Whateley: “Survival”

[A Whately Universe FanFic]

By Zapper

Synopsis: Kate is the only child of mutant parents. Carl Henderson works for a mysterious security corporation and this finally catches up to his family when Kate is kidnapped. Kate dealing with the sudden onset of her mutation and kidnappers is soon running for her life. This is a Fanfic story set in the Whateley Universe.

Note: This is part two of nine chapters. I plan to post a chapter a day until complete.

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Chapter Two

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Drip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Drip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Drip

Slowly, Kate became aware of the sound. At first she couldn’t identify it. Water? ‘Why can I hear water,’ she wondered. Yes, she was sure of it. It was the sound of water dripping onto a hard surface. Next came the realization that she was cold. Not cold like she was about to die from hypothermia but just enough to make her shiver. Reluctantly, Kate opened her eyes.

At first things were kind of blurry and Kate wondered if there was something wrong with her eyes. Then she saw a dim light coming through a window set high into the far wall. This faint light was the source of illumination. After a minute Kate figured out that the window had a leak and that it must be raining outside. There was already a small puddle at the base of the wall. This discovery was enough incentive for Kate to push herself up and look around.

“Ugh,” the soft moan escaped her lips as Kate realized just how stiff and sore she was from sleeping on the cold hard floor. “My neck,” she said reaching up the rub the back of her neck. Looking around Kate saw that she was lying on the floor of a room devoid of any furniture. The cold concrete had been sapping all the warmth from her body. Kate looked back up at the window and became aware of the bars. The fact that the window had bars sent a shock through Kate and this caused her to remember the events on the bike trail.

“Peter” . . . . Kate whispered horrified. “He’s dead.”

The horror of what had happened left Kate shaking, ‘Why did they have to kill him?’ she thought. The memory of Peter’s death was enough to bring her back to full awareness and the acrid smell of vomit assaulted her nose. Kate glanced down and saw that she was still wearing the biking gear from before, but the front of her shirt was speckled with dry vomit. She vaguely remembering screaming when they’d killed Peter. The guy, Flurry, had ignored her. The flight to the boat had taken only a few minutes and Flurry had dropped her on the deck. As soon as he did he let go of her and that’s when Kate had gotten sick. It could have only been a minute or two but then the oldest brother, Ripple, was there. He had reached down and touched her head and Kate had gotten really sleepy, and then nothing.

Very slowly Kate pushed herself into a standing position. Her dad had always trained her to be ready to face whatever challenge confronted her. But being kidnapped by a group of mutants wasn’t something easily prepared for. Kate shook her head to clear it of useless thoughts. Looking around the room Kate saw that she was probably in some kind of homemade basement cell. The one window was high up on the cinder block wall, too high for her to reach. It looked like someone had added the bars and when they did they broke the seal on the window. There was a heavy looking wooden door to Kate’s left and nothing else in the room.

Again Kate looked down at her shirt, wishing she had something that didn’t stink that she could change into. Still a smelly shirt was better than nothing, since it afforded her some protection against the chill. Slowly, Kate walked around the room trying to see if there was anything she might be able to use. When she got to the door she saw that there was a light switch. She flicked it up and a bare light bulb came on flooding the room with a harsh bright light. After a second she turned it off. The dim light from the window was somehow easier to take. Besides if her kidnappers saw the light under the door they’d know she was awake.

“I wonder how long I’ve been gone?” she mused. Her mom would have been back by noon and when she didn’t show up, she would have started looking for her. For that matter, when Reggie noticed they weren’t behind him he would have stopped and waited. Then he would have come looking. He would have found their bikes, and if he looked around he might have spotted Peter’s body. If he did he would have called 911. For a second Kate wondered if that would cause trouble for her family. Her parents and stressed to her that they needed to avoid attention. As mutants they tried to blend in. Her dad had also stressed that with his job, working for the International Executive Security Corporation (IESC), as a special consultant, meant discretion. IESC’s clients didn’t want attention.

Kate shook her head to clear it of thoughts about things that were beyond her control. Then she felt a little better because either way Kate knew that there would be people, very capable people, looking for her. These people would include her parents. When Kate was little she’d thought her dad was a super hero. As she’d gotten older she’d realized that they had too much money for that, super heroing just didn’t pay that well. Her next guess was that he did something for the government. She’d finally asked and that’s when her parents explained about IESC. Kate didn’t know exactly what her dad did as a ‘special consultant’ she just knew that he would disappear for months at a time and that it was dangerous.

Done examining the cell Kate picked a corner, where she could get some light from the window and see the door. Slowly she slid to the ground bringing her knees up tight so she could wrap her arms around them. This position reminded her of how Peter had been sitting yesterday by the pool. Suddenly her eyes started stinging and then she was crying. ‘It can’t be real, Peter can’t be dead,’ she thought, yet she knew he was.

