Chapter 31

      I stood there for what seemed like hours. Staring at my hands. At Cassie's parents. Into myself. And at the warrior.

      Remorse was heavy on my mind, but there was nothing that I could do. Cassie would have to understand, and I wasn't going to blame her if she didn't. I broke the promise I swore to keep.

       I cleaned the knife and closed both of their eyes and leaned them up against the wall, Mrs. Goodman's head laid on her husbands shoulder. In death, they're together, and that's the best way I can think of the fix my broken soul. To fix the broken promise.

     The door to the room opens and I turn around, seeing five armed guards and the Russian, along with Alyx enter the room.

     "Well, well, well, Mr. Stanley, you have outdone yourself here." Said the Russian, clapping slowly.

     "I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BAST..." I charged and yelled at the same time, the knife readied to enter his neck. But a jolt of electricity flew through me so powerful I went stiff. One of the guards hit me with a taser. I'd make sure he suffered.

The effects of the taser wore off and before I had the chance to move the Russian had a gun to my temple. "Try anything and I'll end you for good this time." The words left his mouth with icy resolve.

The guards put me in handcuffs and pulled me to my feet. The Russian holstered the 9mm and smiled in my face. I fought to keep the anger down.

They led me out of the room and to a part of the facility that hadn't seen yet. We went through a countless amount of doors, too many for me to memorize all the codes.

We finally came to a stop in front of a set of double doors.

"This, Mr. Stanley, is where we part. I hope what's on the other side of this door lives with you in your final moments, which won't be very long, my friend." The Russian says, the words slithering from his lips.

Alyx looks at me and I out lock for a millisecond. What I saw wasn't Alyx. It's like there wasn't anyone behind those eyes, they were dark and desolate.

"Alright, well, let's get this over with, shall we, my friend?" I said, drawing out the last two words, sending the icy glare right back into him.

He moved from in front the door and Alyx input the code. The doors slid open and inside was complete darkness. I was thrown inside. The doors closed behind me and I was shrouded in the darkness.

I fell into a fighters stance, but it wouldn't do much good, I'd be fighting blind. But then the lights flashed on. In the center of the room say a group of people arranged in a circle. All tied together and all tied down to the chairs in which they sat.

     Cassie was in the middle, facing me. Upon seeing her my eyes began to water. Our eyes locked and she stared into my soul, tears filling her eyes.

     I began to walk to her and the rest of  the group. Micheal sat directly across from her in the circle, his back towards me and his head down.

       "Jack..." is all Cassie could get out. I fell to my knees in front of her. It's funny, the only person to ever see me this vulnerable was Lauren. The dams behind my eyes broke loose and I laid my head on her knee.

      "I'm sorry, Cassie." Is all I could get out.

"Whatever happened, Jack, we don't have time to cry about now. You have to get us out of here."

"Jack?" Came a familiar voice that seemed like it was from a lifetime ago. The moment I seen her strawberry blonde hair and infamous silver highlights I knew who it was.

     "Suzanne?" I asked, aloud, walking over and wiping my face. She looked up at me with a smile that I hadn't seen since before I left for Iraq.

     "Why don't you get us the hell out of these ropes, huh?" She asked, moving her hands as close as she could to me.

     I worked on untying everyone and as I neared the end I counted 12 heads. That was 12 people I was now responsible for. 12 people I was in charge of keeping alive.

     "Well, isn't this a nice little family reunion?" Came the Russians voice over the intercom.

     His voice lit a fire of anger within my soul.

     "Sorry, that you all had to meet this way." The intercom dies and an alarm starts to blare.

     At the far end of the room, opposite of where I entered there was a set of giant double doors. They slowly began to open.

     "Everyone behind me!" I yelled over the alarm.

     The warrior fell into a combat stance and readied his blades. What charged through those doors was enough to make any man lose his will to live. And many of the people behind me most likely did.

     But I didn't.

     I charged it head on.