“What happened?”
He took a deep breath, unsure what to say. “You don’t remember?”
“No. Last thing was being in the Quest Ring.”
“Okay. You came back around 2am and it’s now about 8 in the morning, the same day. You arrived on 270 and were hit by a car. The media are all over this because they know it was you, and Matt was caught on camera when he vanished before, so it’s been crazy with media attention. I don’t want you to worry about that, though. They can’t get in here, okay?”
“I can’t feel my legs.”
Jack didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth, partly because he was hoping they were wrong despite the gravity of her injuries being impressed upon him now that he saw them. “Well, they have you pretty heavily sedated, and you just came out of a lot of surgery, so that might be normal. I don’t know. Don’t worry, okay? You know Ryan’s loaded and he’ll do anything to help you. The best care anywhere, I swear.”
“What about my friends?”
Apologetically, he said, “I’ll keep trying to reach them.”
“Not the boys. The ones in the car. When I disappeared.”
“Oh.” Jack’s face fell. He didn’t want to tell her the news. Not when she was like this. But he knew it had been days, and she had almost certainly been wondering the whole time.
“Please,” she whispered. “I see it in your face. You have to tell me. The waiting….”
Their eyes met again, and resignation settled on him. She had a right to know, and wondering wasn’t going to help. He whispered, “I’m so sorry, Anna.”
“What is it?” she said. “Please.”
He licked dry lips. “Jade lost both legs. Raven also survived, but she’s paralyzed.” He paused and felt awful as he admitted, “Heather didn’t make it.”
Tears welled up in her clouded eyes and spilled down the sides of her head as she blinked furiously. Jack wiped them away, whispering that he was sorry over and over, that it wasn’t her fault. This was all too much for anyone to deal with her investigator had and sudden anger struck him. He hid it by closing his eyes and putting his head on her shoulder, whispering for her to remain calm because of her punctured lung. She seemed to hear him, for her breathing became shallower.
He straightened and looked her in the eye, “You know I am here for you. Whatever you need.”
Anna looked at him calmly, eyes clearing, and after a few moments, said something he wasn’t expecting.
“Get me a priest.”
If there was anyone Daniel trusted, it was Ryan, and yet part of him thought that his brother, Matt, Eric, and even Jack were bullshitting him and Quincy, with whom he had just shared more than one dubious look. And yet their demeanor suggested they were telling the truth about these Ellorian Champions and their disappearances. And of course, he knew about the various vanishings and footage. And reports of healing or magic working around Earth. That they were having this talk in the family guest house, surrounded by the swords, shields, crossbows and more that his brother had purchased, added a welcome, tangible sign that this outlandish stuff was real. Or at least, they certainly believed it. If he had only just seen this stuff now, he might have still thought it was an elaborate put-on, even though Ryan had never done anything even remotely like that. Accepting it was still an adjustment.
Quincy had gotten Ryan out of the police station, then picked up Matt and Eric somewhere. Someone grabbed Jack away from the hospital, and it was from him that they had learned of Anna’s situation. Arriving at the LaRue estate, they had avoided the media mob outside the main gate, but Quincy’s SUV with its darkened windows was seen entering the grounds, though too late to be intercepted, at least this time. They finally reached the guest house where they were now, calling Daniel down to it without his nurse, Susan.
Daniel felt a weird kinship with Anna on hearing she was paralyzed. It was one that he didn’t want. He had also never felt it for another person destined to live their life in a wheelchair like him, maybe because he didn’t know them, and he resisted much of the sentiment about this because too much pity had come his way over it long ago. Never before had he understood—not really—the depth of Ryan’s concern for him, having just assumed guilt at causing Daniel’s paralysis was behind it. Now he knew that personally caring for someone so grievously wounded was enough to make one want to hover. His heart ached for Anna and he already knew he would give her all the emotional support and encouragement he could muster, whether or not she wanted it. Resisting that seemed to come with the territory, at least for him, but he wouldn’t let her get away with it for long any more than his physical therapists had let him.
