Brooke, Mark, David, and Nicole joined him, all reading the strange message over his shoulder. After a few minutes of confused silence, David spoke.
“Doesn’t Alex have some friends at a bookstore?” David asked.
That was when it all clicked for Jack. He took off running and the teens followed.
“They’re still in there,” Ethan’s mother choked.
“Do you know where?” Alex asked.
Ethan’s mother shook her head.
“I’ll just have to go find them then,” Alex said. Before anyone could protest, Alex flew back inside, his image engulfed in flame. He flew around the large room, keeping to the wall. When he was at the back of the store, he found Ethan’s grandmother. She was clutching onto a ladder against the wall. She was heaving, struggling to get air. The wood of the ladder below her broke and it began to fall backward. She screamed as she began to fall through the air.
Alex caught her in mid-air and flew her out. He barely sat her on the pavement before he was off again. He was just through the doorway when an explosion sent him flying across the street and into another building. His head spun and he could feel his vision clouding. The only sound was a constant ringing. He could hear nothing else. He couldn’t pass out now. He still had to get Mr. Epoch to safety. Alex shook off the dizziness and flew into the building’s broken windows.
He found Mr. Epoch on the ground. His arm hung limply at his side as he stood helplessly, trapped inside a fiery ring. The tall bookshelves began to fall one by one, like dominoes. The last one hit the shelf in front of him and it began to fall, books falling all around him. Alex took off as fast as he could. He flew beneath the falling bookshelf and thrust his hands above his head. The bookcase fell on top of him, and he cried out as the weight of eighty forty-foot-tall bookshelves fell on him. He felt himself begin to sag under the weight. If these cases fell, they would crush both him and Mr. Epoch.
Alex heaved as he gathered all of his strength and pushed the shelves upward. His muscles screamed out at him to stop but he pushed on. He gritted his teeth to keep from screaming. He tasted blood as it dripped out of the corner of his mouth. He ignored the pain and the blood as he flew upward. Once the shelf he was holding was standing up he thrust it backwards, sending it, and all the others leaning against it, falling the other way.
Alex flew unsteadily to the ground and picked Mr. Epoch up in his arms. His muscles ached and he struggled to keep consciousness. He flew Mr. Epoch out the door just in time for another explosion to send books, wood, and glass flying into the street. A crowd had gathered. Mr. Epoch ran to his wife and they hugged each other, both mindful of Mr. Epoch’s bad arm. Ethan was cradled in his mother’s arms as they both cried.
Alex fell onto his back and his chest heaved up and down as he caught his breath. Other than his aching body and bleeding tongue, he was unharmed. However, he wouldn’t allow him to lose himself to the black just yet. It still wasn’t over.
FORTY-SIX
Jack, Nicole, Brooke, David, and Mark ran onto the street to find another large crowd surrounding yet another burning building. This fire was bigger; flames reached higher than the towering bookstore and licked the night sky. The five teens wove their way through the crowd and found the owners of the store in the center of the crowd, along with Alex, who was on his back staring at the sky. He was breathing heavily, and blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth.
Alex sat up when he saw his friends, still unable to find the strength to stand.
“Are you all right?” Mark asked, his voice full of concern.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Alex replied. “How about you guys?”
“We’re fine. We’re not hurt,” Nicole said.
“Did you rescue Darrien?” Alex asked. Every head bowed; no one answered his question. He already knew the answer. “I’m so sorry,” Alex said sadly.
Jack met Alex’s eyes with a grim look of determination. Alex looked him over and at all the blood that was not his that soaked his clothes. Mark held out his arm and Alex grabbed it as Mark hoisted him off the ground and he turned to Jack.
“I’m sorry,” Alex repeated.
A shrill scream pierced the air, causing them to cover their ears. They turned to find Mr. Epoch and his wife keel over in pain, clutching their chests. At first, Alex was unsure of what was wrong but he soon realized when he saw the fire emerging from their chests. Alex leapt forward to help, but he was pulled back by a strong arm. Alex looked up to see Jack holding him back.
