by Justin Sloan
Allie laughed—what other response was there? “I’m not some Bringer of Light or whatever else you want to tell me I am. I’m a teenage girl.”
She spun on her heels and stomped out of the office. She wasn’t going to sit around wasting her time and listening to these lunatics. There had to be a better explanation.
The rain was really starting to come down as Allie and Daniel walked home. For some reason, forty-five minutes east in her old city, the rain had not been so annoying, so incessant. Neither of them said a thing until they reached their apartment complex, where Daniel turned on her, soaked.
“Well,” Daniel said. “Today was crazy, but I’m with you, whatever happens.”
“Yeah?” Allie asked.
“That’s what friends do, stick together. So of course.”
She hesitated, then smiled. “Yeah, I suppose we are. Friends.”
He looked up hesitantly, then held out his fist for a fist-bump. She hesitantly pounded back with a smile.
He turned to go home. “Have a good night, Allie.”
With a wave of his hand he went into his apartment that, Allie was surprised to learn, was only three down from hers. She turned to the big brown building she called home, but stood there, listening to the pitter-patter of rain drops on the cement and smelling the fresh scent of rain. The water cleansed her spirit, reminding her of camping trips her family used to take on Mt. Rainier.
She had no idea how the day turned out to be so weird. Highs, lows, and so many crazy moments. When she moved to this town she had no idea what was to come, but hadn’t expected to be kicking balls at people, running through valleys, and especially not being told she was in charge of rescuing her mom. No, she decided. It couldn’t be true, none of what had happened in the woods could have been real, and her principal was delusional. That was the only realistic explanation. Was Daniel in on some prank? She couldn’t believe that, but had no idea what to think anymore. Her dad would know, and she would make sure to figure this out before she lost her mind, if it wasn’t already too late.
Something in the sky caught her eye and she looked up to see, way in the distance above, an eagle soaring, barely visible among the grey clouds. It let out a mighty screech, sending shivers down her spine.
A car drove by with a hiss of rubber spraying water, and then stopped nearby.
“Allie, where were you?” her dad said as he exited the car. I wanted to surprise you and pick you up.”
Allie continued to stand in the rain, letting it wash her clean of the day.
“Come on, dear,” her dad said. “Let’s get you dry.”
Snapping out of it, she ran over to him and, under the shelter of his umbrella, went home. At first she considered telling him everything, about what the Principal had told her, but she couldn’t. Somehow, voicing it would make it real, and she wasn’t willing to accept that yet. A haze filled her thoughts like a dream, settling in her gut with a darkness that made her want nothing more than to curl up in a ball and cry.
She made it through dinner, but then slid into bed with a picture from a drawer in her night stand. It was a picture of her mom and dad, holding each other and smiling. Her mom wore the Army fatigues, a duffle bag thrown over her shoulder, and a rose in her left breast pocket. It had been taken at the airport the day she deployed.
And that silver chain hung around her mom’s neck. The necklace.
Perhaps Allie’s was a fake and everyone was wrong? She caressed the stone, then tapped it with her fingernail.
A knock on the door and her dad entered with a full laundry basket. Allie tucked the necklace beside her leg.
“You have anything you want washed?” He smiled, but she could tell something was off.
She shook her head no. As for the necklace and her mom, it was best to leave him out of it. She wanted to be alone, but wasn’t sure how to tell him.
“Honey….”
“Dad, not now okay,” she said. “It’s just, everything’s been too crazy lately.”
“You have to know, I can’t keep it in.”
She looked up at him, surprised to see the determination in his eyes. Was he going to start talking to her about Bringers of Light and King Solomon too? Did he know about all this after all?
He sat beside her, placing the laundry basket on the floor. “I received a message from your mom's command.”
She hated the hesitation in his voice. She knew the answer before she asked, “And?”
Her dad breathed deep. “They haven't heard from her for a couple days now, and, well, that's not normal.”
So her mom was missing? Allie couldn’t accept it. “Dad…. Do you know where she is? Do you know what happened?”
He held her gaze, his eyes sad and helpless. No, he didn’t know any more than she did—less probably.
“She’ll be back soon,” Allie said, as much to herself as to him.
“I hope so honey, but we won't be able to Skype with her tonight, so I wanted to make sure you understood.” He kissed her on the forehead. “No laundry then, kiddo?”
Allie shook her head.
“I can’t do this alone.” He heaved up the laundry and closed the door behind him, leaving her to wonder what he’d meant by that.
When Allie got up to use the bathroom later that night she heard a sniffling sound from her dad’s room. She stopped and peered in through the crack of his door. The computer screen cast a soft glow on his face, reflecting the tears in his eyes. He wiped his arm across his face and clicked off the computer screen. Even in the darkness she could tell his face was in the palms of his hands, his shoulders shaking.
She turned and rushed to the bathroom, closing the door gently so her dad wouldn’t hear it and know she was up.
Why was he crying? No way—the rough man she knew to be her dad never cried. He was too strong for that. But she had seen his tears, they had been real.
