Chapter 26: Oni Tomodachi

My eyes shot open and I looked around. Skai flinched beside me, but quickly recovered and hugged me. My shoulder felt wet and I could see him shaking. "Don't ever do that to me ever again." He whispered. "It's bad enough that Mom didn't want me. I don't want to lose the only family member that cares for me." I was confused by that. What did he mean by 'mom didn't want me?'

"Are you nuts?!" Crimson yelled. "You were the one that was afraid to get caught by him, and now you wanna to go there?!" She took a sharp turn and took us into the city. I groaned when Skai grabbed my shoulder for support.

"We have to, Crimson! It's our only chance to save everyone!" Vanitas argued. He stuck his neck out the window. "Hey Ash! Nico! How many more vehicles do we have tailing us?"

"Six and more coming!" I heard lightning strike behind us. I turned to see one car lit on fire. The car swerved to the side. "Watch it Crimson! You're gonna get us killed!"

"Shut it! I'm trying to drive here!"

"Is this a normal day for you?" Keith asked Vanitas as we sped across Sonora's streets.

"No. The assassins usually try to kill us on Saturday." He glared at him.

"Is that sarcasm?" I bounced in the vehicle as Crimson gained more speed.

"Yes, you idiot. Now stop talking and help us get rid of these guys."

I thought about it for a second before glancing at my brother. "Skai, see if you make the road covered in ice to stop the cars." He thought about it. He stuck both his hands outside and started making snow, before turning it into blocks of ice. I could hear the cars behind us skidding and crashing into each other.

Eli laughed. "Alright Skai!" Skai's eyes gleamed with joy and pride at the praise he was given. "You should learn from each other! We can have two icebergs now!" His joy was immediately exchanged with a look of disappointment along with mine.

"Really, Eli?" I asked. "Will you get rid of the nickname?" Crimson drove on to the cliffside.

"Not gonna happen, Onion." I growled at him. Skai smiled at me.

"Alright," Vanitas sighed, and relaxed after what seemed like a long time. "Now, lets make our way to the airport to-" He was interrupted by Ash's yelling.

"Grenade!" Shortly after, we felt a hit on the back of our car. Crimson skidded across the road, bumping into the edge every now and then. I heard another explosion above us, before seeing Ash and Nico fall from the hood of our vehicle.

Luckily for me, Ash landed her elbow right onto my bullet wound. Nico crashed his knee on Vanitas's wounded leg. Sholto and Crimson were arguing for control over the wheel. Jay, Mune and Lina were screaming behind me in terror. Skai was trying to help freeze the wound again before I fell unconscious from blood loss. Keith and Eli looked like they were gonna regurgitate what they had for dinner earlier. All- in- all, we were doing great so far.

Another bomb was thrown at us, this time at one of the tires. Crimson lost control of the car and broke the barrier. As we descended down the cliff, I felt someone grab me and pull me out the car. I glanced and saw Vanitas holding onto me, who was holding onto the others at the edge. Turns out Jay managed to get out and grab the end of the metal barrier, and grabbed anyone else that jumped out of the vehicle.

Skai clung to my leg as the others pulled us up. "Where's Crimson?" Vanitas asked us. Skai looked at the crashed vehicle and pointed at it.

"Over there," His eyes kept moving and looking all over the vehicle. I could see his pupils dilate as he did. "She's alive, but she can't get out." He looked at him.

Eli clamped his mouth immediately. He pointed at his chin behind me. He mouthed, Keep quiet. I glanced behind me to see Yuuto standing at the crash site. The stitches on the left side of his mouth were open. I could see a row of his teeth, with many of them covered in blood. He barely took note of the vehicle hanging off a tree and looked at one of the advanced fighters.

"Search the area. Don't bother to call me unless you have their heads." He looked around for his car. He stopped and stared in my direction, before walking away.

"He can't see us," Zane told me. His eyes were a deep red, sclera and all. "You're going to have to get Crimson and Keith without being noticed by those fighters."

