by Justin Swapp
Marcus had never seen his sister like this. He thought he knew the look on her face. She relished the power, like the drain, but she was harnessing the magic somehow, not stealing it. She gritted her teeth and drove the beam harder, boring into their enemy; the man who had haunted her dreams for all those nights.
“No, Ellie!” Marcus reached. “You’re better than this.”
“Ha, ha!” Her eyes widened and her hair splayed outward from the energy. “The power feels so good; and it’s not just yours anymore.” The beam grew larger. Ellie towered over Faustino. Marcus crawled backward as the heat of the red ray grew hotter, the blue balls of pulsating light changed to purple, then red.
“You’ll never!” Ellie yelled, now clutching the brim with two hands and pushing it forward like she held the hilt of a broad sword she was skewering Faustino with, “hurt my family again!”
Then Marcus thought he heard a faint whisper. “No,” a voice said from somewhere behind Ellie. “Don’t do it.”
“Do you hear that?” Marcus pointed behind her.
“Almost there.” Ellie bored the beam deep into Faustino who writhed on the ground in pain, but she still looked behind her. Jason propped an ever-weakening Grandpa up into his arms. Jason leaned against the rubble of the far wall where Marcus had launched Faustino. Tofu sat next to them, watching.
“Stop,” their grandpa said again. “Please.”
“Winston?” Ellie said, distracted. For the first time in the last few minutes, Marcus thought she sounded like the Ellie he had always known.
“We’ve got to get the old man some help,” Marcus said, hearing the pleading in his own voice. “We don’t know the extent of his injuries.”
Slowly, the tension in Ellie’s body relaxed and she blinked hard. The light beam faded and she breathed deep. The sphere in her hand went cold and she stared at it for a moment.
“Good girl,” her grandpa said. Relief eased over his face.
Marcus rose slowly to his feet noticing smoke rising from Faustino’s back.
“Here,” Ellie said and handed the brim to Marcus. She hesitated, glancing at the sphere a moment. “Sorry,” she shrugged. “I can’t really explain what came over me.”
Marcus took the brim. “You don’t have to,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I know exactly what you mean.” Although his words were intended to make her feel better, the truth was that he wasn’t so sure.
Marcus smiled tenderly, but he was confused by her response. He wanted her to feel safe, despite what had just happened, but she looked bewildered, like she couldn’t believe it. Maybe she is in shock, he thought.
“You,” a low voice said from behind Marcus and Ellie, “should have finished me when you had the chance.”
Marcus turned to see the Great Faustino, who apparently had been named such because he seemingly couldn’t die. He stood over them again, ready to deal death.
With the brim in hand, Faustino raised his arm and said, “I don’t care what Mirella and Sol say I am done with all of you. Goodbye.” Then he yelled while hot, lava-like red light filled the brim.
Out of the corner of his eye, Marcus caught a strange movement. In a flash, he saw Tofu, that small, hairy little dog he’d known for so many years, leap into the air, higher than he had ever jumped, and pounce on Faustino.
And yet that wasn’t the strangest part; it happened so fast, he couldn’t be sure at first. A moment flickered by, and Marcus saw a tangle of flesh and fur midair, and that small dog, his friend, was no more. An instant later, a large, hairy man soared through the air and collided with Faustino. As they collided, the brim slipped from Faustino’s hand and rolled away.
Bewildered, Marcus stepped back, corralling Ellie behind him. He couldn’t understand what he was seeing. This was not his dog. A full-grown man, hairy like a Sasquatch, swung his arms violently, raining punches and jabbing elbows down at Faustino the Great.
Then, it was done.
The shaggy man stood over his victim looking down with contempt. “How’s that for a ‘dumb dog?’” he said before turning his gaze toward Marcus.
Ellie turned away. “Put some clothes on,” she said, and then she caught a glimpse of the Brim rolling behind her. She bent down and picked it up.
“Are you okay, sir?” Marcus asked Winston. He realized his voice sounded weak after what he’d endured at the hands of Faustino.
