“Are you okay, Elaine?” James asked.
“No, James. No, I am far from okay. We have already lost so much. Now I stand here watching my son go off to… to…” She shook her head and squeezed her eyes closed, trying desperately to hold it together. “It’s like when a relative you love comes home and then has to leave after a long visit. You stand at the door watching them go, wondering when you will see them again and how much you will miss them. But the difference is” – a sob broke loose from her as if ripped from her soul, unable to be held any longer – “I know he is going to die!” she cried out, throwing her face into her hands.
James put an arm around her. “Elaine. I know this is hard, but you know he has to do this. It has already been written. Even the part where he dies.”
15
Brushwork and Magic?
Wednesday, April 6 – God Stones Day 1
Rural Chiapas State, Mexico
Gabi crawled back from the pit opening and pushed herself up onto her feet. “Really, Mamá! I can actually help you with the wall mural?” Gabi asked hopefully.
“Sí, sure you can help. As long as you can answer this question.”
Gabi’s eyes narrowed. “What question?”
“There are a few methods we can deploy for the preliminary cleaning of wall paintings. What are they?”
“Easy!” Gabi held up three fingers, closing each as she ticked them off. “Mechanical cleaning of dry soil residue with brushes and a scalpel if needed, chemical cleaning of carbonates and other deposits, and extraction of salts.”
“Good! What method will we be using?” her mother asked.
That was two questions, but she was pretty sure she knew the answer. “Mechanical?”
“That’s right, just a light brushing for now. What we want is the least abrasive method that will yield the best results.”
The scene on the wall began above the skulls, starting just to the left of the stairwell and wrapping around the entire room, but large portions were completely covered with a layer of dust and dirt.
Itzel pointed at the scene. “So far I can see these images here depict a great number of people battling with another group. See, here you can see these people are much larger.”
“Those must be the giants!” Gabi said.
“Giants – such a strange word. Even in our own language. Gabi, who would have ever thought we would be referring to people as gigantes!”
“But they are, Mamá,” Gabi said.
“Yes, María Purísima, I suppose so. I can’t tell what happens after so let’s start over here and work our way back,” Itzel said, pointing at the far end of the battle scene where everything seemed to fade away. “Listen to me, Gabi, you are going to be next to me on a ladder. I will position the ladders for us, and you must be careful not to drop your brush onto the skull racks, or to bump into the skull racks, or to—”
“Mamá, I promise I will be so careful.”
“I know you will. You’re a woman, Gabi. You are nearly fourteen!”
Gabi and her mom went to work carefully brushing the wall. Slowly, so slowly, the layer of time drifted away to reveal a long-forgotten history.
“Look at this! It’s the pyramid!” On the wall before them was a depiction of a massive pyramid, but part of the top was missing. “Look! Gabi! This must be a depiction of how the pyramid was made!” Itzel repositioned her ladder and climbed back up. She began brushing around the part of the pyramid that was missing stones.
Gabi climbed down and stepped back to take in the scene. The horsehair bristles of her mother’s brush danced delicately, almost gracefully, side to side. A tiny cloud of dust lifted off the wall and floated away, as if by magic. Magically, too, the paintless brush revealed the secret of how the pyramid was built. The young girl’s eyes grew wider and wider as a deep crinkle split her brow.
Her mother’s own eyes matched those of her daughter as her hand suddenly froze. “¡Ay, María Purísima!” she gasped.
“Do you see this, Gabi?” Itzel said. “María, Come here. Please look at this!”
Gabi gaped at the wall, unblinking.
“Am I seeing things or do the pyramid stones look as though they are floating up and into place?” María asked.
“Yeah, and it looks as though that giant man is pointing at the stones as they float up,” Itzel said.
“He is even bigger than the other giant ones battling the smaller ones,” María said.
“Yes, twice as big, but that can’t be,” Itzel said. “That would be ridiculous – impossible. The scale must be off. We have seen this plenty of times on Egyptian hieroglyphs.”
