Thunderstruck

by Brenda Drake

  “Well, this is me.” Grace stopped beside a small, fancy vehicle the color of the bubble gum she chewed all the time, which annoyed Blake. “I’ll see you soon,” she said.

  “Until then.” He opened the car door for her.

  “What a gentleman,” she said, ducking in. “Better be careful or you’ll steal my heart.”

  Hopefully not.

  He shut the door and stepped back so she could drive off.

  “It didn’t take long to get her claws into you.” Kyle’s voice came from the shadows of the trees. He crossed the lawn and joined Blake on the street.

  “What are you doing here?” Blake didn’t even try to hide his disdain for his brother.

  “Got the signal. Just like you.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “So, someone in that house has the horn. Have any ideas who?”

  “We have eyes on us,” Blake warned, nodding to the neighbor’s roof.

  “Yeah, already saw them. Daddy Dearest doesn’t trust you’ll succeed in finding the horn.” Kyle kicked a rock. It skipped across the street, hit the curb, and rolled to a stop. “Why don’t you just go in and take the horn?”

  Blake glanced back at the house. “I’ll get it in time.”

  “How are you going to do it? Break in?”

  “I don’t think it’s here.”

  “Wait.” Kyle’s eyes went up the street where Grace’s vehicle had disappeared. “You think it just drove off.”

  “I didn’t say that.” Blake headed up the street to where his Prelude was parked.

  Kyle trailed him. “You didn’t have to say a thing. You’re easy to read. If you thought it was in Stevie’s house, you’d still be in there. You do realize there are more eyes on us right now than the four black, beady ones on the roof, right? Fenrir’s pup, the one you let escape, is in the shadows over there. A troll is nearby. Can smell him from here. I may have spotted a leech in the garden. And it’s just a matter of time before the giants decide to join the party.”

  “I’m fully aware of our guests. The signal hadn’t brought them here. They’re following me, just like you are.”

  “Brother, we both want the same thing. To prevent Ragnarok.”

  “Yes, but you want the reward that comes with it,” Blake said, stopping at the Prelude. “And you couldn’t care less who gets hurt in the process.”

  “Your bleeding heart for these mortals warms me, brother,” Kyle said. “You think your efforts will go unrewarded. Thor’s throne is in your reach. Your success here will seal that fate.”

  Blake chose not to respond to Kyle’s remark. He believed only the rightful one should inherit Thor’s crown. It was his nature to go the natural course. He was a boat on the water without a paddle, letting the current of things take him on his journey. Besides, there were other brothers who could earn the throne. Not just them.

  “Listen, the girls wanted me to ask you to be on their cosplay team at some show in Tacoma. It’s the weekend after homecoming.”

  Kyle looked up the street. “You going?”

  “Yes,” Blake said. “We’d stay overnight at a hotel. And you’re going to love this, my costume is Thor and yours is Loki.”

  He threw his head back and laughed. “That’s brilliant. We’ll have to take pics. Father will love it…assuming we both make it back to Asgard alive, of course.”

  “Is that a yes?”

  “Count me in.” He clapped Blake’s back and walked off down the street.

  Blake got behind the wheel. His favorite thing on Midgard, next to Stevie, was driving. He sped off, sliding open the sunroof, the wind whipping his hair. He looked forward to the overnight trip. If he could have some alone time with Stevie, it would be well worth it.

  Grace slept on the leather couch. Her mouth hung open and drool rested at the corner of her lips. It was only seven in the evening and she was asleep. Took something called Benadryl for what she said was allergies. It knocked her out. The Netflix flashed across the flat screen on the wall directly across from them. She hadn’t even made it to the second half of the movie.

  Blake had searched the entire house and hadn’t found the jewelry box holding Heimdall’s Horn. Fashioned out of the same metal as his hammer, the box was distinctive. An artisan had etched Odin’s two ravens into the top before dipping the box in gold. He sat beside Grace on the couch.

  He’d spent a lot of time the last week with her, but hadn’t found it.

