A Beast Among Gods (The Mac Tire Chronicles)

by Garnet Davenport

  “You got it,” she said with a smile.

  She poured the glass while I ate more of my biscuit. It was so good. But when she sat down, I looked up and realized all three of them were staring at me. I started to chew slower until they went back to their own plates.

  “William, would you like another biscuit?” the man asked.

  I looked up to him and nodded once. He got up to do the same as the woman had done by splitting open the biscuit and placing it on the plate before putting another big spoonful of gravy over the top. Then he went to sit back down. He had gotten close to me, but I hadn’t felt the same way I had last night. He wasn’t as scary as I thought he was, but I still wasn’t ready to trust him.

  My attention was brought to the officer still wearing his uniform. He reminded me of Captain America and how he serves and protects. A man that can be trusted to do the right thing. And the only reason I know this is because my father hated any kind of police, and that means I can trust them.

  “I’m going to have to get back. William, how are you feeling here? The Dewills are going to keep you safe,” he explained.

  “Why can’t you stay?” I asked.

  “I have to get back to my job and my wife. I live there,” he explained.

  “Will you be back?” I whispered, already knowing the answer.

  “No. I can’t. It’s to keep you all safe. I won’t ever see you again,” the officer said.

  Tears started to build in my eyes. Everyone that has ever tried to keep me safe and take care of me leaves. He kneeled down to me and said, “It’s always to keep you safe. If I were to come to visit, someone could track me and find you. I would never let that happen. Do you understand?”

  I did understand. That was the worst part about it. I nodded in understanding.

  “I promise you’ll be safe here. If there is ever any time you truly need me, I will be there for you.”

  Little did I know that was not only true, but the strange ways in which our lives were weaved would be discovered in a matter of time.

  I watched as the officer got into his car and drove out of sight. I sat on the steps of their front porch for hours, wondering if he would return. Wanting him to return. I stretched out my hearing and tried to listen in to a conversation that wasn’t there. I turned around and watched as the man and woman moved their hands around in odd ways and were nodding at each other while they were doing it as if there was some sort of silent conversation happening. As I watched them go back and forth moving their hands in almost a repetitive motion, I started to see a sort of alphabet in their movements.

  I heard a strange sound of boots scratching across rocks. The rhythm stayed constant as a man finally came walking out of nowhere. He was wearing a dark gray suit with a purple swirly tie. His cane barely touching the ground as he walked. When he came closer, I could see his dark brown hair and fine lines of age. He had a full beard that was neatly groomed and a comfortable smile on his face as his eyes met mine.

  “Hello there. My name is Aodhan. What’s yours?” the man said.

  “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers,” I replied, getting ready to get up off the steps and run.

  He chuckled. “That is true, my boy. But…” he urged me closer as to tell a secret, “I happen to know exactly who you are, and you are definitely no stranger to me, William.”

  My jaw dropped. How did he know my name? Who was this mysterious man? So many questions flew through my mind. The man who called himself Aodhan gave me a sly smirk and gently sat both of his hands on top of this cane planted between his feet. I could hear the man come from inside the house as he noticed this Aodhan man in front of me.

  “O’Dorcha, I’m so glad you were able to make it on such short notice.” The man shook this Aodhan O’Dorcha’s hand.

  “I’m honored you sent for me. I am always willing to help those who need it most. I suppose this is Kendra’s boy,” Aodhan said, looking between the man and me.

  “Who’s Kendra?” I asked.

  “Kendra Fabrizio. Your mother,” Aodhan explained.

  My brow furrowed. I was angry I hadn’t known her name and angry this man I’d never met before knew it. I could feel myself getting angrier and angrier as he stood there smiling at me.

  “William, are you all right?” the man asked.

  Of course I wasn’t all right. I had been taken away from the only family I had ever known, my mother and grandmother were murdered, and I was driven to a place to be dropped off with complete strangers. No, all right is not happening. As I became angrier, everyone around me started to back away slowly. My vision darkened, and a blur fixed over everything I was seeing until I felt my muscles and bones shift and a gigantic roar came from the deepest pit inside of me as an explosion of rage.

  ➣ Chapter 6

  Expression of Powers

  I stood there breathing heavy and staring at the ground between them, waiting for one of them to make their move. The man backed up with a gasp, but the one called Aodhan moved his arms around in a circular motion, and a light appeared. This brilliant light grew between his hands before he pushed it forcefully at me. I watched as it flew through the air and hit my chest as I absorbed it.

  I felt an immediate sense of ease before my eyes closed and I felt a restful sleep come. I walked through my dreams as if I were truly there, and I remembered it so vividly. My mom had been walking toward me in the forest, trying to show me all the details of where we were. The moss on the trees and the way the branches grow. All the small details that humans don’t notice as they enjoy a nature that was meant just for creatures and mystics. When I started to wake, I realized I had been moved and had been sleeping away the day on the couch.

  “…the abilities he has are growing stronger. He will mature before he is ten. I can see I will be needed throughout the next few years. As he grows, so will his power, and so will the desire to have him in their possession.”

  “Aodhan, I’m scared for that young boy. He’s already lost so much,” the woman said.

