The figure scanned the room confused and lost like he had been woken up from a bad dream. One hand digging in his scalp fighting off the source of his pain.
He staggered forward Glass crunching beneath his boots. He collapsed with a thud over the tv stand, rowans tv fell first, followed by her decorations to the floor with every jerk. His head twitched sharply to one side, then the other. Whatever unnatural monstrosity was happening to this boy his mind could not keep up with the changes.
Rowan shifted in front of Lila without thinking.
"Enforcer," she shouted, putting her arm out to shield lila.
Lila felt it too. But the boy felt different in some way. He definitely wasnt human that was for sure.
The boy's eyes burned red. Yet strangely they would flicker and dimmed before flaring up again. He dragged himself back to his feet, his fingers gripping g at his chest like he was fighting to keep his chest from exploding.
"Em..." he croaked.
The sound gurgled from his throat.
"Emmy…"
Lila's looked at Rowan confused.
Rowan slowly pushed lila back a step, knowing they had to escape. "How did you get here."
"There should be no way for enforcers to get here to this branch," Rowan said louder now, planting her feet. "Talk enforcer before I end you."
The man's head snapped toward her voice.
"Enforcer?," he snarled, voice breaking halfway through the word. "I'm—"
He pressed his hand against his temple, searching for the word. His eyes darted back and forth trying to remember. Once. Twice.
"I'm human."
Rowan laughed sharply. "Yeah? And I'm the Queen of England."
His breathing stuttered.
His eyes turned slowly until his gaze locked on Lila. The moment it did, something changed instantly. His shoulders relaxed.
The trembling in his hands eased.
His eyes stabilized in red hue.
Lila felt the baby kick.
The man sucked in a breath through his teeth.
"There," he whispered. Not to them. To himself. "That's… that's it."
Rowan's skin prickled. "Hey keep away from her. Don't move."
He took one unsteady step forward.
Then another.
"Stop," Rowan snapped.
He ignored her.
His eyes never left Lila.
"The voice is so loud," he said suddenly, confused. "It's telling me to do awful things. Such awful things."
He took another step forward.
"I don't know how I know what its telling me," he growled. "But the closer I get to you the voices go quieter and quieter."
Rowan measured the distance between them. As it stands now they needed to buy time and widen the gap.
"Do you mean the core?," she said coldly. "There's no point in lying to us the core is dead."
The boy shook his head violently as he stumbled forward again.
"NO. No no," he said like someone in withdraws while jabbing his finger in the air. "The Core."
He stopped.
Biting his nails nervously as if he wouldnt get in trouble for saying.
For a second, his eyes lowered to the ground and he began murmuring to himself. It was as if he was asking himself for permission to speak.
Then his gaze snapped back to Lila.
"The Core," he said softly. "It's not gone."
Rowans could not hide her disgust of the kid.
Lila did not take that so lightly, her legs going siff as boards.
"It's.." he swallowed, his voice caught off before he could finish.
The baby kicked again.
For half a second there was something human that had returned in his eyes.
Carlos's posture tensed, as if something within him was receiving new orders. Adjusting. Calculating.
"Get out of my head!" He screamed, resistancing whoever it was they could not see.
Lila and Rowan took the chance to move a few more steps cautiously towards the exit.
His eyes shot back up locking onto them.
Lila could feel the tension radiating from his gaze. One wrong move and they were dead.
Rowan's voice didn't show any fear. "Alright then kid, why the hell are you here?"
The boy spreads spread into a geniune smile.
"For my Emmy of coarse.... for my famil... familia."
The man's lips peeled back in a hungry feral grin that didn't belong to him.
Rowan recognized the look in his eyes, their time was up.
Without a word he sprung forward. In an instant he closed the gap between them.
Rowan shoved Lila back. Lila yelped, fighting to catch her footing. She would be no use to either of them collapsed on the floor.
Rowan on the other hand was already moving.
Her fingers gripped the broom by the kitchen counter, instinct taking over.
The weight felt natural in her hands, like it was meant for more than sweeping dust from a floor.
Carlos's fingers grazed the air where Lila had stood
Rowan intercepted.
The broom slammed into his ribs, the force cracking through the air like a gunshot.
Carlos staggered. His smirk flickered—just for a second.
Then he recovered, rolling his shoulders like it was nothing.
"St..op resis..ting."
Rowan didn't give him time to breathe.
She shifted, spinning the broom with practiced ease, driving the bristles across his jaw.
Carlos's head jerked sideways, but his smirk returned.
"Please join my familia."
Rowan's pulse thundered in her ears.
She spun taking the broom snapping it upward, catching him beneath the chin.
His body lifted slightly off the ground, feet skidding back.
Rowan twirled the broom and drove it straight into his chest.
And the broom exploded in a display of light.
The force shattered the wooden rod, sending splinters flying across the floor.
Rowan gasped, staring at the splintered remains in her hands. The air smelled of burnt wood, the energy still buzzing through her fingers. Across from her, Carlos stumbled back, rubbing his chin. Then, as if savoring the moment, he grinned.
"Damn." She cursed, if only she had her spear this would be over in a heartbeat.
He flexed his fingers, rolling his neck.
"Th...at was not ni..ce."
They wasted no time running out the front door into the apartment.
Lila slipped on the wet pavement, shoving past a poor woman just trying to get home after a long day. Lila didn't have time to register the woman's angry shout or the plastic name tag swinging on her chest before the attack. He came ripping out of Rowan's apartment pinning the woman down. Preparing to add her to his own familia.
Rowan grabbed Lila's wrist, yanking her forward as the life left the miss's eyes and carlos lurched forward ready to pounce.
The stairs from the 3rd floor blurred beneath them, each second feeling slower and slower with every passing moment.
Something was behind them for sure. However, the screams from the other rooms suggested there was more than just that boy.
Rowan slammed against the driver's side door the minute they made it into the parking garage, fumbling for the keys.
"Come on, come on—"
Lila threw herself into the passenger seat, heart hammering.
Above them, Carlos stepped onto the balcony, watching as if clarity had finally taken hold.
The moment the car roared to life, the lights illuminated a few of the apartments residents with glowing red eyes, their clothes covered in there own blood.
The tires screeched, the car fishtailing as Rowan slammed the gas.
Lila's pulse thundered as she glanced in the side mirror.
Carlos was still standing there, watching them go.
He lifted his hand in a mocking wave.
His lips moved—just enough for her to understand.
"I. Am. Free."