"Sophia, you have to calm down now, Lucas needs you," Olivia said, as calm as possible. She pointed to the new blood running out from the base of my skull.
"What"s wrong?" I asked, worried. Taylor looked horrified again, filling me with fear. I tried to sit up, but found I couldn"t move anything from my chest down to my toes. The light in the room started to fade again.
"Oh, no...he"s bleeding out. He doesn"t have much time!" Roland said, holding his head in disbelief. Morgan looked past me and the terrible scene. At first I thought it was because of the blood pouring from me. She always had a hard time with blood, but as she pointed a shaking finger to the other side of the room, I knew things were about to get even worse.
Taylor stood up, mortified, "It"s not possible!"
Across the room the stain of ash started spinning in a slow circle, speeding up as it grew in size. The miniature funnel cloud filled with red and glowing flecks of energy. The floor rumbled softly, warning us all that the battle was not done yet.
"No!" Taylor cursed! The resurrecting twister of energy formed into a small pile of boiling blackness and then a large mound. Liquid fire erupted from the top like a baby volcano. Slender fingers crawled from the flames, followed by a decayed hand full of spikes. The hand grew into a full arm and then split into two arms that slid upward before bending with a pair of loud snaps. The grotesque arms smashed themselves into the floor with a thick crash.
"I...want...those...rings!" an evil and broken voice gurgled from the blistering mound in the floor. Steaming black tar overflowed from the gaping hole, sliding down to the ground and reaching for anything in its path. General Love"s smoky head slid from the oozing liquid. Two green eyes with red pupils opened up and scanned the room. It only took him a second to find my paralyzed body and shocked friends. His haunting eyes curved at their sides in an obvious smile.
"There you are, Mr. Ryan!" he echoed through the room. Giant shoulders pulled from the blackness, still on fire. Long reptilian legs followed, perching his shadow over us all. Four bloodstained wings cut from his back, slapping each other with bone-crunching force. They covered themselves in green energy with the sickening smell of sulfur and death. Acid-like foam dripped from his eyes, melting into the ground all around him. He shook his head violently like an overgrown dog just after a bath. Corrosive chunks splattered everywhere.
Taylor searched the large war ravaged gym for anything he could use to stop the General. His eyes locked onto the wall just behind us. An emergency ax, framed in a red box managed to survive the destruction of the earlier battle. He ran to it, jerking it from its holster and ran toward the General.
"Leave us alone!" he hollered, with complete hate. General Love"s hovering head spit fiery ash in a blunt laugh of antic.i.p.ation.
"Bring it, boy!" General Love taunted, with one long finger.
Olivia forced her eyes away from the General and grabbed her sister by the face.
"Soph, use the rings to heal Lucas! I know the rings can do it. I know you can do it..." she caressed Sophia"s cheeks, trying to comfort her. "Hurry, we have no time left."
Sophia wiped her streaming tears away from her face, quickly trying to settle herself and focus. The band around her neck and wrists had already started to gleam with yellow light. The rings followed and filled with an even brighter light. Felicity watched closely, hiding her stolen prize in her hands. She cupped them tightly so no light could escape.
"Hang on, Lucas. I"ll make you better, I promise," Sophia said, with a dry stutter. I tried to smile, but failed. She placed her luminous hands on my chest, filling my shirt with warm light. Her tiny fingers trembled along the fabric of my shirt. Thin, almost invisible strings of electricity peppered my pours and the feeling returned to my toes and then legs. The blood stopped pooling from under my head and my sight cleared in an instant. I could see the determined scowl on Sophia"s face. She looked so much like her older sister, Olivia. The thought filled me with excited hope and I let my eyes pull to Olivia, who was kneeling next to her sister.
Olivia mouthed the word, "h.e.l.lo."
I smiled up to her, "Hi."
Sophia crinkled her nose and pressed her hands harder into my body, "Not now, you two...jeez!"
From the corner of my eye, I caught Taylor standing tall, ax in hand, c.o.c.ked and ready to strike. He twirled the tool once in his hands and threatened the General.
"You can"t have Lucas! I"ll die before I let you have him!"
General Love roared loud enough to hurt my ears.
"You will die! And so will Mr. Ryan...and the sisters...and the twins...and this worthless rock you call Earth! I won"t stop until you are all dead! All gone!" General Love declared. The ear crushing volume of his promise stunned us all.
"Ugh..." Sophia cried, and placed her head on my chest, trying to hide from the pain of the General"s words. Olivia placed her hands over her ears, turning from the painful sound waves. As she turned she noticed Felicity also covering the sides of her head, but with a flashing ring of light around one of her fingers. As the cerebral attack faded, Olivia pounced on Felicity.
"Where"d you get that ring?" Olivia"s anger was absolute. Felicity flailed backwards, clutching the ring tighter.
"Lucas dropped it and I picked it up! It"s mine now!" she said, defiantly. Olivia pushed closer.
"Give it to me! Lucas needs it back! Hand it over, Evilicity!" Olivia waited with her hand open.
Felicity frowned and shook her head, no, "No, he had his chance and he blew it!"
"Are you crazy? Please!" Olivia begged.
