Come on! Run, Run, He's
counting on you! I thought to myself as I ran. The two monsters
behind me followed a few feet away. I guess they expected to run me
down. I was never a track star runner, so this posed as very big
problem. My lungs strained and my legs ached, in there struggle to
obey my brain to run like an elk. I saw the light that, PC had
mentioned coming into view. I hated bringing misfortune down on the
resident, but I had no choice. What also struck me as odd was who
would live out here away from the town? As I approached, I began to
scream for help. But no one seemed to have stirred inside the home.
The house was plain white with a black roof and small windows. "HELP!
IS ANYONE HERE!" I shouted. The thumping of the Sharks' paws
sped up and before I could turn around, one of them had pounced. I
screamed, frantically pushing the creature's head away from my
throat and face. The other Shark was standing above me and began to
lick my hair and sniff. I lashed out with a one arm in the hope of
grabbing a stick, but instead the second Shark caught it in its mouth
and bit down. The Shark on top of me grunted and took a hold of my
leg and began to drag me back into the woods. It growled at its
partner and it let go of my arm and took my other leg and began to
drag me too. Dread washed over me at the thought of being captured,
seeing those horrible Erasers…I couldn't bare it. I madly clawed
the soft warm earth in a futile attempt to hold on to something. Then
out of no where, BANG! I shrieked and put my hands over my head as
another shot was fired into the second Land Shark. I laid there for a
few minutes frozen with shock. The vegetation crunched under
someone's sneakers. I looked up at my rescuer, to my surprise; it
was a girl about the same age as PC. She looked strange…it must
have been the shadows, but I could have sworn, I saw feathers growing
out of her forearms and in her hair as well. The girl carried a shot
gun in one hand, the barrel still smoking. She cocked it and pointed
it at me.
"Get up," she said. I scrambled to my feet to obey,
my heart fluttering.
"Please don't shoot me," I begged.
"Relax…Who are you?"
"I'm Ana…m-my friend he's
in trouble. Those things were chasing us…He cleared a path for me
so that I could get help. Please! you got to help me… I left him to
fight ten on his own." The girl's eyebrows shot up when she heard
the number and without a word she bolted into the forest and I
followed struggling to keep up. She was incredibly fast and she
maneuvered through the foliage like she had lived in the forest all
her life. The sound of animals fighting reached our ears, snarling,
yowling, the chomping of teeth and startled whines. Once we reached
the clearing, the girl screamed and began to unload lead into the
Land Sharks. Crouched down on all fours was… I didn't know what
it was exactly. It moved and looked like some sort of cat, its eyes
glowed blood red in the moonlight. I watched as it attacked the Land
Sharks with fury. When the fight was over, all of the monsters were
dead…all except the red-eyed cat. It looked at me with sad shamed
eyes then looked at the girl with the gun.
"Thank you, Bree,"
it said, in a familiar voice.
I gasped. "PC?" The cat thing
nodded and stood up like a human. Bones crackled and slowly the
creature changed back into the person that I knew. The girl he called
Bree smiled at him and rested the gun in the crook of her arm.
"Glad
to see you're still alive," she said. The statement sounded
plain, but there was something about her expression, that showed that
she was not only glad but overjoyed. PC grinned and then took a step
towards me. I couldn't help but step back. He didn't seem to be
offended.
"Ana, I would like to introduce you to," he said,
walking towards the girl and clapping a hand on her shoulder. "…my
best friend, Breeaka." …….
Finally after all this
time…She was there and I could actually touch her and as usual she
saved my butt. After introductions were made, Bree took us to her
house, the small one out in the middle of nowhere.
"I wasn't
expecting anyone tonight," she said as we walked into the house,
which was a little bit of a wreck. "But…I think I can accommodate
you guys." Bree led us down a small hallway to two other rooms.
"Ana, you can use the one closest to the bathroom," she said
unlocking the door and switching on the light. "PC, you can use
this one." Bree gestured at the second one a few feet away.
