Author's Note: Yes, another update. Just finished Chapter 29. Can't help but feel excited now the climax is nearly here. I've also noted that I've passed 100 000 words and I didn't notice! *Gasp* Wow.
But anyways...
Chapter 28
Creatures of the Night
'The sad part, Ace thought, was that Kelly actually believed it when she said that.'
Sometimes, Ace thought to herself, Kelly was the most stubborn and annoying individual she had ever met. Never telling anyone what she was thinking, always keeping you in the dark and only telling you when she had to, deliberately doing things just to prove she could or to annoy you or both, always over-thinking things when the solution was simple yet couldn't possibly be the right one and... Oh... When she thought about it like that, it sounded very familiar… Actually… Scrap that. She was the second most stubborn and annoying person Ace knew. Kelly would have to severely up her game to fight the Professor for the title of first.
But the point was still valid; Kelly could be pretty annoying when she wanted to. Like now for instance.
After slipping out of the dorm, treading silently down the stairs, sneaking out a window, using the shadows as cover, trudging out into the dark and carefully avoiding being noticed by anyone, Ace's cautiousness was rewarded by having the living daylights scared out of her when Kelly dropped suddenly out of a tree in front of her. To make matters worse, Kelly had said, "Boo," in a neutral, almost casual tone seconds after appearing, which had only freaked Ace even more. She jumped a meter high in alarm before recognising the voice and cursing rapidly but softly under her breath.
"Gordon Bennett, never do that again Kit! Never ever again."
Kelly smirked slightly. "Did I surprise you?"
Ace stared at her intently to make her disapproval known then retorted, "What do you think? A large shape drops out a tree in the middle of the night in front of you and exclaims 'Boo'; I'd like to see how you'd react!"
Kelly turned her face and it was obscured by shadows. Ace heard a sniffing sound and identified it.
"It wasn't funny, Kit," she scowled, but did not get a response.
Cursing 'Gordon Bennett' again under her breath, she began pestering Kelly about the plan. It was infuriating when she refused to give any details about where they were going at ten at night, what they were going to do when they got wherever they were going or how she'd managed to find the new hiding place of Ace's backpack so quickly. Without explanation, Kelly lead her through the trees and back to the school. Failing to get any answers from her, Ace followed Kelly, who'd walked off through the trees without warning, and slipped her badge covered jacket over her shoulders.
Both hands automatically reached into her pockets and her fingertips brushed the familiar shape and texture of her specialist equipment. She'd made sure she'd been stocked up after being caught out yesterday. It had taken her all day to fill about six medium sized cans. A few others had failed to meet her standards, but she was becoming more familiar with the modern day tools she had at her disposal. The Geeks had identified some more shock absorbent containers to prevent a repeat of the incident in the forest, but she was still cautious. She had no idea just how much strain they could survive nor did she know if the containers would actually work. She hadn't been able to shake off the fact that someone had told on her, and was unwilling to trust anyone more than she had to.
Kelly was the exception. She was the only person Ace knew for certain wasn't the culprit. Kelly had taken the betrayal personally, almost as much as Ace did herself. This was evident by the cold shoulder and piercing gaze she directed at all the girls throughout the day. The unexplained change of attitude for their usually calm and controlled Head Girl had nerved them. They had sensed something was wrong and were visibly uneasy. Whether it was an intended tactic or not, she had stirred things up by not saying anything except when necessary.
Naturally, a few rumours had grown surrounding the reason for her frostiness. Most were quite farfetched or unrealistic (Like she'd had a falling out with an unnamed secret wealthy boyfriend who had become infatuated at the sight of her after meeting their meeting in France two years previously, and either lived somewhere in America or Russia depending on the source) but in comparison, others were pretty believable.
One rumour that was that she'd caught a pair of students smoking near the chemistry lab (A big no no, because many flammable materials and goods were stored or assembled there, and Ace had heard a few Geeks mention a similar incident occurring forty years ago or so that had burnt the whole school to the ground due to some students' carelessness). Another suggested that one of the First Years traps that had the audacity to get in her way early that morning and no one had owned up to setting it. That particular rumour fitted so neatly and provided both an understandable explanation as well as an opportunity to interrogate certain individuals without being conspicuous that Ace suspected it was of Kelly's own devising.
Upon that assumption, Ace had kept her eyes and ears open during the minutes before and after Kelly passed through or by a room to see if she could find some other answers and pieces of information to assist in this investigation. Nothing of major significance had been heard, although Ace had amusingly found herself in the religious studies classroom when a girl, fifteen or so, put Kelly's mood down to her general dislike of all loud noises and the like at "A certain time of month," when said Head Girl was still within earshot. Needless to say, she swiftly regretted it when subjected to the fiery stare those brown eyes gave off once ignited. Not even Josey was thick enough to try anything that stupid although she did look happier than usual and that something that had caught Ace's interest.
