I follow Doss at a relaxed pace, not too fast, not too slow. Blake walks next to me, his gaze watching the five men like a hawk. Damien is a step behind us, his gaze wandering everywhere, looking for ninjas I imagine.

Doss leads us to a large office, law books lining the walls. five cushioned chairs sit in front of a large desk. Doss sits behind the desk, his men making a square around him.

My gaze is drawn to a portrait behind Doss’s head, stating that a Doss Olson graduated from Harvard Law.

But I thought all lawyers were angels that fought for good…

Hah.

Doss motions for us to sit on the cushioned chairs across from him.

I move to sit in the chair directly across from Doss, but to my surprise, Damien holds a hand out in front of me.

I open my mouth to ask him why, when he moves in front of me to inspect the chairs. He presses his hand lightly against the cushions, feeling for something. I am still about to question him, when a movie that I once watched came to mind. The bad guy had hid a needle inside of a chair cushion. The needle held a drug that caused the good guy to fall asleep.

I look at Damien with a newfound respect. Maybe he wasn’t as useless as I thought.

He finishes feeling the chair and shrugs at me. I take that as a sign to sit down. Doss watches all of this with the eyes of a hawk.

“I am surprised that you got here so soon. Especially considering the fact that we haven’t told Mr. Demor to meet us here yet. How did you know to meet me here?” Doss says, getting up from his chair and moving to a coffee machine. “Coffee or tea?” He asks.

I am about to respond when Damien shakes his head at me. He mouths out a word to me, Poison.

I look at him with genuine surprise, who knew he had such a mind for intrigue? “None for me, thanks. I would rather get to the matter at hand. Rose Demor.” I end up saying.

Doss pours himself a cup of coffee. “You still haven’t answered my question, how did you know to meet me here?”

“I didn’t answer your question because I didn’t want to answer your question.” I say sweetly. “Please stop avoiding the subject, Doss.”

Doss looks at me with an unreadable expression, “You certainly aren’t the person-” He looks at my friends “People, I expected Mr. Demor to send.”

“He wanted to surprise you.” I answer, my grip tightening around my armrest in irritation. I lean towards him, “Some people might enjoy this little game of wits that you are playing. But I am very much not in the mood for it. Get to the point Doss, before I decide that it would be quicker and safer for Rose if I killed you.”

Doss angrily opens his mouth to respond, but the sound of the door opening and closing behind us calms him. “James, how good of you to show up. I was just talking with the representatives of Mr.Demor.”

I turn around to look at the newest arrival. He is a toned muscular man and he moves with a grace that tells me that he is more than just a block of meat. His blue eyes study me with an interested gaze that I do not appreciate. Although, I imagine that most women might, if they like brawny guys.

“James, is one of the reasons that I can laugh your threat off, along with the fact that you are surrounded by four of my men.” Doss calmly places his hands in front of him. “You can tell Mr.Doss that I expect five million in my account by six AM tomorrow. If he does that, he might see his daughter the next day. If he doesn’t, well… I can’t stop my men if they want to have a little fun with her.” He gives me a slimy smile.

I close my eyes. “Another bad guy, cliche, huh?” My eyes open “I had hoped that you could be reasoned with.” I cast “[Stop Right There]” around the boys. No need for a stray bullet to hit them.

Then, I leap out of my chair with the grace of a cat, somersaulting over the desk in between me and one of his guards. I grab the guard’s wrist, twisting the gun out of his hand as I spin him around in front of me.

Another bodyguard is rushing at me, so I kick the instep of the guard I am holding and push him into the guard rushing me. He falls into the other bodyguard’s arms.

The third bodyguard grabs my arms from behind. I surprise him by jumping up and hitting his nose with my head. He lets go of me and I twirl around him, snapping his neck.

Time stops as I watch the man fall to the floor. My heart aches, because I… I killed another human.

I close my eyes, before time resumes and I use “[Unmatchable Speed]” to appear in front of Doss. To my surprise, James appears in between us. He kicks me, sending me sprawling backwards. I manage to keep my feet, but james follows it up with another kick, faster than I could move. “[Take Your Time]” I cast. Time slows down to a halt, but James’s foot is still moving. I take a glance at my psi levels

40 psi left. Mana is still at 100. I can’t sustain this. I look at the boys from the corner of my eyes. My field is still in affect and they are shooting at the guards from behind it. Guard. I correct myself, the other two are down with bullets in their bodies. Only Doss, James and that last bodyguard are still alive.

