Warlock

Jailbreak No.1

~Author's Note~

I know the chapter lengths vary a lot. Lo siento. The next one will be longer, I promise. 

XOXO - Taborix

While snow's brother had replaced it as king of the sky, it remained in the spirit of the cold. The rain ran down in sheets, each one as icy as the last. It was the perfect temperature to create a cloud of smoke if he put up a shield of warmth, though he at least had an umbrella to keep himself dry. The breakout would not be the delightful experience Skye wanted.

The naiad stepped under the umbrella and leaned over Loch to avoid hitting the umbrella with his head. It was a bit too close, but it at least made Loch make up his mind on whether to drive or not. They took the Camaro down the nearly empty streets until they were within a block of the building, then Loch parked it in an alleyway. It was technically illegal, but he hid it from view with a quick spell. He really hoped the humans did not advance too far; he enjoyed breaking their laws too much.

The building looked just as they had left it: soggy and old with unusually dark windows. Loch sent another mental message to the unfortunate Others waiting below: 'We're here. Get ready to run when the wall opens up.' He closed his eyes and let his mind wander through the building's security system. A button press here, a camera off there, and everything was ready. One more thing. Loch turned to Skye. "Don't make a sound. We need to stay calm if we're going to keep the others calm. Alright?"

Skye nodded and locked his lips with his fingers and a smile. Loch turned and watched the rain bounce off the pavement. A sudden sinkhole would already be suspicious, so he did not see any harm in making the rain stop with a quick umbrella effect. The rain suddenly ceased to exist on their street, and then the ground collapsed. Steps formed down into the basement, and an opening carved itself through the side of the building. Without rain, there would be no mud for the escapees to create tracks all over the city.

Slowly at first, then all at once, thin and pale Others ran through the hole, up the soil stairs, and into the open air of the city. They skipped for joy, then jumped back in fear as the ground closed up behind them. The wall resealed, the steps returned to their natural state as free soil, and the street solidified once again. Then the rain returned, and the escapees cowered in the cold.

Loch whispered to Skye, "I told you it wouldn't be interesting." Everything became too easy, and therefore much less interesting, long ago. He stepped toward the Others and raised his voice just enough so that they could hear him. "You're invisible for now, but try to stay somewhat quiet. Do the Hancocks know where you lived?" Unfortunately, most of them nodded. Loch turned to Skye. "Do your folks have a safe house for Others who need to hide from humans?"

Skye nodded, but frowned. "It's several miles away, and a bus would be too conspicuous."

He had not thought this part through as much as he would have liked, but he did have a backup plan. It was his least favorite part of the plan, but it would work. Loch turned to the waiting crowd. "Follow us." He led the way to the Camaro, then took the transport relic from the front seat cup holder. "Alright. This is going to sound silly, but everyone hold hands or grab on to part of someone. This will feel a bit strange. Is everyone ready?" He hoped Skye could get them all to the safe house within at least a day.

Home sweet home. The other relic was in his apartment, as always, so the soaking, starving Others were all in his apartment as well. They looked around in shock, and let him herd them out of the small space like sheep. "Alright. Each of those doors leads to an apartment. The furniture is old, but I'll update it as soon as I get my car back. Okay? Great." Loch saw Skye smile and stopped before using the relic again. "Do you think you could explain how the safe house thing is going to work? Make sure they know not to mention me or my house."

Skye grinned, overjoyed to be useful in their brief escape plan. "Got it. See you in a few." He gave Loch another shocking kiss on the cheek, then he was back in the rainy world again.

The drive back through the city felt like ten hours, but it was really only ten minutes. Traffic did not clutter the streets when the skies were dark and murderers haunted every corner, though traffic did clutter his preoccupied mind. Loch only remembered to remove the invisibility spell from the car and the escapees as he pulled into his spot behind the building.

Then, with a tap of the transport relic, he was back in his apartment. A brush of his hands sent the water in his clothes and on the floor out the window, and everything was back to the way it was supposed to be. Except Skye was sitting on the sofa.

"How old is the furniture in the other rooms?"

"Very."

"So I should probably get some new stuff. Don't get all high and mighty about stealing. This is for a good cause, albeit one I don't care much about." Skye threw his hands up in the air in response, still smiling his insufferable smile.

One by one, he updated the rooms he had never looked in before. They were coated in dust, and when the grey material lifted itself up and flew out the window like a phantom come to life his audience of Others clapped with amazement. Even the warlocks were amazed. Perhaps his magic was only boring to himself. If strangers enjoyed it, he could not imagine how much Skye liked it. The thought added a slight skip to his step as he proceeded to flick old furniture into new, borrowing the updated items from stores he had visited in the past, and he scared the raindrops out of the escapees' soaked clothes. The entire process took no more than five minutes.

Skye waited for him in the doorway of the final room as Loch stepped back into the hallway. "Before you ask, yes I told them not to mention you, yes I told them not to mention the house, and yes I told them to watch out for the broken stairs." Loch had not thought to warn them about the last part. It was probably a good idea; normal Others could not heal themselves after a long fall. Even the warlocks were clearly too weak to do much, given their response to his simplest tricks.

"Thank you." He had never realized how wonderful it was to have someone to talk for him. Long silences and hibernations were his forte, not the spoken word. As they walked back to the final room in the line, Loch debated what to do next. The easy part was over with, but they still had to get food for thirty starving people and get them to the safe house to tell their story to the leaders of the Others. On top of it all, thirty Others had to find a way to explain the whole adventure without describing their escape. The relics Skye gave to his uncle were easy to excuse, but it was going to be difficult to explain this one.