Daniel’s thoughts returned to the silent men awaiting his reaction and Quincy’s to their story. He sighed. “Okay, I believe you. I think. But don’t push your luck. No fucking with me.”
Ryan sighed from where he sat on the pile of rugs in between Matt and Jack, Eric comfortable on the floor. “Fair enough.”
“So what now?” Quincy asked, leaning against a wall. “We need some priorities.”
“We?” Eric asked with a small smirk. He sat barefoot, sandals near.
Quincy nodded. “Yeah. No one but the people in this room, and Anna, know what’s going on. We need to keep it that way. On one hand, I’m representing the Stonehenge Four, and this is something that only you guys are going through, but it’s clear you need a team helping you, both while you’re here and while you’re gone.” He paused. “I’m pledging you this help, more than as your lead attorney. Let me be your coordinator. You need continuity here and can’t do it when you’re gone. No offense, Jack, but you’re not enough.”
“Yeah, none taken. I’m glad for the help at least.”
Quincy continued. “You guys are all pretty young and out of your depth, like anyone would be with all of this going on, just the stuff on Earth. You have enough to worry about when you get summoned. Let me take care of shit here. You need someone covering for you. I’m already doing it with the police and all of that, but you need a person who knows the truth directing a spokesperson who doesn’t know the truth, at least not yet. I will get someone to handle the media on your behalf. I also know all of your parents to some extent from these last few days and can run point on that as well. Speaking of, officially I’m only Ryan’s attorney. Technically I’m working for your folks, but we need to change that, too. You all need to make it officially me.”
“Why?” Matt asked.
Daniel answered. “Attorney-client privilege.”
“Right. The police, FBI, whoever. They can’t make me say shit.”
“What about me?” Jack asked. “Should I do this?”
Quincy nodded slowly. “I’ll have something drawn up for both you and Daniel, ready to be signed. You may not really need it now. Technically none of you have committed a crime, but there are reckless driving charges and a few others pending against Anna.”
“Great,” muttered Ryan.
Daniel felt himself glowering. She didn’t need more problems. They needed to make that shit go away, even if it meant an expensive settlement he and Ryan paid for. His eyes went to his brother, Matt, and Eric, seeing a seriousness and muted strain in their eyes, faces, and body language. This was all real. He suddenly felt like an unsupportive asshole and vowed to drop every last thing to help them. How that would manifest, he wasn’t sure, but the surrounding gear caught his eye. Research. Buying stuff. Planning. It was a start.
Eric asked, “What about civil stuff for her? Are the families suing?”
“They haven’t yet,” Quincy said, “but I expect them to. Wrongful death. That sort of thing.”
Daniel frowned. “She can’t afford that kind of shit.”
“She won’t have to,” said Ryan. “I think this is where you come in, Daniel. If mom and dad put up any resistance to anything, I need you to get them to back down. We are paying for all of this. We have all this money we don’t need and I never use. That’s changing.”
> “Yeah, totally agree. I can do that.”
Quincy warned, “This is going to get expensive.”
After a pause, Eric said, “Not nearly as pricey as not doing it.”
“So I have a question,” Matt started, looking at the attorney. “Can they track our phones and all of that? I’ve been leaving mine off.”
Quincy said, “They don’t have a reason, as much as the government people were trying to claim they do, but they may still do it.”
Daniel knew how to solve this one. “New phones. I’ll buy them and new numbers today.”
Eric nodded and said, “Yeah, I was about to ask if you can get my phone from my parents. I assume they’re the ones who have it.”
“They do,” Quincy replied. “They got all of your stuff when it became apparent you were missing with the others, and your boss cooperated with police, who initially took it, but I made them give it back after they checked it for evidence.”
Jack asked, “Evidence of what?”
