Dark Fall: The Gift

by KD Knight

  I broke larger pieces of concrete and sent then flying towards him, one right after the other. He swatted some away while others hit their mark. Each landed blow seemed to slow his momentum. I flung the last piece of concrete slab directly at Damien's head. It struck him between the eyes for the second time. Finally, only a few steps from me, he came to a stop.

  "Stay down," I said as he fell to his knees.

  A few moments later, he rolled onto his side. Using a nearby car for support, he attempted to stand to his feet.

  "Damien." I leaned against the light post. The giant's beady eyes focused on me. "I don't want to hurt you. I'm here for Glenroy. Don't forfeit your life on his account."

  I walked towards the car with my hands outstretched. "I'm done, if you're done."

  Damien bared his teeth as he rose tall.

  I punched through the passenger side windows and ripped the car doors off their hinges. Holding one door in each hand like a shield I stood squarely in front of him.

  My blood felt like coursing lava as my muscles expanded. I clenched my jaw tightly and smiled. "I was hoping you'd ignore the warning." I brought both doors down on him. His body tensed as I made impact then went limp.

  Satisfied, I moved on to my real target, Glenroy. I took one step towards his home when I noticed a small spark ignite beside Glenroy's veranda. It took half a second for my mind to register what I was looking at, which left me just enough time to shield my face.

  A thunderous explosion ripped through the silent street. The force lifted me off my feet, laying me flat on my back. Waves of blazing debris showered, melting holes in my shirt and singing my bare arms.

  Patting the flames off my clothing, I realized that I had been suckered. This wasn't Glenroy's real home. It was a dash-whey house. He used it for all his back door activities. If someone got too close, he'd light it up and throw it away. He probably had a dozen of these houses all over the island.

  I sat up, pulling my knees to my chest. I watched the house burn while I settled. Then suddenly it hit me. This cat and mouse game was a ruse to keep me away from Jane. This is what Lisa was trying to tell me, but at the time my mind was too foggy to understand. I've got to get back to Jane.

  Then it really hit me. A brick hit me to be exact. I ran my hand over the back of my head and felt the warm life run between my fingers.

  I rose and faced Damien with new purpose. One of us will walk away from this fight. It will be me.

  ~Boothe~

  Chapter Twenty-Four: Mind Control

  It was after midnight when I arrived back at Jane's house. My white shirt, covered with spots of Damien's blood mixed with my own, gave a good synopsis of what had happened in the last hour.

  Lisa opened the door before I lifted my swollen fist to knock.

  "Did you just get here?" Lisa asked swiftly. "I felt you coming about ten minutes ago. Anyway, come in." She waved her hand towards the living room. As I stepped into the light, her mouth fell open. "You look horrible. Your shoulder! Your arm! What happened?"

  "Shoulder dislocated, I think. My arm is fine now." My blood-soaked shirt painted a gruesome picture. I ran my finger over what remained of the gash Damien had made on my forearm with a broken bottle. In less than one hour the gash had closed and only a rough scab remained.

  "AGH!" She yelled, stumbling backwards, "Your skin feels like it’s on fire. Why are you so hot?"

  "Didn't think you noticed me like that, Lisa." I stretched out carefully on the living room sofa.

  "It's news to me too," Mark said as he emerged from the kitchen eating something out of a large bowl. "For the record, Lisa, I'm devastated."

  Lisa's fair cheeks grew red as she rolled her eyes.

  I laughed and a sharp pain shot through the right side of my ribs.

  Lisa hurried to my side. "Your two lower ribs on your right side are broken. Boothe, what happened to you tonight? Where did you go?"

  I looked into Lisa's innocent eyes. Lisa's image of the world was black or white, fact or fiction, evil or good. After seeing my father with Glenroy, I admired her ignorance. I wasn’t sure I wanted to shatter her world with stories of the grey area where good and evil wrestle for power.

  "Did you get what you were looking for?" Millicent asked as she descended the steps.

  "You’re the last person I was expecting to see. What are you doing here?" I clenched my teeth and painfully pulled myself into a sitting position.

