Elements

Chapter 5

Sean

         Sean had never seen Aaron drive so fast, or so dangerously. He was going to get them all killed if he wasn’t careful. As soon as the car peeled out of the driveway, Sean turned to the young boy and the girl with her arm draped protectively over him. She glared untrustingly at Sean, and pulled the boy closer to herself. 

         He looked at her and spoke quietly and clearly. “I need to take a look at him.” When she still looked unconvinced he continued bluntly, “He looks badly hurt, and if he doesn’t get some medical attention soon, he might die.” Her eyes widened in shock and worry, and then turned down to stare intently down at the boy, deciding whether or not to trust Sean. After several seconds she slowly removed her arm from around the boy’s torso and gestured to Sean to proceed. Sean immediately began examining the boy, first pulling up his eyelids to make sure he would wake up fine.

         Suddenly, Sean felt the car jerk slightly and heard Aaron’s mild oath from the front seat. “What?” he heard Cam breathe quietly, and then turn around to look past him out the back window. Sean automatically swiveled his head around to look too, and then he saw them, and his eyes widened at the number of them. There were so many of them, swarms of flying beasts, and stampedes of Creatures chasing them down. There were even a few luxury cars chasing them down too! Oh man, he thought, they want this kid bad. Sean put it out of his mind – Cam and Aaron could deal with it – and went back to his examination of the boy.

         The girl watched him so closely it was beginning to make him uncomfortable. She was like a mother hen with this kid, always concerned and watchful. He didn’t have any of his tools so he wouldn’t be able to do much for the child. Oh well, he would still try to help him. When he pulled up the child’s shirt to see the damage to his chest Sean’s – and the girl’s – breath hissed out of his lungs in one whoosh. There were several purple and black bruises that covered his chest. Worse than that, there were three gigantic, deep scratches that ran from the child’s stomach all the way up and around his left side, ending just below his shoulder blade on his back. They were oozing an odd green color, but they weren’t bleeding much. The girl’s face was a deep red color and she appeared not to have taken another breath since Sean had taken off the boy’s shirt.

         He immediately waved his hand through the air in a small circle and water formed in the palm of his hand, taken from the moisture in the air. He waved the water over the boy’s cuts, hoping it would clean them out and help a little bit. As soon as the water touched the cuts, it sizzled and recoiled away from them. His eyes widened in horror at what he was seeing.

         Suddenly, he realized what this must be. This was not good. The kid was way beyond his area of healing abilities. He was going to need help from a real medic, who could take hours to get to the Academy. Hopefully, he and Boss could keep the child alive until someone arrived at the Academy to help him.

         His eyes still wide, he immediately spoke to Aaron. “Aaron” he said, “we’ve gotta get this kid back to the Academy fast. As in 10 minutes ago, fast.” Aaron and Cam both immediately looked back to see what was going on as Sean continued on to say, “He has their blood in his system.” Both their eyes widened in shock at the sight, and Aaron’s foot automatically pushed down the pedal even more, but he continued to stare at the boy in horror.

         Because Aaron, Cam and the girl were all still looking at the boy in the backseat, Sean was the only one who saw the thing in the middle of the highway. Right in front of the car. He let out a yell, “Look out!!” he said.

         Aaron’s head whipped around and his foot slammed on the brake immediately, he swerved the car, trying to avoid whatever was in the roadway. Sean automatically reached out and grabbed the boy with one arm, and the girl with the other. She reached out and did the same to him and the young boy. As one solid force in the backseat, they watched as the car soared through the air and landed on the forest floor off the freeway, and then headed straight for a gigantic tree. The girl’s hand was holding so tight to Sean’s arm that he was sure he’d have bruises later. She let out a small squeak the second the car slammed into the tree.

         The crunch and squeal of metal and the shattering of glass was the worst part. Glass flew through the air and Sean was lifted off his seat momentarily, the seat belt slammed into his shoulder and chest. The girl’s shout was cut off abruptly as her seat belt did the same to her.

         After what seemed like ages, everything settled. It was eerily quiet. For a full 30 seconds, no one moved and it was dead silent in, and around, the car. Sean shook his head to clear it and then looked around trying to figure out if everyone was okay. The girl seemed to be okay, even though she had some scratches and was hyperventilating quite a bit. The boy, because he had been laying down in the backseat, was fine – at least, no worse than he was before. However, Aaron and Cam in the front seat appeared to be unconscious and badly hurt.

         The car was pretty much in tact, and Sean was pretty sure it would still run okay. The front was just smashed in a bit on the right side.

         Sean turned to the girl and asked quietly, “You okay?”

         She nodded briefly before reaching into the front seat and tapping Aaron on the shoulder. There was no response. She turned to Sean, looking for instructions on what to do. He thought for a moment and then reached across the boy to look at Aaron and figure out how bad his injuries were.

         As soon as he laid his hand on Aaron’s arm, he felt a surge of power flow through him to Aaron. His thoughts were filled with water, and in his mind he was surrounded by it. It cleansed and refreshed him, clearing his mind completely. After several seconds his energy began to drain. His arm sagged and fell off from Aaron’s arm. As soon as his hand was no longer touching Aaron his strength began to slowly return. He looked down in wonder at his hands, turning them back and forth and trying to figure out what had just happened.

         The girl spoke so quietly, he wasn’t even sure he heard her correctly. “Are you okay?” she asked in a small whisper, “What just happened?” Sean looked at her with wide eyes and shook his head slowly back and forth.

         Sean looked back at Aaron and saw that the deep cut that had been on his arm a few moments ago was almost completely healed. If possible, his eyes popped open even wider then they were before. A strange thought crossed his mind. There was no way. That wasn’t even possible.

         He looked at the girl and asked quietly, “What’s your name?” She looked at him like he was on crack but after a few moments responded saying, “Lyla” in a quiet voice. He nodded and repeated the name under his breath. He slowly reached out his arm and touched a cut on her shoulder. As soon as he touched her he felt the same drain on his energy and imagined the same things as before. And right before both their wondering eyes, Lyla’s cut began to heal.

         “Wha- what is going on?!” She spluttered and then looked at Sean in amazement. “What are you doing to me?!”

         Sean looked on in awe as her cut healed completely and then he removed his hand from her shoulder. “Interesting,” he muttered under his breath.

         “What do you mean interesting?!” Lyla demanded, finally regaining control of her voice. “What is going on?! I don’t understand what just happened!!!” Sean silenced her with a wave of his hand as he heard a noise outside. He perked up attentively, listening.

         Sean turned in his seat and looked out the back window of the car. The creatures were gathering in a large circle around the car, seeming more and more agitated the longer he looked at them. They were trying to get closer to the car, but something was holding them back. Almost like an invisible barrier surrounded the car. The flying Creatures tried to breach it from above but were just as unsuccessful as the Creatures on the ground.

         What could be causing that? Suddenly, Sean realized what was causing the barrier. He turned in wonder to Lyla. She was doing it, without even realizing it! Incredible! But if he could heal, and she could create a barrier, then –

         Suddenly Aaron stirred slightly in the front seat. Sean leaned forward and grabbed his broken hand, healing it as his energy was once again drained. Aaron reached his other hand up to cradle his head and moaned in pain. As soon as Aaron’s hand was healed, Sean transferred his hand to touch Aaron’s head.  Aaron let out a sigh and seemed to feel better almost immediately.

         When Sean felt he could no longer heal anymore he was so drained, he removed his hand and whispered one word to Aaron. “Drive.” he said. He slumped back in his seat, and Lyla grabbed his arm to keep him from slamming his head into the window. A small, mischievous smile formed on his lips just as everything went black.