Caelum Chapters 7-12

Trent drove through the night struggling to stay awake. Finally he couldn’t stand it any longer. He needed to sleep. He looked over at Skye. She was sound asleep already. He pulled into the parking lot of the next hotel he saw. After he had rented a room for the night he went back to the car to get Skye.

         “Skye, Skye, wake up,” he said shaking her. She wouldn’t budge. Trent was ready to fall over he was so tired. He grabbed her and carried her to their room. He fumbled for the room key in his pocket, finally getting the door opened after a couple of tries. He laid Skye on one of the beds and then flopped down onto the other one. He was asleep the minute his head hit the pillow.



“They’re dead Skye, they’re all dead. You’re too late.” Black laughed at me enjoying my expression as I took in the sight of my friends.

         “No!” I screamed. “Alice! Kas! Logan! Get up, please get up!” Black was behind me now, he threw me down on the floor, my head hit with a thud. I woke up screaming.

         “Skye, Skye, its ok, calm down.” It was Trent, he was kneeling beside me a concerned look on his handsome face. I was on the floor, blankets wrapped around me.

         “Where are we?” I looked around. It looked like a hotel room. When had we come here?

         “I was tired so I rented this room, uh are you ok?” Trent was watching me like I might start screaming again.

         “Yah, I just had a bad dream, I guess.” Trent helped me up dropping the blankets back on the bed.

         “Well, since we’re up we should probably get going,” Trent started towards the door. I followed him, mortified that he had seen me freak out over a dream. I couldn’t get Black’s crazy laugh out of my head. “What if we really are too late? What if they are dead,” I thought. I pushed those thoughts out of my head but I was still scared of what we’d find when we finally got to Black.

         



Finally we made it to D.C. I climbed out of the car, staring at the building in front of us.

        “Denny’s?” I asked confused. We needed to start looking for Black.

        “I’m hungry, we need our strength if we have to fight,” Trent said walking towards the entrance. I followed him, shaking my head. “Whatever,” I thought, “I’ll eat quickly and then we can get moving.” Inside we were seated at a booth near the back of the restaurant. A waiter brought us our menus.

        “Welcome to Denny’s, I’m Chad, I’ll be your server today, can I start you all off with some drinks?”

        “I’ll just have water,” Trent told Chad. He nodded and looked towards me. I scanned the drinks selection.

        “A coke for me please,” I said.

        “Right away,” Chad replied heading towards the kitchen. I searched the menu for something to eat. I finally decided on a ham and cheese omelet then closed my menu. I glanced at Trent. He was staring out the window, a blank look on his face. He turned to find me looking at him; I blushed and quickly looked away. 

        “So what’s the plan?” I asked after a few minutes of silence.

        “I was thinking we wait till night, sneak in, find your friends and get out fast,” Trent said watching for my reaction. Just then Chad came back with our drinks.

        “Are you ready to order?” He asked getting out a small notebook and a pen.

        “I’ll have the breakfast sampler with bacon,” Trent told him. Chad scribbled something in his notebook then looked towards me.

        “The ham and cheese omelet for me please,” I said, expecting him to write it in his notebook. Instead he just stared at me. His eyes were wide with shock. I glanced at Trent. He was watching Chad, as puzzled as me.

        “Is something wrong?” Trent asked, Chad jumped, startled. He shook his head, and grabbed our menus.

        “Your food will be out soon,” He said quickly. Finally he tore his gaze from me and walked hurriedly towards the kitchen. Trent and I stared at each other both wondering the same thing. What was Chad’s problem? I shrugged. We waited for our food quietly. After awhile I decided to break the silence.

        “So where is Black keeping them?” I asked Trent attempting to forget Chad. I heard a gasp and the restaurant suddenly got quiet. Trent was staring wide eyed at the front door. I turned around, wanting to see what had him so scared. My heart skipped a beat when I saw what it was. Chad was standing by the front door, and four police men stood with him. Without warning he turned and pointed at me, an angry expression on his face. Trent jumped up, knocking his drink off the table. The glass shattered when it hit the ground. Trent seemed to not even notice. His eyes were glued towards the door.

