Winds Of The Apocalypse

by Novak, Karina

  ”Fuck, who the hell made you the voice of reason…?” Morgan groaned, he knew his sister better than anyone and his friends were right, she won’t be able to handle it then and there with the body on the bed in front of her eyes and as much as he hated to admit it, Morgan wasn't sure for himself that he would be able to remain completely calm when he sees his body in front of him.

  "Ok,” He surrendered. “Bring Casey here. But I’m warning you that you better hurry. I won’t be able to wait for long and if you won’t come back in the next hour with her I swear that I will start roaming the school with flying books to create a mass panic to amuse myself so..."

  "Ok. Ok." Din laughed and nodded, “We got your point. Don’t worry.” He said, turning to Colin. "We should probably go and let Toby know first about all that is happening."

  "Why?" Colin frowned.

  "He is the most calm and understanding person among us." Din pointed out.

  "And we will need him to assist us in order to go and force Casey back here."

  Colin laughed. "Yeah, we will need the extra man power to pry her away from Morgan's unconscious body. No offense to your inanimate body that is."

  He looked at Morgan.

  "None taken." Morgan nodded.

  “And I am kind of afraid of her nails.” Din admitted.

  “You chicken.”

  “Those things are sharp!” Din protested.

  “I know. Firsthand experience. I still have scars.” Morgan nodded and Din took a step closer to his best friend, laying a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

  "Don't worry Morgan; you can trust us in this. We will find a way to bring you back, we have to, and life just won’t be as fun without you."

  Morgan gave his friends a faint smile. “Oh, that is so sweet.” He tried to laugh at him.

  “Are you going all mushy on me just cuss I’m a ghost?”

  Din smiled back at him and then turned to the door, fallowing Colin who was already headed outside with Morgan watching them as they left the room, leaving him on his own.

  ”Agh…” Morgan began to pace impatient, trying to make sense of the mess that rolled around in his head. “Why can’t I just get a straight answer about any of this?” He asked no one in particular, looking up. “Can’t you just send me a hint or something? Why me?! It’s rather difficult to figure this whole thing out on our own.”

  He sighed. “Great and now I’m talking to myself, pretty soon I’ll be starting to hear voices and then…” He was interrupted by a soft knock on the bedroom door.

  ”What the…?” Morgan carefully stepped up to the doorway. 'They can’t be back so soon with Casey… Must be Toby…Coming to see for himself…? Or someone else that is looking for Din...Should I open? if it’s not my friends then whoever it is won’t be able to see me…So there is really no harm to come of it…’ Morgan thought as he reached for the handle and slowly pulled the door open.

  ”Holy…” He gasped in shock, staring at the person standing there, looking back at him with a slight smile spreading across his familiar face.

  It didn't matter at that moment that Morgan was a ghost, he still felt like he was about to faint any minute now at the sight before him, this was just way beyond insane.

  "How's this for a helpful hint?" The boy smiled. ”Morgan.” The Boy that stood in the doorway uttered, taking a step forward to let Morgan take a good look at him.

  Morgan blinked, not trusting his eyes at what they were showing him.

  The boy looked just like he and Casey did, in the way his face was shaped and in the color of their eyelids but this boy wasn't Casey, Morgan was sure of that, and well, it was a boy obviously.

  The boy looked like they both might have looked if they hadn't changed their appearance to be different from each other. The boy’s face was the same as his and Casey's was. A little softer in kindness than Morgan's and rougher in determination that Casey's, like the middle version of the two.

  The same chocolate eyes as his own stared back at Morgan, surrounded by dark skin that looked like smudged coal, it seemed that the boy hadn't slept in ages, kept awake by an unknown power but it looked good on him, it fitted with his white almost transparent skin.

  Morgan’s eyes traveled down the boy’s body to take in all of him.

  The boy had long dark blond hair that came all the way down to his middle and his clothes, torn up bright blue jeans and a black t-shirt were also a middle version of Casey's and Morgan's style, but over worn and rugged like they had grown along with him.

