Current

by Rian Harper

  “Now tell him to move away from Everett.” I nod in Declan’s direction where he sat at Everett’s feet.

  “You’re done making demands. He’ll stay right there.” A bead of sweat started rolling down the side of Cade’s face. The fire was blazing hotter and hotter next to us, which was apparent to me now that we didn’t have a protective layer of energy between us and the inferno.

  I didn’t relish feeling like sitting ducks out in the open with no protection whatsoever. The only thing the shifters had to do was morph quickly and attack, catching us off guard, killing us all. As I thought about what I could do in that moment to maybe prepare an offensive without Cade knowing what I was doing, Jasmine elbowed me in the ribcage. I followed her eye line as it rested on Everett. Through the glow of the fire and the early morning light that was now filtering across the mountain range, I could faintly see his chest rising and falling slowly. He was somehow still alive.

  I let out a sigh of relief as I turned my attention back to Cade, who was still standing in front of me, motionless. I couldn’t tell if he was just waiting for me to be the first to say something, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. I kept my head straight, staring into his eyes, willing him to break the tension between us. I was so fixated on his face and what he was thinking that I didn’t notice Emma and Jasmine toppling to the ground until I felt the power that was laced within me leave abruptly. As I looked to my left at Emma lying on the ground motionless, I felt a sting in the back of my neck. Instinctively, I reached up and pulled a sharp piece of metal with yellow feathers glued to the end of it out of my skin.

  The dart fell from my fingers as I lost all control of the muscles in my body and crumpled to the ground like a marionette with no puppeteer. My vision went blurry, but I could still make out Cade’s shape as he walked in front of my eye line. I landed on something soft, which triggered a familiar sensation down my spine. I was lying across Emma and now that we were touching again, her power was flowing through me. I concentrated as much as I could so that I could grasp the power and send it flowing throughout my body, hoping it would burn the toxins from my blood stream.

  My eyesight cleared slowly. I couldn’t believe it was working. I wanted to move, but I didn’t want to alert the shifters to the fact that the sedative coursing through my system was diminishing rapidly. I could see all three of them off to the side of the blazing fire in a semicircle conversing with a fourth figure. No doubt the mysterious person was the one that delivered the toxin to us via a dart gun. The fact that there was an unnamed and currently unidentifiable member of their clan was unsettling. There was no telling how many people they worked with, or who these people were. We could trust no one.

  I was feeling normal again, with no discernable side effects from the dart. As I lie there, still trying to identify the fourth person in front of me, another idea came to mind. What if I could do for Emma, Jasmine, and Everett what I had just done for myself? What if I could burn the sedative from their systems as well? It was worth trying at least. I saw the yellow-tailed dart Emma had been pierced with still protruding from her right shoulder. I plucked it out and while trying to hold perfectly still, I concentrated on Emma’s energy within me and made it flow out through my chest, which was in contact with her arm. After a few minutes her eyes fluttered open. Before she could speak, I quickly placed my hand over her mouth. The more she awakened, the wider they became. I mouthed the words slowly to her. DON’T MOVE.

  She trusted me implicitly and obeyed without hesitation. I imagine she heard the faint conversation the shifters and the enigmatic fourth person were having, which made it easier for her to be inclined not to move. I could only pick up on every tenth word or so, which made understanding what they were saying quite impossible. I took my hand off of Emma’s mouth once I knew she was aware of what was happening and started reaching toward Jasmine. I shifted as slowly as a sloth goes between branches, hoping I would continue to go unnoticed, so that I could be nearer to Jasmine when she awakened.

  Placing my hand over her mouth, I sent a calm stream of electric power through her, which made her body jerk and tremble as if she were having a seizure. I had to stop so as not to draw attention to us. The little that I could get through her helped, as was evident when Jasmine started moving slightly. She placed her hand on her head, then sat up slowly. There was nothing I could do to stop her as she let out a groggy whine. The shifters all turned their heads at once when they heard the noise, while the fourth person ran off to the other side of the house. The only thing I could make out was that it was a man that was wearing glasses. Eerily, the shifters eyes reflected the dancing flames of the cabin fire, making them look more disturbing than usual.

