The Gatekeeper Trilogy

by Scott Ferrell

  “I know how you feel.” I was exhausted after the few days’ ordeal I had gone through. I couldn’t even imagine what it must have been like for Dad and his years of captivity.

  The inside of the car went silent again while outside the engine growled. The radio hadn’t worked in a few years and Aunt Stacy didn’t want to spend the money to replace it. I kind of wished she had, though. It felt like I hadn’t listened to music in forever. I started to crave the way it could scatter my thoughts, make my mind go blank, and then fill it with instruments and beats I didn’t have to think about.

  I could use a nice empty brain. Instead, I was left with all my busy bees. I couldn’t settle on one string of thought to concentrate on like a teacher with too many kids to help. From Mom and Stacy and the guilt that goes along with them, to my ordeal, to my Dad sitting in the car next to me, to my fear of what had caused the earthquake—it was all too much. It felt a lot like the sensation of being ripped apart the first time I went through the gate. My muscles tightened. I tried to force them to relax, but they were locked up and there was no freeing them. My knuckles were white as I gripped the car door.

  People stood in their yards in various states of dress as we drove through town. Some wore pajamas while others wore just bottoms or shorts. Still others wore full night gowns while others wore considerably less. Thankfully, nobody on the street slept naked, or if they did, they threw something on before rushing out of their shaking homes.

  The car drifted across the double yellow line again. “Do you want me to drive?”

  “No, I’m fine,” Dad said with a sheepish look. “Since when did you know how to drive?”

  “I took driver’s ed. I just never got around to taking the test for my learners.”

  “Oh,” he said. “I guess it’s been awhile.”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  Dad corrected another drift just as a police car zoomed by with lights flashing and siren blaring. I feared we’d get pulled over for suspicion of a DUI the way my dad was driving. I turned to watch the car disappear through the back window. Apparently whatever emergency the earthquake had caused was more important.

  “You sure you want to do this?” he asked. “Maybe we should just go check on your mom and aunt.”

  It was a tempting thought, but I had to know what was going on at the gateway. Daresh wanted to invade Earth and if that earthquake was the gate being ripped open, then Dad and I would get Mom, Stacy, and maybe Mr. Minor and get out of Gate City as fast as we could. Maybe I could close the gate if it was open, maybe I couldn’t. To me, it didn’t really matter. It wasn’t my problem anymore. I was done. Out. There was no more hero left in me. The army or whatever could handle it while my family and I were half way across the country.

  “If the gateway is open again, I either need to close it or we need to get out of here,” I said. “Nothing good comes through that thing.”

  He nodded and drove on, his fingers twitching on the steering wheel. I couldn’t blame him for being nervous. He’d spent years in captivity on the other side of that stupid gateway and had just made it back home. I spent a week or so and didn’t feel the need to rush right back to it. But, there we were, only a few blocks away.

  Aunt Stacy’s mustang slowed as we neared the turn that led onto the road not far from the park. Dad had taken his foot off the gas and it hovered over the pedals like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to accelerate through the turn or stomp on the brakes.

  “Maybe we should stop here,” I suggested. “If there’s something at the gate, the headlights might attract unwanted attention.”

  He nodded again and pulled the car to the side of the road. He killed the engine, turned off the headlights, and stared out the windshield.

  “Look, maybe you should stay here,’’ I said. “I’ll run down and take a look.”

  It was kind of a dumb idea based solely on the fact I didn’t want to let him out of my sight. I still hadn’t convinced myself my dad was sitting right there in the car with me. For months after his funeral, I always imagined him walking through the door, somehow miraculously alive, and I’d rush over to throw my arms around his neck. That daydream had apparently come true and all I’d done was punch him.

  To tell the truth, I still wasn’t sure if I was hallucinating or not. I couldn’t quite shake the feeling this was just all some kind of weird drug-induced dream perpetuated by Daresh. That we hadn’t escaped from his dungeon and from Delicia on a plane. That we weren’t attacked by dragons and helped save the Tree Mother. That we made it home and my dad was sitting right there. Maybe I was still in that dungeon and this was just another attempt to gain my cooperation.

