Prose

Untouchable (Part One)

written by: FaithInAbsence

"Come on" Brendan whispered in my ear, grasping my arm and pulling me from the dance floor. I followed willingly. I was never a fan of dances and the thrashing bodies that surrounded me were making me claustrophobic. The smell didn't help either.

It was, however, hilarious watching those around me dance. If you could even call it that- most were just rubbing up against one another. Ah, high school. What a joy.

The chaperones were doing a horrible job, they'd walk around every few minutes, on the look out for dirty dancing. Couples would be grinding and then a teacher would walk by. It was like pressing a pause button, they would pull apart and freeze.

The most humorous thing was the banners that were strung around the ballroom. On them it said "Leave room for the Holy Spirit!". Coupling this was a picture depicting two people in a pose that looked like a waltz. That's what you got at a Catholic high school; a great education pepper with constant hints (or rather demands) to be chaste. I'm a faithful, fairly modest person, but what do you expect from hormone riddled teens? Square dancing? I think not.

I thought Brendan was just leading me to a vacant table but instead he kept his grip on me, steering past the doors and into the deserted lobby.

I glanced at Brendan warily, then around me, only to realize that we were alone except for the koi in the fountain. It had been against my better judgment to go with him in the first place, and I had been betting on him not trying anything in a room full of people. Of course, he had now found a way around that.

Shit.

"Let's go back inside. Clare and her date are probably waiting for us." Hoping, foolishly, that he would follow, I turned around.

He grabbed my waist.

"C'mon Charley, let's go upstairs. It'll be more… fun."

His voice sent chills down my spine.

"No. Let go of me." I tried to spin out of his grasp but his grip was ironclad. "And it's Charlotte to you," I said in what I hoped was an assertive, brave voice. Unfortunately, I had no doubt that he heard the quiver in it.

"Nervous? Don't be. I know what I'm doing." He pulled me closer and headed to the elevator. Digging my feet into the floor, I tried to stop him but I was just strung on helplessly, my stilettos skating along the wooden floor.

"I'm not nervous. Just not interested."

"Not interested? In me?" He chuckled and put his lips to my neck tracing down to my jugular.

"I said stop Brendan. Now." Anger and fear welled up in me and, as he opened his mouth, something exploded.

A gale force wind thrust through the lobby. The earth shook violently and wooden furniture that was in the lobby imploded. I felt Brendan's grip on me loosen and he fell to the floor.

Somehow, none of it touched me, nor did I lose my balance. In fact, it felt as if it was coming from me.

Fleetingly, I laughed inwardly. I had the force. Maybe that made be Luke, not Charley. I mean, it was a boys name either way.

But every ounce of humor evaporated as I looked down at Brendan. He was on the ground, one leg twisted in an unnatural angle. Even worse, a splinter of wood was lodged in his chest, right where his heart would be.

He wasn't moving.

Dumbstruck, I stood completely still as people began flooding out of the ballroom. A teacher reached us first, looked from me to Brendan, and with a look of pure horror knelt down next to him to feel his pulse. Her face fell and she turned to one of her colleagues and whispered something in his ear. People stared at me. I knew what it must look like. They hadn't felt the blast because I could see the ballroom was fully in tact, and here was Brendan, on the floor apparently dead and I was untouched.

Oh. My. God.

I was going to be considered responsible. A murderer. Froze, I stared blankly as the two security guards that were headed in my direction, hands on their gun holsters. Behind them, adults her hurriedly sheparding students back into the ballroom.

Then from behind me, a male voice whispered "Run."

I ran.

It was stupid, but he was the voice of reason I had been frantically searching for. He grabbed my hand and pulled me after him. He shoved me into the elevator, and ran his hand across all the buttons, hitting the parking garage first.

I stood there, gripping the metal rails, terrified. The man turned, only he wasn't a man.

"Nathan?!"

Clare's date, and the boy who had been popping up wherever I went lately. And the boy who had just instructed me to run away from a crime scene.

Silent, he glanced at the screen at the top of the elevator. We had reached the garage.

He grabbed my wrist, gently though, and pulled me out. I didn't protest. I couldn't seem to do anything but follow him mechanically.

"Charlotte-"

I cut him off. "It's Charley."