"I'll do it," Eli looked at the bottom with determination. "It's dark, and the water's high, so it'll be easier for me to slide the car off of the tree and onto the shoreline."

Vanitas nodded. "Nico, see if you can distract them with your lightning." He scanned the area around him. "Try over there. You'll get a better chance at coming back before they find you." He didn't give it second thought and flew there. The winged boy ducked immediately and hid from the fighters.

"I don't like this idea," Mune watched as everyone got into their positions. "Not one bit." Eli carefully rose the water to the tree. A few snaps could be heard from the branches.

"Yeah, but I can't think of anything else at the moment." Thunder could be heard in the distance. Vanitas glanced at the soldiers surrounding us. "Advanced fighters are soldiers that are taken at a young age, and trained to search and eliminate targets at swift paces. They usually act as backup for us. If Yuuto's asking them to find us, we have to be careful about our decisions."

"But what if we convinced them to help us?" Lina asked. "You know, they help us get out of here, we help them escape Yuuto?"

Zane scoffed. "Yeah right. These guys would do anything to capture us. The elites may be the most powerful people in the organization, but that doesn't mean they're the most liked." The water reached up to the tree, and slowly began to take the van. "Most people here were taken and put through a hell of torture by yours truly for at least three years once classified," he pointed his thumb at Vanitas. "The best ones are our bounty hunters, with training of around eight years or so." Lighting struck in the distance.

"Wait a second-" Jay intervened. "So you're saying we're doomed to die?" Sholto rolled his eyes.

"No, he's saying they are dangerous. If they find us, they will kill us and make sure it is slow and painful enough for their pleasure."

The lightning started to become more frequent, as well as more targeted at the fighters. One of them yelled to look around to find the culprit and kill them immediately. With more than half of them searching for our friend, Eli managed to place the van back on the road. Crimson quietly motioned us to get in. "One at a time, though." She warned. "We can't let them catch us."

We let my friends and family go first, since they weren't the most threatened amongst us. Then, everyone but Vanitas got into the vehicle. He signaled Nico to come in and closed the door.

"Now!" Crimson started the van and drove as fast as she could. The advanced fighters barely understood what was going on before we managed to reach the city again. The sound of shooting could be heard in the distance as Crimson sped through the streets again.

"Take us to the nearest airport immediately!" Ash ordered. The back window broke as bullets flew inside. We all ducked while Zane tried creating a barrier to stop them. Lina was screaming while holding onto Jay. Jay clung on Mune and screamed along with her. Mune looked like he was going to punch Jay after praying for our survival.

One of the bullets hit Zane, and he fell. Keith in his absence burned the road behind us. Seemed a bit dramatic for a bullet wound, but who am I to judge? Crimson skidded across the road and drove over many bumpy paths before reaching the airport. "Everybody out, now!" She yelled.

We obliged, and jumped out of the damaged vehicle. Eli took us to the nearest plane and grabbed a nearby staircase. "Climb on. I'll get you guys up there as soon as possible." The van we miraculously drove in exploded behind us.

Crimson jogged up to us. "Hurry up, they could catch up to us any minute now." Everyone followed without hesitation up the staircase while Eli pushed it up to the plane. Once we reached the door, Vanitas broke the door and headed towards the cockpit.

"Nico!" He yelled. "Get over here I need your help flying this thing!" I could hear cars coming near. The PA speaker turned on, along with the lights. "Sit wherever you want and don't complain about it after we've reached the sky, got it?" Vanitas spoke in a hurry. The familiar sound of gunshots could be heard again outside.

"These guys don't give up, do they?" Mune murmured. I fell back on the floor and screamed in pain. I could feel my wound reopening again. Things didn't look any better for me when we started going up. Screams could be heard from both my friends and the soldiers outside.

"Oni!" Skai tried to grab me, but then the plane turned sharply.

"Hold on!�� Nico screamed through the speakers. I hit my head hard on one of the seats and passed out from blood loss and exhaustion.