My feet flew through the dark halls. There was no plan in my mind, only the desire to find and protect Tyla. She had already been through so much. I couldn't bear to see her suffer anymore. Fear and rage churned inside of me. Why couldn't he leave my family alone? Why did he always need to bring the people whom I loved most into this? Because they could be tools too. Tools that helped him work with me.

  "Tyla is not a tool," I found myself growling. I heard footsteps behind me.

  "Hey! Stop her!" Shoot! I had been spotted already. A wave of panic took over my body. I didn't know what I was doing! What if I made things worse? No matter what I did, I failed. Alexander always got the best of me. Why couldn't I be strong? Tyla had always been so full of courage. A smile touched my lips. Yes, when she wanted something she wouldn't stop until she got it. I held that in my mind as I ran. I rounded a corner, only to come crashing into another guard.Now my arms were being grabbed. Now I was staring up at the ceiling as people surrounded me. My heart seemed to stop. What was the point? What good was I to the world anyway? I bet Alexander's studies on me hadn't been used for good. I had gotten my family kidnapped and my friends killed. I had already done so much damage to the world.

  Hands yanked me to my feet and shoved me back towards the cell. As long as Alexander was here, trying was pointless. I would just get more innocent people hurt. But before I could take another step towards the cell, the halls filled with screams. Screams of pain. Tyla's screams. They weren't the screams of rage that I often heard from her. They were sharp, piercing screams of agony. They were totally unlike anything that I had ever heard from her. I never, ever wanted to hear those screams as long as I lived. These were the thoughts that flew through my head as I lashed out at the people around me. It took all my strength to twist free from the guard's grip. But I did it. I shoved forward, pushing everyone out of my way as I went.

  All fear left my body as rage took over. How dare he! How dare he hurt her again! This would be the last time that he ever hurt the people who I cared about. The world around me became a blur as my feet carried me forward. There were no people chasing me, there was no floor, there was no danger.There was only the scream and the girl whom I needed to save. Rage and determination pulsed through me. Through it all I saw Tyla. Tyla as a young girl, glaring down at me from the hill. Tyla, fast asleep in a pool of unfinished homework. Tyla, laughing and smiling at Connie. Tyla, the little sister who had always been there for me. Now it was my turn to be there for her. The rage led me down several halls and through the door to Alexander's office. I will never forget what I saw there.

  "You get away from her, you-" I began to scream. But shock and horror swallowed my remaining thoughts. Tyla lay on the ground in the middle of the room. Her eyes were wide with fear. Blood coated her face and spilled out onto the white floors. Alexander stood above her, knife in hand. His hands were stained with Tyla's blood, with my sister's blood. Upon looking back, I realize that the scars he gave her matched his almost exactly. But I was too stunned at the time to process that fact. Pushing Alexander aside, I dropped down next to Tyla. Blood, blood, so much blood. "Tyla! Can you hear me?" I asked. She wasn't even looking at me. Her terrified gaze seemed to be looking past me.

  "What are you doing here? Didn't I send you back to your cell?" Alexander was saying. I ignored him.

  "Tyla! Look at me! You aren't allowed to die! I won't let you! You'll be okay!" At that, she screamed again and began to pull away from me. There was nothing but terror on her face. She had lost all her fight and so much of her blood.

  "S-stay back!" she sobbed. "Don't come any closer!"

  "Tyla! It's me! Don't you remember your own sister?" I grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug. For a moment she fought me, kicking and shouting as a bit of her spark returned. But I held her firmly. This was something I could not forgive Alexander for.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  "Tiffany?" Tyla blinked. I felt her relax.

  "Yes! Don't worry, I'm here for you. I've got you now. I got you out of here once. I can do it again."

  "Everything hurts! Everything stings!" she sobbed. I held her tightly as her blood and tears stained my clothes. Alexander was still talking. But I couldn't hear him anymore. I had Tyla. That was what mattered.

  "I know, I know. I need you to hold on, just a little longer. It's almost over. Don't be afraid." Those sounded like the kinds of things Tyla would say to me when I was scared. How could he? I took Tyla's hand in mine and squeezed it gently.

  "You're going to be okay. You've always been okay," I whispered.

  "Listen to me!" Alexander grabbed me by my hair and yanked me to my feet. He dragged me away from my sister.

  "Don't you dare say another word! She's only a kid! How could you? You'll pay for this!"

  "There's still time to save her, Tiffany. She's losing blood quickly. But if you go back to your cell and wait there, I can send for the nurse who-" I pushed him back.

  "Tyla, just focus on breathing. You're going to be alright, I promise," I said. I needed medical supplies. Her face might need stitching. She was going to make it through this. I was going to get Beverly and she was going to help me save Tyla. I didn't care if that meant stopping time and tearing through walls, I would do it somehow.

  "Tiffany!" Alexander was on his feet again.

  "You get the nurse in here now!" I ordered. "If she dies, you die. I'll see to it myself that you will." But that wasn't going to happen. Tyla wasn't going to die. I had already decided that.

  "Are you threatening me?" Alexander asked. Sparks of rage filled his eyes. He wasn't doing what I had told him. I turned back to Tyla.

  "I'm going to get help. I promise I'll be back very soon."

  "No! Don't leave me! Please!" Tyla screamed. "Look out!" I turned around just in time to be struck across the face by Alexander. But to my surprise, he was the one who stumbled back. A scream escaped him. It filled the room and mixed with Tyla's cries. He was clutching at his own hand as if it had just been set on fire. Strange. But I needed to focus.

  "Can you walk, Tyla?" She didn't answer me. Her eyes closed and she let out a whimper. Would moving her make her lose more blood? Maybe, but it didn't matter. She was going to be okay. I knew that she would live. I knew that we were going to be okay. "Hold on tight. I'm going to take you to see Beverly," I whispered. I lifted her onto my back and started down the hall. "Once this is over, you can go back home. Just think about home, Tyla. Think about how wonderful it will be to be back." We moved through the halls much faster than I had expected us to move. Hands reached out of the shadows and tried to pull me back. Voices shouted for me to stop. But we kept going. I would be attacked, but then my attacker would let me go and start screaming. I made my way over to Beverly's cell. Roy and my parents would be next. I just needed her help right now.

  There was only one thing blocking me. A door. Well, there was a fairly simple way to fix that problem. I just needed to get rid of the door. I set Tyla down gently and began to fling myself into the door over and over again. After a little while, it began to crack. Then it began to shatter. I didn't have time to wonder how I had done that. Beverly was sitting inside, staring at me with a look of pure shock in her eyes. I smiled at her.

  "Beverly, can you please help Tyla? I can show you where the medical supplies are kept. She's losing a lot of blood."

  "What?" Beverly burst out. She looked from Tyla to me and back again.

  "Don't worry. She's going to be alright. She just needs your help." I held out my hand to Beverly. She got to her feet.

  "A-alright."

  "Please hurry," I added as we started down the halls. The nurse did try to stop us, of course. But she too stumbled back after attacking me.

  "Tyla, can you hear me?" Beverly asked softly. Tyla grunted softly. "I'm going to give you something to kill the pain, okay?"

  "Please, make the hurting stop!" she moaned. I watched as Tyla's eyes closed and a look of peace washed over her face. As soon as this was over, I would take her home. She wasn't ever going to have to go through this again. Beverly asked me to leave so she could focus better. So I left. I headed back down the hall to Alexander's office. I was going to make sure he never hurt anyone, ever again.