Hurricane (The Charmed) (15 page)

Brendan followed. “Come on, just tell me something.”

Chase stopped. “Okay, something, let’s see. Basically once you start, it’s all you think about.”

Brendan smiled. “Really? That good, huh?”

Chase laughed and walked into the house.

T
he last few months were busy for everyone. Mr. M arranged times that each of the circle could work on new techniques. Chase worked every spare moment since his power was the strongest. Each person ended up with more skills than before. Harley came separately and because of her anger was able to conjure fireballs out of the air.

Kayla had something similar. Her bow and arrow appeared out of nowhere and when she reached behind her head to her back, a quiver of arrows appeared. Of course, when Lyla walked anywhere near Kayla they appeared faster.

Graduation was finally here. Lyla’s parents weren’t back and wouldn’t be until the end of summer. Chase and Lyla tested how far they could go and it was still twenty five miles before the pain ripped through them.

Harley and Brendan were able to talk now without screaming at each other but the tension was still there.

Kayla was sullen as ever and almost never talked to anyone in the circle. Basically everything was a mess.

Lyla stood before the mirror in the room she shared with Chase. She was wearing black robes, black graduation hat and an orange tassel, Lakeland High’s colors.

“I look like a silly witch.”

Chase walked up behind her. “The black makes your hair look like silk.”

Lyla giggled.

“What?”

“You never say anything negative.”

His eyes softened. “There’s nothing negative to say when it’s about you.”

Lyla blushed. “I mean, even about anyone else.”

Chase shrugged. “My parents are negative about everything. I realized years ago I hated every minute of that way of living so I made a vow to never be that way.”

Lyla smiled.

“You have dimples. Little one’s that wink in and out when you smile.”

“There you go again being sweet.”

Chase drew her into his arms. “It’s easy to do with you.” He kissed her.

Mr. M walked past the open doorway. Every time he saw them wrapped up in each other or being mushy as hell he felt a sense of relief. Chase wasn’t going power hungry. Mush maybe but not power crazy. They made it through the first two months so this was new territory for the rule books.

The graduation was long and boring. Harley was the valedictorian and Brendan was her biggest fan, clapping and cheering when she was announced. Harley on the other-hand glared at him and rolled her eyes. Brendan looked over at his parents. During her speech they looked away. His mother was filing her nails and his dad was on his cell phone.

All hats were thrown in the air, another milestone down. Lyla felt a pang of sadness that her parents weren’t there. Chase and Lyla were talking off to the side of the auditorium, Chase looked over and his face contorted to shock.

“Dad? Mom?”

Chase’s parents walked up and patted him on the arm.

“We couldn’t miss your graduation now could we?”

Chase smiled but felt a sense of confusion. They never surprised him like this.

“Chase, aren’t you going to introduce us?” Chase’s mother, a tall thin woman, had blonde hair cut into a short bob. She wore designer clothes and had perfectly manicured nails.

“I’m sorry, Mom, Dad, this is Lyla.”

Mr. Fountaine held a hand out. Lyla shook it but he wrapped his other hand over hers enclosing their hands. Chase raised his eyebrows. This was remarkably warm for his parents.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Lyla.”

“Thank you, it’s nice to meet you, too. Chase has told me so much about you.” She didn’t tell him it wasn’t the best of words but they didn’t need to know that. Lyla couldn’t help but notice Chase looked nothing like his parents, which surprised her.

“Lyla, I was wondering, would you help me with something? I can’t ask Chase because it’s a surprise.” Chase’s mother placed a hand on Lyla’s arm.

“Uh, okay.” Remembering how Brendan’s parents took Harley, Lyla was grateful Chase’s parents were even speaking to her. “I guess I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” Chase kissed Lyla on the cheek, worry in his eyes.

“Are you okay?” Lyla whispered.

“Yeah, just hurry back.”

Lyla smiled. “Of course.”

