The Box Omnibus #1 (The Box, The Journal, The Sword) (5 page)

“He’s turning,” I say while pointing out the window at the truck. The turn signal flashes and he’s clearly slowing down. “Don’t lose sight of him, remember? Go go go.”

“Yeah, I see. Shut up.”

“Well, maybe if you got a little closer...”

“When you get your license, then you can criticize my driving. Wait, no. You can never criticize my driving, now shut up.”

I clamp my mouth closed as she takes the turn a little too fast and squeals the tires on driveway. Despite how dark it is out, I can see there’s a house at the end of the road, along with a few old barns that should have fallen down years ago. Weeds and grass have overtaken the field off to the right and trees block in our left. As we get closer to the house, the chipped and faded paint job and electrical wiring not attached to the side of the building tell me no one’s lived here for a long time. At least no one with electricity. Mom would not approve.

The man in the trench coat climbs out of the truck as Cindy puts the car in park. He pulls our door open and tells us to get out and follow him with a single jerk of his head.

“Relax,” Cindy says. “Guys like this are all show.”

I think she’s actually trying to be encouraging, but it’s not helping. All I want to do is run and scream and hide under the covers of my bed. I clutch my necklace as I get out of the car, both to keep Al from being jostled around too much, and for comfort.

“He said he’s working for someone,” Al says quietly enough I don’t think Cindy hears. “He shouldn’t do anything to you until the other person says so. You should be safe for now.”

Instantly I feel a little bit calmer. It’s stupid since he’s not telling me everything will be okay, only we might have time. Still, it’s better than anything Cindy said
so far.

We’re led toward one of the barns rather than to the slightly less frightening house as I expected. The wood walls stink of
mould, mildew and other smells I don’t recognize and don’t want to think about. Is this where the creature has been living? It seems comfortable as it goes directly to a corner of straw, circles three times and curls up into a ball. I would say it went to sleep right then and there, except the eyes on one of the heads stay open and stare directly at me.

I shudder and pretend the thing isn’t there.

As I look around the old barn—at least what I can see in the light of the three lanterns strategically placed around the open space—our captor walks over to a workstation where a bunch of rusted tools and a few waterlogged cardboard boxes rest. He reaches into one of them without seeming to worry at all about it being full of rats or spiders and digs out some rope.

Something hard and a little bit sharp presses into my hand and I have to force myself not to scream. Cindy makes a face to tell me if I utter a sound, she’ll beat me to a pulp. Although I doubt she can. Then again, she does fight dirty.

“Why’d you—”

A punch to my arm later and I shut up, clenching the object in my hand hard to keep myself from punching her back in reflex. Once it’s pressed into my skin, I recognize the shape of her keys. She barely moves her head toward the door, but I get what she means. I still don’t understand why she’s given them to me. She’s never let me look at them before, let alone hold them.

“Going to tell us who this client of yours is, or leave us in suspense?” As Cindy speaks, she walks around to casually examine an old stall. Trench coat guy doesn’t seem to pay any attention to her, though the chimera follows her every movement. “I’m all for anticipation, but I’m starting to think you’re leading us on. Is there anyone else, or are you some sort of perv getting his kicks from kidnapping teen girls?”

“Sit against the post,” he says. “Both of you. Back to back.”

“Nah, I’d rather stand.” She makes a show of stretching out her arms and cracking her neck. “Long trip, you know? Still working out some of the kinks in my legs.”

She gives me another look and indicates the door again as if to say, ‘What the hell are you doing? Move your ass!’

That can’t be right. No way she expects me to leave without her. But from her expression it’s clear it’s exactly what she wants. I have to trust she has a plan. Even she wouldn’t be so calm if she didn’t have a plan, and one she’s sure will work.

I start to edge toward the door, my eyes constantly flicking back and forth between the chimera and trench coat guy to make sure they don’t notice anything.

“Nice jacket, by the way,” Cindy says when she’s satisfied I’m leaving. “I’ve been looking everywhere for one. Where’d you get it?”

She’s positioned herself so they can’t watch both of us at the same time. Since she’s the one talking and moving around so much, the chimera is keeping an eye on her. Our captor still has his back to both of us as he wraps the rope around his hand and elbow to make a loose circle, untangling knots as he goes.

