Midnight Child
Midnight Guardian Series, Book 3
By Bryna Butler
Smashwords Edition
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Midnight Guardian Series
Book 1, Of Sun & Moon
Book 2, Whispering Evil
Book 3, Midnight Child
Book 4, Shadows Rising, Coming Fall 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS
5: Magically Sealed for your Protection
12: The Amazing Jumper Johnson
Dedication
To my sister, Beth. You are as strong and unshakable as an oak with the gracefulness of a teacup.
To my brother, Barney. You make friends easier than breathing with your insane sense of humor and undying loyalty.
Keira’s world is inspired by your talents: strength, grace, loyalty and humor. Thank you for sharing them with your big sis.
Prologue
A child born of sun and moon will impart a human gift to bring forth the fall of the house of Gammen.
- Hayes Prophecies
So you read the prophecy. It’s all mystical, but pretty vague. Am I right? Those three, short lines are absolutely frustrating. Lucky me, I’m the one who’s supposed to figure it out. I’m the child born of sun and moon.
My name is Keira Ryan. I live in a beautifully quiet, river town in southern Ohio. I’m lucky to have some pretty cool friends. Ann is a ‘traveler’ able to travel to any place in the present or past. Arden, my mentor, is wicked smart and swings a sword like nobody’s business.
There’s also Colby. He’s my oldest friend; my best friend. He can see tiny bits of the future. He trusted me and I really messed things up with him, but we’re working on it. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. We are well on our way to being best friends again. I hope.
As for me, some would call me a tooth fairy. In the Spanish-speaking countries, I would be called ratón de los dientes and that’s a bit closer to my true nature. In reality, I’m a guardian, one of the keepers of a special power called the vox. The vox are given to humans that are destined to set the course of history for the good. Each of these destined humans, called charges, receive three vox from their guardian during infancy and childhood. Because of the timing of the vox, it’s believed that guardians are the foundation for the tooth fairy legend.
Guardians don’t usually know their charge. It’s not like they exchange phone numbers. However, my charge happens to be little Drew Hayes, Colby’s nephew. It’s my job to bestow his vox. What would life be without the vox? It’s like trying to get through an underground tunnel without a flashlight. You may still find your way out, but it will take a lot more time and effort.
I promise you, I’m not the tooth fairy from your momma’s bedtime storybook. Together, my friends and I took down the emperor of a kingdom of gremlin-like creatures called mogdocs, the original inhabitants of Atlantis. Centuries ago, the guardians banished the continent of Atlantis from the Earth in order to protect humankind from these evil things.
Even though we defeated their emperor, his daughter, Broo Gammen, quickly took the throne. Her shapeshifting abilities and talent for controlling human emotion make her just as dangerous as her father, maybe more so. Worst of all, she spent freshman year as a friend in our tight circle. Under the guise of Brooke Banes, she learned our secrets and then she betrayed us.
She wasn’t the only one. Her brother, Brun, had also taken a turn undercover. He revealed the truth about himself to me in order to save my life. Even though he’s a mogdoc, true heir to the throne, I count him as a friend…even though he wants to be more.
Exactly 39 days ago, I passed the test. No, it wasn’t some clandestine, star-crossed destiny thing. I passed my driver’s test. It took me three times, but, hey, you can’t rush perfection.
So, if you’re keeping score, I now have my driver’s license, my best friend’s back, my training’s complete, my charge and my family are safe, and I’m ready to face the Empress. There’s just one thing I have to do first. I need to find the gift. Just what do you get the spoiled gremlin queen that has everything?
Chapter 1: Early to Rise
Drew Hayes screamed. His bloodcurdling cries, more than a toddler’s tantrum, punctured the darkness. He was not alone.
His innocent, blue eyes opened wide with true fear as a hand reached out of the darkness and grasped his. Drew was pulled forward with so much force that he couldn’t resist. The hand’s owner, concealed in the darkness, did not say a word.
Drew choked on his cries. He kicked and struggled, but it was of no use. The toddler slid across the floor and into the darkness.
It was Saturday morning when Colby Hayes woke up in a cold sweat. His dream was vivid…alive. He could still hear his nephew’s screams echoing in his head. He knew that it wasn’t a dream, not really. It was a vision; one that he had been having over and over for the past several weeks. It was a vision of the future.
Yet, it was vague. Its lack of detail forced Colby to inaction. He could sense the danger, but was blinded to the cause; always waking up before he could see the person in the shadows.
He tried to go back to sleep. He wanted so desperately to pull himself back into the vision. If he could only see Drew’s assailant’s face, he could devise a plan to stop it from happening. Colby laid his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. Meditating upon his nephew, he tried to summon the vision. He wanted to see more. He needed to see more, but it was impossible. His glimpse into the future was already gone.
Restless, Colby sat up into dawn’s light as it streamed in his window and hurt his waking eyes. As he wiped the sleep from his eyes there was a knock on the door.
“Colby, time to get up. We’ll need to leave soon,” his mother chimed.
“I’m up, Mom.”
She took that as a cue and opened the door, setting down a plastic laundry basket on the floor just inside. It was loaded to the rim with folded shirts and jeans.
“Merry Christmas Eve,” she smiled. “Now, hurry up. You need to take the trash out before we leave.”
With that, she turned and was gone. Colby knowingly chuckled to himself as he pulled on a fresh pair of jeans from the basket. He already had his bags neatly packed and waiting at the front door. The trash would only take a minute, so he had a little time to spare before they departed for his brother’s house.
A farmer’s field away, Keira Ryan tossed beneath the covers of her bed. Her alarm went off, but she smacked the snooze button and resumed her forty winks. Ten minutes later, it went off again, and again she reached over with eyes still closed and took a whack at the clock. The fifth time it went off, August opened her bedroom door.