  “No,” Dad said, “I couldn’t do that. We’ll go check it out together.”

  We climbed out of the car and slipped down the dark road. There was a single streetlight hanging over an overflowing trash can by the entrance to the park’s parking lot. Other than that, the park itself was a looming, blotchy stain of darkness like a black hole sucking all the light out of Gate City.

  We hurried across the parking lot and crouched behind a short row of bushes trimmed low in preparation for the coming winter. I know that because I read up on shrub maintenance before I mangled the bush in front of our house a few weeks ago. I also knew it was way too early for the trimming. The night was cool, but autumn had yet to put a real bite in the air. They’d have to trim it again in a few weeks.

  “Do you see anything?” Dad asked.

  I peered over the hedges again and shook my head. “Too dark. I can’t even see the cliffs. We need to get closer.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Me neither,” I said. “Come on.”

  We circled the hedges and slinked deeper into the park. The sky was overcast making it nearly impossible to see anything beyond a few feet. I hoped if anyone or anything was out there, they were having the same difficulties.

  We climbed the slope towards the cliffs. The closer we came, the harder my heart thumped in my chest. I was feeling the pull of the gateway. It grew stronger with every step. I told myself I wanted nothing more to do with it, but I felt drawn to it. Even though I could just barely make out the dark shapes of the trees that grew at the base of the small cliff, I knew exactly where the gateway was. I adjusted our course to a straighter route to it.

  We passed the boulder where I had spent my last evening on Earth and hurried up the path Seanna had used to draw me to the gate.

  My heart beat harder. I wanted to go through it. I wanted to open it wide and feel the sensation of being ripped apart again. I followed the path mindlessly with that one goal in mind.

  Dad grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop. “Do you hear that?”

  I blinked, pulled from my trance-like state. I imagined that was how people felt when they participated in a hypnotist’s stage show. Once they had strutted across the stage like they were models in a Victoria Secret lingerie show and released from their hypnosis, they returned to their seats with no memory and confused as to why everyone was laughing.

  It took a moment to hear what he was talking about. It sounded like talking, but not in any language I could conceive. I might not have understood the words, but I recognized guttural hissing as the same that had come from that creature under Daresh’s control. To make it worse, there were several distinct voices. Some higher than others. Some raspier. Some nothing more than a growl.

  Fear and anger rose inside me to battle for my attention. That thing was partially responsible for what happened to me at Daresh’s stronghold. I rubbed the spot on my forehead where his jewel had been embedded. Just the thought of being near that creature made it itch.

  “We should go,” Dad hissed.

  I shook my head and pushed myself against the cliff. I had to see for myself. I had to know if that thing had come through the gate onto Earth. I prayed I was just imagining those sounds.

  I slid along the wall, inching my feet forward until I came to a bend. I i
nhaled as softly as I could and leaned around the corner just enough to see the clearing around the gateway. Several dark figures moved around the area, dragging boxes to stack on the far side. I squinted to try to get some kind of glimpse that would indicate what was in them, but it was too dark.

  Dad moved to stand behind me. He grabbed my arm and gave it a slight tug, but I ignored him. I was fixated on those boxes. They were wooden and there were four in total as far as I could tell. They ranged in size from a breadbox to the cedar chest that sat at the end of Mom’s bed.

  The dark shapes moved around like they were nervous. Their cloaks shifted and twitched as they moved one long box to the center of the clearing. Four of the figures stepped back while a fifth knelt over it and dug long fingers under the lid. The box opened with the sharp cracking of nails ripping from wood. The lid fell to the ground and the cloaked figured reached inside to pull out the contents. It was long and skinny. At first, I thought it was some kind of gun, but it opened up to reveal three legs. The figure set the tripod on the ground in front of the gateway.

