∞ The Tethered Ones ∞

Chapter 52.2
(Original Ending)

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• Luna •

Luna gasped as she noticed a familiar face in front of them. 

Dr. Kim, the sadistic psychiatrist who tortured her and Cami, stood lean and scrawny. They were shocked. Owen halted. As he waited, Cami scowled and the rest sneered.

The tiny hairs on her arms began to rise.

"Crap," Amir said.

Dr. Kim smiled. "Thought you could get away just like that?"

Luna's gut twisted when a soldier appeared.

Sam.

Her ex-boyfriend and daughter's father stood beside the doctor.

The sight of him startled her. He looked the same. Eighteen. Blond. Medium-height. Sparkling blue eyes. It was as if he hadn't aged a day in seven years.

"Sam?" Luna squeaked as she scanned his hunter-green clothing. When she looked at Amir, his eyes were wet.

Dr. Kim laughed. "I assume you know . . . him?"

She snarled, "Shut the hell up! You know—"

Sam raised an arm, and everything happened quickly. His metal cuff reflected light. Nearly the same stone that she wore around her neck had glittered. When he opened his hand, it felt like a hurricane. When she was lifted off her feet, her body was propelled backward through the air. Her hip hit the nearest metal door handle. Pain knocked her air out as she landed.

Oh, God . . . Sam was . . . He was an unstable Trojan.

Her mind raced to keep up. Tanzanite enhanced his abilities. If he hadn't shocked them, he might not have gotten her. Like Lily. He was unexpected.

Amir and Owen picked themselves up several feet down the hall. Ethan held Jamal against the wall. Vikram surrounded Maryam, shielding her. Others hid around a corner.

Luna rose, wincing. Her leg buckled while standing. Ethan saved her from falling again.

Sam entered the room with a smile on his face.

Connor staggered up. "Oh, you are so dead."

"Is that so?" Sam said.

Amir was standing next to Connor, so Luna yelled his name as Sam unleashed an energy burst. They barely escaped direct hits.

Connor's pupils were whitened. He flinched. Energy, a whitish-yellow glow, ricocheted. Ducking, Sam laughed.

He ridiculed, "You're going to exhaust yourself."

"So will you."

Sam winked at Amir as he faced the group and extended his hand again. Jamal, Luna, and Ethan retreated. Ethan grabbed her as she began to fall. Somehow, his arm wound up around her neck. After a tug, Amir pushed her behind him.

"He's compromised," Ethan murmured, backing away from Sam. "We need to hurry."

"You don't say," Amir spat.

Sam laughed and threw Amir back. He looked like an assassin on steroids. Another blast of energy aimed at Ethan, then Owen. They both dive-bombed the floor to avoid getting hit. Sam laughed and continued. Luna raised her head, and their gazes locked. His were completely devoid of human emotion. Unreal. Demonic.

And he was also extremely cold.

How had he changed? What made it a success? How did they turn him into an emotionless monster?

Many questions were irrelevant at this point. The breath-stealing ache made it hard to focus and stay upright.

Sam grinned brightly, and Luna shuddered as she pulled on her electric energy, feeling it ignite deep within her. He spoke before she could. "Lu-Lu wants to come out to play?"

Her chest throbbed. Sam called her his nickname.

"Sam . . ." she begged.

"Oh, screw it," Owen growled. "He's not the same anymore."

Owen was faster than everybody. He sped past Amir, Connor, Jamal, and Ethan. He was lightning fast, yet hisyl must have affected him. A heartbeat later, his pale hands were on either side of Sam's head.

Sickening cracks followed.

Sam fell.

Owen retreated, inhaling. "I've never liked that punk."

Luna fell to the side, her heart beating as her energy shattered. She gulped hard as her eyes widened. "He's . . . He was."

"We're out of time." Ethan escorted Jamal to the waiting room. "They know we're here. Let's go."

As she passed the prone body, Dominique picked up Kai and glanced at Sam. But what was there to say? She stayed quiet.

Luna trembled as she mourned Sam's death.

She plummeted when fear threatened. Despite the excruciating leg pain, she kept going.

"Are you okay?" Amir asked. "You were hit."

"I'm good." Since she could walk, she was fine. "You?"

After entering another lobby, he nodded.

"We've got to get the children," Owen told everyone.

"Which rooms are they in?" Dominique asked.

Everyone looked down the hallway from both ends. "The girls are on the left, and the boys are on the right. Dominique can get Isabella, and I'll get Hosea."

"Bella and Hosea," murmured Jamal. "Those are my babies," he said with a smile.

"I'll help," Cami said, cradling Maryam.

Dominique shuddered. "You stay with them. This is our fight."

Maryam's eyelids scarcely opened as Cami nodded. Vikram had Adnan, and Amir supported his father.

"Let's hope nothing else happens," Vikram said, prancing with everyone.

"What about Layla?" Luna asked.