“Does Mr. Claus need to get you a new alarm clock for Christmas? I don’t think this one is working.”
“Dad, I told you before, it’s Santa Claus or just plain Santa. No one calls him mister,” Keira grumbled into her pillow.
“But the female is called missus, correct? Mrs. Claus?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Well, it just seems to me that it’s only polite to call him mister.”
Keira ignored him. Maybe he would go away.
“I just don’t want to offend him,” he smirked trying to get a rise out of Keira. August sat on the end of her bed and she pulled the covers over her head.
He paid her no mind and continued. “I mean, if this Santa shows up here with a carriage full of gifts, I wouldn’t want to give him a reason to leave.”
Keira sat up and looked at him. Her face betrayed her and cracked a smile. “It’s a sleigh. Better get your human mythology straight, Dad.”
“Oh, sleigh. All right, I’ll try to remember so that I don’t earn a block of mineral in my sock.”
Now he was putting on a show. She shook her head, laughing.
“Okay,” he said slapping his hands on his knees before standing. “Enough of my holiday etiquette lesson; it’s time to get up. You had better get moving if you don’t want to miss out on your trip to see your charge.”
Keira kicked the covers aside and proceeded to her dresser to fish out clothes to pack. August made sure her alarm clock was completely off before letting himself out.
She threw a few essential items on the bed: her favorite red hoodie, a few pairs of jeans, a couple of shirts, a handful of underwear and socks, and her cowboy boots. Satisfied, she yanked a backpack out of the closet and proceeded to shove the items inside. Once she was all packed, it was time for a shower.
She didn’t have enough time to wash and dry her long hair. Her snooze button had seen to that. So, she pinned it up and hopped in for a quick scrub. The water was cool and energizing and when she emerged moments later, she felt ready for the day.
Keira clumsily pulled on a pair of jeans and a button-up shirt. She nearly fell over the toilet putting them on. The bathroom was on the small side and not ideal for changing. She had brought her clothing anyway. Some days, her bedroom wasn’t a private place.
Today was one of those days.
“Hey, gorgeous,” Brun Gammen said.
He was standing just inside her bedroom window. His sudden greeting startled her, but she had the presence of mind to close the bedroom door behind her as she stepped inside.
The morning light provided a halo around his slick, short black hair. He was a vision in dark blue jeans and fitted ice blue sweater. A devilish grin stretched across his face.
“Hey,” she said back.
She stepped to him and hugged him, hoping that he hadn’t noticed the backpack on her bed. However, her worry was in vain. He had.
“Goin’ on a trip?”
“Yeah,” she said pulling away. “Jamie Hayes invited me to his house in Cleveland for Christmas. I think he just did it because he needs a free babysitter. They’re having family in from all over. It’s going to be a little crazy for his wife, Mary Sue.”
Nervously, she started straightening the drawers she left open in her rush to pack.
“But this is your first Christmas with your parents. Isn’t that important?”
She shrugged her shoulders.
“It’s awkward. That’s for sure,” she said, trying to shut a particularly stubborn drawer. Then, she stopped and looked at him. “I mean, decorating gingerbread men on Christmas Eve, placing my plastic frog princess ornament on the lowest branch; those are traditions that Nana and I started together. And now, she’s not here. They can’t just step in. They shouldn’t have to try. It’s better this way…a clean slate. Then, next year, I’ll be up for some new traditions.
“Frog princess, really?”
“Yes, really, dork!” she said throwing a pillow at him.
He snatched it from midair with lightning reflexes. The movement was so bold, so sudden, it startled her and she jumped. He noticed and cleared his throat, trying to brush it off as he carefully set the pillow down.
“When are you leaving?”
“Uhhmm,” Keira said looking at her wrist. She had forgotten that she didn’t have a watch on. “In a little bit. I’m following Curt and Lila up.”
“And Colby?”
“Yeah, he’s going too,” she replied, purposely holding back that Colby would be riding with her.
“I’ll come with you. You never know when Broo may try to attack.”
“No, you don’t have to.”
“I insist.”
“Really. I got this.”
“Keira, it may be dangerous.”
“Brun, it’s a family Christmas…of course it will be dangerous,” she laughed.
Keira had been calling him by that name, Brun Gammen. It was his true name, the name of mogdoc royalty. To her surprise, he hadn’t protested as he did a few months ago. She was glad. She had come to realize that using the name William was like perpetuating a lie. A wonderful lie where he was human and she didn’t have to worry about being with him, but a lie all the same.
“I take it that I’m being a little too protective,” he said.
She smiled, but didn’t reply.
“I don’t like it, but I get it. I’ll see you as soon as you get back.”
He opened a threshold right before her and left as quickly as he had come. She was relieved; glad he didn’t protest more. She knew what he thought, but he didn’t really “get it”. This wasn’t about a relationship moving too fast or independence. This was about keeping a mogdoc, no matter how trustworthy, away from her charge.
She was equally thankful for his quick exit. Between them, the line separating friendship and romance was blurred by the pressures of real life. The prophecy regarding the child of sun and moon, according to him, meant that he and Keira would have a child together. That baby would be the human gift and eventually rule over the Mogdoc Empire, ending the tyranny of the Gammen line for good.
Keira didn’t believe his theory. Still, even if it wasn’t true, it was the ever-present elephant in the room. It was the thing so huge that it made the here and now downright awkward. Do they shake hands? Do they hug? Do they kiss? Goodbyes were the worst as far as she was concerned. It was better when he just disappeared.
Chapter 2: Silent Night
An hour later, they were on the road.
Lila’s minivan pulled out in the lead with Curt at the helm. Colby decided to drive at the last minute. Actually, he planned it all along. However, he sprang it on Keira at the last minute so that she wouldn’t have time to argue. As it turned out, she was happy to ride along.
