72 CHAPTER 71-DARKNESS

Ema scrambled up to her feet, just in time to get away from the tip of the candor of one of the keepers, which sent sparks flying. She rolled to the right, missing another slash by the hair. Without pausing, she flared her left fist, breaking the metallic face of the keeper. 

The keeper staggered backward and slumped to the floor, with its head twitching with electric sparks. The smell of burning wires also followed, blending with the stench on medicine and giving the room an indescribable smell.

Ema panted. She could feel her arms crying with weakness, but she was just not done. The Extracting power still flamed her limbs, igniting her body with a strength that cannot be expressed into words. She will destroy these creatures and find her way out of this netherworld. She will live again. She was a survivor and the best in the entire Kingdom of Anadan. This was not her first time in a diverse situation. It will not be her last. 

A new sense of purpose flooded through her mind as she studies the Keepers, who stood over the body of the unconscious doctor. 

Just two left. She panted. Her reflection stared back at her from the polished helmet of the keepers. She looked so tattered and dirty. These people really messed with her. But they messed with the wrong woman, and she was going to give them a dose of their own evil.

She spat and picked up the Candor that was blazing with a red bright light. She was quick and was able to deflect the electric ball from the shocker gun of one of the keepers. Without pausing to think, she hauls the Candor in her hands, aiming for the keeper who had shot the gun. 

The burning sword flew in the air, one edge after the other until they met their mark, taking the head of the keeper and finding its home on the wall.

Ema smiled with satisfaction as a little sense of victory covered her stomach. She cracked her knuckle and charged toward the remaining two Keepers.

The other Keep clearly was not expecting an immediate attack, so it struggled to defend itself. But Ema was fast. She slammed its insulated abdomen and pulled out the metallic limb. With that, she flogged the head of the keeper, separating it from the body.

Ema licked her lips and wiped her brow. It was a struggle to get her breathing to normal. She was glowing slowly now, the extracting power was leaving her, she could feel it. 

She looked around, making sure she was the only thing moving in the room. Satisfied, she dropped the limb of the keeper and made for the door. It was then she realized that she was bleeding on her side, just next to her hipbone.

"Damn" Ema gnashed her teeth and held the wound. She added pressure, anticipating to slow the bleeding, but that was to no avail.

She hurried her eyes through the room, hoping to find anything that would help, but the room was in disarray, as disordered and tattered as her clothes. It would take her ages to find the right medication to stop the bleeding.

She walked to the wall and pulled out her laser sword. The head of the Keeper fell with a lifeless sound and rolled to the ground. Ema watched it with contempt. Those creatures were annoying.

Blood dripped to the ground as she turned the ring on the hilt of the candor, reducing its heat. Everything stood still. She hadn't done this before, so it was hard to predict the outcome. She just hoped for the worst. 

She braced herself just as the smell and hissing sound of burning flesh followed the excruciating pain. Every part of her body felt the sting. She gnashed her teeth and mumbled as the pain travels through her spine, her bones, and her brain. Just the painful murmur. Her lips were tight enough to hold back the scream in her throat.

Ema threw the sword to the other side of the room and panted. Her world spins and she found herself falling to the ground. The pain still ate her flesh, even though the heat was no longer there. 

Slowly, she walked up to her feet again. She studied the ugly face of the wound and frowned. The burn she hopes will keep the bleeding at bay until she finds a proper medication.

Ema supported her weight with the wall as she made it to the exit.

The hallway was empty and speechless, save for the noise of the alarm which still cries all over the place. She staggered away from the other part of the hallways into which she presumes must be where Trisha and the others were.

It was hard to keep the cloud from her vision. She was feeling light-headed, and her muscles were weak. But she continues on. She wouldn't give up now. Never.

Ema rounded a bend. The light in this area was dim, and she strained her eyes to keep her vision steady. She made to walk again but found her feet floating in the air. Without warning, the force of gravity pulled her into space and she fell down the stairs. She rolled and slammed her head on one of the metal cases. Her head throbbed and she could taste something muddy on her tongue. It was as If she bore the weight of the galaxy in her head. Her head was suddenly too heavy for her neck to carry.

Ema bit her lower lips and waited for the agony to pass.

"I must commend your resilient spirit, Sparkle."

Ema tried to lift her head, but it was almost impossible. She only let her cloudy vision study the red fancy boot as they walk up to her.

"You are amazing. Who could have thought you will cause so much trouble?"

"Get…a…" Ema sobbed. She wanted to speak, but the tears will not let her. The tears of what this woman had done to her. The pain of being a puppet for three years.

"What did you say, honey?" Trisha asked with concern. "So, you made me lose a game and you think you can get away with it? That's not how it works, dear. You should know better."

The pain in Ema's head was ebbing away, and her vision was returning. She could see the fancy boot of Trisha as they walked away from her.

Ema helped herself to a sitting position. The place was crowded with the metallic bodies of the Keepers, each of them looking down at her as if reminding her not to forget their faces when she crosses to the other side of the world. Trisha was in their midst. Her red jumpsuit and boot contrasted the white splendor of the keepers.

"I will ask you one last time, work for me, and live."

Ema shook her head weakly. 

"I will rather die than kill for you again."

"I was hoping you will not say that." Trisha pointed or gave a signal. 

Ema did not care what she did at the moment. The woman should just kill her and end her miserable life. She was tired of this wretched life of hers. She was tired of it all. Growing up with no parent, molested by some men whose face she could see while awake. Driven and beaten by people who care less about her wellbeing. All her life she has been a means to an end. Always the one to get a job done or the one to put their life in danger while her masters relax in their comfort.

Just kill me. Ema sobbed as hot tears promenaded down her cheek. The tears were a mirror of her shattered and broken emotions. Just when she thought she would have a life of her own. Just when she met people who really cared for her.

Why was life so cruel?

Ema closed her eyes as the image of Jeff formed in her mind's eyes. Thinking about him gave her a little sense of peace. He was so beautiful the last time they met. But he too, like her, was a puppet. She hopes he pulls the string and getaway. Even now, Ema knows that she would not see him again, she only wished he finds her body and gives her a proper burial.  

"Such a waste?" Ema heard Trisha say.

There was a disturbing pandemonium as the metallic feet of the Keepers screeched harshly on the marble floor. Trisha's voice echoed through the wall as it rained a series of orders. The whooshing sound of the shocker gun followed. 

Ema strained her eyes to see what on Anadan could make Trisha panic. It was useless. The image was blurred, she could only see multiple images and vague colors. From the sudden commotion, she just hoped that she would not die today.

The curtain of her eyes flapped to a close and a peaceful darkness, so calm and gentle, claimed her consciousness.