by Justin Swapp
“Why on earth would you say such a thing, Marcus? You have an overactive imagination,” his grandma pointed the broom toward him, “you know that, don’t you?” She began sweeping again.
Marcus didn’t know what to do. His grandma wasn’t acting like herself.
“Ellie,” Marcus tilted his head toward the door several times. She nodded and they met up in the kitchen.
“What do you remember?” Marcus asked, sitting down to the kitchen table.
Ellie recounted the events just like Marcus remembered them. Then, he filled in the gaps of information for the time since she’d been unconscious.
“They really took Grandpa?” Ellie asked, choking up a bit. “We need answers.”
“Yeah, we do.” He pulled out the small sphere that Caleb had given him and showed her the captured blue wisps swirling inside.
“Whoa,” Ellie said. She wiped a tear with her arm and then reached out to touch the sphere. She stopped short. As she got close, the little hairs on the back of her hand rose up. “What happened to it? It’s different.”
Suddenly they heard something hit the ground behind them.
Grandma stood there, her mouth gaping open and the broom lay on the floor. Marcus wasn’t sure how long she had been standing there.
“Where did you get that?” she hissed with her eyes fixed on the small sphere in Marcus’s hand.
“Do you know what it is?” Marcus asked. “If you do, please tell me. I need to know.”
Then it was if she snapped into another personality. “Uh…” she bent and picked up the broom. “No, I don’t.”
“Then why did you react like that? What’s going on with you?”
“We could have died in there, Grandma,” Ellie said.
“Grandpa really is gone,” Marcus added. “The people kept saying they were looking for the Dun—”
“—Bhar?” finished his grandma, taking a deep breath. She joined them at the table, easing into her seat.
“Yes, that’s it,” Ellie said. “They said they were Dun-Bhar and—”
Grandma gasped. Her hands trembled. “They said that? They didn’t hurt him, did they?”
Ellie said, “We need you, Grandma. Strange things have been happening for weeks. Things we don’t understand. You have to tell us what is going on. It’s not safe to keep us in the dark anymore.”
“But did they hurt him?” She began to cry at her own words.
“You saw the place. They had a piece of crystal, and they shot some light out of it, and it wrapped Grandpa up like a cocoon.”
“If I tell you what is going on, Marcus,” Grandma held a shaking hand up to her mouth, “I am afraid I will set you down a path you can never return from. Your grandfather never would permit it.”
“Anything, Grandma. Tell me anything.”
She considered him for a moment. Her eyes shifted from the sphere in his hand to his face and back again.
“Some people out there don’t appreciate the way we run the family business. So we’ve tried to lay low, to avoid those people at all costs.”
“What kind of an answer is that?” Ellie asked, kicking the table leg nearest her. “How about some real answers, Grandma? No more nonsense.”
Suddenly Grandma’s eyes fixed on the sphere. A shadow moved across her face.
“That ball…did you,” she paused to take a deep breath, “use it?” She covered her mouth and looked away.
“Use it?” Marcus asked. “How would I?”
“Did you pull it out during the robbery, or point it at someone when you were upset?”
Marcus answered, “Well, yeah, when they were taking Grandpa… I didn’t know what else to do. I fished around in my pockets and there it was.”
“And what did you do with it?”
“I pulled it out. I was going to throw it at them,” Marcus stopped a moment to shake his head. “It seems silly when I say it now, but it was all I could think to do.”
“Then what? What happened?”
“It’s hard to describe. It was like little strands of, well, blue air started floating from the people in black toward my marble.” He lifted the sphere. “See, you can still see them trapped in there.”
Marcus continued; “Then the short man yelled something about a drain, like he was warning the girl that was with him.”
“Drain? You’re sure that was the word he used?”
“Positive. I thought it was weird, too. I never expected robbers to talk about our plumbing during a break-in. A moment later their crystal stopped working. They argued with each other, and then they pulled out another crystal.”
Grandma’s eyes teared up again. She pounded her fist against the table and looked away. “We’ve done everything we could to shield you from this all these years. It always works its way into our lives again, uninvited.”
“Who were those people, Grandma?” Marcus asked. “And how we can protect ourselves?
“How do we get Grandpa back?” Ellie added. “That’s what I want to know.” For a moment the room fell silent. Their grandma cried again.
“I need a minute.” She swallowed hard as she stood, then rushed out of the room.
She’s been through a lot, Marcus thought, and now she just lost her husband, too. Then it really hit him. They had lost grandpa. He had…
Ellie asked, “What did she mean by family business? I mean, we have been helping with the family business, haven’t we?”
“I don’t know.” Marcus tried to swallow his emotions. “I mean, yeah, we have been watching the shop but she must have meant something else.”
“Perhaps you were right before. Maybe they do have a side business. You remember that woman that came by the first day we worked in the shop?”
“Yeah, maybe…” Marcus’s voice trailed off. He changed the subject. “Something really weird happened there at the end, Ellie.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, the woman’s voice changed, and she sounded like a kid. After that, Tofu jumped on her and tore part of her mask off.”
“Good for you, Tofu!” She gave him an extra scratch behind the ears, which he seemed to enjoy very much. “What did you see?”
