Portal Combat (16 page)

"You must be a hit with the lady Lychos."

When the creature lunged for his face, Ted released the grip in one hand and punched the creature right in the neck. When it clutched at its throat, Ted rolled away and pushed himself up to standing. The train grew louder as it approached.

As Ted tried to bring the fight closer to the tracks, one of the creatures snatched him up by the back of his neck and lifted him off the ground. He felt the claws cut at his skin. Ted jerked back and forth until he slipped through the creature's grasp, sending him back to the ground. He got up right away. When the Lychos reached for Ted again, he jumped over the paw and grabbed hold of the creature's shoulder. Ted pulled himself up onto its back and started boxing it beside the ears.

"This is for going on the carpet."

The Lychos howled in pain and lurched forward, flipping Ted into the air. He landed on his feet before viewing the white light of the train fast approaching. The ground shook beneath his feet.

"I'm gonna have to time this right."

Both Lychos seemed to have already recovered from his assault. He watched the saliva drip from their sharp fangs. The creatures extended their claws until they looked like pale, white knives.

"We got off to a rough start, guys, but with enough training, I think we can get back on track."

The beasts charged after him and Ted slipped underneath their claws, running at full speed for the train tracks. He wondered if Natalie would be proud of his fifty-yard dash time as he pushed his legs to bring him up the slight incline. The sound of the train surrounded him and drowned out the noise of the approaching creatures. Ted's eardrums rattled and the ground shook beneath his feet as he reached the edge of the track. The train's whistle blared as the operator saw the boy on the tracks. Ted continued to run at full speed with the beasts right behind him.

I'm not gonna make it.

The train bore down on him and sparks flew as the operator tried to use the breaks. Ted put every last ounce of strength into his legs. He leapt past the other side of the tracks, his left foot barely clearing the engine as he tumbled to the ground.

He barely heard the loud "whap" sound over the skidding of the breaks, but when Ted turned back, he saw that the train had smashed into the creatures at full speed. The locomotive sent both of the Lychos flying, with one ending up on each side of the tracks. Sparks from the train's still-engaged brake system illuminated the broken creature nearest Ted. His powers restored, Ted felt himself lift off the ground and move toward the beast. The massive creature was broken and bloody. He sat down beside it. On one of its arms, he spied the black tattoos that indicated it was a dark soul.

"As if you needed an advantage." Ted watched as the train finally came to a complete stop. With the noise diminished, he heard something else.

"Ted!"

Between two cars, Ted saw Allison come into view. One arm hung limp at her side, but at least she was alive. Ted flew through the gap and landed in front of her.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Allison wrapped her good arm around Ted. She was shivering from the ordeal.

Ted hugged her back. "Don't worry. They're dead."

He looked to his left to verify. The Lychos on that side of the tracks appeared to have been struck even worse than its counterpart had. Ted looked back at Allison. The sweet smell of her hair filled his nostrils.

She breathed deeply into his chest. "I have not been trained for this."

Ted smirked. "What? They don't simulate an invasion by giant dogs from another dimension?"

Allison pulled away from Ted. "Nope. I'll tell them to update the manual."

As Ted felt the adrenaline leave his body, the train and the forest around him began to spin. He reached for his head and bent one knee onto the ground.

Allison crouched down and put her arm over his shoulders. "Ted?"

Her voice seemed to echo as everything started to go dark. He looked at his makeshift tourniquet. The blood had seeped all the way through and it was damp to the touch.

"Hospital."

Ted watched Allison pull out her phone as he grew more and more weak. Ted swore he heard Allison calling his name when the world around him slipped away.

Chapter 27

Jennifer was trapped. Sandra, the former waitress and now devilish dark soul, stood to her left. Yarrick, the Russian brute from Nigel's gang, was to her right. If she tried to run and jump off the stage, it was likely the Torello twins would kill her. There was only one complication. Mr. Faraday, a teacher whose praises she'd sung throughout the school, was in Yarrick's clutches. She fought back tears and looked at her options.

I need to help him. They'll kill him for sure.

Sandra cackled. "Come on, Jen. Aren't you going to save your teacher?"

