Tempted Cyborg (6 page)

He knew what awaited him if he told her no. If he didn't manage to escape, MedAct would transfer him somewhere. They said it was a place where cyborgs like him could live in peace, but he wouldn't have any communication with the outside world. All Fighters feared that place. They doubted it even existed. It sounded more like they would be taken to their execution because there was no information to be found about that place. It didn't even have a name.

“But you don't want to let me go, do you?”

“No, never.” Her voice was almost a whisper.

There was a knock on the door, and Hunter felt his anger return instantly. Whoever had knocked didn't wait. Instead, the door was opened, and a second later, Jade entered. To his surprise, she seemed angry too. No, she looked furious. Considering how unstable he was right now, that was the last emotion she should show in front of him if she wanted him to co-operate. He tensed and prepared for a fight.

Jade stopped in front of Avril and looked her in the eyes before she looked at him. “We have a situation.”

CHAPTER 7

Avril didn't like the seriousness in Jade's voice. “What kind of situation?”

Jade held a tablet in her hands. Hunter slowly came closer with narrowed eyes. His suspicion was impossible to miss.

“We have received a video from Nightmare and I need you two to watch it,” Jade said and switched the tablet on. “He demanded that we get back to him within an hour after viewing it.”

Avril knew who Nightmare was. There probably wasn't anyone out there who didn't know who he was. She had seen him several times in media. He was that dark, handsome cyborg with a scar on his throat that everyone feared. He was the Fighters' leader, and he was also the most intimidating cyborg she had ever seen. Hopefully, she would never need to come face to face with him.

Jade pushed a few digital buttons on the screen and a holographic image rose from the tablet. It was a video that instantly started to play. At first, Avril wasn't sure what she was looking at, but it was showing the inside of a big room. On the floor sat five small children pressed together with two women who wore terrified facial expressions. They hugged the children to them and some of the bigger children were crying. Something told Avril that whatever was going to come out of this was not a good thing.

The camera moved around in the room, taking in the children and the adults while spotting Fighters dressed in black and with huge rifles in their hands, rifles that were pointed at the children and the women.

And then Nightmare came into view ...

Avril gasped and even if he wasn't in the same room as she, he still had an intimidating effect on her. She had never seen so much anger and determination in someone's eyes before.

For a short moment, he just stared into the camera. It sent cold chills down Avril's spine. She noticed that Jade looked troubled, and when she looked at Hunter, she expected to see anticipation or some kind of positive feeling in his features, but she didn't. To her surprise, Avril saw sadness in Hunter's eyes.

“I doubt I need any introduction,” Nightmare said, “and I think you also know why I am contacting you. You are holding one of my men in custody, and I want him back. I'm sure you know who I am talking about.” Nightmare took a step away from the camera and pointed at the children and the two adults. “I hate doing this, but you give me no choice. You either release Hunter within the hour from when you see this video, or I will silence them all for good.” He looked into the camera again, standing closer than before. Darkness and death were in his eyes. “Do I make myself clear? I am waiting for your reply.”

A phone number showed up in the video for a few seconds before the holographic image disappeared.

Silence filled the room and all Avril could hear were her own hectic breaths.

“Oh, my God,” she gasped.

Jade sighed and lowered the tablet. “I honestly never believed that he would sink this low. He has done a lot of crazy and stupid things in the past, but he has never hurt innocent people before. Either he is bluffing, or something has snapped in his head.”

“He wants me back,” Hunter said.

Those words hurt like hell in Avril's heart. All her hope for a future with Hunter went out the window. It had all been in vain. Hunter would never be hers. She was sure that he would never choose her now.

“He does,” Jade said, “but I am surprised by how far he is willing to go to get you back. You must be special to him.”

Hunter didn't answer.

“We have had plenty of Fighters in our custody that Nightmare didn't even raise a finger to get back. So why is he ready to kill innocent children to get
you
back?”

Hunter remained silent.

“Time is running out, Hunter. It's been twenty minutes since the other doctors and I watched this video for the first time. We have barely forty minutes to call him back.”

Hunter finally sighed. “If you want that information, you will have to drill it out of me.”

Frustration shone in Jade's eyes. “You know, sometimes I really hate the rule that forbids me to do anything to you.”

Hunter's gaze narrowed. “So you are no better than Nightmare.”

Jade raised a warning finger. “Don't ever compare me to him. Just because I say that rule pisses me off
,
it doesn't mean I don't think it is a good rule.”

He snorted. “Whatever.”

Avril felt her chin tremble. “What do you intend to do?”

Jade took a deep breath. “I don't think there is much we can do. Maybe Nightmare is faking it, but at the same time, maybe he is not. If he wants Hunter back, then I will give him Hunter. I am not going to let innocent children die just because I want to keep a Fighter. I am not going to risk it. I hope you understand, Avril.”

It felt like her heart broke into a thousand pieces. Tears gathered in her eyes. Now it wasn't just her chin that was trembling. It felt like her whole body was trembling. Her knees were weak. Her head spun and the headache wasn't far away. She wanted to scream, she wanted to let the world know how much it hurt to lose him again, but she remained still as she dried her tears away.

Avril nodded and sobbed. “I understand.”

She didn't want to look up at Hunter, but couldn't stop herself. She saw sympathy in his eyes. She wished she hadn't seen it. That was the last thing she wanted from him. It only made her feel worse.

“I will call him and put an end to this,” Jade said before she turned to Hunter. “You will be free soon. You must be thrilled.” She spoke her words without a single sign of amusement.

Hunter didn't answer.

