Six (Countdown book 1)

Chapter 2

"We don't know." Scarlett said sadly. "They just disappear." 

"What if they run away?" 

"No." Scarlett said, looking down at the floor. "They literally disappear. One second they're there and the next minute they're not. I've seen it myself. At exactly one minute past zero in the morning, on June the sixth, we disappear."

"That's why there's only ever six." I said numbly. "Every year, when the eighteen year old disappears, the next twelve year old appears. It's a constant cycle of six kids." 

Scarlett nodded. "I'm the One." she said. 

"You mean you've got one year left? You're seventeen?"

"Yeah. And you're the Six." 

"Why all the sixes?" I asked. "Six  elements, sixth of the sixth birthday, six kids, six years." 

"As near as we can guess, it's just a special number for our lot." she looked up at the board which showed which stop we were at. "We've got to get off at this one." she said. She nudged Tony and he muttered something unintelligible, having fallen asleep during the journey. The train slowed to a stop, and the three of us got up. 

"Wait." Tony said. He pointed out the window. On the platform, a man in a black suit was waiting, a phone held up to his ear. 

"Maybe we should get off the next one." Scarlett suggested mildly. 

"Uh huh." Tony replied. 

"Who is that?" I asked, feeling stupid. 

"We're not too sure." Scarlett said. "He's been following us since we came into London earlier. I thought we'd lost him on the underground on the way here, but- DUCK!" 

We all ducked down, hiding behind the seats as the man turned to look at our carriage. Suddenly, I realised that there was little white stuff falling around everywhere. "Stop it!" Scarlett hissed at Tony. "You're making it snow." 

"I'm nervous!" he hissed back.

"Well, you don't think he's going to notice snow falling in a train in the middle of the London Underground?" she snapped. I stared up at the snow in amazement even as it started to slow to a stop. 

"You think he noticed?" I whispered. 

"That it snowed in the middle of the train?" a male voice asked above us. We looked up to see the suited man staring down at us. "No, I didn't notice." 

"Damn." Scarlett said. I looked around. The rest of the carriage was empty, which was very rare for the London Underground. The guy had dark brown messy hair, and cruel brown eyes.

"Stand up slowly, and don't try anything. We've got the whole platform surrounded and we've stopped the train. You're not getting out of this one." 

We all did as we were told, climbing slowly to our feet. It started snowing lightly again. "Boston!" a voice shouted behind us. Another guy, dressed similarly to Boston, climbed on the train. 

"Which ones did we get?" he asked. 

"We got the fire-starter and Mr Snowman here." 

"What about the other kid?" 

"Don't know." Boston turned to me. "What's your name, kid?" 

"Uh," Scarlett gave me a look that told me not to tell the truth. "John." I said. 

"Uh huh." Boston didn't sound convinced. "Got a last name, kid?" 

"Yeah, uh," I almost said Johnson. That would've been extremely stupid. "Robinson. John Robinson." 

"Right, John Robinson." Boston turned to his partner. "Has our source said anything about a John Robinson?"

"No, he never mentioned a John Robinson to me. Must be the new kid."

"What source?" Scarlett asked suddenly. I noticed loads of men in military uniform filling the platform. 

Boston stepped towards her. "What does it matter to you, ginger?" 

"Leave her alone." Tony said, stepping up to him. Boston suddenly seemed to notice the snow falling. 

"Cut it out, kid." he said. Tony ignored him, and began laying the snow on thicker. Boston stepped forward and punched him hard in the face. Tony staggered backwards and the snow stopped. I stepped forward, kicked Boston hard in the stomach, and when he bent double in pain, I punched him hard in the face. 

"Let's go!" I shouted. Scarlett grabbed Tony and pulled him upright. I reached out and grabbed her hand. 

"Eli..." she said. 

"Just trust me." I said. "Don't let go of Tony." Boston's partner suddenly moved towards us, and the train was engulfed in darkness. "Come on." I whispered to myself. "Come on." and then I could see again. The train and platform were still pitch black, but I could see everything. I slowly began moving off the train, carefully avoiding the confused, suited agents, leading Scarlett and Tony carefully along behind me. 

I made it through the platform and to where the stairs were without mishap. The suited men were so busy trying to work out why even their torches wouldn't work, that they didn't notice us slip by within a metre of them. We reached the bottom of the stairs. "Stairs." I whispered almost silently into Scarlett's ear. She passed the message back to Tony, and began to tread more carefully. 

She put her foot out cautiously to where the first step was, then lifted it up silently onto the first one, and carefully put her weight down. She put her next foot up onto the next stair, feeling around with her foot before putting it down. I glanced back. Tony was just behind her. 

"Make a barricade at the stairs!" I heard Boston shout. "They're not getting away again." We continued climbing the stairs, the soldiers grouping at the bottom, not realising we'd already made it almost halfway. There was a long silence, at which point, Tony tripped up and went sprawling, pulling me and Scarlett along with him. 

I scrambled up to my feet and pulled Scarlett up with me. "On the stairs!" Boston shouted. "Go!" They tried to follow us up the stairs, but one of them tripped and fell down the stairs, bowling the others out the way. I struggled up the last few steps, pulling Scarlett and Tony along with me. 

I could feel blood dripping off my chin, coming down from my lip, which I'd cut when I fell onto the sharp edge of the marble stairs. I lead my two new friends to the exit, and, only when we were outside did I turn the lights back on. We were in the middle of a small street on the outskirts of London. I looked over at Scarlett and Tony. Tony was bleeding from a long cut on his forearm, and Scarlett was rubbing her head, where a bruise was already beginning to form, but other than that they were okay. 

I walked to the curb and spit blood down the drain there. "Good thinking, kid." Tony said. 

"Are you okay, Eli?" Scarlett asked me. She pulled my chin round so that I was looking at her. I could feel the blood dripping off my chin, and I realised I'd scrapped a layer of skin off my knuckles as well. Scarlett reached behind her into her bag and pulled out a small pack of tissues. She poured a small amount of water from her bottle onto one of the tissues. "Stay still." she told me. I winced as she rubbed the blood off my chin and lip. The cut must've been pretty bad, because there was quite a bit of blood. 

"Where do we go from here?" I asked. 

"We need to get a bus a bit further north, and then we're pretty much there." Tony looked at me with what I realised was concern. I realised my hands were shaking. "You look terrible." he said. 

Scarlett shot him evils. I guessed I must look terrible, because I didn't feel too great either. My knees felt like jelly, and I thought I might collapse at any moment. "Listen to me, Eli." Scarlett turned my face back to her. "You can't do that again. Using your powers will make you weak, tired." My vision started to blur and I realised that I couldn't hear what she was saying anymore. 

I put my hand on my head and realised my forehead was piping hot, but beaded with cold sweat. "He's drained." I heard Tony say distantly. And then I passed out.