Imperium: Volume 2

I jolted up gasping for air. I woke up alone and in the dark, as I ran my hands down to my torso where the blade was stabbed in and out several times. I wasn't in any pain, which was good and my arm that was in a sling no longer required it.

The one thing that Cam was able to accomplish.......was resetting me.

I got up off the floor and turned the switch on, and ran in front of the glass cabinet to see my reflection. I was soaked in blood. My green shirt now looking brown from the blood and my hands covered in the dry crimson liquid. The she came into mind.

Sarah! I took off.

......................

Sarah's P.O.V

We were behind the glass for the past hour as we watched Anja pace back and forth in the room. Jay and Bogie had made there way back into the room and were talking with Raeve amongst themselves. I was watching her intently when all of a sudden my senses had my head turning to the door.

Rowen.

I looked over to June and I sped out of the room. Something wasnt right.

•~ Rowen? •~

I was walking fast out of the offices. June and Raeve saw my reaction and decided to follow me.

•~Rowen! •~ Still no answer. Why wasn't he answering?

"Sarah, what going on?" June asked behind me.

"Somethings wrong." I told her.

It was late at night and the aisles were empty. The majority of people had gone to bed, which made it easier to make my way to Rowen. As I turned the corner to go down the next walkway I saw Cam in the distance. He was walking with purpose aswell, and it was all to late when I saw the knife in his grasp as he approached me.

I quickly stopped and raised my hand up to grab his wrist as he raised his hand to bring the knife down into me.

"Sarah!" June yelled.

She was powering up, when I heard Raeve yelling for her to stop. He was right, she could take out more then just Cam, she could take out all of us if she wasn't careful.

I had my one hand on his wrist and one foot behind the other, driving all my strength to stop the blade from moving. With his other hand he grabbed my shirt at my chest bone and picked me up slamming me into the wall.

"I'm gonna stick you like I sticked your boyfriend." He said through gritted teeth.

I smiled at him. "You sure about that?"

His eyes told me he was confused. Suddenly an arm came from behind him wrapping him up in a choke hold, and pulling him away. His grip on me released and I fell to the ground.

Cam took his elbow and hit the person in the gut which got him free from his hold. He quickly turned around to see Rowen standing before him, drenched in his own blood.

"What the fuck? I fucking killed you!" Yelled Cam

"Ya.....you did." He replied. He was going to kill him............and I was going to let him.

Cam lunged at him with the knife again. Rowen was able to twist his body to the side avoiding the blade while grabbing and twisting Cam's wrist to disarm the knife. I looked over to June and she was focusing on Rowen. She had a field on him.

If only Cam knew, this was a losing fight.

Rowen took his arm and twisted him over his back, resulting in Cam slamming down on his back. Rowen hung on to his arm and put his put to his throat, applying pressure as to crush his wind pipe.

Just a few more seconds, and he was gone. Suddenly a flash of images came rolling in my head, as if his block was released.

"Wait!!" Rowen let go and looked at me with Cam gasping for air.

I was still on my knees while the images came flooding in. He and Anja..........were working together!

I could see when she approached him. He was her target and she manipulated him into working with her. She chose him because she knew how to block me from accessing his thoughts. He was her middle man. But there was to many empty spaces, meaning she had additional information that I couldn't access.

I got up. "Rowen! pick him up off the floor, we need to ask him a few questions."

"Sarah." Said June. "Your bleeding."

I looked down to see my shirt soaked in blood. I lifted my shirt up to see that my cut had reopened. I was so caught up in the moment I forgot June hadn't even known, and the look on her face reminded me of so.

"We will take him in." Raeve interjected. "You two should go get cleaned up. Another hour won't kill anyone." He looked to Rowen. "Right!?"

Rowen looked at me, and his chest was still moving at an incredible pace. He was still worked up over the whole thing, so I walked over to him and took his hand.

"Com'on, he's no longer a threat." His breathing began to calm down as soon as I had taken his hand. "I could use your help cleaning up, and you could use a shower."

I lead him to his room, where I knew there would be a first aid kit to help dress my wound. I walked us in and headed straight to the shower and turned it on for him.