"Thank
you," Ana said quietly. She gazed at me with that, "What are
you," look. I would have to explain later. Bree opened a small
closet and pulled out a towel and some clothes.
"The bathroom
is in there," Bree directed, "These clothes are old but they
should fit you." Ana nodded and thanked her again, then proceeded
to the bathroom.
"Um, what about PC?" Ana asked sticking her
head out.
Bree grinned. "You let me worry about that, PC has
some heavy lifting to do first."
"Oh. I do?" I said, hating
to be volunteered.
"Yes, sir. Now, Ana, make sure you clean
that bite on your arm."
"Okay," she said and disappeared
into the bathroom, locking the door.
"Shall we?" Bree said. I
rolled my eyes and we both walked back outside.
"I'll dig the
hole and you gather the carcasses." I was already really tired and
not in the mood to argue. I transformed again. In my natural shape I
had a more strength than I did in my human one. These things weighed
a ton or at least they felt like they did. Phew! They also stunk too.
I hated doing this, but it had to be done. It was standard procedure
for us Ghosts. If someone came out here and saw these lying around in
the woods rotting, Bree would have a problem. I dumped them into the
hole she made and she covered it up flattening the dirt with her
shovel and stomping it with her feet. As we walked back inside, the
water was still running in the bathroom.
"How long does it take
to shower?" I grumbled.
"As long as it takes," Bree said,
gesturing for me to follow her into the kitchen. "What's that
supposed to mean, we were out there 20 minutes," I said, sitting
down at the kitchen table.
"You don't understand, PC, the
girl has been through a traumatic experience. Showers are important
to us girls, it helps clear our heads."
I looked at her
quizzically. "That is the most feminine thing I have ever heard you
say." "Shut up," she said reaching into a cupboard and pulling
out a first aid kit. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I've got a
few claw marks on my arms but other than that I'm okay."
"What
about your shoulder?"
"It's okay, it's still healing."
"I see, got into a scrape with a Howler didn't you?"
I
nodded. "How did you know about the Howlers?"
"I was bitten
by one, too," she said showing her right calf muscle. Bree placed
the kit down and I took care of the cuts and scraps. After wards,
Bree took it away.
"I'll put it in Ana's room; she's old
enough to take care of herself… you hungry?" She asked. I nodded
vigorously. "How hungry?"
"Give me everything you've
got." Bree smiled and heated up some food that she had made the
night before. I chomped noisily on the food forgetting my manners.
"Slow down, PC no one is going to take it from you." I slowed
down. Bree sat at the table and just watched. I knew she wanted to
say something to me and I had plenty to say to her.
"PC I—."
"Take care of my sister first, then we'll talk," I said
between bites.
I still couldn't
believe PC was here again. It indeed had been too long, but why did
he come back? His intentions weren't clear to me, but I'm sure I
would find out soon enough. After hearing the water finally turn off,
I went to go check on his sister. When I reached her, she had just
finished cleaning up her arm.
"How are you?" I asked. She
looked at me funny; I guess it was because of the feathers. "It's
okay," I said soothingly. "Do the clothes fit?"
"Yeah,
pretty good, I think."
"Well that's good," I said sitting
down on the end of the bed. I then reached into my pocket and pulled
out a small bag with a pill in it. "Here, this is a sleeping pill;
it will help you sleep if you're having trouble. I remember I
couldn't fall asleep when this happened to me." She slowly took
the bag from me. "You don't have to look so scared. You're
perfectly safe here. There is nothing PC and I can't handle. You
try and get some sleep." I said patting the bed. Before leaving, I
looked at her one more time. She was lying down, bag clutched in her
fist and eyes closed. Wow, she was too tired to be scared…
Bree returned with a
warm smile on her face. I was leaning back in my chair, arms behind
it and my head tilted back, Stuffed.
"She's sleeping," Bree
said, picking up my plate.
"Just like that?" I asked, sitting
up straight.
"Uh-huh….Was the food good?"
"A bit
salty but good…I taught you well," I replied, licking my lips.
