Caelum Chapter 6.

I woke with a start. Gasping, I quickly pulled myself up. I was in the dark, the place where one of the girls had run to. It hadn’t been Aria, I knew that.

“You’re right.” A voice said startling her. It came from her head.

“I’m Ivory, one of the five girls Aria told you about.” The voice said again. I felt my way around the room, feeling for a wall.

“Thanks,” I said to her, “for getting me away from them.”

“Us, she got US away from them. How many times am I going to have to say it, Skye, were in this together.” Aria said rudely.

“It’s ok, it, it, it was no problem.” Ivory said stuttering.

“Uh, are you ok?” I asked concerned, she sounded really scared. I finally found the door and forced it open. The bright sunlight blinded me. I shielded my eyes until they adjusted to the sudden light.

         “She’s fine, Ivory was always a little shy, she never liked using her powers, I bet that little fight back there about killed you, huh? You never did like to hurt people.” Aria said, her tone mocking.

         “So where are we going now?” Ivory asked ignoring Aria.

         “To the bus station of course.” Aria answered. The alley ended a few feet away from the shop where the police had chased me, and where I had stolen my new clothes. A wave of guilt washed over me but I quickly pushed it away. I was doing all of this for my parents. To get revenge on Black and his men. I ran quickly past the shop, and didn’t stop until I had reached the station.

         When I arrived I was out of breath and my legs were aching. I had never run so much in my life. I had been on the track team at school but I was a sprinter, not a long distance runner, I wasn’t used to so much running. I walked over to one of the automated ticket machines.

         "Well now what," I asked Aria and Ivory in my head. I couldn’t speak out loud like before, I didn’t want people to think I was crazy.

         “Now you sneak on a bus, a bus going to the airport that is.” Aria said in my head, at least she didn’t have to worry about being heard.

         "Easier said than done, miss smarty pants," I thought. I looked around. The station was full of people. There was no way I was going to be able to sneak on unnoticed.

         "Great, to bad I can’t just morph into a person who works here or something. Then I could just walk on the bus, no questions asked," I thought.

         “Annah!” Aria and Ivory screamed at the same time.

         "What," I asked them confused. I headed over to a bench in the corner and sat down. My feet were killing me.

         “She’s one of the five girls,” Aria explained, “She can shape shift, into anyone she sees.”

         “Well, she has to touch the person first, it helps her get what she calls ‘a feel for the person’, then voila, she can change into the person.” Ivory finished for her.

         "Ok, well how do I get Annah to control my body?" I asked. This stumped us for awhile. I sat there, watching the people in the station when suddenly someone plopped down beside me. I looked to see who it was, only to find the person watching me intently. I started to scoot away when something clicked in my head. This guy looked familiar. He had short cropped brown hair, startling bright blue eyes, and a very handsome face. I guessed he was around twenty or so. Aria, Ivory, and I gasped at the same time. We knew where we had seen him. In my house. Only last time he had been pointing a gun at me. He grabbed my wrist quickly as I started to jump up.

         “Skye, scream, draw attention to yourself!” Aria yelled.

         “Let go of me!” I screamed at him. He looked startled and for a second his grip loosened. I took that moment to jerk away, but I tripped over his legs. He reached out to grab me but slipped off the bench. I screamed as he fell on top of me, drawing the looks of most of the station. There was a murmur throughout the crowd, and a couple of gasps but nobody leapt to help me.

         “Skye, listen, you have to calm down, right now.” He grabbed my wrists again, holding them tight. He pulled me up as I tried to pull away.

         “Help me, somebody help me!” I screamed at the crowd, but in response I got only rude looks, a few actually turned and walked away.

         “What, what’s going on?” I asked the man holding my arms. He sighed, and opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted.

         “You murderer, you horrible cold hearted murderer!” A person from the crowd screamed.

         “Ha, they know what you did you….” I stopped when I realized the man from the crowd was pointing at me.

