CHAPTER FOUR

I never understood what 'my heart leaps into my throat' really means. Up until now.

When your throat is so tight from fear, you almost choke on it; when a sudden, nightmarish terror grabs you by the neck and doesn't let you go; when the Goosebumps makes your hair stand on end so badly, you are afraid it might just fall off.

That's how I feel right now.

Red dots have appeared on Ella's and Eight's heads, even on Sarah's.

My back is turned away the direction the lasers must be coming from, but I'm sure they are aiming at me as well. I don't dare to breathe.

"One move and we take you out, without hesitation," the voice says again and I think I recognize it.

Silence. The wind makes an unnatural cracking noise when it hits the tree roots. I try to find out which direction the voice came from, but it's hard to tell.

Then I hear a single person's footsteps on the road behind me.

"You all are under arrest," the person formally says and this time know who it is. John's enraged expression confirms my suspicions.

"What's up, Agent Walker?" Eight says in a mocking voice and looks past me. "How's your arm doing?"

I can't help but grin, though I'm still terrified as hell. Even when facing death, Eight still is the same playful, cheerful boy I know.

There's an angry snort behind me and I finally turn around, very slowly, careful not to make any quick movements.

And here she is, special FBI agent Walker as she lives and breathes, one hand in a sling, the other one around a pistol. Her bruised face is almost as red with hate and anger as her hair. She limps with her right leg and seems to have trouble to keep her back straight. Our encounter two days ago must have been a bit too much for her.

"Careful, boy! You got thirty rifles on your head right now. If I were you, I wouldn't put my foot into my mouth."

Without moving my head, I try to spot the snipers she's talking about. They must be hiding in the surrounding buildings, but I can't see where. I wonder if I could stop the bullets in time, if they started shooting at us. Would my telekinesis be enough, if I don't know where the shots come from?

"Don't even think about trying anything. These are the best soldiers the American military has. One wrong step and I promise you, you will be dead before you can even raise your arm," Walker says, as if she knows exactly what I'm thinking.

John isn't impressed, though.

"I remember you weren't that confident last time we met," he shouts. "Where has your whining and pleading gone?"

I'm not sure mocking her is the right thing to do, when our life depends on her, but at least John is back to his old self.

Agent Walker nervously glances over her shoulder, then scowls at us in a way that sends icy chills down my spine.

"I don't know what you're talking about," She hisses.

"You don't?" Eight raises and eyebrow. "Really? You don't remember begging for your life? Nothing?"

She takes another quick look behind her, as if to make sure no one else is listening.

"You are talking bullshit! That never happened."

Her voice cracks and I wince. The fact that she's denying our encounter can only mean one thing. She either actually got hit really hard on the head or she is trying to hide it from someone. Her troops maybe, or maybe someone way more inconvenient. My nerves tense.

'Marina! Marina, do you hear me?' I suddenly hear Ella saying in my head, and it totally takes me by surprise. Before I can hold it back, an alarmed scream escapes my throat.

I can almost feel the thirty red dots move to my head. I flinch and instinctively close my eyes, waiting for the bullets to hit me, but nothing happens.

Of course not, those soldiers are trained well enough to not just shoot me without the command to. Walker gives me a hateful stare, then shakes her head and shrugs.

I dare to breathe again.

'Well, I guess you did hear me,' I hear Ella in my head again. I'm prepared for it this time, but I still have to suppress another scream. Having another voice in my head just feels… wrong.

'Sorry,' I say in my thoughts. ' it's just that you've never communicated with me over telepathy. I didn't even know it is possible for you to reach anyone but Six and John..'

'Yeah, neither did I. Guess I'm getting better.'

"Enough with the talking," Walker says and at first I think she means Ella's and my telepathic conversation.

The fear is getting the best of me. I bite my lip and force myself to stay focused.

"Time to proceed to action. And remember, no sudden moves, or you can kiss your heads goodbye" Agent Walker says as she puts her pistol away into a holster at her hip. She starts heading over, getting out five pairs of handcuffs from the pockets of her jacket.

"Hands up, all of you, and keep them there!" She orders.

'What are we going to do?' I ask Ella in my thoughts, hoping she still has the telepathic link up. It takes her a second to answer.

'I'm talking to Sarah, Eight and John right now. Eight thinks he can teleport us out of here.'

'All five of us?' I say doubtfully. The last time he tried teleporting more than two people at once, one of them landed in a desert and almost died. Plus, teleporting always makes me feel sick, and I'm not eager to do it again.

On the other hand, what choice do we have? There's only one way out of this situation. And I'd do anything to just finally get away from this place, these invisible soldiers, and especially from Walker. She's starting to really scare me.

'Alright, just tell him to hurry please.' Isay in thoughts.

'Hold on,' Ella tells me.

Hold on, as if it is that easy. My knees have started shaking and I can tell I'm not far away from fainting. The weight of the last weeks, the loss of so many good friends and the lack of sleep is wearing me down.

Agent Walker is about ten feet away from me when Ella contacts me again.

'Okay. On the count of five we all grab each other by the hand, so that Eight can teleport. Ready?'

I take a deep breath, then nod. Walker has reached us.

'One,' Ella says.

The FBI agent stops next to John.

'Two.'

She places a pair of handcuffs around his wrists, and he lets it happen without resistance. Walker smiles, pleased with herself, then moves on to Sarah.

'Three.'

I hear a silent click from John's handcuffs. I hope Walker didn't notice he opened them right back up, but she is too busy celebrating her little triumph.

'Four.'

I take in my surroundings; the buildings around the park – or more like what's left of the park; the shattered windows; the smoking cars; the tree roots; the wind in my hair. I soak it all up and don't let it go. For all I know, it might be the last thing I will ever see.

Somewhere out there, thirty sniper rifles are aimed at me right now.

The hopelessness of the whole situation fully hits me.

Who am I kidding? This is suicide. There's no way we're all getting out of here alive. No possible way… And even if we do, Six and Nine will still be lost, trapped inside this giant ball of roots.

I have failed.

I have failed Adelina. I have failed the Loric. And worst of all I have failed my friends.

Up high in the sky, a bird cries out, loud and long. It feels like my death sentence.

'Five.'

Hello everybody!

Yes, it is another cliffhanger XD

All your awesome comments encouraged me to finish this chapter earlier than I had expected.

Now, I got a couple of things to say:

As always thanks so much for your reviews, they really help me =)

Since this chapter was rather short, I will try to get out one or two more until sunday evening.

Next week, from monday to thursday I'll be away, which means I won't have a chance to post any new updates for this period of time.

Hopefully I'll find the time to write one or two chapters while I'm away, though.

So... Make sure to check back next thursday evening/friday afternoon, as new content will hopefully be out by then.

Aaaaaaas always, thanks a ton for reading my story :)