Human Blend (26 page)

Joey meandered in and out of the mostly light
traffic. It consisted of late night truckers and a few pick up
trucks. The two cars followed even as Joey purposely cut in front
of vehicles.

“Get off the next exit and then lose them
that way,” Luke suggested.

Joey waited until the exit was only a few
yards away before cutting across two lanes to exit the highway.
Horns blared and tires squealed as traffic responded. Joey cursed
when he saw the other two cars make the exit.

“Open the windows,” Luke told Joey. “Vin, aim
for the tires,” he instructed Vinnie.

Joey slowed down as Luke and Vinnie stuck
their heads out of the windows and pointed their guns at the two
cars.

Luke fired two shots. One shattered the
windshield and the other hit the tire of one of the vehicles. The
damaged car veered off the road into a ditch.

Vinnie fired off two shots as well, but the
other car maneuvered out of the path of the bullets. Joey came to a
complete stop and put the car in reverse. He backed up quickly,
causing the other car to lose control and hit a road sign to avoid
them. Joey laughed as both cars appeared disabled.

“Let's finish this,” Luke said, getting out
of the car. “Bring them,” he added.

Vinnie opened the back door and pulled Austin
out. Julie followed as she and Austin held hands. Joey got in
between, separating them.

All parties approached the first vehicle. The
driver was slumped forward on the steering wheel with the used and
deflated airbag. Luke reached in and leaned the man back against
the seat. There was a bullet hole in his forehead. “Damn, I'm
good,” Luke bragged.

Joey pushed Julie towards Luke. He wrapped
his arm around her and forced her to look at the dead man. “Who is
he?” Luke asked.

“I... don't know,” Julie replied, looking
away.

“Boss,” Vinnie called out to Luke. He turned
and saw Vinnie looking at Austin. The boy's face was white.

“You know him?” Luke asked.

Austin swallowed hard and nodded. “My cousin,
Ray,” Austin replied softly. Julie moved to go to him but Luke
pushed her back to Joey.

Luke grabbed Austin's arm and brought him
closer. “See what happens when you disobey me?” Luke told him.

Julie felt helpless. She wanted to tell
Austin how sorry she was for allowing him and his family to be
brought into this mess that was her life. Words would not matter
now.

Everyone walked over to the second car and
looked at the two occupants. A man and a woman appeared unconscious
inside. “Recognize them?” Luke asked Austin. He shook his head no.
“Check them,” Luke instructed Vinnie. After checking their bodies,
Vinnie brought the man's wallet and the woman's purse and handed
them to Luke.

“They are both still alive,” Vinnie informed
him.

Luke dumped out the woman's purse and found
her wallet. “Sonya Blatters,” he noted, reading her license. He
pocketed the cash he found and looked in the man's wallet. “Maxwell
Tarten,” he read aloud. He looked at Julie and Austin both. Neither
reacted to the names.

“We're done here,” Luke decided. “Joey, torch
them,” he instructed.

“Luke! No!” Julie cried out.

“It's all your fault, sweetheart,” Luke said,
wrapping his arm around her.

Julie knew pleading with Luke never worked,
but she couldn't stop herself. “Please, Luke. No more. I swear...
I'll never run again,” Julie pleaded.

“Consequences, Laney,” Luke said, pushing her
against the car. He wiped one of her tears with his thumb and
tasted it. “My favorite,” he whispered.

Austin was in a daze; none of what was
happening seemed real. Vinnie got into the backseat with him.

Joey set about his task, joyfully. After
sticking rags in the gas tanks of the cars, he tossed a lit piece
of cloth into the backseat of each vehicle before igniting the
rags. He ran back towards Luke as both cars exploded.

Julie's knees buckled, but Luke kept her
upright. “No way. Watch and remember,” Luke said, turning her to
face the flames.

Luke heard the strange bird call again that
he had heard at the motel. Seconds later, the rain started. Heavy,
pouring rain. Luke opened the car door, and pushed Julie in, and
followed closely behind. A sudden gust of wind swirled around the
burning vehicles, causing mounds of dirt to be tossed on top of
them. The dirt along with the rain helped to extinguish the
fires.

