Lucas Ryan Versus: The Hive Part 12

"Olivia..."

"Deep down you know I am right." Her eyes welled up with fresh tears. Dax grimaced in anguish as her words sank in.

"I'm sorry, O."

"Friends?" she asked. He tried to fight it, but a smile crept onto his face.

"Okay." His posture relaxed as he officially gave up. For the moment, at least.

"Good," she smiled.

"I'm still gonna help find little Soph...she's my baby sister too," he announced, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Olivia eased her guard a little, and extended a hand to shake.

"Deal."

IN BLOOM: Taylor & Morgan Morgan nervously sat down next to Taylor, cradling her knees in her arms. He kept propping the door open and checking the larger Music room for any signs of the invaders. He barely noticed as Morgan slid up next to him.

"Is something bothering you?" she asked, but he didn't answer. "They won't find us, Tay. You picked the perfect hiding place," she stated. Taylor shut the door slowly, and set his sledgehammer down next to his leg.

"It's not that..." he said. Morgan tightened the hold on her legs.

"It's Luc, isn't it. You're worried about him, aren't you?" she said, bluntly. He looked at her with protective concern.

"How did you know? Am I that easy to read?"

"Little bit," she smiled. His eyes lit up with her playful teasing. Morgan blushed.

"Lucas is my best friend. I've seen him through everything, but...this time..." he shuttered.

Placing her hand on his arm, "But this time, you feel helpless."

"Yeah," he blinked, in surprise. It was as if she were finis.h.i.+ng his sentences.

"I feel that way too...sometimes," Morgan's smile faded.

"Why? You and your brother are the most important people in his life. He's told me that on more than one occasion," Taylor nodded.

"He has?"

"Yup. You and Roland have been there since the beginning, seeing him through his toughest times. He needs you," Taylor winked. Morgan slid a little closer to him. He leaned in closer to her, as well.

"Thanks, Tay."

"Anytime, Mo," he smiled, and her heart fluttered.

"You know, you are just as important," she whispered.

"Nah," he shrugged, modestly.

"Really! You're kind of his hero." She poked his side with a gentle finger.

"If I really was a hero, I'd have gotten him out of this nightmare. I would have gotten all of you out," he mumbled, upset.

"You are a hero, Tay. To this school, to this town, to Lucas...and...to me," she ended in a soft whisper. Taylor searched her face for a moment, enjoying the shape of her mouth. He fell into her big, wanting eyes and felt better.

"Thank you, Morgan."

"You called me Morgan...you've always called me Mo..." she started to shake in absolute joy.

"Well, it is your name, isn't it?" he teased, nudging her arm with his. A giant smile cut across her face, and a thousand fireworks exploded behind her eyes. She held that happiness in...barely.

Quickly changing the subject, "You still want to be that hero? I have an idea how we can get the rest of the students out of the school. Want to hear it?"

Taylor scooped up the sledgehammer in his hand and smiled.

"Always."

IN FATUATION: Lucas & Olivia I had just closed my eyes when Olivia's sweet scent hit me. I opened my tired eyes to find her sitting cross-legged, in front of me. She slowly leaned in closer, face to face, with a small smile on her lips. She was close enough to kiss and I started to panic. Her lips pulled in even closer and I memorized her perfect features.

"Can we talk?" she asked, with a nod toward my bag. She wanted to use the stone again.

"Umm, sure," I said, still dazed by her presence. Quickly, I removed the stone and placed it on the floor, between us. Her hands pushed themselves against its cold and inviting surface. It covered over in the deep red color again. This time it seemed brighter and it pulsed along with my heartbeat. Or hers, I wasn't sure anymore.

* Hi, * she said in my head, sweetly.

Hi. Fancy meeting you here.

* You're such a dork. *

Yeah, but I'm a dork with a magic rock!

* True. *

So, why all the secrecy, Olivia?

She blushed and looked around the room, her eyes alive with wonder.

* No secrets, I just wanted to do this again. I like it. It feels nice. *

Because of the stone, huh. I smiled.

* No. Because of you. * She looked through me, and I saw sparks.

We sat there for a long and intense minute just watching each other. She was more than right, this was nice. Very nice! I took a deep breath and asked her something that had been on the tip of my tongue for years.

Olivia, can I ask you something?

* Of course. *

When we're done with all this Die Hard business, do you think we could go out some time? With my head spinning, I waited for her answer. She laughed at me.

* Took you long enough! *

Is that a yes?

* Yes, with a capital Y... *

Olivia leaned over the stone and closed her eyes. Her lips pushed into mine, soft and full. I couldn't move. She kissed me gently and the world stopped rotating. I could feel the outer sh.e.l.l of the stone fill with warmth. It began to vibrate within our hands and lightly shake as if something was rolling around inside of it. I ignored it and continued my journey into infatuated bliss. I was so lost in the moment that I didn't even notice Taylor and Morgan slip out the door at the front of the soundproofed room.

Olivia slowly pulled away from me, still caressing the stone in her hands.

* Now what? * she smiled, proud of herself.

We find Sophia and I take you to the movies and buy you the largest cup of cherry cola and deepest bag of gummy bears candy they have! I said, with a smile humungous enough to split my face in two. She smiled even bigger and her eyes welled up with glistening tears.

