The Untamed

Chapter 7: What Happened in the Alley

        When Clyde opened his eyes a few hours later, it took him a good thirty seconds to figure out why he was in the front seat of a car. The boy turned his head and caught a glimpse of Kane turning the ignition. It was still rather dark outside but the sun was rising rapidly. The clock read 4:45AM.

   Somehow, the three hours of sleep or so that he got seemed to have done him well. With a huge, stifling yawn, Clyde sat up and rubbed his eyes. His breath tasted terrible and his stomach ached with hunger. The last meal he had was at school the day before.

   “Up already?” Clyde asked, trying to shake away his hunger.

   Kane grunted and the car accelerated forward. Clyde rubbed his eyes once more and was suddenly wide awake. His back felt like a rock and he did his best to stretch it out. Then, Clyde’s stomach let out an exploding rumble and Kane acknowledged him immediately.

   “We’ll stop for a bite,” he whispered. “But first, we need to do something about her.”

   Clyde groaned and peeked back at Anya – still in a fitful slumber. Somehow, he had managed to fall asleep last night without thinking too much into it, but now, he realized how inconvenient it would be to have her tag along… So then what to do with her? Clyde certainly didn’t want to just drop her off somewhere. Maybe they could drop her off at the hospital her dad was taken to?

   He shifted his gaze forward and watched the unfamiliar, winding road come and go. Clyde couldn’t help but to wonder if people were starting to notice the outcome of what had happened last night. Did Ms. Hansen notice he was gone yet? Did anyone in the public notice that a house had fallen into ashes? Or worse – were the police already looking for him?

   And then there was that other thing bugging him: was that white cloaked Kin still chasing them? The glowing white eyes were burned into Clyde’s memory and every time he thought about them, he couldn’t help but to feel a tingle of fear. Not even Kane and Ignatious were able to beat him…

   Just then, he heard a grunt coming from the back and he spun his head to see Anya opening her eyes. Her hand was on her forehead and she seemed utterly dazed. Very slowly, she sat up and the instant she saw Clyde, she screamed.

   Kane swerved slightly out of control and he swore loudly.

   “What are you doing here?” she screeched.

   Clyde faced forward as quickly as he possibly could. That girl was scary! The way she screamed and reacted to the situation was not quite expected. He was half hoping that she kind of woke up in a silent confusion the way he did.

   “Where am I?” Anya screamed. “Where are you taking me? Where’s my dad?”

   Clyde tried turning around, thinking of a way to calm her down, but the moment he did so, she fired a punch at his face.

   “Let me out right now!”

   Clyde groaned and rubbed his nose. “C-calm down,” he whispered. “We’re not going to –”

   “Calm down?” she ignited. “Calm down? You’ve kidnapped me!”

   “Yeah well, I’ve been kidnapped, too!”

   “That’s even worse,” she breathed. “I’ve been kidnapped, but on top of that, I’ve been kidnapped with you.”

   “Yeah?” Clyde retorted, feeling that this girl was pushing her luck again. “Well you were kidnapped on accident. We don’t even need you!”

   At this, Anya launched a fist at Clyde’s nose and the result was a scream of agony. But it didn’t stop there, she began scratching his face and pulling his hair. All the while, she screamed frantically and Clyde could do nothing about it as she continued to beat him.