Her thoughts returned to the present when she became aware that Kelly, who was walking ahead of her, wasn't wearing her normal attire. It was the return of the black clothes; long black denim looking jeans and a dark shirt accompanied by a leather jacket. Quite a nice leather jacket, Ace admitted noted, but she wasn't the slightest bit envious. She preferred her own, but maybe, just maybe, her presence at the school had influenced Kelly's choice of clothing just a bit. Completely hypothetical of course and probably just wishful thinking on her part, but Ace couldn't help but smirk ever so slightly at the idea when out of Kelly's line of sight.
Much to Ace's delight, sensible shoes had made another appearance. She couldn't help but feel energised at the sight. If heel-wearing Kelly had changed into these plain dark coloured trainers, chances are that she was planning to do a little more than go out on a short casual trip to who knew where. And that meant that she was going somewhere to do something, and that something had high chances of requiring a large amount of running and climbing that was rather difficult to accomplish in her usual footwear (Such as drop suddenly out a tree in the dark without spraining an ankle). Kelly had predicted action and had prepared for it. It was natural to deduct this and Ace's heart started pounding a little faster with excitement.
At that moment, she knew she would have followed Kelly anywhere, if only to become involved in the action. This was one of the reasons she's snuck out after Kelly in the first place despite having no idea where she might end up or what might happen. It was why she believed she'd never stop travelling in the TARDIS. The feeling you get when you step out into the unknown, the rush of running as fast as you possibly could in order to achieve something, the overwhelming sense that nothing else mattered but the here and now; that's what Ace's inner self thrived on.
So you can imagine what an anti-climax it had been when their destination was revealed to be the garage.
With a sigh of disappointment after winding herself up for the last minute or so, Ace automatically made for the keys to the minivan and went to unlock it. It had become natural to do so after being made the designated driver after all the times she'd been out albeit forcibly. It was what she'd come to expect whenever she came here. Get the key, get in the van, remember to use that thing that put it into gear, drive down the driveway, avoid the First Year's semi-completed moat and head into town. She had only just put the key in the lock when Kelly called out behind her.
"You won't be needing that."
Ace turned, confused. What she had predicted wasn't part of the plan? She glanced about. But, surely this couldn't be their final destination. It hardly justified Kelly's change of outfit. She would have had next to no difficulty getting here in her heels. She was clearly attached to her heels, almost as much as Ace was to her jacket, so changing out of them unnecessarily made no sense unless they were going to walk wherever they were going, and that had to be three times worse than driving the awful four wheeled van.
Ace complained aloud, "We're not gonna walk, are we?" while she returned the key to its hiding place
If that brief shadowed look that drifted across Kelly's face was a smile, it only lasted a fraction of a second before being contained. "If you want," she returned. "Although, I would have thought you'd prefer my method." She walked into a dark corner, coaxing Ace over with a deliberate meeting of her eyes and the rising of a single eyebrow.
Ace sensed there was something… different in the darkness, but didn't detect anything that owned creepy eyes. Still, she remained alert. Never think nothing could go wrong, because it will just to prove you wrong. Or someone might just drop out of a tree (And no, she wasn't going to let that fact go for a while yet. No, the hairs on the back of her neck were still on end thanks to that).
Kelly walked into the corner and flicked on a light. It flickered for a few seconds before casting light on a large object covered by a black tarp. While glancing back at Ace, she pulled it away. Ace's jaw dropped at the sight. Her brain whirled frantically to process what she saw and it was several seconds before she reacted.
"No way!" she cried as she rushed towards the unveiled object, hardly able to believe her eyes. "Gordon Bennett, that's brill! No, better than that. It's bloody wicked!"
"I thought you'd like it," Kelly smirked, her eyes gleaming brighter with every comment Ace made.
'Like' was a bit of an understatement for Ace couldn't tear her eyes off it. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen on two wheels. The design was practical while still showing off natural aura that radiated 'cool' in every sense of the word with its shiny blue metallic coat of paint with silver and grey highlights. Twenty years might have passed, but Ace knew a vehicle with some serious horsepower when she saw it.
"Is it yours? Where did you get it?"
Kelly blinked. Ah, she thought. She should have predicted this question however it had completely slipped her mind. She'd been too preoccupied preparing and organising the details of tonight's trip, and hadn't considered what Ace might say or ask after seeing their mode of transport.
It was almost ironic that of all the things she was ready to deal with, a simple almost off-hand question had stumped her. Yet that question was rather imposing, for how was she to answer that question particularly when the circumstances and means were quite unorthodox to say the least, and hardly believable at best? It was hardly an event she could really tell without raising a dozen possibly even more awkward questions.
"Let's just say, it came into my possession," replied Kelly sagely after a moment, gently stroking the leather seat. "I figured, since we need a ride..."
"Can I drive?" asked Ace, still awestruck, dismissing the avoided question as though the answer didn't matter.
