by M. J. Sewall
“No!” said David, “It’s very rare for the River to choose two people from the same family. The Sect may have records of it happening before, but I’ve never heard of it except for the brothers. Whatever the reason, I think it means something.”
“What? Even our powers…” Cody trailed off as a humming began in his head. He saw his father’s face change as well, when the shouting began in their minds.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? YOU KNOW WHO THIS IS, AND NOW YOU KNOW SOMETHING ELSE I CAN DO
Every word was like a hot metal pin poking into their brains. Father and son both held their heads.
MY BROTHER AND I ARE THROUGH PLAYING. YOU WILL SURRENDER TO US TOMORROW AT 8 O’CLOCK OR WE WILL KILL EVERYONE AT YOUR LITTLE DANCE
ALL FIVE OF YOU WILL BE THERE, OR EVERYONE DIES. BRING PENTOSS, AND EVERYONE DIES. BE LATE, AND EVERYONE DIES.
They sat on the bench, a few other hotel guests passing with concern. The mental hum, and pain, finally receded. David said, “Are you all right?”
Cody rubbed his forehead. “Ow! Now we know he can do that.”
“Let’s get to John. I don’t think we were the only ones that heard that.”
John had already texted everyone by the time Cody and David got to the room. Soon, everyone gathered at David and John’s hotel room. Lucas didn’t show, and wasn’t answering any texts.
Zacke asked, “Are they serious?”
“Always.” John said, “But it’s a trap, and they know that we have no choice but to end this.”
David said, “No choice? I’m not letting Cody near those monsters.”
“Not your call, dad,” said Cody.
Ariana said, “But if we don’t show, then they’re going to kill everyone.”
“If you do, there are still no guarantees,” said David, “These are evil men.”
Katie insisted, “Then we have to destroy them.”
“Even if we could, it would be too dangerous around all those people,” said Ariana.
“Not if you put a shield around them,” said Zacke.
Katie replied, “You mean the auditorium? I can’t do anything that big!”
“Maybe not,” said John, “but you could put a shield around four people. You could all meet them as planned, then Katie could throw a shield while Lucas and I finally destroy them.”
“Use them as bait, you mean?” said David.
“They’ll be safe inside Katie’s shield.” said John, “We have to at least act like we’re giving them what they want.”
“Where is Lucas?” asked Ariana.
Katie looked at her phone. “He’s still not answering his… wait, he just texted me. He says ‘Off the grid for a while. I got their message too. I’ll be there, and ready to finish it.’”
“I’m in too,” said Cody.
David sighed “John, do you have another weapon I could use?”
Cody asked, “Dad? You want to fight? But what if they take you again?”
“I won’t let them. You’re not going without me. Besides, I have a lot to pay them back for,” said David
“No, Dad, you should stay here…”
“Not your call,” said David firmly, but Cody saw the worry in his eyes. He couldn’t imagine what his dad had been through. Cody’s long held anger was turning into something like pity for his dad.
John said, “Sorry David, just one relic. You’ll all have to rely on your talents. In moments of crisis, activation sometimes comes all at once.”
David offered, “I wish you’d consider my idea again. They could link…”
“No!” John snapped. “Sorry, David, no. It’s far too dangerous, even for ancients at full strength, linking warriors is a bad idea. Plus, we don’t have a hub; one warrior to focus everyone’s talents and funnel them through all of us. It could kill us all.”
“Dad,” Cody interrupted. “Can I talk to you outside?”
David furrowed his brow. “Sure.” They walked out of the hotel room and let the door close automatically.
“I want you to stay here. I just got you back. We can’t trust the brothers. They’ll probably kill you on sight.”
David put his hands on Cody shoulders, “Son, you’re only fifteen with talents you can’t fully control. I’m not planning to leave your side again.”
“I was so mad at you.” Emotion threatened to choke off Cody’s words. “Now I find out you were basically a slave, all this time. Those monsters. I can’t lose you again.”
