Chapter Twenty:
Jay gripped the steering wheel of his rented sedan firmly as he sped northward on Interstate 94.
He usually avoided highways when he was traveling. Too many people, all congested in one place, all surging forward at high velocities, all trying to beat everyone else to where ever they are going. Jay had learned to drive on the empty lanes around his parents' farmhouse. Urban commuting was definitely not one of his fortes.
There was another reason he avoided heavy trafficked areas. They also had a higher frequency of accidents... and a higher mortality rate.
Jay needed to find some clue as to Charlie's exact location, so as he drove, he opened his mind, his inner eye, and searched for a sign. Unfortunately, his special sight showed him more than he wanted.
In the swirling ether, Jay would see remnants. Very specific remnants... echoes of fatal accidents suffered on this stretch of road. Normal motorists were spared the horrid visions of burning cars and mangled bodies. But, Jay was not normal. And he saw...
The hidden colors of the world swam before his eyes in a grotesque kaleidoscope. The spirits of the living... the souls of the dead... all mingling together in the unnatural flow of modern automobiles.
They wandered. That was the worst part. The dead wandered up and down the roadway, oblivious to the real traffic, even oblivious to each other.
They wandered. And then they caught sight of Jay. He figured he must give off some kind of vibe when he uses his gift that catches their attention. Give them something to look at, something to do besides wander.
Jay struggled to keep his attention on his own driving. His head was beginning to pound from the effort needed to keep his inner eye open. He did his best to ignore the ghostly stares watching him from the road's shoulder.
This sucks... Jay thought to himself, This sucks... I hate highways... I really hate highways... Where the hell are you Charlie, cause I don't think I'm going to be able to keep this up much longer...
Without warning, Jay slammed on his brakes. The cars that had been trailing behind him blared their horns and threw him a variety of rude gestures in protest of his sudden stop. The smell of hot rubber was lingering as Jay threw the car into reverse. If he had been paying attention, he might have noticed several wandering spirits wince in chagrin. They were dead, but even they knew better than to do that.
He pulled onto the shoulder and stopped near an exit ramp. He gaped for a moment at a charred road sign. Only one small corner had not been melted. Thick, black smoke still rose from the smoldering wreck. The remaining green paint was bubbling and running, and a sharp, chemical scent filled the air.
It had not happened long ago, or else an interstate repair crew would already be on the scene. The fire had been very hot, very fast, and under enough control not to affect the straggly roadside trees.
Jay stepped out of the car and glanced around for other signs of Charlie. He did not see any trace of her aura nearby. She must have been in a hurry when she left the highway.
Jay frowned and took a few steps toward the exit. In the gravel, he spotted two sets of tire marks. Two cars had stopped here not too long ago, and then drove on down the ramp. Not that he had any crazy wilderness tracking skills. The whole stretch would have looked like nothing but gravel, if not for his gift. What Jay saw was the fading blue light in each tread mark. It was the same blue light that danced around the assassins from the train station.
He dashed back toward his car and jumped inside. Jay maneuvered the vehicle onto the exit ramp and then froze. There was someone sitting next to him.
The fading ghost of a young man was in the passenger seat, staring blankly forward. Jay waited, ignoring the angry shouts of other exiting motorists. The ghost slowly turned its head, until its empty eyes were pointed toward the training Watcher. Then, it slowly lifted one hand and pointed away from the highway.
Jay nodded, conveying to the fading soul that he understood its message. The dead young man turned his head and stared forward again as Jay began to drive.
As soon as he hit a secondary road, the ghost disappeared. Jay shivered and then sighed with relief. Nothing against ghosts... he really appreciated the little hints they threw him every now and then. But sometimes, they still gave him the jibblies.
This will do, Charlie thought as left the road and walked through a small group of trees.
Beyond the foliage was a wide, secluded field. There were no houses or large buildings nearby. The tract of land stretched on to the left and right as far as she could see. Tall metal structures supporting dozens of power lines were placed every few hundred yards, their unnatural hum testifying to the amount of electricity flowing into the Chicago suburbs.
The field was out of sight of the main road, but Charlie had left her pursuers a few flaming clues as to the direction she had gone. The sense of energy in the air coupled with her own readying power made her shiver with anticipation.
This is it, Charlie thought, After all these years... After the SHOP... After Rainbird... After Vincent... After every empty day of running and running... This is where the war will start...
Her father's final words rang in her mind reassuringly as she waited for her enemies to appear. Let them know it's a war. Don't let them do this to anyone else.
But they had done it to someone else. While Charlie ran, Rainbird passed his mad curse onto a new generation of children. Six had survived. Why did she leave them? Why didn't she do something sooner to make it stop? Why didn't she make sure Rainbird was dead before she ran from the SHOP the first time, when she was barely ten years old?
No more running. If she did not destroy her new enemies, Charlie would make damn sure they never took her prisoner again. Time to stand. Maybe time to die.
"Charlene McGee?" a voice called from the trees.
Charlie turned and watched as five men stepped out of the shadows. They walked in a V-formation toward her, readying for attack. They each looked ferial in their own way. Each obviously very powerful in body, and very willing in spirit to do what was needed to capture her. At the lead was the shorter, dark haired man from the train station. His expression was hard, his strangely disheveled hair making him look all the more vicious.
Charlie did not move from where she stood. There was no fear in her eyes as the five assassins formed a loose circle around her. The wind had picked up over the long field. Charlie's long hair blew away from her face like a mane. It was still dark red, but she knew the blonde would start to show at her roots again soon. That was fine. She did not plan to hide who she was anymore.
"Charlene McGee," the leader repeated without question. The taller, blonde man to his left grinned broadly over his unnaturally large teeth.
"It'll be better here," Charlie said, "No people... no witnesses... less work for your sweep cleaners when this is over..."
She glanced around at the five men. When she spoke again, her voice was loud and commanding. It would have been intimidating under normal circumstances. Her current audience was not so easily rattled.
"I'll only say this once," Charlie said to her pursuers, "I don't care what they told you about me. It doesn't matter if they told you what I can do. Just believe me when I say that if you don't leave, I will use it. Leave... or I will kill you..."
The leader nodded once, a strange admiration on his face. Charlie hated that look. It was the same Rainbird always had.
"You know something...I do believe you..." the leader said, his lips pulling away from his teeth in a mad grin.
Without the courtesy of a warning, Logan charged.
Author's note:
Quick thanks to X-Over for the review. As for the Scoobies... this story is set about 25 years before the Buffy-verse series. Giles is a young trainee, along with my orig character Jay. Xavier and Magneto are involved with the Council but they are becoming a little disenchanted by the Council's apathetic stance toward the newly identified mutant phenomenon.
Yeah, I like to make my fics complicated. This is a prequel to the X-Books I'm working on. There will be more Buffy stuff in later X-books (book 6 featured Oz and Harmony for a bit).
Thanks again for the review!
