Hi guys. I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while but fanfiction crashed and I couldn't sign in at all. I hope there are still some of you out there. Any constructive comment or criticism would be appreciated, I've only had two reviews so far. Thanks to both of you !
Chapter 4 – Jamie discovers some new powers
When Jamie crashed face first into a rising tower of water, she expected to die right then and there. Instead, the body of water caught them softly and it slowed their fall without stopping them. They plunged downwards straight through it, like an elevator descending a tall building and their momentum carried them with such force that they didn't stop until they were over 20 feet beneath the ocean surface. Jamie kicked hard and started to swim to the surface, with Percy and Liam following on either side of her.
Jamie burst through into the sunlight, coughing some water and trying to catch her breath. To her left, Liam surfaced as well and he gave her a pale look before making his way slowly towards the shore. He was bleeding from the chimera's attack and a small red trail flowed behind him, like a guide meant to lead lost swimmers back to land. Jamie looked to her right and saw Percy surface as well. He stared at the beach for a second, looked her in the eyes and then he lost consciousness.
She swam over to him before he could sink and caught him just as his eyes were about to go under. She turned him around so that he'd be facing upwards and put her arm around his neck, like she'd seen on lifeguard programs and safety brochures. "Percy!" she shouted, and slapped him across the face, "wake up you idiot! Come on!" But Percy remained determinedly unconscious and he just snored and mumbled something indistinguishable.
Jamie started to panic. She had always been a strong swimmer, her dad had given her plenty of lessons in L.A., but she'd never had to pull a sixteen year old guy along with her and Percy weighed like a sack of rocks. However, she couldn't just leave him, not after all he'd done for them and, even though he didn't remember it, because they were becoming very close. So she kicked her sneakers and socks off and she started to paddle with her free arm, aiming for the beach and following the trail that Liam was leaving behind. She looked towards the beach and saw that it was only about five hundred feet away. They could make it.
Slowly, very slowly, they started to make some progress, Liam a few feet ahead and Jamie dragging Percy along behind her. She tried to distract herself from her tired arms and legs by thinking on something else, anything that could make her forget how heavy his friend was and she came to the complicated subject that was her dad. He was a tall and proud man, a doctor who'd spent half his life travelling the world treating people in underdeveloped countries, before settling down in California and becoming Chief of Surgery in a hospital in Los Angeles. He was kind and he loved Jamie, but he was also demanding and he expected her to be the best, to go the extra mile, and her failings in school only got him frustrated.
It had been a couple of months since she had last seen him, on the first days of March, just before spring break. They usually got along great and he encouraged her in all her projects and ideas and they swam together frequently. But he was a closed man and always an authority, never a friend. He rarely talked about himself or his past and he refused to tell her absolutely anything about her mother. Sometimes, she wondered what things he might have lived through, living and working in places like Somalia, Cambodia and Colombia, to make him close up so completely, to the point she sometimes wasn't sure she really knew him. And she wondered what had happened between him and her mom that he didn't have any pictures of her and he wouldn't even have her mentioned.
That year, her relationship with her father had reached an all-time low. They'd been having problems when Jamie decided she would try to find her mother and had insisted that he told her who she was. Then, their constant fighting had caused her to ignore school and her grades and conduct had suffered, much to his anger. And then, to cap it all, she had gotten so mad at school she had caused an incident that had gotten her expelled for the second time in four years, and nobody believed that she really hadn't done it.
It had all been the fault of her English teacher Mrs. Greengrass. She had taken her to the second floor auditorium, which overlooked the school's new swimming pool and, while the headmaster and the Board walked the edges of the pool discussing the investment, explained that she was failing her course, "because she hadn't shown the appropriate conduct or attitude for a lady of this school". Jamie's mind had burst with anger and she started to yell at the old bully when, according to the students that were in the auditorium, she had pushed Mrs. Greengrass with immense force and thrown her out the window, flying about fifteen feet in the air before crashing into the President of the Board and taking him for an unplanned swim.
Except she hadn't done anything. She had never touched the woman. While she argued, her mind had gone into a frenzy of anger so that, for a second, all she could think was how much she hated the unfair old bat. And then bam, without warning, the professor was flying out the window like an eagle on steroids. Still, no one had believed her and three kids in the room could swear they'd seen throw Miss Greengrass out. And even though she cried and insisted she hadn't done anything and that she didn't even have the strength to launch a fully grown woman out the window like a catapult, no one believed her, and she'd kindly been asked not to return to school after spring break.
