Rising (34 page)

“Rise,”
said
Bölverk
.
 
“Do your work.”

He waited
for his first meal.
 
His dutiful slave
along with another dragged a large human from one of the tall buildings.
 
It was a male, well-built and strong, but
trembling with fear shining in its bright eyes.
Bölverk
did not hesitate, having waited too long for his first
feeding.
 
His razor-sharp arm impaled
flesh and bone, sucking out the human’s life energy within seconds and
transforming its body into a charred shell.
 
Three ash-eaters slithered forward, inhaling the repast of
leftovers.
 
Bölverk
closed
his eyes, sensing the pleasure of fresh energy pulsing through his body,
relishing the new life strengthening every part of him.
 
This morsel merely whetted his appetite.
 
His glowing yellow eyes popped open, slit
like a serpent’s glare.
 
He gave the
command his dutiful slave was awaiting.

“Next.”

13

CLARA

I was used to Jeremy taking over the
radio in Gabe’s Jeep.
 
He was leaning
over the stick shift to change the playlist on his iPod plugged into the radio
adaptor.
 
We were halfway across the
land-bridge, and Gabe was cruising like a bat out of hell.

“Dude, I’ve got to switch gears,” Gabe said
in a very annoyed tone.

“Got it.
 
No problem, man.
 
Just thought Guns ‘n Roses might be more
appropriate for our current situation.”

A guitar solo and Axel Rose’s
screeching yell blared out the opening of “Welcome to the Jungle.”
 
I suppose Jeremy was alluding to the fact
that our lives had taken a sudden turn into a dark and dangerous place.

“Do you have a playlist for everything
in life?” I called back to him.

“Absolutely.
 
There’s a song for everything and everyone.”

“Really?” I asked, quite curious. “What
would be my theme song?”

There was no hesitation which was a
little weird.

“ ‘Firewoman’
by The Cult.”
                                   

I twisted around, sitting sideways in
my seat.
 
Jeremy had that crazy grin on
his face.
 
His eyes were hidden by
streaks of black wind-blown hair.

“Well, thanks.
 
I think.
 
That’s not a bad theme song,” I finally said.
 
“What about Ben?”

He had to think about this one.
 
Gabe was brooding about something next to
me.
 
I don’t know if he was irritated
with Jeremy’s flirty mood or just ignoring us altogether.
 
It was hard to tell these days.
 
He seemed farther and farther away.

“I’d have to say,” said Jeremy, “ ‘
Singin
’ in the Rain’ by Gene Kelley.”

I couldn’t help myself.
 
I busted out laughing.
 
I’d seen that old Hollywood musical with my dad
once where the tap-dancing Gene Kelley just sings merrily away while the rain
pours down on him.
 
That was definitely
Ben—happily clueless.

“Who’s Gene Kelley?” asked Ben, still
staring at his arms where the light was fading.
  

Need I say more.

“Okay,” I said.
 
“What about you?”

“That’s easy.
 
‘Master of Puppets’ by the almighty
Metallica.
 
Oh, yeah.”

“You wish,” said Ben.

I rolled my eyes.
 
He was so full of himself.

“How about Gabe?” I asked.

“
Ooo
, that’s
a tough one.
 
Let’s see,” he said,
glancing around.
 
We had just turned back
onto the highway leading into Beau
Chêne
.
 

“Man, I’m starving,” interrupted
Ben.
 
“Let’s stop at Wendy’s.”

Gabe nodded, but was still silent.
 
I was distracted from Jeremy’s light
entertainment by the way Gabe’s aura was transforming from its mostly purple
hue to its usual rainbow of color.

“You know,” I said to him, “your aura
changes when you use your power.”

“Really?” he said, sounding completely
disinterested.

“Yeah.
 
It turns a dark purplish-blue, and it seems to wind around you like
intertwining ropes.”

He didn’t even respond.
 
Not even a grunt.

“Okay, then,” I mumbled to myself.

We were coming up to the overpass when
we saw the traffic.
 
The outgoing lane
heading north through Lafayette was bumper to bumper.

“What’s that all about?” Gabe asked to
no one in particular.

“Maybe there’s a wreck,” I suggested,
but then I noticed that too many of the cars and SUV’s had suitcases strapped
to the roof.
 
“Oh, no.
 
That doesn’t look good.”

Gabe abruptly turned off the iPod and
unplugged the adaptor to flip on the radio.
 
Jeremy didn’t protest.
 
Something
had happened while we were in no man’s land all day.
 
I pulled out my iPhone now that we were in
range of towers.

“I’ve missed three calls from home,” I
said.

“Two for me,” said Ben.

Gabe flipped the radio to a station out
of Lafayette.
 
Sure enough, there was no
music playing, only the news.
 
The
normally perky DJ was droning on in a not-so-cheery voice.

“Officials say that Contra-flow will be
in effect within the hour so that all lanes of Highway 90 will move more easily
along the hurricane evacuation routes.
 
The newest tracking has Hurricane Lucy still heading northwest.
 
I’m afraid it hasn’t veered from its earlier
course this morning, which puts the eye traveling directly over New Orleans.
 
