6:59 (39 page)

Cameron

The Pedro guy jabbed me once more with his metallic stick, shocking me with more voltage. I screamed out in pain, struggling to cover myself, but unable to do so due to the chains around my wrists.

“I told you, I'm not Cam!” I cried out once again, groaning in pain. It hurt too much to talk. Unable to sit up, I slid down and lay on the icy floor, breathing heavily. I was about to have some kind of asthma attack and I didn't even have asthma. Where was Anjolie?

“You
are
him!” Pedro cried out, smacking me across the face. “And I want you to tell me where you keep taking our merchandise!” He spat as he talked, the saliva splattering onto my face every few seconds.

“I honestly don't know!” I yelled, hopelessly. This guy would never believe me. How could I have gotten caught? I could've run faster. I could've dodged them. I could've done anything to get away from them. And I did. But they were just too fast.

“Yes. You. Do!” Pedro yelled, kicking me in the gut with every word.

I coughed out, even though it hurt just as much as getting kicked. So this is what the good guy has to go through before he dies, huh? My life sucks.

Pedro stooped down and grabbed me up by the hair, a sharp knife now in his hand. He held it against my throat, the coldness of the dagger stinging my neck. “I'll kill you, you know,” he threatened, pushing the knife into my throat even harder. “I've killed a lot of people before and killing you would just add to my list.” He slammed my head into the wall behind my head, momentarily blinding me. I blinked the pain away steadily in order to gain my eyesight back. When I did, Pedro was grinning. He held the knife to my arm. “One cut here,” he sliced at my arm, the pain shooting painful spurts all over my body. Ignoring my groans of pain, he held the knife to my thigh. “And one cut here,” another slice to my thigh, “wouldn't kill you,” he said. My thigh throbbed with pain as the blood soaked my jeans. He held the knife up to my throat again. “But this one will. All you have to do is tell me where the merchandise is and maybe I won't kill you.”

I groaned with exacerbation. “Please! I'm telling you the truth! I don't know where—”

He slammed my head into the wall again. And then another time just to shut me up. I struggled to keep my eyes open. I knew I was going unconscious and that in a matter of moments, I was going to black out. For real this time.

Surreptitiously glancing at the watch circled around the wrist holding the knife against my neck, I saw that it was a quarter to six. All this time had passed. If I could just hold him off, Cam will wake up and save us all.

“How long has Cam been stealing your stuff?” I asked Pedro suddenly, catching him off guard.

He looked at me, his eyebrows furrowing together. “You mean, how long have
you
been stealing my stuff?” he corrected. He looked up, thinking. “Well, I'd say about five years now.” He glared at me. “Five
long
years.”

“And how good would you say you know him?”

He grabbed up my hair again. “I know you pretty well enough to kill you!” he warned, ready to slam my head into the wall again.

“Then look at my eyes!” I cried out, stopping him before he hurt me again. “Look at my eyes and tell me that I'm Cam! Please!” I was frantic now, but I needed to get my point across.

Pedro stopped and looked at me, finally meeting my eyes. It wasn't long before his eyes took on a confused expression. “What's with your eyes?” he asked, cocking his head to the side. “Why aren't they all creepy and silver? Did you do something to them? Is this some kind of power you got or something?” he asked angrily.

“No! It's me! I don't have silver eyes because I'm not Cam!”

He stared at me. The silence was unbearable. Finally he spoke. “You know what, I was wondering why you didn't have all that gel in your hair this time. Or why you weren't spitting curse words right now. Or why you weren't kicking my butt with your powers and stuff.” He grabbed my chin again and moved it side-to-side, examining me. “Either you're pulling some kind of trick on me, or you're telling me the truth.”

“I promise you, I'm telling you the truth,” I pleaded, gazing at him with sincere eyes. If he didn't believe me now, I was out of options.

He shook his head. “You're killing me, dude. You really are,” he said, standing up and stepping away from me. He placed the dagger back into his pocket. “I won't kill you now, but I will later.” He smiled at me, narrowing his eyes. “And that's a promise.”

Before I could let out a breath of relieved air, a fiery blast shook the room, startling everyone. Looking toward the doorway, I saw a mane of silvery blond hair covering a very angry face.

Anjolie.

“Anjolie, you cam—” before I could finish my exuberant response, Pedro kicked me in the face, knocking me out cold.

Anjolie

I saw him kick Cameron. And man was I mad.

Pedro groaned. “Oh, crap, it's the
girl
!” he sighed, whipping out a pistol. Before I could make my way over to him, he began shooting at me, the bullets hitting every inch of the space behind me.

