by Otto Schafer
“We’re about to find out,” Garrett said, smiling weakly.
Pete disappeared over the side.
“David, you go next and then I will send the girls down.”
All the blood drained from David’s face and he looked as though he might hurl. “Garrett, I’m not sure I can do this.”
The light below flashed, signaling Pete was safely inside the tunnel.
“Piece of cake, man,” Garrett said, slapping him on the back.
Water beaded on David’s mustache, which did nothing to hide his terror. He sucked in a deep breath and eased himself off over the side. The path down was getting more and more slippery as each of them took their turn and the rain increased. Once in position, David could barely keep himself from sliding. “Garrett, I don’t know. I got a bad feeling about this!” His eyes pleaded with Garrett like those of a death row inmate hoping for a stay of execution. But no reprieve came.
Garrett nodded. “Just let go, David.”
David swallowed hard – and let go. He flew down the slope much faster than even Garrett expected. In a pure state of panic, David began flailing and grabbing for anything he could find, but it was no use – by the time he reached the culvert he was completely out of control.
“Lenny, he’s coming too fast!” Garrett shouted, illuminating David with Pete’s flashlight. Oh, dear god, there would be no way for Lenny to stop him from going over.
David was coming too fast. Lenny watched helplessly as David barreled toward him, screaming. It only took a split-second for Lenny to conclude there would be no stopping David’s momentum. They would both be thrown from the culvert and into the waiting abyss below. But a second was all Lenny needed. From his squatting position, he jumped straight up into the air just as David reached him.
In the dim light of the flashlight beam, Lenny caught a glimpse of the terror on David’s face as he scrambled helplessly, trying and failing to dig his fingers and heels into the soft earth, but no hold could be found. He sailed under Lenny and off the culvert – into the empty night.
“David! No!” Lenny shouted, landing safely back on top of the culvert only to turn and lunge forward in hopes of making a desperate grab for David’s hand. But he didn’t even come close, nearly losing his balance and almost sending himself into the currents below.
David vanished over the edge.
Lenny closed his eyes in a slow, disbelieving blink.
“Oh my god! David! Lenny, is he okay?” Garrett shouted down the slope.
Lenny leaned out over the edge of the culvert to search the water, his heart sinking. He knew it was unlikely, but maybe, just maybe, if David had fallen close enough to the bank, he could find something to grab before being washed down river and over the dam. Jesus! Or sucked under by the undertow, Lenny thought.
But nothing prepared him for what he saw when he peered over the edge. David was right there, suspended just outside the opening to the tunnel. At first, Lenny couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing. David was somehow floating. Then he noticed the arm protruding from inside the tunnel. Lenny blinked. But it was still there, an outstretched arm and a black fist gripping David’s collar.
“Damn, bro!” Lenny said.
“Ah… can you… pull me in… please?” David said, his feet dangling.
Paul had somehow reached out and snatched David in mid-fall – with one hand. Lenny gawked for a few more seconds, then David disappeared into the tunnel.
“Lenny! Do you see him?!” Garrett’s voice rang out, frantic through the rain.
“Um, yeah, he’s good.”
“Good?” Garrett shouted back down.
“Yeah… good. He’s in. But we need to do something different to get you three down here, Garrett!” Lenny said, yelling louder now just to be heard through the pouring rain and increasing thunder.
“Okay, don’t worry, I have a plan!” Garrett responded.
“Well, if it includes me catching you, forget it!”
“We are going to make a human chain. Janis first, then Bre, then me.”
“I don’t see how this is going to work when we get to you…” Lenny started so say. But it was too late – Janis was already over the edge and Breanne was right behind her.
Janis didn’t have far to slide once she let go of Breanne’s hand. She still came quick, but Lenny managed to grab her and steady her before she lost her balance. Breanne, on the other hand, had an additional body length to go. She let go and slid fast down the embankment toward Lenny. He lunged for her but couldn’t hold on. She slid over the culvert to her waist. Lenny lunged again, grabbing her wrist.
