Hurricane Heart

Hurricane

I didn’t hesitate, but Olaf and George most certainly did. Shocked at seeing my hands free—it seemed that my plan had worked well—they froze just for a moment, and that was long enough to shoot them both. It was a bullet gun evidently and, as much as I didn’t like it, it did the job, and the two of them keeled backwards on the ground, both heads smashing against the concrete road. Now that was impressive, even for me.

I jumped out of the van, leaping over both of them and running round to the front, searching for my gun. This other one was far too cumbersome and stiff for my liking, but I hadn’t exactly had time to be picky.

I found it, stowed along with another spare gun in the glove compartment, and stored it back in my little belt underneath my top.

Looking round gave me my next surprise. I recognised the office blocks that lined the far side of the road, all the lights off in the windows save one or two, and the park to my left.

For some unknown reason, the Soulless had dropped me off right where I needed to be.

I didn’t take time to think about how that could forecast something bad.

It took less than two minutes to walk to where I was supposed to be meeting Arjan, but of course he wasn’t there. I panicked, but of course he wasn’t there; I’d said ten minutes and been gone for over an hour.

This was, however, pretty problematic, so I began to run round the edge of the park, looking for him, beginning to call his name. I had a gun; I didn’t care if other people heard me.

‘Arjan!’ I cried out, sinking down onto a bench through exhaustion. Only after a moment did I realise it was where I’d first seen him sitting, but there were no Soulless lurking this time. Elize had got up and left, probably long ago. Bruno, who I’d also heard was in the vicinity, was nowhere to be seen, and Scarrus had never even showed up in the car park.

Standing up, I looked over the bench and across the short distance between the park and the road, studying the tower blocks that lined the far side of the road as I searched for inspiration. Were Olaf and George dead yet—like, completely? Probably. Shame. I could have interrogated them.

Dejected, I began to wander back to the edge of the park, perching on the low railings, rolling up my jacket sleeves and rubbing at the sore, red marks around my wrists where the ropes had been tied too tightly. There were a few scratches and tiny beads of blood from my many failed attempts with the knife, but they didn’t even hurt.

Arjan had to arrive at some point. Even if I had disappeared, he’d come back to see if I’d returned in that time. I hoped that he knew I’d wait for him.

As I looked up, raising my head to the inky sky above but then lowering it a little when the back of my neck began to ache, I noticed a faint light on in the window of one of the office blocks opposite, at least eight or ten floors up. Moving along the pavement to get a better look, I could see a figure in the office, silhouetted against the dim, white light that shone out, moving through the building.

An intruder? What were the chances of witnessing a burglary tonight?

A Soulless? Definitely.

The building, whilst still being reasonably stylish, was one of the older ones on the road, which meant that its security system was going to be primitive compared to some of the others around here. If someone needed a base, they would choose that one through ease of entering.

And just as I was watching from across the street, I saw a light switch on in the darkened foyer on the ground floor, and saw movement in the revolving doors. I dived behind a tree just quick enough to see a figure, too black against the night to make out, leave and turn to the left where I’d come from, hurrying down the road.

That was all the proof I needed. Crossing the road at a run, I went up to the entrance and saw that, strangely enough, it was unlocked. I had no idea how they were doing it, but this lot were good. These weren’t the Soulless that I had once known. These ones had brains.

I pushed at the revolving door and, with a buzzing sound, an automatic light came on and it turned. Entering the deserted foyer, I grabbed my gun and held it out ready like a shield, wielding it around, daring anyone to venture out of the shadows.

Once I was satisfied that I was alone, I strode purposefully across the blackened foyer, my boots echoing on the polished, wooden floor. I headed for the stairs rather than the lift in case it was one that alerted when it was stopping at each level. And besides, I hadn’t counted up to see which floor I needed. Silly mistake, but one that could easily be remedied.