        “Skye, get up slowly,” Trent whispered still watching the police. I rose slowly and stood beside him.

        “Both of you get down on the ground, now!” One of the police officers yelled waving his gun at us. Trent pushed me behind him, shielding me with his body.

        “What are we going to do?” I was scared, what if they started shooting like the other officers had. What if Trent got hurt, it’d be my fault.

        “We’ll run through the kitchen, hopefully there’s an exit back there.” He said quietly, still watching them.

        “But, but what if there isn’t?” I asked, knowing we’d be trapped if there wasn’t.

        “It’s our only chance, get ready.” I was shaking badly, I wasn’t ready.

        “Skye you can do it, you have to,” I heard Aria say in my head. “How about I change into you and let you deal with them,” I thought.

        “Go ahead, I’d love to fight them,” Aria said anger in her voice. I frowned, wishing I knew how to change into her. I seemed to only be able to do it unconsciously.

        “On three,” Trent whispered.

        “Get on the ground!” The same police officer yelled, they all had their guns drawn now. The people who had been dining were trying to get out of the way, most of them were under their tables. A few children were crying, their mothers shushed them.

        “One,” Trent started. He was inching to the side, pulling me with him.

        “Two,” he whispered.

        “Last warning, get on the ground now!” The police officer shouted, his face was red, and beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.

        “Three,” Trent shouted and took off towards the kitchen. He pulled me with him, and then pushed me in front of him, towards the kitchen door. We flew through it startling cooks and sending pots flying.

        “There,” I yelled pointing towards a large metal door at the back of the kitchen. I ran towards the door and pushed with all my strength. The door didn’t budge. Trent ran into me, and we fell to the ground. He pulled himself up quickly, banging on the door.

        “Why won’t it open?” He screamed at the remaining cooks in the kitchen. They stood frozen too shocked to answer. The door we had just come through opened with a bang and the four officers burst through it. I screamed. Trent jumped in front of me. I was still on the floor, too shaken to stand.

        “Do not move or we will shoot!” One of the officers yelled, they had their guns drawn. Trent put his hands in the air surrendering. The move scared one of the officers and he fired. Trent dropped to the ground clutching his shoulder. My vision was clouded. I could hear someone screaming and somewhere in the back of my mind I realized it was me. He was hurt, it was my fault. I could feel myself giving into darkness. “No, stay awake, you have to help Trent”, I thought but I slowly slipped into the enveloping darkness.



          Kari surveyed the scene in front of her. She gasped excitedly realizing she’d gained control over Skye’s body. The officer who had shot Trent was staring horrified at his gun. He dropped it abruptly, turned, and ran through the door he had come through. Kari was sitting on the floor; Trent was sprawled across from her a few feet away.

        “Do something!” She heard Skye scream in her head. The kitchen was loud. The officers were shouting orders and pots were banging around as people tried to move through the small area. Kari lunged towards Trent grabbing onto him, she shut her eyes and focused hard. In a flash the noises were gone. She opened her eyes; they were on a small boat, more like a canoe than a boat. Trent groaned and rolled over. She screamed as the boat tipped sending them into the frigid water. She surfaced searching frantically for Trent. He hadn’t come back up. Quickly she dove under the chilly water looking for him. He must have passed out from the pain in his arm because when she located him he didn’t react to her as she tugged him upwards. He was heavy and she was running out of breath. She kicked hard, sending them towards the surface. Kari gasped at the air when they surfaced. She looked around her. They were in the middle of what looked like a floating market. People were watching her, pointing and shouting to others around them. Two men in the boat nearest her reached out to pull her aboard. The small boat tipped dangerously to one side and the two men scrambled to keep the boat righted. Kari reached out to stop a table holding colorful scarves from tumbling into the water. She jumped, startled when one of the men yelled something at her in an unfamiliar language.

         “What? I don’t know what you’re saying!” She yelled back at him.