“Lenny! Don’t let me go!” she said.
“You’re okay. I have you. Just slide down the rest of the way, hang from your hands, and drop in.” Slowly Lenny eased her hands to the top of the culvert, where she hung before disappearing inside the tunnel.
“Bre okay?” Garrett asked.
“She’s good! But, bro, I mean it when I say I can’t catch you, and you’re going to be coming in way too fast for sure!”
“Go inside, Lenny! I don’t want to hit you when I come down.”
“This won’t work! Maybe Paul could catch you?”
“Just go in! I don’t want to risk knocking you into the river!” Garrett shouted.
“Fine! Stubborn ass!” he said, swinging easily into the mouth of the drainage tunnel where everyone waited.
Garrett lay facedown, firmly grasping a small tree. He knew when he let go, it was going to be on. Sucking in a deep breath, he released the tree.
Garrett flew down the embankment like a bobsled on ice. He had no idea when it would come, but he knew it wouldn’t take long – only heartbeats. He would feel his body separate from the ground as he went airborne off the embankment and into the river. He reached back over his shoulder and drew the sword his father had given him. In the space of a gasp he realized he might be making the most epic of bonehead moves. I really hope I don’t break an ancient sword needed to prevent the end of the world.
He spun the sword in his hand so that he could stab down, but the sword was too long and he couldn’t get it to bite in – instead it just twisted as it raked down the embankment. He realized he needed to put some space between himself and the ground, so he pushed himself onto his knees. He reached above his head, both hands gripping the ancient sword as he slid backward. Mustering all his force, he thrust the sword down. The ground went out from under him as the sword sank deep into the earth, not stopping until it reached the hilt.
Garrett stopped sliding with an abrupt jolt that ripped his left hand from the hilt, leaving all his weight hanging from the other. Slowly his hand began to slip. He looked down but could not see the culvert, only dark churning water that was far too close. He looked left and saw nothing but the dirt embankment falling away to darkness. He looked right and there, above his right shoulder, was the culvert. He had missed it altogether and was now positioned below it and out of reach.
Lenny’s head poked out from the culvert. “You missed, bro,” he said evenly.
“Really? I hadn’t noticed! Thank god you are here to point that out. How about a little help, Lenny?! I’m… slipping.”
“Well, don’t. That wouldn’t be good,” Lenny said, assessing the situation.
“Wow! Thank… you… captain obvious!” Garrett shouted. He was only a few feet away from the opening, but water was already spilling out, making standing close to the edge risky for those inside. If Lenny tried to lower himself, he would be washed out into the river.
“Paul, can you get him?”
Paul poked his head out, his headlamp illuminating Garrett’s dire situation. “I’ll try.” Then without hesitation he lowered himself into the rushing outflow of water, and, hanging from one hand, he swung out to Garrett. Garrett reached, but his position was awkward, and he missed.
“You have to switch hands then reach for me!” Paul shouted as water poured over his body. It was as if he were holding himself suspended u
nder a waterfall with one hand.
Garrett swallowed hard and thrust upward with his left hand, grabbing the hilt of the sword. He managed to take hold, but then the sword began to pull out from the soft ground slowly losing purchase. “Not… good!” he managed.
Paul swung again, reaching out with his left hand as Garrett let go with his right. Straining, he reached Paul and they locked hands to wrists just as the sword slipped free from the earth. As Paul swung back, Garrett sheathed the sword then reached up to the edge of the culvert. Instantly Garrett was greeted with the rush of water. The deluge blasted him relentlessly, threatening to push him into the river. Thankfully, Lenny and David were there pulling him up into the culvert. Once Garrett was safely inside, Paul pulled himself up with little effort.
Finally, they were all inside.
Garrett gasped heavily, his hands on his knees.
“See! I knew you’d be fine! Now, catch your breath later, man. We got to move. The water is rising fast,” Lenny said.
“Yeah, I don’t think we can stay in here long,” Pete said.
