Rotten. Stinking. Malodor.
George.
He picked up the shovel again, and whispered, “Take the safety off the gun.”
She nodded in scared silence, tears building up in her eyes.
Mike hurriedly dug out a small circle, and whispered, “Good enough?”
Emily nodded, tears threatening to break loose from her reddened eyes.
Mike was about to take Emily’s hand and sneak out of Houlihan’s Circle when he felt a rumbling groan in his soul. He spun around. The legendary beast was casually standing in front of the Southern Stone. Mike flipped the shovel around to use it as a weapon.
The memory of Kyle using the shovel on George flashed in his head. It hadn’t gone too well for his bigger and stronger friend. He frantically searched his mind for another plan of attack. Emily stood frozen in place as George took two steps forward. Mike suddenly remembered the gun.
“Shoot him. Fucking shoot his ass,” Mike screamed, and backed away to remove himself from the line of fire.
Two quaking hands slowly lifted the gun as a hissing reached Mike’s ears. George raised his index finger in the air and waved it around in a circle several times. A golden fog, almost like a mist, escaped from the ground.
Was he sucking out the sulphur? The deep yellow, gaseous shield surrounded the snarling beast.
Emily aimed and fired, and the sound of bullets clanging off metal followed. The bullets bounced off the shield of golden gas and ricocheted back toward them—narrowly missing them both. Emily emptied the magazine and kept pulling the trigger.
Click. Click. Click. Click.
Mike grabbed her by the wrist and started to drag her out of the Circle and back to safety. Hopefully. They sidestepped between two of the gray boulders and ran north. Mike was relatively certain he could navigate them out of there during the day.
Their pace quickly slowed down to a jog and then a speed walk. Mike dragged Emily. He couldn’t muster the fortitude to look back and check whether George was on their heels. They both sounded like they were hyperventilating, and they downshifted to an even slower speed. Mike’s chest burned and his bones were sore.
Suddenly, the ground ruptured right in front of Mike sending chunks of green grass and black soil flying in the air. Several long tree roots jumped out of the opening and wrapped themselves around Mike’s ankles.
Emily danced around the emerging roots and made an epic long jump to conquer the wide fissure and make it to solid ground.
Mike yelled, “Go. Leave me. I’ll be fine.” He used the dull tip of the shovel to chop away the entanglement around his feet and ankles. He bashed his own ankle several times, chipping off a few chunks of skin, and pain shot up his leg. Undaunted, he kept smashing away at the live roots.
A thick green sap poured from the black tree roots as Mike wiggled his right foot out of the death grip. He didn’t have as much accuracy with his left side and ended up crushing his foot and shin countless times in his frantic effort to escape the natural bonds.
Mike finally got his left foot free and jumped to his right, to solid ground. His battered left foot gave out on him, and he fell. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself up to his knees and then to his feet. He took a deep breath, and played a painful game of hopscotch to get over to Emily.
Once by her side, he grabbed her hand, and they continued to hightail it north. The stench intensified, and Mike knew George was closing in. He spied the faint opening in the tree line, and in a herculean effort, he reached behind Emily’s knees and picked her up. His feet and ankles threatened to give out but he adjusted to the pain.
Mike jogged admirably for the final hundred feet. They made it outside the official land line, and Mike tripped forward, depositing Emily in a heap on the ground in front of him. For some reason, he felt safe outside the official line of Houlihan’s Square even though many of the murders had reportedly taken place outside it.
The two exhausted escapees rushed over to Emily’s car.
It wouldn’t start. She tried again. No dice.
Mike worried that he was going to have to make the over ten-mile trek home again when the engine fired up and smoke shot out of the exhaust pipe. A smile of relief crawled across his lips. He sat back and relaxed his tense shoulder muscles as Emily pulled out of dodge.
“What in God’s name was that yellow fog that came out of the ground? How did it stop bullets?” Emily asked as her teeth chattered.
Mike didn’t know what to say. It had to be magic of some sort. But what? He finally accepted that Alayna had been right and George was a two-hundred-year-old wizard.