         “We need help, we need a hospital, please, help,” she gestured towards Trent who was now on the floor holding his shoulder. The man knelt down examining Trent. He nodded at Kari seeming to understand her. He yelled to someone on another boat who was closer to the docking point. Kari heard an answering yell and then the two men grabbed Trent lifting him up. She watched as they handed him over to the others on the boat next to them.

         “Be careful, watch out, oh jeez, please be careful,” she yelled as they passed him over. They pulled their boat to the docking area and tied it up. The two men on her boat motioned to her reaching out to help her over to the docking area. She wobbled onto the dock, searching for Trent in the crowded area. A woman with straight black hair that reached to her waist was waving to her. She was an elderly woman, aging and wrinkled. She stood next to a small green car. Kari raced to the car. Trent was stretched out in the back seat mumbling to himself. The woman pointed to the passenger seat and Kari climbed in deciding her only option was to trust this woman. They sped off past small shops and pedestrians on bicycles. Soon they arrived at a building bigger than any of the ones she’d seen so far. It wasn’t anything fancy and one of the windows was broken, sharp glass littered the ground below it but Kari guessed it was a hospital. The woman ran inside leaving her in the car alone with Trent.

         “Don’t worry, I think she’s going to help us.” Kari mumbled uncertainly. Trent groaned and turned to look at her. He tried to reach out to her with his good hand, but stopped wincing from the pain when he moved. She heard voices and turned to watch as six men, dressed in medical robes, along with the woman who had driven the car emerged from the front doors of the building. They were pushing what looked like a medical gurney in front of them, racing to the car. Commands were being shouted while Trent was gently lifted from the car to the gurney. They turned and ran pushing the gurney ahead of them into the building. Kari sprinted after them stumbling over the uneven pavement. She burst through the doors in time to see them disappear around a corner. Rounding the corner she saw a door swinging shut. Kari ran through it. The six men were transferring Trent to an operating table. One of the men, an elderly looking guy with thick glasses and a white beard shooed her out of the room. He pointed to a chair gesturing for her to sit in it.

         “What are you going to do to him?” she asked nervously. He pointed at the chair again then went back into the operating room, leaving her alone. She plopped into the small seat and rested her head back against the wall. She closed her eyes, exhausted.

“Please be ok,” she prayed then drifted off to sleep. 



         I opened my eyes slowly, blinking. Somebody was shaking me. My eyes adjusted to the harsh fluorescent light blinding me and I could see a familiar face in front of me. It was the man who had shooed the girl controlling my body out of the room. He was saying something in that unfamiliar language, pointing at the door where Trent was being kept. I got up slowly, walking to the door.

“Please be ok”, I whispered then pushed the door open. The room was empty except for Trent. He was lying on the operating table staring at the ceiling. A dirty blanket covered all of him except for his hurt arm. It was bandaged and propped up on pillows beside him.

         “Trent?” I said quietly. He turned his head to look at me. Smiling, he motioned for me to come to him. I ran to his side.

         “Trent I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault.” I was crying again, I felt terrible. His smile faded.

         “It’s not your fault. It’s Black’s. And The Boss’s. Chad and those officers must have seen the news story about you. They were just scared, that’s why they shot at me. Don’t blame yourself. I’m an idiot. I shouldn’t have taken you out in public after that news story. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He tried to push himself up wincing in pain. I thought for a second.

“And those officers at Lydia’s and Kat. They must have seen the story too,” I said understanding now. Trent looked at me confused.

“Oh, you weren’t there. Before I got to the bus station, well, I was chased by some police. That’s how Ivory came out. And…” Trent stopped me.

“Who’s Ivory? What do you mean she came out? And where are we?” He was sitting up now cradling his hurt arm.

“Oh, well…” I told him the story Aria had told me in the forest. When I was done I watched him for his reaction. He shook his head.

“So we’re here now because one of the girl’s powers is transporting,” he guessed.

“Bingo, we have a winner,” Aria said in my head.

