Starcrossed: Perigee - A paranormal romance trilogy (24 page)

If we can get out in time, we should be able to get away while they're distracted by each other. We need to go now.

He peered carefully around the doorway and surveyed the hallway. It was empty. Taking my hand, he steered me in the direction of the Officer's Gym. The door was closed. He pushed it open slowly, and we cautiously entered the room. It was a large, dimly lit space, filled with old equipment which looked as if it hadn't been used in a while. Some pieces were covered in canvas tarps, looming out of the darkness like odd shaped monsters. For the first time in weeks I spotted some windows to the outside. They were covered by crumpled old venetian blinds, but I could see the night sky through the broken slats. I could just make out a door on the far side of the room, a back-lit 'exit' sign blinking above it. The screaming engines from the fighter planes and the occasional burst of gunfire could be heard overhead. Aric took my hand, and we threaded our way in the darkness through the various machines. We had almost reached the other side, when the room lit up with a flash of bright white light. The Innaki had found us.

* * * * *

Spindly gray figures began to emerge through the walls. The scene was so surreal I felt as if my brain was doing somersaults trying to make sense of it all. Seven, eight, nine... they continued to arrive until there were at least twenty in the room, a scraggly line of Innaki which were so alike they might be clones of each other. Aric pulled me closer as more appeared to either side of us.

Lucy, when I say, I want you to sprint for the door. I'll hold them off - you find somewhere to hide outside,
he said in my mind.

I was aghast.
No! I'm not leaving you again! We can fight them together.
I was determined to stand by him this time. He shot me an exasperated look.

Your best chance is to run and hide - they'll have to go soon, the air battle has gone on for too long already. I can hold them off until they're called back.

I'm not leaving you,
I said, stubbornly.
We're doing this together.

He sighed and pulled me closer.
Well, get behind me, and stay close.

The room flickered with bright white flashes as if it were caught up in a violent electrical storm. It lit up the weird shapes of the canvas covered equipment, casting irregular shadows over the creatures as they stood watching us through big black eyes. They began to move warily towards us. We backed up slowly, stopping in surprise as the door was thrown open. Saul and Marcus charged into the room, assessed the situation quickly, and moved to position themselves around me. I didn't know whether to be relieved or more worried - it was four of us against thirty-odd gray beings.

I saw Aric nod in response to something Saul must have said in his head. Marcus stood beside me, his fists clenched.

There's four of us now, can't we attack them with wyk
? I suggested.

There's too many of them. They're going to try to paralyze you. We need to shield you. You run Lucy, while we hold them off,
Marcus said.

She won't go,
said Aric.
We've already been through this.

Marcus scowled at me, then turned his attention back to the Innaki.
Remind me to tell you off when this is all over!
he grumbled.

One of the creatures stepped forward.
Lucy Doyle, you must come with us.

Aric took a protective step in front of me.
She's not going with you,
he said.

The Innaki's eyes moved to rest on Aric.
Whisperer, you have a task to do.

Straightening his back, Aric planted his legs firmly apart. His tone was firm and clear.
No, she is not going with you.

The creature's eyes narrowed. It is not your decision.
Control the specimen and bring her to me.

Aric stood firm.
You're not having her.

The Innaki stared intently at us. A disturbing, buzzing energy filled the room, and I watched in dismay as Aric's hand flew to his temple, his face creased in pain. Saul and Marcus followed suit.

Lucy, get out of here!
It was Aric's voice in my mind. I shook my head.

You need to run - we can't block you for long, not against this many! For god's sake, run!

The Innaki continued to increase the level of pain. Saul fell to his knees, a tortured expression on his face, Marcus was holding on to the end of a bench press, groaning. Aric stood on wobbly legs in front of me, his hands grasping his head. My body began to feel sluggish, tired, as though I'd just run a marathon. The Innaki were breaking through the shield. Aric's legs buckled and he fell to his knees.

Lucy, run while you can!

Saul was writhing on the floor; Marcus collapsed over the end of the bench, his head held in his hands. I gaped at them in stunned horror. Aric gave me a weak push, then collapsed on the ground.

