The Children and the Blood

by Megan Joel Peterson

  Men surrounded her. At the edge of the ravine, a few stood, and amid the ringing in her ears, their words surfaced slowly.

  “What the hell were you thinking?” one snapped, glaring at his burly companion.

  The other man shrugged, an impatiently defensive look on his sweaty face. “What? Kid pulled a gun on me. Besides, Brogan said we only needed one.”

  Looking at him as though he was insane, the first man snarled disgustedly and then turned away, pulling out his cell. “Get me Brogan,” he barked into the phone. He paused. “Well then, dammit, find Simeon!”

  Ashley stared, their words spinning in her mind. Only needed one. Lily was… and her dad… and Jonathan… and Rose… these men had… she didn’t even know why…

  And all because they’d only needed one of them to survive.

  As though feeling the pressure of her gaze, the burly man glanced back, and a smirk twisted his face at the sight of her. Nonchalantly, he crossed the distance to her side.

  Bending down, he wrapped his fingers into her hair, pulling her head away from the ground. “You got a problem with me, brat?” he snickered. “Do something about it.”

  Sharply, he shoved her face deeper into the dirt, sending pain surging through her cheek. Laughing, he straightened and then clapped the man holding her on the shoulder before sauntering away.

  She couldn’t breathe. Trembling shook her and she couldn’t stop it. Somewhere inside, emotions welled up, superseding one another in tumbling waves. Grief gave way to anguish, gave way to agony, gave way to searing pain…

  Gave way to rage.

  Burning, twisting, seething rage. From deep inside it rose like magma from the heart of the earth, roaring to the surface and tearing her body apart as it came.

  They’d hurt Lily.

  They’d destroyed everything.

  Because they’d only needed one.

  Just one.

  Her eyes found the burly man. She watched him turn back toward her.

  And then the world exploded in flame.

  *****

  The ground hit him hard.

  Crashing onto his back on the rock, Cole felt the air rush from his chest, and pain nearly blinded him. A few inches away, the little girl slammed down, her screams ending as though severed by a knife.

  Gasping, he blinked hard, trying to see the girl past the red fog in his eyes.

  Her hand found his.

  The haze pulled back. He glanced behind him.

  He lay an inch from the abyss, on a tiny protrusion of rock barely a few feet wide. An overhang of rock covered part of the ledge, and without thinking, he gripped the girl’s hand and rolled to his feet, heading for the negligible cover.

  Pain went off like a firecracker inside his shoulder.

  Sucking air through his teeth, he flung himself beneath the overhang, dragging the little girl with him. Together, they tumbled into the back wall, hitting rocky outcroppings and dried roots as they landed.

  The girl whimpered, and quickly, he put his hand over her mouth to silence her. On the edge of the outcropping, he caught sight of his own blood, glimmering like a red beacon. Blanching, he drew his feet in as tightly as they would go and pulled the girl closer, waiting.

  Pebbles scattered across the ledge, kicked down carelessly from above.

  “What the hell were you thinking?”

  Reece.

  His teeth were clenched so tight, they were about ready to break.

  “What?” came the reply. “Kid pulled a gun on me. Besides, Brogan said we only needed one.”

  The words made his brow furrow, jarring as they did against the idea that the men had been out to kill the girls. They didn’t care if the little girl was dead. They just wanted one of them alive. He could still call the cops. Ashley might stand a chance.

  He heard Reece growl something inarticulate in response, and a heartbeat later, gravel crunched as footsteps moved off. Drawing a shuddering breath, Cole tried to focus on reaching the cell phone in his pocket a million miles away.

  In his grasp, the little girl twisted. Her eyes flicked toward his shoulder worriedly before turning to the rock above them as though seeing through the mountain to her sister. Gritting her teeth, she pulled away from him and started crawling from beneath the overhang.

  He could barely move to stop her. His arm felt useless and probably was. The blood soaking his shoulder was like ice, and the pain made it ridiculously hard to think. Blinking, he swallowed and then struggled away from the rocks, reaching out with his good arm to draw her back.

  A wave of fire blasted over the edge of the cliff.

  With a shout, Cole crashed backward while trees, rocks, and screaming men flew into the night to tumble down into the river far below. Snagging the little girl with one hand, he yanked her back against him and stared.

  The gout of flame died, disappearing into the sky in a cloud of black smoke. Fire crackled overhead, loud in the sudden silence.

  They… he shivered, unable to form a coherent thought.

  His gaze slid to the little girl.

  “Ashe,” she whispered.

  Beyond the cave, the night grew darker. Despite the fires, the world was cold. The screaming agony in his shoulder faded away.

  Rock caught his face with only a glimmer of pain.

  A desperate sob escaped the girl as she spun. “No,” she whimpered, shaking him.

  She was a pale ghost amid the black shadows crowding him, and the moonlight glowed off her skin like diamonds. He wanted to tell her it was okay, because that’s what people always said in these situations. No matter what was happening, at that moment, it was okay.

  “Please…” she begged, tears falling from her blue moon eyes to land on her skin so bright.

  So very bright.

  The pain faded away.

  He opened his eyes.

