by N. A. Cash
I reached my hand through the bars and cupped it, as if I was holding his throat. Instantly, he dropped the lighter and the cane and grabbed his throat. I squeezed the air, and he squeezed his own throat.
“Karma…don’t,” were the only words he could get out as the grip of his hands tightened, cutting off his air supply. His wrinkled face started to turn blue. His eyes rolled up to the back of his head. His body started to slacken, his knees buckling. Hatred overcame any other emotion as I watched his breathing become shallow. Blind rage kept my hand squeezing.
Cicely’s voice pierced my consciousness. “Karma! No!”
I turned to look at her, relaxing my hand in the process. I heard the dull thump of Sultren’s body hitting the concrete. Through the haze of my hatred, I saw only the dim outline of her face, golden curls bouncing and swaying as she shook her head with her hand clasped across her mouth. I put my hands on the bars of my cage. Effortlessly, they bent to my will. I climbed out of my cage and made my way to hers. She recoiled in fear. I touched the bars of her cage; they bent too, falling away.
I stepped into her cage. She looked different—like a ghost, or an angel. I couldn’t see the definition of her face. I just heard her whimper as I stepped closer. I stared at the ethereal figure in the front of me. I felt the urge to touch her. Before my hand could reach the face, though, she touched my arm. I suddenly felt warmth shoot through my body. Immediately, I snapped out of my trance.
I noticed then that Cicely’s eyes were as wide as saucers and she was pressed against the back of the cage. “Karma…” she murmured, her voice sounding small and frightened.
“Cicely? I…”
Before I could get any other words out, she bounced forward and gripped me in a strong hug. I felt her warm tears on my shoulder as her ample arms squeezed me. “Oh Karma. I was so scared!”
She continued squeezing me, and so I squeezed back. After a few moments, we let each other go and stared at each other. She briskly wiped her tear-stained face. “Come, let’s get out of here.”
She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the cage. We both stopped next to Sultren’s immobile body. “You think he’s dead?” she whispered.
I bent down and placed my hand on his neck. I didn’t feel a pulse. As I felt his wrinkled skin, a flood of regret hit. What had I done? I had killed the only man who could lead me to my family. I stood up and looked mournfully at Cicely. “I think he is,” I said.
I reached into the pants pockets and rummaged around. I found a small ring of keys. I pulled at them and then grabbed my lighter from where it had fallen. Cicely and I then rushed over to the other cage where Dr. Dune lay, still unconscious. I fumbled around with the keys in the lock until I heard a small click and pulled the cage door open. We both looked down at Dr. Dune. “We’ll have to carry him,” I sighed.
We bent down. I clutched his right arm, while Cicely grabbed his left. We both strained under the effort of lifting him up, but finally, we were able to drape his arms around our shoulders. We tilted as we dragged him through the opening and straightened again as we walked towards the exit door. When I touched the door handle, the metal dissolved. The door sprung open, and a whiff of cool air blew into the room.
We stumbled out into the night, dragging Dr. Dune along until we got to the SUV. We shoved him awkwardly into the back seat of the car. I tossed Cicely my keys. It was probably best that she drove. She gladly jumped behind the wheel of the car, started it up, and hit the gas. She flipped a speeding U-turn, scaring me for a second. After she regained control of the car and zoomed away, I looked into the rearview mirror at the building. It was so peaceful against the twilight sky. At least we were safe. For now.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
I used the time driving to practice some deep-breathing techniques that Aunt Shugs taught me. When I felt calm enough, I told Cicely about what happened since I’d followed Owen and his gang, right up to what led me to her and Dr. Dune in a building on the sketchy side of town. She listened intently while she drove, nodding or reacting appropriately at certain points in my story. I’m sure it would’ve sounded crazy to anyone else but her.
We’d decided to go to her house, since mine was a mess. Dr. Dune’s breathing seemed steady. He lay still, with the occasional twitch of his fingers. I peered closer at his face and saw his eyes moving, as if he were watching a dream play out before him. We didn’t want to risk taking him to the hospital, because we would have to explain what had happened. Though I had no desire to discuss the most recent events with hospital staff, I knew that Cicely and I would need to have our version of “the talk.” Starting with the night I met her parents. “Cicely,” I began, “what about your mom?”
“What about her?” she asked with such innocence that I almost laughed.
“She doesn’t like me,” I said. “She accused me of being the reason why you were taken.” I fell silent again. Guilt washed over me and I blurted out, “I was the reason, though. She’s right.”
Cicely briefly glanced over at me, then returned her gaze to the road. “No, you weren’t Karma. I mean, yes, you kind of were the reason, but you’re not the one who actually took us, so you can’t take the blame for it.” She reached over and pat my hand. “Besides,” she said with a smile, “It was an adventure. Something I would have never have experienced otherwise.”
The way she responded and her perpetually perky outlook on life made me smile. I shook my head. “You sure have a way of seeing the good in everything.”
“That’s why you need me in your life,” she laughed. “I’m to help you see the positive side of things.”
“Still,” I sighed. “I can’t go to your home. Not yet. One day, I’ll sit and have a talk with your mom and see if we can resolve things, but I’ll wait until she sees you’re safe again.”
