by Nathan Jay
Jojo changed also. His head began to vibrate wildly back and forth. His neck grew, shooting his head into the trees just above his body. The clothes he wore burned and melted away to reveal rainbow-colored scales all over his torso. Suddenly, there was a loud thud. His head fell to the ground, and his arms and legs fell off his body.
“He’s a snake!” yelled Julia. The serpent slithered along the grass and grabbed Wilson by his shoe.
“Hey! Let go of my brother!” yelled Michael. He pulled the triangle from his pocket and aimed it at the center of the snake. A laser shot out of the piece of crystal and split the boy in half.
“Aaaaaah!” the creature screamed as yellow fluid sprayed into the air.
“My brother!” Paul screamed. The demon struggled and removed one of his arms from his body and tossed it at Michael. As soon as the arm touched the ground, it transformed into dozens of large venomous scorpions, all of them running towards Michael. He dove out of the way as several creatures attempted to sting him with their gigantic tails. Wilson saw his opening. He focused on the soil behind Paul just as Grandma Noya taught him. Suddenly two enormous fists made of dirt grabbed Paul and started pulling him into the ground. Paul looked surprised.
“Who are you?”
But Wilson didn’t listen. He was too intent on making sure his family could escape. As if he were in quicksand, Paul’s body sank into the dirt. As soon as the other monsters saw Wilson’s powers, they all sprinted into the forest.
“Now’s our chance. Let’s get out of here,” said Dustin while grabbing his wife’s hand. Wilson lifted Michael from the ground, and they all sprinted through the forest.
“You know, I’m still not used to my sons having such power,” yelled Julia as they continued to run.
“Me either, but I’m happy they have it,” replied Dustin.
As the family got close to the area their car was in, Wilson could see police lights all over the road.
“The cops!” said Dustin. He turned to Wilson. “What now?”
Wilson stopped running and watched as the lights moved back and forth on the road. Finally, an idea struck him.
“Grandma Noya told me I have a power that I haven’t tried yet.”
“Well? What is it?”
“Teleportation.”
Michael looked at his brother.
“You mean like flying hundreds of miles in the blink of an eye? Like the movies?”
“I think so.”
Dustin became afraid.
“I don’t know about that one, Wilson. What if you make a mistake? One of us could die.”
“Then what do you suggest, Dad? The monsters behind us or the cops in front of us?”
Dustin looked at the cops on the road ahead. He couldn’t make up his mind.
“I’m with Wilson on this one,” whispered Julia. She smiled and pulled her son close. “I just want to get out of this place.”
“I’m with you too, bro. Dad, stop being scared. Wilson hasn’t failed us yet,” whispered Michael.
Wilson tapped his eyelid, held his fingers in place, and closed his eyes. Inside his mind, he visioned standing in the forest behind Grandma Noya’s pigpen. Wilson imagined his mother, father, and brother standing in the field by his side. He held his breath and flexed his abdomen while taking all the emotion he felt and pushing it towards his feet.
“Bro! What’s happening?” asked Michael. All their bodies began to glow red. Wilson could feel a nauseous feeling in the center of his stomach. He pushed the urge to vomit out of his mind and continued to focus. Dustin wasn’t so lucky. Vomit shot from his mouth and sprayed all over the ground. Julia started gagging too.
“I’m going to be sick. Is the onion taste in my mouth a part of it?” Julia asked.
Dustin looked at the police activity on the road.
“Hey!” one of the men yelled. The man removed his machine gun from his shoulder and fired at the family. As the bullets flew by them, Wilson maintained his concentration.
Suddenly a large group of men started sprinting in their direction.
“Wilson, whatever you’re going to do, do it now,” yelled Dustin.
There was a loud pop and then a crashing sound, like the sound of a firecracker exploding inside a glass jar. A burst of cold wind blew over Wilson’s body, and he bit his tongue. After a few moments, everything was quiet. Cautiously, he opened his eyes. He was standing at the edge of the forest behind Grandma Noya’s pigpen. He turned to see his family standing beside him.
