“Huh!? Wait, go back. What do you mean by friends?”
“The Enterprise wanted to know where you, that girl, and her friends were. They beat me up until they were done searching the house.”
Jayce’s anger caused him to shake uncontrollably.
“I’m sorry,” he admitted. “I never knew—”
“You did,” Abby interrupted. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m fine. I settled my problem with The Enterprise. But I’m not sorry. I told you what would happen. I warned you of that girl. I warned you of that wand. Now it’s your problem. I’ll be at Kristina’s if you decide to put that damn thing down for good. Otherwise, stay away from me.” Abby zipped up her backpack and threw it on. She motioned for Jayce to lean over for a kiss. He could see tears forming in her eyes. “See you later, kiddo. And put a shirt on. Nobody’s here to take any pictures.” Abby playfully punched Jayce in the stomach. He couldn’t laugh at a time like this, but he wanted to. “I love you,” he said before locking the door behind her.
It took the whole morning to clean the house. Jayce could be a neat freak at times, so he didn’t mind paying Abby back by keeping the house clean in her absence. It was the least he could do. He knew he wouldn’t be returning the wand. With the item by his side, he felt powerful — even without knowing how in the world to release its power. But he’d try to learn after taking out the trash. It would be the final touch to his cleaning run. After placing the cans outside, he surveyed the area. Nothing but a slight breeze.
But when he turned around it was a different story. Out of the blue, the garage began to close. He jolted back up the driveway. Then he stopped. A figure could be seen stepping over the garage door sensor. It was a barefoot female with a nicely-shaped body and scruffy hair. She had a V-shaped lapel pin on her ripped top.
“Mr. Fletcher,” she smirked. “Let’s have a talk.”
Jayce clutched his wand and pointed it in her direction. She placed her hands up without losing her cool. Then came two more intruders from either side of the house: a dark man with bald hair and a taller man with blond hair.
“We just want to talk,” she assured him. “We want your help in taking down The Enterprise.”
“Prove it,” he snarled.
“We’re not wearing suits, are we?”
“The perfect disguise.”
The woman shook her head.
“You’re being a coward, hon.”
“So are you,” Jayce shot back. “It’s 3-on-1.”
“We’re not looking for a fight.”
“Then what do you want!?”
The woman motioned for him to join her. She moved to the side of his house. Jayce followed slowly, keeping his wand pointed at the trio of intruders. When he was close enough for them to form a triangle he pointed his wand at the female.
“Spit it out.”
The female smirked. Suddenly, Jayce felt a grip on the back of his neck. He tried to wave his wand around to do something but it didn’t work. He was slammed into the side of his house. The wand dropped. He struggled to extend his reach in order to pick it up, but the blond male took it.
“Tell your girlfriend to leave,” the dark man growled from behind Jayce.
“Fuck you!” Jayce spat out.
“Her Minotaur is causing problems,” said the female. “He’s killing Sperns everywhere.”
“Serves you right.”
Suddenly, the blond dropped the wand. Smoke trailed from his palm.
“Shit!”
Jayce laughed.
“We won’t take up any more of your time,” the female promised. “We’ll see each other again if Mallory and her friends aren’t gone within the next few days.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jayce admitted.
“We have eyes and ears everywhere.”
She went to pick up the wand but it was smoking hot.
“The rumors were true,” she smirked. “Bali, pick this up when you’re done.”
“Don’t you fu—”
Bali smushed Jayce even harder into the wall.
“Shut up!”
“Fine,” she told Jayce. “We’ll let you keep the wand if you get Mallory to leave. Deal?”
“Deal. Just get off!”
The female nodded for Bali to release him. Jayce immediately picked up the wand.
“We’re the Timberwolves,” she informed him. “If you can’t get her to leave, we can. Ask around and you’ll find us.”
“Why don’t you just go bother her?” Jayce asked.
“We already have.”