She asked, “Any ideas?”
“Magic.”
“Bullshit.”
“Why do you say that?” Mike grabbed the oh-shit bar as Emily took a bend a bit too fast. The underfilled tires screeched, and Mike slid closer to the driver’s side.
“Because magic isn’t real. It’s in books and movies, but it’s not real.”
“Okay, then how do you explain it?”
A telling silence ensued. She jammed the gas pedal down as they entered the highway.
Emily took her right hand off the wheel and tapped the dashboard nervously. “If it was magic, why would he try to use it against us? We are trying to dig up the amulet that he will use to get his wife back. He needs us to dig it up if the story is right.”
“I never really thought about that. He never really attacked us. He defended himself, sure, but I don’t even know if he was chasing us. I thought I could smell and hear him on the way out of there, but I could be wrong. He’s not our friend, that’s for sure. Could you put my window down? It’s stuck.”
Emily flipped the switch on her door, and Mike’s window opened almost to the bottom. She shook her head. “No. I wasn’t suggesting that. I don’t think I could get close to that thing. I just wish it never would have shown up in the first place. At least we marked the spot. Now, when we go back, it will be easy to find.”
Mike’s head swiveled to her. “Are you sure you want to go back? You did just see those bullets bouncing off that...that...thing, right?”
She placed her right hand on Mike’s knee, unknowingly exploiting his weakness for attention from a pretty woman. “We have to go back to get that money. Plus, that stupid tarot card reader won’t stop blowing up my phone. I should report him to the terrorist hotline.” She giggled.
Mike laughed halfheartedly, but he didn’t want to go back into the woods ever again. He also began wondering who the tarot card reader was and why he was willing to pay Emily good money to dig up the amulet. Maybe Alayna would know. Mike made a mental note to ask her later.
Emily dropped Mike off at his house. Alayna was sitting in a lawn chair, sunbathing on his roof. Mike watched her fan herself off with a silver tanning reflector, set it down, then confidently jump down from the edge of the roof. She landed softly next to Mike and held her arms up like a gymnast.
“Where have you been? Have a nice stroll through the forest? I prefer long walks on the beach.”
Mike shook his head. “Don’t be spying on me. I told you about that.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to harass you about continuing to see that succubus. It’s time for your first lesson.” Alayna sang the last sentence.
“Where should we do it? Inside?” Mike pointed toward his front door.
“No, no, no. We must go to a wonderful world. Today, you get to see how I live. The secret spot is actually really close to where you fish almost every day.”
“Let’s get after it, then.”
Alayna led Mike into the woods and to the riverbank. He followed her to a spot about one hundred yards from his fishing hole. Alayna stared at the grassy incline and approached the hill. She used her hands as shovels to dig into the earth and toss the dirt and grass over her shoulder.
She dug out a rectangle, and wiped away more dirt to expose a light brown hidden door with a red triskele imprinted in the middle. A circular pattern of pink salm
on images surrounded the triskele. Alayna brushed some more dirt away and exposed a silver handle.
“Do you mind?” she asked and pointed to the handle.
Mike moved in and wrapped his hand around the handle. He gave it a tug. It didn’t budge. He squatted down and pulled up on the stubborn door. It took a couple more hard yanks to jar the entrance open.
“Follow me,” Alayna instructed and disappeared into the dark tunnel behind the door.
Mike followed her in. It was so tight, he had to crawl on his belly at first, but soon the tunnel expanded and he could walk upright.
“Keep on moving, Mike,” Alayna called from several feet ahead. “Weee,” she screamed.
Mike took one more step but the ground didn’t meet his foot. Out of balance, he scrambled back to stay on firm ground. Distorted sound waves traveled up the vertical drop off he hadn’t seen in the total darkness. “Come. On. You. Wuss..”
“Aw hell.” Mike tentatively walked to the edge and debated for a few moments. He had never been fond of heights, but what choice did he have? Besides, Alayna seemed content on keeping him alive. He decided to trust someone.
