Runaway

by Alycia Linwood

  An eternity later, we were outside, breathing in the fresh air and running away from the building. My father had somehow managed to send everyone home without a fuss because there were only the usual guards around and no press. Everything looked like a normal day at the lab. I dialed Paula's number as Adrian and I hid among the cars in the parking lot.

  "Oh my God, please tell me this isn't your last call." Paula choked back a sob.

  "No, my parents let us go, but we need a car. I don't trust them not to go after us." I peered around the front of one car, looking for an unusual activity. Guards or agents could be here any moment in their special suits.

  "Can you go through the woods and wait by the road? I can come in five minutes."

  "Yeah. Are you in your room?"

  "Yes, why?" I heard the rustling of papers.

  "Go to my room and grab my stuff. I left my keycard in the hall behind the plant on the left." I didn't really care about my clothes, but I didn't want to lose the necklace Adrian had given me. Hopefully, no one would be guarding the room since they thought I wouldn't go anywhere near it. "Is Michael gone?"

  "He's coming with me. See you soon." She ended the call before I could complain. If Michael wanted to come, I definitely wasn't in the position to forbid him to do so, but all the negative feelings all four of us had for each other could be a huge problem in Paula's small car.

  "I don't think they will follow us," Adrian said, not moving his eyes from the building. "Not so soon, anyway."

  "Yeah, well, I still can't believe we're alive." I felt the beginning of a headache as the elements in the building started forming various images in my mind. Adrian caught me in his arms before I staggered, quieting the buzzing in my head.

  "Are you ok?" he asked as he helped me stand straight again.

  "Whatever you do, don't let go of me." Something was definitely off with me, but we didn't have time to ponder on that. Adrian seemed to understand what I was thinking and simply nodded.

  It wasn't hard to spot Paula's car, so Adrian and I ran out from the bushes we were hiding in and got in the back seat. Paula glanced at us, looking relieved, and stepped on the gas. Michael's mouth was set in a straight line as he observed us in the rearview mirror.

  "So, where are we going?" Paula kept her eyes on the road, breaking the uneasy silence.

  "I have no idea." I pressed myself closer to Adrian, grateful that I couldn't feel Michael's and Paula's elements. "We definitely can't go anywhere my parents could find us."

  "Just drive and get us far away from here," Adrian said, his voice calm, but I could tell he was anxious to reach the safety, even though I had no idea where we could find that.

  "Does anyone have a phone I could borrow?" I asked. If my parents hadn't been tracking or listening to my calls before, now was the perfect time to start, and I needed a safe line to contact Oliver. I believed my brother was the only one who could help me when it came to finding a safe place. After all, he'd been running for years.

  "Take mine," Michael said, giving me his phone over his shoulder before Paula could say anything.

  "Thanks. I need to call my brother." I took the phone, nearly dropping it when I saw the background was an old image of Michael and me smiling like idiots in love. Adrian tensed next to me and I squeezed his hand in a warning.

  "Can you check if this line is compromised?" I said as soon as Oliver answered. I wasn't about to give any information against us to anyone who might be listening.

  "It's safe, sis," Oliver said a minute or two later. "What have you gotten yourself into now?"

  "It's a long story, but I'm on the run from our parents." I briefly told him what had happened at the lab.

  He whistled. "You never cease to amaze me, sis. Congratulations, you've ruined the family to the end. Good job."

  "Oliver," I said, exasperated.

  "Do you realize they won't let you go just like that? They are probably working with techs right as we speak to make sure no news stations accept any videos about you and that you can't post anything online. Even if you managed to do it, they'd claim it was fake or some silly joke, because you're alive and nothing has happened at the lab."

  "I wasn't planning to use the video anyway. We made a deal and I'll respect it."

  "Fine, but you can't stay with Adrian. The press is extra interested in you because of that speech. They'll want to know everything about your life with Michael. If they see you with a magic disease carrier, it will be a disaster of gigantic proportions. And that is something Dad will never forgive you."

