Asylum

Chased

"I hate the rain," Ren utters in a disgruntled and eternally angst-ridden manner.

"Tell her!" Leo urges Sarah.

Uncertain, her lavender eyes look into mine. "I think we're being followed."

"Followed?" Kya echoes, also checking behind us. "I can't see who's following us, but...somehow I feel like Sarah's right. I can't explain it..."

So, Kya does feel it! I'm not the only one...I'm not crazy. The rain pelts down on us in sheets, and there might as well be a flood warning at this point. Despite the storm, traffic still speeds on the streets, people uncaring about the wet roads. Lightning cracks through the sky and a roar of thunder follows shortly after. Third car behind this lane; two people following us. My brain computes this random information again. I notice that it did this last time there was thunder, too.

We're on a four-lane highway, so I begin to decrease speed. If we're being followed, we need to see exactly who's following us so we can ditch them before we make it to the airport. The feeling of being in a car chase sends thrills down my spine. I used to do this all the time back in Russia, when I was still the Flash of Death. My power always gave me machine-empathy. I liked them far better than humans...I still do.

Cars swerve into the other lane as I let off the gas. Their blinkers angrily flash their yellow eyes before their car honks at us or the driver throws his hands up in the air. The first car exits the lane. Then the second. The third keeps a respectable distance. "Cerberus," Sarah sighs, peering over the backseats. "Cerberus is in there." I forget that her entire power focuses on concentrating solely on others. Of course, she would be able to read anyone better than us. "Someone else, too. Someone..." she squints her eyes in concentration. Her thin fingers splay out, searching the air for threads of power. Suddenly, she gasps and recoils. Leo holds her and I ask why he jerks his arms in doing so, when I realize that Sarah is shaking.

"Sarah, what's happening?" Leo whispers, caressing her hair. "Are you okay?"

A concerned Kya watches Sarah, then looks back at the car. "I'm not as good as identifying people by their energies as Sarah is, but whoever else is in that car besides Cerberus isn't good."

Ren sighs and rolls his eyes, finally snapping into his angry mode. Swiveling around he lectures the water bender. "Come on, Kya. Use your big-girl words. What do you mean the other person isn't 'good?' Of course they aren't good if they're after us."

Kya scowls at his glowering face. Often, these are the only faces I see the two ever exchange. It's a wonder that Ren brought her back from the café the night we robbed the bank. "Their power seems to come from dark emotions. It's like a churning, black pool of evil. It makes me feel kind of sick..." she queasily discloses with a pale face.

"Don't throw up!" Leo pleas. "Because if you throw up, then I'm throwing up, and I can tell you this, sister: one of us ate five-too-many chilly-cheese dogs."

"You ate five?" Kya asks in an astonished tone. "Impressive."

"Well, when you're a cook in the kitchen, you tend to eat a bit more than everyone. I swear, I have six stomachs."

"Guys!" Ren's sharp voice pierces through the car, silencing everyone. "Really? Can we focus on something more important right now?"

Leo rolls his chocolate eyes, but says nothing more. It's Sarah's soft voice who sounds next. "Death..." she trembles. "Whoever is in that car aligns their power with death."

Death, huh? Back when I killed Brovinski, I preached to my men and women that death was on our side – our fellow ally. Because in death, we found honor, and in sending people to their honor, we found respect. I'm not afraid of whoever is in that vehicle.