Kelly, although sighing inside with relief at Ace's acceptance of her explanation, bit her lip. Ace, drive? After the track record of incidents happening whenever she got behind the wheel of a vehicle? No way was that going to happen.
It wasn't like Ace couldn't drive. No she could (terribly and unpolished at best, dangerous and terrifying at worst), but if (Ahem, when) something happened having another dint in the minivan was no big deal. This on the other hand...
"You don't know where we're going, and I'd rather not have to live through any repeats of what happened with the minivan," she justified carefully but honestly.
"Please?" Ace begged.
Kelly wanted to say no, really she did, but she had difficulty forming the word while facing such wide eyes filled with pleading. God, she hadn't seen a look like that since the First Years had asked her to buy some of Ace's Nitro off Flash for them (For the record, she had managed to say no, barely. She'd had to compromise by providing other explosive-making ingredients). It would steal your heart right out of your chest when you catch a glimpse of those damn puppy-dog eyes and sorrowful expression. Even a harden heart that knew full well what would happen if those two girls got their hands on a can of highly concentrated, home-made explosives.
Her heartstrings were tugged by Ace's gaze, but she had to resist the urge to comply. Unable to give a direct answer, she steered the conversation elsewhere by turned away and saying, "Not now. We've got somewhere to be."
"But where?" Ace exclaimed, disappointed and feeling left in the dark.
Kelly turned back and firmly placed a helmet into Ace's arms. "You'll find out when we get there," she answered then donned a helmet of her own.
Kelly breathed in the cool night air and absorbed the scents of the descending night as the motorbike consumed the road ahead. The night swallowed the daytime world and changed it into something wonderful. Things looked different in the dark. Objects and buildings were less defined but more fascinating in the light they received from unusual light sources like windows, street lights and the moon. The bland, lifeless streets and roads that existed during the day were transformed once dusk fell. They took on a life of their own, and venturing out into this surreal world was a bizarre experience. Suddenly, that footpath that would typically be ignored by daylight was the centre of attention because of a puddle that reflected the moon's shine.
This world under the cover of darkness was a hive of activity for those who roam in the shadows and embrace the stillness and calm atmosphere that could only be found between the hours of 9pm and 4am. While the sun slept beyond the horizon, the hidden underworld thrived. Night dwellers were, in Kelly's opinion, more intriguing, more mysterious and more alive than their day time counterparts. Some say this energy came and went with the phases of the moon, and that people often went mad under its stare, but mad had a different meaning in Kelly's dictionary. Mad was a synonym for interesting and that was never a bad thing.
Kelly admitted to feeling these energetic vibes whenever the day ended. Inside, she felt that the night was her domain. It somehow had the power to shatter the chains that often burdened her while the sun was up. The night couldn't care less who you were or what you did during the day. It was only interested in what you became in its realm. Were you one of the many who feared the dark and the unknown and cowered inside the man-made buildings to sleep the hours away until dawn? Did you sit up and look out into the dark, sensing its power but not willing to give yourself over to it? Or were you the type who'd slip out into its embrace and explore the underworld, relishing in its complexity and depth, wanting nothing more than to vanish into the night and never return?
There was just something compelling about the moon, thought Kelly. It didn't beat down hard on you like the sun. It was content to watch and did not judge you. The secrets, silence and solitude that were woven into the spell the moon cast on the world were enchanting. Having stars watching your back from above was oddly comforting and filled you with confidence. You could do anything, go anywhere, be anyone, and no one could stop you. Because the law also rested at night, and those who attempted to uphold it during night's reign were drained of strength. They weren't night creatures. Their eyes weren't made to see in the dark or detect shapes in the shadows. Their ears deceived them for all they heard was silence for hearing the bewitching melody was beyond them. They were gazelles stumbling along sightlessly, the eyes of nocturnal predators like lions and cheetahs glaring at them.
Like them, Kelly was on the hunt. She knew that but details eluded her. It should have concerned her, but for a few minutes, she forgot the problems and issues on her mind and relished in the freedom granted to her. She could drive like this forever, chase the moon across the heavens until she reached the western most edge of the country and wish it goodbye as it vanished from sight. The urge to do so was great one and Kelly longed to do just that.
She might have done so had she not felt something tap gently on her right shoulder. Kelly blinked in surprise and the enchantment of the night was broken. She had almost completely forgotten Ace's presence and her plan until that moment. 'This isn't a joy trip,' she chided herself. 'This was business, not pleasure.' Right now, she had a mission; to find the man after them and find out why. She could not allow anything to distract her. When this was over, then perhaps she could enjoy the night, but not now.
She felt the tap on her shoulder again and peered over her shoulder.
"Are we there yet?"
Kelly's muscles tensed. 'Of all the things to say to disrupt the power of the silent, peaceful night,' Kelly thought annoyed to herself.
"No," she replied curtly, keeping her attention on the road. Or, she would have liked to but Ace let go of a hand around her waist to tap her on the shoulder again.
