Secrets: The Hero Chronicles (Volume 1) (32 page)

My eyes felt like they had 100-pound weights holding them shut. The female voice stopped begging, seeing my eyes start to open. Everything was blurry. I had to blink several times to clear my vision. I was not in the field any longer. I was lying on a bench under one of the park’s shelters. My head was in the lap of the strange woman who was pleading for me to open my eyes. My body throbbed. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. The woman was looking at me with her compassionate green eyes. She was rubbing my head, comforting me, which helped to distract me from the pain radiating from my back. This woman’s skin was radiant and lightly tanned, but not by the sun; it must have been native to where her family was from. Her brown hair was in small braids on either side of her slender face, pulled back behind her head. Her light pink lips were together, making a shushing sound like you would do to a baby to get it to calm down.

“Who are you?” I asked, trying to sit up, but she kept my head where it was with little force.

“My name is Genevieve, and his name is Riley,” she answered calmly.

I looked over and saw a tall, slender man standing a couple of feet away, looking around the park. He reminded me of a younger Coach Miller.

“You were attacked by a Seeker named Xavier and one of his friends,” Genevieve said. “Luckily, Riley and I have been watching you for some time, keeping you safe.”

I sat up, panicked. “You have been trying to kill me!” My head was spinning. I knew for certain that these were the two people who had been following me.

She spoke softly but firmly. “We haven’t been trying to kill you; we have been protecting you.”

“Each time I was almost killed this year, you were there, weren’t you?”

“Well, of course we were there,” Riley said, “but you didn’t need our help. Your Thusian talents saved you.”

“Are you bodyguards sent by Ester or Chase? Another line of defense that I didn’t know about?”

“We have nothing to do with Ester or Chase,” Riley replied. He had a thick Irish accent that sounded like it had been slightly Americanized. He went back to watching over the park.

“There is no time for talking, only time for you to listen,” Genevieve said. “Xavier would have killed you if we hadn’t shown up. We heard him telling you that you were too late and that you would never make it in time to help her. Who was he talking about? You have been mumbling something about Elle, a car, and a dock. What does that all mean? You have to tell us.”

I closed my eyes, focusing on the voice growing louder in my head. It was the same one that I had heard on the phone earlier. The harder I concentrated, the louder the obtrusive voice got. Then the voice was clear.

Oliver and Elle are on their way to the rock quarry, and there is no way you will be able to get to them in time before they die. I knew you would come here and check her house. How predictable. Sending the others away to the quarry is exactly the kind of thing that gets you Thusians killed so easily—always trying to be the hero. Just so you know, there is no way to save her
, the voice said.

It continued,
To be honest Alexander, I think she may have some Thusian blood in her too because of the way you were drawn to her. Killing her now will save me from having to come back and kill her later. The hero of the 10-10 Earthquake has been more of a challenge to kill. You survived the earthquake and my first couple of attacks, so I had to kill you in person. And what a shame, I spent all that time cutting the supports on the dock.

His voice rang in my head.
There is no way to save her.
It grew so loud that my head throbbed with pain. In an instant I was standing. Adrenaline surged through my body. All of my pain was gone. The fire burned and my muscles tensed.

“Oliver has taken Elle and they are going to die!” I said, running out of the shelter past Riley. My surroundings immediately blurred. I had to get to the quarry in time to save Elle. If this was my turn to make a final sacrifice, I would willingly die for Elle.

TOO LATE

CHAPTER THIRTY

I
t was completely dark outside of town. There were no streetlights, but I could see perfectly. I was only a mile away from the party. The handwritten map that Eric had used back in August was as clear in my head as if I was the one who drew it.

I got to the quarry entrance and ran down several gravel roads before I saw the light from the party ahead of me. I saw everyone yelling and cheering, staring right at the dock. There were even more people here than at the last party. The quarry seemed 100 times brighter than the last time; I could see everything clearly. The only movement near the dark grey lake was coming from a primer grey beater that Oliver was using for his rite of passage. The car began to slow down, and then it stopped just a few feet from the end of the dock. Then, in slow motion, the part of the dock that the car was on collapsed, and the front of the car crashed into the water. The remaining part of the dock flipped over on top of it, and the taillights disappeared under the water. Was I too late?

I was at the edge of the water pulling off my shirt before any of the people there had a chance to move. Chase and Cora were running toward me from the helicopter, which had landed in an open area off to the side of the lake. Why hadn’t they stopped this from happening? I dove into the dark, icy cold lake. My lungs seized, not prepared for the cold. My body quickly adjusted to the water temperature. Once in the water, I was able to move toward the car with no resistance. I was able to grab handfuls of water that felt firm, like a grip. I sank my fingers into it to help propel me through the water quickly. I pulled with all of my might, and I sent myself hurtling toward the car.

The water was dark, but my eyes pulled all of the light from above, allowing me to see everything clearly in the dark, murky water. I was moving quickly toward the car. Through the pieces of the dock I could see that the car was almost completely filled with water. I gave the water one more thrust with my hands, and I hit the car with such force that it sank deeper into the depths.

I dismantled the pieces of the dock that surrounded the car like they were made of toothpicks. Inside, Elle was struggling with her seat belt to get free. Oliver was bloody and unconscious, floating next to her in the water-filled car. The windshield imploded, filling it completely with water. The car raced toward the bottom. I caught the hood near the windshield, keeping it from sinking any farther. Elle’s eyes fluttered. She was close to becoming unconscious, barely struggling anymore with her belt. I grabbed her seat belt and ripped it off of her. I pulled her out and pushed her to the surface. I could see her break the surface of the water, and her legs began to lightly tread water. Then I went back and grabbed Oliver’s broken body and pulled him up with me toward Elle at the surface. I broke the surface of the water right next to her as she went under again, unable to keep herself afloat anymore. I pulled both of them up on my chest and swam them to the shore in a matter of seconds. People from the crowd reached out to take Oliver from me and pulled him ashore. I carried Elle out and gently laid her on the ground.

