Thanagarian

Chapter 25

As Garth and I followed the police chase from above I couldn't help but realize how odd it felt to know somebody was beside me. His wingspan was shorter than mine by about two feet, only eight feet in total. Compared to my ten foot wingspan it looked like an eagle flying next to a hawk. He was right though, he could fly with skill and even learned to ride the thermals. His jaw was set and his eyes hard behind his mask.

The car the police were after was a blue SUV that looked like it had seen better days. "Ready?" I asked over the roar of wind.

"For what?" Garth replied.

In a fight you have a reaction time of only one or two seconds, for Garth it was about ten, especially with questions. I groaned in frustration before I answered. "To bring that driver down!"

"Oh! Right! Let's go!"

"Garth wait!" I called, but he was already diving. "We need a plan..." I said, trailing off. I shook my head, then dove off after him. I was heavier and therefore could dive faster, and it wasn't long before we were side by side. Garth smiled at me called, "I got it!" Then leveled out and went to land on top of the car. However he wasn't looking where he was going and wound up kissing over pass pavement.

I groaned and dropped my head in my hands, then flew off for the car. I landed on top of it and grabbed the bike rack so I wouldn't get blown off. I leaned down to peer in the window and was surprised at what I saw... nothing.

"What is it?" Garth asked over the roaring wind. I looked up, he was on the car beside me and his jaw was black and blue.

"Well, I think I found America's next top model!" I exclaimed sarcastically.

"Shut up." He replied, feeling his jaw with his fingers and grimacing.

"There's no driver." I replied nonchalantly.

"No driver!" He exclaimed. "How do we beat it!"

I offered the first piece of mentor-ly advice that hit my brain. "You hit it till it breaks!"

Garth happily complied, swinging at the car with his sword. After a few moments of fruitless beating I decided there was only one thing to do. With my axe I broke the window and slipped into the driver's seat. Garth broke the other window and went sliding not so gracefully into the passenger seat. As I was taking a crash course in Driving- A- Car- at- fast- speeds- while- being- chased- by- cops- in- a- car- that- drives-itself, Garth was busy fiddling with the radio. He found a song that he liked and leaned back, but I didn't like the tune. I changed the station and he went to change it back but I slapped his hand away.

"Hey!" He complained, rubbing it.

"Shut up, Garth." I replied. He sat back with a thud but was pitched forward when the car swerved down an alley. I was thrown forward too and was then slammed back into the seat as the car accelerated. Garth took that chance as I tried to stop the car to change the station. I whacked him in the chest but then the car swerved out of the alley and back into the street.

I would be lying of I said I wasn't scared.

"Ye-haw!" Garth yelled as the car swerved through traffic.

"Shut up, Garth!" I yelled back. The brakes didn't seem to work as we sped to an unknown destination, so we could only hold tight for the ride. And play better music than this crap. I changed the station and a fitting song came on as we sped towards the bridge. Garth must have known it too because he starting singing at the top of his lungs. So I did too."

"Living easy, living free! season ticket on a one-way ride! Asking nothing, leave me be! Taking everything in my stride! Don't need reason, don't need rhyme! Ain't nothing I would rather do
going down, party time! my friends are gonna be there too. I'm on the highway to hell! On the highway to hell! Highway to hell! I'm on the highway to hell!" Once the song was over we were out of breath and the fight for the radio ended. The car turned left off the bridge and drove straight into a parking lot, then into a garage.

The car stopped on a platform in the middle, then began to descend. "Be ready, Garth." I warned.

"What?" He asked, busily looking through old CDs.

"You're an idiot."

"Hey!"

"Shut up, Garth." The car came to a stop and I opened the door and jumped out. A woman with deathly pale skin, shining black hair, and a black dress stood there. She held out a thin hand and darkness swirled above it.

"Well," She said in a high, quiet voice. "Hitch hikers. I never did like them."

"I never did like creepy ladies who lead cops on a chase!" Retorted Garth.

"Shut up, Garth!" I hissed.

"I bet you guys are tired from your long... ride." She said, stroking the darkness as if it were a living thing. "Perhaps you'd like a nice, quiet, room. A dark, dark room. Where no one can hear you scream!"

"I slammed my axe handle into my hand and it illuminated the dark room. But instead of the darkness vanishing it seemed to retreat like a living creature, pressing into the corners. The lady herself shrunk back from the light, then summoned a cocoon of darkness around her frail body.

"Ah, ah ahh." She warned, wagging a finger. "Don't you love the dark, so concealing, so flattering, so... welcoming. Come into the dark children, it's so easy."

Garth laughed. "Don't you love creepy old ladies that hang out in basements? So wrinkly, so ugly, so..." He lifted the corner of one lip. "...un-flattering." I burst out laughing and the lady pursed her lips.

"Foolish children!" She hissed. "You know-"

"That you live in your mother's basement?" Garth asked, indicating the mil-dewy walls. "Pretty much, yeah."

"-Not what you're messing with." She finished. "The power of darkness is much greater than that of light. By coming here you face the wrath of Midnight!"

"I'm so scared." Garth said, crossing his arms.

"So be it." She hissed quietly. She held out her arms and I was overcome by a thick, choking darkness. I struck at it with my axe and opened my mouth to scream when it filled it. I fell to my knees as it gripped my axe. I heard Garth struggling and the old lady laughing, then nothing.