"You know, I bet I could do some wicked stunts with this thing..."
Kelly's heart dropped like a heavy rock into a deep pool. Oh dear. The bike would have to go back into deep storage once they got back if it were to survive the week if Ace attempted some of the things she was describing.
"... and I bet your thinking I must be a terrible driver, but I'm not."
Ace felt Kelly begin to shake and was briefly puzzled by a strange sound that she could only just hear over the motorbike's engine. The moment she identified what it was, her heart leapt. Kelly had laughed. Laughed! She never laughed, at least never when Ace was around, making this an enormous breakthrough and triumphant victory on Ace's part. For weeks now she'd been testing the boundaries of Kelly's calm composition to find if it were possible for her to show amusement in a way that didn't involve a glow in her eye or a smirk or half smile. Those signs were quite rare, a genuine smile was even rarer, but laughter, that was unheard of until now.
"I'm heaps better on a bike, honest," Ace went on, and was delighted to hear the laugh again. She couldn't help but grin broadly. It was a terrific laugh, filled with emotion, and its unexpected appearance made it sound even more special and Ace pledged to cause it as frequently as possible.
Kelly managed to contain her humour a few moments later. Ace's statement kept repeating herself in her head and she smiled. 'Understatement of the year,' she thought to herself. 'And you think you're better at riding a motorbike? Whatever you want to think, but there's no way you're driving my bike, no way in hell.'
There was a pleasant silence for a few minutes, something Kelly appreciated. That is, until Ace couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer.
"How fast does this thing go?"
"Fast enough," she responded swiftly, hoping that Ace would resume her silence. Stupid idea, she later realised.
"150 miles an hour?"
She swallowed deeply. She had to keep calm. Ace couldn't help it. Her curiosity was simply too great to be controllable. Instead, it controlled her and her mouth. "Maybe. I haven't had to test its top speed."
She mentally slapped herself, realising that was an invitation.
"I could-" Ace began to offer but Kelly spoke right over her voice to correct herself before anything more could be said.
"You are not going to find out."
Ace sighed in disappointment. Then...
"Are we there yet?"
Kelly's shoulders had never felt so tense at night before, and she briefly considered using a sharp turning manoeuvre to send Ace sprawling off the bike in order to rid herself of the constant bother. Just for a moment mind you, but it was a long, thoughtful one. In the end, she reluctantly decided against it. She might scratch the paintjob.
Instead, she made the next turn a little more violent to force Ace into stopping her persistent tapping and cling tightly to her in order to keep her seat. However it did not have the intended effect. The 'Whoo' Ace gave caused Kelly to frown more. She was enjoying this a little too much for Kelly's liking.
"Do that again!"
There had to be a kind of cycle to Ace's continuous babbling, Kelly decided. It would go something like this; question, pause as she waited for an answer, another question, pause, statement, another question, extended pause as she considered the answer (If one was stupid enough to answer her question), comment, silence. Then the cycle would repeat forever and forever unless a way to shut her up was found. Kelly really wanted to find one and fast.
She felt yet another tap on her shoulder. What could it possibly be now?
"I'm hungry."
Oh yes, the 'I'm hungry'. She'd forgotten about that one. It fit right after the silence in the 'Ace Cycle'.
Tap tap, went Ace's finger.
Kelly felt herself starting to lose her nerve. "Ignore her," she muttered in a whisper.
Ace must have detected something was up for asked, "Am I annoying you, Kit?" she asked, completely ignorant of the cause of Kelly's tension.
'Yes!' screamed Kelly's inner voice. But her traitorous voice answered, "No."
Ace did not receive the mental message. "Oh ok. Are you going to tell me where we're going yet?"
The seemingly deliberate teasing resulted in Kelly resorting to Arabic to express her annoyance to the moon. "Bl hl mn almmkn lha an tsmt?" (Is it even possible for her to shut up?)
"Tthdth 'eny?" Ace inquired startled. (Are you talking about me?)
Kelly muttered an unfamiliar word under her breath. It didn't sound like any word Ace'd ever heard before, nor did she think she could pronounce it. The tone it was used with suggested it was anything but affectionate and most likely a curse of some kind. Regardless of the word's intended meaning, Ace was taken aback. She'd never heard Kelly swear before, not even in the stressful environment of the school or even when dealing with even more stressful problems that a Head Girl no doubt had to deal with. It was unexpected that a simple response had triggered this.
It was a few seconds before Kelly responded and when she did she had switched back to English. "Forgive me," she apologised, "I misspoke. I forgot that you understood Arabic."
Ace was puzzled for a moment. Arabic? What was she talking about? Unless... Oh. Right. She'd gone and spoken in another language again.
"No, it's ok," Ace told her. "I can't help but understand any language I hear."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm multilingual," Ace clarified, "according to Polly anyway, except I never learnt. If I hear someone say something, I hear it in English, even if it's not."
Kelly's eyebrows rose. "Das ist lächerlich." (That's ridiculous.)
