Colby’s gaze turned icy.
“I’ve never heard of such a prophecy. If it was important my father would have told me. And he probably didn’t, because he knows as well as I do if it comes to a battle, I’ll win.” He stormed off toward the exit of the estate.
“Where are you going?” Meghan shouted after him.
“I’m leaving. I’m done here.”
“You can’t leave. We’re not finished yet!”
He raised his arm meaning to use magic to stop her, but nothing happened. Not only was he stuck inside the memory, but he had no magic. His glower only infuriated her even more.
“In here,” charged Meghan, stalking by him, “I’m in charge. And we’re not leaving until I say so.”
Ivan and Jae stood guard near the front of Kanda Macawi’s house. It was just after midnight. The storm had passed, leaving behind fast moving clouds. Whenever the moon seeped through, gray shadows popped everywhere, faking them out, leading them to believe they had seen something sinister moving.
They had lit a small fire inside Kanda’s fire pit. An ember popped and Nona jumped out at them.
“Catrina is fine,” she told them. “I explained what was happening and she agreed I should be here. I will check back with her in the morning.”
Ivan nodded.
Nona retook her post at the back of the house.
She joined Elisha, each sitting tall and still, listening. Watching. Using their white eye, hoping for any glimpse into the future.
Back by the fire, a bird flew down, transforming at great speed. When its feet hit the frozen dirt, it was Sebastien who walked across the driveway.
“Just did another flyover of the entire campground. Nothing here that doesn’t belong.”
Jae cast his gaze towards the house. “I really thought they’d be awake by now. It’s been hours.”
“They could be hours, days, we have no idea,” said Ivan, adding, “I don’t think our luck is going to hold.”
Sebastien replied by transforming back into bird form and bursting into the brisk night sky.
After another thirty minutes, Jae stepped back inside to check on the three memory travelers. No movement. No change. He went back outside and reported to Ivan.
“It’s so dark. We’re not going to see anything coming,” said Jae. He wiped a bead a sweat off his brow. Why was he sweating? It was freezing!
“You all right?” asked Ivan.
“Yeah. Fine.” His voice gave no reassurance.
“Just take deep breaths,” said Ivan. “I don’t know as it actually helps, but I’ve been told it does.”
“I think when I panic, it wants out,” Jae admitted with a long exhale.
“The Scratcher cannot come out Jae,” said Ivan. “Whatever happens here, you cannot let it out. You have to keep control.”
“Yeah, control. Because I got lots of that,” Jae replied sarcastically.
“Sorry,” said Ivan. “I’m not being much help.”
“No. Actually, I’m... feeling better. Maybe as sick as it is, joking about it helps me calm down.”
Ivan motioned for Jae to take a seat on the front step. He sat down next to him.
“Since we are on the subject, do you mind if I ask you something, Jae? And if you don’t want to talk about it, or think it’s a bad idea to talk about it, that’s fine too.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Why did Juliska recruit you? I found out after the fact that she had, from a spy on the inside. Garner Sadorus,” he clarified. “But I never was able to figure out why she did it.”
“Because of what happened to me, when I got left behind.”
“What happened?”
Jae let out a long sigh. “When I was out there on my own, well, out here on my own, this is the campground it all started in... I got a taste for something. Something I missed after I got back home. Something I started to crave badly. Juliska, she saw it in me before I did.”
“Power,” guessed Ivan.
“Yeah. I had never felt as strong as when I was alone, away from the group. And I got to do whatever I wanted, when I wanted. I wasn’t stupid about stuff, too much. But I didn’t have to answer to anyone except myself.”
“Juliska would be cunning enough to see that,” agreed Ivan.
“When she first approached me she never mentioned what she was going to do to me. She just asked me if I could feel that way again, would I want to?”
“And you said yes.”
“I said yes. After that, she started having me do these sessions with Tanzea Chase. I don’t know what exactly she was doing but it was some kind of magic. Very dark magic. It made me angry all the time. And then, when Tanzea deemed me ready, she brought me before Juliska.”
Jae stopped. He suddenly found it hard to talk.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“No. It’s just that even then, at that moment, I knew I had messed up. That whatever was about to happen to me, I was going to regret it. But it was too late.”
“How did she do it? How did she change you?”
“A potion. A black, thick potion. Thicker than molasses. I think whatever Tanzea did to me, got my body ready to handle the potion. After I drank it,” he paused again. “After I drank it, these shadows started to form close by. After a second, I realized they were people. Other Svoda. Some I recognized, like Garner Sadorus and his wife, and Tanzea, but others I didn’t. I had no idea where they had come from. I heard them talking. They were from other groups.”
“Juliska had the means to travel between the doorways the entire time,” noted Ivan crossly. “She just kept them for her own personal use.”
“I found out that night. But I couldn’t say anything about it,” continued Jae. “Once I had drunk the potion, it was like certain parts of my mind were no longer mine. I still had all my memories. I could still control my thoughts. But there were certain things I could not physically formulate into words. Juliska’s failsafe I guess. The potion not only turned me into the monster, but kept me from revealing any of her secrets. I guess after she thought I died, or after everyone found out the truth, something changed. When I woke up as Amelia’s prisoner, I could suddenly talk about it.”
