by Ari Harper
“No, I guess not,” Sully agreed with him.
“What if you’re wrong?” I asked. “What if they know that I’m the one, same as you do, and go at me big time?”
“It’s pretty hard to predict everything, Nera,” Jasper said. “But I think that we are fairly well prepared for anything. The fact that it takes time to call up demons is in our favor as well. The only decision we have to make is whether we wait or attack first. How do you feel about it?”
I looked at him for what seemed like hours not saying a word. Sully and Bones sat quietly, waiting.
“This is going to happen whichever way we go,” I said. “We have no choice in that. But I guess we can up the odds. I’d rather surprise the mongrels than wait to get our asses kicked.”
Bones gave Jasper a look that said I-told-you-so.
I looked at Bones, then Jasper. “What?”
“Bones thought you would agree with his idea, Nera,” Jasper said. “That was all.”
“Thank you so much. I’m so glad you approve,” I replied sarcastically. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at Bones.
Sully shook his head as he looked at me, and I had the grace to look down at the floor while I mumbled to myself.
“What was that?” Bones asked.
“Sorry, I’m just a little stressed, okay,” I mumbled louder. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
I looked around the room at the men and heaved a great sigh.
“I think I should go back downstairs. Brie might wake up, and I could do with a good night’s sleep, or what’s left of it. I want to go home tomorrow and spend some time with Roman before this all starts. I know I said I would stay for a few days, but I feel that I’m missing out on too much with him after what happened. Night all.”
I slipped out of the room and crept back down the stairs to the library where Brie hadn’t moved. She was still snoring soundly. I watched the flames for a while, torn between doing what I had to do for my family and feeling sorry that I was going to miss the normal boring kind of teenage years I assumed would be mine.
Get a grip. How many kids would back off if they were told they had the powers that I had?
And to have a handsome god help me learn what I needed and to have him with me for the rest of my life. That could be a bit difficult, but I’m sure not too many girls would be upset when they saw him. How many of them would be giving him the hard time that I was? What was wrong with me for God’s sake? He was gorgeous, and he was mine. Idiot, I berated myself.
Sully came back downstairs, slipped into the room, and came over to the fire. I watched him settle himself into his sleeping bag, the fire throwing shadows over his face, before saying anything. “You know you don’t have to do this, don’t you. It’s not your battle,” I said.
He held my gaze, knowing that I was giving him the easy way out that any sane person would take. “It became my battle when I was eight years old,” he said. “You know that, and I know that. Nothing you say can alter that fact or make me leave you to this. Even if they hadn’t hurt my mother I would still help you.” He shuffled his sleeping bag closer to me and held my hand. “You know that you are my best friend,” he said. “I could no more leave you to fight this than you could leave it to me. We are together on this, Nera, all the way.”
I struggled with emotions that threatened to overflow. Did Sully realize that he was laying down his life to help me this break the curse? “You know that I can never repay you.” I said.
“Maybe you can. When we get through this, Jasper seems to think that Mom could improve. He said that you can help her get back to her old self. I won’t hold you to it, but I would like it if you could try.”
“Sully, that is something I would do willingly. You know you don’t have to ask, you idiot.”
Sully quietly watched me. “Have you seen the family tree that Bones has done?
“No, why?”
“Well, I don’t want to freak you out or anything, but guess who’s related to Jasper.”
“Don’t tell me it’s Bones,” I said with scorn.
“No, you already know he is.” He had a huge grin on his face. “It’s me and Brie. It’s something to do with his sons. You know how they left home when the battle first started or something. I got so excited that I really didn’t take all that much notice.”
“No way, that’s incredible, Sully. It really is a small world, isn’t it. We knew there had to be a connection somewhere. It’s all falling into place for me.” My mind worked to place each piece of the puzzle together.
“I can just hear Brie now.” Sully mimicked her voice. “’I’m descended from a great witch.’” A dopey look came over his face. “This is so funny. She’s got a crush on her great many times over grandfather,” he burst out.
