Finding ELE (ELE Series #2) Written By: Rebecca Gober and Courtney Nuckels (25 page)

My door opens and I shoot up out of bed and
am across the room in an instant ready to attack. My mom shoots to
move around my dad to protect him from whatever move I'm about to
make. I stop a foot away when I realize who it is. "Mom?"

"Honey, we don't have time. They are
coming." My mom says.

The panic I did so well to stave off moments
before comes back full throttle. "What do you mean?"

"Your dad saw them, they are coming now. We
only have a few minutes to prepare."

"You need to get your friends and go. There
will be people downstairs waiting. You have five minutes." My dad
tells me.

"No! I can't leave." I tell them.

"We can't do this, not now Willow. You have
to and they are coming now. We can't fight. Take your brother and
get out of here. The Reapers will kill you." My mom begs me.

"I saw it." My dad says with ice cold fear
in his voice.

I look at him and know he's not lying. "I
saw it too."

"We need to go." Claire comes to my side and
says with conviction.

"Okay, okay, but you two are coming with
me." I tell my mom and dad.

My mom's eyes tear up and she lets out a
sob. "I can't. I can't leave them, these people depend on me."

"No mom, you can't. We depend on you. I
depend on you. I need you." I cry.

"I know." Her voice breaks. "I love you so
much, I love my little boy so much. Can't you see it breaks my
heart Willow to tell you that I can't go with you? I am their
leader. I can't abandon my people." My mom crumbles against the
door her head in her hands sobbing.

"I am staying with your mom. We don't have
time to talk this out but you need to know that we love you. We
trust you, that is why we are sending Sebastian with you." My dad
steps in.

"I can't, I'm only sixteen dad!" I furiously
bat away the tears.

"You are the strongest sixteen year old I
know. You will have help, there are several others going right now.
The teachers will help you with Sebastian.” My dad tells me.

"I will help you too." Claire says.

"You will come find us right dad? You and
mom will make it right? Did you see that happen?" I beg him.

My dad takes a shaky breath. "I don't know,
I didn't see anything for certain. We will fight with all of our
heart to beat this and to make it back to you. Hold strong and know
that we love you." He pulls me into a fierce hug. My mom joins
in.

"You must go." They tell me. With that said,
none of us take the time to change. We run out the door and down
the stairs. Sebastian is at the bottom, barely able to stay awake
on his feet. A few of the teachers are standing with him along with
a large group of over thirty children. Mr. Leroy is there also. So
are Alec, Connor, Tony, Candy and Jake. My friends come to my
side.

I watch as my parents tell Sebastian that
they love him and that they will see him soon. The kids don't know
what's happening and perhaps it's better that way.

"They are coming!" Someone yells from down
the hallway. Like a herd of cattle we are ushered out of our pin
and into the night.

"I love you!" I yell to my mom.

I turn to see Tony arguing with her heatedly
as we are being pulled outside. Everyone is moving so quickly that
they try to pull me away with them. I fight against the flow of
people and when I look back I see that my friends are already far
from me. Everyone except for Alec. He is standing there waiting for
me with Sebastian in his arms.

I hear some screams from inside followed by
gunfire. The group outside begins running quickly. Many people
scoop the children up to move faster.

"Come on Willow!" Alec yells to me.

I look at him and at Sebastian, then back to
my parents. I turn to Alec and shake my head.

"I'm not leaving you!" Alec tells me
firmly.

I look at Sebastian in his arms, shivering
and scared. I know my eyes are the tint of hazel when I say, "You
will go now! You will take my brother to safety. Do not let him out
of your arms until you two are safe."

Alec's eyes glaze a bit. Then he nods, turns
and runs to join the group, with my little brother cupped safely in
his arms.

With most of the group gone, I can hear Tony
yell to my mom. "I won't leave you! I will fight by your side."

"My final order to you as your leader is to
protect my daughter. You want to lay down your life for this cause?
Then you protect my daughter with your own life. That is my final
directive." My mom says authoritatively, glancing behind her back.
She pulls a gun from her side and without turning around she yells,
"Go now!" She runs into the building with my dad at her side.

