by M. A. Torres
“Yeah?”
“Where are they?”
Eli paused and scanned the crowd from mid-stairway. Then he descended to the first floor. He made his way to the backyard and eyed the people there. He turned back to Kevin and shrugged. “Don’t see ’em anymore.”
Kevin shook his head. “Let me know if you find them.”
“You got it, boss.”
Kevin returned to the kitchen and served himself another drink.
“That dude giving you trouble?” asked Corey Shummer, one of the football players.
“No, he’s okay,” said Kevin.
“Let me know if you need me to throw him out,” offered Corey.
Kevin nodded. “Thanks, bro. It should be okay, though.”
Kevin took his drink and returned to the backyard. He looked around for Eli but didn’t see him. He chuckled at his friend Jacob Myers, who got pushed into the pool with his clothes on by Rick Halston, one of the baseball players. He high-fived his good friend Pete, who was sitting poolside, then briefly danced with Sam Johnson, one of the volleyball players.
He gave Sam a parting hug and was about to walk off when the cabana lights flickered black. Kevin paused and looked around. The people inside the cabana noticed too and stared on with confusion.
“What was that?” Kevin asked.
The surrounding teens shrugged.
Kevin approached the electrical outlet and made sure all the cords were plugged in. He stood, sighed, and looked around. David was still standing alone at the far end of the yard, talking on his phone.
Wonder if he got a hold of Jenny. Wonder if Megan will make it tonight.
He started towards David, and as he crossed the pool, the pool lights flickered black. Kevin paused again. The people swimming looked up with concern.
“Guys, I think you should all get out. There might be a short or something. Let me check why this is happening.”
The teens inside the pool began to climb out. Kevin started towards the circuit breakers when all the lights around the house flickered black. A few startled screams flowed from inside his house, followed by laughter.
“Kevin, what’s going on?” It was David, now standing behind him.
“I don’t know, bro... do you think we’re using too much electricity?”
“It could be...”
Suddenly, a horrid scream was heard from his house. A second later, a crowd of teens came flooding out into the backyard. Some tripped and fell and were stampeded by those rushing behind them. Kevin hurried over and grabbed a girl by the arm.
“Stacy, what’s going on?”
“A guy in a white mask... He came in looking for you! He turned Corey Shummer into a skeleton!”
“What?”
“Kevin run!” screamed Peter Gifford.
Kevin had to see for himself. He rushed inside and arrived in his den together with Eli.
“I told you, Kevin! It’s those two! They bring the devil!” Eli told him.
“What did they do?” asked Kevin.
“I don’t know, but there’s a corpse in your living room!”
“What?”
Kevin’s house was a ruckus of panicked partiers, all trying to exit the house every which way. Suddenly, Kevin glimpsed the masked intruder. He was approaching, holding a large black sword in his right hand.
“Okay, this way!” Kevin hollered.
He and Eli began to usher the crowd out the back doors.
“Hurry, everyone!” screamed Kevin.
Kevin led them out and towards the side gate. “Down that way, everyone! Out the side!”
The crowd rushed towards the gate when they halted, and the girls leading the way screamed. Standing before them was another masked intruder, holding a scythe with the darkest of blades.
“Kevin Berry!” he hollered.
Peter Gifford lowered his shoulder and tried to barge through. The intruder side stepped him and sent him tumbling back with the butt of his scythe. Peter hit the ground hard, knocked out cold from the impact.
“NO!” hollered Kevin.
The crowd screamed and turned back. They followed Kevin to his backyard, where he noticed many of the teens had jumped over the fence onto the edge of the mountainous cliff.
“Everyone, this way!” hollered Kevin.
He ushered his guests towards the fence too, but before he could escape, another masked person rose from behind the fence. This one had a black tear running down its left eye. It raised its arms. Roots and vines rose behind it like tentacles reaching for the sky. The crowd turned back but realized they were trapped.
“Kevin Berry!” screamed the teary-eyed intruder. The voice was female and sounded eerily familiar.
