Part Twenty-Five [Final]

Things just aren't the same any more. I went down the rabbit hole, and I'm never coming back. Maybe the past few months have simply been a dream, but the moments before it were real.

The two weeks John had been missing were certainly real. My adventure has only just begun.

But what about the dream? Was that all it was: my brain trying to process the events leading up to my near death? Could there be any truth to the demons, angels, and elves Tristin had told me about? Was Tristin a real entity who will betray me? No... that couldn't be it... right?

Could I actually have lived the future?

Something was telling me I was right.

The something that told me I could fly.

I think it's time to talk to John.

Part Twenty-Four

“Hey, James, are you okay?”

John was speaking to me, but I was too out of it to respond.

Something occurred to me then. I was back in the hospital, in the bed next to John. It was just like when I had been rescued and he saved by his friends. How was this possible? How! How was it... had I gone back in time?

No. Another thought nagged at me. The answer was there, but I refused to accept it.

At first.

Then again, I had no choice but to give in. I knew it was the truth.



It had all.

Been.

A.
 
D r e a m .

Part Twenty-Three

Tuesday rolled along and with it, Christmas Break. Almost six inches of snow covered every surface. My weekend had been execrable. (That means life sucks.) It was the worst three days since Rosa's fist had connected with my rib cage. Tuesday I was barely aware of John's nerves before he left the house to go to his “meeting.” Right after, Mom came to my room with a bowl of chicken noodle soup. That cleared my head a bit.

But after she left.... You'll never believe this. Okay, after I finished my soup and my mom left my room, Tristin appeared. I'm serious, he just appeared right by my desk. I thought I was hallucinating, but he shushed me and said, “Hey, James, come with me for a minute.”

I blinked. Uh... eh? My mouth rattled out an automatic response. “John said I shouldn't leave the house today....”

Trist rolled his eyes. “Don't worry about him. I want to show you something.” He held out his hand and I took it. Instantly... well, I can hardly describe the sensation. It was as though we turned into ghosts and we... drifted... quickly past my neighborhood. The homes were blurry, but... distinct. It only took us only a second to reach our destination, and when we... landed, I had my feet dangling off the side of a roof. I could see the baseball field in front of me, and a bunch of people crowded the grass. I couldn't help but gasp.

“Maybe I should have warned you about that,” Trist said. Then he looked at me and flinched. “You CAN NOT wear that. It just won't do.”

I looked down at my pajamas, wondering what the heck he was blabbering about, but they changed right in front of my eyes! Suddenly I was wearing all white; white shoes, white socks, white pants, white shirt, probably even white underwear. Instinct took over and my wings came out. They were white as well.

“Much better,” Trist smirked. “Now wait here for a minute, I gotta prepare the crowd.”

Before I could ask what he meant, he vanish and reappeared in the center of the field. I could only just hear him from my distance, but everyone hushed in surprise.

“Thank you for coming,” he started. “Today is a glorious day, and a wonderful opportunity awaits you. But first, a gift.”

The ground shook suddenly. Just behind Trist, the ground tore apart, and a spire rose out of the dirt. The spire grew to a white and purple striped tower. An angel crouched at the base of the tower, his wings wrapped like a hug around his body. He held a medallion by the chain, and it hovered over an open box, as though the angel were going to put it in there. A tarnished plaque was mounted to the base.

The crowd was awestruck. I couldn't blame them. I mean, come on. A whole statue just raised out of the ground.... That was SO not normal. Trist hopped onto the base to continue his speech.

“My fellow Daes, hear me out. I have been given a bad rep, but I mean no true harm. I bring great tidings from our forefathers, and, some might say, a blessing from God.”

Murmurs swept through those waiting. What in the world was he talking about?

“Behold, an angel has been sent to us.” Trist's language freaked me out. He made a sweeping gesture, and suddenly my point of view changed. I was now encased in what seemed to be a giant eggshell. As I felt around my surroundings, the creamy white around me began to grow, and as it grew, it crystalized, until I could see everything around me.

I about peed my pants.

I was now atop the spire, sitting on an invisible surface. Thousands (well, maybe not thousands) of eyes stared up at me, and I stared right back. The height was so great, I felt queazy.

“Come down, angel,” Tristin said... to me. What was he talking about, angel? I looked down at him and remembered I had wings. Duh. Gingerly, I put them to use and made my way to the ground. Trist jumped off the platform and steadied me, because I had a sudden twinge of pain. He held a vile of gold liquid to my lips and directed I drink it.

“It'll help you get better,” he insisted. The stuff didn't taste all that bad, actually. Sorta orange juicy with a hint of chocolate. Those watching seemed too stunned by my appearance to do anything. They had kinda backed away from the statue when it came up.

