by Rue Volley
Johnathan put his arms in front of him and a red orb started to form in between his hands.
I screamed and dropped the phone.
Chapter 2
Awkward Introductions
William woke up in the dark he rolled to his side, as he let out a small moan, realizing his whole body felt like he had been hit by a bus. He pushed himself up and felt around, trying to figure out where he was. A bright flash rose up in front of him and he raised his hands to shield his eyes. A voice came from the direction of the light.
“Ahhh, I see we are coming around.”
William pushed himself up and moved backward, away from the voice.
“Who... who are you… where am I?” William asked.
“Better question would be how did you get here?”
William cleared his throat. “Listen, I don't know where I am. I... I… don't know how I got here... wherever ‘here’ is.”
“Oh William Volley... listen, I'm not the enemy, and you are safe here. Trust me.”
“How do you know my name?” William said, as his voice cracked.
The light faded to candle light, and William was able to see a small man, dressed in gray and black, moving in front of him.
“You and Grace have been very naughty, very naughty in deed.”
“I'm sorry, listen, could you please tell me who you are and where I am?” William said.
The man came over to William and handed him a glass.
“Drink,” he said.
“What is it?” William said, as he looked up.
“Oh, so paranoid. Trust me William Volley, I would not poison you! Drink!”
William stared into the glass and the liquid started to swirl, light blue streaks, like glitter.
He took a look at the man, who gave him a wink.
“What the hell… Down the hatch,” William said.
William realized he immediately felt a warm feeling, rising up in his throat.
“Oh god.” He doubled over and hurled all over the floor. He thought it was over and then he hurled again.
He cleared his throat, holding his stomach and looked up.
“What the hell did you give me?” William asked, as he coughed.
“Oh trust me William… that is so much better than the alternative, here.”
William looked at him and flashes of memory started to swell in his head.
The man came over to him, holding out his hand and led him over to a chair.
“Sit.”
William pulled up his shirt and wiped it over his face. He was drenched in sweat.
“Now William… you have questions and so do I.” William stared up at him.
“Okay… okay…” William said, as he steadied himself.
“I want to know how you came to me.” William looked at him; the man’s face looked young to him. “Like I said, I don't…”
“Now see William, I know who you are. I know who Grace is.” William looked confused.
“I... I don't know you, do I? You look familiar to me but I can't quite remember you,” William said as he started to study the man's face. He looked more like a young man, obviously no older than twenty. He was dressed nicely, but older than his age. William took a breath and closed his eyes.
“Oh yes you do, if you concentrate you will remember me, I am sure,” the young man said.
The man got up and waved his hands over his head in a slow motion. Blue flames started flowing up around his feet, wind started to swirl in the room. He turned to William and said, “I'm a protector… just like you William.”
William stood up, knocking his chair out from behind him. White light started to glow in his palms.
“You… are a protector? I want no trouble from you!” William said, as he braced himself.
“Now just calm down, no need to get all flustered. My name is Theodore… Theodore Barrington.”
The blue flames licking around his feet started to fade. William kept in an attack position.
“Sorry for the theatrics William, but I thought we could get right to the point.”
William let the light in his palms fade.
“I didn't… well Grace and I didn't think there were any friendly protectors left, after the war.”
Theodore started to laugh. “I have a hard time believing that!” he continued. “Oh William... well, there are quite a few of us left, including myself.”
“Where… well… I'm sorry I'm just a little shocked at the thought of anyone not wanting to kill me on sight.” He stared at Theodore, as flashes of memory continued to swell in his head.
“Not any that could breed, except it seems for you and Grace.” Theodore stared at him. “I see that you put a strong protection over yourselves, I can guarantee that none of us knew you and your family existed.”
William stood up, “I'm sorry, but I need to know how you know so much about me… about my family.”
“Well you see William, after a thousand years I have honed my skills.” He looked hard at William. “Including being able to combine my energy with anyone and pulling memories from them.”
William started to remember Theodore's face, not clearly, but he started to breath slower. He knew that he didn't hate him, but he didn't know why. He rubbed his neck and looked at him.
“So while I was unconscious you sucked my memories out to become part of your own? Nice trick Theodore.” William tried to grin, but his stomach still had knots in it. Theodore grinned.
“Well, you have to understand, here I am, simply eating my meal and suddenly you pop up, babbling on about this and that. I had no choice but to make sure I wouldn't have to destroy you.”
Theodore stood up and started to pace back and forth.
“Don't get me wrong, my first instinct was to kill you, of course, but I have a soft spot for pretty boys. I remember you William Volley. You have been gone a long time.”
Theodore gave William a look up and down and then cleared his throat.
“Well I put a very strong protection on my home here and you just broke right through it. I had to be sure of what your intentions were.” William looked at him, completely defeated and sighed.
“I am a protector,” he said under his breath.
“Oh please, that is a given William! I said that I remembered you! What I need to know is how you got here, for some reason your mind doesn't contain that juicy bit of information.”
William sat back down and put his hands up to his head.
