Deporting from Hell and Back Again

Raine and Luke

Raine & Luke

"Raine . . ." I say to my sister. We sit in the middle of Rupin's large living room. Raine and I share a couch off the left of the living room, our bags sitting on a chair across from us. The window behind the chair is open slightly, letting gusts of wind blow through every few minutes.

I stare at Raine curiously. She's been sitting next to me with dazed eyes and a lost expression for nearly ten minutes, not making any sound or movement, her face pale as snow. Her arms lay limp at her side, her back rests against the couch. Her long, straight red hair moves slightly as the wind blows through the room but she doesn't pay any attention to it. "Raine, what's wrong?" I ask.

She sits there for another few seconds without responding, but eventually shakes her head and looks at me. The lost expression on her face is gone and the color has returned as well. "You looked like...you saw something. What's wrong? What did you see?"

Raine only has that expression when she sees something that's shocking to her. Something that spooked her, frightened her, or worried her. She hasn't had that look for a long time, her visions are usually unimportant and irrelevant to anything going on at the time.

"It was Rupin again. He was with us, when we found the vampire. He was on the roof of a building right above us, watching. He followed us and . . . Luke, I don't think he has good intentions when it comes to following us to Michigan." Raine says. "It was for all the wrong reasons. Bad reasons."

"What could he possibly do?" I ask.

"Well, I don't think he followed along so he can sing showtunes and play patty-cake, Luke!" Raine says. "Whatever he wants to do, its not good."

I sigh, thinking about what Rupin could possibly have in mind. He's our uncle, what grudges could he hold against us? What could he possibly have planned? Why would he want to follow us? And why would he do that when he knows there's a possibility that Raine could foresee it?

"Do you still want to go?" I ask her. She hesitates when she nods. She looks worried, drowning in nervousness. There was more to her vision that she's not telling me.

"What are you not telling me?" I ask her. She takes in a sharp breath but keeps her eyes locked on mine. I see more emotion flash in her eyes but I can't tell what. "Raine . . ."

She sighs and finally lets it out, "I saw him talking to someone behind him. I could sense that it was someone like him, someone out to . . . spy on us or something. He was wearing a black suit and . . ." She pauses, recalling the vision, "he had short black hair. He was tall and strong . . . who do we know that matches that description?"

Our dad has blond hair, so not him. Our uncle on our mom's side is bald and doesn't own a single suit. Both our grandpas' have gray hair. I shake my head, "We don't know anyone like that. Not so far."

Raine nods slowly. I notice her hands are trembling as she sits up on the couch. "I . . . I don't - I mean, I think we should still go. But - Rupin is capable of so many things, with all the information he has and probably so many contacts that know even more. Is it worth risking it?"

I stare at her for a long time. I never liked the idea of going in the first place, but now that we're really prepared for it, part of me is just itching to go. To find another immortal is a chance we'll probably never get again. "Raine, you need to take a chance. We're not very strong yet, but if we can get that vampire on our side, who knows what he could do? Take the risk, what's the worst that could happen? He's our uncle, Raine. He wouldn't kill us."

Raine's expression tells me she's not convinced. Does she really think he would kill us? After everything? Would he try to kill probably the only wizards on the planet? There's still so much to learn about us. We're not even positive as to why we're wizards, we just got struck by lightening. Granted, we lived through it and woke up with these powers, but there had to be more to it. Rupin wouldn't kill us so soon.

But I have to admit, the feeling was unnerving and so . . . possible. I could shake the feeling that Rupin would kill us if it came to it.

~~~

Rupin came back with the coffee about five minutes after Raine and I were done talking. We've been talking about our plan for how we're going to find the vampire for about ten minutes, and we think we finally have something.

"If you both can combine your powers, you could use your navigation power to hunt him, right?" Rupin asks. Raine and I nod.

"We've done it once before. To look for more immortals in the area. But our navigation can only stretch so wide before it becomes too much." I say. Raine has barely said a word through this whole conversation. "I can combine our powers and set it to search for immortals, yes. Ones with different sense of energy, something inhuman."

Rupin nods. His eyes show that he's fascinated by what we can do, what we've discovered about ourselves. He obviously wants to know more.

"Have you two ever thought that maybe you were like this before the lightning struck?" Rupin asks us. Raine looks up at him with questioning eyes. I don't blame her, it was rather a shocking question.

"We've . . . thought of the possibility." I say.

"That maybe the lightning just . . . perfected it? That it emphasized it?" Rupin offers. "It's a possibility. A scientific possibility . . ." He trails off and sits there in deep thought for a while. I look at Raine and she's staring down at the wooden, square table separating us from Rupin. She looks paranoid and worried as ever. She's probably thinking the same thing I am.

Will we ever be able to trust Rupin again?

"Alright." Rupin says, dismissing the topic of conversation and starting a new one. "When are you guys planning on leaving?"

"Well, we need to go back home and . . . hypnotize our parents into letting us go." I say, giving Raine a look. "Then we'll teleport to where we think the vampire is."

"Did you guys get a location on where Raine foresaw it?" Rupin asks.

I take a breath but look at Rupin confidently. "No, but we know it's somewhere up north. We have a theory that the closer we get the easier it will be for Raine to sense more about her vision." I lie. Rupin looks at me for a while but then nods.

"Well," Rupin looks down at the gold watch on his wrist. "It's two in the afternoon, I suggest you get moving. I'm glad you kids came to me with this and I'm glad I could help."

I nod and Raine manages a smile. "Thanks so much for your help, we'll be back soon to tell you how it goes." I lie again. Chances are, we won't be coming back at all, and apparently we'll be seeing him soon regardless, according to Raine's vision.

Rupin nods and smiles and then motions toward the door. Raine and I grab our bags and head follow him. Rupin opens the door for us and we all step outside. "You kids be careful, and call me if you need anything." He calls after us as we head for my old Volkswagen that used to be our family's old car. I stuff my bags in the backseat after Raine does. Raine quickly gets in passenger seat and I wave and smile to Rupin. He waves back as I slip into the car.

I sigh and look at Raine. She looks a little better now that we're somewhat away from Rupin. "It's go time." I say. Raine nods as I turn on the engine for the car and drive out of Rupin's driveway.

Not once do either of us look back.

Author's Note

I like this chapter a lot, I feel it's more exciting than the previous ones. Tell me what you think.

Reviews

[Jacques]

i think this is my favourite chapter . sorry , i couldn't think of any titles when reading but i think you should stick to Deporting from Hell and Back Again as it's a creative title and it suits the others . i like this chapter because there's progression , story progression and character development which sometimes proves hard when writing but you nailed it . well done .