HowlSage

by Brock D. Eastman

  “You mind if I leave you here? I really need to get home,” Melanie said.

  I shrugged. “No problem. I’ll see you on Monday.”

  “See you then.” She twisted the throttle and shot a few loose pebbles out behind her. And with a wave she was off down the dark road.

  I watched the scooter’s headlight beam disappear before starting up the drive. And then a frightening thought entered my mind. What if the HowlSage attacked her? She was all alone in the countryside.

  I had to protect her, even if she didn’t know it. I’d get the J-Pak and fly over her until she arrived safely home. The gravel crackled under my feet as I sprinted for the workshop. As I slammed open the door, McGarrett turned and glared at me.

  “Where have you been, Taylor?” he shouted.

  I stopped dead in my tracks.

  “It’s eight at night. The sun has been set for hours.”

  “I—”

  “No excuses tonight,” Mr. Riley ordered. “Ike is missing. He’s been gone since early this afternoon. And Jesse is investigating something at the ferry even though he’s still injured.”

  My heart sunk at the news of Ike. “Missing?”

  “Mrs. Riley and I haven’t seen him since lunch. And his rollerblades are gone.”

  “Blades? He wouldn’t have used them to go to town,” I said.

  “He must have, because he isn’t here,” McGarrett said. “We’ll talk about why you were late later, but for now get changed. We need to find him.”

  I quickly suited up and McGarrett fitted me with the J-Pak.

  “Check the woods in the park. Mrs. Riley said he was pretty upset about giving you away and making you lose sight of the cloaked figure.”

  I nodded and blasted into the air. My destination was set. The park and the circle in the woods.

  Melanie! I remembered. She’d hopefully be nearing town by now, it wouldn’t hurt if I shifted my route enough to check in on her.

  I followed the road, and a moment later I saw the little scooter she was driving. She hadn’t made it very far, maybe half a mile, which was unusual. I’d left her nearly ten minutes ago; why hadn’t she gotten very far?

  She seemed to pick up speed and it only took another fifteen minutes for her to cross into Ashley Meadows proper. At that point I felt assured that she’d make it home. The HowlSage had crossed into town several times, but she was a far less likely target in town than in the winding dark forest of the countryside.

  Now for the park.

  My radio spurred to life. “Taylor?” It was Jesse.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m still at the ferry, but I’ll join you as soon as I can. Glad you could help.” His last line was clearly a jab at my tardiness.

  “Sure. I’m headed to the park to look for Ike.”

  “I just don’t get that kid…”

  “Lay off, will yah, Jesse?” I scolded. “He was just trying to help.”

  “Sorry man.”

  I felt bad for jumping him, but Ike was lost and, well, I felt somewhat responsible, especially if he was at the stone circle in the woods.

  “It’s fine. I’m just—just worried. That’s all.”

  “I get it. I’ll see you when I can.”

  The radio went silent and I veered toward the park. I knew right where I was headed and didn’t waste any time looking for Ike as I went. If he was in the park, he’d be at the stone circle.

  Dropping through the woods would be difficult, so I landed on the trail again and made my way down the paths I’d followed the cloaked figure on the night before.

  As I entered the circle, there was nothing. No sign of Ike, no HowlSage, nobody wearing a cloak.

  The trees stood like guards ready to arrest me, but the stones circled me like a protective boundary the pines could not breach. It was an odd arrangement.

  I stepped to the center and looked around, then studied the dirt floor for any prints. Ike had been here, I could tell by the marks of the stars on his Converse shoes. The HowlSage had been here too. Whether they’d been here at the same time was impossible to tell.

  I looked up as a branch snapped in half overhead. Someone dropped out of the trees, a rope wrapped around their waist.

  “Ike!” I yelled, then lowered my voice. “Ike, where have you been?”

  “Here.” He shrugged. “I’ve set up some surveillance.”

