I was really sad I missed out on the kiss and almost-kiss blogfests. All the good stuff always happens when I'm gone. Boohoo. I know. Poor me. ;)
So I'm excited that I get to participate in the
Fight Scene Blogfest. Thanks for the linkage,
Tere!
This is a scene from my old version of EMBROL, so I'm not totally happy with the writing. Though I don't seem to be happy with much of my writing lately, so yeah. We'll save that discussion for another day.
Just a little background: The heroine, Olivia, has gone to the hospital to visit her friend who was injured by the bad guy, even though Jack (the hero) is certain the bad guy, Kole, will be there waiting for her and says he won't allow her to go. Besides being furious with Jack for trying to control her, her loyalty to her friend supersedes any fear she might have of Kole, and she sneaks out of the house without Jack's knowledge. She is just discovering her powers and is not equipped to protect herself against someone with training. This scene starts as she reaches the parking lot after visiting her friend. Her best friend, Amber, is supposed to be waiting for her to drive her back to Jack's house.
****
At first, I didn’t see the man standing in front of Amber, hidden by the van next to her truck. She looked like she was talking to someone, but I thought she was on her cell phone.
I waved my arm, trying to get her attention. “Amber?”
She spun around, her eyes wide, terrified. That’s when I noticed him. Tall and dark, his black eyes full of cruelty and hatred. I took an involuntary step back.
Kole.
Amber took a step toward me. “Run, Li—”
Kole slammed her head into the side of the truck without even touching her. Her limp body slumped to the ground.
Before I could react, an iridescent strand of air flew out from his hand, expanding to envelop a car twenty feet away in a thin, shimmering sheet of air. The car hurtled toward me. Abrupt movement to my right drew my attention. A second car flew up and collided with the first, pushing it away from me at the last possible second. I jumped out of the way, but not before it grazed my arm, knocking me flat on my back. The cars crashed down with a resounding crunch of metal and glass not far from where Kole stood near Amber’s truck. A sudden, steady pulse of blaring car alarms filled the air. My chest tightened at the thought of Amber being in the line of that. I had to get her away from there.
A warm stickiness slid down my right arm. A long, deep gash ran along the top of it. I glanced around as I pulled myself up on my hands and knees, my shoulder throbbing with every movement. He was nowhere in sight. I clambered to my feet and ducked behind a nearby van, falling to my knees again.
I crawled along the ground, struggling to catch my breath, and listened for his approach. I was exhausted, like I’d been running for miles with no rest. My heart pounded in my ears, and gasoline fumes burned my nose with each erratic breath. I fought to calm down, to get a better assessment of the situation.
The car alarms abruptly ceased, leaving complete silence. My throat constricted at the sound of quick footsteps.
A man in a security uniform stepped around the front of the van, holding a stun gun. “Are you okay? You need to get out of here. There was an explosion or something. It’s not safe.”
I shook my head and shooed him away. “
You need to get out of here.” I nodded toward the stun gun. “That thing isn’t going to help you.”
“Come out, Olivia.” Kole’s deep voice had a singsong quality to it. It made my skin crawl. “Let’s finish this. Then I’ll leave your insignificant human friends alone. You’re only hurting them by remaining hidden.”
The security guard inched toward me.
“Go,” I whispered. “Please.” Tears of frustration poured down my face.
What have I done coming here?
The security guard tugged on my arm, refusing to leave without me. I fell back as the van lifted into the air.
Kole’s lips curled up as he wound a shimmering strand of air around the man’s neck. A shiver went through me at the sound of bones cracking.
“Stop! Please!” I reached out, without thought, and struck Kole with a wall of air, knocking him back. The van crashed to the ground less than two feet from me. The realization came to me that I’d been the one to block the car he tried to kill me with. Every time I used my powers, I felt more drained, and my energy was fading quickly.
I ran to the man’s crumpled body and placed my fingers on his neck. The faintest pulse beat against my fingers. Relief flooded through me. I delved deeper, repairing the damage to his neck and his windpipe. His eyes didn’t open, but his pulse was stronger. I stood, hoping I’d done enough to save him. My head swam with exhaustion. I found a hiding place behind another car a little closer to Amber. The smell of gasoline was stronger there. I looked down to see it pooling around my feet.
