Project: Rogue (Project Series Book 2) (8 page)

K
iller

“
I
broke
my rules for you…” I breathed into her hair, the sun shining down on us through the open window in her bedroom. I had fallen for her in the worst way, a way that left me craving for her touch long before she was even gone. I wished I could slow time down, the cancer surging through my veins, the deathly outcome that was lingering at the end of every passing day.

The truth was, I was dying and I had already come to that conclusion. Still, I had never wanted to fight against the cancer until I felt Maggie’s love. Until she wrapped her small form around me and claimed my heart as hers, until she shoved the hate and anger away and took its place.

Her form lay against my chest, her breath against my cheek. I allowed the feeling of her against my skin to sink in, relishing in the feelings for as long as I could truly allow. The memory had hit me at full force, reminding me of the past I had tried so hard to fight against. It was pointless because look at us now.

Look at how much things had changed, but still stayed the same. Maggie was still out of reach, I thought to myself as I skimmed my fingers down her arm, her silky smooth skin causing my cock to grow hard again.

There was nothing on Maggie that wasn’t perfect, that wasn’t made for me. Still, I reminded myself of how different we were, and how God never gave me what I truly wanted.

“It’s always been you, Mags…” I whispered into her hair, pressing a kiss against her scalp. I knew she was still sleeping because I would be able to sense the moment she woke up.

I sucked in a deep breath, her scent overwhelming me, so much so that I blinked my eyes closed and found myself in a familiar place.

“What’s wrong with me Killer?!” She screamed. I could hear her erratic heartbeat pounding in my ears. I snapped my eyes open, the smell of her blood hitting me in the face.

“Maggie…” I said her name as softly as I could, the smell of her blood causing something to snap inside of me. I could feel the shift in change the moment my eyes collided with hers.

“Why am I bleeding?” Maggie sounded scared and I could tell she was; I could feel it. I could feel everything.

“Because….” The past and future collided in my mind and I wasn’t sure which was reality or a facade. Images flickered in my mind; the good ones, the bad ones, and then the one that showed the outcome of Maggie and I’s future.

“Killer…” She pleaded, right before her body went limp in my arms.

A
nd it was then
I knew what all of this finally meant.

Death was the only thing true in this life.

I flung myself off the bed and away from Maggie. Terror rushed through, her touch fire to my body. How could I be the end of Maggie?

It’s just a dream. But was it really?

“Killer…” Maggie’s voice was full of sleep as she blinked her eyes open, her face full of concern as she took notice of what it was that I was doing.

“Don’t come near me, Maggie,” I growled. I was losing control. The memory felt real as if it had actually happened. There was no way, though, she wouldn’t be here right now if I had truly taken her life.

“What’s wrong Killer? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Maggie sat up in the bed, her dark brown eyes growing wide with anxiety.

Deep breathes. Gauge’s words filtered in my thoughts.

I had to get myself, get my senses under control.

I could handle this, I could change the future and alter it. I could save Maggie from myself. I would give up everything to save her, even our love. I knew there were things going on that were out of both of our controls, but I had to find a way to keep us together.

Fear rooted itself deep into my heart. Maggie was the only true thing in my life, the only thing worth risking everything for.

“I can’t…” I mumbled as I searched the floor for clothing, throwing on a pair of shorts and t-shirt. I could call myself stupid for giving her that one glance or maybe it was just wishful thinking, praying that what I had seen wasn’t true and rather just implanted into my mind.

“If you walk out that door without telling me what’s going on Killer, everything between us changes.” Tears welled in those beautiful eyes of hers as she beat one of her fists into the mattress.

My whole body was tethered to hers when she moved I moved. Every breath she took I felt in my own chest and the moment my fingers grasped the doorknob in my hands, I felt her heart break.

I felt it because I felt my own. It was no longer Maggie who was hiding behind a brick wall. It was me.

With that last fleeting thought, I walked out that door, slamming it shut behind me. I had felt death, I had felt hate and anger. I had killed and felt no guilt for doing so, but what I felt as soon as that door closed behind me was something I would never be able to forget.

Pain.

It wove its way into my heart, eating away at the little pieces that weren’t black shards.

I stopped mid step, forcing myself from heading further down the hall.

Her body was calling out to me. For me, and it took every single fiber of me not to turn around and go back to her.

I wasn’t good for her, the memory reminded me of that and yes I loved her, but if loving her meant I would take her life into my own hands then I needed to put distance between us.

This was the last straw, the one thing that decided it for all of us. Forcing myself to put one foot in front of the other, I headed down the hall and towards Ty’s office. I had to do whatever I could to change the future, and even if I hated Ty I knew that him being Maggie’s brother he would do whatever he could to protect her.