  “Surveillance—why didn’t you tell McGarrett? Why didn’t you have him come with you?” I asked in rapid fire style. “It’s too dangerous to—”

  Ike held up his hand. “Stop it! I’m not a baby. I’m nearly completed and I did it without anyone’s help.” He unhooked the rope from around his waist. “I can take care of myself.”

  “Well…” I started.

  “You and Jesse act like I am no use. You think just because you’re hunters, that you are more—”

  Ike stopped ranting. I watched the color drain from his face. He looked like a ghost.

  “What is it?” I asked, but I needed no answer as I heard the low growl of a creature, of the HowlSage.

  My instincts took over. I rolled forward in a somersault toward Ike and twisted as I sprang up, my sword ready in one hand, and my other behind me protectively in front of the boy genius. I faced the beast.

  The HowlSage had gotten larger. Its fur was dark and sleek, shining in the pale ambient moonlight that shown down through the circular gap in the trees. It snarled, exposing its full set of fangs, each more than three inches long now. I watched as it curled its fingers, and heard its knuckles crackle; it was ready for business. It wouldn’t be fleeing this time.

  “Ike, stay behind me,” I commanded.

  Roar! The HowlSage’s deafening scream raised the hair on my arms and sent shivers through my stomach, my heart, and then I felt a lump in my throat.

  I was scared, frightened. How?

  I had to be strong. I backed closer to Ike, but still in front.

  “You—you can’t win!” I called, but my voice had cracked; I’d given off a clear sign of fear.

  Grrr! Arrrooough! The HowlSage let out its signature howl, it was about to attack and I was not ready. My arms were cold, numb. The sword felt heavier than it should.

  Frozen in place, I knew my legs weren’t going to do their job if called upon.

  A shadow blotted out the little light there’d been in the circle. I looked up and saw something winged circling overhead. It wasn’t Jesse. It was the flying thing.

  I heard Ike whisper something behind me, “It’s the Raptoryx.”

  “The what?” I started to ask as I looked back at the HowlSage, just as it hunched and launched itself into the air, soaring at me like a bullet fired from a rifle, fast and on target.

  All I could do was shove Ike to the ground, hoping to get him out of the way, and move my sword in a defensive position before me.

  The HowlSage dropped short of my sword, swiping its large paw upward in a direct hit on the hilt of my sword. I felt it slide from my weak sweaty palm and into the air. It twisted and clanged to the ground a few feet away.

  Weaponless, I stared into the beast’s cold, yellowed eyes.

  “You can’t turn me. Your venom isn’t active yet.”

  It growled, but the growl sounded like a laugh. It bared its fangs again. All it need do was lurch forward and bite; there was little I could do to get out of the way.

  To my surprise, it stalked backward, slinking closer to the center of the circle, and continuing.

  “Ike, look, it’s leaving—don’t worry.” I glanced for my sword and saw it nearby. Keeping my eyes on the HowlSage, I edged toward my weapon.

  The HowlSage was nearly to the stone line now. I knew that I should pursue it, I should attack it. But not only was my strength gone—I’d felt fear.

  Besides that, I couldn’t leave Ike; he was clearly scared.

  “Ike, I won’t leave you,” I said as the HowlSage backed into the spruce trees and disappeared as the pine branches closed aroun
d it. “It’s OK now, come closer to me.”

  Silence.

  “Ike?” I turned around and to my horror there was no Ike. I was alone in the circle, only a twisted rope hanging from a branch high above remained.

  “Ike! Ike, where are you?” I yelled. I remembered my radio. “Jesse, quick, I need you here. Ike was just here. And so was the HowlSage. Now he’s gone.”

  “Who?” came a frantic reply. “Who’s gone?” It was McGarrett.

  “Both of them,” I said.

  “Taylor, I’m almost to you. Two minutes. I’ll search from overheard. Do you know which direction he went?”

  “No! And watch out—the winged thing is back.”

  “Thanks for the tip.”

  “Jesse,” McGarrett started. “It’s a Raptoryx.”

  “But I thought—” Jesse started.

  “I did, too. Ike identified it. It can only mean that—” McGarrett continued.

  Was I the only one that didn’t know what a Raptoryx was?

