Drawing Bloodlines (10 page)

Suddenly, Nathan’s eyes grew wide again. “Jonas — Lafonda!” he screamed.

Nathan took off running across the field toward the dire
ction he last saw Lafonda and the others. “They were standing by the large speakers,” he muttered. “Next to Jim and.…”

Nathan gasped and immediately stopped in his tracks. He could hear Argus and Chief Rosales fast approaching behind him. “J
onas!” he cried.

Several feet in front of him, Lauren held Jonas at knif
epoint by the neck. Slowly, she forced him backward as she inched toward the stage. Over her shoulder, she caught a glimpse of Luke, Laban, and the two Scarlet Priests escaping through the shadows without her, and she seethed. Jonas tried to struggle free and Lauren pressed the edge of the dagger against his neck.

A bright trickle of blood flowed from his skin and Nathan cringed. “Let him go, Lauren!” he yelled, carefully procee
ding forward. Through the rolling fog, Nathan saw Jim and the security guard lying motionless on the ground. “Let him go … now!”

Soon, Lafonda joined beside Nathan as Jon
athan growled on his other side. “Now!” he demanded, forming a fireball in his hand.

Nathan thought it was almost surreal, as Lauren grinned at him, but in one swift m
otion, she slit Jonas’s throat. There were several gasps and Lauren seemed to take joy in watching Jonas’s body collapse to the ground.

“No!” Nathan screamed. Lauren quickly mixed a drop of Jonas’s blood in a long glass vial and drank it after it turned a sparkling bright blue.

Nathan could feel the pit of his stomach twist in knots as he desperately tried to throw a fireball at her, but Lauren had already vanished through the blue doorway she had created in front of her.

6

A LITTLE BIT CLOSER

In a swirl of blue and white lights, Jonathan was human again as Samantha and Chief Rosales’ faces almost went pale white. “I’m never going to get used to this stuff,” said Chief Rosales, shaking his head.

Immediately, Jonathan knelt down to Nathan’s side. Nathan cradled Jonas’s head in his arms and tried to stop the bleeding from his throat with his hands. “Here!” said Jonathan, removing his white Justin Bloomer T-shirt and handing it to him. “Put this on his neck and apply pressure to it!”

“Somebody, dial 911!” Nathan pleaded. Tears ran from Jonas’s eyes and blood began to e
scape his mouth as he tried to speak.

“We need to get him to the hospital and fast,” said Chief Rosales. “We’re way out here in Lynn Field and you know what happened last time. Argus.” He had a disgruntled look on his face. “You know the ambu
lance won’t get here in time.”

“Then what are we waiting for!” shouted Nathan. “Let’s take him there!”

Chief Rosales paused and for a moment stared at Argus. “Do you want to….”

“No — let’s go!” said Argus. He looked sternly at N
athan. “Can you carry him?”

Nathan nodded eagerly and the shirt he used to apply pressure to Jonas’s wound fell to the ground as he stood up.

“I got it!” said Angela, springing to action. Quickly, she grabbed the knit sweater that was tied around Alan’s waste. She paused to look at Nathan and Jonathan as she used the sweater to apply pressure to Jonas’s wound. “This should work better.”

Jonathan smiled at her and Alan sighed heavily. “Ang
ela!” Alan cried. “That’s Dolce!”

“We’ll need another car,” winced Chief Rosales, staring at the smashed up squad car. “I doubt we’ll get very far in my vehicle.”

“We can take my car,” said Malick, joining the conversation. He smiled reassuringly, but appeared slightly disorientated. “It’s parked right next to yours.”

Chief Rosales looked at Malick skeptically and then A
rgus nodded. “Let’s go then,” he said. He looked painfully at Jonas. “I’m pretty sure this boy here doesn’t have time for you to decide if his offer is good enough or not.”

