by R G Peterson
She held up a finger to Ligeia, the international sign for wait a minute, and pulled out her phone. She opened the Google translation app and mimicked that Ligeia should repeat her question into the phone.
She understood and spoke once more. “How is Nicholas?” the phone chirped.
Grace turned the phone back toward her and said, “He is dying. We need your help.” She aimed the phone at Ligeia and waited as the app translated what she said.
Ligeia looked forlorn and sat down heavily on the lone chair in the room.
She motioned for Grace to hold the phone up in front of her and said, “How can I help. He always showed me kindness and respect. If it had not been for him, I would be dead, killed in the earthquake that destroyed the archives.”
Grace spoke into the phone and waited impatiently as the phone translated her request.
“He is burned. Scalded by water.” She let the program translate, before adding, “We need to make a potion that will heal his burns.”
She turned the phone toward Ligeia and once more waited anxiously for a reply.
“All of the documents were destroyed,” Ligeia paused as the teenagers listened to the translation. Ligeia motioned that she had more to say. “I do not know how I can help you.”
Grace motioned toward the computer sitting on Ligeia’s desk. Ligeia nodded. Grace had scanned all of the files they had removed from the archives onto her computer at home and uploaded them to a thumb drive. Grace found the file and scrolled through it as Ligeia looked over her shoulder.
“Stasi,” she said.
Grace didn’t need her phone for the translation. She stopped. Ligeia gently pushed Grace out of her chair and began to read the document, jotting down notes as she went along.
When she finished she said into the phone, “This is what you need. Be careful how you apply it. It must be with an exceedingly whispered touch.”
Grace nodded and took hold of Ligeia’s notes. They would have to either type it into an online translator or find someone who knew Greek when they returned to Manitowoc.
Grace stepped forward and hugged Ligeia, Maddy followed suit. Terry and AJ thanked her and they headed for the door. As they retraced their steps and reached the first floor landing they froze. Two of Thanatos’ guards, Fire Elements, had a hold of Anthony, who struggled futilely in an attempt to get free from their restraint. Thanatos chuckled when he saw the teens’ expressions.
With a haughty tone he stated, “After I heard what had happened to Nicholas, I thought you might come here seeking help. I just did not think it would be from Ligeia. Come, we have much to talk about.”
He turned and walked back up the staircase.
Chapter 9
“You ordered this done to Nick, didn’t you?”
They moved into a room the size of a medium-sized ballroom. An enormous desk rested near the far stucco wall. Pictures and statues adorned the walls and the four corners of the room recalling the pinnacle of Greek civilization. There were also various ancient Greek implements of war: shields, swords, bows, arrows, long spears and helmets.
After taking his seat in an oversized plush leather, executive chair, Thanatos motioned the teenagers forward, directing them to stand in front of his desk. His array of six guards stood in strategic places surrounding the teenagers.
Catching AJ looking about, taking in all of the relics, Thanatos said, “It is the largest collection of Greek treasures, outside of museums of course. I am quite proud of it. And think, I can keep it all in my study where I can reflect on it anytime I like.”
“This is a study?” AJ blurted out. “It looks more like a museum.”
Thanatos chuckled. “Yes, I suppose it does appear so to those with less means than I. But I can tell by young Miss Windwalker’s expression she has other things…more important things, on her mind. Speak up, my dear.”
“I’m not your dear, or honey, or anything else, so please stop the charade. We got what we came for and now we’d like to leave.”
“I am sure you would. But you see I have caught you breaking into my home…once again. Which, when I call the authorities, will delay your departure a great deal.”
Grace marched forward and leaned over Thanatos’ desk.
“You ordered this done to Nick, didn’t you?”
One of his guards swiftly moved in and grabbed her by an arm. The boys instinctively moved to help her, drawing the swift reprisal of the other guards. They grabbed the three boys. They pushed AJ and Anthony to the ground while holding firm to Terry. He freed himself from the grasp of one of the guards, then shifted his attention to the other. But as he focused on freeing himself the first guard grabbed hold of him once more. He realized that it was futile for him to continue to try to free himself from the two different Elements and conceded to being restrained.
