The Beasts returned to one large mass, but their numbers were noticeably lighter. They were down to just under half of their initial force. They closed in, tightening their boundary around the guys.
“This seems a lot more manageable,” Antony said.
“I almost feel bad for them,” Eddie said. “If not for—”
Eddie was cut off by a cry for help.
“Help me,” the voice screamed, again. The exact location of the source was not quite clear, but the source itself was unmistakable. It was Naomi.
Eddie swung his staff furiously, beating back the Beasts and buying himself a second to search for Naomi.
“Help!” Naomi shouted once more.
Eddie picked up the direction of the calls. He spotted Naomi a couple hundred yards away on the train tracks. While most of her features were hidden in the darkness, the large curls in her hair were apparent. She struggled to break free from the bondage that held her to the chair.
“She’s on the tracks,” Eddie said before blocking an incoming assault at the last second.
“Is JP with her?” Antony asked while thwarting a few shots of his own.
“I didn’t see him,” Eddie said. He took out the Beast between himself and Naomi, and then struck him square in the head, as Antony had. “But I’m gonna go save her.”
Just finishing an attack of his own, Antony went to tell Eddie otherwise. But before Antony got a word out, Eddie had already hopped over his fallen opponent and was racing for the tracks and Naomi. Not even a single Beast followed Eddie. Instead, they all opted to focus their collective efforts on Antony. “Well, this is awesome,” Antony said sarcastically to himself as he shook his head.
The Beasts took a step forward. Then another.
Antony knew that with one more step, he would be in their striking range. Even so, he let them take that step. As soon as they did, he faked a double strike forward, and then threw his arms and staffs backwards, planting them into the foreheads of two of the Beasts behind him. He wasted no time utilizing the leverage and using his staffs like poles in a pole vault to launch himself out of the middle of group with a back flip. He landed on one knee about thirty feet away.
“Sorry,” Antony said with a shrug to the Beasts as they turned around to reengage. “But I’ve never been one for being the center of attention.” He leveled his staffs, ready to meet the Beasts head on.
The enraged Beasts’ eyes burned brighter and brighter, to the point that the flames appeared to be spilling out. One of the Beasts let out a savage scream. The others followed suit. And then they all charged toward Antony, full steam.
◆ ◆ ◆
Eddie had made it to the far end of the parking lot and was sprinting toward the train tracks. He kept his eyes peeled for JP, who was nowhere to be seen. “I’m coming,” Eddie called out as Naomi continued to cry for assistance. He slowed to a stop about ten feet away and did a quick 360-degree scan of the area. There was still no sign of JP, or any of the Beasts.
“Help,” Naomi whined.
“It’s okay,” Eddie reassured her. “Everything is gonna be okay. I’m gonna untie you.” He knelt down to loosen the rope. As he went to grab the bulk of the knot, his fingers grazed Naomi’s hands. Eddie immediately knew that something wasn’t right. Not only was the temperature of the hands cooler than expected, the texture was off. It didn’t feel like skin. It felt like rubber.
Before Eddie could do anything, Naomi—or more accurately, the figure Eddie had presumed to be Naomi—sprung from the chair, leaving the fake limbs tied to the back of the seat. The figure struck Eddie on the wrist, disarming him and knocking him onto his back.
Eddie scurried on his hands and knees to catch up to his snake as it slithered away. He reached out to grab it, but quickly pulled back when he saw out of the corner of his eye that his opponent had produced a large fireball with its staff.
The figure hurled the fireball, blowing up what was Eddie’s snake and leaving a charred crater in the ground.
Eddie turned back to the figure, which was in the process of shedding its wig. The figure’s face reflected in the faint glow of the staff, but Eddie didn’t need to see its face to know who it was. It was JP. He had tricked Eddie, and now he stood over him with a satisfied smirk.
“Help!” Naomi’s voice screamed once more. By now it was clear that the scream wasn’t actually coming from Naomi. It was from a recording device in JP’s pocket.
