Hell’s Fear (Hellfire MC #11)

Chapter Five.

Team Four: Fanatic, Shee and Sallie, (Hellfire). Ezra and Dana (Rage). London (Hawthorne’s). Bobby Lucas (RCPD). Trip (Unwanted Bastards).

Fanatic.

M y mother and her zany ideas. I was twenty-seven and resigned to Mum being a Halloween addict.

Sadly, I had mixed memories of Halloween. My earliest was being about four and Mum and Dad dressing me as Spiderman and taking me trick or treating in England. I remembered Halloween celebrations up until Dad died. That was followed by five years of misery when the asshole Mum married wouldn’t let us out. Once we hit America, Halloween restarted as a holiday.

Those miserable times were etched into my brain. It didn’t matter what happened or how many we celebrated, the holidays that we didn’t celebrate were always in the back of my mind. Same with Jodie. The younger three didn’t remember—or so I hoped. The pain from losing Dad and the confusion Drake had caused remained fresh.

Drake had shocked me with how he treated me as his own. Now, my legal name was Micah Barrett-Michaelson, although I was known as Michaelson.

I was damn lucky.

Drake was the type of person that took on a bunch of kids who needed a father figure and loved them.

Without a doubt, I still adored Justin, my bio dad, and would always miss the hole he left in my youth. I’d never forget the pain we suffered after Dad’s death, but I didn’t blame him for that. Life was what we made it. That’s the lesson Mum had taught and one I lived by.

“Hey, you okay? You were lost in thoughts there,” Shee muttered.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, dragging myself from my daydreams as we entered the room. “Well, this looks fun.”

Within a dark area, there was a table positioned in the middle. A light like one you’d find in an operating theatre faintly illuminated the area. The table was big enough for several of us to stand around.

As we approached, lights glowed more brightly, and I cocked my head.

“What the hell?” I asked, confused.

The table held a large maze, with a figure in the middle. The maze looked like an old-fashioned hospital, and I frowned at it. Glass covered the entire thing, and we couldn’t touch the items underneath.

Ezra tried tilting the table, but that didn’t work.

“I don’t understand,” Dana said, puzzled.

“We’re meant to move the figurine, but how?” London asked.

“I’ve seen this before on a TV show. We need to find magnets,” Trip replied, peering around.

Everyone dispersed and began looking in the lockers and in the trunks that were randomly scattered. After a few minutes of searching, I discovered a magnet.

“Got one!” I said and handed it over to Sallie.

“Am I doing this?” she asked, a little surprised.

“Why not?” Bobby Lucas inquired.

“Good question. Go on babe,” Shee said, encouraging his wife. Sallie took one look at the floor and tossed the magnet to the nearest person, which was Bobby.

“Hell no, I’m not crawling under a table,” she stated and made shooing motions for Bobby to move.

Bobby rolled his eyes but complied.

“Somebody tell me when this thing starts to move,” Bobby said as he kept moving the magnet around to find the middle of the table.

“There, you’re on it, Bobby,” I called out as the figure jolted.

“Someone give me instructions,” Bobby retorted.

As a group, we started calling out instructions for Bobby to get the figure out of the maze. It was more difficult than we expected. The figure got stuck on corners and several times Bobby moved the magnet too fast for it and it got left behind. Then he had to get it around miniatures of beds and gurneys and other hospital equipment.

We finally managed to move it to the open slot, and it dropped into Sallie’s waiting hands. She checked it over, grinned, and twisted it in half, revealing a key.

“Cool,” she said as she opened the door.

We stepped onto a platform and paused.

“Um, I’m getting the feeling the theme of this suite is medical,” Trip drawled as we gazed around.

We stood in a beige painted room with the same style of lights above us. There was a hospital bed that was stripped of bedding and a torn armchair. Cupboards lined one wall, and there were shelves with bottles and jars on it. The room was jam-packed with items. There were even x-ray screens on a wall and a picture on another.

“Over here,” Dana called, waving at a table.

A replica of the room met my gaze. I pursed my lips as I scanned for a clue, but nothing flashed up.

“Better start searching,” Shee said.

“The panel needs a code, five digits,” Ezra stated.

London was studying the house as we searched when he asked, “The shelves near Trip’s head, do they have a skull on?”

Trip checked as we all paused. “Yes.”

“This replica doesn’t. Pick the skull up,” London called. Trip reached out and grabbed it. He lifted it off the shelf, and an x-ray screen flickered on with the number six. It was the middle screen of the five.

“So, we hunt the missing items that are in the room and not in the house?” Dana asked.

“Looks that way,” London replied.

It took us forty minutes to discover the other four items: a scalpel, file, a bottle, and the hardest was a plug to a machine.

The door opened, and we entered the third room. We had just over two hours left. The entire room was in darkness. A table off to the side holding food and drinks was lit by a dull bulb, which illuminated nothing further than the food.

After ten minutes of eating and drinking, I moved forward, and the room lit up.

Then I stopped abruptly.

“Uh oh, I don’t like the look of this,” Sallie muttered.

