by Jerome Sitko
Like a tape recording, Joey begins spurting out his pre-determined lines.
“Lance and Jeremy, you have to follow me back. I will die if you don’t save me,” he says in a monotone voice.
Jeremy wakes up. “What the fuck is wrong with him?” he whispers to Lance, loud enough for Reno to hear but not Joey.
“I’m not sure. It’s some kind of trick Charlie has to lead us back to Sheol,” Lance says.
“What are we going to do? Follow him?” Reno asks them both.
“No, not you. He doesn’t want you. He wants Jeremy and me. It’s our blood he needs.”
Lance is trying to figure out his next move. He knows Emma said that they have to get Charlie to cross the threshold into Adamah, but Charlie is too smart. He never crosses over. If he crosses over, his powers are limited and if he dies here he’s dead, and he knows it.
Lance has a plan. It’s a stupid plan, but it’s the only one he believes will work. He has to cross back into Sheol, alone, and drag Charlie through his portal back to Adamah. If he goes alone, he doesn’t have to worry about anyone else. It will be him against Charlie, mano-a-mano. Lance hopes that he’s up to it. He feels drained, tired. He wishes he had about seventy-two hours to just sleep and regain his energy, but he knows that is not an option. Charlie won’t wait.
“I have a plan, but I need all of you to listen to me. Don’t question me. This is the only way,” he says half-heartedly, refusing to look any of them in the eyes, which doesn’t give Reno or Jeremy a vote of confidence.
“What is it? What are you going to do?” Jeremy asks, with Reno nodding in agreement.
“I have to go back to Sheol. Alone. It’s the only way. I need you two to stay here and make sure Joey doesn’t try to follow—”
“Fuck that, if you go, I go,” Jeremy interrupts.
Lance knows he doesn’t have the time to explain it to them, and even if he did, they would never agree to it.
He summons his energy and wishes they would sleep. They all slide to the ground, Joey included, and go into a deep sleep.
Wow, this is crazy, he thinks. Who knew I had this kind of power here, too?
He doesn’t know how long it will last so he has to hurry. He closes his eyes and when he opens them, a blue portal shimmers in front of him. The sun’s rays distort it and it reminds him of a rock thrown into a lazy lake, the ripples reverberate floating in the air. He says a quick prayer and steps through.
S
“Where is Jeremy?” Charlie asks as Lance appears out of thin air in front of him standing on the red and yellow carpet.
“I left him in Adamah. If you want him, you will have to go there and bring him back yourself, you piece of shit,” Lance replies with confidence in his voice, but inside his mind is screaming with terror.
Charlie laughs a wicked, evil laugh and says, “He will follow when you don’t return. He will follow.”
Lance knows that he must act fast. He is keeping his portal open just behind Charlie and every second that passes his energy is draining like a flashlight left on. He will get weaker and slower with every passing moment. He has to decide if he wants to use his power or just rush Charlie and hope they both tumble into the portal. If he uses his power, Charlie will counter and Lance doesn’t think he’s strong enough to overpower him. He decides to rush him and use a good old-fashioned tackle.
During his brief, very brief, stint on the football team, the coaches told them to focus on the runner’s waist, his head and arms can juke you and you will end up grabbing air, but the hips don’t lie. Once you make contact, slide your head to the side and wrap-up with your arms, and drive the runner backward with your legs.
Lance decides it’s now or never, and lets out a war cry and charges Charlie. He wraps his arms around his waist and with his legs churning, he pushes Charlie backward. They both topple into the portal.
Charlie is confused and refuses to believe he was just tricked by a kid, but here he is staring up at the sun bleeding through Lance’s disheveled hair.
He was brought through Lance’s portal, rendering his powers useless.
Fear consumes him and he is afraid, a feeling he’s not used to in his world, Sheol.
He scrambles to his feet. Lance is still on the ground too weak to move. Jeremy, Reno, Ryan, and Joey are staring in disbelief, feet away from him.
Charlie looks around for Amy. She should be here waiting for him. He can’t feel her presence and it scares him. She is his backup plan, the extra muscle he needs to destroy these snot-nosed kids. He calls for her in his head, and then out loud. Nothing. He does not know what happened to her, but he knows he can’t count on her now.
“Joey, kill these motherfuckers!” Charlie commands.
Joey looks at the kids, turns and begins aggressively moving toward Charlie.
Scared, Charlie yells for him to get away. As he backs up, he turns and realizes his portal is just feet behind him at the slaughterhouse door. He is suddenly confident and cocky, knowing he has an escape. Charlie swears he will have his revenge and the kids will pay dearly as he turns to run to his portal.
Lance musters all of the power he has left in his body and Charlie freezes, unable to move any further. Joey lunges at him with his knife in hand and stabs it deep into Charlie’s chest.
Charlie lets out a painful scream as he clutches at his chest, feeling for the first time in a long time, his hot, red blood leave his human body. It feels different than what he experienced in Sheol, in Delphine’s house.
He knows he’s been beaten again by a little boy, but this time it is forever unless he can make it to his portal before his life expires.
He scrambles to his feet and begins running toward the door, stumbling and tripping over his own legs. Lance has no more energy and is powerless to stop him.
