CHAPTER THREE

The icy feeling vanishes when my last rip returns to its proper place.

I'm not exactly sure how I broke so many of them. Maybe when the sudden explosion had ripped me from my feet. Maybe when Six had pulled me right back up and I hit my back on that car. Maybe when two of those really big Mogs jumped down from the trees in the park and landed on top of me. Or maybe it was just when Nine shook the hell out of me.

My heart is still racing and I force myself to take long, deep breaths.

"You okay?" Marina asks with a concerned look on her face and helps me stand.

I check my head, then my shoulder. Not even a scratch is left.

"Never felt better. Thanks to you," I answer and grin at her. She blushes and strokes a flick of hair behind her ear. For a second our eyes meet, then we both look away, even though I out of the corner of my eyes I can see she's smiling. I am tempted to hug her. To just hold her in my arms for saving my life once again.

To thank her, just like I should have after all she did for me in that US base two days ago. To tell her how much I'm sorry that I didn't do it earlier.

But Ella brings me back to reality.

"What's going on, Eight?" She tugs at my sleeve. "I tried to get through to Six with telepathy, but I couldn't reach her."

"I don't know…" I say and try to remember what happened. Surprisingly, it doesn't come to me quite that easily. I close my eyes to help me concentrate.

"Let me see…I remember we got separated. About fifty Mogadorian soldiers ambushed us in a park on our way back from the store." I grit my teeth. "Something hit my head and I blacked out. When I woke up, I was in a car. There were about five soldiers with their guns aimed at me, so I thought I'd just wait until there was a bump in the road and then teleport out of the car. It actually worked, only that, just a second before I got away from them, one of them shot me in the shoulder, as he realized what I was about to do.

You can't imagine the pain, getting hit by those Mog guns at point blank range. It's just unbearable. I landed on the street and almost got run over by them. Blind and disoriented from the pain, I managed to turn the car upside down using telekinesis, then I ran here, as much as you can call it running. It was more of a stumble and fall. I didn't know how long I could still make it, without collapsing right on the spot. My shoulder was bleeding pretty seriously, and I felt like I'd faint any moment."

"It's okay," Ella says and pats my hand. I feel odd, being comforted by a twelve year old. Marina gives me another worried glance.

"Do you know what happened to Six?" Ella asks. "You said something about trees when Nine asked you," she reminds me.

Right, there was something about trees. I bite my lip and try to remember. It's something Six said when we ran into that park. Something she kept repeating. Something important… Damn, why is it so hard to remember? Those Mogs must have hit my head really hard. What did Six say?

I can almost feel it on the tip of my tongue, when Sarah clears her throat at the top of the stais to the bedrooms. The small distraction completely rips me out of my thoughts.

I let out a disappointed grunt and scowl at Sarah, but she doesn't notice.

She struggles to drag our Loric chests behind her, and when she tries getting all four of them down the stairs Marina just lift them down with my telekinesis.

"Thanks. I never thought the chests would be so heavy," Sarah puffs and puts her hands on her hips. She's out of breath, just from getting the chests from the bedrooms to the stairs.

"Well you're just human. Of course they're heavy for you," I say, just before realizing this might have come out way more offensively than I had intended. She looks at me with a raised eyebrow and presses her lips together, but doesn't say anything. I take a mental note to be more sensitive around her.

"Anyway, we have to move; Six might still be in danger. Plus, those Mogs will probably know where we are, and I definitely don't want to be here when they come", Marina reminds us. Sarah comes down the stairs. "Neither do I."

"Right, let's go then," I say, and just as I want to bolt down the street, Ella holds me back and motions towards Sarah.

"Oooooh. Yeah, umm…" I studder. I forgot she'll never be able to keep up with Marina, Ella and me, if we run. So much about being sensitive.

"The car it is, then."

.

.

"It's just around the corner," Marina says and suddenly I'm back on full alert.

I look out the car window and immediately recognize the place.

