Chapter 18:
SCAPE WORLD
Cody glanced down at herself and saw something that made her shriek. Raising her hands slowly there was blood on them dripping down and staining the beautiful white clouds. A pain surfaced in her stomach, she grabbed her abdomen and fell to her knees.
It had come from deep inside where she would reach and pull out her ability and defend herself. Only now it was working against her, and ripping her sides.
"Come back to us…" The words echoed through the rumbling clouds, as they grew darker, and cracked beneath her. She tired to cover her ears but as soon as her hands left her middle, the pain increased. "Come back to me…" The clouds beneath her legs began to shake with such fierce that it knocked her onto her side. Suddenly something grabbed her by her arms hauling her up and away from the space she was in…
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Jesse opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by white clouds looking down he pressed his feet down into the floor. His feet slightly sunk in before springing back up.
The whiteness began to change to a faint tint of pink and red. There was a rumble beneath his feet that caused him to take a step back wards. Jesse felt a deep ache in the pit of his stomach that spread to his chest. He was pretty sure it would have gone further and suffocated him right then and there. But that's as far as the feeling went.
"I was wondering when you were going to get here." A thick voice echoed through the air. For a moment all Jesse saw was the white of the clouds, and thought he was going in sane. Jesse looked up to see a young man, dark hair, dark eyes, dressed in jeans and a red shirt walking towards him. He seemed familiar to him, but the molecular couldn't place him. The young man stretched his hand out. "Although I was hoping it would have been sooner." He smiled politely. "I'm John De Santos, or as my grand daughter introduces me, John Madison."
"Jesse…" he began as he shook the man's hand.
"Kilmartin, yeah I know, listen I hate to cut this short but we don't have much time." John said in a serious tone. "Come with me please."
"How do you know my name?" Jesse asked as he fallowed the young man through a door in the clouds. They walked down a padded corridor that seemed to be expanding and contracting on its own. "I've known you for a long time Jesse. Actually it's through Doc that I know you."
"Doc?" he asked as they came to another corridor, it then hit him out of nowhere who he was talking about. "Wait a minute, your Cody's… Grand father…"
"And why not?" the young man asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Because… you can't be more than 25 years old."
"Wouldn't surprise you if I told you I was 75 years old would it. Up here anything is possible kid." He continued walking down the narrow corridor. Jesse's heartbeat sped up as the path they were walking on began to grow darker. The ache inside him was spreading and becoming a dull throb. "Listen there's something you should know, what's happening… out there."
"I know all about the genetically armed darts. I also know the mess you kids got yourselves into." John said calmly.
"Mess?"
John had led them through a narrow door and into what looked like rain clouds, they were so dark they looked black. Jesse didn't know what scared him more, the color of the clouds or the fact that the arch that pierced the clouds were bleeding. He began to feel a tremble within his body it started with his toes and slowly crawled up his legs to the pit of his stomach making him want to throw up. The fact that his heart was pounding a strange beat wasn't helping any. A hand came down on his shoulder made him jump. Jesse had momentarily forgotten that he hadn't been alone. "Take a deep breath kid, don't let it get to you." John said with a smile. "It happened to me the first time I walked through here, no one really likes it."
"What are we doing here?" Jesse looked around at the black clouds
"Call it saving a soul… Go on now…"
Jesse looked at the dark bleeding cloud in front of him than back at John. "You're kidding right?"
"No." John sighs, those two were more alike than he thought. "Go on now."
"No, way." Jesse shook his head and began walking away when John grabbed him by his upper arm and yanked him back. "Jesse, listen to me, and listen to me good." He forced the blond molecular to face the clouds. "My grand daughter is somewhere in there, probably trapped with no power to help her out…"
"What? How?"
"There isn't any time to go into detail, but she is in trouble and so are the rest of your family if you don't get moving."
"What are you talking about? What's going on?"
"Right now she needs your help Jesse." John pleaded.
"You can't go in can you? Other wise you would have done so already." Jessed said looking at the cracks in the clouds that had already begun to bleed heavily. "She's in there?"
"Yeah," John replied sadly.
"I put here there didn't I? The minute that dart hit her it's…"
"Not your fault."
"But…"
"There is no time for self doubt Jesse, you can do this."
Jesse thought back to those nightmares he'd been having for the past few months. She had been there with him all that time it had been her who pulled him out of the dark. Literally. His thoughts went further back to when he was younger, she had always been there for him, and she hadn't even known it. "Ok." Jesse nod's his head and begins to walk towards the thick clouds, heart pounding in his chest as the suffocating feeling threatened to drown him. "Hey kid." Jesse turned his head towards John. "Yeah?"
"Remember, it's in here that counts." John said indicating towards his heart. "Not always up here." He indicated to his head.
"Yeah.." He took a deep breath pressing his hand against the thick cloud. It felt hot and kind of squishy. Jesse exhaled slowly through the clouds.
"Good luck kid, you're going to need it."
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