Then John pushed through the crowd, glaring at Trist.

“What are you playing at?” he growled.

“If you give me a moment, I'll tell you,” Trist replied. He left me to lean against the base of the statue as he stood upon it again. I could tell John wanted to be by my side, but he seemed afraid of Trist. “I give you a choice. Join me, or be left to die. In this war, I shall be triumphant, and those who don't join me will give themselves up to a life of pain.”

The daes were angered. Someone shouted, “What makes you think you'll win?”

Trist smirked. “This.”

Suddenly the whole field was surrounded by monsters of every kind, especially the ones I had seen in my dreams. My stomach did a flip. The horrible visions I had been plagued with over the past couple of months swam to the front of my mind.

Behind John, my father left the crowd. I couldn't believe it. He was here. He looked absolutely perfectly healthy. His brown hair was neatly combed, his gray eyes sparkled, he was my dad. Tears sprang to my eyes and I ran forward.

“Dad!” I shouted, ignoring the faces around me. I stumbled a couple of times, but he caught me in his ultra-strong arms. I gave him a weak hug. Behind me, Trist yelled in frustration.

“What are you doing?”

John answered, “He's not joining YOU, that's for sure.”

I heard Trist jump off the base again, but all I cared about was that my father was safe, and in my arms.

“I was so worried, about you, and about you and Mom. I thought...”

My dad didn't reply. I looked up at his face and saw his mouth moving, but something was wrong. No sound came out, and I realized everything blurred beyond fifty feet. What...?

It started raining, only it wasn't rain. The colors around me melded together, like a wet painting turned on end. I couldn't understand it. I backed off my father in surprise. He melted along with everything else, but he looked as though he hadn't noticed anything at all.

Suddenly an old pain was back, that of the burn on my neck. My stomach screamed and I toppled over. I was on my back by the time the colors had gone black. I realized my eyes were closed and forced them open. I flinched at the bright light above my head.

“Doctor, he's come around.”

“His heartbeat is rising. We didn't lose him.”

A mask went over my mouth and nose.

“Count backwards from ten.”

I didn't even have the energy to start.






 
d r i f t

Part Twenty-Two

The house was empty when I woke the next morning. Mom had left breakfast for me on my desk, so I ate first thing. Then I slowly walked down the stairs to plant myself in front of the TV. There was no way I would get any homework done in this current state of mind, and my stomach was having a fit again.

Grandmom came home from grocery shopping just in time for lunch. She sad Mom was working late. After lunch I felt content enough to get some homework out of the way.

John came home at five. He was smiling as always, but I could tell he was upset about something. Just before dinner, he pulled me aside all serious-like. I was scared.

“How have you been today?” he asked, trying to act light.

“Same as always: sick,” I muttered.

“Up or down?” John asked. That was our way of labeling my health.

“Down, but not out.” John tried at a smile. I remained serious, though part of me desperately wanted to laugh. “I couldn’t tell you anything about the shows I watched today.”

John nodded.

“Hey, listen,” he said. “There’s something big going down Christmas break. A bunch of Daes are getting together for a meeting. I need you to stay here the whole time.”

I grimaced, but I’m not sure it was from the pain. “Why? What’s going on?”

“Just trust me, James. I want to make sure you’re safe.”

“Christmas break… that starts next week, right? I think I can squeeze your request into my callendar.”

John actually smiled this time. “Thanks, bud.” He ruffled my hair, adding, “Let’s eat!”



Secrets.

…

Part Twenty-One

My life—in danger?

Please.



Over the next few weeks, I would appear to be getting better, then the spasms would return tenfold. During the painful periods, I was too delirious to understand anything. When I could hold consciousness for more than twenty minutes, I did some of the school work I was missing.

Em would sometimes come by during my delusional periods. Whenever I saw Rosa, she always sobbed, insisting it was all her fault. I didn’t see how that could be until I learned her power. On contact, Rosa could mess with her opponent’s mind. The punch meant for Trist was backed with a curse of sorts to make the person go insane. I insisted it wasn’t her fault, but I’m not sure I believed that.

I woke on a particularly cold night. I was on an updraft and had only woken because of the chill. I wasn’t surprised to see the first snow out my window, but I was surprised to see John sitting guard.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“N-nothing. Just making sure you’re safe.”

“From what?”

He waved the question aside. “How are you? Do you need another blanket?” He must have seen me shivering. Without waiting for an answer, he jumped up to fetch another blanket.

“John, you didn’t answer my question!”

No use.

“Don’t worry, James. You’re safe with me. Just go back to sleep.”