  There was little time to think about the most reasonable and wise thing to do in the situation as Cade, Declan, and Keenan all shifted before my eyes and started charging towards us. Leaves and dirt kicked up under their paws as their long back tails swayed slightly, keeping them balanced. I jumped to my feet, not really knowing what to do. I felt a hand wrap itself around my ankle, then a tingle flew down my spine. I built power from Emma as fast as I could, then discharged it through each of my hands. The huge arcs emanating from my fingers made contact with Declan and Cade, which stopped them in their tracks and put them to the ground as they squirmed from the pain.

  Keenan, however was still barreling toward me, and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to stop him. There wasn’t anything else I could do but break from Emma’s grasp, which stripped the electricity from my body, and dive headfirst toward Keenan. My only thought was protecting the people I had come to love, even if that meant certain death. It was interesting that only days before, they were doing the same for me.

  A bright flash of light coming from my right side temporarily blinded me as I fell face first onto the ground. I could hear the hum of electricity in the air as I blinked hard and looked away to try and regain my vision. The blackness turned to spots, then cleared altogether. I looked over at Everett sitting up now with a flow of current connecting with Keenan’s hide. I brushed as much dirt and leaves off of myself as I stood and joined the girls that were now standing behind me. Cade and Declan were lying on the ground near each other in their human forms lightly breathing, unconscious from the jolt I’d delivered them. Keenan quickly succumbed as well and shifted back.

  Everett broke the bolt of lightning as soon as Keenan reverted to his normal self, and braced himself with his arm on the ground so as not to fall over. The three of us ran over to him as I saw Cade start to stir out of the corner of my eye. Without saying anything, I reached out for Everett’s hand, and when I had a firm grasp on him, I wrapped my free hand around Jasmine’s arm. I quickly coursed with both energies and concentrated on healing the two of them. I released Jasmine and helped Everett stand.

  A noise coming from the direction of the cabin made us turn our heads in unison to look and what was happening. Cade was now standing, shaking his head vigorously as if he was trying to expel water that was stuck in his ears. He caught sight of us as he moved his jaw side to side, trying to pop his ears.

  “Run!” I shouted excitedly while pushing Everett, Emma, and Jasmine toward the forest as Cade dropped to all fours. The chase wasn’t over.

  Chapter 25

  The Beginning of the End

  The smoke from the fire was billowing out away from the cabin, mixing with the moisture in the air, making a palpable smog that we had to navigate through as we fled into the forest. I was shocked that firetrucks hadn’t shown up at the house yet with their red sirens flashing and blaring. I put all of that to the back of my mind as Emma and I ran hand-in-hand away from the intense blaze, trying to stay in close proximity to Jasmine and Everett. The dew that had collected on the fallen leaves made them slippery. We all stumbled and fell several times as our shoes failed to grip the moist foliage on the ground.

  I knew the shifters were going to be close behind, and they were going to be able to move faster tha
n we could through the terrain in their large cat iterations. Habit pulled me in the direction of the clearing with the stream running through it where Everett and I had been a few days before. I started heading in that direction until Everett, who was ahead of me moved off in the opposite way. He knew the woods better than I did, so I followed him without question.

  We were heading down the mountain now, moving faster through the trees, still being careful not to tumble headfirst off the slope. The amount of smoke around us was dwindling, which meant good news. We were distancing ourselves from the cabin, and we were able to see a little clearer as we dodged trees and huge boulders. I heard a commotion in the distance behind us, but I didn’t dare to stop and look back. It could have been one of the shifters, but it also could have been an animal bouncing through the forest.