“Most leather out there is too shiny. The worn look is the only way to go.”

“Wait!” Al warns in a harsh whisper. Even though he’s quiet, I stop and nervously look around to make sure no one else heard, my hand frozen as I reach for the latch.

Without looking back, our captor says, “You can’t get out the door.”

“Well, you can try, but you might not like what it does to you. And like I said, the guy who hired me would rather I deliver you alive.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Cindy asks.

“Your sister is about to put her hand on some powerful magic that will burn her to a crisp in about thirty seconds,” he says as he finally turns around to face
her. “And I got the coat off the last guy who tried to outrun Farah. You’ve no idea how much magic it took to get the blood out. Now sit against the pole.”

Cindy makes a sound as if she’s getting ready to spit and then sighs. “Fine. Let’s do this your way.”

She reaches into her pocket, and pulls her hand out again. It’s clenched around something, but I have no idea what. She raises her hand to her mouth where it looks like she kisses the space between her thumb and forefinger, all while trench coat guy watches with no readable expression.

For almost half a second I don’t think anything is going to happen. I have no idea how she thinks kissing her own hand will change anything. Then it does.

The air shifts and grows heavy, pressing against me until my head pounds. Everything looks different too. Wispier. Scarier. Cindy’s the worst. I can’t look at her without being overwhelmed with a need to scream. She seems to fill the room as she towers over our captor, never mind he’s nearly a foot taller than she is.

When she speaks, her voice blasts both in my ears and mind. “Who are you working for, and what do they want from us?”

He says nothing.

“Tell me!” Her voice booms and forces me to cover my ears with my arms while I clutch the back of my head to keep it from exploding from the pressure. “Who are you working for?”

“A child’s trick,” he says.

I don’t see his hand move, since I’ve got my eyes squeezed shut, but I hear the impact as he slaps her across the face. Instantly, the pressure is gone and my head stops pounding.

When I open my eyes, Cindy stands off balance with her hand clutching her face. She moves her hand away and looks down at it, eyes widening at the blood on her shaking fingers.

“Son of a bitch,” she says, but there’s no force behind her voice. “Real
manly, hitting a girl.”

“Enough.”

He grabs her arm and easily tosses her toward the post he’s been telling us to sit against. Since she was already off balance, she stumbles and falls hard on the wooden floor. She tries to pull herself up, but his foot strikes her stomach with a thud. Her face twists in anger and pain as she doubles over, clutching the spot where he’d kicked.

I want to kill him for hurting my sister, but I can’t move. I can only stare with tear-blurred eyes as he forces her back against the pole and starts tying her hands behind her.

“You too,” he says with a glance up at me.

I want to refuse and fight him, I can’t remember how. The only thing I can think of is a
balançoire. Real useful, if this was a stage fight in a ballet. I must have hesitated for too long because he stomps over to me and grabs my wrist the same way he grabbed Cindy’s and tosses me to the ground next to her. Cindy’s keys are forced out of my hand and thrown onto the worktable beside the chimera.

While he starts to tie us up, Cindy first, I rub my wrist where he’s touched me. His grip had been tight, sure, but again there’s something else about his touch. It makes my entire arm go numb and itch and ache all at the same time. It’s like my skin is allergic to his.

Using the grimy rope he’d been wrapping around his arm, he ties my hands behind by back and then binds us both to the post. I’m positive it’s covered in old spider webs and dead bugs, maybe even some living ones, but it’s all nice compared to the feeling of his skin against mine.

“It didn’t work,” Cindy says so quietly at first I’m not sure I hear her right. “How could it not work? It always works.”

I want to say something to calm her down, or make her feel better, or simply ask her if she’s okay, but I can’t find the words. I feel like crying. Every part of my body wants the release of full out gasping sobs, but for some reason, the tears don’t come.

“Hey Al,” I say while barely moving my lips. It’s a miracle he wasn’t noticed before; I’m not about to give him away now. “You still alive?”

Nothing.

“Al?”

Still nothing.

Despite the fact I don’t want to draw attention to him, I have to look down to see if he’s still in his container. He’s not. His warning at the door was the last time I’d heard from him? Had he fallen out when I’d been forced to the floor? Had he been stepped on?

