by S.A. Waters
“Sounds like a plan,” Kody said.
“Do you guys want to spend the night here?”
“Sure. What time is it?”
“6:32.”
“Let’s just hang out here. It’s better than that stupid alley.”
“You guys slept in an alley?”
“We got a hotel a few times. And once or twice we slept in a bar but yeah.”
“That sucks. Sorry I don’t have any extra blankets.”
“It’s alright. I think we’ll hang out here. What are you doing for Thanksgiving?”
“My boss, Katy, invited me to her house with her brother. What about you guys?”
“Nothing. Were we thinking of doing anything?” Kody asked, turning back to Drew and James.
“James and I were thinking of going out of town tomorrow morning just for the day. We were going skiing I think. There’s snow up on the mountains so, why not?”
“That’s cool,” I said. What about you and Kody?” I asked Dakota.
“Nothing,” She replied. “I think I’m just going to sleep. To be honest, I don’t even want to do anything else but sleep.”
“Kody?”
“Nothing,” He also said. “Can I hang out with you and your boss?”
“Yeah. I think She’ll like you. Hey James?”
“What?” He responded brusquely.
“Here’s one hundred and fifty bucks, can you go and pick up another air mattress and some blankets?”
“Why me?”
“Because you can be back in twenty minutes instead of three hours. It’s not safe for me to be out there right now.”
“Fine. I’ll be right back.”
Sure enough, in only fifteen minutes James had sprinted back with ten blankets, a pizza, a sleeping bag, and seven yoga mats to sleep on.
“Wow,” Drew said, giving him a high five. “Nice.” James took the sleeping bag and put it next to my bed. Dakota took two yoga mats and two blankets, and slept at the foot of my bed. Kody did the same next to Dakota, and Drew took the other two yoga mats and blankets and slept next to James. Even with all the danger around me, for the first time, I felt truly safe.
***
When I woke up I was in a courthouse. There were five wooden tables set up in a pentagonal fashion. I was sitting in one with Eli, Dylan, and Star. Next to me on my left was Kody sitting with his guardians, on my right was Drew with his guardians, next to him was Dakota and her guardians, and James and his guardians were in between Kody and Dakota.
“Alright!” Eli shouted, not even greeting me. “This Code of Law meeting at 9:16 pm in Severn Court has begun!” I looked over at Dakota. What is this for? I mouthed over to her. She shrugged.
“This meeting is regarding the revealing of the identity of the Light,” Eli said again. Well, there’s the answer to my question. “This occurred when Dakota Grace Wilson engaged in a romantic embrace with the Light, now known as Carter-Adrian Nicholas Breese.”
“It wasn’t her fault!” I interrupted. Eli shot me a look and then one of Dakota’s guardians, a mountain lion, asked for permission to speak. Eli granted her request.
“The boy is right. It was by mere accident. A crucial and fatal mistake. However, there is no one to blame.”
“I do not believe I was blaming anyone, Aria. I was just stating how this accident happened.” Aria, the mountain lion nodded and slouched a bit.
“I would like to address Carter-Adrian at this time. Carter?” Eli looked at me as well as everyone in the room. “What am I supposed to say?” I whispered to Star.
“Just introduce yourself and tell them your plan,” She replied.
“Plan to what?”
“To defeat Alpha Maximus.”
“Oh right, that plan.” I stood up and looked around. I was always pretty good at public speaking, however not at improvising. “Alright, say what you said in the barn,” I thought as I took a deep breath. “Hello, everybody,” I said, my voice shaking a bit. I tried to sound as professional and sophisticated as possible. “My name, as Eli said, is Carter-Adrian Nicholas Breese. You guys can just call me Carter. First off, thank you guys so much for supporting me with this. I am very grateful for your actions. Uuummm, so I know I have a plan on finding Alpha Maximus that will be executed the day after tomorrow. My idea shall incorporate all of your Mystians. There are three Pacts as we know in Rockfrett, Colorado.” I continued to tell them my plan that I had already explained to Kody, James, Drew, and Dakota in the barn. When I finished I asked them if there were any questions.
