“Did you see that?”
A hand on my arm. “Dante? Can you hear me?”
“He is crying.”
Because I’m so happy! I can move and feel. I’m back!
“Can you open your eyes, Dante?” The serious male voice again. Encouraging and patient.
I send all of the energy from my fingers to my eyes and… nothing.
“He is still too weak. We should leave him alone to rest.”
Another touch, on my cheek, I think. “Rest, Dante. You will need all of your strength again soon.”
No! I don’t want to rest! I want to open my eyes, to see you, remember you. And most of all, I want… Vicky. Yes, that’s what I want. Another spark in my heart, and I know she is the key. The key to healing and remembering.
“Take the cards,” the male voice says. “We’ll have to start studying them.”
I try to open my eyes, utter words and remember more for hours. The name Vicky keeps sending waves of energy through me, but still there’s no image to match it. No memory.
My body and heart remember, so why can’t I? What happened to me? To Dante. Dante Banner.
Dante Banner, that’s it. I want to yell it. Dante Banner is my name! Instead, I let my thoughts drift off. Remembering my full name has drained every last bit of energy out of me. All I long for now is to sleep.
CHAPTER 14
A soft hand touches my cheek. It’s cold, but it still sends tingles down my neck.
The hand stops moving when I shiver. “Sorry, did I wake you?”
The voice is soft and warm. “You scared us.”
Is this Mom’s voice? It sounds so familiar, so like… home.
With all my strength, I pry my eyes open. A young face looks down on me, too young to be my mother. She has a sad smile, and her skin is a bit transparent. I frown when I realize this doesn’t scare me. What is she, a hologram of some kind?
She lifts my hand and kisses it. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t be here sooner, babe. I had another fit right after the trees healed me, and they had to lock me up. But don’t worry, I’m here now, and I’m not leaving you until you’re better.” She grins. “If Heaven can’t take me from you, nothing can, right?”
I try to smile back, but I can’t do anything but stare. Half of what she said didn’t even register. All I can think is: this gorgeous young woman is my girlfriend? How did that happen?
I was never the most attractive of my friends. Quinn is the one getting all the female attention, and Paul and Simon know how to behave around girls better than I do.
Silently, I study the girl. She looks a bit older than me, has a great body, slender but muscled, and blue eyes anyone would drown in. She’s dressed like a kick-ass monster hunter or something, all black, half jeans, half leather, plus a bit of lace around the chest. Her black hair matches her outfit, except for the blonde tips that reach her shoulders.
She scrunches up her beautiful face. “Why are you staring at me like that? Is something wrong?”
Things click together in my head. The energy coursing through me when I heard the name Vicky and this girl calling me babe.
“Vicky?”
“Yes, babe?”
“You look so beautiful.”
She frowns. “I always look like this. But thank you.”
“Are you a science student?”
Now she seems simply baffled. “What?”
I lift my heavy arm to gesture at her transparent body. “If you’re not, then how did you manage this hologram?”
“What are you babbling about?” Her hand flies to my forehead. “You don’t have a fever. Do you know where you are?”
I shake my head, which makes me a bit dizzy, so I stop.
She squeezes my hand. “Do you know your name?”
“Yes, it’s Dante Banner.”
“Do you know where you live?”
I press my lips together. “In… wait, I know this.” I close my eyes and try to envision my house. “Black… Blackford, Idaho, that’s it. I live with my Mom on a quiet street in Blackford, Idaho.”
Vicky shakes her head. “Not anymore. You moved. Don’t you remember?”
“I did?”
Her eyes bore into mine. “You’re not messing with me, are you? Because if you are, I can tell you it’s not funny. We both nearly died just days ago.”
I blink rapidly. “We did?”
Suddenly, she rises to her feet and walks away. “Guys? Come quickly, please.”
A second later, my bed is surrounded by people. Vicky is no longer the only transparent one. There are four more holograms and two solid people. I smile as I recognize my best friend. His name pops into my head.
“Charlie!” How could I forget about him when I thought about my friends earlier? And these other people, they all seem to know me.
“Hey, mate,” he says with a grin. “How are you feeling?”
“Better. So… are you all scientists or students?” I ask, really wanting to know the answer now.
Worry slides over their faces, and I swallow. “I guess neither.” I rub my face and think as hard as I can. “I’m sorry, I just can’t remember who you guys are.”
Vicky takes her place on the edge of my bed again. “Dante, what’s the last thing you remember?”
My eyes drift to the ceiling. It looks old and dirty, and it’s far away. Where are we? Is this some sort of church? My gaze drops down, and I search for the walls, but it’s so dark here that I can’t make anything out.
Where are we? What happened? Who are these people?
“Dante?” Vicky’s voice drags me back to my bed.
“I remember…” Images flood back into my mind. The last bell of school, stepping outside into the sun, driving home with Quinn and the others. “The last day of school.”
Shocked expressions all around me. What did I say?
“That’s not all,” I hurry to say. “Quinn dropped me off at home. Mom was waiting. Susan.” I smile. “And Dad…”
It hits me like a derailed train. Dad. He is no longer with us.