Eli emerged out of nowhere, a baseball bat in hand. He swung hard and fast at her masked face, but the foliage was there at mid-swing. It ripped the bat from his hands and tossed it over the cliff. Then the roots sprung forward and curled around Eli’s neck.
Eli gasped for air, scratching, and pulling at his neck. The vines raised him in the air—his terrified eyes closed, his life draining away. Then they tossed his body into the darkness of the nearby brush.
Kevin turned and ran back towards his house. The masked woman followed on his heels, walking briskly with her arms a wave and the foliage at her back. Many threw themselves out of her way, into the pool, behind the bushes or into the cabana.
Kevin entered his living room and noticed an old and withered body on the floor—a body resembling Corey Shummer. A few of the more intoxicated partiers took pictures of the sight.
“Kevin!” It was another voice. This one was a male’s, and had a hint of familiarity in it too. It belonged to a new masked intruder, who emerged from the parting crowd. It was Shade, with his slanted, angry eyes.
“What have you done? What happened to Corey?” Kevin hollered.
“He was but collateral damage in this war of ours. You will listen, or there will be more.”
“Very well! I am Kevin Berry! What do you want from me?”
Some around them recorded the confrontation while others dialed the police. But the teary-eyed intruder clapped her hands and bolts shot from them and spread like lightning, frying the electronics in the room. Many screamed as their phones shattered or exploded in their hands. The crowd rushed out of the room in terror, while one girl fainted onto a nearby couch.
Shade approached Kevin. “Do not fear. My name is Shade. I need to see into your eyes...”
“No! What did you...”?
Before he could complete his sentence, his body froze, stiff as stone. He tried to break his paralyzed state, but couldn’t muster a flinch. All he could move were his eyes, and nothing more.
Shade closed in, his gloved hand hovering above Kevin’s forehead and his masked face just inches from his. Kevin peered into the angry eye slits and saw nothing but darkness. A moment later, his own eyes began to ache—mildly at first, then more intense, until they burned fiercely. His head swelled with pressure. He tried to scream the pounding away, but he could make no sound. The pressure seemed to escalate by the second, his scalp and temples now throbbing with pain. He shut his eyes. The pressure was unbearable, but before he felt himself fade, it subsided.
“Negative...” Shade said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.
Kevin eased his eyes open. He was surrounded by four masked persons. The one called Shade, the female with the tear, the one with the black scythe, and the fourth wearing a smiling mask. Suddenly able to move but devoid of strength, he fell to his knees.
“Kevin, we apologize for interrupting your party. There is a dangerous individual we seek, whose name is also Kevin. He is a cunning and fearsome warrior, so we had to come using full force,” explained Shade.
Kevin looked back at Corey’s remains. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO COREY!?”
“He’s dancing in paradise if he was good and just. If he was evil and rotten, he’ll be entering the Void for all of eternity.”
“What?” holle
red Kevin.
The Whiteface Knights acknowledged him no further. The teary-eyed intruder clapped her hands once again. The lights turned dark—a darkness that blinded everyone around—darkness present in a world where light is but a foreign, non-existent myth.
When the lights recovered, the masked intruders were nowhere to be seen, and had left nothing but terror in their wake.
Chapter Nineteen:
The Young and the Old
The drool crust on his cheek was proving to be a stubborn one this morning. Kevin wiped his face plenty of times, but the layer of hardened slobber wasn’t going without a fight. He would need a moist towel to rid himself of the unpleasant morning stain, so he rose from bed and rushed towards his bathroom.
He opened his bedroom door and was startled to find his mother standing before him, holding Flameclaw in her hand.
“MOM!”
“What is this?” she asked, stern and angry.
Kevin tried to snatch the sword away, but she pulled it back. “Mom... that’s dangerous; you shouldn’t be holding that!” He reached for it again, but Ms. Martinez hid it behind her back.
“Oh yeah, it’s dangerous! So what are you doing with it? And what’s all that armor you have hiding in those bags, huh?”
