Brothers of Chaos (The Unstoppable Titans Book 1) (19 page)

“What’s
wrong with you?” he yelled at her. “Run, you stupid old hag!”

But it was
too late.
Norrack
, with lightning speed, swung the
axe and cut the old lady in half, from the tip of her head on down. Les
screamed as both sides of her body fell to each side of the hallway. Without
losing stride,
Norrack
continued to approach Les. He
raised his axe, preparing to strike, when suddenly, a sword poked through his
chest. It was
Aslain
. He had struck
Norrack
straight through.
Norrack
dropped the axe and fell to the floor, dead.

A moment
passed, and then Les jumped into the air (as high as he could manage) and
cheered. His warrior had defeated Michael’s.

Speaking of
Michael, it was time to settle things with him once and for all.

“Follow me,”
he said to
Aslain
as he strode past, wearing a
confident smile. He walked into his bedroom where he saw Michael lying on the
bed. He looked extremely weak now.

“Michael,”
said Les, pointing a judgmental finger at him, “I, at this very moment, order
you to cease and desist whatever your plans are with this orb.”

He pointed
at the orb on the floor. Michael shivered and panted as he put his hands up.
“Please, have mercy on me. I was only doing what my brother told me to do.”

He sounded
pathetic. Les almost felt sorry for him, but suddenly his thoughts fell on all
the innocent people Michael murdered in cold blood, including his own
grandmother just moments ago. Les smiled ruthlessly.

“Mercy doesn’t
live here anymore.
Aslain
”—he addressed the warrior
now standing next to him, sword drawn—“kill this monster.”

He pointed
his judgmental finger toward Michael, who was still shaking with what Les
assumed was fear.
Aslain
raised his sword.

Why is Michael smiling?
Les suddenly
wondered as he caught a quick glimpse of Michael’s face just before the sword
came down, severing
Les’s
arm at the elbow. He didn’t
even register this at first. He continued staring at Michael, then suddenly at
his arm. And now at
Aslain
.

The pain hit
him. He screamed, grabbing the bloody stump.
Aslain
backhanded Les, causing him to fall on the rubble that used to be his desk.
Les, too scared to stand, crawled toward the protective circle he’d made
earlier. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his leg. He looked back and saw that
Aslain
had cut off his right leg at the knee. Les screamed
again but continued crawling, slower this time.

He was in.
Les made sure nothing was poking out of the circle, and replaced all the purple
crystals he had knocked out of the way when he crawled in. He looked up at
Aslain
as he towered over him, sword raised. Les looked
over to Michael, who was still smiling.

“But he’s
under my control,” Les whined.

Michael
crawled to the end of the bed so that he was face to face with Les.

“He was
never under your control. When you were busy with
Norrack
,
I tapped him”—he indicated
Aslain
—“on the shoulder. I
told you I had a few tricks up my sleeve. Also”—he reached out and touched
Les’s
shoulder—“there’s no such thing as magic.”

Les
shuddered with fear. Michael had penetrated the protective circle; it didn’t
protect Les from him. And it wasn’t going to protect him from
Aslain
, who was now bringing his sword, with all his might,
down on
Les’s
pitiful, whining body.

*
 
*
 
*

Michael was
filled with an unexpected sorrow as he watched Les die before his eyes. He’d
had too much fun bringing
Les’s
beloved replicas to
life, something Les had always wished would happen. Michael wondered if he was
actually enjoying killing now. With a wave from his hand,
Aslain
shut down. The mist poured out of the replica and back into Michael, and he
instantly felt better. He had been powering the hero like a radio-controlled
car with a small portion of his own consciousness. He walked over to Les and
pulled the sword out of his head.

He grabbed
the orb and put it in the backpack, but as he turned to leave, he froze in
place. An unexpected tingling washed over him and his whole body became rigid
and numb.

Michael
fought with all his might to push his limbs to work again. Slowly, but surely,
his legs moved, and he was able to walk into the hallway.

He turned
back to Les, who was still on his knees, staring up at the ceiling, mouth open
wide in anguish.

What did he do to me?
he thought. He’d
only been faking earlier to humor Les before he was killed. But now…

Now he
actually was having trouble moving. Had there been more to
Les
than met the eye? Was magic real? Michael had been using the energy inside of
him to bring the replicas to life, the energy he now knew was also inside of
Owen. The energy from
beyond
.
Science, not magic. Maybe his little trick was causing this unexpected feeling
and not whatever Les had done…

Oh, well, it
didn’t matter. Owen had a job to do, and Michael would make sure it was done,
whether Owen was willing to help or not.