Six hours later, they pulled into the subdivision where Jamie lived. His modest two-story home was nestled on a forgotten street in one of the many Cleveland suburbs. Keira wondered how people could live this way, so close together. She had spent her entire life in the wide, open country.
“How do they know which one is theirs?” she asked.
“What do you mean, how do they know?”
“They all look alike.”
She was right. For as far as Colby could see, every house looked identical: same color, same style, even the same evergreen wreath on the front door. The cookie-cutter houses lined up in neat rows.
“You’ll know Jamie’s when you see it,” Colby laughed.
And she did. As soon as they turned the corner, a nine foot inflatable Santa greeted them. New snow covered the roof and front yard shrubbery, exposed only in a few spots where the chasing Christmas lights managed to melt it away.
The driveway, lined with giant candy canes, was already full, so they found a spot on the street. Keira stepped out before Colby even turned the engine off. Sitting still for long periods was not a skill she ever acquired.
She bopped up to the house joined by Lila who was equally eager to see Drew. The music and sweet smells from inside spilled out into the night as the door opened.
Colby’s sister-in-law, Mary Sue, greeted them at the door and Jamie took their bags. Several family members had already congregated in the living room. Aunts, uncles, cousins and even Colby’s great grandmother were crammed into the small room, made even smaller by the pine tree that took up one whole corner.
It was Hayes family tradition that dictated a real tree. Keira moved beside it to take in the scent. It was fresh, cut just that morning. Lila had shipped him a box of decorations from the attic of their old farmhouse. Unlike the trees seen in home decorating magazines, this one did not boast matching ornaments set to a designer palette. Its limbs supported more treasured items: clothes pin reindeer, foam snowmen picture frames, red and green construction paper chains, cross-stitched nativities, and hand-beaded stars. Multi-colored lights hid behind several decades of hand-crafted items all made by the youngest members of the clan.
Keira was inspecting a tissue paper poinsettia when she heard, “Kiki!”
She turned to see Drew wobbling toward her. His arms were open as wide as his smile.
“There’s my big boy,” she cheered.
She scooped him up and twirled him around. He giggled and she pulled him close to her chest before setting him back on his feet.
“Keira, would you mind taking Drew upstairs to get his pajamas on?” Mary Sue asked.
Yep, Keira thought. I’m the unofficial babysitter.
“Sure,” she nodded. That was fine with her. Babysitting someone who would one day better the world was a gig she could live with. Besides, Drew needed her. Oh, it wasn’t for protection. He needed someone to remove the tacky Rudolph light-up sweater that someone had placed on him.
As the night wore on, one by one the relatives said their goodbyes and headed home. Drew was long asleep; heeding a cousin’s warning that Santa wouldn’t come if he were awake. He was nestled under the blue satin-trimmed blanket in his crib.
The house was growing quiet. Mary Sue and Lila began to tidy the kitchen. Colby and Curt had escaped to the master bedroom to help Jamie assemble one of Drew’s presents, a pedal tractor and wagon. Keira found herself back in the corner of the living room, staring at the Christmas tree.
She thought she was alone.
“You like the tree, dear?”
The voice came from nowhere and Keira jumped. An elderly woman very slowly made her way from a darkened corner of the room.
“Oh, Grandma Hayes. I didn’t know you were still here,” she replied.
Colby’s great grandmother, Virginia Hayes, didn’t have that stuffy, proper air about her that accompanies most women of her age. She often joked and made funny faces. She played video games with her grandchildren. She was known as the “fun” grandma.
She even drove a Jeep; that is, until they took her driver’s license away about five years ago. Since that time, her health and mind had been deteriorating. First was her license, then her home. Even after she moved to the retirement home, she was still the life of the party. She always attended and even helped plan the home’s activities and parties.
“I’m sorry if I gave you a fright.” The old woman kept her eyes on Keira, prompting her to answer the question she had posed. “The tree, dear, do you like all the colors?”
“Yes, yes, I do like the tree. Looking at the lights and ornaments is very…um… peaceful, I guess.”
“You’re drawn to the multi-colored lights,” Grandma Hayes said to herself with a chuckle of amusement and a satisfied smile. “I enjoy this year’s tree as well.”
Keira was feeling a bit awkward. She crossed her arms and tried to think of a polite excuse to leave. Maybe she could go and see if Colby needed any help.
“I better go check…”
She started to slip away, but Grandma Hayes caught her hand.
“Stay with me for a moment,” the old woman said. She patted the back of Keira’s hand and turned her back around to the tree. “You strike me as a very strong girl.”
“Oh, do you need help moving something?”
“No, child. It was just an observation. So, tell me. How did you come to spend Christmas with my family this year?”
“Well, Jamie invited me. I think that Colby actually talked him into it. You see, I used to live with my, umm, Nana and now she lives far away. I miss her very much. I live with my biological parents now, but I barely know them. It’s been hard, especially during the holidays. I think Colby was trying to help. You know, we’ve been neighbors since I was a baby. Sometimes I think of his family as my family too. He’s a good friend.”
This seemed to amuse the old woman. “A stranger, yet family,” she smiled and held Keira’s hand tighter.
“Umm. Sure.”
“Tell me. When you look at this Christmas tree, is there something that catches your eye?”
Keira turned from Grandma Hayes to look over the tree again. Among the lights were handmade ornaments. Some had elementary school pictures of their creator glued inside. Some were more intricate made of beads or sequins. Then, on a higher branch she spotted an origami swan.
“This one,” she pointed to the swan. “It reminds me of the ornaments that Nana would make for our tree.”
“Interesting,” the old woman said. “I am particularly fond of this ornament. I always keep it with me at Christmas.”
