Matthew, Connor, and April all turned back to see a man approaching Amanda and Steven. They knew it was not her father. The boys raced to cut off Amanda and Steven. Matthew told them, “That’s not your dad.”
The figure came closer and stopped ten yards in front of the boys. Amanda realized who it was and screamed out, “You were at the house! You killed my parents!” Connor held back Amanda as she tried to lunge toward the man.
The man wore camouflage pants and a black shirt. He replied to the panicked girl, “My goodness, you’re a scrappy one, aren’t you?” He looked down at the scared young boy who had huddled behind Connor’s leg, and said, “Remember me, little man?”
April moved past the boys and blocked the path. She glared at the man in camouflage and exclaimed, “Stay away from these kids!”
The man replied, “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. I was sent here to do a job and it’s gonna get done, whether you like it or not.”
Connor reached in his pocket and grabbed the snap ring that he and Matthew had prepared the night before. He puffed his chest and said, “It’s gonna take a lot more than you to finish that job.”
The man nodded his head, affirming what Connor had said, and he dropped three small rocks on the ground. He said, with a smirk and light chuckle, “You’re right.” As soon as the rocks hit the ground, the air around each of them began to distort and the figures of three other men formed. It was clear that one of the men was Keith Kellington.
Keith opened his eyes to see April, the boys, and what was left of the Curry family all standing in front of him. “Excellent job, Mr. Tate; they’re all here, just like you promised.”
Keith put his hands together and rubbed them slowly before making his next comment. “You know, I really only want the girl and her brother. If you just want to pass them over to me, I’ll let you and your two boys go.” Keith pointed at the path to the side of the lake trail and said, “Take your sons and start walking into the woods.”
Keith pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and explained his findings to April. “You see, Ms. Chance, I know you and your sons didn’t exist until a few weeks ago. I know you aren’t who you say you are. I know this park has something to do with it.” Keith tore the paper, threw it in the air, and said, “I don’t care about any of it.”
He pulled a knife from his belt and said, “I do care about tying up loose ends.” He pointed to Amanda and Steven and said, “They are loose ends. I would sure hate to gut your sons, due to some loose ends.” He returned the knife to his belt and smiled. “Of course, that would be a last resort.” April noticed that the four men had kept their distance. Keith took just one step closer to April and asked, “So what’s it gonna be?”
April looked at the scared Curry kids. Steven trembled behind Connor and Amanda couldn’t believe what she had heard. It amazed April how quick she had changed her mind about them. Twenty-four hours ago, she would have left both of them for Keith to do as he wanted, but not now. She saw them all as her responsibility.
April saw that Matthew had raised his hand to his Hathmec. She suddenly felt the power that came from the attribute charm. He had shared it with her and Connor. April stared into her son’s eyes and said, “Well, Mr. Kellington, you really haven’t left me with much of a choice.” She took Connor and Matthew by the hand and said, “I can’t risk losing my family.”
Connor smiled at his mother and released her hand. She turned back around, with a snap ring in hand, and blasted a snap toward the four men. The leaves on the trees shook and fell with the strength of the blast and all four men skidded across the ground. They were only stopped by the hard tree trunks that blocked their path.
April turned to her kids and yelled, “Get to the tunnel—run!” Connor grabbed Amanda by the hand and ran down the wooded path. Amanda had Steven by the arm as he struggled to keep up.
Matthew stayed by his mother’s side. April told him to go, but he wouldn’t. “I’m staying with you.”
Keith got up and ordered the other three men to follow Connor and the Curry kids. The three men ran off into the woods after them. April pushed on her son and said, “You need to go help Connor. If he doesn’t reach the tunnel, he’ll need your help. I’ll take care of Mr. Kellington.”
Matthew agreed with his mother and ran off after the three men. He told his mother as he ran off, “I’ll come back for you.”
April kept her focus on Keith Kellington and yelled to her son, “No matter what happens to me, you get them to the tunnel!”