She giggled and put the plate in the sink, then sat back down.
"Want anything else?" she asked. I shook my head and we were
silent, now it was time to get down to business. But both of us
dreaded starting the conversation.
"I saw Mercy," I said
"…you know, she tried to kill me."
"You're pretty mad
about that, huh?"
I nodded. "I think I have a right to be…She
almost killed my partner too."
"I'm sorry…. You have to
understand I—" I held up my hand.
"You don't need to
explain anything to me, Bree. I know you did what you had to do, to
maintain order right?"
"You caused so much trouble, PC.
Staying under THEIR control wasn't the best decision you ever
made."
"I KNOW…" I growled. "Do you think that I didn't
try to escape? I did…I fought them too… But after being
reprimanded so many times I decided there must be another way.
Unfortunately, I got in too deep… Look, you're not the only one
that needs to hear that story. Tomorrow, I want you to send out your
birds to all the remaining members of the Network. We will meet at
the warehouse and have a nice …long CHAT."
Bree nodded "It'll
be done…how long are you planning to stay?"
I was taken aback
by the question, but answered it, the best I could. "I'm not
sure, Bree, any number of things could happen. What we need to
concentrate on now is protecting my sister and making sure our little
group stays afloat."
"Yes… Why did you bring her here?"
"I want to …um…see you and also she needs our protection.
Ana may not be an experiment, but the School and certain people in
high places are planning on turning her into one. I can't allow
that."
"What for?"
"They want to change her, so that
she can be trained to capture Maximum Ride." Bree's eyes widened.
"They made me the same offer, to be trained; the consequence for
refusing was having Ana take my place."
"I see…Do you think
the others will agree to shadow her? "
"They BETTER…or heads
will roll," I said sternly. "Although I still think there won't
be a problem." Bree sighed and leaned back in her chair; there was
silence again.
"You know I really missed you," she said
finally.
"I did too," I muttered softly, then yawned. "I'm
tired… I'm going to bed. You should be thinking about the same
thing." I stood up and left the kitchen and went to the living room
where the lights had been turned off.
"Wait," Bree said.
"What?" She rushed up and wrapped her arms around me.
"What
are you doing?"
"Don't go," she muttered.
"Bree,
I'm just going to bed." She punched me in the stomach.
"That's
not what I meant; I don't want you to leave me." Hesitantly, I
wrapped my arms around her and said "Bree, I just got here, I'm
not going anywhere…not for while."
"I know that…I just
want to go ahead and tell you how I feel."
"I gotcha," I
whispered holding her tightly "I'll remember". Bree's arms
tightened around me…she was so warm. We just stood there for a
while, holding each other and listening to the beat of our hearts in
the dark…..
The air was cool this
morning and Bree had taken me out to a spot in the woods. There she
called 8 birds to her; each of them were a different species. "I
don't know if I should send out eight," Bree said.
"Why
not?"
"I've lost contact with Card and Chris…on top of
that. I don't know where Mercy is."
"I think you should
send out all of them…if the birds don't find anything they can
return, here. We don't have anything to lose," I said leaning
against a tree, yawning, it was early. I decided it was better not to
tell Breeaka that I actually bagged Card for the School several weeks
ago. Bree nodded and sent the birds out with messages attached to
each of them. "So, now that that is done, how about breakfast?" I
asked as we began to walk back.
"Breakfast?" Bree asked.
"Oh
please don't tell me you don't have breakfast."
"I do,
but, if you're asking for me to make something , I can't. If I
want something, like that I usually go to Denny's."
"Denny's?"
"Yeah, and I get a discount because Roc works there."
"Roc?
You mean, green wing, Roc?"
"Yeah, he lives in town. By the
way, he's an honorary Ghost, now."
"Really?"
"He's
ghost number 9,"
"That was Gozbud's number. Why did you
guys do that?"
"Because, Gozbud was giving him medical
training, we need a doctor in our group, now more than ever. He does
a good job, he healed my Howler bite."
"Well just so you know
Gozbud escaped. I saw him the same day I fought Mercy."