I slapped him gently on the back of the head to quiet him down and not wake Brie. She will be devastated about Jasper but not the witch part. Trust Sully to think like that.
“Now that’s enough talk, I need sleep.”
I watched Sully from half-closed eyes. I knew his thoughts about me were changing. I could feel it. I had always hugged him and sure, we were very close, but lately it seemed to feel different somehow. Did he hold me longer or was he tense when he did? I just hoped I was making this up in my head. Sully needed close contact with people, I knew that. I really didn’t mind that, and neither did my family. It was the way we were. If he was getting feelings for me other than friends, that would make life even more difficult. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him. I snuggled down and tried to sleep.
Outside the sky was dark and sinister. The house became silent, and the night sky rumbled its own dreams.
***
The next morning, Bones called me into a private session even Jasper was kept out of. There was one spell Bones wanted me to perfect, and it was obvious I wasn’t performing to his satisfaction by the amount of grief he was giving me. I had to repeat it again and again and he still didn’t seem that happy with my efforts.
“You have to concentrate or we will never get passed this. We don’t have time for your battle of wills. Grow up and get over it before it’s too late,” he yelled at one point. I bit my tongue and said nothing.
When we came downstairs to the kitchen, I felt drained and ready to snap. Bones had a dark, angry look on his face. Jasper gave him that look that conveyed sympathy for anyone having a battle of wills with me, which I chose to ignore. In my mind, he was being unreasonable, and I was doing my best to work with him. After all, I had promised to try, and I had. It was him that was having a bad day. I for one had had enough and wanted to put some distance between us before I said something that I knew I would regret. It was becoming too easy for me to lash out at Bones.
“Come on, Brie, Sully,” I said over my shoulder as I stormed through the kitchen door. Hugo was at my heels.
Bones and Jasper didn’t say anything to us and we walked through the garden, headed for home.
***
“Nera,” Roman squealed. “I knew you would come home today.” He rushed at us and grabbed me around the legs.
Sully and Brie walked past us, calling out greetings to my parents while I stopped for Roman. I picked him up and held him tight. My eyes misted, and I closed them until I could get a grip of my emotions, squeezing Roman tighter as well. This was the reason that I would continue to work with the unforgiving Bones. The reason my heart clenched when I thought of what they could do to him if I failed in my quest to break the curse and release my family from Edrith’s grip. He wriggled out of my grasp and grabbed my hand.
“Come and see what I’ve been making,” he said. “Come on. Up to my room.” He dragged me up to his room to see the monsters he had made out of building blocks.
“Roman, you are so clever. Look at this, Sully, how cool.”
“Can we play too, Roman?” Brie asked.
“Okay but don’t break anything.”
Brie and Sully and I spent the next hour making bloc
k monsters with Roman. My mind was downstairs in the kitchen with my parents. I could hear Mom trying to talk Dad into a barbecue for tonight.
“If that’s what you want, my dear, then that’s what we shall have. Who am I to deny you your natural instincts to mother any child who comes into this house? Sully would never turn down your cooking, so I’ll go and break the news to them, shall I?
“Away with you. You know you love to have the kids here as much as I do. You get to show off your questionable cooking skills. Go ask, and I can start to plan the meal. Ask Roman if he wants those baby meatballs he loves at the moment. I’ll put the kettle on while you are upstairs charming them with promises of a great meal.” She laughed at him as he left the room.
Dad knocked on the open door to Roman’s room. We looked up as he came in.
“Dad, look what we’ve done,” Roman shouted, jumping up to drag Dad into the room, the excitement clearly on his face as he showed our father the massive town and creatures we had all put together.
“That’s fantastic. I can’t believe you guys have made so much stuff. I never get that much done.” Dad sat down on the floor beside Roman. “Mom wants to know if you kids were interested in a barbecue tonight. She’s feeling a little maternal and wants you all here so we can have family time together.” He looked at me. “She also wants to know if you are going back to Jasper’s. He called and said he wants you to come back tomorrow. I know something always comes up when you want to stay over, Nera. I’m truly sorry. I know how you want to practice your sword fighting. If you want, I can walk you back over after dinner. What do you think?”