  "Don't think I don't know that," I said, annoyed. "Dad needs me alive as long as he's doing that research. He'd lose tons of support if people believed he was just playing with our elements. This way they know he's serious. And if they see me with Adrian... he'll no longer need me. I'm not about to put a target on my head, but something happened in the lab and... Adrian and I can't separate right now. That's why I need you to tell me where I should go. Unless you want to babysit me by yourself."

  "Oh, God, what did you do? No, wait, don't tell me. I don't want to know." He paused and I heard the distinct sound of typing. Maybe he'd come up with something. "I can get you a house in Earthwind."

  "Earthwind?" I glanced around me to see if anyone recognized the name and didn't get a response. "Umm, where is that?"

  "Far enough." Oliver chuckled, and I wanted to deck him.

  "Oliver!" My voice sounded like a low growl.

  "You're no fun, sis. It's across the country, near the Mexican border."

  "And you think no one will find us there?" I hoped I sounded as skeptical as I felt.

  "Oh, you'll see when you get there," he said cheerfully.

  "Right," I said dryly. "I suppose we should change the car somewhere on the way." Paula's hands tightened on the steering wheel, but she didn't say anything.

  "Yes. I'll call this number as soon as I find you a car. You'll also need new phones. All of you."

  "Ok. Thanks." My brother ended the call before I could say anything else. I put the phone into my pocket, looking in Michael's direction. "He'll call me later. We'll have to get rid of everything that could be used to track us."

  "My mom is freaking out," Paula said. "I can't really disappear off of the face of the earth. She'll report me missing or worse. I'll need to contact my parents somehow."

  "My parents are worried too," Michael added. "They think I started hanging out with the wrong people and that I'm in serious trouble." Well, that would sum it up perfectly.

  "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to drag you into all of this," I said. "When my brother gets the car, we should split up and you can go back to your lives."

  "Uh huh, no way," Paula said. "I'm on the brink of discovering something and I can't do that without you. I only wanted to say that I couldn't stop contacting my parents, not that I had to let them know where exactly I am. They'll trust me if I tell them I'm doing some scientific business and that I'm too busy to come to visit."

  "My brother could find a safe line for us, I guess." I shrugged, even though she couldn't see it. "If you really want to stay...."

  "Of course I do. Trying to research what I want is impossible. I don't want to torture someone to do my experiments, and I certainly don't want to participate in hiding crucial facts from people," she said, a hint of anger in her voice. "Besides, I heard you mentioned that something had happened in the lab, so I want the details. I'll find a cure even if all the governments of the world oppose me."

  I couldn't help but smile at her dedication. "I know, and I'll gladly be your guinea pig."

  "Great." A ghost of a smile traced her lips.

  "What about you, Michael?" The last thing I wanted was for him to be unhappy, but it was his choice and I'd accept it no matter what.

  "I won't back down now," he said. "I'll come up with something for my parents. I want to be there when we discover something major. You heard how quickly people could forget something they believed into with passion, so the same
can be done with magic disease."

  "How revolutionary of us." I laughed, my eyes watering. "We're trying to change the world." It sounded incredibly silly, yet I believed we could really do something. Not so long ago, I hadn't cared what happened to the world at all.

  "I know, right. We sound like idiots." Paula grinned. "But it's better to be idiots with a dream than idiots who blindly accept things how they are presented to them."

  "Oh, God, you're all making me sick with this banter." Adrian sighed. I hit him lightly on the shoulder, shaking my head. As I traced my fingers down his arm, my eyes fell on the burnt skin of his wrist, making me gasp.

  "Adrian! You said it was fine," I exclaimed, surprised to see that the wound looked even redder than before.

  Michael looked over his shoulder, surprise written all over his face. "You should put something on that. It can get infected."

  "It's fine," Adrian said, but that didn't convince me.

  "I have a first aid kit under my seat," Paula said. I looked down and had to unclasp my seat belt to be able to reach the small red and white box. It took me a moment to wrap up Adrian's wrist as gently as possible. My fingers lingered on his arm, and he smiled at me. I pulled back, suddenly embarrassed, and leaned my head on his shoulder, looking away from his breathtaking eyes. Michael and Paula definitely shouldn't see us cuddling or something.