"Let
me guess, he tried to kill you, too."
"You would win that
bet," I said. Suddenly, Bree started laughing.
"What's
funny?"
"You," she giggled. "No matter where you go you
always manage to piss someone off." At first I remained straight
faced, but after a minute or two I could see the humor in it and
started laughing with her.
As we reached the house I said "Okay,
what about breakfast?"
Bree sighed. "I told you I can't
make anything that requires more than popping food into a microwave."
I rolled my eyes "Fine, then we are just going to have to
remedy that."
My room, warm comfortable…me and my friends were all sitting on my bed gossiping as usual about who was hot and who was not. Time with my friends was something I loved and cherished. I had Pogo in my lap, purring. It was just like old times and for a minute, I felt everything had been a dream once again. Then suddenly a huge Eraser burst through the window of my room and I shrieked in terror….
I woke up, my eyes wide…this wasn't
my room and these weren't my sheets, they were slightly rough and a
boring white. The quilt was grayish blue and the walls of the room
were white and bare. Where was I? Suddenly the scent of food hit my
nose. My stomach growled as I took in all the scents that crept under
the closed door. Next to me on a small night stand where some clothes
folded neatly in a pile. I slowly got out of bed, the muscles in my
legs screamed and my wounded arm throbbed. As I stared at the bandage
the events that had taken place began to come back to me, the older
boy with red cat eyes and the girl with feathers in her hair. My
lower lip quivered as I became overwhelmed by another sense of loss…I
was far from home, in a small house with not so average teenagers.
The smell of food lifted my spirits, at least I wasn't being badly
treated and those Erasers hadn't caught me. I turned to the clothes
and tried them on. They were a little big on me, but not to much and
they were comfortable enough, extremely soft too. Afterwards, I
followed my nose to the kitchen, where PC and Bree were making
breakfast. PC looked more like he was teaching her.
"Good
morning," I said softly.
"Morning, Ana," PC said
distractedly, watching Bree closely.
She gave me her attention
and smiled. "Would you mind setting up the table?" I was taken
aback by the request; usually mom took care of that.
"Well,
just don't stand there," PC said.
Bree pointed to a cupboard
on her left. "Kitchenware is in there." I set to work grumbling.
Apparently PC noticed.
"You're going to have to pull your own
weight around here, Ana." I set up the table and poured juice for
everybody. This was the first time I had done it and I was pretty
proud of myself that I didn't mess anything up. Bree placed the
food on the table and we all sat down. "Enjoy," PC commented. Now
these two were supposed to be older than me, and they had the most
appalling table manners ever. Although what surprised me the most was
how much the two of them could put away. PC ate the equivalent of
five servings, which made me wonder how he managed stay relatively
fit. Bree ate the same amount. It was mind boggling. "That was
good…" PC said as he began to transform. I forced down a chunk of
pancake and watched wide eyed. "I'm sorry if this disturbs you
Ana, but I need to unwind."
"What if someone sees you?" I
asked.
"They won't; no one comes out here, do they?" he
asked looking over at Bree.
"Roc comes by every now and then
and this old lady down the road, Bertha. Don't worry if Bertha sees
you just squat down and meow, she's so senile she won't be able
to tell the difference."
PC grinned and then yawned. "I'm
going to take a nap."
"A nap?" I said. "It's still
morning."
"Doesn't really make much of difference." PC
said waving his hand dismissively. "I'll see you all in the
afternoon."
"Wait—."
"Night."
How am I
supposed to talk to him if he's sleeping? I continued eating my
breakfast my eyes constantly shifting to the exit.
"Don't
hold your breath, Ana. PC will be out until the afternoon maybe
night." Bree said clearing the table.
"Why?" I asked.
"Unlike you, PC and I have a high metabolism; we burn calories
faster; as a consequence, we need to eat more. Of course we don't
gorge like this all the time, it's only when we tap into our
special abilities that we eat like this. PC eats and sleeps a lot
more than I do, mainly because he's a shape shifter. Changing takes
a lot of energy. Once he gets most of his energy back, he'll be up
and around more. Can you help me clean up if you're finished?" I
swallowed down the remainder of my pancakes and eggs, then stood up.