Nothing I could say would get him to spill, so I rolled over in my bed so I wasn’t facing him and drifted back to dreamland. If only my dreams had been normal.

Instead, my dreams started out with me hanging in front of a faceless Medieval crowd. Literally, a noose was tight around my neck. When my lungs were ready to burst, the rope dissolved and I fell to the floor of a dark dungeon.

 As I tried to regain my breath, a claw raked across my shoulder. I fell back and soaked through a pit of quicksand. The sand let me off on the rise of a hill, where I could see a battle in the valley below me. It could have been a scene straight out of the movie 300, and the sight made me gag. A strong hand steadied me, but I couldn’t turn to see who it belonged to.

I stood there, frozen, watching the awful battle rage on. It was obviously the war Trist told me about. After some minutes, the valley passed into darkness and my sleep returned to a normal one.


 
Thank goodness.

Part Twenty

Is this what insanity feels like?



 My dreams were plagued. My body writhed. I think I had fevers. I was hardly aware of the days passing by. One minute, a monster’s claws dug into my flesh. The next, I was sipping orange juice in bed. My mind was too confused to contemplate Tristin’s alliances. Then Trist himself decided to visit. At least, I don’t think he was a hallucination. I was watching TV when he came in.

“Hey, man. You look bad.”

He had knocked on the front door and I was alone, so I called out for him to come in. I turned the volume down on the TV as he sat next to me on the couch.

“I’m doing better,” I told him. I wasn’t ready to bring up John’s worries. Turns out I didn’t have to.

“Look,” he said, “You’ve probably heard some nasty things about me since…”

I nodded, ashamed. “John and his group think you’re… evil.”

Trist looked hopeful. “Do you not believe them?”

 “Really, I’m not sure what to believe. Everyone’s adamantly against you. I really want to trust you, but this is my brother we’re talking about.”

 Trist thought for a minute. “Well, let me tell you something. You’ve read Harry Potter, right?”

“Er, not really. I’ve seen some of the movies, though.”

“Well, in the last book, Harry is known as ‘Undesirable Number One.’ The whole wizarding world is against him. But he’s the hero, right? Why would they all be mad? It’s because the government has been spreading lies about him. They warped the truth until Harry was seen as evil.”

I drank in what he said. Could John really have lied to me? He never lied to me before, and he was so serious. Then again, our true nature, our wings, he kept it all a secret. Supposedly that was the way it was meant to be. The conflicting tales made my head spin.

 “There’s also the possibility your brother was misinformed. Somebody else could have lied about me to him. Or he could have thought I was someone else, the real guy he was after.”

 I nodded slowly and turned to the TV. That must have given Trist an idea because he changed the channel to a news one. We watched a story on a bank robbery for a few seconds, but then Trist changed the channel again. This time he found what he was looking for. The reporters talked over an amateur video of fuzzy monster-looking things attacking each other. The quality was so bad it was hard to make out what was going on, and the clip so short it repeated before you could get a good grip on it. The reporter explained there have been sightings of “monsters” throughout the world.

The clip changed to a still that sent a shiver down my spine. The blurry shadows distinctly reminded me of something from one of my dreams: A werewolf looking thing attacking a saber tooth tiger.

 Trist sounded choked up when he spoke. “To think your brother thinks I’m their leader….”

I looked at him, confused.

“There’s a war going on, James. A war among Daes. Some people insist we stay hidden, as we always have been. I think, and so do many others, we should join humans. Show them what we truly are, and continue to live in harmony. Until that day, Daes are in danger by the humans’ ignorance. Imagine,” he said, putting a hand on my shoulder, “if one of us were found out, people would go berserk. Fear of the devil and demons will drive the humans to destroy this poor Dae, when all he’s trying to do is live a normal life. I want to stop that from happening.”

I could see where he was coming from. I nodded, but my vision flickered, and suddenly my stomach cried out with anger.

“James! Are you okay?” Trist shouted worriedly. I could only shake my head.

Then the door opened and John stood there. His eyes flared when he saw the situation, and Trist jumped to his feet in surprise/fear.

“Get away from my brother!” John shouted, jumping at my friend. Trist stumbled away.

“The—back—door!” I yelled through gasps. Trist heeded my word and shot through the kitchen. Luckily, John didn’t follow. He was too stunned by my actions.

“Wha— How can you protect him? What did he do to you?”

“Nothing!” I managed, but the pain prevented me from explaining.

John hesitated, but decided to carry me back to my room. When I couldn’t get out a protest, I just collapsed in his arms. The spasm lessened as we went up the stairs, and I was asleep before John even opened my door.