by Sourav Deka
“So now what?” Dad asked.
“We will go directly after the descendant,” Michael said. “We won’t waste our time waiting for Tanner.”
Suddenly I saw a car flipping in the air coming towards us.
“Watch out!” I shouted.
We all ran in different directions and dodged the car. Tanner showed up growling at a distance and kept throwing vehicles at us. All the civilians there were screaming and running in fear, but some got crushed in the middle. We all took cover to hide from Tanner.
“Throw the smokes,” Michael shouted.
“No, he is very far, he needs to come closer,” I shouted back.
“Aah, how will we bring him closer?”
“We have to go close to him.”
“Everyone, keep changing cover and move close to him,” Michael shouted again. “We have to smoke him out.”
Tanner jumped and swung two of Savor’s helicopters in the air. Cops arrived at the place and started shooting him but it had no effect on Tanner. In a couple of minutes many cop cars and helicopters assembled in the place. All of them started shooting at Tanner. He became ferocious and crashed their cars by punching them and throwing them into the sky. All the cops were dead in a minute. He got mad in rage and growled at the sky. Dead bodies were lying everywhere.
“Look Ross, the descendant is running,” Michael pointed his finger at a man wearing a suit surrounded by some bodyguards. “Shoot him now.”
The descendant was running to get in his car. I aimed my gun at him, but Tanner jumped right before the descendant and picked him up.
“Wait, Tanner, wait!” I yelled. “Don’t kill him. Sam never asked you to kill any descendant.”
“But he asked me to kill you,” he growled.
“I can cure you. Sam lied. He can’t help you.”
“I don’t believe you, you didn’t help me,” he yelled. “You just kept doing your thing,” He picked up a car with his other hand and threw it towards me.
I ran and jumped as fast I could and dodged it.
“Throw the smokes,” Michael shouted.
Everyone threw smoke grenades. The whole area was covered with smoke.
“Use the flame……..”
“No, wait,” I interrupted Michael.
“What? He is blind in rage, you can’t make him understand,” Michael said.
“He is blind for the moment. There is enough smoke. He can’t find us. Let me talk, please.”
Michael tightened his cheeks. “Okay, okay. Go on. Just make it quick. The smoke won’t last longer.”
I nodded.
“Tanner, listen to me. I just want to talk,” I shouted.
“There is nothing to talk,” he said. “I kill you and Sam cures me. That’s it.”
“Sam is in prison, Tanner. He can’t help you, but we can.”
“You are lying.”
I scoffed. “Oh yeah? Why don’t you watch the news? He got arrested in Brazil.”
“I don’t trust you. You never did anything when I asked you to look for a solution.”
I nodded. “Yeah, you are right. But don’t forget what you did to us. Nobody wants to help you, they hate you and they have every right to be mad at you. But now I want to forget all of that, let bygones be bygones. I don’t want to increase my number of enemies,” my breath quickened. “I can help you now, and I will.”
Tanner paused for some seconds. “How? Tell me.”
“The seeds can cure any diseases Tanner, you know that. What you have is also a disease. It’s an infection you got at the magical forest. It can cure you. Give us the descendant, let me kill him. It’s the last one. We can unlock the seeds today and you can cure yourself.”
“What if you betray me?” he growled.
“I won’t. If I do, kill me. You are way stronger than me.”
Tanner took a pause for some seconds. “Okay, but if you betray me, I will kill each and every one of you. There will be no mercy.”
I nodded. “Okay, deal. Now put the descendant down. I am coming towards you.”
“Don’t make me regret this, Ross,” he said in a heavy voice.
“You won’t Tanner, you won’t. You will be cured, I give you my word. Put him down.”
The descendant was screaming in fear. I followed the descendant’s screaming voice, the whole area looked blurry. It was hard to see through the smoke.
Tanner was holding the descendant by grabbing his neck. “Kill him and finish this,” he said.
“What??? No!!!!” the descendant shivered. “No, please, no.”
