Page 98 of The Order: Rise of the New Empire

A Marked.

Watching Xavier hit the wall, the man scrambles for his gun, ready to put a bullet right in Xavier's head.

"You pesky fucking little shit-"

Winnowing before I can even think about my actions, I grab the man's hair, forcing him down to my level, allowing the feral drive to come over me.

Eyeing the veins of his neck, his energy calls to me, filling my mind with thoughts I can't control.

Thoughts Melanie worked so hard to suppress.

"What are you-"

"Don't touch my family."

Clamping down on the major artery in his neck, I bite so hard I see red from his jugular, thrashing away from the man's neck, tasting the rich iron of his blood fill my throat. Yanking his jugular free from his neck, the red spews across my gown and on the floor. Only letting go of him once I've had a good enough fix, his energy courses through me. My eyes gleam in the reflectionof my room's glass window, mesmerizing me in ways I can't explain.

"Forest," Xavier gasps, jolting me away from my blank stare.

Grabbing the pistol from the floor, Xavier and I both eye it with confusion.

"Do you even know how to work that?" I question, wiping the blood from my mouth.

"Have you done that before?" he asks with caution, wiping some residual blood from off my lip.

"No," I admit with honesty. "Though, I've wanted to."

Giving me the slightest up turn of his mouth, he sighs.

"Glad it wasn't just me."

That's the odd thing about me and Xavier.

These past 12 years, we have watched each other age slowly, looking no more than 14, yet carrying minds far past what we are.

In that time, Melanie has become a mother.

Life outside of this lab has persisted.

Inside, all I have is Xavier.

"Did you hear what he said?" I question, watching the red light flash across Xavier's face.

"Did you hear what he said about my father?" I push.

"Whatever is going on," Xavier whispers. "The answers are past that door," he pushes, pointing toward the one door we were never allowed to open.

The way Xavier came from.

The way the Official came from.

The way out.

Nodding, I grab his hand, letting him lead the pursuit toward the outside world.

Nudging the door open, we both stop in our tracks, fearful of what lies before us.

Bound and gagged in a chair in the main waiting area, Melanie looks at us in absolute fear, her husband dead at her feet, a fresh bullet wound in the middle of his head. Standing in front of her, they wear a black cloak, numerous other Officials surrounding the woman.

---