Jayce was pissed. As the Timberwolves walked away, he tried to throw as many spells as he could at the trio. Nothing happened. He stormed back inside and locked the doors. The only good thing about that confrontation was that they seemed to confirm The Death’s Dawn rumors. He would likely need Mallory or one of her friends to help him use it. Teaching himself wasn’t working.
27
The Intermission
Gatsby, Pennsylvania (Timberwolves’ Compound — The Den) — February 14th 2018
Mr. Faizhon hated visiting The Den. The Timberwolves were messy, vulgar, and too rowdy for his tastes. They mocked his new look. His face was covered with an immense amount of gauze. It all came from trying to break up the limousine attack. The Timberwolves mocked him as “Mr. Mummy.”
But this visit was too important for Mr. Faizhon to tell Vicky to get her wolves in order. Along with Mr. Gruff and a few well-dressed bodyguards, the two Enterprise leaders were ready to get down to business.
“The Death’s Dawn is real,” said Vicky, cutting to the chase. “That boy whose house the twerps stayed at has it.”
“How is that even possible?” asked Mr. Faizhon. “Where’s your proof?”
Vicky bumped Trent. They both showed their palms. A deep cut lingered from the burn the wand inflicted upon them. Vicky’s was lighter than Trent’s, but it was still severe.
“Then why didn’t you take it from him!?”
“Are you blind?” Vicky countered. She shoved her palm to his face. “We tried!”
Mr. Faizhon waved her hand away.
“Great,” he whined. “Now we’ve got a raging Minotaur and a magical human on the loose.”
“We should’ve taken the princess for ourselves when we first got her,” Mr. Gruff mumbled angrily.
“And what would that have fixed? La Croix would’ve taken our souls!”
“Lincoln is overrated,” said Mr. Gruff. “A bite of mine would tear that soft Vamp in half.”
“Can you stop measurin’ your dicks and come up with a real solution?” Vicky asked the two leaders.
“Our main priority is the princess,” said Mr. Faizhon. “If the Toll finds out about the Minotaur we’re toast. He won’t stop feeding on us until he kills her. If we can get her back to the Realm then he’ll follow.
“That damn wand,” Mr. Faizhon continued. “We need to find a way to get that cursed thing.”
“He doesn’t know how to use it,” said Vicky.
“But what happens when he learns? I don’t plan on being run out of Gatsby by a teenager — especially not a human one.”
“We need to do this fast,” Mr. Gruff added. “The Pixie Godfather himself sent us a letter regarding the princess. He was more concerned about that book we gave you.”
“The grimoire?”
“Yes. He didn’t go into detail, but he wanted us to send it over to Avalon.”
“Let me hold it,” said Vicky. “It could bait that little whore into coming back.”
“We don’t have much time,” said Mr. Faizhon. “We will have enemies on all sides if we piss off The Godfather and The Toll.”
“Keep The Bull off our back,” said Vicky. “We’ll handle the wand.”
28
The Assassination
Jayce was having a dilemma. He nearly wiped his entire fridge clean an hour after the confrontation with The Timberwolves. No matter how much he ate, he woul
d feel hungry ten minutes later. It must have been a side effect of his bite.
Do I need to try meat?
Breaking his vegan diet wasn’t a plan of his, but he was willing to risk it all if he could prove to himself that the wand worked. For now, he’d try something else.
Jayce left the house to take a run outside. It was raining, but he didn’t mind. He was still shirtless — with remnants of his refrigerator break-in all over his pants — while holding the wand in his bare hand. The hunger within him helped to speed him up. By the time he left his neighborhood, he was running like a maniac. He bolted past the elementary school, past the bus stop, and then stopped within a vacant lot to catch his breath.
Is this a hidden benefit of the wand’s power?
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a hooded man walking toward the lot. He was ordinary besides the way he was walking. He held his head down in the rain despite the few times he looked up to catch a glimpse of Jayce. The clouds rumbled and lightning crackled.
“Hey!” Jayce called out. “It’s raining.”
The mysterious person didn’t care. They continued making their way toward Jayce. Suddenly, the teenager saw him take something out of jeans.
