“You will not be punished since you were just here to help. Do not make it a habit to keep crossing paths with me.” She said in a low serious tone.
“I wasn’t able to catch him, I lost his trail.” Lotus said walking back to everyone.
“It’s okay, we will eventually find him again…. if this guy doesn’t find him first that is.” Ericka said looking down at Axyl.
Ericka immediately noticed Axyl’s clenched fist and his demeanor change. She made a mental note to cross reference Axyl’s face in their database when she got back to her headquarters.
“Let us walk you out, wolf boy, then we will be on our way.” Ericka gestured for Axyl to follow her.
Once they were out of sight, Bakari ran to the bar where Kas was still knocked unconscious. He started lightly patting his face to wake him up. Kas slurred his words.
“C’mon Kas, I need you to work with me. Just move one leg after the other.” Bakari finally got him off the ground and moving. “You’re so damn heavy, Kas.”
Finally headed home, Bakari had a lot on his mind. So much just happened, and it hadn’t fully processed yet.
4
Bakari couldn’t sleep so he sat on the edge of his bed in the darkness. His brain had finally had time to process what just happened, and when it hit him it was all he could think about. Sleep just wouldn’t come, and Kas snoring on the floor wasn’t helping. Redborn, Hunters, and wolves? What was going on? Nothing was making sense anymore. Beings that could breathe fire. People that hunted those beings, and then there was Axyl. So many questions but not one answer to go along with the questions. He made mental notes of everything as he lay down, trying to clear his mind until sleep finally came.
A loud knocking noise at the door got Bakari up out of bed. He sluggishly got up to answer the door, and to his surprise it was Bugawa. Bugawa stared at Bakari with a piercing glare causing his heart to race. Bakari’s mind raced, telling his body to move, but it wouldn’t listen to any of the commands his brain was sending to his body. He was paralyzed with fear, and this time Axyl or the Hunters weren’t around to save him. Bugawa walked towards him saying nothing, grabbing Bakari and lifting him from the ground by his neck, squeezing the life from his body slowly.
“Help! Help!” He managed to scream with what little life he had left, but no one was there. No one was listening to his cries for help.
“Bakari! Wake up!” Kas said, slapping his face. “Man, you all right? You were screaming for help. Somebody kicked your ass at the party last night too?” Kas joked trying to lighten the mood.
“Thanks, but it was nothing.” Bakari swung his legs around to the edge of the bed, leaning up with his hand on his head. That dream felt so real thought to himself.
“Yeah, whoever those guys were in those costumes are going to get it. I’m sober now and ready for round two. If I ever see them again!” Kas was looking in the mirror at a small bruise on his face. “I’m going to go for a jog to let off some steam, I’ll catch you in a bit then we can grab food.” Kas abruptly walked out of the room.
Kas you really don’t know what happen last night. Those weren’t people in costumes. Going through a recap of what happened last night, Bakari needed answers. He needed them fast. The only way to do that was to find Axyl. Bakari got out of bed and threw on a blue shirt that was on his floor and some black pants from the closet. He was now in a rush to his mother's house to see how he could find Axyl. He pulled out his phone and called his mother. She didn’t answer any of the times he called. Odd… He left a voicemail for her to call him back whenever she got his message. When he went to open his room door there was Nova walking down the hallway.
“Bakari! About time you're awake. I told Kas I’d come back in a bit to wake you up but, knowing him, he probably didn’t tell you,” Nova said, embracing Bakari.
“Yeah he forgot to mention that.” Bakari responded while making a mental note to ask Kas what else he forgot to mention while he was sleep.
“Well, since you're already dressed, let’s head to Tina’s Cafe and grab some food.”
Bakari didn’t want to blow her off, but sometimes he just couldn’t tell Nova no. He tapped his foot, trying to weigh his options. He concluded that he was going to go to the cafe with Nova, and pick her brain on what she remembered from last night. “Okay, I could use some food.” he replied.
Nova flipped through the menu. “What are you going to order?”
