Chapter 9 The Screaming Eye

If it hadn't been for the loud bangs, Iris might have never woken up from the best sleep she had ever had in ages. She rubbed her eyes and lifted her head a little to see what was going on. Her head felt heavier than usual. She was still under the back seat of the car it seemed, and it was pitch black outside. Another bang was heard over the rumble of the car engine. Iris clapped her hands on her ears. Her hands felt wobbly. The source of the sound was so close to her.

She sat up slowly, careful not to make a sound. She was getting a very strong sense of the shard. Her vibes grew anxious as they got closer towards it. Iris could see over the driver's shoulder from behind the seat. He wore a black suit, black pants and very dark shades. From the rearview mirror she could see a red dot blinking through his eyes.

There was a gun in his hand, firing shots from outside his window. She did not understand why he kept firing blindly in the dark. Her head throbbed every time a bullet shot past. She saw it ricochet against the back of the car ahead. It shone its dim headlights into her eyes. She could make out two people trying to duck down in fear. Their back window was completely shattered and there was a hint of golden light for a split second. After that, something black crawled out, expanding enough to replace the broken window. Her vibes furiously bombarded inside her at the sense of the shard.

She could feel a strong force tightening itself inside her stomach till she dropped down in pain. Her head hit the carpeted floor of the car with a thud. She curled up into a ball. It was happening and she trembled in fear of it.

"I thought I heard… What the–" The driver looked back at the little girl lying on the floor under the backseats.

Iris gasped hard, feeling hot all of a sudden. Sweat appeared all over her face as she squinted her eyes to focus. Her vision blurred by the second, fading away as if she were going blind. Everything came with a price. She feared the darkness that would take hold if she did not retrieve what was hers. The light.

'Only when you lose sight of things, do you clearly see the unseen,' words echoed inside her head.

"What's a kid doing in my car?" The man at the wheel shouted out furiously.

Iris heard him exhale in frustration. She could feel his angry vibes… she could feel his mind. She breathed out, every breath heavier than the last. Her vibes expanded, making her feel more alive than ever until her eyes went completely dark. She blinked, eyes still open, yet unable to see.

Then she felt it; the force, recoiling inside her stomach, sending a strong pulsation of power throughout her body. It exited her, rushing straight towards the car in front, narrowing down on the person's pocket till it stopped. Something was blocking the shard.

"Hey, kid! Are you sick or… where did you come from? Who're your parents?" The man asked while holding up his gun to shoot at the car ahead some more.

He stuck his arm out through the window when a powerful force knocked the gun out of his hands. Iris heard him curse under his breath and fiddle into his pockets for another gun.

"You ca–" she tried to speak but was cut off by the sudden stab of immense pain in her forehead.

She gripped her hair with all her might, feeling the dirt filled nails cut into her palms. She swallowed back her scream and turned to one side. Iris could hear the man shooting once again. Another series of bangs consistently tore through her ears.

She pictured the second gun twisting out of the man's hand. The image flashed through her mind and she unleashed it without thinking.

There was a loud crack followed by two seconds of silence as the horror slowly unfolded itself. The weapon fell out of the man's hand as he screamed out in agony. Iris's mind was too fogged up to understand why the guy was screaming.

"My hand! D-Damn it! What the hell…" The words escaped his mouth as the car spun around unexpectedly, tires screeching out.

"Too much noise, too much noise…" Iris kept muttering with her hands clapped onto her ears.

The car rotated a full 360 degree before falling into a ditch at the side of the road. The bushes tore out of their roots as it ran over them, jamming straight into a tree.

Silence followed. Iris could hear the drumming of her heart in her ears. Her lips quivered slightly as she tried to steady her breathing. She slowly opened her eyes to a dimly lit car, having recovered her vision. She pulled herself to sit up straight, noticing a faint smoke at the hood of the damaged car.

"Where am I?" she finally spoke.

She tried standing up and bent forward to inspect the unconscious man in the driver's seat. In the orange light of the car, Iris's gaze lingered down to his right hand. Almost immediately, her hand went up to cover her mouth to keep herself from throwing up.

The fingers twisted up badly in an abnormal position with his bones sticking out of the flesh. Blood dripped non-stop. Iris looked away. She hadn't seen anything more gruesome in her eleven years of age.

She tried to recall what she sensed earlier. Someone familiar was in that other car; someone who worked for the same people that kept her prisoner. It was because of that person that she lost her focus.

"Ugh…" The man groaned, holding his head in his better hand.

Iris looked down at him, having almost forgotten he was there. She slowly reached for his shoulder and tapped it. He turned as he finally came around.

"You… you're not hurt are you? How did you get here?" He spoke painfully.

This person's vibes were calm despite the excruciating pain in his hand. He masked it quite well. Iris looked at him with guilt ridden eyes.

"I'm sorry," she finally spoke. The man just looked as confused as ever. "It was my fault. I lost control."

She eyed his injured hand. The man turned back to inspect his wound. She heard him groan as he turned his hand over slowly.

"So this was you, eh. I knew the gun didn't just slip from my hands."

"I can fix it… but it's going to hurt," she offered.

He winced at the disfigured shape of his hand.

"Sure… give it a go. This hand's useless now anyway. Can't get any worse."

He was mumbling to himself. Iris's eyes flickered to the injured hand, a powerful energy lashed out. There was a sudden crack as the bones shifted and clicked back into their place. The man jumped at the sudden jolt of pain up his arm. It all happened too fast for him to react much.

"Huh…" he said, out of breath, "That was fun…"

He lifted his slightly trembling hand. It was still fractured but the bones were in place. It did not look so gruesome anymore and the blood clotted up fast. He grinned back at her with wide gleaming eyes.

"Amazing… you know you've got real talent there," he said. Iris wasn't even sure if he was just oblivious to the pain.

"I'm Edward," he said, "Nice to meet you. You know, with your abilities, I know a place where they would happily welcome you-"

"What will you do right now?" Iris asked, cutting him off as she had had enough of places that sought powers.

"What will I do, huh… That's a good question." He thought for a second before answering, "I was sent here to capture someone who'd gone rogue. But I don't think I'm going to anymore."

"Why is that?"

"Truth is, if he really had gone rogue, he would've killed me already. He's that strong, you see. The strongest, actually."

Edward stuck his head out the window to inspect the damage. The bumper looked to be a little squished from the front. He tried the keys. With a few twists, the engine came back to life, giving the car a little shake.

"What I really need to do right now is to get you home. Now help me out here."

He started the car in reverse, backing out of the pit slowly. It was originally designed to absorb shock of even greater magnitude. The shrubs rustled underneath the weight of the tires. Iris watched as he, very expertly, got them back onto the road. She looked around for the first time after waking up. They were no longer on a dirt road. Instead, she could see another town ahead. It was also where she sensed the last shard.

"If I tell you the way, will you take me there?" Iris hesitated as she spoke.

"Of course. My bosses would kill me if I just left a child in the middle of nowhere."

"Even if it interferes with your work?" she raised her eyebrows in surprise. Edward shook his head.

"Our duties at the nightforce are to protect the people, at any cost." He said it like a true knight… and then, "Plus, I'll have an excuse for why I failed to capture the target. So basically, you'll be helping me."

Iris chuckled a bit on the inside. The outside world did not seem so bad after all. She had only ever seen betrayal and anger. She had no idea people could be so amusing.