Chapter seven

Excitement and a dash of nervousness coursed through my veins as I placed the small jewellery box onto her lap. Her smile alone made some of the nervousness disappear but I still wondered whether she’d like it or not, hell she better like it, I went through hell to get Blake to cooperate in helping me with it. She eagerly opened the case and gazed down at the golden chain necklace with the frozen purple flame encased in a golden cage and I saw her eyes widen at my present to her.

Silence filled the room as she silently traced her finger over the tiny cage. “Purple... I always thought purple meant you felt calm?”

I smiled down at her. “Tadpole, have you never noticed that my flames are only ever purple with you?” I cocked my head to the side smirking at her with amusement. Surely she would’ve realised that? “Purple means love”

Her eyes widened, “Sparky... your fire’s been purple with me since I found out you were Fire-abled”

“I know” I stared down at her, smiling when her lips widened to mirror mine when I felt a sharp smack on the side of my head. “What the...?”

My head rapped sharply again and I tore my eyelids open just as I whacked the side of my head once more. “What the hell is going on?” I moaned as I sat up from the front passenger seat and rubbed at the side of my head that kept hitting the window.

“Sorry man” Cameron apologised. “The road’s nothing but dirt and there’s nothing but ditches and potholes everywhere. It’s been a very bumpy ride for the past few minutes”

I nodded and yawned loudly just as I felt my jaw crack slightly. I rubbed harshly at my eyes, my dream already disappearing. I felt the golden cage of Val’s necklace lightly hit my chest underneath my t-shirt with every bounce of the car and felt a pang of anger. This was taking far too long and I was beginning t hate myself all over again for waiting so long before we left the campus to go searching for the girls. If I’d only decided to leave earlier, even by one day, we’d be closer to finding Val and Cara as well as have Sophia and Bree to help us.

I glanced backwards and saw that Helena and Blake were fast asleep in the back and I slumped back into my seat. It was already morning. I had no idea how long I’d slept for and how long Cameron had been driving but I know that it was a few hours at the very least. “

“Where are we now?” I croaked.

“Should be at this ghost town any moment”

I stared up at Cameron. His eyes were bloodshot and deep shadows dug themselves beneath his eyes and I could tell that only half his appearance was due to driving all night. He missed Cara, he was worried about her. I didn’t blame the guy! Malum had kidnapped our girlfriends... well my ex-girlfriend... and turned our worlds upside down.

“How long was I out for?”

Cameron shrugged while yawning widely himself before answering. “No idea. But Helena and I swapped over around two this morning”

I glanced back at Helena again. “She’s really gone far hasn’t she? She’s getting more confident and stronger with her own abilities since everything happened down in the caves”

Cameron nodded. “I have no idea what she was like before I met her, but from what I’ve heard there’s a big difference between then and now”

“She was... You may not have noticed but Earth-ableds aren’t a big fan of violence and killing. They’re like the hippies of the Abled society. I guess losing a friend really hit her hard”

Silence fell over us as Cameron continued to drive. The sky outside was riddled with grey clouds and not an inch of blue could be seen. The sea of dry grass waved from either side of the dirt road and I noticed that it had begun to thin out the further we drove. After a few more minutes Cameron slowed down and we found ourselves parked in front of an abandoned town with a large broken down factory standing at the back.

“Alright everyone, wake up!” I called out to Blake and Helena. Blake snorted as he shot up, his eyes bleary from sleep and almost elbowing Helena in the face.

“Wha-? Where are we?”

“We’re here Frosty” I rolled my eyes. “Eyes open, we don’t want to be surprised like with the snake man. Cameron, it’d probably be best if you park the car somewhere hidden”

Cameron nodded and slowly rolled the car until we were parked behind an old diner. Blake leaned forward so his elbows were resting on the tops of my and Cameron’s seat eyeing the town that looked as though no one had lived in it for decades. “So, if I was an evil villain with hopes of taking over the world, where would I hide my posse of mutants?”

