Dragon Shift: Star Light Series, page 4
"Probably have more guys working at night..." Vance pushed through the closed exit door.
Gage growled irritably, "Not good." he glanced back at me. "We can't have any more newbies running around. I just got used to this one." he winked at me.
As we descended the stairs, we walked in silence as the guys kept watch before them. Vance commented he didn't quite believe that we were out of the woods yet. Before we reached the first-floor level, I felt cold chills running up and down my spine. Once we reached the bottom level, the sound of a door handle jiggling came from Vance as he tried it.
"Locked...hm..." His gaze glanced to Gage, then to me and back to Gage again.
"Bust it open. That looks like it's going to be the only way since the elevator is out." Gage replied as he stood beside me.
"You saw it too?" My eyes widened as I looked at him.
"Yea...I'm not even sure what floor the elevator stuck on. But the doors opened, and the elevator shaft wasn't there." Gage explained to me.
The sound of the door slamming hard came from Vance, using his shoulder to bust through with his shoulder.
"Be careful...” I cringed every time he pulled back to use all his strength to hit it again.
Gage stood off to the side near Vance, watching his every strike against the metal door. "Is that really all you got?" he tsked.
"Shut up." Vance glared as he adjusted to use his other shoulder. "Why don't you do something useful and keep watch."
Gage shook his head with his ponytail, swishing with the movement, "Watch for what? That hyb--homeless person is long gone now." His gaze shifted to me before returning to Vance.
"You're impossible. You know that, right?" Vance growled this time, and the metal made a cracking sound as he used more force in that hit. I jumped from the sound and stepped back further to lean against the rail of the stairs.
"I think he's right, Gage. We should keep watch just in case. I also won't feel better until we're out of here." I leaned one hand out to grab the railing. As I did, an icy cold grasp snatched my wrist up, yanking me back hard against the rail. My other free hand fumbled to grip on the rail as I was being pulled harder. Eyes widened in horror. I was staring face to face with the woman with half of her face melted off now. Her teeth bared in a sickening smile, wisps of what was left of her hair were plastered to her face. She was standing just a step below me as she pulled my arm down with her.
With a fierce tug, she yanked me over the railing to tumble down the steps. Landing on my right shoulder with white-hot pain coursing down my arm, I let out a blood-curdling scream. The woman was already down on me, grabbing me up by the shoulders and began dragging me through the doors that led into the basement.
"Alyssa!!" someone screamed my name, and I yelled out to them as I felt myself lose consciousness from the pain. I was soon jarred and knocked back down on the floor as the woman was thrown away from me. She howled angrily from the hallway as she crouched, glaring at the shadow of the person standing above me.
"Looks like her arm has been dislocated." Vance was kneeling beside me as he inspected my injured shoulder.
"Don't worry about me, run for it..." I warned him. No one else needed to get hurt. He chuckled lightly, "You're in excellent hands, just relax so we can take care of this."
"Vance…." Gage was the one who was standing over me protectively as he glared dangerously at the woman.
Vance tilted his head up toward the other officer, "Put her down."
Giving out an infuriating cry, "Give her to me!" the decaying woman was standing now. Arms outstretched with claw-like fingers splayed out as her eyes darted back and forth to each man.
Chuckling as Gage stretched his shoulders and rolled his neck, "Sorry, hybrid. That ain't gonna happen."
The woman lunged toward him, swiping her claws furiously. Her attack was futile as her eyes bulged from the sudden grasp around her neck. They had caught her in midair with an arm glittering with silver scales. She fought furiously as she pulled at the hand around her neck, as her other slashed at Gage’s arm. Sharp claws shattered as they slid across the toughness of scales that reminded me of metal.
His eyes darkened as he growled, “You weren’t even going to give me a chance to get ready? That’s what I hate about you hybrids. You have no honor in a fight.”
Her eyes filled with fear and confusion, "You're...like...me..." she used what little strength she had left to pry his hand loose around her neck so she could speak. He yanked her face closer to his spitting hate. "I am nothing like you." Gage's hand tightened until something popped and she went limp in his grasp. Her body fell to the ground with a thud as he released her. When Gage turned his attention back to us, his body was normal again. "Is she alright?"
