by S. S. Segran
Very good, youngling. I am pleased that you still recall that.
But I thought the five of us weren’t ready to communicate this way?
Jag could hear Nageau chuckle as he responded, You, Jag, were more than ready. You always have been, though I sense Tegan will soon find this ability as well. The mighty hand of the universe has tilled the earth and now tends to the saplings of Aegis. You should know by now—the conversation halted again before Nageau’s voice came back to Jag—that you and your friends are indeed the ones promised in the ancient verses of the prophecy. However, a repeat of an old lesson was not why I connected with you. I know you are uncertain and have your reservations about the Sentry. Let me assure you, Marshall is a man of honor and integrity. He is fully devoted to his duties. It did not sit well with him when he found out we had suppressed your memories.
Jag glanced again at Marshall. Yeah, I guess I can see that. It’s just . . . Was there really a need to remove our memories, even temporarily?
Yes, and as I am certain Marshall has told you, it was for your safety.
So then why were we allowed to regain them?
When he received no response, he asked, Elder Nageau? Are you there?
The man’s voice returned. Yes, I am. This form of communication will not be perfect in the beginning, but you are doing remarkably well. Now, do you recall the warnings of the prophecy, Jag?
I do now, yes. The dark clouds that are gathering on humanity’s horizon . . . A catalyst at the center of this storm that the five of us will need to face to save the world. That’s still something I’m trying to wrap my head around, to be honest.
Understandably so, Nageau said softly. I do not believe anyone expected the five from the prophecy to be so young. But the cosmos works in strange ways, with reasons unfathomable by our limited comprehension. To answer your question, the reason for reinstating your memories is simple. We believe that the time has come. There is a plan that we think is unfolding even as we speak. We have read the signs and are almost certain that it is being initiated by the catalyst we were warned about. However, we have not been able to completely verify this assumption. I have been trying for a long time to seek out this catalyst in the novasphere but alas, my efforts have been in vain. As such, I have not been able to determine the intent or the capability of this entity. I believe that the five of you—his voice disappeared again—hold the key to revealing this catalyst and neutralizing its malevolent intentions.
I still don’t get it. Where do I—we—begin?
Start by trusting and having faith in the Sentry, Jag. He will do everything he can for the five of you. He understands how precious and important you are and stands ready to give his life to protect you if he must. Trust him, as you trust us.
Jag pressed his thumbs to his eyelids, then turned slightly to study Marshall again. The Sentry gripped the wheel with steely hands as determination returned to his eyes. I . . . I will.
Thank you, Jag.
Elder Nageau?
Yes?
Jag took in a shaky breath. Despite everything happening right now, I—we miss you all.
We miss you dearly as well, youngling.
Could you please pass Akol and Huyani a greeting from the group?
Most certainly. We will speak soon, Jag. I promise.
It felt as if a comforting hold was ebbing away as the Elder withdrew from Jag’s mind, like someone pulling back from a hug. Jag wondered if all cognitive presences felt the same.
The Mustang flew over the road for nearly another hour before Marshall said, “We’re here . . . exit to Deming.”
They made a couple of turns before driving straight up North Golden Avenue as the first light of dawn crept in. The land was flat save for a small hill and the mountains in the distance. Creosote bushes, desert grasses and some deciduous trees made sporadic appearances by large empty lots and buildings. All in all, though, the place seemed barren.
As they drove further up the road, bright flashing lights came into view. When they rounded the bend, Jag, Aari and Kody leaned forward to get a closer look. They saw an ambulance, a couple of police cruisers, a semi-truck, and yellow barricade tape. A black-and-red motorcycle stood upright on the side of the road. A man in civilian clothes was taking photographs while a couple of uniformed officers were talking to an older man next to the semi-truck. The man looked distraught.
