Aegis: Catalyst Grove

by Nathan Roten

  They all looked at each other, wondering if anyone was actually going to put them on. Graham picked it up and looked them over. “What exactly do they do?”

  “First the bands, Graham. Then you will get your answers. I know trust is a rare thing for you, but I am asking you to trust me.”

  Graham nodded his hand and slid one band on his left hand, then his right. Watching the scene between Alex and Graham, the others followed suit. One by one, they all slid the bands onto their forearms and twisted them so that the sun emblem was facing up.

  With a wide smile, Alex took a few steps back and raised both hands in a welcoming gesture. “Welcome to Aegis.” Putting his left hand back at this side, Alex kept his right hand up and waved it slowly from right to left. As his hand hovered past each person, the sun in each band began to glow like burning embers. Brighter and brighter, the sun illuminated as the rest of the bands began to glow. For a split second each of the kids winced in the pain of searing heat, squeezing their eyes shut and gritting their teeth. Kel opened her mouth as if to scream, but just as soon as the pain hit, it was gone, and a soothing cooling sensation followed. As the light faded, the gold of the bands melted into their skin and with a final flash of light, they disappeared, leaving a glowing stain in their skin in place of where the bands rested.

  The kids sat staring at their forearms unable to process what just happened. Extending his fingers, then balling them up into a fist Graham flexed and relaxed his forearms. Damien traced the outline of the sun with his index finger and Ailey turned her arms over to see the vacant circle on the underside of her forearm. After a thorough inspection of their new decor, they looked at each other just to be sure they were not going crazy. Looking over at one another, they each held their arms up to show their new marks.

  Damien’s expression was pure excitement. He grabbed Kel’s hand and twisted it back and forth to get a good look at her bands. Kel, however was not as enthusiastic as Damien. She had come here more for Ailey than anything else. She never put herself in odd circumstances, but she knew how much finding Cavaness meant to Ailey, and now look where it got her. How can something glow and just melt down into your skin like that? She started to get nervous. She did not like this. Not at all.

  While they were preoccupied with their arms, Alex looked over his shoulder to the four men standing behind him. With a single nod, they got up from their chairs and walked over to the kids. They passed Alex, walked around the table and stood at attention behind each one. Ailey twisted around to look at the person now behind her. Without a word, she gave a big grin, revealing a few gaps in her teeth where the new ones have not yet grown in. The man behind her remained expressionless. Damien completely ignored them, still enamored with his arms. Graham and Kel looked at each other with questioning expressions.

  Once the men were in place, Alex spoke to the new recruits.

  “Splendid. The catalysts have been applied successfully. It can begin.”

  Looking now to the men behind them, Alex signaled with his hand and said:

  “Hood them.”

  As the words were still being spoken, the men pulled black hoods over their heads. Everything went dark and a heavy brew of panic and confusion hit them all. All four of them began to shake their heads to remove the hoods. They struggled to get their arms free, but their arms were pinned down to their sides by the men.

  “LET GO OF ME!” screamed Kel.

  Damien reverted back to his native language and spat out a long Spanish rant as he too struggled to get free from this captor’s grasp. Ailey silently struggled, but her small frame was no match.

  Graham began slamming the back of his head against Chase’s chest.

  “LET GO CHASE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!!”

  The pain coming from the tight grip of Chase’s hands paled in comparison to the shock of electricity that came next. Grunting as every muscle in his body tensed up, Graham became very light-headed and his knees buckled. As he crumbled to the ground like a rag doll, he could hear the thuds of the other three hitting the ground. He lay there on his side. He could hardly see anything, just a few shadowy outlines of the others lying motionless on the floor.