Lightning flashed and Luke saw a figure near
one of the vehicles. Luke thought he recognized the figure. He had
encountered its kind before.
How the hell did you get mixed up
with them?
Luke thought, looking at Julie
.
“Drive!” Luke
yelled at Joey. Joey put the car in gear and sped off. It was all
making sense now. Luke picked up the phone and called up an old
friend.

“Tilley, it's Luke... put Steve on, will ya?”
he said into the phone.

“
Hey, Luke, my man. What's up
?” Steve
greeted.

“Steve, I got a situation here. Remember that
group we dealt with a few years ago, the nature ones?” Luke
reminded.

“
Yeah, yeah. We made an agreement with the
head guy. We stop the toxic dumping in the valley and they leave us
alone
,” Steve recanted.

“What was that guy's name?” Luke asked.

“
Suron...yeah, Suron... that was it. Why
did ya wanna know
?” Steve asked.

“'Cause I think they are having a memory
lapse. Do me another favor?” Luke asked. “Get a crew down by that
valley with a load and be ready to release it when I tell you to,”
Luke ordered.

“
Gotcha
,” Steve replied.

“One more thing... get with our east coast
fliers and have a helicopter ready to pick me up near Marion,
Virginia. Tell them to use the GPS in my phone to locate me. I'll
phone them when I am ready.”

“
Will do, boss
,” Steve answered.
“
Hey, did you find Laney
?” he asked.

“She's right next to me, right where she
belongs,” Luke laughed and hung up.

Julie only heard bits and pieces of Luke's
conversation. She kept looking back at Austin. He seemed to have
zoned out. She was concerned about him. Julie refocused on Luke
when she heard the word helicopter. “Helicopter?” she asked.

Luke smiled and put his arm around her.
“Laney, Laney, Laney. What have I told you about listening in on
private conversations?” he reminded in a gentle tone. His demeanor
alarmed Julie. Whenever he spoke this way in the past it meant
something bad was about to happen.

“Luke... can't we just go home?” Julie tried
to play up to him.

“You want to go home, baby?” he asked,
caressing her cheek.

“Please?” Julie replied. She tried releasing
a small amount of the Lure.

Luke pulled her into his lap. “Show me you
mean it,” he whispered in her ear. She looked back towards Austin
and met his eyes. She hoped he would understand.

“Let's go home,” she said, looking back to
Luke. She kissed him gently at first, but he held her head and
forced her to deepen the kiss.

Austin leaned forward, but Vinnie placed an
arm on him, warning him to stay put.

Julie tried not to panic; Marcus had been
able to control this. She was able to pull back from Luke and look
into his eyes. “Let's go home,” she repeated.

“Joey,” Luke said, his breathing was becoming
heavy. “Get back on the highway and head home,” Luke ordered.

“But boss, I thought...” Joey began to
say.

Julie looked over at him. “Drive home, Joey,”
Julie said.

“O... kay,” Joey replied and drove back onto
the highway.

Julie knew it was dangerous using the Lure on
both Joey and Luke. The air in the car began to feel very heavy.
She wanted to get them far away from Eli and her friends. She would
deal with the consequences later.

Luke moved Julie so that she was straddling
his lap. She grabbed his hands when he tried to remove some of her
clothing. “Not now,” she whispered. “When we get home,” she
promised, trying to maintain control. Luke began kissing her again.
It was getting harder for her to keep her own self control. She
pulled out of his kiss and rested her head on his shoulder. The
Lure seemed to have some sort of kickback, getting her lost in the
moment she was trying to control.

“Faster,” Luke growled at Joey.

Joey increased his speed even though
conditions were getting worse. He criss-crossed the highway,
cutting in front of trucks and trailers. One dangerous maneuver
proved to have fatal consequences.

Cutting in front of a tractor trailer, the
trucker slammed on the breaks in order to avoid hitting Joey. This
reaction caused the the driver's cab to jack-knife and the trailer
he was carrying skidded sideways, out of control.

A tanker truck filled with petrol swerved in
an attempt to avoid hitting the trailer and tipped over on its
side. The tanker's payload immediately combusted, engulfing both
tractors and causing a chain reaction of explosions that could be
seen for miles. The eruption of flames was so powerful that it
caused a pickup truck to be tossed into the air like a toy. It
landed on its roof, right in front of Joey.

