“Let’s see if he’s home,” Jerom said, and she followed him up three steps to a wide porch and a big, heavy front door. He knocked rather politely and stood away from the door. Nothing happened. He knocked again, not so politely. Nothing happened. He walked past Brynn, down off the porch, and started to go around to the back of the house.
“You coming?” he said to her over his shoulder. She followed him around to the back porch where he had his hand over the lock.
“You’re breaking and entering again? How have you managed to stay out of jail so far?”
“Actually, the only time I’ve been in jail was with you, yesterday.” He concentrated on the lock and she heard a distinct click.
“I’m not sure I believe you,” she said, grinning at him. He just patted her cheek in a very condescending way and then took her hand and pulled her inside the house. They entered through the laundry room. The house smelled of roses and herbs and clean laundry. Not what she was expecting.
“Where are all the dirty socks and old pizza delivery boxes?”
“Phillip is one of my very fastidious friends,” he told her and led her into the kitchen. Jerom headed straight for the phone.
Chapter 42
“Mom, Dad, where are you?” His family didn’t believe in the traditional greetings of hi or hello, they just started talking like they were in the middle of a conversation already.
“We are just within cellphone range again. We still have a day of hiking to get out. Where are you? You came up as Phillip’s number,” asked Anthony.
“We are at Phillip’s house. I mean the Bringer and I are at Phillip’s house,” said Jerom.
“Did you say the Bringer?” asked his Mom.
“Yeah, that’s kind of a long story,” said Jerom.
“Well, the only thing we have to do right now is walk so spill, son,” said Anthony.
It took Jerom with Brynn adding details now and again quite a while to fill in his parents. They interrupted and talked over each other and Jerom frequently which slowed down the process considerably.
Jerom’s Mom addressed Brynn, “Bringer, welcome. We felt your entry in the world and we are thrilled to meet you. I’m sorry we didn’t say so earlier. With all that you guys have been through our concern for you has interfered with our courtesy. We really are so very happy that you are with us. Although we aren’t there, but you know what we mean.”
“I do. I do know what you mean. And thank you. I look forward to meeting in person,” said Brynn.
“So Jerom, where is Miranda? Can you put her on?” asked Anthony.
“Um, I may have left a little part of the story out,” said Jerom. Brynn put a hand on his shoulder to offer support. “Do you have a good hold on your phone?” he added.
“What happened?” his mom asked clearly upset. “I knew something was wrong when we didn’t hear her yelling in the background!”
Jerom looked at Brynn and Brynn nodded her head, he had to tell them about Miranda. “When we escaped the tunnel, we ended up in a policeman’s backyard. They were having a cookout. We ran down the street and through a park trying to get away. That’s when the flyers found us.”
“Flyers! Are you okay? Where’s your sister?” Julia asked.
Jerom opened his mouth to reply, but couldn’t seem to find the words. All that came out were strangled little noises.
“They took her.” Brynn said. Just rip the band-aid off, sometimes that’s the best way. They heard his Mom suck in air.
“Demons have Miranda?” his father asked.
“She’s alive, Dad, I can feel her.” Jerom’s hand shook and the phone jumped around. “We’re following as fast as we can. We’ll get her back, I promise.”
“We’re not blaming you, darling.” Julia said.
“No, of course not, Jerom, I know you’re doing everything you can,” his Dad added. “Just keep following her, but don’t get too close. We’ll be back in less than a day and then we’ll…we’ll work this out, deal with it. It’s going to be okay. We’re coming, son.”
“Okay, Dad. We’re going to keep moving. We’re okay. We need to get a new cell phone, though,” said Jerom.
“Yes, of course. Wait no! Don’t! We don’t want them to have any way to track you. Um, maybe a burner phone, but then again with the Cult maybe that’s not a good idea either,” said Anthony.
“We need to be able to stay in touch with them, Anthony,” added his Mom.
“Their safety is more important. We don’t want to give the Cult any help in finding them. This isn’t ideal I know,” said Anthony.
“This isn’t ideal?!! Are you kidding me??? They are getting a phone!” responded Julia.
“Mom, Dad, I think you’re right, we just to need stay under the radar for now. I can feel Miranda and I’m sure you can feel me, right?” asked Jerom.
“Yes, sweetie, of course, we can feel both of you. All three of you actually, we’ll be with you soon. We’re running to you and we’ll never ever leave you again!” promised Julia.
“We love you son and we can’t wait to meet you Bringer. This is all going to be okay,” added Anthony.
“I know Dad. I do. Love you guys,” said Jerom.
“We love you huge, Jerom!” Anthony and Julia said together before disconnecting.
Chapter 43
Jerom hung up the phone, and just stood there with his hand still touching it like if he pulled his hand away he would lose his parents.
Brynn put her arms around him and could feel him shaking. She whispered directly in his ear those meaningless words of comfort everyone uses. It wasn’t really the words that helped, but the closeness of another person.
“We just have to keep going. Miranda needs us. We can’t let her down,” she said leaning back and looking at him.
