I had to escape.
Baby I should have called you first, but I was dying to get to you.
I drove all night to get to you.
Is that all right?
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A love story. Stories are timeless. We all fall in love eventually… but most of us won’t go that extra mile. When a person says “I love you” you should love them back. True love is an exotic taste that is both electrical and burning. You long for that person. You can’t help it. Sometimes… there is betrayal.
Sometimes… there is, but love is a feeling that should be shared.
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We drove… we drove all night. We each took turns driving to Arizona, so we could each take a nap. We mostly did not talk, but Ashe decided to break the silence.
“What are we going to do when we get there?”
We are supposed to look where the light ends”, replied Kathrine remembering the invoice she received.
I looked up from the book I was reading. “Are any of you upset that we split up?”
“Not really”, Kathrine answered.
“Yes, I am”, Ashe’s voice broke on the last word. She took some water from the backseat of the car and tried to clear her throat.
“Turn here”, I said.
“Are you okay, Ashe?” Kathrine asked.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not”, I said sternly. “You’re sad because we left them. Just as I am.” There wasn’t a shred of grief in my voice.
“Then why do you not sound sad?”
“Because I already know the outcome of their adventure.”
“Why do you know everything”, Ashe snapped.
“I was… told in advance.”
“How?” Kathrine asked returning to my original statement.
“Long story.” They decided not to push me. We were about three hours away from Phoenix… and then our hunt would begin.
“Jay?” Kathrine asked
“Yes?”
“Why are we doing this?”
“Because it is our duty.” I almost chocked at the last word, but I had to control my emotions.
“Why must you die first?”
“Because it is my duty.”
“Could you tell me why I should die?”
I looked at her, startled, because she wasn’t supposed to know she was going to die not yet. “Yes… I can.”
“But you aren’t going to tell me are you?”
I paused- with grief- then started. “The only thing I can tell you is that you will die, the loneliest of us all.”
“Thank you”, she whispered. No hint of sadness.
“Turn to I-10.”
“K.”
“Ashe you need to get some sleep.”
“Why?” she asked me.
“Because you must do this.”
“Will you two come with me?”
“Yes.” Kathrine and I chimed in. Though clearly, the question was meant for me.
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It was morning when we finally reached Phoenix. I told Kathrine to get of the long highway to the sandy desert. We drove looking for the light for what seemed like forever.
Finally, we came to what appeared to be an abandoned shack enclosed in a wire fence. The fence gave off an electrical current that was so bright it blinded us.
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We got out of the car, took some supplies, and went to the gate.
“There is something I need to tell you two”, I said stopping them.
“Yes?” Ashe asked.
“What is it?” Kathrine asked.
“If you get scared in there then take my hand, and if we die… it won’t be the end.”
“Okay”, they said quite flustered.
We pushed the wired gate open and walked along the broken path to the front door. I pushed the door open and it fell to the ground. I tried not to let my face redden.
“Way to go, Jay”, Kathrine said.
The only thing on the inside was a long table that didn’t fit the atmosphere. I walked up and pushed the table out of the way. A key pad immediately revealed itself on the floor. I entered the numbers 6- 5- 4- 3- 2- 1 and pressed ENTER. I stepped back and a trapdoor raised itself to reveal an elevator shaft.
“Creepy”, Ashe verified.
We stepped onto the metal plank which dropped them down. The speed it took us down was way too slow. After what seemed hours, it stopped. The floor number was- 500.
“That is cool”, Kathrine admitted.
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I was wondering why the lights were off in the elevator shaft, but I finally realized the lights were frozen solid. We took a flash light out of Kathrine’s purse and turned it on. We walked past the first corner and came to a fork in the path. The right path’s lights were on which was weird considering how cold it was. The left was darker and colder. Ashe shone the light on the wall.
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There was blood everywhere. All over the walls and down the hall.
“It appears that someone was dragged down here”, Kathrine said.
“I don’t wanna know”, Jay said.
“This is loverly, it even smells nice!” Ashe said sarcastically.
We walked down the wall and stopped, for we had heard the most horrible scream we had ever heard. It sounded like a witch’s cackle. But more feline.
“AAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.”
“She is old”, I said.
“Don’t care”, Ashe replied.
Ashe got her fighting stance ready, I pulled out my swords, and Kathrine folded her hands flat. We were ready.
We came out of the hallway into an even bigger elevator shaft. We stepped onto the metal plate and it started to go down. Then it started to plunge… I saw ten floors go by in a second, then a hundred.
“What the hell!”Kathrine screamed.
“Look up!” Ashe screamed back.
There above us was the girl, Veronica. She had black hair and black eyes with the look of death in them.”YOU WILL DIE HERE!” she screamed at us.
Out of a blur of green wind, came the most horrible looking people we had ever seen. They almost looked dead.
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There was an army before us and we had to face them. I walked to the first one and cut off its arm to see what he was.
The arm fell off and started squirming. Then the stab where I cut off the arm became sticky and grew back another arm. I ran stupidly back to the others screaming, “ZOMBIES!”
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Ashe was first. She kicked a slice of air in her feet. The slice cut a few zombies but not enough. Kathrine ran to a crowd and brought her hands down in a flaring motion. Combustion. Twenty zombies went down. Then, it was my turn. I reached up before a zombie could bite me and flew upward in a pillar of water where Veronica clung to an invisible wall. She screamed… again. And I exploded… my arms and legs pulling away from the scrunched up ball I had become. The water flew in a wall of terror toward the zombies, and… I fell… to the ground.
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I was falling… falling to the endless ground that never got closer. Then I heard Ashe’s voice and realized she caught me in midair. She set me down. I saw she was bleeding from a scar across her face from where a zombie scratched her. Kathrine ran back toward us creating a wall of flame between the zombies and us with each step she took. She stooped down and they both took my hand…
We flew back up from where I fell (great I can get hurt again) and became bright. I showed blue. Kathrine red. Ashe green. I moved my body wrapping water around myself. Kathrine folded her hands made a smaller flame. Ashe wrapped her hands around herself creating a barrier.
I turned my water loose creating streams of ice. I shot them at Kathrine. Ashe created a whirlwind chocking the air around us and hurled it at Kathrine. You could hear the screams of Veronica below us.
Kathrine blew fire breath at the ice and wind. And took them in her hands. She created light and threw two orbs to us. We caught them and lines of electricity created barriers between us in a triangle. We flew to the ground and threw the orbs at the ground.
They smashed and we were taken over with the power of lightning. We shot flames of electricity in every direction. Permanently killing the zombies. Then Ashe walked to Veronica and Kathrine’s and my powers were taken from us. We fell from the spot where we hovered above the ground. We landed with a thud and pain started to creep in my head. I opened my eyes to see what Ashe had done. She had created a link between her and Veronica shocking her to death. Veronica fell back and Ashe threw the girl and the orbs in the air. They hit each other and she exploded in a show of sparks. Ashe watched the sparks and then the elevator stopped…