Soulless

Chapter 19

I hit cold metal, my shoulder landing first, then my torso, and all my breath left me. I gasped, pain shooting through me. I couldn’t hear anything but ringing in my ears, again, only worse this time, like someone had set off a fire alarm in my brain, rattling the damned bell so hard I couldn’t concentrate on anything else. One by one, little agonies began to work their way into my consciousness; a searing pain in my shoulder, a feeling in my knee like I’d been hit with a hammer, and the taste of blood flowing in my mouth.

I worked my way to my knees and opened my eyes. I’d landed on a metal catwalk and below me was inky blackness. I looked above, to where I’d come from, and far up there I could see a smoking bit of ductwork, mangled by the explosion and my passage through the metal. Tracing it back toward the wall, it was ballooned comically, as though someone had pushed the sides out with all the ease of crumpling tinfoil. I wondered if Scott and Reed were all right, but something told me that even if they were, I wasn’t going to be seeing them come down the way I had.

I gripped the railing of the catwalk, trying to force myself to my feet. It seemed to be harder this time than I could recall it being in the past. I had pains everywhere, but after a minute of solid effort I made it to my feet, leaning on the railing for support. I looked both directions the catwalk extended, and decided I needed to pick one. I finally decided on right, not totally at random, but close. Why? Because it was the right way. I couldn’t bring myself to even chuckle at my horrible pun, such was the pain in my body.

I staggered along, my right leg starting to numb the more I walked. I didn’t think it was broken, but I knew I was going to have one bitch of a bruise on it later. I kept my right arm close to my body because the shoulder cried out in anguish anytime I moved it. I had lost my main gun in the explosion and fall, but I had pulled my backup, a much smaller weapon with a smaller magazine, a Walther PPK. Unfortunately, all I had was the seven shots it gave me, and then I’d be out.

My shoes clanked on the catwalk, and I hoped there was no one hiding below that could hear me. It was so dark underneath that it would be near impossible to tell. I took a fragment of duct that had blown loose from the explosion and dropped it over the side of the catwalk. I listened, but either because of the ringing in my ears or the distance it fell, I didn’t hear it land.

Ahead I saw the outline of a door, a big, heavy metal one. I urged myself forward, resting more and more weight on my wounded leg. It still stung, but I knew now that nothing was broken, which meant that all I needed to do was fight through the pain. The bad news was, there was quite a bit of it to fight through.

I reached the door and grasped the handle, turning it slowly. I pushed the heavy metal with my shoulder, trying not to rush or fall through. I cracked it and looked inside, finding a concrete room with some lockers along one wall and a set of double doors that went on into the room beyond.

I led with my gun, limping into the room. Some caution signs were posted on the double doors, but they didn’t stop me. The doors swung open for me, and I found myself in another room, walking on metal catwalks that led to a center platform with something sunken in the middle. I felt a chill; the room was like nothing I’d seen before in anything other than a movie. Large, cylindrical metal tanks were clustered below in hexagons, ominous chemical configurations written on the sides with warnings not to disturb the contents.

The whole room was cold, bitterly so, as bad as winter, and I wished for the first time that day that I’d been wearing my gloves and jacket. I felt goosebumps rise on my arms as I approached the center of the room. The catwalk gave way for the circular platform, which looked like it had a segment of metal in the middle that was removable. Exactly what it slid away for, I wasn’t sure, but it was obvious that it was patterned differently than the rest of the platform.

“Sienna?” The man’s voice caught my attention, turning me around. He was behind me, in front of the doors I had just come through, his face barely visible in the dim light of the room. He was wearing a tight shirt, no buttons, and jeans that would have stirred my imagination even if I hadn’t seen him naked the night before.

“James?” I let out a deep breath, all tension. “You found me.”

“It wasn’t that hard,” he said. “There’s only one Omega facility in eastern Wisconsin – or anywhere east until New York.” He walked down the catwalk, approaching slowly, his hands extended. “God, it looks like they tore you up…what happened?”

