AIR Series Box Set

by Amanda Booloodian

  I grasped blindly towards the Path. "He said stop!"

  The man jerked his attention to me and stopped moving.

  "Logan, we're behind the professors’ parking lot behind the business offices." I bit my lip and started walking away from Ethan.

  The man’s eyes bored into me. Whatever this thing was, it didn't seem to care about Ethan. Maybe for once, I could use the fact that people wanted to kill me to our advantage. I took a few more steps away and started to take a wide circle around the man. His eyes never left me.

  "This is the police!" Ethan yelled. "Put your hands up and step away."

  The words had no effect.

  The pale man started to move in a circle, keeping track of me. His prisoner whimpered when moved.

  Ethan started to move in the direction opposite me.

  "Drop him," I said, keeping my voice level.

  "Step away," Ethan repeated, "or I will shoot."

  You are Einar.

  "I don't know what that is," I said.

  The man cocked his head.

  I am Einar. You are Einar.

  "My name is Cassie," I said. Then I stopped and stared at the man. "Ethan, did you hear him?" It hadn't registered right away that he hadn't spoken, but I could still understand him.

  "He hasn't said anything," Ethan said, his voice agitated.

  Repulsed, my skin started to crawl. This thing had somehow gotten into my head. That couldn't be a good sign.

  Ethan had moved almost directly behind the man.

  "Your name is Einar?" I asked, trying to keep the thing busy.

  I am Einar.

  Ethan started to move forward slowly.

  "What do you want Einar?" I asked.

  Ethan held the gun to Einar's back. "Put your hands up!"

  Einar dropped one hand that had been holding the person, then slammed his hand, palm first, into Ethan's chest. There's no way Einar should have been able rotate his arm to hit Ethan like that without turning.

  Ethan was lifted off his feet by the blow and landed on his back a few yards away.

  Then, with a casual gesture, Einar snapped the hostige’s neck.

  The sickening crack made my stomach want to revolt. I covered my mouth and took a step back as the person fell to the ground at Einar's feet.

  You are Einar, but it should not be so.

  With a hand still over my mouth, I shook my head.

  Einar took a step towards me.

  BANG. Ethan shot into Einar's back.

  A high-pitch scream encompassed my mind. I wasn't sure if it was my brain trying to blank out what was happening around me, or if the sound came from Einar.

  You should not be. You shall soon be at rest.

  I took another step back and shook my head. "I'm not who you think I am." My heart was racing. I groped blindly for the Path, but it may as well not have existed. It was gone.

  Ethan fired two more shots.

  Einar turned quickly while making a hissing noise in my mind.

  "No!" I shouted, drawing Einar's attention.

  He turned back to me and stepped forward.

  Each step forward he took, I took one step back. My brain was screaming to run, but I was too afraid to turn my back to the creature.

  Swallowing hard, I tried a new tactic. "Are you a Lost?" My eyes started to burn, and my muscles had been tense for so long that they were starting to get fatigued.

  We are all lost.

  We? There had been something on the edge of the words. Something that almost sounded like a voice under the voice. My eyes opened wide.

  "What are you?" I asked.

  Ethan, still on the ground, emptied the rest of his clip into Einar. When the screams filled my head, I tried to distinguish if it was one or more, but it was no use. It was only a scream.

  The sound died away. I am Einar.

  Einar rushed forward, and I tried to retreat backward. My muscles were screaming, my mind was a solid ball of fear, and the Path was nowhere to be found.

  He seized me by the neck and started to drag me away.

  "Let go!" I screamed.

  Punching out behind me, I struck Einar in the face. It felt like I was hitting a rock.

  They made you soft, Einar said, his voice somber. Your pain will end soon.

  "You're the one causing my pain!" I started lashing out any way that I could. Using Einar's hold as leverage, I tried hitting, kicking, and clawing at anything I could reach. I went for vitals, but where most people would have had some sort of reaction, this guy had none.

  "Cassie!" I heard Ethan yell.

