The Impossible Engineers (The Doorknob Society Saga Book 2) Page 23

  No hot rods were on the road and the massive street lamps were giving off ominous bubbles of light that created more shadows and the wind whispering down the street sent a chill up my spine.

  Footsteps echoed on pavement further down the road and murky shadows were soon making their way toward us. I wrapped my hand around my doorknob and Jess grasped her Skeleton Key. Faith stood to my other side and the flow of her energy made my stomach bubble.

  “Isn’t this cute.” my mother said as she came into view flanked by Charlie and Jasper. Two more people came up behind them, though the shadows concealed their identities.

  “Where is she?” I demanded.

  My mother’s eyes narrowed. “The Chronicle page first, my dear daughter.”

  “Right here.” I reached back and lifted the page from my hoodie, holding it up for her to see. I sensed her powers reaching out to scan the page and see if it was legit.

  “You actually do have it, I’m very impressed.” She smiled at me.

  “Where is Val?”

  “She’s fine, Chloe, don’t worry about her. My offer still stands; do join us. You’re already more powerful than any other junior member of the Doorknob Society. With my training you could realize your full potential. Please don’t waste your talent, come with me.”

  For a moment I heard the Mom who I fondly remembered; sweet, comforting, and caring. My heart sank and oh how I wished that my life was normal and I had my kind, loving mom back.

  “You betrayed me.” I said the truth of the words stinging my heart. Jess shifted her weight for an instant, her shoulder touching mine letting me know she was there for me. I sensed more than saw, her hand turning her key.

  “I love you, Chloe. Everything I’ve done is for you. Please join me,” she pleaded. “If you don’t, I won’t be able to protect you any longer. There are more powerful forces at work here than you know.”

  I wanted to believe that she was truly worried about me. I wanted to believe it more than anything in the world at the moment.

  “Cuz?” I could hear the fear in Jess’ voice.

  “What about Dad?”

  “He made his choice, now it’s time to make yours. I’ll let your friends leave unharmed, even my dear niece.” She looked directly at Jess who shuddered under her gaze. “It’s your choice, Chloe.”

  My choice. Did I ever really have one? I wanted all this to be over, my friends safe, with no more worries for any of us.

  A muffled noise echoed from behind my mother and the two figures behind her moved forward. Why wasn’t I surprised to see Ms. True staring at me with hatred in her eyes? A long, ugly scar ran down the side of her once beautiful face and now stood as a testament to her true nature. Gagged and held by her was Val, looking at me terrified and pleading. Her eyes were rimmed with tears and fear. Damn if my anger didn’t spike.

  “Well?” Mom demanded.

  “Here’s my answer.” I swung my hand upward and shot a bolt of blue energy into the night sky. It arced and exploded in a display of sparkling light.

  “What the hell was that?” Mom asked startled and annoyed.

  “The signal.” I smiled.

  “You just killed your friend.” Mom turned to Ms. True and nodded.

  “Not so fast.” I snapped and I threw the Chronicle page up as hard as I could. Everyone’s eyes watched as it drifted aimlessly in the night sky.

  “Get it!” My mother screamed.

  I activated my doorknob and shot a bolt of pure portal energy slamming it into my mother and sending her flying backwards. Jasper ran after the Chronicle page and Faith rushed after him. Jess formed a pair of shackles and attacked Charlie who was taken by surprise and tried to fight them off.

  “I’ve been waiting for this.” Ms. True shoved Val to the ground and stepped toward me lifting her skeleton key. Just as quickly she was falling backward, Val having given her a good kick and knocking her legs out from under her.

  I rushed forward and finished her off with a kick to the jaw and watched her eyes roll back into her head. I spun around, grabbed Val and blasted off the bindings on her hands.

  “Val?” Fear still filled her eyes and I tried to reassure her. “You’re safe now. Everything is going to be okay.” She grabbed me and almost hugged the breath out of me.

  “You came for me.” She choked.

  “Of course I did, you’re my best friend.”

  She wiped the tears from her eyes. “Go kick their asses.”