  His body jerked as surges of electricity continued jolting through his body. What is happening? Why? He clenched his fists in the feeling of betrayal, but before he could react, he felt something press against his back. Another wave of electricity surged through his body. His body went rigid as he his throat groaned in the shock. The faint outline of Damien’s unconscious form grew darker and darker. His body went limp and the wave of panic gave way to an odd sense of calmness as his eyes shut, unconscious.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The Warehouse

  “Graham? You ok, Honey? That was a good fall! You are so brave!” said the lady. She took little Graham by the hand as he stood back up and proceeded to get back on the fallen tree trunk. He ran the length of the tree, giggling as he wobbled back and forth.

  “This looks like a good place to eat, doesn’t it Graham?

  “Eat!” said the two year old boy.

  “Yes, eat,” said his dad.

  Graham sat eating his sandwich as thick black smoke rose up out of the ground like inverted tornados, wrapping their misty tendrils around them.

  “GET BACK! STAY BACK!” yelled the father.

  Graham could not see anything through the smoke. His little lungs closed tight, choking him, unable to breathe in-between coughs.

  “Graham? You ok? Graham? GRAHAM!”

  With each mention of his name, the sound of his mom’s voice changed. At first she sounded like his mom, then each time his name was repeated, the voice sounded younger and younger.

  Intense flashes of light pierced the smoke, as if the brilliance of the sun was engulfing him. His little body was trembling. The black smoke was now swirling around in circles, being diffused by the light as Graham screamed.

  “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

  Graham’s eyes popped open, and his head jerked up. He was in darkness. His mind raced as he tried to get a grip on reality. Through the darkness, he could see faint outlines of people sitting in chairs.

  “Graham, wake up!”

  He rigorously shook his head until the black hood fell onto the concrete floor beside him. Adjusting to the light of the room, Graham flinched. He batted his eyelids in an effort to slowly take in the light, little by little, until he was fully acclimated.

  “Graham! Snap out of it!” said Kel.

  Graham looked up to see that he was no longer in the woods with his parents.

  “Graham, you ok amigo?!” Graham looked over at Damien seeing the concern in his face. “I have never seen you like that bro. You were screaming.”

  “It’s nothing.” That was a lie. Graham was terrified. “Just a reoccurring nightmare I have sometimes.”

  Beads of sweat dripped through his sideburns and down the sides of his cheeks. Graham looked around him, expecting to see hovering objects crashing to the ground. He quickly realized, though, that it is difficult for chairs and tables to hover when they are bolted to the floor. He tried to lift his hand to his face to wipe off the sweat, but his hand only moved a few millimeters before being stopped by the thick brown ropes pinning them to the arms of the chair. Trying to jerk his arms a few more times, he struggled against the ropes, but without success. Trying to move his feet, he saw that his ankles were in the same condition as his wrists, with thick rope securing them to the legs of the chair.

  “It’s useless. We have been trying for half an hour. They are too tight,” said Kel.

  “Well, we can’t just sit here until the calvary comes. There is no calvary. Chase made sure that we all snuck out without anyone knowing where we were going. No-one has a clue where we are,” said Graham.

  “Ok, what do you have in mind then?” said Kel. The tone in her voice revealed her frustration and lack of patience.

  “I don’t know. I just joined the party. Give me a few minutes.”

  A
iley sat in the chair beside Kel. Her head was down, staring at the floor. Her silent sobs created large tears that fell from her cheeks making small wet circles on her jeans. Her chest moved in and out with the sobs, unable to wipe away her tears from her face.

  Kel looked over to Ailey. Her anger and frustration of the moment gave way to compassion as she tried to comfort Ailey. “We are getting out of here. I promise. You know I will never let anything happen to you. Right now, let’s think of how we can get out of this room, ok. Let’s concentrate on that.”

  Ailey looked at Kel through the tears welling up in her eyes. She blinked a few times to let the tears roll down her face and shook her head up and down in agreement.

  Frantically looking for a way out, Graham’s eyes darted around the room for any sign of a sharp object to cut the ropes, but there was nothing. They were being held captive in a small room with concrete floors and center-block walls. A single, naked lightbulb hung from the ceiling casting light their legs. They were set up in a circle facing one another. There were a few tables near the corners of the room, but that was it.

