◆ ◆ ◆
Hours later, all of the orphans returned to the church with high spirits and empty bellies—save for Charlie, who only had the empty belly and had to fake his enthusiasm.
With food on everyone’s minds, Eddie offered to go hunting with Charlie. Of course, he had ulterior motives. He had informed Charlie of his scheme just before attempting to execute it. The plan was to invite Naomi and Malika to join them. Then, once they were in the woods, he would suggest that they split up like they had that morning, only with their preferred pairings. Partial to plans, and this plan in particular, Charlie eagerly agreed.
Unfortunately for the two would-be Casanovas, both Malika and Naomi declined the invitations.
“You miss almost all of the shots you don’t take,” Eddie joked to Charlie as they, along with Antony, who volunteered in the girls’ place, ventured back into the forest.
◆ ◆ ◆
After an uneventful dinner, Malika encouraged all of the orphans to get as much sleep as possible. They all retreated inside the church.
“Wow,” Naomi said as she entered the surprisingly pristine chapel. “It looks way nicer.”
“I did a little cleaning when you were gone,” Malika said.
Really, Malika had just opened the front and back doors to the church. With a couple heavy flaps of her wings, she had sent all of the dust twirling out of the church in a massive gust of wind. She had also found a trunk filled with a bunch of old cloth alter covers in one of the closets.
Antony commented that the smell reminded him of his grandmother’s closet, and not in a good way. But it was all they had to work with. They made their own beds on the pews, using the alter covers as sheets. Once they were all set up, the only thing left was to put them to use.
“What are you doing?” JP said to Eddie as he started to wiggle out off his T-shirt.
“Uh, getting ready for bed,” Eddie replied, his shirt stuck around his shoulders.
“Don’t you think you should keep your clothes on? You know, given the company.”
“It’s cool. I talked to Antony. He said I’m not his type.”
“I heard that,” Antony said from across the room, where he was putting the finishing touches on his bed. “And what I said was I don’t really have a type yet.”
“Close enough,” Eddie said.
“I was talking about Naomi, anyway,” JP said.
“Thank you,” Naomi said to JP. “He’s right, Eddie. You can keep your clothes on.”
“Fine,” Eddie said as he pulled his shirt back over his head, “but if I lose all my leg hair from the chafing, I don’t wanna hear any comments.”
Antony finished making his bed and noticed that Charlie had already laid down a couple pews ahead of his. He had also noted that Charlie had been mostly quiet since halfway through their hunt. Antony sidled up to Charlie’s pew. “Hey, don’t worry about what happened tonight. You’ll get them next time.”
While Antony had had no problem picking off the squirrels, both Eddie and Charlie struggled. After a while, Eddie finally found his groove; however, Charlie never did. The more opportunities they gave Charlie to get his first squirrel, the worse he did. Eventually, Charlie just faked a stiff shoulder and let the others take over.
“I know,” Charlie sighed. His errant throws during their hunt were only one of the things on his mind, but there was much more than that bothering him.
Antony could sense that Charlie’s issues were deeper. “Are you still having the nightmares?”
“No.”
“Good,” Antony said. “Although sometimes, I’d almost take a nightmare if it meant I could hear my dad’s voice again.”
“Yeah.”
“But once we take care of the Beasts that killed our parents, I’m sure all that will come back.” He put his hand on Charlie’s shoulder.
“Uh huh,” Charlie said as he rolled onto his side away from Antony. That was the plan: to save their parents. But while they were just getting started, Charlie had already begun to doubt whether or not it was something he could even accomplish.
“All right,” Antony said. “Well, goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” Charlie replied.
“Lights out,” Eddie shouted just before the room went dark.
All the orphans tucked themselves into their beds.
In a few short minutes, they were all asleep—except for Charlie. He just stared at the moonlight passing through the stained-glass mural. As he absorbed the image of Saint Michael battling the Devil, he engaged in a battle of his own. He fought with his own mind, trying to suppress the swelling doubt and trying desperately to find happiness. But with each waking minute, his mind only advanced its position.
◆ ◆ ◆
A couple days passed, during which the orphans followed the same routine: breakfast and then into the woods; lunch and then back into the woods; dinner and then rest.
When Malika was satisfied with how the orphans seemed to be progressing, she surprised them. She didn’t send them off after breakfast as she had the days before. Instead, she told them to wait where they were.
“It’s time for your first test,” Malika informed the orphans, and then headed for the woods by herself.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“Where’s she going?” Naomi asked the others as Malika disappeared into the thicket of trees.
“I have no idea,” Charlie said. He wasn’t as concerned about where she was going as he was about the test. He was keenly aware of how much the other orphans seemed to be improving, and how far behind he was. Naomi had lost much of her edge, Eddie was much more attentive, and both JP and Antony exuded a confidence that Charlie had never seen before. Charlie had done his best to put up a façade as he pretended to keep up with everyone. But he knew that his façade was built with weak bricks and would not withstand even the slightest inspection.
After a minute or so, Malika reemerged from the woods, but she wasn’t alone. She carried with her a four-foot mountain garter snake. The snake had a black head, a light yellow belly, and two thick strips of black that ran down the length of the body, separated by a thin white dorsal stripe at the crest of its spine. It slithered back and forth between her hands as it let out a gentle hiss.
