LIGHTNOVELONLINE CHAPTER 12: WE HAVE LITTLE TIME
BELKNAP MOUNTAIN, NEW HAMPSHIRE, TODAY
Before August could answer, the car suddenly started swerving violently all over the road. Everything became chaos for a few seconds as Griffin screamed in fear and Sara’s head knocked painfully against the side of the car. Griffin managed to look out one of the windows and saw that the entire forest around them heaving in literal waves. Trees splintered and cracked, crashing to the ground; dust and rock choked the air; and the road itself rippled in the cataclysmic earthquake. Through it all, the car maneuvered smoothly and expertly.
August himself never moved a millimeter. He just calmly sat there, oblivious to the carnage, swaying with the violent movements of the vehicle. Griffin had no idea how they managed to survive, let alone outpace the earthquake. They had abandoned the road and were roaring through the dark woods, tree branches snapping and clacking against the windows. They were flung to the right as a house-sized boulder slammed into the ground mere feet from where they had been, the car never once losing its momentum. They broke out of the forest unexpectedly. One moment, they were being pressed into the left side of the car as it executed an impossible drifting turn around a grove of trees that had been uprooted and fallen right in front of them, the next they burst out of the treeline and back onto the road, the car’s tires smoking as it began to pour on the speed.
The ride smoothed out as they left the woods where Griffin’s mom’s cabin was. Griffin felt a surge of bitter grief as he thought of his mom being buried under the wreckage of her home. Her empty eye sockets stared into him whenever he closed his eyes, but the world was getting too crazy for him to do anything else. He felt himself start hyperventilating when he felt Sarah’s hand grip his and squeeze. Griffin took a deep, shaky breath, and squeezed her hand back.
August seemed completely unruffled, though the seatbelts had wrinkled his expensive suit jacket and dress shirt. Griffin caught a glimpse of streetlights flashing past the window. The speed of the car seemed to remain ludicrously fast and Griffin still had no idea where they were. The other cars on the road seemed to be parked, they were going so fast. They saw the strobing sirens of police cars and emergency vehicles as they responded to the disaster, barreling down the other side of the road. Panic had gripped everyone but them in their tiny, luxurious car as it drove expertly through it all.
“The death throes of Earth will increase in intensity as the hour draws close. The condition of the roads is deteriorating,” August said, his voice tense. “As I said before, we have very little time.” He held the boxes out to them. Neither Griffin nor Sarah took one.
“There’s an earthquake happening and we just drove through it and survived!” Griffin said quietly, too shaken from what they’d just been through to speak any louder. “What… why? What the hell is going on?”
August Vasilias didn’t answer for a long few moments. Eventually, he said, “I am not used to explaining myself. I do not care if you trust me or if you do not. I have already demonstrated the lengths to which I am willing to go to see that my will is done.”
“Where are you taking us?” Sarah asked, “And what’s in the boxes?”
“Take them.” He continued to hold the boxes out to them but they still made no move to reach out. “Take them now.” He repeated. Before Griffin realized what he was doing, one of the boxes was in his hands and Sarah had the other one.
“What the fuck are you—” Sarah started, her voice rising as she seemed to shake herself free of whatever torpor had settled over them both.
“I’ve had enough of your interruptions, munus,” August growled, leaning forward, his expression unchanged from the same one of intense focus he had worn for most of their conversation, “You should show more gratitude for the one who has saved your lives.” He seemed about to say more, then visibly took control of himself and leaned back, smoothing out the creases in his jacket as he schooled his expression into serenity once more. “We will be traveling by air from here.”
The car turned suddenly and accelerated, swerving around traffic that had stalled outside a turnoff from the road that read, "Pinecrest Executive Airfield." The sleek vehicle glided effortlessly through the chaos, its destination clear.
As they approached the airfield, the outside world seemed to fall away, the calamity they had just witnessed fading into the background. The airfield was eerily quiet, the usual hustle and bustle of planes and personnel conspicuously absent.
August’s car sped down the deserted runway, a stark contrast to the stillness surrounding them. The bright lights of a large hangar at the far end of the airfield came into view, piercing the night. The hangar doors were wide open as if awaiting their arrival.
Griffin watched in stunned silence as they approached the hangar. Inside, the vast space was illuminated by rows of fluorescent lights, revealing a lone aircraft parked in the center. It was unlike any plane Griffin had ever seen, resembling a vessel from a science fiction movie rather than a typical jet.
The car came to a smooth stop inside the hangar. The doors folded open like metallic origami, revealing the extraordinary scene before them.
August got out of the car first, his movements calm and assured. "We have a short flight to get to the Gate. Come. In a few more hours, it will be impossible to fly." Without waiting to see if they followed, he walked over to the plane and climbed in.
Sarah, her emotions a whirlwind of confusion and anger, shoved her box into Griffin’s arms and scrambled out of the car. "Why in the absolute fuck should we go with you?!" she demanded, catching up to August and blocking his path.
August's response was curt and to the point, his patience wearing thin. After his confrontation with Sarah, he stepped around her and ascended the boarding stairs. Pausing in the doorway, he called back with a finality that brooked no argument, "You have one minute to get into the plane or I will take off without you." Then he disappeared into the aircraft.
Griffin, still in a daze, unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out of the car, the strange black lacquered boxes in hand. As he approached Sarah, the ground beneath them began to tremble, a stark reminder of the urgency of their situation. Within moments, the tremble increased in intensity and the entire hangar echoed with the roar of it. The fluorescent lights in the ceiling shattered and showered sparks and glass as the entire hangar rippled with the tremor. Griffin dropped the boxes and clung to Sarah as they both tried to keep their feet. The tremor lasted another few seconds before finally stopping. Without another moment’s hesitation, they both took off toward the plane.
Sarah reached the boarding stairs first and she waited for Griffin as he caught up. She noticed he’d left the boxes behind and shouted, “Get the boxes, Griffin!”
“What?!” he shouted back.
“Get the fucking boxes and get on the plane!” She didn’t look like she was going to move.
Griffin didn’t waste any more time arguing and ran back to the boxes, picking them both up and running back. The ground shook again as he ran, nearly causing him to trip and lose the boxes. If I drop these damn boxes again, he thought, I’m not going back for them. He managed not to break his neck by tripping and a short time later the tremor subsided.