From deep within the tunnel a flashlight clicked on. Then another, and still another.
Everyone squinted into the bright beams.
They weren’t alone.
17
Rise
Wednesday, April 6 – God Stones Day 1
Petersburg, Illinois
Two police units arrived at what was left of Garrett’s home to find the flames burning out of control. With the whole house collapsed, there was nothing they could do but watch it burn.
Glen wiped his eyes and staggered out the back door of his house next door.
“If there was anyone in there, heaven help them because we sure can’t,” Officer McMullan said, his thumbs tucked into his gun belt. “Radio it in, Dan. Tell dispatch not to bother sending fire and rescue – there’s nothing here that can be saved, and the rain will put it out.”
“Car three to dispatch, we’re on the scene but there’s no hope here. Leave fire and rescue in place up town. No use pulling any of the units off what they got going for this. It’s a lost cause. Over.”
“Dispatch to three. Copy that. Athens fire department is in route to assist up on the square, but even with their help we would be hard-pressed to free up an engine. I will keep you posted. Over.”
Lightning fractured across the sky like thin ice under a heavy load. Officer McMullan pulled the hood up on his rain jacket and looked to the sky. “What the hell do you make of that orange-colored lightning? That’s damn strange.”
“I don’t know, but with the north side of the town square on fire and now the Turek place, we need all the rain we can get. This is turning into—”
“Help me! Police!” Glen shouted from his backyard.
Both officers turned to see a man in a bloody cotton shirt and a pair of boxers staggering toward them.
“Glen? That you?” Officer McMullan asked, clicking on his flashlight and directing it toward the bloody man’s face.
Glen shielded his eyes. “My wife. She’s in… um… well… shit. She’s in the basement and she’s unconscious,” he said, realizing too late what he had done. Jennifer wasn’t the only thing in his basement.
Officer Brown reached across his chest and depressed the button on the handheld clipped to his shoulder. “Dispatch, we’re going to need an ambulance at two-seventeen North Fourth Street. Over.”
“What the hell happened here, Glen?” Officer McMullan asked.
“James Turek did this to my face! And his mother – Elaine – she beat my Jennifer unconscious! They came through the basement wall! The goddamned basement wall!” Glen said, his arms flailing wildly.
“Elaine Turek came through your basement wall and assaulted your wife?” Officer Brown asked.
“Yes! And her boy broke my freaking nose!” he said, trying to keep his head tilted back.
“Mr. Patterson, have you been drinking or participating in the use of recreational drugs this evening?” Officer Brown asked, clicking on his own small flashlight and shining it into Glen’s pupils.
Glen squeezed his eyes shut and flinched away. “No! I’m not on drugs and I’m not lying! What, are you guys blind? Just look at me! And get those damn lights out of my face!”
“Now just settle down, Glen,” Officer McMullan said, keeping his flashlight trained on Glen’s face. “You didn’t have another altercation with your wife tonight, did you?”
“No! I already told you! The Tureks did this!”
“You’re sure?” Officer Brown asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Yes, I’m sure! Come on, I’ll show you!” he shouted in frustration as he turned back toward his house. Then he paused, considering once more the weed in his basement. He knew it didn’t matter though; his Jennifer needed help and if that meant going to jail, well, that was just too bad.
“Hang on just a second, Glen,” Officer Brown said. “Are James and Elaine still in the basement?”
“Well, no, not now… they escaped!”
Officer Brown leaned in close to Officer McMullan, his face pasted with skepticism. “I’ll check out this basement – you want to stay here and monitor this?”
“Sounds good.”
“Alright, Mr. Patterson, let’s go see this basement,” Officer Brown said.
Deep below the burning debris of Garrett’s home something stirred. At first, Apep didn’t understand where he was or what had happened, but slowly the memory came. Bricks, an explosion, pain. How long was I out?