My heart beats faster and faster as I picture his tiny flattened body on the bottom of my shoe. I couldn’t have. I would have noticed. I would have seen him fall or heard him crunch.

Imagining the sound of him under the weight of my heel makes my stomach turn. I need to move. I need to check my sole even though if I see him there, or what’s left of him, I’ll definitely puke. I need to not be sitting here anymore.

My muscles all tense and instantly begin to cramp and shoot pain. I need out! I need out now! I pull at my bindings, yanking harder than I mean to.

The ropes give way more easily than I expect and I have to scramble to pretend nothing’s wrong. The chimera turns its second head to stare at me, but it doesn’t attack. Even our captor turns to look curiously at what grabbed the creature’s attention. I drop my head and shoulders to appear defeated and more importantly, still tied up.

It doesn’t work.

Trench coat guy starts toward me and I desperately think through the attacks I can remember.

Before he reaches me, the door to the barn slams open causing bits of hay and who-knows-what-else to fall from the loft onto my head. I shrink in on myself and wait for the whole building to collapse. Doesn’t whoever entered realize how old the barn is? Slamming doors will get us all killed.

But the roof doesn’t collapse and gradually I’m able to open my eyes to the most delightful sight in the world. I never thought I’d be so happy to see someone in my life.

We’re saved! Who would have ever guessed Mom’s boyfriend would be the one to rescue us?

“You got here faster than I expected,” trench coat guy says with an uninterested glance at Stewart. “Thought you were conserving your magic.”

Stewart gives me a look unlike any I’ve seen before. I’d felt uncomfortable around him at home, but this was something completely different. One look and I’m terrified. Hadn’t I been relieved to see him only seconds ago? It’s only when he turns away to talk to our captor I notice Cindy hasn’t stopped swearing since he walked through the door.

“...lying prick-face bastard,” she says.

“Cindy? What’s going on?” I start to twist around to see her, but remember at the last second not to pull at the ropes too much.

“You never were the sharpest, Lou,” Stewart says in a dry tone. “Like your idiot mother.”

Did he really say that? I stare at him with my mouth hanging open and looking exactly like the idiot he called me.

This can’t be happening. After all, it’s Stewart. Mom’s boyfriend. I must have misheard him.

“Stewart, please,” I say.

“Do not speak.”

Suddenly he’s too close, though I have no idea how he could have moved so fast. His face is only inches from mine, his fingers wrapping around my neck, with his too long nails digging into my skin.

“I should have known it was you since day one, the way you’re able to convince everyone around you how innocent and perfect you are.” He squeezes my face with one hand, forcing my lips to pucker. “Disgusting.”

He releases me and I attempt to wipe the parts of my face he’d touched on my shirt, but I can’t get rid of the crawling feeling in my skin.

“But...Mom loves you.”

I know I sound pathetic and I’m sure I’m not helping anything since his reaction to my pleading is to tighten his grip until I’m gasping for air.

“Tell me where it is, sorceress, and I may let your family live.” His voice crackles with an energy that reminds me of lightning.

“I don’t know.” My eyes fill with water while my lips refuse to stop quivering. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The portal. Your grandmother was the guardian and she passed the title to you. Now, where is it?”

His voice is too calm and his cruel smile never wavers. His fingers tighten more as I shake my head and tell him I have no idea what he’s talking about.

“Want me to break her legs?” trench coat guy offers.

Stewart’s smile widens. “Is that what you want? To never walk or dance again?”

“Please.” It’s all I can manage.

“Let go of her right now,” Cindy says, clearly regaining a bit of courage.

“I have a better idea.”

Stewart releases me and steps away to pull something seemingly out of thin air. At first I have no idea what I’m looking at, especially since my eyes are blurred with unshed tears. Slowly the colors and shapes start to fit together until I recognize he holds a blue silk bag, smaller than his fist. It takes a couple more seconds for me to realize it’s not the first time I’ve seen the bag.

“Where did you get that?” I ask.

“It’s amazing what your grandmother kept in her house.” He casually tosses the bag up and down a few times. “It wasn’t hard to find this or figure out exactly what it is.”

With Cindy at my back, she’s unable to see what I can. “What is it?” she asks. “What’s he got?”

