Chapter 4, Part 3
1896 Words
Eric Sampson POV
My mouth filled with blood and I turned my head to the side, spitting it out on the carpet. Marino was standing in front of me with a smirk on his face while he raised his bloodied fist again. I braced myself for him to hit me again, and my head whipped to the side, his blow splitting my eyebrow open.
I was tied to a chair and Marino had been using me as a punching bag for what felt like forever. My head was pounding and my whole body was screaming in pain.
“You know what you have to do to make this stop.” He chirped. “Just tell us the passcode and you won’t be in pain anymore.”
I suspected that he meant that I was dead the second I caved in, so I clamped my mouth shut and glared at him.
“No?” Marino said, and my blood ran cold when I saw him take out brass knuckles from his pocket, knowing that my situation was about to get a lot worse.
We all looked up when my phone started ringing. It was weird. The only phone that had been ringing this far was the headquarters landline.
“You might want to get that.” I coughed.
My phone was in my jacket, still draped over the chair I was sitting in when we first got here, and Marino marched over there to pick up the call and put it on speaker.
“I thought we were done negotiating.” He snapped.
I froze when I heard Sam’s voice.
“With them perhaps.” She replied. “But not with me.”
Marino put the phone down on the table and lit a cigar.
“And what makes you think that you have anything I would need that I can’t get from them?” He asked coldly while taking a long drag off the cigar.
Sam chuckled confidently, and I started to wonder what her game plan was.
“I think you misunderstood me.” She replied. “I’m calling to negotiate your surrender.”
Marino started laughing and picked up the phone.
“You’re calling Sampson’s phone, so I’m guessing you’re someone he cares about.” He said and smiled wickedly while leaning forward so that he was at eye level with me. “And you care about him.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Sam replied.
Marino laughed and blew a large cloud of smoke in my face. I resisted the urge to cough as my throat started burning and my eyes watered.
“But it does.” He replied and held the phone out to me. “Any last words to your girlfriend.”
“Sam don’t.” I coughed. “It’s not worth it.”
“Yes it is.” She snapped.
Marino placed the end of the cigar against my neck, and I groaned when the glowing end left a burn mark on my skin.
To my surprise, Sam chuckled. I looked up at Marino, who frowned at the phone too.
“Now you’ve done it.” She muttered. “Look out the window, you idiot.”
My blood ran cold when I saw Valeria float outside the window, her arms crossed over her chest and a cold look on her face. I noticed that she was still in parts of her school uniform, the wind tugging at her shirt and skirt.
I saw everyone’s jaws drop open in shock as they all stared at Valeria frozen in their places.
“What the hell is that?” Marino gasped.
“That would be the Valkyrie.” Sam replied. “And now you’ll face her wrath.”
*
Thirty minutes earlier.
Valeria POV
“Are you sure about this?” Lieutenant Matthews asked while he fidgeted with his earpiece.
I shrugged.
“I know I’m asking you to risk your life and that it’s a long way down if you fall.” I replied. “But I promise that I won’t drop you.”
“This is f*cking insane.” The girl on the team muttered.
“And brilliant.” Another guy on the team chimed in. “If we actually succeed with this, it’ll go down in history as the most epic save ever.”
“I don’t care about history.” I mumbled. “I just want Eric back.”
“Everyone knows what to do?” Sam asked while putting her earpiece in too.
“Yes Ma’am.” They replied in unison.
Sam stayed behind by the van while we ran over to a neighboring building, careful not to be seen by anyone that was in charge of the negotiations still going on at the table.
When we walked in, the staff at the front desk flew out of their seats. Lieutenant Matthews flashed his badge.
“Where are your elevators?” He asked.
“Around the corner.” One of the ladies whispered.
“We need access to the roof.” He continued, and a man in a suit who introduced himself as the manager showed us to the elevator. He glanced nervously at their guns, and frowned at me with confusion.
The ride to the top floor was silent, and I took a deep breath.
“Thank you for doing this.” Lieutenant Matthews whispered.
“I’m just afraid that I’ll fail.” I replied.
“It’s normal when there’s a lot at stake.” He replied. “But I know what this means for you, so I’m just really grateful that you’re willing to try.”
I shrugged.
