by Sourav Deka
“Yeah,” he nodded. “They are special.”
“Are there other rare children?”
“There were,” he took a deep breath. “But they are all dead. Usually members from both groups come finding their descendant’s child at some point of time. No matter how hard they try to hide, they find them.”
I uncrossed my arms. “That’s why Sam was spying on us.”
“They will come for you, Ross. You are the elder one. If they don’t get you they will go for Aaron.”
“When?”
He shrugged. “I wish I knew. But soon.”
“But the objectives of both groups are different, how can I join both?” I shrugged. “It’s impossible.”
“They will let you choose, but……………” Dad took a pause.
“But what dad?”
“When you select one, the other group will kill you on the spot.”
My eyes widened. “What? Wouldn’t the group I choose going to protect me?”
“They will, they will, but no rare child survived till date. Every time, the rejected group succeeds to kill the rare child.”
I lowered my head and gulped. “So, that means Aaron and I won’t survive no matter what we choose.”
“No, this time the situation will be different,” he grabbed my shoulder. “It won’t happen. We will find the seeds before they come looking for you and Aaron.”
“What if they find us first?” I shrugged. “Sam did.”
“They won’t. We will find the seeds before them.”
“But Sam already got us.”
“It doesn’t matter. He can’t ask you to choose. The leader has to ask you to choose.”
“He is not Aivor’s leader?”
Dad shook his head. “He just works for them.”
“But people are trying to find the seeds for centuries. How can we find it soon?” I shook my head lightly. “It’s not possible, dad.”
“We are close, Ross. We will find it. Don’t worry,” he said softly. “I won’t let anything happen to you. We will survive this. When all this is over we can finally have a normal safe life.”
I nodded. “I hope so.”
We paused for a minute. For me it was a bit hard to process all the things he said. No matter what we did we were never safe. Aaron and I are rare child, they would never stop looking for us. We never knew what we were but now knowing that we know, we will never be the same. I looked around, Aaron and Andrea were eating at the back. Rowena and Keith were resting at the front and Dave, Mark and Contessa were chatting together at the back. I was stressed. The plane has been flying for hours. Is Sam taking us to his boss? What if he forces me to choose Aivor as I am a rare child? Questions were roaming my mind, but I had no choice, he wasn’t going to tell anything until he wants to.
I took a deep breath. “What do you think? Where is Sam taking us?”
“I don’t know,” dad said, pressed his lips. “But I guess something bad is going to happen. Nothing goes well with Sam.”
“I know,” I said.
I went to Aaron and Andrea. They were sitting at the back eating. I explained everything dad and Sam told me.
Aaron’s forehead furrowed. “What? You and I are from both Savor and Aivor?” he said.
“Yeah, both of them will come for us,” I massaged my temples. “That’s the problem because no one survived till date when both groups came looking for a rare child.’
“So isn’t there any way?” Andrea asked.
I shook my head. “No, it’s inevitable. They will come for me and Aaron.”
“What if we find the seeds first?” Aaron said.
“Dad also said the same thing. But think about it, for almost seven hundred years no one succeeded in finding it. What makes you think that we will find it soon,” I twisted my mouth. “We are screwed.”
“No, Ross. We will find it, we have to find it,” he said. “Sam is taking us somewhere. Maybe it’s the final stage.”
“What if we find seeds?” I sighed. “Sam is with us. He is from Aivor. He will destroy it the minute he finds it. Everything we worked for will be for nothing.”
“Then let’s forget the seeds.”
A line etched between Andrea’s eyebrows. “Have you gone mad?” she said.
“We are not giving up the seeds, Aaron,” I said. “We worked so hard for it, we survived Tanner, we survived the monsters, we survived the magical forest for it and now he is just going to destroy it?” I shook my head. “No, I can’t let that happen.”
Aaron gulped. “Let him destroy it. We found dad. We will be able to live freely without moving from one place to another. We can start a new life.”
