Kingdom Come Read online

  Hyde shoved me back and Jekyll jumped to his feet. He punched me in the stomach with enough force to nearly reopen my almost-healed stitches. I fell to the floor, hollering in pain and grasping my stomach. I bit my lip so hard it bled as I kicked my legs and pressed my forehead into the floor.

  “You’re going to wish you hadn’t done that!” I wheezed.

  I recklessly swung my sword up and slashed Hyde’s cheek wide open. I barely got to my feet before Jekyll reached for me. Ordinarily, I would clean the blood off my weapons before attacking again, but this time the blood was a warning that we were done playing nice.

  “That’s enough!” Suddenly, Josh dropped his hat and stepped between me and my opponents. “You want to fight, you can fight in the arena! You will not be trashing the place again!”

  I had to hunch my back as I rested my prized steel blade over my shoulder. “You’re just a little killjoy, aren’t you?”

  “Okay, fine, you’re mad at me! I’m sorry, but let me do my job.”

  The twins stood opposite us, snickering and high-fiving each other. They looked quite proud of themselves until Josh turned on them. He stomped over to Sugar and grabbed her wrist, nearly lifting her out of her seat. Had to admit; Josh was strong for someone with little training.

  “Where did you get this?” He pulled a silver-and-black device from her hand and examined it closer. I peeked over his shoulder and looked from the trigger to the skull-shaped brand on the end of it. I ripped it from the security guard’s hands and flipped it around a few times.

  “I trashed this! I tossed it on the floor. How’d you fix it?”

  Josh held up his hand to stop me. “I have my own questions. Where did you get it?”

  The four quickly looked amongst themselves, then grabbed their lunches and bolted. Josh had an unsettled look, and he motioned for me to follow him as he left the cafeteria. He scratched his chin as he stomped through the painfully bright white halls to his office, shushing my questions as we went. It was near the front entrance, a few corners away from the locker rooms, and the door was slightly open. As it usually was.

  He was a quiet man. He kept to himself and Matt mostly, but he wasn’t intense. Josh was always the one to bail us out of trouble. I think I forgot that at times.

  His hand was on the doorknob as Soul came around the corner and staggered towards us. He had a bandage below his eye and a frustrated scowl. And bed-head.

  “Good, I was going to have to tell you too.”

  “If you made me wait, I’ll make you wait.” I snapped at him, then embraced Soul. “Feeling any better?” I wasn’t really upset with Josh, just frustrated.

  Stepping away, Soul nodded slowly and looked at Josh. I guess I did have to deal with him at some point, and giving him the cold shoulder really wasn’t helping. “So why did you pull me out of there? What was with that look on your face when you saw that device?”

  He sighed and rubbed his arm, his fluffy brown hair falling over his left eye. “Because I built it. Come into my office and I’ll explain. I don’t need the cameras hearing.”

  We had to push through trash and fast-food containers to fit the three of us inside his dark little office, and I’m pretty sure something ran across my boot, but once we were inside, Josh immediately started rooting through his desk. He swore a few times and then looked through the closet, throwing memory cards and handheld cameras out of the way. His arms fell to his sides, and he turned to look at us with embarrassment.

  “It was mine! I don’t know how they got it. No one knew about it!”

  “I’m begging you to start making sense,” I said. I crossed my arms, bored and confused.

  Josh cracked his knuckles and sat himself down on the edge of his desk. “I built a custom-designed branding staff for Mr. Viktor. Pretty unique little thing, a cross between a taser and a branding iron. My prototype was a lot bigger, but it looks like the same technology. I wouldn’t be so worried, but there are so many similarities I had to check for myself, and … I’m not seeing my prototype anywhere around here.”

  I had to put so much effort into not commenting on the state of his office I thought I was going to explode. Instead, Soul and I checked the bench by the door and under the desk again. Nothing.

  “Why on earth would he ask you for that thing?”

  “A branding staff? I don’t know. It’s not my place to ask questions.” My body froze and I stood up. I searched my jacket pockets for Ronin’s log. I never did give it back to him, and I guessed that was a good thing because, as I flipped through the pages, something caught my eye.

