Earth Blend (21 page)

She remembered being so angry. Julie
wanted to hurt him, no, she wanted him
dead.
She grabbed his hand and tried with all
her might, but it didn't work. “What did I do wrong?”

The car seemed to slow, and then she
felt it stop
. Julie listened. She heard Luke exit the car; the slamming
of the door was a normal slam, not one of an angry man. Listening
again, she heard footsteps. His footfalls on the ground sounded
firm and hard. He was on cement, not gravel. During her time with
them, they had taken her many places. She learned to listen to the
sounds of where they were. The familiar clank of the gas pump and
rush of gasoline as it filled the tank was very loud inside the
trunk. Footsteps again lead away from the car. She heard voices in
the distance.

She felt around the inside of the
trunk once more. Her hands grasped a piece of plastic hanging from
the trunk lid.
Inside trunk release, this must be a newer
car
. Pulling
down on it hard, her short lived euphoric moment vanished, as it
broke off into her hands.
Silly me to think he would not have sabotaged
it
. Moving
more toward the interior of the car, she started pushing on the
back seat. After a moment, one of the seats leaned inward. Julie
was able to crawl through onto the backseat. She peeked out the
back window and saw Luke inside the store, paying for the gasoline.
Crouching back down, she pulled on the door handle on the opposite
side. Nothing, it wouldn't open.
Child safety locks,
great
. She
had only one other option.

She crawled into the front, checking one
more time on Luke. He was coming out of the door, heading for the
car. There were no keys in the ignition, not that she knew how to
drive, but she would have gambled on it if they were there.

Keeping herself low, she pulled the door
handle on the front door and pushed it open just enough for her to
squeeze through. She hear his footsteps coming closer as she pushed
the driver door closed. Trying to gauge whether he was coming
around the front or the rear of the car, her gut told her he was
coming around the front. She forgot, her gut was usually wrong. She
scooted closer to the rear when she heard him stop at the trunk.
She heard him click the button on the remote and look inside the
trunk. It was now or never. She took off running, through the pumps
and down the road.

Julie ran as fast as she could, but sensed
him coming up behind her quickly. She knew she was not going to be
able to outrun him. Her only hope was that someone saw the
commotion and called the police. There was a cornfield to her
right, and she veered into it and began to zigzag through, hoping
to lose him. Luck was not with her and he soon tackled her to the
ground. She was not going back without a fight. Crawling forward
worked for only a few inches until he turned her over on her back
and began punching her.

“
What... have... I... told... you?” He
shouted, raining blows down upon her.

As her fear and anger rose, she felt
something turn on inside of her. An indescribable rage took over
and she found the strength to grab hold of his arms. She sent her
anger into him with all her might, but again nothing happened.

He broke free of her grip and gave her one
last punch that sent her into darkness.

Luke stood, wiping the sweat from his brow
and looking down at her. He touched his arms where she held him;
they felt warm. He scowled down at her. She was up to something,
that much he knew. “You learned a new trick but haven't figured out
how to use it yet.” Luke said. The look of rage on her face was one
he had never seen before. She was stronger, too. “I'll keep beating
you down until you remember who's boss.”

Luke walked back to the car and looked
around. No one had seen anything. The old man behind the counter
was still watching his old television. “Gotta love hick towns.” He
said and drove his car down the road to where he left Julie. He
dumped her body back into the trunk. “Onward.” He said, and got
behind the wheel.

He took out his prepaid cell phone he
brought inside the store. “At least they had some interesting stuff
in there.”

As he began driving, he caught sight of
something in the distance. It looked dark and foreboding. He
stepped on the gas and drove faster. The faster he went, the faster
it came. As it got closer, he knew what it was. “Damn Earthlings.”
A tornado was building up steam and heading down the same road Luke
was driving on. He knew this trick; they had used it before. “Not
this time.” He said and made a left turn that put him a half a mile
from the center of Tennessee. The closer he got, the more populated
the area became. The tornado backed off. His gamble had paid off.
All he had to do was stay in a public area, they would not risk a
lot of casualties. He was just inside the city limits of Knoxville
when he remembered a warehouse that the organization owned. Using
the phone, he called over there. After five rings, someone picked
up.

“
Eric
.”

Luke remembered Eric, a tall, blond haired
man who ran the organization's illegal music and movies division.
The warehouse was also used as a drug distribution and chemical
storage facility.

“
Hey Eric, it's Luke. How's business?”
Luke kept his eyes peeled to his surroundings. He knew they would
not give up so easily.

“
Luke? Is that really you? Everyone
said you were dead. No one's heard from you in over a month. Did
you find that numbers chick?
”

“
Laneys' safe and sound. In fact, I'm
about ten minutes from you. Put a ramp down on one of those loading
docks so I can drive my car in. I got some unwelcome
tails.”

“
Want us waiting locked and
loaded?”

“
We need special bullets for these
guys. I'll fill you in when I get there, just be
waiting.”

“
Roger that.
”

Luke hung up and sped to the destination.
Hail began to pelt the car, making it hard for him to see. The wind
was blowing wildly, causing the car to shift. He finally made it to
the warehouse and barreled the car up the ramp just a big gust
rattled the warehouse. Luke jumped out of the car. “Lock it down!
Now!” He shouted.

The men scrambled to securely shut the
loading bay. One man went out to try and shove the ramp back under
when a mini tornado came along and scooped him up and away.

“
What the hell?” Eric
shouted.

“
Just shut it!” Luke yelled
again.

Finally the door was secured but the wind
still raged wildly outside.

