by Steve Bevil
A moment passed and Leah, a little shaky, continued to point the medallion at him. Laban growled and his eyes seemed to burn right out of his sockets. Swiftly, he took off running toward her and immediately the medallion turned blue again — firing a bolt of energy straight into Laban’s chest.
Nathan lay on the ground. He had landed on his side and his arm throbbed. Through the swirling fog, he could see that Laban had recovered quickly and had sprung back to his feet.
“Nathan,” said someone standing over him. “Get up!”
“Malick?” asked Nathan, wearily.
“No — get up!” he said, while pulling at his arm. “It’s Argus — now get up!”
Nathan’s head was still in a whirl, but Argus quickly got him on his feet. “Wake up, Nathan,” he said, giving him two light slaps in the face. “I need you to throw a fireball and fast — I’m not trying to die for anyone tonight.”
“W–what?” he asked, sounding confused. He had a shocked look on his face. “How did you….”
“I saw you earlier,” said Argus. “Now hurry up, before we lose your friends!”
Nathan followed Argus’s gaze and his drowsy eyes suddenly grew wide. “Leah … Sam!” he gasped, as Laban charged toward them.
Quickly, Nathan raised his hand and hit Laban with a blazing blue fireball. The bottom of Laban’s red cloak caught fire as the flames spread over his body like wildfire. Everywhere the fire spread burned a bright blue, as the fire turned all to cinder. Laban cried out in agony. Soon, the flames had reached his face and the searing pain forced him into the fetal position.
Without warning, Luke emerged from the battered car, and like a bullet, shot toward Laban. It was as if Laban’s cries had awoken a sleeping giant.
“Quick!” yelled Argus. “Throw another fireball at him!”
Nathan raised his hand to strike, but before he could launch another fireball, Luke threw a series of blue energy balls at them. “I didn’t know they could do that,” complained Nathan. They both dove to the ground. “I guess it’s better than Lucas’s lightning bolts….”
“Wait … what?” yelled Argus. He had gotten to his feet again. “You’ve had a run in with Lucas?”
“Umm, yeah, sort of,” stumbled Nathan, his face turning red. Quickly, Nathan stood up and readied a counterattack, but Luke and Laban were already halfway toward the stage.
“They’re leaving?” mumbled Leah, joining Argus and Nathan from the side.
Nathan could tell from Laban’s limp that he was badly injured; half of his body was charred and ashen. “We should go after them!” Nathan shouted. He turned to look at Leah and paused, gently caressing her busted lip. “I think we’ve actually hurt them this time. If we hurry, we can stop them before they reach the stage.”
“This time?” asked Argus, looking confused. The frown lines on his over-tanned skin appeared to leave what looked like railroad tracks on his forehead. Soon, his crisp blue eyes became very discerning. “We need to help your other friends….”
“Other friends?” said Nathan.
“Argus!” yelled Chief Rosales, running up to them. His breath labored and his chest heaved. “What the hell is going on? You and your people promised this would never happen again.”
Immediately, he noticed Malick on the ground and checked his vital signs. “And don’t tell me this has nothing to do with what just recently happened at the caves!”
Suddenly, Nathan’s eyes grew wide again. “Jonas — Lafonda!” he screamed.
Nathan took off running across the field toward the direction he last saw Lafonda and the others. “They were standing by the large speakers,” he muttered. “Next to Jim and.…”
Nathan gasped and immediately stopped in his tracks. He could hear Argus and Chief Rosales fast approaching behind him. “Jonas!” he cried.
Several feet in front of him, Lauren held Jonas at knifepoint by the neck. Slowly, she forced him backward as she inched toward the stage. Over her shoulder, she caught a glimpse of Luke, Laban, and the two Scarlet Priests escaping through the shadows without her, and she seethed. Jonas tried to struggle free and Lauren pressed the edge of the dagger against his neck.
A bright trickle of blood flowed from his skin and Nathan cringed. “Let him go, Lauren!” he yelled, carefully proceeding forward. Through the rolling fog, Nathan saw Jim and the security guard lying motionless on the ground. “Let him go … now!”
Soon, Lafonda joined beside Nathan as Jonathan growled on his other side. “Now!” he demanded, forming a fireball in his hand.
