Forever Warriors
Page 9
Lucas and Zacke helped John to a small metal gate where he had entered.
They made it to Pete’s truck. Zacke drove, John sat in the middle and Lucas kept pressure on John’s wound as instructed. John was bleeding badly. They headed to the station. John called Pete on the way. Pete was not happy.
PART
2
“Many things simply are,
whether you understand them of not.”
~ Xemaricon Journal, Second Volume
CHAPTER FIFTEEN - WARRIOR INSIDE
Zacke drove through less traveled streets, taking a different route every time they heard another emergency vehicle.
The city was alive with traffic headed to the high school to pick up loved ones and see what had happened, but also clogged with people trying to flee the destruction at the stadium.
Two dozen blocks away, Lucas and Zacke finally got John to the old television repair shop. Zacke said, “I always wondered how this place was still in business.”
Lucas said, “I never noticed this building at all.”
John could barely stand, so he leaned against the wall and rang the bell. From the other side of the door, they heard a loud voice.
“Damn it, I was hoping that call was a sick prank.” Pete opened the door. “Were you followed?”
“No, we took a curious route.” John smiled as best he could, “Looks like I need to ask another favor, my friend.”
Pete towered over the two boys, but spoke to John, “You brought two of them here? Oh, hell, get inside before you fall over. I’ve got you.”
Pete picked John up like he was a small child. John groaned in pain. They made their way down to the basement and David was startled to see strangers entering the room.
Pete said, “It’s alright. These are two of them.”
David still looked worried.
Lucas looked around. “Wow. This is the first basement I’ve seen in real life.”
‘Hi, I’m Zacke.” He said as he offered his hand to David, until he noticed John’s blood on his hand, and dropped it awkwardly.
“Lucas,” he said to David, still scanning the room.
“David.” He didn’t shake their hands, just looked them over with great interest. “I see the change in you, Lucas.” Then he turned to Zacke, “Do you know who you are yet?”
Zacke replied, “Um, I don’t even understand the question.”
Across the room, Pete cleared a large work bench of small electronics. They crashed to the floor, and he laid John on the table, on his side, opposite the wound. John let out a yell and held his side. Pete ripped John’s shirt off, threw it on the floor. Zacke saw the large tattoo on John’s back.
It was a large spiral.
He would try to ask John about it another time.
“I don’t do transfusions,” said Pete, “so we’ll just hope you didn’t lose too much blood. But I’ve got to get the bullet out. It’s gonna hurt.”
“Thank you, my friend,” John managed.
“You keep calling me that.” Pete reached under the bench for a large canvas bag. But if I get thrown out of the Sect because I helped you, any ‘friendliness’ will be over.”
“I understand,” John groaned.
“You, kid,” said Pete, indicating Zacke. “Come here. I need you to use this gauze and apply pressure. Other kid, come unpack this bag and lay out the supplies for me. I gotta go wash up. It would be cruelly ironic, John, if you died of infection after your many lives.”
John started to chuckle, but it hurt too much. “Ironic indeed.”
The boys complied, and David came close to the table and watched them.
Zacke asked David, “What did you mean about knowing ‘who I am’?”
John said, “He means your warrior self. Your core. We saw the change in Lucas tonight. Have you noticed your talents getting stronger?”
Zacke said, “Maybe a little.”
David offered, “Zacke, you may be a new birth.”
Lucas said, “A lot’s been happening to me. I never felt quite like I did tonight. I felt like I was… more than just me.” he finished laying out the contents of the bag.
David continued, “It’s because you are becoming activated.”
Lucas replied, “I know something is happening to me.”
“Yes,” said David, “You just don’t know how to believe what is happening. It’s real.”
“Well, yeah, we just saw some Nazi guy pull down our stadium with an earthquake.” Zacke asked, “what was he saying?”
David interjected, “Incantations, magic. The Rageto uses magic to augment their small talents.”