David pulled his son into an embrace. Tears came for both. David cradled the back of Cody’s head like he was still a little boy. “It will be okay, son.”
Cody pulled away with more force than he meant to. “Will it? How can you know that? I’m begging you to stay behind.”
“I’m sorry, son. I can’t do that.”
Cody’s tears went dry and he felt the old anger rise in him. He wasn’t sure why. He said, “Fine. Whatever. What time do we meet outside the dance tomorrow?”
David said, “Seven.”
“Okay. Kinda need to cool off right now.”
Cody walked off.
David stared after his son, wondering how anger could affect a person over time. What have I done to my son? The old shame of leaving his family crept back into his thoughts, as David used his key card to go back into the room.
As Cody neared his house, he couldn’t shake the angry feeling. Then he realized why he was mad. The brothers. It’s their fault. The familiar knot of anger burned, but it was for them now. He was relieved he didn’t have to hate his father anymore.
He went into his house, and walked directly to the garage, finding the hammer from the tool box. He then went into his mom’s bedroom. The closet doors were mirrors, and one side was open. Cody assumed she was in a hurry dressing, but one sliding mirror door would do just fine. He concentrated on the old man’s face. His own reflection faded and was replaced by the old man’s room. That’s getting too easy. Not sure I like that.
The old man was facing away from Cody, looking out his own window. His head cocked to one side and he swung slowly around to stare at Cody. Cody winced when he saw the old man’s ruined eye. Did Lucas do that on the beach?
“Is this bravery, or stupidity?” asked the old man, walking down the few steps to get closer to his own side of the mirror.
“I want to make a deal,” said Cody. He hoped it sounded brave, but he felt icy fingers play with the nape of his neck.
“That time is over. You can’t be trusted.”
“Neither can you,” Cody replied.
“True.”
“Tell the brothers I will join you. But you leave my father alone. Forever.” Cody knew what weight the idea of forever held in this new reality.
“Father. Yes, that was a surprise. Two from the same family given powerful gifts from the river. It’s very rare, you know. That’s why I value the brothers so highly.”
“I’ll surrender tonight,” said Cody, keeping his tone even.
“That’s not possible. They will not return to your little town until tomorrow.” said Elder Zamma.
Cody didn’t want the old man to take control of the conversation. He smiled. “Not powerful enough to get them back here through another mirror?” Cody realized John was right, they were pulled a great distance.
Anger flared in Zamma’s good eye. “My private jet is bringing them back. They arrived a mess. But they are fully healed now. And very angry. They will be there soon enough, boy.”
He stared at the old man’s eye. “Okay… tomorrow, then. 6:30 at the auditorium. But only Derek. I don’t trust the German. There’s a room in the same building, a dance room. Tell him… do you want to write this down?”
The old man stood very close to his mirror. His good eye bore into Cody. “I’ll remember.”
“Okay. Do you agree to this… arrangement, then?” Cody hoped he didn’t sound like he was reading dialogue from a bad movie script. I hope this lie works.
Elder Zamma had wondered how Derek was
planning to get any of them alone for the consuming. Now, the boy was creating the perfect trap for himself. “Of course. I’ll contact Derek right away. 6:30. It’s a date.”
The hammer swung and shattered the mirror. Shards big and small rained onto the carpet. A few large pieces stayed in the frame on the sliding door.
On the Elder’s side, his mirror had a new crack. “There are easier ways to end the conversation, boy,” Zamma said aloud. He imagined how painful the consuming ceremony would be for the teenager. He smiled as he went to his cell phone and called Derek.
Back on Cody’s side, he cleaned up the shards. He didn’t know how he would explain it to his mom. He would have to invent a good story.
Lying to his mom again made him sad. Not telling her about dad was even harder. He went to his room, got a beer. He hesitated before he popped the top. When he thought of the fight ahead, he gave in and opened the can.
A few swallows later, Cody had drawn the longest knife from the wood block in the kitchen. He hid it in his room. He said aloud, “No one will ever hurt my dad again. By seven o’clock tomorrow, the others will only have the German to worry about.”
