Like a corpse to the surface (Pt.12 of Mutants versus Witches)

Why do witches have cars if they can fly broomsticks? Do the broomsticks run out of fuel?

But that question was one of the hundreds in my mind. And not the one I wanted an answer to.

"John, you need to explain!" I shouted over the engine and the sound of the flying rocks.

John's blue eyes were fixed on the dirt path, his hands clenched on the wheel as he forced the car away from trees.

"Explain what?" Elysse asked, her fingers stained red where they pressed into Harry's bleeding arm. The telepath looked dazed, his breath slow and eyes blank.

I felt a burst of guilt looking at him.

"John!" I tore my eyes away, and Devon turned around from the passenger seat, his bloody nose finally done bleeding.

"Let him focus on not killing us, dumbass!" Devon snapped, his face tightening when he saw Harry. "John, he's really, really pale."

John swore in German, then risked a glance behind. "Simin, I've changed my mind, cauterize it."

"You said it could get infected!" Elysse reminded him, her dark hair flying into my face as she looked up.

The car bounced through the air, its wheels gnashing and spitting up rocks. Devon cussed as tree branches whipped cracks into the windshield.

"We're not getting to a hospital in time!" John yelled over the sound. All of us tensed at that; John never raised his voice. Ever.

"Can't you portal us out of here?" I demanded, staring at Elysse.

"I-I can't. I'm out of juice." She cried out, looking frightened. Harry's glazed eyes met mine, and bizarrely the idiot smiled faintly.

"What do I do?" I asked John. I was so furious with both of them, but I couldn't let Harrry die.

"Clean it, take off the bandage and-Scheiße!"

We all yelled out as a rock splintered the windshield.

"Heat up your hand Simin and close the wound. Only the wound, avoid the healthy skin. Not too hot, though. Be very careful!" John met my eyes in the mirror finally. "I'll explain it, I swear."

"What's happening?" Devon asked finally, turning around. "What's so goddamn important it can't wait, Simin?"

I unbuckled my seatbelt and squeezed myself in between the passenger seat and the seat Harry was slumped on.

Elysse was gnawing away on her lip, tears streaming out of her eyes. She held up a bottle of rubbing alcohol with one hand.

"I'm sorry. This might hurt." I told Harry, my hands shaking.

He made no expression. Might hurt? He teased telepathically. At least I'll have a cool scar.

Elysse took her hand off and splashed rubbing alcohol onto Harry's arm. He winced.

"Yeah, real cool scar, that you'll cover up under your ugly-ass sweaters." I laughed at the annoyed look on his face. Elysse spilled rubbing alcohol on my hand.

Devon breathed out with a huff, turning away from us. "If you set this car on fire, Simin, I swear to God-"

"-you'll what? Report me for burning the car we stole from a witch we murdered?" I scoffed, squeezing Harry's hand, and lighting mine on fire.

Harry's big eyes reflected the flames and Elysse whimpered, closing her own eyes.

I waited until after the car completed another bounce through the air and pressed my fingers into the cut.

AAAAH! There was a horrifying telepathic screech in all our heads. I ignored it, gritting my teeth to finish burning the wound closed.

Harry slumped into seat, unconscious. It took me a few minutes of silence to realize the car had stopped.

"What the hell?" Devon whispered. "Did you kill him?"

I stared at the telepath, his chest weakly rising and falling. "No. It's done." My throat caught on a lump, and I turned to John. "Explain, now."

The man I considered a father, the one that had apparently lied to me every time I asked where I got my powers nodded, getting the car moving again.

Elysse dabbed at Harry's cut, placing another bandage over it. The scar was an ugly, devastating thing. Thank god it was covered up.

"Back in your seat, Simin. And seat belt, bitte." John said, and I slid back into it.

"You're not from here." John said suddenly, and everyone who was still conscious in the car turned to him.

"Like, we're not from...North America?" Devon asked, sounding sceptical.

"From this dimension." John replied, knuckles white on the steering wheel.

"What?" Elysse turned to me. "Please say that's some kind of joke?"

"No," I replied, staring at John. "A witch told me, and he knew. Your powers brought us here."

"Wait, wait, what?" Elysse shook her hair out of her eyes. "John, what is she talking about?"

"Someone with the ability to open and close portals transported you here. And replaced the versions of you that lived here." John said, to a stunned silence in the car. "The witches found out, and have been trying to exterminate all of you. They already killed the original portal-maker that brought you here."

"Our powers-" Devon started, his voice hollow. "They come from another dimension."

