by Candy Crum
A wide river rushed below him. A large bridge, roughly five hundred feet in length, connected the land on either side. Looking down on the roadway just west of the bridge, he saw a car pulling over to the side. Two people got out before walking towards the bridge. The world around him blurred as the car came into focus again. Inside he could see Darius bound, but struggling to free himself. He’d awakened. Joe could sense Darius’ fear and anger.
Joe wondered if the witches could sense him as they could earlier. Before, his vision had been unlike any other. He was an invisible body along for the ride, just as he’d been in Italy, but they could sense him there. He was curious if part of him actually left his body during visions. Earlier he’d been able to talk through Cass during such an episode. If part of him actually left his body, then it made sense to him why the witches would be able to see him.
“Hello again,” a soft voice said from behind him.
He turned his attention toward the river, but he did not need to look that far. The blonde witch stood there, staring at where his eyes would be if his body had been present.
The witch gave a brief smile just before her hand darted out, her palm lying flat on what would be his chest. He felt a painful pull, his entire body on fire as his spiritual body began to appear. He cried out as she forced more power through him. It felt like acid ran through his veins as his physical body even began to pull.
“You’re fighting,” she said. “Impressive.”
Joe had so many questions. So many things that he wanted to ask. The pain, however, was too much for him to even breathe. Soon, his body fully materialized. The witch stepped forward, her hand never leaving his chest. Her full lips curled into a wicked smile as she grabbed his shirt.
“If you plan to save them, you’d better get here soon,” she said.
“Wait,” he said. “What? Save them? Save who?”
Her smile broadened, showing her perfect white teeth. She turned a little, motioning behind her.
“All this traffic. All these people. That water is rushing pretty quickly, especially now that it’s raining so hard. It’s funny. Those that die depend on when you get here. Every car crossing that bridge at this very moment has no idea just how lucky they are. If they’d left even five minutes later… Well – I’m guessing you know what I’m saying.”
Joe opened his mouth to plea with her, but she smiled again as pain flowed through him once more.
“Tell your friends that I said hello. Oh – and Joe? You should probably step on the gas. My beautiful friend over there is quite the pyro.”
With nothing more than a simple wave of the hand that had been holding him, pain ripped through him as he was violently pulled back into the truck. Joe panted hard, his breaths coming in short, quick bursts. The physical pain began to subside and tears filled his eyes as he regained the ability to react to it.
“Joe!” Alee said. “What just happened? You disappeared!”
“The witches!” Joe shouted, unable to control his volume. “I think with the urgency of everything happening I’m becoming more receptive of it all. I can’t control anything. I just keep getting sucked in over and over. Those witches are way stronger than I thought. This is all happening way too fast. We know literally nothing about this side of the world. Alee, get on the road.”
“What? Joe, what happened to you?” Alee asked.
“Yeah,” Cass said. “Are you alright? They said you just disappeared.”
“Drive, Alee. NOW!” he yelled.
Alee didn’t ask anything further. She started the truck and squealed the tires as she pulled out onto the road. Joe was shaking. She couldn’t imagine what he might be feeling. The truck was fell silent as Alee began navigating through the traffic, watching for police cruisers and also for anything strange they may run into.
The roadways were slick with rain and traffic had slowed quite a bit. Amy Martin looked in the rearview, checking all of her mirrors before merging into the right lane, allowing faster vehicles to pass. The loudness of the radio distracted her, so she reached down to adjust the volume. Ahead of her, she saw a large bridge approaching. That bridge marked her halfway point between work and home. It wouldn’t be much longer before she could hold her little girl, Emily.
The following weekend would be Emily’s first birthday. Amy had stopped to pick up some of the decorations and dropped off the design for the cake that she ordered. There would be two. One for the party and a small one for her baby girl to dig into and make a mess. She smiled as she thought of what Emily would look like with hot pink and green icing all over her face. Her husband had asked her to wait until the next day, something she’d originally planned to do. She had wanted to get home sooner, especially after the long day she’d had, but she was worried the cake might not get finished the right way if she didn’t drop the design off that day.
Looking off to her right far ahead, she saw a woman backing away from the bridge. She was standing, walking backwards and staring at the bridge with her arms straight out in front of her. As Amy drove closer, about to cross onto the bridge, she saw something that she didn’t believe to be possible. A massive fireball began to grow in front of the woman. It was so hot that it burned bright blue.
Everyone that was paying attention to more than the road began hitting their brakes to avoid the bridge, several spiraling out of control and landing in the grass to the side of the road. Amy slammed on her brakes, too, but it did no good. A semi rear ended her hard, shoving her just to the edge of the bridge. The front tires rolled far enough that only half of her car remained on the highway, the other half was on the bridge before her.
Thunderous collisions could be heard behind her and it was no different ahead of her. Traffic was completely halted on the bridge, most of the vehicles having collided with one another in their abrupt stop. There was no way on or off. The bridge was very long, but it did nothing to hinder Amy’s view of an explosion on the opposite side. Blue flames rocketed high across the bridge, sending several cars flying backward to land on others.