Marshall slowed his vehicle down to almost a crawl and stared out of the window. The Sentry and the boys watched, mute, as two paramedics gently slid a stretcher carrying a sheet-covered form into the back of the ambulance. Marshall’s throat throbbed and his knuckles whitened on the steering wheel but he continued on, gradually picking up speed once they were away from the scene.
They drove north for the next five minutes when suddenly Jag let out a yell of dismay. Aari and Kody jumped. “What?” Kody asked.
Leaving the key in the ignition, Marshall put the car in park and got out, as did Jag, slamming the door shut. Aari and Kody followed them out into the arid environment, and when they were standing in front of the car, realized what was wrong.
The headlights behind them cast their shadows onto a fork in the road. Jag shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. “Gwen wouldn’t have mentioned which road they may have taken, by any chance?” he asked, sounding miserable.
Marshall laced his fingers behind his neck and glared ahead, eyes red, though whether from unshed tears or anger, Jag didn’t know. “Unfortunately, no.”
“How are we going to find them?” Kody asked quietly.
He received no answer, and even their shadows seemed to have taken on an air of despondency as they stared at the divide that cruelly taunted them.
20
Tegan slowly lifted her head, eyes barely open. She felt lethargic, dizzy, and had a bad taste in her mouth. Lying on her side on the hard ground, she could feel a throbbing pain from her shoulders down to her hands, which were bound behind her back. She forced herself to open her eyes further but couldn’t see anything through the darkness. Was she blindfolded? No; there was no pressure around her head to indicate so, and she could blink easily.
Letting out a heavy breath, she used her arms and torso to pull herself into a sitting position. The soreness spread to her back and she groaned in protest. As she looked around, her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. The small, musty-smelling chamber she was in was devoid of any light save for a crack under a door. There were things that looked like cardboard boxes at one corner of the room and there were a few buckets lying around.
As she assessed her surroundings, there was a loud growl from her stomach and she suddenly remembered what had happened to the five. Abducted before dinner, she grumbled to herself. She knew she should have been afraid, but her hunger was making her irritable. Why did they take us? Where did they take us? Oh God, where’s everyone else?
A light grunt beside her nearly made her yell out. Turning quickly, she squinted in the dimness and saw that Mariah was lying beside her, nearly facedown. Tegan bowed her head in relief before her ears picked up a male voice from the other side of the door.
“ . . .Yes, I know. I’m sorry.”
Tegan raised her head again. Maybe her ears weren’t fully awake yet, but she thought the voice sounded familiar. The man spoke again, sounding as if he were on a phone call. He also sounded a bit jittery. She strained to listen in.
“I know, those guys were my responsibility . . . Yes . . . I didn’t mean to—no, there was no way of knowing. They didn’t expect the two to regain consciousness so quickly . . . Yes . . . They know what they’re doing, and the tranquilizer dosage should have knocked them out for at least five hours . . . I understand . . . ”
Tegan struggled feverishly against her bindings but ended up whacking her elbows hard against the wall. Thankfully, the man on the phone outside didn’t hear her and continued his conversation.
“I’ll take care of it, I promise . . . I know what I’m doing. I’ll take
care of it personally if I have to . . . What? No, there was no mention of that . . . Just something about a prophecy but they brushed it aside . . . ”
Tegan, now certain she knew the voice but barely able to bring herself to believe it, got her feet under her and stood up. She shakily made her way over to the door and lay down by it, pressing her cheek against the ground as much as she could to peek through the inch-high gap under the door.
She saw a pair of low-cut leather shoes pacing back and forth; the man was extremely close to the door. His voice was clearer now that she was closer to him.
“Believe me, I’ve worked with them for a while, they’re good . . . Something strange happened, that’s all I know . . . Yeah, I’ll get them back . . . You can count on it . . . I’ll keep you updated. We’ll get them back for you.” The voice paused, before asking tentatively, “Do you plan to see them here? . . . Yeah, alright. Of course. Have a good day, or night, wherever you are.” The man gave a forced laugh.