“Ok, magic?” said Zacke as he kept the bloody gauze on John’s wound, “Are we living some Harry Potter rip-off?”
John laughed, and regretted it, “No boys. Sorry, you’re not wizards. You don’t have magic. Your natural core talents come from the River. You are naturally drawn to the Amartus, my side. Only their side uses magic, the Rageto.”
Pete said, “Stop talking, John,” as he returned with thick latex gloves, and picked up the bottle of betadine. He took fresh gauze that Lucas had laid out, and poured the red liquid over the wound. It was hard to tell what was blood, and what was the strong antiseptic.
He handed John a different kind of bottle, “Sorry. This is all I have for the pain. And this is the only booze I have on hand. Drink up.”
John did, and they waited a few minutes for the alcohol to hit his system.
“I will explain everything,” John managed, “But I don’t know if I’ll pass out from the pain or not.”
“You will,” Pete confirmed.
“All of you are special, a part of the River. And you have a…” John screamed in pain as Pete put the metal device into his wound. They looked like needle-nosed pliers. Pete dug for the bullet. It was agonizing to watch, and Zacke turned his head away several times. John took more strong drinks, swallowing and then yelling in pain between gulps. Finally, the bullet came out. John passed out. Pete caught the bottle of liquor before it hit the floor.
Pete said, “You boys won’t want to see me stitch him up. Go wait over there.”
“Listen, man. Um, David. Can you stop staring at me?” asked Zacke.
David looked down, “I’m sorry. I just can’t figure out if you’re a new birth or an ancient.”
Lucas pushed the glasses up his nose. “Alright. I’m tired of mysterious words being thrown around. Just tell us what’s going on, please.”
David nodded. “Both of you, come with me to the mirror. Lucas, look at your eyes.”
Lucas stared into the mirror and said, “Holy crap!”
David said, “I assume this is not normal; that one eye is green and one is blue?”
“No,” Lucas insisted. “Wait, I don’t think I need these anymore.” Lucas took off his glasses and looked at himself clearly in the mirror. “I’ve had glasses since I was five. When did this happen?”
“Probably tonight, because you’re the closest to being activated,” David said, “The strength of your warrior has improved your sight.”
Zacke shook his head. “You just did it again. What is ‘activated’? Why did John say magic?”
“Sorry, there’s a lot to understand.” David made the boys sit. Three chairs were arranged in a corner of the basement, “I’ll try not to use shortcut words. You are members of a special group. You are part of what we call the River. It’s a kind of flow of human knowledge and experience. That’s why you get glimpses of other people’s thoughts or emotions. Many of us are part of it; like a group consciousness that we all share. But some, like you and me, can see more than others. As you get stronger you’ll know who you really are.”
“I know who I am,” Zacke said.
David nodded, “You know this body, this life. You were born 15 or 16 years ago and you have all the memories of your life so far. But you are much more.”
“Thank God for that,” said Lucas. Zacke gave him a quizzical look.
“Why’d you say ‘thank God’?” asked Zacke.
Lucas replied, “Because now I know for sure I’m not crazy.”
“Well this all sounds crazy,” Zacke argued, “What we saw was crazy.”
Lucas said, “Yeah, but up until, well, not that long ago, I thought I was actually crazy. Like voices in my head stuff. Now I know this is real.”
“It is real,” David reassured. “Has your warrior tried to speak with you, in your mind? In dreams, maybe? Do you know your true warrior name?”
Lucas thought for a second. “You know, now that you say that… I mean, not in any dreams I can remember, but this weird word has been rolling around in my head lately.”
Zacke asked, “What word?”
Lucas shrugged. “Elgisard.”
“Really?” asked Zacke.
“Yeah,” said Lucas, “Whatever, whoever this is inside me, the name that comes to my mind randomly is Elgisard.”
David corrected, “Not inside you. He is you. This ancient warrior was re-birthed into you, Lucas. You and he are one. Or will be, when you’re fully activated.”