"Charley, then. You need to trust me. I know you have no clue who I am, but if you don't listen to me…" He paused frowning. "Let's just say the outcome won't be desirable."

"What do you mean?"

"No time to explain now. I promise I will later, but it would probably be a good idea for use to shut up and get out of here."

I began to protest but just as I opened my mouth Brendan popped out of the darkness. There was a bloodstain where the wood had punctured his chest but the skin underneath remained unblemished.

"Holy-". I didn't finish.

Nathan grabbed me by the waist and and threw me on the back of a black motorcycle. In one insanely fast, deft movement he leaped in front of me and started the bike.

"Grab my waist! And don't let go, no matter what!"

He backed up and spun around facing Brendan. We sped in his direction and then swerved at the last second onto the exit ramp, narrowly missing a car Brendan threw in our direction. I screamed. Maintaining the insane speed we zig-zagged in and out of traffic and through red lights.

Out of nowhere a bike pulled up by us.

We're going to die I kept saying to myself. I was too scared to even close my eyes.

Nathan swore loudly. "Hold on!" he yelled to me though I could barely hear him. However, I laughed crazily in response. Did he really think I was going to let go?

Even so I almost slipped off the bike as Nathan made a sharp u-turn, my legs almost hitting the pavement.

I screamed again as I saw two headlights right in front of us. I braced myself for the impact, fully expecting for the words I had been saying to myself to come true. My eyes shut as I braced for the impact.

It didn't come. We kept going, my hair and dress flowing behind the bike, the Seattle city lights speeding by us.

I didn't know how long I felt like an actor in Death Race. It seems like forever, but eventually Nathan slowed the motorcycle.

We were on the outskirts of the city. No longer in the bright business district, we were now surrounded by tattoo shops and shady looking bars.

Nathan steered the bike into an alley, then cut the ignition. I didn't move, I was pretty sure that I was unable.

"Um… Charley? You can let go now. We're here."

Anger shot through me. It was irrational but completely potent, I could feel the heat flow through my limbs. I leapt off the bike faster than I though possible and strode in front of the bike glaring at him, fuming.

"What is going on!?" I yelled. "I barely know you, yet you pull me out of the bloody dance after my date collapsed. Who by the way, seems to be alive and unharmed even though he had a piece of wood protruding from his heart and resembled a human shis-kabob! You have some serious explaining to do now."

Nathan sighed heavily. "Charley, you need to calm down. Remember when you got angry at Brendan. I'd really not rather be skewered as well."

That instantly sobered me, and soon after I felt very, very tired. My muscles transformed into the consistency of Jell-O and I fell, hitting the ground on my knees, barely able to keep myself supported with my hands. My whole body vibrated, shaking like I was shivering even though I wasn't really cold.

Nathan came closer, looking concerned.

"It's alright now, you're safe I promise".

My face felt wet. "It's raining" I said in a somewhat petulant voice.

He looked at me quizzically. "What?"

I stayed silent, unable to say anything because my mind was attempting to process the last hour through the fatigue. It honestly wasn't getting anywhere because my thoughts essentially consisted of Oh my god, oh my god over and over again.

Nathan chuckled. "It's not raining. You're crying." He sighed again. "Let's get you inside".

He picked me up and carried me to a door behind a dumpster. He set me down so he could open the door and I stumbled forward like a drunk man. My mind briefly stumbled across the image of the man who stood on the street by my flat with a sign that read "I'm not gonna lie. I need a beer". He tried to grope me once, I recalled through the haze. I kicked him in the balls.

"Here, go to sleep. You're tired."

"No shit Sherlock" I mumbled.

Nathan laughed, then picked me up and laid me on something soft.

Everything went immediately black. My brain did the only thing it could under the pressure of shock- It shut down.

I was awake, but my eyes were still shut tight. Rolling over sleepily I hit my head on something. Jolting upright, I opened my eyes and was immediately disoriented. It took me a long, panic-filled minute to realize where I was and recall the events from last night.

Groaning I pushed myself off the mattress, causing my joints to pop as my limbs stretched themselves out. I must have slept for a very long time, or it might be a side effect to the insane soreness I felt pretty much everywhere in my body. Which was strange because I was a distance runner; it took a lot to make me sore. Other than that and the massive headache, I seemed to be intact. Unless you counted the possible mental damage I would suffer from this ordeal. I grimaced.