Grandma Hayes reached deep within the Christmas tree’s branches to pull out a locket. It looked to be gold, but much worn and very, very old. It was affixed to an ornament hook by a red velvet bow. The old woman admired it for a few moments before carefully removing the hook. She took Keira’s hand and placed the locket inside.
“I want you to have this,” she said.
“I couldn’t,” Keira said. “This looks like an heirloom and I’m not really family.”
Thinking that the elderly woman had become confused and mistaken her for one of the grandchildren, Keira started to hand it back. Grandma Hayes smiled and patted her hand closed.
“This belonged to my husband,” the old woman whispered. “He wanted you to have it. He told me so.”
Keira had never met Colby’s great grandfather. He died before she was born.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I think you’re confused. Would you like me to get Curt or Lila?”
Keira tried not to stare at her closed hand. She could feel the thin metal against her palm and dared not hold it too tightly for fear it would break.
Again Grandma Hayes smiled. Then, she cleared her throat.
“I’m not senile yet, dear. However, I do need a moment to recall how this goes.”
“How wha…” Keira started, but Grandma interrupted.
A stranger, yet family, ready to fight
Finds peace in our home this holy night
Offer the locket of secrets unknown
Passed to the raven-haired girl alone
Find her affront the rainbow tree
She seeks the gift to set us free
Keira’s mouth gaped open.
“Funny. I teased him so badly about that rainbow tree nonsense. I told him he was crazy. I said there was no such thing,” the old woman mused. “Yet here it stands before us.”
The multi-colored Christmas lights seemed to blink their approval.
“What is it?” Keira whispered.
“A locket, but other than that, I’m afraid I don’t know. I’m just the messenger, honey.”
Keira inspected the delicate piece. Other than being very old, nothing else stood out about it. She tried to open it, but the clasp was stubborn and the metal too fragile.
“I do know that it is important, so keep it safe.”
Keira unraveled the red velvet bow and used it to tie the locket around her neck. She tucked the locket safely in her shirt.
“Oh, dear! Oh, dear,” Grandma Hayes fretted. “I had almost forgotten. It has been so long.”
“What is it?”
“There’s more, a last line…a warning.”
Loyal to our sons, but soon to be lulled
The child of sun and moon will be called
“Lulled? What does that mean?”
“I would take it to mean that this child will be lured into a false sense of security. Take heed of this warning, dear. It sounds as if my grandsons are depending on you.”
***
The next morning, Christmas morning, Drew was awake by 6 a.m. Keira pulled herself out of bed, a temporary air mattress set up right between the pool table and the treadmill in the catch-all room upstairs.
She took the locket from the spot where she hid it in the bottom of her suitcase. She would have slept with it on, but it was much too fragile to survive a night of her tossing and turning. She tied the velvet ribbon back around her neck. She tucked it carefully under her pajama shirt and pushed her feet into a pair of fuzzy green slippers.
Keira joined the others as they gathered downstairs to watch Drew open his presents. Regardless of all the camera equipment charged up for the event, it only lasted minutes. Drew tore through the packages like a tiny tornado.
“Go! Go! Go!” he yelled with delight when he saw the pedal tractor. He immediately hopped on board and started planting imaginary wheat from one side of the living room to the other. As he crossed the fireplace, another gift, a bright, red snow sled caught his eye.
“Snow! Snow! Snow!” he yelled.
He jumped from the tractor and ran into the propped-up sled, letting it nearly topple on him. It would have, if it weren’t for Keira keeping a close eye.
“Wanna go sledding, buddy?” she asked.
He nodded emphatically.
They both looked to Mary Sue with longing. Their eyes were like those of two little lost puppies. How could she resist?
“Oh, all right,” Drew’s mother caved. “You can take him out while we finish getting breakfast ready. It’ll be about thirty minutes. Bundle him up first. Stuff’s in the back door closet.”
“Are you coming?” Keira turned to Colby.
“Nah, I think you can handle it,” he winked. He was curled up with a cup of coffee and a new book. He wasn’t going anywhere.
Lila assisted Keira with getting Drew into the abundant layers of clothing that Mary Sue required for their short time outside. With her help, they were headed out the door in no time.
Because there were no hills in the suburb, Keira elected to run, pulling Drew on the sled behind her. It was tiring, but Keira was up for it. It had been many weeks since she last trained with Arden. She actually missed the exercise.
She was rounding the garage for the second time when she noticed tracks in the snow, footprints leading around the corner. What was most curious about these prints was that they seemed to come from nowhere, starting in the middle of the snow. She slowed and was reaching for the dagger hidden in her boot when Brun stepped around the corner.
Keira scooped a few handfuls of snow onto Drew’s sled. That would keep him occupied for a little while. Once his attention was on the snow, Keira dropped the sled tow rope and jogged a few steps over to Brun.
“I know, I know,” he said. “I shouldn’t have come.”
“It’s all right, but I don’t think you should stay.”
“I just wanted to wish you Merry Christmas.”
Ka-thud. A snowball fell just short of Brun’s feet. They turned to see Drew playing with the snow that Keira piled on his sled.
“Do mogdocs celebrate Christmas?”
“Well, no, but we do enjoy gifts,” he smiled, taking a subtle shy look to the ground. It was his signature move and it melted her heart every time.
Ka-thud. Another snowball, this time it hit his shins. He brushed the remnants off his jeans and then wiped his gloves on his scarf before taking hold of Keira’s hands.
“I have a gift for you,” he said.
“Oh,” Keira replied. Her mind was now in a rush. She felt awful. She didn’t have anything for him. “I didn’t know we were exchanging gifts.”
“I have an idea then. You can give me a promise.”
She eyed him carefully.
“Promise me that you will accept my gift,” he said.
“What is it?”
“No, no. Promise me first.”
She hesitated.
“Don’t you trust me?”
