sᴏɴɢ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs
ᴍᴇᴡ - ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ sʟɪᴅᴇs
(ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴍʏ ғᴀᴠ sᴏɴɢ sɪɴᴄᴇ ɪᴛ ᴄᴀᴍᴇ ᴏᴜᴛ)

×

ɪɴ ᴀ ʙᴜɪʟᴅɪɴɢ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴜɪɴs

ᴀᴠɪʟᴀ

I keep my eyes on the person running into another hall, my heart races as I realize Azrael may have been shot. I turn the flashlight on and hear the rest of the group enter the room I exited.

"Shit, I almost got shot," Azrael says running behind me.

I glance back quickly and grin, "you're okay! But did Devon get hit?"

"Sort of, it grazed him."

I shake my head, "is he okay though?"

"Yeah, he's just overreacting," Azrael whispers as we walk past a gun dropped on the floor.

We enter a room with light, we keep our weapons aimed and ready to fire. There's 2 lanterns on the floor, papers scattered across the room, and blankets laid out.

Then I hear movement in a closet. Azrael is ready to shoot as I pull open the door, but whoever it is, is underneath a blanket.

"Please don't hurt me!" A quiet voice says. "I thought you guys took my papa."

"Wait huh?" Azrael whispers, he pulls the blanket off, it's a young girl.

She looks at us, her big hazel eyes tearing up, the tears roll down her tanned rosy cheeks.

She has on a pink winter hat with yellow strings, her dark brown hair is in braids resting on her shoulders.

"Please don't hurt me." She says, "my papa said to hide." Her voice has a slight Spanish accent to it.

"We won't hurt you," I say, Azrael looks over at me concerned. I push down his rifle that's still pointed at her. "Its a kid," I whisper to him.

"What's your name," I ask her.

"I'm Micah." She says staring at the floor.

"My name is Avila and this is Azrael," I say. Her and Azrael exchange smiles.

"Where's the shooter?!" Jeremiah shouts entering the room, then he notices Micah.

"Is she the shooter?" He asks, observing the room.

"Yeah, this is Micah," Azrael says.

"My papa...was taking me to that big city... Then these bad guys they- they came inside here and took him." Micah says between soft cries.

"What did they look like?" Sasha asks entering.

"They were wearing gray, their faces were covered. They said my papa owed them." Micah sighs and covers her face. "He made maps to the city. He likes to draw."

She takes out a folded paper from her jacket pocket and shows us, "He drew me." I look down at the sketch, it looks exactly like her.

"Jeremiah we can't leave her," I say.

Jeremiah takes a deep breath and sighs, "I know."

"Micah you can come with us, but I think we should go to the city so we can get help and find your dad." Jeremiah says as he stands up, "you said you have a map?"

Micah nods and crawls over to the maps on the floor, then hands him the papers. Sasha walks over to Micah and tries to make her happy as Jeremiah inspects the papers

"Where's that bitch who shot me!?" Devon yells as he rushes into the room.

"Grazed you." Azrael corrects him.

"It was a kid relax," I say, standing up. Sasha looks back at Micah nervously.

"A kid shot me?! What you couldn't put the puppy down?" Devon says, he pulls out a handgun and points it at Micah.

"Lower your weapon, Devon. Now!" Jeremiah shouts, but Devon doesn't listen.

Azrael steps forward to stop him, but instead, I lift my rifle, brace it against my shoulder and aim it at Devon.

"Devon drop the gun or you lose what's between your legs!" I shout aiming the rifle between his legs. Everyone looks back at me.

He stares at me timidly, doubting that I will take the shot.

I smirk, "don't regret this. Or you'll be saying bye to Vanessa."

"No, she shot me! I'm gonna shoot her back. I don't care if she's a kid. I don't discriminate." Devon said shaking the gun.

"Devon. I promise you, I will shoot you." I assure him.

I pull the trigger and shoot the floor to scare him, Devon jumps back, "Holy shit! Okay, okay!" He turns away limping.

Jeremiah turns to me, "Avila really? No wasting ammo, we need it."

"Oh, you're one to talk-" I say stepping forward but Azrael pulls my arm back.

"Avila ignore him," Azrael whispers to me.

"Right." I sigh.

Jeremiah claps, "We are good to go. Grab the lanterns." Jeremiah folds the papers and hands me them, "Don't lose them, let's go!" Of course, he gives them to me. Sasha takes Micah's hand and we all head out.

Azrael begins laughing.

"What?" I ask.

"You looked pretty badass when you pointed the gun at Devon." He says looking over at me, "I waited for you to take the shot though, I began cheering you on in my head."

