Harley McGillicuddy was a temperamental, short, red-haired pixie of a girl, and right now she was in the passenger seat of a car trying to help navigate it through Atlanta, Georgia.
“Jaden, turn here. Here!”
“Damn Harley, you can’t tell me to turn two seconds before we miss it!”
“It wasn’t my fault. Atlanta is hell. It’s too busy up here.”
The car passengers were Harley’s circle of the charmed: Jaden, Kayla and Brendan. They were headed north to look for the other two of their circle, Chase and Lyla, who they believed were in a safe house somewhere between Georgia and Tennessee. For almost a year the circle had been dealing with a whole new kind of stress. Lyla brought in a centuries-old curse by being born on November first and lucky for the circle, Chase was the recipient because he fell in love with her. Certain members of the higher-ups found out about their powers and hunted them down, Chase set off a sonic boom that catapulted he and Lyla to safety and the rest to find them. Although at this point, they couldn’t even navigate themselves out of Atlanta.
“I’m hungry.” Kayla was in the far back of the SUV. She hadn’t stopped complaining since they left.
Jaden glanced in the mirror at her. He wasn’t sure she would ever get over Chase, the person she was arranged to marry. Knowing your parents set-up a marriage for you was one thing, following through with it, another. But Kayla had feelings for him where Chase had regarded her as an annoying sister.
“Yeah, I’m hungry, too. We already missed our exit to bypass the city, let’s just go to Varsity and we can re-group.” Jaden appeased Kayla.
The whole car bristled with a resounding yes. Varsity was one of those places you just had to see. It was a throwback in time. Burgers, shakes, fries, pies, loud environment, strange rooms like the one where you sit in a classroom and watch sports channels. Jaden looked around as he exited. Maybe they would be able to get refreshed eyes. Tallahassee turned up nothing. The safe house there had heard of Chase and Lyla but thought it was the beginning of a new urban legend
He parked and they all exited the car quickly. Once they had their food, they found a normal seat and chowed down. Brendan had four burgers, Jaden two and the girls one. But Jaden knew by experience that Harley would give at least half of hers to Brendan and Kayla would merely pick at hers.
Brendan, talking around a mouthful of food said, “So, here’s how I see it. We have to get to that park before it gets dark or it’s no use. Plus we have to find a hotel, but not until we know whether they’re here or not. Hey Jaden, how many safe houses are there?”
Jaden looked over at Brendan. He was sitting opposite Harley. He had never seen that before. In all the years he’d known them, Brendan had always been glued to her. “One in each state. They’re hard to find on purpose. You basically need to have a really good reason to appear on their doorstep.”
“Well, death would get them there. I just hope Lyla didn’t die. That hit she took was pretty intense.” Brendan absently muttered around his mouthful.
Jaden put his burger down, his stomach turning sour. It had been an incredibly hard hit by a really powerful Charmed. It was possible that both were dead. Jaden stood, dumped his food in the trash. “Ready guys?”
Brendan was half-way through his second burger. “I’m only…” He looked up and saw Jaden, his skin color white as a ghost. “Yeah, yeah we are.”
Jaden turned and walked away. Brendan hurried the girls up and they met Jaden at the car, the engine was revving already. They were headed to the next location, Chickamauga National Park.