  Chapter five: Secrets and broken toys

  "Would you stop staring at me and let me in already?" The boy smirked, his voice, like everything else about him, the middle between the twins. Morgan noticed that it was a bit scratchy as if the boy had not talked as much as a normal person would and was just getting used to hearing his own voice again after many years of forced silence.

  "Who…who are you?" Morgan whispered, not sure of how he was supposed to act with the kid that stood before him

  The boy smiled and stepped in, making Morgan step away from him, too proud to admit to himself that the blond boy gave him the creeps.

  "Don't tell me you forgot me already, big brother.” The boy said, a bit of sadness in his quiet voice. “I'm Jon, your brother…Don’t you remember me Morgan?"

  Morgan stared at him and then dropped back on Din’s bed in total amassment, continuing to stare up at the boy who stood by the table with his arms crossed nervously across his chest.

  “Jon…?” Morgan uttered carefully. “You are the boy the toys in the attic belonged to, aren't you? But mom said…Brother…? What happened to you?”

  Jon sighed and sat in the desk chair across from Morgan. “I was taken.” He explained.

  “I guess you and Casey were too young to remember me…We were barely eight.”

  Morgan swallowed, taking in what was said to him.

  “I don’t…I don’t understand…” He confessed and Jon nodded. “I was coming home with dad from our grandmother that night, do you remember her? The trips we used to be forced to go to?”

  Morgan laughed. “Yeah, it was horrible, Casey used to always come back crying but then, it suddenly stopped…I guess…”

  “It was after my accident.” Jon completed. "After I disappeared."

  "And we moved…" Morgan patted the bed, inviting Jon to join him, to sit on the covers. The boy complied and Morgan moved closer to him, watching his features, waiting for an explanation.

  “So…Where were you?” Morgan asked after the boy seemed to be too reluctant to tell his story.

  “I…”Jon looked away at the door. “I’m not sure.”

  “But…” Morgan frowned.

  “After I was taken…That night…It was raining, it was so cold…They somehow staged the car crash…”

  “They?” Morgan raised his eyebrow.

  “The creatures…I don’t really know what they are.”

  “It sounds like you are saying that they are not human.” Morgan looked at him astonished. “They are not.” Jon nodded, looking back at him. “Their hands…Those skeleton hands …I remember them grabbing my body, hitting me…They…” His voice broke.

  Morgan bit his lip and lay one hand on top of Jon’s trembling hands to try and help him to continue. “I remember falling, they took me into the abyss and then there was just pain. For a really long time I couldn't do anything and then the pain stopped and I was no longer trapped…I watched my body lay still and I didn't recognize myself and then I felt you…I somehow knew that I had to shield you from them, warn you…Find you somehow…”

  “So those monsters…” Morgan whispered. ”They are responsible for your disappearance?" Jon nodded, too tired to speak, his throat hurt, he wasn't used to this yet, he hadn't talked this much in years, mostly, he just silently screamed.

  "And you are sure that you are my brother?" Morgan questioned, sure of the answer but needing to hear it again. To mostly reassure himself that he wasn’t dream
ing.

  Jon smirked, the blank stare gone as he nodded again. “Yes, I’m sure, as sure as I am in the fact that my name is Jon.”

  “Yes, but…”

  "Dude, are you blind? I look just like you.” Jon jumped from the bed and twirled in his place. “Only I'm prettier of course." He added smiling. Morgan smiled too, laughing slightly.

  "Man, you sound just like Casey...God! I can't believe that mom kept something like this from us! Kept you from us…She had no right! I felt all these years that something was missing from our lives…And I know that Casey felt it too…"

  He felt the anger rise inside of him, boiling, threatening to burst out, Morgan felt like he was cheated of something, something that nothing else could replace.

  Jon looked at Morgan with tired eyes, sitting back down beside him, a little closer this time and a little dizzy from his twirl.