“Elle, can you hear me? Elle, please!” I begged. One of my hands was cupped under her head and the other stroked her cheek.

She spoke very quietly, almost inaudibly, “Don’t leave me, Nicholas.” Then her cold body went limp. I listened to her chest and felt for a pulse. She had a faint pulse and her breathing was shallow. She had no visible cuts or broken bones.

I grabbed my dry shirt, which was within arm’s reach of us, and wrapped her in it, trying to keep her warm. Shouts and screams were coming from all around me. I pulled her up onto my lap to keep her close and to try to warm her. Why did this have to happen to her? I would do anything to switch places with her.

I started pleading, “God, take me, not her. Please, God, let her live.”

“Nicholas, you have to let go now. I will take care of her,” Chase said. I knew I had to let her go, but I couldn’t let someone take her from me. Not again.

“Where were you? Why didn’t you stop this?” I screamed at him.

“Nicholas, let her go.” Eric was prying me off of her now.

I let go and fell back to the ground. There was so much commotion around me. People were yelling and screaming. Chase worked on her for what seemed like forever. Eventually, Elle was being loaded into a nearby ambulance. I staggered to my feet to follow her. I got up to the back door and tried to get in, but someone grabbed me from behind. I didn’t have the strength to fight back.

“Nicholas, stop. You can’t go with her. You have to get checked out yourself. You have blood all over your back,” Eric said, holding me back.

“I have to go with her! I have to! Let go of me!”

“Nicholas, it’s okay.” I turned and saw Cora and began to cry uncontrollably.

“Cora, please let me sacrifice my life for her. My life is nothing without her. Please, help me, please.”

“Nicholas, it doesn’t work that way. Shh, it will be okay.” Cora moved me away from the crowd.

“Where were you? Why didn’t you stop this from happening?”

“Nicholas, it’s a big quarry; we had to look for the party. We only found it when it started to get dark outside. Plus, Chase needed to stop and get supplies from the hospital in case we needed them, which we did.”

“If you hadn’t stopped, you could have prevented this all from happening, and you wouldn’t have needed those supplies.”

“Stop, Nicholas. We aren’t to blame. We didn’t know what we were going to encounter.”

I fell toward her and wrapped my arms around her. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Come over here and let Chase take a look at your back before he leaves for the hospital.”

“No, I must go to the hospital to be with Elle. Chase can check me out later,” I said. Cora nodded, understanding. She got some gauze, cleaned my wound, and taped the gauze over it.

Once in the truck, I was able to take in the scene around me more clearly. There were dozens of squad cars and emergency vehicles throughout the enormous crowd of people at the party. Some of the people were talking to the police, and others were huddled in groups. Then I saw them for a brief second—Genevieve and Riley and their sea green truck.

“Cora, look out there. Those are the two Thusians that saved me.” When I looked back at where they had been, they were gone.

“Nicholas, what are you talking about? Saved you from what?”

“I will tell you later. Let’s get to the hospital.”

Chase was already working on Elle by the time Cora and I got there. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but there was a room full of doctors and nurses assisting him. Both of Elle’s parents were sitting in the waiting area. Mrs. Canan’s eyes were swollen; her head was resting on Mr. Canan’s shoulders. Mr. Canan was like a statue—pale, not moving, just staring off into space in shock. Cora stood next to me while I stared through a small window into the room, hoping to see something.

After about an hour, Chase came out of the room and went straight over to Mr. and Mrs. Canan. He sat down across from them. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but they both listened to him intently. Then they all stood, and Mr. and Mrs. Canan followed him into the room. Chase then came back out to us.

“Chase, is she going to be okay?” I asked.

“Nicholas, she is in a coma, but she is stable. I think she will be okay, but it’s going to take some time,” he said. “She is lucky you got there when you did. I don’t think she would have made it any longer in that frigid water.

“Nicholas, do you want me to take a look at your back before I assist them with the boy you saved? They said they need help with him.”

“You aren’t going to help with him, are you?” I asked, horrified. “Chase, you have to stay with Elle. You are here because we needed your help with Elle, not the person who took her and put her in danger.”

“Someone took her?” The three of us spun around to see Ester Theasing standing behind us. “Who took Elle Canan?” she repeated her question to us.

“Oliver Rails did, but it should have been me. His plan was meant for me. I was supposed to be in the car.”

“Nicholas, what are you talking about? What plan?” Ester asked.

“Xavier was planning to kill me.”

All three recoiled at the mention of Xavier’s name. Chase spoke first, “Did you say Xavier?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, start from the beginning,” Ester said.

“Xavier was at Elle’s house and answered the phone when I called. I went to check on her at her house, while Chase and Cora went to the quarry to stop Oliver. I was attacked in Swaim Park by her house. When I came to, there was a woman and a man there named Genevieve and Riley. They stopped Xavier and his friend from killing me. I then recalled Xavier telling me that he had cut the dock supports so that the dock would collapse when the car drove onto it. Oliver and I were supposed to crash into the lake, but when Oliver took Elle instead, Xavier changed his plans. He decided to kill me in person and let them die in the lake, since he thought Elle might be a Thusian too.”

I looked at Chase. His face had lost all of its color. Ester and Cora looked like they were both in deep thought.

“Ester, should we go into hiding?” Cora asked.

“No, Cora, there is no need to do that. He had his chances and missed them. He would never try again out in the open. But this changes everything. I must speak to the Council immediately.” Ester then disappeared down the hall.