15
The five teens sat around the hotel room, chatting quietly. It was almost midnight, but none of them could even think about sleep considering the day’s events. The guys had come over to the girls’ room so they could talk about what had happened and what they still needed to do.
“So,” Heather asked, a question just popping into her mind. “Are we all going into the school or just a few of us?”
“I say just a few of us. We don’t want to run the risk of a Mordan capturing, or killing, all of us. Then there would be no chance of killing Lykos,” Henry suggested. The group nodded in agreement.
Matt asked the question that was on everyone’s mind. “Who’s gonna go?”
“I will,” Ivy answered confidently. “I have the most experience with Mordans. Plus, I love killing those things.” She said the word things with utter disgust in her voice. Jimba nodded, smiling at Ivy as if she had just been talking about puppies.
“I think Heather should go,” Henry said quietly. Everyone turned to stare at him in surprise, Heather included. “I mean, she has already killed a main Mordan. And, we all know, those seem to be harder to kill than his regular ones. Plus, she’s the Time-Bearer. I’m sure we’re more likely to find a Mordan when we have the most important Kidellian of all time there. I think she should go.” The others thought this over, Ivy looking angry.
Heather noticed this and chimed in. “Look, I appreciate you guys trusting me with this, but I think Ivy’s right. She definitely has more experience. I almost didn’t kill Anirbas.”
“Why don’t you guys go together?” Matt suggested. “I mean, we were talking about sending more than just one Kidellian to the school. Heather could use Ivy’s experience and Ivy could use Heather’s skill at finding Mordans.”
This made Ivy even angrier. “I can find a Mordan myself. I don’t need help.”
“Well, that sucks,” Henry snapped. “Heather and Ivy are going to the school together. Raise your hand if you agree.” Henry, Matt, and Jimba raised their hands, while Ivy stared angrily and Heather stared helplessly. “Then it’s decided.”
Ivy sighed, folded her arms, and pointedly looked away. Heather picked absentmindedly at the pillow next to her, dreading tomorrow, but her mind was already floating away to what Anirbas had shown her just before Heather had killed her. Could her mom possibly be alive with two hands? If so, then whose hand was that?
The five sat around in silence.
Matt finally broke it. “Hey guys,” he spoke quietly. “Assuming we defeat Lykos and everything, after all this is over, what are you guys gonna do? I mean, we won’t have anything to train for.”
Henry shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t given much thought to it. For the past, I don’t know, year I guess, it’s just been all about training in case Lykos was rising. And now that he is, well, I don’t really know . . . It all just seems so impossible.”
Heather nodded. “I know what you mean. Just, like, two weeks ago, I had a totally normal life. And now, I’m the reason a terrible human being is about to take over the world and I have to stop him. I guess I’ll just go back to my family, but I don’t know what I’ll tell them. I mean, they’ll wonder where I’ve been.” Heather shook her head, pondering the craziness of it all.
“It’s just weird to think that nobody even knows they’re in danger, you know?” Jimba spoke up. “We’re the only people in the world, besides Mordans of course, who know it could just end any second. People just go on living their normal lives.” They sat in silence again, thinking over what Jimba had brought up. Heather realized that Matt may not even remember any of them by the time this was over, if what Henry had said was true.
“Damien’s my only family,” Ivy said, almost in a whisper, her hard expression turning softer. "When this is over, I’ll have nowhere to go. I guess I’ll just stay with him.”
“Do you guys think we’ll stay friends?” Jimba asked, hope rising in her dark eyes.
“Friends?” Henry nudged Jimba playfully. “Who said we were friends?” Jimba laughed lightly and Heather smiled. It was strange that Heather had only known these people a few weeks. She felt as if she could trust all of them with her life.
“Yeah, Henry,” Heather said, a smile still on her face. “I still don’t forgive you for almost killing me the first two times we met.”
Henry raised his hands in defense, a smirk playing on his lips. “I said I was sorry!”