  My eyes were drawn to the scar on the cliff face. The black deep inside it seemed to swirl, though I didn’t know how I could tell in the dark of night. I shouldn’t have even been able to see it, but I could. Just looking at it made my chest tighten as it tugged on me. It was like it called for me to step through. It wanted me to. It needed me to. It needed me as much as I needed it. It was like the gateway had a voice and it pleaded for me to enter it. I wanted to. I could just step out, ignore those evil creatures, walk through, and set myself free.

  Distantly, I felt myself leaning toward the clearing, preparing to take that first step to freedom.

  A dark form rose in front of my vision. Although I could still feel the gate’s internal pull on me, the visual draw was gone. Startled, I stumbled back, tripped over my dad, and fell on my backside. The creature loomed over me and hissed. I was no expert at these things, but the noise sounded suspiciously gleeful.

  20

  IT BEGINS

  Yannick twisted his three fingers into my shirt and yanked me out from behind the rock. He was tall enough to lift me off my feet and look me in the eyes. My shirt sleeve dug into my arm pits as he held me in the air. I grunted and attempted an awkward overhand punch. It landed, but I couldn’t get any force behind it. He slammed me against the rock face. Pain lanced through my head and I went limp as stars burst in my vision.

  “You are no longer needed, Gatekeeper. I knew stupid you are, but why come here? You felt the gateway open again, correct? Could not help coming here.”

  I blew out a breath as the pain in my head receded a touch. It didn’t feel quite like a bus parked on my head anymore. It had downgraded to a mid-sized car. “You know what? You talk too much.”

  I gathered power from inside me and pushed it out in one big rush. Things were a little different than the last time he and I were this close without his little stone embedded in forehead to block access to my power. He flew backwards, his black cloak flapping until he disappeared into the night.

  I knew I had four more to deal with, but my head felt like a helium-filled balloon caught in the wind. I wobbled, tried to catch myself on the rock face, missed, and fell to the rocky ground. I ignored the lightheaded feeling and rolled over to tell my dad to run. He wasn’t there.

  Add confusion to the mix and I really had no clue what was happening. It felt like I was trying to think with my brain buried in sand. Comprehension like ocean waves rolled over it to free it from the murk, but it wasn’t happening fast enough. Rough hands yanked on me, pulling me to my feet. I couldn’t really see, but there were too many hands to count. All four of them must have been trying to get a piece of me.

  I dug deep, scraping the bottom of whatever well inside me held the power I wielded. It wasn’t much. It felt like scraping at the bottom of a bowl to get last drops of ice cream. It was enough, though. I pushed it out like an explosive breath of air. The four remaining creatures pawing at me flew back, but not with quite the same force as Yannick.

  I didn’t give the darkness time to take me over like usual. I knew I wouldn’t have the energy to escape down the winding path, so I turned and with the last bit of strength I could muster, I ran straight for the cliff ledge. I stumbled through some scraggly bushes and the ground disappeared from underneath me.

  The cliff was only thirty or so feet at its high point, but that was still tall enough to do some damage if I fell the whole way down. Luckily, the clearing that held the gateway was directly over one of the many paths. It was only about a ten-foot drop, but I had no energy left to brace myself. I landed heavily on the rocky path.

  A groan escaped my lips and I rolled to my back, staring at the trees reaching over me. “Get up, Gaige,” I wheezed. I tried to obey myself, but my body revolted—my muscles refused to work.

  The creatures’ spidery language rose in the dark above me. I obviously couldn’t understand what they said, but their toned sounded pissed. Lower in pitch. More clipped. I tried to hold my breath, but that only made my lungs hurt.

  Any moment, they’d come crawling over the edge right above me at any moment. That thought was enough to get my muscles moving.

  I rolled to my stomach, ignoring the sharp pain between my shoulder blades, and pushed myself to my hands and knees. I crawled across the path and squeezed between two small boulders. I thought of trying to hide there, but just on the other side, I put a hand out and couldn’t find the ground. Caught off balance, I tumbled further down the cliff. Thankfully, that part sloped instead of dropped. Unable to catch myself, I rolled until I came to a stop sprawled out in grass.

