Drawing Bloodlines

by Steve Bevil

  “That’s correct,” said a stern voice behind her. Cautiously, Alan backed away. “And you should be in Cahokia Falls getting ready for fall classes.”

  “Uh–h … hi, Dad,” stammered Lafonda, biting her lip. Her hand trembled as she waved. “Uh, nice to see you?”

  Dr. Devaro towered above her as he looked over his brown speckled glasses. His smooth mocha-colored face had several frown lines on his forehead. “Are you kidding me?” he said, while putting down his briefcase. He looked back into the hallway and then around the room. “What happened here? What happened to my office?” Briefly, he connected with all the faces in the room and stopped when he saw Nathan. “What are you two doing here, Lafonda? And why in the world is Gregory Black’s son passed out in front of my office?”

  Nervously, Lafonda turned to look at Nathan. “Dad … I can explain,” she said.

  “And what happened to Sakiya Lee!” he asked, as he rushed to her. He examined her forehead and feebly, she smiled up at him. “What happened to Dr. Colvers’ intern?”

  “You know Dr. Colvers?” she asked, appearing confused.

  “Well, of course I do,” said Avery. “He’s a colleague of mine. I’m allowing his intern to use the office that the museum arranged for me when I’m not at the British Museum.” He stood up straight, to face Lafonda. “Okay … I’m waiting?”

  “Uh, uh,” she stuttered. Helplessly, she turned to look at Nathan. “See….”

  “You don’t have to cover for me, or for us,” stammered Nathan. Everyone stood quietly, waiting for him to explain. “I think it’s about time that he knew.” Malick shook his head and Nathan shrugged. “It’s supposed to be hereditary anyway, right?”

  “Know what?” asked Avery, peering at him over his glasses. “What are you talking about?”

  Nathan swallowed dryly and hesitated to speak. “See, we came to London to get … cloaked,” stumbled Nathan. “To prevent them from detecting us.” He looked nervously around the room as he sought encouragement from his friends. “And Jonas … and Bobby.”

  “Jonas and Bobby?” said Avery, “Bart’s kids?” He cocked one eyebrow over his glasses as the space between his eyebrows crinkled. “Cloaked?” He turned to Lafonda. “What on Earth is he talking about? Does your grandmother know you’re here?”

  “Dad?” pleaded Lafonda, in a whiny voice. “I can explain….”

  Dr. Devaro’s eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of their sockets. “Your grandmother doesn’t know you’re here?” he yelled. “And what about Roy? Surely he knows?” Lafonda’s forehead and top lip frowned sorrowfully before her eyes diverted away. “You kids are unbelievable — you are in so much trouble young lady — and just wait until your mother hears about this!”

  “Dad, wait, listen!” pleaded Lafonda.

  “And that car we just bought you, you might as well forget it!” he said. “We’re talking about car privileges revoked — indefinitely!” Frustrated, Avery tossed his hands up in the air. “And believe me, after your mother finds out, you’ll be lucky if you even see that car.”

  “I have powers!” shouted Nathan, abruptly, and the entire room became quiet. It was so quiet that Nathan swore all he could hear was his heart beating against his chest. Dr. Devaro had a blank look on his face and Sakiya Lee looked as if she thought she was hearing things. “I mean, we all do,” Nathan continued, and Alan loudly cleared his throat. “Well, not all of us, but Lafonda has a shield, and Jonas and Bobby can travel between Realms….”

  “Look, I don’t have time for jokes and games,” said Avery, sternly, while shaking his head. “This is a serious matter. Do you see this office?” Dramatically, he pointed. “And look at the window!”

  Nathan turned to look at Malick. Malick took a deep breath before rolling his eyes. “Avery!” yelled Nathan, and in the palm of his hand, a bright blue flame appeared.

  Suddenly, there was a loud crashing sound and everyone turned to find Sakiya Lee lying on the ground. Swiftly, Alan and Lafonda rushed over to her. “I think she fainted,” said Alan, with wide eyes.

  Avery continued to stare blankly in front of him as the light from the blue flame reflected fiercely off his glasses. “I think I’m going to have to sit down,” he said, after fumbling to pick up one of the toppled chairs.

  “You can put that away now,” said Lafonda, leaving Sakiya Lee’s side to stand by her father. Immediately, Nathan closed his hand and in a puff of blue smoke. The flame was gone.

