Nick nodded. "I thought she was going crazy! Oh my God. Best birthday ever."
"We were all like ‘What's wrong?’ And she was like, 'I just remembered a funny cat video I saw,'” laughed Josh, still scratching his hand.
"Bug bite?" asked Nick taking notice.
"I don't know," replied Josh.
Josh stopped laughing. He started to squirm, shaking his hand in pain.
“It’s burning!” Josh shouted.
Nick pulled Josh's hand towards him. Perhaps it was a bug bite, but there weren’t any bite marks. Then he saw a bloody outline of an upside down triangle forming. Josh’s eyes began to water.
“Nick help me!” cried Josh.
Nick started to panic. Maybe running cold water might help? he thought. But before he could move, Josh’s hand began to glow and, without warning, their entire roof blew open. The boys let out a scream and looked up.
"Jesus Christ!" Nick yelled.
He couldn’t tell at first what had caused the blast, but Josh saw it and froze in terror. Above them, staring straight at them was a creature the size of a titan. It had the head of a human skull with four long horns, and long pointed teeth.
Kaldea ran to the stairs with her shotgun and saw Nick running down carrying Josh.
"What happened?" Kaleda asked.
"I don't know! The roof just exploded!" Nick said.
Kaldea looked at Josh who was shaking uncontrollably.
"Josh?" she said worriedly. She glanced at his glowing hand.
Her eyes widened, but before she could move, black and purple mist burst through the large window, knocking them all off their feet, and glass flying everywhere. When the mist faded, Lord Damen stood in front of them with his malevolent grin and glowing red eyes.
Kaldea, seeing the demon moving towards her sons, fired her shotgun into the demon’s chest, blasting him back through the window. The loud bang echoed throughout the living room, hurting all of their ears. Kaldea jumped to her feet, pulled her sons to their feet, and pushed them towards the front door.
They raced to the small vanilla-colored car. But before any of them could enter it, Kaldea heard Josh cry out.
“Mom!”
She saw him pointing back towards the cabin, but she couldn’t see what Josh could: the titan demon behind them. Its body was glowing a pale bright pink color. It had the form of a flayed human body. On its stomach was another face gazing at them. It had long teeth and large human eyes.
It leaped over the cabin and slammed down onto the car, throwing them all in the air. Kaldea landed near the house. She quickly sat up and saw her boys near the forest on the opposite side of the yard. The she saw Damen walking out of the house, his shotgun wound healed. Once he saw the boys, he covered himself in black mist and flew straight at them.
With great fury, Kaldea fired a sparkling jet of blue fire from her hand, creating a wall of flames in front of him. He stopped dead in his tracks, and she raced towards him, firing her shotgun at his chest, arms, and legs. Once she got close enough, she smashed him with the shotgun’s stock before tackling him to the ground.
Josh scrambled to his feet and ran towards his mother, but it was too late: the titan demon was right on top of him. He covered himself as it stretched out to grab him, but the moment it touched him a flash of light blinded the beast, causing it to stagger back into the trees. It crashed onto the branches with great force lifting Josh off his feet, slamming him against the trees behind him. A pale, pink mist released from the Titan Demon, which spread through the forest, causing the trees to decay, and the force of the demon’s fall and then everything went black.
“Josh!” screamed Nick.
Nick quickly picked up his brother, but Nick’s skin started to be burned by something he couldn’t see. Then heard screaming. It was his mother.
He dashed to the flames, carrying his brother, but through the flames he saw the demon mercilessly jamming his thumbs into his mother’s eyes while ripping at her chest with his sharp teeth. She was still fighting. She forced the tip of her shotgun into his mouth, and, just as she fired, Damen ripped open her skull. Dark, thick blood splattered over Kaldea’s body as Damen’s head was blown clean off his shoulders.
Nick screamed at the top of his lungs as he watched his mother hit the ground. He vomited, and all of his limbs felt like jelly. But Damen's headless body started moving again. Nick wasted no time and ran into the forest with his brother in his arms.
