Chapter 16: The weak and the strong
I stood still and stared at the ground, debating if I had made the most stupid decision ever. I knew that Levi would come back for me, but who knows if it would be easy for him to get back here the next time. I didn't even know how I was going to stop Derrick. He seemed like he was powerful, and if someone wanted to get rid of him, they would have already done it.
I was also concerned about why he needed me. Did he plan to keep me alive or use me for some sort of sacrifice?
I put my hands over my head and paced around in a circle. A ton of emotions were running through me.
"Calm down Malaika. Think. Think. Think. How are you going to get out of here?" I said to myself.
I looked around the room for something I could use to pick the door lock. I suddenly found a screw lying on a desk. I picked it up and ran to the door, but as soon as I did I saw two guards walk by the door.
I couldn't get out this way, or they would catch me for sure and probably lock me in a cage. I had to come up with a plan. I needed to find a weapon and get to Derrick.
I looked up at the ceiling and saw an air vent in the corner of the room.
Perfect.
I pushed one of the tables against the wall and stood on top of it. Then I used my screw to remove a grille from the wall. Once it was opened, I climbed through a dark tunnel. I didn't know where it would lead, but I kept crawling through it.
I suddenly saw a small light coming from the vent, I looked through it and saw a group of scientists experimenting on human bodies in cages. They brought in unconscious people and injected them with poison. Then the bodies started to twitch and within seconds they turned into demons. Somehow, they were changing faster. Before, it would have taken much longer for the venom to spread. Now, it takes no time at all. They all looked terrifying as they raddled in their cages.
I hurried and moved along until I found another light. I suddenly heard voices speaking. As I crawled to the vent and looked down I saw Kai and the group sitting in a Lab room.
"I can't believe I did that to her. She'll never forgive me," He said as he sat and waited in one of the chairs. He shook his head and pounded his hand on his forehead repeatedly.
Dean sat beside him with his head leaned against the wall. "I know right. Did you see her face? She was so hurt."
Jaden sat across from them. "Don't beat yourself up, Kai. We did the best that we could do to get Derrick off of her trail, and now she is with her sister. I think she would understand why we did what we did."
Kai sighed. "I still feel guilty. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for that."
Faye walked around the lab room while analyzing some of their equipment.
"Oh stop whining Kai. She got a chance to go home. Shouldn't you be happy that she's safe now?"
Kai continued to shake his head. "I still don't fully trust Levi. What if she didn't make it home? I should have just told her what the plan was beforehand."
Without looking at him, Faye continued to play around with the tools. "No. Either she wouldn't have agreed to it, or she wouldn't have pulled it off well enough. This was the right way to do it."
He frowned at her. "You're just happy that she's out of your life now."
She smiled. "Of course I am. She was a pain to deal with. Don't worry. Levi will take good care of her. He's not an evil person. You too just didn't get along well."
Jaden frowned and shook his head at Faye. "Not true. He is still suspicious. When I first found this place and met Derrick, I noticed that Levi was also there with him. I just didn't recognize him at first. I remembered that he threatened to put me in a torture ring if I didn't give him any information about me. He's also the reason I'm here. The fact that he didn't remember who I was, just shows how much he cares for his victims. He could have forgotten about you as well. It's hard to trust him, Faye."
Kai nodded."Exactly! How can you fully trust him after what he did to us? To you!" He said.
She paused for a minute but then spoke. "It wasn't his fault."
He shook his head. "Yes, it was. You missed fifteen years of your life being stuck on this planet because of him."
Faye turned around and looked at him. "No. I remember what happened. I'm here because I made the dumb decision to search for you. You don't know how devastated I was the day that I found out that you had gone missing. Then Levi came to me and my brother and told us what had happened to you. He couldn't figure out how to get to you on his own at first, so we volunteered to go find you. But after we found you, we couldn't get back to Levi because we lost our memories from the earth."
"What? That's crazy. Why would you risk being trapped here when you could have told someone?"
"We tried, but no one would believe us. I didn't even believe it at first. The point is, I came back for you Kai. I risked fifteen years of my life because I wanted to save a stupid boy who wasn't even interested in me."
He turned his head away from her. "You know I like you, Faye-"
"But not in the same way that I like you," She interrupted.
He sighed. "Why do we always have this conversation? I thought we had already made it clear how things were between us?"
"No, you didn't make it clear. You make it hard to tell how you feel about me. You ball up your feelings all of the time, but whenever you are sad, scared, or stressed, you always come running to me for comfort. You pretend that you don't feel anything for anyone but I know you like me."
Kai frowned. "Sorry, but it's not like that Faye. I think of you only as my... friend."
She paused and stared at him. I could tell she was really hurt by what he said. She continued to speak.
"Did you really like Malaika?"
After a long pause, he got up from his chair.
"I don't want to talk about this right now! Could you just leave me alone!" He yelled.
"Ugh! You're just a user! You use people to get what you want! But I won't let you use me anymore!" She yelled and walked away from him.
Kai sighed and looked at the ground.
Dean shook his head. "You guys are crazy. How can you be arguing about something like that when we are about to die. Once Derrick finds out that Malaika is gone, he's definitely going to kill us. I don't know if Levi will be back in time to save us."
"We'll just pretend that we didn't know Levi took her. If he doesn't believe us, we might as well be prepared for anything. We knew what we signed up for," Jaden said.
Kai frowned at them. "Have you guys forgotten who we are? We kill demons all the time. Even with their advanced weapons, these people will be no match for us. Nothing is."
