pointing ahead and shaking her head.
A smile creeps onto Dahlia's face as she thinks of a different approach to the situation. She takes a few steps toward Mae and places her hands on her friend's shoulders.
"That's where you come in," she says.
