The Bringer

by Jennifer Park

  "Has the Family finally shown its face? They've been hidden for centuries. Wouldn't the Master be pleased if we handed over the Family as well as the Bringer," mused Raymond.

  "It certainly wouldn't piss him off. But let's get back to the task at hand," Jessica ground her teeth together. “It is very…unfortunate that the Bringer has tapped into her abilities already, but I can work around an angel.”

  “You’d better. This could get really bad if we lose her.”

  “Just go find out who those kids are,” she said almost poking him in the chest, but stopping just short of touching him.

  Raymond looked down at her finger, then turned and walked back to his car.

  Chapter 20

  It took several hours of walking to get to the rest stop because of the uneven ground by the side of the road. The woods were so dense they almost walked right into the large parking lot filled with cars, trucks, RVs, and semis. It was almost if the rest stop was carved out of the surrounding forest. There were a couple of buildings housing the bathrooms and a few covered picnic benches to eat at interspersed in the grass covered grounds.

  "Good, it's pretty full with lots of people. We should be able to blend in with this group just getting off that bus," said Jerom pointing to a tour bus. He motioned for silence and then they snuck up next to the bus. They split off and melted in with the people headed to the bathrooms.

  They met back up at the vending machines and grabbed chips, cookies, candy bars, soda, and stuffed the backpacks with them.

  "Come on, let's go sit down under that tree and eat something," said Miranda walking toward a group of trees in the grass.

  Sitting down Brynn asked, "Okay, what's next. What are we waiting for?"

  Jerom swallowed then waved his half eaten candy bar at the parking lot, "We need a car carrier or something big that's being towed and we'll hide in it. Then all we have to do is stay down and ride it north for as far as it goes. We'll just keep hopping from one thing to another until we get close to home."

  "So this is your big plan. Just stow-away on whatever we can find,” she waved her hand at the parking lot.

  "Well yeah,” sounding a bit less sure of himself. “What, you have a problem with the plan?"

  "No, it's fine. I'm going to need more cookies though," she said popping the last of the package into her mouth.

  They looked around the parking lot for some form of transportation that might work, but there wasn't anything promising.

  Miranda headed deeper inside the trees behind the rest stop. “Let’s wait over here until something shows up.”

  "I hope we don't have to wait too long," said Brynn.

  "Yeah, I don't want to have another run in with the demons either," nodded Jerom.

  “Let’s give the plan a chance to work,” said Miranda sitting down on the grass. “Jerom needs to rest his shoulder and we could all use some sleep.”

  "I suppose we can wait for a little while and see if something turns up. We need to get moving again pretty soon though. The longer we stay in one place the better our chances of getting caught," added Jerom.

  "Jerom, why don't you and Brynn try to sleep for a few minutes?” Miranda leaned back on her elbows stretching her legs out in front of her. “I'll take first watch."

  Chapter 21

  Brynn didn't even realize she had fallen asleep until Miranda pushed her awake.

  "I must have been tired," she said around a yawn, "my turn?"

  "Uh huh," was all Miranda said before rolling over on her side.

  Brynn watched Jerom and his sister sleep as questions began running though her mind. How did I end up here with these two trying to take care of me? Without them I would be dead. Maybe I should be. How am I supposed to live? I have no family, no home. I don't even have a change of clothes or a toothbrush. She swiped her tongue over her teeth and then rubbed her finger over them trying to clean them.

  She opened the backpack next to her and dug around until she found a pack of gum. Chewing thoughtfully her mind drifted off toward the angel that came to her when she called. Did that really happen? Maybe I'm actually sitting catatonic in a corner somewhere. This is all just my crazed imagination. But no, she thought, I saw and felt him. I can no easier deny him than I can the sky is blue. He was real and this is real. She pulled up some grass, picking the blades apart with her fingers.

  She heard the rumble of a diesel engine. She looked toward the parking lot. Hmmm, maybe that’ll work, she thought and nudged Miranda and Jerom awake.

  "Will that work?" she asked pointing at a motor home that had been in an accident. It was being towed by a semi and the driver was just getting out of the cab.

  “I think it just might. The driver won’t be interested in checking on it since it’s been in an accident,” Jerom said picking up his backpack. “Grab your stuff. We’ve got to be inside before the truck driver comes back out of the bathroom.”

  They gathered their things which left Brynn empty-handed.

  "Just act like we're walking out to our car. Don't try to sneak or anything," Miranda said. The semi was parked facing away from the bathrooms and all the people. The side of the motor home with the door had been crunched by the accident and the door to the motor home was being held shut by a bungie cord that was haphazardly wound in between the frame of the door on the outside and the wall of the RV on the inside.

  Jerom tried to get the bungie cord off, but with his arm in a sling it was a problem. Miranda sighed at him while rolling her eyes and pushed him out of the way. She unwound the bungee cord leaving it to hang on the doorframe. She stuck her head through and looked around, then climbed inside motioning them to follow.

  "This is nice," said Miranda looking around. She opened a door, "there's a bathtub in here."

  "Stop poking around and get the door closed before the trucker comes back," Jerom hooked a thumb toward the door.