Tegan watched the feet as they stopped pacing and heard a grunt from the man. Then the feet turned away from the door and retreated, displaying the man’s socks that rose past the rolled-up cuffs of his pants. Tegan couldn’t hold back her gasp.
The socks were striped.
Tony, she whimpered inwardly. A surge of resentment crashed down onto her and she quickly scrambled to her feet to run back to Mariah. In her haste, she kicked a cardboard box into a wall and the resulting thud echoed around the chamber.
She heard rapid footsteps coming toward the door. In a panic, she flung herself down beside Mariah and lay in her original position, tilting her head to her chest so she could have a view of the door as it unlocked. She closed her eyes most of the way but kept one open a slit and watched through her eyelashes as the door buzzed quietly and was opened outward. Bright light from outside illuminated the room.
A silhouette was outlined against the light. Despite not seeing any part of the man’s features, she recognized Tony’s deceptively non-intimidating frame. She held herself back from storming to her feet and hurling questions at him. Where were they? Why did he have them abducted? Who had he been talking to on the phone?
The silhouette must have been peering at the girls for a full minute. Tegan could feel the suspicion emanating in waves from him. She kept absolutely still and made sure her breathing was even.
Finally the door was pulled shut and relocked. Tegan blew her cheeks and sat back up to face Mariah. She extended her leg, nudging her friend urgently. “Mariah!” she hissed. “Get. Up.”
Mariah didn’t stir. Tegan nudged her harder. “Come on! Mariah!”
Still nothing. Exasperated, Tegan jabbed Mariah’s ribs several times with the toe of her shoe, hard. “Mariah!”
When the other girl refused to budge, Tegan leaned back against the wall as best she could and brought her knees up to her chest, resting her forehead on them. Quietly, she snarled, “Tony, you’re going to have a lot of explaining to do when we get out of here. Mark my words.”
21
The boys and Marshall scouted the fork in the road, praying with every fiber in their being to find a hint that would tell them which way the girls’ abductors had gone. They searched for trash recently thrown out of a window, a piece of fabric, anything at all. They had no luck. Marshall had parked the Mustang on the side of the road so it wouldn’t be in the way of other drivers. That seemed unlikely though, as no other vehicles came by.
“Where do both of these lead?” Kody asked, stepping onto the right side of the fork and stomping on it as if the road would suddenly open up and a huge flashing arrow would point them in the right direction.
Aari scratched his forehead, then reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Gimme a sec while I open the map and—”
He stopped himself when he saw Marshall pull a physical map out from his cargo pants and unfold it with a serious expression; it looked exactly like the one he’d held out to them the evening he’d tossed the smoke bomb into their car. The Sentry studied it for a few moments. When he noticed that the boys had gone completely silent, he looked over at them. “What? You can’t have too many of these, right?”
The trio stared at him as if he’d just sprouted four extra arms and a tail. Aari slowly slipped his phone back into his pocket. “Not sure how quick and effective that will be, but okay . . . ”
“Deming, Deming . . . ” Marshall scanned the map. “Here we go. If we keep heading north, the next major town is Silver City. If we were to take the road to the right and head east, we’ll hit a town called Hatch.”
“Which way would they have gone, though?” Jag asked, fiddling with the crucifix around his neck.
“Well . . . ” Marshall pulled the map closer to his face, but Kody caught sight of Aari impatiently whipping his phone back out and furiously tapping away at the screen.
“Okay, look,” the redheaded boy said, “to the right we have a long, mostly empty stretch with houses that are really spread out. It looks pretty bare, actually.”
“Wouldn’t that make sense?” Kody asked, staring down the right fork. “If they wanted to keep the girls out of sight, they would have taken them to somewhere secluded and out of the way, right?”
“Possibly,” Jag said. “But that’s not for sure.”
Kody snorted. “Do we have anything better to go on?” He turned to Marshall. “What do you think?”
