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"Contributions of Dilemma"

Chapter 22 - The Days of Deception

Brian’s hands shook with fear as he let his hand lay upon Cyrus’s shoulder. Everything happened in a second’s time. His hand surged with a dark cloud of energy. Cyrus’s body shuttered from a violent spasm. Murky yellow foam spurted from his mouth as he fell toward the ground. Shouts of anger and fear echoed against Brian’s skull. He fell to the floor as hundreds of bullets flew through the air.

‘Please God! Don’t let me go like this! C’mon! I have so much more to accomplish in my life! I can work for you. Let me use my gifts. Give me a sign, God! Something!’ Brian pleaded softly as he shut his eyes tight. He could feel the bullets whizzing past his head. He had fallen atop Cyrus’s cold body. Tremors from Cyrus’s decaying body quaked Brian. He held his breath, imagining himself as a smoky cloud.
Everything around him went silent. Soft winds blew about him, picking him up from the ground. Brian felt as if he were flying. He sighed happily at the feeling of solace engulfing him. He was carried away from the little house of horrors. He no longer felt guilty for his gift. He was released. He was free. Brian opened his eyes briefly, hoping to find himself in Heaven. However, his vision was greeted with men screaming and pointing at him. Brian’s eyes went wide as he now realized that he no longer held a human form.
He was a thick black cloud.

His form was grasped by the winds circulating through the ducts. He felt himself propelled toward the men screaming. His eyes took in the horror he had caused. Men were engulfed with his form, and suddenly fell to the floor. Violent convulsions shook their bodies as they screamed for help. Huge black welts formed upon their various skin tones. They screamed, trying to scratched at the giant bubbles beneath their skin. Dark gray pus burst from each pustule, exploding upon many other men. Others vomited the contents of their organs up, soon to be followed by gray tinted blood. The smell of death lurked in the air as the skin began to coat with pus and deteriorate. Brian felt sick as he watched the clean white bones poke through masses of putrefying flesh.
Brian had created the Bubonic Plague within his form.

Brian’s mind went numb as darkness controlled his mind. Within a few minutes, Brian found himself lying upon the soft green grass. The sun warmed his cold body. He lay there, staring at the grass for a long time. His mind slowly deduced the possibilities. Brian shakily sat up, running his hands through his unruly sandy locks. A nervous smile appeared upon his tired face.
He had done the impossible.
He had killed Cyrus.
No one held him captive.
He was outside the facility.
Nothing stopped him.

“I’M FREE!” he screamed out, scrambling onto his shaky legs. He stumbled for a few moments until he regained his balance. His powers were stronger than ever. The power no longer controlled him. No one controlled him. Brian let out a whoop of joy, running toward the woods. He had to find Kevin and Howie, and then he could rescue the others.
*~*~*
Jamelet stared at Ana in utter shock. They had spent the last two hours running tests upon Ana’s powers. She was tremendously stronger than before. She no longer needed her hands to control the powers. Her mind had balanced everything. Ana could freeze things from the inside out. The deaths of the men that tried to overpower her were mind-boggling. She could cause detrimental frostbite in all creatures. She could create giant hailstorms and blizzards. Her body even produced ice-casts to protect her injured states. Everything dealing with ice Ana produced, controlled, and used.

“That’s just utterly amazing, child!” Jamelet squealed as Ana completed her final task. On the table sat a beautiful ice sculpture of the entire castle. Ana had memorized every detail, and depicted it within her creation. She gave a shy smile as Jamelet tackled her, hugging her fiercely. “I can’t believe you can do all that! How did you manage to learn those things?”

“I sat in my cabin all day, screwing around,” Ana answered simply, unable to hide the smile on her face. She felt so animated when around Jamelet. It had been too long. She was away for far too long. Jamelet had been her favorite. Ana reached up and hugged Jamelet again, finding herself unable to let go. Her eyes prickled with frosty tears. Jamelet shivered at Ana’s touch, but allowed the hug. Ana pulled away for a slight moment, wiping the tears away from her pale face.

“You never should have left us, Ana!”

“It was my choice, and I had my reasons.”

“Could you tell me those reasons?”

Ana glanced toward the window, frowning. “Later, Jamelet.”

“What’s wrong, little one?”

Ana glanced at Jamelet, her face seemed to shatter into despair. Ana looked extremely guilty as she gazed at her cold hands. Her voice called out softly, “I am so sorry, Jamelet.”

“Why?” Jamelet asked in surprise.