That was the million dollar question, wasn’t it? This test was not so subtle. His question was delivered politely and oozing with charm, but it was a test all the same. She couldn’t understand why it was so hard to trust him. He had saved her life and proved himself to her over and over again. He deserves this, she thought.
“Done,” she said.
“Really? You never accept my gifts.”
Ka-thud. A third snowball hit him square in the stomach.
“Cute kid,” he said.
Keira laughed at his struggled compliment. “Better cough up that gift or I’ll have him open fire.”
Brun grinned and dug deep into his inside jacket pocket. As he fished for the item, he took a better look at the child sitting on the red sled.
“Is this Colby’s nephew, his brother’s kid?”
“Yeah,” she brushed it off quickly and redirected his attention. “Whatcha got for me?”
“Here it is,” he finally said.
He lowered his hand from his jacket to reveal a crimson felt box.
“Oh,” she said simply. “I can’t accept this.”
“Oh yes you can. You promised.”
He had her there. She did promise. She looked upon the box as if it were a snake ready to strike. It was definitely a jewelry box of some sort. To her consolation, it was much too large to hold a ring. So, she swallowed the lump forming in her throat and took it from his outstretched palm.
Brun laughed at her cautiousness. “Keira,” he said. “It’s a box, not a rabid porcupine.”
She rolled her eyes at him and eased the top open. Inside was not a bracelet or a necklace as she had expected. Inside the daunting, red box was a small knife with an intricately-carved wooden handle.
“Huh,” Keira finally breathed.
“Is that huh good or huh bad?”
“It’s perfect. Thanks.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. “I aim to please,” he smiled.
Ka-thud. This time the snowball smacked him in the face.
Keira snapped the box closed. “I’m sooo sorry. I don’t understand how he…” she rushed to apologize. “He’s just a baby.”
“He’s got a pretty good arm for a baby,” Brun replied as he wiped away bits of snow and ice from his forehead. He moved toward Drew.
Keira held her breath as she hurried ahead of him.
“You know, Brun. I should really get him back inside. His mother didn’t want us to be out long. She might come looking and I don’t want her to find you here. It would be hard to explain.”
However, Brun was barely listening to her.
“How old is this kid, Keira?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I didn’t ask,” she lied.
Keira slid the red box into her back pocket. She picked Drew up and held him on her hip. Brun stood inches away as he studied the child. Drew curled up his nose, scrunched his eyebrows, and made an angry little motorboat noise with his lips.
“He looks to be about a year, maybe a few months more. Am I right?”
She shrugged her shoulders.
“He certainly likes you,” Brun continued.
He put a hand out to Drew. Drew smacked it away and buried his head in Keira’s shoulder.
“And he doesn’t like me.”
“He just doesn’t know you, that’s all,” Keira explained as she shifted her weight. “He’s getting kinda heavy so I’m going back to the house. I’ll see you when I get home.”
He nodded and backed away in such a manner that it absolutely deflated her. Guilt set in. Here she was, rushing away because she didn’t trust him. He hadn’t given her reason. He’d never made a move to hurt her, Drew, or anyone she loved. In fact, he helped save Arden. He even saved her life once upon a time.
She yelled to him, “Thank you for the gift. I really do love it.”
That made it better. She could tell. His posture opened up and he grinned at her.
“I love you too,” he said.
He blew her a kiss before disappearing around the corner of the garage. The light from an opened threshold flashed and then there was silence.
“That’s not what I…Oh, boy,” Keira sighed.
Drew just shook his head.
“Bad. Bad. Bad,” he whispered.
Chapter 3: Point of No Returns
Three days after Christmas, Ann convinced Keira to accompany her to the mall for some gift returns. She had a pair of pants that were a size too big and a pair of brown leather heels that were supposed to be black.
Keira put up the usual arguments. Shopping was never number one on her to-do list. However, she finally gave in when Ann promised to type her next term paper. Typing was definitely below shopping on the list.
Despite her anticipation for a day of shopping, Ann grumbled when they had to park in the farthest recesses of the lot outside the mall. Keira enjoyed the long walk. The air was brisk, hinting at snow. Ann zipped up her down-filled coat and tucked her chin into her scarf; while Keira twirled down the row of cars. She slid on patches of ice along the way and watched the white puffs waft from her mouth with every frozen breath that escaped her lips.
Once they reached the mall doors, the girls swapped attitudes. Ann was at home in the busy crowd; loving the hustle and bustle. Keira groaned about leaving. She wanted to be back outside.
A couple of hours into shopping, Ann attempted to appease Keira with the bribe of a soft pretzel. With a pretzel in one hand and large lemonade in the other, the girls stepped through the obstacle course of scattered food court tables and chairs. Ann moved left to dodge a couple of strange guys in white robes when she ran square into Jumper Johnson.
Fortunately, her drink had a lid and Jumper caught her wrist before it went flying.
Her breath caught. It was the first time he had touched her in months.
She stared up into his cold eyes. That’s all it took. She could feel the waterworks coming. She immediately lowered her head and with an “I’m sorry” she pulled away and looked to the floor.
She was walking as quickly as she could without drawing attention when she heard him yell, “Wait.”
She stopped in her tracks and turned to him. He rushed to her and looked at her for a moment before speaking.
“Can we talk?”
She looked to Keira who then shrugged and took a long draw on her lemonade straw. Ann nodded.
“Alone?” He pushed his nervous hands into his pockets.
She nodded again.
“I’ll meet you in front of the music store,” Keira said. She put a finger in front of Jumper’s nose, “And I’m coming to kick your butt if she doesn’t show in twenty minutes. That’s a promise.”
He laughed at that and it instantly warmed Ann. It was just as she remembered. It was one of the things she missed so very much. It was old Jump’s laugh.