  ”I guess…” He said, trying to ease the same pain and rage he was feeling. "I guess that she was just trying to protect you two…To make you grow up in a normal way…To be happy again after…After…After I was taken away from you…"

  "Bullshit!” Morgan jumped up, stumping his feet. “Don’t you see?! It didn't help that charred she put up! Even if we were made to forget you, it still changed everything! It changed us, up until now I didn't know why we were so determined to make ourselves appear different, to make sure we didn't look the same, now I understand! We did this so we won't look like you…Cuss it hurt that much. It was like the mirror knew something we didn't.”

  He took a sharp breath. “God! She wasn't trying to protect us! She did it for herself! For her own selfish reasons! So she wouldn't have to deal with all of this! And with us! We should have been gone with you…"

  “No!” Jon shook his head. “Never think that! Please...” Jon begged. “I would have done it all again, suffered this life a thousand more times only to prevent you and Casey from going through it with me.”

  Morgan didn't answer but he began to pace, irritated. "Morgan, please calm down."

  Jon made an attempt to calm his brother, getting up to his feet and wrapping his arms around his twin.

  Morgan let Jon hug him, burying his face in Jon’s long blond hair.

  “And if I die too,” Jon heard him asking. “Will Casey forgets about me as well?” Jon shook his head, making Morgan lean a bit back to look at him.

  “You won't die." Jon said firmly. "I won't allow it. I didn't wait this long to find you only to watch you die. And besides, you know that Casey won't allow it to happen either…You know she will do anything she can to save you. And so will I."

  Jon paused, thinking about his baby sister, his little beautiful loud baby sister.

  "How is Casey anyway? I mean…How she was up until this past day? Last time I saw her she was this fragile little thing who got everything she wanted with her unbelievable energy and a lot of screaming."

  Jon laughed fondly at the memory, letting Morgan go and Morgan couldn't help but laugh too.

  "Well, that didn't change much, you know, she is still the little diva. She just developed her own style these past few years, turned her hair black and became even more annoying."

  “And you got the dreads mom said you couldn't.” Jon raised his hand to touch Morgan’s rough hair, leaving it there for a few seconds too long, mesmerized by the human contact he was deprived of for so long.

  There was a moment of silence while both Morgan and Jon were lost in their own thoughts and then Morgan spoke.

  "I don't really know how to ask you this but …Like, I don't want to come off as a jerk…But I just can't not wonder what are you doing here…I mean…After all this years, why did you wait this long to come back? You've been dead for over eight years now and…"

  "I wasn't dead." Jon interrupted him.

  Morgan blinked is surprise. "What?"

  "I didn't die in the car crash." Jon pointed out. "I mean, I never died, I was taken away, yes, but I was kept alive…"

  "Wait!” Morgan shook his head. "Wait, are you telling me that you are still alive?! How? I thought you are a ghost like me…You are so pale…"

  "I am." Jon nodded. "I am a ghost Morgan."

  "But…" Morgan's face fell. "But you said…"

  Jon took a deep breath. "Look, try to understand this, ok? My body is in the same state as yours is in. The monsters have put it in a coma like state when they took me. That is the reason as to why I grew in appearance. If I would have died eight years ago you would have been talking to an eight year old kid right now but as you can see I am in the same age as you and Casey are."

  Morgan chewed his lip, looking up at Jon, thinking about what he had just said.

  It seemed odd to Morgan that who ever it was that was behind all this kept his brother alive for all these years, why would they do that?

  It wasn't that he wasn't grateful for the opportunity to reverse the wrong that was done to Jon when they were little, but he still couldn't help but wonder why they bothered to keep him hidden and alive instead of just murdering him and be done with it.

  Why leave him comatose if all they wanted was to eliminate him...There was just no point, it didn't make any sense.

  Jon looked at Morgan pondering gaze. "They thought," He said, answering Morgan's unasked questions as if he could read his brother's mind. "They thought that if they kept me alive in this limbo, stuck between life and death the prophesy that they had stolen centuries ago won't be able to come true."