  Everett stopped at the edge of the trees as we came to a clearing with a small body of water in the middle of it. Steam rose in tiny curls from the surface of the still water. Dawn was upon us and we could see all around now. There was a small flat-bottomed aluminum boat pulled onto the smooth stones that lined the bank of the pond resting to the left of us. Everett climbed in and motioned the rest of us to join him while he grabbed a wooden oar. Once the girls were sitting, I pushed the boat away from the shore until it was floating atop the water before I jumped in and grabbed the second oar.

  Cade burst through the tree line with Keenan and Declan hot on his heels as we paddled hurriedly away from the shoreline. He came to a sliding halt at the edge of the water, causing the rocks beneath his paws to scatter and plunk into the pond. His ears laid back on his head and he roared as he realized we were slipping away and he couldn’t follow.

  Everett and I paddled faster and faster to the other end of the pond. It wasn’t much distance, but enough for us to keep a lead on the cats. Cade and Keenan split from Declan as they run in opposite directions around the pond, which was their only way to get to us. As soon as the bow of the boat hit the shore, Everett jumped out and pulled it into the tall grass. We all departed and followed him as he ran through bushes and grass toward another mountain slope ahead of us.

  I was colder now since being out on the open water moments ago. I could see my breath appear and disappear in the chilly morning air. The toe of my shoe caught a rock that was sunken into the ground, which caused me to fall onto my chest, knocking the wind out of me. Everett and Jasmine, who were still ahead of Emma and I, didn’t notice when I tripped and fell. They kept running ahead, getting farther and farther away from us. Emma helped me to me my feet as I tried to catch my breath again.

  Emma pulled me along after her as she commenced jogging in the direction Everett and Jasmine went. Although they couldn’t have been too far ahead, we couldn’t see them anymore because of the trees and rocks that sprinkled the valley we were in.

  “Ev!” Emma yelled out as she came to a stop and looked around, trying to ascertain which direction the two of them had gone.

  I bent over and placed my hands on my knees, panting and swallowing hard. The cold air stung my lungs, making me cough as the taste of blood stuck to the back of my throat. Emma patted me urgently on the back as we heard the sound of a roar come from behind us. We sprung forward together in a flat-out run, as jogging was no longer going to suffice. The shifters were somehow still close behind us. When I turned and looked back to our rear, I managed to catch a glimpse of one of the cats as he catapult himself off of a huge boulder that we had just weaved around.

  The sounds of his paws hitting the ground grew louder and louder as he gained on Emma and me. Jasmine stepped out from behind a huge sycamore tree that was directly ahead of us. She had her arms held out in front of her as she stood poised and ready to release a shockwave.

  “Fall!” She shouted towards us before she pushed the pulse energy in our direction.

  I let my legs come out from under me and pulled Emma down with me as well, hitting the ground, barely missing the force Jasmine sent past us. I quickly picked my head up and look back as Declan shifted direction in order to avoid being pummeled by Jasmine’s shockwave. He ran off perpendicular to us, disappearing in between two pine trees.

  “Come on!” Everett appeared above us with his hands outstretched waiting for Emma and myself to grab hold. He pulled us up from the ground and started running again passed Jasmine. The rest of us followed behind.

  After a few more minutes of sprinting ahead, we reached a clearing where the grass was short and starting to turn yellow because of the recent cold temperatures. Everett paused when the trees stopped, just before the meadow began. He held is arm up indicating to the rest of us that we needed to stay behind him. We looked around for any signs of the shifters prowling the fields. I figured they knew better and were hiding, waiting for us to venture out into the open so that they could mount their ambush.

  The morning sun finally moved beyond the mountain peak and shone its warmth on us. I closed my eyes for a moment and eagerly soaked in the heat. The chill in my bones was hanging on, but the sun’s rays did make me feel slightly better. I opened my eyes when I heard a snort come from behind us. When I turned, I saw Keenan standing next to a huge magnolia tree, with his fierce contrasting green eyes staring into me. He was shortly joined by Declan, who appeared out of the forest and took stance on the opposite side of the magnolia tree.