Kate wasn’t sure how long she sat there rocking and crying, long enough for her eyes to dry and for her to feel empty inside. “When my dad finds these guys, he’s going to make them wish they’d never been born.” Kate whispered. At some point she must have dozed off because Kate heard a noise and was suddenly wide awake. Most of the light from the window was gone and the room was almost completely dark. Then without warning the door was thrown open and the overhead light came on.

It was so bright Kate found herself blinking. Standing in the doorway was the outline of a big man. Kate instinctively pushed herself deeper into her corner. The man moved into the room and Kate saw that it was middle brother, Dirty, still wearing the same clothes from earlier. “Get up.” he commanded.

Kate slowly pushed herself to her feet. “Who are you? What do you want with me?” The words tumbled out in little more than a whisper. The big man quickly moved over next to Kate and grabbed her by the arm. Kate winced as his hand encircled her bicep in a crushing grip.

“Keep your mouth shut and do what you’re told and you might live.” he stated in a calm voice. “Give us any trouble and we’ll kill you.”

Kate shivered in fear, she knew this wasn’t an idle threat, she’d seen them kill Peter without hesitation. Before she knew it she was being dragged forward by her arm through the door and up a set of stairs. The room she was dragged into was a large kitchen. Disturbingly, there was a camera set up to one side pointed at an island counter top in the middle of the room.

Kate was dragged over to the island and saw that the oldest brother, Ripple, was talking into the camera.

“As you can see, your daughter is alive. Staying that way depends on you. You’ll be contacted and give instructions. Follow them to the letter or things will only get worse for your child.” With that he turned to Dirty, “Put her hand there.”

Kate noticed, for the first time, there was a chopping block on the island and a large meat cleaver next to it. Dirty let go of her arm and grabbed her wrist pulling it toward the cutting block. Kate, realizing what they planned to do and acted without thinking, just as her dad had taught her. She suddenly twisted her wrist pulling against Dirty’s thumb. She broke his grip, and as he turned toward her with a look of surprise she hit him in the nose with the palm of her hand. He stumbled back eyes watering, stunned, and Kate felt Ripple move to grab her from behind so she dove over the island scooping up the meat cleaver as she went.

There was an open hallway right in front of her and she darted toward it only to feel the air around her harden. Reacting on instinct Kate threw the meat cleaver toward where she’d seen Flurry standing by the camera. There was a cry of pain and suddenly Kate was free. She made it two steps before she was hit from behind. The force of the tackle drove her to the ground and knocked the wind out of her. The guy grabbed her by the back of the head in one quick move he yanked her head painfully up and then smashed it down, face first, into the wood floor. Pain exploded from her nose.

“Bitch, that’s for my nose.” Dirty snarled. Again Kate felt her head pulled back but before Dirty could smash it down again a voice snapped, “Enough. We still need her alive, for now.”

Dazed Kate felt Dirty jerk her to her feet by her arm but another voice snarled. “I’ve got it this time.”

Again the air hardened around Kate, squeezing her painfully, as it lifted her helplessly into the air. For a second she saw Flurry, who was holding his forearm. There was a cut on it where he must have tried to block the meat cleaver. Kate felt a sense of satisfaction, even as blood ran down her face from her broken nose and split lip. ‘At least I hurt them,’ she thought. Then Kate was floating next to the island. She tried to fight it but her hand was pulled forward and her fingers spread apart. Instead of feeling afraid Kate was angry, angry at them for killing Peter, angry at being helpless, and determined to survive and make these assholes pay!

Now Ripple moved in front of her. “Look at your daughter, Menace, we are only getting started. If you love her, do as you’re instructed.”

Ripple took Kate’s pinky finger and slid a zip-tie around it and pulled it painfully tight. Then hardened air forced her hand down onto the cutting board.

“Let me,” Dirty snarled. Ripple looked at his brother and just shook his head. “No.”

He picked up the cleaver and in one quick move brought it down on Kate’s finger. She’d braced herself and tried not to scream. She failed. The pain was white hot and it seared all the way up her arm. But then Kate took the pain and made it into a roar of angry defiance. In response from somewhere in the back of her mind she heard an answering roar. Then a second roar, the roaring grew louder and louder in Kate’s mind. Kate realized that someone or something was out there and she reached toward that being and felt it respond. As it did Kate felt more than heard her own voice change, it grew deeper, wilder, and far more powerful. She saw a confused look on Dirty’s face and she flexed pushing against the bonds of air that held her.

“Quick, Ripple, put her to sleep. I can’t hold her much longer.” Flurry’s voice barely penetrated Kate’s enraged mind. The pain from her hand was gone, and all she could think of was the need to destroy those responsible. Then she felt a cool wave of power flood through her, “Sleep.” She tried to resist but Ripples’ voice was memorizing and Kate slowly felt the darkness rise up and swallow her.