Looking around I realized I was in what resembled a storage facility of some kind. Piles of boxes, cardboard and wooden surrounded me. Small windows near the ceiling were the only source of light, and they, oddly had bars on them. I briefly wondered what the need for them was; to keep things out or in?

The floor was covered in dirt, and when I stepped in it a cloud poofed upward. I shuddered.

"Charley?"

The voice came from behind me. I jumped, startled, then flipped around punched the speaker in the face.

It was Nathan.

"Nathan!? Don't sneak up on me like that" I yelped, holding my fist. His face was hard. But it was my instinct to hit whatever startled me. I suppose it came from my dad, who was a Marine.

A male voice said, "Damn Nate, that girl has a right hook like nobody's business. That'll be useful."

A boy emerged from behind a stack of boxes. A girl followed soon after him, laughing loudly as Nathan rubbed his jaw looking pained and as red-faced as a fire engine.

"Hi! I'm Kat. You must be Charlotte!" It wasn't a question. Kat was bouncing up and down looking more like a toddler than my age. She was petite, and I might have been fooled into thinking she was twelve if it weren't for the heavy eyeliner and combat boots.

"Charley, actually." I looked to Nate for help. He, however, was glaring at me. His jaw was already turning an ugly shade of purple, but I made a pleading face and he caved.

"Charley, before you assaulted me I was going to tell you this is Kat, and this is Jase. They're part of my team I guess you could say."

"Team?"

"Let's just say we're the good guys in this situation" Jase said.

I gave Nathan another look, this time accusatory. "You still have a load of explaining to do".

He ran his fingers through his hair, looking agitated and worried. "I know. Let's go get some breakfast and I'll give you the rundown. Kat has some clothes for you. You can't go running around Seattle in a dress like that".

"Really? I was thinking about using the skirt as an umbrella for pigeons" I said, bitingly sarcastic.

He just rolled his eyes and stalked off. He was just little Mr. Sunshine this morning. Though, being clocked in the face and bruised by a girl probably didn't improve his mood much.

Kat laughed loudly again. "C'mon girl, let's get you changed". She led me behind a pile of boxes, and Jase walked off after Nathan. Handing me a pile of clothes she headed off after them, leaving me alone to change.

I unfolded the pile to see black pants made of a thick sweat pant like material but with a zipped and pockets, white shirt, heather green hooded sweatshirt, and (thank god) clean underwear. A gray leather jacket completed the look along with some study, yet cute black boots. Whoever picked these out had looked for both functionality and fashion. I chuckled quietly.

It wasn't something I'd usually wear. I love color, especially neon brights, and this was the darkest outfit I'd ever worn. But it was somewhat bad ass looking, which was a bonus. I might as well looked tough, even though I felt like my life was falling apart at the moment.

As I changed I realized I had no idea why I was trusting these kids. I knew none of them. Technically, I should be creeped out beyond believe considering Nathan had more or less stalked me this week. If I had a modicum of intelligence and a sense of self-preservation I would high tail it in the other direction, go to a police station, and explain the whole ordeal.

But then again…

I was the only person near Brendan when he had gotten hurt. And I had fled. I hadn't even come to grips with what had happened yet. I had lost my temper, gotten angry and then all hell had broken loose. And I seriously doubted that it was a coincidence that hurricane forced winds and a huge earthquake happened only in the area where I was, and after I had gotten angry.

Regardless, I wanted answers and to get them I was going to have to stay with them for a while.

Curiosity kills. I laughed feebly, and hoped that that phrase wouldn't be literal in my life. Pulling on the jacket I went out from behind to boxes to face the music.

The three of them were sitting on the mattress I had slept on last night. Kat had headphone in her ears and was staring into space, her combat boots tapping rhythmically to a beat I couldn't hear. Jase was writing something in a notebook, looking completely absorbed.

And Nathan… Well Nathan looked annoyed and stressed. His jaw was now a dark blue and purple. Who knew I had that much in me? I almost laughed aloud, but checked myself, realizing that it probably wasn't the best situation.

He stood of fluidly and rubbed his jaw again.

"Here". He threw a black leather backpack at me. "We're not coming back here, and you're going to need this stuff." I caught it but not without realizing that there was a lot of unnecessary force behind the throw.

"What's in it?"