After
retrieving his “supplement” from
Norrack
in the
hallway, Michael grabbed the axe and added it to the sword from
Aslain
. He then walked outside and, just as expected, saw
Jason parked in front of the house with a huge smile on his face. Michael
wished he could share in his brother’s enthusiasm, but he just wasn’t feeling
it. He couldn’t admit to Jason he didn’t want the same things. Michael only
wanted a place to call home, where he wouldn’t have to worry about being hunted
and killed by angry, superstitious people.

Of course,
Jason had said the orb would provide such a home for them. They could make any
world their home with the orb, and on and on. Jason had given the same speech
over and over until Michael finally relented. Truth be told, he knew he was
turning into a monster, just like his older brother. Only, Michael tried to be
different. He’d given his victims a choice:
Do
this or do that. Doing this will save your life; doing that will end it.

All of Michael’s
victims had chosen
that
. But just
because Michael had given them a choice didn’t make him any less of a monster,
not after all was said and done.

He was
turning into his brother, and he was shocked to find he liked it. Michael had
no choice—he had to like it. Jason would soon be in control, and there was
nothing Michael could do about it. Sure, he had the strength to oppose his
older brother, but he could never actively go against Jason’s wishes. Jason had
taken care of him when their foster parents were killed; Michael owed him
everything.

Though,
Michael couldn’t help but wonder: If Jason had been the one to take on the
supplement instead, would he have needed his little brother at all? As Michael
walked up to the car, to his destiny, he hoped the answer was yes. He hoped his
brother wouldn’t just abandon him if he ever got the chance.

Brothers
wouldn’t do that to each other.

Daniel wasn’t ashamed to admit
he was scared. Alyssa was dead; Michael had killed her. Daniel’s imagination
was working overtime as it reenacted her final moments.
Why?
he wondered.
We’re the
good guys. We’re not supposed to die like this. If we have to die, we’re
supposed go out in a heroic act, and it’s not supposed to be painful. Not like
that.

He hoped she
didn’t feel any pain, being slammed against a wall.
Please, let her death
have been quick.

The theme
music from the videogame had been turned off minutes ago; it had only made
Daniel sadder.

He glanced
at D, standing in the middle of the armory. If only he had finished the robot,
they could’ve taken it with them. It would’ve protected them—protected Alyssa.
Daniel hated thinking of her now that she was gone, but he couldn’t help it.
She hadn’t deserved what happened to her. None of them did, but most of all, her.
She hadn’t been cut out for this line of work, if you could even call it work.

No, it
wasn’t a job. What was it?

A hobby?

No.

Daniel
cursed himself for even thinking that. Alyssa didn’t die because of a “hobby.”
She died trying to make the world safer, trying to rid it of monsters that
should not exist in the first place. She had been trying to do the right thing.
She was the reason he had joined in the first place: She had always said he was
the smartest person she knew.

Daniel
grabbed a screwdriver and went over to D. He was determined to finish this
thing. He wasn’t going to let anyone else die if he could help it.

He couldn’t
figure out what was wrong, though. Why wouldn’t D respond to any of his
commands? The robot just stood there, staring straight ahead. It was a
four-hundred-pound paperweight. Daniel couldn’t stand to look at it anymore. He
threw the screwdriver across the room, knocking over a bunch of papers from his
worktable.

“Crap!”

He went over
to pick them up; on the floor were his schematics for D as well as a book on
robotics. He had built D using his natural intellect—intellect he’d wanted to
apply to making videogames. That’s all he ever wanted to be: a videogame
designer. He had barely even glanced at the book while constructing his broken
masterpiece. He had wanted to make it look human, but he didn’t have the
resources to do so. Also, Alyssa had insisted it wasn’t important to make it
pretty, just functional…

Alyssa.

He told
himself not to think of her now.

He couldn’t
help it. He missed her so much. He
loved
her, ever since he saw her for the first time at one of his softball games. He
had been too afraid to tell her that, but he’d always complimented her whenever
he could. He always looked at her when she wasn’t paying attention. At times he
realized it seemed creepy, but he was fairly certain she had noticed him
staring once. And he was even more certain she had even smiled at that.

But she
wouldn’t smile anymore.

Daniel
opened the book he’d just picked up, hoping beyond hope there would be
something that would give him a clue as to what was wrong with his creation. He
took the screwdriver and went around to the back of D’s head. He was about to
unscrew the back panel when he heard a noise. It sounded like a polite knock at
the front door.

