Bubble Gum and Monsters by Mark Francis
Chapter 13
The rookies kept watch over their fallen teammates throughout the morning.
“Now what?” Daea asked.
“I guess we have to tell the A-team,” Eli replied.
“What time is sundown?”
“Early, about 4:30.”
“What if Jesi-Sera and Chuck wake up before then?”
“That would be great.”
“What if we get a mission tonight?”
Eli’s eyes widened. “That wouldn’t be great, but it’s unlikely.”
“Sounds good. What should we do until then? Want to play a game?”
“Sure. What?”
The girl ran to the TV. “Video games!”
Daea won most of the matches. Eli’s excuse for losing was soreness from literally being hit by a bus the night before.
“So, how do you feel about being a Hardy?”
Daea looked at her hands and snapped out the claws. “I don’t know. I think it might have been better being a Charm. Everyone loves them. Now all I am good for is fighting.”
“That’s not necessarily true, but you are going to be a great fighter.”
Daea shrugged. “What else can a Hardy do?”
“You know this.”
“Just tell me.”
“Besides Tuffness, you have access to Powness. Remember how hard Riley could punch? Your claws are the first level of Formness, and the second level is Dirt Sleep—”
“Dirt Sleep!”
“If you are ever outside, or perhaps inside, and need to hide from the sun, you can meld into earthen ground. Some Childaar who have developed this power over long periods can even move through it.”
“I wonder if I’ll be dirty when I get out. My mom would hate that.”
“The final power for Formness is Transform, which would allow you to change into a bat, wolf, or mist.”
“Classic,” Daea said, flapping her arms like wings.
“Now if only I could do more than fireballs.”
Daea poked the boy. “Maybe that will be the only Gift you ever have.”
“Don’t say that. Could you imagine?”
Eli went to his room to do homework. Daea got a snack from the kitchen and then checked on her fallen teammates. She knew they weren’t allowed to have animals in the house, but she snuck upstairs, carefully cracked open their private door, and yelled for Chuck’s dogs. Within seconds Buddy and Whiskers were at the door and wormed their way inside. She led them to Chuck’s room where they licked his face, whimpered, jumped on his bed, and lay by his side.
Daea then went to see Jesi-Sera. She lay in her bed like Sleeping Beauty. Daea found some comic books, crawled into her bed, and read them to her. She took great care to describe the art on each panel.
Eli knocked on the room’s door. “Ready?”
“What time is it?” Daea asked, rubbing her eyes. She had fallen asleep.
“The sun just set. It’s time to go.”
They walked to the National Art Gallery. It was warmer than the night before. Heavy clouds rolled through the sky. Cars, trees, street signs, and buildings were all covered in a layer of snow. The Suffering whipped and stirred atop the snowy streets.
“That doesn’t look good,” Eli said.
“Hopefully since it’s in the A-team’s territory, they will deal with it,” Daea replied.
The National Art Gallery looked as beautiful as always in the winter night. The Childaar played a quick game of tag around the large spider statue before entering the building. They walked down the stairs to the A-team’s home.
Eli inspected the common area. “It doesn’t seem like they’ve been here today.”
“Where are they?”
“How should I know?”
“Aren’t you smart?”
Eli ignored the girl as he continued to inspect the place.
Daea examined the kitchen and said, “They have a pretty poor selection of food. There are hardly any snacks.”
Eli returned from the pool and gymnasium areas. “Nobody’s here. What are we going to do about that mission brewing outside?”
“I guess we have to do it,” Daea said, opening a container of strawberry yogurt.
“I don’t know if we can.”
“Somebody has to, and we’re all that’s left.”
The boy frowned. “I’m older, so I’m the team leader. It’s my decision.”
“Whatever,” the girl replied. “I’m doing it with or without you.”
“You have to do what I say. It’s the rules.”
Daea extended her claws and showed them to Eli as she walked out of the room.
“What are you going to tell Owen when he yells at you for insubordination? We are under strict orders not to be in their area.”
“I’ll tell him we did the right thing.”
Outside, large, fluffy snowflakes had begun to fall, and the Suffering was wilder than when they had entered the gallery.
“So, where should we go since you’re the leader?” the Smart asked.
“I don’t know. Usually Chuck leads us to a mission. What do you think?”
“How should I know, I’m but your follower.”
“Get real, Eli. If you’re going to sulk, go home. If not, start being useful.”
The boy frowned and watched the Suffering. “We have to follow it like we did in Los Angeles when we drove to that mountain.”
“Do we know if it’s a Stomp or Operation?”
“Not yet. We have to follow it to see where it goes.”
“Chuck was right; you should get that Gift that lets you track the Suffering.”
“Perception? Of course I would like to have it.”
The wild and turbulent waves of Suffering pushed south. Rather than walk down Sussex, the Childaar cut through Major Hill’s park, where they walked by the locks, past the Chateau Laurier, and onto Wellington.
Parliament was awash in wide, dark, inky waves. Floodlights had been set up to project multi-colored snowflakes on the buildings, and strings of lights wrapped around the trees. The top of the Peace Tower was barely visible through the falling snow. The Suffering flowed further down the street.
The important buildings on Wellington Street, such as the Bank of Canada and the Justice and Confederation buildings, loomed ominously in the winter night. The Childaar followed the Suffering into the magnificent Supreme Court area, where a deep pool of the inky blackness gathered in the parking lot next to the beady eyed Library and Archives building.
An unusual number of people and cars filled the lot. Engines revved and anticipation flowed through the air.
“I guess it’s an Operation,” Eli said.
Daea pointed at a man in the crowd. “That’s Eva’s dad!” She scanned the crowd. “And there’s Eva. What are they doing here?”
