Chapter Twenty-Seven
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Jayson opened his eyes and saw a lady bug crawling across the knuckles of his hand. He sat up, and immediately pulled the heavy fur cloak from his shoulders. The air was heavy with humidity and heat. He looked around. The trees were thin and ragged looking, and he saw a small creek running close by. He turned and looked over his shoulder. Their tree house was just as they had left it, the shower curtain caught in a small breeze.
He walked to the dilapidated couch and touched the arm. It felt real enough. At his feet were the crusts of Leo’s egg sandwich covered in tiny black ants. He climbed to the top of the tree house and pulled aside the shower curtain. The sticks they had used for swords were leaning against the corner, as were the assortment of other odds and ends that had been stashed there over the summer.
“Jayson?” He heard Jack’s voice calling franticly from below.
Jayson pulled back the curtain. “I’m here,” he said. He climbed down and joined Leo and Jack who sat quietly surveying the scene before them.
“I didn’t think it would work,” said Leo, ashamed. “It was so simple. I didn’t think we’d leave Piper like that.”
“Well, we did,” snapped Jayson. He scowled and bitterly kicked the base of the tree. “Now what are we gunna do?”
“We still have our clothes from Chartile,” said Jack. “How are we going to explain this to our parents?”
“I’m more worried about how we’ve actually changed.” Leo flexed his bicep as he spoke. “Do you think our parents will even recognize us?”
“Well, we’re bound to look different for as long as we’ve been gone,” said Jack.
“But we haven’t been,” said Jayson more calmly. Jack and Leo furrowed their brows at him. Jayson sighed and rolled his eye. “Come here. Look, we haven’t been gone very long.” He showed them the crusts he had found. Leo knelt to examine them.
“Has anyone tried using magic yet?” Jack asked. Jayson and Leo shook their heads. They took turns attempting to create a fire ball and throw it at the tree. None of them were successful.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Jayson. “We could do it before!”
“Earth must be different from Chartile. That’s the only explanation,” said Leo flexing his hands.
“If I had known I’d lose my magic, I’d have never come back!” Jayson shouted. He kicked the couch and threw a rock into the creek.
“Jay, calm down.” Jack placed a hand on Jayson’s shoulder. “We’ll figure this out.”
“Really, dude? We’re just supposed to pick up our lives as if nothing happened? What about Gemari and Nefiri, huh? Leo, what about Brande and all the Black Diamonds? Think of all the people we had a hand in saving or killing, and we’re just supposed to start school in a few weeks as if none of it ever happened? I know I sure as heck can’t tell my parents. I told you when we first went to Chartile that if this was some kind of government conspiracy, no one would ever believe us, and you agreed with me, Leo.”
“I don’t think we have much choice, Jayson,” said Leo in a small voice. “You’re right. We can’t tell anyone.”
“But we’re not going to abandon each other,” said Jack. “We were together in Chartile, and we’ll never leave each other here. We have to promise we’ll always be there for each other, no matter what.”
They agreed and sat in silence, side by side on the couch for what felt like several hours. Finally, Leo said, “We can get cleaned up at my place. I think, if we had to explain anything, my dad would understand.” Jack nodded, but Jayson shifted uncomfortably before finally agreeing.
They hurried through the subdivision of Swansdale, looking up and down the side streets as they went. They hoped no one was looking out their windows to see them. They must have looked like savages or something straight out of a Mad Max movie. They flew up the Leo’s porch steps and ran into the living room. The cool of the air conditioning swept over them for the first time in months, and they were nearly stopped dead in their tracks.
“I was wondering when you’d be back for—” Mr. DeHaven stopped short. He dropped the mug he was drying and it shattered on the floor. “Who are you?” he asked.
“Dad?” Leo hesitated, then rushed into his father’s arms. Mr. DeHaven tried to take a step backward, but all three boys had pressed him against the doorjamb to the kitchen in a ferocious hug.
“Leo?” Mr. DeHaven asked tentatively.
“Dad, it’s me!” cried Leo, and he looked up into his father’s eyes. Realization spread over the man’s face, and he hugged his son tight.