"Clothes, toiletries, defensive necessities, and a few of your personal things". Jase had gotten up and closed his book, which was now in the back pocket of his jeans.

I raised an eyebrow. "Defensive necessities? Personal things?". I opened the front pocket to find my iPhone, diary, and wallet, right next to what looked like a sheathed knife.

"Okay, number one, how did you get my phone? And don't you expect someone to be able to track us? Number two, what's with the knife?"

Jase grinned. "We don't reveal out stealth secrets, and the phone is untraceable. I fixed that. The knife is, obviously for defense."

"Defense for what?" I was a little creeped out right now. Actually, make that a lot creeped out.

Jase opened his mouth to reply but Nathan shot him a look. "I'll explain that over breakfast. Right now we need to get out of here." He handed me a baseball cap. "You need to put this on to cover your hair. People are out looking for you and your red hair is a dead giveaway. I doubt they'll be looking in this area, but we still don't need someone recognizing you.

Kat chuckled quietly. "Red hair to match her fiery personality. Charley, you've got a better punch than Jase!"

"Hey!" Jase yelled indignantly.

"Sorry, but you're the brain of the operation hon, not the brawn."

"But I can-" Jase broke off as we all tensed at the sound of voices.

Nathan, who I beginning to see as the leader of this whole motley crew, out a finger to his lips and beckoned us all behind him.

"Whatever happens, stay near me" he whispered in my ear. I shuddered, suddenly afraid.

Like a strange game of follow the leader, I gingerly picked my way through the maze of boxes. The voices seemed be coming closer, rather than getting farther away. I could hear snatches of the conversation.

"Attacked. Almost died, but then ran off…"

"Doubt they'd be here of all places…"

Nathan swore quietly, almost to the point where even I couldn't hear him and I was directly behind him. He began moving more quickly. I held my breath and followed, realizing that they were undoubtedly looking for me. Suddenly, Nathan paused in front of me and dropped to his knees, motioning for me to follow. I did, and saw something resembling a garage door that was partly open. I quickly followed Nathan through the tiny opening and was greeted with daylight.

Nathan once again gestured for us to remain silent and began running quietly down the alley. I followed and easily kept pace with him, glad I was a runner, and surprised that my boots were perfectly comfortable when I was running.

It was early morning. We ran into the area where all the shops were and encountered almost no one.

"I guess breakfast isn't really an option anymore. We should probably just get on the bus."

I turned to Kat. "No way. I am not getting on a bus with anyone until I get some answers."

"She's right. We owe her an explanation. I'm surprised she's taking this so well, but that won't last much longer unless we give her some reason behind what we're doing. And I seriously doubt that they'd be looking for us at IHOP while enjoying some pancakes. We're in more danger at the bus station anyway." Jase had caught up with us and we now made a wide line across the sidewalk.

Nathan sighed. "Alright Charley. Here's the deal. We go into the diner a couple of blocks from here. We get some food and explain the basics. We eat quickly and get on the bus within two hours".

"A bus to where exactly?"

"Portland" Kat said from behind me.

Jase shot her a look but Kat just rolled her blue eyes. "Good lord guys. Do you really expect her to with us willingly if we don't tell her where the hell we're going?"

"No, but it wasn't necessary to say that where people could easily hear us" Nathan said in an irritated voice.

"Oh shut it. Or I'll have Charley punch you again," Kat giggled.

Thankfully we had reached the Denny's and Nathan was holding the door for me. His bruise was already disappearing. Weird.

I was glad to get inside as it was beginning to rain. Instantly, the smell of greasy, delicious diner food wafted over me and I realized how hungry I was. Famished actually; I supposed shock could do that to you.

Kat and Jase came in behind me and the waitress shot us all a strange look before putting on her customary fake smile.

"Hi, welcome to Diana's. Table for four?"

Nathan nodded, not even looking at her, but surveying the room.

The waitress, whose name was Candy according to her nametag (I stifled a laugh), led us to a booth in the very back next to kitchen. It was noisy back her, and I guessed that this was to out advantage.

"I'll be back to take your order soon" Candy said, then she stalked away on her very impractical high heels.

"Sensible shoes" Kat snorted. "Alright Nate. Lay it on her".

He grimaced. I wondered briefly what made this so unpleasant for him, but I figured I'd find out soon enough.

