by Kim Cormack
Kayn explained, “I got them to touch each other and then I drained all of their energy and used it to overpower the spelled chains. I ripped the lock off the storage container and opened the door first then I ripped all of their chains off the walls, and removed their cuffs.
Mel piped in, “And then we pulled all of them outside into the sand.”
Molly was seated between her and Grey in the front of the car and she glanced over and smiled at Grey silently thanking him for not telling the others how recklessly she’d behaved earlier. He winked at her as everyone else piled into the back of the car. It was already bloody sweltering outside. They were packed like sardines in the back and they desperately needed that current of air from the open windows so Grey started the car and they peeled away. Lexy smiled, wondering if Tiberius had come to yet. She was looking forward to bumping into him again just so she could witness first-hand the fury of his reaction to being buried in the buff. She glanced into the back as Kayn and Frost began to argue about that kiss from Kevin and Lexy smiled. She’d stay right out of this one it sounded far too much like the fights she’d been having with Grey over Tiberius. She tried to tune them out for a while and she’d almost done it when Grey started to chuckle. Her Handler was finding the whole situation rather entertaining.
Grey teased, “I’m a little disappointed that you’re not wearing superhero underwear today.”
What was he talking about now? Lexy peered back at Kayn and she had been kidnapped wearing a tank top and underwear. Lexy grinned because she’d learned that lesson long ago but inevitably she still ended up naked on occasion. She’d been lucky. It was more than that…she knew her internal warning system was much stronger than most of the others. She was usually given plenty of warning if she chose to listen to it. The tires rattled over the road that the wind had covered with a thin layer of sand and small pebbles. When they picked up speed it sounded like someone was shaking a rattle full of sand.
Kayn tapped Molly on the shoulder and said, “I’m glad you’re still with us.”
Molly smiled as she glanced back at Kayn and answered, “I’m glad I’m still with you guys too.”
Melody reached forward and squeezed Molly’s shoulder and added, “That was a close one.”
Lily flipped her damp ebony hair over one shoulder as she added, “It was too close. She’s only sixteen. We have to keep her until she’s eighteen. I talked to my father. Their group might have to stay close to us for a while. They have another teenage boy named Dean. So we already have three and this never happens. They are going to pass them off to us and then shadow us as our back up.”
Lexy smiled at Molly, but didn’t say anything. She was glad they hadn’t lost this one but they would at some point. They couldn’t spend two years running with her, when they had other jobs to do, and training for the next batch of newbies. At a certain point it had to be all about forming a bond between the new members of clan Ankh so they’d have a fighting chance to survive the Testing. The odds of keeping her until her eighteenth birthday were not very high and if she was taken by another clan too close to the Testing it would throw everyone else off.
Lexy was brought out of her own thoughts and back to the conversation the others were having as Kayn asked, “How old is Dean?”
Lily turned around, and her raven mane whipped around wildly in the wind from the open windows as she responded, “He’s almost eighteen, and by almost, I mean his birthday is either today or tomorrow.”
This Dean kid was almost officially clan Ankh. Lexy glanced at the tiny doll-like features of the girl sitting next to her and wished she was the one that was theirs. She looked much younger than the rest of them did. Molly was sixteen but she looked like she was only thirteen at best. The scenery changed and all of a sudden the monotony of the desert became scenic canyons of clay by the side of the road. This also reminded her of the in-between. It wasn’t that long ago that she’d been training Kayn, Zach and Melody to stand back up after plummeting off of a cliff similar to this one. The trio had come a long way since then and she was proud to say, they’d exceeded all of her expectations.
Zach tapped Grey on the shoulder and mimicked a small child on a family vacation as he teased, “Are we there yet?” Greydon swung his arm in the back seat and Zach ducked out of the way.
Grey scowled as he hissed, “I will pull this car over, maim you, and leave you incapacitated by the side of the road as an afternoon snack for the buzzards.”
