Brooke landed on the ground and the air was pushed from her lungs. She laid there, winded, for a moment, before looking up in the direction of a scream.
"Brooke!"
"Ashley? Sarah? Kate?" She pushed herself up and stood as the three girls ran over to her. "What happened?" Looking around, she realized that they were in a field near a large pile of burned wood. "What's that?"
"That's the remains of Putnam barn," Sarah answered, her eyes wary.
Oh no. "Where is he?"
"Right here."
The four of them spun to see a boy about their age walking toward them, a cocky smile plastered on his face. Brooke clenched her hands and stepped forward a little so that she was in front of the other three. Anger boiled inside her and her eyes narrowed into a glare. "Get the hell away from us."
Chase chuckled. "Oh, Brooklyn. Always trying to be the hero."
"What do you want, Chase?" Sarah asked angrily.
"Revenge, of course," the boy answered cheerfully. His eyes flamed over, and Sarah, Ashley and Kate were thrown back. An invisible force grabbed Brooke and held her firmly in place. "We don't have a lot of time. The boys will be here soon."
Ten minutes, and many swears later, Ashley, Sarah and Kate stood in a line in the burnt remains of the barn, their hands bound in front of them by ropes that were tied to large pieces of wood. As hard as they tried to untie themselves, the knots wouldn't budge. Seeming satisfied, Chase turned to the fourth girl, who was still frozen by the invisible force.
"Now, your turn." A gust of wind swept around them and pulled them into darkness. A moment later, they were standing in a small clearing surrounded by trees. One side of the clearing had a thin wall of trees and gave them a clear view of the three girls at the barn, who were a good couple hundred yards away. Chase's eyes flamed over and Brooke found herself being yanked back into a wooden pole.
Glancing down, she realized that she was standing in the middle of a pile of sticks. Her arms were pulled up, and a thick rope snaked around her wrists, binding her to the thick pole. She lifted her gaze to Chase, who was walking around the pile of wood, pouring some sort of liquid around the outer part of the pile. It felt like her heart dropped into her stomach when she saw the words Lighter Fluid on the can in his hands. After one lap around the pile, he made a trail of fluid leading away, stopping about ten feet from her. "What are you doing?" She hated how her voice shook a little.
Chase smirked. "Making things a little more interesting." He pulled a small metal circle from his pocket and bent to dig it into the ground.
Glancing around, she realized that there were about ten more of the metal circles surrounding the pile. "What are those?"
"Amulets. I found them a few years ago. Very interesting, actually. Magic doesn't work on them. And by forming this circle with them, I've created a shield. Magic can't penetrate it or work inside it." His eyes moved to the thin line of trees and his smirk grew. "Well, time to have some fun." He vanished in a cloud of mist.
As hard as she tried, she couldn't pull free of the rope, and all the wriggling she was doing just made the rope rub against her wrists, making the skin raw. Letting out another line a curses, she ceased her movements and looked around the clearing. A scream pulled her attention to the thin line of trees, past which she could see eight figures.
* * * * *
An energy ball flew through the air. Chase rose into the air, letting the ball fly beneath him and vanish in the barn rubble with a loud bang. The sound of three girls yelling echoed around the area. He smirked at the four boys before him, his black eyes sparkling. "Is that the best you can do?"
"Let the girls go, and we'll let you walk," Caleb commanded, his eyes narrowed in a glare.
"Come on, Golden Boy. You know me better than that," Chase chuckled. "But I'll make you a deal."
"What kind of deal," Pogue asked suspiciously.
Chase cleared his throat, as if preparing to make an immense speech. "Would you rather save three girls, or one?"
"What are you talking about?" Tyler asked, his hands clenched in fists.
"Notice anyone missing?" Chase asked, false curiosity dripping from his voice.
"Where's Brooke?" Reid growled.