In front of us was a hexagonal floor and on the far wall was a flashing screen—the rest of the room was dark. A platform was on the left for someone to stand on.

“There’s a start, the hexagon,” Bobby said, pointing to it.

We all looked at each other, and I snorted when we realised nobody wanted to step on it.

“Prospect, get on it,” Shee ordered.

I sent Shee a dirty look and stepped on it.

The screen opposite switched on.

“The sacrifice must take its place,” Ezra read.

“That other stand?” Trip asked, pointing.

“Well, Shee, you were quick enough putting Fanatic on the hotspot, up you go,” Ezra taunted.

Shee growled but hopped up on the platform, which lit up.

‘Game on,’ the words flashed.

Two panels directly in front of me glowed with words. “ Gremlins and The Exorcist ,” I read out.

“That’s random,” London muttered.

“Nope, the screen will give us a question and Fanatic has to step on the correct answer. I suspect if he gets the answer wrong, Shee pays a penalty,” Bobby said.

“The clue is: which film was set in Washington DC…” Sallie read.

“Exorcist,” London said immediately.

“No doubt there. Step on it Fanatic,” Bobby ordered.

I held my breath as I stepped on it and it went green. Another two hexagons opened up.

“How were witches killed in England?” Dana read out.

“I’ve got hung and burned. I’m sure they were hanged in England,” I said.

“No, I think they were burned,” Ezra disagreed. After a few minutes of debate, I was outvoted, and I stepped onto the burned hexagon. Sirens wailed, a red light flashed, and Shee yelled as the floor dropped, and he disappeared down a chute.

“Holy shit!” London shouted as he raced over. The panel Shee had stood on reset and locked into place.

“Oh, crap!” Trip exclaimed.

‘Next sacrifice,’ the screen demanded with a flash.

“I’ll go,” Ezra offered. “Just get the questions right!”

I was four squares away from the other side when we got the question wrong, and Ezra disappeared with a shout.

“Crap, we’re two down,” London growled out.

“Come on, let’s finish!” Dana ordered, seemingly unconcerned by Ezra’s chute incident.

Amused, I wondered what Ezra would say if he knew how unbothered Dana was.

Finally, I crossed safely, and the room glowed green, opening the door.

Trip began stomping across when he stepped on a wrong panel.

With a cry, Trip dropped through the floor.

“Stay on the right answers!” Sallie shrieked. One by one they reached me, and we swapped glances.

“We’ve got an hour left. Come on, we can do this,” Bobby encouraged, crossing into the next room.

“Fuck that!” I exclaimed. We stared at the two rows of mannequins, all standing on podiums and dressed in various medical uniforms.

The door swished shut behind us as we gazed around at the imitation hospital corridor we were in. The anomaly was the shop dummies.

“Any idea?” I asked. I couldn’t see a damn clue.

“No,” Sallie responded.

“Bobby, I swear to God that one just moved,” Dana exclaimed as she gazed at a mannequin standing three podiums away.

“It’s your imagination,” Bobby replied as he studied the first platform. “There’s a year written on this plaque.”

“Do we have to match the uniforms to the years?” Sallie asked.

“This one says sixteen-twenty,” I said, peering at numbers and studying the two rows. “That one, that’s a plague doctor from that century.”

London marched down to stare at it. “I can’t change the dates.”

“Maybe you have to carry it here?” I suggested as I tried rocking the mannequin in front of me. It didn’t move. I bent down and tested the plaque, and it came off easily. “Yeah. The plates lift off. They must have sensors in.”

London grabbed the one at the bottom of the plague doctor and headed towards me. As he passed a nurse in a long gown, Dana let out a scream. Several of the mannequins began moving and weapons appeared in their hand.

“What the hell!” I gasped as one held a gun and fired at me. I’d already been stepping aside, and it grazed my arm. I looked down in disbelief at the blood welling from the wound.

“Those knives are real!” London yelled as he swung the plaque he was holding and hit an approaching attacker.

The surgeon slashed at London with a knife, and London skipped back.

Bobby pulled his weapon and fired a warning round, but three people launched at him. He got one more shot off before he went down fighting, his gun knocked from his hand.

I shoved Sallie and Dana behind me, silently cursing we were three men down. A man dressed as an orderly ran at me. He stabbed outwards with a knife, and I punched his arm away.

Dana was yanking at something, but I couldn’t spare her a moment’s attention. The guy lashed out again, and I felt him graze my already wounded arm.

I kicked upwards, grateful I knew some self-defence thanks to Nova and Falcon.

The man grinned and yanked out a second blade, and I gulped.

I sensed movement and out of the corner of my eye saw Sallie moving behind the mannequins. The asshole came at me in a fury of motion, and I barely defended myself.

There was evil etched on his face, and he clearly intended to take me down. I could hear the others fighting but had no idea how they were managing.

The guy stabbed at me again as Sallie slid behind and hit him hard with a mannequin’s arm. He staggered and Sallie whacked him a second time as I thundered a right hook into his nose. There was a snapping noise, and his eyes rolled up. He was out for the count.