Keith Kellington began walking back toward April. He was cocky and asked, “So, you’re going to take care of me?”
April replied, with the snap ring still pointed at him, “I’ll die before I let you hurt those kids.”
Keith replied, “I agree.”
Keith dove out of the way as April sent another snap his way. As he dove, he delivered a handful of carrier stones into April’s direction. While kneeling down, he motioned toward the ground under her. Stones, dirt, gravel, and earth shot straight up beneath April and the snap ring was dislodged from her hand. The force of the earth was strong enough to knock April to the ground and cut her right hand. A small stream of blood ran between her thumb and forefinger as she searched frantically for the snap ring covered by the dirt.
“It’s just a little blood, my dear. I’m sure there will be more before we’re done.” Keith shuffled leaves on the ground as he came closer to April. She popped up and threw her fists in the air. Keith didn’t notice that she had thrown a portion of carrier stones in his direction. He passed right through them.
Keith raised his fists and mocked April. “Oh, you want to go the way of fisticuffs, do you? This might tickle.”
Keith leaned in toward April with his face in a lowered position. “Go ahead, sweetheart, let’s see what you got.”
April had captured Keith’s strength. She reared back and blasted the unsuspecting face of her foe. Keith staggered back, as if being hit by a sledgehammer, and fell to the ground.
He gathered himself and saw April approach. He attempted to throw another carrier her way, but she was too fast and lifted him from the ground with a wicked shot to the stomach. He rolled precariously close to the water’s edge and struggled to regain his footing.
“What’s wrong, Keith? Never been beat up by a sweetheart before?” Keith, no longer mocking or smiling, tossed his carrier stones at April again, much like a mist of water.
“You think you’re so cute, don’t you? Let’s see what type of statue you’ll make.” Keith, thinking he had control over April, told her, “Don’t move a muscle.”
April used this to her advantage and pretended she couldn’t move. This deluded Keith into a false sense of safety and brought him in to an attack location for her. Keith recovered from the initial shots he had taken from April, meandered up to her nose, and said, “You’re not so tough when you can’t move, are you?”
April raised her knee into the crotch of Keith Kellington and punched him in the face until he fell back to the ground. Keith writhed in pain as April moved in for the finish. He bled from his nose and his eye swelled. Keith mumbled, “That’s impossible! It’s not possible!” He backed away from April as he slithered along the ground. April followed him but her steps were stopped when something wrapped around her leg.
She couldn’t move as tree roots wrapped each ankle into place. She had walked through a bed of carrier stones that Keith had placed while sliding along the ground. They wrapped so tight, she was unable to move any farther. She started to reach down to cut the roots, but Keith had moved in and grabbed her around the waist. Her arms were pinned.
“Your strength is incredible, Ms. Chance.” Keith struggled to hold April’s arms down as their two attribute charms battled to steal the other’s strength. Keith was able to control two more roots as they wrapped around April’s wrists and pulled them toward the ground
. April pulled with all of her might to break the roots, but was unable to.
Keith placed one of his hands down the neck of April’s shirt. He exposed the Hathmec from inside of her shirt and exposed the charms. Keith stepped back from the fiery blonde and the light bulb went off in his head.
“I knew it! You have a Hathmec!” He was stunned to see the tool that he had used for years to get what he wanted. “Where did you get this?” Keith ran through a list of associates who he knew had access to a Hathmec.
“You must have received it from Evan or Daniel.” Keith studied the pendant shining in the drops of sunlight that penetrated the foliage. “You only have two charms and one of them is the health charm.” He walked to the edge of the lake and threw a carrier stone into the water. The stone made a single kerplunk in the water.
“That’s why you can match my strength and why I can’t control you.”
As the madman moved the lake water around with his hand, April replied, “You will never control me or my boys, you bastard!”
He nodded and said, “So your boys have the same charms as you?”