Quickly, Nathan and the others moved to the back of the field that had served as a temporary parking lot earlier. Most of the cars were gone and Nathan tried to carry Jonas in a way that Angela could continue
to apply pressure to his wound.

“Is this your car?” asked Chief Rosales, su
rprised.

“Yes sir,” said Malick, opening the driver’s side door.

“Uh, what are you doing?” said Chief Rosales, abruptly, and before Malick could climb in. “You really think I’m going to let you drive — not to mention with that big knot on your head?” He took the keys from him and then gestured sternly with his head. “Get in the back seat.”

“We’ll be right behind you guys,” said Lafonda. Her hair was out of place and her face look frazzled. “You’ll drive— right, Angela?”

Angela nodded and then noticed the blood on her hands. “Make sure you keep pressure on that,” she said, quickly, before Chief Rosales could close the door. She smiled weakly at Jonathan and he returned a reassuring smile. “We’ll be right behind you.”

“Wait!” cried Nathan, after the car left the field and pulled on to Route 7. “What about Jon
athan? Isn’t he a Spirit Walker or something?” He looked frantically at Malick. “Why can’t he just take us to the hospital? Doesn’t he have the ability to go between realms?”

Sadly, Malick shook his head. “No,” he said, staring at Chief Rosales and Argus, apprehe
nsively. He lowered his voice. “His ability doesn’t work that way and besides, he can only travel to the Space-In-Between or Spirit Realm while in spirit form.” Swiftly, Malick took off his leather jacket. He then removed his shirt and tried to draw some of the blood that was running down the sides of Jonas’s neck. “And for Jonathan that just happens to be….”

“A black fox,” said Nathan, looking hopefully into J
onas’s eyes. Cautiously, he cradled Jonas’s neck. “Hold on Jonas — please, just hold on, and don’t try to speak.”

“But wait,” whispered Nathan, abruptly. “Why does it work that way for Jonas and Bobby? They can travel to the Spirit Realm.”

“That’s because they’re not Spirit Walkers,” whispered Malick.

Suddenly, Nathan recalled what Jonathan said at the clo
sing ceremony about the smaller symbols around the Firewalker symbol in the caves. “They’re Travelers,” whispered Nathan, slowly. “Bobby and Jonas, they’re Travelers.”

Malick’s eyes grew wide and then after some hesitation, he nodded. “Yes,” he said. “And from the looks of it, so was their father.”

There was a brief silence and then Jonas tried to sit-up. “Stay still!” said Nathan and then Jonas started to cough erratically. “Try to relax. Concentrate on your breathing!”

Soon Jonas started to cough uncontrollably and blood b
egan to spill from his mouth. “Help!” cried Nathan and then Jonas’s entire body went rigid. “We have to do something — I think he’s dying!”

Quickly, Argus turned around from the front passenger seat and then turned to face Chief Rosales. “Jorge,” he said, hesitantly. “He’s no
t going to make it. Pull over.”

“Pull over?” asked Chief Rosales, checking the rearview mirror. “Are you crazy? Are you tr
ying to kill the kid?”

“If we don’t do something now, were going to lose him!” bellowed Argus.

“What do you mean?” shouted Nathan, looking frantically through the back window. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. What do you mean pull over?”

“You know what happened last time,” said Chief Rosales
. “Do you really want this boy’s life on your hands too?”

“What is he talking about?” bellowed Nathan, staring both at Argus and Chief Rosales.

There was a brief silence, but Argus continued to stare at him. “Damn it, Jorge!” shouted Argus, abruptly. “Just pull over!”

Quickly, Chief Rosales checked the rearview mirror again and then Nathan heard the car’s turning signal. “Why on Earth are we pulling over?” asked Nathan, frantically.

Soon, the silver car came to a stop and swiftly, Argus sprung out of the vehicle. “Hurry up and get out of the car!” he said, staring at Malick. “So you can help Nathan carry out Jonas.”

“Please … what’s going on?” cried Nathan, as Malick reached for Jonas’s legs.