When she told his dad, he was furious. "I can't believe this Jamie! Again?" he yelled. "I really don't understand what the problem is! You've got every opportunity life has to offer and you throw it away in childish pranks! Why do you insist on doing these things?"
"But I didn't!" she argued. "I swear dad, I have no idea how it happened, one second she was standing there and the-."
"Enough!" he interrupted. "That is it. You'll be going to a boarding school in San Francisco, where I hope they can talk some sense into you. This is not up for discussion, tomorrow morning I'll enroll you and you'll start there next Monday. Now go to your room. I have to go to work for a couple of days so I might not see you again until July". He left then and he called her from the office the next morning, saying he'd arranged for her to take a flight to San Francisco and that everything had been set up with the school. They hadn't talked since.
Jamie came out of her musings when she saw Liam slowing down. She closed the distance to her friend and saw that he was having trouble. You had to admit, she thought, the guy is tough. His side was torn up pretty badly. The chimera's claws had made a gash down his right side about two inches wide and a foot long, running parallel to his ribs. Fortunately, the cut did not seem to be very deep, but it was still bleeding steadily and the seawater could only be painful for him. Still, he didn't complain and just kept swimming slowly, occasionally floating for rest. He was deathly pale and his face looked gaunt.
As she approached, he looked at her with worry. "Can you pull him on your own?" he asked. His voice sounded exhausted. "I can help you, you know" he offered softly.
"No, I can take him" said Jamie, "you're bleeding pretty badly. Are you sure you can make it on your own? It's not too far now". Jamie was actually terrified Liam would faint too, she could never hope to pull both of them along. "Sure" Liam whispered. "I got it". His voice had a firmness to it, but Jamie wasn't convinced, he was still losing blood into the immense ocean and his eyes were strangely unfocused.
Liam smiled and continued to swim. Every time he used his left arm to pull himself forward he grimaced from the pain but he just kept going. His breathing got shallower and he started to pause for rest more often, his eyes glazing over for moments.
"Percy, wake up" Jamie said in his ear. "Wake up. Liam needs our help. Wake up".
But no answer. Percy's eyes remained determinedly shut and she continued to pull him along. Her arms started to hurt more and her legs were failing her, but she went on, kicking harder. They were only about fifty feet from the shore when Liam stopped swimming.
"You okay?" she asked. "We're almost there, just a little more".
"Yeah" he answered, "just tired. I'm just gonna stop here for a second and then… go on… yeah… just a sec…"
His eyes closed and he started sink, slowly. Jamie was only a foot away and she used her free arm to snatch him around his neck, just like she had Percy. But now she only had her legs, and the weight of three people to pull forward. She kicked out with all her strength. Once, twice, three times. Her legs screamed in pain and burned like she was swimming in lava, but they were moving forward, they were just short, she'd be able to stand soon and hold them up…
And then her strength gave out. She gave one last feeble kick before they started to sink. "Percy, wake up!" she managed to yell before their heads went under. Panic seized her, they were steadily sinking to the ocean floor, and there was no one to help them. She could leave the guys behind and save herself but she could never live with the memory. Desperation took hold and she looked around for something, anything that might save them.
And then her mind went into overdrive. She was suddenly aware of everything around them, of the rocks on the ocean floor, the fish that were circling in the water, the plants that grew out of the rocks and the beach, down to every last grain of sand. She felt like all these things were within the reach of her mind, that she could touch them, move them, control them. But, more than that, she felt the energy that emanated from them and knew that she could harness it, control it and release it as she wished.
She focused on the sea. She could see the energy it produced, vibrant and powerful. She gathered it out of every living being, the rocks, the water, and compressed it into the smallest size possible, making a small ball of concentrated energy just behind and below them. She crushed it harder and harder until there was so much force in a single spot it felt like she was a holding a small bomb with her mind. And then, she let it go.
It exploded with a huge boom. It was so strong it felt like she'd shot a bazooka into the water and hit an underwater mine. They shot forward like they'd been fired out of a cannon, flying crazy fast out of the ocean and aiming for the beach like a meteor.
