Midnight Run

Close Call

They had been driving through the country for ten hours over the course of the past 24 hours. The fisherman was planning on leaving at six and they were a couple hours away from the border. Kit glanced nervously at the clock which displayed the time 4:00 PM. They had stopped once to get some more gas and use the restroom, but Skye had become tense, sniffing the air and looking around wildly before ushering Kit in the car and speeding off. Kit glanced behind her, out the back window.

"Wolves?" Kit squeaked as the anxiety started eating at her. Skye gave a curt nod of her head as she glanced in the rearview mirror, smashing her foot on the gas pedal. Kit stared out the back window again as Skye slammed on the brakes, the car screeching to a halt. Kit gasped as she held the door handle and the seatbelt strained against her chest and stomach. As the car came to a stop, Kit looked out the windshield to see about a dozen men and women standing in the road forming a line across the street and blocking their path. Kit stared in horror as Skye gnawed on the side of her cheek, deep in thought. Skye revved the engine as a warning to the group of people blocking their path.

"Kitina, can you do a shielding spell?" Skye asked calmly. Kit looked at her mom with eyes as big as saucers as she started hyperventilating.

"What?!" She panted, as she habitually reached up and twirled her necklace in her hand. Skye had f*******n Kit from doing magic her whole life because other witches would be able to sense it. There were times that Kit's emotions would get the better of her and she would accidentally catch something on fire or make something explode, but she had never been able to conjure up magic on purpose, and she certainly didn't know any spells.

"Dig down deep within yourself and will yourself to shield our car." Skye instructed in her same calm voice she had used before. "Take a deep breath and calm your breathing." She added, as she stared intently at the people in the road. A woman started walking slowly towards Kit's side of the car while a man started making his way towards Skye's door. Skye growled, a low, dangerous growl from deep down in her chest as the two people continued closing in on them. Her hands gripped the steering wheel as she revved the engine yet again. Kit closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths. She kept her eyes closed and tried to focus on creating a shield of protection around the car. She had absolutely no clue what she was doing, but a voice spoke to her, in her head. It was a woman's voice; one she had heard a couple of times before.

"Focus, Kit." The voice encouraged in her head. Kit took another deep breath and slowly exhaled as she willed her power to come forth. "This is going to take a lot of your energy and the amount of focus you need will cause you pain." The voice informed Kit. "But you can do this." Just as the man made his way to Skye's door, Skye opened the door using her werewolf strength, quickly catching him in the stomach. The man stumbled backwards but was otherwise unharmed as he advanced on Skye again, the others following his lead. Kit's face contorted in pain as she pushed herself to put up a magical shield, her necklace clasped tightly in her hand. One of the women jumped towards the windshield and just as she was about to punch a hole through the glass, she was thrown back by some unseen force. Skye looked quickly over at Kit who had her eyes tightly shut, mumbling under her breath. Skye stomped on the gas and sped through the throng of werewolves as they bounced off the shield, leaving the car untouched. Skye looked in her rearview mirror and let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

"They're gone." She breathed, looking over at Kit. "You did it, Kit." She smiled. Kit opened her eyes slowly and smiled weakly back at her mom before slumping forward. Skye put her right hand out to catch Kit's head before it collided with the dash and gently laid her head back against the seat. Skye could hear Kit's breathing, so she didn't panic too much, but she did feel a pang of guilt at the fact that she had made Kit exert all that energy doing magic when she had always told Kit not to do magic before. The amount of energy she used to put up a shield made her pass out. Skye continued racing through Columbia, her destination less than 15 minutes away.