“He’s being controlled Sara, don’t hurt him.”
She stopped, but held her fist at the ready, “I don’t know, Sky. He doesn’t look like those thuggers did. This guy knows what he’s doing.”
The officer laughed, “You think that’s the best I can do, girl? Those mindless puppets back there, those were just for fun.”
“Are there people on the transport?” Sky straightened, hardly affected by the blow to the head.
She glanced up through the windows, “No, and no driver that I can see.”
“I’m done playing with you, boy. I don’t know how you’re still alive, but I’ll make extra sure this time.”
Sky’s whole body went rigid, but it wasn’t out of fear. “Try.” He opened his eyes, his mouth pulled down in anger.
“Stop it!” She ran for Sky, but the officer’s elbow slammed into her nose. The next thing she saw the night sky as her back hit the ground. She heard nothing but a subtle ringing in her ears and waited impatiently for feeling to return to her body. It was only a second, perhaps two that she lay there, but in those seconds she swore the sky went grey and it felt like the breath was being pulled from her lungs.
Sara bolted upright, blood pouring from her nose and her head pounding. She didn’t know what she expected to see, but it certainly wasn’t Sky helping the officer to his feet.
She stumbled a few steps closer, unsure of what to make of them, were they both under the control of whatever it was that had followed them there?
“It’s okay Sara, it’s over for now.” Sky stepped in front of the officer who was obviously dazed.
“I don’t believe you.” She saw the lectro club on the ground, but that didn’t mean much, there was no doubt the officer still had countless weapons under those rags.
“I don’t know what happened,” Sky helped the officer down onto the bench. “But we need to get out of here.”
Sara bent down quickly, never taking her eyes off the two of them and snatched up the club, “Why would it just be over?”
“I don’t know,” He shook his head, “Maybe this guy fought him off. What? Don’t look at me like that, it’s possible.” He wrapped one of the thick blankets around the shivering officer. “I think he’s in shock or something.”
“What about you, how do I know he hasn’t taken control of you?” She edged her way toward the transport.
“I don’t know. Ask me something only I would know.” He straightened and backed up a step once he noticed her pointing the weapon directly at him.
“Fine. What was the first thing I said to you?”
“I have no idea.” He shrugged almost instantly. “Ask me something easier.”
“All right, it’s you. Come on.” She jumped up the steps of the transport. Inside the driver was passed out between the seats, snoring away.
“You think he’ll be okay?” Sky gestured to the officer, “I feel bad just leaving him.”
“He’s fine.” She snapped, shaking the driver roughly. “We need to worry about ourselves.”
Sky pulled the glass door closed and stared out into the night. “Where do we go?”
“Didn’t you have any sort of plan when you came here?”
“Me?” The driver asked sleepily as he sat up rubbing his eyes?
“Not you.” Sara pulled him to his feet, “Get up, we need a ride.”
“Sorry about that.” The driver yawned. “I don’t know what came over me. Don’t tell anyone, okay.” He peaked past her out to the officer still staring blankly at absolutely nothing.
“I wouldn’t worry about him.” Sara pushed him towards the controls.
“To the Havens, what happened to you?” The driver finally saw them. Sara couldn’t imagine how awful they must have looked. “You’re dad’s going to have a heart attack, I knew I shouldn’t have brought you here. Are you all right?” The driver was talking straight to Sky.
“He’s not home, and I’m fine. It’s not my blood,” He lied, but then did the most peculiar thing and lifted his sweatshirt to reveal a bloody stomach with no wound. “But her nose might be broken, so we need to get into the city.”
A flash outside the window drew her attention away from them. The dull illumination from inside the transport made it hard to see past her own reflection, but she saw something - a white mask bobbing through the darkness, coming straight at them.
“We need to go. Now!” She pushed Sky down into the seat and put herself down beside him, blocking his view.
“You got it, little lady.” The driver revved up the engines and the noxious fumes of combustible emission rose to meet her nose.