Yarrick tightened his grip around Faraday's neck. Her teacher struggled to get air past the Russian's massive forearm.

"Jennifer." Faraday's voice was all rasp. "Please!"

Jennifer's heart felt primed to explode from her chest. She took a few steps toward the Russian.

"So timid." Yarrick grinned. "It is like she wants teacher to die."

Jennifer felt Sandra closing in on her from behind. She took one more step toward Yarrick before she cut toward the backstage door.

"Jennifer!" Faraday's scream was loud and clear despite the blocked airways. "No!"

Jennifer's very being wanted to turn around, but she resisted the effort. She gripped the handle to the backstage door and slammed it behind her.

She expected to be in the hallway that led to two adjacent dressing rooms. Instead, she saw the high ceilings of Mr. Patel's office building. Her hand was no longer on the door to the school auditorium. It was gripping the handle to the large glass door that had locked behind her.

"What're you doing?!"

She caught Dhiraj's eyes. He appeared to be filled with terror. She turned away and saw the brainwashed mob approaching on the other side of the glass.

"Come on!" Dhiraj ran back toward her and pulled at her arm.

Jennifer was petrified and couldn't move a single muscle. "I can't!"

Dhiraj grunted as he tried to lift her. "We need to go!"

The members of the mob began pounding on the glass. While it had previously seemed impenetrable, cracks began to show.

"I'm too scared." Jennifer could hear the defeat in every syllable she spoke. "Let me die."

"No!" Dhiraj lifted her off the ground.

He'd only taken a single step when the glass shattered behind them. As broken shards landed on the ground, a series of hands reached through the door and pulled at Dhiraj's back. Jennifer fell to the ground, landing on the broken glass. When she looked behind her, Dhiraj had been completely pulled through the door. 

"Jennifer!"

The mob began tearing at her boyfriend's clothes. She once again felt helpless. Jennifer reached toward him.

"I'm sorry, Dhiraj." She turned away and ran. "I'm sorry."

Dhiraj's pained screams echoed through the lobby as Jennifer hit the elevator button. She stepped inside and the doors closed behind her with a ding.

When they opened up, Jennifer was no longer indoors. She walked out into the forest clearing just outside the Treasure city limits. Jennifer saw two people in the distance and walked toward them. She could feel her body shivering, though she couldn't tell if it was from the cold or the sights she'd seen. As Jennifer got closer, she made out the figures before her.

Erica LaPlante, clad in her cheerleader attire, had just put her arms around Deputy Daly.

Jennifer felt the life seep out of her. "No."

She watched as Daly pulled a knife out of his jeans. Jennifer stared straight ahead. It was as if she were a tree planted in the ground, unable to do anything but witness the impending murder. Daly thrust his knife into Erica's side. As her friend crumpled to the ground in pain, Erica looked straight into Jennifer's eyes.

"Save me!" The blood streamed out of Erica's side. "Jennifer!"

As Erica mentioned her name, Daly looked straight up at her. He took another knife out of his jeans, this one much longer and sharper. Jennifer's body shook.

She took one last glance at her dying friend. "I can't." Jennifer fled at top speed into the mouth of the cave.

Before long, she ran into a dead end. She felt around on the stone for a way to escape. Jennifer turned around when she heard the sound of footsteps. While she assumed it would be Daly, she saw something completely different. Ted, Erica, Dhiraj, Natalie and her father stood in front of her. They all shared the same look: pity.

Erica approached her, brandishing the sword. She shook her head. "You could've helped us, Jen. You should've helped."

Before Jennifer could reply, Erica slashed the sword directly through her face. A sharp cut of pain spread through her cheek as the alarm brought her out of slumber.

Jennifer sat up in her bed with tears in her eyes. It took her a minute to recognize the ringing sound of the alarm. After she shut it off, she sat there in silence as long as she could, head in hands.

"All your friends are fine. It's all gonna be okay."

Her attempt to comfort herself wasn't completely true. Ted was in a hospital in North Carolina. She had no idea where Erica and Yoshi were, but she missed her friend something fierce. The field hockey suspension gave her nothing but time to think, and most of those thoughts brought her great pain. While Jeannie Moss now worshipped the ground she walked on, that wasn't enough to stop the emotions that accompanied these recurring nightmares.

