So, I've decided that since there aren't very many good Race to Witch Mountain stories... I decided I'd write one (:. Mostly because I fell in love with Alex/Seth; haha. So... Enjoy (:. *Pictures of Sydley will be put on my profile... when I get around to it... :D*
Disclaimer : I do NOT own Race to Witch Mountain. Only Sydley. But I'd give my left shoe to own Alexander Ludwig :D.
The alarm was so loud in my ear. I heard Jack groan as he got out of his motel bed and slammed a fist down to shut the horrible screeching noise off. I felt sorry for Jack. he had a hard life. He had met my dad when he was still running for Wolfe. Even though they lived a rough life full of crime and other horrible things, they quickly became best friends. That's why when Wolfe killed my parents for my dad trying to get out of the business, I was willed into the custody of Jack. That and the fact that I had no other family. I try to be as little trouble as possible, but even then... driving a cab in Vegas to come home to his dingy motel room and listen to our obnoxious neighbors all night... he hasn't been sleeping lately and it has me worried.
"Syd? You getting up?" He asked.
"Yeah... eventually..." I groaned. "Oh, and Jackie? Good Morning!" I said, hoping to brighten his day just a little.
"Good Morning, Syd. We need to leave in about thirty minutes."
I echoed his earlier groad as I rolled out of bed. That's one of the things I love most about summer. I get to ride with him. I love seeing Vegas. All the people and lights were beautiful to me.
One quick shower later, I threw on a simple turqouis tank top, jean shorts and my turqouis Vans. We headed out the door to the old truck that Jack had managed to buy for real cheap from Dominic. He said Dominic felt bad for him, knowing how hard he was trying but still not being able to afford anything. He was having to walk the 2 miles to and from work every day and night.
Ten minutes later we were walking to his taxi when Jack noticed a sketchy black Escalade parked in the way of his exit.
"Syd... get in the car." Jack ordered me.
I was frozen. I recognized that car from when I was younger... "Jack... Is that Wolfe?"
"Sydley! Cab. NOW!" he growled.
He only called me Sydley when he meant business, so as he walked to the black vehicle I slid in the front passenger seat. The two men that greeted him made me nervous. I recognized them both. The larger black man seemed more familiar than the other, but they were both definately bad memories in my mind. As I tried to distract myself by humming the first song that popped into my head, I felt a presence in the back seat. I turned around to see what was causing this and I came face to face with two teens, one girl, one boy. Both pale. blonde, blue eyes and very beautiful. They even had the same confused look on their faces as they were staring back at me. There was no doubt in my mind that even though I had no idea who these kids were, they were definately related.
"Woooah..."
All I could do was sit there staring back and forth between the two. Neither of the teens broke eye contact the entire time I looked at them. I don't know how long we sat there staring, but even when I felt Jack get in, slam the door, start the taxi and begin driving I couldn't look away.
"Syd! What are you staring at?" Jack asked as we pulled out on the main street. I'm guessing he finally checked his rearview mirror, because the next thing I know I was being slung against the dashboard. Instantly, the sound of car horns filled the air.
"Where did you two come from?" Jack demanded, staring intently at both of the kids with the same look that I figured had been on my face.
"Ou-Outside..." The boy answered. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, I figured that." Jack responded. "How did you get in here?"
The kids raised their hands and pointed to the door closest to the boy.
"Through that portal." The girl answered. Strange. I know for a fact that they weren't in the taxi when I first got in, and that I didn't hear the door open for them to get in. We were still sitting in the middle of the road with cars honking like crazy, but this didn't seem to bother Jack. He was too entranced by our guests.
"I'm Seth, this is my sister Sara," the boy, Seth, informed us. He then leaned forward, "We require your transportation services immediately."
"Really?" Jack asked sarcastically. "Well I require..."
"A currency transaction." Sara cut him off. Seth brought out a huge wad of money from his pocket. And it looked like all big bills.
"Will this amount suffice?" he asked.
"Woah." I supplied. "That... is a lot of cash..."
"What, did you two rob a bank?" Jack asked the kids suspiciously.
"Jack, they have money. They're not looking for a free ride. It doesn't matter how they got the money. But maybe we shou-"
"Is this acceptable, Jack Bruno?" Sara interupted me.
"How did you know my name?" Jack asked, sounding thoroughly 10 times more confused than before. Sara pointed to his taxi drivers permit. Oh, yeah. Duh.
"If we have a deal for your services we must move forward rapidly. It is urgent that we get to our destination without delay," Seth said. Wow. This kid needs to take a chill pill.
"Jack. We gotta get moving... We've been blocking traffic for quit a while now..." I pointed out.
