“Come on up front. I know how much you love spiders. I’ve probably eaten three already,” Dawayne joked while Adel Jr. fell back behind Dawayne.
“I’m just fine back here thanks, get a stick to knock ’em down.” Dante quivered as though he had just plunged into the depths of the Antarctic at the thought of a hairy-legged spider traipsing his neck.
“I must insist, Dante,” Dawayne prodded.
“And, I must insist you bugger off. I’m keeping eyes on our six in case anyone tries to come up from behind us.”
Amy squeezed Anora’s hand tighter.
“He’s just saying that so that Dawayne leaves him alone, Amy. I’m sure we’re getting close.”
Soon Dawayne saw a clearing up ahead where there was a bunch of trash strewn about.
Underneath all the trash was indeed a circle where they could see it was barren and devoid of life. As they gathered around it a cold breeze blew.
“There’s so much freakin trash here, it’s kind of disgusting,” Dante said.
“And disrespectful,” Dawayne added.
“I guess you could say that,” Adel Jr. said, looking around.
Dawayne kicked aside some of the trash at the center of the circle, and while sitting down Indian style, looked to Anora. “Well, we’re here. Let’s not waste the little bit of sun we have left.”
Dante walked over and sat next to Dawayne, then Amy completed the circle with Adel Jr. on her left and Anora on her right. Situated, their eyes all gravitated to Anora, waiting for guidance.
“I guess we can do some breathing exercises.”
“Pff,” Dawayne scoffed. “I breathe all the time, we didn’t need to come all the way out here to breathe.”
“C’mon man cut her some slack!” Dante exclaimed while Anora glared at Dawayne.
“With as much martial arts that you’ve practiced, you should know how important conscious breaths are, and when we breathe a certain way oxygen can get to different parts of the body. But for our purposes we want oxygen to get to our brain, specifically our pineal gland.”
“Pinea, what now?” Adel Jr. asked.
Dante laughed. “That’s what I said.”
“My apologies, Anora. I was only testing you.”
“Well, school’s out, Dawayne, and I’m learning the same as you, so bear with me while we figure this out. We’re very much in uncharted waters here, because what we’re about to try, I’ve only read about in books.”
“Let’s just do what she says so we can get out of here. Shall we?” Dante suggested.
After seeing that everyone had their legs folded, Anora inhaled. “All right everyone, sit upright and take a deep breath in through your nose. Okay great, now forcefully exhale out through your mouth.”
• • •
“SIR, I’M GOING TO NEED YOU TO GET BACK IN THE CAR.”
Adel kept his hands up, as the officer reached for his holster.
“Adel? Is that you?” The cop asked, relieved that it wasn’t some other buff, black guy.
“I had you scared for a second didn’t I, Sanchez? If you were gonna act that scared and grab for your gun, you should have never gotten a badge, young man,” Adel said with a huge smile on his face.
Sanchez dropped his shoulders, greeting Adel, who was delighted to see it was one of his favorite employees.
“Ya know I was loyal to ya before ya got the boot. It’s really good to see you again, Chief. Bonner told me about some of the stuff you’ve been dealing with…it’s gotten worse…. Is that why you were in such a hurry?”
“Yeah, it’s my son. I think he may need some help, but I gotta go now, Sanchez. My son.” Adel pointed in the direction they needed to speed off. “And, can ya tell the guys from here until Siler City to give my vehicle the green light? Tell ’em it’s PI work or make something up. I gotta go.”
“I can take point if you need me to, for old times’ sake.”
“Don’t want to get you in trouble if it turns out to be nothing.”
“Go get ’em, Chief.”
Adel hopped back into the car. “See I told you, I got this,” Adel said revving up the engine, peeling back onto the road.
“Still got pulled over.”
“Yeah, and because I got pulled over, I asked Sanchez back there to have his coworkers give us the green light.”
“This is Sanchez, I’m going to need all officers on 64 westbound to switch over to channel three.”
“This is Ramirez, go ahead, Sanchez.”
“Dollarhide here, go ahead, Sanchez.”
