by T J Kelly
I put Shadow down on the floor and then got up on my knees so I could lean out the door, but no matter where I looked, all I could see was garbage and broken glass and bricks and the broken sign that used to be on the store. But she wasn’t there anymore.
What was I supposed to do? I thought and thought about how to find her. Maybe I could be a detective! The big bad man scared me, but I watched the Mighty Magicians on TV before breakfast, and they Always Use Their Heads. The magicians went looking for the ice cream machine when somebody stole it from their park, and it left marks on the ground when it was dragged away, and they followed the drag marks.
There were marks on the ground that looked just the same. I would follow the drag marks, too.
I took one last look at my puppy. He was watching me and wagging his tail. He was a good boy. I picked him up and put him in the big side pocket of my daddy’s jacket and zipped it until only his head peeped out so he could see. I pulled the jacket on and opened the car door.
The fabric got stuck under my knee, and I tripped and fell on the ground, cutting my chin. I started to cry. It hurt, and I was really scared. But nobody came to help me. That made me cry harder, but then Shadow Racer yapped at me, and I stopped. He was right. I had to find my mommy.
The drag marks were hard to follow because the parking lot was made of gravel and sometimes the marks disappeared. They led away from the blacktop and the gas pumps, and I followed where they led.
The marks disappeared again, but I wasn’t worried anymore. I could see Mommy lying on the ground in the distance, on the grass behind where the store had been. My daddy was next to her. They both were on their backs with their hands at their sides. I thought somebody was supposed to make their arms cross over their chests. When people died in the book about the witch, their arms were crossed but my parents looked like they were sleeping.
I looked around, but nobody else was there. I ran over to where my parents were and knelt down between them.
Maybe they were still alive!
I patted my mommy’s cheek, but she didn’t wake up. I touched her shoulder, and then I shook her, but she still didn't wake. I turned to my daddy and tried the same thing, but he just lay there, eyes closed, not moving. I put my head on his chest, but I couldn’t hear his heartbeat. I turned back to my mommy, but I didn’t know what to do. I reached out to shake her again, but I couldn’t move my arm. It was frozen. My whole body was frozen.
In the distance, where the deep darkness was hiding things behind the junk pile, I heard the bad man coming.
I got up and ran. There was a dumpster behind a wooden gate not too far away, and I raced for it so I could hide before the bad man saw me and killed me too.
The big door that usually hid the dumpster was open, and I closed it behind me. It was stinky in there, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t let the bad man get me, too.
“Did you find anyone else?” I heard a stranger call.
“No, this is it,” the bad man answered. “I’ll call it in. Thanks for coming, Mort.”
He sounded angry. I lowered myself to the ground and slid quietly over to the space under the door of the dumpster and peeked out. Shadow wiggled in my pocket, but he stayed quiet.
There were two men. I wasn’t sure who the bad man was, so I studied them both. The Mighty Magicians Always Paid Attention to Details so they would never get a spell wrong, and I paid attention, too. I wanted to tell the police about the bad man, so I needed to know what he looked like.
“No, let me report it. You keep an eye out just in case they come back before we've cleared the site,” the stranger said. His was the different voice, the one the bad man called Mort. I couldn’t see him very well, but I didn’t care, because he wasn’t the one who hurt my parents. I turned and studied the bad man closely.
Inside me, the person who still called herself Lia wept in horror.
“I doubt it. They’re cowards. And they know they can’t stand against the ‘Mighty Magician Armageddon,’” he said. “They’re too afraid to stick around. Not after that explosion.”
He wasn’t a Mighty Magician. They were the good guys, and Armageddon was a bad man. I studied him as hard as I could, memorizing every line in his face, the shape of his eyes, how long his hair was, everything. I concentrated so hard, my eyes hurt. But I would never forget.
I almost screamed when I saw Mort wave his hand over my parents and they disappeared. But I kept quiet. I had to wipe my face on the sleeve of my daddy’s jacket, though, because it was hard to see while I was crying.
