8 May 2007 When the phone rang, I almost didn’t answer. I had been half asleep, and I could ignore the noise of the phone vibrating on my night stand, and given how little I’d been able to sleep the last few days it was very tempting. Honestly, I only checked who it was out of some meager hope it was going to be Alice. It wasn’t, which wasn’t much of a surprise. I hadn’t heard from her since she asked for space and ran off to England. As if going halfway around the world wouldn’t be space enough if I didn’t know that that’s what it was. What did surprise me, however, was that it was Benedict. It shouldn’t have surprised me. I’d called him about the Brood of Nachash the day before we confronted them, hopeful that he and Akshainie would be able to help. But I had to leave a voice mail, and then everything happened, and I guess it wasn’t forefront in my mind anymore. “Benedict,” I said, answering the call. “You left me a voice mail that you had found the Brood preparing for a ritual?” “That was a week ago, man.” He cursed under his breath in German for a moment before returning to the call. “What happened?” “We confronted them.” “Who?” “Me, Alice, Jackie, and Rick.” “Rick?” “You met him at the funeral.” “Oh, right. What happened?” “We…I think we won.” “What does that mean?” “They opened a portal. The guy with the burned face was thrown into it. We…we lost Rick in the process.” “What’s the closest body of water to you?” “Uh…probably the Shenango River? It’s right downtown. But—” “See you soon.” He hung up and I stared at the phone for a minute before rolling over. I was nearly asleep when I heard a pounding on the front door. I grumbled and pulled one of the pillows over my head and tried to ignore it, until Jackie threw my door open a few minutes later. “It’s Benedict and Akshainie,” she said. “Get dressed and come downstairs.” “I’m supposed to be resting,” I reminded her. “If you can come downstairs for a bottle of vodka you didn’t think I’d notice was missing, you can come down for this!” She slammed the door and I heard her go back down the stairs. She was right, of course. I was allowed to move around now, which is how I got up to my room in the first place, it just hurt like hell to be very active. “You’re late,” I said when I was reaching the bottom of the stairs. “We had to fight the bastards without you.” “We were dealing with a situation,” Benedict answered. In the time it’d taken me to get downstairs, he’d apparently managed to get his hands on a cup of coffee. He was alone in the living room. “Where are the girls?” “Downstairs, looking for information on a spell. What happened to you?” “Got stabbed again. And some other shit.” “I feel like you don’t take knives seriously enough until they’re in you.” “I’ll keep that in mind.” I sat down on my recliner and laid it back. “So what were you doing?” “Something that wasn’t important enough to miss what you were doing, I’m afraid. I didn’t get your call until we were done. Tell me more about what happened. You said it was the Barzai?” “It was the same guy that I saw at that warehouse. You’re the one who calls him the Barzai.” “Me and his whole cult. Tell me about this portal.” So I did. I told him about the ritual, and the things trying to come through the portal, and how Rick threw himself and the Barzai through and the portal closed behind them. He listened without interruption, and once I was done, he leaned back and thought for a little while. “So we don’t know if the Barzai is actually neutralized?” he asked. “Not unless we can find his body over wherever they landed,” I answered. “I may have some thoughts on that,” Jackie said. I turned to look just as she entered the room from the kitchen carrying a book and her backpack. Akshainie was close behind. “Akshainie tells me there are paths through the metaphysical realm that we can use to reach the other end of the portal!” “Really? And how will you know which road to take?” “Roads,” Akshainie corrected. As Jackie sat down on the couch next to Benedict and checked the contents of her bag, Akshainie stood with her arms crossed and looked me over. “You look like shit.” “I must be recovering, then.” “Good. I’ll guide Jackie through the roads to the Deeper Realms. Benedict can stay here and keep an eye on you.” “I don’t recall us discussing that,” Benedict said. “We didn’t. But this is how it has to be. You would be hopelessly lost out there, and I’m told Matteson should not be alone.” “I’m sure I’d manage,” I said. “Barely. I’ll need two spells at least,” Jackie said. “One to step into the metaphysical realm, and another to track the energy signature of the portal spell.” She opened the book and showed me a page. “We found what we needed for those two already, and have them memorized. This one, and a couple others in this book, will keep me from starving or something if the realms get weird or we’re separated from crucial supplies.” “The realms will absolutely get weird,” Akshainie added. “Oh, good,” I said. “When are you doing this?” “Rick can’t wait,” Jackie said, standing and closing the book. She slipped it into her backpack and put that on. “If we’re lucky, he landed or found his way to somewhere that had food and water, and got away from the Barzai. If not, he’s already going to be near death. Or worse.” “We’re going to the river,” Akshainie said, “where your influence can’t ruin the spells. We’ll use the River Network to reach Iravati. I know the roads from there.” “Be careful,” Benedict said. “We will return.” With that, Akshainie and Jackie left, while Benedict and I sat in silence. “Well,” I finally said, “what do you wanna do while they’re gone?” “Worry,” Benedict answered. He knocked back the rest of his coffee and stood. “But I’m sure we can find a more productive use of our time.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorThe blog of John Matteson. Boost on TopWebFictionTall Tales: Volume Two now available
Archives
September 2022
Categories
All
|
Story Blogs |
Resources |