Jeremy sees his opportunity to contribute and breaks out in a run past Joey and leaps, lassoing Charlie around the neck and drags him down to the ground once again. This time Joey, Reno, and Ryan, pile on top of him holding him down. Joey is at the bottom and is thrusting his knife in and out of Charlie’s neck and face, blood soaking all of the kids. They lay on top of him until they are sure he is dead-dead, and then they rise. No one says a word. None of them feel good about what they have done, with the exception of Joey, who inside his head is giving himself high-fives.
“Is it over, did we actually do it?” Reno asks, looking at all of the blood splattered on her arms and shirt.
“Yes, he is gone for good. Kind of unceremoniously, but still gone,” Jeremy says.
Lance regains consciousness and sees his friends are a bloody mess and fear instantly consumes him. Then he sees Charlie’s lifeless body and realizes that they have done it. He is still weak and his arms and head are killing him, but he lets out a forced smile and then covers his head so the others don’t see the tears.
Images of Bear arrest his mind and Lance is sorrowful. He lost his best friend and he sobs quietly into his arms. He is happy Ryan is back with them. He is happy Charlie will never hunt them again. But he is so sad that he lost Bear.
The kids take a few minutes to rest and reflect on what they have just done.
They saved the world and no one will ever know or believe them. That’s alright though. At least they have each other, a clandestine group of kids turned superheroes.
They turn their attention to Charlie’s dead body and must decide what to do with it. Their first instinct is to shove the bloody blob back into Sheol where it won’t curse the ground in Adamah.
Reno is the first one to state the obvious. “If we put this piece of shit back in Sheol, will he come back to life?”
The kids don’t know, but they don’t want to find out. They unanimously vote that idea down.
“Let’s burn his body like they do on TV to make sure it can’t come back,” Joey offers, and then he has ano
ther idea. “But first we need to cut its head off, seen that in the movies too.” He beams, proud that he’s thought of everything.
“Dude, we are not going to burn its body or cut its head off,” Jeremy says.
“Why not? I’ll do it,” Joey offers wiping his blade off on Lance’s shirt.
“No, we just need to bury him,” Reno says in a definitive voice, everyone but Joey nodding in agreement.
They walk the slaughterhouse property to find a place to bury Charlie that will assure no one will ever be able to find him. They find a small gully overgrown with bushes north of the main building and decide that is the spot. Jeremy and Joey drag Charlie’s lifeless body to his new grave while Reno and Lance look for shovels to dig the hole. They finish his grave just as the sun begins to set and when they are finished, they do not offer prayers. Instead, the boys each take turns pissing on it.
They find their way back to Carter’s van, exhausted both mentally and physically and climb in. The van roars to life when Joey turns the key and begins their journey back home. During most of the trip, Lance’s thoughts keep returning to Bear and he’s glad the back of the van is dark so his friends don’t see him cry, again. Even if they did, they would not say anything. None of them can blame him. Each of them already mourned for Bear in their own way.
CHAPTER 9
Where’s the Beef?
It’s surreal; five teenagers and a little mutt dog saved the world.
When they get home, none of the parents were any wiser; they thought the kids ran off for a summertime adventure.
Reno was grounded for the rest of the summer vacation for stealing her sister’s car, but it was returned unharmed.
Ryan’s parents were ecstatic that he came home alive, and after hours and hours of debriefs by the police and FBI they concluded that Ryan was kidnapped by a traveling band of vagrant gypsy devil worshippers.
Nothing really happened to Lance, Jeremy, or Joey. They were scolded by their parents and allowed to enjoy the rest of their summer vacations.
All of them remembered what happened in Sheol and at home. They talked about it amongst themselves. They were their own quasi-support group and that would lead well into their adult lives.
Emma never did return, not even to say goodbye, and that hurt Lance, although he never brought it up.
The kids spent the rest of the summer swimming and boarding, keeping mostly to themselves. All of them swore off drinking, drugs, and even cussing, although Joey had a hard time with the last one.
At night Lance would cry himself to sleep thinking about Bear and how brave his little friend was to try and save Reno. By his bedside, he kept a picture of him holding Bear back when Bear was a puppy, and every night asked God to watch over him.
Bear’s sacrifice was not lost on Reno. She also spent many a night thinking about Bear, hoping he was happy and safe in heaven with his favorite chew toy.
Lance and Reno would sneak out at night to be together. They mostly talked, but eventually they kissed, and in their small, private circle they were boyfriend and girlfriend.
S
It was the last night of summer vacation and Lance was having a hard time going to sleep. He was anxious about school the next day and also sad that his summer vacation was over. He lay in his bed tossing and turning and it was well past 11:00 p.m. when he heard a knock at the front door. At first, he assumed it was one of his mom’s boyfriends so he didn’t immediately get up to answer, but then he remembered his mom was out for the night. He was home alone. He dragged himself out of bed, worried about who would knock on the door this late. If it was one of his friends, they would have come to his window, not the door. His mind wandered and he was half expecting to see the police. Maybe his mom was hurt or in trouble, he was wide awake now.
