The Song Of Sorrow.
Warning ⚠️: This book contains graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised.
" Joe, behind you!" Esther yelled from where she still stood behind Killian, both watching in horror as Axle smirked at the strawberry blond haired woman.
Joelee's eyes glowed in the dim light of the emergency lights as she whipped around to glare at Axle just as he fired the gun.
The glow immediately faded from Joelee's eyes as the anger immediately faded to be replaced with horror as she realized that Sam now lay on the ground directly in front of Joelee.
" Sam, no!" Joelee yelled as she quickly got to her knees beside her friend, holding their head on her lap as she looked down at them with a terrified expression.
Blood began to drip from Sam's lips as they began to grow pale beneath the dark red liquid. The wound in Sam's chest bloomed quickly with crimson as they coughed up the blood to keep themselves from drowning in it.
" You'll be alright.... Just hang in there. Somebody help!" Joelee exclaimed, her pale blue eyes filling with tears as she looked down at her friend.
" Hey... Don't cry. I'm emo, this is what emos want. To go out in a blaze of... Depressing stuff." Sam joked which caused Joelee to release a strained laugh through her sniffles.
" I'm not crying... I'm just allergic to... My friends getting shot." Joelee released a sob as Sam released a raspy laugh, coughing up a large amount of blood as they did.
" Apparently I'm deathly allergic to bullets." Sam joked which made Joelee smile sadly as she squeezed her friends hand.
"Do something!" Killian hissed at Esther who shook her head slowly, Killian's eyes igniting with anger for a moment before Esther finally spoke.
"They got shot in the chest, Killian. It'd kill me to heal them... If they even lived through my attempt. I can't... I'm sorry." Esther whispered as she stared at the scene in front of her, tears filling her green eyes but she made no movement to help as there were still people with guns pointed at her.
Kai stripped off his jacket as he stepped towards the two, seeming to snap out of his shock now as he realized he needed to slow the bleeding.
" Why did you save me?" Joelee whispered, ignoring Kai as he knelt down beside Sam as well, taking their other hand before bunching the jacket of his Monarch uniform up with the other to put pressure on their wound, tears running freely down his cheeks.
" You're my best friend. You'd do the same for me." Sam said before turning their gaze to Kai who gave them a gentle reassuring smile.
" Escape with them. Sorry I can't come with you... I can't thank you enough for the fun time you gave me while being trapped in a place like this." Sam said to Kai who shook his head as he pressed a kiss to their hand.
" You showed me what it was like to live. You're going to live. You have to." Kai's voice was rough and husky as he spoke, visibly fighting back his sobs as he held onto Sam's hand tightly.
" If you live I'll let you boop my snoop." Joelee joked sadly which made Sam smile despite the pain, though it appeared strained as they fought through the shroud of weariness that seemed to drag through their very bones.
Sam released a sharp breath as they reached a shaky hand towards Joelee's nose, annoyed at the sheer amount of effort that it was taking to merely lift their arm a few inches.
" Joe?" Sam rasped out while Joelee helped Sam boop her nose, tears streaming down her now red cheeks as she sniffled.
" What?" Joelee questioned in a soft voice, eyes focused solely on Sam who released a raspy laugh.
" After all these years.... You're still short." Sam whispered before their breath escaped in a shaky exhale and their eyes went blank.
" Sam? Sam?! No... Don't leave me..." Kai exclaimed as Joelee began to cry, holding her friends hand tightly in her own.
All was silent except for Joelee and Kai's soft cries, the guards seemingly stunned by the fact that Kai had feelings for a patient. He was such a well known soldier, especially since Axle had trained him... Nobody saw him being a traitor. Especially not Axle.
Killian had Axle suspended in the air, Killian's eyes completely white now as he stared at his old friend's body.
" Traitor!" Axle screamed at Kai who immediately lifted his gaze to the older male, tears leaking from his face as he quickly stood up with a look of pure malice.
" You killed them!" Kai screamed at Axle who released a harsh bark of laughter, eyes seeming wild and frenzied as he focused Kai in his intense stare.
" They are the ENEMY! They're lab rats! Nothing more! Get over it and kill the rest!" Axle yelled before gasping as Killian squeezed his hand together slightly, causing Axle to quickly grab at his throat with a wheeze.
A loud snarl tore from Joelee's throat as she laid Sam onto the ground gently, standing up into a predatory stance.
The remaining guards flinched slightly at the hate in Joelee's now glowing gold eyes as she took a step towards Axle.
Killian dropped the older male to the ground now as he watched the blonde woman stalk towards the guard who was now gasping for air.
" Joe, what are you doing?" Nathan questioned as Joelee stalked towards Axle, black veins crawling up her neck as the gold of her eyes darkened slightly.