April feverishly shook her head no. She knew that she had mistakenly given Keith information that could hurt Matthew and Connor. He responded, “Oh, I think they do.”
April tried to convince him otherwise. “No, it’s just me. I’m the one that’s here to stop you.”
“Let me ask you something, Ms. Chance. It occurs to me that you have some knowledge of the power that these pendants can wield.” Keith was standing to the side of the still-bound mother of two. He started to run his hand down April’s face. “You knew the power that I had. You knew you couldn’t match me, yet you brought that poor police officer to me.”
April turned and spit at Keith Kellington, just missing his face. Keith suddenly changed his accent to match the late Danny Charles. “Guess y’all just don’t care bout the common man.” He walked back to the water’s edge and said, “Reckon I’ll have to teach y’all a lesson.”
Keith released April from the roots that were wrapped around her ankles and wrists, grinned, and said, “You know, Ms. Chance, you should always load your gun before a showdown. If not, you never have enough bullets to win the fight.”
With that, a roar was heard behind April that sounded much like the tidal waves that flow from Niagara Falls. April turned to see a huge wall of water that engulfed her whole body. She struggled to move from it, but it was too late. The wall of water had rushed her into the lake, several yards from the shoreline.
Keith stood on the shore and watched April struggle to reach the water’s surface for short breaths of air. April could only get a glance of him as he yelled to her, “The element charm is one you should probably pick up! I would love to stay here and play around with you some more, but I need to find those two brats that you call sons. I have to make sure that the Curry kids get a bullet from my gun.” He thought, I should have shared my Hathmec with my men.
April struggled to reply, “No! Leave them alone!”
He turned to leave, but he stopped and made one more gesture toward the lake. “Don’t worry, Ms. Chance. I won’t kill you yet. I’m sure my associates would love to get that Hathmec from you, and I know the best way to get it.”
Keith walked off toward the trail that the boys had taken, leaving April pinned in the lake. She was being wrapped in arms of water, keeping her from getting out of the lake. She was being dunked, pulled, and tossed, but she wouldn’t give up. She knew her boys needed her and she would die trying to get to them.
While April battled Keith, Matthew was hot on the trail of two of Keith’s men who were closing in on the R tunnel. Matthew was worried for his mother, but he was frantic in his attitude toward protecting Amanda and Steven. He knew they were with Connor, and he was hoping that they had already reached the tunnel and were out of harm’s way.
Matthew reached a small clearing about one hundred yards from the tunnel. He heard the racking of a pistol to his left. One of Keith’s men appeared from the edge of the tree line with it pointed at Matthew.
“I hate to shoot a kid, but I can’t have you gettin’ in my way either.” Matthew could see that the man was large, muscular, and confident in his physical prowess. His Italian accent was thicker than the cloud of cologne that he wore.
Matthew asked the man, “You look like a pretty stout fellow, but I bet you can’t take me down.”
The man put his gun back in his holster and yelled to his cohort on the other side of the opening, “Hey, Max! This kid thinks he can take me down.”
Max emerged from the other tree line. He had a few leaves resting on his large shoulders. “Damn, Marco, we don’t have time for this; just shoot the kid and let’s get outta here.”
Marco cracked his knuckles and told Matthew, “I have a black belt and I was a bouncer at one the toughest clubs in New York City for six years.” He removed his coat and placed it on the ground.
Matthew never moved from his location and said, “You shouldn’t have any problems with me then.”
Max leaned by the nearest tree and asked Marco, “Why do you wanna beat down this little kid? That’s pretty messed up.”
Marco replied, “I don’t get the opportunity to try out my skills on people very often.” He pointed to Matthew and said, “Don’t worry kid; I’ll snap your neck quick; you won’t feel a thing.”
The clearing was surrounded by trees, but the sun had made its way high enough into the park sky to shine a natural spotlight on the open area. Nature had created a center stage for a modern-day David versus Goliath.
