by J M Hart
Kath walked across the room and plunked herself down onto the two-seater. She stretched her legs out towards the beds and with her back to Jade snatched the packet of open chips off the table and took a handful.
Sophia watched her munch on the chips, trying to get Shaun’s attention. She was going about it the wrong way. But then what do I know about boys? Sophia thought.
“How’re your hands, Shaun?” Jade asked.
“Why? They’re fine, you know that,” Shaun said.
“Look, we need to cut the crap and get down to why we were all brought here. I don’t know about you guys, but I want to go home,” Jade said.
She’s right, Sophia thought. No more procrastination, it was time. Sophia climbed up on the bed above Shaun.
“Sophia,” Jade said, “there are things you said last night, the message. We have the key, now find the lock. We know the lock is the Emerald Tablet.”
Sophia and Casey’s intuition heightened. Shaun sat himself up on the bed and leant against the boarded window.
“The second thing was, we need to get to a cave somewhere in the Middle East, and the third —”
She was interrupted by Shaun. “What the hell are you on about? For an intel, you are thick. Who told you? How do you know?”
“Know what?” Jade said.
“He wasn’t with us last night, he’ll have no idea what we’re talking about,” Kevin said.
Shaun’s aura expanded and he was covered in reds and oranges. He wanted to know what was going on, but he was angry.
“Sophia believes — we all believe—” Casey said, looking around at everyone in the room, “we have survived and united to right a wrong that has caused the world to go haywire and the virus to magnify.”
Shaun blurted out, “What makes you guys so unique? We are all going to die anyway. The world is getting smaller and smaller if you haven’t noticed. We are all stuck in one house.”
“You should believe more than anyone!” Jade said. “The flesh was falling off your burnt hands, you were shot in the back. What more do you need to see that you are a vital cog in a bigger picture? Like I was saying, we need to place the Emerald Tablet back where it came from, but we don’t know where that is.”
Kevin interjected. “What about the rest of the message? That was just the first line.”
“We’ll have to work it out as we go,” Casey said.
“That’s it in a nutshell,” Tim said. “I know how we can get there!”
Sophia looked at Tim and saw Kevin was becoming restless and nearly jumped off the bed when Jade shouted out, “Of course! Kevin!”
“That was my moment,” Tim said, throwing up his hands and smacking them down into his lap spilling his chips in frustration.
“Whatever,” Jade said, raising her eyebrows. “He can take us anywhere in the world.”
“I can’t,” Kevin said. “I have never been to the Middle East. I wouldn’t know how to begin.”
“Just like the plane crash. We passed through some window in time that Kevin opened. Do you know how we met? He found me lying on the forest floor about to be mauled by a wolf. Where? On the south coast of the United States! We escaped into something similar to a plasma energy field that shimmered and sparkled like a mirage. When we stepped through, it was magnificent. We emerged a few hours later. Where, you ask? Get this — on the other side of the world in Australia. It was so intense. When we arrived at his home, what seemed like a typical day to Kevin and Tim was actually three days later. The cops were looking for them.” Jade had her hands on her hips for emphasis.
“I saw those cops from my roof,” Shaun said, “and I saw Kevin and Tim on their bikes in the bush vanish into thin air. I waited for hours. I even fell asleep and that was two days before the cops started casing the streets.”
“You were watching us?” Tim said.
“Get over yourself,” Shaun said and threw the pillow at him.
“Anyway,” Jade said, feasting her eyes on Sophia, “when we were being chased, he opened a portal that was paper-thin and we practically landed on his grandmother’s porch within seconds and we had been miles away. The adults still seemed to be clueless. It must be their defense mechanism.”
“Kilometers,” Tim corrected.
“And that’s how we got here. When the plane was going down he opened a doorway. He can get us there, even if he thinks he doesn’t know how.”
“The image,” Kevin said, rubbing the back of his head, “needs to be emotionally charged. The picture of Casey and Sophia riding the motorbike was emotionally charged. We have to focus on the message.”
Casey, his cheeks on fire, said, “What about a demo?”
“Yeah, retard, give us a demo. Idiots.”
“Why are you being so mean?” Kath asked.
