Subject Seventeen: Wraith Among Shadows
Chapter 24

I slowly open and close my fist. The pain is completely gone. Seventeen really did manage to heal me as well as Eleven. I look over to her limp body. She’s still unconscious. I wonder when she’s going to wake up. I feel a little pity for her. Maybe she might change her mind and join us when she wakes up. I can only hope.

I pull down my collar as Fifteen and Five approach me. My transmitter is on the right of my neck. I don’t need Five to locate it for me. Whenever I fire off lightning I can feel it react to the sudden burst of electricity. Fifteen reaches out to touch me neck with her hand. However I don’t feel her touch. Instead her fingers pass straight through my neck and pinch something. When she takes her hand out I see a small circular device in it. She crushes it with her fist and moves on to the next person.

I sigh. This is really happening. We’re really rebelling against Sanders and the Doctor. Goodness knows what Ten did to Eight. If they really had a full out fight then she might be lying at the bottom of the ocean right now. I feel a pang of guilt hit me.

I slowly stand up and stretch. Thirteen really intends to take down everything. He’s crazy. There are nearly two thousand soldiers in that facility. Does he think we can take them all on? If he does then he’s definitely having a laugh.

“Thirteen!” I yell out.

Thirteen – who is in deep conversation with Nine, Four and Ten – turns around to face me. He waves his hand at me, telling me to come over and then turns back to face the other three. I first look around for Seventeen. He’s sitting at the sand a little way up the beach. I wave to catch his attention and motion for him to join me. When he begins to stir I turn away and continue walking towards Thirteen.

“You know we’re lacking firepower right?” I say to him.

“No we’re not,” Ten says. He points towards the still smoking remains of the jet. “Our Logistics are still inside. And once we release Twelve he and I will able to take out all the soldiers in the facility with ease.”

“How do you suggest we get to Fourteen? He’s on the upper level and I doubt we’ll be able to get to him by the time they lock down the entire facility.”

“We break through from underneath,” Seventeen says. He’s walking towards us while rubbing the makeshift bandage on his arm.

“What do you mean?” Nine says.

“I’ve seen where they are holding Fourteen.”

“And how exactly did you do that?” Nine asks.

“He astral projected,” Thirteen says.

All of us give Thirteen a funny look when he says this. Astral projected?

“Do I even want to know what that is?” Ten asks.

“It doesn’t matter. More importantly he knows where Fourteen is,” Thirteen says. “Continue.”

“Well,” Seventeen says. “He’s being kept right above the training room. He’s suspended inside some sort of yellow liquid. I don’t know what it is.”

This is when it hits me. That crack in the ceiling of the training room and that strange yellow liquid dripping down. That must be from wherever they’re keeping Fourteen.

“Don’t worry about the liquid,” Nine says. “It’s just a stabiliser to keep his powers in check whilst he’s there.”

“So we break in from underneath then?” I ask.

“That’s right,” Thirteen says. “Two and Seventeen will deal with that. As soon as you two release Fourteen get him to unlock a few of your memories. Not all of them at once, okay?”

I nod.

“As for the failsafe,” Thirteen continues. “Nine you’ll deal with that. The Doctor will definitely know where it is. I don’t care how you do it but make him talk. Take Five and Seven with you if he needs an incentive to talk.”

Nine nods. He pushes up his glasses and lowers his head as he begins thinking about something. Thirteen continues talking.

“Only I and Fifteen will go for Twelve. He’s unstable. We don’t want him to accidentally be set off by anyone’s careless comments. I don’t expect us to stay in the facility long. We should be in and out within the hour. Four, Six and Fifteen have already set up a safe zone for us a little east of here and have a boat waiting on this particular island to take us out of here once we get back. We’ll steal a jet to get back here but we can’t leave any traces for them to track so we’ll have to leave it here. Landing it here shouldn't be a problem with Nine's powers.”

“What about the rest of us?” Ten asks.

“Firepower. Just do what you do best and blow stuff up. Like I said we’ll be stealing another jet on our way out so don’t completely destroy the hangar please.”

I laugh at Thirteen’s request. I doubt Ten will remember to not blow something up.

“When do we move out?” I ask.

“In ten minutes,” Thirteen replies. “We’ll take Three along with us for now. Leaving her here by herself would be troublesome.”

I look at Seventeen. His face is paler than usual and the blood which was pouring from his ears earlier has dried. Will he really be in a good enough condition to fight? I don’t know why I do it but I slip my hand into his. At this point I’m too tired to care about my rules. Screw the rules. Screw everything. The entire world as we know it right now is a mess.

Seventeen looks at me but doesn’t question it. I feel his hand tighten around mine and my heartbeat quickens. Maybe this isn’t so bad after all. But then the world proves me wrong.

My chest feels as if it’s twisting itself like a corkscrew. I struggle to breathe as I fall to the ground clutching my chest. I’m suffocating. The pain in my chest is unbearable. It feels as if someone is burning a hole in my chest. I’ve never felt so much pain before.

I can see Seventeen and Nine standing over me, both of their eyes wide in panic and they’re shouting something. I can’t make out what they’re saying. My vision slowly begins to blur as I begin to drift in and out of consciousness. Maybe this is how I meet my end. It might not be such a bad thing.