Mort disappeared, too.
All that was left was Shadow Racer and me. And Armageddon.
I wasn’t sure if I should try to fight him, but then I decided that I would. I stood up and pushed the giant wooden dumpster door open, but when I stepped out, he was gone.
It was an empty field. There was no store, no gas pumps, no car, nothing. There wasn’t anything there except Shadow and me and my daddy’s big jacket.
I spun around, and the dumpster, there only a second before, was gone too.
“No!” I yelled. “Don’t go! I want to fight you!”
It didn’t matter that I was only six. I didn’t know how to use magic yet, but I was going to hurt the bad man, anyway. I was a good guy and good guys always win. But he was gone. Everything was gone. And when I turned to look, the parking lot was not only gone, it had small weeds poking up around it as if the store had never been there.
I opened my mouth to shout my challenge again, but instead, I screamed. Shadow Racer whimpered as I dropped to my knees. I couldn’t seem to stand. My cheek was pressing into the dirt, and the puppy was squirming in the pocket between me and the ground. I was screaming and screaming, and I wasn’t ever going to stop.
But then my puppy licked my face, startling me. I thought he was safe in my pocket, but he wasn’t, he was standing by me, licking my tears.
What if he got away?
What if the bad man came back and killed him?
I shut my mouth. I didn’t want the bad man to hear me and come back. I wanted to get Shadow Racer and keep him safe. My mommy and daddy gave him to me. I couldn’t lose him, too.
I rolled over and pushed myself up. Shadow yapped at me, and I held my hand out to him.
“Here, Shadow. Come here, boy,” I called. He came close enough for me to grab. I put him back into the pocket in my daddy’s jacket and then turned around.
Nothing looked familiar. I wasn’t sure what direction to go to get home.
My daddy always told me if I got lost, not to walk away. He said to hug a tree and wait for somebody to come and find me. He said if I ever got lost, they would use a Finder spell and those didn’t work if I kept walking.
My parents weren’t there anymore, but my grandma was waiting for me. I was going to see her for my birthday dinner. If I didn’t get there soon, she would be worried and come looking.
I spotted the shape of a tree in the distance. I walked a long time to get there, but I made it. Even with my daddy’s jacket on, I couldn’t stop shaking. My feet didn’t work right anymore. I kept tripping. I wanted to lie down and never get back up again, just like my mommy and daddy. Maybe they would come and get me then.
Shadow Racer yapped once. I patted him and then looked up and there it was. The tree. It had a smooth, white, papery bark. I leaned forward and hugged it.
The leaves rustled as I cried. I wanted my parents back. I wanted my grandma to find me.
I wanted to catch the bad man.
But nothing happened. So I hugged the tree, hard, but my body kept shaking. Then the tears stopped, but I still held on, trembling and weak and scared.
And then finally, finally, my grandma used her spell so she could find me.
She arrived in a ball of golden light. The Novato family was mostly light inside. I didn’t understand what that meant, but my daddy said it all the time, and he said we could use it to go anywhere, whenever we wanted to.
And Grandma wanted t
o come get me.
“David, baby, there you are. Come here, honey,” she said.
I couldn’t make my arms let go of the tree. She walked over to me, pulled my arms open, and then turned me so I could wrap them around her, instead.
She was warm. She smelled like chocolate and peppermint. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “I want to go home,” I said.
“Where are your parents?” she asked.
I started crying again. She held me tight and let me. Finally, I could talk again. “The bad man killed them,” I said.
Grandma gasped, gripping me tighter. “No!” She sounded scared.
But I wasn’t scared anymore. I was mad. I would find the bad man. I would always remember what he looked like. I would never forget his name. Someday when I was bigger, I would get him.
“He killed them,” I said. “Armageddon came and took them away.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
We're All Tired of Driving
Waking up from that vision wasn’t easy. It felt like I was drowning and just as I was about to break the surface and breathe again, I realized there was another three feet of water above my head. My breath whooshed out in a furious stream, and before I inhaled water, I saw a golden light burst through the darkness and somebody dragged me to the surface.