"Go!" he gasped, clutching his head. A vision of Johnson's lifeless body crossed my mind, and Johnson's face was replaced with Aric's. I was overcome with an intense fury - I would not allow these creatures to do this to him, or to my friends. Straightening my body with difficulty, I raised my head and glared at the Innaki. The buzzing energy increased, and I felt as though I was moving through a sea of thick sludge - every movement took an incredible amount of focus and determination to execute. Raising my hand slowly against the paralyzing pressure, I focused all my anger and pushed a wave of wyk out through my palm. I was expecting a ball of white energy to fly across the room as it had when I had practiced with Marcus and Phil, but the wyk I produced was an intense red, a hot, fiery sphere which sizzled with what could only be described as an intensely negative energy. I could feel it emanate menace, hatred and despair as it hurtled through the air. It collected one of the canvas-shrouded machines, sending it careering across the room, hitting a number of Innaki squarely, crushing them against the wall. Focusing on a heavy rowing machine, I launched another red orb from my palm and it catapulted across the room, knocking down a line of Innaki as though they were skittles. The paralysis loosened its grip on my body, and I continued to throw the bulky gym equipment about the room furiously, collecting panicked Innaki as my makeshift missiles hit their target. The room glowed an eerie red, the sense of negativity giving me goose bumps and bringing a knot of nausea to my stomach. Despite the ominous atmosphere, I was elated, and I felt a sense of malicious satisfaction as the spindly bodies were crushed and dismembered under the relentless assault of heavy objects.

Aric, Saul and Marcus began to get up on shaky feet, but I was so intent on eliminating the monsters I barely noticed. The last three Innaki ran to escape. Two managed to disappear right through the wall but the third was hit soundly on the head by a twenty pound weight I sent hurtling through the air. It crushed its skull and the creature crumpled to the ground.

"That's for my mom!" I shouted angrily. I was breathing heavily, so irate that I wanted to pick up the equipment and attack them all over again.

"Lucy! Lucy..." Aric grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around to face him. "It's okay, you've got them all - you can stop now."

I looked at him blankly for a moment, my breath coming in great heaving gasps, and then the red rage subsided, and I looked around at the carnage filled room. Saul and Marcus were staring at me.

"That was... awesome," said Marcus, his voice filled with awe.

Saul nodded in agreement. "Incredible!" he said. "Now I understand why the Innaki are so keen to get their hands on you."

Aric took my hand. "We still need to get to Phil, come on." He pulled me toward the door, but a great wave of weariness overcame me, and my knees buckled. Aric caught me around my waist and held me up.

"She's overdone it," he said. "Come on Luce, you can make it." He hauled me out the door, and we ran towards a large unhitched trailer. Crouching beside the wheels, we surveyed the scene. Two large spacecraft hovered silently above the air field in front of the main building. The craft were a dull, metallic gray, each about half the size of a football field and typically saucer shaped. Every now and then a white flash would emit from the top or the bottom of the craft in a response to the military aircraft which buzzed around the craft like irritated hornets. One of the planes flew close, and peppered the craft with a spray of gunfire. The rounds bounced off harmlessly. A bright orange flash was aimed at the plane, and it disappeared instantly, leaving no sign of smoke or debris.

Aric pointed to a sentry box in the distance. "We've got to get through there," he said. "I've stunned the guards. There's a rise back there - you can't see it in the dark, but Phil's waiting on the other side with the car."

"How are we going to get past all that?" I asked Aric anxiously, indicating the ongoing battle overhead.

"Remember in Ellen's florist store - I showed you how you can use wyk to cloak yourself?"

"Yeah, I've been practicing."

Aric patted my hand. "Good, we're going to run right past it all, but keep to the side."

The throaty growl of a car engine rang out, and a jeep hurtled towards the front of the trailer. We bobbed up to see Doctor Chenski waving at us frantically.

"Come on!" he yelled, "jump in! I'll get you out!"