I aimed my gun at the descendant and took the shot. His screams stopped and Tanner dropped his body on the ground.
Michael came towards the dead body and collected his blood in the cup. “Let’s get the seeds. Today is our lucky day,” he smiled and took a deep breath. “Ah, I have waited so long for this.”
*******************************
We all went to the cemetery in London where the seeds were hidden. We were finally going to unlock the seeds. All the hard work, all the sacrifices, all the pain, it was going to pay off. We walked inside the room beneath the west side of the cemetery. All the Savors and Tanner waited outside. Michael gathered the cups of the dead descendant’s blood and filled the empty cups attached to the grave.
“So, what’s the spell?” I asked.
Michael gave me a piece of paper. I looked at it, it was hard to pronounce.
“Is that the spell?” my forehead furrowed. “How to pronounce it?”
“Just read it,” Michael said.
“Lesata phoroney undoseeey famaar rafetu bogreta juanjen ulaateso domera manratu phelomanasa.’
The grave opened up, there was a bag inside covered in dust. I pulled it out. “Give me a knife,” I said.
“Wait!” Michael checked his coat. “Here it is,” he handed me his knife.
I cut the bag at the top. There were a lot of blue seeds inside.
“We did it,” I cried in joy.
Michael pulled out a couple of seeds from the bag and glanced at it. “Wow! We did it, finally,” his eyes became wet.
Dad and mom came closer to look at the seeds. “Finally, Oh my god!” Dad smelled the seeds. “After so many years, we did it. We made history.”
“Can I touch it,” Andrea said, taking a step forward.
“Yeah, look, it's beautiful. It’s the future in our hands,” I handed some seeds to her.
“Wow! It’s real,” she sniffed the seeds.
I felt dizzy, and my vision became blurry. I was losing my balance so I tried to grab the wall to keep standing. I didn’t see clearly, but it looked like everyone was experiencing the same. All of us were losing their balance and falling on the ground. I tried to stand up but felt weak and fell again on my knees. My vision became more unclear. After some seconds I noticed everyone fell down except Andrea. She was smiling holding the seeds in her hands.
She came closer to me and gazed into my eyes. “I am sorry, Ross. It has to be done,” she turned around and left.
“Wait, what? What has to be done?” I gasped. Everything went black and I passed out like everyone.
CHAPTER 24
“Ross, wake up! Wake up!” I heard someone shouting at me shaking my head.
I opened my eyes slowly. Dad and Martin were beside me. I was lying down in a bed. I guess it was some hotel.
“What happened?” I rubbed my eyes.
“Andrea was a traitor, Ross,” dad said. “She fooled us.”
“What? No…………..no, no, how can that be possible? She was on our side the whole time. She was the one who helped me from the beginning.”
“I am afraid she was playing us all the time.”
Michael was shouting at his phone in anger. He was roaming around the room shouting again and again. He was devastated.
“Who is he calling?” I asked.
“He is angry, very much angry,” Martin said. “He is calling his hackers to track down Andrea, and
they are failing.”
Michael threw his phone at the wall with every ounce of energy he had and it broke into pieces. “God damn it! Idiots, bloody idiots,” he punched the wall. “I am working with a bunch of idiots.”
“What happened?” I said.
“My hackers are failing every time, it’s like she doesn’t exist in this world,” he yelled. “They are trying, but failing every damn time,” he sat on the bed massaging his forehead. “She must have done some witchy thing.”
“No, she isn’t a witch. She doesn’t know magic.”
“She betrayed us,” Michael glared at me. “What does that make you think? Huh? She is an Aivor, she is a witch.”
“She must have been forced,” my lips trembled. “Maybe her mother is kidnapped.”
“You are saying this because you have affection for her, Ross. Think, think,” Michael’s face turned red. “She played you all the time, she played all of us.”
“Wait! Wait! There must be something, believe me. I know her,” I said, getting off the bed.
