Earth Blend (22 page)

“
Calm down.” Eli said, placing a hand
on Austin's shoulder.

It was then that Anthur came over. “We
found an access panel on the roof. I would like permission to go
down into the building and see just what we are up against.”

“
Just be careful. Communicate with
me.” Eli said, pointing to his head.

Anthur nodded and made his way up to the
roof.

Austin was frustrated he could do nothing
but wait. He looked around at the other Earthlings who had
gathered. There was a mix of races and genders. Out of the thirty
or so assembled, only about half of them wore clothing. Somehow
though, it did not seem odd to him. He himself had only worn his
jeans. Eli was still in his shorts. Despite the chaos and worry
over Julie, he felt comforted. He felt like he belonged.

Luke had a meeting with all the men in the
warehouse. He made sure their guns were equipped with the special
bullets. He was thankful there was a small supply of the chemical
in a lock box. It was enough to get them by until tomorrow when
reinforcements would arrive. All he had to do was wait them
out.

“
I'm going to check on our princess.
Give me the keys.” He said to Eric.

“
Let me do it. She has some serious
making up to do.”

“
Aren't you afraid she'll beat you up
again?” Luke teased.

“
Shut up.” He said and stormed out of
the room.

“
Watch your back, she's up to
something.” He shouted after him.

He assigned another man to wait down the
hall from the drug room just in case.

Eric peeked in the window before he
unlocked the drug room and went inside. He saw her sitting on the
cot, her face hidden in her knees. He kicked the far end of the
cot. “Wake up, bitch.”

Julie raised her head and looked at
him.

“
You owe me an apology. Get over
here.”

“
I'm sorry, just leave me alone.” She
had tears in her eyes.

Her tears bolstered his confidence. “Get
over here on your knees and say it. Maybe then I'll believe
you.”

“
Please, just go away.” She cried and
buried her head again.

Eric stormed over to her and pulled her up
by her hair.

Her eyes flared. She grabbed his arms and
yelled, “Go away!”

Eric felt a shock akin to a thousand volts
shoot through him. His brain scrambled and his body began to shake
of its own accord.

Julie let his body go and backed herself
into the corner. She felt horrified over what she had just done.
She couldn't stop herself. She watched as Eric's body shook for a
few moments and then lay still on the floor. The door was thrown
open and the man in the hallway, who was named Rafferty, stepped
inside, his gun drawn.

“
What happened?” He asked, pointing
the gun at Julie as he looked down at Eric's body.

He pulled out his walkie talkie and
radioed, “Luke, get in here.”

“
I didn't mean to.” She didn't know
why it worked this time. She wasn't able to control when she used
it.

Luke came in and saw Eric's body on the
floor. “What did you do?”

“
I didn't mean to, I swear.” She said.
Somewhere inside herself she knew that she meant to do it. She
shook the conflicting feelings away as Luke gave her an
order.

“
Heal him, now!”

She knelt down and hesitantly placed her
hands on him, she was scared of what might happen. She went inside
and saw the same kind of damage as had been in her Uncle, only this
was worse. His heart was in full cardiac arrest. She began an
internal version of CPR, trying to get his heart into a normal
rhythm. Finally, his pulse settled down and Julie sat back on her
heels as he gasped and opened his eyes. She backed away from him as
he sat up and reached for her.

Luke intervened and helped him stand up. He
held up Eric's arms; they had burn marks on them in the shape of
Julie's hands. “This your new trick?”

“
My chest aches.” Eric
complained.

“
Everyone out.” Luke
ordered.

“
You shouldn't be alone with her.”
Eric said.

“
I'll be fine.” He shooed them out.
“Is that what you were trying to do to me?”

Julie looked away from his penetrating
gaze.

Luke had already figured out why it had not
worked on him. She needed to touch skin, each time she had tried
with him, he had been wearing gloves or long sleeves. He wasn't
sure she had figured it out yet. He walked over to her, well aware
of where both his and her hands were. He grabbed her chin and made
her look at him. He put the gun up so she could see. “See this,
it's special. I've already killed one Earthling with it.” He placed
the gun against her temple. “It is coated with a special chemical
that is toxic to those dirt mongers. One of these bullets has your
friendly neighborhood doctor's name on it. You mess with any more
of my men and I'm going to go out on the roof and shoot down every
single one of them. Got it?”

Julie nodded and remembered to breathe
again when he moved the gun away. She knew he wouldn't believe her
if she told him she couldn't control it, not that she would share
that with him. One thing he let slip was that the Earthlings had
found where they were. That also meant that everyone she cared
about was outside. She had to make sure Luke did not follow through
on his threat.

“
I'm putting you where I can keep my
eye on you.” Luke said, dragging her from the room.

She was taken to the main loading dock and
placed in a chair. Luke threw some rope at Eric. “Tie her hands and
feet to the chair. Wear these.” He said, throwing him a pair of
gloves.

“
Why?” Eric asked.

“
Just do it, and then go put on long
sleeves.” Luke then radioed the other men to be sure they dressed
the same.

Anthur successfully gained entrance through
the roof panel. He crept along the metal support beam until he saw
figures down below. He knew that one of them was the man they were
hunting, as Luke's image had been sent to every Earthling. He then
saw the girl being tied to a chair and relayed the information. Eli
told him to maintain his position until they decided what to do
next.

Eli saw the look on Austin's face. He
placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. “We will get her out of there.
Rushing in there unprepared will result in many casualties”

Another Earthling came over to Eli and
wanted to show him something. Eli went with him.

Gregg and Trevor came over to Austin. “Any
word?” Trevor asked.

“
They see them. Julie is tied to a
chair” Austin said and folded his arms. “I hate waiting and doing
nothing.”

