by Otto Schafer
Garrett rubbed his face. His back still felt as though it was burning, not like in the dream, but enough he could still feel it.
Suddenly what the girl had said came back to him in a rush. “He said I have to find you!”
“Who said?” he had asked.
“The Templar Knight Hugues!”
Then he had told her told her how: “Find me in Petersburg.” Why had he said that?
This didn’t feel like a dream to him at all, more like a memory of a real event. Unsure what to make of it, he pulled himself from his damp bed and descended the stairs to the bathroom for a shower. After washing he went to the bathroom sink and began brushing his teeth, still in deep thought over the nightmare. What kind of messed-up dream includes a hot girl, hellish flames, and burning people? Thinking about it made his back burn. No, it wasn’t thinking about it that made his back burn – his back had never stopped feeling like it had been burned. He turned away from the mirror, then looked back over his shoulder. He dropped the toothbrush in the sink and gawked in shock at his back. His back was covered in tiny red marks – red burns. Some were even starting to blister. The exploding concrete from the sidewalk, the small red-hot pieces… how the hell? There was something else. Some kind of strange sound. When his back was burning, there was a sound… a scream. It sounded unlike anything he had ever heard. He didn’t know what the hell last night was, but one thing was for sure – this was no normal nightmare.
School dragged on and on. All he could think about was the nightmare, the sickening scream echoing in his mind, and the girl – Breanne. He found himself worrying about her. He was struck with a feeling that she was in danger. He told himself this made absolutely no sense; after all, she was just a dream… wasn’t she? The burns on his back were real enough.
He knew he should be focusing on his second-degree black belt test so he tried, but that only led to more worry. Finally, the whistle blew and Garrett made his way through the masses to the front of the school to meet up with Lenny. On his way, he ran into Coach Dagrun. “Hey Coach,” he said as he walked by.
Coach grabbed his arm and pulled him off to the side, away from the throng. At first, he thought he had done something wrong, but then Coach said in low tone, “Testing today, right?”
“Yeah, Coach, actually heading there now.”
“That why you cut your hair? For the test?”
“I… I don’t know.”
Coach stared at him for a long, awkward moment. “It’s about goddamn time, brick,” he said grimly.
“Thanks?” Garrett said, unsure.
“Listen, that place you go when you run…” Coach paused to look around, like he had the other day in the gym – like they were being watched.
“New Salem?” Garrett asked, his head tilting to the side.
“No!” Coach said in an urgent whisper, tapping his head with a finger. “The place in your head.”
Garrett just stared at the man. How could he know? Because he is a runner too? He didn’t think so. “But what—”
“You know the place. Find it today – you will have to find it when you aren’t running, Garrett. That’s your door. That’s the way to your focus.”
Garrett blinked and tried not to show how confused he was by the man’s strange behavior. “I got to go, Coach. I… I don’t want to be late.” Only now did he notice that Coach’s eyes were wild, and he didn’t look himself as he stood there, continuing to tap his head.
Garrett pulled away, backing into the mass of eagerly exiting students.
“That’s your door, Garrett!” Coach shouted after him as he made his way through the double doors. “That’s your door!”
Once outside, Garrett stood off to the side of the main entry, near a bike rack and a couple of benches. A few minutes passed before he saw Lenny come through the doors with his backpack slung over one shoulder. He noticed Garrett and nodded excitedly, a big smile stretching across his face. Well, someone is excited about the test at least, he thought. But then Lenny’s smile changed as his eyes tripled in size. Lines of confusion barely had time to form between Garrett’s eyebrows before he felt the sharp pain of a fist connecting with his face.
Garrett fell hard. Lying facedown on the ground, he turned his head and squinted up at the source of the sucker punch through one eye.
Jack stood over him, seething with rage. “So you think you can make me look stupid and get away with it, Garrett? Send me into an antique store with a fake?” he yelled as he raised his foot high and stomped down at Garrett’s ribs.
Garrett rolled, trying to dodge the stomp, but he was too late. He felt his ribs give as Jack’s foot found his side. Struggling for breath and with his heart beating in his eye, he grunted up at Jack. “Not sure… I can… make you look… any more stupid than—”
“Get up, you little bitch! I’ve been waiting for this!” Jack motioned.
A crowd formed as Garrett struggled to get to his hands and knees.
Lenny rushed into the circle, throwing himself in between the two of them. “Not here, man!”
“You know, Lenny, my problem isn’t with you, but it can be if you don’t step off!” Jack said, poking Lenny hard in the chest.
“Look, man, he’ll fight you, but not here and not now!” Lenny nodded back towards the school, motioning towards Coach Dagrun, who was just exiting the double doors with an expression of pure irritation. “Come on, Garrett, we got to go!”
“When and where? Name the place!” Jack said.
“Around five – behind the arcade,” Lenny said, hauling Garrett up by the arm. “Now, come on, Garrett. There is no way we can afford to be held after school today.” Lenny snatched up Garrett’s backpack and pushed him away from the crowd and away from Jack. “Come on, let’s go before Dagrun tries to hold us for questioning.”