Ace didn't blink. "Ich weiß! Das klingt dumm, stimmt dass?" (I know! It sounds stupid, doesn't it?)
The switch to German went unnoticed by her until Kelly pointed it out to her.
"Did I? I didn't notice. But, I think I just reply in whatever the last language I heard was, because I can't suddenly start a conversation in French whenever I feel like it."
Kelly pondered that as she turned around another corner, much more gently than last time. "That is strange."
Ace snorted. "Tell me about it. One minute I'm normal English speaking Ace then I swap to Spanish because I hear the Geeks practising next door. Then they all think I'm some kind of super-genius who understands a billion languages, and then get annoyed when I can't change languages at will when they ask me to."
She had a point, considered Kelly, although there was a positive to having this talent. "Neat trick, though. I'll make a note of it."
"Why?" Ace asked.
"I can make you speak Arabic."
"Again, why?"
Kelly turned her head slightly to reveal a mischievous smirk. "Because you can't stop unless I do and I find that amusing."
Ace frowned at the idea. No, that didn't sound much fun, not that she'd even notice she was doing it. However, the concept of Kelly being amused was still a new one and a happy Kelly was more likely to give answers and Ace knew she could really do with some answers now.
"Say something then," she suggested, hoping to hear that musical laugh again and maybe extract a few answers from Kelly.
Kelly said nothing.
"Go on," Ace pressured. "You know you want to."
"Knt mjrd mhawlh ltdhkny, lyst lk?" she asked with a genuine grin. (You're just trying to make me laugh, aren't you?)
"Wma alkhta fy dlk? ldyk tdhk kbyrh." (And what's wrong with that? You have a great laugh.)
Kelly 'hmm'ed for a moment, until she turned back to the road. "We're almost here," she informed. "It's just around the corner."
Instead of turning left to go around said corner, Kelly drove on straight for a few hundred meters before coming to a stop on the side of the road. The pair dismounted and Kelly quickly wheeled the motorbike down a narrow lane and behind a collection of bins. Having completely hidden the bike from the street, and concealed their helmets nearby, they started walking down the street. Ace thought she recognised one of the buildings.
"Isn't that pub we went to yesterday?"
Kelly nodded and replied quietly, "This is where that man found us last. Almost every time he found us, it was when we went out with the other girls. The idea is we recreate that."
So, they went into the pub, just as they did before and he'd show up? Fair enough. But when Ace began to walk towards the building, she was stopped by a hand that grabbed her arm.
"Did we ride a motorbike to the pub last time?"
Ace frowned at the seemingly odd question. "No."
"Did we go alone?"
Understanding dawned on her. "No. We didn't."
"So we wait."
Ace thought she'd finally grasped the plan. Only she realised she was missing a few details such as, "What is it that we're waiting for again?"
Kelly's sigh was a mixture of frustration and disappointment. "The others to show up."
"Huh-?" began Ace, but Kelly quickly placed a hand over her mouth and pulled her from the sidewalk and into an alleyway. A low sound grew in strength as a familiar minivan rounded the corner and stopped a few meters away from the pub. The pair watched as the Posh Totty trio exited the van, talking energetically to themselves, followed by Andrea and Taylor. The sight of the last girl to get out was a surprise, at least for Ace. Polly had never gone out with them before. That was not the only strange thing about the scene. The Geek walked around to the door to follow them before stopping to briefly look left and right.
Something sticky and cold was pressed into Ace's left ear and she shivered involuntary. She turned to find Kelly putting her fingers in her own ear. Before she could ask, Polly's voice sounded in the ear and Ace jumped. "All clear. Good luck girls."
Kelly smirked at Ace's reaction. Ace glanced at Kelly's ear and caught a glimpse of something that resembled a small headphone. Kelly smiled slightly after seeing her notice and spoke quietly into a tiny black (And previously unseen) microphone attached to her jacket.
"Thanks Polly."
"No problem, Kel," replied a voice in Ace's ear and she shivered again. It felt a bit weird to have someone speak directly into your ear like that.
When next Ace looked, Polly had left, presumably having followed the others inside.
Twenty minutes later, a police car slowly drifted down the street. Ace's pulse quickened, but she kept still. The driver's lack of hair was revealed when he stepped under a streetlight. It was definitely the guy they were after.
"Wait until he comes out," whispered Kelly, somehow reading her thoughts.
Ace stared at her. Kelly really did speak like the Professor at times like this. That was exactly what he had said last time.
She sighed and muttered, "All I ever do is wait," to herself.
"You understand the plan?" Kelly asked having explained said plan yet again.
Ace rolled her eyes. "Alright, I get it! You only have to explain once!"
"Better to be sure."
The pair sat in silence for a moment, both gazing at the door to the pub.
"Of course," Ace went on, "you do realise the plan isn't going to work."
Kelly turned to her. "And why's that?"