Keira bounced off and Jumper waved an arm to show Ann which way to proceed. She walked beside him. As time passed, she felt the urge to hold his hand. It was out of habit. A certain security could be found in going through the motions.
Yet, she didn’t dare reach for his hand. It was too early for that. He was like a nervous foal. Any sudden movement could spook him. She wasn’t even sure if he would hold her hand if and when she offered it.
They walked in silence until they reached the mall exit. At the sight of it, Ann paused.
“I have a box of your stuff in the bus. You know…CDs, hair thingys, stuff you left at my house. I thought you might want it back.”
“Bus?”
“Yeah, Dad made me drive the church bus today. I had to get the oil changed.”
He pulled the keys from his pocket. They clinked and dangled from a fish symbol keychain.
“Oh,” Ann said. “So, why’s my stuff on the church bus?”
“I dunno,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “I’ve been packing it everywhere in case I run into you.”
He moved to the door. As he opened it, a gust of frigid wind blew past him.
“Are you coming?”
She jogged a couple of steps to catch up. He was making grand strides through the parking lot. Her short legs could barely keep up. Ann didn’t complain or ask him to slow down. She didn’t want to do anything that would give him reason to leave.
The burgundy and white bus was parked on the outer edge of the front lot, not far from one of those one-hour oil change places. Ann pulled her coat tighter, but she didn’t really need the extra warmth. Jumper was giving her a workout as she struggled to keep pace with him.
He slowed when they reached the last twenty feet before their destination. He flipped a key ring around his finger until the proper key landed at the ready. When they approached, he unlocked the hinged doors and stepped to the side, ushering Ann in first.
She moved past him gently. Still standing beside the door, he hadn’t left much room. Evidently, that wasn’t on purpose, because he made a little noise of annoyance as she pressed past. It was a small sound, but not unnoticed. It was enough to warrant that she keep her head down and move as quickly as possible. The sound delivered a clear message. This was a courtesy and not an attempt at an apology.
“Where’s the box?”
“It should be right there on the floor in front,” he replied.
He moved up the steps behind her. Her breath caught again as he brushed her back. It had been a long time since they were this close. However, at her intake of air, he tensed up. Their closeness didn't affect him the same way.
“Oh man,” he grumbled. “It must have shifted while I was driving. There’d be nothin’ to stop it under the seats. It probably slid all the way. Check the back.”
Ann moved down the bus aisle, checking between the seats for the elusive box as she went. When she reached the back, there was still no sign of it. She knelt down to look under the last seats when she heard a click. When she rose, Jumper was directly behind her.
***
Inside the mall, Keira was waiting in line at the music store. A new pair of ear buds in one hand, a bag of sour candies in the other, she was ready to check out and track down Ann. She really wasn’t worried. Keira knew that Ann could hold her own with opponents that were far stronger and far, far more evil than corn-fed high school sophomore Jumper Johnson.
However, the clock was rapidly approaching their set upon deadline and there was no sign of her protector. Keira had made a promise. There was a butt that probably needed a proper kicking.
Her thoughts were interrupted when a large woman in an even larger moo-moo stormed the checkout counter.
“Call animal control,” the woman demanded. Her arms flailed over her head. “Now! Heavens to Betsy! What kind of place is this? You let wild animals run amuck in your store. That thing could have bitten me. Oh, oohhh, I could have rabies. I should sue!”
The manager was immediately at the cashier’s side. His urgency was no doubt the result of the woman’s word choice.
“We have this under control, ma’am,” he picked up the phone and turned to the cashier at the same time. “I’ll take the register. Take her outside, clear the store and lock the doors.”
“Ma’am, my associate will escort you outside for your safety. Please don’t leave. I would like to make this up to you.”
The woman incoherently rambled on as she trudged out of the store with the clerk in tow. Keira caught bits of it…slimy…fast…big teeth…like nothing she’d ever seen before. It was those words that sent her into alarm.
The manager then raised his voice to address the line in front of the counter.
“Folks, I’m sorry but it appears that there may be an unknown animal of some sort in the store. I’ll have to ask you to put down your items and make your way to the exits immediately. If you see the animal, please do not try to approach it.”
After a quick phone call with the local animal shelter, he repeated his announcement over the store’s loud speakers. A concerned crowd quickly formed around him, making a convenient cover for Keira.
***
Nose to nose with Jumper Johnson, Ann took a step back.
“I can’t find it,” she said.
“That doesn’t surprise me. Did you look in the corner?”
Ann slid into the last seat, placing her hands on top as she leaned over it to look. This time she heard two clicks. When she turned around, she found that he had handcuffed her to a metal bar that ran from floor to ceiling at the edge of the seat.
Not again, she thought. She was tired of fighting him and his ridiculous notions about her special ability. How could I be so stupid? How could I let this happen?
Yet, she knew exactly how this happened. It happened because she wanted to believe that he could accept her. She wanted it so badly that she shut off her brain to find it.
Since she had been backwards in the seat to lean over, she was now clumsily sitting upright with her left arm stretched over her head and joined to the pole by the cold metal cuffs. Still, she sat there, even though she didn’t have to. For someone with her abilities, escaping was as easy as concentrating.
He placed the shopping bag he was carrying in the seat behind him.
“What are you doing?”
“Shut up, demon,” he said. “Before I take care of you I want to talk to Ann.”
She looked to him, eyes full of hurt. Her brain fumbled over what to say next, discarding each possibility, searching for the one thing that would bring him to his senses. She sorted through it all until there was nothing left. There was nothing she could do or say to get through to him.
“Talk away,” she whispered, defeated.
“Ann, is that you?”
She took a deep breath, realizing that he had mistaken her loss of hope for a change in control of her body.
“Yes, it’s me.”
He thanked God and kissed her forehead.
“I have a plan. I can’t tell you because it’s probably listening in. If this works, that thing inside you will be gone forever.”