  “Go down that way,” I pointed back to where we had come from, “and stay hidden, I’ll find you as soon as I’m done.”

  “How cute, you think you’re going to win.” my mom laughed as she approached me, her key glowing bright crimson in her hand.”

  I got Val to her feet, whispering, “Hurry and get out of here.” She didn’t waste a minute, she took off. My mom didn’t stop her, I didn’t expect her to. Val wasn’t important to her anymore.

  “My people will be here in mere moments and will destroy you and your friends. You’ve run out of time, Chloe.”

  “Actually, I planned for that.” I pulled Gavin’s Time Stamper out of my pocket and lifted it up for her to see. Her jaw dropped and she started to swing her arm up to attack when a roaring engine blared, rattling the entire street. Headlights illuminated the darkness as Nightshade’s hot rod raced right toward us. Multiple energy signatures were beginning to open all around us. My mother wasn’t kidding; all her troops would be here shortly.

  Nightshade raced directly at my mom, forcing her to dive out of the way or be run over since he didn’t slow down. She rolled to one side near the first portal to open. Nightshade’s car skidded to one side as he slammed on the breaks, the tires squealing and smoking. As soon as he was close enough I clicked the button on the Time Stamper.

  The energy rushed out, containing our little battle. Half-opened portals froze around us, giving us enough time to hopefully pull this off.

  “Smart child, but you still have to deal with us.” Mom yelled and rushed to attack. Behind her came Caleb Darker who had entered the containment field before I had activated the Time Stamper.

  Rage intensified my mom’s energy. I barely had time to activate my defenses, stumbling under the pressure. Nightshade’s car doors flew open and he and Slade joined the battle. I pushed forward, my shield, rebuffing mom’s attack and I snapped my hand creating an energy whip. Jumping forward, I whipped it at her. She scrambled backward as I shattered the first shield she had created and kept up the pressure.

  “Lights!” Slade yelled.

  I spun and buried my face in my arm to protect my eyes, but I still felt the explosion of light from Slade’s engineered light grenade. When I turned back Darker and my mother had retreated some and created a mutual shield as they fended off Nightshade who attacked with his usual ferocity.

  “Where is she?” Edgar rushed up to me, his hands shaking.

  “You were supposed to stay in the car!” I yelled at him. “She’s down there.” I pointed to where I had sent Val. “Go get her and get back in the car.” Edgar turned and ran.

  Jess was struggling with Charlie and I hurried to help her, swinging my energy whip and smashing the energy mace he was using to batter her shield.

  “Get to the car we’re leaving,” I screamed.

  “Where’s Faith?” Jess shouted back, dragging herself up.

  Damn it, I had forgotten about her and Jasper chasing after the page. “The alleyway, I’ll get her. Move!” Jess took off and I circled around Charlie. The idiot was grinning at me.

  “You seem pretty confident that you’ll get past me.” He feinted toward me and laughed.

  “With good reason.” I stood back and produced a wider grin than his.

  His faced twisted in confusion. “Why’s that?”

  Charlie never saw Edgar swing his bag and crack him in the back of the head. He hit the ground face first. Val had her arms wrapped around Edgar and his one arm was coiled around her waist so tightly it didn’t app
ear as if he ever intended to let her go.

  “Get to the car.” I urged and they bolted past me. I headed to the alleyway where I last saw Faith and Jasper. I came to an abrupt halt at the entrance. It was quiet, too quiet for my liking. I had my doorknob ready, an energy whip dangling from it prepared for anything, or at least I thought I was. I entered the darkness slowly and quietly letting my eyes adjust and stopped in my tracks at what I saw. Jasper and Faith were standing holding the Chronicle page and kissing.

  “What the hell?” I swung my whip around but instead of hitting them it caught the page and energy exploded all around us sending the three of us flying in different directions. I crashed into the street and rolled over, a groan escaped my lips. Jasper was knocked out across from me while Faith was already getting to her feet. My doorknob had rolled a few feet away and I pushed myself up and struggled to reach it.