Ace blinked in confusion. Wasn't it obvious? Surely Kelly had experienced for herself how things don't like to happen according to plan.
"It's only plan A, you see, and they never ever work out perfectly."
"This will be the exception."
The sad part, Ace thought, was that Kelly actually believed it when she said that. But the odds were against her. Hell, the Universe even. Nothing had even gone exactly to plan without some error or unexpected event occurring since Ace had been kicked out of her old school. Ok, so maybe she'd considered running away from home, but riding a Time Storm to Iceworld definitely hadn't been her intended escape route. Given that and the countless other plans she'd been involved in that had been blown out the window during her travels through time and space, it seemed incredibly unlikely that this plan would go off without a hitch.
Kelly either had been very lucky with all her plans or was keeping a part of the plan to herself, only to be put into place if required. The later did sound like something she would do, but, as the great plan creator had said herself, 'Better to be sure'.
"When everything goes mad-" Ace began but she was interrupted.
"'If' everything goes mad," corrected Kelly, still sounding very confident.
"-when everything goes mad as it always does," continued Ace, "we forget the plan and move on plan B."
"And what's plan B?" asked Kelly, almost as if to humour her.
"Run," answered Ace simply.
"And if we can't run?"
"Hide."
"And if we can't hide?"
Well, there were a dozen other options but each was less likely to lead to success than the last. "Worry about that when we get there."
Ace twitched uneasily as a voice whispered in her ear. "Kelly, he's on the move."
"Right, thanks," Kelly replied, before directing Ace with a finger. "Now go. And don't do anything stupid."
"Me?" exclaimed Ace in mock horror. "Do something stupid? Come on, Kit. Am I the kind of person who'd do that on purpose?"
The rising of an eyebrow and a pointed look answered that question. Ace just grinned back and quietly made her way across the road. Mirroring Kelly's actions, she slid out of view from the pub door. Without really thinking about it, she started shuffling on the spot and stretched a bit.
"He's leaving now," informed Polly in Ace's ear.
As she leant against the wall her heart raced, anticipating her future actions. In the dark the door creaked open. She longed the peer around the corner but forced herself to look sideways towards Kelly. A thumbs up signal; it was definitely him.
She'd count to ten then go. Each second felt like hours as footsteps sounded on the footpath, heading in the opposite direction. One... Two... She swallowed to moisten her throat. Three... Four... Five... Suddenly six seemed too long and she stepped out into the shadows.
"Looking for someone?"
Her voice caused the policeman to stop dead in his tracks and turn to face her. The shadows hid her features well for his eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness. As the plan required, she moved into the light created by the streetlight.
"Me, maybe?"
It was clear he recognised her, for the moment the light revealed her face, he started moving towards her. But Kelly had predicted that. Ace took off like an athlete down the 100 meter track after the gun went off. He quickened his pace too, and his speed was startling for someone his age. He was almost as fast as she was, but she had a head start and the energy of a teenager on her side. Ace's senses slowly eased off, granting priority to her sight and hearing. The most important thing was to not let him catch her until they reached the location.
If there were two things she was good at it was blowing stuff up and running. So it should have been easy to keep a fair distance from him. He wasn't exactly the fittest person she'd ever met, because he had to be at least 30. About a block and a half from the start, Ace felt herself shift into her second wind. At this new speed, she could cover long flat distances pretty quickly. However, when she looked back to see how much ahead she was, she was shocked to find him much closer than she'd predicted. He hadn't slowed at all, and didn't seem to be tiring even a little bit.
Instead of turning left at the first cross street she reached, Ace turned right then left down an alleyway. He could clearly run fast in a straight line, so turning and rounding corners ought to be more difficult. She tested this theory by making several sudden turns in a row, still heading towards the final destination. Slipping between parked cars was effective but he kept making up the distance.
'What the hell?' thought Ace in alarm. 'This guy just doesn't stop! After running this far and so fast, there's no way he can't be nearly exhausted by now. But he's not even slowing down!'
After jumping two waist height picket fences to cut a corner, Ace realised she was in trouble. He was way too fast and way too agile for a man in his late thirties, early forties. He was gaining on her, and not even Ace's zigzagging tactics were doing anything to slow him down. Something was very wrong and she knew it. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. This should have been easy. This should have been a game of cat and mouse, and the mouse should be winning. But it wasn't, she wasn't and this was no normal cat. This one had rockets strapped to its back legs like in a cartoon and it was only a matter of time before the mouse was eaten alive.
And had Kelly planned for this? Nooo. Had it been any other situation, Ace would have been amused at how Kelly's plan had (as predicted) 'gone mad', but she was too busy panting and bolting away as fast as she could. How could he be keeping up this pace? Even she was struggling to maintain her current speed, and she did this all the time! Being able to run far and fast was part of the job description of being someone who saves the world. Just who was this guy? He's just a policeman. Sure, he'd probably chased a few criminals as part of his job, but that didn't make him a super athlete as he clearly was. He shouldn't have a chance of catching her, yet he was practically breathing down her neck.