  Michael's phone rang a few hours later, startling us. An unknown number flashed on the screen, so Michael nodded at me to answer.

  "Yes?" I said, hoping it was only my brother.

  "Sis," Oliver said. "I'll text you the address where you have to be in two hours. Use GPS to get a few miles away, then send Paula to meet a guy named Toby. He's a friend of mine and he'll get you everything you need. The rest of you should stay out of view."

  "Why Paula?" I let suspicion show in my voice.

  "Because, dear sister, she's very easy on the eyes and Toby wants to meet in public. That's why you can't go."

  "I'm not letting her meet a psycho," I said through my teeth. God knew where he met this guy. Oliver's friends couldn't exactly be normal, right?

  "He's not a psycho. He's just... a little bit off. But don't worry. She'll be safe. It's not like he could do something with everyone looking."

  "A bit off? And we trust this guy not to tell anyone about us? Wow, that's smart."

  "He won't tell anyone. He's terribly afraid of the government and spies," Oliver said. "Actually, he's afraid of everyone. The only reason he'll do anything I tell him to is because I saved his life."

  "Huh. And how did you do that?"

  "Remember how I told you I'd escaped from the lab? Well, he escaped during the chaos too." He sighed. "Look, we don't have time for this. Everything will be fine. He won't talk."

  "What? He's a magic disease carrier? And you'd send Paula?" I was upset. How could he even think I'd let Paula go alone to meet with an unstable person who could kill her for her element?

  "No, he's not. He's just a guy without an element who got blamed for having the disease." He seemed to be telling the truth, but how the hell was I supposed to know for sure? I bit my lip, wondering what to do. The guy wanted to meet in a public place, which was a tad difficult for a magic disease carrier, so I supposed Oliver wasn't trying to trick me.

  "Fine," I said, but let my voice show I wasn't entirely happy with his plan.

  "Great." Oliver hung up on me. The phone beeped and I passed it to Michael.

  "Here's the address," I said. "We have to stop a bit farther away and, Paula, you'll meet my brother's friend, Toby."

  "I can do that," Paula said.

  "I'll go with you." Michael tucked the phone into his pocket.

  "No, you can't," I said. Michael turned his head and gave me an unfriendly look. "The guy's... umm, very paranoid. He could freak out and not show up if he sees you."

  "Awesome," Michael said, rolling his eyes.

  "We'll be waiting for you here. Just make sure no one is following you," I said to Paula after we went for God knows what time over the plan how to get what we needed to continue our trip. We'd stopped the car in the driveway of an abandoned house outside the town because the overgrown grass and corn field was perfectly hiding us from view.

  "I'll be fine," Paula said reassuringly. "I know how to take care of myself."

  "Yeah, you do." I smiled. She hugged me briefly, waved to Michael and started walking down the road. We'd estimated it would take her a quarter of an hour to get to the town, an hour to meet with Toby and buy some clothes and shoes for Adrian, and around a quarter of an hour to get back here. I slowly turned around, not too thrilled that I had to spend all that time with my ex and my... Wait, what exactly was Adrian to me? I still wasn't ready to deal with that. He didn't tell me he loved me or anything. Oh God, the time should totally hurry up.

  The front door of the car was wide open, and Adrian was sitting inside, messing with the radio. Michael stood at a safe distance, looking at the grass like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Yeah, our little company was like a bomb ready to explode at any moment. I was afraid to even breathe. A loud gothic metal song started playing and Adrian got out of the car, a smile on his face, not bothered at all that there was sharp gravel under his bare feet.

  "Come." He leaned on the hood of the car, looking at me seductively under his dark eyelashes. I shook my head, fully aware that Michael's attention was concentrated on us. Couldn't Adrian see how life-threatening this situation was? We were lucky Michael didn't try to kill us both or turn us in to my father, but Adrian was either insensitive or he still wanted to show off in front of Michael. But even Michael's patience and self-control had boundaries, and I wasn't about to let Adrian push them.

