“Two weeks from Sunday. I think I can handle that. We’ll see each other during lunches?” Zach’s question was impish with a bright smile and waggling eyebrows. He knew Jade would say yes.
She did.
Zach noticed Danika and Jeremy leaving the school with their arms locked around each other. He said, “Looks like my date’s leaving. I bought pictures. Would you like to be in them with me?”
Jade wondered for about 1.2 seconds if Matt would care before squeezing Zach’s hand, “Sure.”
If they had known what was coming, they might have stayed out all night dancing. Fate doesn’t usually come with a fortune teller, and they were in for a rough time.
Chapter 12
It was October 16th and the house was empty. Bertha slowly turned the yellowing pages of the photo album. Happier times. The laughing faces in the photos had all passed away, her parents, her siblings, her friends. She was the last hold-out. She missed her sister deeply.
The pain had been growing steadily worse. Harold’s estimate of three months was spot on. Sometimes Bertha wondered if she would even make it that long. She wondered how bad the end would be. Would she be able to hobble around the house or would she be laid up? She needed a plan. Bertha was afraid of nursing homes, terrified of hospitals. She would almost rather walk into the woods and find a quiet meadow to in which to sit until the end came. She could just wait for Death to come in a pleasant field.
The girls never mentioned death. Whenever it came to her illness, they turned into generals, ready to fight until the last man for her to survive. They asked her if she was taking vitamins, getting enough sleep, getting enough to eat, and would she please have another bite…as if she were a five year old child! They told her not to give up, that they weren’t giving up on her either. They never asked her if she was willing to fight.
It was all very sweet…and frustrating. She felt her body giving way all around her. She was angry. Funny thing about eighty was that it happened so fast. One moment she was a tiny girl playing tag among the trees, and the next she was hobbling on a cane, her knees unable to hold her up.
Bertha had to last a little longer. She wanted to go camping with the girls at Diana’s waterfall when they went to rescue Amy, but her body just didn’t have the strength. Jade almost called a nurse, but Bertha managed to stop that cold. Now she just had to wait…and hope that her girls would come through okay.
~~ Raven ~~
Jade, Raven, Claire, Mindy, and Zach stood barefoot on the soft grass next to the pool under the waterfall. The full moon danced playfully on the water. They were all nervous for various reasons, and excited for the same.
“I still don’t see why you need my swim suit,” Jade complained.
Mindy giggled.
Raven wore jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt over the swim suit. She said, “Mine is a one piece. That’s all you need to know.”
“You better not wreck it. That thing cost sixty dollars,” Jade warned. Her feet were cold, and she was scared. If this didn’t work, they didn’t have a prayer at finding their Mom. Jade wanted to go to college the year after next and start her life. She didn’t want to be stuck in Wildwood Springs forever.
Mindy stopped laughing, “Wreck?”
Raven pulled Mindy into a hug from behind, “Don’t worry, Mindy. She won’t blame you for anything.”
“Blame her for what?” Jade asked her gaze moving sharply from Raven to Mindy.
Claire rolled her eyes, “Can’t we just get started?”
“I want to know what Raven and Mindy did to my swimsuit,” Jade said. If she were being honest with herself, she would admit that she didn’t care so much about the suit as that Zach was standing just beside her, and she didn’t know quite how to act. Everything seemed so serious today, and with all of her sisters, she was afraid that Zach would think she was too much trouble and ditch her, even though she wasn’t even sure she wanted him there. How was that for logic!
“Dragon!” Mindy exclaimed, giggling.
Raven ruffled Mindy’s hair and let her out of the hug. She side-stepped toward Jade with a beckoning finger.
“That’s not fair. I want to hear, too.” Claire said. Her hair suddenly blew in her face. Air was showing off a little with Raven.
Raven leaned in and said, “Chastity belt. I told Mindy she was turning me into a dragon. Your suit is like flexible metal. Impenetrable,”
Zach chimed in, “It’s 12:20. We should take our places.”
