Seven Clues Trilogy: Reflection

Chapter 8: The Help of a Stranger

 "C'mon, Bentley!" The elder brother yelled over the sound of multiple screeching tires. Reaching behind him and snatching his limping brother by the wrist, he yanked and threw Bentley in front of him.

 Bentley grunted in pain but pushed himself to go faster. Car doors slammed behind them. They were trying to reach them on foot now. They must have weapons if they were feeling that confident.

 Bullets whizzed by them, barely missing his arms and torso. He could feel the power and force behind each one as the breeze of the bullets pricked the skin of his arms. Too close.

 "The car's a couple miles away! We're almost there, keep pushing!" The older brother hollered encouragingly. The edge of panic in his voice was unmistakable. After all these years of running, they had never had death knocking on their door.

 Bentley pictured the vehicle he called home clearly in his mind. His brother stole it from someone's front yard years ago after his seventeenth birthday. They had been living in one place long enough for him to obtain a driver's license, grabbed his little brother, and vanished in the night. The ugly dent on the passenger's side from a run in with an old wooden fence was still evident.

 Stampeding footsteps and firearms grew louder as he heard a heavy thud right behind him. He kept running for a few more feet until he realized the two sets of running feet shortened to one.

 Bentley dug his heels into the ground, coming to an abrupt stop, and spun around. His older brother lay with his face to the ground. From the random, bouncing strobes of light that flashed across his body, blood streamed down his temple and onto the dewy, night ground.

 "Jakob!" Bentley shrieked in horror.

 Beams from the flashlights temporarily blinded him as their predators were alerted by his cry of terror.

 A sudden wave of absolute fear and red-hot anger overtook him as he heard them approach. He knew they wouldn't shoot him. They had explicit orders not to. They could do whatever they wanted to his brother, though, and that was where he drew the line.

 "No!" He growled and threw his empty hands in front of him. Before his would-be captors could get close enough to either of them, wild, high flames shot up from the earth and swallowed up everything in its path.

 It grew hotter and wilder, harder to control, as he positioned another attack straight for his attackers. The men lowered their weapons and backed away at the horrible sight.

 Bentley had unleashed a wildfire to surround the men and keep them far away from his brother. The men, fully aware of what was happening and what the sixteen-year-old was capable of, inched closer to the flames, hoping to fight their way through.

 The flames, though, were just as influenced by Bentley's emotions as Bentley was. Infuriated by their attempts to break through his fiery barrier, the flames grew higher and popped. Boiling hot embers sparked from the flames, attacking anyone who dared step any closer.

 Bentley's heart dropped to his stomach at the sound of their mutilating cries as the flames devoured them alive. Jakob would be upset with his carelessness, but that didn't matter now. Jakob had to be alive to lecture him.

 For now, he ignored the death cries of his attackers and slipped his arms under Jakob's back and looped them around his shoulders. He was heavy; heavier than what Bentley was anticipating. The flames would keep them safe. He just had to make it back to the car.

 Bentley ignored the shooting pain in his injured leg as he dragged his brother through the field full of high grass and wildflowers. He just had to make it through the field, back to the old barn they passed, and the car would be parked in the driveway.