Kaeron couldn't breathe. Something was wrong. "Lex."
******
Lillian's head was pounding and spun as if she had taken a nasty fall.
She heard Lex talking somewhere nearby, but it felt almost impossible to focus on any one thing at a time, and she was already maxed out, having to force herself to breathe.
In and out.
She silently prayed to the god of truth and suffering, Lordarus. Also known as "The All." The soul eating, spirit god, was rumored to take the forms of all kinds of animals and would often make trades for a persons painful memories. The more torturous, the better, and in return, he'd grant them a wish, and Lillian had just the memory to offer him.
Something exploded right in front of her, and she gasped, as her eyes snapped to asses the threat, and she almost cried from finally feeling anything but the unending pain and the maddening...
"Go. Now!" Lex ordered. Lillian couldn't help but be awestruck by the brilliant... insane woman that had... become... to close. To Lillian.
"Lillian!" Lex said, taking a step toward her. To hold her, as she somehow shot her way from out of here. Correction. Their way from out of here, and if Lillian had to place a bet on who'd win in a bloodbath. She'd put her money on Lex. It was the reason Lillian had asked for their assistance that day in their apartment. She needed somebody that could take on anybody, even in large groups of people, and for a reason that Lillian still couldn't figure out. She had been blessed to have gotten two somebody's that day.
But...
"I'm coming." She bit out.
Lex flinched but quickly masked her surprise, reloading her pistol with enviable speed.
Lillian sprinted to join Whitney, who had dipped to the side of the building that didn't have a gapping hole in it.
Whitney was already running toward the front of the hotel by the time Lillian had emerged into the cool midnight air and moved to safety.
"We can use Beatrice to get out of here." Whitney shouted back, not slowing. Lillian hesitated. She really didn't trust this woman, especially not her story about her dead friend.
"Halfbreed! You will give yourselves up and then you will tell me where your brother is." Somebody growled, and Lillians stomach hollowed out as he went on. "Or I'm going to take my time breaking every bone in your body!"
Lillian blinked as Lex fired a shot toward the voice. And blinked again when Lex turned to her and asked, "I'm low on ammo, how about you?"
She forced herself to answer immediately. "I have two magazines in my back pocket..."
"Good." Lex grabbed her by the hand. "Now run."
Lex took off sprinting after Whitney and Lillian followed.The late night air bit at her face, and even though Lillian had already begun to breath heavy as they ran, she had a feeling that Lex was holding back, in order to keep up with her.
Why?
She heard the first bullet miss and Lex's return fire just as they caught sight of Whitney again, who was now standing, eyes closed, by the entrance of the building. Lex basically tossed Lillian toward the prostitute as she counterattacked.
"Come on!" Whitney shouted toward them, as a witches broomstick fell from the sky and came to an immediate stop just before crashing onto the concrete, and hovered at her side before she jumped on top of it.
Lillian reached her first. Positioning herself on the broom directly behind the witch, fighting the urge to run away instead.
Lex continued to fire at their persuers until an audible click and a quick downward glance at the pistol, had her running over to them and hopping onto the back of the now crowded broomstick, in a heartbeart.
"Hold on!" Whitney urged. As they began to lift from off the ground. Slow at first, but they quickly picked up speed, and as they did, a new fear was unlocked inside of Lillian.
She had never flown before. Scratch that, she hadn't even been weightless for longer than a few seconds before, and the pit forming in her gut from the loss of solid ground beneath her feet, told her that she had been lucky not having to experience this ever before.
She shut her eyes as bullets began whizzing by, and the three of them were chased through the streets of Final City.
At night.
******
Somebody howled in the distance. People wearing all kinds of masks appeared in and out of sight as they passed by alleys. The shadows were beginning to speak and...
A nightmare inducing screech from in front of them had Lily shrieking, and Whitney cursing.
"The hell was that!" Lex demanded
"Reapers." Whitney whimpered before admitting almost imperceptibly. "I don't want to die."
Another screech this time closer had Lex taking action. She snatched one of the magazines from Lillian's back pocket, jammed it into place, and contorted her body into as comfortable of a shooting position as she could find and fired.
******
Lillian's eyes were shut. The outside world was too much to handle right.
Like. What were these freaks being fed? Even with all three of them weighing down the broomstick, they were still flying through the streets way faster than any mortal speed, and from what Lillian could tell. They were as mortal as she was, and yet they were keeping pace behind, and they were firing with deadly precision, even though they were on foot. Each shot whizzed by horrifyingly close, and not even the dizzying maneuvers that the witch executed with practiced ease made it any better. Actually, it was probably because of those maneuvers that they were all still alive.
Lex was shooting back and... A shout of pain sounded before one of the men stumbled and then fell limp. The hope that blossomed was short-lived, however, as the Reapers screeched again. They sounded as if they were even closer now. At this rate, they'd be caught between two firing squads.
She needed to think fast.
"We can't keep going this way, or we're going to run into the reapers ." Lillian said.
Nobody responded.
She tried again. "We have to..."
"Whitney! Turn into this alley coming up!" Lex shouted.
"Are you insane!?" Whitney shouted back, glancing over Lillian and at Lex. "Cutting through alleyways is how people go missing around here."
"Just do it!" There was no room from argument in the command.