“Mean? You should have seen what your golden boyfriend did to some dumb fuck on the train,” Shaun said.
“What?” Kath said.
“I saw him across the road from our place smashing up the neighbor’s car. He’s infected,” Tim said. “Sorry, Kath.”
“Can we get back on topic?” Jade said.
“Who died and made you queen?” Shaun said to Jade.
“Why are we so agitated all of a sudden?” Casey asked.
“Enough, guys!” Kevin said. “If I open up a doorway, I don’t know how to calculate the time. Our parents will freak if we disappear on them again.”
“I was thinking about that,” Jade said. “Kath, you stated that they were gone for three days, and the boys thought it was only a day. That would break down to …”
Sophia saw Jade’s mind ticking over. “We need to keep continuity, and not over-complicate things with facts,” Sophia said.
“I’m not doing it,” Kevin said.
“Go on, K. Show them what you can do. What about just from one room to another?” Tim said.
“That’s a good idea, Tim,” Jade said.
“Thanks.”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on, creep, show us how you do it,” Shaun said.
“Don’t call me that.”
“Why? What are you going to do?”
“Nothing, it just makes you look stupid, that’s all. It doesn’t bother me.”
Sophia watched Kevin take in a deep breath, rub his hands on his knees and walk towards the center of the room.
“Okay, off the beds and come stand behind me.” They did as he said. Except for Shaun.
“You missed some,” Sophia said, pointing to Tim’s shirt. Tim looked down and finished picking off the chip crumbs before brushing himself down. He made her smile; he wasn’t bothered about what others thought. Tim was true to himself.
“Wait,” shouted Shaun. “You got a knife?” he asked Casey.
“Sure, a pocket knife. Why?”
“Can I have it?”
Casey opened the desk door and fished out the knife and gave it to Shaun. He flicked it open and sliced into his own leg. Blood started to soak into his jeans. He hobbled in behind Kevin.
“What did you do that for?” Tim asked.
“He wants to see if it heals. Isn’t that right?” Jade said, watching him wipe the blade clean on his other leg and place the knife in his pocket.
“You’re not just a pretty face, are you?”
“Okay, K,” Tim said. “Let’s go.”
“Relax as much as you can,” Jade said softly. Sophia waited beside Casey and Tim. Kevin’s hands rested by his side. His pinkie reached out, finding Jade, and she responded. Their auras began to pulse with light. She watched as a fluid spiral of energy came from Kevin’s forehead, chest and abdomen, joining into one swirl and the molecules in space retracted, opening a shimmering waterfall of light in front of them. He let go of Jade’s finger, stepped forward, merged into the light and disappeared.
“Doesn’t it look like embryonic fluid?” Jade said, moving up and touching it with her hand. Light rippled across its surface as if it was alive and sensitive to her touch
.
“It looks like thin jelly to me,” Tim said, “and it feels just as cool and smooth.” He stepped away from Sophia and Casey. Arms elevated at chest height, like a zombie, he walked straight through.
Casey and Shaun, a little more cautiously, followed. “You’re not coming, Kath?” Sophia asked.
“No, thanks, I’ll wait right here and hold down the fort.”
Sophia stepped through feeling alive and at peace. Every moment that was, is, or will be, seemed to be one moment in time. She felt like the seed. The freshness was cleansing. What an amazing world, she thought, it is so blissful. Someone touched her hand and tugged and she fell onto the cold tiles. Sophia looked up and saw Shaun sitting on the toilet. Tim looked like he was waiting for a bus, and Jade was sucking on the ends of her hair blocking the bathroom door. Casey was down on one knee peering into her face. Kevin was standing over her. “You have to stay focused and keep moving through,” Kevin said to her.
“Why? What will happen?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but we were all in this room within seconds of each other,” he said. “Except you.”
Jade pushed off the door and said, “You, awesomely, have been gone for twenty-two minutes.”
“But it only seemed like a few,” Sophia said, getting up from the cold tiles.
“Exactly!”
They piled out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.
Kath was pacing the floor. “What the hell happened to just popping into the next room and back?” she said, looking at Tim and Kevin.
