God Stones: Books 1 - 3

by Otto Schafer

  “Seriously. So come on, Garrett, out with it. What’s the plan?” Lenny asked.

  “You know the plan. You heard it. In a couple weeks we leave and get these people safely to the portal. When Apep opens it, everyone is going home.”

  “What? Look, I’m all for exploring a new world, but what about Bre?! What about the promise you made Paul!” Lenny said.

  Garrett glanced uneasily over his shoulder. “Go get some rest, guys. We’ll talk more tomorrow.” He turned and began walking.

  Lenny grabbed Garrett by the shoulder and spun him around. “You’re just going to let her die? How could you!”

  “What do you want me to do, Len? Her brother is bigger than the three of us put together, he apparently heals super-fast and can fly. He has Paul, who has super-strength. I think they have a better chance than I do! I am needed here for this! What do you want me to do!?”

  “Just when I thought you were starting to grow a sack, you go all coward on me! I want you to find your balls, Garrett – that’s what I want!”

  “I got to go,” Garrett said, glancing at David.

  David looked away.

  “Yeah, whatever!” Lenny said.

  When Garrett was almost to his room, Charles Moore stepped out from a shadowed nook. “Garrett, can I have a word?”

  Garrett’s stomach tightened. “Sure.”

  “I didn’t want to say it in front of the others, but Breanne wanted me to make sure you knew her being taken wasn’t your fault. She told me all she needed to do was run to you, but she couldn’t. She froze. It wasn’t your fault. You see, something happened to her a long time ago and sometimes she freezes up. She doesn’t talk about it… ever. But she wanted me to tell you. He mother died when she was eleven years old in a car accident.”

  Garrett looked down and shook his head. “I should have got to her. Whether she was frozen up or not, I should have got to her.” Garrett looked up. “I’m really sorry about her mom.”

  Charles shook his head. “Yeah, me too. Garrett, listen, my Bre, she knows something about guilt and how it can eat you up. She wanted me to tell you this for a reason, and she doesn’t talk to anyone about what happened to her mom, not even family.”

  Garrett nodded. “Thanks, Dr. Moore. I best be getting some rest.”

  “Um, Garrett. One more thing.” Charles looked both directions down the corridor.

  Garrett frowned.

  “When I was in a coma, I had a dream about the Templar we found in one of the caverns on Oak Island. He called himself Turek. Then he asked me to give you a message. To say the least, it was odd being asked to deliver a message to a kid I never met from a dead Templar in a dream, but here we are.”

  “What did he say?” Garrett asked eagerly.

  Charles took off his fedora and ran a hand through his curly hair. “He told me to tell you to follow your heart, and your heart would lead you down the right path.” He put the hat back on his head and tipped the brim toward Garrett. “Best get some rest.”

  Garrett continued to frown, but nodded. “Take care, Dr. Moore.”

  “Just Charles,” the man said, turning away.

  Garrett didn’t stop at his room and instead went past it – towards the utility and supply stores James had shown him earlier. But before he got there a door opened. Garrett started to hide but then he realized it was Pete.

  “Pete?”

  “Isn’t your room back that way?” Pete asked.

  “Yep, hey you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m going to tell you something, Garrett, but don’t tell the guys.”

  “Okay sure, Pete.”

  “I been down to that river every day looking for that rat. Paul told me it had golden eyes like Janis. And it carried him out of the tunnel. I don’t know – I just thought if I could find it, maybe she is trapped in the rat somehow… and maybe, just maybe, we could find someone who could change her back.” He looked up, then back down. “Sounds stupid, right?”

  “No, Pete. It doesn’t sound stupid at all.”

  Pete smiled thinly. “Well, today you woke up and today I found that rat.”

  “And what happened, Pete?”

  “It had strange golden eyes just like Paul said. I tried to talk to it. To see if maybe it would talk back.”

  “And did it?”

  Pete shook his head. “No, and you know what else?”

  “What?”

  “The damn thing hissed at me.”

  “So not Janis?”

  “No, that’s just it,” he said, taking a step closer. “It was. At least some part of it was.”

