Unleashed By The Shifter

by Juniper Hart

His head snapped back and he rolled off the car, but the thing he’d thrown inside started beeping.

  “Get it out!” Adrianna yelled, trying to grab the little orb. It bounced over to Cara, who grabbed it and chunked it out the window. It sailed through the air for a moment before landing under the tank’s fearsome treads. It blew up a second later. The tank bucked wildly, but was otherwise unaffected. “Born to be Wild” missed a beat before getting back on rhythm.

  “Eddy, get us out of here!” Reuben yelled.

  A motorcycle came up beside him and shot him with one of the blue bullets. He snarled in pain and anger, and pushed open the door into the guy. At the speed they were going, the goblin lost control and slammed into a ‘keep left’ sign.

  “What do you think I’m trying to do?” Eddy yelled back. “They’re everywhere!”

  To Cara, everything was in slow motion. She’d heard that in times of extreme stress and danger, people saw things in a slower time frame. She hadn’t ever believed it. She’d always just assumed it was a common myth like alligators living in the sewers: fun, but completely wrong. She learned on that car ride that it was no myth. She felt strangely alive and excited and even calm. She knew it was crazy. She was not a soldier, unlike all of the other people in the car, but she supposed her adrenaline had simply kicked in.

  It was in slow motion that she saw Eddy get shot.

  Again, the blue bullet hit square on. Eddy didn’t have the incredible strength and stamina that Adrianna or Reuben had. He was, near as Cara could tell, a human that had powers. He jolted around before slumping. The car’s wheel started to spin wildly, but they weren’t slowing down.

  Reuben grabbed the wheel and slammed the goblin into a large truck. He then tried to either get Eddy to wake up or pull his foot off the gas so they didn’t keep accelerating towards the traffic that was trying to get out of the way. He accomplished neither goal.

  “His foot’s stuck!” Reuben shouted. “I can’t get him free!”

  Cara wasn’t sure what got into her, but she jumped between the front seats to land on top of Eddy. She was the only one of them that could actually fit between him and the steering wheel. Her thighs were pressed up against the wheel, but she took charge of the vehicle and swerved to keep them from going off the interstate onto the smaller roads below.

  Reuben kept tugging on Eddy’s foot, trying to get it unstuck. Cara couldn’t see what Adrianna was doing, but she could hear gunshots. Cara was panicking so much that she didn’t quite register the fact that she was driving a getaway car from a hoard of goblins that apparently wanted a reward on her head for angering a vampire clan.

  That was one to put on the resume list, right next to “computer science major” and “eight years of writing experience.”

  She tried to remember how famous drivers did it. They had to have some sort of easy steps to follow, right? Do this, then this, and you’ll be fine. Then again, she reminded herself, professional drivers get a nice oval space to drive around in. They didn’t have to worry about hitting people just trying to get to work in the morning.

  As she veered to avoid a car, something boomed and the back half of their vehicle shot up in the air before crashing down, sending the remains of the windows into the seats.

  “What was that?” she yelped.

  “The tank is shooting at us!” Adrianna told her. “Get off the damn road!”

  If only it were that easy. People on the interstate could hear the chase coming and were pulling off to the sides of the road to let the chase go right through the middle. Whether they planned it that way or if that was just how it worked out, Cara didn’t know. What she did know is that it completely blocked their little group from getting off at any of the exits.

  Finally, she saw one that was half unblocked. She shot towards it while the tank fired off a couple more shots at them. Each one made the car swerve and pushed Cara’s heart further into her throat, but she zoomed towards the small hole as fast as she could.

  Fifty feet… Twenty… Ten… Five… One.

  She hit the sides of the cars on both sides, but other than scratched paint and a horrid screeching sound as the doors lost part of themselves, they were through and they were okay.

  The tank, meanwhile, attempted to follow them, misjudged, and plowed through the guardrail. The driver attempted to correct, but it was too late.

  Watching a tank fall off an elevated interstate highway was unlike anything Cara had ever seen. It kept playing “Born to be Wild” as it fell.

  Boom.