“What are you doing?” Alex screamed. “Let me go! I need to help them!” Alex struggled to break free of Jack’s grip, but Jack refused to let go. “Let me go!” Alex screamed.
“You can’t help them! The fire eats them from the inside. Someone has placed it there deliberately! If you try to help, you will only begin to burn along with them!” Jack yelled.
Alex flinched at the volume of Jack’s voice but refused to let up. Alex pulled but Jack kept his hold. Alex sagged in his arms as he looked on at the destruction taking place before him. Ethan was trying to run to Mr. and Mrs. Epoch too, but his mother held him back. They watched helplessly as Ethan’s grandparents burned and crumpled to ash, held back by their guardians. Only when the last flicker of fire burned out in the ashes did Jack and Ethan’s mother let go. Alex slumped to his knees. Ethan ran to the ashes, tears streaming down his face. His mother remained where she was, tears streaming down her face as well. She covered her face in her hands, and her shoulders shook with each sob.
The crowd was horrified. People cried. Others screamed. No one talked. They were all too astonished by the scene before them. Ethan scraped at the ashes and cradled them as they seeped through his fingers, tears dripping into them. A gust of wind whipped past them, sweeping up the ashes and carrying them away into the black sky.
Alex scanned the area around him. How could this have happened? Who could have done such a thing? That’s when he saw it. A cloaked figure hidden in the shadow. Two eyes glowed beneath the hood. He felt a warm presence surround him. But it wasn’t because of the fire. It was the same sinister presence he felt the night before. That was when he pieced it all together.
Alex stood up and took off running toward the figure, leaving Argent behind with Ethan. The figure leapt up into the sky and transformed into smoke. The smoke then drifted above the rooftops. The smoke re-formed into the same cloaked figure once it was on the roof.
“Where are you going?” Mark called in a shaking voice. He was still shocked by the previous events.
“After the one who caused this. You coming?” Alex called back. His voice was firm, steady, determined. Frightening.
The five of them exchanged quick glances. Jack was the first to take action, running to Alex. The others followed.
“Where did they go?” Nicole asked.
“Up there.” Alex pointed toward the roof above them. “Let’s go.”
They leapt into the air and landed on the roof. They saw the hooded figure leaping from roof to roof four buildings away, the distance between them quickly growing. They ran after it, leaping over gaps between buildings. They were unaware of the passage of time as they tailed the figure. The figure suddenly stopped on the roof of a twenty-story building at the edge of the city and disappeared behind one of the many vents and chimneys that littered the roof.
“Show yourself!” David shouted angrily.
“I don’t know if we should. Should we, Jenna?” a man’s voice echoed.
“I’m not so sure. They are quite demanding,” a woman’s voice replied.
They were all thrown off. There were two people? They thought they were trailing one figure. Not two.
“How many of you are there?” Nicole called.
“Only two. Can’t you do math?” the woman’s voice taunted. A cloaked figure stepped out from behind an air vent. The figure’s hands reached for the button
around their neck and unbuttoned it. The cloak slid down their body, revealing the same woman they saw performing on stage during the festival in the last town. Another figure stepped out from behind her and did the same with their cloak, revealing the same man that performed by her side.
“My name is Jenna,” the woman said. She pointed at the man. “That is my brother.”
“My name is Jensen,” the man replied. He pointed at the woman. “That is my sister.”
“I don’t care what your names are. Why did you hurt those people?” Brooke shouted.
“To get to you, of course,” Jenna replied sweetly.
“Why would you want to do that?” Mark asked.
“That is for us to know and you to find out,” Jensen declared.
Jensen and Jenna thrust their hands out at them and fire exploded from their hands.
“Scatter!” Alex shouted.
