by Fletcher, MJ
It seemed that this whole thing had turned more personal for him ever since Hobart so bravely gave his life for us. Nightshade certainly was a mystery. I sometimes think that I shouldn’t trust him or anything he tells me. And yet he’s given me no reason not to trust him.
He did lead me to believe that he and Jess were a couple or was that how I saw it? And who was the girl he had looked so happy with in all those pictures? I bet he had girls stashed all over the place. He was good looking enough to have girls falling all over him.
But then so was Slade only minus the attitude and renegade nature. I wouldn’t be surprised if when he got done with his part of the plan that he made his way over here to the Factories and was outside right now keeping an eye out for trouble.
Michael Slade never failed to be there for me, look out for me and care for me. He didn’t lie or cause me grief like Nightshade did at times. The two couldn’t have been more opposite and I was glad that when all this was over Slade and I would finally talk. We needed to, probably should have done it before now. It was about time that we figured out just what we meant to each other. Nightshade often and sarcastically referred to him as my boyfriend, and I kind of liked the idea.
Ever since Mom and Dad had split I hadn’t given relationships much thought. If my parents who I had believed loved each other beyond ridiculous couldn’t make their relationship work then how the heck could I even consider getting involved with anyone. It scared the hell out of me and the few times I had gotten the courage to give it a try, it had turned out disastrous. But maybe, just maybe with Slade it could be different.
My parents, everything revolved around my parents. They seemed to be the key to it all. They had made a significant discovery. But why had my mom left after finding it? Could she possibly have been trying to protect us? I needed so badly to talk with her. I had the feeling that she could make sense of it.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out checking my newest text. It was Val asking me if everything was okay and telling me she had gotten the message I had asked Edgar to give her. My fingers flew over the touch screen tapping out my response and sending it. I knew it was killing Val not to know what was going on. And I knew she was concerned about me. It’s funny that the two girls I had thought such pains were turning out to be my best friends. I had to smile imagining what the two would do when they met one another. But then again, Jessica would probably want to strangle Val.
I tensed as a rush of heat suddenly raced through me and I thought for a moment that I was on fire. And then it happened... the room turned dead silent. Not a sound was heard and I wondered for a moment if I had gone deaf. My stomach churned as an energy portal began to open. Only this time it felt familiar. I had sensed this is particular power before. The first time had been in Paris, then at Gran’s and again in Philly in Hobart’s alley.
I slipped my phone in my pocket and followed where Nightshade’s intent stare had settled...on the front door.
It blazed a fiery blue and swung open.
A dark figure emerged slowly from the portal along with wisps of black smoke that swirled around him clawing tenaciously as if begging to do his bidding. Once in the room, the portal door slammed closed behind him with a boom that trembled the building. He took in the entire room with one sweeping glance most of the Guilders turning away, trying to avoid eye contact with him. .He wore all black; shirt, pants, shoes and coat. His eyes were set deep in a gaunt face. Arched eyebrows gave way to a widow’s peak hairline, giving his face a skull-like appearance. His cold, dark eyes finally spotted us and I shivered clear down to my bones when his eyes settled on me. I was face to face with the man in black.
He never took his eyes off me as he walked over to our table. “Chloe Masters! Finally. I’ve been looking for you, but you’ve managed to stay one-step ahead of me,” he said in an oddly familiar voice that I couldn’t quite place.
“And you are?” I asked with as much bravado as possible since his appearance was enough to intimidate not to mention his voice that dripped with confident sarcasm. But I’d be damned if I’d let him detect even a small ounce of fear in me.
“My name is Caleb Darker, I believe we’ve met.”
His thin lips curled into a smile and I realized his voice was the one I had heard in my dreams. Not only was this man chasing me every waking moment and causing my family harm, he also invaded my nightmares or was he the cause of them?
“What do you want from me?”
“We understand you have the artifact your father recovered. We want it.”
“We?”
“Foolish, girl,” he berated. “I am not going to divulge our plans because you ask. The deal is simple, you give me the artifact and I let you live.”
He spoke so calmly, as if we were having a nice little chat that it sent a chill up my spine. This man was dangerous and concern for my dad’s safety grew. “What about my dad?”
“What about him?”
I lifted my chin a notch, squared my shoulders and stared into his cold blue eyes refusing to look away. “I’ll give you the artifact in exchange for my dad.”
“How cute. You think this is negotiable,”—his voice turned icy cold—“you’re very, very mistaken, my dear.”
Energy just didn’t build around him as he spoke, it multiplied rapidly and I realized that we had made a huge blunder. Doors popped up one after another on the tavern walls all glowing different colors. They swung open and waves of energy poured into the room. The silence that had permeated the room was shattered by primal screams as the first gremlin leapt in and attacked the person closest to him, the bartender. The man went down screaming and fighting, and then all hell broke loose.
Guild members pulled out their own keys and the tavern filled with chaotic energy as gremlins poured in and Guilders battled them. Jess screamed as a gremlin was slammed into the wall right beside her.
Caleb stood calmly in front of our table, the chaos raging on around him and yet he remained untouched by it. His thin lips sat in a straight line as he leaned in close to me.
