The Athena Effect (25 page)

“
Oh no!
It’s them! It’s the same ones!” she said, panic in her voice. “What should I do?”

“Go wait in my room. I’ll get rid of them,” Calvin said tersely.

“Who is it?” Jarod asked from the couch.

Caledonia darted towards the hall, pausing around the corner to listen as the men started pounding at the door.

“Cal?” Jarod stood up, “What’s goin’ on?”

Calvin’s face was stony, “These guys are here for Cali.”

“Why?” asked Jarod, as the pounding grew more insistent.

“Long story,” Cal said, steeling himself and opening the door a crack. He asked them what they wanted in an angry voice, and Caledonia strained to listen.

“Send out the girl… We’re here to return her to her legal guardian.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Calvin said.

The man’s voice was low, menacing, “We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. It’s up to you. Now… give up the girl and nobody gets hurt.”

Jarod came over to stand beside Cal, “Are you threatening him? Get the hell offa my property!”

“Wouldn’t you rather deal with this matter without involving the police? I’m sure your parole officer would be interested to hear
all
about how you’re harboring an under-aged runaway. We could have both of you gentlemen prosecuted for statutory rape.”

Caledonia’s stomach twisted; they’d certainly done their homework.

She heard Jarod’s voice, raised in anger, “You must not have heard me. I said… GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!”

“Hey!” Calvin yelled. She heard a scuffle, and the bang of the door slamming against the wall. The sounds of fighting were followed by a series of clicking noises and the sickening thud of a body hitting the ground.

“Where is she? Tell us or you’re next!”

Caledonia looked around the corner to see Calvin backed up against the wall, his angry eyes trained on some kind of device brandished by one of the men. Jarod lay on the ground, eyes closed.

She stepped out from the hallway, yelling, “NO!” She looked at the three big men with fiery eyes, “Stop it right now!”

They all paused, their target in sight. Caledonia rushed to get between Calvin and the men, facing them again and projecting a powerful cloud of soothing aqua blue towards them. It did nothing to temper the predatory colors they were emanating.

“You’re coming with us,” one of the men said, “Whether you like it or not.”

“No she’s not,” Calvin tried to pull her behind him.

“Wait a minute,” she held up her hands in a compliant gesture, playing for time, mustering a massive fog of tranquilizing lavender and casting it in the closest one’s direction. With his reflective sunglasses on, she could not see where his eyes were looking, and she realized that it rendered her ability useless.

She gestured towards Jarod’s still form, “What did you do to him?” Moving slowly, with her hands in the air she knelt by his side, reaching down to feel his neck for a pulse. His eyes fluttered, and to her relief he let out a groan.

Caledonia felt a hand clamp onto her arm, and she instinctively dropped and spun around on her back, landing a vicious kick directly to the knee of the man who’d touched her. He let out a shriek and crumpled to the ground in pain.

Calvin lunged at the man with the Taser, but it was too late, and she heard the same rapid series of clicks as before, watching in horror as Calvin’s eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped to the floor.

Now both Calvin and Jarod were sprawled in the entryway, and Caledonia scrambled backwards while two men advanced on her.

“Tase her!” the one on the ground cried. He was clutching his knee, his face contorted in agony.

“No,” Max replied, “He wants her untouched.”

The men finally backed Caledonia into a corner, and despite putting up her best fight, Max seized her in an immobilizing bear hug. The injured one struggled to stand, unable to put any weight on one of his legs.

“I think that bitch just broke my knee,” he gasped.

Max gripped her tightly from behind, marching her towards the door, while the other one went to help his comrade up from the floor. Caledonia refused to stand, kicking and squirming to resist as best she could.

She forced Max to half carry and half drag her dead weight towards the door, and by the time he’d maneuvered her to the threshold he was sweating from the effort, swearing under his breath. He grew increasingly frustrated and angry.

It was a good thing the professor was so interested in receiving her intact, because she could tell that Max wanted to hurt her, intuitively sensing that this was a man who was capable of doing terrible things. The thought made her redouble her efforts to resist, hooking her legs onto the doorframe, fighting a losing battle to avoid being dragged from the house.

A low rumbling sound grew louder and louder, and by the time Max had forced her out onto the porch a half a dozen of Jarod’s biker friends pulled up in front of the house, blocking their path out to the van. They dismounted from their bikes, advancing on the house suspiciously.

“Where’s Jarod?” asked a big man with a beard and bandanna.

“Help!” Caledonia cried, struggling even harder.

Max dropped her, reaching for his weapon while the other two men stood behind them. His color changed to a fearful sour green, not so tough once he was outnumbered. For the first time, Caledonia was overjoyed to see all of Jarod’s thuggish friends.

“Max… We have to abort,” the injured one said.

A blonde blur flew out of the front door and slammed into Max’s back, sending him flying off the porch and into in the dirt. It was Crystal, and she jumped onto his back, flailing away with her fists, clawing at his face with her long fingernails.

“You sonofabitch!” she shrieked.

The bikers stood in a semicircle, laughing at the big man trying to disengage the furious woman from his back.

“Hey Crystal. We came as soon as you called,” said the biggest one, “But it looks like you don’t need our help so much.”

Jarod staggered from the doorway, looking dazed as he took in the scene. Max managed to disengage Crystal, stumbling to his feet with a bloody lip, his black suit covered in dust. He brandished his weapon, clearing a path for the three men to retreat to their van. They were utterly humiliated, wounded and disheveled, trailed by the sounds of derisive laughter coming from the crowd.