“Well, that’s getting a little annoying,” JP said. He retrieved his phone and stopped the recording. “Much better.” He looked at Eddie. “So, would you like to go easy, or should we see how you can handle yourself without a staff?”
“No way I’m going easy,” Eddie said, returning to his feet. “And I don’t need my staff. I’ll beat you with my two hands.” He lunged toward JP.
JP delivered three lightning-quick strikes. The first one blocked Eddie’s attempted assault. The second tripped up Eddie’s legs and sent him stumbling. And the third was a crack to the base of Eddie’s neck, which was intended to both impair him and speed up his fall.
Eddie smacked the ground, face first, landing hard on his jaw. The blow and ensuing collision didn’t knock him out, but it dazed him enough that he wasn’t able to put up anything that resembled a fight when the Beast with the bushy mustache went to restrain him.
“You were saying?” JP said, tauntingly.
Eddie mumbled as the Beast dragged him away.
JP stalked across the parking lot back to the main street, where Antony had whittled his opponents to just two remaining Beasts. “Enough!” JP shouted. He shook his head at the Beasts. “You all have failed me, and you have failed Lucifer. I will handle this myself.”
The Beasts backed away, giving Antony and JP space.
Antony and JP stood fifty feet apart. They both slid side to side in a circle, matching each other’s steps as they sized one another up.
“So you’re finally gonna try to do your own dirty work?” Antony said as he slid to his right.
“Try?” JP said with a chuckle. “I don’t have to try. The only reason you even think you stand a chance with me is because I was holding back during our training.”
“The only reason you even have anything to hold back is because you sold your soul to get it. Everything you have was given to you. That just means it isn’t even yours and can be taken away, which I plan on doing.”
JP fumed, Antony’s dig clearly having gotten under his skin. He took two more steps, which Antony mimicked, and then stopped. “Even if that were the case,” JP said as his scowl was replaced by a grin, which then turned to a full-blown smile, “it doesn’t really matter. None of this does.”
Antony realized that just because JP said he would handle it himself didn’t mean he had any intention of fighting him. JP had something else planned. Antony’s eyes darted, searching for the two remaining Beasts. Were they part of the plan? No. Antony found them almost immediately. They hadn’t moved an inch, only he and JP had.
It dawned on Antony that he had literally walked right into JP’s trap. They had both shuffled halfway around their imaginary circle, and he was now standing where JP had stood when they started. He remembered watching JP as they began their little dance, and he knew that no more than twenty feet behind him was an old fashioned gas station and a handful of fuel pumps.
The grin on JP’s face grew along with the fireball on the tip of his staff. The flames reflected off of his eager eyes.
Antony dove out of the way as the fireball shot from JP’s staff and whizzed past him.
The fireball collided with one of the fuel pumps. The explosion sent gasoline-charged flames shooting a hundred feet into the air, and sent Antony flying ten times further than his legs had been able to.
Antony’s body skidded down the street, coming to a stop just before JP’s feet. “Well, that
was fun,” JP said with a smile. He nodded to the Beast with the gray beard. “Tie him up with the others.”
CHAPTER FORTY
“Naomi, Naomi, Naomi,” JP said as he clutched her jaw in his hand, controlling her gaze to keep it locked on him.
Naomi remained silently defiant. She, Eddie, and Antony were each bound to their own metal support beams, which collectively held up the small porch roof that covered the loading platform of the train station.
Standing ten feet from the orphans were JP’s three most trusted Beasts, each of them paired up, while the last two holdover Beasts waited off to the side, further behind them.
“Leave her alone,” Antony ordered.