  One long window stretched along the wall to Graham’s right. Through the grime and wire mesh imbedded in the glass, Graham could see a dimly lit hallway as the lights flickered off and on. Near the top of the wall, Graham saw a broken red orb. A siren, like what you would see on top of a police car. He followed the electrical wire up through the ceiling as it combined in a large bundle of wire piled around plumbing lines. You could see all the building systems running above the exposed wire tracks that held only a few remaining ceiling tiles.

  His mind searched for anything that could help them get out of this place, but their captors had left them with nothing. Whatever they wanted with them, they made sure there was no way of escape. Not knowing what else to do, Graham began to slam his back into chair. Arching his back, he continued to hit his back against the chair over and over hoping that the wood would give or maybe if he could rock the chair enough, one of the bolts would come loose from the floor.

  “Come on guys, see if you can get your chair to break loose,” he said as he slammed his back into the chair again.

  Kel was the first to try. She wiggled her arms up and down while her hips moved side to side, trying to get the chair to rock. Damien tried next. Using his strong hamstrings, he tried to lift his butt off the chair and slam his body back down into the seat. The three of them moved, shifted and rocked until they slowly came to a stop, panting for air. Ailey didn’t move. She just sat there with her little fingers curled around the front edge of the arm rest as tears continued pouring our of her greenish-hazel eyes.

  Ailey was smaller and younger than the rest. She was only 11 years old. Never having done physical labor before, she knew if Kel could not break her bonds, then she had no chance. She was small and weak, powerless to do anything for anyone, and being here was all her fault.

  Kel looked over, taking notice of her despair. “Ailey, look at me.”

  Ailey lifted her head, looking at Kel through the strands of hair that covered her face. Another tear fell from her cheekbone and soaked into her pant leg.

  “We are getting out of here. I promise. You can’t lose hope right now.”

  With her lower lip quivering, Ailey shook her head up and down, but her eyes never left Kel’s. She still wore her expression of guilt and doubt.

  “This is not your fault. It is theirs. Chase, Alex, Cavaness. They are the reason we are here, not you. Understand? I do not blame you for this.”

  A wave of relief and sorrow hit Ailey as the corners of her mouth turned down and her eyes narrowed in anticipation of another wave of tears. Maybe Kel had forgiven her, but evidently she could not forgive herself.

  Graham felt bad for Ailey. She looked so sweet and innocent. It only made his anger more intense towards Chase.

  You tricked me. You knew what I was searching for and you used it to kidnap me, to kidnap us. Graham basted in the raw anger as he thought about how Chase betrayed him. I knew I should never have trusted you. Hope blinded me to the truth. Never again. I hope you walk through those doors. I will make you pay for this, he thought.

  Damien looked around at the rest of the group. “Well, we are going to be here a while.” Looking over at Kel, he said, “What is your story? Are you two sisters?”

  Kel didn’t want to chat. She wanted out. Without looking at Damien, she kept sweeping the room with her eyes in search of any way out as she spoke.

  “No, not in the literal since anyway. Ailey came to our orphanage when she was two years old. I was six. As the Director of the Orphanage opened the door to pull a large object inside, I walked over to him, asking what had been left at the door. Pulling in something heavy, he turned around revealing a little car seat with a toddler slouched over in it, fast asleep.”

  Kel could not help but stop her pursuit of finding a way out to look over at Ailey, who was still crying. Kel’s eyes softened. “She was angelic. My heart sank as I stood there looking at this innocent little girl who was just left on the front steps like a bag of trash. I knew I had to take care of her. She looked so much like my little sister.”

  “You have a sister? Is she back at your orphanage?” asked Damien.

  Kel’s demeanor changed. Her her body sank and her jaw tightened. “No, she is not there.”

  Never able to read social queues or facial expressions, Damien kept on. “Where is she? Did you two get separated or something?”

