Chapter 26

I stare wide eyed and slack jawed at the place where the burnt man once sat. He simply disappeared in the blink of an eye. My mind refuses to accept whatever the fuck I’ve just seen. I flick my head back and forth between the two remaining talnarins and the empty tree. They did that, right? They had to have. Only… they look as surprised as me. If they didn’t do it, then who did? I whip my head around looking for the source, only to come up empty. We are completely alone in the courtyard.

My anger peaks as I realize the man with the answers is gone. And with him, goes my chance at finally understanding what happened to me. With him, goes my chance at finally knowing why. With him, goes my chance at possibly finding Him. With him, goes my chance at finding out who else is involved. With him, goes my chance of stopping Them.

Without thinking, I scream, “What in the Hellvian did you do? He’s gone and so are your answers!”

Their faces freeze, stripped of emotion. It’s terrifying to see. They both turn and face me with only the blaze in their eyes depicting their fury. I fucked up. I need to think quick, and get myself out of this mess. He might just kill me now. What can I say?

“Will you help me?” I blurt and internally cringe. That’s it, Alanna? Really? At least I managed not to scream at them again. “I need to find someone.”

“Why should I, girl?” Asshat’s voice is so cold, I can’t help but flinch. He has a point. I panicked and that was the first thing that came to me. These assassins, or whatever they are, would just get in my way. Or they’d kill me, whichever comes first, I suppose. Keeping them around is just asking for trouble, and trouble is something I could use far less of these days. I pinch my lips closed and will my mind to shut up. No need to dig myself any further in this hole.

I’m suddenly yanked forward by my arm. He gets in my face and growls low. It sends chills all along my body and I work to repress the shudder. “I told you I don’t like asking twice. I’m going to assume you don’t want your insides cooked. So, I highly suggest you don’t make me any angrier. Understand, girl?”

Ah, I’ll gladly take the hole I’ve dug over being cooked from the inside out. “The one I’m looking for is somehow connected to this.” Again, not what I wanted to say and now it’s too late to take it back. What is wrong with me? Clearly the filter between my brain and mouth isn’t working today.

“You know this how? Why are you looking for them and who exactly is it that you’re looking for?” He’s looking at me like he could crush me in seconds and might even enjoy it.

I hesitant only briefly. “I don’t know His name, I just know what He looks like. I don’t know how it’s all connected, but it just is.” Please don’t ask me anymore. Please. I can’t afford to give anything else away.

Of course, that was far too much to ask for. What was I thinking? “You don’t know his name? Of course you don’t, that would be too convenient. It seems to me you know nothing useful. Stop wasting my time, you won’t like what happens if you do. Either give me more than your, ‘I don’t know’ or I’ll drag it out of you, painfully.” His expression is all the warning I need. It promises pain, lots of pain. 

I exhale in a rush to slow my racing heart. “Because of what that talnarin said about the experiments. The one I’m looking for experimented on humans too. They should have similar equipment in this place, but I’m not completely sure. That’s all I know, honest.”

Both Zeke and the asshat look at each other sharply. They exchange an unreadable look before directing their intensity at me once more. “Only humans?”

“I don’t know.” I flinch back at the sight of his heated glare. “Really, I don’t know. I just know about the humans.”

“If I find out you’re holding anything back, you will beg for death before the end. That I can promise you.”

I gulp audibly. “I don’t know anything else. I was planning on dragging the answers out of the talnarin, but now he’s gone. The only lead I had disappeared. Where did he go, anyway?”

“What else, girl?” The deep tone sends chills down my back.

“They inject humans with something. A liquid of some kind. Uh… It’s golden colored though. And after a while the humans change and they mutate or something.” After a long and uncomfortable pause, I babble on, nervous. “They’re faster and stronger than normal. Oh, they’re mindless too, all they do is kill things. They’re no longer… no longer able to recognize anyone.” I trail off. I brave a look at their faces and find them scarier than ever. Even his grip on my arm gets tighter, if at all possible.

His tone suggests he’s a little on edge as he clips out, “How do you know all this?”

Shit, I should have expected that question. I fumble for a weak reply, “Because I was there.”

“You were where?”

I just keep digging this hole deeper and deeper. Soon I’ll dig my way to Hellvian, but at least then I wouldn’t have to answer these damn questions anymore. “At a place where they did bad things. A place where they experimented on them.” I stare at my feet as my mood darkens.