Kevin glanced down the hallway and noticed the door to the garage was open. He rushed over and realized his mother was prepping a yard sale. All his father’s tools and exercise equipment were laid out on the front lawn. Included were his and his sister’s old toys. The old furniture he used to hide his medieval gear had been relocated to the driveway and marked for sale.
Kevin thought quickly. An array of excuses flashed through his mind, but only one would make sense. “Mom, Mr. Chew gave it to me!”
“What? Mr. Chew?”
“Yes! He’s teaching me how to sword fight and had some old gear in his gym. He gave me the sword and armor since I was so interested in Samurais.”
“He gave them to you? Don’t lie to me, Kevin! I’ll call him right now and find out!”
“Actually, you can’t!”
“Oh, yes I can! Watch me!” Ms. Martinez pulled out her phone.
“No, he’s closed on Sundays.”
“I can call him tomorrow, then! Don’t be smart with me!”
“Mom, I’m serious. He has a ton of swords. This is his old gear. He was about to get rid of it.”
Ms. Martinez walked to his duffle bags. She dropped Flameclaw on the floor and began rummaging through his armor. Kevin was relieved to see her hand still had skin and meat on it.
“And what’s all this, Kevin? What do you need armor for, huh? Planning on storming a castle?”
Actually...
“All this stuff must be worth quite a bit, and Mr. Chew decided he would just give them to you?”
Kevin sighed. “Mom, do you think I would steal?”
“I don’t know, Kevin... I never thought you were capable of starting a food fight and end up in the principal’s office, but there you were!”
“Oh, so you think I’m a thief now?”
“No!... I don’t know!”
“Mom, c’mon.”
“Swear to me you didn’t steal this, Kevin!”
“I swear! I swear, I swear, I swear.”
They stood silently, staring at Kevin’s medieval cache.
“I’m trusting you, Kevin. I’ll take your word for it.”
“Yes, Mom. I swear to you I’m no thief.”
Ms. Martinez gave a quick nod. “Go put it away then. Keep that sword away from Tara.”
Phew... that was close.
“Yes, Mom.”
Kevin did as he was told. He put Flameclaw in its bag and hid it in his closet. Having the sword in his room now made him feel more secure. Not having to hide his gear from his mother gave him a sudden sense of relief.
Huh... It worked out!
He returned to his driveway and scanned the inventory.
“Mom, why are you selling all of Dad’s stuff?”
“Kevin, your dad is gone. If he needed this, he would have come for it.”
“No, he can still come for it!” pleaded Kevin. “You shouldn’t sell it!”
“Kevin, he’s gone! His junk has been taking up too much space in our garage, and I’m tired of it! If it were something important, he would have come for it years ago!”
If it were something important... If it were something important...
Her words lingered in his mind.
If it were something important, he would have come for it years ago...
The words weighed in his heart. The realization flowered before him... as his dad hadn’t come to see him or his sister in as many years.
We’re not something important...
His eyes welled up with tears. He held his breath and tried to keep them from spilling down his cheeks. He rushed into his house and into the restroom, where he buried his face in a towel. He sighed, then tried to calm his beating heart.
Kevin breathed deep, and he breathed slow, attempting to contain his emotions. He took one final deep breath and retreated his face from the softness of the towel.
If this is how it is... I will take it like a man.
He composed himself and returned to the garage. A small crowd had gathered to examine their stuff. Tara was collecting her old toys from the display table and returning them to the house.
“Tara, bring those back,” said Ms. Martinez.
“Mom, I still want these!” In her arms were a few balding Barbies and some with hair so tangled they resembled blonde afros.
“You have plenty of Barbies inside, Tara. Get rid of those old ones.”
“No! They’re going to be worth tons of money when I’m old!” Tara took them inside.
Ms. Martinez sighed in defeat, then turned her attention to the gathered crowd. Kevin grabbed his bags of gear and carried them to his bedroom. He opened his closet and found a place for them next to Flameclaw.
“So what’s all that stuff?” asked Tara, giving him a mild startle.
“Oh, that stuff? Just a sword and old armor that Mr. Chew gave me.”