“If I wouldn’t have gotten caught, then we wouldn’t be in this disastrous event—”
“No, Ana, that’s not it at all!”
“I was reading one of Steeles’ books. The man is a total freak. There’s this old book, a missing chapter from the Bible or something. It says that everyone with a power is a Guardian Angel. It was so weird. I tried to read the rest of it, but Steeles snatched it from me. He started yelling, and I got so pissed,” Ana explained, her eyes turning an icy blue. Jamelet went silent, stopping Ana’s rage. She glanced curiously at the older woman, trying to identify the curious look upon Jamelet’s face. “Jamelet? Why are you so quiet?”

Howie and Kevin watched the girls from the opposite side of the room. Everything seemed fine between the girls. Kevin was completely amazed at the tasks that Ana could perform with no hesitation. Her body was adjusting nicely to her powers. Kevin stood there, glancing at Howie. His eyes were transfixed upon Ana’s form. Ana hadn’t made a move to speak with Howie during the entire morning. All she offered him was sour glares and icy hisses. Kevin found it amusing that Howie was so bothered by Ana’s hostility.

“She acts so much like a woman,” Howie grumbled as he fell into the chair by the small kitchen table. He watched Ana lean against the wall, near the fire. She practically had her hands submersed in the flames as she listened to Jamelet’s soothing voice. Her body gracefully maneuvered to her advantage. The steady sunlight from the dusty window near Ana beamed against Ana’s soft skin, making her glow with a seductive admiration. Howie grumbled incoherently, sinking further into his chair.
“Last time I checked, Bro, that woman was far from acting feminine! The only feminine qualities would be her appearance and that soft lavender dress—”
“Would you stop gawking at her like some kind of psycho!” Howie hissed, interrupting Kevin.

Kevin’s eyes went wide in complete surprise. He tried to hide the smile crinkling at the corners of his mouth. He held his hand upon his mouth, only to make Howie fume more. Kevin patted Howie’s back, trying to soothe the younger man. “Jezz, Howie, you’ve got it bad! Why don’t you just go talk to her? It’s not that hard. She’s a sweet kid.”
“She’s not a kid,” Howie mumbled.
“Excuse me? Are you trying to rectify that you like this sweet woman?” Kevin mused wiggling his eyebrows. Howie blushed furiously, rubbing his red cheeks. Kevin glanced over at the two women, finding Ana laughing at something Jamelet stated. Kevin smirked, knowing very well that Howie was watching Ana like a hawk. “Howie, do you have a crush?”

“You’re not funny,” Howie growled.

“You’re just lucky Nick isn’t here, she seemed to like the idea of fire and ice together—”

“OKAY, KEVIN! I GOT YOUR FREAKING POINT!” Howie exploded, jumping up off the chair. “I’LL GO TALK TO HER, LORD ALMIGHTY!” Kevin burst into laughter as Howie crossed the room. Howie never had much of a temper unless Kevin was actually speaking the truth. It amused Kevin greatly. It was nice to have his spirits lightened during a time of chaos.
Howie muttered to himself as he crossed the cabin toward Ana and Jamelet. He listened to the Jamelet compliment Ana’s abilities and sneakiness. He found himself admiring Ana as the sun and fire glowed upon her snowflake complexion. She smiled, running her hand behind her ear to tuck in a stray flaxen curl. She was a pretty creature, and it was impossible to deny. He was about to call out to her, but a roar of fierce nature rattled the ancient boards of the cabin. Within an instant, a bulky black hand smashed against the window, shattering the glass as it seized Ana’s upper shoulder.

“ANA!” Howie screamed, lunging at her. His hands encircled her waist and pulled her down to the ground as Kevin’s eyes burst with a ray of blue light. The tension from the beast’s hand released as Howie tumbled onto the ground on top of Ana. His heart hammered furiously as Ana held her left shoulder, moaning in pain. The fingers of the angry beast rained down upon Ana and Howie. Ana screamed out from the pain bursting in her tattered arm.

“KEVIN! GET SOMETHING TO COVER THE WINDOW!” Jamelet screamed as the remaining fingers from the beast spilled upon the floor. Blood began to spray about the room, covering everyone with the slimy substance. The beast roared in agony, retreating into the dark woods. Kevin grabbed a chair, splintering it with his massive arms. He hurriedly slammed it against the window. His eyes turned red, burning the wood and melting it against the plastic covering of the window frame.

During that time, Ana found herself staring into Howie’s dark eyes. Everything seemed to go silent around her. She could only see Howie’s handsome face. Her mind whirled as the anger towards him slowly melted. Her breath caught as he held his hands against her new wound, keeping the cold blood from spurting. “Ana?” Howie whispered, “Are you okay?”

“I…I’m fine,” she answered softly.

“Ana?”

“Howie?”