My body begins to shake uncontrollably as the pain in my chest only grows stronger. I can taste the saltiness of my tears as I desperately try to take in some oxygen. I think I’m on the verge of passing out when I’m suddenly hit by a blast of warmth.

I gasp as the air begins to make its way down my lungs, causing me to cough repeatedly and be grateful for the air. It is only now that I notice Eleven is kneeling beside me and is healing me. Thank god for this little angel.

“The hell was that?!” I screech. My voice is too hoarse and raspy for me to make out my own words properly.

I wipe away the tears on my face and breathe in as much air as I can. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to feel oxygen pass through my lips.

“I should have expected this to happen sooner or later,” Nine says shaking his head. I stare at him with my eyes wide. What on earth is he on about?

“You want to share with the rest of us, Nine?” I say.

“I did tell you earlier that our bodies have not evolved to specifically handle our powers. We may be stronger than your average human but we have not adapted fully. In your case your heart isn’t strong enough to constantly handle the amount of lightning you generate. Sooner or later it may fail you if you continue to use your abilities.”

I stare at the ground. My heart is failing? And it is because of my powers? So in a way I’ve been slowly killing myself. I’m surprised by how unfazed I seem. Maybe it is just meant to be this way.

“Our powers aren’t natural,” I say. “Of course they’ll have consequences. I don’t care. Let’s just hurry and get this over with.”

Nine looks as if he wants to say something more but I shoot him the dirtiest look I can muster. He turns his face away. Thirteen walks over to Eleven who is standing behind me with a look of confusion on her face. He guides her away and begins talking to her. No doubt he’s explaining exactly what all of this is about and is trying to convince her and get her on our side now.

Seventeen holds out his hand for me. I take it and he pulls into him and hugs me. I find myself blushing at his sudden display of affection, but at the same time I don’t reject it. I’ve given up on trying to fight it. Whatever it is. Instead I wrap my arms around him and hug him back tightly. It feels as if I’ve done this a thousand times before. I close my eyes and bury my head into his chest. It’s not so bad after all. Well I mean it is yucky, but who cares?

After we hug, I pull his face close to mine and just stare into his deep black eyes. I've never felt such calmness amidst darkness before.

“How are you feeling?” he asks.

“Fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“A hundred percent. Believe me. I’m fine.”

Seventeen nods and lifts my face up to mine. I can see it in his eyes what he intends to do before he does it. I welcome the kiss with open arms and return it. It doesn't feel so bad now. Usually nothing ever goes right for me but this feels like something I can hold on to for once. Something real and tangible that won't just disappear without an explanation.

What seems like a century later we pull apart from each other. He turns away and I nearly fool myself into believing that he was blushing for a moment. Maybe hallucinations are a side effect of my abilities too.

Thirteen and Eleven walk back towards us. Eleven doesn’t exactly seem too thrilled to be here but she doesn’t seem to be objecting either.

“She’ll be coming along with us, Sixteen also,” Thirteen says.

“Where is that brat anyways” I ask.

Thirteen points down to my left where I see a little crab which seems to be dancing. I cover my face with my palm and sigh. I wish she wasn't tagging along. She is way too happy for this. No-one here has any time to babysit her. The crab then morphs back into the small figure of Sixteen and she walks over to me.

“I’m coming!” Sixteen says, as if she read my mind.

“Huh?” I say. “No way. We don’t have time to look after you.”

“You may not have noticed, okay, but I’m also part of this team. So shut because we both know I can help.”

Sixteen slowly begins to grow taller in size until she is at least my height and looks me dead in the face. I can see in her eyes how determined she is and her amazing willpower. It doesn’t seem as if she’s going to let this one go. I sigh. It is true that sometimes I treat her like a kid. Maybe I just direct my anger towards her as a way to get rid of all my pent up frustration since I know she won’t care much.

Sixteen’s left eye twitches a few times and I finally give in. It isn’t as if I can stop her coming after all. I guess we’ll just take everyone along with us and place our bets on a full on assault.

Thirteen signals for everyone to gather around him and Seventeen. He gives Seventeen the small vial he took off of Three.

“You think you can get all of us back into the facility?”

“Yes,” Seventeen replies. “The only problem is that I don’t think I’ll be able to control where we reappear.”

“That’s fine. All you need to do is get us inside.”

Thirteen looks around at all of us as he straps his Logistic around him. His eyes flash white for a second and he glances at Seventeen before shaking his head. I wonder what he saw this time.

“Alright,” he says. “If we’re all ready then I suppose we get a move on.”

He nods at Seventeen. Seventeen injects himself with the VERTIGO SIX and shudders as the serum enters him. He drops the vial onto the sand and I place my hand on his shoulder. Everyone else huddles in together so that no-one is left out.

I watch as a black mist starts to envelope us. It originates from Seventeen’s shadow and stretches until it covers all of us. Then it slowly begins to rise up until all I can see is darkness around us. The mist slowly begins to close in on us. I brace myself as I feel a chill run up my spine. This is it. The final lap. Time to rescue Fourteen.

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