There was a bright orange flash, and Doctor Chenski vanished into thin air. His empty jeep, devoid of a driver, continued on until it slammed into the trailer with a massive thud. I stood transfixed as I watched the engine spark before catching alight. Aric hauled me to the ground, and I leaned against the side of the trailer, trembling in shock. We crouched lower as the jeep exploded with an ear-splitting blast.

"Oh, my god... did they kill him? Oh, please, not the doctor... "

Aric squeezed my hand. "Come on Lucy, pull yourself together. We've got to go now."

Aric, Marcus and Saul vanished before my eyes. I concentrated, and my body disappeared, but my legs from the knees down were still visible. I tried again, but it was worse this time - only my torso disappeared. I was exhausted, and it seemed to be affecting my ability to cloak.

"Oh, god, I can't do this!" I wailed, willing myself to disappear. Only my arm was invisible. I felt Aric's hand take mine, and my entire body vanished. He was cloaking me.

"Don't let go," he said, pulling me to my feet. I could feel his hand warm in mine, but it was disconcerting being pulled along by an invisible force. We ran around the outside of the tarmac and headed towards the sentry box in the distance. It seemed an awfully long way away, and my legs felt leaden as I staggered along after Aric while the battle continued over our heads. By the time we reached the checkpoint, Aric was dragging me along as though I were a rag doll, his arm firmly around my waist - I could barely move my feet. The soldiers in the sentry box at the checkpoint stood still as statues, oblivious to the melee around them. We headed away from the main track into the darkness, and stumbled over a sandy rise dotted with low prickly shrubs which tore at my invisible ankles. My heart sank for a moment when I couldn't spot the car, and then, quite suddenly, it materialized in front of our eyes - Phil had been cloaking it.

Aric bundled me into the back seat and climbed in beside me. Phil hit the accelerator as soon as Marcus and Saul were safely inside, and we bumped over the rough terrain in the dark, heading in a north east direction, leaving the raging battle behind us.

* * * * *

"Relax! I keep telling you, we haven't been followed!" Marcus patted my knee reassuringly and leaned back, resting his head against the window, peering out into the darkness of the desert. I turned back for the umpteenth time after scrutinizing the view through the back window, anxiously looking for signs of being followed. We'd been driving along the highway for nearly three hours now, and had barely seen a soul. Aric put his arm around me, and I nestled up against his shoulder. I was exhausted, but I'd been operating in danger mode for so long it was hard to switch off and just enjoy the feeling of safety for a while.

I wondered whether I would ever feel safe again. Remembering the sinister ambiance of those glowing balls of wyk, the sheer evilness which permeated the red mist which had filled the room, I shivered, and folded my arms protectively over my chest. Did that evil really emanate from me? The thought was disturbing. Aric, Marcus and Phil had only ever produced white wyk, and it had felt, well, definitely not as sinister as the red stuff I had made. Aric's arm tightened around me.

"Are you cold?"

I shook my head. Sitting up, I turned to face him. "I don't understand... my wyk was red, and... how can I explain this... well, it seemed to be... evil!"

Aric nodded. "You were angry. Energy, wyk, responds to intent, to your emotions. It takes on a certain color depending on whether it's imbibed with negativity or positivity."

"Your wyk is always white. When you zapped the gargoyte, it was white. Why wasn't yours red?"

"I've learned to control it. Red negative wyk is powerful stuff, but hard to control. White wyk is easier to control. If you control your emotions, it follows you can control your wyk and what it does better. Although you did a pretty good job tonight!"

Saul turned from the front seat where he'd evidently been listening. "You sure did!" he agreed. "I've never seen anything like it. The room glowed red! It was saturated in it."

"I would have liked to have seen that," said Phil. "I always miss out on the action. Next time, someone else can be the getaway guy."

Marcus grunted. "You would have fainted the minute an Innaki looked at you." Phil threw him a dirty look in the rear view mirror then turned his attention back to the empty road ahead.

I wasn't finished with our conversation. I turned to Aric.

"So... what does that mean? All the red mist? Does that mean I'm... really evil?"

He laughed and pulled me closer. "No! It means you have way more wyk than you know what to do with, and you were really angry. I don't think they realized you would be able to do that. I really wouldn't want to be in your bad books when you really get going!"