“I need to tell you something,” Howie answered, his mouth suddenly going dry. He didn’t move from her body, not really wanting to. He sighed softly, refusing to move. He was about to continue, but he felt a shiver race down Ana’s spine. His eyes went wide in shock. “Are you cold?” he asked.

Ana’s body tingled as she tried not to concentrate Howie lying on top of her. She shook her head as Howie continued to hold her shoulder. She chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. She could actually feel beads of sweat forming at her temples. Her body finally felt warm, almost as if it were on fire. She stared thoughtfully at him. “I’m not cold, Howie. In all honesty, I feel like I’m on fire, and that’s the first time this has happened since I was a baby.”
Howie nodded briefly as Jamelet and Kevin rushed to their sides. “We need to talk, Ana,” he told her.
*~*~*
Steeles screamed out profanities as the lights faintly flickered about his house. It took an entire day to get the generator defrosted. All of his paintings and galleries of artifacts had been completely ruined by one devious child. His anger swirled as he raged in his private office. The child would be punished. He had fallen in love with that child, but disobeying was out of the question. She would absolutely have to be punished.

Steeles was about to call for his guards when his phone caught him off guard. He seized the phone, preparing to scream at whoever it was. He couldn’t believe that the child had manipulated the systems so cleverly. He wanted to strangle her, but he couldn’t bring himself to that. He needed her more than she could assume. He had to think of something else… Something more painful would have to do, and he thought of killing her little lover-boy. That would be the perfect punishment.

“Hello?” Steeles growled.

“Steeles?” a faint voice crackled against his ear.

“Speaking, who is this?”

“It’s Cyrus,” the voice wheezed.

“You son of a—”

“I need something from you, Steeles,” Cyrus interrupted, wheezing into his phone. His hands trembled as he sat in the small chambers of his room. His body ached from the powerful force of death. He coughed again, wiping the blood that contaminated his oral cavity.

“What the Hell happened to you, Cyrus? You sound awful,” Steeles growled, falling into his large chair. He could tell by Cyrus’s tone that something had happened. Steeles ran his fingers along the ancient book sitting upon his desk. It was one of the few things that hadn’t been damaged by the child’s escape.

“That damn Grim-Reaper tried to kill me! He slammed his hand upon my back, and this toxic charge erupted. I thought I was dead, but one of my assistants grabbed me and pulled me into her office. She injected me with a vital vaccine she’s been working on to counter-remedy the boys’ powers. She brought me back to life, but the Grim-Reaper escaped. I can’t trace him, because he damaged my systems. So, I need you to bring the Ice Princess here. I know that boy is seeking out his other two friends that escaped. The child could be bait—”

“I can’t do that for you, Cyrus.”

“Why the Hell not?!”

“She escaped yesterday. The wench froze my entire home and escaped. She let out my most prized possession after her. That beast took years to find and trap! Now it’s out running about the woods…”
“She actually escaped? I thought you said that could never happen,” Cyrus cruely teased, coughing violently.

“Quiet yourself, Cyrus, or you might find that—“ Steeles stopped for a moment, remembering what the beast had been created for. He started to laugh. The ironic notion rang clearly against Steeles’ dark soul. “My God, why didn’t I think of that! The beast is a genetic mutation from those minions of Hell! He’ll search out my Princess and bring her back to me! That is genius! She set her own trap!”

“Steeles?” Cyrus called faintly.

“Does the Grim-Reaper know that you survived?” Steeles blurted.

“No.”

“Do any of the others?”

“No.”

“Good, make sure that it passes around the entire facility that you are dead. Release your prisoners, have the guards explain that the entire project has been abandoned. Make sure they know that Ana and Howie are running about the Rhode-Island territory. Let them assume that I have died by Ana’s desperate escape. Let them believe that our entire plans have been disrupted and buried,” Steeles explained with a giddy laugh.

“You’re positively insane!”

“No, I’m a genius! If all the projects assume that everything has been dropped, they will be free. Naturally, they will seek out one another to find comfort. They will band together and think that they can move onto freedom, and that’s where we can strike. The escaped with find the abandoned, and they will collect together and drop their defenses because there is no longer a threat upon their lives. That’s when we’ll attack, getting them all in one single swoop.”

Cyrus was silent in a moment of thought. Suddenly he burst into laughter. “That is brutally brilliant!”

“I know. So, hide yourself, Cyrus. Fly out to my other estate, and we will wait there. No one will think the better. Only we will know of our plans. The projects guards will be down and they will suspect nothing. They will freely come out into the open to restart their lives. And in that time, we can lavish upon the royalties of our brilliance. For in their stupidity, I will have the pleasure of destroying them and the pleasure of having my Ice Princess back for the my coronation as the leader of Hell!”
*~*~*

**~To Be Continued...~**