Isle of Sanctum | The Aya Thrasher Chronicles | Book 1 |[Editing]

Chapter Fifty-Six

PART X. - "Now, who's this joker?"

CHAPTER FIFTY- SIX

LAKE

Rayne was a mess. Her arms were smeared with blood. I couldn't tell if it was from using her powers or from Hayes. She was shaking rapidly. I had asked her if she was okay and she clearly wasn't.

"I killed him." Rayne kept repeating over and over again.

I patted her on the shoulder. "No, you didn't," I tried to console her. "They did and you know that."

"I should have saved him," she whimpered.

"No, but you can stop the others from having that same fate." I rested my hand against her cheek looking straight at her. "You need to pull yourself together. Hayes was our friend too. I know it sounds harsh, but we can't grieve on the battle field."

She pulled away from me. I thought she was mad, but her demeanor softened. "You're right. She turned around looking toward the tower. "I think we're ready for the grand finale," Rayne said into the intercom so only Lake and Soren could hear her.

"Aya said to wait," Lake replied. "You trust me right?"

She nodded. "Alright."

The explosion had taken down the few volunteers they had. They were still standing, but so were a large number of the Wyre army. In the distance, we could hear the beat of hip-hop music. I wondered if it was coming from the army's vehicle, but I didn't have the time to think about this stuff. I needed to concentrate.

I glanced above my head, a vehicle was hovering over us and the music was blaring louder. The army seemed to be just as confused as Rayne was.

"Come on. We need to take cover." I pulled Rayne's arm.

Then I heard the voice. "Lake, Lake, Lake..."

I turned around. No one was talking. "What?"

"Lake...." It repeated again.

This time, I realized where the voice was coming. A horrendous thought. I looked down at Hayes's body. No it can't be. He was trying to contact me.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. "Hayes..." I said inside my mind.

"Lake, please take care of her," he said.

"Of course," I said again in my mind. "Don't worry we'll avenge your death."

"I don't care about any of that," he responded. "Make sure Rayne lives."

"I will."

I saw one of the Wyres shot toward us. The laser was heading toward Rayne. I picked up the metal shield and pushed her out of the way.

"We need to take his body. Give him a proper ceremony," Rayne muttered.

"We will, but we have to go now," I said gazing into the cloud of smoke. The soldiers were starting to get up.

The twins were already making their way toward us. Where could we go? We couldn't go back to the tower. Then an idea flooded my mind. I started running while one of my arms hooked onto Rayne's and the other was shielding us.

As we ran, I had to let go of Rayne. It was making us both run slower. I turned around and saw that the twins were gaining on us. They tried shooting at us, but their lasers were out of power. We had gotten lucky.

I led Rayne back toward the downtown area. It was amazing to see all the people out and about. Obviously, Serina had called this in. Maybe it was to protect us, but I felt bad for all these people. They could get hurt.

A group of natives had tables and objects they were selling. It was kind of like a flea market. We decided to split up, to make the twins have a harder time catching us. Rayne went left and I went right. As I ran, the hip-hop music reappeared and so did a mysterious vehicle.

One of the twins was on my tail. I kicked one of the empty tables back at the twin, slowing her down. We headed toward the bluffs where the vehicle was parking. I just hoped it didn't belong to the army.

"Get in!" A gruff man yelled.

Rayne and I did as he said.