  Pausing for a moment, Kel had to wait until her emotions were under control before she could answer. “Yea, I guess you could say that.” Knowing the tears were about to break loose, she deflected the conversation. “Look, we need to focus. The longer we stay here, the more time we give Cavaness and Chase to walk through that door.”

  “Ok, what do you suggest,” asked Graham.

  “I’m not suggesting anything. I’m just stating the obvious. We are tied to chairs. There is nothing sharp in this room, and even if there was a giant hatchet laying on the table over there, we couldn’t get to it because our chairs are bolted to the floor.” Kel’s impatience grew with each word. “So, I guess maybe I am suggesting that we think outside the box if we intend to make it out of here.” Kel jerked her right arm in frustration against the rope that held her down.

  “Fine. Maybe thinking happy thoughts is the trick. If only I could click my heels together a few times, I could transport us back home,” said Graham.

  “Right now, I think I’d rather see a house fall on top of you.”

  “Yea, well if it got me away from you, I’d welcome it!”

  “STOP IT!” said Damien. The echo of his voice bounced off the center-block walls. “STOP FIGHTING! We are all in the same boat here. We need to work TOGETHER!”

  Graham and Kel fell silent. Graham had never seen Damien get agitated before. He certainly had never heard him yell other than when he was playing soccer. They didn’t know what to say. All they could do was stare at each other.

  Never wanting to look weak, Graham was reluctant to say anything, but his conviction got the best of him.

  “He’s right.” Graham paused. “We are both tired, frustrated and hungry. I shouldn’t have snapped.”

  “You are right. You shouldn’t have,” said Kel, still angry. “But I accept. If we can just get out of these chairs…”

  Kel tensed her wrists, pulling up with all of her strength against the ropes. “These stupid ropes!” Curling her fingers back, she shoved her palms down onto the arm rests. As her skin hit the wood, a pulse of energy engulfed the room. The light bulb above them flickered as the wood of Graham’s arm rests and two front legs exploded, blowing chunks of wood and splinters behind him. The force of the blast knocked Graham to his back, now that two of the chair legs were gone.

  Graham began to yell as he fell backwards, but the thud knocked the breath out of him instead. The back of Graham’s head hit the concrete floor making him see stars.

  Ailey jerked her head up to see G
raham lying on the ground, then flung her head around looking at Kel with wide eyes. Damien sat beside her with his mouth wide open.

  “Was that you?!” said Damien, glancing in Kel’s direction.

  Kel was just as shocked as anyone else. “Graham! Graham, are you ok?! I’m sorry! I don’t know what happened.”

  Graham didn’t move. He laid there with his legs dangling from the front of the chair, still in the seat. His arms laid on the floor spread out at a 45 degree angle with the ropes still around his wrists. Wooden debris was scattered all around him.

  “Graham, please just say something! I didn’t mean what I said. I was just angry. Please, get up!” Kel was panicking. She didn’t know if what just happened was even her fault, but she didn’t care at this point. She just wanted Graham to be ok.

  “Mmm, uhhh-oooo….my head.” Graham groaned as he lifted his aching head up from the floor to look around. “What the heck was that?”

  “No se, amigo. Your chair just exploded.”

  “Ya don’t say.” Twisting his body to the side, Graham put his hand on the ground letting his legs fall off the seat of the chair. He pushed himself up on all fours then patted the back of his head with one hand, checking for blood. He brought his hand back around to look, but there was nothing. Fortunately the only thing that came from his tumble was a headache.

  “Are you ok? asked Kel.

  “I feel like a house was dropped on top of me.” Graham said. He looked up at Kel with a small grin.

  With a sign of relief, she smiled back. “Well, at least you can click your heels now if you want.”

  Graham stood up slowly as the pain in his back returned, coupled with new aches and pains from parts of his body he didn’t even know existed. Graham patted down his chest, arms and legs, glad to see that everything was still in tact.

  “Was that really you? Can you make things explode?”