What Lies Between ✔

A Strange Fellow

9.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, holy shit!" Ben screamed beside me as we lifted higher and higher into the sky.What goes up must come down, and we began free falling with tremendous speed towards the awaiting ground.

"Push... again! This time... to your right!" I instructed, struggling to speak as I gulped in the rushing air.

Ben did as I said and we sailed sideways in the sky as if we could fly. Well, with the efficiency of a broken winged bird, that is.

It took everything in me, but I pulled every ounce of energy I had leftfrom the snakes. As we rocketed towards the ground, one word popped into my mind, "Shield!" I cried out, and I clung to that idea, hoping it would form before we went splat.

Remarkably, a green arc blazed around us. We fell for only a few seconds more before crashing into a roof of a house. Debris fell all around as we landed smack onto the top floor of the home. We laid there panting, uncaring of any human who may have found us, for what seemed like forever. My head was swirling with incoherent thoughts. Pain resonated throughout my head and I was starting to feel the bruises I likely acquired from being tossed around like a life sized rag-doll. The back of my knee burned and I wondered what kind of effect Hydra'senergy had had on my open wound. My ribs were throbbing with each breath and I was certain one or more were fractured.

Fractured? I would have to have been solid for any bones to have broken.

I couldn't think of that then. Even thinking hurt, and I was incredibly weak. I used too much of my energy. I could feel my soul making a feeble attempt to pull energy from my surroundings, but whether my body was physical or spiritual, it was just too battered to find a living source outside the home to draw from.

Suddenly I was being lifted. I groaned in pain as every injury screamed at the movement. When I stopped moving I realized I was being cradled in someone's arms. Pins and needles spread throughout my body and I felt some of my stupor fade with the strength of whatever energy was filling me.When the black that had clouded my eyes subsided enough, I found myself staring up at Ben's face. My mind caught up with me then.

"...you... okay?" I had meant for the words to come out stronger and concerned, but they were nothing more than a breath.

Ben laughed, but there was no joy in it. "Am I okay? You should see yourself right now."

"......bad?" I whispered, annoyed that I couldn't form a complete sentence.

"Is it ever," he said, and then added, "but you'll be okay, just beat up real bad. It'll heal."

"Good." At that moment it clicked where the energy was coming from. I was draining Ben. I pushed against him in vain because of my weakness. "No, you need to save your energy, you were hurt too." I managed to say, and then coughed my lungs out.

"Chill out, I'm better off than you," he said, not using much effort to restrain me.

I went limp, too tired to start one of our pointless arguments. "Where are we, Ben... we must have disturbed someone... right?" I asked.

"This house has a for sale sign on the front yard, I noticed it somehow in our crazy plummet. I'm guessing no one lives here since someone isn't freaking their brains out at us right now. No alarm either, luckily. The realistate agency isn't going to be happy about this one."

I nodded, gaining strength from his energy each second I laid in his arms.

"What the hell did she want?" Ben asked after a while.

"To take me to this Typhon... I guess," I murmured. Then I squinted in thought causing my head to pain, "Why does he want me? And why did she refer to me as Kairos?"