“Tell me what you saw there,” he demands harshly. 

I look up between unshed tears, and my lips tighten. “It’s a place where I saw the sort of things you can never unsee. Things no one should ever experience. Terrible things. Don’t ask me to talk about it. I can’t. I won’t. Those memories need to stay dead.”

Asshat looks like he’s seconds away from wringing the memories from me by force, when suddenly his face blanks. “Then answer me this, why were you there? Did you have a hand in any of it?”

I glare at him with so much hate and disgust that he seems taken aback. Amusement flickers across his features. “Did I help them? Did I have a hand in it? No. No, I wasn’t there by choice. Just like I’m not here by choice either.”

Before the asshat can say anything more, Zeke interjects. “So, you’re saying the person you’re looking for is connected to this manor? This man, I’m assuming he’s talnarin?” At my nod, Zeke continues. “This talnarin experimented on humans, experiments you witnessed but can’t speak of. Now you’re hunting this talnarin down, because why? Why is it so important for you to kill this man?” His almost nonchalant expression is so deceiving. I can almost feel the tension and aggression beneath his exterior. It makes sweat bead down my back.

I mumble, “He… He took something from me. Someone.” I swallow hard and strengthen my voice. “So now He has to pay. He’ll be mine to kill, even if we do find him. I need answers first, but He will die by my hands. He’s connected here, to this place somehow. I don’t have proof yet but I’ll find it.”

Asshat seems to consider his next words carefully, as if somehow not entirely satisfied with my response. “Where did you last see this talnarin?”

“I’ll take you there,” I say without hesitation. Like I’d just tell him so he can kill me and check it out himself. No thank you.

This doesn’t seem to sit well with either of them. Zeke speaks over my head to the asshat. “Malik, she could lead us right into a trap. There’s no way to confirm what she says. We need to tread carefully. Do we really want to take this chance? This could end badly.”

So that’s his name. Malik. I was wondering when someone was going to say it. It’s irritating just referring to him as the asshat, though it is a fitting nickname. I roll it over my tongue quietly, before biting it. Disgust rolls through me at the thought of my reaction to his name. These talnarins want to kill me, Malik has made that abundantly clear on several occasions. 

“It could be. But it’s also the first real lead we’ve had since the start of this mess. You know we’re stronger than them. Besides, if it’s a trap, we’ll just kill her.” At that, he looks into my eyes to drive the point home. Sweat trickles down my back at the reminder of my possible slaughter at the end of this. He directs the rest of his words at me. “You will do exactly as I say, when I say, understand?” He waits for my jerky nod before continuing. “Any complications and I will kill you, no questions asked. I don’t trust you, girl.”

I narrow my eyes in response. “Feeling’s mutual, I don’t trust you either.” Do I have an even greater death wish? Why am I purposely antagonizing him? Sometimes I just don’t think shit through.

The corners of Malik’s lips turn up in the corners. He slowly leans in to whisper in my ear, “And don’t even think about using your energy on me or my men. I’ll sense it instantly and take you out. You won’t even know what’s happened until it’s too late.” With that, he finally releases my arm and moves out of sight. A brief thought of running passes through my mind, but I shut it down immediately. Somehow, I just know they’d stop me before I even got outside.

I rub my tender arm and plop down in the grass, my legs giving out on me. I’m surprised I managed to stay standing as long as I did; my legs haven’t stopped shaking from the moment he got in my face. I lean my head back against the tree trunk with a thunk and stare at the sky.

Well this is shit. This was not how I planned the day to be at all. It went from bad to terrible in no time. I get caught by the talnarins hoping to make more hybrids, get threatened by Malik and his band of evil men, and now I’m embarking on a journey to find Him with the people who want to kill me. What could possibly go wrong?

Not to mention, that asshole of a talnarin just disappeared. Where in Hellvian did he go? He could have had the answers to the questions I have about myself and what was done to me. The answers I so desperately need were right at my fingertips, and now they’re gone. So cruelly taunted by the truth, so close at hand, only to have it ripped from away from me.

Maybe it’s not completely hopeless yet. Even though that talnarin disappeared, perhaps he left something behind. Maybe he has a study with all the information I need in this very manor. Better yet, what if he has the machinery here as well and it’s not locked down? I need to find out.

