Freaks

Chapter 12

A/N: I wrote all of this before volume 2 came out, but this is the last chapter I wrote not knowing how the show ends, so if the timelines don't match up exactly, that's why. But the core story will stay the same. Enjoy the rest of Ari's story!

Eddie's van powered down the desolate roads, we stayed away from the busy streets, the cops still having a bounty on our heads. But I needed to get to the cabin.

The van was practically on two wheels as we slid round the winding forest roads. We were in a race against time, I didn't know how much longer Nancy had left, and if my theory was incorrect I didn't know if I could save her.

"Stop!" I yelled, bracing myself against the dash as Eddie slammed the brakes, in the middle of the road.

"Here?" He looked at me wildly.

"Yes." I nodded nervously, "The cabin of experimental superpowered children is hardly going to have a well lit path to it, is it?"

"We're not far from the town. You lived out here? And never wanted to come back and see it?" Eddie asked.

"If you had been through the things I had, you wouldn't want to come back here." I wrapped my hands around the door handle.

"You sure about this?" Eddie grabbed my wrist, stopping me.

"Nancy's gonna die if I can't figure this out." My eyes were watering and I was trembling uncontrollably.

Eddie nodded, "I'm right by your side, okay?"

I gave him a small smile before exiting the van, Eddie hot on my tail. I still needed him to assist me walking, so he wrapped a hand round my shoulder and I clung to his waist.

We hurried through the forest, as fast as my body would let us go, tripping over logs and hidden rocks. I was surprised I even still knew where the house was. I hadn't been back here in seven years. Not since the day I was rescued. But I think something like this is engrained in you forever.

"Here-" I panted, slowing us to a stop as the battered cabin came into view.

The closer we got the more desolate it was, nothing like how I remembered. The bench out the front was withered and rotten, the stone bird bath must've been stolen years ago. Busted windows and missing floor panels told me scavengers had already ransacked the place. I just hoped what I was looking for was still there.

The floorboards creaked under us as we padded through the house, cobwebs now decorating every corner, with moss and ivy accentuating it.

"So...uh," Eddie was wide-eyed, "What are we looking for exactly?"

"A book," I answered, rifling through old newspapers on the rotten coffee table, "It's blue, an embroidered A on the front."

"We came all this way for a book?" Eddie raised an eyebrow at me.

"It's not just a book." I told him, "I think...I think I'm capable of more, and I think this book will show me what I'm supposed to be able to do."

"So, you can do more than just read minds?" He asked.

"I think so." I paused, "But I'm not exactly sure how, I'm hoping this book will tell me."

"You sure someone hasn't stolen it?" Eddie gestured round to the practically empty cabin, most of it's valuables gone.

"I think I know where it is." I sighed.

"Then why are we wasting our time looking for it?" Eddie stressed, "We need to get back to Nancy."

"I think it's in-"

"The basement." A voice cut me off. I whipped round to see a figure standing in the doorway, their shadow casted over the creaking floorboards.