5

The first step was now done; one of us had found Brydon and knocked him unconscious. Now, it was time to get him out of the school. I reached into my other pocket, where I'd left my spare Invisible Suit, only to find that it wasn't there. I felt a little panicked. I couldn't risk Shifting a new suit into my hand on the off chance that someone might see it, but I also couldn't carry him out like this; people would just see a limp body floating around the school.

Although, there was another option, but it wasn't one that I liked. Slowly, I took off my own suit, becoming visible again, and tried to put his body into it. It took a while, longer than I'd wanted, but I managed to get him inside. Taking a deep breath, I got ready to put the hood up.

"Oh, good, you have him," a deep, rumbling voice said from behind me.

I turned around, backing up a few steps, only to see that no one was there. I was just about to scream, all thoughts of caution leaving my mind, before an unseen hand covered my mouth.

"Jason, calm down. It's just me."

"Alex," I whispered. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry about that. But, where's your suit? We have to get out of here."

I pointed down at Brydon. "I had no choice, I lost my other one."

"Here," said Ryan's voice, and his hand appeared, holding an extra. "Now quick, put it on." His hand disappeared.

I nodded and began to do so, before I heard a different voice from behind me.

"You don't want to do that."

I spun around, and saw Brandon standing at the other end of the hall, unprotected, hands in his pockets.

"Get him out of here," I hissed to Alex and Ryan, glaring at Brandon.

The hood was pulled over Brydon's head, but Brandon made a slight motion with his hand. All four Invisible Suits dissolved into Particles, revealing the people that had been underneath and flowed toward his hand, like a river, combining into an iron sword. The blade glinted in the moonlight.

"As long as you have one of our own, you'll never get out alive," he said dangerously.

I looked surprised. "How'd you-?"

"He can sense Shifters," Ryan said in disgust. "I can't believe I forgot that."

I pulled out my last Stunning dart and willed it to turn into a Particle sword.

"You better run," I said. "You're outnumbered."

He looked at me in annoyed amusement. "Headstrong as ever, Jason. "Just like your mother."

My eyes widened. "How would you know her?"

"She and I had unfinished business," Brandon replied unemotionally. "I took care of her and would've done the same to you, had you not dropped that rock on my head."

Hearing him say that brought me back to when I left the Shifters to go home. Someone else had been there; someone who I knocked out with a cinder block; someone who had…

That's when I felt my rage boil over. Brandon had been that person and he'd killed my mother without a second thought. And he admitted to that just now, not caring about what he'd done. I had to do something. My anger had reached the point where I couldn't think straight. I looked at his sword and tried to picture it turning into something that could help us. But, what I didn't expect was that my mind was blank. I could only think about it becoming nothing.

The sword started shaking. Brandon looked at it in shock, then dropped it like it was a piece of hot coal. The sword evaporated into Particles, and faded out of existence. I was surprised as well, unable to comprehend what just happened. Had I destroyed-?

Suddenly, and without warning, my head exploded in pain. I fell to the ground, crying out. Looking up through tear filled eyes, I saw Brandon charging, a scowl on his face, holding his own Particle sword. Alex and Ryan were about to engage, when Aiden flew past them, countering Brandon's strike.

I stood up despite the sharp throbbing in my head, and saw Lin grab my hand and pull me back. We disappeared around the corner, but not before I heard Ryan say to Aiden, "We can handle this. Just get him out of here!"

A moment later, Aiden was running next to us, holding Brydon's unconscious body over his shoulder. I didn't know how long the Stunning dart would affect him, but hopefully it would be long enough for us to get him back to our base. The three of us navigated the hallways until we got to a stairwell dotted with rubble. Lin and I took the steps two at a time, while weaving past concrete, bricks, and other debris. It didn't even cross my mind how dangerous our actions were. But Aiden was more reckless than us. He jumped over the railing and Shifted himself down to the ground. Nonetheless, we all got to the door leading to the first floor at the same time.

"No," Lin said. "I forgot it was blocked."

Aiden Shifted the rocks away from the door, and we continued, trying to find an exit. Pretty soon, Aiden took the lead and we ended up following him. He's probably walked through this place way more times than us, so I trusted that he knew where to go.

"Isn't it weird that we haven't met any opposition yet?" I whispered to Lin.

That's when we heard shouting behind us. I looked over my shoulder to see about 10 Shifters chasing us. I slapped my forehead, which wasn't a good idea, since my head was already hurting.

"Thanks a lot, Jason," Lin hissed.

"What?" Aiden asked.

"We've got company," she replied, pointing behind us.

"He glanced back and nodded once, taking a right that led into a new hallway. He paused as we ran by and I stopped to catch my breath, watching what he was going to do. He faced the way we'd come and stretched his hand toward a bulletin board hanging on the wall. It dissolved into Particles, and he moved his hand in the direction of the hall. A gigantic stone wall appeared, blocking the entire entrance.