Jennifer smiled and nodded through Dhiraj's entirely one-sided conversation on the way to school. Part of her wanted to tell him about everything. About the suspension. About the fear that exploded within her whenever she closed her eyes. She felt like she'd done enough to him in her dreams – there was no need to give him anything to worry about in real life.

Besides, she figured Dhiraj was dealing with Ted's hospitalization in his trademark way: by avoiding the subject. If he was allowed to gloss over the fact that his best friend needed several bags of blood transfused into his body, then wasn't she permitted to lie about field hockey and her general disposition?

By the time lunch rolled around, Jennifer could barely keep her eyes open. Dhiraj sat by her side as Natalie and Travis ate across from them. Natalie's boyfriend had taken Erica's old seat, and the whole lunchroom conspired to keep the fifth seat open. That's where Ted used to sit.

"Cents?" Dhiraj tapped Jennifer on the shoulder. Wherever she'd been, it certainly wasn't in range of the conversation.

She forced a smile. "Sorry, what?"

He grinned back. "I was just talking about the gatekeeper. What do you think she's up to?"

Jennifer had enough demons she was dealing with in her head. It was overwhelming to consider fighting off something that could actually fight back.

"I don't know." She opened her eyes wide to keep herself awake. "You were the ones who saw her. Not me."

Dhiraj put his arm around her. "I know. You're just such a good sleuth. You're like a hot version of Sherlock Holmes."

Jennifer couldn't resist the eye roll. "Elementary, my dear boyfriend… I've got nothing." She gestured across the table. "What about you guys?"

Travis scratched his head. Jennifer didn't mind his presence at the table, though Dhiraj had put up resistance about letting him into the inner circle. Natalie said it was either let him in or watch her leave.

Travis put down his sandwich. "Does it make any kind of shape when you connect the dots?"

Jennifer flipped over her napkin and pulled a pencil out of her backpack. For all her lack of rest, she was able to draw a fairly accurate map of the U.S. The other three stared in awe at her capabilities.

"A mapmaker, too?" Dhiraj kissed her cheek. "Maybe your Halloween costume should be a sexy cartographer."

Natalie tossed a fry that landed right between Dhiraj's eyes. "Shut it, puppy love."

Jennifer stifled a laugh and connected the dots between Treasure, Florida and North Carolina. "It just looks like a line so far."

Natalie snatched the napkin from Jennifer. She stared at the three points on the makeshift map. "What do the attacks have in common?"

Jennifer strained to form a coherent thought. Each of the attacks had been so different. The Florida hurricane incident involved the kidnapping of a young girl. The attack in Treasure was more like a robbery. The last one was more public than the other two had been and eight people remained missing. Judging by the pictures of the Lychos, she wouldn't be surprised if they'd been digested.

Dhiraj interrupted her thoughts with the bite of a carrot stick. "I don't know. Maybe Erica and Yoshi'll find something."

Jennifer pictured Erica going up against a gang of Lychos and Draconfolk. She saw the protector fending off one or two before ultimately succumbing to the swarm.

She pouted. "I don't know. I worry about her."

Natalie flared her nostrils. "Come on. I know she's your friend, but she's got a freakin' samurai by her side. Besides, she isn't exactly dainty."

Jennifer thought back to her dreams and the blood dripping from Erica's side. She chewed on her lip. "I know. I just wish she were here."

Dhiraj glanced over at the empty chair and sighed. "I wish they were both here."

Travis slapped the table and they all perked up. "Quit whining, you guys." He put his arm around Natalie. "Soak this up. Who knows where we'll all be next year."

Jennifer took in a deep breath. She didn't mind the subject change one bit.

Natalie removed Travis' hand from her body. "Um, I'll be on national TV kicking butt for some school that's lucky to have me."

Dhiraj grinned. "I'll be running Ted Finley LLC while rocking a 4.0 at Harvard."

Dhiraj's eyes fixed on Jennifer's. She wanted to answer it in just the way he wanted, but they hadn't talked much about their future. At least, she hadn't.