“Where to?” He asked. They still had yet to move.
“Anywhere, just go.” Her eyes searched the darkness outside, the pull of anxiety drawing her out of her seat.
“All right.” The driver shrugged as the vehicle lurched forward. “But I need some direction sometime.”
“We can’t go to my house,” Sky tenderly touched his temple, his eye was starting to swell slightly as the black and blue mark spread out down the side of his face. “Maybe Lee, he lives near me, he’d let us stay with him I’m sure.”
“That’s fine.” Relief washed over her as the tiny streetlight that marked the transport stop disappeared out of view. She didn’t realize how bad she was shaking until she felt the pressure of Sky’s hand tightly grip hers to steady it. “What was all of that?” She finally asked once she found her voice again.
Sky glanced up at the driver and shook his head slightly, “I’ll explain later.”
“We got to tell somebody. I mean, that was ridiculous.” She glanced down at his blood soaked shirt. It had looked so real. He had bled for Haven’s sake.
“I sent Con a message before I came. Roland and Zeph, they were supposed to be taking care of this.”
“We’ll they’re not doing a very good job.” She leaned back into the seat, her body aching now that the adrenalin was wearing thin. “You’re so stupid.” She whispered and closed her eyes.
“So’s this your girlfriend?” The driver asked above the roar of the transport, glancing up into his halo screen to get a look at them. “Nice to see you share the same interest judging by all the blood.” He chuckled.
“Who is this guy?” Sara pulled up her lip into a snarl. “And no, I’m not his girlfriend. Just his unfortunate comrade.” She shook her head and retracted her hand from his grip.
She didn’t look over at him, but could see in the drivers halo that he was looking at her with a mix of anger and wounded pride. “What a mess.” She snarled. “Why did you even come out here?”
“I thought…I wanted to warn you.”
She laughed and scooted farther from him on the seat. “Warn me? That guy was after you, not me. If anything you put me in danger!”
She was expecting him to shrink back and feel sorry for himself and maybe offer her up an apology, but instead he gritted his teeth and stared with a look that could have set fire to the floor.
“Think whatever you want, but you’re wrong.” He growled and stood up. “You didn’t see what I saw! You didn’t hear what I heard!” He screamed at her before storming off to the back of the bus.
“Better watch that one.” The driver nodded. “He’s a bit of a live wire.”
She sneered, “No kidding.”
“He means well, most of the time. Just never had much control over that temper.”
Funny thing to say. It was the first time she had ever actually seen him get mad.
“Who are you anyway? Just a nosy transport driver?” She crossed her arms and slouched down in her seat with a pout.
“His dad and me go way back, fought in the Small War together. Good man, his father. Well, guess he’s not a man is he.” The driver glanced up to the halo, watching her, “An Iko, that one.”
Sara’s heart fell into her stomach. His dad was an Iko? Did that mean that Sky-
“It was nice of him to take in those brothers. First time I ever hear
d of one of their race adopting humans, and after what happened to their mom, well, it was just a really great thing to do. She a real sweet gal too, their mom, a researcher over there at REALM, until she went a little coo-coo and you know, had a bit of a self inflicted accident if you know what I mean.” He went on.
“I can hear you, you know.” Sky shouted up with annoyance. “She doesn’t need my life story.”
“Why not?” The driver shouted back, his tone still light. “You never tell it. It’s good to give people a little perspective on who you are. Maybe they won’t judge you so much by your sour face and weirdo clothes.”
She looked over her shoulder to see Sky scowling out the window, picking furiously at the glue that held it in place.
“He used to be a cheerful kid. Always laughing and goofing around.” The driver looked soulfully over his shoulder for a second before turning back to the road ahead. “Makes me sad you know. Growing up’s tough.” He sighed.
She wanted to scoff, but found herself nodding in slight agreement. With a loud sigh she stood and made her way grudgingly towards the back of the bus.
