2050: The Beginning of the End

Chapter 23: Rosalie

Dedicated to Bananabrains13 ... If you're looking for something a little different genre-wise to read, check out her Harry Potter fanfic or her story The Exaggeration of Imagination.
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My head is pounding, my brain feels like someone is hitting it over and over with a hammer. The pain is enough to make me nauseous, and the soldier's uneven footsteps on the stairs aren't helping.

I focus on staying really still, on making myself look unconscious. If the soldier really does cause me to pass out, Jason and Shemik are most likely dead.

Then again, they're probably already dead.

Would Dimitri really kill them?

He always used to be so nice to me. He could get in a fight with Shemik, and five minutes later he would be asking me about a book I was reading or want to know how my talent was coming along.

He never acted rude or cruel toward me.

Maybe he kept that side from me on purpose.

Did he think I was too young to handle seeing it?

The soldier's footsteps stop, and I hear a door being pushed open. I don't dare to open my eyes yet; I can't risk him looking at me.

He drops me, dumping me on a hard surface as I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming. I didn't land on my head, but somehow being dropped like that made the pain even worse. I hear his heavy boots thumping against the floor as he walks away from me, then the door slamming behind him.

The floor is cold, and I press my cheek against it for a moment. It feels good, makes me feel a bit more alive at least. Opening my eyes, the light seems ten times brighter than it should. I'm on the floor of a hotel room, the bed is made and looks as if no one is staying here right now. It takes me a moment to notice the girl sitting against the other wall, but when I do I decide it is worth standing up.

My head still feels like it's splitting, but I force myself to ignore it. This pain can't come close to what I felt three years ago.

I move across the room, stumbling over my feet and blinking against the light. Brynn is sitting really still, her hands behind her back. She still has her backpack, and I wonder if the soldiers will be back to take it away. What do they want to do with us? Are they just waiting to come back and take care of us for good?

Brynn looks at me as I reach her.

"They got you too." she isn't asking a question, but I nod anyway.

She turns, and I get a look at the thick rope tying her wrists together.

I have to get her out of here.

I do think for a few seconds of just running for it, thinking of getting out of here and trying to save Shemik and Jason without her, but there's a chance if I do that I won't see her again.

"You might be able to slide it off." Brynn speaks just as I'm wondering what to do.

I decide to try it, pulling at the rope with both hands and trying to loosen it with my fingers. I'm clumsy, the pain in my head and the fact that I'm unbelievably tired slowing me down, but eventually I manage to get it loose enough for her to pull her hands free.

She stands up, taking my right hand in her left. I try to pull away, to make her take the other hand, but she won't let go.

She opens her mouth, and I know what she's going to ask. I really don't want her asking about the fingers right now, so I shake my head, wishing I hadn't a second later. The pain is almost enough to bring me back down to the floor.

"This won't work." Brynn says suddenly, "Here."

She takes off her backpack, and I wonder for a moment what she's doing.

"Put this on."

I take it from her,following her directions.

"Now get on my back." Brynn says calmly, "You're lighter than me, I think I can carry you."

I do what she says, wrapping my arms around her neck and both legs around her waist. Brynn stumbles on her first few steps, then runs across the room to the door. She tries it, squealing in amazement when it turns out to be unlocked.

She steps out into the hallway, and I realize we are back on the second floor.

"Which way?" she asks, beginning to sound scared again. If any of the soldiers finds us, I hate to think of what they will do to punish us.

I think I ran down this hall before, and I tap Brynn's left shoulder. She turns in that direction, then looks at me. I nod.

She begins to run again, occasionally asking me which way to go. We run back to the stairwell, and I don't think twice about it before nudging Brynn to take the steps.

It only takes us a few minutes to get to the roof, and Brynn pulls the door open as soon as her hand touches it.

I can see the shadow of someone standing on the roof's edge, someone else kneeling at their feet. The taller one must be Dimitri. Brynn steps onto the roof. As I watch, Dimitri pushes the figure at his feet.

I push Brynn's shoulder, and she begins to take another step. Then she glances over her shoulder at me.

"Are you kidding me, Rosalie?" her voice is a terrified whisper, and I can see that she's way too scared for this to work. Dimitri hasn't noticed us yet, but if he does, then it's all over.

I only have a few seconds, and if Brynn won't help me I'll have to try it by myself.

In one last effort to force her to move, I open my mouth.

"Trust me." My voice sounds awful, hoarse from me not using it in so long, but Brynn doesn't hesitate this time. In less than a minute she's across the roof, and Dimitri is turning back the way he had come. As he catches sight of us, Brynn jumps off the edge. I keep both legs wrapped tightly around her waist as I let go with both hands. I have only been this scared one time in my life, and I hope I never feel like this again.

Either I save us all, or I kill me and Brynn too.

I stretch my arms out to either side, keeping the palms away from me and my fingers spread.

Closing my eyes, I try to forget the headache and the fact that I could be about to die.

I concentrate on the wind, on the air and every current that causes it to move the way it does. I can feel the hundreds of smaller air currents, each one tickling my fingers as it brushes against them. I ask the air to carry Brynn and me, to move us as quickly as it can toward the ground.

I feel the wind against my face, Brynn's hair whipping back in its two pigtails and hitting me, but I don't open my eyes.

I can't.

I wonder if this is what it feels like to fly?

Brynn slams against something solid, and I hear her gasp. I have to hope she stuck the landing, because if we keep moving this fast we are going to be crushed by the ground.

Focusing on the same air currents that are causing us to move fast, I silently beg them to slow down, to move us to the ground slowly and safely. The air is my friend, I tell myself, and it will protect me.

It feels like there is some kind of cushion surrounding me, pushing gently against my back and tickling my cheek as we move incredibly slowly towards the ground.

I can feel myself shaking, and I know it's a matter of seconds before I lose my focus and what's left of my energy.

Luckily when that happens, we're close enough to the ground that the landing isn't too painful, though for me it sends a new round of pain through my head.

I groan, slipping off Brynn's back to sit on the ground and cradle my head in my hands.