Nathan thought it was almost surreal, as Lauren grinned at him, but in one swift motion, she slit Jonas’s throat. There were several gasps and Lauren seemed to take joy in watching Jonas’s body collapse to the ground.
“No!” Nathan screamed. Lauren quickly mixed a drop of Jonas’s blood in a long glass vial and drank it after it turned a sparkling bright blue.
Nathan could feel the pit of his stomach twist in knots as he desperately tried to throw a fireball at her, but Lauren had already vanished through the blue doorway she had created in front of her.
6
A LITTLE BIT CLOSER
In a swirl of blue and white lights, Jonathan was human again as Samantha and Chief Rosales’ faces almost went pale white. “I’m never going to get used to this stuff,” said Chief Rosales, shaking his head.
Immediately, Jonathan knelt down to Nathan’s side. Nathan cradled Jonas’s head in his arms and tried to stop the bleeding from his throat with his hands. “Here!” said Jonathan, removing his white Justin Bloomer T-shirt and handing it to him. “Put this on his neck and apply pressure to it!”
“Somebody, dial 911!” Nathan pleaded. Tears ran from Jonas’s eyes and blood began to escape his mouth as he tried to speak.
“We need to get him to the hospital and fast,” said Chief Rosales. “We’re way out here in Lynn Field and you know what happened last time. Argus.” He had a disgruntled look on his face. “You know the ambulance won’t get here in time.”
“Then what are we waiting for!” shouted Nathan. “Let’s take him there!”
Chief Rosales paused and for a moment stared at Argus. “Do you want to….”
“No — let’s go!” said Argus. He looked sternly at Nathan. “Can you carry him?”
Nathan nodded eagerly and the shirt he used to apply pressure to Jonas’s wound fell to the ground as he stood up.
“I got it!” said Angela, springing to action. Quickly, she grabbed the knit sweater that was tied around Alan’s waste. She paused to look at Nathan and Jonathan as she used the sweater to apply pressure to Jonas’s wound. “This should work better.”
Jonathan smiled at her and Alan sighed heavily. “Angela!” Alan cried. “That’s Dolce!”
“We’ll need another car,” winced Chief Rosales, staring at the smashed up squad car. “I doubt we’ll get very far in my vehicle.”
“We can take my car,” said Malick, joining the conversation. He smiled reassuringly, but appeared slightly disorientated. “It’s parked right next to yours.”
Chief Rosales looked at Malick skeptically and then Argus nodded. “Let’s go then,” he said. He looked painfully at Jonas. “I’m pretty sure this boy here doesn’t have time for you to decide if his offer is good enough or not.”
Quickly, Nathan and the others moved to the back of the field that had served as a temporary parking lot earlier. Most of the cars were gone and Nathan tried to carry Jonas in a way that Angela could continue to apply pressure to his wound.
“Is this your car?” asked Chief Rosales, surprised.
“Yes sir,” said Malick, opening the driver’s side door.
“Uh, what are you doing?” said Chief Rosales, abruptly, and before Malick could climb in. “You really think I’m going to let you drive — not to mention with that big knot on your head?” He took the keys from him and then gestured sternly with his head. “Get in the back seat.”
“We’ll be right behind y
ou guys,” said Lafonda. Her hair was out of place and her face look frazzled. “You’ll drive— right, Angela?”
Angela nodded and then noticed the blood on her hands. “Make sure you keep pressure on that,” she said, quickly, before Chief Rosales could close the door. She smiled weakly at Jonathan and he returned a reassuring smile. “We’ll be right behind you.”
“Wait!” cried Nathan, after the car left the field and pulled on to Route 7. “What about Jonathan? Isn’t he a Spirit Walker or something?” He looked frantically at Malick. “Why can’t he just take us to the hospital? Doesn’t he have the ability to go between realms?”
Sadly, Malick shook his head. “No,” he said, staring at Chief Rosales and Argus, apprehensively. He lowered his voice. “His ability doesn’t work that way and besides, he can only travel to the Space-In-Between or Spirit Realm while in spirit form.” Swiftly, Malick took off his leather jacket. He then removed his shirt and tried to draw some of the blood that was running down the sides of Jonas’s neck. “And for Jonathan that just happens to be….”