“There is a black SUV coming in hot. Let him on through boys.”
“Ramirez copies.”
“Dollarhide copies.”
Adel put the pedal to the metal, and George laughed to himself, as they sped past cop after cop. “Man, you’re a good friend to have.”
“You could tell me that more often,” Adel said as he bobbed and weaved around yet another oblivious driver in the left lane.
“I can do that when this is all said and done, buddy.”
• • •
“All right everyone, now breathe out through your mouth then take another breath in through your nose. Also, straighten the base of your spine,” Anora said watching Amy have a tough go at it, making it look awkward, thinking that if she pushed out her stomach far enough, that her back would be straight. And with the way the others sat, it looked like they were pushing out their bellies, so Anora smiled as she assisted her seeing how it was an adorable yet easy mistake to make.
“Okay, now tighten your perineum. That’s the muscle you use you use when you have to go potty but have to hold it in.”
Amy tightened her whole body, looking stiff as a board, not getting it at all while Dawayne and Dante kept their eyes closed, following Anora’s instructions to a tee.
Dante began feeling an upwelling of energy that began at the base of his spine, working its way up. And with each breath in he felt the energy working its way to his pineal gland, creating a familiar pressure in Dante’s forehead. With each breath out, he felt the sensation of the energy moving down then back up to his pineal every time he drew breath.
“Pretty sure I’m doing it, I feel it coming up my spine and up to my forehead,” Dante said.
“Very good, Dante, my uncle will be proud to hear it.”
Dawayne now looked more determined taking deeper and deeper breaths, while listening to Dante drag on about how he had done it already. But soon, Dawayne began to feel what Dante had, a pressure building in his forehead.
A set of prying eyes admired the young adults and Amy, jostling the bushes.
Dawayne jerked to attention, opening his eyes upon hearing the rustling and the clear sound of a twig being snapped. That’s no deer.
Dante and Adel Jr. kept their heads on a swivel, but Anora hadn’t heard a thing, and continued helping Amy.
“You don’t want to do anything foolish, like sneak up on trained fighters,” Dawayne stated. ’Twas not a boast, he had every intention to eviscerate someone if they dared to be foolish enough to encroach.
Anora arose to her feet and took Amy to stand behind Dante. They waited for a minute on edge while no one made themselves known, but Dawayne heard another sound not far away.
It was the sound of two pairs of feet hitting the trail, and soon they saw Mr. Saleh with Mr. Luciano not far behind.
“Dad! What are you doing here?”
Adel took a second to catch his breath. “I had a feeling like you guys were in trouble. I’ve heard crazy stories about this place.”
“And how did you know we were here?” Dawayne asked.
“He may have listened in on your convo, obviously,” George snapped.
“Then why didn’t you say something before we left? You let us drive out here just to track us down?” Adel Jr. asked.
“I already lost you once, son. I just wanted to make sure you were safe.”
Adel Jr. dropped the attitude seeing how much it meant to him,
to be there.
“We’re all right, Dad. See?”
Adel nodded his head, looking at all the trash.
“So you just came along for the ride, Mr. Luciano?” Dawayne asked.
“Not now, Dawayne,” George barked.
“Seems like a good time to me, Dad, since we’ve handled ourselves just fine,” Dante said.
Just then there was another rustling in the bushes. Rip came out with a gun drawn and five henchmen beside him. “Ah, how nice of you all to coalesce. Now to do what I should have done years ago.” Rip aimed at Adel Jr. and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Adel lunged toward his son trying to block the bullet, but all he could do was watch as the bullet pierced the middle of his son’s chest. Adel Jr. looked one last time at his father before falling to the ground. The light left his eyes.
“COME HERE, RIP, THERE’S SOMETHING I’VE WANTED TO GIVE YA. YOU’RE GOING TO DIE FOR THIS!” Adel roared rising to his feet.
While Adel pulled out his gun from his waist, Dawayne ran toward Rip. With no guns of their own, the lackeys stood there watching Dawayne in pursuit while Dante wasn’t far behind.
Adel aimed his gun as fast as he could, but Rip beat him to it.