  Miranda got the door closed and re-clipped the bungie cord to the wall inside the RV and said, “We’d better hide in the bedroom in case the truck driver checks inside before he takes off again.”

  Jerom had been watching out the window with his hand barely holding open the blinds. “He’s coming guys.” He let go of the blinds and followed them into the bedroom. Miranda pointed to the side of the queen size bed that was behind the little wall separating the bedroom from the rest of the motor home.

  "I don't think he'll be able to see us unless he comes all the way in."

  Miranda, Jerom and Brynn were laying on their sides all together on the floor between the bed and wall of the RV.

  "Can you give me a little bit more room, sis. I'm feeling like a Jerom sandwich here squished between you two."

  "Deal with it!" Miranda elbowed him just as the door rattled around. They all stopped breathing for a moment as they heard the door open and the truck driver cough. The smell of his cigarette reached them and Brynn tensed up. Jerom slowly interlocked his fingers with her and gave her a reassuring look. The door banged shut and they heard the driver swear as he refastened the bungie cord.

  None of them tried to move yet. Brynn actually didn’t mind because Jerom’s hand felt kind of nice holding hers and he wasn't bad to look at either. His eyes were really green against his dark hair. His teeth were perfectly even, probably braces, and very white. His skin was flawless, olive toned, without even a freckle.

  She started to notice his body pressed up against hers. He was kind of half lying on his stomach and Brynn was lying on her side. They faced each other and his shoulder was tucked up under her chin, pushing her head up to look right into his eyes. His leg was bent and ran along the inside of her thigh sending chills up her spine and a blush to her face.

  “Okay, I think we can get up now. We’re moving,” Miranda whispered. Jerom squeezed then released Brynn’s hand with a little smile and pushed off the floor. He twisted around and sat on the edge of the bed, lowering his hand to help Brynn up.

  “Who’s going to take first watch?” Mirand
a said, bouncing on the bed as if testing it for comfort. "This is kinda fun. We should talk Mom and Dad into getting one of these."

  Chapter 22

  It was dark by the time they pulled into the truck stop outside Philadelphia. Brynn was surprised at how easy it was to get there. They stopped a few more times, but no one checked inside the RV. They waited until the driver was inside the truck stop to sneak out.

  “Okay, he’s gone inside. I don’t see anyone moving around out here,” said Jerome over his shoulder while he was looking out the RV window. “At least he parked over here on the edge of the lot away from the big trucks. Nobody’s really very close. I think if we stay away from the big lights over by the gas pumps we won’t be noticed.”

  There were at one of two truck stops directly across from each other, almost mirror images of each other except for names on the signs. They very quietly stepped down from the RV with Miranda closing the door behind them with the elastic cording. They passed behind two other dark semis their drivers either away from their trucks or asleep in the cabs already before getting to the street.

  Brynn stopped Miranda before she stepped down into the street, “Let’s not draw attention to ourselves by jaywalking. The stoplight is only a few yards away anyway.”

  Miranda pulled her foot back and nodded at Brynn sheepishly. They walked down to the stoplight and crossed in the crosswalk to the other side of the street. The truck stop was well lit around the diesel and gas pumps although there were only a couple of cars getting gas. This truck stop was entirely utilitarian. Just asphalt, the pumps under tall steel awnings and one very large building with posters advertising the latest food specials and the fact that it had spotlessly clean bathrooms and showers. Brynn was pretty sure that last poster fell into the realm of false advertising from the looks of the rest of the property.

  "Good, this place is pretty busy. Nobody should notice us," said Jerom as they walked in. The smell of burgers and fries had all their mouth's watering. They didn’t even have to talk. No communication was needed as they all headed straight for the food counter.

  They sat down at a booth with their trays of food. “We can catch the train here and head north,” Jerom said before popping a french fry into his mouth. “We’ve taken the train from Boston to New York before. I’m sure there’s a train from here to Boston. We just need to get to the station.”

  Miranda finished her burger, licked her fingers and motioned for the cell phone and started searching. “Let’s see, there are several Amtrak stations, but this one is only a little over a mile away.”

  Brynn asked, “Do you think we’ll have a problem buying tickets? I’m not eighteen yet, what about you guys?”

  Miranda looked down her nose at Brynn, which was pretty impressive since she was so petite, and said, “Jerom looks older than eighteen and I’ve been told I look at least nineteen or twenty.”

  “Yeah, by that one drunk college guy on the beach this summer, I really don’t think you should count that,” Jerom said as he stole a fry from Brynn.

  Chapter 23

  Brynn had never been on a train before. "This is kinda cool."

  They were walking down the aisle of the train car where people were chatting with each other or working on laptops and ignoring everyone around them.

  "I think it would be better if we all sat together. The seats in this car are all set two and two," said Jerom.

  "Doesn't the observation car have the seats facing the window? I bet we could find three seats together there," suggested Miranda.

  "Yeah, we should all sit by each other if we can," added Brynn.

  The train started to move before they sat down and Brynn had to grab onto the seatbacks on either side of her so she didn’t fall. They moved forward in the train several cars to find one with seats in long rows facing the windows. Stairs led them up to the second story of the observation car.

