Gifted

IX

We were all lounging around in the living room when the doorbell sounded.

"I'll get it." Lux scooted off the couch and towards the front door. She recovered quickly and was able to move around a little. I watched her unlock and open the door. It was hard to see past her, but it looked like 2 men dressed in green were standing on the porch. Lux spoke with them for a few seconds and turned her head towards us.

"Hey! There's some guys here looking for you. Do you know something about Heavens Headquarters?" My heart fell through the Earth. Maze reacted too quickly and ran through the wall and out into the backyard. Rafe stood up and pointed at the front door. A roaring orange wall of light appeared in the doorway, a different color from his usual purple. Lux stumbled backwards and fell. The HH officers ran forwards into the barrier and went flying backwards as they hit it.

"Lets go!" Rafe yelled. I ran over and scooped Lux into my arms.

"What are you doing? Leave her!" Rafe exclaimed.

"Like hell I will!" I snarled back.

"Guys! There's no time to argue. Hurry up!" Asuna screamed. She faced the wall Maze had ran through and punched a giant hole in it.

"Hey!" Lux objected.

"Sorry, we'll pay you back." I said with a sigh. Asuna ran out, followed by Ebi and Rafe. I was the last one out as we ran through the snow. Maze was no where in sight, probably abandoning the group entirely for her own safety. I glanced behind me and saw the 2 officers chasing us still. One of them had weird eyes that were glowing light blue. Suddenly I couldn't move my legs or my arms anymore. It was like I was in a trance as I was staring at his eyes.

"Hey, Yuki! What are you doing?" Lux said. I tried to reply to her but I couldn't move anything in my body. The 2 officers were getting closer and closer now. I felt Lux jump out of my arms and land in the snow. When I tried to turn my head it was too late. She slapped me so hard across the face I went flying.

"Owww..." I rubbed my tender face and got up.

"You were stuck so I helped out. Hurry up, they're getting close!"

"Can you run yourself?" I replied.

"I'm fine. C'mon!" She began running after the other 3 as I struggled to get up. Looking into that guy's eyes is not a good idea it seems. I jumped up and began sprinting. Eventually I caught up to Lux who was breathing pretty rough. I rolled my eyes and scooped her up again. Rafe was about 20 feet in front of me now.

"Be careful! There's a lake up ahead!" Lux yelled.

"It should be frozen right?" She shook her head.

"The weather has gotten too warm. There's a good possibility that its unthawed now." I swore under my breath and ran faster. We were approaching a patch of woods now. I was tiring now by trying to avoid trees and carrying Lux.

"Is your phone ringing?" Rafe turned around and raised an eyebrow. I listened closely and heard the faint noise of my ringtone. No time to answer it now. The lake appeared in front of us and Lux was right, it was not frozen. All 4 of us skidded to a stop at the waters edge. I put Lux down again and tried to catch my breath. The officers skidded to a stop as well, 50 feet from us.

"DONT LOOK THEM IN THE EYE. IT PARALYZES YOU!" All 5 us immediately looked at their feet.

"Smart kids. Too bad it ends here." I heard one of them say. Rafe swore under his breath. No way were we going to attempt a swim in that freezing lake. And none of us had the energy to keep running. Suddenly I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. A text message? Something was telling me that the message was very important. But if I made a move right now they would lash out at me. We needed to stall.