Ellie stood back up to face the group, and staggered back when she saw the hairy man. Marcus understood why; he looked like Faustino. Tofu had stripped Faustino down to his underpants and now stood in front of her, wearing his clothes.
“What?” Tofu asked, sincerely surprised. “You told me to get dressed.”
Grandpa groaned.
“Winston?” Ellie asked, rushing over to him. “We’ve got to get you out of here. Can you walk?”
“They tortured me,” he said, barely audible. “My magic is gone. I… I won’t last long now.”
Marcus approached them, looking angry. ”Jason, you almost got us killed!”
Jason looked shocked. He stared at Faustino’s body then at the hairy man a few feet away.
“We’ve got to get Winston help,” Ellie said, “and soon.”
“You killed him?” Elizabeth asked incredulously from the wall, sniffling. She gaped down at her mentor. “I didn’t think it was possible.” She paused to think, and then continued with wide eyes; “Mirella can bring him back. Yes. That’s what we’ll do. She has powerful magic.”
“Magic… to bring him back?” Ellie asked, her eyes searching for something Marcus couldn’t see. “That’s it. Thank you, Elizabeth!”
“Thank you?” Marcus repeated incredulously. “She suggests bringing this killer, your worst nightmare, back to life and you say ‘thank you?’”
“That’s not what I mean.” Ellie reached into her pocket and pulled out the vial that Mirella had given her earlier. “I’m thinking of the old man.”
“Now I’m even more confused,” Marcus said.
Uncorking the small bottle, she poured some of the magic on her grandpa’s head. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back as if he were standing under a peaceful waterfall; relief and tranquility replacing the pain and suffering on his face. He sighed as the glow of the liquid-like substance soaked into his skin and faded.
“Is that,” Winston asked with sigh, “magic?” He breathed deep. Vitality seemed to flow back to his face and to his body. “Where did you get that?”
“Mirella,” Marcus said before Ellie could speak. “Just a little while ag—”
“What?” Grandpa leaped to his feet, suddenly acting years younger than Marcus remembered ever seeing him. “That was pure magic, and she just gave it to you?”
“There was more too,” Ellie said. “They were handing little bottles of it out to people at a closed showing in the shop earlier today.”
“Are you positive?” He shook Ellie slightly by the shoulders. When she nodded, he wiped his hands across his face. “It’s worse than I feared. We’ve really got to get out of here, quickly.”
“What about the girl?” Tofu asked in his new, gruff voice.
“We leave her,” Winston said. “There has been enough death and destruction for one day.”
Ellie cleared her throat. “Here, Winston. I want you to have this.” She handed him the sphere recovered from Faustino. “It’s The Brim. Apparently this is the first brim.”
Grandpa smiled warmly, but pushed her arm away. “No dear. It’s yours. I have my own, and it’s already linked to me.”
“Let’s get going before the others come looking for us,” Jason said, getting to his feet.
Marcus said, “Oh, now you want to team up. Just a few minutes ago you were about to hand us over to Faustino.”
“What was I supposed to do? He would have killed me.”
“We don’t have time for this,” Tofu said. His voice sounded menacing and would take some getting used to, Marcus thought. “Let’s just go.�
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“But—”
“Mind your keeper,” grandpa said matter-of-factly.
“What?”
“Your keeper—both of you. Tofusil has been your keeper—” he paused, gathering his thoughts, “your guardian, since you were born. His role is to guide and protect you through what is to come.”
“What do you mean ‘what is to come’?” Ellie asked. “You’re just getting around to telling us this?”
“There is no time,” Tofusil said, scratching his back. “If they have bottled up magic somewhere in this shop, this place is the most volatile place on earth. We leave—now.”
“What about Jason?” Marcus was still unable to hide the spite in his voice.
“Come on,” Jason said. Leading the way out of the room, he beckoned the rest to follow.
The rest of the group, led by Winston, followed Jason from the glowing room and back toward the main shop.
“What about me?” Elizabeth asked, looking down on them from the wall.