“For what?” she inquired.
“Just because...”
“Just because is not an answer, Mom says.”
Kevin sighed. “Okay, Tara. Sometimes people like to collect things. You collect Barbies, Mr. Chew collects swords and armor. He gave me some of his old stuff because I saw it and liked it so much.”
“Oh... Mr. Chew is nice,” she said.
“Yes, he’s very nice.”
“So why were you hiding it then?” she continued.
“Tara, why are you asking me so many questions?”
Tara shrugged and smiled.
“C’mon, let’s go help mom.”
They returned to the garage. Ms. Martinez was conversing with a man who seemed interested in Kevin’s father’s punching bag. He was African American, thin but muscular and sporting a black jogging suit. His face was kind and his demeanor friendly. Kevin noticed his mother smiling wider than she had in years. She waved him over.
“Kevin, come. This is my friend Mark. We work together at the hospital.”
Kevin approached him, grudgingly.
“Hi, Kevin! I’ve heard so much about you. It’s nice to meet you!”
Mark held out his hand. Kevin shook it haphazardly.
“Your mom tells me you’re into Fortnite.”
Kevin nodded.
“Are you really good?”
“I’m decent. But my friends and I together are awesome.”
“Cool! I love that game, but I’m not very good,” he said with a smile.
“Yeah, it’s hard at first, but you’ll get better the more you play. It’s all in your aim and how fast you build.”
“I hope I get better because I’m getting tired of losing! I’ve yet to score a Victory Royale,” he admitted.
“I didn’t know old people played video games too,” hollered Tara.
“Tara!
” objected Ms. Martinez. “Don’t be rude! Mark is my age! You think your mom is old?”
“No, but you don’t play video games like a kid!”
Mark smiled. “You must be Tara!”
Tara nodded.
“You’ll be surprised how many old folks play video games! In fact, I played some of the first video games ever made. I used to have an Atari, have you ever heard of it?”
Tara shook her head.
“I’m Mark, by the way.”
He crouched and extended his hand. Tara stared at it for a moment, then shook it.
Mark stood and smiled at Ms. Martinez. “You have some cool kids, Andrea.”
“Cool, but they can be rude sometimes,” she said.
Mark glanced at the gathering crowd. “Okay, I’d better get going. I don’t want to keep you from your customers. I’ll be taking the punching bag.” He eyed it up and down. “Thirty dollars, right?”
Kevin’s heart broke a bit at the thought of losing his father’s punching bag. He forced himself to turn away and pretend it never existed. After all, his dad hadn’t come for it or them in as many years.
If it were something important, he would have come for it.
Ms. Martinez cringed. “Honestly, I feel bad taking your money. You can have it, it’s just taking up space here, anyway.”
Mark shook his head. “Don’t feel bad, I’m here as your customer. Here’s forty.” He handed Ms. Martinez a pair of twenty-dollar bills.
“Well, okay, let me get your change.”
“Don’t give me any change,” he answered.
“What do you mean? It’s only thirty dollars, Mark!”
“I know, but it’s a good quality free-standing punching bag. These run over one hundred dollars at the store.”
“Yeah, this one’s used, though. It’s okay; here.” Ms. Martinez held out his change.
“Okay, Andrea, I’ll take the change on one condition.”
“Yes?”
“Let me take you out to dinner sometime.”
Kevin and Tara exchanged a surprised, wide-eyed glance. Tara held back a smile.
“Well, okay,” said Ms. Martinez.
Oh, I can’t stand to hear this anymore!
“C’mon Tara,” ordered Kevin.
Kevin led his sister back to their garage. Tara sat on a lawn chair as Kevin rummaged through boxes for more junk to sell. He found some of his old toddler toys, which included a battery-operated train, complete with tracks and scenery. He also found his old air hockey table, which he hadn’t used in years. Kevin moved some boxes and dragged it out. He looked outside and noticed Mark had loaded the punching bag into the cab of his white pickup truck. His mom had a smile on her face that extended from ear to ear.