Chapter 1 Drive

The car came around the corner of the wooded road at speed. The headlights illuminated the greens and browns of the trees and shrubs as they blurred past. The curved mountain road was not one that the locals drove quickly on, with the steep embankments and tight switchbacks the road had claimed many lives over the years. Two more vehicles followed the first up and around the next 180 degree turn. The two SUVs now side by side on the narrow road moved closer to the first car.

Artemis Shadow drove further up the steep mountain side hoping to make the safety of the encampment on the backside of the mountain. He shot a quick sideways look at Cressida, his wife, who was craned around looking in the back seat at the rear facing car seat in the back. The baby was crying and Cressida was trying to soothe her while holding the back of the seat. She had taken off her seat belt to be able to reach the back seat and with each sharp turn of the switchbacks she was thrown side to side. “Just unstrap her and bring her up front with you. We are almost there. You need to be ready to run to the shelter as soon as we are inside the encampment gates.” Reaching down Cressida pushed the button of the seat belt holding the car seat in place. Just then one of the SUVs that had been jockeying to pass came up beside their sedan and with a sudden jerk, swerved in their direction and the vehicles collided. The smaller sedan careened into the guard rail, but managed to stay on the road. Cressida had been thrown into Artemis and then into the top of the door hitting her head as she connected. She slumped in her seat facing backwards unmoving. “Cressida! Cressida! Baby answer me!” Artemis tried to reach out to pull her up in the seat while still trying to watch the road and the SUV next to them.

As the next switchback approached, Artemis slowed the car hoping to let the heavier SUV pass. With a sudden jolting crash he was hit from behind by the SUV following and from the nose of the SUV beside him at the same time causing the sedan to head nose first into the guard rail at the outside of the corner. The little car broke through the guard rail as the two larger SUVs came to a stop. Artemis had his foot to the floor on the brake pedal and was turning the steering wheel with every fiber of his being, but it was to no avail. The little car went through the guard rail and over the side. The sedan proceeded to drive down the side of the hill. All at once it came to a stop pointing nose down. The underside of the car had hung up on something and stopped their movement. Artemis knew this was his only chance. He reached in the back seat and grabbed the handle of the car seat. Luckily it had only slid sideways and not rolled around with the baby in it. She was only a tiny thing and weighed what felt like almost nothing. Artemis slowly opened his window and put the tiny car seat next to a rock beside the car and turned back to try and haul the unconscious Cressida up from the floor of the passenger side footwell. He knew this was a risky trip in the first place but he never dreamed that the people hunting them would be able to find and corner them so easily.

Artemis looked out the rear window and saw headlights shining out above him. There were now more than just the two sets. Two more vehicles had joined them. He could hear men’s voices shouting above him. He grabbed Cressida under the arms and pulled with all his might. She unfolded from the cramped position that she had fallen in. He could see blood running down the left side of her face from her hair line. As he tried to ease her body between his and the steering wheel to move her out the window to the safety of the ledge with his daughter, there was the sound of gravel hitting the back of the car. Suddenly the back window shattered as a larger rock went through it. Artemis reached down to adjust his seat back more so he could ease his wife’s body past him, and then there was another jolt. This time a larger boulder hit the back of the vehicle. The sedan groaned in protest against whatever it had caught on underneath. The sound of screeching metal against rock and then the car settled down to a standstill.

Artemis tried to move faster. With all his strength and power he could not fit his wife past him. He placed her back in the passenger seat and grabbed the steering wheel with both hands, planted his feet, and bent the steering wheel up and away from himself. He was able to open up a gap that would allow her to move past. Cressida began to stir moaning and moving her hands to her head. He could now hear the mens’ voices from above yelling and knew that their time was running out. “Cressida. Cressida sweetheart we need to get out of here. Can you climb over me and out the window?” She looked up at him slightly dazed. As realization hit her, her eyes darted to the backseat. “Where is she?!” Panic edging her voice as she began to move to look over the seat.

Until that moment, Artemis had not realized that the tiny baby who had been squalling the entire way up the hill was now silent. He looked out his window to see the car seat hidden from the onlookers at the top of the hill by the rock. The tiny baby inside it was still. Sleeping, or otherwise he did not know, but he could not imagine her sleeping now. Not when they had crept around the house for 4 months because the slightest sound would set her off for hours. He had even contemplated earplugs for babies. Now she was quiet and peaceful. His only thought was that all the effort was for not and she was dead. He took one look at his wife and knew he could not tell her, nor would he need to. The horror of his thoughts were written all over his face.

Cressida took one look at Artemis and sank back into her seat. Her face melting with fear and sorrow. “NO!” She cried. Just then the men above let out a cheer and both Cressida and Artemis looked at the broken rear window. Although they could not see through the broken glass, they could hear the large boulder bouncing as it got closer. The boulder hit the sedan with the force of a bomb. Connecting with the trunk and lifting the front end as it pushed it forward down the hill. The car plummeted over the lip of the ledge and down the steep hillside, gaining speed as it went. The nose of the car hit the rocks at the edge of the river first before the force of their motion brought the back end of the car over and flipped it upside down into the river that had dug this gorge over the centuries. The water quickly engulfed the sedan and started pushing it down river. The men at the top of the cliff watched as the water swirled and eddied. All that was visible was tires and the occasional sight of the bumper as it bobbed along. No one came up. No one crawled to safety. The men had done their job. The Shadow bloodline was ended.