Tony tries to argue but finally says, "Yes
ma'am." He turns and our eyes lock. I look away seeing the hurt
there. I know he wanted to stay and fight. He comes to my side and
doesn't mutter a word. We begin walking quickly towards the tree
line up ahead where the others went.

Something hits me from behind and I fall to
the hard earth. The shocking pain radiates down my left shoulder
blade. I look back to see a knife sticking in it. It seems so
surreal to see a weapon protruding from my back. It takes a second
for the pain to hit its fullest potential. I gasp against the pain
as I hear Tony fighting someone behind me. I look back to see that
two Reapers are on him and he's doing his best to fight them
off.

Behind them I see some bodies lying lifeless
on the ground. In the dark I have no idea who they are.

As I watch the fight, a Reaper turns to look
at me. Anger begins burning through my veins. From the ground where
I lay, I watch as Chris walks towards me. Just like in the vision I
had. His red eyes and cold hard stare tell me that he's even more
far gone than he was when I broke his hand. Someone jumps him from
behind before he can get to me.

Mike, one of the fantastic four, is on top
of him with a knife aimed at his heart. Chris has a hold of his
knife hand as he pushes it away from him. He turns it slowly with
his own abnormal strength and plunges Mikes knife into his own
chest. Then Chris knocks him off of him as Mike is gasping for
breath. I watch in undiluted horror as Chris lays his palm on
Mike's forehead and Mike's body shakes and trembles like he's
having a seizure. From the short distance I can see Mike's eyes
roll to the back of his head and then he's gone. Nothing left of
the man that was nothing but nice to me.

Overwrought with a livid emotion that can't
be contained, I personally pull the knife out of my own back. I
feel the wound healing as I stand up. Tony is fighting off a new
Reaper who has joined in on the fight. I see that the first Reaper
is already lying dead at his feet. He doesn't see Chris approaching
me, slowly and with a cocky stare. I'm on my own for this
fight.

I clench my hands to my sides and allow the
rage to overtake me. I breathe the shaky breaths of someone on the
brink of losing control and when I look up, Chris is stopped and
staring at me in horror.

He stutters and steps back. "I...I kkneww
iit!"

I give him my nastiest smile as I move
forward ready to tear him apart like he's nothing more than a
pillow. He tries to fight me off but I'm much stronger than him. I
use my ability to pass through objects and I walk right through his
punch. He stumbles forward with his momentum that landed nowhere
but rights himself immediately. He turns around quickly and I go
invisible so he can't see me. He pulls the knife out of Mike's
breathless chest and starts taking aimless swings with it. They
don't come anywhere near me.

When I'm ready and the rage has hit its
fullest point I let go of the invisibility and I knock the knife to
the ground with a kick that Tony taught me. I punch him in the gut
then tackle him to the ground. When he's on the forest floor, I
keep punching at him. I focus all of my energy on making those
punches count. He tries to fight me off, but I'm stronger than him.
I pick up his head and bang it against the ground.

The anger is a swirling emotion now and it
has consumed me. I hate this! I hate that my family is being torn
from me. I hate that these things are trying to hurt the people I
love. I hate that they kill! I hate, hate, hate them! I think each
thought and with each thought I punch him harder. Then as his eyes
grow weak I put my hand on his forehead like he did to Mike. "You
want to know how it feels to be taken from? I will show you." My
voice doesn't even sound like my own.

"Willow no!" Tony yells to me. I hesitate
and the next moment Tony has me pulled up and away from Chris. His
eyes catch mine and he's taken aback for a second but then he pulls
me into an all out run. We run with all of our speed into the
woods. He holds my hand and doesn't let go as we dodge fallen trees
and get slapped with hanging limbs. We don't know where the others
have gone, but we head in the general direction, knowing that we
will catch up with them eventually.

We stop for a second to verify that we
haven't been followed. Tony listens and all I can hear is our heavy
breathing and the blood pumping in my ears. He turns back to me
after he's sure nobody is around.

He stares at my eyes and then he lets go of
my hand. I look away hurt. He's realizing what I am, what my eyes
tell him. With his hand under my chin he moves my face to where I'm
looking at him again.

