Chapter 24 — Cruelly played by fate…

James Corvort was scared of Calanthe from the moment that he met her. It was her eyes that made him quiver in fear. Eyes that looked similar from the woman who once terrorized his life ten years ago.

But after hearing from Professor Alexander how she is a part of a Russian mafia family his suspicions about her similarities with that woman strengthened. And if they really are that alike, he knew that everyone’s lives here at the academy is at stake. Which is why his fears had gotten the best of him.

And he made a decision that he never knew he was going to make. He bounded Cali’s hands and legs with thick metal chain and locked her up in the basement. It was his fear for the safety of everyone that had forced him to not follow Professor Alexander’s orders and treat Cali like nothing less than a criminal.

As James Corvort locked the door to the basement, Felix Alvarez waited in the shadows. Once he was gone, he ran as fast as he could to the door and picked the lock, something that he learned from the time that he was in the circus. He knew that something was not right ever since he saw Harry who was about to burn down the school from the schoolyard and Cali tried to stop him by breaking his arms.

He was passing by the hallway that time when he saw a body fell down from the rooftop, he froze in his spot and was about to get help after regaining his senses. But when he saw Harry stand up and about to burn down the school, his knees started to tremble and his mind went blank.

He didn’t know what was going on but he saw Professor Alexander yelled at Cali before they went to his office. Felix waited outside and to his surprise a couple of minutes later he saw an unconscious Cali being carried by James Corvort.

When he was finally able to pick the lock and get inside, what he saw almost made him scream but he was able to contain it. Cali was laying on the floor bounded with chains.

“Cali!” he hastily said as he shook her body. “Wake up!”

Cali stirred in her sleep and Felix saw this as an opportunity to keep on waking her up.

“Cali!! Wake up!! What happened?!”

Cali slowly opened her eyelids and tried to keep it in focus on Felix. The moment that their eyes met Felix felt a sudden wave of pain and heartache and it wasn’t coming from him. It was too painful for him to bare that it threw him off his feet. He is now sitting on the floor looking perplexed.

The wave of pain hit him like a rain of knives, it’s like it kept on puncturing his body and leaving him all bloody no matter where he goes.

“Are you feeling that?” Cali said in a hushed tone.

“H-How can you bear that much pain?” Felix said in disbelief, suddenly he winced and grabbed his right arm. “What’s in your right arm?”

Cali couldn’t answer as she too felt the excruciating pain from her right arm. Felix went up to her to take a closer look on her right arm and his mind froze when he saw 5 inch sized third degree burn on her skin.

“Cali! What the hell happened?! Did Harry do this to you?!” Felix exclaimed before crying out in pain as he felt the agonizing burning feeling on his right arm. “What is going on?”

“How did you know about Harry?”

“I saw you two,” he said in a low voice. “Harry was about to burn down the school and you stopped him. What is going on, Cali?”

Cali couldn’t answer him because he didn’t know when and how to start.

“You can tell me the rest later, let’s go to Doctor Collins first.”

“No!” she said, raising her voice. “No one is on my side right now.”

“What are you talking about? I’m here.”

“Not for long, you’ll leave me too once you find out the truth.”

“Cali, I won’t.” Felix firmly said. And so, Cali told him everything. From the moment that she was kidnapped, trained to be an assassin until now. She also mentioned to him that she recently found out that the reason that she was taken away was because she’s a born mutant.

And the entire time, Felix kept his hands on her chained ones. He didn’t let go.

Even when she told him how many people she killed in that arena; he didn’t let go.

Even when she told him how she stabbed Cheryl Jones to frame up Liam Adams; he didn’t let go.

Even when she told him that when Amon cut off his thumb it was only to send her a message; he didn’t let go.

Even when she told him how close she was at poisoning everyone; he didn’t let go.

Even when she told him how she forced Irene Smith to kill herself with a gun; he didn’t let go.

When she was finished, she looked up to him and to her surprise, unlike Professor Alexander, his eyes were not filled with anger and fear. No, he’s eyes were filled with sympathy and tears.

“Why are you not mad? Why are you not scared?” Cali exclaimed. “Why aren’t you furious?!”

“Because I know that you did all those things for the reason that you just wanted to come home.” He said with tears on his eyes. “And the last one? You acted out of love, Cali. Why would I be mad or scared about that?”

“Are you crazy?” Cali said in disbelief. “I just told you that I lied to your face and tried to kill you! I have placed everyone’s lives in danger and you’re not mad?! Or, or scared?!”