They walked out of the hall to the back side where the Fountaine’s white limousine was waiting. Mr. Fountaine ushered the two women to the door. “Wait until you see what we got Chase, it’s just inside here, we were wondering what you think of it. I’m afraid we don’t know our son’s tastes very well. We can take it back.”

Lyla walked with Mrs. Fountaine to the door.

“Lyla darling, will you get it. It’s just inside that cupboard right there. I’m afraid I strained my back and can’t reach for it.”

Lyla, wanting to make a good impression on Chase’s family, obliged. She stepped inside the limousine, reached inside the cupboard but found nothing. She looked back at the door to see it slammed shut. She reached for the door but it wouldn’t open. The Limousine started to move. She banged on the window. “Hey! I’m still in here! Hey! Hey!”

The hair on the back of her neck stood up. A hand wrapped around her mouth, a spell thrown into the air and Lyla was out cold.

Chase waited around for his parents to come back with Lyla. He was growing agitated and anxious. For the better part of ten minutes Mr. Johnson, his next door neighbor, was talking a mile a minute about his landscaping business that was booming.

“You have no idea how hard it is to keep azalea’s here in Florida. But people want them!”

“I bet.” Chase felt a hand tug on his arm. He looked over and saw Mr. M.

“Where’s Lyla?”

“She went with my parents to get something for me out of the car.”

Mr. M stopped and looked Chase directly in the eyes. “Your parents are back?”

“Yeah, kind of a shock really. They weren’t supposed to be back.”

“They came back for your graduation?”

“Yeah, that’s what I just said.”

“They went with Lyla?”

“Yeah, but I thought they’d be back by now.”

“How long has it been?”

Mr. M was slowly squeezing Chase’s arm to the point of breaking.

“Mr. M, my arm.”

Mr. M didn’t let up “Chase, how long has it been?”

“I don’t know, maybe twenty minutes?”

“Oh god, why didn’t I see it. How did she find out?”

“What? What are you talking about?” Chase looked at Mr. M and stumbled forward. His arm was on fire, his head hurt. Chase’s world went black.

Chase opened his eyes he was in his room at Mr. M’s. He could sense someone was in there with him.

“Who’s there?”

“It’s me, Jaden.”

Chase could hear Harley’s voice raised in the other room. Chase sat up slowly. He felt like he was under water. Clearly a spell had been placed on him. “I feel like throwing up,” He ran to the bathroom and did just that.

Mr. M appeared with a rag. “Chase, the spell will keep you alive right now but you’ll continue to get sick until we find her.”

Chase sat on the floor and put his head in his hands. “What happened? Where is she?”

“She’s gone. I don’t know where they’ve taken her.”

“It’s my parents, right? They took her?”

“Yes, Chase.” Sadness filled Mr. M’s every being.

“We have to look for her.” Chase continued to hold his head. It was screaming with pain.

“Where? We could go in any direction right now and potentially kill you. We have to wait until we know the direction they went.”

“I need a piece of paper.”

Mr. M looked confused. “Jaden, bring a piece of paper in here.”

Jaden brought it in and handed it to him.

“Here.”

Chase took a deep breath to steady his nausea and stared at the paper. Chase spoke the spell and then asked it to reveal a message. The only thing that appeared was a big E.

“They’re headed out of state.” Chase leaned over the bowl and threw up again, dropping the paper. Mr. M picked up the paper and stared at it.

“What is this, Chase?”

Jaden, who hadn’t moved, looked at the paper. “You taught her our game, that’s great!”

“Jaden explain.”

“When Chase and I were little we found this spell that lets you talk to each other on paper. We stayed up all night, well, most nights playing on the page. Sometimes it was tic-tac-toe, sometimes we talked about girls. If Lyla sent this E it means we can reach her again. Chase, what should I send back so she knows we got it?”

“Just write Love. It’s all I can think of.” Chase curled up on the floor still holding his head.

“What cleaver kids you all are. Harley! Brendan! Kayla! Pack up, we’re heading out!”