“There’s nothing…”
He hushed her. “We don’t have much time. I need you to know that whatever happens, I won’t let this beast win. You and I are in it together, forever.”
“I love you, Jump.”
“Don’t be scared.”
“Jumper, what are you going to do?”
“Sshhhh,” he said, kissing her forehead again.
He reached into the shopping bag.
“Jump!” she screamed.
***
Keira ducked around the shelves of the music store until she was out of sight. There was a mogdoc in the store. She could feel it. As she crept toward the back wall, she pulled her dagger from the inside of her old, brown cowboy boot.
Immediately, she heard quickened steps behind her. She turned and they stopped. Nothing.
Still looking over her shoulder, she stepped forward and tumbled over something in her path. The something growled.
“Watch where you step, child,” the mogdoc warned.
Keira got her feet under her, but kept a low stance in wait.
“Are you the rat called Ryan, the child of sun and moon?”
“What do you want, mogdoc?”
“I was sent with a message.”
“Who sent you?”
He smiled a smile so wretched and evil, Keira wanted to take a shower. The gills at the sides of his neck flared with pride.
“My liege entrusted only me, the High Empress herself.”
It was bragging. Keira smirked and eased her stance. With a shrug of her shoulders she said, “Don’t want it.”
“Pardon?”
“I don’t want the messaaagge,” she said in a completely exaggerated and drawn out way as if he didn’t understand English. This only proved to insult the mogdoc.
***
Jumper slumped in the bus seat across the aisle from Ann. He placed an ancient Bible and rosary back into the shopping bag. His attempt at an exorcism, had failed. Ann was soaked with holy water, but otherwise unharmed.
“There’s nothing wrong with me. Why won’t you believe me? Look at me. Look with your heart.”
“I can’t.” He whispered, "It lies."
Jumper moved toward her. He took hold of the collar of her button-up shirt and spread it open wide. He placed his hand over her heart.
“Jumper?” she said looking up into his eyes, her own eyes now tearing up so that she could barely see.
With his other hand, he reached to the seat with the bag. Without looking he pulled an athame from inside it. He took a deep breath.
“No,” she whispered, her breath now coming so hard and fast.
“If I can’t coax it out, I’ll force it out.”
He moved his hand aside and pressed the point of the ceremonial knife to her chest, just above her heart. Words, spoken in Latin, slipped from his tongue and his eyes were closed.
“I loved you,” she cried.
Strangely, the fear of the violence that he was about to commit was only a symptom. The betrayal hurt much more.
“Don’t speak. Don’t move.”
Jumper had been working on this plan for weeks. He sneaked into his father’s office at the church almost every day. He read everything he could get his hands on concerning banishment of evil. He used his father’s database to email religious experts. They had given him the tools to succeed.
It occurred to him last week that he needed a Plan B. If the exorcism didn’t work, what would be his next step? That’s when he came up with this.
He had read stories about ancient, nomadic tribes who were successful in banishing evil spirits by bringing the host to the point of death. If the evil spirit believed that its host would expire it would leave the body to find the next available host.
He waited and watched her. When he overheard the two talking about going to the mall, it presented the perfect opportunity. He would separate them, but Keira would still be nearby. She would need to bring Ann back from the edge of death. He had made sure that the first aid kit on the bus was packed with extra items to insure Keira’s success.
He couldn’t take the chance on the evil finding someone else, so he locked them in the bus when they arrived. He would take the demon. He would do this for her. He would do anything for her. All he had to do is strike in a way that wouldn’t kill her immediately.
When the exorcism failed, he looked at his watch. Keira would be looking for them now. He didn’t have much time.
He opened his eyes and looked at Ann. “I have to do this. Please, trust me.”
“No, you’re going to kill me because you are too bull-headed to see the truth that I’m a traveler,” she said quietly.
She could leave easily; all it took was a second of concentration. However, something kept her back. It was almost as if she had to see if he could really do it. Could he really kill her?
He bit his lip and took a deep breath. He was about to push the athame into her chest, but he pulled the knife away.
Then what she had been thinking all along, suddenly occurred to him. She could leave.
“Why didn’t you leave?”
“Just do it,” she screamed. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Wait, no, this is all wrong.” He dropped the knife. Jumper stumbled back. “You could have left. I’ve seen you disappear before. Why aren’t you disappearing?”
Ann looked into his face with flooded eyes. “I had to know if you could do this to me.”
“It’s really you,” he almost smiled. A wave of relief washed over him. He put a hand on her cheek and kissed her. She immediately pulled away. He didn’t think anything of it. “I don’t understand. It’s not a demon or spirit. Are you a witch? I don’t understand. I don’t…”
“Please stop. I don’t think I can take anymore,” she said exasperated.
This was Ann. She wasn’t under the control of some kind of ancient evil. She was just different…very different. Tears of joy mixed with relief flowed from his eyes.
“I…I…was trying to force it into my body. I couldn’t let it have you.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I’ll text Keira and let her know where you are,” he said.
“No need.”
She had already been concentrating. As the word 'need' passed her lips, she disappeared with a sonic boom. The empty handcuffs clinked as they fell to the base of the pole.
“I’m sorry,” he said to thin air.
***
The sign read “Alarm will sound if opened”, but Keira paid it no mind as she burst through the back door of the music store.
“Are you coming?” she yelled back to the mogdoc.
The alarm blared in the background, fulfilling the sign’s promise. The mogdoc narrowed its green eyes on her.
“Better follow me, mogdoc, before they come and haul you off to the pound.”
It jumped on a nearby shelving unit, only to push off and leap toward the open pipework ceiling. From there, it swung across the ceiling catching pipes and conduit until it swept through the door.