“I’ll just get the cheeseburger and fries.” Bakari didn’t open the menu since he was still deep in thought. “So did you have fun last night?”
“Last night? Besides the fact of you ditching me, and those guys starting fights and fires, it was all right.” She was clearly agitated. “Speaking of which, what happened to Kas’s face? Was he one of the ones fighting?”
“I didn’t really mean to ditch you. I went to check on Kas, and it just went downhill from there. Everything just got out of control.” Bakari sighed, wishing he actually didn’t ask the question to begin with.
“So Kas was one of the people fighting?” she pressed again.
“Well he didn’t…”
“Hey Nova and Bakari, what can I get for y'all today?” The waitress asked, walking up to the dinning table.
She was a gorgeous green-eyed brunette wearing a Tina’s Cafe T-shirt and jeans. She was armed with her pen and pad, ready to take their order.
“I’ll just take the usual cheeseburger with fries if you don’t mind, Allie.” Bakari replied, trying to get out of answering Nova’s question.
“And you, Nova?” Allie asked.
“I’ll take Tina’s pasta of the day, if you don’t mind.”
“One Tina’s Pasta of the day, and one cheeseburger with fries? Can I get you any drinks besides water?” she asked
“Water will be fine for me.” Bakari said
“I’ll take an orange juice along with the water, if you don’t mind.”
Allie repeated the order back to Nova and Bakari to confirm it was correct before walking away. Moments later, Allie came back with the drinks.
“Your food will be out shortly, guys.” Allie assured Bakari and Nova
“Thanks,” Bakari muttered to the waitress.
They began conversing about their plans now that they were college graduates, but Nova noticed that Bakari wasn’t fully there.
“You got something on your mind?” She asked outright.
“It’s nothing… just been thinking about the future really,” he lied.
“Ah, it's not like your to stress over stuff like that. I’m sure no matter what you end up doing, you will be fine,” she assured him, placing both her hands on top of his.
He smiled. “When did you become so nice?” He joked. She rolled her eyes.
Allie finally came back with their food in her hands. “Here ya go, enjoy. Let me know if I can get you anything else.” She walked back towards the kitchen again.
Bakari started eating, and conversing when Shara walked into the cafe with two people he never seen before. One was an Asian female, short and slender with dark hair down to her shoulders wearing a black jacket, a scarf, and glasses. The guy was a tall and pale wearing a black hoodie adorned with a sword, grey jeans, black boots, and a buzz cut.
“Hey guys! How’s it going?” She came over to their table.
“It’s going good, just grabbing lunch. What are you up to?” Bakari asked
“Just grabbing some coffee, might be a long night of getting some work done.” Shara replied.
“Ah, sounds like fun. What happen to you at the party? You disappeared on me.” He asked, ready to take mental notes.
She shot a quick glance at the people she’d walked in with. Bakari caught it, surprised at their body language and took note of it. Shara wasn’t a good liar, so now he was curious at the answer she was going to come up with. The woman that she walked in with answered for her. “Sorry I pulled her away to dance for a bit before all that chaos happened.” She said, wrapping
her arm around Shara’s shoulder.
The voice sounded so familiar to Bakari, but he couldn’t place where he’d heard it before.
“Ah, and you are?” he asked politely.
“I’m Ericka, Sharas’ new coworker, and you are?” she asked, reaching her hand out to Bakari.
Bakari’s heart dropped as the name hit him so hard it felt like he had just been hit by a train. Ericka is a common name. I can’t just assume its her but, her voice, it sounds just like her. Is she one of the Hunters? Is it her from last night? He needed to dig more to find out.
“I’m Bakari, and this is Nova.” He reached his hand out to shake hers.
“Well, nice to meet you both.” She smiled, shaking Bakari’s hand.
Nova’s watch started beeping. “Ah, I forgot I was suppose to meet Luciana at the dorms. I have to go. See ya later, Bakari and Shara. Nice meeting you, Ericka.” She got up from the table and rushed out. Bakari noticed she didn’t leave any money for her meal. “See ya.” Bakari waved at her as she walked out the door.