I took the stairs at a run, charging up four flights of shiny wood before stopping just for a moment to catch my breath. Then I carried on, taking another four. On the last one, I slowed right down, realising that they could be anywhere from here upwards, and tiptoed the rest of the way. Peering into the main room on the eighth floor revealed that it was locked and deserted, however as soon as I began the ascent up to the next one, I began to hear voices.

There was a man’s voice, still too low and subdued to make out any individual words. There were multiple voices in fact, at least one of them a woman.

I made it to the top step, freezing before stepping out onto the landing and taking out my gun again. Peering in through the door, which was pushed closed but had a little window in it, I could see people moving about in there. It was still too dark to properly tell what was going on—the main lights weren’t on in the room; there were only a couple of lamps lit, and I couldn't make out who they were, but one was bending over something, and another, with longer hair in their silhouette, possibly a woman, was standing beside him.

‘Now or never,’ I whispered to myself. Closing my eyes, I took three steps forward, opened them again, and kicked the door open hard enough for it to crash against the wall. Four faces looked up to see who the intruder was as I charged in, gun held tightly in both hands, ready to face my enemies.

‘Get down!’ I ordered, whipping my head wildly from side to side to see who I was attacking.
I recognised Elize, and Bruno, and Erik...one of my all-time favourite Soulless.

And Arjan.

My heart skipped a beat and I almost dropped the gun in shock. The thought that he was in here had entered my mind, but I hadn’t for a moment fully expected it.

‘Hurricane?’ he asked, as shocked as I was. He was still alive. He was still himself. He looked terrified, his arms bound tightly to the sides of a chair.

‘Well, would you look who it is,’ Erik jeered. ‘Bruno, if you would.’

‘My pleasure,’ Bruno said, turning to the desk he stood beside and wielding a gun.

I fired mine before he had a chance to even load his. It hit him in the stomach and, with a gaping mouth too shocked to even scream, he clutched at the bullet wound in his belly as thick, sticky blood began to flow, and keeled backwards.

‘Don’t think I won’t do the same to you as well!’ I threatened, pointing my gun wildly between the two that remained. My eyes were wide and my hair was a tangled web. But I was powerful. I had Arjan’s dreams in my mind, and I had the opportunity to do something incredible. The power made me strong. It made me feel.

Erik was trying to play it cool in the same sort of way as I would, but Elize’s eyes were murderous, practically red with rage.

‘Untie him!’ I snapped, pointing the gun back at her, who was closest to Arjan. ‘Now!’

‘It’s too late,’ Elize jeered in a hissing voice, prowling towards me like a cat, taller than me, thin but athletic, her hair still all neatly in place.

But I had the power this time.

‘Let him out of there now,’ I practically growled, my gun held ready.

Elize laughed, sinister but soprano.

‘You don’t get it, do you?’ she said slyly. ‘Do you think Olaf brought you here for your sake?’

‘He brought me to the end of the road,’ I replied, matching her slyness with ease. ‘And then I shot him.’

‘And you think he was bringing you down here for a walk in the park?’ Elize challenged, her finely arched eyebrows rising delicately. ‘He brought you to the end of this road to drag you in here.’

‘Give me one reason why I should believe you,’ I demanded, suddenly afraid, but either too brave or too stupid to show it. Of course that was why Olaf had brought me here! They wanted both me and Arjan. How had I missed that? ‘How would Scarrus or any of you know that I was going to run into a multi-storey car park? That was just luck.’

‘As I’ve heard you say before,’ Erik came in smoothly, ‘people are so predictable. Why should you be an exception? The question is now: what to do with you.’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ I said, taking a step backwards from Elize so that I could still point the gun in between them. Neither of them seemed fazed. I respected their courage. Like Scarrus said to me only an hour or so ago, I admired people who could greet death with humour. ‘Because we’re getting out of here, and there’s nothing you can do about it.’

‘You think so?’

There was a clicking sound behind my head.

I turned apprehensively.

A tall, red haired Soulless stood behind me, his pale skin glinting silver in the moonlight that shone through the large, almost floor-to-ceiling window.

The one who had been leaving the building when I came in.

And he was holding a gun not two feet from my face.