  “He is returning,” Jesse finished.

  “Trying,” McGarrett corrected. “The full moon will land on Halloween, and tonight is Friday the 13th. Everything is aligning as needed.”

  “Didn’t Ike realize what today was?” Jesse asked.

  “Who is returning?” I interrupted with a shout.

  “Not now, Taylor, we have to get Ike,” McGarrett explained. “I’ll call the chief, have him send his patrols to put a perimeter around the park. I’m headed to Hilbert’s Hill.”

  “I’ll meet you there,” I said.

  Hilbert’s Hill was at the very end of the only green belt, or forested corridor, that stretched from the park to the mountains. It was half a mile wide and ten miles long, stretching out of Ashley Meadows. Hilbert’s Hill was the high point in a road that crossed through the corridor. If the HowlSage didn’t want to pass through neighborhoods, it had to use the wooded stretch.

  But where was Ike? Had he gotten scared and wandered off?

  As if on cue, a voice echoed through the dark woods. “We have him. He is ours. He will not live to see you again. He is gone.”

  My entire body felt as cold as ice; anything that wasn’t numb before, was now. I felt queasy; the trees overhead began to spin. I saw the winged thing still circling overhead. My vision went blurry, then gray, then black. I felt my legs buckle and my head hit the soft dirt of the stone circle.

  Chapter Thirteen

  October 14th—Saturday

  I slid from my bed and approached the glowing fireplace. How I got to my room, I didn’t remember, but I was cold. So cold, and the fireplace looked warm. I stood on the tiles before the hearth and stared into the flames as they flickered amongst the firewood.

  Fire was such an interesting thing. It seemed alive, yet it was not. No, it was the opposite—fire was death. The consumption of what once was living. But it was beautiful.

  When I’d been younger, I had tried many times to control fire, to master it in some form. But I’d never been successful.

  Just after my dad and I had come to Ashley Meadows and I had met Ike, he and I had been working on an experiment. The end result was one of the outbuildings and several nearby trees catching fire.

  I felt my heart ache at the thought of Ike. Where was he? I’d let him down, and without my parents, he was truly the closest thing to family I’d had. Closer than even Jesse.

  “I can take you to him,” a gruff voice said from behind me.

  I didn’t jump at its words, nor did I twist into a defensive position, even though I knew the voice.

  I turned and looked into the HowlSage’s bulbous yellow eyes. It sat in one of the high-backed winged chairs. “Follow me,” it said, but its lips did not move. Its voice was in my head. “I shall take you to your friend and then to your father.”

  My father?

  The HowlSage had promised this before. And before it’d been a dream. I forced myself to speak, “What do you want?”

  It bared its teeth in what I took to be a grin. “I want you to bring me the belt and then follow me to your friend and father.”

  “I can’t get you the belt. It’s locked away.”

  “You can. Don’t you want to see your friend again? Wouldn’t you like to find your father?”

  I nodded.

  “Then you must follow me.”

  The fire popped loudly and I looked into the flames. For the slightest second I saw Melanie’s face. At least a vision of her.

  “Come now, we must go,” the beast said.

  I looked back at it. But this time the HowlSage was gone—someone in a black cloak had replaced it.

  “Follow us, we shall get the belt together.” The figure stood, its face still hidden behind the cloak.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “This is not important,” it said. “You will know me soon enough.”

  Something flashed where its face should have been.

  “No, you—” the voice screeched.

  The room began to swirl, flames shot from the hearth. My head started to spin and then I sat up.

  It’d been another dream. I was still in bed. My body was cold, and I rubbed my arms across my bare chest and pulled the covers up to my chin. It was still dark outside. My alarm clock read 4 a.m.

  Were Jesse and McGarrett back yet? I slid out of my bed for real this time and pulled a borrowed shirt over my head.

  I wandered down the hall toward Jesse’s room. His door was shut and when I tried turning the handle, it wouldn’t move. Locked.

  He was probably asleep if his door was locked.