He seemed to come back from wherever he was and focused on her. “You’re right. Miranda, we have to find her. For now, Mom and Dad are on their way here.” He looked at her and she nodded a reassurance. He said, “We can do this. We’re a great team.”
“Yes, we are. Just look at what we’ve done so far. We’re amazing.” It was like they were in a locker room psyching themselves up for the big game. Jerom must have done that a lot. That locker room thing, he was certainly big enough to be a football player.
“We’re the best.” He said with conviction. He sure made Brynn want to believe him.
“Do we wait for Phillip?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I thought he would be here, he works from home. We might just have to borrow his car and move on. We have to get Miranda away from the demons. We really need to keep moving if we can.” And just like that, Jerom who never stopped moving unless he was asleep, dragged Brynn along with him and they went to check out the garage.
The garage was a separate building in back of the house with the garage door opening into an alley. They threaded their way down a short path overshadowed by tall, leafy trees and by stepping around bushes and plants lushly pushing onto the trail. It was private and secluded. The kind of place you wanted to lay around in on a summer day.
The path ended at a very regular looking door on the side of the garage which Jerom unlocked it and they went inside. The garage was pretty well lit from a couple of windows on the same wall as the small door.
“His car is gone, but his bike is here,” Jerom announced while rubbing his hands together like he couldn’t wait to get them on Phillip’s motorcycle.
“You know how to ride a bike, I hope?” Brynn was a little nervous because her Dad made her watch all those totally sick driver’s ed movies and it seemed like the guy on the motorcycle always got it the worst.
He grunted back an affirmative as he lovingly stroked the bike.
“Okay, we have wheels. Now all we need is a little money,” he said as he straightened up and grinned at her. “Now, if I can only remember where he keeps his stash.”
“So now we’re adding robbery and burglary along with breaking and entering?”
“Yes, robbery is about money and burglary is about the motorcycle,” she said quite confidently.
“You should be a lawyer.”
“I don’t think they let felons be lawyers, so now what will I do with the rest of my life?”
“How about we just worry about staying alive right now, so we can have a life,” Jerom said while he was poking around the garage. There was a workbench under the windows and he was going through the drawers. She decided she’d broken enough laws lately, so she sat down on a stool next to the workbench and fiddled with a screwdriver that was sitting there.
“Ha! I knew I remembered him putting the money in here.” He proudly showed her a wad of cash an inch in diameter. She was actually pretty relieved that he found the money. She was getting a little tired of raiding other people’s pantries. Maybe being a felon didn't disturb her as much as she thought. Jerom unwound the roll of bills and started to stuff them in his pocket.
“Hey, what about me, don’t I get some of that?”
“Oh right, sure, you’re not too worried about laws and justice when you see the money, huh?” he teased, but did split the cash in half with her, and she stuffed it down the front pocket of her jeans. Jerom scrawled a note to Phillip letting him know they borrowed his bike and pinned it to the top of the workbench then he walked over to the garage door and opened it.
Brynn walked over to the motorcycle and saw the key already in the ignition. Phillip must believe in a fast get-away. Jerom backed the bike out of the garage and turned it around. She followed him out of the garage. He got back on the bike and she thought he would do that jumping thing you see people do to start motorcycles, but all he did was press a button. She was actually kind of hoping to see him do the jumping thing, but before she could follow that line of thought he motioned her over and said, “Jump on the back and let’s get out of here.”
“What about helmets?” she asked.
“He has one, but I’m not sure you want to wear it.” He pointed back into the garage and then she spied the helmet. It had spikes down the center, like a metal mohawk, and a long ponytail of something coming out of the top. He was right, not her style. She was kind of surprised it was Phillip’s style considering the way his house looked. She pulled the garage door down and then she slid onto the bike behind Jerom and grabbed the seat behind her.
“Hold on,” he said. She had never been on motorcycle before. She wasn't sure what to expect. He took them slowly through the alley and then they followed the road through the neighborhood to the main street where they picked up some speed.
It got loud, windy and it felt like…it felt like freedom. It felt like everything her parents made her promise never to do. It felt wild and she liked it.
Jerom made his way back to the main highway headed out of town and then he started to pour on the speed. She had to grab his waistband to stay on. His t-shirt has come untucked from his jeans and the wind was blowing it up revealing his back. It was a very nice back, smooth and lean, tan with a few freckles. She found it totally irresistible, so she didn’t...resist. She ran her hand up his back. He shivered and leaned into her hand.
Her fingers ran along the ridges of his spine and then up and over his shoulder blades. His skin was warm and a little sweaty beneath her caress. He reached around and took her hand and pulled her up against him, tight. She wrapped her arms around his chest and clasped her hands together and rested her head across his shoulder.
Chapter 44
Jessica leaned against the trunk of the car patting it with a wicked smile on her face.
“She’s in there?” Raymond asked her.
“She is indeed.”