Zacke said, “Sorry, sir, you’ll have to explain better than that.”
“I have some shards of his memories,” Lucas said, “I can’t tell when exactly he was born the first time, but I get flashes of like Viking ships and weapons.”
“In time, you’ll get more than that,” David explained, “You will have the memories of every life he’s ever lived, most of his accumulated knowledge. You never get everything back, and it’s different for everyone. But you’ll get all his strength.”
“So, are you talking about re-incarnation?” asked Zacke.
“Not exactly, no. But that’s probably the closest way to look at it.”
“So why are my eyes two different colors?” asked Lucas, “Is this Viking guy, like, possessing my body? Is his soul joining with mine?”
David shook his head. “No. Whoever makes these cosmic rules, has decided that when you’re around 16, your mind and body are ready to make the choice. Sometimes it manifests physically. Like your eyes. Until you decide, they will stay two colors.”
“I have a choice?” asked Lucas.
“Yes. You can choose to deny this warrior’s memories, to refuse to become fully one with your ancient.”
Lucas seemed disappointed. “Then he’ll just go away?”
“No. You and he are one,” David tried to clarify, “When you die, you will either die with his memories and strength, or if you choose to live as you are now, as just Lucas, he will be with you, but dormant, sleeping, or locked away in a box. But all those ancient memories will fade. When you get old and die, your true warrior will go back into the River, to pass to another generation and they will make the same choice.”
Lucas’s cell phone lit up, “Oh, crap. It’s my dad. I forgot to call him, it’s on silent. Hey Dad. No… sorry. I’m okay. I meant to call you. I had to help a friend first. No, I’m not hurt. I just had… had to get out of there. No, don’t come pick me up. I’m almost home now. Yeah, I love you too Dad.”
“You should go,” Zacke realized, “I better go too.”
John had regained consciousness. His voice was slurred, “Boys, wait. Before you go,” John strained through the pain. “Lucas, Zacke. I need to quietly check in with the others.”
Zacke looked at his phone, “I don’t have all their phone numbers yet, there wasn’t enough time. I can message them through Facebook or something.”
“Good,” said John dreamily, “Not public, though, no one else can hear or see these messages. Tell them to stay close to family, and don’t be outside their house alone. Lucas, you seemed to recognize the brothers.”
Lucas was distracted. “In that moment, I knew them. I even think I saw one of them kill me. But that’s all fading, like a dream… sorry guys, I really gotta go. I just lied to my dad about where I was.”
“Go. Both of you. That stunt will have drained Caron,” John explained, but he was fading again, “He won’t be a threat for a day or so.”
“And the other one?” asked Zacke.
John said, “They’ll stick together. As you’ve noticed, there is strength in numbers. Everyone is more tuned in when we’re close to each other. Even our enemies.”
“Got it. Rest up,” Zacke was at the door, “Oh, and thanks for saving our lives.”
“Don’t thank me.” John was getting weak again, “I helped speed things up. You’re all going to have to make hard choices soon.”
John passed out again, and the boys left to see the current state of their town. Things like this just didn’t happen in sleepy Sea Valley.
Zacke and Lucas knew that everything was about to get more dangerous.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN - MEGAN
Katie’s stepdad Jason said, “Your mom’s in there now. It’s the ICU, so only one person can go in at a time. Kaitlyn, I know this wasn’t your fault, okay?”
Great, she thought. He’s being understanding. Now I feel worse.
“I’ll go see her,” said Katie, trying not to meet his gaze. She wanted him to know how sorry she was, but how could she explain? Well, I was under the bleachers with some others freaks with powers, when this German dude made an earthquake.
Any other time, the thought might have made her laugh. Not tonight. Right now, all she could think about was how Megan looked under those twisted bleachers, so small and covered in blood. Just like her flash.
“Hi Mom. How is she?” Katie said as she walked into the ICU room.