“Oh, stop flirting, you two,” Ivy said, rolling her eyes. “It’s gross.” Heather’s face reddened and she looked down, embarrassed. The five settled into another uncomfortable silence.
Heather sighed. “Guys . . .” she hesitated, before continuing. “I think my mom might still be alive.” Ivy groaned, while Jimba looked at Heather with sad eyes. Henry avoided eye contact, but Matt stared at her curiously. Before any of them could interrupt, Heather took a deep breath and told them what Anirbas had shown her right before her death. Well, first death. A small voice in the back of Heather’s mind reminded her that she would have to kill her again.
When she was done, Henry spoke up. “Wait, it was kind of goldish? Like in the connections with other Kidellians?”
Heather stared at him. “Really? Out of all that, that’s what you got?”
An expression crossed Matt’s face that Heather couldn’t read. “No, wait, Henry’s right. That’s important. Did it look like a normal connection?”
“I . . . I don’t know. I guess so.” Heather looked at all of them, confused. “But why is that important?”
Henry shook his head, bewildered. “This is big. This is really big. Did you guys know . . .”
Ivy stared at him. “You’re not suggesting that she can-”
“Yeah, I am,” Henry cut her off, excitedly. “If she can, that’s huge! No wonder the Time-Bearer is the reason Lykos will rise! I never understood why, but now . . .”
“Wait, stop, everyone shut up!” Heather said, exasperated. “What the hell are you guys talking about?”
“Don’t you see, Heather?” Matt piped up. “You can connect to Mordans the way you can connect to Kidellians.”
Heather stared at the eager faces. “Wait, none of you can do that?”
Henry shook his head. “With that ability, in theory, you should be able to connect to Mordans and see where they are! You could lead us to the rest of the Mordans, at least the ones that we don’t know about yet.”
Heather leaned back, eyes wide. “That’s impossible,” she whispered.
“I was wondering how we would find Lykos after we kill his main Mordans. It all makes sense now,” Matt said, sounding awed.
“Heather, you have so much more power than you realize. Whether we find Lykos and destroy him and his Mordans is up to you and whether or not you can find them,” Jimba said, looking at Heather, trust radiating from her brown eyes.
“No pressure. No pressure at all,” Heather murmured, her voice wobbling.
Later that night, Heather dug through her duffel bag, looking for her hair brush. None of the Kidellians had showered in days, and Heather hadn’t even looked at herself in a mirror since they left Boston. She felt the rough bristles against her fingertips, and she grasped the brush, pulling it out. Heather headed over to the small bathroom, looked at herself in the mirror, and gasped at the stranger staring back at her.
She had two long gashes streaking down her left cheek where Anirbas had scratched her with her claws. Dirt, soot, and grime were smeared across her face, and her green eyes looked tired. Her lips were rough and chapped. Part of her right eyebrow had burned off in the fire at Happyland amusement park. Her dark brown hair lay limply on her shoulders, tangles scattered throughout, but her face wasn’t even the worst of it.
Bruises blossomed up and down her arms and chest. Where Heather had gotten these, she didn’t know. She assumed Anirbas had done it when she was knocked out. Her wrists had deep purple and red marks where the ropes had been tied to restrain her. She cringed at the soot-caked T-shirt that clung to her body.
“Jimba, Ivy!” Heather called. “Do you guys look as bad as I do, or is it just me?” Jimba scuttled over and glanced at Heather.
She laughed through her nose. “It’s all of us. Did you see the nasty gash on Matt’s neck? He must’ve gotten it from one of Anirbas’ nasty little kitten henchmen.” To be honest, Heather hadn’t noticed the mark. Whenever she looked at Matt, all she noticed were his beautiful golden eyes. The way the light always danced off them, making them glitter . . .
Heather shook her head, snapping herself out of her daydreaming. “Oh, yeah, that was bad. So, if you guys don’t mind, I’m gonna take a shower. I look disgusting.”