  I trailed my finger across the page as I read, trying to remember what I had seen a few nights after I stole it. I got a paper cut, but that was the least of our problems. “I knew it.”

  The tapping of the keyboard was distracting me, and when I looked up at the screen, well, I didn’t need to read any more. The two of us crowded around Josh in his desk chair and the monitor, and watched Angel slip into the office. She came back out a few minutes later, carrying a long grey staff. She looked both ways, then ran down the hall. It was time-stamped over two months ago.

  Josh dropped his face into his hands and gave a defeated sigh. He shivered like he was going to be sick, sinking further into his seat.

  Rolling him out of the way, Soul flexed his hands and started typing. He found all the footage she had been in that day and followed her from the office through the building to an empty dorm room. She pushed her long hair out of her eyes and took a deep breath. I did the same and grabbed Soul and Josh’s shoulders.

  I wasn’t happy to hear the voice coming from the speakers. I felt like I got punched in the gut again.

  “Is this it?” Angel asked sheepishly.

  “This is exactly it, my dear.”

  Vince Viktor took long, swift strides until he was in the frame. He held out his hand without a word, a sly smile on his face and his suit as neatly pressed as always.

  “Oh Maat,” Josh sputtered, “I did this…”

  Maat, his goddess of choice. She wouldn’t have mercy; none of this felt very just.

  “No, it’s not you.” My voice cracked, and I looked away from the screen. I wished it wasn’t real. Of course, I always thought Mr. Viktor was an arrogant bastard but … I didn’t want to believe this. Back on the video, Angel handed over the branding rod and she smiled proudly.

  “You did perfect, Beauty. Can I count on you again when I need you?” He laid his hand on her hair and then gently lifted her chin with the tip of his finger. His voice was so smooth, all three of us knew he wasn’t asking.

  Soul stood and crossed his arms. He pressed his lips together and his brows creased, but Josh sat shaking his head. The two of us looked up to Viktor for a long time… Did he really do that to us? His monsters were the only ones that weren’t hit, so it would make sense. But why Angel? Why did she do this to me? We were friends!

  I choked back the fear building inside me and stumbled out of the office and down the hall. I called Angel’s name as loud as I could as I went, until I ran into Eloise.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, with as much urgency as her soft voice could possibly muster.

  “None of your concern. Just tell me where Angel is.”

  “I’m right here; what is your problem?” She stepped out of the lounge and gave me a funny look. Her old T-shirt sat unevenly over her shoulders when she crossed her arms. It took her a minute to realize that I had grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her up against the wall, one hand holding her back and my sword in the other.

  I choked up a bit, drooling on myself, and shouted, “How could you do that?!”

  “Do what? Benji, are you alright?” She was acting genuinely confused. I hated her even more.

  “Don’t give me that. I saw what you did! I saw you give him the prototype!” I cried. My grip was slipping on my blade and I couldn’t look at her, but I felt her body tense below mine.

  “You’re goddamn right I did,” she his
sed. “But you don’t have any proof. You can’t prove his identity.”

  Her voice was only loud enough for me to hear. Eloise stood quietly, waiting to jump into action if she had to.

  “Why? Wh-why would you do that?” I asked, a little heartbroken.

  She scoffed and grabbed my upper arms. “Because Viktor’s going to keep me safe!”

  “From who?! Angel, from who?”

  “From people like you and your friend!” She spat at me and I dropped my weapon, shoving her back again. I’m pretty good with a sword but I wanted to use my fists. “You better be careful with this, K9. You might get rabies.”

  I shouted and planted my fist in the wall beside her head. She hadn’t flinched. “Are you trying to scare me? Huh? Because I’m not leaving the qualifier, and neither is Soul or Chrissy! How could you turn on us like that? How could you abandon us when we need you? Don’t you understand what’s going on?”

  “Believe it or not, you aren’t the most terrifying thing out there!”

