The Gift

Chapter Twenty-Five-Most Wanted

"You're kidding," Cole said angrily, as we watched his car burn. The glass was broken and scattered on the road, with knives in all four tires, and I watched in shock. That was pretty harsh...

He cursed loudly, grabbing a rock and throwing it out of anger. I sighed and looked down the deserted freeway.

"Who could have done this, anyway?" I asked. "No one is even on this freeway."

"Who gives a shit? We can't go anywhere without a car, unless you all plan to walk in three feet of freezing snow," he snapped, putting his hands to his face and shouting loudly in anger. I looked back down the freeway.

"Well, it had to of been someone that known one of us. Most likely me or you. Because no one would do this out of a joke, because no one is even on this freeway. And we're in the ass crack of nowhere, so it has to be someone who wanted this delay." I told Cole.

"Someone who wants you." Micah sneered. "And if they want you, they're not far behind. And if they can do this to our car, at least I can imagine what he'll do with us. The image gives me nightmares."

"Oh, come on, we'll protect each other," Eli said to his friend. Blizzard choked on the graham cracker I gave him.

"No," he said, with a mouthful, "me and Nichole protect each other, all of you are on your own. I don't like any of you. So, just a warning, I ain't helping you in any way. If you can keep up with my amazing moves, maybe we will all make it out alive."

"Well, thanks, Blizzard," Cher muttered, looking down the freeway. "We are going to have to walk."

"Okay," I said. "That's probably best. We can't just sit here and hope for someone to pick us all up. Especially with a white fox that talks.  The next person that comes down here will probably be a killer, so we have to get going."

Cole groaned, cursed again, and stormed off through the slush, until it was far enough that the fire hadn't melted the snow and it was back to his shins. I ran to catch up with him, shivering, with frozen feet. Eli and his friends followed us, too, and we kept walking. 

I heard car tires, and then I looked behind us. There was a black car, tinted windows, right behind us. And I knew from experience that wasn't good. But the worst part was, we were on feet, and they were in a vehicle, and there was more than one car. 

"Um. Guys, look," I slapped Eli's arm, and pointed back to the cars. We all looked back, and then I heard everyone say a few colorful words, and they booked it. I didn't hesitate to run after them, and then the cars sped up. Cole and Eli were now in the lead, and Cher and Micah were in the back. Cole shouted something, and then all four of them jumped off the side of the freeway's gate that held us in, tucked, and rolled down the hill. Blizzard yelled that we had to go, too, and he jumped from my arms, over the gate. I cursed and shoved myself against the gate, and looked down, watching everyone keep rolling and rolling further down the hill into all the trees, through the frozen snow. I gulped. I had a huge height phobia. I've been in two crashes, both on freeways and going down hills. I also was never a fan of high spots. I looked back to the cars who was skidding to a stop, hoping to get some motivation to jump, but I just froze, staring widely at the man who came out of the car. I looked down, and everyone was out of sight now. I gulped.

"Nichole. I've been waiting for this." I heard the man say. I gasped and turned around to see the man right behind me. He shoved me up against the wall and then said, "I've been waiting so long. Now, come, put her in the van."

"With the other one? Sir, do you think that's a good idea--?"

"Don't question me. Go." The man walked off, and the other people grabbed me, picked me up, and dragged me over to a van. They opened the back of it, where it revealed a darkly-lit room, with a pole running stray at the top. A little girl, had to be around nine or ten, possibly eleven, was tied to the pole, forced to either crouch and stand or sit up on her knees. Her head was down, and the metal chain holding her to the pole looked like it was hurting her wrist. She had flawless dark skin, with pitch black hair that was in a messed up, loose bun at the top of her head. A lot of hair had fallen out of it, seeing as it looked like she'd been through a lot.

I got shoved in. I also got my wrists forcefully chained to the pole by the bulky men, and then the doors shut, leaving me facing the girl. Once we had started moving, she tensed, and moved her head slightly more up, making me think she was going to look up completely so that I saw her face. But when I moved a tiny bit, I sucked in a breath, pain in my wrists. It really did hurt.

"I'm Roxxii." The little girl said quietly, looking up completely now. Her eyes shocked me. They were an icy blue, with a black circle around them. She seemed so sad, so scared...too broken inside for her age. 

"I'm Nichole," I told her. "Do you know where they are taking us?"

"They are going to kill us," she told me, frowning. Still so quiet. "Don't you know who these people are? They are on the top of the "Most Wanted Criminals" list in the Hidden World. They kill anyone who is out of the ordinary, and they hate all humans. They shouldn't even be in Earth, seeing as they will kill any human that gets in their way," 

"But...you are calling them humans. Aren't you a human?" I asked.

"I'm a Lost Soul. A girl who died, came back, but not in the right way...people say the process is fatal. And if it's not, than the person that goes through it loses their minds in the process, and that's why they are lost souls. They aren't human, since they are not alive, but their not an actual soul. They're stuck in between worlds, and usually it's so cold...horrible. But not for me. They think I've lost my mind. And I was like you. I was in your situation. They make you believe you are alone. Completely alone, no one will want you. You're dangerous. But they are the dangerous ones. I was killed by them, and a witch tried bringing me back, since like you, I was wanted everywhere, alive, for different reasons. But she failed, and I ended up becoming like this. So not only do I have all my unstoppable powers, I'm a Lost Soul and I'm still on the run from people like this. People who still to this day want me dead, because I've lost my marbles. I've been waiting to meet you." 

Her story made me ache. So young, yet she went through what I had. And worse. 

"I'm so sorry..." I told her, sadly. She shrugged, but then winced and froze in place, trying not to move. 

"It's not your fault. It's theirs." She said bitterly. "I've been like this for over a month now. Going over bumpy roads, picking people up, dropping them off into their dooms. They wanted me and you to be killed side by side, tortured to death. I see what they use. They are capable of horrible things. At this point, I'm just feeling sorry for you, since I've been wanting to die ever since this happened to me." 

"Is there any way out?" I asked her. "Me and you together, there has to be a way,"

"Of course there is. But I've been growing weaker, they put something in the vents...it weakens me so I can't do anything. And plus, it's all of them verses only us. Can you imagine how that would go?" She asked me. I shook my head.

"I don't think things over before I do. Which is probably why I'm here. But this is happening for a reason. We're together because there is a way, and we can both make it out if we stick together...are you with me, or am I going to die trying?" I looked her in the eyes, hoping that she'd at least have a little part of herself that still wanted to live. She wouldn't want to get tortured to death.

She smirked. "I'm all for it. If we're going to die, at least we died trying, right? What's your half plan? You at least have something in mind, right?"

I smiled. "Yep."

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Oohhh...Already loving the two! I cannot plan books out, which is probably why I never make the back of the book covers before I make the book. But, I hope you like it anyway :)