  Dr. Devaro sat in silence; his back facing the busted window. “I had really hoped that my mother was wrong,” he said, gravely. He had a pensive look on his face. “This is not the sort of life I wanted for you kids.”

  “W–wait,” stammered Lafonda. “What life?” She kneeled down to her father’s side. “Dad … are you telling me you knew about this?” With a look of distress, she looked up at Nathan.

  Everyone waited patiently for Dr. Devaro’s response, but Nathan and Lafonda seemed agitated. “So, you knew Jonas’s dad?” asked Nathan, sternly. “Bartholomew Riley?”

  “Yes, I knew Bart,” said Avery, slowly. “And I heard about the family he left behind.” There was a sudden sadness in his eyes. “We were close friends, Bart and I — well, we all were — but that was a long time ago, before his dad forced him into the Order.”

  “Forced him into the Order?” blurted Lafonda, her brown eyes searching his. “You mean to tell me all this time you knew about the Order — about our powers — and you never said anything?”

  The silence in the room was broken when Alan loudly cleared his throat. “Well, I don’t mean to interrupt or to be insensitive,” said Alan, while helping Sakiya Lee back to her seat. “But I don’t know why you’re acting surprised. Roy and LaDonda knew, and Argus did too. Quite frankly I’m starting to think this family is weird.”

  Alan stopped talking after he noticed Lafonda’s eyes quivering in their sockets as she glared at him. “What?” he shrugged. “I’m just saying out loud what we’ve all been thinking — and what’s this that you have a shield? I thought you were normal like the rest of us.”

  “J–just shut up, Alan!” shouted Lafonda, forcibly. “You know you don’t want to go there about weird families.”

  Sakiya Lee shook her head while rubbing the back of her neck. Slowly, she looked up at Alan as her jet-black hair fell neatly unto her shoulders. “Who are you?” she asked with a frown.

  “Uh, Alan,” he said, hesitantly. “Alan Donovan.” He stood straight up; fixing his leather-quilted blazer and his hair. “Should I have told her my name?”

  “Ugh, she’s not a bad guy, Alan!” whined Angela, storming into the room. “I swear! I leave you alone for one moment.” She had a sorrowful look on her face as she turned to look at Lafonda. “I’m sorry, I heard all the drama from the hallway.”

  “Then maybe you shouldn’t leave me alone,” grumbled Alan, his eyebrows raised. Angela rolled her eyes.

  Dr. Devaro continued to sit quietly and hesitated to speak a couple of times before connecting with the faces around the room. “So, I’m assuming since you know about the Order,” he said, after clearing his throat. “That you’ve been talking to Roy and LaDonda….”

  “Roy and Argus, yes,” said Nathan, defiantly. “But LaDonda … not so much.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Oh, and if you were wondering, I finally got the memo.”

  Dr. Devaro looked confused and Nathan sighed. “That Roy and Argus are brothers!” he snapped. He turned to look into the shocked faces of the group. “Yeah, just before we left they dropped that bomb on me, and Argus confirmed he and my mother were members of the Order.” He diverted his eyes toward the window as Angela tried to prevent Alan from sending out a text about them being brothers on his cell phone. “Yeah, 19 years later. But I finally got it.”

  “Look,” said Avery, sympathetically. “There are just a lot of things going on that you kids don’t know about or understand yet.”

  “Oh,” said Nathan, rebelliou
sly. “Then enlighten us. Because if I can handle learning about this….” He quickly produced another fireball and then swiftly closed his hand again. It left behind a trail of blue smoke. “I’m pretty sure I can handle whatever else you throw at me.”

  “Umm, can you stop doing that!” whispered Malick in Nathan’s ear. He faked a chuckle and gave a weak smile to everyone. “We don’t know if, in fact, that thing in your pocket is keeping you cloaked.”

  Dr. Devaro nodded supportively. “I believe you, Nathan,” he said. “And please believe me that I would if I could, however, I’m really not the one that should be answering your questions.”

  “Then who, Dad?” pleaded Lafonda. “We deserve answers.”

  He placed a gentle hand on Lafonda’s shoulder. “The abilities — the powers — they skipped over a lot of us,” he said. “I have no abilities to speak of so, when it comes to that world, I really don’t have the knowledge to speak about it.” His brown eyes searched to connect with hers. “After your grandfather died, I distanced myself away from all of this, to have a normal life. And I hoped and prayed that this part of our family — our legacy — would skip over you too.”