Chase curled his legs up to his chest and waited for the house of people to come get him but they weren’t coming. He could hear someone arguing with Mr. M. Chase stood up and held onto the counter for support. He made his way slowly to the living room and surveyed the scene.

Kayla was sitting in a chair by the cold fireplace. Harley in front of her, hands on her hips.

“I will not go look for that whore. You can’t make me!”

Chase stepped forward but Harley is the one who reacted. She slapped Kayla across the face, breathing heavy she said, “Lyla isn’t a whore, nobody is! Chase needs us, if you have any ounce of compassion in that whiney little head of yours, you’d do it for him! Now get your scrawny ass in that car or I’ll start throwing fireballs at your hair!”

Chase remained motionless. He would have rather just left her here but Harley had a point, they were all stronger together.

Mr. M walked in through the front door. “Okay, we’re set, everybody in.”

Kayla was the first to stand, holding her cheek and walked out.

The rest of the room filed out, they put Chase in the front seat so his window would open. Harley and Brendan were in the middle and Kayla and Jaden in the back of the van. Kayla stared out the window still holding her cheek. A small tear slid down and landed on her shirt.

Jaden glanced over, he wasn’t sure there was any possibility for them. He refused to coddle her tantrum. Even if he didn’t like Kayla that way, he had the sense to know that Chase and Lyla belonged together. He looked up front. Chase’s breathing was uneasy.

“Hey Brendan, trade places with me.”

Brendan glanced at Harley. She was looking at the window ignoring everyone. “Yeah, okay.”

Once moved, Jaden took his necklace off and put it over Chase’s head. “That should help with the nausea.”

Chase’s breathing was labored.

“Dad, he’s not getting any better.”

“I know. All we can hope for is to get them closer together. Jaden, take the paper Chase has in his hand, do the spell you know, see if Lyla said anything else.” He looked at his watch. It had been two hours since the graduation departure. They could be within hours of getting out of the state.

“Okay.” Jaden did as he was told. He waited while words formed.

I-10 Tally Hurt

That was all. Jaden read everything but the word hurt to the car. He didn’t want Chase to get upset or worse, violent. Jaden wrote back:
Hang on. J

Nothing came back. He hoped she had the wherewithal to erase his letters. He instantly regretted writing back; it could have put her in jeopardy.

Mr. M drove on I-4 toward Tampa. I-10 was twenty miles away. The car dropped into silence.

Jaden checked the paper regularly. About three hours into the drive, Lyla wrote back:

9 Garden Inn

Mr. M pulled off at a gas station. He bought a map and looked for Exit 9; they were forty five minutes away. They drove as fast as the van would go. Mr. M figured he would put a charm on a cop if he was stopped but they never were. He checked his watch, it was nine-thirty. They pulled into the restaurant behind the hotel.

“Chase, I’m going to release you from the charm, it’s going to be painful because the charm holds the pain at bay so it has to be released from your body. It’ll be over before you know it.”

Chase was groggy. He looked over at Mr. M and there were two of him. Mr. M placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered the charm. Pain like he’d never felt before screamed through his body.

Mr. M put a silencer on the car so nobody outside could hear his screams. Everyone in the car however, had to cover their ears.

Chase took a few shuddering breaths as the last of the pain escaped. It was over.

“I’m getting out, I need air.” Chase stepped out of the car, his arm was changing back to black marks, the whole drive they had been an angry red. Lyla was nearby, he could feel her. He stretched his arm out and paced around the car popping joints and stretching.

Jaden stepped out of the car. “Long drive.”

“Yeah, although I couldn’t tell. If feels like we just left.”

“We’ll find her, Chase.”

“I’m still confused as to why my parents would take her. Why them?”

Mr. M stepped out of the car. “It’s a story I need to tell you.”

Jaden and Chase turned to look at him. “You knew this might happen? You didn’t tell me?” Chase walked forward, his eyes had turned black. The air around them began to buzz with an angry humming wind that was sweeping up off the ground and around the car.