by Tara Shuler
felt a giant fissure erupt in my heart as I watched
Alexi let his father go. I knew they hadn’t been
close recently, but I believed they were many
years earlier. It was devastating for me to watch,
and I could only guess how Alexi and Liam must
have felt.
Alexi slowly got to his feet, and then he took
my hand and helped me up. I brushed the dust
away from my knees, and then I paused to touch
Alexi’s cheek.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
His hand wrapped around my wrist, and he
kissed my palm.
“Alright, where to first?” Alexi asked.
“We should check upstairs,” I suggested.
“There may be some new members who are
frightened and hiding.”
“Good idea,” Liam said. “You may be right.”
We searched every room, but they were all
empty. Then we searched the training classrooms,
the library, and the dining hall. No one was left
alive.
“We need to get out of here,” Alexi said to
Liam. “I have a feeling they’ll be back looking
for her.”
“You’re right,” Liam agreed. “We’ll have to
get her away from here quickly.”
“Let’s go get Kai and Max,” I said.
“Liam, go wake them,” Alexi said. “I’m going
to get her out to the car.”
Liam nodded, and ran to find Kai and Max.
Alexi ushered me out the door, but we weren’t
prepared for what we saw. The Guardian was
crushed flat and rested on its top with the wheels
dangling haphazardly in different directions.
“What are we going to do?” I whispered.
“Back inside, quickly,” he snapped, looking
around frantically.
We rushed back inside and slammed the door,
and we met Liam, Kai, and Max as they were
heading out to the car.
“Change of plans,” Alexi stated. “Car is
totaled.”
“Damn!” Liam snapped. “Helicopter?”
“That’s what I’m thinking, but it’s a long way
out there,” Alexi said.
“Right, and we’d be sitting ducks the whole
way,” Liam lamented. “There’s nothing between
here and there but the Council House, and once
we pass that, there’s nowhere to go.”
“I don’t think we have a choice,” I
commented.
“I agree,” Kai said. “We can’t stay here.”
“Definitely not,” Max added.
“It’s the best shot we’ve got, Alexi,” Liam
said.
“Alright, we’ll have to make a run for it,”
Alexi declared. “We don’t know where they are,
or if they’re coming back. For all we know, they
could be out there waiting for us right now.”
“We need a strategy,” Liam said.
“We need to form a barrier around her,” Kai
said. “Make it harder for them to get to her.”
“That won’t work” Alexi said. “They could
just put us to sleep.”
“Or gas you,” I pointed out mournfully.
“It would be difficult for their gas to be
effective outdoors,” Liam said. “It would
dissipate quickly without an enclosed area. But
they may have other magic we don’t know
about.”
“Can’t we just go back into the bunker?” Max
suggested.
“Again, we’d be sitting ducks. They could
figure out a way in, or wait and try to starve us
out. There’s only enough food in there for a few
weeks at most,” Alexi asserted.
“Maybe someone would come for us before
then,” Kai said.
“That’s a big risk to take,” Alexi argued. “At
least right now we know what the situation is on
this side of the bunker door. If we went back in,
that would no longer be true.”
“Alexi’s right,” Liam admitted. “I don’t think
we have any other option.”
Alexi suddenly looked fragile and helpless.
His lips were parted as if we wanted to say
something, but his shoulders slouched forward in
defeat. I only wished I could look into his violet
eyes, which I knew would speak volumes that he
could not. Alas, his cloak hid them perfectly –
deep within the shadows of its hood.
“I… I don’t know what to do,” Alexi
admitted, throwing his hands helplessly into the
air.
“Let’s just go,” I suggested.
“Alice, if anything happens to you…” Alexi
started to say.
“It won’t,” I tried to reassure him.
“But if it did…”
“It won’t,” I repeated.
“I could never forgive myself,” he whispered.
“Nor could I,” Kai said.
“Me, either,” Max added.
Even Liam nodded in agreement.
“Look,” I said. “We have no other choice. We
have to get out of here. We can’t worry about
‘what ifs’. The sooner we go, the less chance
there is for them to come back. So we can either
stand around here bickering about it, or we can
make a run for it.”
“Yes, you’re right, of course,” Alexi said.
“The longer we wait, the likelier it is we won’t
make it.”
“Then let’s stop standing around and just go,”
I insisted.
“Alright, I’m in front,” Alexi ordered. “Liam,
you walk behind her. Kai and Max on either side.
Follow me, and stick together. Never more than
two feet from Alice. Got it?”
Everyone agreed, and we headed outside. As
soon as we walked out the door, I got hit with a
chilling breeze, but I noticed no one else seemed
affected by it. I paused, and everyone else
automatically stopped with me.
“Alice, what’s wrong?” Alexi asked quickly.
“They’re here,” I whispered.
“How do you know?” Alexi questioned.
“I feel them,” I said.
“Should we go back to the bunker?” Liam
suggested. “While we’re still close enough to
make it?”
“No, we have to get out of here,” I insisted.
“Trust me.”
“We trust you, Alice,” Alexi said.
We followed Alexi as a group, sticking
closely together as he’d suggested. We headed
around the Council House and spilled out into
the large, grassy field behind it. I felt a knot
growing in the pit of my stomach, and I shivered.
“They’re close,” I whispered.
I felt the group instinctively press in closer to
me, and we moved as one. We were approaching
the middle of the field, and I could see the
helipad in the distance. We were getting so close.
Suddenly, I heard a vague whirling whisper. I
recognized it. It was the combined voices of
several wraiths speaking somewhere nearby.
“Alexi!” I gasped. “I hear them!”
“Stay close,” Alexi barked to everyone. “Pay
attention!”