“Oh Baby!” Crystal ran to Jarod, throwing her arms around him.

Caledonia caught her breath and crawled on her knees over the threshold to where Calvin lay unconscious, kneeling over him in a panic. She pressed her ear to his chest, and when he started coughing her eyes spilled over with relief, splashing fat tears onto the front of his shirt. She looked up to see Jarod and Crystal watching them from the doorway.

“Holy shit Cali!” exclaimed Crystal, “What the hell just happened?”

~

Chapter Nineteen – ESCAPE

~

Before Caledonia could say anything Calvin spoke, struggling to open his eyes, “Cali?”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she sobbed.

“What happened?”

“You got Tased bro,” Jarod answered, helping him up and walking him over to sit on the couch. “Just breathe… you’ll be back to normal in a minute.”

Caledonia followed behind them with her head bowed, tears of guilt and relief blending on her cheeks. She had brought this trouble down upon all of them, and the horrible truth dawned on her all at once. Staying here would only hurt Calvin and Jarod; her safe haven had just been yanked out from beneath her. She felt like she was going to be sick.

“You okay Cali?” Crystal asked.

She wiped her eyes and fought to regain her composure, “Thank you… If it wasn’t for you…” She turned to Jarod, “I’m so sorry.”

A burly biker poked his head in the door, “Everything alright in here?”

Crystal and Jarod went out front to thank their friends, leaving Calvin and Caledonia alone. She sat down by his side, looking into his eyes anxiously, “Are you sure you’re alright?”

He swallowed, taking her hand, “We have to call the cops. They can’t just walk into our house and kidnap you!”

“No,” she said firmly. “We can’t call the police. You heard them. The professor will have your brother thrown in jail… He has the law on his side.”

“But if we tell them–”

“They won’t believe us,” she said quietly. She already had too much experience not being believed.

The sounds of motorcycles leaving rumbled away in the background. A few minutes later Crystal and Jarod came back in and stood in silence, unanswered questions hanging in the air.

“Excuse me,” Caledonia said woodenly, getting up to go to Calvin’s room. She pushed back all of her turbulent emotions, and slowly, methodically changed back into her dirty clothes. She reached into her pocket, counting what was left of her money. She could hear Calvin’s voice, telling his brother what they had learned about the professor, and she shuddered to think how close she had just come to being taken by the man she now knew to be completely ruthless.

Her parent’s blood whispered in her veins, telling her she must not ever allow it to happen. She had to run away again, and as scared as she was of being alone, she was even more frightened at the prospect of being under the professor’s control. Calvin came into the bedroom to find her strapping her hunting knife onto her calf.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he blurted out. She looked up and could see that he already knew.

“I’m going to try and get back home. I have to leave before they come back.”

“NO WAY!”

“Don’t you see? He knows where I am, and he won’t stop now. For whatever reason, he’s determined to… collect… me. He won’t give up, and he doesn’t care who he hurts. I can’t stay here any longer. I’ll only get you and your brother in trouble.”

He sat down next to her, taking both of her hands, “We can fight him! We can get a lawyer or something…”

She shook her head, “You don’t understand. He won’t give up because
he knows
. I tried to change them today… I tried as hard as I could but it wouldn’t work… That’s why they wore the glasses.”

“So you couldn’t see their eyes…” he guessed.

She nodded grimly. “Will you–” the words caught in her throat, “Will you please give me a ride to the bus station?”

“NO! You can’t just
leave!
”

She squeezed his hands, “It’s okay. In a few months I turn eighteen. I’ll be able to come back and visit then.”

“A few months? You can’t just take off alone! What if something happens to you?”

“I’m not your responsibility just because of… of… of what happened,” she looked down, her cheeks flushed.

He wound his arm around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. “That’s too bad, because now I’m yours.”

He turned her face to his, laying his hand on her cheek and finally pressing his lips to her forehead. Caledonia was the finest, best thing he’d ever had in his life, and he wasn’t about to let her walk out of it. He got up and pulled a leather bag out of his closet, rummaging through his drawers to pull out a few things and stuff them in hastily. She watched him with eyes like saucers.

He talked while he packed, “For the past few years I stopped thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. I’ve just been letting it happen… You know? My mom used to say that when I found something I loved that I’d know it. Well… I found you. And you’re not leaving without me.”

“But I’m not even sure where I’m going...”

“We’ll figure it out together.”

“You can’t just–”

“Oh yes I can. I’ll go anywhere you want to go.”

“But–”

He silenced her with a long and passionate kiss, the kind that left her unable to think clearly.

“Wait right here,” he demanded, leaving the room to go talk with his brother. Caledonia sat in a daze, listening to voices coming from the next room. When they grew louder she got up, timidly creeping down the hall and peering around the corner to see their heated discussion.

“What about your graduation?” Jarod asked. “I promised Dad I’d send him some pictures.”

“I don’t care about that crap… If you want to send him something, send him the diploma.”

Jarod sighed, “I suppose that’s better than I did. But I still don’t see why you have to take off.”

“We’ll only be gone a few months,” Calvin explained.

“No way!” Jarod was upset, “Don’t let those dudes chase you away!”

Calvin shook his head, “We have to get away from here. Those guys can make a whole lot of trouble for us.”

“They don’t scare me! I can handle them!” Jarod stuck out his chest belligerently.

“Not from inside a jail cell,” Calvin said.

Crystal nodded in agreement, looking up to see Caledonia’s stricken face watching them. She raced over to give her a hug, “You poor thing! First you lose your folks and now some weird dude is trying to kidnap you? How screwed up is that?”

~