Raven felt a twinge of dread mirrored in her gut with a fluttery feeling that bordered on illness. Her mouth felt dry. She took a deep breath and held it for a second before releasing it slowly. She felt frightened.
Mindy took Claire’s hand and aligned herself across from the waterfall.
“No, stand here,” Claire said, “That way I can see the water.”
As a Water Elemental, Claire loved Water. It made sense, but Mindy knew where she had to be. She shook her head and held out her hand, “Come.”
Claire relented to Mindy’s stubbornness. She took Raven’s left hand. Raven’s back was to the waterfall, as was Zach’s who took her other hand. Jade completed the circle between Mindy and Zach.
“Now what?” Claire asked.
“Shh…” Mindy said.
Earth rumbled her greetings to the Elementals. Water sang a short song. Air danced around the circle, ruffling hair and whispering encouragement in their ears. Fire sparkled in trails above their heads, giving the illusion of fireflies with lights flickering in and out. The Universe joined from a distance, not touching Zach, never touching Zach.
Zach reached out, tears in his eyes. The Universe ignored him, but Zach felt the presence…if nothing else the Universe was watching.
A flash.
A roar.
The ground shook violently. The circle was torn apart.
Mist shimmered from a space behind Raven. Palming a sharp pocket knife able to open with the press of a button, Raven searched the mist for some clue as to what lay behind. She saw nothing. With a nod to Jade, she waved goodbye and turned stepping into the shrouded fog.
Raven was on a mission. She knew her role. She knew her place. The cost was negotiable. With Mindy’s help, she had fashioned protection from a vile man whose history included violence toward women in general and Elementals in specific. She had to survive, rescue Mom and get the serial killing monster back in prison. Easy-peasy.
The blow came from behind, which was a trick as Raven thought the doorway was directly behind her. She fell to her knees, only to feel a body twice her size flip her back. Raven would have been surprised, would have been scared if Bertha hadn’t warned her.
She wasn’t scared now. She was furious.
He’d already managed to get her left arm trapped, but her right arm was free. She clicked the button to the knife and with a violent slash sent it in the direction of his throat. She missed his throat, but opened up his jaw.
He let go just long enough for Raven to wrench herself away.
Calling to Air, she was ready for a power tornado to throw him off.
Raven waited.
Air didn’t answer. Raven clutched the knife with a death grip. Aunt Bertha’s lectures over the last two weeks didn’t exactly boost her confidence level at this exact moment. Killers could take weapons from a weaker person. If she didn’t hang onto that knife, it would be used against her.
He turned around. His eyes were dead. He had no soul. Not even a vestige of a self remaining. Raven felt a tremor of recognition when he faced her. His real self was gone. This thing standing before her was close to a Void creation, but he still kept his eyes. He was a violent menace who would kill until stopped. Raven realized that in a fight, she wouldn’t win.
That first realization was shock enough.
The second shock was accompanied with a sense of hopelessness.
The portal was gone.
Raven refused to let a little thing like being trapped and isolated in a strange d
imension with a serial killer get her down. After all, she still had her knife, and a chastity swimsuit the freak would never get through. He might kill her. But he wouldn’t do the other. Raven was grateful for Aunt Bertha, grateful for her visions.
She thanked the Universe.
“Stop that,” The man growled at her, his voice gravelly from centuries of disuse.
“What?” Raven asked.
“Stop talking to anyone but me,” Petrodus had a feral look about him, wild and frightening. There are two kinds of wildness. There is the kind of wildness that people like and understand, that they can even respect, like a lion pulling down a gazelle. It’s ruthless and brutal, but the lion is still in some way innocent by virtue of staying true to its own nature. Not this man. He was so disgusting, so twisted, so turned, that his wildness came across as an evil taint. That was Petrodus.
“Oh, I get it,” Raven said. She nodded and spoke with her knife, waving it up and down to make her point. Really she just wanted to see Petrodus follow that knife with his eyes. He was a predator all right. He didn’t even notice his own blood dripping onto a shirt that was rags.