“Exactly. There’s nothing, so they couldn’t hold it all despite trying. Maybe they figured you’d want it so bad that you’d walk into the police station and they could interrogate you.”
Daniel interjected. “Clothes, other stuff. You need all of that.” He turned to Jack. “Can you go to each of their places to get whatever they want from home?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Eric shook his head. “Jack, I think I’d like to keep you a silent, unseen partner. We don’t want anyone thinking they should follow you because you’ll lead them to us. You need freedom to move.” He paused and then joked, “What I’m trying to say is that I don’t want to be seen with you.”
This met with muted laughter, and Daniel had an idea. “Listen, you guys need a break. Take a couple hours off from this bullshit. I hooked up the TV and other stuff while you were gone. Well, Susan did. I can bring the Nintendo Switch down from the house and set it up in a few minutes. Later, I think each of you needs to call your parents, preferably on video, but it can wait. Mom and Dad are at the house, Ryan, but they don’t know you’re here yet, I don’t think. I’ll keep it that way for a bit. I’ll order pizza for lunch in a few hours. Quincy can set some shit in motion. Me, too. Let me think of some ideas on what you can tell the parents so you can just forget about it for a while, and we’ll take it over later. I think we need to be on the same page, keep the story the same, as simple as possible. I think the lie you were telling before, that for you no time passes at all while you’re gone, is the easiest.”
The claim would be that one minute everything was normal. Then a white light surrounded them, and when it faded, they were in the same place. But sometimes the time of day had changed. Or the weather. Or the people who had been there were all gone. And if they were holding something in a hand, it was missing. They subsequently learned from someone else how much time had passed and were shocked. That was it.
The others agreed and split up. Quincy got in the van and left the property. Daniel went to the main house, having Jack come along to grab some chairs for himself, Matt, Ryan, and Eric, who stayed in the guest house. It took a bit of time and multiple trips for Jack, but the four of them soon sat playing Minecraft Dungeons, a game that bore some resemblance to their quests. Each player had a character, armor, weapons, special items, a bunch of zombies and other “mobs” to kill, and needed to work together to survive, get treasure, and complete a level. The similarly caused a brief conversation about whether they should play a game father removed from reality, but all expressed interest, remarking that it might give them ideas. “Splitting the difference,” Eric called it, between all playing and all thinking about their situation.
Hours later, Daniel returned with pizza and new cell phones and numbers, having raided two local stores to get them all set up ASAP. They finished connecting the devices, adding emails and each other as phone contacts. They had a spare for Anna, and Daniel had gotten another for himself and Jack.
Then it was time to deal with their parents. By then, Quincy had already contacted all of them except Anna’s, leaving her folks out of it for now. They aimed for brevity and even doing parts of the call together, Jack and Daniel staying silent and off camera. They didn’t mention quests or other worlds, and they purposely kept the swords and other gear around them out of sight.
Matt’s call went first, Eric and Ryan making a show of agreeing with his account and being supportive so that the parents didn’t think their kid was going through this alone, with the police, media, and other stuff. Matt apologized again for taking the car, but his father was fine with it. His older brother and sister lived in Charlottesville, Virginia and Manhattan, and weren’t on the call, but had been asking about him. He promised to call them but wouldn’t anytime soon. The fewer people he had to lie to, the better.
Eric went second, and his was easier, shorter, and done alone, the others again off camera but in the room, no one opting for privacy. He knew nothing about his birth parents, had no siblings, and had been raised by foster parents he kept in touch with, albeit infrequently. As a result, they didn’t really know who his friends were until the Stonehenge disappearance. Now they knew their names, so when Matt and Anna vanished, they once again suspected Eric had, too. And then the police had arrived with his car and belongings after this last quest, as he still listed them as an emergency contact. They offered to help him in any way they could, but he just told them not to talk to the media.