“So, what are you going to do?” she asked.
I wasn’t sure, but I did know that I was tired of running and very tired of being kidnapped and drugged and messed with. I had to confront Owen and his gang. They needed to be stopped. I didn’t think that I could do that with Cicely and Dr. Dune in tow, though. They’d been through enough already.
I stayed silent for a while, watching the street lights whiz by at a good clip. Finally, I decided. “I think I’m going to go back to the house.”
Cicely turned her head and stared at me for so long that I had to remind her to keep her eyes on the road. She apologized, focusing on the road that stretched ahead. “Karma, you can’t!” she insisted. “What if they come back after you? What if they try to seriously harm you or kill you this time?”
I took a deep breath. I knew she was right, but I had to do something. “Cicely, I’m tired. My house is safe enough. I have places I could hide in case they came back.” I felt heavy, like someone had taken a thick, woolen coat and placed it on my shoulder. “Besides,” I said, “I don’t trust myself being around people I care about when I get angry.”
“Karma…” Cicely protested.
I cut her off. “No, Cicely, I could have hurt you. I could have killed you!” I felt a lump in my throat when I said those horrible words. I stared out the window briefly, then looked back at her. “I don’t know what Sultren did to me. He insisted that he blocked whatever it was that made my gifts stronger, but I think he did just the opposite…made them stronger.” I paused, contemplating the responsibility. “I killed people the first time. I don’t know what I’m capable of now. I don’t want to hurt you.”
I saw her face crumple into sadness. I felt the weight of her sadness even more so now, but I knew that what I had to do was best for all of us. I had to find Owen and his gang and find out what he knew. I hoped this would happen peacefully, but the way I felt, nothing was certain.
We drove the rest of the way to her home in silence. As we turned into the long driveway, I surveyed our surroundings to make sure no one was behind us. I told Cicely to let me out and park the car. Once she and Dr. Dune were safely in the house, I would take the car
and drive off. I figured that her parents would be so relieved that she had returned that they wouldn’t notice that the car had disappeared. I moved quietly along the line of topiaries. From behind the topiary closest to the driveway, I watched the drama unfold.
The front door swung open, and Cicely’s parents ran out of the house and down the stairs before she could park the car and kill the engine. Her mother reached the car first, and pulled Cicely out from behind the wheel in one fluid motion. She hugged Cicely, weeping with joy. Her father wrapped his massive arms around them both.
The trio stood locked that way for a long time before her father made a move towards the house. Cicely stopped, pointing them to the back seat of the car. Her father moved first, peering in and then opened the door and gingerly pulled Dr. Dune out. He placed one of Dr. Dune’s arms around his shoulder, and Cicely maneuvered her body under the other arm for balance. Between the two of them, they dragged Dr. Dune’s limp body up the front stairs. Cicely’s mother moved ahead of them, rushing to open the front door. They disappeared into the house, the door closing softly behind them.
I waited about another ten minutes, counting each second silently. I then snuck up to the driver’s side of the car and eased in behind the wheel. I started the car and was incredibly grateful that its engine made little noise beyond a soft purr. I drove away down the driveway and never looked back as I headed into the night.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
During the drive to my house, my brain endlessly replayed the night. My mind kept flashing to Sultren and the things he’d said. He knew where my family was, which had to mean that they were all still alive. I didn’t want to have hope, with fear of being disappointed, but maybe, just maybe, I could find them. I realized that I also probably killed at least one person. I struggled with the internal moral implications of this.
As I neared my house, the smell of smoke snatched me from my thoughts. At first, I thought that the car had somehow caught on fire. When I glanced over at the hood and saw no trace of smoke coming from the car, my eyes were drawn to the sky. Thick plumes of smoke rose from the general direction of my house. On instinct, I stomped on the brakes, causing my body to lurch forward, then jerk back. I rolled down the window and peered into the night sky. The cloud was definitely billowing from my street. I gasped and clamped a hand over my mouth. I mashed my foot down on the gas pedal and sped towards the house.
Near my driveway, I slammed my foot on the brakes again. I wondered if I left anything on—the stove, the heater…After ruling out any possibility that I could have started the fire, I started thinking of what else could have been the cause. I came up empty.
As I got closer, I spotted two cars near the house. I heard loud masculine voices shouting. Obviously, these people weren’t afraid either of me or of being discovered. I parked in a small clearing next to the road, about twenty feet away from the cars. Travelling by foot on a well-worn pathway back to the house, I moved silently through the overgrown roots that lay across the path. The moon was in its full splendor. It provided visibility for a path I knew by heart from my frequent wandering as a child.
The path looped its way to the back of the house. The scent of smoke grew stronger and stronger and, as I got closer, I could see an orange glow that used to be my house. A few yards away from where the back door used to be, I stopped and just stared at the flames. Since the trees shrouded me, I was sure that the people near the cars couldn’t see me. The roar of the flames temporarily drowned out their voices.
I walked closer to the house until I stood at the edge of the trees. My heart fluttered and then sank as I realized all of my childhood memories, at least the ones that now mattered, disappeared with each curl of smoke that swirled towards the heavens. I wanted to scream and cry out, but the sound got caught in my throat, barely escaping as a hoarse whimper.
