Angered Seasons: Volume Four (I Will Survive) (4 page)

“I was wondering how your memory was coming along?
Have you remembered more since we last spoke?”

Mad nodded. “I’m ready, if that’s what you’re
wondering. We’re just waiting on the other half of the family to
show up.”

“That’s what I thought.” Time looked pleased, proud
even. “That’s why I asked the dogs to bring me to you. You’ll be
waiting for eternity if that’s your plan. They can’t find you. If
you want this fight to happen, you’ll need to go out and find it
yourself.”

I grunted as the old man vanished into thin air. “You
figure he could at least say goodbye.”

Lane ran a hand over his face. “What do you figure,
Maxy?”

“I figure it’s time we show Mother Nature she picked
on the wrong species.”

Everyone murmured their agreement.

“Alright.” I gave Lane’s hand a squeeze. “Let’s do
this.”

Brat barked then ran outside.

“What’s he doing?” I turned to Max.

He grinned. “Calling in reinforcements.”

Brat’s barks and howls echoed through the yard and
carried out into the woods and fields. It didn’t take long for the
other dogs that had stationed themselves around the farm to join
in.

“You know what this reminds me of?” Johnny was
grinning. “That scene from ‘A Hundred and One Dalmations’. You
know, the one where Pongo sends out the call that the puppies have
been stolen?”

Grant laughed. “Dude, really?”

“Don’t tell me you can’t see it in your head right
now!” challenged John.

“Alright. Fine.” Grant turned to Max. “How long is
this going to take?”

Brat barked his answer and Max translated. “Shouldn’t
take much more than an hour. Brat says they’ll meet us at the
yellow farmhouse not too far from here.”

“So that’s it? That’s where we call him out?” The
butterflies were starting to fight for room in my stomach.

Max shook his head. “That’s where we get
organized.”

“Alright! You heard the man. Let’s get these trucks
loaded.” Lane gave my shoulder a squeeze. “Taylor, Kathrine, Pete,
Marie… I need you guys to hold down the fort.”

Pete nodded, now used to being in charge of keeping
the house safe. The rest of us went to gather weapons, ammo, and
medical supplies should we need them. The wind started to pick up
and a flash of lightning sparked through the sky.

I smiled at Taylor, trying to make her feel better.
“Go to the house, okay?”

She scurried off as if I’d yelled at her. Lane looked
up in time to get the first rain drops on his face. He wiped them
off and clenched his jaw.

“I don’t think we’re going to have an hour.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Twenty minutes later, the trucks were loaded.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. What
the hell were we doing? This had to be suicide, right? There was no
way a handful of humans, a pack of dogs, and a… I frowned. What was
Max, anyway?

“Maxy?”

“What’s up, Gabs?” He put a duffle bag into the back
of the one ton and came to stand by me.

“I just… I was just wondering what you were.”

He blinked. “Um…” He smirked. “I’m some sort of
immortal offspring of two Greek gods?”

“Right.” I grinned. “Okay. I feel better now.”

Max laughed and gave me a hug. His now green eyes met
mine. “I’m not going to let her win, okay?”

I nodded. “I know.”

Lane started the one ton and I hopped in beside him.
His hand went instinctively to my leg and I covered it with
mine.

He stared straight ahead. “We’ll get through
this.”

“Yeah.”

Our little convoy of trucks rumbled down the dirt
road and I gawked as we pulled into the small yellow farmhouse’s
yard.

“Holy fuck!” What I’d assumed was going to be a small
pack of maybe ten dogs had turned out to be closer to fifty. I
looked them over and noticed every breed imaginable and every form
of mutt God could have thought to put together.

Brat waited until the truck had stopped before
jumping over the top of the cab and onto the hood. Every dog in the
yard turned toward him at his bark and sat. Whatever he had to say
didn’t take long and soon the chorus of barks and howls filled the
air.

A sudden clap of thunder deafened me and I screamed
in surprise. I looked back into Max’s silver eyes.

“Glade’s here.” He jumped out of the truck and threw
me his riffle.

“What about you?”

He shook his head. “I’m not going to need it.” He
looked up at the sky, all the while walking farther away from the
house. “Why don’t you stop with the chicken shit weather antics and
get your ass down here, big brother?” His yell was all but blown
away by the wind.