I pushed past a group of males that were lingering at the entrance of the hall, uncaring of the fact that they were even standing there.

“Look at that fucker…” One of them spoke loud enough for me to hear. I ground my teeth together, continuing towards my destination. “She’s a good lay, huh?” The same asshole spoke again. I stopped dead in my tracks, reminding myself furthermore why I wasn’t good for Maggie. What I was about to do being one prime example.

Turning on my heels I headed back towards the group of five guys. Most of them were a little shorter than me and everyone except the guy who spoke up probably had all their marbles. Someone like me didn’t. I was too far gone and when it came to protecting what was mine there was nothing that could stop me.

“I’ve killed people for lesser things…” Venom mixed with my words as I clenched my hand into a fist. My veins were bulging and the desire to protect what was mine fueled the raging inferno.

“I’ve killed fuckers like you just because I can. You think you own this place; you think that everyone here has to walk on eggshells because of who you are.” The man spoke to me, his dark beady eyes filled with rage that mirrored my own. I laughed, watching as his friends stepped away from him.

They either knew the type of crazy I was, or they could feel my anger in the air. Either way, I was going to kill this fucker without a second thought.

“The only person dying today is you.” I didn’t even give a second thought to what I was doing, a switch inside of me flicked on, and I was gripping him by the throat. Watching as the beast inside of me took over. I could feel his pulse beneath my hand and I felt nothing even as I squeezed. No remorse, or fear. Nothing.

His fingers gripped at my hand, yet still, I held onto him, watching the light leave his eyes and the gasp of breath he desperately sought vanish into thin air.

I clamped down on him, a dark evil voice filling the room with laughter. I couldn’t feel or see who I was anymore. Instead, I simply felt the darkness, embraced and relished in the motherfucking darkness and then I felt nothing.

Bones crunched as I crushed his windpipe and when I finally released the pitiful excuse of a man to the floor, his friends scattered. They were scared, as they should be. I was a monster. I was evil, and now the beast had been awakened.

Nothing else matter.

M
aggie

S
irens echoed throughout the Brotherhood
, and even though tears slipped from my eyes and tumbled down my cheeks I got out of bed and put clothes on, going out into the hall to see what it was that was going on. The sirens only went off in the case that there was a break in or a subject out of control. I was praying that it was the first rather than the latter.

As soon as I opened the door I wished I hadn’t. Mass chaos was taking place around me, a stampede of men came barreling down the hallway, guns loaded. Tension filled the air as I slipped from the bedroom following the men to wherever they were going.

Anxiety filled my belly I couldn’t miss the bloody handprints on the wall. A shriek escaped my lips, but it was too late. There was nothing that anyone could do to stop the emotions from flying out of me. The air around me whipped my hair up, the smell of fear hung in the air, it was so strong it was almost suffocating.

Clearing my throat and taking a deep breath I pushed on, following them further down the hall even though I didn’t want to. Something pulled me towards the end of it. I couldn’t resist it. I couldn’t fight it at all. My eyes shifted around the hall and I realized we were up by Ty’s office. I could hear voices and tried to focus in on them even through the ringing in my ears.

“Someone get a tranquilizer!” I heard the words and knew the fear I was feeling was real. My feet moved of their own accord carrying me down the hall towards the man that made my heart beat faster than it ever had.

“Which one of you fuckers want to die next?” Killer’s deep voice smacked me right in the face. A smirk marred his face and the darkness in his eyes caused my anxiety to spike. He was gone. The person, the killer he was when I first met him was in his place instead. The worst part was Killer wasn’t even fighting it. I could tell, there was an emptiness in him as he taunted his own people to come and go against him.

“Killer, you’re being irrational here…” Ty’s voice was so calm and soothing I wanted to sink into it. Killer turned his attention back to Ty and away from one of the men that was drawing nearer to him with each second that passed by. Tears began to fall from my eyes rapidly, each cold drop sliding down my cheek and hitting the floor with an earth shattering reminisce.

“Irrational? What’s irrational is that you try and control the person you truly are… Do you let the humans control everything you do?” Killer snapped, his fist coming out without warning, punching one of the guards that stepped too close towards him.

When Killer was gone, he was truly gone and reaching him was simply on his terms. If he wanted to see you, then he would. If he didn’t, you were as good as dead.

“Killer!!” I called out his name and knew the instant that he heard me. His head turned and his eyes met mine with so much intensity I almost fell over. My chest ached and breath refused to enter my lungs.

