by Beth Bowland
“Branislav Gerasimova!” Nakal said the name using a thick Russian accent before Aaron could think of the correct pronunciation.
Aaron practically flew down the stairs, tackling Nakal headfirst, and pushing him back out the door. “Get outta my house!” he yelled, slamming the door closed. He grabbed a chair from the dining room table and wedged it beneath the doorknob.
He caught his breath as he leaned his back against the door. “Galileo?” He remembered his father talking about him from time to time.
As Aaron headed for his father’s study, the house began to shake. The floorboards creaked and popped. Aaron looked out the window. The Annihilators were shaking the house. A loud swooshing sound caused him to stumble and fall. The front part of the house was gone. Nakal entered once again.
Holding on to the falcon charm, Aaron retrieved the necklace from under his shirt. “I don’t really know which side you’re working for now,” Aaron cried out, “but if you could send me a little help, I’d appreciate it.” A shrilling sound surrounded the house as the falcons dove and attacked the Annihilators.
Aaron ran to the back of the house. When he neared the hallway to the study, there was a loud clap of lightning, and he lifted off the ground. Terror filled him as the house began to rotate with him floating in the air.
He crawled along the wall, then on the ceiling, clawing his way toward the study. He felt someone grab his ankle. It was Nakal. Aaron kicked at him until he let go.
“I want my family!” Nakal screamed, his eyes glowing bright amber. He heaved himself on top of Aaron, getting him into a chokehold, holding tight, and squeezing as Aaron tried to free himself.
Aaron pulled and scratched at Nakal.” You can’t have them!”
The black hole swallowed part of the ceiling and moved down the walls, showing millions of twinkling stars.
The house rotated again, causing the boys to fall hard against the floor. Aaron wiggled free and ran inside the study, shutting and locking the door behind him. He went over to the bookcase and began pulling books off the shelves, frantically looking for anything about Galileo.
Nakal kicked in the door; his stare went to a shelf where a bronze statue was displayed under an accent light.
Aaron saw the statue. “Galileo.”
The house rotated again, breaking apart at the seams, as chunks of the structure floated out into space.
Nakal and Aaron made their moves toward the statue at the same time, which was now under a mass of broken furniture and books. Aaron rained down blows with his fists against Nakal’s face and head, madly trying to make his way to the statue.
The darkness consumed another wall of the study, making its way toward Aaron. He cried out as Nakal grabbed him around the waist, first slamming him across the desk, where his head caught the edge of the printer.
Aaron reared back with his elbow, slamming it against Nakal’s ribcage.
Nakal crumpled onto the floor in pain.
Aaron inched toward the statue and as he reached for it, Nakal pulled him by the legs and flung him across the room. Aaron landed hard against a partial wall and began to slide. He quickly reached out and grabbed a portion of carpet that stopped him from going into the gaping hole to space. The house rotated in another direction, causing him to tumble into Nakal who was frantically trying to reach the statue. The floor gave away and Aaron and Nakal both clung to the edge of what was once a doorframe. Their bodies dangled in space with the statue above them a few feet away.
Nakal and Aaron kicked at one another to prevent the other from pulling himself up first. Aaron gathered all the strength he had and with one final kick, knocked Nakal from the doorframe.
He took a deep breath and pulled himself up into what remained of the study. He grabbed the statue, clutching it tightly against his chest, and looked down at Nakal who floated aimlessly into space. “I win! It’s over!”
Nakal burst into laughter. “It never ends,” he yelled.
Darkness consumed the room and everything else that was once part of Aaron’s world. He found himself floating amongst the stars.
A flicker of light appeared in front of him before the board came into sight. A check mark appeared under Aaron’s name. Nakal—2 Aaron—3.
Game over.
Chapter 19
Aaron’s first memory after the incident was of being swept through a black funnel. He couldn’t tell if he was seated, but whatever he was in felt secure. The darkness rolled him smoothly around the massive black sky, he whizzed past stars and planets at a high rate of speed. Ahead, a bright light came into view. He rushed toward it, and there was a loud bang.