If Cody’s plan worked, Derek would be dead at 6:31.
***
Dr. Mason lowered the lights, closed the blinds to his office. The hypnotherapy session began.
“Just listen to the sound of my voice. Nothing else, only my voice. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Lucas answered.
“Okay, I want you to go back a few years. You are going to see everything just the way it happened, but nothing can hurt you. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember the first time being bullied? Go ahead and nod your head if you remember. Yes? Alright. Let’s go back to the first time you were bullied. Can you see yourself?”
“Yes.”
“How old are you, Lucas?”
“I’m ten.”
“Good. Now who is trying to hurt you?”
Lucas spat out the name, “Billy.”
“What is Billy doing?”
“He pushed me on the ground. He’s sitting on my chest. He’s calling me a fag.” said Lucas, his voice cracking.
“It’s okay. Nothing can hurt you now. Does he do this every day?”
“Yes, but sometimes just with words, insults, like that.”
“Let’s move ahead to about a year ago. Do you remember being in the hospital?”
Lucas paused before answering, “I don’t want to talk about that.”
“I know. But you are safe. What happened, Lucas?”
Long pause. “I took pills.”
“What kind of pills, Lucas?”
“Aspirin. I swallowed a whole bottle of them.”
“Why aspirin?”
“It’s the only pill we had a lot of.”
“What happened next?” asked the doctor.
“I woke up in the middle of the night. My ears were ringing. I went to my parents’ bedroom and told them what I did.”
The doctor continued drawing Lucas out, probing for answers. His voice remained calm, controlled. “What happened next?”
“We went to the hospital. The doctor at the hospital gave me something to make me throw up. It tasted really bad. It worked, and I kept puking. Spaghetti tastes disgusting coming back up. And the aspirin burned.”
“What next?”
“They pumped my stomach. They put a long tube down my nose all the way into my belly. It hurt.”
“How long were you in the hospital, Lucas?”
“A week. They put a tube in my wiener. I stayed in bed to pee. It hurt when they took it out.”
“How are you feeling while you’re in the hospital?”
“Bad. Sad. My stomach hurts. I have a lot of Jell-O. They keep feeding me lots of Jell-O.”
The doctor asked the question he’d been building up to. “Why did you do it, Lucas?”
There was a long pause.
“Do you understand the question, Lucas?”
“There is no hope.” Lucas said.
The doctor pondered his response. He didn’t want to push the boy in the wrong direction. “Why?”
“There is no way to… untie the knot.” His face was troubled. Deep inside, Lucas knew it was important to say the right words. The truth.
“My parents are nice. They can’t understand the ugliness. They can’t know what it’s like. Billy is like a god. The whole school worships him. He…” Lucas trailed off.
“Go on, Lucas.”
“He’s good at sports, he’s good looking. Even the teachers treat him differently. Grownups can’t see it; they can’t see what he is inside. Day after day this shiny God is calling me names, pinning me to the concrete, pulling my pants down, throwing me in trash cans. Everybody hates me. No one will talk to me. Billy and his gang turn everyone against me. The school God decided I am a fool. I am tainted. They look away. They all smell death on me. They stay away. They think I will rub the stain on them. They don’t want to be punished by a god.”
“Is that why you refused to go back to school at first?”
“Yes,” Lucas’ voice was shaky. “My teachers don’t understand. Grownups forget. My parents believe me, but they can’t help me. They don’t understand casual, everyday violence.”
There it was. He stared at the small fifteen-year-old Lucas, and felt there was an old soul in the boy.
“Let’s come back to the present now.”
“Okay.”
“Would you ever hurt yourself again?”
“No.”
The doctor closed his eyes. So much time with Lucas, and the boy finally opened up. He could have helped Lucas sooner, if the boy had let him use hypnotherapy as his first tool. This was a special boy, who’d been through some tough things. Sam was just glad he could be a small part of the process.