Anger overtook me. Once again, it began as a small spot of heat in the middle of my chest, but fanned out through my limbs and up through my brain, drowning all other thoughts. Using the edge of the trees as my guide, I moved around the house until I could see the figures at out front.
Shrouded in darkness, I watched the amber flames excitedly lick the walls of my home. The fire was mesmerizing to watch, each swirl dancing before my eyes, slowly drawing me in. I could feel the heat playing across my skin, warming the parts not exposed to the otherwise frigid weather. Beyond the blaze, three bodies whooped and hollered as though they were at a party. They danced and high fived each other, shouting with unvarnished delight.
I focused on them, in my yard celebrating. I picked Jumpy who shuffled more than the rest. I concentrated on his movements and his face as the light from the inferno bathed them. In my mind’s eye, I imagined the flames creeping up over him, slowly swallowing him. I saw flesh melt from skin, exposing tendons and ligaments. I imagined his screams of agony.
As I fantasied, I heard the faint ring of a cell phone in the distance. Jumpy stopped for a moment to answer his phone. For the first time since they came, he stood motionless. Even in the sparse light, I could see his face contour grotesquely as I heard him utter a scream that seemed to rise from the depths of his soul.
“NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” The phone slipped from his hand and crashed to the ground. He followed suit, tumbling over onto the grass as deep sobs racked his body. As his companions rushed over to him, Owen looked over to where I stood in the shadows. I stepped into the light of the flame and smiled. The expression on his shocked face was priceless.
My eyes darted to Rock. Once again, I concentrated on him, imagining the same fate. A few moments later, his cell phone also rang. He reached for it slowly, as if dreading what the call would reveal. He kept his eyes on Jumpy as he slid his finger across the screen and answered. Almost immediately, his face crumpled in a mass of horror and shock. He stood motionless, dumbfounded.
Owen turned to Rock and tried to shake him out of his stupor but with no luck. He looked at Owen and began mumbling something I couldn’t hear. Rock grabbed Jumpy’s hand and pulled him towards the car. Jumpy, at first, didn’t notice that Rock had almost lifted him off his feet. As they neared the car, Jumpy snapped out of his stupor and ran for his life. He sped on ahead of Rock and jumped into the driver’s side of one of the cars. Rock jumped into the other side. He threw the car into reverse and sped back down the driveway. The car eventually disappeared in a cloud of dust, taillights bouncing down the rocky path.
I turned to look at Owen as his eyes met mine. “Hello, Owen,” I said, flushed with satisfaction. “I’ve been looking for you.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Owen’s face twisted into a hard expression as his black eyes turned to me. “You,” he hissed.
“Yes, it’s me,” I replied casually as I moved a step closer.
“What did you do to them?” The venom in his voice was unmistakable.
I smiled. “Just returned a favor,” I said.
His hardened face bore a slightly curious expression. “Oh, you don’t know.” I took another step closer to him. “Well, I’m sure that they both have driven home, because the calls they got were either from neighbors or someone close to their family members.” I took another small step closer to him. “Yes, they’re now rushing home to find that their parents’ homes are now blazing, just like mine.” I cast a quick nod of my head over to my shoulder in the direction of my house. “I’m guessing that Kyle screamed because his parents were still in their house when it went boom.” I held up a hand and flicked my fingers out to demonstrate the boom sound.
Owen clenched his teeth. “How…”
I cut him off. “How could I?” I said playfully. “You mean, how am I able to, considering that your master tried to destroy me? Several times I might add.”
I smiled slyly. “Well, he only made me stronger. I would tell you to ask him, after our last encounter, he won’t be speaking again anytime soon.” I threw my head back and laughed.
Rage contorted his face. “I will destroy you myself!�
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He reached out and pointed at me. His black eyes grew darker. Suddenly, the chill in the night air was like ice-cold water moving through my bones. The air around my body grew colder and colder. My breath misted out of my body, as if the temperature had dropped below zero. I shivered ever so slightly. The cold inched through me, numbing through my fingers and toes, creeping up through my limbs and into my very core. I flexed my fingers to keep movement in them. As much as I tried to resist the thought of it affecting me, my brain grew foggy. I had to do something. There was no way I would let him destroy me.
With all the effort I could muster, I kicked my right leg backwards, dragging my foot against the grass beneath. I paused to catch a small breath and then did the same motion with my left foot. I was about to do it again when the ground trembled slightly—what I wanted. The motion threw Owen back a step, shifting his gaze away from me. Immediately, I felt the heat from the fire warming my near-frozen skin.
I reached down, grabbed some grass, and hurled it in his direction. “Grow!” I shouted.
As if on cue, long snake-like tendrils of thick grass rose up from the earth, weaving their way around his unstable legs until they anchored him to the very spot where he stood. They continued to move around his legs, then his abdomen. They grew thicker as they wound around his torso, binding his hands to his sides. As the thick tendrils wove their way around his neck, the anger on his face turned into shock, and then fright. They finally stopped right at his chin.