“A woman…” He winked at me. Killer was dark and dangerous, but slightly appealing. I could tell my sex was growing wet as he spoke. “Ah, but not just any woman…” Killer continued lifting his head to smell the air. Everyone around us stopped moving and time stood still. He moved closer to me without hesitation, completely uncaring of the others that stepped away. I knew this man, though, and I knew what he was capable of, except this man seemed to not know me at all.

“Mmmmm…. Do they know?” He got right in my face questioning me. His hot breath could be felt against my throat. I refused to move, ice covered my body in a thin layer forcing me to stay in place.

“They will find out shortly…” His nose ran down the side of my throat and my body trembled, desperately wanting to give into his touch. After all, I craved everything that was the man before me. I needed him. Wanted him.

I could see Ty with a large syringe out of the corner of my eye, he was moving closer to Killer so he could get a hit.

“What do you mean?” I asked confusion etched all over my face, I wanted him to keep talking.

Killer tilted his head at me, watching me cautiously. The beast in him was sizing me up, trying to see who I was and what I was all about. I lifted my hand to his face, wondering if he would allow me to touch him. As my fingertips grazed his skin I saw Ty lift his hand to stab him with the needle. In an instance, Killer turned from my touch, hitting Ty’s hand away. The needle went flying, hitting the ground with a loud thud as did Ty.

This man before me was just not Killer, this man was Killer mixed with a volatile monster. One who didn’t recognize anyone or even his own actions, only the rage and desire for blood, the need for chaos. This man was far worse than the killer that I loved. He needed to be stopped, he needed to be controlled before he killed every single one of us here.

With Killer turned away from me and his attention only on Ty, I quickly snatched the syringe off the tiled floor and gripped it in my hands, raising it and stabbing it in the back of Killer’s neck, releasing the sedative into his blood stream.

“Now that wasn’t very nice.” He turned on me, a scowl on his face. Anger was etched in his features. He took a step towards me while I took one away from him. It was like a cat and mouse game; he was stalking me. Then just as new feeling started to course through me, a feeling that pushed the fear away inside of me, one that said “fight back, take him out before he tries to take you out”, his knees began to wobble and his eyes blinked closed and then open slowly.

“You’ll regret doing that when I wake up.” A growl admitted from deep within his throat. His black eyes so vacant with no blue in sight. Tension eased out of the room as Killer hit the floor, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. Ty stood from the ground, immediately ordering everyone around. Telling them where to take the dead bodies, where they were to put Killer, and who was responsible for the cleanup of the blood. Everyone hustled around me, but I couldn’t move. I could barely even breathe.

“Maggie, are you okay?” Ty’s face came into view. I slowly blinked, clearing my throat and trying to force myself to talk. Just last night Killer was mine and he was normal, our kind of normal. Now, well now he was gone and lost to the murkiness that clouded all rational thoughts in him.

Had I lost him all over again?

“I….” I shook my head, no, knowing just how true it really was. I was strong with Killer and without him here with me, without his heartbeat pounding in my ears I couldn’t be strong.

“I think if we want to help Killer, we need to find your father. We need to get answers. I’ve only seen once someone revert back to Stage Black on their own. It’s the point in the experimental trails where they trained us to give in and feed off the destruction they created and implanted inside of us. This stage, there is no coming back from until he’s given the shadows inside of him what they desire most. Fury, blood, hate. Deaths of millions.” Ty sounded astonished. I still couldn’t speak. I was numb and cold. I was broken without Killer.

“He…” I needed to tell them what happened. “I think he had a nightmare, something scared him.” I found my voice. I desperately wanted to help Killer. To bring him back, even if he didn’t want to be found.

“What kind of nightmare?” Ty questioned, pulling me away from everyone and not stopping until he had us in his office with the door closed.

“I don’t know,” I answered. I wrung my hands together. I knew whatever I saw in his eyes before he left was something I had never seen before. It was deep, dark rooted fear.

“What did he say?”

“Nothing… He didn’t say anything. I could just see the fear in his eyes, I could sense the sadness around him.” I said so low that it was almost as if I didn’t want to say it at all.

Ty ran a hand over his head, his nails sinking into the skin. I understood his tension and need for answers. I had more questions than I did answers.

“If anyone would know it would be your father, I mean you might hate me right now after everything that has come out but we have to work together to save Killer. The only reason he would revert back to Stage Black on his own without being forced there is because he’s fearful of something that could occur or already has. It’s a way of coping with the things you can’t control.” Ty explained.

“How do you know that?” I blinked.

“I know because that person I said I’ve seen revert back to Stage black on their own was me.” Ty’s words were honest. I wanted to tell him it was okay, even ask him what had happened but I didn’t want to take him back there. Back to the blackness that eats away your soul, yet I had too if it meant bringing Killer back.