“I don’t know,” said Malick, sadly. “But we have to do something, or Jonas isn’t going to make it.”

The night air was still crisp, but the rolling fog that had plagued them earlier had now diss
ipated. “Lay him down in the grass,” said Argus, softly. He paused to look back at the metallic silver Camaro. “Are you going to just sit there in the car?”

“I don’t want any part in this,” said Chief Rosales, watc
hing from the driver’s side window. “If you were going to do this, you should have tried earlier — before we left Lynn Field.”

Jonas lay motionless on the ground. His eyes, now closed, and his lips had turned a dark blue. “We have to do something!” Nathan pleaded, with tears swelling in his eyes. “Please, tell me what’s going on?”

“Look, for now, just step back!” said Argus, getting to his knees. “I don’t have time to explain. Just give me some space to concentrate.”

Argus closed his eyes and then abruptly, stretched his hands out over Jonas’s body. “Please,” he mumbled. “Please, let this work.”

There was a long silence and Nathan began to worry. Over his shoulder, he thought he heard Chief Rosales sigh. Then suddenly, Argus’s body started to tremble and a healthy glow began to emanate from him. In a blink of an eye, the glow consolidated in his hands and then shot out like a rocket. Instantly, the glow filled Jonas’s body and Argus collapsed to the ground.

“Argus!” shouted Nathan, kneeling down to him. His normally tanned skin appeared white and almost matched the color of his silver pon
ytail. “Argus!”

“Nathan!” called Malick, while repeatedly tapping him on the shoulder. “Look — Jonas!”

Nathan turned around just in time to see Jonas spontaneously sit up, but to only fall back down as the white glow left his body. “Jonas!” he cried out and then frantically, he turned toward Malick. “Keep checking on Argus!”

Quickly, Nathan kneeled over Jonas’s body and immed
iately noticed that his chest heaved rapidly. “Jonas!” he cried. Gently, Nathan ran his fingers across Jonas’s neck, and besides the blood, it looked completely healed. “Jonas? Can you hear me? Are you okay?”

Suddenly, Jonas’s eyes popped open and he sat up again. “Nathan,” he said, running his hands frantically across his neck. “I can breathe again — and my neck — it’s completely healed. There’s no more bleeding!”

Nathan smiled wide and immediately gave Jonas a big hug. “Oomph!” sighed Jonas. He struggled to speak. “Do you have to squeeze so hard?”

“Oh, sorry!” said Nathan, energetically and with a smile.

“Nathan!” called Malick. “Argus is waking up — I think he’s going to be alright.”

“Well, I’ll be damn,” said Chief Rosales, with a gaped mouth. “The son of a gun actually did it!” He paused for a moment; turning on the Camaro. “And if it wasn’t for that boy that changed from a dog earlier, I would say I’d seen just about everything.”

“Fox,” murmured Jonas and Nathan in unison.

Nathan turned to look at Argus as Malick slowly helped him to his feet. “It’s not a dog,” he
said with a smile. “It’s a fox.”

7

URGENCY

“Okay,” said Nathan, staring into the fire. He placed his cell phone back into his pocket. “Leah texted that they just pulled into the driveway. Apparently¸ they stopped to take Jim and one of his friends home.”

“Good,” said Argus, who paced the room. His face was still slightly pale and his posture slumped over. “Everyone is safe.”

“Safe?” said Chief Rosales, staring coldly at him. He paused to take a seat on one of the plush leather couches that circled the large fireplace in the den of the Devaro Mansion. “Sergeant Winfrey just called and told me we have two dead security guards and one dead teenage girl out at Lynn Field. Tell me, Argus — you call that safe?” Restless, he sprang up from his seat and stampeded toward him. “Not to mention the countless others we just shipped to the hospital!”

“I’m telling you, Jorge,” said Argus, “this isn’t our fault!”