"We're not explaining much here Charley. We can't until we get there. And I doubt you'd believe most of it until we can show you. Which we can't do in such an open area, and it'd be a bad idea for us to go anywhere unpopulated as that's where they're most likely to look. You see, they don't think we're very bright".

"Who doesn't?"

"The people who're hunting us. You see, we have… abilities that they don't particularly like. Abilities like the one's you showed in the lobby".

I shook my head violently. "That wasn't me."

Jase laughed. "That's what I said too when I found out. Like Nate said, unfortunately we can't give you proof that it was you until we reach Portland".

I shook my head again but this time remained silent.

"Like Jase said, we're going to to Portland. You need to come with us there because… Well because you'll most likely die otherwise".

"Or worse" Kat interjected.

Nathan deftly threw a spoon at Kat, who caught it and began twirling it, shooting Nathan a look and rolling her eyes.

"By who?" I felt stupid asking so many questions, but I need answers and I was going to get as many as I could.

"An group of people (if you can really call them that) who tried to eliminate people like us. You saw what you could do last night. Brendan was one of their soldier, for lack of a better term. You're seriously lucky he didn't realize what you were. If he had you'd have been murdered on the spot".

"Why didn't he?"

"Because what you are, what we all are, hasn't completely shown up in you yet."

I started to say something again, but Candy arrived with coffee.

"What'll ya'll be having?"

Kat, Nathan, and Jase all got something like a grand slam- eggs, bacon, and pancakes. I just picked the first thing I saw. "Happy pancakes and a Diet Coke".

Candy looked at me strangely, smiled, then tottered away.

Nathan was laughing at me.

"What?" I asked confused.

"You just ordered the pancakes with a smiley face made out of whipped cream and chocolate chips".

"Yeah, and what's with the Diet Coke as seven in the morning?" Jase asked.

"It's my favorite drink. And I sort of live off the caffeine in it. Anything else seems to go right through me". I grimaced though after realizing what I'd ordered. I had a very low tolerance for sugar. It's not that I would get hyper, I would just crash after about an hour because I had such a high metabolism.

Jase grinned "High metabolism Charley? That's not uncommon among us."

"What exactly am I? Are we?"

"You'll find out if you come with us?" Nathan said, still smiling at me.

This seriously annoyed me. "So you're essentially bribing me." I glared at him. Seriously? Where does this guy get off assuming I'm just going to go traipsing around with a bunch of renegade teenagers dress in black leather who were obviously on the run of something.

But then again…

My home life wasn't really something I'd miss. I'd dreamt of some adventure and escape since I was little, always retreating into my book wishing I was the main character. But I was the black sheep, the problem child. Not that I ever did anything really wrong; no drugs or premarital sex. Hell, I had all A's and B's in my classes and was a pretty good runner. But I had a little of a rebellious streak and a temper that would erupt easily.

I screwed up a lot in little ways, but even when I did the littlest things wrong, like forgetting to change the laundry, this seemed like a cause for a hug argument with my parents. We were constantly either walking on eggshells or at each others throats. They loved me, and I loved them but honestly? We'd be better off without the constant aggravation. Maybe I was just deficient in family dynamics. I didn't know. All I knew was that I'd been looking for a way out since I was thirteen. And now here it was staring me in the face in the form of three renegade bad-ass looking teenagers.

The sensible me was telling me that this qualified as running away, which was in my book complete idiocy. I wasn't an idiot, I knew I couldn't make my own way in the world. But despite the sensible voice in the back of my head the rebellious one took over as usual and I knew that my family would be better off without me as a burden… Because I knew that's all I'd ever really be from now on.

Nathan put his hand on my shoulder and his blue eyes bored into mine. He looked concerned. "Are you alright?"

Shit. I was crying. "Yeah" I mumbled. Nathan still looked worried but didn't press me.

Candy came with out food. Nathan burst out laughing.

"Are you really going to eat that?"

"Yep. But I'll probably have to get something to reenergize before we get on the bus".

It was instantaneous, all their faces lit up. Even Nathan's. Especially Nathan's.

"So you're coming with us?" Kat asked even though he mouth was full of bacon.

"Against my better judgment, yes." I grabbed my drink and took a gulp. I then grabbed a force and began attacking my pancakes.