"It explains a lot doesn't it?" I asked aloud. "We never belonged here."

"You do, Simin." John said firmly. "This is your home. Your only home."

"She can portal us back." I gestured at Elysse, whose brown eyes were wide with shock.

"No, she can't," John replied gravely. "She was never trained, she can't sense the other dimension."

"How do you even know all this?" Devon demanded suddenly, annoying me with his sudden burst of intelligence.

John sighed deeply. "I had a witch for a mother. I had an enhanced ability to sense those from different dimensions, even when they weren't using their powers."

"You're like the people that keep trying to kill us?" Elysse asked softly, looking like she was going to cry.

My powers flared suddenly, and I yelped as my hands began flaming.

"Simin, relax!" Devon yelled, and like ice water had been poured over them, the flames died instantly.

"Did-did you do something?" Elysse asked Devon.

"No." Devon frowned at my hands.

"That's not your only power, is it John?" I stared at him, and John finally looked back at me.

"I can control the abilities of others." John admitted, and finally, everything made sense.

"So you were collecting us?" I asked bitterly. "Why? For power?"

I felt Elysse's hand on my arm. "Simin, he's kept us safe for so long-"

"Why did you lie to us for so long?" Devon's hands were curled into fists.

"Because I wanted to do this when you were ready." John said calmly, steering out of the way of a large boulder. "I wanted to keep you safe, that's all."

"How can we believe that?" Devon asked angrily. "You should've told us everything!"

"We wouldn't have believed him before!" Elysse snapped at Devon, glaring at him.

The sight of her getting upset with the boy she loved shook me out of it.

"You didn't trust us." My voice came out sad when I wanted it to be accusing.

"I trust you," John said simply. "It's a matter of whether you trust me now."

I looked away, knowing I'd end up just believing in him again. John was the only parent I'd had for years.

The engine sputtered madly just then, and the car skidded to a halt.

"Oh, aces!" I declared, jumping out of the car. "This is exactly what we needed."

"Can you shut up?" Devon slammed the door as he too got out. He marched over to the front and popped open the hood.

"Have you been taking night classes on automotives while we've been running for our lives?" I crossed my arms smugly when Devon glared at me. "No? Then what's the plan?"

"I know more about cars than you do." Devon looked down and frowned. "Shit."

I frowned. "What? What is it?"

Devon looked up blankly. "There's no engine."

"Well obviously!" I threw my arms out, turning around the front to peer into the empty hood. "It's a witchy car! Probably for morons like you, that couldn't fly a broomstick!"

"Would you shut up? It behaved like a normal car, you could hear a goddamn engine!" Devon pointed out, and I floundered at that.

"Well maybe-"

"What? What? The magic pixie dust makes the vroom vroom sound?" Devon sneered, crossing his arms.

"Children, please! Is this the time or the place?" John asked exasperatedly and I almost fell into our old routine.

Then I remembered that I was supposed to be betrayed right now. "Tell him the car was magical!"

"Simin, it was a normal highlander." John made a face, also walking over. He stared into the empty place where I knew wires and boxes of some kind were supposed to be.

"The car's magical?" Elysse yelled out the window. My face heated up.

"No, Simin's just stupid," Devon replied, casting me an irritated look.

I rolled my eyes, wondering if shock and trauma were making me act so dumb today.

"So where'd the engine go?" I asked tiredly, rubbing my eyes. "Harry needs an actual hospital, John."

When John looked up, his blue eyes were dark. "Someone's messing with us."

An eerie sensation made me turn to stare into the dark trees. Fresh adrenaline poured into my veins, and I wiped sweat off my face. "Devon, are you back to full capacity?"

"No." Devon sighed, his eyes roving from tree to tree. "You?"

"I'm almost out." My fingers dug into my palms. "What about you, Elysse?"

"Elysse?" When she didn't answer, I stared into the car. "Uh, Elysse and Harry are gone."

"What?" Devon ran over, to peer into our now empty car. I hit his shoulder.

"Gone means gone, moron." I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. It didn't work. I turned around.

"John?" I asked, panic creeping into my voice.

"They're still close," John murmured, his eyes closed. "I can sense them." He slammed the hood closed, making both of us jump. "Protect each other. I'll draw her out."

Devon and I exchanged glances, and I saw the sweat beading onto his upper lip.

John held out a hand and tugged.

A witch stepped out of the trees. Her lips were stretched in the creepy, long smile all witches wore. Her dress was a tattered, gothic thing.

Terror made goosebumps rise all over my arms.

