Will POV
My heart was tight in my chest as I collapsed on the roadside. "Shit, shit, fuck!" I roared at the SUV speeding off. A few moments later Xav ran up beside me, chest heaving, and locked his hands behind his head.
"Jesus, where is she?" he exhaled. "And bro, slow the fuck down next time!" He bent over at the waist as Tulip and Crystal arrived. "I am officially dying."
"Shut it Xav," Crystal groaned. "Wait, where is she?"
"GONE!" I snapped, getting up and yanking out my phone. I kept talking as I dialled. "Off in the same black SUV half of America owns!"
"Dammit!" Tulip cried, giving a trash can a hefty kick. She swore again though I tuned her out as Vick picked up. He immediately got down to business.
"They are heading for the New York and New Jersey port. And I have good authority the tolls on the way from New York to New Jersey will not apply to us. And we hacked the SUV radio network they have to connect with one another."
I did not bother ask how or when he did this. "Can you pick us up to go in pursuit?"
"Just coming down Bleecker street now and…"
The harsh screech of tires shredded our eardrums as Vick screeched to a halt. He shoved open the passenger door and Zed the back. "Thank me later." Vick ordered as we hurried to get in. Surprisingly, Kanti and Lucian were already in the far back as we clambered for seats.
My passenger door had just shut when Vick took off at speed towards the port.
It was nearly an hour before the multi-coloured shipping containers of the port came into view. The crates were stacked several high and half a dozen cranes locked into the cement loomed overhead. Four boats hovered, gently moving with the sea, while Jersey city across the port kept moving at a pace to rival the city that never sleeps.
Yet here we were sitting, simmering in fury in my case, waiting for Vick to take the command lock off all the doors. I never liked how much power the driver had. "They will be here any…" Vick paused, angling his head a little to the right. "Here they are now."
"And let's go!" Tulip cried, ramming into the door with such force she let out a wail of pain. "Vick!"
"Apologies," he replied evenly. He tapped in the command and immediately we flooded out to be greeted by the rest of the Benedict clan. Trace, Uriel and Zed along with Tarryn and Sky were getting out of two cars that had screeched to an abrupt halt mere feet from our bumper.
"How…" I paused, momentarily stopped from bolting in whatever direction in a mad hunt for Willow. Tarryn, Uri and Trace… Then again we all did everything we could for each other's soulfinders. "No, but, how did you guys know my soulfinder was kidnapped?"
"OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod you found your soulfinder!" Sky let out in a huge rush as she flung her arms around me in excitement. More surprising due to Vick's penchant for forgetting feelings, Trace, Uri, Zed and Tarryn looked equally astounded. Trace shook it off first and was frowning.
"Vick said," Trace paused and pulled out his phone, "Eh, that a Willow Woods had been kidnapped and it was our responsibility to get her back." He showed Uri his phone and he nodded.
"Why are we only finding this out now?" Tarryn asked. Her eyes betrayed her hurt yet the words she spoke only showed sympathy. "Was it like Xav and Crystal…"
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "No, no, no. Look," I addressed them all. "Willow and I kept it a secret for a long while. She did not…" It hurt no less saying it again, "Want a soulfinder so I just…" I groaned in frustration. There was no time for this. "Look, we just need to save her. She was taken because of us so we better get her back."
"Right," Vick ordered. "If they are not here already, they will be any sec with Willow. I need Zed, Sky and Tarryn to scope out the cars park and grill the guys in the booths letting people in. Trace, Tarryn, Uri and I will scope out the lower half of the dock and I need you, Crystal, Xav, Tulip and you two," he gestured at Lucian and Kanti, "to head long. Got it?"
Just like we are known for, everyone immediately enters rescue mode. In saving so many of our soulfinders from harm, this is nothing new. Except this time I have the most to lose.
It is only when the shipping containers tower several high all around you and your chest aches as it heaves in each breath that you realise this actually might be mission impossible. Exhausted, I slide down onto the concrete. Tulip, already sprawled out like a starfish, grunts and somehow this cues Lucian to sit with Kanti following his lead with Xav and Crystal soon following.
"This… Is… Ridiculous," Xav moaned. "We passed… Every goddamn… crate… In this… place."
"Doubt it… There are… Thousands… Here." Crystal panted. She pulls up the edge of her t-shirt and mops at her face. "How… Am I… This hot… In the Winter?"