I heard him say as I drifted in and out of consciousness.
"We will have to set her shoulder back into place. I'll take her back to the office. You get rid of that..."
I could feel him reach under the back of my legs and then the other hand bracing my back to carry me in his arms. I winced at the sudden movement that caused a sharp pain in my shoulder.
After that, I was lost in the darkness.
CHAPTER 5
I wish I could say I had been dreaming of rainbows and unicorns before I bolted upright in my chair screaming. Vance was before me, instantly shushing me softly. "It's going to be okay. You're safe now, Alyssa." he patted my leg gently.
"For the most part..." Gage replied gruffly. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. A stern sour look on his face, "We told you to wait in the office."
Anger flushed my face, and I turned my head away from them, not wanting to acknowledge that they had been right. However, my mouth had to get the last word in. "Well, excuse me for not knowing there were zombies in the basement." I winced at the pain in my dislocated shoulder. A slight smirk quickly spread on Gage's mouth, "Don't sass."
Then, just like that, my anger fizzled out and my cheeks turned pink as I gaped at him. Clearing his throat catching my attention to him, "We need to set your shoulder, it's been dislocated." Vance moved to stand in front of me.
"What?" I looked up at him in disbelief. I shooed at him. "Oh no, it’s fine. I'm sure it’s just bruised." I forced a laugh, but as I did, a sharp pain went up my arm. "Ah...dammit..." I leaned back in my chair, wincing as I moved. "Just you wait when I see that zombie chic again. I'm going to kick her face in...”
"I took the trash out. You won't need to worry about running into her." Gage grinned. I stared at him, perplexed, not exactly sure of what he meant by 'taking out the trash.' After they knocked me down, I had been in and out of consciousness, so I was unsure of what had happened to her. I decided I truly didn't want to know, as I was still processing what I had made out in glimpses during the encounter. The silver sheen from Gage's arm as he lifted the woman in the air, the way her nails shattered on impact when she hit him. Lost in my thoughts, I was oblivious to Vance moving behind me to put one hand down on my shoulder and thumb pressing into my shoulder blade. Gage had also moved from his perch on the wall to stand before me, lifting my limp arm toward him and nodding to Vance. Just as I realized what was amiss, in one quick jerking movement a loud popping noise was heard, and extreme pain shot up my arm. As I screamed, Gage placed his free hand over my mouth to muffle the sound.
Once I calmed down, he stepped back away from me. "What the hell, you guys." I fumed as Vance slipped my arm into a sling. Looking at both, I pointed a finger at Gage, who had opened his mouth. "Not a word out of you. I mean it, punk." I glared intensely at him. He held up two hands while biting back whatever smartass remark he was about to make and headed to check on the monitors on the other side of the room. Vance chuckled softly, and my head whipped to him. "Find something funny?" my icy blue eyes narrowed as I dared him to speak. He coughed, clearing his throat, "Nah, it’s nothing." as he finished strapping my arm in firmly, he stepped back. "Shift's about up. You go on home and get some rest. We will talk to Sean about what happened tonight."
"Will he want to call the police? They'll need my side of the story since I'm the victim."
Vance sighed as he lifted his arm to scratch the back of his head. "Right. I'll text him so he can get all that started." he pulled out his smartphone from his front pocket. He had turned his back to me, so my gaze settled on Gage, who seemed to go over a video from where I could see from the back of the room. We sat in silence for an hour, and I dozed off in my chair. Then suddenly the door busted open, and I nearly fell out of it. When I gathered my composure, I was staring up at Sean, and he had a stern look on his face.
"What in the hell happened here tonight!?" he spread his arms wide as he walked toward me, looking me over. "You need to go to the hospital now. How badly are you hurt?" he leaned down toward me inspecting my injury.