Mike did a little bunny hop, and the free fall began. He didn’t know it but he was screaming like a scared child.
Chapter 16
MIKE’S DROPPED AT A tremendous velocity. His face, wrinkled and flapping from the intense wind resistance, felt as if its flesh was being torn off.
A strong yank on Mike’s shoulders slowed his speed greatly. It were as if an invisible parachute had been pulled. He gently fell through the darkness until the bottoms of his black Nikes hit the soft ground.
Alayna pinched Mike’s butt, making him jump. “Is that you, buddy?”
“Don’t do that. I told you about that before.”
“Whatever.” She planted her palm in the small of Mike’s back and guided him through the dark tunnel.
Mike walked like a zombie, with his hands out in front of his body.
“Turn left,” Alayna guided him.
He slammed his head into some soft dirt, dislodging a small cascade of it that spilled down onto his chest and shoulders.
“Duck,” Alayna warned about a second too late.
“Little faster next time.”
A pinprick of light grew bigger and more radiant with each step Mike took. Finally, Alayna removed her hand, and Mike stepped out of the tunnel and into paradise. He stared at a sprawling, vibrant landscape of rolling green grass, mighty oak trees, ivory castles and sapphire-colored rushing rivers.
Mike marveled at the vividness of the colors in this utopian setting. Above their heads loomed a huge dome of interconnected tree roots that flashed with sparks of electricity. Through the large gaps, Mike could see the blue sky. Shafts of sunlight snuck through the openings, easily providing enough heat to grow crops.
They approached a garden where a group of women tended to the produce. Mike noticed a bounty of red radishes, purple and orange carrots, cauliflower, broccoli and green cabbage spilling from the sides of a huge, rolling wooden cart. A short woman walked by with an armful of romaine lettuce heads.
“What’s going on?” Mike asked, searching for a way to impress Alayna with his new, witty sense of humor. “Is she planning on making an enormous Caesar salad?”
Alayna’s facial features became serious, and she waved an open hand in front of her neck. “Zezezezeze.”
The short woman’s smile turned into a frown. She asked Alayna, “What did that jackass just say? Do I need to put these greens down and teach him a lesson?”
Alayna smiled and waved her away. “No. No. Nothing. It’s nothing. He doesn’t know about that yet.”
“Well, teach him before he gets his ass kicked.” The small woman with pointed ears looked him up and down with a scowl on her face before turning and walking away.
Mike said, “Whoa. Violent society down here.”
Alayna retorted, “Quite the opposite, actually. There are very few things that will get one of us riled up, but Julius Caesar is definitely one of them.”
“Why?”
“He slandered our culture, saying that we sacrificed humans. The Romans, his people, were more or less responsible for the relocation of the druids. How’d that work out for him and the Romans?”
“Not very well, if I have learned correctly. Why did they try to eliminate the druids?”
“Same reason people eliminate anyone different than them. Out of fear. They went the same way as the Knights Templar. Do you get that reference?”
Mike smiled. “I do. I think.”
“Why were the Knights Templar murdered and eliminated?”
“Because they had become too powerful. The Pope trumped up some charges against them and they didn’t seem to last too much longer after that. Allegedly, of course.”
“Very impressive. I like that you recognize it as theory, too. However, I can vouch for the authenticity of that story. The druids spread around the world in small factions to keep their spirit and way of life alive. We will get back to the druids soon. All right. We need to start by training you to not react recklessly. It is an exercise in tolerance. Let’s go into the woods over here.”
A huge avian shadow appeared on the verdant grass, and a rumble of thunder came from above.
“Is that a dragon?” Mike asked, shielding his eyes from the sunlight.
“It’s a thunderbird,” Alayna explained.
The enormous black bird had to be bigger than a bus. When it beat its wings, sparks of lightning jumped from the bird’s body. Two antlered deer heads with the bodies of enormous eagles streaked across the sky toward the thunderbird. They kept disappearing and reappearing behind the black bird that dwarfed them.
“What are those things?”