"She's in treatment. We passed by her room, and it was guarded. Owen and I will have to return for her," Dominique explained.

"We've got to go now, guys," Ethan remarked. "We'll have to get to the parking garage. It'll take us right into the clearing."

Owen nodded. "Let's go!"

After gathering the two smaller children, they took the elevator to the underground garage. There were no stairwells available, and Luna was frightened of using the elevator that she thought she might pass out.

"It's about to get ugly, guys." Pressing the button, Owen panted. "Once these doors open, we must be ready for anything."

Amir nodded. "How's everyone?"

"I don't feel so good," Connor said, opening and closing his free hand. "It's the damn Hisyl and Hellion."

"What the hell was going on with Sam?" As the elevator started, Amir looked at Ethan. "He didn't seem to be affected by the chemicals."

Ethan shook his head. "I have no idea. They must have made him resistant to everything."

Maryam's babbling distracted Luna. Fear grew in her stomach and extended to her limbs. How could Ethan not know anything? Amir shifted and kissed her forehead.

"Everything will be fine. We're almost done here," he whispered into her ear, and more tension leaked from both of them. He smiled. It was genuine, so wide and lovely that her lips curved to meet his. "I swear to you, Moon. We're leaving this place together."

Luna lowered her gaze to the two children, who were clutching Dominique and Owen. Amir's words captivated her as she closed her eyes. She needed to trust them because she was going crazy. Keep calm. One step from freedom.

"Time?" Connor questioned.

Ethan checked his watch. "Two minutes."

"Where are we . . . we . . ." Adnan's words faded as his eyes opened.

"We're trying to get out of here," Amir declared.

The doors opened with a suction-cup sound, revealing an empty, narrow tunnel. Ethan and his group left first, walking quickly. Luna and Owen flanked Amir and Vikram, holding Maryam and Nasir.

"Stay close to me," Amir told Luna.

She nodded and kept her eyes peeled. Their speed blurred the passageway. Running hurt her leg. Ethan switched Jamal to his other shoulder and put the key in the middle door. The door creaked and opened.

Ethan was standing there, shrouded in the night's growing darkness. The feeble, barely alive Tethered Soul in his arms would be liberated in seconds. Just a few more hurdles.

"Son of a bitch!" exclaimed Owen, breaking free from Dominique. He pursued a fearsome BARDA unit.

Snarling, Amir withdrew.

The first officer's shadow crept through the tunnel opening, and seven Defectives surrounded him. Amir collided with the first one and threw him into the wall, injuring the Defective. Ethan shoved Jamal aside and fought a Defective. Cami and Dominique reached for the children, and Owen whirled around and hit the nearest Defective in the stomach. The Defective drew up, his hold loosening as he neared the low overhead. He paused before breaking like a fragile bone.

Luna snapped out of it.

"That's how we get rid of Defectives," she said. "Hisyl shards affect them. Just the liquid."

She knew that this would be hand-to-hand combat because none of her group, including herself, could use their abilities for long. She grabbed Hisyl off the wall as a Defective approached. When Luna saw the woman's ivory face through her glasses, she was ignited.

The Defective was pushed back and banged her butt when Luna burst into a whitish-yellow light. Energy surged. The hisyl softened the hit and made the Defective rise up, so Amir struck him. White smoke rocked the corridor again.

The Defective Luna had knocked down was in front of her, her glasses missing. Her eyes were raspberry-red. Colder than Sam's.

Luna took the hisyl fragment and moved. She realized the Defectives could only survive the deadly toxin for so long.

The Defective laughed and seized Luna's weak calf. She yelled as her leg buckled. She fell, but the woman grasped her by the neck and lifted her. Amir spun, his wrath grew, and a Defective appeared behind him.

She slammed the Hisyl piece into the Defective holding her and shouted, "Amir!"

Amir swerved to escape the Defective, who dropped her. The Defective blew her hair out of her face and knocked her down.

Amir grabbed the nearest Defective by the shoulders and flung him a few feet while Luna was wobbling. The warm hisyl rocked her hand.

Each Tethered One was fighting an adversary and eliminating them.

"The tunnel is open!" Dominique shouted, snatching Kai and running. "Let's go!"

Luna didn't need to be told twice. This was a battle they couldn't win. Not with so little time left and three Defectives standing, seemingly unaffected.

Before they reached the middle, everyone looked at Vikram, who was burning the Defectives from within. Luna opened her eyes and turned right, watching his chest rise and fall, fuming.

"Nobody comes after me without feeling my rage," he said, gripping Maryam harder. "Come at us again."

"Remind me never to piss you off, brother," Owen joked.

"There are more," Luna responded, looking at Amir. "I sense them. My insides are burning." She glanced at Vikram. "I know how they felt back there."

Amir ran over and took her hand after Owen took his father. "Let's get out of here, baby. One more step."

Nodding, she was grabbed. The tanzanite dropped when she fell forcefully. The Defective's icy touch seeped through her pants and up her legs as he tightened his hold on her ankle.

