The Sentinel Archives

Chapter Two

Tires slipped on the muddy trail as Kai tore off into the woods, leaving the bizarre rabbit family in his wake. After Ducking under a low hanging oak branch, he zigzagged along the narrow foot-trail leading to Pops' old shack of a house. "Don't think," he told himself, "just hurry, hurry, hurry."

Speeding up on a deep ravine, he jerked up on the handlebars and flew into the air. Kai slightly tilted his body and bike back, aiming for the smooth lip, a bit of flat rock, on the other side. The back tire touched down, then the front, gapping the ditch with perfection.

"Whoooo-hoooo!"

He tilted sideways, allowing the wheels to slide down a small hill. Autumn leaves and pine needles carried him like waves propelling a surfboard. At the bottom, he bounced, twisted, and took off again.

"Please, please, please let me beat Mom."

The two-story old Victorian loomed through the pines. If not for the peeling paint, he'd swear it was made of crumbling graham crackers and dirty lemon icing from last Christmas' gingerbread house.

The scattered pines thinned, and Kai spotted the wood-rail fence that bordered Pops' yard. He rode around toward the backyard and through the gate where he had a better chance of sneaking in unnoticed.

Unfortunately, this meant he had to cross Pops' massive garden, full of plants he'd never even heard of before. Yet the thick growth provided enough shelter to give him hope of entering through the kitchen door before anyone spotted him.

He planned to make a beeline to his room, clean off the mud and pretend none of this ever happened. Not that it had. He'd simply thought the rabbit had spoken to him. Pops' crazy stories were playing with his mind. That's all.

Kai parked his bike behind the tool shed. Later, he'd sneak out and spray off the mud. He followed the narrow stone trail through the center of Pops' massive garden. Neither Kai nor his sister Wynn were allowed too far into Pops' place of refuge. When there was work to be done, Pops assigned them to the vegetable patches that grew along the border.

The grumpy old man insisted the special plants growing in the center of the enclosure required a skilled hand to tend them. Which simply meant Pops didn't want to risk them stomping on his prized herbs, flowers and other assorted greenery.

Fine with Kai who hated yard work. He made a wide berth around one particular plant, covered in black, funnel shaped flowers. Seemed every time he passed it, somehow he managed to trip over a wayward vine. Pops' collection of special plants seemed like they came out of one of those old horror flicks.

As Kai walked about the offending plant, several of the vines slithered across the path of their own accord. One strand attempted to wind around his right sneaker. The pointed leaves reminded him of sharp claws as they scratched over the mulch. He leaped backward, falling against a thin silvery tree with purple, oval shaped fruits hanging from each branch. One shook loose and dropped at his feet, bursting open. Orange goop oozed out onto the ground. A putrid stench, like when he'd left dirty socks too long in his gym bag nearly made him gag.

This. Was. Not. Happening.

Holding his nose, he hopped over the trailing vines and rushed from the garden, not paying attention to where he was going. He only wanted out. This wasn't right. Just what kind of plants was Pops growing anyway? They had to be illegal, or something, didn't they?

Kai didn't even slow down when he finally reached the tall stalks of corn dividing the garden and small yard. No, he refused to stop until he reached the safety of his room. Once his foot hit the brick walkway, he turned his head toward the house, only to find his path blocked as he plowed right into Mom. The grocery sack in her arms burst like a piñata, dumping eggs, icing and a cake mix box across the grass.