“Get behind me!” I roared at Sallie and jumped on one of the men attacking Bobby.

Bobby rose up, fighting as I wrenched the guy away.

Without a second thought, I snapped his neck and dived for Bobby’s gun as another man appeared. On my back, I aimed and fired twice. Bobby leapt to his feet and kicked his assailant in the face, knocking him out. He grabbed his weapon from me and targeted a guy throttling London from behind. London was kicking out with his feet at another attacker while trying to loosen the asshole’s grip.

Bobby’s first shot took the strangler straight in the head. His arms loosened, and London tore free.

Bobby’s next bullet entered the neck of the second guy as he slashed at London with a wicked-looking knife, and London ducked.

I was sitting on my ass when Dana rushed me.

“Fanatic, you’re bleeding!” she exclaimed.

“Dana, I’m fine, just stay behind me until we know there’s no more here,” I warned.

London and Bobby were checking each mannequin, and they finally reached the end. Bobby withdrew some zip ties, and I laughed.

“Seriously? Are you for real?” I demanded.

Bobby looked at the zip ties and chuckled dryly. “Once a cop, always a cop.”

“Thought it was boy scouts who had the motto of always being prepared, not cops,” London said as he staggered over.

“Where are you hurt?” I asked.

“Ribs, I’ll be okay. Bobby, were you injured?” London replied.

“Bit battered, but I’m fine. Well, lookie here. We’ve got Fangs amongst us,” Bobby’s voice darkened with distaste and hate.

“Two are still alive,” I said.

“Why do you think I’m hogtying those fuckers? They’re not going to escape. The other four are dead,” Bobbie responded.

“The other teams are in danger,” London murmured with a glance at Sallie and Dana.

“Yeah, it’s crossed my mind. Ain’t gonna lie, I’m worried,” I muttered.

“Oh, stop whispering. We’ve already worked out the rest might be in trouble. We need to get the fuck out of here before somebody is badly hurt. And we’ve only got fifty minutes left,” Sallie snapped, wringing her hands together. She stepped up and kicked one of the unconscious assholes in the head.

“Let’s solve these clues,” Dana said. It was hard ignoring the six bodies we dumped near the door we’d entered through, but we managed. The hardest part came when we had to look at their clothing to judge the decade. It took twenty minutes, and my stomach was churning as we stepped into another room with half an hour to go.

“Start searching,” Bobby said, taking one glance at the centre of the room.

Set up like an operating theatre, a body lay on the gurney. There were dirty glass cabinets and as I peered inside, I could see bottles in one and surgical tools in another. On the walls were x-rays screens that were cracked and flickering. A broken monitor stood on a trolley, and there was other damaged equipment around.

The body had several parts missing, both lungs, a brain, an eye, liver, kidneys, and its heart. It was pretty obvious that we had to find the missing organs and hook them up.

We just had the eye and a kidney to discover when the room flashed red.

“Oh no!” Dana exclaimed. “We’ve run out of time.”

“Shit. We need to escape,” I cried.

Panic welled in my gut. My mum was out there. Had she been attacked? Was she safe? I rushed to the locked door and began trying to force it open. The bastard thing remained shut.

“That won’t work,” London said.

Silently seething, I gazed at him. “What do you want me to do?”

“Go through there?” Dana said and pointed at something.

We turned and noticed a door had opened to a dark corridor.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Bobby muttered.

“How many bullets you got?” London asked.

“Put a full clip in.”

“You’re taking point. I’ll go second, Sallie and Dana follow me. Fanatic, you bring up the rear,” London ordered.

“Yeah. Let’s go, we have to warn the others,” I said.

I had a bad feeling about this, which was confirmed when suddenly Bobby shouted. In the darkness we couldn’t see anything, but London followed Bobby’s cry with his own.

Dana screamed, and Sallie joined her and as I reached forward to blindly find them.

I found the floor disappearing under me but landed gently. Then I was being whizzed around and realised I was on a slide.

The slide opened at the end, and I bounced onto an air bag. Scrambling off, I saw bars surrounding me and then noticed Shee, Ezra, and Trip. As I peered at the other cages, I spotted more of our people present.

“What the fuck?” I said as I rattled the bars to the cell I was in.

“Seems we’re in a prison,” Ezra called out. “We’ve been trying to escape since we landed.”

“We need to get out. The Venomous Fangs have infiltrated the warehouse,” I replied.

“Bobby was filling us in. The problem is, we can’t get out,” Marsha said.

“I’ve tried everything,” Smokey shouted from an end cell.

“We’re stuck?” I asked.

“Yup, Fanatic. Well and truly stuck. Let’s hope the others realise what’s happened before they get hurt,” Bobby said as he sank down into a chair.

“My mum’s out there,” I retorted.

“Kid, we’ve all tried to break out, but be our guest. Maybe your cell has a weakness ours don’t,” Marsha called.

Fine! I was getting out of here and to Mum before anyone else got harmed. Simple.