"Peeeeercy !" yelled Jamie in mid-air. "Wake up, you idiot!"
And he did. His green eyes opened suddenly and brightly, his first view being a very fast approaching beach from thirty feet in the air. He managed to say "holy freaking…AAH!" before they all crashed into a dune halfway down the beach. A huge plume of dust rose into the air and they went straight through the small mountain of sand, rolling around the beach floor, before they came to a stop, lying close to one another.
Jamie got up slowly. She was aching all over, but nothing seemed to be broken, only bumps and bruises. Percy got up as well and he seemed to be fine, too. He didn't even seem to have any bruises, even though both the chimera's tail and the crash should have given him some. After he checked on her, he headed over to Liam. He was still unconscious and bleeding and he hadn't even reacted to their flight and crash on the beach.
"He's in shock" said Percy. "We need to close his wounds and then wait for him to recover enough to be moved. We'll need to light a fire, to keep him warm".
"We can't stay here" Jamie argued. "We have to go".
Percy looked at her warily. "Yeah" he answered. "But I'm not trusting you with the travel arrangements, Miss American Airlines. What on earth happened? Last I remember we were in the middle of the sea, swimming, and next thing I know we're going kamikaze on the beach. Was that you?"
"Well, you fainted, didn't you?" she answered angrily, "and I had to drag you along and then Liam blacked out too so I had to do something. The flying, I don't really know, I kinda went into super speed mind-freak mode when I couldn't pull you anymore and then boom, we were flying. I didn't really mean for it to go that way".
Percy looked stunned. "You sent us flying with your mind?" he asked. "Now that is seriously awesome. Can you do it again?"
"No." Jamie said. "I don't think so, I can't even see or feel the energy I used anymore, it just isn't there. Maybe I have to be drowning for it to work".
Percy chuckled and said "we'll work on it". His face got serious then and he said "Let's go. There is a forest just past the beach. We can camp there tonight and I'll build a fire and close Liam's wounds before we make our way to Caldecott Tunnel in the morning".
"Are you serious about that?" Jamie asked. "Shouldn't we just take him to a hospital? He doesn't look too good."
"No way" Percy answered. "I don't think we can move him that far and, besides, there might be monsters there. Garret said we'd be safe if we went to Caldecott Tunnel. I don't know why, but I think we can trust him. He died to save us. And besides, he knew some things about me. If I go to this place, I might find out more".
"So you really don't remember anything? Nothing at all?" she asked, her voice sad, but also hopeful.
"Not a blessed thing" Percy responded. "Come on, I'll carry him".
He went over to Liam, checked his pulse again and put him on his back. Jamie sighed, and followed.
They walked in silence for about an hour, until they'd climbed out of the beach, crossed the highway and entered the forest on the other side of the road. It wasn't a very old or large forest. The trees were mainly holly but they weren't particularly tall. Percy led her to a small clearing where there were a couple of fallen trees and some tall grass.
He laid Liam down gently, putting a clump of grass and roots as a pillow behind his head, and covering him with his jacket. "We need some firewood" he said and together they gathered dry sticks and some good logs to burn. They got a fire going as dusk descended.
"His wounds have stopped bleeding" said Percy, "but they still need to be closed, and he needs to eat if he's going to be fit to travel tomorrow". He then remembered the supplies Garret had given him and took the plastic bag from his jacket pocket, where he found little red squares that looked like brownies. He shrugged and tried to wake Liam up. He opened his eyes and asked bemusedly "wassup mate? You look like hell". Percy laughed and said "eat this" and fed him the squares.
Color came back to his face and his eyes opened fully and focused. Percy watched fascinated as the cut on his side slowly closed and left nothing but a jagged scar on his side, a warrior's wound, he thought. "How do you feel?" he asked Liam. "Can you travel tomorrow?"
"Yeah" was Liam's answer. "All I need is a good night's sleep. See you tomorrow."
Percy laughed again and left him alone. It was fully dark now and he sat next to Jamie. "Tomorrow's gonna be a long day" he said. "You should rest. Go on. We'll talk about everything tomorrow". She smiled at him and realized the swim and, magic she supposed, had really left her exhausted. She found the softest spot of grass and lied down. Her last image was Percy, deep in thought, while he sat down and stoked the fire.
More soon guys, I'm working on Chapter 5. It's gonna be awesome.