Zoey shook her head, returning to the task at hand.
Each stone brick she saw appeared identical. Not a single deviation could be seen in any of it. They were all the same shape and color. Even the pattern of moss and how it branched in certain places was the same.
But then she saw it: a small gray mark in between the seams of one of the bricks, about chest high. Smiling broadly, she hurried over to it, her feet splashing loudly. Zoey threw herself at the mark, hitting it with an open palm.
The brick above it sank in a few inches, and she could hear a grinding noise somewhere. But then all was quiet, and nothing changed except for the rising water.
“No!” she screamed, hitting it again and again. “Work, damn you!”
The wall next to her slid into the floor. Once again, she was swept down the hall by a powerful current, which was fine with her if it got her away from Lord Belmont alive. The hall narrowed, and as it did, the speed at which she traveled picked up as well.
Soon, she found herself rocketing through a narrow passage, and then she was dragged under and into a pipe barely big enough to accommodate her slender frame. Her lungs burned as she held her breath far longer than she’d thought possible.
Right as the air hunger threatened to burn a hole through her lungs and she was about to suck in some water so she could drown and get it over with, she was shot out the side of a cliff.
Once more, Zoey yelled in fright as she sailed through the air and across a deep gorge. She smacked into a rocky wall, and after spending every bit of luck she had saved, she managed to grab onto some of the thick vines that had made their home there before falling to her doom.
It took her a good ten minutes to pull herself out of the gorge, and at least half of those were spent resting on a nearby ledge and trying not to look down. When she reached the top, she found herself on the other side of the Black Siren Mountains, the range that encircled much of Gibbon Isle.
“Well, Zoey, at least we’re alive,” she said to herself, laughing, but her celebration was short-lived. She turned her head over her shoulder and noted the golden sky and the sun starting to dip beneath the horizon.
“Damn. Damn,” she said, realizing night would have long settled before she reached her ship. Possibly the next day would’ve come as well. Worse, she’d have to deal with whatever stark reputation loss she’d be hit with for returning sans party.
A wolf howled in the distance. It sounded large and hungry. So did all of his friends.
“Damn. Damn. Damn,” said Zoey. She kicked a nearby rock and sent it sailing in the gorge just because she could.
“Damn.”
With that, she took off running.
Chapter Four
The Fair
North Carolina State Fair
Circa Present Day
With an orange ticket in hand, Ethan pushed through the turnstiles and made his way into the state fair. He was going to meet one of his friends outside first, but since he’d gotten off work early and ended up beating Logan by an hour, he decided to head on in and see what there was to do. At the very least, he’d drop in on the arcade tent and put to good use the pocket full of quarters he’d brought.
Hopefully, he thought, they’d have Gauntlet again like they did last year. Given how maddening his tech support job had become the last couple of weeks (“No, ma’am, your computer doesn’t have a cupholder. That’s the DVD drive. You can’t turn it on? What do you mean you can’t tell if it’s plugged in? It’s dark? Well, turn on a light? You mean the power is out in the entire house?”), he could use some mindless fun running dungeons and slaying hordes of monsters.
As Ethan walked the fair, people bustled by, some bumping into him, even fewer apologizing for it, but he was too busy taking it all in to mind. A menagerie of brightly colored tents and even brighter neon lights assaulted his eyes while his ears took on the sounds of laughs, screams, and high-energy fun, and his nose relished the smell of funnel cakes and cotton candy.
Straight ahead, towering over everything like the eye of a giant cyclops, was a massive Ferris wheel adorned in lights and slowly spinning. Laughter, loud and joyous, came from it, which was to be expected, and to his right, beyond rows of stands filled with mouthwatering treats that ranged from funnel cakes, to bacon-wrapped corndogs, to apple pie, was the go-cart track Ethan wanted to hit before the night was up. He needed a rematch with Logan so he could redeem himself after being lapped their last run.
The line for the go-carts, however, had grown so large that it snaked out of the officially designated pathway and seemed to be longer than that great Norse serpent, Jörmungandr. And since Ethan decided he didn’t want to be collecting Social Security before he got to drive one, he made a mental note that they should come back early the next day and get in on the action then. There was a visceral pleasure to be found there second to none when one got to ram another over and over again.
Ethan continued through the crowd and paused briefly at the ring toss. He watched as the guy manning the booth flipped ring after ring onto Coke bottles about ten feet away with ease.
“Step right up! Win yourself a prize!” the man shouted to no one in particular as he tossed three more red rings onto three more bottles. When the last one finished spinning around the neck of the bottle and settle down, the man looked at Ethan and smiled. “Hey, champ! Why don’t you give it a go? Five dollars for five chances! You could win your girlfriend one of these cute plushies!”
Ethan eyed the stable of stuffed animals that were prominently displayed along the top of one of the counters. Each one stared back at him with big plastic eyes that looked straight out of an anime movie and could likely melt the heart of the Ice Queen herself.
“No, thanks,” Ethan said, realizing that there was no way in pickled pig’s feet this guy was in the business of just giving away prizes, and he didn’t stand a chance at winning. As such, he concocted a painful, awkward truth to avoid embarrassing himself. “I’m kind of single right now. You know how it is.”