“Itzel, scale doesn’t explain the floating blocks and the pointing.”
Gabi tried not to blurt her revelation, but her excitement overpowered her mouth and forced it through. “Not pointing!” she announced.
Both women had been so deep in thought they turned to Gabi in surprise, as if she had not been standing between them all along.
“What do you mean?” María asked.
Gabi pointed at the giant then to the highest stone hovering there like a leaf that had caught the wind just right. “Not pointing,” she repeated. “Guiding, he is guiding them up… with magic.”
16
A Hard Rain
Wednesday, April 6 – God Stones, Day 1
Petersburg, Illinois
Again, Garrett found himself running across town, back through the pizza place parking lot, through the row of parked cars, and into the alley that would lead to the Petersburg Public Library. The rain fell harder every second. Quickly the roads and sidewalks went from being spotted with raindrops to being completely saturated as water began to form puddles in low-lying areas. Garrett’s face screwed up with concern, forcing his brows to furrow. He pushed to the back of his mind the obvious questions, such as how his own family could have kept this from him his whole life, how some of this prophecy talk came across like he was somehow the center of a creepy religious cult, and how in the hell was he, a sixteen-year-old kid, expected to hack the head off some sleeping space alien before the evil non-sleeping space alien caught him, woke up the sleeping alien, and destroyed the world. No, he couldn’t worry about all that. Instead, he had to focus on just how the hell they were supposed to get into a drainage tunnel that would soon become a powerful discharge of surging rainwater.
He couldn’t think about others who might be in on this whole thing or why they couldn’t help him. Like Coach Dagrun – he was a freaking war hero. He had been in combat. Was he a Keeper? If he was, why couldn’t he help? Just to be able to talk to someone. To take a moment and get some goddamned advice. God, what he wouldn’t give to be able to swing by Eugene’s house and discuss next moves over a glass of lemonade. He trusted the accountant. If he had time, Eugene would be the perfect adult to provide council. But he didn’t have time. He had to run.
They turned into an alley one block from the library just as a wood-framed screen door flung open with a groan. A bearded man reeking of alcohol and cigarette smoke staggered out. The man was moving too fast, his feet unable to keep pace with his body. He fell forward, sprawling onto his hands and knees in the gravel. Garrett and Lenny slid to a stop, nearly running into the man. He was too thin, almost sickly. He looked back in a panic, and it was instantly clear the booze wasn’t the cause of his fall. Before the screen door could snap shut, it was intercepted with a larger man’s foot. The door flung back open, smacking into the wall of the tavern, as a large potbellied man, followed by two other men, poured into the alley.
“That’s right, you son of a bitch! You touched the wrong girl’s ass!” yelled the large man.
“I didn’t mean to, Terry,” the bearded man begged.
“Beat his face in, Terry!” one of the other men shouted.
“Damn you, Joe – you think just on account the power goes out you can get all touchy-feely with my girl! My GIRL!” Terry staggered forward awkwardly and kicked Joe in the ribs.
Joe tipped off his hands and knees, falling into the fetal position.
“Those candles on the bar weren’t put there for you to go romanticizing my girl.” Terry reared back to kick Joe again but lost his balance, lurching to the side instead.
In any other moment before tonight this would have been the coolest thing in the world to stumble upon. He and Lenny would have been talking about it for days, probably weeks. But in this moment, Garrett just wanted to get past them.
“Terry, holy shit! Do you see that?” one of the other men said, noticing the orange glow from somewhere in the distance over the building’s roof.
“Those are sirens!” said another.
The night sky crackled with the sound of thunder gone hoarse. A split second later it lit up in fractures of brilliant amber. The golden lines webbed across the sky as if it were made of cracked glass.
More people spilled out of the bar now, no doubt hoping to see a fight.
“Jes-sus! If that ain’t the strangest lightning I ever saw,” someone said, their head tipped back, mouth ajar.