I immediately had four guys on me, and I dodged each bullet as I fought. I didn't care that I was still dressed in the same creamy, white cashmere sweater and dark jeans I was wearing before; I was just ready to kill people no matter what. Simultaneously, I socked one guy in the gut and sent the other one flying after him, laughing as they crashed to the ground.

Now, everyone had some kind of weapon in hand, bullets shooting here and there like firecrackers. Guys were getting shot by their own men trying to shoot me. But I was fueled by my anger and determination. I was literally like some kind of unstoppable force out for blood. Hopping onto a bad guy's back, I spun his neck around forcefully, cracking the whole thing off its shoulder. He was dead in seconds. Then, using his limp body, I hopped off of him and spun him around in the air, catapulting his body into two other guys that were headed straight for me. Once they were hit, I took that time to check up on Cameron, hoping and praying that he wasn't dead.

When I saw all the blood pouring from his nose, I yelled out to him, but the sounds of the machine guns were deafening, shaking the cave with such force; it was as if we were undergoing an earthquake of some sort. No one could hear anyone in this room. And to make things worse, Pedro's men, even when shot, just kept coming back to fight. They were monsters. I had no choice but to hold on, creating weapon after weapon as I took down these guys. My bows and arrows were extremely effective, some of them killing two guys at once. But the bows and arrows took most of my energy, blinding my vision and clouding my judgment. I couldn't go on any longer if I continued to use them. At one point in time, I had completely lost my vision and was blinded from absolutely everything. One guy had thus stabbed me in the thigh, crippling me momentarily. Ignoring the pain, I grabbed his head and cracked it also, kicking him in the gut and sending him into another one — all with my eyes closed.

But I was still distracted, and as a result, two men were on top of me, one guy ripping at my right arm, and the other circling his arm around my neck in a chokehold. My telekinesis was only enough to stun them temporarily, but I was still blind and losing air with increasing speed. I couldn't lose the battle. I had to keep holding on.

Then I was shot. Right in the gut. Screaming in pain, I fell to the floor, the chokehold-guy falling on top of me and refusing to release his deadly arm. For goodness sake, I was going to die regardless! Why wasn't he letting go? Did he want to suffocate me
and
witness my blood loss?

Suddenly, a loud crack came from above my head, causing the chokehold-guy to finally release my neck and slump to the ground. The arm-ripper-guy fell to the floor a second after, his head banging loudly on the pavement.

I looked up with confusion, only to meet eyes with Armando. My eyes widened and I found myself smiling. “Armando! You came to fight?” I cried, surprised at his sudden arrival. Where did he come from? Did he follow me?

But Armando wasn't paying any attention to me. Knocking two thugs out with his large poles, he stabbed another using a dagger that miraculously appeared in his hand. He barely glanced over at me. “Get up and fight, Anjolie!” he yelled, jabbing his knee into some guy's nose. He dodged a few bullets, using the now unconscious man as his shield.

I stood up, grabbed a knife from a dead crony's pocket and hurled it at Pedro, ready to kill this man myself. But Pedro dodged it, shooting bullets at me all in the same motion. He was good. Real good.

But I was better.

Using my mind to grab his flying bullets, I spun them around to him, the zillions of bullets now headed in his direction with lightning fast speed. But he was too smart. He grabbed up Cameron's unconscious body and held it in front of him as he backed out of the cave, running to who-knows-where. I immediately stopped the bullets before they could hit Cameron's limp body.

I was about to chase after him when Aspen popped into the cave, stopping Pedro in his tracks. Pedro screeched to a halt and brought out his pistol, ready to shoot Aspen in the gut. But Aspen brought up his foot and went to kick Pedro in the face.

But he missed, kicking Cameron in the face instead. Pedro burst out laughing at the sight.

“
ASPEN!
” I groaned, anger welling up inside me. Cameron was already hurt enough!

Aspen's face contorted into a look of innocence. “So I had a few beers before this!” he cried. “Sue me!”

I rolled my eyes, contemplating killing him instead of Pedro. But I couldn't make my decision because I was instantly distracted. Not by the thug who had suddenly hopped onto my back, but by the two girls who had just popped into the room.

Harper and Olive.

“Harper!” I yelled, my eyebrows furrowing together as I struggled with the man on my back. “Why did you bring Olive?” Pulling at the arms of the man on my back, I glared at Olive, who looked like a deer caught in headlights. She was going to die
immediately
in this place.

Before Harper answered my question, she kicked one of Pedro's men in the temple and cracked the neck of the other, all in front of the frightened Olive. “She wanted to help save Cam, so I brought her,” she answered coolly, dodging a bullet. Olive screamed at the sound of the impact the bullet made against the wall.