  "I'm doing my job, Mr. Boothe. I am an Eshkar investigator if you recall. So when I receive a report of a crime against an Eshkar, I have a duty to respond."

  "No. You wanted to see if I would make it back here alive."

  "That too." Millicent took a seat around the dining room table. "So, how is Glenroy doing? Did you send my regards?"

  "Glenroy?" Lisa pushed down on my ribs to apply a bandage. I tightened my jaw to prevent a pained howl from escaping.

  "Lisa, please, you don't have to wrap me up. I'll sleep this off. Trust me, by tomorrow morning I'll be good."

  "You're going to sleep off two broken ribs, several contusions, a dislocated shoulder, and…"

  "Trust me, Lisa, I'll be fine."

  Lisa looked me up and down then shook her head. "You are so hard-headed. I'm getting the doctor." She rose and quickly mounted the steps.

  "Now that she's gone," Millicent stood up and walked casually to the sofa, "you can tell me exactly what happened at my old friend Glenroy's house."

  "I waan hear dis too," Mark said, sitting down next to Millicent.

  I told them what happened. Well, I told them most of what happened. I left out the part about my father. That's a puzzle I would have to solve on my own.

  "Better you than me. Did you really beat the guy with the car door?" Mark was intrigued.

  "Car door, light post, toilet…"

  "Toilet?" They said in unison.

  "Left in a garbage heap on the corner. I had to hit him with something, he wouldn't stay down." I touched my ribs. The sharpness of the pain had dulled.

  Lisa came down the stairs followed by a dark-haired man who bore a strong resemblance to Mark.

  "Greetings." The man smiled as he approached. "My name is Dr. Alister Chung. Lisa tells me that you're banged up pretty bad."

  "Mark's father. I see the resemblance." They had the same small dark eyes, round face and button nose. He had his long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail and wore loose linen pants and a fitted t-shirt.

  "Let's see what we can do with this arm." He touched my dislocated shoulder.

  "I thought you were a psychologist."

  "I am. But before venturing into the complexities of the human mind, I spent twelve years gaining an understanding of the human body. Hold still, this will hurt a bit." With a twist, he popped my shoulder back into place. "Now let's see those ribs."

  He lifted up my shirt and touched my ribs. The pain that I had felt when I first came through the door was completely gone.

  "Wow. You're a fast healer."

  "Like I said to Nurse Lisa, all I need is a good night sleep. In a day or two I'll be 100%."

  "Unfortunately, time is not a luxury any of you can afford right now." Dr. Chung sat down.

  There was a serious undertone in his expression that troubled me. There was something wrong with Jane. I could feel it. It was something worse than unconsciousness. I flashed back to Glenroy's conversation

  She's been taken care of.

  She is no danger to us now.

  He has time to say his goodbye.

  "Everyone take a seat. Mark, can you do the honours of asking Darlene to join us." With a flash, Mark had left the room and returned with Aunt Dar in tow.

  "What's wrong with Jane?" I asked him.

  "Everyone, please have a seat. As you all know by now, Jane is not well. I have seen this case on only one other occasion, and unfortunately it did not end well." He looked around at our grim faces.

  "What do you mean didn't end well?" Aunt Dar began to fidget
.

  "There is only one treatment I know to be successful against this level of blood poisoning. You must get this treatment to Jane within the next twelve hours or she will die."

  Instantly, the air had been sucked out of the room.

  We were wide-eyed and loose-jawed like a fish gasping for water.

  "The remedy can only be created by a Healer," Dr. Chung continued.

  "An Eshkar with an intuitive knowledge of the human body and the remedy required to cure it." Lisa’s voice quivered with each word. "I've read that Healers are as rare as Ancients."

  "Not if you know where to look," Dr. Chung said calmly.

  "In the country," Millicent added. "Historically they tend to live away from civilization."

  "They live with and off the land, usually without the modern conveniences of phone, television, or internet. To a Healer, those conveniences interrupt their ability to connect with the earth," he informed the group.