Lillian fought the sense of impending doom and reminded herself that Lex knew what she was doing... probably. On the bright side, it was a full moon tonight, but the downside was that the moon had decided to hide behind the clouds at this particular moment casting the unlit alleyway into almost complete darkness.
Whitney huffed something vulgar beneath her breath, before quickly dipping them low and drifting into the alley.
******
Lex didn't know which problem was worse. Was it the fact that they were flying blind through an unlit alleyway in a high-speed chase in one of the sketchiest places in all of Solaris. Or maybe it was the thought of the reapers who were getting closer and closer, no doubt locked in on their auras. It was only a matter of time. No amount of running could get a Reaper off of your trail. They didn't sleep, they were fast, they also fed on the aura of their victims, and could go years without feeding, so they basically didn't eat either. Not until they were let out to hunt.
She had done a paper in middle school in tribute to the survivors of the human turned Reaper, Hallow Tear, and the misguided teachings of human radicalists that caused the day after the new years 80 years ago to go down in history as "The Hallow Tear Devouring."
The Witch she had interviewed said. "The pain is unbearable. I'd compare having my aura devoured... To being thrown inside a furnace, but you're forced to just sit there... and watch, as piece after piece of you melts away. As if had that part of you had never existed."
A bullet whizzed by.. She hissed. The bullet hadn't pierced through her shoulder, but it hadn't missed her either.
"Lex?" Lillian and Lex's gazes met, and Lillian's face said everything that she wasn't.
"Are you ok."
"Where are we running too."
"What do we do."
She...
"Whores!" A voice spat, jumping out at them from the darkness.
"What the fuck!" Whitney cried, as she acted fast enough that they only nearly hit the figure.
Laughter echoed across the empty space, and Lex's blood ran cold. Her heart was racing, and her shoulder pulsated with waves of pain, but she ignored it as she looked back at the figure.
She only got a quick glimpse before the person vanished back into the darkness, and the bullets began up again.
What the hell was that about.
"I think I'm going to be sick." Lily groaned. They were flying through the back alleys at dizzying speeds for mortals, and Lex had to give her credit for not already vomiting.
Another bullet whipped by horrifyingly close to her head, and Lex growled as her pistol clicked. They had to get out of these gods damned back alleys. They were way too narrow, and even with Whitney's best efforts, it would only be a matter of time.
"Hey! Snap out of it! Hey!" Lily screamed, stopping Lex from reaching for the last clip that either of them had.
"I don't want to die!" Whitney screeched. Another bullet whipped by, and Whitney screamed before they nose dived.
"What are you doing!?" Lex shouted.
The ground met them fast. She had no time to think. She grabbed Lily and leaped from the broomstick. She pulled Lily in as close as she could, twisted them in a way that she would take the full brunt of the impact, and prepared herself.
They hit the ground in a skid, and a scream was wrenched from out her at the first bounce. She had landed directly on the arm that had taken the bullet. The second bounce had her fighting tears as dirt and rocks entered newly formed wound. The third bounce.. They crashed into something hard and metal, bouncing from it, and Lex groaned as they rolled of a few seconds before finally coming to a stop on the hard, cold, dirty cement.
She felt heavy. She had to get up, but she felt unbelievably heavy. She felt something stir on top of her and realized that her eyes were closed.
She forced them open to see half braided auburn brown hair hanging down from a pretty face that was hovering a few inches above her own, smiling down at her. Lex's gaze fell on the blood that ran down from a nasty cut on her cheek.
"Close your eyes." Lily whispered so softly that Lex wasn't sure she heard her right. Now wasn't really the time for prayer. She had to find a way to get them to safety.
But something about the look in her friends eyes. The determination, the fear, the love... Keeping her eyes on Lily's, Lex heard as their persuers came to a stop a moment before their bastard of a leader spoke. "Not that this game of tag hasn't been fun, but it's late, and I'm tired. So. I won't say it again." She heard a gun cock. "The three of you are coming with us. Now!"
"Close your eyes." Lily repeated, bringing her hand to Lex's cheek and using her thumb to stroke it in a motion that Lex was sure Lily thought was soothing.
She wanted to dig a hole so far underground that she could live comfortably in it for the rest of her life the moment a snotty laugh cry escaped from her. She was being so uncool right now.
Lily laughed, her hair bouncing with the motion. "What?"
Lex shook her head and did as her friend said. "You're just so bad at that."
"Jerk." Lily said playfully.
A warmth had spread from her to Lex and... the pain, It was... vanishing! Everywhere the warmth spread too, the pain would disappear.
"What are you.."
"What the hell!" The men shouted.
"Keep your eyes closed just a little longer!" The urgency in Lillian's words kept Lex from doing just the opposite. Lillian had some explaining to do as soon as they got away from these bastards.
"Now!" She felt Lillian raise from off her chest, and Lex shot up, opening her eyes just in time to see a faint golden glow recede within Lillian. The same golden light that she had seen back in the forest.
"Later." Lillian assured her.
"Later." Lex agreed.
"Don't shoot! We run the risk of hitting each other!" The leader ordered, and Lex smiled smugly. Serves the cocky asshole right.
"Where is Whitney?" Lex asked.
"Right here." She couldn't help the stupid, giddy grin that she sported at that icey as death tone that she knew better than the sound of her own breathing. For the first time in hours, she felt completely and utterly safe, as her big brother appeared from out of the shadows of the alleyway in front of them, looking like he was about to rip out the hearts of these dick bags, and eat them.