“Cali, it doesn’t matter what you came here to do,” he began. “What matters is what you actually did and based on that, you never intended to hurt us. Cali, you saved us all from being killed twice already. And besides, you risked your chance to go home out of love. Why would I be scared?”

“Twice?”

“When you threw away the poison that was meant for us and earlier today when you stopped Harry—I meant Amon from burning down the school.”

“Felix, I—I—don’t know what to say.” She stammered with tears in her eyes.

“How about you tell me why you are chained up here in the basement?”

“I don’t know,” she said with heavy sigh. “I was talking to Alexander and all of a sudden my eyes went black and now here I am.”

“Professor Alexander?” he said in confusion. “Well, whatever’s the reason we have to get you out of here. You need Doctor Collins to take a look at your wounds.”

“Felix, I told you—” she was cut off midsentence when she heard a familiar deafening growl from outside the school. But it wasn’t the growl that scared Cali the most, rather it was the fact that they were so many and they came from all directions. They’re surrounded.

“Felix,” she said in a serious tone. “I want you to gather everyone in the front of the school and get them out of here as fast as you can—”

“Cali, what are you—”

“Just listen! Get out as fast as you can! Use the school van or whatever it takes for you to get down the mountain. Evacuate the young ones first.”

“Wait—Wait what are you going to do?” As Felix asked this he watched in awe when Cali broke free from her chains in one swift move. And no, she didn’t pick the lock, she broke the chains with her mind, using the emotions that Felix is also feeling right now, as her source of power.

“I’ll distract them,” she said in a firm voice.

“Cali, don’t tell me you’re going out there to risk your life?!”

“Of course not!” she exclaimed. “Now go! Get everyone out of here! I’ll be right behind you!”

Cali started heading up the stairs when Felix stopped her with his arm.

“Cali, take care of yourself,” he said in a sincere voice. “Don’t die for our sake.”

“I won’t.” she said as she cupped his face with her hand before running up the stairs. Felix followed him and started heading for Clark Miller’s dorm room.

…

James Corvort’s fear about Cali now felt like happiness as he stared in shock at the monsters surrounding the school grounds. There were around fifty of them, all standing seven foot tall and all looking bloodthirsty.

He stood in front of Professor Alexander’s window trembling in fear.

“James, what’s wrong?” Professor Alexander asked as he stood up to look out the window. His mind froze and he stopped breathing for a few seconds when he saw the beasts, who looked exactly like what attacked Cali before, surrounding the school.

When they all let out a loud deafening growl, it brought Professor Alexander to his senses.

“Gather everyone!” he ordered. “Get them out of here have half of the emergency team protect them and make the rest come to me at once. We have to fight.”

A couple of months ago, there are rumors that circulated around mutant institutions that the lives of young mutants are in grave danger as more twisted and evil-minded people are going all out to get their hands on them. So, Professor Alexander formed an emergency team, a group of ten, they are mutants who have been in trying for years and could use their abilities to fight.

The emergency team came five minutes later wearing their pajamas and still wiping the sleep off their faces.

“Where’s Mister Sandoval?” Professor Alexander asked but they all shrugged in response. All of a sudden, Andrea’s face turned pale as she pointed out to the window.

“H-Harry?!” she gasped and when they all turned to the direction that she was pointing, they too shrieked in fear.

Harry was marching towards the school with five of the beasts behind him and what made Professor Alexander tremble was the figure of a woman with light brown hair coming to meet him in the middle.

Cali. He thought with his heart beating hard against his chest.

…

After everything that happened, I would’ve wanted to curl up in bed and sob like a baby until I fall asleep. Everything around me is painful. My heart was aching every time it beats after finding out the truth that Alexander lied to me. He knew. He knew what I am going through. And he did nothing.

But as I ran to my dorm room and started arming myself with my gun and with my two spare knives, my mind started to become clear. I’ll deal with all his betrayal later. Now, I must save this school from Amon and his monsters.

I shrieked as I felt another surge of pain from my right arm. I grabbed a bandage from my luggage and started loosely wrapping it like we were taught back in training. I was about to leave when I saw the polaroid picture that we took a few weeks ago. I took it and placed it safe in my pocket. Then I headed to the kitchen to get some more knives that I hid under my coat.

