The Havoc Chronicles (Book II): Unbound (17 page)

I took off after him.

"Madison! Don't do it!" yelled Rhys.

There was no way I was going to stop. I could move quickly without looking conspicuous which made me the best candidate to catch this guy.

And I had a few questions for him.

Using my enhanced speed and reflexes, I twisted my way through the crowd faster than humanly possible. I weaved in and out always managing to stay a half step ahead of the moving people and find the path through them.

Unfortunately, getting through the crowd quickly meant some twists and turns which took the attacker out of my sight. By the time I got to where the attacker had been, I could no longer see him. I spun around searching for any sign of him. Farther down the street I caught sight of him pushing his way through the crowd – considerably slower than I could.

Once again, I waded into the crowd, this time being more careful to keep him in sight. I was much better at moving through the crowd, and I began to catch up to him. He looked back over his shoulder, saw me gaining on him, and changed direction, heading for an alley away from the crowds.

I followed him into a small side street and around a corner. My Berserker hearing caught the sound of the blow gun firing another bone dart just as I rounded the corner. I dropped to my knees and bent my body backwards, sliding under the dart. I watched it sail over and harmlessly past me.

I immediately jumped back up to discover I was completely alone in a dead end street.

My attacker had disappeared.    

To say that Dad and Rhys were upset with me for running off would be an understatement. It would be like saying that the surface of the sun is warm, or that Joan Rivers looks plastic.

I knew I had scared both of them, but I couldn't have let the attacker go without at least
trying
to stop him. I was the only one who could access some of my powers without fully 'zerking so I was the natural choice.

I just wished I had caught the attacker.

After Dad and Rhys caught up I continued to look around, trying to figure out where the attacker had gone. It was a dead end with no place to go, but he had somehow just... disappeared. My mind couldn't accept that explanation and kept going in circles looking for some clue I had missed that would show us where he had gone.

Nothing.

Dad and Rhys were both convinced that the attack was a set up. Someone had known Berserkers would come to investigate what was happening with the seal and had been prepared.

The yellow stuff on the bone dart was a toxin made from some rare plants found only in South America. The toxin would quickly kill an ordinary human. With Berserkers, it messed up their nervous system, causing vivid hallucinations and leaving them almost incapable of voluntary movement. It was the poison of choice for desperate people who wanted to capture a live Berserker to sacrifice on a seal.

And for that reason, Dad made arrangements to fly us home ASAP. It would mean a late-night arrival, but with the attacker still at large, Dad wasn't going to let me take any more chances.

Fortunately, the flight back was completely uneventful. I even slept through most of the final leg back to Portland.

When we got off the plane, I made it through customs quickly. The others had much more interesting travel histories with passports full of visas to exotic places and were more thoroughly questioned.

Once I had my bag, the security officers insisted that I keep moving and exit the customs area. I pulled my bag down a long hallway and through a secure door that opened into the general airport baggage claim.

I was surprised to see a group of familiar faces.

Eric, Aata, and Shing were all there along with three other men I didn’t know.  

Eric raced up and gave me a huge hug, picking me up and spinning me around. It was definitely over-the-top enthusiastic. Which was typical Eric.

Once I caught my breath, I gave Aata a hug – but not quite so energetic as the one Eric gave me. Even Shing hugged me, although he did look a little uncomfortable about it.

“Who are your friends?” I asked Eric.  

Eric leaned in conspiratorially and in an exaggerated stage whisper said, “They’re Berserkers.” He put his finger to his lips. “Shhhh.”

As much as he could get on my nerves at times, I couldn’t help smiling.

“Thanks for the warning,” I whispered back. “Do they have names?”

With a huge grin, one of the three stepped forward and made a deep bow that practically folded him in half. He was an extremely tall African man – well over six and a half feet tall. His skin was darker than any other person I had ever seen. He appeared to be in his mid forties and had close cropped, slightly graying hair. The lithe grace of his motions made me think he would be extremely quick for someone his size.

“My name is Davu,” he said once he had straightened up. His smile made his eyes crinkle up in crow’s feet. He was the oldest looking Berserker I had seen – maybe even older than Shing. How old was he?

The second person appeared about my age. His light brown hair was poker straight and cut long so it partially obscured his face. I could make out a long, straight nose and a rather prominent chin with a cleft in it.

“Pleasure to meet you,” he said, in a difficult to understand mumble. “My name’s Arthur Cooper.” As I took his hand, I noticed he had extremely long, delicate fingers – almost feminine, but I decided not to mention that.

The third person wore cowboy boots, a Stetson hat, and exclusively denim clothing. He looked to be in his early twenties, and his tanned face showed several days’ worth of stubble. He made a sweeping bow, removing his hat to reveal dark curly hair. He then took my hand and said, “Name’s Josiah. Josiah Smith.” His voice had a slight hint of a southern twang in it. He lifted my hand and was about to kiss it when I politely – but firmly – extracted it. He grinned and gave me a wink, completely unabashed.

Another Berserker flirt. Just what we needed.

Well, he wasn’t a bad looking guy, but he was
so
not my type. Besides, I had Rhys.

A few minutes later Dad, Rhys, and Kara exited from customs.

“Scotty!” Eric shouted, and gave my dad a huge bear hug. Dad rolled his eyes.