Realizing Petrodus wasn’t going to engage, Raven said, “Yep, I’ve got you figured out. You’re the original narcissist going back to the days of Diana and her Elementals and nymphs. Sorry, Buddy, but those times are long gone. Sure, you can kill me, maybe even succeed, but you’ll still be a desperate wannabe who lost his power and is holed up in the backwater middle of nowhere hanging out in the mist and hoping for the end of time.”
Raven hit more than one nerve.
Petrodus roared.
Not a scream. His cry was so much animal Raven could almost smell the fur.
That was because Petrodus was no longer a man.
His haunches were huge, the size of her own legs. He was as tall on four legs as Raven was on two. His muzzle, yes muzzle, was curled up to show fangs the size of Raven’s fingers.
Staring down the wolf’s open throat, waiting for the end, Raven said the first thing that came to her mind, “I’m really going to have to have a conversation with Bertha about the accuracy of her visions. I’m pretty sure she would have mentioned it if I were eaten by a wolf.”
Petrodus snarled, saliva dripping from his tongue. He bit Raven’s shoulder and pulled her back, which was for her a stumble forward. She didn’t understand what was happening. Why was he maneuvering her forward? It made no sense.
Until it did.
As he pushed her through the mist, she realized that he needed her to go through the portal. She remembered Bertha’s warning that no one could move her through time and space without her approval, that she could choose the destination.
Raven called to Emptiness.
Emptiness was such a quiet little Element. Raven could hardly hear her.
Emptiness whispered, I’m here.
Raven thought, Mom.
As Raven fell through the portal between dimensions, she connected to Emptiness. She connected to Mom, so far away, and then they were close, standing in a room with plush peach carpeting and a gentle breeze blowing in through the windows.
Raven hurt. The wolf knew a thing or two about anatomy and was wiggling his tooth along her muscles, tearing even while he tried to pull her back to the portal.
Remembering something about dogs, Raven took the elbow that wasn’t being mangled and elbowed Petrodus as hard as she could in the nose. He let go abruptly. Raven had no illusions about what would happen next. Predators didn’t forgive. They just ripped you apart.
“Back off. I’m rescuing Mom. I’m sure you recognize the place, being a Death Keeper. You can’t leave without me, and until I get Mom, you’re going to find yourself coming back here again and again and again. Kill me if you want, but this place is as much a prison as the mist you were in.”
Petrodus growled.
“If you bite me again, I’m taking us to the Unmaker. I’ll leave you there for eternity, even if I have to stay there with you. I swear it by the oath of my Elements, Air and Emptiness.” The words echoed in the tiny room with the binding of truth. No Elemental would make an oath like that and break it. Raven knew exactly what she was doing. What she didn’t know was whether Petrodus was sane enough to control himself.
The wolf ducked his head so slightly that Raven almost missed it. So Petrodus could control himself. As a blood drop dripped onto the pristine carpet, Raven said, “I’m going to find my Mom.”
Raven hated that moment of stepping by the wolf. He was so big. Fierce, too, even if he wasn’t growling and showing his teeth. He was calmer now, but his eyes were still dead. They were still serial killer eyes. She couldn’t trust him enough to turn her back on him, but that’s exactly what she had to do.
If Raven had hackles they would be raised as she passed by Petrodus. Her shoulder muscles were so tense they ached. The ache was nothing compared to the throbbing pain of her mangled upper arm. She would think it needed stitches, but it probably needed a lot more than that. Raven didn’t even want to think about what her arm looked like.
Air whispered a soft hello.
“You’re here!” Raven said, “I need Mom.”
Run! Air’s warning echoed.
Raven sprinted across the hall. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw a second portal open and a huge grey wolf step out, shake his fur and lower his head at the other wolf.
She almost fell down the stairs, she was running so fast. She felt Air lift her off her feet as the wolves yapped back and forth and then turned as one unit and gave chase. Raven had hoped they would snarl at each other and fight. So much for that.