I hope they are starting to evacuate because I don’t know how long I could hold them off. I walked into the schoolyard with a grim expression on my face as Amon started to walk towards me as well. His arms were bandaged and the way he was moving them looked odd since I did just break almost all the bones in it.

When they were in close range, I took out my gun and so did Amon, we pulled the trigger at the exact same time but he missed and I didn’t. His hands were trembling as he held the gun which is probably the reason why he missed. I was able to shoot him in the shoulder but he only let out a shriek of pain. It didn’t even make him fall on his knees.

“Amon, you bastard!” She cursed at him. “If you want to get to that school, you’re going to have to walk over my dead body!”

“Why are you fighting for these people? They are not your family, Cali. I’ve been here for two years and not once did I feel the need to keep them safe.” Amon said with his face filled with malice.

“Because you’re a monster.” I said with gritted teeth as I slowly scanned the surroundings. There are at least thirty beasts surrounding me, I don’t know how many hid in the shadows.

“Did you actually think that they will still accept you after they found out who you really are? They won’t, simple because they’re not your family. We are! We are your family! Because we’re the only one who shows you mercy!”

“Mercy?!” I exclaimed. “You call this mercy?!”

“Yes, because at least you will die an honorable death—"

Before he could finish, I shot his hand, making him drop the gun completely. This time he feels on his knees in pain.

“ATTACK MY LOVELY ANIMALS!” he bellowed as the beasts started running towards the school.

No. No. No. I threw a knife on the first one that got closest to the school and I was able to hit it in the eye and hopefully kill it. However, on the next one my knife was only able to stab him on the side.

No! I focused my mind to make the knife go deeper and move up and down inside its body before it could reach the doors and surely right before it did, it drop dead on the ground.

“Can’t you see it? You’re all alone in this battlefield! Your fancy old boyfriend abandoned you! Left you for dead! Why are you still here trying to protect the guy?” He said with a snicker.

When I turned to the other side there were already two beasts was getting closer to the school, I can’t throw my knife on them. I turned my attention to the big glass windows and with piercing migraine I willed the glass to break and rain the big pieces on them to stab their body. And it worked, they both died almost instantly.

“You know, you’re quite famous in the family as someone who never hesitates. That’s why you’re named one of the greatest! But now look at what you’ve become.” He added in a taunting voice.

“Look around you! All of these deaths and bullshit is because you hesitated on killing a bunch of freaks! What a—“

He was cut off when I shot him twice in the leg, one in the stomach, another on his chest and lastly on his head.

“You’re right,” she said in a firm voice as Amon’s lifeless body fell on the ground. “I never hesitate.”

I ran towards the beasts and started throwing knives at them, making sure that it would stab them on the heart. I broke a couple of windows to impale a few more as I shot the others to distract them with the sound. As I do this, I felt my strength starting to deflate but every time it does, I would think of all the anger and pain in my heart.

I harnessed all my anger. All the anger I have on Ivanov and his followers. All the anger I have ever since they took me away from my family. All the anger I have when they tell me after winning that atrocious tournament, I still have to do something for them to see my family.

All the anger I have for every single man who gave me hope and instantly took it away like a dagger in my heart, forcing all the blood to come out. Ivanov. My trainer. Vadim. Ivanov. Amon. Alexander.

They all gave me hope that I can go home, that I can be happy, then they took it back as soon as I held onto it for my dear life.

I threw my last knife on the eye of one of the beasts and it missed as I staggered on my knees. I tried thinking of all the pain and anger that I have kept bottled up in my heart for years. But it wasn’t enough!

My knees are still failing me and my brain felt like it is being split into half. I saw the beasts closing in on me, there are still too many of them. They were growling at me and with their bloodthirsty eyes they looked down on me.

Alexander. I thought of his smile, the way he calls my name, his laugh, his kisses and his smart remarks. I thought of that one blissful Christmas morning when I felt completely and utterly happy as we shared breakfast together.

I thought of how he cared for me like I was the most beautiful treasure in the world. I thought of the way he said “I love you” to me.

And like a miracle, I regained my strength. The pain on my head was gone and my mind was clear. I stood up and willed all the glasses form the second-floor window to fall on the beasts that were about to get close to the school. I heard a loud growl behind me and suddenly I remembered I am still surrounded by at least 7 beasts.

I was still controlling the big shards of glass from the window to impale the beasts near the school. I watched in horror as they leaped to attack me. I closed my eyes and waited for the agonizing pain of death.

So, this is how I die.