Hacking, I sucked in air between sobs. My body was shaking, and I hurt all over. Somebody thrust a handkerchief into my hand, and I used it to mop my eyes while a fierce warmth flowed through me and my vision finally cleared.
“Are you all right?” Peter asked. He was sitting across from me in the back of that infernal car, his head ducked down so he could look me in the eye. His hands were on my upper arms, and they were the source of the warmth and light.
I nodded but didn’t speak, still struggling for breath and trying to control my tears. I was scared. I was confused. And I was choking on it.
“Everything good back there?” Seth called. His hair was sticking up on one side where he had been leaning his head against the window, sleeping while Harris was driving the second half of our journey into Reno.
“I’m fine,” I croaked. I picked up the water bottle Peter handed me and gratefully nodded at him as I took rapid sips. I wanted to wet my throat without choking, or worse, cramping my stomach and heaving it back up again.
“Did you see Ged?” Peter asked. He looked worried and kept his hands on me. I greedily took what he offered. There were too many shadows clinging to me, and his Light chased them away.
“Only for a second. He wanted me to see something else instead.” I stopped. I blew my nose on a tissue as an excuse to avoid talking while I tried to sort out my feelings about what I saw.
“How did he look?”
“Not great. But he seemed stronger than the last time I saw him.” I thought back to my dream and something odd occurred to me. “In fact, he was able to use a spell to grab me and propel me into our enemy. I didn’t think about it then, but he couldn’t have done that before.”
“Maybe he’s figured out a way to reach his magic through that nullifying field,” Peter guessed.
“I don’t know. I didn’t have time to think because he shoved me right into the guy and suddenly I was him.” I shuddered, remembering that slimy-yet-good feeling.
“Did you pick up anything that could help us?” Seth perked up.
“Yeah, his name is David Novato. I think he’s around your age, maybe a little older. It was hard to tell, though.” My eyebrows drew together in concentration as I struggled to remember anything else that might be useful. “His parents died on his sixth birthday.”
Birthdays carried a lot of significance in the magician world. Destroying somebody’s family on a day like that would guarantee the trauma would be the worst, and unforgettable. Almost like a spell had been worked into his blood and it would never leave. My uncle would never have done that to an innocent child.
Except he did.
And I couldn’t figure that out. Why did he do it? And why didn’t he look for little David, the way he looked for Peter?
“That’s rough,” Peter said. He leaned back and handed me more tissues. I smiled my thanks as I pulled myself together.
“Yeah. He was so happy, too. Such a cute little kid to turn into such a monster later in life.” I scowled. I wouldn't allow sympathy to creep in and make me weak. I pushed Peter’s Light aside and tapped into my Dark. I needed to think clearly, rationally, emotionlessly.
“What happened?” Harris asked. He was still driving. It was dark outside the windows of the car, and besides the occasional light flashing by, I mostly just saw my reflection.
“The kid spent his birthday at the zoo with his parents, and they stopped for gas and snacks on the way home. They parked in the gravel. It was this tiny podunk place with only two pumps. There was a sign that said they had to pay in advance.” It was all so confusing for poor David, and I was trying to sort through the shock and agony he felt to find a useful memory. “Mort and Uncle Ged were there.”
Maybe there was something in my voice. Peter grew still and looked at me steadily. “What did they do?” he asked.
Tension rose in the air like a thick cloud, and I wished I could tell what he was thinking. I reached out to him with everything I held inside me, but I was blocked by the shield he had thrown up around himself. Just like the times he came back from an assignment, and he couldn’t tell me about it. I wasn’t sure he even realized he had done it.
“I think Uncle Ged was the one who killed his parents,” I murmured through numb lips. It was only a small lie. There was no doubt in my mind that was what had happened, but it seemed like I was somehow betraying my uncle by saying so in such bold terms.
