Judgement 8 (Subject Alpha #1) Read online

  JUDGEMENT 8

  SUBJECT ALPHA

  Copyright © 2014 D.H Sidebottom

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission of the Author.

  This book is the work of fiction any resemblance to any person alive or dead is purely coincidental. The characters and story are created from the Author’s imagination.

  OTHER TITLES BY THE AUTHOR

  DEDICATION

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM

  LINKS

  Other Books by the author

  Shocking Heaven (Room 103)

  Thrilling Heaven (Room 103)

  Denying Heaven (Room 103)

  Incineration (NSC Industries Book 1)

  Tolerance (NSC Industries Book 2)

  Resolution (NSC Industries Book 3)

  Atonement (NSC Industries Book 4)

  The Decimation of Mae (The Blue Butterfly Book 1)

  The Salvation of Daniel (The Blue Butterfly Book 2)

  FaCade (Deception series Book 1)

  CADEnce (Deception Series Book 2)

  Fragile Truths (The Shadows of Sin Book 1)

  This one’s for the most amazing and loyal friends,

  Vickie, Michelle, Nikki, Ker and Kelly

  I love you ladies, you’re my sanity ♡

  THE EDGES WERE BLURRING, the white at the corners of my eyes closing in. My heart beat too fast, the thud in my chest crippling me as I struggled to breathe.

  My skin was over-sensitive, the static in the air pulsing around me, the glow almost blinding.

  “She’s going into shock!”

  I tried to open my eyes, tell them I was good, but the heaviness drawing my lids closed refused my order. Attempting to shake my head when I felt a prick at my skin I whimpered, shivering at the cold rush of fluid through my veins.

  “Call Janice. Tell her the data won’t process. She’s blocking us.”

  My lips were numb, frozen together under the flurry of ice racing through my system. My whole body felt alive, over-stimulated and pulsing with energy. The rush made me dizzy but strangely euphoric.

  “Elina. Elina, can you hear me?”

  Another sharp scratch at my skin poured liquid fire through me, the heat burrowing deep into my nerve endings and firing shots of lava into my muscles, solidifying my blood until it felt like thick sludge, squeezing my arteries wider, fortifying me from the inside.

  I gasped for air, my fists clenching with the agony tearing through me. Something snapped and a sound whooshed by my ears. My body surged forward, my fingers clenching with a need, a craving to destroy and massacre the only thing I could concentrate on, the urge too powerful to defy.

  “Fuck!” someone shouted, penetrating the haze in my head. “Lock us down!”

  Red lights flared behind my eyelids, a siren pierced my brain; its vibration invigorated my senses. My eyes snapped open.

  His face reddened, my fingers around his throat making his eyes bulge. I couldn’t stop the screaming inside my brain. The pain was excruciating, bringing with it a violent need to vomit.

  “Elina!”

  There were several of them. Each white coat drawing nearer, each of their hands in front of them trying to placate my wrath.

  That was when the buzzing started, the high pitched wail in my skull.

  And that was when every single bulb in the room exploded, plunging me into darkness.

  I COULDN’T SEE FOR the sweat dripping into my eyes, the salt in my perspiration stinging and causing me to rub furiously at them. The explosion of each streetlight I passed plunging me further into the darkness wasn’t helping either, although I was glad something was going in my favour.

  Steam burst from my mouth, the cold of the night unable to penetrate my body as each frantic pant dispersed the heat from inside me. I wasn’t concerned. There was enough fire inside me to last a few more winters. It then occurred to me I might not even make it through this winter.

  I dared to look behind me, wincing at the thud of my bare feet on the hard concrete; each slam of my foot ricocheted a dull throb through my head. I could make out their silhouettes in the distance, only a hundred or so feet behind. They weaved through a crowd of drunken revellers, shouts arising when they pushed people aside to reduce the distance between them and me.

  My chest hurt, my lungs burning as they tried to keep up with me. Every single muscle in my legs pulled, cramp restricting my speed.

  Turning a corner, I found myself on a long street filled with people, many of them singing and swaying, some leaning into the gutter to discard the alcohol in their systems so they could start again; a select few stood watching the ones puking while stuffing burgers and fries into their greedy mouths.

  Neon signs lit various pubs and clubs, flashing lights in the windows announcing the latest deals on each different beverage, or publicising an upcoming band playing soon.

  A woman was spinning around one of the lampposts, flashing her bright pink knickers to the street as her friends egged her on. A small scream resonated from her when I rushed past, my proximity blowing the light and showering her with splinters of glass.

  I didn’t stop. I manoeuvred around them, skipping left and right to try and move through them. Many tried to grab me, singing and attempting to get me to join them but I pushed them off, shaking my head and glaring at them.

  The buzz started again, my brain vibrating under the torrent of need that soared through my veins. I hated it, detested what my body craved. I’d never hurt anyone in my life, yet now all I wanted was death and destruction, a basic instinct to create pain.

