She slammed into the fence, with a loud snap.
“I guess its the hard way,”
I watched her in horror as she stood up and snapped her leg back in place, adjusting her arms and neck to face the right way.
“What are you?” I screamed in horror, the feeling of terror and dread filling my body.
“I am your fear,” she said taking a shallow breath as she raised her arm to her shoulder height with an even louder snap.
Focussing on her when I smelled burning rubber. Turning my head for a second to see the house I grew up in a burst into red and orange flames, billowing with smoke, the windows shattering.
“No! How could you?” I couldn’t finish my thought. Something slammed into my head. My feet stumbled backward, unable to catch myself, my neck popped.
“I tried this the easy way. I promised her I would try the easy way. Could I help if you refused to surrender?”
Lifting myself up off the ground. My body tired, I could only watch in horror as the house continued to burn the flames growing.
Running towards the house, reaching the door, I felt a leg hit me in the back. I heard the crack of my ribs and a disk in my spine as I fell to the ground. The flames licking the side of the house, the smoke billowed out the windows, Alexis coughed. Not being able to move, I closed my eye and outstretched my hand forcing a bubble of air around them.
It was impossible to see anything. A sharp pain stabbed in the back of my head. Everything faded out, and my vision was spotty fading to complete blackness.
Chapter 5
Hospitalization
I awoke in the hospital surrounded by beeping machines, the whining of air compressors and even the sound of suctioning. Nurses and doctors running around. Turning my head to the left, I could see Alexis in the haze that was my vision. Her eyes closed, her breathing didn’t exist, she had so many tubes hooked up around her face and chest.
My heart sank, had I hurt her? Trying to turn my head back I couldn’t, something was wrong. A lovely nurse in the bustle of the people in the room turned coming inches from my face.
“Oh, honey let me fix that for you. You’re in good hands.” She said in such a sweet southern tone, weird for where I lived. “I hope they get whoever did this to you two. Killing a dog and trying to burn two children alive, that evil.” She whispered to herself as she tilted my head back upright laying on the pillow.
It hadn’t hit me until then, where was midnight? She said killed, that meant she didn’t make it.
“Doctor, the patient is stirring?” The broad southern accent spoke again.
“Yes, he may be waking up. Let’s adjust his medication.” The profound doctor’s voice spoke.
And with the last of his words, my mind went blank, drifting back off into the black.
I awoke again, still in the hospital, but the room changed. There was a tv on the wall across from me playing something with subtitles, but I couldn’t read them or make out the show.
The room was smaller, private from what I could see glancing around with what little sight I could use. There was less hustle, no bustling, nobody. I laid there still not able to move my neck, but I managed tilt towards the door of the room. Sitting on the couch next to what looked like a door to the bathroom, was my mother. Curled up, her knees to her chest with her hair flowing over the edge covering her face.
The sun beating through the window, shining brightly on her hair making it sparkle the way I remembered. As if I hadn’t seen her in months, even years. Strange emotions welled seeing her again, I wanted my arms and legs to move, to walk over and grip her tight against my chest. Nothing moved, I tried again forcing my body to get up, to shift, to twitch at the least. Nothing twitched, I panicked. Forming words in my mouth but something was blocking the mouth from opening.
Panicking, alarms sounded, mom shot out of the couch faster than I had ever seen her move. She wrapped her fingers around my face, holding me tight, she spoke in her usual sing-song tone. As she spoke she moved her hand to the red button on the side of the bed, her finger pushed it, once, twice, three times. “Its okay baby, mom is here,” and each time her finger pushed into the button a surge of cold tingling something rushing through me. Each time affecting me more and more.
“It’s okay Kade, rest,” mom said again this time her hands sliding down my face as she wiped my sweat away.
As the last rush of cold ran through my body, my eyes got heavier and heavier. And I was out again, this time something changed. My body warmed, the tingling rushed to body parts. As my body warmed my toes stretched out, wiggling back and forth. I must have been doing something exciting, moms voice echoed.
“Nurse, nurse, get in here! He’s moving, Kade is moving.”
From the sound of it, there was no movement, hearing moms panicked movements, and foot stomping, but those were the only ones I could listen to. Mom’s got more frantic and aggressive.
The faintest scuffing of a runner on a linoleum floor. Moms shuffling softened and stopped next to me. Not able to open my eyes, their hushed conversation hitting my ears.
“It could just be a spasm of his body from the new meds. His toes curling now could just be the electrical responses to his nerve firing. The fact he is not awake yet makes it less likely he is doing it himself.” The nurse said as her footsteps quieted leaving the room.
Mom dropped defeated on to the couch. What I wanted to do was prove mom right, to open my eyes again. Why was it so hard this time?
It felt like hours trapped, trying to open my eyes, to move my head, something to show mom she wasn’t crazy. The sound of a chair leg dragging across the ground caught my ear, mom’ hair swayed in the air as if her hand moved it to the opposite side. My hand warmed and moistened, she was crying.
“Kade, honey please wake up. If you can hear me know I love you. I’m sorry I failed you, I should have taught you more. This is all my fault,” she sobbed, “We should have been honest, I should have told you everything.”