He ran into a chamber hidden behind large trees near a lake. When he had hurried into his large, white pod, he noticed Josh was bleeding from his head and was not breathing. Nick immediately checked Josh’s pulse. It had stopped.
"Come on kid! Don't do this to me!” cried Nick.
He breathed into Josh’s mouth and pumped on the boy’s chest again.
“Come on! Please! Please!"
Josh still wasn’t responding. Don't do this! Please! No! No! Please!
Then, suddenly, Josh started breathing in small, quick breaths. His eyes were still closed, but he was alive. Nick held him tightly and cried.
Chapter 4
The Test of Friendship
Nick
Some time later, their pod traveled to a small, blue underwater safe house. After the water drained from the entrance chamber of the safe house, the front of the pod flung open, and Nick stepped out, holding his brother.
He entered a living room that looked similar to the Cabin’s. It was quiet, enough for him to hear his mother still screaming as he approached a door. He opened it and stepped inside a teal blue, windowless room. He set Josh onto the bed. He went into a bathroom on the opposite side, looked under the sink and grabbed a first aid kit.
He took out a few bandages, some alcohol, and a handful of cotton balls, and began working on his brother. Luckily, he found no broken bones, but there was a large gash on the back of his brother’s head. Once he was done, he felt as if a thousand pounds had been placed on his shoulders. He collapsed onto the bed, bringing Josh into his arms. He could still see Karl being burned alive and Engel spitting out his organs. And his mother the image of her was too sickening to think about.
He desperately wanted everything to be a bad dream. He wanted to wake up and still be in the other safe house near Pasag, celebrating Seth’s birthday with the others. But the images were too real. Karl, Engel, Trent, his mother, they were all dead. His eyes watered again, and he cried until he fell asleep. There was a burning thought that stayed with him as he rested his head next to Josh, a thought that he knew would lead to another death, maybe more.
The next morning around four am, he heard a loud ringing. He sat up and left the room to investigate. The ringing was coming from another room, his mother’s. He opened the door and stepped in and saw a pink cell phone vibrating on a nightstand next to a bed larger than the one in his room. He saw the caller I.D.: Alaura and answered it.
“Alaura.” He said, emotionless.
“Nick?” Alaura said in a concerned tone.
“…Yeah”
“Oh thank goodness! Where are you guys?”
Nick didn’t answer.
“Tyshawn and the others arrived late last night. They said you two were on your way.”
He remained silent.
“Get your mother on the phone.”
“She’s…busy right now. In fact she wants us to meet at another safe house. All of us; you, Tyshawn, Zelda, and Seth.”
“Which safe house?”
“The one in the Nevada Desert.”
“Nevada?”
“Alaura, please.”
“Okay, hun.”
“Remember to bring Tyshawn, Zelda, and Seth, please. Just you four okay? She says it’s very important.”
“Alright.”
He hung up. He looked under his mother’s bed and pulled out a small black case. Inside, he found a small, semi-automatic pistol with a suppressor under it. Someone from within the group is working with Hexen. I’ll murder the traitor where no
one will know. He stuffed the gun into the waistband of his jeans and pulled the back of his shirt over it. He ran past Josh’s room. I’ll be back baby bro. He hurried to the pod chamber, locking the door behind him.
It was after noon when Nick arrived under a mountain in the Nevada Desert. He strode into the safe house. It was dull and empty, and looked like it hadn’t been used for ages. He decided to wait inside, in a small empty room on the far side of the house. Just like the underwater safe house, it was quite here too. And again he could hear his mother’s screams. Someone was working with Hexen. Suddenly, he heard noise from the pod room.
“Kaldea?” a voice called.
Nick recognized the voice.
“Alaura, in here!”
A thin woman with long golden hair, pink lipstick, and navy blue bellbottoms strolled in. She wore a lavender blouse with the words peace and love in big letters. She was Alaura Crystal Dove. She hugged Nick and kissed him on the forehead.
“Godson! Is everything all right?” asked Alaura.
Nick remained silent as Zelda, Tyshawn, and Seth walk in. Alaura walked around the room pulling off her blue flower shades. Seth was in new clothes, but was still wearing the bandages from the night before. After everyone was in the living room, Nick locked the door.