“Did it hurt?” asked Ivan. “The first time you changed, did it hurt?”
“I don’t even know how to describe it really. But yeah, it hurt. More than I can express or ever want to live through again. It was like my skin was peeling off my body, piece by piece, and when it was over I was one of them. A Scratcher. The horror I felt, was equal to the power surge pumping through my veins.”
“Does it still hurt?” Ivan dared ask.
“No. I’d wager it’s more like when Sebastien transforms. Like it’s been permanently etched into my DNA or something. Feels like second nature. Unnatural nature, that thrives on anger, panic and fear.”
“We’re going to fix you,” said Ivan.
“I don’t deserve it.”
“Juliska took advantage of you, Jae. You didn’t have a fair choice.”
“Maybe not, but I made the choice. And when it comes down to it, the truth is even after everything she’s done, I don’t know if I can kill Juliska Blackwell. You know, I always thought my dad was strict, mean, sometimes even, but I get it now. He wanted me to be safe. Be smart. I did the exact opposite and now my family thinks I’m dead, and I have no idea what’s happened to them.”
“Jae, I know there’s not much I can say to make things better, but,” he was cut off as Nona and Elisha came bounding around the corner.
“Something’s coming,” they meowed in unison.
“What is it?” asked Ivan.
“All I saw was a shadow,” Nona answered, wishing she had seen more.
Ivan and Jae jumped to their feet, palms facing outward, eyes scouring into the darkness for any slight movement. They waited breathlessly. Alert and at the ready.
Nona and Elisha sat as still as statues, listening, watc
hing and hoping for the tiniest glimpse into the future.
There was a rustle in the bushes across the camp road.
Sebastien flew overhead, diving for the bush to get a closer look.
He stopped mid-air and caught himself, flying backwards.
A muscular body with four legs galloped out of the woods, sauntering down the camp road toward the lakeside of the camp.
Ivan released a breath he’d been holding in.
The Catawitches relaxed their statuesque poses.
Sebastien flew back into the air.
“Just a moose,” said Jae, with an air of lightheartedness. “Funny enough, that’s not the first time I’ve said that in this campground.”
Ivan had no idea what Jae meant, but let it slide. He glanced towards Kanda’s house, muttering, “Now would be a great time to wake up.”
CHAPTER 37
Mireya and Joseph watched night veil the island. There were no stars to gaze at, no moon to light the outside. Hours passed and now it was midnight.
After they had returned from their workday, Joseph had gone straight out the back door and sneaked his way back to her house.
They were sitting in what had once been Ivan’s room. He had a window that faced the backyard. Just after midnight, they opened the window so as to see and hear what was happening outside more easily. The chilling November air rolled inside, sucking away any ounce of warmth in minutes.
Joseph had told his parents what he was doing and although they approved of his actions, they feared what the price would be if he, or any of his friends, were caught.
Sheila Mochrie had barely even noticed the extra body wandering around the house. Irving still sat in his chair in the front room, unmoving, uncaring. Wasting away, with a blank stare.
Mireya and Joseph had pulled Ivan’s empty bed over to the window so they could sit and watch.
If all went as planned, not too long from now, the Svoda prisoners would be running through the backyard; Mireya and Joseph would meet them, and show them where to go.
It would be difficult to see in the dark, especially since no one could use magic.
The youngsters had spent the previous weeks not only sneaking things to the prisoners, but sneaking as many provisions as they could, stockpiling them in the secret room at the back wall of Mireya’s bedroom loft.
Each day, as they prepped the rations for delivery, they took a little something here and there, hiding it inside the secret pockets they had added inside their coat liners.
If the prisoners were lucky enough to escape and not get caught, they would need as many provisions as the youngsters could provide. Once the prisoners were in hiding, they’d have to stay that way. The youngsters’ movements were too closely monitored for them to make any cross island journeys that didn’t have to do with their regularly scheduled deliveries.
Daveena’s home was much closer to the prisoners’ destination; the now abandoned estate of the late Garner and Ravana Sadorus.
Mireya and Joseph would meet the prisoners just after their escape and show them where to go next, to Daveena; who would point them in the direction of the Sadorus estate.
From there, the prisoners would need to find a tunnel entrance, which wound its way underground and into the basement of the home. That is where the prisoners would hide.
At least they had been able to hide the key inside the meat. Without the key, the prisoners could not get inside the basement. The entire plan would have failed before it even started. What was the point of escaping if you had nowhere to hide once you did?
They would not be able to use magic. During the escape or after. Magic left behind a trail that could be traced. They would have to resort to the potions and weapons provided by the youngsters.
They were not privy to the specifics of the prisoner’s escape plan, other than they would be using the vials of potions and handheld weapons the youngsters had provided, and that at some point thereafter, they would make their way to Mireya’s yard.
The only communication they’d had, before the need to move up the escape plan by a day, was to wait until after midnight. It would be good and dark and chances were the guards would be dozing off.
Mireya shivered out an uneasy breath.