         “What! I didn’t do anything. He’s the murderer, you’ve got it all wrong,” I yelled at the crowd. The man holding my arms pulled me around a corner. There were less people here.

         “What are you doing? Let go of me!” I screamed in his face.

         “Listen to me Skye, please.” He said, he almost sounded sad.

         “Why should I listen to anything you say? You killed my parents, you killed them!” I was tired now, my strength was drained. Tears spilled down my cheeks.

“I’m so sorry Skye,” he whispered to me. I tried to pull away from him again.

         “Skye, I didn’t kill your parents. That was all Black, and I didn’t kidnap your friends either, that was all him too. I tried to stay out of it, I didn’t know this was the kind of job I was getting into.” My insides froze. My friends?

          “He what?” I screamed, I kicked him, struggling against his hold on me but couldn’t get him to release me.

“He took my friends?” I was starting to get dizzy. No, no, no, please, what if Black hurts them? My breathing was becoming strained.

         “Skye calm down, you have to listen to what he says. I think he’s trying to help.” Aria sounded unsure as she spoke. “Make him tell you where they are, we’ll save them, don’t worry.”

         I stoped trying to pull away from him.

         “Where are they? What is he doing to them? Tell me,” I demanded. He nodded.

         “Come with me, ok? No doubt someone has called the police we need to go now. I’ll explain in the car.” He let me go and started walking. I hesitated. Should I make a break for it? This might be my only chance, but then I might never find my friends. He turned around noticing my hesitation.

         “I’m not going to hurt you Skye, I want to help you, but you have to trust me.” I paused for a second more, and then followed him.

I got into the passenger side of his small green car. It definitely wasn’t the car he had been in at my house. He seemed to read my mind.

         “When I left I couldn’t take the SUV with me, it has a tracking device programmed into it, they would have been able to find me.” He glanced at me then quickly back at the road.

         “Uh, by the way, I’m Trent.” He said, still watching the road. We got to a stoplight just as it turned red.

         “So, I guess you want to know about your friends,” he asked watching me. I nodded so he continued.

         “Well Black didn’t kill anyone, luckily, they stole them in the middle of the night.”

         “Who? Who did Black take?” I was afraid of the answer.

         “Uh, I think their names were Logan, Kas, and, uhm, Alice?” The light turned green and we continued to wherever we were going. I shook my head. Those were my three best friends. I’ve known Alice since preschool and we’ve been practically sisters since. We met Logan and Kas in first grade and all became best friends. And now they were probably scared and confused. It was all my fault. I was crying again, trying to hide it from Trent. He noticed though, and took my hand.

         “It’s ok, were going to help them, don’t worry.” I nodded wiping away my tears. I needed to be strong for them. They needed me. Then I remembered something.

         “Why were those people in the station calling me a murderer?” I asked Trent. He looked at me sadly then started to explain.

         “The Boss called channel 67, the channel with News 5 reporting on it, and told them a story about you. He said you killed your parents then burned down your own house. He told them you were mentally ill and to be considered armed and extremely dangerous. News 5 reported the story as soon as they got it. Stating that you would probably kill again and anyone who sees you should use caution and call the police immediately.” Trent finished speaking and watched my face for a reaction. I was speechless. Kill my own parents? How could anyone believe that?  I thought to myself. Of course Aria and Ivory could still hear me though.

         “Skye, people believe anything they’re told. Even ridiculous stuff like a seventeen year old killing her own parents. The world is crazy, Black and his men are proof of that,” Ivory said quietly, in an almost motherly tone. I nodded, yes Black is crazy, and soon I would get my revenge on him. The thought comforted me.

         “So where are we going?” I asked him, looking at his hand still holding mine. He noticed me looking and quickly snatched his hand away, blushing.

         “We’re going to where Black’s keeping your friends.” He explained.

         “And where’s that?” I asked.

         “Washington D.C.” he answered. I lay back against the seat, suddenly exhausted.

         “So, I was leading us to the right place, ha, you’re welcome.” Aria said playfully. I sighed and closed my eyes.