“She still hasn’t fixed this place up, eh? Alaura asked, turning to Nick.
Suddenly, Nick pulled out the gun and aimed it at everyone.
“Nick?” said Alaura, her mouth hanging open.
Seth’s eyes grew wide as Tyshawn and Zelda stood frozen in shock. Nick felt his heart pounding as he gripped the gun so tight he thought he might break it.
“Which one of you did it?” he said coldly.
“Nick, take it easy,” Tyshawn urged.
Nick felt his entire body shaking now.
“Lower the gun, Nick. Just talk to me,” pleaded Alaura. “Where’s your mother?
“You know goddamn well where she is!” snapped Nick as his eyes watered.
“What are you talking about?” asked Alaura.
“Stop playing stupid! You were all in on it! You helped him kill her!” Nick shouted.
He felt his finger slip and a shot went off over her head. Everyone flinched. Despite his ears ringing from the shot, he put his other hand on the pistol trying to hold it straight.
“Put the gun down, hun. Please!” Alaura pleaded again.
“I saw him. I-I-I saw him kill her. She’s dead. She’s dead! One of you told Hexen about her.”
“We would never betray her or the guild. She was like a mother to us, too. You know that!” Tyshawn said softly, trying to remain calm.
“Who else could have told him?” snapped Nick.
He pointed the gun to Seth who was trembling. Nick felt his heart hammering.
“How do I know you weren’t lying? How do I know that you and Trent didn’t betray us?”
“I swear to you! Everything I told you was true,” said Seth.
“Trent!” shouted Tyshawn.
Nick pointed the gun towards Tyshawn. His palms were now so sweaty he thought the gun would slip right out of his hand.
“It must have been Trent!” continued Tyshawn.
“How do I know you and Zelda weren’t helping him? You guys found us after the attack!” shouted Nick.
He pointed the gun at Alaura. She wasn’t trembling like the others; instead, she wore a sad expression.
“You are the last person she spoke to. Did you tell Hexen where —”
His finger slipped again and a shot fired and flew between her and Seth. Zelda let out a high scream.
“Don’t move! I’ll do it! I’ll do it!” Nick shouted.
Nick felt his stomach flip over. He couldn’t believe it had come to this. He had to murder his friends. His friends stood there motionless. Zelda was in tears. Suddenly, he saw Seth marching towards him. Nick aimed the gun at him again and Seth pressed his forehead against the tip of it. His emerald green eyes met Nick’s dark brown eyes.
“I pledged on my honor to serve this guild till the day I die. I’m telling you the truth. I love you and your family more than my own. But if you still don’t believe me, then just kill me now. I’d rather be dead than to live life knowing you’ve lost faith in me!”
Zelda calmly removed her sword from her back, dropped it, and kicked it towards Nick’s feet. She threw up her hands and fell to her knees. Tyshawn did the same and Alaura soon after.
Nick felt Seth press the gun’s tip harder onto his forehead. He stood there trembling violently. Alaura and the others all watched. Then Nick pulled away from Seth and placed the gun in his mouth.
“Nick!” Alaura screamed.
Nick felt Seth quickly slap the gun out of his hand and wrapped his arms around him. The pain was too much. Nick began to sob uncontrollably again, holding onto Seth. The others got up and joined them.
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” sobbed Nick.
His godmother and friends said nothing as they continued to embrace him. When he finally calmed down, they were all seated on the floor. He told them about how Hexen’s look-alike attacked the cabin. How he killed his mother, and how he escaped. He told them about everything expect Josh. He made it sound like it was just him and his mother who were in the cabin.
“She never told me about that cabin,” said Alaura. “And you say Trent told him about it?”
“Most likely,” said Seth who was letting Nick rest his head on his shoulder.
“But why would he side with Hexen?” Alaura asked.
“Who knows? He never spoke to anyone until we were attacked,” said Seth.
“He spoke? What did he say?” asked Nick.
“He told me to ‘snap out of it’ when I wouldn’t move.”