  “Where is it?” he asked out loud, his eyes traveling over the built-in shelves that surrounded the room.

  Grace tried to lift her head off the throw pillow. “Where’s what?”

  He decided to ask her. She wasn’t fully awake. Probably wouldn’t remember he had mentioned it when she awoke. “The gold jewelry box with two ravens on it.”

  “I left a bag of jewelry and stuff at Stevie’s house,” she slurred and fell back to sleep.

  “This is getting me nowhere.” Perhaps she had left it in Stevie’s room.

  He grabbed the afghan draped over the couch and covered her before leaving. The streets were busy on his drive to Stevie’s house. He pulled his car up to the curb a few houses away.

  Halloween was such a strange ritual. Orange and purple lights trimmed Stevie’s roof, the heavy wind tossed around skeletons hanging from the tree in her front yard, and pumpkins with evil faces glowed from the steps of the porch. The sky sparked and cracked angrily, letting loose a heavy downfall of rain. Parents and their kids, dressed in costumes, ran for cover. Blake turned the windshield wipers on, and the blades screeched across the fogging glass.

  He could feel the presence of Asgard hidden in the shadows, watching him watch the house. There was a shift in the sheet of water falling from the sky, and a chariot pulled by two large cats came out of nowhere. Not a drop of rain fell on the chariot.

  A woman, more beautiful than any mortal he could imagine, with fine hair and wearing a dress that shimmered around her curves, stepped down from the chariot. She glided across the grass toward him. It was as if an invisible umbrella protected her from the rain.

  Blake got out of the car and met her. “Jörd, it is my honor.” He bowed, and then straightened. Rain slapped the ground around him and poured over his hoodie.

  “Einar.” Her voice was like a song, her hand warm on his cheek. “Favored by all. You are the hope of many. I have learned of your quest, but you must understand, the girl is connected to the horn. The two are bonded. The horn holds her life.”

  “The girl?” He glanced up at her bedroom window.

  “Yes,” Jörd answered.

  Stevie? Bonded with the horn? Her heart is failing because of it.

  Blake stepped back from the goddess. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”

  A pitying smile struck her face. “This is beyond your control. It comes from the Norns. And you, as am I, are aware of their power. She must wear the necklace the Norns created. Her heart weakens without it. In her care, the horn will never make a sound.”

  “But my father wants the horn.”

  “And he should have it,” she said. “Thor would protect it at all costs. But the girl must carry it to him.”

  Blake was at a crossroads. If he brought Stevie to Asgard, she could die, but his father would have the horn and remain king. Or he could prevent her from going and keep her safe, but then his father would lose his crown.

  “She can’t go to Asgard. I will take it.”

  Jörd smiled, and there was sympathy in her eyes. “If another carries it, the horn cannot enter Asgard. The spell the Norns placed on it won’t let a son or daughter of Asgard remove it from Midgard. It must be a mortal. The box chose this girl.” She removed her hand, slowly walked back to her chariot, and climbed inside.

  The Norns were playing a game. Testing him.

  “They test us all, Einar,” she answered his thought. “There are more than two choices. Always another way we cannot see for our minds are too close to the heart.”

  She picked u
p the golden reins and looked pointedly at Blake. “In your heart, you know who the girl is. You needn’t search further. Leave the past in the past, Einar. Embrace the present. If you are willing, this girl could be your greatest love. If you are not, you will surely lose her.” With that, she rode off, the chariot disappearing into thin air.

  The rain slapped the back of his head as he watched his steps back to the Prelude. Jörd’s words hit his thoughts like the rain pinging the hood of his car. I know who she is? My greatest love? He couldn’t deny his feelings had grown for her. But love? An emotion that needed time to grow and nourish. They weren’t there yet, but he could see them getting there one day.

  That is, if she survives the destiny the Norns had mapped for her.

  He returned to his car, got inside, and inched down the window to get rid of the fog on the windows. Rain sprayed his face and he didn’t care if the inside of the Prelude got wet.