“Whoa!” Eddie shouted as he jumped back behind the others. “You never said anything about snakes.”
“You’re really that afraid of snakes?” JP said with a chuckle. “Who are you, Indiana Jones?”
“You kidding me? No one likes snakes,” Eddie said. “Except for maybe crazy people. That’s about it.”
“You will all learn to be comfortable with snakes,” Malika said. “For they are not only essential for testing your sense of self, they are also what you shall use to slay the Beasts.”
“How?” Antony said. “That snake is barely venomous. It can’t even hurt a human.”
“That is very true. In this form, it is mostly harmless. But all it takes is a little positivity and belief.” She clenched her fingers around the snake and raised her hand high.
The orphans watched with amazement as gold sparks began to fizzle away from Malika’s hand, extending in both directions. By the time the glittery flashes simultaneously reached the head and the tail of the reptile, the snake had transformed into a wooden staff. The staff was twice the original length and circumference of the snake.
“And it can become very powerful,” Malika continued. She swung the staff down to ground, crushing a small rock and turning it to rubble in the process.
“That was sick!” JP said. “What is that?”
Charlie was equally enthralled and curious; however, his thoughts and worries of the test kept him quiet.
“Have any of you heard of the rod of God?” Malika asked.
“Yeah,” Eddie said. “Everyone knows about Rod Stewart.”
The others just shook their heads.
“That wasn’t a joke,” Eddie said. “Nobody rocks like Rod.”
“You’re talking about the staff Moses had, right?” Naomi said. “The one he used to part the Red Sea, cause the plagues, and win the Battle of Rephidim.”
“That is the one,” Malika said.
“I can thank Hebrew school for that nugget.”
“Many believed that Moses transformed his staff into a cobra when his brother, Aaron, threw the staff before the Pharaoh’s feet,” Malika said. “However, in reality, it was the opposite. The staff had been a cobra all along.”
Malika tossed the staff on the ground. It immediately turned back into a snake. She retrieved the snake before it could slither away. It turned back into a staff in a flash.
“Does that work with all snakes?” Antony said.
“Yes,” Malika said.
“So anyone can do that to like a viper or mamba?” JP said.
“Not just anyone,” Malika said. “It takes a very connected spirit. The more venomous and deadly the serpent, the more powerful your sense of belief must be to exert your will over it. And consequently, the more powerful the staff will be. But there are risks with using such deadly snakes. As is true with the Beasts, all it takes is the smallest seed of doubt”—she used her power to show what happens when doubt is present; the snake fluctuated between snake and staff forms—“and it returns to its reptilian state. That is why it is such a useful instrument for measuring one’s strength of spirit.”
“Awesome,” JP said. “Well, I’m ready to give it a shot.”
Malika let the staff return to its snake form and then handed it to him.
“What do I gotta to do?” JP said.
“Eliminate all negativity and doubt,” Malika said. “Allow positivity to flow through you and fuel your belief of self. Everything will handle itself. Close your eyes if you need to.” She turned to the others. “Remain quiet so he can concentrate.”
JP closed his eyes. After a second, the same golden sparks began to burst away from his hand, growing brighter and brighter. When his eyes finally opened, so did his mouth. The snake had completely transformed.
“Very good,” Malika said.
“Who wants next?” JP said as he twirled the staff in his hands like a well-trained martial artist.
“Right here,” Naomi said, raising her hand.
JP tossed the staff to Naomi. It turned back into a snake in midair, and wrapped around her arm as she caught it.
Naomi closed her eyes and concentrated. Small flicks of glitter sputtered from her hands. Very slowly, the snake started to transform. The specks reached a point about a foot from her hand in each direction but couldn’t push through the invisible barrier that seemed to hold them back.
“You are still holding on to something,” Malika said. “You do not need it anymore. Find it and let it go.”
Naomi took a deep breath and exhaled. The golden flecks fluttered to the tips of the snake. She opened her eyes and smiled ear to ear, somewhat surprised by her success.
“Very good,” Malika said. “You must keep reminding yourself to recognize negativity any time it appears in your mind and let it go. Never let it burrow in your brain. Who is next?”
Naomi looked to Charlie, and his stomach immediately turned hollow. After all the times when he had wanted her attention, this was one time he was hoping to avoid it. He quickly averted her eyes and turned to Eddie, hoping to deflect the challenge.
“Why not,” Eddie said. He took the staff from Naomi. It turned back to a serpent the second she let go. Eddie cringed, turning his head away. “Ugh, this feels so gross.”
“Do not focus on how it feels,” Malika said. “Focus on your thoughts.”
“All right,” Eddie said. He closed his eyes and focused. Just as had happened with Naomi, Eddie reached an invisible barrier that he couldn’t break through. Malika went to speak, but Eddie stopped her. “I got this,” he said. He squinched his eyes even tighter and clenched his jaw. It worked. The transformation continued the length of the snake. Eddie opened his eyes. “Boom goes the dynamite,” he said. He tried to twirl the staff like JP had, but dropped it in the process. “Whoops.”