In a way, he was happy she was gone. Now he didn’t have to include her in the questions he was preparing to ask.
“Whoever those guys were at the party, they ruined it for everyone, causing all that trouble.” Bakari tossed out that statement to see how they would respond.
“Yeah, I’m sure the authorities took care of those guys.” Ericka smiled at Bakari.
“Crazy how all that could of happened in such little time. Glad you two are safe though. Your other friend, was he all right also? Kas, was it?” Shara genuinely sounded worried.
“Yeah, it’s Kas, and he’s fine. Just a bruise from fighting those guys in the costumes.”
“He got into a fight with them?” Ericka sounded surprised. “Hope he’s not too hurt.”
“Yeah, but he’s okay. He spent the night at my place.”
“Is he also one of the students… or… is Kas short for something?”
“Yeah, its short for Kaspar, and nah he used to go to the school, but he doesn’t anymore.” Bakari said omitting his real first name.
Shara looked nervous as the two kept trying to get information from each other. She seemed as if she would rather be anywhere else but at the cafe.
“Well, we don’t want to be late to work, Ericka.” Shara tried to change the subject. “Jason has the coffee already.”
Jason? Could Jace be short for Jason? He was piecing it together. Why… When would Shara have become a part of their group? If only I could get her alone.
“Well, I see you’re trying to get out of here, but if you’re not doing anything later, let’s hang out?” he asked Shara.
“If I’m free…” she stated.
“We might have a busy day, but if she’s free I’m sure she will hang out with you.” Ericka cut her off. “Well, let's get out of here. Jason is waiting. Nice meeting you, Bakari.”
“The feeling’s mutual. See ya around, Shara.” Bakari waved.
“See ya Bakari.” Shara waved back while walking away.
“Stay away from him. He’s a curious person.” Ericka mumbled to Shara.
Shara glanced back in Bakari’s direction. Please stay safe, Bakari… I know they were after you…
“Understood?” Ericka asked with an edge to her voice.
“Yes, ma’am. I understand.” She said formally.
“Good!, I’ll send someone to find Kaspar to see if he knows anything about why the Redborn were at your party last night.”
Shara gave a nod.
5
Walking up Park Avenue, a slight breeze hit Bakari’s face. The sun was faint in the distance. He was curious as to why his mom still hadn’t returned his phone calls. That along with finding out that Shara may be a Hunter was weighing on his mind. What has she gotten herself into? he kept thinking. There was so much going on and only some of his questions were answered. Going to his mother’s should help him to connect the dots.
Getting to 73rd Street, his mother's house finally came into view. Glad to see she hasn’t fallen behind with the upkeep of the house he thought to himself as he got closer to the small compact, brick house. He walked up the cracked cement porch to knock on the black beveled door.
No answer.
He walked around, peeking through the windows.
“Ma?” He shouted. Still no answer.
He went around to the back of the house to the open yard. He walked onto the closed in porch, lifting one of the vases to get the spare key to the back door. Opening the door to a white painted hallway, there was a silence as he closed the door.
“Ma? You here?” he kept asking as he walked deeper into the house. Walking into the big kitchen. He walked over to the fridge to see what was in it; nothing but a pitcher of water. Not like Mom to have an empty fridge he thought as he began closing the refrigerator.
“Your mother isn’t here, Bakari.” Axyl said, leaning up against the wall.
Axyl’s voice sent Bakari’s heart racing.
“Where is she?” Bakari asked in a shaky voice.
“She’s away on business, and said it was okay for me to wait here to talk to you.”
“And I should believe that why? How do I know you haven’t hurt her?”
“Firstly, your mother isn’t as fragile as you think. If I wanted to hurt her, I’m sure I’d be injured right now.” He smirked and threw his hands up. “Secondly, I have no way to prove it, but I am not here to hurt you, Bakari. I just need to talk to you, and time is of the essence. Just hear me out, please?”
Bakari tried to weigh his options if he should try and run, but he had seen Axyl in action and his mother had introduced Axyl as a friend. His best course of action was to sit and hear Axyl out.