I try to look away and he commands in a
confident voice, "Heal me." He holds out his left arm that has a
vicious cut across it.

"What?" I ask him yanking away from his
hold. I don't know why he would want me near him at all, not when
I'm like this. "You don't want me to touch you. What if..."

With yellow eyes full of certainty he tells
me. "You are not a Reaper."

"How do you know?" I cry out. My chest is
heavy with pain from what I just saw, who I left, what I am
becoming.

"Because I know you. You could never be one
of them. Plus, we just held hands for a mile. You didn't do
anything to me." He looks so confident that I feel compelled to
believe him. He puts his right hand up to my cheek then says. "So,
heal me. You need to focus your mind on something good."

I look down at his arm that has the cut on
it. I place my hand over it gingerly and channel my healing
ability. I don't breathe again until I pull it away and see that
his arm is completely healed. I slowly look back up into his eyes
and we both let out a sigh of relief.

"Please don't tell anyone." I beg him. I
have to blink away tears. This new part of me is so scary and
shameful that I can't bear sharing it with the world.

"Never." He tells me and I believe him. Then
he grabs my hand and we continue running.

We run untill we reach the top of a small
hill that allows us to see a panoramic of the area. I spot a small,
almost insignificant light in the distance. I point it out to Tony.
“There they are,” I declare.

He grabs my hand once again and we run to
catch up to the others. It doesn’t take us long until we see their
light through the branches of the trees. I instinctively let go of
Tony’s hand, hesitant to see what Alec would think.

I find Alec who’s holding Sebastian in his
arms. His little cheeks are tear-stained and he sniffles in his
sleep. My heart nearly breaks in two. I swallow hard trying to keep
the tears at bay. I rest my hand on Alec’s and he turns towards me.
Relief fills his eyes as he realizes I’m safe. With his free hand
he reaches for me. He pulls me into a hug gripping me tightly.

I let one, and only one tear fall. I keep
thinking this may be all Sebastian has for a family now. I never
envisioned myself as a mother this young in life but I’m willing to
do whatever has to be done to protect this little guy from
harm.

I link my arm through Alec’s and we walk in
motion with the others. During our walk Alec’s arms begin to get
tired so I take Sebastian in mine. It takes me a few moments of
coaxing because the compulsion is still telling Alec that he can't
let go of Sebastian. I have to assure him that we are safe now and
with that he relinquishes him.

Sabby's tiny head nestles in between my neck
and shoulder perfectly and I feel his pudgy little hands holding on
to my hair.

He whispers, “Wello,” in his sleep.

“
It’s okay little guy,” I whisper
back. “Everything’s going to be okay.” I rub his back feeling his
body go limp as he falls back to sleep.

A few hours later we arrive at a large
estate. The grass is quite a bit overgrown and the topiaries are
undistinguishable. All of the windows are boarded up and locked.
One of the adults in the group begins working on the front door. He
uses some sort of saw and starts chipping away at the wood.

Alec and I take a seat on a porch swing. I’m
still holding Sebastian as we begin a light sway. I rest my head on
Alec’s shoulder allowing myself a small reprieve from the stresses
born of this night. Alec wraps his arm around my shoulders. Even if
I am physically strong I truly believe that Alec is ten times
stronger than I am on a mental level.

As we sway I spot Claire and Connor, each
holding a small child in their arms. Candy and Jake are together on
the steps watching the man with the saw jimmy the handle of the
door.

Before long the door swings open. We all get
up and shuffle inside. The children are exhausted as we all uncover
the plastic furniture laying the children on any soft surface we
can find. Some lead the children up the stairs to find beds.

All of the people ages sixteen and over are
asked to meet back downstairs in the formal dining area once the
children are put to bed. Alec and I find a nursery and uncover a
small crib off in the corner. Alec removes the sheet and I place
Sebastian on the tiny little mattress. He hasn’t been in a crib for
a few years but this makes him look smaller than four. I run my
hand through his curls and kiss him softly on the cheek. When we’re
sure he’s asleep we tip toe out of the room. I place my hand in
Alec’s and we walk down to the formal dining area.