Black smoke rises from a couple burning cars nearby and there is a big hole in the asphalt right next to them. It looks like the road has been struck by a lightning bolt or so. Six.

The surrounding buildings' windows are all shattered from what must have been an explosion, and several burglar alarms ring through the street.

One thing keeps me wonder, though: why doesn't one show up. I mean, with so much noise and commotion going on, the must have been someone who would come outside to check on things. But no, no curious pedestrians, nor any angry neighbours, not even the police.

Earlier ,when Six went to the store, before the Mogs had attacked, the street had been full of people. Now there is not a single person outside – besides us.

We take the last turn and my stomach contracts. I can feel the anger inside me rise again. I'm angry about the Mogadorians ambushing us so cowardly, but mostly angry at myself, for letting them catch me off guard.

This time it's going to be different, though. This time I'm prepared. I'm unflappable, no matter what. An army of Mogs? No problem. Hordes of Piken and Krauls? Piece of cake. I'm even geared up for Setrákus Ra.

But when we turn around the corner, my heart still skips a beat.

"Did we take a wrong turn?" Ella asks and I don't think I can answer, even if I tried to. In fact, I don't think I will ever be able to speak again. My jaw must have dropped by at least ten feet. I don't know if I can trust my eyes. What I see just doesn't make sense.

Because in front of us there is no park.

Instead, there is a gigantic dome of what appears to be tree roots, reaching up higher than the surrounding buildings.

The car stops with squealing tires. I rip the door open and stumble out.

It looks like the ball of roots literally grew out of the ground. Confusion smacks me in the face.

"What the hell happened here?" I hear Ella ask from the other side of the car. A moment of silence passes, as no one knows the answer.

"Is that John?" Marina suddenly asks and points towards the structure. Only now do I notice the single silhouette standing all alone in front of the enormous dome.

"John!" Sarah cries out and starts running towards him. He turns around, but keeps his head low. I teleport right beside him.

"Is everything alright? What happened? What is this thing?" I ask him, but I'm not sure he is even listening. He keeps his gaze on his feet.

"I… I couldn't do anything. I just… It just…" He mumbles.

"Just what?" I urge him. He looks up and it seems he only realizes I'm here now.

"It just grew. These roots just suddenly spouted out of the ground. I couldn't…" He gulps before continuing. "I couldn't do anything. One moment, I could still see Six and Nine in the park, and the next second… this just came out of nowhere. Eight, I think… I think they're still inside…I think… I think Six knew, and now they're still inside!"

And then it hits me. What Six said when we ran into the park. The missing piece of memory. She had pointed at a Mog that was pouring vials of liquid over the ground near the trees at the edge of the park. It immediately got soaked into the earth.

'I know that stuff. I've seen a scientist use it in a lab in the military base, just before I got captured.' She said. And then she shouted something that got drowned by the noise the Mogs made. All I understood was 'the trees!', which she kept yelling at me, as if I knew what she meant.

Well, I do now.

John sniffs and I put my arm around his shoulder. He seems to be in shock.

"Hey! It's okay, John," I say. "It's not your fault."

It's mine. The bitterness of this insight makes me even more furious. I should have understood what Six had meant back then. I should have been there with her. I could have teleported both of us out.

But instead I just got captured by the Mogs.

The others come running to us and Sarah throws her arms around John. He finally awakes from his stiffness and kisses her on the cheek. They stay like that for a moment, holding each other in their arms.

Then John pulls away and Sarah suddenly gasps.

Two red dots, the ones sniper rifles have for making aiming easier, are hovering on John's forehead.

And as I'm trying to figure out what is happening, a voice behind us shouts two words.

"Don't. Move."

Hey there folks!

3rd chapter, thanks for staying with me for this long ;)

I'll try to get the next one out in the next three days again.

Please don't forget to review, as that really is what motivates me and keeps this story going =)

And as always, thanks a lot for reading my story, you can't imagine how happy it makes me :)

EDIT: nothing big, fixed some grammar stuff and added a gap in the middle.