The drive to the Elite Head was hell. Angel had sat next to her brother in the front, who was radiating emotions to the point where Angel could practically see them. Gazzy's hands were clenched so tightly around the wheel, Nudge had told him to ease his grip before he breaks it. He had left indents.
Angel was terrified. Who were the Chasers? Have they always been there and were just waiting for the right time to strike? Were there Rouges involved? Shit, if there were, the two Chosens were goners. There'd be no way to get to them without getting everyone else killed in the process.
Angel was drawn from her thoughts to Nudge whimpering and whining in the back seat. She turned around and looked at friends with worry.
"Nudge? What's wrong what is it?" she asked worriedly, unbuckling her seatbelt and jumping into the back. The girl held her head, as if trying to keep it from falling apart. She held Nudge's arm and shook her gently. "Nudge?"
Shit. Hating herself, Angel closed her and dug into her friend's mind. What she saw shocked her; she pulled back frantic to escape. Her own feelings, mixed with Gasman's and Nudge's, were jumbled together, and set straight into Nudge, so the only thing she felt was pain from the Overload.
An Overload is a weapon developed by the Elite during the time of the Elders. The Elders, the first ever Chosen Children, created the attack in desperation to defeat Chasers. The attack focused the emotions of others into one person. The different emotions all at once confuses the brain so much, it will shut itself down in order block it. The Blocking can often lead to comas, and most likely to happen death. Death was something the Elders did not want. After the few times Overloading was performed, the attack was forbidden. Even the Chasers agreed it was too much. Rouges, however did not.
"Gazzy!" Angel screamed.
"What's wrong with her!?" Gasman slammed on the brakes immediately, jerking everyone forward.
"An Overload. There's a Rouge here. We need to get to the Head. NOW!" Angel was now holding on to her friend.
Gazzy nodded and proceeded to slam into the gas.
"There might be something I can do to delay the effects, but it'll be hard and take time. I'm not even sure I can do it," Angel said, looking down at Nudge's face which was screwed up in agony.
Gazzy nodded again. "Try it. I'll get us there fast and safe. Just do something."
Angel gently laid Nudge down. "I'm really sorry about this," she said as she once again entered her mind.
It took a while but Angel once again found the tangle of emotions. Carefully, one by one, she undid the mess.
To Angel, the Overload looked like a ball of tangled wires. Undoing it was very much like disconnecting a bomb. One wrong move, and Nudge could die.
Angel needed to remind herself to calm down. If she doesn't, not only will Nudge be in danger, but herself. She could very well end up stuck in Nudges mind with no way out. Then they'd both die.
Angel took another wire. Frowning she looked at it more closely. It was the attackers emotion. Every emotions Angel has seen had a distinct color to it, indicating who it belonged to. Nudge's was a vibrant green, Gazzy's a bright orange, and Angel's a pale blue. This one was a dark brown. Angel picked up another wire. This one was black. There were two attackers.
Angel was almost finished. The only thing left was to untangle the attackers emotions. Both signaled that they had felt pride in what they had done. The black wire says its owner had felt guilt.
Shit. Guilt was a strong emotion. One that stays with you. Angel quickly undid that knot, and the brown dissipated. The black stayed along with Nudge's green. Frowning, Angel took the black wire hoping to get a glimpse of its owner. A flash of a face appeared. Blurry and unrecognizable, though Angel could tell it was a boy, a young one at that. Angel looked away from the face and down at the wire. She needed to get rid of it before Nudge's mind excepts the emotion as its own. If that were to happen, she'd become a Rouge, even if she had already excepted her fate among the Elite.
Angel took the wire again. She traced the wire to its owner and found him still near, though she couldn't enter his mind while in someone else's. With all her energy, Angel sent the emotion back to him.
She withdrew from her friend's mind and opened her eyes, to find Nudge gasping, eyes shooting open. Angel hadn't realized she had passed out.
"Nudge? Are you ok?" she asked.
Nudge looked at her. "I think so. What the hell was that? Angel? Angel!"
Angel wondered what she was yelling about. She felt something warm sliding down her face. She brought her hand up to her nose, and she realized that she was bleeding. Suddenly lightheaded, Angel slumped against her friend and welcomed the darkness that consumed her.