  Stevie. She was the one. How could he lead her into danger? Her heart was frail. Could she even make such a journey? He glanced over the steering wheel at her house. A mound grew in the grass.

  He sat up and squinted. “What is that?”

  “I’d say a troll.” Kyle’s hand rested on the roof of the Prelude. “You’re having quite the evening, aren’t you?”

  “Will you stop following me?” Blake yanked open his door, got out, and summoned Jölnir.

  “I miss you when we’re apart too long.” Kyle pulled out his stave. “Smell that. It’s a troll. You seriously need to get your nose checked.”

  A large troll broke out of the mound. Its muscled arms and legs were massive, its skin slightly gray with veins protruding like roots across its body. Two sharp teeth stuck out of its underbite.

  Blake sprinted, raising his hammer and pulling lightning from the sky. He shot a bolt at the troll, hitting its shoulder. The troll grunted and swung its fist, punching Blake’s side and sending him sliding across the muddy grass. Jölnir flew from his hand.

  Thunder boomed across the neighborhood concealing the roar of the troll. Kyle ran for the creature and threw his stave javelin-style. The stave sunk into the troll’s neck. Blake slipped and fell as he struggled to his feet. He brushed his drenched hair away from his face and searched for his hammer.

  “I could use some help here!” Kyle yelled, running from the charging troll. He sprinted up the street. The troll tugging at the stave in his neck.

  Blake spun around, looking for his hammer.

  “Blake!” Kyle called from several houses away.

  He spotted the handle of Jölnir sticking out of the mud, grabbed it, and ran in the direction Kyle and the troll had gone. The wind slammed against his body, pulling at his clothes and slowing him down. When he reached them at the park, a swing set separated Kyle and the troll.

  “Glad to see you decided to join us, Blake!” Kyle shuffled from side to side watching to see which way the troll would go.

  After a long pause, the troll figured it out. He blasted through the middle, pushing aside the swings, his humped back hitting the top pole and dragging the swing set along with him. Kyle ran in the other direction. The troll grabbed the pole and tossed it off him, the set crash landing and missing Blake by a foot.

  Blake darted around the pile of mangled metal and chains. He ran up one of the legs of the swing set, pointed Jölnir at his target, and flew at the creature. Catching a tuft of the troll’s hair as he flew by, he swung the hammer at the troll’s head. The sound of bone cracking clashed with the thunder overhead. Blake threw another blow and crushed its nose. The troll teetered.

  Kyle threw his stave and as it soared through the air, it collected a lightning bolt and buried into the troll’s chest. As the troll fell back, Blake jumped off, hitting the ground hard and tumbling across the muddy, puddled sandpit where the swing set used to be.

  The troll lay motionless beside the monkey bars. Blake rolled to his knees, rain washing away the mud caking his face. He struggled to his feet and joined Kyle beside the troll.

  “This is a mess,” Kyle said, giving Blake a sideways glance. “You’re a mess.”

  Blake wiped the mud from his eyes with his hands. “Funny how clean you are and there isn’t a scratch on you.”

  Kyle chuckled. “I fight smarter.”

  “You call that fighting?”

  “What are we going to do with it?” Kyle pushed his wet hair away from his face. “Same as the leech? Burn it?”

  “We’re in a neighborhood,” Blake said.

  Kyle raised an eyebrow. “Dismember and dump it?”

  Blake rubbed the back of his neck. “This is going to be a long night.”

  After disposing of the troll, Blake rushed to May’s house and showered. His thoughts kept going to Stevie. After hearing what Jörd said to him, he wanted to see her. The pull to go to her was too strong. He had no choice but to give in to it.

  He climbed the tree outside Stevie’s room and sat on the branch. A blue light blinked on and off inside the room. He lightly tapped on the window. Muffled voices from within the room hummed against the glassed pane.

  The curtain pushed aside. Amira was close to Stevie’s back when the curtain slid to the side. Stevie said something to Amira that Blake couldn’t hear through the thick glass. Amira turned away and dropped onto the bed. Stevie flipped the locks and opened the window.