Matthew removed the light jacket that he wore and threw it toward Max. He asked, “Do you mind holding this for me?” Max took the jacket and noticed a sandy substance on the outside of it.
“Sure kid, we’ll make sure and bury you in it.”
Marco moved toward Matthew and asked, “Are you ready, kid?”
Matthew cracked his knuckles and said, “I am now.”
Marco moved in on Matthew quickly and threw a barrage of punches and kicks, each one blocked by the much smaller and seemingly weaker boy. Max watched in shock as Matthew avoided each of Marco’s attacks. It was as if Matthew was toying with the man.
Finally, Marco rushed Matthew and grabbed him around the arms. Matthew smiled at the much larger man and grabbed his wrist. Matthew twisted Marco’s arm behind his back and thumped him on top of his head. Matthew looked in Max’s direction and asked, “You were special forces at some point, weren’t you?” Max, stunned at the boy’s knowledge, reached for his side arm.
Matthew spun Marco around and laid a wicked shot across his face with a sweeping kick. You could hear his jaw break as Marco went careening back into the woods. Matthew saw that Marco wasn’t knocked out, so he moved over him and cracked him in the face with the front of his boot.
Marco and Max had failed to realize that Matthew had used his Hathmec against them. Matthew was smart and had added carrier stones to the jacket he had thrown to Max. He had also thrown a few carriers to Marco when he cracked his knuckles. He not only had the strength and skill of a karate and bouncer expert, but he had taken the strength and skill of a former mercenary for hire.
While Matthew had neutralized Marco, he still had to deal with Max, who had pointed his gun in Matthew’s direction. “I don’t know how you did that, kid, but I won’t make the same mistake.”
Matthew thought, Wonder if I can survive a bullet.
Max pointed the black-tipped gun and started to pull the trigger until he heard something above him in the tree. He looked up to the sky and saw a boot just above his eye line. The boot reared back and crushed the side of his face, knocking him to the ground. Matthew rushed over to kick the gun into the woods. Max was groggy but appeared to be getting up. Matthew grabbed a limb that was lying on the ground and, as Max stood, shattered the limb across his back.
�
��That did the job,” said a voice coming from the tree.
Matthew looked up and saw Connor wearing the memory boots and standing in midair off a tree limb. Connor reached down and shut off the boots to fall to the ground.
Matthew asked, “Were you there the whole time?”
Connor explained that he heard the fight from just down the hill. “I put the boots on and made my way through the trees. I figured you would need my help. I already took care of that other guy.”
Matthew asked, “Did you use the attribute charm?”
Connor responded, “The guy was a bodybuilder. One good shot and he was out.”
Matthew looked around and asked, “Where are Amanda and Steven? Did you go ahead and send them through the tunnel?”
Connor shook his head no and said, “I gave them some of the camotape and hid them down the hill.” Connor took a pair of sunglasses from Marco and asked, “Where’s April?”
Matthew replied, “I’m not sure. She was trying to stop Keith, but I don’t know what happened.”
Matthew and Connor made their way down the hill and Matthew asked his brother, “Do you think we should go back for her? I don’t know if she can stand up to Keith by herself.”
Connor skidded to the bottom of the hill and replied, “She wants us to get to the tunnel, and that’s what I plan on doing.”
Matthew reached the bottom of the hill and called out for Amanda and Steven. “Amanda, it’s all clear; you can come out now.” He called out again, “You can come out now; Steven, where are you?”
Matthew turned to Connor. “Where did you leave them?”
Connor had a blank look on his face and said, “It was somewhere around here.” They started touching various areas around the bottom of the hill. They tried to feel for an arm or leg, with no luck.
On the other side of the ravine, Amanda Curry held her little brother tight and whispered in his ear, “You have to stay quiet. When they leave, we’ll get outta here.” She watched as Matthew and Connor searched for her and Steven, and waited for her chance to run away. She didn’t trust the boys or their mother to protect her or her brother.
Last Chance Page 26