The two men were hidden in the dark shadows of the room. The older man's office was scarcely lit by the fireplace, the burnt wood giving the atmosphere a hypnotising odour. The young man put the book back in the bookcase, one of the many which stood proudly in the office.
"Her birthday was a week ago," he exclaimed, concerned.
"And? Do you miss her?" the irony on the old man's voice was a stab in her chest.
"Don't make me laugh, Father. Even though she was a nice stress reliever. But... Sometimes, I wonder...."
"Me too, son. I wonder about her death too."
Amy was on her knees in the cold grass, her arms around her waist, trying to reclaim some of her lost warmth. There were muffled voices all around her, but she couldn't make their words out. An annoying light was on her back but she didn't care. The hands with their murderous nails were there again, tearing her body apart. She was unable to stand up, unable to move. Not that it mattered anymore.
They know... They are going to find me... I'm already dead.
***
"Amy! Get out of there! They'll see you! Stand up!"
Val screamed at the top of her lungs, oblivious to the apartment lights that got turned on and the nosy old professors peeking out of their blinds. The fast approaching Uni Patrol was a far more impending matter than the annoyed neighbours.
She started running towards her, ready to scream once again when a hand silenced her cries.
"Stop. Are you crazy? They are going to find us." John whispered in her ear.
Val's feet became limb at once, and her will weakened. With a small ounce of mental strength, she tried to fight him back. "Let go of me... I have to save her."
Her mind was working against John's Power and her brain was swiped by a headache so sudden, it made her eyes lose focus for a second.
Her leg was raised, ready to stomp John's foot and be free to retrieve her wiping friend from the approaching officers, when it happened.
A shadow, or rather a distortion in time and space, a smoke moving faster than the eyes could see, reached Amy and pulled her back to the car, which almost got lopsided by the sudden force of the powerful intruder.
Seb?
That was all Val could think of before the police alarm shouted and a voice echoed in the darkness. "You! In the van! Stand still!"
"They saw them! Shit.Shit. Shit. Val, run straight to the car and don't look back."
"But..."
"Go!"
John's voice was deafening in her ears, and she had no chance but to obey. She started running towards the car, attracting the attention of the two officers.
"You, there! Freeze! Now!"
"I think it's time you froze."
The policemen turned their heads towards John at the same time. Val only had an instance to peek and see John's nose bleeding and the two guards mesmerized by his command. With his eyes glued to the officers, he took swift crab-like steps, following Val towards the convertible. Luckily Seb, Mike and Amy were sitting in the back, unable to react.
Val entered the driver's seat, with as much determination as she could muster. John had only a small second to close the door before the cops came back to reality. They shook their heads and started their engine anew.
"Drive" John commanded. Val pushed the throttle, tires screeching as the cop's car gave pursue.
Everything was a blur of lights and abnormal shapes as the convertible left the University complexes and sped up through Canton's major highways street.
"Where the fuck are we going?" Mike screamed, as the officers neared them with an incredible speed and the sirens of at least two more patrol vehicles pierced the air. "They are on to us!"
Val had no answer to his pleading question. She had already exceeded maximum speed and lost every sense of reason, the only voice in her head John's gentle stir, which helped her avoid collision with the occasional highway drivers. But he could only do that much, his bleeding nose an evidence of his exhaustion.
Her heart raced as she took a sudden left turn, avoiding a motorcycle by mere centimetres, only grazing its tail rather than bumping into it.
What now?
Turning to the Eastern Outskirt exit and following the secret forest roads would only betray their involvement with the Academy. Going forward would only lead to the capture. Either way, they were fucked.
The gleaming of the Han River below greeted them, its ripples alluring. They were already on top of the Tower Bridge, and the following cars had multiplied behind them.
"There are not going to give up," Val said, her voice shaking. "I'm taking the turn to the Academy and pray we'll lose them on the dead alleys."
The vehicle went full throttle and the wheel protested under the sudden change of direction. Val saw the flashing lights of the East Exit in front of her, and a small hope formed inside her brain. Maybe they could make it back at least in one piece.
The patrol vehicle appeared out of nowhere, grey fumes escaping its exhaust as it came to a halt a few meters in front of them, between their car and their escape route. Reinforcements called from the Uni Patrol, no doubt. Val held onto the wheel tight.