Axle quickly climbed to his feet, pointing a finger at her as he gasped for breath, large bulk of muscles straining against his shirt with every deep breath.
" Kill her!" He rasped out as Joelee flexed her hands, causing claws to burst from her fingers but despite the blood that now dropped from her hands, she didn't even flinch.
The ten remaining guards exchanged glances before they backed away, only one reaching into his holster to pull a pistol from his hip. He fired five times at Joelee, eyes narrowed as the gun made loud clicking noises to signal it was empty.
The bullets halted inches from Joelee's face before they flew back towards the guards, killing the one who shot at Joelee and incapacitating four other guards.
" Killian!" Kayla exclaimed with wide eyes but he looked just as dumbfounded as everyone else did, the male immediately turning his deep brown eyes to Kayla who could immediately tell by his expression that he really had no hand in the telekinesis situation.
Joelee cracked her neck side to side as she seemed to give Axle a toothy smile, his eyes widening as he watched sharp, wolf-like teeth extending down seemingly over the front of her old ones.
" Stay away you freak!" Axle yelled as he backed up, eyes darting around for an escape route as he began to breathe heavily.
" What am I, Axle? A freak or just a lab rat?" Joelee's voice wasn't didn't sound anything like her normal voice, only faint traces of her original voice breaking through as she spoke in an almost cracked way.
" We're better than them, Joe." Killian called but she ignored him as she halted only a few inches away from Axle with a malicious grin.
" You're an animal." Axle snapped in reply which made Joelee chuckle quietly, eyes seeming to darken before they constricted as they focused into his.
" Correct." She whispered before she launched towards him, her transformation amazingly quick as she transformed into a large, deformed, dark gray wolf, burying her teeth into Axle's shoulder as she shook her head savagely.
Axle released a scream as she shook him back and forth in her jaws, tearing the flesh connecting his shoulder to his body as his arm came off in her mouth.
" Stop!" Killian yelled as he lifted his hands but Joelee ignored him as she discarded Axle onto the ground before turning her attention to the remaining guards.
Loud, slow claps were heard coming from the viewing window above them.
" Very well done, children. What a good show. I was surprised you made it this far.... And had so few losses." The Boss woman said as she walked into view, the glass sliding open as she walked onto a balcony above them.
Joelee snarled at the woman who gave no sign that the sound intimidated her despite her head guard laying bleeding out on the ground.
" Who are you?" Nathan snapped as he narrowed his dark green eyes at the red haired woman.
The Boss woman ignored him for a moment as she motioned to a guard behind her. The guard moved to stand beside her and fired a tranquilizer dart into Joelee's flank, causing her to yelp as her footing became unstable.
The dart seemed to calm Joelee down enough to turn back, but her change was slower than normal, her bones seeming to get stuck every once in awhile but they eventually snapped loose.
The Boss watched with a morbid fascination, seemingly unaffected by how disgusting Joelee's ability actually was.
" Who are you?!" Nathan yelled again, this time causing The Boss to turn her attention to him.
" That's classified." The Boss replied in a venomous tone, eyes cold as she glared at the raven haired male.
" Then unclassify it." Joelee growled from where she sat on the ground, shirt torn a bit around her waist as she only had a partial and disfigured transformation.
" What fun is that?" The Boss woman smirked as she snapped, causing more guards to pile into the room.
" Uh...oh...." Esther murmured as she stepped behind Kent who looked completely unaffected by what was happening.
" Is everyone okay?" Joelee asked as she glanced at her friends who all gave hesitant nods.
" Define okay." Esther muttered but Joelee said nothing in return as she instead turned her attention to Killian.
" Thank you for stopping the bullets." She whispered to him but he shook his head.
" I didn't do that. I need enough time to react to do that, girl. That's why..." Killian glanced at Sam's body before quickly looking away, face contorting in pain as he focused his deep brown eyes on her instead.
" Then who..." Joelee started to say before The Boss clapped loudly to get their attention, emerald green eyes sharp as she glared at Joelee.
" Enough talk. Take these prisoners back to their cells... And... Disable the android.'' The Boss looked at Connor who paled as he took a step back, lean form trembling beneath her harsh gaze.
" No. You're not taking us without a fight." Joelee growled as she slowly got to her feet, glaring at the woman with her fists slowly raising.
" I'll not give you a fight. But I'll give my guards the opportunity to have some fun. A hunt is what they'll get. You get a two minute head start. If you find the fire exit before we kill all of you then you escape and we will let you." The Boss woman held up her right hand as she stared directly into Joelee's eyes in an almost challenging manner.
" What's the catch?" Joelee snapped which caused The Boss to chuckle but the smirk on her face was gone the moment she spoke again.
