Mine to Protect Chapter 97: RECOGNITION

*Hazel*

I playout the last memory, and then try calling her again.

“Cindy, I am Hazel, it’s me, you know me, you are my sister. Please, come back with me, let’s go home together, Cindy,” I try talking to her, let her see that I am not the enemy, but her friend.

She turns her gaze on me, and for a moment, I think she is going to recognize me, but then she lunges at me; not even Derek was expecting such force, she manages to get out of his hold, and pounce on me, landing me on the floor, with her on top.

She tries to sink her claws into my neck, but I grip her wrist, her other hand scrapes her claws down my arm, leaving a trail of blood.

Derek grabs her by her clothes and rips her off me, sending her tumbling away from me.

“A real gentleman should let her woman fight her own battles; don’t you agree Alpha O’Brien?” the woman from the speaker says. “Tracy, Helen, Rachel, Ruby, wake up!”

The other women open their eyes and sit straight in their chairs. Their eyes are blood red, same as Cindy.

“Attack!” the sweet voice orders.

They easily break their restraints and jump up on their feet, then they pounce on Derek and me, trying to slash us with their claws. Derek is fast, and throws them back easily, they are no match for an Alpha, but I am having some trouble, fending them off; I suck at one-on-one combat, imagine one on three!

I resort to my powers, I blind them with my light, and luckily, they move back, shielding their eyes with their hands and arms. But my victory is short lived, as they charge again keeping their gaze low to avoid the blinding beams. They come at me in four, Cindy among them, I try to dodge their attacks, but they are too many, and I end up being clawed on my right thigh and left shoulder, the wounds slowing me down even more.

Derek, who was busy restraining Ruby with the silver chains I cut off previously, charges at them, beating two of them unconscious, and fighting the other two; it’s difficult for him to take them down without seriously hurting them.

Cindy is still engaging with me, her attacks are fierce and determined, I don’t want to use my powers on her, but if she keeps this up, I will have no other choice.

At one point she successfully swipes my legs from under me, making me lose my balance, and land on the floor on my back. She’s on me in a second, her hands tight at my throat, choking me.

Derek is immediately behind her, ready to cut her head off with his claws, and put an end to this fight once and for all, but I can’t let him do this, I can’t let him kill her.

“Derek, please, wait, let me try to get through to her,” I plead with him through the link.

“This is your last chance, if she doesn’t wake up, I’ll end her.”

I can hear the murderous intent in his voice, and I know he will do it, and soon, I don’t have much time. I place my hands on Cindy’s temples, not knowing exactly what I am doing, but my wolf is guiding me, and I have complete faith in her.

I show Cindy the memory of us at my dorm, we were making pancakes for breakfast, and being my clumsy self, the bag of flour slipped from my hands landing on the counter, creating a huge white cloud which painted everything white, me included. Cindy started laughing like a mad woman, so to settle the score, I scooped some flour up and threw a handful at her, getting her square in the face, she even got some in her mouth. She stopped laughing, while I started howling with laughter, which led to a whole out flour fight. It was a pain cleaning everything up, but we had so much fun, it was really worth it!

“Do you remember Cindy? We had so much fun together,” I tell her through the link, “you are like a sister to me, I miss you, please, you are my only true friend, the only person that really gets me, that accepts me with all my flaws and weaknesses. I need you.”

Tears stream down my face, my throat burning from the pressure applied to it, and my lungs protesting the lack of oxygen. I feel my energy dwindling fast, is she really going to kill me? I really cannot wake her up from this trance.

“Please, Cindy, wake up, please!” I try again through the link; I don’t know what else to do. Have I already lost my friend? Isn’t she coming back?

I see something flicker in her eyes, and the hold on my neck softens a little, letting me breathe in some fresh air; then her eyes start turning from blood red to orange, and then to their normal black, the spell she was in vanishing gradually.

She blinks a couple of times, taking in her surroundings, her eyes landing on me, lying on the floor below her, her hands still wrapped around my throat, although they are not exerting force anymore. She pulls her hands back like she’s been burnt, and stares at her hands in disbelief, and then at the black bruises she has left on my neck.

“Hazel? What happened? I…” she trails off, not knowing how to ask the question that is burning at the front of her mind.

But I don’t answer, instead I pull her down in a bear hug, snuggling my face in the crook of her neck.

“Cindy, you came back to me, thank you, thank you, thank you!” I yell happily, while holding her tightly.

“What are you doing? Tell me what happened Hazel!” Cindy persists, trying to get free from my hold.

“These people turned you into a psycho and programmed you to kill Hazel. Luckily, you managed to snap out of it,” Derek says, summarizing the whole thing perfectly.

“Hazel, I am sorry, I don’t know what I was doing, I could have killed you, oh my god.”

“But you didn’t,” I say, hugging her even more tightly, “and now you are back, which is what really matters!”

“Yes, and now I think it is time for the both of you to get up, so that we can get the hell out of here,” Derek says seriously, although I can see he has a pleased expression on his face too, I know he is happy for me, happy we could save our friend.

I free Cindy, so that we can both get up from the floor and get away from this hellhole. And that’s when I notice the women on the floor, the ones Derek has beaten unconscious.

“How are we going to get them out of here?” I asked in panic. There are four, and we are just three, and I am not really sure I could carry any of them up ten floors of stairs.

“Don’t worry, I have already asked Ryder for support; they should be here any minute,” Derek says, not missing a beat. I like it when he acts all powerful and efficient, it makes me want to tease him.

Though before my words are out, our warriors enter through the door; there are at least ten of them, all tall and muscular.

“Take those women to the ground floor, but be careful, they have been drugged, if they wake up, they might attack you,” Derek explains.

“Yes, Alpha,” they reply in chorus, while gathering the women up, and departing through the door.”

We are ready to follow them, when the blonde’s voice echoes again through the speakers; with everything going on, I completely forgot about her.

“Hazel, let’s stop fighting, shall we? What I need from you is just a couple of samples of your blood, and to conduct some minor invasive tests. Just imagine what we could do with genes like yours! We could create a species of stronger humans, with incredible abilities and amazing strength and stamina. Why do you have to be so selfish, and keep everything to yourself? The truth is that you are just over-ambitious, you love the fact that you are the only one with powers, you feel invincible, don’t you? I’ll give you one last chance, cooperate with us, and I’ll let you leave.”

Her words send a chill down my spine, what is expecting us now? Can’t she just admit defeat and let us go without making a tantrum?

“Look, I am tired of your games; I told you already that I will never cooperate with you, so leave us the hell alone, and stop playing God with people’s lives,” I reply heatedly.

“Then, I guess I’ll have to settle for testing on your dead body, I am sure we will collect great data anyway. Au revoir, Hazel!”

Her words are still echoing in the round room, when we hear the first explosion go off, not far from where we are; dust, glass and debris flying everywhere. Another explosion follows suit after, and then another.

“She’s destroying the building!”