by Tim ORourke
Chapter Twenty-Five
Kiera
I could only hear the wind howling through the nearby valleys and over the hills. My hearing wasn't as sensitive as Kayla's, but I had no reason to doubt her. I raced across the waiting room, and easing her to one side, I peered out into the darkness.
With the hairs prickling at the base of my neck, I could see a mass of dark shadows as they poured into the valley like liquid black. They moved fast, like a huge wave cascading over the hills and flooding the valley that the station sat in.
"We're in trouble," I breathed, turning away from the window and looking at the others.
"What kinda trouble?" Potter asked, his fangs, claws, and wings already out. He stood in the pale light of the waiting room, like a winged demon, his claws so big that the ivory nails swung below his knees. His eyes had turned so black that I could no longer see the pupils.
"There are lots of them, and they're heading this way - and fast," I told him, releasing my own claws, wings, and fangs. My wings hummed on either side of me, those bony black fingers snatching at the air.
"What's that?" Kayla suddenly asked, going back to the window, her wings shimmering as if sprayed with glitter.
"What's what?" Potter snapped, the tension in the waiting room rising.
Tilting her head to one side, Kayla looked back at us and said, "I can hear a train coming. "
"How far away is it?" I asked, peering over her shoulder and into the night.
"It's closer than those berserkers are," Kayla whispered, her eyes wide and full of fear.
Potter went to the door, opened it, and stepped out onto the platform. A gust of wind howled into the waiting room, blowing Kayla's red hair back from her face like an explosion of flames.
"The train is close, but so are those berserkers," Potter barked as he raced back into the waiting room. "Which of them gets here first is anyone's guess, but let's be ready. Wake the wolf-boy, Kayla. "
I looked across the waiting room at Isidor. He sat on the bench, his head low and crossbow placed across his lap. "Isidor?" I said, surprised that he wasn't standing with his wings out and crossbow at the ready. "Isidor, the Berserkers are coming. We've got to get out of here, and quick," I said, hoping this would stir him.
Then, raising his head to look at me, he said, "Kiera, I'm not coming with you. "
"Listen, kid, we don't have time to fuck about," Potter said, glancing at him, but keeping one eye on the door. "Get your shit together, we're moving out. "
"I'm not coming," Isidor said again.
The wind roared outside, and rattled the windows in their frames. A rumble of thunder boomed so loud in the distance that the waiting room shook in its foundations.
"Come on, Isidor," I pushed, "the storm is getting worse. We've got to go. "
"That wasn't the sound of the storm you just heard," Kayla gasped, "that was the Berserkers you could hear. "
I snapped my head around and looked through the open doorway. With my eyes like two narrow slits, I peered into the distance and could now see the Berserkers racing through the valley towards the station. Their howling and snarling was like a monstrous chorus, as all of them charged towards us. Knowing that we had just minutes to make our escape, I looked left and could see the headlight of a train heading out of the night towards us.
I turned to look at Isidor, who was still seated. With very little time to waste, I darted towards him and took hold of his wrist in my claws. "Get up," I snapped at him. "You're coming with us. "
"I'm staying," he said softly as he looked into my eyes.
"Say what?" Kayla gasped, as if she had only just realised that Isidor was being serious. "You can't stay. There are so many of those Berserkers. . . "
"You go," Isidor smiled kindly at his sister. "I'll stay and draw them away so you can escape. "
"No!" Kayla snapped, trying to yank him off the bench.
"Please, Kayla," Isidor said. "I want to do this. "
"I don't want you to," Kayla cried, and I could see tears beginning to stand in her eyes. "I'm not leaving without you. "
With an uncharacteristic look of concern on his face, Potter came forward, and moving Kayla aside, he looked down at Isidor and said, "Are you for fucking real?"
"I want to stay," Isidor said, looking back at him.
"Why?" Potter asked his voice now full of concern.
"You don't need me," Isidor explained. "You've got Kiera and Kiera has you. Kayla has Sam. Who do I have?"
"You have your friends," Potter said, holding out his hand for Isidor to take.
"It's not enough," Isidor said over the sound of the approaching Berserkers. "I'm tired. "
"Tired of what?" I asked, not believing what I was hearing.
"Tired of having no real place in the team," Isidor said. "I don't bring anything to the party. I never solve the mystery - I just provide the laughs - I'm Shaggy-Doo. "
Potter stared at Isidor, then flashing his fangs; he gripped Isidor by his arm and dragged him from his seat. "Like it or not, Isidor, you're coming with us. I'm not leaving here without you. "
With a wild snarl like I had never heard come from Isidor before, he pushed Potter off him and drew his crossbow. Aiming it at Potter, he hissed, "I'm not coming! Now go - all of you!"
"Isidor, please!" Kayla cried out, throwing herself at him. With her arms wrapped about his waist, she began to sob. "Please come with us. You're my brother. I love you. "
"I love you, too," Isidor whispered, tears spilling onto his cheeks. "But that's why I'm staying. I don't want to run anymore. I'll draw the Berserkers' attention so you can get away. "
"But they'll kill you," she sobbed, holding him tighter.
"I'm already dead," he whispered back. "I have been, since Melody was taken from me that day. I hoped that I would find something to fill the hole that she left inside of me - but I never have. Let me just do this one thing for the team. I'll catch you up - I promise. "
"No, that's not true," she cried against him.
"Go, Kayla," he said, easing her gently off him. "Save your friend Sam. Get him to the Fountain of Souls. You have him now; aren't I entitled to have a special friend, too?"
As if knowing that Isidor wasn't going to be persuaded to come with us, and the Berserkers just moments away, Potter stepped forward and took Kayla in his arms. Smoothing out her hair with his claws, he whispered, "Kayla, get Sam onto the platform, because when that train comes steaming through, we need to be on it. "
"I can't," she sobbed in Potter's arms.
"You have to," he whispered back, guiding her over to the bench where Sam lay.
Crying softly, Kayla scooped Sam up into her arms and carried him from the waiting room, not once looking back at her brother.
With the sound of the train roaring towards us, and the yapping and howling of the Berserkers growing ever nearer, I looked at Isidor and said, "You don't have anything to prove. You are part of our team - part of our family. "
"I have to stay and wait for Melody," Isidor said, taking the picture of them from his coat pocket again.
"But the Berserkers will kill you while you wait for her," I tried desperately to convince him.
"But don't you see?" he said holding up the picture. "The Berserkers can't kill me because this picture hasn't been taken yet. The fact that it exists says that I'm not going to die today. "
"But. . . " I started.
"I'm so tired of waiting - hoping that the moment this picture was taken comes," he said. "So maybe by waiting for the Berserkers, it will force her hand and she'll come for me. "
"Please. . . " I started again, but couldn't finish, as my lower lip trembled and tears trickled down my cheeks. I took a deep breath as I tried to steady myself, and looking at him, I said one last time, "Come with us, Isidor. "
Staring back at me, a look of determination drawn over his face, Isidor said, "Run, Kiera, or you're gonna miss your train. "
Knowing that I would
never get him to change his mind, I crossed the waiting room and held him tightly in my arms. "I love you, Isidor," I whispered and kissed him softly on his cheek. "See you later, alligator. "
"In a while, crocodile," he whispered back.
Then, letting go of him, I ran across the waiting room, snatched up the rucksacks, and ran out onto the platform.