  Grass? Grass didn’t grow on the paths, only pokey weeds and bushes that were more sticks than leaves. I had made it to the bottom of cliff face, somewhat intact. I couldn’t rest on my luck, crappy as it was. I lifted my head and stared across the dark park. The road seemed a hundred miles away. I looked around for some place to hide.

  Then I heard a growl like a dinosaur on steroids—deep and nasty. At first, I thought they had brought some kind of creature through the gateway with them, but bright lights swung on me. I lifted a scraped arm to shade my eyes. The growling came at me at an alarming rate of speed.

  Panic fueled my adrenaline. I pushed myself to a somewhat standing position, head twisting around to find somewhere I could get out of the way of the charging creature. There was nowhere. I stood on the sloping grassy ground with nothing around but a few trees. I didn’t think they’d provide much protection. Still, it was all I had. The creature came at me faster than I could stumble to one, though.

  Before I could react, it veered off to the side and skidded to a stop beside me. I blinked, half-blinded by the sudden darkness, at the car door that swung open.

  “Get in!” Dad yelled from the driver’s seat.

  I’d never been so happy to see Aunt Stacy’s old Mustang. I didn’t so much get in as I flopped into the passenger seat, completely drained.

  Dad stomped on the gas pedal. The engine roared and the car’s back end drifted a bit before it found purchase on the grass. The momentum of our acceleration slammed my door shut. I was thankful I had all my body parts inside the vehicle.

  He steered the car across the park, nearly took out a swing set and cut across the wood chip filled pit under the jungle gym before we made it out of the park. The car bounced as we bumped onto asphalt. The tires screeched and we took off down the road.

  Dad gripped the steering wheel with such force his knuckles were bone white. He had a slightly panicked look in his eyes.

  “Where did you go?” I asked when I could breathe enough to get the words out of my throat.

  “I got the car,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “Obviously,” I snapped. “You left me alone up there.”

  “I panicked, okay!”

  “What the hell good is a car going to do up the side of a cliff?”

  “I don’t know! I would have done something,” h
e insisted.

  The car wobbled and jerked back and forth on the road. It seemed like he was only a moment away from losing control of it, so I knew it wasn’t the best time to discuss him abandoning me up there. Maybe I should cut him some slack. I really had no clue exactly what he went through the past couple years, but I couldn’t help myself. I was beyond pissed. I wanted to punch him again.

  “Forget it,” I mumbled. Some strength returned to my muscles. I pushed myself up straighter in the seat. “Where are we going?”

  “Mr. Minor’s.”

  “Why?” I wanted to see my mom and aunt so bad it hurt worse than the bruises and scrapes, but we needed to do something about Yannick and his pack of scaly lizards on two feet at the gateway.

  “We’re getting your mother and aunt and getting out of Gate City.”

  “What? No.” I twisted in the seat with a wince. “We can’t just leave. Those things up there, their leader Daresh, they are going to invade Earth. They told me so.”

  “The army can deal with it or whatever. We need to get as far away as possible.”

  “We can’t just leave people here with no warning. Aoife. Brian.”

  Dad glanced at me. The movement was more of flinch than turning his head. Maybe he had a point—one I had considered many times—but now I was faced with it, I just couldn’t wrap my head around the thought of tucking my tail between my legs and running. Staying was stupid—very stupid—but I knew I was somehow responsible for whatever happened at the gate. I was the so-called Gatekeeper. That made me responsible, right?

  “Look, Gaige, I know I’ve been gone a long time—”

  “Take me to Aoife’s,” I cut in with more bite than I meant. I don’t know what came over me at that moment, but I didn’t want to hear whatever he had to say. I knew his absence wasn’t his fault, but I blamed him for the past few years. Somehow, he was to blame for the accident. He had been driving after all.

  “But, I—”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I said. “Take me to Aoife’s, then you can go get Mom and Stacy and get out of here.”