When the Clouds Fell

Chapter 8.1: In Which Three People Are Fatally Injured

A/N: I've separated this chapter into two (2) parts because it seemed too long as one. 

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Vienna McLeod had three grams of self-restraint left. Her hands clenched the Hippie Van's steering wheel only because Derek had to do Karen's hair since En refused to do the girl's makeup in a moving vehicle. The road ahead was completely clear. There would never be a chance like this for a very long time.

"En," Derek's voice cut through her thoughts, "if you even think about speeding, I'll melt all your jewellery."

She jerked upright, whipping around to glare at her twin. "You're a(n) (butt)!"

In the middle seat, Karen snickered, rifling through En's box of ornaments and allowing Derek to weave braids into her flaming red locks while ignoring Vince and Hayden's necklace suggestions.

Next to her, Derek paused. "Look at the road, En!"

En turned back, grumbling more profanities under her breath. The air held the cold that preceded rain, a blanket of ice settling over them. The road they travelled upon stretched far and straight, disappearing into the late evening. Trees, trees, and more trees fenced them on either side, like curtain walls of pine set to protect some secret route. As her focus shifted, so too did the car, veering about along the two-lane path.

They had found Marie after so many fruitless tries and sleepless nights. After hers and Derek's eyes began to ache from watching his facial recognition program flit through hours of security camera footage from all over town. After spending so much time holed up in the attic so that Hayden, Vince, and Karen did not become alarmed by their frantic efforts. After countless days they passed, fueled entirely and completely by several cups of coffee. If they could have eaten raw coffee beans, they probably would have.

It would, however, be appropriate to note that Marie had been the one to find them, all things considered. Derek's program honed in on her twice in footage from a few days past. The first was at a mall, just outside an art store: Marie's wide smile and coy wave indicating her presence. The second was from a traffic camera at the last point in the city's surveillance grid on the very street they drove along now. Marie's unique, pale hair had been streaming from the window of a black SUV as it entered the army of trees. There were only two possibilities for them: either Marie was in one of the buildings along the road or she had left some trace of her whereabouts in one.

Certainly, it helped their cause that Mr. Hemingway's upcoming party, which they had mandatory invites to, was being held in an abandoned asylum just down the road. The party commemorated some achievement or the other that would help his company advance. None of the McLeods really paid attention to his business because it interested no one.

Mr. Hemingway himself had caused a peak in their wariness. The effects of whatever he did to Karen had melted away, leaving her with only the heightened ability to grow things from her hair. For the time being, the McLeods continued to treat the man the way they always did; with distance, indifference, and a touch of cheekiness.

"En, are we there yet?" Hayden asked. A glance at the rear-view mirror revealed him to be draped across the back of Karen's seat, reaching over to show her a bracelet from the jewellery box.

Derek looked up from his laptop, which he obviously brought, finished styling Karen's hair. "We'll get there when we get there."

"I want to get there now," Vince said, gazing out the window in clear boredom.

En perked up at a sight further down the lane. "Good news, kids! We're here!" She turned into the hospital's long driveway and floored the gas pedal. That earned her a rough shoulder smack from Derek as she drifted to a stop in the lot. The sprawling hospital towered over them, a monument that had once been great, but now looked nothing short of sad.