“Is it over yet?” asked Julia with her eyes squeezed shut. Michael slowly opened his eyes.
“You did it, bro! Holy shit, you can teleport!”
Julia snapped at him.
“Michael! What did I tell you about that cursing? Cut it out. You’re too young for that.”
The boy ignored his mom and walked to Wilson. Dustin turned to look in the direction of Grandma Noya’s house.
“Oh my God,” he exclaimed. Everyone turned around to look at Grandma Noya’s house – it was gone. In its place was total carnage; a smoldering brick basement, weeds that looked like a giant had smashed them to the ground, and numerous splintered trees scattered around the center of destruction.
Dustin began crying. Julia, remembering the words she said about Grandma Noya, started crying too.
“I didn’t know, baby. I’m sorry,” she cried.
Dustin exploded.
“What do you mean, you didn’t know? I fucking told you!”
As Julia and Dustin fought, Wilson noticed a silvery mist creeping across the ground from where the house was. Michael saw it too and took his triangle from his pocket.
“Mom and Dad, I don’t mean to interrupt, but you do realize what’s over there, right?”
Dustin saw the mist moving across the ground towards them and wiped the tears from his eyes.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Wilson and Michael ran into the forest with their parents close behind. Although Michael remembered the fear he’d had of the woods when he and Wilson were there, he buried his fear deep inside and sprinted through the darkness. Wilson tapped his eyelid and looked deep into the forest. There was a glowing light a few hundred feet in front of them.
“Wait!” he whispered to his family. “Hide!”
Julia grabbed Dustin and pulled him behind a tree while Michael and Wilson dove behind a bush. Soon a voice crept out from the darkness.
“How are my grandsons?”
Wilson and Michael frowned at one another.
“Who is that?” Michael asked.
“Did you boys forget about your Grandma Noya?”
“It’s my grandma!” Michael whispered to his brother. “But I thought she was dead.”
“She is! It’s not her,” responded Wilson.
“Remember the night we spent in Nana Ama’s house? Didn’t we have a good time?”
Michael tugged on Wilson’s arm.
“Should I shoot her? Just give me the word, big bro.”
“No. Don’t do it.”
Wilson was terrified at what he would feel if he saw his Grandmother. It was a weakness inside himself that he was aware of, and it scared him.
“Julia, is that my son with you?” the creepy voice asked. “Dustin, my son. Come out to see me one last time. Let me feel the heartbeat of my son before I depart this earth.”
Wilson looked over at his father. Tears were pouring down his face. Still, he maintained his silence and remained hidden. Michael and Wilson didn’t know what to do.
“Why don’t you just teleport us out of here? You did it before.”
“I don’t think I can. I’m exhausted. I don’t have the concentration to pull it off.”
Soon the white light that was drifting towards streaked across the forest floor and stopped in front of Wilson’s hiding place. Michael peeked out from his hiding spot, and a small cry escaped his throat. He started crying and clutching the triangle.
“It’s Grandma Noya,” he whispered.
“Yes, it’s me!” a voice suddenly whispered into Michael’s ear. Terrified, Michael screamed out.
“Ahhhh!”
Michael fell on his back and tried to crawl away from the demonic woman. Grandma Noya’s eyes were blue flames of fire, and her face had a massive hole in her cheek. Large puss-filled blisters covered her skin, and she smelled of decomposition. Michael gagged and threw up.
Wilson tapped his eye and looked at Grandma Noya. Instead of his grandmother, he saw two beings – the face of an old man and a little girl, sewn together on a woman’s body. They were ghosts utilizing Grandma Noya’s body to frighten them.
“Come with us! He awaits!” the little girl said.
“He knows of your power. Come with us and help us destroy this world!”
Wilson tried to use his powers to grab the ghosts, but his hand burst into flame. He fell to the ground and threw dirt on it to try to put it out. He quickly tapped his eye and deactivated his powers to see how badly his hand was. It was red and beginning to blister.
