Alina's Crossing: Guardians of Terrin (6 page)

Jeb was so calm.
‘You will just have to throw me overboard
Alina.’

‘Oh sure, it was that easy.’
I thought.

Jeb was steering the boat and
looking behind us repeatedly. He would make adjustments on the wheel, a small
correction here, another correction there, and, whether intentional or not, his
actions displayed confidence that he did in fact know what he was doing and
where we were going.

"Jeeeebbbbb!" I said
loudly, after noticing the Shadow was swiftly going to be able to overtake us.

"It's so close. What do we
do, what do we do?" I yelled.

I was past the point of
idleness.

I was not going to just sit and
wait for this thing to overtake us. I was a person who always needed to do
something. I had to be in control of as much in my life as I could and right
now I was just a sitting duck on a pretty motorboat with a ripped skirt and no
shoes.

The Shadow was now almost on
us, swirling towards us in a purposeful and menacing approach. It looked
different from the last time I saw it.

It was blacker and angrier.

Maybe the light was different
since we were outdoors instead of indoors, or, maybe I was just too scared the
last time I encountered it to make a mental note of its full appearance. Now
that I knew what it was and what it could do, I was frightened.

 
“Alina, come to the wheel.” said Jeb and for
once I did as I was told.

I needed to be next to Jeb.

The Shadow was almost on us and
we were perilously alone out here in the ocean. I hadn't seen another person or
boat since we stole the one we were on.

I started looking for
something, anything, I could use as a weapon and settled on an oar that was
stowed in a long cubby on the side of the boat. I held it up like a bat and
stood ready.

“What are you going to do with
that?” asked Jeb with a laugh. “It's smoke! It will go right through it. But if
the Shadow does infect me, go ahead and use that to knock me off the boat so I
can't hurt you.”

“What do you mean you will hurt
me?” I asked, concerned.

“The Shadow takes over your
body and makes you do whatever Shael wants you to do. In this case, he will
probably have me kill you since he knows you are the person that will try to
stop him.” explained Jeb.

“So, that's what the Shadow
does? It’s like a vapor drone or something?” I asked. That was a frightening
realization.

“I don't know what a vapor
drone is. The Shadow is how Shael brings our people into forced submission.
Shael doesn't actually do any of the dirty work himself. He takes people over using
the Shadow and makes them hurt each other. That is why he must be stopped.
There is no free will. You are always at risk and you never know what you might
do or who you might hurt until it’s too late.” Jeb explained.

I didn't say another word.

I crept behind Jeb and watched
as the Shadow continued to fly over the water at an alarming speed. It was
almost close enough to overtake the boat. Jeb turned the wheel once more and I
thought for a split second I felt Jeb relax. I hoped that meant we were almost
to Jaffee and it would not go down the way Jeb had prepared me for.

Jeb turned toward me and
smiled.

He touched my face lightly,
leaned in and kissed my forehead. It wasn't romantic and it wasn't platonic
either. The kiss was like he was saying goodbye or saying sorry. I smiled back
and watched as the Shadow made its final approach.

 
It settled over the back of the boat, matching
the boats speed and direction. I saw Jeb tie a strap to the steering wheel and
then secure it to a hook on the side of the boat. Jeb tested the wheel, making
sure it was tight and would not move. Jeb then separated himself from me,
hoping it would come to him first. I clutched the oar I held in my hand tighter
and moved over to the wheel of the boat, my hand on it tightly, as Jeb had
instructed.

“Remember, keep north and try
to knock me off the boat. Do not hesitate. Do you understand?” asked Jeb.

I shook my head yes and prayed that
I wouldn't have to do it. Whether I could do what he asked was an entirely
different thing.

The Shadow was hovering above
us like a vulture eyeing its prey.

It would look like it was going
to dive for us then snapped back to its original spot. Then a few seconds
later, it did it again, snapping back up.

It was playing games.

With no warning, its black mist
churned itself into a smooth pipeline of smoke, diving from its location above
us. It headed straight for Jeb like a flying snake. Before I could blink, the Shadow
had infiltrated Jeb, entering his body through his eyes.

 
Jeb's body went rigid.

I saw his body quiver for a few
seconds once the Shadow had fully engulfed Jeb, his whole body reacting to the
infection of the evil magic.

His body went still, his back
still turned from me.

 
I kept my hand on the steering wheel, turning
quickly to check that the compass was still on the course Jeb had laid out. I
turned back around and saw that Jeb, or the Shadow, had also turned around and
was staring at me.

Jeb's face was contorted with
the evil that had invaded him.

“Alina.” He said, as if we knew
each other. “Your grandmother did a fine job of hiding you from me.” He was
very slowly creeping towards me. Jeb's voice now had a menacing quality to it.
It was Jeb's voice, just darker.

I said nothing as I checked the
compass again. It was still pointing north.

 
‘How
much longer is it to the island?’
I thought, my panic growing by the
second.

“You've had an interesting day,
haven't you?” he said in Evil Jeb's voice. He cocked his head to the side.

I still said nothing.

“You do know who I am don't
you?” he said angrily.

At this point he was several
feet away from me. The next instant he jumped higher and smoother than a normal
human person could possibly jump. He landed perfectly and gracefully, like a
cat, his movements fluid and extremely precise.

He then started to laugh at the
horrified reaction on my face. The sound was vile and gut wrenching.

“My whole life has been
consumed with finding you. To kill you.” He said. His face was twisted with
evil humor.

