Down End Road
Chapter 60

We had rented out a car and were driving down the coast of Maine. The heady smell of ocean and damp earth invaded my senses, already misty from anxiety.

All of last night, I had tossed and turned, sleeping but not. My sleep depravation hadn't made me tired, like it would a normal person, instead it messed with my mind, bringing up all the what if's and why's. My head was a mess of wild thoughts some so worrying it raised my already erratic pulse.

The only thing that calmed my chaos was order. Steadily drumming my fingers against my thigh, focusing on the abrupt rhythm. Counting weapons, organising them, categorising them, knowing where they are on my person.

Alex helped too, but... I couldn't get used to him, he was leaving for California for College and I was going to...

I didn't even know anymore. I couldn't just abandon the Society and fly off to England. Heck, now that I thought about it, flying away and leading a normal life where everything was perfect, didn't sound that appealing anymore. It sounded more and more mundane the more I thought about it.

Kaylee and Marrianne.

How would they react to the news? We had been planning this ever since freshman year. It was our dream. I used to be able to close my eyes and just see me an the girls -Starbucks in hand- walking to classes on campus. But now, all I saw was blank white. Like a canvas waiting to be painted with a new dream.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. I focused on my breathing rate, counting signs simultaneously and distracting my torrent of whirlwind thoughts that drained my already depleted energy.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Alex's grip on the steering wheel tighten. If he didn't control his gifts, there would soon be a considerably large hand indent imprinted on the black plastic.

Deep down I knew he could probably sense what I was feeling. All because he was...

No. There was a chance he wasn't and that slim chance meant he could be free and live a life separate from all this madness. Staring out the window, I continued my endless count of road signs, when I suddenly paused, taking in the abandoned mass of land in the middle of the water.

"THERE!" I yelled pointing out the window to the lonely looking island.

The screech of brakes roared as Alex pressed his foot to the floor, parking the car at the side of the road. Without further instruction we all hopped out of the car and took in our 'battle zone'.

"Ally, you know what to do, once we get on the island take a running lap and pour this powder round the outside." I directed, passing her the two bin bags full of Absconditum sand. It was a fine white sand, each grain almost crystal looking. Harris had given us three bags telling us that whatever it encircled it would hide. I recalled learning a tiny bit about how it refracted the light rays to making things look deserted or invisible.

Ally nodded her head taking the two large bags. With our human strength the bags would be too heavy to carry, but with our enhanced gifts they weighed us down by nil.

She would be the most thorough on the job and was the only person we could spare for the task. We didn't want any passerby's wondering what was going on there.

We began our morose, tense trek to the boat at the end of the dock. It was small, but could hold four people, albeit tightly. My muscles coiled into knots, preparing itself for a battle that still felt so surreal to me.

I had known about the Society for two months and a bit and already I had started a mini war. One that would hopefully end the portals' apocalypse.

Alex began a strong row that had us positioned at the base of a steep mountain walk up to the flat top of the island, in around five minutes. Looking around, I scanned the eerily dense cluster of trees that hid the castle-like manor from view.

Maine was a part of New England, and as such had a lot of English influence. The architecture of the manor was built like a stone fortress straight out of an English romance. Although, standing as gloomily as it did, it looked more foreboding than picturesque.

A rustle sounded to my left, something too quiet to be natures natural sound. Another rustle to my right, my head snapped in front of me as the sickening sensation filled my gut, my skin visibly paled and my eyes widened as the rotting smell cloyed in my nose, choking the air in my lungs.

The awful smell made my tongue feel too big, saliva coated my mouth, preparing me for the inevitable bile rising in my throat. I choked it back, looking to Alex with a horror struck face. He pulled his sword right as ten Shifters, coated in a mass of swirling black smoke, emerged from the tree line.

Alex visibly gulped, taking in the large group. I could feel my immense fear be replaced with calculating calm as that familiar tingling sensation filled my veins.

Ever since I payed more attention to when that strange power flooded my being, I had noticed a strange tingling sensation occur then my sight would have an electric blue film coat its clarity and my heaviness would always lift along with my horror or anxiety.

A chilling calm.

Maverick turned to me with an almost imperceptible twist of his neck. A nervousness hung around him. How odd for him to be nervous. It was when his gaze strayed to the trees that I knew why he was so antsy. He was worried for Ally. Never himself.

I almost smiled were it not for the encroaching army of nightmarish monsters. Saving my teasing for a more appropriate time I drew the gun from my belt.

Unlike the one I had used before, it had a magazine clip and could fire multiple shots at a time. I had nicked it from a box in the corner of the basement where we had gotten our suits from.

Bending my knees, I aimed the gun in front of me, one hand on the grip while the other was under the magazine. Finger poised on the trigger I looked around one last time, before the roar of battle cries resounded in front of me. A slight flutter in my pulse was my only form of hesitation, before this strange power half-controlling my body, plunged me into battle.