“Yeah, the sky is all weird. Maybe we’re about to get hit with a tornado?” someone said.
“Look over there! That glow, I’ll be damned if that isn’t a fire. Come on, let’s go check it out,” another said.
Terry frowned at the sky. “God help ya if I come back and you’re still here, Joe. God help ya.”
Garrett stepped to the side as the men rushed past, ignoring him completely.
“How in the hell does half the square catch fire and these guys just now notice?” Garrett asked, shaking his head.
“Too busy playing grab-ass by candlelight with Terry’s girl, I guess,” Lenny said.
“I guess. Come on. We need to go,” Garrett said. But as the crowd continued to pour out, choking the alley, a dozen pairs of eyes fell on them.
A middle-aged man jutted a finger toward them and slurred, “Well whatdowe… have here?”
Another man stepped forward, sounding equally as impaired as the first. “You boys… look like you’re… uptonogood.”
Even in the rain Garrett could smell the strong odor of cigarette smoke and whiskey on the man’s breath.
“Excuse us, please. We need to pass,” Lenny said.
A woman with sunken eyes, wearing a short skirt, pushed past the men. “You two ain’t going nowhere. It’s obvious just looking at you you’re probably the cause of whatever that fire is across the street. Trying to make your escape, I’m guessing.”
Lenny rolled his eyes. “And here we go.”
Garrett leaned in toward Lenny. “Lenny, we don’t have time for this, let’s just turn back and go around. These drunks could never catch us anyway.”
“Is that it, boys? You two been out causing trouble?”
“Maybe lighting stuff on fire,” came another voice.
More people were coming out of the bar now and moving in behind them, surrounding them.
Joe still hadn’t managed to get up.
“Move out the way and let me through,” boomed a deep voice from somewhere behind the forming mob. “I said, get out the way!”
The crowd parted as a stocky man with his sleeves rolled up to reveal dark, hairy arms appeared from the crowd.
Garrett didn’t recognize the man. He looked over at Lenny, who shrugged.
“Garrett, it’s okay,” he said, placing a hand on Garrett’s shoulder.
Garrett frowned at the man, then at the man’s hand.
Lenny mouthed the words, What the?
“It’s okay. You go on now, Garrett. You and Lenny have a big night ahead of you. These people won’t bother you anymore.” He turned to the crowd. “Get out their way. I won’t have this mob crap in my establishment.”
“We’re not in your establishment, Ben, we’re in the alley,” a man said, holding a pool stick in one hand and slapping it in the other.
“Roger, by god, you talk one more ounce of shit, and I will close your tab. That goes for the rest of you too! Now make way! Or so help me I will blow those candles out, lock up, and the only thing you will be drinking is water from your own tap!”
There was no hesitation. The crowd parted without another word.
Garrett stared at the bartender, his forehead creased.
“It’s alright, Garrett. Go on now,” he said.
“Thanks,” Lenny said.
The bartender pressed his mouth into a tight line and bowed slightly. “My pleasure, Lenny. Now go on, boys. Go.”
They ran.
“Garrett, you think?”
“A Keeper? Yeah, I mean what else makes sense?” Garrett asked, shaking his head.
“How many could there be?”
“I don’t know. Mr. B made it sound like there could be a lot.”
“This is crazy, Garrett.”
“You’re just figuring that out?”
A minute later they were at the library.
“Garrett, look!” Lenny said, noticing the gang was walking toward them.
“Why aren’t you guys inside?”
“The power is out, and it’s pitch black in there, plus we were worried about you,” Breanne said, her eyes searching Garrett for any sign of injury.
Garrett wasn’t sure what prompted him – maybe it was the look of worry in her eyes, maybe it was the loss of his father, or maybe it was the connection he felt to her – but whatever it was, it compelled him. He ran to Breanne and pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. Amazingly, she hugged him back, her face buried in his neck like she belonged there. He took a breath, his senses filling with her. He took it all in, her smell, her warmth through damp clothes, her breath on his neck. He wanted to stay right there, in that moment, in the rain, with her, but he knew he couldn’t.
