by Lori Meyer
Chapter Two
The next morning, after a quick breakfast consisting of Oreos and a glass of root beer, I climbed into the backseat of Ecken’s black Mitsubishi Montero – thankful that Slade was riding shot gun.
With the backseat all to myself, I closed my eyes to hopefully discourage any attempts at drawing me into any conversation with the two up front.
About twenty minutes later, the car pulled to a stop and Ecken cut the engine. When I popped open my eyes, I met Ecken’s gaze in the mirror. His eyes held an interesting combination of anger and regret. Hey, this was his brainy idea.
Since the two of them hopped out of the vehicle, I unwillingly crawled out of the backseat.
We walked through some beaten down brush and onto a path that twisted through the woods.
After about fifteen minutes of trudging through the trees following Ecken and Slade, I got the sinking feeling that we weren’t really out there to take a hike. Not that I’d ever been hiking before but I was pretty sure while hikers walked, they would check out things, enjoy nature. However, we didn’t stop to look at one thing. Maybe it was just a ruse for my mom’s benefit. Although, we could have gone anywhere and just told her we went hiking. It’s not like she would have discovered the lie.
“I really don’t see why he needs to be included in this.” Slade looked back over his shoulder at me, contempt in his eyes.
I shot him a look of utter disregard. Did he really think I wanted to be included in his father son outing? Not.
“We are family and families work together. Come on, it has to be around here somewhere.” Ecken paused for a moment and looked back at me. His expression still held traces of regret, something I was positive had never appeared on his face until today. Was he really that concerned about upsetting his real son?
After a few more steps, Ecken pulled Slade to a stop. “Just as he said. Take a look over there.” He pointed to a small cave, somewhat concealed by tall ferns and wildflowers, about six feet from where the two of them stood.
Then he turned back to me, excitement saturating his voice. “Come on, Kylan. Let’s take a look inside. I’ve always wanted to explore one.”
“Sure, what the hell. It might make this trip almost tolerable.” I rather doubted that.
We headed toward the entrance.
Then I followed the two of them into the cave.
Almost immediately, a presence – that was the only way I could describe the sensation – descended on me. It was heavy, cold, and empty. I wasn’t sure if I actually believed in ghosts but I also wasn’t completely convinced that was what I encountered either.
Slade and Ecken didn’t act as if they noticed anything out of the ordinary.
So I decided to brush the feeling aside and blame it on an active imagination or a distraction from the fact I was hanging out with a step dad and brother I really didn’t care for.
As we journeyed farther inside, I was surprised to find that we could see fairly well. I had always thought caves were dark inside. Maybe just most of them were.
After we made the first turn, Slade and Ecken stopped at a section of wall that was covered with odd inscriptions and of all things, dragonflies. Now if I hadn’t been incredibly curious about the oddity of that cave before, I definitely was by that point.
“Kylan, you should see this. Come check it out.” Ecken put his hand up a mere inch from the etchings. He was completely mesmerized.
Curious – and if I really thought about it, probably a bit drawn to the wall as well – I joined him. But I couldn’t stop myself from touching it. And as soon as I pressed my fingers to the wall, a heavy cold sensation pushed into me taking my breath away and I collapsed onto the floor.
When I awoke sometime later, Ecken and Slade were leaning over me – intrigue not concern shone brightly in their eyes.
I read in their faces that they weren’t completely surprised by the turn of events – that somehow they had planned this. Whatever this was.
Scrambling away from them – backwards crab style – and into the opposite wall, I screamed. “What the hell did you do to me?!”
Ecken made no sign of moving toward me but instead knelt down. “There is an incredible power hidden away that we have been seeking but have only managed to find small traces of so far. It is rumored to unlock the way to immortality and there are stories that it might be capable of even greater things too. You got a taste of it today. As you need to know more information, we’ll tell you.”