  “I don’t get it, Pete.”

  “She wanted me to stop, Garrett. She wanted me to let her go. Don’t you see? Because if I couldn’t let her go, I might not be able to do what comes next. And do you know when I was sure? When I walked in and found out that the same moment I found her, you were opening your eyes for the first time in ten days.”

  Garrett swallowed and took a deep breath and let it out. What comes next, he thought.

  Pete smiled and it wasn’t thin or forced. It was a bright smile, a true smile and it was good to see. “So, should I go get the guys?”

  Garrett returned the smile and nodded. “Yes, you should absolutely go get the guys.”

  “Where we meeting up?”

  “The supply room.”

  Pete nodded and headed off down the hall.

  The sun would set soon and a few hours later Ed and Paul would be heading out into the night. Garrett rummaged through the supplies, retrieving a tactical backpack, clothing, and rations. He packed a fire-starter, a few maps, and a water bladder. He found tactical military-issued running boots too. He had never worn boots like these running before but figured if they were good enough for the military, they would be good enough for him.

  The door to the supply room burst open.

  “You son of a bitch!” Lenny shouted, running into the room with David and Pete on his heels. “I thought you were really going to let Paul and Ed go it alone!”

  “I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t be sure who might be listening. Listen, I know you guys are all excited about this, but it is going to be incredibly difficult and we are going to need to move fast.”

  David’s mustache twitched disapprovingly. “I get it, I’m not the fastest, but I am one of your sages too, Garrett, plus this Sarah lady needs me. If we can get there, I can heal her just like that,” he said, snapping his fingers. “And what if you get hurt along the way? Did you even think about that? Suppose you twist an ankle or worse. What then, you going to limp to Mexico?”

  Garrett waved his hand. “David, if I have learned anything, it’s that we have to stick together. All of us! No more of me running off on my own.” He slapped David on the shoulder. “It has to be all of us or none of us!”

  David wrapped him in a hug, pressing his mustache against Garrett’s shoulder.

  “You better mean that,” Lenny said, “because I haven’t forgot how you ditched me in the tunnel. I’m still going to bust you in the balls for that. You won’t know when, but it’s coming.” Lenny stepped up, hugging both boys. “Get in here, Pete. David, you little freak, keep your hands where I can see them.”

  Pete piled on and the four hugged. And it was in that moment the knot in Garrett’s stomach went away and he knew he was following his heart.

  When Garrett opened his eyes, James was standing in the doorway. “What do you think you are doing, Garrett?”

  The four broke apart.

  “You know what I’m doing, James.”

  “You’re supposed to lead us to the portal and back to our home—”

  “Yeah, please stop,” Garrett said, cutting him off. “Mom told me word for word what I am supposed to do, James.”

  “So, what the hell are you doing?”

  “The prophecy says I am supposed to lead them through the portal not to the portal,” Garrett said, slinging the backpack over his shoulder.

  The ot
hers went to the shelves and started packing their own gear.

  “Are you trying to play semantics, Garrett?! These people won’t make it to southern Mexico if you aren’t with them!”

  “Yes, James, they will make it. Because they will have you leading them.”

  “What?”

  “You’re a leader, James. You always have been. I have been awake one day, and I would have to be blind not to see it. James, these people will follow you anywhere. I mean, crap, I would follow you anywhere. Just do your nine-hundred-year-old James thing and you will be fine, and they will be fine. And if this prophecy is legit, we will all meet up at the portal, but I can’t wait. I can’t wait, James. Everything inside me is screaming at me to go! I have to listen to my heart. I have to go today… Right now!”

  “It’s the girl, isn’t it? You are doing this for some girl you knew for a day?”

  “James, she’s way more than that. She is one of my sages. She is one of the seven who pledged to follow me. I made promises – promises nothing is going to stop me from keeping! So, you have to lead them – you have to get them to the portal safely.”

  “Garrett, I don’t know how to do that!”

  “Yes, you do. Stick to your plan and wait out the dragons and then make for Mexico. You have been planning this out for hundreds of years – Undertown, horses, wagons, provisions.”

  James shook his head. “You’re really going?”