  They were still in the cave. The little girl was clutching his arm. And he felt fine. Better than fine. Blinking in confusion, he sat up and looked at his shoulder, and then pulled the sweatshirt up to see his chest.

  Nothing. Smooth skin beneath a dark t-shirt sodden with blood.

  His gaze rose to the little girl.

  The little girl who was glowing.

  “What–” he started, flinching back.

  Glistening cheeks streaked with tears, she looked at him and then her face crumpled into a muted sob.

  Brow furrowing, he hesitated and then reached out. Avoiding his blood-soaked shoulder, he pulled her close.

  “It’s okay,” he whispered, holding her while she silently cried.

  *****

  Lily.

  The thought clanged through Ashley’s head, sending her surging to her feet as the pressure of the men pinning her down suddenly went away. Charging forward, she raced to the cliff, and then skidded to a halt, staring.

  Smoke billowed into the sky, suffocating the stars. At the base of the ravine, the river shimmered with orange light.

  And on an outcropping several feet below, blood pooled in the dirt and trailed off the ledge into the darkness.

  Ashley choked.

  She was gone.

  Lily was actually gone.

  Trembling, she fell to her knees. Tears slipped from beneath her closed lids, evaporating instantly.

  A moment crept by, and slowly, her brow drew down. Blinking in numbed confusion, she looked over her shoulder.

  The mountainside was on fire.

  She gasped and scrambled for her feet. A wall of flame surrounded her, engulfing what was left of the underbrush and trees. Blackened trunks torn up from their roots fanned out around the clearing as though propelled by an explosion, and the men who’d held her were nowhere to be seen. Towering flames roared at the night, spreading swiftly across the mountain and clawing toward the sky.

  And in the heart of it, she was standing.

  Memory flickered back as she stared at the flames, and instinctively, her fingers went to her jeans, brushing the bullet hole in the fabri
c. Unbroken skin lay beneath. Brow furrowing in confusion, she looked down.

  She choked on a scream.

  Flames danced from her hands and coiled around her arms before twisting away to join the mountainside blaze. Trembling, she lifted her hands before her, unable to take her eyes from the fire shimmering over her unmarked skin.

  This was a dream.

  She looked up at the inferno swallowing the mountain.

  This had to be a dream. The words repeated in her head, chasing themselves in circles till they descended into insensibility.

  Hesitantly, she stepped forward and despite the flames twisting all around her, she was touched by nothing more than a warm breeze. Sparks and embers flew into the air and drifted down onto her skin painlessly.

  She caught sight of a glimmer on the gravel and paused. A pool of metal rested at the base of a boulder, its silvery surface reflecting the fire.

  Grief faded as she watched the orange light play across the pocket knife’s remains.

  This wasn’t happening.

  None of this was real.

  Walking back through the fire, Ashley left the cliff behind.

  *****

  “She’s stronger than we thought,” Simeon commented, leaning against the stone wall of the scenic overlook while he watched the fire devouring the forest several miles away.

  At his side, Brogan exhaled. “How many did we lose?”

  “About a dozen, mostly recruits,” Simeon answered, and then he paused. “But Reece was there. He was on the phone with me before…”

  Brogan made no reply.

  “He said one of the recruits shot at the targets,” Simeon continued. “And as a result, that boy, whoever he was… he fell over the cliff with the younger girl.”

  At this, Brogan’s gaze slid to meet the slender, ponytailed man’s eyes. “So she could be dead,” he stated flatly.

  Simeon shrugged his graying eyebrows. “Or seriously injured.”

  Brogan looked back at the fires.

  The rumble of tires on the mountain road made Simeon turn. Pulling to a stop behind them, Keller threw the car into park and then climbed out.

  “The crew at the house burned it down before I got back there,” he called furiously. He slammed the door and then stalked toward them. “Overeager bastards had the audacity to tell me it was standard operating procedure, putting the bodies in the basement and then torching every building on the property.”

  Brogan closed his eyes.

  “What do you want to do?” Simeon asked.

  “Besides kill them all?” Keller growled rhetorically. He tossed a look to Brogan. “They’re all too impatient to end this, boss. Sloppy doesn’t begin to cover it.”

  His gaze flicked to Keller, and the man caught himself. “Brogan,” he corrected. “Sorry.”

  Drawing a breath, Brogan turned from the fires and started toward his car. “We need proof the younger girl is dead. Take the survivors and check for corpses. If there are none, get back to the farmhouse. Find something to track them by.”

  “Damn recruits,” Keller grumbled.

  “Kill some as an example if necessary,” Brogan called over his shoulder as he opened the car door. “But get this under control. Tear apart the property, and if there’s nothing of use…”

  He paused, thinking. “Pin it on the older girl. Regardless, she’s still alive. Pull out your old FBI credentials if you have to, but gather what information we have and make up a cover story blaming her for the house, the bodies, all of it. The more incriminating, the better. Involve that boy and the younger girl too, just in case. And then leak it to the press and the police. I want half the country looking for them by sunrise.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Simeon asked. “I mean… Brogan, the cops can’t help and if–”

  “According to Bartlow, Patrick didn’t tell them anything,” Brogan said. “So if they’re scared and confused enough, the police and the media might stand a chance. As for the rest, tonight wasn’t subtle. They’ll be coming after the girls anyway.”

