Page 8 of Fractured Souls

“Fuckin’… end him, Lex.”

Impossibly, she heard Del’s voice. It was a fading whisper; a final gasp of defiance. He was dying.

But somehow, he’d managed to activate one of the flashbangs.

Alexis’s pain, revulsion, fear, self-pity… it all melted away as the realization struck her.

She had to kill this monster.

For Del.

For Thomas.

A terrible roar erupted from the Kordolian’s throat as he flailed around in the darkness, taking wild steps forward, leaves and gravel crunching under his feet. Guided by sound alone, Alexis lurched toward him and they collided in a terrible tangle of flailing arms and guttural grunts and charred flesh.

She swung a wild punch and somehow connected with his face, eliciting a howl of agony. Encouraged, she hit him again, and was surprised when he fell to the ground.

Oof! She landed on top of him, fumbling in the darkness, reaching for his damaged face. Something inside her snapped, and she hit him again and again and again, years of strict Academy fight training kicking in as her hand became a fist, her blows stronger, more coordinated.

She became something less than human, an animal in the darkness, a vicious, primal thing no different from the creature beneath her.

And then a terrible pain blossomed in her side. She froze, reached down, and curled her fingers around a hard metal hilt.

He’d stabbed her!

The alien let out a blood-curdling throat-rattle.

Was he laughing?

Kill him!

She wasn’t strong enough to do it with her bare hands. She needed a weapon.

Not caring that she was probably going to bleed out, Alexis pulled the blade from her side.

Her arms grew weak. She began to sway. Clumsily, she slashed the knife across her attacker’s neck, even as he held something up to her face.

A light flashed, momentarily blinding her. There was a strange device in his hand! Was he… recording her?

“Hey Ssarkisss,” the Kordolian drawled, his voice thick, his words slurring. The device he held… was he speaking to someone? “N-note thisss face. Thisss bio-sssig. S’ killed Orshak. I’m about to meet Kaiin… ‘cos of her. Tch. Fuckin’ embarrassin’…” He coughed, and his warm blood splattered onto Alexis’s hands. She doubled over in pain, clutching the wound in her side.

So much blood. It was everywhere.

Two minutes.

Where’s that fucking backup?

She fell backwards. Through a gap in the trees, she saw the stars; cold, bright, and impossibly beautiful.

Am I going to die here? At least those two women will be saved. The backup unit should arrive any minute now… Please hurry.

Muffled cries and the sound of frantic struggle reached her ears. The captives were alive and kicking.

“Find her. Degrade her. Violate her. Make sure she diesss… a slow, painful death. Not safe. Never. Not on Earth… not anywhere. ‘Sss what you get…” Even in his death throes, the Kordolian found the energy to laugh, to curse her in blood. “We are everywhere,” he wheezed, his words invading every inch of her awareness. “And the ones that have come to take this Earth… are worse… much worse than me… you can’t run, little human…”

His words sank deep into her subconscious, but Alexis wasn’t really paying much attention right now, because the stars were so bright, so dazzling.

Her breathing became irregular, her heartbeat faint.

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