Project ELE (25 page)

"What? No." He says with very little conviction.

"Yes, he did. I've been listening to your thoughts and over and over again you've been saying that you are so mad at me and how could I do this? What exactly were you mad about?" I ask. "Did you know I had lied to you?"

He thinks about it and then takes a step back from me. "No, I don't think I knew. I mean, you just told me but..."

I step back towards him not letting him off the hook. I hold my hands to each side of his face and make him stare at me. "He compelled you Alec. He told you to be mad at me." I say it with force in hopes that he will listen to me.

"HE HAD TO HAVE! I’M GOING TO KILL HIM. I’M…SO…MA…NO!” Alec cuts his own line of thinking off at the pass. He grimaces and jerks away from me again. "That bastard! I'm going to kill him!"

"Not if I get to him first! He had absolutely no right!" I'm feeling utterly furious. I don't know Zack's motive but it doesn't matter, I'm pissed!

Alec seems to calm down a bit. He looks remorseful. "I TREATED HER SO HORRIBLY.”

"No!" I say. He looks confused at my having heard his thoughts. I continue. "You did not treat me horribly. Sure you were mad at me but Alec, I deserve this! I don't know why exactly Zack compelled you to be mad at me but you really honestly did have the right be mad at me. I lied to you and went behind your back. That is completely unacceptable! I'm so sorry!"

"Willow." He whispers.

A loud clapping erupts behind me followed by a sinister laugh that echoes against the cave walls. I turn to see Zack standing near the entrance to the second cave. He's clapping brashly. "Bravo! Bravo!" Alec takes me by the hips and moves me behind him. I stare over his shoulder grateful for the protection.

I glare at Zack. My insides feel like they are on fire and my heart starts hammering in my chest. How did he know we were here? Better yet, how did he find this place?

"That was such an impassioned plea Willow! I nearly yelled out that I forgive you for poor Alec." He sets his gaze on Alec. "She's a firecracker. I would think you might be a little too good for her. That whole gentleman thing you've got going on doesn't seem to mesh with her bad girl persona if you know what I mean buddy." He says laughing again. Zack seems far too comfortable in his own skin. Almost like he could take the world on his shoulders if he deemed fit.

I watch Alec's fists clench up and his muscles on his forearms tense. "I'm not your buddy and don't you dare talk about her that way." Alec starts walking forward but I pull his arm back.

"No Alec, leave him alone. He's dangerous." I whisper the last part hoping Zack didn’t catch on. That was a very sensible thing for me to say especially when I really wanted to see Zack's face pummeled in. "What are you doing here anyhow Zack?" I ask vehemently.

"Well I heard this is where all the cool kids hang." Even though he is across the room I can still see that trademark sly smile of his. I want to slap it off his lips.

I start stomping his way but Alec keeps his arms taught, not allowing me through. "Willow, why don't you get out of here? I can deal with Zack."

"No way!" I say.

Alec spins around and tries to convince me with his eyes to leave, but I don't succumb. Knowing that I'm not going anywhere, he turns back and yells, "What do you want Zack?"

Zack holds his hands out, "Well I wanted to invite you to the party. Come on in." He gestures for us to join him. Neither of us move so Zack adds, "Hurry up now, your friends are waiting."

Connor and Claire! I forgot they were in there. A sick feeling knots in my stomach. Alec must have the same feeling because he turns and whispers in my ear, "Run Willow. Go get help." I look back up at him and slightly shake my head. I couldn't leave! Not now.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Zack yells catching on to what Alec is trying to get me to do. We turn to see him shaking his finger at us. "You’re both invited to this party. He looks behind my back and I turn to see a large, bouncer worthy man blocking the tunnel that leads to our freedom. "Come on!" He yells more impatiently this time.

Alec grabs my hand and we slowly make our way towards Zack.

"Ah, lovebirds. It's sickening, really." He turns and leads us down the narrow tunnel, leading us to the other cave.