  We were already out of sight. Terror gripped me. There had to be a way to the Path, it was my only hope here. Fumbling through my mind didn't help.

  "Cassie!" This time it was Logan's voice.

  I felt a momentary wave of relief. The old elf could handle anything that was thrown at him. But then, Einar had withstood bullets. There wasn't even any blood that I could see. His skin was warm stone, like a rock that had been baking in the sun all day. Could an elf handle a beast like this?

  "Why are you doing this?" I cried.

  Leaders of this nation should not have created another Einar. They will pay, but your suffering shall end.

  "No one made me!" My struggles were useless.

  I knew Logan would be on his way. Thrusting my terror aside, I gripped a fury buried deep inside me. With that rage came the soul fragment of a minotaur. It roared forward, and for once, I didn't attempt to move it away. The minotaur was in charge.

  The bellow that leaped from me was a noise that I have never heard any human make. I let myself fade into the background giving the rage free rein.

  When I gripped my capturer’s hand and twisted it away, I could feel my muscles strain. My blood boiled through me, strength surged, and I shoved Einar away.

  He fell back, a look of shock on his glowing features. The sane thing to do would be to flee, putting distance between us, but sanity had left when I let go of my control. Instead, I surged forward and crashed into Einar, bringing us both to the ground.

  Logan came out of the darkness. My gaze turned to him for a moment. Logan's face had stretched and become more angular. His ears were at their points, and he was on the balls of his feet, ready to attack.

  My quarry was on the ground. In a storm of violence, I lashed out at Einar. The fact that he didn't fight back wasn't a deterrent. The fact that he was completely unharmed by anything I did was disturbing. When my fist smashed into him, there was no give. When my knee hammered into his groin and stomach, there was no reaction. The ferocity of the minotaur didn't leave space to speak.

  I do not understand. Einar's words reached my mind, but the physical assault was all that mattered in my fervor.

  Einar put one hand out, planting it in the middle of my chest. The feeling of flying through the air was unmistakable. Some part of me braced for pain, but it didn't register. I slammed into a tree and fell to the ground.

  My body protested in my attempt to rise, but the spirit inside me wasn't ready to give up.

  Logan had taken up my fight with Einar, but he wasn't getting any further than I had.

  He is one of the Others. Einar stood and looked at me while effortlessly fending off Logan’s strikes. I shall come for you another day.

  It wasn't menacing, or threatening. It was a cheerless statement of fact.

  Einar turned and ran. Logan sprinted after him. The minotaur inside me let out another bellow and urged me to my feet, ready to give chase. The essence that had taken charge wouldn't back down, but the feeling of wear and tear on my body was starting to become prominent.

  Stumbling forward a few feet, I leaned against a tree. My veins felt seared, and my body pulsed with the need to fight my way forward.

  Logan came back into view. His alien appearance was starting to meld with the more contoured face I was used to.

  I struggled to pressure my soul back on top and take control, but the minotaur was resilient, and I had l
et it take charge.

  With Einar gone, I surged towards the next target. My body tried to revolt, but strong will overrode everything else.

  "You're going to hurt yourself," Logan said.

  I swiped out, but Logan easily sidestepped the feeble attack.

  "He’s gone. That man is fast."

  I swiped again. Logan pivoted away with the fluidity that I've only seen in an elf.

  Logan shook his head slightly. "I really don't want to do this."

  Under the hostility, the part that was me wanted him to get on with it.

  "But you really will hurt yourself. If you haven't already."

  He dodged again. This time he twisted and slid in behind me.

  "Sorry, partner," Logan said.

  Through the raving, I felt nothing. When I turned and lashed out, Logan was already out of reach. When I stumbled forward again, my body grew heavy. When I reached out, the ground started rushing towards my face. There was grass and dirt followed by dark oblivion.

  Chapter 13

  One thing about a minotaur that I found amazing is the speed at which it metabolized. Whatever hormones that had pumped through my system quickly ate through the tranquilizer that Logan had given me.