"Alright, alright I'm going!" Jack shouted out the open window. "Where to?"
I turned around and buckled my seat belt, waiting for the kids to answer. After a few seconds of silence, Jack tried again.
"I need an address," Jack said more firmly.
"We must travel in that direction." Sara said, pointing to the outer city limits. Jack and I exchanged a "Really?" look.
"Well I'm gonna need something a little more specific than just that direction," he informed her.
"We must locate latitude 4-0.5-4 cross-intersecting longitude-" Seth began.
I held up my hand, "Wooah there. I'm thinking we're just gonna stick with 'That direction'. That okay with you, Jack?"
I turned around in my seat again, "What exactly is it in 'This direction' that you're heading too?"
I saw the siblings exchange a look. Sara smiled at Seth, who quickly shook his head.
"We are searching for something. Something very important." Sara offered.
"Sara. No." Seth stopped her from saying anything else.
"Seth-"
"NO." Man. This guy was harsh. One last attempt at conversation. If this failed, I guessed it would just be a long, silent ride.
"I'm Syd, by the way. Short for Sydley." I smiled and held out my hand. The siblings looked at my hand as though they didn't know what to do with it, so I just dropped it. "This is Jack. How long have you guys been in Vegas?"
"Approximately 4 hours and 17 minutes." Sara supplied. Wow. Specific much? "How long is it that you have been in this strange city?"
"My whole life, actually. Born and raised Vegas girl." I smiled. "You haven't really been here long enough to have full appreciation of it, but trust me when I say that this is the most amazing city in the country."
"I do trust you, Sydley Compton." Sara smiled at me. Seth finally broke his sulky glare out the window to throw Sara a warning look.
Did I ever tell her my middle name? That's weird...
I turned my attention to Seth. He hadn't exactly spoken to anyone besides Sara the entire trip.
"So, what about you, Mr. Grumpy Gills? Do you have a problem talking with strangers? Or is it just me you have a problem with?" I asked.
"I do not understand. My brother does not have gills. He has lungs, as do you and I." Sara commented.
"Just an expression." I smiled at her. "But seriously dude, what's up with you?"
"There is no need to get attached to any humans." Seth replied monotonely.
"Woahh, I didn't say you have to get ATTACHED. But a little conversation never hurt anyone..."
"It will just be much easier for EVERYONE to say goodbye," He looked at Sara as he said 'everyone'. "if there is no conversation. Just the trade of our money for your services."
"Speaking of services," Jack spoke for the first time in ages. "Are your parents going to be okay with you spending all this money?" The fare was already at a little over $400. I hadn't realized that we'd been in the cab for that long.
Seth looked concerned and slightly angry. "We had previously agreed upon our financial deal. If you're concerned regarding your compensation-"
"My concern is the fact that I've got a couple of kids in the back of my cab with a wad of cash with a drop off location that's pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Now in my book that's a little chapter called running away, and-"
Suddenly Dominic broke through on the radio.
"Jack, you better be getting desert miles on that fare - and they better be able to pay. And you better get me an ETA! capiche?"
"I'm losing reception, Dominic." Jack lied very unconvincingly. Dominic was still trying to talk to Jack as he switched the radio off.
"Smooth." I commented.
"Yeah, well the last thing I need right now is Dominic yelling at me about ETA's and desert miles right now."
"Jack Bruno, the vehicles behind us are indicating a pattern of pursuit!" Sara suddenly called out, sounding very worried.
I turned to see these 'vehicles of pursuit', but instead all I saw was the open roads.
"Sara, there's nothing there." I commented.
"There's no vehicles following..." Jack was forced to trail off as a black truck came up over the last hill, going much faster than we were.
"Jack? Jack, is that Wolfe? Did he follow us all the way out here? Out in the open desert with no one around? Oh, God. Oh, Lord. Lord, please no." I started slightly panicking. "Jack, please tell me that's not him."
"Relax, Syd. It's okay. It's nothing. This is a ROAD. Normally cars drive on roads. Nothing abnormal here." Jack reassured me.
That helped calm me down for a few seconds, but that vehicle just seems to official and not friendly. I didn't like it.
"At your current rate of speed versus theirs, they will overtake our vehicle in less than one minute," Seth informed the cab.
"Relax kid I'm just gonna let them pass," Jack dismissed him.
"Jack. I don't have a good feeling about this. Don't let them pass, please. Just speed up. Keep going. Please, Jack."
"Look, Sydley, if you're that concerned, why don't you crawl in the back between the other two? Would that make you feel safer?" Jack offered.
"No, it would make me feel safer if you would speed up, Jack."
