Blood Sisters
Chapter 8

Cricket stood up and wiped dirty water from her eyes. Every muscle in her body moved only under protest and her face felt like a bloated prune. Her young skin was hot with a calico sunburn from all the places Jenny's sparking strikes hit her. Her clothing was torn and smoldering, exposing her angry red flesh, revealing more of her toned body then she felt comfortable with.

Jake looked over at his little cricket “you look like hell. You okay lil' un'?” Cricket looked up at the big man “Whoever that was, she hits like a truck”. Jake took in the destruction all around them, and said “yeah, well, you hit her like a tank”. Cricket scowled, feeling sore all over. Then, Suddenly feeling a panic that she might have killed that girl he gasped and looked towards the big man, eyes wide in desperation. “Jake....” she started to say shakily. The two of them were quickly brought back to the precariousness of their situation when they heard the police shouting as they worked their way up the debris laden stairs. In the other room the spooky guy in the suit and the two detectives under the desk were showing signs of life.

“Lets get moving” Jake said “You should not have come here to get me, but since you have...” Cricket interrupted him sharply, anger chasing away her fear for the moment “No one messes with me, no one messes with you, c'mon!” Cricket grabbed the big man with one arm and jumped out the hole Jenny had made in the wall when Cricket kicked her through it. Jake shouted in alarm from being handled this way, and for suddenly being airborne several stories above the street. Cricket confidently jumped across rooftops until finding one of the many abandoned buildings she had frequented. The unlikely pair ran down into the the smell of urine and vomit, finding themselves among the dirty mattresses and hopeless zombies of a crack-house. Jake cursed and Cricket said “What the... these people weren't here before!” Jake took her hand and led Cricket down graffiti decorated stairwells, stepping over drooling people of the streets lost in a heroin haze.

The pair came to rest in the dark damp basement as Jake caught his breath. “Okay Cricket” Jake said between heavy gasps “I gotta stop smoking, fuck. Okay, listen, it is not going to take them long to find out who I am, everyone knows me in this neighborhood. So it is not safe for you to be around me right now”. Cricket's eyes got wide and tearful “Your not safe either!” the young girl protested “Lets both bail, come with me!” she begged. Jake took Cricket's slender shoulders in his big hands, looking down at her kindly. “Look Little Cricket, I have to stick around. Don't worry, I've been in scrapes before, I'll be fine. It's you they want anyway”. Cricket bit her lip “No” she protested. Jake sighed and continued “Look honey, I love you like a daughter, you have to do what I say now, okay?” Cricket nodded stiffly. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ (ꜰind)ɴʘvel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Jake continued “Okay, you should have a little time till they get to my shop, and start finding my friends. Go back to Trixie's place, tell her what happened. Tell her I will get her back and ask for the cash she has stashed behind the medicine cabinet” Cricket nodded again as Jake went on. “Grab your stuff and get gone. When the coast is clear I'll have someone leave a note in that old phone booth at the end of Delancey. It might be a while, you got it?” Wide and misty eyed she just stared back at him in mute protest. “You got it?!” Jake repeated firmly. Cricket stammered “I need you... I keep hurting people... I'm really, really scared... you don't have to stay... we can take Trixie too...” Jake swallowed “look its not that...” he sighed. Jake closed his eyes, his Jaw was tense. He sighed “Okay, okay. Look. I just have to find a place for us to hide, but I gotta do that alone, people will be looking for a big man and a little girl, you get me?” Cricket nodded tearfully. “Right then, I am going to hang here for a bit and get my wind back, you get going now”. Cricket cried silently and grabbed Jake in a hug. He held her as long as he dared before letting go and sternly gesturing up the stairway. The girl turned with great reluctance, forcing herself to go though it felt like tearing off her arm. Jake smiled “When this is all over, you owe me a beer”. Cricket laughed once and started to cry. “You got it” she said thickly. Cricket headed up the cracked concrete stairs and took a last long look back at the only person in the world she felt safe with. He gave her another smile and waved her on. Wiping away the tears on her face with the back of her hand The Indestructible Girl forced down her fear and fled.

***

In energy form Marty Goldstar streaked through the window of his daughter's hospital room. Jenny had been taken to the Meta-Science Research and Care Center (MSCC) at New Avalon Memorial Hospital outside the city. Marty shifted back to physical form and saw the doctor attending Jenny was guiding her to do a self-exam of her injuries. Jenny winced, sometimes calling out in pain as she did what the doctor directed. A large red stain had spread over much of Jenny's beta-cloth bodysuit, she was pale and sweating. There was sizzling blood pooled in her force-field which was slowly leaking out onto the absorbent padding of the bed below the injured girl.

Goldstar stepped over to his daughter and rested his hands gently on her force-field. Marty spoke tensely “How you doing Sparkle?” he tried to smile “If this is a way to get me to take you out for ice cream, you went a bit far” he said bravely, trying to cheer her. Jenny winced a bit as she got out half a chuckle “You know how much I like rocky road.”

“Give me a sec kiddo, I got to see if the doc will let you”. Goldstar looked questioningly over at the doctor, who stepped across the room with him. “Hello Mr... do I call you Mr. Goldstar?” Marty shook his head “Just call me Marty” The doctor continued “OK Marty, my name is Dr. Goldberg...” they both smirked a bit at the irony, then the doctors face turned grim. “Marty, we have a serious situation here. We can't do proper diagnostics, your daughter's energy field prevents any form of radiology that we have available. Further, we have not found a way to bypass her field in order to treat her.” The doctor paused to see if Goldstar was following him. He nodded. “Our best guess is that your daughter has some broken ribs, and possibly a punctured lung...” Marty looked horrified. “However, sir, what is most alarming is that Jenny is clearly having internal bleeding, judging from the quantity of blood that we can see, I would say she likely has serious internal bleeding... which we have not found a way to stop yet. We have been able to get some medication to Jenny, to try and clot her blood and so forth, however when she uses her teleportation to obtain it, she may be causing herself further injury. She is certainly causing herself pain.” Marty's heart froze as this news sunk in. “As you can see from the burns on her skin, when her assailant broke through her energy field, the resulting feedback caused even further injury, which further complicates any measures we may take to treat her.” Marty swallowed hard. “What your telling me is that my daughter might bleed to death right in front of us and there is nothing you can do about it?” The doctor nodded gravely “We are doing everything we can.”

Marty Goldstar had feared this day since the day his daughter was born, hoping that her force-field would forever prevent her from harm, which until now it essentially had. He and Ally had tried working with the metaphysicians several years ago after Jenny jumped from a tree and got bruised. They had been unsuccessful in finding a way to be prepared for... this. Without the field of force protecting her, Jenny would never been born. Now it might kill her.

Marty stepped over to his glimmering child, who gave him a smile. Goldstar took a deep breath and chose honesty. “Its not good Sparkle, your bleeding and they haven't...” Jenny just waved her hand at him “its gonna be fine dad, don't worry about it.” Jenny's sunny optimism failed to cheer her father, numb from the claws of dread carving his brain. He tried to smile “Yeah, keep your spirits up kid, we'll hope for...” a lump caught in his throat. “Your gonna be just fine” he was trying to convince himself as much as comfort her... it was somewhat surreal, as she did not seem to need comforting. Jenny pouted at him “No need to hope, I know everything will work out”. Marty's voice shook, he felt so afraid of loosing her. “Your mom was in Europe, she is flying back just as fast as she can, just hold on baby”. Goldstar let his tears flow as the two held their hands out to each other on either side of her force-field. “You'll see” Jenny said “I am too lucky to die”.

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