by Holly Hook
"But Mack's magic is dark and I don't know what disguise would get us inside."
"ATC agents," I said. "If we look like them, we might get in. I don't know much about magic, but Mack works with samples from people. It's how he found Janine to ask her about me."
"It's called sympathetic magic," Xavier explained. "Grabbing some samples from ATC agents will have to be something we do. I'm sure he'll need those to make such a glamour rite work. We need to stake out the bunker first before going in. If we're lucky, we'll also get what we need before we go inside."
"You know what?" Xavier asked. "That might work. We have to try."
* * * * *
It was still dark, now going on eleven at night. We took the bus to the subdivision Trish and I had entered to save my mother. It dropped us off at the last stop, an old booth with bits of garbage up against it and an overflowing trash can that looked ready to vomit its contents onto the sidewalk. The neighborhood was run-down and graffiti decorated some of the boarded-up windows. We were in gang territory. As the bus pulled away, I eyed my fake cane and wondered if I should shake it out, showing its true sword form so no one would mess with us.
But we were strong. I had to remember that. Normals with knives wouldn't be a problem. Guns might be an issue but Xavier had eaten a good meal. His charges would scare away most. And if anyone bothered us, my hunger would be solved as well.
"This is a nice area," Xavier said.
"It's the stop closest to the bunker," I said, looking down the road. The waxing moon hung overhead, casting the street in a pale glow. A few streetlights were on, but many were broken. No one bothered to repair anything around here. "This is just a few streets from where I rescued my mother."
"I think she was ungrateful for it," Xavier said.
"She ran from me screaming." I found myself holding back tears. My own mother saw me as nothing but a monster. "It's like she's forgotten I'm her daughter. She hates Abnormals so much that it's unbelievable. I don't get why she's like that. As far as I know, no Abnormal ever did anything to her."
"She could have watched too much news," Xavier said.
"She never watched it much," I said. "I bet she even voted for Thoreau, thinking he was Normal. Of course, I haven't really talked to her in the past few years, so who knows?" I was willing to bet that Mom was a big ATC supporter now that she was away from Dad and I. She hadn't really been before, just barely tolerating us until I screwed up in the second grade.
"That would be ironic," Xavier said, joining me in looking down the road. "Janine said this bus stop is still miles from the bunker."
It had been the closest that we could get. We had hours to reach the bunker and get back before the sun came up. Well, I did. Xavier didn't have any time limits, but he had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. I often forced him to be awake at horrible hours.
"Should I carry you?" I asked, tensing and waiting for Xavier's answer.
"I think I'm good," he said.
I flinched, even though I expected it. "It's going to take us two hours to walk the distance to the bunker," I said.
He looked at the sky. "We could always steal a car. Trish says that Toyotas are the best ones. They last forever so they're not likely to break down on you."
I laughed, trying to chase the hurt away. "She said the same thing to me," I said. "We stole one almost as old as her and it ran." There were a few cars on the street, all of them old and rusty. I didn't want to take from poor people. I imagined that the lives of anyone who lived here were rough enough without losing their vehicles. "We'll walk, then. Stealing isn't cool."
"You know, we're doing this to stop the end of the world," Xavier said. "Being nice might not get us there. By stealing a car, we're helping these people in the long run."
In the end, we decided on a car that was parked on the side of the road. A party was happening in the house nearby and I could smell plenty of pizza and beer. Loud music thumped out, shaking the ground, and I was shocked no one had called the police yet. Of course, most of the houses around us were boarded up, so there was no one to call them. The car itself was an old Ford Taurus--those were good, right?--with rust around the wheel wells and a bumper that had been duct taped onto the rest of the body. The door was locked, but it was no match for my strength as I pulled it open, breaking the lock with a loud snap. I struggled to remember what Trish had done to hot wire the last stolen car I'd ridden in. I pulled apart the dash as Xavier waited outside the car, unable to open the passenger door, and fumbled with the wires. He shifted leg to leg and at last, my memory served me and I got the car started. Then I unlocked his door and he climbed inside.
"Good thing those people are playing loud music," Xavier said. "I'm glad their blinds are down. They're probably doing things in there they don't want the police to see."
The air did smell funny. "Well, we just added grand theft auto to it," I said. "We'll fit in here." I realized with horror that I didn't know how to drive. Drivers Ed had already passed by time I started at this new school and wouldn't open until this summer.
I also had the realization that I would never be able to take that, either. My education was probably over. I was officially a dropout but not by choice.
"Do you know how to drive?" Xavier asked.
"Do you?"
He face-palmed. "Try not to hit anything," he said. "Better you than me. You can see with the headlights off."
I saw the switch to turn them on, but I left them off. Whoever had parked here had done it before the sun went down. It was a long party. I managed to put the car in drive and get onto the road. The gas pedal had more force to it than I expected. How did anyone manage to drive and not panic?
"Crap," I said, swerving to avoid a mailbox.
"You can do it, Alyssa," Xavier said. "I'll give you pep talks the whole way."