“Who is it?” he asked quietly.
No answer.
Did I imagine I heard a knock? He thought just as it happened again, louder this time. Nope, didn’t imagine it.
“Who is it?” he asked again, leaning into the door to try and hear.
“Lance, It’s me, Emma.”
Can it really be her?
He flings the door wide open and staring at him is Emma’s beautiful face, and then he hears it…a bark. He looks down and Bear is scratching at his leg trying to climb up on him. Lance drops to his knees and immediately begins crying as he buries his face in his dog’s mane.
It is Bear! Bear is alive.
Lance slid on his butt toward the couch still clutching Bear in his arms. Bear is frantically licking his face and ears as happy and overjoyed as Lance, even more.
“How, Emma? How did you bring Bear back?” Lance asked through the licks.
“Lance, my powers are limited, but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve,” she said, sitting on the couch.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! You don’t know what this means to me,” he said to her without looking at her, still focused on his furry friend.
“Oh, believe me, I do know. I’m just glad I could do it.”
Lance eventually crawled up onto the couch.
“You don’t know how much you mean to me, Emma. None of this could have been possible without you.”
“No, none of this could have been possible without you and your friends. Do you realize what you’ve done, Lance?”
“Yeah, we talk about it from time to time, but none of it seems real. It seems like something made up.”
“You’re right in a way. No one other than us will ever believe it. Maybe that’s for the best Lance, our secret.”
“You’re right. We’ve all sworn an oath to each other to never tell anyone else, not even our parents, or our wives when we get married.”
“I think you will be able to talk to your wife about it.” Emma had a feeling about Lance and Reno. She saw they were together for a very long time.
“What do you mean?” Lance didn’t pick up on the clue and Emma didn’t offer to explain.
“Nothing, just thinking out loud,” she dismissed the conversation and directed it back to why she came to visit.
“Well, Lance, I’m here to say goodbye. You’ve come a long way and we’ve been through so much together that I felt it was only proper to say goodbye to you in person. And I wanted to see your face when you opened your door and saw Bear,” she said to him, her hand on his shoulder now.
“What do you mean, goodbye? I thought we were together forever,” he asked, confused.
“We are, we will always be together, just not like this anymore. My job is done and you have a whole life to live. You don’t need me hanging around.”
“Yes, yes, I do need you. You’re my guardian angel. I need you.”
“You don’t. You’re stronger than you’ve ever been and I said we’re still going to be together. You just won’t see or hear me anymore.”
“I love you, Emma,” Lance said, glancing up to look in her eyes. They made eye contact just as she was disappearing. She faded away as she was sitting on his couch, and then she was gone.
At first, Lance was sad, but he knew Emma would not want him to be. Every night when he said his prayers, he included her, his guardian angel, including tonight. He stood up and crawled into bed, Bear at his side, and he slept, a good restful sleep. He would be ready and refreshed for the first day of school.
S
Lance wakes up on the first blast of his clock/radio and jumps out of bed, Bear by his side. He still couldn’t believe Bear was with him. He grins and picks him up, cradling him as he walks to the front door to let him out to go to the bathroom. He was sad that he had to leave the little guy alone while he was in school and wished he was able to stay home, but he knew that was not an option. He walks down to his little bathroom to get ready and then back to his bedroom to dress. He doesn’t eat breakfast. His body was trained not to expect a morning meal, m
ostly because there usually wasn’t food. His mom didn’t buy him any new school clothes so he would be wearing a pair of his old jeans and a T-shirt. He let Bear back in and explained to him that he had to leave for a little bit, but would be home as soon as he can. Then he thought about Reno and how she would want to know about Bear. He glances up at the clock on the wall in the kitchen and decides he has enough time to take Bear to her house.
When Reno opens her door and Bear jumps up at her, her face lights up. She scoops Bear into her arms and begins crying. She walks over to the overstuffed Lazy-Boy recliner and plops down letting Bear shower her with kisses.
Looking up at Lance with disbelief she says, “Lance, how is this possible?”
“Don’t ask me, Emma brought him back.” He slides onto the couch next to her.
Hugging Bear and kissing his head she says, “Thank God, thank Emma. Lance you don’t know how happy this makes me.”
A feeling of relief washed over Reno when Bear jumped on her. She was being so hard on herself and she honestly thought the feeling of grief and guilt would never leave her.
“Well, I just wanted to bring him by to see you. He insisted.”
“Thank you. This means the world to me. Tell Emma thank you for me, please.”
“I’ll bring him by after school and maybe we can go for a walk?”
Reno gave Bear back to Lance and said, “Of course.” Her heart was filled with joy.
He put Bear back in his trailer and closed the door and began his walk to school meeting up with Jeremy, Joey, and Ryan. He didn’t get a chance to tell them about Bear the night before so this would be his first opportunity.
“Guess what guys,” Lance was excited to tell them all about Emma’s visit.
“Let me guess…You’re not a fucking virgin!” Joey yells as loudly as he can and then drops to one knee laughing as hard as he can, silently apologizing to himself in his head for cussing.
“No dork. I mean none of your business, but that’s not what I was going to tell you guys.”