  “So I guess you know my secret?” Faith’s voice was different; confident and at the same time sinister. “I’m glad, I’m sick of playing the simpering fool and leading you and your idiot friends to where we needed you to go.”

  “I’m going to so kick your ass.” I crawled toward my doorknob.

  “I don’t think so.” She laughed and I saw why. She was holding the Forget-Me-Not orb. I grabbed at my pocket and felt the emptiness. “I think you’re about to trust me more than ever.”

  “You bitch!” I yelled and heard the click of the button as Faith activated the Forget-Me-Not.

  I shook my head and felt an arm around me, supporting me as we ran. Sounds of battle blared around me, but I wasn’t sure where I was.

  “What happened?” I heard Nightshade shout anxiously.

  “Jasper, he got the Chronicle page and hurt Chloe,” Faith screamed frantically and I realized she was the one helping me. She must have saved me. I shook my head trying to clear my foggy brain. I didn’t remember fighting Jasper. The last thing I recalled was running into the alleyway in search of Faith and Jasper.

  “Get her in the car.” Nightshade sounded upset and no wonder, the Time Stamper was wavering and about to expire.

  I was shoved into the back seat of the car, hands grabbed me, yanking me in to squeeze next to someone. The door slammed, my head pounded, and damn if I didn’t feel like I had been run over by a truck.

  “Everyone in, the Stamper is running out!”

  I didn’t even recognize who said that. Doors slammed shut again and the car shifted its weight as more people crowded in. A rush of energy dissipated as the Time Stamper fully expired.

  “The portals are opening, gun it,” Slade yelled. The car raced forward, tires squealing as Nightshade did his best to get us out of there.

  “We lost the Chronicle page,” I said, blinking as my vision finally cleared and I watched as Nightshade punched the dashboard.

  “We have to go to the Engineers and tell them what happened before the First Kind gets to the Artifact,” Slade said anxiously.

  “He’s right. I’m sorry, I had to get Chloe out; I couldn’t go after the page.” Faith looked upset and I felt so bad that she had to save my butt instead of rescue the Chronicle page.

  “No, it’ll be too late, Edgar, you got those coordinates worked out?” Nightshade asked and from the sounds of his voice it was obvious he was mad and I couldn’t blame him.

  “What coordinates?” Slade asked.

  “Yes.” Edgar leaned over the front seat, a map spread in his hand. I saw a series of equations float off the map and into the key in the dashboard.

  “Where is that going to take us?” Slade demanded and looked from Edgar to Nightshade.

  “The Dreaded Wastelands... we’re going to get to the Artifact before they do,” Nightshade said and turned the key.

  Chapter 24

  Status: This time I really do go to hell or a close proximity.

  “You’re insane,” Slade shouted at Nightshade.

  “Fine, you want to go tell daddy that you lost the Engineers’ precious artifact by all means go for it, Boy Scout,” Nightshade scoffed and drove on.

  It was dark out and I couldn’t see much from the car windows except an occasional blast of light in the distance. I finally realized that I was lying up against Val. Jess was on my other side looking out the window. Edgar leaned over the front seat talking with Nightshade, Faith sat in the middle, with Slade to her right.

  “Are you okay?” Val asked her eyes wide with concern.

  “Yeah, I’m good and you?” I smiled relieved to have her sitting next to me.

  “I think I’m okay, though I’m starting to get an idea of why you couldn’t tell me anything. I mean so what... you’re all either crazy or something like crazy big is going on here.” She laughed nervously.

  “I’m sorry, I wanted to tell you but it isn’t allowed.” I hated keeping the truth from her. I wanted to tell her everything right here and now, but it would take some explaining and right now there wasn’t time for that.

  “Chloe, is this a dream? Because if you told me it was, I would believe you.”

  “I’m sorry, it isn’t.”

  “Great, I didn’t think it was. So my choices are that I’m going crazy, which my mom would probably happily agree with or you’re all some kind of superheroes?” Her hands shook as she talked and I reached over placing my hands over hers trying to calm her.