“Oh, my god.” Jenny’s eyes were the size of saucers
as a funnel cloud descended from the sky. Max looked back at
us.

“Get in the house!”

“Max!” Jenny ran to him and kissed him hard. “Please
be careful.”

He nodded and pushed her back toward us. Shawn and
Grant were already holding the door open, waiting for the rest of
us to get inside. Dog’s scattered and yelped, running as fast as
they could to get out of the twister’s path. I watched from just
inside the door, horrified, as trees were uprooted and Pete’s truck
was pushed into ours.

Max bent his head against the wind. A silver glow
formed in front of his face. He knelt, put his hands palm up on the
ground and stayed immobile.

Lane grabbed my arm and tried to pull me toward the
basement.

“No! I can’t just leave him out there!”

“Gabby! You can’t do anything to help him! If you go
out there, you’re dead.”

I gasped as I watched Max stand as though he was
lifting something heavy and suddenly, the tornado was no longer
touching the ground.

“What the…” Lane gawked at the scene before him.
Max’s arms trembled with the effort it took to somehow control the
weather phenomenon. With one final heave, he sent it back up into
the sky where it had come from.

He fell to one knee, his shoulders and chest rolling
with his breaths. Lane was two steps behind me as I ran out to
him.

“Maxy! Holy fuck! Are you alright?”

His silver eyes met mine and his grin made my worry
disappear.

“Holy shit! I wasn’t sure I’d be able to, but how
sweet ass was that?!” He stood and turned toward the field where
the twister had touched down. The largest group of yellow eyes I’d
even seen was making its way toward us. I made sure the safety was
off on my rifle.

“I think that should keep your little friends
occupied for the time being.”

I screamed at the sound of Glade’s voice coming from
right behind me. I whirled around, my gun aimed and ready to
shoot.

He chuckled and raised an eyebrow at me. “Really, my
dear. Do you think a gun would do anything?” His eyes widened in
shock as I pulled the trigger.

When he didn’t fall to the ground in pain, I
reloaded.

“Just the look on your face was worth the try,” I
grumbled.

“You shot me!”

I nodded and assumed he wasn’t used to having anyone
try to do him harm. The yellow in his eyes brightened and suddenly,
the air around us was full of static. I felt the hair on my arms
rise and I brushed it down with my hand.

Max grunted and Glade screamed as a lightning bolt
speared through him. A gun shot echoed along with the thunder and
Max pushed me into Lane.

“That lightning was meant for you. You can thank me
later. I’ll deal with Glade! You deal with them!” He turned away
from us and swept his arm in front of him. A gust of wind picked
his brother up and threw him forty feet through the air. I watched
until I saw Glade hit a pine tree before turning toward the Yellow
Eyes.

I had one small moment of doubt. Those poor people
were still alive in there. I shook off the feeling. I could puke
about it later. For now, it was me or them and I wasn’t ready for
it to be me.

We ran to stand in front of the house with Jenny,
Grant, Shawn, and Johnny. There was nothing else to do but to start
shooting. I concentrated on my targets, making sure each bullet
counted. The dogs coming back hesitated at the sound of gun shots,
but quickly charged in at a barked order from Brat.

Even with fifty dogs on our side, it was hard to
believe we even stood a chance against the hundred Yellow Eyes
coming at us. Through my scope I saw faces disappear, brains blow
out of heads, and blood spray through the air.

I glanced to where Max and Glade were having their
showdown. By the way I had to brace myself against the wind I
didn’t think they’d decided to call a truce. I caught a glimpse of
Max throwing himself to the ground as a large icicle flew at him.
His arm bled where it managed to slice through skin.

He stood, holding his arm, then reached to the sky
with both hands. His eyes let off a flash of silver and a hail ball
the size of the truck fell from the heavens. Glade managed to blow
the ball of ice away from him with a gust of wind.

Since there was obviously nothing I could do to help
Max, I turned back to the Yellow Eyes. I quickly took the scope off
of my rifle and aimed once again. I caught a glimpse of Jenny
glancing at Shawn and I knew she was thinking what I was. The
bastards were starting to get close. I watched as dogs and Yellow
Eyes alike were torn apart by their enemy. Dogs yelped in pain and
anger. I was glad the wind was strong enough to whisk away most of
the moans and screams of pain.