“Okay, start with why you’re here.” Bakari said, sitting down at the table.
“Fine, as you wish. I’m here because of your father…” Axyl trailed off.
“My father died in a war when I was born. So what could you possibly have to say about him?” Bakari sounded agitated.
“That's not true.” Axyl chose his words wisely. “Your father… is recently deceased.” He couldn’t hide the emotion in his voice.
Bakari didn’t want to believe it. “My mother wouldn’t lie to me about something like that.”
“She would, if it meant protecting you. If you thought he was dead, it would stop you from trying to find him and asking too many questions.”
“So let's say you are telling the truth. What does my father dying have to do with you being here? Did he leave me in his will or something? Feeling guilty?” Bakari was now completely irritated.
“Yes… Your father was the King of Zera, and was murdered for his position. Up until last night no one knew of your existence and, since those Hunters let Bugawa get away, I’m sure Droga, the person who murdered him, will stop at nothing to kill you now. So you don’t get in his way of becoming the unchallenged king of Zera.”
“What is Zera?, and that's why you were so eager to catch him? I don’t want to be king of something I don’t even know about, that guy can have it. I’ll denounce myself. Problem solved, right? As far as the king being murdered… Sorry? But the guy didn’t want to be in my life. Some father, right?” Bakari didn’t keep up his calm demeanor anymore. “Now you just want me to just, waltz in and pick up his slack?”
Axyl was now trying to control his anger at how Bakari had just tossed the title of king in the trash, and didn’t care about how his father was murdered. He took a deep breath and finally sat down at the table with Bakari.
“Let's start over from the beginning.” Axyl said, taking a deep breath before he continued. “It all began when Zera was on the verge of collapse, and the king of kings died without a heir to his throne.” He began with telling Bakari about the war of two worlds. “This sent Zera into a panic and caused an uptick in people claiming to be the new king. Trying to claim lands, and take the kingdom. Your father and I got dragged into this war when our tribe was attacked by Mata
ga, a Redborn claiming to be the new king. He asked us to kneel and support his claim but your father refused to kneel, and he didn’t want anything to do with the war. Mataga then came back the next day with an army of Redborn, and burned our villages, and slaughtered our wife's, women, and children. That's how we ended up getting involved; your father didn’t want to see anymore senseless bloodshed. Our war eventually leaked slowly into your world which gave way to the Hunter Organization to defend the innocent for the most part.”
He made a hand gesture, and paused so Bakari could process the information. “When our war began leaking into this world, that's when Taharqa met your mother. He fell in love and kept you guys a secret for your own safety. If anyone knew about you, they would hunt you to no avail. Once the war concluded, Taharqa wanted to come here and live with your mother and you under a false alias, but he was chosen as the new king to keep things in order. With being chosen to lead our people, he had some stipulations about when he could come here. In order to keep the peace between worlds, he couldn’t come unless it was for diplomatic reasons, otherwise it could be seen as breaking their laws and cause another war.”
This hurt Taharqa more than you would ever know, knowing that he could never come see his child or his lover, but he accepted the responsibility of becoming the new king, solely to keep you safe from ever having to experience a world war. Now Droga, is the son of Mataga and feels his father should of had the throne, and has plotted a revolt against your father to take it. Which has led me here to protect you, on your father's last orders, and I will with my dying breath. Whether you choose to accept the throne or not, Droga will stop at nothing to kill you. With Bugawa getting away, I feel he knows of your existence now earlier than I would have hoped.” Axyl exhaled.
Bakari had no response as he was too busy connecting dots in his head and trying to control his emotions. He got up from the chair and started pacing back and forth through the kitchen, weighing options on his mind. From the sound of it this guy is going to kill me regardless… so what do I do? Axyl just starred, waiting for some kind of reply after he just dropped the whole truth of what was going on into Bakari’s lap. Minutes went by and still nothing from Bakari but pacing back and forth.
Zera_Dawn Of The Redborn Page 4