He put down
the screwdriver and headed for the door. Without looking through the peephole,
he opened it.

Michael,
Alyssa’s murderer, stood there, a smile on his face. Daniel slammed the door
shut and put all the locks in place. He ran back to his worktable in the armory
and grabbed his cell phone.

Another
polite knock on the door!

Daniel tried
to ignore it. His heart beat so hard he could barely handle the phone. He
couldn’t remember which speed-dial entry Chris was under. He pressed “2” but
that was his ex-girlfriend Amy. If he got out of this alive, he’d give her a
call and see how she was doing.

He pressed
“3.”

*
 
*
 
*

Chris’s
phone vibrated in his pocket. He answered, putting it on speakerphone so Owen
could hear.

“He’s here,
at the front door!” Daniel’s voice sounded tiny through the speaker, but the
fear in it was profound.

“Oh God!”
Chris screamed. “Don’t fight him. Just hide. We’re already on our way.”

He hung up,
his face filled with complete horror.

“You won’t
make it,” said Nikki. “You can’t help your friend.” She sounded like she was in
a trance.

Chris and
Owen left as quickly as possible. Owen’s mind was already at work imagining
what Michael was going to do—hell, what he was probably already doing—to
Daniel. He had shown no mercy with Alyssa. He and Chris were hauling tail down
the freeway a few minutes later, cops be damned. Owen almost hoped a cop would
chase them, calling for backup while he was at it. More firepower was welcome
when it came to Michael.

*
 
*
 
*

More
knocking. No pounding on the door or anything like that. Just polite, patient
knocking. But Daniel knew that wouldn’t last long. Sooner or later, Michael
would blast his way in here and tear him to pieces. Those locks he’d installed
on the door were strong and plentiful, but that’s not what was holding Michael
back. He was just toying with Daniel.

Daniel
looked back to D rather pathetically. That robot was his only chance of
surviving the encounter. But it still stood there, staring blankly…

Wait! Daniel
could have sworn he had just seen a flicker of light in the robot’s eyes—

What was
that? A noise from outside the front door. It sounded like keys. Did Michael
have keys? To the door? But how?

One lock
turned. Then another. Then another. Michael was unlocking the door. In a few
seconds, Daniel would be face to face with him. What would Michael do to him
first? Would he gouge out his eyes? Would he rip off his limbs? Disembowel him?
None of those thoughts were the least bit comforting. His heart was pounding so
painfully in his chest, he was on the verge of vomiting.

Another
lock.

Only one
lock left. Daniel wished he’d put a few more on the door at that point.

The last
lock.

That was it.
Nothing more to do but open the door.

And that’s
when the door slowly opened. Michael smiled from the hallway.

“May I come
in?” he asked.

This
confused Daniel. Could Michael not come in unless he was invited? That rule was
so popular with vampires. Daniel doubted it was true for him. And he was right,
because Michael slowly walked into the condo.

“I was just
being polite.” He closed the door behind him and looked around, whistling to
show he was impressed. “Nice place,” he continued. “Who paid for this?”

Daniel
didn’t answer. Anger was starting to replace his fear. He felt Michael already
knew who paid for it, and it suddenly hit him where he’d gotten the keys.

Alyssa.

Michael
walked into the armory, looking around the room. His eyes finally settled on D.
His interest was piqued.

“Is that
your robot?”

Daniel still
didn’t answer. He wondered how long Michael would put up with his silence.

“Why didn’t
you just bust down the door?” he finally asked Michael.

“Because I
had keys. Besides, I don’t do the busting-down-doors thing. It’s too
predictable.”

Michael said
all of this without looking at Daniel. His interest was completely on D.

“Does this
thing work?” he asked, picking up the remote.

“Yes,”
Daniel lied.

“Really?
Does it help you guys fight monsters?”

Daniel
stayed silent. His fear in his voice would betray his lie.

Michael sat
down on a stool by the worktable and stared at him. “Is it going to help you
fight me?”

“What are
you doing here?” Daniel asked.

“Waiting for
your friends.”

“Why?”

Michael
didn’t answer. Instead, he just stared, a subtle grin on his face. Daniel stood
close by, too afraid to move.

That’s when
he suddenly remembered his Rejecter. It was in his pocket. He reached in
slowly, grabbing hold of it.

“Why did you
kill Alyssa?” he asked in a low voice.