I slowly turned and threw him a look before shoving his elbow off my seat. “In case you haven’t noticed Frosty this isn’t a cartoon, and you just so happened to be one of his mutant spawns” He glared at me before rolling his eyes muttering something incomprehensible. I shook my head and reached down into my bag to take out the map of the Stinger hideouts. “And besides we have a map... idiot”

I unfolded the map and spread it as much as I could in the small space and looked for the ghost town on the map. Once I found it I narrowed my eyes and spotted the small burn mark where the pin had once stood, then glanced up at the town in front of us before looking back down again.

“Any day now...” Blake murmured.

I could feel my eye twitching, he was only awake for two minutes and already I could feel the urge to burn his eyebrows off again. I folded the map again and shoved it into my bag before turning to face everyone. “The hideout is supposed to be in that old factory over at the back of the town. We’ll need to be cautious though, I mean, I only narrowed Malum’s location to two possible hideouts and this was the closest. If we’re lucky it’s the right one, but that only means we need to find a way in without anyone noticing”

Everyone nodded, even Blake was being serious. “So what’s the plan then?” Helena piped up.

I breathed out slowly, unsure of what exactly we should do. “We just need to keep our eyes peeled for any Elementals. There could be more like snake man who seem to just be animals already or some completely under the control of Malum. Plus we have no idea what their abilities could be... so yeah, just be careful” I ended lamely.

As quietly as we could we stepped out of the car and clicked the doors shut. Behind me, the dusty drainpipe of the old diner began to rattle and the shadow suddenly flew out causing me to choke on a gasp and my pulse to race a little faster. The shadow hovered over the dirt road before it split down the middle and in no time Evanesce and Chimera stood with the rest of the group. “It took you all long enough to get here” Chimera noted with a raised eyebrow, her raven hair glimmering in the sunlight.

“You should’ve been staying with the group! We’re supposed to stick together, and how in the hell are we supposed to trust you two when you keep disappearing?” I whisper shouted at the two women. “Where the hell did you two go anyway?”

“You never said anything about staying together. Besides it’s probably better if we aren’t with you all the time. We’re not sure if we might end up under Malum’s control again and if we keep a safe distance away then we might be able to keep you all safe” Evanesce answered.

“... if you so happen to fall under Malum’s control again, you mean?” Helena added.

“Exactly”

“So? Where were you?” Blake asked, repeating my own question.

“We’ve stayed just ahead. Darting a bit further in case of any hidden danger, we try not to stick right by you all the time”

I stared at the two women. Their excuse seemed legitimate but I couldn’t deny it was irritating. I wanted to know where everyone was at all times during this search, and having Evanesce and Chimera suddenly disappear every now and then kept me on the edge. “Right... well, do any of you recognise this place at all?”

“No... we began to break away from Malum’s control just after Crane’s Hollow and we hadn’t been to any of his new hideouts. He could be here, or already gone by.”

“Well, that was helpful” Snorted Blake with a roll of his eye. “He could be here... or he could not... he could even have already been here but is gone. Honestly, it’s like reading a bad fortune cookie or something”

“Shut up, Frosty” I murmured, barely even paying attention to him.

“You shut up, Matchstick”

“Alright ladies” Cameron interrupted us stepping away from the wall of the diner. “We’re best off just sneaking into the factory. We’re wasting time standing around here!”

Before anyone could say anything Cameron darted off between shops and houses before suddenly disappearing. I stared down at the dirt ground and saw his footprints printing themselves clearly as he darted away. So much for being ‘ninja-like’ as he called it during his Skills class. “Come on, let’s go”

The eerie silence of the town had me snapping my neck from side to side in search of something that might pop out from nowhere but nothing happened. The shadow flew swiftly and silently past me, disappearing whenever it reached another shadow only to appear further up ahead out of another shadow. Helena followed behind me and Blake covered from behind. We managed to reach the old, broken down factory without anything happening and I slipped past the doors, which were hanging on a hinge, holding my hand out for Helena and Blake to stay where they were outside.

“Cameron” I whispered into the empty factory. Nothing. “Cameron! Where the hell are you?”