  “I know, Diane. We will keep him safe.” The man grabbed the woman’s hand. They had real love for each other, and they showed it in everything they did.

  “Diane, John, this will not be an easy road. But I will do what I can to keep you all safe,” Aodhan said.

  “We can’t thank you enough,” the woman said.

  “It is I that thanks you. This is not a small task I have given to you. The boy will be important to the survival of the mystic species.”

  How could I ever be so important that so many lives would have to change? They noticed that I was awake and sitting up on the couch, watching them.

  “William, do you know what happened?” Aodhan asked.

  “I was angry. My mom always sang to me to calm me down,” I said.

  “What was it your mom sang?” the woman asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said with a sniffle. I couldn’t remember the words or even the tune to the music. It was as if it vanished from my mind, and the harder I tried to remember it, the more it ran from me. Finally, it was a distant memory that I could barely hold on to and that would never resurface again. It was almost as if it never happened.

  “That’s okay, William. No need now. But you will have to fight to find your serenity,” Aodhan said.

  “Why?” I asked.

  He kneeled down in front of me and placed his pointer finger on my chest over my heart. “Because, inside is good and evil, and they are fighting against each other all the time. Your mac tire is strong, but the beast can be stronger. It is your job to not let the beast control you, but you control your beast.”

  “How will I control it?” I asked.

  “You keep a tight hold on your mac tire and don’t let that anger take you over,” he said.

  I nodded.

  “Good,” he said and turned to the man and woman. “I’ve placed a protection around the property. I will have to come back to re-enforce it by this time next year. But if you notice anyth
ing strange, don’t hesitate to get me. It is imperative that we keep him safe.”

  “Thank you again. We feel much better with you on our side,” the man said, shaking Aodhan’s hand.

  “I am always on our side.”

  And with that, he was out the front door and vanished in an eerie fog covering the ground and swallowing him as he walked away.

  “Who was he?” I asked in a whisper.

  “He is a strong man who wants to protect all mystics,” the man said.

  “Even me?” I asked.

  “Especially you,” the woman said.

  “But why?” I asked.

  “Because you are worth protecting,” the man said.

  Those words resonated with me for years to come. Any time I would feel trapped or need to calm myself, I would think about how my foster parents loved me and how I was worth being protected. I would sit under this little rocky ledge and watch the rain fall when it stormed, like how my mother would make me watch the storms as they traveled overhead. She would say, “There’s so much you can learn by just watching the way she moves. See how she moves with passion and intent.” I would watch Mother Nature as she blew through and destroyed some places and missed others. That was the definition of my life.

  Two months after I arrived at the little house in Waco, Texas, I started calling the man and woman by their names, Diane and John. The first time I did this, the smile that crossed their face was of pure happiness. I tried not to talk about my mom because I thought they wouldn’t want me if I was sad all the time. But they wanted me to talk about her. On her birthday, they made a cake and had me blow out the candle with a wish for peace.

  I stayed on their property for the next ten years and always saw Aodhan like clockwork. One week before the anniversary of my mother’s death, he would come walking onto the property out of nowhere. He would let me tag along as he re-enforced the protective shield at the edge of the property. Sometimes I felt like he took time to show me exactly where the property ended.

  “When will I be able to go to school like normal kids?” I asked John one day.

  “William, you know it’s not possible. Aodhan has always kept us all safe. But he hasn’t given us any indication that you can step outside of the protection barrier,” John explained.

  “I know. I just want something normal,” I said, kicking a rock as he fixed the wood fence.

  “I know you do. But it’s just not the time, yet.”

  I kicked a few other rocks with the toe of my shoe.

  “I know you know. When it’s safe, I promise we will get something more normal.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  One year when it was almost time for Aodhan to come, I had decided to disobey the rules. I lied to Diane and John. Told them I was going down to the creek one summer afternoon. But instead I went to the edge of the property, right where Aodhan had placed the protection spell year after year. I placed my hand flat on the invisible shield. I felt a slight zap from electricity, but pushed my hand through. The air felt thicker where the barrier had been placed. But I pushed through. Once I was outside of the barrier, I took a deep breath and discovered there was nothing different about it. I had a moment of disappointment. I thought it would at least feel different. To be just more than how it felt on the other side.

  Saddened by this, I turned around and pushed back through the barrier. I raced back home and washed up for dinner. As we sat at the table and ate, I pulled at the chicken while Diane and John watched me cautiously. At nearly eleven, they were always watching me, but lately it had been different.

  “Did you feel something earlier today?” Diane asked John.

  “Like what?” John asked. I looked up to watch them talk.

  “I’m not sure. It was like a pop in energy or something,” Diane said.

  “A pop?” John asked.

  “Isn’t that what I said? A pop,” Diane said with a humph.

  “Okay, okay,” John said to calm the situation, “I didn’t feel anything.”

  “Well, I’m worried about it,” Diane said.

  “Don’t be such a worry-wart. It’s been silent for years. He’s in prison. The barrier is still intact, and nobody knows about us.”

  “I know,” Diane said, leaning toward John for comfort.