“No. We worked hard for the seeds. Dad gave his entire life finding the seeds. We should have it. The seeds can do wonders. It’s not only about us, Aaron, it’s more than that,” I grabbed his shoulders and looked into his eyes. “It’s about making a better future for the world.”
“But we agreed to find the seeds so that we can find out about our parents.”
“Yes, we did and we found dad. But now we are involved in it. Sam shouldn’t have it, Aaron. I am not going to let him have it.”
“Don’t be greedy, Ross. We will be finally able to live freely,” he said softly. “That’s our real reward.”
“No,” I shook my head. “I won’t let Sam waste it. It can help people, it can cure any disease. Imagine what the seeds can do? It will be a great discovery, the world needs it.”
“Do you really think that if you give it to someone they will help people?” he scoffed. “They will use it only for themselves like the king tried to do. This world is full of crappy people.”
“Then I won’t give it to anyone. We will find a way, so that it doesn’t fall into wrong hands.”
“Sam has many men, Ross. We won’t survive if we even go against him, especially now. Let him do what he wants to do. We will have a normal life, accept that as our reward.”
“No,” I inhaled deeply. “We survived from Tanner. We can take out Sam.”
“Ross, that was different then.”
“No, we can take him if we all work together.”
“How?” Andrea interrupted our conversation.
“He is taking us somewhere. That means he needs us. If he would have wanted us dead we would have been dead.”
Andrea shrugged. “But for what?”
“Aaron and I are rare children. Maybe it has something to do with us.”
Andrea shook her head. “No, it doesn’t make any sense. Why is he taking all of us?”
I looked outside through the window, clouds were covering the sky. “I guess we will find out after the plane lands.”
“I have got a really bad feeling about this,” Aaron said.
CHAPTER 11
After a couple of hours the plane landed. We had no idea where it landed. The whole city was covered in fog and created an eerie atmosphere. I came out of the plane climbing down the stairs, a strong breeze outside touched my skin and froze my body. I rubbed my hands to warm up a little and inhaled deeply. We all gathered in a group while Sam’s men surrounded us.
Sam came in front of us. “Welcome to London. The place, where all this began,” he widened his hands and smiled.
“You brought us to London?” I said. “There isn’t anything mentioned in the diary about London.”
“There was,” Sam jammed his hands in his pockets and raised his chin. “You didn’t read it all, Ross.”
Dave shook his head. “No, there isn’t. I read the whole diary,” he said.
Sam took out the diary from his coat, opened a page and showed it to us. “Look there is a riddle after the numbers on the trees,” he pointed his finger at the riddle.
I took the diary and read aloud the riddle. “Blood gave me life. Blood takes life, the place where it started, the cure of life.”
“See, the place where it started. It’s here in London,” Sam said.
“How are you sure?” Aaron
asked.
“I came here before. This is the next step after someone survives the magical forest.”
“So, you escaped the magical forest before?”
Sam shook his head. “No, I never went to that hell, but many of our friends did.”
“So what happens now?” I asked.
“There is a cemetery a few miles away. We have to go there.”
“What’s there?” I closed the diary. “More clues?”
He nodded. “Yes. That’s the place where the seeds are hidden. It’s the same place where Nibshaw lived centuries ago.”
“Then let’s finish this thing,” Contessa said.
After a few minutes seven cars arrived and surrounded us. Three of them were black colored SUVs and the other ones were Limousines.
“Let’s go,” Sam said.
Andrea, Aaron and I entered the same car. We had to think of something. We couldn’t just do what Sam says. We needed a plan. There was no chance that we were letting him win, he was from Aivor. If he finds the seeds he will destroy it.
Andrea was sitting beside me. “What is the plan?” she whispered in my ear.
“I don’t know,” I whispered back.
“So what? We are just going to go there?”
“Yeah, if Sam is telling the truth, we are finally close to the seeds.”
She bit her lower lip. “But he can’t be trusted.”
“I know, but we don’t have a choice.”