Somehow, he didn’t think Dagrun would be a problem, but Lenny was right. If they missed their test, no excuse would be good enough. They would be forced to wait until Mr. B decided to give them another opportunity, and who knew when that would be.
“You better show, Garrett, or everyone’s going to know you’re a coward!” Jack shouted, driving a fist into an open palm.
“You okay, man?” Lenny asked, keeping stride with Garrett.
“Yeah, dickhead sucker punched me.”
“Dude, you went down like a sack of potatoes!”
“Thanks a lot, friend!”
“Sorry, man, but damn, talk about a haymaker – the whole school saw that coming! Well, almost the whole school.”
“Well, I was looking at you, so if I had so much time to get out of the way you should’ve had time to warn me!” The words stretched his jaw, causing him to rub his eye reflexively.
“Yeah, I’d say that’s going to leave a mark.”
“And what’s with you volunteering me to fight him after our test tonight? I’m going to be completely wiped out and now I got to go fight Jack? Seriously?” Garrett asked.
“Hey, man, I was just trying to think on my feet. We couldn’t be getting held after – not today. You should be thanking me. I saved your ass.”
He knew his friend was right, but his head was throbbing, his side hurt, he had to worry about his test, and now he had to worry about a fight with Jack on top of it. “Don’t you remember my dad said after we test to come straight back home and he would answer all our questions about why we have to train?”
“Yeah, well, you will just have to make short work of Jack then. Easy enough,” Lenny said simply.
The backpack straps rubbed against his blistered back as they ran, stinging as if he had a harsh sunburn. He tried unsuccessfully to adjust them as he pressed his fingers into his bruised side and winced. Yeah, that’s it, Lenny… easy enough, he thought. Except nothing about this day felt like it was going to be easy.
34
The Corner of Her Eye
Wednesday April 6th, 9:00 a.m.
Day One
Oak Island, Nova Scotia
&n
bsp; Breanne woke with a jerk. It’s burning me! Her mind screamed the words, but they wouldn’t form on her lips. Her jaw was clenched tight. Her teeth were mashed together, fixed so tight they might break. Every muscle seized, and she went rigid as a washboard. Her body shook uncontrollably. Her head bounced, thumping against cold dirt. White light flickered bright between glimpses of blue sky as if a paparazzo held a camera to her face, flashing it over and over. What was happening? She couldn’t breathe. She gasped. She shook. She tried to cry out again. Waves of pain racked her taut muscles until finally the shaking slowed, then stopped altogether. Her muscles unclenched. She sagged back, lifeless.
The pain in her head faded. Her eyes cleared. Struggling to gain her bearings, she looked around in confusion, unsure for a moment where she was. I’m… I’m in the pit, she realized as she lay sprawled awkwardly in the cold dirt. The last moments before the dream came rushing back to her. Her father – he had opened the Ark, then there was pain in her head, horrible pain. Then she was in the dream. She reached, dragging her fingertips across her forehead, expecting to find blood. Nothing. She looked around, picking herself up slowly. She could see her brothers and father scattered against the walls of the pit, discarded like used towels. They were still unconscious, except Paul.
Paul moaned.
She pulled herself up, dizzy, and heaved dryly. Straightening, she staggered over to him, dropping to her knees, and shook him. “Paul! Please, Paul, wake up!” she pleaded.
Paul struggled to open his eyes, blinking several times. “Bre? Are… Are you okay?” he asked finally.
“I think so, but I feel… different.”
Paul sat up slowly, holding his head in his hands.
A voice boomed from above them, from the top of the pit. “Hello, below!” It was the voice of Jerry’s boss. “To whomever opened the chest, I thank you. I knew I could count on you! You should count yourself blessed. Not many humans survive their first exposure to the God Stones. Typically, your weak minds just pop like too-ripe tomatoes. Fun to watch, but oh, so messy.”
Breanne looked at the chest. The lid sat ajar. Her father lay across the pit, still unconscious. She could see no visible injuries, no blood, thank God. Edward lay sprawled across the pile of stones excavated from the tunnel and was starting to stir. His right leg was twisted in an unnatural position. Oh no, Edward. Her heart began to race.
Cautiously, she eased close to the chest, just close enough to see inside. Her breath caught. Seven separate items were lying in the chest, each one oddly shaped, about the size of her hand and just as thick. They didn’t look like stones to her, at least not like any stones she had ever seen. They weren’t glowing or pulsing, yet they were. They were both translucent and opaque, yet they were neither. The cloudiness inside them seemed to move through the stones, changing from one color to another, then back. Strangely, the stones changed colors until they flashed a color she had never seen nor could comprehend. When this color flashed, it pained her eyes, like looking into the sun, forcing her to squint and shield her eyes. But, oh, how she wanted to see it, the color never seen.
Breanne longed to reach in and pick up one of the stones, to hold it, to feel it in her hands, but forced herself instead to look away. Placing her hand against her forehead, she craned her head back, trying to see the source of the voice.
“Paul, do you see the radio?” she asked.
Paul frantically scanned the pit, locating the radio near their unconscious father.
Edward’s eyes opened, and he groaned.