“You understand Thai?” Tyshwan asked.
“No. He said it in English.”
Nick was a little taken aback by this. There was still a small bit of doubt about his friends in the room, and he desperately wanted it to be true. It would make things easier for him. But at the same time, he didn’t it want to believe it. Trent. Of all people, Trent was working for Hexen. It was sickening.
“I thought he was mute,” said Alaura.
“Apparently he wasn’t. Out of all of us, he had the most mysterious past. But what could he gain from siding with Hexen? And why hasn’t he attacked the rest of the guild yet?” asked Seth.
“How do we even know Trent is alive? Maybe Hexen just followed you?” suggested Alaura.
Nick remained silent. But then a sudden thought hit him. If Hexen did follow us, why isn’t he here with his look alike?
“In any case, the safety of our family comes first. We should all return to our normal lives and keep a low profile. But we have to get Kaldea’s body,” said Seth.
Alaura opened her mouth to protest.
“I don’t care if Trent or Hexen are there! This is the woman who gave us a second chance for God’s sake.”
Nick turned his head and looked at Seth. There was a fire burning in his green eyes. He glanced around at the others and saw the same look. Tyshawn and Zelda were both in agreement.
“Okay, but I’ll be the one going. I’ll take a small team. You’ve been through enough,” said Alaura.
Nick tried to say something, but Alaura cut him off.
“No arguing. We need you to be safe. You all managed to escape Hexen, why shouldn’t a group of gold level students be able to?”
Nick nodded. As much as he wanted to believe that Hexen could be waiting at the cabin, it seemed like a risk he was willing to let his godmother take. They were going for his mother after all. But everything seemed risky at this point. If he let everyone stay underground together they would be sitting ducks; but if they left, Hexen could kill them off one by one in their homes. His biggest concern was Josh. Was he awake now looking for him inside the safe house? Or was his condition getting worse?
Seth’s plan to hide their other guild members gave him an idea. They’d have to send
their friends back to their homes by division. If he volunteered to assist a Lieutenant Governor back to their home division, he could slip away without notice. Not Zelda’s nor Tyshawn’s division, of course, because neither of them would let him out of their sight. He’d have to pick another.
As Alaura, Zelda, and Tyshwan headed out the door, Seth turned to Nick.
“I really thought you were going to shoot me,” he said.
Nick felt a little twist in his heart and remained silent.
“I understand, and if you still don’t believe me, I’ll do anything you ask.”
Nick stared into his eyes for a moment, taking in every word Seth said, and smiled. Seth swung his arm over Nick’s shoulder and walked out through the door to the pod chamber. No matter what, neither Hexen nor Trent could find them, but for how long? Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, and deep underwater, Josh rested peacefully in the safe house.
Chapter 5
The Pleasure of Power
Nick
Nearly ten years had gone by since that day Lord Hexen attacked. It was the night of December 15th, 2017. Within a small private cul-de-sac in Porter Ranch, California, illuminated by the moon light, rested a white two-story house with a blue roof surrounded by a tall stonewall.
Inside, Nick sat at his desk in his messy black and grey office. It was quiet. The only sounds that could be heard came from the wall water fountains around it. In front of him was a notebook. Nick tapped his desk with his pen, lost in thought. Then he began to write.
I hate birthdays. I’m twenty-six today. That’s almost thirty. I thought I’d be married by now, or at least have a girlfriend. I thought I’d have a job of my own. Don’t get me wrong, being rich makes life easier, but I’d rather be working. I wonder how this year will turn out? What will Josh be like when he’s my age? He’ll be sixteen in April. Oddly enough, he’s started puberty late. Maybe he’ll learn about sex on his own? I hope he doesn’t turn out like me when I was his age.
I can remember my mom’s funeral almost ten years ago. It was on October 14th, 2008. I saw the whole guild around the water garden holding flowers and candles. She was wrapped in gold silk and carried in a crystal coffin down the long path over the water into the building. Alaura and her son walked in front of her and the remaining Lieutenant Governors walked behind her.
The Son of Light Book 1: Rebirth Page 4