  What the hell was happening to me?

  Glancing back I could still see them, their black clothing doing nothing to disguise their wide figures. They were both huge, two of Janice’s biggest and toughest men. A vison of Dr Tracey flooded my mind, my body weeping as his dead eyes stared up at me. I hadn’t done that to him. I refused to believe I had hurt him . . . killed him.

  Realising they were gaining on me swiftly, my eyes searched for a way out. Nothing but buildings welcomed me. I needed to hide, and quickly.

  A large club appeared to my left. A huge line of people queueing for entrance meandered along the edge of the large square building. Loud music blasted from inside every time the door opened and closed to allow in another reveller.

  I ran up the steps to the doors, cutting in front of the queue. A hug
e wall of muscle jumped in my way, my face hitting his solid chest, my feet stumbling backwards. He reached out and seized my arm, his thick fingers digging into my cold flesh before I fell back down the steps.

  “End of the line is that way!” He narrowed his eyes on me and pointed towards the end of the procession.

  I shook my head, looking back, my eyes hunting for my hunters. “Please, I need to get inside.”

  “Uh-uh, sugar. Get in line.”

  “Please!” My mouth had dried so much I couldn’t form words properly, each syllable coming out with a slur. I knew he thought I was drunk. “They’re coming.”

  He stared at me then looked over my shoulder, his eyes searching. He shrugged and looked back at me. “No one there. Now wait your turn.”

  I knew they were there. I could feel them, waiting for a moment to pounce. “No, they are!” I attempted to push past him and gain access again.

  His fingers curled around the tops of my arms and he lifted me, my feet leaving the floor at least six inches, the whole of my 5ft 2 frame straight as a board as he carried me down the stairs and past the long line of people, each head turning in my direction, each person laughing at me.

  I tried to dampen the anger inside but it overruled my mind. Blood rushed into my ears, a throb echoing in my head as I struggled against him.

  His strides were wide as he calmly carried me down the line, turning into an alley when the queue bent around a corner and ran along the long brick wall, the area dark and full of shadows.

  “You need to let me go,” I whispered hoarsely, my tight throat restricting my vocal chords. I was losing it, my brain firing explosions of red flashes behind my eyes. Everything seemed to sharpen; my eyes registering the hairs along my hijacker’s chin stand on end, my hearing catching a couple’s sex fuelled panting down the alley behind a large industrial bin, my nostrils even recognising vodka and beer in the sweat of people around me.

  “Please, put me down.”

  I sensed them then, the stench of chemicals and blood assaulting my sense of smell. Fuck! My heartbeat increased, my eyes snapping left and right, the tunnels in my ears amplifying their footsteps.

  “Shit!”

  The man strolled to the end of the line and finally plonked me down behind a guy with a huge bright green Mohawk who seemed to find my predicament highly amusing.

  I pushed at the large guy’s chest, my fingers curling into his shirt. “You have to help me, they’re coming!”

  He snorted, one of his brows lifting like I was crazy. Maybe I was, but right then I knew if they got hold of me, my life was over. “You need to stop smoking shit, sugar.”

  I shook my head frantically, a sob wrenching up my throat. “Oh God, they’re gonna kill me.”

  He blinked at me, a look of hesitation on his face when he sensed my urgency. He turned once again and scanned the area. His eyes narrowed, his head tilting slightly to one side. My breath caught when I spotted them at the end of the alley, scrutinising the line of people and working their way closer, evidently trying to find me amongst the throng.

  A sudden scent of cigarette smoke and whisky hit me, a hint of sweat and leather blending in. My kidnapper stepped in front of me. I held my breath, knowing he finally got it and he had seen them.

  “Don’t let them get me, please.”

  I jumped when a gravelly voice barked an order behind me. “Jonah, in.”

  We both turned. My eyes hit a broad chest of stretched black cotton, my gaze traveling down to narrow nips and long solid legs encased in black jeans, and then back up. Broad shoulders and a wide neck led to a face that quickened my heart rate. His black hair was short but thick and styled messily. He wasn’t just handsome, he was breath-taking. Strength poured from him, an aura that matched his immense build. However, he was more frightening than the men who had been chasing me for the last hour, his intensity thinning the blood that had curdled in my cooked veins.

  His piercing grey eyes sliced over me, completely disregarding me as he looked at Jonah and tilted his chin towards a metal side door.

  Jonah picked me up again. I wanted to tell him I had legs but to be honest I was glad, I wasn’t sure the tremble in them would hold me up for much longer.

  “My office,” he grunted when we passed him. Jonah gave him a simple nod.

  I jerked in his hold when the metal door slammed shut behind us, my heart beating furiously at being caged in again. “You’re safe now, sugar.”

  I blinked at him, hating the pool of tears that formed in my eyes. He glowered at me, clearly not comfortable with a little woman crying in his bizarre, unique embrace.

  “Reid will see you alright.”

  Reid?