  She pulled herself from my grip and strutted off down the hall, clinging to Ronin’s arm. Her heels clicked, getting farther away, but I didn’t turn away from the wall. My knuckles throbbed something fierce, but I couldn’t move. I just tried to call to her one last time. I trusted her; she was my friend. She’d tried to hurt us. Hurt Chrissy, and Soul. And Frankie and Eloise and Charlie! All my friends… She was one of them…

  “You’ve got to be delusional, Angel. He’s not protecting us, and he never was. You’re on the wrong side.”

  Soul was oddly easy to be around. I had been standing quietly in the hall for a while, and I wanted nothing to do with anyone until Soul gently coerced me back to my room to rest.

  We sat beside each other, and I lifted my hand and grazed his fingertips, causing him to flinch and then wrap his fingers around my hand. His eyes followed the movements and he tilted his head to the side. His hands were really soft, probably because of the ink and how hard he’d had to scrub them to get it off. I could hear him sigh slightly as he looked back up at my face, sad green eyes looking worried. His cheeks turned pink around his scar as I smiled softly. Reaching out, I tugged his goatee.

  He whined slightly as he leaned forward. “D-don’t like that…”

  I let him go and ran my thumb over his chin, his pupils filling out again. A light laugh escaped my mouth as he gently pushed my hand down, not looking away. I put my head down and closed my eyes, my bottom lip started feeling like it was going to bleed again, not anything out of the ordinary for me.

  I knew Soul was still watching me; he seemed to be trying to get a good look at my face.

  “I’m glad I met you.”

  Suddenly, Soul sat back and raised his dark eyebrows, “C-crow? Really?”

  I nodded and sighed. “Yeah, I needed a crow in my life. You’re a good person to have around.”

  “They don’t think so,” he said. I nodded quietly and felt my shaggy hair tickle my cheek, “They don’t have to. I just think you should have more faith in yourself…”

  I drifted off and slipped backwards, waking myself up by hitting the fluffy mattress. It smelled like my shampoo and a little bit like cotton candy. It was a soothing scent, but I had no idea where it came from. Tired, I exhaled out of aggravation and held my hand over my eyes, blocking out the light. It’d been a rough couple of days. I felt Soul’s weight leave the bed and the light clicked off. Instantly, I was out again.

  Sixteen

  My muscles tensed and I bolted up. It was the day of the qualifier.

  I was still half-asleep when I realized I wouldn’t have time to shower. I had to leave right away if I wanted to at least have a chance of showing up at the city square on time for the tournament opening. That was what happened when you didn’t get proper sleep every night; you ended up being late for life-changing events.

  I tied my boots and slammed my locker shut, running out of the locker room like my life depended on it. I slid my arms through the buckles of my armour, then bit down on the strap to keep it in place as I secured my swords to my hips, over a belt of potential fire power.

  I saw Chrissy up ahead of me, her metal-pleated skirt rattling as she walked.

  “Chris, you feeling okay?”

  She turned and gave me a terrified smile.

  “Okay? Okay? I’m going to die out there because they know I’m with you, and you ask if I’m okay!”

  I held my hands up in self-defence. “We’ll take care of ourselves. Just keep yourself safe.”

  She nodded and let her anxiety drift away as much as possible. Speaking of drifting, Soul wandered over, struggling to buckle his shoulder pad. He kept reaching behind him for the strap, but it kept swinging away. I finished buckling my own armour before I reached around his chest, pulled the strap to the front, and fiddled with the buckle. When I tried to step back, the mesh under his coat got caught in the steel over my left shoulder. Putting my hand on his chest, I tried to pull free. Tearing Soul’s jacket, I freed myself, slamming into the wall behind me.

  “Yeah … you two are going to do great.” Chrissy rolled her eyes.

  “Nervous?” I asked my tall partner.

  He smirked and shook his head slowly. I patted his arm, then walked out of the gate. The air was cold. I was probably going to regret not bringing a jacket. Soul had jumped into step with me, and I noticed him shiver slightly. At least I had a hood that would block the wind a little bit; he didn’t even have sleeves. We were standing in front of the abandoned side of Lilithia, our battleground.

  “No sweater?” I eyed him with slight disapproval, and he returned that with a sheepish look. We soon joined the others taking part in the tournament at the edge of the abandoned road, and I gave a terrified Eloise a hesitant thumbs-up.

