Okay, I am so very sorry that I haven't written in a while but I have been really busy with school and I couldn't think of anything for the chapter. But I persevered and I figured something out! And I promise that this will be a lot longer than the last chapter.

Chapter 7:

Another Leg of the Journey

Layne's pov

I sat by the remaining embers of the fire from the night before in the gray light of morning and thought about how far I'd gotten in just a few months. Though Trina was now like a sister to me, she actually seemed like something of a pushover. She was always controlling and I don't think that I can handle much more of that. You have to push the bird out of the nest to get it to fly and I felt like she was being the protective mother who wanted to keep me in the nest because she thought I wasn't ready. But even though Trina's protectiveness may be suffocating at times, I wasn't ready to let it go because I also didn't think I was ready to let go.

I heard someone stirring. I immediately snapped my head up and looked in the direction of the noise.

I looked up to see Nicolas sitting up rubbing his eyes. His hair was sticking up on the side where he had laid his head. His hair was so long that it looked kind of like a half Mohawk. I giggled.

"What's so funny?" he asked in a sleepy voice.

"Your hair," I say in a quiet voice.

He mumbles something unintelligible and then turns around to roll up his bed roll.

"Why are you up so early?" I ask in the same voice as before.

"My father is the god of the sun so all of us are up before most mornings in the summer. Us being my siblings," he said, quietly, not looking at me.

"Oh," I squeak out before rolling up my own bed roll.

We just sit there for a while looking into the last bits of the fire while people continue to get up.

"Don't look at me until I have my makeup on!" says Melissa in an urgent voice when she gets up. I don't give her more than a glance until she turns back around, face covered in makeup.

Once everyone is up and packed, Trina starts by saying, "Obviously we need to move on. Anyone got any ideas on how?"

Everyone is silent until Ryan pipes up and suggests we steal a car.

"What?" asks Trina.

"I'm saying that we go to a used car lot or something and get a couple of cars. Big ones since there's so many of us," he answers.

"Okay," Trina says.

"Well since no one else has come up with anything," Ryan says, trailing off.

We all groan.

"I can't believe we're doing this," says Melissa with a shake of her head. Only Ryan and Nico know how to hot wire a car, the rest of us were elected to try to distract the dealership owner.

I don't know what I'm going to do since I get really nervous and quiet around new people.

"Okay I think I have a plan," said Katie, turning to us. We were all crouched behind a few bushes that were in front of the dealer ship.

"Melissa and I will go and talk to the owner, acting like we're girls who want o buy our first car and then Trina, you and lane can sneak up behind him and hit him on the head!" Katie says.

"I don't know how much good I'll do," I say.

Katie looks at me and says, "Just follow our lead and you'll do fine."

"Okay," I say and then Trina and I wait for their signal.

"That's it!" says Trina and she gets up quietly and starts walking silently towards them.

"Can't we re-think this?" I say but Trina was already gone.

"Oh," I say to myself worriedly and I start to get up. But when I look over the hedge, the person we thought was the owner has turned into a giant bird human wielding a whip and has started attacking my friends.

"Oh dang!" I silently shout and quickly sink back to my post behind the hedge.

What do I do? I think to myself. The boys are too far away to get them in time; I'd have to save them myself. How does one go against a bird-human weapon less and live? I'd have to try.

I crept around the bush, my heart thumping like a drum. I tried to keep the bird thing in my sight the entire time. Soon it was dragging 3 unconscious girls around the side of a car that was for sale. As soon as I was sure she couldn't see me, I bolted across the lot toward the car they had just gone around and saw them as she dragged them towards a back entrance.

I turned around and thought hard. What was I going to do?

I spotted a bent pipe near the back entrance and a plan formed in my head. I ran to the side of the building and crept around until I got to the pipe and the back entrance. I quickly snatched up the pipe and looked around the corner.

The bird thing and 2 women who seemed like they were in some sort of a trance were tying up my friends. I could see Trina blink almost sleepily. One of the Women in the trance finished tying a knot and turned to the bird. The other women turned towards the bird as well. The bird waved one of its huge wings and the 2 women crumpled to the ground.

The bird turned back to my friends who were in a heap in the middle of what I would describe as a garage. There were car parts and tools lying around the room and a pair of what looked like what was it called? A hydraulic lift? Yeah I think that's what it was.

The bird smiled evilly and it turned around and walked into another room.

I took the chance and sprinted towards the middle of the room.

"Trina?" I asked the girl who looked at me like she was about to fall asleep.

"My pen," she said.

I quickly search her pockets and found her special pen in her pocket. I pulled it out, clicked it and moved towards her bounds.

"No," she said groggily. "Defeat the Fury then save us."

"Fury?" I said quickly, I could feel that our time was running short.

"The bird," she said as she slipped back into unconsciousness.

I heard a screeching behind me as the Fury entered the room again.

"You are too late!" shouted in a raspy voice, smiling triumphantly.

I wish I could say that I said something heroic and charged toward her but I'm afraid all I did was squeak in panic and try to run away. But the Fury flapped its wings and the door I had come through and a garage like door on the opposite side banged shut.

I squeaked again and cowered in front of my friends.

"You will never defeat me!" The Fury said in its raspy voice.

I got up but my knees were banging together, keeping pace with my racing hart.

The Fury cackled.

BANG!

The Fury crumpled to the ground and I look up to see Nico wielding a wrench.

"Thanks," I say with a squeak.

"Are you okay?" asked a voice behind him.

I look around him to see Nicolas and Ryan coming through the door that the Fury had gone through earlier. She must have thought it was just us or she would've closed the door.

I nod but say in a shaky voice, "But they aren't."

I step aside to show them Trina, Katie and Melissa.

Ryan comes running over and sliding down next to them.

"Anyone got a knife?" he asks, inspecting their bonds.

I hand him the dagger and he starts tearing away at the bonds on their hands.

I turn back around in time to see Nico putting a blade through the Fury. It melted away into dust.

"So what exactly happened?" asked Nico.

I told him everything and he just nodded until I finished.

"If she walked out, she may have been calling for backup to come and get them." Ryan said when I was done.

"Which means we need to get out of here," said Nico.

I help them carry the girls out into the back lot in the dim light of morning and to a van that the sisters would drive us around in to places like the park or a museum. It could seat up to 10 people I think.

Nicolas slid open the side of the car and we sat and buckled Trina, Melissa and Katie into one of the rows of seats. Then we all got in and started heading west. With Nico driving. It was going to be a long trip.

HAHA! She said triumphantly. I have given you a new chapter! Hold your applause. Just Kidding! I am really very sorry that I took this long to write a chapter. You guys probably thought I quit. Well I have not. Now that I have stolen enough of your time to read the new chapter, you are free to do something else. I hope your plans involve the review button. :D