Exodus (17 page)

XVIII

Anthony paced back and forth in his cell, feeling more alive than he had in years.  He couldn’t sit still for even a minute.  Soon he was leaving, soon he would be free.  And he knew it this time.  Lupercus and Daviathan were more than capable and he didn’t know how, but they were able to move through the facility at will.

“Daviathan?”  Anthony thought in his head.

“Yes?”  Daviathan responded, as clearly as if he was sitting next to him.

Anthony smiled.  He was getting pretty good with this amorphos thing.

“Have you met my brothers?”

“Yes, once when they were very young.  Lupercus has been with them most of their lives.”

“And I’m older than them?”

“Yes, you were the first to travel back.  Anthony, you have much to learn.  Our ways, our sense of time, is not the same as you’ve been taught.  When we leave here I promise you I’ll explain everything.”

Anthony sighed and leaned against the wall.  He was so confused.  Nothing made sense to him.

“There is another thing.”  Daviathan said.  “When we leave we will be freeing everyone.  They have more than fifty of us here on different planes.  You must understand that you can never go back to your old life.  You are an elemental now.”

“What!  What about my parents?  What about my friends?”

“They are not your parents and the desires of your friends are irrelevant!”  Daviathan raised his voice.  “Forgive me, I just wish you understood.”

“Explain it to me.”  Anthony said.

“I will tell you what I can until Lupercus returns, but then we must prepare to leave.”  Daviathan said and then paused.  “We are elementals Anthony.  A proud race and as I’m sure you’ve guessed, not of this world.  You, you are special, like your brothers.  We are powerful indeed, but our power is derived from one another.  The more of us there are, the more powerful we become.”

Anthony sat down against the wall.  He felt dizzy, the room seemed to spin.  “But I’ve seen you.  You move in and out of cells and what you did to that guard.”

“Only a few of us elders have ascended to the point that we retain our core energy when detached from the others.  Most elementals are not much more powerful than a human when alone.  This is what makes you so special.  Your power is unlimited.”

Anthony considered him for a moment.  He knew that Daviathan thought what he was saying was true.  There was so much conviction in his voice.  But unlimited power was not Anthony.

“I’m not who you think I am Daviathan.  I’m not some super alien.  I can’t control anything that is happening to me.”

“Is there any wonder?  Your brothers together are only half as powerful as you, yet they’ve been trained in our ways from the beginning.”  Daviathan sighed.  “Anthony, a war is coming.  You are the key, if you can’t believe in yourself this world that you call home will be lost.”

“A war…”  Anthony started, but Daviathan cut him off.

“Shh, someone is coming.”

There was a screech and Daviathan suddenly stopped talking.  Anthony waited for minutes in silence.

“Daviathan.  Daviathan are you there?”

Anthony felt a whoosh and the walls shook.  He shivered and when he looked up Daviathan and Lupercus was standing in front of him.

“We leave tomorrow.”  Lupercus said as he looked to Anthony and back to Daviathan.  “The fools plan to transport him.  I fear we are too late to stop them from obtaining the key.”

“The key.”  Anthony repeated.

“Yes, we guard the portals to all the planes between our worlds.  These wretched dogs managed to steal a few and crudely bore shallow holes like these pathetic cells they’ve created.  Only an elemental can truly open the gates between the multiple dimensions.”

Anthony dropped his head.  He was overwhelmed by everything.  His whole world had been turned, spun, dropped on its head and then kicked back to him.  Worst of all, none of it made sense.

“What does the old woman say?”  Daviathan asked.

“She believes they are close.  It will happen soon Daviathan.  We must awake the others.”

“How long will it take to prepare him?”  Daviathan asked.

“It is difficult to say.  I sense that his powers have fully matured, but learning to control them may prove difficult.  He is different.  His time among the humans has tied him to them.  His powers are unwavering, but his desire to control them is strongest when in the humans’ presence.”

“What are you preparing me for?”

“The salvation of this world.”  Daviathan replied.

“There is one other thing.”  Lupercus said as he stared at the ground.  “The proximas…I can’t seem to locate them.”

