Read Barcode: Cavern of Youth Online
Authors: Kashif Ross
Barcode: Cavern of Youth (46 page)
A tear falls from her left eye and she shakes her head. “No. They’re beautiful.” Angie giggles lightly after realizing she’s gawking with her mouth open. “Geez. They’re so different in Tartarus.”
“How?”
“They’re red. I prefer the green ones, but the red makes you look like a bad boy. Kinky.” Angie plays with my hair and asks, “What next?”
“Keep beating the hell out of me, I guess.”
“I can’t take this.” She shines her barcodes and punches me multiple times. The light fight on the ground turns into one with heavy blows on our feet. Eventually, she plants a lucky shot on my chin. I crumble to the ground, holding my jaw.
Angie bends down, pries my hand from my face, and kisses me ten times more intensively than the show with Jamie. I don’t want to think about how amazing it feels, but it’s nice. Really nice.
Once we’re done, the bandages return along with my clothes. As I shrink in size, a monstrous pain possess my body. It only takes a minute for the transformation to complete. Shiva turns back into gloves and I stagger over to Monte who is holding onto his life by his barcodes alone.
“So...so...r...rry,” he sputters through the pain.
“Me too,” I say from a distance, making sure not to get too close.
He shakes his head and cries, “No...m...om’s...here! Mom’s here.”
I close my eyes and he does as well. The trishula symbol on my gloves shine as the barcodes on his body vanish.
My tears stain the earth we’re standing on. Carmen rushes to me and Angie places her hand on my back.
“What’s wrong?” they ask repeatedly.
I can sense Hayley’s thoughts. She’s with Eve.
Thirty Two
Hayley places her cellphone on the desk inside of Dennis’ office and Eve pats her on the shoulder. Eve’s dressed in a very dense armor. It’s Helios’ brand; I know because of the red, white, and blue signature colors. Not to mention, the gear has advanced jet technology. It’s more progressive than Seth’s zero gravity equipment.
As expected, Eve’s still missing an arm. However, Sessho-seki—her Japanese samurai sword with a sharp stone blade—is attached to her hip. She runs her fingers across the grip as she circles around Hayley.
The beautiful redhead has been beaten and tortured for as long as I’ve been in the cave, and I’m rushing to get to her.
The bandages are causing an unbearable amount of pain. My vision is becoming hazier and my head throbs. I fall a few times, but once again, I take us through the shadows so fast that I bypass the golden bridge. I find shadows everywhere until we make it to Casey’s classroom.
There, we discover military men in a lot of armor waiting for us. The men even line the hallway outside. Angie doesn’t hesitate to withdraw Hathor and Carmen holds up her fists, despite how fatigued she is.
I convert Shiva to a machine gun and we all go to work.
The sound must travel some distance because Eve tells Hayley, “Sadly, that has to be
your
son coming to save you. You say the Ape calls you mom, right? That pathetic creature.” Eve unsheathes her sword and takes a deep breath. “Well, if he made it out of the dungeon alive, he managed to beat
my
son. And my boy was the child of The Writer. I’ll act as His hand and kill you to teach that abomination a lesson.”
Hayley rolls her eyes and says, “Wow, you talk too damn much. I see where Kode gets it.”
Dennis exits the stairwell and storms to the door. Aiming his finger, he blows it off and strikes Eve in the chest. Though the bullet does a lot of damage, it’s not enough to stop her. She stabs Hayley three times with Sessho-seki before Dennis can ward her off.
I scream at the top of my lungs and those around me are forced to cover their ears.
The bullets in my gun become mighty enough to cause the people I shoot to completely vanish. I run through the hallways screaming and annihilating my targets without a single miss. A few bullets strike me as well, but I’m not even sure where. My left arm stops moving completely. It’s paralyzed, but I continue advancing through their defenses until I’m across the street.
Dennis stands over Hayley. She grips onto his arm tightly as she bleeds out.
“Eve,” Dennis says calmly, “I’m going to get her emergency help.”
“No need. I went for the proper organs. She’s dead.”
“I don’t care!” He kneels next to Hayley and continues, “I’ll make you a deal. Stay away from Kode for two years and I’ll give you my arm, right now without a fight.”
I slam the button to the elevator door, crying the entire time.
“What do you have planned?” she asks with a grin.
He holds out his right arm while resting his left hand on Hayley’s head and blares, “Cut it and go, or die.”
Eve slices the arm without a second hesitation. She picks it up as the barcodes on Dennis’ chest seals his arm with a green substance.
The evil witch holds her blade to his neck. “What’s stopping me from killing you now?”
Dennis’ face turns pitch black and his eyes are completely gold. He opens his mouth and a purple beam releases. It strikes Eve and throws her from the building.
I exit the penthouse elevator and crawl down to Dennis’ office. My legs have given out on me. I’d stab myself, but I don’t have time. With most of my limbs paralyzed, I move by digging the nails on my right hand into the ground and pulling myself forward.