“A handsome guy like yourself, single? I don’t believe it,” the man said with a hearty laugh. “Come on, give it a go. Tell you what. Usually, you need to land five for five, but if you ring four bottles with five throws, I’ll let you take home Thurman.”
Ethan’s eyes drifted upward to where the man was pointing. Hanging on its own special hook was a mammoth teddy bear that was nearly five feet tall. Black, lustrous fur looked so soft and inviting that Ethan was sure he’d sleep for a week the moment he snuggled up to it. Moreover, while the other prizes looked like a step above a cheap knockoff and probably had seams that would bust after a gentle sneeze, this teddy bear looked like it had been made with an enchanted loom by the gods themselves. There was no telling how much this thing cost.
“Ah, see?” the booth operator said with a bright smile. “I know that confidence. This is something you can do. And if the ladies aren’t flocking to your door already, I promise you this: you’ll have the pick of the litter here if you walk through the rest of the fair holding Thurman here.”
Against Ethan’s better judgment, he seriously considered the man’s words. He knew the booth operator was schmoozing him, playing up the idea that supermodels would somehow fight to be at Ethan’s side just because he had a large furry animal in tow, but at the same time, Ethan couldn’t help but wonder if Thurman wouldn’t be a good conversation starter for at least one girl he knew.
“Where did you get that bear?” Melissa would say.
“Oh, this thing?” he’d reply as he leaned up against his beat-up Dodge Omni (in his fantasy, he wasn’t delusional enough to think he’d be sporting a Porsche or a Ferrari). “I won it at the state fair last night. No biggie.”
“That’s amazing. At the ring toss?”
“Yeah, I think that was it.”
“First try?” Her brown eyes would be bigger than the moon at this point. Her mouth would hang slightly open, and she’d be breathless obviously, with skin flushed.
<
br /> Then he’d shrug as if the whole night was a blur of awesome. “I think so. Truth be told, I cleaned the guy out of all his prizes, so I don’t remember when I won Thurman exactly. Of course, I had to donate all of the smaller plushies to the orphanage this morning, but I thought I’d keep Thurman here as a souvenir.”
Her hand would cover her chest. “God, Ethan, you’re incredible.”
“I have my moments,” he’d answer, and only barely at that. She’d jump into his arms and press her lips against his while her hands snaked around his neck.
Ethan’s fantasy came to an abrupt end when the booth owner cut in once again. “Let’s play,” he said. “What do you have to lose?”
“Five dollars,” Ethan said with a chuckle.
“And I wager a lot more than that if you don’t give it a whirl, yes? I know that look in a person’s eyes.”
Ethan nodded. He dug in his pocket and pulled out a single wadded-up five-dollar bill. “Okay, let’s play.”
The booth owner plucked the bill from Ethan’s hands like a hawk plucking a fish from the water. He then spread five rings out in front of Ethan and stepped to the side. “Have at it. And good luck!”
Ethan picked up the first ring and tossed it a few times in his hands, trying to get a feel for its weight. He was never the most skillful when it came to various athletic endeavors, but he could shoot wads of paper into a basket with ease from across the room. This couldn’t be any harder than that, he reasoned. Besides, he did have one free throw, so it’s not like everything was riding on the line with his first toss.
Exhaling slowly, Ethan began. He flicked his wrist and sent the ring flying to the lined-up soda bottles. To his dismay, the ring bounced off the top without having the slightest chance of hooking the bottle’s neck.
“Oh, so close!” the man said with a snap of his fingers. “You’ll get the next one, I’m sure.”
Ethan did not get the next one. Nor did he get it on his third, fourth, or final attempt. What Ethan did get was a sinking sense that he had been swindled out of his five dollars. At first, he felt embarrassed and wanted nothing more than to slink away into the crowd. But then anger brewed inside, not at the booth owner—who Ethan reminded himself that he was only doing his job—but at himself for letting his concentration slip away. This game was like golf, where one only played against oneself. Getting too cocky, too frustrated, or any number of other things, led to failure. He would try again. And this time, he would win.
“Would you like to try again?” the man asked.
“Absolutely,” Ethan replied, forking over another five dollars.
Round two went the same as his first attempt. Rounds number three and four didn’t go any better. Some might have said afterward his situation couldn’t get worse. Those people would’ve been dead wrong.
“Oh, this looks like fun,” said a light, melodic voice from behind.
Ethan didn’t have to turn around to know whose voice it was. It was Melissa’s, the girl who lived in the apartment across from his own. The knockout redhead bounced next to him full of life and looked at all the prizes with glee.
“Win me that bear?” she asked.
Ethan turned to face her completely. He was about to pledge his service to the damsel in distress when a guy who looked like he negotiated billion-dollar contracts during breakfast and then spent the rest of the day lifting iron at his private gym in the Caribbean came up next to her.
“Whatever my girl wants, my girl gets,” he said. He then flipped the booth owner twenty.
“Land three rings and get a plushy,” the booth owner said as he spread the rings out on the counter. “Five will get you Thurman there.”