“We had to wait for Sophia. She was — she got — stuck,” Tim said, bouncing onto the bed. Sophia sat next to him and he quickly jumped off.
Energized, Jade plonked herself down onto the bed next to Sophia, and Casey joined them. Tim and Kevin sat on the floor and swung their legs up onto the side of the bed.
Shaun walked in and Kath ran to check his leg. It was healed.
*
Shaun couldn’t believe what had just happened. His dad was right, but how could Kevin open a doorway without the artefact.
“How is your leg?” Kath asked.
He lifted himself up onto the edge of the bay window. “Not a scratch,” he said, sticking his finger in the hole of the pants. He rested his chin on his knees and wished he could see out the window.
“How do we find the tablet?” Kevin asked.
“It has to be in the Middle East somewhere. It’s the center,” Sophia said.
“Kevin’s got it,” Shaun said.
“What?” Kevin said, sitting up and pushing his hair out of his eye. “Are you mad? Why would you say that?”
Shaun kept quiet, not sure how far to go. It was agony. He wanted to tell them, he wanted to trust them. He looked at Casey and felt vulnerable, then figured what the hell.
“I know what it can do. I’ve seen it and what you just did. You need the breastplate of Thoth. The tablet, you’ve got to know where it is.”
“I swear I don’t have it. I don’t know how I can do what I do. I swear, I never heard of it until the other day.”
“What? How do you know?” Jade said, amazed.
“My dad was an archaeologist and he was part of a dig in the desert in Israel. I was only young, seven years old. It was rumored that they found a cave with lost artefacts and a statue of an Egyptian god. He possessed the key to other worlds, and the cure for all ailments.”
“Who is the intel now?” Jade said, trying to lighten the mood.
“But how do you know all this?” Casey asked.
“I was there. My mother was in hospital and she begged my dad to take me. He left me outside the cave for hours with the head archaeologist’s daughter, Rachel. We were both young and frightened. They found the tablet and my father destroyed everyone who could finger him, including Rachel. He got me to shove the tablet into the bottom of the suitcase; it was green, extremely heavy. We boarded a plane. He drugged me soon after so I am only starting to remember bits and pieces. We delivered it to some Russian oil tycoon in Egypt who promised my dad he would pay him millions, and allow him to use it the once to heal my mother. He received the money and flew back for her. It was a week before she was able to fly. Egyptian Customs denied us entrance. My father told them we were expected. They took him away and brought him back bruised and bloody. They allowed him to clean himself up, then put us on the next flight out. My mother died soon after.”
Everyone was quiet. The boys still lay on the floor, looking everywhere but at Shaun, except Casey who was resting his head in his hands and turned towards Sophia, then Shaun, and smiled.
“Do you know who the Russian was, and where he took it?” Sophia asked.
“No, all I remember is seeing Egyptian passports — I was lying on a red and gold couch and a woman put a pillow under my head — then hearing an argument and the promise. There was a little boy playing on the ground, making sounds of airplanes and gunfire. The next I remember we were landing in Australia and I was throwing up. I vowed never to trust my dad again.”
Kevin sat next to him on the bed and said, “Well, that’s why you’re here. To help right your dad’s wrong and return the artefact.”
“Rachel and I saw those tiny winged demons, the ones now saturating the atmosphere, fight each other to get out of the cave. That was ten years ago. If you guys think they were the virus, the beginning, why didn’t I get sick back then?”
6
The she-devil: England
Kevin, upstairs in Casey’s bedroom, felt a roller coaster of emotions emanating from downstairs — and it wasn’t a barrel of laughs. His mom was becoming aware of him, so he pulled back. But something wasn’t right and he felt long dirty nails drag down his face to his stomach. His internal alarm screamed.
Next to him lying on the floor, legs perched over the edge of the bed, were Tim and Casey. When did the room go quiet? When did they stop talking? he wondered. It was like the day before his nanna and pop died. Bile suddenly rose in his throat, the color draining from his cheeks. His eyes focused on Shaun nestled in the window frame, squeezing his leather pouch. Something was wrong.
“Something’s wrong downstairs. I don’t feel good,” Kevin said and swung his legs off the bed and sat up.