“It’s nothing,” I say to both of them. “It’s a bag Gran used to keep some toenail clippings in. Weird, yeah, but I don’t see—“

“I’m going to give you an option,” Stewart interrupts. “A very good deal, which I suggest you take. I’m going to give you this bag and allow you to open it. In exchange, you will tell me where the portal is.”

“No,” Cindy says firmly before I can say anything. “Do not open the bag, Lou.”

“I don’t plan to. I don’t know why I’d want to.”

“You don’t know?” Stewart says, fake charming smile replacing the cruel one from earlier. Somehow, seeing him more like how I had every day around Mom makes the whole situation so much worse. “Has no one ever explained to you what’s inside this bag?”

“Leave her alone,” Cindy says.

“It’s gross old toenails,” I say again, though this time I feel a lot less sure. Why is he dangling it in front of me like a prize to be won, and why is Cindy so afraid I’ll take it?

“Those might be the physical contents,” Stewart says, “But not all it holds. You, much like your sweet old grandmother before you, were born a sorceress.”

“Don’t,” Cindy warns, though this time she’s speaking to Stewart rather than me.

“What?” I laugh since the very idea is ridiculous. “I don’t have magic. I didn’t know magic existed until tonight.”

His smile widens and he moves half way around the post to get a better look at Cindy, and so both of us have a perfect view of him.

“Of course you don’t,” he says. “Your family has done a particularly good job keeping it from you. They went so far as to strip the power from you before you were able to wield it. Ooh, not what loving family members are supposed to do, is it?”

Nothing he’s saying makes sense. Born with magic? Me? “I don’t understand.”

“They took your magic, child,” he says slowly, face revealing his frustration.
“They took a part of you and they bound it inside this bag.”

I stare at the object he dangles in front of me.

Cindy starts in on another string of swear words and warnings I ignore, while focusing on the object in his hand. There is something about it I can’t quite figure out. It’s almost like being a kid again and seeing someone else with my favorite toy. The bag is mine, and I need it back, right now.

“Why doesn’t he take the magic?”

I almost jump out of my skin at the sound of Al’s hushed voice. He’s alive! I haven’t killed him. But I’m also not sure where he is. His words seem to be coming from inside my own head, not from my necklace. I can’t look for him without drawing attention, and worse, I can’t ask him any questions. 

I want to know where he’s been or if he has any ideas about how we can free ourselves. And while it’s the least of my concerns, I want to know what he means by taking the magic. Is it possible?

While it might not be on the top of the list of things I want to know, it is the only one I can ask aloud.

“I don’t understand,” I say again to Stewart while my voice quivers with nerves. “If it’s full of magic, why don’t you take it for yourself?”

“Unfortunately, it’s not so easy,” he says with his usual false smile. “This magic is connected directly to you. You’re the only one who can use it in its current state.”

“And you’re offering it to me?” I’m starting to
realize what’s made Cindy so mad. He’s too determined for me to open the bag. There must be some benefit to him, and he’s just using me to get what he wants. “Why? What’s the catch?”

Stewart looks all too pleased with the way our conversation is going, and I feel like he’s playing me with every single word flowing from his lips. “No catch. You tell me the location of the portal you’re protecting and the bag is yours.”

Even though I know better, part of me still believes he’ll actually help once I give him what he wants. It’s that part of me which blurts out, “I don’t know about any portal.”

His amusement starts to fade. “This is your one chance to regain your magic. Without it, you will have no way of stopping
Borin here from killing your sister. Painfully. In front of your eyes. Do you understand?”

“Don’t listen to him,” Cindy says. “He’s messing with you. Don’t let him.”

“If I had any idea what you’re talking about, I’d tell you,” I say. “Please believe me.”

Stewart takes a step back and rubs his eyes with two fingers. “We’ll do it your way.
Borin, if you would.”

“She’s telling the truth,” Cindy says. “You think Gran would have taken away her magic, but then leave her with the responsibility of looking after something as important as a portal?”

“I think that’s exactly what happened,” Stewart says and walks to the other side of the post to direct all of his attention to Cindy. “She probably thought she had more time. Thought she could find another sorceress to become the guardian so she wouldn’t have to place her poor, precious granddaughter in danger. But her time was up the moment I found your mother.”