  “I told you so,” said Miranda with a sweep of her arm at the seats. “There are three seats together. Hurry before someone else gets them.”

  Brynn settled in to the thickly padded seat and pushed the button to engage the foot rest. Very nice she thought. Between the cushy seats and the sway of the train, it didn't take long for Brynn to fall asleep.

  Jerom nudged her awake and pointed out the window, "Check it out."

  Brynn slid up into a sitting position, wiping her eyes, "Check what out? How long have I been out? I didn't snore did I? I've never been known to snore. I really hope I didn't snore."

  Jerom, laughing, took hold of her chin and turned her face to the window, "You've been out long enough for us to get here."

  It was dark and every building in New York was ablaze. She’d never been to New York, and she didn’t see much of Philadelphia, so her breath was quite literally taken away by the sheer size of the city. They passed into it and it felt like they were gliding through a tunnel of buildings and concrete. A lot of people got on and got off at Penn Station, but they didn’t.

  "I don't want us to lose our seats," Jerom said noticing her looking longingly out into the city.

  "I guess I couldn't really see much in the 20 minutes the train is stopped anyway," she said. Her parents had promised her a trip to New York for her eighteenth birthday. The thought pushed its way through the carefully created barriers she had put up in the back seat of the car not that long ago. She had stuffed any thoughts of her parents behind that barrier to be taken out later when she was ready to look at them. Seeing New York blindsided her though and this one memory escaped and threatened to tear down the whole structure. She gripped her chair arms, closed her eyes and fought her way back. She shoved and pushed at all the thoughts flashing through her mind. She rebuilt the wall in front of those thoughts and felt a sense of relief. She had been fidgeting around in her seat during this internal battle and Miranda gave her a look.

  “Is there a problem or do you always have trouble sitting still?” she asked while looking her up and down.

  “I’m a little anxious just sitting here too,” Jerom came to her rescue. “We could explore the train a little if you want. Why don’t you stay here and save our seats for us?” he said winking at Miranda and then he took Brynn’s hand and pulled her to her feet. She followed him down the aisle to the connection between the cars and the car lurched sideways suddenly. She stumbled into Jerom’s back.

  He turned and put his arm around her. “You okay?” he asked. She nodded her head and smiled. “You’ll get used to it. It just takes a little while.” She wondered if he was talking about more than just the train.

  “This sling is driving me crazy. Let me go throw it in my backpack and I’ll be right back.”

  Chapter 24

  After a thorough exploration of the train they found a little snack bar taking up the better part of the lower level of the first car of the train. There were several tables snuggled up on either side of the car with an aisle running through the center. They waited at the entrance of the car until a table freed up.

  “I’ll grab us a couple of sodas. Are you hungry? You want some cookies or something?” asked Jerom.

  “Uh, yeah. And chips, please. And fries, I am totally craving some fries,” Brynn said unselfconsciously.

  Jerom came back with a tray he set on the table between them.

  “So what was it like growing up a witch? Did you go to witch school, ride brooms, stuff like that?”

  Jerom laughed and made rings on the table with his can of soda. “Well, I can’t ride a broom and I just go to high school with everyone else.” He paused and looked up at Brynn. “I don’t know, some things are great, I love having the power to make things happen. I love having control over objects. Of course, we can never tell anybody who we are or what we can do, so it feels like we are always hiding. I always have to watch what I say, how I act. I always have to be on my guard. “

  She took his hand. “I’m sorry, that doesn’t sound so fun.”

  He entwined his fingers with hers. “I don’t mean
it that way. I love being a witch. It’s just not always so great.”

  “Like now?” she asked.

  “No. Now is pretty okay.” He squeezed her hand.

  “Tell me about the Cult.”

  He took in a deep breath which he released with a quick sigh. “Well, the Cult is old. I don't know how old, but like several thousand years old. There’ve always been humans that want power and money and so they've made pacts with the demons. The demons taught the humans how to fuse demon spirits with human bodies. These guys call themselves the Cult of the Assassins. They’re kind of a smaller sub cult inside the main cult of the demons. They do the dirty work for the group. We think this cult that's made the pact with the demons is headed up by one man. We're not sure who he is, but he's old too. Somehow the demons have extended his life. He could have started the whole thing. We just don't know, but whoever these people are they are responsible for wars, economies failing…stuff like that."

  "Why do they want to start wars?"

  "My parents say that once you have everything, power is like the only thing left that can really excite you. If you're thousands of years old, money and sex just aren't interesting anymore, I guess. Power is it. Well, maybe power and chaos. Overthrowing whole governments is probably pretty satisfying for a certain type of person."

  "Yeah, I guess. I just don't get why someone would want to." She looked away thinking for a second then focused back on Jerom. "So how do they make these demon constructs?"

  "Some sort of spell most likely."

  "Why make a construct anyway? Why don't they just use like regular demons?"

  "Demons don't live on this plane with humans, so when they are called forth they can't stay very long, like they aren't stable here. But, if you combine them with a human, they can stay as long as their host lives. So you get all the nastiness of the demon combined with a stable human form. Pretty scary."