They all started to laugh and Lexy’s stomach cramped. She could be hungry. They’d skipped breakfast. She looked at Grey and he kept glancing in the rearview mirror, interested in the drama that was unfolding in the backseat. Eyes on the road, Greydon.
Lexy’s stomach twisted into a tight knot once again and she glanced out of the window. They appeared to be all good, but they were on a winding canyon road with treacherously sharp corners. Molly was sitting between her and Grey. Her Handler’s thoughts were indeed sidetracked but he appeared to be concentrating on the road. Was it hunger or a warning? Lexy made sure she had her seatbelt on just in case and could tell that everyone in the front seat had theirs on but the back seat would be a shit show if they crashed because they were sitting on each other’s laps. She shrugged it off because they were immortal and nothing was as big a deal when you knew your death wasn’t a permanent state. They hit another straight stretch and Lexy decided that it must have been hunger pains because everything appeared to be fine. She closed her eyes for a minute and just listened to the humming rattling of the tires but there would be no possible way to take a nap with the stimulation of the drama that was unfolding between Frost and Kayn in the backseat. She smirked and glanced over at Grey, as the wind tussled his hair. He winked at her, grinned and then peered into the rearview mirror. They were definitely a distraction. They’d been arguing and flirting since they’d gotten into the car. Lexy was just about to say something when Frost whispered, “Don’t be mad. I was just jealous, that’s all.”
Kayn whispered back, “Forget about it. I was shocked to see him, and I was frustrated and angry. I’m sorry. I took it out on you.”
Grey turned around and teased, “Awe, is everybody friends now?” Lexy stomach cramped and she doubled over. When she looked up Trinity was driving directly at them at full speed. Crap! Glory from Trinity was the driver and she had this enormous shit eating grin on her face. Karma was such a bitch. Lexy braced herself with an excited grin on her face as the car load of Trinity smoked them dead on with a loud crash; their car lurched, spun around and flew into the barrier. Yup, they were going over the frigging cliff. It was far too late to yell at them to put their seat belts on as the second impact tossed the vehicle over the side of the cliff.
Molly cried out, “We’re going to die!”
Everyone in the car grinned. The newbie didn’t get it yet. Death wasn’t permanent, but yes, it was going to suck. The first impact with the cliff tore the back passenger side door off. Kayn grabbed for Molly’s arm and only had the opportunity to squeezed it for a split second before being launched out of the torn off door, when the vehicle flipped and smashed again. Lexy tried to brace herself on the dash, knowing there was likely to be a couple of hard impacts before the big one at the bottom. On the second hit both of her arms snapped and glass from the windows flew everywhere. As the car plummeted towards the bottom of the ravine she only had one thought. Please, let there be no fire. On impact her neck snapped and then there was nothing...
Lexy heard the sound of whispering voices, they seemed to be coming from a distance and the voices were followed by the humming sound of a car’s engine but she couldn’t open her eyes. Lexy passed out again and when she awoke her head was hot and pounding. She opened her eyes, they felt like they were on fire and her vision was blurry. Everything was still spinning, as her brain fought to restore her equilibrium. Lexy managed to shift her heated torso a bit so she could get a good look at the backseat. She was instantly relieved to see how many bodies had r
emained inside of the car’s compacted interior. The frames of older vehicles definitely held up better than most of the newer models. She’d been in a rather humorous amount of car crashes in her time for this was the number one way the clans took each other out. It was a simple effective way to render a large group of clan utterly useless so you could capture a new recruit. Hell, she’d done it last night to Tiberius. Karma could always be counted on to serve you exactly what you deserved. She tried to move just her fingers and her ears began to ring. Well, there was a bright side…at least Trinity hadn’t buried them six feet under in the desert. Lexy struggled to move her limbs again and nothing would budge. She grinned; her arms were riga-mortise stiff. Had she died? Sometimes she couldn’t tell. Lexy knew the drill, if she waited until her ears stopped ringing, she’d have better luck operating her limbs. Once she was able to focus properly and the sound had dulled to a muffled hum, Lexy noted that everyone was in the car except for Molly, Melody and Kayn. Shit happens…they must have been tossed out. Her mind brought her back to the voices she’d heard while coming too and the sound of the engine. Molly had been taken. She stretched, cracked her neck and cleared her throat. When she’d been critically wounded her healing ability always worked by order of operations. Usually her head, neck and torso were repaired quickly. Everything would be mended long before she could move her limbs. Man, Trinity was organized they must have had a car waiting at the bottom of the ravine. Lexy felt the heat travel down her arms and she knew that it would only be moments before she’d be completely healed. She undid her seat belt and reached over to Grey, when she gave him a poke, his body slumped towards her with his eyes wide open. Well, he was definitely dead. She could see now that both of his legs were crushed under the compacted dash. Lovely. Lexy got out of the car, knowing she was going to need back up from Melody on this one. The vehicle was absolutely demolished. Melody’s body was easy to find; it was lying right beside the wreckage.
