Janessa didn’t answer and resumed her position. Was she trying to meditate to keep her breathing even? Whatever she was doing, it worked. I moved behind the door, standing in the corner of the room hoping not to be noticed. When Isaura would enter, her back would be to me, and the door would shield me for a few moments.
“Take this.” Fabian handed me a dagger. “Olivia.” His voice held warning, a reminder that I had come here for a mission that needed to be completed.
“I’ve got it. Piece of cake.” I smiled. “Now go, get out of here before she sees you and it ruins everything.” I gestured for the door and hid behind it as he headed out of the lab. Now all I had to do was wait for Isaura.
The seconds ticked by like minutes and the minutes felt as though hours passed. I had no idea how long I stood on my feet but with the adrenaline coursing through my body, the sheet of sweat coating my forehead I wouldn’t last much longer. I glanced up, seeing the slightest movement above from the ceiling as Joshua pushed aside the tile and I caught his stare. Not yet. I warned him. Isaura could come in at any moment and Joshua would have the element of surprise if he stayed put. I didn’t want her to come in and see him climbing down from the ceiling.
He repositioned the tile so it was just slightly askew, barely noticeable at all. The handle to the door squeaked and I held my breath, the dagger tight in both hands as I held it to my chest careful not to move, barely breathing.
“What have we here?” Isaura’s voice echoed as she stepped into the room. She closed the door behind her and I was certain she could sense me, knew I was there by her words. She didn’t react, though. Didn’t pretend to notice me if she was aware as she stepped closer to the patient on the bed. “You have been the most successful candidate,” Isaura beamed. “My work is almost complete.”
I took a tentative step forward, held my breath and the clatter of feet against the tiled floor knew she must have heard me. I held my breath, but it didn’t matter. Isaura spun around and was in front of me within an instant. I reached my hand forward to plunge the dagger into her chest but she’d caught my wrist before I’d pushed it in. I’d barely scraped her. I felt the blade at her chest but she had a tight hold and I was in trouble.
“Little girl!” She narrowed her eyes at me, the recognition of who I was dawning on her. “Olivia,” Isaura snarled and hissed, her nails digging further into my hand until they left unpredictable burn marks on my skin. Forced to drop the blade it clattered to the floor, the sound echoing through the entire room.
“Let me go!” I demanded, pushing away, my back pressed up against the door. If I were a coward I’d have run. Maybe I could have gotten as far as the hallway but no, I wasn’t going anywhere. Janessa was on the bed and Joshua was in the vent just above us. I was not alone and wasn’t going to live my life in fear of Isaura.
Isaura laughed and bent down to retrieve the blade sitting at her feet. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice?” She fingered the dagger from one hand to the other, deciding to keep it in her right while she touched the tip of the blade, piercing her index finger of her left hand. She gave a slight grimace. Had she thought she was impenetrable? “You’re a fool,” she warned me shaking her head, her back to Janessa who slowly sat up, grabbing the wire and reaching forward wrapping it around Isaura’s throat, cutting off her air supply.
Joshua leapt down from the ceiling, helping Janessa as Isaura thrashed violently to get away, the blade cutting at Janessa’s arms.
I wasted no time, finding a syringe and filling it with air. Maybe I couldn’t get her vein on the first try but I’d sure as hell try. With her right arm thrashing the blade now at Joshua, I jammed the needle in the crevice of her arm where Elsa had once taken blood from me. I forced the syringe in and pushed the air into her body. Unsure if it would kill her or do anything at all she screamed and ripped the needle out. Her hand now on me, gripped my hair, pulling me closer, the dagger forgotten.
“I’ll kill her!” Isaura shouted as her arm wrapped around my throat, gripping me as a hostage.
“No, you won’t,” I gagged. “Even if you do, they’ll kill you.” We had come to end this with Isaura. “You’re not getting out of here alive.” I caught sight of the bracelet on her left wrist and my hand reached for it, pulling it off, tossing it to the floor. I wasn’t taking any chances that she’d try and send us back to 2225. I wouldn’t go there with her, not again.
“You stupid girl,” Isaura chided me, her eyes narrowed seeing her only escape as that bracelet. She let go of me, just long enough to dive to the floor. Joshua tossed me the dagger and I threw it at her before she had time to get the bracelet on. Her hands quickly worked at the metal but the dagger slammed into her back, the blood pooling as she lay in a heap at the floor.
“Do you think she’s dead?” Janessa asked. Isaura didn’t budge.
I shook my head. Things were never that simple. “Where’s the bracelet?” It wasn’t on the floor.
“Olivia, no!” Joshua shouted as my hand touched Isaura’s shoulder and she shifted to 2225, injured with me in tow.
Everything around us changed and yet it stayed the same. The building had been built long before 2225. Although the structure had since been remodeled, the room now stretched out into a long corridor, the hallway had once been bigger.
“Get away from me!” Isaura shouted as she stumbled towards the elevator.
“No!” I ran after her, the blood at my feet as I used all my force to rip the blade from her back. She staggered a few feet backwards, the blood falling faster and her skin glistening white. “We need to get home,” I demanded gripping her arm. “Send us back.” I was not going to be stuck in the past.
Isaura laughed and shook her head. “You came with me. You’ll die here with me.” She gripped the burns knowing what would make me weak and plied the blade from my palm.
“No!” I screamed. I could certainly outrun her but without the bracelet or her help I’d never find my way home.
“Run little girl, run,” Isaura taunted me. She wiggled her bloody fingers in my direction, cackling as she pretended to come after me.
I pulled back, afraid of her. She’d done this to me. Scared me. I wasn’t scared of much, but Isaura had the power to terrify me. No. I was not going to accept defeat. “You’ll give me back the dagger,” I demanded taking a step forward. What did I have to lose? Joshua was gone, stuck in the future, in the world I came from and might never go back to. If I could kill Isaura she wouldn’t hurt anyone else. If I trapped her here, she’d find a way to come back. She had to die. It was my mission and I would not accept defeat.
“I won’t.” Isaura smiled. She stumbled down the dark corridor and I choked on the smell of rotting flesh. At first I thought it was Isaura until I glanced towards my far right seeing the bodies stacked up. They’d died from the Red Plague and this was one of the buildings they’d sent their sick to for help. It had been an experimentation facility. One that had administered the vaccine that had made all those women infertile. It shouldn’t have surprised me Isaura had chosen the same building to conduct her tests. The perfect place in time and space, moving between them to get the information she needed during the plague.
I couldn’t quite remember how it was spread. Was it airborne? Had I been vaccinated? I assumed my great-great-great grandparents had, but did that protect me from the disease that ravished the city?