Jimba nodded, smiling. “Go for it. If Ivy gives you a hard time, I’ll knock her into line,” Jimba winked and quietly exited, shutting the bathroom door behind her, leaving Heather alone with her thoughts. Which, unfortunately for Heather, she had an abundance of. Like, mainly, what was Amy doing at Happyland?
Heather stepped into the shower, letting the steamy hot water soothe her aching muscles as she pondered the peculiar question.
She was positive that it was Amy. They had been friends for seven years; Heather knew she would be able to recognize her anywhere. Granted, she had only seen the girl’s face briefly, but she was so confident it was Amy. But what would Amy be doing at an old amusement park in the middle of Florida?
Heather shook her head, spraying water droplets everywhere. What was she talking about? Why didn’t she just call Amy and ask if she was at Happyland? But first, Heather was going to relax.
She rested her head against the shower wall, swallowed hard, then let out huge breath of air. It felt like the first time she had breathed since she left Boston. Just thinking of her home town shot an arrow of pain through the pit of her stomach. She wondered where her parents thought she was while she was on this wild goose chase to save the world.
And, finally, she thought of that British boy and that Australian guy. The blondie and the brunette. The one with blue eyes and the one with gold eyes. Both of them made her heart skip a beat. She scolded herself. This was definitely not the appropriate time to even consider dating.
Heather sighed, this shower not helping her sort out her jumbled thoughts at all. Slamming the shower off, Heather grabbed the clean white towel hanging on the rack and wrapped it around herself. She shuffled out the bathroom and grabbed the cell phone lying on the bed she was sharing with Jimba. Glancing at the other bed, she noticed Ivy was sacked out. Heather walked back into the bathroom, dialing Amy’s number. She shut the bathroom door behind her, leaning against it as she held the phone to her ear, listening to it ring.
Heather frowned. Why wasn’t Amy picking up? She always answered her phone. When Heather was about to give up and hang up, she heard Amy’s voice echo through the phone.
“Hello?” Amy said, sounding frantic.
“Amy! Ohmygod, hi! I’m so sorry I haven’t talked to you, it’s just been-” Heather started but Amy cut her off.
“Heather, where have you been?! Your parents were seriously about to file, like, a missing person report, but I covered for you, saying you were going camping for a school trip, or something, but I don’t think they bought it. They’re freaking out, and I am too! Where the hell are you?!” Amy shouted through her cell phone, but she sounded sort of distracted. Heather shook it off.
“I know, I’m sorry. I can’t tell you where I am, though. I’m so sorry,” Heather spoke, near tears. After not seeing her best friend or her family for this long, it felt so nice to hear a familiar voice. “But I’m safe, I promise. You’re just going to have to trust me on this.”
“Seriously, Heather-” Behind Amy’s talking, Heather heard a cat meow loudly. Heather’s nose scrunched up.
“Was that a cat?” Heather asked. Amy didn’t own a cat. “When did you get a cat?”
Amy was silent for a moment. “Oh, um . . . I’m actually not home right now. I’m at . . . Stephanie’s. They got a cat.”
Heather paused. Realizing that Amy wasn’t alone, it hit her how dangerous this was. “Listen, Amy, I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later, okay? Love you!” She hung up the phone before Amy responded.
On the other side of the line, Amy hung up the phone as well. “I’m so sorry, Sir, I just-”
The man sitting in front of her raised his hand, silently quieting her. Kittens, Anirbas’ kittens, milled around their feet, meowing for their owner to return.
“I gave you a chance to get her in Boston. Then, I decided to give you a second chance in Tampa. You failed miserably both times. And then, you wasted one of my main Mordan’s life. My patience is waning fast, Ms. Amelianos. You kill the Time-Bearer or bring her to me, or I’ll kill you. Do we understand each other?” His dark voice boomed.
Amelianos nodded overenthusiastically. “Yes, Sir. I won’t let you down, Sir.”
Lykos smirked. “We will see about that.”
A/N: What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments:)