“What happened to you?” he asked, his voice muffled as he buried his face in his son’s hair.
Leo pulled away from his father and looked at his friend. Jayson shuffled back and forth on the plush carpet and Jack nodded.
“I think you should sit down.” Leo led his father to the couch, and launched into their story. Jack and Jayson interjected their commentary nearly as often, especially when it came to events Leo was not present for. It was several hours before they had finished. Mr. DeHaven had made them mac and cheese, and the boys devoured it in moments.
Still stunned, he said, “Why don’t you boys get showered and changed.”
Showers. They had nearly forgotten what a shower was. The unlimited steaming hot water. The soap. It was practically a fight for who got to go first.
An hour later, they hurried down the stairs, looking far more like respectable young men from Swansdale, even if their hair was still long.
They saw a familiar white Cadillac sitting in the driveway from the stair window as they headed back to the first floor. The man who owned the vehicle sat on the couch as they rounded the banister corner. They stopped dead, staring at him and Mr. DeHaven.
“Boys, this is Mr. Darrow.” Mr. DeHaven motioned to the man on the couch. “I need you to tell him everything you told me.”
“Are you from the government?” Jayson asked accusingly.
“No,” said the man kindly. “I am both above and nonexistent to the government. I knew your parents when they worked with NASA.” He smiled. “I’m a scientist and an archeologist. I’m what you might call expert when it comes to the strange and unusual, and I know how they all fit together. Your secret is safe with me, if mine is with you.” He held out his hand to them. After a moment, Leo shook it, and began his tale again.
Mr. Darrow was very thorough. He asked many questions that didn’t even seem to be related, like what direction the sun set and the color of the fire. He took samples from their clothes from Chartile, and was most interested in scraping mud from the toe of Jack’s boot. He took blood samples and hair samples and whirled a cotton swab around their mouths. It was dusk by the time he stood to leave.
“I’ll get these to Emily right away,” he said to Mr. DeHaven and shook his hand.
“Wait, who?” asked Leo. He stood and pushed his way between the two men, looking back and forth between them franticly.
“Someone I know who might be able to figure out where Chartile is.” said Mr. Darrow locking his brief bag.
“You said Emily,” said Leo. “Mom’s name is Emily.” He turned to look at his father. “Is he talking about mom?”
Mr. DeHaven opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. He swallowed hard and said, “Yes, Leo. He means your mother.”
“But… mom’s… gone! Mom left us!” cried Leo.
“It was for your safety. It was for everyone’s safety.” Mr. Darrow grimaced and shrugged his shoulders. “I’m sorry, boys, but what you have experienced is— well, it’s hard to explain. Just promise me you won’t breathe a word about this to anyone.”
“We won’t,” Jack reassured him, though he glanced side long at Leo who looked as though he were about to have a panic attack.
“Thank you,” said Mr. Darrow. “With any luck, I’ll see you boys again someday.” The front door closed behind him. Jack and Jayson watched as Mr. Darrow loaded his samples into the tr
unk, started his Cadillac and drove away. Leo stood behind them wiping his glasses nervously on his shirt and sighing.
“Leo, I think we should talk,” said Mr. DeHaven, setting a hand on his son’s shoulder. Leo turned to look at his father and nodded.
“We’ll come back tomorrow,” said Jack, and Jayson nodded. They left and headed to their homes, walking the dark streets as though it were any other summer night for them in Swansdale.
Jack walked through his front door. The smell of rosemary and pork roast filled the house. His baby sister sat on the floor playing with a bucket of wooden blocks.
“Ja-Ja!” she shouted, and opened and closed her hands for him to pick her up. Jack ran to her, and scooped her up, kissing and tickling her. His mother pushed open the basement door with her hip, her arms full of laundry. She dropped the clothes on the couch then turned to her son.
“Jack, your father’s looking for you.” she said. The swelling around her eye was even worse. Jack had forgotten how bad it had been. He set his sister back on the floor, and walked to her.
“Mom,” he said sternly, “You need to go to the hospital and have that looked at.”