I turn my gaze to my current situation. James’s foot will hit me soon. My eyes catch on an odd glow surrounding his body. It’s an energy flowing through him. No wonder he is moving so fast, he is augmenting his body with some kind of magical energy. It doesn’t look like psi though, maybe mana? Or something I still haven’t uncovered? Hopefully it means that he is using something, Something that he will eventually run out of.

With an amazing amount of effort I bring both of my arms around to block his attack. Then I deactivate my ability, I can’t afford to run out of psi using it.

Time resumes as his leg hits my arms. I close my eyes in preparation for the force, but nothing happens. I open my eyes to see a shield in between my gloves and his leg. The Gloves! We both stare in shock for a moment, before the battle continues, I use as little effort as possible to keep my arms in between me and his attacks.

Another minute passes by, taking another forty psi from me as I hold up the bullet preventing barrier around the boys.

Meanwhile, I can see myself exhausting, while James keeps kicking me with his feet, forcing me to back up. Then it happens, I was too slow to block it as he fakes with one leg, then steps forward, punching me in the gut. I fall forward, gagging from the pain.

“I hate to kill such a beautiful woman. But Doss pays me well.” He says, standing over me as I gasp for air.

This can’t be it. I have survived bullets and I have killed people. I refuse to let it all come to nothing. He kicks me, forcing me to tumble over. I can feel my gloves, working to repair the internal damage.

I need something that can get me back up again. Some power that will let me defeat him. I still have mana, but I have no idea what to do with it.

“Still, it is hard to give the finishing blow. Maybe I can restrain you? Then Doss can decide what to do with you? No, you are another Beta player, aren’t you? If I let you live, it will come to haunt me, won’t it? You give me no choice, I guess.” He lifts his foot to my throat.

This is it, isn’t it? Maybe you should stop questioning everything you say, right? And just kill me, Maybe?

He starts to press down, when suddenly he stumbles forward, blood spouting from his back. I grasp my opportunity, pulling his leg out from under him, I make him fall. I spin on top of him and stab him in the throat, with my hand. I refuse to hesitate like he did. It cost him his life.

A tear falls to the ground as I take another life. I push my moral conundrums aside and stand up. The last guard is dead, Doss is lying on the floor, moaning in pain as the two boys stand over him.

“Thank you.” I gasp out, my throat in pain from the little bit of pressure James put on it. My gloves are hard at work, repairing the internal injuries throughout my body.

I walk over to Doss, who is still on the floor. “Where is Rose Demor? I sincerely hope that this is the last time I have to ask.”

Doss must have seen something in my expression, because he didn’t argue, or go quiet, he simply said, “Second floor, room 203. There are three men guarding her.”

I nod, then grab a gun from a surprised Damien, “I’m sorry.” I say, as I pull the trigger.

I hand the gun back to Damien, who takes it with a shaking hand. “Monsters are so much easier to kill.” I say, stepping over the dead bodies and ignoring the blue windows that pop up. “Come on, we have a girl to rescue.” I say, walking outside the door.

On the other side, I lean against the wall and finally allow the tears to flow. I had hoped it would be easier this time. At the same time, I am glad that it wasn’t. I don’t ever want there to be a time, where tears don’t flow for the dead.

I fall to my knees, close my eyes and say a prayer for every man dead in that room.

***

Damien is quiet, dealing with the deaths of those men in his own way. Blake clearly wants to say something to me, but can’t seem to decide what it is that he wants to say.

I wait there, outside of that room. My arms and legs crossed as I watch my status tell me that I am regaining psi.

“I really wasn’t expecting my day to turn out like this.” Blake finally says.

“I don’t think any of us were.” I respond, finally standing up as my psi reaches a good 80/120.

I walk towards the stairwell at an even pace. Damien follows silently behind me. Blake stands there for a second before hurrying to catch up.

“Elena? I’m worried.” Blake says, looking up at the ceiling for inspiration. “You and Damien seem to be taking this so hard, while I… I just feel numb. It’s like all of my feelings are turned off. Am… Am I a monster?” Worry enters his voice as he speaks.