Her fear gave Air strength.
She swooshed down corridors, the bay of wolves and the scrabbling of claws on polished wood giving her the feeling that they were almost on top of her. Raven wanted to look back. Instead she trusted Air to keep her safe and focused on barreling forward. As they rounded into a huge dining room spanning a hall the size of a gym with a dozen chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, Raven felt the pressure change as Air tried to push even faster.
A fang clamped on Raven’s leg and she found herself dragged down. As her body struck the ground, Raven realized that it was shaking—she was shaking.
Air said, I’m sorry.
She said, “You did your best. Tell my family I love them.”
Raven coughed. She was lying facedown on the floor, her hands, arms and hip sore from the landing. Her leg was on fire, and she felt the jaws of the second wolf crushing her calf muscles against her shin. She tried to pull her leg out of the beast’s mouth. Then she passed out.
~~ Amy ~~
The Elementals were all screaming at once, at least that’s what it felt like in Amy’s head. The last time she felt that level of mayhem from the group was when she turned seven and Mount Saint Helens erupted.
The conversations were crazy. Amy understood snippets.
Raven is being chased by…
He’s out. Petrodus is out.
Don’t let them near you. He’ll know.
Who is that other wolf?
Amy, you need to send me to her now. That was from Fire or Amy wouldn’t have hesitated.
“Go!” Amy said the word aloud.
Fire and Water’s chattered abruptly halted. Amy asked Air. Where is she?
Elements could exist as separate entities or as one. Amy had her Element Air, also a portion of the whole who stood by Amy and helped her, while another Air, also part of the whole helped Raven. The exchange of information could sometimes be slow, but when Raven’s Air wore herself out trying to get Raven away from the wolves, every Element on the island felt it and ran to their Elementals to report trouble.
Amy’s Air discovered Raven lying in the middle of the ball room unconscious and bleeding from terrible wounds on her arm and leg. The wolf was gnawing on her leg as if it were a bone. When it felt Air’s presence, the wolf smiled grotesquely.
There was nothing worse than seeing your child in danger.
Amy felt a dozen emotions at the same time. Rage. Pain. Fear. Sadness. Even a strange nostalgia because as she saw Raven from Air’s perspective, she realized that Raven was growing up. Her Air saw Raven as already full grown.
Her fear and sadness sank below the weight of a bitter rage.
Amy ran for the ball room. She had no weapons. As she ran, she tried to formulate a plan, to think of some way to defeat the creatures. Tony yelled to her from a hallway she had just passed.
“Amy! Stop!”
There is no stopping a mother. Hurt the cub, you get torn apart when Mama comes. Ignoring Tony, Amy raced on, praying that she wouldn’t be too late. She couldn’t use Air’s vision while she was running. It would have caused a dizzy spell that would hold her back. So Amy ran.
She burst through the double doors of the ball room to a chilling sight. Her daughter was still unconscious on the floor, but the wolves were gone. In their place were two men.
Amy would have thought, had anyone ever asked her, that a wild animal would be more frightening than any human. She expected the wolf. She feared the wolf. Harold and a powerful stranger with eyes that promised Death dragged Raven by her legs across the room, as if she were no more than a piece of meat.
Fire attacked in the form of a huge ball, sweeping across the ballroom. Harold dropped Raven’s legs and stepped forward. The fire ball encompassed him, occupying the same space and yet not. Amy felt sick when she realized her best shot at destroying her enemies was so easily dealt with.
Harold pulled a gun out of a holster Amy hadn’t noticed and turned, pointing the gun at her core. He sneered, “Don’t even test me today. So now we are revealed. Come here.”
“Get over here or I will shoot your daughter where she lies.” He was no longer the chiding and pompous Harold that Amy knew from Wildwood Springs. This Harold was chilling, scary in a way Amy had never seen. Had she met this Harold all those years ago, she would have never stopped running.
A Time to Die (Elemental Rage Book 2) Page 13