“You will come with us! Hell awaits!” cackled Grandma Noya. Dustin ran towards his mother, and she held up one of her arms and tore off her son’s right hand. Dustin fell to the ground and began twisting in agony.
“Mom! Why are you doing this?” he yelled. Julia removed her shirt and jumped on her husband. Quickly, she wrapped his wrist in the cloth, took off her belt, and used it as a tourniquet to stop his bleeding. Suddenly, a burst of cold air filled the forest.
“Mike! Get the weapon!” yelled Wilson to his little brother. Michael removed the triangle from his pants and dropped it.
“Fuck!” he yelled as it tried to pick it up again.
“We want to see your soul burn!” a collective group of voices cried out. Wilson watched in horror as the forest filled with hundreds of replicas of his Grandmother, all of them with glowing eyes and pale ghostly skin.
“Wilson! Do something!” yelled Julia. But Wilson was paralyzed. He didn’t know what to do if his standard weapons couldn’t hurt the ghosts.
“Oh, shit!” yelled Michael as he looked behind them. Dozens of hairless dogs with glowing eyes and snarling teeth were galloping towards their position. Michael aimed the triangle at his grandmother and fired. The woman’s body turned gray and fell to the ground with a thud. Two of the ghosts nearest to the two boys screamed and ran to the boys. Michael shot them both, and they fell.
“Come on, Wilson! You’ve got to help me, man!”
Although the burn on Wilson’s hand felt like fire, he raised it. As soon as he aimed it at one of the ghosts, his hand again burst into flame.
“Shit!” he yelled as he threw dirt on it. As soon as the fire was gone, he lifted his hand to look at it. Wilson’s hand was blackened and burned. Suddenly, a thought came into his mind. He pushed both hands into the black dirt and focused.
“What are you doing?” asked Michael.
“If I can’t touch them, I’ll make something else do it.”
Suddenly, hundreds of hands burst from the dirt and grabbed the women by their ankles.
“No!” they all screamed in unison. Wilson smiled and focused his energy. One by one, each of the women disappeared underneath the dirt. Michael turned and fired his triangle just as the dogs reached them.
“Bro! Watch out!” he yelled. Wilson ducked, just as a large dog with two heads was about to bite into his back. Wilson activated his powers again and reached out to grab one of the dogs. He was surprised when he caught a three-headed dog and smashed all three heads together, turning the dog into mush. Hundreds of dogs attacked their position, and Wilson began ripping dozens of dogs in half, spraying their blood all over the forest. As he killed dogs by the dozens, he looked back in the direction of Grandma Noya’s house. He could see thousands of hellish beasts rushing at them from deep in the forest.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” he yelled. Michael ran to his mother and father and pulled them to their feet.
“Get behind me. Let’s go!”
Wilson stood and took off, running behind his family. Dozens of the Grandma Noya replicas attacked them from the treetops. Whenever one flew down to grab Wilson, he dropped to his knees, slammed his hands into the dirt, and pulled the demon underneath the ground. Michael shot dozens of dogs and Grandma replicas as he pushed through the forest.
Finally, the group reached the clearing leading to their Great Grandfather’s house.
“There it is!” yelled Michael. “But…what the fuck is that?!”
Wilson looked ahead and saw ghosts standing at the entrance to the property. They were all the ghosts of the slaves he’d seen when he first visited the house. The spirits stared at the approaching family in silence.
“Don’t worry about them. The ghosts are part of our family,” said Wilson.
“What?”
“Yeah. I saw these guys when we visited with Grandma Noya.”
A large dog leaped at Julia. Just as it was about to bite, Julia hit the creature in the mouth with her fist. The dog fell to the ground. Dustin looked at his wife, dumbfounded.
“Where did you learn how to do that?”
“Watching Michael play video games.”
Suddenly, Julia saw the ghosts of the slaves waiting for them.
“Dustin! What is that?” yelled Julia when she saw the ghosts.
“Don’t worry about them. The ghosts are with us!” yelled Wilson. Dustin grabbed his wife’s arm and ran ahead.