Just before the BMW hit the pickup truck, a
tornado-like cloud descended over them and lifted their vehicle
into the air. Yells and screams could be heard as the SUV spun
furiously. When the cloud dissipated, the BMW dropped to the
ground. The impact shattered the windows.

Eli received word of what had taken place and
relayed the location information to Uncle Gregg. They knew that
they were close, as the fire from the tanker truck could be seen
about three miles away. Uncle Gregg indicated that he was close as
well.

A short time later, Eli pulled up behind a
car that had stopped along the side of the highway. “That's Uncle
Gregg's car!” Marcus called out and ran over to the vehicle.

A man stepped from the car and embraced
Marcus. “Marcus, it's good to see you,” Uncle Gregg said.

“Come meet the doc,” Marcus said.

Eli was already beside the car. He had taken
off his coat and was unbuttoning his shirt as they approached.

Marcus raised his eyebrows as he introduced
his Uncle. “Uncle Gregg, this is Doc Elsworth,” Marcus
presented.

“I apologize for my appearance. My people
have them in sight. I must join them,” Eli stated, tossing his
shirt into the car.

“How can we help?” Uncle Gregg asked.

“I'm going on ahead. Follow a southeasterly
path and you will find us,” Eli spoke as another vehicle joined
them. “I'd take him with you,” he added, gesturing towards Fred.
Eli tossed his shoes and socks into the car and ran towards the
woods.

“Crazy elf,” Marcus commented.

“Not quite,” Uncle Gregg replied.

“The crazy or the elf part?” Marcus
asked.

“Both,” Uncle Gregg said and went to greet
the newcomers.

Marcus helped Fred from the car. “You're
going to be a hindrance, aren't you?” he asked.

“Not if you fix my damn ankle, I won't be,”
Fred grumbled.

“Who is this fellow?” Uncle Gregg asked when
he returned.

“One of the men who came for Julie, I mean
Laney,” Marcus answered.

Uncle Gregg stepped up to Fred and placed his
hand on the side of his face. “You are going to sleep now. You will
not wake up until told to do so by me or Marcus. Do you
understand?” Uncle Gregg asked.

“Yes,” Fred replied as if in a trance.

“Sleep,” Uncle Gregg said. Fred collapsed in
Marcus' arms. “I'd put him in the trunk in case someone wanders
by,” Uncle Gregg instructed Marcus.

“Sure thing,” Marcus grunted under the weight
of Fred's unconscious form. Once Fred was secured, the group
proceeded into the forest.

The BMW had come to rest in a clearing. Tall
trees were plentiful, surrounding the area.

Luke was the first to recover. He was still
shaking off the effects of the Lure. Julie was unconscious in his
lap. His anger towards her built as he became more aware.

Everyone was covered in bits of glass.

Luke tried to rouse Julie. He pushed her back
and grabbed her head. “Wake up, Laney,” he growled, shaking her.
Julie moaned a bit but did not open her eyes. “Wake up, damn it!”
he yelled, shaking her again. She let out another moan and opened
her eyes. Julie gasped when she saw Luke's eyes boring into her. He
grabbed her chin. “Know this, when you are fully healed, I'm going
to break every bone in your body for this latest stunt. Then, I'm
going to do the same thing to your boyfriend,” Luke seethed.

Everyone else began moaning and groaning as
they approached consciousness.

Luke opened the door and climbed out of the
SUV. He had minor cuts and bruises but felt intact otherwise. He
would have Laney heal him later. “Everybody out. Be ready for
anything,” Luke ordered.

Julie slid out and looked around. The
darkness only added to the eeriness of the night.

“Ah, my ankle!” Vinnie cried out. “I think
it's broken,” he said, leaning against the BMW.

“Fix him,” Luke told Julie, “I need everyone
prepared.”

Joey assisted Vinnie in getting to the other
side. Austin was next to Julie and they squeezed hands, letting
each other know they were alright.

The bird call could be heard high in the tree
tops. Luke kept a watchful eye as Julie knelt down to help Vinnie.
“Which ankle?” She asked. She was unsure how much strength she had
left and wanted to save time searching. “Left,” Vinnie grunted.

Julie placed her hands on his ankle and
entered him. Her own ankle began to throb as she started the
healing process. She barely had enough strength to finish the job.
She collapsed on the ground as her body began its own healing.
Austin was next to her and wrapped his arms around her.