  Unfortunately, it left me cold, tired, and ravenously hungry. My mind was cloudy and I felt sluggish. When I opened my eyes, I didn't move, but listened to the indistinguishable sounds around me.

  Trying to figure out my predicament, I concentrated on myself. The minotaur was gone. That was easy to tell because the blind rage had fled. After some probing, I decided that I was indeed myself again. Nothing else had filled the void between the shard of minotaur soul and me. Dull aches wrapped themselves around me like a blanket. It was hard for me to determine if I was injured.

  My mind started to come into focus and I could make out voices, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Wiggling my fingers and toes assured me that I wasn't too bad off. My hands felt wrong, though. I moved my fingers and wrists and found them cuffed behind my back.

  Panic surged, and I scrambled into the Path. In my drug-addled state, it wasn't much use, but I didn't leave it. The Path had left me before and I was too afraid to give it up now.

  With the Path open, I felt confident enough to raise my head and look around. The room was dark, but the Path held plenty of light for me to see my living room. I had been left on the couch of my living room. I twisted my wrists again.

  Handcuffed, on the couch, in my living room.

  Relieved, I closed my eyes for a moment and sagged against the cushions.

  The voices stopped and Logan appeared from the kitchen.

  "Good to see you up, little lady. Are you you?" Logan asked.

  "I'm me," I said, depressed that the question needed to be asked.

  Logan squatted down next to the couch on the balls of his feet. "Not sure how we'd tell if that's true or not. I think your man in there would have my ears if I had to knock you out again."

  "Ethan's here?" I tried to sit up. "Is he alright?"

  "Yep, you seem to be you. Hold still and I'll uncuff you."

  "But he's not hurt?" I asked.

  "He's got more black and blue on his skin than any one man should have, and he wouldn't go to the hospital, but he's on his feet." Logan took off my handcuffs.

  "Why wouldn't he go to the hospital?" I sat up too quickly. My head swam, and I had to steady myself.

  "Because I told him you wouldn't be joining him. He didn't like that much."

  The doorbell rang.

  Logan bounded up to his feet. "That'll be the doc."

  "Dr. Yelton is here?"

  He paused on his way to the door. "I wasn't too sure about calling in Dr. Yelton. I wasn't sure if he was familiar with your condition."

  I rubbed my hands over my face and tried to kick my brain into gear. "Who then?"

  "Dr. Taylor."

  I nodded. It made sense after all. Maybe I had been asleep longer than I thought.

  Logan led Taylor in and then he flipped on the light.

  "Cassie, it's good to see you again. Even if it is under these circumstances," Taylor said.

  The doctor's Path was interesting. Everything about him said he was human. His features were almost perfect, from his smooth light brown skin to brown eyes shaped like tear drops. It was his Path that sold him out. It was a secret that he'd rather not have revealed. I never asked him about his race. It really wasn't my business, and I’ve never told anyone his secret.

  "It's good to see you again," I said. "Thank you for coming."

  He sat a bag down on the coffee table in front of me and opened it.

  "No, you need to see to Ethan first," I said.

  Feeling lightheaded, I let the Path fall away. The fact that it came and went while at home, but not other places was troubling. I'm pretty sure a Reader's ability couldn't become agoraphobic.

  Taylor looked up at Logan. "I didn't realize I had two patients tonight." He didn't look upset, but the question he wasn't asking was obvious.

  "When I called you, I had every intention of sending him to the hospital. Things didn't quite work as planned," Logan said.

  "I'm not deaf," Ethan said.

  I heard him before I saw him. He exited the kitchen, walking gingerly.

  "Are you okay?" I asked. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"

  "When you have a doctor that makes house calls?" Ethan asked. "Once I know you're alright I'll... no, that's a lie. Once I know you're okay, and I get some answers, I'll listen to the doctor's suggestions."

  "Ethan, this is Dr. Wes Taylor. Dr. Taylor, Ethan," I said, wanting to get things moving.

  "Nice to meet you, Dr. Taylor," Ethan said.

