It was dark outside, and time seemed to be slowing down as I waited to make my move. Sina and Fuchsia had already left. Their part was to act as a decoy for our rescue mission. They would draw the attention of Creso’s men and allow for the rest of us to fall into position and enter the building unnoticed. I checked to make sure that my gun was secure on my chest.

I spotted movement to my side and quickly turned my head allowing my new eye to scan the darkened area. I placed my hand on my gun and remained motionless ready to attack if need be.

A vibrant blue danced through trees and caught my attention.

“Tag, you're it.” A whisper at the back of my head. I turned around probably louder than I should have and grabbed the hot headed kid behind me, gripping his tactical jacket in my hands. How the hell did Fuchsia find this kid?

Frustrated, I let go of his jacket and said, “are you trying to get killed? If I hadn't spotted your blue hair, I would have shot you!”

He smiled at me and said, “I doubt that sir. I would have gotten you before you had a chance to pull your gun. They don’t call me Jackrabbit for nothing.”

Is this kid serious?

I turned my head back towards the building and said, “I wonder if they have made it into the building yet?”

Jackie’s movement’s were surprisingly quiet and smooth as he appeared by my side. Another one of Eclipse Medical’s miracles stood beside me, a quadruple amputee.

Jackie tipped his head and said, “are you worried about them?”

I sighed and said, “yes!”

He patted my back and said, “I don’t know about Sina, but Fuchsia kicked my ass a bunch of times! He looked at me and chuckled, I bet she had you doing her dirty work. She doesn't like to get her hands dirty!”

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out so that Jackie could see it also. The text said, “we are in. They know we are here. We will try to keep them busy. Go!”

I typed, “be careful.”

And with that we heard an alarm go off in the building and smoke emerged from the first floor. Jackie tugged at my jacket and said, “let’s go rescue that boyfriend of yours.”

I wanted to find Jax but I was scared. I had some idea of what he had been through because of my conversation with Dr. Nemeroff. It had taken everything for me to keep it together when I heard what they were doing to him.

I stood up quickly and slid my phone into my pocket. We took off running towards the front of the building. I was in the lead because I could see everything clearly in my left eye. I was still trying to get used to relying on my left eye in situations like this as it was now the stronger, more dominant eye. I couldn’t hear Jackie behind me, the boy was freakishly quiet; a ghost in the night. I slid quickly placing my back up against the back of the building, my hand on my gun. Jackie was beside almost instantly. His gun was already pulled and ready.

I could hear talking towards the front of the building and hoped that most of the guards were relocating towards where the smoke was escaping. We climbed the back steps, backs close to the wall and guns at a low ready position.

When we reached the top of the steps I looked over at Jackie to let him know I was going to enter the building. He nodded at me as I moved quickly to the door. I continued to hold my gun at a low ready position as I cautiously entered the building. I felt Jackie push back up against me as he entered the building, letting me know he was still covering us from the outside. As soon the door shut he was up beside me. A more serious look now on his face, as he scanned the hallway for signs of life. “Where do you think Jax is being kept?” he asked.

“Dr. Nemeroff said he was on the top floor. There is a small chance that they didn’t move him,” I said.

I looked in the direction of the stairs and then the elevator. The elevator would be quicker but it would also be more dangerous. I headed towards the stairs. We walked on opposite sides and I was walking forward and Jackie tried to keep watch behind us in case someone entered from another floor. We quietly climbed the stairs. I started to walk faster as we got closer to the top floor. I stood at the door afraid to enter. When Jackie caught up with me. He said, “do you want me to go first?”

I shook my head no, and pushed through the door. I was hit with a pungent odor, and I was almost certain it was blood. Jackie reached an arm in front of me stopping me from walking and pointed at the floor. There was a large trail of blood going down the hall toward the elevator. I gripped my gun tightly and tried to still my shaking hand. We heard a noise behind us, someone was coming up the stairs. We moved quickly into the shadows of the dim lit floor. Two men entered and they also noticed the blood on the floor. One of them appeared to reach for their phone, probably to notify Creso. Before the men or I knew what was happening Jackie had grabbed the man. Within seconds the man collapsed to the floor, and I am sure he was dead. I was close enough at this point that I was able to slam the other man against the wall and he fell disoriented to the floor. I looked at Jackie, the boy was completely unfazed by the kill he had just made. I looked back at the man and he was trying to get up. I rotated my hand and hit him with the back of my gun and he fell unconscious to the floor.

I decided to follow the trail of blood, it was a pretty good indication that Jax was either close or had been. Maybe we would find some evidence of where they have taken him. My stomach began to knot as we got closer to the room. The door was open and it was quiet.

I stood in the open doorway motionless. I could see a figure lying on the floor surrounded by blood. Jackie pushed me into the room and said, “we don’t have time to do this. Go to your friend. I’ll stand guard.”

He was right. I needed to go to Jax. The closer I got to him. I could see his chest rising and falling. He was alive! I picked up speed and when I got to him I squatted beside him. There was a pool of blood under his head. I placed my hand on his face and said his name.

His eyes opened slowly as he said, “Bren…if only it was really you.”

I looked at him confused and then heard metallic scraping against the floor. I looked to my side, Jax was gripping a gun in his hand. Luckily, before he could fire the gun, I knocked it from his grasp.

“What the hell, Jax! What are you doing? It’s really me. It’s Bren,” I said while trying to calm him down. Was he hallucinating?

Jax squinted his eyes at me and then touched my skin beside my eye. I recoiled in fear, he hadn’t seen me since I had the surgery. Maybe he didn’t recognize me. He gently brushed the side of my face and said, “is it really you?”

“Yes, it is really me,'' I said.

He pulled himself up and placed both hands on my cheek, he got incredibly close like he was examining me but didn't say anything about my new eye. He let go of my face and fell into my arms and took a deep breath in.

He pulled back and smiled at me until something caught his attention behind me. He started to stand and lost his balance and I helped him up. He was staring at the blood on the floor in front of him. He looked terrified as he said, “where is Lance?”

I looked at the blood on the floor, wondering what had taken place. What could I say to calm him?

Jackie’s voice reminded me that we needed to hurry as he said, “I hate to rush you two, but we have to go. Now!”

Jax seemed to be transfixed on the blood in front of him. Whatever was going on in his head was going to make it harder to move through the facility with him like this. I pulled him towards the door and away from the room hoping that he would snap out of it.