Marcus paused a moment, embarrassed to even suggest it. “I think it was Elizabeth Straton.”
Ellie glared at Marcus for a moment. Then, she grinned and waited for him to say something else. When he didn’t, she laughed loud.
“Knock it off,” Marcus said. “I know how stupid it sounds, but that’s what I heard. And then when I saw her face—”
“No way; you were in shock, Marcus. Elizabeth Straton would only show up to a photo shoot, or maybe a beauty salon grand opening. What would she be doing breaking into The Magic Shop? Besides, the Elizabeth I know would never hide her pretty little face behind anything.”
“I knew you’d say that, so I’ve been thinking. When did we see her last?”
“The last day of school, silly. How could you forget that? She made a fool of herself, storming off, crying—”
“Nope,” Marcus wagged a finger at his sister, “we saw her at that magic talent show, remember? She won the apprenticeship with the magician, The Great Faustino.”
Ellie shuddered at the name and then took a deep breath. “Okay, so let’s say you did see Elizabeth Straton. What now? We storm into her house and demand that they hand her over? We need to focus on Grandpa, and not some schoolgirl crush you’ve repressed for years.”
“Funny,” Marcus said wryly. “Who needs to focus now? Look, all I’m suggesting is that we break into The Magic Box and see what they are up to. Maybe that is where they took Grandpa?
“Wait a second,” Ellie sat up a little straighter. “Where did Grandma go? Shouldn’t she be back by now?”
They left the kitchen and made for the living room. The dust and smoke had finally settled and there was no sign of Grandma. They continued to the shop where Marcus saw her pacing from window to window, murmuring.
Is she losing it? H
e thought.
She took a pinch of a purple powder from a leather pouch and sprinkled it along the windowsills.
“What are you doing, Grandma?” he asked.
She didn’t respond but continued mumbling as she did whatever it was that she was doing.
“Grandma!” Ellie raised her voice. She clenched her fists at her side.
Nothing.
“Aren’t you even the least bit concerned that Grandpa is missing?” Ellie stomped her foot on the floor to punctuate her sentence. “I mean, what’s with you lately, woman?”
Grandma stopped with her back to the children and stared out the window.
“You have to be honest with us, Grandma,” Marcus said. “Do you want us to end up like Grandpa?”
Grandma dropped to the floor landing in a sitting position. She put her hands in her face and sobbed.
“We’ll find him and get him back,” Ellie rushrf over to put a hand on her shoulder.
“I shouldn’t have said that, Grandma,” Marcus approached her slowly. “This is hard for you, but it’s hard for us too.”
Their grandma sobbed but said nothing. Tofu trotted into the room and sat in front of her, gaping at her like he waited for a bone.
“We’re going after these people, Grandma,” Marcus said. “I don’t know how, but we’ll find Grandpa. Any answers you could give us would just save time.”
“Who’s hungry?” Charlotte asked, suddenly wiping her eyes. “We need to eat.”
Ellie asked, “What? You’ve seriously lost your mind.”
“Despite everything your grandpa had asked,” she shook her head and took a deep breath, “this is the only way.”
Marcus looked at Ellie intently and whispered, “Just play along.”
Ellie straightened her shirt and tucked her hair behind her ears. “What are you in the mood for, Grandma?”
“Chinese,” her grandma replied with a starry-eyed look.
Ellie turned back to Marcus. “But she knows we hate—”
Suddenly Marcus heard a powerful slap and diverted his attention to the front door. The door gave way and splintered down the center. A fierce wind gust swooshed through the shop, knocking the children to the ground. Marcus lay stunned, as six strong men in black satin uniforms stepped over the debris and lined up like they were at a military training camp. Their uniforms were trimmed in red. They bore no weapons that he could see.
A moment later, a tall, thin female, elegant and beautiful, gracefully entered the shop. Marcus thought she looked familiar. She wore her glossy black hair straight, flowing long and seamlessly over an exotic red gown.
“Take him,” she ordered coldly. The woman was Asian, and beautiful, but fierce.
“Do something, Grandma,” Ellie said.
Their grandmother didn’t even blink.
Two men stepped forward and Marcus suddenly felt a pit in his stomach. He couldn’t explain it but he wanted to retch in front of everyone, to rid the sickness that only goes away once you vomit it out. It was debilitating. He couldn’t think straight.
“Don’t touch him,” Ellie picked up a piece of wood and threw it at one man. The wood connected with the man’s leg, but didn’t distract him.
“Take them both,” Grandma said.
“We’re not interested in both of them,” the Asian woman flicked her hair and exposing a large dragon tattoo on her right shoulder. “I’ve already told you that.”
“Grandma?” Ellie’s eyes widened, “You… did this?”
The men finally took hold of Marcus. He felt sick; worse than he had ever felt in his life. And strangely, unexpectedly, he also felt incensed and enraged. He suddenly wanted to kill these men. Not just the two that were after him; all of them. He felt like he needed to. His eyesight blurred and the room darkened around him.
Ellie groped the floor around her for something to throw. She moved the rubble around and found something sharp, something crystalline.
She grabbed the crystal shard and motioned to throw it just when the men took hold of Marcus. She followed through, but the crystal did not leave her hand.
