Chapter 35

-Aisha-

Brian rolled to his feet.

Taylor stopped moving.

The armor-clad bastard got off his goddamn throne to gloat. I ran towards him. I wanted to hurt him so bad, but the armor… you have a gun, stupid. Use it. I lifted the rifle I'd nabbed from Victor and aimed it at Kaiser's head. From maybe five feet away, my aim was good enough. The rifle's recoil practically ripped it out of my hands, but the first shot went right under his chin, and he collapsed. I threw the stupid weapon away, and ran back to check on Taylor.

"She's alive!" Tattletale shouted. "Just get her off the spike! Bitch, cover them!"

Brian grabbed Taylor and started pulling her up. I jumped in to push, even if I probably didn't make a difference compared to him and only strained my wrists that were already aching from the rifle's recoil. When she was off the spike and Brian started to lower her to the ground, a low growl began in her chest. Rachel's dog - whichever one it was - that stood between us and the Empire capes turned in our direction and whimpered.

"Oh, fuck! Leave her and go!" Tats shouted again, and started running.

"But—" oh fuck dammit, turn your power off - "—we can't—"

"JUST RUN!" she shouted over her shoulder. Brian hesitated for a second, then dropped Taylor and started running too. Rachel whistled for her dogs, and rode off towards the exit.

"Fuck you!" I shouted at them. You can't just leave her! "Taylor, are you okay?"

Taylor didn't answer. She just growled even louder, and started standing up. The Empire capes were approaching carefully, staring at the two of us - well, at her. They couldn't see me. I suddenly felt something primal screaming in the back of my mind. Something older than words, an instinct. Danger. Predator. Run.

I started running just as Taylor screamed and lunged after me. If not for the second's head start, she'd have caught me before I jumped between Victor and Othala. Do something useful for once in your lives, please, please, please…

Taylor ripped into them, by the sound of it. I didn't look back, I was too busy not getting bowled over by Alabaster running towards the fight. I didn't turn back to look until I was near the exit. Othala and Victor were either dead or dying, judging by all the blood. Taylor knocked Alabaster to the ground and started ripping into him next, tooth and nail. Bite to the neck. Flicker. Her hand ripping through his stomach, coming away bloody. Was something up with her fingers? Flicker. Claw. Flicker. Bite. Flicker. Repeat. Again. Finally Taylor slowed down, let Alabaster go and stood up, looking down at her hands. Then she turned around to look at Victor and Othala. Alabaster took the chance to try and grab her from behind, but she twisted aside and slammed him back down. Then she took off running. Right past me.

"Wait!" I shouted. She kept running. Not murder-crazy anymore, at least. I have to… no, I'll run out of breath if I try to chase her, she doesn't even need to breathe.

Okay. Running after her wasn't an option. Where could she be going? Think, Aisha, think…

I pulled my phone out and rang Li— Tattletale.

"You alright?" she asked. I didn't even get to answer before I heard her call out "Told you she's fine". Real nice of Brian to care more about me than the girl that got skewered saving his ungrateful ass.

"I need to get to her house."

"The dogs will draw too much attention. You ran in that direction, right? Right. Turn left, get on bus 17, I'll message you the rest of the directions once we find a safe place to stop."

I was almost out of breath by the time I ran up to Taylor's house, but it seemed like I made it there before her. At least, if I was right that she was coming here, and not… somewhere else. Where could it have been? To Emma, maybe?

Taylor's dad crawled out from under the car in front of the garage. He set some tools aside next to a toolbox and got in the driver's seat, then turned the keys. The car's engine reluctantly groaned to life. He turned the engine off and back on a few times.

"It's done!" he shouted towards the house, through an open window. Someone came out of the house. I turned to look, and my jaw dropped when I recognized her.

"So, that's about as fixed as I can do myself," Taylor's dad told my mom. "It'll get you home tonight, at least, and I'll see if one of the guys can come with you tomorrow. If they're willing to rent out a car in this condition, I'll bet you money they'll try to fleece you somehow since, you know…"

"I'm a woman and I know nothing about cars," Mom quoted in an exasperated voice. "Heard that one enough times, even if most don't go as far as actually saying it. I swear, the next time someone— wait, did you hear that?"

