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Chapter 22 - The Prick of a Needle



Coby smiled as he watched the gifted men terminate the rest of his soldiers in only a few minutes. He was impressed with the growth of their powers, but he wasn’t worried about them attacking him. He contained a stronger force of each of their specific powers. He hid behind the wall, drawing a mental image of what surrounded the group. His eyes flashed angrily when he conjured a picture of Ana holding Howie around the next corner. His head lay in Ana’s lap as she ran her fingers through his curls, promising that he would make it through this Hell. Coby studied the heartbeats coming from Howie, noticing that the timing had slowed dramatically with each minute. The man was dying. Coby felt an angry burst of energy soar through his soul when he watched Ana place a soft kiss against Howie’s pale lips. He quickly conjured a mental image of Ana’s entire body. Slowly, he stepped away from the wall, pinpointing Ana’s wildly beating heart. He took a deep breath and squeezed his hand into a fist.



“Howie’s really sick, Ana. We need to get him to medical station,” Jamelet whispered to Ana when she noticed Howie’s eyes fluttering. He seemed to be incoherent and slipping away from consciousness. The man was growing weaker by the moment and Jamelet knew that there was no time to waste.



“He lost a lot of blood,” Ana concluded, staring down at him in sorrow.



“We’ll make him better,” Jamelet promised.



“I hope so,” Ana whispered, placing another kiss upon his lips as Howie reached to brush his hand against her cheek.



“Ana, it’ll be okay,” Jamelet whispered.



“I want to believe you, but every time you say it’ll be okay, it gets worse,” Ana recalled.



“When we get out of here, we’ll move to a better place, okay?”



“Can I just move in with Howie?” Ana asked sheepishly.



“If I can move in with Nicky,” Jamelet chided, smiling softly.



“I love you, Howie,” Ana replied softly, oblivious to Jamelet’s statement. Jamelet was actually shocked by the preview of events. Ana had never been so caring before with other people in her life. She had only shown affection to Jamelet and that was sometimes restricted. Yet, Ana gave herself unselfishly to Howie’s needs. Since Ana’s entrapment in CAPPA, she had been trained to be a menace and hateful. Yet, she sat on the cold tile floor holding Howie, praying for his life, and soothing his fears. Jamelet vowed not to let Ana’s first love be destroyed by something that had destroyed Ana so long ago.



“GUYS!” Jamelet whistled loudly, turning away from Ana and Howie. She knew there was no time to waste. The guys looked away from the carnage they had created and walked toward Jamelet. She was surprised to see them grinning in triumph at the powerful return of their powers. She offered a shaky smile toward them as they gathered around her. “I’m glad that you guys got your powers under control, but we have other problems. We need to get Howie to a treatment room, now.”



“Is he okay?” AJ asked worriedly.



“No, he’s dying—”



An ear-piercing cry erupted, halting Jamelet’s explanation. The group pivoted to see Ana drop to the floor. Howie tumbled from her arms as she immediately grasped at her chest for relief. Jamelet went to reach for her, but Ana was thrust upward several feet into the air. Ana screamed in agony as she clawed at her chest, struggling with whatever was hurting her. She kicked her legs, fighting whatever held onto her. Blood trickled from her nostrils as the invisible attack continued. Pain etched across Ana’s sweaty forehead as she pounded on her chest. Jamelet’s eyes grew wide in surprise as Ana was dragged along the ceiling, completely unreachable to the others.



“WHAT’S HAPPENING TO HER?!” Nick screamed in horror.



“MAKE IT STOP! IT HURTS!” Ana screamed louder.



“WHAT HURTS?” Jamelet screamed with dizziness.



“MY HEART! MAKE IT STOP!” Ana shrieked.



“GET HER DOWN!” Kevin hollered.