I brushed a strand of bloodied hair out of my face. “They fired an RPG into the duct I was using to enter the building.” I laughed under my breath, a dark chuckle without any real humor. “I wish I’d stayed in Eau Claire with you. I think it would have been less painful.”

“No kidding.” He was only a few feet away now, easing closer, when he came to a stop. “I don’t mean to be rude, because I know we’re in the middle of kind of a hostile place here, but are you gonna keep pointing your gun at me?”

“For now, yes,” I said, and the playfulness was out of my voice. “Sorry, James. I don’t really know you all that well, do I? You turn up in an Omega base at a convenient moment, and although you may genuinely be here to help me, I can’t rule out the possibility that you’re working with the enemy.”

He flushed but managed to keep his expression under control. “Ouch. So our time together doesn’t count for much, does it?”

I stared at him evenly. “Our time together was less than a cumulative hour. So, no…I don’t entirely trust you. I’m sorry if that offends you. If you turn out to be on the level, I promise I’ll make it up to you in spectacular fashion, but you’re going to have to forgive me if I don’t trust you with my life yet.”

He looked at me in cool amusement, hands at his sides. “You were going to sleep with me not twelve hours ago.”

“I was. I might still, depending on how this turns out.”

“Do I need to point out how screwed up that is?” he asked.

I cocked my head at him. “I’ve yet to touch another human being for more than ten seconds without killing them. Just because I wanted you badly doesn’t mean I unconditionally trust you. My life is on the line here. Respect that, and we can see what Omega is up to together.”

“I’m afraid I can’t respect that,” he said, one of his hands coming to rest on the railing. His face was calm, still, almost a mask compared to the sly, seductive man that had been unable to keep his hands off me for the last two days. “It hurts, Sienna.” He turned his face away, clutching the railing with both hands. “It really hurts.” He looked back at me and I caught a glimmer of something that scared me. “But not as much as it’s going to hurt you.”

The railing snapped off in his hands and he whipped it at me. I fired, missing him twice before the metal rail hit me in the hands, jarring my gun out of them and sending it spiraling away. The end of the rail hit me in the side of the face as I tried to dodge, drawing a cry of pain and causing me to fall down, landing on my back, the metal of the catwalk clattering as I landed.

I felt the pain running down my spine, but I only had a moment to feel it before he was there, grabbing both my arms and forcing me down. He was strong, and his face was twisted with rage. All the handsomeness that I had admired was gone as he put his weight and strength into holding me against the catwalk. He slammed my head into the hard metal and I felt the room spin. “You should have stayed with me in Eau Claire.” He was spitting as he said it, little flecks dropping onto my face.

“I can’t tell you how glad I am that I didn’t,” I said as I brought my leg up and hit him on the side of his thigh. I aimed for the groin but he had angled himself so that I couldn’t. He grunted and slapped me, hard. I gasped at him in surprise and bucked my entire body, flexing the muscles in my abdomen, bringing my forehead up fast. I felt it make contact with his nose, and I heard the break, felt warm blood wash down my face as he rolled off, shouting and cursing.

“You bitch!” He was clutching his face, a splatter of red smudging his mouth as I struggled to my feet. He rose, a few feet away, glaring at me, his eyes on fire with rage, a world of difference from when he had been kissing and caressing me only the night before.

“So, you’re with Omega?” I kept my distance; my right shoulder still in agony, my leg hurt unbelievably and was slowing me down. In addition, I had a host of aches and pains that filled my body, and made me want to just lay down and die. “They sent you to sleep with me?”

“No, they sent me to recruit you,” he said, holding his nose with one hand while he watched me. “The sleeping with you would have just been a bonus. I usually don’t get to take my time with a woman, you know. They all die so quickly, and it’s not much fun then. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the rush from the absorption is amazing, it’s like a drug, but when that’s done they just lie there—”

“You’re quite the disgusting pig.” I felt a shudder of revulsion run through every part of me. I wished I could parboil my skin off and replace it with a new set. For all I knew, I could and it would just grow back.