" That would be a surprise, Miss Lowell." The Boss woman replied with a dismissive wave, Joelee trying desperately to read her mind only to find complete and utter silence.
" Go before I change my mind." Was all she said as she turned to walk away from the balcony, disappearing from their view though the distant clack of her heels could still be heard from below.
" Which way, Kevin?" Joelee glanced at the red headed male who glanced warily at the guards in front of them.
" This way." Kevin murmured as he turned around, walking through the doors as he began to run.
The remaining kids ran closely behind Kevin, Connor dragging behind as he made sure everyone was able to keep up.
As they made their way further into the lab, they found their way into what appeared to be a boiler room. Kevin slowed to a walk as they took a moment to catch their breath, continuing their pace a bit slower now to avoid tripping over any wires or pipes in the room.
" The Boss made the fire exit extremely hard to find. That way experiments couldn't just stumble upon it if they ever escaped." Kevin explained as they walked, not looking back at the rest of them as he spoke.
" How do you know that?" The gray haired girl questioned as she glanced at the much taller male suspiciously.
" I've seen the floor plan for The Monarch. It was made with quite a few levels. Four stories for the above ground levels.... And below... There's roughly twenty floors. The first one being a decoy for anyone who accidentally stumbled upon it. It's kinda trashy. Looks like a storage room but with a hidden elevator." Kevin replied as everyone listened in stunned silence.
" That's a bit extra." Killian said which caused a few of the teens to chuckle awkwardly.
Kai walked next to Connor, not even paying any attention to what everyone else was saying as he stared at his feet.
" Hey..." Joelee murmured as she came to stop next to him, eyes puffy from crying as she looked at him.
" Kai, right?" Joelee questioned as she tilted her head slightly.
" Yeah." Was the only reply she got as he continued to stare down at his feet.
" Look, Sam is... Was... One of my best friends. So if they had a thing with you then that makes you my friend too." Joelee said awkwardly as she scratched the back of her neck, wincing at the pain it caused her sore muscles.
" They talked about you a lot. About how many late night food trips you would make together... Even in weather that was below zero." Kai gave a gentle smile at the thought of Sam all bundled up and freezing their butt off but determined to get snacks at three in the morning.
" We did that way too much. That's why I was a bit chunky." Joelee gave a soft laugh as she thought of her friend and their late night adventures.
" The point is... That... We'll take care of you to the best of our ability. For Sam." Joelee said to Kai which caused him to give a slight nod in reply but he said nothing more.
" Mary....Maaary...." A man's deeper voice sang which caused Mary's face to go pale as she looked up with a terrified expression.
" Who is that?" Joelee asked as she turned to Mary who quickly shook her head, a soft chuckle echoing around them as Kevin quickly began to speed up.
" David. He's hunting us. He's one of the best scientists here and a very good tracker. She picked well... Especially since he has it out for me." Mary murmured to Joelee as she motioned for everyone to move faster.
"Maaary.... Maarryy... Quite contrary.... How does your garden grow...." David continued, his voice was soft and echoed around them as he sang so Joelee couldn't quite place where exactly his voice was coming from.
" Why does he have it out for you?" Joelee asked as they began to maneuver quickly through the pipes of the boiler room, Kevin testing every single one with water droplets before he touched them.
" With.... Silver bells.... And cockleshells.... And pretty maids... All... In.. A..." David went deathly silent, his eery song seemingly having no end as Mary looked around frantically.
" He has it out for me because I know his secret. I know about Ma-" Mary began before a loud gunshot cut her off and she released a a scream of pain, holding her side as blood began to seep through her shirt.
"....Row...." David's song finally ended before his dark chuckle seemed to echo in the very pipes around them.
" No!" Kevin wailed as he rushed towards his sister, Joelee helping the girl to the ground as Mary gasped for breath.
" No, no! Hey, you're okay! You're okay!" Kevin exclaimed as he yanked his sister away from Joelee, pulling his sister to his chest as he brushed her curls away from her face so that she wasn't choking on her own hair.
" It hurts." Mary whispered as Rachel rushed forward to try and help, kneeling down beside the three of them before she gently placed her hand on Kevin's forearm.
" Let me see." Rachel murmured when Kevin didn't react to her touch, the male barely even acknowledging her existence as he instead kept his attention focused on his little sister.
Rachel gently lifted Mary's bloodstained shirt, just high enough to examine the entrance wound before she gingerly rolled Mary ever so slightly to examine for an exit.
" There's no exit wound. The bullet is still in. It's not normally a fatal wound but it could be if we don't get her help soon." Rachel kept her voice low as she spared a glance at Kevin before she applied pressure to Mary's abdomen, silently praying that the bullet wouldn't shift somewhere even more dangerous.
" There's no time. Go." Mary whispered to her older brother who quickly shook his head in reply.
