Dad released his grip on my body, allowing me to roam freely. Jessica and Gerry both group hugged me. LeCarre gave me a nodding approval. All I could manage to say was “Dad was actually there for me.” He came through in the clutch, and it was really him and not some zombified version.
LeCarre said, “All of this time, we were too busy worrying that it would be Reese who would be ending the world. In the end, it was he that had to save it.”
Dad’s voice echoed in the room, “In the forest.”
LeCarre nodded, “Come children, I know where we need to go.”
LeCarre lead us out of the house and down the street. Peaches was more than happy to show us the way and act as our guide. She galloped her way down the street and darted towards the forest once we got to the park.
I was reluctant, “What is special about here? I have bad memories.”
LeCarre said, “Through these woods is a portal to Draio. There are only six portals in this world. We had to get creative after awhile to stick one in Kansas.”
Jessica and Gerry jumped for joy, but I was not sure I was ready. I said, “I am not sure that I want to go. I mean, why can’t Mom and Dad just come back?”
LeCarre turned me around to face him, “It is where you belong. There is a lot of uncertainty up there that cannot be cured without your assistance. A range of species living as one.”
Jessica stepped up and grabbed my hand, “I will be there with you every step of the way.”
I smiled and, almost as if my heart was guiding me, ran at full speed through all of the trees and sticker bushes towards the center of the woods. Peaches followed closely behind with Jessica and Gerry holding up the back end.
LeCarre met us in the clearing where I had first met Lathon. Flashbacks of the night I saw his frame danced from tree to tree came to mind. The twigs that had been arranged to spell words by Peaches had been cleared out.
LeCarre allowed us to catch our breaths, “When you get there, walk forward and do not lose sight of the buildings.”
Jessica and Gerry were hanging on his every word. I did not understand the plan. I said, “What?”
LeCarre said, “You will understand when you get there. It will be a safer place now that your dad is there,” and drew lines in the shape of a door in the air in the middle of the clearing.
For me, it acted like a mirror as my reflection stared back at me. I said, “So, can we not just try London for awhile instead?”
He said, “London will be a dangerous place once the rogues over there figure out what has happened to Lathon. Draio will be the only safe place for you now.”
Gerry shoved me out of the way and dove into the door headfirst. Jessica helped me up, saying, “He is a little rude sometimes. We will have to work on that,” and took her own turn diving into Draio.
I stared at my reflection in the door. In it, I saw a boy who matched my height, wore the same clothes, and looked exactly the same. I couldn’t figure out why that boy was so sad. Was it that he thought he finally found his way to peace?
I said, “All of this is just too easy. Does it really end here? LeCarre?”
A familiar silence filled the air. Along with it, came dread. I said, “LeCarre?”
I turned around, but LeCarre wasn’t moving. A massive claw made out of smoke and shadows ripped through the center of his chest. Great tragedy painted over his apologetic eyes, he fell to his knees and landed on the ground face first.
“LECARRE!” I yelled out as I ran to him, but I received no response. I tried to turn him over but he was too heavy.
“Alan, Alan, Alan,” said Lathon’s voice. A prickly sensation came over my brain like he had invaded it. “I know we have only known each other for a short while, but surely you knew I could not be killed so easily. Now, you get to be the one to tell poor Jessica and Gerry that their father is dead. What a wonderful position LeCarre has put you in.”
I said, “But how? How are you still alive?”
A maniacal laugh reverberated through the forest, “To recall a bit of our short past, did you really think I would risk my permadeath to show up here without a plan? Logic would permit that the memory stone was not empty, friend.”
His shadowy body flew into mine, inserting itself in my brain, scratching at my mind like an angry cat. The pain was too unbearable for me to fight back. He said, “Now, you and I are one and the same. You can run on to Draio and endanger everyone that is left or you can stay here and destroy the world. Decisions, decisions, right?”
My limbs moved on their own. I fought back, trying to run away as Lathon pushed me closer to the reflective door, but it was no use. I had no control left. He had won.
Lathon said, “I will make the decision easy for you,” and made my body leap straight through the door.
I was on my way to Draio, secretly harboring its destruction.
To be continued in The Second Life
Coming Winter 2013/2014
The Silhouette (Alan Quinn and the Second Lifes) Page 35