She pushed his hand away and shook her head. “I’m fine. But your father is very upset. You weren’t here when he came home.”
“I was at Leo’s! I told Aunt Kiera!” Jack cried.
“I know, and I told him that. Still, you weren’t here when he came home.”
“He was drunk, wasn’t he?” asked Jack, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow in a very Piper-like fashion.
His mother stammered, and narrowed her eyes at her son’s newfound boldness. “Yes,” she finally said. “Yes, he was. You know what he’s like when he expects something.”
A truck pulled into the driveway and a door slammed. Mrs. Mitchel gave a small gasp, and attempted to push Jack onto the couch as she ran for her daughter.
“Just do whatever he says,” she whispered.
Mr. Mitchel stumbled through the front door. His eyes landed on Jack standing tall before him and he shouted, “Where the hell were you? Damn it, Karla! I told you to tell me when this punk got back!”
“Carter, I—he—” Mrs. Mitchel’s small voice was drowned out by the deep huffing and puffing of her husband as he stumbled closer.
“Go,” said Jack. He instinctually pushed his mother behind him toward the kitchen.
“Think you’re so tough, little punk?” said Mr. Mitchel.
“Jack, no,” said Mrs. Mitchel. Jack pushed her closer to the kitchen and she covered her daughter’s head.
Mr. Mitchel swung at Jack. His coordination was nearly perfect. Jack grabbed his father’s fist, and spun him around, twisting his arm behind his back. He thanked Kylani for their lessons in the mines. He walked the struggling man to the door, Jack’s other hand in the small of his father’s back.
“We want to help you,” he seethed in Mr. Mitchel’s ear. “But you have to want to help yourself first. I gotta do what’s best for us until you figure that out.” Jack reached for the door, and his father broke free of his grip. The man turned to hit his son, but Jack caught his fist again. He looked into the man’s eyes and pushed him out the front door. Mr. Mitchel tripped down the steps and landed on the lawn.
“I love you Dad,” said Jack, and he slammed the door shut, locking it behind him. Mr. Mitchel beat on the door and tried to turn the knob.
Jack turned back to his mother. She was crying and shaking and clutching at the baby in her arms. “What have you done, Jack? What have you done?” she sobbed.
Jack walked to her and lifted his sister from the woman’s arms. She wrapped her arms tight around herself and sobbed even louder as Mr. Mitchel beat more frantically on the door.
Jack placed his hand on her shoulder. “It’s over mom,” he whispered. “He’s not going to hurt us anymore. I won’t let him.” He hugged his mother and his sister then picked up the phone to call the police.
Jayson bounded up his front porch steps, as a truck squealed around the corner. It looked like Jack’s dad’s truck. He reached to his hip, ready to pull out a dagger and run to help his friend. But there was nothing there. Jayson closed his hand on the loose fabric of one of Leo’s cargo pants and sighed. He leaned against the door and sighed.
He opened the door and stepped inside. He nearly forgot to take off his shoes, until he tripped over his sister’s Reeboks and stared at the little flashing lights in the heels. He noticed her staring at him intently across the room at the kitchen table. He looked away quickly and began untying his laces. His dog, Jesse, pranced around his feet excited. The dog sniffed every inch of him and licked Jayson’s face, knocking him over. Mrs. Hill looked up from her reading on the couch.
“Did you eat at Mr. DeHaven’s?” she asked, almost bored.
“Yeah,” said Jayson pushing the dog off. “We had mac and cheese.” Jessica was still staring at him. He tore his eyes away from her again, feeling more uncomfortable by the minute.
“Okay. Well, there’s leftover meat loaf in the fridge if you’re hungry,” she said. Jayson nodded and headed for his bedroom.
“Oh, Jayson,” called his mother. He stopped halfway down the hall and turned to look at her. “I’m going to leave some money on the table tomorrow. I want you to go to Cindy and get a haircut, please.”
Jayson nodded again. Turning and nearly tripping over his dog, he walked into his room and shut the door.