Raymond hopped onto the trunk and wiggled up to a comfortable position. They heard muted screams and Raymond jumped a bit as the trunk lid was kicked several times from the inside. “She’s a feisty one isn’t she?”
“You have no idea. The flyer grabbed her and brought her to me outside of town. She has some nasty burns and bruises on her arms. She must have really fought it and ticked it off. The flyer dropped her ten feet or so to the ground when he brought her to me. She twisted her ankle pretty good when she landed, didn’t slow her down much though.”
“It must be the other foot she’s kicking the trunk with then,” Raymond said. “The flyers weren’t able to get all three of them?”
“Apparently the police turned up right then,” Jessica smacked the trunk in frustration. “But, we have her, Miranda, I think her name is. She launched herself at me as soon as she landed. I had to mind blast her unconscious to get her in the trunk. It seems to have worn off,” she said.
Raymond laughed, “What are we going to do with her now?”
Jessica looked out over the abandoned granite quarry. A giant hole in the ground with steep sharp sides surrounded by forest. She could see the cut marks where the slabs of stone had been harvested. “You see that elevator cage hanging over the edge of the quarry?”
“That should hold her,” he nodded.
“I think so too.” This is all going to work, she thought. “We’ll need to put her to sleep to get her into it though.”
“Why not just mind blast her again?” Raymond asked.
“Think about it.”
Raymond gave her a nasty look, “You want her awake and aware once she’s in the cage so the other two can track her.”
“Very good, Raymond, I’ll have to tell the Master what a great student you are,” Jessica said while looking out over the quarry.
She was feeling really antsy. This was a good plan. Just wait, they’ll come right to you. She had bait, but what if the brother came for Miranda by himself? She couldn’t take that chance.
Chapter 45
Brynn sat up when he slowed the motorcycle down as they entered another little town. It was late afternoon and they’d been riding for several hours.
“Need a break?” he shouted over his shoulder.
“Oh yeah, what did you have in mind?”
“I thought we’d hit a store for some necessities and a new backpack. Get off the bike for a few minutes.”
He squeezed her hand and slipped into a parking space along the main square of the town.
She climbed off after he put down the kickstand. Jerom turned off the engine and then he looked at her, reached out and pulled her toward him, circling her waist with his hands. He kissed her. Hard. She moved into him and wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. The intensity took her breath away.
“Get a room!” someone shouted. She felt Jerom’s lips turn up into a smile as they pulled away from each other.
Jerom took her by the shoulders and turned her around pointing over her shoulder at a drug store across the street and down a bit. He put his arm around her and they walked over. It didn’t take them long to grab a backpack, toothpaste, a couple of throw blankets, and they were back on the bike.
“We need to turn west from here,” Jerom said in her ear. “I feel Miranda pulling me that direction.”
Brynn’s chin was resting on his shoulder so she could see where they were headed. “Can you tell how far?”
“We’re getting closer, the pull is stronger.”
They rode until full dark. She thought maybe he meant to ride all night, but then he finally pulled over to a rest stop. It was still and quiet with only a few big trucks stopped for the night. They walked the bike up into the trees behind the buildings, so no one would be able to see them, and Jerom pulled the new blankets out of his pack. They were both exhausted. Within minutes they were asleep curled around each other.
They were up again before the sun. The sky was just starting to lighten and it was back on the bike. Brynn woke up with a bad feeling about the day. Storm clouds had moved in and the sky was gray and dreary. The air was so humid they were already covered with a sheen of sweat. Maybe today they’d find Miranda. Maybe she wouldn’t be al
ive. Brynn just wanted to wrap herself around Jerom and keep riding and never stop.
“Kind of a creepy day, huh?” he asked mirroring her thoughts.
She didn’t feel like speaking. She nodded her head and then laid it across his shoulders, hiding herself from the world and reality for a little longer. The storm hovered over them. The clouds never seemed to move. They were like one dense layer of doom suspended over them. It felt dramatic, like something was just about to happen. The morning moved slowly as they passed through one unnamed town after another.
Chapter 46
“You’re taking a big risk using that kind of magic, they might hear you,” Raymond said as they stood talking in the pine trees by the side of the highway.
“You think I haven’t thought about all that? I don’t have a choice. I’m running out of time,” Jessica said looking around her and then focusing her thoughts outward.
“I don’t understand this big change in plans. You could just be patient. They aren’t that far from finding his sister. They’re coming right to you.” He leaned against a tree trying to be casual.
“But if this works, I won’t have a big fight on my hands at the quarry,” she said flinging her hand out in the direction of the stone pit several miles away. “I just need some sort of spell to draw her away from that boy. She’s strong, stronger than the others, but she’s inexperienced. I want to face her alone. I don’t think she recognizes magic when she hears it yet, so she should walk right into my ambush.” She needed to get the Bringer alone. She knew she could take her one on one. She needed to do this herself to prove to the Master yet again she was the one he wanted leading the Cult.
“What are you going to use?”
“I’ll figure it out. Just go summon me another flyer,” she abruptly turned her back on him.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay and help?”
The Bringer Page 17