  "Prophesy?" Morgan wondered.

  "Yes, they truly believed that the old man that had created it would make it that simple for them to interpret. But they are so god damn stupid; they read it completely in a literary way instead of checking that there was more than one kid at the time that fitted the bill. They didn't get that it wasn't me at all who was mentioned in the stupid prophesy, not just me anyway, it's all of us, you, me and Casey.

  And as long as one of us remains fully alive and breathing we all have a chance to get out of this alive with a huge bonus, a real bonus, a chance to defeat them. A chance they themselves gave us."

  "Wait."

  Morgan was having a difficult time in getting all of the information his brother was sharing with him.

  "Go back a bit, will you? Cuss I am having a little trouble in following here. First of all, what fucking prophesy?! What does it have to do with us?? Who the fuck wrote it and where can I find him so I can kill him for involving us in all of this?"

  Jon opened his mouth to answer but Morgan raised his hand to stop him, he was on a roll. "Wait, I'm not done. I want to know what the hell is Casey's roll in all of this , since she is the one that is still breathing and… God damn it , I'm so fucking confused!"

  Morgan put his head between his hands and Jon laughed.

  "You ask a lot of questions." He pointed out, laying a comforting hand on his brother's back. Morgan frowned and looked back at Jon, shaking his hand off.

  "Well, it's because you won't give me any answers, I am trying to get this you know."

  "It's a long story." Jon exhaled. "And I had about five years of snooping around and endless days and nights to figure this out. And it wasn't easy…I had to listen carefully to every shred of information while I was…" His voice trailed off.

  “Was what?”

  “Never mind…like I said a long story.”

  Morgan crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, how about you give me the brief version?" Jon smiled and nodded.

  "Well, since you are so impatient…Long story short, someone in this school is in great danger cuss some other someone in this school was stupid enough to summon those horrid things from where ever they were in the last half a decade, he or she were assholes enough to summon those beings for his own selfish reasons without ever considering the distraction that they will bring to the world."

  Morgan looked at him. "Summon? Summon from where exactly?"

  Jon shrugged, "I'm not sure. I wasn't exactly in my right mind you know… Being detached f
rom my body and everything, I only saw the end of it right before they took me with them…" His gaze went dark.

  "The last time it happened was five years ago…You may have heard about it, I would expect it to be big news around here…"

  Morgan blinked. "You must mean the stories…The fire…?"

  "Yes."

  "You were here for that?!" Morgan asked astonished, to think that his brother was so close once before.

  "Yes." Jon sat back down on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. "I will never get why or how humans get to be so greedy, so selfish enough to strike a deal with those monsters. They never read the fine print that comes after the fame and fortune, it never lasts and the cost that they have to pay is too great…"

  "What is the cost?" Morgan sat beside him. "What do the monsters want in return for their services?"

  Jon tilted his head and looked at Morgan as if the answer was quite obvious.

  "You really have to ask?" Jon smiled.

  Morgan let out a sigh. "Amuse me."

  Jon shrugged "What every evil being wants in this world? Even I remember all the movies we used to watch in our childhood, like every other evil doer they want world domination of course."

  He said like it was a given.

  Morgan laughed. "Of course, why didn't I think of that?“

  “Cuss you’re an idiot.” Jon suggested and Morgan shook his head, playfully shoving Jon in the shoulder.

  “Ok, so let me see if I got this whole thing right, ok?"

  "Shoot.” Jon agreed, sitting back against the wall to listen to his own story.

  Morgan turned to him, laying himself down, his head supported by his arm as he leaned on his elbow.

  "Ok, so us three, you, me and Casey somehow were born into some kind of a Harry potter prophesy that ,if used right supposed to save the world from these unspeakable monsters that are out to get us since the day we were born, and as we are in our current position it's up to Casey to save the day?"

  "What is Harry potter?" Jon frowned and Morgan laughed.

  "Never mind." Morgan shook his head. "I'll fill you in on all the mortal things you missed while playing hooky with the demons."