"I appreciate it." I knew Xavier would have a much harder time than me, driving with no headlights. Besides, it was practical to approach the bunker without them. I remembered the little map on Janine's phone and found the brake, stopping at a pothole-infested intersection. I needed to turn. I pressed the pedal very slightly this time, crawling into the intersection in a wide arc that definitely wasn't right.
"That's a little better," Xavier said.
By time I reached the dirt road that was supposed to lead to the bunker, I was getting the hang of this driving thing a little bit. It would get us there faster and would save me some much-needed energy. We were getting out into the country and there were no streetlights.
In fact, it was dark enough out here for my gray night vision to kick in. Every tree trunk leapt out at me and I spotted the outline of a deer in the woods, watching us. There was no way Xavier could have done this and kept the headlights off. We needed to sneak to the bunker and see if we could snag a couple of ATC agents' hair samples. According to Xavier, Mages in the know could do a lot with hair samples. From what Mack had done, I believed it.
We wouldn't be going inside until we could glamour ourselves.
I slowly got up the bravery to drive faster and closer to the bunker. Right now, it was all trees, but there was an almost-hidden drive that led to the bunker itself somewhere close. I scanned the area for it while Xavier remained silent. At last, I saw the grass-choked, hidden road that a Normal might have missed, especially in the dark. There was a single tree marked with spray paint next to it that also might have been missed. I slowed, slamming on the brakes a little too hard, and pulled to the side of the road with the slapping of weeds and the crunching of gravel.
"Is this it?" Xavier asked.
I forced myself to loosen the grip on the steering wheel. "I think so. There has to be a hidden road that leads to the bunker. They're not going to have it right next to a regular road." I remembered that the bunker, on the map, had been far back from this dirt road and behind about a mile of forest. The ATC vans had gotten back there somehow. "We should park the car way off the road and walk from here. The ATC might still be tak
ing Abnormals inside if they found the Underground."
"I agree," Xavier said. "I'd look for a place to park, but...headlights!"
The panic in his voice was obvious as he looked in the rearview mirror. I did the same. Far back, maybe a few miles, was an entire trail of headlights moving slowly towards us from the direction of the city. The lights were pinpricks in the dark and shocked my gray vision for a second, but I made out boxy, black vans. There must be at least ten of them, all heading for the bunker. They must have more prisoners in tow.
I searched around, but there was only a overgrown field on the other side of the road, separated by a shallow ditch. "Hold on!" I shouted, pulling the car towards it and hitting the gas. I thanked myself for keeping all the lights off.
The car bounced as we rolled over the ditch, getting stuck for a couple of terrifying seconds. But then we managed to climb out and into the field, where more grass slapped against the hood of the car. I realized we were leaving a trail and I prayed that the ATC people wouldn't notice. It was our only hope. I was no good against so many agents who were likely armed.
The ground sloped downward and I hit the brake as the car rolled down a hill, pulling to a stop. I could no longer see the road from here and I was sure that the ATC wouldn't see the car. I looked back to find our new trail still there, twin tire tracks in the tall grass. If we were lucky, I could see it only because of my enhanced vision, but I had the feeling a Normal might spot it as well. We might have even left tire tracks in the ditch if it was muddy enough.
"Out," I said. "I think we're covered."
"Didn't we leave marks?" Xavier asked.
I pushed the door open and got out of the car. Standing all the way up, I could almost see the road behind us. A faint breeze made some of the trees creak.
I could hear several motors approaching along with the sound of crunching dirt and gravel. I couldn't tell how many, exactly, but they were there. Xavier stood and waited. It was clear he couldn't hear them yet.
"How many do you think there are?" he asked.
"The ATC has been taking a lot of prisoners today," I said. "We know they found the Underground." My stomach rumbled as I thought of the possible fight we'd have. I had a feeling the ATC people wouldn't let us take hair samples from them easily. If we were lucky, we could sneak up and pluck some off their heads, but my body was tense and yearning for battle. I also wanted food, as much as I didn't want to admit that to myself.
Xavier and I crept closer to the road, crawling inside the grass. The first of the vans came into view, headlights fading in and out from behind trunks. It was a shiny black van, all right, complete with the white lettering on the side. The van turned down the drive and vanished, and then there was a second one, and a third. We waited two full minutes as thirteen vans turned down the almost-hidden drive and vanished into the night, leaving only the sound of crunching weeds behind them.
"This is nice," Xavier said. "Looks like a big dropoff."
"Well, we know how many vans are going to come back out," I said. "We should attack the last one. Lucky thirteen." I imagined that most of Cumberland's ATC had been busy today, shuttling "patients" to the bunker.
If this had been happening all day, and I had the feeling that it had been, then either this facility was huge or the prisoners were being fed right through an Infernal portal. If the latter, Xavier was going to give me a hard time about going into the other dimension. He was probably right, too. I might be fireproof but there was close to a hundred percent chance Thoreau had set up some kind of trap there.
We waited for what stretched out into an hour. I listened, but there was nothing in the air that told me how many prisoners the ATC was unloading. My hearing was good, but from over a mile away there was no hope of using my ears to get any more information.