"It's alright, Vance helped me. I'm actually feeling a ton better." I replied. Sean tsked as he stood back up and then headed over to Vance and Gage to speak with them. He was whispering furiously to them from where I could tell from my sitting position.
Knock, knock...
Detective Howard Burns was standing in the doorway as he moved inside with us. He nodded in my direction before turning his attention to Sean, as he was by his side now.
"What happened here?" Detective Burns questioned.
"Nothing really. They had a little trouble with a squatter here." Sean sighed as he crossed his arms. "We get them occasionally, but none have attacked no one."
The detective's brow furrowed as he seemed to be lost in thought. "Strange. I'll have my guys see if they can get a look out for them. Got a description?"
Sean nodded before motioning to Vance to come forward, "Tell him everything you know."
“Do you need my statement?” I asked, but no one answered.
As I sat in my chair watching them, they seemed to have forgotten my existence, "Hey...can I leave now?" I stood from the chair. If they would not ask for my side, then I would rather head home and forget about all of this. Everyone in the room seemed to freeze as I spoke, as they remembered I was there.
"Sure, we can handle things from here if you think you're okay." Sean said.
"Yes, I promise I feel nearly 100%!" it was mostly true, the throbbing in my shoulder was nearly gone. I just needed a good dose of pain medicine to knock anything else out.
"Alright then. Don't worry about coming in tomorrow night. You got the night off." Sean waved me away and returned to speaking with Howard.
Not waiting for him to change his mind, I rushed out of the door to head for the nearest time clock to finish up my shift. As I did, I pulled my phone out to send Sammie a message to let her know I was done with work early.
Hey, Sam. I’m already done for the night. You won’t believe what happened!
I was still worried that throughout the night, she returned none of my calls or messages. It wasn't like her to leave me hanging like this. The morning sun shone through the windows as the lobby sprang into life with people arriving for work. I turned my head to see that someone was sitting at the front information desk now and they were no one I had ever met before. The older lady smiled and waved as I returned the gesture as I exited out of LabTech. As I stood on the sidewalk, other cars would pull in to either drop someone off or just pass by the entrance.
"Hmm..." I was getting antsy as I didn't see Sammie’s vehicle in sight. This was not like her, and dread and anxiety filled me. "This isn't right..." I mumbled to myself as I pulled my phone back out to dial her number. It rang for what seemed like an eternity until it clicked over to her voicemail.
Hi, this is Sam--
-click-
I shut her voice off in mid-sentence. "Shit." I began hoping that Sammie was not one of the latest victims that had disappeared from the facility. I rushed back inside as I pushed myself to run as fast as I could back down to the office before Detective Howard left. As the door came into view, I lunged headfirst inside, only to hit a solid rock wall, causing me to fall backwards onto my ass.
"Dammit." I growled, wincing as the jarring caused my arm to spasm in pain.
"In a hurry?" came a snickering male voice that I instantly recognized as Gage before I even had to look up.
"Detect....tive..." I panted, trying to catch my breath as I pulled myself up. Gage kindly helped me up along the way.
His brow furrowed. "What's wrong?" his voice suspicious that something had happened.
The others inside had heard me falling into Gage and all were at the entrance now. I glanced at the Detective, "Sir, I need to speak with you. I believe there may be another missing person to report."
"Come inside, Alyssa. Tell me who it is." he pulled me inside. Everyone was watching me as they shut the door to the office.
"Um...my friend. Her name is Sammie...err Samantha, and she works here with me. She actually got me this job, by the way...." I noticed the Detective getting agitated and cleared my throat as I got right to the chase.
"You mentioned that the workers here were disappearing without a trace. My sister has been missing for two days. I've tried contacting her again. I even called our family to see if they had heard from her, but they hadn't. I believe she's a new victim now." I stuck my free hand into my pocket to keep myself from fidgeting.
"Thanks for the information, Alyssa. We'll investigate it and see if we can find your sister. I won't promise you anything, but we will try our best to find her." he placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it gently to comfort me.
"Head on home, get some rest. If you hear anything on your side, let us know as soon as possible." he replied as he then said his goodbyes and exited the office.