Melody opened her eyes, cleared her throat and comically quipped, “Well, that sucked.”
Lexy grinned at her fellow Healer and replied,” You get used to it.” She looked down at the other Healer and added, “Grey’s dead and he’s crushed under the dash. I’m going to go and get him out. Start healing the others when you’re ready.” Lexy wandered around to the driver’s side, gripped the structurally compromised door, yanked it off and tossed it aside. Grey’s legs were disgustingly morbid looking shreds of meat under the twisted metal. Shit, that had to hurt. With any luck he died before it happened. She braced herself with one arm on the seat and one on the dash and easily freed his legs. Just as Lexy placed her hands against his chest she noticed Melody struggling to get up. There was a lot of healing to do, they could use Kayn. This was going to be a big job. Kayn had been thrown out of a torn off door right out the gate so she was probably up the ravine somewhere. First things first. Lexy strolled over and helped Melody up.
A man’s voice yelled from the top of the ravine, “Do you need me to call for some help?”
When they looked towards the sound of the voice they saw Kayn precariously perched half way up the ravine on a ledge. How were they going to explain this one away? Shit, they might have to kill a ‘Good Samaritan.’
Kayn yelled, “It’s okay. We’re filming a crash for a small independent film, everyone’s fine.”
Oh, Brighton was good. Lexy sarcastically hollered up, “It’s just dummies in the car, they’re fixable.”
The flustered man hollered back, “That scared the crap out of me. It sure looked real.”
Lexy grinned; she’d just referred to everyone left in the car as just dummies.
Kayn hollered, “Thank you for coming to help.”
They had no movie equipment, not a damn thing. What did he think they were filming a movie with… their minds? The Good Samaritan didn’t even question it he just waved at them and went on his merry way. They waited until they heard the echo of his tires before attempting to speak.
Lexy bellowed up the hill, “Molly’s gone.”
Kayn yelled back, “Dead?”
Lexy shouted, “She’s gone. They took her.”
Melody was visibly upset. Lexy looked at her and said, “She’ll be alright. She’s with Trinity. We have lots of time to get her back.”
They both climbed into the wreckage and started to heal the others. They were all alive except for Grey. She wasn’t at all worried about him because he was enjoying a well-deserved vacation in the in-between. He was probably sitting there in a meadow twiddling his thumbs, or perhaps he was sipping one of those icy drinks while lying on the beach, waiting patiently for her to wake up and get her shit together, so she could heal him. To heal someone from death took about four times the energy of a normal job so they healed him last. She heard Kayn’s landing. She must have jumped and managed to stop herself before she hit the bottom. Lexy smiled, because there was no way Kayn could have known that she could do that in the real world, she’d taken a chance.
In a couple of minutes, they were all healed and awake and standing as a group in the sweltering sun’s rays at the bottom of a ravine in the desert, without transportation, or Molly.
Kayn asked “Was that Triad?”
Lily shook her head and replied, “No, that was Trinity. Glory was driving the car. She’s hard to miss.”