John Banner, that was his name. He died. But how?
My vision is suddenly hazy. My eyes burn. I blink, but the tears keep falling.
“My dad,” I say hoarsely. “He died.”
Vicky wipes the tears from my face. “We know.”
“Do you know what happened to him?”
She shakes her head. “Not yet. But Dante, you have to concentrate, okay? Try to remember more. What happened after you found out your father had died?”
Hope lies in her eyes as I make the gears in my head turn. But everything is blank after that.
“You met us, remember?” she urges.
“No.” It’s no more than a whisper. “No, I don’t remember.”
A thin man in a strange old-fashioned shirt steps closer to the bed. He adjusts the black bowler hat on his head and rolls up his sleeves to reveal a set of tattoos that… move?
I push myself further up and as far back as I can manage. “What the heck are you?”
The man stops dead and gives me a hurt look. “I’m Jeep. You know me. I’m part of your Shield, here to protect you.”
He takes off his hat and bows, and I let out a shrill laugh. “Okay, okay, enough of this. I want some answers.”
The tattooed guy with the car name straightens up. “Well, master, I wanted to suggest trying to nudge your power core. It might spark your memory.”
Master? What is he going on about? And what is that power core he’s talking about?
“What am I, a machine?”
Visions of movies like Robocop and Terminator fill my head. My throat turns dry. “Oh no, I am a machine, aren’t I? Did you implant a chip to save me?”
Jeep shakes his head. “Oh no, it’s much crazier than that. You are a─”
Charlie pushes him aside. “Stop scaring him. It’s bad enough that he can’t remember.”
&nb
sp; Jeep glares at him with his arms folded. “We’re on a deadline, wise guy. We need his powers to save the next soul.”
While I try to wrap my head around what they’re saying and what could possibly be worse than finding out you’re half machine, everyone starts talking at once. They’re arguing about what to tell me and how, and about some kind of mission to save someone important, and to defeat… the Devil?
I close my eyes and cover my ears. A sharp pain slowly moves from the back of my head to my eyes. The voices around me seem to get louder and louder, and it hurts, it hurts.
“STOP!” I yell, throwing my hands forward.
There’s a loud bang and a blinding flash, followed by the rumbling of a wall coming down.
Silence falls upon us, and I turn my hands over and over. Did I do that?
Someone sniggers. The girl in the red leather catsuit, standing next to Charlie.
“Well, at least he didn’t lose his powers,” she says cheerily.
CHAPTER 15
My head hurts even more when they finish their story.
“This must be a dream, right? Things like this don’t happen in real life.”
“Are you sure?” Vicky says softly, lifting my hand. “Try to imagine a bolt of lightning in your hand.”
“A what?”
She smiles patiently. “You’re a Meteokinetic, a Mage that can control the weather. Which means that, for instance, you can conjure a bolt or ball of lightning, ice or a tornado, a wave─”
“Or some really large hail stones to crush your enemies,” Charlie interrupts. “Like you did when Vicky got injured.” He chuckles. “That was great, man. You got so angry I thought the world was going to explode.”
D’Maeo shakes his head solemnly. “That was pure luck. And it was a fraction too late. Vicky was already fatally injured.”
I frown at him. Is he always such a spoil sport? This just started to sound a bit better after the whole story about being destined to make sure the Devil stays in Hell.
“He is right,” the African queen says.
This woman still impresses me. Not only her royal looks and beauty, but her whole demeanor. She radiates wisdom and strength. She is a true queen, and I’m grateful to have her fighting by my side, especially now that I’ve lost any knowledge I had about this crazy magical world.
“Tell me what to do,” I say.
The two oldest ghosts nod their approval, and D’Maeo hands me two cards. “Study these. Try to deduce as much as you can about the soul we need to save. Meanwhile, we’ll keep trying to find a way home.”
I take the cards from him and nod. “No problem.”
When everyone turns to leave the building, Vicky doesn’t move. “I’ll stay with Dante to see if I can jog his memory some more.”
Charlie looks over his shoulder and winks at me. “Great idea.”
As soon as they close the large doors behind them, I look around. “So where are we? I mean, I know we’re in some kind of unknown world, but what kind of building is this? And why is there no echo in here? It’s so big, yet it sounds as if we’re in a small room.”
Vicky shifts on the edge of the bed to follow my gaze. “It’s some kind of abandoned church. The acoustics must be different because the atmosphere differs from ours. I’m not sure whose building it is, since we haven’t seen any humanlike creatures yet. Just the barren trees that healed me.”
I study the side of her face, and my hand moves to touch it before I can stop myself.
When my fingers caress her cold skin, she closes her eyes. “I’m glad you’re still here.”
Silently, we stare at the dark sky behind the crumbled wall until my arms start to freeze.
“I wish I hadn’t crushed that wall. It’s getting really cold in here.”
I haven’t even finished my sentence when the scarce light from outside is blocked by a giant white tree. Its branches reach for a boulder, which it places back into the gap I accidentally created.