“Stop sulking, you’re making me sick.” She slammed down into the seat next to him. “Just because you have a sappy back story doesn’t give you the right to walk around like you’re broken and wounded all the time.”
“I don’t. That’s just what you choose to notice.” He slid away from her as much as he could.
“Why did that guy try to kill you? He said that he was surprised you were still alive, why?”She punched him in the shoulder after each question. He better have an answer for her this time. “And don’t tell me you’ll tell me later. You tell me now. This guy already knows everything about you, why not let him know a little more.”
“I don’t want to put him in danger.” He mumbled to the window.
“Too late. He’s transporting us. That’s probably reason enough for anyone to assume he’s in just as much danger as we are right now.”
Sky sat up a little straighter and looked worriedly to the front of the transport.
“Who’s after you?”
“They called him the Man of Mist. And he’s not after me, he’s after you. He’s looking for information on the Book of Nine, which you are supposed to have since you’re a True Blood and that some history was passed down to you or something. I don’t understand the details.”
“Well he came to the wrong place. I don’t know anything. I wasn’t old enough to hear the passage rite before my parents were taken.”
“So you don’t know anything.” Sky looked partially relieved. “Does anyone know?”
Her stomach twisted in guilt. Had she really just abandoned her uncle to save her own skin? At the time it had seemed like the right thing to do. “Maybe…what did this Man of Mist say to you?”
She saw a flash of his blue eyes, but only for a moment. He went back to staring out at the nothingness of the desert. “Awful things.” He whispered and could hide the small shiver that shook his body. He clenched his fist and set his jaw. “But it doesn’t matter. You’re safe now, and if we can just make it to morning, we can find Roland and he’ll know what to do.”
“He wants you dead, why?” She demanded again.
His gaze kept itself steady out the window, “Last night he broke into my house, I got in his way and he tried to kill me.” He shrugged a bit, like it was a boring story he was tired of telling, “But, I survived and he’s not the kind to leave loose ends. That’s all there is to that side of it.”
“So this isn’t the first time you’ve miraculously healed yourself.” It came out with more sarcasm than she intended, and she certainly didn’t mean to reach over and poke his side.
He flinched away from her, his anger replaced by that tiresome fear, and then she noticed the bruise on his face was nearly gone.
“I don’t know what’s happening to me, okay. I haven’t been right since last night.” His voice came out soft and shaking. “I know that guy stabbed me, but I hardly felt it.” He shook his head and poked at the seat in front of him. “Roland did some weird medical stuff to me earlier after I passed out, so I was sort of thinking maybe it was from that.”
“Maybe.” She would like to know what kind of medicine he was practicing, “That’s possible.” She shoved him gently, mainly to get him to stop fidgeting. “I’m sorry for saying those things to you. You’re not stupid and you’re not weak.” He wouldn’t look at her, which was good, that way he couldn’t tell she was lying.
She looked away, not able to stand his shaking hands any longer. A belt of laughter came out of him, sending her back into her seat with a startled look in his direction.
He was smiling out the window, watching his reflection. “What on earth is Lee going to think when we show up?” He turned to her, his eyes bright and cheerful, it was a look she’d never seen on him before. “You two must be very frightened, please come in and rest while I make us some tea and cookies.” He mocked with a decent impression of Lee.
She couldn’t help but laugh, “He might actually say that.”
Sky laughed some more and brought his feet up to the seat, resting his chin on his knees. “He’s a good guy.”
She nodded in agreement, unsure of what to make of his sudden mood swing, but quite frankly, this side of Sky she might be able to stand.
Chapter Twenty
Sky hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but as a streak of sunshine stretched its way over his eyes he realized it must already be morning. He looked around with sleep filled eyes - the room was neat, tidy and nearly empty. He stood up slowly, the shirt he was wearing nearly reached his knees and he remembered they were at Lee’s house. He didn’t recognize the room and could only assume he had been carried there, just one more item to be added to his recent list of embarrassments.