"Genetics darling." Xav manages.
"I am not… Going to waste… Energy… Glaring." Tulip muttered into the concrete.
"We just need a new strategy," Kanti stated. She sits primly on Lucian's lap as though we had gone for a casual stroll not a fifteen minute sprint. "Perhaps we passed the container yet running at such speed caused us to miss it."
"I could try… Your soulfinder link again," Crystal mumbled. Biting the edge of her thumbnail she starts shaking her head. "But that stupid shield is probably around."
"Well, healing ain't gonna be needed until after the 'war'," Xav drawled. "So, anybody else got some hidden magic to share. Anything involving unicorns is much appreciated."
"Hit him over the head for me Crystal," I muttered. But as he cried out in pain I realised something.
"Kanti…" I drew out. "If there were any sort of a crack or gap in a container… D'ya think you could, um, whistle into it and get a picture of the inside?"
"I think I could actually." Kanti replied slowly. Excited, I got to my feet, everyone following suit, when a metallic bang rang through. Automatically I ducked down, as did Xav and Crystal, with the others a few seconds behind. The clattering and banging continued, the sound no more than a row or two away from here. None of us knew what was happening except for when my danger radar started to flare.
"Kanti," I breathed. She turned her head in my general direction. "I need you to crawl forward with me and check the container I tap twice."
She nodded and gave Lucian's hand a quick squeeze. Carefully we crept forward and when the burn of danger had just about ignited my every nerve, I stopped and pressed my back to the door of a container. I tapped it gently and without a word, Kanti lightly pressed her lips up against a gap in the door and closed her eyes.
"There is one person in there, hands behind their back," she paused. "The opposite door is open, no closing and one person is getting in."
"A guard?"
"Presumably and another outside. Both female."
"Not going to ask how you know that."
Kanti laughed lightly under her breath. "I will get the others. Telepathy is down." She got to her feet and gently tip toed back to our position. As she hurried away, I curled up against the door. The salty air did nothing to abate my fury driven urge to smash my way in there and grab Willow. I could feel it was her and the urge to whisper through the crack was overwhelming.
The faint scuffling of feet off to the left alerts me of Kanti's return, along with the rest of the group. Quietly everyone lines up along the crate. Crystal, last to arrive, skirts in behind Xav, wobbling precariously on the balls of her feet. And in the moment I open my mouth to plan our next move, that slight imbalance causes Crystal to fold forward and crash into the back of the container.
A breath passed before Tulip coughed. "Um, do you think-"
She had been edging her way as quietly as she could to the edge of the container to check was the coast clear. But in that second before she glanced out, I heard a footstep as clear as day a second too late. Long bone white fingers clamped down on both of Tulip's shoulders. With surprising strength, Tulip was yanked back into the chest of the attacker, a tall wiry girl, the momentum swinging Tulip into the container behind them. I stumbled to my feet and swung for the girl as Tulip slumped to the ground behind her.
"Get to Willow!" I heard Xav spit at Lucian as he tried to avoid the fray and get to Tulip.
My fist however swung through thin air as the girl leaped to the side. Crystal was there to meet her and grabbed at her wrists but she slipped from her grasp. We had seconds. I was just about aware of Xav tugging Tulip away as I closed in on the girl, his phone slipping from his trouser pocket in one particularly strong jerk. This girl was seriously sharp and using Crystal as leverage, brought up a leg and threw her entire weight into a solid kick to my gut. The wind whistled between my teeth as I crashed up against the container, one leg twisting painfully. I managed to slap my hands out to stop the brunt of the fall though my head still rung with the impact of the blow.
Clinging to the ridges on the container I managed to get to my feet. Unfortunately the girl had gotten her wrists free and was fighting back with nothing in her way. She had clearly gotten an elbow up in Crystal's face but her attention had shifted to my tallest brother who looked like a bigger threat. Big mistake. Crystal was not to be forgotten by any means. A sudden shriek at the other side of the container had us all look up, giving us a brief reprieve and a second for me to think.
"Go help them Crystal!" I yelled and dived at the girl's midsection. Against any self-preserving instincts, the girl locked her arms around my neck in a mockery of an embrace. I tried to thrust a knee up to hit anywhere and while she grunted in pain, she still managed to adjust her grip, creating a choke hold.