Joseph took hold of her hand. “It’s going to work.”
She replied by squeezing his hand firmly. Her hand was sweaty but she didn’t care, so was his. The consequences of the plan not working were too ghastly to contemplate.
An echoing boom, followed by three loud snaps caught their breath. They heard voices shouting in the distance, the sound carrying through the air.
The escape had begun.
Mireya didn’t let go of Joseph’s hand and they scurried down the stairs and to the back door, waiting breathlessly to see desperate shadows racing in their direction.
Meghan, Colin and Colby marched out of the estate that would one day belong to Jurekai Fazendiin and back into the bustling village, below.
As they walked, surroundings started to change. Everything blurred, little by little, a new memory forming around them.
For a moment, they were standing on nothing.
And then cobblestone formed underneath their feet.
They were standing in a dark alley with Jasper and Aloyna, who were arguing.
Meanwhile, a battle was raging behind them.
A misfired spell smashed into the building just over their heads, draping them in sparks, but they ignored it, deep in a heated conversation.
“Jasper, you must allow this to happen,” Aloyna was saying.
“Allow you to be punished, for hundreds of years, based on a prophecy that may or may not come true! You might be right about your son, but what if you’re wrong?”
“I believe in this prophecy, Jasper. And I’m willing, even if it means a lifetime of imprisonment, to stop my son.”
“This is far more than a lifetime, Aloyna.”
“I’m not asking you to wait for me, Jasper.”
“I would wait a thousand years for you, but to watch you sacrifice yourself for something that might never happen...”
“It will happen, Jasper. Three immortal children will be born and they will restore balance to our world.”
“And what if that balance is to the side of evil? What of your sacrifice then?”
Meghan listened intently, as did Colin. Colby was too, but it was clear by the look on his face that he still did not believe he was part of some prophecy.
A prophecy that had been made a long time ago.
Much longer than Colin and Meghan had realized.
“I’ve made up my mind, Jasper. I don’t want to leave you. But I will do what is right.”
A cart sitting nearby blew up, shards of wood flying everywhere. Jasper lifted his hand and the wood froze, mid-air.
“Okay,” he told her. “Okay.” He turned to walk away, back towards the battle, but stopped. “I will wait for you. And I’m not saying goodbye.”
Ivan was on high alert. After the false alarm moose appearance, he and Jae had not spoken. Sebastien, in bird form, flew overhead keeping a look out. Ivan and Jae each took a corner of the front of the house while the Catawitch’s took the backside of the house.
Ivan’s heart strummed, his nerves standing to attention at the slightest sound or movement. Dawn would be coming soon. At least in the daylight it would be easier to see an attack coming.
It zoomed by his head, out of nowhere.
A spell thrown at the front door of the house. It ricocheted, hitting the ground, thanks to the protection spells they had cast.
Ivan and Jae ducked, crawling behind a water barrel at the side of the house.
They didn’t see anyone. And they heard no movement.
“Probably trying to see how many of us there are,” said Ivan.
“So what do we do?”
“Sit tight, see if they strike again. Our protections should hold them off for a little while.”
Ivan heard a bird chirp
ing overhead. He looked up to see Sebastien in his bird form peering down. He shook his head letting them know he saw no one.
A second spell zinged over their heads; this one bounced off the roof, splitting a tree just to the side of the house.
Nona and Elisha held their ground at the back of the house, but saw nothing approaching.
“Okay, I want you to get inside the house, Jae,” decided Ivan. “I’ll follow in a minute. I’d feel better if we were closer to Meghan, Colin, and Colby.” He motioned for Jae to crawl along the ground to the front steps.
From behind the water barrel, Ivan shot two harmless lighting spells into the air. It wasn’t meant to hit anything, just grab their attention for a moment.
Jae got inside and slammed the door shut. He peeked out of the window right next to the front door, watching for Ivan.
Ivan slipped to the back of the house and called out for Nona and Elisha, ordering them to get inside the house. They scurried alongside the walls, hiding in the low shadows along the ground. When their feet touched the stairs Jae opened the door, letting them inside.
Ivan and Sebastien getting inside would be harder.
Whoever was attacking would not keep falling for distraction spells. Ivan crawled back behind the barrel and made his way to the front door. A spell whizzed over his head and slammed against the house. It did not do any damage, but it didn’t ricochet off either; the protection was already weakening.
He slid back behind the barrel.
Sebastien flew down to his side.
“Did you see anyone?”
Sebastien, still in bird form, shook his beak, no.
Footsteps.
“Someone’s coming,” warned Ivan.
He peeked around the barrel and although he heard the distinct sound of feet scuffing across dirt, he could see no movement.
Sebastien took flight, taking cover high in the branches of a pine tree, his bird eyes scouring the landscape for any sign of their attackers.
A man’s voice called out.
“We can end this simply. No one needs to get hurt. Just hand over the boy and girl we seek.”
Ivan realized they were not here for the Projectors. Juliska must have sent them... they were tracking him and Meghan. Part of him felt relief over this fact; at least this was a foe he could fight.
The Spell, The Stones, and The Treasure (Fated Chronicles Book 3) Page 32