Lee had let them in the night before without a second thought. To Sky’s surprise he lived alone, but, he supposed, being a prince had its perks. There had been no tea and cookies, just a lot of questions.
A light knock sounded on the door, “You are up?” Lee’s voice questioned from the other side.
He had to clear his throat and didn’t get the chance to answer the question before the door swung open. “Good morning. If you are feeling all right, I suggest we start moving.”
Sky nodded and smiled, “Aye, Aye.” He looked around the room as if he was forgetting something, but no, it wasn’t his room and he had brought nothing with him.
Lee stared at him quizzically, “We can stop by your home, I generally walk past it on my way to the transport. You may prefer to have your own clothing.”
He just laughed and lifted his arms in the shirt that was at least two sizes too big, “What do you mean, fits like a glove.”
Lee smiled an actual smile and turned out of the room. Sky followed him down into the main room where Sara sat on alert.
“Finally.” She gruffed and stood, somehow making the grossly oversized clothing she wore look good. Her face was cleaned up and he could only make out the slightest shades of blue and purple spreading out beneath her eyes.
“Sorry, you don’t stay this good looking on lack of sleep.” Sky shrugged. “Did you sleep at all?”
Sara looked at him with her usual glare, “How could I?” She stepped toward him and he braced for a lecture on. “With your snoring. You sleep like a beast.” She almost smiled as she scooped up the lectro club she has swiped the night before, “Let’s head out.”
Lee led the way down the gravel path with Sara close at his side. Sky stayed a few steps behind, trying to calm his thoughts and keep them quiet, not wanting to bother Lee with his mess of a mind. It was just so hard to imagine that most of what he saw and heard last night was just an illusion, but it didn’t matter, what mattered now is that they found Roland and he hoped to the highest Haven that old four eyes had gotten in contact with Zeph.
“Yesterday when you came to us at the library,” Lee began, his head turning slightly, “I am sorry that I di
d not believe in what you were saying.”
His step faltered momentarily, he hadn’t gathered that at all from their conversation. “It’s fine, I probably wasn’t making much sense.”
Lee shook his head, looking down to Sara, “I do not trust your mentor.”
“Con? Or Ellie? Either way, that’s ridiculous. They’re amazing.” Sara’s glanced back at Sky for support.
“Skilled warriors know how to mask their thoughts. This Con that I was introduced to yesterday, he did not just mask his thoughts, but his entire presence. I just can not help but wonder why someone would do such a thing.”
“You’re being paranoid,” Sara nudged him with a smile, “That guy is less than a threat than this one back here.” She threw a thumb back over her shoulder.
Sky wanted to say something, anything, but didn’t. He was too un-nerved by what Lee had said. Con was his mentor, and he would like to think he was a friend, but if push came to shove, he trusted Lee’s intuition a hundred times over. Something in the back of his head was pulling at his brain, something Con had said before he had left…
“Wow, look at that, a ship!” Sara exclaimed.
Sky’s stomach dropped, “What?” He looked up from the dirt under his feet and saw it, a mile yet down the road, but clearly visible in the back lot -The Regan Fortuna.
“Dad.” Sky felt a welling in his chest. They were saved. They didn’t need Roland, they didn’t need Zeph, all they needed was right there in his house. “Come on!” He shouted and ran down the road with one goal in mind.
He veered off the road and over the fence, heading straight through the tall yellow grasses. He could hear Sara and Lee crashing through the brittle stalks, growing farther and farther behind him as his legs carried him faster and faster.
“Dad!” He screamed as loud as he could possibly scream, “Zero!”
He should have been winded, but when he reached the stoop it was like he hadn’t even ran. He leaped up the steps with nothing but relief in his lungs as he reached for the handle. The door flew open before he could touch it and the angriest face he had ever seen pushed its way towards him, followed quickly by the sting of a hard, solid punch to the side of his face. He stumbled back and hit the dirt.
Creatures of Snow Page 18
