Archer Lumen: Earth's Version of Hell (Unfinshed)[Edited Up to Escape]

Chapter 20 | Voices, Stop Bitchin' And Moanin'

Chapter Twenty

Run…

  Fight…

  Compromise…

  Hide…

  Lie…

  Create…

  I watched from my side of the staircase as Ridge, Jael, Fare, Leif, and the other kid named Jace faced off. The Badge that I twirled in my hand seemed to be whispering in my ear. The crescent Moon on its face glowed with a pale light in the dark of the cellar and I listened intently to the words that I heard.

  Run. Fight. Compromise. Hide. Lie. Create.

  I remembered what Aaric had said―how was he doing nowadays, anyway?—about how I was connected with the Badge. I glanced down at the silver ring that had Lumen etched onto its inside. Were these the personalities of the Lumens before me? That would make sense, my grandfather―from what I heard about him―liked to create things, make inventions that would be useful in their own weird ways. So did that mean that one of my ancestors, one that had been chosen to be a Guardian, had the natural instinct to run? And fight? And compromise, and hide, and lie.

  Weirdoes, like any amount of whispering could get me to follow in their footsteps. Ha, I’m Archer Lumen, the kid version of Superman. I’ll do whatever I want. And right now, I wanted to discover. I snuck a silvered glance around the corner of the staircase. It seemed as if everyone was locked in some mind battle, although I could see tendrils of…darkness coiling around Jael’s clenched fist. Nice… I thought with a wry grin before tiptoeing up the wooden stairs. I caught Ridge’s eyes and stifled a grin. He seemed to be screaming, “What the hell are you doing, help us!” I flipped him off―it was becoming a habit―and continued to climb the stairs. My steps were silent, despite the heavy boots that I had taken from Calder’s secret hole for no reason at all. I honestly felt like a freakin’ ninja! I entered the sunlit home above the others and silently closed the door behind me.

  Heh-heh, suckers…

  Everything seemed normal, as if they weren’t keeping Jael and I prisoner. They had a small oak table that was carrying plates that were covered in syrup. I chuckled at that―it looked like I had interrupted their breakfast. I was about to move to the living area when a shining surface of brown caught my eye―my bag! I yanked it from the counter, growling at the sight of juice on its strap. I stuck the Badge on my ring finger. I was never one for rings, but I didn’t really feel like merging it with the string on my neck. For a moment I thought about how weird it was that it had appeared right when I entered my mom’s room. Later. I told myself, like I did with almost everything.

  After checking that the scroll was still in there, I shoved my jacket in as well―to be honest, it smelled―and slung it around my shoulder. The bay window let rays of light filter in, and I trailed them until I saw that they were “pointing” at a map.

  “Hmm.”

  The map was taped on the wall next to the door that I had come through. Spidery letters in the left corner spelled The Realm. I frowned and placed my ringed finger on the large word Oracle. It was surrounded by a vast, barren land. A desert. There was a star next to it, one that didn’t show up next to anywhere else on the large map. “Mine…” I whispered, and tore it down. As I was stuffing it into my bag, a rumble shook the ground, knocking the plates off of the table and bringing them crashing down into the ground.

  I hit the ground too.

  “Oww. I really hate the ground, you know that?” I said to no one in particular.