“What do you mean Lupercus?  Are they not at the compound?”

Lupercus sighed.  “I…it is complicated.”

“What have you done?”  Daviathan demanded.

“They have grown strong Daviathan, stronger than I ever imagined.  We cannot keep them restrained forever.”

“What did you do?!”

“I sent them after the lost portals.”

“You did what!”  Daviathan’s voice boomed, vibrating the air.  “Lupercus, you of all people.”

“What would you have done?  We must restore the portals, time is running out.”

Daviathan glared at him.  “Have you been to the compound?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I don’t understand.”  Anthony interrupted.  “If you could leave at any time, why were you still here?”

“We were looking for you.”  Lupercus gazed at him, his fiery eyes ablaze.  “I must admit I’d given up hope, but Daviathan was certain he’d find you.  Escaping would’ve revealed our true power.”  Lupercus looked to his old friend and smiled.

Daviathan sneered back at him and turned to Anthony.  “We knew they were trying to harvest the blood of an ascended.  We allowed ourselves to be captured in hopes that they would find you for us.  Our powers are quite limited without the others.”

“But…they’ve killed people here.  I’ve seen it.”  Anthony stammered.

“The death of any is tragic indeed, but the sacrifice was well worth it.  In the end, your life is much more important than any of ours.”

Anthony fumed.  “No!  No it’s not.  I don’t want people to die for me.  I’ve lost friends and it was never worth it.”

“Anthony, the fate of this world is tied to yours.  Can anything be worth more?”  Lupercus asked with pleading eyes.

XIX

Mit’s head bopped side to side, rubbing against the leather seat.  He cracked an eye open and yawned.  The car hit another bump and Mikey slammed against him.

“Mikey.  Mikey!  Jesus, get off me.”  Mit complained.

Mikey rubbed his face and let out a crackling snore.  Nickie glanced in the backseat and smiled.

“Having fun boys?”

“Shut up!”  Mit shot back.

They had crossed into Wyoming a few hours earlier and the sun was just starting to rise.  Nickie had offered to help drive, but Steve was operating like a machine.  From the small cabin in Utah until now, Steve had driven without a break.

“We should be there pretty soon.  How long do we have?”  Steve asked.

“The email said eleven o’clock.”

“Good we have time.  Stop somewhere, I gotta pee.”  Mikey said, jumping up from a dead sleep.

Mit elbowed him in the side and pushed him across the seat.  Steve tried to hide a smirk and Nickie giggled.

“I’m not sure when the next gas station is.”  Steve announced gazing out of the window.

On either side of the long winding road there was nothing, just rolling hills and emptiness.  It snaked up ahead like a river, disappearing into the horizon.

“Ugh!  I swear Steve; I’ll pee on the seats.  You find me something.”

Steve whipped his head around and glared.  “Even the threat of peeing on sweetness is enough to get you killed.  I like you Mikey, but not that much.”

They drove straight for another thirty minutes before a little blue sign appeared, announcing an upcoming gas station.  As Steve pulled off the road into the shabby, tin roofed store Mikey was already opening the door and trying to jump out.

“Grab me some coffee.”  Nickie yelled after him.

Mikey grunted and disappeared into the store.

“Guess I should get gas while we’re here.”  Steve said, stepping out of the car.

Once he closed the door, Mit leaned across the seat and tapped Nickie in the shoulder.  She turned around and raised her eyebrows.  Mit motioned for her to come closer as he moved in towards her ear.

“Are you okay with all this?”  He whispered.

“All what?”

“This, the plan.  Those aren’t toys in the trunk Nickie.”

“I know that.”  Nickie rolled her eyes.

“So you’re okay with this?  You’re okay with shooting people, killing people.”

Nickie leaned back and sighed.  She looked directly into Mit’s eyes when she spoke next.  “For Anthony, yes.”

“You don’t even know him!”  Mit yelled.

Steve bent down and looked in the window.  Mit grinned at him and he went back to pumping gas.

“I do know him and I wish you guys would stop telling me that.”

“Get serious, Nickie, you dated for like a day.”

Nickie shook her head in frustration.