"That should hold them for a little bit," he said as we started jogging again, this time taking a left.

To my surprise, it led to the front entrance of the school. Seconds later, we were through the front doors, ready to escape. That was when an alarm went off, louder and shriller than I imagined, causing me to cover my ears.

Then, the entire area in front of us became alive with blue electricity dancing across the grass and concrete. It looked like a large spider web blowing in a ferocious wind. But we were trapped, with a shocking death in front of us, and the Shifters behind us.

"What do we do?" I yelled in panic. The alarm was still going off, and I knew someone was going to hear it and call the police.

Aiden was breathing heavily from running, but the look on his face said he was at a loss for ideas.

"Jason!" Lin cried. "I can Shift you guys over to the other side. Just get a running start and launch yourself into the air."

"What? Are you crazy?!" I replied. "It's too far!"

"I think I can do it."

"What if you disfigure me or something. You've never Shifted a person before." I could feel my anxiety rising.

"Yes I have," she insisted. "And I've had good practice with it. Just trust me."

I took a deep breath, and contemplated this choice for what felt like forever. Then, I made my decision. I backed up to one of the walls of the school, not paying attention to the Shifters coming at us, and began running at the electricity. About a foot away, I jumped as high and far as I could into the air, just inches over the dangerous shockwaves. I braced myself, and right before it looked like I was going to get hit, I felt my body disappearing and I closed my eyes. I didn't open them until my feet hit the asphalt that made up one of the roads near the school. Lin and Aiden were already standing next to me.

"Alex and Ryan are still in there," Aiden said.

"Should we wait?" I asked hesitantly.

"No, it's too risky. We'd have to sneak in, and it's too late for that."

I was about to question what he meant, before I heard the sound of sirens piercing the air. My eyes widened as I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I took it out to see that it was Ryan calling me. I picked up.

"Guys, get out of here," he yelled over what sounded like clashing swords in the background.

"What about you?" I asked.

"We'll be fine. Just get back to our base with Brydon."

"We're not leaving without-"

"Listen to me,"his voice was now firm and determined, causing me to do as he said. "The only thing they want is to prevent us from taking him. Staying here won't make things any better. Now go! We'll hold them off."

With that, he hung up.

I drew in a shaky breath, hopelessness flooding my soul.

"All right, let's get to the subway," I said, starting to jog, but Aiden held me back.

"We can't just start running. That'll make us look like the offenders. And if they find out we're Shifters, they'll kill us on the spot. Plus, I can't keep carrying this guy on my shoulder forever." He gestured to Brydon.

"So, what do we do?" Lin cried out, as an explosion came from the school, causing chunks of the roof to soar high into the air.

Most of them were headed in our direction, so any reply from Aiden was cut off as he created a barrier of Particles to shield the three of us. Once any pieces of the rock and concrete hit the force field, they immediately turned into Particles that simply flowed away. Even though my mind was having trouble comprehending everything that was going on, an idea suddenly struck me. As Aiden kept the force field up, I reached into one of Brydon's jeans pockets and felt around. Soon, I discovered that my hunch was correct, and I pulled out a car key attached to a key chain.

Once we were out of harm's way, and Aiden had put the force field down, I started sprinting toward a parking lot next to the high school, where a small group of cars sat immobel. Lin and Aiden caught up to me, probably thinking I had no clue what I was doing. But I did. I knew that certain car keys had trackers built into them nowadays, so that you'd be able to find the car that belonged to them. It seemed dangerous if they got into the wrong hands, but it was going to save our lives tonight.

Sure enough, the key led us to a car in the back corner. As it came closer into view, I felt my excitement increase tenfold. It was a black ZI-2200 model. I'd never seen one in real life, but I'd heard the stories and seen the commercials. They were some of the fast vehicles in the world, able to surpass 300 miles per hour. Add that, along with its heated seats, automatic braking and parking system, and its efficient fuel source, nucleon; there was no doubt that there wasn't a car that could measure up to it. But, speaking of its fuel, it was actually one of the hundreds of cars powered by nucleon. Gasoline had become unsafe, considering the amount of radiation in the air, and inefficient; only about 3% of the vehicles in the world still used it. Nucleon was seen as something new and useful, and people began making the switch almost immediately.

By the time we got to the car, the sirens had gotten louder, and I knew we had to hurry.

"Ok, Aiden, you're up," I said, tossing him the key chain.

He caught it, looking confused. "What?"

"You're driving."

His eyes widened, and his face went pale as he looked at the sleek, dark vehicle glowing in the moonlight. "I can't, man. I don't have my license."

"Are you serious right now?" I argued, furious. "We're going to get caught if we stay here, and since Lin and I are under 17, and don't know how to drive, it looks like you're nominated."

Aiden looked down and shook his head, thinking. Then his eyes locked onto mine, still containing that same power that could make their target look away, but I managed to resist, and he nodded. He clicked the unlock button to open the doors and we got in.