“Shut up Aria,” an unfamiliar voice said. “Who are you?” I thought. Trent started to say something. I held up my hand. He stopped.

“I’m Kari, and yes, my power is transporting. But I’m not too good at it yet. I don’t know where I’m going to end up. Even now, I have no idea where we are.” She said. I nodded. Trent was watching me, a confused expression on his face. “Well that’s helpful,” I thought.

“Hey, at least I got us away from there, and Trent got help for his arm, so I think I did pretty good,” Zowie said.

“How do we get back to D.C. though, if we don’t even know where we are?” I asked out loud.

“Who are you talking to?” Trent asked, he was looking at me like I was crazy. I explained how I could hear the girls in my head. He nodded, still watching me with a confused expression on his face.

“So how do we get back to D.C.?” I asked him. He didn’t have an answer.

“I guess we should probably get out of here,” he said after awhile. I agreed. After helping him off the table I grabbed his jacket that was hanging off the back of the table and helped him into it. We started out of the building.

“So what did they do to your arm?” I asked him as we walked.

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t hurt as bad anymore, that’s good I guess. I don’t think it’s broken.” We exited the building and stopped. In front of us were about twenty men all armed with guns. Standing in front of everyone was Black watching us with a smile on his face.

“How did they find you?” Ivory asked in my head. I didn’t answer. I was frozen in place, to frightened to move.

“Trent my boy, you did a wonderful job.” Black said watching me. I gasped.

“You, you helped him?” I asked, tears in my eyes.

“No! I would never, Skye, I swear,” he said grabbing my hand with his good arm. I shook him off.

“No, he didn’t help us knowingly. He thought he had it all figured out, leave the car behind and we couldn’t track him,” Black said, “But when you first became part of my team I wasn’t sure I could trust you. I had a couple of my men plant trackers on you. On that jacket you’re currently wearing. In your cell phone. I had to make sure if you took off suddenly I could find you.” He smirked still watching me.

“We decided to wait after we realized you had picked up Skye. We were watching your signal when suddenly it jumped all the way here. To Taiwan. I figured now would be the best time to get you. Miles and miles away from an airport and I had gotten wind that you were hurt. It seemed like the chance had finally come. So here you are. You’re coming with us now. Both of you.” Trent fell to his knees letting go of my hand. A man stood over him pointing a gun at Trent’s head. He had hit Trent with his gun. Blood gushed from a wound in his head from the butt of his gun. He must have been hiding behind us. I was afraid to turn around and see who else was back there.

“Skye run, now,” Trent gasped, struggling for breath. I had a flashback. Of my parents. Blocking access to the stairs. Protecting me, yelling the same thing. They had ended up dead. I wouldn’t let that happen to Trent.

“If you run Skye, I’ll order Ken there to shoot Trent,” Black threatened stepping forward.

“Go, Skye, Now!” Trent demanded. The man standing over Trent, Ken, Black had called him, hit him with his gun again. I lunged at Ken, knocking him to the ground. Black ran forward grabbing me. He pulled me off Ken and yelled to the men behind him. Three of the men tackled Trent who had begun to run towards Black and me. He yelled in pain when one of them landed on his hurt arm. I was screaming and fighting against Black as he tried to force me into the back of his SUV. He threw me into what looked like a cage in the back of the car. He slammed the cage door in my face and then fastened a large padlock around the door. He was smiling his evil smile as he slammed the car door shut. Trent wasn’t in the car with me.

“Trent! Trent!” I screamed pushing against the cage door. It didn’t give. I heard the rumble of the engine and felt the car jerk forward.

“Skye it’s going to be ok,” Ivory tried to reassure me. I shook my head. “No it’s not,” I thought.



         I jumped suddenly, a loud whirring noise waking me. I was standing in a hallway, doors on both walls. “How did I get here?” I wondered.

         “Come with me,” Black commanded grinning. He was watching me carefully. I followed him down a hallway, dreading each step. We came to a large door at the end of the hall. Black turned the knob and gestured for me to enter the room. I did and instantly regretted it.

