The End [Completed]

12

We took a seat near the back. Cat sat next to me with her arms still around my waist and her head on my shoulder. She started drifting off to sleep, once the van had left the town we were in. We had no idea where this van was headed, and we had no means of making it anywhere. Bombs were still going off in the main town, and soon enough there were more transport vans leaving the town all around us.

With all the bombs going off in all different directions, an earthquake was imminent. A loud clap! Was heard overhead and lightning brightened up the dark grey sky. Cat snuggled closer to me. When she awoke she stared up into my eyes. I knew then that I was putty in her hands and I would follow this girl wherever she would go.

I hadn’t told Cat that I was able to freeze time yet. I hadn’t had time to divulge that information with her. The night after I left her house, I decided not to go back to my house. I went to our secret library and stayed there. Stealing food from grocery stores so that I could eat. I went back to the step-monster one-night, to fetch a few of my clothes and belongings, I had hoped he wouldn’t be home. My mother was still in intensive care and the step-monster still had a lot of rage left for me.

The beatings were terrifying most nights, but that night the step-monster had decided, just hitting and kicking me with his hands and feet were not enough. He had come home to find that I had packed a bag and was heading out. He came at me and I dodged his blows, this angered him even more so, he threw dishes at me and missed. He hated that he missed.

He left the house and I thought that I could make a run for it before he returned. To my dismay, he had only gone to the back yard to find a long cylindrical pole among the scraps. As he approached me, I knew what was coming. He had decided to up his game and beat me with a pole. “Tonight,” he slurred through his teeth “is the night you die, boy!” he raised the pole above his head and I braced myself for the swing, dropping the bag in the process.

Scared beyond physical belief, tears pouring out of me and my heart racing. I screamed before there was a chance of impact and let out a physical energy within me like a wave. It rippled throughout the house and when I looked up from my crouched position on the floor I saw that the pole had frozen in place just above my head. Step-monster stood frozen as well and I slowly got up from the floor and ran out of the house.

I had the physical strength to fight any bully that came my way, I’ve fought guys as big as him before and won. This was different though, fear rippled through me at the evil look this man had. He scared me down to my core. I was just a kid compared to him. I felt like a wimp and he made sure that I would never be able to stand up to him. My power had saved me that night. I grabbed my bag and ran. I never looked back.

Ever since then, I had been practicing. It made me want to see Cattleya even more, since now we both had special powers. What I could not figure out was, how did she or that other man, not get frozen? If it was just her, I could’ve explained it away as it must’ve been because I was touching her at the time, or because she has powers too? But if that was the case then that would mean, that man must have powers of his own? That was a scary thought, as he had seemed incredibly scary.

We had been driving for more than an hour and I was starting to get hungry and the woman next to us heard me, she shared her granola bar for Cat and I and as we ate we spoke.

I told her everything about being able to freeze time for a few minutes and she was impressed. She was also concerned that her vision had started coming true. -She told me about how she had started to believe she was going crazy, since she had no proof that her visions were, in fact, visions. Now that that has been disproven, she is even more concerned and feels that it is up to her to stop what ever it is that is happening.

I held her hand as we spoke, and we drove for a few days, getting to know more about each other. “It was horrible there Adam, I was tortured and beaten. All because they wanted details about my visions. I have scars and bruises. I have nightmares of that nurse, Cecile.” She cried in my arms and I held her and comforted her. All I wanted was to protect her. “You’re safe now Angel,” I kissed her on her cheek. “I won’t let anybody hurt you ever again.”

We discussed that we would get off in the next town and find some way to find food and shelter and figure out what our plans will be to shut the president down for good.

As we entered the next town, we’d noticed it had been bombed too. There was fire everywhere and people running and screaming. Children crying and calling for parents who were most likely lost or dead.

The van stopped at one of the corner streets to pick some more people up, and that is when Cat and I got out of the van. The driver looked at us strangely, probably wondering why we would want to get off in a town worse off than the town we had just come from.

We made our way to the nearest store, noticing it had been raided. Windows were shattered and most of the goods within had been gone or lying on the floor, ripped open. Milk and fruit juices spilled on the dirtied tiles. Cereal boxes ripped open and broken glass mixed in among it all.

We grabbed a few items that were still left on the emptied shelves, a few cartons of milk from the fridges and some water bottles. We headed out the back into an alley, where people were less likely to see us and want to steal from us.

In the darkened alley we noticed a child standing by an entrance that led to what seemed like an underground parking. She glanced at us and came closer slowly. Standing directly in front of Cat she said, “It’s you.” Her face in awe of Cat and I could see how confused Cattleya was. “You’re Cattleya. You’re the one that will save us.” She continued.

Cattleya and I looked at each other and back at the girl. “What are you talking about? What do you mean I will be the one to save you?” Cat asked the girl. But the girl just pulled at Cat’s arm and said “come, Cattleya. Let me show you where the others are.” And with that we followed the little girl into the underground parking space.

The space opened into a wider area and led to some stairs that went lower underground. The stairs became narrower the lower we got and darker, as there was not enough light. Just as I was thinking that this girl might be luring us to our certain deaths, we came to a rusted old door.

The girl knocked twice, and the door swung open. On the other side was a giant man, frowning and started yelling at the girl about bringing strangers to their hiding spot. “No Gunner, it’s her! I found her. I told you I would. I told you that she’d come.” “No freakin’ way!” the giant man, known as Gunner, gasped as he eyed Cattleya up and down. I didn’t like the scrutiny and was just about to tell him to back off, when the little girl said “come on, I have to take you to see Alora. She’ll be so excited that you’ve come.”

We were led into another room, even bigger than the first. All around us were people of all ages, men, women and children. It was as if all the people above had found it safer to come underground. The little girl led us to a door at the opposite side of the door we came through and knocked. A woman, brown skin, with grey curls, opened the door and before the girl could say a single word, the woman said “Cattleya, Adam, so glad you could finally join us. You must have so many questions. My name is Alora. And we’ve been waiting for you.”