His next memory was of him lying in the bottom bunk of his bed. His room was as he remembered it. He sat up and listened for any strange sound before putting his feet on the floor. He eased himself up and took a closer look around his room. He immediately reached into his pocket for the crystal. It was gone.
Aaron looked up at his ceiling at Polaris. The star was prominently displayed. His room smelled of his old sneakers and the glue that he used on his model cars. The sulfur smell was now a memory but not a faded one.
He looked out the window. The sun shone bright, but the ground was still partially covered in snow. No falcons wearing diamond medallions sat on his roof’s edge. He eased into the hallway and tiptoed over to the stairs.
Aaron heard some movement downstairs. After making his way into the living room, he peered around the corner and saw his mother standing at the counter, filling the coffee pot with water.
“Mom?” he said once again.
Mrs. Martin turned around and smiled at her son. “Good morning. I thought you’d be gone by now. You mentioned last night that you would be going four-wheeling this morning.
Aaron shook his head. “I guess I was tired and needed to sleep in.”
“Oh, okay,” Mrs. Martin said. “Well, your father should be home in a few hours. I spoke with him an hour ago.”
“How are you feeling?” Aaron asked cautiously.
Mrs. Martin shrugged. “I feel fine. Woke up with a slight headache. I think it was probably sinuses. Had a few strange dreams, though.”
“Really?” Aaron moved closer to the table. “What sort of dreams?”
“I dreamt I was swept up through a black hole.” She chuckled. “No more late night sci-fi movies for me.”
His mother pressed the start button on the coffee pot and left the kitchen just as the phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID. “It’s Parker.”
Aaron hopped up and hit the speakerphone button. “Hey.”
“Dude, are you back to normal today?” Parker asked.
Aaron hesitated. Did Parker remember? “Whatdaya mean?”
“When I came over to pick you up yesterday to go four-wheeling, you wouldn’t open the door to let me in, said you caught some virus or something weird.”
Aaron’s mind raced. “I did?”
“You don’t remember? You were really out of it; even your eyes looked weird.”
“Is that all?” Aaron asked. “I mean, is that all you remember happening?”
“What do you mean ‘is that all’?” Parker said. “That was it. I went four-wheeling through the woods by myself. It was a good time, but then the weather started getting bad. I called you last night to see if you were better, and you said yeah and we could go four-wheeling this morning.”
“What about Nakal?” Aaron asked.
“Who?”
“Never mind … ” Aaron stuttered and quickly changed the subject. “I’m better. So come on over,” he said, and pressed the button to end the call. “No one remembers.”
Later that afternoon Mr. Martin drove up to his house and smiled when he saw Aaron sitting on the steps waiting for him. He blew the horn as Aaron ran toward him.
Mr. Martin opened the car door and Aaron tackled him with a bear hug. He returned the embrace.
“Dad, I’m so glad you’re home
,” Aaron said.
“I’m so glad to be back,” Mr. Martin answered. “I’ve really missed you and your mother, seems like more this trip than the others.”
Mr. Martin hit the button on his key ring to open the trunk. “Grab a couple of those bags for me, son.”
“Sure,” Aaron reached into the trunk and began tugging and pulling out bags.
“Strange weather we’ve been having,” said Mr. Martin as he pushed the car door closed. “Anything interesting happen while I was away?”
“Are you kidding? So much has happened I don’t even know where to start,” Aaron replied.
“I’m not due to travel for a while, so we have plenty of time to catch up.”
“Cool. So, how was your trip?” Aaron asked as he fiddled with the retractable handle on one of the bags.
Mr. Martin gazed toward the roof of the house, near the corner gutter, at something just barely in view. “It was very interesting,” he answered as he made eye contact with a lone falcon wearing a small diamond medallion. His father’s pupils dilated as tiny amber electrical sparks flickered from his eyes.
Just as Aaron found the button to release the retractable handle, the falcon flew away. Aaron looked up at his father.
“I’m happy you’re home.”
Mr. Martin smiled at his son. “You wouldn’t believe all that I’ve gone through to get here. Seems like it took decades, but I’m glad to finally be home with my family.”
