The Link 2 - The Hunted

Chapter 18 - Caleb

I couldn't believe how much fun I was having. I only came to be close to Teegan. Gene had made it his mission to make sure I wasn't left stranded out of my element. I can't remember the last time I had laughed so much. Even Samantha had let me in.

"So," Samantha asked, "when are you going to make your move?" She was wrapped in Gene's arms and bounced her eyebrows up and down when she spoke. Gene looked intently waiting for my answer. I didn't need to ask what or who they were referring too.

"She's not ready," I replied. I felt a little uncomfortable having such a personal conversation with them. I should have gone with Teegan to the bathroom.

"She is," Samantha corrected me, "She just won't admit it to herself." I felt my face heat up. I hated blushing at everything that has to do with Teegan. I didn't like being so transparent.

"You're embarrassing him," Gene told Samantha.

"Sorry," Samantha said. She placed her hand on my forearm. It was such a friendly gesture and from a such a pretty girl. Everything that had happened since that chance meeting at the mall was so new. Samantha liked me. Not in the romantic sense, but like a close friend.

"No worries," I said with a smile. She retracted her hand and matched my smile. "I'm giving her space. She seems to need it right now." Samantha's eyes widened and so did her smile.

"You admit you like her," Samantha stated.

'I admit nothing," I said and followed it with more blushing. Gene laughed and slapped my shoulder. Samantha gave me a knowing wink. I covered my grin by taking a drink of my soda. Gene changed the subject by pointing out Betty Morrison spilling her drink on Todd Black. It was hard not to laugh as she struggled to brush it away without touching too much of his lap.

Fear, from out of nowhere, filled my mind. I turned around, expecting to see some threat I hadn't expected closing in on me. There were just people having fun; no hazard appeared as my brain began to process at breakneck speed. The adrenaline that flooded when I first felt the fear, drained away and peace filled the void. The decision not to go to MIT or Stanford was the correct one. It was so clear now. The future should be decided by passion, not by some conservative best bet.

"You okay?" Gene asked. I realized I was staring off into the night sky. I had no idea why I wasn't surprised when I felt Teegan's mind merge with mine. It seemed so normal and exactly how things should be. I looked down into my half-filled cup and discarded the thought that someone spiked my drink. I smiled and let myself flow into the link.

"Caleb?" Samantha called. Pain burned into my wrist, and I dropped my drink. My hair felt as if was being torn from my skull. A split second later, I knew it was Teegan in trouble.

"He's hurting her," I said as I turned toward the sliding glass door.

"Caleb!" Gene called as I ran toward the door.

"He's hurting Teegan," I shouted as I threw the door open and ran for the stairs. A fury I didn't know possible filled my mind. The thought of someone hurting Teegan exploded in my brain. For the first time in my life, I wanted to kill someone.

"Shit!" Gene shouted in confusion, "I got your back." It was a strange feeling, knowing something I haven't seen, was a fact. Knowing that Gene, an athlete extraordinaire, would never keep up with me was even weirder. I knew that I had to move upstairs and exactly what door to enter. All of it was so clear, so perfect.

I moved through the family room faster than I had ever run in my life. None of my muscles felt the strain, and my body leaned in ways it knew as correct but had never learned before. My balance was perfection as I neared the stairs. Openings, so small I would have never trusted them before, became apparent among the crowd sitting on the stairs. In an instant, my eyes analyzed a pattern of movements that would allow me up to the second floor unaccosted. I smiled as I thought of the pain I would inflict on Mason. How I knew it was him didn't matter. No one hurts my love.

I leaped over the lower part of the banister as if it was pommel horse. A girl screamed as my foot missed her leg by an inch and I shifted my momentum upward. My limbs had never moved so surely as I shifted back and forth, finding the previously identified openings without the slightest apprehension. I ignored gasps and exclamations that followed me up the stairs.

"Caleb!" Gene shouted, trying to catch up. He was at the bottom of the stairs, climbing the slow way.

Two of Mason's sidekicks leaned against the wall next to the door I needed to enter. I never slowed, my assessment of the situation was moving faster than I was. Frank, I think that was his name, moved first, sensing where I was headed. Somehow, I knew that they intended to let no one enter the room.

"Turn around," Frank ordered. I accelerated toward him; sure he would underestimate me. His face took on a determination as he tried to reach out and grab me. Normally, anyone his size would scare the hell out of me, but not now. I ducked into a moving squat, and he leaned into it instinctively, committing to the grab as I neared the floor. My shoulder drove into his hips with him doubled over, and I stood, using my legs. In an instant, I decided that over the banister was better than down the heavily occupied stairs. Using the rest of my momentum, I straightened my back, and he flew behind me screaming. I ignored the thud of his body hitting the first floor and moved toward the door.

I ducked under the wild swing that Mason's second friend threw. My mind quickly developed a plan. Knee, diaphragm, and jaw. My right foot shot out, my left leg compensating, and connected with the man's knee with a sickening crunch. I planted my foot and drove my fist up into the man's chest, just below the rib cage. I heard his lungs release their air involuntarily. Using what was left of my upward momentum, I drove my elbow under his jaw. He fell backward in a heap that I now ignored.

I shifted my weight and lined up for the door. All the physics of applying maximum pressure at the smallest point flashed through my thoughts. My body responded as if the muscle memory had been present all along. The heel of my foot slammed into the door, just under the doorknob and I heard the frame shatter as the door flew open.

Before me was Mason. Teegan was trapped in his arms, and her tears were flowing freely. His death wouldn't be slow enough.

"Get the hell out of here!" Mason ordered. I don't think he expected me to move even faster. I accelerated into his helplessness. Foolishly, he had decided that holding onto Teegan was more important than facing me. As I neared, I saw fear begin to grow in his eyes. It was too late for fear, hell had already arrived.

I drove my fist, backed by all my weight into the side of his face. A loud cracking sound echoed in my ears as I followed through, trying to push it all the way to the other side of his face. My anger flared as my knee drove into his side, exactly where I knew his kidney resided. The shock on his face fueled my hatred. Teegan, now free backed away. I could see her lips moving, but the only sound I wanted to hear was Mason begging for the mercy he would never get.

Mason tried to raise his arm, but I shifted my weight on my left foot and swung my right 180 degrees, achieving maximum velocity, and sunk all my weight into the foot that found the side of his face. He hit the ground at the same time as I returned to stationary. I dropped on top of him and let my anger speak. I began to pummel his face, one fist at a time, oblivious that he was no longer moving.

"Caleb," I heard in the background. A flood of warmth flowed into me. I slowed with my hand drawn back and aimed for a blow that would shatter Mason's nose into his brain. "Caleb," the beautiful soft voice called. Love filled my soul and muddled my anger. I looked down at the bloody mess that was Mason's face. Another surge of something so indescribably beautiful became everything. I dropped my hand and looked at Teegan.

Teegan was smiling at me, her heart completely open and spilling into mine. The tears in her eyes were for me, not for what Mason had done. The rest of my hatred fled and with it most of my strength. Sloppily, I stood.

I opened my arms and Teegan collapsed into them. I let my happiness flow into her, accepting her love in return. I tried to pull her closer, but my energy was waning.

"I'm going to pay for the corsage," I informed her. Teegan's lips moved to my ear.

"Okay," Teegan whispered. There were a million things I wanted to say. A trillion questions I wanted to ask. For some reason, my mind was losing a battle for consciousness. I fought hard to remain in her arms, but my muscles were becoming useless. A vision flashed in my mind, and I smiled.

"And I'll cut my hair," I said, then everything went black.