They all ducked and rolled out of the way as fire was thrown at them. As they ran, they were split into two groups. Jack, Brooke, and David were stuck with Jenna, while Mark, Nicole, and Alex were chased by Jensen. They all ran to the edge of the roof in an attempt to escape. Their plans were foiled when great walls of fire shot up from the edges, trapping them on the roof.
Jensen and Jenna took to the air, attacking them from above. Every time they tried to fly, they were struck with a ball of fire. The terrific duo was distracting them from being able to fly. They pushed their wrists together and aimed their palms toward the roof. Balls of fire formed below them and slowly began to spread, merging into one large sheet and forming a ceiling of fire. There was no way out for them now. They were trapped inside one large fiery box. The duo thrust their hands forward and slowly the fiery ceiling began to lower itself on the two groups.
Jack put a shield above the three of them for protection against the flames. Mark, Nicole, and Alex were forced underneath an air vent, but they knew the air vent would likely burn, too. Jack observed the two teenagers who leaned against him beneath the safety of the shield. He also saw the other teens cowering beneath an air vent on the other side of the roof. He knew they wouldn’t survive the fire. And they didn’t have time to run underneath his shield.
He leaned back to face the sky. Leaning against another vent in a kneeling position, Jack placed his wrists together and held his palms facing the fire that moved closer to them by the second. The shield above them expanded at his command until it covered the entire roof. He sent it upward, a purplish black version of the siblings’ fiery force field. They scowled at this and sent the wall of fire down faster. Jack did the same. The two shields collided with each other, and there was a blinding light.
Both of the shields disintegrated, and the siblings cursed. They flew back down and continued to attack the young humans. Alex, Mark, and Nicole crawled beneath another vent before the one they were previously beneath burst into a ball of flames.
“We aren’t going to survive this if we continue to run. We need to fight back,” Alex screamed over the sound of fire crackling and burning around them.
“How do you plan on doing that exactly? They have magic! What do we have? Nothing!” shouted Nicole as she threw her hands in the air only to bring them back down to cover her head as the air vent burst into flame. They crawled beneath another vent to continue their conversation.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are, little mice! This cat wants to play!” Jensen shouted over the rooftop.
“We can fly, and we have fists. I have a sword and we also have Jack,” Alex retorted as he counted on his fingers, bringing his attention back to them. “If we can’t hurt them, we can at least distract them long enough for Jack to land the final blow on ‘em.”
“That might work, but how are we going to tell Jack the plan?” Mark asked. “He’s on the other side of the roof!”
“He’ll figure it out eventually,” Alex called as he jumped out of their hiding spot. David and Nicole shared a quick glance before following his lead.
“Ah! My sweet little mice! About time you came out of hiding! This cat was just starting to get bored!” Jensen shouted, smirking when he saw them.
They all took to the air simultaneously, throwing Jensen off guard. But only for a second. When he recovered, he sent a shower of fireballs in their direction. Thankfully, they were able to dodge them all since he was aiming for one big target and not separate ones. The three of them flanked him on each side and shot forward to attack. Jensen didn’t even bother moving. He shot a ball of fire at Mark before he could get within ten yards, hitting him head on. He fell backward and through the air, plummeting to the roof. Alex stopped the charge and dove for Mark. Nicole continued her advance.
Alex swiped Mark out of the air before he could hit the ground. He was knocked unconscious, and his clothes were burnt but otherwise he was unharmed. Alex settled him on the ground and looked back at Jensen and Nicole with dread. Jensen was holding Nicole by the throat at arm’s length, choking her.
Jack saw Alex, Mark, and Nicole charge out from the air vent, prepared to fight. He knew what they were doing was dangerous but understood the purpose. He too was growing tired of this game. He grabbed David and Brooke and thrust them beneath the shield as fire was thrown at them.
“Do you think you can do what you did in the forest? Against the Clandestine Brobdingnagian?” Jack asked Brooke.
She looked up at him with a confused and surprised expression. “How did you…?” She stuttered.