“I preferred the sweet nothings you whispered to me last night,” he said, jumping at me, swiping out with his hand to grab me. I dodged and maintained my footing, just barely, but my leg screamed in pain. He came at me again, grasping with his hands, and I caught one of them and pulled, taking him off balance. He started to fall and dragged me down with him. Had I been in peak condition, I would have been able to avoid it; as it was, I just tried to land with a knee in his belly. He grunted and slapped me again. I felt a sharp pain and blood started to trickle down my lips as I landed on him.

I tensed my guts, trying to protect myself, and tucked my elbows close, using my left to hit him across the face. He took another swipe at me but I fended it off, keeping my elbows locked and my hands up, guarding my face. I hit him in the nose twice, causing him to cry out, then his whole body heaved as he bucked and threw me forward. I tried to catch myself and roll out of it but my head hit the metal of the platform and I saw stars. My body came to a landing, pain racing down my back, and while I was trying to shake the colors out of my vision he got on top of me and punched me in the face twice.

I was stunned and he grabbed hold of me by the front of my blouse, holding me up while he hit me again. I heard the cloth tear and felt my head hit the cold metal, a fog surrounding me. “It could have been really nice between us, Sienna, but you just had to go and screw it all up.” He was pacing around me now, and I saw him raise a leg and then felt a searing pain in my ribs. “Now you’ve exposed our location, you’ve ruined any chance of us having a pleasant evening, and what am I supposed to tell my bosses when I bring you to them? I was supposed to deliver you alive, but honestly, I don’t think that’s gonna happen now.” He kicked me again, and I heard a scream, and it took my sluggish mind a minute to work out that it was my voice doing the screaming.

“I mean, look at this.” He grabbed me by the face and shook me, forcing me to look at him. “You broke my nose. Sure, it’ll heal, but nobody does that. Not to me. Especially not some little teenage bitch that should have been grateful I even took the time to pay attention to her.” He punched me in the face again, but I could barely feel it by this point. “I mean, it would have been good between us. Better than you’d ever have again, that’s for sure. But you had to go and—”

I had steadily inched my left leg up, resting the bottom of my foot on the ground. I hoped he would just assume I was trying to curl up in the fetal position. I wasn’t, although I was sure that’d feel better than the way I was laying presently. My hand reached down, grasping, trying not to be obvious, while he was directing all his hatred at my face. I pulled the knife Glen Parks had told me to carry as a backup out of its strap. I was grateful, not for the first time in the last few minutes, that James had never gotten me out of my pants, or he would have seen it.

I brought the knife across his face with a blind stroke. I had aimed to land it in his temple, but he moved at the last second and I caught him with a jagged slash just under his left eye and punctured his nose. He let out a cry and screamed as he dropped me, my shoulders hitting the metal catwalk again, but without much pain this time. I rolled to my hands and knees, still clenching the knife. “I had to go and what? Save myself from doing something I’d regret?” I spit blood in his face as I got to my knees. “Thank God. I can’t believe I let you touch me, you soulless piece of filth—”

He yelled and jumped from where he lay to come at me, grabbing my hand that was holding the knife before I could attack him with it. He slammed me down again and I struggled, but I felt him reversing the grip. I poured the last of my strength into it, but he was too strong, too vicious. I stared into his scarred face as blood dripped down from his nose onto my forehead, smelled his breath, the foulness of it, all trace of sweetness gone. I felt the very tip of the knife against my belly, felt the first sting of pain as it pierced me, just a centimeter, as I fought to keep him from killing me.

He wore a satisfied leer, and the darkness and shadows made him look demonic. “You could have just had me inside—”

Something hit James in the side of the head with devastating force and he flopped off, unconscious. I was breathing deep, panting, and a gloved hand reached down, offering me help. “I wouldn’t worry about it,” Charlie said, looking at the little bit of blood running down my belly where he’d stabbed me. “I’ve been with him; you’re not missing anything.”