  Lafonda stood up and Avery’s hand slipped to his side. “So, just like Roy, you’re basically saying I need to talk to my grandmother.”

  “Apparently,” mumbled Alan, “because that theme has been on repeat.”

  “Yes,” said Avery, reluctantly. “Regardless of my wishes, she always maintained that you two would have gifts. I guess she always knew.” He looked out toward the hallway. “And about Jonathan.”

  “Jonathan?” blurted Lafonda. The crease between her eyebrows started to frown.

  “Wait,” said Nathan, his eyes connecting with Malick. “Are you saying that LaDonda is a Dream Walker?”

  “What!” yelled Lafonda. She looked desperately at her father. “Is my grandmother a member of the Order?” She turned to look at Malick and then shook her head. “She can’t be. I know my grandmother.”

  “I’m sorry, Lafonda … but I’m not the one that should be answering those questions,” he said. He paused. “And I’ve already said enough as it is — and if what my mother has seen is true — then it’s imperative that you talk to her. All of you.”

  “Wait a minute, all of us?” said Alan. “Because, I’m not with them. I don’t have any powers.”

  Lafonda stopped to glare at him and then sighed. “And what about the prophecy?” she said, after taking a deep breath.

  Dr. Devaro froze and then inquisitively looked over his glasses. “What prophecy?” he asked.

  “You know,” said Alan. He rolled his eyes. “The classic good versus evil stuff — he will emerge to do some stuff to defeat the forces of evil — it’s basically talking about Nathan and that fire thing we saw him do.”

  Nathan and Angela frowned. “It’s a prophecy that was told by the Cahokia American Indians called the Legend of the Firewalker,” said Nathan. “Jonathan discovered it while studying hieroglyphs in the Cahokia Caves.”

  He paused to look at his friends. “We think that’s why they attacked today, to stop Dr. Colvers from deciphering the rest of the symbols.”

  Dr. Devaro fell quiet and had a pensive look on his face. “Who attacked today?” he asked.

  Nathan and Lafonda turned to look at each other. “The Order,” they replied in unison.

  “The Order?” said Avery, sounding surprised. “Are you sure about that?”

  His eyes probed the face of his daughter and she eagerly nodded. “And the caves … are you sure you’re not talking about the Legend of the Fallen Ones?”

  “Yes, we’re positive,” said Lafonda. There was a helpless plea in her voice. “Now do you understand why I want to know my grandmother’s involvement with the Order?” She glanced over at Malick again. “I want to prove that she is in no way connected to these attacks.”

  “And the person that attacked us tonight dropped this,” said Nathan. He fumbled through his pocket, passing over the smooth cylindrical object, to pull out the gold chain and charm that was in the shape of the Firewalker symbol. “We know that it’s the symbol for the Order, but we also know that it’s the Cahokia Indian symbol for Firewalker.”

  Alan walked over toward the busted window and apprehensively peered out of it before glancing nervously at the door. “And this isn’t the first time they’ve attacked us over these symbols — this prophecy,” said Alan. “They’ve already put Dr. Helmsley in a coma and Dr. Colvers is lying downstairs incapacitated.” Dramatically, he pointed at Sakiya Lee. “And his intern is all shaken up after she was practically man-handled for her flash drive … and Jonathan still has pictures of the symbols on his phone!”

  Dr. Devaro suddenly sprung to his feet. “Then we probably should leave here immediately.” He paused to look around his disordered office and noticed the smashed hard drive. “Where’s Jonathan’s phone?”

  “Right here!” said Jonathan, wearily, stumbling into the room. He had a huge knot on his forehead.

  Leah stood behind him with a huge pile of papers in her arms. “I took the liberty of picking up the papers from the hallway,” she said. She shrugged. “They’ll be fewer questions from people if there isn’t a mess.”

  “Perfect!” said Avery and Nathan smiled. “Place those here, in the office, and I’ll lock the door.” He turned to address the group after glancing at his watch. “The hallways will be filling up with faculty and students soon. We need to go somewhere safe, and we’ll need to grab Dr. Colvers.”

  “We can go to Black Manor,” said Jonathan, after securing his phone back into his pocket. “We should have the entire place to ourselves. My parents are away on sabbatical.”