“A black fox,” said Nathan, looking hopefully into Jonas’s eyes. Cautiously, he cradled Jonas’s neck. “Hold on Jonas — please, just hold on, and don’t try to speak.”
“But wait,” whispered Nathan, abruptly. “Why does it work that way for Jonas and Bobby? They can travel to the Spirit Realm.”
“That’s because they’re not Spirit Walkers,” whispered Malick.
Suddenly, Nathan recalled what Jonathan said at the closing ceremony about the smaller symbols around the Firewalker symbol in the caves. “They’re Travelers,” whispered Nathan, slowly. “Bobby and Jonas, they’re Travelers.”
Malick’s eyes grew wide and then after some hesitation, he nodded. “Yes,” he said. “And from the looks of it, so was their father.”
There was a brief silence and then Jonas tried to sit-up. “Stay still!” said Nathan and then Jonas started to cough erratically. “Try to relax. Concentrate on your breathing!”
Soon Jonas started to cough uncontrollably and blood began to spill from his mouth. “Help!” cried Nathan and then Jonas’s entire body went rigid. “We have to do something — I think he’s dying!”
Quickly, Argus turned around from the front passenger seat and then turned to face Chief Rosales. “Jorge,” he said, hesitantly. “He’s not going to make it. Pull over.”
“Pull over?” asked Chief Rosales, checking the rearview mirror. “Are you crazy? Are you trying to kill the kid?”
“If we don’t do something now, were going to lose him!” bellowed Argus.
“What do you mean?” shouted Nathan, looking frantically through the back window. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. What do you mean pull over?”
“You know what happened last time,” said Chief Rosales. “Do you really want this boy’s life on your hands too?”
“What is he talking about?” bellowed Nathan, staring both at Argus and Chief Rosales.
There was a brief silence, but Argus continued to stare at him. “Damn it, Jorge!” shouted Argus, abruptly. “Just pull over!”
Quickly, Chief Rosales checked the rearview mirror again and then Nathan heard the car’s turning signal. “Why on Earth are we pulling over?” asked Nathan, frantically.
Soon, the silver car came to a stop and swiftly, Argus sprung out of the vehicle. “Hurry up and get out of the car!” he said, staring at Malick. “So you can help Nathan carry out Jonas.”
“Please … what’s going on?” cried Nathan, as Malick reached for Jonas’s legs.
“I don’t know,” said Malick, sadly. “But we have to do something, or Jonas isn’t going to make it.”
The night air was still crisp, but the rolling fog that had plagued them earlier had now dissipated. “Lay him down in the grass,” said Argus, softly. He paused to look back at the metallic silver Camaro. “Are you going to just sit there in the car?”
“I don’t want any part in this,” said Chief Rosales, watching from the driver’s side window. “If you were going to do this, you should have tried earlier — before we left Lynn Field.”
Jonas lay motionless on the ground. His eyes, now closed, and his lips had turned a dark blue. “We have to do something!” Nathan pleaded, with tears swelling in his eyes. “Please, tell me what’s going on?”
“Look, for now, just step back!” said Argus, getting to his knees. “I don’t have time to explain. Just give me some space to concentrate.”
Argus closed his eyes and then abruptly, stretched his hands out over Jonas’s body. “Please,” he mumbled. “Please, let this work.”
There was a long silence and Nathan began to worry. Over his shoulder, he thought he heard Chief Rosales sigh. Then suddenly, Argus’s body started to tremble and a healthy glow began to emanate from him. In a blink of an eye, the glow consolidated in his hands and then shot out like a rocket. Instantly, the glow filled Jonas’s body and Argus collapsed to the ground.
“Argus!” shouted Nathan, kneeling down to him. His normally tanned skin appeared white and almost matched the color of his silver ponytail. “Argus!”
“Nathan!” called Malick, while repeatedly tapping him on the shoulder. “Look — Jonas!”
Nathan turned around just in time to see Jonas spontaneously sit up, but to only fall back down as the white glow left his body. “Jonas!” he cried out and then frantically, he turned toward Malick. “Keep checking on Argus!”