  “Yes. What do you think me leading would look like? Let me tell you. I would have been saying, James, which way? James, should we stop and camp or keep pushing? James—”

  James’s serious face broke into a smile and he laughed. “Yeah, for sure you would have.”

  “Now just pretend I’m there with you, asking the dumb questions, and before you know it we will be in Mexico together.” Garrett extended his hand out to his brother.

  James reached past Garrett’s hand, grabbed his forearm, and squeezed. “See, hundreds of years ago this was a proper handshake.”

  Garrett smiled, clasping his brother’s forearm in return.

  Then James yanked his brother forward and hugged him tight. “But this has always been a proper hug.”

  Garrett embraced his brother and slapped his back. “Mom is going to freak out.”

  “Yes. But once you’re gone, I will help her understand. Nothing changes. We will meet you there.”

  “Can you wake Ed and Paul and let him know we’re leaving?”

  James nodded. “Anything else?”

  “Can you get us out of here without Mom seeing us?”

  James smiled. “I think I can handle that, little brother.”

  The four friends, born and raised in Petersburg, Illinois, prepared for the journey of their lifetime, an adventure that promised to take them across two countries and to the portal to another world.

  No one knew how this was going to end, but Garrett knew, for the first time since this whole thing started, this decision was his and nobody was making it for him. Right or wrong it was his. Standing there in the low light of the supply room, watching his friends stuff gear into packs, it felt pretty damn right.

  “Alright then, boys, let’s go to Mexico.”

  Epilogue: Jack

  Sunday, April 17 – God Stones Day 11

  The Sangamon River, Petersburg, Illinois

  Jack pushed the stick into the small fire and flipped the branch over. He grabbed another from the stack and tossed it on before sitting back down. Eleven days since that night. The night Garrett killed his brother. At first, he thought Danny must have made it out. After he’d dragged himself from the water, he screamed for Danny, screamed and screamed, but his brother didn’t answer. He figured he must have gotten washed further down, that’s all. So, when the pain settled and he could get to his feet, he started walking.

  By the time Jack had gotten to the old busted dam, his throat hurt from screaming. He was freezing. He knew he had to find Danny, and fast, except he musta got washed over the dam and he ain’t heard of no one living through that. But then no one was tougher than Danny, and if he knew anything it was that if he’d made it out, his big brother made it out too.

  Making his way past the dam he’d forced his raw throat to keep on screaming. His whole body was shivering and the pain in his head was bad, but nothing compared to the pain in his testicles. That bastard Garrett might have broken one of his nuts.

  He had rounded the bend in the river and made his way under the Highway 123 overpass, more than a mile from where they had gone in and still nothing. “Dan-ny!” he screamed out over the dark water as the tears began to come. He couldn’t stop the tears, and he couldn’t keep going. It was pitch black. His only source of light was the strange, lightning-filled sky, but it only came in strobing flashes. The rain was falling in sheets. He couldn’t see for shit, and he had fallen repeatedly.

  Without a plan Jack had found a relatively dry spot under the overpass where he could curl up in a ball. He couldn’t go home, not without Danny. What would he tell his dad? Besides, he just couldn’t do it. Home was a good two-mile walk. He was so cold. Somehow his lower lip was healed, but his face was still throbbing, and everything hurt. That night, he had been more scared than he had ever been in his life as he lay there and cried.

  Morning had arrived, along with a strange dog licking his face. He forced opened his eyes in a squint of pain. It was a chocolate lab with a bright red collar. He blinked, realizing his legs and arms had practically gone numb from the cold. “Get away, mutt,” he had said, as he reached out and put his frozen hand on the dog to push him back.

  Something happened.

  The dog cried out in a high-pitched yelp, but it froze in place.

  Jack felt a warmth pull into his hand, like he had just reached into a warm bath. His hand stayed on the dog and the warmth drew up his arm and across his chest. The shirt he wore went from wet to dry as the warmth spread.

  The dog whimpered softly.

