My body jumps as I feel the car bump under me. Adjusting my eyes to the bright light outside, I crank my neck around as I feel out my surroundings. The color white falls from the outside, tiny white balls dance around.
Snow.
Beautiful white snow.
"Are we already here?" I croak.
Kai, who I'm assuming finished his book, looks at me. I wonder if he went to sleep? "Not yet, were about 3 hours away." How long did I sleep, the last I remember is saying bye to Nyxus, laying down on the seat and living in a deep slumber.
"How long was I asleep?" I start to shake my feet and legs awake; my arms stretch outwards.
Katana answers this time, "For about 12 hours, heavy sleeper you must be. We drove past a parade and carnival and you never woke up." Her eyes focus straight on the road, has she stopped driving since leaving Oregon.
"Yeah, Katana had me shake you a few times and check your pulse." Kai laughs as he pops a mint-colored gum strip in his mouth.
My line of vision cuts from Katana and Kai to the white snow outside. My hands plant on the window, watching the thin snowflakes pass by. It's so beautiful, it looks like how I imagined polar express would look. A beautiful winter wonderland.
On my cheek, I could feel eyes glancing over me. They were Kai's eyes. "Have you ever seen snow?" He asked softly.
I just shake my head, not taking my eyes off of it. Even my body is shaking from the cold weather, but I don't mind. I don't mind at all. Not when this scenery is taking up all my attention.
"It's so beautiful." I say, memorized.
"It is." Was all he said as he looked at me and the snow. I rip my gaze away from the white snowflakes outside to the front of the car. "Hey, have you ever wondered wh-."
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Katana screams as the car starts to swerve on the icy road. I could hear the tires screeching. Kai's hand braces on the dashboard as Katana's try to keep the steering wheel in her jurisdiction.
I try to hold onto something, anything, but I'm too late. Katana turns the wheel and the car veers off the road, a loud crack comes from the window as my head hits it. Crimson blood trickles down as I try to focus on my surroundings. I'm not entirely sure if the car has stopped or not, my vision is blurred and spinning around.
A loud ringing buzzes around me, Kai's mouth is moving, but I can't make out the words. I don't notice my hands shaking until Katana turns, trying to calm me down. I must be screaming or something, I can't make out Kai's words, it sounds like he's telling me to be quiet.
Focusing in on my myself, I'm indeed screaming. Slowly, oh so slowly, my hearing comes back to me. A piercing scream echo's from around me.
"Quinn, you need to be quiet. I swear if you don't, I'll make you." I hear Katana swear from the driver's seat. Looking at her face from the cracked rearview mirror, she isn't playing around. I close my mouth, letting the screams I hold in eat me from the inside out. My eyes pan over to her brother, his hand is now on top of mines, trying to sooth me. Calm me down.
"What- wh- what's happening?" My mouth tries to say the words clearly, but my tongue twist and turns in my now dry mouth.
Both the Khan siblings look as confused as I am, both surveying the area around us. I, also, search around. I don't see anything out of the ordinary, the snow is still falling and no one is seen around.
"Kai, stay here with her while I go take in the area." She hops out the car and runs full force into the snowy woods. In a matter of seconds, she's gone. I start to panic.
"Kai where is she going! She can't leave, we need to go after her!" I try to unlock my door, but it's so smashed in there's no way of getting out. Shards of glass pinch against my skin as I maneuver myself in the seat. I notice my hand is now cold, not by the weather but Kai taking his hand off mine. I look to see him leaving his seat from the front and coming in the backseat with me.
That soft presence that he carries around with him suddenly calms me down. "She'll be fine Quinn." He says it so calmly. As if we didn't just almost die.
"How do you know?" My voice comes out loud. He winces from it, but continues on taking shards of glass from around me and dusting them to the ground. He notices the drips of blood coming from my forehead, he digs through his bag and pulls out a raggedy t-shirt.
"Hold this to your head." I do as he says. "It's Katana, she's been in far worse situations than this. If I thought she was in danger, I would have gone after her. She's the toughest woman I know, besides my mother of course." He sounds so sure, maybe I shouldn't worry.
"Why did we swerve off the road?" I ask.
His frows furrow, "You didn't, see?" I shake my head. "There was a man in all black standing in the middle of the road." My eyes widen.
"Where is he now?" I let out a gasp as Kai leans over me, his scent seeps into my nose. It's a mix of blood and pine. His hard toed boot kicks open my door, blasting it into the thick snow. The strong cold wind hits me. My body starts to shake, trying to keep my body warm.
"That's what Katana is going to find out, now can you get out?" He asks. I move my body for the first time in minutes, my stiff legs wobble under me as my hands, still shaking, hold onto the driver's seat. One minute I'm sitting in the seat, and the next I'm falling out of the car. Thanks to the snow outside, my fall wasn't that bad. "Are you ok?" Worry moves through his voice.
I only nod, "I'm always fine." I groan, all he does is sigh. A clear cloud of breath escapes his crusted lips. In the distance, I can see two- no three figures coming our way. Hoods hide their identity. All I know is that their men and really tall. Now their running our way, loud foots crunch against the snow. I try to warn Kai, but it's too late.
"Kai!" I scream. One of the men take his shoulders from behind and throws him to the ground. Kai collides with it; his shoulder makes a devastating cracking sound. I wince.
