Leech 01 Caleo

by James Crawford

  “And you?” Caleo asked.

  Nolan smiled. “I'm here for power, too, but I’m not here to kill you. I was told to protect you, no matter what path you chose.”

  “Who told you?”

  “Thorn.”

  “Why would he want to protect me?”

  “I guess to protect his investment, but I’m not sure. I’m just doing what I was told to do.”

  “But what is in it for you?” Caleo started walking towards the house again.

  “I'm returning a favor; Thorn saved my life, so in order to repay my debt, I was told to come protect you.”

  “What investment? Why would—” Caleo asked, but Nolan cut him off with an upraised hand.

  “You’re going to have to ask him one day - if he's still alive.” Nolan pulled on the back of Caleo’s shirt, bringing him to a stop.

  “What are we stopping for?” Caleo turned around to see Nolan with a raised finger over his mouth.

  “I need you to get behind that tree over there and duck down, and don’t come out till I give the all clear,” Nolan whispered.

  “Why?”

  “Just do it!” Nolan hissed, barely over a whisper.

  Caleo ran behind the tree and ducked down. After a few seconds of nothing happening, curiosity got the better of him and he peeked around the tree. Nolan was nowhere in sight, but his robe was on the ground where he had been standing a few seconds before. Where did he go? Well he's naked, wherever he is. This is probably just another way to embarrass me again. He stepped out from behind the tree and suddenly noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Or he's a pervert who just led me into the woods all alone and is now going to have his way with me. Caleo turned, but he saw nothing but trees and brush. “This isn’t funny.” Caleo jumped when he heard a stick break right behind him; whirling around as fast as he could, he came face to face with ... nothing.

  He narrowed his eyes at a bush in front of him. Something in the back of his mind told him that something was in that bush, something dangerous.

  Caleo turned to run, but his feet were stuck as if he was standing in mud. He looked down, and noticed he was sinking, already up to his ankles, and quickly approaching his knees.

  Quicksand!

  He tried to push himself forward, hoping to find a ledge or something to keep him from sinking too far, but every movement threatened to unbalance him and send him face first into the mud. As he was approaching waist deep Caleo frantically looked for something to grab onto for leverage. A thick branch hung from a tree overhead, but it was out of reach. There were trees nearby, but none close enough to grab. Then, Caleo’s eyes stopped as a tall man dressed in camouflage came into focus. He blended in so well with the trees that Caleo mistook him for one to start with.

  Desperately Caleo leaned forward and reached for the man, but came up short, burying Caleo up to his shoulders. “Help!” he screamed.

  Caleo looked up at the man who just smiled and took two steps forward so that he was standing inches from him on what should have been quicksand. The man opened his mouth, as if to say something, but a gunshot cut him off. He crumpled to the ground, revealing Nolan, robeless, standing right behind where the man had been, gun held aimed at the man’s chest.

  Caleo watched in confusion as Nolan grabbed the man’s feet and pulled him away from. The man’s eyes locked with Caleo’s for a second before Nolan mounted the man’s back, grabbed his head, and twisted it with a quick jerk. Caleo stopped sinking and the ground became solid again, trapping him chin deep in the dry dirt.

  Caleo could see Nolan, who was still sitting on top of the man, looking up at the sky, and wearing a look of pure pleasure on his face. “Help! Get me out of here!”

  After a moment, Nolan climbed to his feet, keeping his back to Caleo as he walked over to fetch his robe. He watched impatiently as Nolan slid it on and walked back to him, reached down and wrapped both hands on either side of Caleo's head.

  “You can’t pull me out by my head!” Caleo screamed as he immediately felt like he was being pulled apart as Nolan tried to pull him out of the ground holding onto nothing but the sides of his head. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he felt the ground around him pull away. Then the pain disappeared and Nolan let go. Caleo opened his eyes and found he was standing right beside a stunned looking Nolan.