Bsssh! Bsssh!
Jayce nearly lost his head to a bullet that whizzed past him. He was forced to find sanctuary in a giant warehouse sitting on the lot. The many boxes scattered around inside helped him find cover from the assailant.
Jayce could hear the hooded man’s footsteps. He had come to a walk.
“Forfeit the wand!” the hooded man shouted.
“Go to Hell!” Jayce yelled back.
The cat and mouse chase didn’t last long. No matter how many times Jayce tried to run away from the footsteps, the hooded man found him. He almost got Jayce twice by walking a different direction to lure Jayce to run toward the exit, where a bullet would fly outside and scare Jayce behind another box. The teen’s heart was pounding.
I’m going to die. After all this, I’m going to die to some fucking goon!
“We can do this all day, kid,” said the hooded man. “We both know we have nothing better to do than to get our problem solved.”
“Who sent you!?” barked Jayce. He had a clue but wanted confirmation.
“You know,” the man began, “you can’t use that wand. I don’t care what your friends told you — they’re lying.”
“Shut up!”
“It’s true. I bet you’ve tried and it backfired. I mean, think about it, if it worked I’d be dead by now. Just hand it over. You don’t have to die over this.”
“You tell me that after shooting at me, asshole!”
“I thought you weren’t willing to listen. I was wrong.”
Suddenly, Jayce heard something that could save his life. It was a sound familiar to the ones that he heard from the countless movies he’d watched over the past seventeen years. The man was reloading his handgun.
Jayce jumped from behind the box and bolted toward the assailant.
Bsssh!
Before he could reach him, Jayce was shot in the chest. He fell to the cold floor and rolled around in pain. The wand did its own roll, toward the assailant.
“I’ll be taking this,” the assailant said, picking up the wand and quickly placing it in a drawstring bag he had been carrying. He then stood over Jayce and pointed the Ruger at his face. A smirk formed beneath his dark shades. “I’ll also be taking this.”
“Please,” Jayce asked, covering his face.
“Sorry, it’s just—”
The sound of footsteps caused the man to swivel toward the exit. The footsteps were fast. Multiple gunshots rang off, but they didn’t bring him down. He was hurt but moving. The caramel-skinned visitor screamed at the top of his lungs while continuing his path toward the assailant.
Jayce used the moment to take action. He grabbed the assailant’s leg and ripped it as hard as he could. This gave the visitor what he needed. He lunged at the visitor, sending them both tumbling away from Jayce. He stood up to see the visitor transform into a gigantic Werewolf similar to the one he saw fighting The Bull at the park. However, this one’s fur was brown, not black. The Werewolf sliced and diced the assailant, leaving nothing but blood and screams echoing across the warehouse. Jayce saw the wand roll underneath the Werewolf. He took it and made his way to the exit as quickly as he could without alerting the brown beast.
Jayce’s exit was another visitor’s entrance. It was a girl that looked his age. She was holding a small shield with blue and white markings carved on it.
“Jayce?” the girl asked.
“Yeah?”
“Hi. I’m Nina. Despy told us about you.”
Nina unwrapped a cloak from her back. She entered the warehouse and laid it down on the floor. Within the cloak, Jayce saw images of the journey he and Mallory had yesterday. The photos made him feel terrible for leaving without telling her in advance. The truth of the matter was that he didn’t trust her. Even if he had begun to grow feelings for the princess, her connection to the Gothic Realm felt sketchy to him. He stood up to avoid seeing any more pictures of their smiles.
“So now what?”
“Now you give us the wand,” said Nina. “The Enterprise and their pack of asswipes will hunt you down until it’s in their hands.”
“No! Why would I give it to you if you’ll just give it to them?”
“It’s fine. That thing’s not a toy. I can’t explain right now but—”
“I know what it is,” Jayce assured her. “Mallory told me.”
“Told you what?”
“The Death’s Dawn. That’s what it’s called, right?”
Nina’s eyes widened.