Michael gazed into my eyes. “Believe me, you don’t.”
“We have to call Jensen. He knows a lot of things. He helped us. He can tell us why Andrea betrayed us.”
“Okay, call him. He listens to you every time. You call.”
I took a deep breath. “Jensen, I call on you.”
After a few seconds Jensen’s voice answered. “Yes, Ross.”
“I have to ask you something.”
“I know what you are going to ask. I am sorry, Ross. Michael is right. Andrea is an Aivor.”
“But why?” my face contorted. “I loved her.”
“She did love you, but her goal comes first, it was important for her. It was Aivor’s goal, Ross. She had to do it.”
I gasped. “But………………….I………I……….”
“Her mother is Aivor’s secret leader. They planned it.”
“Mrs. Gloria?”
“Yes, she planned everything. That’s why she told you about the diary. She knew you are going to look for the seeds. She knew how much you were curious to find out about your parents.”
“I am going to kill her, both of them,” Michael said in a heavy voice.
“No,” I said. “I can talk to her. I can change her mind.”
“She took the seeds, Ross,” he pounded the wall in front of him with his fists. “She destroyed the seeds.”
“No, she hasn’t,” Jensen said.
Michael’s eyes widened and he turned around. “She hasn’t destroyed it yet?”
“There is a fact about the seeds, it doesn’t destroy that easily.”
“What?”
“You can’t cut or squash the seeds. It can’t be destroyed like that. It can only be destroyed by burning it, but that also takes time, three hours to burn completely.”
“Tell us, where is she now?” I said. “We still have time.”
“There is a cliff in the east, eleven miles from here. She is there with some Aivors.”
“Are you sure?” Michael asked. “My guys searched that area.”
“She did some spell to cloak her, that’s why Michael’s hackers were unable to find her. She is there.”
I nodded. “Let’s go. Take some fire extinguishers.”
We got into our cars to find Andrea. We still had a chance to save the seeds before it’s too late. Andrea, why did you do this to me? I was such a fool. She played me for so long. She and her mother, it was their plan all along. They used me, they knew I was a rare child, they knew I could unlock the cure and they manipulated me. Bloody Aivors! One of them was with me all along and I didn’t even know. Damn it! I even fell in love with her.
But still there was hope. I know she felt for me, she loved me. I can talk to her, get through her and stop her. I can make her realize that she is making a mistake. The seeds can save millions of people. Aivors just manipulated her to their bidding. Her own mother manipulated her.
Michael drove as fast as he could. This was our only chance. We couldn’t just let it go.
“Jensen, you know this is important. Isn’t it?” Michael said. “You could have told me where she was, I wouldn’t have wasted my energy on the hackers.”
“You didn’t call me, I am a ghost,” Jensen said. “I come when anyone calls me.”
“Well, ghosts can also show themselves when they want to. This is an important situation.”
“That doesn’t work with me. I am dead. I am on the other side. When a living person calls me, I can show up. The connection should be started by a living person.”
Michael frowned. “Sometimes you don’t show up when I call.”
“Well, sometimes you call me for your stupid problems.”
“Stupid problems? I am Savor’s leader, damn it!” he yelled.
“Stop, both of you,” I interrupted. “Concentrate on the current problem. Andrea is a witch, she made all of us pass out at the cemetery, remember? How are we going to stop her? Did anyone think of that?”
“Ask the intelligent ghost,” Michael said.
“I can’t do anything, I am dead,” Jensen replied.
“You were a witch when you died, Jensen,” I said. “You were from Aivor. Do some witchy thing.”
“I was a witch when I was alive, now I am dead, just a ghost.”
“Please, there has to be another way.”
“I can try. I can draw energy from the place where I died. Witches mark a lot of energy in the spot where they die.”
“Good, then do it, what’s the problem?”
“I am not sure if it’s going to work. I can do a protection spell for all of you, but it may wear off. I am dead. I have to hold that off. It will make Aivors vulnerable, and all of you invincible. The magic can diminish or increase simultaneously. I can’t guarantee that it will protect you all the time on the cliff.”