“
I think the Earthlings are right in
being cautious, Austin.” Gregg said. “Luke wants Julie alive, he
won't hurt her. He'll use her as leverage to get what he
wants”

“
I'm going to go see if there is
anything I can do to be of help outside.” Austin said and walked
away from them.

Austin knew their words were only said to
try and make him feel better. The only thing that would accomplish
that was for him to get Julie out of this mess. He looked around at
all of the Earthlings milling around. They seemed helpless without
their elements. Walking around the building he found a side where
no one was lingering and decided to use that as his opportunity. He
was getting inside that building. He had not had a chance to
experiment with his abilities so he was unsure of how to begin. He
took a deep breath and closed his eyes and concentrated.

Austin: Lift

To Austin's amazement, the wind lifted him
off the ground and placed him on top the roof.

Eli: Austin, no! Stop.

Austin: I'm not waiting around anymore

Slipping inside the open panel and into the
building, he saw Anthur on the support beam and eased himself down
onto it as well. He kept crouched down and surveyed the building.
When he saw Luke, his blood boiled. Austin heard the wind outside
batter against the building and smiled. He knew it was of his
doing.

Austin saw Julie tied to a chair. His heart
broke. She looked exhausted. He was determined to get closer. The
Earthling Blend saw a forklift hidden behind a tall stack of
inventory. He knew he could easily jump to it. Apparently he was
still broadcasting his thoughts as exclamations from Anthur and Eli
were coming through loud and clear trying to dissuade him from his
plan. Austin paid them no mind. He jumped and landed safely atop
the forklift. Unfortunately, it was not as quiet as he would have
liked.

Luke had been talking with Eric and
Rafferty when they all heard a sound that directed their attention
to the right.

Rafferty was the first to see something up
on the rafters. “Luke, look!” He said, pointing to a squatting
Anthur.

“
They are getting in through the roof,
son of a
–
”
Luke cursed, pointing the gun up at the intruder. “I'm going to
tell you right now, I never miss. Get down here.” He shouted up to
the Earthling. He watched as the Earthling hung from the rafter and
seamlessly dropped to the floor and walked over to the men. Luke
saw the way the Earthling stared at the gun. “You know what I have
in here, don't you?”

The Earthling didn't answer.

Luke sent a radio message out for everyone
to come to the receiving docks. “Get on your knees.” Luke ordered
the tall, blond Earthling. After a brief hesitation, the Earthling
complied.

“
Why the hell is he naked?” Rafferty
whispered to Luke who only chuckled in response.

Shortly all the other men filed into the
loading dock area.

“
We have a breach.” He told them
looking up. “More of these things will most likely try and sneak
through, be alert. Station yourselves throughout the building.” The
men spread out as told.

Julie looked at the Earthling. He looked
like Percone, but with shorter hair. He locked eyes with her and
she felt the ropes that bound her begin to loosen. She wiggled her
hands and feet and was able to slacken it even more. She stopped
when Luke stepped up and pointed the gun to the Earthling's
head.

“
Send a message to your boss, Suron.
Unless he calls off this endeavor, he will lose even more
Earthlings, starting with you.”

“
Suron orders you to stand before him
and receive judgment for the crimes you have committed.”

“
Here's my answer.” Luke said, and
pulled the trigger, shooting the Earthling in the head.

“
No!” Julie shouted and watched in
horror as the Earthling's body slumped over and begin to wither in
pain. Shaking the loosened ropes off of her, she ran over to the
Earthling, but Luke caught her before she got to him. She struggled
in his arms. She pounded him with her fists, trying to pry off his
gloved hands from around her waist. “Let me go!”

“
Let her go!” Austin shouted as he
leaped over the stack of boxes from the forklift.

Julie stopped struggling and watched as
Austin landed effortlessly near them.

“
Well, well. Your boyfriend came to
save you, how poetic.” Luke looked at Austin's attire; the boy was
clad only in a pair of jeans. “You look like you switched teams.”
Luke said and smiled, pointing the gun at him.

Two men came up behind Austin and
restrained both of his arms.

Luke released Julie. “Go ahead, try and
save him.” He let her go to Anthur.

He stepped back and watched her. He was
curious himself to see if she could save him.

Julie dove inside the Earthling and saw the
toxic substance spreading throughout his body. She worked
feverishly to stop it, but it kept spreading. She was frustrated
because there were no working organs for her to protect. “Please,
please.” She mumbled as she tried all different ways to help save
him, but in the end, there was nothing she could do. Her body grew
weary, and she pulled out of him and rest her head on the now
lifeless body.

Eli and the other Earthlings outside were
devastated when the thoughts from Anthur ceased. Austin's thoughts
confirmed their fears.

Suron sent a message to all the Earthlings
to enter the building and put an end to Luke's massacre of their
kind. He was nearby but wanted them to not waste any more time. He
urged them to be careful but stop at nothing to restrain this man
so the Earth may deal him his punishment.

Eli urged Gregg and Trevor to remain behind
as the Earthlings prepared to swarm to building. He knew they would
not heed his warning.

Inside, Luke walked over to Austin, keeping
the gun aimed at him. “So how does that work, exactly? Do you have
to take some kind of test to become an Earthling?” He pointed the
gun right up to the boy's chest.

“
I'm not afraid of you.” Austin
growled angrily The building began to shake.

“
Son of a bitch, I thought maybe you
were just jealous of your little girl's love for another Earthling
and that you went all 'wannabe' to get her back.”

The building moaned as Austin's eyes
narrowed.

Loud pounding rain could be heard as the
building shook against the assault of wind. Austin even paused to
look up. This was not his doing.