In other words, things had well and truly gone wrong.
Ace's inner voice whispered the fated words she'd heard time and time again when all hell broke loose; 'I think it's time for Plan B.'
Those words were the trigger that set Plan B into motion. The switch was quick, immediate and effortless. She and Plan B were good friends. They knew each other extremely well and frequently bumped into each other when Ace abandoned poor old Plan A. Admittedly this Plan A had involved running too, but Plan B running was different. It was running with only one goal; to get the hell out of there. Plan A was all set out, a nice neat plan with steps to follow in a chronological order. Plan B said to hell with the plan and was all about instinct.
Going against Kelly's strict direction of not drawing attention to herself, Ace shoved the closest garbage bin over. She heard it clatter to the ground behind her. It might have stopped him for a second, but she didn't dare look back. Running as fast as she could down another alleyway, she tried to create as many obstacles as possible. She noticed a broom handle or something of a similar shape ahead and snatched it as she passed. When she reached an open stretch and he was directly behind her, Ace flung the broom behind her. An 'oofff' indicated that it made contact with the policeman. With a slight smile, she turned her head to catch a glimpse. Yep, she'd got him all right-
Suddenly an object leapt into her path. With a half-startled cry, she fell forwards towards the ground to meet the pavement. The stomach first landing shoved the breath out of her but she desperately scrambled to her feet. He was already standing over her. The second she felt a hand grab the back of her collar, her whole body rebelled against the restriction. Her arms flew everywhere making contact with whatever she could, her elbow struck out repeatedly and she slammed her foot down on his toes. Still he refused to let go. She tried tugging away, twisting to try and loosen his vice grip.
As she continued to struggle an arm forced her head and neck back, restricting her air supply. The forced submission into a vulnerable position caused a flame to burst alight inside Ace. Her senses twitched uncontrollably, and her eyes picked up weaknesses of his grip. Without her instructing it to do anything her body acted on its own and swang to the left in one sharp movement. Her hands reached behind her and slammed themselves into the sides of his head. The pressure on her throat eased immediately and she twisted out of the headlock, stabbing her elbow into his gut.
He buckled away and Ace was free to run, only to find she no longer had any control as she slowly approached him like a predator taunting its wounded target. 'No,' she willed herself. 'I have to run. Leave him, just run!'
The policeman wasn't content to sit there and wait for her. With a sudden burst of speed, he rose, ran forward and forced her against a brick wall. The strength of the shove made Ace's knees give way and she found the floor with a bump and crumpled into a heap. Dazed, she peered into the dark and a puddle of water not far from her caught her attention. The image was blurry but her eyes met a pair of yellow pupils. Her heart nearly stopped as she understood what she saw. All the fight drained out of her. What use was there fighting when she had ultimately lost? It didn't matter what happened now, it was already over. She'd lost the most important battle of her life.
She didn't know what to think of her continued ability to think. She could still hear, see and feel, but was powerless. She couldn't move or speak, trapped within her own body. Did that mean she was doomed to watch herself do things she had no control over?
He peered at her, and tilted his head slightly. He didn't understand why she'd given up the fight, and expected her to make another break for it. 'Go on them,' Ace thought. 'You've won. Lock me up, throw me in prison. I don't care. It doesn't matter anymore.'
Her opinion changed the moment she caught sight of the object he reached for. For an object with such negative and deadly intentions it was bizarre how it seemed to be one last chance, one last hope.
Somehow her thoughts exited her throat. "Do it."
The trap had been all set and ready for Ace to hurry up and lead her follower here. Kelly waited patiently in the shadows, appearing as calm as a tree slowly swaying in the breeze. Her calmness lasted until she heard a sound that would be equivalent to that of a chainsaw if the said tree had ears. The sound was metallic, but that was where the similarities ended.
The first thought that came to Kelly's mind was, 'I told her not to cause any loud noises!' When more loud noises followed, another thought appeared. 'This is deliberate.' That was not good. Very not good. Bad even.
She had to investigate now.
She bolted towards the sounds like she was a homing pigeon. Just before she reached an intersection, the sounds stopped for a moment before a cry rang out. Kelly's blood ran cold and chilled even further when she rounded the corner and saw Ace in a heap on the footpath, the policeman standing over her. Unable to afford to waste a second, Kelly sprinted towards the scene at near cheetah speed. If her alarm bells weren't already ringing at full strength, they shattered the millisecond he touched his holster. Her thoughts were no longer coherent as she narrowed the fifty meters distance between her and the man who was pointing a gun at one of her girls.
