The Gatekeeper Trilogy

by Scott Ferrell

  “What are those?” Dylan breathed in my ear.

  “We’re in trouble.” I leaned back into the seat and ran a hand through my hair.

  “Now is not the time for doomsday thinking,” Mr. Minor said, though his squeaking voice held little conviction.

  I ignored him and stared at the black scar at the top of what remained of the cliff. It felt like the hole had a matching opening in my chest.

  “I have to do something,” I said.

  Aoife spun in her seat. “No, you don’t.”

  “This is my fault,” I said.

  “We can’t go around assigning blame willy-nilly,” Mr. Minor intoned.

  “I was the one stupid enough to walk right through Daresh’s front door,” I insisted, ignoring the former dentist.

  “Seanna used magic to lure you there,” Aoife said.

  “She stopped when we figured out what she was doing.”

  “When I figured it out,” she corrected.

  “Whatever,” I said. “I should have turned and ran as soon as I was thinking clearly.”

  “Do you ever think clearly?” Aoife asked. “Because I don’t think you’re capable. Do you see all those things up there? From what you said, you barely escaped four of them. There’s dozens now with more coming through.”

  “Through my gateway. It’s my responsibility.”

  “It is,” Mr. Minor said, “but that doesn’t mean we need to rush in like fools and get ourselves killed.”

  “We don’t have to do anything,” I snapped at him. “You think you can just show up and two minutes later be a part of what’s going on?”

  “He’s right, Gaige,” Aoife said.

  “Will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?” Dylan pleaded.

  “Later,” Aoife said.

  Dylan glared at his sister. I understood how he felt. Later was always the answer I got when I questioned Seanna. The frustration that one word could invoke was like pouring gas on a fire. Surprisingly, he only ground his teeth and stared at what was left of the park.

  I, on the other hand, didn’t have that much self-control. I grabbed the door handle.

  “Don’t you dare,” Aoife said.

  “Stay here. I’m just going to see if I can sneak close enough to close it.”

  “Gaige!”

  “Young man, I don’t—”

  Mr. Minor’s thin voice was cut off by the door closing behind me.

  I hurried down the street toward the ruined park, keeping behind cars and bushes the best I could. The whole time I told myself it was a stupid idea. My stomach twisted into knots, but I kept moving. I knew for sure at any moment one of those things would see me and I’d be caught. Again.

  The closer I crept to the park, the stupider the idea became. The place was crawling with those things. The bumps and bruises from my earlier escape yelled at me to stop, turn around, and run away as fast as I could.

  I ignored it and hunkered behind a car parked on the side of the road. I wondered where the owner was. No doubt they would have felt the full force of the earthquake this close to the park. Maybe they burst out of their house and ran. I suppressed an inappropriate and ill-timed giggle at the mental image. I glanced at the house. It was small, square, yellow and it leaned to the left a few inches. I hoped the owners weren’t stupid enough to still be inside.

  Now wasn’t the time to worry about that, though. If they weren’t smart enough to run, if any of these people weren’t smart enough to run, there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I was about a hundred yards from the center of the park where the gateway stood open on the cliff and getting it closed demanded my full attention so I didn’t end up in Yannick’s clutches again.

  I moved around the driver side of a car parked on the street and hunched to stay hidden. I peeked over the hood to get a better look. I really couldn’t see any way to the gateway. Maybe I was a little hasty in rushing out here like I was some kind of ninja and could sneak past several dozen creatures on high alert. I wondered if I could control it from that distance. It seemed unlikely. Besides, I didn’t know if they could just open it again. I had to figure out how they did in the first place.

  At the top of the rise, the creatures had set up some kind of machine in front of the gate. Perched on a single pole that looked too flimsy to hold it up, the machine was shaped like a twisted cone about four feet long. Its smaller end was pointed toward the gate with the larger part opening up to Gate City. In the early morning light, it looked made of a metal a deeper black than I had ever seen. It seemed to repel light away from it.

