The LoST 5

The Lone Shadow Templar

5: Unforeseen Circumstances

Pitch black, dead silent. The air was tainted with the cries of millions of tormented souls. Their shadowy clawed hands begged from within hell, begged for mercy, yet revenge. I was their right hand, their doom bringer. The night was coming.

An incessant dripping from a leaking pipe came from up ahead, along with conversing voices. Tightening my grip on my weapon, I crept forwards, silent. Turning the corner, I caught sight of two guards peering through the darkness through a veil of green. They walked closer, completely unsuspecting.

Right as they were about to turn the corner, I flipped on my flashlight and aimed the beam directly at their faces. It was over in a moment; my knife happily doing all the work. The beam of light vanished, and two carcasses hit the floor, motionless. I moved up to the door they were guarding. Yet another insignia was present.

Muffled voices laughed from the beyond.

Two on the left, three on the right.

Backing up to the far end of the wall, I took a breath, then sprinted for the door. Using all of my force, I slammed both feet into the metal, bringing both of us sliding into the room. My fingers worked furiously amidst a hail of bullets. I brought the S-36 from left to right; one by one the fell. When my makeshift board slid to a halt, all five were down, the barrel of my weapon smoking in satisfaction.

A radio crackled somewhere in the darkness. Their voices sounded rapid and tense. My cover had been blown. About time…

The sound of their footsteps rushed towards me from the darkness. I smiled to myself as I knelt down on one knee, pointing my weapon out in front. My finger itched to pull the trigger once more.

As soon as the first appeared, he was immediately downed by a fine piece of hypersonic lead. His body toppled over another, who met the ground with a fractured skull. One after another, they tried but to no avail to flood into the room. Another one twirled around, a bullet lodged in his right shoulder. The darkness hid me from view, letting them only catch a glimpse of fire before they saw nothing else.

And then, the dreaded but inevitable sound clicked into my mind as I pulled the trigger one last time, sending the last bullet whizzing through the air into a guard’s face. Empty.

Without hesitating, I dashed forwards, unsheathing my knife. By the time the next turned the corner, I was already flying through the air, the blade aiming for his throat. With a sickening gurgle and terrible crunch, I ripped the man’s throat out and whipped around, slashing another across the face. I felt a bullet whip my hair around my face, barely missing by a few millimeters.

But their thoughts were loud and clear, their every move painted into the back of my eyes. I flipped off of the wall, landing on a guard’s shoulder. I squeezed his head with my thighs and broke his neck. As his body toppled, I leapt forwards and met someone’s heart with my blade. I could feel the knife pierce all the way through the back of his uniform.

Another burst of fire sent a trio of bullets eating through the air at me. I kicked a dead body up and heard all three pieces of steel impact the torso. As gravity brought him back down, I sprang back up and threw my knife at the last person. His head snapped back as the blade imbedded itself right between his eyes.

I caught the handle of the blade right before his body touched the ground, breaking his dead fall. Then, with a swift motion, I wrenched the knife out, bring up a spray of crimson in the dark.

“Disgusting…”

I stopped dead in my tracks. He was watching me.

“Beautiful, more like…” I muttered back, my eyes shifting in every which way.

“Night, I see my men have given you a warm welcome,” his voice was cold as a wintry El Nathian breeze.

“Why don’t you grow a pair and show yourself?” I spat, still poised for any sign of movement.

“Now that’s no way to talk to your host,” he chuckled lightheartedly.

He was playing a game, and I was his pawn.

“I know what it is you want from us,” he continued, “you can have them all, if and only if… we can have you. You know of what I speak.”

“F*** you…”

“Alright, bring in Aaron.”

My eyes contracted in shock. He was still alive!?

“Aaron! Aaron where are you?” I screamed out to no one.

“Nat… Natalie…” I heard his soft voice croak. It brought so much pain back into my heart.

“Night you will comply. Aaron has five seconds to live, depending upon your decision. Five.”

“Natalie… Don’t do it…”

“Aaron…”

“Four.”

“Nat whatever you do…”

“Three.”

“Nat I love you…”

“Aaron!”

“Two.”

“You hear me… I love you…”

“One.”

“WAIT!”

The gunshot reverberated against my eardrums, assaulting every single cell in my brain, breaking every single synapse, rerouting every nerve. I was falling through a dark hole with no floor. Forever.

Felix

“MOTHERFU****!” His voice seemed to tremble the entire cell as he wrenched the bolted chair out from under him. Felix fell cursing onto his side, still bound by the attached to the now overturned chair. He had heard everything…

Aaru

A single tear slid down her cheek as the sound of the gunshot forever imprinted itself inside her mind.

Suddenly, the lock clicked, and the door swung open, revealing two guards clad in matching black. Thinking fast, she crossed her legs, “Excuse me… I have to go to the bathroom…”

They halted, seemingly unsure of what to do. Right where she wanted them.

“We’re not supposed to let you out of our sights, so that’s a no,” one said.

“Well we were also supposed to make sure she goes unspoiled,” the other replied, a bit irritated.

The first hesitated, then sighed exasperatedly, “Fine!” He turned to Aaru, “Make it quick.”

They unshackled her hands and brought her to her feet. The three of them walked down the hallway towards the restroom. Aaru glanced around, trying to take in as much of the setting as she could. It looked exactly like a prison called Alcatraz she had heard so much about on some distant planet far away. Yet she was sure there was no such thing on Victoria Island…

The three stopped at a disgusting wooden door that seemed to be falling off of its hinges. Aaru felt the guard’s grips loosen and she sighed in relief.

“Let’s go.” The guard opened the door and stepped in with her. There was a single dirty toilet and literally nothing else.

“Can I have some privacy?” Aaru asked in disbelief. Those bastards…

“Can’t let you out of our sights.” The door shut the best it could behind them, leaving one guard out.

“Please?” she asked softly, turning around and placing a hand on his arm. Aaru could feel him shiver as she breathed close to his neck. She could see the fine hairs on his chest stand on end.

“Um…” he shifted uncomfortably, “I… I suppose… if you’re quick.”

“Thank you,” Aaru whispered. The guard turned around and without delay, she reached from behind and covered his mouth with her left hand. Then, in a single motion, she wrapped her right arm around his neck and twisted it with a crunch. Carefully, she laid the dead guard’s body behind the door and grabbed his knife. She then kicked the lever to flush the toilet.

“Done in there?” the voice outside asked.

“Yessir…”

He opened the door and immediately, Aaru pulled him inside. After an appalling gurgle, she poked her head out, making sure the coast was clear.

The line of closed cell doors was endless.

Aaru stuffed the knife between her belt and her jeans and took a step back towards her cell but suddenly, a sharp pain tore through her body, bringing her to her knees. She gasped, breathing shallowly for a while, when another shock jolted into her brain. Her scream pierced the silence and within moments, the alarm went off.

And all she could do was lie there helplessly, paralyzed in pain. Tears blinded her view as muffled running footsteps grew louder and louder to match the cry of the klaxon. It was over… her efforts had been in vain. Something massive slammed into her face.