As a sound punctured the air, Kelly's rage exploded like ten cans of Nitro in a tightly enclosed space. A nuclear apocalypse occurred inside her mind. Any remains of composure or self control were incinerated by the blast, as was the word mercy. Without a single drop of pity, she unleashed her raw anger upon her target. She launched herself at him with a jump side kick, completely blind-siding him. The blow was deadly accurate, as it deserved to be, and the force certainly broke several ribs. Experiencing immerse pain, he toppled to the ground like a domino, the gun flying from his grip to land somewhere on the pavement. He had barely recovered from the first blow when Kelly, filled with fury, bent down and slammed the back of her fist into the centre of his face.
A sickening crack rang out and a trail of blood started running down his face. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs but not a sound could escape the death grip around her throat. 'Murderer!' she wanted to cry as she struck him again. 'You killed her, and you will suffer eternally for that! When you reach the afterlife even hell will seem like a nice place!'
As if reading her thoughts he retaliated with a kick to the gut, which Kelly narrowly avoided by jolting backwards. The step back put her on the defensive and she used open knife-hand strikes to divert punches. He attempted to get past her defences twice but any blows that landed were only glancing. Kelly, too busy trying to read his actions before they occurred, did not notice that he only struck with the one hand until his other hand groped at the dark and curled around the handle of the gun.
He managed to sit up on his side as she ran forward to disarm him. At point blank range, his index finger tensed and the barrel flashed. Instead of the bullet she expected to tear through her neck, she felt a sudden prick before an electrical current conducted through her. Her legs collapsed beneath her and her body quickly met the cold ground. Pins and needles crawled all over her and forced every muscle to spasm uncontrollably. She could see her arm twitching in front of her, and no amount of effort could make it stop or permit her to move.
Yet it felt like a bucket of freezing cold water had been thrown over her, bringing her to her senses. The weapon he held wasn't a gun as she had presumed but a stun gun. The implications of that took the edge off her rage. Her worst fears were nullified. It was a nonlethal weapon, and she was experiencing the same thing Ace had because he hadn't had enough time to change the settings on the weapon. This amount of electricity was not enough to kill. It could only immobilise or stun, possibly knock someone out at worst. Ace was alive.
Overwhelming relief flooded through her. That moment he fired the weapon, Kelly's world had crashed down. She had gotten someone killed, she was the reason they were dead, and they had been her responsibility. Discovering that wasn't the case was like being thrown a lifeline in the middle of the ocean.
The source of her immobility was returned to its holster. She was powerless to do anything now, and, as much as she preferred it to being a real gun and being shot by a real bullet, she sure as hell didn't like it. With nothing else to resort to, she glared at him as fiercely and darkly as possible. The man wasn't fazed at all. Didn't say a word, or even meet her eyes, just stood there like a tall shadow over her. The last time she'd been this close to this man he had also pointed a gun at her, a proper gun. She did not find it funny how things had repeated themselves.
The man pulled out a radio and a few minutes later, a dark green or grey van showed up and four men dressed in military style clothing appeared. The soldiers, for that's what they appeared to be, appeared a little surprised to find two girls dressed in black and leather immobilised of the sidewalk beside the policeman. Only he wasn't a policeman, Kelly observed, for the soldiers saluted him, indicating he was a higher rank. Soldiers didn't salute policeman, nor did they follow their orders.
She struggled to hear where they were being taken but she heard nothing but humming in her ears. When two soldiers approached her, she found she could move her toes and fingers, barely. Her vision swam when they deposited her into the back of the van. Ace's prone body joined her a few moments later before the door slammed shut and bolts slid across. Trapped, but Kelly was not one to give up even if she wasn't going to be conscious much longer. After frantically wiggling her fingers to bring some feeling back into them she extended her arm and felt for Ace's pulse, just in case. Still beating, good.
Satisfied that Ace was fine and unharmed, she then reached a hand into one of Ace's jacket pockets hoping to find a mobile phone of some kind. Calling for help wasn't an option because she wouldn't risk anyone else getting involved, but she might be able to track their movements. It could prove to be invaluable when they made their escape, as they inevitably would.
For a moment, it seemed like there was nothing in Ace's pocket but then she felt something in the shape of a cylinder and pulled it out. Nitro, not what she wanted. She tried again and felt another can. Another Nitro can, still not what she wanted. She searched a third time and her frown deepened as her fingers made contact with yet another metal canister and removed it. How much Nitro did she have with her? It was amazing that two cans fit in the one pocket, let alone three.
Closer examination of Ace's jacket only added to Kelly's confusion. The stitching of the pockets had been done by hand, possibly modified by Ace herself, but the pockets were only a hand deep. They had seemed larger than that. In fact... Kelly compared the size of the Nitro cans to the pocket. She blinked.
'That can't be right,' she thought to herself.
Not quite sure what she expected to find, she searched the pocket again. Her fingers entered then her hand then half her lower arm and when her elbow vanished, Kelly was totally bewildered. This wasn't possible. The other pockets were the same; impossibly big.
She was just seeing things, she concluded. Being on the verge of unconsciousness was sure to do that. She couldn't explain her reasoning behind emptying her own pockets and putting them into Ace's, but she did. Then everything went black.