  The four of us started retreating out into the open meadow. “What are they doing?” Jasmine said out loud what I was wondering myself.

  “Where’s Cade?” I swiveled around to look behind us in the meadow and found the answer to my question. Cade was advancing towards us from the other side of the clearing.

  Keenan and Declan moved from their posts next to the tree and started coming towards us as well, each flanking a different side. They were herding us where they wanted us, to the center of the field. I remembered watching a nature program where a pride of lions did the same thing on the Savannah. They surrounded a baby wildebeest and its mother, circling the duo to confuse the mother. Eventually they found their opening to take the young one, while the mother was distracted by one of the lionesses. It was a method that worked and worked well.

  The cats continued to walk around us, making the circle tighter and tighter until only about thirty feet separated us. They each sat down on their haunches and waited, not trying to advance any further.

  “What are they waiting for?” Jasmine growled as a tear escaped down her cheek. Her emotions were running wild due to losing the baby and her husband all within a couple of days’ time.

  A loud shot rang out suddenly, echoing off of the mountains surround the meadow, making the four of us jump and duck automatically. It was exactly the distraction the shifters needed for their next move. While we were all recoiling from the deafening and startling noise, Cade managed to knock Jasmine away from us with a quick swipe of his paw. She moved through the air like a ragdoll, eventually landing on her side nearly ten feet away from us.

  Seeing this, I threw a super-charged bolt of current toward Cade. He must have been expecting my move, since he jumped out of the way in plenty of time to avoid connecting with the painful arc. I realized that they were trying to separate me from the others so that I couldn’t defend myself. They were also much more organized than I thought they would have been. They clearly had a plan of action, whereas all we were trying to do was stay alive.

  Jasmine slowly rose from the ground, clutching the left side of her ribcage with her right hand. She pulled her hand away and I noticed a few small linear blood stains on her yellow sweater where Cade connected with his claws. I surmised that he maybe broke a few ribs when he hit her as well. She winced in pain as she tried twisting her torso to evaluate the wound. I needed to get to her to boost her healing ability. I took a step toward her, which made Declan and Keenan advance slightly and growl.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” A familiar voice warned. I looked over and saw Cade, who had shifted back to his human self, crouched down close to the g
round. He reached his arm up to the sky and another gunshot sounded off.

  Again, we all flinched from the unexpected sound. I pivoted on my heels looking in all directions trying to figure out where the shots were originating. It must have been that fourth person that appeared by the cabin, waiting somewhere in the woods with a rifle locked on us. We had heard two shots already, but no one had been struck by a bullet yet. Either the person behind the gun was a terrible aim, or he was just letting know that he was out there, ready.

  “Why doesn’t he just shoot me and get this over with already?” Emma squeezed my hand tighter as I said the words.

  Cade’s sinister smile slowly crept across his face. “Because I want to kill you myself.”

  Emma’s hand slid up my arm until it stopped and rested on the back of my neck. My body became rigid as I pulsed with electricity, which made my hands and arms start to glow. Cade shifted back into a cat as soon as he realized I was powering up for a fight

  The air crackled around me as I moved into a defensive posture. “Then what are you waiting for?” Cade growled at my words. “Come and get me.”

  Chapter 26

  Betrayal

  The hair on my arms stood on end as arcs of power danced across my body. It would take Cade a long time to come back from the shock I had built up if only I were able to hit him. He seemed to be predicting each and every one of my moves, however, and I was not confident that I could out maneuver him. I sent a large bolt of electricity streaming toward him. He was ready. He jumped out of its path, landing fairly close to where Jasmine stood.

  Jasmine quickly propelled him away from her with a pulse of energy. It wasn’t nearly as powerful as I had seen her produce. Cade didn’t even lose his footing, only sliding back in the grass a few feet, seemingly unbothered by Jasmine’s attack. I noticed her double over in pain when the power left her body.