Kicking my opponent in the groin, I ripped him off my back and snapped his neck. “But Harper, she'll die in here!” I yelled, tossing the guy into another. How many guys were there in this place?

“She won't if she stays out of our way,” Aspen responded, gripping Pedro in a chokehold. He looked toward Olive. “Go hide or something,” he ordered her, punching Pedro in the gut. Pedro returned his hit by stomping on his foot.

“Or you could fight like you wanted to,” Armando chimed in, whipping a bat into the skull of an adversary. “If you die, don't say I didn't warn you.” The man's head literally fell off of his shoulders from the blow. I shivered.

“Go get Cameron!” was my final order as I realized that Cameron was just lying on the floor there, a few feet away from Pedro and Aspen, still locked up in his chains. He was the reason we came here. If we could just get him out of this place, it wouldn't matter if Pedro and his cronies were still alive. All that would matter is that Cameron would be safe.

Olive stared at me, still frozen in place. I groaned. Her stupid behavior was not needed right now. “GO GET HIM, OLIVE!” I roared as loudly as I could, knocking her out of her frozen state.

Startled at my yell, she immediately sprinted toward Cameron's limp body, grasping him up and working at his chains. A moment of relief spread over my body. As long as she was tending to Cameron, everything would be alright.

Turning to look back at our targets, I saw that there were plenty other men to fight, all clad in their weaponry. We weren't done fighting, but at least none of us were dead yet.

Cameron

The sound of a loud clinking noise startled me from my stupor. Someone was hacking at my chains with an incredibly large rock, missing sometimes and catching my hands. I winced in pain at yet another hit.

“Ouch!” I cried, turning to glare at the perpetrator. But when I locked eyes with Olive, all feelings of hatred subsided. Where did she come from?

“Oops, sorry, Cameron,” she apologized, yanking at my chains. Her dark hair fell over her shoulder as she tugged at the metal. “I'm almost done here,” she said through gritted teeth. “Just one more pull and—yes!” The chain broke apart and fell to the floor. She hugged me before I could even bring my hands out from behind my back.

“Olive!” I cried, unable to contain my concern. “I told you to go back home! What are you doing here?” Somehow, right beneath the surface, I knew she wouldn't listen to me. She was in love with Cam and would do anything to save him, even if it meant getting her own self killed.

“I wanted to help, Cameron,” she said, helping me to my feet. But then she shoved me back down to the floor again. “Duck!” she cried, crouching over me. A bullet catapulted off of the wall behind our heads and flew elsewhere.

I gasped. They were
still
fighting?

Glancing around the room, not only did I see Anjolie kicking butt over there, but I also saw Armando combating some dude, another girl ripping at a guy's throat, and another guy wrestling with Pedro on the floor. “Who are they?” I asked Olive.

“Aspen and Harper,” she answered, panting as she hid behind me. “They're Cam's friends.”

I nodded. “Which means they have—”

“Powers,” Olive interrupted. “Yes, they have powers.”

I watched as the girl teleported from place to place, knocking out unsuspecting guys with incredible speed. If we weren't fending for our lives, the actual sight of a person separating her molecules like that would have intrigued me.

But we were fending for our lives.

“We need to get out of here,” I said, searching around the room for an exit. Then, spotting one in the back corner — the one that Anjolie blew up a while back — I grabbed Olive's hand and spun her around to me. “Run that way and don't stop, okay?” I said, peering into her eyes. “I'll get everyone else and we'll get out of here one way or another. Just get out of here now!”

But Olive pulled away from me. “No, Cameron! I'm here to help, not just take care of my own life!” She stepped away from me. “I'm not just some weak girl.
I'll
get everyone!” Before I could stop her, she ran into the battle scene, headed right toward Harper. I didn't have any time to doubt myself. I had to get in there also.

Running toward Anjolie, I caught her hand. “Let's go toward the exit! Get everyone out of here and run!” Pulling her hand with me, I shoved past some dude, surprisingly knocking him to the ground with all my strength. Man, I was powerful.

“Armando!” I yelled, passing him on my way to the exit. “Let's go!”

He didn't hesitate. Dropping his poles, he picked up Olive and raced toward the exit, sprinting ahead of us with incredible speed.

I searched for Cam's friends, but they were already popping here and there, closer and closer to the exit simultaneously. I thought about having them teleport us places, but that would mean leaving someone behind, and we couldn't have that right now.