  I blew out a low breath in frustration. This was stupid. What was I going to do? So many of the creatures already crawled around the park with more coming through every few seconds. There was no way I could get close enough to the machine to destroy it or whatever it was I had planned. Not that I necessarily had anything planned. Get to the gateway and close it. That was about it as far as my plans went.

  The creatures fanned out around the remains of the park, taking up defensive positions, though I doubted they would find much trouble coming their way. Sirens blared around the city. First responders no doubt would be flooded with calls from Gate City citizens.

  As I watched, more of the black-cloaked figures came out of the gateway carrying large boxes a lot like what I saw earlier. These were bigger, though, and a lot more than the four I assumed had housed the machine holding the gate open.

  I was still contemplating what I could do when something moved at the periphery of my vision. I flinched back against the car as somebody came right at me. I should have reacted with a little more defense other than cowering against my hiding spot, but I panicked and didn’t think straight. I flung up my hands in a feeble attempt to protect myself.

  No attack came. Instead, the figure nearly slammed into the car beside me. “Did they see me? I don’t think they saw me.”

  “Brian?” I said. My best friend was the last person I expected to see there. “What the hell?”

  He peeked over the car. He looked ridiculous with his tall frame folded beside the vehicle. “I don’t think they saw me,” he said.

  “What are you doing here?” I hissed.

  “I don’t know.” He looked at me with all earnestness. “What are you doing here?”

  “Trying to think of something to do about this,” I said.

  “Yeah, me too. Kinda. Wait, what can you do?”

  “Nothing,” I said. “You need to get out of here.”

  “But, what about those things? What are they?”

  “You really can’t be here right now.” I grabbed his shoulder hard. “It’s not safe.”

  “No duh,” he drawled. “I came here looking for damage that earthquake might have done and what do I find? Them. And you.”

  “You need to find yourself somewhere else.”

  “I can’t just leave you here alone,” he protested.

  “I’m not alone.”

  “Who’s with you?” He craned his neck around, looking for others.

  “It doesn’t matter. What does matter is you not being here right now.”

  “Why are you trying to get rid of me?”

  “This isn’t a game,” I hissed.

  “No, really?” His voice dripped sarcasm. “I don’t see any coaches cussing you out, so it must not be a game.”

  “I’m three seconds from hitting you,” I warned, though I didn’t know how serious I was about it.

  “Where have you been, anyways?” he asked, ignoring my threat. “It’s been almost a week.”

  “Look, Brian, we can’t do this right now.”

  “Who’s in that car?” He squinted at Mr. Minor’s car. “Is that Mr. Minor and Aoife? They’re your backup?”

  “They’re nothing.” I glanced over the hood of the car. “Look, we need to get out of here. You think you can make it all the way over there without attracting attention?”

  “We, huh?” He looked at me skeptically. “So, now you’
re getting out of here, too? Two seconds ago, you were trying to get rid of me so you can do whatever you’re gonna do.”

  “I wasn’t going to do anything. There’s nothing I can do.”

  “Uh, huh.”

  “Brian.” I grabbed his arm hard. “Let’s get out of here.”

  I jerked him from the car before he could respond. I’m sure we looked like a couple idiots hunched at the waist and duck-walking at a sort of fast pace toward the car.

  We were less than careful, making a beeline straight at it, but I had decided to get out of there. No matter which way I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with a way to shut the gate.

  I glanced at the car as we approached. Aoife and Mr. Minor watched through the windshield. The look on their faces at the sight of Brian would have been amusing in any other situation. Their looks were a combination of horrified and pissed.

  When it came within twenty yards or so, Aoife’s eyes widened. She looked at the roof of the car right before two black-clad figures landed on it, crumpling it in a bit.

  Brian and I skidded to a halt and stared in horror at the creature standing on the car.

  Aoife fumbled the door open and tumbled onto the street.