Cameron immediately appeared in front of me and I swallowed yet another gasp, which I seemed to be doing a fair bit today. “The ground floor is clear... there’s no one here”

I waved my hand and Helena and Blake joined us along with the shadow which had split back to Evanesce and Chimera once more. “So... what do you think? Do you this was a waste of time or should we keep searching further?” Helena asked as her eyes darted around the dusty and dirty factory.

I looked around the factory. The ceilings were high and the windows were covered in layers upon layers of dirt and grime. All around there were overturned tables and the remnants of what had once been a successful factory and yet, even though it was obvious the town had been abandoned long ago, there was a clear worn out area on the ground. It was clear proof that someone else besides us had been here.

“I think we should split up” I announced. “I’ll take Cameron and we’ll look upstairs while the rest of you search the rest of the ground level”

Everyone nodded before parting ways and Cameron and I crept quietly over to the set of rickety stairs. The smell of stale air and grime was thick and had me taking shallow breaths so I wouldn’t have to smell it as deeply. The second landing was a simple hallway of offices on either side and I motioned for Cameron to search through the offices on the left while I checked the right side. I didn’t know why, but the feeling that I would find something wouldn’t leave me alone. It was a nagging sensation in the bottom of my stomach and that feeling made me continue on the search in the factory instead of moving onto the next Stinger hideout.

A wet gasping noise caught my attention as I stepped out of the third empty office, and without even thinking, a swirling ball of fire sat in my palm while I crept over to the fourth office. My heart thudded violently in my chest, who was hiding in the office? What was hiding in the office? Or was it Val, and she was injured?! Excitement, nervousness and something that felt a little like nausea pumped through my body as I took a deep breath and jumped into the room. The room was dusty like the rest of the factory but what caught my attention was the pair of legs that stuck out from under the desk.

The person was gasping for breath, the sound of wet gasping made me wince, almost as though I could feel their pain myself. “Who are you?” I called out firmly as I rounded the desk, keeping a good distance away. Another rattling breath came from them, but no reply. “I said, who are you?!”

Still nothing. I finally rounded over to the other side of the desk and nearly gagged as I spied what had struggling to breathe. A deformed half man, half sea creature was struggling for every breath it took as though it wasn’t sure whether it should be on land or in water. The deformed Elemental’s eyes snapped up to me and the begging in his eyes was clear to read even without speaking, he was silently begging to help him, to stop the suffering. The pain in his eyes was so strong I simply stared, not knowing what to do, but his eyes slowly closed and with one last wet, rattling gasp for air his body stilled and it felt as though the room was empty once more.

The flaming ball of fire in my hand died out and I continued to stare at the dead Elemental. Who would do something like this? Who would take people, experiment on them, and when something went wrong (as it was plainly obvious to see) just leave them there to rot? I swallowed the lump in my throat. How long was this Elemental in pain, gasping for air under the grimy desk just waiting for someone to help? The burning hatred for Malum swirled viciously inside of me as I continued to wonder at how much of a monster he truly was.

He had no guilt. No sorrow. No remorse at all for the pain he was causing so many people. I growled angrily and furious scarlet flames burst from my palms, over my hands and up my forearms as I shot it like a flame thrower at the neighbouring wall. The wall melted away like butter on toast and I barely heard Cameron run into the room. “What the hell happened?!” He shouted.

I cut the flames and panted heavily as I ignored him and walked through the hole in the room. This room seemed to be a large conference room and while I looked around I heard Cameron gasp from the office I just came from when he saw the Elemental. “It’s empty... that guy was the only one I found” I said monotonously.

“I found nothing as well... what should we do with the Elemental?” Cameron asked.

I sighed, it wouldn’t be right to leave him there the way Malum did. He deserved more than that, even if we didn’t know him. He would’ve had family somewhere. “We’ll bury him outside. It’s just the right thing to do”

“BLAKE!!! STOP!!!” Helena cried from downstairs.