“I was mad,
and she was in the way,” Michael said, looking down at Daniel’s pocket, the smile
leaving his face.

“You seemed
like such a cool guy at the party,” Daniel said. “Why are you doing this?”

“I don’t
want to have to hurt you, Daniel; I like you. But if you pull that thing out of
your pocket, I’m going to hurt you very badly.”

Daniel stood
for a moment, weighing his options.

Then he
pulled out the tiny bomb as fast as he could. In a flash, Michael smacked him
across the room. He landed hard on the floor, and was still.

*
 
*
 
*

Chris didn’t
seem to care for the red traffic light he was approaching. He cared less about
it than the last four he’d sped past. Owen glanced at the speedometer; it read
ninety miles an hour. They still weren’t going fast enough.

Owen gripped
the dashboard. The cars they sped past were merely blurs at this speed. How far
were they from headquarters? He looked back—there were no cops following them.
This unnerved him. The two of them rode at a dangerous speed and there were no
cops around?

They passed
Dahlgren Street—six more blocks. At this speed, it wouldn’t take long. Owen
hoped Daniel was all right. He was a smart kid, and he had been tinkering with
his robot before they’d left. Maybe he had gotten it to work. If so, it would
put up a good defense until they got there.

What would
they do when they got there? They weren’t much of a challenge for Michael the
first time. Owen had thrown a car at him, and yet, he still lived.

But Owen
figured if they were going to die, they would do it together. He just couldn’t
stand the thought of Daniel dying alone. They were in this together.

They were
passing Travis Boulevard now. They were almost there.

*
 
*
 
*

Daniel
barely hung on. Michael had tossed him around a few more times. Daniel knew it
was only a matter of time before he would tire of him and end it all. But soon,
Owen and Chris would run in, guns blazing, and take Michael out. They would
blast his hide to the underworld.

“I warned
you, Daniel!” Michael shrieked as he threw Daniel across the room. “I told you
not to do that!”

Daniel
landed so hard on the floor, his cast split open a little. The trunk full of
Busters was right in front of him. He started to crawl toward it. The Rejecter
he’d dropped was practically forgotten. Daniel didn’t want to
hurt
Michael; he wanted to
kill
him.

Suddenly
Michael lifted him up into the air. “I warned you, Daniel.”

Daniel
didn’t feel the floor when he hit it at what felt like a million miles an hour.
He was paralyzed. He looked up. Michael’s face was expressionless. Daniel
watched him walk away. Where he’d gone, Daniel didn’t know. He didn’t care
anymore. He wanted to spend his last few seconds of life thinking of something
good.

He thought
of Alyssa.

He thought
of the day they first moved into the condo. Owen and Chris were carrying the
couch through the front door, with Chris leading. Suddenly he stopped walking
and set his end down. Owen, standing out in the hall, looked at him
quizzically.

Chris
grinned, and then Owen knew. He set down his end as well and stood there,
waiting for Chris to make the first move. Daniel and Alyssa watched from the
living room.

Just then,
Chris took off up the stairs. In one effortless leap, Owen was over the couch
and right behind him. Daniel and Alyssa laughed as they listened to the two
boys run around on the top floor.

Owen said,
“Mine!” a split second before Chris yelled, “
Mi
— Damn
it!”

Clearly Owen
had picked the best room first. And then the two boys were laughing upstairs.
No hard feelings.

Daniel and
Alyssa tended to the couch sticking through the doorway. They managed to get it
in place in the center of the living room. After positioning it just right,
they sat down together.

“You don’t
mind Owen getting the best room?” Daniel asked her.

“Not
really,” she said, shaking her head. “Besides, in my opinion, all the rooms are
equally good. That’s how it is with the condos on the top floor in this
building. That’s why I insisted on getting a place all the way up here.”

“All the
rooms are equally good?” Daniel scratched his head and screwed up his face, as
if thinking really hard. “I guess they’re just that stupid they didn’t realize
it.”

Alyssa
laughed so hard she had to clutch Daniel’s arm to keep from falling off the
couch. Daniel laughed, too. When Chris and Owen finally came back downstairs,
they too laughed, though they didn’t know why.

“This is it,
you guys,” Chris said after the laughing fit subsided. “This is the beginning
of our new lives. As monster hunters.”

“Sounds
exciting,” said Owen.

“Sounds
scary,” said Daniel.

“Sounds
cheesy,” said Alyssa.

And then
they were all laughing again. That day, they were all happy. They were
together.