"Alyssa..." Vance cleared his throat as he moved to my side.
"If you need a ride...I can take you." he offered, smiling softly.
"Y... yea, that sounds great." I was staring down at the tiled floor, feeling weak, knowing there was nothing I could do to help Sammie.
Vance led me out of the office as he gently grabbed me by my good elbow. We walked in silence as we headed back out the front doors, heading toward a black truck in the back of the parking lot. Pulling his keys out, he pressed a button which caused the truck to beep in response and start up on its own.
"I'll let you lead the way, just don't get us lost." he attempted a joke to lighten the mood.
I smirked softly, "Don't worry, I don't plan on getting us lost.”
Staring out of the window, I could feel the gloom setting in as I recalled the night’s happenings and the fact that my sister could very well be a victim to whomever is kidnapping people at LabTech. I couldn’t understand why they had chosen a research facility to go after people.
"You alright?" Vance asked softly, glancing in my direction but keeping an eye on the road as well.
Sighing heavily, I shifted in the leather seat as I was maneuvering the belt behind my injured arm. “Not really. A lot happened last night, and I hope they find Sammie. This is all too much; I still can’t believe it.” I shook my head.
He was quiet a moment, and I didn’t expect a reply. But then the smell of hickory was in the air and tendrils of smoke filled the truck. Vance cleared his throat before rolling the windows down to air out the smoke, and he then shoved something into his pocket. It was too quick, so I couldn’t glimpse what it was.
“I’m sure she’ll turn up.” He didn’t sound convinced with his own words himself as he looked over at me with a small smile.
“Thanks.” I forced a smile back at him. His deep brown eyes caught me off guard as I finally took notice of him. Vance’s jawline was sharp and chiseled, and he had a handsome face with the uneven black short-cut hair. He also wore black studded earrings in both ears that twinkled in the rising light of the sun. I smirked, thinking that someone needed a new haircut. Shaking my head, I returned to my post to watch the trees and buildings go by. I had never really been interested in men before, so the way his features had suddenly pulled me in surprised me.
No time for men, Alyssa.
CHAPTER 6
We rode in silence the rest of the way home until a light thrumming noise was heard and I felt it coming from the pocket of my pants.
"What's that noise? Is it your phone?" Vance glanced over curiously.
It didn't sound like a normal vibration that a smartphone usually had. As I dug into my pocket, and I pulled the pearlescent scale out. Holding it up, the light glimmered off it.
The thrumming continued as it seemed to get louder now. Vance furrowed his brow curiously as he looked at it.
He then reached his hand out to me. "Can I see that?"
"Sure. I found it in the lab last night."
"And....you took it?" Vance scoffed.
"Well, I didn't mean to. I grabbed it in the heat of the moment when that weird woman was chasing me. I'll take it back tonight, I promise." I rambled, as my cheeks flushed hotly. Now embarrassed that I had practically stolen something from my job. I smacked myself in the face, mentally. I had taken nothing a day in my life.
A rumble of laughter came from him, and it filled my chest warmly to hear it.
"What?" I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously.
"It’s nothing." His eyes shone brightly, and he flexed his fingers that he held out, waiting for me to hand it to him.
Sighing, I dropped it into his palm.
Time slowed as the iridescent scale fell.
When Vance clenched his hand tightly over it and his eyes squinted shut before he released a horrifying scream that turned into a rumbling growl. It was nothing like I had ever heard before. His body shook, convulsing as if he was being electrified right before my very eyes. The man's face before me seemed to shift from human to...to what the fuck? Black scales bloomed up his arm as the shirt tightened under his bicep, before ripping under the pressure of the bulging muscle underneath.
He growled out my name, "Alyssa—take the wheel."
The sudden realization that we were still on the road in traffic. "Fuck!" I shouted, struggling to unbuckle with my freehand. I hesitated as Vance's back arched in the seat as a large, leathery black wing ripped through his shirt. My stomach was doing backflips now and taking a deep breath, I flung over his lap to grab the wheel.