"My own cheerleader!" I smile, "I should've shot him though. Shut him up." I say.

Azrael nods and nudges my arm, "You can shoot me anytime." He says winking.

"Tell me when and we have a date." I nudge him back.

He bites his bottom lip, "Deal."

ɪɴsɪᴅᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀʟʟs ᴏғ ʜᴀᴠᴇɴ
ᴅᴇᴏʀᴜᴍ ᴍᴏʀᴛᴇᴍ, ʜǫ

sɪᴏʙʜᴀɴ

I zoom in on the feed of Avila still continuing her path here. She finally hit her checkpoint.

ʀᴇᴀɢᴀɴ ɪs ᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴅᴏᴏʀ. My office AI says.

"Let her in," I say. I turn to the door automatically opening, "she hit the checkpoint!" I say to Reagan.

Reagan stands their stunned and smiles blankly, unamused. Her husband would have been proud.

Her voice shakes, "Congrats, but Siobh- Ma'am your project has started with Number 8."

I stare at the worry across her face, "okay bring me to him."

I follow behind Reagan to the elevator, "how's your husband?" I ask.

Reagan looks up at me, "Dorian is great!"

"That's good, and your kids?" I ask.

"They are also good. Dorian took them to the fountain." Reagan says enthusiastically.

In the middle of Haven, there's a lovely scenic garden, with a stone fountain, and a beautiful green archway formed above it. The creators of Haven all signed their names into it.

All entry to the basement requires an authorized fingerprint. Reagan places her finger on a metal pad and the elevator doors pull open.

It looks different than the other floors, no windows. The floors aren't marble anymore, they're black and white tiles, and the walls are steel.

This is where the flushing happens.

The fluorescent lights above us flicker.

"Why did you sound so worried?" I ask Reagan.

"Number 8," Reagan says.

"What happened?" I ask.

She points to a door bolted shut- it locks for emergencies.

There are 2 doctors still inside, and a man with them. Who must be Eight? The doctors taze Eight, which seems to only anger him.

The medical bed is sideways on the floor, he must've ripped right out the restraints.

Eight faces the doctors, he's human but the way he looks at them is like there's no human left.

He raises his arms, and his fingers stretch into claws. The doctors begin to scream and bang on the door to escape.

Reagan who was beside me is now behind me against the wall.

"Please Miss Siobhan! Let us out!" They beg. I stare at them, expressionless. Then I shake my head no.

"You bitch!" The male doctor shouts, making me grin.

The doors window is covered in sweaty hand prints. Eight grabs the female doctor and throws her onto the floor. A scream bellows out the room. I can't see what's happening, the window isn't long enough.

Then I see blood splatter against the walls. He stands up straight holding her head.

I smirk, as the male doctor screams and bangs harder. "Reagan! Open this door! Please!"

"Give up." I mouth to the doctor. Tears fill his eyes as he bangs one more time against the window.

Eight drops the head, and pulls the doctor back, giving us a show to what he's doing.

Eight forces his arm completely through the doctor's chest, the doctor's mouth fills with blood

In Eights hand is the doctor's heart, he drops it and pulls his arm back out. The doctor's body falls to the ground.

I start clapping, Eight looks up at me and a grim smile spreads across his face.

"Is the telepathic link ready?" I ask Reagan.

I glance back at her as she nods, "it-it should be."

I look over at Eight, crush his head, I think to myself. Eight looks down and picks up the doctor by his head, his hands squeezing the doctors head. The doctors head crushes, like the sound of a watermelon being crushed.

Blood splatters across the wall, and the window.

The sound of the bone popping is music to me.

I unlock the door and hear the guards running down the hall to restrain him. Eight stands there panting, blood all over him, the bodies are lifeless on the floor. Blood is everywhere, bits from the doctors head too.

Eight stares at me as I bend down and pick up the heart from the doctor. I exit the room as the guards fill inside to tranquilize him.

Reagan is down the hall by the elevator. She must've rushed away as soon as I unlocked the door. I walk over to her.

"We can begin taking adults for safety, care and a home here in Haven," I say sarcastically.

She glances at the heart in my hand and nods, "Yes ma'am." She begins marking stuff into her tablet.

Reagan points behind me, I turn around and notice I left a trail of bloody shoeprints.

"Get someone down here to clean the mess up," I say to her. "Now!"

ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴜɪɴs

ᴀᴠɪʟᴀ

Time passed which revolved around Sasha claiming she would be an amazing mother, Micah agreeing, Devon complaining about his leg, and how Micah still deserves to get shot.

Azrael abruptly stops and stares up at the buildings, "Jeremiah, I think we should take a different route."