  Jack didn’t pay any attention to the dog as he closed his eyes, feeling the warmth move up his swollen and bruised neck and into his head, while at the same time spreading down his torso and into his testicles. As the warmth radiated through his body, all his pain melted away. A moment passed and the dog quieted, and he felt… amazing.

  Jack drew in a deep breath, let it out, and opened his eyes. He gasped in horror, yanking his hand back away from the dog. It didn’t look much like a dog anymore. A good part of the lab’s coat was missing, replaced with rotted patches of raw flesh, one of its eyes was dried up, and its teeth… Jesus, its teeth had fallen out.

  The lab fell over, unable to stand. It looked like loose, rotting fur draped over bones. Jack stared, not understanding what had happened. The dog took a last labored breath and died. Jack looked down at his hand and back to the carcass. He pushed himself back away from it, got to his feet, and ran.

  He ran as fast as he could along the bank of the river. He couldn’t think about that dog and whatever… that was. He had to find Danny. That’s all that mattered. Danny would know what to do. His voice was strong now and the sun was up. He yelled for Danny for the next seven miles, never once taking his eyes off the river. But as the hours passed with no sign of his brother, he feared he would have to turn back and go home. That’s it, he had thought. Maybe Danny went home? Maybe I missed him somehow. The more he ran, the more he knew that must have been what happened, he simply missed him. He decided he would round the next bend and then turn back.

  Looking back, he wished he would never have rounded that bend.

  Something pale and bloated was poking out of a brush pile on his side of the river. It didn’t look like a person though, not at first. But the closer he got the more his guts began to twist. When he was fifty feet away, he knew it was a person. But it couldn’t be Danny – it had to be one of his brother’s friends… not Danny.

  At thirty feet away the water was moving so fast it looked like it might rip the body out of the brush pile. The body had
Danny’s hair color, but it couldn’t be Danny! Tears began to flow down Jack’s face as he walked numbly forward.

  At ten feet away Jack could see the bloated and bruised face of his brother, and he dropped to his knees and screamed. “Danny! God, Danny, please! Wake up! Get up, Danny!”

  Jack pushed himself up and waded into the current, grabbing his brother’s bloated body and jerking him free of the brush. The Sangamon pulled back, sucking them into the current.

  The next several miles, Jack had clung to Danny’s body with all he had. He fought the river, trying not to get pulled under, but eventually the river won the battle, forcing him to let go of his brother or drown. Jack flailed frantically, screaming, “Danny!”

  He would never forget the image of Danny’s body as it rolled over in the current one last time and disappeared.

  Jack had spent the next several days trying to find Danny again. He slept in the woods along the river, built fires, and ate what small critters he could find. He discovered that he could focus on animals such as squirrels and fish, and, if he did it right, he could infect their brain or their heart without tainting their meat. He ruined a few, turning them completely rotten, but it didn’t take long for him to get the knack at targeting their organs once he puzzled it out.

  After a while he knew, he was never going to find Danny. He also knew he never wanted to go home. Once his father found out Danny was dead, it would just be another reason for him to drink and beat on him. No, he wasn’t going home.

  Then, mourning the loss of Danny shifted his thoughts to Garrett. Garrett, who had humiliated him and killed the one person in the world he loved, Danny. At first, Jack didn’t want to live, but now, eleven days later, he lived for one purpose – to kill Garrett. But he wouldn’t just kill him straightaway. No, he didn’t deserve mercy. Garrett needed to feel what he had felt. He would kill everyone he loved first.

  Sanity had departed days ago, and what was left now was vengeful and broken. In the late evening of the eleventh day, Jack sat on a sandbar stoking a fire and talking with Danny. He wasn’t sure when talking out loud to Danny had started or how it happened. “I’m going back, Danny! You hear me! I’m going back to find that son of a bitch Garrett Turek and his friends, and I’m going to make them pay! Lenny, Pete, and those outsiders too! All of ’em are going to pay for what they did to you, Danny! Garrett’s mom, his brother, anyone who ever smiled at him, Danny! They are all going to die, and he is going to live to see it. Then I’m going to kill Garrett slow, starting by rotting his balls off!” he screamed out over the river, his voice cracking in rage as spittle flew from his mouth.