“I have one,” said a dog from Drew’s table. I think he was a coyote or something.
“Yes?” I responded.
“First of all, Mr. Breese, my name is Bentley. And I am a dingo, not a coyote in case you got those mixed up. Anyway, What if your plan fails?”
“Got it. By the way, you can call me Carter. Then I will be captured. At that point I expect that they will take me in front of Alpha Maximus where I can find out his location.” Then I remembered my tracking necklace I had around my neck. “This necklace right here is a tracking device that my guardians use to keep tabs on me. They can find out where I am, what I’m doing, and when I’m doing it. Eli, Star, Dylan, or one of you can help me get away if that happens. At that point we will know his location and will go from there. If my plan fails.”
“That is a very well thought out plan. Thank you.” I nodded. There were no other questions.
“Carter-Adrian,” Another voice spoke from Kody’s table. It was a lion.“On behalf of everybody here, we wish you the best of luck, and that we always have your back.”
“Thank you, sir.” I replied, my spirits uplifted by his kind words. “What is your name?”
“Eon.” I nodded and smiled. Then I sat down and looked at Eli.
“If there are no more questions,” Eli said. “Then I herby declare this meeting adjourned!”
Chapter 17
Today was Thanksgiving. I was walking with Kody to Katy’s house, who just happened to live near Darius Ramer’s house.
At 5:16 pm we walked up to 2570 Aldrich Avenue. I knocked on the front door with a bottle of apple cider in my hand. A tall guy with short red hair opened the door.
“Hello,” He said with a grin. “You must be Carter. Katy’s told me so much about you.”
“And you must be Jack,” I replied shaking his hand. “Oh, I hope you don’t mind, but I brought my friend, Kody. He didn’t have any plans for today so I let him tag along.”
“Sure! The more the merrier, right? Nice to meet you, Kody.” Jack ushered us inside the house into the dinning room where Katy was sitting at the table.
“Carter!” She exclaimed as she got up to give me a hug. She looked over at Kody. “Who’s this?”
“Sorry, this is-” I started, then Kody cut me off.
“I’m Kodiak Ge,” He said flirtatiously. Wow. He held at his hand. “But you can call me Kody.”
“Well hello, Kody,” Katy smiled, shaking his hand. I rolled my eyes.
“Sorry I didn’t tell you before; I invited him after work.” I apologized.
“It’s all good. Here, take a seat. And thank you for the cider.” I took a seat next to Kody, who whispered over to me, “You never told me she was hot!”
“Why would I tell you that?” I whispered back.
“Because you’re a good friend. How old is she?”
“Eighteen.”
“Only a year older. I like it.” I laughed but rolled my eyes. She is so out of his league.
The rest of the night continued with a delightful feast, stories of each other, and plenty of cider. Jack was very nice to us, and seemed to get along very well with Katy. Kody and I didn’t get back to the barn until 11:30.
The next day was showtime. We woke up in our beds at 8:31 am. James and Drew were back from their skiing adventure, and Dakota was up easily. Then we headed over to Angi’s for work. While I was working, Kod
y, Dakota, Drew, and James were just hanging out. Business was slower then usual today, so I asked Katy why. “Everyone’s out of town for Thanksgiving,” She had told me. “Most won’t be back until tomorrow or Sunday.”
After work, we went over to Darius’s house with the duct tape and rope, and rediscussed our plan. It was time to take care of some unfinished business.
“Okay,” I said, just outside Darius’s yard. “Kody, James. Are you guys ready?”
“Yeah,” Kody replied. “Down the chimney and open the door.”
“Great. We’ll follow after you. Good luck, guys.” And with that, Kody picked up James and flew onto the roof. I knew this could be the last time I would ever see them again; for all I knew that door could never open.
***
Kody let the rope go down the chimney, hanging onto one end. James slid down it, and Kody followed, but flew instead. As soon as he got to the bottom James zoomed across the floor and quickly (yet almost silently) opened the door. The easy part is over. Now things are about to get complicated.
