Authors: Nicole Smith
“
I have to leave Bet
h, but I will be back for you, b
oth of you,” she whispers before
head
ing
quickly down the c
rawl space and is gone. I loosen
my
grip, crawl out of the vent
and jump
down. Beth app
ears in the middle of the room, beside me.
“That was t
o
o close, but what does she want with us?
”
I asked her, afraid of the answer.
Carlo
s
and Hayden were
very
close to the school
, t
hey
approach
ed quickly and without caution
. Hayden knew
that
their presence w
ould be detected immediately. T
h
ey have
to hurry
, he knew he had to
find her before
Stella does
.
As soon as they entered
the school, Carlos ran
up the stairs and Hay
den went through the first floor
,
swiftly
t
aking down ever
y spirit that tried to slow him
down. As Carlos reached the roof he
quickly
s
canned the area and realized there wasn’t a trace of anyone up there now
.
He
turned and ran
down the stairs
. Hayden could sense that
Stella
has
inhabited this area
recently.
His hea
rt started racing. What if he’s
too
late?
He couldn’t think
like that
. He started to panic, running and opening d
oors.
“Natalie! Where are you?”
he shouted.
“D
id you hear something?” I asked Beth
just
as
I was
about to climb through a window leadi
ng out of the school
.
“No. I didn’t hear anything. Quick, l
et’s go before Stella gets back,
” Beth in
sisted as she grabbed my arm and led me quickly out. We
ran
across the football field
, heading
toward
s
the trees.
“I think I heard Hayden. I should go b
ack. He might be the
re,
” I
gasped, confusion overtaking my thoughts again
. I
have
to stop letting Beth control me, but I
couldn’t think straight
. Could I really be this
tired?
Hayden
f
rantic
ly
raced through the first floor
and down to the basement
. He knew
I
had been
down
t
here
.
Carlos flew down the st
airs as he
picked up my
trail
too
.
“Hayden!” h
e shout
ed.
“She isn’t
here anymore.”
Carlos replied back.
“I know!” h
e
yelled
back
,
feel
ing
his
tears start to well up behind his eyes.
He quickly shook his head a
nd tried to fight them back
.
“I have to find her,” he said calmly before Carlos arrived beside him.
“I will help you
find her
, but
you
have to stay
focused Hayden?”
Carlos tried to reason with
him
, sensing his distress
.
“Yes
, I’m focused
.
My only aim right now is
to find her
,” Hayden told him as he
looked around the basement. Unsure as to where to
start, he flew around the room.
“
Carlos. Over here
!”
Hayden shouted back
t
o
him from the far end of the basement.
He
glanced u
p at the window Beth and I
escape
d from just minutes before he
entered the school.
Hayden and Carlos ran swiftly across the field
, following our path
. Beth let out a cry
as she reached for me
.
“Please come with me. I need you Natalie. Run!” she
ordered as she gripped ahold of my arm
.
“Beth, let me go,
” I pleaded. Fear took over me
. Why
did she want to take me away
?
Why did she feel such an urgency to escape? Who was I really in danger from?
“Please Beth, I’m re
ally tired. Please
let go of me!” I cried, hoping she would reconsider
.
“I heard her. Carlos she is close.” Hayden began
to run at an impossible pace, e
ven Carlos
struggled to keep
up
with him
.
“Natalie!” Hayden shouted.
“Hayden!” I
shouted back. I struggled to get out of Bet
h’s grip.
I be
gan to kick and scream
at her
. Tears
pour
ed
down my cheek
s as I felt my arm begin to throb
from Beth’s grip. I looked up at her. Her eyes didn’t see m
e as she kept running
or
flying. I couldn’t tell anymore.
I began to feel faint. The more I struggled the we
aker I
seemed to beco
me.
“Beth, why are you doing this
to me
? Please don’t take me away from him
!
” I begged.
She didn’t respond. She
just kept running. I
t almost seemed as though she
was
in a
trance.
“Where are yo
u bringing me?” I asked weakly.