Lexy looked up at the size of the ridge they’d have to scale. It was possible and that’s all she needed was the vague possibility in order to make this the plan.
Lily held up her cell phone and laughed, “I was all excited for about five seconds because I still had my cell phone, but then I remembered that Triad took our batteries.”
Grey snatched it out of her hand, took off the back and laughed aloud, “That’s so evil. I guess we should be thankful they left you guys the phones. We need to go. Let’s get out of here before another ‘Good Samaritan’ shows up to help.”
Lexy smiled in her heart and with her eyes without showing it on her lips. Good Samaritan. They used so many of the same expressions.
Frost was leaning against the hood of the trashed beater, aimlessly picking away at the rust and peeling paint. He chuckled, “Go where? We’re at the bottom of a ravine in the stifling heat. There’s nowhere to go, but up. We’ll have to scale the side. I don’t know about you, but I’m sure not in any hurry to climb up there in this sweltering heat.”
Lily bent down picked up a pebble and pitched it at the side of the demolished car. It tinged off of the metal an inch from Frost’s leg. He scowled at her and stood up. She sighed, “You’re such a baby sometimes.” Lily took one of her earrings out of her ear and stabbed it into the palm of her hand and sighed, “Now quit being a whiner and climb. We’re supposed to meet up with the others, better to scale the side of that now than when you’re dehydrated.”
Now Lexy couldn’t help it she was smiling until her cheeks hurt. They’d just gone over a cliff, if that hadn’t signalled Markus and the others an earring stuck into the palm of Lily’s hand definitely wasn’t going to do a damn thing. It was then that the thought popped into her head…What if those supernatural proof chains also blocked their distress calls? That would explain it all. That was probably why they hadn’t known the others were in trouble. Lexy wandered around, taking a good look to see if they were anywhere obvious. Kayn had them last. She peered into the back of the heap and there they were in the storage netting on the back of the driver’s seat. Lexy pitched them as far away as she could and they landed quite a distance from the group. Maybe their marks worked like a missed text?
Lexy strolled over to the side of the ravine. There were little ridges in the stone that went almost all the way to the top. This climb was going to blow. She touched the stone, stared at the feat before her and said, “I can climb it.”
Kayn nodded at her and wandered over to the annihilated car. Lexy followed her over there knowing she’d probably also seen the one area that they wouldn’t be able to scale without creating their own steps. They bot
h grabbed an area of raised metal on what was left of the trunk and yarded it open, revealing its contents. Amazingly enough there was a roadside assistance kit. Lexy opened it, finding a tire iron. That might be useful. Kayn opened what appeared to be a tool box. Perfect! Inside of it there were various sizes of screw drivers, wrenches and even some large thick metal nails. Lexy began to tuck various metal objects into her jeans. Zach had been searching the back seat and in the netting on the back of the passenger side he found a hammer and passed it to Lexy. Where was Grey? Lexy peered up from what she was doing and saw her tender hearted Handler chatting with Melody. He was probably trying to make her feel better about losing Molly.
Kayn glanced at her and said, “I’ve got more than enough energy to drive those spikes into the side of that ravine.”
She could see Kayn’s raised veins and agitated state. She couldn’t be the one in charge of anything, not until she got her ability related urges under control. Fun fact about predators; they could always sense their own and Kayn’s, ‘I’d like to absorb all of your abilities’ bell was ringing loud and clear. Lexy smiled at her and responded, “That’s why I’m going first. If you’re ability operates like mine, the more you burn off the more you’ll need.”
Lexy climbed until she couldn’t find anywhere to grip onto anymore and she hammered the first steps into the side of the ravine. She could hear Kayn, she was right behind her. She heard a commotion but had to remain pressed against the side or she’d fall. She couldn’t look. It sounded like Kayn had slipped.
Lexy called out, “Are you alright?”
Kayn answered, “I’m fine. These nails are getting a bit slick. They’ll be too hot to hold onto soon. They’ll need to wrap their hands in some kind of material to climb it.”