Page 93 of Morning's Light

CHAPTER 21

It had taken a long time to wind their way out of the cavern and down the mountainside. They walked through the woods with eyes kept forward and unease tickling the backs of their necks. The two eldest sisters had no reckoning of where they were or where they were headed.

Karsia lifted her head and sniffed the air, tantalized by the underlying layer of rot beneath it all. The scents of darkness and decay were a feast for her senses.

Astix tripped over some underbrush and fell unceremoniously into Aisanna. The two stumbled and Aisanna went down on her knees in the dirt, crying out when her broken arm slammed into the ground. She’d used the last of her big magic to help her sister. With her batteries running on empty, and no food to help ground her, she didn’t have the capability to heal herself.

“Karsia, we’re lost,” Aisanna muttered through grinding teeth.

“We’re not lost. Trust me. When you two blathering hens are ready to shut up and follow me without the fucking chatter, then maybe we’ll get where we’re going. Otherwise, stay here for all I care.”

They trailed behind her without further complaint. Eventually they came to the edge of the forest and found themselves on a lonely country road.

“Now what?” Astix said.

“This way,” Karsia told the others and kept walking.

“How do you know?” Aisanna asked.

“Life, stupid. I can smell it. Blood and sweat and humanity.”

They ignored Karsia’s unconventional response and continued their trek, finding the going a little easier on the road, even in the near-darkness. Dense hardwood began to give way to sparser saplings, interspersed with bare fields they knew would be green with the coming of spring. Soon a distant glow of light promised civilization. Karsia marched ahead of them like a general ready for battle.

“How did you know this was the way to come?” Astix wanted to know. “We were in the middle of nowhere.”

“I just did. Now, are you going to stop complaining and get down there so we can find a ride? Or do I need to leave you in the woods for the animals to eat?”

Aisanna picked up the pace. “No, we’re coming.”

Eventually, they made it to the town, a place rife with life and energy during the day but sleepy and quiet now.

“Gladstone,” Aisanna read from a sign. “We’re in Gladstone. Where the hell is that?”

“Michigan,” Karsia told them tersely.

“Michigan! How do you know?”

“Same way I knew where the town was in the first place. Don’t ask questions if you’re not prepared for the answers.”

Aisanna must have sensed she wasn’t making headway. Good, Karsia thought. It gave her some relief from their pitiful emotions. To her, they were toddlers, paddling timidly across the kiddie pool. Never diving beneath the surface. Never taking risks.

It was pitiful.

They walked on the side of the road though only a car or two passed them. Given the late hour, it was surprising to see anyone out. Ahead, the small town gleamed under rows of street lamps, quaint buildings centered around a neat downtown square.

Karsia swiveled to the left, pointing ahead to a parking lot. “This way.”

Without anywhere better to go, they followed her. She stopped beside a beat-up Chevy pickup truck with mud-splattered tires and fenders, then let her fist spring back and release, easily punching a hole through the glass of the driver’s side window.

“What the hell are you doing?” Astix hissed over the sound of broken glass.

“We need to get home. We need a vehicle.” Karsia hoisted herself up and unlocked the door from the inside. The truck was old and worn down, no need for an alarm to blare and alert the police of their involvement. The owner probably thought just locking the doors was enough. Who would steal it? “This should be easy.”

Karsia yanked open the flooring near the floorboard to reveal a tangle of wires. Selecting two, she stripped them with her teeth and touched them together. The engine started immediately.

“So, are you two going to get in or not?” Karsia slid behind the wheel and closed the door, then she reached over and unlocked the passenger side door.

“You’re really stealing this truck?” Aisanna asked, shocked. “Seriously?”

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