The Storm Inside

Chapter Eight: Manhunt

A/N: this story's gonna get super crazy now. Back to Damira's perspective

"So that was kind of a bust," Alexis said from the passenger's seat. This time Valerie was driving, since we were out in the middle of nowhere so no one would know. She might only be fourteen and have only a car chase as experience, but she was doing well.

"Not really," I said. "We found her. We know that she's here, even if she didn't wanna come."

"So what now?"

"Now we go find Beatrix and figure out what's going on with her," I said. "She didn't sound too good when she called me. Are we almost there?"

"We're still a few minutes away. Let's stop at this gas station."

My heart leapt but my stomach tightened, which was a strange sensation, as I recognized that gas station. Beatrix and I had gone to it on our way to the city all those months ago.

"I wanna get a drink," Valerie said. "You?"

"I don't want anything," I said. "But I'll go with you."

We got out of the car as Alexis began to fill it up, and headed inside the little store. "So her mom's like... alive?" Valerie asked.

"I don't know. She said it was something about her mom. And that she didn't know if she was alive."

"That's crazy," she said. "Is she gonna go live with her then?"

"I don't know," I said again. "I have no idea what's going on."

Selfishly I hoped she wouldn't be able to go live with her mother, even if that might be the best thing for her. Beatrix should be here, with us.

Suddenly Valerie grabbed my hand. "Mira," she said breathlessly, pointing to the little television hanging from the wall.

It wasn't our interview, like I'd expected. Instead it was a news channel, and the regular program seemed to have been interrupted. The sound was off but I could read the subtitles.

"Oh my god," she breathed. "Thomas is dead. He died. Like, a couple hours ago."

"How could he possibly die?" I asked, my mind reeling. "He wasn't old or sick. He was in jail. He was in a cell."

The news forecast continued, suddenly showing pictures of Beatrix, myself, Valerie, Evianna, and Alexis, saying that we were persons of interest.

"Persons of interest? What the hell does that mean?"

"We have to go," Valerie said, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the store. "Alexis!"

"What?" Alexis asked. She was back inside the car.

"Thomas is dead. We're persons of interest. What does this mean?"

"It's a nice way of saying suspects. Get in the car, we need to get ahead of this."

We hurried into the backseat and she started up the car. "Are we gonna get arrested?" Valerie asked.

"They've been looking for a reason to lock you guys up. But you have solid alibis. You were all the way out here when this happened. But Beatrix and Evianna are definitely in trouble."

Her voice was shaking and she seemed to be taking very strong breaths. I couldn't blame her for being emotional, while she had hated Thomas, he was still her brother.

While Valerie pulled out her phone and stayed spamming both of them with texts, I flipped on the radio without moving a muscle. I hadn't used my powers for a while, so it felt almost foreign to me. I always felt them inside me, but I had grown used to them.