Trying to scream, to yell, but nothing came. Squeezing my hand or at least I thought I was, but nothing happened yet again. My body betrayed me. Laying there I couldn’t do move only listen, sensing my mother’s pain as she cried on my arm.
“Kade, forgive us. What have to do will hurt, and it will hurt a lot. I’m sorry we never should have kept this from you.” She said kissing my forehead, her tear trickled off my head down my face.
Not being able to see anything was hard. The room chilled, the air around us spun, the door slamming closed. I heard the footsteps of a group of people running to the door, each banging on the door.
“Mrs. Demean open this door, there is no magic in here!” a nurse screamed through the door.
“Open this door right now, we have told you magic cannot help him.” A males voice echoed through the door.
Amongst the voices I could sense my body rising from the bed, my head and legs dangling to the bed. Turning in the air, so I assumed to face my mother as if never asleep my eyes popped open. My body writhed in pain, my whole body burned as if a fire was engulfing it, the toes to my knees to my fingertips everything was burning. My mouth opens wide as I screamed in pain.
“Yas… Yas, open this door, we swore to never do this!” My father’s voice now at a screaming level came through the door.
Mom was hovering in the air her hair flying everywhere, her eyes bright white with no pupil or iris. Her magic flowing off her in cascades of green light, shadows of waves rippling off a calm pool. Her feet dangled in the air as I straightened in the air, facing my mother, eye to eye. My body continued to writhe in pain.
A tear trickled along my mothers face, her lips mouthing the words “I’m sorry” as she finished her body dropped in the chair next to the bed. My head snapped up, staring at the ceiling.
Flashes of my past hit my brain. Images of my childhood, then this little boy and I playing in the sand. They continued to flash, each open hitting harder. My head
ripping in half.
My body drifted to the floor, my feet touching the ground as I did so I could sense my power. It was nothing like I remembered it, this was stronger, this was far more than I ever thought I had.
The door to the room opened, as I fell forward, I moved my foot. As my foot touched the floor, it released a jet of air. My hair flipped up, the door slammed shut, and the curtains on the window ruffled making noise. I turned to the bed moving my hand moving the cords and wires wrapped around me, and another jet of air shot out shattering the window. The door to the room slammed open, my dad running in to check on mom, as the nurses and doctor rushed each one aiming for a different body part. Security guards barged their way into the room, wands, cuffs and what looked to be magic dampeners in hand.
Without even blinking and thinking, my body reacted. The room slowed to a crawl, I raised my left hand guarding it against the nurse. Moving my right wrist narrowly missing the doctors grasp as his fangs grew from his mouth, his features turning vampiric, so he could use his abilities. My feet raised from the ground, floating in the air my body spun dissipating into the air. The nurses, doctor, and security guards resumed normal speed crashing into each other, clambering onto the bed.
Dad looked up into the air mouthing “run Kade, run.” I did as he instructed, I didn’t know where my body was, but I felt myself leave the room. Before I could get out of the doorway, three guards came out of the elevator doors. Their eyes glowing blue, each one scanning the air for me. Sure enough one spotted me, pointing in my direction. Before I could turn around, one blink and time slowed. They were energy wraiths, able to see and sense any change in the energy around them, delaying the powers and forces exerted by any creature. My body turned in the air, one of their hands reaching up, gripping what I assumed was my leg. I stared at the broken window and the sky outside it, and I was there. I was hovering in the air looking to the ground, 20 stories below me. The wraith was at the window, her eyes still glowing, staring at me intently.
I dropped to the ground faster and faster, looking towards the ground the other two wraiths walked out of the hospital, both staring straight up at me. My body took over again, like a jet launching into the air, my body shot off. I didn’t know where I was going, but something was pulling me. Something was pulling me in a direction.
I ended up in front of a house by a lake, a cul-de-sac of homes with the waterside property. Walking up to a white house with an eloquent emerald trim. The front of the house had a well-designed landscape. Three steps were leading up to the main yard. A stepping stone path lined the walk between raspberry and strawberry bushes.
A jade-colored deck; my eyes noticed the contrasting white colored railing surrounding the deck. On the deck was a beautiful glass patio table set with stained glass mixed in to make a unique rainbow pattern. The matching chairs had plump cushions to match the table pattern.
Resisting the urge to rest on the chairs, I continued on the deck to the final step up to the door. The front door had a slide screen door which showing an eloquent door knocker shaped like a snake. The door was a brilliant white with a fan-shaped glass in the top half and a small dog door on the bottom.
Without fully knowing the reasons why I turned the doorknob.
“Hello master Kade, you are out of the hospital? Master George and Yasminnia didn’t tell us you were all right and coming home. Are they in the driveway?” a little elf spoke.
The elf was short in stature, refined and well-dressed. Her face round with rosy cheeks, ears coming to a point higher than her head. Her hair flawlessly wrapped around her ears and down her back in such a tight braid, not a hair was out of place.
The house looked how my mind remembered. The entrance had a small closet for jackets and shoes with white sliding doors. A white half railing separating a sitting room just to the left with a fireplace and two white chairs with ottomans. Dad’s swords from his time at the Academy before joining the council defense team, hung above the mantel crossed behind the shield.