No. No he couldn’t have...

But when had Gran started to get sick? Only weeks after Mom met Stewart. It came on so suddenly, and no doctor was able to figure out what was wrong.

Knowing what Stewart did causes something in me to switch. My fear is shoved aside by an anger I’
ve never felt before. My mind becomes unusually clear and calculating and I start to scan the room a little more closely. It’s still dark, but I can see through the cracks in the door that the sun’s starting to rise. Between it, the lanterns, and the constant low glow coming from the chimera’s noses and mouths, I can see pretty much everything in the room.

My eyes pass over my purse sitting on the table for the third time. I’d thought nothing of it at first. And then I remember what’s in there. The whole reason why we’re here. The box. It brought Al here like a portal would, hadn’t it? Could it be
what Stewart’s looking for?

I don’t notice
Borin watching me until it’s too late. He follows my gaze and strides over to grab the bag. After rummaging around for a moment, he pulls out the box and shows it to Stewart.

“Look at the symbols.”

He tosses it to Stewart who carefully examines it, running his grimy fingers over every section of the wood

“Amazing,” he says. “The magic is so well disguised. It’s no wonder I didn’t sense it before. It’s almost as invisible as your sister’s silly little spells.”

“Silly?” Cindy chokes out the word. “My spells are not ‘silly.’”

“Tell me what you know of it,” he says. “How does it work?”

“My
silly
spells are a lot more powerful than you’re giving them credit.”

I can feel her tug at the ropes and I know she’s struggling to get her hand into her pocket full of magic dust. Stewart doesn’t appear to notice as he focuses on me, his face twisted into a snarl.

“Tell me about the box and I’ll consider killing your sister quickly.”

I should be frightened by his words. Be terrified by the way he stares at me as though my life is in the palm of his hand, but all I can think about is the loose ropes and the fact that I can feel Cindy shifting, as if she’s ready to act.

“You have no idea what I’m capable of!” Cindy shouts. Her anger is emphasized by whatever power she possesses.

This time, since her back is to everyone in the room, the magic isn’t focused on anyone in particular. Instead it affects the very walls of the barn. Everything seems to be brought to life. Warped faces and limbs appear and pull themselves away from the walls and stall doors, creating shadow creatures that twist and bend forward and back at the same time. Every piece of wood, every strand of hay melds together in strange, horrifying ways to become creatures bent on attacking every living thing in the room.

Stewart and Borin barely acknowledge the spell; their attention focuses entirely on the chimera. With rolling eyes and skittering feet, it tries to attack every vision Cindy’s created at once. Both heads snap and hiss while its snake tail whips out, knocking everything nearby to the floor.

“Calm it down,” Stewart says.

The creature snaps at Borin as he tries to walk toward it with his arms open. At first I’m too concerned about using the opportunity to attempt to squirm out of the slackened ropes to think about why they are so worried about the chimera’s freak out.

Then it starts to spit fire.

Once the old dry hay catches, there’s no chance of getting the fire under control. Flames rise and lick at the old wood of the barn walls and smoke fills the air. I can’t pry my eyes away. It’s beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

“Let’s go,” Cindy growls at me while pulling at my arm.

She’s already gotten herself free, leaving the ropes to dangle off me. I push them aside and let her pull me to my feet.

“Al?” I ask while desperately looking around. If he was on my shoulder, the movement of me standing up could have easily knocked him off.

“Don’t stand around,” he warns while sliding down the chain to my necklace. “Go.”

I see movement out of the corner of my eye and turn to find the chimera has gone completely mad, charging at Cindy. Even Stewart and
Borin seem desperate to get out of the thing’s way. I call out, but my voice is lost in the roar of the fire and the shouts and growls of the others. Somehow, Cindy sees Farah in time and spins to face it. I don’t notice her put her hand in her pocket, but I do see the dust as she blows it into one of the creature’s faces. The offended head hisses and yelps as the powder flutters around. Both heads now in agreement, it runs.

Not just runs, but frigging bolts it out of there, tail between its legs. It doesn’t hesitate at the door as it smashes through the wood
, splintering beams as though they are nothing more than cellophane.