Read Run To Earth (Power of Four) for Free Online Page B

celebrate his fourteenth birthday.
    ***
    “I don’t know about this.”
    “Why?”
    “I don’t feel comfortable.”
    “Why not?”
    Aaron turned his head to glare angrily at the older boy, squinting in the bright sunlight. “Because it’s not me!”
    The green-eyed boy chuckled. “It is you,” he said, casually propping himself next to Aaron against the low wall. “It’s a part of who you are. Deep down, you know that.”
    Aaron shook his head, vehemently denying it. “ This is not me!” Aaron held out his hand, which was clutched around the foreign object.
    The other boy’s vivid green eyes gleamed in amusement. “Deny it all you want,” he said, “but when it comes down to it, this ,” he pointed to the thing in Aaron’s hand, “is in your blood. It’s who you are. Why you were created.” He smirked at Aaron. “Fighting it will only tire you. Fight with it and it’ll bring you nothing but success.”
    Aaron looked down at his hand. “The only thing this brings is death,” he said miserably, watching the sunlight gleam off the silver gun in his hand.
    Aaron’s eyes snapped open.
    The gentle thrum of the engine and faint jostling motion told Aaron he was still in his dad’s car. He sat up, lifting his head away from the side of the door where it had lolled while he slept. He rubbed a hand over his neck to soothe the crick, and shifted in his seat, easing the stiffness in his sore body. Sam was asleep; Rose looked like she wasn’t far from it herself.
    Aaron settled back in his seat, thinking about the dream. The same boy, the same sharp green eyes, the same overwhelming familiarity...but this time it was a different setting and a different conversation. His heart skipped a beat at the recollection of the gun in his hand. It had felt so real. So much so that he could still sense its metallic weight in his hand, feel its smoothness in his fingers. He shuddered, clenching both hands into fists. In an effort to distract himself, Aaron looked out of his window, taking in the scenery.
    The road had changed into a narrow, twisting, one-lane road; mountains lay on one side, a steep fall on the other. It made Aaron nervous so he closed his eyes. He had always hated steep hills and jagged cliffs. He remembered his parents driving him to Fort William when he was younger and he had cried throughout the journey. He had been certain the car was going to slip off the narrow road. He had no idea if Fort William was their destination now, but the road seemed the same. He kept his eyes closed, hoping they would reach a main road soon.
    It was the sound of Rose’s terrified scream that made him open his eyes. Fear bubbled inside him so fiercely that he momentarily couldn’t find his breath to cry out. His dad must have fallen asleep at the wheel because they were about to drive off the road.
    “Dad!” Aaron shouted, banging a hand against the mesh to wake him up.
    Too late.
    The car smashed through the road barrier and went careening into the air. Screams filled the car and Aaron jolted out of his seat. The car kept going, the momentum carrying it further into the air. Just as the car began taking a nosedive to the rocky cliffs below, it began shuddering. Aaron was violently thrown forward, his seatbelt the only thing that saved him from smashing face first into the metal mesh.
    “Hold on!” His mum’s voice was faint against the screams.
    A blinding white light, as quick as a bolt of lightening, passed over them. For a heartbeat it seemed like a shimmering, transparent bubble had encased the car. A wave of heat, more intense than anything Aaron had ever experienced, washed over them. It was gone just as quickly as it came but it left him drenched in sweat, his clothes sticking to him, his hair plastered to his head. The car hit the ground, slamming against concrete before coming to a screeching halt.
    Aaron was breathing hard, his eyes wide with fear and shock. He turned to look at Sam and Rose. They looked