She turned on the cold water and splashed her face. If her mom’s command hadn’t heard from her in a few days that was one thing, but what if her mom were in some real trouble? What if she were…. Allie couldn’t bring herself to think it, it was too horrible. Worst of all, what Allie really did have the key to saving her mom, but was wasting time debating the reality of it?
Allie gripped the edges of the porcelain sink until her fingers hurt, sure she was going to tear it right off. No, she told herself, her mom had to be alive. This not knowing had to stop, and whether the Bringer of Light mumbo-jumbo was real or not, Allie had to act. Even if that meant believing in magic, believing in a reality she had lived her whole life knowing not to be true. Her mom would come back, and Allie was going to figure out what role she played in making sure of that.
Chapter 7: A Door
The next day at school was going well enough, except that Allie couldn’t focus on a single thing her teachers said. She couldn’t stop thinking of her mom’s voice whispering “Help” from that dark shape she had seen through the fog, or the images of the dark tunnel she had seen when she found the necklace.
Math class was so bad Allie had to get a bathroom pass just to escape and clear her head. She ducked down the hallway, avoiding Principal Eisner’s office because more of that talk right now would overwhelm her.
She needed to breathe and be alone, but noticed several kids dressed in black looking at her. They weren’t returning her forced smile. After another turn she found the bathrooms, but just as she was about to enter she heard a low humming nearby. It was too odd not to investigate, so she followed the sound to a door, opened the door, and found herself at the top of a descending staircase. After ensuring that no one was watching, she began the descent.
With each step the humming grew louder. Soon it became more of a chant. She reached the final stair and retracted her hand from the cold wall. The noise came from a hallway to her left. Two layers of curtains covered a red door. The door, chipped from years of neglect, had been left slightly ajar.
Candlelight flickered through the crack in the door. When Allie
leaned in, she saw a room full of cloaked figures, none of their faces visible. Some sort of circle pattern covered the floor where they stood. They each held out their left forearms, waiting for a particularly tall hooded character in the middle who paused at each one with a special chant. With each pause, the darkness increased and the flames in the candles seemed to wither.
Realizing she hadn’t been breathing, Allie slowly exhaled.
A pair of eyes found her, then the rest of the hooded figures turned.
“Grab her!” one yelled.
Allie fled back into the hallway, her legs shaking. She collapsed, but picked herself up at the base of the stairs and climbed. A hand clawed the back of her shirt. They had her hair. She screamed and the grip loosened, but then someone had her arm. She pushed and then pulled, but fingernails dug into her skin as she broke free.
The yellowish lighting of the hallway was dull, but that moment filled her with hope of escape. She made it and closed the door behind her, but there was no way to fasten it. Desperately she threw herself into the nearest door she could find. Trapped in darkness, she fumbled with the door to lock it. She collapsed to the floor and pulled her knees to her chest. Yelling sounded outside, and then the pounding of fists on the wooden door. She held her necklace tight.
A song sounded from somewhere. Her phone!
She pulled it from her pocket and pressed accept as the closet door flew open.
“Help!” she shouted into the phone, and then a bright light took her. Allie cringed, holding the phone to her ear and waiting for the hooded people to take her.
No one came. When she opened her eyes, she saw the mossy green of the forest beneath her. She raised her eyes and saw she was in the woods, with Daniel standing in front of her. He looked at her with wide eyes. He held his phone to his ear, his hand trembling.
“How did you…?” He looked around, trying to figure something out.
She stared at him, stunned.
“I wanted to check these woods again,” he said. “See if I could find anything. Then I thought I better see if you wanted to join me, and.... Are you okay?”
She jumped up and threw her arms around him, nearly sobbing and very relieved to be with him, regardless of how she had gotten here.
A crack of a tree branch pulled Allie to her senses. She pulled back from Daniel, eyes searching the woods.
“I think we need to go see Principal Eisner,” she said.
They ran back to the school and it wasn’t long before they found Principal Eisner. They led her to the door Allie had taken down to the weird room, but when they reached the spot, there were no stairs, only another broom closet. Allie checked the door she had hidden in and, sure enough, it too was a broom closet.
Allie turned in exasperation to Principal Eisner. “I don’t get it. They were right there.”
Principal Eisner’s eyes darted up and down the hall, then she leaned in and said, “This is worse than I thought. Are you ready to listen?”
Allie nodded.
“Good, come with me.”
They made their way to the library, where Gabe stood waiting. He held in his hands a massive book with the title “History of the Bringers of Light.”
They sat around a table and, after briefly explaining everything to Gabe, he nodded, his expression solemn.
“But the door,” Allie protested, “How…?”
“You may soon learn that doors don’t always lead to the same place,” Principal Eisner said. “You are too young, but maybe soon you will begin your training and you will enter such a door. It is unfortunate that the first door you entered was one of theirs.”
“But why do they need this door?” Daniel asked.
“The doors open from cities throughout the world, and often lead to the training facilities on our end, but the Dark Ones use these doors for other purposes.”
“So they could show up anywhere?” Allie asked. “Cult followers of some dark power, out to get us, and they’re everywhere?”
“In theory, yes. The ones you must have seen, they most likely don’t all reside here. But they must have one on the inside, a teacher, or perhaps a student, or the door could never have been opened. We will have to keep a better eye out for these Strayers.”