“Are you okay?” she asked, still in his embrace.
“No, no I’m not, but I’m glad you’re here,” he said softly.
“Dude, is that a sword on your back?” Pete asked.
“Guys, as much as I love to see true love blossom, we have to move,” Lenny said, tipping his head back to consider the night sky. “The rain. We need to get in the tunnel and find the opening now before it fills with water and we can’t get in at all.”
Fortunately, no one could see Garrett blush as he reluctantly released Bre. When she let go, he didn’t think she wanted to, but he couldn’t be sure if that was true or if he was telling himself that. Later, when the time was right and Lenny was least expecting it, he was going to slap him in the sack, good and hard.
“Crap, you’re right,” Pete said. “Lucky for you guys, I came prepared with a couple cheapy flashlights and some tools for removing the bricks.” He patted his backpack with a smile. “Let’s jet.”
Lenny nodded down the alley. “This way, guys,” he said, breaking into a slow jog.
Everyone started jogging behind Lenny.
Breanne stayed next to Garrett, and Pete next to Janis.
“Did you kill him, Garrett?” Janis asked.
“Kill him?” Garrett asked.
“Apep. Bre said she had a vision that he exploded. Then we heard the booms. Is it true? Did you kill him?”
“I… I don’t know, but James doesn’t think so,” Garrett said. The talk of explosions reminded him Apep wasn’t the only one in the basement. His father was there too.
Pete cocked his head. “James? James knows about this too?”
“James isn’t who you think he is,” Garrett answered distantly, his thoughts on Phillip.
“So, he’s not a dick?” Pete asked with a smile.
“Hey! Pete. What the hell is going on with you?” Lenny asked suddenly, turning around and jogging backward to face him.
“Huh? Going on with me… what?”
“Your glasses, what the hell?”
Pete started mumbling in a soft whisper.
Rabbits in the garden
Rabbits in greens
Rabbits run from the farmer
Rabbits run free
; Lenny held his hands out. “What the hell was that?”
Pete hesitated. “That was a nursery rhyme by A. O. Schafer. My mother taught it to me when I was little to help me with my r’s.”
“Strange time to practice your speech, Pete,” Lenny said.
“Look, while you and Garrett were gone, I developed some kind of super-vision.”
“What!? Come on, seriously?” Lenny asked.
Janis shrugged. “And I can see in the dark like it’s daytime.”
“No way!” Lenny said, exchanging looks with Garrett.
“It’s the God Stones,” Paul said. “They change you. How do you guys feel now?” he asked, looking at Lenny.
Lenny shrugged. “I don’t know – too freaked out to be sure of anything.”
Garrett felt something. First, he felt it during his test before he ever laid eyes on the God Stones. But Apep had them at that point, and they were out in the world. Somehow through his focus he had found their power, using it to slow time around him. Since then he had been exposed. Even now in the distant part of his mind he could feel the ghost of a headache and his body tingled with this strange electricity or energy. He imagined it was like how someone felt right before they were struck with lightning.
“I don’t think I feel anything,” David said disappointedly, slowing to a walk. “And can we please stop with the running?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Pete said, stopping to lean on his knees.
“You boys call this running?” Paul laughed.
“Pete, I still don’t understand, what’s with the nursery rhyme?” Garrett asked.
“I was kind of hoping the God Stones would have fixed my speech too. I would gladly give up super-vision just to talk normal,” Pete said softly.
Janis took his hand in hers. “Petey, I already miss the glasses, so don’t be so quick to change the cutest thing that makes you who you are.”
Pete blushed.
“I wouldn’t change anything about you, Pete,” Janis said.
The Keepers Of The Light (God Stone Book 2) Page 11