  More of the things appeared behind the car, closing in with incredible speed.

  “Run!” I yelled.

  It was the only thing I managed to spit out. Something smashed into the back of my head. Black poured into my brain as gravity pulled me toward the ground.

  26

  WAKING TO A NIGHTMARE (AGAIN)

  Until a few days ago—I’m not sure how many—I could say I had never been knockout. I’d had my bell rung once or twice in football, but I was never rendered unconscious. With the well-deserved attention put on concussions, the team trainers always gave a full evaluation on every player suspected of having a concussion. The risk of brain injury was too great. After my parents’ accident, I knew that all too well.

  This was my first thought as I became aware of myself again. I had been knocked out so many times lately that I was starting to worry about the wellbeing of my brain.

  Of course, what difference would a brain injury make if it was dead? I don’t know what had hit me but couldn’t have been good. I had to get my head on straight.

  I tried to lift my head and groaned. The back of my skull felt like a truck had run over it. One might have for all I knew. The throbbing wrapped around my skull, making me feel sick and dizzy.

  “Gaige,” somebody whispered to my right. Or was it my left?

  I tried to shake my head to let whoever it was know I couldn’t talk at that moment. Probably a bad idea. I nearly passed out again. I felt myself tilt to the left. Or was it the right?

  “Gaige,” the same person hissed again.

  I sighed and cracked open my eyes. I kind of wish I hadn’t. Once my blurry vision cleared, I was greeted with the up close and personal view of the creatures crawling all over the place. There had to be at least a hundred of them now. All of them wore the same black, hooded cloaks. They looked like giant ants crawling all over what was left of Gate City Park.

  “What are those things?” somebody to my right—definitely my right—whispered.

  “Trouble,” I muttered with a mouth full of thick tongue.

  Now that I was fully awake, I recognized the voice as belonging to Dylan. I didn’t want to risk turning my head to confirm it, though. I sat on the rocky ground with my hands bound behind my back. I could only assume he was, too.

  “Oh,” a voice said from behind us, “you can safely assume the trouble is more than you think.”

  I closed my eyes and slumped where I sat. That voice I recognized, too.

  “Proven yourself trouble, Gatekeeper,” Yannick said.

  “There’s no place like home.” I clicked my dirty shoes together and opened my eyes again. “Oh yeah, I am home.”

  The robed figure moved around to face us, the runes stitched into the fabric catching sunlight here and there. It almost sparkled.

  “How long did it take you to Bedazzle your dress?”

  That was Aoife. A small measure of relief settled in me. At least she wasn’t hurt. I wished she had been able to get away, though.

  The hood turned her way. It regarded her, unmoving.

  “I don’t suppose weird runs in the family, does it?” I asked Dylan.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Super strength? Laser eye beams? Metal claws?”

  “Uhh…” Dylan said.

  “Magical hammer? Control squirrels? I’d even take that.”

  “Uhh...”

  “Figures,” I sighed.

  I lifted my head to see the figure moving toward Aoife. “Hey, ugly.”

  The dark depths of the hood turned toward me.

  “What are you hiding under there, anyways?” I said. “I mean, we won’t judge if you look like the ass-end of a cow with hemorrhoids.”

  “Gaige, I can take care of myself,” Aoife hissed.

  “We’ll probably be grossed out a little, but no judging.” I blinked as my head began to throb harder.

  The figure stood motionless for a long moment. “I see,” it said. “Daresh was fond of insults, as well.”

  “How does it feel being his lapdog, anyways?” I asked.

  “Does he have you plunge his toilet for him?” Aoife said.

  “Now, kids…”

  Ah, Mr. Minor was there, too. I still hadn’t worked up the energy to turn my head to check out our situation. Whatever he was going to say faded like cheap clothes in the wash as the cloaked figure started making a weird noise. It sounded a lot like a creaky floorboard. It started soft but grew in volume.