  It didn’t explode, which made Cara somehow disappointed. It just hit the ground like a huge boulder instead of an intricate machine. Whatever was inside was unconscious at best, but was most likely dead from the impact.

  “Oh my God!” Cara yelled. “Reuben, get his foot off the pedal!”

  Driving on the interstate full speed in a very fast sports car was one of the scariest moments in Cara’s twenty-eight years of life, but a close second was trying to drive it on the side roads. There was less traffic, sure, but there were also more stop lights. More than once they barely managed to avoid getting creamed by unknowing traffic.

  They saw the lights of a police car once. That was it. The cops stood no chance against Eddy’s car, as they were gone almost before they showed up.

  Finally, Reuben managed to untangle Eddy’s foot from the pedal. They came to a stop on a dusty road by what they could only assume was a series of huge old farms.

  “Is he okay?” Adrianna asked Reuben as he checked Eddy’s pulse.

  “He seems okay,” Reuben replied. “He’s breathing. I think he’s just unconscious.”

  They sat in the steaming hot car for a second. The right door randomly snapped off and clattered to the floor. Adrianna sat in the backseat, holding her gun and wincing from where they had shot her with the electrical bullets. Cara just sat on Eddy’s lap, hands still tightly gripping the wheel and staring straight ahead at nothing.

  Reuben sighed. “Long day,” he muttered. “Long damn day.”

  Chapter 5

  Everyone sat still for a moment, trying to come to terms with what had just happened. Reuben was the first one up. He tried to open the back door, but it was jammed. He clenched, turning his muscles into a hard knot of sinew, and ripped the door off. He let it clatter to the ground.

  Adrianna got out first, but Reuben looked straight past her to Cara. He helped her out of the destroyed car, searching her body with his warm eyes. He kissed her on the lips passionately before bringing her into a hard hug. It was lovely, but he was trembling from the fear of potentially losing her.

  Adrianna grabbed the weapons box and, after a moment of thought, picked out four smaller handguns and handed one to Cara and two to Reuben. Cara clambered out of the driver’s seat and instantly felt sore. She hadn’t thought about it, but her entire body had been clenched the entire drive from stress. To relax was almost painful.

  Reuben dug Eddy’s unconscious body out of the car and tossed him over his shoulder.

  They stood outside the car’s hulking remains, trying to decide what to do next. Reuben and Adrianna talked about something, debating their options. Cara wasn’t listening. Cara was thinking. Or at least she was trying to. The adrenaline still pumping through her veins was making it hard to concentrate. They’d all nearly died trying to get away from goblins. Surprisingly, Adrianna had helped. Eddy had been unconscious, and based on how Reuben was standing with a dazed expression, he had been close to being knocked out as well. It was by sheer miracle that Cara had managed to drive them to safety.

  What would happen when they went to the guy who hired the goblins?

  What would happen when they paid Ezekiel a visit?

  The very idea made Cara even more nervous, which is all it took to push her over the top. She stumbled off the road and puked her guts out.

  “Oh, that’s just disgusting,” Adrianna said. “Hey, quit that! It’s gross!”

  Cara didn’t understand why Adri
anna was still there. She had the gun. The only reason Reuben was armed was because she’d handed him a weapon. If she’d been smart, she would have realized that she had all the power. Eddy couldn’t stop her from taking them hostage right then and neither could Reuben. But the idea had either not occurred to Adrianna, or it had occurred to her and she had just ignored it. Either way, Cara didn’t care. They were mostly safe. Eddy would probably recover.

  Hopefully anyway.

  Thus began the latest adventure in trying to escape from the police. They’d done it many times already, after retreating from hotel after hotel. But in that moment, they were not so lucky. They heard sirens about five minutes after they had come to a stop.

  “Uh-oh,” Adrianna said aptly. “That is not good.”