“No. You aren’t. The fact that you are so worried about the answer to that question proves that you aren’t.” I say, pulling him in for a hug, “Everybody deals with death in their own way. When my brother died… I went numb too. It took me a long time to learn how to feel emotion again.” I let him go once I am finished speaking. even after all this time, I can still feel the pain of that day. Yet, I can’t even remember some parts of it.

We walk down the stairs to the second level quietly. After a while, Blake seems to come to terms with what I said.

I prepare the spell [Defence Of The Earth] as I open the door to the hallway. Three men turn to look at us in surprise. I cast the spell around the shocked men. A dome of earth encompasses them. I walk forward and squeeze past the dome into room 203.

Pink hair covers a head that is resting on a pair of scraped knees. Her arms and legs tied in front of her.

“One of these days, we are going to have a proper date.” I say, squatting in front of her.

She looks up at me, her makeup had streaked across her face from crying. Blake leans forward, handing me a knife. “Elena? Blake? What are you doing here?” she asks, her voice raw.

“Coming to rescue you of course.” I answer, cutting the ropes around her arms loose. Sharp knife. I think to myself. I cut the bonds around her legs.

She looks up at me in surprise, before she lunges forward, pulling me to her. Her mouth meets mine, as she kisses me. I take the lead as I feel tears rolling down her face. I kiss her softly, letting her know that I am there for her. That I will never let this happen to her again. That I love her.

She breaks off the kiss, a small blush reaching her cheeks. I pull a napkin from my pocket. Wetting it with my saliva, I wipe away her smeared makeup.

“Thank you.” She says quietly.

“Smeared makeup always bothered me.” I answer.

“No. Thank you for coming for me.” She clarifies, resting her face in the hand that was wiping her face.

“Always.” I say, brushing some hair away from her face, “You may not know this, but I love you.”

The clearing of a throat from behind me pulls us out of our moment. “I don’t know about you guys, but the sooner we are out of here, the better I will feel.”

I nod in understanding. Lifting Rose up, I walk out of the room.

She looks at the dome of earth with wonder. The voices of the men inside barely making it out. “What happened?” She asks, leaning against me.

“Don’t worry about it. I just decided that I didn’t want to deal with them.” I say, guiding her past them and to the elevator.

I don’t want to make her walk down the stairs.

“We’ll tell you about it later.” Blake says, the doors dinging.

I walk inside as Rose finally notices the third person in our party. “We haven’t met, what is your name?”

Her question towards him finally snapps him out of his silence. “I’m Damien. I’m a friend of Blake’s and hopefully Elena’s.” he says, a sad smile appearing on his face.

“You are, Damien. I am sorry if I treated you unfairly. This wasn’t exactly the best situation to be meeting in.” I say. The elevator landing on the first level.

I prepare the [Stop Right There] spell as we walk out into the lobby. The receptionists stare at Rose in my arms with surprise.

I wave at the two receptionists, “We worked things out with Doss. He should be contacting you soon.”

Then we are outside the building.

“What happened to Doss?” Rose asks, as I guide her into the back seat of Blake’s car. I motion for Damien to take the front seat while I sit in back with Rose.

“He’s dead.” I answer without fanfare. “Where do you want us to take you Rose?”

“Take me to your house, I don’t want you to leave me.” She says, leaning against me as Blake starts driving away.

“What about your dad?” I ask, gently stroking her hair.

“I’ll call him when I get to your house.” She mumbles as her eyes close. Her breathing becomes even after a few moments, signaling that she fell asleep.

“Do you still need to visit your cousin, Damien?” I ask, still stroking Rose’s hair.

“No, it’s way too late for that. I’ll just have Blake drop me off at my house.” The car is quiet for a few minutes. Blake’s attention is on the road, while I only have eyes for Rose. Damien also seems to be lost in his own thoughts. “Elena?” He finally asks.

“Yeah?”

“I know this sounds a little weird, but can I have your phone number? After all that we have been through… I don’t know, it just seems weird not having it.” Damien says. I can see him rubbing the back of his head in an embarrassed manner.

“Sure.” I give it to him, while he enters it into his phone.

Then we are left in silence again.

I notice the bracelet that I gave Rose, still resting on her wrist. Even after all that she had been through, she hadn’t lost it.

“I love you Rose.” I whisper.

To my surprise, she answers “I love you too Elena.” before snuggling even closer to me.

I close my eyes, making a promise to myself.

I won’t ever let someone harm her again.