Crimson by Ben Wise Page B

you and everybody else out of here.”
    Already, people in the club are panicking, looking to get out. Word spread quickly of what happened outside. I’m pulled firmly back, deeper into the club.
    “What do we do? Are we trapped in here?” I ask, scared. Right now, I couldn’t feel more alone.
    “You don’t think a den of thieves would have a few escape routes available?” She says, guiding me through the chaos and towards the bar. Everyone else appears to be trying to head in the other direction. As we push past the crowd a hand reaches out and grabs me by the wrist, holding me firmly. A hood covers the man’s head making it difficult to see who is holding me.
    The lights shifts momentarily and I get a flash of a middle aged man with greying hair and a longish beard. I reach for my knife as panic sets in. The room dims as time freezes.
     “You are a long way from home, Nem,” he says looking past me.
    I feel a wave of heat spread through my head and it feels like my sinuses are about to explode.
    My lips move, out of my control. A voice, my own, responds to him, “We both are.”
    “Will you watch over mine as you look over your own?” he says.
    “There will be no songs sung for her any time soon. Thank you,” my voice says.
    He lifts is head up to look at me. Although it’s difficult to see his face under the hood I can see that the right side of his face is heavily bandaged. One eye stares through me.
    “And to you little one, while I cannot help you find your sister, but I can offer you this: Do not think that you are alone in your fight. Forces are aligning to even the balance even as those who work against you seek to grow their power.”
    He tilts his head to look past me at my guardian. “Take care of her, Allison. And deal with that fool you’ve been working with before he hurts somebody.”
     “Of course,” she responds with a cocky chuckle. She takes me by the arm. “Come on, we need to get out of here.”
    Light comes rushing back into the room as time unfreezes. The man disappears, in a blink, as if he was never there. What the hell? Something just happened here and I don’t have a clue what it was.
    “Sorry about taking over like that,” Nem says, her voice reverberating through my head. “It would appear that you’ve just gained a very powerful ally.”
    “How did he disappear like that? He was just here…” I ask confused.
    Nem answers, “What makes you think he was ever here?”
    “Come on,” Allison says, with more urgency, “we really need to get out of here.”
    She pushes me towards a door behind the bar area. It seems to be the least busy of the exits people are trying to squeeze through.
    Caitlin runs up to us, screaming, “Where’s my sister?”
    She stands in front of me, eyes red, violently shaking me while screaming it again and again.
    Logan follows casually behind her. He looks at me in disgust and says, “You should be thankful I don’t have you killed for this. Caitlin, Allison, leave her before she gets us all killed. We need to get out of this place.”
    Allison steps towards him. Her fist hits him in the face with a resounding crack; he collapses to the floor, on one knee stunned. “Be thankful I don’t just kill you now.” She says, coldly.
    Blood flows willingly from his nose. His attempt to stand up is shaky at best.
    “You’ve just signed your own death warrant for that,” he spits from his knees.
    Allison holds a hand, palm out towards him and with a telekinetically charged thump of air, pushes him over again.
    “Stop!” The man cries out, struggling to his hands and knees again.
    Allison scowls in disgust, then takes another step towards him and kicks him in the ribs, hard. The sound echoes through the now emptying room. He curls up on the floor, winded.
    “Do you think you’ll be able to track your sister?” She asks Caitlin.
    She nods her head rapidly in affirmation, eyes wide. “I didn’t think of that.”
    “Then let’s get out