Sam took all of us to the cemetery. I looked through the car’s window. It was a huge one full of graves surrounded by trees which looked very old, the board at the entrance said it was built in 1858. As we reached the gate, the weather went bad and it began to rain. One of Sam’s men opened the car’s door and he stepped out of his car. His cigar got wet in the rain. He took it out of his mouth and threw it. We were sitting in our car looking at him. He glanced at us and walked towards our car.
He knocked on the car’s window. “What are you waiting for? Do you need an invitation? Come out of the car,” he said.
I opened up the window. “Can we wait in the car until rain stops?” I said.
“What? No, we will proceed. I am not wasting any more time.”
“Umm, I get sick easily when I get caught in rain or cold weather,” I rubbed my forearms.
He shook his head. “No, I am not wasting time. Get out of the car, Ross.”
“What will happen if we wait for the rain to stop? Huh?” Aaron said.
“Don’t make me angry, guys,” Sam gritted his teeth. “I don’t like wasting my time.”
“But the rain……………” I said.
“Screw the rain,” he raised his voice. “Come out of the car.”
“No, please, just a couple of minutes, the rain will stop.”
Sam got suspicious and stared at me. “Is this some trick? Huh?” he took out his gun. “Step out of the car now.”
“No, I get sick man,” I said, shivering.
Sam pointed his finger at me. “As I said, I won’t waste any more time. This is about the seeds and you are tensed about getting sick in this stupid rain?”
“Let him stay in the car, the rest of us can go,” Aaron said.
Sam shook his head. “No, it’s unacceptable. You all are coming with me. I am not leaving any of you behind.”
“If you think he will escape, keep one of your men with him,” Contessa said.
“Yeah, keep more than one of your men, if you aren’t satisfied,” Dad said.
“Aah, you all are annoying me now. Do you think I am stupid? Is this some kind of your plan to escape?” Sam slammed the car’s door. “I am not leaving anyone and that’s final. Can’t handle cold huh?” he yelled, “Idiots!!”
“Wait, don’t you have any umbrella?” Mark asked.
Sam stared at Mark. “What do you think? We all are on vacation? Huh? We came directly from the airport. Now don’t waste any more of my time,” his face turned red. “Get out Ross, now.”
“Okay, okay, wait,” I came outside the vehicle, it was raining heavily. The moment I got out of the car my shirt got drenched and a shiver ran through my body. I felt like I would freeze in minutes.
Aaron came to me and opened his bag. He took out his green jacket and handed it to me. “Wear it, it has a hood. It will help,” he said.
“Thanks, Aaron.” I wore the jacket and covered my head with the hood.
We all walked inside the cemetery. There was no one there apart from us. The dark clouds surrounded us and the rain became more intense. It gave me an eerie feeling.
“So, where are the seeds hidden?” Dad asked.
“Just follow me,” Sam gestured his hand to follow him.
He went towards the west side of the cemetery. There was a stair leading to a small room beneath the cemetery. The door to the room was locked and five empty cups were attached to it. It had grills so we could look inside but we couldn’t see clearly as it was dark. The room got a bit flooded due to rain.
“The seeds are hidden here?” Mark said, trying to peek through the door.
“Yeah, and this is where I need you all,” Sam said.
“So what do we have to do?” Aaron asked.
Sam pointed his finger towards the cups. “You see those cups attached to the door? That is the key to unlock it.”
“Those cups?” I said.
“Yeah, you all survived and escaped from the magical forest. We need the blood of five youngest humans who survived there. One teaspoon will be enough.”
Andrea’s eyes widened. “What blood? I am not giving you any blood,” she shook her head nervously. “Hell no.”
“Then I am afraid, I have to take it from you by force,” Sam said.
I looked at Andrea. “Andrea, it isn’t so hard,” I said. “Just a teaspoon will be enough. Aaron and I did this before when we helped Tanner.”
“What? No, I am not giving him any blood,” she raised her hands and stepped backward.