The four men went to run after her, but Coby stepped from around the corner. Instantly, the boys froze in front of Jamelet, shielding her without words. Coby offered a sultry smile as he pulled Ana behind an invisible force field that he had created to protect himself. He allowed the pained woman to hover in the air above him, still clawing at her chest as Coby mentally crushed her heart. “Do you know who I am?” Coby asked cruelly, allowing another invisible force to crush against Ana’s windpipe. Her screams were silenced into gurgles for air as her body went completely limp.



“Coby, let her go!” Jamelet ordered.



“Do you think that I won’t hurt her now, Jamelet?” Coby pondered.



“Stop trying to prove yourself,” Jamelet growled.



“What are you doing to her?” Kevin called as AJ rushed to help Howie off the floor.



“Getting my revenge on a woman who will take my heart or death,” Coby declared, pointing toward the wall. Instantly, an image of Ana’s heart reflected on the wall. Jamelet’s eyes watered when she noticed the transparent hand squeezing about Ana’s trembling heart. Coby’s gray eyes glittered in pure delight. “I’m controlling her heart, Jamelet. With one simple squeeze I can end her life by bursting her heart. She’s already on the verge of death as you stall.”



“WHAT DO YOU WANT?” Jamelet screamed.



“I want you,” Coby answered.



“No!” Nick blurted, trying to reach for Jamelet, but she wrenched away

from his grasp.



“What do you want from me?” Jamelet questioned.



“Come forward and I’ll release her. She won’t remember a thing. She’ll be fine,” Coby promised, beckoning Jamelet to him.



Jamelet nodded meekly, inching her way forward. “You won’t hurt her?”



“No, I promise that I won’t hurt her.”



“JAMELET!” Nick screamed, rushing forward as Jamelet crossed through the barrier.



Nick reached for her wrist, but slipped. He, Brian, and Kevin crashed into what felt like a brick wall. They fell backward into a pile as Coby grabbed her by the throat. Immediately, he withdrew a large needle and plunged it deep into Jamelet’s throat while Ana continued to hang in the air. Jamelet screamed in agony as the bright red liquid was injected into her vein. She could feel the burning liquid pulsating through her body as she began to shiver in disgust. She reached up to cover the wound as her blood infused with the deadly pathogen. Coby laughed as he pushed her back through the barrier onto the pile of men.



“LET ANA GO! YOU PROMISED!” Jamelet choked, holding her neck.



“I didn’t promise to let her go,” Coby answered, allowing his mind to squeeze tighter against Ana’s heart. Ana began to convulse in the air, causing Jamelet to scream in fear. Nick quickly reached for Jamelet, tugging her into a fierce hug. He tried to console her screams, but Coby’s thick voice filled her mind. Coby laughed as he and Ana began to dissolve into the air. “I just promised that I wouldn’t hurt her, but Terrence made no such promise.”



“HE’S TAKING HER TO TERRENCE!” Jamelet screamed as she struggled to get away from Nick.



“You’re bleeding! You can’t go anywhere!” Kevin exasperated, reaching hold Jamelet still. Nick ripped a piece of his shirt away and held it firmly to where Jamelet had been injected. The guys looked at her worriedly as blood seeped through the small piece of material. “What the Hell did he put into you, Jamelet?”



“We need to get Ana back,” Jamelet hissed, refusing to answer.



“Jamelet—”



“Guys, Howie’s not breathing!” AJ hollered, breaking Jamelet’s interrogation.



“GET HIM INTO THAT ROOM, NOW!” Jamelet ordered, quickly running toward Howie and dismissing her own nausea. She pushed the thoughts of her own death behind her, focusing on Howie’s now blue appearance. The guys hurriedly pulled Howie off the floor and rushed him into the nearby treatment room. Jamelet said a silent prayer as she held her bleeding neck, knowing she had only a few minutes to save that man’s life and then rescue Ana.



*~*~*



Summer continued to bang against the metal door that encaged her, but to no avail. No one had come to her aide. Summer found tears gathering in her eyes as copious amounts of plaster and dust covered her weak body. She feared that she would die without having time to apologize to Jamelet. She knelt down, praying for salvation as a large crack darted across the ceiling.