The next few minutes were full of hugs, bows, and handshakes as everyone greeted each other.

I did notice that Kara and Aata were very careful to avoid each other. They did such a good job that it was glaringly obvious how aware they were of each other.

It broke my heart to see them like this. I just wished they could find a way to make it work. My dad and mom had made it work. They had been happy together.

Well, maybe that wasn’t the best example.

***

As soon as we got home, Dad went to bed. He stumbled into his room and disappeared. Unlike me, he hadn’t slept on the plane and was exhausted. I had slept enough that despite the late hour I wasn’t ready to go to sleep when we got home. Instead I unpacked and put everything away. Once that was done, I crawled into bed and read a book.

Once my eyelids started to droop, I turned out the lights and closed my eyes. I was just starting to drift to sleep when I felt the unmistakable sensation of someone ‘zerking. My eyes flew open, sleep forgotten. Was one of the Berserkers in danger?

Within seconds I had jumped out of bed and yanked on some jeans and a blouse. I was about to go downstairs when I heard something hit my bedroom window.

I pushed back the curtains and threw open the window... just in time to get hit in the head with a very small rock.

“Sorry!” said a voice from below.

I looked down and saw Eric, holding a handful of gravel, looking sheepish. Next to him were two of the new Berserkers, Josiah – in full ‘zerk – and Arthur, looking sullen, with his hands jammed into his pockets.

“What do you want?” I hissed.

“Can Madison come out and play?” asked Eric, giving me his most insolent grin.

“It’s after one O’clock,” I said. “Sane people are in bed now.”

“Ah,” said Eric. “That would explain why I’m out of bed. Come on, don’t be so dutiful. You need a little insanity in your life.”

I did my best not to react to Eric’s goad. I knew him well enough now to know when he was trying to push my buttons. I wasn’t going to take the bait.

“It’s late,” I said. “I’m going to bed.” I reached up and started to close the window.

“Come on,” said Eric. “Don’t make me get out my boom box and start playing sappy 80’s love songs until you come out.”

Despite my best efforts to keep a straight face I let out a laugh. Great, that would only encourage him. How could he have possibly known how much I loved the movie “Say Anything?” I was torn between wanting to keep laughing and the desire to yell at him to leave me alone.

I was about to tell Eric that it would take more than that to get me out when I felt two pairs of strong hands grab me and pull me through the window.

For an instant I was falling, and instinctively I ‘zerked – only to be caught a second later by three sets of Berserker hands and gently set on my feet.

I whirled to see who had pulled me out of the window. Aata and Davu were perched on the roof to either side of my bedroom waving at me. I hadn’t realized they were there because I had assumed that Josiah was the only source of the ‘zerking.

Aata and Davu jumped down from the second story, landing with easy grace. Aata put his arm around me.

“Come on,” he said. “Don’t be mad. It was the only way we were going to get you out of the house for your initiation.”

Initiation? That didn’t sound so good. The word conjured images of sorority hazing rituals designed to humiliate the pledges. No thanks, not my thing.

“Yeah, well, I’m going to pass all the same.”

Eric rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Come on, Miss Perfect. Don’t be so uptight. You’ve been hanging around Rhys too long. All his responsible behavior is rubbing off on you.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Only because it is.”

By now I was surrounded by Eric, Aata, Davu, Josiah, and Arthur, and I could tell I wasn’t going to be able to talk my way out of this. I didn’t think they would resort to actually kidnapping me, but I didn’t completely rule out that possibility either.

I had no desire to participate in whatever initiation they had planned, but I could tell this was important to Eric, and despite his crazy bravado, I knew he wouldn’t deliberately put me in danger. I could forcefully tell them to go away, and most likely they would. Or I could give in and see what Eric was up to.

With a pronounced sigh, I said, “What did you have in mind?”

Eric grinned. “You’ll see.”

Before I knew what was happening, we had all piled into the Range Rover – a snug fit – and were heading up the Columbia River gorge.

When we pulled into the deserted parking lot of Multnomah Falls, a huge waterfall and a popular tourist attraction, I had serious second thoughts.

“You’re not thinking what I’m afraid you’re thinking?” I asked.

“Oh, yes he is,” said Davu.

Multnomah Falls was actually two waterfalls on top of each other. The first waterfall dropped into a large pool five hundred and forty feet below. The pool emptied off a cliff into another pool seventy feet farther down. The second fall was spanned by a cement bridge that made for a rather picturesque scene.

We climbed out of the car and ‘zerked, easily jumping the chains that blocked the trail leading to the falls. I had hiked to the top before and it consisted of dozens of steep switchbacks. Back then I had to stop and rest several times, but tonight – or was that this morning? – we reached the summit in a matter of minutes.

I looked at the cascading water tumbling over the edge. This wasn’t my first time at the falls, but looking at the pool below with the idea of jumping off made the drop look higher than I remembered.

Davu, Arthur, Josiah, and Aata were already wading into the water, wrestling around, each trying to pick the others up and throw them over the falls.

I stayed on the edge of the path, reluctant to get into the water as the idea of getting wet while fully dressed had an appeal far to the left of zero on a number line. Eric stayed by my side, watching the antics of the other Berserkers. After several minutes of a crazy free-for-all, Davu, Arthur, and Aata teamed up to throw Josiah over the edge.