Winter's Edge

Chapter 65 - Chaos

Ian

I slid through a corner up ahead and raced down the street to put some distance between us and the Hunters.

A car squealed tires as it turned behind us, hot on our tail. Two blocks later, another one joined it—black Audis like the ones Joseph had drawn yesterday.

"My powers are gone. I can't protect us." I immediately realized the irony of the statement considering the monk could protect himself much better than I could.

"Oh, I see, brother." Brother Lawrence looked up as if listening to someone above him. "What happened while you were dead?"

"What?"

"What happened while you were dead?"

We took another turn to avoid a red light up ahead. The Audis were still on us a few car lengths back. "Uh...I saw an old memory of me and my dad when I was five. First time my powers came out."

"Did you see a light there?"

"Not at first."

His eyes brightened up more than usual. "Oh, you were in hell. Wonderful!"

"Huh?"

"Hell, brother. The place where—"

"I know what hell is. Why do you think I was there and why is that 'wonderful'?"

"Oh, it's not important."

"If I was in hell, then yeah—kinda important."

"No, no, that's only temporary. You said you saw the Light?"

The car bounced as we hit one of the wonderfully-unmaintained street deformations in the Denver neighborhood. My seatbelt jerked against my body, jarringly keeping me in the seat. "I saw a shining man."

"Oh, you went to heaven. Wonderful!"

"Now hold on, you just said I was in hell."

"Yes."

"Then heaven."

"Yes."

"So which is it?"

"Hell, then heaven." He examined me and my head with a frown. "A toddler could understand this, did you bump your head earlier in the tornado?"

"No." I let out a frustrated sigh. "How did I switch places?"

He ignored my question. "How did you feel about your father after your powers came out the first time?"

I took a left into a back alley between two buildings. The map I had in my head showed the alley had an outlet. "Is this some kind of psychology session now?"

The monk just looked at me, waiting for an answer.

"I was angry with him." I downshifted and came out onto the street, nearly hitting a passing vehicle.

"And now?" The monk reached into his bag and pulled out a refrigerator magnet.

"I don't know." I spun the car around, making a U-turn, passing the Audis. "I understand him better now, but he tried to kill me yesterday."

The monk laughed jovially. "Oh, that's hilarious!"

"Excuse me?" I said, outraged.

He held up the refrigerator magnet for me to read.

I grimaced, outraged in a totally new way. "You do realize we're running for our lives right now, right?" I pulled the handbrake to throw the rear end around for a quick slide through a red light.