My anger, which was still brewing inside my chest, stepped up a notch. And along with it a cold and empty void settled in. “I didn’t ask to be a part of this! You had no right! You came into my life when I wasn’t asked and I still don’t want you there!” I picked up a nearby rock and hurled it in their direction, my whole body trembling with fury.
After Slade effortlessly caught the airborne stone, he let out a humorless laugh, almost grating. “Our work here is done. The power latches onto strong emotion as you’ve just discovered.” He fixed me with a dark stare. “Just don’t make me regret sharing this with you.” He crushed the rock in his palm and let the dust sprinkle to the ground.
Ecken stood up and extended his hand to me. “Come, Kylan. It has been a productive trip. We will wait to hear of further instructions. But for now, let’s head home and see what delicious lunch your mother has prepared for us.”
Ignoring his outstretched hand, I pushed myself up off the ground. “I want to know exactly what you’ve dragged me into. And even if I did believe in magic, I don’t want to go messing with something I know nothing about.”
“You’ll thank us when you finally realize all this opportunity holds for you. We have some time before you need all the details. But just know that your life will never be the same and will become even better than you could have ever imagined.”
I paused for a moment, allowing his words to tumble through my head. Once I stopped focusing on the fact that they pissed me off with this little charade, something changed inside of me. Fury replaced the hurt I had been holding in my chest for so long. And fury was an easier emotion to deal with.
Satisfied that that might be the only contentment I ever found, I headed in the direction of the cave’s exit. Maybe this was exactly what I needed in my life. And the opportunity to possibly discover a powerful magic, that could only be viewed as a plus. Right?
After we arrived back home, I shut myself up in my room – I didn’t have much of an appetite. While I played some hockey, I contemplated what I was going to do about the offer to join Ecken and Slade. I had no idea what they were up to. But the fact remained that whatever happened to me in that cave helped push away the hurt and pain I’d been feeling for the last five years and left in its wake a cold emptiness. I would take that feeling over the pain any day.
The next day, I had to practically drag myself out of bed to get ready for school. But it was the last day – and barely two hours – and for me my final last day, so I figured what the hell.
While the rest of my class watched a movie – I couldn’t even begin to tell you what it was about – I was deep in thought about what awaited me now that I had joined Ecken and Slade. If that was in fact what I had just done.
Right after the teacher wished everyone a nice summer and dismissed us, I detoured for a quick stop at the water fountain before making my way out to my car. While I was getting a drink, a gentle tap touched my shoulder. I glanced up and found a nervous Twila standing there, twirling a strand of her red hair between her fingers.
I wiped my mouth across my arm. “What do you want, Twila? I’m kinda in a hurry.”
She forced a small smile. “I wanted to invite you to my ‘school’s out’ party this afternoon. It starts at two o’clock. Everyone is going to be there.”
For a split second, sadness – fueled by not having someone like her in my life to hang out with at parties – crashed into me like a raging
tsunami. But before I could get too swept up in the all too familiar tidal wave of agony, fury surged forward, forcing the pain away. I grabbed her by the throat and pinned her up against the nearby lockers, using the weight of my body to hold her there.
Her eyes went wide with shock and fear. I had never laid a hand on her in the short time we went out.
“I don’t need your pity.” I hissed through clenched teeth. “Don’t pretend you care about me. You gave up on us long before I did.” That wasn’t entirely true but I was too enraged with jealously to care. Brennan had everything I wanted and every time I saw her it was like a slap in the face.
Her soft hands tried futilely to pry mine from her throat. “Kylan, you’re hurting me. Please let go.” Her words – barely above a whisper – choked out through her lips.
All of a sudden, a muscular arm slammed down on mine, forcing me to release her throat.
I turned to find an extremely pissed off Brennan glaring at me.
His voice perfectly matched his icy stare. “Don’t touch her again. She was just trying to be nice. But don’t worry; she won’t make that mistake again.” Brennan tucked Twila protectively under his arm and walked away.
I raised my hand, ready to strike, but miraculously I drew back. I needed to get out of there fast.