I glance around and note I’m completely alone in the courtyard. However, I highly doubt Malik and his men would leave me unsupervised while I still pose a ‘threat’ to them. I’m willing to bet someone’s nearby, watching me from an inconspicuous place. It could make my search more difficult, but I can’t pass up this opportunity to check this place out. If I’m going to defeat Him, I need a better understanding of what I am and how I can use this to my advantage.

And while I look around, I’ll check on the child and other captives as well. 

I push myself off the ground and take off for the nearest door on my right. This manor has a giant courtyard surrounded by four walls. One wall is a giant wooden gate that opens, while the other three are closed tight. The gate stands at my back and would be too heavy to open alone, so I don’t bother. There are four separate doors leading to the inner parts of the manor itself, so it doesn’t matter which door I take, as I’ll eventually circle around anyway. Calmly walking through the door, I enter a moderately decorated kitchen. It has a refrigerator, island counter, and a sink.

I swiftly move on to the entrance on my left, not wanting to waste my precious time on a fruitless search. This time, I exit into a formal dining space with a large wooden table that seats twelve. Paintings hang on the wall, depicting various scenes of nature. A small cabinet sits in the back, along the wall. I rummage through the drawers for good measure, but I don’t find anything of use.

The next space is a bare room holding two beds stacked on top of each other, held up by wooden posts. I’ve never seen such a thing before, but it’s genius. It maximizes the space by pilling a one bed over the other. Along the wall at the foot of each double bed sits a crate of some sort.

I quickly lift the lid and peer inside. The little box contains various weapons, including a beautiful pair of daggers. The silver knives have vines marking the length of the blades themselves. The sheath is designed much the same but small flowers dot the outer layer as well. Assuming this room belongs to the guards and seeing as all but one are dead, they won’t need these anymore. I reach for the holster to fit the dagger and knives on my hips. Deciding nothing else is worth keeping, I move on.

As I open the door to the next room, I grind to a halt. It’s the living room where a couple dozen talnarins and humans sit and huddle. As Zeke said, from the looks of it, most of the injuries are minor, thankfully.

He also said two of the men were keeping watch in here, but with all the bodies, it’s hard to spot them. I move back to the guard’s room and exit out the door leading back to the courtyard. I quickly rush across the green grass and move through the last door on the far side.

Once inside, I breathe a sigh of relief. An office. There has to be paperwork in here, hopefully something that can be of use to me.

Various shelves and storage compartments line the walls facing the desk. I move around the desk and see one drawer on each side. Deciding to start my search here, I take a seat in the chair and pull out the items from the nearest drawer.

I’m not aware of how much time has passed since I started sifting through the mountain load of papers, but I have found nothing useful. Nothing I’ve skimmed over eludes to any experimentations on humans and talnarins. That’s not to say it’s not in this stack, I just may not have the actual skill set to decipher them correctly. But I do know someone who might. Only problem, do I really want them that deeply involved in my life? Can I even trust them enough with this information?

They might use it against me or decide these forms are better off in Abel’s hands. Once it gets to Abel, Malik will have them and my head. With what I overheard yesterday, the talnarin at Craforian were merely pretending to be my comrades anyway. So as soon as I turn my back, they might kill me. And despite this all, is it still worth it?

Yes, yes, it is. I need these answers almost as badly as I need my revenge. But, it doesn’t mean they need to know why I’m asking. With Malik and Zeke knowing, vaguely, why I’m after Him and these experiments, I could claim those as my reasoning for needing the information deciphered.

Mind made up, I search the office for a bag of some sort to stuff the papers in. Miraculously, I find a good-sized pack in the far corner on a shelf. It has shoulder straps to help me carry it, and it’s large enough to stuff the paperwork in if I’m careful with the placement.

Soon the papers are tucked away in the pack safely and I hike it over my back. Just as I’m about to enter the door on my right, something draws my attention to the dark corner to the left.

Turning on the flashlight I snatched from the desk drawer, I switch it on. I notice a faint crack along the wall in the size and shape of a door. But there’s no handle or frame to indicate it is in fact a useable door. Something urges to me reach out and touch it, so I do. Placing my hand in the center of the cutout, I push. I startle back a step as the hidden door swings open silently. Peering inside, I see a staircase leading into pitch black darkness.