by Tim ORourke
Chapter Six
Isidor
I'd just placed my free hand inside my coat, just to make sure my crossbow was within easy reach, when Sam threw his claws to his face and began to howl.
"Oh sweet-Jesus, help me!" he roared. "I'm burning up!" His back arched off the seat and he jerked violently forward, almost knocking Potter from his seat. The car lurched, and then stalled as the back of it skidded across the wet surface of the country road. Almost at once the night lit up in luminous flashes of blue. At first I thought it was lightning, but soon realised it wasn't, when I heard the unmistakable whoop-whoop sound of sirens behind us.
"I told you this was a stupid fucking idea!" Potter growled. "But, oh no - nobody ever listens to me," and I caught him shoot a glance in Kiera's direction.
Ignoring him, Kiera unfastened her seatbelt and looked back at me and Kayla. "Take hold of Sam," she hissed.
Kayla and I leant forward and wrapped our arms around Sam's naked shoulders. "He's so hot!" Kayla cried.
"For crying out loud, Kayla, now's not the time to start coming onto wolf-boy. . . " Potter started.
"I didn't mean it like that!" she squealed at him. "I meant he's burning up real bad back here. We need to get him some help - and fast!"
"Remember there's a couple of cops behind us," Potter shot back, as he navigated a tight bend in the road, "perhaps you could ask them. "
"Very funny," Kiera snapped at him.
"Well, you're the brains, sweet-cheeks. What do we do now?" Potter glared.
"Stop the car!" Kiera answered.
"Stop the car?" we all cried at once as Sam started to convulse between Kayla and me.
"Keep him still!" Potter roared, speeding up.
"I said, stop the car!" Kiera shouted. "We'll never outrun them, not on roads like this and not in a storm. We'll tell them our friend is feeling ill and we're rushing him to see a doctor," she explained over the whoop-whoop sound and approaching thunder.
"A vet more like," Potter shouted. "Have you seen him back there with all the hair and stuff? He looks like Captain-fucking-Caveman!"
Sam howled and began to struggle with Kayla and me as we fought to restrain him. "Captain Caveman?" I asked aloud.
"Don't you dare!" Potter roared back at me, struggling to keep control of the speeding car. "I'm not in the mood!"
"He's the guy with the big red, white, and blue shield. . . " I started.
"Right, that's it! I can't bear it any longer!" Potter barked and slammed his foot down onto the brake.
There was a hissing sound as the wheels skidded to a stop on the wet road. We all flew forward in our seats, and Sam released a deafening howl. The car had only just stopped spinning when there was a bone-shaking crunch as the police car that was pursuing us smashed into the side of the car. We tail-spun out of control, and I gripped Potter's headrest with my free hand to steady myself. The world seemed to tumble out of control and it was only when my head smashed into the roof of the car that I realised we had lifted off the road and were cartwheeling through the air. Glass sprayed into the car, and I lowered my head to stop it from cutting my face and gouging my eyes out. Over the sound of crumpling metal and the thunder, I heard both Kiera and Kayla scream. Then, the world fell silent.
I opened my eyes to find myself hanging half in and half out of the back window of the car. My back was propped across the boot and my head hung down covering the number plate. I could smell petrol and it was so strong, it was suffocating. My sense of smell was greater than most, and it was at times like this I wished I couldn't smell at all. There was a squawking sound, and at first I couldn't figure out what it was. Looking at the world from upside down, I could see the police car lying on its roof, or was it the right way up? I felt so disorientated that I couldn't be sure. But the noise was coming from the broken sirens that hung from wires attached to the police car. Rain bounced up off the road and splashed my upturned face. It felt ice cold, like I was being repeatedly slapped. Stirring me from my stupor, the rain ran into my hair, and I shook my head to one side to stop it from dripping into my eyes. Then, a sudden thought took hold of me. Where were the others and were they okay?
"Kayla?" I called out, and it sounded more like a groan. Sliding from the boot of the car, I rolled into the road to find myself kneeling in muddy puddles. On my hands and knees, I scrambled alongside the overturned car and peered into the windows. Overhead, the sound of thunder boomed, and the whole world felt as if it were being rocked - pushed. There was a hideous cracking sound, which was closely followed by a flash of lightning that streaked across the sky. It was so bright, that just for a fraction of a second, the night turned into day. Then it was dark again, and I was struggling to see into the beat-up car. With my eyes screwed up tight, I wiped the rain from my face and could see Kayla lying face-down in the foot well between the front and back seats. Sam lay horizontally between the two front seats, looking as if he was impaled on the gearstick. On my hands and knees, I worked my way forwards and could see Kiera pressed against the cracked windscreen. Her face was turned towards me, but her eyes were closed. She looked as if she were asleep - she looked beautiful. But where was Potter? I couldn't see him.
Then there was another tearing sound, and at first, I thought it was lightning again, but there was no flash this time. I looked up to see Potter hovering above the car, his wings spread wide. They flapped in the roaring wind, sounding like sheets being buffeted about on a washing line. With one claw, he cut open the car as if he were slicing through a sheet of paper. Sparks flew up into the air as he worked quickly to remove the side of it.
"Look what you did," I shouted over the sound of the storm that was now turning wilder and fiercer with each passing second.
Raising his claws in the air, Potter said, "Cut through most things these will. "
"I'm not talking about your claws!" I yelled at him. "I'm talking about what you did to us. You crashed the car. You could've killed us!"
"We're dead already," he shot back at me. "What was it the Elders called us? Dead Angels?"
"Why do you always have to be such an arrogant. . . " I started.
"And why do you have to be so dumb. . . ?"
"I'm not dumb," I shouted back at him.
"So it's all an act then?" Potter yelled down at me, as he tossed the sheet of metal that he held in his hands into a nearby field.
But before I could say anything, I could see Kayla stirring in the foot well of the car. Leaping forward, I took her up in my arms and carried her to the side of the road. "Kayla?" I said, standing under the branches of a nearby tree that stretched out over the road.
"Sam?" she whispered, her eyes flickering open.
"It's me, Isidor," I told her.
"Where's Sam?" she asked, and I felt a knot of pain in my stomach as Kayla seemed more concerned for Sam than me. I was her brother. Telling myself not to be so dumb, as she could see that I was okay, I set her down on her feet and went back to the car for Sam.
Potter swooped down, plucked Kiera up into his arms, and carried her to where I had left Kayla. Leaning into the hole that Potter had ripped down the side of the car, I gripped hold of Sam's shoulders. His skin still felt hot, and he made a whimpering sound in the back of his throat like a dog that had been beat by its master.
"You're gonna be okay," I told him, as I pulled him from the car. Jeez, he was heavy. Throwing him over my shoulder, I made my way across the rain-swept road. Then, as I was heading for the trees where Kayla swayed on her feet and Potter was shaking Kiera awake, I felt Sam lift his head from my shoulder and sniff the air. He made another whimpering sound, which without warning, turned into a ferocious growl.
"Isidor, watch your back!" someone shouted as I was knocked to the ground.