  I continued to the end of the hall, where I looked out over the grounds of The Pink Hippo. The Rolls was parked in the driveway next to the workshop.

  The light was on in the building. It looked like McGarrett was in there as well; I knew Mrs. Riley wouldn’t be out there at this hour of the night.

  I decided now was as good as any time to tell him about the two dreams I had. This way I wouldn’t forget.

  As I walked to the workshop, I heard a couple people talking. It was Jesse, and the second I wasn’t sure about. It didn’t sound like McGarrett. Was it Ike? A glimmer of hope surged into my heart.

  But as I entered the room, I saw something I hadn’t expected. Jesse was holding the belt out in his hands, his bare hands at that. He jerked backward and nearly fell from his chair when the door shut behind me.

  “Tay…uh, what are you doing up?” he asked as he set the belt on the table before him.

  “Bad dream. What are you doing up?” I asked. “You have to be tired from all the searching.”

  “Of course I am, but are you feeling all right?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When McGarrett and I found you we couldn’t wake you. You were out cold. What happened?”

  “I don’t know, I just heard this voice and everything went black.”

  “That’s weird.”

  I nodded. “So, what are you doing out here?”

  Jesse glanced at the clock. “Ummm, I was about to take a jog. You know, get a fresh start on the day and then look for Ike.”

  “Let me get changed and I’ll join you,” I offered.

  Jesse stood up. “No, no you need to rest. That’s what Mrs. Riley said.”

  “But—” I started.

  “But nothing. Don’t make me wake her,” he said with a half laugh.

  I pictured Mrs. Riley, her hair in curlers, escorting me back to my room and lecturing me on my need to rest. I sighed and stepped aside as he walked past me, pulling a hat over his curly black hair. “I’ll be back in an hour. If McGarrett is looking for me, tell him I’ll be ready at 6.”

  I grabbed his shoulder. “Wait, are you guys going back out this morning?”

  He frowned. “Of course we are. We have to find him before it’s too… well, you know.”

  I shook my head, “Well, at least let me—”

  “You’ll have to take that up with Mrs. Riley.” And with that he
walked out of the door and let it shut behind him.

  It took me ten seconds to decide to follow him. I saw an old pair of sneakers by the door and a pullover fleece hanging on a hook. I only had shorts on, but once I got running I figured I’d be warm enough.

  I slowly opened the door and peeked out to see which way he’d gone. I could hear his feet on the gravel driveway. I followed, remaining just inside the tree line. This made my running a bit more treacherous— branches, stones, small animal burrows. But I did my best.

  At the end of the drive, Jesse pushed open the gate and turned out onto the main road. He stopped and started to tie his shoe, then a moment later he was off and headed for town. I wanted to follow so badly, but there was no way to keep out of sight and follow him down the road. And although I didn’t want to admit it, I wasn’t in as good shape as he was.

  I couldn’t fall back to sleep and ended up sitting in a chair in the Pink Hippo’s lobby. When McGarrett came through I told him Jesse had gone on a run and that he’d return at 6. I started to plead with him that I was well enough and that I could help. But I knew I’d lost my case immediately.

  “It’s too risky,” he said. “We just don’t know what effect the HowlSage is having on you. You’re already younger then you should be. Ike was—is too,” he corrected himself.

  I slunk down in the winged chair. McGarrett came closer and sat on the arm rest.

  “Taylor, my boy. I have to look out for you, and sometimes that means not giving you what you want.”

  I shrugged and looked down at my knees. He stood and I heard him leave through the front door. I wanted to rebel, but what he’d said had meant something to me.

  While I’d not admitted it even to myself, I’d been feeling so alone in this world. With my parents gone, I didn’t think there was anyone who’d ever care for me as only they could. But I was quickly realizing that this man and his wife were doing their very best, and it wasn’t because they had to.

  Chapter Fourteen

  October 15th—Sunday

  We headed to church, but something was missing. The empty seat next to me where Ike usually sat created an obvious reminder that he was lost. But my heart still couldn’t decide how lost he was—missing or dead.