Quickly, Nathan kneeled over Jonas’s body and immediately noticed that his chest heaved rapidly. “Jonas!” he cried. Gently, Nathan ran his fingers across Jonas’s neck, and besides the blood, it looked completely healed. “Jonas? Can you hear me? Are you okay?”
Suddenly, Jonas’s eyes popped open and he sat up again. “Nathan,” he said, running his hands frantically across his neck. “I can breathe again — and my neck — it’s completely healed. There’s no more bleeding!”
Nathan smiled wide and immediately gave Jonas a big hug. “Oomph!” sighed Jonas. He struggled to speak. “Do you have to squeeze so hard?”
“Oh, sorry!” said Nathan, energetically and with a smile.
“Nathan!” called Malick. “Argus is waking up — I think he’s going to be alright.”
“Well, I’ll be damn,” said Chief Rosales, with a gaped mouth. “The son of a gun actually did it!” He paused for a moment; turning on the Camaro. “And if it wasn’t for that boy that changed from a dog earlier, I would say I’d seen just about everything.”
“Fox,” murmured Jonas and Nathan in unison.
Nathan turned to look at Argus as Malick slowly helped him to his feet. “It’s not a dog,” he said with a smile. “It’s a fox.”
7
URGENCY
“Okay,” said Nathan, staring into the fire. He placed his cell phone back into his pocket. “Leah texted that they just pulled into the driveway. Apparently¸ they stopped to take Jim and one of his friends home.”
“Good,” said Argus, who paced the room. His face was still slightly pale and his posture slumped over. “Everyone is safe.”
“Safe?” said Chief Rosales, staring coldly at him. He paused to take a seat on one of the plush leather couches that circled the large fireplace in the den of the Devaro Mansion. “Sergeant Winfrey just called and told me we have two dead security guards and one dead teenage girl out at Lynn Field. Tell me, Argus — you call that safe?” Restless, he sprang up from his seat and stampeded toward him. “Not to mention the countless others we just shipped to the hospital!”
“I’m telling you, Jorge,” said Argus, “this isn’t our fault!”
“Oh, yeah?” said Chief Rosales. “Go ahead and tell me this had nothing to do with what happened out in the caves a few weeks ago. Go ahead and lie to me Argus, but what in the hell am I supposed to say to that dead girl’s parents?” Heated, he slammed his fist into the wood wall panel. “What am I supposed to say? Another fraternity prank? Give me a break!”
“I don’t need th
is right now, Jorge,” he sighed. Groggily, he collapsed down unto one of the couches that faced the fireplace. His tanned face still looked peaky, even as the fire from the fireplace reflected a warm light. “That took a lot out of me,” he murmured, underneath his breath. He paused; his head hung down low. “It’s been a long time … a long time….”
“You should count your lucky stars that you were able to save that boy tonight,” grumbled Chief Rosales. “You know that’s not how the story went last time. Because if it did, we would have another body on our hands!”
There was a brief silence and Nathan watched as Jonas slowly made his way back into the den from the bathroom. His hair appeared damp, as if he had just washed his face. His neck was still a little red, but healed all the same. Jonas looked down at his shirt. It was still saturated with blood, but he still managed to force a smile.
“So,” said Nathan. He smiled encouragingly back at Jonas before turning to face Argus. “Are you going to tell us how you were able to perform that magic trick back there?” Nathan sighed heavily, casting his eyes rebelliously toward the fire. Argus remained silent. “I guess that means you’re going to continue to ignore my questions.”
Silence gripped the room and then Nathan pointed dramatically toward Jonas. “You can’t expect us to forget about this!” he yelled. “There’s no point in trying to keep this a secret!” Argus turned inquisitively to Chief Rosales, but Chief Rosales remained silent. “Just tell us!” demanded Nathan. “How did you heal Jonas?”
Abruptly, Roy quickly entered the room; followed by Lafonda, Leah, and Samantha. “Jonas!” cried Leah, giving him a big hug. “I can’t believe my eyes — you are okay?”
Nathan looked surprised to see Samantha, but smiled at her. “Your neck,” she said, gently rubbing it with her hand. “It looks as if nothing ever happened.”
Leah smiled wide at Nathan, her eyes gleaming with delight. “When you sent me the text,” she chuckled. “I told the others what you said. But let me tell you — I had a hard time believing it.”