Ryan was up next, but they handled it differently. He and Daniel went to the main house alone, because they wanted to hide the others and the use of the guest house. Their parents argued at length for him to use the GPS tracking features of one thing or another so they could help when this happened or he returned, but he said the FBI and others would just follow him, even with Quincy running interference. They didn’t agree, as Ryan evaded the subject with his brother’s help. He told them Jack was helping Quincy with anything they needed, like using his car so the media wouldn’t know to follow, and asked them to cooperate with him. They didn’t want him to leave, however, and he realized there was no going back to the guest house for now.
But then Quincy did a conference call with all the boys at once, Ryan and Daniel in their rooms to escape from parental hovering. They reached a decision. The guys wanted to be free to move around the world, at least incognito with hats and sunglasses, rather than feeling imprisoned at the guest house. And Ryan’s parents were already smothering him, worse than the media presence outside. Quincy arranged for a hotel suite on his corporate credit card for Ryan, Eric, and Matt. He would get Matt’s father’s car brought there for them to use. Jack would help as needed, and Daniel would assist from afar, not tagging along. The wheelchair just made him too conspicuous. Things like clothes would await them there, though Ryan was bringing a stuffed duffel bag. They would take things one day at a time.
In late afternoon, Daniel distracted the parents while Ryan and Jack carried a ladder from the garage down past the guest house and to a distant corner of the property, Eric and Matt joining them. Both houses were far enough back from the road, and enough trees stood in between that the media did not know. Leaning it against the wall, they climbed up and over, dropping onto the neighbor’s yard before tipping the ladder back onto the grass out of sight. Daniel would get a gardener or someone else to deal with it later. Some estates in Potomac, Maryland had decent acreage, and they could stick to the distant rear of properties, most of which were not as walled off. A half mile passed before they turned in between two houses and headed for the street, where Quincy picked them up and soon dropped them at the hotel, giving them the room keys. Jack left to get his car, visit Anna once more, and return later with Chinese food and beer.
For only the second time since returning to Earth, the boys felt like they could relax a little. Matt had wisely brought the Nintendo Switch, controllers, and the box and cables to hook it to the TV, and they intended to amuse themselves later. They sat around a round kitchen t
able now, having settled into the rooms where they meant to spend at least this night, if not quite a few more. Talk quickly turned to Anna.
“How is she?” Eric asked, dripping soy sauce on his white rice. He really wanted to see Anna, but neither he, Matt, or Ryan could get there yet. Maybe tomorrow. Jack had scouted the hospital and learned just how many entrances there were and that most of the reporters were at one of them. But it also seemed like the police were keeping them back so that other patients and their families could come and go without a media circus in the way. But if the boys got inside to see Anna, they needed permission from Anna’s parents, who Quincy and Jack would try to convince, but they worried this would cause a conversation with them about what was going on. They owed her parents that, but one reason Jack had just gone there was to bring Anna up to speed.
“No real change,” Jack replied.
“What did she want with the priest?” Ryan asked. He had asked earlier but got the same answer as now—she wouldn’t say.
Matt asked, “Do you think she’s going through a religious experience or something?”
“Hard to say,” Eric asked. “It’s certainly enough to cause that sort of thing, from what I know, which isn’t much. Ryan is our expert on trauma making you religious.”
Ryan grimaced, spearing a piece of orange chicken. “Yeah. I mean, her guilt has to be astronomically worse than mine. I only paralyzed Daniel. I really wish I could be there for her.”
“I know you will be,” Eric assured him. “We’ll get to her soon, hopefully on Earth before we get summoned–” He paused, eyes lighting up. “Jesus! We forgot about something. When that happens, the summoning spell is supposed to heal us.”
He watched their faces as realization sank in, which was obvious from the smiles and Ryan jumping to his feet.
“Holy shit!” the big guy said. “It should heal her!”
“Oh my God,” said Jack, as Ryan paced in excitement. “Are you guys serious? You all forgot this?”
The Light Bringer: An Epic Fantasy Adventure Novel (The Dragon Gate Series Book 2) Page 20