“If Wilson says we’re okay, we’ll be fine.”
Suddenly the ground began trembling. Wilson fell to the ground and turned around to look behind them. The remaining dogs howled and scattered in all directions. Wilson could see the shadow of a man with a brimmed hat standing far off in the distance.
“Run!” he yelled. The family sprinted towards their Great Grandfather’s house with all their might. Calmly, the shadowy figure strolled behind them. Just as they ran onto the grassy lawn, thousands of the dogs slammed into an invisible wall and disintegrated. The man wearing the hat stopped at the entrance and flashed an evil smile.
Wilson and his family continued running. Michael closed his eyes as his body passed through the hundreds of bodies standing in front of the house. The family made it to the porch and turned around to look at the man watching them.
“Who is that guy?” asked Julia. Wilson knew who he was.
“My guess is that’s Mr. Green. He’s the man that used to own this place.”
Mr. Green extended his hand and pierced the invisible forcefield protecting the land. He smiled as all five of his fingers fell from his hand. His fingers landed on the ground and melted away while the man smiled again, this time holding up his other hand. Suddenly, a red blur of energy appeared beside him.
“What is he doing?” asked Dustin.
Wilson jumped when he saw what appeared beside the man. It was Michael!
Quickly, Wilson looked to his right. Michael was still there. Wilson grabbed his brother and pulled him close.
“Wait! Is that me?” Michael asked. “Fucking cool!”
“Whoa!” yelled Wilson. “Did you see that?”
Both Dustin and Julia moved close to Michael and grabbed him. After they were confident their son was there, Dustin turned his attention back to the man standing on the edge of the forest.
Mr. Green placed his palm over the replica’s chest while Michael fell to the ground and screamed, convulsing as blood sprayed from his mouth.
“Michael!” Dustin yelled. “What’s wrong, son? What is it?”
Julia yelled at the man standing on the edge of the property.
“Stop, you sick son of a bitch! You’re killing him!”
Michael’s whole body jerked suddenly.
“Wilson! Kill that fucker!” Michael screamed.
Suddenly blood started soaking through the front of Michael’s shirt.
“Where is that blood coming from?” asked Julia as she lifted his shirt.
“Oh, God!”
Dustin screamed. Large bubbles began appearing on Michael’s chest. As the bubbles grew larger, Wilson could make out shapes in his brother’s skin – there were snakes inside of him, trying to get out.”
“What…what are those?” screamed Julia.
Wilson began crying in anger as he watched the creatures eat his little brother from the inside. He turned and looked at Mr. Green standing on the edge of the property, holding a replica of his brother with an evil smile on his face.
Wilson felt a wave of anger in him that he’d never felt before. Suddenly both his eyes began glowing red.
“Oh my God, Wilson!” screamed Dustin.
Blood began pouring from Wilson’s eyes. A ball of energy formed in his hands, shaking his arms violently. He lifted his arms and pointed them towards Mr. Green. The power exploded from his hand, carving a deep gash in the soil until it reached the man. Mr. Green smiled, and right before the energy hit him, he disappeared.
Chapter 31: The Message
Dustin and Wilson lifted Michael and carried him into the old house.
“Michael, can you hear me?” asked Julia. The boy was still conscious but in less pain. The monsters that were in his chest had disappeared when Mr. Green left.
“I’m okay, mom. What happened?”
“That son of a bitch at the forest did something to you.”
Wilson moved close to his brother and took his hand.
“You don’t remember any of it?”
“I remember looking around at you guys, and then I was dreaming.”
“What did you see?”
“Nothing. It was like I was smothering.”
“Don’t worry about it now, little bro. We’re in Great Grandfather Wilson’s house. Mr. Green can’t come on this land.”
“Oh yeah. Grandma Noya said the land is blessed, right?”
“Right. Hey, I’m just going to walk on the porch with Dad to look around. I’ll be right back, okay?”
“No problem.”
Wilson tapped his Dad on the arm, and they both walked outside on the porch.