“Oh, yeah?” said Chief Rosales. “Go ahead and tell me this had nothing to do with what ha
ppened out in the caves a few weeks ago. Go ahead and lie to me Argus, but what in the hell am I supposed to say to that dead girl’s parents?” Heated, he slammed his fist into the wood wall panel. “What am I supposed to say? Another fraternity prank? Give me a break!”

“I don’t need this right now, Jorge,” he sighed. Groggily, he collapsed down unto one of the couches that faced the fireplace. His tanned face still looked peaky, even as the fire from the fireplace reflected a warm light. “That took a lot out of me,” he murmured, underneath his breath. He paused; his head hung down low. “It’s been a long time … a long time….”

“You should count your lucky stars that you were able to save that boy tonight,” grumbled Chief Rosales. “You know that’s not how the story went last time. Because if it did, we would have another body on our hands!”

There was a brief silence and Nathan watched as Jonas slowly made his way back into the den from the bathroom. His hair appeared damp, as if he had just washed his face. His neck was still a little red, but healed all the same. Jonas looked down at his shirt. It was still saturated with blood, but he still managed to force a smile.

“So,” said Nathan. He smiled encouragingly back at Jonas before turning to face Argus. “Are you going to tell us how you were able to perform that magic trick back there?” Nathan sighed heavily, casting his eyes rebelliously toward the fire. Argus remained silent. “I guess that means you’re going to continue to ignore my questions.”

Silence gripped the room and then Nathan pointed dr
amatically toward Jonas. “You can’t expect us to forget about this!” he yelled. “There’s no point in trying to keep this a secret!” Argus turned inquisitively to Chief Rosales, but Chief Rosales remained silent. “Just tell us!” demanded Nathan. “How did you heal Jonas?”

Abruptly, Roy quickly entered the room; followed by Lafonda, Leah, and Samantha. “J
onas!” cried Leah, giving him a big hug. “I can’t believe my eyes — you are okay?”

Nathan looked surprised to see Samantha, but smiled at her. “Your neck,” she said, gently rubbing it with her hand. “It looks as if nothing ever happened.”

Leah smiled wide at Nathan, her eyes gleaming with delight. “When you sent me the text,” she chuckled. “I told the others what you said. But let me tell you — I had a hard time believing it.”

“So, what happened?” asked Lafonda, looking inquis
itively at the faces around the room. “How did Argus heal Jonas’s neck?”

Slowly, Nathan shook his head. “I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I’ve been asking Argus the same thing, and he won’t give me a straight answer.”

“Oh,” said Lafonda, through pursed lips. She paused to cross her arms. “I know how that feels. Welcome to the club.”

Nathan frowned, but Roy started talking before he could speak. “Jonas,” he said, placing his arms on his shoulders. “How about you head over to the cottage and get cleaned up. I’m sure Nathan wouldn’t mind you borrowing some of his clothes.” Roy paused to smile at Nathan, and Nathan no
dded. “And it’s probably best that you don’t mention what happened tonight to Bobby. He was asleep when Lafonda texted me what happened and we don’t want to worry him — besides, there’s nothing to worry about, you’re all better.”

Jonas turned to look at Nathan. Nathan smiled reassurin
gly. “Oh, okay,” he said, with a quick shrug. “That makes sense.”

“Oh and Jonas,” said Roy, calling after him. “You prob
ably shouldn’t tell your….”

“I know,” said Jonas, interrupting him. There was a hint of sadness in his voice. “I won’t be saying anything to my mother.” Jonas smiled weakly and then turned to look at N
athan before leaving. “I guess I’ll see you over there, at the cottage.”

“Okay, well … Argus?” said Roy, clasping his hands t
ogether. “LaDonda is waiting for us and Jorge, in the kitchen.”

Slowly, Argus stood up and followed Roy and Chief Rosales out of the room. “Where is ev
erybody going?” asked Alan, after entering the room behind Angela and Jonathan. “I just ran into Jonas in the hallway — and he looks brand new — but, I can’t say the same thing about my sweater.”