Rolling over, she kicked a Defective. The man let go with a satisfying wet crunching sound. Grunting, she ran toward Amir. A low murmur filled the building and grew louder, signaling that he had turned and was heading toward her. Everyone paused. Light filled the entrance and hall as automatic locks closed. The sound continued indefinitely.

"No!" Owen yelled, staring down the tunnel. "No!"

Amir's gaze trailed behind her. She turned to see a sparkling wall of light crackling in the tunnel. Every ten feet or so, repeatedly, one after the other.

One Defective was hit by the red light behind them. The light flared when it caught him. A loud cracking sound was heard, similar to a fly caught in a trap.

"Oh God . . ." Luna whispered.

The approaching Defectives had simply disappeared.

"Don't go near the lights," Ethan said. "They're lasers."

Amir lunged for Luna and his family.

Shouts erupted. Booted feet stomped. They appeared from everywhere. From all sides, behind, and onward. She could only peer at Amir or behind her.

The group ran as fast as they could and tumbled off a cliff and down a hill at the end of the tunnel. She peered up into the clear moonlight and saw that they were now on the left side of the building, opposite how they entered.

Every person assisted in carrying the children and injured people they saved until they went through the open gate and returned to the woods, sprinting through the dangerous grounds. They'd finally arrived at the parked Diesel and SUV, and the other half of their crew hopped out to help everyone inside.

"Oh my God," Zoe said. "What happened?"

"Questions later," Connor said. "We have to get moving now."

"I've got you," Faisal stated, placing his aunt and uncle in the SUV.

Before Luna could get into the Diesel, she was thrown into the lake by a force as powerful as the wind. As she looked at the group, she floated slightly. Amir battled a Defective while others fought.

She reached out, ignoring the heat, and struck each Defective, illuminating where they were with all of her remaining strength and will.

She came upon the bank holding the tanzanite. Then strong arms seized her from both sides.

"Moon," Amir said, holding her up. "Stay with me."

She glanced at the overcast night sky, her pulse barely pounding.

"Luna," he begged. "Don't leave me."

Sirens blasted.

"We've got to go!" That sounded like Owen, but she couldn't tell.

She could no longer maintain her pulse.

"No! Please! No!" Amir yelled, his voice cracking. "Stay alert for Sarah and me!"

Rough hands pressed on her chest to regulate her pulse. Agents and Defectives were drawing closer. She felt their aura on her neck but kept looking up.

"No!" he shouted. "Don't die!"

She'd never forget Amir's horror and helplessness when they locked eyes. Everything seemed surreal to her as if she wasn't there at all. She wasn't sure she could smile at him.

"This was supposed to happen," she said through tears. Voices urged Amir to take her and leave as cars surrounded them. "I'm supposed to die like this."

Amir's brown eyes glistened. His splayed fingers reached for her cheek. "I love you, Luna. Always have. Always will," he said, his voice thick and hoarse with fear. "Stay awake for me. You have—"

"Stop." She touched his lips. "The organization poisoned me before leaving Dr. Kim's. I'm slowly dying."

"What . . . what?"

Luna trembled. "I don't have much time, Amir."

"You . . . were poisoned?"

She blinked. "General Davenport showed me what they'd done."

He shouted at the sky. "No!"

Luna sniffed, shaking. "The poison strengthened my abilities. I guess the electricity was the final straw."

Tears streamed down his cheeks.

"You can't die. I don't want to prepare for your funeral," he said, shivering.

"This was meant to be, Prince."

Shaking his head. "I don't accept that. Stay for me. Stay for us."

Voices were heard in the forest when the truck and SUV doors opened. "Leave. Get everybody to safety."

"I'm not leaving you, Moon."

"Baby, move. Leave me. This is my resting place."

"No. I can't leave."

She touched his lips. "I wanted to die like this. I had to free them." She cupped his jaw. "Please, let me go."

Her eyelids absorbed his tears. "Live for me!"

"I love you, Amir," she said. She stopped thinking and breathing. She shook. "Tell my family and Sarah that I love them. And I'll be watching over you all."

"We have to go!" cried Vikram. "Your father is coughing up blood!"

"But Luna is dying!" Amir said as he turned to face him. His eyes shifted back to hers. "I can't lose you!"

"Get her into the car before it's too late," Connor begged.

"She doesn't want that. She wants to die here alone."

"They are coming," Luna whispered. "Go."

As they loaded everyone into the SUV, Amir kept his fingers in hers. With her head in his lap, a burst of pain enveloped every cell in her body and forced air out of her lungs. She froze and lost feeling. She couldn't see who grabbed her arm.

Then there was nothing.

Her brain had shut off, and she was no longer breathing.

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The author is literally not done with the twists. Not by a long shot. And Chapter 52 was the original ending, but an extended ending came to mind, something even more impactful. :)