Power of M

chapter 17

17. Sorry our temporary vacation is having a slight delay. A few umm.....technical issues.

She panicked unable to recognize my voice, maybe because it was slightly high pitched after my almost dying experience.

"Ash, it's me Alex. Don't freak out. I mean don't move and yeah also don't freak out."

She opened and closed her eyes a bunch of times and took a deep breath. "Alex, why am I hanging upside down?" she said her tone, dead calm. I don't look at her.

"But we are out." She said suddenly realizing such a truly amazing feat. "We escaped."

"Yes." I said sarcastically. "We are out. I'm sitting on a tree, you're hanging upside down by your ankles stuck in a branch which might dislodge and be the cause of you plummeting down to the ground. Other than that Ash, you could say that we have escaped. Our escape is the stranded on the tree kind of escape. Me Tarzan. You Jane."

I don't know why I was so mad. I was just bitter I guess. So close. So freaking close to getting home.

She managed a weak laugh upside down. "Thanks for being a ray of sunshine. Besides I'm the one who should be feeling like a bum. Dude, like you said in your completely depressing monologue. I am the one who is dying."

I shrugged not really concentrating on her words. My mind was trying to calculate results for another brilliant plan of mine. I'm not even going to try to involve physics laws into this.

"Can you.......nah it's stupid."

Ash groaned. "Spit it out. I'm not in the mood to beg to hear your brilliant plan while hanging upside down."

"Can you reach out your hands to me?"

She managed to tilt her head to see me and smile. "I don't really mind that plan. I'll try."

She tried to reach out and gasped. "I can't, I'm falling off."

I made a quick decision then and there. Arthur wasn't lying when she said my life was going to be based on choices.

"Ash, I want you to k-kick your f-foot out as hard as you can."

"What?" she said, her voice cracking and her eyes looking at me in horror and disbelief. I leveled my voice and tried to get the light stammer under control.

"Do you trust me?"

"NO" she screamed and then softened her voice. "Come on Alex, how can I? You killed Arthur so that you could get your powers. How should I know what you will do next to become more special? To become more powerful?"

I stared at her hurt and incredulous. "Is that what this is all about? All this running away leaving me behind. We are siblings. Brother and sister. I would never hurt you. I swear. You keep saying that I killed Arthur. Yeah I did. But do you, for one moment believe that I wanted to do it? Because if you do, maybe we are not siblings any more. She made me do it Ash. Believe me."

Tears came to my eyes when I recalled that moment and I turned away. Not that she could see me but just in case. "Besides this is to help you. And I would never hurt you. Even if my freaking life depended on it. Do you trust me?"

"Kind of." She said. "I did trust you Alex. I really did. And I know you would never hurt me. I'm so sorry for leaving you behind. I was just so hurt and angry. Hurt that you weren't telling me all the details that happened during that night, and angry at myself for not understanding how you possibly felt after that moment. And yeah get me down now. I should also probably add that I don't have a choice." She flashed a small smile.

I almost grinned at her clear optimism. And her honesty.

"Ok Alex, you should also know that if I die, my ghost will avenge me and burn you to the crisp."

I rolled my eyes. "Ash I'm sitting on a tree branch like some idiotic Tarzan. Of course I will save you. If you were Jane...."

"ALEX!"

"Joke, joke." I said hurriedly realizing that Ash was seriously panicking. Can't really blame her though. "Besides, the woman who took us in never let us watch that movie. The only movie she ever let us watch was Batman 2, which made me never want to watch a movie again."

Ash nodded in agreement.

"Anyway Ash, remind me that after we get out of this mess we are going to go home, sit down and have a good chat about all the goings on in our life."

She smiled. "I'd like that. Now get me down. Three. Two. One." She kicked out hard and screamed as she fell down head first. I stood up, grabbed her by the wrists and lowered her onto my branch gently. Doesn't that sound heroic? Actually that part was slightly edited. To be honest her weight was a bit too much for me to bear (come on I was holding her by her wrists) and I sat down hard on the tree branch with my feet apart. If you want the truth I said "ow" an octave higher making Ash wince in sympathy.

"Sorry." She muttered. "It's ok" I squeaked.

We started climbing down. When we made it to the ground we flung our arms around each other.

"We made it out alive." Ash crowed. I grinned genuinely happy for what felt like the first time since I met the queen of Twilight. "You mean we made it 'down' alive." She gave me a push and I doubled over laughing. "All thanks to me." Ash rolled her eyes but didn't deny it.

"You do have your moments." She agreed with a small sniff.