I stumbled back and collapsed onto the concrete, both of us getting a decent whack from the unforgiving surface. "Xav!" I wheezed. Her choke hold was fairly tight and my sight was fast fading as was I. I knew it was petty and sexist but I did not want to go down at the hand of a girl, however tall, who barely pushed a hundred and ten pounds.
A pillar, no a battering ram, flung itself headlong into the fight knocking me free. Coughing I put a hand up to my neck. The girl seemed limp on the ground as Xav hurried back to me.
"I got ya, I got ya," he panted, running a hand quickly along each limb, checking for breaks and cuts before turning his attention to my neck. "Ok, feeling nothing too bad Will. I think-"
Just beyond his shoulder I just spotted the girl dart off near to where Tulip was. I moved to the side and managed to get up. "Just get to Tulip!" I darted past them, nearly slipping on Xav's phone in my haste. "And pick that goddamned thing up!"
Nothing was to be seen but I could hear the ever fading sound of the girl's footsteps as I gave chase. Between how high the crates were stacked and how close these stacks were to one another, all I had was a thin stream of sunlight to go on. So imagine my surprise when as the girl took her first step into the bright light at the end of the row a figure lunged at her from the right and slammed her into the ground. I increased my pace and skidded to a stop alongside the girl, who was most definitely out for the count, and a very satisfied Crystal.
"That girl messed with the wrong Brooke," Crystal muttered as she fished a zip tie out from her…
"Do girls not have pockets," I groaned, averting my eyes as Crystal readjusted her bra.
"Highly rare in decent women's fashion," Crystal sighed before swearing. "Shit Will!" She pulled it tight and stood up, hastily dusting herself off as she spoke. "Lucian gave chase to Curvy and Willow…"
"Willow!"
"No, no, no, listen. The dark haired curvy one got her hands on Kanti and seriously messed her up! I had to actually yell at Lucian to go after Ms. Curvy because I was restraining Kanti…"
"Restraining?!"
"Later Will! I dragged her off and stashed her… Look go after them! Just hurry, they went that way," she seemed to gesture off in the general direction of the dock's edge. "If Lucian has not them found by now you should still be able to get to them."
There was not time to think as I sprinted off, leaving Crystal to deal with things. Using my gift to detect danger, I closed in on where I felt Lucian, Curvy and Willow to be. I felt a strong pull to the left and entered another dark, narrow passage between crates. Through the dark ahead, I could make out two figures brawling and pushed myself further.
But I was too late. Just as I broke out into the clearing alongside the dock's edge, Curvy landed a fist straight across Lucian's jaw, knocking him out before he hit the ground.
"Will!"
Shocked, I lifted my eyes from the horror. My soulfinder. Standing there. On the dock by a boat that looked ready to set sail. With a guy's arm locked around her neck.
"Ah, the soulfinder. Pleasure to finally meet you, formally that is." He laughed though his grip remained firm. "Shall I begin? My name is Christophe and yours is Will. And I am afraid Willow cannot come with you today."
Author person here to annoy you again, (Also, sorry this is long)
Since my last chapter I visited Portugal so that is another country to tick off the list. Yet to venture outside Europe though. Someday :). Anyway, tell me in a review if this was closer to rainbows or horsesh*t if you want :D
Also this story won 'Best Victor Benedict Based' in The Finding Sky Fanfiction Awards 2016! Not exactly a Vick based story (though thanks for those who nominated and voted for it!) but hey, for a story I often feel is not good at all I am very pleased it won :) Vick does have quite a big part in how this story plays out so thanks for noticing!
And big congratulations to all the other winners (saw my fave Challenging Alexis by Luce17 won 'Best Will Benedict based' and Fishcaked won lots too. I admit, I voted for both of them in multiple categories!) And I wish Bookmove all the best in their recovery. It was brilliant of you to organize this all and you were so friendly in the times we spoke so no apology is needed for anything.
Finally, hint for the next chapter... Ok, it will be short-ish. And I will leave the hint through the following quote (which I hopefully will remember not to edit in any way!)- 'He dropped like a rock, crashing on the deck.' Bye!
EDIT: Decided to update next on the 5-6-2016, so this Sunday! Stay tuned and an update on The Finding Sky Fanfiction Awards 2016!