Character Biographies
Jayson Hill: Born July 22nd, Jayson is red-haired, freckled, and clumsy. His family has lived in Swansdale for several generations. He uses comedy and jokes as a way to hide his personal insecurities about never being good enough at anything. His life’s ambition is to become a fighter pilot.
Jack Mitchell: Born May 10th, Jack is very tall and very handsome with dark brown eyes and dark brown, wavy hair. At seven years old, his family moved to Swansdale from Dover, Arkansas for a fresh start when Jack’s father attempted to sober up for the first time. Jack escaped into books as a child when his parents argued and fought. Later, he began using poetry and writing as an outlet for his emotions.
Leonardo DeHaven: Born September 19th, Leo and his father, Reagan DeHaven, moved from a small town not far from Las Vegas when Leo was 10 years old. As the son of two NASA scientists, Leo approaches everything in life with a sort of linear logic. Growing up close to the tourist attractions of Area 51, Leo has secretly always had a fascination with historical conspiracies, and the strange and unexplainable events in world history. At the age of 12, Leo began trying to learn Sanskrit in order to read and decipher the ancient documents he heard about while on a trip to the art museum that supposedly mention extraterrestrial encounters. However, shortly after this, Leo received his first video game console, and rarely looked back. Leo is the spitting image of his father from the messy blonde hair, gray-blue eyes, and slightly pudgy physique.
Piper Romilly/Eva Ruani: Born the 14th day of Ansalvar. Born Eva Ruani, the second daughter of King Aramor and Queen Runa, Piper was raised in a very small village called Outland Post by her adoptive parents, Nevan and Paria Romilly, and her adoptive grandmother, Kaytah Chaudoin. Growing up, Piper always felt different. She looked different from the other elves in her village, and her family required far more from her than the other children she grew up with. Piper accompanied her grandmother on trips across the Dwarvik and Elven territories of Chartile where she learned courtly etiquettes, and even how to read and write the fancy calligraphy styles of the nobles.
When she was thirteen, Piper began showing her first signs of magic. Her parents and grandmother attempted to keep her occupied with more etiquette studies and learning the laws of the land. It worked for some time, until Piper accidentally set half of her village on fire in an attempt to help her mother light the hearth. Piper had stood up to the palace soldiers that came to her village, but her parents forced her to return home, fearing she would use her magic. Pipe
r tried to use her magic to stop the fire she had made that was spreading from the hearth, but only created more. Many people were killed, including several of the children she had grown up with, a few of the palace soldiers and her own parents.
Piper fled to the mountain close by until the villagers of Outland Post sent a messenger to the Palace. Kaytah, Valar Marion, and Princess Taraniz returned to the village with an armed guard, ready to take Piper away. Valar, disguised as a knight, recommended casting Piper into the wild, as she might destroy the forest or the palace on their return as she had Outland Post. Taraniz reluctantly agreed, and Kaytah was able to continue caring for Piper from a distance.
Piper has the same messy red hair and brilliant green eyes of her mother, Runa. She enjoyed working with her hands and making things in her father’s smithy. She also learned that she enjoyed archery, and liked to collect pretty stones she found.
Piper is tenacious. She doesn’t like to ask for help, and doesn’t always work well in groups. Even though she doesn’t show it, she cares about everyone, even those who have done wrong to her.
Dimitri: Born the 2nd day of Kalqar, Dimitri is the son of Empress Nefiri’s youngest brother, Nahari, and Nefiri’s head retainer, Dujanah. Nahari, who worked as a Dwarvik guard for his sister, met Dujanah on a trip to Duneland to acquire more human servants. Nahari insisted Nefiri purchase Dujanah.
Several years later, it was discovered Nahari and Dujanah had been romantically involved for some time. As this is prohibited by Dwarvik law, Nahari was put to death. Nefiri refused to allow Dujanah be put to death while she still carried an innocent child. The Council of Elders, however, would not allow Dujanah to live, and did not remove her orenite cuffs during labor. Dujanah died, and Dimitri was protected under Dwarvik law as an innocent. Nefiri raised him as her own.
Chartile: Prophecy Page 32