“Give me the artifact or you and your friends die.”
I stared at him clueless as what to do or say. It was one of the few times I can remember being at such a loss. It always seemed I had an answer or an instant reaction to everything... not so now. The chaos raged around us and it seemed as if we were already beaten. We didn’t have the artifact and once Caleb realized it, he wouldn’t hesitate... he’d kill every one of us.
The building rocked as an explosion ripped a hole near the front door. Smoked poured from the gaping wound and standing in the middle of it was a man holding his hand high and it appeared to sparkle?
“This is the HVO!” Emory’s voice bellowed over the battle.
A gremlin sped toward him and Emory’s hand swung down, a band of silver energy snaked out snatching the beast off the ground and sending it crashing into the bar splitting it in two.
Caleb grabbed my arm twisting it behind my back and shoving me up against him to rest his sunken eyes close to mine. “Give it to me now!”
He raised his free hand and though I didn’t see it I felt the power of its energy rain down on me and I knew this was it; I wasn’t getting out of this mess.
Suddenly, a fist came flying out of nowhere and smashed into the side of Caleb’s face sending him sprawling to the floor, a burst of blood spewing from his mouth. I turned, ever so happy, to see Nightshade standing beside me. He smiled and blew on his bloody fist. I laughed at his humorous show of victory and grasped the doorknob in my pocket. Blue energy rushed out wrapping protectively around us.
Nightshade remained by my side while Jess hurried to my other side. Bands of red power began flowing from their hands as we each fully activated our powers. The HVO and the Guilders continued to fight off the gremlins over running the building. Our combined energy and no doubt Caleb’s close presence kept them away from us.
It was time to leave like... now.
“This ti
me, boy, I’ll make sure you’re dead,” Caleb said, settling a murderous glare on Nightshade as he wiped the back of his hand across his bloody lip.
“What did you say?” James demanded as if shocked by Caleb’s remark.
“James,” Jess said reaching out to tug at his arm.
I could hear a note of fear in Jess’ voice and I knew I was missing something, but I didn’t know what.
“You know exactly what I mean, James Nightshade,” Caleb said and spat blood to the floor as he got to his feet. The level of power radiating off him was so intense that I was certain it made everyone tremble.
“This time I’ll make sure you’re dead just like your little friend.” A wicked smile played across Caleb’s thin lips.
A rage so raw exploded through Nightshade that before I could stop him, he launched himself at Caleb. Huge orbs of energy surrounded his fisted-hands as Nightshade lashed out landing punch after punch. Caleb stumbled stunned by the fury of the blows. He swung his hands up creating blue shields of energy that James shattered easily one after the other.
Jess rushed forward to help Nightshade, blasting Caleb with everything she had. I didn’t hesitate to join them. I focused my energy and instead of opening a portal I tapped it and pinpointed it at Caleb attacking him with pure waves of focused power.
Caleb gritted his teeth and dropped to one knee as his power began to wane. We took advantage of his weakened condition and hit him with everything we had.
James was so centered on obliterating Caleb that he didn’t notice the huge gremlin racing toward him. The rotund green monster lumbered with unusual speed and it wouldn’t be long before he had Nightshade in his clutches. I spun transferring my energy away from Darker to open a portal beside Nightshade. The gremlin tried too late to change direction, he stumbled, rolled and catapulted through the portal. I yanked my hand back slamming the door closed and locking the gremlin away.
“Chloe!”
I turned to see Slade across the room, a massive wrench in his hand that he used as a weapon to ward off an attacking gremlin.
A scream from behind me forced me to spin around. Nightshade and Caleb were locked in a deadly battle while Jessica was pinned against the back wall, her lip bloody and her cheek bruised as a gremlin stood slobbering over her, his thick arm raised high in the air ready to deliver the final blow.
“No!” I screamed and released every ounce of energy I could muster slamming it into the beast and crashing it into a bunch of tables and chairs. The stunned creature stumbled and shook its head, fighting to right itself. I rushed at it grabbing a barstool as I ran. Swinging it with all my strength, I cracked it over the gremlin’s head and with a sickening snap the stool shattered and the gremlin crumbled to the ground.
I hurried to a fallen Jess kneeling beside her, brushing aside her hair and examining the deep gash along the hairline of her right temple. I patted the blood away with one of the dozens of paper napkins scattered on the ground and leaned in close.
“Jess, you have to be okay,” I whispered to her. “Come on, Cuz, please.” It wasn’t fair to be reunited with her only to have her taken from me. We had been the best of friends when we were little and we had shared so many hopes and dreams for the future. I wanted what we once shared. I didn’t want to lose her; I couldn’t.
“Chloe.” She barely creaked out my name. “James?”
Damn, how could I have forgotten him? But then Nightshade could take care of himself. He was a survivor much like myself.
I turned to see him struggling with Caleb in front of a portal that Caleb no doubt had opened. The two exchanged blasts of energy, James taking the worse of the blows. His strength was fading at an alarming rate while Caleb seemed to garner more power at every turn.
Emory and the HVO agents were busy cleaning up the last of the gremlins and Slade rushed toward me.
“Are you guys okay?” Slade’s eyes betrayed his concern for me.