"Here, get undressed and hop in. I'll grab you some clothes while you wash up."

"We should take a look at your cut first." He suggested.

"We can wait. Your covered in blood at the moment."

He looked at his hands and shook his head in agreement. He turned around taking off his shirt and stripped the rest of his clothes while in the shower. In the mean time I was looking for the first aid kit and a set of clothes.

•~ June, how's it going on your end? •~

•~ We have him in another room. Do you want to explain to me why you stopped Rowen from killing his ass? •~ She asked.

•~ I'll explain everything when I get there. Rowens just cleaning himself up now, and he just has to take a look at me then we will be on our way •~

•~ Sarah..she paused...That laceration on your stomach.....a.....are you okay? •~

•~ I'm okay now June, thank you for being there for me •~

•~ Of course...your like a sister to me•~ She said.

"Sarah?" Rowen called over to me from the bathroom. He had stepped out all freshened up and wearing only a towel.

•~ Holy hell •~

•~ What!...what is it? •~ June replied.

Shit.....I wasn't supposed to say that.

•~ Oh nothing all is fine...bye now•~

"Ya?" I answered Rowen.

"My clothes?" He said as he pointed to them on the bed.

"Oh...ya...sorry." I walked them over to him, and he took them from my hand. As he grabbed them, his other hand quickly grabbed mine. I couldn't help but look at the new scars that laced his body, courtesy of Cam.

"How is it that you ended up going one on one with him?" He asked while looking at my hand.

"Oh...umm..I sensed something wrong, and when I tried to talk to you, there was no reply. I was on my way to check up on you, and that's when Cam was heading in my direction." I told him.

"He could have killed you." He said.

"June would have never let that happen." I told him. "She wouldn't have let it happen to you either. She had a field on you."

"Well that's comforting." He smiled. He kept playing with my hand, and his hands were almost twice the size of mine. Oh god, this was not the time to get all flustered.

"Your arm is all better." I said trying to redirect my attention.

"Ya.. He managed to do one thing right. When he killed me I came back reset, so now it's just another scar on this body." He paused. "I....I don't know what I would have done if he hurt you."

"I do." He looked at me confused. "You would have killed him, and it's a good thing I stopped you."

"Why did you?" He asked.

I was looking at my hand in his. "I found our leak."

"You did!? Who was it?" He asked shocked.

"Kipsky's wife Anja, and when Cam's life was fading his block came down, and it looks like they were working together. That's why I stopped you."

I looked up to him. "She's our psycho?" He asked.

"At first I wasn't sure. She's convincing there's no doubt about that, but when Cam's block came down, her face jumped into my mind. She seems to be the mastermind and he's her pawn."

"However I'm not sure why and how they were communicating. I dont think he was contacting The Dominion, she was. And I wont know because its all in her head, unless I can get her to talk. In fact we should be heading there right now." I pulled away to walk in that direction, but he kept a hold on my hand.

"Not just yet. I need you to lay down so I can take a look at you. Over on the bed please. I'll just quickly get dressed." He told me.

I went over has he instructed and waited till he came back from getting dressed. He then grabbed the first aid kit and sat next to me on the bed.

"Just relax." He said.

I laid there as he slowly slid my shirt up to my breast line. He grabbed some gauze from the kit and applied it to my wound.

He was inspecting it, and was being extra careful as in not to hurt me.

"It looks like the scabbing was torn off so I'm just going to tape it shut again and we will put a padded bandage on it."

"Okay." He put the tape on each side of the cut, and pulled the two sides together closing the small gap that opened, then applied the bandages.

Once he was finished, he stood up and helped me up to my feet.

"All good?" I asked.

"All good." He replied.

"Okay, we best be getting back. It's midnight which means we have 10 days till they hit home base."

"What are you going to do?" He asked as we started heading back.

"I'm going to have a little chat with our psycho."

......................

●10●

We made our way back to the security office where everyone was waiting. June and Raeve were standing outside the room that held Cam and Jay and Bogie kept an eye on Anja through the two way mirror.

I filled everyone in as to what happened and why we had to spare Cam.

"Bogie, did you find anything in their room that would allow them to communicate discretely?" I asked.