"Give the children back." John said firmly. "And I won't hurt you."

The witch tilted her head. "Why would I give up my dinner?" She asked in a hoarse voice.

And charged.

Immediately, I used my flames to block her path.

The witch hissed, her long tongue hanging out of her mouth.

She dodged the stone Devon telekinetically hurled at her, and pressed her grey fingers into the earth.

Roots erupted out of the ground and wiggled their way close to us.

"Simin, save your flames and go find them!" John ordered, twisting his hands, and I watched the roots snap.

"Why do you always get the easy bit?" Devon complained, staring at the witch's grin of sharp teeth.

"Give her hell!" I told Devon, and ran off into the trees.

Roots swarmed me, and I rolled, forcing my aching body to dodge and duck. The flames begged for release, swimming through my skin.

"Not yet!" I used a branch to smack some reaching roots away, and then followed them.

Elysse and Harry should be where the roots started. Right?

The roots rolled and clawed out for me as I ran by them, forcing me to leap onto branches.

"Ow!" I felt a sharp pain lance up my arm as a root scraped by me. Swearing, I sprinted into a clearing.

The roots were rolling over each here, and in the middle of it all: Harry and Elysse.

I shook my head. "Nice going, you two! Ellie, what's your excuse? Huh? Got beat by some plants?"

"If you and Devon hadn't been arguing over cars maybe you would've seen us get kidnapped!" Elysse shouted, straining against the tree roots that had her trapped.

Harry smiled faintly at me, watching me doing battle with roots and not raising a single finger to help.

"Did you drug him?" I yelled at Elysse, burning a few roots away. It was a very anticlimactic fight, as the roots didn't recoil, screaming in agony.

Silently, they dropped away, only to be replaced by new ones, ripping their way out of the earth.

"Only tylenol!" Elysse blushed, "Harry, stop acting like I gave you heroin. Ah, it's the blood loss!"

"Stick to that story, maybe the court will believe you." I laughed, burning more roots. "Okay, I'm out of ideas, and running out of fuel."

"Just set the forest on fire!" Harry cried out weakly.

I raised an eyebrow at him, skipping to avoid a sweeping tree branch. Another one slapped me across the face, and I blinked away the pain, trying to catch my breath on the ground.

"That looked like it hurt," Elysse's voice cut through the ringing in my ears.

"My arm hurts," Harry grumbled unhelpfully. "She's taking it easy, and I'm dying over here."

"Harry!" Elysse giggled madly, giving me the impression that she'd also been hitting the Tylenol.

A root curled around my ankle and started pulling me across the ground.

"Fine!" I breathed out dirt and spat out blood. "You guys might get burnt."

"Never stopped you before!" Harry retorted, making Elysse laugh.

"Remind me never to save your life!" I snapped but pressed my hands into the ground. Waves of fire erupted, eating away greedily at the plants, the grass, the branches.

I heard a demonic shriek in the distance. "Is that Devon?"

"Don't be mean!" Elysse scolded.

I blew out fire this time, irritated that they were still stuck. The flames spread viciously, snapping and raging all around us.

"Stop barbequing us!" Elysse screamed, but the roots cracked, letting her out.

I ran over to them, slinging Harry's other arm over my shoulder. Both of us helped him limp away.

"You know what would've helped?" I asked coldly as we turned our backs on the fire.

Harry slowly opened his eyes, shrugging.

"Scissors?" Elysse frowned. "A bucket of water? Herbicide?"

"If you two did anything but sit there!" I rolled my eyes, ignoring all her suggestions. Elysse maturely shook her head, choosing not to answer.

I'm injured. Harry's unhelpful powers beamed into my mind.

"I'm glad you're feeling better." I told him, still not over the fact that he lied to me too.

"I'm sorry." Harry said, staring at me until I finally gave in.

"I know. It's all...different now." I felt a chill inside my bones. Empty.

"It's not different." Elysse determinedly dragged us both forward. "We're the same, we just know more now. Don't let this affect you, Simin."

I looked away, feeling the truth eating away inside me. I think it already has.

Harry squeezed my hand.

"So we have no engine, but the witch is dead." Devon was sitting on the grass, looking tired and exhausted as we stumbled out.

John checked up on Harry immediately, examining the burn.

"Some good news?" Elysse held out her glowing hands. "I have some of my powers back."

"You're the best." Devon groaned, standing up. Harry and I shared amused looks as Elysse blushed.

I realized that I wished I'd never known this. Any of it, as we entered the portal.

We'd be somewhere else, but I don't think I'll ever be home.