“Couldn’t you have just walked?” Keira asked with a roll of her eyes. Although, she didn’t expect an answer; nor did she get one.
She followed the mogdoc outside to a partially hidden area of the parking lot; right outside an unattended delivery bay.
“How did you get here?” Keira asked.
The mogdoc cleared his throat carefully before speaking.
“The High Empress asked that I bring a message to you.”
Keira could read between the lines.
“Okay, right. Broo brought you. So, how do you plan on getting back?
“How dare you speak her name, rat,” he lashed out. “You will respect the crown. The Empress has requested your presence…”
“Listen to me, mogdoc,” she warned. “I told you that I don’t care what she has to say. Now tell me, how do you plan to return to Atlantis?”
“With me, of course,” Empress Gammen stepped from a darkened doorway. “That is, unless he chooses to stay on this side of the barrier.”
She was in her preferred form, that of Brooke Banes. Wide blond curls bounced down her back. She carried an overstuffed bag. Her perfect sun-tanned body was covered up with a dress that was about ten sizes too large. Keira recognized the moo-moo right away. Broo was the irate woman in the store.
“Get lost for a few, will ya?” Broo shooed the mogdoc away. “Wait for me on the east roof top. This’ll be quick.”
“As you wish, my queen.”
The mogdoc leapt to an outcropping, then swung to the roofline. He hurried across the mall roof toward the east entrance. In no time, he was out of sight.
Broo moved behind a partial block wall and sat the bag atop it.
“Sorry to delay this, but I have to get out of this dreadful thing,” she said.
Keira crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Broo stepped out from the wall a moment later. She had shed the moo-moo in favor of an over-sized white button-down shirt and jeans. Keira noticed that she didn’t flinch even though her feet were bare on the frigid concrete.
“Now, I’m ready to get down to business,” she said.
“So this is how you’re going to try to kill me? Outside the mall? Really? Wow.”
Broo shrugged and looked bored. “Who said I wanted to kill you?”
“Guess I forgot we’re best buds.”
“Are you finished?”
“You are.”
In the blink of an eye, Keira spun and swept around Broo. Her training had paid off. From behind, she shoved the Empress into a concrete wall. The wall groaned with the impact. Bits of it tumbled to the ground.
“That was for Colby,” Keira said.
Broo stumbled backward a step before Keira caught her again and shoved her back into the wall.
“This one’s for Arden.”
Keira curled her fingers around Broo’s golden locks. Broo laughed at her. Just for that, Keira shoved her head to the wall again. This time Broo caught herself before she hit.
“What? No beating in Brun’s honor?” she asked as she wiped a bit of blood from the corner of her mouth.
Broo continued to laugh, her voice growing deeper and lower. She began change. Keira lost her grip as the Empress’s hair shortened and height increased. When the transformation was complete, she turned to Keira with a smirk plastered across her face.
Keira pulled her dagger from her left cowboy boot and held it to her throat. Make no mistake. It was her throat, even though she looked like him.
Broo laughed at Keira again, this time with Brun’s face. Her voice came from his mouth. It wasn’t really him. Broo had shapeshifted to look like her brother.
“You are so quick to trust. Have you asked yourself why?”
“Don’t think that looking like him will shut me down.”
Broo laughed again. She didn’t believe Keira’s threat. She knew that her appearance had an effect on the guardian. She could hear Keira’s heartbeat speed up.
“Nothing is as it appears, little mouse. You’ve chosen the wrong side."
"Am I supposed to believe that you are Little Miss Goodie Sweet Goodgirl?"
"No, but there are choices far worse. No one knows that I’m here, not even him," she said pointing to her own face, which at that moment happened to look like Brun.
"I came to give you this warning. You need to open your eyes before it’s too late.”
“Trust me. My eyes are wide open,” Keira said as she touched her dagger’s point to Broo’s chest.
Broo took a step back. She set her mogdoc green eyes on Keira…his mogdoc green eyes.
“Tell me, guardian, what do you know of mogdocs?”
Keira didn’t want to play her game. She wanted this over. If she could only bring herself to push the dagger into Broo’s chest this would be done. She would be a murderer, but this would be done.
“Keira, focus. Helllllooooo.”
Keira held the point firm to Broo’s chest. “I know they lie. They manipulate. They show no mercy. Is that what you want to hear?”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear,” she said. “Everyone you know and trust has made it easy for others to manipulate you. They’ve been sheltering you; keeping you in the dark. Find the truth now before it’s too late. Start with the Unionists.”
“It won’t work. I’m not letting you go. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
“They’ve been keeping more from you than I thought. You really are clueless, aren’t you?” Broo closed her eyes.
Keira wrinkled up her nose, not sure what to think of this odd behavior. Before she could figure it out, her phone vibrated in her pocket.
She looked down at it for only a second, but that was long enough. Broo burst into a brilliant, white light. It was as if a thousand stage spotlights were turned on at once.
Keira pulled an arm up to shield her eyes, but it wasn’t enough. She dropped to her knees and tucked her head to protect her face from the light. The light was so bright and so fierce that it flooded her eyes even though they were closed and covered.
It only lasted seconds, but it left Keira nearly blinded. She raised her head to see a blurred figure running across the roof. The Empress had returned to her typical blond bombshell self.
Keira shoved the dagger back in her boot. Broo had no guards and no weapons. Keira would never have a chance like this again. She couldn’t let Broo get away.
She scanned the building. There was not a ladder in sight. She rubbed her burning eyes again and took a running leap onto a nearby dumpster. Her depth perception was still a bit off. She jumped a little too soon and her legs didn’t quite clear the side. They hit the metal hard, but by this point adrenaline had taken over. She pulled them up and stood on top of the dumpster. She tried to catch the roofline from there, but it was no use. Her vision was too impaired. The roof was too high. It was too late. Broo was gone.