“Quiet,” JP said, glaring at Antony, who was all the way at the other end. “You aren’t in a position to be making demands. But don’t worry, I’ll get to you shortly.” He turned back to Naomi, running the back of his free hand down her cheek as she fought to crane her head. “We could’ve had something special, but I was just too afraid you’d hurt me.” He shook his head and chuckled. “I can’t believe you actually fell for that routine. You really are damaged goods. I could tell that within a minute of meeting you. Unfortunately for you, history only repeated itself. I’d apologize for ruining you for other guys if it wasn’t for the fact that no other guy will even get the chance.”
Naomi didn’t respond verbally. She just cleared all the saliva from the back of her throat and hocked it on JP, nailing him in the forehead.
“No!” JP screamed, staggering backwards with his hand blocking his face. “You got me in the third eye.” He snickered as he steadied himself and lowered his hand. He wiped his head with his sleeve, and then sidled up next to the Beast of Southeast Asian descent, who was standing opposite Naomi. “As much as I may have hurt you, Naomi, I promise that my friend Saloth”—JP smirked as he patted the Beast on the back—“is gonna make that seem like nothing.”
Naomi fought against her restraints.
Saloth’s mouth lifted at the corners, and his eyebrows rose above his sunglasses. It was evident that he was taking the utmost pleasure in watching Naomi struggle.
JP smirked as he moved on to his next captive. “Eddie.”
Eddie said nothing.
“You’re so quiet all of a sudden,” JP said. “This isn’t like you at all. Don’t you wanna tell me how you’re gonna kill me? I swore that’s what you said you were gonna do?”
Eddie remained silent.
“I don’t know if this interests you,” JP said, “but you’re not very far from where Malika was when she died.”
Eddie had to bite his lip to keep from screaming.
JP noted the gesture and nodded to himself. He could tell he was getting to Eddie, he just needed to push a little harder. He patted the mustachioed Beast on the back. The Beast’s face was as stern as they come. He exuded much more power than his 5’8” frame should.
“This is Joseph,” JP said. “He’s really been like a father to me. And since you never had a father, I figured the two of you might get along.”
JP’s dig hit deep enough that Eddie was no longer able to control himself. “Screw you!” Eddie shouted, his face turning beet-red as his swelling emotions took over.
JP smiled from ear to ear.
“Breathe,” Antony reminded Eddie. He had realized what was going on and knew exactly what JP was up to. “He’s just trying to get you angry. He needs you to doubt yourself. Repeat the serenity mantra.”
JP clapped his hands together and held them to his lips in feigned excitement. He tiptoed toward Antony. “Serenity mantra? That sounds so interesting. I didn’t know I missed a lesson. Maybe one of you can teach me.”
Antony didn’t respond.
“No? You’re not gonna teach me?” JP said. “I guess I probably don’t need it, anyway. I also don’t need to get you to doubt yourselves. You do already. Sticking with the father theme”—JP put both of his hands on the bearded Beast’s shoulders and gave them a couple firm squeezes—“this is my friend Leopold. He’s the one that I told you about. He’s best buddies with your father.”
“He says hi,” Leopold said with a half smirk to go along with his deep Belgian accent.
Antony didn’t react to either of their words or Leopold’s devious grin. He wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction or the power to alter his mind. Instead, Antony concentrated on everything he had learned. He reminded himself to stay present and to release any negativity and doubt as it entered his mind, and then he recited the serenity mantra in his head.
“Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping to get more out of you,” JP sighed. “But I guess I’ll have to settle for that. Of course, we’re still short one person before we can destroy the drive.” He retrieved the drive from his pocket and twirled it in his fingers. “Do any of you happen to know where our good friend Charlie is? We can’t start without him.”
The orphans said nothing.
“Are you guys giving me the silent treatment?” JP said. He paced in front of the orphans as he tossed the flash drive to himself. “Don’t you all think that’s a little immature?” JP stopped and studied the looks on the orphans’ faces. “If you guys aren’t gonna talk, I guess I’ll just have to see if I can reach him myself. I’m sure he’s not too far away.”
