Deviants

Chapter 46

Kate

The first thing that I sense is the sound of crackling. The popping of wood burning. Then I smell it. The scent of burning pine. And then heat. Heat that's so immensely close, my eyes snap open. Sapphire eyes meet mine. He says something that's completely muffled.

"Kate? Kate!" He yells. He keeps glancing down at something, his jacket is off, and he is pressing it into my legs. I am about to scream out, but he quickly covers my mouth. "Shh! They'll hear us," he whispers. My head is spinning, but remembering how I got here and what happened, I force myself to fight past it and sit up. I finish helping Jesse pat out the flames that had ignited on my pant legs. The burns aren't too bad. I must've only been out for a second. Jesse is crouching so close next to me I can smell his book and parchment scent. "We need to find Amee," he whispers. The images come back in flashes. Amee fighting the woman, the woman kicking Amee's knee, Jesse no longer willing to sit back and watch, the woman beginning to glow. The force wave flying from the woman, Amee flying towards the trees. Jesse and I watching as it came ramming into us.

"I saw her," I mumble.

"Me too. Come on." Jesse helps me to my feet. I wasn't blown far. Only a few feet from where Jesse and I had sat, watching the whole thing. It had pushed us deeper into the forest, which has a long line of flames in it. In the dark, it's easy to see the flames encircle the entire area a quarter of a mile from where the woman had stood, Jesse and I barely hidden in that range.

Jesse grabs my hand and leads me deeper into the forest, away from the light of the flames, which is on trees, rocks, and bushes. Amee, having been blown in our direction, is spotted quickly. But not soon enough to give us a proper ahead start back to the bunker.

Jesse kneels next to Amee's limp body right when multiple twig snap from behind us. I turn to see one of the I.O.E. agents stumbling through the trees, vigorously patting at the flames on his sleeve. From behind my hood, I see him glance up at us. He curses as he quickly grips his gun at his side, but it is flung to the side by an invisible force. The agent is force backwards onto the ground.

"Batman!" Jesse growls at me. I rush to him and help him hoist Amee on our shoulders. We start to race away but we don't get far before I feel my hood yanked from my head. I scream out in pain when my head is yanked back by my hair, my eyes watering. The large agent stares daggers into my eyes but only for a second before his grip is loosened by Jesse throws out his hand, shoving the agent deep into the other side of the forest. I turn and both Jesse and I drag Amee through the trees as fast as we can. We stop when we hear a groan from her.

"Set her down," Jesse says, both of us breathing heavily, leaving our breath behind us. I help him set Amee on the ground against a tree and we both kneel before her. I place my hand on her shoulder and give her a shake. Jesse lightly slaps her cheeks.

"Amee?" Both of us say. My eyes drift towards Jesse as he continues to try to wake her up. I can't help but feel a great sense of gratitude. I wouldn't have any idea what would've happened to Amee or I if Jesse hadn't found out about our secret. Though I'm still not sure what to think about everything with I.O.E. or with our abilities, I know I'd be a lot worse off if it weren't for Jesse.

Amee groans and I see her eyes slowly drift open. We've paused for only a few seconds, but I know that those agents are still after us.

"We can't stay here," I say.

"I'm not medically trained for this, Kate," Jesse says, looking at me with worried eyes. "Are you? Look at her knee," he says. I don't though. I already had a glimpse of her misplaced kneecap when we had found her. "It's popped out, and you're burnt, and Amee was hit in the head more than once. We need to get her to someone who knows medical care." But as he says it, another groan comes from Amee. She suddenly has a vise-like grip on my arm and before I can stop her, I see her move her other hand to her knee and she shoves it back in place. I gasp, wanting to throw up as she lets out a muffled scream.

"Bloody hell," Jesse mutters. We both look up when we hear distant shouting. Jesse turns back to Amee, starting to lift her up. "We've gotta go."

"No, wait," she says, her grip still tight as ever, "it isn't safe to go back to the bunker."

"Where then?" Jesse whispers.

"In my boot... under the sole," her eyes are shut tight to endure the pain, "there's a key to the... apartment above that one Chinese restaurant." Jesse looks at me questioningly.

"I think I know what she's talking about," I say. We don't say anything else as we rush back to campus. My legs sting so badly I nearly want to bawl. But we are able to make it to campus and to Jesse's car. From there, we head into town towards the slum area that has the only Chinese restaurant that Amee possible could be talking about. Jesse and I still have to carry her to the back door where she tells me to pound on it.

A short Chinese man opens the door, his face going white the minute his eyes fall on Amee. He mutters something quick in Chinese before trying to slam the door closed but I see Amee's hand flick upwards, and the door is shoved open so hard it slams into the back wall and stays there. Amee says something in broken Chinese, which doesn't seem to comfort the man, or any of other Chinese people in the kitchen, all of which stares at us. It seems to make them all shrink with fear before the man who opened the door motions us inside and up some stairs. When we are at the door he walks away as quickly as he can without running. I kneel and gently remove Amee's shoe from her wounded leg.

"What did you say to him?" Jesse says.

"I'm not sure," Amee says tiredly, "it's something Kevin used to say which always got him results. I decided to memorize it before he was murdered."

We enter a one-bedroom apartment that only has two windows on wall in front of us, a full-size bed to the right with a worn and dusty brown blanket over it, an even more worn and dusty brown and yellow plaid couch that's against the wall to the left, in between two doors, one is a closet and the other is a bathroom.

Jesse and I carry Amee to the bed and gently lay her down. She points to the bathroom when I ask her where the medic kit is. We spend the next half an hour in silence as we follow Amee's directions on how to fix her up. But as soon as we have her leaned against some pillows, her leg supported, and are sure that she doesn't have a concussion, she stares at me. Both Jesse and I sit on the bed on either side of her.

"So... the boy?" Jesse finally speaks up. Amee glances at him before looking back at me as she clears her throat.

"An older version of me when I was in their custody," she says with so much intensity that if I didn't know better, I'd assume she didn't just get blown into a tree. I don't say anything. She continues to stare at me. "Kate." I take a deep breath, looking away from her. "Kate, they are doing that to so many people, I wouldn't even be able to count."

"I don't know what you want from me, Amee," I say, looking at her.

"I want you to know what is waiting for us. I want you to know what is happening to people just like you. People who just want to be normal. And then let's see if you will still turn your back to them," she says. I swallow hard, standing from the bed and walking towards a window so I don't have to look at either her or Jesse.

"Alright, that's enough," Jesse says. "Amee, you need to get some rest. We've all had a hard night." I hear him stand and walk over to me. "I don't think we should leave her alone," he whispers. I turn to see her eyes shut tight to endure the pain she's going through. I slowly reach into my jacket pocket and feel the gun that she had handed to me before we ambushed that truck. I turn to Jesse.

"I wouldn't be able to survive if those people found us. I can't be left alone with her," I whisper back. Jesse sighs as he glances at Amee and then to the dusty couch.

"I'll take the couch," he says. I'm able to breath easier. I'd be safer with Amee and Jesse more than I would be in my dorm anyway. Both of them know how to use their abilities and now I've seen firsthand the damage they can cause.

A/N:

I'm not sure what to say about this chapter... or what to ask... I guess I'm just not in an "author note" kind of mood :/

But even still thank you for your support! :)