Master of the Storm

Chapter Fourteen: Going In

"It won't break down again, will it?"

"It'll get us there," Marcus repeated.

We walked for a another minute, before he led us around a building, and took a key out of his pocket, unlocking a garage door. "Can you guys hold this up, while I go in and get the car?" he asked. Beatrix and I picked up the door, holding the opposite ends of it.

I considered using my powers to hold it up, but I decided not to, as I needed my strength for later. And last time I had used my powers I had accidentally killed multiple people.

As we held it up, I heard an engine start to run from inside the garage, and a car drove out from under the door. I wasn't sure what kind of car it was, as I knew nothing about those kinda vehicles, but it was red, had two seats in the front and two in the back, and a long hood.

Marcus rolled down the window. "Get in," he said. Beatrix got in beside him, and Valerie and I got in the back. As he started the car again, I noticed the vibrations all around me.

"Is this car... shaking?" I asked.

"That just means the engine is working. Trust me, I know this car."

The car continued to shake as we drove down the road, but everything else seemed to be working just fine, so I didn't say anything about it.

We drove up next to Pluto's car, and watched the other four get in. They started driving in front of us. Beatrix turned to look at me. "What are they doing? We're the ones who knows where it is, we should be driving in front."

I pulled out the walkie talkie, and started pressing buttons. "It's doesn't work," I complained.

"Yes it does, you're just doing it wrong," Beatrix responded, pulling out her own. She tapped a few buttons, and I heard the crackling of static.

"Hey, what's up?" I heard Pluto say through it, casually, as if they weren't messing up the whole plan.

"Are you kidding me?!" Beatrix yelled into it. "Stop the car!"

"Okay, okay, oh my god, calm down!" Pluto yelled back.

I sighed. It was going to be a long trip. "Maybe we should just lock you two in a room together until you sort out your issues," I mumbled.

"I don't think they'd both come back out," Valerie said.

After it had all been sorted out, and we were driving in front again, the real problems started. At that point, the car had started making a low whining noise.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Valerie whispered to me.

"I don't know, I don't drive," I whispered back.

While I listened to Beatrix give instructions to our driver, I looked out the window. It was getting dark outside, but with all the lights from the windows and streets, I could see everything clearly. "How long will it take to drive there?" Valerie asked, making conversation.

"Around ten minutes," Beatrix replied.

That surprised me. "But it took much longer for Pluto and Evianna and Olivia to come get me when they drove there," I said, confused.

"That's exactly why we're driving in front," she replied drily. I couldn't argue with that.

After a few minutes, the car wasn't even vibrating anymore, but full on shaking, and the whining noise was getting louder. "Is this normal?" Valerie asked, raising her voice to be heard over it.

"It'll be fine," Marcus insisted. I exchanged a concerned glance with her. I was pretty sure that wasn't normal.

At that point, we were getting jolted up and down in our seats. "Are we almost there?!" Valerie called to the front of the car.

"Almost!" Beatrix yelled back. "We've just turned onto Oakwood Drive!"

That was news to me, as I couldn't really see out the windows with how much the car was shaking. I felt my phone buzz, and I pulled it out, seeing that Evianna was calling. I picked up.

"Is the car okay?" she asked. "It looks like it's about to break down."

"You might want to slow down," I admitted. "I don't know how much longer this car can take."

At that point the whining noise was practically a scream, and we were all covering our ears, except for Marcus of course, who's hands were on the wheel. He was gripping it so hard his knuckles were white, as the car shook even harder.

"It's gonna break down!" Valerie cried.

"No it's not!" Marcus yelled back. "Have faith in the car!"

I heard the screech of tires against pavement behind us."Uhh, I think you guys just dropped your fender. Do you need that?" Evianna asked through the phone.

"How am I supposed to have faith in that?" Valerie demanded. "I'm getting out!"

"You can't get out while the car is moving, that's like basic knowledge," I argued, though I was feeling like I wanted to get out of the car myself.

"We're here," Beatrix called over the noise, and Marcus hit the breakers. The car sputtered and shook before finally coming to a halt.

We hopped out, coughing and gasping from the smoke coming out of the engine. Sparks flew from under the hood, and Valerie grabbed my hand as we stumbled away backwards. "I think the engine... broke," she said.

"I said it would get us here, and it did," Marcus protested.

"Will it get us back, though?" Sean asked from behind us, as the others got out of the other car.

"Well, obviously not, it's not gonna start up again," Pluto said, surveying the car with distaste.

"We can worry about leaving, later," Beatrix said. "Now, we're going in."