  A cool breeze made Caleo look down and he realized he wasn’t wearing any clothes. Quickly he bent down and fished around the now gaping hole where he was just trapped. When a thought occurred to him

  “How did I get out of my shirt?” Caleo stopped looking for the shirt and looked up at Nolan. “How did I get out of the hole?”

  “I don’t know, it’s never happened like that before. I was pulling you, and you somehow … ”

  “Somehow what?”

  “We need to get going.”

  “But—”

  “Let’s go,” Nolan snarled and turned to walk away.

  “What about my pants?” Caleo asked, lying down and reaching into the hole as far as his arm would let him.

  “Do you have a problem with orders?” Nolan bellowed, stomping back to Caleo. “If you would have stayed behind the tree like I told you to, your pants wouldn’t be buried under four feet of dirt! I told you to stay behind the tree,” he reiterated.

  “I’m not running through the woods naked.”

  “You don’t have much of a choice.” Nolan turned to walk away again. He stopped after about two steps, turned around, and went to the body of the dead man. Caleo sat in horror watching as Nolan roughly stripped the man down to his underclothes.

  Throwing the clothes at Caleo, he said, “Next time pay attention or I'll just let you die. Now get dressed.”

  “But he died in—” Caleo stopped talking short of saying "those clothes" and quickly got dressed as Nolan gave him a look that said he was on the verge of snapping. The pants were a little big, but the man had a belt that Caleo was thankful for. Once he slid on the last slightly oversized shoe, Caleo stood up and was happy with the look. He blended in now, looking like he was on a covert military mission. His eyes stopped on a badge on the right shoulder. “Was he a Blessed?”

  “Yes, and thanks to you, there's a good chance he radioed to tell his friends about us, and they'll have people searching the woods when he doesn't return,” Nolan snapped.

  For the rest of the journey they walked in silence until Nolan came to a complete stop a few miles later and finally spoke.

  “When we get into the house, I want you to go into the kitchen and grab as much food as you can find. Only canned goods and other things that either don’t need to be cooked or that can be done over a fire — nothing that will expire or ruin in the heat. Throw them into bags, the bigger the better, and double the bags if you have to. Then go around the house and grab as many blankets and pillows as you can fit into a bag. After you fill those, take them into the woods and leave them behind the bushes. Then, go back and — this is extremely important — grab whatever medicines you can find. You can fill up one and only one trash bag of clothes; yours, your grandma’s and whoever else.” Nolan turned towards Caleo as if to drive the point home. “You got it?”

  Caleo nodded asking, “What are you going to do?”

  Nolan smiled down at Caleo, his white teeth almost glowing in the dark. “Get my pants.”

  An explosion rang through the air and a strange glow seemed to light the woods in front of them as if a spotlight had been pointed in their direction.

  “Plan’s changed. Wait here,” Nolan said, running towards the house.

  Wait here. Yeah, right. Caleo waited till Nolan was out of sight, before creeping up closer, running from bush to tree, but always staying out of sight as he made his way to the house. Soon, he came to a bush within clear sight of the house. He peeked through its leaves to discover his home was already engulfed in flames. Enraged, Caleo dashed out from his hiding place and sprinted towards the house, ducking down beside the air-conditioning unit. H
e could hear voices of people talking in the distance, but saw no one. Running up the stairs, he opened the door and a familiar bell sounded. He paused briefly as he saw the horror within the house; everything was swallowed up by the flames. The dining room table legs were burned under one end, causing it to be off kilter. The contents of a glass bowl centerpiece spread across the floor. Caleo heard the sound of objects falling to the ground and shattering coming from upstairs. Taking a deep breath of the fresh air by the door, Caleo ran down the hallway to his grandmother’s room and immediately felt his power drawing on his energy.

  If I could get in there and grab the flower everything won’t be a total loss, Caleo thought as he ran into the room, not even hesitating at the fire that blocked his path. Grabbing the purple rose bush off the night stand he tossed it on the comforter. Since I’m in here I might as well complete the mission. He ran to the closet, threw open the door, grabbed whatever clothes his hands landed on and threw them on the bed with the plant.