Thanatos ignored the commotion and said, “Miss Windwalker, as I have told you many times, I know a great deal about what goes on in our world. I know Nicholas no longer has any powers, so why would I need to do anything to him? Terry has fulfilled the prophecy and surpassed Nick. I do not harm those who are of no threat to me. I believe you will find the answer to your concerns much closer to home.” He paused then added, “People in our world are always trying to curry my favor, even when I do not ask for it.”
Grace wrenched herself from the guards grasp and took a swipe at Thanatos. The guard grabbed her once more, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her off the ground.
“Everyone, stop eatin’ each other’s heads off,” Maddy shouted. “I’m sure we can happy out. Everyone keep their alans on.”
Maddy turned, gave a hard glare to the guard standing over AJ, backing him up. She reached down and pulled AJ to his feet. Thanatos nodded and his men moved back to their original positions. Anthony scrambled to get to his feet. The boys looked humbled and humiliated.
All eyes turned to Maddy, mystified at what she had said. Seeing their looks, AJ translated, “She said, stop fighting, we can work this out and stop getting your undies in a bundle.” Then he shrugged. “You should hear her when she really gets pissed off.”
Maddy turned to Grace, took her by the shoulders and moved her back away from the desk.
“There,” she said. “Okay, here’s the form.”
AJ said, “Here’s where we stand.”
“Okay, so we’ve been snared rapid.”
“Caught.”
Maddy shot AJ a disquieting look. He motioned to the others, as if he was helping them understand what she was saying. She calmed down and went on in more understandable English.
“We indeed have what we need, but in order for us ta fire away and help our Nicholas, we have ta go up the yard. And all the sooner is all the better.”
“We have to leave and soon.”
Thanatos nodded, “And what do I get for allowing you to do so?”
“Yeh know very well what we have ta give yeh.”
Thanatos shrugged his shoulders as if what Maddy had said meant very little to him.
“And you propose…?”
“We give it a bash and we get crackin’.”
“She says we’ll give you everything we have on you and then we’ll leave.”
“And?”
“And the list o’ politicians who yeh gave the nod ta.”
AJ started to translate, but Thanatos held up his hand motioning he already understood. “And?”
“And?” Maddy asked confused.
AJ spoke up, “And we also agree to not attempt to try and steal it again.”
Thanatos shook his head and flicked his hand as if to indicate he was unconcerned with such a trivial event happening again.
He turned his attention to Terry. “You know what I want.”
Terry swept the others with his gaze, stopped when he came to Anthony and let his stare linger. After a long moment he turned back to Thanatos and said, “Agreed.”
“Good. And because you have agreed, I will allow Ligeia to accompany you. S
he will be able to help you select the necessary ingredients for the potion for Nicholas. Good day.”
He swept his hands forward a couple of times as if shooing pesky flies off his picnic lunch. The guards formed a circle around the Clan and escorted them out of the mansion.
Chapter 10
“Stasi”
They made their way back through the wormholes and arrived in Manitowoc at 4:30 that afternoon. AJ, who had been given a car on his sixteenth birthday, drove everyone to Nick’s house. Grace raced home to get her laptop and a container of rainwater. AJ took the spare key hidden under a fake rock in the Ericson’s backyard and let everyone into their residence.
Grace, after saying a brief hello to her parents, sprinted back to the Ericson’s, opened her computer and found the section Ligeia had pointed out to them earlier. Grace took out her phone and turned the Google translation app back on, hit the speaker button and placed it in front of Ligeia.
Ligeia spoke in short sentences and waited after each to make sure the teenagers understood what they needed. Grace wrote down the ingredients as the app translated Ligeia’s instructions. They included: aloe vera gel, green tea, lavender essential oil, manuka honey, calendula tincture and the rainwater.