“Take care of Jess,” I yelled and ran past him, my doorknob in hand. I focused my thoughts centering my power and aiming all I had into my doorknob, though not choosing a destination. I wanted to gather as much concentrated power as possible. I had only one shot at this... and I took it.
I released everything I had directly at Caleb. My powers surged like a roaring tsunami racing towards him and the portal behind. With his focus so intent on destroying James, he realized too late what I had done. My contained energy slammed into him like a battling ram tossing him back only inches from the portal. His delayed and feeble reaction caused him to err and he dropped his energy shield.
Nightshade didn’t waste a second. He let out a gut-wrenching scream and with his last ounce of strength swung one last blow sending Caleb hurdling through the portal with such force that Nightshade collapsed on the ground. Spent myself, I dropped down on my knees beside him.
I watched as the portal door was about to swing closed but I was too weak to stop it. I wanted to cry. Once it closed, Caleb would be lost to us; we’d have no way of finding my dad.
James came to the rescue once again. I didn’t think he had a miniscule of power left, but he did. He tossed his key in the air, it glowed red, floated to the door and stopped it from closing.
I struggled to my feet and helped Nightshade to his. He leaned on me, he needed to; he was drained, his limbs weak and his breathing labored. I wasn’t feeling so hot myself and I was relieved to see that Slade had looked after Jess, her head wound no longer bled. Emory stood near a group of HVO agents whose bands of silver energy were cuffing the last of the gremlins.
“You have a lot of explaining to do,” Emory said as he started walking toward us.
“We have to run,” Nightshade whispered.
“We can’t.”
He hurried his words at Emory’s approach. “Our only chance of finding your dad is to follow Darker through that portal.”
Slade stared at me, his look anxious. He must have realized what I was thinking since he shook his head most vigorously.
“You and me, Masters. We gotta do this.” Nightshade stepped away from me. Emory halted in his steps, his hand hovering over his Silver Star badge on his belt. “Nightshade, don’t do it.”
James smiled, spun, and dove into the portal grabbing his key as he went. The portal door began closing. I had no time to decide only react. I swore beneath my breath and dove through, hearing Slade and Emory both yell my name as I disappeared into the portal.
Chapter 30
Status: Even jerks have a backstory.
I landed on a cold stone floor and rolled to a stop against a wall. I groaned as I unfurled myself and heard the portal door slam shut behind me. My body protested with aches and a knee pop as I pushed myself up and looked around at a bare bones room in what appeared to be a castle. The stone floors and walls kind of gave it away. I checked to make sure I still had my doorknob, even though I was drained and doubted I was up to a fight, I felt safer knowing I had it. There was only one exit from the room and I headed for it. The arched door opened on to a hallway and I proceeded cautiously down it.
Darkness hugged the corridor and with no windows I couldn’t be sure if it was night or day where the portal had deposited me. I crept down the hall keeping as close to the wall as possible where the shadows were thicker and I’d less likely be discovered. At the end of the hall I came to an intersection where four corridors met. I chose the one that was lighted assuming it was the one most traveled and started down it. After passing several closed door I heard voices and followed. They came from further down and I snuck as quietly as I could until I reached the end and then I cautiously peeked around the corner.
A set of wide stairs curved down into a large foyer where two men stood arguing.
“What the hell happened?” the man demanded.
From my vantage point I couldn’t see his face. I could only see that he was dressed in a suit.
“I failed to get the artifact.”
I recognized Caleb’s voice and had to
clench my fists so I didn’t shudder.
“Failed spectacularly I would say, not only did you not get the artifact you let the girl get away. And you may have made our presence known to the societies!”
“They have no idea about us. They’ll assume it’s some rogue member as usual, the HVO is clueless.”
“Don’t underestimate them. We foolishly did that with Masters and he found the artifact before us.”
“She’s nothing more than a wiseass teenager. We’ll get the artifact and dispose of her.”
I suppose I should have shivered in fear hearing that he intended to murder me, but I didn’t, I got angry. He spoke so casually of my demise and was so dismissive of me in general. The man was right though, they not only underestimated my dad; they underestimated me and my friends.
“You know that she is not going to be happy about this turn of events,” the suited man said.
Who was she? The boss? I sure hoped they would say her name.
The suited man continued his tone noticeably harsher. “She’s already angry that it has taken this long and is getting impatient for the artifact.”
“We still have Elijah. I think we need to use him as leverage once again.”
“We’ll have to convince her of that. It’s time for me to go and see if I can clean up your mess.”
The suited man walked out of my line of vision and I heard a door slam. Darker stood there for a moment and then pulled a phone from his pocket and tapped in a number.
“Hello, I’m calling with a request regarding Elijah Masters.” He walked from the room his voice fading.
I cursed my luck, waited a moment, then was about to creep around the corner, head down the stairs and follow him when a hand slid over my mouth and another went around my waist yanking me back clear off the ground.
The arm around my waist was like a steel band. I couldn’t break free. I was carried into one of the rooms along the corridor and dropped on a chair. I fisted my hands ready to fight my kidnapper but stopped and smiled relieved to see Nightshade.