  "Call me Taylor," he said.

  Ethan and Taylor shook hands.

  "Who's in worse shape?" Taylor asked.

  Ethan and I both indicated the other at the same time.

  Once again, Taylor looked to Logan.

  "Look," I said, trying not to get aggravated, "I still have tranqs running through me. I'm not even sure I could tell you what hurts yet."

  "Is there a room I can use?" Taylor asked.

  "Gran's out for the weekend. She won't mind us using her room for this." I made a mental note to call her. It seemed like she had been gone for a month and it had been barely over a day.

  Then again, this day felt like it had lasted a month.

  Taylor took Ethan into Gran's room.

  As soon as they were out of sight, I turned to Logan. "We've got to talk."

  "We do at that." Logan sat down in a chair across from me. "I've been around here a good deal of years and been to a handful of different dimensions. I haven't seen anything like what I saw tonight. Ethan said he shot it?"

  "Several times, but that's only half the story. We didn't bump into Einar on our own."

  "Einar?"

  I hesitated. "Did you hear him say anything?"

  "He didn't speak a word."

  "Right," I said. Puzzling over that was going to drive me crazy. Should I tell Logan everything? When it came down to it, he was my partner. If I'd learned anything in the past year, it was that I needed to keep him informed.

  I gave Logan a rundown of the important events of the evening. While talking, the last dregs of tranquilizers started to wear off. The dull pains I had been feeling became more concerning and increasingly uncomfortable.

  To Logan's credit, he listened without interruption. Once I mentioned the old man and time stopping, he got up and started to pace, while I tried to find a position that didn’t hurt like crazy. I didn't bother mentioning Zander. He was a non-issue compared to the rest of the events and didn't have anything to do with the case at hand.

  By the time I started talking about Einar dragging me into the woods, my speech had become more muted and broken as the pain began to hammer itself into the forefront of my mind.

  Logan stopped pacing. "Need me to call for Taylor?"

  "No. I don't think anything's b
roken. But my muscles feel like they're on fire, and the bruises aren't helping matters any."

  He looked at me hard for a few moments before starting to pace again. "Whatever piece inside you that jumped out, I reckon it was trying to use muscles it possessed instead of the ones you have. What happened next?"

  There wasn't much left to the story.

  "You've had an eventful evening," Logan said while trying to wear holes through my carpet. "Let's start from the beginning. The old man thought the creature would relate to you."

  "Yes."

  "He wasn't wrong there. The thing talked to you, somehow, and no one else. It even called you by its own name."

  I shrugged and immediately regretted it when pain lanced across my shoulders. I gritted my teeth. "Maybe it wasn't its name, but its race or something?"

  "Possible," Logan said.

  "Can we look it up at the office?"

  Logan hesitated. He watched me and slowly walked over to the chair to sit back down. "Do you think we should look it up at the office? On the work computers?"

  Even through the pain it was obvious what he was asking. "You think we shouldn't take this to AIR?" I didn't have the mental capacity to be subtle at the moment.

  "I think we should be careful about the decision."

  The door to Gran's bedroom opened which cut Logan off mid-sentence. Ethan and Taylor emerged.

  "You're up next, Cassie," Taylor said.

  "How are you?" I asked Ethan. I tried not to wince too hard when I drew myself to my feet.

  "Been better, but nothing permanent. It sounds like I can avoid the hospital." Ethan gave Taylor a hard look, which Taylor appeared not to notice.

  Instead of going to Gran's room, I went to Ethan and took his hand. His smile seemed forced, and I could tell he was uncomfortable. My attempt at a reassuring look was foiled when I winced at a muscle spasm. I dropped his hand and went to Gran's room before I made things worse.

  "Logan?" Taylor got Logan's attention, tapped his ear twice, and shook his head no.

  "Gotcha, Doc," Logan said. "Ethan, let's go make some coffee."

  "Thanks. I wouldn't even think of asking him not to listen in," I said when Taylor shut the door behind us.

  "Logan means well, and I know he worries."