  We slipped through another door, Jonah opening it with a stab of his chunky finger on a keypad and a push of his backside. His outstretched arms still held me in his tight grip, a hand under each of my armpits reminding me of the way a man would anxiously hold a child that had just filled its nappy with something toxic.

  He strolled across a room and gently but stiffly lowered me onto a sofa. He gave me a nod then disappeared back through the door, leaving me alone.

  I looked around, my heartbeat regulating as my lungs finally allowed my breathing to steady, both of them calming the fury in my head.

  It looked like an office of sorts, but with many home comforts. A small kitchenette stood in one corner of the room, its modern glossy black cupboards reflecting the overhead lights with a glare. Opposite, a small bedroom area housed a large queen-sized bronze bed, the framework intricate and the sheets as black as the kitchen.

  All walls and carpeting were bare of decoration or pattern, a dark grey colour swallowing all the light and making the room drab and gloomy.

  A few doors led off one wall, each locked with a numeric keypad. A large desk sat against a wall of glass; a mess of paperwork, stationery and a laptop sat atop, causing my OCD to kick in, my fingers twitching with the need to tidy.

  I froze when a door slammed behind me and heavy footsteps broke the silence. My eyes landed on his thick thighs when he came to stand in front of me, the stretch of denim covering his muscles doing nothing to hide the bulk of him. I gawped as my inspection ventured up over contoured abs that bulged through his t-shirt and then over a solid chest that stole any saliva I’d managed to recoat my mouth with, coming to rest on narrow, angry, steel grey eyes.

  He glared at me, his stare cutting through me.

  “Talk!”

  My eyes widened at his husky demand. I wondered if I’d jumped from the frying pan and into the fire when he bent at the waist and brought his stern face within an inch of mine, the scent of cigarettes and whisky intensifying. “I said talk. Talk!”

  THE USUAL STUPIDITY THAT had persecuted me since my childhood kicked in and I gawped at him, my mouth open, my senses stunned by him. His huge body swallowed the room. On closer inspection, he didn’t seem to be breathing. I questioned whether he’d mastered the art of osmosis, his mass just absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere.

  “Talk.”

  “Uhh.” Here it came, my lack of intelligence whenever I was anxious. “What . . . what would you like to talk about?”

  He stiffened, his pupils widening as a tight crease appeared on his forehead. I wanted to groan at my idiocy and I knew he thought I was being gutsy but I really wasn’t. I just lost all ability to act normally when I was nervous.

  “Name?”

  I blinked at him. He didn’t need to know. “Sarah.”

  “Name?” he repeated with one eyebrow elevated.

  “Maisie.” He stared at me with a bored expression. “Pauline.”

  “Name!” His tone shifted and I knew I had to stop fucking him off.

  “Elina,” I whispered begrudgingly.

  He gave me a simple nod, accepting my truthful answer. “Reid. Business?”

  It was my turn to frown, his question baffling me. “I uhh, I’m sorry?”

  He stepped away from me and walked over to hi
s desk, sitting himself in the high-backed leather chair, amazing me that he managed to fit in it. He settled back into it after flicking a switch on his desk and a screen slowly lifted out of a unit beside him. His eyes never left mine the whole time and I marvelled at how he managed the task of moving without bumping into something.

  “Little girl,” he growled, “do not fuck me off. Your business here?”

  Little girl? My eyes widened at his rudeness. I was already conscious of my compactness, he didn’t need to rub it in. Bloody hell! I stood up, brushing at the front of my t-shirt, pretending to remove some fluff that wasn’t there so I could avoid his stare. He leaned over his desk, his arms folded as his eyes raked over me from top to bottom. A lopsided frown appeared when he noticed my feet.

  “Where are your shoes?”

  I looked down at my feet as if I hadn’t noticed my lack of footwear. I scratched an imaginary itch on my head and turned to the door. “I’m sorry for disturbing you, I’ll leave now. Thank you for helping me.”

  I was unsure whether it was safe to leave but I couldn’t imagine them hanging around if they hadn’t found me. They would have moved on by now, searching elsewhere.

  “Wait.” He said the word slowly, as though he was training a damn puppy.

  I shook my head, denying his order as I pulled at the door. It didn’t budge. Ignoring the sudden dryness in my throat, I turned back to him, trying desperately to stop the clanging of my heart against my ribcage. “Can you open the door please?”

  “Who were they?” he asked, completely ignoring me and tapping a finger on the screen that had risen from the cupboard. I looked at what he was indicating to, my eyes finding Janice’s men.

  My eyes snapped to his when the monitor then displayed Reid kick the living daylights out of them. My jaw dropped. I couldn’t look away as he not only beat them, but completely destroyed them.

  “Did they hurt you?”

  “Did you kill them?”

  He narrowed his eyes, regarding me meticulously. “Would it be a problem if I had?”

  I closed my eyes when my own question prompted a reminder of what I myself had done to Dr Tracey. I didn’t give him an answer as I tried the door again.