  “Daresh?” it said after it regained control of itself. “Daresh’s lapdog? How naïve.”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “No judging, remember? There has to be followers. We all can’t be lead— “

  I didn’t see it move, but it was on me in a blink. His three-fingered hand wrapped around my neck and snatched me clean off the ground. I hung limp in his grasp hoping the churning in my stomach would make me throw up on him.

  “You are stupid, human. More than your mother,” it hissed.

  Even though I was only about a foot away, I still couldn’t see into the black of the hood. I wanted to bury my fist deep in those depths but I was too busy trying to not pass out from the pain at the base of my skull. Oh, and my hands were tied behind my back. There was that, too.

  “Daresh is puppet.” He threw me to the ground. “Nothing more.”

  With my hands bound, I had no way of breaking my fall. I hit the rocky ground hard. I might have blacked out for a moment. I wasn’t sure.

  “He is nothing but a tool to get my people what we want.”

  “What’s that?” Aoife asked. I felt strains of concern leaking from her. “A dental plan?”

  “Shut up, Aoife,” Dylan said. I couldn’t feel his concern, but I could hear it in the way his voice cracked from the strain.

  A string of annoyance slipped into Aoife’s feelings.

  “The Getharey?” Mr. Minor said.

  The figure went as still as a statue. “How know you of us?” it asked without turning to the dentist.

  He didn’t answer.

  “Who are you,” it asked.

  Still no answer from Mr. Minor.

  I pushed myself to an elbow. I didn’t think I could be in any more pain so I figured I’d take stock of the situation. I glanced around. It wasn’t any better than I had thought. Dylan was next to me and his sister was between him and Mr. Minor at the end of our happy little line. They all had their hands bound behind their backs like me. Our binds were made of rope with some kind of thin strains of metal twisted in. I panicked a little as I realized Brian was missing. Had he escaped when they attacked? I hoped so.

  I struggled to a sitting position. The creature was on me before I could even think to react. He jammed a finger into my forehead. I recognized the feeling and knew
I would have no use of my telekinesis.

  “I weary of these games.” Its voice was low and cold.

  “Is that what you think this is?” I barked as the stinging in my forehead subsided. “A game? This isn’t a game. This is my planet. Whatever Daresh is planning, it won’t work. You might as well creep your way back to his feet and tell him I’m still not giving him what he wants.”

  That creaking laugh again. “You really must remove Daresh from your mind. He is of no consequence.”

  “Big talk from his lapdog when he’s not here.”

  “He is nothing but a puppet, he is,” the Getharey went on. “A means to our own ends.”

  “Oh, really?” I put as much skepticism as I could in my voice. “And what would that be?”

  “This wretched lump of dirt you call a planet.”

  “If it’s so wretched, why does Daresh want it so bad?” I asked.

  “Perhaps not sinking in.” Yannick reached to push the hood from his head.

  He was something out of a sci-fi movie. One with really good CGI. His greenish gray head was rounded with a wide mouth, stubbed nose, and two holes on each side of his head for ears. His skin was pulled tight over his skull, giving his whole face a stretched look.

  Somebody sucked in a breath. Probably Dylan. Poor dude was probably freaking out more than the rest of us. At least Aoife and I knew what was going on. Mr. Minor, too, from the things he said. He knew what these things were, after all.

  “Daresh is nothing. This.” He flicked two of his three fingers in a motion like a finger snap without touching skin. I didn’t really understand it but stayed quiet. “Of course, he is not aware, but we no longer need him.” He straightened and turned blue eyes to the gateway. “We got what we wanted.”

  “Yeah, our little wretched rock,” I said. “Boy, are you in for a surprise. You think a couple hundred of you are going to take over Earth? Just wait until the right people find out what’s going on here. You’re in for a world of hurt.”

  “Take over? No. We won’t be here long.” Yannick’s eyes remained locked on the gate. “No, I think we have nothing to worry about.”