Her mother stood up and hugged Katie, tears streaming. “Thank God.”
Katie sat down in the chair next to Megan, taking her hand.
Mom said, “The doctor said she should wake up any time. We just need to wait and pray. But only one of us can be in here. The nurse made that abundantly clear a few times. Stay as long as you want. I’ll be with Jason.”
“Okay Mom.” The fact that her mother hadn’t yelled at her made Katie feel terrible.
Her mom left the room and all Katie could hear was the hum of the machines. There were wires and tubes all over Megan. Her little step-sister’s head had a bandage where a metal brace had cut her. Her cheek was bruised. She looked so tiny. A beautiful little doll pretending to be a patient. But this was real, of course. She didn’t know what to say to her. Katie was quiet a long time until she finally managed, “I’m so sorry, Megs. Wake up soon, okay?”
Katie wiped away a single tear but she refused to cry more in front of Megan. Keep it together. Katie would cry plenty later. She left the room to face the parental storm. She had to figure out what she could tell them. As she approached, they were already in a whispered discussion.
It stopped when Katie walked up. Mom asked, “Where were you, Kaitlyn?”
“I was with her. I just had to go to the bathroom. She was sitting with a couple of friends,” insisted Katie.
“Really? Explain this.” Her mom showed her phone with some texts. “Megan texted me that she had no idea where you went. There are over 20 minutes’ worth of texts. She’s only 11, Katie. You’re supposed to protect her.”
The words felt like poison, but they came out of her mouth anyway. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect her from an earthquake!”
Jason kept his tone even, “You were supposed to stay with her, that was the deal when you went to the game.”
Her mom kept questioning. Her tone was not gentle. “Also, how did you get here? Why wouldn’t you wait for us at the stadium? We had no idea where you were.”
“I told you on the phone,” Katie tried to phrase it just right, “They wouldn’t let me ride in the ambulance. She was already on the way to the hospital. By that time, all the cars were jamming up the parking lot and I knew it would be hard to find you. Some friends drove me. They were parked at the other end
of school, that’s why I said I would meet you here.”
Jason asked, “Who drove you, Kaitlyn?”
He’s even using my full name. I wish he’d give me an excuse to be mad at him. “You don’t know them,” Katie dodged. They’re also the guys that started the earthquake.
Mom’s truth rays shot at Katie, “You’re not telling us something.”
Jason asked, “Was this about sneaking off with a boy? We just want to…”
“No it’s not!” Katie let her anger flare, despite his maddeningly understanding tone. She knew she would regret it. “You know what, Jas, just believe whatever you want. Can I go home now?”
She could tell her mom was getting angry. “Watch your tone. Don’t deflect the fact that you are in trouble by getting mad at us.” Mom took a breath. “Yes you can go home. I need to get some things at home anyway, so I’ll drive you. Jason and I will take shifts here at the hospital. I don’t care what that nurse says, one of us is staying here tonight.”
Jason nodded. He stood against the wall, arms crossed, his eyes wet. “I’m sorry Kaitlyn. This is just hard, you know? I’m glad you’re not hurt.”
Katie felt a sob rise. She hated when he ruined a good fight by being nice. “It’s.... it’s ok, Jason. Thanks. I’m really sorry.”
On their way out, Katie and her mom passed a group of football players. They were all still in their respective blue and white Waves, and black and orange Pirates uniforms. Apparently, an earthquake ended team rivalries.
Someone called over, “Hey, Katie, right?” Katie and her mom stopped as Cody came up to them, “Are you alright? Is your sister okay?”
Katie said, “Yeah. The doctor said she’ll be alright. Where did you go?”
“We helped the emergency guys,” answered Cody, “None of our guys on either team were seriously hurt. So, we stayed and helped.”
“I’m Judith, Katie’s mother. You are?”
“Oh, hi,” he wiped his hand on his grungy uniform, “I’m Cody.”
Katie explained, “We met on the field. He helped me find Megan.”