The Asian woman’s eyes widened as Ellie extended the crystal toward the men. Several tendrils of yellow mist blasted out from the end of the crystal and instantly wrapped around the intruders. The men collapsed, but the tendrils disappeared. They stood again, brushed themselves off, and grabbed Marcus, pulling him up under his arms.
The Asian woman lifted an eyebrow. “Hmm. On second thought, bring them both.”
Groggy, Marcus watched helplessly as another pair of men grabbed Ellie. The Asian woman produced a small, grey pellet that she threw to the ground.
Smoke again clouded The Magic Shop, and Marcus felt dizzy. His eyes blurred. He felt the men drag him away. He looked for his sister but couldn’t see her.
“Ellie?” he managed, but she wouldn’t respond. He would only remember one voice, one sentence.
“I’m so sorry it came to this, children,” Grandma said.
10
Elba's Test
Marcus felt a stinging sensation as he cracked his blurry eyes. No matter how hard he blinked, everything appeared to be enshrouded in a red haze. While he struggled with his sight, his other senses, which seemed to be working well enough, started taking in his surroundings. The humid air smelled greasy and pungent, and something sizzled behind him. Then he became aware of a clanking sound, followed by the murmur of muted conversations. As the moments passed, his surroundings faded from view.
“And what would you like, sir?” a low, pleasant voice said from somewhere to his left.
Turning toward the sound, Marcus squeezed his eyes tightly. Upon opening his eyes, a finely dressed Chinese man with a towel draped over his forearm came into focus. The man was bent over slightly, smiling at him.
Marcus surveyed his surroundings over each shoulder as if the surrounding waiters could attack him at any moment. He felt oddly irritable. He was encircled by tables, and patrons all around him were engaged in their own conversations and focusing on their meals. No one but this waiter was paying attention to Marcus.
“Um… I don’t know,” Marcus said, realizing that he was in what seemed like a perfectly regular restaurant. “What do you recommend?” The waiter offered Marcus a menu, and he took it. He wasn’t sure how he had gotten here, but he knew he hated Chinese food. This wasn’t going to improve his mood any.
“I strongly recommend the mutton stewed in licorice root,” the waiter said with a charming twinkle in his eye. He emphasized the word licorice strongly.
“Sure, whatever,” Marcus said, waving the waiter off. He couldn’t help but think that mutton sounded nasty, but he didn’t actually plan on eating it.
The waiter bowed and left for the kitchen to place his order.
Marcus felt groggy, like he had just awakened from a bad dream or a sleepless night. He watched the people around him, but couldn’t help but feel like everything was too normal. The last few weeks had been full of unexplainable events. He really didn’t know what to think anymore. I should get out of this place while I still can, he thought.
“Here you are, sir.” The waiter had appeared at his side and placed his order on the table in front of him. He clasped his hands together and waited anxiously for Marcus to try the food. This waiter was going to annoy him.
Marcus looked down at the steaming bowl in front of him. Large chunks of meat were stewed in a thin, dark broth. The sharp smell from the meal was more inviting than he had anticipated. Strangely enough, it was relaxing. He wondered what time it was, and when the last time he had eaten was. He was hungry.
Marcus picked up the spoon that the waiter had placed on the table and dipped it into the bowl. The waiter gravitated toward Marcus as he buried the spoon, then he sprang back up as Marcus brought it back up to his lips.
“And?” the waiter asked, bright-eyed.
As Marcus tasted the broth, a strange warmth passed through him. He did not answer the waiter immediately
, but rather sipped it again.
“It’s… good,” Marcus said, surprising himself. The waiter bowed happily and left without another word.
I must have been pretty hungry to eat Chinese food, Marcus thought. He picked up the fork and the knife on the other side of the bowl and cut up the meat. Every sip and every bite he took helped him feel better. Where he had been restless and agitated before, now a soothing peace washed over him, and things slowed down.
When he had finished, Marcus sat back in his seat and sighed. No food had satisfied him so. He would have to get the recipe.
“All done?” the waiter asked, appearing again at his side. “Feel better?”
“Yes,” Marcus said as his curiosity set in, “and yes.” He hadn’t stopped to think where he was, or how he had really gotten here. Could he trust the restaurant? Maybe he shouldn’t have eaten that food.
“Where am I?” Marcus asked. And how had the waiter known he would feel better? He didn’t ask that last question.
“Good,” the waiter said, bowing. “You feel better. Very good.” He collected Marcus’s bowl from the table and replaced it with a fortune cookie, and then left for the kitchen.
As Marcus stared at the fortune cookie, his mind wandered.
Where were Ellie and Grandma? Weren’t they with him before?
Marcus’s memory was cloudy. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t exactly recall what had happened before arriving here. He had some images, flashes of memories, but he wasn’t completely sure.
He would have to think about those events later, because right now there was a fortune cookie before him, just waiting to be devoured. He chuckled. The answers to all his future problems, all his questions, wrapped up in a cookie that probably came from Sam’s Club.
He picked up the cookie, weighting it in his hand for a moment, and then broke it in half. A little white slip of paper linked the two halves.