  “You scared the shit out of us,” Stevie snapped.

  Amira crossed her arms. “Yeah, we’re watching scary movies here.”

  Blake tried not to laugh, but he couldn’t hold it in. “My apologies. Can I have a moment alone with you, Stevie?”

  “With me?” She glanced back.

  “No.” Amira heaved a sigh. “With the other Stevie in the room.”

  “Where do you want to go?”

  He reached his hand out to her. “Out here is fine.”

  She narrowed her gaze on him. “I don’t think so.”

  “Come on,” he said. “It’s perfectly safe. This branch is thick. Trust me.”

  “Stop being a chicken and go already. I have to pee.” Amira shuffled off.

  Stevie hesitated before grabbing his hand and letting him guide her out the window and onto the branch. “This is crazy, you know that?”

  “If you never throw caution to the wind, you’ll never be rewarded.” He sat on the branch and held her hand as she came down beside him. Her hand was warm and soft in his, and he wanted to hold it forever.

  The loose pajama bottoms she wore had cats on them. Her pink tank top rode up a little and exposed a bit of her midriff. Her light-brown hair, the color of the acorns he’d gathered with his grandmother when he was a boy, rose in the wind behind her. Wide, dark eyes met his, her full lips parted in a smile.

  “What did you want?” She glanced at the ground. “Wow, this is pretty high.”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t let you fall.” He slid his hand across her lower back and held her waist. She shivered. “Are you cold?”

  “A little,” she said.

  “Hold on.” He let her go, shrugged off his hoodie, and draped it around her shoulders.

  “Thank you.”

  She held it closed at the zipper. He returned his arm around her, grasping her waist. She shuddered, and he smiled at her response to his touch.

  “You didn’t answer me,” she said. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

  “Actually, I’m not here to talk,” he said. “Have you ever had an urge to do something, and once it’s in your head, you can’t sleep or think until you do the thing?”

  “I guess.” When she looked over at him, they locked eyes and an intensity passed between them like the energy he felt in the handle of his hammer after catching lightning with it. He noticed a faint scar just above her cupid’s bow.

  “How did you get the scar?” he asked.

  “Scar?” She glanced down at her chest.

  “Not there,” he whispered, lifting her chin to look into her eyes. “On your lip.”r />
  She touched it. “Oh this? It’s an embarrassing story. Let’s just say, I learned to watch where I’m walking, especially when poles are around.”

  He chuckled. “I can imagine what happened.”

  She lowered her head again, her feet kicking back and forth.

  He decided to take his chance and cupped her face in his hands, bringing her face to his and kissing her. It was a gentle, wanting kiss. Her lips were soft and warm against his. She tasted like May’s brownies. When Stevie hadn’t responded to his kiss, he was about to release her, but her lips began moving with his. He cradled her in his arms and they balanced together on the branch.

  The sounds of the earth dropped away from him. There was no thought, only awareness. The excitement built inside him. Having Stevie in his arms heightened his senses, and he was lost. He parted her lips with his tongue, and hers greeted it.

  A bang sounded somewhere beneath them and they pulled apart.

  “What was that?”

  Blake searched the yard and spotted the culprit. “One of the skeletons hanging from the tree fell and shattered on the sidewalk.”

  “Oh crap. They’re my mom’s favorites.” She looked down and quickly straightened. “That was a bad idea.”

  “I take it you don’t like heights?”

  “Yeah, it’s the fear of falling to my death kind of thing.” She gave him a sweet smile. “I should get back to Amira.”

  “All right,” he said and offered her his hand. “Let me help you.”

  He took her hand and guided her across the branch and back to the window. “Good night.”

  She stepped over the windowsill and faced him, her hands gripping the wooden frame.

  “Good night,” he repeated and started to climb down.

  “Wait,” she said, stopping him.

  Blake turned back to find his hoodie in her outstretched hand.

  “Don’t forget this.” When he reached for it, she grabbed his hand. “And you forgot this, too,” she said, stretching out the window, lips puckered.