Page 5 of ForeverMN

Silas slaps the crowbar into my hand. I use all my weight to shove it between the space where the wall meets the panel. The scrape and thud echoes in the silence. Silas brings his weapon up, while I grab onto the crowbar and tug. I use my foot on the wall to give myself leverage before the hinge breaks, and the panel finally pops open. A cold breeze pours from the darkness. I frown. This tunnel is radiating heat yet suddenly it’s cold behind this door.

Following my training, I head into the room, and once again, we’re plunged into darkness. Only a small, white, light can be seen down from what looks to be another tunnel. Reed’s intel did not signify what was going to be behind the panel. There was just a mark to indicate where the targets were. There is also no sign of Kai and his team yet. Silas and I glance at each other, and know we need to keep moving forward. Silas takes the lead this time, and as we get closer to the light, a swirling noise, similar toa running generator, can be heard. We move faster. A single bulb hangs from a beam in the ceiling, and another panel door sits on the left. Using the crowbar again, the panel pops off more easily this time. Dim light is coming from inside. As my boots hit the tile floor, more lights pop on.

“Oh, shit,” Silas looks around the room. My own eyes follow his. A medical table is set up in the corner, complete with leather straps across it. Walls are filled with jars, labeled with blood type, race, and age of owner of the organ inside. Silas moves over to a back wall and opens an industrial fridge door. “No way.”

The door swings open, and suddenly I can see arms, legs and feet hanging up, butcher style, from the fridge ceiling. Silas moves further inside.

“Blood bags and more organs,” he says into my ear piece.

I use my bodycam to take pictures of the room, and everything we’re seeing. We’ll take the information back to Rogue, but I think it’s pretty evident this is related to some sort of black market operation.

Static sounds in my ear piece, “Ci, you need to come see this,” Kai’s voice breaks through.

“Where are you?” I ask, moving towards the door.

“In here,” Kai suddenly steps through a hidden door at the back of the fridge. Silas spins, taken off guard.

“Didn’t know this was back here did ya?” Kai grins, but his face turns solemn. “Prepare yourself. The guys are combing through for survivors.”

We follow Kai into the fridge, and in the back, there is another opening. The nightmare waiting for us on the other side is one I know will haunt me for the rest of my life. Being in Rogue, I’ve seen blood. I’ve seen death. I know that evil in the world doesn’t discriminate among people, and preys on who it thinks is weak. Being in this field, I try to expect the unexpected. Right now, I’ve never felt more unprepared.

“What happened?” Silas asks the question we all are wondering. Bodies are everywhere in the room. Men, women,children. They are piled on top of each other in a star shaped pattern. The air in the small space smells metallic and putrid. I fight the urge to gage, and swallow the nausea down. Blood paints the walls in sprays of sinister combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols. Only the women have their eyes open, staring in death.

“Looks like a ritual of some kind,” Kai explains.

“How many?” I ask, watching as our team separates the pile of bodies.

“Thirty-three,” Kai responds. “It’s hard to say how long ago we missed the window. Reed’s intel was accurate, but obviously, they also knew someone was coming.”

“I sent a message to Matt and Jason. Instructions are to bring them all to headquarters for identification and notifications. We need to head home with these images. Jason is calling Reed in. But in case we’ve been made, we need to get out of Dodge,” I relay the message to the room.

“I’m destroying the other room once we grab the evidence,” Silas announces, his jaw tightly gritted. I nod at him. Despite the look of this room, it’s clear the other is being used to sell organs and body parts on the black market. The evil in this room was an added, horrific bonus.

“Let’s get this wrapped up.”

Saylor

Last night was the one of the worst I’d had in years. After Matt and my dad arrived, they worked the rest of the night with the information they were given from the guys. My dad called Reed, and they had a lengthy conversation about what they’d found. Reed did not know about the ritual room, only about the small group of individuals who were taken by the person that was operating in the black market. After they talked, Matt gave Reed instructions, to which I wasn’t privy, and honestly I didn’t really care to know. My heart was already heavy for the lives that were lost. Not to mention, a ball of anxiety was bouncing in my gut knowing how close a call Ciaran and Silas had down in those tunnels. Ci already tried to brush it off, using humor and making a joke about it. He didn’t want to worry me, but he forgets I have access to everything that he reports. Meaning, I know he almost got blasted by a fireball, and his joke about his sunburn is not from being on a mission, but vacationing in the tropics, only made me more upset.

By the time I fell into bed, the sky was already lightening. Just thinking about all the welcome packets I now had to put back in the drawer made my eyes sting with tears. I hate losing targets. It isn’t usual, and in such a large number, it’s devastating. The fact that those monsters were given a heads up that Rogue was on their way, brings back memories of the last time we had upheaval in the organization. It feels like a lifetimeago, but I remember how terrifying that summer was. The lives that were lost. The constant wariness about who we could trust, and who we couldn’t. Since Ciaran, Kai, and my brother took over Rogue, many steps have been taken to ensure that wouldn’t happen again. Lux was taking extra precautions when recruiting, and there were very in-depth interviews and background checks that came next. Not to mention, Reed also got involved. Our security for members, and families in homes, should be airtight. All homes were upgraded. So the idea that somewhere, someone betrayed us again,kills.

“Say, are you heading home soon?” Mila’s voice brings me back to the present. My head snaps in her direction, my face instantly softening while looking at my baby sister. Only she isn’t really a baby anymore. Mila has come so far since we first encountered Rogue. She has grown and changed in some of the most beautiful ways, and also the most painful. My eyes track over her wheelchair.

“I didn’t hear you come in,” I tell her, trying to discreetly flick the tears from my lashes.

Mila shrugs, “You were pretty lost in thought.”

“I just can’t stop thinking about it. I’m worried,” I tell her honestly. Once Ciaran gets back, I’ll put on my brave face, but right now, with my sister, I can be vulnerable.

“We don’t know enough yet. Reed isn’t entirely sure it wasn’t coincidental, and he isn’t a huge believer in chance,” Mila moves closer to me, her hand held out, and I take it.

“Do you talk to Reed a lot?” I knew that before he left, Mila was helping Reed a lot down at the shop, with the computers and surveillance. They formed a friendship that made Ciaran wary, but not me. If anyone besides us could protect my sister, it would be Reed. Silas seemed to think there were romantic feelings involved, but Reed left, and Mila kept going, like she always did.She didn’t seem to be broken-hearted, or hold a grudge for him leaving.

“I check on him more than he likes, I think,” she laughs softly. “I don’t want him to think we don’t care about him beyond what he does for Rogue.”

I nod, and for some reason, my chest squeezes. My sister is so good. Her heart is the purest, despite what we’ve been through. “I think that’s good. He needs it.”

Mila nods, and I squeeze her hand. “What are you doing over in this side of town anyway?”

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