Set Fire to The Rain -- Completed

Chapter 23

“Set Fire to the Rain”

2011 © All Rights Reserved

Chapter 23

     Hope sat by Liam’s head and held his much larger hand in her smaller one.  He had yet to wake up since they had both been unceremoniously dumped in the van and that was worrying the hell out of her.  Noticing a smudge of dirt on his cheek, she licked at her thumb to wet it and attempted to wipe it clean.

     “Why did you have to try and be a hero,” she sighed, staring down as his closed eyes.  The plan was supposed to be simple.  Joey took her in, she would find a way to help all of the other Lyrics escape and Liam would come in after them.  Easy peasy.

     But sometimes the simplest of things turn out to be the most complicated conundrums.  Now they were both caught and they were both screwed; in more ways than one. 

     As the van drove along in the dead of the night, Hope rested her head up against the metal wall trying to figure out how in the heck they were going to get themselves out of this one.  Liam had warned her how merciless the Secret Service could be and from the small glimpse that she had seen of the real Joey; she didn’t doubt him for one second. 

     Remaining captive was not an option; they had to find a way to escape and they needed to be quick about it.

     Lifting her hand, she touched the cool metallic band of the collar that Joey had snapped around her neck himself and shuddered from the memory.  The look in his eyes literally chilled her to the bone.  In the depth of those glacial  eyes she could see that he thought he had won; he thought that she was going to be his and do his bidding.

     Over my dead body, Hope thought to herself.

     Pushing those thoughts aside, she ran the conversation over in her head several times and recalled Joey mentioning that these collars somehow prevented her from using her powers.  Hope concentrated and made an effort to try out her powers but it was just as he said, there was absolutely nothing.  She couldn’t even feel a flicker of energy.   She was dead in the water.

     But how was it even possible that this flimsy piece of metal could prevent her from tapping into her energy,  she wondered.  There had to be a way to get around it.  From what Liam had explained to her about their kind, she knew that their powers drew off of all sorts of energy, both natural and man made. 

     She furrowed her brows in concentration; trying to recall everything that she could from her physics class last semester and wanted to scream when she couldn’t remember a damn thing.  A whole year worth of classes, reduced to pretty much nothing, nada….zilch.  She slammed her fisted hand down against the floor of the van and audibly groaned.  "Why?" She asked herself.  "Why does everything have to be so messed up?"

     The van came to a stop and Hope stilled, staring at the closed door.  She heard several car doors slam around them followed by some muddled voices. 

     "Hope," Liam squeaked from his position in the floor.

     "Ssh," she warned him, holding her fingers to his lips and listening intently to the conversation going on just outside of the van.  Her frustrations only grew when she couldn't seem to make heads or tails out of what they were saying.