I crawl through it. I have to take several breaths as my chest starts constricting. The walls seem to be closing in on me and my heart skips a beat. I feel the dizziness wash over me as a panic attack starts. Alec squeezes my hand ever so slightly and a warm feeling succumbs me. The panic subsides. I wonder for a second if it was just my knowing that I'm not alone or if it is Alec's healing ability that made it go away.

I don't have time to ponder it much when we step out into the cave. The sun is shining brightly on the pool of water. This cave feels more warm and humid than the inner cave does. I wonder how much hotter it must be outside if the small amount of sunlight in this cave can heat it even though it's still several hundred feet below ground.

"Ah, our guests have arrived." I look up to see Dr. Hastings staring at us. Next to him on the floor are Connor and Claire. Another man stands next to them. He's holding a gun to Claire's head.

"What's going on?" I direct my question towards Zack who has come to stand next to me. My heartbeat picks up seeing that cold steel barrel pointed at my best friends head.

He looks at me with an amused expression. "We are just cleaning up some loose ends here."

"Over here." The man with the gun waives at Alec. "You sit."

I look to Alec. We silently agree that now is not the time to fight.

We start moving forward but Zack puts his hand on my shoulder stopping me. "Not you sugar." My blood boils! It must have set Alec off as well because he lunges at him. I get knocked over by them and I watch the fight from my place on the ground.

Alec pulls his hand back and takes a swing for Zack's face. I inwardly cheer as it makes contact with his jaw. Zack recovers quickly and punches Alec in the eye. Alec tackles Zack and they both go plummeting into the water. I hadn't realized how close they were to the edge.

Dr. Hastings walks over to the man with the gun and takes it from him so that the man can go and retrieve his son. Or Alec, whichever one came first. The man splashes into the water and pulls Alec out by the back of his shirt. Alec is still swinging but the man outweighs him by nearly double. He pulls him out of the water with minimal struggle and pushes Alec to the ground next to Connor.

Zack rubs his jaw as he climbs out of the water. He's soaking wet and his shoes make a squeaking sound as he walks. I expect him to go after Alec again but he does something even more dangerous. He walks to my side and throws his arm around my shoulder. The cold water dripping off of him seeps into my clothes and I shiver. Alec tries to jump up but the sound of the safety being removed from the gun makes him rethink his next move. The man must have grabbed it back from Dr. Hastings because he now points it directly at Alec's temple.

I stand frozen underneath Zack's arm. Worry for Alec and my friends paralyzes me. I must look scared because Alec ignores the gun pointing at him and tries to stand up again. A gunshot rings out. It echoes dangerously through the cave as Alec falls to the ground.

"No!" I yell out. I unfreeze in that second. I stomp with all my might onto Zack's left foot and elbow him as hard as I can in his stomach. I take satisfaction in hearing the air whoosh out of Zack's lungs.

I don't take time to savor the slight victory though. I run to Alec and slide down in front of him. His head is slumped forward and I worry at first that he may be unconscious or worse yet, dead. I look around trying to find where he was hit. The blood is seeping out of his right shoulder. His eyes look glassy and disoriented. My heart is beating so frantically that I can feel it in my throat. I have to blink away the tears that are blurring my vision. He can't die!

The man aims his gun towards Connor and Claire when they try to come help me. "Move away." The man orders to me.

I ignore him and start ripping at Alec's shirt. The bleeding has soaked through.

"Let her be." Dr. Hastings chimes.

I find the bullet hole. I'm guessing the bullet exited his body by the size of the wound. In movies and on television that always seems to be a good sign. Alec grunts in pain so I try to lay him back on the ground. I imagine that Alec's healing abilities would probably heal this size of a wound in a few minutes. I can't stand the pained expression on his face though so I decide not to wait on his inner healing abilities.

