Hostage

Riley and I were both running down streets, him leading the lead while I followed closely behind. Our destination was the Reapers hideout, where Kelly was supposed to be. When we got there, we found a fortress.

Reapers filled the street, patrolling as if they owned the city. The door was guarded by at least six guys, with who knows how many inside. I glanced at Riley as he looked at me. Our eyes met, and in that single moment, we communicated. Get Kelly back by any means necessary.

I nodded to him, showing that I understood.

He pulled his daggers from his belt while I squeezed my fists. Even though I knew I would be fine, adrenaline filled my system, putting everything that was already incredible into such a powerful overdrive that I felt like I could see everything.

I could hear the individual breaths of each and every Reaper, I could see the slightest twitch from a guy all the way down the street, I could feel each and every hair on my head as it was carried by a slight breeze, and I could smell every scent around me. My brain was taking in everything and processing it at an immense speed, one so fast that it felt almost nauseating.

I can smell Kelly. The scent of the soap she uses every night when she bathes is floating in the air. She's here, I know it. I march forward, not bothering to think about the consequences. Right now, I need to get Kelly out of here. This place isn't safe for her. They probably already found out that she used to be a Skellie, which won't be good. If they did, they might take her hostage or kill her. That means we need to get in there, now.

In only a few moments, I was already by the front door of the large rundown building. It was larger than the base that the Skellies had, and more rundown looking too. As I approach the door, the Reapers reach out to try and stop me, but I break their arms without a second thought. I hear their screams echo in the back of my mind as I kick down the front door, sending it flying backwards. When I did, I announced my presence to everyone.

At first, there was a moment of silence as everyone tried to comprehend what had happened, and when they did, they all came running.

Riley had stayed back, probably acting rational and trying to form a plan. I looked back for only a brief moment and saw the look of horror on his girly face. He probably thought I was crazy to go straight through the front door. Maybe I am at the moment, considering I'm not thinking things through, but I don't care. If I don't hurry, Kelly could be killed.

The rest was a blur. By the time I had snapped out of it, I was in the basement. I remember having gone through each and every floor trying to figure out where Kelly was until I eventually got to the very top, where the boss had told me that she was locked in the basement. Now, here I was, standing in the basement above Kelly, who was tied up and laying on the floor. I pulled the ropes that bound her apart, and helped her off of the ground.

"Estelle, how did you get here?"

"I fought my way here."

"Fought? But there are so many! How could you get through that many guys? I managed to take down at least a dozen guys on the first floor when they jumped me during our talk, but they were completely overwhelming! After they found out I used to help lead the Skellies, they all came at me!"

"Look, we shouldn't stay here. Please, let's go."

"Yeah, yo're right. Let's go."

At that, I led her out of the basement and up to street level, where I met with Riley. He seemed dumbfounded to see me walk out with Kelly and no one following, but he didn't say anything. Instead, we all just went back to the cafe.

When we got back, all of the fires on the street had been put out. People were pulling corpses off of the road so that it would be easier to walk. Flies were everywhere and the smell of blood was thick. The worst part about it all was the look that everyone had on their faces. The look that they all shared was that of someone who had lost. Someone who experienced the same thing over and over and couldn't do anything about it. It was heartbreaking.

Once all three of us had entered the cafe, we all gathered in the kitchen. The three Skellies and the three of us stood there in silence, our eyes on the floor, before someone finally spoke up.

"After you two left, things got real quiet. The fighting was over with and all that was left to do was put out the fires. I showed everyone the well in the back, and we all made an effort to work together and deal with them together. After that, it was more or less just silence with the occasional crying."

The boy who spoke was the one that I had injured a month before. He and his friends had ash covered faces with tears streaks on them. Once he finished, another awkward silence ensued.

"Well, now that we have Kelly back, I have a question for you Estelle. How the hell did you get her?"

Riley asked the question, and Kelly turned to look at me as well. This might not be good.