Grace took charge. “Maddy find some organic, green tea. GG keeps it in that cabinet above the sink. AJ run to the health food store and get an all-natural aloe vera gel. Anthony you go with him. Terry you stay here and boil the water in the stone bowl GG keeps under the counter next to the stove. I’ll take Ligeia to my place and have her help me find the rest of the ingredients.”
Nobody moved fast enough in Grace’s opinion, so she yelled, “Go! We’ve already wasted too much time as it is. Go.”
Everyone hurried to do as they had been instructed and Grace practically dragged Ligeia to her place. She snuck Ligeia in the backdoor and yelled out to her parents. “Hi, it’s just me. I need to get something out of the basement.”
They rummaged through the various plants and herbs the teens had taken from the archival hall minutes before it sank into the sea the previous year. Ligeia pointed out the three sealed bags of the plants they needed and hurried back to Nick’s house.
Ten minutes later, as Grace paced anxiously in the kitchen, AJ and Anthony returned from the store. In the meantime, Terry had boiled the tea leafs and drained off all of the water, removed the leaves from the bottom of the kettle and mashed them into a pulp like substance. They placed the ingredients side by side on the kitchen counter. The others backed away as Grace once more took charge. She rolled up her sleeves and began to concoct the formula as directed by Ligeia. Every time she added a new ingredient, she turned to Ligeia to see if she had done everything correctly and then anxiously waited for her next instruction.
Grace had already squeezed some of the aloe vera out of the bottle onto a small saucer, added three drops of lavender essential oil and then the mashed up tea leafs. She rolled the mixture around and let it sit for nine minutes, tapping her foot the whole time, as she continually glanced at the clock, willing it to move faster. As soon as the nine minutes passed, Grace added the manuka honey, rolled it some more and waited three more minutes, mumbling, “Come on would you,” over and over again directing her comments at the clock as if it was defective and moving way too slow.
Ligeia spoke once more and Grace started to add the last ingredient, the calendula tincture. But as she tipped her hand to pour the tincture Ligeia cried out “Stasi.” The app bellowed, “Stop.”
Grace pulled her hand back and glared at Ligeia. “What?” she demanded.
Ligeia shook her head and said, “Lypamai.” Out came the translation, “I’m sorry.”
Ligeia spoke so fast the translator app had trouble interpreting everything she said, but enough of it got through and the teenagers knew at once that Thanatos had not been honest with them.
“I told to make potion not to work. That is wrong plant. I sorry.”
Grace looked at her, shocked. “After Nick helped save your life, you were going to make a potion for him that didn’t work?”
Ligeia listened to the translation and began to cry. She repeated, “I am sorry,” over and over again. Grace grabbed her by the arm and dragged her once more to her house.
She called out to her parents, “Sorry, it’s me again. I need something else.”
They went to the basement, found the correct plant and headed back up the stairs. As Grace pushed open the basement door John and Mary were standing there.
“What’s going on?” Mary asked.
“And who is this?” John chimed in.
“Ah, hi, this is Ligeia. She’s from Greece. But I’m in a hurry and I promise I’ll explain it all later.” When she saw her dad wasn’t pleased, she added, “She’s here to help us save Nick. Sorry, we’ve got to go.”
She dragged Ligeia out of the kitchen and down to Nick’s house once more.
“Okay, do we have to start over?” she asked Ligeia through the translator.
Ligeia shook her head. Grace measured out the amount she needed and added it to the mixture sitting on the counter. The water Terry boiled earlier had cooled enough that he needed to reheat it. He concentrated on the bowl holding his hands on the sides and within seconds the water was roiling. They added the mixture to the water and Terry concentrated on boiling the excess water off until there was a paste the size of a tennis ball.
“You, stay here,” Grace ordered Ligeia. “The rest of you, let’s go.”
As they turned to leave, Ligeia said – the phone chirping out the translation, “A whisper, no more, no less. Too much and Niko will die. Too little and it will not cure him. Remember, a slight whisper.”
Chapter 11
“I don’t think yeh should be the one ta apply the potion”
As they drove to the hospital Grace explained what she wanted to do. When she finished she knew that Maddy and Terry were uncomfortable with her plan.
