Aegis: Catalyst Grove (17 page)

“We don’t have time for this.
 
We need to get out of here,” said Graham.
 
He was already in the shaft, his head poking up from the floor of the doorway.
 
“Come on.”

Kel took the piece of paper she was holding and folded it up, placing it in her right coat pocket.
 
She took hold of Ailey’s hand, stood to her feet, then led her to the ladder.
 
Ailey stepped over to the ladder and began her decent.
 
Kel grabbed the ladder and followed.
 

Faint light emanating from the flood lights gave them just enough light to see a few feet in front of them.
 
Hand over hand, they all climbed down the small ladder, squeezing past the elevator box hanging at the 2
^nd
floor entrance, until they reached the bottom.
 
Stepping off to the side, they saw a sliver of light coming from the doors.
 
They were already cracked open a good three inches.
 
Damien walked up to it, sliding his pry bar silently into the seam.
 
They all held their breath as he eased the doors open another couple of inches at a time until the crack was wide enough to stick his head out.
 

Waving his hand, Damien signaled to the others that the coast was clear.
 
Pulling his head back through, he slid the bar back in-between the doors and pried them open as far as he could.
 
He put the bar down and slid it out into the lower lobby, then putting both hands against the doors, he pushed them open wide enough so that they could fit though.
 

“Come on.
 
We need to find another drawing so we can see how to get out of this place,” Damien whispered.

They all followed Damien as he placed his hands on the edge of the floor, pulling himself up from the shaft.
 
They were in the main lobby now.
 
There were big glass doors leading outside, but a thick metal chain was laced through the handles with a padlock.
 
They were exposed and needed to move quick.
 
There was no telling how close Cavaness and the other guys were.
 
Damien looked to the left and saw a few doors, so he decided to go look for another floor plan mounted on the wall.
 

Graham decided to go the other way and let Damien have some room.
 
He felt terrible.
 
It wasn’t that he wanted to hide his problems.
 
Actually, it was a relief to speak to someone else about it, but at what cost?
 
Now, there was no way he could keep Damien at arm’s length to protect him.
 
At least for the moment, Damien was upset enough to keep his distance.
 
Once they were out of this crazy warehouse place, he would make it up to him.
 
He didn’t know how yet, but he would figure out a way.
 

Meanwhile, Kel and Ailey were searching the bathrooms on the opposite side of the lobby for another floor plan.
 
For the first time, Graham just stood there.
 
He was tired of taking the lead, being the one to figure out what to do.
 
For once, he would let them search for a way out.
 
Yes, this was good.
 
Now Graham could sit back and watch Kel.
 
He still didn’t trust her.
 
He did not like the way she made excuses to cover up her ability to do what she did with that chair.
 
Then again, he was hiding his secret as well, but at least he did not lie about it.
 
He just didn’t want anyone to know about it.
 
There is a difference between not telling and covering up.
 
A huge difference.
 
No, there was more to Kel that Graham could put his finger on.
 

Graham huffed a sigh, looking out the lobby doors.
 
The morning rays of sunshine began to flow though the glass doors of the lobby dispelling the darkness.
 
The light bent and reflected off the frost laid down by the coolness of night.
 
It glistened like a blanket of diamonds giving Graham a very odd sense of hope.
 
It was somehow telling him that at the end of each dark night, there was a new morning ready and willing to provide an opportunity for something different.
 
Hopefully this new morning would provide a way out of this place.
 

He would have kept staring out the door, continuing to let the prospect of hope build his spirits if it weren’t for a blur of movement flying by out of the corner of his eye.
 
Before his mind could process what it was, he heard Damien scream.
 

“AHHHH!
 
GET OFF ME!
 
LET ME GO!”

Kel and Ailey bolted out of the bathroom following Graham down the hall towards Damien.
 
They both came to a stop behind Graham.
 
Chase walked out of the small office backwards holding Damien by the throat with his left forearm.
 
His right arm was extended with his fingers spread out and slightly bent, just like they were earlier with his hand and forearm engulfed in light.
 
This time the glow looked more like a yellow flame, and he had it extended towards them.
 
Behind his hand, they could see his wrist glow with the same golden flair that they had when they put their wristbands on.

“Easy there, trigger,” said Chase, addressing Graham.

“Let him go Chase,” Graham replied in a impressively calm voice.

“Leave me.
 
Take the girls and get out of here!” said Damien before being choked off by Chase’s arm.

“Aww. Now that is going to make me misty eyed.
 
Seriously, that is just the sweetest thing.”
 
Chase snarked.
 
Damien struggled against Chase’s arm, but with every movement, his grip would tighten, choking off his air supply.
 

Kel stepped out from behind Graham, still keeping Ailey at arms length so that she was protected behind them.
 

“Graham said to let him GO!”
 

“Well, I can see who has been deemed the leader.
 
Congratulations, Graham.
 
Why don’t you come over here and show me what you’ve got.”
 
Moving his hand directly in front Graham, the glow of the fiery light became more intense.
 
“Let’s see, how does that saying go?
 
‘Strike the Shepherd and sheep with scatter?’”

“No, Graham!
 
Get out of here! Y ou need to…rhuuu-ahhgg.”
 
Chase tightened his arm again so that Damien could hardly breath at all.

Graham was livid.
 
“I trusted you Chase.
 
You manipulated me from the beginning to be a lab rat in your sick little experiment.
 