  He glanced back at the flames. “We just have to get to them first.”

  Chapter Four

  Heat continued to build in their tiny hollow beneath the blaze, making sweat drip down Cole’s face. Embers crumbled onto the ledge every so often as the fire consumed everything it touched. At his side, the little girl hadn’t stopped crying, though she never made a sound. Barely breathing and trembling hard, she huddled in a tense little ball, fists curled as though she was fighting with all her strength to hold the grief inside.

  One hand on the girl’s shoulder, Cole glanced down. The glow around her hadn’t faded, and the more he studied it, the more disconcerted he became. Though she glistened to his eyes, the shimmer emanating from her skin cast no light on the cave walls, and did nothing for the shadows. Whatever he was seeing had no effect on the outside world, and the thought was anything but comforting.

  But she’d also saved his life, despite the bullet wound and massive blood loss. And the men who’d attacked them had tossed Vaughn thirty feet through the air into the back of a sedan. Both groups glowed, and thus he was left with the inescapable conclusion that glowing people possessed superpowers.

  And that he was probably insane.

  Cole glanced at the cave opening as more embers scattered across the ledge. Regardless of his own estimation of his current mental stability, he knew they couldn’t stay here much longer, not only because of the heat, but also because the fire could be seen for miles. And while emergency crews and police were sure to come, the truth was Keller and his cronies had to be on the way as well. They’d killed to find him in Utah, and they’d killed to find Ashley and her sister too. They only wanted one of the girls, and so the best thing he could do was keep them from learning the kid was alive and that he was here, at least until he could get the cops involved.

  He shifted slightly. At the motion, the little girl flinched and then pushed away from his side. Swiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she only vaguely appeared to register he was there.

  “What’s your name?” he asked.

  “Lily,” she whispered.

  He tried a smile, but the expression felt awkward and stupid against the hurt in her eyes. “I’m Cole.”

  Silence answered him.

  The ticking of time made him glance to the ledge again. “Lily, we need to get going. Police and firemen will be here soon, but the guys who were after us might be coming too. We need to find the cops before then.”

  She didn’t move.

  “Lily.”

  “I want to go home.”

  Caught off guard, he hesitated. “Y-you can’t.”

  Want and reality warred in her distant gaze. “Take me home,” she insisted, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them tightly.

  Cole stared at her as images of glowing men with guns raced through his mind. His own weapon had skittered away in the darkness when they fell, presumably to drown in the river below, and even though the cell phone had survived the drop, as far as signal was concerned, they may as well have been on the moon. The police were their best chance at survival, but instead, she wanted to head back to where the bad guys were almost certain to be.

  She was a kid going through hell, but it was everything he could do not to scoff.

  “Please?” she persisted when he didn’t respond, a touch of desperation in her voice.

  “Listen,” he said, forcing himself to sound calm. “We can’t go back to your house now. But,” he continued hastily, seeing the nascent hysteria in her expression, “is there anywhere I can take you? Other family? Friends maybe?”

  At his words, the hysteria faded. The vaguely catatonic look returned to her eyes.

  “What?” he pressed.

  She bundled herself into an even smaller ball. “I want to go home.”

  “We can’t go there now. But the cops will be coming and they can help us. If there’s someone they can contact…
”

  For the first time, her eyes lifted to meet his. “They’re all dead,” she told him tonelessly. “The fires killed them when I was little.”

  He faltered, staring at her distant blue gaze. Struggling to regroup, he glanced to the ledge. “Lily, we have to get out of here.”

  The girl looked up at the cave ceiling and shook her head. “I need to find Ashley first.”

  Words deserted him. He had no idea what’d happened in the mere seconds between he and Lily falling and the explosion, but there was no way Ashley’s captors could’ve already taken her far enough away to not be caught in the blast. Men and trees had flown from the cliff like confetti, meaning the bastards had been victims of whatever they’d tried. It had to have been an accident, but for the better part of the past fifteen minutes the mountain had been an inferno.

  Nothing could have survived.

  Carefully, he took the girl’s hand as he struggled to find a way to explain reality to a kid who looked like she couldn’t be more than six years old. Nothing came to him.

  “Ashley’s dead, Lily,” he said quietly, feeling like a monster.

  The little girl ripped her hand away, staring at him in horrified disbelief.

  “You’re lying,” she said with absolute conviction. Face furrowing angrily, she shook her head to drive away the words, and then turned to study the ledge, as though trying to determine how to climb up without being burned by the flames.

  “Lily,” he said painfully. “Ashley’s gone.”

  She trembled, not turning around.

  “We have to go.”

  “I’m going home.”

  Repressing the urge to shout at her, he looked away and forced himself to breathe. “Okay, fine. We’ll go home soon,” he said, lying and knowing he was a jerk for doing so. “Just… we need to get away from here first, alright?”

  For several irretrievable seconds, the girl didn’t move. “Really?” she asked, her voice tiny and hopeful as she turned back.

  He fought a grimace. There was probably a special circle in hell for people who lied to kids like this. “Yeah. Just as soon as we can.”