For a moment, they sat there in silence. Allie eyed the floor as she tried to process all of this. Finally, she looked up and made eye contact with first Principal Eisner and then Gabe.
“What do they want?” Allie said, feeling her hands begin to sweat and clam up.
“The Strayers have been after the necklace,” Gabe said. “But there is something larger at stake here. What your mom went to Kyrgyzstan for in the first place.” He turned the page to a detailed drawing of a warrior in glowing armor, his head haloed in gold like a saint. “There are those of us on the good side, the Bringers of Light, and then….”
Principal Eisner cut in, “There is a dark force at play, one the Strayers follow. One they call Samyaza.”
“These tired eyes have lingered long over the old books,” Gabe said. “The pattern written is clear. When the Ring of Andaleeb is united, formed as one, the Tenth Worthy will stand against the dark forces with the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit.”
“The ring of what?” Daniel interrupted.
“It is another word for the ring of Solomon. King Solomon.”
“And what does that have to do with us?” Allie asked.
“The Tenth Worthy is destined to stop the fallen one, Samyaza, and keep light in the world.” Gabe opened the book to a page of a winged shadow with eyes of fire. “Unless Samyaza is able to get to these items first, as he hopes to do. If indeed he’s able to wield them this time.”
“This time?” Allie said, her head spinning.
“He wasn’t always bad, he wasn’t always called the Dark One, or Samyaza. He was once like us, a Guardian. But he envied the Bringers of Light, and his heart began to rot as his lust for power grew. He meant to make the ring his own. He took what had not chosen him, and was corrupted in the process. He was banished, turned into a mere shadow, and almost ceased to exist. But he stood his ground and called on darker forces to aid him. If he gets the ring now, he will be an evil not easily defeated, as his power is great.”
Allie stared at them, baffled. They were talking like her brother had when playing his RPG games, only these people were much older than him, and they appeared to be quite serious.
“I was once one of you,” Principal Eisner said. “I once carried a symbol like your own. The Bringers of Light. Now we are but Guardians. There are many of us, more possibly in this very school. Bringers of Light, those fighting and searching, and Guardians, the ones that support. But there is one that is chosen, one that must bring an end to Samyaza and the dark forces he represents. That one is the Tenth Worthy.”
“And that one is my mom?” Allie asked.
Gabe shook his head and pointed to the necklace. “We had thought so.”
“But not anymore?”
Principal Eisner shook her head. “As I said in my office, Allie, the necklace chose you. Are you ready to accept this?”
“And if I’m not, what then?”
“Then no one can save your mother.”
Allie’s hand instinctively gripped her necklace. “But you said there are others, the Guardians. Right? Can’t one of them—”
Principal Eisner waved her question off. “The Guardians support the Bringers of Light. Only one Bringer of Light, the so called Tenth Worthy, the one with that stone, can stand up to Samyaza when he comes out of the depths.” She leaned forward and put her hand on Allie’s shoulder. “Your mother depends on you.”
“I....” Allie searched for a response. “I’m going to need time to think.”
Allie stood and walked out of the library and soon found herself breaking into a run. So it was all real? It was more insane than she could have ever imagined, yet somehow, it was starting to feel real. That was the scariest part—th
at somehow she believed all of this. She turned a corner and slammed right into someone. The collision threw her back onto her rear, and for a moment she had to clear her head before she saw it was the girl from earlier, Paulette. Then Allie noticed a sparkle from down the hall and reached for her neck—the necklace had been knocked free by the collision.
As Allie locked eyes with Paulette, Daniel came jogging up.
Paulette stood, brushing herself off. “Allie, hey. And…?”
“Daniel,” he said.
“Yeah, gottcha.” Paulette turned and spotted the necklace. She reached for it. “Looks like you dropped something.”
“Thanks,” Allie said as she thrust herself in Paulette’s way and pocketed the necklace.
“You feeling okay?”
Allie and Daniel shared a look, not knowing what to say to that.
“Well,” Paulette continued, “listen, me and some of the girls, well, we’re thinking of getting together for soccer practice after school. What’ya say?”
Allie couldn’t believe it when she answered with a “No, no thank you. Not today.”
That afternoon, Principal Eisner gave Allie and Daniel a ride home from school. Principal Eisner explained that she didn’t want to risk anymore trouble with the Strayers. She told Allie how she had worked with Gabe to look out for them after the incident, but so far had not identified any particular kids that could be Strayers, and Chester and Vince seemed to have ditched their classes.
Principal Eisner opened the door for them to exit, with a glance around. Her smile wrinkle creased down in worry. “Remember, if you need a ride tomorrow. Let me know. And don’t forget, Allie, you have it inside you, the strength to win over this thing.” In response to Allie’s look of doubt, she said, “You just have to have faith.” With a wink, she returned to her car.
“But…” Allie tried to protest.
“You hold tight, the necklace will reveal the path when you are ready.”
Daniel walked Allie to her door as the car drove off. He paused and, without a word, turned to go.
Allie reached out. “Don’t leave.”
He paused and then turned to her, unsure.