“Oh my God, stop it about the sweater a
lready!” whined Angela. She turned to look at Nathan and then at Malick. “Can somebody tell me what the heck is going on? What was Lauren doing here? And who were her supernatural cronies?”

“That’s what I said,” mumbled Nathan, with a smile.

“It’s not funny, Nathan,” demanded Angela. “The last time I saw a guy in a red cloak, lightning sprung from his fingers!” 

There was a brief silence in the room. Malick and Jon
athan turned to look at Nathan and then Nathan diverted his eyes upward toward the small library that was accessible by a mezzanine, which created a second floor. “They were the Fallen Ones,” blurted Jonathan. Nathan quickly looked back at him and then frowned. “Well, at least two of them: Luke and Laban.”

Angela frantically turned to look into each of their faces. “Why?” she asked. “Why are they here? Are we still in da
nger? Are they coming after us?”

“The Fallen Ones?” asked Samantha. She had a confused look on her face. “You mean like — the Cahokia Legend of the Fallen Ones?”

“Yup,” said Alan, sarcastically. He turned to look at Jonathan. “Well, at least according to our resident archeologist in training here. And I guess it’s safe to say Angela doesn’t find them quite as stud-ly anymore.”

“Shut up, Alan!”
whined Angela, her long and curly blonde hair bouncing readily on her shoulders.

“Look guys
we need to get cloaked,” interrupted Malick. He paused. “Well — at least you guys do.”

“Cloaked?” asked Lafonda. She had a skeptical look on her face. “What do you mean by cloaked.”

Malick paused again, and turned to look at Nathan. “See, I’m already cloaked,” he said, pulling out his silver chain from beneath his black leather jacket. “And from what I can tell, Lauren and the others are tracking you. At least, whenever you guys use your powers.”

“But who were the other guys,” asked Samantha. “If the other two were fallen ones, then who were the guys in red robes — the guys that were praying or performing some kind of–of….”

“Ritual?” said Malick. “They’re Scarlet Priest — servants to some secret order — specializing in necromancy, opening doorways, and other forms of magic.”

He paused. His brown eyes scrutinized Lafonda, Leah, and the others. “And right now, Lauren and the Fallen Ones are using them to track us —well
, track your powers — and that’s why we have to get you guys cloaked.”

Silence gripped the room again and Lafonda’s long dark hair drifted freely off to one side as she stared suspiciously at Malick. “And how is it that you’ve managed to be cloaked already?” She asked, staring at the silver arrowhead that dangled from Malick’s necklace. “And why h
aven’t you told us before?”

“Look,” said Malick, quickly shoving the silver chain back underneath his jacket. “We don’t have time to debate about this. It’s just a matter of time before Lauren comes back….”

“Comes back?” blurted Alan. He turned to look at Angela; his blue eyes were frantic. “And what if Argus isn’t around? I don’t have enough sweaters for this!”

Slowly, Malick nodded. “Yes, she’ll be back,” he said, staring at Nathan. “And I’ve tried warning Nathan before but, regardless, we should leave for London as soon as po
ssible.”

“London?” Lafonda frowned. “And how in the heck are we supposed to do that?” Unconsciou
sly, she began shaking her head, progressively. “Excuse me, grandmother, I’m going to run to London right quick, but I promise I’ll be back before Fall classes start — IUCF classes start in two weeks!”

“Well, if you’re speaking specifically about Move-in Day,” said Jonathan, adjusting his dark, square-rimmed glasses. “Then yes, but technically we have two weeks and two days b
efore the start of classes.”

Quickly, Lafonda tossed her long black hair behind her shoulders and moaned. “Whatever, Jonathan,” she said. “My grandmother — not to mention Roy — is not going to let us go to London.”