"She is right, Jack Bruno." Sara supplied. "It would be in the best interest of everyone in the vehicle for you to greatly increase your speed."
With that, Jack rolled his window down and waved the car on around us. It took the car a couple of seconds, as if they couldn't decide whether they wanted to pass or not.
"Sydley, it is okay if you wish to join my brother and I in the back seat. If it would make you feel safer. More contained." Sara whispered gently.
Okay, something strange is definately going on. I was just thinking that. Who are these kids? Some mindreaders? No, there's no way Seth is a mindreader. I'm sure that if he'd heard some of the thing's I've thought about him, he wouldn't be this calm. But the more I thought about it, the more I actually did want to join those two in the back. Sara scooted over to make more room for me and patted the seat between her and her brother. Seth even scooted over a little to make sure I had enough room to be comfortable. He was also kind enough to pick up my seat belt for me so I wouldn't sit on it as I climbed between the front and back seat.
As soon as I had sat down and put the seat belt around my waist, the car decided to pull up and around. I couldn't help but notice that they stayed eye level with our can for a bit longer that necessary. I felt Sara gasp and Seth tense up. I was trying to stay calm, but it wasn't working.
The vehicle finally passed us. Jack turned around with a smug look on his face.
"See? What did I tell you? Nobody's following us. I'm the King of these roads!"
As soon as the last syllable got out of his mouth Sara held her hand out and yelled, "Jack Bruno!"
I looked forward and saw that the vehicle had turned to block the road in front of us. Another vehicle had come up behind us out of nowhere and rammed us in the trunk, pushing us forward. When it did this, Jack swove all over the road, but somehow still managed to regain control. We were all being thrown around everywhere. I've never been in a serious car wreck before, so I was scared out of my mind.
Sara placed a hand on my arm, "All will be okay, Sydley."
How did she know I needed to be comforted? WHAT is going on here? I could hear Jack shouting and screaming in the front seat, but I was too freaked out to understand what he was saying.
Somehow Jack managed to maneuver his way out of the road block, but there was still two black vehicles behind us, gaining speed. Oh God, we were going to die. They weren't going to give up. Their cars were faster than ours. We were going to flip or blow a tire or run out of gas. Something bad was going to happen. This is definately not how I had pictured dying. Not that I've ever pictured how I want to die, but I definately never imagined it would be in the back of Jack's taxi cab, being chased by some really big bullies, smushed between two of the strangest kids I've ever met.
Sara looked sharply at Jack, "Who is Mr. Wolfe, Jack Bruno?"
"How do you know about that?" Jack asked the question I was thinking. Sara didn't have a chance to reply. One of the vehicles behind us rammed into our trunk again, this time actually picking us up off the ground. We were flying around the cab like crazy. Sara and I both screamed a little. I was a little surprised when I felt Seth's arm sneak around my waist, keeping me from getting to banged up.
"GET DOWN! NOW!" Jack yelled. The three of us all ducked. The car that kept bumping us was still behind us, but now the other two cars were on either side of us, stopping us from swerving out of the way. Jack slammed on his brakes, which caused him to hit the car behind us, which then flipped. One car down, two to go. It also enabled us to be able to get out of the car box. Then he slammed into one of the vehicles, causing it to swerve into the other car which then flipped off the road. Another one down. We sped away as quickly as we could. I don't know where the other vehicle went, but everything seemed to mysteriously calm down. Seth, who still had his arm around my waist, and Sara, who had a hand resting on my arm, were both staring straight forward, looking like they were in shock. Suddenly Sara broke the stare to turn and look at Jack.
"Jack Bruno, it would appear that we have not eluded them."
"What?" Jack checked his rearview mirror. "I am SO over this. Stay down! Stay DOWN!"
I checked out the back window and saw that it was true. A black vehicle was speeding up on us.
"DOWN, SYD!"
I quickly joined Seth and Sara in their hunched positions.
"Seth, NO! It's not a good idea!" Sara seemed to urge off some unspoken idea.
"It is the only way." Seth replied monotoniously.
"It is too dangerous." Was Sara's reply. Then she seemed to completely change course. "Sydley!"
I jerked my head to look at her. When I did, she simply whispered, "Everything's going to be okay."
"Thanks, Sara." I tried to smile, a little confused by all this. When I looked back... Seth was gone? How did he get out of here? I sat up and looked around, as if expecting to see him standing... in the middle of the road? What? I didn't seriously expect to see him, but I did. Just standing in the middle of the road. About 100 feet back. Just standing there with the big black vehicle hurtling at him. 'NO! Is he crazy? What is he doing? He's going to be killed!' I thought to myself.