***
I saw the door open and James gesture for us to come inside. I think Dakota heard my sigh of relief, because she looked with concern and rubbed my shoulder to calm me down. Drew went into camouflage, and Dakota went invisible. We slowly crept in the house, where we were all startled by a loud growling sound from the couch. Dakota checked it out; Darius was sleeping.
“Hey, Darius!” A voice shouted coming from upstairs. Timothy! “Did you buy the cream cheese for the bagels?” The footsteps were coming closer.
“Hide!” I whispered loudly. I crouched behind the wall and chair.
“DARIUS!” Timothy yelled, this time only cracking the windows. Darius immediately awoke.
“Yeah?” He said, rubbing his hands. Idiot.
“Did you get the-” Timothy stopped talking and looked right past Darius. That’s where Dakota was to my knowledge. Could he possibly have that good of sight to recognize invisibility? Camouflage too for that matter? Darius reacted so fast I’m not even sure if Timothy saw it. I guess he knew that Dakota was behind him based on where Timothy was making eye-contact; he turned around and grabbed Dakota, forcing her to unvail her identity.
“God dammit!” He shouted! “The boy’s here too! I can feel it! Find him! Get DeLuca!” He then turned to Dakota. “Where is he, little girl? Where is lover boy hhmm?” I couldn’t take it. I stood up from hiding.
“Right here,” I said firmly. Timothy then grabbed me from behind and kicked the back of my leg. Austin then trotted down the stairs. “What the bloody hell is going on here?” He shouted. Then he looked at me. He looked at me with such awe and fury and excitement. As if I was his trophy to bring back and show off to his friends and family. Oh right, I was. I tried to squirm out of Timothy’s grasp, but he had too strong of a grip. I looked over at Dakota, who used her super strength to escape Darius’s hold, but Austin ran over and burned her skin. She screamed out and Darius grabbed her again.
“I know there’s more of you!” Austin yelled. He pulled out a gun from his back pocket. “Show yourselves!” Looking over my shoulder, Drew, James, and Kody slowly got out of their hiding spots. Timothy let go of me and threw me to the ground, and then with one motion grabbed Kody. Darius kept hold of Dakota, and Austin took Drew. Timothy and Darius pulled out their guns and all three of them aimed at their marks.
“Any last words?” Austin smirked. He shook his head with delight. From the uncomfortable stance I was in on the floor, I looked over at James; he was crouched a few feet away from me.
“Now what?” He mouthed over to me. I looked up at Timothy, who was holding Kody. Then out of the corner of my eye I peered back over to James, and pointed up to Timothy as if to tell him a plan. I had no idea what I was going to do, but reading his mind I was able to tell that it came across to him as, “So on your signal we attack so fast that they won’t have time to shoot,” I guess that’s the plan then, so I nodded back to him. Austin cocked his gun, and I punched Timothy in the knee, causing him to let go of Kody in shock and pain. Darius turned his head in curiosity, loosing his grip on Dakota, who then round house kicked him in the chest; it sent him flying to the floor and making a dent in the wall. That’s my girl! James snuck around quickly and grabbed Austin from behind. James’s hands were on Austin’s neck, which made him so focused on getting James’s hands off him, that he released Drew. Austin grabbed James’s hands and threw him over his shoulders, making a loud smack sound. I noticed Dakota went invisible. I tried to find her, but I didn’t need to when Austin then went flying across the room. Kody jumped on Timothy’s back, and Drew socked him in the stomach. Hard. I grabbed a role of duct tape and sprinted over to Austin’s unconscious body and tied his hands up with it. I took his gun away and threw it across the room. I turned behind me where Kody and Drew had finally taken Timothy down.
“Drew!” I yelled. “Take this and tie him up! When you’re done go over to Darius and do the same. Pass me the duct tape!” Drew nodded and threw the silver duct tape over to me. Then I spoke to Kody. “Kody!”
“What?” He responded.
“Use your healing powers to help James up. By the looks of it he isn’t doing so well. Dakota! When I’m finished with Austin I need you to take him to an alley way near the school. Do you know which one that is?”