Not wasting another minute, – just slightly concerned something else could set me off – I practically ran out to my car, crawled in, and sped out of the school lot.
When I pulled into my driveway, I was surprised to find that both my mom’s car and Ecken’s were there. They shouldn’t have been home from work already.
When I walked into the kitchen, my mom was sitting at the table, twisting her hands together on the table top.
She didn’t even look up when I entered. “They found Ecken’s body at the bottom of a hill in the woods. It seems he had fallen while he was out hiking.” True sadness laced her words.
I had to admit, the news brought me a twinge of sadness too. I didn’t like the guy, but still. . . Then a disturbing thought hit.
I shot Slade a questioning look. My mom was still staring at her hands so I didn’t need to worry about her noticing my reaction.
His face was passive. I got the sneaky suspicion that whatever had happened, Slade wasn’t the least bit concerned or saddened by it. My mother showed more emotion over Ecken’s loss. That spoke volumes about the type of people I dealt with in my life.
“Come, take a walk with me. We have some things to discuss.” Slade jerked his head toward the door.
Realizing this had to do with the cave and I didn’t want my mother involved, I agreed.
After the screen door shut behind us, we headed down the street and stopped at a small brick house.
Slade climbed up the front porch steps and sat on the top one.
I followed and plopped down on the opposite end.
I wasn’t sure I was ready to know what really happened to Ecken so I chose to start with an easy question. “Is this where you stay when you’re in town?”
“Yah, Owen is still at work so it’s safe to talk. He’s not involved in any of this.” He propped himself up against the side post.
I sprawled my arms behind me and leaned back. “So what now? There’s no turning back or getting out is there?”
“No. But you’re not really happy here anyways. Not that I care about your happiness, just pointing out the fact that I did you a favor and now you owe me.” He fixed me with a stare I was certain gave credence to the phrase “if looks could kill.”
A slight burning crept through my head but almost as quickly as it ignited, it extinguished. I had the sneaky suspicion Slade had something to do with that.
He eyed me with annoyance and a small shred of curiosity. “Interesting. Well, I wanted to let you know we’re moving to West Haven. I have a place arranged for you. You can tap into your dad’s funds right?”
I nodded.
At the moment, that was all I could muster. What the hell was he up to? And I was right about his feelings for his dad; didn’t sound like he was even sticking around for the funeral. But really, it didn’t matter. I couldn’t stay there and endanger my mom. She had been through enough already. Besides, there wasn’t anything keeping me there.
“Good. You can buy a car when we get there too. There is an important paper we need to get our hands on. It’s part of a spell that will unlock that power Ecken had told you about.”
“Why would I want to help you gain that power?”
A cruel grin stretched across Slade’s face. “With that power, think of the revenge you could exact on the man who took your dad’s life. There would be no place on Earth he could run to hide from you then. Wouldn’t that help you?”
He didn’t care if I got anything out of the deal; he just knew the right button to push. “Fine. I’m in. When do we leave?”
Slade’s smile transformed into a self-satisfying smirk. “Pack up tonight, we leave tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at eight.”
A moment later, a red pickup truck pulled into the driveway, so I heaved myself up off the porch step and started home.
Even though my mom and I had been drifting apart for years, my leaving was still going to be incredibly difficult. But my life here had been over for so long; it was time to start on a new one. Maybe that was exactly what I needed.
When I arrived at home, my mom was sitting on the couch staring at a television show she wasn’t watching. We hadn’t been able to help each other all this time, but maybe now I’d be able to. I had a purpose now. But would serving justice be what was needed to put some closure to our horrid ordeal? Slade thought so and truthfully I did too now. Nothing else had worked to this point.
Without bothering to let her know I was home, I marched up the stairs and began cramming away the remains of a life that had ended over five years ago. After I had my belongings stuffed into an oversized duffle, I reached into my nightstand and pulled out a framed picture of my dad and me holding a huge fish we had caught the last time he took me fishing.
Slumping to my bed, my tears betrayed me and I cried until I drifted off to sleep.