I've never tried to heal anyone before so I don't know if I can, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. I pull him up into my arms and then I press both of my hands on each side of his shoulder over the entry and exit wounds. I focus with all that I can on healing him. I feel a type of energy going out of my hands. A slight tingling sensation reaches all the way up my arm. I don't know if what I'm doing is helping until Alec takes a deep breath. I pull my hands back and examine the wound. It's closed up completely. I let out my own sigh of relief and my heart starts steadying out.

Alec sits up next to me slowly. He still seems sore, which makes sense; what, with having just been shot and all. He leans his forehead against mine and says, "Thank you," in a breathy whisper.

A few tears escape my eyes as I realize he's going to be okay. I'd never been so scared in my life than when I heard that gunshot ring out.

"Remarkable." Dr. Hastings breaks the silence. "Is there anything you can't do Willow?"

I glare up at Dr. Hastings who seems to be eyeing me like he would a multi-million dollar experiment. "Apparently not. You should let us go now before I bring down the wrath of my powers on you." I stand up and try to look menacing hoping that my cheesy fake out line will work.

He eyes me appraisingly and then smiles. "I don't believe you have that type of power yet my dear."

Urgh! What is it with these Hastings men and their use of not-so-endearing terms?

"Anyhow. I'm not done with you yet." He looks down at his tablet. "Oh, we better get going. We have a lot to do."

"Yep, time to go sugar." Zack says with venom in his voice. I don't move and a second later he grabs a handful of my curly hair and pulls me by it. I yelp as I feel my hair pulling at my scalp. Tears spring to my eyes and I hastily jump up.

Alec tries to help me but the man puts the gun against his temple. He says in a low terrifying voice, "This time I'm going in for the kill. I recommend you don't move."

Alec looks so torn so I say, "I'm okay."

Zack throws his arm around my shoulder again but squeezes me uncomfortably tight against him. He's making sure there is no room for an elbowing of any sort. I wouldn't have done it anyhow. I don't want to do anything that would make Alec tempt the man with the gun again.

"Let's get on with it." Dr. Hastings says rather bored. He waves his hand over his shoulder as if shooing us off and then exits the cave.

"Yep, I've grown bored with this party. I recommend you stay as far from the exit as you can." He says to my friends. He turns and looks at me, "Shall we?" He doesn't wait for a response. He grabs my arm tightly and starts pulling me towards the exit.

I plant my feet into the ground and try to hold my place but he just drags me a long. "Let me go!" I scream looking back at my friends.

The man with the gun is backing up but continues to have his gun trained on them. When he reaches us he turns it on me. "Move and she's dead." The man calls to Alec who has already gotten to his feet. "Sit!" The man demands pressing the gun into my temple. I can feel the cold steel and it sends prickling goose bumps cascading down my arms.

"Willow." Alec calls.

"Alec!" I yell as Zack pulls me into the tunnel. I fight him but it's no use. I hadn't realized how strong Zack was. He drags me through the tunnel. I feel the cold earth slicing at my body but I refuse to make this easy on him. I kick and scream. The man with the gun crawls through the tunnel backwards, ready to shoot anyone who tries to follow.

When we are all out on the other side, Zack calls into the tunnel again. "I really recommend that if you are near this tunnel that you get as far away from it as possible!"

The bouncer looking guy who blocked our exit to the first cave is standing near us now. In his hand is a stick of dynamite. He lights the long cord and realization strikes me cold. They are going to trap my friends! "Get back!" I yell into the tunnel. "They have explosives!"

Zack pulls me away from the tunnel towards the main cave's exit. The man throws the dynamite into the tunnel and we all hastily retreat. A minute passes before a deafening explosion rings out and the ground shakes. I nearly lose my balance but Zack rights me back up and continues dragging me out of the cave. My entire body goes numb and my heart drops! My friends were in there! I have no way of knowing if they are dead or alive. They have no escape, that’s if they’re even alive.

Think, think, think! I have to make my brain work if I have any hope of surviving this. As of now it’s three against one and those odds are surely not in my favor. I think about all the abilities I have exhibited over the past few weeks. My only guess is I must have all the powers of my friends combined. I try and make a list in my head.