“It’ll come out sooner or later.”
We got off on the top floor and the manager opened the door to the roof. The wind instantly tugged at our clothes when we jogged over to the edge.
“You ready?” I asked and turned to the team.
All of them started to look a little nervous, and I smiled at them.
“I can do this.” I said encouragingly. “I promise you’ll be fine.”
Lieutenant Matthews turned the safety off of his gun and then screwed a silencer on the barrel.
“Check the entry point before we reach the building.” He said to the others. “If we can take them down while they can’t see us coming, it gives us the best advantage.”
They nodded and did the same thing with their guns. Then they lined up at the edge of the building.
I tapped into my powers and they lifted off the ground before taking off over the edge and flying towards the building.
“Confirm when you’re there.” I said, knowing that they could hear me through the coms.
I kept going, afraid to drop them until they had reached the rooftop on the other side.
A muffled sound was suddenly heard through the coms, and I realized that they had fired the weapons. I forced myself to focus and soon I heard Lieutenant Matthews’ voice through the coms.
“We’re in position.” He said. “You can let go now.”
I slowly put them down on the ground and squinted at the building. I could barely see them from this distance, but when I heard Lieutenant Matthews order his team to breach, I turned on my heel and sprinted back to the elevator.
The manager was gone and I waited impatiently for the elevator to reach the ground floor. Once there, I sprinted back outside and started calculating my next move.
“We’re ready and standing by.” Lieutenant Matthews whispered.
“Sam, you’re up.” I replied.
*
Sam POV
I took out my phone and dialed Eric’s number, hoping that he didn’t leave it on silent mode.
The others could hear the call through the come, and I saw Valeria stare at me from a distance in anticipation. When someone picked up, I almost sighed in relief. But that relief didn’t last long.
“Any last words to your girlfriend?” The man said, and I heard Eric’s voice through the phone.
“Sam don’t.” He pleaded. “It’s not worth it.”
He sounded like he was in pain, and I looked over at Valeria. Her eyes started glowing and she gave me a small nod.
She started running straight for the command circle. I watched with pride as she jumped and landed on their table.
“I would take a step back, if I were you.” She said coldly before taking off into the air.
The commanders’ stunned faces made it easy to force a chuckle even though I could hear Eric being tortured.
“Now you’ve done it.” I said. “Look out the window, you idiot.”
As soon as I knew Valeria had the situation under control, I marched up to the stunned commanders and cleared my throat.
“You heard the girl.” I replied. “Let’s take a step back, shall we?”
*
Valeria POV
Everyone in the room stared at me, and I smirked at them.
I unfolded my arms and held up three fingers in front of me.
“Three.” I mumbled.
“Two.”
“One.”
Once I put my last finger down, Lieutenant Matthews and his team broke the door down. I aimed for the window and it exploded as I flew inside, making shards of glass fly everywhere.
The floor in the room was littered with bodies, most of them wearing suits. A small group of six men and women were huddled in a corner, and I figured that they were working in the building and were taken hostages. Lieutenant Matthews and his team had managed to take out the other armed men in the room and were all aiming their guns at one last man.
I turned to see a man with very pale skin and white hair hold a gun to Eric’s head.
“What kind of a freak are you?” He spat and stared at me with wide eyes.
“You flatter me.” I muttered.
“Don’t come closer, or I’ll…”
Before he could finish that sentence, I grabbed the gun he was holding and yanked it out of his grip.
“You’ll shoot?” I grinned.
Before he could respond, I threw him backwards and away from Eric. He collided with the wall with a groan and fell to the floor.
I rushed over to Eric and untied the rope.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He looked at me worriedly.
“Do you know what you’ve just done?” He whispered.
“Practically exposed myself to anyone that was watching?” I shrugged. “I know.”
Eric pulled me into a quick hug and then turned to the man on the floor.
“It’s over, Marino.” He said.
Marino laughed coldly.
“You think so?” He asked. “The building is swarming with my army, and they are going to barge in here at any moment. You might have a freak with you, but you are still severely outnumbered.”
I looked around to the terrified hostages on the ground, Lieutenant Matthews’ team, and Eric.
There was no way I could get them all out of there before Marino’s reinforcements arrived.
- Writer