“They are called perytons. They were among the few creatures that could fly away from Atlantis before the utter destruction took place. Come on. We have to keep on moving.”
Mike took a few steps and his eyes widened when his gaze alighted on two white foxes that paced back and forth on the green grass right in front of the woods. They both had long black tails swinging around. At their approach, the foxes stopped moving and stared at Mike and Alayna. Their tails cracked like whips, and a blaze of fire surrounded the animals.
The fire burned out quickly, leaving a fog of lingering smoke. Two old men stepped out of the plume. They were ancient-looking and wearing burgundy robes. As they passed, the elders nodded and gestured with their arms toward the forest. Alayna bowed to them, and Mike replicated the act.
They entered the forest, and the chirping of crickets mixed with buzzing from the locusts and cicadas. Unseen birds sung pleasant melodies from a distance, and the twigs, fallen leaves and brush crunched under Mike’s every step.
They walked a wide red dirt path, and Mike tried to take in the landscape of mixed colors melding into each other. Burnt umber faded into mahogany before shifting to sienna, and then a rusty copper. Shades of green rushed in as Mike’s eyes darted from the moss-covered boulders to the ferns, to the leaves above.
Mike’s steps stuttered at the sight of one of the branches of an oak tree. A strange creature hung upside down from the branch. The creature had the feet and body of a human and the face and wings of a cardinal. Mike looked around and noticed several more. He stopped.
Alayna said, “Come on. Those are just alans. That is their singing you hear right now. They love to whistle away the day. Oohh, we can stop here for a second.”
The path forked, and Alayna scooted off to the left with Mike right on her heels. Buzzing of bees started to get louder and then several of the insects circled Mike.
“Don’t panic. They aren’t going to hurt you.” Alayna held out an open palm, and several of the bees rushed over to her. They moved down a narrow path with huge trees on either side. The buzzing had reached a fever pitch.
Mike now trailed a few feet behind as Alayna walked right into a swarm of black and gold. He stopped, expecting her to get s
tung. Undaunted, the faerie headed straight for the swollen honeycomb dripping with amber goodness. An enormous bee, bigger than Mike’s hand, circled the nest. The queen’s buzzing tickled Mike’s eardrum.
Alayna said softly, “May I?” She pointed at the comb. The queen flew up to Alayna’s face, and Mike thought the bee was going to sting his mentor, but the queen appeared to give the faerie a kiss on the cheek before heading back to the nest.
Alayna ran her finger along the bottom of the glistening golden honeycomb and hurriedly stuffed it into her mouth. “Ummm. Mike?” She looked around for the young man.
“Over here,” Mike answered from behind a wall of buzzing bees.
“I can teach you something before we even get officially started. Let the bees know that you aren’t going to harm them. You can’t be scared. They can sense that, and if they think that you are scared, the bees expect you to panic. They know what humans do when they panic. Humans kill bees when they get scared. Stay calm and walk right through, and they will let you pass.”
“I don’t really like honey that much anyway.” Mike couldn’t imagine walking through the bees without getting stung.
“Get over here right now.”
Mike knew Alayna wouldn’t stop pestering him until he did as she instructed. He steeled his nerves and shook his arms around as if limbering up for a fight. He put one foot in front of the next. Slowly.
I come in peace. I don’t wish to hurt you. I would never hurt you first. We can be friends.
“Good job. Always respect nature and its inhabitants.” Alayna’s voice broke his concentration.
Mike hadn’t realized he had made it through the storm. He swiped some of the sweet honey into his mouth, and the sticky substance danced on his tongue. Hints of lavender, fennel and citrus intertwined with the natural honey to create a multi-layered flavor.
“All right. We need to get back to our spot.”
They turned around to be met by five animals the likes of which Mike had never seen. The gorilla-like creatures had silver fur, four arms and two legs. The girallons, as Alayna called them, stood over seven feet tall, and they seemed to communicate with each other through a series of grunts.
Bloodline Awakened Supernatural Thriller Series: Books 1-3 Page 49