  I was on my feet and pacing the floor before he finished his last words. "You talk about the country as if it's the local shop. Half this island is ‘country,’" I barked.

  "How do we find someone who's off the grid?" Millicent asked.

  "You find a Seeker," Dr. Chung responded. "A Seeker can tell you, sometimes down to the square foot, where any Eshkar is at any point in time. She will lead you to the only healer I know, Irianne Benson."

  "Where do we find this Seeker?" I asked.

  "Let me make a few calls." With that, Dr. Chung headed to the kitchen.

  I sat, stood, paced, and then sat again. The thought of Jane dying lit my skin on fire and sent racing thoughts through my mind. I could still find Aramos. I could go back to Glenroy's and make him tell me where Aramos is. I'll make him pay for doing this.

  Ignoring the sharp shrills of pain that ran through my body I made my way to the door. Mark beat me to the door where he barred my way with his small frame.

  "Move," I said as calmly as I could.

  He shook his head.

  "You are either for or against me. Which one is it?"

  "I'm for you. You're my friend. That's why I can't let you go out there. Every time you leave, Jane winds up hurt and you return looking like you had a fight or you played catch with a Mac truck. You are going to get yourself killed."

  "You have three seconds to move or be moved."

  He held out, standing defiantly in front of me. I advanced, brushing him aside as I reached the door.

  The night had transformed into something black and void. The air was stale. The moon and stars that littered the sky an hour ago were painted over in a thick sheet of darkness. I looked down at my keys, barely illuminated by the streetlight. There were two choices before me, two competing desires—to kill Aramos or to save Jane. One of these would have to take a back seat to the other. The problem was that my heart said Jane, but my mind, churning with thoughts of revenge, said Aramos.

  Maybe I could do both, satisfy both my desires. Jane's outlook couldn't be as bad as the doctor's making it out to be. I'd go back for Glenroy and force him to tell me where Aramos was. I'd then find Aramos and be back before sunrise. It wouldn't take any time at all. We'd look for the Healer then. Jane won't die. And even if she does, it was no big deal; I'd always have Nadya...

  "Marcus! You must have a death wish coming here." My teeth were clenched. I should have known. "You got me outside, why?"

  "I didn't come to fight with you, Boothe." He said in my head. "I came to see how my dear Jane is doing."

  "How about you come out where I can see you, so we can have a real conversation, face to fist." I searched the darkness for Marcus.

  "My dear friend…"

  "We are not friends." I turned right and headed down the sidewalk where Jane was attacked.

  "You're right. During our years of friendship I began to consider you more of a brother."

  "Come out where I can see you."

  Marcus's voice sent waves of angry pulses through my body, instantly swelling my frame. Over the last few months I've thought of at least a hundred ways to make him pay for what he'd done. The thought of him being this close made me smile.

  Marcus chuckled slightly. "I have to say, I was worried that Jane had dulled your natural zest for vengeance. Seeing you like this brings a smile to my face. From the first moment I met you, I knew you had this raw power within you. You just needed a bit of moulding."

  "Get out of my head."

  "The down side to vengeance is predictability. Fueled with the anger of your hurt friend, I knew that you would find someone to pay. Glenroy was the most obvious target."

  "Come out you coward!"

  "You should be thanking me. Thanks to me the truth has finally being revealed. Or did you think it was a coincidence that your father was there at the exact moment you arrived?"

  "What are you trying to say?"

  "Only the truth. Your father has been working with us since the beginning. He has accepted the futility in resisting us. Now, the only person standing in the way of total domination will die."

  I spotted a figure moving in the shadows next to a tree. I approached slowly, careful to keep to the shadows.

  "I won't let that happen," I said.

  "It will happen. You will see her die right before your eyes. This poison has particular traits. Right now, she is most likely unconscious, am I right? Soon the poison will attack her nervous system, causing her immeasurable pain. She will have violent seizures as the poison begins to shut down her organs. The final stage is a limp silence as her heart slows to a stop."

  "Never!" I yelled into the night. "I will never let that happen." I made it to the tree, but there was nothing there but more shadows.