First we put the clean dishes away and began to wash the others.
"Bree, how long have you known PC?"
"For a very long
time, ever since he was first brought to Lab 7. Of course you must've
heard that story, right?"
"No, I haven't. Is that how PC
came to be that way?"
"To make a long story short, yes.
You're lucky, you know. To have a brother like him." "He's
not my brother." I frowned.
"He told me you'd say that. PC
was taken away, when he was your age. Regardless whether you believe
him or not, he is your brother. Maybe, one day, you'll believe him
too. He used to talk about you all the time. At least to me."
"If
he is," I said still skeptical. "How come he never tried to
contact me."
"That is very complicated. The answer also
depends on your belief that your parents aren't the nicest people
in the world," Bree said handing me a plate to dry.
"I find
it hard to believe because my parents are really nice people."
"Believe what you want…maybe one day you will understand. But
regardless, PC doesn't endanger himself and others for just anyone.
That you can believe. Also, he will do anything for you. That's why
he was probably there, to rescue you." After finishing the dishes,
Bree took me out to the woods to introduce me to her birds. I
thoroughly enjoyed this. I had never gotten so close to the kinds
that she showed me, falcons, hawks, pigeons, and a heron. Bree also
explained what she used them for. My favorite birds were falcons.
"Now, "Bree said. " I need to go and run some errands. Would
you like to come?" I nodded and smiled "Sure!"
Gozbud
sat uncomfortably on the floor, watching me as I paced my apartment,
which had barely enough space for the colossal reptile. I had decided
to pull back, until I could locate PC again. According to my sources,
he was no longer in the area I fought him last. I was also still
rattled about Rafmire. I hadn't heard if he lived or died and I
wouldn't know until PC surfaced again, so that I could beat an
answer out of him.
"Mercy, must you do that, you're making me
nervous," Gozbud commented. I looked at him dangerously. "You
don't have to stay here, you know, you can go back to reclaim your
territory. But I have a mission to accomplish, unless by some
unforeseen happenstance, PC has been killed." Gozbud didn't seem
offended; he understood why I was so on edge. I had explained to him
my relation with Raf. What's worse than having your trusted friend
killing your brother, is you doing the deed yourself.
"Mercy!"
Gozbud exclaimed, breaking my concentration.
"WHAT!" I
snapped. Gozbud walked over to the window and held out his arm. A
falcon landed there, preening its feathers patiently. I snapped my
fingers and it fluttered on to the floor and waddled towards me. I
knelt down and it climbed up my arm, its sharps claws poking my skin.
I undid the message attached to its leg and read it. I sighed and
plopped it on the coffee table.
"What does it say?" Gozbud
asked.
"It's a summons, Bree is calling another meeting."
"A meeting? What for?"
"It doesn't say, but it must
be important if she takes the time to send a falcon to me." I wrote
the letter "o" on the message, which was a symbol for acceptance,
then took the bird to the window.
"Thank you, fly home to your
mother." The falcon screamed and then took off…….
Going on errands wasn't
as exciting as I had foolishly thought. Bree wasn't all the kind of
girl I expected; she actually went out on her errands. The only time
Bree got sidetracked was to get us some lunch at Denny's. There she
introduced me to another friend of hers. A younger boy and his name
was Roc. He was like Bree and PC, but he could blend in with humans
better. He was very sweet and nice, and he sort of reminded me of
Matt. After we had eaten, Roc took Bree to the back of the
restaurant. Curious, I decided to eavesdrop…I heard Roc mention a
bird that she sent to him and the message concerning a meeting. He
wanted to know more about it…Bree didn't get specific. The last
stop was the supermarket. We didn't have a car, so Bree only bought
as much as the two of us could carry.
As we made our way down the
road I asked. "Bree, when we were at Denny's, you talked to Roc
about a meeting."