“I have to bring you to Stella. I have to save my school
,” s
he whispered.
“Hayden!” I screa
med again, feeling the futility in it.
I’m
too far away
from him now
. I didn’t even feel a
part of his world a
nymore. I couldn’t fight her
. I could barely keep my eyes
open.
“
What is happening to me?
Am I dying?
” I asked her, not really expecting an answer.
“
Hayden, save me
,
”
I whispered as I fell into
the
darkness.
Hayden
continued to run
,
unfaltering. His anger made him frantic.
I don’t think he has ever been so out of control
in all the years he has lived.
“Hayden, we have to stop. She must be somewhere else
now
. They
have shaken us
somehow
. Please Hayden stop,
” Carlos panted. He i
s an amazing runner, but tonight proved to be too
exhausting. First the battle then the race to the
other side of town, now this last burst that s
eemed to be leading nowhere, is finally
the cata
lyst. They were both
past the point of exhaustion
.
“Let me call C
live? I’ll see if he has any
information. Something is not right
about this
,
”
Carlos collapsed
down on the grass and
began to call
Clive.
“We
have lost her.
I swore to protect her
and now she is lost to me. This
is not right. I will find her. I will n
ot stop Carlos,
” Hayden warned, he was
beyond reason
ing with
.
“Just rest for two minutes, p
lease? I am not going to give up either.
Let’s
not become too exhausted.
We can’t lose our heads.”
As Carlos
began to
explain the situation
to
Clive
, he
abruptly
stopped talking.
“What
did he say
?” Hayden turned,
question
ing
him
. Carlos looked
up at Hayden with
a shocked expression
on his face.
Hayden stared
, trying to
be
patient
. H
e didn’t want to interrupt
. H
e knew Carlos would tell him any vital infor
mation. Carlos continued to no
d
but kept quite as he listened.
“I’ll tell him. Keep me posted of any new developments. I’ll do the same. Thanks Clive.”
Carlos heaved a big sigh as he put his phone in h
is pocket. Hayden stood and glar
ed
at him, waiting for his res
ponse, his hesitation angered him
.
“What is it?” he asked sternly.
“Clive has been told
from
his informants
,
that Stella has put the word out that sh
e wanted
Beth and Natalie. Apparently
at the school, Stella knew we w
ere headed there
and wanted us take
n care of
as quickly as possible
. She
was searching
for
Beth and Natalie
just before
we
arrived
.
As far as anyone knows
Stella does not hav
e Natalie
yet but from what his informant from the school
told Clive
is that
Beth may
actually
be bringing Natalie to Stella
,
”
Carlos sighed.
“Who is Be
th?” Hayden asked
.
“I don’t know. I thought you might. She must have been a
friend of Natalie’s from
school,
”
Carlos thought aloud.
“She promised she wouldn’t
get involved with them. I suppose
she couldn’t resist. I
should have watched her closer,
”
Hayden mumbled.
“Natalie does what she wants. She does what comes naturally to her, and it just happens to be making friends with ghosts. I just wish she wasn’t so attr
acted to the wrong
ones,” Carlos explained,
mostly for his own benefit. He realized than that he loved her
too
. He loved her wild and adventurous side. He loved the way she followed her heart and not her head. He loved her energy.
Carlos
almost lost
himself
in his thoughts when it
all
began to make sense
to him
.
“That’s it!” h
e shouted.
“What’s it?” Hayden could feel his annoyance
with Car
los
growing
. He didn’t like feeling so dependent on him.
“I know why Stella wants Natalie. I just don’t understand why her
fri
end
,
Beth
, is taking her to Stella
.”
“What
does Stella
want Natalie
for
?” Hayden
tried to keep his voice steady.
“She wants her energy
. She wants to feel alive again and she believes Natalie is the closest she can get to it.
I have heard of this happening before.
”
“If that is true, although
I don’t see how it
i
s possibl
e, but if she does, won’t it kill her
?” Hayden’s anxiety rose again
.