"How long is this going to take?" Xavier asked. We were lying down on top of the hill just in case there were cameras around the place, but if there were, we would have been detected and attacked already.
"Maybe they're not coming back out tonight," I said.
Just then, I heard motors.
"They're coming," I said, crawling forward through the grass. "Remember. The last van. You stun the driver and I go in through one of the windows. Don't blow out any tires. We might need the van."
"There will probably be two guys in each van," Xavier said.
We had discussed this already. Xavier would attack the vehicle itself and I the people driving it. I had seen plenty of ATC vans. There were usually two drivers and the prison area in the back. Of course, there was the chance that our victims would radio for backup. We had to take the risk, knock out the drivers, and then hide them somewhere where they couldn't tell their comrades what we were up to.
There was also the chance that the other vans would notice their last one missing in no time. We had to act quickly.
The first van emerged from the drive and slowly headed back the way it had come, speed limited by the dirt road. About thirty seconds later, the second emerged. Then the third, almost exactly thirty seconds after that. I watched their red taillights--bright in my otherwise gray vision--fade down the dirt road. They were off to bring more prisoners back.
If things went right, only twelve vans would make it.
Xavier and I would keep lucky thirteen.
We crawled forward like soldiers. The air around Xavier heated with the coming War Magic. I kept a tight grip on my sword. I didn't want to have to kill or use my new Death Magic. I counted each van that came out of the drive. Five...six...
Magenta light formed around Xavier's hands as he rose to a crouch.
"Not yet," I said. "They might see that."
The light died but the air remained hot. He was struggling to hold his magic back until the right moment.
Ten...eleven...the twelfth van turned out of the drive and drove away.
"Now," Xavier said, letting his magic come to life.
Purple light exploded around his hands as the thirteenth and final van pulled out of the drive and went to turn.
The van stopped. Xavier's magic had been spotted. He threw the charge with good accuracy. It sailed, fizzling and spitting, towards the van's driver side window, where it broke glass and no doubt stunned the person inside. I saw a guy slump against the steering wheel. The driver was out. The van remained stopped.
But the other figure inside was reaching for a radio on the dash. We had no time to waste or we were going to have company.
I bolted towards the van as fast as I could, reaching it in under two seconds. I circled around it and raised my sword, bashing the passenger window in.
It shattered. A woman screamed and dropped her radio. I jumped and grabbed onto the edge of the window, cutting my palm on the glass, but I ignored the pain and reached inside, seizing a clump of her hair. Behind her, the driver lifted his head, stunned. She stopped screaming and instead reached down for something on her belt. I smelled a taser. Nope. That was not going to happen.
My stomach roared.
She smelled like a steak dinner.
"I'm not going to kill you!" I shouted, even though rage burned through me. These people had taken some of my friends to a horrible fate.
The male driver groaned as I pulled the woman closer. I dropped my sword to the road. Xavier was running up behind me, ready to strike again.
All this happened within two seconds.
Xavier ran around the van and pulled at the drivers' side door. I couldn't mess around anymore. I had to do what I had to do before I became a danger to Xavier again. If this agent had a trace of Bathory's blood, so be it.
I bit.
She screamed, this time in pain. I couldn't apologize.
Bathory would have probably torn her head off after she was done.
I was dimly aware that Xavier was throwing another charge at the driver side door as I fed and clung to the side of the van, filling myself with renewed energy and strength. I let the woman go, who groaned and reached for her nec
k. She was still bleeding a bit, but she'd be okay. I figured she'd have a headache later and might have to sleep this off.
The drivers' side door opened.
The worst was happening. The driver had a taser aimed at Xavier's face, who backed towards the trees. His finger depressed the trigger. My battle partner was about to land in a world of major hurt.
I jumped into the van, lunged across the still-groaning woman, and grabbed the male driver's head. With my growing strength I wrapped my hand in his hair and hit his head against the steering wheel. His skull made a boink sound as it contacted and I was afraid I'd given him a fatal injury at first, but there was no crack.
The man was out cold and breathing. I might have given him a concussion. Ahead, taillights continued to get further away. That wouldn't last long.
I unlocked the van door for Xavier and retreated, undoing the woman's seat belt and dragging her out onto the road. She wasn't in any fighting shape. The woman staggered and I saw her name tag on the front of her black uniform. Sanders. I'd keep that in mind.
"Please don't kill me," she begged, holding onto her neck. A bit more blood seeped out from between her fingers, but the flow was stopping as the wound clotted. The steak smell was still strong, but no longer tempting. I'd be good for another night if I didn't waste too much energy running or healing.
"I won't," I said, pulling the taser off her belt after figuring out how the holster worked. I held up the weapon. "I will tase you if don't cooperate. Trust me, I don't like to kill. And by the way, you work for a guy who's friends with someone who just took out twelve of your agents." I found her keys and opened the back door of the van. "Are you missing anybody?"
The woman wasn't listening. She turned away like she was scared of facing me. I was used to that.
"Listen to her," Xavier said, running around the van. "The man's still out. I don't know how hurt he is but I disarmed him." Xavier held up a taser and a real pistol. "We need to get them in the back."