"No....nothing." He replied.

"Hmm. Perhaps check in Cams things, his work station...everything."

"Okay, I'll go take a look." And with that he left.

I took a deep breath. "Time to have a little chat."

I first went into the room holding Cam. I had to get as much information as possible before I even tackled the next room with Anja. She was guilty, that much I was certain, but why and how. We also needed to know how much intel she sent them.

I entered the room. He was bound to the chair with his hands behind his back.

"Hello lover." I said as I sat down. He was in rough shape but he had a menacing grin on his face.

"Why? Why did you do it?" I asked him.

He chuckled. "You stupid bitch. Just try and get it out of me, I dare you."

I tried to read his thoughts but it seems as though he was able to put his block up again. I had to bluff my way out of this one.

"Oh but honey........I already know about your little secret......with Anja." His expression changed. He was silent for a change. "All I need to know is why?"

"Pff, go fuck yourself Sarah, you aren't getting anything from me." He said gritting through his teeth.

I sighed. "Very well then." I got up and left the room shutting off the light.

"June your up." I looked to her as she closed her eyes and set them a glow. She had Raeve teleport her into the dark room leaving her there alone. What Cam would have seen next was a pair of glowing eyes standing in the corner of the room. It wasn't too much longer till we heard his screams.

•~ Remember, I just need you to weaken him, not kill him•~ I reminded her.

•~ It's a shame really•~ She replied.

After a few minutes she came out of the room, with Cam sobbing in the background.

"Thank you." I said as we exchanged looks, and I headed back in.

I didn't bother sitting down, as soon as I walked in the room images starting flooding my head again.

I searched through them to see where it all began. I started from Project Midnight. I could see flashes of us together during our happy days. The days before I knew his true self.

I was manipulated into thinking he cared for me, into thinking he loved me, but I was just his property. My self esteem was so low, what I thought was love, was just a facade. I grew angry learning the truth. I gave myself to him in everyway and I fell for the devil.

I kept going through the images. She didn't waste time at all approaching him. It was only weeks after Project Midnight went down when she approached him.

She gave him everything he wanted. Flattery, understanding you name it, she knew how to play the game. She gave him purpose and slightly made him feel in control, which was what he wanted at all times.

I can see it now. When he started showing his true colours. She was able to wiggle her nose in and was trying to sever the tie between us. When I started getting more confident, his jealousy was overtaking him, and she had to take control. I saw as the images of the two together passed through my mind. She gave herself to him to seal the deal. Or to get him in line. That's when she had him under her spell.

She's a master manipulator, and she was pulling the strings.

She was able to get information about home base from him during leisurely conversations. Abouts it's location, range, depth you name it, she got it. He was to pig headed to see through it. She made him think she wanted him and he fell for it.

Fast forward to when she ended up leaving with Kipsky to Lingham. He was supposed to stay at home base but he ended up coming a couple months later. Why?

I watched as he went stir crazy in his unit. I was gone and so was she. His possessive nature took over and he needed us back in his sights. The further and further I dug in the more I realised he had no idea he was being used.

In the end, he became a victim of his own game.

Suddenly I threw myself back against the wall as he started filling my head with screams. My hands held up to my head. I yelled for a brief moment to get myself together and looked up to him. He had a smile on his face. I stood up straight and casually walked over to him taking my fist to his face.

"Sare!" Rowen yelled.

I pulled away and looked down to him now on the floor. He still had a smug grin on his face.......so I removed it when I took my boot to it, knocking him out.

I rubbed my temples as the scream in my head fell silent. Rowen was now standing in front of me with his hands on my head looking me over.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"I am now." I looked back over to Cam.

"Did you get anything?" He asked.

"I got what I could from him, the rest is up to her." I looked back to see Kipsky in the door way. It looked as if Rowen had filled him in on everything.

"You ok?" He asked calmly. He looked at my hand that was stained with Cam's blood.

I looked down at it. "Ya.....are you?" I asked him.

He just learned that his wife was behind the Delta attack, and set home base as their next target. But there was no question as to what side he was on.

Ours.

I approached him. "I'm gonna need you for this next part." He nodded.