"So you heard that?" I nodded. She
sighed. "I wasn't very discreet about that, was I."
"No…I
just kind of eavesdropped."
Bree scratched her nose with her
free hand and said "Well, I guess there is no harm in telling you
after all. You are coming with us, unless PC decides not to bring
you. But a long time ago, PC and I, along with eight other
experiments, escaped from Lab 7 and disappeared off of the School's
radar. We weren't called the 10 Ghosts just because it sounded
cool. This Network was designed to be a thorn in the School's side,
as well as sheltering experiment escapees. The meeting we will attend
is in Massachusetts. There the other supposed individuals that
operate those territories will meet. There your fate will be
decided."
"What do you mean my fate?" I asked.
"That
detail is a bit complicated. But I won't bore you with most of its
mechanics, but the thing that you should know is that all experiments
are welcomed into the network and are shadowed. In other words they
disappear like we do. You on the other hand are full blood human as
far as we know. So…to shadow you is kind of different."
"Do
you mean the others will actually say no?"
"We've had to
say no and do certain things in order to survive. Right now we are
facing a rough time. But don't lose sleep over it…I'm sure, PC
will do his best for you?"
"Is he the leader?" I asked.
Bree laughed and shook her head. "We are supposed to be a
democracy, but PC is kind of considered, the unofficial leader, but
you see…that spot can be taken by anybody. He's held onto it for
so long because he knows how to swing the others in his favor." I
wrinkled my brow at this, but said nothing. A democracy…that's
kind of not a democracy. It reminded me of how pirates govern
themselves. The captain only stays captain as long as he keeps the
men happy. But if the crew decides to demote him there is nothing he
can do….weird. But I doubted that Bree and PC actually acted like
pirates during these so called "meetings". When we returned home,
PC was up and walking around. He helped us put groceries away and
then got dinner started.
"So when are we leaving?" I
asked as we ate dinner, which was pretty good. PC glanced over at
Bree and she nodded.
"Well, since you were brought up to speed
about what's going on…we're leaving tomorrow morning."
I
dropped my fork. "Tomorrow? But we just got here," I cried.
"I
know. But this meeting needs to happen, Ana." He replied calmly.
"How are we going to get there? Hitchhiking?" I said
churlishly.
"Actually …no."
"I've asked Bertha if
we could borrow her car. She said it would be alright. After all she
says she doesn't use it much anymore," Bree said.
"Phew!
That's good," I said. PC smiled and continued eating. I was glad
he had changed back to being human. I still hadn't gotten used to
seeing him for what he really was.
After eating, Bree and
I returned to the woods, to see who responded to the birds. Usually
it took several days for the birds to deliver a message, but when
Bree ordered them off, she told me that they would try to make a to
and from trip all in the same day. Since this meeting was absolutely
critical. To our surprise all eight of them had retuned. Bree called
each of them to her and removed the messages. Afterwards they were
sent on their way.
"So how many O's do we have? "I asked
sitting on the ground next to her. Bree's eyes scanned each little
slip of paper. Then she began to count on her fingers
"Five."
"Five!" I exclaimed. Jeb and the other Labs were working us
over really good. "Who do we have then?"
"Olga, Reynard,
Feather, and I talked to Roc myself today and he said that would
come." "Did you send him a bird?"
"Yes, I did, but when
we were in town we stopped by to get some lunch. He wanted more
details, but I didn't tell him much. I left out the part that you
would be there. Anyways, Mercy responded, too." Mercy…her name
gave me chills now.
"Hmmm…Okay, so let's tally this up.
There are five of them plus you, and me…and since Gozbud is most
likely going to be with Mercy that makes eight."
"Yeah, but
what happened to Rashmed, Chris, and Card?"
"Captured," I
said grimly getting up off the ground. "Come on, we've got to get
prepared. Tomorrow we leave as soon as we are able." …….
I was glad that Rafmire was alive. But what he said before was correct. Once Chase escaped the finger pointing started and I was getting scared…….