Peter grunted, his brow furrowed. Now he was the one who couldn’t reconcile the events with what he knew. “You think kidnapping Ged is revenge?” he asked.
I nodded. That had to be what my uncle needed me to know. That this guy, David Novato, wanted vengeance. And he was doing a good job, too. At least until we showed up. Then he would regret every blow.
“Well, that must have been a barrel of laughs,” Seth said. He tugged something out of his pocket and tossed it at me. “Here, you probably need this more than I do.”
I caught it and looked down. Chocolate. I shook my head at him but couldn’t keep the grin off of my face. “Yeah, maybe I do. Thanks.” I tore off the wrapper and popped a piece into my mouth. Heaven. Closing my eyes, I sank back against the seat, sighing loudly. The guys laughed at me, but I didn’t mind. Calories always helped after a bad vision, and everyone knew chocolate was the universal symbol of bliss.
I should examine my dream, but there would be nothing there for me except pain and confusion. I sighed again and broke off another piece of chocolate. Peeking over the seat in front of me, I made sure Seth and Harris weren’t looking, and then slipped it to Peter. I didn’t mind sharing with him, but if I offered any to the other guys, I would never see it again.
He winked at me and then shifted his weight so he was leaning against the window. It looked uncomfortable, and I frowned at him.
“What?” he murmured.
“You’ll get a crick in your neck,” I whispered back. Seth had dozed off again and I didn’t want to bother him. He had done most of the driving, and I wanted to let him sleep.
Peter shrugged. “I don’t have a pillow.”
“Don’t be stupid,” I said and patted the seat next to me. He let out a huff of air that sounded a lot like a laugh and slid across the way. He slouched back, and I leaned against him. Once I was comfortably situated with my head on his chest near his shoulder, he tilted his head so it would rest on mine.
We often sat like that when I was having a hard time right after Chas left me. It was comforting for the both of us, although I had forgotten until that moment that Chas was a like a brother to him and Peter had been hurting, too.
I was so selfish. A small jolt of acid shot burned through me at that thought, but my contact wit
h Peter kept it from turning into darkness.
“Does it ever drain you when you do that?” I asked. I didn’t need to explain what I meant because he knew me that well by then.
“No. It doesn’t drain me at all. I’ve been thinking about that lately,” he said. His words were slow and fuzzy. “I wonder if something is happening between us that’s like your work with the opposite elements. I don’t try it, the Light just seems to flow into all the parts of you that need it. And it squeezes some of your Dark out and into me. It’s like an exchange, except somewhere between you and me, your Dark turns into Light. We’re basically recharging each other.”
“That’s crazy,” I said. My head bumped his chin when I sat up, and he groaned. “Magic transference doesn’t work that way.”
“I know. Man, Lia, can’t you let me sleep?” Peter rubbed his hand down his face and guilt flooded me. Poor guy. I had been sleeping a lot for days. He must be exhausted since he had to watch my back that whole time.
“Sorry,” I said and slouched into his side. It made him grunt, and I smiled into the crook of his neck.
“Brat,” he said. “Come on, let me doze a minute. We’ll be there soon and I need to be alert when we get there.”
I wanted to say more but bit my tongue for his sake. I felt guilty even though it wasn’t my fault I had been so sick. I blew my nose one last time before settling back down.
Despite the nightmare I just had, I still wanted sleep. I closed my eyes and concentrated on Peter’s Light, which surrounded me like a cocoon, and relaxed. He was so warm, and comfortable, and I no longer had to worry about draining him. I guess things weren’t so bad after all.
◆◆◆
“We’re here,” Harris called out. My eyes popped open, and I sat up, stretching.
“Where’s here?” I asked. I glanced at the clock, and even though it wasn’t quite midnight, it felt like we had been driving for a week. “Can we get out?”
“Yeah, we’re good. The safe-house has a security perimeter shield spell, and we’re already inside it.” Harris opened the door and slid out. I followed as quickly as I could and was overcome by the need to stretch again. I reached my arms up to the sky and arched my back, groaning. It felt so good.