" Absolutely not! I will not have you die here!" Kevin exclaimed which made Mary smile sadly as she reached a hand up to touch her brothers face.
" I will either way. You know as well as I do that we won't find help in time. We don't have a vehicle to move me and you won't be able to get me through the pipes without me dying from the pain or passing out. Go, Kev. It's alright." Mary took her hand away, her fingers leaving blood along Kevin's cheek but he didn't seem to care.
" I won't leave you." Kevin snapped which caused Mary to sigh loudly.
" So you're just going to let everyone die here with me? Don't be stupid! Go! Before I kick your butt back to Scotland where they found me!" Mary yelled before wincing at the pain it caused her side.
" I... I love you." Kevin said after a moment which made Mary smile as she pushed him away.
" Gross." She mumbled as Kevin got up, not sparing her another glance as he slipped through another row of pipes.
" I'm sorry." Joelee whispered but Mary shook her head as she gave her a wink.
" Have some fun for me on the outside, yeah?" Mary grinned which caused Joelee to give a soft laugh.
" Yes ma'am." Joelee agreed before squeezing Mary's hand gently, standing up and motioning for Rachel to come along as they followed Kevin through the long, winding, room.
" Hey, are you... Okay?" Nathan asked as he fell back to walk next to Joelee who released a soft sigh.
" I lost two friends in one day... I don't actually know if I know what okay is right now. I feel horrible for Kai and Kevin... They both lost people they loved... After getting a taste of freedom with Sam... Kai is heartbroken and Kevin... Well he just had to leave his little sister to die. I couldn't imagine..." Joelee said as Nathan took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze as she spoke.
Alyssa glanced back at the two and covered her mouth, silently having an excitement overload over the fact her ship between Joelee and Nathan seemed to be having a growth. While she may have thought she was containing it, she really looked like she was choking on a slice of pizza...
Mmmm, pizza... But that's beside the point.
" There's nothing we can do now, Joe. Don't be too hard on yourself. It's not your fault that crazy people are experimenting on teens and inevitably killing them." Nathan released her hand much to Alyssa's disappointment as he patted Joelee's shoulder.
" Are we just going to ignore the fact that she literally did what she told us not to do?" The gray haired girl snapped abruptly as the group finally escaped the boiler room and entered a long hallway.
" Two things. One, who even are you? Two, what do you mean by that?" Kent questioned as he eyed the much shorter girl curiously.
" I'm Brianna... And... No killing! She literally tore that guy's arm off! How is that not following the rule she set!?" The gray haired girl exclaimed as everyone exchanged glances.
" What are you talking about?" Joelee questioned as she stared at Brianna who released a bitter bark of laughter.
" I'm talking about you going all werewolf on that guy earlier! How can we trust you!?" Brianna pointed at Joelee, eyes filling with a gray color as she glared at Joelee who looked completely and utterly confused.
" You have no idea what she's talking about... Do you?" Esther questioned which caused Joelee to quickly shake her head in reply.
" Not a clue. I remember almost dying from bullets then I think I tripped or something cause I woke up on the floor." Joelee explained which caused Brianna to narrow her eyes.
" Yeah, right! Then how do you explain the shirt? It's all torn up, stupid!" Brianna yelled, causing Joelee to look down at her shirt with a startled expression.
" What the-" Joelee began before everyone stopped and covered their ears as a lower pitched siren wailed overhead.
Kevins face when pale and he began to run quickly towards a door, quickly pulling on the handle before releasing an angry yell.
" What?" Rachel asked as she ran up beside him.
" I forgot about this. We're trapped! The lock needs a specially designed key card! That I don't have." Kevin replied before punching the door with an angry expression.
" You mean this?" Connor held up the key card which caused Kevin's eyes to widen just as the siren cut off.
" How did you get that?!" Kevin gasped as he took a step towards Connor.
" Magic... Some friends on the other side. " Connor said as he placed the card into the slot next to the door.
" We have to hurry. That was the sound of the Defect's cage being opened. That means they let them out... Hopefully they didn't let... The Beast out too." Kevin murmured as the door beeped to let them in.
As the door opened Kevin backed up quickly, eyes wide as his face once again went pale.
" Its a trap!" He exclaimed as he pushed Rachel behind him.
" I LOVED THAT MOVIE!" Joelee yelled before swarms of some kind of grayish/green creatures began to pour from the now open door.
" Me too! But we should run! And don't let them scratch or bite you!" Kevin yelled before running in the opposite direction.
The others followed quickly as the rotting creatures all reached for them, releasing soft hissing and snarling noises as they followed.
" It had to be zombies." Joelee murmured to herself as she ran quickly after the rest of her group.
You know what I'm going to say so let's say it together...
To be continued...
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