“Are we good?” came a voice from behind Jayce. He turned around and saw the boy who saved his life.
“She told him,” Nina told her partner.
“Who cares? We found him so let’s take the wand and get out of here.”
“I’m not giving anyone the wand.”
Jayce’s protest didn’t make the male visitor happy. Him being drenched in blood didn’t make him look any less scary either.
“Malik,” Nina called out. “Let’s take it down a notch.”
“I don’t care what she told you,” Malik growled, inching closer to Jayce. “Give me the wand or you’ll end up like him.” Malik pointed at the body across the warehouse — or what was left of it.
“It stopped raining,” Jayce observed. As soon as Nina’s head moved, Jayce bolted deeper into the warehouse. Malik chased him.
“Son of a witch!” Malik yelled. “If I catch you, you’re dead!”
Jayce could barely outrun Malik. And with Nina blocking the exit, he had nowhere to escape.
But Malik had had enough of chasing the suburban boy. A deep growl echoed through the warehouse. Soon enough, Jayce saw the consequence of his hiding. Malik transformed into a brown Werewolf.
It didn’t take long before they were face to face. Jayce felt a breeze each time the Werewolf swung its claws — scraping them through the metal containers and wooden boxes surrounding the pair. Nina’s decision to section Jayce off from the exit by entering the warehouse sealed his fate. Jayce was cornered.
“You don’t understand,” he said to the Werewolf as it approached him. “This wand — it’s all I’ve got left!”
Malik wasn’t listening. And Nina’s reluctance to stop him proved that she didn’t care either. There was only one last hope.
Jayce pointed the wand at the brown Werewolf. Malik was inches away from tearing his head clean off.
“Please,” said Jayce. “Please. Please. Please!”
Abruptly, a fire began to form around the tip of the wand.
“Watch out!” Nina yelled.
Malik was too late. He didn’t dodge the fireball that was sent to his chest. The Werewolf flew across the warehouse and hit his back on the wall across from Jayce.
“Holy shit,” the teen smiled. He pointed the wand at Nina. “Don’t move.�
��
“You’ll pay for that, you little shit.”
Despite his warnings, Nina moved closer to Jayce. She hugged her shield to her chest. Jayce didn’t hesitate. He pointed the wand at Nina. A fire began to form around its tip. However, when it shot, the fire disappeared into her shield. The blue markings began to shine orange. Jayce kept shooting but the shield kept absorbing its power. Finally, Nina rose the shield over her head.
“It’s over!” came a deep yell from behind Nina. She lost her momentum and looked over her shoulder. She made sure to keep the shield filled with Jayce’s fireball energy pointed in the direction of the boy quivering in the corner.
“Jett,” she observed. “Why are you here?”
“No kill,” he warned. “Leave boy alone.”
“He has the wand. The Enterprise promised to give our Beans back in exchange for it.”
“They lie.”
“Fuck off, Jett!”
“He’s right!” Jayce yelled. “They won’t stop until your all gone.”
“Nice exit plan.”
Jayce could feel the heat from the fiery shield. He began to panic.
“I’m not lying! If they were going to give you the Beans they would’ve done it already! It gives you a better reason to work with them. They just want to hold it over your head because they’re waiting for their moment to wipe you all out!”
“Put shield down,” said Jett. He placed his hand on Nina’s shoulder. “He one of us.”
Nina agreed to surrender. Jayce didn’t know whether it was because of their talk or because she didn’t want to risk fighting Jett, but he was pleased regardless.
“Stay safe,” Nina warned him. Her and Jett helped pick Malik up before leaving the warehouse. Jayce tried to leave too, but he couldn’t. His body lacked the energy. He checked the bullet wound on his chest. The pain lingered, but the wound was closed.
What the . . . ?
All was well in Jayce’s eyes. He had survived two assassinations attempts, a bullet to the chest, and learned how to use his wand . . . sort of. He tried to place it over his body to heal his pain somehow, but it failed. Another fireball attempt didn’t work either. But when he laid back a smile streaked across his face.
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