The area rug between the stairs and the living room to the right was an elegant Egyptian designed throw. Floors were a dark-colored hardwood, with white contrasting pillar rails.
She was a house elf.
“What? No… they are still at the hospital. Navaya?” I asked as her name came to mind.
“Master Kade, how may I help you.” She nodded looking at me awaiting an order.
“Nothing, I… can you umm… you know where am I?” I asked as things clicked into place.
“Master, are you feeling okay? Maybe we should call the doctor and get you back to the hospital? Here I’ll call them right now,” she said pulling a small phone out of her apron.
“No” I yelled at her, tossing her across the room just by the force of my voice.
She slammed into the couch, rolling onto the floor. Her hair out of place now, fear sparked in her eyes. She dropped the phone, kneeling on the floor, tear streaming down her face.
“I’m so sorry Navaya. Please forgive me, I don’t know what going on,” I said falling to the floor on my knees. Crying in my hands,
She must have gotten to her feet, her tiny shoes scuffed across the floor. “Master Kade,” She said as her hand touched my shoulder. “Let’s get you to bed, maybe a good nights rest will make you feel better, and maybe help you remember everything that has happened. If you left your parents at the hospital, they shouldn’t be much longer. I’ll get you some tea, you go up the stairs and to the left. Your room is the first on the left, get into your pajamas, and I’ll bring up a snack and tea, you must be famished.” She said lifting my chin and kissing my forehead.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to,” I stumbled to apologize.
“Hush now, it’s a lot to take. Just go up the stairs,”
Doing as she asked I ascended the stairs, gripping the railing tight, not wanting to fall. Taking the last couple steps, there was a loud banging on the front door. The lights to the house turned off, the house went silent.
“What is going on?” Navaya said as her little feet shuffled across the floor to the door. Her hand reached towards the doorknob just as it exploded into pieces. She flew across the room slamming into the base of the stairs looking up at me.
Still clutching the railing tight as to keep my balance, I caught the whisper of her words.
“Run Kade, you need to get out of here.” The last of her words echoing in my ears. Her eyes closing, her chest stopped moving. She was dead, they had killed her.
My body took over again, this time moving down the stairs with elegance and speed. I picked up Navaya’s body and moved it to the chair next to the window. I grabbed the sword off the fireplace mantel and ran at whatever was coming out of the smoke.
My power roared in rage, my body speeding up, phasing from stable to translucent. Running through the smoke, I could see guardians in heavy duty Kevlar and tactical gear. Each one holding a gun in hand with what looked magical tactile goggles, they shone with the same light as the wraiths eyes. They could see me in any phase I took. Using my speed, I disabled as many as I could.
Coming up to the wraiths, they put up more fight. Able to move at the same speed I could. Using air blasts to throw them as far as I could. One landing in the lake behind me.
I took off, phasing back into my solid form. Running, I would not stop, I had to find a place to hide without magic.
Chapter 6
Melted Malt
I traveled for days, I was just wandering from place to place. I remembered locations my parents had taken me when I was a kid. The diner on 34th street, where the booths had cuts in the bright red faux-leather seating. Where the tables had words and symbols gouged into them. One waitress smelled of a mixture bourbon and cigarettes. Her uniform a checkered white, a red, and blue frilled apron, a pocket with a little notepad and pen.
“Well hello, sweetheart, What can we getcha?” Her thick, gruff tone interrupted my thoughts. Her pen lid smacked against
the pad coils, the chewing of her gum was reminiscent of a dairy cow having supper.
Looking at the menu in front of me, “Bitch” scrawled across the top, a racist symbol scrawled in the bottom left corner. My fingers ran across the menu as if I was looking for something. I knew what I would order, my mind already told me. “a chocolate malt in a tall glass with a spoon not a straw, a stack of French toast on raisin bread, extra butter syrup.” Lying the menu back down on the table, picking up the fork and knife set, unwrapping it. “Oh, and can you bring me water I need to try something?” I said sliding the menu to her.
“Sure thing honey, but if you dare put my tip under the water cup, I’ll put you on the wall,” she said moving her head and pointing to the wall behind her. 4 solid rows of at least 12 faces each under the heading “Banned” in sizeable black writing.
She could put me up there for all I care, I was only eating here to help me remember my past, maybe figure other things out. These memories were in my head again, I could not make heads or tails of them at all. They may have been there but mixed up, and in wrong orders, it was as if I had to re-piece myself back together.
“Kade, come here,” mom called up the stairs.
“Coming mom,” calling back.
I dropped my action hero doll and jumped over my castle of towel rolls and building blocks. Stepping around the toy cars and horses hitched to the door. The door was open a crack but not enough for me to get out, I had to open it and knock my horses over. Stepping on my unicorn by mistake. “OWWW,” crying out in pain. It hurt so much.
“You okay, honey?” mom called back up, concern wavering in her voice.
My face prickling under the eyes as if to cry, but nothing. I took the steps two at a time, holding the railing as I danced down the stairs. Everyone was in the kitchen waiting for me. Supper was plated, macaroni and cheese with bread on the side. Alexis, mom and dad sat there waiting for me.
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