The guy punches Kai in the face and kicks him hard in the stomach. He tries to get up, but they keep knocking him down. I need to help; I need to do something. Beside me on the ground is an irregular shape of glass. This could help Kai. I take the glass, position myself, and throw it at the guy's neck. To my luck, it pierces his brown skin. Pain shoots through his teeth, his eyes land on mine. Now with his hood off, I take in his features. He's got white hair, dark eyes, brown skin and a swirly line with two dashes on his cheek. It looks like a symbol; I wonder what it means?
With his focus on me, he doesn't notice that Kai's rising off the ground, ready to attack him. His arm wraps around the guy's neck, I could hear choking sounds coming from him, but Kai doesn't let up. I never seen Kai be so, angry and strong looking before. A fire blares in his eyes, and his teeth bare out. Like he's a predator killing his prey. In minutes, the guy's body starts to go limp, first his legs then his arms. Once he's gone, Kai throws him to the ground.
"Is he dead?" I asked, as I now come to stand up. My legs wobble under me, but I don't fall.
"No, just fainted." He responds, his eyes don't look to me but to the guy that's unconscious on the ground.
"Uh, Kai." My voice wobbles. He turns around, two more guys are coming over now, there gaze is not on Kai but on me. This isn't an attack on Katana and Kai, but on me, the Zastitnik.
"Quinn, run." Before I could tell him I'm most definitely not running, his fist collides with one of their faces while his foot kicks the other in the stomach. They falter but regain their strength. It's like they are powered robots, they absorb the hits and become even stronger.
Kai has a good hold on them, until he slips under the ice and now they're winning. One takes Kai's left arm and starts to bend it in a grotesque way, Kai screams. He looks up and sees me, pain sores in those black eyes. "Quinn, get out of here and find Katana." His voice comes out weak.
"No, I'm not leaving you." My mind reverts back to what Skipper said. About me not using my powers, because when I do it brings out an evil in me that I don't like. But, for this situation, I need to do something or they'll probably kill him. And if that happens, I'll never forgive myself.
I close my eyes, my body focuses on the color red, mixing that with a bright orange and yellow. Fire dances around in my mind, moves from there to my arms and hands. My body starts to heat up, the ethereal flame comes from my body. I hold onto it, and try not to let it grow out of control. Last time, when I put a ring of fire around me and Piper, I lost control. Not this time.
I can see Kai, still bent to the ground, staring at me. His head shakes furiously at me, telling me not to do it. My eyes sting to his, letting him know I've got this. The fire shoots to the guys, their jackets and pants burn them. They scream and start running around in circles, Kai regains strength and starts to kick the guy's asses.
I start to jump around in triumph, but someone grabs my arms from behind. My body fights the pull, but fails. Looking over my shoulder, one woman holds my left arm while a man holds the other. "If you stay still, this will all be over in minutes." What will be over in minutes? My life?
From around our car, a woman comes over. Her fur coat basks in the cold wind as her bright red lips purse up. Her black, coiled hair is braided to the back, while her tendrils are being held in place by bobby pins. Tall black boots crunch under her.
"Hello Zastitnik." She says in a thick African accent. "It's nice to finally meet you." I keep thrashing, trying to break loose. Kai comes running my way trying to stop the woman, but she blasts him with a bright light and he hits the car, breaking the backseat glass window. I scream.
"Why did you do that!"
"He was going to be in my way, for what I need to do, total concentration is key." Her long fingers tangle in my hair as her palms stick to my cheeks. I move my head away from her, but her hands don't move. "This will all be over in minutes."
Her sapphire eyes run over my face as those talons she calls fingers skim over my mind. A piercing pain surges through my brain, it feels like shards of glass being poked and prodded on my body. I try to scream, try to yell at her to stop, but nothing comes out. She's somehow silenced me, I realize that I can't feel my arms or legs, it's like heavy jelly. "What beautiful memories that grace your mind, young one. Such dark and light moments, it pains me. All this power you have, and you do evil with it. It's such a pity." Those words flow off her tongue like honey sap. I want to scream, want to hit her in the face for going through my mind, for seeing my memories.
Then, without my help, something happens. A twisted pain comes to her face, it scares me to my core. Her hands shake against my face and a black smoke comes from her mouth. She mumbles something under her breath, it sounds a bit like Swahili, I'm not so sure. Her body stumbles back, that once black smoke that left her mouth is now gone, she strangles to breath.
The guys let go of me and run to her side. After a few minutes, she regains her strength, they help her rise to her feet. "Uovu, Uovu." She keeps saying these words over and over again while her talons point to me.
"What is she saying?" I ask the man. They don't answer me, just back up as far away from me as they can get.
From behind them, I can see Kai moving around, he's starting to regain consciousness. From the woods comes a torn-up Katana. Her once neat black hair is now wrapped around her head as red marks scrap her face and hands. Even from the coldness out here, she looks as warm as the sun.
"Get the hell away from her!" Katana squalls. The lady, who once held me captive, turns to Katana. I see a look of fear come upon face, never would I ever thought I'd see the day when Katana would fear anything. All she says is, "Fallon."
"We'll meet again, Katana." Her eyes look to me, "Lotisia." Her, and the three men vanish into air.
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