Tofusil, who had been walking next to Marcus, swiped the Brim from Marcus’s hand, and whirled around, pointing the brim up at her. A jet of green light flashed across the room and hit Elizabeth squarely on the mouth.
She mumbled and moaned, but her lips didn’t part; as if her mouth had been glued shut.
Handing the sphere back to Marcus, Tofusil said, “Lesson one: protect your brim at all costs.” Then he smacked Marcus lightly on the back of the head. “That was really too easy, Marcus.”
Marcus scowled, “While I appreciate what you did to that big mouth, I liked you better when you were a dog.” Marcus smirked. “How did you do that, anyway?”
“Did you boys want to powder your noses too?” Ellie asked, trailing back from the others. “Let’s get out of here.”
Marcus and Tofusil caught up with the group that waited at the shop doors. Winston held onto Jason’s arm.
“The skull,” Ellie said to Winston. “While we are here, we should go back and—”
“No need,” a frazzled voice said from behind them. “It’s right here.” Mirella chuckled. Marcus watched as Sol and his wife came out of the door that led to the attic. Sol leaned on his cane, looking better but not entirely well. Mirella seemed weary.
Ellie ordered, “Give that back to Winston. It’s not rightfully yours.”
Sol stopped to lift his cane, giving it a quick flick, and Ellie shot up into the air. She screamed. The Brim slipped from her hand and crashed to the ground. Ellie floated above the group.
“Let the adults talk, young lady,” Mirella said. Marcus thought Mirella looked unhappy, and then her eyes narrowed. “Jason, what are you doing with them? Where’s Elizabeth?”
“They,” he paused, looking confused. “They took me and—”
“Winston,” Sol said, stomping his foot, though the effect fell something short of frightening. “Return my apprentice at once.”
Winston sighed, nodded, and shoved Jason toward Mirella and Sol. “There you go.”
Tofusil growled and swiped at Marcus’s brim. Marcus reflexively withdrew his arm just in time for Tofusil’s attempt to steal his sphere to miss. This earned him a nasty look from the creature.
“Just following your orders,” Marcus said quietly, “Keeper.”
Tofusil shook his head and whispered: “Lesson two. Use common sense in obedience.”
“I’ve already got the whole selective-obedience thing down,” Marcus said, “but it’s gotten me mixed results.”
“You want the skull, Winston?” Mirella asked. Her voice quivered as she lifted the box they had seen before. “Then you convince the boy to put his hand in The Magic Box.”
“What boy? Marcus?” Winston asked. “Why?”
“Stop playing dumb,” Sol said. “You know very well why.”
“This conversation is over.” In a flash, Winston dove to the floor and recovered the brim that Ellie dropped. Pointing it at the ground in front of his enemies, he sent a stream of white light that exploded at their feet, launching rubble in all directions. The explosion must have broken Sol’s concentration because Ellie was released by the unseen force, and fell. Marcus barely saw Tofusil dart at Ellie as smoke filled the room.
“Come on,” Winston said. “We leave now.”
“But the skull,” Ellie said from Tofusil’s arms. “We have to—”
“Don’t worry about the skull,” Grandpa said as he opened the door and waved everyone through, one by one. “They can’t use it properly without me.”
“I will have my way,” Sol said from somewhere behind the settling dust and debris. “I will finish what I started.”
Marcus led the group through the random passersby and across the busy street. No sooner had they touched down on the sidewalk on the other side of the street than Mirella, Sol, and Jason stepped out of the entrance to their shop.
“Marcus!” Sol yelled when Jason took his place beside him. “This is your last chance to do this the nice way.”
“You’re evil!” Marcus called, cupping his hands to his mouth, “and I want nothing to do with you.”
Tofusil set Ellie on the ground and scratched behind his ear. “What about Jason?” She asked, grabbing Marcus’s arm and pulling herself closer to him.
“Leave him,” Marcus said, eying Jason’s pitiful expression as he half reached out for them. “He’s nothing but a lying traitor.”