  “This is all your fault,” Frankie whispered to me, also scared and angry.

  “Hey!” I snapped. “Just watch out for yourself, otherwise I’m taking you out first.”

  “I’m going to be a target?! It’s because of your soft spot for the clinically insane that we all have prices on our heads. You aren’t my problem, mutt!”

  “I’m going to be if you keep talking! Now I know how you got your code name —”

  “Yeah? How?”

  “Since you’re always causing a scene!”

  Poor Eloise got caught in the middle as we both reached around to strangle each other like children.

  “Count us out of your little anti-hero justice club!” Frankie sneered.

  I spat at him and he stumbled back, ready to swing at me again.

  “Scene Fest, K9, why on earth is it that every time there’s trouble afoot, one of you is involved?” the boss scolded as he walked past us to the microphone. I reacted by stepping to Soul’s other side, putting a bit more distance between Frankie and me. Eloise nervously held her hands in front of her but looked up at Soul.

  “Sorry we can’t help you anymore. We just… We can’t have Jekyll and Hyde after us.”

  “It’s not your fault, Eloise.” I sighed. Soul nodded slightly. “Like I said, we’ll do better on our own anyway.”

  “One plus one, a little bit of fun; two plus two, we may lose a few…” Soul sheepishly wrung his hands and shrugged. We couldn’t have anyone else to worry about. We had to win, if only to get out of this city so we weren’t run out by an angry mob…

  The drone cams circled like vultures, ready to follow us into the grounds.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, warriors and soldiers … this is the qualification tournament. You all know that if you are one of the last two standing, you will go on to the Tournament of Survivors, which will be held at the Isle this year.”

  Soul started to get agitated and rubbed his arm roughly, silently trying to keep his nerves down. I grabbed his hand and squeezed. He slowly took a breath, then calmed down again.

  “Each entrant will be given a five-minute start, and you may begin your battle once the bell is rung.” He was about to start calling names. I knew I w
ould be first again, and Soul would be last.

  “Devil’s night, and demons sing…” I kept my head straight and spoke softly, hoping no one else would hear me. Soul squeezed my hand back tighter than before to let me know he understood.

  “K9, you may proceed.”

  I exhaled and stepped forward. Soul was still holding my hand, and he slowly let it slip from his grasp. I cast a smirk at the rest of the warriors and tugged my hood over my ears. I was in no rush, walking past the barrier like I owned this place.

  Mr. Viktor announced the next person to enter. I started walking faster.

  Five contestants later, I was standing outside of the same building where Dan and I went, where I’d found Soul. I started to climb the stairs and quickly made it to the eleventh floor. Making my way through the trashed room, I climbed onto the fire escape and up to the roof. The flight of stairs had collapsed long ago, and this was the only other way up. It was a good spot to be; I could see the entire area and everyone in it. All the streets were dusty and empty except for some kicked-over trash cans and stray plant life. Vines climbed the outside of crumbling buildings, but none of the brush was thick enough to hide in. Viktor didn’t want us to hide anyway; it wouldn’t make good TV. The bell was rung and I started looking for potential threats. Too many of the others were waiting to catch Soul or me. I paced up and down the roof as I searched for my partner. I couldn’t see him but I heard shouting … something about a bird.

  Jekyll and Hyde were arguing with each other. Their voices carried through the streets. They paced up and down through the centre of town; you would be forced to run into one of them no matter where you were going. The crossroads in that area were pretty much unavoidable.

  Stress and maybe some hunger bit at my stomach. I couldn’t see Crow, but that didn’t mean Jekyll or Hyde couldn’t.

  “Die, bird!” The voice had come from behind me.

  I swung my head around and saw Jeremy Vamp on the roof a few buildings over, swinging his double-sided daggers at Soul, who was facing him. For the first time in a while, Jeremy’s muffled voice wasn’t obscured by sleepiness. Jekyll and Hyde had heard him too, and both bolted towards them as Soul gave Dracula one good shove, causing him to yelp as he grabbed at the fire escape to keep himself from falling six storeys.