Avril had no idea what went on inside his mind. He just stood still and watched her and Jade, his gaze went slowly between them before he looked down and wrinkled his forehead. She watched him tense his fists before he relaxed them. He didn't seem happy with the news that he would be released soon. She couldn't help but wonder why. Maybe he hadn't expected it.

Avril saw her happiness fade away with each digital button that Jade pressed as she pushed in the phone number that Nightmare had left in the video. For a short while, there was nothing else heard but the dial signal. On the fourth signal, Nightmare answered and a holographic image of his face rose from the tablet. His eyes were cold, his expression filled with anger, and when his gaze set on Jade, his anger seemed to grow.

“Well, you took your time,” Jade snorted. “I was starting to think that you didn't miss Hunter that much after all since you allowed four signals to go by before you picked up.”

“And you sure called fast,” Nightmare said. “You must want me bad.”

Jade's gaze darkened. “Yeah, locked away and tied down.”

Nightmare gave her an evil grin. “I didn't know you had such wicked dreams about me, Jade. Keep dreaming, and who knows, maybe one day, they will come true.”

Jade looked taken aback for a second. “If you want to keep your body parts where they are, you better make sure that never comes true.”

Avril blinked. She couldn't believe her own ears. Jade and Nightmare went on like an old couple. Jade didn't seem afraid to insult Nightmare and it was obvious that they knew each other, but to her, he was as frightening as the unknown things that lurked around in the night.

Nightmare ignored Jade and turned to Hunter. “Are you all right?”

Hunter nodded. “I am fine. They haven't hurt me.”

“Good. They would have regretted it if they had.”

Then his gaze turned to her and Avril froze in place. It felt like he splashed her with ice cold water all over her body with his cold look.

“Who are you?” he asked.

His question made her jump, but she stood still, trying not to show how he affected her. “I am ... um ... Avril.”

His eyes looked her over. “I haven't seen you before. Are you a new doctor?”

She shook her head. “No, I am not a ...” She didn't finish her sentence when he flashed his teeth. Instinctively, she took a step back and felt her heart pound hard inside her chest.

“You are trying to bind Hunter to yourself, aren't you?”

“I ...” She wanted to say that the final decision was Hunter's, but the words didn't come.

Hunter took a step closer. “Don't scare her, Nightmare. Avril is a friend from when I was bound to Sarah. She means well.”

“I don't care what she thinks she means. You know the bond isn't real and the last thing you want is to end up trapped inside a new one.”

“You have nothing to worry about when it comes to that. They are letting me go.”

Surprise filled Nightmare's eyes. “Just like that?” He snorted. “Maybe I should try this method with every Fighter that gets caught.” He gave Jade a wicked grin that promised trouble. It made Jade sigh.

“I will let him go as soon as you can guarantee that the children and the women are safe,” Jade said.

Nightmare remained silent for a while, just studying Jade. “Fine. We will leave as soon as our small talk is over. I will text you the address where the children and the women are so that you can send a group of cyborg soldiers to check up on them.”

Jade nodded. “Agreed.”

Hunter took a deep breath and wrinkled his forehead as he raised his hand. He had a pained expression on his face that worried Avril. He didn't seem all right even if he had said that he was.

“Nightmare ... wait ...” Hunter said.

“Yes?”

“I ...” Hunter took another deep breath as if he was preparing himself. “I want to stay.”

Those words made everyone in the room jump from surprise and Nightmare stared at Hunter with shock written all over his face.

“Have you lost your mind?” Nightmare yelled.

“Please understand. I am tired.”

“You can rest when you get back.”

Hunter shook his head. “I don't mean that kind of tired. I am fed up with it all to the point that it makes me sick. I'm tired of the pain and the nightmares. I'm tired of the sadness and the loneliness. I have no idea how you do it, Nightmare, but these twenty years are enough for me. I can't take it anymore.”

If Nightmare's eyes could have caught fire, they would be burning right now. “The bond isn't real.”

“I know. Believe me, I know, but I still choose it because I also know that once I return, you are going to have to put a bullet through my head in the near future. I'm losing it. I feel it. I'm hanging on a thin thread, Nightmare and you know what happens when that thin thread breaks.”

Silence filled the room.

While Nightmare looked like he would explode any second, Avril felt her hope return. Hunter gave her a gentle smile and she couldn't help but smile back. He had chosen her. To her greatest surprise, he had chosen her.

Nightmare finally nodded and inhaled deeply. “I understand.” He turned to Jade. “He is all yours. We will leave now and I will send you that text.” He turned to Hunter again. “Good luck, Hunter. You know what you have to do.”

Hunter nodded and the line went dead.

“What did he mean by that? What is it that you have to do?” Jade wondered.

“This,” Hunter answered and his gaze slowly glazed over. His arms went slack by his sides and he slumped slightly with his back.

Avril looked at him with confusion. “What is happening?”

Jade stood perplexed at first, but then her eyes went big and she gasped. “Oh, crap. He is deleting information.”

In a hurry, she reached for something in her pocket. It was a small device, no bigger than her palm. It reminded of the tablet that they had watched the video on, but Avril doubted it was a regular tablet. It probably was a medical device of some sort. Jade started frantically pushing on digital buttons, but it was too late.

Hunter's eyes returned to normal and he gave Jade a wry smile. “It is done. All the information about the Fighters that I've gathered over the years is gone. You won't be able to get it out of me with that thing. I don't even recall where they live any longer. They are safe.”

Jade didn't reply. She stood as if frozen and glared at Hunter. Anger radiated from her. Finally, she snorted, put away her device, and turned around. With a few short steps, she was out of the room.