"I"ll end this! I"ll end this for good!" Felicity stomped her feet, shaking her messy curls.
"What do you mean?"
"It starts with one...just one wish..." Felicity exhaled.
General Love screamed again and Taylor pulled his ax back, ready for his first swing. Without missing a beat, Felicity jumped into action, flying over my body. I could actually read the brand of her sneakers as she soared over me, running for the General. She hit the floor with her fist pointed in front of her like a jousting compet.i.tion and her eyes tightly pulled shut.
"Get back, Felicity! Now!" Taylor warned, as she ran up behind him. She ignored his warning and walked forward.
"No! I"m tired of all this nonsense! I want to go home! I want this to be over with!" she cried in a fit. Taylor reached for her shoulder, but she smacked it away in a desperate fit.
"I wish this never happened! I wish everything was back to normal!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "General, I wish you had never been born!"
The General fell backwards in shock and pain from her words. I tried to sit up, but found myself locked in place under Sophia"s thin frame. The rings and bands along her flickered furiously with blinding white light. Felicity"s ring mimicked every flash. The room started to shake and rumble as our surroundings began to fix themselves. All the dirt and debris flew out the top of the open building. The structure of the gymnasium rose up, filling in with new support beams and fresh walls. Gla.s.s flew back in place and sealed itself as if they were just installed. Fresh paint and decorations washed over the walls, hiding any sign of our time bending battle.
"Oh my...what did you do, Felicity?" I called out. She stared at the gymnasium as it started to resemble the way it looked before. White electric pulses washed over the whole floor of the gym, stopping at General Love"s position for a moment, before covering him in energy.
"This can"t be!" General Love growled. His ma.s.sive claws scratched at the white light as it spun around his body, outlining each and every nook of his torso. He spun in place as if he were being attacked by invisible bees.
"It can"t end now! Not like this!" he bellowed. His legs had already started to buckle in on themselves and his fiery wings turned to smoke and mist. He groaned in agony as each arm faded into nothing. Next, his torso imploded into silvery white dust, followed by his shoulders and neck.
Finally, his devilish head shrank down to a tiny spec of dark shadow and with a crisp pop, it disappeared, leaving nothing but the sparklingly air where he used to be. Taylor looked at me in amazement. His face had a goofy smile pasted across it as he turned to me, but it too suddenly faded. His eyes filled with shock as he watched the white light crawl over me and Sophia.
"Lucas?" he said, in an exhausted whisper. I wanted to answer him but couldn"t as the light made the words cold and heavy. Sophia"s grasp welded to me like steel as the power overcame her too. p.r.i.c.kly strands of energy traced the lines of our bodies in an instant, and in a bright flash we became ghostlike shadows. Another moment pa.s.sed and we became nothing. Olivia reached out for us in utter despair. She tried to scream but couldn"t.
Stumbling up to Olivia and Taylor, Felicity choked on her words, "Lucas..." The same threads of white energy slid from the single ring around her index finger, crawling along her arm and then chest and neck. In a quick flicker she disappeared too. Taylor gasped, dropping the ax to the floor in a thud.
"No!" Olivia finally crumbled, and fell to her knees in tears.
LEVEL 27: Everlong.
AFTERMATH:.
Moments after stumbling from the rebuilt gymnasium, Taylor, Morgan, Roland and Olivia had wandered into the nearby Cafeteria building. Taylor tapped on the face of his cracked watch, noticing that no time had pa.s.sed. It was five minutes before the first bell to signal the start of the school day. They had spent all day fighting the worst evils of the universe, but now, it was as if nothing had happened.
The cafeteria began to fill with students, readying themselves for morning breakfast that was served every day. Some students laughed, some still groggy from the morning commute. Teachers shuffled through the doors, sipping on their steaming cups of coffee, pretending they weren"t just as tired as all their students. The smell of the school breakfast cut through the air like a blade. The janitor strolled by, pushing his mop and bucket on wheels. He happily whistled as he walked. The whole sight was surreal and surprising.
"This has to be a dream," Roland mumbled, in shock. He looked over at his silent sister. Morgan fought her tears with all her stubborn resolve.
"Look at all of them," Taylor said, pointing to the crowds of kids. "They have no memory of the General or his men. No idea of the sacrifice Lucas and Sophia just made for us...for them."
Olivia digested his words. "Sacrifice," she whimpered. From the opposite side of the schoolyard she spotted Dax. He was alive, but just as beat up as the rest of them. He waved for Olivia to join him, but she didn"t. She couldn"t, not now. She turned from his stare and he walked away tired and upset.
They all watched as more students moved past them, ignoring their weary faces and heavy hearts. In the distance a familiar teacher appeared from the bustling crowd of faces. He walked right up to Olivia, his eyes accusing from behind thick gla.s.ses.
"Ms. Weaver, I missed you in morning detention," Mr. Parker said, annoyed. He held Olivia"s gaze, waiting intently.
"I"m sorry, Mr. Parker." Her mind raced to the last time she had seen him. Running from the Art room, clawing at his infested face while screaming b.l.o.o.d.y murder. The image made her stomach turn over.
"I"m sure you had something more important to deal with instead of wasting away with me," he said, wryly.