“It’s worth a shot. Andrea is a witch. She will take us out easily. We have to take the chance.”
“Okay, I will prepare myself. Call me on the cliff.”
We reached the cliff and saw the bag of seeds burning at the edge. It was surrounded by Andrea and some Aivors. Sun was shining high up in the sky, I wished if it would have rained and taken out the fire. Why sunny today, huh? Rain would have helped today. I looked up and shook my head.
“Jensen, are you here?” I said.
“Yes, I did the spell. Just hope that it works,” Jensen replied.
We all stepped out of our cars and started shooting at the Aivors. The bullets didn’t affect them, they were like invincible. It touched them and fell on the ground.
“Go away, Ross. I don’t want to hurt you,” Andrea said.
“You know I can’t,” I stepped forward. “You are better than this Andrea. What about using the seeds to help people?”
She clenched her jaw. “I lied, every time I lied.”
“What about when you loved me? Look me in the eye and say that was a lie.”
She paused for a minute. “I do love you, but this is bigger than any of this. The seeds must be destroyed.”
“No, you are saying this because Aivor made you think like that, they manipulated you. You know the seeds can save lives.”
“Save lives,” she scoffed. “Aivors and Savors have been at war for almost seven centuries. Almost seven centuries, Ross! So many people died that we lost count. The seeds took many lives before it was found, think what it can do if it comes in human hands.”
“You are not thinking straight, Andrea. Change your perspective, look at the good things it can do. It was made to cure diseases. It was never a bad thing. It was invented to save people, to end their suffering.”
“Suffering, huh?” she chuckled. “The man who created it was a psycho, a traitor, a murderer,” her face reddened. “It was just a mistake which needs to be corrected, a mistake which he made centuries ago.”
“I understand Nibshaw was a murderer, a vicious person. But he made a great discovery for humanity,” I sighe
d. “I know people died, but we can’t bring them back. They are sacrificed for the seeds. It was for a greater cause.”
“Greater cause,” she laughed. “That’s what Michael fitted in your mind. Have you looked at yourself, Ross? What have you become? You were just a kid whose parents left him. You were a good person. But now look at you, you turned into a killer,” she stepped closer to me. “Tell me how you feel inside now. You are starting to enjoy killing, aren’t you?”
I took a pause and looked away. “It was necessary.”
She half smiled. “You liked it, didn’t you? I can say at first you felt guilty, I remember you told me about it when you killed the first descendant. But as time went by, you liked killing them.”
I shook my head. “I don’t, I had to do it. It was their destiny. They needed to die for the seeds. I know I am changed, but I did it for the greater good.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on Ross! You killed Ambrose’s father, he was your friend,” she chuckled. “You didn’t show mercy to him, now he is an orphan because of you.”
I gulped. “I didn’t want to. As I said it was necessary.”
Her forehead creased. “Necessary? Don’t give me that excuse. Michael manipulated you,” she chuckled and shook her head lightly. “Everyone manipulated you. Your own dad didn’t stop you from becoming a murderer. It’s pathetic.”
“Enough!!!!” I yelled. “It was my choice, the only one who manipulated me and everyone was you,” I pointed my finger at her. “You lied, you betrayed, you are the one who broke my heart.”
“Yes I lied, I betrayed,” she yelled back. “Then what? You won’t understand even if I tried. You are just dreaming good things. How the seeds can save humanity? How can it be a great discovery? How will it help people?”
“It’s good to have hope, at least I was thinking about helping people.”
“You are wrong. If the seeds are out in the world, sooner or later it will bring destruction. We shouldn’t go against nature.”
“You can think whatever you want to think, but I have to stop you,” I aimed my gun at her. “This is your last chance.”
“Last chance?” she scoffed. “You don’t know how much powerful I am. You all don’t stand a chance against me. Go away and I will spare you.”