5132
THREE MONTHS AGO
"What the heck was that for?" He yelled out, rubbing his cheeks.
I was there.
But I couldn't feel anything or any remorse. What just happened. Oh, God. What just I lose?
"Lana, you're scaring me."
"Where are they? What have you done?" I couldn't recognize my own voice. It's like I was looking at Samara's dead body again, waiting to understand why she wasn't waking up. I felt hands on my skin, cold, a madman's.
"Where are they, Mikhail?" I asked again, refusing to see the three bodies around me.
"I had no choice. Lana. I had to do that. He wasn't going to kill her so I had to send him back, that was the only way we could stop Fredah."
I couldn't understand what he was talking about. "Send him where? Mikhail, answer me!"
He had the nerve to look apologetic. "To hell. I sent him to hell."
Hell?
A chuckle left from my lips. "You hated him that much..."
"It's not about who hated who. I did what was necessary to save you!" So easily he said those words like it wasn't breaking my heart again. I wanted to scream so loud that the sky broke open. I wanted to hide, to shout at Mikhail. Or kill Byron. I couldn't let myself feel the pain or I would never be able to run.
I stared outside.
This was our chance.
"We need to get to 5133."
"What?" His tone was rough from chanting for so long. "What are you talking about?"
My gaze ran wildly at every place I could look. We had to come up with something. Fast. "Need to take 5133 with us. Byron made sure no one was here to see what happened. We have to run before they come back. They'll never let us leave. Now!"
I didn't know why he followed me without a question. Did he even think of his actions at all? Or was it another way he wanted to proclaim his hate for me? Maybe it was guilt or maybe even he knew the truth in it. Byron would never let us go. Whatever we needed to do, this was the time.
Thankfully we didn't collide with any orderlies or anyone who could question us. The moment I was inside the room, 5133 jumped from the bed.
"What is he doing here?"
"We need to leave. Do you have any weapon that we can use?" I didn't realize there were tears in my eyes until she pointed that out.
"5132, you are crying...can you please calm down for a second and tell me what happened?" When I didn't answer and just kept looking for that damn crack, I heard her ask Mikhail.
"What happened?"
I could feel his stare burn my back. "I-I had to open the gate of hell. They are dead. Those sisters."
"That's good, right?" She exclaimed with a laugh. "What? Did I miss something?"
"It wasn't just those sisters. Sandy. Him..."
5133 backed up, hands raising as if to ward him off. "No way! You don't mean Byron, do you?"
"Not Byron. Zach." I answered for him. Looking him in the eyes to see him flinch.
Her eyes widened. "Oh, no. 5132..."
"Can I talk to you for a second?" Mikhail gritted out, avoiding my eyes for some reason.
"No." I ran my hand through my hair, thinking how I was going to end Byron. "I have better things to-found it."
"What?" 5133 looked over my shoulder to see what I was looking at.
"The blueprint of this place. Thanks to a psycho ex that your brother just killed, he had it hidden here."
I flinched, feeling someone brush their lips near my nape. "How do you know?"
"He told me one day. I just didn't want to believe it." Just like I couldn't believe what was happening right now. I must have blanked out for a second cause Mikhail was scanning my face with a worried frown.
"Did you hear what I just said?"
I shook my head.
"How do you want to do it?" When I still stared at him, he sighed. "This escape. How do you want it?"
"Starting with Byron. He needs to pay."
And, so do you...
PRESENT
"What the heck was that for!?" Mikhail yelled out as soon as my fist connected with his jaw.
"You know what that was for! Seriously? You couldn't have just told me, oh, babe, I may kill you one day because that's what I was meant to do. Toodles!" I screamed at his face while he was still rubbing his jaw. I could've yelled more if not I finally noticed his eyes. They were shifting between vibrant blue and silver.
What the hell?
"What happened to your eyes?"
"My what-oh..." He paused, rolling his eyes. "I just got the news that you were gone and then out of nowhere, I was summoned in a not-so-welcoming way with all the dragging through the dark vortex with the screeching of birds as background music. Excuse me, if I am shifting between my true form and chosen form without any control."
There was no point asking why he had a chosen form to begin with. Either he would give me a half-assed reply or say nothing at all.
"I was gone for a long time." I pointed out instead.
"Yeah, someone kept deleting my messages. What's this place anyway?" He asked finally noticing where we were and the abnormality of the situation.
"It's a limbo." Keisha raised her eyebrows, giving me a deliberate look to give her a further elaboration but I pretended not to notice.
It's Mikhail who broke the silence. "Wouldn't you introduce us, Lana?"
I internally winced. He was never going to stop calling me Lana, would he?
"Meet my mother, Keisha, the one who abandoned us. And this is Mikhail and he-"
"He's your Seeker, right?" She stated flatly.
"Yes. But why do you sound so cold suddenly?" I asked her out of curiosity. Even Mikhail's shoulder stiffened when she voiced her concern.
"Because I'm a Reaper, remember? We're supposed to hate each other not the other way around. But clearly, you were hanging out with a Seeker without thinking about the consequences." The disgust in her voice was clear.
I wanted to defend myself right at that moment. Keisha didn't hold the right to say anything anymore. Where was she when I was suffering in a sanatorium or Zach was torturing me to the point I thought death was the easy way? Keisha had no right to tell me who I befriended cause she was never in her life.
Before I could say something though, Mikhail beat me to it. "That's why I was wondering where that awful smell was coming from..."
"Anyway...we needed to get out of this limbo and now you've made it risky for all of us," Keisha said again while giving him a side-eye.
"I will take care of it but-" I wanted to say more but I couldn't ignore how exhausted Keisha actually looked. Our original plan was to take souls to feel much stronger which I was getting over, thanks to Mikhail but he would never let Keisha do that.
So I had two choices now.
Either, I let Keisha take a soul in front of him and offend his purity complex.
Or, I could take him with me to clear the path so Keisha could take as much soul as she wanted.
Obviously, I was taking the latter option. The next thing I needed was to start a war between ourselves. Without waiting, I hugged Keisha to whisper the plan in her ears.
She was smart enough to keep her mouth shut.
"So Mr. Hernandez, we're repeating the history again," I murmured once I could see Keisha disappear behind the manor that looked exactly like the coven back in the earth.
"What history?" He asked, trying to keep up with my pace.
"We're escaping this limbo...just like we did with the sanatorium."