The 8ight: Desperate Hour. Maxine Boone's McClendon
The 8ight:
Desperate Hour
Maxine Kia McClendon
The 8ight: Desperate Hour
Copyright © 2012 McClendon Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0871-2
Dedication
This book is dedicated to all of those who read the first book, loved it, and are reading the second book.
Thank you for buying it and helping it become something bigger than I thought it would be.
Thank you for making my dream a reality.
Thank you for supporting me.
I will never forget those who were there to cheer me on and those who believed in me more than I know even now.
This book is especially dedicated to my mother for not only giving me life, but for making sure it is filled with more love and happiness than I thought possible.
Now turn the page and get started!!
Acknowledgements
This book would not have been possible if not for the influence of the following people:
Company Policy
Facility 003A: Level 8
The Company was not pleased in the least. None of the gathered officials had been in Facility 536A when it self-destructed three days ago, but some very important people had. All of their experiments, both failed and successful, had been lost. At least the important people, those high in power and authority, had escaped the facility.
Or so they believed.
They never thought they would have another destruction of a facility, not since Dr. Rao and his costly betrayal, but there they were, viewing the footage of stampeding, panicked personnel and perusing the damage reports while waiting on at least two more people.
The door to the conference room opened. Shannon stormed in with Dr. Ivo and his staff in tow. Five Blink! dogs tromped by their sides as guards and a few men in black brought up the rear. The scientists’ heads were all bowed, their fear quite evident. Shannon stepped to the side, watching Dr. Ivo with hateful eyes while everyone else’s attention turned toward the towering man dressed impeccably in white at the head of the conference.
“Where’s Claire,” asked the man in white, his steely voice causing the muttered discussions throughout the room to cease immediately. “Where is my sister?”
Shannon met his gaze evenly and began her report. “Dr. Ivo and his staff had the eight specimens in the lab with a bomb. It blew up and caused the self-destruct sequence to be initiated. Sifting through the wreckage, we were able to confirm that the specimens were destroyed all because of this fool right here,” she spat, striking Dr. Ivo solidly across the face with the back of her hand.
“And Claire?” the man in white asked yet again as he walked slowly towards her.
“A body was not recovered, but enough of her blood and genetic material was scattered throughout the wreckage for it to be clear she was killed in the blast. From the footage we were able to piece together, it seems as if she was overcome by the specimens and blown apart. She’s dead Kyle,” Shannon answered, placing her hand soothingly on his arm as he stopped before her looking down on the cowering Dr. Ivo.
“Sorry to say but she deserved it,” Shannon continued with a smirk. “She insisted on - ulp!” her voice was cut off as Kyle’s powerful hand wrapped around her throat and lifted her into the air.
“You dare find happiness in my sister’s death?” he snarled.
His eyes flashed red and Shannon’s skin split in dozens of places. She screamed in pain and writhed in his grasp. More slashes appeared on her body, as if an invisible assailant was attacking her with a knife, peeling her skin. She struggled to break free, but his grip only tightened as her blood splashed onto his white suit. Desperate, her eyes flashed red as she tapped into her own power, erasing the last 15 seconds by sending herself back into time.
“And Claire?” the man in white asked yet again as he slowly walked towards her.
Not a drop of blood showed on his immaculate suit, and there was barely a gray strand of hair on his head from using his powers, but his lips quirked as he recalled what had just happened. She knew she needed to temper her dislike of Claire when dealing with Kyle. Shannon shook her head briefly, her body still reeling from the remembered pain of having her flesh split open. She brushed her new gray hairs out of her face and pointed to Dr. Ivo, who was still cowering on the floor.
“Ask him,” she replied. “His actions led directly to her death.”
Soft murmurs arose in the room. The gathered heads of the Company, about ten in all, were talking with one another in hushed, quiet tones. They kept glancing at Dr. Ivo, and then back to Kyle’s face, which grew even more impassive. His eyes searched Shannon’s before slowly traveling over to Dr. Ivo and his staff.
“Dr. Ivo, am I to understand that your actions are directly responsible for the destruction of our most successful experiments in the history of the Company? Are you the reason my beloved sister is dead?” Kyle asked slowly, the coldness in his voice and eyes dangerous.
Dr. Ivo kept his head bowed and his eyes downcast in an attempt to appear respectful, “N-n-n-no, sir. I-”
Shannon smacked him, the rings on the fingers of her left hand gouging his cheek deeply. The force of the blow drove him to his knees.
“Speak properly or we’ll just cut out your tongue!” she snarled.
Dr. Ivo’s body began to tremble slightly. He looked everywhere but at Kyle’s face. He cleared his throat and willed up enough courage to start over.
“Claire was going to have the specimens terminated on the first day of the New Year,” he said. “She said the scientists assigned to study them, which was us, would also be killed if we failed to find the secret to stopping the aging process.”
Everybody turned to watch Kyle’s face. He kneeled down and gripped Dr. Ivo by the chin, forcing his gaze upwards. Both men stared into each other’s eyes, Kyle searching for unsaid words and Ivo trying not to show how much he wanted to plead for mercy. Dr. Ivo began to nervously wring his hands and his eyes darted from side to side, vainly looking