  "Instead of you running around trying to save a dead girl, you can come with me. You will learn the truth about everything—how deep your father's alliance runs, the mystery behind the death of your mother."

  My heart stopped briefly when he mentioned my mother. This was a sore spot for me and Marcus knew it. "So, it's Jane's death in exchange for my mother's killer?"

  "Saviour versus avenger."

  I grabbed a hold of the tree branch. My heart raced as my muscles filled with blood. It was my mother or Jane. It was a choice between saving someones life and avenging someones death. I pulled against the branch. It snapped like a toothpick, sending the fruit laden branch to the ground.

  "Listen to me, Marcus, I'm not falling for your games anymore. You hear me?" I barked into the darkness. "You are not going to bait me into letting my friend die. But you mark my words, I will find you. I'll find all of you."

  For the next few minutes, I listened for Marcus's voice but heard nothing. He was gone. Coward.

  I sat on the curb staring up at the starless sky. I picked up a small pebble and crushed it between my forefinger and thumb. For a brief moment I had entertained Marcus's offer. I actually entertained the idea of letting Jane die. It was a fight between saviour and avenger, and the avenger had gained the upper hand.

  I sat wondering how long Marcus had been pushing his thoughts on me. Was he talking in my ear the night I left Jane to be poisoned in front of her own home?

  I wasn’t sure how long I'd been sitting outside, but as I reached for my fifteenth pebble, I heard Mark calling my name as he sped towards me.

  "We found out where the healer is."

  "Where?"

  "A place called Milk River somewhere in Clarendon. What were you doing out here?" He asked, looking down at the dust on my clothes.

  "Does anyone know where Milk River is exactly?"

  "Lisa's working on that." Mark sat next to me. "Boothe, real talk, are you okay?"

  "I'm fine." I stood to my feet and dusted off my clothing.

  "You say you are fine, but Mrs. Dotty's mango tree is telling a different story." He pointed to the broken branch.

  "Either you drop the subject or I drop you."

  "You don't have to deal with me so rough." He positioned his arms in an 'X' across his ches
t.

  I forced a smiled. "I'll get Jane, you get Lisa and the directions. We leave for Milk River in ten minutes."

  I took one last look into the night before I entered Jane's home.

  ~Jane~

  Chapter Twenty-Five: Fight for life

  I awoke with a start. The air felt like sandpaper as I took my first breaths. Lying on my back, I looked up at the starless night. Where am I?

  My body ached as I propped myself into a sitting position. Think. Retrace your steps. How did you wind up standing in the middle of a dark alley? The last thing I remembered was that Nephilim who grabbed my arm. The place where he touched me was still tender. Yes, he grabbed me, and then, then...nothing. I woke up here.

  I took a few cautious steps when a tall, dark wall stopped me abruptly. I reached out and ran my finger along my barrier and realized that it wasn’t a wall. It was a tall hedge with tiny dark leaves. I wasn't in an alley; I was in a maze.

  Don’t panic. The good thing about mazes is that there's an entrance and an exit. The bad part is finding it.

  Approaching footsteps pierced the silence and sent my heart thundering. I burst into a full sprint. Turn after turn led me deeper into the labyrinth until at last I reached another wall. I realized that it was time to face whatever or whoever was coming. Live or die, I had to accept it, there was nowhere else to run. Three feet from me, the footsteps came to a stop. I stepped away from the wall and braced myself for a fight.

  "Who's there?" I said, my voice quivering slightly.

  There was no reply.

  "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to."

  The figure walked slowly into view. I sighed in relief. It was my Gran. "Jane," she said as she touched my shoulder.

  I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed. Then it hit me, the fact that my Gran was here meant only one thing, I was asleep.

  "This is your final battle," she whispered in my ear. "You have a choice—either you fight and survive or surrender and die." This wasn't just a dream, Gran explained. What happens in this realm has real physical consequences. It determines whether I live and get to see my family and friends, again. If I loose this fight, she explained, I’ll slip into darkness never to awaken.