“I guess it’s my turn,” Antony said as he picked up the snake. He narrowed his eyes but kept them open.
“You need to close your eyes,” JP said.
“He only needs to do whatever he pleases,” Malika said.
Antony concentrated his focus. He rid himself of all negative thoughts and doubts, and let positivity fill his mind. He reinforced his belief in himself and his ability to transform the snake, as well as his belief that he could accomplish anything he wanted if he put his mind to it.
The snake exploded a cloud of golden sparkles and enveloped Antony. The other orphans instinctively dove, taking cover from the blast. When they picked their heads up, they found Antony standing with the transformed staff.
“What the heck was that?” Naomi said.
“A very strong belief in self,” Malika said.
“You think?” Eddie said facetiously.
Charlie was less surprised than the others. They clearly had only been paying attention to themselves, and not to Antony. Or maybe they hadn’t noticed Antony’s growth like Charlie had, jealously, because Antony wasn’t as vocal about his improvement as JP was.
Antony was rarely vocal, and changing the staff in such an impressive fashion didn’t change that fact. He didn’t gloat. He just respectfully handed the staff back to Malika.
Malika let it turn back into a snake. “Your turn,” she said as she held it out to Charlie.
Charlie stared at the snake. Its unblinking eyes. Its split red tongue, with a tiny black tip that slipped rapidly in and out of its mouth. Charlie swallowed hard. “This is probably a waste of time,” he said. “Everyone else has done it. No reason I won’t pass, either. We can just move on to the next step.”
“What they have accomplished has nothing to do with you,” Malika said as she put the snake in Charlie’s hand.
Charlie sighed. He reluctantly tightened his grip, took possession of the snake, and closed his eyes. He could feel the snake sliding through his hand, its tongue tickling his wrist. He tried his best to block out those sensations and to remind himself to find happiness and let go of any fear of failure. He kept repeating the words in his head. But as with all of the times in the woods before, the words proved to be more destructive than helpful. Each time after he said them, he thought of a counterargument. He had nothing to be happy about. He would never get things right. He was a failure.
Charlie opened his eyes. He didn’t need to look at the snake; he could still feel its scales with his fingers. Plus, the faces of the other orphans told him everything he needed to know. The snake hadn’t changed at all. Not even one tiny fizzle. Charlie slumped and dropped the snake to the ground.
“Hey, maybe it’s broken,” Eddie said. “I meant the snake. Not you, Charlie.”
“No,” Malika said. “Excuses are only a means to resist accountability. He must accept that it is not the snake, it is him. It is his mind. He must accept that he needs to work harder.”
“You will,” Antony said as he patted Charlie on the back. “You’ll get it next time.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Charlie said.
Malika yanked Charlie by the shoulders so that he was forced to stand up straight. It was a surprising jolt of power from such a tiny girl. “This is not a guessing game,” she said. “You have to know. Right now, they still believe in you more than you believe in yourself.”
“I don’t know about that,” JP said with a chuckle.
The others shot JP disapproving looks.
“Excuse me,” JP said, defiantly, “I didn’t realize Eddie owned the market on jokes.”
“That wasn’t a joke
,” Antony said.
“Well, I meant it as a joke.”
Malika continued her instructions to Charlie. “You must go back into the woods. Concentrate on finding happiness in everything, including what happened now, and letting go of your fear of failing. Do not even consider your other negative judgments until you have resolved that first. Focus on what is.”
Charlie headed for his spot in the woods. The others watched him disappear into the brush. However, Charlie didn’t continue any further, he merely took cover behind a massive redwood on the fringe of the forest and peeked one eye around the trunk as he eavesdropped on the others.
“So,” JP said, “are we learning to fight now?”
“No,” Malika said. “First, you must learn to be present.”
From behind the tree, Charlie shared the same look of confusion as the other orphans.
“What are you talking about?” Eddie said. “We’re all here, aren’t we?” He raised his hand like any good student when their teacher takes attendance. “Present.”
“Physically, you are all here,” Malika said. “But mentally? I am less certain of that. Right now, you are still incredibly susceptible to distractions of the mind. Some of these distracting thoughts may even be positive in nature, but they are still thoughts that exist outside of the present. You need to learn to be present at all times.”
“What do you mean?” Antony said.
Charlie listened carefully as Malika gave several examples of not being present, many of which involved the increasing attachment to recent technologies and the distractions they created. Charlie could relate to all of the instances Malika had given, particularly the one about needing to frequently check your cell phone, even in the company of others. His parents had often chided him for it. “No phones at the dinner table,” they would say on a nightly basis. Charlie always argued his way out of it, claiming it had to do with school, even when it clearly didn’t.
Malika explained that being out of the moment not only opened the door to negative emotions, which were more often than not a result of thinking forward or backward, it also weakened the connection to one’s divine self and created noise that had a dulling affect on all of one’s senses. Malika stated that the latter was of the utmost importance due to the fact that when they eventually took on the Beasts, the Beasts would not be burdened by this noise. The Beasts would have nothing on their minds besides the task at hand, and the orphans would need to be able to bring the same clarity.
The Orphans (Orphans Trilogy Book 1) Page 17