◆ ◆ ◆
Charlie hadn’t moved from his perch on the hilltop. He had spent his first few minutes of solitude considering ways to speed up his healing process. Years ago, while doing research for a paper, he had read about people who had successfully healed themselves using only their minds, curing ailments as minor as common colds and as major as cancer. Charlie was certain that he could do the same. He could cure himself. After all, the placebo effect was proof of this phenomenon. Charlie wasn’t positive how he would pull it off or how long it might take, but he figured his best bet would be using all of the lessons that he had learned to strengthen his mind and applying them to his body.
Charlie had been in the middle of attempting to release his physical pain and envisioning his wounds healing when he was distracted by the sudden bursts of light exploding from the tiny downtown. At first, he had no idea what he was witnessing, but with each successive eruption, he grew more and more confident that they were a good thing. One, two, all the way to twenty-eight, he had counted. And then the flares came to an abrupt stop.
Ten minutes had passed. Charlie knew that, assuming they had been successful, his friends should have returned already. With each fleeting second, he couldn’t help but begin to worry. Charlie repeated the serenity mantra to calm himself. He exhaled deeply and returned his attention to healing his body, only to be interrupted seconds later by a vibration in his pocket.
Charlie retrieved JP’s cell phone from his pocket and hesitantly swiped the cracked screen, answering the call, which went straight to speakerphone.
“Charlie, buddy, where are you?” JP said. “I thought we had a deal.”
Charlie frantically fumbled to turn down the volume, knowing that the sound could easily carry at this time of night and not wanting to give up his location. Charlie whispered back, “I’m not gonna tell you where I am.”
“Why the hell are you so quiet? I can barely hear you.”
Charlie wasn’t about to answer JP’s question, but that didn’t stop JP from figuring it out, anyway.
“Ohhh,” JP chortled. “You must be really close, then. That’s good. Why don’t you come join us? We can get the whole band back together.”
Going off of JP’s words and cockiness, Charlie already knew the answer to his next question, but he had to ask it, anyway. “You have Antony and Eddie?”
“Of course I do. You guys couldn’t have actually thought your plan, or lack thereof, was really gonna work, did you?”
Charlie had, and now he didn’t know what to say.
JP continued, “Do
n’t worry. It’s not all bad news for you. I’ll be honest with you, Charlie, I think you’re completely worthless.”
“Thanks for the honesty,” Charlie replied sarcastically.
“You’re very welcome. But that’s not the good news. The good news for you is that my opinion matters much less than my superiors’ right now, and I have to defer to them. One of these people in particular, for one reason or another, happens to be your biggest fan. Apparently, he sees a lot of himself in you. I don’t, but he does.”
Charlie knew JP was referring to Terry.
“Anyway,” JP sighed, “he’d prefer to make a deal with you.”
“What kind of deal?” Charlie said.
“You remember the revised contract, right?”
“Yeah.”
“All you gotta do is sign it. That’s it. Plain and simple.”
“I don’t believe you. It’s just another trap.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Charlie. I wouldn’t need any kind of trap to take you down. I’d just do it. But like I said, I have to defer. Which is why I have the contract in my pocket. The only thing it’s missing is your signature.”
“If I sign it, my parents’ souls will be freed?”
“Walter’s, too. That’s what it says.”
Charlie took a moment to consider all of his options and their likely outcomes. The answer should have been easy. He couldn’t sign it. He had decided that the first time he was faced with this decision; however, he was in a much worse position than the first time. That time, only his life was on the line; now there were three more lives hanging in the balance.
Charlie heard Antony scream over the phone, “Don’t do it!” Next came a loud thud, like a boxing glove pounding a heavy bag, followed by Antony moaning in extreme agony.
“Don’t listen to him,” JP said. “You’re a big boy. You can make your own big boy decisions.”
“What happens to the others?” Charlie said.
“You saw what happened to your grandfather.”
The Orphans (Orphans Trilogy Book 1) Page 26