I grabbed her shoulders and made her look at me. “Listen, it isn’t that tough. It won’t hurt much. Trust me.”
She removed my hand from her shoulders. “No, no, no, I am not giving my blood, it's final.” She took a step back.
“Can’t you take blood from someone else replacing her?” Aaron said.
“What did I say? Huh? Only five youngest humans who survived the magical forest, that counts Ross, Andrea, Rowena, Keith and you,” Sam said. “If someone else gives blood, it won’t work.” He half smiled. “And one more thing,” he cleared his throat. “One of you has to die.”
My eyes widened. “Die! No!! You didn’t tell us anything about this. No one needs to die. I told you no more killing,” I raised my voice.
“Well, I didn’t promise anything, Ross. This is what needs to be done. Just one of you needs to die. Make your decision,” Sam reloaded his gun.
“No, no, no, wait. There must be some other way,” I said.
“There is no other way, make your decision fast,” he rubbed his forehead with the gun. “I don’t have time.”
“But there must be some other way,” Aaron said. “Where are the instructions given? Huh?”
Sam pointed his gun at the door. “Look at the door. Instructions are written there in small letters.”
I didn’t know what to do. I can’t let anyone die. I had to do something or else Sam is going to kill one of us. I walked up to the grills and peeked inside. I checked the instructions. Sam was right. It said that one of the cups needs dead blood of one of the young people who survived the magical forest.
I turned to Sam. “What if we find some other people who survived the magical forest?” I said.
He shook his head. “There are no other people who survived the forest. Anyone who did before, died.”
Aaron looked at me. “I told you, Ross, going after the seeds won’t go well. Now it came to this, we are going to die.” He pressed his lips and looked away. “We should have just left the seeds.”
“You ar
e boring me pals, you all decide or else I will shoot any one of you randomly,” Sam twisted his cheek a little. “So make it quick.”
“Kill me instead of them. They are young,” Dad stepped forward.
“The younger five only, old man,” Sam pointed his gun towards dad. “Step back or I will kill you for free,”
“No, no, we……………” Andrea tried to speak but Sam interrupted. “Shut up! Don’t try to tell me there is another way, because I know there isn’t.”
“But……………”
He checked his watch. “You all are irritating me, make it quick.”
“We need time,” I said, tightening my throat.
Sam took a look at his watch again. “Okay, five minutes given,” he said.
“What? No, I was…………………” I tried to speak and Sam interrupted. “4 minutes 58 seconds left.”
We all came up to the ground. It was still raining. Andrea, Aaron, Rowena, Keith and I gathered to discuss what we should do.
“What can we do now?” Aaron said.
“Run, run. That’s the best way,” Andrea said stammering. “I am not going to die here.”
“If we run, he is going to shoot someone, randomly,” I said. “Don’t be stupid.”
Rowena took a deep breath. “I will offer him myself,” she said.
“What?” Keith’s face drained of color. “No, you won’t,”
“I always hated my life, Keith. Our parents are dead. Don’t you remember how our aunt treats us? She made our life hell. Even if we get out of here, we will go back to our old life. I don’t want to go back to that life. I can’t live like that,” her lips shivered. “I am ready to die. At least I will be able to save you, Keith,” she gulped and looked at us. “And them too,” a tear ran down her cheek.
Keith shook his head. “No, we will not go to our aunt after this is over. There is a choice.”
Rowena glanced at him with her teary eyes. “You take that choice, Keith.”
“No, no,” he grabbed her hand. “We will both survive. Let’s run,” his eyes were wet.
“You know we can’t run from bullets. We all will get killed,” Rowena pushed away Keith and ran towards Sam. She shouted. “Kill me, I made my decision.”
We all ran towards her to stop her. Sam prepared his gun to shoot and aimed it at her. We reached her, but we were late. Sam fired his gun. Suddenly Keith pushed Rowena and took the bullet in his chest. He fell down on the ground bleeding, gasping for breath.