"Thanks Charley. For saying yes" Nathan said, looking me right in the eyes.

I looked away. "Why thank me?"

"Let's just say things wouldn't go so well for us if you didn't" Kat said.

"What do you mean?"

"There's not many of us, and there's a lot of them. However, hopefully now we have a chance at being evenly matched in most situations".

I raised an eyebrow. "There's only four of us."

Jase grinned. "Exactly".

I decided not to press it, I figured this was another thing I'd be learning about later.

"Let's not give Charley the wrong idea guys" Nathan said, still smiling.

"It's sort of late for that. Frankly, I'm a little trepiditious about this" I mumbled through a mouthful of pancake.

"I promise we won't do anything to you. You have my word".

I glanced at Nathan. "Much as I'd like to believe that I barely know you, so I can't really take your word for it".

"Shit".

I would have laughed because all three of them said it in unison but when I saw the look on their faces my giggle died in my throat. Across the diner there were two men in suits (seemingly designer) and were scanning the restaurant. Right before one of their eyes met mine I was yanked under the table by my sleeve. I struggled for a moment until Nathan's lips met my ear. "Shhh… It's just me".

We were all huddled up against the wall between the booths like sardines. I was halfway on Nathans lap and terrified I grabbed his hand. He squeezed it back and held his finger to his lips and pointed.

Two pairs of patent leather shoes rested two feet away from us. A third pair, Candy's red stilettos stood between them. Slowly the knees bent and a face appeared. Without even thinking, I extended my foot and my new boot connected with Candy's blonde framed face.

Nathan, with my hand still in his, pulled me out from under the table. The two men attempted to grab us but Nathan managed a kick unto one man's spleen and Jase, who had followed us punched the other in his solar plexus.

We ran. Candy the waitress, yelled at us as we dashed out the door. Kat, who was beside me tossed me my leather bag.

I could hear the men behind us behind us but no one said a word and we kept running. We hit an alley, and the motorcycle form last night was parked next to another. Nathan grabbed his, Jase the other, and they both started them simultaneously.

Nathan looked at me and gestured to his bike, throwing me a helmet and putting one on himself. I got on the back and before I was even seated he took off, Jase soon after followed.

We raced past the men, who looked as us, startled and began running in the other direction.
"Think we lost them?" I yelled over the sound of the engine.

"For now! But they could easily follow us if their quick enough! We need to lose them! Hold on!" He abruptly turned the bike right, and kept making crazy turns in every direction.

I whipped around and saw Jase right on our tail, thank god. I could only imagine the fiasco that would follow if we were to lose them.

It felt like a repeat of last night, except this time I wasn't as terrified, and I was pretty sure it wouldn't result in shock.

We pulled onto the freeway, and fifteen minutes later we were in the smaller city of Burien. Nathan rolled the bike to a stop behind a strip mall. None of the places were open yet, so I guessed we'd be free from detection.

We hopped off the bikes, and I looked to Nathan for direction.

He grinned. "I'm pretty sure we lost him. But our trips going to take a little longer. We're going to have to catch a bus from here to Tacoma, then grab another one to Portland from there. There was no way we could have stopped at the bus station in Seattle- it would have been swarming with them".

Kat grinned. "Too bad we're about fifty times smarter, even though they seem to think that our adolescence makes us idiots".

Jase rolled his eyes, "I think that just applies to you."

She punched him lightly, but then grabbed his waist. I figured they were together, but hadn't been sure until now.

"Charley, can I borrow your phone? I need to check the bus schedule" Nathan asked me.

I smiled. "Is that all I'm here for? The use of my phone?"

"You guessed it. That's the reason we basically kidnapped you and have you running all across the Seattle-Tacoma area, for your iPhone."

I mocked sighed, "Well as long as I get to keep the boots and jacket I guess I'm okay with it".

He laughed as I handed him the phone.

"It looks like a bus leaves from a stop not far from here in about ten minutes. Let's go grab some food and we'll go."

I took a deep breath. It was now or never, I was really going to go to Portland with these people I didn't even really know. Despite that, I wasn't that worried anymore. I felt some sort of a connection to them. I didn't know why, I wasn't quite yet willing to buy into their half-explained explanation, but I was starting to think there was some truth to it, as impossible as it seemed.

With a smile I followed them, leaving everything I had behind me.