“Okay.”  She sighed.  “I…I can’t explain this and it sounds crazy Mit.  But I feel like I’ve known Anthony my whole life.  When you guys came back without him something inside me died, but later on I could feel him.  I knew he was alive.  And now it’s like something is pulling me towards him.  There is nothing I wouldn’t do, nothing…not for him.”

Her door swung open and she turned around.  Mikey was standing in front of her smiling.  In his hand he held a steaming cup of coffee.

“As you asked my lady.”  Mikey grinned.

“Thanks.”  Nickie said as she grabbed the cup.

Mikey slid back into the back seat and pulled a crumpled bag of chips out of his pocket.

“It’s snack time.”

“If you drop even a crumb in sweetness, you’ll be walking.”  Steve declared as he stepped into the car.

With a roar the Camaro cranked up and they headed down the road.  Mikey crunched on chips from the backseat and as soon as he finished the last one he fell back into a coma.

The air started to heat as the sun rose higher and higher.  They hadn’t been on the road for long when Nickie jumped up.

“There!  Right there, it’s Amstere Lane.”

Steve slowly turned onto the dirt road, cautiously looking around.  He pulled off onto the side and stopped

“How far down?”

********************************************

Anthony could hear the pitter patter of dozens of boots on the stone floor outside of his cell.  They had been back and forth all day.  The final preparations he thought, for what, he didn’t know.

Daviathan and Lupercus had left his cell some time ago.  He had been alone with his thoughts.  Alone tying to digest the tsunami of information they’d told him.

Anthony smiled as his mind drifted to his brothers for the first time.  Lupercus had said they looked alike.  Anthony tried to imagine them, smaller versions of himself, flying around like baby gargoyles.

Suddenly the image of him flying away from a horde of robotic warriors popped into his head.  And without anyone telling him he knew he was seeing through his brothers eyes.  Daviathan had said his powers were beyond any of theirs, so naturally he could use amorphos in ways they had never imagined.

Anthony closed his eyes and tried to concentrate.  He tried to think about what he was doing the last time he found himself in someone else’s mind.  Breathing slowly, he left himself drift away.  He felt weightless and then he felt pain.  With a loud smack he had toppled over and landed face first on the ground.

Who was he kidding?  Daviathan and Lupercus were convinced he was some kind of evolutionary step, but Anthony had to disagree.  There was not one thing that happened to him that he controlled.  The last time he found himself looking through someone else’s eyes it had just happened.

Anthony stood back up, rubbing his face as he moved his jaw around ensuring it still worked.  He felt a sudden rush come over him and the cell disappeared.  A blue light flashed in front of his eyes.  It swirled and moved like a living creature and then suddenly vanished and he found himself back in his cell.

Anthony tried again, closing his eyes and focusing, but the rattling of keys broke his concentration.  The heavy door to his cell screeched and grinded as it slid open.  Anthony scampered into a corner, Daviathan’s words echoing in his head.  “Don’t resist them; it’ll all be over soon.”

“No need to worry pretty, we’re just about done with you.”  Hanson grinned.

He held a needle in his hand and a thick chain in the other.  Whistling, he walked over to Anthony and kicked him in the side.  Anthony grunted, but didn’t move.

“I guess you deserve a little going away present.”  Hanson laughed.

Several more of the oversized guards crowded into the cell.  One by one they took turns punching and kicking Anthony as he cowered on the floor.  None of them seemed to care much whether he lived or died.

“Hanson!”  A stern voice called from the doorway.  “I’m certain you have other ways to pass the time.  If you do not, I can certainly find you some.”

Hanson and the other guards quickly straightened up and faced the door.

“Dr. Norton, I…I’ll get right to it.”  Hanson stuttered.

Anthony rolled over and spit blood onto the stone.  He grabbed his side, wincing in pain.  Dr. Norton glared at him momentarily, a hint of a smile vanished from his face.

“Perhaps you should finish what you started Hanson.  I hate to see a job half done.”  Dr. Norton said and walked away.

“Ya heard him boys.”  Hanson smiled as he stomped his foot into Anthony’s back.