Turned To Stone

Chapter 23 - Zoe

Zoe ran into the library just in time to see the shapeshifter go flying. She yelped and ducked sideways. Connor's head snapped up and he glared at her for a moment, then grabbed the book he was reading and disappeared into the shelves.

"What was that?" She asked Evan, who looked horrified.

His hands were shaking as he signed 'I don't know.'

"Connor, where did you go?" She shouted, feeling weird being so loud in the library.

No answer. Evan got up, shaking. "C-Connor?"

"I'm not taking chances." His voice echoed from somewhere in the library. "You'll know when this gets fixed.

Zoe ran towards where his voice was coming from. By the time she got there, her brother had disappeared through a still open window. She gritted her teeth and spun around, nearly running into Evan.

"He's going to the car!"

The two raced out of the library and down the hall towards the front doors. Just as Zoe slammed through the doors, leaping down the front steps and sprinting for the car, Connor hit the gas and shot off.

Zoe spat a curse, putting her hands on her knees and gasping for breath. "That stupid idiot, what does he think he's doing?"

She heard Evan's footsteps next to her and looked up at him. He was staring after the rapidly disappearing car, frowning.

"He's going to the orchard." Zoe shook her head. She already knew, he probably had some ridiculous plan. "C'mon, Evan, we need to follow him."

"How?" Evan asked worriedly.

"Mom's over there." Zoe pointed to the car sitting across the street. Evan nodded and the two made their way over. 

"I want to drive." Zoe said as she opened the passenger side door. Cynthia looked nervously at Larry, but he was already shrugging.

"Cynth, she's a terror on the road, but so is he and she might be the only one who can catch up to him."

Zoe grinned as her mother sighed and nodded, getting out of the car.

She took the driver's seat, and as soon as everyone was in, slammed the car into drive and shoved the pedal to the floor. "Everybody HOLD ON!"

Cynthia screamed as the car shot forward, and so did Zoe, but for a very different reason.

"If I live through this I'm gonna go talk to whoever picks NASCAR drivers!" She shouted over the roar of the engine, whipping the car around a wide turn that lead out of town.

Larry laughed and looked over at his daughter. "You do that honey!"

Zoe hit the brakes as she took another turn, then the gas again. She would never tell her parents, but she'd been drag racing for a couple months when she could. Her car was beat up, but she'd taught herself to fix it and modify things so she could get more out of it. 

She glanced in the rearview mirror, mostly out of habit, and noticed Evan staring at her. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks.

"Zoe watch out!"

"It's fine!" Zoe whipped the wheel sideways to avoid what looked like a four car pile up in the middle lanes of the road. Not far off, she could see where it went to a single lane on each side, and then she'd be able to go even faster.

"I see a dust cloud!" Larry suddenly exclaimed. "Maybe that's Connor?"

Zoe zeroed in. It was definitely Connor, and now that she had a target she knew exactly what she needed to do.

"Hold on!" She yelled again, shifting gears and eyeing the distance between the cars.

By the time they caught up, Zoe's car had been abandoned at the side of the road. She eased off the gas pedal, then once the car's speedometer had dropped to double digits only she hit the brakes.

"He's in there somewhere, already doing something stupid, we need to stop him."

Evan got out and darted over to the fence, ripping the chain apart and shoving the rusty gate out of their way.

Zoe muttered a spell under her breath to conjure a knife, then started forward.

"Th-this way- we we- we were over there." Evan pointed. "When- when the demon-fae-"

Zoe nodded and flipped the knife in her hand and took his advice, marching into the trees.

She wasn't sure where Connor would be, but she stayed quiet while she walked, waiting to hear something.

Evan suddenly tugged her shirt sleeve. When she stopped to look at him, he pointed off to the left.

Connor's voice slowly became more noticeable as they began to walk that way. Zoe didn't recognize the language he was speaking, but she could feel the power in it.

As she stepped into the clearing, the world exploded.