“What’s wrong?” Jade asked.
Kevin stood up listening, the silence distressing. Casey also stood, straining to see beyond the shadows. Kevin went for the door, Tim and Casey on his heels. They stormed down the hallway towards the front of the house and slid down the banister.
Kevin jumped clear and heaved opened the massive double doors to the lounge room. The light of the log fire danced hypnotically, casting a field of shadows across the adult faces, and the chill crept into the room.
Molly and Alex were asleep on the lounge. Simultaneously, they started making noises in their sleep. Alex was the first to let out a little giggle and then Molly.
Callie looked at Kevin. “Why the dramatic entrance?” She tried to see his eyes. “What’s wrong?”
*
Casey ran into the room, stopping beside Kevin, and froze. He could see the fiery red vapors of a she-devil. Her long, poisonous yellow nails were trailing down Alex’s sleeping face. Three menacing phantom spirits, her entourage, toyed with Molly, and looked back at the she-devil like dogs on a leash seeking approval.
“Casey, Kevin, you’re scaring us,” Amy said.
“Wake them up,” Casey said.
“What do you see?” Kevin asked, his voice full of anguish. “I can feel it, but I can’t see it.”
Casey didn’t have time to explain. He shot out a bolt of energy at the phantoms around Molly.
Tim’s mom, whispering, said, “Shh, there’s no harm. They could be having a beautiful dream of sliding down rainbows, just like those care bears you guys used to love.”
“Wake them up!” Casey said. “You have to wake them up now!”
Callie stood up and went to Alex. “Kevin, what’s going on?”
“I’m not sur
e, but you have to listen to him. There’s something terrible happening.”
Amy was sitting close to Molly, when her little face suddenly turned red and she was holding her breath. Amy quickly picked Molly up, turned her over and hit her on the back. Amy stopped and placed her hand on Molly’s little back and smiled. “I can feel her little heartbeat.” Molly gasped for air, coughed and screamed, as if in extreme pain. Her milk and dinner gushed from her mouth all over Amy. Her rosy cheeks were changing back to normal as she continued to wail.
Daniel took Molly and kissed her face. She was burning up. “Thank you,” he said to Amy. He held his baby girl to his chest, blowing air on her head, and her crying turned into hiccoughs and sobs.
Casey could see the spirits concentrating on Alex as Father McDonald crouched on the floor praying loudly and flicking the pages of his Bible. “First they play with them, making them laugh, next they take their souls,” Father McDonald said.
“Who are they?” Daniel asked. “I am so over this shit.” He patted Molly and gently bounced her, trying to soothe her.
Watching his mom trying to waken Alex was agonizing. Kevin clapped and yelled, “Alex, buddy, wake up!”
Molly’s crying and Alex’s giggling mixed together was haunting. What can I do? What can I do? Casey searched his mind for answers when Shaun walked into the room and stood beside him.
“What’s happening?”
Casey didn’t answer. He was fixed on the evil spirits, pushing them with his energy, away from Molly and Daniel. They backed off and moved slightly, guarding the she-devil.
“Come on, little man,” Kevin said to his brother, “or it’s body-slam time for you.”
Shaun walked straight to Alex and held onto his foot as if trying to keep him in this world and said, “Why won’t he wake up? Alex, one more game. Wake up, Alex, we can play one more game! Come on, Alex, you’re my pal.”
Alex was laughing like he was being tickled to death, before he went quiet, his body went limp, and he collapsed in Callie’s arms.
Everything was happening too fast. Casey expanded his energy force, driving the she-devil’s entourage aside and began covering Alex with a shield of energy. He pushed and pushed, focusing streams of energy into the spirit world; his head pounded, his nose started to bleed. He wasn’t powerful enough. His energy was like a punch underwater and merely stunned the she-devil. It turned its evil eyes to him and hissed, its mouth dropping open to its chest. It expelled a high-pitched shriek that vibrated through everything and everyone. The room shook like an earthquake. Its tentacles of energy, a hundred times more powerful, swatted Casey across the room. He slammed hard against the wall. His chest felt crushed, he couldn’t breathe.