“Listen… I do not know.” Theodore raised his hands to his hips and tapped his foot.
“Well, maybe you should tell me what you were doing when it happened,” Theodore said.
William looked up to him, “I can't remember... Honestly I can't.” Theodore sighed.
“Well… seems we need to remedy that don't we...? I have obligations here William, ones that I cannot let go by the wayside. You put my family in peril by coming here.”
William looked at him, with some confusion.
“What are you thinking Theodore?” William asked.
“I'm sorry William… but we have to go before the council.”
***
I woke up in my bed. This was new, I thought. Wait... WTF?! I jumped up and there, standing in my doorway, was Kai. I blinked a few times, feeling as if I had been here before.
“Kai!” I said, way too excited.
“Wow, Rue. I know seeing me is amazing, but geez...” He started to laugh.
“Oh my god.” I whispered.
He looked at me, giving me the ‘You’re a freak’ smile.
“Ummm… okay, so listen, miss crazy, I just came up to see if you wanted some breakfast,” Kai said.
“What day is it, Kai?” He looked at me, and crossed his arms.
“Okay, I'll play along, it's ‘Sunday’, Rue.”
“The day after my birthday?” I said. Kai crinkled his eyebrows.
“Yes, that is correct,” he said as he laughed.
“We went to a party las
t night?” I asked him.
“Yes, we went to the party,” Kai said, like I was annoying him. Flashes of white started flaring in my head, whispers I couldn't understand...
“I... am soooo sorry… I didn't…” I said.
“You didn't what... say ‘No’ to wine?” Kai unfolded his arms.
I stumbled, holding my head. “To wine?” I asked him.
“Yep... you can't handle any alcohol at all, light weight.” He started laughing.
“Me? I… was drinking?” I stammered.
“Jeezus, Rue. Johnathan said you only had one glass.”
“One glass?” I said. I started to feel like a parrot repeating his words back to him.
“Are we gonna play the ‘repeat every word I say game’ Rue? Listen it’s cool, you didn't do anything crazy, you just fell asleep.”
“At the party?” I asked. Kai crossed his arms again. “Yes, at the party... Johnathan was nice enough to carry you to the car.” He just stared at me. I'm sure I looked like I just got punched in the gut. Kai looked at me like an alien on a slab. He tilted his head.
“Yea, wow… okay ummm… I made. You should eat something, alcoholic.” He laughed again.
I jumped up out of bed and ran to one of my clocks, 9:00 am... shit. It's Sunday. Okay. I stood still for a moment, considering the fact that I may be insane and decided to pull it together. I turned to Kai.
“Ummm, okay, cool. I'm starving, I said as convincing as I could be.
“Okay...” Kai said, as he started to walk out of my room.
He turned back to me, “Listen, Rue, Mom’s up, so let's keep this ‘wine’ thing on the down low.”
What the hell? What does he mean that Mom is up?
I ran downstairs as fast as I could. There she was, sitting in her chair, the one I loved so much. I stared… and stared... I swear her image shook a couple times, almost like she was a bad DVD.
“Mom?” I asked, as I leaned toward her.
She looked up at me, with the biggest smile.
“ Morning Birthday girl.” I stood there for a moment longer, and gave in to overwhelming joy.
I ran over to her and gave her such a fierce hug; I almost knocked her off the chair.
“Oh my god, Rue!” She started laughing. “Listen if I would have known you would love your gift so much I would have asked for favors, like dishes... trash…”
I started to cry.
“Rue?” She asked, as she pushed me off her shoulder. “Honey, what’s wrong?”
I looked at her, in her eyes, she could see me, she was here, really, really here. I was overwhelmed.
I had to pull myself together. Something was so strange. I started to forget why.
“Nothing mom, I love the gift… I do. Thank you sooo much, really. I'm just so…” I said.
“You’re welcome, Honey,” she said, as she winked at me.
Kai and my Mom exchanged looks, Kai circled the fork next to his head, and she gave him a ‘stop it’ look.
“Look honey your brother made some breakfast, get something to eat, okay?” she said with a grin.
“Yea mom, good idea,” I said as my voice cracked. I walked to the table and sat down. I took a bite. The food was delicious, I felt it wasn't right... something was not right.
I sat there and my mother came over to eat with us, and suddenly things started to change. She kept talking, but I kept seeing flashes of memory, Johnathan, Wine, Johnathan, Wine, and my thoughts shifted. Static... frame by frame... I started to remember things, exactly the way she told me.
Exactly what Kai said, drifting... I was drifting in memory.
“So what did you want to do today, Rue?” she said.
I looked up at her.
“What?” I said my head was spinning; I started to think I was going to throw up.
“Any plans?” she said to me with a smile.
“Ummm… I don't know,” I said.
Kai chimed in.
“Well... I'm gonna hang out with Sophie,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders.
I stared at my plate, flashes of woods, running...
She chimed in, “Well, I think that's great Kai, I like her.” Her voice started to echo in my ears.
She looked at me. “Don't you, Rue?” she asked me.
