Tale 2: War of the Seeker

Chapter 5

"You'll get this one back when I get mine back."

I gaped, yanking on the iron hands bruising my arms. I locked eyes with Zeke's haunted ones. We watched each other, my heart pounding in my chest.

How the hell did this all happen?

The iron hands tugged and I was walked backwards, my eyes still fixed to Zeke's in panic. I glanced at Cade, at Kari, and my panic was reflected in each. I looked to Dex and even he looked a little stressed.

And then Zeke did the unexpected.

In one quick smooth motion, and without even looking away from me, he grabbed Dex's pipe from his hands and swung it upwards, catching the leader full in the jaw with a large crack.

Someone screamed. Maybe it was me. And then everything turned to shit.

The leader screamed in rage. "Kill her!"

It felt like my arms were ripped from their sockets. The guy holding my arms suddenly yanked me away from the action. I stumbled, being pulled backwards. I had no chance to even try and pull against him. He was way too strong and he kept pulling me off balance. I had no idea where we were going until my arms were released and I was shoved backwards. My back slammed into a half wall that I quickly realized was the water basin.

I looked up into his eyes. I looked straight into his sharp green eyes before he punched me in the stomach, winding me immediately. I couldn't breathe. Then he grabbed my hair and forced my face into the water. The rim caught at the bend in my hips, my whole upper body submerged. I flailed my arms around helplessly in the water, finding I had nothing to push myself out with.

I fought the urge to breathe. I fought so hard. I kicked at the air, trying to find the leverage to swing myself back up, but the guy's hand was firm. I was panicking, and finding that water was making it up my nose. I tried to huff it out, and then did what was natural after blowing out air; I took a breath back in.

Except I didn't get air, of course.

I started choking, and with that I started losing all sense of control. Real panic set in. My nose and lungs burned with water, and my body struggled to get it out but all I took back in was water.

My hair was suddenly given a sharp tug... and was then released.

I flung up so fast that I whipped water back with my hair. I was coughing, and falling flat on my ass. Water spewed from my mouth. Tears streamed from the corner of my eyes from panic, but surprisingly it was mostly from my body's reaction to the water in my lungs.

I coughed up more water and then Cade was there, pulling me to my feet, and dragging me at a dead sprint across the pavement. We passed the others in what was registered to me in dizzy flashes. Dex throwing a punch at a guy. Then diving his shoulders to the side to avoid one. Kari screaming as she swung a bat right into the side of someone's knee. Zeke, rolling on the ground with the leader, locked in a deadly wrestle until one person could pull out a weapon. And Cade, his back as he led me away.

Left, right. Left, right. I tried to convince myself the world was not tilting. I just kept running.

Cade came to a stop in the nearest side street. He turned back and I ran right into him, almost taking him down before he grabbed my arm and righted us both.

He stared out at the fight without a word, every muscle tense.

I leaned against a wall, still recovering from my swim. I pushed my dripping wet hair from my face, getting my fingers caught in tangles. I unzipped my jacket and tossed it aside, not really in the mood to wear a cold, soaking wet layer of clothing. It was stolen anyway.