  “When all this is over I’ll tell you everything, okay?” I patted her hand. Her eyes were red rimmed and she was still shaking, though not as much. ”Right now I need you to stay calm and do everything I say, please?”

  “That I’m not jumping out of my own skin I think is a good sign,” She bit her lip and nodded. “I trust you. I’ll do whatever you need.”

  She was terrified, it was written all over her face but she was holding together better than I could have hoped. I realized I was going to need to stop underestimating Val. She had surprised me at every turn.

  “Thank you.” I grabbed her and hugged her as hard as I could. I was never going to be able to make it up to her for what she had been through because of me. But here she was still willing to do what I asked. I never would have thought Val would have become as important to me as she had. She really was a true friend.

  “What about Edgar?” she whispered into my ear.

  “What do you mean?” I replied quietly enough for only her to hear me.

  “Is he doing magic or whatever it is you guys do? Is he like me or you?”

  “Like me.” I didn’t know if that was good or bad and it worried me more than I wanted to admit.

  “Okay.” She patted my leg and I took a deep breath hoping I hadn’t just ruined things for him by telling Val the truth. But I also was tired of lying to my friend.

  “Hey, you.” Val grabbed Edgar’s shirt and tugged on it.

  He turned around to face her, his eyes filled with trepidation. “What? Are you okay?”

  I smiled at the two of them. They had danced around the fact that they liked each other long enough. Maybe this would finally bring them together.

  “I am now.” She smiled and yanked him against her and kissed him. Edgar was so shocked that for a split second he appeared frozen and then as if he thawed, he kissed her right back. I smiled and turned trying to give them as much privacy as a backseat could afford. About time we got a good moment and my heart soared for them.

  “It seems like they finally figured it out,” Jess whispered with a laugh when she turned and saw them locked in a kiss.

  “Looks like it.”

  “About time.” she chuckled and turned her attention back out the window.

  I followed her gaze and got my first look at where we were and decided that the name the Dreaded Wastelands was appropriate.

  It was morbidly dark with pukish grey clouds blotting out any sky. What appeared bombed-out buildings jutted out of the charred ground like skeletal hands reaching from beyond the grave. The explosions of light I saw earlier were portals popping open and closing instantly, some in showers of
lights others disappearing with a whimper. I strained my eyes for a better look since I could have sworn I had seen shadows moving within shadows.

  “You see them too?” Jess asked as another shadow shifted.

  “What is it?”

  “Gremlins I think, those are the only things crazy enough to try and live in this hell hole.”

  I shook my head and wondered how anything at all could exist in such a desolate place. “Great, add it to the long list of things we need to deal with.”

  I rested back in the seat and took a deep breath. Yet again one of my plans had taken a wrong turn. How could I have let Jasper get the drop on me like that? We had to keep them from getting the Chronicle page. Instead we were now rushing to find the Artifact before my mom deciphered the page and were on our trail. Not to mention we had to bring Val along and from the way Slade was simmering he wasn’t too happy about any of this.

  “You know where were headed?” I asked Nightshade as I leaned forward resting my arms along the front seat behind him.

  “Edgar got directions to get us into this place and from what he could determine it points to a single spot in here. I’m headed there now and once we arrive, we start looking.” He didn’t once take his eyes off the road.

  “I think we should contact the Engineers.” Slade sat with his arms crossed over his chest.

  I placed my hand on his shoulder trying to reassure him. “If we can we will but we need to find the Artifact before the First Kind descends on us.”

  “Fine, take his side again; you two always seem to do that.” Slade shrugged my hand off him and I turned back to Nightshade who still wouldn’t look at me. Great now both of them were mad at me. This day was getting better and better.

  “Do you think this is a good idea?” Faith leaned close to me whispering.

  “We don’t have a choice; we need to stop them.” I felt something gnawing at the back of my skull, something I should be aware of, but couldn’t put my finger on.

  “It’s dangerous and we still don’t know how badly you’re hurt after Jasper attacked you.” She smiled sweetly and I was ever so grateful for her help.