I looked back at her, “Yea, umm… sure, she's okay.” I blinked as I looked at my plate, it was swirling.
I cleared my throat. I kept trying to focus, static, flashes. I put my fingers to my temples.
“Ummm... where’s...” Oh my god! Sharp pains started to roll through my head.
“Where’s Dad?” I tried to say, without sounding as weird as I felt.
She looked at me, “Honey, are you feeling okay?”
“Yea Mom, Where… where is Dad?” I asked her again.
She got up; I looked at Kai, who had stopped mid-bite.
“Now I know you’re freakin' crazy,” Kai said to me. I raised my eyebrows.
He dropped his fork and threw up his hands. “I'm outta here,” he said.
Mom turned around to him.
“Honey... Wait,” she said, as she reached her hand out.
Kai got up and grabbed his backpack and out the door he went.
Mom dropped the dishtowel on the counter. She turned to me.
“Really Rue, sometimes I just don't understand your morbid sense of humor,” she said.
I grabbed my head. Sharp pains were slicing through my brain. Flashes of memory in sharp pulses.
I looked up at her and she had a smile on her face.
“I don't know what you mean?” I said.
She came over to me and leaned down into my face, “I see you are as stubborn as your Mother.”
I kept holding my head, “Who... who the hell are you…? You are not my mother,” I said.
“The pain will go away Rue, if you just let the memory's I've given you, take hold,” she said.
I stood up, stumbling away from the table. I reached out to the chair and knocked it over, dropping to the floor. I grabbed at my head, as the pain pulsated through it.
“What the hell are you doing to me?” I said, as I tried to focus on her.
“I'm not doing anything to you; you are undeniably the strongest protector I have ever seen, especially for your age.” She started to talk to herself, “I swear... Theodore should have done this himself.”
She turned back to me and put her hands on her hips. “Shit,” she muttered.
I started to drag myself away from her, flashes still pounding in my head.
“Please… Please make it stop, I'm begging you... please,” I said, as I slowly crawled across the floor.
“Only if you promise to behave,” she said, as she sighed.
“I promise… I won't do anything. Nothing at all… Just stop it... please!” I cried out to her.
She stepped up to me.
“Okay… this isn't going to be pleasant, I assure you,” she said as she stared down at me.
She backed away from me and in one motion pushed everything out of the middle of the kitchen, as she opened her arms wide. I would have been terrified, but the pounding in my head was so relentless, I didn't even care. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of chalk. She looked at me and I looked at her and her image was shifting, like bad reception on the T.V.
“No need for this glamour anymore,” she muttered, more to herself then to me.
She put both arms out in front of her and closed her eyes. She started chanting, I watched her change before me. Her face morphed from my mother’s, to a smaller rounded shape. She was very pretty. Her hair changed from my mother’s long brown hair, to red. I just sat there fixed on her, forgetting my pain for a moment. She looked at me and smiled.
“You are sure?” she said. I was too shocked to disagree.
I nodded, still reaching toward my head.
She leaned down and started to chalk symbols into our wood floor. The first one she placed in front of me and waved her
hand over it. It started to glow blue and she whispered, “Remember.” One by one, she repeated symbol after symbol, until she had me completely surrounded. She stood in front of me and raised her hands above her head.
“I call upon you. Creator of all things, I ask for your energy to flow through me,” she cried out.
Blue flames were rising from around her feet and white streaks of flame shot between her hands.
“I, Samantha Barrington, call upon you... creator!” she called out.
A huge flash of light blinded me and I felt myself rising off of the floor. My arms pulled away from me and my head tilted upward, none of which I had any control over. I suddenly felt a white hot heat rising within me and I screamed out. Flashes of memory came flooding into my mind. I saw my mother and William side by side looking into each other’s eyes. William was holding mom’s face in his hands and then he raised her hands to his mouth, and kissed them... Suddenly they were in what; I could only understand to be a battle, not like I had ever seen. White lightning was flashing everywhere. Blue and red streaked all around them. I saw my mom stumbling up the side of a hill holding her side, calling out my father’s name. Suddenly I saw them fleeing, stopping only to check on bodies that had fallen. I saw Caine’s face, my father standing before him, more flashes of light, my mother screamed out and everything went into slow motion. I held my breath... pain... I screamed out, “STOP!” only this time I had a huge flash of blue flames release in a circle around me. Samantha shielded herself behind the kitchen table, which had flipped over in front of her. I dropped to the floor hard and rolled to my side.
“Jeezus Christ!” I yelled at her.
Samantha peeked over the table.
“You done throwing a fit?” she said to me, half laughing.
“A fit…? What the hell...” I said, as I started to pull myself off the floor. “I'm going to kick your ass!”
Samantha stood up and put her hands on her hips. She cocked her head to one side.
“Well Rue Volley... you are something special!” she said with a grin.
I looked at her.
“Start talking... Now,” I said as I clinched my fists at my sides.
***
William knew he was in trouble. Knowing Theodore could probably be a formidable foe, he simply agreed without any resistance. He knew of him, being a middle of the road protector.