I turned to look, snapped out from my distraction. Sure enough, Taylor was running towards the house, vaulting over fences and running through thinner hedges. A straight line may be the fastest path, but subtle it ain't. She skidded to a stop in front of the house, and I looked around to check for any nosy neighbors. I didn't see any silhouettes in windows, at least.

Taylor's dad opened his mouth to say something, but Mom was the first to speak. Or, rather, mutter.

"No… it's you…" she took a step back, eyes wide open, staring at Taylor. "No, no, no…" She took another step. Then she turned around and started running.

Taylor's dad tried to reach for her. "Celia! Wait!"

Mom didn't listen. She just kept running. Taylor grabbed her dad by the arm.

"The Emperor has fallen," she explained frantically. "The city will be abuzz - we can't stay here, we'll be stung!"

The poor man didn't seem to understand that. I turned my power off.

"What she means," I said, and saw him jolt, "is that Kaiser and a few Empire capes just tried to kill us. We, ah, got him first, but the Empire will not be happy. And it's not exactly the city's best-kept secret that she's your daughter."

He seemed to get that, at least. Taylor looked at me gratefully, but kept tugging at his arm.

"Calm down, Taylor, everything will be okay," he said, awkwardly putting the arm around her. Then he focused. "We'll need to get out of the house, then. I think I know a place. There's a few things I need to grab - can you keep an eye out?"

"Sure," I answered. Then I turned my power back on, and sat down on the fence, while he and Taylor headed inside the house.

Taylor seemed upset when they came back out. They were both carrying bags, and dumped them into their car's trunk. I joined them and turned my power off.

"There's something I realized," Taylor's dad told me. "She's going to have to go out at night to…" He struggled with his words for a second - "...hunt, yes?"

She'd never had a problem finding thugs to hunt down in Brockton Bay, though. Why would he… oh.

"And now the Empire will be after her head in particular. Far more so than when we were just making them look silly," I said slowly. "You're worried they'll track you down if you stay in the city?"

"It's possible, yes," he nodded. "I know people in Boston, and it will be safer if we leave town until things settle down. I think - and Taylor agrees, probably - that the Empire won't last long without Kaiser."

But she didn't foresee this mess happening in the first place, I opened my mouth to say, but Taylor seemed to think the same.

"If the madmen do not lie to me again…" the vampire muttered morosely.

I couldn't read the look on Danny's face at that. He went about driving Mom's rental out of the way to get his own car out of the garage, then parking it inside. He hid the garage keys under one of the rocks and finally got into his own car, and with a bit of hesitation, so did Taylor. He poked his head out the window.

"Not sure M-she'll find that key," I told him.

"I'll try to call her again once we're in Boston. She didn't pick up when I tried just now. If she still doesn't answer, I'll call some people at work." He paused for a moment, drawing a deep breath. "I have to ask, though. The girl? Lisa, was it? She said one of her friends got Taylor out of - out of…"

"It was me," I nodded.

"Thank you," he said. "I… there are no words for… just, thank you." Then he cranked the window back up.

Well, if they're going, they're going. An idea struck me, and I pulled out my marker to "correct" a D and a 6 on the car's rear plate to a B and an 8. I wasn't going to bet on whether the Empire could somehow get into traffic camera footage. Then I got in the back seat and made myself comfortable as Taylor's dad started the engine. Ah, shit, I didn't do the front plate. Well, I'll just fix it up at the next stop.

When we finally reached the highway, I figured we were in the clear. I lay across the back seat for a nap. A road trip to Boston… not quite what I'd planned, but why the fuck not. I can grab a bus once I know where they'll be staying, then I can visit on the weekends or something.

I jolted upright. Taylor turned her head a little, while her dad didn't react.

"Shit," I said. "Brian's gonna kill me for this, isn't he?"