Paul handed Breanne the radio and she depressed the button, but the indicator light failed to come on – the radio was dead. She threw it to the ground and yelled towards the top of the pit. “Help us, my dad is unconscious! Ed is hurt! We need help! Jerry, can you hear me?”
Jerry appeared on the platform, leaning out over the railing. “Yes, I hear you, Breanne! What the hell was that? My God! Are you alright?”
“No! Ed is hurt! We need help! My dad is unconscious! Please!” she pleaded. “Get us out!”
Jerry turned and began speaking to the cloaked man in a tone barely lower than a shout and still audible in his panic. “I don’t know who in the bloody hell you think you are or what the hell is going on here, but I know you know damn well more than you let on,” Jerry said, wagging a finger towards the cloaked man. “Right now, my friends are in that pit, and we need to get them out!”
Breanne listened intently from the floor of the pit. She squinted up. Jerry’s boss stood next to him in a black duster with a large hood, revealing only shadowed facial features.
“We need to help them and I’ve been trained on the crane, we can get them out!”
“Stay put, Gerald,” the cloaked man said, turning to face Jerry. “Your crane won’t work now.”
Jerry shouted back down into the pit. “Not to worry, Bre! We will figure out how to get you out. I’ll find rope… we will get you out!”
The cloaked man shook his head. “No, Gerald, we won’t be using ropes either.”
“Well, what then?” Jerry shouted.
Breanne could hear his panic, causing her own to well up.
The man turned away from him, back to the pit. “I have longed for this day, Gerald! The day I would claim what is rightfully mine! You know, they imprisoned me in Egypt? Me! Took the God Stones and squirreled them away. Humans are so afraid. So pathetic! Afraid of power. But I broke free! I searched tirelessly for centuries to find the God Stones, Gerald! Hundreds of years of relentless determination, all for this day and the days that will follow. I lived among the rodents of this world. Disguised myself as one of the scourges. I watched your race fail to evolve, fail to learn from your pathetic past. Instead, I watched your kind make the same absurd mistakes over and over. You’re nothing more than a defective race of amnesiacs who can’t remember their past and are too stupid to see their future. Poisoned to the core, Gerald… poisoned to the core. That’s why you and your God were banished from our world long ago. But never fear, for I will cleanse it all away! I will unleash fire upon this planet, the likes of which have never been seen!”
Breanne gasped. Fire? The man in the cloak, Jerry’s boss, was the man the Templar had warned of… Apep!”
“He tried, Gerald! Oho! He tried to make sure I would never get them! But here we are! The beginning of the end before the new! Oh, yes! Yes!” the cloaked man shouted gleefully. “I promise you this – here and now – I will watch this world burn in chaos and from the ashes will rise the greatest army ever seen! With this army, I shall rule anew!” He raised his arms out from his sides above the pit.
Apep’s hood fell back. His human features twisted and fell away to something else. He stretched tall. She thought she glimpsed the color of his skin change to a blue or grey blue. His ears seemed longer somehow, pointed maybe. She wasn’t sure, but he changed from incredible and dreadful into something terrible.
“Barmy hell! You’re some kind of… You’re a… Can’t be…” Jerry sputtered, unable to say the word.
“No need to hide from you. Not now, not in this moment,” Apep said without concern.
What is he? Say it, Jerry. But Jerry didn’t say it. Breanne could only see the shadowed figure of the man and his outstretched arms. Then her attention was drawn from the top of the pit back to the Ark as it began to rattle and shake violently. The lid, which had been sitting only partially on the top of the Ark, fell away to the pit floor, and the God Stones began to rise from the Ark, one by one. Breanne watched helplessly as the stones floated or levitated impossibly, all the way into the silhouetted hands of Apep. Their only bargaining chip out of the pit had just floated away like a puff of smoke.
Apep cupped his hands as the God Stones settled softly in them, one after the other. His voice echoed off the pit walls, seemingly coming from everywhere all at once. “I have suffered centuries of longing, but I never gave up. I kept my faith that one day the wrong done to me would be made right, and I would be made whole. I will u
nleash hell upon this world. I will build my army. And by the gods, I will have vengeance on my father.”
Jerry stood next to Apep and watched in astounded horror.
Paul yelled up from the pit below. “You can’t leave us here! For Christ’s sake, Jerry, my dad needs you. Ed is hurt! We need you – get us out!”
Jerry found his courage and looked to Apep. “You… Whatever you are. You can’t leave them down there alone. At least two of them are injured. We have to help them. Dammit, this is madness! We have to help them now!” Jerry turned away from Apep. “I will find a rope my goddammed self.”
Apep reached out and grabbed Jerry by the arm. “You’re right, of course, Gerald. We can’t leave them down there alone.”
Breanne looked up towards the top of the pit and in a fleeting moment her mind flashed an image… only glimpsing it from the corner of her eye. She screamed out, “Jerry!”
Jerry nodded uneasily. “Well… alright, help me find a bloody rope.”
“No, Gerald, I mean you should join them,” Apep said, as he reached out and grasped the smartly dressed man by the throat, lifting him up off his feet. He turned with a sudden jerk, forcing the back of Jerry’s legs to drag across the guard rail. He dangled out over the pit as Apep held him there with incredible strength.