  “Not exactly,” said Avery. “I just dropped your father off from the airport on the way here.” Jonathan’s pale complexion went snow white and Alan appeared to take delight in his sudden discomfort. “But we should go there,” continued Avery, with a nod. “I’m sure Gregory would want to hear about these new symbols.” He turned to look at Lafonda. “And if my memory serves me correctly, so will your grandmother.” He smiled, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I can guarantee you that your grandmother had nothing to do with these attacks and that she loves you and Nathan dearly.”

  “It’s the same way Roy and Argus reacted,” whispered Nathan to Malick. “Why does everyone feel that LaDonda will want to know about the prophecy?”

  “Nathan,” called Dr. Devaro, and Nathan abruptly pulled away from Malick. “You and your friend….”

  Quickly, Malick fixed his posture. “U–hh, it’s Malick, Mr. Devaro,” he said. “I–I mean, Dr. Devaro.”

  Dr. Devaro eyed him suspiciously over his glasses and then nodded. “Malick,” he repeated, softly to himself. “So, Malick, how about you and Nathan grab Dr. Colvers, and meet us downstairs, in the back of the building.”

  “Oh crap!” blurted Angela. She sprinted toward the door. “Our bags — we left them in the cab!”

  Alan’s blue eyes suddenly became large as saucers again. “You think they’re still there?”

  “I hope so,” she said, stopping for a second to turn around. “We’ll meet you in the back, Dr. Devaro.” She waved hurriedly. “Alan, come on!”

  “Sakiya!” called Avery, suddenly, and she almost toppled from her seat. “For the meantime, you should come with us … just to be safe.” Sakiya Lee appeared startled, but eventually nodded.

  Everyone proceeded to follow Dr. Devaro out into the hallway. Malick and Nathan darted toward the staircase as Dr. Devaro locked his office door. “I’d better let Roy and LaDonda know where you two are before they panic, if they haven’t already,” he said. He pulled out his cell phone as they swiftly headed toward the staircase. With one eyebrow cocked over his brown speckled glasses, his eyes connected with Lafonda. “And then I’ll be calling your mother.”

  12

  BLACK MANOR

  “It really is beautiful here, Lafonda,” Nathan heard Angela
say. His eyes were still closed, as he lay motionless on the plush upholstered sofa. “I really hope your mom lets you join us.” Nathan could hear Angela getting closer to him as her flip-flops smacked against the sweeping wooden staircase and then across the hardwood floors.

  Nathan continued to keep his eyes shut up until the last second, until he was sure Angela was hovering directly over him. “Nope,” she said, staring down at him. Groggily, Nathan’s brown eyes met hers. “He’s awake.”

  Angela pulled her ear away from the phone and whispered. “Lafonda wants you to wake up pronto,” she said. From his point of view, all Nathan could see was the ornate white ceiling and Angela’s face as she paused to look around the room. “Her mom is talking about putting all of us on the earliest flight possible back to Cahokia Falls, but she’s trying to convince her to allow Alan to book the tickets to buy us some time.”

  “Uhh, can you not stand over me like that?” he said, motioning with a swift wave of his hand for her to move.

  Angela continued to look down at him, and then frowned. “Get up!” she said in an aggressive whisper. “Today might be our only chance to sneak away and get cloaked.”

  “Sneak away?” said Nathan, sitting up. He attempted to turn around to address her, but he abruptly stopped because of the pain in his neck. He immediately attributed it to sleeping on the sofa. “Doesn’t she understand the point of us coming here?” he said, rubbing his neck. “This wasn’t some teenage rebellious excursion — our lives are in danger!”

  “She knows all that,” said Angela, quickly walking around the sofa to stand in front of him. She paused only to frown again. She had a horrified look on her face as she stared at Nathan’s discombobulated hair. “Mrs. Devaro doesn’t want us doing anything until we talk to LaDonda first.”

  “What does talking to LaDonda have to do with getting us cloaked?” groaned Nathan. He paused to look up at the large oil painting that sat above the majestic reddish-brown fireplace that was in front of him. The little blonde-haired girl in the painting, dressed in an all-white dress with short ruffled sleeves at her shoulders, appeared to sit happily in a field of green and brown prairie grass. Nathan thought her brown eyes were painted beautifully. The three intricate carvings that adorned the face of the fireplace, below the painting, equally captivated him. He squinted as he examined the two large white statues that appeared to guard it on opposite ends, on top of the mantel.