We moved a l
ittle closer to the helipad, and in
a flash, we were surrounded. Wraiths – more
than a dozen. They formed a tight perimeter
around us, and slowly began closing in. I could
hear their whispery voices, carried on the
mysterious wind that swirled around me, but
touched no one else.
“Wraiths!” I gasped. “At least a dozen, maybe
more.”
The knot in my stomach swelled until I felt
like my belly would burst. It pushed up into my
throat, and threatened to make me sick. I couldn’t
stand the thought of something happening to any
of them – gentle Kai, protective Max, caring
Liam, and Alexi – dear Alexi. I couldn’t allow it.
“There’s nothing we can do,” Liam said. “We
can’t hurt them if we can’t see them.”
“I see them,” I reminded him. “They’re closing
in slowly.”
Then I saw it – the white, dense fog rolled in
toward us. Despite the openness of the setting,
they were attempting to gas us. Everyone I loved
outside my family was about to die. The thick
fog slowly crept closer, and the circle of wraiths
stopped and waited, watching in anticipation.
They thought they’d already won.
“No…” I whispered.
My pulse raced, and my throat ached. My body
began to tremble, and I saw the familiar blurry
red of haze begin to cloud my vision. I shook so
violently my teeth chattered, and I clenched my
jaw to silence them. My hands balled into fists,
and my eyes narrowed.
I felt the wind pick up, but this time it was
affecting everyone else, too. The sky began to
darken, and the wind began to howl ferociously,
whipping my hair wildly and causing it to sting
the skin on my face and neck. Lightning streaked
across the sky, and thunder rumbled ominously. I
saw the wraiths back off ever so slightly, and
their ghostly voices seemed to grow anxious.
The fog still continued to inch closer. It was
only a few feet away, now, and I could see a
vision in my mind of all my loved ones slumping
to the ground, surrounded by the dusty aftermath.
“No!” I shouted!
My skin began to burn as though I were on
fire, and a low snarl escaped my lips. I had to get
that fog away from them. I concentrated with all
the focus I could muster, and I imagined the fog
being pushed away by the wind.
“Alice…”
I
heard Alexi
whisper
in
wonderment.
I heard a wild roar somewhere above my head,
and I looked upward. A black, swirling vortex
slowly descended from the clouds. I lifted my
hands, and it conformed to their shape. I pulled
my hands downward, and the vortex closed
around us, forming a wall between the wraiths
and us.
I pushed outward, and the vortex flew out like
a shockwave. The fog dissipated immediately,
and the wraiths were blown back several hundred
feet. This was our chance.
“Run!” I shouted, and the group immediately
complied.
We raced toward the helicopter, the wraiths
now following closely on our heels. I felt several
hands on me, touching me protectively as they
tried to shield me. Alexi reached the helicopter
first, and he threw open the door.
“Alice, get in!” he shouted.
I jumped in, and the others quickly followed.
“So who can fly this thing?” Kai asked.
“I’ve logged a few hours of practice time,”
Liam said.
“Then you’re flying,” Alexi agreed.
Liam hopped into the pilot’s seat and flipped
some switches. In a moment, the helicopter
blades slowly began to roar to life. Over our
heads, I heard them begin to whoosh-whoosh-
whoosh. The whooshing got louder, and the
tempo increased. I saw the wraiths just a few
yards away.
“Hurry, Liam!” I shouted over the combined
noise of the storm and the blades. “They’re right
outside!”
“Hold on!” Liam yelled, and the helicopter
began to lift.
The wraiths were just outside.
“They’re here!” I shouted over the deafening
roar. “I can’t blow them away, or I could crash
the helicopter!”
The bulky machine lifted off the ground just
as they reached the helipad, and they stood and
watched solemnly as we flew higher and higher
above their heads. As I began to calm down, the
blood red haze slowly faded from my field of
vision, and the clouds broke away. The sun
peeked through the darkness, and the wind
calmed.
“Alice, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Alexi
said in amazement. “I’ve never even heard of
anything like it. How did you do that?”
“I honestly don’t know,” I admitted. “I just
knew I couldn’t let them hurt any of you.”
“I see now why Father often spoke of her
importance,” Liam told Alexi. “She is truly
unique. We’ve never had a more powerful
Elder.”
“Elder?” I gasped. “But I…”
“We’re the only Elders left, now,” Alexi said,
referring to himself, Liam, and me. “The only
ones in this area, anyway.”
It was a huge burden. I didn’t even know
exactly what the Elders’ jobs entailed, and now I
was one of them. My head spun as I tried to
absorb the gravity of the situation.
“I’ll think about that later,” I insisted. “For
now, we have to worry about Dmitri’s next
move. He’s not going to give up so easily.”
“That’s true,” Alexi agreed. “Once the wraiths
report back to him with what you’ve done today,
he’ll be even more determined than ever before.
He’ll never give up, now.”
Alexi frowned, his mouth turning downward.
“I’m going to take us to Thaddeus’
compound,” Liam said. “It’s the closest one, and
I don’t think we have time to make it anywhere
else.”
“That’s the first place they’ll look,” Alexi
argued.
“We don’t have a choice,” Liam said. “There’s
not enough fuel to make it elsewhere.”
“Radio ahead, and let them know we’re
coming,” Alexi barked. “Tell them to have a car
waiting for us.”
“I’m on it,” Liam said, picking up the radio
handset.
“What are we going to do?” Kai worried.
I clenched my teeth, and narrowed my eyes. I
was fed up with running. I was fed up with
people trying to hurt those I held so dear. And I
was fed up with being the victim.
“We’re going to take the fight to him,” I said
determinedly.
*****
*****
Book three in the Blood Haze series is due to
be released in the summer of 2011.
*****