This is the end.
"Seb, take the girls and run," John's voice was incredibly calm in all its shakiness. "I'll try and manipulate them as best as I can. Mike, will you be my backup?"
Mike opened his mouth. As if to agree or protest, Val would never know. Amy snapped out of her miserable trance in an instance, putting her palms on the car's hood.
"Ready or not", she whispered, "here I go."
Everything turned into dust, a sea of particles in front of Val's eyes. The police, the road, the lights, the sounds. Gravity and velocity intertwined in a crazy journey towards the unknown. Everything was enveloped in black smoke, speeding ahead.
No, not enveloped. Became. We're the smoke. Deities help us.
She hit the brake, hard, and closed her eyes as the realisation of teleportation hit her. When Val dared to open them again, she found herself sitting inside a stolen convertible, under the Han River bridge.
***
Amy's nose bled heavily right after her Herculean teleportation try, her eyes rolled in the back of her skull. She was breathing with difficulty, but at least she was alive. Her reckless actions almost got her killed twice in a night, but Val felt only sadness for the damaged girl in front of her. John had already put two pieces of wet cloth over the bridge of her nose, courtesy of Mike's ripped T-shirt, dripping water in her half-closed mouth. Slowly, but steadily Amy had come back to reality.
"Do you want to die?" Mike's question was neither ironic nor harsh. There was pure, unadulterated wonder in his voice.
"I created this whole mess," Amy said and closed her eyes. "It is only right that I saved you, too."
Nobody had a comeback to her statement. They had been sitting under the bridge for over an hour, the sirens finally distant, barely audible. They could finally assume they were safe, so Seb gently lifted Amy into his arms, looking at the rest of them.
"I'll get all of you on the main road, one at a time. Mike, can you handle the car?"
His body transformed at once. "Sure thing. Let's put this shitty night to an end."
***
"What do you think he is going to assume once he'll wake up?" Val asked. Their way at the Academy had been uneventful and dull, exactly the way she had hoped it would be. The poor physician sat again behind his car's steering wheel, still snoring.
"Exhaustion, most likely. I'm pretty sure he'll feel lucky to not have crashed into a tree while sleeping," John answered while pulling the heavy, leather bound book out of his bag.
"I hope this will help us have the second epiphany of the evening," he said and smiled fainted, only to be greeted with Val's sad gaze. "Valentine, I am sorry. This turned worse than I've imagined, and it could have been way worse if Amy hadn't teleported. I... "
"It's not your fault, John. You think you know everything, that you can foresee everything, but you can't. That's just the ugly truth. I hope your uncle's book is worth the whole mess."
She overlooked his hurt gaze. The others were already a few steps ahead, waiting for John to end his mind-grip session. "Let's just go to sleep. And no more daring stunts from now on. Deal?"
He nodded his head. Their one-night adventure had been enough for a lifetime.
***
"Should we call the guards on them?
Alice pondered on Will's question, as she nestled on Toby's lap. The starlight reflected on the Atrium's small pool, as her company sat on the wooden, white benches, admiring the view of the evergreen forest and her single most hated person on this Island. Valentine Stone. The girl who had humiliated her in front of the whole school. She smiled as she remembered the day after the trials, two officers dragging her in that wretched institution. She had been so beautiful broken on that day, silent tears falling down her red cheeks. Why? Why didn't she rot inside that place?
"Alice? They are getting away."
Her mind turned back to the present and Will's words.
"No. Let them be. I don't want them expelled. That would only send them to the safety of their own homes. I want them to see them pay."
She searched the annals of her brain, but the only thing she could find was pain, similar to a needle's stitch. She knew that filthy boyfriend of Val's had done something to mess with their minds. How? How could that lowlife still be stronger than her? Alice remembered her father's scolding all too well, his shouts and insults. Even as a little girl in primary school, Valentine Stone, a filthy low life from a base-born family, was better than she could ever be. Smarter, a better student, far more popular. Even now, when she was broken, abused and Powerless, she still was more loved than her. Alice remembered her father's words.
Fear is the ultimate winner in the battle for dominance.
She smiled, as a plan formed on the back of the brain. Soon enough, Val Stone would be taught an important lesson. One she would never forget.
A.N: Sabotage-Beastie Boys