“Tell your son hello for me,” Rip sneered.
“YOU CAN TELL HIM YOURSELF YOU SON OF A—”
Rip fired again.
His bullet pierced Adel’s chest underneath his heart, and as he fell to the ground, Dawayne hurled his fist into Rip’s face. While Dante set his sights on the lackeys, Dawayne then tore the gun from Rip's hand, throwing it as far as he could.
Anora stayed back guarding Amy whose eyes were wide and terrified.
George ran to go check on Adel, who had crawled next to his dead son. “YOU GOING TO BE ALRIGHT, ADEL?!” He wanted so much for his friend to say yes, but as he looked in horror into the eyes of his friend’s dead son, George knew Adel wasn’t alright.
Adel lay there in shock unable to hear a sound, watching Dante and Dawayne fighting Rip and his henchmen.
“ADEL!” George yelled at the top of his lungs. Adel didn’t respond, so he ran to help his son and Dawayne, seeing as how Amy was behind Anora and away from the action.
Dawayne bloodied up Rip as he had dreamt of doing for so long while defending himself from a couple of lackeys at his sides.
Dante knocked out one of them, but he kept getting sucker-punched. Resorting to using Dim Mak, he did his best fending them off, but there were too many. They were trained well enough to block most of his attacks. Taking strikes to his head, Dante evaded the best he could.
Anora wanted so much to help, but she stayed put, having a feeling she needed to.
Rip tried as he may but hadn’t landed a single hit on Dawayne, while Dawayne on the other hand seemed to be toying with him.
Rip broke free from the onslaught, looking at Amy. “GET WHAT WE CAME HERE FOR!”
Just as George was about to introduce his fist to a henchman’s face, three of them bolted toward Anora with their eyes locked on Amy.
In all the fuss, Amy had begun looking drained.
All the while Adel just watched, not able to do a thing or else he’d bleed out.
George and Dante did their best to keep up with the men, who moved at an unnatural clip toward their two leading ladies.
Dawayne, of all times, was toying with the henchmen, hitting them anywhere but their faces.
“HELP ME UP, GEORGE, I CAN HELP!” Adel begged.
“NO, ADEL, CONSERVE YOUR ENERGY! I GOT THIS!”
Adel’s worst fears had come to pass as he lay helpless, watching Dawayne trip one of the men and with a swift strike to the face, knocked him out.
Dante caught up to one of the men, grabbing him, but another grabbed Dante. From behind the man squeezed as Dante flailed, hammer fisting the life out of the guy’s knees. Try as he may to hit his captors head, Dante’s vision blurred until everything faded to grey. Not again, Dante thought as he fell to the ground.
Anora braced to meet the men head-on, while George did his best to protect his daughter.
• • •
Dante began seeing a kaleidoscope of fractals and colors. The shapes twisted and turned, and soon Dante found in himself at a familiar place, the Giza Plateau. The night sky was as clear as he’d ever seen it, with no moon to speak of. The many stars were the only thing illuminating the sand and the gorgeous massive constructs.
This time, he felt like he was even more in control of his dream, feeling the sand betwixt his feet. Dante looked up above the Great Pyramid to see what looked to be a giant gash in the sky, the Milky Way Galaxy. It was just stunning seeing the millions of stars aligned so.
And gazing up to a sky so clear, he pondered his insignificance in the grand scheme of events that had transpired in his body. But first Dante had to see this dream to its conclusion before rejoining them. Taking a large whiff, he could smell the brine of the salty sea far away, which, still to this day, made no sense. The only saltwater sea was the Mediterranean, far to the north.
Walking closer and closer to the Great Pyramid, he kept expecting the trap door to open, as it always had in times past. Alas, the sand stayed still while the smell of the briny ocean intensified. As he stared out on the plateau, all he could see was darkness on the horizon. Doing his damnedest to make out what laid concealed in it, he began hearing the sounds of crashing waves.
In the distance, the sky gasped, and an odd calm came over the air around him. Then the sound of another wave he could not see, filled his ears.