Anjolie and I were the last ones out of the door. Anjolie was running backwards, shooting at guys with two pistols, one in each hand. There were so many guys following after us; it was a wonder how they just kept on coming back.

Now that we were out in the open, zillions of guys racing after us, the land was free game. Bullets flew here and there, disappearing into the sky or colliding with the ground as we dodged them. It was almost sunset, so I knew that 7:00 was right around the corner. If I could just get everyone to safety, all would be well. It would suck if I blacked out now. That would ultimately mean my death.

Aspen and Harper kept teleporting back into the mob every once in a while, killing one guy and then another, and then popping back over to us with smiles on their faces. This was all fun and games to them, it seemed; they were always laughing and having fun even when snapping a guy's head off.

But I was scared. I didn't have any special powers, no skills in any kind of combat, and no guns to shoot with. I was just running for my life, hoping that I wouldn't blackout. I looked back at the mob chasing after us, gasping as I saw the sight. There was just so many of them. How many men did Pedro have?

Innocent park-goers were screaming and running to safety, frightened at the crazy sight they were witnessing. I mean, I'd be frightened, too! How many times do you come across four teenagers running from an armed mob with two kids popping in and out of the mob every few seconds? That's probably the sight of a lifetime.

“There's too many of them!” Anjolie gasped, slowing down. She was tired, her breaths coming out all shaky and messy. I could tell that her energy was spent and that in a moment's time, she was going to pass out.

I grasped onto her waist and picked her up, holding her just like Armando was holding Olive. I was not about to let her faint on me. I could get her to safety one way or another. “Don't worry,” I said, struggling to breathe and run at the same time. But with Anjolie's added weight, this was very difficult. “We're going to get out of this. I prom—
ahh
!” I yelled, falling to the ground. A bullet caught my leg, forcing me to the ground.

Anjolie gasped. “Are you okay, Cameron?” she cried, helping me up. Her eyes were huge with fright.

I nodded, standing up and running again, ignoring the pain as best as I could. I couldn't stop now. I was going to blackout any minute from now. I needed to get us to safety.

My eyes widened in fear as I glanced back at the mob again. They were getting closer. If we didn't run faster, we were going to die. All of us. Even Aspen and Harper. I felt like giving up, praying to God for a way out of this mess. But there was no way out. Either we ran or we died, and running was getting harder and harder by the minute.

I picked up Anjolie again, ignoring her protests. She was too slow now. If she fell back any further, she would get caught in the mob. Running faster, I caught up to Armando, who had Olive slung over his shoulder.

“They're gaining on us!” I yelled at him, struggling to keep up.

Armando didn't look distressed at all. First of all, he was the fastest swimmer in our school. Secondly, he was the fastest sprinter in our school. He was just unstoppable. “Just keep running!” he ordered, sprinting faster.

I contemplated tossing Anjolie over his shoulder, but that would mean stopping to exchange her, and stopping right now wouldn't help our cause.

“We're gonna die, Armando!” I yelled at him helplessly. No matter how long we ran, they were still going to catch up sometime.

“No we won't!” he retorted. “Just keep on runni—”

The loud roaring of a large, black car shut out his words. Seeing headlights shine in front of us, I spun around just in time to see a black car just slam right into the mob behind us, rolling over each and every one of them like a bulldozer.

“YES!” Armando cried, hopping up and down. “YESYESYESYESYES!” His eyes were bright as he witnessed the scene.

The black car ran over the bad guys, crushing them under its tires and catapulting others far over our heads. When all mob-members were down, the driver's side window rolled down and Hudson's head popped out of it.

“Get in!” she yelled, waving her arm at us. Her chestnut hair spilled out of the window as she honked the horn.

None of us hesitated. Bolting toward the car, we all hopped into it, shutting the doors quickly. I tugged Anjolie onto my lap and shut my door. She panted heavily and whipped down her window.

“Anjolie, what are you doing?” I cried, trying to roll up the window.

She brought out her pistol and climbed halfway out the window, looking around. Then, spotting a figure in the distance, she shot at him, one, two, three bullets and he was down. Judging by the loud outcry of Spanish words, I knew that she had just shot and killed Pedro. Pedro slumped to the ground, blood pouring from his body and soaking into the ground.

“Got him,” Anjolie whispered and rolled up her window. I had to smile and shake my head at this.

Hudson was screaming as she sped the car out of the park and onto the highway. Armando just laughed as he gripped her shoulders tightly, kissing her all over the place.

Aspen and Harper high-fived each other and laughed, flipping off innocent bystanders as we zoomed away.

My last sight was of Olive taking a deep breath before I blacked out.