“Let me think about it, Dad. I really felt the need to be close to Roman for some reason.”
“So are we all good for dinner, then?” he asked.
“Sure, Dad. How about it guys?” I looked at Brie and Sully.
“Sounds good to me,” Brie replied.
“Me too,” Sully piped up.
“Can we have marshmallows?” Roman cast his baby blues up at Dad.
“We can light a fire, can’t we, Dad, and toast them?” I asked. “It will be fun. Keep us warm and give us dessert.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” he answered. “You guys can go and search for firewood if you can drag yourselves away from the construction site.”
“Can I come too, Nera?” Roman jumped up and grabbed hold of my hand.
“Sure, buddy. Let’s get your boots on, and we’ll go.” I was already heading for the door.
“Well, it’s all on, honey,” Dad told Mom when we followed him down to the kitchen. “The kids are going to get firewood because Roman wants to toast marshmallows.”
“That’s fine. Just tell Nera to make sure he wears his wellies,” Mom replied.
“Don’t worry. I have him organized.” I grabbed his boots from the coat cupboard.
“Mom, we are going to get firewood, and Nera is going to push me in the wheelbarrow.”
“That’s wonderful, Roman. Just be sure and do what she tells you.”
“Yes, Mom.”
“Let’s go, then,” I said. We all trooped out to the back yard to get the wheelbarrow out of the shed.
We pushed Roman along the back lane toward the forest that I ran through to get to Jasper’s house. We usually collected our firewood from there. There was always plenty of it as the forest had grown quite dense over the years, and Jasper only cut the wood he needed and enough to keep the pathways clear.
“Over there, Nera.” Roman pointed at a stand of pine trees. “There are lots of pine cones over there.”
I pushed the wheelbarrow toward the copse of trees he had pointed out. A chill down my neck made me stop. I turned my head around slowly and looked over my shoulder. Roman whimpered in the wheelbarrow, but I ignored him. I looked at Brie and Sully coming toward me.
“Hey, guys, what’s wrong?” I asked, facing them as they approached me. I knew there was but couldn’t seem to put my finger on it until Brie opened her mouth, and I knew that it wasn’t her that spoke to me.
“Give me the boy,” she said in a scratchy, deep voice. She reached out to grab him.
“Get away from us. Brie, Sully, what’s wrong with you?” I tried to think. I pushed to get into Brie’s mind, but I was slapped back—something was blocking me. I tried Sully and had the same result.
This isn’t right. Jasper, Bones, what do I do? I tried not to panic as I calmed Roman and quietly put his mind into a gentle sleep pattern.
I looked at Sully.
“Sully, talk to me. What are you trying to do? This is my little brother. Remember how much you guys love him? You can’t do this.” My heart started to race, and my breathing became uneven. I faced my friends. This did not make sense. Not Brie and Sully.
“Out of my way, Nera.” Sully tried to push me away from the wheelbarrow
“Don’t touch me, you jerk,” I cried. I drew a huge burst of energy and threw it straight at Sully, sending him backward into a tree. He hit the ground with a thud and rolled over, moaning.
I turned back to Brie. The look on my friend’s face scared me. Brie had never given me a look as evil and nasty as she was doing right now. Her eyes were cold and dead, and her mouth was turned into a sneer. It chilled me to see my usually compassionate friend glaring at me with deadly intent in her eyes.
“Don’t do this, Brie. You know I can hurt you, and I don’t want to. Just leave now.”
“As if you had the power to take us on,” said Brie. “You are small change in the scheme of the Others. The girls before you failed, and so will you.” She lunged forward, her hands out like claws heading toward my face.
