Airborne

by Constance Sharper

  This was it. They were talking about amulets. Even with the technical jumble, the text gave hint to the real world. Maybe the author had actually known a few harpies.

  “Research considers the ability to concentrate energy and contain it within an object. This is a different sort of science-- not physics and chemistry. Instead of creating energy, the energy will have already have existed but expounded and stuck inside a containment device. The best example is a lithium battery. The battery holds energy but not energy comparable to the ones described from mythology. The science behind the mythology holds that this energy, derived from nature and magnetic waves, has the ability to manifest different abilities to its holder. Because of its bizarre and typically unproven nature, this subject of thought is often referred to as magic and the containment devices are referred to as magical charms and amulets. ”

  She began to paraphrase on the paper. Containment of energy into amulets, containing living energy, creatures. Scratching arrows and stars, she copied the connection and importance. The yellow page actually began to fill and she scribbled smaller to fit in more text.

  “This mythology is scribed in multiple areas of the world and exists in oral tradition that stretches as far back as Mesopotamia. These charms are supposed to endear attributes such as power, agility, strength, and intelligence… the most coveted charms of all is allure. Allure begs compulsion and is the most influential of all.”

  She stared at the page. An instant image reached her mind. Back in the top of Hatcher Pass, she pictured Mikhail. Even though the harpie carried himself with a stature of confidence and ease, something wasn’t quite right. She could still feel the black eyes wash over her and the odd sensation of closeness that wrapped her body with warmth. Her whole mind had threatened to go blank when he touched her. Mikhail had a glowing orange charm strung around his neck. She hadn’t given it much thought at the time, but now she was certain of it. He was playing with an advantage most didn’t have.

  Tense, Avery nearly ripped the pages up as she flipped them. Through the jumble, she picked out sentences.

  “These charms can be in direct contact to endear ability but some may be used without contact.” She’d underlined it.

  The book was nearing the end as she kept flying through the pages. Nerves riding high now, she desperately searched for one more detail.

  “Energy is highly volatile and nearly impossible to contain...damaged containment devices will allow energy to escape.”

  Letting out a tortured breath, Avery stared at the last blank page. Not a single thing about it bonding with humans. Not a single thing about the magic that practically lived in her body. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pushed the book away. The amulet’s energy in her arm kept spreading and her time was running out to figure a solution. Hysteria threatened to follow and trying her best relaxation breathing, she pushed it back.

  Reopening her eyes, she stared at the tattered cover and the aging pages. In her dream, Jericho had a similar book. One that detailed everything Jericho knew about the Willow amulet.

  A buzz made her snap out of her heavy muse. Flinching, it took her a few seconds to dig the source free out of her pocket. After her beautiful phone threw in the towel, she’d borrowed one of Chase’s junkers. Heavy as hell, it only had one siren ring and a bruising vibration setting. She looked at the screen and recognized the number.

  “Leela.” She recognized.

  Scrambling, she punched the answer button before the harsh ring had every glare in the library turn her way.

  “Hello.” She whispered loudly into the phone.

  It didn’t take much. People began giving her dark looks anyways, even those who probably just surfed the web. The other line answered with white noise. She looked over the phone again. The four story library probably cut down her signal but Seward was notorious for signal problems too.

  She hurried to gather her books before the signal was lost and she’d have to redial. Stuffing the papers into a haphazard bundle in her arms, she headed for the exit and the open blue sky. Emo boy at the reference desk lapsed into a heavy cough before she went through the set of sensor detectors. Fidgeting with impatience, she struggled to free the book from the bundle of papers it’d been pinched between.

  The static on the other line continued.

  “Thirty seconds, thirty seconds please!” She pleaded on the line.

  Jogging back, she tossed the library book at him with barely enough time to see if he’d even caught it. Whirling, she plugged a finger in her ear and listened hard. She’d just stepped outside when the signal cleared enough to hear the female’s voice on the other side.

  “Avery?”

  “Hey listen, I can explain everything.” Avery sprung off the sidewalk, headed into a patch of yellowing grass, and finally stopped.

  “Where are you?” The voice on the other line barely made out.

  “Chase’s.”

  “Chase?” She echoed.

  Cursing the shoddy transmission, Avery repeated louder, “I’m at my brother’s place. In California.”

  The line clicked dead.

  “Hello? Hello?” Avery parroted herself until her phone lit up with ‘Call Ended’.

  Something ill churned in her stomach. She took a breath to steady herself. Dialing on the thick digits, she called Leela back. The phone lit up blue and the blocky images showed a rattling phone signal out. It picked up immediately.