Marshall lowered his map, then nodded slowly as he folded the chart. “We need to cast the net as far and wide as we can, so why not? They’ve only got an hour’s lead on us.”
“Hold on,” Aari interjected. “What are we gonna do? Go knocking door to door and ask if there are a couple of kidnapped girls inside?”
“You’re forgetting something, smart guy,” Kody said. “My hypersenses. I’m sure I’ll be able to hear them or pick up a scent if they’re within range. And remember, Tegan uses that lavender-lilac shampoo her mom makes—don’t look at me like that, I’m not being creepy, it’s just a unique fragrance—so I should be able to pick it up.”
“Oh, good, I forgot we had our own bloodhound.”
The four of them hurried back to the car. When they came to the fork, Marshall took the right-hand road.
“Hey, Marshall,” Kody said, leaning to the front of the car, “what are your powers?”
“My abilities, Kody, will perhaps be revealed in time. They’re definitely useless right now, anyway.”
Kody, though wanting to question the Sentry further, chose not to. They drove for a bit, then stopped near the first cluster of houses that came into view. “Man, this place could do with a facelift,” Kody observed. “Let me out here.”
Marshall stopped the car and Kody hopped out of the back. Quickly but light-footed, he ran to the first house, listening and trying to pick up scents. All he got was the smell of stale food somewhere inside the building and diesel fuel from the trucks parked in the yard. As for his ears, they picked up three distinctive snores from within the household. At one point he caught the howling of coyotes but quickly came to the realization that the animals were some distance away. He even heard the flutter of a bird’s wings but that wasn’t nearby, either.
He moved swiftly, raking through each residential building with his senses, but none housed Tegan and Mariah. He loped back to the Mustang and jumped in beside Aari. He shook his head at the others and sighed. “I wish my enhanced vision would let me see through walls. It would make this a lot easier.”
“Wouldn’t that be something,” Aari muttered. “Not sure Jag’s cousin would appreciate it the next time she comes to visit, though.”
Kody punched Aari in the arm as Jag let out a short snort of laughter—it was known that Kody fancied Jag’s older cousin. Even Marshall was amused despite the gravity of the situation.
At the next set of intermittently placed houses, Kody was out of the car before the vehicle had come to a full stop. He went around sniffing and listening once more, and had to scale a couple of pi
tiful fences. The thought of being caught intruding on private land didn’t even occur to him—he wanted to find his friends and that was all that mattered.
At the last house, he quietly crept around the side but paused mid-step. A large bulldog was chained to a tree, fast asleep. Though Kody’s experiences with these types of dogs had been positive, he only did a three-second scan of the house before tiptoeing all the way back to the car.
“They’re not here, but there’s a pooch in the back that could wake up any moment,” he said to the others.
“Must be nearly deaf if it didn’t hear the car come up in the first place.” Marshall put the Mustang in drive. “All the same, let’s move out before it does decide to get up and wake the entire neighborhood.”
They continued for over an hour, Kody repeating his methods with the other houses along the road. There were a few long stretches where there were no buildings at all. In some areas, Marshall had to go onto dirt roads to check out the homes that were more remote. They kept the search going until they approached the town of Hatch, where traffic slowly began to build.
When they arrived at Hatch, Kody was done in. The anxiety and the exhausting search, coupled with the lack of sleep had all but completely drained him.
Not wanting to drive further into town, Marshall dolefully pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned on his hazard lights.
Jag banged his head with his fist. “They’re. Not. Here.”
“Maybe they took the road that led north to Silver City,” Kody said wearily.
“If they did, then they’ve got at least two hours on us.” Jag turned around to face Kody. “Are you a thousand-percent sure you didn’t miss anything?”
Kody was defensive. “My senses work just fine. If the girls were there, I would have picked up something. I want to find them as much as you guys, so why wouldn’t I have searched properly?”
The hardness in Jag’s look dissipated. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