He had felt something was wrong and reached for the power of the God Stones – the Sentheye. It came to him like a cold chill, liquid ice crawling into him. It was instant, and consuming, but so had been the explosion. He hadn’t had time to fully protect himself in an envelope of the Sentheye, but it was enough to live. He picked his head up, peeling his face from the coagulated puddle of blood on the concrete floor. He felt something heavy across his back, and he could see burning rubble all around him.
He closed his eyes and focused his mind. He felt pain but focused past it. He felt wetness, his leg, probably blood. He focused past that too. Ribs were broken, maybe even his back, but he set all that aside and focused. He had to know where Garrett was – how far he had gotten while he had lain here unconscious on the floor. He reached out with the Sentheye, opening a line of communication through thought.
Where are you? he asked.
We are at the river in the tunnel, an answer came.
Good, he responded, then changed his focus. He let the horrible pain come back to him, and to it he sent the Sentheye, drawing it from the God Stones, only to release it into his damaged flesh and bone. In only seconds, his bones began to heal, and seconds after that his flesh began to mend. Healing one’s self was the most difficult task for any mage, and Apep was no exception to this. This was the third time tonight he’d had to use the Sentheye on himself. He felt weak, drained, and was longing for sleep, but this was no place for rest and no time for sleep. He pulled again, extracting more shadow – more Sentheye. The God Stones responded, refreshing his body, pushing away his need to rest – for now. His fingers tingled and his head ached slightly. The constant use of so much power, he supposed.
The chunk of flooring lying across his back fractured as he spoke an ancient word of power and gestured in a specific way with his fingers. Apep rolled to his side, pushing the rest of the debris off his hip. He sat up and sighed. It was time to leave this place and claim what was his.
Glen and Officer Brown made their way down the stairs into Glen’s weed-growing operation. Officer Brown led the way, his revolver thrust out in front of him in one hand and a flashlight in the other. He shot the beam around the room, the gun pointing wherever he aimed the light. Even with the power off, it only took a few seconds for realization to hit.
Officer Brown whistled.
Glen swallowed hard. “I know… I know, you got me, okay? I grow weed!” Glen said, holding his hands up submissively, then pointin
g across the room. “But look! Over there!”
“Boy, Glen, you’re in deep shit for this,” Officer Brown said, mistrust seeping into his voice as he eyeballed the bloody man. “This is way more than you can smoke yourself, and even growing that much is illegal.”
“I know, listen, please forget the weed and just look at my Jennifer,” Glen said. He watched as the officer panned his flashlight beam in the direction Glen was pointing, illuminating a large hole in the basement wall. As they made their way forward, Officer Brown finally noticed Jennifer on the floor. She was moaning but at least she seemed to be coming to. “There! You see! Elaine did this to her. And James broke my nose!”
The officer ran forward and squatted next to Jennifer. “Officer Brown to dispatch, we have something strange going on at two-fifteen North Fourth Street. Send backup! Over.”
“Dan, did you mean two-seventeen? Over,” came the dispatch operator’s voice.
“No, I’m at the neighbors’ now and someone has tunneled into Glen Patterson’s basement and assaulted both Glen and his wife. There is a marijuana grow operation here – could have something to do with it. Over.”
“Ten-four, Dan. We have more units on the way. You sit tight and stay out of that tunnel until backup arrives. Over.”
“Roger that!”
Officer McMullan’s voice cracked over the radio. “Dan, I’m on my way down there. Over.”
From his seated position on the basement floor, Apep appraised the tunnel. “Very clever, Tureks – very clever indeed.” Pushing a chunk of burning floor joist out of the way allowed him to finally stand and face the massive chunk of concrete porch blocking the way. In an easy motion, he stretched his arms out in front of himself and placed his palms together as if preparing to dive into a pool. Apep began chanting the ancient words, “Ray doeeshozmue, rah ak ff esh!” Then, with a deliberate motion, he pulled his hands apart, opening his arms wide. The concrete slab split into two pieces, pushing away to both his right and left until a void formed that was wide enough for him to walk through.