The tone in Lucas’ voice changed, “You’ve gotten your answers. You have to keep your end of the bargain, Doc.”
The doctor’s brow furrowed. “Lucas, are you still under, still in your safe place?”
“Yes… and no.”
The doctor had never seen a patient float in and out quite like Lucas. He wasn’t sure how he was managing it. “I remember the bargain. Why do you want to go back so far into your past?”
“I can’t tell you that,” said Lucas.
Strange, thought the doctor. “You must be open and honest, Lucas.”
“I know. I can feel the change beginning,” said Lucas, “It’s better to show you. I need to go back. I think I can now.”
Lucas was right; any trauma, even the earliest types were best brought to the surface. But the doctor still wasn’t sure what Lucas wanted to show him exactly: Lucas’ mother and father were lovely, concerned parents. He was sure there hadn’t been any abuse, or anything like it.
He wasn’t sure what Lucas was after, but he started the process to go back farther. “Okay Lucas. I want you to go way back now. Remember, nothing can hurt you. Do you understand?
“I understand.”
“I want you to relax and think very hard to your very first memory. Can you see it in your mind?”
Lucas was quiet for a long time, and his voice thickened as he answered, “Yes. But it’s dark.”
“Where are you?” asked the doctor.
The deep voice answered, “I don’t know, across the water. Father says I need first blood.”
First blood? That’s strange. Hunting, maybe? the doctor thought. Lucas’ dad didn’t strike him as a woodsman.
“Look around you. Do you see anything you recognize, Lucas?”
“Who is ‘Lucas’? I can’t see over the side of the ship.”
“You’re on a ship. Okay, do you see anything else?”
“I see a dragon,” said the deep voice.
“A drawing of a dragon?”
“The front of the ship is a dragon.”
Lucas spoke to himself in the new, deeper voice, “Lucas, are you sure
you want this?”
Lucas responded in his regular voice, “Yes. I’m ready.”
“When we become one, you will change,” said the deeper voice again.
Lucas asked in his own voice, “Will I still be me?”
The deeper voice answered, “You will be both. All my memories, all my skills, you will know. Are you certain?”
Through clenched teeth, Lucas’ fifteen-year-old voice said, “Yes.”
The doctor was beginning to sweat. Incredible. Schizophrenia? The boy showed no signs of this before.
Dr. mason said, “Okay… okay, Lucas, I want you to come back to the present now. When I tell you to wake up, your eyes will open. You will feel calm and refreshed. Do you understand?”
“I do understand,” Lucas said, with some semblance of his own voice, but strengthened as though joined by someone else, as if two voices were trying to speak at once.
The doctor wiped his brow. “Okay Lucas, wake up.”
Lucas opened his eyes, all tension from his brow gone. He looked around, but it seemed like he was still somewhere in his own mind. Lucas’ eyes darted back and forth, like he was seeing amazing things flash before him.
Lucas blinked, and looked at the doctor as if just noticing him.
Dr. Mason stared into the boy’s bright blue eyes. He consulted his file and found the general information sheet. I’m right. His eyes should be green. He looks older, too. What is going on?
Mason asked, “Lucas, do you remember what we just talked about?”
Lucas stared at Dr. Mason. The surprisingly blue eyes sparkled. Lucas laughed a full-bodied laugh, a deep sound that was out of place for his thin frame.
“Doctor, I remember everything.”
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE - THE MORNING OF
Victoria rolled up in front of Zacke’s house on Saturday morning, “Okay,” she called through the open passenger side window, “now I’m pissed. You got someone to cover your shift tonight, and you continue to blow off my texts.”
Zacke stood at the car door, “Not true, I texted you back last night.”
Victoria got out her phone and read, “‘Things are crazy, explain later, gotta go.’ is not a proper response to twelve texts. I feel like I’m your stalker. Seriously, I almost resorted to calling you.” She took a breath. “Get in, kid. I’ll take you to your cop school.”