Cameron and I glanced at each other before sprinting down the stairs. The rickety stairs squeaked in protest as we ran down and the sound of Blake’s yelling told us they were outside the factory. We dashed outside and my eyes widened at the scene before me. Blake was sprawled on the dusty ground while Helena and the shadow stood (and floated) between him and two Elementals. Both Elementals were girls and seemed to have been another failed experiment. The shorter of the two had hair that seemed to slowly transform from blonde to metal, and then back to blonde again. The other girl was tall and willowy but had a slight imprint of leopard spots over the side of her arms and legs.

“You guys okay?” I called out cautiously.

“Yeah, Derrek, we’re fine” Helena called back to me. The two Elemental girls turned to look at us and threw a wary look as they watched us walk closer.

“What the hell happened to you, Frosty?” I laughed as he dusted his jeans off.

“Shut up, Matchstick!” He growled angrily.

I raise an eyebrow at Helena, waiting on her to answer my question when she flushed and threw Blake an apologetic look. “I may have pushed him away a little too hard...” I glanced back at Blake and saw his lip bleeding.

“A little too hard?”

“... with a tree... I may have pushed him a little too hard... with a tree” She amended. It was only then did I notice the disruption in the dirt where the supposed tree burst up and then shrunk back down.

“And you push him with a tree... why?”

The two Elemental girls were staring at Helena and I while we spoke and I noticed that the leopard skinned girl’s eyes were black slits instead of normal human eyes. Helena cleared her throat and I looked back at her. “Well, we finished checking the inside of the factory but found nothing, and decided to search the perimeter of the building. When we turned the corner we almost bumped into these two girls and Blake just got startled. He nearly froze their heads off...”

I nodded, not bothering to reply, before turning to the girls. “You’re not going to attack, are you?” Both shook their heads quickly, but otherwise stayed silent. “Was Malum here?” They nodded. “Is he still here?” They shook their heads.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, breathing in and out deeply to calm the frustration that was dying to break loose. We drove for hours, and Malum wasn’t here! We’d driven to the wrong hideout!“Do you know where Malum has gone?” Helena asked when she realised I was too angry at the moment for calm questioning. The girls shook their heads once more and I snapped.

“Well, tell us what you do know! Which direction did he go? Who was with him? Why did he leave you here? Answers! We... need... answers!”

The girl with transforming hair coughed lightly before turning to face me slightly, “Malum left with an army of Elementals. I can’t even say how many, but he has plenty of them and we don’t know which direction he went. And, we weren’t the only ones left behind. There were more but we stayed hidden in one of the shops in town so we have no idea where they could be. He called us failures... failed experiments that weren’t even worth the effort of killing”

“So he left you here to rot... yeah, I get it” I finished. “Do you have families?”

“... they wouldn’t want us”

“Well, you can’t come with us... it’s just not an option... You either stay here or start walking to look for your families”

“Derrek!” Helena scolded as she glared at me with disbelief.

“We can’t take them with us, Helena-!”

“It’s okay... we’ll... we’ll survive. We’ll just stay here” The Elemental girl interrupted.

“Derrek, even if they do stay we should come back for them. One way or another, you know it isn’t right to leave them stranded here. They’ll die!”

“I’m sorry, Helena... I know I may have changed a bit since we first met, but I don’t actually care. They have a choice to leave and find another town but they chose to stay here. It’s not on us to pick up every stray we see”

Helena clenched her jaw and turned away from me to face the girls, “We will come back... it may not be soon but there is a university that is safe for you girls - Abled University. I’m sure the dean will be fine with you staying there”

“Thank you, from both of us” She answered.

“Doesn’t your friend talk?” Blake grunted. I could see that he was still a bit sour by the ‘little push’ from Helena earlier. The blonde/metal haired girl shook her head.

“She can’t... not anymore. She’s more like an animal... but she’s harmless”

I began to eye her leopard looking friend a little more cautiously, after thinking back to the snake-man. It looked as though Malum had begun to do a little more experimenting with animals and not just mixed Abled abilities like he told Val last year. Malum was, quite obviously, insane and the more we found out about what he’d been doing and what he wasn’t afraid to do and try... the more I was beginning to worry about Val.

Chimera stepped forward and I could see the look of an emotional connection between her and Evanesce and the two new Elemental girls before she looked over to me. “We should go... your