baseball
bat. Lightning flashed behind him, peals of thunder rolling over
the ominous skies.
Darkness consumed
him, and my right hand flared. Though I couldn’t see it I knew they
were taking me somewhere to tend to the burning in my hand. Make it go away. Please.
The dark kept me blind but not deaf.
To my relief, after a while the pain did go away, replaced by a
pleasant coolness.
Mom’s teary face loomed out, her skin
shining like a full moon in the night sky. As if a stage light
illuminated her like an actress in a play. She apologized to me in
sentences that made no sense to me, then the dark took her, despite
my pleas for her to stay.
Stan and Nathan appeared instead,
laughing at me. Stan was reading aloud bits of my diary notes. Then
he started tearing out its pages, Nathan roaring with laughter. A
blood line trickled down the side of his face and when Nathan
turned to me, I saw a deep dent in his skull. I recoiled in horror
as he opened his mouth and the static sound escaped his lips.
“You’ve betrayed me, jerk,” he said. “Why didn’t you come with me
to the Swamps?”
I squeezed my eyes, pleading for them
all to leave me, for the screams beside me to stop. After a while
they were gone. No one came out of the dark anymore.
***
I came around to someone’s frantic
voices whispering next to me. Whoever it was, they were trying to
speak quietly. Instead, their whispering in high pitches made me
wince.
I opened my eyes just a crack, bright
light burning my corneas. I moaned and turned away from it. When I
tried to lift my hand to shield my face from the brightness,
millions of electric currents shot through my wrist.
“Ouch!”
“ Don’t move, Cal,” Bev’s
voice echoed in my head. “You need to be careful with your
hand.”
I squinted at her. “Cal? You called me
Cal? Where’s your ‘sissy-pants’?” I asked, then heard a soft
chuckle nearby. I raised my head to see Vivian sitting next to Bev
in an armchair. A shade of a smile tugged at the corner of her
lips, but her eyes were filled with concern. The strand of hair was
still falling down her cheek.
“ What happened?” I asked.
I knew I had to stop leering at Vivian and look anywhere else, but
I couldn’t. My heart thumped so hard I was afraid she might hear
it.
I was sprawled over the couch in our
living room. My arm in plaster, a splitting headache, girls
watching over me. It couldn’t be right. Unless something terrible
had happened.
Screams. Fire. Black pillars of smoke.
The meeting with Aiden Blackwell.
I remembered it all at once. What was
I thinking running at him like that? Blinding rage I’d never felt
before had surged through me. I wanted that man to suffer. How come
I had his blood in me?
Bev’s eyes glistened with tears. I
suddenly remembered why.
“ Wayne and Terry,” I
gasped. “Where are they?”
Beverly cupped her face, her hair
streaming down her shoulders as she bent her head to hide her
feelings. Vivian put a comforting hand over my sister’s shoulder,
then tucked the loose strand behind her ear with the
other.
“ He took them to the
Swamps,” Vivian said. “The chief and his crew are looking for
them.”
“ Why would that man do
it?” Bev asked. “Who can do such terrible things?”
I sat up straight, ignoring the
nagging feeling in my wrist. “That man? Don’t you know it yet?” I
asked in disbelief, glancing at Vivian then back at my
sister.
“ Know what?” Bev
said.
Vivian shook her head. “That might not
be a good idea,” she said.
“ Why? She has to know,” I
insisted.
“ Hey, can anyone tell me
what the hell’s going on?” Bev stormed. The look in her eyes told
me she was desperate, and I suspected Terry was the
reason.
“ Our father’s not dead,” I
said. “I don’t know why, but Mom kept feeding us that lie all these
years. It was our father—Aiden Blackwell—there. I’m pretty much
sure it was he who had taken Greg, Nathan and Audrey.”
Bev’s eyes
bat. Lightning flashed behind him, peals of thunder rolling over
the ominous skies.
Darkness consumed
him, and my right hand flared. Though I couldn’t see it I knew they
were taking me somewhere to tend to the burning in my hand. Make it go away. Please.
The dark kept me blind but not deaf.
To my relief, after a while the pain did go away, replaced by a
pleasant coolness.
Mom’s teary face loomed out, her skin
shining like a full moon in the night sky. As if a stage light
illuminated her like an actress in a play. She apologized to me in
sentences that made no sense to me, then the dark took her, despite
my pleas for her to stay.
Stan and Nathan appeared instead,
laughing at me. Stan was reading aloud bits of my diary notes. Then
he started tearing out its pages, Nathan roaring with laughter. A
blood line trickled down the side of his face and when Nathan
turned to me, I saw a deep dent in his skull. I recoiled in horror
as he opened his mouth and the static sound escaped his lips.
“You’ve betrayed me, jerk,” he said. “Why didn’t you come with me
to the Swamps?”
I squeezed my eyes, pleading for them
all to leave me, for the screams beside me to stop. After a while
they were gone. No one came out of the dark anymore.
***
I came around to someone’s frantic
voices whispering next to me. Whoever it was, they were trying to
speak quietly. Instead, their whispering in high pitches made me
wince.
I opened my eyes just a crack, bright
light burning my corneas. I moaned and turned away from it. When I
tried to lift my hand to shield my face from the brightness,
millions of electric currents shot through my wrist.
“Ouch!”
“ Don’t move, Cal,” Bev’s
voice echoed in my head. “You need to be careful with your
hand.”
I squinted at her. “Cal? You called me
Cal? Where’s your ‘sissy-pants’?” I asked, then heard a soft
chuckle nearby. I raised my head to see Vivian sitting next to Bev
in an armchair. A shade of a smile tugged at the corner of her
lips, but her eyes were filled with concern. The strand of hair was
still falling down her cheek.
“ What happened?” I asked.
I knew I had to stop leering at Vivian and look anywhere else, but
I couldn’t. My heart thumped so hard I was afraid she might hear
it.
I was sprawled over the couch in our
living room. My arm in plaster, a splitting headache, girls
watching over me. It couldn’t be right. Unless something terrible
had happened.
Screams. Fire. Black pillars of smoke.
The meeting with Aiden Blackwell.
I remembered it all at once. What was
I thinking running at him like that? Blinding rage I’d never felt
before had surged through me. I wanted that man to suffer. How come
I had his blood in me?
Bev’s eyes glistened with tears. I
suddenly remembered why.
“ Wayne and Terry,” I
gasped. “Where are they?”
Beverly cupped her face, her hair
streaming down her shoulders as she bent her head to hide her
feelings. Vivian put a comforting hand over my sister’s shoulder,
then tucked the loose strand behind her ear with the
other.
“ He took them to the
Swamps,” Vivian said. “The chief and his crew are looking for
them.”
“ Why would that man do
it?” Bev asked. “Who can do such terrible things?”
I sat up straight, ignoring the
nagging feeling in my wrist. “That man? Don’t you know it yet?” I
asked in disbelief, glancing at Vivian then back at my
sister.
“ Know what?” Bev
said.
Vivian shook her head. “That might not
be a good idea,” she said.
“ Why? She has to know,” I
insisted.
“ Hey, can anyone tell me
what the hell’s going on?” Bev stormed. The look in her eyes told
me she was desperate, and I suspected Terry was the
reason.
“ Our father’s not dead,” I
said. “I don’t know why, but Mom kept feeding us that lie all these
years. It was our father—Aiden Blackwell—there. I’m pretty much
sure it was he who had taken Greg, Nathan and Audrey.”
Bev’s eyes
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