“I think so,” She replied. “Do you want me to get the others too?”
“Yeah. As a matter of fact, wait until we finish up with Darius and Timothy. Then take them over to that alley. We’ll go with you. We have to transport them back to Lybria where they can be questioned by our guardians.”
“Got it. Kody, how is James doing?”
“One second,” He said. “I’m not sure how well my powers will do - I’m so exhausted! I’ve got a blow to the head and I’m running out of breath and energy.” Kody had his eyes closed tightly and his hands on top of James’s chest, panting and sweating-almost in tears. Then a bright light glowed from his chest, he did it. James started to breath again and his scars and bruises were removed. He sat up and wiped the excess blood from his chin.
“What happened?” He asked, rubbing the back of his head. “Did we get them?”
“You did awesome,” Drew replied with a smile. Then he turned to me. “Carter, duct tape Darius and I’ll finish up with Timothy.” I nodded and walked over to James.
“We got them,” I said. “Thanks, James.” He smiled at me as Drew and I finished tying up Darius and Timothy. Dakota threw the three of them over her shoulders with ease.
“Quick question,” Drew said as we were about to leave Darius’s house. “How the hell are we supposed to carry three unconscious bodies across town in broad daylight without being seen?”
“Oh,” I muttered. “That’s a good question.
“We can use these,” James added, pulling out three walkie talkies.
“Where did you get these?” I asked.
“I ran to the store real quick and stole them. They won’t notice, because you didn’t.”
“True. I like your thinking. So what are we going to do with these?”
“Kody takes a walkie talkie and flies up, telling us the quickest way to get to the alley. I will take another and be on the look out on the ground. You, Drew, and Dakota will listen to us to get to the alley. Dakota, you need to go invisible.”
“That’s a fantastic idea! Lock your channels to channel seven. Kody, you know where the alley is right?”
“Yeah,” Kody agreed. “I can take a body if you’d like.”
“Nah, we’ve got it. Alright get going. You too, James.”
“Sir, yes sir.” Kody and James high-fived, and were on their way up and out of the house before you could say goodbye.
“What is so important about this alley anyway?” Dakota asked.
“Well,” I replied. “That alley is the same alley one of my guardians, Dylan, used to get access into Lybria. I think it’s a portal or somet
hing, and as far as I know it’s the only way to get back to Lybria.”
“That makes sense.” All of a sudden, my walkie talkie buzzed, and Kody started talking.
“There aren’t too many people out right now, and the coast is clear so far. Head down the street and make a left onto Moorberry Road.”
“On our way.” Dakota went invisible, and Drew and I covered her just in case. We quickly jogged to Moorberry Road precisely as Kody had instructed.
“Okay, Kody,” I said into the walkie talkie. “Now what?”
“Keep going straight,” He responded. Then James came on the line.
“This street is kind of busy though,” He started. “I’ll distract the traffic and people while you guys make a break to the alley. Sprint.”
“Rodger that.” I said, trying to sound official. “You heard him, come on.” We sprinted, still covering Dakota, down the busy street where we saw James making a fool of himself in the street. He took off his shirt and pants leaving him in nothing but a pair of red checkered boxers dancing on top of a car, squirting water guns at the other cars. I couldn’t help but laugh as we ran. Drew almost tripped because he was laughing so hard. Pedestrians were getting out their phones to get this to be the next viral video. I heard James shout, “I’m doing this for you, Carter! You owe me big time!” He was right. I owe him one; or five.
In the nick of time, we made it to the alley, delivering the message to James and Kody. James was fully clothed when he arrived.
“James!” Drew shouted. “That was freaking awesome!” We all laughed as we entered the alley. Now it was time to get down to business. I tried to remember what Dylan had done to open the portal. Dylan, I thought. Star, Eli. If you can hear me, we have the three Pacts. Please bring us to Lybria.
“Ready, Carter?” I heard a voice say behind me. I looked down only to find Dylan starring up at me, wagging his tail.
“Dylan!” I exclaimed as I bent down to pet him.