My mouth falls open. “They’re fixing it.”
Vicky has a pensive look on her face. “Yes, it seems important to them to help us. Maybe the Beach of Mu told them about our efforts to restore the balance in the universe.”
I scratch my head. “A beach told a bunch of trees what we’re trying to do, and they want to help?”
She shrugs. “Pretty much.”
“And you don’t find that weird?”
With a sudden move, she throws her feet onto the bed and slides closer to me. “I’ve seen stranger things than this.”
All kinds of feelings are racing inside of me. Desire, doubt, fear, anticipation. While my fingers tingle from the cold, waves of heat rush through my chest.
I scoot over so we no longer touch and hold up the cards. “So, these tell us who is going to get killed and how?”
Vicky nods.
“And they also let us know which sin the person is going to commit if we don’t stop them.”
“Exactly. But we already know which sin, because we have the list from your great-grandfather’s book.”
“Dante Ali-something.”
She grins. “Alighieri. He’s famous.”
“For writing a true story about the circles of Hell which is seen as fictional by people without magic,” I summarize.
“Yup. And because of his story, we also know what kind of demons to expect. You see, the punishment of every circle of Hell is connected to the demons that guard that circle.”
I hold up the card that’s dripping. “Let me guess, in this circle the souls are punished with water?”
“Yes, so the demons will also have something to do with water. They’re covered by it, they attack with it or…”
“They’re made of it?”
“Possibly.” She studies me for a moment, which makes heat rise to my cheeks.
“You really don’t remember me?” She sounds as much fascinated as hurt.
I lift her hand, that’s still holding mine, and kiss it. “I don’t, but my body does.”
Her gaze drops to my pants.
“That’s not what I meant,” I hurry to say.
She lets out a sigh that could win an Oscar. “Shame.”
She pouts, and I can’t help myself. Laughter bursts out of me as if it’s been cooped up for too long, in loud, choking salvos. My chest contracts as joy, relief, fear and grief try to escape at the same time. The corners of my mouth can’t decide whether to go up or down.
“Oh, babe, come here.” Vicky’s soft voice provokes loud sobs interrupted by hiccups of laughter.
She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me closer. “It’s okay, let it all out. You’ve been through a lot. We both have.”
I bury my head in her shoulder. Her skin is so cold, but she smells so good. I want to hide inside her and never come out.
The next thing I know, I’m kissing her neck. My lips quickly move up to her chin and find her soft mouth. All my emotions blend together into one content feeling as I softly push her back and everything around us fades away.
CHAPTER 16
I wake up in silence, tucked under the covers in the dark, and go over everything my friends have told me.
My powers. They should be my main focus now. When we find the soul to save, we’ll have to fight. How can I do that if I don’t know how to use my powers?
Carefully, I concentrate on the spot near my heart, the spot that is supposed to hold my magical energy.
“Nudge it softly,” I mumble as I hold up my right hand.
A small flicker of a light illuminates the bed and the sleeping beauty beside me. She stirs, and I hastily move my hand away from her. With an extra nudge and a lot of concentration, I manage to make the ball of lightning drift from the palm of my hand to the ceiling. With my eyes, I steer it around the large space. The big gap in the wall is gone, and when I squint, I can make out dark marks in the stones. The ceiling is high and curved, and I think there are
words carved into it. Oval shaped windows break up the walls on my left and right side. I can’t see anything through them.
I pick up the Cards of Death that have slid onto the floor and study them again.
They both have moving, blue symbols, lines and skulls on the back. Plus one strange face with big eye sockets and horns on top of its head.
We haven’t figured out how to remove the dripping water from one of the cards yet, so I stare at it for a while and rack my brain for a solution.
I’m surprised at how long I can keep the ball in my hand lit. I know it’s only small, but the Shield told me using my powers will drain my energy, and I still feel fine. Which I’m happy about, because it’s still chilly in here, and the ball gives me a bit of warmth.
A thought hits me, and I hold my hand closer to the card. Heat evaporates water, right?
Patiently, I wait for something to happen. When the dripping continues in the same rhythm, I imagine a bigger ball. It grows immediately, and I watch it intently. Of course that doesn’t help one bit, and neither does the bigger ball of lightning. Tired of waiting any longer, I push the card into the light.
Nothing changes.
With a sigh, I close my hand and lean back in the pillow. Darkness envelops me, and a cold breeze brushes my face. I wonder if I’d also be able to conjure sunshine inside this building. I mean, if I can create and manipulate rain, hail and storm, why not also sunlight?
I sit up again abruptly and look at the cards in my hands. If I can create rain out of nothing, I should also be able to move rain, or… water.
I focus on the flowing water on the card until everything else around me fades into a haze. Then I nudge my power core and imagine the water rising up from the card.
I expect nothing, but I give it all I’ve got. In my mind, the drops flow up instead of down and take all the water with them until the symbols on the card become visible.
And then, just like that, it happens. I’m so surprised that I lose focus, and the water splashes down again.
The Fifth Portal: a supernatural urban fantasy action adventure (Cards of Death book 5) Page 9