Amy looked to her right. The regret of doing so immediate. The woman had been completely engulfed in wild blue flames, but it did not seem to hurt her. She thrusted her entire body forward, the flames hurling toward the bridge. A single tear fell down Amy’s cheek, her entire body shaking. She only had time to think of one thing before what she knew would be an explosion that rivaled the one she’d just seen.
“Mommy’s sorry, Emily. I love you.”
“What are we doing? What happened to you?” Alee asked. “I’m sorry. I waited as long as I could. You freaked all of us out.”
“Just keep going as fast as possible. If a cop hits his lights, don’t dare think of stopping. There’s a bridge. A big one. It’s a few hundred feet long. I think the witches are going to blow it.”
“Holy crap,” Jess said, still on the call. “Was there water under it, or land?”
“It was a river. A very wide, very deep river,” Joe said. “She told me that we needed to get there quick because her friend is a pyro. I saw Darius in the car struggling to get free.”
“We have to hurry,” Cass said. “Do you have any idea what bridge that was?”
“Here,” Brittany said. “According to Google Maps, there are two large bridges between Cass and us. One is over the Saline River, but it doesn’t look that big. Look at this one, though…”
She handed her phone to Joe. On the screen was an aerial view of the Ouachita River I-30 bridge. It was massive. The river looked wide and deep.
“That’s it. That’s the one,” Joe said. “It’s been raining across the US for over a week and it’s raining now, so it’ll be rushing and raised. Cass, how far are you from Ouachita River.”
“Uh,” Jess said. “According to the GPS, about ten minutes.”
“You need to slow down,” Joe said. “We are about fifteen minutes out. Don’t approach without us.”
“No,” Cass said. “We need to get there as soon as possible.�
��
“Listen to me,” Joe said. “Those witches… I’ve never felt anything like that in my life. She pulled my spirit from my body. I felt it. Then she moved my entire physical body. She teleported me from one place, without knowing my real location, and then back again. She didn’t even bat an eye at how much strength that had to have taken. These girls are nothing to mess with. You can’t do this alone. Don’t risk your lives. Wait for us.”
“No witch has ever had that kind of power,” Brittany said. “Not since the old days, especially if they are younger. It’s Cronus. He’s giving them strength.”
“Oh no,” Kylie said, her voice small and weak.
“What is it?” Alee asked.
“It’s too late,” Kylie said.
“What?” Joe asked, turning in his seat.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Brittany asked.
Kylie seemed to be staring at Brittany, but that was not at all what she saw. A woman in her mid-twenties sat between them. She looked terrified, her eyes wide and her body shaking. Kylie did her best not to touch her, but knew it was going to happen sooner rather than later.
“How many others?” Kylie asked. “What is your name?”
Joe and Brittany both looked at Kylie with confusion on their faces, Alee using the rearview mirror to get some sort of glance back.
“Rose,” the woman said. “I don’t understand what happened. There was a woman standing by the bridge. Her entire body engulfed in flames. Wrecks. So many wrecks. People screaming. There was so much screaming as we watched that fireball hit the bridge. Then another one hit on the other side. The bridge still stands because of the pillars, but not for long. So many people will die in the river when it falls. How did I get here? Am I dead?”
Kylie’s brows furrowed with sadness and worry. She wanted to grab the woman and hold her, but knew that she couldn’t.
“What’s going on over there?” Jess asked.
“The bridge has been blown from both sides,” Kylie said. “It’s still standing, for the moment, but there is a woman in here that died in the explosion. Her name is Rose.”
“So… I am dead,” Rose said, her head lowering.
Kylie imagined that if she’d been able to, the girl would have cried.
“I’m very sorry,” Kylie said. “We are heading there now. We are going to stop this from getting worse. Can you tell me anything else?”
Rose kept her head down as she went into detail of what she saw before her death. Her voice was full of sadness and defeat. Kylie hung on to her every word, hoping that it may help in some way.
“This can’t be real. What else is happening?” Joe asked.
Kylie nodded. “She said that there are a lot of cars stuck on the bridge, and traffic is backed up. There were several wrecks where people tried to stop short of the bridge. There are a lot of people hurt. A lot more about to go in the river once the bridge falls. She said that flames on both sides are keeping people trapped in their vehicles.”
“Hopefully the rain will help with that. It’s magical fire, though. Not exactly something I know a lot about,” Joe said.
Kylie looked into Rose’s eyes, giving her a comforting smile.
“It’s okay,” she said. “You’re safe now. Nothing can hurt you ever again.”
Reaching out, Kylie took the woman’s hand, the pain burning through her as the portal within her opened to accept the woman. Once it was over, she exhaled hard.
“I have a feeling there is going to be a lot more of that happening if we don’t hurry,” Kylie said, catching her breath.
Without saying another word, Alee stepped on the gas. As Joe had stated before, they didn’t care if the police stopped them. They knew it wouldn’t matter once they reached the wreckage. The only thing that mattered was that hundreds of people that were about to die, and they were the only ones that might be able to save them.
