The Fire Burns Bright

Powers and Illnesses

Emma's P.O.V 

I suddenly realize that were not running. We should be running.

"The screechers!" I pull away from Micheal. I don't want to say it at first but I find the courage to add, "and  the plague doctors! They were chasing us. Where'd they go?"

I finally look around. I notice that we're in a forest but I can see the grass of the large field we were running through earlier today to the left. I look and see my parents and Jacob nearby. Then I see Kate lying on the ground with her head resting on dads lap. Her eyes are closed but her chest rises and falls. Annie kneels next to Kate.

"Kate!" I cry. "What happened to her?" 

"She saved us..." Micheal says.

"What do you mean?" I ask him, pressing him to continue. 

"The screechers... They were nearly on top of us and then they just stopped moving like they were frozen. We all ran and they stayed frozen for a long time. Then we got so far away that we couldn't see them anymore and hid here. As soon as we stopped Kate passed out. The only explanation is that her powers are back..." Micheal trails of at the end.

"That's not possible. The powers were in the books and they were destroyed!" I say. 

"I know," Micheal says quietly. He pauses for a while before asking, "What was it you were saying about plague doctors?"

Sighing, I lower my gaze to stare at the grass. I know I have to explain but I don't want to talk about them. Just thinking of them sends shivers down my spine. I hesitate a while before saying softly. "They were chasing us. Didn't you see?"

"No," Micheal says. "All I saw was the screechers." 

"They were there too and... You know what they are, Micheal," I say and he nods grimly. It was, after all, his choice to watch the dumb history channel. 

"Are you sure you didn't just imagine them?" Micheal questions.

"Yes!" I shout. The question makes me angry.  How can he think I'm only seeing things? 

"They don't exist anymore though," Micheal points out.

"Well, they came back somehow!" I say. My voice raises threatens to break at the end of my sentence. I feel my bottom lip begin to tremble and bite it hard to stop it. That only helps to bring the tears to my eyes. I wipe them away quickly with my shirt sleeve. 

Then, I hear a quiet voice. I look down to see that Kate is awake. Her eyelids look heavy over her hazel brown eyes. She smiles weakly up at me. 

"Are you okay, Emma?" she asks. 

"Yeah," I say, even as my voice shakes and the tears still want to fall. "I just didn't get enough sleep and had a nightmare."

Kate nods and struggles to a sitting position.

"Kate," Annie says, giving her a hug. 

Kate holds the little girl in her arms, "Yeah?" 

"Are you magic?" Annie asks with wide blue eyes. 

Kate hesitates, not knowing what to say but Micheal says, "Yeah, she is. Kate saved us from the screechers." 

"Micheal, it wasn't all me," Kate says, smiling at him. "You gave us all strength while we were running. It was like you radiated strength. I could feel it. You were the only thing that kept me from collapsing before we were safe."

"Really?" Micheal asked. "I didn't even know I had that power even when I had the book."  

"Yes, son," Dad smiled and put his hand on Micheal's shoulder. "We all felt the strength you sent off." 

Micheal smiled but shadows appeared under his eyes and he yawned. 

"We need to get moving," Kate said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "We can stay in the woods to stay hidden but we need to hurry to the hospital." 

Mom and dad drag Jacob to his feet as he groans softly. I see that he's shaking and I can't help but feel bad for him. I stand and so does Micheal, looking like he wants nothing more than to sink back down to the forest floor and take a nap. Annie holds Kate's hand while Kate stumbles to her feet. 

When she's on her feet Kate sways back and forth looking unsteady. Micheal puts his hand on her shoulder to steady her but she gasps and crumples to her knees. 

"Kate?" Micheal kneels down next to her. "I'm sorry. Are you okay? What happened?"

"Nothing. I've just never paused time that long and without the book... I'm fine. Just tired," Kate explains but she's avoiding everyone's eyes and fiddling with her golden locket while she holds her shoulder. 

"Kate, there has to be something else bothering you. Why did you collapse?" Mom asked. She knelt next to Kate, leaving dad as the only person holding Jacob up. Micheal and I went to help him. I glanced at Jacob before returning my attention to Kate and Mom. Jacob doesn't look good. His face is so pale and beads of sweat roll down his forehead. His breath comes in shallow gulps. 

"Mom, I already told you. I'm just a little tired," Kate says, her voice sounds wary and I think I can see the fear in her eyes. Mom touches Kate's shoulder and Kate yelps. Mom looks at Kate with a puzzled face and Kate's eye's fill with tears. 

"I d-don't know what it is," she sobs. "Under my arm... There's- There's a rash... I... I don't know what happened to me..."

Kate leans against mom's shoulder sobbing and mom gentle strokes her hair. "It's alright. It's alright," mom murmurs. Then, mom carefully pulls the shirt away from Kate's shoulder. I see mom's shoulders tense. She sucks in a deep breath and hugs Kate closer. 

"What is it, mom?" Micheal asks. "Is Kate okay?"

 "Yeah. I'm fine," Kate answers for mom but her voice is shaking so hard though that I take it as a solid 'no'. 

"Micheal, you help dad," I say, running to Kate's side. I nearly faint when I see her arm. She has the same rash that I knew I had in my dream. A black spot of bubbles. My heart skips a beat. This can't be happening. The Black Death is gone... or so we thought. 

"Emma," someone puts their hand on my shoulder and I nearly jump out of my skin. I turn to see Micheal. Why is his face so red? His hand was warm. Too warm. 

"Micheal," I start to say then a cough racks my body. The same cough, I swear, as I had in my dream.   

"Oh, God, no," Dad murmurs, clearly realizing what's going on. We're all sick; Kate, Micheal and I.

Dad pulls Jacob into his arms, carrying him over his shoulder. "We have to get to the hospital! We have to hurry!"

"Yes," mom agrees, helping Kate to her feet. "Let's hurry!"

"Are they gonna be okay?" Annie asks mom. Her breathing is shallow again and there's a look on her face that says it's painful to breathe.  

"Yes, but Annie, do you think you'll be okay running? I need to help Kate, Emma and Micheal. They're sick but we're going to get them help. We need to get you and Jacob to the hospital. Be strong. Okay?" mom says. 

Annie gets a determined look in her eyes that makes me smile. I like this kid. 

She says, "Yeah! I can do it!" 

"Good," mom says. "We need to go."

Mom comes next to me and Micheal. I gather my energy together and manage a speed walk. Then I get the feeling again. The feeling that something is off. The same feeling I got right before the screechers (and Plague Doctors) appeared the first time. A shiver runs down my spine.

"They're coming," I murmur. I speed up even though I'm exhausted. My fear alone is enough to power my legs. I run as fast as possible and so does everyone else. We're all running for our lives.  

When a 3 day weekend becomes a 4 day weekend you update. It's what you do. LOL.