  After a few arms’ full, he pulled all the corners together over the clothes, forming a large bag, and tied the corners into a knot on the top. Caleo grabbed the pillows and was running for the nearest window when he heard something hit the ground by his feet. He looked down and found a small photo album with a photo of him as a baby on the cover. Caleo recognized it as his first bath from the many times his grandma had showed it to all of the Inn’s guests and he smiled knowing that this would bring a smile to his grandmother’s face more than anything. He quickly picked it up and shoved it into one to the pillowcases. Opening the window he threw everything to the ground below then jumped out after them, scooping the belongings up as he hit the ground he took off to the woods and stashed the bag behind a big bush.

  Caleo stopped and stared at his home as flames erupted from the roof.

  “I can stop this.” Caleo took off running back towards the house.

  He heard someone shout from the front of the house and quickly ducked back behind the air conditioner unit, crouching as low as he could. If I put out the fire I'll get caught. Caleo cursed himself for not thinking things through.

  He extended his hand to touch a flame that was jetting out from the basement window to his right, wishing he could save his home. The flame rolled around his hand, but did not extinguish.

  “I’ve got to do something.” Caleo looked around, desperately seeking an answer in the air around him. “I can’t save the house, but I can save some of the stuff inside.” Picking up a rock he ran to Jillian’s bedroom window, smashed out the glass, and crawled in. Within minutes he threw five more blankets fashioned like bags out the window. Then he followed them out. Once he hit the ground, he ran the bags two at a time to the woods and stashed them with the others. Silently, he surveyed his work.

  “Damn it!” Caleo cursed, running for the door again. “I forgot to get the food.”

  This time the bell didn't chime. Caleo looked around and found that the bell had burned off its stand and lay inches from his feet. He looked up the stairs to where his room had been and could see nothing except thick, black smoke. Shaking his head, he ran for the kitchen and kicked open the door. Fire exploded outward, engulfing him in flames, only to be extinguished a moment later as his powers automatically kicked in to protect him, extinguishing the fire within a ten foot radius of his body.

  “Wow,” Caleo said, amazed at his power as he looked at the doorframe and surrounding floor to see it covered in quickly evaporating frost.

  Caleo ran to the pantry. Good, nothing’s damaged, Caleo thought before realizing he had nothing to carry it in. Frantically he searched for anything that could hold a lot of canned goods. It’s a good thing Grandma saved a lot of grocery bags, Caleo thought, grabbing for them on the top shelf only to find they had melted together in the heat from the fire. Frustrated, Caleo looked around in the cupboard for anything that could help. A small trash can in the corner caught his eye, but it wasn’t large enough to hold much. The roof above his head groaned over the roar of the fire, and Caleo frantically started pulling stuff off the shelves, throwing them to the floor, until he found two old red and green Christmas tablecloths. Quickly, Caleo unfolded them, throwing all he could into them. Bringing the sides together, he made another makeshift bag and tried to pick it up before he realized they were really heavy and kept slipping out of his hands. Caleo looked around. I can’t drag them. The floor is too hot and cluttered for that. What if I…

  Caleo’s thoughts were interrupted by the ceiling above his head giving a loud crack and threatening to give away at any moment.

  I've got to put out all the fires in my path before I get to them. Caleo dug into his energy and walked out of the pantry, willing his power to extend farther. The fires in the kitchen shrank, then snuffed out completely. Caleo could feel his energy draining quickly from his body. His limbs felt like he had just run up five flights of stairs. I’ve got to hurry. He searched for an escape path.

  “Screw it!” Caleo grabbed both of the tablecloth bags and dragged them as fast as he could out of the kitchen. When he got hung up on something on the way, he dropped one bag and pulled the other free with both hands.

  “I told you to stay in the woods!” Caleo turned and saw Nolan close to the stairs, covered in soot.

  “I came—”

  “Not now, let’s go,” Nolan said, running for the door, coughing.

