CHAPTER FOURTEEN
My anxiety was at an all time high. Lathon kept me from entering the café to at least witness what LeCarre was doing to my father to make him better. All in all, I could not shake the feeling that this was all about to blow up in our faces. As LeCarre continued to wave his hands in front of Dad’s face, causing him to sit in a state of rigor mortis, I decided I could no longer watch and backed away from the window.
I stepped back to the power line right outside the café. “Lathon, if there is nothing I am allowed to see then is there anything we can be doing? Are the dream chasers not on their way to town?”
“You make a fantastic point, Alan Quinn. Let us go on a stake out!” he said as he nudged me toward the opposite end of town away from the direction of my parent’s house. “You go this way and I will go the other.”
“D-d-don’t you think we should stick together? I can’t think of what I would do if I saw them heading this way. What if they are driving? What do I do then?”
He laughed, “You need to learn to deduce when I am joking and when I am not if we are going to be spending time together.” Once we were away from the sightline of the windows and clear from the nearest pedestrian, he allowed his solid form to appear. “Let us hunt down these barbarians as a team, eh?”
I knew he was making fun of me, but I continued down the street with Lathon in step. We passed the ten or so remaining buildings that made up the rest of Main Street, Ashton. There were real estate offices, gas stations, a grocery store named Hatter’s, a few empty buildings, and a dating service business called Don’t Be Late For Your Very Important Date! It had a picture of a rabbit wearing a suit holding a watch twice its size as its mascot. I hoped I would never have a reason to go in there.
At the end of the street started a long road that, from my vantage point, appeared to be occupied with trees and vast nothingness. If the dream chasers were coming into Ashton, they possibly would be coming down that road. I wanted to be ready for the fight but I wasn’t sure why those men wanted it to come to this. If the world was going to end, they were going to be on it when that happened. Nothing they did was going to change that. I also wondered what connection Draio had to Earth that would cause both places’ downfall. I wondered if they had a bad past with my parents.
“You said you would tell me about my parents,” I said. “Isn’t this a perfect opportunity?”
Lathon kept moving as he glided just a few centimeters above the ground. He said, “You really want to open up that box right now? I warn you. Once it is opened, it does not close.”
I shuffled my feet, “I want to understand why this is all happening. Is that too much to ask for?”
“Sometimes you are not meant to understand everything,” he said, “Not everything comes with a clear cut answer. In some cases, questions can have multiple answers. When that happens, which answer is the correct one?”
I walked on disappointed. He was keeping something for me, but I had to decide if the fear it was giving me was worse than not knowing the truth about my parents.
Lathon stopped, “Is the fact that these men are filled with unfiltered hate for all creatures and all things not enough? Do they have to have a motivation to justify their actions? It does not change the fact that they committed these atrocities.”
“I just want to—”
“Know what this all has to do with you? Absolutely nothing. I have explained before to you that this is much bigger than little Alan Quinn.”
The last statement hurt. I said, “Darius was the one that said that to me—in the bookstore.”
Short winded, he said, “Does that make it any less fitting. It doesn’t matter who says it.”
It was times like those that I wished the annoying, joyous Lathon would be around. The angry one was even less of a good choice for company.
A noise that sounded like car engines came from the curve of the road out of town. It was just far away enough that I couldn’t make out the source. Lathon pulled me into the trees where I narrowly escaped a sticker bush. We sat down and waited.
“What is that noise you hear?” he asked.
“It is a car. It is what humans use to get around.”
“Think again.”
“I will not think again. That is the only thing that makes that noise unless—”
Before I could finish my thought, five blue blurs of light flashed around the corner and passed us into the town.
“What the—”
Lathon said, “It has begun,” and grabbed a hold of me as we went sailing full blast into the air. We were flying. I was more than excited until I remembered my horrible fear of heights brought on by that awful plane trip I had to Brazil.
“Where are we going?” I shouted. “Please, put me down.”
We didn’t stop until he set me on the roof of the Red Heart’s Café. But, he chose not to stay with me. He faded into vapor, said, “Stay put,” and hopped to the ground where the members of the dream chasers were waiting to head inside. After all of that, he was going to have me waiting in the wings? I wanted to fight, but I didn’t know how I was going to get down. With the chance the dream chasers may spot me, I could not risk yelling.
The dream chasers were once again dressed in all matching uniforms, but this time with navy blue long coats and sunglasses. I knew Jessica would appreciate how silly they looked if she was around. I did, however, wonder how people so evil had time to accessorize.
Davison spoke to his group, “Soon, this will all be over. We will have completed our missions and will be able to enjoy peace at last.”
They all nodded. One of them, Daemon, was licking his lips for a wild fight. I had the hardest time trying to figure out why anyone would want to do something like this knowing it could result in their deaths.
The group began to head through the door, but it wouldn’t open. I hoped Lathon had a more intricate plan than just inconveniencing them. Davison tried again to open it, but on the third tug, something knocked him over.
At first he looked surprised, but it quickly wiped away when it appeared he knew exactly what he was dealing with. He began saying, “We need to spread out,” but the jingling of the bell resounded when leaving customers opened the door.
Davison got up and made a short sprint for the door but Lathon knocked him back over before he could get through. I was positive if anyone were paying attention they would be losing their patience with the grown men who kept messing with the door.
Sure enough, Martina, our waitress from the other day, walked outside. I could just see the top of her head but I knew by the sound of her voice that she was furious. She said, “What are you doing here? I thought I was very clear when I said I did not want you in our café.”
I laughed at the image of Martina being the hero of the day. Maybe things were going to be even easier than we predicted, but then they grabbed a hold of her and drug her away to one of the alleyways that separated the café from the real estate office next door.
I heard a few shouts from the customers inside. They were saying, “Hey, what’s the big idea,” or “I want another refill, Martina.” The dream chasers used the opportunity to get inside.
I panicked. Was this the end? What if LeCarre didn’t finish whatever it was he was trying to do to help my father? I called out, “Lathon! Lathon!”
I got no answer but I noticed Martina was quickly walking back without the dream chasers who had taken her away. She had a cocky look on her face like she had only slightly been inconvenienced. She stopped right before the door and looked up. It was Lathon’s voice that came out, saying, “I would never let them harm a woman,” and continued inside.
A hush fell before a screaming match crescendoed. A few of the people inside shrieked, but then it went silent. I couldn’t tell what was going on.
A sound like thunder swept over the building as it shook underneath me. Terrified people ran from the building, shouting, “Wizards! Sorcery!
” I wanted to know what they had seen. Who was winning?
What was I going do from my place on the roof? Lathon and LeCarre were in there with the dream chasers but surrounded by people. Who was going to come out of there? What would it mean for the future of this world? I had to act.
The Silhouette (Alan Quinn and the Second Lifes) Page 19