Slipping around the front of the car, I made my way to Amber. I tried to be quiet, but my feet sloshed as I walked through the ever growing puddle. I kept my body low as I came around the front of her truck. Amber lay unconscious, her clothes drenched with gas. She had a long cut down the side of her face and her blood mixed with the fuel, making a swirling red halo around her head. I squatted and lifted her head, placing my fingers on her neck. Her pulse was weak but present, and her chest rose and fell with breath, much to my relief.
I put my hand to the wound on her face and felt for the damage. The bone wasn’t broken, but the wound extended high up into her hair, and I could feel the swelling on the inside of her skull. I closed my eyes, repeating what I’d done earlier with Jack. When I opened my eyes the wound was closed. Amber stared up at me.
I put my finger to my lips and motioned for her to get up. “We have to get out of here.”
“What is going on, Livy?” She stumbled getting to her feet.
“I’ll explain everything, but I can’t do it here. Just stay behind me.”
She looked so confused, but there was nothing to do about it. Our only hope now was escape. Everything else could wait. Sirens sounded in the distance. I have to stop him before he hurts anyone else. But how?
“You’re a lot stronger than I anticipated, you little twit.” Kole growled every word as he came around the back of the truck. “But I knew the stupid humans would be your weakness.”
“What do you want? Why are you here?”
He must have some vulnerability. I need more time. The sirens grew steadily closer.
“I want you dead. I thought I’d made that clear.” His mouth turned up into a sinister smile, and excitement shone in his dark eyes as he stepped closer to me. “But first, let’s have a little fun.” He pointed his finger at the sky and a tiny green flame appeared above it.
Amber cowered behind me. “That’s not possible.”
“Please, don’t hurt her.” I put my arm out, as if that would somehow protect her. “You can have me. I’ll do whatever you want. Just let her go.”
“But don’t you see, Olivia?” The cold amusement in his voice swept over me in a wave of nausea, washing away any remaining hope to stop him. “The only thing I want from you is your life, and I can take that right now. So why would I give up a little bit of fun in exchange for something I already have?” He pointed his finger at the ground and fire shot out, igniting the gasoline.
In half a second, it seemed the whole parking lot was on fire. Amber screamed in agony as the flames moved up her gasoline soaked pants almost to her waist. Before my weary brain could process what was happening, the fire sucked away and pulled into a tight ball around Kole, engulfing him.
“Let’s go.” Jack’s furious voice never sounded so perfect. “We don’t have much time.” He grumbled something incoherent at the sight of my bloody arm but didn’t say anything else.
Amber whimpered and writhed in pain as Jack lifted her. Most of her pants had been burned away and severe burns coated her legs. I stayed close as I followed him to his truck, turning back only once to see Kole, still surrounded by flames. He’d formed some sort of shield to protect his body from the heat and watched us through the flames as we climbed into the truck.
Amber shivered and moaned next to me, her face twisting with pain. I placed my hand on her leg, and she screamed.
“Don’t touch it, Livy! It hurts! Please, don’t! Just take me into the hospital.” Her cries rang in my ears as Jack tore out of the hospital parking lot. Seconds later, three police cars and a fire truck came wailing around the corner ahead of us.
“I’m sorry, Amber.” Tears flowed down my face. I closed my eyes, trying to block out her shrieking and imagined the tissue repairing itself. It took much longer than any of the other healing I’d done, but when I forced my eyes open, her skin was smooth and unscarred.
Amber panted, watching me with a horrified expression. “What did you just do?”
“I fixed you.” My voice sounded exactly as I felt—drained, like I hadn’t slept in days.
“What do you mean, you fixed me?” She looked so confused.
I’d have to explain everything. She deserved that much after everything that happened, but I couldn’t think of where to begin.
“I’m sorry, Jack.” I leaned against his arm. I just needed to rest for a minute before I did anything else. The need for sleep overwhelmed me, and I quickly slipped into unconsciousness.
****
That's it! Thanks for reading. Be sure to check out the rest, linked
here.