I will not be a sacrifice so that you can glow brighter or move faster, and neither will my friends.
 
I said LET GO!”

The sounds of his voice carried through the halls and the whole building shook.
 
Everything that was not anchored to the wall or ground lifted up, hovering in mid air.
 
The debris and trash that littered the hallway hovered around Graham like small dust particles suspended in in a ray of light.
 

“NOWW!”

As he said that last word, everything that was suspended in mid air flew horizontally across the room, smashing to pieces when they crashed into the adjacent walls.

Kel, Ailey and Damien all flinched and ducked their heads at the sounds of the loud crashes, but Chase didn’t move.
 
He just stood there with arched eyebrows.
 

“Now that is an impressive party trick.
 
I see the hovering thing has moved beyond your night terrors.
 
That’s good.
 
That is very good.”

“Leave him alone!”
 

Kel pulled her right arm back, and thrusted it forward as if chucking a heavy rock at Chase.
 
A power surge came from her hand towards Chase, but with a gentle flicker of his hand, Chase fired a quick blast of light from his hand, deflecting energy that came from Kel, and sent it crashing into the front door, shattering the window panes.
 
The concrete entrance glistened with shards of glass, almost matching the glimmer of the frost that lay over the grass and trees.

“Oh, we’ve got ourselves a Pusher.
 
Cavaness will be thrilled.”

In the intensity of the moment, Chase’s grip had evidently become tighter, because Damien’s face was pale, and his body was starting to go limp.
 
Looking down, Chase realized and relaxed his grip, allowing Damien to breath.
 

“
Lo siento, amigo
.
 
I don’t want you dead.”
 
Chase looked directly into Damien’s half-opened eyes he asked, “Do you have anything to show me?”

Not hearing a word Chase was saying, Damien focused on not passing out, taking in big gulps of air into his lungs.
 
Even if he could do something special, he was too weak to do anything useful.

Scared of all the noise and yelling, Ailey hid behind Graham and Kel, grabbing a handful of each of their shirts to cover her eyes.
 
Feeling the tugging of her shirt, Kel instantly felt a surge of power go through her body.
 
At the same time Graham felt a bizarre tingling in his left arm.
 
The two looked at each other to see if the other one felt something weird.
 
Their expressions both confirmed that they did.
 
Somehow, they knew what the other was thinking, like a new instinct took over.
 
Graham pulled back his left hand as Kel pulled back her right, and at the same time they both threw their arms forward, sending an blast of yellow light towards Chase and Damien.
 
It hit them with such intensity that it knocked them both back six feet onto to the ground with a loud thud.
 

They both stood there, unable to comprehend what they just did.
 
Expecting Chase to get back up, they both pulled their hands back again, ready to attack, but neither Chase nor Damien moved.
 
Ailey let go of their clothes and shuffled backwards a few steps, now scared of her own friends.

The power Kel felt drained from her body and the tingling in Graham’s arms faded away.
 
Kel began patting her arms, chest and stomach trying to decipher where the power she felt had gone.
 
Graham pumped his arm forwards and backwards, trying to ‘shoot’ another blast from his hand.
 
Nothing happened.
 
Ailey stared at the two with the tips of her fingers curled in-between her lips.
 
She was terrified.
 

Graham looked over to see Chase and Damien laying flat on their back.
 
Scenes of his parents screaming at the darkness flashed through his head as he looked his unconscious friend.
 
Graham watched Damien’s stomach rise and fall with each breath, relieved that he was at least alive.
 
He fought back the dread of hurting Damien, knowing that it was now or never.
 
He ran over to Damien and put his hands under his armpits.
 
Kel ran over as well, helping pick Damien’s limp body off the ground and sling him over Graham’s shoulder.
 
Graham slowly stood up from his squatted position and walked towards the front door.
 
He could still feel the twinges of pain from his near fall from the cliff, as well as from being blasted from his chair.
 

Kel ran back over to Ailey and grabbed her hand.
 
She took a few steps towards the door, but was jerked back.
 
Ailey would not budge.
 
Her eyes were still filled with the terror of seeing two people knocked unconscious by a wave of light that should have been impossible.
 
She did not need words to express what was going on in her mind.

“I know you are scared and confused Ailey.
 
I am too, but we have to keep moving.
 
I promise I will try explain when we get some place safe, ok?”

Not waiting for a response, Kel ran towards the door almost dragging Ailey behind her.
 
The glass crunched beneath their shoes as the ran out of the front doors.
 
It would have been harder to make their way around the shards of glass protruding from the metal frame, except the blast that hit the door bent the metal outwards, making the doorway more of a jagged circle than a rectangle.
 
They ran quickly into the front parking lot looking all around them for a clear sign of where to go next.
 
The road was too risky.
 
That would be the obvious choice, and they all knew that is where the others would look first.
 
No, they had to find another way.

Ailey ran to the right a few feet looking at the tree-line.
 
It was like she was studying it.
 
She ran further down, stopping again to look at the surrounding trees.
 

“What is she doing?” asked Graham.

“I don’t know, but whatever she is doing, I am following.
 
Like I said earlier; she notices everything,” replied Kel.

Ailey kept running a few strides, then stopping to look at the trees.
 
She kept this pattern until they were half way around the building from the front entrance, when all of a sudden Ailey started jumping up and down in excitement.
 
She waved them on and pointed at the edge of the forest.