The Incredible Corporate Hulk snatched up the rings. He weighed the first one carefully, just as Ethan had, before sending it arcing through air. It landed on the middle bottle without any trouble. After that, ring tosses number two through five were all met with equal success.
Ethan’s shoulders fell as he watched Melissa leave with her date and her bear. His heart followed suit when he realized she hadn’t seen him at all. He told himself she didn’t want to be rude to her date, but that lie didn’t last long.
“Maybe next time,” the booth owner said, cutting into Ethan’s self-pity. “Can’t win them all, you know.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Ethan left the booth without another word, his soul feeling empty. He walked by a number of other games of skill, including a giant high striker. There was a modest line for that one, and the guy who manned the event was just as smooth as the ring toss guy when it came to selling attempts. Ethan didn’t pay much attention to the man’s words, but he did notice three even larger and more impressive stuffed animals that were prominently on display. Grand prizes, no doubt.
For a second, Ethan entertained the idea of winning one. But it didn’t last. While he might have been able to kid himself into thinking he could win at ring toss, he knew he would never win at a game of strength. Muscles were not his strong suit, even if his grandma made him feel like he was Superman for opening a loose jar of pickles or moving a folding chair a few feet on the back porch.
Thus, Ethan sighed and kept moving. Maybe he needed something else to lift his mood. Maybe he needed a different game to play. Maybe he needed to go directly to the arcade and find some games there to play until Logan arrived. He could drop a few quarters into Gauntlet, be the hero, and slay minions of evil for the next half hour until—
His phone vibrated. Ethan fished it out of his pocket, looked at the text message splashed across its screen, and groaned.
Car’s dead. Can’t make it. Sry.
Ethan cursed his luck, and he wanted to curse Logan’s car, too, but couldn’t. Logan needed that car almost as much as he needed food and water, and since Logan’s bank account had about half as much money as a four-year-old’s piggy bank, buying a replacement was out of the question. Therefore, on the off chance curses were real, Ethan didn’t want to risk further ruining his friend’s already precarious position when it came to transportation.
So, he simply texted back a quick reply.
No worries. We’ll go tomorrow or something.
Ethan pocketed his smartphone and was about to leave—but not before he picked up some funnel cake with his last few dollars—when he realized he was at the edge of the fair, and standing before him was an old covered wagon. There were no signs around it or lights attracting would-be customers. Ethan’s initial reaction was that it was either simply for show or private property of one of the fair employees. Maybe whoever did the trapeze act lived here?
The gaudy wooden door opened, and an exotic woman with flowing brown hair covered by a red scarf appeared in the doorway. She flashed an enchanting smile at him, one that made him forget his previous encounter at the ring toss booth and, indeed, all his worries of life.
“Right on time,” she cooed. “Come, darling, step inside, and let’s see what your future holds.”
Chapter Five
Creation
Inside the wagon, two clay bowls of incense burned steadily, filling the tight space with a pungent aroma. Each bowl sat on a small wood table with the woman sitting behind. Flanking her on either side were shelves packed with trinkets and baubles, and Ethan wondered if perhaps these were prizes waiting to be won.
“Sit, sit,” she said, motioning to a nearby stool. “What good is it to stand at the door when your future is but a few steps away?”
Ethan nodded and drew to her like a moth to a flame. He dropped onto the stool. At first, he folded his hands and rested them on the table as he waited for something to happen. But after a few moments spent in silence, anxiety grew, and he started idly tapping his fingers together.
“Relax, Ethan,” she said as she sprinkled some brown powder into burning incense. “All is happening as it should.”
“Have we—”
He cut himself off when blue flames erupted from the bowls with a crackling hiss, nearly sending him t
umbling backward.
After a few seconds, the flames shrank, and colorful smoke began to rise. At that point, the woman finished the question he’d forgotten he’d asked. “Met?” she said. “No, my dear, but I’m pleased to meet you now.”
The corner of Ethan’s mouth drew back as a thought dawned on him. “Oh, I get it,” he said. “I’m being set up, aren’t I?”
“Yes and no, and not what you think, but all that and more, and all that at the same time,” she said with the most delightful laugh. “But that is a talk for another time. We must begin your creation as time is short, and a good soul such as yourself is needed elsewhere.”
“I’m needed at work? I already knew that,” he said, thinking he wasn’t very impressed with her fortune-telling abilities.
The woman reached across the table and took his hands in hers. “Darling, the work I speak of is far more important than what you do now. What I speak of will be life-changing, not only for yourself but for others as well.”
Ethan pulled his hands away as curiosity got the better of him. “How life-changing are you talking?”
The woman ignored his question and instead took the conversation on a wild tangent. “Your neighbor owes your friend money, which he hasn’t paid for a long time,” she said. “One day, you see your neighbor drop his wallet that is flush with cash. Do you give it back to him with all the money inside, or do you first take a little out for your friend, knowing he needs to be repaid?”
“Why?” Ethan asked, looking around. “Am I on camera or something?”
The woman tilted her head with an amused look in her eyes. “Which do you choose?”
The Pirate (Captains & Cannons Book 1) Page 3