Epilogue
“Now that was an exciting game,” Arcturus said as he adjusted his blue baseball cap with Captain embroidered across the front. He wore a matching T-shirt with Team Aurora Borealis on the front.
“That was probably one of the sweetest wins that I’ve had in centuries. Wouldn’t you agree, dear brother?” Arcturus asked.
Standing directly in front of him was his twin brother, Sirius. He was dressed in a red T-shirt with Team Aurora Australis embroidered across the front and a matching red baseball cap with Captain written on it. He slumped against a wall and kicked at the table with his sneaker, while he slapped a large globe of Earth mounted on a stand, causing it to spin faster.
“Yeah, whatever,” Sirius answered.
“Arcturus!” a woman’s voice yelled. “Sirius!”
“Yes, Mom,” they answered in unison.
“Tell your friends it’s time for them to go home, and you boys get cleaned up for dinner,” she said.
Sirius sighed. “Yes, Mother.”
Arcturus pointed to a group of boys playfully roughhousing on the floor. “Vega, Capella, Pollux, and Altar, come on. Let’s huddle over here.”
Arcturus locked arms with his team members as they lowered their heads and huddled tightly together.
“You guys rocked!” Arcturus said in a whisper. “I told you we’d win despite Sirius’s cheating. You guys stayed calm and we won.” A broad grin spread across his face. “Looking forward to the next match.”
Sirius looked at the other group that sat on the floor fiddling with things. Defeat showed on their faces. He walked over to them and sat cross-legged in front of them.
Canopus, Rigel, and Achernar, you guys did a pretty good job, but, Hadar, you will need to step it up before the next match or else I will have to replace you,” Sirius said as he glared at his team members. “Go home and get some rest. Think about new strategies. I think we just underestimated the determination of our opponent.”
“Sirius,” Arcturus said, “let’s pick the location for our next match.”
Sirius nodded as he stood up and gave the globe another spin. He grabbed a dart from the table.
“From behind this line,” Arcturus said as he stepped back several feet.
“Okay,” Sirius said. He eyed the spinning globe, repositioned the dart in his hand, took aim, and threw it.
The group immediately gathered around the globe.
Arcturus pulled out the dart and placed his finger over the spot. “Our next match will be in Hawaii. See you next week, fellas!”
The visitor walked along the sandy beach, using his cane for balance as he hobbled along, following the shoreline and the sparkling blue water. He looked straight ahead at a small beach house positioned back amongst the palm trees. He stopped when he reached the front door.
He wiped his sweat-drenched face, saddened his expression, and knocked on the teal door.
A few moments later, the front door opened, and in the doorway stood a man with a tanned face, wearing swimming shorts and a Nike T-shirt.
“Can I help you, stranger?”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Inspiration can come from many places, but my inspiration for this book came to me years ago while in elementary school on a class trip to the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus Ohio. I spent the day in this magical, scientific world, which ended with a visit to the planetarium. My view of the night sky was forever changed when I was introduced to the yearly Perseid meteor shower.
Thank you, Georgia McBride Month9books/Tantrum Books, for releasing this out to the world & embracing my whimsical side. To my crew: Joy Tolliver-West, Toni Price, Veronica Carter, Greta Hillman, and Candace Norris, thank you for always being there for feedback.
Love & Hugs section: Phillip, the best husband ever, a one man support system. Shannan Todd, my awesome daughter, who inspires me daily. My big sister, Michelle Clemons, for being my first beta reader when we were kids. Reginald Staples, the coolest big brother ever. SCBWI-North Texas, for being awesome!
My little angels, whose words and pictures mean the world to me. Taylor Tate, Andrew & Alex Wettrich, thank you for the smiles.
Imagine. Dream. Believe.
BETH BOWLAND
Beth Bowland, a native Ohioan, has always enjoyed reading and creating stories of her own. As a child, she devoured every book she could get her hands on and spent numerous hours at the library weekly. She loves writing stories for tweens and young teens, and her characters are often described as quirky and fun, but always relatable. When she isn’t writing, she loves watching HGTV. She has one daughter and resides in Arlington, Texas with her husband.
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Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About the Author
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