Κεφάλαιο XIX
LATE SATURDAY EVENING
Arkansas
Heavy rain fell hard from the skies making visibility hard on the interstate. The speed at which they traveled in made it even worse. In front of them, they saw smoke billowing into the air, the rain having done nothing to subdue it. Even with their windows shut tight, the smell of the explosion had begun filling the truck.
Traffic was backed up too far for them to get close on the freeway. They’d come to a complete stop, unable to move any further.
“It’s too far to walk,” Alee said. “What are we going to do?”
Joe thought for a moment before getting out of the truck and walking to the back. He pulled back the cover that shielded the gryphon from everyone in traffic.
“Don’t get feisty with me this time,” he said, talking to the gryphon. “Do you smell the smoke?”
She nodded.
“It’s witches. I don’t know if you know that, or not, but there are a lot of people up there about to die. We’re stuck in traffic because of the wreckage close to the bridge. We have to go off road. That’s going to mean a bumpy ride for you.”
The bird screeched, nodding.
“I know this is a lot to ask of you. You’ve protected us and watched over us. But I need you to stay in the truck. Right now this is a bad day. A tragic event, even. If people see you, see what you are, it will be chaos. Still, even knowing that, I can’t let you sit back here in pain. If the path we take gets too painful for you, jump out. Okay?”
She nodded again before motioning toward the front of the truck. He took the hint and covered her before making his way to the cab. He got in, closed the door, and buckled himself in.
“Go around,” he said. “Off road if necessary. I warned her what was about to happen. She knows. Just go.”
People were starting to get out of their cars, curious to know what was happening ahead. Alee drove right, getting on the shoulder of the road. She was wide-eyed, watching for any pedestrians that may wander too far over and get in her way. As they approached, another explosion went off, the ground shaking and the sound echoing through the air.
“Look!” Brittany said. “The bridge is going down!”
Alee slammed on the brakes, slowing down enough to drive off road around the wreckage that was located closer to the bridge. She stopped a hundred feet away, turning the truck off and tossing the keys under the seat. Everyone got out and briefly weighed the damage before them. The bridge was beginning to tip over and several cars were about to fall. It wouldn’t be long before the cars were lost into the river.
“It’s so bad,” Kylie said.
“What is it?” Joe asked.
“I can see them,” she said. “People are dying. It must have been the last explosion.”
“Don’t touch anyone. Don’t touch the living, or the dead,” Brittany said.
“Why?” Kylie asked. Her brows furrowed as she became worried she would be useless. “I want to help save people, too.”
“You can’t control your power,” Brittany said. “If you pull someone out of the water and they die as you’re doing it, you’ll pull them directly into hades before you even get a chance to give them CPR. Stay away from them. Stay away from the dead, too. It’s hard to say how many of these people we can save. Just stand back.”
Kylie wanted to argue, but deep down she knew that Brittany was right, and it hurt her that she couldn’t help. The only thing she cared about at that moment was helping her friends get there as quickly as possible.
The group began to run, covering as much ground as quickly as possible. There were already people jumping in the water trying to save themselves before the bridge went down, but it was too late. The ground began to vibrate as the bridge buckled in several places, the concrete and steel holding it together giving away. Dozens of vehicles fell into the rushing water as the entire right side of the bridge collapsed. Screams filled the rainy skies.
“Alee!” Brittany shouted from the front of the pack. “Joe and I will jump in! You stay out and give CPR. If you see som
eone close to the edge, grab them!”
Brittany was the first to make it to the water, wasting no time jumping in. Joe was soon to follow. The current was strong, almost too strong, but they had strength that they were only beginning to test as they began fighting the raging river. Brittany found a woman losing against the current, and she grabbed her around the waist, pulling her to the surface. Kylie and Alee were there at the edge waiting.
“Alee,” Brittany said, breathing hard. “She’s alive and fine. I’ll be back with more.”
Brittany turned and jumped in once again. Kylie stood and looked around them, truly seeing the destruction ahead of them. It was unlike anything she’d ever seen. Unlike anything she’d ever seen in person anyway. It was devastation. The dead walked along the shore, staring out into the water, watching and waiting for something, but she didn’t know what it could be.
Their bodies to be rescued.
Family to be saved.
It was hard to say, but Kylie did not want to approach in fear that the victims would feel the pull to her, and she would not be able to avoid it.
On the other side of the river, Cass and Jess had only just made it to the bridge. Unlike the others, they did not have a vehicle that could survive off road activity. They ran the entire way, making it to the black Dodge Charger that Darius was in. They looked around, unable to see the witches anywhere, or anyone that even looked suspicious. All they could see was destroyed vehicles and a bridge that was half-gone on the opposite side. Only the western side remained, held up by the pillars in the middle and the small bit of ground that it rested upon on, but even that was beginning to crumble.
Cass opened the back door and found Darius tied up with a gag in his mouth. He pulled it off and untied him as fast as possible.
“Where are they?” Cass asked.
“I don’t know!” Darius said. “I don’t understand what’s going on. I’ve seen them do things that shouldn’t be possible. How did you find me?”