         “No!” I screamed. Alice was sprawled on the floor a bullet in her back, Logan was near her lying in a pool of his own blood. I didn’t see Kas. Not until Black shoved me further into the room. My eyes passed over him as I stumbled forward. He was sitting in a chair; his head was on the table. I gasped. His shaggy blonde hair was matted with blood, a gun lay on the floor beside him. I screamed, and screamed and screamed.

         “Wake up Skye,” Black said from behind me. I looked towards him.

         “Wake up,” he said again, only it wasn’t his voice. It was Trent’s. “Wake up.”



         My eyes flew open. I bolted up, hitting my head painfully on the roof of the metal cage. I frantically looked around me. I couldn’t see much. There was no light.

         “Skye?” It was Trent. I heard a rustling noise and then felt the cage holding me shake.

         “Trent? Oh Trent, I’m so glad you’re ok,” I said breathlessly.

         “Skye, listen to me, we have to get out of here, now.” He said quickly. I heard him grab onto the padlock fastened to the cage door.

         “Where are we?” I asked him. He was yanking at the padlock now, but it didn’t give.

         “The cargo hold of an airplane.” he explained to me. “Black and his men are asleep I think, this is a private plane, that’s the only reason he was able to get us on here no questions asked.”

         “So how do we get out? Attack when we land?” I asked. I heard Trent sigh. He paused for a second then answered me.

         “Were going to jump,” he said quietly. I gasped.

         “Are you out of your mind?” I screamed at him.

         “Shh,” he whispered, “it’s our only chance. If we wait till we land there will be too many men to fight. We have to do this now.” I nodded but remembering he couldn’t see me I said out loud “Okay.”

         “But what do we do about the padlock?” I asked. This stumped him. We sat in silence for awhile. Finally I spoke.

         “How long have we been on this plane?” I whispered to him.

         “I’m not sure, I was asleep,” he admitted. “I woke up because you were screaming.” I blushed. It was a good thing he couldn’t see me right now, my face was burning from embarrassment.

         “We have to move fast then, we might only have a few minutes left.” I said. Trent tugged on the padlock again, it still refused to budge.

         “Can’t one of the girls get you out of there?” Trent huffed suddenly. I sighed.

         “I can’t control who I turn in to.” I explained slowly. “I don’t even know how to change into one of them.” Trent began to say something but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps that came from outside the room. All of a sudden the room was filled with blinding light. I shielded my eyes, waiting for them to adjust.

         “We’re about to land,” an unfamiliar voice said, “Black told me to get you out of your cage, and if there’s any funny business Trent gets a bullet through his head.” The man moved towards me, he was digging through his pocket finally producing a small silver key. I glanced at Trent. He was staring at the key in the man’s hand.

         “Ace, man, you don’t have to do this,” Trent said to the man, “You know it’s wrong.” The man stood in front of my cage now fiddling with the key in his hand. I guessed Trent knew him since he’d called him by his name. A dark look passed over his face but disappeared quickly.

         “Shut up,” he ordered Trent, “you don’t know anything.” He knelt down and inserted the key into the padlock. I braced myself. After a second there was a faint click and Ace removed the padlock. I burst through the cage door knocking him over. Trent grabbed Ace’s gun quickly and pointed it at his head.

         “If you scream I’ll shoot you,” Trent threatened his voice firm. I pulled myself up and hurriedly scanned the room. The only light came from the door Ace had entered through. I glanced around us. It was a small space, empty except for the cage. At the far end of the room was a red handle. I ran to it. It was a door handle that opened what looked like one of those doors that were on big tractor trailers.

         “Trent, I found our way out,” I called motioning for him to come to me. He came dragging Ace with him.

         “We need parachutes, or something, if we just jump we’ll die the second we hit the ground.” Trent said matter-of-factly. I looked towards Ace. His eyes were closed and he was mumbling something to himself. I knelt down in front of him.

