Through Hell and Into Heaven

Chapter 14

     The man grunted and turned around. "Who's there?" he growled. Tina had been holding her breath painfully long and really wanted to exhale. Israel's hand was still pushed against her mouth, which she absolutely hated. "Show yourself!" the man yelled, stomping his foot. There was more jingling of metal. Tina knew their time was running out. They would have to make a break for it. Tina roughly grabbed Israel's arm and pulled him out from under the table. They rushed out of the tent and into the cool night air, the mystery man shouting at them to stop.

     They were too afraid to, so they continued to run. They dashed across the empty stretch of sand and practically smashed into the wire fence. Taran stared at them through the wall, his eyes filled with fear. He looked like he had seen Israel's demon. "Who is chasing you?" he gasped as the two teens climbed the fence. Tina heaved herself to the top, desperately trying to hold on. "I don't know," she snapped, "but get ready to leave. Now." Taran nodded and rushed for his ATV.

     Tina had jumped down to the ground and Israel had just reached the tip of the wall when they heard a loud jumble of curses. A sound like thunder played on a large sound box in the back of Tina's head cracked through the air. Israel's silhouette flinched, fell from the top of the gate, and hit the ground with a painful thud. Tina gasped in shock and rushed over to her fallen friend, furiously praying. Had that been the sound of a pistol?! Had Israel been shot?! Oh, God, please, no! God, please! Yet Israel immediately jumped to his feet, thankfully unhurt except possibly for a few bruises. "I'm okay!" Israel insisted, "Just go!" Another gunshot exploded in their ears and Tina and Israel mounted their bikes.

     Taran was already roaring down the road as fast as his ATV could possibly go. Tina and Israel slammed the pedals of their bikes and were off. The farther they got from the excavation site, the more faded the cursing voice became. Finally, there was nothing but the engine of Taran's ATV to disturb the quiet. After a minute of no talking, Tina finally broke the tension. "Israel!" she shouted, "Why do you always have to go and be the bloody idiot?!"

     Israel tried to smile. "You know why, Tee. This demon-or whatever it is-is driving me crazy!" Tina tried to hold back tears of shock and relief. "I thought you were dead!" she whimpered, "I thought you had gone and got yourself shot like a mad fool!" Israel laughed. "Nah, the sound just startled me." Tina sniffed and wanted to kick him. "Don't you ever go and scare me like that again, Israel Pirran!" Israel frowned and said, "I wouldn't count on it."