He was baiting me but I wasn't
going to let him get to me. I was going to follow Jeb's directions and keep the
boat pointing north.

I would try to save us both if
I could.

He cocked his head to the other
side and then back again, as if someone else was talking to him.

Or fighting him.

Evil Jeb's eyes turned hard and
cold.

I knew I needed to be on my
toes so I could react quickly. The change in his eyes told me something was
going to happen.

Jeb's body then started to
convulse and contort. For a split second I saw part of the Shadow retreat from
Jeb's body, the dark smoke almost like an aura surrounding Jeb. It was then
that Jeb was able to gain some kind of control of his body back. He smiled at
me and started to run towards the side of the boat at an attempt to jump off,
but it was short-lived. The Shadow was dragged back inside Jeb's body by an
unseen force.

The force of the Shadow’s
reentry into Jeb made him fly backwards away from the side of the boat, landing
roughly on the floor, crashing his head into one of the stands that held a
captain's chair. Evil Jeb stood up quickly, un-phased, testing the control of
Jeb’s body.
 

Then he lunged at me.

I jumped and screamed, and,
reacting out of self-defense, hit him with the oar, sending him flying
backwards. I actually hadn't meant to strike him, it had just been a reflex,
self-preservation and instinct having taken over automatically.

Evil Jeb moved a little bit on
the floor of the boat and groaned but recovered quickly.

I steadied myself for another
go, adrenaline coursing through my veins. No way was this THING going to hurt
me or Jeb. I didn't know where this feeling of control and power came from but
I liked it.

It felt good not to be scared.

 I checked the compass
again. We were still on the right course.

I prepared myself for another
attack as Evil Jeb righted himself, rising from the floor in one fluid movement.
He didn't even use his limbs to brace himself to rise, he just flew upright
onto his feet.

“You will pay for that!” he
threatened.

“Try me!” I replied with full
on anger.

I was mad and I dared him to
mess with me. My adrenaline was pumping hard and fast and I was prepared to
defend myself.

“So, you do speak. How nice.”
Evil Jeb said sarcastically.

I saw Evil Jeb turn his head
towards the back of the boat, his lips displaying a small, knowing smile. He
turned from me, opening one of the bench seats that had a storage compartment.
He grabbed something, but I couldn't see what it was. Once he righted himself,
I saw a large fishing knife in his hands. He held the knife pointed out to me
in a threatening manner but didn't make a move towards me. I readied myself,
desperation overtaking the confidence I once had, knowing full well I very
probably would now have to jump off the boat to save my own life.

The knife was still pointed at
me and Evil Jeb made no move for what seemed like an eternity.  He stood
there face-to-face with me, aiming the knife at me. As fast as lighting, Evil
Jeb finally made a move, but not the move I had expected.

Evil Jeb took the knife and
plunged it into Jeb's chest.

I screamed, automatically
running over to aid Jeb, stopping short when I remembered that wasn't really
Jeb.

 
I felt helpless.

I moved back to my station by the
wheel of the boat.

Evil Jeb slowly removed the
knife from Jeb's chest, smiling as he did. The once beautiful boat was now
covered in blood.

 
I was so focused on how to help Jeb that I
didn't notice when Evil Jeb lunged at me again. I was just about to react, but it
turned out it wouldn’t be necessary.

 
The Shadow shot out of Jeb's body and he fell
backwards again from the force of the Shadow’s hasty retreat.

I could see that it was trying
to follow us but it was blocked by an invisible barrier. I couldn't see
anything that would be blocking it but I was so grateful for whatever was keeping
the Shadow away from us.

I turned to look back at the
compass and I gasped.

There was a gigantic,
mountainous island before me that wasn't there a few seconds ago.

Jeb's moans and groans brought
my attention back to him.

I shut off the engine of the
boat, knowing we were safe. The boat was gently swaying with the waves, now
moving slowly only by the current.

 I crept over to Jeb, oar
in hand, just in case.

There was blood everywhere.

Jeb wasn't moving much, though
he did have his hand covering his wound and he was breathing heavily and
erratically.

“Jeb, is that you?” I asked
nervously.

 
“Yes, Alina, it's me.” he said breathlessly.
He was obviously in pain.

“Did the Shadow....?” Jeb
didn't finish because I had lunged myself at him, so happy that he was ok. I
saw him wince in pain and he cried out, but I didn't care.

 
“Yes it did and I did what you said, I knocked
you with the oar and you went flying!” I said with a big cheeky grin.

“He stabbed you though.” I said
stupidly.

I think we both knew he had
been stabbed. I was just blabbering. Coming off the adrenaline rush I just had,
plus the jubilation knowing we had crossed over into the 2nd Realm and we were
both alive was making me excited and slap happy.

“Yes, I can feel it. Can you
kindly get off of me because I apparently have been hit by an oar and then
stabbed and the particular spot you are leaning on is agonizing.” groaned Jeb.

“Oh, sorry. Let me look at the
wound.” I said, undoing his homemade shirt, uncovering his wound.

“It looks like the bleeding has
stopped. That's good. It’s pretty deep though. Let me see if there is a first
aid kit somewhere around here. Stay there.” I said. I set to work, flying open
bins and throwing open all the seat covers I could find.

I was ecstatic when I found a
kit.

I rushed back to Jeb and tended
the wound as best I could with the limited supplies I found. Antiseptic and a
few large bandages would have to suffice.

“Here, let me help you up.” I
said, tossing the now unneeded oar into the back of the boat.