“What?” she insisted.
“I don’t think yeh should be the one ta apply the potion,” Maddy said.
“Why not?”
“Because yeh are Wind, not Water.”
“What difference does that make?”
“Do yeh know what she meant by o whisper?”
“I think I have a pretty good idea, yeah.”
Terry and Maddy looked at her skeptically. Grace’s eyes skipped back and forth between the two of them.
“Ah, heck. Who am I kidding? I’m not sure.”
“It’s o Water thing. Trust me,” Maddy assured her.
“But what if it’s too much? Will you be able to live with yourself knowing you were the one who caused Nick’s death?” Grace countered.
“Would yeh? Besides, I’m not goin’ ta kill him. I know what I’m doin’.”
Grace hesitated, but when she read the expression on everyone’s faces, she knew Maddy was right.
“Okay, here, but please be careful.”
She handed the mixture to Maddy, and for the first time since Nick had been injured, allowed herself to cry. The tears flowed so hard and fast she couldn’t wipe them away quick enough and her shirt became a sodden mess. As they pulled into the parking lot she got herself back under control and the five of them marched into the hospital.
They pushed the elevator button for the third floor. Grace felt like it was laboring more than ever today and began to mutter, “Come on, come on, come on.”
They moved over to the nurses’ station. Grace and AJ stood an inch over six feet tall, while Terry was 6’4” and Anthony was 6’6” – the tallest member of the Clan. They stood in a line to block the nurse’s view, allowing Maddy to sneak past undetected. She ducked below the counter and scooted toward the door. She wedged herself into the space where the door and wall met and waited for someone to exit. As the door slid open, Maddy froze. She waited for the doctor to clear the doorway and with lightning speed moved through it before it could close.
She scurried to Nick’s room and the
far side of his bed. When her eyes came to rest on him, she wasn’t prepared for the sight. Seeing Nick with large regions of his skin gone and red angry areas of tissue exposed beneath it, she gasped.
Maddy gathered herself and took a few deep-cleansing breaths before reaching for a surgical mask and the hand sanitizer on Nick’s nightstand. She waited a minute then removed a bit of the mixture from the large Ziploc bag and rolled it around in her hands as if she were preparing pizza dough. She then flattened and stretched it. When it was sufficiently flat she slowly spread her hands apart. The mixture stretched some more as if it were a micro-thin layer of taffy. But unlike taffy it didn’t droop, remaining perfectly flat. Maddy moved her hands around until she had a layer approximately a foot and a half square and so thin it was transparent. She lowered her hands and hovered them about an inch above Nick’s body. One hand was positioned just below Nick’s neck and the other just below his rib cage. She closed her eyes and pictured the mixture floating down and softly covering the exposed area. When she opened her eyes she saw the filmy mixture glistening against Nick’s raw skin.
His face immediately took on a serenity that signified he had passed on to another realm.
Grace paced the ICU waiting room as if she were a caged tiger. Each time she reached the entrance she would stop and attempt to see what was happening through the small rectangular windows in the ICU doors. She could see nurses and doctors scurrying about, but could make out very few details as to what they were doing.
The three boys sat on one side of the room watching TV while Gayle and Henry sat in a love seat facing the door. Gayle moved in expectation anytime someone walked past. The teens had been there ten minutes when Grace saw one of the nurses walk into Nick’s room and hurry back out a few seconds later. Grace watched as she race-walked to another room and came back out with a doctor in tow.
Grace glanced nervously at Gayle, debating whether she should say anything. She decided it best not to, and turned her attention back to the windows. Soon she saw the nurse leave the room again and head down to the other end of the hall. Half a minute later she returned with another doctor and a number of staff from the floor. They all turned into Nick’s room. Grace, distraught, decided she had better say something to GG and Grandpa Henry. She deliberately turned and walked toward where they were sitting, but before she could reach them, that same nurse entered the ICU lounge and motioned for Nick’s grandparents to follow her. Grace tried to read her face and body language, but it was inscrutable.