“I am so sorry!” Summer screamed as she dove under her bed. She listened as the crack opened and a large sheet of plaster fell to the center of the floor. The ground vibrated as the plaster shattered around her. She squeezed her eyes shut as something else tumbled downward. Before she could anticipate anything, something seized her by the neck and tugged her away from the bed. “LOOK! I DIDN’T DO—”



“Summer, it’s me, Galen!” the man hissed, brushing the white powder away from his face. Summer relaxed in his grip, studying him with relief. She reached up to dust away some more white powder, smiling with relief. She reached and hugged the man fiercely. Galen then offered a shaky smile, pointing upward. “Are you ready to leave?”



*~*~*



“You really had to piss her off, didn’t you?” Terrence laughed as he and Coby walked down to the isolated tank located in the basement of Coby’s apartment. It was the same tank that Ana had been locked in when she was a child at CAPPA. Now, she stood in the middle of the tank, screaming thick obscenities at the men. Her hands continually exploded with icicles that dented the tank, but didn’t break it. The air inside the tank was thick with frigid clouds as Ana gathered a large ball of hail in her hands.



“I don’t want to talk about it,” Coby grumbled, staring at Ana through the thick metal containing her. He offered a small smile toward her, waving gently. Ana answered by flicking her middle finger upward before shooting a large icicle toward the mirror. Coby winced, stepping backward. He glared toward his twin brother in anger. “I managed to infect that little wench that turned Ana against me.”



“Jamelet?” Terrence asked with delight.



“Yes,” Coby grunted.



“YOU’RE DEAD! DO YOU HEAR ME? I DON’T CARE IF I DIE, BUT YOU WILL SUFFER! I’M GOING TO KICK YOUR ASSES ALL THE WAY TO MARS AND THEN I’M GOING TO TRAVEL THERE AND RIP YOU INTO TINY PIECES AND SEND YOU TO JAPAN TO BE INCLUDED IN THEIR DISGUSTING SUSHI! DO YOU HEAR ME? DAMNIT! YOU LOUSY MEN! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? YOU’RE TURNING INTO YOUR FATHER! COBY! DO YOU HEAR ME? YOU’RE TURNING INTO YOUR DISGUSTING FATHER WHO ONLY WANTED TO SELL ME TO BE SOME ANTIQUE! DAMNIT, COBY! YOU SAID YOU NEVER WANTED TO BE HIM AND NOW LOOK AT YOU! LOOK WHAT YOU’RE DOING TO BE! HOW IS THIS PROTECTING ME? HUH? HOW DARE YOU?” Ana screamed through the thick tank until her throat became raw and her voice became hoarse.



“I’ve sent down soldiers to infect Summer as we speak,” Terrence replied, ignoring Ana’s raw threats. Instead, he reached for a silver gun assembled with a large portal of green liquid. He then screwed on a tip that resembled a large needle. He flicked to draw the bubbles away from the liquid as it infused.



“Are you planning on shooting her?” Coby questioned, his eyes growing wide with worry.



“Are you that much of an idiot?”



“I saved your ass, so watch your mouth.”



“But that was a foolish question.”



“Terrence—”



“It’s a drug, dear brother. A local anesthetic, basically, and I’ll inject through that portal like a dart. It will paralyze her body, but she’ll still be conscious and feel everything that we do to her. So, that icicle against my throat will be avenged,” Terrence replied, opening a small portal without Ana’s knowing. Carefully, he aimed toward her spine and squeezed the trigger. The dart went flying into Ana’s spine and she slumped to the floor in a matter of minutes. He smiled with triumph, glancing at his brother. “You can also get that bed romp you’ve been wanting from that wench.”



“Can I go in?” Coby requested.



“Fine, but her last breath will be in my hands,” Terrence declared, opening the door