  They couldn’t see the police yet, but they could hear them coming. Cara wasn’t an expert, but she’d be willing to bet they were a couple miles away and closing in fast. Not too fast though. The dirt road they’d gotten off on would rip the engine out of any car speeding along it that managed to get unlucky and hit a pothole. But they were moving quickly enough and definitely faster than their little gang could run. They could go onto one of the farms, but that wasn’t a good plan. A farmer might shoot them, and the police would eventually find them in the fields. Cara wasn’t sure what they’d do, but she hadn’t expected what they actually did.

  Reuben stopped running and put Eddy down.

  “Eddy.” He gently slapped Eddy’s face.

  Eddy wasn’t quite back yet, but he was starting to get there. His eyes were open and he appeared to be seeing things, but Cara wasn’t sure he was really seeing them.

  “Eddy, wake up. You’re not done yet. We need you.”

  Eddy slumped forward before Reuben caught him. He moaned and held his head up with a groan. “What happened? Where are we?” His eyes widened. “Are those sirens?”

  “Yes, and the rest doesn’t matter. Put up an invisibility shield now.”

  “I can’t do that,” Eddy said with a slow blink. “I can barely think.”

  “You hear the sirens, don’t you? Looks like you’re going to have to shake it off.”

  “I need time!” Eddy replied sharply. “I’m not strong enough yet.”

  “How long?” Reuben looked up towards the sirens that were quickly getting louder. “A minute?”

  “Five,” Eddy said. “At least.”

  Reuben snarled and tossed Eddy over his shoulder. Eddy’s body flopped over like a ragdoll. He hadn’t looked too weak on the ground – just tired. He had only looked weak once Reuben picked him up. He looked like he could take only three or four steps before falling flat on his face.

  Their little group jumped a barbed wire fence and went straight into the closest field. It wasn’t like a normal field. It was more like a traditional South Dakota farm—wild and unforgiving. Oak trees twisting all over the place and fields as far as the eye could see. It was mid-winter, so nothing was green or growing, which meant there were less places to hide.

  They were still in sight of the road when the police showed up. The police yelled something, but nobody was listening. Cara dashed across the rugged landscape quickly with the men’s tennis shoes that Eddy had been kind enough to give her, though they matched horribly with her jeans. Also, it seemed that running in jeans was just about one of the worst punishments. Well, not really. Not after what she’d been through.

  Cara couldn’t keep up with Adrianna or Reuben. Even though Reuben was carrying Eddy, he could still outrun Cara with his werewolf pace. Reuben saw Cara struggling and slowed down to help her along, staying behind her to catch any bullets that might be coming their way.

  Adrianna wasn’t a runner, but still, she was faster than Cara. It’s almost as if she bounded, using her powerful leg muscles to spring her along in a way that confused Cara. It seemed like it was breaking physics, but then again, Adrianna appeared to be superhuman in every other way.

  Eddy, meanwhile, tried to muster up his strength, snapping loudly with his fingers and trying to make the invisibility spell work. With each snap, a little spark of energy formed in the air.

  “I’m not warm yet!” Eddy declared.

  “Then maybe you should be running!” Reuben barked.

  Reuben wasn’t too amused with the whole scenario. He knew as much as anyone that Eddy couldn’t run right then, but he was fully aware of how hard it was to sprint with a grown man around his shoulders.

  Boom!

  One of the police shot at them. Reuben howled and stumbled, nearly tossing Eddy off the front before he caught him.

  “That fucker shot me!” Cara almost stopped before he waved her on. “No! I’ll be fine! Run!”

  Cara did, but Reuben was obviously hurting. Even though the bullets weren’t silver, there was still a bullet lodged in Reuben’s back. He was grunting in pain, limping along with a growl. The police shot again, hitting him in the leg.

  Adrianna whipped around with the gun in her hand that she’d grabbed from Eddy’s weapon box. She fired off one shot before Cara pushed the barrel down.

  “We aren’t shooting at the police!” Cara yelled.

  “Adrianna!” Reuben snarled. “What the hell are you doing?”

  Adrianna fired one more shot before following them.

  “They’re just a bunch of humies! Eddy, you better be getting warm! I’m not getting shot again!”

  The sparks around Eddy’s hands were getting brighter as Reuben stumbled to his feet, limping, but continuing to run. He was practically indestructible. Even though he’d been shot twice, he was strong enough to run with a grown man on his back. Eddy kept working on the spell.