  “Help me get these outside!” Caleo yelled over the flames. Nolan ran back, scooped both bags up effortlessly, and ran out the door with Caleo right behind him.

  As soon as they were far enough out of sight, Nolan threw a bag at Caleo, sending him backward to fall on his back, scattering cans everywhere. Caleo quickly sat up and glared at Nolan.

  “What the hell was that for?”

  “You could have gotten yourself killed back there. I told you to stay in the bushes, and what did you do? The complete opposite!” Nolan hissed angrily. When Caleo said nothing and just sat there looking at him, he continued “How am I supposed to protect you if you won’t listen to a word I tell you?”

  “Why did you bring me along if I wasn’t supposed to help?”

  This time Nolan didn't answer; instead he turned and walked deeper into the woods. Angry, Caleo grabbed a can out of the bag and threw it at Nolan, who turned around at the last moment and slapped it out of the air like it was just a fly.

  “I need your help to carry this stuff back,” Caleo snapped, collecting the cans off the ground and putting them back into the tablecloth bag.

  “You seem to have it under control,” Nolan said.

  “Yeah, but I need you to carry the rest.” Caleo slung the bag over his shoulder as he walked back to where he had stashed the rest of the bags.

  “The rest?” Nolan said, his voice filled with annoyance, but Caleo could tell by the footsteps that he was following.

  When they arrived, Caleo turned at the sound of Nolan laughing.

  “What is all this crap?”

  “It’s the stuff you told me to get.”

  “How many bags you got?” Nolan said, eying up the pile of bags.

  “About six I think, and a bunch of pillows.” Caleo puffed his chest out, proud of his heroic deed.

  “And how are we going to get all this stuff back?” Nolan asked, and Caleo could tell he was trying to make a point.

  “We could make trips,” Caleo tried, but even he knew that wasn’t a good idea. Defeated and deflated, he sat down on the ground.

  Nolan sat down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. “I know you just wanted to save the things you thought you would need, but you won’t need as much as you think,” he said. Caleo knew Nolan was just trying to comfort him, but he just stared off at the burning house in the distance his whole life going up in flames.

  “You won’t need things like DVDs, CDs,” Nolan continued on a list of things and Caleo couldn’t help but roll his eyes and snicker. He hadn’t even thought to grab any of that stuff. He hadn’t even grabbed any of his own
stuff, and everything around him that he didn’t want to part with was everyone else’s prize possessions. Grandma’s roses and photo album, Jillian’s clothes and jewelry, even Jack’s clothes and photo of his and Jillian’s parents was in one of the bags, too, but none of his own stuff, not even any of his clothes. Caleo turned to face Nolan who was still listing things that would be useless now that they were on the run.

  “… the baseball cards you've saved, thinking they would be worth something some day. Hey, even if you had grabbed money it wouldn’t be any good right now.”

  “Baseball cards?” Caleo laughed. “Do people still collect those?”

  Nolan looked at him with a confused look on his face.

  Caleo sprang to his feet. “Smear.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “We have two wheelbarrows in the apple orchard. We can use that to move this stuff.” Caleo pointed towards the orchard. “It’s far enough from the house that no one will see us.”

  “Haven’t you been listening?” Nolan asked, but Caleo was already running in the direction of the apple orchard as fast as he could.

  Caleo looked back over his shoulder and smiled. “Just stay here!”

  The orchard was only a hundred yards from the front of the Inn, so Caleo had to be extremely careful not to be heard or seen. He ran from the woods and ducked behind the first apple tree and listened for any noise. In the distance he could hear people talking and even laughing. They're having fun, Caleo thought, disgusted. He peeked around the tree and saw that there was a group of people sitting around a camp fire no more than fifty yards from the house, laughing and drinking. Hatred overwhelmed Caleo’s emotions, and all he could think about was making them pay for what they'd done to his home.

  “Hey, I’ll meet you at camp. I’ve got to pee,” a deep voice said close by and Caleo ducked behind the tree as the man unknowingly approached.