  “You must have just missed me. Please leave a message.” The clear recording of her voicemail carried over the phone.

  Clicking off, Avery stared at the blank screen. She hadn’t imagined Leela calling her-- the digits remained in the phone’s memory. Waiting, she paused before dialing the digits again. The voicemail repeated. The gross feeling growing into nausea, Avery took to pacing on the trampled grass and scanned her surroundings. The inevitable thought crossed her mind when the phone went straight to voicemail for the third time. Either Leela had turned her phone off or something wasn’t right.

  “Please please tell me it’s the first option.” She said aloud while forcing herself not to panic. If there was anything Alaska was known for, it was terrible cell phone reception. Avery wobbled to a bench, sat, and forced herself to wait. Leela would call her back in a minute. She was convinced of it.

  “Was that the guy?”

  Avery hadn’t even realized Chase was standing above her until he spoke. He shouldn’t have been out from class this early but making it halfway through anything was an accomplishment for Chase. He’d always been a free spirit but since he’d gone to college, he’d fully embraced the hippie scene and that didn’t help his motivation. Rocking the long blonde hair and the baggy tattered clothes to campus, the teacher was probably shocked he’d shown up at all.

  “What?” Avery had been so preoccupied that she wasn’t sure what he was referring to.

  “The guy on the phone. Was it the same guy that barged in yesterday?”

  “Oh. You mean Mason. No, that wasn’t him.”

  Chase made a face.

  “Good. I’m not sure you should be near him. He looks a little old for you. You guys aren’t dating, right?”

  The turn in the conversation became awkward fast and Avery had trouble acting nonchalant.

  “No, it’s not like that with him.” She protested but honestly, Avery wasn’t exactly sure what it was like.

  Maybe it was because Mason wasn’t human, but his actions gave her plenty of mixed signals. On the mountain top when they were trapped by the blizzard, she’d thought they’d grown close but then she found out he had a fiancé. It hurt Avery to think about but then it should be the last thing on her mind.

  “Well what about that Nate kid? Is he still in the picture?”

  Avery gagged. Was Chase trying to bring up every drama filled boy in her life? Needing to get out of the conversation quickly, Avery began the walk down the grassy hills towards the parking lot. Chase’s old Ford was all the way in the back so she’d picked up her
pace.

  “No. That’s another guy I wasn’t really dating.” Just the pretty boy she’d fallen for like every other girl. Avery then considered something then that she hadn’t before. Mason could easily turn out just like Nate did. The thought made her sick.

  “Really?”

  “Yea. Besides,” Avery added. “I think Nate is dating Leela now.”

  Avery suddenly got an idea. Pulling out her phone, she scrolled to Nate’s number. He may have been one of her least favorite people in the world but he would be able to get a hold of Leela. She dialed, pressed the phone to her ear, and listened. The phone picked up with a crystal clear recognizable voice on the other end.

  “Oh, it’s you.” Nathan didn’t even feign politeness, but she could have still jumped with happiness.

  “You’re at school, right?”

  He snorted on the other line.

  “The smart people typically stay in school. Where’d you end up? The entire staff turned this place upside down looking for your body. I had dibs on the forest.”

  That one hurt. Steeling herself, Avery spoke over him.

  “Look, I hate you too. But I need to talk to Leela.”

  “Then call her! I’m not a messenger boy!” He continued to make it difficult.

  “I tried that and she won’t answer. Her phone’s out of service. I just need to know if she’s at the school...did anyone...did anyone show up looking for her? Or asking her about me?”

  “Well lemme see, yea there were some people.” He said slowly but just as Avery’s breath left her, he continued. “That’s right. I just did say that people turned up the school looking for you. Of course people came around here asking about you dumb girl, they thought you were dead.”

  The agonizing knot in her stomach wound down just a bit.

  “Okay. I’ve never asked you for anything but I’m asking you this. Please check on her for me. Get her to call me or something but either way make sure she’s alright.”

  “What’s in it for me?”

  She could have screamed at him. Restraining the familiar wash of instant rage, she seethed.

  “Nate, bargaining chip for later. Find out now.”

  He groaned on the other line and obediently hung up. She listened at her phone even when it stayed silent. Finally, she lowered her hand and shoved the bulky thing back into her jacket pocket. Mason’s amulet cut at her fingers when her hand lingered. She had to call Mason. She had to do something and soon. Mason’s old words echoed in her mind. They’d use her friends and her family against her. No one was safe. Worse, the Band probably knew where she was located now. Avery cursed herself. Why does she always offer herself up on a silver platter?

  They’d reached the car and Avery jingled open the rusty knob with one hand. Chase had been waiting for her to finish talking and eagerly quizzed her on it when they got inside.