“Jenny, Gabby, I want you to take the rifles and ammo
and get up on the second floor of the house. Use the balcony. If
they manage to get into the house, get up onto the roof. You can
only access it from that balcony so you’ll be able to get rid of
them as they try to get up.” Lane kissed me roughly then pushed me
away. “Go!”

I handed him the hatchet from the ammo bag. “Be
careful.”

He smiled and turned back to the mob, his rifle
already up. Jenny and I ran for the house. Once on the balcony, we
laid out everything weapon we had so we’d be ready. The rain was
making it hard to see in the distance and everything was slick.
Jenny swore as she slipped on the old boards.

Max had somehow figured out how to pick up large
rocks from in the earth and was throwing them using mini wind
storms. One of them connected with his brother’s head and I cheered
as the yellow-eyed immortal fell to the ground.

“Do you know what I don’t get?” I took my shot then
glanced at Jenny. “I shoot the fucker and he barely blinks. Max
throws a rock at him and now he’s gushing blood from the side of
his head.”

She grinned. “Maybe it’s because of the magic. Only
magic can hurt them.” She wiped the rain from her eyes and started
to fire again. The dogs had done a good job of overpowering and
thinning out the crowd. By the looks of it, the Yellow Eyes were
down to about thirty. Lane, Grant, John, and Shawn were backing up
as they shot, trying to keep the distance between them and the
sprites.

“Brat!” John’s yell made me scan the yard to see what
the shepherd was up to. I found him surrounded by four of the
Yellow Eyes.

“Johnny! Don’t!” Lane’s yell fell on deaf ears and
the youngest in our party ran toward the dog. His last shot managed
to take one down. Brat’s teeth clamped onto the second and he
pulled it to the ground. John swung the rifle like a bat but lost
his grip on the wet weapon. It flew out of his reach. His quick
thinking had him tackling the sprite. He rained punches on the
woman’s face. I kept my aim on the fourth one, a man.

“Damn it, he’s too close.” Another look revealed
another woman coming to join into the fight. “Johnny! Look out!” I
let off a shot and managed to take down the woman. John fell with
the weight of the man on his back.

Brat finished biting through his Yellow Eye’s throat
and turned on the one who was now tearing at John.

I started back into the house.

“Get back up there!” bellowed Lane.

I choked on a sob and pulled my bow. Somewhere behind
the house, Max and Glade had started up a blizzard. Large flakes
blew over the house and onto our balcony. The sudden temperature
drop caused the rain on our bodies to crystalize and my fingers
cramped around my bow.

Jenny rubbed her hands together and blew on them, her
entire body shaking.

I pulled back an arrow, my arms fighting the motion.
“Fuck.”

“We’re coming up!” Lane shouted the warning as he,
Shawn, Grant and Jason turn toward the house.

“Shawn!” Jenny screamed as her brother was knocked to
the ground by a gust of wind. Whichever of the brothers had thrown
it, it didn’t matter. Shawn hit the ground with a grunt and didn’t
have time to scream before his entire body froze over. Another gust
hit Grant, though this one didn’t turn anyone into ice. He
scrambled to his feet and kept coming.

I pulled Jenny into a hug, her sobs shaking both of
us.

Lane burst through balcony doors and caught himself
on the railing as he slipped on the ice that now covered it. “Get
on the roof!”

I glanced down and saw the pack of Yellow eyes, at
least fifteen of them, making their way into the house. Jason
boosted Jenny up and she gave me her hand as I followed. Next came
Grant, Lane, and finally, Jason.

“You two stay back.” Lane held the hatchet up, ready
to hack away any part of a sprite that managed to show itself over
the edge of the roof.

“Are you guys okay?” I tried to assess their injuries
while staying out of the way. Jason had a cut along his bicep,
another over his left eye, and I’d noticed he’d been limping.
Lane’s jeans were torn and he was bleeding. The whole left side of
his face was swollen.

Grant glanced back, the split in his lip widening
with this grin. “We’re fine.” He wiped the blood away with a stiff
arm.

I flexed my fingers, willing them to hang in there. I
silently begged Max to go back to tornadoes and thunderstorms.