A Few Hours Ago (2)
"How am I?" The question surprises me. How am I supposed to be? I was at a party, and then all of a sudden, a Minotaur appears and goes on a rampage. Then a girl with superhuman strength, speed, and the ability to pass through objects rescues me. How the hell am I supposed to be anything except confused?
"What's going on?" I shout.
He shakes his head. "Later." Then he promptly ignores me. "Lathia, we need some privacy!"
"Okay!" the girl shouts.
The next moment, my skin tingles as I feel some strange sort of energy radiating from her. Then everything quiets down, leaving us in a bubble of silence.
"What are we going to do?" one of the boys riding the bikes asks. "He's obviously going to slow us down, besides we're getting farther and farther away from it."
Everyone is silent for a moment, then Drew speaks. "The only way we can do this is to draw its attention. Once we've done that, we split up. Lathia, you'll take him to the Metorium while we will take care of it."
It takes me a moment to realize they are talking about me. They obviously see me as a burden they are going to have to take care of.
"Okay," Lathia says, "So how are we going to get its attention?"
"David is going to attack it," Drew replies.
"What?" the other boy says from the next bike. "Why me? Look at that thing, we don't know its true strength; even the bikes are useless, and you want me to attack it?"
"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Drew reassures him. "Its true strength is probably in the twenties, and besides, we don't have much of a choice. It's getting closer."
"Fine," David says grudgingly. "What do I do?"
"Just attack it and create an opening for me."
Both of them maneuver themselves so that they sit facing the Minotaur. All of a sudden, the silence is over, and the wind begins roaring in our ears once more.
David takes a deep breath, and then he jumps off the bike. In the next two seconds, I realize something. He is fast, far faster than the bikes even. In those two seconds, he covers the close-to-fifty meters between us and the Minotaur.
More surprisingly, the Minotaur is not surprised by his speed. Instead, it swings its arm at David just as he gets in front of it.
David bends backward, causing the Minotaur to miss, but he doesn't get back up, instead, going lower until his back almost touches the ground. Then he pushes off the ground with so much force he practically flies forward. He then performs a complex series of twists in the air so he faces the Minotaur's back.
He throws his arms forward, and two seemingly endless chains with strange, slightly curved knives connected to their ends shoot out from within his sleeves and into the Minotaur's biceps. He then spins his arms rapidly, causing the chains to wrap around his arms just as he pulls until the chains are taut.
The Minotaur roars in pain as David suddenly falls to the ground. As his feet hit the ground, he yanks the chains and swings his arms, lifting the Minotaur into the air and slamming it headfirst to the ground.
As I watch him, one word comes to mind. Badass. Then I begin to wonder, who are these people? The speed and strength they have displayed are definitely not human. Are they some sort of vampires? I sneak a glance at Drew and wonder if I ever really knew him.
"Drew!" David shouts as he swings the Minotaur around.
Drew pushes an arm out, and a cloud of little black things appears around us and shoots toward the Minotaur.
The Minotaur roars again, but this time, red energy bursts out of it, stopping the things Drew had shot at it. Its hands latch onto the chains connected to its arms, pulling David towards itself.
David is pulled towards it like a rag-doll, but just as he is about to get within arms reach of it, he steps on air. There is no other way to describe what I saw. His leg shoots out and seems to be stopped by an invisible barrier which he uses to run upwards before flipping over the Minotaur after two steps.
As he lands behind the Minotaur, his chains fly back into his sleeves, leaving two wounds on the Minotaur's arms.
Then he runs, faster than before and leaps onto a bike. He holds tight to the girl in front of him and turns to Drew. "Good enough?" he asks.
Drew smiles at him. "Of course. That was brilliant, and nothing happened to you, just like I said."
David snorts. "I was just lucky. It's stronger than they reported."
Drew's smile turns into a frown. "Are you sure?"
David nods. "It's higher than the twenties. I couldn't tell how much, though."
Drew's expression turns serious. "Lathia, you know what to do. Make sure he gets back to the Metorium. We'll take care of the Minotaur."
She nods and takes a sharp turn, instantly separating us from the rest of the team. Fear grips my heart. Everyone knows it's better to stay in groups than to separate. What if it follows us?
"Relax," Lathia says as if sensing my fear. "You're safe with me."
Since I do not really know her, I am not inclined to believe her. But as time goes by and nothing appears, I slowly relax. Soon, all my fear is gone.
"Can you please take me home?" I ask meekly. It will be foolish to put on an attitude in front of someone who is as fast as the flash, has superhuman strength, and can go through solid objects. If she does not want me to do anything, there is no way I will be able to do it.
"Don't worry, I'll get you home safely. It's just before I can take you home, there is something I need to do first."
"What do you need to do?" I ask.
"We –"
A shadow flashes in front of us, and a loud bang sounds. All of a sudden, I am thrown into the air.
What happens next seems like the frames of a movie. I am in the air with Lathia, who has a surprised expression on her face. Next, the Minotaur appears between us. She tries to get past it to me but is blocked by a red barrier that suddenly appears between us. Then I see the wall I am flying towards as I spin in the air.
An expression of horror appears on my face as I realize that I am going to hit the wall, but there is nothing I can do to stop it.
I spin, and the wall is out of sight. I see Lathia surrounded by an aura of blue light attacking the barrier created by the Minotaur to no avail. For a moment, her eyes lock on mine. Then I feel a sharp pain at the back of my head before darkness consumes me.