The door suddenly opened, and Derrick came in.
"What's going on here? I heard yelling."
Kai came towards him with a sword in his hand and pointed it at Derrick's neck. "I brought you Malaika, now you bring me what I asked for!"
"Patience boy," He said calmly.
"As you can clearly see, I'm running out of it. I'm not waiting in this room for another minute!" Kai yelled.
Derrick began to laugh. "Go, and follow the guards. They'll take you to your mother."
Kai frowned at him and stood still.
"Don't worry Kai. You kept your promise, so I'll keep mine. I'd just like to stay and talk with your team for a minute," Derrick said.
"About what?"
Derrick gazed at Kai with an annoyed facial expression. "Something that doesn't concern you at the moment. Now move along, before I change my mind on the deal."
Kai looked back at his friends and then looked at Derrick. He looked angry and concerned at the same time. "Fine."
Kai moved around him and followed the guards out of the room.
"Why do you need to talk to us?" Faye asked.
"Because you are the type of kids I need for my army. Strong, bold, and unafraid. I wanted to give you all an offer. Join me. Promise to be loyal to me and fight by my side, and I will give you all the money, gold, and desires that you want. You could live a better life here than your life on earth. I could provide it all for you," Derrick said.
Everyone looked at each other.
"Why do you need an army? Who are you fighting against?" Dean asked him.
"It's more of a what. Another species has been keeping an eye on this little planet for a while now. I want to expand my kingdom, but they are fighting against me. They are very powerful too. More powerful than these wretched demons. They're stationed in a small territory in the southeast. They have a giant barricade made out of crystals blocking anyone from entering. However, we might have found a way to break through their gate."
Jaden frowned at him. "What do you need Malaika for?"
Derrick smiled. "I need her for her powers."
"Powers?" They all questioned.
"Clearly you all know nothing about who this girl really is. She is the princess of this kingdom."
I covered my mouth and tried to stop myself from gasping out loud.
"What? That can't be true," Faye said.
"It's true. Her father's name was Malik. He was the original king of this kingdom until I overthrew him. I took everything he had and turned some of his people into demons with the poison that I had created. He wasn't a great king though. He was so scared of me, he left his own kingdom and hid in the human world where he thought he could be safe. I eventually found him and brought him back. I tried to take his powers away from him, but it was no longer in him. It's in her now. The power always transfers to the firstborn child."
I shook my head and tried to process everything.
"Where does this power come from?" Dean asked.
"It came from the meteor that hit this world thousands of years ago, which are the rocks that you all found. Her family somehow harnessed its energy, and now the power runs through her. If you think those little rocks are powerful, then you have no idea of the powers that she possesses. I want those powers. It could be the key to defeating my enemies. Once I take them from her, the demons, my crew, and I will slaughter them all. My offer still stands with you all. Join me in the fight. I know you all think I am the bad guy here, but I just want to create a new world. A better world where a true leader like me deserves to rule. Not some lazy king. You all could help me. I'll give you all some time to think about it."
Derrick backed away and left the room, leaving them all to sit and ponder.
"Do you guys actually believe what he is saying?" Jaden asked.
Dean shook his head. "It's hard to believe anything anymore."
Faye frowned and walked in a circle. "Just when I thought that attention-seeking girl was done for, now we find out that she's actually a princess!"
Jaden's face lit up with shock. "Guys, could the abandoned castle that we were staying at be her father's old kingdom?"
Everyone paused and looked at each other.
"I don't know. All I know is that I'm not staying here long enough to find out. I can't take another second here. Please tell me you guys are smart enough not to stay and take upon Derrick's offer either?" Dean asked.
"I think we should stay," Faye said.
"What? I knew you were crazy but I didn't think you were this crazy," Dean said.
She rolled her eyes and continued. "Come on guys. Just think about it. He's offering us all of the money and gold that we want. I mean just look at this place. There's no doubt that he has it. Jaden, you've seen his mansion. You know he's telling the truth."
"Faye, you think about it. We're fighting against an unknown species that are apparently a lot stronger than the demons. There's no way we'll survive," Jaden said.
"We'll never know unless we try. Look, I can't go back home. From what I can remember, my brother and I didn't grow up in a friendly household. Which is why we had no problem starting a new life here. We didn't want to leave. We've all been away from earth too long. Now we can make an even better living here at this place. What are you guys afraid of? Kai just said that nothing is a match for us."
"Well, what about Kai? Do you think he would agree with this?" Jaden asked.
"Of course! Now that he's found his family. I doubt he'd have a problem staying here," She said.
"I don't know about that. What about the people of this world? He wouldn't want to side with Derrick after knowing what he is doing to them," Dean said.
Faye sighed."Who's to say what's bad and what's good anymore in this world. We all thought the creatures that were lurking around us for years were brainless monsters out to kill us, but now we know that they were once innocent humans."
"They were turned by Derrick! He's clearly the real monster, and we shouldn't be siding with him!" Dean yelled.
Faye folded her arms. "They got turned, because they were weak, they couldn't stand up for themselves. What matters now is who is weak and who is strong. Who is on the winning team and who is on the losing team, and I choose to win."
Everyone looked at her as if she were crazy.
"How could you be so heartless? I don't agree with this at all, and you shouldn't either. Besides, he still needs Malaika for his little plan, and she's not here. So he will never win," Dean said.
At that moment I unscrewed the vent and jumped out of it.
Everyone's eyes widened as soon as they saw me.
"Actually, here I am, and I have a better plan."
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