         “Do you know where some parachutes are?” I asked him softly. His eyes shot open. Angrily he spit at me. I sighed.

         “Fine, we could always just jump and maybe one of the girls will emerge and save us,” I started, “if not at least we tried, of course, we’ll have to bring you with us.” I smiled waiting for his reaction. He glanced frantically from me to Trent and back to me, trying to decide if we were serious.

         “Fine,” he said finally. He pointed to the left wall.

         “See that button? There’s a small compartment there, it holds an emergency kit, dried food packets and some parachutes,” he said calmly, “Press it and the compartment will open.” I approached the wall and pressed the button. There was a hissing noise and then a piece of the wall popped open. I pulled out two of what looked like parachutes.

         “Okay, let’s do this.” Trent said. We strapped on the parachutes and Trent explained which string to pull and when to pull it. I nodded. We were ready.

         “I’ll take him,” Trent said gesturing towards Ace who was sitting on the ground muttering to himself again. When he heard this his eyes flew open.

         “I helped you though, you have to leave me here!” he protested.

         “Save it,” Trent growled pulling Ace to his feet. Trent held the gun to his head while I knelt down to open the sliding door. I took a deep breath and pulled hard. The door flew open easier than I thought it would and I tumbled out of the plane. I tried to scream but my voice caught in my throat. The wind whipped my hair in my face as I plummeted towards the ground. My stomach was in my throat. I focused on what Trent had told me. Count to one hundred then pull the cord. But that was just an estimation, he didn’t know for sure how high up the plane was. One, I started in my head, two, three four. The wind roared in my ears as I counted silently. Thirty one, thirty two, I counted. The ground came into view quickly. I gasped, it was rushing up at me at an alarming speed. I was only on seventy two, but it seemed I would hit the ground if I waited any longer. I pondered only for a second before pulling the cord. The parachute dragged me upwards violently and I winced in pain. I floated for what seemed like hours but was really only a couple of seconds. I hit the ground harder than I had expected. In the movies it looks so graceful when the people land but my landing was anything but graceful. I tripped over my feet and tumbled head over heels on the rough terrain. I was too tangled up in my parachute to move more than a few inches. My ankle felt as though a car had run over it.

         “Help me,” I squeaked, hoping Trent wasn’t too far away. A few minutes later I heard feet pounding on the hard ground.

         “It’s ok Skye, hold on.” I heard Trent say.

         “My ankle is on fire,” I groaned helplessly. After Trent untangled me from my parachute he examined my ankle. The pain was down to a dull aching so I pulled myself up.

         “I don’t think it’s broken.” Trent said helping me stand. He draped my arm over his shoulder keeping me upright.

         “We’ll it’s great that were all alive after that fun little adventure,” Ace grumbled sarcastically, “we should definitely do it again sometime. Now, would someone like to tell me where we are?” I looked around at our surroundings for the first time. We were in the middle of a forest, in a small clearing. I was lucky my parachute hadn’t gotten caught in one of the surrounding trees. It reminded me of the forest behind my house.

         “You said we were about to land,” I looked at Ace suspiciously, “but there aren’t any forests near Washington D.C.” He smiled at me.

         “You think you have everything figured out don’t you,” he chuckled, “we weren’t taking you to D.C. Black has other plans for you. He’s taking a big chance, disobeying The Boss, but he said if we all went along with him, we’d each get super powers, powers that he says you have.” I stared at Ace confused.

         “How?” I asked. He stared at me silently for a second then he looked at Trent.

         “The scientists who originally did what they did to you of course. Black had them removed from prison and sent to his hidden lab. They’re rebuilding a machine called GESTEC that will give us powers and take away yours.” Ace explained happily.

         “So Black wants to transfer the five girls from Skye to each of you?” Trent asked. Ace clapped his hands delightedly.

         “Smart boy,” he smiled at Trent, “each of us gets a power.” He was grinning now staring at the sky.

         “What happens to Skye and me?” Trent asked dreading the answer.

         “Oh, you’ll be killed of course.” Ace said still watching the sky.