"Hidden," Chase answered, his smirk growing. "Now. Would you rather save these three," he indicated Sarah, Ashley and Kate with a wave of his hand, "Or Brooke?"
"What do you mean 'or Brooke'?" Reid asked angrily.
"It's simple, really. You can either save these three, or Brooke. But in the end, someone's not going to survive."
Caleb grabbed the blond Son's arm to keep him from pouncing on the smirking boy. "And if we choose to just kill you?"
"Then one of you will lose someone you care about," Chase answered cheerfully. "Or," he added. "You can will me your Powers and save all of them."
"How do we know won't just kill them after you get our Powers, if we were to will them to you?" Tyler asked.
"You just have to trust me."
Reid snorted. "You're full of shit."
"And if you're not careful, Brooke will become a pile of ash."
"Reid, stop," Caleb commanded, for the blond Son had tried to launch himself forward. "We'll never will you our Powers."
"That's too bad." He opened his hand and flung an energy ball, which was met by one from Pogue. But a moment later, he had sent three balls at them.
Momentarily distracted, the Sons jumped out of the way. Caleb sent a large ball of energy at the boy, who dodged it with ease and returned the attack with another large ball. Pogue shot three balls at the same time that Tyler sent a large piece of wood flying through the air. Chase ducked around all four and waved his arm, knocking Pogue and Tyler onto their backs.
* * * * *
Brooke bit her lip as she watched the fight from a distance. Chase's laughter rang back to her as she watched what looked like Pogue and Tyler sail through the air and land on the ground. She could feel a thin trickle of blood down her arm from her wrists, and knew that all her struggling was doing was digging the rope into her wrists and cutting her skin. Letting out an aggravated breath, she ignored the throbbing pain and continued her struggle.
* * * * *
"You can't beat me!" Chase cackled as Caleb flew backwards and landed hard on the ground.
"How is he so strong?" Tyler panted.
"Because we keep trying to attack on our own," Reid answered, pulling himself up from the ground. He opened his hand and grasped the handle of a shimmering whip of energy. Glancing at the blue eyed brunette, he said, "We have to do it together. You ready, baby boy?" When the other boy nodded, he said, "You distract him."
Tyler jumped forward and threw an energy ball at the fifth Son, pulling the psycho's attention away from Caleb and Pogue. "You're going down, Chase."
Chase laughed, the sound psychotic. "Maybe I'll kill Ashley first. What do you think, Tyler?"
Reid pulled his arm back and snapped the whip forward, where is wrapped around Chase's throat. He yanked it hard, forcing the boy to stumble back. Two more shimmering energy whips wrapped around the boy's wrists. Caleb stepped forward, his eyes onyx, and opened his hand, where a large energy ball appeared in his palm.
"Where's Brooke?" Reid demanded, giving the whip a harsh tug.
"Nearby," Chase answered, his smirk back in place.
"Where is she!" Reid bellowed angrily.
Chase laughed again before flames blazed through his eyes. "She's about to get a first hand experience in what it was like to be found out as a witch in the sixteen hundred's."
"What did you do?"
A scream ripped across the air, making the group look around.
"There!" Tyler yelled, pointing a little ways away where an orange light was visible between the trees.
"You bastard," Reid snarled.
"Together," Caleb stated.
The four of them raised their arms, each holding a ball of energy, and threw the balls at the boy in the middle of their group. With one last cackle, Chase vanished just before the energy balls struck him. Pogue immediately raced to the three girls and began untying them. Letting out a long stream of curses, Reid released the whip, which vanished as well, and began sprinting toward the trees.
* * * * *
The bright orange flames licked at the air as they quickly consumed the wood that had been doused in lighter fluid. Brooke had began to frantically yank at the rope binding her, unable to pull her eyes away from the fire. Heat brushed against her bare skin, becoming hotter as the flames drew closer. Black smoke spiraled around her, seeping into her lungs with each breath. She coughed and gagged as her eyes began to prickle; she blinked back the tears.