Jeremiah responds, "Why? This is the perfect route, on the map, it shows the other blocks curve different directions..." 

"Those flags." Azrael points up to the red flags hanging from different windows.

"You think we are in someone's territory?" I ask.

"Yea, the streets are cleared out," Azrael responds.

"This could be the way the white vans go." Jeremiah says, "they have the flags so they don't go off route."

"No I don't think so, they look familiar," Azrael says.

I walk to Azrael and show him the map, "we are almost out of this area soon anyway. Let's forget the flags."

"Can we take a rest Jeremiah- you have me walking my ass off, I'm in pain." Devon whines.

"There's a church right there." Vanessa points, "he needs to rest Jeremiah. At least a few hours."

Relentlessly Jeremiah nods, "Okay. But we can't keep stopping." He looks up at the night sky.

We all head across the street to the church, it's huge. It must be a cathedral. It's similar to the castles I've read in books.

The cathedral is pretty big inside too. The moonlight spills in through the cracked windows, and our steps echo against the marble stone floor.

"Make sure the church is clear". Jeremiah whispers.

Vanessa and Delilah head out deeper into the church to confirm. Their flashlights shrinking into the darkness. We wait by the door till they come back.

×

"Clear," Delilah says and Vanessa nods.

Everyone slides into a pew and chatters quietly. I look over at Azrael who is still standing facing the church doors.

×

I open my eyes as I sit up, the sunshine leaks through the windows, reflecting off of the stained glass shattered on the floor.

Shit, we must've all fell asleep. I rub my eyes and look around, I can faintly hear someone talking.

Across the church I see Azrael talking with 2 unfamiliar guys.

"Azrael, this is the group you're with now?" One of the guys laugh, his blonde hair is tied into a ponytail.

"What do you want?" Azrael asks.

"It's like fate, you made it back to your family. We thought we saw you walking out there. The Boss was like  'Nah it can't be him.' But here you are." The other guy says tattoos cover his face completely.

"He wants to see you." The blonde man says.

"Yeah. Well, I don't want to see him." Azrael says turning away, "leave, and return our weapons." As he turns he sees me staring at him.

The blonde man pulls him back, "no you're coming with us. You listen to the Boss's rules. You said an oath. He let you leave the first time. He just wants to chat. After all, he is your father."

Wait I thought he said his parents were mauled in front of him.

Azrael pushes him off, "no."

The blonde man pulls out a handgun and aims it at his face, "yes you are."

I reach down to my rifle but it's not there, I stand up and the guys with Azrael look over at me. "Who's this now?" The tatted face asks.

"Avila..?" Azrael says.

"Hey let him go," I say.

I look over and notice Micah peeking from behind a pew. I shake my head and she lays back down.

"Interesting. Avila. This is the girl you met. The Boss may want to see her too." The blonde guy says.

Tatted face tilts his head and smiles, then he begins running to me.

I pull my throwing knife out my boot and out its sheath. I raise my hand to throw it but tatted face shoots it right out my hand with his handgun.

"Don't hurt her!" Azrael shouts. Tatted face raises his gun and strikes it down.

Then everything goes black.

×

I can hear a slight ringing in my ears I open my eyes and notice everything is upside down. I sit up, I'm being carried by the bitch who knocked me out. My legs dangle over his arms.

I look in front of us, Azrael is being force pulled with a gun to his head.

"She's awake." The tatted face says, I push him off me and fall onto the floor. I stand up and punch him in the temple. Causing him to take a few steps back and gain his balance.

"What the fuck? You knocked me out?" I shout.

"Avila?" Azrael says, "oh my god."

"Where are we going?" I say stepping back.

The blonde guy turns to me and points the gun at me, "Home. Now quit it. Relax before those fuck-ups come this way." He must be talking about the creatures.

The tatted face looks at me and pulls me into him, he holds me by the arm tightly and presses his gun into my back. I lead in front of him, following behind Azrael.

They walk us down a different block where red flags hang in each window.

I have so many questions. No wonder why Azrael recognized the flags. This must be the group he was with before.

His dad's group.

ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ғᴏʀ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ!!

ɪ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ.

sᴏʀʀʏ ғᴏʀ ʜᴏᴡ ʟᴏɴɢ ɪᴛ ɪs.

ᴀʟsᴏ sᴏʀʀʏ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴏɴɢ ᴡᴀɪᴛ, ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴀɴ ᴏғғɪᴄɪᴀʟ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʟᴏʟ.

ᴅᴏɴᴛ ғᴏʀɢᴇᴛ ᴛᴏ ғᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴛ!

sᴇᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ɴᴇxᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ! :) ❤