“Forget how I know, can you do it?” Jack snapped.
“I… I don’t know. I don’t even know how I did it,” she stuttered.
“What about you? Can you do what you did when Winona and Jaheim attacked?” Jack asked David.
“I don’t think so,” David replied.
Jack sighed. “Can you still fight?”
“Well, yeah! We can still fly, too. That’s got to be an advantage!” David exclaimed.
“What he said,” Brooke said.
“Good, because I’m going to drop this shield, and I’m going to need you to fight,” Jack announced. As soon as he finished talking, the barrier dropped and they rolled out of the way of another fireball. Taking to the air just as the others did, they got themselves ready to fight.
They launched at Jenna full speed. She, like her brother, was also caught off guard at their sudden decision to fight. Before she could recover from shock, Jack created a charge Shadows and commanded them forward. The Shadows surrounded her in seconds, with more piling on. Soon, it was one large blackish purple ball floating in the sky. It was silent for a moment as Brooke and David flew to Jack’s side.
“Is it over?” David asked.
“Not yet,” Jack replied. He thrust his gloved hand toward the large floating ball and shot his hand to the ground. With impossible speed, the ball hit the roof of the building and shattered.
“Whoa! What was that for? We aren’t trying to kill her!” Brooke shouted.
“We aren’t murderers!” David added.
“Be ready,” Jack countered. He refused to take his eyes off the spot where the ball shattered. They both looked down to see Jenna standing on the roof looking more than irritated. She slowly looked up at them with a snarling expression.
“You’ll rue the day you met me!” she shouted. Both her arms shot up, and her palms faced them. A large stream of fire hurled toward them and forced them far back into the sky. Jenna continued to scream furiously as she pitched balls of fire at the trio.
Alex shot forward with amazing speed. He lunged at Jensen and gripped his arm that held Nicole. He squeezed until Jensen let go of Nicole’s neck. She fell backward and flew away as fast as she could, coughing and gasping for breath. Jensen drew his attention to Alex. His eyes glowed slightly in excitement.
“You shouldn’t have done that, little mouse,” said Jensen, who then lunged at Alex. Alex brought his hands up. T
heir hands interlocked, and Alex fought to keep Jensen at bay. Jensen smiled wickedly, and his eyes glowed brighter. Alex’s arms shook as Jensen pushed him further back. He gritted his teeth as he struggled to fight back. In a flash, his hands grew hot, and it took him a moment to realize what was happening.
Alex tried to pull back, but Jensen gripped Alex’s hands harder. His hands grew hotter, and he could feel his flesh burning. Alex screamed in pain, and everyone’s attention was diverted to the two. Jensen smiled at Alex’s pain and leaned into his ear.
“Little mouse, you’ll regret it,” he whispered. The heat on Alex’s palms intensified, and the heat traveled up his body. Smoke drifted up from his hands. Alex kicked forward, hitting him in a very painful place. Jensen shoved Alex forward and kicked him in the stomach, letting go of his hands. He smiled wickedly once again. Alex tumbled through the air and crashed against the roof. He was winded, and his hands burned.
Alex stared at his burned flesh. He felt light-headed and a memory flooded back to him. He fought back the memory, but it forced its way through his mind. Exhausted, he succumbed to the memory.
Alex’s dream-memory transported him back three years. He saw and felt himself walk through the front door of his house. His family had moved to the city that weekend, and he had just come back from his first day of school there. His father was waiting for him at the door. Alex placed his weathered bookbag down on the floor. It was old and he would need a new one soon.
“Hello, father,” Alex greeted his father, who was towering over him, blocking his path. He had changed out of his work uniform into blue jeans and a dirty white tank top. His black hair was still neat and slicked back. He was leaning against the doorway with a half-empty beer bottle dangling loosely from his fingertips. He must have just gotten home, Alex thought. His blue eyes glared at Alex threateningly.
The Abnormals: Book One Page 33