  “I’m almost there! Another minute!”

  Cara caught a cactus in the foot. She’d seen cacti before in nature shows and the one time she’d traveled down south to visit family, but she didn’t know cacti grew in South Dakota. They looked scary with their pads full of long spikes. She’d heard that the very ends had poison on them. Whether that was true or not, Cara didn’t know. It sounded real enough.

  Getting stabbed with one felt like hell. Literal hell.

  “Ow!” she yelped, stumbling, and falling. Bad move. She ended up falling towards another cactus. She twisted to avoid catching it full in the face, but ended up landing on it and piercing her back. She felt a hundred jabs all at once. She tried to stumble up, but the pads came with her, locking her clothes to her sensitive back. She shook them free, but the spines stayed in her.

  Reuben scooped her up, still limping. The back of his pants was stained with a golden liquid that was running down into his shoe. Cara tried to keep running. Well, hobbling. Her foot was stinging, but not nearly as much as her back. Why was nature so cruel?

  She fell again. Her feet were stinging horribly. She tried to get back up, but the adrenaline made her hands not work properly and she couldn’t get up fast enough. Boom! The police shot again and Reuben stiffened with a feral growl. He transformed into his werewolf form for a second, scooping Cara into his powerful arms. Now carrying two people, Reuben used his werewolf strength for as long as he could, sending them flying across the ground and over a hill.

  Eddy finally warmed up enough and yelled, “Everyone stop running!”

  No sweeter words had ever been uttered.

  Reuben shifted out of his werewolf form and set Cara to the ground, dropping to one knee and gritting his teeth. Nothing happened. She could see Reuben with Eddy on his back with Adrianna standing beside them.

  “Just don’t move!” Reuben told her through his teeth. “Don’t say a thing!”

  She looked back at the police, who had been just a tad behind them over a small ridge. A moment later, their heads broke the ridge. They didn’t hesitate. Four or five of them rushed straight past Cara’s agonized body. She could feel the air as they went by. It looked like they’d run clear into Reuben, so he stepped aside and let them past.

  They couldn’t see them.

  Eddy’s magic was back.
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  Reuben gave it a minute or two to let the police run well out of earshot before speaking again. Eddy jumped off his back. His legs were wobbly, but he was starting to get the hang of it.

  “Cara, you okay?” Eddy asked.

  “I feel—” She tried to think of a word that could paragraph how much pain she was in. “I feel like a million knives are stuck in my body right now.”

  Reuben got up to one foot, groaning.

  “Ugh...”

  He tried to walk it off, but most of his clothes around the broadest part of his back and around his thigh were stuck to his body with blood. Cara hobbled over to him.

  “I’ll be fine,” he said, tight-lipped. “I’ll heal. I always do…”

  “You saved my life!”

  He managed a gentle smile. “I’ll always be here to protect you.”

  She gingerly embraced him. He saw the cactus all across her back.

  “Are you okay?”

  Adrianna interrupted. “You are an unlucky little bitch, aren’t you? How did you even…they’re everywhere. And seriously? Who finds a cactus in South Dakota?”

  Adrianna rolled her eyes, seemingly seething at the stupidity of the human.

  Cara was in entirely too much pain to be even remotely bothered by the statement. She could feel the spines sticking through the front of her tennis shoe into her foot. She reached down and pulled the shoe off only to find it was attached to her foot. Okay. Like a band-aid. Quick. She jerked it off and just barely held in a scream. She felt like she ended up biting through her lip.

  Eddy, who was still looking woozy, grimaced. “Oh, that’s going to hurt.”

  “It does,” she whimpered. “Trust me, it does.”

  Adrianna, the most spry of the group right then, started back towards the police cars a couple hundred meters away.

  “Hey, they don’t need these things anymore. I think I might help myself.”

  “We’re not stealing the police cars,” Reuben said. “We need to hole up and heal. They can’t find us until the spell wears off anyway. But nobody’s stopping you from leaving.”