Hayley’s holding onto whatever life she has remaining by clawing at Dennis’ gray suit jacket. She pulls so tightly that she tears his clothes. The only problem is, when she returns her hand to his back, she feels a large scar.
That injury is something Hayley once mentioned to Spencer. It’s a wound that John left on his murderer. As Hayley feels it, she finally begins whimpering.
I make it into the room with her spewing blood and telling Dennis how much she hates him.
“It’s my fault mom. It’s my fault.” I continue crawling, but I feel as though I’m traveling through an infinite darkness. No matter how close I get to her, she’s too far away. Tears burn my face like never before. “I should die. I’m so sorry. It’s my fault.”
I convert Shiva to a gun and hold the weapon to my head. At that moment, I feel a thump on my ear and I black out. Hayley appears inside the darkness in my mind. I’m still crying. I know she’s dead, but I rush her and hold her in my arms. She releases a woofing sound when I tighten my hold around her waist.
“It’s my fault.”
She rests her hand on my head and says, “Baby, don’t cry.”
“It’s my fault.”
“It’s not. It’s my own. I chose to protect you. She only wanted to know where you and Dennis were, but I went rambling at the mouth about being your mom and tried to attack her.”
“Mom. No! You could’ve told her. She had guards waiting for me anyway. You could’ve told her.”
“So? I’d rather die than back down. You rubbed off on me. I guess I was always like that, but I never stood up to an ugly fat man.” Hayley bends down and softly headbutts me. She forces me to open my eyes. The green has faded and my data is now a faint red. She gasps and covers her mouth.
Laughing through my tears I mutter, “She is ugly. Right?” The weight on my chest is unbearable. It’s so difficult to simply speak. This feels much worse than the pain of my bandages.
“And you came out so beautiful.” Hayley kisses my forehead and my eyes slowly return to their normal color. “It wouldn’t matter. You’re my son.”
“Mom!”
“Quick story: I was pregnant, once upon a time. He wasn’t a god or anything. I guess you guys call them Apes. We were going to name the kid Cody, after John’s best friend and Dennis’ brother.”
My eyes widen. “Dennis has another brother?”
“Don’t interrupt! He told you to protect me and that’s what you did. You disappeared from my womb right before John was sent to prison for killing Cody, and here you are.”
My heart feels empty. “Don’t say that. That’s not possible.”
“It’s probably not. I know you’re logical and all. It’s more likely that it’s a coincidence, but you really saved me. I’ve always wanted to love someone the way I love you. Even with Spencer around, I contemplated suicide every day since John’s death. But since I met you...” She wipes her tears eloquently. Everything about Hayley is amazing.
“Why are you telling me this? You should hate me.”
“I can’t. John wouldn’t want that. I...Kode you don’t understand.” She takes a deep breath. When she exhales, it’s almost like a weight is lifted from her shoulders. “I should’ve told you this in the hospital. I’ve been doing research on your family recently, which led me to the information about the HATS. But what I found...your mom was a Bevel before marriage.” I dart my eyes to Hayley’s shoes. She lifts my head up with her index finger, but I still avoid eye contact. I don’t want her to tell me about some prophesy or fate, and she doesn’t. “John Bevel was her brother.” Hayley smiles as my mouth drops and my eyes connect with hers. “They were separated at a very young age during their parents’ divorce. That’s why you look just like him. It’s probably why Dennis couldn’t kill you; he couldn’t murder John twice.”
My eyes continue burning. “Don’t do that! Don’t find an excuse to love me again. Be angry and upset . I put your life in danger.”
“I’m losing my data, but do me a favor and kill her.”
I wipe my tears and nod. My lips tremble as I cry, “Will do.”
“If you get a chance, kill Dennis too.” She knows what she’s asking me, and does it anyway. “Here are my final rules: no more cigars, ever. I don’t care about your super-duper healing. I hate them. No alcohol before sunset. I have a storage of lollipops, but I’m sure you know where they are. Stop holding yourself back from people. And lastly, Jamie and I talked about this for hours, and I’m with her, Angie’s right for you.”
Hayley’s legs begin fading away. When she notices, she embraces me.
“I love you, Mom. I love you. I love you so much.”
She kisses me until her data completely deletes. The trishula on my hands shine a vibrant green, returning the light back into my world.
I clutch Dennis’ arm as I’m rushed down a bright hall on a stretcher.
“That’s it. That’s all I needed to help out all the gods and spirits that are looking for a change. I swear I’ll kill off anyone that had anything to do with her death; human or immortal.” Dennis only stares at me blankly. I try listening to my surroundings to discover where I am, but I can’t.
He continues running alongside of the stretcher and says, “Kay, you’re delusional. Stop talking.”
I don’t listen. I can’t. “They’ve just pissed me off enough to do something about this war. And I know just where to start—stealing the HATS.”
The End
Could Kode really be Hayley’s son? Will Eve stay away from our hero? What’s so special about the HATS? Are Kode and Angie a real couple? And what will happen with our newest characters?
Barcode: New War Order is expected to release December 1, 2012.
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