This time it felt closer still, but he could not see past the dark horizon and, as another wave crashed in the darkness, Dante felt a cool mist hit his face. Again the sky gasped, and the waters that surrounded the plateau began receding.
He stood there hoping the trap door would open as yet another massive wave began to form. Waiting for what felt like minutes, the torrential deluge came crashing down from the sky, just on the edge of the starlit periphery.
Not feeling mist this time, Dante felt droplets hit his face. A slurping noise then came from below the Earth’s surface, making the ground tremble.
So much for thinking I was more in control this time, Dante thought. At the whim of the dream, he watched as yet another massive swell formed, now less than a hundred yards away. Reminiscent of a movie about Noah and the flood, Dante could only watch, helpless as the wave came down harder than anything he had ever seen.
The sky gasped and the dark waters receded once more, creating another massive swell. But this time it was too close for his comfort. Dream or not, a chill came over Dante as the waters again pulled the very air from the sky and the waters from the ground beneath him. As the swell increased in size, the Earth around him began to crumble.
Staying as close to the Great Pyramid as he could, Dante thought, Any day now. Seeing the immensity of the wall of water, he knew no one could look at it and think they had any chance of survival. It was no different for Dante as he gazed upon it, feeling the Earth crumble beneath his toes.
Please wake up, Dante hoped right before the wave came crashing down upon him. He was swept off of his feet and couldn’t see a thing after being consumed by the dark liquid. Drifting toward the bottom, he held his breath, only able to see the refractions of the stars above.
Reaching for the surface, he gasped, filling his lungs with water. Then and only then, did the trap door open and the dark fluid whisked him toward the door.
• • •
After seeing what Rip and his men had done, George wanted a piece of Rip. “DAWAYNE! HE’S MINE NOW. PROTECT AMY!”
Rip, even though bloodied and beaten by Dawayne, scoffed and jeered at George as he came to confront him.
George wasn’t much for fighting before today, but Rip coaxed a fit of unknown anger in him. He swung with a left hook and Rip connected a punch to George's gut.
“Uh,” George moaned. With his free hand, George threw with all his might a massive uppercut i
nto Rip’s chin, knocking him to the ground. George yelled while stepping over him, daring him to get up then looked to see his son was still down.
“Ah!” Amy screamed as Anora tossed the man reaching for her.
“STAY BEHIND US, AMY!” Anora yelled as she hit the man on the ground, knocking him out, freeing an odd pendant from his neck. Never had she seen a golden necklace with a seal such as that.
While George made sure Rip didn’t get back up, Anora and Dawayne were busy dispatching the remaining attackers, rendering them immobile for the time being. “Dawayne, keep an eye on Rip for me,” George demanded.
“Gladly,” Dawayne said as George went to check on Dante to see if he was still breathing. Anora pulled out her cell, waiting until she got enough reception to call 911.
Relieved, George found Dante still had a pulse, so he ran to Adel to check on him. Having had bled through most of his shirt, Adel lay there clinging to life, mourning his son.
“You still alive, Adel?” George asked.
Adel shook his head, not making eye contact as he stared off muttering, “I wish I wasn’t.”
“Mr. Luciano, I can help.” Dawayne hunched down, grabbing Rip by the collar, and whispered, “If you move from where you are, I’m going to kill you, and I’m going to enjoy it, thoroughly. I assure you.”
Rip tried to lift his head but couldn’t.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Dawayne said before running over to Adel. Seeing how red Adel’s shirt was, Dawayne ripped the sleeves from his shirt, pressing them over the wound. “Mr. Luciano, you must keep as much pressure as you can here.”
George did just that. “Stay alive, Adel….”
“I don’t know if I can, George…. I don’t know if I can. I’d do anything to switch places with him. Anything….”
• • •
Dante found himself in the familiar limestone shaft, drifting toward the large round room. Once again, he was slammed into the giant stone sarcophagus. The tomb began sliding shut, and right on cue, he heard the dark and ominous voice echo throughout the room.
“YOU WILL REMAIN WITH ME FOREVER.”
Dante & The Dark Seed Page 19