* It's a date. *

IN VAIN: Roland & Felicity "Hey there," Roland said, stepping up to Felicity as she scribbled harder in her journal. She didn't even bother to look up from her notepad as she continued writing and snapped...

"Bite me!"

LEVEL 16: My Hero.

SECRET MISSION: Taylor & Morgan.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Taylor asked, his voice in a whisper. Morgan nodded yes from behind Taylor's hulking shoulders. As they looked from behind the dusty stage curtain, at the sea of terrified cla.s.smates, a fear attacked both of them. Most of the students were corralled in the seats of the auditorium, quiet and not moving. Despair was freshly painted across their faces. There were guards for every row of the room, fully armed and at attention.

"What if this doesn't work?" Taylor asked. With her thumb and index finger, Morgan pinched his back hard.

"It will!" she whispered with positivity. Taylor let a small smile peek out from the corner of his mouth.

"Okay."

Morgan watched as a short line of students returned to their seats, possibly from a bathroom break. Without a sound, the kids were led back to their seats. All the soldiers were silent and aware.

"All right, gimme two minutes to start the fire and hit the emergency alarm," Morgan said. She placed a gentle hand on Taylor's back. He settled with her touch.

Five minutes pa.s.sed with no smoke, no fire, no alarm and no Morgan. Taylor could feel the fear creeping up on him again. He clutched his sledgehammer tighter and wondered if he should just run out from behind the curtain and start swinging away. He wondered how many soldiers he could stop before they took him down. He started to step out from the shadows of his hiding spot when the first hint of smoke slid into his nose.

"About time, Mo..." he sighed. He knew the fire-alarm wouldn't be far behind, so he waited for Morgan's return. But the alarm never came. Morgan finally ran up to him, upset.

"It's not working!" she said, in a frenzy.

"What's not working?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"The alarms! They must be linked to the power that seems to be not working, again. What do we do?" she asked. Taylor reached out and slid her behind one of his flexing arms in a protective gesture. She clutched him from behind, her handsome and brave s.h.i.+eld.

"Shhh..." he said.

From the edge of the stage, the closest guard next to them looked at his futuristic armband as it started beeping. It was some kind of communication device with sensors and gages. The soldier signaled the other guards just before their armband gages started beeping as well.

"Contact the General. I think there's a fire somewhere," the soldier ordered. Unbelievably, their sensors had picked up the faintest of smoke in the air before anyone else could smell it. The students began to rustle in their seats, startled by the warning signals coming from all their captors. One of the soldiers turned toward the closed curtains of the auditorium stage with his weapon ready for action. He waved to another set of guards for backup.

"Uh...get out of here, Morgan. I'll hold them off as long as I can," Taylor said, coldly. "Warn the others." Taylor stepped forward, his hammer spinning in his fists, but Morgan held onto his arm.

"No! I'm not leaving without you!"

"We don't have time to argue, they're coming. I have to give the fire enough time to catch. I have to give it enough time to become an unstoppable inferno. If they can stop the fire, they won't evacuate the students!" Taylor forcefully shoved her back, but Morgan fought back in defiance.

"Taylor!"

"Mo, I have to give you enough time to get out..." he added.

"But I can help!"

"Yes, you can, by telling the others what happened and by making sure you're safe," he begged, as the thunder of falling footsteps from the soldiers boots, grew louder. "Go!"

"I can't!" she cried out, not caring if they could hear her anymore. Flames appeared behind them, slithering up the back wall of the stage, quickly engulfing everything in orange heat. The force of it burned both of their eyes, immediately.

"Please!" Taylor begged, again. Morgan crumbled with tears.

"I can't leave you! I just can't! I love you!" she said, with fading hope. Her hand slapped across her mouth in shock that she let the words escape. Her eyes closed in horror as Taylor froze, lowering the hammer to the floor. His blue eyes locked onto her and then the flames growing over her head. They didn't have anymore time.

"Morgan..." he started to say. She opened her eyes just as the giant blue and black curtain ripped open, exposing them to everyone in the auditorium. The first few soldiers had reached them with their guns drawn. Morgan trembled in horror.

"Freeze! Don't move, punk!" one soldier ordered with his gun pointed at Taylor's chest.

Taylor stole Morgan's attention and mouthed one word, "Run."

Morgan flailed backwards, stumbling over her feet. She disappeared into the fire and Taylor smiled, wickedly.

"Drop the hammer! This is your only warning!" another guard called out. Taylor slowly let the wooden handle fall from his steady grasp. It fell in slow motion, the soldiers watching it, intently. Taylor used this moment to unleash his wrath.

"Noooooo!" he wailed, and shoved both soldiers with a force that sent them flying off the stage and cras.h.i.+ng to the floor. He slammed his foot into the head of the sledgehammer causing the handle to bounce back up into his hand.

"Run!" Taylor screamed at the students, with the hammer raised above his head. At the same moment, the fire had curled up the edges of the curtains, igniting like dry kindling.

"It's Big Country!" someone yelled out. The entire crowd of students burst out in cheers and screams.