Experts are baffled at the sudden and
remarkable speed at which it has increased, now moving at 33 miles per hour,
faster than any hurricane in recorded history. . . .”

My pulse was pounding in my chest.
 
My throat had suddenly gone dry.
 
It was really happening.

“Pull in to Wendy’s, Gabe,” Ben called
from the backseat.

“Are you kidding me!
 
Are you really hungry at a time like this?”

I was having trouble getting a hold of
myself.

“Yeah,” said Ben, completely
unflustered, “I need food.
 
Besides, I
can find out a little more of what’s going on if we stop.”

Gabe careened into the parking lot. I
nearly fell into his lap, even with my seatbelt on.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

Ben climbed out of the back and jogged
inside with Jeremy right behind him.

“Do you want anything?” Gabe asked me.

“Are you kidding?”

“Yeah, I feel the same way.”

Gabe didn’t go in with the other
two.
 
I snapped open my cell and dialed
home.
 
Mom picked up on the second ring.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Where are you, Clara?
 
I’ve been trying you all morning.
 
Do you know that the hurricane is heading
this way?”

“Yeah.
 
I just found out.”

“Just found out?
 
Where have you been?”

“
No where
.
 
Just tell me what’s going on.”

Mom was used to my vague and evasive
answers by now.
 
Our conversations always
ran somewhere along these lines, but her voice had a high-pitched hysterical
tone to it that was beyond the norm.

“It’s expected to make landfall this
afternoon.
 
Your dad’s been outside,
putting everything from the yard in the garage, and I had to face
Walmart
to get water, batteries, and everything by
myself.
”

Geez, she could make me feel guilty.

“Well, are we evacuating?” I asked.

“To where?” she screeched another
octave higher.
 
“Everybody the south of
us is blocking up the interstates, trying to get away from the coast.
 
Besides, your father says we’ll be safe here
since the bad winds are on the east side and we’ll be getting the west side of
it, but it will still knock out the electricity.
 
We’ll be out of power for who knows how
long.
 
I want you home right away.”

My mom was always a little
melodramatic, but this time there was actually reason to be.
 
I started to tremble, because I knew there
was much more to fear than rough winds and a power outage, but I couldn’t
explain that to my mom.
 
Was this all
really happening?

“I’ll be home soon,” I promised and
hung up before she could fuss at me anymore.

There was a buzz of cars moving around
the parking lot.
 
People were making
quick pit-stops for food and bathroom breaks, then jetting back onto the
interstate. Gabe was stewing in silence, watching a couple in his rearview
mirror scurry into Wendy’s with two toddlers waddling between them.

“So, what’s going on with you?” I
asked.

He jerked his head sideways to look at
me.

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean.
 
You’re blocking me out.
 
I want to know why.”

He got that dumbfounded look on his
face like the first time he’d given me a ride home.
 
I think he was always shocked whenever I said
whatever I was thinking.
 
I was born
without a filter.
 
What could I say?

“I’m not blocking you out.
 
I’ve just been thinking about things,” he
said, staring at his hands gripping the steering wheel.

“What
things
?” I said, unable to keep the ice out of my voice.

“I’m just worried, Clara.
 
That vision I saw today.
 
They died because they were
too
close to each other.
 
I think they may have been responsible for
the death of the whole clan.”

“What are you saying?” I asked, feeling
fire in my cheeks.
 
Maybe Jeremy was
right about my song.
 
“That I would let
anything happen to you or our friends or anyone I cared about?”

“Of course not, Clara.
 
I don’t think you would mean to.
 
It’s just complicated—”

“No!
 
No, it’s not complicated!
 
You’re
just making it complicated.
 
It’s quite
simple.
 
We both care about each other,
so we should be together.
 
How the hell
is that complicated?”

There was a sick burning in the pit of
my stomach.
 
I could feel the acid churn,
making me nauseous.
 
I couldn’t believe
this.
 
He wouldn’t talk, and I couldn’t
shut myself up.

“I can’t believe you’re even thinking
about having this conversation with me when you know what’s heading in our
direction right now.
 
If ever I needed
you, it’s now.
 
But, you’ve got to pull
that stupid dumb boy ‘it’s complicated’ crap on me.
 
Maybe you’re afraid, but I’m not.
 
I know how I feel.
 
And there’s no way in hell that I’d let
anything happen to you, or my friends, or my family, or even complete strangers
for that matter, just because of how I feel about you. If you’re so scared,
then maybe you should just—”

“Man, my mom’s pissed!” yelled Ben,
climbing over the back and hopping into the backseat, while digging for fries
in his bag.
 
“She’s been worried about me
all morning, trying to get me to go home.”

“That’s funny, because neither of my
parents even bothered to call me,” said Jeremy, climbing in next to him,
slurping on a drink.

I was seething.
 
I stared out the window, refusing to talk to
anyone.
 
Especially Gabriel!
 
Idiot.

“What did you find out?” asked Gabe
quietly, starting up the Jeep.

“Just that the whole town has gone totally
insane,” said Jeremy, “everybody’s trying to get what they need before we lose
power. They can’t put us on mandatory evacuation because the hurricane is
moving too fast and the entire city of New Orleans and surrounding parishes
have to get out since it’s headed right at them.”