“Hey, Eva,” Daea said as they walked up to the girl.
Eva smiled when she saw the Childaar. “Daea!” The little girl hugged the young vampire. She reached over and held Eli’s hand. “Hi, Eli.”
The boy smiled. “Hey. How’re you doing?”
“Not great. My dad’s in trouble.”
“How so?” the Smart asked.
Before Eva could answer, Daea stormed toward the girl’s father. Her breath bellowed in the snowy air. She parted the crowd. A middle aged man in an oversized coat and backwards ball cap told her to go home and that it was past her bedtime. She shot him a fierce look and he quieted. Daea poked Eva’s father in the chest and told him he should be home with his family, not playing cars with his friends. The adults laughed at him. He asked if he could speak to her privately.
Eli caught up to the pair away from the crowd. Eva’s father explained that he had to participate in a street race. He said that it cost him and his wife a lot of money to come to Canada. He couldn’t pay for the whole cost of the trip, so he borrowed money from the man who owned the car shop he worked at. The family would have been able to repay him except that Eva’s mother
Daea took Eli away a few paces. “We have to drive for him.”
“What!”
“You heard the man, if they don’t win the race, they are in big trouble.”
“And you think the best thing to do is race?”
“I see no other choice.”
“We could try to find the shop owner and convince him to leave Eva’s family alone.”
“He’s not here, and we only have until sunrise to find him.”
“So we find him,” Eli stated matter-of-factly.
“First, I don’t think he will be that easy to find. Second, even if we do find him, I don’t think he will listen to reason; he is almost certainly Contaminated. What if he has security? Also, look at how wild the Suffering is. It could pop at any minute.”
“There must be some other way. We don’t even know how to drive.”
“That’s not true,” Daea replied. “Driving back from the Palladium we got pretty good. Don’t forget how much better we are at everything than the Kinedaar. Even untrained, we should be able to win the race.”
They walked back to Eva’s dad and told him that they would take his place. The only condition being that when they won, he had to find a new job and focus on taking care of his family. He scoffed at the idea that two kids could drive the car, let alone win the race. Daea puffed up and told him that they were more than capable and that he should keep that opinion to himself. The man, taken aback, apologized.
Eva’s dad brought them to a new, all-wheel drive rally car. It was fire-engine red with yellow racing stripes on the side. Eva’s dad explained that he’d put on snow tires. It would give them better traction but limit their top speed.
Daea found some pieces of wood at a nearby construction zone. She placed them on the seat and told Eli to get in. When the other adults saw the kids getting in the car, they laughed and jeered the duo.
Daea’s face got red, and just as she was about to yell at the crowd, Eli grabbed her arm. “Let it be. It won’t do us any good to get into a fight with this group. Let’s just win this thing.”
Daea ignored the taunts. Eli moved the car seat as far back as it would go. “Ughh, there is way less room in here than our SUV.”
Daea got in and sat atop the wooden planks. She rested her legs on Eli’s shoulders. “You OK down there?”
“Couldn’t be better.”
Eva’s father leaned in the driver’s side window. He took a map out of his pocket. Daea swatted at the incoming snowflakes.
The map outlined the one lap race. From the National Archives Building, they would travel along the Sir John A. McDonald Parkway to the Queensway, where they would cross the city to Orleans. Then they would turn around, get onto the Rockcliffe Parkway, head toward downtown and finish back at the start line.
Eva’s father told them that there wouldn’t be much traffic on such a stormy night, and to not worry about the police. He warned them that snow could hide black ice and that they should be very careful.
Daea took the map and told the man to relax. She closed the window and threw the paper down to Eli. “What do you think?”
“It’s long. It would take a normal car under normal conditions at least an hour.”
“We’ll do it in half.”
“Yeah right. The roads are icy, and we haven’t ever raced cars before.”
“Don’t worry,” the girl said as she pushed her foot down on Eli’s shoulder.
“Daea, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“There are three pedals.”
“Three?”
“Yeah, it’s a manual transmission.”
Daea looked at her gearshift. In the SUV it was simple. It had a position for park, reverse, neutral, and drive, along with some lower gears for climbing and pulling. This gearshift had a series of numbers from one to six, along with an N and R.
“How does this work?” she asked.
“An automatic transmission will move a vehicle from gear to gear automatically, but a manual transmission has to be moved using the gearshift. This third pedal is called a clutch. It has to be pushed while changing gears. Yell for clutch when you want me to push it. Got it?”
Daea pumped her fists. “Got it!”
The girl jammed the car in first gear but it groaned, shook, and then stalled.
“You didn’t tell me to put the clutch in.”
“OK, put the clutch in.”
Eli followed the order.
Daea started the car, put it in first gear, and said, “Clutch out.”
Eli slowly depressed the pedal while giving some gas. The car moved forward. Daea steered the car through the parking lot and onto the street. She turned left, eastbound, away from the start line.
Daea kicked down on Eli’s shoulder. “Punch it!”
Eli hit the gas and the car accelerated like a bullet.
“Clutch.” Daea moved into second gear. “Clutch out and lots of gas!”
Eli complied.
“Clutch,” she yelled again, and Eli pressed and released the pedal, giving Daea just enough time to get into third gear.
The car bolted down Wellington toward downtown. When they were in front of the Supreme Court, Daea kicked her left foot and held it hard against Eli’s chest. The Smart pushed down the clutch and brake while Daea cranked the wheel. The car spun around one hundred and eighty degrees. Snow and Suffering sprayed through the air. Eli revved the engine a few times before they drove up to the start line.
“You ready to win this?” Daea asked. “I’m sure we are the best car here.”
Eli laughed. “Yeah, next stop Formula 1.”