“
Who the hell is after you? Mother
nature?”

Luke laughed, “Pretty much.”

“
Where's Laney?”

Luke reached in and grabbed his keys,
clicking the button for the trunk.

Eric looked in and smiled.

Laney felt someone jostling her. She slowly
opened her eyes and saw a familiar face leering down at her.

“
Hey beautiful, remember me?” Eric
reached in and touched her hair. “Blonde...nice. Hot brunette to a
hot blonde. I like.”

“
Don't touch me.” She scooted back
further in the trunk. She remembered him. He had been part of a
group of men Luke threw a party for. She was forced to attend. Eric
got extremely drunk and …. She pushed the thought into the back of
her brain. She did not want to remember that night.

“
Drag her out of there. You got
someplace I can lock her up?”

“
The drug room.” Eric
suggested.

“
Do it. I gotta take a leak.” Luke
said, and left Julie in the hands of Eric.

“
What about the tails?”

“
I have plans for them, meet me in the
office.”

“
Come out and play.” Eric said,
reaching in for Julie.

She was using her feet to kick him so
he grabbed a hold of them and dragged her out. He blocked her fists
as she began to fight him. “When did you get so feisty?” He said
and pinned her arms by her side. “That's better.” He said when she
stopped struggling. He lowered his face to kiss her and she butted
her head into his mouth. He released her and
grabbed his now-bloodied
mouth.
“You
little bitch.” He said. He dropped to his knees after she kicked
him in the groin. “What did you do, take self-defense classes or
something?” That was the last thing he said as she punched him in
the face, knocking him out cold.

Julie looked down at the body that was not
moving. She stared down at it, expecting it to get up and challenge
her again. She blinked a few times and swayed before refocusing
again on the body. She dropped to her knees as the images replayed
in her mind. She had done this to him.

Luke was wondering what was taking Eric so
long and went to check on him. He found Julie on her knees staring
down at the bloodied body of Eric. “What the hell happened?” He
asked rushing over.

Julie didn't answer, she just kept
staring

Luke jostled Eric but did not take his eyes
off of Julie.

Eric groaned and opened his eyes.

“
What happened?” Luke
asked.

“
Where is she?” He sat up and stared
angrily at Julie. “Little bitch beat the crap out of
me.”

“
She's a kid. How could she beat the
crap out of you?” Luke asked. He looked suspiciously at her. She
had been very combative. Although right now, she looked her usual
passive self. Luke grabbed her leg and pulled her over to them.
“Heal him.”

“
No,” Eric said, stumbling to his
feet. “I don't want her touching me.”

“
Fine, then suffer. Let's get her in
the drug room.” He stood. “Get up.” He ordered her.

The drug room was a room where any
drug deals that were made took place in. It was a stark white
hospital-looking room with a Formica, picnic-like table in the
middle and a sink against the back wall. There was small cot off to
the right. This was the room they locked Julie in. She crawled up
onto the cot and pulled her knees up. She was still trying to
figure out what happened.
It was like she blocked out the events.
She looked down at
her hands and clenched them into fists, then relaxed them again.
She didn't see how she could have hurt anyone with her small hands,
yet the images in her mind showed her doing so. “What's happening
to me?”

All the Earthlings gathered around the
warehouse that they tracked Luke's car to. They continued to batter
the building with wind and rain while they awaited the arrival of
Eli. An hour later, he arrived with Austin. Trevor and Gregg were
close behind. Night had fallen.

The Earthlings stopped the rain as everyone
gathered came together to decide what to do next. Eli asked that
everyone speak their thoughts for the benefit of Gregg and
Trevor.

“
The car entered the building about an
hour ago. Let it be known that no one saw the girl in question.
Only the driver was seen. We have a detainee who was working
outside of the building.” The Earthling that had been talking was
named Anthur. He took Eli to the man who was being held. Behind a
neighboring building was a cage made from sticks, and a man stood
in the center. “There were no trees nearby, this is the best we
could do.” Anthur said, explaining the structure.

“
Has he been questioned?”

“
Not thoroughly.”

“
What is your name?” Eli asked
him

“
I ain't telling you freaks
anything.”

“
Take apart the cage for a moment,
please.” Eli asked.

The sticks dropped to the ground.

Eli approached the man who backed up into
two Earthlings who immediately restrained him. He placed one hand
on the man's cheek and put his face close to him. In a calm, deep
voice he asked, “What is your name?”

“
Spencer.”

“
Spencer, how many people are in the
building?”

“
I … don't know.”

“
Take a guess.”

“
Twelve, maybe.”

“
What kind of chemicals are stored
here?”

“
Drugs.”

“
Any toxins?”

“
Toxins?”

“
Any PCB's?”

“
PCB's?”

Eli removed his hand and the man slumped
over, unconscious.

“
Rebuild the structure. He has no more
to tell us.”

“
Why don't we just go rush in there?
Why are we waiting?” Austin asked Eli.

“
We are not in our element. Look
around, there are no trees and this building is made of all
mademade materials. Once inside there are no elements for us to
call upon. Not to mention he may have more of the chemicals inside
that killed Crysa.” Eli said. He hated saying the last line, unsure
of how Austin felt about that situation.

“
Why don't I go in? I'm a Blend. I can
heal myself.” Austin suggested.

“
I'm not sure you could heal yourself
from that, Austin.” Gregg spoke up. “Even if you could, it would
take a long time and you would need assistance. What if we don't
get to you in time?”

“
I'm not going to stand around and
wait. They could be hurting her right now while we stand out here
doing nothing!” Austin shouted and the ground began to
shake.