  I didn’t want to tell them I had gone through the barrier and that I could have been the reason for that weird pop of energy. I didn’t want them to be mad at me. I hated the idea of it. I would keep my mouth shut and get in touch with Aodhan. They had to have his phone number around somewhere. If I couldn’t find it, at least I knew Aodhan would be by in about a month to complete the spell to re-enforce the protection barrier. And like John said, “He’s in prison.” There was no reason to worry. No one had been looking for me or where I went.

  After bedtime, when everyone had gone to sleep, I crept down the stairs and searched the desk for a phone number or address for Aodhan. After about an hour of not finding it and feeling too tired to keep looking, I decided to go to bed and see if I could ask without them knowing in the morning.

  I stumbled up to bed and hit it face-down to fall asleep immediately.

  ➣ Chapter 7

  Ripped From Protection

  When the morning came, I walked down the same stairs I had walked down every morning for the last five years and sat down at the table just like normal. But this morning something had been different. Diane was not in the kitchen making breakfast, and John was not sitting at the table. I looked over to the clock on the wall and realized it was a little later than normal. I got up and started to search through the house to find them.

  I stretched out my senses and could see the house was silent through my mind’s eye. I tried to stretch out my senses even further and couldn’t see them, but I did hear heartbeats. Multiple heartbeats. Six for sure. Two were rapidly beating and panicked.

  I felt a heat flood into my system as if my entire body was on edge and ready to attack. Something happened in that moment, and I ran for Diane and John. I had to get out to the barn. Maybe I could help somehow. As I approached the barn, the heartbeats increased even more. That was when I started to hear what the other people in the barn were saying.

  “You’ve kept him from me. My own son,” a gravelly voice shouted.

  “You never treated him as your son.” Diane said back in a manner I had only heard when I was in the deepest trouble I could imagine.

  “You think you’re his mother, don’t you?” He laughed with malice.

  She stayed quiet, and I moved faster. As soon as I made it to the barn door, I saw Diane and John on their knees with their hand behind their backs. There were four other men surrounding them and holding them. I had to do something. But before I could, they noticed I was standing there.

  “William?” Diane whispered. It sounded like she hadn’t recognized me, but that had to be impossible.

  “William?” the one man asked as he held a gun to the back of Diane’s head.

  “William, sweetheart, go back to the house,” Diane said.

  “No,” I snapped. The sound came out manic and stronger than I had anticipated. “Leave them alone.”

  “What kind of beast is this?” one of the other men said.

  “My blood. My beast,” the man wearing a suit said. “Kill them.”

  Gasps and shuffling in panic sounded as two gunshots echoed through the barn. Diane and John fell forward to the ground as a pool of red framed their bodies. I watched as the men moved toward me with aggression and purpose.

  I would kill these men for what they did.

  I pushed off from the ground and leapt on the shoulders of the one man who had shot and killed the two closest people to parents I would ever have. I growled and twisted the man’s head with a sharp cracking sound, and his body fell limply to the ground. The other men backed away from me with their guns raised.

  “Don’t,” the man in the suit called out.

  The men froze in fr
ont of me. They had no idea how to handle me. Whatever I had become. I was the one that had brought this upon them. I wanted to see what was outside of the protection barrier. I brought these men to them and let them be killed. They just wanted to protect me and keep me safe from these people.

  With the slightest of clicks, I felt a sharp pinch to my neck. When I reached up to see what it was that had stung me, I found some type of dart and pulled it from my skin. That was when I noticed that my skin was a yellowish green, and there were patches of fur spread out along my arm. As my eyes went wide, I was hit again with another dart. This one started to make my head feel like it was spinning. I stumbled and then fell to the ground. Before my eyes closed, the last thing I saw was the two people that loved me like their own son and treated me like I was theirs lying dead on the ground.

  ➣ Chapter 8

  Family Is Family

  When I awoke, I started to look around. The room was dark, and I was lying on the floor. As I stood, I had to reach out for the wall to steady myself. I reached out in the darkness to find a light switch or anything to get more light to the room. I couldn’t find a light switch, but as I searched, I ended up finding a door. I found the doorknob and turned. With ease, it opened, and I was almost blinded by the light coming from a window in the hallway.

  I covered my eyes against it until I could walk past it enough to be able to see. I started to get through the house as quickly as possible, but everywhere I turned, there was no way to get out. I stumbled and fell a couple of times until I finally found a door that opened. When I opened the door, I squinted again into the light. There was a wall of muscle that moved in front of me. I couldn’t pass him.

  “Return to your room,” the man stated. He reached for the radio at his shoulder and said, “He’s awake.”

  I glared at him, giving off an intense amount of anger. When he didn’t give, I crossed my arms over my chest and widened my stance. I was a big teenager at fifteen years old, and I knew it. I had surpassed Diane a while ago. The mention of her name in my mind made me weak. Remembering the scene I had been taken from. Had they just left Diane and John there, bleeding out in the barn for someone else to find? They wouldn’t even be looking for me. No one knew I was there. I was a complete secret. All my clothes were ordered in or made, and we ate healthy. So there wasn’t any of the junk food, as Diane called it, from the commercials on the television.