"I guess."
"I presume I"ll see you in after school detention then."
"Yes," she sulked. It was the furthest thing from her mind, at the moment. The horrible thought of having to tell her mother about Sophia never coming home again was stealing her sanity. After a long awkward pause, Mr. Parker smiled.
"Well, don"t let me keep you and your friends. Schools about to start, I don"t want any of you to be late," he snorted, lightly. "The crowded hallways can be quite chaotic in the mornings, you know, busy, busy, busy."
"I know," she said.
He leaned into Olivia, stopping only an inch from her cheek, so only she could hear, "Like a beehive."
Olivia pulled from him, slowly. Mr. Parker took a quick sip of his coffee and walked past her. She watched him walk into a herd of students milling around at the edge of the courtyard, and just before he disappeared into the entrance of the school, he winked at her. She froze in place.
The others hadn"t noticed Olivia and Mr. Parker"s conversation. They were still tying to come up with a plan.
"How are we supposed to just go about our day, acting like everything"s okay? I mean, someone"s bound to ask about Lucas" absence. What do we do? What do we say?" Roland panicked, but tried to keep his calm.
"We say nothing!" Olivia snapped back to life. "n.o.body would believe us if we tried to explain what happened here today."
"There has to be a way to find them," Taylor spoke up.
Roland wilted, "I hope so."
"Taylor, what do we do?" Morgan asked, trying to find a thread of positivity.
"I don"t know," Taylor sighed.
"I still don"t understand what happened to them. Where"d they all go?" Morgan asked, shaking in place. Taylor walked up to her and placed a comforting arm around her.
"Gone," he said. "But I"ll do whatever I can to get them back. All of them."
"But, how?" she began to cry harder. He held her tighter.
Olivia wiped away a fresh tear and exhaled a soothing breath, "Felicity wished them back home...she wished them back to where they came from."
"So, they went home? Lucas and Sophia are at their houses?" Morgan stuttered, with a sliver of hope.
"No, not them. Felicity used the power of the magic Jynshee rings that she and Sophia were wearing. She wished all the creatures back home, including the Jynshee. Back to where they came from," Olivia paused.
"And?" Roland asked, not really wanting to hear the rest of her theory.
"But Felicity didn"t realize that the people holding the alien power, the people wearing the rings would be victims of her wishes too," Olivia said in a weird calmness. Emotions fell away as her thoughts smothered her.
"But why did Lucas disappear too? He wasn"t wearing any of the rings," Taylor asked, trying to comprehend the whole situation. Olivia glanced up at him, unnerved.
"I"m not sure. Sophia was still holding onto him...she wouldn"t let go. Or she couldn"t let go. Maybe he was still connected to the power of the rings." She turned to walk away, "It doesn"t really matter now. She"s gone...they"re gone. Both of them."
The first bell rang throughout the schoolyard. Students hurried to their morning cla.s.ses. Taylor, Morgan, Roland and Olivia all stood in a quiet circle as the students scurried past them. All four of them holding onto each other with their emptiness. None of them wanting to head to first period. None of them ready to face the day and its impending normalcy.
Roland finally spoke up with the most obvious of questions, "Will we ever see them again?"
At that moment, the wind rustled along the trees and twisted itself at Olivia"s feet. It carried with it a surprise. She bent down and picked up the breezes small gift. Her face lit up with a powerful new calmness and she turned and walked away. Everyone watched her stunned.
"Where"s she going?" Roland asked, with a shrug. Morgan ran after Olivia, catching her by the arm.
"Olivia, wait..." she called out. "What"s going on? Why are you so calm all of a sudden?"
Olivia let a peaceful smile fill her lips. "Because no matter where they are, no matter how far, no matter the challenge...Lucas will protect Sophia. He will keep her safe. He will bring her home."
"How can you be so sure?" Morgan fought the words with new tears approaching.
"Lucas will find a way," Olivia whispered.
"How could you possibly know that?" Morgan gave in to her emotions.
Olivia reached out and wiped away one of Morgan"s tears, then slid something into her hand.
"I believe," Olivia said, hopeful.
"I believe in Lucas Ryan."
Olivia hugged her and walked away. Morgan opened her hand and lost her breath. In her trembling palm was a single, green gummy bear.
THE END?.
* EPILOGUE *.
LEVEL UP: Irresistible Force.
Just breathe, don"t freak out. Easier said than done. As the feeling began to return to my body, so did the pain. Whatever Sophia had done to heal me had worked, just not all the way. The circulation of pain started at my fingertips and palms. It reverberated along my arms and chest, down to my thighs. Trying to find my bearings, I pushed against the grainy, gla.s.sy ground. It felt like millions of tiny smooth beads beneath my hands, sliding into the crevices of my fingers. I pushed myself up as my heavy body became free of its temporary atrophy.
The line of bones along my spine popped with short snaps. "That"s better." The hazy fuzz in my eyes began to fade too. My eyelids slid together trying to focus on the failing light all around. It looked like dusk or sunset, without the familiar blazing sun I"ve come to know and love. A howling wind caressed my body, bringing a sticky heat with it. The warmth quickly changed to an icy chill in an instant.