Marcus turned and started down the street, not knowing what they would do next. He waved at Jason and company, like when a referee calls a foul a player doesn’t agree with. Winston and Ellie followed close behind him, and Tofusil brought up the rear.
Marcus didn’t anticipate what happened next. He wouldn’t recollect later what he noticed first—the terrified expressions of the people walking by, or the simultaneous shriek and howl that filled the street.
“Faster,” his grandpa said, pushing him in the back. “We must get to your grandma.”
“Oh no, Marcus!” Ellie gasped, tugging on his shirt. “Look.”
He glanced back over his shoulder. There was Jason, standing alone on the street. A tear ran down the cheek of his hardened face. At his feet was the skull they had fought so hard to recover, left broken and shattered like an accident that needed to be swept up. Confusion well up inside of Marcus. Then he spotted Sol and Mirella, facedown on the ground, each clutching at their chest and stomach. For another moment he felt perplexed. Then Ellie spoke again; her voice barely a whisper.
“The binding.”
19
The Kabbahl
“What are you saying?” Marcus asked, slowing down a bit with Ellie to separate themselves from the others. Breathing heavier than he should be from just running, he added, “Do you realize what you are suggesting?”
Ellie caught up to their grandpa and tugged at his arm. “Grandpa, who are Mirella and Sol,” she asked, “and what do they want with us?”
“We don’t have time to get into that now, Ellie,” he said. The muscles in his jaw twitched.
“But Grandpa, they kept trying to get Marcus’s blood,” she paused for a moment, “and they already have mine.”
“Ellie, you’re safe, that’s what matters. Now we have to get to your grandmother before they do.”
“Uh, I don’t think they are going anywhere, Grandpa,” Marcus said, still looking back over his shoulder. He felt conflicted and upset. He was angry with Jason for his betrayal, but now that he had a chance to walk it off a bit, he felt like he could eventually forgive him. Jason was in a difficult situation, and for all Marcus knew, he would have done the same thing under those circumstances. He was trapped back there with some pretty evil people. But that thought mostly confused him. He couldn’t wrap his brain around what was happening, or who those people were, and why they wanted his blood so badly.
“Shouldn’t we go back and get the skull?” Marcus asked. “It seemed so important to you, and now we’re just going to leave it lying on the sidewalk?”
“N
o,” his grandpa said. He appeared as if he wanted to turn and look, but he resisted. “It’s a death trap, Marcus. We will gather ourselves together and figure this out first. In case you hadn’t noticed, those people are quite dangerous, and care about little other than themselves.” Marcus thought he sounded a little spiteful.
“How did our parents die?” Ellie asked suddenly.
Winston stopped walking. “Why are you asking a question like that at a time like this?” he asked, sounding quite annoyed. “Tofu, run ahead and make sure that Charlotte is safe.”
Tofu snarled at Winston. “But my responsibility is to the children,” he growled.
“Your responsibility is what I tell you,” Winston retorted. “I gave you that obligation many years ago, and now I am telling you to protect my wife. We’re not far now. I will protect the children until we get there.”
Tofu nodded reluctantly and ran a few steps before jumping in the air. In the blink of an eye there was a pile of clothes falling from the sky just above where Tofu had stood. Then they saw their little friend, the way they had known him for so many years, scuttling off down the street. A few people on the street bumped into each other as they reconsidered what they had just seen before moving along about their business.
“Grandpa,” Marcus said, slowing his pace to walk in stride with him. “Sol said that you had done some horrible things in your life. What did he mean?”
“Why are you two questioning me so much right now?” he asked. “We’ve just barely escaped with our lives from some very wicked people, and I am running on empty here. The magic from Ellie’s vial helped, but the effects are wearing off. I need sleep, children, but I don’t have time for that either. I promise to answer all your questions at some point, okay? Now, we can talk about this later?”
The next few minutes seemed like hours. Marcus was dying inside to talk about this, and he knew Ellie was too, because she kept fiddling with the vial Mirella had given her, and that wasn’t like her. They didn’t say anything else. They respected their grandpa, and they walked in silence until they reached The Magic Shop.
