Men in black combat gear storm through the shattered entrance, automatic weapons raised. I’m not completely convinced that they’re shifters. I think they might be human, which doesn’t make any sense.
My hands shake as I fumble for my phone in my pocket.
One of the anti-vaxxers goes down, blood spraying from his chest.
I manage to pull it out, my fingers slippery with sweat, and I start filming.
Another takes a bullet to the head and crumples.
I have to document this. Someone needs to see what’s really happening here.
Through my phone’s screen, I watch as another anti-vaxxer tries to crawl away, dragging himself across the floor with his arms. A security officer walks up to him, points his weapon down, and fires.
The male goes still and crumples in a heap.
I whimper, pressing my free hand over my mouth to stifle the sound.
This isn’t a rescue operation. This is an execution.
Movement catches my eye. Sally is standing up, stumbling toward one of the security guards. Her hands are raised, tears streaming down her face.
“Help me!” she’s screaming. “Please! Save me! I’m a hostage! Please!”
“No,” I whisper, shaking my head. “Sally, no.”
The guard shoots her at point-blank range in the chest. It’s clear that she isn’t a threat, that she’s a hostage and an employee of the center.
What the hell!
No!
“Sally!” I scream, tears rolling down my cheeks. I know I should keep quiet, but it isn’t going to help me.
She goes down, her face a mask of shock and pain. There’s so much blood.
No, no, no, no, no.
A bullet hits Grim’s arm; his body jerks, but that’s all the indication he gives that he was shot. He ducks behind the remains of a file cabinet.
We’re dead. We’re all dead.
I can’t think of anything that would help us. There’s no way out. No escape. We’re trapped like rats, and they’re picking us off one by one.
I keep filming through my tears, my phone shaking in my grip. I’m not sure what good it will do, but I have to try. More men in combat uniforms stream through the entrance, their weapons trained on anything that moves.
Another anti-vaxxer is shot in the back several times as he tries to run. He falls face-first, his body twitching once before going still.
Kaine takes a bullet to the leg and goes down with a roar of pain.
All is lost.
Then I hear a cracking sound like branches snapping. I’ve only heard it once before. Grim shifts. It happens quickly. The transformation takes less than a second. It sounds like the roof is being torn from the building with a loud ripping noise. Sunlight streams in. Bricks and plaster rain down, and I’m glad I’m under the sturdy reception desk. The men in combat gear scatter, taking cover. I can’t see much of Grim’s dragon from this angle, just his claws and legs, as well as his deadly spiked tail.
The security forces start shooting at him, and I expect him to tear into them, but he doesn’t.
Instead, he starts toward my hiding place. There is more tearing and cracking. More plaster, bricks, and drywall rain down.
The reception desk is ripped away, and I’m looking up at his dragon.