“So wait,” said Angela, “all we have to do is go to London and get our own little silver chains? And Lauren and the Fallen Ones are out of our lives for good?” She turned to look at Alan. “And I’m not even sure I even have powers — why do we have to go?”

“We?” asked Alan, defensively. “I know for sure the only power I have is buying power, and my dad just increased the limit on my credit card.”

Angela huffed and then turned to gawk at him. “What?” said Alan, pausing to check his phone. “I’m not the one they kidnapped. They kidnapped you, not me!”

“Thanks a lot, Alan!” grumbled Angela.

“But there’s more,” said Jonathan. His piercing blue eyes seemed to sparkle from beneath his glasses. “Getting cloaked is a start — and I know it will definitely help — but I don’t think that will stop them from coming after the medallion.”

“Medallion?” blurted Lafonda, sounding confused. “What medallion? What makes you think they’re looking for a medallion?”

Jonathan paused, repositioning his glasses on his sharp-angled nose. “Well, see, first,” explained Jonathan. He turned to look at Nathan, but Nathan remained silent. He then turned to Malick and slowly, Malick nodded. “First, Nathan had another dream….”

“Another dream?” shouted Lafonda.

“What?” cried Leah; her hands placed firmly on her hips. “Nathan, why didn’t you tell me?”

The room grew quiet as everyone awaited an answer. The only sound was the crackling of burning wood from the fir
eplace. “Nathan!” shouted Lafonda.

“What?” he said, sounding annoyed. “I didn’t want to worry you or Leah.” Abruptly, Nathan rubbed the back of his neck and began to fiddle with the smooth cylindrical-shaped object in his pocket. “At least not until I was sure there was something to worry about.…”

“See, in Nathan’s dream,” continued Jonathan. “They were looking for the medallion….”

“Who’s they?” interrupted Alan.

“Lauren and the Fallen Ones,” sighed Malick. “They were using it to find the one they seek.”

“Ha!” said Lafonda. She turned to gawk at N
athan before turning to shake her head at Malick. “Of course —
he
would know about the dream already.”

Malick suddenly had a smirk on his face. “What?” he asked, with a sarcastic shrug. “Why are you mad at me?”

“Of course,” repeated Lafonda, rolling her eyes. Nathan frowned. “Why should I expect anything different?”

“And then,” continued Jonathan, his blue eyes twinkling in the light. “It was confirmed that they were indeed looking for the medallion, t
onight, when we used it.”

“Who used it?” asked Angela and Alan in unison.

One by one, everyone began to look around the room until slowly Leah reached into her bag. “Leah!” gasped Lafonda. She stared at the gold and silver crescent-shaped medallion in Leah’s hand. “Why do you … isn’t that the … Leah?”

“Yes,” said Malick
. “That’s the same medallion that Pius was wearing the night Leah, Angela, Jonas and the others were kidnapped by the Shadow Guard.

“What’s the Shadow Guard?” asked Samantha, softly.

Suddenly, silence gripped the room. Samantha waited as Nathan, along with several others, diverted their eyes toward the flickering fire. “Dark entities with swords, created by the Scarlet Priests,” said Malick, abruptly. “The Scarlet Priests created them to guard the passageways they’ve created between our realm and the Space-In-Between.”

Solemnly, Samantha placed her hand on her shoulder. “The dark-hooded guys with no faces that attacked us at Lawrence Hall,” she said.

Samantha turned to look at Nathan, then Jonathan, and then finally Malick nodded. “Leah?” asked Lafonda, pausing to place a comforting hand on Samantha’s shoulder. “Why do you have that? I mean, after everything that has happened … why are you keeping it?

Leah’s brown eyes began to flutter and her knuckles turned a pale white as she clutched the medallion. “I–I don’t know,” she explained. “Everything was happening so fast. I was co
ming down the stone steps at Grimm Cemetery and that’s when I saw it — next to his remains — and I guess I just picked it up.”