  “Who was that?” Chase asked.

  “Nate... and not in like a bad way Nate. He’s just checking on Leela for me. And that’s a long story.”

  So the guys in her life were confusing. It wasn’t a crime, just really annoying.

  “Is he the reason you left school and came down here?”

  Avery had expected that question eventually, but still hadn’t planned a good answer for it. She’d told her mother stress was getting to her and she needed the week off, but that excuse probably wouldn’t work on Chase. Avery bit her lip as she struggled to find a more believable answer, but luckily she didn’t have to. Avery’s phone rang loudly and she hurried to bring the cold plastic to her ear.

  “What?” She asked quickly.

  Nate didn’t answer right away and the few seconds made Avery go quiet.

  “This isn’t a joke anymore Avery, where is she?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I went to her room and she wouldn’t answer. So when I got one the staff to open the door, the whole place had been trashed. All her stuff, even her phone is still there, but Leela is not.”

  Color draining away from her face, Avery dropped the phone. It hit the floor and rolled beneath the seat.

  “Uh oh.” She whispered the turmoil aloud. Now she was in serious trouble.

  Sixteen

  She fingered the sapphire blue amulet while examining it. With the direct lamp light behind it, she could see a blue mist that swirled inside. Mason hadn’t told her how to use this one so she referred to her literary knowledge. If touching it alone didn’t activate anything, she’d have to break it open and release the concentration of energy. Leaning back on the couch, she double checked that the room was empty. Even at nine at night, the house sat dead silent.

  Turning her attention back to Mason’s telephone device, she held it firm and smashed it on the sharp edge of the tarnished wooden coffee table. The glass cracked and a hot steam seeped out. Avery sprung backward, unsure of what to expect, when the steam kept coming. It began to form a visible blue cloud that crawled over the floors and ceilings. Avery held her breath when the mist encompassed the entire room. Eyes watering, she anxiously waited for it to stop while hoping Chase or Michelle didn’t wake up. They’d probably think there was a fire in the living room.

  “Avery?”

  Hearing her name called, Avery looked around. The mist stopped spreading but fogged the room in a thick transparent layer. She didn’t see anything out of place but the airy substance.

  “Mason?”

  She’d half expected him to appear but only his voice responded.

  “I haven’t found anything new yet.” He said.

  “Mason, my friends are in danger.” She told him. “Please, I need help now. I’m worried that they did something with Leela. Her room was trashed and she’s missing. I think they…I think they might have taken her.”

  “Are you sure? Don’t jump to conclusions.”

  “Who else would have taken her?”

  Frustration washed over her when he didn’t respond immediately. She’d rushed to get away from Chase and to contact Mason. The subsequent waiting became agonizing. Rubbing her eyes, she let out a whining gasp. He finally answered.

  “They won’t kill her. Or hurt her. Not yet. If she was taken by harpies then they took her to use against you. But they don’t have you yet to coerce obedience by hurting her. So until then we shouldn’t worry.” Mason’s reassuring voice barely worked but the idea sunk in.

  Sniffling, she held herself.

  “Okay, then what do I do, let them find me?”

  Her mind whirled with the fine points. They’d catch her and either free the amulet or kill her trying. And though Mikhail had let her go thinking it useless, they had never meant to let her escape completely. Even if Avery went to them cooperating, what promise did she even have they’d let Leela go alive? More fine points. The Band hadn’t been known for their morality thus far.

  “No. Avery, listen to me. If they get you then the game’s over. If they’re looking, Leela will be safe. Now you’ve bought us some time by moving. They wouldn’t know you’re with your brother or where you brother lives.”

  “Okay,” She twirled hair. “Well, on that subject… they might actually know where I am.”

  Mason cursed darkly. The blue mist began to dissipate and with it, Mason’s voice grew softer. She inched toward the cracked amulet where the concentration of mist remained. His voice became clear again.

  “You’re no closer to finding out how to remove the amulet?” She asked before having to dole out an embarrassing explanation about how the Band actually got her location. Any one in Witness Protection wouldn’t have been dumb enough to hand out her location. But at the time, she’d been too eager to think it out.

  Mason thankfully didn’t ask for an explanation. Rather, he simply reminded her, “Avery, no one has ever seen anything like this before.”

  Her dream returned to her when Mason echoed Samuel’s exact concern to Jericho about the amulet’s mysterious nature.

  “You know your father probably had a journal of some t
ype where he kept all his research.” She tossed out there.

  “Don’t hold your breath on that Avery. Even if something like that did exist, it’d be impossible to find.”