  Adrian tilted his head, observing me curiously and waving me to come over. That gesture made me roll my eyes. What did he think? That just because I'd risked everything to save him I'd do anything he wanted me to? Oh wait, ruining my entire life to get him out of the lab did sound pathetic, but I wasn't about to let him do to me what he did to other girls. When he saw I wasn't moving, he dropped his hand and shyly smiled at me, his black hair falling into his eyes. Oh, God, couldn't I just go to him and not think of it as his way to show he had power over me?

  I lifted my hand, extending my middle finger in his direction, a big grin on my face. It was his time to roll his eyes at me. My throat suddenly felt dry and I had to walk away from Michael and Adrian. I wasn't sure how smart it was to leave the two of them alone, but I promised myself I wouldn't go far. As I waded through the grass, I tried to get an image of a clear, refreshing stream out of my mind.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see something moving in the grass. I ignored it until I heard a low hissing sound. My scream pierced the silence when I saw a snake slithering on the ground. I didn't have time to think, so I found my element inside of me and directed the heat to the ground. But instead of a small fire, I was blinded by a strong light. I could feel the heat and wind on my face, and I wasn't sure how to stop them.

  "Ria!" Adrian grabbed me from behind, tightly wrapping his arms around me and pulling me back. When I could see again, I realized I'd made a much bigger fire than I'd intended and it was spreading fast, consuming the grass with the help of a mini tornado. Michael was beside us, dousing the flames with water, but it wasn't enough. The fire just kept spreading and spreading.

  "What happened?" Adrian's lips brushed my ear, and I had a feeling he'd been asking that for a while.

  "I... I saw a snake." I was still trembling from whatever that I'd done with my element, or better said, my elements. I couldn't have done that only with one element. Adrian laughed, taking me back to the car. The wind was actually pushing the fire in the opposite direction, but I hoped Paula would come soon.

  "How big was the snake?" Adrian seemed amused by the whole situation. Michael came running to us, a concerned expression on his face.

  "We'll have to call the firefighters," Michael said. "I can't extinguish
it by myself. It's spreading too fast."

  "Oh God, are there more houses nearby?" I didn't know what I would do if my messed up elements caused someone's death.

  "No, I haven't seen anything for miles, but it's already spreading, so... How did you do that?" Michael reached for his phone.

  "I'm not sure," I said. Michael was just about to make a call when ice started forming all over the phone. He cursed, dropping the phone, and glared at Adrian.

  "What is wrong with you?" Michael yelled.

  "They'll track the damn phone and get right here! We can't call anyone until Paula gets back," Adrian said.

  "You could have told me that, you son of a bitch!" Michael's green eyes blazed with fury. Adrian just shrugged, which only infuriated Michael more.

  "Ok, stop! Paula should be here any minute anyway." I really, really hoped I was right. "Adrian, stop being an ass."

  "And what if it's too late then?" Michael picked up his phone, which was completely soaked. Somehow I didn't think it was waterproof.

  "Someone else will report it," Adrian said. I looked up at him.

  "And what if it's not someone's house nearby? What if it's a lab full of magic disease carriers? Would you care what happens then?" I had realized that he didn't care much about ordinary people, but he was extra protective of magic disease carriers. It actually made sense. Normal people were the reason magic disease carriers were treated so badly. Adrian flinched, his lips parting in surprise.

  "It's not. There's nothing here," he finally said, uncertainty showing in his eyes.

  "Michael," I said, "can you maybe walk to the road, stop a car and ask them to call the firefighters?" It was the best thing we could do without risking someone recognizing Adrian or me, or tracking Michael's phone.

  "I can try." He broke into a run, the gravel crunching under his feet.

  "They could still be tracking the phone even if he isn't calling anyone," Adrian said.

  "I know, but when I called my brother, they weren't doing it. If he calls someone now, they'll have it recorded even if they aren't tracking anything." I leaned closer to Adrian, too afraid to leave his side for even a second because I didn't trust myself not to misuse my elements again. "Maybe no one will think Michael could be with us. I mean, they know I ran away with you, so there's no reason for Michael to stick around."