I gathered my powers again until I could feel it pounding behind my eyes. I pushed at my best friend, trying to imagine the Others instead and what they would do to Roman if they got hold of him. I sent Brie spinning away from me in a gust of wind like a rag doll, toppling head over heels in a blast of dust and leaves to land in a heap two hundred feet away. She remained still, facedown on the forest floor.
A hand grabbed my ankle and pulled me to the ground. Sully was on top of me with his hands around my throat. Stars burst in the back of my eyes, and I tried to free myself from his iron tight grasp. His fetid breath filled my nostrils, his fingers tightening on my throat. I tried to keep my senses alert for what I thought would be my final minutes. I heard someone yelling at me. I couldn’t hear the words for the pain rushing through my head. I kicked and rolled, but Sully stayed on top of me with his hands around my neck. My brain was screaming fire, fire as I struggled for air.
With what little energy I had left, I imagined flames licking wildly all around my body as Bones had taught me in one of our sessions and pushed outward with all my might. The heat shocked me, and I could smell the hairs on my arms burning. The forest rocked with the explosion, and Sully was thrown from me. I lay on the ground, winded by the forces I had used, my throat raw from being strangled.
“Nera, Nera, take a breath. It’s okay. You are just winded. Breathe slowly,” Bones said as he helped me to my feet.
“Roman. Oh God, is he okay?” I cried as I remembered my brother.
“He’s fine, Nera,” Jasper called out, his breathing heavy.”He’s appears to be resting in the wheelbarrow.”
I tried to work out what had just happened, but my legs began to shake, and I dropped to the ground. I was more shocked than I thought. My heart was pounding so hard it was all I could hear.
“Just breath for a minute, Nera. You will be fine.” Bones pressed his hand on my shoulder.
I pushed him out of the way and crawled over to my brother. “Roman, wake up, little buddy.” I leaned into the wheelbarrow and put my arms around him gathering him close. I stroked his head, and he woke up from his induced sleep.
“Nera, what happened? I feel sleepy.”
“It’s okay, little man. I think you must have been a little bit tired. You fell asleep from the rocking of the wheelbarrow.”
I looked up to see Jasper and
Bones watching me with concern.
“Are you okay, child?” Jasper asked. “Bones could feel your energy building up, just about the same time as you called me.
I looked over at Bones. So he could feel me now could he? Interesting.
“Tell us what happened.” Bones returned my stare.
I took a few minutes to calm myself, snuggling close to Roman and wiping his hair from his face while I breathed deeply.
“We were coming in to collect firewood for tonight. Dad wants a barbecue, and Roman wants to toast marshmallows. I thought Brie and Sully were right behind me. They were, only it wasn’t really them. They tried to take Roman from me, and I had to fight to keep him.”
I let go of Roman and stood up to face Bones.
“I thought we were going to attack first!” I yelled at him, poking him in the chest with my finger, my anger overflowing. “So much for your bright idea, I nearly lost him again.”
“It is not something we can predict, Nera. You know that.” Bones didn’t flinch.
“Always an excuse ready. You’re supposed to be my protector and where were you, sitting in the sun drinking tea, no doubt.”
A thought crossed my mind, and I looked at Jasper in horror.
“Oh my God! Brie and Sully, I think I killed them,” I cried. “Where are they?”
I looked around distraught. Jasper made a move to come to me when we heard Brie cry out. “Nera, help me please. I tripped over and hit my head. I’ve got scratches all over me. What happened?” she asked as she tried to dust herself off.
Jasper went over to help her up as I turned, looking for Sully.
“Sully, God, no. Jasper, look I burned him,” I cried.
Bones came over to kneel by my friend. He ran his hands over Sully’s body, talking quietly to himself.
“He’s okay, just knocked out. He should come around soon. The burns are just superficial.” Bones sat and watched when Sully started to mumble as he regained consciousness. He moved his hands over the burns, stirring the air and the angry red blisters slowly faded away.
“Oh, my head,” Sully groaned. He tried to sit up. “What happened? I feel like I’ve been run over by a herd of elephants.”
