Floating

Chapter 9

Willa sat on the uncomfortable bed tired, and drowsy. She hadn't eaten in two days, and was only drinking the very little water the people in the facility gave her. 

Willa began to think of the food her mother made her when she was a child like Kotlet Schabowy, Gulasz, Gibos and others. A small tear escaped her eye. She could still see her mother placing them on the plates and serving them, while the incredible smell circulated the house.

Willa smiled.

Suddenly, a loud sound came from the hall. Willa sat up alertly.

She heard grunts, and shouts, and banging footsteps, then a confused bellow.

The loud footsteps came closer to her cell, and Willa stood up, breathing heavily. Her fist was clenched, and her eyes dark, prepared to face whatever was behind that door.

The door swung open, and Schaffel walked in.

"Willa?" He called.

Willa's tired eyes widened, and looked at Schaffel with surprise. "Schaffel? What are you doing here!?" She exclaimed, unclenching her fist.

"To save you." He said with a smile, then held his hand out to her. "Because—you're my friend." Schaffel said.

Willa's eyes lightened. Hearing those words made cold heart beat again, and she felt happy. The pain and sorrow she felt just minutes ago melted away.

She took his hand.

"Come on," Willa said, "I know this place like the back of my hand."

She ran down the hall, and stopped. 

One of the Imods, its eyes seemed to be pecked out, staggered and swayed down the hall. "Who's there?" He called, and laughed evilly. "I may not see, but I can hear you much better now."

Willa raised her hands to use her powers, but her vision blurred and she felt light headed. "I can't do it," she whispered, lowering her hands and steadying herself. "You have to."

Schaffel was speechless. "I can't...you're more powerful than I am, I-I don't even know-"

Willa cut off Schaffel by turning to face him, and clutching his shoulders. "You are more powerful than me Schaffel." She went on. "You saved us in the car that day, you saved me when we encountered that Nazi soldier in the lab."

Schaffel's eyes widened with both surprise and shock. His confidence was shattered as a child, he was put down, told he was less. Why it never even crossed his mind that he would have powers. He knew he had a little powers, as he was part Cadmusian, but hearing this was a shock. 

I did that?

"If you can believe in me to do this," Willa said firmly, "you can believe in yourself too."

She turned held his hand. Willa looked him in the eyes, and nodded.

Schaffel raised his hand and closed his eyes, as vibrations went through the walls.

The Imod raised its head. "What is this?"

Schaffel opened his eyes, as they flashed a bright purple, sending the Imod flying backward. It then slammed its back against the wall, falling to the ground.

Schaffel blinked and tried to catch his breath. Woah, I did it...

"You did," Willa replied smiling. "C'mon!" she cried. They approached the facility's cafeteria, which was beside the exit. Schaffel pushed the door open to outside, as they ran into the field. 

Willa gasped as a group of the Imods came running at them.

Crap.

"They're behind us!" She cried. Then she caught sight of a large purple bird, as it flew across the blue sky, and dived at the Imods. The Imods shouted, and collapsed to the ground, screaming and cursing.

Willa and Schaffel laughed, as they continued running through the field.

Finally, the bird left the Imods with dozens of scratches, and purple feathers in their clothes. "Stupid bird!" One of them shouted.

Suddenly the bird approached Schaffel and Willa. It grabbed their shirts with its large beak, and flung them onto its back.

The bird flew up high escaping the facility's territory.

Willa and Schaffel laid on their backs, their chests heaving from all the running, "wow, that was thrilling." Willa said sarcastically.

Schaffel giggled.

✯✯✯

The Imods staggered through the hallway. "Boss won't like this..." Buzz said, "Who's telling him?" He looked at all of them hopefully.

They all looked at each other awkwardly, then looked back at Buzz and said the same thing: "you."

Buzz groaned and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I always do." He mumbled angrily. Suddenly he heard a clunk of metal under his feet. "Huh?"

They all stopped, watching as Buzz picked up the black object. "We should take this to the Boss."

Imod Headquarters

The leader Imod, Ubel, gazed forward across the green field, comfortable in his office.

He began to hear quick and precise footsteps, and he crossed his arms, keeping his back facing the doorway. To his prediction, one of the Imod's in a white coat approached. "Hello, sir-"

"Is the machine still running smoothly?" Ubel asked. "It must not run out of power. Especially right now."

"It is as strong as ever." The other Imod replied in a quiet and intimidated voice. "Running perfectly."

"Good, make sure it's working or we will fail." Ubel raised his chin. "What have you come to tell me?" He turned to face the small Imod.

"Well-"

The shy Imod was interrupted by dragging footsteps from the hallway which made Ubel shift his focus to Buzz and his other men injured.

"Sir, we found something." Buzz said, holding out a trembling hand to Ubel.

Their leader gazed upon the black object in disgust. Suddenly, the black faded, a contagion that was purple and gold took over. It shone brightly before Ubel's face. His face twisted with anger at the object.

"I believe it belonged to the boy. It appears to be Cadmusian." Buzz said.

Ubel glared at him, "indeed it is, but how is it that it lies in my hands unscathed? We destroyed everything on Cadmus, didn't we?" He said in a low growl turning his back to Buzz.

The Imods gulped in fear.

"Their magical books, beliefs, inventions, proof of magic—we destroyed it all." He turned swiftly to face Buzz's terrified face, and his red eyes widened. "So why is this still here?!" Ubel yelled.

Buzz shook his head, "I-I d-don't know s-sir."

Suddenly, the object opened, showing a map of the Earth.

Ubel's face glowed in front of the light, as he watched the thousands of dots on the paper; showing every humans' location and movements. Ubel grinned evilly. "On second thought—this might prove useful."

He pointed at the Imods, "get the ship ready."